Analysis: U.S. states race to capture online gaming bonanza

(Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie this week finally approved online gaming in the Garden State. Now comes the hard part: banding together with other states to attract more gamblers, drive up jackpots and lure players away from offshore websites.

New Jersey is now the third state to approve online gambling, after Nevada and Delaware. The catch, however, is that the new laws apply only to people physically present in the individual states.

Several other states, including Massachusetts, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa and Mississippi, are weighing some kind of online gambling legislation. If they want to offer the big jackpots that attract scores of players, they are likely to look outside their borders to combine gaming offerings and set regulations, much as they have with multi-state lottery drawings like Powerball and Mega Millions.

"I would be shocked if within a few years there aren't multiple states cooperating," said Tom Goldstein, an attorney who has represented online gaming companies. Once that happens, Goldstein expects a "steamroller effect where a state legislature says 'Why are we passing up on tens of millions of tax revenue every year?"

According to American Gaming Association, about 85 countries have legalized online gambling, and an estimated $35 billion is bet online worldwide each year, including millions of people in the United States through offshore websites. Every state except Hawaii and Utah collects some kind of revenue from lotteries, casinos or other types of wagering. States received an estimated $7.5 billion in direct gaming revenue in 2011 on a fiscal year basis through licensing fees, taxes and other allocations, according to Fitch Ratings.

The U.S. government has long considered online wagering illegal, but the Department of Justice in late 2011 clarified its stance, paving the way for states to unilaterally legalize some forms of online gambling.

A state's population is a key factor for the new gaming programs. With just 2.7 million residents, Nevada could have trouble attracting enough in-state players to its online poker games to offer a range of limits, or the minimum and maximum amounts a player can wager on one bet. Without a wide range of active games, states could lose business to the unregulated offshore sites that dominate the market currently.

"There's going to be intense competition for customers," Michael Paladino, a Fitch Ratings senior director, said.

A partnership with New Jersey, which has more than three times as many residents, would boost the pool of potential players dramatically. If more states sign up for online gaming and form a large, multi-state system, the numbers of players could soar -- and so will tax revenues.

"If you are flying to Vegas you are not necessarily doing so with the aim of being able to fire up your laptop and gamble," said ITG casino analyst Matthew Jacob, pointing out that most people go to Vegas for its casinos. "New Jersey is bigger, but the opportunity comes when a number of states are up and operators can span across those states."

States hit hard by the financial crisis, and by the increasing costs of retirement and healthcare benefits, are still struggling to plug big budget holes, and many expanded gaming as they looked in every corner for new sources of revenue.

New Jersey will take 15 percent of the amount won by online casinos from players within its borders. Nevada will keep 6.75 percent of the dollars won from online poker players. Nevada's law legalized only online poker, while New Jersey's allows for a broad array of games, including online slots, blackjack and other table games.

Cooperation would also help states regulate the market by sharing resources for identifying where gamblers are located and guarding against under-age gambling, stolen identities and credit card fraud.

"If individual jurisdictions go about setting up their own individual processes without the industry as a whole looking at it together, it's going to be a very difficult thing to do," said Craig Durbin, committee chair for the lottery subcommittee of the National Association of Gaming Regulators.

At the same time, Durbin said it will take time to find common ground. For instance, technology that allows states to detect where a person is playing online -- so that someone in New York can't access New Jersey's online gaming system, for instance, is not totally foolproof. More stringent geolocation options could "put limitations on growth, or on the ability to create revenue," Durbin said.

Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International told Reuters in October that several states were already in talks about how to link interactive gaming plans.

"We are encouraged to know that states are talking to one another. They are crafting their own legislation and legal frameworks but are talking with other states in anticipation of compacting with multiple states," said MGM CEO Jim Murren.

Such pacts would come in addition to relationships many casinos have with overseas online gaming companies. Gibraltar-based Bwin. Party Digital Entertainment, the world's largest listed online gaming group, has a joint venture with MGM and Boyd Gaming. Rival company 888 Holdings is partnered with Caesars Entertainment, while Wynn Resorts is partnered with PokerStars.

While it may be hard for states to not make a run for the money, historic trends show revenue spikes from gambling are anything but a steady stream. A 2012 analysis by Stateline, a project of the Pew Center on the States, found that of the 13 states that had legalized casinos, casinos at racetracks or lotteries in the previous decade, more than two-thirds "failed to live up to the initial promises of projections made by political and industry champions of legalized gambling."

"Revenues generated through online gaming will hike in the beginning," said Lucy Dadayan, a senior policy analyst at the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York. "But they are always short lived."

(Additional reporting by Hilary Russ; editing by Edward Tobin and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-u-states-race-capture-online-gaming-bonanza-231723411--sector.html

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Rosa Parks statue set to be unveiled at Capitol

FILE -- In a June 15, 1999 file photo Rosa Parks smiles during a Capitol Hill ceremony where Parks was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington. Parks will become the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the Capitol?s Statuary Hall on Wednesday Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Khue Bui, file)

FILE -- In a June 15, 1999 file photo Rosa Parks smiles during a Capitol Hill ceremony where Parks was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington. Parks will become the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the Capitol?s Statuary Hall on Wednesday Feb. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Khue Bui, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rosa Parks is famous for her 1955 refusal to give up her seat on a city bus in Alabama to a white man, but there's plenty about the rest of her experiences that she deliberately withheld from her family.

While Parks and her husband, Raymond, were childless, her brother, the late Sylvester McCauley, had 13 children. They decided Parks' nieces and nephews didn't need to know the horrible details surrounding her civil rights activism, said Rhea McCauley, Parks' niece.

"They didn't talk about the lynchings and the Jim Crow laws," said McCauley, 61, of Orlando, Fla. "They didn't talk about that stuff to us kids. Everyone wanted to forget about it and sweep it under the rug."

Parks' descendants now have a chance to be first-hand witnesses as their late matriarch makes more history, this time becoming the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. The statue of Parks joins a bust of another black woman, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, which sits in the Capitol Visitors Center.

President Barack Obama, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner are among the dignitaries taking part in the unveiling Wednesday. McCauley said more than 50 of Parks' relatives traveled to Washington for the ceremony.

In a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus in segregated Montgomery, Ala. She was arrested, touching off a bus boycott that stretched over a year.

Jeanne Theoharis, author of the new biography "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks," said Parks was very much a full-fledged civil rights activist, yet her contributions have not been treated like those of other movement leaders, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Rosa Parks is typically honored as a woman of courage, but that honor focuses on the one act she made on the bus on Dec. 5, 1955," said Theoharis, a political science professor at Brooklyn College-City University of New York.

"That courage, that night was the product of decades of political work before that and continued ... decades after" in Detroit, she said.

Parks died Oct. 24, 2005, at age 92. The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor on Feb. 4, which would have been her 100th birthday.

Parks was raised by her mother and grandparents who taught her that part of being respected was to demand respect, said Theoharis, who spent six years researching and writing the Parks biography.

She was an educated woman who recalled seeing her grandfather sitting on the porch steps with a gun during the height of white violence against blacks in post-World War I Alabama.

