Well, that didn't take long. A mere couple of days after announcing it, too, would be jumping on the Firefox OS bandwagon, Sony's now let it be known that it's making an "experimental" ROM available to devs (or any common, daring owner) with an Xperia E device. According the company's Developer World blog post, this developmental version of Mozilla's fresh mobile software is being released in order to show the current progress of the OS project, as well as in hopes of receiving feedback that'll be beneficial toward the finished product. Folks interested in tinkering with the Firefox OS ROM can hit the source link below to see what it all entails, while those only looking for a quick peek will find just that in the video situated right after the break.
The Pulitzer Prize winning technology journalist Matt Richtel is one of the New York Times'crown jewels. But while Richtel works his Silicon Valley beat during the day, he has a much darker night-time profession. Richtel is also a fiction writer, the author of fantastically seductive techno-fictional novels such as Hooked and his latest book, The Cloud, released earlier this month.
(Reuters) - A state assemblyman apologized on Monday for donning blackface and wearing an Afro wig at a party celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, a costume that drew criticism from fellow lawmakers and the Anti-Defamation League bias monitoring group.
Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind of New York City, who had earlier defended the costume on his blog, said he did not mean to offend anyone with the outfit, which also included black sunglasses and an orange jersey.
"It was not meant to offend anybody, it was not meant to hurt anybody. I'm sorry that anyone was," Hikind said in an impromptu news conference, a video of which was posted on the New York Post website.
The costume, which he wore at a party at his home on Sunday, had drawn criticism from the Anti Defamation League, which said that he had "showed terrible judgment," according to the New York Times.
Assemblyman Karim Camara, the chairman of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, said he hoped Hikind could recognize the painful history behind blackface.
Blackface was often used in minstrel shows in the 19th and early 20th centuries featuring white performers portraying African Americans, often in a degrading manner.
"A lot of black leaders and clergy ? elected officials, everyday citizens ? were very upset or offended, and had a lot of questions as to, from their point of view, how could someone be so insensitive," Camara was quoted by the New York Times as saying.
Hikind had earlier defended the costume on his blog, saying the objections amounted to "political correctness to the absurd."
(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Bill Trott)
Last month's CES over in Las Vegas had a whole lot of 4K Television news. After HD, comes Ultra HD, and with it some pretty amazing looking TV sets with an amazing price to match. If you were sat there wondering; "when will I be able to push my smartphone content to one of these," then wonder no longer. Over in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress, LG is showcasing what they're saying is the world's first wireless Ultra HD transmission technology.
It's pretty much as simple as it sounds. Wirelessly transmitting content from a smartphone, to a 4K TV in real time. Further more, LG claims the technology consumes less than half the power of some other wireless transmission technologies. You'll find the full release after the break.
Most Chicago agricultural commodities kept sliding on Monday, with only May corn gaining slightly.
The most active corn contract for May delivery gained 1.25 cents, or 0.18 percent, to close at 6.855 dollars per bushel. May wheat fell 13.5 cents, or 1.88 percent, to settle at 7.0525 dollars per bushel. May soybeans lost 8.5 cents, or 0.59 percent, to close at 14.3525 dollars per bushel.
Corn traded almost unchanged on Monday as the U.S. dollar went higher.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported on Monday that U. S. private exporters sold 127,000 tonnes of corn to an unknown destination, supporting corn slightly.
Export data were also supportive to corn, which came in at 11.6 million bushels last week, up from 9.5 million bushels in the prior week. The cumulative shipment pace is now 39 percent of the USDA forecast, as against a 5-year average of 45 percent.
But weather outlook is not so good for corn, with only scattered rainfalls expected in Argentina and a blizzard moving out of the U.S. Midwest, a key corn growing area.
Wheat tumbled on Monday on a stronger greenback.
News that Egypt's imports may decline further in the coming months dampened wheat. The blizzard sweeping through the U.S. western plain also added a bearish tone to the wheat market.
Wheat exports last week stood at 21.2 million bushels, down from 30.3 million the week before. The cumulative shipment pace is now 64 percent of the USDA estimate, as against a 5-year average of 71 percent.
Though wheat feed demand in the United States may continue into the spring and even into the new crop corn harvest, the positive factor is being offset by favorable conditions in the U.S. eastern Corn Belt.
Soybean also went lower on Monday due to technical selling and profit taking.
Soybean exports last week were slightly below market estimates at 27.3 million bushels, down from 40.4 million the week before. The cumulative shipment pace is now 82 percent of the USDA forecast for this marketing year, as against a 5-year average of 67 percent.
The USDA also announced on Monday that private exporters sold 120,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China for the 2013-14 marketing year.
Several weeks ago I started reading War and Peace. This is my third attempt; the first time I tried wading through the 1000+?pages I was sixteen and staying with my grandmother in Phoenix, Arizona for the summer. No place on earth could have been further from the snowy streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg. But I don't think it was the lack of air conditioning that made me switch Tolstoy for Mary Stewart. I think it had more to do with those unpronounceable Russian names and complicated family relationships I couldn't untangle for the life of me.
Fortunately I'm now reading a much?more modern?translation by Anthony Briggs that's actually something of a page-turner. And while my brain still resists some of the Russian patronyms (I have a tendency to call the characters?things like "Buzzy" and "Fizzy" rather than Bezukhov and Fedya) there's also a very handy list of characters and their relationships to each other at the back of the book. In other words, there's a family tree.
Making a Family Tree as?noted in my earlier post, Art Journal Class, My Favorite Tips can be a colorful and information-packed addition to your art journal. The easiest way to approach the exercise is to look up "free family tree templates" in your search engine of choice and download a design that most appeals to you. But don't stop there; experiment with using the template as a?pattern to copy from to create?your own version, or to alter the original in some way with gesso, paints, ephemera, glitter glue--whatever seems right. One of my favorite techniques is to collage the tree with all kinds of bits and pieces that best describe each included?family member. And don't limit yourself to a single page--a family tree could branch its way through an entire journal.
