Thursday, February 28, 2013

iFixit releases tablet repairability list, puts Apple and Microsoft on the bottom

Not only has iFixit long been the go-to source for gadget teardowns, it's often seen as an authority on just how repairable a device is post-purchase. So when the outfit released its "Tablet Repairability" list recently, we took notice. The Dell XPS 10 took top marks (9 out of 10) for its color-coded screws and labeled cables, while Apple and Microsoft slumped to the bottom. Every iPad from the second generation onward scored a 2, and the Surface Pro has the unenviable position as the worst of the lot with a score of 1. Excessive adhesive is the culprit behind the low scores, as is the high probability of part breakage upon disassembly. Not every tablet on the market made it on the list, but it's a decent start as iFixit finds more slates to tear down. Head on over to the source to see if your favorite tablet is easily fixable or if you need to look into rugged cases and extended warranties.

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Via: CNET

Source: iFixit

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Rkx5x8tCdsc/

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Diamond Gem Awards 2012 Awarded - With A Couple Of Surprises ...

Diamond Comic Distributors have announced their Diamond Gem Awards for 2012, voted on by comic book retailers in the direct market. The nominees are listed below, the winners highlighted in bold. In addition to the nominations, two ?Top Dollar? Awards have been added, both won by Marvel. Marvel has traditionally fared badly in the publisher category, despite usually bringing the most money into the marketplace. Could this be a way to make up for that?

Valiant are a notable win for small publisher in their first year of operation? first seven months even. And Image grabbed notable product categories with Walking Dead and Saga, though DC still dominated, as they did last year.

As for Best Magazine, it?s an honour to be nominated etc etc?

Bleeding Cool were the only website to cover the 2011 Gem awards? Maybe this year, they will get a little more coverage.

Comic Book Publisher of the Year ? Over 4%

  • Dark Horse Comics
  • DC Comics
  • IDW Publishing
  • Image Comics
  • Marvel Comics

Comic Book Publisher of the Year ? Under 4%

  • Archie Comics
  • Avatar Press
  • BOOM! Studios
  • Dynamite Entertainment
  • Valiant Entertainment

Top Dollar Comic Book Publisher of the Year

Marvel Comics

Best Comic Book of the Year Under ? $3.00

  • Green Lantern #0 (DC)
  • Hawkeye #1 (Marvel)
  • Hellboy in Hell #1 (Dark Horse)
  • Saga #1 (Image)

Best Comic Book of the Year ? Over $3.00

    • Amazing Spider-Man #700 (Marvel)
    • Batman #9 ? Night of Owls (DC)
    • Mars Attacks #1 (IDW)
    • The Walking Dead #100 (Image)
    • X-O MANOWAR #1 (Valiant)

Top Dollar Comic Of The Year

Amazing Spider-Man #700

Best Licensed Comic of the Year

  • Adventure Time #1 (BOOM! Studios)
  • Hit-Girl #1 (Marvel)
  • My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #1 (IDW)
  • Masks #1 (Dynamite)
  • Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi Force Storm #1 (Dark Horse)

Magazine of the Year

  • Bleeding Cool Magazine #1 (Avatar)
  • DC Nation #1 (DC)
  • DC Superhero Chess Figure Collection Magazine #1 ? Batman White King (Eaglemoss
  • Publications)
  • Marvel Super Heroes #1 (Marvel)
  • Walking Dead Magazine #1 (Titan Publishing)

Best Backlist Publisher of the Year

  • DC Entertainment
  • Dark Horse Comics
  • IDW Publishing
  • Image Comics
  • Marvel Comics

Best Original Graphic Novel

  • Richard Stark?s Parker: The Score (IDW)
  • Batman: Earth One HC (DC)
  • Blacksad: Silent Hell HC
  • Superman: Earth One Vol. 2 HC (DC)
  • Spider-Man Season One Premiere HC (Marvel)
  • Not My Bag GN (Image)

Best Reprint Trade Paperback or Hard Cover of the Year

  • Walking Dead Vol. 2 Compendium (Image)
  • Saga Vol. 1 TP (Image)
  • Batman: The Court of Owls Vol. 1 HC (DC)
  • Justice League: Origin Vol. 1 (DC)
  • Scott Pilgrim Color Edition Vol. 1 (Oni Press)
  • Deadpool Kills Marvel Universe TP (Marvel)
  • Adventure Time Vol. 1 TP (BOOM!)
  • Daredevil by Mark Waid Vol.1 TP (Marvel)

Best Licensed Trade Paperback or Hard Cover of the Year

  • Avatar: Last of the Airbenders ? The Promise, Part 1 Vol. 1 TP (Dark Horse)
  • Game of Throne Vol. 1 GN (Bantam/Spectra)
  • Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Vol. 1 HC (DC/Vertigo)
  • The Stand HC Omnibus with Slipcase (Marvel)
  • Star Trek Next Generation / Doctor Who Assimilation Vol. 1 TP (IDW)

Best Manga Trade Paperback of the Year

  • Sailor Moon: Kodansha Edition Vol. 3 TP (Kodansha Comics)
  • Black Butler Vol. 8 TP (Yen Press)
  • Tezuka: Message to Adolf Vol. 1 GN (Vertical Inc.)
  • 21st Century Boys Vol. 1 GN (Viz Media)
  • Fallen Words GN (Drawn & Quarterly)
  • FLCL Omnibus (Dark Horse)

Best Manga Publisher of the Year

  • Yen Press
  • Kodansha Comics
  • Seven Seas Entertainment
  • Vertical Inc.
  • Viz Media
  • Dark Horse Comics

Best Anthology of the Year

  • Best American Comics HC 2012 ( Houghton Mifflin)
  • Marvel Firsts 1970s TP VOL 01 (NOV110636)
  • Best American Comics HC (Houghton Mifflin) Marvel Firsts: 1970 Vol. 1 TP (Marvel)
  • Womanthology: Heroic HC (IDW)
  • Dark Horse Presents #13 (Dark Horse)

