AppLock (for Android)

Tablets and phones are meant to be personal devices but they rarely stay that way. They get handed around to show off photos, to watch videos, or to play games. With AppLock (free), you can take a little of stress out of parting with your Android by keeping certain apps locked up and others freely accessible. It should be a slam dunk, but this app is held up by some odd quirks.

Using AppLock is pretty straightforward. The main page is a list of all the apps on your device which can be locked with a toggle slider to the right. AppLock also lets you lock out certain actions like calls, installing or uninstalling apps, access to settings, and accessing the Google Play store. Buttons at the bottom let you search your apps or toggle everything on or off.

From the hidden right tray, you can access the Unlock Settings menu to change your PIN or switch to a pattern lock. I found the pattern lock to be much faster and easier when using my Nexus 7 .

When you attempt to perform a locked action or access a locked app, a screen appears prompting you to login. The screen doesn't fully lock your device?you can easily navigate back to the homescreen or access the navigation tray?but it does effectively keep people out of your apps.

You can adjust which apps you want locked on the fly, or create a profile to quickly secure your device. Supporting profiles is nice a feature, especially if you have kids who want to play on your device. When they want a shot at Color Sheep, just flip the profile that locks them out of everything but a few games.

The app provides basic functionality for free, which includes locking apps and one profile. For 99 cents a month or $2.99 a year, you can unlock deeper features like time locks, a randomized keyboard, location-based locks, and other options. Unfortunately, I was unable to successfully purchase a premium upgrade on either my tablet or the Samsung Galaxy S III I also used in testing, so those features will have to remain untested, for now.

Locked Out
My main complaint with AppLock wasn't that it didn't perform as advertised?in fact, it did pretty well?but that it wasn't clear about what it was doing. During set up, the app prompted me to upgrade for "advanced protection" without any explanation as to what that involved. It turned out that this simply added email recovery for my PIN, which is a worthy feature, but to get it I had to let the app download and install an extra module and grant both the module and the app Device Admin access.

Throughout this process, the app displayed several dialog windows which should have explained what exactly was going on, but were left troublingly blank.

Creating a good impression during setup is essential, particularly for a security app and especially for an app that wants administrator access. Security is all about trust, and AppLock? still hasn't quite made me trust it. It's not just the weird start-up procedures, or the vague?frequently awkward?language used in the app, or the fact that I was unable to purchase an upgrade and unlock the premium features, it's all of those things taken together.

I don't think there's anything malicious about AppLock; it passed muster on three different security apps and both Bitdefender's Clueful Privacy Advisor and Lookout Mobile Security indicate that it's not connected to ad networks. But the fact that I felt compelled to check gives me pause.

Still Looking
Out of the box, AppLock solves a very common problem: how to share your device without making it totally public. It's a useful tool for people with grabby roommates, or kids who love to play with your Android. It can also add a second layer of protection behind your device passcode, to keep your most important apps secured.

I often say that Android apps lack polish, but this one especially needs work before it can gain my trust. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but I'm on the lookout for a slicker, more transparent app that won't make me second-guess myself.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/rU7Xlv4R9T0/0,2817,2422517,00.asp

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FDA Decides Gluten-Free Foods Don't Actually Have to Be Gluten-Free

As more and more Americans self-diagnose gluten sensitivities, the Food and Drug Administration has finally gotten around to enforcing some standards on what foods can carry a gluten-free label. Quite surprisingly, they don't actually have to be free of gluten.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/fda-decides-gluten-free-foods-dont-actually-have-to-be-1002518565

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STOCKS NEWS MIDEAST-Qatar's Barwa Real Estate hits 2-mth low on earnings

0645 GMT - Qatar's Barwa Real Estate tumbles to a two-month low in the opening minutes of trade after the developer reports a slump in first-half earnings.

Doha's largest listed property developer posted a net profit of 199.2 million riyals ($54.7 million) for the six months to June 30, compared with 593.7 million riyals in the corresponding period of 2012.

Its shares are down 4.8 percent to 24.98 riyals ($6.87), after dropping as low as 23.90 riyals at the opening, the lowest price since May 13.

Doha's index slips 0.2 percent to 9,688 points, easing off Wednesday's 58-month high. --------------------------------------------------------------

0538 GMT - Investors in Egypt are expected to remain very cautious and trading turnover thin on Thursday because of the possibility of fresh violence on the streets.

The country's army-backed rulers signalled on Wednesday they would move soon to disperse thousands of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi.

Cairo's benchmark index has been trading sideways since a 20 percent rally around the time of Mursi's ouster in early July.

Recent trading patterns show investors can accept a certain level of violence as long as they believe a transition back to civilian rule is still underway, and many are reluctant to sell stocks in case some form of accommodation can be reached with Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood in coming weeks.

