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Saturday, April 27, 2013
A Self-Propelled Snowboard Makes Going Uphill Just as Fun
Friday, April 26, 2013
Boosting the powers of genomic science
Apr. 25, 2013 ? As scientists probe and parse the genetic bases of what makes a human a human (or one human different from another), and vigorously push for greater use of whole genome sequencing, they find themselves increasingly threatened by the unthinkable: Too much data to make full sense of.
In a pair of papers published in the April 25, 2013 issue of PLOS Genetics, two diverse teams of scientists, both headed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, describe novel statistical models that more broadly and deeply identify associations between bits of sequenced DNA called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs and say lead to a more complete and accurate understanding of the genetic underpinnings of many diseases and how best to treat them.
"It's increasingly evident that highly heritable diseases and traits are influenced by a large number of genetic variants in different parts of the genome, each with small effects," said Anders M. Dale, PhD, a professor in the departments of Radiology, Neurosciences and Psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. "Unfortunately, it's also increasingly evident that existing statistical methods, like genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that look for associations between SNPs and diseases, are severely underpowered and can't adequately incorporate all of this new, exciting and exceedingly rich data."
Dale cited, for example, a recent study published in Nature Genetics in which researchers used traditional GWAS to raise the number of SNPs associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis from four to 16. The scientists then applied the new statistical methods to identify 33 additional SNPs, more than tripling the number of genome locations associated with the life-threatening liver disease.
Generally speaking, the new methods boost researchers' analytical powers by incorporating a priori or prior knowledge about the function of SNPs with their pleiotrophic relationships to multiple phenotypes. Pleiotrophy occurs when one gene influences multiple sets of observed traits or phenotypes.
Dale and colleagues believe the new methods could lead to a paradigm shift in CWAS analysis, with profound implications across a broad range of complex traits and disorders.
"There is ever-greater emphasis being placed on expensive whole genome sequencing efforts," he said, "but as the science advances, the challenges become larger. The needle in the haystack of traditional GWAS involves searching through about one million SNPs. This will increase 10- to 100-fold, to about 3 billion positions. We think these new methodologies allow us to more completely exploit our resources, to extract the most information possible, which we think has important implications for gene discovery, drug development and more accurately assessing a person's overall genetic risk of developing a certain disease."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, San Diego Health Sciences, via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal References:
- Andrew J. Schork, Wesley K. Thompson, Phillip Pham, Ali Torkamani, J. Cooper Roddey, Patrick F. Sullivan, John R. Kelsoe, Michael C. O'Donovan, Helena Furberg, Nicholas J. Schork, Ole A. Andreassen, Anders M. Dale. All SNPs Are Not Created Equal: Genome-Wide Association Studies Reveal a Consistent Pattern of Enrichment among Functionally Annotated SNPs. PLoS Genetics, 2013; 9 (4): e1003449 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003449
- Ole A. Andreassen, Wesley K. Thompson, Andrew J. Schork, Stephan Ripke, Morten Mattingsdal, John R. Kelsoe, Kenneth S. Kendler, Michael C. O'Donovan, Dan Rujescu, Thomas Werge, Pamela Sklar, J. Cooper Roddey, Chi-Hua Chen, Linda McEvoy, Rahul S. Desikan, Srdjan Djurovic, Anders M. Dale. Improved Detection of Common Variants Associated with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Using Pleiotropy-Informed Conditional False Discovery Rate. PLoS Genetics, 2013; 9 (4): e1003455 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003455
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/W-16k4bufPw/130425213754.htm
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Fall Out Boy 'Save Rock And Roll' With #1 Album, Kid Cudi #2
Cudi's final G.O.O.D. Music release, Indicud, came in just behind FOB's second #1 debut.
By Gil Kaufman
Fall Out Boy's "Save Rock and Roll"
Photo: Island and Decaydance
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706249/fall-out-boy-save-rock-roll-billboard-charts.jhtml
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Apple's Pile Of Cash Is Still Growing, Up 6% To $145 Billion
Apple now has $145 billion in cash on hand — a 5.8 percent increase over the past three months. The company last reported that they had $137.1 billion in cash back on December 30. To put this into perspective, with $140 million, you can produce the movie Spider-Man. Apple has enough money to produce a thousand blockbusters. Apple could use its cash to acquire some companies. But with more than $145,000,000,000, you can acquire a lot of companies. For example, Facebook’s market capitalization is only $61.89 billion. If Apple would use all of its cash to acquire Facebook, it would still pay a nice premium. With $9.5 billion in profit and little operating expenses, Apple’s cash will likely grow over the next three months. Yet, Apple doesn’t seem to be ready to use its cash on hand (short-term investments). Now that Apple is handing out dividends, its cash is one of the remaining issues with investors. Shareholders wants Apple to actually use this cash for something — acquisitions, big investments dividends or other financial activities (such as a share buyback). The company likes to tap into its deep pockets to secure deals with its production line in order to make sure its supply chain is efficient. But that still leaves a lot of cash. Apple is still sitting on over $145 billion without any plan in sight.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Ngi2cvKhypM/
Sunday, April 21, 2013
To Secure the Border, Let in More Immigrants
A border checkpoint in Tijuana, Mexico
Photo by Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa kicked off Senate hearings on immigration reform with the idea that ?given the events of this week,? we ought to put terrorism concerns near the top of our list of priorities when changing the system. To Grassley, a longtime immigration skeptic, that means primarily asking, ?How can we beef up security checks on people who wish to enter the U.S.??