After she married Raymond Parks, she joined him in his work in trying to help nine young black men, ages 12 to 19, who were accused of raping two white women in 1931. The nine were later convicted by an all-white jury in Scottsboro, Ala., part of a long legal odyssey for the so-called Scottsboro Boys.

In the 1940s, Parks joined the NAACP and was elected secretary of its Montgomery, Ala., branch, working with civil rights activist Edgar Nixon to fight barriers to voting for blacks and investigate sexual violence against women, Theoharis said.

Just five months before refusing to give up her seat, Parks attended Highlander Folk School, which trained community organizers on issues of poverty but had begun turning its attention to civil rights.

After the bus boycott, Parks and her husband lost their jobs and were threatened. They left for Detroit, where Parks was an activist against the war in Vietnam and worked on poverty, housing and racial justice issues, Theoharis said.

Theoharis said that while she considers the 9-foot-statue of Parks in the Capitol an "incredible honor" for Parks, "I worry about putting this history in the past when the actual Rosa Parks was working on and calling on us to continue to work on racial injustice."

Parks has been honored previously in Washington with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999, both during the Clinton administration.

But McCauley said the Statuary Hall honor is different.

"The medal you could take it, put it on a mantel," McCauley said. "But her being in the hall itself is permanent and children will be able to tour the (Capitol) and look up and see my aunt's face."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-27-Black%20History-Rosa%20Parks%20Statue/id-0f133c284eb04e4da5a6fc0780f0c752

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Penney's shares plunge after 4Q massive loss

NEW YORK (AP) ? J.C. Penney is the biggest loser.

Shares of J.C. Penney Co. plunged nearly 16 percent on Thursday, the biggest loser on the Standard &Poor's 500 index for most of the day. The drop comes a day after the department-store chain reported its fourth consecutive larger-than-expected quarterly loss on another steep sales decline

The drop means that Penney shares, which are now trading at around $18, have lost nearly 60 percent of their value since January of last year when CEO Ron Johnson announced his plan to ditch hundreds of sales in favor of everything low prices. At the time, investors had sent Penney shares up 24 percent to $43 as a vote of confidence

The stock drop is the latest sign that Johnson's turnaround strategy is failing on both Main Street and Wall Street. The company's quarterly and full-year results, which it reported Wednesday after the markets closed, revealed that shoppers still aren't buying it. But the sell-off shows that investors, too, are concerned that the plan won't work.

"I fear it will be much worse as consumers continue to walk away from J.C. Penney and its financial health continues to deteriorate," said Walter Loeb, a New York based independent consultant.

Penney's spokeswoman Daphne Avila declined to comment on Thursday's stock movement. But Johnson on Wednesday acknowledged to investors that the 1,100-store chain had made some mistakes. He also told them that Penney would start offering sales in stores every week.

"Experience is making mistakes and learning from them," Johnson told investors on Wednesday. "I have learned a lot."

If J.C. Penney's results are any indication, Johnson is right. Penney reported on Wednesday after the markets closed that it widened its quarterly loss to $552 million, or $2.51 per share. Revenue fell 24.8 percent to $12.98 billion.

Revenue at stores opened a least a year dropped 31.7 percent. The measure is a key indicator of a retailer's health. Customer traffic dropped 17 percent in the quarter, worse than the 10 percent drop in the third quarter.

Results for the full year were even more staggering. For the fiscal year, Penney lost $985 million, or $4.49 per share, compared with a loss of $152 million, or 70 cents per share, in the year ended January 28, 2012. Revenue dropped 24.8 percent to $12.98 billion.

It's disappointing turn of events for Johnson, the mastermind of Apple's successful retail stores who took the top job at Penney in November 2011. A couple of months later, on Feb. 1 of last year, Johnson got rid of the nearly 600 sales Penney offered each year and lowered prices in the store by 40 percent. He also got rid of the word "sales" from the company's marketing.

But customers weren't responding to the changes, and Johnson has tweaked his strategy a few times, including bringing back the word "sale" in its marketing last spring. The latest change came earlier this month when Penney began adding back more sales events and putting price tags on half of its merchandise to show customers how much they're saving by shopping at Penney.

Penney said that its seeing positive results from its makeover of some of its stores with sectioned-off shops that feature different brands. The company plans to have 700 of its 1,100 stores nationwide remodeled in the coming years, but critics question whether the company is running out of time ? and money.

In November, Penney said that it would end the latest fiscal year with $1 billion in cash. But the company winded up ending the year with $930 million in cash, which was better than analysts had feared but below the company's target.

The company also told investors on Wednesday that it delayed $85 million in payments to its suppliers from the fourth quarter to the early part of the first quarter. That suggests they're running out of cash.

"Our analysis suggests (Penney) will deplete cash" the third quarter, wrote Kimberly C. Greenberger, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in a report published Thursday.

_______

Follow Anne D'Innocenzio at www.twitter.com/adinnocenzio

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/penneys-shares-plunge-4q-massive-loss-162621956--finance.html

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Automatica vehicle audio content device review

If you’re like me, you probably listen to music or podcasts when riding in your vehicle.? While I’ve never found it particularly difficult to aggregate my content to use in the car, the folks at Inrete think they have a better way to do it using their Automatica device.? The device requires a USB port [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/02/26/automatica-vehicle-audio-content-device-review/

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Now hear this: Forerunners of inner-ear cells that enable hearing identified

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a group of progenitor cells in the inner ear that can become the sensory hair cells and adjacent supporting cells that enable hearing. Studying these progenitor cells could someday lead to discoveries that help millions of Americans suffering from hearing loss due to damaged or impaired sensory hair cells.

"It's well known that, in mammals, these specialized sensory cells don't regenerate after damage," said Alan Cheng, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology. (In contrast, birds and fish are much better equipped: They can regain their sensory cells after trauma caused by noise or certain drugs.) "Identifying the progenitor cells, and the cues that trigger them to become sensory cells, will allow us to better understand not just how the inner ear develops, but also how to devise new ways to treat hearing loss and deafness."

The research will be published online Feb. 26 in Development. Cheng is the senior author. Former medical student Taha Jan, MD, and postdoctoral scholar Renjie Chai, PhD, share lead authorship of the study. Roel Nusse, PhD, a professor of developmental biology, is a co-senior author of the research.

The inner ear is a highly specialized structure for gathering and transmitting vibrations in the air. The auditory compartment, called the cochlea, is a snail-shaped cavity that houses specialized cells with hair-like projections that sense vibration, much like seaweed waving in the ocean current. These hair cells are responsible for both hearing and balance, and are surrounded by supporting cells that are also critical for hearing.

Twenty percent of all Americans, and up to 33 percent of those ages 65-74, suffer from hearing loss. Hearing aids and, in severe cases, cochlear implants can be helpful for many people, but neither address the underlying cause: the loss of hair cells in the inner ear. Cheng and his colleagues identified a class of cells called tympanic border cells that can give rise to hair cells and the cells that support them during a phase of cochlear maturation right after birth.

