Excessive cheering hogs graduation spotlight

KNTV's Jodi Hernandez reports on how students across the San Francisco Bay Area are preparing for one of the most important milestones in their lives, high school graduation.

By NBCBayArea.com's Lisa Fernandez and Jodi Hernandez and msnbc.com's Sevil Omer

Police arrest?a South Carolina mother who cheered too loudly during her daughter?s high school graduation. Officials at?one Ohio high school deny a star football player his diploma?because?of a?crowd?s raucous applause. One Florida Catholic school temporarily withholds an athlete?s diploma because he ?Tebowed? on stage.

Nationwide, schools are cracking down on the Class of 2012 at graduation ceremonies over behavior deemed inappropriate.

"People have to remember that graduation is a commencement exercise and not a sporting event," Ken Griffith, president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals in Reston, Va., told msnbc.com.


"I cannot say for certain that this?has become?a widespread problem, but I've seen graduation ceremonies go from a religious-like baccalaureate process to one of celebration," he said. "Every principal is trying to find that right balance for their community and for each student because who ever is on stage at any given moment, the person right behind them deserves to receive the same accolades from their family."

At Pinole Valley High School in Pinole, Calif., on Saturday, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents will be allowed to chant, cheer, clap and stomp when their seniors walk across the stage. But the school is drawing the line at air horns.

On the back of the graduation tickets, guests are told to respect speakers and remain in their seats, and they're given a reminder that "all noisemakers and balloons are prohibited."

No air horns at graduation: Read?NBCBayArea.com?s report

NBC Bay Area

Charles Ramsey, president of West Contra Costa County School District, told NBCBayArea.com that he and others will remind parents to be respectful and check bags for noisemakers.

"The graduation police we're not going to be," he told NBCBayArea.com. "I understand some of the need to establish some protocols and limits. However, we don't want to lose sight of the reason why they are there ... to celebrate the accomplishment."

'She's going to go crazy'
Andrew Gonzales, an 18-year-old Pinole Valley High senior, will be speaking at graduation Saturday. He said he expects his family to be loud.

"My mom already told me ? she's going to go crazy in the audience," Gonzales told NBCBayArea.com. "There's a lot of sentiment that goes along with a child graduating from high school and this marks the day when you transition from childhood to adulthood."

theGRIO: Why black people cheer louder at graduation ceremonies

The focus on graduation disruptions comes after a series of high-profile incidents.

Shannon Cooper?was?arrested by Florence, S.C., ?police for disorderly conduct on June 2.?She had been whooping loudly when her daughter, Christin Iesha Cooper, was called to receive her diploma at South Florence High School.

Cooper told msnbc.com she felt humiliated by the arrest.

Florence Police Chief Anson Shells defended the officer's actions, maintaining Cooper's shouting was nothing short of disorderly conduct.

Shells said people attending the ceremony had been warned to behave during commencement.

?The school district made an announcement and sent out letters to all of the parents for everyone to be as orderly as they can during the ceremony and so on and so forth,? Shells told msnbc.com on Tuesday. ?That was the rule.?

SC mom busted at kid's graduation: 'I cheered for my baby and I got the cuffs'

In late May, Anthony Cornist was denied his diploma from Mt. Healthy Senior High School in Cincinnati because of his family's "excessive" cheering at the ceremony. The superintendent told news outlets that it was the prolonged duration of the cheers that halted the ceremony and kept other families from hearing their children's names from being announced.

In a policy implemented this year, parents agreed not to engage in "any disruptive behavior." And if there was such behavior, the policy stated, a child's diploma would be held until he or she could complete 20 hours of community service.

"I don't understand how he's being punished for something he has no control over. I just thought that was ludicrous," his mother, Traci Cornist, told WCPO-TV?in Cincinnati.

On May 19, 17-year-old Chuck Shriner got in trouble for ?Tebowing? during the Bishop Verot Catholic High School commencement in Fort Myers, Fla., on May 19, the Naples Daily News reported.

The audience burst into laughter, but school faculty -- including his mother, a math teacher at the private school ? didn?t find the stunt amusing because school officials had discouraged students from acting out during the ceremony.

Upon his mother?s request, Shriner was ordered to clean up the gym to earn back of his diploma.

