Vine just added two pretty crucial updates today: Sessions, which lets you save up to 10 Vines-in-progress, and Time Travel, which lets you edit or delete clips. [Vine blog]
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Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Daniel Radcliffe
LONDON – One Direction tops the latest annual heat magazine list of the richest British celebrities under the age of 30, with combined estimated earnings of $95.70 million (£59.33 million) for the past year.
Ranking just behind the boy band is Daniel Radcliffe, with an estimated $90.64 million (£56.19 million), making him the top-earning individual on the list. The Harry Potter star had topped the list since its inception in 2010.
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One Direction are Harry Styles, 19, Niall Horan, 19, Zayn Malik, 20, Liam Payne, 20, and Louis Tomlinson, 21.
Rounding out the top five are Robert Pattinson ($71.23 million, £44.16 million), Keira Knightley ($60.13 million, £37.28 million) and Emma Watson ($45.05 million, £27.93 million).
The top new entrant on the young British celebrity rich list is DJ Calvin Harris, with estimated earnings of $35.80 million (£22.20 million).
Other new additions include singer Jessie J ($9.16 million, £5.68 million), model/actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley ($9.08 million, £5.63 million), The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield ($8.06 million, £5 million) and boy band JLS ($7.85 million, £4.87 million).
The biggest gain goes to The Great Gatsby star Carey Mulligan, who rose 10 spots to come in 19th.
Heat magazine's list is compiled by a panel of experts that analyzes celebrities' earnings for the past year based on their TV and film deals, music sales and product endorsements.
E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama, standing with supporters of his health care law, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul. Obama acknowledged that the widespread problems with his health care law's rollout are unacceptable, as the administration scrambles to fix the cascade of computer issues. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
White House press secretary Jay Carney introduces Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman who spoke about the economy post government shutdown at the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013. Furman said the addition of 148,000 jobs in September is a sign of "solid" growth but forecasts worsening in October because of the 16-day partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Crammed into conference rooms with pizza for dinner, some programmers building the Obama administration's showcase health insurance website were growing increasingly stressed. Some worked past 10 p.m., energy drinks in hand. Others rewrote computer code over and over to meet what they considered last-minute requests for changes from the government or other contractors.
As questions mount over the website's failure, insider interviews and a review of technical specifications by The Associated Press found a mind-numbingly complex system put together by harried programmers who pushed out a final product that congressional investigators said was tested by the government and not private developers with more expertise.
The details about problems with the website's design emerged as the White House revealed that President Barack Obama's longtime adviser Jeffrey Zients is taking on to provide management advice to help fix the system. White House press secretary Jay Carney says Zients will be on a short-term assignment at the Health and Human Services Department before he's due to take over as director of Obama's National Economic Council Jan. 1.
Carney cited Zeints' expertise as a longtime management consultant and his "proven track record" since coming to the White House in 2009, both as interim budget director and as chief performance officer, when he headed an effort to streamline government and cut costs. "We're engaged in an all-out effort to improve the online experience," Carney said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a post on HealthCare.gov that her agency is also bringing in more experts and specialists from government and industry, including top Silicon Valley companies.
"This new infusion of talent will bring a powerful array of subject matter expertise and skills, including extensive experience scaling major IT systems," she said. "This effort is being marshaled as part of a cross-functional team that is working aggressively to diagnose parts of HealthCare.gov that are experiencing problems, learn from successful states, prioritize issues, and fix them."
Project developers for the health care website who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity — because they feared they would otherwise be fired — said they raised doubts among themselves whether the website could be ready in time. They complained openly to each other about what they considered tight and unrealistic deadlines. One was nearly brought to tears over the stress of finishing on time, one developer said. Website builders saw red flags for months.
A review of internal architectural diagrams obtained by the AP revealed the system's complexity. Insurance applicants have a host of personal information verified, including income and immigration status. The system connects to other federal computer networks, including ones at the Social Security Administration, IRS, Veterans Administration, Office of Personnel Management and the Peace Corps.
Obama on Monday acknowledged technical problems that he described as "kinks in the system." But in remarks at a Rose Garden event, Obama offered no explanation for the failure except to note that high traffic to the website caused some of the slowdowns. He said it had been visited nearly 20 million times — fewer monthly visits so far than many commercial websites, such as PayPal, AOL, Wikipedia or Pinterest.
