| Live from CPAC, it’s Bannon and Priebus Posted: 23 Feb 2017 01:05 PM PST  Polished White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and pugnacious chief presidential strategist Steve Bannon took their strained buddy routine to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, reminiscing about Donald Trump's election victory, promising revolutionary change in Washington, denying their ongoing West Wing power struggle and — naturally — bashing the news media. Bannon, the rumpled adviser who never tires of calling reporters "the opposition party," lasted not quite three and a half minutes after their awkward opening handshake before making sure everyone in the room knew that he was the scrappy one and the former Republican National Committee chairman was the softy. Priebus had just dismissed news reports about their rivalry as all just a big "misconception" and had embarked on a chummy description of their work day just a stumble away from the Oval Office — "we share an office suite together, we're basically together from 6:30 in the morning until about 11 o'clock at night" — when Bannon cut in.
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| Vice President Pence downplays concerns over disruptions to health care Posted: 23 Feb 2017 06:27 PM PST  Vice President Mike Pence dismissed concerns Thursday about the pace of Republican plans to repeal and replace the health care law passed by Democrats under President Barack Obama, promising an "orderly transition" to a new system. It was the only comment by Pence in a 20-minute speech that went beyond boilerplate rhetoric and touched on challenges facing the new administration.
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| Tesla Reports Loss for Q4, Looks to 2017 For Growth Posted: 22 Feb 2017 06:54 PM PST  A merger with Solar City, expansion into the energy storage market, and roll out of Model 3 and solar roof makes for a busy 2017.
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| Florida Police Officer Charged With Manslaughter Posted: 23 Feb 2017 11:12 AM PST  The officer had shot and killed a 73-year-old woman during a public demonstration in August.
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| India police arrest cheap mobile maker on fraud charges Posted: 24 Feb 2017 12:14 AM PST  LUCKNOW, India (AP) — The director of an Indian company that claimed it was selling the world's cheapest smartphone was arrested Thursday on fraud charges, police said Friday.
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| Activist heroically flies over barricade to seize Confederate flag Posted: 23 Feb 2017 02:16 PM PST  By climbing a flagpole outside the South Carolina's statehouse, Bree Newsome practically wrote the modern book on removing Confederate flags from public spaces. Apparently, not everyone read that book, so now we have a sequel. Black Lives Matter activist Muhiyidin d'Baha was arrested on Wednesday in South Carolina after epically leaping over a police tape barricade to snatch a Confederate flag out of a protestor's hand. Since it took place directly behind a CBS newscast, the stunning moment aired on live TV — the cameraman followed d'Baha as he quickly ran across the shot. SEE ALSO: How Black Lives Matter made the leap from social media to social action Check out the unbelievable moment here. Protester jumps barricade and attempts to get Confederate flag from man #chsnews pic.twitter.com/hTBql8qS9Z — Ray Rivera (@RayRiveraLive5) February 22, 2017 The flag was held by a member of the South Carolina Secessionist Party, protesting outside of the College of Charleston's Sottile Theatre, at an event featuring Newsome, an African-American activist, filmmaker and one of the driving forces behind the South Carolina state government's decision to permanently remove the Confederate flag from Capitol grounds. D'Baha was counter-protesting the demonstration when he dove over the police tape, and is now being lauded on Twitter for his remarkable act of resistance. This is Muhiyidin d'Baha, a #blacklivesmatter organizer and, like Bree Newsome, a #RoleModel and #hero. Conviction and courage in action. https://t.co/UgZ3ZVfWs5 — Donald Deeley (@DonaldJDeeley) February 23, 2017 @RayRiveraLive5 Somebody give that young man a medal. He's definitely doing great work. — JL Sigman (@JLSigman) February 23, 2017 That's the shit right there. No place for the confederate flag to be used like that in the US nowadays. We live in 2017, not 1862. https://t.co/uGDpCj2sDX — Jeff (@Vivalawino) February 23, 2017 the guy snatching the confederate flag is a hero, he didn't deserve to be arrested — ️ (@PRINCESSYIXING) February 23, 2017 Not all heroes wear capes @RayRiveraLive5https://t.co/2uw64XNBTu — Melanin God™ (@TrueTashan) February 23, 2017 D'Baha, our new personal hero, was arrested after his leap for justice, and reportedly charged with disorderly conduct by the Charleston Police Department. Advocacy group Showing Up For Racial Justice Charleston has set up a crowdfunding page to raise money for d'Baha's bail, already garnering over $12,000 of their $12,500 goal. D'Baha, you are an inspiration to us all. We leave you with this perfect tweet. @RayRiveraLive5 Racist's worst nightmare coming true. "My God, it's happening," he thinks as a flying black activist appears out of nowhere — Olivia Rodricks (@olivia_rodricks) February 23, 2017 BONUS: Trevor Noah has a lesson on how to talk to conservatives
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| Kellyanne Conway touts ‘conservative feminism’ at CPAC Posted: 23 Feb 2017 08:43 AM PST  Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway promoted herself as a model for an alternative to modern, progressive feminism. "I look at myself as a product of my choices, not as a victim of my circumstances, and that's what conservative feminism is all about," Conway said.