But while security checks should be done and should be done properly, by far the best way to keep dangerous foreigners out of the country is to make it easier for nondangerous ones to enter. Border security is a wonderful thing. But in the absence of adequate legal channels for immigration, a large human smuggling industry will spring into existence to serve the needs of economic migrants and leave the country more vulnerable to real security risks.
Start with the key question: Why do people violate America?s immigration laws? For the overwhelming majority, it?s not to blow things up?it?s to work.
People come here from Mexico because they can earn higher wages. Americans are, on average, much richer than Mexicans, so we can afford to pay more for our maids and our gardeners. The United States also has more and better capital equipment than Mexico, so people who work here are more productive and can earn more. Crossing the border to work is lucrative, in other words, so people do it.
It?s lucrative, but in most cases, it?s also illegal. Making something that?s lucrative illegal has rarely stopped it from happening. Marijuana is illegal, but there are still plenty of people around who are happy to sell you some. What prohibition does first and foremost is alter prices. If marijuana were legal, it would be much cheaper. By the same token, making it illegal to cross the border makes it more expensive to cross?not impossible to cross.
Between 1993 and 2006, the United States drastically increased spending on controlling its southern border. This didn?t stop unauthorized migrants from crossing to work and settle. But that doesn?t mean the border-hardening had no impact. Wayne Cornelius, a researcher at UC?San Diego, has conducted decades of field research among Mexican migrants to the United States that shows that the tighter border led to a booming people-smuggling industry. By 2006, more than 90 percent of unauthorized border crossings were assisted by a coyote. And according to Cornelius, ?The fees that smugglers can charge have tripled since 1993.?
More recently, net migration from Mexico has fallen to zero. The Obama administration likes to tout this as an enforcement success story to bolster its argument that reform needn?t cause a new boom in illegal border crossings. But to people who just don?t like the idea of foreigners coming here, the apparent success of Obama-era enforcement sends the message that crackdowns work.
Enforcement is part of the story, but an equally important part is that moving to the U.S. isn?t all that lucrative. The unemployment rate is high at 7.6 percent. The Latino unemployment rate is higher at 9.2 percent. The unemployment rate for people with no high-school diploma (a decent proxy for the labor market prospects of rural Mexicans who likely lack English literacy skills) is 12 percent. The construction sector, known especially as a key user of illegal labor, has been in a funk. Under the circumstances, it?s no surprise the coyote trade has gone into a deep freeze. But if the broader labor market comes back to life, smuggling will revive along with it. And while the overwhelming majority of smuggling is simply aimed at bringing people here to build houses and wash dishes, as long as the industry exists, it can be used by people with more nefarious motives.
Any serious border security strategy ought to emphasize establishing a big enough legal channel for migration to undercut the coyote industry. The immigration reform bill before Congress attempts to do this with a new W visa program for low-skilled guest workers. It would let 20,000 people come in the first year, rising to 75,000 by the fourth year, and then with a range between 20,000 and 200,000 workers in future years depending on labor market conditions. The only problem here is that even 200,000 may not be enough to squelch human smuggling. Michael Clemens and Lant Pritchett show that the Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting much more growth in the quantity of jobs than will be fillable with a 200,000-person cap. That means that when the economy recovers, breaking immigration law will be lucrative again, just as it was 10 or 15 years ago. That means a rebound for the coyote sector with the dangers that it brings.
The W visa program as proposed would still be a huge improvement over the status quo. But it?s really not clear why the 200,000 cap exists. The W visa program is structured so that the number of visas issued in any given year will be pegged to labor market conditions. If the process for making that determination is sound, then by definition the cap can only come into play if labor market conditions indicate the need for more workers?precisely the situation that perversely gives rise to the human smuggling market. As Congress looks at this legislation through a security lens, it needs to keep this angle in mind. Establishing a robust legal channel for would-be economic migrants is a crucial piece of the border security puzzle.?
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=8b9123d3db48e58935c5b4ee6e70e501
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Saturday, April 20, 2013
Film review: 'Oblivion' a thrilling ride at end of the world | The Salt ...
This film publicity image released by Universal Pictures shows Olga Kurylenko, left, and Tom Cruise in a scene from "Oblivion." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
Review ? ?Oblivion? makes good work of familiar sci-fi ideas.
One can pick apart "Oblivion" for its liberal pilfering of science-fiction tales and tropes ? or sit back and enjoy how cleverly director Joseph Kosinski builds those spare parts into a fast, exhilarating and sometimes smart thrill ride.
It?s 2077, we?re told, and Earth is a wasteland. As our hero, Jack Harper (Tom Cruise), informs us in the opening voiceover, alien invaders called The Scavengers attacked the Earth, and humans fought back with nuclear weapons ? driving away the Scavs but leaving Earth uninhabitable. The surviving humans have relocated to a terraformed new home on Titan, Saturn?s moon, except for a few good soldiers, like Jack, left behind to maintain the robot drones that patrol the planet.
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?Oblivion?
In this sharp action movie, Tom Cruise labors on a post-apocalyptic Earth that isn?t what he thinks.
Where ? Theaters everywhere.
When ? Opens Friday.
Rating ? PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity.
Running time ? 126 minutes.
