By Chris Cillizza October 29 at 9:49 AM

Jeb Bush. ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

He just isn't all that good at this. And he knows it.
There's no other conclusion that you could draw after watching Jeb Bush flail in Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate. Bush looked overmatched and lost — an image made all the worse by the fact that he was positioned on the stage in Boulder, Colo., next to Marco Rubio, his one-time political mentee but now quite clearly his superior in the race.
Bush's attempt to attack Rubio was a metaphor not only for his debate performance but for his campaign. Knowing he needed to land a clean punch on Rubio, Bush piggybacked off a question from the moderators about Rubio's sparse attendance record in the Senate and tried to attack. But Bush doesn't really like attacking. And he backed into it from the start. “Could I bring something up here?” he asked, before somewhat awkwardly and, if I'm being honest, nervously, said this of Rubio: “I expected that he would do constituent service. Which means that he shows up to work.”  Then Bush, in an obviously prepared line, joked that Rubio was following a "French work week." (Ugh. Sad trombone.)
Rubio, ready for the hit, calmly dispatched a series of facts — including that John McCain missed lots and lots of votes in 2008 and Bush still backed him — before delivering this howitzer: “The only reason you are doing it now is because we are running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.”
The crowd cheered. Bush folded his hands and tried to respond. It didn't work. It was over — in more ways than one.

Dating all the way back to more than a year ago when it became clear that Bush was considering running for president, the question that I — and lots of other people — had was whether he really had the heart for it. Bush, even once it became clear that he was running, made clear that he had little love for the spectacle of the modern political campaigns and that he would do everything he could to avoid engaging in it. Bush knew then that he would never be the most charismatic candidate and wouldn't win the "beauty show" side of the race but believed that his policy smarts and the size and depth of his establishment support would win out.
Once the campaign began in earnest, however, it became clear that Bush was more than just rusty from having not run a campaign in more than a decade. He was simply underwhelming at every turn.  In each of the first two debates, while far less experienced pols such as Rubio, Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ted Cruz outshone Bush, his allies sifted through the scraps of the debate in search of signs of life. He said his brother had kept the country safe! He was the grownup on stage!  They insisted that Bush just needed to keep improving in each debate. He would never be the performer that Rubio and Cruz are but he didn't have to be. He was Jeb, after all.
Those voices went silent after his flop in Boulder. (Sidebar: When your best argument is that you didn't get enough time to talk and your last name is "Bush," you are losing.) There is simply no way to spin what happened. Bush tried to do what his advisers told him he needed to. It didn't work. In fact, it backfired badly. He spent the rest of the debate in the shadow of that failure.
The question for Bush now is whether he really wants this — and, if so, how badly. His comments from over the weekend in South Carolina seem to reveal where his mind is. "I’ve got a lot of really cool things I could do other than sit around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and feeling compelled to demonize them," Bush said. "That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that."
It's hard to imagine Bush's outlook is any better after what happened to him Wednesday night. And, the coming days are likely to make things worse. Bush will be dogged by questions about his poor performance and news stories about donors either carping or bolting to Rubio — or both.
If Bush wasn't having much fun before, he really won't be having any fun now. And for a candidate who pledged that he would run "joyfully," he looks anything but that right now.
 see more

Ten Republican candidates spent two-plus hours trading rhetorical jabs in the third GOP presidential debate in Boulder, Colo. Marco Rubio won; Jeb Bush lost. Also, some others.
I separated the good from the bad below.

Winners

* Marco Rubio: The senator from Florida was good in the first two debates. He was outstanding in this one. The long-awaited showdown between Rubio and Bush wound up being a romp; Jeb tried to attack on Rubio's Senate attendance but got schooled by a very well-prepared Rubio. Rubio repeatedly took tough questions and turned them to his advantage, finding ways to tell his compelling personal story and steer the conversation toward what the GOP needs to do to beat Hillary Clinton. Rubio, as I've long noted, is the most naturally talented candidate in either party's field; he showed it tonight.
* Ted Cruz: Cruz had the single most memorable moment of the debate when, early on, he took on the CNBC moderators for the alleged "gotcha" questions they were asking. It drew a huge response in the debate hall and outside of it — and set the stage for a litany of attacks against the media from Cruz's rivals as the night wore on. Cruz, as he did in the first two debates, used his time wisely — driving home the message that he's the only guy with the backbone to stand up not just to Democrats but to leaders in his own party. Had Rubio not been so good, Cruz would be the story of the night.
* Chris Christie: For the second straight debate, Christie found ways to do more with less (time). His "Why the hell are we talking about fantasy sports" riff was outstanding and reinforced the idea of the New Jersey governor as a plain-spoken truth-teller. The question for Christie is whether it will make any difference; he continues to struggle to make up ground on the front-runners and is barely clinging to his spot on the debate stage.
* Donald Trump: This was a most un-Trump performance. With the exception of a smack-down of John Kasich in the early going, Trump was largely content to stay out of the fray and stick to his talking points when he did get a question. And, somewhat amazingly to me, he skated by without any real attacks by any of his rivals for the nomination. Yes, Trump has lost some momentum of late but didn't anyone notice he is still in first or second place in every single state and national poll? Hard to see him slipping from that perch as a result of tonight's proceedings.
* Lindsey Graham: For the second straight undercard debate, the senator from South Carolina was in a class of his own.  He was funny and knowledgeable. But, it was in the undercard debate.

