Thursday, January 31, 2013

Arts and Entertainment: Claude Monet Paintings Rendered Then ...

The works of the French Impressionists are the most beloved works in all of art history. Claude Monet paintings are the favorite of museum goers and patrons. The water lily series, the haystacks and Rouen Cathedral are the beginning of non-representational art in that they moved away from exact realism toward abstraction.

A master of color and nuance, he believed the eye should look beyond the superficial to the mystery of nature and the universe. Composition should be less about objects and more about the light surrounding the object. In this way he could establish a motif that defied cold realism and went to the heart of existence.

The artist spent most of his working life in Giverney, France, building a garden that remains intact today. Approximately a hour from Paris, the house and garden stand as a testament to a refined sensibility and an unerring eye. Tourists visit by the bus load, all longing to absorb the beauty that was the everyday life of the artist. For both artists and gardeners, he is the sublime example.

Two Impressionists of the nineteenth century are today considered the masters of modernism; Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne. Both continue to be revered by contemporary artists, emulated and studied. Both lived a long life in the countryside, painting what was familiar to them, not with anything remotely mannered, but with a fresh idea that held the future in its sight.

Monet was a solitary man and indeed, said nothing mattered to him but his paintings and perhaps a few flowers in his garden. He did not frequent cafes or hang and discuss artistic theory among his peers. He had little use for Paris. His life is what he painted and he painted what was his life. He wanted only to immerse himself in color. He said color pursued him relentlessly, even in his sleep.

His series of twenty paintings of Rouen Cathedral sum up his vast knowledge of color and form. Rendered at all times of day and night, each acquires a transcendent motif that belies objective viewing. In this he created a realm of diverse perception. While the building remains solid, the air around it shimmers with changing hues that defy the eye to perceive complacently. Perception is transformed.

The Impressionists were able to grasp the fleeting nature of weather. They painted a spectacle derived from a heightened awareness. Though his subject may have been nothing more defined than the sun, it was the effect of sunlight on an object as simple as a haystack that was the real subject. The earth was rendered in its ever-changing great mystery.

While others rendered trees, fields, buildings and paths, Monet painted the air surrounding the scene. It frustrated him at times; this subject could never be completely captured. In this way he moved toward abstraction and away from exact realism. What he was attempting could probably not be mastered with paint on canvas. He did not care; it was the process that enthralled him.

Monet lived to 86, and never stopped working even with fading eyesight. Despite painting certain subjects repeatedly, he never grew bored or formulaic with his interpretations. His paintings were startling in their size, ambition and scope. The genius of Claude Monet paintings is not in their tricks of realism, but it the ephemeral vision that remains today, fascinating, miraculous.

Source: http://aae4u.blogspot.com/2013/01/claude-monet-paintings-rendered-then.html

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Egypt: Thousands Protest, Vandalize Church

At least five hurt as rioters stone, burn structure after inauguration of extension.

ISTANBUL, November 26 (Compass Direct News) -- Thousands of Muslim protesters on Sunday (Nov. 23) attacked a Coptic church in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, burning part of it, a nearby shop and two cars and leaving five people injured.

Objecting to a newly constructed extension to the Coptic church of St. Mary and Anba Abraam in Ain Shams, the huge crowd of angry protestors gathered outside the church at around 5 p.m. following a consecration service for the addition earlier that day.

Chanting, We will demolish the church, Islam is the solution and No God but Allah, according to Helmy Guirguis, president of the U.K. Coptic Association, rioters pelted the church with stones and burned part of the structure; priests and worshipers were trapped inside, and five people were injured.

It was a terrifying moment, said lawyer Nabil Gobrayel, who was inside the church at the time. They were shouting holy slogans like, We will bring the church down,, The priest is dead and The army of Muhammad is coming.

Police slow to arrive were not prepared for the scale of the protest. Angry Muslims swarmed to the area from a two-kilometer radius, and although estimates varied, some suggested as many as 8,000 people gathered.

Rioters stones broke the structures windows, and a nearby shop and two cars belonging to Christians were set on fire.

Reinforcements for the overwhelmed security forces did not arrive until two hours later and were then engaged in clashes with the mob until the early hours of Monday (Nov. 24) morning.

Armored vehicles brought in riot police, who used tear gas to disperse the crowd while fire services aided their efforts with water cannons.

A United Copts of Great Britain statement suggested that police were slow to arrest perpetrators in the early stages of the demonstration but did eventually detain 41 people around midnight.

Of the 38 Muslims arrested, 30 were quickly released under the pretext of being minors, according to the United Copts statement. Three arrested Christians, however, remained in prison without charges.

United Copts also reported that Wael Tahoon, a police officer, was said to be involved in instigating the attacks.

A source told Compass that Pope Shenouda, head of The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, ordered that prayers at the church site be stopped.

According to Gobrayel, the church will be closed for two months while officials consider its future.

Opposition from Outset

The newly constructed extension stands on the site of an old factory that was demolished 18 months ago, when the land was purchased using funds raised by donations from the congregation.

When building began, church members were surprised to find that construction of a mosque also started just across the street.

During construction of the church addition, Muslim radicals insulted and harassed workers, issuing death threats and urinating on the structures walls.

At 10 a.m. on Sunday (Nov. 23), the morning of the consecration service, the adjacent mosque began broadcasting verses from the Quran at high volume.

According to witnesses, the imam of the mosque justified the unusual broadcasts by saying that they were in celebration of the Muslim festival of Eid. Christians said this would be highly irregular, however, with area parishioners maintaining it was done to provoke them.

Government Role

Church leaders had obtained the necessary permits for building the extension, Coptic leaders said, but protestors said the addition was not licensed for prayer and worship.

Christians have found obtaining church building permits from Egyptian authorities rife with obstacles, with many applications never granted.

The National Assembly cannot make a decision for 15 years about building projects for churches, said lawyer Naguib Gobrail. Every time they say, This session we can discuss this project, but the session ends and we see nothing. Everything is only a promise.

In a recent editorial, Youssef Sidhom, editor-in-chief of Egyptian weekly Watani, addressed the inequality of regulations that govern the building of places of worship.

It now appears obvious that the government has no intention whatsoever of placing the long-awaited bill for a unified law for building places of worship on its agenda, he wrote. For four consecutive rounds [of Parliament], the bill has remained shelved despite the need for it to ward off so called sectarian problems that erupt every so often.

Wedding Violence

Advocacy group Voice of the Copts issued a report on Monday (Nov. 24) that, a day before the attack on St. Mary and Anba Abraam, Muslim radicals ambushed a wedding party at a church just 10 minutes away.

A man and woman interrupted the ceremony shouting obscene remarks, according to Voice of the Copts, and when angered wedding guests ushered them outside, the Copts were set upon by a gang of people waiting in a shop across the road. Two were severely injured.