Jack and his mission partner/lover, Victoria (Andrea Riseborough), spend their days monitoring drones and dodging rogue Scavs, with Jack in the field and Victoria watching the screens back at their home base ? with their only contact a Mission Control official, Sally (Melissa Leo), on a space station called Tet. Jack and Victoria hold onto the hope that their mission is nearly over, and they will soon go to live on Titan.
But Jack harbors a fondness for Earth, having found a secret safe haven by a lake where he collects trinkets he finds in the field. He also keeps from Victoria his dreams, which include a recurring vision of meeting a beautiful woman (Olga Kurylenko) at the Empire State Building.
On a patrol one day, Jack sees a spaceship crash-land nearby. Disobeying Sally?s orders, he investigates and finds the wreckage of a NASA ship ? whose survivors include the woman from his dreams. It?s the first of many discoveries that prove to Jack that things are not as he believes them to be. (One discovery the movie?s ads have already given away: Morgan Freeman is tied up in all this somewhere.)
Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy"), who wrote the story for the graphic novel on which the script (by Karl Gajdusek and Michael deBruyn) is based, cribs generously from a wide array of science fiction ? from "2001" and "The Matrix" to "Star Wars" and "The Road Warrior." He adds a stunning visual panache, ranging from the airy all-glass perch where Jack and Victoria live to the cobbled-together wilderness of the Earth below. And he springs some sharp surprises throughout the plot, twists that urge you not to divulge to friends who haven?t seen it yet.
Once the truth is revealed, "Oblivion" does fall into the unfortunate habit of repeating things until everyone in the audience catches up. But that?s a minor quibble for an action drama that has something on its mind other than just getting to the next explosion.
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Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/56172763-223/jack-oblivion-iframe-action.html.csp
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The Human Brainome Project
Obama announces ambitious plan to develop new tools for exploring neural circuitry
Obama announces ambitious plan to develop new tools for exploring neural circuitry
By Puneet Kollipara
Web edition: April 18, 2013
Print edition: May 4, 2013; Vol.183 #9 (p. 22)
Recent advances in neuroscience, such as the ability to map neural connections throughout the brain (above), have encouraged researchers to propose an effort to develop a new generation of tools.
Credit: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging/UCLA
Brain research has been on a lot of minds lately in the nation?s capital. After offering a brief shout-out to Alzheimer?s research in his February State of the Union address, President Barack Obama went a step further in April by announcing a decade-long effort to develop advanced tools for tracking human brain activity. The administration dubbed it the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies initiative, and proposed spending $100 million on the program in the 2014 fiscal year.
Scientists have discussed such an endeavor for years, and pushed hard for it in the past few months. Writing March 15 in Science, researchers say the project would develop technologies to probe brain activity on a far greater scale and with higher resolution than is now possible.
Current tools can monitor only small numbers of individual neurons at a time or capture blurry, bird?s-eye views of brain activity. The new tools would enable real-time mapping of how the thousands or millions of neurons in coordinated groups, known as circuits, work together. Brain functions ? and, in many cases, dysfunctions ? are thought to emerge from this still poorly described circuit level.
?There?s no way to build a map until you develop the tools,? says Rafael Yuste, a neuroscientist at Columbia University?s Kavli Institute for Brain Science and one of the project?s proponents.
Researchers call for developing three sets of tools to better understand brain circuits. One focus is on the creation of tools to measure the activities of all the individual neurons in a circuit. Another is on technologies to experimentally manipulate these neurons. The third tool set would store, analyze and make the data accessible to all researchers.
Scientists today can directly probe individual neurons to examine the main currency of neuronal communication, electrical signals known as action potentials. But the existing tools are generally invasive, making them tough to use in humans, or have crude resolution. New technologies, some already emerging, would be nanoscale, proponents of the effort write March 26 in ACS Nano, or they would measure voltage indirectly through an indicator. Other possible targets include chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters, which relay action potentials between neurons via synapses.
For instance, researchers already use laser microscopes to measure calcium ions, an indicator of voltage. One recent study used a special laser microscope that emits a ?light sheet? to detect calcium ions and map the activity of 80 percent of a larval zebra fish?s roughly 100,000-neuron brain. Coauthor Misha Ahrens of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, Va., likens the method to shining a thin sheet of light instead of a lamp in a foggy area; the thin layer would be scattered far less by the fog than the diffuse lamplight would.
A technology that tracks calcium can already measure the activity of small groups of neurons (shown).
Credit: R. Yuste/Columbia Univ.
The map, described March 18 in Nature Methods, shows activity once a second. It may be the first time vertebrate brain activity has ever been revealed in such detail. To go further and capture the brain?s workings at a rate of 1,000 times a second, as scientists would like, will require major changes in microscope technology, Ahrens says.
Another exciting prospect is the use of quantum dots, nanoscale semiconducting spheres that can be engineered to glow a different color or brightness depending on voltage or neurotransmitter levels.
Researchers even envision artificial cells that could serve as liaisons between measurement tools and neurons, says George Church, a Harvard University geneticist who helped plan the initiative and was a leading figure in the Human Genome Project.
Flipping switches
While imaging and measurement tools would enable researchers to link neuron activity or neurotransmitter levels with certain functions or dysfunctions of the brain, manipulating individual neurons could lead to even more powerful experiments. It also could lead to clinical applications.