Losers

* Jeb Bush: Oh, Jeb. This was a really bad night for someone who needed a good-to-really-good night. Bush tried to drop the opposition research book on Rubio's head in the early going but got beat by someone who is just better at this stuff. After that swing and miss, Bush seemed totally cowed for much of the next hour. Sure, he made one good joke about his fantasy football team. But one good joke in a two-plus hour debate does not a victory make. And as for his campaign's chagrin at CNBC for his lack of speaking time, that feels to me like a smokescreen designed to distract people from his poor performance. Prediction: The buzz about whether Jeb is up to this race, which was at a relatively low level before tonight, is going to start getting a lot louder.
* Ben Carson: The doctor's first three answers of the night were close to nonsensical. He repeatedly seemed surprised when called on and struggled to articulate his points or use facts to help bolster them. He seemed out of his depth. Now, Carson's appeal — and what has made him the race's front-runner of late — is that he sounds and acts nothing like a polished politician. So, I suppose, by that logic, Carson might have had a less-bad night than I think.


* CNBC: Yes, some of the bashing of the network was simply politicians playing to the crowd. Republican voters think the media is biased, so when you as a candidate bash the media for being biased, you win. But, a lot of the questions the moderators asked seemed to be framed like this: "You said or did X controversial thing. Explain." I'm all for some of that — after all, politicians need to be accountable for their public statements — but it veered occasionally into "gotcha" territory.

CNBC should be ashamed of how this debate was handled. #GOPDebate

— Reince Priebus (@Reince) October 29, 2015

One other note: No one wants to hear talking heads, um, talk over the candidates being introduced on stage. (I say this as a sometime talking head myself.) The candidates and how they interact with one another is all anyone cares about. Show that and get out of the way. Period. Full stop.
* Rand Paul: The senator from Kentucky seemed barely there. When he did get questions, which wasn't often, he recited stump-speech material without much vim or vigor. It's hard to see how Rand stays in the race all that much longer — particularly with the pressure he is getting from fellow Republicans to come back to Kentucky to defend his Senate seat next November.
* John Kasich: I get what the Ohio governor was going for. He knew he needed to stand out and figured the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more" schtick was the way to do it. It worked — the first time. But, after the first 15 minutes, I felt like Kasich was just shouting at me and that the actual message — to the extent there was one — got lost. see more

By Mike DeBonis October 29 at 10:59 AM

New York Times

 

Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) is ready to begin a “new day in the House of Representatives” after being elected the body’s 62nd speaker.
Ryan won the support of 236 House members in a vote Thursday morning, securing his election. The Wisconsin Republican on Wednesday won the nomination of the House Republican majority, who united around one of their party’s brightest stars after weeks of uncertainty about their next top leader.
[Boehner’s exit breaks up the long-running ‘Big Four’ of Congress]
Thanking his fellow lawmakers after Wednesday’s closed-door party ballot, Ryan said his nomination “begins a new day in the House of Representatives.”
“Tomorrow, we are turning the page,” he said. “We are not going to have a House that looks like it’s looked the last few years. … Our party lost its vision, and we are going to replace it with a vision.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) received 184 votes for speaker and Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), the only Republican to challenge Ryan, received 9 votes.
[Sign up for The Daily 202, The Washington Post’s new political tipsheet]
Ryan, who at 45 is the youngest speaker elected since 1869, is expected to strike a similar note in his first floor address as speaker Thursday. According to prepared remarks, he will call for greater unity between GOP wings divided over tactics and ideology.
“We have nothing to fear from honest differences honestly stated,” he will say, according to the prepared remarks. “If you have ideas, let’s hear them. A greater clarity between us can lead to a greater charity among us.”
He is also expected to call for a renewed vision for his party and for the House, delivering on the hopes of colleagues who hope he will be able to set a new tone after years of sometimes petty infighting.
Looking on as he speaks, according to his office, will be his family, including his wife, Janna, and children Liza, 13, Charlie, 12, and Sam, 10. Also seated in the speaker box will be former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who tapped Ryan as his running mate for his ill-fated 2012 presidential run.
Bidding farewell Thursday, outgoing Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who cast the final vote for Ryan, said he leaves the House as “the same regular guy that came here.” He recited a list of his accomplishments, including major spending cuts, ending earmarks and preserving the D.C. school voucher program.
“I leave with no regrets, no burdens,” he said.


