Zapstreak Goes Global With Public SDK Launch For Its AirPlay For Android Solution

Poznan, Poland-based startup Zapstreak has just brought its AirPlay-style media streaming solution for Android out of beta, making the SDK it provides available to developers worldwide after a six-month extended testing period. The company's tech allows Android developers to build music, video or picture-streaming right into their app. But will new options change Zapstreak's chances at success?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zc_nw41hi8I/

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Health officials: Athens has spiraling HIV crisis

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Athens is seeing an alarming increase in new HIV infections, particularly among intravenous drug users, health officials warned Friday, as Greece struggles through a protracted financial crisis in which funding for health care and drug treatment programs has been slashed.

While there were about 10-14 new HIV infections per year among Athens drug users from 2008 to 2010, that number shot up to 206 new cases last year and 487 new cases by October this year ? a 15-fold and 35-fold increase, respectively, officials said.

"There is no doubt we have a big and rapidly developing epidemic in Athens," Athens University epidemiology and preventive medicine professor Angelos Hatzakis said.

A total of 1,049 new cases of HIV infection were recorded in Greece in the first 10 months of this year, including the 487 drug users. Of the others, 256 were gay men, while 108 caught the virus through heterosexual intercourse, the figures showed.

"One of the reasons is the financial crisis," European Center for Disease Prevention and Control director Marc Sprenger said. "There are more people who are vulnerable, marginalized" and who use drugs.

They turn to cheaper drugs and turn to injecting instead of smoking in order to get the same high from a smaller quantity, officials said.

"We are very concerned," Sprenger said. "What we see now is this increase, and if you don't really pay attention to this, it will become in the future a really huge burden."

Greece has been hammered by a financial crisis since late 2009 that has left the country facing a sixth year of a deep recession and with a quarter of the workforce unemployed. The country relies on international rescue loans from other European countries that also use the euro and the International Monetary Fund to stay solvent.

But in return, the Greek government has imposed several rounds of spending cuts and tax hikes in an effort to reform its economy and reduce its mountainous debt. The cuts have affected health care spending, with many hospitals reporting shortages of basic material, while charities dealing with drug users and HIV sufferers have also struggled to find funds.

One of the main methods of prevention for the spread of the virus among drug users is the distribution of free, clean needles, officials said, and Greek programs have managed to increase the number of needles they hand out from 40 to about 50-60 per addict per year. But the actual number needed in order for the programs to be effective, ECDC officials said, is about 200 for each drug user per year.

"The cost of prevention to avoid HIV infection is significantly lower than that of treating those who become infected," Sprenger said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/health-officials-athens-spiraling-hiv-crisis-160921144.html

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Charges dropped in coffee cup murder case

Andrew Burton / Reuters file

Former tennis official Lois Ann Goodman is led away from the Manhattan Criminal Court on Aug. 23.

By Jason Kandel and Gordon Tokumatsu, NBCLosAngeles.com

A tennis umpire whose murder case was dismissed on Friday said she was relieved the case is over so she can go on with her life and her career officiating tennis.

?I?ve been treated fairly now,? Lois Goodman told reporters after the court hearing in Van Nuys, Calif. ?It was just a tragic accident.

?I?m glad it?s over, so I can go on with my life.?

Goodman?s attorney, Alison Triessl, said she hopes the news sends a clear signal of her client's innocence.

?This is a wonderful woman whose name was tarnished all over this country,? Triessl said. ?And hopefully today everybody knows that she didn?t do anything.?

---

The news came during a preliminary hearing for Goodman, 70. She had a broad smile when she heard the news of the dismissal in court.

She was accused of stabbing her former husband of nearly 50 years, Alan Goodman, using a coffee mug as an improvised knife, prosecutors said.

"The District Attorney?s Office asked the court to calendar this matter today because we received additional information regarding the case," said Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. "Based upon this information, we announced that we are unable to proceed with the case at this time.

"The court granted our request to dismiss the case without prejudice."

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Gibbons declined further comment, saying that "because there is an ongoing police and District Attorney?s investigation, we will not make any further statements that might compromise that investigation."

Alan?Goodman's bloodied body was found in their Woodland Hills home on April 17. Officers ruled the death suspicious, because they initially couldn?t determine if foul play was involved, according to an LAPD press release.

But after launching a full homicide investigation and working closely with the L.A. County Coroner?s Office, detectives determined on Aug. 2 that Alan Goodman was killed, and they named his wife as the prime suspect, the LAPD said.

Goodman was arrested on Aug. 21 in New York, where she was set to work as a line judge at the U.S. Open. She pleaded not guilty to murder and had been under house arrest.

Veteran tennis official Lois Ann Goodman, 70, was scheduled to work the U.S. Open currently underway in New York but is instead home in California, out on bail after being charged with murdering her husband last April. NBC's Mike Taibbi reports.

Goodman?s attorneys claim the police botched the investigation and argued that Goodman was not physically capable of committing the slaying.?They also said that her DNA was not found on the coffee mug and that she passed a lie detector test.

A website and a Facebook page were set up to raise bail for Goodman. Family members praised Goodman in court records, arguing for her bail.

In a character reference letter in support of a motion to reduce Goodman?s bail on Aug. 28, Goodman?s youngest daughter, Allison Goodman Rogers of San Diego, wrote that her mother ?is the most honest, loving, kind, generous, funny and trustworthy person you could ever meet.?

Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com

Goodman Rogers wrote that she was raised in a ?normal Jewish family? in the San Fernando Valley and looked up to her parents as role models. She believes the death was an accident.

?She would do anything for anyone,? Goodman Rogers wrote in court documents. ?Happily married to my father just shy of 50 years, there was never once a foul word between the two of them. There was never once any sort of violence between the two of them.

"For her to even be accused of something like murdering my father is ludicrous! It?s simply not possible.?

Goodman?s eldest daughter, Joan Goodman, 48, of Glendale, wrote about fond memories of family trips to Palm Springs every other weekend. They went cherry picking and visited arts festivals in Laguna Beach.

Joan Goodman wrote that her mother was not physically capable of such an act. She said her mother had many ailments, including a hearing aid, arthritis, two knee replacements, a shoulder replacement and back issues.

