রবিবার, ৩১ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Nine Inch Nails: The Day The World Went Away

It's always good to have some tunes on tap that sound their best at ear-shattering volumes, and if you're in the market, Nine Inch Nail's "The Day The World Went Away" deserves a spot at the top of the list. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/OfN1SrL3ErU/nine-inch-nails-the-day-the-world-went-away

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SuperTooth HD Voice In-Car Speakerphone review

Not too long ago I had a few Bluetooth earpieces that I mainly used ?while driving. I had a few Motorola ones like the H700, plus I have still been using the Plantronics Voyager that I reviewed some time ago that I really enjoy. However, my problem was often that I didn’t have the earpiece [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/03/30/supertooth-hd-voice-in-car-speakerphone-review/

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Bank of Cyprus big savers to lose up to 60 percent

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday.

Deposits of more than 100,000 euros ($128,000) at the Bank of Cyprus will lose 37.5 percent in money that will be converted into bank shares, according to a central bank statement. In a second raid on these accounts, depositors also could lose up to 22.5 percent more, depending on what experts determine is needed to prop up the bank's reserves. The experts will have 90 days to figure that out.

The remaining 40 percent of big deposits at the Bank of Cyprus will be "temporarily frozen for liquidity reasons," but continue to accrue existing levels of interest plus another 10 percent, the central bank said.

The savings converted to bank shares would theoretically allow depositors to eventually recover their losses. But the shares now hold little value and it's uncertain when ? if ever ? the shares will regain a value equal to the depositors' losses.

Emergency laws passed last week empower Cypriot authorities to take these actions.

Analysts said Saturday that imposing bigger losses on Bank of Cyprus customers could further squeeze already crippled businesses as Cyprus tries to rebuild its banking sector in exchange for the international rescue package.

Sofronis Clerides, an economics professor at the University of Cyprus, said: "Most of the damage will be done to businesses which had their money in the bank" to pay suppliers and employees. "There's quite a difference between a 30 percent loss and a 60 percent loss." With businesses shrinking, Cyprus could be dragged down into an even deeper recession, he said.

Clerides accused some of the 17 European countries that use the euro of wanting to see the end of Cyprus as an international financial services center and to send the message that European taxpayers will no longer shoulder the burden of bailing out problem banks.

But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble challenged that notion, insisting in an interview with the Bild daily published Saturday that "Cyprus is and remains a special, isolated case" and doesn't point the way for future European rescue programs.

Europe has demanded that big depositors in Cyprus' two largest banks ? Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank ? accept across-the-board losses in order to pay for the nation's 16 billion euro ($20.5 billion) bailout. All deposits of up to 100,000 are safe, meaning that a saver with 500,000 euros in the bank will only suffer losses on the remaining 400,000 euros.

Cypriot officials had previously said that large savers at Laiki ? which will be absorbed in to the Bank of Cyprus ? could lose as much as 80 percent. But they had said large accounts at the Bank of Cyprus would lose only 30 to 40 percent.

Asked about Saturday's announcement, University of Cyprus political scientist Antonis Ellinas predicted that unemployment, currently at 15 percent, will "probably go through the roof" over the next few years.

"It means that (people) ... have to accept a major haircut to their way of life and their standard of living. The social impact is yet to be realized, but they will be enormous in terms of social unrest and radical social phenomenon," Ellinas said.

There's also concern that large depositors ? including many wealthy Russians ? will take their money and run once capital restrictions that Cypriot authorities have imposed on bank transactions to prevent such a possibility are lifted in about a month.

Cyprus agreed on Monday to make bank depositors with accounts over 100,000 euros contribute to the financial rescue in order to secure 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in loans from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. Cyprus needed to scrounge up 5.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) on its own in order to clinch the larger package, and banks had remained shut for nearly two weeks until politicians hammered out a deal, opening again on Thursday.

But fearing that savers would rush to pull their money out in mass once banks reopened, Cypriot authorities imposed a raft of restrictions, including daily withdrawal limits of 300 euros ($384) for individuals and 5,000 euros for businesses ? the first so-called capital controls that any country has applied in the eurozone's 14-year history.

The rush didn't materialize as Cypriots appeared to take the measures in stride, lining up patiently to do their business and defying dire predictions of scenes of pandemonium.

Under the terms of the bailout deal, the country' second largest bank, Laiki ? which sustained the most damaged from bad Greek debt and loans ? is to be split up, with its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank." The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.

On Saturday, economist Stelios Platis called the rescue plan "completely mistaken" and criticized Cyprus' euro partners for insisting on foisting Laiki's troubles on the Bank of Cyprus.

____

AP business correspondent Geir Moulson in Berlin and APTN reporter Adam Pemble in Nicosia contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-cyprus-big-savers-lose-60-percent-135608668--finance.html

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শনিবার, ৩০ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Obama takes jobs pitch to Miami

President Barack Obama will promote a plan to create jobs by attracting private investment in highways and other public works during a visit Friday to a Miami port, the White House said.

The president will flesh out details of his proposals in a speech at the port, which is undergoing $2 billion in upgrades paid for with government and private money. Obama, in the quick trip to South Florida, will try to show that the economy remains his top priority in the midst of high-profile campaigns on immigration reform and gun control.

Among the proposals Obama will call for:

?Higher caps on "private activity bonds" to encourage more private spending on highways and other infrastructure projects. State and local governments use the bonds to attract investment.

?Giving foreign pension funds tax-exempt status when selling U.S. infrastructure, property or real estate assets. U.S. pension funds are generally tax exempt in those circumstances. The administration says some international pension funds cite the tax burden as a reason for not investing in American infrastructure.

?$4 billion in new spending on two infrastructure programs that award loans and grants.

?A renewed call for a $10 billion national "infrastructure bank" ? a proposal from his first term that gained little traction.

The president made private-sector infrastructure investment a key part of the economic agenda he rolled out in his State of the Union address last month. He also called in his address for a "Fix-It-First" program that would spend $40 billion in taxpayer funds on urgent repairs.

Obama's focus on generating more private sector investment underscores the tough road new spending faces on Capitol Hill, where Republican lawmakers often threaten to block additional spending unless it is paid for by tax cuts or other measures.

Any increased spending associated with the proposals Obama was outlining Friday would not add to the deficit, a senior administration official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the plan in advance of Obama's announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official did not detail how the costs would be paid for, saying only that more information would be included in the president's budget.

Obama will release his budget April 10.

???

