Hasta La Gadget!

Enjoy performance and versatility with this HP Pavilion x360. Featuring a 360-degree flip-and-fold design, this convertible laptop is configured with a 13.3-inch 1920 x 1080 Full HD IPS WLED backlight multi-touch display, a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-7200U mobile processor, an Intel HD Graphics 620, an 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 128GB SSD.

Apart from that, the system also packs a built-in HD webcam w/ two microphones, a media card reader, 2x SuperSpeed 10Gbs USB 3.1 ports, 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x HDMI output port, a 3-cell Lithium-ion battery and built-in stereo speakers w/ Bang & Olufsen Audio Technology.

Running on Windows 10 OS, the Pavilion x360 provides WiFi 802.11ac and Bluetooth for connectivity. The HP Pavilion x360 can be yours for just $599.99. [Product Page]

The post Take Home This HP Pavilion x360 2-In-1 13.3-Inch Touchscreen Laptop appeared first on TechFresh, Consumer Electronics Guide.

On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence cancelled an interview with PBS out of the blue, provoking speculation. The growing controversy around former FBI director James Comey must’ve gotten to the man known for having a stone face.

But there may have been another reason.

On Monday, the state of Indiana announced it would take control of a troubled highway construction project, Interstate 69, between Bloomington and Martinsville. The contractor, the Spanish firm Insolux Corsan, is facing bankruptcy and had been missing deadlines for months.

Who brought Insolux Corsan to the state? Pence. As governor, he signed a 35-year public-private partnership with the firm in 2014 to finance, construct, and maintain a section of the highway. Pence said it would provide “better value for taxpayers” than if the state used the traditional — and cheaper — method of public financing. But with only half the project completed and taxpayers left cleaning up the mess, one wonders what he’d say now.

Monday also happened to be the kickoff of a weeklong rollout of the Trump administration’s infrastructure plan, which would rely heavily on public-private partnerships. On PBS, Pence was supposed to talk infrastructure — drawing attention to his failed project wouldn’t have been good for business.

The I-69 failure highlights the dangers of Trump’s plan. Rather than the $1 trillion the president promised on the campaign trail, the plan only commits $200 billion in direct federal spending, leaving cities and states desperate for funding and therefore more dependent on local taxes and the private sector to make up the difference.

Public-private partnerships are far more expensive than public financing and — without very strong protections — can hand control of infrastructure to private investors.

Public-private partnerships are far more expensive than public financing and —without very strong protections — can hand control of infrastructure to private investors.

Trump’s plan wouldn’t rebuild America; it would encourage communities to make shortsighted deals with Wall Street and global corporations like Insolux Corsan.

Not only that, it would put a giant “for sale” sign on the country’s roads, bridges, water systems, and other infrastructure. Through a program based on a scheme pioneered in Australia — which crashed and burned — the federal government would pay a bonus to cities and states to outright sell public assets.

There’s no question we need to invest in rebuilding our infrastructure for the 21st century. But federal support should help cities and states maintain public control, avoid tolls and fees, create good jobs, and protect the environment.

Trump’s plan helps clearly someone else: Wall Street and global corporations.

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Uber, scrambling to change a corporate culture rife with sexual harassment and bullying, may face another blow to its reputation with the unearthing of a raunchy 2013 note to employees from CEO Travis Kalanick.

The email, uncovered by Recode, was dated Oct. 25, just before an all-hands company celebration in Miami. Among other things, Kalanick lightheartedly offers rules for employees who wish to engage in sex with each other.

Do not have sex with another employee UNLESS a) you have asked that person for that privilege and they have responded with an emphatic “YES! I will have sex with you” AND b) the two (or more) of you do not work in the same chain of command. Yes, that means that Travis will be celibate on this trip. #CEOLife #FML

The ride-hailing company’s culture has been under fire since February, when former Uber engineer Susan Fowler wrote a blog post describing what she said was a nightmarish, sexist work environment. The company this week fired 20 employees as part of a larger inquiry into harassment claims. 

Uber didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on Kalanick’s note.

The subject line on Kalanick’s email reads: “URGENT, URGENT ― READ THIS NOW OR ELSE!!!!!.”

“You better read this or I’ll kick your ass,” it says near the top.

Anyone who doesn’t identify as a “bro” may cringe as it continues.

The note offers dos and don’ts for appropriate party behavior, such as, “Do not throw large kegs off of tall buildings,” and threatens a $200 “puke charge” for anyone who throws up.

In addition to the probe that led to this week’s firings, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is investigating sexual harassment and discrimination claims at the company, aided by Uber board member Arianna Huffington, HuffPost’s founder and former editor-in-chief. The investigation has reportedly concluded, but hasn’t been publicly released.

