Slogging through countless exams, lectures and hangovers, college students practically have a divine right to guzzle down gallons of caffeine.

According to new data from GrubHub, some campuses are more jittery than others, with students packing up to 10% of their online orders with coffee, espresso, and energy drinks.

The delivery site ranked the student bodies with the highest percentage of their total orders that contain caffeinated beverages like vanilla lattes and Red Bulls — and Philadelphia school dominated.

Six of the top 14 schools were located in the Philadelphia area, with the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University taking the top two spots. 

Here is the full list of the 14 colleges that have the biggest caffeine fixes: 

1. University of Pennsylvania - more than 10% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

2. Drexel University - 9% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

3. Lehigh University - 8% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

4. The College of New Jersey - 8% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

5. University of the Sciences - 8% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

6. Temple University - 7% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

7. Hofstra University - 6% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

8. Middle Tennessee State University - 5% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

9. Rochester Institute of Technology - 5% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

10. Rider University - 4% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

11. Villanova University - 4% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

12. The University of the Arts - 4% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

13. Pratt Institute - 4% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

14. University of Maryland - 4% of orders contain coffee/espresso/ energy drinks.

SEE ALSO: Meet The Guy Who Makes 1,000 Dollars An Hour Tutoring Kids Of Fortune 500 CEOs Over Skype

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Celine Dion has slashed the price of her gorgeous property on Florida's Jupiter Island to $62.5 million after it languished on the market for over a year.

According to The New York Daily News, Dion's compound was discounted by $10 million after originally being listed for $72.5 million back in August 2013.

The home, which is jointly listed by Sotheby's International Realty agents Joseph Montanaro and Cristina Condon, was custom-built and designed in 2010 by Celine Dion herself.

She and her manager husband Reneé Angélil bought the lot of land in 2005 for $12.5 million and the adjacent mansion in 2008 for $7 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. They then razed to build the current spread.

The five-and-a-half-acre property has views of the Atlantic Ocean, a four-bedroom guest house, a simulated golf range, pool house, and three separate pools.

The main residence alone measures close to 10,000 square feet, with five bedrooms and a custom-designed, walk-in closet with automated rack for clothing and automated carousel for shoes.

In 2012, Dion listed her home on a private island in Quebec for $29.3 million; it's still on the market.

Welcome to Celine Dion's 5.5-acre compound on Jupiter Island in Florida.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

The singer is selling the property for $62.5 million.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

She and her husband custom-designed the property themselves after buying two lots and razing one of the existing homes.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

Bill O'Reilly argued on his Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" that white privilege is just an excuse for black people in America to shirk personal responsibility for their struggles.

As evidence of his theory, O'Reilly cited the relative success of Asian people in America and sarcastically asked whether we have "Asian privilege" in America.

The reason Asians earn more than whites and blacks and have a lower unemployment rate, according to O'Reilly, is that they have "stable homes" and emphasize education in their families.

Here are the statistics O'Reilly uses to support his argument:

O'Reilly does throw in the small caveat of slavery, which he says is unique to the "African-American experience," but says that every American must overcome obstacles.

Tina Ngyugen criticized this line of thought in Mediaite, calling it far too simplistic and saying it ignores some of the complexities of Asian-American demographics and statistics.

But O'Reilly also went beyond the idea of "Asian privilege" to insist that black people use white privilege as an "excuse" to avoid personal responsibility and "blame someone else" for their problems.

O'Reilly also lamented the rise of "gangsta rap" and Beyonce, which he says have replaced more "uplifting" black idols of the past.

"The federal government cannot fix this problem," O'Reilly said. "Only a message of personal responsibility can turn things around."

Watch the full video below:

(h/t The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed)

SEE ALSO: 'LET MEN BE MEN': Watch Fox News Hosts Defend Catcalling Women

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The White House is pushing back after President Barack Obama's stated his administration currently doesn't have "a strategy" for dealing with the jihadist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and drew headlines across the country.

"I don't want to put the cart before the horse," Obama said at a press briefing late Thursday afternoon. "We don't have a strategy yet."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest subsequently insisted that Obama specifically articulated a "comprehensive strategy" for dealing with the Islamic State during the briefing.  

"In his remarks today, POTUS was explicit — as he has been in the past — about the comprehensive strategy we'll use to confront ISIL threat," Earnest wrote on Twitter.

Earnest quickly scheduled an appearance on CNN during which he argued Obama was simply referencing the U.S. options against the Islamic State in Syria — not in Iraq.

"The president asked a specific question about what approach he was going to pursue when it came to possible military action in Syria against ISIL. That was the specific question he was asked and the president was explicit that he is still waiting for plans that are being developed by the Pentagon for military options he has for going into Syria," Earnest said.

Overall, Earnest said the word "strategy" at least 24 times during his CNN interview.

"I just want to be clear about what our strategy is. The president's clear in that this strategy is one that's not going to solve this problem overnight. But he's also clear about the fact that our strategy can't only be the American military," he continued. "We have a comprehensive strategy for dealing with ISIL. One component of our broader strategy is the use of military force."

