Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Jessica Simpson pouts over 'pregnancy face'

By Pamela Sitt, TODAY.com contributor

For those of us keeping tabs on Jessica Simpson?s baby bump -- which has gotten rewardingly large in recent weeks -- there is now a new body part to watch.

@JessicaSimpson

The singer and upcoming ?Fashion Star? mentor, who is known for such bon mots as ?Is this chicken, what I have, or is it fish?? has coined a new phrase: ?Pregnancy face.?

She tweeted?Sunday: ?Woke up looking like the lip injection fairy visited me in the night! Is this how pregnancy face begins?! Yikes!? The attached photo shows a close-up of her pouty lips.

This type of oversharing is, of course, what made America fall in love with Simpson when she was a newlywed on MTV. Back then, she was 23. At an older and wiser -- so to speak?-- 31, Simpson has a fashion empire under her belt and enough business savvy to mentor aspiring fashion designers on NBC?s new reality series ?Fashion Star.? The show also stars fashionista-turned-designer Nicole Richie, menswear designer John Varvatos and former supermodel Elle Macpherson.

The tabloids would have you believe there's a brewing rivalry between Richie and Simpson, who both rose to fame on a similar reality show-fashion designer-gossip magnet trajectory. But Richie has assured the press that the pair are practically besties. So we'll see how that plays out.

Of course, a little old-fashioned catfight never hurt ratings on any TV show.

In case you're wondering, Simpson's maternity style is all about stilettos, curve-hugging mini-dresses and the occasional wayward sequin. She's spoken publicly about her desire to launch a maternity clothing line and joked about delivering the baby in heels (speaking of good television ...)

Simpson, who is engaged to baby daddy Eric Johnson, is due this spring. ?Fashion Star? is due in March. Here?s hoping for a maternity wear challenge!

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10272972-dont-pout-over-pregnancy-face-jessica-simpson

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First single from new Madonna album released February 3 (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? The first single from Madonna's upcoming album "MDNA" is called "Give Me All Your Luvin'" and is set for a February 3 release, two days before the singer performs at the Super Bowl on Sunday.

The track features Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. and was composed by Martin Solveig and Michael Tordjman, and marks Madonna's return to music after focusing on directing her new movie "W.E."

MDNA, to be released on Universal Music Group's Interscope Records on March 26, will be the singer's 12th studio album and the follow-up to 2008's "Hard Candy" which debuted at the top of the charts in 37 countries.

An excerpt from the video to Give Me All Your Luvin' will air on U.S. television show "American Idol" on February 2, and the full video appears on Madonna's YouTube channel the following day.

MDNA was recorded in New York and Los Angeles and reunited Madonna with William Orbit who co-wrote and co-produced several cuts on the new album.

The Grammy-winning 53-year-old will headline Sunday's halftime show at the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis in a performance co-created by Cirque Du Soleil.

More than 160 million TV viewers watched last year's halftime performance, making it the most-watched musical event of the year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/music_nm/us_madonna_single

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Monday, January 30, 2012

DOE Joint Genome Institute 7th Annual Meeting on March 20-22, 2012

DOE Joint Genome Institute 7th Annual Meeting on March 20-22, 2012 [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David Gilbert
degilbert@lbl.gov
925-296-5643
DOE/Joint Genome Institute

The 7th Annual Genomics of Energy and Environment Meeting of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute will be held at the Marriott in Walnut Creek on March 20-22, 2012. The talks will focus on genomics research in the fields of clean energy generation and the environment. Keynote speeches will be delivered by Steven Benner, Distinguished Fellow of The Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution and Carl Zimmer, a science writer for The New York Times.

Since 2005, the DOE Joint Genome Institute has focused on the application of genomics to bioenergy and environmental issues. Organisms are selected for sequencing based on their relevance to the DOE missions, judged by an independent peer review process. Many of the projects focus on one of three key aspects: the development of biofuel feedstocks; the identification of enzymes that can effectively break down plant fibers into sugar; and the development of processes to ferment plant-derived sugars into liquid biofuel.

The annual meeting draws several hundred researchers working in the fields of genomics, bioenergy, carbon cycling and biogeochemistry from around the world. To learn more about this year's event, visit http://bit.ly/JGI_UM.

###

For more information and free media registration, contact David Gilbert, DOE Joint Genome Institute Public Affairs Manager at degilbert@lbl.gov.

The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, supported by DOE's Office of Science, is committed to advancing genomics in support of DOE missions related to clean energy generation and environmental characterization and cleanup. DOE JGI, headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., provides integrated high-throughput sequencing and computational analysis that enable systems-based scientific approaches to these challenges. Follow DOE JGI on Twitter and Facebook.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


DOE Joint Genome Institute 7th Annual Meeting on March 20-22, 2012 [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David Gilbert
degilbert@lbl.gov
925-296-5643
DOE/Joint Genome Institute

The 7th Annual Genomics of Energy and Environment Meeting of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute will be held at the Marriott in Walnut Creek on March 20-22, 2012. The talks will focus on genomics research in the fields of clean energy generation and the environment. Keynote speeches will be delivered by Steven Benner, Distinguished Fellow of The Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution and Carl Zimmer, a science writer for The New York Times.

Since 2005, the DOE Joint Genome Institute has focused on the application of genomics to bioenergy and environmental issues. Organisms are selected for sequencing based on their relevance to the DOE missions, judged by an independent peer review process. Many of the projects focus on one of three key aspects: the development of biofuel feedstocks; the identification of enzymes that can effectively break down plant fibers into sugar; and the development of processes to ferment plant-derived sugars into liquid biofuel.

The annual meeting draws several hundred researchers working in the fields of genomics, bioenergy, carbon cycling and biogeochemistry from around the world. To learn more about this year's event, visit http://bit.ly/JGI_UM.

###

For more information and free media registration, contact David Gilbert, DOE Joint Genome Institute Public Affairs Manager at degilbert@lbl.gov.

The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, supported by DOE's Office of Science, is committed to advancing genomics in support of DOE missions related to clean energy generation and environmental characterization and cleanup. DOE JGI, headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., provides integrated high-throughput sequencing and computational analysis that enable systems-based scientific approaches to these challenges. Follow DOE JGI on Twitter and Facebook.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/dgi-djg013012.php

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Peru: 26 killed in fire at rehabilitation center (AP)

LIMA, Peru ? A fire swept through a private rehabilitation center for addicts in Peru's capital on Saturday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 10 as firefighters punched holes through walls to rescue residents trapped inside.

One resident of the "Christ is Love" center for drug and alcohol addicts in Lima's eastern Zarate district said he was eating breakfast at 9 a.m. local time on the center's second floor when he saw flames coming from the first floor, where the blaze apparently originated.

Gianfranco Huerta told local RPP newsradio station that he leapt from a second floor window to safety.

"The doors were locked, there was no way to get out," he told the station.

Health Minister Alberto Tejada said the number of deaths had risen to 26 with 10 people injured.