Some of the ways you can use a family tree in your journal are:
Illustrate your real-life family. Make several trees in a variety of styles for the different generations.
Explore an historic figure or family that interests you, such as the British Royal Family, or a US president.
The family or families?in your works-in-progress. Not only does this help you remember your characters' birth dates and current ages, but you can have fun marrying them off to each other, or exploring their ancestors: Why do they have blond hair? What makes one character an inventor, another a timid recluse?
In the same way you can make a family tree to illustrate your WIP, you can just make one up as a pure art journal exercise. The story is completely told through "family photos." And who knows? It just might TURN INTO your next WIP!
Make a fanciful family tree for the characters?from your?favorite books or movies.
Here's?a great tip for artists at all levels: The next time you need to make some color charts,?paint or draw?them as "trees" with leaves?in?your various hues and shades. (I love this one. It's turned a chore into?a fun art project of its own.)
An etymology tree. Lay out a decorative grid?of word association and origins. It can be fascinating to?explore where certain words come from, how they were used in the past, and how we use them now.
Write?a tree-shaped poem with the various lines and stanzas?branching and flowering?out from a single trunk or root.
Brainstorm with mind mapping or "clustering"; why not make it something fun, expressive, and tree-shaped? Rather than just jotting ideas down on a scrap of paper, add color, doodles, and put it all in your art journal. An initial idea you're attempting to map, such as "Conflict for Chapter Three: Martians Demand All Cats Must Leave Earth" could stem into: "Cats Now Wear Dog Suits." "Cat Smuggling Becomes Big Business," and so on with all kinds of wonderful illustrations and new ideas.
Tip of the Day:?If you'd like to make a?family tree in your art journal, keep in mind that there are as many types of trees as there are ideas for using them. Rather than?going straight for?"oak; green leaves; brown trunk" try?taking a tree such as a willow or?one that flowers?through the seasons and illustrating it?from?four different perspesctives. Or you could?draw it out as a Christmas tree complete with decorations. Other trees could include banyans, yew trees, bonsai, or an entire forest. Use your imagination and sense of play.
In Slate's The Walking Dead TV Club, Chris Kirk will IM each week with a different fan of the show. This week, he discusses ?I Ain?t a Judas? with Tim Surette, who reviews The Walking Dead for tv.com.
Chris Kirk: The final moments of ?Home? made me think the show was deliberately separating Rick and the Dixon brothers from everyone else, but as ?I Ain?t a Judas? opens, we see him and the brothers with the rest of the group trying to figure out their next move.
Tim Surette: I had figured the zombies in the courtyard would have been a bigger deal, but I guess Rick and the Dixons snuck in the back door.
Chris: However Rick found his way back, Hershel has had enough of his dillydallying and is putting his stump down: "Get your head clear. And do something!" In your review of "Home," you called Crazy Rick ?boooooring.? Fortunately Hershel's tough love and the high stakes of the situation seem to snap Rick back to reality, at least for this episode.
Tim: Anything to put Lori, ghost or hallucination or whatever, to rest. And Hershel's absolutely right. Rick can't go off to the mental Camp David while his people burn. I thought this episode started off great.
Chris: In Woodbury, Andrea suggests she go to the prison to talk things out, but the Governor refuses to give her a car. Why hasn?t the Governor collected her head for a new wall?
Tim: That is the big mystery of Season 3. As far as Andrea being part of his plan anymore, I don't see it. If anything, he should be scooting her out the door. Oh, and he should keep sharp objects away from her.
Chris: Let's talk about the Merle-Hershel relationship budding back in the prison. Hershel sits down with Merle and recites a Bible verse: "And if your right hand offends you, cut it off. Cast it from you. For it is profitable that one of your members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." I expected Merle to crack some sour joke about Hershel's religiosity, but instead he shows himself to be a devout man himself when he completes the verse, cites it as Matthew 5:30, and remarks that "Woodbury had a damn fine library." There's more to Merle than his flagrant racism and sibling loyalty. Bibliophilia?
Tim: One of the problems I've had with these last two episodes was the abundance of unnecessary conversations, but this one was a good one. It showed a lot of character from both men. But what I liked most about that conversation was Merle explaining what kind of man the Governor is: the kind of man who would keep his biggest enemy alive the longest so he would witness the slaughter of his friends.
Chris: In their own private one-on-one, Carol tells Daryl not to let his brother bring him down. The next time Merle rips off Daryl?s shirt, expect a ?Carol? to appear in elegant cursive along his back.
Tim: Someone needs to crack a champagne bottle and send it on its way! But I honestly wonder if Daryl is relationship material at all. And won't someone think of Daryl's insane fans? Wouldn't they be heartbroken that their man is off the market? If I were Carl, I might tell those two love birds to stop making goo-goo eyes at each other and strap some more pallets to the fences. What good is a filthy prison mattress and a willing partner if you're dead?
Chris: Well if Daryl goes the way of Axel, fans will still have Milton. The Governor secretly tells the geek to help Andrea get to the prison. The two are capturing a guardian zombie when they encounter Tyreese's group.
Tim: Let's not forget about that amazing curb stomp Andrea gave that one walker. Between Glenn's boot stomp, the Subaru Outback guillotine back door, and Andrea going American History X on that poor zombie, we've had three fantastic zombie kills in a row.
Chris: Andrea presses on, and Milton leads Tyreese's group to Woodbury, where they divulge information about the Grimes group to an extremely friendly Governor. The Governor seems fascinated with Rick?even more when he learns that Rick is a little mad himself. Does he see a kindred spirit in Rick, a fellow resident of Crazy Town?
Tim: The Governor is absolutely obsessed with Rick and seems to be having fun with it. The whole situation is a clusterfuck for everyone involved, and that's how it should be.
Chris: Andrea is right at the center of it. When she arrives at the prison, she receives a frigid welcome that turns colder when she raises awkward questions about Shane and Lori. Michonne reveals that the Governor sent Merle to hunt her down after she left Woodbury. Is Andrea finally convinced that the Governor is a bad guy?