Boehner also left Ryan with a controversial fiscal deal that would increase government spending by $80 billion through 2017 and raised the federal debt limit — thus clearing major fiscal obstacles from Ryan’s path in his the first 16 months as speaker.
[Budget deal could end the fiscal wars until after the 2016 elections]
Ryan bucked pressure to oppose the deal from conservatives who worked to force Boehner from office, saying in a statement that the agreement would help “wipe the slate clean” as he ascends to the top job.
While Ryan won support from 80 percent of his GOP colleagues, there were signs Wednesday that the party’s fissures may persist. Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), who has gained a small but loyal following among hard-right lawmakers drawn to his pledges to change House rules and procedures, earned 43 votes to Ryan’s 200.
Most Webster backers — many of them members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus — backed the party nominee after Ryan spent the past week reassuring them that they will play a more prominent role in lawmaking.
“The ideas that Daniel Webster’s been talking about, the House Freedom Caucus is talking about, is exactly what Paul Ryan agreed to do,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), who voted for Ryan Thursday.
On Thursday the nine lawmakers who supported Webster were Reps. Dave Brat (R-Va.), Curtis J. Clawson (R-Fla.), Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.), Waler B. Jones (R-N.C.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Randy Weber (R-Tex.) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.)
Among the party’s larger group of mainstream conservatives, there was widespread relief that weeks of uncertainty over who would succeed Boehner ended with Ryan agreeing to take the job. There was also open excitement about the type of leader Ryan might be.
Ryan has spent much of the past decade burnishing his credentials as a conservative ideas man, from his 2008 “Roadmap for America’s Future” though his four-year tenure as House Budget Committee chairman, his 2012 vice-presidential nomination and his ascent earlier this year to chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
“Paul Ryan is the right person to lead our team at this time,” Boehner said Wednesday. “He’s an innovative thinker who’s focused on giving more Americans more opportunity to achieve the American dream, and I think he’s got the skill set to do this job. Frankly, I’m very confident he’ll do it well.”
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Ryan would be “more visionary” than Boehner and the other three sitting congressional floor leaders.
“He’s thought through what he wants to do, and, you know, I think he knows where he wants to take us,” Cole said. “And, frankly, because he’s been so clear and compelling in his own vision, I think most of us know where he wants to take us.”
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said: “We’ll have a mixture of Newt Gingrich and John Boehner. Gingrich was a very good communicator, a big idea guy. John Boehner really fixed the institution, brought integrity to it.”
Still, Ryan faced a difficult task in persuading the roughly 40 House hard-liners who helped push Boehner out of office to give him their backing.
He eased minds during private meetings last week, and he began making more-public commitments to quell lingering concerns. On Tuesday, for instance, he endorsed a review of House and party rules and said he was committed to implementing changes by January: “It’s clear that members of the House and the American people have lost faith in how this place works. And naming a new speaker alone isn’t enough to fix it. We need a robust dialogue about improving the process so that each member has a greater voice, and we need a firm deadline to implement changes.”
Ryan also addressed doubts about some of his policy positions that have left conservatives wary — mainly his past support for an overhaul of immigration law. In a conference meeting Wednesday morning, Ryan pledged not to pursue any immigration bill unless it had the support of a majority of House Republicans.
“He won my vote by coming across as a very honest broker and someone we can work with to move the ball forward,” said Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), a Freedom Caucus member. “We’ve had enough conversations with Paul to understand he has a different idea about how to govern going forward.”
Karoun Demirjian, Juliet Eilperin, Paul Kane and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report.

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By Simon Denyer October 29 at 11:06 AM


 

BEIJING — China said it would abandon its controversial “one-child policy” on Thursday and allow all couples to have two children, effectively ending the biggest population control experiment in history amid growing pressures from a rapidly aging population.

Women hold babies at a Beijing park in November 2013 after China took the first steps to roll back its one-child policy. (Diego Azubel/EPA)

The move, which came after a meeting of the Communist Party leadership, reflected concerns over potential labor shortages and rising numbers of elderly people that would put immense strains on the economy in the years ahead.

[See where women outnumber men around the world (and why)]

The communiqué from a plenary session of the party’s Central Committee did say when the policy change would be implemented, saying only that the party had decided to “fully adopt the policy that one couple is allowed two children [and] actively take action on aging population.”
China’s unpopular one-child rule was introduced in 1980, and brutally enforced through huge fines, forced sterilizations and abortions, experts say. It empowered and enriched a huge swath of officials, with bribes often paid to skirt the rules.
It had also skewed China’s sex ratio, due to the selective abortion of girls, who are much less favored in traditional Chinese culture.
Calls to abandon the policy had reached a crescendo in the past decade, but the Communist Party moved slowly, relaxing the policy partially in 2013 before Thursday’s announcement.
Experts on Chinese affairs, including Wang Feng at the University of California at Irvine, have long warned that the country was heading towards a “demographic precipice” that could even challenge the legitimacy of Communist Party rule.
Wang called the policy’s abandonment “great news” even if the effects will take a generation or more to filter through.
“This really marks a historic point to end one of the most controversial and costly policies in human history,” he said. “But China for decades to come will have to live with the aftermath of this costly policy.”

[Key events in China’s family planning policies]

The nation’s fertility rate — 1.4 children per woman — is far below that of the United States and many other nations in the developed world, leading to a rapidly graying society and increasing demands on the state such as social programs and health care for the elderly.
It also means a substantial decline in the supply of young labor to power the economy of the world’s No. 2 economy as it seeks to dethrone the United States.
China’s working-age population fell for a third straight year in 2014, declining by 3.7 million to 916 million, according to government data, in a trend that is expected to accelerate in years ahead.
Meanwhile, the number of people aged 60 and above will approach 400 million, or a quarter of the population, in the early 2030s, according to United Nations forecasts. The 60-plus population currently represents about a seventh of China’s people.

[From the archive: The consequences of China’s ‘one-child’ policy]

“The reform will slightly slow down China’s ageing society but it won’t reverse it,” said Peng Xizhe, a population professor at Fudan University. “It will ease the labor shortage in the long term, but in the short term it may increase the shortage because more women might stop work to give birth.”
The policy was introduced in delayed reaction to booming birth rates as China recovered from Mao Zedong’s disastrous Great Leap Forward and the famine of 1958-62.
But by 1980 it was no longer needed, many experts argue. Birthrates in China had already declined sharply during the 1970s.
The California-based scholar Wang said the one-child policy was “a textbook example of bad science combined with bad politics” that was both morally questionable and priming a demographic time bomb by driving down fertility rates still further.
Despite the demographic pressures, the communique said China was “sticking to the basic policy of state family planning” and “population growth strategy.” In other words, it is not taking its hands off the rudder entirely: under the new policy, couples will still be limited to two children.
“That’s mostly political face-saving,” said Wang, asserting that rulers throughout Chinese history have never been willing to admit “we made a mistake.”