While Christians account for varying estimates of 10 to 15 percent of Egypts population and date back to the first century of the faith, churches are still seen as foreign bodies and, in the words of the Ain Shams rioters, an infidels worship house in an Islamic Land.

Copyright 2008 Compass Direct News

Source: http://www.christianpersecution.info/news/egypt-thousands-protest-vandalize-church-17223/

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

GM to invest $200M, move 400 jobs to Pontiac, Mich., engine and transmission headquarters

PONTIAC, Mich. - General Motors will add a wing to its engine and transmission development headquarters in Pontiac, Mich., with hopes of getting new technology into cars and trucks much faster.

The Detroit automaker on Wednesday announced that it would spend $200 million to add 138,000 square feet of new labs in Pontiac, allowing it to consolidate work from four other facilities.

The move won't create any new jobs, but it will bring 400 more positions to the Pontiac headquarters, raising its total employment to 3,900 from 3,500. The positions will be moved from GM facilities in Castleton, Ind., Wixom, Mich., Torrance, Calif., and Warren, Mich. The 400 jobs also include the previously announced move of GM's fuel cell development centre from Honeoye Falls, N.Y., to Pontiac.

Work on the new wing is expected to start in the spring and be finished during the second half of 2014. It's part of GM's plan to invest $1.5 billion in its North American facilities this year.

The company said in a statement Wednesday that the new wing will help speed development of new engines and transmissions. CEO Dan Akerson has said the company is behind competitors on powertrain technology. The company has six-speed automatic transmissions while competitors have up to 10 speeds. More speeds generally make cars and trucks more efficient and perform better.

Sam Winegarden, GM's vice-president of global engine engineering, said the move isn't about creating new jobs, it's about speeding new products to market. "This helps with the ability to do things both faster and more efficiently," he said.

For example, engineers working on a transmission or engine can simply walk down a hallway to get a question answered as opposed to calling someone in a different location and time zone, Winegarden said.

Speedier development is important because most of GM's engines and transmissions will have to be new within the next few years due to stricter government carbon dioxide pollution and fuel economy regulations, Winegarden said.

Shares of General Motors Co. slipped 46 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $27.99 in afternoon trading. They have traded in a 52-week range of $18.72 to $30.68.

Source: http://www.capebretonpost.com/Canada---World/Business/2013-01-30/article-3167285/GM-to-invest-$200M,-move-400-jobs-to-Pontiac,-Mich.,-engine-and-transmission-headquarters/1

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Astrobites: Students Making Astrophysics Accessible

Logo of AstrobitesUnderstanding science is hard. ?This is true even for well educated and highly motivated readers, like college students earning science degrees. ?These students may have all the technical knowledge they need to absorb and even reproduce cutting-edge research in their field, but I can tell you from experience that when an undergraduate picks up a peer-reviewed journal paper for the first time, they might as well be reading in another language.

For scientists, graduate school is like the immersion method for teaching the foreign language of science. ?At the end, students come our fully versed in the historical context, methodology, and jargon needed to parse journal articles. ?Until then, as I described in my previous post on this blog, we can ?translate? scientific writing for young scientists to help them reach their full capability as researchers sooner.

Two years ago, in my first year as a graduate student in astronomy at Harvard and having made it much of the way across this language barrier, several of my classmates and I banded together to help others cross with us. ?We founded a website called Astrobites, where each day we take one new research paper in astrophysics and translate it in the way I?ve described.

Our translations are short and sweet?they provide visitors the context for the work, the methods the authors used, and the key results in about five minutes of reading. ?And they?re no longer written by just a few of us at Harvard, but by a collaboration of more than three dozen graduate students around the world.

At Astrobites, we don?t write in exactly the same way as most science writers do. We cheat a little?and we do it to make things easier on our target audience. ?We assume a readership with about a first-year undergraduate level of scientific knowledge. ?We take for granted that our readers are familiar with technical concepts like blackbody radiation and Kepler?s laws, which may take hundreds of words to elucidate in publications for mainstream audiences. ?Our readers benefit from seeing terminology like these in use, by saving a few minutes of unnecessary reading and by immersion in the concepts.

But while Astrobites articles are aimed at undergraduate students, we?ve been delighted to find that readers with vastly different levels of training visit our site as well. ?Our readership has as many professors, graduate students, and non-scientists as it does undergraduates.

?

Astrobites' homepage

Homepage of Astrobites

We want to see this model of translation spread to other fields, and we?re happy to help other graduate students found ?-bites? sites in their fields of research. ?Chemistry graduate students at MIT have already founded Chembites. ?If you would like to apply this model to your own field, we would love to help?please contact us!

We?re all volunteering our time as Astrobites authors, but we get important pedagogical, writing, and editing experience in return. ?I think that practice interpreting research and explaining it clearly to others is invaluable for scientists in training. ?It?s also what science writers do professionally, and I?m eager to see the bonds between these two communities strengthened. ?If you?re of the same mind, I invite you to read more about the Communicating Science workshop we?re organizing, to be held in June.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=48f927d2aea0ee569a77ee29cf50eade

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Bolshoi Ballet acid victim: I forgive my attacker

By Steve Gutterman, Reuters

Yuri Kadobnov / AFP - Getty Images, file

An April 2011 photo shows Sergei Filin, artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, as he looked before an attacker threw acid in his face in Moscow on Friday.

MOSCOW -- The artistic director of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet says he has forgiven the attacker who splashed acid in his face and has pledged to return to the stage.

His head shaven and a bandage around his neck, Sergei Filin told a Russian television station from his hospital room that he was determined to return to work despite his injuries.

Filin, 42, suffered severe burns during the attack on his way home from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow late on Jan. 18. Doctors have performed two operations on each eye and hope to save his sight.

"I am not going to lie. Of course it is very hard for me and very difficult," Filin said in grainy footage in a video-link with NTV television late on Sunday.

"I tell myself every morning when I wake up: 'Sergei, you are healthy, everything is in its place -- your arms, your legs.' ... And I will do everything to go back to being the same Sergei I was before."

Filin did not wear the thick bandages that had swathed his head and face in mobile phone footage taken the day after the attack, but his eyes were half-closed and it was unclear whether he could see.

Filin's job gave him the power to make or break careers at the ballet, which is an enduring symbol of Russian culture. He said after the attack that he had been receiving threats.

"A priest came to me, and I told him: 'You know, I forgive everyone, and God will be their judge. Because people are weak,'" he said. "I forgive all the people who are involved in this."

He said he did not know who was behind the attack but made clear he believed that it was related to his work.

"Before somehow satisfying their ambitions or quenching the pain of resentment ... it would be truly good if they would just think about the fact that I have three remarkable sons," Filin said.

