HP Pocket Playlist

The HP Pocket Playlist ($129 direct) is a 32GB flash drive that can be used to carry extra media files that won't fit on your phone or tablet. Whether it's because you bought the cheaper 8GB phone, or that your 64GB of stoarage space is already filled up, The Pocket Playlist is can hold movies, music, and photos that can be shared with a half-dozen friends simultaneously. All in all it's not bad if all you need is a pocket full of Marvel comic book movies, but you'll probably get a better bang for the buck from a hard drive-equipped media drive.

Design and Features
The Pocket Playlist is about the size of a mid-tier smartphone, measuring 0.35 by 2.5 by 4.75 inches (HWD), and it looks like one too, albeit one without a screen. Its casing is made of glossy black polycarbonate, with three physical switches and buttons on one edge, and two LED indicators for power and Wi-Fi status. It only weighs 2.24 ounces, so it will slip easily into your jeans pocket and not weigh it down too much. Last but not least, there's a micro-USB port on the bottom of the drive, for charging and transferring your content. The Pocket Playlist is similar in size to the Kingston Wi-Drive ($129.99): both are flash storage-based wireless drives. The Pocket Playlist comes with both an AC adapter and a car charger to keep the internal battery topped up.

The Pocket Playlist comes with an installer CD, which puts a copy of Arcsoft Media Converter on your PC. You can then use Media Converter to transcode media files like videos so they will play on your mobile devices. The program has presets for iOS devices, as well as generic settings for Android phones and tablets. If your files are in iTunes or another media library they most likely are already in the correct format. Copying files to the Pocket Playlist is a simple drag-and-drop affair, open the drive in Windows Explorer or in Mac OS Finder and copy stuff over manually via USB or wirelessly (more on that below). The drive is formatted FAT32, so it will work with both Mac OS and Windows out of the box. However, since the drive is FAT32, you're limited to a 4GB file size. Other wireless media drives like the Editors' Choice for wireless media drives Seagate Wireless Plus ($199.99) come formatted NTFS to allow for larger files. The Seagate comes with an NTFS utility for Macs, so Mac users aren't in a bind there. Seagate also packs in a media sync utility, so you don't have to search your computer for media files to put on your wireless drive.

To get the files over, you need to either connect the drive physically via USB or use the drive's built-in Wi-Fi router to connect to its built-in network. Wi-Fi is obviously slower, but is usable out in the field when you don't have the USB cable handy. One nit to pick is the physical switch that denotes operation via USB or Wi-Fi. If you put the drive in your bag and the switch is in the wrong position, you'll have to take it back out to use the drive over Wi-Fi. Drives like this should be intelligent enough to know which connection is active.

If you are using a portable or permanent hotspot, you can set the Pocket Playlist to pass Internet traffic through. Essentially, this means that the Pocket Playlist is connected to the hotspot and you phones and tablets are hooked to the Pocket Playlist. It's a good workaround that lets you still connect to the Internet while sharing the files on the drive. If you're in the middle of nowhere with no Internet signal, you can still serve the files locally to your devices.

A plus in favor of the Pocket Playlist is the drive's self-cataloging. You can drop files several folders deep on the drive, and the built-in file server will pick them out and display them in categories (movies, photos, music) on the Pocket Playlist's Android or iOS app. This is a better way to navigate your media files, and much better than the method on the Corsair Voyager Air ($219.99), which requires you to manually dig and find files in individual folders strewn about the drive.

The HP Pocket Playlist is a lightweight wireless media drive for people that need just a bit more storage for their smartphones and tablets. It can be used while travelling, or to share a media among a small group of people in an office or coffee shop. It's not bad, but there are better solutions like the Editors' Choice Seagate Wireless Plus that gives you a full Terabyte of storage and much better file management.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP Pocket Playlist with several other hard drive side by side.