"The problem has been that the website that's supposed to make it easy to apply for and purchase the insurance is not working the way it should for everybody," Obama said. "There's no sugarcoating it. The website has been too slow. People have been getting stuck during the application process. And I think it's fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am."
The online system was envisioned as a simple way for people without health insurance to comparison-shop among competing plans offered in their state, pick their preferred level of coverage and cost and sign up. For many, it's not worked out that way so far.
Just weeks before the launch of HealthCare.gov on Oct. 1, one programmer said, colleagues huddled in conference rooms trying to patch "bugs," or deficiencies in computer code. Unresolved problems led to visitors experiencing cryptic error messages or enduring long waits trying to sign up.
Congressional investigators have concluded that the government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, not private software developers, tested the exchange's computer systems during the final weeks. That task, known as integration testing, is usually handled by software companies because it ferrets out problems before the public sees the final product.
The government spent at least $394 million in contracts to build the federal health care exchange and the data hub. Those contracts included major awards to Virginia-based CGI Federal Inc., Maryland-based Quality Software Services Inc. and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
CGI Federal said in a statement Monday it was working with the government and other contractors "around the clock" to improve the system, which it called "complex, ambitious and unprecedented."
The schematics from late 2012 show how officials designated a "data services hub" — a traffic cop for managing information — in lieu of a design that would have allowed state exchanges to connect directly to government servers when verifying an applicant's information. On Sunday, the Health and Human Services Department said the data hub was working but not meeting public expectations: "We are committed to doing better."
Administration officials so far have refused to say how many people actually have managed to enroll in insurance during the three weeks since the new marketplaces became available. Without enrollment numbers, it's impossible to know whether the program is on track to reach projections from the Congressional Budget Office that 7 million people would gain coverage during the first year the exchanges were available.
Instead, officials have selectively cited figures that put the insurance exchanges in a positive light. They say more than 19 million people have logged on to the federal website and nearly 500,000 have filled out applications for insurance through both the federal and state-run sites.
The flood of computer problems since the website went online has been deeply embarrassing for the White House. The snags have called into question whether the administration is capable of implementing the complex policy and why senior administration officials — including the president — appear to have been unaware of the scope of the problems when the exchange sites opened.
Even as the president spoke at the Rose Garden, more problems were coming to light. The administration acknowledged that a planned upgrade to the website had been postponed indefinitely and that online Spanish-language signups would remain unavailable, despite a promise to Hispanic groups that the capability would start this week. And the government tweaked the website's home page so visitors can now view phone numbers to apply the old-fashioned way or window-shop for insurance rates without registering first.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee was expected to conduct an oversight hearing Thursday, probably without Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifying. She could testify on Capitol Hill on the subject as early as next week.
Uninsured Americans have until about mid-February to sign up for coverage if they are to meet the law's requirement that they be insured by the end of March. If they don't, they will face a penalty. The administration says it's working to address the timing issue to provide more flexibility.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., plans to introduce legislation to delay that requirement because: "It's not fair to punish people for not buying something that's not available," Rubio told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday.
On Monday, the White House advised people frustrated by the online tangle that they can enroll by calling 1-800-318-2596 in a process that should take 25 minutes for an individual or 45 minutes for a family. Assistance is also available in communities from helpers who can be found at LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov.
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Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
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Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jackgillum or Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-22-US-Obama-Health-Care/id-5400bca23f1f4bfc9924f14cfb18c3c8TOKYO (AP) — Japan is scaling down the planned main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, following an uproar from some prominent architects who think it's too big and expensive.
Hakubun Shimomura, the minister in charge of education, sports and science, told Parliament Wednesday the stadium designed by award-winning British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid would cost 300 billion yen ($3 billion), and that was "too massive a budget."
The 80,000-seat futuristic-looking stadium has been billed as costing 130 billion yen ($1.3 billion). The minister's updated estimate includes surrounding construction and infrastructure costs.
"We need to rethink this to scale it down," he said in response to a question from a ruling party lawmaker. "Urban planning must meet people's needs."
The plans for the stadium were approved earlier this year by the city and central governments. Shimomura's remarks signal a policy change.
He did not give specifics on how construction will be trimmed, but he stressed that the design concept will be kept.