Best Indie Graphic Novel of the Year

  • The Underwater Welder (Top Shelf)
  • Charles Burns Hive GN (Pantheon Books)
  • Tower Chronicles: Geisthawk Vol. 1 GN (Legendary Comics)
  • Chris Ware: Building Stories HC (Pantheon Books)
  • Anomaly HC (Anomaly)
  • Are You My Mother: A Comic Drama HC (Houghton Mifflin Company)

Best Trade Book of the Year

  • Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide Vol. 42 (Gemstone)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog: Complete Comic Encyclopedia TP (Archie)
  • The History of Sonic the Hedgehog HC (Udon)
  • Avengers: Art of the Avengers HC with Slipcase (Marvel)
  • Art of Mass Effect HC (Dark Horse)
  • The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy Boxed Set HC (Dark Horse)
  • David Mazzucchelli Daredevil Born Again Artist ED HC (IDW)
  • Art of Todd McFarlane Devils in the Details HC (Image)

Best Game Manufacturer of the Year

  • Cryptozoic Entertainment
  • Paizo Publishing
  • USAopoly
  • WIZKIDS/NECA
  • Wizards of the Coast

Best Game Product of the Year

  • DC Comics Deck Building Game
  • Pathfinder RPG: Advanced Race Guide
  • Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Edition Monopoly
  • Marvel Heroclix Galactic Guardians Expansion
  • Magic the Gathering: Return to Ravinca Expansion

Best Toy Manufacturer of the Year

  • DC Entertainment/DC Collectibles
  • Diamond Select Toys
  • Kotobukiya
  • Bowen Designs
  • Hasbro
  • TMP

Best Toy Product of the Year

  • Marvel Select: Avengers Movie Hulk Action Figure (Diamond Select Toys)
  • Marvel Select: Amazing Spider-Man Movie AF (DST)
  • Batman Arkham Asylum Play Arts ~Kai~ Arm Batman AF (Square Enix)
  • Justice League Superman Action Figure DC Entertainment /DC Collectibles
  • We Can Be Heroes Justice League 7 Pack Box Set DC Entertainment/DC Collectibles

Best Toy Line of the Year

  • Play Arts ~Kai~ (Square Enix)
  • Mass Effect 3 Action Figures (Big Fish)
  • Marvel Select AF (DST)
  • Walking Dead Series 2 Assortment (McFarlane Toys)
  • DC Justice League New 52 Action Figures DC Entertainment/DC Collectibles
  • Batman Arkham City Series 3 DC Entertainment/DC Collectibles

Best Collectible Statue of the Year

  • DC Harley Quinn Bishoujo Statue (Koto)
  • Red Hulk PX Mini-Bust (Gentle Giant)
  • Thor Classic Action Statue (Bowen)
  • Dragon Age II: Flemeth Dragon Statue (Dark Horse)
  • DC Comics Cover Girls Harley Quinn Statue DC Entertainment/DC Collectibles
  • Batman Black and White Statue New 52 By Jim Lee DC Entertainment/DC Collectibles

image

Source: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/02/27/diamond-gem-awards-2012/

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FlatIronsCarpet.com ? Home Improvement Ideas To Give Your ...

TIP! Protect the floor in any room you are going to paint. In this way, you can avoid damaging your carpeting and flooring.

Do you see yourself as a home improvement guru like the ones on TV? Do you know the steps for making complex repairs on old or broken appliances? Read this article to get more ideas on projects you might want to consider.

TIP! Do not rush into a home improvement job. Whenever you plan to paint, don?t forget to throw coverings over furniture ahead of time.

Consider padding the edges of sharp furniture if you have small children or clumsy animals. You can even turn this into a stylish do-it-yourself project. You can find cheap corner protectors in any store, or apply foam tape yourself on sharp edges. Another thing you can try is to tape dangerous wiring down that could be harmful to your children.

TIP! If your space is limited, think about purchasing a small, stackable washer and dryer. These combo units are great space savers in apartments and homes with not a lot of extra space.

You may be thinking of adding a traditional wood fireplace to your home. You may want to rethink that. While a traditional fireplace looks great, it is an inefficient heat source. Most of the energy is lost through the chimney. Also, the fire needs a lot of fresh air that will use up the oxygen that is inside your home.

TIP! Try composting to reduce how much garbage you put out. A compost pile is easily started by choosing a spot in your yard, and layering grass cuttings, coffee grounds, veggies, fruit peelings and other organic matter into a pile.

It is not necessary to completely replace your cabinetry in order to freshen your kitchen. It is possible for a bit of paint to make a huge difference. There are quite a few choices when it comes to finishes for your cabinetry. So, do a little research, pick something you love and have fun creating your own unique look!

TIP! Are you trying to sell your property? Projects around the home can easily increase your home?s worth. You could get new appliances for your kitchen and include this expense into the asking price to attract more buyers.

If you aren?t happy with how your home looks, it may be time to consider a renovation. Renovating your home allows you the opportunity to build it exactly as you?d like. A well-planned renovation is far more affordable than purchasing a new home; it also gives you a greater degree of control over your surroundings.

TIP! If you want to spruce up your bathroom or your kitchen without a complete remodel, you should think about new lighting fixtures and accents. It is possible for an electrician to upgrade old-style track lighting for under $1000.

Some people may have some skills with home improvement, but true knowledge takes years of work and experience to gain. There is always more to learn, and your skills can always be improved upon. You will be above the novice level in no time if you heed these tips.

Source: http://flatironscarpet.com/home-improvement-ideas-to-give-your-house-a-face-lift/

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Ammar Harris Search: Warrant Issued For Suspect In Deadly Las Vegas Strip Shooting Suspect

LAS VEGAS -- Police said Monday they have a warrant for a 26-year-old ex-convict identified as the prime suspect in a shooting and fiery crash that killed three people last week on the Las Vegas Strip.

"We can say with certainty that Ammar Harris is the suspect who fired the fatal shots," Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Jones told reporters at an afternoon update about a manhunt that he said would be advertised on southern Nevada billboards.

Police previously released a photo of Harris taken after his arrest last year in Las Vegas in a 2010 prostitution case. It showed Harris with tattoos on his right cheek and words on his neck above an image that appeared to depict an owl with blackened eyes. Jones said Harris should be considered armed and dangerous.