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Follow Julie Pace on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-pitch-more-jobs-public-142807078.html

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Survey: Samsung takes the lead from Nokia, BlackBerry in key emerging markets

By Jason Szep SIT KWIN, Myanmar (Reuters) - The Muslims of Sit Kwin were always a small group who numbered no more than 100 of the village's 2,000 people. But as sectarian violence led by Buddhist mobs spreads across central Myanmar, they and many other Muslims are disappearing. Their homes, shops and mosques destroyed, some end up in refugee camps or hide in the homes of friends or relatives. Dozens have been killed. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/survey-samsung-takes-lead-nokia-blackberry-key-emerging-233306758.html

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শুক্রবার, ২৯ মার্চ, ২০১৩

It's a bird, it's plane...no, it's a drone

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It's a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans' everyday lives, performing countless useful functions.

A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small, unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They'll help police departments find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They'll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes and monitor evacuation flows.

Real estate agents will use them to film videos of properties and surrounding neighborhoods. States will use them to inspect bridges, roads and dams. Oil companies will use them to monitor pipelines, while power companies use them to monitor transmission lines.

With military budgets shrinking, drone makers have been counting on the civilian market to spur the industry's growth. But there's an ironic threat to that hope: Success on the battlefield may contain the seeds of trouble for the more benign uses of drones at home.

The civilian unmanned aircraft industry worries that it will be grounded before it can really take off because of fear among the public that the technology will be misused. Also problematic is a delay in the issuance of government safety regulations that are needed before drones can gain broad access to U.S. skies.

Some companies that make drones or supply support equipment and services say the uncertainty has caused them to put U.S. expansion plans on hold, and they are looking overseas for new markets.

"Our lack of success in educating the public about unmanned aircraft is coming back to bite us," said Robert Fitzgerald, CEO of The BOSH Group of Newport News, Va., which provides support services to drone users.

"The U.S. has been at the lead of this technology a long time," he said. "If our government holds back this technology, there's the freedom to move elsewhere ... and all of a sudden these things will be flying everywhere else and competing with us."

Since January, drone-related legislation has been introduced in more than 30 states, largely in response to privacy concerns. Many of the bills are focused on preventing police from using drones for broad public surveillance, as well as targeting individuals for surveillance without sufficient grounds to believe they were involved in crimes.

Law enforcement is expected to be one of the bigger initial markets for civilian drones. Last month, the FBI used drones to maintain continuous surveillance of a bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy was being held hostage.

In Virginia, the state General Assembly passed a bill that would place a two-year moratorium on the use of drones by state and local law enforcement. The measure is supported by groups as varied as the American Civil Liberties Union on the left and the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation on the right.

Gov. Bob McDonnell is proposing amendments that would retain the broad ban on spy drones but allow specific exemptions when lives are in danger, such as for search-and rescue operations. The legislature reconvenes on April 3 to consider the amendments.

"Any legislation that restricts the use of this kind of capability to serve the public is putting the public at risk," said Steve Gitlin, vice president of AeroVironment, a leading maker of smaller drones, including some no bigger than a hummingbird

Seattle abandoned its drone program after community protests in February. The city's police department had purchased two drones through a federal grant without consulting the city council.

Drones "clearly have so much potential for saving lives, and it's a darn shame we're having to go through this right now," said Stephen Ingley, executive director of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association. "It's frustrating."

In some states economic concerns have trumped public unease. In Oklahoma, an anti-drone bill was shelved at the request of Republican Gov. Mary Fallin, who was concerned it might hinder growth of the state's drone industry. The North Dakota state Senate killed a drone bill in part because of concern that it might impede the state's chances of being selected by the Federal Aviation Administration as one of six national drone test sites, which could generate local jobs.

A bill that would have limited the ability of state and local governments to use drones died in the Washington legislature. The measure was opposed by The Boeing Co., which employs more than 80,000 workers in the state and which has a subsidiary, Insitu, that's a leading military drone manufacturer.

Although the Supreme Court has not dealt directly with drones, it has OK'd aerial surveillance without warrants in drug cases in which officers in a plane or helicopter spotted marijuana plants growing on a suspect's property. But in a case involving the use of ground-based equipment, the court said police generally need a warrant before using a thermal imaging device to detect hot spots in a home that might indicate that marijuana plants are being grown there.

In Congress, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., co-chairman of the House's privacy caucus, has introduced a bill that prohibits the Federal Aviation Administration from issuing drone licenses unless the applicant provides a statement explaining who will operate the drone, where it will be flown, what kind of data will be collected, how the data will be used, whether the information will be sold to third parties and the period for which the information will be retained.

Sentiment for curbing domestic drone use has brought the left and right together perhaps more than any other recent issue. "The thought of government drones buzzing overhead and constantly monitoring the activities of law-abiding citizens runs contrary to the notion of what it means to live in a free society," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said at a recent hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Privacy advocates acknowledge the many good uses of drones. In Mesa County, Colo., for example, an annual landfill survey using manned aircraft cost about $10,000. The county recently performed the same survey using a drone for about $200.

But drones' virtues can also make them dangerous, they say. Their low cost and ease of use may encourage police and others to conduct the kind of continuous or intrusive surveillance that might otherwise be impractical. Drones can be equipped with high-powered cameras and listening devices, and infrared cameras that can see people in the dark.

"High-rise buildings, security fences or even the walls of a building are not barriers to increasingly common drone technology," Amie Stepanovich, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Council's surveillance project, told the Senate panel.

Civilian drone use is limited to government agencies and public universities that have received a few hundred permits from the FAA. A law passed by Congress last year requires the FAA to open U.S. skies to widespread drone flights by 2015, but the agency is behind schedule and it's doubtful it will meet that deadline. Lawmakers and industry officials have complained for years about the FAA's slow progress.

The FAA estimates that within five years of gaining broader access about 7,500 civilian drones will be in use.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., recently drew attention to the domestic use of drones when he staged a Senate filibuster, demanding to know whether the president has authority to use weaponized drones to kill Americans on American soil. The White House said no, if the person isn't engaged in combat. But industry officials worry that the episode could temporarily set back civilian drone use.

"The opposition has become very loud," said Gitlin of AeroVironment, "but we are confident that over time the benefits of these solutions (drones) are going to far outweigh the concerns, and they'll become part of normal life in the future."

___

Associated Press writer Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/drone-industry-worries-privacy-backlash-070658841--finance.html

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৮ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Simulations uncover obstacle to harnessing laser-driven fusion

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A once-promising approach for using next-generation, ultra-intense lasers to help deliver commercially viable fusion energy has been brought into serious question by new experimental results and first-of-a-kind simulations of laser-plasma interaction.