?My parents were adorable together,? Joan Goodman wrote in court documents. ?He was the yin to her yang. They were united in all their decisions.?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/30/15576066-coffee-cup-murder-case-charges-against-tennis-umpire-dismissed?lite

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Solar System's Moons May Have Emerged from Long-Gone Planetary Rings

Ancient, Saturn-like ring systems may have acted as assembly lines for natural satellites

By John Matson

MOON SEEDS: An artist's conception depicts an ancient ring system releasing newly formed moonlets into orbit around Neptune. Image: Courtesy Frederic Durillon/Animea

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch," as Carl Sagan once said, "you must first invent the universe." And if you wish to make a moon from scratch, according to new research, you must first create planets with rings (after inventing the universe, of course).

Earth?s moon may have emerged from a long-vanished ring system, much like the rings still encircling Saturn ? and the same goes for many of the satellites orbiting the other planets. The bulk of the solar system?s regular satellites?those moons that stick close to their planets in roughly equatorial orbits?formed this way, rather than taking shape simultaneously with the planets as a direct result of planet formation, French astrophysicists have concluded. The researchers reported their findings in the November 30 issue of Science.

?It?s fundamentally the same process that gave birth to the moon and to the satellites of the giant planets, and that?s the spreading of rings,? says astrophysicist Aur?lien Crida of the University of Nice?Sophia Antipolis and the Observatory of C?te d?Azur in France, who co-authored the study with S?bastien Charnoz of the University of Paris?Diderot.

Through theoretical modeling, the researchers found that the moon-formation action begins at the edge of a planetary ring, where a satellite can take shape without being shredded by the gravitational pull of the planet. There, moonlets coagulate from the ring material before migrating outward. As the ring system spits out moonlet after moonlet, the small objects merge to form larger moons, which may merge in turn as they spiral outward from the planet.

The idea of a moonlet assembly line differs from the standard conception of satellite birth, in which moons condense along with their host planet from a swirling cloud of dust and gas, much like the planets themselves are thought to have taken shape around the nascent sun. The solar-system-in-miniature concept seems to work well for the largest moons, such as Jupiter?s four so-called Galilean satellites, but the retinue of smaller moons circling the other giant planets ?have so far been considered a by-product,? Crida says.

The new hypothesis seems to explain a key commonality among the regular satellites of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune ? namely, that moons farther from their respective planets tend to have larger masses than their closer-in neighbors. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the coalescing moons would grow larger and larger as they drift farther from the planet and its rings, undergoing progressively more mergers along the way. The end result is a neatly ordered satellite system, with small moons on the inside built from few moonlets and large moons farther out built from numerous moonlets.

?I think the best thing about this work is that they explain this link between the mass of the moon and the orbital distance, which was known before but not understood,? says planetary scientist David Nesvorny of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., who did not contribute to the new research. ?If you had asked me a few years ago, I would think of our moon?s formation and the formation of the satellites of the outer planets differently,? he adds. ?This theory puts things on common ground.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a9c2e5b59c6838d196f4ef6bf9e7799b

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How to Teach Your Child to Urban Survival Skills | Top Secret Writers

Those critical first few hours or days after a disastrous incident can be some of the most important moments for the survival of you and your child.

This article isn?t about the many skills needed to make a long trudge through a protracted survival situation; it?s about gathering your pieces of life back together in order to start over again. If you need some starting points on how to teach those skills to your child, you might want to see the previous article on helping your child learn survival skills.

As the recent storms that hit the U.S. East Coast demonstrated, your life can be turned upside down very quickly.

From unexpected everyday situations to emergencies like a harsh storm, sudden flood, large power outage, or urban conflict, your child can be quickly cut off from your help before you know it.

But, your child can also be prepared.

Specific knowledge of neighborhoods and systems of living and transportation vary between urban centers of the world.

New York is different from Jakarta, Moscow from Tokyo, Durban from Belmopan, Santiago from Copenhagen, Cairo from Addis Ababa, Bamako, Maputo, Sao Tome?

However, there are some skills and plans that can be used in many urban settings. Every family needs a ?Bug In? or ?Get Home? plan.

Many people have read about ?Bug Out? bags and plans for getting away, but should these be the only considerations? Perhaps the primary situation for which to prepare a child in an urban setting is that of being away from you and your home when an emergency strikes the area.

Preparing Your Get Home Kit

A simple ?Get Home Kit? could include a cell phone, some cash, some subway tokens, an energy bar, a small bottle of water, a street map, a bright bandana that you?ve both seen, a whistle, and a small flashlight in the child?s backpack. You know your city and should adjust this kit to fit your situation.

A little physical fitness can go a long way. Your child doesn?t have to be an Olympic athlete, but making sure that he lets go of the video games or TV sometimes and even simply walks regularly will really improve his chances in a survival situation.

If your child has a disability, your coordination with others is even more crucial to ensure that there is enough care available.

Avoid the temptation to load your child down with equipment for every conceivable situation. This is a common mistake and, just as commonly, children end up not having any of it when it?s needed because it?s too much weight or bulk to tote around every day.

1. Stay Put
Just like wilderness survival, it?s best for the child to stay where he or she is if it?s safe. Like in the woods, people searching for him will probably head directly to the child?s last known location.

?Safe? refers to physical surroundings as well as human, health, and similar concerns.

Remember that many events can cause dangerous falling debris, flooding, downed power lines, and other hazards for a long time after the initial destruction, so the child should find a protected area that still has structural integrity while staying in the company of trusted adults such as a teacher.

2. Communicate

If phone services are working, obviously, you and your child should use them to communicate. Hopefully, you?ve taught your child about using 911 for help, too.

If you talk with your child and know the location, if possible, it is best for your child to stay put until you reach her. It?s simply safer for a child to stay in an identified location rather than leave it.
However, it is not unusual for phone service to be restricted or even completely gone. If so, your child should know what to do.

Again, the best situation is for your child to stay in a safe, known location. If she?s been relocated to another position (by flooding or transport by emergency personnel, for instance), she should try to stay there if it?s safe.

Whenever she moves, she should leave a note before moving. Practice finding good ways to do this.

At the very least, the child should write her name and where she?s going. ?Melanie-Aunt Anna.? If she can, include a date and time. If all you find is this message, you will know she was still alive at that time and where she planned to go when she left. Find places and ways to leave the note that will help to ensure it will be there for you to read when you arrive.

Tack the note to a prominent wall. Use a marker or paint to put it on the part of the stairs that?s not turned to rubble. Try to make it secure (not simply left on a table, etc., where it might be knocked off or blown away) and easy to see or in some predetermined or obvious location-it?s of no use if you can?t find it.
3. Secondary Help

If there?s one thing that disasters and conflicts in many areas of the globe have taught us about child survival in urban settings, it?s that your child will be safer in the care of a trusted adult.