Jones said investigators were looking everywhere Harris had lived in the past. He wasn't specific.

Public records show that Harris previously lived in South Carolina and Georgia, and told a police officer when he was arrested in Miami Beach last December that he had lived in Florida for about a year.

Harris was convicted in 2004 in Orangeburg, S.C., of felony possession with intent to sell a stolen pistol, Jones said. The conviction was not in California, as police said earlier.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson attended the news conference and said afterward that the case was getting top priority from prosecutors and he hoped Harris would turn himself in. He said the warrant was issued Friday.

"If Mr. Harris is listening, I would urge him to surrender," Wolfson said.

Harris used the name Ammar Asim Faruq Harris when he was arrested last May in Las Vegas in the June 2010 case. He was charged with robbery, sexual assault, kidnapping and coercion with a weapon.

Las Vegas police also sought pandering by force and ex-felon in possession of concealed weapon charges stemming from allegations that Harris was a pimp and attacked a woman.

Court records show the case was dismissed last June. The prosecutor and a public defender who handled the case didn't immediately respond to messages Monday.

In Miami Beach, Harris was arrested Dec. 7 after he was accused of driving a silver 2006 Hummer H3 the wrong way on a congested street at 2 a.m. The arresting officer said Harris produced a Florida state identification card and provided a Miami address. The status of the case in Miami-Dade courts was unclear Monday.

In Atlanta, Harris was arrested in June 2004 on a felony marijuana possession with intent to distribute charge. According to court records, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge and was sentenced to three months in jail.

Fulton County jail records show Harris spent about two weeks in jail in February 2008 after a misdemeanor battery arrest. The outcome of that case was not immediately clear Monday.

In Las Vegas, investigators say Harris was driving a black Range Rover SUV when he fired shots into a Maserati before dawn Thursday, killing an aspiring rapper and causing a crash that killed two people when the Maserati slammed into a taxi that exploded in a fireball at the heart of the Strip.

Police said several other people were with Harris in the SUV as it fled the scene of the six-vehicle, chain-reaction crash on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Flamingo resorts.

Jones and police homicide Lt. Ray Steiber said they were confident that Harris was the only shooter. They didn't say whether police intend to prosecute anyone else in the SUV.

But, "To anyone who is aware of his location or is assisting Ammar Harris in any way, you will be arrested and prosecuted," Jones said. "You may think you're being a friend, but keep in mind Ammar Harris is wanted for the murder of three citizens."

The SUV was the focus of an intense search before it was found Saturday parked in the garage of a gated apartment complex just a couple of blocks east of the Strip. Harris wasn't found at a nearby apartment where he was believed to have been living.

Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr. was mortally wounded when the dark gray Maserati he was driving was peppered by gunfire from the SUV. Taxi driver Michael Boldon, 62, of Las Vegas, and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, of Maple Valley, Wash., died in the taxi.

Police say the triple homicide stemmed from an altercation between Cherry and Harris in a valet area of the upscale Aria resort a block south of the crash scene at Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road.

A passenger in the Maserati was wounded in the arm, and four people from four other vehicles were treated for non-life-threatening injuries after the crash.

Las Vegas police sought help during last week's search for the Range Rover from local and federal authorities in Nevada and neighboring states of Arizona, California and Utah.

___

Associated Press writer Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/ammar-harris-warrant-vegas-strip-shooting_n_2764637.html

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Dell intros Latitude 10 enhanced security for all your governmental tableting needs

Dell intros Latitude 10 for all your enhance security governmental tableting needs

Government agencies need some tablet love, too. Dell knows this, and the company's looking to make some headway in that space, along with other areas like healthcare companies and financial institutions that require a high level of protection on their CE devices. The enhanced security version of the Latitude 10 Windows 8 slate features all manner of safe-keeping technologies, including dual-authentication with a smart card and fingerprint reader. There's also a Trusted Platform Module, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Computrace Support and a Noble Lock Slot. All of those security measures help the device comply with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Federal Information Processing Standard. You can pick up all that security, along with a dual-core Atom processor today for $779.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/vW_SLbgF5K8/

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Oscars 2013 may have felt long, but it's no record-breaker

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - It's curtains on the 85th annual Academy Awards, but despite a run time that clocked in at three hours and 35 minutes, this edition of the Oscars was a relatively brief affair.

True, it was longer than the previous two shows, but it was a far cry from the late 1990s and early aughts when the program occasionally topped four hours of entertainment and acceptance speeches.

or now, the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 will retain its crown as the longest show in Oscar history. Credits on that program, which was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg and saw "A Beautiful Mind" capture Best Picture, finally stopped rolling after four hours and 23 minutes.

Two other Oscar telecasts ran over four hours - the 1999 show with Goldberg hosting ran four hours and two minutes and the 2000 version came in at four hours and four minutes with Billy Crystal as emcee.

The most recent program with Seth MacFarlane as ringmaster and a cavalcade of musical acts from the likes of Shirley Bassey and Barbra Streisand isn't even the longest Oscars in the past five years. That honor goes to the 2010 broadcast with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-hosting over a three hour and 37 minute show.

The relatively brief running time (at least historically speaking) didn't stop MacFarlane from cracking wise about the languorous pacing of the show. At one point, he quipped that the broadcast was going to keep running until the 2014 Oscars and at another he joked that that 86-year-old Best Actress nominee Emmanuelle Riva ("Amour") was 9 when the show started.

Just imagine how old she'd have been by the time the 2002 show wrapped up.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oscars-2013-may-felt-long-no-record-breaker-220259180.html

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Cone of learning or cone of shame? - Daniel Willingham

A math teacher and Twitter friend from Scotland asked me about about this figure.
Picture I'm sure you've seen a figure like this. It is variously called the "learning pyramid," the "cone of learning," "the cone of experience," and others. It's often attributed to the National Training Laboratory, or to educator Edgar Dale.