More hard drive reviews:
??? HP Pocket Playlist
??? Corsair Voyager Air
??? Seagate Wireless Plus
??? Apricorn Aegis Bio 3.0
??? Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S3D7
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/c6NbZIAZ_CM/0,2817,2417221,00.asp

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Elite 8 Begins With Big East Matchup And Cinderella Story On Saturday

The Elite Eight features lottery picks, blue bloods and fittingly, a Cinderella not quite ready to go home. Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams and Ohio State's Deshaun Thomas might be the two best players left in the field not named Trey Burke, yet neither is featured in my key matchups today.

Here are the two matchups to watch on Saturday.

Marquette's Davante Gardner vs. Syracuse Bigs

Naturally, Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams is a budding star at point guard, but the battle of the bigs will determine this game. Marquette's Davante Gardner is a load in the paint with surprisingly deft feet for such a big body, but the 'Cuse offers an extreme dose of length. Baye Keita and C.J. Fair are both awesome athletes and talented shot blockers, but Gardner got the best of them in late February. when the 6-foot-8 junior went 7-7 and scored a career-high 26 points.

Speaking of the Syracuse Orangemen -- who lost 74-71 in the teams' only meeting this season -- we turn to the vaunted 2-3 matchup zone, which stymied a super talented Indiana team and kept it to just 50 points, 30 below its season average. As a whole, Marquette's Golden Eagles aren't prolific from a distance, but if you don't at least make a couple early, that zone becomes awfully active.

Wichita State PG Malcolm Armstead vs. Ohio State PG Aaron Craft

Ohio State's Aaron Craft is the best on-ball defender in America alongside Indiana's Victor Oladipo, although he struggled to contain Arizona's Mark Lyons in the half-court. Wichita State's Malcolm Armstead is an elite playmaker whose somewhat awkward lefty game can be extremely tricky to defend.

Wichita State hasn't been to a Final Four since 1965 (its only appearance in program history), but has already defeated Pittsburgh and top seed Gonzaga. Ohio State meanwhile, has posted 11 consecutive victories and has a tremendous toughness about it that Craft fuels. One of the great things about the junior point guard is how well he contains dribble penetration, which is the key to Armstead's scoring ability, because he's such a special finisher in the lane. The Wichita State Shockers are a carbon copy of a classic Big Ten team because of how well they defend in the half-court and how physically they play, but Armstead has to have a 20-plus night in order to spring the upset.

Email me at jordan.schultz@huffingtonpost.com or ask me questions about anything sports-related at @Schultz_Report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/elite-8-saturday_n_2982449.html

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Filipino Catholics crucify themselves

SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) ? Devotees in villages in the northern Philippines took part in a bloody annual ritual to mark Good Friday, a celebration that mixes Roman Catholic devotion and Filipino folk beliefs and sees some reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The crucified devotees spent several minutes nailed to crosses in Pampanga province while thousands of tourists watched and took photos of the spectacle, which the church discourages. Earlier in the day, hooded male penitents trudged through the province's villages under the blazing sun while flagellating their bleeding backs with makeshift whips. Others carried wooden crosses to dramatize Christ's sacrifice.

Devotees undergo the hardships in the belief that such extreme sacrifices are a way to atone for their sins, attain miracle cures for illnesses or give thanks to God.

Alex Laranang, a 58-year-old vendor who was the first to be nailed to a cross Friday, said he was doing it "for good luck and for my family to be healthy."

It was the 27th crucifixion for sign painter Ruben Enaje, 52, one of the most popular penitents from San Pedro Cutud village. He began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building.

Enaje screamed in pain as men dressed as Roman soldiers hammered stainless steel nails into his palms and feet. A wireless microphone carried his voice to loudspeakers for everyone watching to hear.

His cross was raised and he was hanged there for several minutes under the searing afternoon sun before the nails were pulled out and he was taken on a stretcher to a first aid station.

"It's intriguing and fascinating what makes people do something like this, how you can believe so much that you make yourself suffer to that extent," said Dita Tittesass, a tourist from Denmark.

Remigio de la Cruz, the chief of San Pedro Cutud village, explained that the practice began in his village in the 1950s.

Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, told the church-run Radio Veritas that the practice is "not the desire of Jesus Christ."