I?ve seen some of the results of these situations. There are many examples of children being endangered physically, psychologically, and sexually when alone following a disaster or the initiation of war.

Where is your child during much of the day? At school? If so, is there a parent, relative, or friend you truly trust who lives near the school and can pick up your child? Have you given written permission to the school to turn over your child to this person? Are you comfortable with giving that person permission to take your child?

4. Backup

Ok, let?s presume neither you nor Aunt Anna show up; what next? If your child is at school or some other safe public location with people in positions of trust such as teachers or emergency personnel, her best option is to stay there.

If your child is not in a safe situation, and none of the options above is readily available, he will have to consider moving. If it?s close enough and still in good condition, he might go to your home. If not, have another safe spot to meet that?s near his location.

Your child needs to continue watching out for falling debris and unsafe situations while moving.

This could be your secondary?s house, a fire station, police station, hospital, public utilities building, supermarket, or other public spot that both of you know and can find easily. It might be better to try for the closest safe place rather than having the risks of traveling a long distance.

Carrying some cash that might help your child in this situation is a good idea. Credit card services have been known to fail during emergencies. A spare subway ticket or similar is a good idea as well.

While this article isn?t meant to cover all aspects of survival it is, hopefully, a starting point for you to decide how you, yourself, will make your own plan to keep your child safe and reconnect during the crucial early stages of a crisis.

Your Reason for Doing This in the First Place

A final point: remember the reasons you want to survive.

Plan and prepare, but try to avoid the pitfall of becoming so engrossed in planning for a disaster that might or might not happen in the future that you miss the life you have with your child today.

?Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren?t enjoying today?s sunshine.? ? William Feather

? Mark Dorr, All Rights Reserved
References & Image Credits:
(1) Wikimedia
(2) Wikipedia.org
(3) Wikimedia
(4) Brainy Quote
(5) Alexander Becker via photopin cc

?

?

*****

Mark Dorr grew up the son of a treasure hunter. His experiences and education led to working internationally in a variety of unique and amazing situations. MarkDorr has 55 post(s) at Top Secret Writers

You might also like these articles:

Source: http://www.topsecretwriters.com/2012/11/teach-child-urban-survival-skills/

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Saints tweet that bus egged at Atlanta airport

ATLANTA (AP) ? The New Orleans Saints players say their bus was pelted with eggs by airport workers after they touched down in Atlanta.

Tight end Jimmy Graham, linebacker Will Herring and quarterback Chase Daniel tweeted about the incident Wednesday night at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The Saints (5-6) face the first-place Falcons (10-1) Thursday night at the Georgia Dome. New Orleans won the first meeting between the longtime rivals, 31-27 on Nov. 11.

Graham wrote on Twitter: "Bus just got egged after landing in ATL by the ramp workers. Classy!"

Daniel tweeted, "Wow ... we start getting eggs thrown (at) us by airport workers! Guess they do hate us!"

Herring seems amused by the incident.

"First time my bus has been egged by opposing fans!" he tweeted. The game "should be fun!!"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-11-29-FBN-Saints-Egging/id-825d7269c9bb4c09ae17933704d061ef

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Empire State Building surprises NY with new lights

NEW YORK (AP) ? In the middle of the night, as most of New York slept, something big and bright lit up the Manhattan skyline for just seconds ? a tightly kept secret to all but a handful of people.

It was a tiny test for the huge public surprise four days later: the flipping of a switch at the Empire State Building to turn on its dancing new LED lights. They burst from the skyscraper while synchronized with R&B star Alicia Keys singing "Empire State of Mind" on nationwide radio.

The LED system has "16.7 million color possibilities, in digital combinations of ripples, sparkles, sweeps and strobes," says Phil O'Donnell, of Burlington, Mass.-based Philips Color Kinetics that's responsible for the system and worked with a resident lighting designer. "It's the sum of all possibilities ? a huge palette."

The old lights came in only 10 colors.

From Manhattan and the Bronx to Staten Island and even New Jersey, "there were hundreds of thousands of people on the streets looking up, filming and videoing, clustered on street corners," when the new lights came on, said Anthony Malkin, whose family controls the iconic Art Deco building.

In an interview with The Associated Press at his office, he glowed with pleasure describing Monday night's inaugural light show.

Keys also sang "Girl On Fire" from her new CD.

After all, the 102-story skyscraper "has always been a symbol of what's possible in New York, and all the dreams that can come true in this city that never sleeps," Keys, a New York native, said before her performance, which was ready on tracks while she watched from a Manhattan studio.

Malkin and his technical team wanted to test the new lighting system with as few people noticing as possible and chose early Thanksgiving morning.

Good luck, in the middle of Manhattan, with people walking around even at 2:30 a.m.

That seemed the best moment, after most bars close and before dawn.

"We decided to do it facing west, in very short bursts between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., because we knew we didn't have a camera trained on us from there," Malkin said.

Apparently, the secret test worked. No images of the Empire State Building alight that night appeared anywhere, as far as Malkin knows.

To stage the show, he worked with Clear Channel radio, which has 239 million monthly listeners in the United States.

The lights are part of a larger effort to modernize the 81-year-old edifice that is undergoing a more than half a billion-dollar renovation that includes making it "green." The computerized LED system will cut energy consumption by more than half, while delivering light and vibrancy superior to the old floodlights, which have huge timpani drum-size lenses that had to be changed every so often, O'Donnell said.

They may still have nostalgic value to some who watched them light up New York City for every special occasion from Christmas to the Fourth of July.

They were part of "the grande dame of the New York skyline, now state-of-the-art, but still stately," says Malkin, adding that the light show was "a gift we gave to the world, these lights. We don't get paid for this."

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, with a spectacular view of the new World Trade Center and New York Harbor, a vacant space under reconstruction on the building's 72nd floor was filled with the retired floodlights, sitting side by side in long lines, veterans of years of New York weather. What will be done with them is also a secret ? for now.

One old light will not be discarded in favor of a 21st century novelty: a red beacon ? "half the size of a Volkswagen Beetle," as Malkin puts it ? that serves as a warning signal for aircraft constantly flying over New York City.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/empire-state-building-surprises-ny-lights-074333318--finance.html

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Verisign's pact with ICANN gets U.S. government nod but with pricing limits

(Reuters) - Verisign Inc said the U.S. Department of Commerce approved its agreement with ICANN to run the .com internet registry, but the company will not be able to raise prices as before, sending its stock down 13 percent before the bell.

