Barack Obama explains source of Donald Trump grudge match: ‘This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya’

One thing is clear in the feud between U.S. President Barack Obama and blowhard businessman Donald Trump: the president has better comedy writers on his staff.

On the same day Trump took to YouTube in an attempt to blackmail the president via charity, Obama appeared on “The Tonight Show” to explain the source of Trump’s resentment of him.

“This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya,” the Hawaii-born Obama dryly told Jay Leno. “We had constant run-ins on the soccer fields. He wasn’t very good and resented it. When we finally moved to America, I thought it would be over.”

Trump, the real estate mogul turned television caricature, is the de-facto leader of the “birther” movement — the long discredited but remarkably resilient conspiracy theory that Obama was born outside of the U.S. and thus, is not constitutionally eligible to be president.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump offered $5 million to the charity of Obama’s choice if he would release his academic records and passport applications.

“I have a deal for the President. A deal I don’t believe he can refuse,” Trump said in his YouTube video. “Frankly, it’s a cheque that I very much want to write.”

Trump gave no hints to what he expected to find in those records, less than two weeks before the election.

Trump’s announcement was largely mocked on Twitter for hyping his “game-changing” announcement. 

Source: news.nationalpost.com

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UN war crime investigators seek access to Syria

GENEVA - United Nations war crimes investigators said on Thursday they had asked to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to seek access for their team, which has been shut out of the country since being set up a year ago.

The team, led by Brazilian expert Paulo Pinheiro, has been gathering evidence and testimony on atrocities committed by Syrian government forces and armed rebels in the 19-month-old conflict.

"We decided to send a letter to President al-Assad calling for a meeting ... it would be very important that he could receive us," Pinheiro told reporters in Geneva.

"We intend to go there without conditions to meet President Assad to discuss access of our commission to Syria," added Pinheiro, who went to Damascus in June in his personal capacity for talks with senior Syrian officials.

Carla del Ponte, a former U.N. war crimes prosecutor who has joined the inquiry, was asked about similarities with past investigations including those into war crimes in former Yugoslavia. "The similarity is of course we are handling the same crimes, crimes against humanity and war crimes for sure."

She added: "My main task will be to continue the inquiry in the direction of determining the senior political and military authorities responsible for these crimes."

The investigators have drawn up a secret list of Syrian individuals and units suspected of committing crimes including murder and torture, which they say could pave the way for future criminal prosecution. — Reuters

Source: gmanetwork.com

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Apple loses again in Dutch suit against Samsung

Apple loses again in Dutch suit against Samsung

AMSTERDAM (AP) - A Dutch court has again ruled against Apple Inc. in a suit against South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., saying that Galaxy tablet computers don't infringe an Apple patent on touch screen interfaces.

The Dutch case is one of many Apple is pursuing against Samsung in their reciprocal patent war. If Apple had been successful in the Netherlands, it could have disrupted Samsung's ability to distribute in Europe through the port of Rotterdam.

Apple lost a request for a provisional ruling in August 2011, and an appeal in January. The Hague District Court's ruling published Thursday is a full-fledged civil suit on the same point. Like British and German courts, the Dutch court found that the touch screen interface Samsung's Galaxy tabs use does not violate Apple's patents.

Source:  keyc.tv

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Medal of Honor Warfighter review round-up

Although we're still in the process of reviewing Danger Close's Medal of Honor Warfighter reviews for the EA published first-person shooter have started to appear online.

As always, we've corralled them up and put them in a list below. We'll be updating this round-up as and when more reviews are published, so check back regularly to stay up to date on the critical reception.

Polygon: 4.5 - Medal of Honor Warfighter's multiplayer failings underline its real problem - it feels thrown together, with little consideration for why its parts should fit. While the multiplayer's obtuse design decisions are preferable to the campaign's lack of artificial intelligence, decent mechanics, or interesting level design, it's still difficult to find much reason to recommend Medal of Honor Warfighter over the shooters it wants so desperately to resemble. In an attempt to build a bridge across Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty, Danger Close has once again fallen into the hole between them.

Eurogamer: 5/10 - There's been a backlash brewing for some time against the bombastic direction military shooters have taken, but it would be wrong to assume that Medal of Honor: Warfighter is simply the game unlucky enough to bear its brunt. The truth is far simpler and more depressing: it's just not that good.

CheatCodeCentral: 2.7/5 - Medal of Honor: Warfighter feels unpolished. It's a slew of great ideas mashed together in a way that doesn't give any of them time to truly shine, rushed out to make a deadline that didn't do it any favors. While there's enjoyment to be had here, it is fleeting and often devolves rapidly into frustration and boredom.

Destructoid: 5/10 - Charmless, cynical, and uninspired, Warfighter encapsulates everything wrong with the annual big budget shooter industry. It's really not an awful game, it's just insipid and shallow, a title that exists solely to exist, and squeeze whatever profit remains to be had from serving the same flavorless porridge to the same unadventurous customers. It will make its money, and keep the FPS factories in business for another year.

NowGamer: 6.5/10 - While it's disheartening to see the promise of Danger Close's previous effort fall foul of the explosive taint of Call Of Duty, Medal Of Honor: Warfighter is still a fairly solid shooter with an unfortunately short campaign length.