Peru's chief fire fighter, Antonio Zavala, said the fire was of "Dantesque proportions." Firefighters had to punch a hole through a wall with an adjoining building to help the people trapped inside the rehabilitation center.

"We've had to use electric saws to cut through the metal bars of the doors to be able to work," Zavala said.

Television images showed relatives of center residents weeping in front of the building, located in a poor section of eastern Lima.

The cause of the fire is still not known, said Zarate police chief Clever Zegarra.

Local media reported that the "Christ is Love" rehabilitation center sought to use Biblical teachings to help treat addicts.

No representative of the center could be immediately reached for comment.

Peru's fire fighters are notoriously underfunded. All the South American country's firefighters are volunteer and the annual firefighting budget for the entire country is $19 million.

(This version CORRECTS name of center to 'Christ is Love' instead of 'God is Love.')

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_peru_fire

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Researchers shed light on magnetic mystery of graphite

Friday, January 27, 2012

The physical property of magnetism has historically been associated with metals such as iron, nickel and cobalt; however, graphite ? an organic mineral made up of stacks of individual carbon sheets ? has baffled researchers in recent years by showing weak signs of magnetism.

The hunt for an explanation has not been without controversy, with several research groups proposing different theories. The most recent suggestion, published today, 27 January, in the journal EPL (Europhysics Letters), has been put forward by a research group from the University of Manchester that includes Nobel prize-winning scientist Professor Sir Andre Geim.

The research group, led by Dr Irina Grigorieva, found that magnetism in many commercially available graphite crystals is down to micron-sized clusters of predominantly iron that would usually be difficult to find unless the right instruments were used in a particular way.

Finding the way to make graphite magnetic could be the first step to utilising it as a bio-compatible magnet for use in medicine and biology as effective biosensors.

To arrive at their conclusions, the researchers firstly cut up a piece of commercially-available graphite into four sections and measured the magnetisation of each piece. Surprisingly, they found significant variations in the magnetism of each sample. It was reasonable for them to conclude that the magnetic response had to be caused by external factors, such as small impurities of another material.

To check this hypothesis, the researchers peered deep into the structure of the samples using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) ? a very powerful microscope that images samples by scanning it with a beam of electrons ? and found that there were unusually heavy particles positioned deep under the surface.

The majority of these particles were confirmed to be iron and titanium, using a technique known as X-ray microanalysis. As oxygen was also present, the particles were likely to be either magnetite or titanomagnetite, both of which are magnetic.

The researchers were also able to deduce how many magnetic particles would be needed, and how far apart they would need to be spaced in order to create the originally observed magnetism. The observations from their experiments agreed with their estimations, meaning the visualised magnetic particles could account for the whole magnetic signal in the sample.

Dr Grigorieva, said: "The excitement around the findings of ferromagnetism in graphite, i.e. pure carbon, is due to the fact that magnetism is not normally found in organic matter. If we can learn to create and control magnetism in carbon-based materials, especially graphene, this will be an important development for sensors and spintronics."

###

The paper can be downloaded from http://iopscience.iop.org/0295-5075/97/4/47001

Institute of Physics: http://www.iop.org

Thanks to Institute of Physics 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/117149/Researchers_shed_light_on_magnetic_mystery_of_graphite

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Girl credited with outing school bomb plot

A 16-year-old Utah student who alerted a school administrator about a suspicious text message foiled plans by two schoolmates who apparently were plotting to set off a bomb during a school assembly and run away in a stolen airplane, police said.

Roy High School sophomore Bailey Gerhardt told The Salt Lake Tribune she received the text from a friend, one of the suspects, and told the administrator, which led to the arrest of the two teens. Roy is about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Gerhardt said Thursday that the text from the 16-year-old boy asked: "If I told you to stay home on a certain day, would you?"

That boy, whom The Associated Press isn't naming because he's a minor, and Dallin Morgan, 18, were pulled out of school Wednesday.

"It was the work of a very courageous student who came forward," Roy police spokeswoman Anna Bond said Thursday. "It could have been a disaster."

Dumped by girlfriend
Gerhardt characterized the 16-year-old as an angry person recently dumped by his girlfriend. She said he had told her he had looked into the 1999 mass shootings at Colorado's Columbine High School.

The juvenile later told investigators he was so "fascinated" by that massacre that he visited the Littleton, Colo., school and interviewed the principal about the shootings that killed 13 people. Roy police said the principal, Frank DeAngelis, confirmed that the boy made his visit Dec. 12.

"(He) told me he was offended that he was compared to the Columbine killers," said Roy police officer Tyler Tomlinson in an affidavit, according to Utah's KSL.com. "Joshua was offended by the fact that those killers only completed 1 percent of their plan and he was much more intelligent than that. ... (He) explained to me that he could complete his plan due to how intelligent he is."

'Months in planning'
The Roy High School plot "was months in planning," said Roy Chief of Police Gregory Whinham, and included plans for a device designed to "cause as much harm as possible to students and faculty" at the school, which has about 1,500 students.

The FBI is examining the suspects' computers, police said. Local and federal agents searched the school, two vehicles belonging to the suspects and their homes but found no explosives.

Morgan told police the 16-year-old suspect had previously made a pipe bomb using gun powder and rocket fuel.

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"Dallin told me that (the juvenile) bragged about using a bomb to blow up a mail box and having three handguns in his house," a police affidavit states. The 16-year-old boy "claimed that he did not have the guns but Dallin was the source of the guns because he is 18 and can purchase a gun."

The two students prepared by logging hundreds of hours on flight simulator software on their home computers, and they planned to take a plane at Ogden Hinckley Airport after the bombing, Bond said.

Besides hinting at the plan, the juvenile also texted to a friend that both suspects wanted "revenge on the world" and "we have a plan to get away with it too."

He hinted at the plan by writing "explosives, airport, airplane" and added, "We're just gonna kill and fly our way to a country that won't send us back to the US," according to a probable cause statement police filed to make the arrests late Wednesday.

Morgan was being held on $10,000 bail at Weber County jail on suspicion of conspiracy to commit mass destruction. The juvenile was in custody at Weber Valley Detention Center on the same charge. Prosecutors were weighing possible additional charges.

'Absolute knowledge' of school security
Both students had "absolute knowledge of the security systems and the layout of the school," Bond said. "They knew where the security cameras were. Their original plan was to set off explosives during an assembly. We don't know what date they were planning to do this, but they had been planning it for months."

School officials said there were no imminent plans to hold a school assembly.

The parents of both students "woke up in the middle of a nightmare," Bond said. "They've been very cooperative."

School officials said there were no imminent plans to hold a school assembly.

Local and federal agents searched the school, two vehicles belonging to the suspects and their homes but found no explosives. The FBI is examining the suspects' computers, police said.

The parents of both students "woke up in the middle of a nightmare," Bond said. "They've been very cooperative."

'Expect him to be the next Albert Einstein, not a bomber'
Alex Gregory, 17, a senior at the school and a neighbor of the juvenile, told KSL.com he was shocked at the recent developments.