"Until now, these cells have had no clear function," said Cheng. "We used several techniques to define their behavior in cell culture dishes, as well as in mice. I hope these findings will lead to new areas of research to better understand how our ears develop and perhaps new ways to stimulate the regeneration of sensory cells in the cochlea."

Cheng recently received a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to study the limited regeneration of the same sensory hair cells that occur in a different region of the inner ear called the vestibular system, which helps us balance. Lessons learned there may also translate into aid for patients with hearing loss.

Although regeneration of sensory hair cells does not happen naturally, recent research has suggested that the mammalian ear may harbor a sub-population of -- presumably inactive -- progenitor cells. The research team led by Cheng and Nusse used a strain of laboratory mice that allowed the scientists to track the activation of a cell-signaling pathway driven by a protein called Wnt. The Wnt pathway has previously been shown to be involved in many developmental functions, and it drives the renewal and proliferation of many types of stem cells.

"We wanted to investigate the Wnt pathway because of its tremendous influence in the development and regeneration of many other organs," said Cheng.

The researchers found that tympanic border cells, or TBCs, which form a thin layer under the sensory epithelium, are actively dividing in mice during the first three weeks after birth (the time corresponding to about the first trimester of human development, during which the ability to hear is established) and give rise to at least a subset of sensory and non-sensory cells in the ear. They also divided vigorously in isolated cochlea when the Wnt pathway was activated, and stopped when the pathway was inhibited. Finally, the researchers showed that purified TBCs were able to specialize into hair cells and support cells when cultured in a laboratory dish.

"It's surprising to think that these progenitor cells are among this largely underappreciated group of cells," said Cheng. "This study also highlights that, even in mice, there is a lot of maturation occurring after birth as hearing develops. There's clearly a lot more to be understood. Next we'd like to look at these cells in models of hearing loss. Do they have the ability to regenerate? If so, under what conditions?"

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. T. A. Jan, R. Chai, Z. N. Sayyid, R. van Amerongen, A. Xia, T. Wang, S. T. Sinkkonen, Y. A. Zeng, J. R. Levin, S. Heller, R. Nusse, A. G.-L. Cheng. Tympanic border cells are Wnt-responsive and can act as progenitors for postnatal mouse cochlear cells. Development, 2013; 140 (6): 1196 DOI: 10.1242/dev.087528

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/Lb9W_1a7htY/130226081234.htm

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Nokia Lumia 520 tries to arrive at FCC incognito, given away by codename

Nokia just tried to hustle a certain RM-914 model through the FCC, but thanks to an earlier glance at the Fed's Indonesian counterpart POSTEL, we know we're actually looking at the Lumia 520. As the Finnish outfit just announced, that model represents the new low-end of its Windows Phone 8 line, though it's decently spec'd with a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 4-inch 800 x 480 IPS display and 1,430mAh battery. While eschewing LTE, the device will pack various WCDMA and HSPA+ frequencies for 3G, though in this case, we're not looking at WCDMA 900 / 2100 bands, meaning it's indeed a US model. Its next stop ought to be store shelves later this quarter -- followed by your pocket, if the $183 or so WP8 handset rings your bell.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Source: FCC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/26/nokia-lumia-520-FCC-RM-914/

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3 years on, BP's day in court

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Nearly three years after a deadly rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico triggered the nation's worst offshore oil spill, a federal judge in New Orleans is set to preside over a high-stakes trial for the raft of litigation spawned by the disaster.

Barring an 11th-hour settlement, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier will hear several hours of opening statements Monday by lawyers for the companies involved in the 2010 spill and the plaintiffs who sued them. And the judge, not a jury, ultimately could decide how much more money BP PLC and its partners on the ill-fated drilling project owe for their roles in the environmental catastrophe.

BP has said it already has racked up more than $24 billion in spill-related expenses and has estimated it will pay a total of $42 billion to fully resolve its liability for the disaster that killed 11 workers and spewed millions of gallons of oil.

But the trial attorneys for the federal government and Gulf states and private plaintiffs hope to convince the judge that the company is liable for much more.

With billions of dollars on the line, the companies and their courtroom adversaries have spared no expense in preparing for a trial that could last several months. Hundreds of attorneys have worked on the case, generating roughly 90 million pages of documents, logging nearly 9,000 docket entries and taking more than 300 depositions of witnesses who could testify at trial.

"In terms of sheer dollar amounts and public attention, this is one of the most complex and massive disputes ever faced by the courts," said Fordham University law professor Howard Erichson, an expert in complex litigation.

Barbier has promised he won't let the case drag on for years as has the litigation over the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, which still hasn't been completely resolved. He encouraged settlement talks that already have resolved billions of dollars in spill-related claims.

"Judge Barbier has managed the case actively and moved it along toward trial pretty quickly," Erichson said.

In December, Barbier gave final approval to a settlement between BP and Plaintiffs' Steering Committee lawyers representing Gulf Coast businesses and residents who claim the spill cost them money. BP estimates it will pay roughly $8.5 billion to resolve tens of thousands of these claims, but the deal doesn't have a cap.

BP resolved a Justice Department criminal probe by agreeing to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay $4 billion in criminal penalties. Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean Ltd. reached a separate settlement with the federal government, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge and agreeing to pay $1.4 billion in criminal and civil penalties.

But there's plenty left for the lawyers to argue about at trial, given that the federal government and Gulf states haven't resolved civil claims against the company that could be worth more than $20 billion.

The Justice Department and private plaintiffs' attorneys have said they would prove BP acted with gross negligence before the blowout of its Macondo well on April 20, 2010.

BP's civil penalties would soar if Barbier agrees with that claim.

BP, meanwhile, argues the federal government's estimate of how much oil spewed from the well ? more than 200 million gallons ? is inflated by at least 20 percent. Clean Water Act penalties are based on how many barrels of oil spilled.

Barbier plans to hold the trial in at least two phases and may issue partial rulings at the end of each. The first phase, which could last three months, is designed to determine what caused the blowout and assign percentages of blame to the companies involved. The second phase will address efforts to stop the flow of oil from the well and aims to determine how much crude spilled into the Gulf.

The trial originally was scheduled to start a year ago, but Barbier postponed it to allow BP to wrap up its settlement with the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee.

Barbier, 68, was nominated by President Bill Clinton and has served on the court since 1998. He had a private law practice, primarily representing small businesses and other plaintiffs in civil cases, and served as president of the New Orleans Bar Association before he joined the bench.

Dane Ciolino, a Loyola University law professor who has represented criminal defendants in Barbier's court, described him as a "no-nonsense" but even-tempered judge.

"He's very good at getting down to the pertinent issues," Ciolino said. "Some judges could be described as impatient, short or gruff. He is none of that."

Despite the bitter disputes at the root of the case, Barbier has maintained a collegial atmosphere at his monthly status conferences with the lawyers, cracking an occasional joke or good-naturedly ribbing attorneys over their college football allegiances.

Cordial with each other in the courtroom, the competing attorneys have saved their harshest rhetoric for court filings or news releases. Despite its settlement with BP last year, the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee attorneys won't be allies at trial with the London-based oil giant. And they still haven't resolved civil claims against Transocean or cement contractor Halliburton.