Tim: The lights finally seemed to be flickering inside her head. But she never seemed fully swayed one way or the other when it came to both the Governor and Rick. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say she's 60/40 in favor of Rick's group and continuing to swing that way. Also, I can't tell if Laurie Holden is doing a good job or a bad job with giving us an indication of what's going on inside Andrea's head.
Chris: I'm not sure if I ever understand what Andrea is thinking or why. Why do you think she doesn't kill the Governor? Does she still believe this conflict is a big misunderstanding that she can somehow fix?
Tim: That's definitely part of it, she wants everyone to win. She's blind to good and bad, so she figures, "Hey, let's all have a kumbaya and chat this one out."
Chris: Is she in love with him?
Tim: Given what she knows about the Governor and his recent lies, I can't believe she's in love with him?not that I ever believed they were in love in the first place.
Chris: Perhaps she has eyes only for Milton. Thoughts on the final montage?
Tim: Tom Waits? ?Hold On? was an interesting choice. The Walking Dead uses actual music sparingly, and it isn't really consistent with the rest of the series, but it made it really feel like a television show. I'm on the fence about it. In any case, "I Ain't a Judas" was great. It really felt like the story moved forward, there were some gorgeous zombie kills?Tyreese with the hammer should go into the zombie-killing textbook?and Andrea finally got interesting. I'd call this a major win for Season 3 and a prime example of how good this show can be when it wants to. And with a handful of episodes left, I expect the rest of the season to maintain a high quality and cut down on the scenes of Beth feeding Judith.
Chris: And hopefully replace them with more splattering zombie heads for my own montage.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? With Cypriots facing the specter of financial meltdown, the conservative candidate in a presidential election runoff was favored to beat his left-wing rival Sunday.
Opposition leader Nicos Anastasiades garnered 45.46 percent of the vote in the first round of voting, about 18 points more than Stavros Malas, who is backed by outgoing President Dimitris Christofias' communist-rooted AKEL party. The candidate who gets the simple majority in the second round will win the race.
The new president will be under pressure to quickly finalize a financial rescue package with the eurozone's other 16 countries, and the International Monetary Fund to keep the country solvent as the economy shrinks and state coffers run dry. He will face a tough battle convincing reluctant countries, especially Germany, that tiny Cyprus deserves help after its banks lost billions of euros on bad Greek debt.
Last year, Cyprus sought financial assistance of up to ?17 billion ($22.7 billion), a sum roughly equivalent to its annual gross domestic product, which has raised concerns whether the country would be able to pay back any loan. The country has been unable to borrow from international markets since mid-2011, and turned to long-time ally Russia last year for a ?2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) loan to keep it afloat.
Cyprus, a divided island of around 1 million people in the far eastern end of the Mediterranean, is one of the smallest members of the 27-nation European Union and faces deep political and economic problems.
In 1974, it was split into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Decades of talks on resolving that division so far have gone nowhere, and dealing with the financial crisis now takes priority. Only the 545,000 eligible voters in the south can cast their ballots in the election.
The conservatives have capitalized on widespread discontent over what many view as five years of failed rule by Christofias. An Anastasiades campaign billboard reading "Could you stand another five years of the same?" plays to that discontent.
"Today's choice is twofold: one is to carry on with today's government and the dead ends that we face. The other is a choice for a new era," Anastasiades, 66, said after voting. "(Voters) will conscientiously choose the future of our county, either to go forward or stay in the past."
Malas, a political newcomer, urged voters to select "policies that will help our country to resist and to safeguard social cohesion."
"We are determining the future of our country in a Europe that is contemplating which course it will follow given this great economic crisis," he said.
Voters understand that financial recovery will be a long, tough struggle, regardless of who wins.
"Whoever wins today will have a difficult time to overcome all these problems, because of the mistakes of the past," said Maria Constantinou, 31. "But with the right policies now, things might get better for us with the president after this new one."
Economist Evangelos Loizides, 60, said: "Things are very, very difficult for us now. A solution won't come from the politicians. It'll come from the Cypriots themselves through their hard work."
Another voter expressed doubt whether either candidate can really deliver.
"Let me put it to you this way. I prefer a Ferrari, but I can only choose between a Mitsubishi and a Toyota," said 36-year-old Panayiotis, who didn't give his last name. "We could've had better choices, more options, but this is what we're presented with."
Eurozone leaders are expected to discuss a Cyprus bailout in the latter half of March. Some have voiced doubt whether Cyprus ? which contributes only 0.2 percent to the eurozone's economy ? is really worth saving, even though Cypriot and European Union officials have warned that allowing the country to fall would jeopardize the eurozone's fragile recovery.
Cyprus has already enacted deep public sector wage cuts and tax hikes under a preliminary bailout agreement.
GENEVA (Reuters) - Turkey accused Syria on Monday of attacking Syrian towns with bombing, shelling and Scud missiles and called at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council for perpetrators of atrocities to be brought to justice.
Britain and Switzerland urged the United Nations Security Council to refer war crimes in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution.
"The (Syrian) regime has lost its legitimacy. It is no longer governing. It is surviving by oppression, terror and massacres," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declared.
"Today, the regime is waging a brutal war against the Syrian people through indiscriminate air bombardments and Scud missile attacks against urban areas," he said. "We have to make sure that all perpetrators will not go unpunished."
Torture of detainees is systematic, Davutoglu added.
An estimated 70,000 people have been killed in the nearly two-year-old conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fighting to topple him, the United Nations says.
More than 900,000 Syrian refugees have fled abroad, including some 185,000 in 17 camps in neighboring Turkey.
U.N. investigators said a week ago that Syrian leaders they had identified as suspected war criminals should face the ICC.
"The atrocities in Syria remain foremost in our minds. We cannot stand by and allow this situation to continue," Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a minister in Britain's Foreign Office, told the Geneva forum. "Those responsible for the worst violations and abuses must be held to account, including through the ICC."
Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter acknowledged that the Security Council remained divided on whether to refer Syria to the ICC, but said that pressure to do so was building.