He said a number of police cruisers and officers greeted him when he returned home from a sandwich shop Wednesday evening.

"As time went on, more cops showed up in unmarked cars. There were dogs all over the place," Gregory told the Salt Lake City television and radio station. "As the night was almost over, (police were) carrying a couple of boxes out of his house."

"When I heard the news, I was shocked because they didn't seem like those kinds of kids," . "(The juvenile) ? he kind of hangs out with more of the preppy crew. He was really smart. I would expect him to be the next Albert Einstein, not a bomber."

The school has about 1,500 students.

Msnbc.com staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

? 2012 msnbc.com

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46161271/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

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Jumping spiders have unique vision

Jumping spiders, which hunt by pouncing on their prey, gauge distances to their unsuspecting meals in a way that appears to be unique in the animal kingdom, a new study finds.

The superability boils down to seeing green, the researchers found.

There are several different visual systems that organisms use to accurately and reliably judge distance and depth. Humans, for example, have binocular stereovision. Because our eyes are spaced apart, they receive visual information from different angles, which our brains use to automatically triangulate distances. Other animals, such as insects, adjust the focal length of the lenses in their eyes, or move their heads side to side to create an effect called motion parallax ? nearer objects will move across their field of vision more quickly than objects farther away.

However, jumping spiders (Hasarius adansoni) lack any kind of focal adjustment system, have eyes that are too close together for binocular stereovision and don?t appear to use motion parallax while hunting. So how are these creatures able to perceive depth?

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Researchers in Japan have now discovered that the arachnids accurately sense distances by comparing a blurry version of an image with a clear one, a method called image defocus.

Jumping spiders have four eyes densely packed in a row: two large principal eyes and two small lateral eyes. The spider uses its lateral eyes to sense the motion of an object, such as a fly, which it then zeros in on using its principal eyes, Akihisa Terakita, a biologist at Osaka City University in Japan and lead author of the new study, explained in an email to LiveScience.

Rather than having a single layer of photoreceptor cells, the retinas in the spider?s principal eyes have four distinct photoreceptor layers. When Terakita and his colleagues took a close look at the spider's principal eyes, they found that the two layers closest to the surface contain ultraviolet-sensitive pigments, whereas the deeper layers contain green-sensitive pigments.

However, because of the layers' respective distances from the lens of the eye, incoming green light is only focused on the deepest layer, while the other green-sensitive retinal layer receives defocused or fuzzy images. The researchers hypothesized that the spiders gauge depth cues from the amount of defocus in this fuzzy layer, which is proportional to the distance an object is to the lens of the eye.

To test this, they placed a spider and three to six fruit flies in a cylindrical plastic chamber, housed in a white styrene foam box. They then bathed the bugs in different colored lights: If the defocus of green light is important to the spiders, then they should not be able to accurately judge jumping distance in the absence of green light.

Sure enough, the spiders could easily catch the flies under green light, but consistently underestimated their jumps under red light (which doesn't contain shorter-wavelength light, such as green and blue). The researchers suggest that green light is just right to produce the image defocus necessary to gauge distances, unlike other wavelengths of light.

The team doesn?t know if any other animals employ similar depth-perception techniques, though they think the findings could have important implications for the future design of visual systems in robots.

"Further investigation of the optics, retinal structure and neural basis of depth perception in jumping spiders may provide biological inspiration for computer vision as well," they write in their study, to be published in the Friday issue of the journal Science.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46151788/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Euro rises to 6-week high against dollar (AP)

NEW YORK ? The euro jumped to a six-week high against the dollar after a European official said that Greece is close to reaching a deal with creditors to lower its debt.

Traders also sold the dollar after the government said that the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than economists had expected.

The euro rose to $1.3208 late Friday from $1.3104 late Thursday. It rose as high as $1.322, its highest point since Dec. 13.

European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that a Greek debt deal may be reached by the weekend. His comments were made at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Greece needs to reach a deal with its creditors to receive its next installment of bailout cash and avoid defaulting on its debt. A default could hurt Europe's financial system and trigger a financial panic around the world.

The euro rose even though ratings agency Fitch said Friday that it is downgrading the credit ratings of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia. Earlier in the month, Standard & Poor's downgraded nine euro zone countries.

Across the Atlantic, the U.S. government reported that the economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. Economists believe growth would need to be much stronger to sharply reduce unemployment.

The dollar was weaker against most other currencies Friday.

The British pound rose to $1.5724 from $1.5688. The dollar fell to 76.72 Japanese yen from 77.49 Japanese yen, to 0.9129 Swiss franc from 0.9205 and to 1.0012 Canadian dollar from 1.0014 Canadian dollar.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/us_dollar

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Google Thinks I'm a Middle-Aged Man. What About You? (Mashable)

I'm a woman who is too young to remember the Reagan administration, but Google has me pegged as a middle-aged man. Given my habit of browsing technology websites, the search engine probably placed me in my father's demographic a long time ago. But it didn't break the news to me until Tuesday, when it rolled out a revamped privacy policy that drew my attention to my account.

[More from Mashable: Meme Machine: 5 Hilarious Viral Topics Trending Right Now]

That's when I noticed a settings tab in my Google account called Ads Preferences, launched a few months ago, that shows the basic profile Google has compiled based upon my web browsing habits. Other websites who partner with Google use the profile to target ads on their sites.

Here is a snapshot of what Google thinks I'm interested in:

[More from Mashable: European Lawmakers Want ?Right to Be Forgotten? on Facebook, Google]

Look like a 35- to 44-year-old dude to you? Google, too. Google uses a cookie, that is, a long string of alphanumeric characters, to convey this snapshot along with its guess for my age and gender to other websites.

If Google were to have attached a non-PR-filtered, honest note to this page (it didn't), I imagine it would say something link this:

"See, this is all we're concerned about in this whole tracking business. It's not even detailed enough information to distinguish a middle-aged man from a girl technology reporter. To us, your profile is just a series of random digits, nothing more. And if you don't like it, we are making it so easy to opt out that you have no excuse not to."

Easy it may be, but there's still a battle raging between privacy advocates on one side and Google and advertising agencies on the other over whether an opt-out solution to privacy in behavioral advertising, like the one Google participates in, is sufficient.

User data has become the number one factor that advertisers take into account when searching for a media partner, and the Network Advertising Initiative released a study that found behaviorally targeted advertising secured more than 2.5 times as much revenue per ad as its non-targeted counterpart. Both parties are hoping to prove that a choice to opt out of behavioral tracking is sufficient privacy protection.

Privacy advocates, meanwhile, have demanded an opt-in solution that would only allow behavioral tracking if a user consented to it, citing, for instance, a 2010 study in which only 51% of participants realized that online behavioral advertising "happened a lot."

