Acer Aspire S5 hands-on, revisited (now with video)

The last time we reported on the Aspire S5, Acer's sophomore Ultrabook, your favorite reviews editor was throwing elbows to get a first look. The company's press conference here at CES was packed to the gills with journalists and industry analysts, dozens of whom were jostling for some hands-on time after the event wrapped. It didn't help that there were two S5s on display, and that the demo area was tricked out with green mood lighting.

So when we had a chance to play with the S5 again, this time in a quiet, sunny room, we knew a second look was in order. For the most part, our early impressions haven't changed. Its all-metal chassis still feels solid, and we continue to be wary of that shallow keyboard. That 15mm-thick chassis is as impressive as ever -- maybe even more so, now that we know half of this year's Ultrabooks are likely to be larger. But man, is this thing even more beautiful in the light. We already concluded it had a more uniformly premium design than the older Aspire S3, but in a brightly lit room it's easier to appreciate the slightly brushed texture on the lid and palm rest, the seamless, spartan design and how well that black paint job complements the thin chassis. Below, find a few extra hands-on shots added in with the old, and continue on past the break for a video tour, complete with a demo of that drop-down port cover -- something we didn't get to show you the first time around.

Gallery: Acer Aspire S5 hands-on, revisited

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Acer Aspire S5 hands-on, revisited (now with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/12/acer-aspire-s5-hands-on-revisited-now-with-video/

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Hands-On With RIM?s New BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 OS: Great, But Too Late?

When RIM first launched the BlackBerry PlayBook last spring, we were all rather shocked to find that RIM's stand-out core services — secure messaging and productivity related apps like calendar and contacts — were... absent. The company promised an update to fix it, and after eight months said update has finally been unveiled here at CES.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fJQ6w793Gsw/

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Obama, DNC raise $68M in final 3 months of 2011 (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama raked in more than $68 million combined for his re-election campaign and the Democratic Party during the final three months of 2011, gearing up for a formidable challenge against his Republican opponent later this year.

The large fundraising quarter helped Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee surpass $220 million in 2011, bankrolling the president's re-election campaign as Republicans settle on a nominee. Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney raised $56 million for the primary through Dec. 31, his campaign announced Wednesday, far outpacing his GOP opponents.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Thursday in a video to supporters that the campaign collected more than $42 million for the quarter, with the DNC bringing in more than $24 million, along with $1 million for a joint fund to help state parties in key states. The amount helped the president's team beat an internal goal of $60 million combined for the quarter.

Obama's campaign collected $750 million in 2008, prompting speculation that it could top $1 billion this time. Messina said the lofty figures have created "a challenge that keeps coming up. Too many Obama supporters think we don't need their money or they don't need to give now."

However, Messina said, "The billion-dollar number is completely untrue."

Obama, facing no primary opponent, has stockpiled a large campaign bank account, but Democrats expect parity with Republicans once the party chooses a nominee. Romney has been a formidable fundraiser and most party leaders expect a large amount of money to flow into his campaign if he sews up the nomination. Republican-leaning Super PACs have also fared better than Democratic-backed outside groups, further offsetting the president's fundraising.

Republicans have tried to paint Obama as more concerned with his re-election campaign than with his job of running the country. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said "the White House may try to pretend the president isn't focused on his re-election but Americans know he's more interested in campaigning to save his own job than creating jobs for our country's unemployed."

Obama's campaign has emphasized a large number of donors and small donations generated from online giving. Messina said the campaign and DNC had generated 1.3 million donors, with 583,000 people giving during the most recent quarter. More than 98 percent were for donations of $250 or less and the average donation was $55, Messina said.

The money will help build Obama's organization, pay for a massive advertising campaign and let his advisers prepare for the upcoming campaign, a point the president emphasized at a large Chicago fundraiser on Wednesday night.

"If you're willing to work even harder in this election than you did in that last election, I promise you change will come," Obama said. "If you stick with me, we're going to finish what we started in 2008."

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120112/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_fundraising

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Child in stroller swept into sewage system

MOSCOW?? Police in a provincial Russian city say an 18-month-old child was swept into the underground municipal sewage system when a sidewalk collapsed because of a ruptured pipe.

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The mother, a 26-year-old policeman's wife, was pushing the child in a stroller in the city of Bryansk when the ground caved in underneath them.

Police say the woman was rescued, but the child was swept away by the current into a collecting tank for the sewage system and was presumed dead.

Investigators say they are working to determine the cause of Sunday's accident, but suspect faulty construction of the system may be to blame.