You won't be surprised to learn that there are different versions out there with different percentages and some minor variations in the ordering of ac

Certainly, some mental activities are better for learning than others. And the ordering offered here doesn't seem crazy. Most people who have taught agree that long-term contemplation of how to help others understand complicated ideas is a marvelous way to improve one's own understanding of those ideas--certainly better than just reading them--although the estimate of 10% retention of what one reads seems kind of low, doesn't it?

If you enter "cone of experience" in Google scholar the first page offers a few papers that critique the idea, e.g., this one and this one, but you'll also see papers that cite it as if it's reliable.

It's not.

So many variables affect memory retrieval, that you can't assign specific percentages of recall without specifying many more of them:

  • what material is recalled (gazing out the window of a car is an audiovisual experience just like watching an action movie, but your memory for these two audiovisual experiences will not be equivalent)
  • the age of the subjects
  • the delay between study and test (obviously, the percent recalled usually drops with delay)
  • what were subjects instructed to do as they read, demonstrated, taught, etc. (you can boost memory considerably for a reading task by asking subjects to summarize as they read)
  • how was memory tested (percent recalled is almost always much higher for recognition tests than recall).
  • what subjects know about the to-be-remembered material (if you already know something about the subject, memory will be much better.
Picture This is just an off-the-top-of-my-head list of factors that affect memory retrieval. They not only make it clear that the percentages suggested by the cone can't be counted on, but that the ordering of the activities could shift, depending on the specifics.

The cone of learning may not be reliable, but that doesn't mean that memory researchers have nothing to offer educators. For example, monograph published in January offers an extensive review of the experimental research on different study techniques. If you prefer something briefer, I'm ready to stand by the one-sentence summary I suggested in Why Don't Students Like School?: It's usually a good bet to try to think about material at study in the same way that you anticipate that you will need to think about it later.

And while I'm flacking my books I'll mention that When Can you Trust the Experts was written to help you evaluate the research basis of educational claims, cone-shaped or otherwise.


Source: http://www.danielwillingham.com/1/post/2013/02/cone-of-learning-or-cone-of-shame.html

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Senate panel likely to vote this week on CIA pick

(AP) ? The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says she expects the panel to vote later this week on the nomination of John Brennan to be director of the CIA.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Monday the White House has agreed to provide the committee with information about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Republicans had demanded the records as a condition of moving forward with Brennan's confirmation.

But Feinstein said the Obama administration has not responded to the committee's request for more details about the classified legal opinions that justify using unmanned spy planes to kill al-Qaida suspects overseas, including American citizens.

Feinstein said she anticipates the committee will vote Thursday on Brennan's nomination.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-25-Brennan-CIA/id-5f71235239f84cd0a34d3e0458254ef8

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Older women, don't take vitamin D for bones: Panel

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older women shouldn't take vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent broken bones, and there's not enough evidence to say whether it would help anyone else either, says a U.S. government-backed panel.

Based on two reviews of past research, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force waded into the debate over the two vitamins that are thought to strengthen bones to prevent against breaks.

"Calcium and vitamin D are important in general health and bone health. For this recommendation, we review data on whether supplements of vitamin D and calcium can prevent fractures in addition to dietary intake," said Dr. Jessica Herzstein, a member of the Task Force.

Approximately 1.5 million Americans suffer from breaks that are tied to brittle bones each year. And about half of all women over 50 years old will end up with a break that's linked to the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis.

That's a major concern, according to the Task Force, because broken bones are linked to chronic pain, disability and increased risk of sickness and early death.

Based on the reviews, the panel found there were no benefits but some risk for post-menopausal women taking low-dose vitamin D and calcium supplements - below 400 international units and 1,000 milligrams, respectively.

Specifically, taking low-dose supplements didn't change the older women's risk for broken bones, but was tied to a small increase in the risk of kidney stones (see Reuters Health article of June 12, 2012 here: http://reut.rs/W760bF

They also found that there is not enough evidence to suggest higher doses of the vitamins would be effective or safer in older women, or that taking any dose of the supplements would help men or younger women.

For men and younger women, "We're not saying don't take it, we're just saying we don't know enough right now," said Herzstein, who is in charge of employee health at Air Products in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

She added that these recommendations do not apply to people who already have a diagnosis of osteoporosis, a history of fractures or are living in an assisted-living community.

TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR

Herzstein said it's important for people to talk with their doctors about the supplements.

Cara Welch, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Natural Product Association in Washington, D.C., told Reuters Health she agreed that people should talk to their doctors, but said the group disagrees with the new recommendation.

"We believe this recommendation is out of step with current research, and it really should not affect consumers who are trying to supplement their calcium and vitamin D intake with supplements," Welch said.

According to the most recent data from a national survey of Americans, 56 percent of women over 60 years old take vitamin D supplements, and 60 percent take calcium supplements.

The two vitamins are often sold together and are relatively inexpensive.

The Task Force already recommends women older than 65 years old be screened for the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis, and younger women who have a higher risk of broken bones.

The panel also recommends senior citizens with a history of falls and vitamin D deficiency take supplements to help strengthen muscles and help with balance (see Reuters Health article of May 30, 2012 here: http://reut.rs/V1ARom

Vitamin D has also been researched as a preventive measure against dementia, heart disease and cancer, but with mixed results. Herzstein said the panel will soon be issuing recommendations about the vitamin for some of those diseases.

Marion Nestle, a nutrition researcher from New York University who coauthored a commentary published alongside the recommendations in the Annals of Internal Medicine, said that good studies on vitamin D are hard to do, and any end to the debate over whether to take supplements or not is a long way off.

"These studies are so difficult to do and to interpret that scientific consensus seems impossible to achieve, especially in situations where entire organizations are devoted to convincing people to take high-dose vitamin D," she wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Ms1ZbQ Annals of Internal Medicine, online February 25, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/older-women-dont-vitamin-d-bones-panel-221323175.html

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Cuba parliament gathers, will select president

(AP) ? Cuba's parliament reconvened Sunday with new membership and was expected to name Raul Castro to a new five-year-term as president. All were watching whether younger politicians might be tapped for other top leadership posts, providing hints of a possible future successor.