?People understand that the [grocery store] is obviously keeping track of the food that they buy, but they?re getting it cheaper,? John Simpson, a privacy advocate with the non-profit Consumer Watchdog advocacy group, told me about a year ago while explaining why he opposed an opt-out solution. ?And if they?re using those cards, they?re willing to give up some of their information for cheaper prices. The thing about what?s going on online is nobody really understood what they were giving up.?

Google looks to be making a bigger effort to help people understand how they are being tracked. And after looking at my own profile, what it's telling other sites about me doesn't make me paranoid. The step is probably not a big enough effort for most privacy advocates -- some people don't know how to find the opt-out button on the settings page and it's easy to imagine the havoc Google could wreak with information it is capable of collecting -- but is it enough for you?

Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, hidesy

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20120125/tc_mashable/google_thinks_im_a_middleaged_man_what_about_you

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

JNSQ, An Independent Style Mag For iPad, Makes Its Public Debut

jnsqJNSQ, the first independent style magazine for the iPad, is making its public debut today. The app, created by former Beauty.com marketing manager Melissa Middleton and angel investor and stealth startup founder?Fritz Lanman, features similar content as to what's found on the online version of the company, at www.jenesequa.com, but is published monthly - like a real magazine.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0eTjkR7k5eg/

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Upbeat and on a roll, Obama showing some swagger (AP)

CHANDLER, Ariz. ? If President Barack Obama is showing some swagger, it shouldn't be a surprise.

His job approval ratings point to an uptick. The Navy SEAL unit that killed Osama bin Laden just pulled off a daring rescue that Obama authorized in Somalia. He's fresh off a big speech before Congress, and the Republicans who want his job are criticizing each other probably more than they are Obama.

As he hits the road for three days of travel to important political states, Obama is on a roll.

Feeling good, he even tried his hand at a bit of public crooning a few days ago, channeling the Rev. Al Green to a fundraising crowd at the Apollo Theater in New York and securing the highest of pop culture distinction: a ring tone.

It could be a fleeting moment for Obama. While the economy is improving with indicators trending positively, unemployment remains high at 8.5 percent and international debt crises and tensions could unravel the gains. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows signs of increasing optimism that the economy will improve with 37 percent saying it will get better in the next year, the highest level in that poll in more than a year.

For now, Obama is not hiding his upbeat demeanor.

Arriving in Iowa on Wednesday, he jogged, grinning, to a rope line of a couple of dozen supporters. He later expressed nostalgia for the days in 2007 when he was campaigning in Iowa, and he struck a defiant tone against congressional Republicans that was even sharper than the repudiation he offered Tuesday night in his State of the Union address.

"Our economy is getting stronger, and we've come too far to turn back now," he told workers and guests at a conveyor manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids. Speaking of Republicans, he said, "Their philosophy is simple: We're better off when everyone is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules."

"Well, I am here to say they are wrong," he said.

In a stop later in the day in Arizona, Obama stripped off his jacket and joked about the warm weather to a crowd at an Intel chip plant, seeming to revel in being out on the stump.

He even mixed it up with the state's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, confronting her over how she depicted him in her book. Reporters witnessed the two in intense conversation after Brewer greeted Obama on the tarmac at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, and Brewer later said it was over a passage in her book in which she describes Obama as lecturing her over immigration.

A White House official said Obama, who opposes Arizona's controversial immigration law, responded to an invitation from Brewer to meet with her by telling the governor he'd be glad to, but adding that Brewer had inaccurately described their last meeting in her book.

The spring in his step comes as polls show slight improvement in his job approval ratings. A Washington Post/ABC poll last week had him evenly split 48-48 on that question. A Gallup tracking poll has him even in recent surveys, compared with a few months ago when more disapproved than approved.

On the road through Friday, Obama will bask in the afterglow of his prime-time address and use the power of the presidency to compete for headlines with leading GOP White House hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as they knock heads ahead of the Jan. 31 Florida primary. He will try to promote a populist message of income equality that Obama's team believes can resonate with voters.

Underscoring the political subtext, four of the five states he will visit will hold Republican presidential caucuses or primaries within the next month. The two caucuses ? in Nevada and Colorado ? come within two weeks of his visit.

If 2011 began with overtures to Republicans and big business, 2012 is about operating on his own terms. He will challenge Congress to pass his initiatives, some of which he has tried before without success. For now, Obama is liberated. The thrust and parrying of governing has not picked up in Washington yet.

The road gives him an opportunity to goad congressional Republicans, believing he has been able to sway public opinion with his presidential megaphone before. He cites Washington's decision to extend, for two months, a payroll tax cut for workers. He's now seeking to extend it for the full year, and while there's little doubt that Congress eventually will agree, Obama prodded anyway.

"Your voices convinced Congress to extend this middle-class tax cut before," he said. "You remember there was little resistance there last year. I need your help to get them to do it again. Tell Congress to pass this tax cut without drama, without delay. No soap operas. Just get it done."

Political events are going his way as well.

Just as he stepped up his call for a minimum 30 percent tax rate for millionaires, Romney released his tax returns under pressure, revealing that he paid an effective tax rate of 14 percent. That not only underscored Romney's wealth, it also provided an argument for altering the nation's tax laws, a central element of Obama's re-election campaign.

Gingrich on Wednesday helped keep the focus on Romney's wealth, saying that the wealthy businessman lived in "a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatically $20 million income for no work."

Romney and Gingrich have been forced to target each other in the GOP presidential contest, freeing Obama from the fray. For instance, Romney has ads in Florida and Nevada blaming the housing crisis on Gingrich and concludes that nothing would make Obama happier than Gingrich winning the nomination.

___

AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta in Washington and Associated Press writer Cristina Silva in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Marine faces 3 months in brig for Iraqi deaths (AP)

CAMP PENDLETON, California ? Military prosecutors worked for more than six years to bring Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to trial on manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life.

But only weeks after the long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich a deal that stopped the proceedings and could mean little to no jail time for the squad leader who ordered his men to "shoot first, ask questions later," resulting in one of the Iraq War's worst attacks on civilians by U.S. troops.

The 31-year-old Marine, who was originally accused of unpremeditated murder, pleaded guilty Monday to negligent dereliction of duty for leading the squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005 during raids after a roadside bomb exploded, killing a fellow Marine and wounding two others.

Wuterich, who was indicted in 19 of the 24 deaths, now faces no more than three months in confinement.

It was a stunning outcome for the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. The seven other Marines initially charged were exonerated or had their cases dropped.

"I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair," one of the survivors, Awis Fahmi Hussein, told The Associated Press in Haditha.

Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones began hearing arguments from both sides Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, Calif., before making a sentencing recommendation to be considered by the commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command.

Legal experts said the case was fraught with errors made by investigators and the prosecution that let it drag on for years. The prosecution was also hampered by squad mates who acknowledged they had lied to investigators initially and later testified in exchange for having their cases dropped, bringing into question their credibility.

In addition, Wuterich was seen as taking the fall for senior leaders and more seasoned combat veterans, analysts said. It was his first time in combat when he led the squad on Nov. 19, 2005.