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| Resistance Report: Tom Cotton’s master class in holding a town hall Posted: 23 Feb 2017 08:21 AM PST  ON THE TOWN. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas held a town hall for the ages in Springdale, Ark., Wednesday night, drawing pointed questions from an Obamacare supporter, a Lutheran pastor, a descendent of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a 7-year-old boy.
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| The Maha Shivaratri Hindu festival Posted: 24 Feb 2017 06:58 AM PST ![The Maha Shivaratri Hindu festival]( "The Maha Shivaratri Hindu festival") Maha Shivaratri, or the night of Shiva, is a festival celebrated annually in honor of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of death and destruction. See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr
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| ‘Truly heartbroken’: Sean Hannity honors longtime friend Alan Colmes after death at 66 Posted: 23 Feb 2017 09:57 AM PST  Fox News host Sean Hannity paid tribute to his longtime friend and colleague Alan Colmes on Thursday after the liberal commentator's death at 66. According to a statement released by his family, Colmes passed away Thursday morning after a brief illness and leaves behind his wife Jocelyn Elise Crowley. Hannity and Colmes rose to national prominence as co-hosts of the Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes," which ran from 1996 until 2009.
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| Turkey-backed Syria rebels seize battleground town from IS Posted: 23 Feb 2017 08:36 AM PST  Al-Bab (Syria) (AFP) - Turkish-backed Syrian rebels said Thursday they had fully captured the town of Al-Bab from the Islamic State group, marking a key defeat for the jihadists after weeks of heavy fighting. As Ankara said its allies now had "near complete control" of the town, a fresh round of peace talks opened between the Syrian opposition and regime in Geneva. Al-Bab, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the last IS stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.
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| The Latest: Doctor says 1 shooting victim doing 'fairly well Posted: 24 Feb 2017 03:43 PM PST  OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly shooting at a Kansas bar that some witnesses said was racially motivated (all times local):
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| Housing Bubble Ahead? Analysts Don't Think So Posted: 23 Feb 2017 12:49 PM PST ![Housing Bubble Ahead? Analysts Don't Think So]( "Housing Bubble Ahead? Analysts Don't Think So") Home prices rose again last year, and the housing market is starting off 2017 at a brisk clip. According to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data, which includes the 20 largest U.S. cities, home prices regained their 2007 peak late last year and increased 5.6 percent from November 2015 to November 2016 -- the latest figure available. Zillow's Home Value Index, which measures median home value nationwide, predicts its index will reach the 2007 level this spring.
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| Trumpism versus conservatism at CPAC Posted: 23 Feb 2017 03:59 PM PST  NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — "Conservatism" will be supplanted by "Trumpism" when the president speaks Friday at the annual gathering of right-wing activists known as CPAC — the Conservative Political Action Conference — Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway predicted Thursday. "This will be TPAC when he's here, no doubt," Conway quipped.
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| Pope Francis Speaks Out Against Catholics Leading 'Double Lives' Posted: 23 Feb 2017 01:00 PM PST  He delivered a strong message against hypocritical Catholics during a Thursday mass in Rome.
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| Pipeline fights move from Dakota prairie to Louisiana bayous Posted: 23 Feb 2017 04:35 PM PST ![Pipeline fights move from Dakota prairie to Louisiana bayous]( "Pipeline fights move from Dakota prairie to Louisiana bayous") (This story corrects paragraph 37 to say $12,000 instead of $1,200 in Feb 22 story.) By Liz Hampton HENDERSON, Louisiana (Reuters) - When Hope Rosinski's father gave her a six-acre plot in Louisiana more than a decade ago, she was surprised to find oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing the property. Pipeline companies later secured her permission for two more lines, one of which has since caused flooding and consistently leaves her land saturated. Rosinski is fighting the latest request for a right-of-way, this time from Energy Transfer Partners - the company behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.