'Parents are appropriately joyous'
In the Bay Area, schools in Oakland, Berkeley, Santa Clara, Fremont, Milpitas and Cupertino do not expressly spell out how pride can be emoted at graduations. And many local school leaders thought an outright ban on cheering was downright ludicrous.

"Our parents are appropriately joyous," Palo Alto Unified District Superintendent Kevin Skelly told NBCBayArea.com.

Gonzales, the Pinole Valley High valedictorian, said he expected his mother to be emotional at his graduation and that was appropriate: "She should be able to cheer however she wants to."

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

?

jim mora the weeknd echoes of silence gio gonzalez san francisco fire patti labelle the weeknd the weeknd

Operations Management Software improves your business | Retail ...

ChainDrive offers retail managers a comprehensive software package made up of various components each designed to oversee distinct areas of business. From tools that help you organize your warehouse to ones that oversee customer relationships, ChainDrive?s retail management software is the most versatile and effective management system around. Its Operations Management component helps streamline processes, improve efficiency, and boost productivity across the board.

Through its targeting of key performance indicators (KPIs), this software helps you monitor the progress and overall success of your business. The Store Performance module provides you with actionable data on your business on a store-by-store basis by using the KPIs to analyze your sales and other important factors. You can check current store status, set up historical comparisons, and follow ongoing tracking. It?s a great place to get an idea of the ?big picture? of your

The software also includes a Sales Analysis tool for more targeted looks at your business. It can analyze sales at four different levels and even includes tools that take into account such things as new and/or recently closed stores to include these variables into the overall picture.

Within Operations Management you?ll also find Workforce Management, which is ChainDrive?s highly sophisticated employee productivity monitoring tool. It goes far beyond simple ?time and attendance? tracking to give you a more complete view of your workers and how they are performing.

Use Operations Management software to make your business stronger!

mariners mets shades of grey pittsburgh penguins record store day jennie garth space needle

How to Improve Your Customer Service Using Social Media ...

Before the days of social media, a person?s criticisms about a company were relatively contained within their own family and small circle of friends, but now, through sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, one comment can spread like wildfire through untold numbers of people. Wouldn?t you much rather have folks sharing good information about your business than bad?

Fortunately, the best way to influence these conversations is through something every business should understand ? customer service. Simply take your same attentive, hands-on strategies and apply them to an online platform. Here?s how:

Acknowledge Your Mistakes

How social media is changing customer service

No person or business is perfect, so your company is bound to make mistakes he re and there. Consumers respect businesses that aren?t afraid to say, ?oops? we messed up,? and are much more sympathetic if you acknowledge your errors openly instead of denying them or making excuses.

Don?t be afraid to post a message on your Facebook page explaining how you screwed up and what you plan to do about it. If your mistake only affected one person, message them directly in a more personal, less public forum. Taking such an upfront approach will make you seem more real and less like an emotionally-detached company.

Monitor Review Sites

Online review sites are often consumers? first stop when they are trying to make a decision about a business. Yelp! is an especially popular site, and now that Zagat is incorporated into Google+ Local, it is bound to start getting even more attention.

Before you do anything else, make sure you have ?claimed? your business on these sites and your listing is filled out accurately and entirely.

The next thing to be aware of is people tend to write online reviews when they are feeling the most passionate (good or bad), and anyone can post a review on these sites. This means user comments have a tendency to fit into one extreme or the other ? lavish praise or unbridled complaints. Of course, you can reduce much of the negative comments by always offering consistent, quality service and products, but as the saying goes, ?you can?t please all the people all the time.?

So, when a reviewer posts a negative complaint on Yelp!, Zagat, or some other site, make an effort to remedy the situation. Perhaps you could offer them a freebie, a coupon, or simply say you?re sorry. Remember, users can always go back and change their review, so there?s always hope of repairing the damage.

Monitor Your Social Accounts

Whether by smartphone, tablet, or computer, it seems most people are always within arm?s reach of internet access. So, when they have a negative experience with a business, there?s nothing stopping them from getting online and blasting their rage on social networks. If your business has a Facebook, Google+, or Twitter account, they may send a message to you directly, which, in fact, is a good thing, because it gives you a chance to take action and possibly repair the relationship.

However, it?s important to respond in a timely matter. Otherwise, the disgruntled individual will think you don?t care, have further time to stew, and will probably voice their complaints to more people.