"Even if the worst happens, I will continue to look upon this world, and I will continue to do what I do -- but it will be through the eyes of my three sons."

Russia's top eye doctor told Reuters last week that Filin would retain at least some vision in each eye.

"I promise, you will see me on stage," Filin said.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16738238-russia-bolshoi-ballet-acid-victim-i-forgive-my-attacker?lite

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Rowan Blanchard to Star on Girl Meets World: Meet Cory & Topanga's Daughter!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/rowan-blanchard-to-star-on-girl-meets-world-meet-cory-and-topang/

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PFT: Eagles' unlikely to decide on Vick soon

Dustin ColquittAP

Bills offensive line coach Pat Morris is looking forward to working with new coach Doug Marrone.

DT Tony McDaniel was the Dolphins recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.

Breaking down the work done by the Patriots defensive ends this year.

Jets coach Rex Ryan got some love from members of the Ravens defense on Monday.

Louisiana native Ed Reed will be playing host to his Ravens teammates this week.

Bengals DE Michael Johnson said he didn?t put any extra pressure on himself because it was a contract year.

Fred Nance will now serve as a senior advisor and special counsel for the Browns.

Steelers DE Brett Keisel and his beard paid a visit to a children?s hospital.

Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle thinks its been a rough winter for Texans QB Matt Schaub.

A Florida man pleaded guilty to defrauding Colts linebacker Dwight Freeney.

A call for the Jaguars to look to the Super Bowl teams as they get to work building for next season.

The Titans can?t rely on help from outside to solve all their problems.

There?s no sign that the Broncos will be looking for more from their fullback next season.

Said Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub of P Dustin Colquitt, ?I like the punter. I like him a lot. I never really had a punter than bombed the ball like this. He?s going to bomb the ball and give you good hang time and distance.?

A fascinating profile of former Raiders DE Anthony Smith as he awaits trial for murder.

Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt breaks down the Super Bowl matchup.

Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News wants to see Cowboys owner Jerry Jones come down harder on players.

The Giants will promote Lunda Wells to their vacant assistant offensive line coach spot.

Eagles coach Chip Kelly owes 49ers QB Alex Smith some thanks for the rapid career rise he?s experienced in the last few years.

What?s the Redskins? biggest need this offseason?

The Bears signed S Cyhl Quarles to a future contract.

A vote for the Lions playing it safe in the upcoming draft.

The Packers expect S Sean Richardson back from neck surgery.

Mark Craig of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune sees similarities between the Vikings and the 49ers.

Did the Falcons get it right by choosing QB Matt Ryan over Joe Flacco?

Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula can appreciate the position the Harbaugh brothers find themselves in this week.

Super Bowl week brings back good memories for former Saints S Chris Reis.

Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano got a vote of approval from Ravens RB Ray Rice, who played for Schiano at Rutgers.

The Cardinals earned some thanks from LB Terrell Suggs for trading out of the draft spot where the Ravens wound up taking him.

Rams CB Cortland Finnegan breaks down his style of play.

Rookie RB LaMichael James has transitioned well to an offensive role with the 49ers.

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson wants to keep the Pro Bowl going so that he can win MVP.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/29/decision-on-michael-vick-likely-not-coming-soon/related/

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Samsung Ativ Odyssey


Windows Phone 8 hasn't exactly transformed the smartphone space, and the Samsung Ativ Odyssey for Verizon Wireless probably won't change that. The $49.99 Ativ Odyssey is Samsung's first U.S. smartphone to run Windows 8, so it's surprising that it's a generic, middle-of-the-road handset. It's small and comfy, and Windows Phone 8 is as slick and speedy as ever, but the Ativ Odyssey doesn't bring anything new to the table. It's a decent phone, it just isn't exciting.

Design and Call Quality
One of my favorite traits about the current crop of Windows Phones is their fun, playful design. The Nokia Lumia 920, for instance, comes clad in a number of different gorgeous polycarbonate colors. Ditto the HTC Windows Phone 8X, which also stands out thanks to its "pyramid" design. Even the inexpensive Nokia Lumia 822?creates some visual interest with its white, rounded form. The Samsung Ativ Odyssey, on the other hand, can pass for any number of faceless, nameless smartphones out there.

The phone is made from the same shiny, cheap-feeling plastic you'll find on most Samsung smartphones, with the same faux-textured back panel as the Samsung Galaxy S III. On the bright side, the phone is relatively small and comfortable to hold, especially when compared with monsters like the 6.53-ounce Lumia 920. By comparison, the Odyssey weighs just 4.38 ounces and measures 4.82 by 2.52 by 0.44 inches (HWD). There's a Camera and Power button on the right side of the phone, a 3.5mm headphone jack on top, and a volume rocker and microSD card slot on the left.

The Ativ Odyssey has a 4-inch Super AMOLED display with 800-by-480-pixel resolution. That makes it look a little tighter than the Lumia 822, which has the same resolution spread out over 4.3 inches, but it still fails to impress. While Super AMOLED makes for very rich, vibrant colors, the PenTile pixel arrangement lends a fuzzy, pixelated look to everything, especially brighter colors. There are three backlit touch buttons below the display, and typing onscreen feels fine, despite the relatively small screen size.

The Odyssey is a world phone that supports dual-band EV-DO Rev. A (850/1900 MHz), quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz), and quad-band UMTS (850/900/1900/2100MHz), as well as 4G LTE and 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi on the 2.4 and faster 5GHz bands. 4G LTE data speeds were fine in Manhattan, though unimpressive. The Phone averaged 3.1Mbps down and 2.5Mbps up, which have become pretty typical results for the network in this part of the city.

Reception is merely average, but voice quality is quite strong, especially through the phone's earpiece. Volume gets extremely loud, and can sound harsh at top volume, but if you keep it set to a more listenable level voices sounds excellent?crisp, clear, and natural. Calls made with the phone sound rather rich and bass-y, though background noise cancellation isn't great. The speakerphone is loud enough to use outside, and calls sounded fine over a Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset; I had no trouble using the headset to control voice dialing.

You get a big 2100mAh battery, which was good for a solid 13 hours and 39 minutes of talk time in my tests. It's also removable, so you can always bring a spare.

WP8 and Apps
There are still relatively few phones running Windows Phone 8 out on the market?this is only Verizon's third. Windows Phone 8 is a spare, fast OS, built around a series of live tiles on your home screen. These tiles continuously pull information from social networks, the Internet, messages, and local content stored on your phone, which is both useful and fun. In WP8, live tiles come in different sizes, which lends even more configurability.

Unlike Google's Android, Microsoft keeps pretty close tabs on the OS, so you're guaranteed a similar experience no matter which phone you use. For a closer look at WP8, you can read our full review.