Updated (6:39 p.m.): With Earnest's remarks on CNN.

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Megan Smith, the VP of Google X, Google’s secretive research lab, is close to being named the next Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

If appointed, Smith would replace Todd Park, who recently stepped down from the CTO role to take the technology adviser position for President Barack Obama. Smith would become the third CTO of America.

The CTO’s primary role is to manage how technology is used by the U.S. government. For example, it finds ways to create more tech-related jobs or how to use the internet for things like healthcare. 

Since joining Google in 2003, Smith has filled several executive roles, including VP of business development and head of Google.org. She was also the co-host of Solve for X, a forum where industry thought leaders join Google executives to discuss new tech ideas.

Smith finished her bachelor’s and master’s degree at MIT. She worked for Apple and Planet Out, a site dedicated to the LGBT community, before joining Google.

She’s also famous for getting married to Re/code’s Kara Swisher in 1999. They were together for 15 years but are currently separated.

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If you are a competent internet user, chances are you've done something called "Google Dorking."

And now the Feds have issued a warning to U.S. businesses to be on the lookout for Google Dorking activity as a sign of hackers.

Google Dorking means using Google's advanced search techniques to dig up information on the web that doesn't easily pop up during a normal search.

Our favorite is a feature called "site," which lets you search a single website for a keyword or photos. (Here's a tutorial on how to use that.) Google also has special search commands called  "filetype" and "datarange."

The kind of Google Dorking the feds are worried about goes further, though. It's when malicious hackers use these advanced techniques looking for stuff that companies didn't mean to put online.

The Infosec Institute, an organization that trains people to be computer security pros, shows how using Google can easily turn up things like username and passwords, sensitive documents, even bank account details.

Internet watchdog site Exploit Database uncovered the warning from the U.S. government issued last month. The feds want companies to test their websites to make sure they can't be dorked, advising people to use a tool called The Diggity Project and/or a website called the Google Hacking Database. These keep a list of premade dorking queries you can run on your own website to see what turns up.

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Damascus (AFP) - US President Barack Obama admitted Thursday that he still did not have a strategy to fight Islamic State jihadists in Syria, as the militants boasted they had executed scores of Syrian troops -- the latest in a string of atrocities that have shocked the world.

Dampening hopes of imminent air strikes in Syria, Obama said he was still developing a comprehensive plan to defeat for good IS, which has also overrun large swathes of Iraq.

The civil war in Syria has killed some 191,000 people since it erupted in March 2011 with President Bashar al-Assad's bloody effort to put down an uprising.

But it has taken on another dimension as IS jihadists exploited the power vacuum to move in, unleashing a series of atrocities including the brutal execution of US journalist James Foley.

The chaotic situation on the ground was underlined by the seizing by rival Islamist rebels, led by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, of 43 UN peacekeepers on the Golan Heights -- part of a mission that has monitored an armistice between Syrian and Israeli troops on the strategic plateau for decades.

"We don't have a strategy yet," Obama said ahead of a meeting with security chiefs.

But he said he was dispatching Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East to build support in the region against the IS jihadists.

The jihadists posted grisly video footage on the Internet of scores of bodies heaped in the desert they boasted were those of Syrian soldiers they captured and executed following the seizure of Tabqa air base.

They have repeatedly posted gruesome videos, which have appalled international opinion but served as a propaganda tool to recruit volunteers.

British-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that IS had executed at least 160 soldiers, among some 500 who had made a desperate bid to escape to government-held territory after their defeat last Sunday.

- 'No need to choose between IS and Assad' -

The footage posted by IS showed a close-up of some 20 bodies, but then panned out to show scores more.

Other shots showed men barefoot and dressed only in their underwear walking in line with their hands on their head in surrender, escorted by jihadist gunmen.

One held up the black flag of the jihadists. Others chanted: "Islamic State forever."

Tabqa was the last position in Raqa province to fall to the jihadists, who now control a vast swathe of northeastern Syria and Iraq.

A UN-mandated probe has charged that public executions, amputations, lashings and mock crucifixions have become a regular fixture in jihadist-controlled areas of Syria.

The Syrian government launched air strikes of its own on Thursday, killing six IS leaders, the Observatory said, but Washington has baulked at cooperating with Damascus against the group.

On Thursday, Obama reiterated the stance, saying: "I don't think there's a situation where we have to choose between Assad or the kinds of people who carry on the incredible violence that we’ve been seeing there."

- UN peacekeepers held -

Rival jihadists of Al-Nusra Front, backed by other rebels, detained 43 Fijian peacekeepers on the Golan on Thursday, a day after their capture of the sole crossing over the UN-patrolled armistice line to the Israeli-occupied sector of the plateau.

"Forty-three peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force were detained early this morning by an armed group in the vicinity of Quneitra," a UN statement said.

The 43 peacekeepers from Fiji were forced to surrender their weapons and taken hostage, but 81 Filipino blue helmets "held their ground" and refused to disarm, the Filipino defence department said.

