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The two sides, which have sued each other in separate claims, present entirely conflicting descriptions of who owns the company and what is being withheld from whom. The earliest chance for resolution appears to be a court hearing scheduled for next week.

Whether the squabbling will affect Snopess ability to produce its popular mythbusting remains to be seen, but the disputes are unlikely to be settled until there is legal clarity on the underlying structure of the company.

Proper Media considers itself an owner of Bardav, not a vendor. As Proper Media tells it, Barbara Mikkelson, Mr. Mikkelsons ex-wife, sold her 50 percent share to Proper Media in 2016, but for tax purposes it was bought in the name of its individual members for the benefit of Proper Media. Two Proper Media officers, Drew Schoentrup and Christopher Richmond, would get 20 percent stakes in Bardav, while three others would own 3.33 percent stakes.

Proper Media said the deal included Mr. Schoentrup taking a seat on a two-person board alongside Mr. Mikkelson.

But Mr. Mikkelson, who owns the other 50 percent of the Bardav shares, said that Mr. Schoentrup does not sit on the board, and that the five shareholders should be viewed individually, as opposed to collectively, giving Proper Media equal ownership.

Mr. Schoentrups on or off status on the board is crucial in Mr. Mikkelsons decision to cancel Bardavs contract with Proper Media, which handles many of the technological and advertising services for Snopes. In March, Bardav gave Proper Media a 60-day notice that it would be terminating the contract, effective May 8. Mr. Mikkelson said the contract was agreed to when Snopes was a much smaller company, but now it had its own business-focused employees and other services can be obtained much more cheaply from other vendors.

Karl Kronenberger, a lawyer for Proper Media, said in an interview on Monday that Mr. Mikkelson cannot cancel the contract without calling a board meeting which, in Proper Medias view, would include Mr. Schoentrup. The company has continued as if the contract remained valid.

Last week, a court ordered Proper Media, which cannot directly pay Snopes employees, to release $100,000 of the advertising revenues to Bardav, on the condition that the money be used for expenses and not be paid to Mr. Mikkelson, according to Mr. Kronenberger. Proper Media sued Mr. Mikkelson in May, accusing him of mismanaging the companys funds and abusing his position. (Mr. Mikkelson said he hadnt received money from the company this year aside from expenses and salary, which he said made him the lowest-paid employee at Snopes.)

Mr. Kronenberger said Mr. Mikkelson has locked Proper Media out of Bardavs bank accounts and key databases it needs to do its job, and he disputed that Proper Media had locked Bardav out from making technological changes.

Mr. Mikkelson has absolute control of this domain name, Mr. Kronenberger said. He can move it within minutes.

As for the advertising revenue, Our position is nothing is being wrongfully withheld, he said.

But on the crowdfunding page, Mr. Mikkelson wrote that although we maintain editorial control (for now), the vendor will not relinquish the sites hosting to our control, so we cannot modify the site, develop it, or most crucially place advertising on it.

Both sides hope a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 4 will begin to bring some clarity. Proper Media hopes the judge will remove Mr. Mikkelson from the company, while Bardav is hoping the judge requires Proper Media to hand over the rest of the advertising revenue, including some money from before the contract termination took effect.

For more than 20 years, Snopes has been a destination for batting down the urban legends and viral misinformation all too commonly found on the internet, first in email forwards and later in popular but misleading articles. At first run entirely by David and Barbara Mikkelson, it developed a reputation as an authority on declaring simply whether such tidbits could be believed.

In recent years, the site added staff as it took increasing aim at the routine falsities of the political process. In December, Facebook made Snopes a key part of its efforts to combat fake news, including it in a group of fact-checkers that would be alerted if enough users flagged an article as fake.

On Monday, Snopes used its website and social media accounts to promote its crowdfunding effort. It reached its $500,000 in about one day.

Were just trying to pick a number that were sure we can continue operations for, lets say, through possibly the end of the year, or at least the next several months while all this is happening, Mr. Mikkelson said.

A version of this article appears in print on July 25, 2017, on Page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: Fact-Checking Website, in Heated Legal Battle, Asks Readers for Money to Survive.

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Snopes, in Heated Legal Battle, Asks Readers for Money to Survive - New York Times

Last month I tested the Logitech Slim Combo keyboard for the iPad Pro 10.5. While the keyboard is functional and useful for productivity, it's quite thick and the $150 price is tough to justify.

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For the last couple of weeks, I've been using the ZAGG Rugged Messenger for the iPad Pro 10.5. It is priced $50 less than the Logitech one ($99.99) and I prefer it for several reasons.

Slide your iPad Pro into the top case portion of the combo for protection around the edges and back of your iPad Pro. A mixture of hard plastic and a TPU frame protect the back and edges to a MIL-STD 810G rating of 6 feet. Obviously, dropping your iPad Pro on the display will likely cause it to crack, but side and edge drops may survive.