Windows Phone is very fast in general, but the Samsung Ativ Odyssey is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor, which is no slouch. It's the same processor you'll find in the higher-end Lumia 920 and HTC 8X, and the lower screen resolution here actually makes the Odyssey feel faster. Benchmarks scores are similar across the board, but you're definitely getting a lot of power for your money.

(Next page: Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/fCOXeT_BIN8/0,2817,2414668,00.asp

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How to make your iPhone password stronger

2 hrs.

We've?talked before?about using a longer passcode on your iPhone instead of a 4-digit pin, but as the tech blog Digital Inspiration points out, adding in accented characters adds yet another level of security.

The idea is that most people aren't going to bother dealing with accented characters (if you hold down on a letter, the available accented characters show up) when they're trying to guess your password. To use these, you first have to turn on the alphanumeric passcode. Just head into Settings > General > Passcode Lock, and turn off Simple Passcode. You'll be asked to enter in a new password, so throw in a few accented characters. It might make it a bit of a pain to enter in your passcode, but at least it's more secure.

[via Digital Inspiration]

More from Lifehacker:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/use-accented-characters-make-your-ios-password-even-stronger-1C8120707

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Monday, January 28, 2013

3 Design Ideas For Direct Marketing | Micro Business Perspectives

About

Micro Business Perspectives was launched with the goal of giving micro businesses information and tools to more effectively market and manage their business. We?ll be posting answers to questions, tips and tricks we hope you will find useful in marketing and promoting your business, and suggestions about ways to explore new and innovative mediums. We?re also encouraging you to send us your own successful marketing stories. We?ll publish some of them on this blog so other micro businesses might learn from your example.

Read more

Source: http://microbusiness.vistaprint.com/2013/01/26/3-design-ideas-for-direct-marketing/

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Source: http://www.classifiedads.com/construction_remodeling-ad25515991.htm

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Austria's Hirscher win slalom before home fans

KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) ? Marcel Hirscher won a World Cup slalom for the 10th time in his career Sunday, drawing roars from a home crowd that included Austria-born Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Hirscher became the first Austrian since Klaus Kroell in 2009 to win a race at the Hahnenkamm event, one of the classic stops on the men's World Cup calendar.

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia won the combined, which adds the slalom results to those from Saturday's downhill. He became the first skier to win that competition four straight years.

Hirscher was third in the opening leg but was fastest in the second run to finish in a combined time of 1 minute, 44.34 seconds for his 17th career title. It was Hirscher's first victory in Kitzbuehel.

"If you want to be among the greatest skiers, you have to win in Kitzbuehel at least once," Hirscher said. The defending overall champion extended his lead in both the overall and slalom World Cup standings.

In the overall title race, Hirscher has 1,035 points to lead Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal by 114.

Felix Neureuther of Germany was 0.77 back in second, and Kostelic finished third, 0.91 behind Hirscher. Ted Ligety of the United States was among those who failed to finish.

Ligety skied out after five gates, failing to score points for a second straight day after missing a gate in the downhill. He finished sixth in Friday's super-G and remained in third place in the overall standings with 736 points.

"Kitz weekend started well but went sideways fast. Literally and figuratively," Ligety wrote on Twitter.

In the combined, Frenchmen Alexis Pinturault and Thomas Mermillod Blondin were second and third. Kostelic matched Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt's record of six straight podium finishes in this event.

Hirscher, who was beaten by Neureuther in a slalom in Wengen, Switzerland, last week, has won five races and finished on the podium 13 times this season.

With each victory worth 100 points, the Austrian has now gained a stunning 700 points in eight slaloms this season. Neureuther trails him by 134 points in second.

"It's not getting easier, the pressure is immense," Hirscher said. "If you get so many podiums in one season, you expect yourself to finish top five in each race."

Hirscher used an attacking yet error-free second run to win the race after trailing Stefano Gross and Giuliano Razzoli in the opening run. Both Italians, however, had costly mistakes in their final runs and finished 11th and fourth, respectively.

"It was a very, very tough race," Neureuther said. "In the second run, I raced tactically smart. Marcel showed the aggression you need to win here. He was always going to be the man to beat."

Kostelic called himself fortunate after finishing on the podium despite being more than 0.4 seconds off the top three in his opening run.

"I was lucky today and I wasn't expecting a top-three finish anymore," said Kostelic, adding that he admired the run of Austrian veteran Benjamin Raich. "I was inspired by the way Benni was skiing today."

Raich posted the second-fastest time in the final leg, just 0.10 slower than Hirscher, to climb from 25th to fifth place.

In a difficult first run, 28 racers failed to finish. The slalom gates were placed by Italian technical coach Jacques Theolier after an initial course set by Croatia's Ante Kostelic, father of Ivica and former women's overall champion Janica, was rejected as being too difficult by the international ski federation.

According to men's race director Guenter Hujara, the course was "unskiable" and Kostelic refused to change it, prompting the jury to ask the Italian team to replace the gates.

The new course still proved challenging, with Ligety, Mario Matt of Austria, Manfred Moelgg of Italy, last year's winner Cristian Deville of Italy and slalom world champion Jean-Baptiste Grange of France unable to finish.

This is the last season Kitzbuehel will run the classic combined event of downhill and two slalom runs on consecutive days. The competition is likely to be replaced next year by a super-combined event with a speed race and one slalom run on the same day.

A limited group of slalom skiers will take part in a city event in Moscow on Tuesday, the last World Cup race before the Feb. 5-17 world championships in Schladming, Austria.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/austrias-hirscher-win-slalom-home-fans-155655280--spt.html

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Antarctic rescue mission for 3 Canadians continues as weather improves

Rescue officials say efforts to locate three Canadians missing in Antarctica will continue today as weather conditions improve.

The Canadians were on a plane that went missing Wednesday during a flight from the South Pole to Terra Nova Bay.

New Zealand's Rescue Co-ordination Centre says a plane is scheduled to fly to the area today to set up a base camp about 50 kilometres from where the missing plane's emergency beacon was transmitting.

As soon as the weather clears, two helicopters will then start an aerial search.

Aircraft tried twice to spot the missing plane in the mountainous area, but couldn't see it because of poor visibility and snow.

The rescue co-ordination centre says the crew of the missing aircraft have survival equipment and are well trained for the harsh environment.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/antarctic-rescue-mission-3-canadians-continues-weather-improves-201446543.html

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N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg giving another $350 million to Johns Hopkins

(Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is giving $350 million of his multibillion-dollar fortune to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, in a gift that will bring his total lifetime donations to the institution to over $1 billion, the school said on Saturday.

Bloomberg's giving to the university over the years makes him its largest-ever philanthropic benefactor, the school said in a statement.