Castro fueled speculation on Friday when he talked of his possible retirement and suggested he has plans to resign at some point. It was unclear whether the 81-year-old leader was joking, but he promised his speech Sunday would be "interesting."

If a fresh face is named as one of his top deputies, it could indicate that his administration is settling on who might carry the country forward when those who fought in the 1959 revolution can no longer do so.

Raul Castro turns 82 this year and would be 86 when a new term ends. His top two lieutenants are also in their 80s.

"This National Assembly is important because it formally is going to govern the fate of the country for the next five years, which will be decisive for changing personnel ? what I call the intergenerational transition," said Arturo Lopez-Levy, a Cuban economist and analyst who lectures at the University of Denver. "The intergenerational transition cannot be put off any longer."

The 612 members of parliament are due to be sworn in during the morning and then pick a new National Assembly president for the first time in 20 years, as longtime chief Ricardo Alarcon was not on the ballot this year.

The assembly will also nominate the Council of State, Cuba's maximum governing body, which is made up of the president, a first vice president, five vice-presidents, a secretary and 23 other members.

The president also oversees the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet.

Castro has spoken in the past of implementing two-term limits for public officials up to and including the president, as well as the importance of grooming new leaders to take over from his graying generation.

This would be his second full term after formally assuming the presidency in 2008. He took over provisionally in 2006 when his elder brother, Fidel, was stricken with a life-threatening intestinal illness.

Raul Castro is about halfway through a program of key social and economic reforms that have already seen the expansion of private business activity, legalized home and car sales, an easing of restrictions on foreign travel and the handover of fallow state land to independent farmers.

Cuban state media said both Castros received a standing ovation when they arrived at a Havana convention center for Sunday's parliamentary gathering.

A photo posted online by the news agency Prensa Latina showed the brothers sitting next to each other at the assembly, along with first vice president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura.

Foreign media were not invited to the early parts of the gathering, but were promised access to its closing moments.

___

Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.

___

Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-24-CB-Cuba-President/id-2d12c88ae2f1493190dfc3178161e1bd

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Kerry takes case on Syria to Europe, Mideast

WASHINGTON (AP) ? John Kerry embarked Sunday on his first official overseas trip as secretary of state, hoping to bring new ideas to Europe and the Mideast about how to end nearly two years of violence in Syria.

Kerry's nine-nation, 10-day trip will take him to America's traditional European allies of Britain, Germany, France and Italy, along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan, and on Iran's nuclear program.

Kerry has said he is eager to discuss new ways of persuading Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and usher in a democratic transition in the country that wracked by escalating violence that has killed at least 70,000 people.

Kerry, a former Democratic senator from Massachusetts who succeeded Hillary Rodham Clinton in President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet, has not offered details of his ideas but officials say they revolve around increasing pressure on Assad and his inner circle.

Kerry's first stop is London, where he will hold talks with British officials on a range of issues, from Afghanistan to the status of the Falkland Islands. Britain is in a major dispute with Argentina over the Falklands.

In German, Kerry will discuss trans-Atlantic issues with German youth in Berlin, where he spent time as a child as the son of an American diplomat posted to the divided Cold War city. He also will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital.

In Paris, Kerry will discuss France's intervention in Mali, while in Rome he'll attend a meeting with Syrian opposition leaders.

U.S. officials have said the trip will be primarily a "listening tour" when it comes to Syria and won't result in immediate shifts in U.S. policy that has until now stayed clear of military support for the rebels fighting Assad.

Despite the numerous Middle East stops. Kerry will not travel to Israel or the Palestinian territories. He will wait to visit them when he accompanies Obama there in March.

___

Online:

Trip details: http://www.state.gov/secretary/travel/2013/205086.htm

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-takes-case-syria-europe-mideast-081440189.html

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sequestration affecting congressional hiring, Rep. Goodlatte says (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Former NBA Stars Give Back to City Youth

High school basketball players from East, Central Tech, and Strong
Vincent had the once in a lifetime chance to be coached and mentored by former
Knicks stars Allan Houston and Larry Johnson. The special mentoring event took
place at the Erie Insurance Arena early Saturday afternoon.

Houston is the BayHawks general manager and used to play with Johnson. Johnson is in town for Affiliate Night at the arena. The BayHawks are an affiliate of the New York Knicks. Johnson was the first overall pick in the NBA draft back in 1991.

Both Houston and Johnson say it was great to come mentor these young athletes. In their mentoring session, the former NBA stars stressed how important it is for the young athletes to stay focused, and to work their hardest in all that they do, both on and off the court.

Source: http://yourerie.com/fulltext?nxd_id=287062

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Kilgore church offers Lenten Meditation series ? Longview News-Journal

by lowes1 on February 23, 2013

Kilgore church offers Lenten Meditation series
Longview News-Journal
KILGORE ? At about noon each Wednesday, the peaceful tranquility of a sanctuary is providing a time of meditation and music for East Texans throughout Lent. First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore launched its Lenten Meditation series of organ music this ?

View full post on Meditation ? Google News

Source: http://spiritualminute.org/kilgore-church-offers-lenten-meditation-series-longview-news-journal.htm

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Op-Ed: Yes, I Have An STD, But It Shouldn't Be a Scarlet Letter

When I tell people what I do professionally ? I?m the founder of The STD Project, a website all about STDs from someone with an STD ? colorful responses abound. When I launched the site, the shock and utter loss for words I elicited even from friends and family was palpable, to say the least. Never mind the small bit of crazy it takes to spend one?s days brazenly telling others you have an unsightly disease that resides on your genitalia. To make matters worse, I quit an incredibly lucrative career to launch the site.

As an accountant working for a Big Four accounting firm, and then a Fortune 500 corporation, I?m certain my new vocational choice was far from anyone?s mind when I announced the website in April 2012. Understandably, my decision to replace a highly coveted career with a financially insecure and lofty goal had my loved ones worried. But my parents understood why I?d chosen to take action.