He also said the new stadium will still have all the basic features needed to host the Olympics. It is replacing the smaller 54,000-seat main stadium that was used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, a recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, recently criticized the new stadium's size and urged that it be reworked to "a more sustainable stadium."
About 100 experts, including other architects, supported his view, questioning whether the new stadium is ecological and practical.
The site sits in the middle of a downtown Tokyo park within walking distance of shopping malls, high-rise buildings, a Shinto shrine and a famous venue designed by Kenzo Tange for the 1964 Olympics.
Zaha Hadid Architects office has said the venue is flexible and can be used for events beyond the Olympics, such as concerts. But it has expressed willingness to talk about design changes.
Construction is scheduled to begin next year.
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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at twitter.com/yurikageyama
HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese manufacturing rose to a seven-month high in October, suggesting continued momentum for the rebound in the world's second-biggest economy.
The report released Thursday follows Chinese data earlier this month that showed quarterly economic growth rose to 7.8 percent after hitting a two-decade low in the second quarter, easing pressure for further stimulus and allowing leaders to focus on reforms.
The preliminary version of HSBC's purchasing managers index rose to 50.9 from September's 50.2 on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate contraction.
The report, released before a similar official survey, provides an early indication each month of the health in China's mammoth manufacturing sector.
Output, new orders and new export orders all increased at a faster rate, according to the survey, which is based on 85-90 percent of responses from 420 factories.
HSBC's chief China economist Qu Hongbin said the reading improved thanks to "broad-based modest improvements," which imply that the recovery is consolidating.
"This momentum is likely to continue in the coming months, creating favorable conditions for speeding up structural reforms," Qu said.
China's communist leaders are scheduled to meet in November to draw up a blueprint for economic development.
The country's leaders have said their priority is longer-term reforms aimed at guiding the economy to slower, more sustainable growth based on domestic consumption rather than exports and investment. Reform advocates hope the blueprint will include measures to open up its markets and provide more financial support to private entrepreneurs.
The full version of HSBC's survey will be released Nov. 1.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/survey-china-manufacturing-rises-7-month-high-021332687--finance.htmlBOSTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the country is on the cusp of what he called "remarkable changes" in the treatment of mental illness.
Speaking at a forum on mental health to mark the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's signing of the Community Mental Health Act, Biden said the human brain is the new frontier for exploration in 2013.
He said science is on the verge of "astounding discoveries" that could change how society cares for those with mental illness.
"It's truly amazing what we don't know and it's truly amazing what we might learn," Biden said during a kickoff of the two-day forum at the Kennedy presidential library. "Imagine when we are able to identify the biomarkers for mental illness."
Biden said that ongoing research also holds promise for returning veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress. And as a result of President Barack Obama's health care law, he said, more people have access to care for mental illness because the law bars insurance companies from denying coverage due to preexisting conditions like bipolar disorder.
Still, too many people suffering from mental illness fail to seek help even when there is treatment available, he said.
Biden was joined at the forum by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.
Sebelius said work remains to be done to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness and its barrier to treatment. She said 60 percent of Americans with mental health challenges and nine out of 10 Americans battling substance abuse aren't receiving care.
"Imagine what it would mean if people felt as comfortable saying they were going for counseling as they were going for a flu shot," she said.
Sebelius also touted the benefits of the health care law, but didn't directly address the problems plaguing the rollout of the health care website — intended to make it easier for the uninsured to sign up for health care plans.
Patrick, the late president's nephew and a longtime mental health advocate, said he also hopes the forum will help remove lingering prejudices surrounding mental illness.
"This is the civil rights movement of our time," Kennedy said. "Together we're going to ensure not only quality treatment but equality of treatment."
Brandon Marshall, who's been treated for a personality disorder, also spoke at the event. Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, will moderate a conference panel Thursday on public health and community approaches to addressing behavioral health disorders.
The law signed by Kennedy in 1963 aimed to build mental health centers accessible to all Americans so that those with mental illness could be treated while working and living at home, rather than being kept in state institutions that sometimes were neglectful or abusive.
Recent deadly mass shootings, including at the Washington Navy Yard and a Colorado movie theater, have been perpetrated by men who were apparently not being adequately treated for serious mental illnesses.
Those tragedies have renewed public attention to the mental health system and areas where Kennedy's hopes for the treatment and care of those with mental illness were never realized.