In the burgeoning field of optogenetics, neurons are engineered to turn on or off in response to light. ?We can selectively activate individual neurons. By doing that, you can really get at issues of causality,? says Clay Reid, a neurobiologist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle.
Reporting April 3 in Nature, researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore and the University of California, San Francisco used optogenetics to produce or diminish compulsive cocaine use in rats by manipulating the activity of a specific group of neurons.
Researchers hope the findings lead to new therapies for drug addiction, but the road to clinical application is a difficult one and requires a sustained investment. ?The evolution of optogenetics or similar techniques needs a lot of help, because the benefits are going to far, far outweigh the costs,? says coauthor Antonello Bonci of NIDA.
A huge advantage of optogenetics, he says, is that it can manipulate neurons almost in real time. But it can?t be used for long periods. In his lab, Bonci complements optogenetics with another promising technique that has lower time resolution but can be used for longer. It involves implanting neurons engineered to respond to certain compounds. Injecting those compounds can activate or silence the cells.
Preparing for the data flood
Monitoring and manipulating individual cells is only part of the challenge; tracking a million neurons a thousand times a second will produce a lot of data. Software, databases and hardware will be needed to store and distribute that information, and to process and analyze it. Project proponents met at Caltech in January to discuss how to address the data needs ? roughly a gigabyte a second for a million neurons simultaneously, or 30 million gigabytes a year.
Researchers could compress the data by a factor of 10 without sacrificing crucial details, according to a report from the meeting. Ultimately, the data problem shouldn?t be insurmountable, Yuste says. Another proposed big science project, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, would produce around 10 million gigabytes of astronomical data annually starting in the early 2020s ? right when million-neuron tools could come online, he notes.
Technical obstacles aren?t the only worry Yuste and his colleagues have. The recurring state of fiscal crisis in Washington makes it difficult to get any big project off the ground. Uncertainty over funding has fueled skepticism among scientists, who wonder whether money would be taken from other research to fund a ?Big Science? project that lacks a concrete final goal.
National Institutes oNational Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins notes that his agency has formed a workgroup of neuroscientists and some nanoscientists ? supportive and skeptical alike ? to guide the project?s timetable and scientific goals. One of the cochairs is Cori Bargmann, a Rockefeller University neuroscientist who previously raised concerns that the project could take funding from other neuroscience work.
Gary Marcus, a neuroscientist at New York University, says he is concerned that the project focuses too much on tool development, but notes that the administration?s proposal may be flexible enough to fund projects in other areas of neuroscience.
He fears what will happen if the tools are developed but don?t yield all the promised insights. ?We will surely learn something,? Marcus says. ?Whether we learn everything we want to know is another question.?
Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/349766/title/The_Human_Brainome_Project
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Israeli PM doesn't rule out helping Syrian rebels
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's prime minister declined to rule out the possibility of providing arms to Syrian rebel groups, saying in a television interview broadcast Thursday that the decision of whether to intervene in the neighboring civil war is a "complicated question."
Although Benjamin Netanyahu made no clear commitments, his comments indicated that he is at least considering a shift away from two years of neutrality in the Syrian civil war that pits rebels against President Bashar Assad's regime. Key Israeli allies, including the U.S. and Jordan, already have begun assisting secular and moderate factions inside Syria despite fears that Islamic extremists are gaining influence among the rebels.
Netanyahu was discussing the deteriorating security situation in Syria on BBC World News when the interviewer asked whether Israel is arming any of the rebel groups. Netanyahu said he could not confirm such speculation but did not deny it.
"We are very careful," he said. "I have said that the arming of rebels presents the question of which rebels and which arms, and it is a very complicated question for every country, including my country Israel."
Israel has been warily watching the fighting in Syria since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011. Although Assad is a bitter enemy, Israel has been careful not to take sides, in part because the Assad family has kept the border with Israel quiet for the past 40 years and in part because of fears of what will happen if he is toppled.
Israeli officials are especially concerned that Assad's stockpile of chemical weapons and other advanced arms could reach the hands of Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon or other hostile groups in the region. As Assad's position has weakened, Israeli leaders have grown increasingly concerned that some of the groups trying to topple him, particularly extremist factions linked to al-Qaida, will turn their guns toward Israel.
"There are the worst Islamist radicals in the world, so obviously we are concerned that weapons that are ground breaking, that can change the balance of power in the Middle East would fall into the hands of these terrorists," Netanyahu said.
In January, Israel all but confirmed that it carried out an airstrike in Syria that destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles allegedly bound for Hezbollah, a powerful militia that battled Israel to a stalemate in a monthlong war in 2006. In the BBC interview, Netanyahu refused to confirm whether Israel targeted the convoy, but noted that Israel "has the right to act" to halt weapons transfers.
Direct Israeli support for any of the factions fighting inside Syria would be risky. Any group seen as being aligned with Israel could have its credibility harmed. Israel could also provoke a backlash from other dangerous factions, including the government, embroiled in the Syrian violence. More than 70,000 people have already died in the fighting, according to U.N. estimates.
Moshe Maoz, a Syria expert at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said it would make sense for Israel to supply moderate Syrian rebel groups with arms in coordination with Turkey, though he said it is unclear whether that has begun. Israel has recently moved to repair its strained ties with Turkey, and Maoz said both countries have an interest in propping up "mainstream" Muslim groups and countering the influence of Iranian-backed extremists.