Of the new gift, $250 million will go toward the university's work to tackle global challenges such as the preservation of water resources, while the other $100 million will provide financial aid to undergraduate students, according to the school.

When he was an undergraduate at the Baltimore university, Bloomberg paid for his tuition by taking loans and working as a parking lot attendant. His first Johns Hopkins gift was $5 in 1965, a year after he received his bachelor's degree in engineering.

"Johns Hopkins University has been an important part of my life since I first set foot on campus more than five decades ago," Bloomberg said in a statement. "Each dollar I have given has been well-spent improving the institution and, just as importantly, making its education available to students who might otherwise not be able to afford it."

Bloomberg, now 70, went on to found financial news and information company Bloomberg LP and amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $25 billion.

Bloomberg, who was elected mayor of New York in 2001, has said he will give away his fortune before he dies and has set up Bloomberg Philanthropies to distribute gifts. Besides education, his donations have targeted public health initiatives, the environment and the arts.

Bloomberg, chairman of the university's board of trustees from 1996 to 2002, has given the school a total of $1.118 billion, it said.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/n-y-mayor-bloomberg-giving-another-350-million-030356925--finance.html

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

John Kerry: Global climate change is a 'life-threatening issue'

John Kerry said the US must play a key role in slowing the effects of climate change in his confirmation hearing Thursday. Climate change has been a central focus of Sen. John Kerry's political career.

By Matthew Daly,?Associated Press / January 24, 2013

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. listens as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday. John Kerry told fellow senators he would be a "passionate advocate" on slowing climate change if confirmed as secretary of state.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

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Calling global climate change a "life-threatening issue," Secretary of State nomineeJohn?Kerry?said Thursday that the United States must play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

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Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said at his confirmation hearing that the U.S. should pursue policies to boost clean energy and energy efficiency. In his state and others, such as California, "the fastest growing sector of our economy is clean energy,"?Kerry?said. "It's a job creator."

Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has made climate change a central focus of his Senate career and led a failed effort in the Senate for a climate change bill in 2010.

Kerry?told fellow senators he would be a "passionate advocate" on the issue if confirmed as secretary of state, "not based on ideology but based on facts, based on science. And I hope to sit with all of you and convince you that this $6 trillion (energy) market is worth millions of American jobs and leadership, and we better go after it."

Failing to deal with climate change was more of a risk than addressing it head-on,?Kerry?said, citing damage caused by Superstorm Sandy, drought and wildfires. Congress is expected to approve more $50 billion in disaster relief for Sandy victims alone. The storm pounded Northeastern states in late October and has been blamed for 140 deaths.

"If we can't see the downside of spending that money" as a short-term fix after a disaster "and risking lives for all the changes that are taking place ? to agriculture, to our communities, the ocean and so forth, we're ignoring what science is telling us,"?Kerry?said.

On a related issue,?Kerry?said he has made no decision about the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Environmental groups have been pressuring the Obama administration to reject the pipeline, saying it would carry "dirty oil" that contributes to global warming.

Kerry?said a review process is well underway at the State Department. The department has jurisdiction over the pipeline because it crosses an international border.

"It will not be long before that comes across my desk,"?Kerry?said. "And at that time, I'll make the appropriate judgments about it."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/cwOl-ahKG7E/John-Kerry-Global-climate-change-is-a-life-threatening-issue

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Video: Beyonce?s live voice audible on anthem recording



>>> latest on the dust-up or as savannah calls it the kerfucle, whether beyonce was singing at the national anthem .

>> it is a category one kerfucle. and some of her friends have spoke up. good morning to you.

>> was it a spectacular performance from beyonce knowles or a little bit of both? it was something even the white house press core couldn't resist asking.

>> was she lip-syncing or does the president say?

>> in the midst of a white house briefing, jay can nip found himself facing questions about beyonce .

>> did you think she was really going to sing?

>> i'm glad you guys are facing important questions of the day here.

>> reporter: stars have come to her defense and jennifer lopez on "the daily show " said some situations require prerecorded vocals.

>> in some situations they do prerecord things because you will have that terrible slap back.

>> reporter: the national anthem is notorious for difficulty prompting some to lip sync . one forgettable example is whitney houston at the 1991 super bowl and jennifer hudson got the same helping hand and queen of soul aretha franklin hit some rough spots as she sang the national anthem in freezie ing temperatures. franklin told nbc news if beyonce decided to take no chances in the cold weather she wouldn't blame her for it.

>> if it was, i could certainly understand her prerecord iing to assure and guarantee her performance.

>> reporter: but to some ears, beyonce 's live singing could clearly be heard above the recorded musical tracks at least on this posted by the " wall street journal ."

>> the bombs bursting in air.

>> reporter: a british audio engineer writes on his blog even beyonce 's near perfect performance has some variation in sound and volume and wouldn't be the case if she were lip syncing . the home of the brave the brave

>> sounds good to me. this whole controversy started when the director of the marine band reported the singer and the band had used prerecorded tracks, a comment the band spokesperson then backed away from. so far only beyonce and a hand full of other people probably know for sure how much was live and mem or x. the fact she's scheduled to sing at the super bowl in 10 days means millions of americans will be hanging on to every note trying to tell for sure.

>> if i were her at the super bowl , i'd stop intentionally in the middle of the song and cough and prove it.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50573028/

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

What's YOUR Big Idea? - Simple Marriage


Photo courtesy Krikit ???

Late last week I was going through my Google reader and came across a post from Hayden of Through The Illusion. In this post Hayden was reacting to a post she read from Steve Pavlina and his wife?s decision to explore the realm of polyamory in their marriage. For those who not familiar with this term, polyamory is the practice or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the full knowledge and consent of all involved.

Since I had not read Steve?s writing, I headed over to the source to get everything first hand.

It turns out that in his initial post he discloses his intention of focusing on his intimate relationships in 2009 ? namely his desire to no longer limit himself to one person in his intimate relationships. To that end, he introduced the idea of polyamory.

My first thought as I read was that he is tired of his current marriage and he wants to open it up in order to avoid divorce ? a fact he confirms in his next post.

After listening to the latest post, which is a lengthy podcast with both him and his wife, I get the sense that they view the role of their partner as someone to meet each of their personal needs ? and needs that cannot be met by one?s partner become an avenue to expand into other relationships.

On Hayden?s most recent post (very good by the way), Steve commented? ?The truth is that monogamy and polyamory aren?t choices. They?re perspectives. Really, all of us are polyamorous because we all meet certain needs outside of our primary relationship. So strict monogamy is something of a delusion.?

My reactions to Steve?s perspectives prompted me to ask (and answer) the question, ?What?s my big idea about relationships??

Let me explain where I?m coming from. I believe that marriage is designed to grow us up ? to help us become better humans. We are created by God in relationship with Him for relationship with Him and for relationship with others. Our relationship with God matures through our relationships with our spouse and our children, and in turn these relationships mature because of our relationship with God.