The Daily Mail: No Score - But what it lacks in realism, it makes up with its colossal production values and memorable multiplayer - a tried-and-tested recipe for success. It's not the deep, emotional journey many were expecting, but action blockbusters never are.

GameThirst: 6/10 - Medal Of Honor: Warfighter isn't what you'd expect from Danger Close, especially in a day and age when the FPS genre in particular has become extremely competitive, with developers like DICE, Infinity Ward, 343 Industries, Gurrella Games and Treyarch pushing the boundaries. And with big titles like Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 available in less than one month, there's no need to buy Warfighter. Rent it instead.

Source: computerandvideogames.com

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Xperia T Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean firmware (9.1.A.0.187) spotted in benchmark

Sony Mobile expects to launch the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean firmware update for the Xperia T (LT30p, LT30at) during the middle of Q1 2013. However, prior to this, Sony will be putting the firmware through plenty of test time. It looks like one branch of this firmware has already been discovered on GLBenchmark.

The benchmark listing clearly shows that firmware version 9.1.A.0.187 for the LT30p relates to Android 4.1.1. This means that we are likely to see a jump up from the current Xperia T ICS firmware (7.0.A.1.303) to eDream 9 which will bring Jelly Bean.

This is not the first time we’ve come across eDream 9, we also saw it pop up on the Xperia V (9.0.D.0.175). However, judging by the GLBenchmark listing for the Xperia V, it seems that the 9.0.D.0.XXX firmware is still Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. So we need to keep an eye out for 9.1.A.0.XXX firmware when looking for the Jelly Bean versions.

Interestingly, the recent Sony Odin leaks pointed to eDream 10 firmware (10.1.A.0.XXX) that was also Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. We imagine, unsurprisingly, that Sony is planning a number of software enhancements for its 2013 flagships that will not be in the JB update for the 2012 models.

Source: xperiablog.net

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Trump reveals his 'gigantic' news about Obama

According to the Daily Mail, the tycoon has challenged Obama to release his college records and passport application - and has promised to donate $5million to a charity of the President's choice if he does so.

Trump made his offer in a YouTube video released at noon today, two days after promising to make a 'gigantic' announcement about Obama which could change the course of the presidential race.

Web users reacted to the massive letdown with derision, with many taking to Twitter to mock the controversial businessman.

The Apprentice star previously denied staging a publicity stunt, insisting the announcement is 'not a media event', but instead is 'about the United States of America'.

A number of sensational claims about the content of the message had been swirling around the web for three days - one pundit with links to the billionaire even suggested that he was set to unearth divorce papers between Obama and his wife Michelle.

However, the man himself tweeted, 'All predictions re: my 12 o'clock release are totally incorrect. Stay tuned!' - and some may be disappointed by the relatively tame nature of the announcement.

Trump set the hare running on Monday by claiming that he was set to make an announcement today that would be ‘bordering on gigantic' and that it would ‘possibly’ change the presidential race.

But when the announcement finally came, in the form of a YouTube video and accompanying Facebook post, it was somewhat less explosive than promised.

Trump started the announcement by saying, 'President Obama is the least transparent President in the history of this country', adding: 'I'm very honoured to have gotten him to release his long-form birth certificate... or whatever it may be.'

The meat of the message ran: 'If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications, and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to a charity of his choice - inner-city kids in Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS research, anything he wants - a cheque, immmediately, for $5million.'

Trump went on to say that the records had to be released by 5pm on October 31, and that his donation would be given within an hour of Obama releasing the records 'to my satisfaction, if it's complete'.

The video concluded: 'Mr President, not only will I be happy - and, by the way, totally satisfied - but the American people will be happy, and those charities will be very, very happy.'

There are a number of conspiracy theories surrounding Obama's records from his time at Occidental College, Yale University and Harvard Law School.

Source: standardmedia.co.ke

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UNCENSORED Video Chelsea Handler and Sandra Bullock

UNCENSORED Video Chelsea Handler and Sandra Bullock

Chelsea Handler called in all of her favors from Hollywood friends in support of the season premiere of her late night talk show on Monday night.

First, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz dropped a beat, rapping for Handler, who just moved her show into a new studio. Then Handler landed good pal Jennifer Aniston as a guest, and she even got Sandra Bullock stripped down.

UNCENSORED Video Chelsea Handler and Sandra Bullock Chelsea Handler gets advice from Sandra Bullock on how to better her talk show

In a skit, Bullock surprises Handler while she's in the staff showers of her "fancy new studio," tells Handler to stop calling herself the "white Oprah" and lectures her while both women remain completely naked.

"You have a responsibility to be a respectable talk show host. This comes directly from Oprah's mouth to my ear, to my mouth, out of my mouth, into your ear, down your body, out your vagina, up my vagina and out my ass," Sandra tells her, as Handler looks on in befuddlement. “You have a responsibility to be a role model to young girls and gay and questioning men. Okay? And you need to lay off the booze."

Bullock also tells Handler to stop sleeping with guests, and says that's the reason she hasn't done her show. "I don't want to sleep with you."

"I don't sleep with that many anymorec... just some of the rappers," Handler responds, referring to her romance with 50 Cent.

The skit continues on in that fashion, and those looking to see a naked Sandra Bullock deride Handler for two-and-a-half minutes should watch the video.

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