Hasta La Gadget!

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday denounced the religious fundamentalism that inspired the Paris massacres and ongoing Mideast conflicts, saying the attackers were enslaved by “deviant forms of religion” that used God as a mere ideological pretext to perpetuate mass killings.

In his annual foreign policy address to Vatican-based ambassadors, Francis called for a unanimous response from the international community to end “fundamentalist terrorism” in the Mideast. And he called for Muslim leaders in particular to condemn “extremist interpretations” of their faith that seek to justify such violence. The leader of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church has stepped up his call for Muslim political, religious and intellectual leaders to vocally insist that Islam doesn’t condone such violence.

Francis said the Paris attacks were the result of a “throwaway culture” in which human beings and even God are rejected outright. Referring to the “tragic slayings” in Paris, Francis said those responsible had become “enslaved” by new fads and “deviant forms of religion.”

“Religious fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere ideological pretext,” he said.

Francis also denounced the “abominable” kidnapping and enslavement of young girls by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria and the slaughter of “unspeakable brutality” of more than 100 children by the Taliban in Pakistan.

Referring specifically to the U.S., Francis welcomed the planned closure of the Guantanamo prison and the recent U.S.-Cuba rapprochement that he himself helped facilitate. He called for a change in attitude toward accepting refugees, noting the many unaccompanied Latin American children migrating to the U.S. are “are all the more at risk and in need of greater care, attention and protection.”

He said he hoped 2015 would bring progress toward a new climate change agreement, saying in a brief deviation from his text that it was “urgent.”

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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

I think I speak for most women when I say I love to get presents. Birthdays, anniversaries, St. Swithin’s Day — all occasions that demand presents, in my opinion. I love getting presents so much that I devised a plan to rotate among different religions throughout the year in order to increase my gift-getting opportunities. (And in the process I learned that three separate holidays intersect on February 2–the Druid Imbolc, the Christian Candlemas and the secular Ground Hog Day. Store that little nugget away for your next trivia night.)

It’s important to note that I am the ideal gift recipient. I don’t require expensive purchases and I am extremely easy to please. From aardvark-shaped candles to dry erase markers, I think everything is a treat. Once I even graciously accepted a pair of black XXL pantyhose from a student — and gave growing into them a real shot when another student gave me a gift card to Ben & Jerry’s.

But recently I have run up against a gift-getting situation that I’m not sure how to handle. On three separate occasions, from three separate and unrelated people, I have received various anti-wrinkle potions formulated for “aging skin.” I’m not talking about fancy body lotion sets that are more cosmetic than therapeutic; I’m talking about down-and-dirty, pull-no-punches wrinkle cream for industrial strength Shar-Pei faces. And each person that “gifted” me implied pretty much the same thing, saying, “I saw this and thought of you” or “I wanted to get you something you could really use.” Seriously? Did no one but me get the memo that 70 is the new 20?

I can’t decide whether to be grateful or insulted. On the one (wrinkled) hand, these are expensive products, ones I really did want to try sometime, but on the other (liver-spotted) hand, shouldn’t I be the one to determine that the time has come? I was silently contemplating this very question when my husband walked in the room.

“Hey, what are you doing just sitting around?” he asked. “Lesser Quinquatrus starts tomorrow, doesn’t it? I figured you’d have the whole house decorated by now.”

He was right. It was the eve of Lesser Quinquatrus, the ancient Roman holiday celebrating flute players, but I wasn’t feeling particularly festive. “I’ve decided to cut back on holidays for a while,” I said with a shrug.

“But what about your big plan to increase your gift-getting opportunities?” he asked, somewhat shocked.

“I’m putting that on hold for now,” I replied. “Let’s just say it developed a wrinkle or two I hadn’t foreseen and leave it at that.”

You know what, folks, here’s a little tip — next St. Swinthin’s Day, just say it with cash!

Earlier on Huff/Post50:

When Google announced their plans for Android One, it was revealed that these devices could hardly be considered high-end. In fact if anything these devices are very low-end devices meant for emerging markets where budgets might be tight. While this means that you probably won’t be expecting amazing hardware, it doesn’t mean that on the software front you can’t have fun either.

The good news for those who have bought Android One devices is that the folks at Cyanogen Inc. have recently announced that they will be officially support Android One handsets. This means that for those who own any of the Android One devices, you guys will be able to download and install the CyanogenMod 11 ROMs.

However we should note that CyanogenMod 11 is based on Android 4.4 KitKat, but the developer has stated that they are working on bringing CyanogenMod 12, which is based on Android 5.0 Lollipop, onto Android One at a later date, so for now you guys will have to make do with CM11 which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Cyanogen also notes that bringing CyanogenMod onto Android One devices marks a milestone for them. Android One devices are powered by MediaTek, which as they have pointed out has been quite difficult for developers to port onto in the past, so hopefully by bringing CyanogenMod 11 onto Android One, it will pave the way for more ROMs to arrive for MediaTek-based handsets in the future.

CyanogenMod Officially Available For Android One Devices , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Earlier last year Blizzard filed for the trademark for “Overwatch” which was later revealed to be a brand new multiplayer shooter game that the company revealed at BlizzCon 2014. So we guess now’s just a matter of waiting for the game to be released, right? Well unfortunately it looks like Blizzard could run into some trademark issues.

According to a post on the NeoGAF forums, someone found that Blizzard’s trademark applications for the Overwatch name have been suspended. This is apparently because someone had previously filed for the Overwatch name as well and they had done so prior to Blizzard’s filing.

Ultimately this means that they should technically be given the trademark over Blizzard as they were the first to apply for it. Blizzard themselves have yet to comment on the issue but there is a chance that we could be looking at a rename of the game. This isn’t the first legal trouble Blizzard has run into.

Previously Blizzard and Valve got into a dispute over the DOTA name which ultimately saw Valve walk away with the rights to the name. In any case we’ll keep our eyes peeled for a possible announcement or renaming, but in the meantime anyone got any suggestions as to what Blizzard could potentially rename the game to? Or do you think Blizzard might try to purchase the name instead?

Blizzard Might Run Into Trademark Issues With “Overwatch” Name , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

GM really wants the Buick luxury brand to come on strong and at the Detroit Auto Show 2015, it will be doing so by putting its best foot forward with the new 2015 Buick Avenir concept sedan. But while the car does integrate many driver and passenger technologies like other concept cars, its biggest attention grabbing feature will most probably … Continue reading