?Your best strategy is to check your social accounts at least once a day to respond to any grievances and to answer general questions. Also, people may not message you specifically or post a comment on your page, so always keep an eye out for any mention of your name throughout the social spheres. Taking such proactive measures will show customers you are listening and you care.

Don?t Overextend Yourself Socially

how social media can improve customer service

Of course, you have to participate in social networks to monitor them, but trying to juggle too many at once can actually cause your customer service to suffer. Keeping up with all these sites can spread your time too thin and make it nearly impossible to adequately respond to your follower?s questions and comments. Undoubtedly, you will start neglecting your fans on one or more sites and they will become disenchanted with your business.

If you?re handling your own social media efforts, try focusing on only one or two networks, but be careful, because even just two can monopolize a lot of your time. A better idea, if you?re able, is to hire a social media manager who can devote all his/her time to this important area.

Encourage Reviews

Whether good or bad, reviews offer a ton of insight into how consumers perceive your business and they may even make you aware of a widespread problem. On the other hand, they can also let you know what you?re doing right and what customers really like about your products and services ? either way, this is information you want to know.

So, encourage your fans and followers to make comments by offering incentives like discounts, freebies, and contests for those who take the time. Just making it known you?re interested tells people you are concerned about customer service and increases your chances of getting a positive review.

Today, through the power of words and social media, individuals have more sway than ever in terms of influencing public opinion about your business.? The only way to have some control over what?s said is by fighting fire with fire, so to speak, by actively communicating with your customers through these social channels.

?

?

?

shades of grey pittsburgh penguins record store day jennie garth space needle nashville predators king arthur

Oil prices rise, drop, and rise again. Buckle up, Earth.

Predicting global oil prices is not easy. Prices have more to do with global politics -- and supply and demand -- than with politicians, but voters take out their anger on the leaders they can reach.?

By Scott Baldauf,?Staff writer / June 6, 2012

A sign for $2.99 a gallon gasoline is seen as vehicles wait for a traffic light to turn green at a Hot Spot convenience store on the corner of Henry and Converse Streets on June 1, in Spartanburg, S.C.

Rainier Ehrhardt/AP

Enlarge

For sheer roller-coaster thrills, picture yourself as an oil market analyst.

Skip to next paragraph

Recent posts

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "off"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Imagine the challenge of (correctly) predicting the future price of oil and all those wonderful fuel products Americans love to use, in the midst of a crucial election year.

When oil-producing countries like Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Nigeria, become unstable, oil prices can soar. When economies shrink in energy-consuming places like Europe and the United States, oil prices can sink. When both trends happen at the same time, oil market analysts dig into their pockets for a coin to flip.

In February, when oil prices surged over $110 a barrel, some oil analysts were predicting an End Times scenario, where the US economy would go into a fetal position, rocking back and forth and singing Adele songs. Fox News Channel, the drama queen of the global news pageant, was betting that gasoline pump prices were likely to hit $8 a gallon, a factoid that, at least for now, appears to be utterly false.

RELATED: Eight ways $100 oil may affect you?

Early this week, crude oil prices had dropped to $84, driven downward by the lower demand of a contracting global economy. Gasoline prices are dropping with them, down to a national average $3.56. This is significantly higher than the 26 cents it cost to fill your father?s ? or your grandfather?s ? Oldsmobile, but the dollar is worth less today than it was in the 1950s. In inflation-adjusted dollars, we have been paying $10 to $30 a barrel for the past 160 years or so, with just a few major spikes in 1860-1861, 1979-1980 and 2007-2008.

Now the bad news has gotten so bad, it?s good. On Wednesday, oil prices shot up again to $85.56 a barrel, ahead of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke?s testimony before Congress, as oil market analysts bet that he would urge for some kind of stimulus package.

Aside from gasoline price swings from nearly $4 a gallon to $3.50, the volatility of oil prices has other effects. Higher oil prices, which drive up the cost of production, make factory owners think twice about expanding. High oil prices also encourage consumers to start thinking about conservation, such as turning off lights and buying fuel efficient cars. But high oil prices also make oil exploration in new places more attractive. And as oil companies start finding oil in untapped fields in Kenya, North Dakota, Ghana, Alberta, Israel, and Somalia, that increases the overall supply of oil, which ends up driving prices down again.

A growing global supply of oil might seem to be the solution to America?s economic doldrums, but this solution brings a host of ecological problems, according to Foreign Policy magazine?s Steve Levine.