"These three companies' reckless, greed-driven conduct killed 11 good men, polluted the Gulf for years and left the region's economy in shambles. Any statement to the contrary is self-serving nonsense," Steve Herman, a lead plaintiffs' attorney, said in a recent statement.

A series of government investigations has exhaustively documented the mistakes that led to the blowout, spreading the blame among the companies. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said witnesses scheduled to testify at trial will reveal new information about the cause of the disaster.

"I think you're going to learn a lot, particularly about the culture that existed at BP and their priorities," Strange said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trial-set-open-gulf-oil-spill-litigation-092735476.html

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Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Internet users who are illegally sharing music, movies or television shows are going to start to receive warning notices from the nation's five major Internet service providers.

The Copyright Alert System, organized by the recording and film industry, is being activated this week to target consumers who may be engaging in piracy using peer-to-peer software.

Under the new system, complaints will prompt an Internet service provider ? such as Verizon or AT&T ? to notify a customer whose Internet address has been detected sharing files illegally. A person will be given up to six opportunities to stop before the Internet provider will take more drastic steps, such as temporarily slowing their connection. Proponents say the focus is on educating consumers. They acknowledge it's unlikely to deter chronic violators.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/net-providers-begin-warning-illegal-downloads-231923384--finance.html

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Why Pluto can't have a moon named Mickey

NBC News' Alan Boyle joins the SETI Institute's Mark Showalter and Franck Marchis in a Google+ Hangout marking the end of the "Pluto Rocks" moon-naming contest.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

Vulcan and Cerberus (or Kerberos) emerged as the people's choices for naming Pluto's tiniest moons in the SETI Institute's "Pluto Rocks" contest, which ended on Monday. But in the course of running the contest, the organizers fielded 30,000 write-in suggestions ? and you may well see some of those suggestions surface in the future.

"I've been delighted by the response," said Mark Showalter, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute who played a leading role in the discovery of Pluto's fourth and fifth moons. Showalter was the point person for the moon-naming contest, which drew more than 450,000 online votes over the past two weeks.

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More than 20 names were on the ballot, including Vulcan (the Roman god of fire) and Cerberus (the watchdog of the underworld). Vulcan was added to the list after the contest started, at the urging of "Star Trek" actor William Shatner, and grabbed the lion's share of the votes. But there were scads of other suggestions that weren't used, mostly because they weren't in line with the International Astronomical Union's tradition that the moons of Pluto should be named after figures from Greek or Roman mythology with some sort of connection to the underworld. Pluto was himself the mythological god of the underworld.

It's the IAU that has the final say over the names for the moons, which were discovered over the past couple of years and are now known merely as P4 and P5. Now that the crowdsourcing contest is over, Showalter willl be meeting with his colleagues on the discovery team and discussing whether to go with Vulcan and Cerberus or some other names. The names selected by the discoverers will then be considered by IAU committee members for adoption or reconsideration.

"It could take one to two months for the final names of P4 and P5 to be selected and approved," Showalter said on the "Pluto Rocks" website. "Stay tuned."

M. Buie / SwRI / NASA / ESA

These two pictures of Pluto represent the Hubble Space Telescope's most detailed view of the dwarf planet, but pictures from NASA's New Horizons probe should provide better resolution.

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During a Google+ Hangout, Showalter mentioned the two most frequently suggested names that were left off the ballot. No surprise there: Considering that Pluto is a Disney cartoon character as well as a dwarf planet, you'd expect that Mickey and Minnie (as in Walt Disney's talking mice) would be the favorites.

"Yes, I am a big fan of Disney myself, but no, they are not compliant names," Showalter said. Although Mickey and Minnie make a cuter couple than Orpheus and Eurydice, they're not Greek or Roman mythological characters connected with the underworld.

Some of the other names, however, may come up again. When NASA's New Horizons probe sails past Pluto in 2015, still more mini-moons might be spotted. P6, P7 and so on would provide additional opportunities for the "compliant names" on Showalter's newly expanded list. And that's not all: New Horizons' camera could to snap pictures of previously unseen features on Pluto and its moons, That opens up a new frontier for names.

The names of planetary features don't have to follow the rules about Greek or Roman mythology: On Mercury, for example, craters are named after famous writers and artists. The hydrocarbon lakes detected on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, are named after the earthly lakes they resemble. Titan's mountains are named after the fictional mountains from "The Lord of the Rings" and other works by J.R.R. Tolkien, while the Saturnian moon's dark plains are named after planets from the "Dune" science-fiction series.

For Pluto and its moons, "we have all kinds of options," Showalter said. He noted that the naming suggestions followed some potentially appealing trends ? specifically, Norse mythological figures as well as characters and locations from the "Star Wars" movie series and H.P. Lovecraft's fantasy and horror tales. Might we hear about Mount Loki, the Hoth ice sheet or Cthulhu Crater in the years to come? Will some scientist pick up on the Vulcan connection and start naming the hills of a Plutonian moon after Worf, Quark, Chakotay and T'Pol? To paraphrase another character from the "Star Trek" saga: "Make it so!"

More about planetary names:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/25/17092305-why-pluto-cant-have-a-moon-named-mickey-but-may-get-cthulhu-crater?lite

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Seth MacFarlane Wasn't a Terrible Oscars Host After All

Minutes into his opening monologue as host of the 2013 Oscars, Seth MacFarlane cracked a joke about the best oicture nominee, Django Unchained. "This is the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who's been subjected to unthinkable violence," he began. "Or, as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie." While the audience laughed uneasily, MacFarlane voiced what many were thinking about the host: "'That's what we were afraid he would do,'" he quipped. "That's as bad as it gets, if it makes you feel any better!" he tried to assure viewers (and censors).

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/seth-macfarlane-oscar-hostactually-better-mediocre/1-a-523552?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aseth-macfarlane-oscar-hostactually-better-mediocre-523552

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Warby Parker Grabs New Investment From American Express & J. Crew CEO, Closing $41.5M Round

New York-based eyewear startup Warby Parker is off to a good start in 2013, having recently been fingered as a possible partner for Google Glass. Now the company is reported to have gained an additional investment from American Express and J. Crew chief executive Millard S. Drexler. The new investors went in alongside General Catalyst, Spark Capital, Tiger Global Management, Thrive Capital, Lerer Ventures?and Menlo Ventures, in a round totaling $41.5 million in financing, which officially closed in January.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NsF8rysIqzw/

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Diplomats: No Iran-UN nuke agency meeting planned

VIENNA (AP) ? Top Iranian officials coming to Vienna usually hold talks with the head of the U.N. nuclear agency. But diplomats say not this time, in a development that may reflect a deadlock on agency attempts to probe Tehran's atomic work.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is coming to a conference Tuesday that has nothing to do with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Still, he has missed few chances when in Vienna to meet with Yukiya Amano, whose International Atomic Energy Agency is monitoring Iran and trying to investigate suspicions it might have worked on atomic arms.

IAEA officials recently suggested a pause was needed on related talks after they dragged on without results. Iran denies such work or wanting such weapons.