"Combating impunity is indispensable if we are to build sustainable peace in Syria and elsewhere," he told the forum.
Russia and China, both permanent council members, have shielded Syria by blocking Western efforts to take stronger U.N. action, such as sanctions, against Syria to try to end the war.
More than 50 countries asked the Security Council last month to refer the Syria crisis to the Hague-based ICC to send a signal to Syrian authorities. The letter, sent by Switzerland, was signed by Britain and France, but not the United States.
U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay criticized the council on Monday for not referring the Syria crisis to the ICC "despite the repeated reports of widespread or systematic crimes and violations".
(Additional reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? Investors are keeping a wary eye on Italy as the country heads to the polls Sunday and Monday to elect a new parliament. They fear that a new government and prime minister could weaken or scrap the economic reforms and budget cuts begun by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti during his 15 months in office and hurt Italy's chances of recovering from a decade of low growth.
While the markets are unlikely to punish Italy as they did in 2011-12, they will want to make sure a new government doesn't mean a return to Italy's bad old days.
Here are some questions and answers about this weekend's elections matter for Italy and the rest of Europe.
Q: Why all the worry?
A: Italy's economy ? the third-largest among the 17 European Union countries that use the euro ? has only grown less than a half percent a year on average for a decade. That is compared to 1.25 percent in other rich industrialized countries. Faster growth is needed to shrink Italy's mounting debt burden, which already equals 127 percent of its annual gross domestic product.
Because of its size, Italy's problems can dent market confidence in the whole eurozone. Doubts about Italy's ability to manage its debt caused markets to question whether the euro could survive in 2011-12.
Q: What's wrong with its economy?
Before it joined the euro in 1999, the country used to give its economy a boost by to devaluing its old currency, the lire ? a trick that used to make its exports cheaper.
Devaluation helped mask underlying problems such as labor rules that favor vested interests such as unions and established workers, which kill off job prospects for younger people; a high business tax burden and heavy cost to businesses from expensive public utilities and red tape.
Italy "remains in dire need of structural reforms to boost competitiveness and improve trend growth," wrote economists Norbert Aul and James Ashley at RBC Capital Markets. They noted that the only economies that have grown more slowly in the past 12 years are Zimbabwe, San Marino, and Portugal.
A growing economy would increase government revenue from business and income taxes and the country's debt.
Q: Where does Monti come into all this?
A: Italy's political parties installed Monti, a former EU commissioner and academic, as prime minister to lead a temporary crisis government of financial experts in November, 2011. His predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, resigned after high borrowing costs, fed by fears Italy would not pay its debts, threatened the country with financial ruin and rattled confidence in the eurozone.
Monti set about easing some of Italy's anti-business practices, such as labor laws that made it extremely difficult to fire longtime workers. He reduced the budget deficit with the help of an unpopular tax on homes.
Italy's deficit is down to around 3 percent of gross domestic output for last year ? not great, but it complies with the official limit for eurozone members.
However, in January, Monti resigned as Prime Minister after Berlusconi's party withdrew its support and criticized his cutbacks - hence the new elections.
Q: So now the elections are under way, what are investors afraid of?
A: Italy's Byzantine election laws could mean many different outcomes. The worst result would be no party or coalition being able to form a government, leading to new elections.
Researcher Vincenzo Scarpetta at the Open Europe think tank says the probability of this is "very low" but that re-run elections could mean "potentially, huge market pressure, which Italy can hardly afford." This pressure would come in the form of rising interest rates on government debt.
Another possibility could be a parliament so divided that it can't govern effectively, or a shaky coalition of parties with clashing agendas ? meaning that any policies would be the result of endless compromise and back-room deals. A badly split parliament "would surely affect investors' confidence as Italy's political future would remain unclear," said Aul and Ashley.
The return of a government led by Berlusconi's center-right coalition ? regarded as unlikely ? could also dismay markets given his call to repeal Monti's home tax and the lack of confidence markets showed in him in 2011.
Q: What do markets want to see?
A: Analysts say investors seem to be anticipating that the center-left Democratic Party, led by Pier Luigi Bersani will win. Bersani opposes budget austerity but is regarded as not totally against all efforts to improve conditions for business. Markets would like it best if he wins but still needs the seats won by small parties led by Monti to govern. That would mean the government might continue with some of the reforms.
Q: So should we expect market chaos and the eurozone crisis to erupt again?
A: Not right away, no. Italian law requires extensive consultation, so it could take weeks to tell who is in charge. In 2008, it took 24 days for Berlusconi to be sworn in despite a landslide win.
However, an anti-reform result could mean Italy's borrowing costs could rise in the days and weeks following the election.
That would be a sure sign that bond investors are more skeptical of the country's long-term ability to pay.
But it's considered unlikely that the yields would immediately rise to the record levels of last year that threatened to push Italy to default. That is thanks to the European Central Bank, which has done much to calm fears that a country will be unable to pay its debts. In September, the ECB offered to buy unlimited amounts of bonds issued by indebted countries, if they agree to reforms and to cut their deficits. No one has used the program yet but its mere existence has lowered Italy's borrowing costs.
Nonetheless, a new Italian government that rejects reform "will lead to more uncertainty, higher yields and a gradual process toward the situation we had last year," says Carsten Brzeski, an analyst at ING in Brussels.
The big problem is the long-term absence of growth rather than what the markets do next week.
Economists Aul and Ashley warn: "Whichever party ends up in power... needs to focus upon Italy's economic frailties as a matter of priority."
Much like any piece of technology reminiscent of something seen in a retro edition of Star Trek, the Google Glass raises an eyebrow of apprehension ? a gimmicky looking device that instantly abolishes any notion of style before seeking out its function. Once explored however, the Google Glass ? an eyeglass hailed as the next era of computing ? may actually change the way we interact. Now in its early prototype stages, the wearable computer is being put to the test after only 18 months of product experimentation and around three years in concept. Explored first hand by theverge.com?s Joshua Topolsky, the Google Glass clearly paves a way for users to connect with each other and technology like never before, and in a hands-free, easy-to-communicate manner ? another step closer to the future depicted by bygone science fiction scenes. Watch the above video to fully explore the first ever look at the Google Glass.
