A recording of a Nauruan TV news report shows the minister for immigration and border protection, Scott Morrison, addressing a group of asylum seekers who had been transferred to Nauru detention. Morrison informs them they will not be settled in Australia and should pass on the message to family and friends. The video was reportedly filmed from Nauruan television in October
By Casey Sullivan | Reuters –
By Casey Sullivan
(Reuters) – A California federal judge has dismissed a consumer lawsuit over data privacy against Apple Inc, saying the plaintiffs had failed to show they had relied on any alleged company misrepresentations and that they had suffered harm.
The four plaintiffs claimed in 2011 that Apple had violated its privacy policy, saying the iPhone maker had designed its iOS environment to easily transmit personal information to third parties that collect and analyze such data without user consent or detection.
They also claimed that they suffered damages by paying too much money for their iPhones and by losing storage space, among other things, according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California dismissed the case.
“Plaintiffs must be able to provide some evidence that they saw one or more of Apple’s alleged misrepresentations, that they actually relied on those misrepresentations, and that they were harmed thereby,” Koh said in the November 25 ruling.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs and Apple either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment.
The case is one part of nationwide litigation Koh is overseeing that consolidates 19 related lawsuits.
The case is In re Apple Inc. iPhone/iPad Application Consumer Privacy Litigation, 11-md-02250, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
(Reporting by Casey Sullivan; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
By Casey Sullivan | Reuters –
By Casey Sullivan
(Reuters) – A California federal judge has dismissed a consumer lawsuit over data privacy against Apple Inc, saying the plaintiffs had failed to show they had relied on any alleged company misrepresentations and that they had suffered harm.
The four plaintiffs claimed in 2011 that Apple had violated its privacy policy, saying the iPhone maker had designed its iOS environment to easily transmit personal information to third parties that collect and analyze such data without user consent or detection.
They also claimed that they suffered damages by paying too much money for their iPhones and by losing storage space, among other things, according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California dismissed the case.
“Plaintiffs must be able to provide some evidence that they saw one or more of Apple’s alleged misrepresentations, that they actually relied on those misrepresentations, and that they were harmed thereby,” Koh said in the November 25 ruling.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs and Apple either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment.
The case is one part of nationwide litigation Koh is overseeing that consolidates 19 related lawsuits.
The case is In re Apple Inc. iPhone/iPad Application Consumer Privacy Litigation, 11-md-02250, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
(Reporting by Casey Sullivan; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
By Margaret Chadbourn and Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The agency in charge of the troubled HealthCare.gov website said on Wednesday is it switching providers of Web hosting services, the latest change for the website at the heart of President Barack Obama’s health care reforms.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it is replacing data center services from Verizon Communications Inc’s Terremark subsidiary, with services from Hewlett-Packard Co.
Terremark’s data center experienced issues in late October that caused outages across the system, prompting embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to phone Verizon’s chief executive to discuss the problems.
Obama and Sebelius had promised the website would make it easy to shop for health insurance required under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
Instead, slow response times, error messages and outages like the ones seen at Terremark’s data center meant few Americans have been able to enroll so far.
The disaster has fueled Republican criticism of the law, and alarmed Democrats who supported it. The administration has had to scramble to make fixes in the hopes enough Americans sign up by deadlines in December and March.
Both Verizon and HP declined comment on the contract change, as did the White House, which referred questions about the contract to CMS.
CMS said its contract with Terremark had been set to end in March 2014. Last summer, several months before the botched October 1 launch of HealthCare.gov, the agency issued a “task order” asking for bids. HP was awarded that contract, a CMS spokesman said in a statement.
The contract change was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Now, CMS needs to transition its data center to HP at a time when it is just beginning to dig out from a mountain of problems with the website, which is designed to let consumers shop for health insurance required under Obama’s signature health care law.
The complexity of the switch between data center providers could be an additional challenge for the project. A CMS spokesman did not respond to questions about whether the transition would affect the website.
The Obama administration has said it plans to have the website working smoothly for most users by this weekend.
Part of that upgrade involves doubling capacity so the website can handle 50,000 users at once.
A source close to the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there are some concerns about the website’s ability to handle so many users because of problems with switches and servers maintained by Terremark.
“CMS has begun the necessary activities to transition the data center over to HP. We are working to ensure a smooth transition between the two contractors,” the CMS spokesman said in a statement.
Verizon has received $ 55.4 million for its work on the healthcare marketplaces since its contract started in 2011, according to federal contracting records.
(Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Christopher Wilson and Lisa Shumaker)
Press Association –
Tech-savvy Britons have donated a record £6 million to Philippines typhoon victims via tablets and smartphones.
The new method of donating has helped pushed the Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC) overall donation total to £65 million.
The DEC said when its appeal was launched over two weeks ago, more than £750,000 was raised via text messages alone in the first hour. In comparison, roughly £100,000 was raised during the same period for the East Africa crisis.
Further text donation surges followed, including during an England football fixture on November 15 and an appeal on X Factor.
The charity said the push towards mobile donations represents an overall trend towards electronic donations.
The DEC said £3.5 million donations have been through tablets, £1.3 million via texts and £5.7 million through PayPal, which included £1.75 from tablets and smart phones.
“It is now even easier to make a donation to DEC appeals wherever and whenever you want,” DEC Head of Fundraising Adil Husseini said.
“We have made sure there are a number of different ways to quickly and efficiently give money so that it can be raised as fast as possible and ensure that aid reaches people in desperate need right now.
“We have seen that sending text donations is increasingly popular, and offering people the choice to give via PayPal accounts has also made the process of donating via mobiles, tablets and computers much faster and hassle free for many.
“More than one million people have given money since the appeal began, and the public’s generous donations have helped enabled our member aid agencies to reach hundreds of thousands of people in the Philippines who have had their lives torn apart by this disaster.”
The DEC said a £25 donation would buy water purification tablets for 10 families for a month, £50 would feed a family for two weeks, while £100 would buy emergency shelter and bedding for one family.
Cats go wild for catnip!
If you have a doggy dilemma or a confused cat looking for advice, don't hesistate to ask Dearlucky.com @ lucky@animalfair.com. Baby Hope has taken on the legacy of Lucky – she has been around the block so no worries she is just as clever and can answer all your questions!
Dear Lucky,
Chanukah is here, and I cannot decide what present to get for my new best friend Kitty Kat. Being a puppy, I know what kind of presents dogs like, but I have no idea what to get for a cat. Do you have any suggestions?
–Brody, Dayton, OH
Dear Brody,
Happy Chanukah! I used to have the toughest time trying to buy presents for my dear cat pal, Pasha, but I'd like to think that I've become quite an expert over the years. Cats love catnip. If you see anything with catnip stuffed in it, buy it! I'm sure Kitty Kat will have a lot of fun with her new present! Good luck! In fact, buy eight of them!
For the Best that Pet Lifestyle and Animal Welfare has to offer follow Wendy Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, and right here at AnimalFair.com!
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jQuery(".gmframe").load(function (){jQuery(this).remove();});With Thanksgiving right around the corner, many people are taking the time to give thanks for those they have in their lives. While some may be giving thanks to friends, family or co-workers this holiday season, for others, this is a time to reflect on the work done by professional caregivers. There are millions of families in the United States who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s, and the nation has seen first-hand the work that caregivers do, and now is a great time to reflect on their work and give thanks to all these selfless individuals do.
November is not only the month of Thanksgiving, but it is also National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Caregiver month. For the millions of families who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease, the caregivers that help care for these individuals are some of the most important people to give thanks for this holiday season. These special individuals do a great deal to help individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. There are more than 15 million Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers living in the United States today and they all provide an often overlooked service that truly helps change the lives of individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease.
These are the individuals that not only help take care of the daily health needs of Alzheimer’s patients, but these are the individuals that provide Alzheimer’s patients with much needed love and support. Alzheimer’s disease not only presents many changes for the diagnosed individual and their loved ones, but for caregivers as well, who must change and adapt nearly everyday to meet the unique demands of their role. Being an Alzheimer’s caregiver is a position that comes with a great deal of stress, yet these dedicated individuals still find themselves working around the clock to meet the full time demands of being a caregiver. These caregivers act as a friend, companion, caretaker, support system and more to those with Alzheimer’s disease and they become an important part of these individuals’ lives.
For many Alzheimer’s patients, their caregivers become family to them. Whether the caregiver is a professional, family member or friend, they must dedicate themselves to helping these individuals and their family members handle their everyday tasks, recall important memories and cope with the stress that comes with having dementia. Alzheimer’s is a heartbreaking disease that impacts the lives of millions, but its repercussions would be much more severe if it weren’t for the dedicated support of these caregivers.
The holidays can be a particularly difficult time for those living with a family member with Alzheimer’s disease. This holiday season spend time to not only give thanks for the friends and family around you but for the Alzheimer’s caregivers that help keep these loved ones happy and healthy during this most wonderful time of the year.
Follow Eric J. Hall on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/ericjhall2
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