"Israel has to signal to the Muslim world that Israel joins them in the struggle against a common enemy Iran," he said. "Maybe Netanyahu is going in that direction."
Netanyahu gave the interview on Wednesday during a trip to Britain, where he attended the funeral of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and met with the current prime minister, David Cameron.
Netanyahu gave few details about the meeting, saying only that Israel and Britain "see eye to eye" about preventing further bloodshed in Syria. "It's a complicated picture because you have bad fighting the bad," he said.
But Israel may feel it has no choice. In recent months, it has coped with a string of stray gunfire and mortar shells flying out of Syria into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israeli military officials believe most of the fire has been spillover from internal fighting. But in several cases, Israel determined the attacks were intentional and quickly struck back at targets inside Syria. Israel has also treated a small number of Syrians who were wounded in fighting near the Israeli frontier.
Eyal Zisser, an expert on Syria at Tel Aviv University, said he "doubts very much" that Israel is currently arming rebels. But he said Israel would likely help if approached by the West.
Israel would likely back secular fighters such as the groups being trained by the U.S. in neighboring Jordan, or secular and moderate Islamic factions under the Turkey-based Free Syrian Army umbrella group headed by Gen. Salim Idris.
Idris is seen as a secular-minded moderate. But he is believed to have only limited control over the dozens of brigades and battalions inside Syria. Many of these groups are Islamist-leaning factions that have little coordination with each other and are often in rivalries. Some extremist groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, have rejected his authority.
Israeli officials have said in recent months that they do have ties with pro-Western elements in the Syrian opposition. One official involved in those efforts said the contacts are continuing, but discussions have only been on the "political," not military level. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a covert diplomatic issue.
In a sign of Israeli concerns, Netanyahu has made several covert trips to neighboring Jordan in recent months. Israeli officials have given few details about the visits, and Jordan has not commented. But Jordan is Israel's closest ally in the Arab world, and both countries have a joint interest in containing any threats in Syria.
U.S. and other Western and Arab officials say that Jordan has recently been facilitating arms shipments and hosting training camps for Syrian rebels since last October.
American and foreign officials have told The Associated Press that the U.S. has been training secular Syrian fighters in Jordan with the aim of strengthening the hand of moderates among the country's fractured opposition.
On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress that the Pentagon is sending about 200 soldiers from an Army headquarters unit to Jordan to assist efforts to contain violence along the Syrian border and plan for any operations needed to ensure the safety of chemical weapons in Syria.
___
Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-pm-doesnt-rule-helping-syrian-rebels-204758374.html
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Concert Window, The Netflix For Live Concerts, Gives Fans A New, Mobile-Friendly Venue On The Web
Back in February, we introduced you about EvntLive, a new startup backed by Silicon Valley veterans that's on a mission to create a scalable platform for broadcasting live concerts, from arenas to small clubs, backed by a library of recorded shows, profiles and music info. Of course, a platform for live concerts isn't exactly a new idea. In fact, it's been floating around for years, but those entering the space have been hamstrung to an over-abundance of friction stemming from royalty and licensing issues and having to convince venues to install the technology and hardware -- among other things. As a result, live online music has been slow to take off.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BNVv69YFi4g/
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Monday, April 8, 2013
Why Compare Auto Loan Rates: Save Thousands on a Car Loan
Conventional wisdom says to shop around for a new vehicle. Most people consider vehicles from multiple lots and, after a series of test drives, negotiate the best possible deal for their chosen vehicle. However, many simply take the dealer?s?auto loan terms as-is ? without attempting to bargain or find another lender.
Comparing?auto loan rates?is an important but often overlooked aspect of the vehicle purchase process. Neglecting to?compare auto loan rates?is at the buyer?s peril, as thousands of dollars are wasted on unnecessary interest expenses.
Fortunately, after reading this article, you?ll laugh at the dealership?s auto financing offer and demand the?lowest car loan rates?available!
Compare Auto Loan Rates: How Much Can You Save?
Can a one percent reduction in?car loan?interest rates?really save all that much? Yes ? especially as the sale price rises.
Below is an illustration of the interest expenses you?d incur per $1,000 on a five-year?auto loan?at each percentage point from three to eleven.
| Rate (%) | Average Monthly Interest Expense | Total Interest Paid |
| 3 | $1.30 | $78 |
| 4 | $1.75 | $105 |
| 5 | $2.20 | $132 |
| 6 | $2.67 | $160 |
| 7 | $3.13 | $188 |
| 8 | $3.62 | $217 |
| 9 | $4.10 | $246 |
| 10 | $4.58 | $275 |
| 11 | $5.08 | $305 |
Bill ultimately opts for a brand new SUV, which runs him $28,000. He puts down $4,000 and finances the remaining $24,000 on a five-year loan.Suppose two competitive brothers, Bill and Ed, are each shopping for a new vehicle. Each wants to have a better set of wheels than the other without selling the farm in the process.
Example 1: Lower Pricetag, Higher Auto Loan Rates
As we can see, the monthly interest expense increases by a seemingly innocuous $0.40+ to $0.50 per month with each percentage increase. However, that adds up to nearly $30 in extra interest expenses per $1,000 borrowed.? On a $20,000 loan, a buyer at the low end (3 percent) would pay over $4,500 less than a buyer at the high end (11 percent) over the life of the auto loan.