The company's current pricing of $7.85 per domain name registration will continue for the six-year term ending November 30, 2018.

Previously, the company had the right to increase prices by up to 7 percent four times in the contract period.

The company can increase prices in extraordinary circumstances, including expenses related to security threats, with approval from the Commerce Department, Verisign said.

Verisign maintains the .com domain under a license from the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and charges users and corporations every time they register or renew an existing .com domain name.

Verisign's agreement with ICANN expires on Friday.

The company has been maintaining the .com domain on behalf of ICANN for over 15 years, and its contract with ICANN is reviewed every six years.

Verisign holds separate licenses for .net, .gov, .edu and a number of other domain names.

Shares of the Reston, Virginia-based company were down at $34.17 in premarket trading. They closed at $39.34 on Thursday on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/verisigns-pact-icann-gets-u-government-nod-pricing-142455345--sector.html

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Japan Couture 2012 Singapore Fashion Show

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Source: http://www.stylebrity.co.uk/catwalk/10545/japan-couture-2012-singapore-fashion-show.html/

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Dust Bunnies Make You Sick

By Bora Zivkovic?| November 29, 2012 |??

Share ?Email ?Print

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Video of the Week #71, November 29th, 2012:

From: Worse Than Bedbugs, It?s the Couch Itself by Kalliopi Monoyios at Guest Blog.

Source: Audio and production: Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato, Video: Isha Soni, Artwork: Marissa Fessenden.

Dust bunnies are seriously dangerous. Those tiny globs of grime are much more than simple household nuisances. They can contain noxious flame retardant chemicals that leak out of living room furniture like couches. Once free of the upholstery, these toxins are especially harmful to children and pets, acting as carcinogens and endocrine disruptors.

Related:

Infographic: Fire Safety Buzzkill
The Environmental Fallout of Greener Buildings

About the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.

More??

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=40b6a9afb89ea20a23f67a7a0d9f1280

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Baby named 'Hashtag' draws Internet fame, ire, skepticism

Media outlets introduced the world to Hashtag Jameson, a baby girl reportedly named after Twitter's #.

By Pamela Cyran / November 28, 2012

Meet the trending infant Hashtag Jameson.

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The mother reportedly posted a photo of her sleeping baby girl on Facebook with the caption: ?Hashtag Jameson was born at 10 oclock last nite. She weys 8pounds and i luv her so much!!!!!?

On Twitter, people use hashtags (or the #?symbol) to mark keywords and trending topics. They range from the general ? people might add #obama to Twitter posts about the president ? to the quirky and esoteric ? such as?#broncobamma?from the finals weeks of the 2012 election.

This infant?s photo is now buzzing all over the web. However, it seems that no one can confirm her name. It?s unclear if ?Hashtag? is a legitimate name from a Twitter super fan, an Internet hoax, or, as the Huffington Post put?it, "a very unfortunate typo."

Whatever the case, the photo went viral in less than 24 hours after first appearing on the website Awkward Messages, which rounds up odd Web posts and photos.

As skepticism stewed online, many people took to Twitter to argue a?parallel?question: Is "Hashtag" an appropriate name for any baby? The conversation quickly adopted a hashtag of?its own,?#babyhashtag.

?That poor girl is going to get made fun of for years to come... I'd go by my middle name instead!? wrote Nicole Pipe, who goes by @TotallyTypeA on Twitter.?(The photo, which is acting as an unofficial birth announcement to the world, doesn't say if Hashtag has a middle name.)

?I can see it now.?#babyhashtag?a few years from now playing in a sand box with her friends 'Like,' 'PTAT,' 'Tweet,' 'Share,' and '@,' " wrote Twitter users @ParisMackey.

Funny you should say that, Paris. In May of 2011, an Israeli couple gave birth to "Like," named after the?iconic Facebook button.

"I'm not worried about other children teasing Like," said Like?s mother,?Vardit Adler, in an interview with Reuters. The couple's other daughters, "Dvash and Pie, don't seem to mind their special names and nobody teases them."

Another social-media baby was born in Egypt a few months earlier, ?Facebook.? The baby girl was named after the website that played a large role in Egypt?s January uprising in 2011.

Whether you think unique baby names are clever or ridiculous, research has shown baby names have long-lasting effects well into adulthood.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/CT7I3V2bAeM/Baby-named-Hashtag-draws-Internet-fame-ire-skepticism

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Something Is Wrong With My iPad: I Still Hate My Life

I hope you Apple Geniuses are up to snuff because I'm pretty sure my iPad's busted. No matter how much I use it to check email, surf the web, or tag photos on Facebook, I'm still gnawed at by a horrifying emptiness that no amount of fiddling with your magical gadget can fill. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FFp0o0w4YMo/something-is-wrong-with-my-ipad-i-still-hate-my-life

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Immune system could play a central role in age-related macular degeneration

ScienceDaily (Nov. 27, 2012) ? Changes in how genes in the immune system function may result in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults, based on preliminary research conducted by National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators.

"Our findings are epigenetic in nature, meaning that the underlying DNA is normal but gene expression has been modified, likely by environmental factors, in an adverse way," said Dr. Robert Nussenblatt, chief of the National Eye Institute (NEI) Laboratory of Immunology. Environmental factors associated with AMD include smoking, diet, and aging. "This is the first epigenetic study revealing the molecular mechanisms for any eye disease."

The study identified decreased levels of DNA methylation, a chemical reaction that switches off genes, on the interleukin-17 receptor C gene (IL17RC). The lack of DNA methylation led to increased gene activity and, in turn, increased levels of IL17RC proteins in patients with AMD. IL17RC is a protein that promotes immune responses to infections, such as fungal attacks.

The study, conducted by research teams from the NEI and other NIH institutes, including the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; the University of Melbourne, Australia; and Oregon Health and Science University, appears in the Nov. 29 issue of Cell Reports.

"Our study also suggests IL17- and IL17RC-mediated immune responses can be crucial in causing AMD," added Dr. Lai Wei, also of NEI's Laboratory of Immunology and first author on the paper. "By measuring IL17RC gene activity in at-risk patients, we have also potentially identified an early method to detect AMD."

