NEWS/TECHNOLOGY

Sony PS Vita exploit opens the door for unauthorized apps, piracy

File/AFP.

There’s no game gaming companies hate to play more than cat and mouse with hackers.

Proving once again that no gaming hardware is hack-proof, Eurogamer has learned that hacker Yifan Lu has found an exploit in Sony’s (SNE) PS Vita handheld that will open doors to hackers to develop unapproved applications and even pirate software.

Lu’s exploit is reportedly based on another hacker’s work — the Half-Byte Loader that allows homebrew on the PlayStation Portable — and is the first real hack for the Vita since it launched in December.

Whereas last generation’s Nintendo DS and PSP were plagued with piracy due to bountiful firmware exploits, Sony’s Vita and Nintendo’s (SNE) 3DS have remained largely safe from piracy since their respective launches. Although Lu says he will try his best to ensure the exploit allows only legitimate homebrew code to run, he also said on Twitter that there’s no telling what others will do once his exploit is made public.

NEWS/POLITICS

Obama and Romney: Where they stand on the issues

File/Reuters.

A look at where Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney stand on a selection of issues:

Abortion and birth control:

Obama: Supports abortion rights. Health care law requires contraceptives to be available for free for women enrolled in workplace health plans, including access to morning-after pill, which does not terminate a pregnancy but is considered tantamount to an abortion pill by some religious conservatives.

Supported requiring girls 16 and under to get a prescription for the morning-after pill, available without a prescription for older women.

Romney: Opposes abortion rights. Previously supported them. Says state law should guide abortion rights, and Roe v. Wade should be reversed by a future Supreme Court ruling. But says Roe v. Wade is law of the land until that happens and should not be challenged by federal legislation seeking to overturn abortion rights affirmed by that court decision. "So I would live within the law, within the Constitution as I understand it, without creating a constitutional crisis. But I do believe Roe v. Wade should be reversed to allow states to make that decision." Said he would end federal aid to Planned Parenthood.

Debt:

Obama: His pledge to cut the deficit "we inherited" in half by end of first term is a mark likely to be missed by a wide margin. The deficit when he took office was $1.2 trillion, and the $800 billion stimulus bill Obama signed soon afterward increased the shortfall to more than $1.4 trillion. The White House predicts this year's federal budget deficit will end up at $1.2 trillion, marking the fourth consecutive year of trillion dollar-plus red ink. Now promises to cut projected deficits by $4 trillion over 10 years, a goal that will require Congress to raise the capital gains tax, boost taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year and impose a minimum 30 percent tax on incomes above $1 million. The target also assumes a reduction in the amount of interest the government must pay on its debt and incorporates $1 trillion in cuts already signed into law. Nation's debt surpassed $16 trillion this year. Federal spending is estimated at 23.5 percent of gross domestic product this year, up from about 20 percent in the previous administration, and is forecast to decline to 21.8 percent by 2016. Reached agreement with congressional Republicans to cut $487 billion in military spending over a decade.

Romney: Promises to cut $500 billion per year from the federal budget by 2016 to bring spending below 20 percent of the U.S. economy and to balance it by 2020, but vital specifics are lacking. At the same time would increase military spending, reverse $716 billion in Medicare cuts and cut taxes. Defended 2008 bailout of financial institutions as a necessary step to avoid the system's collapse, opposed the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler. Stayed silent on the debt-ceiling deal during its negotiation, only announcing his opposition to the final agreement shortly before lawmakers voted on it. Instead, endorsed GOP "cut, cap and balance" bill that had no chance of enactment. Favors constitutional balanced budget amendment. Proposes 10 percent cut in federal workforce, elimination of $1.6 billion in Amtrak subsidies and cuts of $600 million in support for the arts and broadcasting.