"We are aware that this has been practiced long before ... but we still hope that this will not be done any more," he said. "We should all concentrate on prayers."

_____

Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this from Manila.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-devotees-reenact-crucifixion-christ-093544016.html

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Veterans fight changes to disability payments

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Veterans groups are rallying to fight any proposal to change disability payments as the federal government attempts to address its long-term debt problem. They say they've sacrificed already.

Government benefits are adjusted according to inflation, and President Barack Obama has endorsed using a slightly different measure of inflation to calculate Social Security benefits. Benefits would still grow but at a slower rate.

Advocates for the nation's 22 million veterans fear that the alternative inflation measure would also apply to disability payments to nearly 4 million veterans as well as pension payments for an additional 500,000 low-income veterans and surviving families.

"I think veterans have already paid their fair share to support this nation," said the American Legion's Louis Celli. "They've paid it in lower wages while serving, they've paid it through their wounds and sacrifices on the battlefield and they're paying it now as they try to recover from those wounds."

Economists generally agree that projected long-term debt increases stemming largely from the growth in federal health care programs pose a threat to the country's economic competitiveness. Addressing the threat means difficult decisions for lawmakers and pain for many constituents in the decades ahead.

But the veterans' groups point out that their members bore the burden of a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the past month, they've held news conferences on Capitol Hill and raised the issue in meetings with lawmakers and their staffs. They'll be closely watching the unveiling of the president's budget next month to see whether he continues to recommend the change.

Obama and others support changing the benefit calculations to a variation of the Consumer Price Index, a measure called "chained CPI." The conventional CPI measures changes in retail prices of a constant marketbasket of goods and services. Chained CPI considers changes in the quantity of goods purchased as well as the prices of those goods. If the price of steak goes up, for example, many consumers will buy more chicken, a cheaper alternative to steak, rather than buying less steak or going without meat.

Supporters argue that chained CPI is a truer indication of inflation because it measures changes in consumer behavior. It also tends to be less than the conventional CPI, which would impact how cost-of-living raises are computed.

Under the current inflation update, monthly disability and pension payments increased 1.7 percent this year. Under chained CPI, those payments would have increased 1.4 percent.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that moving to chained CPI would trim the deficit by nearly $340 billion over the next decade. About two-thirds of the deficit closing would come from less spending and the other third would come from additional revenue because of adjustments that tax brackets would undergo.

Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow in economic studies at The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, said she understands why veterans, senior citizens and others have come out against the change, but she believes it's necessary.

"We are in an era where benefits are going to be reduced and revenues are going to rise. There's just no way around that. We're on an unsustainable fiscal course," Sawhill said. "Dealing with it is going to be painful, and the American public has not yet accepted that. As long as every group keeps saying, 'I need a carve-out, I need an exception,' this is not going to work."

Sawhill argued that making changes now will actually make it easier for veterans in the long run.

"The longer we wait to make these changes, the worse the hole we'll be in and the more draconian the cuts will have to be," she said.

That's not the way Sen. Bernie Sanders sees it. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs said he recently warned Obama that every veterans group he knows of has come out strongly against changing the benefit calculations for disability benefits and pensions by using chained CPI.

"I don't believe the American people want to see our budget balanced on the backs of disabled veterans. It's especially absurd for the White House, which has been quite generous in terms of funding for the VA," said Sanders, I-Vt. "Why they now want to do this, I just don't understand."

Sanders succeeded in getting the Senate to approve an amendment last week against changing how the cost-of-living increases are calculated, but the vote was largely symbolic. Lawmakers would still have a decision to make if moving to chained CPI were to be included as part of a bargain on taxes and spending.

Sanders' counterpart on the House side, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, appears at least open to the idea of going to chained CPI.

"My first priority is ensuring that America's more than 20 million veterans receive the care and benefits they have earned, but with a national debt fast approaching $17 trillion, Washington's fiscal irresponsibility may threaten the very provision of veterans' benefits," Miller said. "Achieving a balanced budget and reducing our national debt will help us keep the promises America has made to those who have worn the uniform, and I am committed to working with Democrats and Republicans to do just that."