The diplomats demanded anonymity because their information was confidential.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/diplomats-no-iran-un-nuke-agency-meeting-planned-184231735.html

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Wang pushes Chinese cycling into new era at Tour de Langkawi

Talented climber blazes to race lead atop Cameron Highlands

When the rider wearing the white jersey of the best Asian rider, Meiyin Wang took off in the day's early breakaway at Le Tour de Langkawi, he wasn't thinking about the stage win. Wang was just sticking to the pre-race plan: go on the attack and show-off Chinese cycling to the world stage.

The heavily-stacked ProTeam and Pro-Continental field were happy to let Wang and his breakaway companions their time in the spotlight for the most of the the 140.km stage and allowed the gap to balloon to over 12 minutes. His time would be over when they chose, or so they thought.

The 24-year-old was clearly the strongest from the five-man attack group and when the road tilted up toward the Cameron Highlands Wang was off on his own. The rider who hails from Qufu ? the birthplace of Confucius in the Shandong Provence only needed to ascent approximately 1,500m before cresting the finish line. He would also need to ride the final 40km on his own, which the bunch felt was highly unlikely.

The chasing field, whittled to less than 30 riders by the top could do nothing to stop the talented climber who simply maintained his advantage all the way to the line. The stage win and yellow jersey is not just a first for Wang but also for Chinese cycling. He's the first Chinese rider to win a stage at Langkawi and is now poised to become the first Asian rider to claim the Langkawi title.

"It was a very good day," said Wang through his teammate, translator and former ProTeam rider Fuyu Li.

"Our plan was not like this. We just tried to breakaway but not with me. Another two guys tried to breakaway but they couldn't get away so I jumped. I just tried but it turned out that I won today.

"It was not so easy but I tried to do my best. I want to show-off Chinese cycling. I want to show everyone for the Chinese [people]."

Entering the breakaway for the second time since the tour started is in part a small way of saying thank you to the organisers for giving them a chance to compete in one of Asia's most prestigious races, said Wang.

"I'm very thankful that our small team was invited to come to this race.

"I just wanted to show myself for Chinese cycling today but the race has only just begun. We will have to see after this stage if we receive more invitations [to other races on the Asia Tour]."

The rider who started his career in mountain biking and spent two years riding for Marco Polo in 2009 and 2010 told Cycingnews that his biggest goal is to join the top ranks of the WorldTour and that the terrain of Cameron Highlands was the ideal way for him to display his potential.

"My favourite type of stage is something like today, especially when it's hard like the Cameron Highlands; rolling and small mountains is what I like," he said.

"My dream is to go to a ProTeam, of course I would I want to one day go to the Tour de France, Giro or the Vuelta a Espana."

Wang will start the fourth stage with a 2:43 advantage over his nearest rival and with the majority of the pre-race favourites over three minutes in arrears, Wang has the potential to make history in Langkawi by becoming the first Asian or Chinese rider to win the 2.HC race.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cyclingnews/news/~3/JJJblsMmXqw/story01.htm

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Southern California's spike in home prices points toward sellers market

Housing prices spiked across the Southland in January as sales of distressed properties continued to decline, laying the framework for a sellers market, industry officials said Thursday.

Year-over-year increases in the median price ranged from 24.6 percent in the Los Angeles metro area to 22.6 percent in the Inland Empire, the California Association of Realtors said.

Reports from two other market trackers showed a similar trend.

"It's due to the shifting nature of the sales. We're seeing fewer foreclosures sales and sales of higher priced homes and that's pulling the median up," economist William W. Roberts, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge, said of the price gains.

He expects the median price to increase by 8 percent to 10 percent this year and that will pull more sellers into the market.

This bodes well for the region.

"I'm looking forward to a much nicer year and a very good summer, especially with fewer foreclosures. We are kind of taking those houses off the table. It's (foreclosure activity) low enough now that they aren't a factor any more," he said.

Sales were a mixed bag "" down in some areas and up in others from a year ago. All markets saw sales fall from December, which is normal for the time of year. Scant inventory is also holding back sales.

"A rush by homebuyers

trying to complete sales of higher-priced homes by the end of last year in order to avoid capital gains increases pulled forward sales that might have closed in January instead," association president Don Faught said in a statement. "Additionally, the extreme shortage of homes for sale continues to hinder California's housing market, as demonstrated by the nearly two months supply "

For all of California, sales of previously owned homes declined 3.9 percent last month from a year ago to an annualized rate of 491,720. That's the number of sales that would occur if the market matches last month's pace for the entire year. The median house price rose 24.1 percent to $337,040 from $271,490 a year ago. And it dropped 6 percent from $366,930 in December. It was the 11th consecutive month of annual price increases and the seventh consecutive month of double-digit annual gains.

The state association does not include condominiums in its sales and price statistics.

Also on Thursday the National Association of Realtors said that sales of houses and condos increased 9.1 percent last month to an annualized rate of 4.92 million and rose 0.4 percent from December.

The national median home price was $173,600 in January, up 12.3 percent from January 2012.

The state association's report showed that:

In the Los Angeles metro area, the median price of a previously owned house increased to $318,950 from $256,000 in January of 2012. It declined from $333,140 in December.

Sales increased 6.2 percent from a year ago and fell 20.1 percent from December.

In the Inland Empire, the median price increased to $207,530 in January from $169,280 a year ago and declined from $221,710 in December.

Sales fell 2.7 percent from January 2012 and dropped 12.6 percent from December.

Reports that track the San Fernando Valley market followed the same pattern.

The Valley economic research center said that:

The median house price jumped 20.6 percent to $422,000 last month from $350,000 a year ago. And it dropped $3,000 from December.

Sales of new and previously-owned houses and condos fell 6.2 percent to 1,042 transactions from 1,111 a year ago and were down 49.4 percent from 1,557 in December.

Foreclosure activity here continued to plummet. Notices of default issued by lenders in January plunged 76.8 percent to 181 from 781 a year earlier. And they dropped 49.9 percent from 410 in December.

Foreclosures fell 46.7 percent to 170 last month from 319 a year earlier. And there were 12 fewer foreclosures last month than in December.

"I'm surprised they were down this far and the notices of default are falling off the charts. It's the lowest it's been since 2005," Roberts said of the Valley's foreclosure activity.

The center tracks the market from Glendale through Calabasas and counts sales of news and previously owned houses and condominiums.

A report from the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors said that:

In the San Fernando Valley the median price of previously owned home increased 20 percent in January to $420,000 from $350,000 a year ago. And it was up by $30,000 from $390,000 in December.

greg.wilcox@dailynews.com

twitter.com/dngregwilcox

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_22640651/home?source=rss_emailed

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Steve Jobs' Birthday: Remembering a Visionary

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/steve-jobs-birthday-remembering-a-visionary/

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Remains of the Day: Zendesk Hacked; Some Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest Users Affected

Zendesk gets hacked, Chrome gets an update, and iOS developers get more tools for Google Maps integration.