Economy:

Obama: Term marked by high unemployment, a deep recession that began in previous administration and officially ended within six months and gradual recovery with persistently high jobless rates of over 8 percent — 8.1 percent in August, up from 7.8 percent in February 2009, Obama's first full month in office. The rate hit a high of 10 percent in October 2009. Businesses have added jobs for more than two years straight while public sector jobs have lagged. Obama responded to the recession with a roughly $800 billion stimulus plan that nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated cut the unemployment rate by up to 1.8 percentage points. Continued implementation of Wall Street and auto industry bailouts begun under George W. Bush. Proposes tax breaks for U.S. manufacturers producing domestically or repatriating jobs from abroad and tax penalties for U.S. companies outsourcing jobs. Won approval of South Korea, Panama and Colombia free-trade pacts begun under previous administration, completing the biggest round of trade liberalization since the North American Free Trade Agreement and other pacts went into effect in the 1990s.

Romney: Lower taxes, less regulation, balanced budget, more trade deals to spur growth. Replace jobless benefits with unemployment savings accounts. Proposes repeal of the Dodd-Frank law toughening financial-industry regulations after the meltdown in that sector. Proposes changing, but not repealing, the Sarbanes-Oxley law tightening accounting regulations in response to corporate scandals, to ease the accountability burden on smaller businesses. "We don't want to tell the world that Republicans are against all regulation. No, regulation is necessary to make a free market work. But it has to be updated and modern."

Education:

Obama: Has approved waivers freeing states from the most onerous requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law with their agreement to improve how they prepare and evaluate students. "Race to the Top" competition has rewarded winning states with billions of dollars for pursuing education policies Obama supports. Won approval for a college tuition tax credit worth up to $10,000 over four years and more money for Pell grants for low-income college students. Wants Congress to agree to reduce federal aid to colleges that go too far in raising tuition.

Romney: Supported the federal accountability standards of No Child Left Behind law. In 2007, said he was wrong earlier in career when he wanted the Education Department shut because he came to see the value of the federal government in "holding down the interests of the teachers' unions" and putting kids and parents first. Has said the student testing, charter-school incentives and teacher evaluation standards of Obama's "Race to the Top" competition "make sense" although the federal government should have less control of education.

MARÍA PAJON WON GOLD MEDAL

BMX Rider Mariana Pajon a proud for Colombia.

Mariana Pajon. AFP

Former world champion Mariana Pajon of Colombia won gold in the women's BMX final after finishing ahead of New Zealand's Sarah Walker and Dutchwoman Laura Smulders on Friday.

Walker took the silver medal with Smulders winning the bronze.

 

Pajon burst down the start ramp and took the lead from the outset on the 440m women's circuit and was never in danger of being overtaken.

 

British gold medal hope Shanaze Reade lost ground midway through the race and eventually finished sixth, one place behind Australia's Caroline Buchanan.

 

Pajon, at 20 years old the second youngest in the final behind 18-year-old Smulders, was one of the stand-out performers in the whole competition having won all three her semi-final races on the way to the final.

 

"I can't believe it. It's like a dream come true," said Pajon, who claimed the women's world title in Copenhagen in 2011.

 

"My whole life I am trying to win this. I want to win it again. I want go out the gate and win it again. It's unbelievable."

 

The girl who started riding her bike at the age of four around her home town of Medellin added: "I won the three motos (races) and the final. I felt really strong, I had really good gates and that's it. I really had fun."

Yuri Alvarez in judo

Yuri Alvarez blasted in judo- 70Kg

Yuri Alvear. AFP

World champion Lucie Decosse was at her brilliant best as she produced a dominant display of dynamic judo to advance into the women's under-70kg semi-finals on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old is bidding for her first ever Olympic gold medal following three world titles and four European crowns.

 

Four years ago in Beijing she was favourite in the under-63kg category but was beaten by long-time rival Ayumi Tanimoto of Japan in the final.

 

Here, though, she looked totally focused, waiting patiently for an opportunity before throwing Canada's Kelita Zupancic for the maximum ippon (a technical knock-out) with a kosoto-gari (minor outer reap) 30-seconds from the end of her bout.