Ed sees Bill drive off the lot in his shiny new SUV and decides to one-up him. He goes to the dealer down the street since ?some guy he knows? told him the salesmen are more flexible at that lot. Using this knowledge, the ever-brilliant Ed purchases the same model as his brother for $1,000 less, making him ?smarter? than his older brother. Plus, Ed opts for a bright red exterior instead of the ?boring? blue Bill purchased ? real smooth, Ed! He puts down $4,000, leaving him with $23,000 to finance ? $1,000 less than Bill.What Ed doesn?t know is that Bill also shopped around for the lowest car loan rates. So, while Ed bought the sales pitch and took the?dealership?financing?with a 6.5 percent interest rate, Bill financed his SUV through an independent lender and landed an interest rate of four percent. Let?s see how this would pan out:
| Bill | Ed | |
| Purchase Price | $28,000 | $27,000 |
| Down Payment | $4,000 | $4,000 |
| Loan Term | 5 Years | 5 Years |
| Interest Rate | 4% | 6.50% |
| Monthly Payment | $442 | $450 |
| Total Interest Paid | $2,520 | $4,001 |
| Total Cost of Vehicle | $30,520 | $31,001 |
As we can see, although Ed walked away with a cheaper sales price than Bill, he?ll ultimately pay nearly $1,500 more to finance his SUV ? thanks to higher car loan rates. As a result, he?ll spend almost $500 more than his brother for the same model. Looking at it another way, by shopping around Bill saved enough on auto loan interest expenses to cover gas for almost three months.
Example 2: The More You Spend, the More You Could Lose
Suppose a stock broker, we?ll call him ?Ross?, haggles the price of a new luxury car down to $95,000 and will finance $85,000 of it.? The offered?dealer financing?comes with an auto loan rate of five percent. At that rate, he?d pay around $11,250 in interest over the life of the loan.
However, knowing the effects of interest and that car loan rates are currently around four percent, Ross decides to shop around. He spends a few hours ? say, three ? performing research and filling out applications. He is able to secure an offer for a?pre-approved auto loan?with a four percent interest rate with another lender. At that rate, he?ll pay a bit over $8,900 in interest expenses, meaning he saved about $2,350 ($783 per hour) by finding?the lowest car loan rates.
In other words, as the price of your chosen vehicle rises, so should your effort to get the lowest interest rate possible.
Finding the Lowest Car Loan Rates is Worth it
Comparing auto loan rates is about as exciting as filing taxes. However, by spending some time and effort on the front end, you can save thousands of dollars down the line.
Think of it as part of the negotiation process. After all, you already compare the prices of similar vehicles among several dealerships and bargain with the salesman before sealing the deal. Why not take the extra step and save even more money?
Source: http://www.gobankingrates.com/auto-loans/compare-auto-loan-rates-importance/
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How Will Affiliates Fit into the US Online Gambling Landscape ...
Many online gambling affiliates are positioning themselves to enter the US online gambling landscape.? The US has become a virtually untapped market due to the UIGEA and Black Friday.? Some are anticipating a new gold rush in the US.? There are some issues to consider.
There is one major difference between what the US online gambling market will look like and what the land grab of ten years ago was.? That difference is the fact that existing brick and mortar gaming companies look to be the leaders in the US industry.? This means that companies that already have large player databases will be operating online gambling businesses.? This is a big change from when internet startups approached experienced marketers for their players when online poker first boomed.
Las Vegas casino companies and other regional operators will still need an internet presence.? Affiliates can still fill the void that US casino companies will be unable to fill.? It simply appears that the new US online gambling business will not fit the same mold that the past business does.
Brick and mortar casinos may not understand their new internet business in ways that affiliates with years of experience may.? Some traditional casino companies are better at social media and internet marketing than others.? One thing that is lacking in most cases is the content business.
There are few potential online poker companies that have created an internet presence for their future business. ?This could be troublesome for these companies.? Many affiliates and other speculators are already creating holding pages that rank for poker room terms related to major casino companies.? Few of the major casino brands have created online poker room or casinos pages.? This is where affiliates will succeed.
While casinos have failed to plan ahead, affiliates have.? Affiliates can offer websites that already rank for US online poker terms, state poker and even brands that are yet to be launched.
Nevada affiliates will require licensing if they share revenue with a licensed online poker room.? The same appears to be true in other states that have considered or passed online gambling regulations.
One future online poker operator currently offers an affiliate program for its hotels.? MGM Resorts allows website owners to promote their properties though this affiliate program.? The commission rate is 3% of the hotel sale.? Revenue from amenities or gambling is not included.? Online gambling affiliates are accustomed to receiving 25-50% of revenue generated.? Commissions may be higher but this may be a wakeup call that US online poker is not going to be as profitable as it is in other countries using the revenue share model.
Ways Around Affiliate Licensing
Regulated online poker rooms may move to a CPA model.? This would mean that an affiliate would be paid for every player sent to the online poker room.? While debatable, terms may have to exclude a player?s activity and rely solely on a player signing up or maybe making a deposit.? Casinos already use this type of product with junket operators that bring them players in Nevada.? The junket operators must register with the Nevada Gaming Control Board and have rights that affiliates that will advertise online poker will not have or want.? This could mean the difference between needing a license or not.