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| Syria peace talks struggle as bomb kills dozens Posted: 24 Feb 2017 11:10 AM PST  The UN struggled on Friday to get a new round of Syrian peace talks off the ground, but with few signs of progress as dozens more civilian deaths underlined the scale of the challenge. The UN's Syria envoy, who brought rival regime and opposition delegates symbolically together late Thursday, held separate meetings with them Friday to hammer out the talks' format. "We discussed issues relating to the format of the talks exclusively," said Syrian regime delegation chief Bashar al-Jaafari after meeting de Mistura.
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| Here’s why it's so frickin’ hot right now Posted: 23 Feb 2017 03:36 PM PST  There's something about a warm February day that reminds you that something just isn't right. It gives you that nagging feeling that maybe global warming is real after all. February 2016 has featured prolonged warm weather the likes of which many areas have not seen before, or have only experienced on rare occasions. Taken as a whole, the month-to-date in the U.S. has seen a ridiculously lopsided ratio of daily record highs to daily record lows, which is a key indicator of short-term weather variability and, over the longer term, human-caused climate change. SEE ALSO: Seth Meyers interviews 'rogue' climate scientist worried about Trump For individual days' worth of warm weather, you mainly have the jet stream to thank. This current of fast-moving air at about 35,000 feet above the ground has been steering a never-ending series storms into the West Coast, where California's mountains have picked up a crazy 500 inches of snow so far, and then moved across the U.S. in a way that has cut off flow of frigid air from the Arctic. While transient weather variability is playing a key role here, the widespread record warmth across the U.S. so far this year is part of a long-term trend toward more warm temperature records versus cold ones. Me enjoying this weather but knowing our Earth is danger pic.twitter.com/Jy6bINvZ6C — breanna (@bre_lliant) February 19, 2017 This February offers a vivid illustration of this trend. Through Feb. 22, daily record highs have been blowing away daily record lows by a greater than 100-to-1 ratio, which, if it holds for a few more days, would itself set a record. (Although it might need an asterisk, considering the short calendar month.) And it's not the daily records that are most impressive, but rather the number of monthly records that are being tied or broken from the Gulf Coast all the way to the Midwest and northeastward into Canada. During the past week alone (not including Feb. 23), there were 736 daily record highs set or tied in the U.S., compared to zero daily record lows for the same period. Even more startling is the number of record warm overnight temperatures set or tied in the past seven days, which total a whopping 940. There were no record cold overnight low temperatures set or tied during the same period. And the monthly records, which are far harder to break than daily milestones, are astounding. Temperature anomaly across North America for Feb. 19 as seen through the GFS computer model. Image: weatherbell analytics According to the National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) in Asheville, North Carolina, February has seen 248 monthly record highs set or tied, along with 203 records set or tied for the warmest overnight minimum temperature. In comparison, there were no monthly cold temperature records set or tied through Feb. 22. These figures do not include records that have been broken on Thursday, which so far include 69 degrees Fahrenheit in Albany, 63 in Toronto, Canada, and 62 in Burlington, Vermont, both of which were monthly records. On Wednesday, the record warmth was centered across the Midwest, where the three major cities in Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay), all saw temperatures hit record highs for not just February, but for any month during meteorological winter, which encompasses the months of December, January and February. Milwaukee, for example, broke its monthly all-time record high for February when the temperature reached 71 degrees Fahrenheit, and Madison set a monthly record with a high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Chicago hit 70° today for the 5th time during Feb. since 1871. Also happened Saturday. Highest Feb. temp of 75° (2/27/1976) in jeopardy Wed. — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) February 20, 2017 In Ottumwa, Iowa, where the ground would normally be snow-covered this time of year, the high on Wednesday was 79 degrees, which set a monthly record as well. Some cities set records for the longest stretch of February warmth they've seen, including Kansas City, which set a seven-day February warmth record on Wednesday, according to weather.com. On Monday, Chicago had a high temperature of 70 degrees, which was only the fifth time that has happened in any February in the "Windy City." (The fourth time also came this February.) The warm weather in the Midwest was enabled by a marked lack of snow cover and lake ice across the Great Lakes, which allowed air temperatures to soar on mild southwesterly winds for days on end. As of Feb. 22, just 19.1 