AMD damages the light-sensitive cells of the macula, the central part of the retina that allows us to see fine visual detail. As the disease progresses, patients encounter great difficulty reading, driving, or performing hobbies and tasks that require hand-eye coordination. Treatments exist to prevent severe vision loss in certain types of advanced AMD but none prevent or cure the disease. Currently, 2 million Americans have advanced AMD and another 7 million have intermediate stages.

Recent studies have identified several genes with alterations that increase the risk of developing the disease. In addition, environmental risk factors have also been suggested as possible causes of the disease. One explanation may be that environmental exposures influence DNA methylation, which regulates gene expression. Changes in this process may result in the production of too much or too little of a gene's protein, leading to cellular dysfunction and disease. Changes in DNA methylation have been implicated in cancer, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and many other diseases.

To test whether changes in DNA methylation might play a role in AMD, the investigators evaluated three pairs of twins -- one pair identical and two pairs fraternal -- where only one of the siblings had AMD. Identical twins have the same genetic makeup while fraternal twins share about half of their DNA. Because of their similar genetic backgrounds, identical and fraternal twins can be helpful in studying the differences between the effects of genetics and the environment. When compared with the unaffected twins, methylation patterns were altered in 231 genes of affected twins. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that environmental exposures may epigenetically regulate expression of many genes and lead to AMD.

Among the 231 genes, the investigators found that DNA methylation was absent in a region of the IL17RC gene in twins with AMD. The lack of methylation in the IL17RC gene led to increased gene activity and, in turn, increased levels of its protein in circulating blood. The investigators further validated these findings by comparing seven siblings with and without AMD as well as 202 AMD patients and 96 control subjects without the disease. These studies also found increased IL17RC levels in circulating blood and, most importantly, in the retina of patients with AMD but not controls.

Based on these results, the authors propose that chronic increased levels of the IL17RC protein in the retina likely promote inflammation and recruitment of immune cells that damage the retina and lead to AMD.

"This study strongly implicates epigenetic DNA methylation as another crucial biological pathway for understanding the molecular basis of AMD," according to Nussenblatt.

The investigators next plan to evaluate what environmental factors may be responsible for the regulation of IL17RC and how the epigenetic regulation leading to the chronic inflammation in AMD patients can be reversed by novel therapies. They will also evaluate the role of epigenetics in other eye diseases.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NIH/National Eye Institute.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Lai Wei, Baoying Liu, Jingsheng Tuo, Defen Shen, Ping Chen, Zhiyu Li, Xunxian Liu, Jia Ni, Pradeep Dagur, H.?Nida Sen, Shayma Jawad, Diamond Ling, Stanley Park, Sagarika Chakrabarty, Catherine Meyerle, Elvira Agron, Frederick?L. Ferris, Emily?Y. Chew, J.?Philip McCoy, Emily Blum, Peter?J. Francis, Michael?L. Klein, Robyn?H. Guymer, Paul?N. Baird, Chi-Chao Chan, Robert?B. Nussenblatt. Hypomethylation of the IL17RC Promoter Associates with Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Cell Reports, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2012.10.013

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/oxj41stkvaI/121128093919.htm

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ohinalbertxy: lijansharma: kudals: molina anvil: Reference and ...

Becoming an electrician starts with getting the right schooling. One can start quite early, even in High School. Many vocational programs in secondary schools have an electrical program. Following High School graduation, one can enter a program at a college to further their learning. Community colleges often have excellent trades program, including electrical. In addition to their typical general education courses like math and English, students will take practical courses where they learn both the science behind the trade and also get to apply and learn new skills in hands-on work. If one desires to learn more about the scientific end of things, they can attend a four year college that offers advanced programs like electrical engineering or similar majors. Community colleges are great because they offer students practical experience.

One can also do some extra work on their own to increase their skills and education. It is a great idea to find an experienced individual who works in the field and get close to them. An experienced worker can offer electrician training in the form of an apprenticeship or might be able to hire a student to work for them. They can also share the pros and cons of the industry, as well as stories from on the job. This will give the young student a better idea of what daily life is like as an electrical worker, and help them decide if this is really the field that they want to devote their life to. Working with a professional can help one meet others in the field and perhaps potential future customers. The pro may also have some suggestions for training programs or courses that the aspiring electrician can take advantage of. They can serve as a reference for the student's resume.

Before one can be successful in industry, they must have to proper education and training. Fortunately, budding electrical workers have many options to help them reach their goals and better themselves.

Source: http://iscussnisa.blogspot.com/2012/11/proper-electrician-training-and.html

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Video: Near mutiny in Baltimore?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/50001379#50001379

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2013 NFL Mock Draft Week 13: The Pittsburgh Steelers Select?

Home ? Steelers ? 2013 NFL Mock Draft Week 13: The Pittsburgh Steelers Select?

Over at Fansided.com, the writers will be releasing weekly N.F.L. Mock Drafts from now until the epic event in April.? Although it is only November, let me just state that I am stoked to discuss and release some of my own Draft Coverage this early.? I was ?NPC?s? resident ?Draft Guy? last season, and I am proud to carry the torch for the site as ?Draft Season? nears.

Each week I will be doing a break-down of the pick(s) that Fansided?s writers decided in their infinite wisdom would be great fits with Pittsburgh.? So enough of me babbling, let?s get to my breakdown of who was projected to be selected by the Steelers (at Pick #21 of 32) by Fansided?s Josh Hill in the 1st version of his Mock Draft and my thoughts on the selection:

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I really hope the Steelers do not take Geno Smith, Matt Barkley, or any other Quarterback for that matter until they begin to find players to shore up their aging Defense. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia

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If this order stays as is, the Vikings might be able to pull of a trade, because the aforementioned Smith doesn?t fall past the Steelers. Big Ben is currently injured, as he usually is, he turns 31 and the Steelers have no contingency plan, as we?ve so delicately seen. Smith is an RGIII type of quarterback and after the RGIII storm, teams will want another guy like him.

?

On the surface, the explanation for this pick appears to make some sense as the Steelers appear to have some issues behind Big Ben on the depth chart.? To me though, it would truly be a shock if the Steelers actually selected a Quarterback in the First two Rounds of the 2013 Draft.? But if you on the ?Steelers Must/Will Draft Geno Smith? Bandwagon, allow me to try and explain why the selection of Smith by the Steelers in Round 1 is so difficult for me to believe.