[Why China is turning its back on one-child rule]

The policy was first eased in 2013 to allow couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child. Rural couples could already have a second child if their first child is a girl. Members of some ethnic minorities, including Tibetans, were exempt from the restrictions.
The policy shift two years ago, however, did not appear to lead to a big boost in birth rates, with economic pressures and the cultural norms around having one child meaning many families decided to stay as they were.
“The change won’t cause a baby wave, as the last policy change proved,” Peng said. “Couples chose not to have a second child because of economic pressure and insufficient social welfare.”
Another population expert, who was involved in policy formation but did not want to be named, said the change would not have dramatic economic effects.
“Its political meaning is much greater than its demographic meaning,” said the expert. “Academics have continuously lobbed the government to abandon birth control for around ten years. The good thing the government is correcting the direction [of policy].”
Future population growth may partly depend on whether the government introduces policies to actively encourage childbirth such as longer maternity and paternity leave, said Fudan University’s Peng.

[Many parents still say: One is enough]

Already there are signs some sort of changes are under consideration.
Li Bin, the head of China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, told state television that the authorities should improve supply of public services including reproductive health care for women and children and the availability of kindergartens and nurseries.
Reaction on social media was enthusiastic. “I can’t even believe this is real,” one user posted on the weibo microblogging service. “At least people have an option. Good,” another posted.
But there was also humor, and some bitterness.
“Finally, don’t have to go to the U.S. to have a second child,” one user posted.
“Can we have the fines back? And can we get rid of that certain department?” another wrote.
“I don’t even want this one,” another user joked, while another observed: “But I fear I won’t be able to raise them,” in a reference to the cost of bringing up two children.
The communiqué from the Fifth Plenum also reflected China’s growing concern about climate change, saying the country would “actively participate in global climate change negotiations.”

Xu Yangjingjing and Xu Jing contributed to this report. see more

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi is seen in an undated portrait provided by Amnesty International. Badawi, who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for insulting Islam and for cyber crime, was awarded the European Union's Sakharov prize for human rights and...

Reuters/Amnesty International/Handout via Reuters

BRUSSELS Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for insulting Islam and for cyber crime, was awarded the European Union's prize for human rights and freedom of thought on Thursday.Badawi received the first of his 50 lashes in January, prompting strong criticism in Western countries of the kingdom's human rights record, including its restrictive laws on political and religious expression and the status of Saudi women.
This month in London, he was given the International Writer of Courage award and was co-recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador in London on Monday threatened "potentially serious repercussions" for its ties with Britain unless a more respectful discourse developed.
British lawmaker Syed Kamall, a member of the European assembly who nominated Badawi for the EU prize, said, "Saudi Arabia can lock up the man and they can lash him, but they will only strengthen amongst his countrymen the yearning for free speech and debate that he stands for."
A Jeddah court handed Badawi his sentence in 2012 after he criticised the Saudi clergy in a blog and called for changes in the way religion is practiced in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, which follows the strict Wahhabi form of Islam, does not permit the public worship of other faiths or allow them to maintain places of worship inside the country. In a new law last year, it included atheism as a terrorist offence.
Named in honour of Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, Badawi's latest prize has been awarded by the European Parliament annually since 1988. The first recipients were Nelson Mandela and Russian author and dissident Anatoly Marchenko.
(Additional reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Louise Ireland) see more

NDTV

Simulation is a great way to design a product for users who don’t share the same context as you do. This is what Facebook aims to drill through to its staff by slowing down the site for one hour on Tuesdays.

Through the initiative—dubbed “2G Tuesdays”—the company hopes its staff will better understand what its like to access the platform via a 2G connection, a reality for many of its users living in the developing world. In Africa, Facebook has over 120 million active users, 57% of which access the platform using a feature phone with a 2G connection.

“They’re going to see the places that we need to improve our product, but they’re also going to see the places where we have made a lot of progress,” said Tom Alison, Facebook’s engineering director.

Earlier this month, the company optimized its news feed to allow users with slow connections access it quickly. Through other initiatives, like Internet.Org, Facebook Lite—a mobile app designed for 2G connections—and the company’s recent announcement that it will beam internet by satellite in Africa starting next year, it is clear that Facebook is betting on the “next billion” internet users—many of which still use 2G technology.

But all of these initiatives aren’t just philanthropic deeds. By optimizing the platform for slower connections and helping to improve access to the internet, Facebook wants to continue grow its user base rapidly in countries like India and Nigeria with the view to generating more revenue in the long term.

With 1.42 billion active monthly users by the end of the second quarter this year, the popular social network has become a mega advertising entity. In the second quarter of this year, 96.4% of Facebook’s revenue (pdf, pg. 8) came from advertising, while 76%, or $2.6 billion, of that ad revenue was derived from mobile advertising.

While Facebook is notching up billions of dollars in revenue in North America and Europe, its average revenue per user (ARPU) in the developing world lags behind, as Quartz has previously reported.

Figures from the company’s second quarter earnings for 2015 show how regions like Africa and South America (accounted for in the “rest of the world” category) generate 10 times less in average revenue per user (ARPU), than the two North American countries, US and Canada. read details.

Blair Hanley Frank IDG News ServiceOct 28, 2015 9:00 AM

 