Already, carbon emissions last year reached levels that are linked by scientists with a 2 degree rise in global temperatures over the past 50 years, according to the International Energy Agency. But if carbon emissions continue to rise ? as they will if more energy is produced, and if energy prices drop enough for people to consume more of it ? the world will ?blow through? emissions targets agreed to in global treaties.

So this provides what may be the most vexing moral dilemma of our times: to grow, or not to grow. That is the question.

One thing you will notice about this process: It has very little to do with politicians. These days, the price of oil is determined more by roughnecks in greasy denims or Wall Street futures traders than by Middle Eastern oil sheikhs or White House economists. But voters, driven by fear or angst, still feel the need to punish the man in charge for their economic suffering. And in an election year ? as former French President Nicolas Sarkozy can attest -- the economy matters above all else.

The roller coaster continues. Buckle up, Mr. Obama.

words with friends phlebotomy survivor dog show best in show bret michaels bret michaels

US unemployment aid applications fall to 377K

FILE- In this Friday, June 1, 2012, file photo, Tanya Scott searches job sites for employment possibilities at the Mississippi Department of Employment Security WIN Job Center in Jackson, Miss. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell to 377,000 for the week ending June 2, 2012,as reported Thursday, June 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

FILE- In this Friday, June 1, 2012, file photo, Tanya Scott searches job sites for employment possibilities at the Mississippi Department of Employment Security WIN Job Center in Jackson, Miss. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell to 377,000 for the week ending June 2, 2012,as reported Thursday, June 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

(AP) ? The number of people applying for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week for the first time in five weeks. But the drop suggests only modest job growth after three months of weak hiring.

The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for weekly benefits dropped by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 377,000. That's down from an upwardly revised 389,000 the previous week.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose by 1,750 to 377,500, the highest level in a month.

Applications are a measure of the pace of layoffs. When claims dip below 375,000, it typically suggests hiring is strong enough to reduce the unemployment rate. They have hovered near that level for most of the year after declining sharply last fall.

"Although the labor market appears to have stabilized, and is stronger than it was in 2011, it is not particularly robust," Steven A. Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics wrote in a note to clients.

The government last week reported that employers added just 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent in April.

Job growth averaged a decent 252,000 a month from December through February. That helped lower the unemployment rate from 9.1 percent in August.

But hiring has slowed in the past three months to an average 96,000 a month.

The number of people receiving benefits is falling, partly because extended benefit programs are ending in many states. About 6 million people received benefits in the week ended May 19, the latest data available. That's a drop of 167,000 from the previous week.

The economy is still struggling three years after the recession officially ended in June 2009. Wages haven't kept up with inflation, pinching consumer spending. State and local governments have continued to shed jobs.

The government reported last week that the economy grew at a sluggish annual rate of 1.9 percent the first three months of 2012, which is consistent with monthly job growth of around 90,000.

The United States has regained less than 3.8 million, or 43 percent, of the 8.8 million jobs lost during and immediately after the recession.

There have been some signs this week that hiring could improve.

A Labor Department report Wednesday suggested that companies may have to start hiring if business picks up: U.S. worker productivity fell by the largest amount in a year from January through March. The drop signals that companies are struggling to squeeze more out of their existing staffs.

And the Federal Reserve issued an update economic report Wednesday, saying that the economy grew modestly across most of the United States this spring. The Fed survey shows growth in each of its 12 bank districts from April 3 through May 25. Growth picked up in 10 districts. It was steady in the Boston district and slowed in the Philadelphia region.

Associated Press

happy thanksgiving kennedy assassination kennedy assassination jfk assassination pie crust recipe heritage foundation dancing with the stars results 2011

Pascagoula lawyer Jimmy Heidelberg named Oil & Gas Board chairman

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- Pascagoula attorney Jimmy Heidelberg has been selected as chairman of the Mississippi State Oil & Gas Board.

Heidelberg will represent the Oil & Gas Board before the Mississippi Legislature and serve as liaison with other state agencies through April 2016.

Heidelberg was appointed to the board by Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves for a second four-year term.

Heidelberg has practiced law in Pascagoula since 1978.

minnesota twins green bay packers bobby abreu 2012 draft chicago bears colt mccoy philadelphia eagles

How my Garden Grows | Rowan Family Tree

My dearly departed husband (departed from our city, not from this earth!) asked me to send him some pictures of how our garden is growing. It?s been non-stop rain here for a couple of days, so everything is lush and green!