percent of the lower 48 states were snow-covered, far below average for this time of year. While cold air is staging a comeback across the Midwest, where heavy snow is predicted to fall from Nebraska into Wisconsin, much of the South and East is likely to stay milder than average for at least a few more days. Where's the snow? Image: noaa The warm weather in the U.S. hasn't been a freak phenomenon only occurring for the past few weeks, either. The year-to-date is averaging a record daily highs to record daily lows ratio of more than 4-to-1, and studies have shown that over the past several decades, human-caused global warming has increased the odds of warm temperature records so that these ratios are becoming more and more skewed. And the warmth isn't just limited to the U.S., either, with the planet recording its 3rd-warmest January on record, after its warmest year so far in 2016. This continues the long-term warming of about 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit since reliable surface temperatures began in 1880. As the planet warms in response to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the ratio of high temperature records compared to low temperature records has become more skewed. If the climate weren't warming, that long-term ratio should average out to about 1-to-1. However, that isn't the world we're living in. A 2009 study found that the record highs to lows ratio was 2-to-1 for the lower 48 states during the 2000s, and this disparity has only grown since then, though not evenly across every part of the country. Projections show the imbalance increasing in coming decades as global warming continues, possibly to as high as 15-to-1 if emissions of planet-warming pollutants such as carbon dioxide continue apace. "One thing I remind myself when comparing contemporary events to trends or patterns is that the contemporary events themselves make up the trends and patterns," said Deke Arndt, who leads the climate monitoring branch at NCEI. "This is a real-time view into what we will call "recent trends" in a few years." "This week has been an up close look at the DNA of what we are seeing in the big picture: relative to historical norms, extreme heat continues to outpace extreme cold across almost every place, season and time of day in the USA." While individual months will still vary from this trend, it's clear that over the long-term, the ratio of record highs to record lows is now strongly favoring record highs as well as record warm overnight temperatures. This is consistent with computer model projections of a warming world. In other words, if you like 70-degree February days in Washington, D.C., you're in luck. The odds are (increasingly) ever in your favor. BONUS: 2016 was Earth's warmest year on record, continuing a three-year streak
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| NASA's Jupiter-circling spacecraft stuck making long laps Posted: 23 Feb 2017 09:10 AM PST  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's Jupiter-circling spacecraft is stuck making long laps around the gas giant because of sticky valves.
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| Hard landing as plane skids on Dutch runway in raging winds Posted: 23 Feb 2017 10:50 AM PST  A passenger plane skidded along a runway at Amsterdam's busy airport Thursday as its landing gear collapsed on hitting the ground during heavy winds, but no passengers were injured, officials told AFP. Video images of the Flybe plane carrying 59 passengers and crew from Edinburgh showed the plane struggling to stay on course as it came in to land at Schiphol airport, with The Netherlands buffeted by a strong winter storm. Airport officials said they were still investigating the cause of the incident.
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| Where does the Trump saga end? Posted: 23 Feb 2017 02:00 AM PST  Which is strange, because normally you wouldn't be idly speculating about the end of a presidency barely a month after the inauguration. Certainly, in parts of the country that voted overwhelmingly for Trump, the sense is he's just getting started.
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| Citizen Sleuths Spring Into Action in Indiana Murder Mystery as Reward Reaches $50G Posted: 23 Feb 2017 12:58 PM PST  Everyday people are springing to action a day after haunting audio of the killer was released by authorities.
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| Officials in legal pot state vow to fight federal crackdown Posted: 24 Feb 2017 12:51 AM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials in Washington state, where recreational marijuana is legal, vow to fight any federal crackdown on the nascent industry after White House spokesman Sean Spicer said they should expect to see stepped-up enforcement of anti-pot laws.
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| Olathe Restaurant Shooting Suspect Arrested Posted: 22 Feb 2017 11:20 PM PST  A massive manhunt was launched by the Kansas police after a gunman yelling racial slurs in a restaurant shot three people.
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| Race for DNC chair narrows Posted: 24 Feb 2017 11:28 AM PST  ABC News' MaryAlice Parks talks with DNC chair hopeful Pete Buttigieg and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.