Researchers at The Ohio State University are evaluating a two-stage process in which a pellet of fusion fuel is first crushed by lasers on all sides, shrinking the pellet to dozens of times its original size, followed by an ultra-intense burst of laser light to ignite a chain reaction. This two-stage approach is called Fast Ignition, and there are a few variants on the theme. In a recent paper, the Ohio State research group considered the long-discussed possibility of using a hollow cone to maintain a channel for the ultra-intense "ignitor pulse" to focus laser energy on the compressed pellet core. Drawing on both experimental results from studies at the Titan Laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, and massively-parallel computer simulations of the laser-target interaction performed at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) in Columbus, Ohio, the research team found compelling evidence that the cone-guided approach to Fast Ignition has a serious flaw.

"In the history of fusion research, two-steps-forward and one-step-back stories are a common theme," said Chris Orban, Ph.D., a researcher of the High Energy Density Physics research group at Ohio State and the lead theorist on the project. "But sometimes progress is about seeing what's not going to work, just as much as it is looking forward to the next big idea."

Since the ultra-intense pulse delivers energy to the fuel through relativistic electrons accelerated by the laser interaction, the Ohio State study focused on the coupling of the laser light to electrons and the propagation of those electrons through the cone target. Rather than investigating how the interaction would work on a high-demand, high-cost facility like the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which is also based at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and one of the largest scientific operations in the world, the researchers considered experiments just across from NIF at the Titan laser, which is much smaller and easily accessible.

Despite its size and despite having lower total energy, for a brief moment the Titan laser is many thousands of times more intense than NIF, which makes it a decent stand-in as a second-stage ignitor pulse. The OSU-led experimental team focused the Titan pulse on hollow cone targets attached at the tip to copper wires and observed the burst of X-ray photons coming from the copper as a measure of the laser energy to relativistic electron conversion efficiency.

The X-ray signal was much lower from the hollow cones with thicker cone walls. "This was strong evidence to the experimental team that the typical approach to cone-guided Fast Ignition wouldn't work, since thicker cones should be more realistic than thin cones," said Orban. "This is because electrons are free to move around in a dense plasma, much like they do in a normal metal, so the thicker cone target is like a thin cone embedded in a dense plasma."

These intuitions were tested in simulations performed at OSC. Whereas earlier efforts to simulate the laser-target interaction were forced to simplify or shrink the target size in order to make the calculations more feasible, Orban used the LSP code to perform the first-ever, full-scale 2D Particle-In-Cell simulations of the entire laser-target interaction using fully realistic laser fields.

These simulations also included a sophisticated model for the pre-heating of the target from stray laser light ahead of the ultra-intense pulse developed by collaborators at the Flash Center for Computational Science at the University of Chicago.

"We were delighted to help Chris use the FLASH code to provide realistic initial conditions for his Particle-In-Cell simulations," said Don Lamb, director of the Flash Center. "This is an outstanding example of how two groups can collaborate to achieve a scientific result that neither could have achieved alone."

To conduct the simulations, the Ohio State researchers accessed OSC's flagship Oakley Cluster supercomputer system. The HP-built system features 8,300+ Intel Xeon cores and 128 NVIDIA Tesla GPUs. Oakley can achieve 88 teraflops, tech-speak for performing 88 trillion calculations per second, or, with acceleration from the NVIDIA GPUs, a total peak performance of 154 teraflops.

"The simulations pointed to the electric fields building up on the edge of the cone as the key to everything," said Orban. "The thicker the cone is, the further away the cone edge is from the laser, and as a result fewer energetic electrons are deflected forward, which is the crucial issue in making cone-guided Fast Ignition a viable approach."

With both the experiment and the simulations telling the same story, the evidence is compelling that the cone-guided route to Fast Ignition is an unlikely one. While other studies have come to similar conclusions, the group was the first to identify the plasma surrounding the cone as a severe hindrance. Thankfully, there are still many other ideas for successfully igniting the fusion pellet with current or soon-to-be-constructed laser facilities. Any future efforts to spark fusion reactions with these lasers using a two-stage fast-ignition approach must be mindful to consider the neutralizing effect of the free electrons in the dense plasma.

"We could not have completed this project without the Oakley Cluster," Orban noted. "It was the perfect combination of speed and RAM and availability for us. And thanks to the profiling I was able to do, the compute time for our production runs went from two weeks in November 2011 to three or four days as of February 2012."

"Energy and the environment is one of the primary focus areas of the center, and this research fits perfectly into that domain," said Brian Guilfoos, the client and technology support manager for OSC. "Many of our systems were designed and software packages selected to best support the type of computing required by investigators working in fields related to our focus areas."

###

The paper describing the study, "Coupling of high-intensity laser light to fast electrons in cone-guided fast ignition," was recently published in Physical Review E, a journal of the American Physical Society.

Ohio Supercomputer Center: http://www.osc.edu

Thanks to Ohio Supercomputer Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127477/Simulations_uncover_obstacle_to_harnessing_laser_driven_fusion

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Fewer children mean longer life?

Mar. 27, 2013 ? New research into ageing processes, based on modern genetic techniques, confirms theoretical expectations about the correlation between reproduction and lifespan. Studies of birds reveal that those that have offspring later in life and have fewer broods live longer. And the decisive factor is telomeres, shows research from The University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Telomeres are the protective caps at the end of chromosomes. The length of telomeres influences how long an individual lives. Telomeres start off at a certain length, become shorter each time a cell divides, decline as the years pass by until the telomeres can no longer protect the chromosomes, and the cell dies. But the length of telomeres varies significantly among individuals of the same age. This is partly due to the length of the telomeres that has been inherited from the parents, and partly due to the amount of stress an individual is exposed to.

?This is important, not least for our own species, as we are all having to deal with increased stress,? says Angela Pauliny, Researcher from the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.

Researchers have studied barnacle geese, which are long-lived birds, the oldest in the study being 22 years old. The results show that geese, compared to short-lived bird species, have a better ability to preserve the length of their telomeres. The explanation is probably that species with a longer lifespan invest more in maintaining bodily functions than, for example, reproduction.

?There is a clear correlation between reproduction and ageing in the animal world. Take elephants, which have a long lifespan but few offspring, while mice, for example, live for a short time but produce a lot of offspring each time they try,? says Angela Pauliny.

The geese studied by researchers varied in age, from very young birds to extremely old ones. Each bird was measured twice, two years apart. One striking result was that the change in telomere length varied according to gender.

?The study revealed that telomeres were best-preserved in males. Among barnacle geese, the telomeres thus shorten more quickly in females, which in birds is the sex with two different gender chromosomes. Interestingly, it is the exactl opposite in humans,? says Angela Pauliny.