One way around this is to sell banner space through a media buy agreement.? This is done in traditional advertising from radio to television and is also common for more mainstream websites.? This would also not require any type of licensing from gaming commissions.
Current Top Online Poker Affiliate Programs
The online poker affiliate business is already changing.? PokerStars offers a watered down affiliate program with massive deductions from their revenue share agreements.? Full Tilt Poker dropped their affiliate program at relaunch.? Party Poker and bwin have shown contempt for their affiliate partners by changing terms retroactively.? 888 offers a reputable affiliate program, but only pays CPA.? Revenue share is not available at 888 as it was stopped years ago.
Lotteries Pay Affiliate Commissions to Vendors
State lotteries are the wild card here.? Lotteries typically pay their affiliates 5% of the ticket sales.? Most lottery affiliates are brick and mortar retailers that sell tickets.? State lotteries have little experience with affiliate programs outside of retailers but that may change if they partner with experienced online poker operators, which is where Delaware is headed.
The new US regulated market will not be the gold mine that online poker has been in the past.? The big advantage though will be that online poker rooms will be starting out with very few active players and a lot of competition.? Marketing budgets will likely be large and publishers that produce unique content that ranks well for regulated online poker searches.? Those sites will be valuable to US online gaming companies.
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Article source: http://www.legalpokersites.com/blog/how-will-affiliates-fit-into-the-us-online-gambling-landscape/3735/
Source: http://casinoonlinemarketing.com/how-will-affiliates-fit-into-the-us-online-gambling-landscape/
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Egypt: Clashes outside Copt cathedral leave 1 dead
CAIRO (AP) ? Christians angered by the killing of four Christians in weekend sectarian violence clashed Sunday with a mob throwing rocks and firebombs, killing one and turning Cairo's main Coptic cathedral into a battleground.
The clashes raised tempers in an already tense political atmosphere, as workers shut down the country's trains in a strike over wages and a dispute over the nation's chief prosecutor entered a new phase ? all signs of two years of unending turmoil.
Reacting to Sunday's violence, the Muslim Brotherhood's political party blamed "dubious" attempts by unnamed parties to broaden instability in Egypt by igniting sectarian violence and spreading chaos.
A liberal opposition group, the Popular Current, said the clashes were symptomatic of the failure of the state to protect its citizens, calling on Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and his government to resign.
Morsi said in a statement late Sunday that he spoke to Pope Tawadros II by phone. He gave orders to authorities to guard the cathedral and citizens in the area, adding that protecting the lives of Muslims and Christians was a state responsibility.
"I consider any attack on the cathedral as an attack on me, personally," he said, according to the statement from his office.
The clashes at the St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral began just after hundreds of angry Christians left the complex to stage an anti-government march following the funeral for the four Christians killed in sectarian clashes Saturday.
A mob, described by witnesses as residents of the area, pelted them with rocks and firebombs and fired birdshot, forcing them back inside the complex. Few police were present.
By the time police arrived in larger numbers, the church was the scene of clashes between those locked inside and the mob outside, as the two sides exchanged rocks and firebombs. Police fired tear gas, and gas canisters landing inside church grounds caused a panic among women and children. People outside the church cheered.
Tawadros was not in the cathedral, his headquarters, during the funeral and the violence that followed. In a statement carried by the state news agency, said he was "regretful" of the violence and called for calm.
"There was no security outside the church for such a large funeral," said Emad Thabet, a Coptic Christian who was among those locked up in the church for hours. "There is no such thing as Egyptians in Egypt. There are only Muslims and Christians," he said. Copts have complained for decades that the Christian minority suffers from discrimination.
Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's estimated 90 million people. Attacks against Christians have increased since the ouster two years ago of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
The clashes took place alongside a development in another of Egypt's many crises ? questions surrounding the legitimacy of the country's top prosecutor. On Sunday, Egypt's highest judicial body urged him to step down less than five months after Morsi appointed him. A few days earlier, a court ruling declared his appointment void.
The statement from the Supreme Judiciary Council urged the chief prosecutor, Talaat Abdullah, "to express a wish" to return to his previous job as a judge for the sake of the unity of the judiciary.
There was no immediate comment from Abdullah. Officials in his office and in the government indicated before that he will appeal the court decision.
Abdullah's appointment in December set off demonstrations and protests by judges and fellow prosecutors. The protests forced him to tender his resignation, but then he withdrew it and stayed in office.
Removing Abdullah has been a key demand of the mostly liberal and secular opposition. Sunday's call by the council of the judiciary appeared aimed at offering him an honorable exit, a step toward ending the long-running crisis within the judiciary over the appointment.
During the past two weeks, Abdullah has issued summons against several media celebrities critical of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president. They included popular TV satirist Bassem Youssef, who was accused of insulting Morsi and Islam. The satirist was released on bail.
Alongside the sectarian and legal issues, the overriding economic crisis flared as Egypt's railway services came to a halt Sunday because of a strike by train drivers and conductors demanding better pay. The strike snarled inter-city transit, and thousands of angry passengers crowded train stations.
The most immediate issue was the specter of sectarian violence increasing and spreading to the rest of the country.
Sunday's clashes grew out of Khossous, a town north of Cairo, where five people, including a Muslim, were killed a day earlier. Renewed clashes erupted there later Sunday outside the local church, leaving 12 residents and one police officer injured.