Brian Rooney, an attorney for another former defendant, said cases like Haditha are difficult to prosecute because a military jury is unlikely to question decisions made in combat unless wrongdoing is clear-cut and egregious, like rape.

"If it's a gray area, fog-of-war, you can't put yourself in a Marine's situation where he's legitimately trying to do the best he can," said Rooney, who represented Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the case. "When you're in a town like Haditha or Fallujah, you've got bad guys trying to kill you and trying to do it in very surreptitious ways."

Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel said the deal was not a reflection or in any way connected to how the prosecution felt its case was going in the trial.

The Haditha attack is considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

It still fuels anger in Iraq today.

"We wonder about such a sentence issued against the defendant. We called upon US to be fair in passing sentences. Regrettably, we are disappointed about the issuance of such sentences," said Khalid Salman Rasif, a member of the Provincial Council in Haditha, adding he would contact the lawyer for victims' families for an explanation.

Kamil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni lawmaker from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, called the plea agreement proof that "Americans still deal with Iraqis without any respect."

"It's just another barbaric act of Americans against Iraqis," al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press. "They spill the blood of Iraqis and get this worthless sentence for the savage crime against innocent civilians."

Wuterich, the father of three children, had faced the possibility of life behind bars when he was charged with nine counts of manslaughter, which will be dropped. Along with facing a maximum of three months in confinement, he could also lose two-thirds of his pay and see his rank demoted to private when he's sentenced.

.Wuterich, his family and his attorneys declined to comment Monday after he entered the plea. Prosecutors also declined to comment on the plea deal.

During the trial before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq, prosecutors argued he lost control after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage in which they stormed two nearby homes, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a man in a wheelchair.

In the deal, Wuterich acknowledged that his orders misled his men to believe they could shoot without hesitation and not follow the rules of engagement that required troops to positively identify their targets before they raided the homes.

He told the judge that caused "tragic events."

"I think we all understood what we were doing so I probably just should have said nothing," Wuterich told the judge.

He said his orders were based on the guidance of his platoon commander at the time, and that the squad did not take any gunfire during the 45-minute raid.

Many of his squad mates testified that they do not believe to this day that they did anything wrong because they feared insurgents were inside hiding.

Haditha prompted commanders to demand troops be more careful in distinguishing between civilians and combatants.

Former Navy officer David Glazier said the case shows such rules are essential to helping the United States prevail in an armed conflict.

"The reality is that this incident has had significant consequences for the U.S. in Iraq," said Glazier, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "It probably fueled the resistance and so it probably ended up costing additional soldiers and Marines their lives later on."

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Raquel Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_marines_haditha

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Morgan Stanley Reports International Gaming Technology FY1Q ...

In a research report released today, Morgan Stanley said International Gaming Technology's (NYSE: IGT) F1Q revenue and EPS results were significantly below consensus estimates.

According to Morgan Stanley, ?EPS of $0.17 missed our estimate by $0.04 and consensus by $0.05. It is important to note that the opaque ?non-box? product sales segment drove $0.03 of the EPS miss, indicating that core operating results, while still light, were relatively resilient. That said, we expect the stock to react negatively to the release and potentially test recent lows in the $14 range.?

International Gaming Technology is currently trading at $15.95.

(c) 2011 Benzinga.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published in its entirety or redistributed without the approval of Benzinga.

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Source: http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/12/01/2284352/morgan-stanley-reports-international-gaming-technology-f

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Oscar 2012 Nominations: Biggest Snubs And Surprises

'Harry Potter,' Albert Brooks passed over, while Gary Oldman finally gets his due.
By Kevin P. Sullivan


Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Photo: Universal

We now have the answer to one of awards season's biggest questions: We know who has been nominated for the 2012 Academy Awards. All we need to know now is who wins. This year's Oscar nominations didn't offer any enormous surprises, but a few of the snubs have some people gasping.

Right off the bat, it must be addressed. Albert Brooks was not nominated for his delightfully evil turn in "Drive." Both Brooks and the film have a passionate following, so Max von Sydow's nomination for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" over Brooks can't come as welcome news for the movie's many fans. Brooks hilariously responded to the snub over Twitter, saying, "I got ROBBED. I don't mean the Oscars, I mean literally. My pants and shoes have been stolen." That's it, Al. Kill them with laughter.

But let's not focus on the negative. A great injustice was righted with the nominations. Gary Oldman's nod for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" didn't come as a complete surprise, but it was a welcome one. Shockingly, the famed British actor had never been nominated before now. After decades of memorable characters, Oldman has finally gotten his due. He and the Best Actor category's other surprise, Demián Bichir from "A Better Life," edged out category favorites Leonardo DiCaprio for "J. Edgar" and Michael Fassbender for "Shame."

Two dark horses, "The Tree of Life" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," shocked with major nominations after staying near the rear of the pack for most of awards season. Both earned Best Picture nominations, bringing the total number of nominees to nine, one less than the maximum limit. The elusive Terrence Malick scored a nomination for directing "Tree of Life," and film legend von Sydow made the cut for his supporting role in "Extremely Loud."

Rooney Mara's Best Actress nomination made for a minor surprise. Her nod was the only major nomination for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," which was passed over for Best Picture, Director and Writing. Perhaps the biggest oversight from "Dragon Tattoo" was the hypnotic score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, last year's Best Score winners for "The Social Network."

The nomination that may have brought on some of the biggest cheers around the country was the Best Supporting Actress nod for the breakout star from "Bridesmaids," Melissa McCarthy. She had been passed over for a Golden Globe nomination, but she made the Oscar cut along with her co-star Kristen Wiig, who was nominated for co-writing the screenplay.

Not everybody took the Oscar hopes for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" seriously, and indeed, the biggest movie of 2011 failed to earn a nomination for Best Picture. Fans had also made a push for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Alan Rickman, but he didn't make the cut either.

You couldn't have given that tenth Best Picture spot to the boy who lived, Academy?

See the complete list of Academy Awards Nominations.

Related Videos Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677792/oscar-nominations-suprirses-snubs.jhtml

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Google+ Allows Pseudonyms, But Only If They?re ?Established?

name tagGoogle's Bradley Horowitz just announced that as part of a more "inclusive" naming policy, Google+ will now be allow people to employ pseudonyms as their user names. The company's previous insistence on real names has been the subject of much discussion ? and Google itself said earlier that it's trying to refine the policy to encompass different use cases.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/d0S9amrz3vo/

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Should couples share passwords?

Live Poll

Should couples share passwords?

  • 173871

    ABSOLUTELY. Those that have nothing to hide, hide nothing.

    51%

  • 173872

    NO. We're still individuals entitled to privacy and we trust each other.

    49%

VoteTotal Votes: 532

By Athima Chansanchai

Just how much do you trust your spouse or partner? Enough to share passwords? For some, passwords are the final frontier of privacy not only in financial matters, but in social media and email correspondence. But for others, there are no secrets when you're in a relationship?? even risking the potential payback should a break-up sever the happy union.