Back in January, Microsoft launched Outlook for iOS and Android, designed to help users of the two most popular mobile platforms manage their email and calendars. The new apps, which came about after the acquisition of Accompli, is part of the company’s push to provide productivity tools across platforms—even those it doesn’t own. In the case of Outlook, that seems to be paying off. 
Microsoft announced Wednesday that 30 million people use Outlook for iOS and Android every month. That’s some serious traction for a heavy-duty productivity app, and it also consistently holds a position among the top 20 most downloaded productivity apps in both the Google Play Store and iOS App Store. (In the grand scheme of things, Outlook’s position isn’t nearly as strong as Facebook’s, which reported in July that it had one of the most popular apps with 1.31 billion monthly active users on mobile.) 
Now, the two apps are getting a visual design refresh, thanks to some help the Outlook team got from the people behind Sunrise, which Microsoft acquired and added to the Outlook organization. Long-time users of Outlook on either platform will notice the subtle differences between the past version of the app and the new design, but it’s not a radical shift. 
On iOS, the inbox layout now shows new, colorful icons that denote event invitations, and the attachment and flag icons are more prominently displayed on the right hand side of a message in the list in keeping with the app’s counterpart on Windows. Thanks to the Sunrise collaboration, the calendar is also getting a facelift with fit-and- finish changes like showing the day’s date in its icon, and better displaying multiple calendar events at the same time. 
Android users will find that the app fits better with the overall system design and material design principles that are common across Android apps. There are some other tweaks coming too, like an inbox that shows images of the contact who sent an email if a user’s address book has a picture for that person. While the iOS update is available today, the Android update won’t be rolling out for another couple of weeks. 
Sunrise Calendar fans should also be aware that the team’s contributions to Outlook will soon be more than just working on the design of the Outlook app itself. Javier Soltero, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Outlook, said in a blog post that the end goal is to bring the features of Sunrise into Outlook, and eventually replace the current Sunrise app with Outlook entirely.
Soltero is something of an outsider to the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant. He joined when Microsoft acquired Acompli, the company he co-founded. Now, he’s charged with building out Microsoft’s entire suite of email clients, from the popular Windows desktop app to the email client on iOS and Android. Under his leadership, the Outlook team has changed focus toward building apps that share the same principles, but don’t necessarily look the same.
“Before I got here, the charter for the Outlook team was about consistency, and they believed that things needed to look the same, and what made Outlook, Outlook was a visual thing,” Soltero said in an interview. “And it’s not. Because if you do that, then you’re presuming that I want to see an app inside of [an iPhone] that was really made for [Windows Phone].”

Instead, Soltero said that he’s focused on pushing a coherent vision across platforms for what Outlook does, even if its applications aren’t a pixel-by-pixel match for one another. To that end, people should get ready to see some of the features from Outlook for iOS and Android, like a “Focused” inbox that shows users’ most important emails, on other platforms where it hasn’t appeared before. 
In Soltero’s view, it’s important for the Outlook team to keep pushing forward and rapidly adapting its product to users’ needs, especially given the competetion for users in the mobile applications space.
“So, we have to be able to evolve the product with a higher cadence, and with an eye towards what is going to make that product first and foremost be chosen by people,” Soltero said. “And particularly because the phone ships with another email client. So the discussion for Outlook starts with ‘How is it better than what comes with my iPhone or my Android device?’”
Looking forward, Soltero wants people who are using Outlook to be able to sync their settings across devices, so tweaking a preference in one app will propagate across each application someone is using. All of these changes could prove to be a long-term benefit for Microsoft overall: If people are thrilled by using Outlook on their phones, they may be more likely to pay for it on their PCs or Macs through an Office 365 subscription.

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IBM Agrees to Acquire Weather Channel's Digital Assets

Jing Cao jinglebellscao

October 28, 2015 — 5:37 AM PST Updated on October 28, 2015 — 6:14 AM PST

 

Computerworld

 

IBM agreed to acquire digital assets from Weather Co., which include the Weather Channel and Weather Underground apps and websites, attempting to strengthen its ability to crunch data for customers and capitalize on the so-called Internet of Things.
The Weather Channel television property, which isn’t part of the acquisition, will license weather forecast data and analytics from IBM under a long-term contract, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company said in a statement Wednesday.
Terms of the purchase weren’t disclosed.
Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty has been seeking to bolster IBM’s cloud and data analytics offerings, shifting from software sales and information-technology services amid a stock decline and multiyear revenue slump. The Weather Co. acquisition extends a bet that so-called cognitive computing by IBM’s Watson division, which draws insights from vast amounts of data, will drive future growth. IBM this year purchased Merge Healthcare for $1 billion to add medical imaging technology and data to the Watson Health Cloud business unit.
Combining the technology and expertise from the two companies will serve as the foundation for the new Watson Internet of Things unit and cloud platform, IBM said.

‘High Volume’

While IBM already had access to the Weather Channel’s data, the acquisition will allow IBM to use the underlying platform, which “can ingest data at a very high volume in fractions of a second that will be an engine that feeds Watson,” John Kelly, a senior vice president at IBM, said in an interview on Bloomberg Go. The applications and websites handle 65 billion unique accesses on weather data a day, he said.
IBM plans to expand the capabilities to industries beyond weather “in a matter of months and quarters,” Kelly said.
Weather Co.’s owners -- Blackstone Group LP, Bain Capital LLC and Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal -- have been working with Morgan Stanley and PJT Partners Inc. to explore a sale, people with knowledge of the matter said in August. The three firms acquired the company for about $3.5 billion in 2008.
The company’s digital businesses include The Weather Channel’s website, Weather.com; Weather Underground; and Weather Services International. Two-thirds of U.S. consumers over 18 years old use a Weather Channel brand monthly, according to the company’s website.

SEC Probe

IBM’s shares rose 1.3 percent to $139.73 at 9:54 a.m. in New York. The stock fell to a five-year low on Tuesday after the company disclosed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an investigation related to revenue recognition in the U.S. the U.K. and Ireland. IBM said it was cooperating with the probe.
Underscoring the challenges of its strategic transition, IBM last week lowered its full-year profit forecast, excluding some items, to $15.25, plus or minus 50 cents from a previous outlook of $15.75 to $16.50. The company remains dependent on big software deals, which take time to secure, while it invests in its strategic shift. IBM’s goal is for the new businesses to deliver $40 billion in revenue and account for 40 percent of total sales by 2018. see more

 

10 paid iPhone and iPad apps on sale for free right now

By Brad Reed on Oct 28, 2015 at 11:55 AM

 

You could use a pick-me-up to get you through Hump Day, which is why we’ve created our biggest list this week of paid iPhone apps on sale for free for a limited time. Today we’re bringing you ten, yes ten, iPhone and iPad apps that would normally cost you $17 but are all completely free if you act right now. Check them out below!
MUST READ: I’ve made the iPhone 6s into my dream Android phone
These are paid iPhone and iPad apps that have been made available for free for a limited time by their developers. There is no way to tell how long they will be free. These sales could end an hour from now or a week from now — obviously, the only thing we can guarantee is that they were free at the time this post was written. If you click on a link and see a price listed next to an app instead of the word “get,” it is no longer free. The sale has ended. If you download the app, you will be charged.

Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock

Normally $0.99

Waking up made easy.
Free today with App of the Day HD
An intelligent alarm clock that analyzes your sleep and wakes you in the lightest sleep phase – the natural way to wake up feeling rested and relaxed.
Sleep Cycle helps millions of people to wake up rested!

Download Sleep Cycle

Sometimes You Die

Normally $1.99

In a game, you die.
And imply that it has no effect on you.
You feel invincible in the realm behind the screen.
This one is different.
In this game, you have to die.
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ G A M E ∙ ∙ ∙
What is your motivation?
What do you expect from this game?
Do you want to beat it?
How do you know it can be beaten?
This game plays with expectation, illusion, and reality.
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ P U Z Z L E S ∙ ∙ ∙
Think before you act.
Who knows what it means to die behind the screen?
Is it only a number that goes up?
Pixels that change their intensity?
Solve disturbing, surprising, and malicious puzzles.
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ D E A T H ∙ ∙ ∙
Is it possible to go through the game
without dying even once?
Will you aim for it?
∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ D I F F I C U L T Y ∙ ∙ ∙
Some think the game is easy.
I think,
those haven’t discovered the hidden levels yet.

Download Sometimes You Die

ParkSmart!

Normally $0.99

Locations such as college campuses, airports, unfamiliar cities, amusement parks, and concert venues make it easy to forget where you parked and to spend an eternity trying to figure it out – especially after a tired day. Eliminate the worry with ParkSmart!.
Park your vehicle, mark its location, then easily find your way back to it. With an intuitive interface, foolproof, and simple design, ParkSmart! is the easiest – and quickest – way to find your way back to your vehicle.
ParkSmart! allows you to mark you car’s coordinates, take a quick picture of its surroundings, and create general notes about it within a simple design. When you’re ready to find your vehicle, just press “Locate” and the app will generate a walking path back to it, return the address of your car, how far you are away from it, and it will allow you to launch “Maps” with turn-by-turn driving directions from your very own Siri with the press of a button.

Download ParkSmart!

Private Calculator

Normally $1.99

Private Calculator can hide your photos/videos/documents/notes/contacts behind a calculator. What everyone can see is just an ordinary calculator. You can access your private world by entering your password on the calculator.
FEATURES:
File Manager:
– Wifi File transfer to/from PC/Mac
– Import Photo/Video from Camera Roll
– Full screen, full functional photo viewer.
– Support almost all video formats: avi, mkv, wmv, flv, mp4, m4v …etc
– Support Image files: jpg, png, gif, bmp
– Support Document files: txt, html, pdf, doc …etc
– Support creating custom folder
– Photo slideshow
– Unzip file
– Thumbnail gallery
– Share Files with other APPs
Private Browser:
– Simple, elegant UI and full feature private browser
– Bookmark & History manager
– Switch to Desktop/iPhone/iPad browser easily
– Download all images on the page by one button
Private Notes:
– Unlimited to create notes
– Custom font and font size
– Copy/Share/Send Mail
Private Contact:
– Unlimited to add contacts
– Import contacts from iPhone
– Add memo for contact
– Quick dialing / send SMS / send Email
More Features:
– Simple & Fast calculator
– Automatically back to calculator when the app in background
– Shake to unlock – Shake your device after entering the password to access your folder, avoid someone entering your password unintentionally.
– Touch ID – use Touch ID to unlock.
– Decoy Mode – use decoy passcode to enter an empty fake space.
– The APP name is ‘My Calculator’ on springboard

Download Private Calculator

rop

Normally $0.99

New, polished, mind-bending, minimal puzzle game with dozens of levels and extra-ordinary design..
Features:
– Beautifully crafted minimal puzzle game
– 198 mind bending levels
Get ready for the new puzzle experience..
Exclusive for iOS.
Optimized for iOS8 and human brains

Download rop

iReminder

Normally $0.99

Massively popular iOS Reminder App completely re-designed for the modern user, ultra efficient, concise, and has exactly what you need to stay on track to get things done!
* Snooze (and Autosnooze)
* Alerts Popup Box (Local Notification, similar to a text message reminding you to do something)
* Categories (ex. Shopping List, Homework Schedule)
* Repeat Alerts
* Non-Alert Categories

Download iReminder

Chemio

Normally $1.99

Interactive periodic table, solubility table, molar mass calculator and the 3D widget for designing electron configuration of atom. The most necessary chemical references for students in the one neat app – it’s Chemio!
Chemio is an interactive chemical reference. It provides a set of useful instruments, which allow you to perform search and calculations faster. Our app’s purpose is to replace traditional chemical books and to help you with your research or education.
We’re open for your feedback about the app’s performance and functionality.