?

The Gardener?s Morning

The robin?s song at daybreak
Is a clarion call to me.
Get up and get out in the garden,
For the morning hours flee.

I cannot resist the summons,
What earnest gardener could?
For the golden hours of morning
Get into the gardener?s blood.

The magic spell is upon me,
I?m glad that I did not wait;
For life?s at its best in the morning,
As you pass through the garden gate.

- Howard Dolf

rod parsley barry sanders jr nick carter sister recruiting rankings san onofre paula deen birth control recall

UK PM urges concerted action on Syria

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

pierre thomas beyonce gives birth portlandia kelly clarkson playoffs empty nest nbc sports

DICE wants to team with screens and usher in an era of powered board games (hands-on)

DICE wants to team with screens and usher in an era of powered board games handson

We learned about DICE+, the digital chance cube, just before E3, and today we finally got to give it a few rolls and find out a bit more about DICE+ from the folks who made it. It's an inch-sized cube with a soft-touch rubbery finish that's packed with a Bluetooth radio and a rechargeable battery. For now, it juiced up via microUSB, but an induction charging version is also in the works. Its power cell grants up to 20 hours of continuous rolling, or a little over a week for non-gambling degenerates. Speaking of, the cube's maker, GIC, said a major point of emphasis in the cube's design was getting the balance of the thing just right to ensure the randomness of DICE + results -- and it's even spoken with casino companies about their tolerance requirements in that area. While DICE + may find its way onto craps tables eventually, for now, its maker's focused on what it calls "powered board games."

You see, while we're all familiar with board game mechanics -- roll a die/spin a wheel and move your game piece accordingly -- they don't translate well to the digital realm. People don't trust a computer to give truly random results, and tapping a screen to "roll" dice gets boring quickly. That's the beauty of DICE+, players get all the advantages of a digital board game, like animations and greater interactivity, without the aforementioned downside because it engages them in a satisfying, familiar fashion. Join us after the break for our impressions, and a bit more info about this throwback gadget.

Continue reading DICE+ wants to team with screens and usher in an era of powered board games (hands-on)

DICE+ wants to team with screens and usher in an era of powered board games (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDICE+  | Email this | Comments


jetblue pilot solicitor general neighborhood watch dennis rodman dodgers sale tami roman jetblue captain

Google adds warning of 'state-sponsored attacks'

(AP) ? Google said Wednesday that it has added a feature to warn users whose accounts it believes are targets of "state-sponsored attacks," but the Internet giant did not cite a specific government.

Google Inc., however, closed its search engine in China in 2010 after saying it no longer wanted to cooperate with Beijing's Internet censorship following hacking attacks traced to China.

A message that says "Warning: We believe state-sponsored attackers may be trying to compromise your account or computer" will appear onscreen if users are targeted, Eric Grosse, a vice president for security engineering, wrote on a company blog.

Google cannot say how it knows activity is state-sponsored without giving information that would help attackers, Grosse wrote. But detailed analysis and victim reports "strongly suggest the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored," he wrote.

A report in November by U.S. intelligence agencies said Chinese and Russian intelligence services and companies with state ties systematically break into American computer systems to steal commercial information.

Western security experts say China's military is a leader in cyberwarfare research.

Beijing has rejected suggestions by Western security experts that its military or government agencies were involved in the Google hacking. But it has not responded publicly to appeals by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other officials to help investigate hacking attacks.

Google's latest move comes after the company added a feature to its Chinese-language search engine in Hong Kong last week that warns users in China who enter search keywords that might produce blocked results. It highlights which terms might trigger filters, challenging official Chinese efforts to conceal censorship.

Google's 2010 announcement that it was closing its search engine in China said email accounts of human rights activists critical of China had been hacked. The company said some of its intellectual property also was stolen in a separate attack that targeted at least 20 other large companies.

Last year, Google said computer hackers in China broke into the personal Gmail accounts of several hundred people, including senior U.S. government officials, military personnel and political activists. That intrusion was based on less sophisticated trickery used to obtain passwords and other information.

Associated Press

geithner gabrielle giffords juliette lewis chelsea handler mitch daniels shirataki noodles john kerry