Read Kalanick’s entire 2013 memo at Recode.

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Besides President Donald Trump, another top official whose leadership came under scrutiny during former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony to a Senate committee Thursday was Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The picture that was painted wasn’t flattering for Sessions. Comey, in his public testimony, suggested that the FBI knew Sessions was compromised from overseeing the agency’s probe into Russian meddling in last year’s election even before the attorney general recused himself in March from the matter.

Comey also depicted Sessions as unwilling to intervene and keep Trump from making what the then-FBI director saw as inappropriate direct contacts with him.

The bottom line may be a further eroding of Sessions’ position and clout within Trump’s administration.

The attorney general figured prominently in Comey’s written opening statement to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and in some of the questioning from senators.

In his statement, Comey suggested he had reason to believe, more than two weeks before Sessions announced his recusal, that Sessions would likely be taking that step. 

What’s more, FBI leadership deliberately kept Sessions out of the loop about Trump’s direct request to Comey, during a private Oval Office encounter in February, that the agency drop an inquiry into former national security adviser Mike Flynn.

The then-FBI director memorialized Trump’s request in contemporaneous notes that are now with Robert Muller, the special counsel appointed to handle the Russian probe after Trump fired Comey in early May.

“We concluded it made little sense to report it to Attorney General Sessions, who we expected would likely recuse himself from involvement in Russia-related investigations,” wrote Comey in his statement.

Asked about this detail by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Thursday, Comey explained that FBI leadership determined that Sessions “was very close to” and would be “inevitably going to recuse himself for a variety of reasons.”

“We also were aware of facts that I can’t discuss in an open setting that would make his continued engagement in a Russia-related investigation problematic,” Comey added. That suggested there’s more to Sessions’ recusal and potential contacts with the Russians that the U.S. public has yet to learn.

Comey continued his testimony to the Senate committee in a closed session Thursday afternoon. There, Comey told senators that Sessions may have had a third meeting last year with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to CNN, which had reported that detail recently. A day after two previously reported meetings came to light, Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation.

In the public session, Comey declined to offer more specifics when asked about Sessions’ recusal. But he said it was “a reasonable question” to wonder why the attorney general would work with Trump in the decision to fire him — in light of Trump’s own assertion that he had Russia in mind when making the call.

Comey, in his testimony, said he did ask Sessions one thing after what the then-FBI director viewed as an uncomfortable one-on-one meeting with Trump in February: To not leave him alone with the president.

Pressed on Sessions’ reaction to his request for protection from Trump later in the hearing, Comey said that he couldn’t recall the attorney general’s precise response ― other than body language that gave him a “what am I going to do?” vibe.

“He didn’t say anything,” Comey said of Sessions.

Thursday evening, Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior issued a lengthy statement saying the sole reason Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation were his close ties to the Trump campaign as an adviser. And he disputed Comey’s testimony that Sessions didn’t say a thing after the FBI director asked to be insulated from the White House.

“The Attorney General was not silent; he responded to this comment by saying that the FBI and Department of Justice needed to be careful about following appropriate policies regarding contacts with the White House,” Prior said.  

And yet Trump’s overtures to Comey continued ― contacts that flew in the face of White House counsel Don McGahn’s own advice to route all internal communications about pending investigations through the Justice Department. 

Faiza Patel, who co-leads the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program, characterized Sessions as a “wimp” on Twitter over his apparent inability to shield Comey from inappropriate contacts with the president.

“At that point it seems to me that it’s the attorney general’s responsibility to do something about that,” she said later in an interview with HuffPost. She added that it’s “critical to the integrity and the reputation of the FBI” to protect the bureau from undue political influences.

Sessions’ recusal from the Russia probe reportedly hurt the attorney general’s standing with the president, who as of this week was being advised to not get rid of Sessions out of concerns that the dismissal might yet again eclipse the White House agenda.

“That’s the advice he’s been given. But he might not listen to that advice,” one source close to the White House told Reuters on Wednesday.

Once Trump learns that there may be more to Sessions’ entanglements with the Russia investigation, he may yet again conclude that one of his most ardent loyalists during the 2016 campaign is not worth keeping around in his orbit for much longer.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. ― A collection of framed Beatles record covers adorn the living room wall of the house where 25-year-old government contractor Reality Winner lived until late last week. One room is empty, save for a rug where she practices yoga, a book titled “The Art of Peace” and prayer beads. In her bedroom, a blanket with a giant picture of the Pokemon Pikachu is laid neatly on her bed.

It doesn’t seem like the house of a mastermind bent on bringing down the government.