REBECCA RENFROE,?from left, Scott Thomas, Patti Rose, Tony Fusaro and Dana Everett promote the annual Have a Heart for the Homeless Concert on March 8.
PIERRE DUCHARME | THE LEDGER
Published: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.
The 12th annual Have a Heart for the Homeless Concert is March 8 at First Presbyterian Church, 175 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland. A silent auction begins at 6 p.m. and performances at 7 p.m. Ken Brady and the Casinos and Angel Acosta will headline the event to support Talbot House Ministries. Tickets are $15, available at Talbot House.
The European Union's two-year long antitrust probe into Google's search practices may be resolved after this summer, according to a Reuters report. The news agency quotes EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, telling a conference today: "We can reach an agreement after the summer break. We can envisage this as a possible deadline."
Police responding to a report of a missing person found James Beckwith, the former chief financial officer and one-time acting president of Southern Vermont College, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home Wednesday.
Beckwith, 58, was accused of embezzling $440,000 from the college.
Beckwith?left the school Feb. 3 after being confronted about suspicious financial transactions, and had served until January as the college's acting president while its full-time president, Karen Gross, took a yearlong leave of absence to serve as a senior policy adviser at the U.S. Education Department.
From the article:
The former chief financial officer and onetime acting president of Southern Vermont College was found dead at his home Wednesday amid allegations he embezzled at least $440,000 from the Bennington school, Vermont State Police said Thursday. ...
Many North Olympic Peninsula basketball players have been selected to all-league teams or named honorable mention by their leagues' coaches.
Sequim's Jayson Brocklesby and Gabe Carter and Port Angeles' Maddy Hinrichs and Macy Walker all received Olympic League first-team recognition. As reported in the Feb. 13 edition of the Peninsula Daily News, Braden Decker of Forks also earned first-team honors from the SWL-Evergreen Division first team.
Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter was named the Olympic League girls coach of the year.
Here are the all-league lists for the Olympic League boys and girls, the SWL-Evergreen Division boys and girls and the Nisqually League girls:
Olympic League Boys All-League
MVP: Quentin Phillips, Senior, Olympic
First Team Jayson Brocklesby, Senior, Sequim Deonti Dixon, Junior, Bremerton KT Deam, Senior, Kingston Andrew Shadle, Senior, Bremerton Gabe Carter, Senior, Sequim
Second Team Brian Tyson, Senior, Olympic Connor Wall, Senior, Kingston Hans Shippers, Senior, Kingston Kendal Gill, Senior, North Kitsap Michael Ward, Senior, Klahowya
Honorable Mention Tarence Mosely , Junior, Olympic Kyle Setten, Junior, Olympic Hayden Gunderson, Junior, Port Angeles Anthony Pinza, Junior, Sequim Shaq Jones, Senior, Bremerton Cody Russell, Junior, Port Townsend Anthony Price , Senior, North Mason Riley McKean, Senior, North Mason Jacob Sheets , Senior, Klahowya Josh Ganowski, Senior, Klahowya Jacob Hill, Senior, North Kitsap Riley Lindsey, Senior, North Kitsap
Coach of the Year: Devin Huff, Olympic Team Sportsmanship: Olympic
Olympic League Girls All-League
MVP: Ashli Payne, Senior, Olympic
First Team Sawyer Kluge, Junior, Bremerton Rebekah Baugh, Sophomore, North Kitsap Maddy Hinrichs, Junior, Port Angeles Kristin Brown, Junior, North Kitsap Jewel Johnson, Junior, Port Townsend Macy Walker, Senior, Port Angeles
Second Team Olivia Williams, Sophomore, Olympic Codi Hallinan, Senior, Port Townsend Kori Holt, Senior, Klahowya Eboni Harpes, Senior, Bremerton Katelyn Carper, Sophomore, Kingston Krista Johnson, Junior, Port Angeles Jennifer Hicks, Senior, North Mason
Honorable Mention Savannah Turrieta, Senior, Kingston Leah Baugh, Senior, North Kitsap Annie Lever, Senior, Klahowya Mariah Frazier, Senior, Port Angeles Julie Johnson, Senior, North Mason Alexas Besand, Junior, Sequim Shania Anderson, Junior, Olympic
Coach of the Year: Michael Poindexter, Port Angeles Team Sportsmanship: North Mason
SWL-Evergreen Division Boys All-League MVP: Devante Harris, Senior, Tenino
First team Braden Decker, Senior, Forks Ronnie Espedal, Senior, Hoquiam Cole Smith, Senior, Hoquiam Justin Conklin, Senior, Tenino Zach Froembling, Junior, Rainier
Second team Kenny Roy, Junior, Montesano Layne Bruner, Senior, Montesano Chance Bremer, Junior, Elma Ray Stark, Junior, Elma Tyler Gedney, Junior, Rochester
Honorable mention Leo Gonzales, Junior, Forks Mark Jacobson, Senior, Forks Elma: Ryan Collin, Junior, Elma Rochester: Colton Smith, Senior, Rochester Tenino: Ben Peterson, Senior, Tenino Dustin Hammond, Senior, Tenino Gabe Egge, Senior, Tenino
Coach of the year: Rod Enos, Tenino
SWL-Evergreen Division Girls All-League
MVP: Megan Finger, Elma, Senior
First Team Brooke Goldsmith, Elma, Junior Keeli Demers, Rochester, Sophomore Megan Choate, Montesano, Sophomore Kelsey Eygabroad, Rainier, Senior Chelsy Stewart, Hoquiam, Senior
Second Team Sydney Smythe, Elma, Junior Jillian Raben, Forks, Senior Brandi Creviston, Hoquiam, Junior Kelli Brown, Rainier, Senior Sierra Seymour, Rochester, Sophomore
First Team Laura Goodnight, Cedar Park Christian, Junior Kaelyn Voss, Eatonville, Junior Shoni Pritchett, Charles Wright, Freshman Katie Rozumny, Cascade Christian, Junior Hailey Latherow - Eatonville, Senior Vanessa Davis- Charles Wright, Junior
DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, "Doug" (24), and I (22) have been in a long-distance relationship for a year, but we were friends for a couple of years before that. I had never had a serious relationship before and lacked experience. Doug has not only been in two other long-term relationships, but has had sex with more than 15 women. One of them is an amateur porn actress.I knew about this, but it didn't bother me until recently. Doug had a party, and while he was drunk he told one of his buddies -- in front of me -- that he should watch a certain porn film starring his ex-girlfriend. ...