The journal BMC Evolutionary Biology has classified the research article ?Telomere dynamics in a long-lived bird, the barnacle goose? as ?Highly Accessed?.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Angela Pauliny, Kjell Larsson, Donald Blomqvist. Telomere dynamics in a long-lived bird, the barnacle goose. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2012; 12 (1): 257 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-257

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/~3/wo_0G9jQGjg/130327103045.htm

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In Chicago, thousands march to protest proposed school closings

By Renita Young and James B. Kelleher

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators rallied in downtown Chicago on Wednesday to protest the city's plan to close 54 public schools, primarily in Hispanic and African-American neighborhoods.

The closings, which the school board plans to vote on in May, would be the biggest one-time shutdown ever by a U.S. city. Wednesday's demonstration, organized by the teacher's union, drew parents, students and other critics of the plan.

Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, encouraged parents of the roughly 30,000 children whose schools will be closed later in 2013 to simply ignore the city's action at the end of summer vacation.

"On the first day of school, you show up at your real school," Lewis said at the rally in Daley Plaza.

The public school district, the third largest in the United States, has said it has a $1 billion annual deficit and needs to close under-used schools to save money. It believes the plan will save $560 million over the next decade.

After the rally at Daley Plaza on Wednesday, the demonstrators marched toward district headquarters. About 100 of them were handcuffed and removed by police after they locked arms and sat down in the street, chanting "Protect our children, save our schools."

Earlier Wednesday, a group of ministers from Chicago's South and West Sides opposed to the closings attempted to deliver a letter to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel at City Hall.

Emanuel, who supports the closings, did not meet with the group, which left their letter with a police officer.

"I think their No. 1 responsibility is a high quality education for every child and this plan simply does not deliver that," said Reverend Marshall Hatch of the New Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. "It seems to, of course, be more about the budget."

Enrollment in Chicago Public Schools has fallen 20 percent in the last decade, mainly because of population declines in poor neighborhoods.

The district has said it can accommodate 511,000 students, but only about 403,000 are enrolled and nearly 140 of its school buildings are more than half empty. The school board must approve the plan and is expected to vote on it May 22.

The closings are "not easy for our communities," CPS head Barbara Byrd-Bennett said in a statement. "But as CEO of this district, I need to make decisions that put our children first."

She said children at the under-used schools have been "cheated of the resources they need to succeed" for too long.

The decision to close dozens of schools follows a bitter strike by Chicago teachers last September, fought partly over the teachers union's accusation that Mayor Emanuel was undermining schools in poor areas of the city.

Chicago's is just one of many urban school districts around the United States grappling with declining enrollment.

Over the past decade, 70 large or mid-sized cities have closed schools, averaging 11 per district, according to the National Education Association, a labor union for teachers.

In Washington D.C., 23 schools were closed in 2008 and 15 more are expected to close over the next two years. Earlier in March, Philadelphia announced plans to close 23 schools.

An expansion of charter schools is at the heart of the school closings debate in Chicago. Charter schools are publicly funded, but mostly non-union and their numbers have increased even as neighborhood public schools are closed.

Chicago has promised a five-year moratorium on school closings after the planned shutdowns this year.

Many of the schools that would be closed are in neighborhoods that have seen frequent gun violence, leaving parents and school activists concerned the changes will endanger students who will have to cross gang boundaries.

Chicago recorded 506 murders in 2012 largely due to gang violence and nearly all of the children affected by the closings are in kindergarten through eighth grade.

(Writing by James B. Kelleher; Editing by David Bailey and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-thousands-march-protest-proposed-school-closings-235420095.html

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North Korea reportedly cuts 3G for tourists, restricts access to long term visitors

It was just a month ago that North Korea started allowing mobile internet access to visitors (while still restricting it from citizens), but now a tour group says that program has ended. First reported by North Korea Tech, a post on the Koryo Group site indicates that tourists can still purchase SIM cards for international calling, but internet access is not available, a return to its policy from January. A recent blog post from the 22nd goes into more detail, explaining that 3G Koryolink access for foreigners "has been restricted to long term visitors/residents of Pyongyang only." With no word from the government on the policy change you'll have to insert your own reasoning, although we'll imagine Eric Schmidt is not pleased.

[Image credit: Jean Lee, Instagram]

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Via: TechCrunch, North Korea Tech, Tech in Asia

Source: Koryo Group (1), (2)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/bn4II33Co8w/

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বুধবার, ২৭ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Treat Allergies With Acupuncture | Healthcare, Fitness, Nutrition ...

Acupuncture in the Treatment of Allergies

Mar 26, 2013

Allergies, although they do not normally come into the category of serious diseases, can be very annoying, and under certain conditions can be life-threatening, as in the case of anaphylactic shock.

Short-term treatment of allergies, with classical drugs is very simple and fast, but these drugs can have unpleasant side effects (e.g. can provoke strong sleepiness, which greatly decreases a person?s ability to work more), but perhaps more importantly ? do not settle the case and therefore do not lead to a cure.

Acupuncture comes with a different approach and provides in many cases complete healing with solving several health problems, which together with allergies are effects of the same cause.

Hi-Res-Girl-on-tummy-acu

The view of allopathic medicine on allergies

Allopathic medicine sees allergies like exaggerated immune responses. The body treats certain common substances (the allergens) as if they were some dreaded microbes and trigger a strong defensive reaction against them. What we see as signs of allergy are signs and symptoms of the body?s immune response, not the stimulus itself.

Unfortunately, what causes the immune system to overreact is still an obscure fact from a scientific standpoint, so there is no treatment to resolve and heal allergies.

Classical medicine treatments are aimed at limiting excessive reactions and the active substances in drugs are antihistamines that ease breathing, reduce itching and inflammation.

Antihistamines in older generations were generating strong sleepiness, which is a common side effect. The newer generation of antihistamines is able to significantly decrease this side effect, but still have not made progress in finding a causal treatment of allergies that leads to their final healing.

The view of acupuncture on allergies

In view of acupuncture, allergies are related to the liver and the liver?s energy which is not working properly and becomes rebellious and starts and invades other organs.

Liver as an energy has several correspondents in acupuncture: spring as season ? which explains why allergies are triggered especially this season; emotions like frustration, anger, rage, and it?s affected by them especially if these remain without externalizing.

The Liver and gallbladder are governing vision, planning, organization, initiative, and implementation of decisions and objectives. Thus, in pathology, when the liver is affected, the person systematically feels that they cannot reach targets, feel blocked or obstructed.