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Smith Will Likely Not Fall to the Steelers

This is a Quarterback-driven League ladies and gentlemen, and because of this, any signal-caller who flashes a good deal of potential at the college level will be highly coveted by desperate teams looking to turn their franchises around with one selection.? This mode thinking in turn has caused and continues to cause most Quarterbacks in general to be highly sought-after by Quarterback-needy franchises every April.

Granted, the Steelers will likely have a much higher selection in the 1st Round than usual next season (due to Ben?s absence).? But some Quarterback-needy franchise in the Top 10 will take a chance on Smith and select him.? Thus, there is almost no way that Smith will fall to wherever the Steelers pick in the 1st Round (likely in the 18-22 range), and that is even if the team fails to win a game for the rest of the year.

Don?t believe me that the Quarterback market is and has been skewed as of late?? How else did guys like Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder, Cam Newton, Jason Campbell, Brady Quinn, J.P. Losman, Joey Harrington, Cade McNown, Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez etc. to name a few, go as high as they did in the 1st Round?

Teams like Kansas City, Jacksonville, Oakland, Arizona, Buffalo, New York (Jets), should all be selecting ahead of Pittsburgh, and each of them need help at the Quarterback position and could seriously use a player like Smith.? As it stands now, there is no conceivable way that all but one of these teams will pass on a Quarterback with the messes they have on their rosters at the position, and will likely be more than happy to gamble on a Quarterback with Smith?s upside.? Plus, with the Rookie wage-scale in place, teams will be more than willing to move up the draft boards to take Smith if the teams in front of Pittsburgh somehow pass on the talented Mountaineer.

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Steelers Quarterback Depth/Likely Draft Strategy

I do not mean to nit-pick, but what the Fansided article fails to mention is that the Steelers might have recently signed themselves a capable long-term backup in the form of Brian Hoyer.? The former Michigan State Spartan is a Quarterback who learned under some of the best at their Coaching and Positional crafts? (Bill O?Brien and Tom Brady) since 2009.? While Hoyer will not wow anyone with his skill-set, he is a heady Quarterback that is accurate, possesses decent mobility, and can make every throw on the field despite not having a laser for an arm.? As long as Hoyer impresses and stays, Quarterback will be a position far from Pittsburgh?s minds? as they have other needs to fill during Draft Season.

But in the event that the Steelers do choose a signal-caller, it will more than likely be a later Round developmental player (Brad Sorensen (Southern Utah) comes to mind) or a talented player that somehow falls to them in the Middle Rounds (3-5).? Some of these Quarterbacks Pittsburgh could consider are Tyler Bray (Tennessee) (if he declares & falls a la Ryan Mallett in 2011), E.J. Manuel (Florida State), Mike Glennon (NC State), Landry Jones (Oklahoma), and Zac Dysert (Miami OH).? These players would be in a perfect situation to be groomed as the #3 for a year or two until they are ready to compete for playing time or extended backup reps, and the Steelers would have themselves a ?low-risk/high-reward? Quarterback on their roster that did not come at a particularly high (1st or 2nd Round Draft Choice) price.

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Defense Needs Help & Play-Makers

As far as Draft Strategy goes, I have a hard time believing that the Steelers would use their 1st Round selection on luxury pick like Smith.? In fact, even if Smith somehow drops out of the Top 15 to where the Steelers are picking, selecting him would probably not be something that G.M. Kevin Colbert and the rest of the Front Office consider.? Why you may ask?? Well it is precisely because the Steelers need a massive amount of help and an influx of young, play-making talent on the Defensive side of the ball.

The Steelers definitely need a transition strategy for their Defense as most of their starters are nearing retirement age, and playing like it this season as well.? Here are just a few examples of how ?old? the Steelers Defense is getting: NT Casey Hampton (36 years old in 2013), OLB James Harrison (35), DE Brett Keisel (35), FS Ryan Clark (34), ILB Larry Foote (33), CB Ike Taylor (33), and SS Troy Polamalu (32).

In fact, only 4 of the 11 starters on Defense will be under the age of 30 when the 2013 season is in full-swing (OLB LaMarr Woodley (29), ILB Lawrence Timmons (27), CB Keenan Lewis (27), and DE Ziggy Hood (26)).? What?s worse is that Woodley has dealt with various injuries over the last two seasons, and is likely past his prime in terms of his Sack numbers.? Plus, younger players like OLB Jason Worilds, NT Steve McLendon, DE Cameron Heyward, CB Cortez Allen, and CB Curtis Brown are forced to sit on the bench and give up reps to the veterans in front of them despite the fact that some have performed well when given the chance.

Certain positions like Free Safety, Strong Safety, Inside Linebacker, and Outside Linebacker have little to no depth behind them and could definitely use help.? To me, a transition strategy for the post-Polamalu & Clark era must be achieved over the next two years, a tandem must be in place when that day inevitably comes, and Safety (or any position on Defense) would be a much better direction to look in than Quarterback when the 1st Round gets underway.

As far as the players and the Defensive positions that the Steelers could and likely will target instead of Smith, I have some thoughts in mind:

Cornerbacks who fit Pittsburgh?s system and the size they like in the position (6? 200 lbs.+) like Johnathan Banks (Mississippi State), Xavier Rhodes (Florida State) will likely be available.? In addition, Jordan Poyer (Oregon State) as well as David Amerson (NC State) should be around too if the Steelers elect to go in the Cornerback direction.

Inside Linebackers like Alec Ogletree (Georgia) and?C.J. Mosley (Alabama) will be on the board if they declare as underclassmen as well as the athletic former Safety Khaseem Greene (Rutgers).? Outside Linebackers/Pass Rushers like Dion Jordan (Oregon), Sam Montgomery (L.S.U.), and Alex Okafor (Texas) could be in Pittsburgh?s range if the Steelers drop more games down the stretch too.

And don?t forget, this Draft Class should be deep with Safeties like Matt Elam (Florida), Tony Jefferson (Oklahoma), Kenny Vaccaro (Texas), Bacarri Rambo (Georgia), T.J. McDonald (USC) available early.? In addition, sleepers like Shamarko Thomas (Syracuse), Phillip Thomas (Fresno State), and Duke Williams (Nevada) will be available down the road so the Steelers could double dip at the position.