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| Trump vows military build-up, hammers nationalist themes Posted: 24 Feb 2017 01:59 PM PST ![Trump vows military build-up, hammers nationalist themes]( "Trump vows military build-up, hammers nationalist themes") By Emily Stephenson and Steve Holland NATIONAL HARBOR, Md./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said he would make a massive budget request for one of the "greatest military buildups in American history" on Friday in a feisty, campaign-style speech extolling robust nationalism to eager conservative activists. Trump used remarks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an organization that gave him one of his first platforms in his improbable journey to the U.S. presidency, to defend his unabashed "America first" policies. Ahead of a nationally televised speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump outlined plans for strengthening the U.S. military, already the world's most powerful fighting force, and other initiatives such as tax reform and regulatory rollback.
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| Uber, 1Password, Fitbit and OKCupid user data exposed by massive security flaw Posted: 24 Feb 2017 08:28 AM PST 
The good news is that hackers do not appear to have taken advantage of a severe Cloudflare security bug that would have given them access to sensitive customer data including passwords and authentication tokens. The bad news is that the bug was only recently discovered, which means it went undetected for nearly five months. Cloudflare is a content delivery serviced used by more than 5.5 million sites, including plenty of popular ones that you might use on a regular basis such as Uber, 1Password, Fitbit and OKCupid. In other words, it's probably a good idea to change your passwords immediately. The bug was initially discovered by Google's Project Zero security researcher Tavis Ormandy, Ars Technica explains. He then contacted Cloudflare once he realized what he discovered, comparing it to Heartbleed in scope and severity. The company promptly fixed the issue. "The bug was serious because the leaked memory could contain private information and because it had been cached by search engines," Cloudflare CTO John Graham-Cumming wrote in a post on the company blog. "We are disclosing this problem now as we are satisfied that search engine caches have now been cleared of sensitive information. We have also not discovered any evidence of malicious exploits of the bug or other reports of its existence." The security bug could have exposed plenty of user data, including passwords, cookies, tokens used to authenticate users, and even Cloudflare's encryption keys used to protect server-to-server traffic. And all that data was then cached by search engines including Google, Yahoo, and Bing, which would have given hackers nearly live access to the data. Even though Cloudflare acknowledged the issue, Ormandy took issue with the company's disclosure. "It contains an excellent postmortem, but severely downplays the risk to customers," he wrote in an update. He was also the one to mention the names of the companies that may have been affected by security breaches in a Twitter message. https://twitter.com/taviso/status/834900838837411840 1Password said in a blog post that thanks to its triple encryption layer, no sensitive data was ever exposed to hackers.
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| Video of 'chubby' tigers taking down a drone may be way darker than you think Posted: 23 Feb 2017 09:30 PM PST  A video of "chubby" Siberian tigers taking down a drone, complete with a silly soundtrack — like so much viral content — is more than what it seems. While the video's been shared far and wide, but the origins of the footage have been a cause for concern for a while now. SEE ALSO: Watch a bunch of chubby tigers take down a drone and try to eat it As science journalist John R. Platt tweeted, the footage is "obviously a tiger farm." Reminder: China has an estimated *7* wild tigers left. Many more in this video = obviously a tiger farm. They'll be turned into bone & wine https://t.co/7hxmkSDei2 — John R Platt (@johnrplatt) February 23, 2017 While the name of the park isn't mentioned in the description of the videos (as to avoid searching of the park's record according to Platt,) the location is. Heilongjiang Province in China is the home of Harbin Siberian Tiger Park. It's one of the two biggest tiger-breeding facilities in the country, according to a 2013 report on the country's clandestine tiger trade by the Environmental Investigation Agency. The park is advertised as a tourist attraction, where visitors can offer meat and even live animals, to the tigers. As per a report by McClatchy, the number of visitors doesn't cover the cost of feeding or breeding hundreds of tigers each year. The real money comes from the sale of tiger pelts, tiger bone wine, and other products that have been banned in China. McClatchy visited Harbin Siberian Tiger Park, and reported bottles of tiger bone wine on display — albeit not advertised as tiger bone wine, but some had images of tigers on the packaging. Some of these "bone strengthening wines" advertise the use of tiger bone in its manufacture to distinguish itself from other wines in its category, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency's report. The same park was under scrutiny after conservation groups were outraged at images of obese tigers, thought to be seriously ill. Last word on tiger-drone video: Chinese media often share cute tiger videos. They're all propaganda to hide the reality of tiger farms. — John R Platt (@johnrplatt) February 24, 2017 Since 1993, there has been a ban on the trade of tiger bones, but the state has encouraged the growth of tiger farms. In 2007, India and the UK called on China to ban tiger farms due to concerns over the impact it had on the wild population. [h/t Motherboard] BONUS: This organization is providing kids with 3D-printed prosthetics — free of charge
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| Iraq air force strikes IS targets in Syria Posted: 24 Feb 2017 11:58 AM PST  The Iraqi air force struck members of the Islamic State group inside neighbouring Syria on Friday, officials said, adding that the targeted militants were responsible for recent bombings in Baghdad. The strike was announced by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a statement and is believed to be the first of its kind by Iraqi jets on Syrian territory. "We ordered the air force command to strike Daesh terrorist sites in Husseibeh and Albu Kamal, in Syrian territory," the premier said, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist organisation.