It said the Filipino peacekeepers were being surrounded by the gunmen.

The UN Security Council condemned the action and demanded the "unconditional and immediate release" of the peacekeepers, a statement said.

Peacekeepers were detained twice last year before being released safely.

The Philippines has said it will repatriate its 331-strong contingent, for security reasons, mirroring previous moves by Australia, Croatia and Japan.

Washington has been weighing both aid drops and air strikes in Iraq to help residents of a Shiite Turkmen town besieged by the jihadists since early June, US officials said on Wednesday.

Inhabitants of the Salaheddin province town of Amerli, north of Baghdad, face danger both because of their faith, which jihadists consider heresy, and their resistance against the militants,

"It could be a humanitarian operation. It could be a military operation. It could be both," said a US defence official on condition of anonymity.

Iraq is preparing its own effort, massing forces north and south of the town and carrying out air strikes against the jihadist militants besieging it.

There is "no possibility of evacuating them so far", Eliana Nabaa, spokeswoman for the UN mission in Iraq, said of Amerli residents.

UN Iraq envoy Nickolay Mladenov has called for an urgent effort to help Amerli, saying residents face a "possible massacre" if the town is overrun.

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Flying robots will soon deliver the products we order over the Internet. And Google wants to be the company making that happen.

Google recently showed off its two-year-old secret "Project Wing" drone delivery project to the Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal.

Here's what a Google delivery drone looks like:

Project Wing is part of Google X, the research team trying to solve really hard "moonshot" engineering problems. It's the team that created Google Glass, is working on self-driving cars, using balloons to bring the Internet to far-flung corners of the globe among other crazy, cool things.

Google has been testing the drones this month in Australia, Madrigal reports, and things are going well. The company will be trying to make this a real thing.

Take a closer look:

Still that's a long way off. For now companies like Google and Amazon can't even test pilot programs in the the U.S. because the Federal Aviation Administration has safety rules that prohibit such tests. Amazon, which is also famously working on its own drone delivery vehicles, has been lobbying for a change in the rules, but that change is a good 16 months away.

Google's drone project was being led by Nick Roy, an MIT associate professor who took a two-year sabbatical to do this for Google. As his reign ends, he'll be replaced by Dave Vos who sold his drone software company, Athena Technologies, to Rockwell in 2008, Madrigal reports.

Here's a short video of the full drone flight:

;

SEE ALSO: The Most Simple Explanation Of Cloud Computing Ever, From Google

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There's a little-discussed piece of the video ecosystem that is becoming absolutely critical to how content on streaming sites like Netflix finds its way to people's TVs: Content Distribution Networks (CDNs).

A  recent report and explainer from BI Intelligence on the video ecosystem finds that CDNs specialize in delivering large volumes of traffic over multiple ISPs, varying geographies, and piping it through internet infrastructure. In short, CDNs take the guess-work and heavy lifting out of the complex task of delivering video, in a reliable manner, to millions of viewers served by a variety of different ISPs.

Now, content providers like Netflix and Google are continuing to build out their own CDN networks  to cut out intermediaries and better deliver content to consumers and attain more control over how their traffic is routed. The BI Intelligence report offers a high-level, simplified explanation of online video transit, and how it gets from video content providers to consumer living rooms. 

Netflix Open Connect already accounts for 13% of CDN traffic as of 2013.

Access The Full Report On The Video Transit Ecosystem By Signing Up Today >>

In full, the report: 

• Compares the market share and/or roles of transit and CDN players like Akamai, Limelight, Level3, Cogent and others. 
• Provides an overview and infographics explaining the streaming video ecosystem.
• Explains the role and underlying economics of settlement free peering, content distribution networks (CDNs), and transit providers.
• Compares the pricing models underlying each of these different mechanisms for routing video traffic.
• Lays out the landscape of “last-mile” Internet service providers (ISPs).
• Looks at why it is important to understand the role of peering agreements in understanding the net neutrality debate.

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There are plenty of Silicon Valley executives who live fabulous and lavishlifestyles, but not all of tech's millionaires and billionaires care to flaunt their wealth.

Some tech leaders prefer to use their wealth as a cushion to life comfortably, but not excessively.

We rounded up some of the wealthiest names in technology to show you that not all of Silicon Valley's millionaires and billionaires blow their riches on yachts, mansions, and private jets.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg eats McDonald's and wears the same shirt and hoodie every day.

Net worth: $33.3 billion

The brains behind Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is just one of three people in the world who has more billions in his possession than years lived. But despite his wealth, the 28-year-old still leads a quiet life.

He owns a $7 million house in Palo Alto, but The Los Angeles Times says the home is "still well below his means." He used to drive a black Acura TSX, but now he's behind the wheel of a Volkswagen GTI — both cars, however, cost about $30,000. In addition, Zuckerberg wed his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan in his backyard, and the pair was seen eating at a McDonald's on their Italian honeymoon.