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G.M. Kevin Colbert (Middle) has done a terrific job with the Steelers. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Final Thoughts

Although it would be nice to see the Steelers find a Quarterback to take over in the post-Big Ben era, we still need to remember that Roethlisberger will only be 31 years of age next season.? Sure he has had the tar beat out of him over the course of his career, but he should still have at least another two to three years of solid Pro Bowl production ahead of him.? And if the Offensive Line investments begin to play better and congeal as a unit (Maurkice Pouncey, Marcus Gilbert, David DeCastro, Mike Adams, Kelvin Beachum), Ben should be more adequately protected during the next half decade.

If the Steelers want to ?Reload? instead of ?Rebuild,? they are better off shoring up their aging Defense and solidifying that side of the ball early and often in April?s Draft.? Plus, the team should at least what it at least has in Hoyer as a backup, and then determine what the best course of action is.? Overall though, I do not see Pittsburgh selecting Smith next April, let alone ever having the chance to select him.

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Readers:? Should the Steelers take Smith?? Will he even be available?? How bad does the Defense need help?? Let me know what you think of my analysis.

?

Tags: 2013 NFL Draft, Geno Smith, Pittsburgh Steelers

Source: http://nicepickcowher.com/2012/11/28/2013-nfl-mock-draft-week-12-the-pittsburgh-steelers-select/

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marinade seated: Central States Anthropological Society meeting ...

April 4-6, 2013

Crowne Plaza Hotel,? St. Louis, Missouri

?CALL FOR PAPERS

Abstract deadline December 7th!!!

The Annual Meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, April 4-6, 2013. Faculty, students, independent scholars, and practitioners are encouraged to submit abstracts for papers, posters, organized sessions, workshops and roundtables in all four fields of anthropology, as well as applied. The annual CSAS conference is student-friendly and features a paper competition for both undergraduate and graduate students. It also offers an opportunity for anthropologists from throughout the central states, from institutions large and small, to meet, talk, and network. The 2013 conference will be hosted by the?University of Missouri, St. Louis? Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Languages, and most of the events will be held in the?Crowne Plaza Hotel, located in downtown St. Louis.

Source: http://aapabandit.blogspot.com/2012/11/central-states-anthropological-society.html

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Moderate GOP senator expresses concerns about Rice

UN Ambassador Susan Rice arrives for a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, with Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine and Sen. Corker, R-Tenn., to discuss the Benghazi terrorist attack. Rice continued her fight Wednesday to win over skeptics in the Senate who could block her chances at becoming the next U.S. secretary of state, while Republican lawmakers said they were even more troubled after face-to-face meetings with her over the handling of the Sept. 11 deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

UN Ambassador Susan Rice arrives for a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, with Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine and Sen. Corker, R-Tenn., to discuss the Benghazi terrorist attack. Rice continued her fight Wednesday to win over skeptics in the Senate who could block her chances at becoming the next U.S. secretary of state, while Republican lawmakers said they were even more troubled after face-to-face meetings with her over the handling of the Sept. 11 deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee walks to a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, for a meeting with UN Ambassador Susan Rice. Rice continued her fight Wednesday to win over skeptics in the Senate who could block her chances at becoming the next U.S. secretary of state, while Republican lawmakers said they were even more troubled after face-to-face meetings with her over the handling of the Sept. 11 deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, following a Democratic strategy session. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A moderate Republican senator crucial to any White House hopes of getting U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice confirmed as secretary of state said Wednesday that there are still lingering unanswered questions about the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya.

Emerging from a 95-minute, closed-door meeting with Rice, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she would need more information before she could consider backing the ambassador if President Barack Obama tapped her to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

At issue is Rice's much-maligned explanation for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. In a series of talk show appearances, Rice blamed the attack on a spontaneous demonstration to an anti-Muslim video rather than terrorism.

"I still have many questions that remain unanswered," Collins told reporters after the meeting. "I continue to be troubled by the fact that the U.N. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign by agreeing to go on the Sunday shows to present the administration's position."

Collins stopped short of saying she would try to block a nomination as Sens. Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte have said they would do.

But in a clear message to the White House, Collins said that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., would have a smooth path to confirmation if Obama chose him over Rice for the State Department job.

In back-to-back meetings, Rice met with Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who is in line to become the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Corker declined to say whether he would support Rice or not, but was highly critical of the intelligence apparatus and the administration.

"The whole issue of Benghazi has been a tawdry affair," Corker told reporters after his 90-minute session with Rice and acting CIA Director Michael Morell.

Pressed on a possible nomination, Corker said he will decide when Obama announces his choice, but he made it clear that the president should carefully weigh the decision.

"I would just ask that the president step back away from all of the buzz around this particular situation, take a deep breath and decide who is the best secretary of state for our country," Corker said.

The meetings with Collins and Corker marked the second straight day of private sessions for Rice as she tries to quell the uproar over her initial assessment of the Benghazi raid. Rice answered questions Tuesday from Sens. John McCain, Graham and Ayotte about her explanations about the cause of the September attack.

At the hour-plus, closed-door session, Rice conceded that her initial account was wrong, but she insisted she had not been trying to mislead the American people when she made her comments five days later.

"The talking points provided by the intelligence community, and the initial assessment upon which they were based, were incorrect in a key respect: There was no protest or demonstration in Benghazi," Rice said in a statement after the meeting. "While we certainly wish that we had had perfect information just days after the terrorist attack, as is often the case the intelligence assessment has evolved."

She was joined in the meeting by Acting CIA Director Michael Morell.

Rice failed Tuesday to mollify the three senators ? her most outspoken critics ? and they indicated they would try to block her nomination.

"We are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we didn't get concerning evidence that was leading up to the attack on the consulate," McCain told reporters after a session with Rice that he described as candid.

Said Graham, "Bottom line, I'm more disturbed now than I was before that 16 Sept. explanation." He said in a later interview that Rice went "far beyond the flawed talking points" and should be held accountable.

"I'm more troubled today," said Ayotte, who argued that it was clear in the days after the attack that it was terrorism and not a spontaneous demonstration.

Rice's unusual visit to Capitol Hill ? typically only nominees meet privately with lawmakers ? reflects the Obama administration's campaign for Rice as Clinton's replacement against some strenuous GOP opposition.

The White House remained defiant in its support for Rice, arguing that she was relying on an assessment from the intelligence community and had no responsibility in compiling the information on the cause of the attack. It dismissed what it characterized as a fixation on her national television appearances five days after the raid.

"The focus on, some might say, obsession on comments made on Sunday shows seems to me, and to many, to be misplaced," Obama spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a White House briefing.