Marriage is an excellent example of a relationship with God. We can share everything with God, and to a lesser extent, a spouse. The sacredness of marriage ? emotional, sexual, and spiritual ? is rooted in two people using their connection with one another to push, pull, and prod each into a deeper relationship with God. That?s what makes the marriage relationship so sacred.

The best way to experience God on this earth is in the quality of our human relationships.
~Martin Buber

Marriage is continuously getting dumped on in our society.

In their podcast, they boast about how in their view, being open to the idea of each person getting their intimate needs met outside of the relationship will actually make their marriage stronger. The flaw with this lies in the definition of needs. How do you differentiate between needs, urges, and wants?

In my mind, we have a natural state of being ? that is, the way we exist in nature apart from God. And that natural state of being is unable to be satisfied apart from the Creator?s intention ? which is for us to come into relationship with Him.

Taken straight from Hayden?

So, yes, marriage is inherently imperfect because people are imperfect. But flawed?

Marriage is personal development boot camp. You will demand much from your partner, as they will from you. You will be challenged to open your being in love, even as you are angry. You will be challenged to fully forgive transgressions both major and minor. Your marriage, in short, is the daily practical exercise of the opportunity to be your best self. And what you master at home, you take into the world.

We are all flawed and often seek for others to cover this flaw. In my book, this flaw is called sin. And the only covering for this is Christ alone.

If everyone is special, then no one is.

If I share everything with everyone, then nothing is sacred.

That?s my Big Idea ? What?s yours?

Source: http://simplemarriage.net/whats-your-big-idea/

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Domains And Web Hosting Reseller Hot Deals | PRLog

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Source: http://www.prlog.org/12064388-domains-and-web-hosting-reseller-hot-deals.html

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Deal of the Day: Qmadix Snap-On Cover w/ Holster for HTC EVO 4G LTE

Deal of the Day The Jan. 22 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Qmadix Snap-On Cover w/ Holster for HTC EVO 4G LTE. This impact resistant hard shell case snaps around the back of your device protecting the vulnerable areas against drops. The exterior features a textured rubberized feel that ensures a safe grip on your EVO 4G LTE. A retractable kickstand folds out for convenient viewing while the ratcheting swivel holster holds your device at your side for easy access.

The Qmadix Snap-On Cover w/ Holster is available for just $18.00, 49% off today only. Backed by our 60-day return policy and fast shipping.

Never miss a deal. Sign up for Daily Deal alerts!



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/lNa1PMiPcpo/story01.htm

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Monday, January 21, 2013

Insight for Girls ? 2012 in Review

Posted on January 20th, 2013

On New Year?s Day, while Olivia napped and I recovered from the stomach flu, I took a bath and reflected on all that had transpired in 2012. As I sat there thinking and praying, I was overcome with gratitude for how far God had brought Jared and me. As 2011 closed, we felt a bit discouraged. Jared had experienced a few closed doors professionally and was trying to trust God to bring him the right job that meshed more of his gifts and his priorities. I was growing weary of the wait for a baby and wondering if we would ever move beyond our ?watching and waiting? season of life.

Oh, what a difference a year makes!

When I found another pocket of time to journal, I decided to catalog the year of 2012 so that I could see exactly where God worked and moved in our lives. It was so rewarding that I hope to do this every year?even the years that finding God?s fingerprints may seem a bit more difficult. Not only was it encouraging for me to look back and see God?s hand in our lives, but I also enjoyed documenting our year to look back on someday.

January~

  • I started 2012 by celebrating my mom?s birthday in Orlando. While there,?Jared received a call from his headhunter telling him of a job that looked like a perfect fit in of all places: Cincinnati (where I grew up and where my parents currently live).
  • We took a vacation in the Bahamas where Jared spent much of the time preparing for his upcoming interviews and I spent my time praying for our future, including my deep desire for a baby.

  • We spent the rest of the month praying, hoping, and waiting on what God may have for our future.

February~

  • We traveled back to Cincinnati for more interviews for Jared. We waited, talked, prayed and continued our lives in Chicago until we heard more definitive answers. We?d been down this road before.
  • My heart still longed for a baby and Jared and I talked frequently about how, if things worked out for his job, maybe it wasn?t the right time to be pregnant with all of the packing, moving and transitioning.
  • On February 27th, while we worked out at the gym down the street, Jared received the call offering him the job. That night we began the preparations to move quickly as Jared was asked to start in his new position three weeks later.

March~

  • I began the month by touring over twenty homes in Cincinnati with my mom looking for the right neighborhood and house for us to live. I returned to Chicago with more information but without finding the house for us.
  • I came home to attend a baby shower for one of my best friends and asked God to tenderly care for my vulnerable heart as I was so wanting a baby of my own.
  • The next morning, March 11th, I got up the nerve to take a pregnancy test, hoping beyond hope that my late period was not just due to the stress of moving. To my surprise and delight, I saw a ?+? and woke Jared up with the news. While we were thrilled, we also tried to cautiously guard our expectations. We didn?t want to get too ahead of ourselves.
  • I called a friend of mine, a fertility doctor, to ask for a recommendation for an OB office in Cincinnati and he encouraged me to get an ultrasound right away in case of a tubal pregnancy due to my abdominal surgeries.
  • A day later, I layed on the table at Northwestern Hospital, in a similar room to where I received one of my first ultrasounds confirming my cancer diagnosis, and prayed with great hope that this tiny baby inside of me was healthy. The technician told me that it was too early to see much but she confirmed it did look like I was pregnant and all appeared okay.
  • We drove to Cincinnati the next day with a packed car and moved into my old bedroom at my parents? home. Jared started his first day of work just a few days later.
  • The next week, Jared and I sat in our friend?s office gazing at the tiny embryo with a strong heartbeat on the screen. I have hardly ever been so relieved. Hope began to take root in my heart.
  • With such confirmation, we shared the exciting news of our baby with both sets of parents. Each of their reactions was priceless to us and evenings we?ll never forget.
  • We ended the month by placing an offer on a house that we loved and after a little negotiating, it was accepted. However, due to the seller?s wishes, we found out we weren?t able to move in for two more months!

April~

  • At the beginning of the month, we shared our news with the rest of our immediate family. They had each been praying for us for quite some time and it was so fun to celebrate all God had done.

  • I began to feel officially pregnant with pounding headaches and nausea, but I was just happy to be seeing signs of what I?d longed for.
  • My mom and I packed the last of Jared?s and my belongings from our Chicago house, locked up our town home, and handed the keys over to our tenants to begin our new adventure.