He also famously wears the same gray t-shirt and hoodie to work every day.

Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella takes online courses in the morning.

Net worth: $45 million

His colleagues have called him “thoughtful,” “articulate” and “a great listener.” But Nadella, who moved to the U.S. to earn his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, is not so easily seduced by his new role as Microsoft’s chief executive.

Nadella says he likes to read poetry from American and Indian poets, and he still signs up for online courses to expand his horizons, especially early in the morning.

“I’m a learner,” Nadella says. “I think the thing that I realized is, what excites me is that I'm learning something. I can learn something about some area. I can learn something from people. I can learn something from doing things differently. And I admire that in other people, too. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things … you stop doing great and useful things. So family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge all define me.”   

Google cofounder Sergey Brin often shops at Costco.

Net worth: $30.9 billion

Yes, Brin does owns a few private planes, but Brin has publicly confessed to his distaste for spending.

"From my parents, I certainly learned to be frugal and to be happy without very many things," he said in a 2007 interview. "It’s interesting — I still find myself not wanting to leave anything on the plate uneaten. I still look at prices. I try to force myself to do this less, not to be so frugal. But I was raised being happy with not so much."

He's also reportedly a frequent shopper at Costco, but he's certainly one of Silicon Valley's most generous philanthropists — he and his now-separated wife Anne Wojcicki donated $219 million to charities in 2013.

Sydney (AFP) - Virgin Australia on Friday posted an annual net loss of Aus$355.6 million (US$332 million) as intense competition led by Qantas, weak consumer sentiment and high taxes hurt its bottom line.

The country's second largest carrier also announced the sale of a 35 percent stake in its frequent flyer programme to private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners, boosting its cash balance by Aus$336 million.

The result was more than triple the Aus$98.1 million loss it reported in the 12 months to June 30 the previous year, and follows huge annual losses by Qantas on Thursday.

Virgin's underlying loss -- its preferred measure of financial performance, which excludes one-off costs and write downs -- was Aus$211.7 million.

The carrier, which is majority owned by Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad, blamed excess market capacity, weak consumer sentiment, economic uncertainty and Aus$51.6 million in carbon tax costs for the poor numbers.

"The 2014 financial year has seen one of the most difficult operating environments in the history of Australian aviation," said chief executive John Borghetti.

"While the Virgin Australia Group performed well in attracting high yielding passengers and containing cost growth over the full year, underlying revenue performance was impacted by the challenging operations conditions."

The tough conditions faced by airlines in Australia were made starkly apparent by flag carrier Qantas, which reported record annual net losses of Aus$2.84 billion.

It blamed restructuring and redundancy payouts and a write down in the value of its ageing international fleet for the huge losses, although its domestic arm also struggled.

Like Qantas chief Alan Joyce, Borghetti insisted better days were ahead.

"While the 2014 financial year has been an extremely tough year for the industry, I am confident that the Virgin Australia Group is in a strong strategic position going forward," he said.

"This next period for us is about maximising the group's potential, by extracting value from the business and generating sustainable profitability."

Virgin's balance sheet was boosted by selling a minority stake in its Velocity frequent flyer programme -- which has 4.5 million members -- to one of Asia-Pacific's largest investment firms, fund manager Affinity Equity Partners.

"Affinity brings a wealth of experience in driving rapid and sustainable growth across a diverse range of businesses and we look forward to working with them to enhance value," Borghetti said.

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In the latest escalation of the war over airplane legroom, another flight was diverted after two passengers got into an argument over reclining seats.

An American Airlines flight from Miami to Paris diverted and landed in Boston on Wednesday after air marshals on board broke cover and restrained a 61-year-old man fighting with the passenger in front of him who was trying to recline the seat, according to ABC News.

Edmund Alexandre, of Paris, was arrested and charged with interfering with a flight crew after allegedly grabbing a crew member's arm, CBS Local reported.

"The lady sitting in front of my client, and he's a very tall man he's over 6 feet tall, the lady put her seat all the way back and it was hurting his knees,” Janet Macnab, Alexandre's attorney, told WHDH-TV. "The lady refused so he voiced some concerns.”

Alexandre was taken to a hospital for a pre-existing condition and was later arraigned there, according to ABC.

The scuffle comes days after a United flight had to be diverted after a passenger used a gadget called a "knee defender" to stop the person in front of him from reclining. A flight attendant asked him to remove it but he refused, and the passenger in front turned around and threw a cup of water at him, according to AP. Both were removed from the flight.

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Earlier this week, Google removed an app called "Disconnect Mobile" from the Google Play app store.

Disconnect Mobile is a privacy tool that stops other apps from collecting data on users. In the five days it was available in Google’s store, it was downloaded more than 5,000 times, reports the Wall Street Journal, which broke the news on the banned app.

The startup makes a similar app for iOS and a popular desktop version used by 2 million people.

Google sent Disconnect an email telling the startup that the app violated a rule. Google doesn't allow any app in its store that "interferes with" other apps.