In Search of a Better Condom

Fourteen years ago, at 16, I contracted genital herpes. Diagnosed and shamed by my family doctor, I rode home with my mother in tears ? convinced I would never have a ?normal? sex life, a loving partner, or a healthy relationship ever again. In the years that followed, I was cast out of the church and labeled a harlot, made to sleep separately from friends during overnight stays for fear of transmission, and called a bevy of names. I was scarlet-lettered.

Rest assured, however, this is not a ?woe is me? kind of story. On the contrary, having herpes never stopped me from dating, having a (very) healthy sex life, or accomplishing my goals, despite my initial misconceptions. In some ways, it likely lit a necessary fire within me ? I?ve always been rather indignant and reticent toward social constructs ? so I set off to prove to others, and mostly to myself, that I deserved more and could be more than just a woman with genital herpes. Having auditioned for ?American Idol,? conquered my fear of heights by skydiving (three times), run a 25K, and earned two honors degrees, I?ve accomplished that.

So, when I launched The STD Project, I felt I was finally ready to tackle the embarrassment and shame I?d experienced years ago. I was healed, resilient, and could begin to forge a social movement despite the inevitable reproach headed my way. ?What I hadn?t anticipated was what happened in the months following the site's launch: an array of questions and earnest interest, an outpouring of support, and message upon message from family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers the world over sharing their personal and unmistakably paralleled sexual health and STD journeys.

Sharing my story with others, reading and listening to theirs, and honing my skills as an educator, speaker, and writer has also afforded me the peace I would have paid anything for years ago. Sometimes it feels selfish, attaining the healing ? healing I wasn?t aware I still needed ? that The STD Project has prompted.

Keeping me grounded is the realization that there?s still so much work to be done. Stigma abounds and people are made to feel like pariahs ? alone, ridiculed, and shunned when diagnosed ? the same stigma that paralyzed me, when what we really need are more education, awareness, and treatment.

So, I?m carrying on.

I am an STD advocate. I will continue to be an advocate until others don?t have to endure what was once, for me, a very arduous journey.

Related Stories on TakePart:

? Could Herpes Kill Breast Cancer??

? HIV Vaccine Under Study May Last a Lifetime

? HIV Epidemic in Latin America, Caribbean: Making Progress


Jenelle Marie is the founder of?The STD Project, an award-winning website and progressive movement aimed at eradicating the stigma associated with contracting an STD and living with an STD by facilitating and encouraging awareness, education, and acceptance through storytelling and resource recommendations. You can also find The STD Project on Facebook and Twitter. Look for her e-Book, ?The Relationship Survival Guide to Living with an STD? available in 2013. TakePart.com


These are solely the author's opinions and do not represent those of TakePart, LLC or its affiliates.


Source: http://news.yahoo.com/op-ed-yes-std-shouldnt-scarlet-letter-005008146.html

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Amazon to open market in second-hand MP3s and e-books

A new market for second-hand digital downloads could let us hold virtual yard sales of our ever-growing piles of intangible possessions

WHY buy second-hand? For physical goods, the appeal is in the price ? you don't mind the creases in a book or rust spots on a car if it's a bargain. Although digital objects never lose their good-as-new lustre, their very nature means there is still uncertainty about whether we actually own them in the first place, making it tricky to set up a second-hand market. Now an Amazon patent for a system to support reselling digital purchases could change that.

Amazon's move comes after last year's European Union ruling that software vendors cannot stop customers from reselling their products. But without technical support, the ruling has had no impact. In Amazon's system, customers will keep their digital purchases ? such as e-books or music ? in a personal data store in the cloud that only they can access, allowing them to stream or download the content.

This part is like any cloud-based digital locker except that the customer can resell previous purchases by passing the access rights to another person. Once the transaction is complete, the seller will lose access to the content. Any system for reselling an e-book, for example, would have to ensure that it is not duplicated in the transaction. That means deleting any copies the seller may have lying around on hard drives, e-book readers, and other cloud services, since that would violate copyright.

Amazon may be the biggest company to consider a second-hand market, but it is not the first. ReDigi, based in Boston, has been running a resale market for digital goods since 2011. After downloading an app, users can buy a song on ReDigi for as little as 49 cents that would costs 99 cents new on iTunes.

When users want to sell an item, they upload it to ReDigi's servers via a mechanism that ensures no copy is made during the transfer. Software checks that the seller does not retain a copy. Once transferred, the item can be bought and downloaded by another customer. ReDigi is set to launch in Europe in a few months.

Digital items on ReDigi are cheaper because they are one-offs. If your hard drive crashes and you lose your iTunes collection you can download it again. But you can only download an item from ReDigi once ? there is no other copy. That is the trade-off that makes a second-hand digital market work: the risk justifies the price. The idea has ruffled a few feathers ? last year EMI sued ReDigi for infringement of copyright. A judge denied the claim, but the case continues.

Used digital goods can also come with added charm. ReDigi tracks the history of the items traded so when you buy something, you can see who has owned it and when. ReDigi's second-hand marketplace has grown into a social network. According to ReDigi founder John Ossenmacher, customers like seeing who has previously listened to a song. "It's got soul like an old guitar," he says. "We've introduced this whole feeling of connectedness."

It could be good for business too if the original vendors, such as iTunes, were to support resale and take a cut of the resell price. Nevertheless, Amazon's move bucks the industry trend. Microsoft's new Xbox, for example, is expected not to work with second-hand games.

But the market could change rapidly now that Amazon's weight is behind this, says Ossenmacher. "The industry is waking up."

This article appeared in print under the headline "Old MP3, one careful owner"

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Japan coastguard says China ship in disputed waters

Japan said a Chinese government ship briefly entered its territorial waters off disputed islands on Saturday, as the Japanese premier vowed he would not tolerate Beijing's incursions into the area.

A Japanese coast guard vessel (bottom) monitors a Chinese fisheries patrol boat in the East China Sea in 2011.

The fisheries patrol boat entered the waters in the East China Sea at 4:48 pm (0748 GMT) and was sailing some 19 kilometres northwest of Uotsuri, one of the Senkaku islands, Japan's coastguard said in a statement.

But the Chinese ship moved out of the zone after about an hour, watched by a Japanese coastguard vessel, it said.