• We've Been Hacked Zendesk, a company that provides software for outsourcing customer service functions, announced today that it had been hacked. Three companies that use Zendesk's services?Wired reports that they are Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr?have had the email addresses and subject lines of messages sent to their customer support services exposed. While this isn't the most sensitive information, all three companies have reached out to users who may have been affected, urging them to review any correspondence sent to customer support. Zendesk has stated that they have since identified and patched the vulnerability. [Zendesk]
• Bringing Voice Recognition to the Web Google released the latest Chrome Stable build today, which includes will allow developers to include speech recognition in their web apps. Today's release also disables silent extension installs for Windows Chrome users, ensuring that users authorize every extension that's installed. [Google Chrome Blog]
• Google Maps SDK for iOS 1.1 Gains Support for Ground Overlays, Keys Now Open to All Developers The Google Maps Source Development Kit for iOS was updated today, adding more controls for gestures and overlays that developers can use. Hopefully, this means we'll see more Google Maps integration in iOS 6 apps. [The Next Web]

Photo by photastic (Shutterstock), a2bb5s (Shutterstock), and Feng Yu (Shutterstock).

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/Lf6e8A_2wRM/remains-of-the-day-zendesk-hacked-some-twitter-tumblr-and-pinterest-users-affected

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Social Media Welcome To Reality On the internet | CulturaPopulara.ro

While others may possibly feel you are merely enjoying the a number of facets of social networking, the truth of your interest may likely be tinged with a organization focus.

What that doesnt imply is that you post simply to leave a traceab?

The use of social media encompasses a broad range of on the web media sorts. Whilst some may possibly only feel of a social network like MySpace there are truly several social media formats that contain substantial marketing and advertising potential for online organization.

Whilst other individuals could believe you are simply enjoying the numerous aspects of social networking, the truth of your interest might probably be tinged with a organization focus.

What that doesnt indicate is that you post merely to leave a traceable link back to your organization website. Those who pay a visit to any social media web site see through posts that are overtly geared toward marketing and advertising. In numerous cases social media consumers view this as spam even if the social network owners do not. In the finish, you can lose credibility of you dont perform as a meaningful contributor in a social media surroundings.

Social media can be presented in numerous distinct types. Lets take a peak at a handful of of them.

YouTube and other related video websites These videos can be funny, serious, off the cuff and at times political in nature. You can show your organization in a humorous light and enable men and women to be curious about you and your business.

MySpace and other social networks This type of social media is common due to the fact it draws together multiple elements of social advertising and marketing and makes them accessible to the masses of folks that might view social networking as an online version of reality television.

Blogs This is a type of social media if only because it does let interactive exchanges in between the blogger and the reader.

Forums This can enable you to have an person voice prepared to go over topics of interest to the majority. As with all social media you can give a link to your site. If you are viewed as a trusted source you will likely find forum members following you to your web site to understand a lot more.

Podcasting This is an audio stream that can allow a visitor to hear a private message from you. This can have a pronounced effect in social advertising and marketing.

This isnt an exhaustive list, but it does give one thing for you to think about as an addition to other advertising and marketing techniques you may have in spot. Social media enables you to take your message to the folks and have fun although you share your message.

I cant tension adequate how important it is to be actual. The whole Internet community has a low tolerance for supposed spam so make confident you dont use social media as basically one more type of on-line marketing.Jett Media Group
5209 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036 the link
(323) 592-3613

In: Aparitii editoriale | | Link ????? 6 vizualizari

Source: http://culturapopulara.ro/?p=24469

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New device better traps viruses, airborne pathogens

Feb. 22, 2013 ? Washington University engineering researchers have created a new type of air-cleaning technology that could better protect human lungs from allergens, airborne viruses and ultrafine particles in the air.

The device, known as the SXC ESP, was created by a team led by Pratim Biswas, PhD, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor and chair of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

A recent study of the device, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, found that it could help to prevent respiratory and viral infections and inhalation-induced allergic reactions more efficiently than existing filter-based systems.

Asthma, a chronic respiratory disease that can be triggered by inhaling allergens, pollen, pet dander and other particles, is one of the most costly health-care expenses in the United States at more than $50 billion.

"Because many people in developed countries spend the majority of time indoors, properly maintaining indoor air quality is an absolute necessity to protect public health," Biswas says.

The new device incorporates soft X-ray irradiation as a component of the electrostatic precipitation process currently used to remove large particles from airflows. By incorporating the soft X-ray enhanced electrostatic precipitation technology, the researchers were able to ensure very efficient charging of the particles over a broad range of sizes and their capture in the SXC ESP.

They exposed mice with compromised immune systems to the downstream air stream passing through the unit that contacted infectious viruses, allergens, anthrax, smallpox and other particles in the air. The sensitive mice survived, indicating that the SXC ESP was very effective in removing these biological agents from the air.

"Traditional air cleaners can trap viruses or other toxic particles in the filter, where they linger and grow," Biswas says. "This device finds the virus or toxic particle or bioterror agent and inactivates it in one application."

Ultimately, this technology could be incorporated into stand-alone air cleaners or scaled for use in aircraft cabins, offices and residential HVAC systems. It also could be used to clean up a diesel engine or power plant exhaust.

Michael Gidding, who is expected to graduate in 2013 with an MBA, a bachelor's in chemical engineering and a master's in energy, environmental and chemical engineering, and Daniel Garcia, a May 2012 chemical engineering graduate, have teamed up to scale up this technology for commercial use. Their startup, Aerosol Control Technologies (ACT), is based on the patented process Biswas developed.

There are many applications for the technology in the coal industry, Gidding says, from dust control and safety at the mine to flue-gas treatment at the power plant.

Funding for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH U54 AI05716003) to the Midwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research and Saint Louis University startup funds.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis. The original article was written by Beth Miller.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. E. M. Kettleson, J. M. Schriewer, R. M. L. Buller, P. Biswas. Soft-X-Ray-Enhanced Electrostatic Precipitation for Protection against Inhalable Allergens, Ultrafine Particles, and Microbial Infections. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2012; 79 (4): 1333 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02897-12

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/WsxdEP6wpeI/130223111354.htm

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NY Jets quarterback Tebow cancels controversial church appearance

(Reuters) - New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, a devout Christian, has canceled an appearance at the Dallas mega-church led by a prominent pastor who has sparked controversy over remarks he made from the pulpit about gays and other religions.

Tebow, 25, who famously kneels in prayer on the football field in a move that has come to be known as "Tebowing", called off his April 28 appearance in a series of Twitter messages on Thursday.

"While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my upcoming appearance," he said.

The First Baptist Church in Dallas, which had invited Tebow to celebrate the opening of its $130 million campus, is led by Robert Jeffress, a TV evangelist who has criticized gays and other faiths, such as Islam and Mormonism.

Tebow, whose parents are missionaries, called Jeffress on Wednesday evening and said he "needed to avoid controversy at this time, but would like to come to First Baptist Dallas to speak at a future date," according to a statement from the church.

The church on Thursday blamed news media for having "grossly misrepresented" Jeffress' opinions and for putting pressure on Tebow.

It said: "The reason for the recent media fire storm is not because the Word of God has changed, but because society has changed."

Jeffress on Thursday softened past statements he has made criticizing the Roman Catholic Church, but defended his position on gays and lesbians.