At the cathedral on Sunday, witness Ibrahim Elsherif said the clashes began when angry Coptic protesters tried to stop traffic for an anti-government march. A street brawl turned quickly into an attack by local residents, who pelted the protesters with rocks from the roofs of nearby buildings, throwing firebombs and firing birdshot, he said. Some protesters smashed parked cars.
One Coptic Christian was killed in the violence, and at least 66 people were wounded, the Health Ministry said. Two local journalists were among those injured, one seriously, according to their newspapers.
Video aired live on the private ONTV network showed young men on the roof of a building next to the cathedral firing handguns toward the compound.
Inside the cathedral, several thousand mourners chanted slogans against Morsi, calling on the Egyptian leader to step down. They shouted "Leave!" and "This is our country, we will not leave."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-clashes-outside-copt-cathedral-leave-1-dead-210343859.html
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US preparing for possible further NKorea actions
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) ? The top U.S. military officer said Sunday the Pentagon had bolstered its missile defenses and taken other steps because he "can't take the chance" that North Korea won't soon engage in some military action.
Heightened tensions with North Korea led the United States to postpone congressional testimony by the chief U.S. commander in South Korea and delay an intercontinental ballistic missile test from a West Coast base.
North Korea, after weeks of war threats and other efforts to punish South Korea and the U.S. for joint military drills, has told other nations that it will be unable to guarantee diplomats' safety in the North's capital beginning Wednesday.
U.S. Gen Martin Dempsey, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who just wrapped up a visit to Afghanistan, was asked in an Associated Press interview whether he foresees North Korea taking military action soon.
"No, but I can't take the chance that it won't," he said, explaining why the Pentagon has strengthened missile defenses and made other decisions to combat the potential threat.
Dempsey said the U.S. has been preparing for further provocations or action, "considering the risk that they may choose to do something" on one of two nationally important anniversaries in April ? the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung and the creation of the North Korean army.
U.S. Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the 28,000 American troops in South Korea, will stay in Seoul as "a prudent measure" rather than travel to Washington to appear this coming week before congressional committees, Army Col. Amy Hannah said in an email Sunday to the AP.
Thurman has asked the Senate Armed Services Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense to excuse his absence until he can testify at a later date.
Dempsey said he had consulted with Thurman about the rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Dempsey said both Thurman and South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Jung Seung-jo, decided it would be best for them to remain in Seoul rather than come to Washington. The Korean general had planned to meet with Dempsey, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, in mid-April for regular talks.
Dempsey said that instead of meeting in person with Thurman and Jung in Washington, they will consult together by video-teleconference.
The Pentagon has postponed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that was set for the coming week at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a senior defense official told the AP on Saturday.
The official said U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to put off the long-planned Minuteman 3 test until April because of concerns the launch could be misinterpreted and exacerbate the Korean crisis. Hagel made the decision Friday, the official said.
North Korea's military said this past week that it was authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons. North Korea also conducted a nuclear test in February and in December launched a long-range rocket that could potentially hit the continental U.S.
The U.S. has moved two of the Navy's missile-defense ships closer to the Korean peninsula, and a land-based system is being deployed to the Pacific territory of Guam later this month. The Pentagon last month announced longer-term plans to strengthen its U.S.-based missile defenses.
The defense official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the Minuteman 3 test delay and requested anonymity, said U.S. policy continues to support the building and testing of its nuclear deterrent capabilities. The official said the launch was not put off because of any technical problems.
Dempsey said he was not familiar with details of the Minuteman decision because he was traveling in Afghanistan.
But, he said, "it would be consistent with our intent here, which is to do what we have to do to posture ourselves to deter (North Korea), and to assure our allies. So things that can be delayed should be delayed."
A South Korean national security official said Sunday that North Korea may be setting the stage for a missile test or another provocative act.
Citing North Korea's suggestion that diplomats leave the country, South Korean President Park Geun-hye's national security director said the North may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday, according to presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing.
In Washington, an adviser to President Barack Obama said "we wouldn't be surprised if they did a test. They've done that in the past."
Aide Dan Pfeiffer told ABC's "This Week" that "the key here is for the North Koreans to stop their actions, start meeting their international obligations, and put themselves in a position where they can achieve what is their stated goal, which is economic development, which will only happen if they rejoin the international community."
He told "Fox News Sunday" that "the onus is on the North Koreans to do the right thing here," adding that "they are the source of the problem and the only way to solve this is for them to take a step back."
If they don't, there will be consequences, Pfeiffer said.
"They will be able to further isolate themselves in the world, they will continue to further hurt themselves. The North Korean people are starving because of actions like the ones North Koreans are taking right now."
U.S. Sen. John McCain said the North's young leader, Kim Jong Un, is playing a game of brinksmanship.
"In the past we have seen this repetitious confrontation, negotiation, incentives to North Korea to better behave, hopes that they will abandon their nuclear quest ? which they never will, otherwise, they'd be totally irrelevant," McCain told CBS' "Face the Nation."
"And so we've seen the cycle over and over and over again, for last 20 or 30 years. They confront. There's crisis. Then we offer them incentives ? food, money. While meanwhile the most repressive and oppressive regime on earth continues to function," he added.
McCain said China "does hold the key to this problem. China can cut off their economy if they want to."
___
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor, Philip Elliott and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-preparing-possible-further-nkorea-actions-164831131--politics.html
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