Because the body cannot get rid of the pressure inside the natural way (externalizing / emotional resolution) when the pressure inside reaches a critical point it opens another ?valve? overflow: the physical. The liver energy begins to invade various structures of the body like a hurricane sweeping everything in his path and may protrude in the form of allergies, eczema, rashes, headaches, high blood pressure, and in severe cases autoimmune diseases.

The acupuncture therapeutic approach regarding allergies is complex because they are the ice-berg?s tip. The therapist first does a full diagnosis and finds the reasons that led to imbalances in the liver. These can be emotional, but can also be the cause of food, lifestyle or other organs? imbalances indirectly affecting the liver. According to this treatment, the strategy is chosen.

Results and conclusions

The results of the acupuncture treatment are very good, but ? as with other diseases treated with acupuncture ? results are slower than taking antihistamine pills. On the other hand, once things are settled, they tend not to recur. It is because taking on the causes-lead, first the problems that led to liver imbalance need to be solved.

If it?s emotional problems, acupuncture can significantly help the process, but it is a process of deeper cleaning and lasting longer, and the person will be helped to clean their lives. But the benefits are far beyond solving allergies.

If it is purely physical problems, the process is faster and the patient chooses and solves many other problems. This is because in the vision of acupuncture, things in the body are very closely related, and if an organ does not work, then would bring down other organs after it.

The corollary of this is that when an organ imbalance is solved, you solve other imbalances, and these imbalances are present when the patient gives symptoms which are typically not associated directly with allergies, but functionally they are closely related.

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Catch Some Shade Under This Illusive Flying House Sculpture

An empty lot is a great place to build a house, but so is the air above it. And this summer, Flint, Michigan is going to get some floating real estate. More »


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Obama Administration Pushes For Assault Weapons Ban Vote, But Says No National Gun Registry Needed

The Obama Administration says despite Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to exclude the assault weapons ban from comprehensive gun control for lack of votes, the President still supports it and urges the Senate to vote publicly on the proposal to eliminate "military-style weapons" from American streets as an amendment.

Speaking in today's White House Briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said "it will be a question for all 100 members of the Senate to ask themselves about whether or not they think that voting for and supporting an assault weapons ban would actually do something to reduce gun violence in communities all across the country. So, we're - - going to have that - we're going to have that debate."

Related: Reid Pulls Assault Weapons Ban from Gun Legislation

Earnest also made clear that despite NRA fears, the President does not support a National Registry of legal gun owners.

"That is not something that the president has supported", said Earnest. He said the White House has no intention of taking away guns from law-abiding citizens. "What we want to make sure is that we're keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them, but without interfering with the ability of law-abiding citizens to get their guns that they would like to buy."

The President does support background checks, but asked if those could be carried out without a national list of all those owning weapons in the United States, Earnest said, "He's not seeking a registry."

Over the weekend Republican strategist Karl Rove insinuated otherwise on ABC's This Week. Rove told George Stephanopoulos "if there's one thing that scares a lot of people who believe in the Second Amendment, is the federal government keeping a national registry of gun sales, and gun purchasers, and gun owners."

Related: Karl Rove on 'This Week '

The Senate is expected to debate and vote on extending background checks to gun dealers and private sales when it returns from Easter recess. The NRA opposes the measure with Wayne LaPierre saying on NBC's Meet the Press, "It slows down the law abiding and does nothing to anybody else".

Still the White House indicated today it not only wants the Senate to vote on "universal background checks," it wants members of the Senate and House to vote publicly on the now-dead assault weapons Ban.

Related: Bloomberg, NRA Brace for Showdown on Guns

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-pushes-assault-weapons-ban-vote-says-190404056--abc-news-politics.html

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Usher gets a geography lesson on 'Voice' premiere

By Ashley Lee, The Hollywood Reporter

Adam Taylor/NBC

New "Voice" coach Usher made a bit of a geography boo-boo on his first night of the show.

Returning champion coaches Blake Shelton and Adam Levine welcomed single-name superstars Usher and Shakira to "The Voice"?on Monday night, as season four began the Blind Auditions with banter, bribery and tear-jerking backstories.

The new quartet of coaches began with a performance of The Beatles? ?Come Together,? further reiterating that?this?singing competition touts working musicians who each play instruments as mentors. As the only female coach on the show, Shakira knows she?s got big shoes to fill -- so if you miss?Christina Aguilera?belting on?Cee Lo Green?s??Crazy? by Gnarls Barkley, Shakira makes up for it with...a harmonica.

Meet the first additions to "The Voice?s"?fourth season (and the ones who almost made the cut):

The Morgan Twins
Song: ?Fallin??
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: All four. How else would the show kick off the blinds?
The coaches had no idea that a pair of blonde bombshells in red cocktail dresses were standing behind them. But after one sister nailed?Alicia Keys'signature opening, Shelton and Usher immediately hit their buttons, with the other two coaches following suit. ?This is a dream come true for most...men,? jokes Shelton. ?Like a damn Doublemint commercial!? Looks like being a two-time champion is a nice selling point -- the duo opts for Team Blake, even if it does get him in trouble with wife?Miranda Lambert.

Jess Kellner
Song: ?Can?t Help Falling in Love?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: Usher and Shakira
Using music to heal emotional scars from an alcoholic mother, Kellner?s brassy tone and patient phrasing departed from typical "Voice"?auditions. Shakira took a nurturing approach -- praising the ?haunting? timbre of her voice -- but Usher simply smiled with his leg up on that rotating chair and let his sex appeal ooze out. Clearly, the latter approach works, as Team Usher gained a first contestant.

Mark Andrew
Song: ?Knockin? On Heaven?s Door?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: Levine, Shakira
Andrew -- a vocal blend of "Voice"?alumni?Tony Lucca?and?Nicholas David?-- was hesitant to give music a second try, after two of his former band members recently passed away. After Shakira pointing out that Levine only won with a beginner?s luck that she now has (?Don?t be blinded by lust, my friend!? pleaded Levine), the ?Hips Don?t Lie? singer successfully recruited Andrew. Looks like sex appeal won again, even when she?s pregnant!

Janetza Miranda
Song: ?Titanium?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: none
The Bachata singer who rocks bird call wanted Shakira to coach her to a bilingual musical career. After a shaky, nervous performance, the pitchy powerhouse is consoled with hugs from a compassionate Levine.

Danielle Bradbery
Song: ?Mean?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: Shelton, Usher, Levine
Bullied as a kid for having bad teeth, the 16-year-old stuck it to haters with the?Taylor Swift?song, and turned three chairs. While Usher tried bribing her with?Justin Bieber?meet-and-greets, he accidentally referred to the city of Nashville as a state -- a geography flub that must have cost him. Bradbery chose Team Blake, probably with hopes of following last season?s winner?Cassadee Pope?into the country music scene.