The New York Times tells us about an "intimate custom" writer Matt Ritchel says is happening between teens in love: "sharing their passwords to email,?Facebook?and other accounts." The desire to be one even extends, the article claims, to couples creating identical passwords and letting each other read private emails and texts.?

For some, it takes a court order to share so much.

But for others, it's imperative to know each other's passwords as part of an open, healthy and fully functioning relationship. Sometimes this comes after a loss of trust, as when one partner has cheated on the other. On the Surviving Infidelity website, where more than 34,000 members have exchanged stories of betrayal and support one another in the forums, there is a saying that becomes a mantra for many of them: "Those who have nothing to hide, hide nothing." To that end, nothing is private anymore in order to facilitate healing for the offended party.?

In this philosophy, those who have been unfaithful should share (or make open and available) not only passwords to their email accounts and Facebook, but also the contents of their text messages, phone logs, work and travel itineraries "without qualms."

Many in those forums mention how finding secret Facebook and email correspondences led to the big reveal of infidelity in their marriages and relationships, and we've seen surveys that attribute at least some fault in Facebook, though an informal poll we took at the end of year showed that nearly half of the 876 votes attributed the demise of their marriages with other factors. But 34 percent did blame Facebook.

Some of the teens in the New York Times article who opened themselves up were dealt a nasty lesson in human nature when their not-so-better halves decided to use the passwords in retaliation for perceived wrongs. The Times listed some examples:

The stories of fallout include a spurned boyfriend in junior high who tries to humiliate his ex-girlfriend by spreading her e-mail secrets; tensions between significant others over scouring each other?s private messages for clues of disloyalty or infidelity; or grabbing a cellphone from a former best friend, unlocking it with a password and sending threatening texts to someone else.

Take our poll and let us know if couples should share passwords.

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10199414-should-couples-share-passwords

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: It's Up To Women To Elect Pro-Choice Candidates In 2012

Last year, as a result of the 2010 midterm elections, the 112th Congress became the first in a generation to start out with fewer women in its ranks than the Congress before it. After decades of slow incremental growth in the number of women serving in Congress, last year we actually lost ground, dropping from 93 to 92 women (thankfully Kathy Hochul's victory last summer returned us to the previous level.)

But 2011 also saw the House of Representatives engage in an unprecedented assault on women's reproductive rights. Whether it was their passage of a bill to defund Planned Parenthood or their legislation that would allow hospitals receiving federal funds to refuse reproductive care to women even if their life was in danger, time and again, the House of Representatives proved it was hostile toward women's rights.

These things are not unrelated. The fact is, the more women we elect to office, the more women's voices are heard and the more the issues and values important to us become a priority. It's especially true on the issue of women's reproductive freedom. As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v Wade today, we must recommit ourselves to doing all we can to elect more pro-choice Democratic women to Congress in 2012.

Looking just at the Senate, we have an unprecedented 11 Democratic pro-choice women running, either as the incumbent (6) or challenger (5.) We also have a real opportunity to regain a pro-choice majority in the House of Representatives with Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the helm.

But the only way we're going to accomplish this is if women make their voices heard this year, vote for pro-choice candidates in November and bring a surge of women candidates into Congress. That's exactly why I started Off The Sidelines, to serve as a call to action for women to get involved in politics. Whether it's registering to vote, volunteering for a candidate that shares your values, posting on Facebook, tweeting or running for office yourself, there are so many ways women can get off the sidelines and ensure that women's values and priorities are represented.

Remember the Rosie the Riveter campaign? It inspired 6 million women to enter the workforce during World War II. We need a Rosie the Riveter for our generation. Imagine if 6 million women were to register to vote this year...imagine if 6 million more women vote this year than did four years ago. We would see a dramatic change in the representation of Congress and in the policies it implements.

The House of Representatives passed several anti-choice bills last year, but they went nowhere because we have a pro-choice majority in the US Senate and a champion in the White House. In 2012, it's going to be up to women to make sure the extremist anti-choice policies of the right continue to fail. It's going to be up to women to re-elect Barack Obama and elect a pro-choice Congress.

How are you planning to get off the sidelines and elect pro-choice candidates in 2012? Tell me in the comments and tweet me at @SenGillibrand with the hashtag #offthesidelines.

?

Follow Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SenGillibrand

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-kirsten-gillibrand/its-up-to-women-to-elect_b_1222082.html

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Nike FuelBand is the hot, healthy new thing to wear around your wrist (Yahoo! News)

Following up on the pioneering success of the 2006's?Nike+, the company that started the?wearable digital fitness revolution has a slick new product. Meet the Nike+ FuelBand, a bracelet in the same fitness-forward family as the?FitBit and the?Jawbone Up

The FuelBand has a few neat tricks to set it apart. Sure, it'll track your perambulations, but it also converts all of your physical activity into a kind of health currency called NikeFuel. It tracks steps walked and calories burned, but it also uses oxygen kinetics to take a more precise measurement of your exertion ? and in true Nike fashion, it turns the result into a competitive sport.

You can compete against your own NikeFuel score of course, but you'll also be able to compare against your friends (or foes!) on Twitter and Facebook (and later Foursquare and Path, potentially). You can also check your progress toward your own goals at a glance via the bracelet's little colorful LED lights. The Nike FuelBand goes on pre-order today for $149 and begin shipping on February 22.

(Source)

This article originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120120/tc_yblog_technews/nike-fuelband-is-the-hot-healthy-new-thing-to-wear-around-your-wrist

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How to Book a $1700 Vacation for $700 by Volunteering [Travel]

Photo by ollie harridge.

You Can Practice Your Skills or Learn New Ones

If you have a specialized skill set, a volunteer vacation can be a good way to put your skills to use in another country. For instance, if you're a doctor you can volunteer your skills to a vaccination shelter. If you're a teacher, you can teach. You don't always need special skills though. If you've always wanted to learn more about carpentry, for example, you can build a house on your volunteer vacation. If you're a student, volunteering on a scientific exhibition can add flavor to your resume and experience in the field.

You Can Write Off What You Do Spend

How to Book a $1700 Vacation for $700 by VolunteeringOf course, one of the biggest factors in choosing a vacation is cost. Some volunteer vacations will still require a hefty up-front charge to participate and don't include airfare. Others are totally free while you're participating. The price difference is directly related to the work your doing, the insurance required, and the materials needed. Teaching English to a farmer in Poland isn't all that dangerous, but diving into the sea to film turtles hatching is.

That said, any money you do pay can be written off as a charitable contribution on your taxes. As a general rule, you can write off any expenses you pay to the organization as long as they're a non-profit. Any non-profit you enroll in will have a 501(c) designation somewhere on the website. You can also search the government's registry to make sure the organization qualifies as tax-deductible. Your airfare, Visa, and travel-related expenses are also tax-deductible if you volunteer an average of eight hours a day.