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'Green' homes save money but can trap air pollution indoorsPublic release date: 21-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Adam Dormuth
dormutha@njhealth.org
303-398-1082
National Jewish Health
National Jewish Health expert describes potential health hazards of energy efficient homes
SAN ANTONIO, TX- February 21, 2013 -- In an effort to protect the environment and save on energy costs, we are in the midst of a "green" home boom in this country. While that may bode well from an energy-efficiency standpoint, the trend certainly doesn't have everyone breathing easier.
Nathan Rabinovitch, MD, an asthma specialist at National Jewish Health, will describe the potential health hazards "green" buildings pose to people with asthma, during a symposium, Monday, February 25, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology in San Antonio.
"For every solution, there's a problem," said Nathan Rabinovitch, MD, an asthma specialist at National Jewish Health in Denver. "Energy efficiency is really, really important, but at the same time, with the homes that we are building today, allergens getting into the house, are staying in the house."
That includes things like smoke, mold, bacteria and pet dander. For the nearly 26 million Americans who suffer from asthma, that's causing a wide range of problems.
"It used to be when homes were built, a lot of air would come out through the roof and through the windows," said Dr. Rabinovitch, "but now we've become so efficient at sealing off those areas that everything is getting trapped inside the house, and that's making a lot of people sick."
Rabinovitch says the movement to build more energy-efficient homes began in the 1970s, after the nation's first energy crisis. Since then, concerns about the environment and a downturn in the economy have all converged to make energy efficiency much more of a priority in the housing industry.
But something else happened during that same timeframe: asthma rates started going up. In fact, since 1970, the number of Americans who have asthma has nearly tripled.
That's not a coincidence, says Dr. Rabinovitch. "The problem is, a lot of the air pollution in our home is actually in the carpet or on the soft furniture. If someone walks on the carpet or sits on the couch, they end up getting this kind of personal exposure," he said, "and with little ventilation in homes today, that pollution has nowhere to go, so it settles into our lungs."
To see just how much air pollution we may be exposed to in our homes, Rabinovitch conducted a study in which he asked school children to carry air monitors with them for several weeks. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, those monitors collected air samples in the children's homes and as they walked to and from school. Samples were also collected as the children played outside, and as they studied in the classroom.
After analyzing the data, Dr. Rabinovitch found that air quality was worst where you might expect it least.
"For many of these kids, the amount of air pollution that they were being exposed to was often higher inside the home than outside the home," he said.
That doesn't surprise Hope Duncan. Her 13-year-old son, Jack, suffered a near-fatal asthma attack in 2008, and since then, Duncan says she has learned a lot about triggers that are hidden around her home.
"They can be anywhere," said Duncan. "You never know what's underneath the carpet that has accumulated from pets or from water damage. There may be things in the couch or behind the walls that you simply don't know about," she said.
Because of that, Duncan and her family take strict precautions to protect her son. "We change our air filter often, and vacuum and dust constantly," she said. The Duncans have also installed an air purifier in Jack's room and insist that he shower each night before he goes to bed, instead of in the morning, like many people do.
"He spends most of his time in his room, and at least nine hours a night sleeping in there," said Duncan. "After spending the day outside, collecting all these allergens in his hair and on his body, we just want to make sure he gets all that off of him before he goes to sleep."
But it's not just natural allergens like mold and pollen that can trigger asthma attacks. Some of the biggest problems are caused by choices we make.
"Pet dander and cigarette smoke are probably two of the most dangerous triggers there are," said Dr. Rabinovitch. "I always tell my patients that if there are smokers in the house or pets that are causing problems, those have to be addressed before anything else."
Rabinovitch also offers some simple advice to anyone who will listen. "The best way to control indoor air pollution is to look outdoors," he said. "Simply opening your windows more often will ventilate your house and will help dry out and clear out many of the things that could be making you sick."
It's a concept that raises a lot of eyebrows in this era of super energy-efficient homes.
"Homes were built 50 years ago in a way where there was ventilation, so I don't think it's difficult to go back to that," said Dr. Rabinovitch. "But the question is: How do we do that and at the same time keep our energy efficiency? We don't want to solve one problem and then end up with another."
###
Dr. Nathan Rabinovitch, a nationally recognized asthma specialist from National Jewish Health is available for interviews. Contact Adam Dormuth at 303-398-1082 or Shannon McCormick at 614-477-2719.
B-ROLL, SOUND BITES, WEB ELEMENTS & HI-RES STILL PHOTOS - Including HD video available for free/unrestricted use by the news media: http://bit.ly/TakVf2
Courtesy: National Jewish Health
For assistance in downloading, or if you have any questions contact: shannon@mediasourcetv.com or by calling the mobile phone number: 614-477-2719.
National Jewish Health is known worldwide for treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders, and for groundbreaking medical research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health remains the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to these disorders. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has ranked National Jewish Health the number one respiratory hospital in the nation.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
'Green' homes save money but can trap air pollution indoorsPublic release date: 21-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Adam Dormuth
dormutha@njhealth.org
303-398-1082
National Jewish Health
National Jewish Health expert describes potential health hazards of energy efficient homes
SAN ANTONIO, TX- February 21, 2013 -- In an effort to protect the environment and save on energy costs, we are in the midst of a "green" home boom in this country. While that may bode well from an energy-efficiency standpoint, the trend certainly doesn't have everyone breathing easier.