There are openings in the cover for the camera, flash, Lightning port, 3.5mm headset jack, and mics. Raised buttons for the power and volume are present too.

One of the best features of the ZAGG Rugged Messenger combo is the Apple Pencil holder found along the top (in landscape) or right (in portrait). I hate that there is no way to conveniently carry the Apple Pencil with your iPad and this feature alone may set the ZAGG Rugged Messenger apart enough to satisfy many customers.

The bottom piece is the keyboard and back cover that serves as the kickstand for your iPad Pro. It attaches via a very strong magnet in the spine and connects to your iPad via Bluetooth. A fully charged keyboard is rated to last for up to two years between charging.

There is a row of keys above the five typical keyboard rows that serve as the following shortcuts:

There are five rows of keys below this top line with a full number row, directional arrows, FN key, two CMD, Two Alt/Option, and two Shift keys. Use the FN and down arrow to toggle through three brightness levels. Use the FN and right arrow to toggle through seven keyboard backlight colors. The backlighting is more even and bright than what is present on the Logitech Slim Combo.

The keys are well spaced and have solid travel. The wrist support is long enough to be comfortable when used in a number of ways. The magnets are very strong to hold the keyboard to your iPad and also prop up your iPad.

The back piece of the keyboard has three seams in it and folds then slides up and down the back of the ZAGG case to allow you to prop up your Apple iPad Pro 10.5 in several different positions. When you pull the keyboard down from the front of your iPad Pro, your iPad wakes up and the display turns on.

The ZAGG Rugged Messenger matches the premium design of the Apple iPad Pro and is the keyboard combo I was looking for to match up with the Apple iPad Pro. It looks great and is well designed.

The ZAGG Rugged Messenger is only $99, which is about a third less than the Apple and Logitech keyboard options. I have tested all three and prefer the ZAGG design and capability. The ZAGG Rugged Messenger weighs in at a rather hefty 1.53 pounds, but with the iPad Pro it is still lighter than most laptops.

Although the keys may be a bit better designed on the Logitech Slim Combo, the price, Apple Pencil holder, backlighting options, and better use on your lap make the ZAGG Rugged Messenger a better option.

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ZAGG Rugged Messenger keyboard for Apple iPad 10.5 hands-on: Protective case and elegant keyboard combo - ZDNet

By Takura Zhangazha

The Zimbabwe Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services is in a comfort zone that its leaders probably didnt think was realistically feasible a couple of years back. This can be explained by the recent statement that the responsible cabinet minister Chris Mushowe made threatening to withhold parastatal advertisements from critical private media. Or oddly that he would encourage Zanu PF supporters not to buy any private papers (I am not sure how many supporters of the ruling party actually do that voluntarily.)

Whichever way one looks at it, the minister is making these statements not without elements of being in a comfort and control zone over the media but also with an arrogance that belies his mistaken perception that media freedom is a privilege and not a right. And it is fair to ask where is the government getting this arrogance from?

In some circles there has been debate in slight mimicry of South African political parlance, of media capture. Not only along factional lines in the ruling or opposition parties but also in relation to business interests that affect editorial policy. The jury is still out on the validity of this media capture assertion but suffice to say it is worth looking into, even if briefly.

He had sort of resurrected from his initial label as a media hangman and with IMPI sought to endear himself with the mainstream media, an endeavour that on the face of it, was quite successful especially with the private media. Never mind the stories and disputes that emerged from those members of Zimbabwes media profession that were to eventually be part of the panel.

Beyond IMPI, which Moyos successors at the ministry are yet to allow to come to full policy implementation, there was another element that brought a new comfort zone to government in its relations with the mainstream media. This was that of media ownership.

The most recent example has been the launch of a couple of local commercial stations owned by AB Communications. The others that are also now broadcasting are owned in part by the government controlled Zimbabwe Newspapers Group (Zimpapers).And in media analysis circles this is called multimedia or even cross media ownership especially if we consider the fact that Zimpapers also has a dominant newspaper division and that AB Communications has made public its intention to start a newspaper.

And both companies are angling for the yet to be issued national television licenses. And they do have the makings of television production divisions, a sign that they have enough confidence (I dont know from where) that they are likely to also acquire these licenses at a date to be determined by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ)/ government.

The other major player in Zimbabwes media industry Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) tried to branch into radio, particularly the local commercial aspect but was denied a license in what it considered controversial circumstances. I am not sure if they are going to also try for television (a much more costly endeavour).

The end effect of these processes is that Zimbabwes media is under siege by existent and soon to be media moguls in the form of Zimpapers and AB Communications. And due to serious challenges of viability and sustainability of private media as a business, independent and objective journalism is getting harder by the day. Even those journalists that would wish to be effective freelance reporters and pursue their democratic public interest role to the hilt are now stymied by economic challenges and lack of resources to effectively do so.