Beijing claims the Japanese-controlled islands, which it calls the Diaoyus.

The incident was the latest in a series, with Japan claiming in one case that Chinese vessels had locked weapons-targeting radar onto a ship and a helicopter. Beijing denied the charge.

Saturday's incident came as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, now on his first visit to the United States since he took office late December, vowed that he would not tolerate any challenge to control over the contested islands.

"We simply cannot tolerate any challenge now and in the future. No nation should make any miscalculation or underestimate the firmness of our resolve," Abe said Friday in Washington.

Speaking after talks with President Barack Obama at the White House, however, Abe cautioned that "I have absolutely no intention to climb up the escalation ladder".

The dispute between Asia's two largest economies intensified in September when Tokyo nationalised three islands in the chain, in what it said was a mere administrative change of ownership.

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Promising new method for next-generation live-attenuated viral vaccines against Chikungunya virus

Feb. 21, 2013 ? Researchers have successfully applied a novel method of vaccine creation for Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) using a technique called large scale random codon re-encoding. Using this approach, a group from the UMR_D 190, Emerging viruses Department in Marseille, France in collaboration with the University of Sydney, Australia, demonstrated that the engineered viruses exhibit a stable phenotype with a significantly decreased viral fitness (i.e., replication capacity), making it a new vaccine candidate for this emerging viral disease.

This new report publishes on February 21 in the Open Access journal, PLOS Pathogens.

There is an immense need for the development of vaccines targeting many emerging viral pathogens. CHIKV has been responsible for several million human cases over the last decade and represents a striking example of a re-emerging, arthropod-borne, human pathogen for which no licensed vaccine exists. Worryingly, one of the vectors of CHIKV, the mosquito Aedes albopictus, has dispersed into new regions (including temperate areas) resulting in outbreaks of this disease where they had never been previously observed, for example in Italy.

Using the large-scale codon re-encoding method, Antoine Nougairede and colleagues were able to synthetically modify the nucleic acid composition of the virus without modifying the encoded viral proteins. When this method was applied to poliovirus and Influenza A virus, it resulted in a live but attenuated virus that had significant reduction of viral fitness. In contrast with previous studies, which employed a targeted approach of codon re-encoding, this new study demonstrates that a random approach reduced the replicative fitness of CHIKV in both primate and arthropod cells. The employed strategy also prevented the reversion of the attenuated phenotype by mutation or recombination, thus reducing the possibility that the newly created virus strain could evolve back to the pathogenic version.

The findings by Nougairede et al. suggest that large-scale codon re-encoding can provide a strong basis for the rapid design of next-generation viral vaccines against emerging viral pathogens, as soon as their genome sequence has been determined. It represents an exciting route to vaccine development because it intrinsically alleviates the likelihood of novel pathogenic properties of the designed live vaccine, and allows modulation of the amount of reduced fitness by altering the terms and degree of the genetic re-encoding. Thus, this strategy potentially allows for the generic development of live attenuated vaccines against many new viral pathogens, with reduced costs and the potential single dose induction of long-term immunity.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Antoine Nougairede, Lauriane De Fabritus, Fabien Aubry, Ernest A. Gould, Edward C. Holmes, Xavier de Lamballerie. Random Codon Re-encoding Induces Stable Reduction of Replicative Fitness of Chikungunya Virus in Primate and Mosquito Cells. PLoS Pathogens, 2013; 9 (2): e1003172 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003172

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/ZfDSqDFNAto/130221194235.htm

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Lakeland College Networking Reception

Location: Milwaukee, Wis. (Marquette University)

Please join us for an evening of networking
with students, alumni, faculty and staff from Lakeland College
as well as other Wisconsin private colleges and employers.

WorkForce Career & Internship Fair
Marquette University
Alumni Memorial Union
Thursday, February 21
3 to 7 p.m.

This is an excellent opportunity for ALL Wisconsin Private College alumni and
students seeking full-time employment to meet with regional and national
employers from business, communication, engineering, health sciences,
computer sciences, government, the arts and non-profit.

For additional details and a complete list of companies attending,
please visit www.wipccc.org. It is FREE to attend.

But the night doesn't end with the fair.
Please join us afterward for a private networking event.

Lakeland College Networking Reception
Sobelman's Pub 'N Grill

1900 W. St. Paul Ave.
Milwaukee
6 to 8 p.m.
Free hors d'oeuvres; cash bar

For questions, please contact Emily Rendall-Araujo '11,
assistant director of alumni relations, at 920-565-1224 or rendallaraujoec@lakeland.edu.


Information: 920-565-1224 rendallaraujoec@lakeland.edu

Source: http://lakeland.edu/alumni/Alumni_calendar.asp?event=9752

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Trump Twitter mystery! Who hacked The Donald?

In what appears to be the latest in a minor wave of attacks on Twitter accounts belonging to out-sized corporate entities, an out-of-character tweet from Donald Trump's verified account set the Internet abuzz, and then disappeared, shortly before noon ET on Thursday.

"These hoes think they classy, well that's the class I'm skippen," read the suspect remark issued from @realDonaldTrump. It was a glaring non sequitur following tweets such as "Republicans must be careful with immigration?don?t give our country away," and "Wow, Macy's numbers just in-Trump is doing better than ever ? thanks for your great support!"

"Yes, obviously the account has been hacked and we are looking for the perpetrator," Rhona Graff, senior vice president, assistant to the president of the Trump Organization, told NBC News via email.

This confirmation was quickly echoed by Trump himself, in a tweet that read, "My Twitter has been seriously hacked ? and we are looking for the perpetrators."

Cut off after a single rogue tweet, the Trump Twitter anomaly was far shorter than the Burger King and Jeep takeovers earlier this week. On Monday, Burger King's Twitter account was hacked and renamed McDonalds, and over the course of a hour, sent out 53 tweets (and garnered 73,421 retweets) making light of the situation. The Tuesday attack on Jeep's Twitter account ? which included the erroneous announcement that the car maker had been taken over by Cadillac ? ceased after just 10 minutes and 13 tweets.