Vedo
Song: ?Boyfriend?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: Usher
With experiences of homelessness and a mother with stage-IV lung cancer, this R&B singer sang through the whispers of the?Justin Bieber?hit and received a standing ovation -- and his first-choice coach.

Christian Porter
Song: ?Sexy and I Know It?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: Shakira, Shelton, Usher
The bar musician (aka a champion of covers) took a creative risk and put a blues twist on the LMFAO hit that displayed his vocal range and got Shakira all hot and bothered. ?The women were going so crazy, I really thought I was gonna turn to a stripshow!? said Usher, and Shelton scolded an audience member who shouted for Porter to choose Shakira. Looks like intimidation worked -- Porter then chose Shelton.

Leah Lewis
Song: ?Blown Away?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: none
Lewis was adopted from China as an infant and hopes to break the country music stereotype as an Asian American. Though the 15-year-old blew raw and untrained notes throughout the performance, there?s no doubt "The Voice"?will be seeing her again. ?if you?re 99 percent amazing and you?re fifteen, you have nothing to worry about, sweetheart,? said Levine as she left.

Kris Thomas
Song: ?Saving All My Love For You?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: Shakira
This pastor?s son fell into depression and alcoholism after losing a record deal, and got a wake-up call when he found himself drunk at the wheel. Only Shakira picked up on Thomas? feminine timbre and controlled falsettos, while the other three coaches were surprised to see a man standing before them. ?I wish I knew you were a guy!? shouted Levine with regret; ?Women go crazy over a guy with falsetto; they love that,? Usher (who discovered Bieber) told Shakira.

James Irwin
Song: ?The Man Who Can?t Be Moved?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: none
A carpenter whose twin daughters died only minutes after a premature birth, Irwin?s subdued performance didn?t turn any chairs. ?Life, thank God, is full of second and third chances,? said Shakira to Irwin. ?You should try it again, because you deserve to come back.?

Judith Hill
Song: ?What a Girl Wants?
Coaches Who Turned Their Chairs: All four
The female duet singer and background singer set for?Michael Jackson?s?This Is It?tour spent two months rehearsing with the legend before he passed away. Though offers poured in after she sang at Jackson?s memorial service, Hill said ?it seemed like poor taste? and instead opted to try "The Voice"?and put a soulful spin on coach Aguilera?s early hit. ?You?re the first person who?s ever done a Christina song, and done it as well as Christina Aguilera,? says Levine. After plenty of four-way banter, Hill became Levine?s first contestant of season four.

But all of this is only half the story -- the two-night premiere of "The Voice"?continues Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on NBC.

How do you think the new judges did on their first night? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!

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2013 NFL Free Agency: Final grade for the Titans

The Titans might still have a move or two left in them, but they are done with the major moves at this point. I love that they went after it this free agency period. They were able to address most of their needs, and it will really free them up to draft whoever they want in next month's draft.

This camp is also going to be the first one in a while where there has been legitimate competition for starting spots. They have had "camp battles" the last couple of years, but they have always been more about a back-up spot or the last roster spot.

I would have really liked to see them add one of the veteran pass rushers, but it doesn't appear that is going to happen at this point.

They still get a B+ from me. They would have gotten an A if they added that pass rusher, but still a solid effort.

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Source: http://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2013/3/24/4141268/2013-nfl-free-agency-grades-titans

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সোমবার, ২৫ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Deadly message from Mexico drug lords: Threatening notes ice picked to the chests of seven bodies with bullet wounds found in plastic chairs along the side of the street

TMPOUT

? STRINGER Mexico / Reuters

The bodies of seven men arranged in chairs are pictured in Uruapan in the Mexican state of Michoacan, on Saturday. The men were shot in the head with threat messages nailed to some of their chests using ice picks.

MORELIA, Mexico ? Authorities say the bodies of seven men were found in plastic chairs placed along the side of a street in the drug-plagued Mexican state of Michoacan, while another seven people, including three federal agents, were killed in neighboring Guerrero.

Michoacan's Attorney General's Office said in a statement Saturday that the seven bodies had bullet wounds and had been placed individually in the sitting position in chairs near a traffic circle in the city of Uruapan. The office did not provide a motive for killings.

RELATED: WARNING GRAPHIC: 9 HANGED, 14 DECAPITATED IN MEXICO DRUG VIOLENCE

In Guerrero state, authorities said armed men opened fire in a bar in Ciudad Altamirano late Friday. Four civilians and three off-duty federal agents were killed.

Both states on Mexico's western coast have seen a surge of violence in recent years attributed to drug cartels.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nydnrss/new-york/~3/qRqGNnyODiE/story01.htm

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Rebels enter C. African Republic capital

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) ? Hundreds of rebels penetrated the capital of Central African Republic on Saturday, posing the gravest threat to President Francois Bozize's government in a decade.

The rebels, who signed a peace agreement in January that was to allow Bozize to stay in power until 2016, have threatened to overthrow the country's leader unless he meets their demands.

The rebels come from several different armed groups that have long challenged the government. They are now accusing Bozize of failing to abide by the terms of the latest deal signed two months ago, with the help of mediators from neighboring countries.

Fighters rapidly seized a dozen towns in December and January but never entered the capital of Bangui before agreeing to negotiations.

Guy Moussa, who lives in the PK12 neighborhood on the north side of the city, told The Associated Press that hundreds of rebels had entered the city around 6 p.m.

Panicked residents cowered in their homes, many shrouded in darkness after rebels took out a power station supplying parts of Bangui.

Earlier in the afternoon, non-essential United Nations personnel taking a bus to the airport were stopped by a group of angry youths.

"No one leaves this country. You will stay here. If we die, we all die together," the youths shouted, according to U.N. employee Debonheur Deotar.

The unrest is the latest threat to the stability of Central African Republic, a desperately poor nation of 4.5 million that has long been wracked by rebellions and power grabs. The president himself took power in 2003 following a rebellion, and his tenure has been marked by conflict with myriad armed groups.

Bozize's whereabouts late Saturday were not immediately known. On Friday, state radio announced that he had returned from South Africa where he was meeting with that country's president, Jacob Zuma.

South Africa has sent troops and equipment to support Central African Republic forces.

The rebels insist the foreign troops leave, and, as part of their demands, they want their own fighters integrated into the national army.

On Friday, the rebels seized Damara, which had been the boundary line drawn up by regional forces before the January peace accord was signed.

The move marked a serious escalation by the rebels, who went on to take the town of Bossembele early Saturday, said military spokesman Lt. Evrard Tekremoyen.