"I believe that homosexuality is a sin, just like adultery," Jeffress told CNN. "Sex should be between a man and a woman. God created sex. He knows how it works best," Jeffress said.

Tebow was a first-round draft pick in 2010 and the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, according to his website. Tebow was traded by the Denver Broncos to the Jets, but saw little playing time during the 2012 season.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson and David Adams; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Gunna Dickson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-jets-quarterback-tebow-cancels-controversial-church-appearance-215545044--nfl.html

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Pollution control high on Chinese government's agenda

The government has issued a list of chemicals and industries where chemical pollution prevention and control efforts will be prioritized in the period up until 2015.

The list, issued on Thursday, is part of government efforts to control chemical environmental risks.

Issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the document lists 58 chemicals that will see prioritized exposure and emission control via upgraded registration, assessment and supervision efforts.

Petroleum, coking and nuclear fuel processing and the manufacturing of chemical ingredients and products, pharmaceuticals and chemical fibers, as well as the smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metal, are key areas to be targeted. The textile and coal chemical industries were also included on the list.

The document warns that China faces a grave situation in terms of chemical pollution control, citing inadequate pollution risk control by enterprises, a lack of systematic policies to restrain the making and use of highly toxic and dangerous chemicals and authorities' insufficient pollution monitoring and supervision capabilities.

China has seen a string of chemical pollution accidents, leading to polluted drinking water and higher rates of cancer in some areas, the document says.

It says some toxic and harmful chemicals that have already been banned or restrained in developed countries are still in mass production and use in China.

Chemicals with high environmental risks have seen production transfer from other countries to China, it says.

Source: http://english.sina.com/china/2013/0221/563867.html

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Texas man faces more charges for bombing attempt

SHERMAN, Texas (AP) ? A North Texas man described by authorities as an anarchist is facing additional charges for attempting to bomb a pipeline.

Three counts were issued last week by a federal grand jury in Sherman against 34-year-old Anson Chi (CHEE). The Plano man now is charged with malicious use of explosive materials, use of a destructive device during a crime, and possession of a firearm that was not federally registered.

Authorities have said a homemade bomb exploded on a natural gas regulator in Plano. The device went off prematurely and caused little damage. The June 18 incident left Chi burned.

His lawyers have described Chi as "delusional" and he has a competency hearing scheduled for March. He remains in custody without bond.

An attorney for Chi was not immediately available Wednesday.

Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/texas/article/Texas-man-faces-more-charges-for-bombing-attempt-4294697.php

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New Impact Wrestling Action Figures Details, Robbie E To Host Twitter Q&A Before Impact

New Impact Wrestling Action Figures

JAKKS is set to release a new series of Impact Wrestling action figures in the near future. The 'Series 9' figures will include: Magnus, Austin Aries, Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim and Christopher Daniels. You can click the following link to see a photo of the figures.?

Robbie E Hosting Twitter Q&A

Impact Wrestling announced Robbie E will host a question and answer segment on Twitter one hour before the airing of tonight's episode of Impact. If you would like to particpate you can tweet Robbie (@RobbieEImpact) and use the hashtag #AskRobbie.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Wrestlezonecom/~3/1oMvhLOFudc/268401-new-impact-wrestling-action-figures-details-robbie-e-to-host-twitter-qaa-before-impact

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China Now Has More Tablets And Smartphones Than The US

After becoming the world?s leading manufacturer of goods and largest emitter of carbon dioxide, China can add world?s leading consumer of mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) to its trophy case.

?By the end of February 2013, China will have 246 million devices compared to 230 million in the U.S.,??says mobile analytics company Flurry, which estimates that its survey covers more than 90% of the world?s ?smart devices.?

In January, the US and China were within one million devices of one another. Flurry is measuring what it calls ?active? devices, which means phones and tablets that are actually connecting to the internet, and not simply devices sold.

Despite the enormous size of the Chinese market, it is still the sixth-fastest growing market for tablets and smartphones, by Flurry?s estimate.

Even as this growth slows, its dizzying pace, and the relatively maturity of the US market for smartphones means that China will almost certainly remain a larger market for mobile devices than the US.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-now-has-more-tablets-and-smartphones-than-the-us-2013-2

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Edible Arrangements? Launches Major Initiative ... - Franchising.com

? ?Hero?s Welcome? Program to Create Franchise and Employment Opportunities

? Major Contribution made to International Franchise Association?s Vetfran Program

February 20, 2013 // Franchising.com // WALLINGFORD, Conn. ? Edible Arrangements? CEO Tariq Farid today announced a major contribution to the International Franchise Association?s (IFA) VetFran program and the launch of ?Hero?s Welcome,? a nationwide initiative designed to help veterans become business owners and re-enter the workforce.

Edible Arrangements? will contribute $125,000 to VetFran, the IFA?s program through which franchise companies help military veterans make the transition to civilian life.

In addition, Edible Arrangements? will launch its own ?Hero?s Welcome? program this year. The program, part of the company?s Edible Cares umbrella initiative to give back, will be designed to provide special support to help veterans become franchisees. It will include specialized training, a franchise fee discount and mentoring from existing Edible Arrangements? franchisees who are also veterans. In addition, Edible Arrangements? has set a goal of providing job opportunities and a career path for an additional 1,000 veterans throughout its franchise locations nationwide.

?The brave men and women of our military are the ones who have made it possible for each of us to enjoy the American Dream,? Farid said. ?I believe it is our obligation to help those who have sacrificed so much by doing what we can to give them the tools and support to achieve that dream themselves.?

Through the IFA, Farid also is participating in a new Veterans Business Accelerator program established by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which will provide free courses and resources for all veterans interested in entrepreneurship including providing financial support to wounded veterans doing the coursework.

Farid has taped a video for use in the program in which he discusses how he founded Edible Arrangements? as a teenager, and then he and his brother, Kamran, turned it into the international leader in fresh fruit arrangements with more than 1,100 locations worldwide. Within the Edible Arrangements? system, former veterans own and operate some of the most successful franchise locations.

?I know from personal experience within our own system that veterans bring an exceptional level of passion and discipline to their business,? Farid said. ?I also know that they often face employment challenges once their service to their country is complete.?

The IFA?s VetFran program was born out of the desire of the late Don Dwyer Sr., founder of The Dwyer Group, as a way to say ?thank you? to veterans returning from the first Gulf War. IFA President and CEO Steve Caldeira said the IFA is excited about the new opportunities created by the support of Edible Arrangements?.

"Edible Arrangements' contribution to IFA's VetFran initiative is truly awe-inspiring and will help to strengthen the franchise industry's efforts to further support veteran entrepreneurship and employment,? Caldeira said. ?We are extremely grateful to Tariq Farid for his outstanding leadership and support of our nation's veterans."

About Edible Arrangements?