Underground pipes carrying hot water occasionally burst in Russia, causing the ground above them to suddenly collapse to the peril of those walking above.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45918120/ns/world_news-europe/

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Chinese Lab Speeds Through Genome Processing With GPUs

At BGI, he says, they are currently able to sequence 6 trillion base pairs per day and have a stored database totaling 20 PB.

The data deluge problem stems from an imbalance between the DNA sequencing technology and computer technology. According to Dr. Wang, using second-generation sequencing machines, genomes can now be mapped 50,000 times faster than just a decade ago. The technology on track to increase approximately 10-fold every 18 months. That is 5 times the rate of Moore's Law, and therein lies the problem.

Obviously it would be impractical to upgrade one's computational infrastructure at that rate, so BGI has turned to NVIDIA GPUs to accelerate the analytics end of the workflow. The architecture of the GPU is particularly suitable for DNA data crunching, thanks to its many simple cores and its high memory bandwidth.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/enhCeIkl7RA/chinese-lab-speeds-through-genome-processing-with-gpus

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Geithner finds Chinese resistant to Iran oil sanctions

The United States is acting under new legislation, signed into law by President Obama on New Year?s Eve, that would penalize foreign firms that deal with Iran?s central bank, which handles that country?s oil revenues.

But Chinese officials have been reluctant to link economic ties with Iran to the nuclear issue, saying publicly that the two matters should be kept separate.

After meetings here with China?s top leaders, Geithner received pledges of continued cooperation on broader global economic issues, but no immediate answer on the specific request to reduce Iranian oil purchases.

A senior U.S. official said Geithner?s visit ? which will also take him to Japan this week for the same purpose ? represented just the start of what is expected to be a difficult mission, convincing Asian countries to reduce their energy reliance on Iran.

?We are in the early stages of a broad global diplomatic effort to take advantage of this new legislation to significantly intensify the pressure on Iran,? said the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified under the ground rules for briefing reporters. ?We are telling them what?s important to us, and they are listening.?

The official added, ?We have a reasonable shot at getting a number of countries to wean themselves off Iranian oil.?

Geithner?s visit comes as China announced that Premier Wen Jiabao will travel to the Middle East this weekend, on a trip that will take him to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Some analysts said the timing of Wen?s trip ? to attend a conference in Abu Dhabi and give a speech on China?s energy policy ? could signal that Chinese leaders may in fact be looking for alternative oil suppliers from the region.

?China is quite ambivalent and hesitant at the moment,? said Cui Shoujun, director of the International Energy Research Center at Renmin University in Beijing. He said Wen?s visit to the other oil-producing countries would itself put pressure on Iran, by showing that China was starting to diversify its oil suppliers.

Cui and other analysts said Chinese leaders are keen to keep good economic relations with the United States and want to make sure China adheres to the international consensus regarding Iran. Wen?s trip, they said, would be important for gauging regional opinion.

?China has been dissatisfied with Iran for a long time because of the nuclear issue,? said Cui. ?Compared to China?s relations with the U.S., China-Iran relations are a lot less important. If China has to break one of the two, it will definitely be Iran.?

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=fe90b7f2dec00fee9e625efef8500d13

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Leonardo 'not sure' if Beckham will sign for PSG

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:21 a.m. ET Dec. 31, 2011

PARIS (AP) -Paris Saint-Germain's bid to sign David Beckham from the Los Angeles Galaxy may be thwarted by family matters, the French club's sporting director Leonardo said Friday.

Leonardo has made no secret of his admiration for the 36-year-old former England captain, but told a news conference that there are other factors that may influence whether Beckham joins when the transfer window opens next week.

"He is in L.A., he has his family over there. We have talked a lot and we are still talking, but I'm not sure it will be done," Leonardo said as PSG introduced Carlo Ancelotti as its new coach.

French media reports in recent weeks all pointed to Beckham's arrival as a near certainty, with talk of an 18-month contract and an estimated monthly salary of ?800,000 ($1.05 million).

"We have a very good rapport with David Beckham, but we never said it was a done deal. We have studied it and we are studying it," Leonardo added. "It's always been a question of personal matters (with Beckham)" rather than contract issues.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Blackburn stuns Man United

Blackburn pulled off the biggest surprise of the Premier League season, defeating Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday to spoil Alex Ferguson's 70th birthday.

Off-field woes

Football in 2011 was dominated by events off the field rather than on it.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45303930/ns/sports-soccer/

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