The insurgents then drove to the neighboring town of Boali and took control of three power plants that serve the town and the capital, residents said.

The rebels also cut off the electrical grid, plunging some of Bangui into darkness, Elisabeth Kofio, the director of Central African Republic Energy, said on the radio.

Earlier in the week, Bozize had offered to release some political prisoners, but the rebels said the gestures were too little, too late.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-enter-c-african-republic-capital-181734866.html

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Russian tycoon found dead in Britain: Is it suicide?

Russian tycoon found dead: Boris Berezovsky was found in his Surrey, England, home, dead. Cause of death is not known yet. But there is speculation that the once-wealthy Russian tycoon committed suicide.

By David Clark Scott,?Staff writer / March 23, 2013

Boris Berezovsky in 2008 as he arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for his hearing against Roman Abramovich. United Kingdom police have said that Berezovsky has been found dead Saturday March 23, 2013.

AP Photo/Sang Tan, File

Enlarge

Boris Berezovsky, once a wealthy Russian oligarch, was found dead in his home in Surrey, England.

Skip to next paragraph David Clark Scott

Online Director

David Clark Scott leads a small team at CSMonitor.com that?s part Skunkworks, part tech-training, part journalism.

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The cause of death is unknown at this time. But speculation that Berezovsky committed suicide is rampant, especially in Russian media.

Two things are prompting the speculation. First, a Russian lawyer, Alexander Dobrovinsky, was among the first to announce his death and posted in social media the following, according to RT.com:

?Just got a call from London. Boris Berezovsky committed suicide. He was a difficult man. A move of disparity? Impossible to live poor? A strike of blows? I am afraid no one will get to know now,?

There's no indication of the quality of Dobrovinsky's source. Certainly, British police have not yet made public a cause of death.

The second factor fueling the suicide talk is the very public decline in Berezovsky's wealth. He had lost several court cases and was known to be selling off real estate, a yacht, and art to raise funds. As The Guardian of London reports:

"Berezovsky's death comes only months after he lost a high-profile and personally disastrous court case against fellow Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. He had accused the Chelsea football club owner of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract in relation to a Russian oil company. After the claims were dismissed, he was ordered by the high court to pay ?35m of Abramovich's legal costs.

His financial difficulties were recently further exacerbated after his former mistress Elena Gorbunova, 43, claimed that Berezovsky owed her $8m (?5m) in compensation over the sale of their $40m residence in Surrey."

Just days ago, Berezovsky sold his Andy Warhol limited edition print of Vladimir Lenin, known as "Red Lenin," for just over $200,000, according to the Russian media outlet RIA Novosti.

Berezovsky's political and financial success follows the arc of recent Russian history. In the 1980s, with the political opening and rise of free enterprise, he went from a quiet mathematician to powerful oligarch. His first business foray? - which Russian prosecutors later said was? illegal profit skimming - involved car sales for the state auto giant AvtoVAZ. Berezovsky used his initial wealth to build a media empire that included partial ownership of two national television networks and several respected newspapers.

As his wealth grew, so did his political clout.

In 1996, Berezovsky was among a group of businessmen who helped Boris Yeltsin's career. "It is no secret that Russian businessmen played the decisive role in President Yeltsin's victory," Berezovsky later told Forbes magazine. "It was a battle for our blood interests."

In return, Yeltsin sold to his backers Russian national industries at a fraction of their actual value. By the late 1990s, Berezovsky had an 80 percent ownership share in Sibneft, an oil company.

But as Agence France Presse reports "his most significant political move was the one that inadvertently sealed his fate: helping Yeltsin choose then-secret services chief Vladimir Putin as Russia's second president.

Berezovsky quickly became a key target of Putin's crackdown on the oligarchs' political independence. He fled the country and fired back with his entire media arsenal, painting the new president as a budding dictator."

The Guardian notes that "Berezovsky is been on Moscow's most wanted list since 2001 on charges of fraud, money-laundering and attempted interference in the Russian political process. A Russian court sentenced Berezovsky in absentia for embezzling $2bn from two major state companies."

But in the past year, there are reports that Berezovsky was seeking to return to Russia. The Irish Times reports that he had recently written to Mr. Putin seeking a pardon, according to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/qK3EZ3eMJrw/Russian-tycoon-found-dead-in-Britain-Is-it-suicide

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রবিবার, ২৪ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Hyperkin Retron 5 plays the cartridges of nine classic consoles (video)

Hyperkin Retron 5 plays cartridges from nine classic consoles

Hyperkin has developed a reputation for modern takes on legendary game consoles that are often better than the real thing. If true, its just-unveiled Retron 5 is a nostalgia singularity. The hardware emulator can use its namesake five cartridge slots to play original games from no less than nine vintage consoles, including the Genesis (Megadrive), NES (Famicom), SNES (Super Famicom) and GameBoys from the original through to the GameBoy Advance. It keeps going: there's a custom Bluetooth controller that can handle every system, mix-and-match original controller support, save states and upscaling for both video (to 720p, through HDMI) as well as audio. While we'll have to see just how well the Retron 5 works whenever it exists as more than a conceptual graphic, that opportunity may come quickly when Hyperkin is tentatively shooting for a July release at less than $100. About all that's left for a follow-up Retron are Jaguar and Turbografx 16 slots -- pretty please?


Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/24/hyperkin-retron-5-plays-cartridges-of-nine-classic-consoles/

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TV Analysts Fight, Blood Drawn Between Kendall Gill and Tim Doyle

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/tv-analysts-fight-blood-drawn-between-kendall-gill-and-tim-doyle/

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Minn. charges tossed against right-to-die ex-head

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? A Minnesota judge on Friday dismissed charges against the former head of a national right-to-die group accused in the death of an Apple Valley woman, saying Minnesota's law against advising suicide is unconstitutionally overbroad.

In a late-afternoon ruling, Dakota County Judge Karen Asphaug dismissed charges against Thomas Goodwin, former president of Final Exit Network. Goodwin was charged with aiding and abetting assistance of a suicide, a felony, and aiding and abetting in the interference with a death scene, a gross misdemeanor.

Goodwin and three other members of Final Exit Network were charged last year in the 2007 death of Doreen Dunn, who killed herself in her home. Prosecutors said the defendants not only supported Dunn's decision to kill herself, but provided Dunn with information and support to follow through.

Final Exit members claim they do not encourage suicide, but that the act of giving information and emotional support could be interpreted as "encouraging" under a Minnesota law that makes it a felony for someone to intentionally assist, advise or encourage suicide.