  • At the end of the month, I flew to Orlando to speak at a women?s conference with one of my dearest friends. Being a part of the conference was such a confirmation to me of my passions and I enjoyed every minute, especially appreciating that I didn?t feel any nausea for the few days I was there.

May~

  • I joyfully cried at the thought of experiencing my first Mother?s Day with a baby growing inside of me. I?d waited for this day for a long time.

My niece, Annie, pointing at the baby inside my belly.

  • I spent much of the month lying on the couch eating goldfish crackers and ginger ale (totally not a part of my normal healthy diet!) to curb the nausea.
  • The last day of the month we closed on our house and the workers began tearing out tile and installing hardwood floors in the first floor of our new home.

June~

  • A couple of weeks later, the project was finished and we finally moved into our new house! Jared and I enjoyed settling into our house and finding our new groove after living out of suitcases for over two months.
  • We visited a church we liked and decided to begin attending there regularly. It felt really good to settle in our new stomping grounds.

July~

  • On July 2nd, I had my 20-week ultrasound and we were so thrilled to discover our baby was healthy and a GIRL! I experienced God?s kindness to me on a whole new level as I reveled in my excitement of a dream come true.

Wearing pink!

  • A week and a half later, sitting outside of Whit?s Frozen Custard, we told both sets of parents that our little girl?s name would be Olivia Marie.
  • I had the wonderful opportunity to help lead the Youth Writing Camp at Miami University again and felt confirmed that teaching writing to young students was among my passions as well.
  • Now that I knew my baby was a girl, I began working with more of a vision for her room. I so enjoyed finding bargains at garage sales with my mom and decorating the room.
  • Jared and I also made more of a concerted effort to connect in our marriage now that we had settled into our life in Cincinnati. With so much transition and excitement, we realized the need for greater communication and intentional time together and so reinstated our weekly date night.

August~

  • Jared and I took our last vacation without children and traveled back to California. We walked through the town of Carmel, read in the sun, put together a puzzle and dreamed of our little girl. We also visited Pebble Beach with Jared?s parents and the guys celebrated his dad?s birthday with a round of golf.

September~

  • I felt so incredibly loved by such dear friends and family members who hosted baby showers for me. I will never forget feeling supported by so many friends from all stages of my life.
  • I began working again with the Ohio Writing Project and loved thinking more about writing and teaching.
  • Jared and I grew in anticipation to meet our Olivia and finished the last projects on our list, including maternity photos.

October~

  • I attended my ten-year college reunion with my housemates from my senior year. It was especially meaningful to reflect together on how much God had worked in each of our lives?marriage, children, jobs, sickness, heartache, joy?in the ten years since living together.

  • I worked through my fears about labor and surrendered my birth plan to God, even though I still hoped I could give birth naturally.

November~

  • As I awoke each morning, I was sure that day would be the day that Olivia would arrive. I spent much of November waiting and waiting and waiting for her to give me a sign she was ready to come. Thankfully I also had many date nights with Jared as we waited. (Little did I know how much more different date nights would be with a little one!)
  • November 14th, Olivia?s original due date, came and went and so did my hopes of having a natural childbirth. After many discussions with the doctors, we scheduled a c-section.
  • On November 21st, exactly at noon, I met my baby girl for the first time. I will never forget that moment for as long as I live! It was not a coincidence that we celebrated Thanksgiving in the hospital as we were so thankful for our greatest blessing of 2012.

  • We brought Olivia home from the hospital and all at once our lives and sleep habits changed forever.

December~

  • There were several times during the first week when I was nursing Livi that tears fell from my eyes as the reality that my daughter was home, healthy, and ours felt too good to be true.There were days I had wondered if I would ever have this opportunity.
  • The next couple of weeks proved to be a bit more challenging as Jared and I tried to figure out the reason for Olivia?s fussiness.?We carried her around the house, bounced her on the exercise ball, held her in the football hold and anything possible to soothe her.
  • At her one month doctor?s appointment, Olivia was diagnosed with acid reflux and prescribed medicine. Though I didn?t want to have to put medicine inside her little body, the relief and happiness it brought to Olivia was worth it. She smiled for the first time shortly after.
  • Olivia celebrated her first Christmas with both of our families and played with her cousins for the first time.

Olivia's two cousins on my side

Olivia's two cousins on Jared's side

As I wrote out the events of 2012, I noticed some repetition and themes from the year. It was a full year of change with a new job for Jared, a move to a different city and the birth of a baby. In a lot of ways, in 2012 we experienced a harvest of many of our prayers and dreams from the previous years. It seemed only fitting that Olivia would be born the day before Thanksgiving because it marked a year of gratefulness to all that God had done and how He had so tenderly provided for us. If there is anything I take away from this time of reflection, it?s that God has been so incredibly faithful to me, . and I feel so very humbled that in 2012 we were able to see so many examples of His faithfulness.

As I embrace 2013, my eyes are open to the big and small ways He will show more of Himself to me. I pray yours are too!

Source: http://www.insightforgirls.com/2012inreview/

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Sunday, January 20, 2013

Facebook Graph Search Is Humorless, Creepy And Doomed To Disappoint

facebook graph searchFacebook's newest feature Graph Search -- a tool which lets users datamine their friends' and strangers' photos and interests -- merely adds to the site's stalkerish reputation. Sharing anything on Facebook now carries an even bigger risk of over-sharing, and should make users think long and hard about every little thing they contribute to its data banks.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/2aH-dQ7UyGo/

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Saturday, January 19, 2013

Mars' Reull Vallis: a River Ran Through It

Press2ToContinue sends this quote from a European Space Agency news release:
"ESA's Mars Express imaged the striking upper part of the Reull Vallis region of Mars with its high-resolution stereo camera last year. Reull Vallis, the river-like structure in these images, is believed to have formed when running water flowed in the distant martian past, cutting a steep-sided channel through the Promethei Terra Highlands before running on towards the floor of the vast Hellas basin. This sinuous structure, which stretches for almost 1500 km across the martian landscape, is flanked by numerous tributaries, one of which can be clearly seen cutting in to the main valley towards the upper (north) side."

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/6kzK0ODjvCE/story01.htm

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Apple's iPhone Share To Peak In 2013?

Apple's iPhone will reach its highest percentage of the worldwide smartphone market this year, said ABI Research Thursday. Once it hits 22%, or just over one-in-five smartphones, it will level off and remain relatively flat for the next five years.

Apple will play second fiddle to Samsung, which has already surpassed it (and everyone else) in global sales. ABI believes Samsung will remain the worldwide leader for some time. Samsung's share of the smartphone market surged from 8% in 2010 to more than 30% in 2012.


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"Barring an unlikely collapse in Samsung's business, even Apple will be chasing Samsung's technology, software and device leadership in 2013 through the foreseeable future," said senior analyst Michael Morgan.