Nathan Rabinovitch, MD, an asthma specialist at National Jewish Health, will describe the potential health hazards "green" buildings pose to people with asthma, during a symposium, Monday, February 25, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology in San Antonio.
"For every solution, there's a problem," said Nathan Rabinovitch, MD, an asthma specialist at National Jewish Health in Denver. "Energy efficiency is really, really important, but at the same time, with the homes that we are building today, allergens getting into the house, are staying in the house."
That includes things like smoke, mold, bacteria and pet dander. For the nearly 26 million Americans who suffer from asthma, that's causing a wide range of problems.
"It used to be when homes were built, a lot of air would come out through the roof and through the windows," said Dr. Rabinovitch, "but now we've become so efficient at sealing off those areas that everything is getting trapped inside the house, and that's making a lot of people sick."
Rabinovitch says the movement to build more energy-efficient homes began in the 1970s, after the nation's first energy crisis. Since then, concerns about the environment and a downturn in the economy have all converged to make energy efficiency much more of a priority in the housing industry.
But something else happened during that same timeframe: asthma rates started going up. In fact, since 1970, the number of Americans who have asthma has nearly tripled.
That's not a coincidence, says Dr. Rabinovitch. "The problem is, a lot of the air pollution in our home is actually in the carpet or on the soft furniture. If someone walks on the carpet or sits on the couch, they end up getting this kind of personal exposure," he said, "and with little ventilation in homes today, that pollution has nowhere to go, so it settles into our lungs."
To see just how much air pollution we may be exposed to in our homes, Rabinovitch conducted a study in which he asked school children to carry air monitors with them for several weeks. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, those monitors collected air samples in the children's homes and as they walked to and from school. Samples were also collected as the children played outside, and as they studied in the classroom.
After analyzing the data, Dr. Rabinovitch found that air quality was worst where you might expect it least.
"For many of these kids, the amount of air pollution that they were being exposed to was often higher inside the home than outside the home," he said.
That doesn't surprise Hope Duncan. Her 13-year-old son, Jack, suffered a near-fatal asthma attack in 2008, and since then, Duncan says she has learned a lot about triggers that are hidden around her home.
"They can be anywhere," said Duncan. "You never know what's underneath the carpet that has accumulated from pets or from water damage. There may be things in the couch or behind the walls that you simply don't know about," she said.
Because of that, Duncan and her family take strict precautions to protect her son. "We change our air filter often, and vacuum and dust constantly," she said. The Duncans have also installed an air purifier in Jack's room and insist that he shower each night before he goes to bed, instead of in the morning, like many people do.
"He spends most of his time in his room, and at least nine hours a night sleeping in there," said Duncan. "After spending the day outside, collecting all these allergens in his hair and on his body, we just want to make sure he gets all that off of him before he goes to sleep."
But it's not just natural allergens like mold and pollen that can trigger asthma attacks. Some of the biggest problems are caused by choices we make.
"Pet dander and cigarette smoke are probably two of the most dangerous triggers there are," said Dr. Rabinovitch. "I always tell my patients that if there are smokers in the house or pets that are causing problems, those have to be addressed before anything else."
Rabinovitch also offers some simple advice to anyone who will listen. "The best way to control indoor air pollution is to look outdoors," he said. "Simply opening your windows more often will ventilate your house and will help dry out and clear out many of the things that could be making you sick."
It's a concept that raises a lot of eyebrows in this era of super energy-efficient homes.
"Homes were built 50 years ago in a way where there was ventilation, so I don't think it's difficult to go back to that," said Dr. Rabinovitch. "But the question is: How do we do that and at the same time keep our energy efficiency? We don't want to solve one problem and then end up with another."
###
Dr. Nathan Rabinovitch, a nationally recognized asthma specialist from National Jewish Health is available for interviews. Contact Adam Dormuth at 303-398-1082 or Shannon McCormick at 614-477-2719.
B-ROLL, SOUND BITES, WEB ELEMENTS & HI-RES STILL PHOTOS - Including HD video available for free/unrestricted use by the news media: http://bit.ly/TakVf2
Courtesy: National Jewish Health
For assistance in downloading, or if you have any questions contact: shannon@mediasourcetv.com or by calling the mobile phone number: 614-477-2719.
National Jewish Health is known worldwide for treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders, and for groundbreaking medical research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health remains the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to these disorders. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has ranked National Jewish Health the number one respiratory hospital in the nation.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Google just added a new feature, currently available on Chrome's dev channel for Windows, that launches Chrome apps outside the browser, from the Windows taskbar. Here's how it works.
Similar to the app launcher on Chromebooks, Windows users can now launch Chrome apps right from the taskbar. Regular Chrome apps will open up in a Chrome tab, but the launcher is really designed for "Chrome-packaged apps," a special type of app that will open in its own window, work offline by default, and have access to other integration features not available to Chrome's regular application shortcuts. Right now, it doesn't look like there are a lot of Chrome-packaged apps out there?Gmail and Google Drive aren't even among the few)?and there's no way to search the Chrome Web Store for them yet.
To try out the launcher, grab a Chrome-packaged app like the Text Drive text editor from Chrome's web store. When you do, you'll be prompted to install the launcher to your taskbar, after which you can launch Text Drive in its own window. The launcher will also list your other Google Chrome apps like Gmail and Google Drive, but you'll only be able to open them as tabs in Chrome for now. Again, this feature is still in early stages, so hopefully we'll see more supported apps soon. Google also says a Mac and Linux version is on the way, so stay tuned. Hit the link to read more.
Chrome app launcher developer preview | The Chromium Blog
ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Hundreds of snow plows and salt spreaders took to the highways of the nation's heartland Wednesday, preparing for a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow in some areas and bring dangerous freezing rain and sleet to others.
Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois. By midday Wednesday, heavy snow was already falling in Colorado and western Kansas.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said parts of Colorado, Kansas and northern Missouri could get 10 to 12 inches of snow. Dodge City, Kan., was bracing for up to 16 inches of snow. Further south, freezing rain and sleet could make driving treacherous.