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| Couple with Down Syndrome to Celebrate 22nd Anniversary: 'I've Never Seen Love Like It' Posted: 23 Feb 2017 03:59 PM PST  Defying criticism, a couple with Down syndrome has been married for nearly 22 years.
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| South Africa anti-immigrant protests erupt in capital Posted: 24 Feb 2017 08:41 AM PST  PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannon Friday as the latest wave of anti-immigrant protests broke out in South Africa's capital, while President Jacob Zuma condemned the violence but said his country's migrant burden is bigger than Europe's.
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| Japan Urges Fukushima Residents To Return To Nuclear Site Posted: 23 Feb 2017 09:35 PM PST  The government will lift the evacuation order from the village of Iitate despite "unacceptable radiation risk," following the March 2011 nuclear disaster, Greenpeace said.
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| Woman who drove with man body on windshield gets 25 to life Posted: 23 Feb 2017 06:09 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California substance-abuse counselor who hit a man with her car and drove two miles with his body embedded in her windshield was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison.
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| Understanding which wireless network is actually the best Posted: 23 Feb 2017 02:01 PM PST 
Every year, a bunch of different studies come out that crown a winner, the "best network" in the USA. Each study claims to use the best, most scientific methodology to give "unrivaled accuracy" or "undisputed results," or something else equally quotable. But if the studies are so good, why do they give such different results? Take a study published today by RootMetrics, which has Verizon in first place and T-Mobile in last. That's in stark contrast to a study last month from OpenSignal, which had T-Mobile and Verizon tied for first and Sprint languishing in last place. The reason for the difference is that measuring cellphone networks is hard. We're talking about trying to quantify a network that stretches across the entire country, works on tens of thousands of different devices and in all kinds of terrain. Trying to measure that, assign each of the big four wireless networks an easy-to-understand score and publish results in a 300-word blog post is basically impossible.
RootMetrics and OpenSignal are two good examples of the most common approach to actually measuring network signal and speed (as opposed to something like Nielsen, which surveys users for their perception of their network). RootMetrics buys devices and sends testers out to set locations, where they test all the networks head-to-head and record the results. It's known in the industry as drive-testing, and has some major advantages: it pits the networks head-to-head, it's repeatable, and by controlling the number of tests, the location, and the testing device, you remove most of the variability in the testing. OpenSignal takes a completely different approach. Rather than sending employees out with test devices, it encourages users to download an app. Users then conduct speed tests and coverage tests as they go about their day-to-day lives, and the data is uploaded to OpenSignal. Compared to drive-testing, it's less repeatable and less "scientific." But it also has the advantage of sheer numbers: hundreds of thousands of OpenSignal users submitted billions of data points for their last test. That means OpenSignal is more likely to be representative of day-to-day performance of a network, as it's measuring the actual day-to-day performance of users -- not a statistical representation of the average day. Yes, there are flaws in OpenSignal's methodology too. Users are more likely to be on a network that works in their area, so you're less likely to get data from areas that have no coverage. If a small town somewhere only gets Verizon signal, then everyone in that town is going to be on Verizon, and you're not going to get a bunch of tests that show no signal for T-Mobile. There's also questions about demographics: wealthier people with nicer smartphones are more likely to be on expensive networks like Verizon and AT&T, which means more Sprint and T-Mobile users would be on older smartphones, which in turn are slower than newer devices on the same network. The end result is that no one method is perfect, and it's important to look at a range of results rather than just one test. For the majority of users, I tend to suspect that crowd-sourced testing like OpenSignal will be more representative, but without seeing the precise data set and methodology of all the studies (for example, the RootScores that RootMetrics provides are calculated using a proprietary algorithm) it's difficult to make a call one way or the other. There is one thing that prospective customers can check, though: local coverage maps. Quantifying a cell network across a country is hard, but getting data on coverage on a particular street is comparatively easy. OpenSignal excels at this, thanks to the crowd-sourced data, and its coverage map should be the first thing you check when you're thinking about switching networks.