But fresh buying looks unlikely under the threat of more fatalities on the streets, and the stock index has confirmed major technical resistance around 5,450 points, which capped rallies in May and July. It ended Wednesday at 5,325 points.

Elsewhere, Gulf investors may look to global cues on Thursday because of a thin local news flow, while some profit-taking ahead of the weekend is likely.

The global backdrop is positive; Asian shares and commodity prices rose on Thursday after China's official manufacturing activity data came in better than expected, easing some concern about a sharp slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Brent crude oil futures rose towards $108 a barrel on a brightened demand outlook as the U.S. Federal Reserve, at the end of a two-day meeting, showed no sign of reducing the economic stimulus that has underpinned commodity prices.

In Dubai, district cooling firm Tabreed may gain after it reported a 37 percent increase in second-quarter net profit, helped by growth in its core chilled water business and lower costs.

The stock broke on Wednesday above resistance on the June peak of 2.05 dirhams, and is in an uptrend channel dating back to the start of this year; the next resistance is at the March 2012 high of 2.36 dirhams. ($1 = 3.6413 Qatar rials) (Reporting by Nadia Saleem; Editing by Andrew Torchia)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-news-mideast-qatars-barwa-real-estate-hits-064617367.html

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Watch slowed-down impact of strikes from UFC on Fox 8

This is pretty cool. Fox used the UFC Phantom Cam for Saturday night's fights to slow down some of the night's biggest strikes. In MMA, strikes can happen so quickly that you can't see their true effect except through photography. With super-slow-motion, you can see what a punch or a kick can really do to the human body.

Thanks, MMA Junkie.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/watch-slowed-down-impact-strikes-ufc-fox-8-150009344.html

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McDonald's McDouble Is Cheap but Far From Nutritious

COMMENTARY | As a nurse, you can imagine my shock and horror when I read Kyle Smith's article on the New York Post's website about the McDonald's McDouble being the most nutritious and most abundant food around. Smith argues that for $1, you can get half your daily serving of protein, 20 percent of your daily serving of calcium, and even a bit of fiber with this dollar-menu favorite. But Smith's argument is riddled with so many misleading statements that I'm going to have a difficult time keeping this commentary to 350 words.

According to McDonald's own website, the McDouble has 850mg of sodium and 19g of fat. You are consuming almost one-third of your recommended daily intake of sodium and fat with one little burger. Add on a small order of "world famous fries" and that's another 11g of fat and 160mg of sodium. I suppose you could buy the apple slices instead, but the burger-and-fries combo is so iconic, it's almost a knee-jerk reaction to buy the two as a pair.

What's so bad about sodium and fat? For starters, a high-sodium diet is a major cause of high blood pressure which, in turn, is a frequent cause of cardiovascular disease. You can pretty much guess that a high-fat diet leads to weight gain and obesity. According to data collected by the CDC, in 2008 the medical care cost of obesity was more than $147 billion. And what are some of the health consequences of obesity? Among other things, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Those $1 McDoubles are more costly than Smith would like to acknowledge.

To Smith's credit, he points out that healthier food does cost more than cheap junk food. And anyone who has shopped at Whole Foods Market can tell you McDonald's is easier on the wallet. But the solution is not telling the cash-strapped poor and lower-middle class to run to McDonald's for lunch and dinner. We need to educate people on nutrition and tell our government to stop subsidizing junk food and put that money toward subsidizing more fruits and vegetables instead.

I agree with Smith that the McDonald's McDouble is a cheap food source that's high in protein. But make this a regular part of your diet and you'll pay a higher price in the future in terms of your health and medical bills.

Jennifer Budd is a registered nurse and a former broadcast journalist in the NYC/New Jersey area.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mcdonalds-mcdouble-cheap-far-nutritious-225100979.html

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'Hollywood Hillbillies' features Georgia family

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ? Honey Boo Boo is getting some competition.

Another family from rural Georgia is coming to reality television, with "Hollywood Hillbillies" set to debut in January on ReelzChannel.

The show follows Michael Kittrell and his grandmother Delores Hughes, known as "Mema," as the family moves from Grayson, Ga., to Hollywood. Along for the ride are Kittrell's aunt, Dee Dee Peters, her boyfriend Paul Conlon, and Kittrell's uncle John Cox.

Kittrell is known as "The Angry Ginger" on YouTube, where a video he made to protest a "South Park" episode that claimed redheads have no soul gained attention.

"I made a lot of money on my YouTube channel, and I saved it all from the past four years," Kittrell said. "I got my family with me to support me and help me while we all look for our place out here."

Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson, her mother and their rural Georgia family are the subjects of a hit TLC show that focuses on their lives in a small town.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-07-28-TV-Hollywood%20Hillbillies/id-e3191c3da2154ca58e4d9b41acf4fccb

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Weiner Faces Growing Calls to Quit Mayor?s Race

(NEW YORK) ? Anthony Weiner pressed ahead with his bid for mayor Wednesday despite growing calls for him to drop out over a new sexting scandal, saying the campaign is too important to abandon over ?embarrassing personal things? becoming public.

Rivals, newspaper editorial pages and at least one former New York congressional colleague urged the Democrat to quit the race a day after he acknowledged exchanging raunchy messages and photos online even after the same sort of behavior destroyed his congressional career two years ago.

?I think he should pull out of the race. I think he needs serious psychiatric help,? Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.

Weiner brushed off such calls and kept up his campaign schedule. He was greeted with boos as he took the stage to speak at a public housing meeting Wednesday evening, but by the end of his remarks, the crowd loudly cheered.

(MORE:?Why Anthony Weiner Can?t Move Past His Past)

?I thought these things would come out by the end of the campaign, and some of them have. Look, I am pressing forward, running a campaign about the issues, and I?m getting a good response,? he said afterward.

The latest scandal erupted Tuesday after the gossip website The Dirty posted X-rated messages and a crotch shot it said he exchanged with a woman last year while using the online alias ?Carlos Danger.?

At a news conference Tuesday evening, Weiner, who has been a favorite in the polls since he launched his political comeback attempt in late May, stood side-by-side with his clearly uncomfortable wife, Huma Abedin, and said he hoped the voters would give him another chance.

Abedin, a longtime adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, reaffirmed her love and support for her husband and said the matter was ?between us.?

Two of the city?s major newspapers, The New York Times and the Daily News, said the 48-year-old Democrat had exhausted his opportunities for forgiveness with his latest indiscretions.

?The serially evasive Mr. Weiner should take his marital troubles and personal compulsions out of the public eye? and the mayoral race, the Times wrote.

The Daily News declared Weiner to be ?lacking the dignity and discipline that New York deserves in a mayor,? and said ?his demons have no place in City Hall.?

At least three of his mayoral rivals, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former City Councilman Sal Albanese, both Democrats, and billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, a Republican, said he should drop out.

?Anthony?s presence in this race has become a never-ending sideshow that is distracting us from the debate of the serious issues of this election,? de Blasio said.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Weiner?s strongest rivals in the polls, criticized him but didn?t directly call on him to quit.

Thompson said on WNYC-AM that Weiner should ?think about the people of this city and make the right decision,? while Quinn said at a news conference that it is up to Weiner and his family to decide whether he should end his run, but New Yorkers ?need a mayor whose is sole focus isn?t self-aggrandizement.?

Meanwhile, an NBC4NY/WSJ/Marist Poll, the first since the latest scandal broke, will be released Thursday afternoon.

Weiner has emphasized that he said when launching his campaign that more messages might emerge. But until Tuesday, he never said directly that some were sent as recently as last year.

?I regret not saying explicitly when these exchanges happened,? he told supporters in an email Wednesday.

But Weiner said the campaign was ?too important to give up because I?ve had embarrassing personal things become public.? And he said he wasn?t surprised his opponents wanted him out.

Democratic strategists in New York and Washington, where Weiner served seven terms before resigning in 2011, said there are few external means of pressuring Weiner to drop out.

Weiner has nearly $5 million to spend on the campaign, allowing him to mount a vigorous defense on television. Also, he was not particularly close to his colleagues in the congressional delegation, the strategists said, so he might be unmoved if they urge him to exit the race.

As for the voters, some want Weiner to go.

?He?s disgusting,? said magazine editorial assistant Katelin Marinari, 24.

But others said they would still vote for him.

?Do I think morally he?s wrong? Of course. But I?m not voting for a minister; I?m voting for a mayor of New York,? said public relations worker Raven Robinson, 22.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday continued to place Weiner in the top rung of Democratic contenders with Quinn and Thompson, though it was taken largely before the scandal broke.

?I have posited this whole campaign on a bet, and that is that, at the end of the day, citizens are more interested in the challenge they face in their lives than in anything that I have done, embarrassing, in my past,? he told reporters outside his Manhattan home Wednesday morning.

The unidentified woman involved in the newly disclosed messages told The Dirty that she was 22 when she began chatting with Weiner on a social networking site in July 2012, and that their exchanges lasted six months.

The Dirty posted explicit conversations of two people fantasizing about various sex acts, and ran a pixelated photo of what it said were Weiner?s genitals.

___

Associated Press writers Jake Pearson in New York and Stephen Olemacher and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

?

Source: http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/25/weiner-faces-growing-calls-to-quit-mayors-race/

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