House Democrats, including female members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have suggested that the GOP opposition to Rice is sexist and racist. Senate Democrats, who will increase their advantage to 55-45 in the next Congress, said Rice could win confirmation if Republicans recognize the unfairness of penalizing her for the intelligence community's talking points.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters "it is so unfair to hold her responsible for something that she didn't produce and which the intelligence community has specifically stood by."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the attacks against Rice by some Republican senators "outrageous and utterly unmoored from facts and reality."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-28-Cabinet-Rice/id-7cfb64b7746c460ba1cb7bf2bf0a5086

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Aakash 2 hands-on: the $40 educational slate with revolution on its mind

Efforts to put cheap computers in the hands of students have always hit major stumbling blocks. Most notably price. The OLPC project had noble goals, but ultimately ended up well above its target price of $100. The Classmate was more of a "me too" product than anything truly revolutionary. What started as India's effort to launch a $10 laptop, slowly mutated into a $35 tablet that, even then, struggled in its initial incarnation. What ultimately became known as the Aakash was painfully underpowered and had carried a cost almost double its $35 target. With the second version DataWind is hoping to make good on the promise of an ultra-affordable tablet that can actually be used by students and educators. CEO of the company Suneet Tuli swung by our offices with the Ubuslate 7Ci, the commercial version of the Aakash 2, to give us a chance to put the device through its paces and talk about the transformative power of education.

Gallery: Aakash 2 hands-on

Continue reading Aakash 2 hands-on: the $40 educational slate with revolution on its mind

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/28/aakash-2-hands-on/

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Celebrities safe from roving paparazzi drones ... for now

6 hrs.

Helen A.S. Popkin

Celebrity gossip site TMZ found itself on the other side of the rumor mill Tuesday morning, after a story claimed it?applied for a surveillance drone permit from the Federal Aviation Administration. This news comes just as the FAA pushes back its deadline for selecting drone testing sites, citing for the first time its concerns over privacy.

But fear not, famous people!

Stacked in between posts about Jared Leto?s lack of eyebrows and ?ELMO ACCUSER #3? is TMZ?s denial, ?We?re NOT Keeping Up with the DRONESES.?

?We don?t have a drone ? we don?t want a drone ? we never applied for a drone,? the post reads, in part. ?Truth is ? while drones are, in fact, awesome ? it just ain?t true.?

The?San Francisco Chronicle?added a correction to the online version of its domestic drones story, which initially?contained the faulty fact. Tech, privacy and gossip blogs referencing the claim updated their posts as well.

Even the FAA issued a statement, assuring celebrity targets and their concerned fans that "TMZ does not have FAA authorization to fly an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), and we have no record that TMZ ever requested or inquired about an authorization."

But here?s the thing. Faster than TMZ could?refute the?drone accusation, plenty of people had no problem imagining that TMZ wanted one ? and?a few were?maybe?a little surprised to learn the ace gossip gathering institution doesn't have a drone?over Kanye West even now.

??Of course we were ready to believe,? said?Professor Matt Waite, the trailblazer behind the Drone Journalism Lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

If there?s two sure things, Waite told NBC News, it?s that, one day, ?paparazzi will use drones way they use helicopters, people on motorcycles, long telephoto lenses and anything else that gets a shot that brings them a bunch money.? The other, nearer sure thing? ?Significant lawsuits.? ?

This would explain the FAA?s reluctance to allow just any ol? person to cruise over crowds with what is, pretty much danger-wise, a million-dollar flying?lawnmower.?

Drones and journalism have great possibilities. From Fukushima?to Gaza, unmanned surveillance drones can help reporters gather important information without risking their lives.

Drones are valuable environmental monitors as well. This year,?the Drone Journalism Lab used an unmanned aerial vehicle to document Nebraska?s current drought, said to be even worse than the 1930s Dust Bowl. Aerial shots of the state?s desiccated landscape ? dry fields, dead grass and dying trees ? tell a story that?flow charts recording (the lack of) rain inches just can?t. ??

But celebrity stalkers piloting swarms of drones could wreak unprecedented havoc, the likes of which haven't been seen since?helicopters?cursed the extravagant cliffside wedding of Sean Penn and Madonna back in 1985. (Google it, kids!) Topless royals and hapless Lohans would be at the mercy of GPS-controlled Predators.

So for now,?universities, the military and police departments ? as well as drone manufacturers ? are the only groups the FAA considers eligible?for domestic drone licenses. Universities don't have the funds for drones that can fly for much more than 15 minutes, let alone maintain course in a five mile-per-hour wind.

You are right to?be concerned about your privacy, though,?even if you?re not a famous person. It's just that the privacy concerns of the moment?center around those eligible government agencies.?

"Drones have the ability to carry all types of surveillance ?equipment,"Jennifer Lynch, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told NBC News.

"Basic video cameras, infrared cameras, technology to intercept communication. The larger drones purchased and flown by the federal government can fly so high you can?t see them." Drones operated by the feds can fly for days, and take photos that are way better than what you see on?Google Earth, Lynch added.

"A lot of concerns raised with surveillance drones are not new," Lynch said. ?We would have similar concerns about an area blanketed by security cameras or technology that can intercept cellphone signals."

For all that?the EFF and other?advocacies,?such as the American Civil Liberties Union, know about drones, how that information is used and stored by the government is mostly a mystery to all but insiders.

In October, following what it says were ignored Freedom of Information Act requests, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to find out why the DHS loans out Predator drones to police departments across the country. A similar suit against the FAA resulted in a steady drip of information the EFF updates on its website, along with a map pointing out where drones are located.

While the FAA was quick to quell misinformation about TMZ's lack of a drone, it hasn't been so forthcoming with information about who does have them. Part of the problem, Lynch said, is that the FAA must talk to the agencies its licensed before it makes that information public.?

"The whole point of issuing licenses is so we can see what's going on in the air at any given time," Lynch said.?"It's unusual?for such a transparent association to keep the information on drone flights so secret, and it's very difficult to?evaluate the privacy and free speech concerns about drone flight without the information about who is flying drones right now."?

Well, at least we know it's not TMZ.?One day, the skies may be abuzz with paparazzo-copters training their 360-degree cameras on wardrobe-malfunctioning?starlets?or spawning?Kardashians. For the time being though, thanks to the FAA, it'll still?just be?dudes on scooters.

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about privacy and then asks her to join her on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.?Because that's how she rolls.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/celebrities-safe-roving-paparazzi-drones-now-1C7308456

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