Cofounder Casey Oppenheim thinks Google categorized the app as an ad blocker and that's why it was banned.

Google, which gives Android away for free and relies on advertising for the bulk of its income, has famously removed other ad-blocking apps from its app store.

But Oppenheim says his app is not a classic ad blocker and was carefully constructed not to violate any of Google's rules. In a blog post, he writes:

"Disconnect focuses on protecting people from invisible tracking and sources of malware, and all too often these threats come in the form of advertising.

... The fact is, we are not opposed to advertising and think advertising plays a critical role in the Internet economy. But we are 100% opposed to advertising that invisibly tracks people and compromises their security."

The company wouldn't comment to the Wall Street Journal on the specifics of this case but it did offer this statement: “Our policies are designed to provide a great experience for users and developers. That’s why we remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies."

We also reached out to Google and will update when we hear back.

Traffic has been so overwhelming since news of the blocked app broke, that Disconnect's blog website keeps going down.

The startup's cofounder, Casey Oppenheim, sent Business Insider a copy of the email:

From: Google Play Support <googleplay-developer-
support@google.com>

Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 1:46 PM

Subject: Notification from Google Play

To: pat@disconnect.me

This is a notification that your application, Disconnect Mobile, with package ID me.disconnect.mobile, has been removed from the Google Play Store. REASON FOR REMOVAL: Violation of section 4.4 of the Developer Distribution Agreement.

After a regular review we have determined that your app interferes with or accesses another service or product in an unauthorized manner. This violates the provision of your agreement with Google referred to above.

This particular app has been disabled as a policy strike. If your developer account is still in good standing, (and the nature of your app allows for it), you may revise and upload a policy compliant version of this application as a new package name.

This notification also serves as notice for remaining, unsuspended violations in your catalog, and you may avoid further app suspensions by immediately unpublishing any apps in violation of (but not limited to) the above policy. Once you have resolved any existing violations, you may republish the app(s) at will. Before publishing applications, please ensure your apps’ compliance with the Developer Distribution

Agreement and Content Policy.

All violations are tracked. Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.

If you feel we have made this determination in error, you can visit this Google Play Help Center article for additional information regarding this removal.

The Google Play Team

And he also sent us a copy of the blog post:

Google just banned our new Mobile Android app before it even launched

Another example privacy friendly alternatives for Android app distribution are critically important

This post is about more than our new app, Disconnect Mobile, being arbitrarily removed by Google from the Play Store Tuesday, five days after it went live and prior to doing any PR announcement. This post is really about Google’s disregard for user privacy and security, their ability to arbitrarily and unilaterally ban any app from the world’s dominant mobile operating system (78% of total smartphones run Android), and the importance of alternative Android distribution platforms that support privacy and security.

Our part in this story began two days ago. As our small team excitedly prepared for the imminent PR launch of our mobile privacy apps for iOS and Android, our CTO Patrick Jackson received this email from Google, notifying us that they’d removed the application from the Play Store after only five days:

The term our app allegedly violated, 4.4, and the very brief description of the reason was so vague and overly broad that every app in the Play Store, even Google’s own applications, could be alleged to be in violation! With terms like this, Google can ban any app for no good reason at all.

This isn't the first time that we've been blocked from launching a privacy app in the Play Store. In early 2013, after nine months of development on a previously conceived version of our Android product, Google announced that they were pulling the ability to automatically set a localhost proxy, which our product and other privacy apps relied on.

Because of that experience, we took every precaution with our new app (like with our existing Android apps) not to utilize any technology that wasn’t clearly documented and actively supported by Google. The banned app utilizes the VpnService API that has been made publicly available by Google since at least 2011. Thousands of other applications utilize the same API.
So why were we targeted and why didn’t Google provide an explanation? Although we may never know Google’s true motivation for removing our app, it seems likely that they determined it threatened their tracking and advertising based business model, which accounts for over 90% of Google’s $66 billion in estimated 2014 annual revenue. Put another way, we think Google mistook us for an adblocker.

But our mobile product (like our Desktop product) is not an adblocker. Instead Disconnect focuses on protecting people from invisible tracking and sources of malware, and all too often these threats come in the form of advertising. In fact, some of the most privacy invasive data collection online happens through ads, which see you even if you don’t see or interact with them. And worse, ad networks (including Google) are increasingly being used by “advertisers” to
spread malware. This increasingly popular tactic, called malvertising, is currently being investigated by the US Senate, and Disconnect Mobile is the first app to directly address it.
The fact is, we are not opposed to advertising and think advertising plays a critical role in the Internet economy. But we are 100% opposed to advertising that invisibly tracks people and compromises their security.

Our FAQ for Disconnect Mobile states our position further:
"Rather than block all advertisements, we only block the privacy­invasive ads that invisibly track you and may be responsible for distributing malware (malvertising) and other security threats.

We also generally unblock ad tracking websites that commit to respect users’ Do Not Track (DNT) preferences and agree to comply with DNT as defined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://www.eff.org/dnt­policy.