 

In the quarter-finals she was in a hurry and took just 10-seconds to humiliate 2009 world champion Yuri Alvear of Colombia with an uchi-mata (inner-thigh throw).

 

She will face Hwang Ye-Sul in Wednesday's semi-final after the South Korean produced the most remarkable upside-down o-goshi (hip throw) on Slovenia's Rasa Sraka.

 

Hwang lifted Sraka off the ground and as she launched herself into the throw she managed to tip the Slovenian the wrong way up as she drove her into the mat, flat on her back.

 

In the other half of the draw, China's Chen Fei took a judges' decision victory over Haruka Tachimoto of Japan to reach the last four.

 

Chen seemed to have won the bout in the regulation five minutes with a koshi-guruma (hip wheel) that appeared worthy of an ippon but, despite being reviewed by the refereeing commission on the video replay, it was incredibly awarded only a minimum yuko.

 

That resulted in Chen levelling the scores and taking the fight into a sudden death period of golden score but after that couldn't produce a winner, she progressed on the judges' flags.

 

She will face Germany's Kerstin Thiele who beat 2005 world champion Edith Bosch of the Netherlands in the quarters.

 

The early rounds of Wednesday's competition were filled with spectacular throws, brilliant judo and numerous shocks, with the contest between Japan's second seed Masashi Nishiyama and Song Dae-Nam of South Korea in the men's under-90kg, especially brilliant.

 

Song twice caught Nishiyama with a seoi-nage (shoulder throw) but was thrown once himself with osoto-gari (major outer reap), progressing to the semi-finals by virtue of a yuko advantage.

 

Song will fight Brazil's sixth seed Tiago Camilo next.

 

Camilo won a silver medal in Sydney 12 years ago when just 18 years of age and fighting two weight divisions lower at under-73kg.

 

His tai-otoshi (body drop) on twice Olympic medallist Roman Gontyuk of Ukraine was sublime, and almost matched by his osoto-gari on Italy's Roberto Meloni.

 

He beat fourth seed Dilshod Choriev of Uzbekistan by a penalty in the quarters.

 

One of the main shocks saw unfancied Australian Mark Anthony stun fourth seed Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia while Britain's Winston Gordon produced an o-guruma (major wheel) to flatten Canada's Alexandre Emond.

 

World champion and 2004 Athens gold medallist at under-81kg Ilias Iliadis of Greece was upset in the quarter-finals by Russia's Kirill Denisov.

 

Fourth seed Denisov scored a crucial yuko with uchi-mata and then added a second with tani-otoshi (valley drop) to reach the semis.

 

He will fight Cuban Asley (CORR) Gonzalez who edged out Liparteliani's conqueror Anthony.

London 2012 Olympics

NEWS/SPORTS

All eyes on pool as Olympic tickets row rumbles on

U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte. AFP

American swimmer Ryan Lochte was gunning for his second gold medal of the Olympics on Monday as Games organisers aimed to quell concerns over empty seats by making thousands of tickets available.

Lochte, who got his Games campaign off to a flier on Saturday when he crushed compatriot and long-time rival Michael Phelps to win the 400m medley, suffered a reality check on Sunday in the United States' relay loss to France.

 

The 27-year-old will line up in the 200m freestyle final against China's Sun Yang, who will also be targeting his second gold of the Games after his win in the 400m freestyle on Saturday.

 

Phelps, meanwhile got his individual campaign back on track as he began the defence of his 200m butterfly crown.

 

The American eased through his heats early Monday to book his place in the semi-finals.

 

"I am pretty happy about this morning, that is all I need to be," said Phelps, who has held the 200m fly world record since 2001 and hasn't been beaten in a major international competition in the event over the same period.

 

Three other individual finals on Monday night promised explosive action: the men's and women's 100m backstroke and the women's 100m breaststroke.

 

Meanwhile the talk of the pooldeck on Monday continued to be the remarkable world record-breaking display of Chinese teenager Ye Shiwen in the 400m medley on Saturday, which has been greeted with scepticism in the British media.