Marshall Archer, 30, a former Marine Corps corporal who served two stints in Iraq, has a unique perspective about the impact of slowing the growth of veterans' benefits. He collects disability payments to compensate him for damaged knees and shoulders as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. He also works as a veterans' liaison for the city of Portland, Maine, helping some 200 low-income veterans find housing.

Archer notes that on a personal level, the reduction in future disability payments would also be accompanied down the road by a smaller Social Security check when he retires. That means he would take a double hit to his income.

"We all volunteered to serve, so we all volunteered to sacrifice," he said. "I don't believe that you should ever ask those who have already volunteered to sacrifice to then sacrifice again."

That said, Archer indicated he would be willing to "chip in" if he believes that everyone is required to give as well.

He said he's more worried about the veterans he's trying to help find a place to sleep. About a third of his clients rely on VA pension payments averaging just over $1,000 a month. He said their VA pension allows them to pay rent, heat their home and buy groceries, but that's about it.

"This policy, if it ever went into effect, would actually place those already in poverty in even more poverty," Archer said.

The changes that would occur by using the slower inflation calculation seem modest at first. For a veteran with no dependents who has a 60 percent disability rating, the use of chained CPI this year would have lowered the veteran's monthly payments by $3 a month. Instead of getting $1,026 a month, the veteran would have received $1,023.

Raymond Kelly, legislative director for Veterans of Foreign Wars, acknowledged that veterans would see little change in their income during the first few years of the change. But even a $36 hit over the course of a year is "huge" for many of the disabled veterans living on the edge, he said.

The amount lost over time becomes more substantial as the years go by. Sanders said that a veteran with a 100 percent disability rating who begins getting payments at age 30 would see their annual payments trimmed by more than $2,300 a year when they turn 55.

.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/veterans-fight-changes-disability-payments-070421575--politics.html

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Haim Are Crushing On Aaliyah, Destiny's Child

'We grew up listening to ladies singing R&B,' says Alana Haim.
By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by Dan Solomon

Haim
Photo: MTV

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704413/haim-aaliyah-destinys-child.jhtml

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Touch 'Em All: Baseball playoff games will move to new Fox cable network

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TWiki < TWiki

When it comes to buying a used car from the used car market Exactly where do you Locate Good quality Printing Services? - DEAN LEE:/DEV/WIKI, you will see that you've a number of different choices. Two of one's most typical choices includ...

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Perhaps, the greatest advantageous asset of purchasing a used car from a live used car market is the proven fact that you're able to see the car for yourself. In fact, you are able to often do more than just start to see the car. Several car auction houses or businesses have scheduled inspection classes. These times are where you're in a position to examine each used car that you might be thinking about purchasing, inside and out.

Needless to say, the decision as to whether you would like to get a car from a used car auction or an on the web used car auction is yours to produce, but you should be aware of that many car owners report success when buying from a live car auction. To begin with, you may want to look at the live car or truck auctions published by North Shore Auto Auction. Should you maybe not find what you're looking for, you can then continue to examine your other options; options that may include online used car auctions.

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Source: http://twiki.paraguayeduca.org/bin/view/TWiki/On_the_web_Used_Car_Auctions_Versus_Live_Used_Car_Auctions

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Comings and goings at 'Downton Abbey' next season

This undated publicity photo provided by PBS shows Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, left, and Shirley MacLaine as Martha Levinson from the TV series, "Downton Abbey." Carnival Films and MASTERPIECE on PBS today announced that six new cast names are joining the series plus the return of Shirley MacLaine for next season's finale. The Hollywood star, who reprises her role as Martha Levinson, proved a huge hit with viewers last year. (AP Photo/PBS, Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE, Nick Briggs)

This undated publicity photo provided by PBS shows Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess, left, and Shirley MacLaine as Martha Levinson from the TV series, "Downton Abbey." Carnival Films and MASTERPIECE on PBS today announced that six new cast names are joining the series plus the return of Shirley MacLaine for next season's finale. The Hollywood star, who reprises her role as Martha Levinson, proved a huge hit with viewers last year. (AP Photo/PBS, Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE, Nick Briggs)