If you've decided a volunteer vacation might be a good idea for your next trip, it's time to get to research. Let's look at a few of the sites you can use to find opportunities and verify you're volunteering for an organization you're comfortable at.

Photo by KOMUnews.

How to Find a Volunteer Job That's Right for You

How to Book a $1700 Vacation for $700 by VolunteeringPlanning volunteer vacations can require a bit more work than you may be used to, depending on how you normally plan your vacations. You won't find a bunch of deal aggregation sites that filter everything for you in a neat pattern. Instead, your best bet is to go directly through the non-profit. Here are a few places to get you started on your search:

  • American Hiking Society: As far as I'm concerned, if you're going to wander off into the American wilderness and go hiking, you might as well improve on the trails and area as you go along. From my own experience, volunteering with the American Hiking Society is a blast for a number of reasons. If you're a beginner camper, it sticks you with people who know what they're doing so you can learn the ropes. The work itself is as simple as constructing steps or transporting vegetation. You pay a $245 membership fee, but everything is free, including meals, boarding, and park fees.
  • World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms: This one is simple: work on a farm and get free boarding and food for your stay. You can do this around the world and for the most part, you know exactly what to expect. It's not easy work, but it might be worth it for the savings.
  • Habitat for Humanity: Remember when we mentioned building houses earlier? Right, this is where you volunteer to do it. Experience isn't as necessary but you should be physically capable.
  • Global Volunteer: This site isn't exactly the cutting edge of travel booking, but it gets you the information you need. As the name suggests, Global Volunteer is best for global trips and is at its best at providing information about volunteering in Africa and Asia. The work ranges from teaching English to building homes.
  • Sierra Club: If you're the type of person to spend your vacations outdoors, the Sierra Club's offering might be appealing. They usually cover the rooms, food, and materials you need, but they can get pretty costly. The benefit? On top of volunteering you also get to surf in the oceans off New Zealand or service trails in Hawaii.
  • Idealist: Idealist is a massive database of volunteer opportunities from around the globe. It's not geared directly toward volunteer vacations, but as a search engine, it's a good place to start and find the non-profits working in the country you're interested in visiting. You can find temporary volunteer opportunities that offer housing and food.
  • VAOPS: The site is not pretty, but what it does, it does well. Instead of concentrating on the middleman (and adding cost), VAOPS gives you links directly to the charities so you can plan through them. This means you can find zero cost trips easily. Transitions Abroad is a similar service.
  • STA Travel: If you're a student or teacher, you can use the already cheap STA Travel to find and book a volunteer vacation. These are typically on the pricier side, but include more "adventure" style vacations where you're chasing down sharks for rescuing turtles for a week.

If you're using one of the above search engines, keep in mind it's possible to use them as a suggestion as opposed to a booking agent. If you find a cause you're interested in and a location you'd like to go, try visiting the non-profit itself to see if you can schedule directly through them.

If you are planning on leaving the country, don't forget that aside from a Visa, you also might need vaccinations. The CDC provides a list of what you need. You should also do a little research into the non-profit to make sure it's legit. Charity Navigator, GuideStar, and The Better Business Bureau are good places to research before making plans.

Now that we have an outline of the resources available, let's go ahead and plan a sample trip and see how much money we can save in the process.

Photo by USFWS Mountain-Prarie.

Book a Trip to Hawaii and Save $1,000

While I've done smaller jaunts in North America, I've never gone for the full-force two-three week volunteer vacation across the globe. Personally, I've always had a desire to visit and work at the Chernobyl disaster site in Ukraine, but since I imagine most people don't share that desire, let's go with something a bit more exciting: Let's plan a volunteer vacation to Hawaii.

Step 1: Find a Volunteer Opportunity in Hawaii

How to Book a $1700 Vacation for $700 by VolunteeringLet's start with some quick numbers. An average price for a hotel on one of the islands of Hawaii is around $100 a night (though you could easily find a more expensive hotel). A flight will cost about $850-$900 from the U.S. during most times of the year. So for a trip to Hawaii for one person and not included meal expenses we're looking at around $1,450.

Searching the sites above, I came up with two appealing options:

  • Sierra Club's hiking and service in Kauai ($945 + airfare): This trip requires moderate work on trails in a national park across a seven-day period and includes meals, in country transportation, and boarding. The work takes about eight hours a day and involves picking up trash, moving rocks for trail posts, and removing exotic plants. Three of the days are devoted heavily to work, while the rest of your time can be spent however you see fit. It's more expensive than the cost of a hotel, but gets you to the outdoors with people who know what they're doing.
  • American Hiking's Iao Valley State Park vacation ($245 + airfare): This trip also requires some moderate work on trails in a state park. You will be doing the same type of work as the Sierra Club for about eight hours each day. The price includes meals, permits, and boarding. As the cheaper option, this is the most appealing. A shared cabin isn't a hotel, but if you're in Hawaii, you shouldn't be spending too much time indoors anyway.

Deciding on the location and volunteer work is just the first step. Unlike a regular vacation, volunteer work requires you to apply to make sure you're capable of doing the work. This application process typically takes a week and can be submitted online. These aren't hard hitting questions. They typically cover your experience, physical condition, and volunteer history. Not having experience doesn't immediately bar you from participating, but the application process works to vet people who might be in over their head. Make no mistake about it, this will be work no matter what type of volunteering you do.

Before you settle on your plan, request an information packet and itinerary for your visit. This will help you make your final decision and guarantee no surprises will ruin your trip.

Once you hear back from the non-profit and are accepted, you can book your flight through any channel of your choosing. If you're getting picked up at the airport by the volunteer service they'll give you a time slot to shoot for. The same goes for the returning flight. Check out ultimate travel hacking guide for a few useful tricks to get cheap tickets.

Photo by Kristina D.C. Hoeppner.

Step 2: Figure Out What You Need

How to Book a $1700 Vacation for $700 by VolunteeringWorking in a foreign place is difficult enough as it is, but doing it without the proper gear is going to make your life miserable. You will receive a packing list from the volunteer organization of everything you need. Follow this as closely as possible. In addition to normal vacation items like clothes and a toothbrush, we'll need: a sleeping bag, rain jacket, hiking boots, mosquito repellent, and a day pack for this trip.

Photo by Nestor Lacle.

Step 3: What To Do When You Arrive

For many of these vacations, you get picked up at the airport with a group of other participants on the first day. They take you to the volunteer site and let you unwind before giving you an orientation on the program. Depending on where you are and what type of work you're doing, this will vary from a primer on cultural customs to a brief walk around the work site.

In our American Hiking Society example, we're not getting picked up at the airport. According to Google Maps, no good bus system gets us from the airport to the volunteer site, so we'll take a cab. At $3 a mile, a cab will cost about $24.

Once we arrive, we get checked in and go to the cabin to meet the rest of the volunteers. For the next week, we'll be cleaning up trails, taking hikes, and enjoying the wilderness of Hawaii. Meals are provided by our host, as is a plan for every day of the week. Sure, a big chunk of our day is work, but at least we're in a great location.