Download Chemio

PicIt! Pro

Normally $1.99

A must-have companion app for the iOS Camera Roll, PicIt! Pro automatically catalogs the entire photo library with a beautiful, immersive user interface that allows you to organize, access, share and re-engage with past memories like never before.
“The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten.”
– Cesare Pavese (Italian Poet)
PicIt! Pro is ideal for causal photographers to globetrotters to anyone in between who loves to capture his/or her life experiences in photographs. PicIt! Pro organizes and displays your photos in an intuitive layout so that you can find and relive the moments of your past with ease and fitting nostalgia.
– In your spare moments, take a walk down memory lane with the intuitive MapIt! feature that pinpoints the exact locations of your adventures!
– Search for the specific photographs by country and state/province with the insightful StateIt!
– Quickly find your summer vacation pictures from three years ago with DateIt!
– Use the ClockIt! feature to learn about your usual habits by the hour of the day!
– Whether you’re a globetrotter, vacationer, business traveler, exchange student or a causal photographer, share your Trophy Case with the world and win bragging rights!
Location services required for full functionality of features like MapIt!, StateIt! and Trophy Case.

Download PicIt! Pro

Map My Customers

Normally $2.99

Map my customers puts your sales territory on a map – easily import and visualize your customer base. Track customer progress with notes, phone numbers, check-ins, reminders, groups, custom pins, routing, lead generation, etc. – all through one beautiful app to help you sell more than ever.
Our new teams feature allows you to share pins with team members, track their location, view live updates from them in the field, and more. Visit http://www.mapmycustomers.me and login for details.
All Features:
– Import contacts from excel or similar spreadsheet programs
– Import contacts from address book
– All customer pins sync with your iPad, iPhone, and our website
– One tap to create and sync a customer meeting with your iOS calendar
– Share pins with colleagues
– Save and name routes through multiple pins with directions
– Get push notified of nearby accounts
– View all customers within 300 mi of you
– Set reminders about when to visit/follow-up with customers
– Export customers to excel/csv
– Make phone calls and get directions directly to customer
– Choose from 10 different colors to display pins
– Easily delete and add pins, phone numbers, and notes
– Make pin groups to hide/show sets of customers
– Auto-add current location as a pin or drag and drop pins to add rural locations
– Check in at customer locations for keeping track of visits
– Easily search all of your customers by name, address, number, etc.
– 24/7 customer support
We’d love to hear what you think of mapmycustomers, please consider rating on the app store and sending us your thoughts on how we can make it a better product for your sales needs.
Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Download Map My Customers

Scored

Normally $1.99

Scored is an elegant, lightning-fast sports app for the iPhone. View live scores, results, and schedules at a glance and receive instant score alerts when you want them.
Scored is a premium sports app with a focus on clarity and simplicity.
• Support for all NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL teams.
• Live scores, recent results, and upcoming games at a glance.
• Customizable score alerts – instant push notifications at various game stages.
• Full season schedules and results.
• View scores and results direct from your ‘Today’ screen.
• A simple, clean design. No waiting around for results to load or jerky scrolling to catch up. No blinking lights or obnoxious ads. A truly modern sports app.

Download Scored

Tags:

iPhone

 

read full article from bgr.com

 

No physical signs Russian soldier who died in Syria hanged himself: father

GRECHANAYA BALKA, Russia | By Maria Tsvetkova

 

Russian servicemen unload a coffin containing the body of Vadim Kostenko, one of the Russian air force's support staff in Syria, from a truck near his family's house in the village of Grechnaya Balka, north-west of Krasnodar, Russia, October 27, 2015.

Reuters/Maria Tsvetkova

 

 

The family of the first Russian soldier confirmed dead in Syria buried their son in a village graveyard on Wednesday, with his father saying there were no signs on the body to support the official account he had hanged himself.Russian defense officials say Vadim Kostenko, 19, hanged himself at a base on the Syrian coast on Saturday because of problems in his personal life. His body was handed over to his parents on Tuesday, making him the first confirmed military fatality of Russia's 4-week-old bombing campaign.
"There were no marks on his body to suggest that he had hanged himself," Vadim's father, Alexander, told Reuters after his son's funeral in southern Russia. "Let's see what the prosecutor says."
The circumstances of the air force technician's death have aroused suspicion in Russia, where Kremlin critics accuse the authorities of hiding the truth of military casualties in other conflicts, especially in Ukraine where Moscow denies its forces have fought despite what the West says is overwhelming evidence.
Vadim's parents, Alexander and Svetlana, say their son had sounded cheerful over the phone when they spoke to him the day he died, which led them to doubt that he hanged himself.
Four soldiers carried the coffin from the parents house on Wednesday to a small van, followed by a soldier carrying the blue, white and red Russian flag with a black ribbon attached.
His mother, sobbing and wearing a black head scarf, walked with difficulty. She referred to her dead son as her "little one" before climbing into the van and stroking his face on the journey to the graveyard.
The coffin was taken to the village cemetery, where the lid was removed before the burial, revealing the body in a dark blue air force uniform. The collar was turned up, concealing his neck, but a bruise was visible on his nose. Soldiers fired three shots into the air before the casket was closed.
Neighbors said a local priest had visited the family home on Wednesday morning, but had refused to carry out a blessing because he had said suicide was a sin.
Novaya Gazeta newspaper quoted an unidentified uncle as saying Kostenko's body bore wounds inconsistent with hanging.
"He had a broken jaw and the back of his head was bashed in. And his neck was broken," the uncle was quoted as saying. He also said his nephew's nose was broken.
The office of Russia's main military prosecutor said on Wednesday it was still looking into Kostenko's death, but its initial findings were that he had hanged himself. The official reason for his death was asphyxiation.
Vadim's father played down a press report that he wanted a repeat autopsy, saying the family would first wait for the results of an official investigation. Vadim's grandmother said she opposed a second autopsy: "Nobody will disturb him".
Kostenko flew to Syria on Sept. 14, two weeks before the Kremlin launched its air campaign to help President Bashar al-Assad's government. Russia says it is targeting militants from the Islamic State group although most of its strikes have hit areas held by other opponents of Assad.
One military officer who agreed to speak about the circumstances of Kostenko's death on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the body had been found by fellow soldiers at his base in Syria and that it was obvious he had ended his own life. He said that Vadim's phone had 10 unreturned calls on it, which he said were probably to his girlfriend.
Another officer said conditions at the Syrian base were comfortable.
(Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe and Peter Graff)
 