This undated publicity photo provided by PBS shows Shirley MacLaine as Martha Levinson from the TV series, "Downton Abbey." Carnival Films and MASTERPIECE on PBS today announced that six new cast names are joining the series plus the return of Shirley MacLaine for next season's finale. The Hollywood star, who reprises her role as Martha Levinson, proved a huge hit with viewers last year. (AP Photo/PBS, Carnival Film & Television Limited 2012 for MASTERPIECE, Nick Briggs)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Shirley MacLaine will be returning to "Downton Abbey" next season, and opera star Kiri Te Kanawa is joining the cast.

MacLaine will reprise her role as Martha Levinson, Lord Robert Crawley's freewheeling American mother-in-law, Carnival Films and "Masterpiece" on PBS said Saturday. MacLaine appeared in episodes early last season.

New Zealand-born soprano Te Kanawa will play a house guest. She will sing during her visit.

Other new cast members and characters include:

? Tom Cullen as Lord Gillingham, described as an old family friend of the Crawleys who visits the family as a guest for a house party (and who might be the one to mend Lady Mary Crawley's broken heart).

? Nigel Harman will play a valet named Green.

? Harriet Walter plays Lady Shackleton, an old friend of the Dowager Countess.

? Joanna David will play a guest role as the Duchess of Yeovil.

? Julian Ovenden is cast as aristocrat Charles Blake.

"The addition of these characters can only mean more delicious drama, which is what 'Downton Abbey' is all about," said "Masterpiece" executive producer Rebecca Eaton.

Meanwhile, the producers have confirmed that villainous housemaid Sarah O'Brien won't be back. Siobhan Finneran, who played her, is leaving the show.

These announcements come shortly after the third season's airing in the United States. It concluded with the heartbreaking death of popular Matthew Crawley in a car crash, leaving behind his newborn child and loving wife, Lady Mary Crawley.

Matthew's untimely demise was the result of the departure from the series by actor Dan Stevens, who had starred in that role.

The third season also saw the shocking death of Lady Sybil Branson, who died during childbirth. She was played by the departing Jessica Brown Findlay.

Last season the wildly popular melodrama, set in early 20th century Britain, was the most-watched series on PBS since Ken Burns' epic "The Civil War," which first aired in 1990. The Nielsen Co. said 8.2 million viewers saw the "Downton" season conclusion.

"Downton Abbey," which airs on the "Masterpiece" anthology, won three Emmy awards last fall, including a best supporting actress trophy for Maggie Smith (the Dowager Countess), who also won a Golden Globe in January.

In all, the series has won nine Emmys, two Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the ensemble cast, which is the first time the cast of a British television show has won this award.

Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter and Brendan Coyle are among its other returning stars.

___

Online:

http://www.pbs.org/downton

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-02-US-TV-Downton-Abbey/id-1c634fb7e1fc4689a780a03ba879aeff

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Cops: 2 boys, grandmother found dead in vehicle

By Stephanie O'Connell, NBCConnecticut.com

Two young boys who were taken from their day care center Tuesday have been found dead in Preston, Conn.

Their grandmother, Debra Denison, who according to state police took the boys, was also found dead.

State police had received a call from civilians around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday reporting that a suspicious vehicle was parked near Lake of Isle in Preston.

More news from NBCConnecticut.com

It was reported that three injured people were inside the car, two which appeared to be children.

Troopers and EMS responded to the scene and located the vehicle, following an Amber Alert. One adult and two children were pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The state police were investigating.

The Amber Alert was issued for Ashton and Alton Perry who were last seen in North Stonington around 2:36 p.m.

Jeremy and Brenda Perry, parents of the two young boys, told NBC Connecticut that Denison had a gun and she had a mental illness.

Alton Perry turned 2 years old Tuesday and Ashton Perry was six months of age.

Anyone with information is asked contact Connecticut State Police Troop E at 860-848-6500.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17112877-cops-two-boys-grandmother-found-dead-after-she-takes-them-from-day-care?lite

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