We’re not alone in wanting privacy and security protections from online advertising, and we have every reason to believe that there is huge pent­up demand for the banned product. Over 2 million people actively use our desktop products and the most common customer request ­ by far ­ is to bring similar products to mobile.

Indeed, we had quietly launched the identical iOS version of the banned Android app a few weeks back and this past weekend it became the #1 grossing Utility app on iTunes! Even more indicative of market demand is the fact that we have lined up several distribution partnerships that could have reached over 100 million people over the next few months.

We are determined to oppose Google’s decision and hope our app will be available in the Play Store again soon. But at the same time, this experience has effectively wiped out months of hard work and has highlighted a serious and increasingly dangerous problem: Google has way too much power over distribution of applications on Android and can kill applications at will without justification. This is why efforts to create alternative Android based platforms that respect user privacy ­ like Blackphone’s PrivatOS (on which Disconnect is the default search provider and a pre­installed application) and CyanogenMod (a more open aftermarket firmware distribution for Android devices) ­ are so important for the future of the increasingly Android­based Internet.

In addition to promoting alternatives, we will be challenging Google to reinstate our app in the Play Store, and to update its policies to respect developer rights and an individual’s right to protect their privacy and security. Further, we will continue to work with and support the efforts of pro­privacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy and Technology and Fight for the Future.

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Teen sensation CiCi Bellis lost to 48th-ranked Zarina Diyas in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday night, ending one of the tournament's most unexpected and intriguing stories.

Bellis, a 15-year-old from the Bay Area, became the youngest person to win a U.S. Open match in 18 years on Tuesday. On Thursday she fell to Diyas 6-4, 0-6, 6-2. She fought off two match points before finally going down.

To put things in perspective, this was only her second WTA match ever, and she isn't even accepting prize money from the tournament because she wants to maintain her amateur status. For a 15-year-old ranked 1,208th in the world, a win over a top-15 opponent and run to the second round of the U.S. Open main draw is more than she could have dreamed of.

It all started to unravel early in the third set, when Bellis double-faulted to give Diyas a 3-1 lead. The 15-year-old has been composed beyond her years all tournament, but she lost her cool and slammed her racquet here:

Later in the set she appeared to turn an ankle, and that was that:

By all indications, this won't be the last we hear from Bellis. Her coaches rave about her, and she appears to have a bright future.

Grantland's Brian Phillips sums it up well:

 She'll be back:

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Boston (AFP) - World number one Rory McIlroy has doused any fears of burnout ahead of the Ryder Cup, declaring to European captain Paul McGinley "put me in every Gleneagles match".

McIlroy will tee up Friday in the opening round of the $8 million PGA Tour's Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston, the second of the four FedEx Cup playoff events.

It is also McIlroy's sixth event in seven weeks and when including the next two events in Denver and Atlanta, he will have played eight of nine weeks since the Scottish Open. That would give him just a week's break before the Ryder Cup.

And in an indication of McIlroy's busy lifestyle, the four-time major winner arrived in Massachusetts having spent Monday court side at Flushing Meadows supporting Andy Murray in his US Open encounter.

He then savoured a three-hour lunch on Long Island with former US president Bill Clinton who recounted stories about his White House dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

McIlroy then played a social game Tuesday afternoon at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, defeating his manager Sean O'Flaherty 2 and 1 before tackling his caddy JP Fitzgerald in a social match on Wednesday at nearby Sebonack and where McIlroy is a member.

However McIlroy played down any concern ahead of teeing up in this week's Boston event, which he also captured two years ago.

"You just have to be smart and you have to be sensible," he said.

"I enjoyed my time in the week after winning the PGA Championship and besides I didn't have that many late nights where I let it get the better of me," he said.

"I am trying to conserve all the energy I can because not only do I want to win the FedEx Cup but I know with the Ryder Cup it's going to be a huge week and a long week where you want to be fresh.

"And besides I didn't sit out a match at Medinah so my message is 'McGinley stick me down for every match.'"

McIlroy will play the opening two rounds in Boston with Americans Jimmy Walker and Hunter Mahan.

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We all complain about gas prices. But some people pay significantly higher prices than others.

The U.S. Energy Information Adminstration released a map that details the price of gasoline in every U.S. county, on Friday.

For folks living in the south, southeast, and New Jersey — you're in luck because gas prices are on the lower end. The Gulf Coast has the lowest prices at $3.24/gal.

On the other hand, west coasters, Alaskans, and Hawaiians have the highest gas prices in the nation. The highest prices are on the west coast at $3.83/gal.

Gulf coast prices are routinely lower than average prices because of the area's proximity to half the nation's refining capacity, according to the EIA. The Gulf Coast doesn't need to worry too much about fuel transport costs.

This Labor Day gasoline prices are at their lowest prices since 2010. Average prices are about $0.25/gal lower than they were at the end of June.

And some additional good news: the EIA predicts that the average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. will "modestly" decline through December — eventually reaching a monthly average low of $3.30/gal.