Officials feared the winter storm would be the worst in the Midwest since the Groundhog Day blizzard in 2011. A two-day storm that began Feb. 1, 2011, was blamed in about two dozen deaths and left hundreds of thousands without power, some for several days. At its peak, the storm created white-out conditions so intense that Interstate 70 was shut down across the entire state of Missouri.
"We're not going to see that type of storm, but it's certainly the most impactful in the last two winters," said Gosselin, who works in suburban St. Louis.
Tim Chojnacki, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said it planned to have salt trucks on the roads before the storm arrived in the Show-Me State in hopes that the precipitation would largely melt upon impact.
Gosselin said sleet and freezing rain could make areas like St. Louis, southern Missouri and parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas more dangerous than those with heavy snowfalls. Ice accumulations could reach a half-inch in some places.
"Sleet is no fun to drive on," Gosselin said. "Especially if you get a couple of inches, which could happen. It doesn't melt, and it's very heavy to move. It's difficult to shovel, you can't really plow it and the chemicals don't work as well."
Much of Kansas was expected to get up to a foot of snow, which many rural residents welcomed after nearly a year of drought.
Jerry and Diane McReynolds spent part of Wednesday putting out more hay and straw for newborn calves at their farm near Woodston in north central Kansas. The storm made extra work, but Diane McReynolds said it would help their winter wheat, pastures and dried-up ponds.
"In the city you hear they don't want the snow and that sort of thing, and I am thinking, 'Yes, we do,' and they don't realize that we need it," she said. "We have to have it or their food cost in the grocery store is going to go very high. We have to have this. We pray a lot for it."
Meanwhile, a separate snow storm caught many drivers by surprise in California, leaving hundreds stranded on mountain highways. A 35-mile stretch of Highway 58 between Mojave and Bakersfield was closed Wednesday, and several school districts closed. No injuries were reported.
Schools also were closed in northern Arizona and Colorado with snow there. Mindy Crane, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said hundreds of plows had been deployed for what was expected to be one of the most significant snow storms of the season.
Just the threat of snow had a big impact in Nebraska, where lawmakers cancelled Thursday afternoon committee hearings and University of Nebraska officials moved a Big 10 men's basketball game against Iowa from Thursday to Saturday.
Gosselin said precipitation is generally expected to drop off as the storm makes its way east. Chicago and parts of Indiana, he said, could get about 2 inches of snow and some sleet.
___
Associated Press writers Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kan., and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.
Here is one of many articles about the release tomorrow: http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com...-we-know.html/
So far everything sounds cool; we might have to pay to play online which I don't mind, we could have better connections. The price of the console is at 400 dollars which is alot cheaper then when the PS3 was released at 600. I guess we have to wait to find out the release date but I'm guessing it's going to be around black friday.
A new research on social media says that, businesses can no longer adopt a trial-and-error method on social media. The research finds that there is a connection between social media and business metrics such as consumers? probability to purchase or interact with companies through leading social channels.
The study is consists of responses from more than 23,200 U.S. online consumers who have interacted with a company via the companies? social media channel. The study was conducted across more than 100 U.S. brands in six industries: airline, auto, banking, credit card, telecom and utility, from November to December 2012.
The research also measures the overall consumer experience in terms of consumer engagement with companies through their social channels for needs of marketing and servicing. The study spotlights on social media engagement, marketing and servicing. Marketing engagements include connecting with consumers to build brand awareness and likeness, plus to promote coupons and deals. Servicing engagements include answering specific consumer questions or resolving problems.
The study sets up performance benchmarks and industry best practices that provide insights to companies to help them make the most of their social media efforts.
The report also highlights that, companies need to understand how their consumers use social media and then keeping that as a basis they need to develop a strategy to address their usage model.
Social Media Marketing
The study finds that engagement ability changes by age group in social marketing engagements. About 39% of consumers aged 30-49 years and 38% of respondents aged 50+ years interact with a company in a social marketing engagement perspective. But only 23% of consumers aged between 18 and 29 years interact with companies.
The study finds that the automobile industry is the only industry that performs well in both types of social media engagement.
Social Media Servicing
Companies that pitch discount coupons should not ignore customers who need the service and want the company?s help, adds Anderson.
On the contrary to social media engagement, 43% of consumers who are aged between 18 and 29 years use social media for servicing interactions, while 39% of consumers aged 30-49 years use social channels for servicing needs. Only 18% of consumers aged 50+ interact with a company through social networks for a servicing.
The wireless industry is performing well in social servicing, and the utility industry in social marketing.
Satisfaction Rates:
87% (satisfaction scores of 951 and higher on a 1,000-point scale) indicate that the online social interaction with the company has increased the purchase probability from the company.
On the other hand, 10% (500 out of 1000) of the consumers who are less satisfied consumers show less probability to purchase from that brand/company.
The study also finds that some industries are more successful than others at implementing best practices into their social media engagement strategies than others. When looking across industries, the auto industry performs particularly well in both marketing and servicing social media interactions, the only industry to do so. Other industries performing well are wireless in social servicing interactions and utility in social marketing interactions.
The study?unveils?that some industries are more effective in applying best practices into social media engagement strategies than others.
The Pulitzer Prize winning technology journalist 
Merle Dixon, avid reader
The European Union's two-year long antitrust probe into Google's search practices may be resolved after this summer, according to a Reuters report. The news agency quotes EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, telling a conference today: "We can reach an agreement after the summer break. We can envisage this as a possible deadline."![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tQKeboEz5m-Zq8E4i5zXlv-BtOxORsoLG7BjXsHTjfawBqzy0nvCSHfypFfCXLNnQyV4frSArid1AY5YvFPUaM4Tte6Zw4pvQXyrwAf2A=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 21-Feb-2013
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Google just added a new feature, currently available on Chrome's dev channel for Windows, that launches Chrome apps outside the browser, from the Windows taskbar. Here's how it works. 