“I want people to keep in mind that she’s a human being, that she did serve her country, that she would never hurt anyone,” Winner’s mother, Billie Winner-Davis, told HuffPost in a sit-down interview Thursday morning. Her parents have come to Augusta from their home in Kingsville, Texas, to stand by their daughter. 

The portrait they paint of her is a far cry from the profile prosecutors sketched just hours later in U.S. District Court.

Authorities say Winner intentionally accessed a highly classified document about Russian interference in the U.S. election while working for Pluribus International Corp, a National Security Agency subcontractor, on her work computer in Augusta. They say she printed it out and shared it with a news site, The Intercept. Prosecutor Jennifer Solari said Winner had also described in notebooks that she wanted to “burn the White House down” and live in Kurdistan or Nepal.

Winner’s parents, who are staying for now in their daughter’s carefully decorated house, said they knew her to be selfless and dedicated, intent on helping her community as well as the people she had worked with as a linguist throughout her young career. They are adamant about her innocence and strongly stressed their belief that her case is being blown out of proportion.

“This is a 25-year-old girl who served her country with admiration and distinction. But she’s now the poster child for every bad thing that happens, and the government is going to prosecute her as if she’s the number one threat to national security, and she’s not,” Winner’s stepfather, Gary Davis, said.

Since being detained, Winner-Davis says her daughter has found a sense of community in prison. They’ve rallied around her, she says of Winner’s fellow inmates, and have vowed to protect her amid the complicated circumstances she finds herself in. Winner told her mother that when a reporter showed up at the prison, the inmates shielded her from photographs. When she had used up the limited number of phone calls she could make from jail, her cellmate was quick to surrender hers. “She said they will take care of her,” Winner’s mother said.  

In her last free call from jail, they had laughed. “She said, ‘Mom, I’m wearing orange,’” and I said, ‘Well, I bet you’re rocking it,’” Winner-Davis said.

Winner was born in Texas and received her unusual legal name, Reality Leigh Winner, from her father, who died in December after a long bout of medical crises. His death, Winner’s stepfather told HuffPost, had been both a sorrow and a relief.

“She was home with us when he passed away,” Winner-Davis recounted. Despite his poor health, Winner and her father had always been close. “She loved him, he loved her, they were very bonded and close,” Davis said. 

After finishing high school in Texas, Winner joined the Air Force, determined to become a linguist like her older stepbrother.

She learned Pashto, Farsi and Dari. She had started to teach herself Arabic even before joining the service. ”She had started ordering books and education materials. We came home one day and she had yellow stickers in Arabic all over the house. She had started self-teaching herself the language,” Davis recounted. 

Her work with foreign languages and far-away countries brought her joy, her parents proudly said. She was attached to a unit of Afghans “and would assist them in writing reports,” they said. She even hoped to deploy to Afghanistan.

But Winner ended up leaving the Air Force and taking a job as an intelligence contractor in Augusta.

While her stepfather told The New York Times after her arrest that she was a lonely in the new environment, he stressed to HuffPost that the community in the small town was friendly and tight knit.

Exercise provided her with a rhythm. Winner, passionate about CrossFit, also worked as a yoga instructor. She believes yoga is the way to a peaceful world, her mother said.

“Whatever she does, she does it 100 percent. She wants to help that culture, those folks. You look around here, she’s got crosses on the walls, Hindu stuff, she does yoga,” Davis said. “She’s not a radical Muslim; she’s not anything like that. She’s just a young woman who wants to help everybody she meets. She wants to be a positive influence. She feels that every person is an instrument of change and can make the world a better place.”

Winner’s passion came across on her social media platforms, which highlight her love of animals and fitness on Instagram as well as show her strong dislike of President Donald Trump and his policies on Twitter.

Prosecutors say it was while working in Georgia for the NSA that Winner obtained the document detailing Russian efforts to derail the election. According to the prosecutor, she admitted as much during a conversation with FBI agents over the weekend ― a conversation in which she also talked about yoga and music.

Authorities say they figured out it was Winner who passed along the information by tracking who accessed and printed the information. They also found records of her contacts with the Intercept from her home computer.  

During Thursday’s explosive court hearing, Winner pleaded not guilty and was denied bail.

Solari told the courtroom that Winner told the FBI she had purposely sought and printed classified information, and gave the FBI access to her phone, which reportedly had pictures of the NSA document.

Prosecutors allege that during a call from jail, Winner plotted with her mother to highlight her innocent, peaceful appearance in court. In that same call with her mother, which was recorded, she reportedly said that if she did not make bail, she would “go nuclear to the press.” 

In another phone call from jail, to her sister, Winner said the document she was accused of leaking was “kind of an important one,” Solari added, and said she planned to defend herself by playing “that card, being pretty, white and cute, braid my hair and cry and all.”

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