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President Barack Obama's message to Russian President Vladimir Putin when traveling to Europe next week is to not "even think about messing around" with the Baltic states, the White House said Friday.

Obama is traveling to Europe next week for a meeting in Wales with other NATO leaders. He'll also make a stop in Estonia, where he will meet with the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in an attempt to reassure allies amid burgeoning Russian aggression in Ukraine.

"The two stops are essentially part of the same effort to send a message to the Russians that their behavior is unacceptable," Charles Kupchan, the White House's senior director for European affairs, said in a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon.

"You have in Estonia a large Russian population, and therefore part of the message that the President will be sending is, we stand with you. Article 5 constitutes an ironclad guarantee of your security. Russia, don’t even think about messing around in Estonia or in any of the Baltic areas in the same way that you have been messing around in Ukraine."

NATO's Article 5 requires that all members of the alliance come to the defense of any member that is attacked or targeted.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO, and it has been one of Russia's goals to keep Ukraine from entering into both NATO and the European Union and thus forge closer ties with the West. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said Friday the country would begin the process of seeking NATO membership.

When asked about Ukraine's possible future membership, Kupchan said it was not under discussion by NATO at this time but added that the "door is open" to any country that is "willing to contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic space."

Russia's neighbors like Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — which all have substantial Russian-speaking populations — have grown concerned in the face of increasing Russian intervention in Ukraine, which amplified this week.

Pro-Russian separatist rebels have opened a new front in the cities of Amvrosiivka and Starobeshevo, creating a fear is that Russia is attempting to create a land link between Russia and the strategic peninsula of Crimea. Russia annexed the peninsula special forces troops in March.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Russian troops are leading a separatist counteroffensive in the east, bringing in tanks and firing artillery from inside Ukrainian territory. NATO subsequently backed up his claims, saying more than 1,000 Russian troops had crossed the border and were fighting in Ukraine.

"I think what you’ll see is progress on the defense spending side, progress particularly on increasing the readiness times of NATO forces," Kupchan said.

"Because I think one of the things that we’ve learned from the situation in Ukraine is that oftentimes in this new world that we live in, NATO or individual countries may be facing not armored columns coming across their border, which you can usually see in advance, but guys coming across in masks, you don’t know who they are — what we could call hybrid warfare, or asymmetric warfare. And that requires a very different kind of military response than NATO has traditionally been focused on."

SEE ALSO: Putin Directly Addressed Rebels In Ukraine For The First Time, And He Used A Frightening Word To Describe Them

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Oracle has lost an appeal to get SAP to fork over $1.3 billion.

Oracle was trying to make its arch rival pay a huge fine after a now-defunct SAP subsidiary called TomorrowNow was found liable for illegally downloading software owned by Oracle subsidiary PeopleSoft. 

Oracle bought PeopleSoft in 2004 via one of the longest, ugliest hostile takeover battles in tech history. SAP's purchase of TomorrowNow was widely seen as an effort to nab unhappy PeopleSoft customers away from Oracle.

Oracle sued SAP for copyright infringement in 2007 and won its case three years later.

During the suit, SAP admitted that TomorrowNow — which provided technical support to PeopleSoft customers — had downloaded PeopleSoft software. The jury awarded Oracle a hefty $1.3 billion.

But the judge threw out the award for being too big. The two companies negotiated for SAP to pay Oracle $272 million plus attorney's fees. That deal also allowed Oracle to file an appeal.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against reinstating the fine, although it did grant Oracle a bit more money, giving the company a choice between $356.7 million or a new trial.

This lawsuit with SAP has allowed Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to engage in some hefty trash-talk, particularly about its then-CEO Leo Apotheker. (Not that Ellison needs a big excuse to do that. The two companies have been slamming each other for years).

In 2012, during an entertaining interview at the D10 conference, he called Apotheker a "thief" and a "criminal" and saying:

SAP pleaded guilty to criminal theft of our software. Let me be clear. I'm not accusing SAP of anything. What did SAP do? Did you engage in criminal behavior and steal lots of Oracle software? Yes. That's SAP. Who was CEO when you were doing all this criminal stuff? Leo.

A SAP spokesperson told us, "We consider it very favorable, and think it shows the strength of our position."

Here's a statement from Oracle:

The appellate court ruling effectively permits Oracle to recover close to half a billion dollars in damages and attorneys’ fees from SAP's brazen conduct and cover-up that led to its admission of infringement liability and criminal charges and fines asserted by the U.S. Department of Justice. "We are thrilled about this landmark recovery and extremely gratified that our efforts to protect innovation and our shareholder's interests are duly rewarded," said Dorian Daley, Oracle's General Counsel. "This sends a strong message to those who would prefer to cheat than compete fairly and legally."

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Paris (AFP) - Fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc was the hero as Montpellier gained a shock 21-20 win at Clermont in the French Top 14 on Friday night.

Trinh-Duc kicked 18 of the visitors' 21 points with four penalties and two drop-goals.