 

Ye sought to dispel the clouds of suspicion surrounding her performances in London, denying the existence of doping in Chinese swimming.

 

"There is no problem with doping, the Chinese team has a firm policy so there is no problem with that," Ye said.

 

Monday's four swimming medals are among a total of 12 up for grabs across all competitions on Monday.

 

Host nation Great Britain, still awaiting their first gold of the Games, will be hoping diving star Tom Daley can challenge for honours in the 10m synchronised platform final where he competes with partner Peter Waterfield.

 

The first medals in artistic gymnastics will be decided with the men's team final event, where China and Japan will attempt to put poor qualifying displays behind them to challenge for gold.

 

Japan and China, the dominant force in Beijing in 2008, had been expected to fight it out for the major honours in London, but they were eclipsed by the United States, Russia and Britain on Saturday's opening day.

 

China were leading the medal table with six golds after Sunday's action but their hopes of adding to their tally early Monday suffered a setback when Zhu Qinan lost out in a 10m air rifle competition won by Romania's Alin Moldoveanu.

 

Away from the medals, Great Britain and Argentina will meet in a men's field hockey after recent tensions between the two nations on the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War.

 

At Wimbledon, Roger Federer and Serena Williams look to reach the last 16 of the tennis tournament.

 

Meanwhile under-fire London Olympic organisers (LOCOG) continued to face criticism over the banks of empty seats which have been seen across various venues since the Games got under way on Saturday.

 

Some 3,000 tickets from international sports federations were "put back in the pot" and sold to the public Sunday, LOCOG said amid growing public anger over empty seats.

 

Organisers have blamed the unfilled seats on accredited officials and members of the media who have failed to take up their reserved places.

 

LOCOG communications chief Jackie Brock-Doyle admitted however that the re-distribution of accredited seating was "not an exact science".

Bomb kills eight at Pakistani madrassa

File - AFP

A bomb attack killed at least eight people and wounded more than 20 others outside a Pakistani madrassa in the troubled southwestern city of Quetta, police said.

The bomb was detonated outside the gates of the Sunni Muslim seminary as a degree ceremony for students was being held inside, police told reporters.

It was the deadliest attack in the city since a car bomb killed 15 Pakistanis last December.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the city suffers from Islamist attacks, sectarian violence between the majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslim sects and a separatist insurgency.

Doctor Mohammad Haider at the state-run Civil Hospital said three boys and five male adults were killed. He said the children were aged seven, nine and 14.

Police official Hamid Shakeel confirmed the death toll and said that more than 20 people were wounded. "It was a remote-controlled bomb," he said.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

Baluch rebels rose up in the province in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from oil, gas and mineral resources in the region.

It is one of the most deprived regions of Pakistan despite its wealth in resources, and human rights activists have heavily condemned the military for summary arrests and executions in its bid to put down the separatist insurgency.

Pakistan sits on the frontline of the U.S.-led war on Al-Qaeda and since July 2007 has been gripped by a local Taliban-led insurgency, concentrated largely in the northwest.

In the last five years, attacks blamed on Islamist bombers have killed more than 5,000 people according to a tally.

Its relations with the United States are in disarray and for the last six months Pakistan has imposed a blockade on NATO supplies crossing overland into Afghanistan since U.S. air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the border.

On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Pakistan that the United States was running out of patience over its refusal to do more to eliminate safe havens for insurgents who attack U.S. troops fighting a 10-year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Panetta made the strong remarks after talks with Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak on the latest leg of an Asian tour that has taken him to Pakistan's arch-rival India, but not Islamabad in a sign of dire U.S.-Pakistan relations.

He singled out the Haqqani network, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked faction that has bases in Pakistan's lawless tribal district of North Waziristan and which has been blamed for some of the deadliest attacks of the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

English Portfolio Grade 9 2012

LEARN ENGLISH IN A FUN AND EASY WAY TO THE TEACHER GEOVANNY ANDRADE