[ To boost its market share, Apple Needs More Than One iPhone To Compete. ]

Though Google's Android operating system is largely responsible for Samsung's market success, ABI believes Samsung's future depends on other, lesser operating systems. Bada, Tizen and Windows Phone will all play a particularly important role as alternatives to Android and iOS in emerging markets where smartphones have yet to catch on.

Though smartphones already account for more than half of all smartphone purchases in the U.S., they haven't quite reached that level worldwide. ABI believes smartphones won't surpass the 50% mark until 2014. By 2018, ABI forecasts that smartphones will make up 69% of the 2.4 billion annual device sales.

ABI also looked at LTE 4G and where it fits within the cell phone and smartphone space. It believes LTE will play an important role in pushing smartphone adoption. It suggests that LTE will be in 35% of all handsets by 2018, but 50% of all smartphones by 2018. In the U.S., few new smartphones are shipped without LTE support. Nearly all the devices available from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, for example, include LTE. The proliferation of LTE worldwide hasn't been as quick as in the U.S. thanks to varied and incompatible spectrum frequencies.

"With the successful launch of the iPhone 5 and competing LTE handsets from other leading OEMs, LTE handsets will be found in the hands of many consumers who do not even have access to LTE networks," said senior practice director Jeff Orr. "Apple is demonstrating to the market that LTE is not the only reason to buy a premium handset."

Mobile applications are the new way to extend government information and services to on-the-go citizens and employees. Also in the new, all-digital Anytime, Anywhere issue of InformationWeek Government: A new initiative aims to shift the 17-member Intelligence Community from agency-specific IT silos to an enterprise environment of shared systems and services. (Free registration required.)

Source: http://feeds.informationweek.com/click.phdo?i=99f880763a266780e748003aa3e7f71f

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Gay men should be vaccinated like women to reduce growing cancer, STD rates, UK medical group states

LONDON, January 17, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) ? The British Medical Association (BMA) has said that Gardasil, the vaccine given to young girls to prevent HPV infection, and the cervical cancer that can result from it, to homosexual men to combat the common types of cancer associated with their sexual activities.

In 2008-9, the British government contracted with the manufacturers of Gardasil, Merck & Co., Inc., to vaccinate the nation?s entire population of girls.

Now the BMA wants to extend the vaccination program to homosexual men after increases in anal, throat, and penile cancer associated with ?increased sexual activity.??Anal cancer alone is rising at 1-3 percent a year in most developed countries, the Independent newspaper reports.

The Dermatology and Venereology subgroup of the BMA has written to the UK?s minister for Health asking that Gardasil be offered to young homosexual men at sexual health clinics. The letter warned of an ?alarming increase in anal cancer in gay men.??

?We believe that a vaccination program with Gardasil [for young homosexuals] would be of enormous benefit in reducing the incidence of anal warts, anal pre-cancer and cancer, as borne out in Australia,? the letter says.

A national vaccination program was introduced in 2004 in Australia to give Gardasil to girls aged 12 and 13 and will now be extended to boys.? But the letter acknowledges that vaccinating all boys in the UK ?is not economically viable.?

Click "like" if you want to defend true marriage.

The vaccine guards against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18, of which the last two are thought to be responsible for 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer, as well as for most HPV-induced anal, vulvar, vaginal, and penile cancer cases.

Many parents and some health associations have objected to the mass vaccination campaigns, citing the many incidents of severe side effects, including deaths, associated with the drug.

Others have said that such efforts do nothing to curb the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, but only induce a false sense of security that leads to more risky behavior.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LifesitenewscomLatestHeadlines/~3/Nq91HMO3wQw/gay-men-should-be-vaccinated-like-women-to-reduce-growing-cancer-std-rates

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Friday, January 18, 2013

Roe v. Wade turns 40: Most Americans oppose reversal

(Reuters) - Most Americans remain opposed to overturning the controversial Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which 40 years ago legalized abortion at least in the first three months of pregnancy, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The poll by the Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans believe that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, compared to 29 percent who believe it should be. These opinions have changed little from surveys conducted in 2003 and 1992, Pew reported.

Michael Dimock, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, said it is uncommon to see so little change in attitudes on a controversial issue.

"They really haven't changed a lot over the years which is kind of interesting because a lot of other social issues have changed a lot, gay marriage being the most notable example," said Dimock.

He noted that opinions on issues such as gay marriage sometimes have a sharp generational divide, with younger people more likely to favor it, so national feelings change over time.

But the abortion issue shows only modest generational differences.

Those most likely to favor upholding Roe v. Wade at 69 percent are the "baby boomers" aged 50-64, who were children or young adults when the case was decided on January 22, 1973. This group was followed by those 18-29 years old, who favored upholding the decision by 68 percent.

Those 65 and older were most likely to favor overturning the decision, at 36 percent.

NARAL Pro-Choice America, a national abortion rights group, said the data confirms what NARAL has found in its own research - a steady majority of the U.S. public supports a woman's right to choose an abortion.

"This poll is a reminder that the public clearly agrees, and has done so for decades," said Tarek Rizek, communications director for NARAL.

A spokesperson for National Right to Life, a leading anti-abortion group, was not immediately available for comment

The poll also found that 53 percent of the U.S. public say the issue of abortion is not that important compared to other issues - the first time that number has been over 50 percent. Dimock said this may reflect Americans' current preoccupation with issues such as the national debt and gun control.

There are still wide religious differences over whether to overturn Roe v. Wade and the morality of abortion, the poll found. White evangelical Protestants are the only religious group in which a majority - 54 percent - favors overturning the decision.

Large percentages of white mainline Protestants (76 percent), black Protestants (65 percent) and white Catholics (63 percent) say the ruling should not be overturned.

Among the religiously unaffiliated, 82 percent oppose overturning Roe v. Wade.

About half of Republicans agreed the decision should not be overturned, by 48 to 46 percent. Most Democrats favor upholding the decision, by 74 percent.

The poll showed no gender gap in opinions about the decision, with nearly identical percentages of women and men opposing a reversal.

The results also show that 47 percent of Americans say they personally believe it is morally wrong to have an abortion. These opinions have changed only modestly in recent years, the survey found.

Not surprisingly, younger people are less likely to know what Roe v. Wade was about. While most respondents over 30 knew Roe v. Wade dealt with abortion, only 44 percent of those under 30 knew this, the poll found. The question over whether the decision should be overturned was asked after it was defined to respondents.

The poll was based on interviews with a national sample of 1,502 adults, aged 18 or over, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Full results of the poll can be seen here: http://www.pewforum.org/Abortion/roe-v-wade-at-40.aspx

(Reporting By Mary Wisniewskil; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Claudia Parsons and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roe-v-wade-turns-40-most-oppose-reversing-171445029.html

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