And it was his final minute strike from just inside the Clermont half that proved decisive.

It was a thrilling comeback from Montpellier, last season's Top 14 semi-finalists, after they trailed by five points following a 10-minute period with 14 men following prop Nicolas Mas's sin-binning.

"We put far too much pressure on ourselves in our opening two home games (a 19-16 defeat to Racing-Metro and then 20-17 success over Grenoble) but this one we played without pressure," said Montpellier head coach Fabien Galthie.

"We were very tight in defence, very solid, we were good at the breakdown, our scrum was very good, our line-out too.

"After that it comes down to invisible things, we could have easily lost on the hooter."

Having lost their almost five-year-long unbeaten home record in the play-offs at the end of last season -- they fell 22-16 to Castres -- Clermont suffered a second home loss in quick succession.

But they could have few complaints after a performance of little inspiration and not much attacking endeavour either.

Had they got anything more than a losing bonus point, they would have gone top.

"It's the accumulation of imprecision and once again indiscipline," said Clermont captain Damian Chouly, the France back-rower.

"We've been saying it for three weeks but for three weeks we've not been fixing the problem.

"When we accumulate all that against a team of Montpellier's quality, it's hard to win."

The first half was a turgid battle with no quarter asked nor given.

Visiting scrum-half Benjamin Paillaugue gave Montpellier an eighth-minute lead from a penalty but Australian stand-off Brock James levelled up the scores three minutes later.

James then hit the post with his next kick at goal.

Clermont were struggling to break down a well-organised Montpellier defence and it was the visitors who almost opened the try-scoring.

A break from Trinh-Duc opened up space for winger Benjamin Fall down the left wing.

The ball was transferred to the other side of the pitch where Clermont were penalised for infringing at the break down, with South African-born English full-back Nick Abendanon, a new signing from Bath, shown a yellow card.

Paillaugue pulled the resulting penalty well wide. It was his second miss of the match and he handed over kicking duties to Trinh-Duc.

The 14 men handled their numerical disadvantage well and pushed down the other end of the field.

Just after Abendanon rejoined the fray, Clermont's forwards rumbled forwards and drove Samoan back-rower Fritz Lee over the tryline, although James missed the extras.

That gave Trinh-Duc the opportunity to cut the deficit to 8-6 on the stroke of half-time from 40-metres out.

The French international was straight to the fore after the restart, dropping a goal to push Montpellier into the lead.

A few minutes later he knocked over another long range penalty after Thomas Domingo entered a ruck from the side.

Montpellier were on top but the tide seemed to turn just before the hour mark as Mas was sin-binned for tackling Morgan Parra from an offside position, with James kicking the resulting penalty.

Yet moments later, Trinh-Duc landed another drop goal as the 14 men pushed their lead back out to four points.

But James landed three more penalties before Montpellier were back to full strength as Clermont took a 20-15 lead.

The visitors didn't give up, though, and after Trinh-Duc had reduced the deficit with his fourth successful penalty, he stepped up to knock over the match-winner.

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed up as a surprise guest at Cisco's huge internal sales conference that took place this week.

She was interviewed on stage by CEO John Chambers.

That's a politically interesting combination. Chambers is a Republican who endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential campaign. But that same year, he also said he was a fan of Hillary's hubby, Bill. He told Arik Hesseldahl at AllThingsD that year:

"I’m a strong Republican, but I think President Clinton got it right with business and knocked the ball out of the park."

Clinton's speech and interview was not taped, a source close to the company told us. So we can't listen on the conversation now that it's over. Cisco would not even officially confirm her visit.

But it was all over Twitter.

#GSX#Cisco Closing Session with @HillaryClinton - #BeBoldpic.twitter.com/NkklN2l4TB

— Chase Dalton (@ugachase) August 28, 2014

John interviewing Hillary at GSX @GoAllInCSA#GSXpic.twitter.com/IpffkYmCDR

— Tim Carter (@tcarter12) August 28, 2014

.@HillaryClinton and @Cisco CEO John Chambers. Thank you for a great talk. #CiscoGSX#GoCisco ! pic.twitter.com/r2v5vGEA6s

— Cisco Jobs (@ciscojobs) August 29, 2014

That same day, Clinton also gave an official, public appearance in the Valley. She spoke at the OpenSDx Summit sponsored by startup Nexenta Systems. At that appearance she was asked about one of Chambers' favorite political subjects: bringing corporate offshore money back to the U.S. (known as repatriation).

At that conference she was asked about a plan floated by Chambers and others to create an infrastructure bank where companies can invest offshore cash, reports The Wall Street Journal's Rachael King.

Clinton said she hasn't looked into that idea but noted, “It doesn’t do our economy any good to have this money parked somewhere else in the world.”

She's been lately talking to a lot of tech companies. In July she visited Google, Facebook, and Twitter, she tweeted.

Still, if she runs for president and gets John Chambers' endorsement, that would be something of a coup.

SEE ALSO: Term of the day: "Google Dorking"

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