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| India is so tired and so overworked Posted: 24 Feb 2017 05:39 AM PST  We told you that our lack of sleep is costing the world billions of dollars. We also told you that Gen-Z might be the most hardworking people ever. Now it's time to put the spotlight on India — a country of 1.3 billion people with 65% below the age of 35. SEE ALSO: Facebook's new bereavement leave raises an important point about grief in the workplace In short: India is tired, overworked, sleep-starved and vacation-deprived. Here are 5 stats that show India needs to up its work-like balance game: 1. Almost a quarter (22%) of Indians are concerned about being tired. That is their biggest health concern, this report says. Image: Shutterstock / lenetstan 2. Indian millennials reportedly spend 52 hours a week at work, the highest in the world. The average for the US is 45 and the UK is 41. Image: Shutterstock / Elnur 3. An average employee works around 2,195 hours every year, more than those in most countries. Image: Shutterstock / WeStudio 4. In big cities like Mumbai, some spend up to 8 hours a day commuting to-and-from work. Image: Shutterstock / Constantin Stanciu 5. India is the 4th most vacation-deprived country in the world, as this study reveals. Image: Shutterstock / MihaPater Seriously India, just take a break! BONUS: This social experiment takes a poignant look at academic pressure placed on students
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| Russia lays to rest late ambassador Churkin with full honours Posted: 24 Feb 2017 04:31 AM PST  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the country's ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin who died suddenly on Monday, aged 64, was an outstanding diplomat as officials pay their respects at sombre memorial ceremony in Moscow. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)
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| 22 Ingenious Ways To Repurpose Old Junk Posted: 24 Feb 2017 02:46 PM PST |
| Palestinians, Israel soldiers clash in West Bank's Hebron Posted: 24 Feb 2017 08:18 AM PST  Hundreds of Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers Friday in the powderkeg West Bank city of Hebron on the anniversary of a 1994 massacre carried out by a far-right Jewish settler. Soldiers fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the crowd as cannons doused them with stinking water, an AFP correspondent said. Jewish settlers, of whom 500 are entrenched in the centre of the city of around 200,000 Palestinians, hurled stones at the protesters who also pelted soldiers with stones.
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| White House sees greater enforcement on recreational marijuana Posted: 23 Feb 2017 03:47 PM PST ![White House sees greater enforcement on recreational marijuana]( "White House sees greater enforcement on recreational marijuana") The administration of President Donald Trump expects to see greater federal enforcement of laws against the use of marijuana for recreational purposes, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. Asked if the government would take action on recreational marijuana use, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said: "Well I think that's a question for the Department of Justice.
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| Remembering Steve Jobs In 10 Quotes Posted: 24 Feb 2017 07:46 AM PST  The former Apple co-founder and chief executive left a memorable legacy -- and some memorable quotes. Here are 10 quotes in remembrance of Jobs' birthday.
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| Environmental and fishing groups sue to save salmon Posted: 23 Feb 2017 12:36 PM PST  SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Environmental and fishing groups sued the federal government on Thursday as they seek cooler water for salmon in the Columbia River system.
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| Illinois state worker union members approve strike if needed Posted: 23 Feb 2017 10:39 AM PST ![Illinois state worker union members approve strike if needed]( "Illinois state worker union members approve strike if needed") Illinois could face a shutdown of its state government after its biggest labor union representing state workers said on Thursday its members overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike. Just over 80 percent of members voted in favor of allowing the union's bargaining committee to call a strike if "no other path forward can be found" in reaching a new contract with the state, said Roberta Lynch, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31. The union's 38,000 members, who include prison guards, healthcare providers for veterans and the disabled, child welfare investigators, state highway workers and others, have been without a contract since July 2015.
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| US promises Mexico no mass deportations or military force Posted: 23 Feb 2017 11:40 AM PST  US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly promised Thursday "no mass deportations" or military force against immigrants in the United States despite a crackdown on those in the country illegally. "There will be no, repeat no mass deportations", Kelly told a news conference in Mexico City after meeting with Mexican ministers. The meetings aimed to calm diplomatic tensions with Mexico, which has been targeted by President Donald Trump with a hard line on trade and immigration.
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