It is those with resources that are not only spreading their wings across differing media platforms (newspaper to radio to television) but are also beginning to have uniform editorial policies that disable media diversity and in the final analysis determine what is news in favour of their own political or economic interests. While at the same time lauding converged newsrooms as technologically progressive when in reality they stifle news diversity and place greater commercial pressure as opposed to public interest on the shoulders of editors and journalists.

The immediate latter points are also then responsible for allegations of factional capture of the media. This is where it is a combination of business and political interests that determine news content. Hence Minister Mushowes threat that linked a purportedly over critical of government media with blanket advertising bans.

This is the background that informs central governments media comfort and control zone. And the media has to urgently shrug this government off its back sooner rather than later in the interests of democratic free expression in our country.

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)

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Zim govt's 'comfort + control zone' over the media - Nehanda Radio

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The Latest: Israeli media: Cameras may secure holy site Kansas City Star The installation of the metal detectors last week had outraged the Muslim world. The railings seen Monday are of the type used for crowd control, to create orderly lines. Israeli police declined to comment. A media report has suggested that such ... and more »

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The Latest: Israeli media: Cameras may secure holy site - Kansas City Star

A South African girl born with the AIDS virus has kept her infection suppressed for more than eight years after stopping anti-HIV medicines more evidence that early treatment can occasionally cause a long remission that, if it lasts, would be a form of cure.

A South African girl born with the AIDS virus has kept her infection suppressed for more than eight years after stopping anti-HIV medicines more evidence that early treatment can occasionally cause a long remission that, if it lasts, would be a form of cure.

Her case was revealed Monday at an AIDS conference in Paris, where researchers also gave encouraging results from tests of shots every month or two instead of daily pills to treat HIV.

Thats very promising to help people stay on treatment, the U.S.s top AIDS scientist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said of the prospects for long-acting drugs.

Current treatments keep HIV under control but must be taken lifelong. Only one person is thought to be cured the so-called Berlin patient, a man who had a bone marrow transplant in 2007 from a donor with natural resistance to HIV.

But transplants are risky and impractical to try to cure the millions already infected. So some researchers have been aiming for the next best thing long-term remission, when the immune system can control HIV without drugs even if signs of the virus remain.

Aggressive treatment soon after infection might enable that in some cases, and the South African girl is the third child who achieved a long remission after that approach.

She was in a study sponsored by the agency Fauci heads, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, that previously found that early versus delayed treatment helped babies survive.

The girl, who researchers did not identify, started on HIV drugs when she was 2 months old and stopped 40 weeks later. Tests when she was 9 1/2 years old found signs of virus in a small number of immune system cells, but none capable of reproducing. The girl does not have a gene mutation that gives natural resistance to HIV infection, Fauci said, so her remission seems likely due to the early treatment.

The previous cases:

A French teen who was born with HIV and is now around 20 has had her infection under control despite no HIV medicines since she was roughly 6 years old.

A Mississippi baby born with HIV in 2010 suppressed her infection for 27 months after stopping treatment before it reappeared in her blood. She was able to get the virus under control again after treatment resumed.

At least a dozen adults also have had remissions lasting for years after stopping HIV medicines.

A study underway now is testing whether treating HIV-infected newborns within two days of birth can control the virus later after treatment stops. It started in 2014 in South America, Haiti, Africa and the United States, and some of the earliest participants might be able to try stopping treatment later this year.

Treatment might get easier if two large studies underway now confirm results reported Monday from a study testing a long-acting combo of two HIV drugs Janssens rilpivirine and ViiV Healthcares cabotegravir.

Cabotegravir is experimental; rilpivirine is sold now as Edurant and used in combination with other drugs for treating certain types of HIV patients.

After initial treatment to get their virus under control, about 300 study participants were given either daily combination therapy pills or a shot every four or eight weeks of the long-acting drug duo to maintain control.

After nearly two years, 94 percent on eight-week shots, 87 percent on four-week shots and 84 percent on daily pills had their infections suppressed, with similar rates of side effects.

The results were good regardless of whether people came monthly or every two months for their treatment. This has important policy implications, said Dr. Linda-Gail Bekker, deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and a co-leader of the conference.

The study was sponsored by the drugmakers. Results were published in the British medical journal Lancet.

Two large studies aimed at winning approval to sell the treatment are testing the monthly shots. Janssen said in a statement that good results from eight-week shots warrant reconsidering the longer approach.

If it works, this will have a huge impact on how we manage that very important group of people who are not able to access and take drugs on a day-to-day basis, such as those with mental health or drug abuse problems, said Dr. Steven Deeks, an AIDS specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. ___

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Girl's HIV Infection Seems Under Control Without AIDS Drugs - Houston Public Media