Defense attorneys for the Final Exit members say Minnesota's law is unconstitutional. In court documents, Final Exit Network general counsel Robert Rivas wrote that while the state may bar someone from "assisting" a suicide, it is unconstitutional for the state to ban "advising" or "encouraging" a suicide ? pure speech.

Prosecutors contend the statute is narrowly worded so advocates of suicide may freely speak their minds but that those who "intentionally" assist, encourage or advise suicide are breaking the law.

In Goodwin's case, Asphaug ruled that the "advising" portion of the state law was overbroad and therefore unconstitutional, while "encouraging" can be narrowly construed and passes constitutional muster.

Defendants asked that if Asphaug refused to dismiss the charges, that she give them permission to appeal.

The 17-count indictment charges Final Exit Network, its former medical director Lawrence Egbert, 85, of Baltimore, and three other officials with felony counts of assisting suicide and interference with a death scene, a gross misdemeanor. The others named in the indictment are Jerry Dincin, 82, of Highland Park, Ill., Roberta Massey, 67, of Bear, Del., and Goodwin, 66, of Punta Gorda, Fla.

The judge dismissed two charges against Massey ? assisting in a suicide and aiding and abetting in the interfering of a death scene ? but allowed a charge of aiding and abetting others to assist in a suicide to stand. All other remaining charges against the other defendants stand.

Rivas said the group was celebrating Goodwin's court victory.

"It's a clean sweep for (Goodwin). I'm sure he's overjoyed," Rivas said in a telephone interview Friday night. "Everybody in Final Exit Network is jumping for joy because he's the former president."

Prosecutor James Backstrom said in a statement that his office was pleased the judge found probable cause for most of the counts in the indictment against Final Exit Network and several of its members. Backstrom said his office is reviewing the judge's ruling on the law's constitutionality to determine how to proceed.

Authorities say Egbert and Dincin went to Minnesota to be with Dunn when she took her life, and likely dumped the equipment she used to kill herself on their way back to the airport. Dunn had suffered through a decade of intense, chronic pain after a medical procedure went wrong.

Prosecutors said it's not against the law to commit suicide, but the assisted-suicide statute is designed to preserve human life, especially the lives of vulnerable people such as Dunn.

Rivas wrote that the statute could be interpreted to make it a crime for "exit guides" to advise people on how to die peacefully and with certainty if they decide to take their lives.

Minnesota's assisted-suicide law is also being challenged in the state Supreme Court. An attorney for a man convicted of going online and encouraging two people to kill themselves is arguing that his client's actions were also protected speech. Attorney Terry Watkins argued in his appeal that William Melchert-Dinkel did not participate in any suicides.

Final Exit Network is run by volunteers who believe that mentally competent adults have a basic human right to end their lives if they suffer from "fatal or irreversible illness or intractable pain" and meet other criteria, according to the group's website.

"We do not encourage anyone to end their life, are opposed to anyone's encouraging another to end his life, do not provide the means to do so, and do not assist in a person's death," the website says.

___

Associated Press writer Amy Forliti contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/minn-charges-tossed-against-die-ex-head-022955248.html

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2013: The International Year of E- Commerce | Sitofono, instant call ...

Every year has its own significance and is named after something for which that year has become famous. For example, the year 2005 was celebrated as the international year of physics because it was the 100th centenary year of the year of discovery of one of the greatest discoveries in the world of physics, the special and general theory of relativity by Sir Albert Einstein. Similarly 2013 is regarded as the year of e-commerce.

At the beginning of 2013 itself, a lot of people are taking new internet connections and gaining access to internet via mobile phones also. Even though internet was accessed with the help of computers in the earlier days, now the trend has changed completely and people are accessing internet via mobile phones also. Along with that, they are using internet as a means of business. They are using the facilities of internet banking, bank debit and credit cards, PayPal etc as the mode of their internet payment options. This has made the purchase of things a lot better for the people. With companies giving home delivery of goods these days without any additional charges, this is perhaps the best choice for people to buy books, electrical and electronic equipments etc.

There is a department named as the department of business development predicts that the overall percentage of registration to the e-commerce website will be increased by 20-30% at the end of this year. Considering the rapid rate at which it is happening today, it is not impossible. PayPal has expected that the growth of e-commerce market in Thailand will reach Bt 15 million or more at the end of this year. Now we have completed only two months and are into the third month and already the business has reached unprecedented heights.

The managing director of Rakuten, Tarad.com, Pawoot Pongvitayapanu said that everyone is carrying a virtual shop in their pocket. That can be mobile phone, iPhone, Smartphone or tablet. Within a few clicks of the button, they can purchase anything they want just by paying the amount via their bank account. It is complete safe and secured way of payment and at the same time, it prevents you from carrying hard cash, which could be stolen either by theft or robbery.

There are a very large number of e commerce websites and different websites have different numbers, but considering the overall progress, every website has its own customer base and could be the best websites in any business. This aforesaid website already has about 2 million members already and 200,000 new members are visiting it every day. Because of these unique statistics, this website is expected to break many records in business world.

However, all e-commerce sites aren?t the sites where you can purchase things. You can only go to their website and see their specifications. But this year they are thinking of implementing a purchasing system also in their website. If they include it in their site, it will be a huge booster to their website as more and more people will start to use their website. Because of all these reasons, the year 2013 is expected to be celebrated as the international year of e-commerce.

Source: Clue Design

Source: http://www.sitofono.com/2013-the-international-year-of-e-commerce/

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Strategy Analytics: iCloud, Dropbox and Amazon top cloud media in the US

Strategy Analytics iCloud, Dropbox and Amazon top cloud media in the US

We often focus on market share for hardware, but cloud media services increasingly dictate our lives after the devices have reached our bags and pockets. Wouldn't it be nice to know who rules the online media landscape? According to Strategy Analytics' just-published study from the fall, it's Apple's iCloud and iTunes Match that are top dogs in the US at a combined 27 percent of usage -- a not entirely surprising lead when Apple has pushed hard on iCloud's media syncing since iOS 5, and has large swaths of market share in MP3 players and tablets, not just smartphones.

There's a considerably tougher fight involved for just about everyone else, however, including Google. Dropbox and Amazon Cloud Player are almost neck-and-neck at 17 and 15 percent respectively, while Google Drive holds just 10 percent. Music is clearly the driving force, Strategy Analytics says: when audio represents 45 percent of the content on a generic platform like Dropbox, companies ignore tunes at their own peril. Just don't confuse market share with absolute popularity. A full 55 percent of those asked hadn't used a cloud media service at all, which suggests that there's a long road to travel before we're all streaming and syncing our collections.

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Source: Strategy Analytics

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FvsLzsOg2t8/

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