The Final Cost Breakdown

Before we break down the cost, we need to add a meals to the regular vacation. For three meals at an estimate of $10 a meal, we can add an additional $200 to the minimum cost. Every trip is going to net different results, but it's a fair starting point.

But we're not done yet. We volunteered for the full duration of our stay in Hawaii so the entire trip is tax deductible.

Donations to the American Hiking Society are completely tax deductible. This includes the plane fare, cab, and any additional fees incurred. For a full list of what you can deduct from your volunteer vacation, check out the IRS Publication 526 or get in touch with a tax professional. Your tax situation is different from mine, but for someone like me, a $1,100 tax deduction can add an estimated $400 to my rebate. This drops our basic cost to $700. Not bad for a week long trip to Hawaii.

Volunteer Vacation: $700

Regular Vacation: $1,650


Volunteering on your vacation isn't for everyone. Nor is it for every trip you take. It is a good way to explore a part of the world you would not otherwise see or be able to afford. If you're a student, it's a great way to get experience in the field by volunteering on a science expedition. Even as a working adult, these experiences are worth your resume. Personally, I see it as a way means to go on a trip and interact directly with a culture or landscape without the need for rental cars, bus schedules, or complicated itineraries. Plus, if worked right, it's a heck of a lot cheaper.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/iHiBHoRoTDk/how-to-book-a-1700-vacation-for-700-by-volunteering

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Report: Genoa fan in serious condition after clash

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:56 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2012

MILAN (AP) -A Genoa fan is reportedly in serious condition after injuring his head during a clash with police before an Italian Cup loss to Inter Milan.

The ANSA news agency reports that the 38-year-old fan - identified only as Massimo M. - was injured while a police officer attempted to calm him down outside the San Siro stadium. He was taken to the Policlinico hospital.

Inter beat Genoa 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Math may explain why serial killers kill

Researchers have discovered that the seemingly erratic behavior of the "Rostov Ripper," a prolific serial killer active in the 1980s, conformed to the same mathematical pattern obeyed by earthquakes, avalanches, stock market crashes and many other sporadic events. The finding suggests an explanation for why serial killers kill.

Mikhail Simkin and Vwani Roychowdhury, electrical engineers at the University of California, Los Angeles, modeled the behavior of Andrei Chikatilo, a gruesome murderer who took the lives of 53 people in Rostov, Russia between 1978 and 1990. Though Chikatilo sometimes went nearly three years without committing murder, on other occasions, he went just three days. The researchers found that the seemingly random spacing of his murders followed a mathematical distribution known as a power law.

When the number of days between Chikatilo's murders is plotted against the number of times he waited that number of days, the relationship forms a near-straight line on a type of graph called a log-log plot. It's the same result scientists get when they plot the magnitude of earthquakes against the number of times each magnitude has occurred ? and the same goes for a variety of natural phenomena. The power law outcome suggests that there was an underlying natural process driving the serial killer's behavior.

Simkin and Roychowdhury hypothesize that it's the same type of effect that has also been found to cause epileptics to have seizures. The psychotic effects that lead a serial killer to commit murder "arise from simultaneous firing of large number of neurons in the brain," they wrote. The paper, a preprint of which is available on the arXiv, has been submitted to Biology Letters.

In the brain, the firing of a single neuron can potentially trigger the firing of thousands of others, each of which can in turn trigger thousands more. In this way, neuronal activity cascades through the brain. Most of the time, the cascade is small and quickly dies down, but occasionally ? after time intervals determined by the power law ? the neuronal activity surpasses a threshold.

In epileptics, a threshold-crossing cascade of neurons induces a seizure.? And if the Simkin and Roychowdhury's theory is right, a similar buildup of excited neurons is what flooded the Rostov Ripper with an overwhelming desire to commit murder. Sometimes he went years without his neurons crossing the threshold, other times, just days.

When Simkin and Roychowdhury factored a delay into their model to account for the time it took for Chikatilo to plan his next attack, and when they treated his murders as having had a sedative effect on him by damping down the activity of his neurons, their model fit strongly with his murder pattern.

Murder rhythm
James Fallon, a neuroscientist at UC Irvine who studies the brains of psychopaths, said the new findings are well-aligned with prior observations about serial killers, many of whom seem to behave similarly to drug addicts. ?In both cases, Fallon said, withdrawal from their addiction "builds and builds and then hits a threshold trigger point, after which they go on a spree to release that 'longing.'"

And as with a drug addiction, withdrawal from killing may cause a buildup of hormones in a part of the brain called the amygdala, "and this very, very unpleasant feeling can only be reversed by acting out whatever the addicting stimulus might be," Fallon told Life's Little Mysteries.

Though the new paper presents a compelling systems-engineering quantitative analysis of serial killing, the theoretical model must be adjusted, Fallon said. "The time course of (neuronal cluster firing) is in terms of milliseconds to seconds, and not months to years (which the authors acknowledge). So I think they need to add a component, perhaps a hormonal-type damping mechanism that has a time constant over weeks, months and years," he wrote in an email.

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These types of hormonal clocks are involved in producing many types of biological rhythms, including the sleep-wake cycle, reproductive cycle and even the "sexual rut," Fallon said. If the authors were able to model a hormonal influence on the behavior of serial killers, "they may uncover a 'serial killer rhythm,' or some such beast."

Puppets of biology
Amanda Pustilnik, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Law whose work focuses on models of the mind and neuroscience in criminal law, believes that a more rigorous, expanded version of the new paper could be admissible in court cases involving serial killers. However, as it stands, there isn't enough to go on.

"Certain patterns can occur randomly in nature without meaning anything. While it is interesting in itself that the case of this one serial killer fits a power law distribution, it would be incorrect to draw conclusions from that," Pustilnik said. "If (the authors) can expand their data set and it can turn out to be a more statistically valid model, then it might be an interesting line of research on recurring human behaviors caused by an urge or drive and the discharge of an urge or drive."

According to Pustilnik, neuroscience research demonstrating that a psychopath is merely a victim of his own faulty biology cannot be used in court as an argument for his innocence. It is admissible, however, as evidence that a jury should be lenient during sentencing.

"When we're trying to figure out 'how blameworthy is this person?' I can imagine that a serial killer could use this finding at sentencing to argue that he was not morally blameworthy, but rather the puppet of his biology," she said. "As in, 'the neuron firing pattern makes me do this.'"

To be used as such, though, the result of the case study would need to be generalized across a much larger set of cases to determine whether its finding is significant, or merely a chance correlation, Pustilnik said.

As well as expanding the research to include a larger data set, there are many other lines of further inquiry. The study authors say they suspect many common human behaviors that stem from urges or addictions may also follow a power law distribution. For example, "shopping or getting drunk may follow similar pattern for some people," Simkin wrote in an email. Like some murders, these behaviors might be even less governed by free will than previously believed.

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? 2012 LifesLittleMysteries.com. All rights reserved. More from LifesLittleMysteries.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46045497/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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