Serena Williams Dumps Drake, Dating Co-Founder Of Reddit — Meet Her New Boyfriend

Wed, October 28, 2015 10:07am EDT by gabriellaginsberg

 

Match point! Serena Williams has ended things with Drake. Good for her, since we hear that Drake has refused to make a commitment. Now Serena has reportedly moved on with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Get the details on their budding romance right here!
Serena Williams, 33 and Drake, 29, are over. She’s now been getting flirty with Alexis Ohanian, 32, best known as one of the co-founders of “the front page of the internet”. A new report has all the info on Serena and her new beau!

Yep, Serena has dumped Drake and is now dating Reddit OG Alexis Ohanian, as Us Weekly reports: “They met at a lunch. It’s new,” a source tells the mag. Another insider tells the mag that Serena’s relationship with Drake was just a “flirty friendship”, and Serena’s way more smitten with Alexis — she even brought him to her workout at the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics on Oct. 24, Us reports. “He called her babe and they held hands,” a witness says. The mag also reveals that Alexis “said he’d never been into tennis until they started dating”! Well, he certainly is now.


So who is Alexis Ohanian? Well, he’s a 32-year-old, Brooklyn-based internet entrepreneur, activist and investor with a net worth of $4 millon. He started reddit.com in 2005 with his friend Steve Huffman, and the site was acquired by Conde Nast in 2006. Alexis has given TED talks and is considered the “Mayor of the Internet”. Serena definitely has great taste!
Looks like she’s totally over Drake, and we’ve learned that the report that Serena is expecting a child — Drake’s child, to be specific — is not true. As we previously told you, Drake was a bit of a player anyway:  “He is [not] committed to only her, and enjoys the variety life brings in the women department,” a source told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “He will always be a player first.”
 read main story
 

Barcelona Transfer News: Huge Lionel Messi and Neymar Exit Rumours

bleacherreport.com By Matt Jones , Featured Columnist Oct 28, 2015

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

 

 

 

 

It’s almost unsettling to imagine Barcelona icon Lionel Messi in the colours of any club team other than the Blaugrana, but there’s never been a more realistic chance of the 28-year-old leaving the Camp Nou, according to reports.

Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague relayed those details, telling Revista Bitesize (h/t Sky Sports), “It is the closest he's ever been to leaving Barcelona. It doesn't mean he will, but it is the closest he has ever been to leaving the club.”
Graham Hunter went on to note that an ongoing investigation into the player’s tax activities, which could see Messi jailed for up to 22 months if found guilty, may have made the forward more open to a potential move away from Catalonia.
Hunter touched upon the accusations Messi sought to defraud the Spanish tax authorities as a factor that could be pushing him out the door:

The climate, not just at the Camp Nou but in Catalonia, is probably enough to make him and his family scratch their heads and wonder.
I guess at his age... maybe you start to look at your next move and you think your next move at 28 is vitally important. 
Do I stay? Do I look at pastures new? I wouldn't pretend to know what he's going to do but at this stage of his life and with Barcelona run in the way that it is, I think it's a story of merit. It's something I guess you and I will be talking about for months to come.

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

 

As noted in the piece from Sky Sports, the Sun recently reported three English teams—Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea—all made tentative enquiries to Messi’s representatives about the prospect of a transfer. The Premier League trio are certainly clubs with a lucrative pull that could potentially lure Messi too.
But Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu recently said anyone who believes these rumours should be “embarrassed,” per Marc Williams of the Daily Star. According to Sport, the Blaugrana want Messi to retire with them and are preparing a new contract for the forward despite an extension only being agreed in May 2014.
Most of the club's supporters are sure to be delighted to hear talks could be imminent over a new deal. Spanish football expert Sergi Dominguez doesn’t feel as though there is much to the stories linking Messi with a move away anyway


Indeed, losing Messi could be catastrophic for Barcelona and they’ll be hoping the situation surrounding his tax activities is resolved swiftly, allowing him to get back to full fitness. The longer this goes on, the more likely it is stories will continue to swirl about his future.
Encouragingly for Barcelona, the club’s other two attacking crown jewels, Neymar and Luis Suarez, have stepped up in the absence of the Argentina international. However, the former has also been linked with a move away from the Camp Nou.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

 

Neymar has been superb since Messi picked up his injury.

According to Don Balon (h/t Will Giles of Metro), the Brazilian wants a transfer as he seeks to fulfil his ambition of becoming the best player in the world. Giles wrote that Neymar has concerns about escaping Messi’s shadow and United would be a team, after showing interest in the summer, keen to sign the former Santos man.
As we can see here courtesy of Squawka Football, with Messi currently sidelined with injury problems, Neymar has stepped up in emphatic style.

Even though Messi will be the main man in Catalonia for a while yet, there have been few signs from the Brazilian that he’s unhappy with this dynamic. It seems as though Neymar enjoys playing alongside a genuine great of the sport and his game has improved massively over the course of the last couple of seasons as a result.
Eventually Neymar will have eyes for becoming the finest footballer in the world, but there’s no reason why he can’t do so at Barcelona. There will come a day when Messi will either leave or have his role reduced in significance, and the club’s current No. 11 is arguably the finest candidate in world football to fill such a massive void.  see more