With over 1,100 franchise locations open or under development worldwide, Edible Arrangements International, LLC is the leading purveyor of delicious, high quality, artistically designed, fresh fruit arrangements that are practical and healthy gifts and centerpieces for everyday occasions and events. Brothers Tariq and Kamran Farid developed and launched the company in 1999 in East Haven, CT, after many years in the floral industry. The company has been recognized as an industry leader since its inception, including ranking first in its category in Entrepreneur magazine?s annual ?Franchise 500? for the past six years and also placing in Entrepreneur?s top 40 of ?Fastest Growing Franchises? and ?America?s Top Global Franchises.? Edible Arrangements? was named one of the Top 5 businesses in Connecticut by Inc. magazine?s first Hire Power Awards in 2012 and has also ranked in Inc.?s Top 5,000 fastest growing privately-held companies for seven consecutive years. The company was recently recognized as one of the "Top 100 Internet Retailers" by Internet Retailer magazine and was also named as one of 1851's "Top 100 Social Franchises." Customers may order arrangements by telephone at 1-877-DO-FRUIT, at one of the company?s retail stores, or online at EdibleArrangements.com. EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS? and other trademarks noted are registered trademarks of Edible Arrangements, LLC.

SOURCE?Edible Arrangements, LLC

Media Contact:

Scott White
BizCom Associates
(214) 458-5751
scottwhite@bizcompr.com

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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20130220_edible_arrangementsreg_launches_major_initiative_t.html

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Wall Street extends losses; Nasdaq off one percent

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, "Doug" (24), and I (22) have been in a long-distance relationship for a year, but we were friends for a couple of years before that. I had never had a serious relationship before and lacked experience. Doug has not only been in two other long-term relationships, but has had sex with more than 15 women. One of them is an amateur porn actress.I knew about this, but it didn't bother me until recently. Doug had a party, and while he was drunk he told one of his buddies -- in front of me -- that he should watch a certain porn film starring his ex-girlfriend. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-signal-more-gains-103747893--finance.html

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Ivory Coast ratifies Rome Statute

Published: Feb. 20, 2013 at 10:10 AM

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- The French government welcomed a recent decision by former colony Ivory Coast to ratify the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court.

"This important decision confirms the commitment of the states of the African continent to the fight against impunity," a statement from the French government read. "Ivory Coast thus becomes the 122th state party to the ICC statute."

Youssoufou Bamba, Ivorian ambassador to the United Nations, delivered the instrument of ratification to U.N. headquarters last week.

"This most recent ratification brings to 34 the number of states parties in Africa, which is a sign of growing acknowledgement of the role of ICC in the global fight against impunity for the gravest international crimes," Tiina Intelmann, president of states parties to the Rome Statute, said in a statement.

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo appeared Tuesday before the ICC. He was arrested in 2011 with the help of French peacekeepers and transferred to The Hague, before Ivory Coast ratified the Rome Statute.

The court says Gbagbo may bear criminal responsibility for four counts of crimes against humanity for actions during violence that rocked the West African country following contested presidential elections in 2010.

Gbagbo's government accepted limited ICC jurisdiction in 2003.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/02/20/Ivory-Coast-ratifies-Rome-Statute/UPI-68291361373058/

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Teachers ditch student desk chairs for yoga balls

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. Replacing stationary seats with inflatable bouncers has raised productivity in her fifth-graders at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School, making students better able to focus on lessons while improving their balance and core strength, she said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. Replacing stationary seats with inflatable bouncers has raised productivity in her fifth-graders at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School, making students better able to focus on lessons while improving their balance and core strength, she said. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. By making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Students in Robbi Giuliano's fifth grade class sit on yoga balls as they complete their assignments at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. By making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Students in Robbi Giuliano's fifth grade class sit on yoga balls as they complete their assignments at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. The exercise gear is part a larger effort to modernize schools based on research linking physical activity with better learning, said John Kilbourne, a professor of movement science at Grand View State University in Allendale, Mich. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Robbi Giuliano teaches her fifth grade class as they sit on yoga balls at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, in West Chester, Pa. Giuliano says "I'm able to get a lot done with them because they're sitting on yoga balls." (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) ? In 11 years of teaching, ditching students' desk chairs in favor of yoga balls is one of the best decisions Robbi Giuliano thinks she ever made.

Replacing stationary seats with inflatable bouncers has raised productivity in her fifth-graders at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School, making students better able to focus on lessons while improving their balance and core strength, she said.

"I have more attentive children," Giuliano said. "I'm able to get a lot done with them because they're sitting on yoga balls."

The giant rubber spheres, also called stability balls, come in different sizes, colors and degrees of firmness. By making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness.

The exercise gear is part a larger effort to modernize schools based on research linking physical activity with better learning, said John Kilbourne, a professor of movement science at Grand View State University in Allendale, Mich.

Traditional classroom setups are being challenged as teachers nationwide experiment with yoga balls, footrests and standing desks, which give children outlets to fidget without disrupting class.

"It's the future of education," Kilbourne said.

Stability balls, frequently used in yoga, Pilates and physical therapy, have even begun appearing in offices in the wake of recent studies stressing the dangers of sedentary work environments.

The balls first began to surface in schools as aids for kids with attention problems or autism, said Michelle Rowe, executive director of the Kinney Center for Autism at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The equipment has since gone mainstream.

"It takes away the taboo of wiggling, which most kids do anyway," said Rowe, who also is a professor of health services.

Giuliano began using the balls in her class in West Chester, a Philadelphia suburb, about three years ago after her husband mentioned how they increased productivity at the holistic wellness company where he worked.

Student Ashley Hasson conceded that adjusting to her dark pink ball was tough at first.

"But once you get used to it, it's not that hard because basically you're just sitting down," she said.

Another student, Kevin Kent, said the ball makes it easier for him to concentrate and keeps his back from getting stiff. Now, he said, sitting in a chair is "weird, because you're all bent up."

Some health experts cautioned against the possibility of student horseplay and falling off the balls. But Giuliano's 24 students know they must keep their bottoms on the balls and feet on the floor at all times, though they can bounce and bob as much as they like.

The same goes for Dannielle Doran's fourth-graders at Merion Elementary School in a nearby district, where misbehavior risks loss of the ball and a return to a four-legged seat.

"They like sitting on them so much, and they don't want to lose that privilege," Doran said. "It seems to almost ... motivate better behavior."

At Namaste Charter School in Chicago, which is guided by the philosophy that healthy and active kids perform better in class, all students learn to use stability balls during physical education.

Yet they're used as seats in academic settings only on a case-by-case basis, principal Allison Slade said.

"Fifth-graders are so antsy that, for some kids, this is really good for them," Slade said. "But for others, I think it could be really distracting."

To be sure, the balls are not mandatory in Doran's or Giuliano's classes, but Giuliano noted only one student in three years has opted to continue using a chair.

Parents have been supportive as well, voluntarily purchasing the $5 balls for their kids. Some even ended up buying balls for themselves to use at home and work, said Giuliano, who wants to spread the word to other teachers.

"I don't like sitting on a chair all day ... so I started sitting on a yoga ball, and I find I'm more alert," Giuliano said. "And my message is to try it with your class and see if it works for you."

___

Follow Kathy Matheson at http://www.twitter.com/kmatheson

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-20-Yoga%20Balls-Classrooms/id-29e036ce2dc847d3808ae08be1a738ce

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