Soon after @Jeep regained control, the Twitter accounts of MTV and BET appeared to be compromised. The MTV account tweeted claims the network had been taken over by BET, and BET tweeted it was now owned by MTV. This turned out to be a publicity stunt by the networks, both owned by Viacom. As NBC News reported on Tuesday, the account of a PR representative warned of the hack ahead of time on Twitter and then both MTV and BET copped to the scheme after the "hack."

NBC News has asked the Trump Organization how Trump was able to regain control of his Twitter account so quickly, and will update this story if we receive a response.

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitterand/or Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/trump-twitter-mystery-who-hacked-donald-1C8462918

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Presenting: The Best Harlem Shake Video EVER!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/presenting-the-best-harlem-shake-video-ever/

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Separatists, Yemeni troops clash in south; 2 dead

ADEN, Yemen (AP) ? A celebration by thousands of Yemenis marking the first anniversary of the country's presidential election was interrupted by a shootout on Thursday between government forces and disgruntled members of a southern independence movement, officials said.

Two separatists were killed in the clash that began as President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's supporters gathered in the main square of the city of Aden on Yemen's southwest coast to send a message that the central government is in control of southern Yemen after years of lawlessness.

The demonstrators carried Hadi's posters and marked his one-candidate referendum. The vote drew an end to a yearlong uprising that ousted the longtime autocratic rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh stepped down as part of U.S.-backed power transfer deal that gave him immunity from prosecution.

"With dialogue we will correct the path," read signs carried by demonstrators whose rally was broadcast live on state TV.

Wahid Ali Rashed, the governor of Aden, told the gathering: "We have said it a million times before that unity will continue."

But that sentiment not shared by a strong majority of southerners who want to separate from the north after what they say are years of discrimination. And the shooting showed the limits of the government's ability to practice its authority, which continues to be challenged by the armed faction of the separatist movement.

Officials said the armed separatists tried to storm the pro-government demonstration, prompting security forces to open fire. Gunfire was heard across the city, witnesses and officials said. The wounded included four Yemini soldiers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The London-based Amnesty International warned authorities against using violence.

"The Yemeni authorities must end the routine violent repression of freedom of assembly," the group said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

"The Southern Movement and its followers have a right to protest peacefully, and the Yemeni authorities must allow them this right," said Ann Harrison, an official with the group. It referred to incidents in the past when security forces opened what Amnesty described as "indiscriminate fire" on protesters last week, killing two people, including a girl.

Since taking over, Hadi, who is from the south, has tried to unite country. He has carried out a shake-up of the divided military, removing Saleh's relatives and loyalists from senior positions and leading a U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida militants in the south. He has also pushed for a national dialogue that would include all rival political and social groups.

Mounting separatist sentiment in the south, however, remains a key challenge for the president. The region was an independent state until it was unified with the north in 1990.

Under Saleh's autocratic rule, the south suffered years of discrimination and unfair distribution of resources. Most southern Yemenis are believed to back an autonomous state, but they are not in favor of armed militias within the separatist movement and do not back an armed fight against government troops.

"Unity has failed and a new political system must be established," said Yassin Said Noaman, a top leader of Yemen's Socialist Party, one of the largest in parliament.

He added that unity has only led to marginalization of the south and that as long as Hadi struggles with other issues, he will not be able to hold the country together and "alienation will continue."

The separatists in the south are also deeply divided, with different factions disagreeing on how to deal with the central government in the capital, Sanaa.

One of the southern leaders, former Interior Minister Mohammed Ali Ahmed, says he welcomes national dialogue but needs guarantees that any deal would eventually be implemented. Others, such as the former vice president Ali Salim al-Beidh, who leads a more militant wing, reject national dialogue. Al-Beidh, who now lives in exile, fled Yemen after a 1994 attempt to declare independence of the south failed, sparking civil war.

The U.N. Security Council warned al-Beidh last Friday of sanctions if he continued to interfere in Yemen's democratic transition. The warning came after al-Beidh was accused of receiving funds from Iran and integrating former al-Qaida members into his movement.

Last month, Yemen's navy seized a ship loaded with a wide variety of Iranian-made weapons, including missiles and rockets. The government in Sanaa asked the U.N. to investigate while Iran, the region's main Shiite powerhouse, denied involvement. For years, Yemen has been fighting Shiite Muslim insurgents near the country's border with Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, Hadi in an apparent reference to Iran accused a "regional country" of trying to cause instability in southern Yemen.

"A regional country is offering money for extremist factions in the southern movement to use violence and force to foil national dialogue," Hadi said in remarks carried by state TV. He said the only way for southerners to make their demands heard was through national dialogue.

The first session for dialogue is scheduled for March 18.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/separatists-yemeni-troops-clash-south-2-dead-124528543.html

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

What does Sony have in store for the next PlayStation?

Featured

PlayStation 4 Controller

After months of rumor and speculation, Sony has revealed its new game machine ? the PlayStation 4 ? as well as a new controller with a touch... Read more

Sony will take the wraps off a brand new video game machine today. Or at least, everyone expects the electronics giant to unveil the successor to the PlayStation 3 when it kicks off the mysterious and yet-to-be-explained event it's hosting at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City this evening.

Sony has invited the world's gaming press to attend what it is calling a "PlayStation Event" (which it teased earlier this month with a vague video). The event starts at 6 p.m. Eastern and the NBC News games team will be on hand to cover whatever happens.

Sony has long been rumored to be working on the next PlayStation, codenamed Orbis. (Some are calling this the "PlayStation 4," but of course, Sony has not confirmed the device, let alone the name.) But if the company does indeed show off its new machine this evening, it will signal the start of a whole new video games arms race.

Sure, Nintendo revealed its new home game machine ? the Wii U ? late last year, but it is Sony and Microsoft who are widely expected to go head-to-head in the coming years with powerful home consoles that leverage the Internet and online gaming in new ways. Microsoft is rumored to be working on the successor to the Xbox 360 (codenamed Durango). Perhaps in answer to Sony's opening volley, Microsoft is expected to unveil its own new console in the coming weeks or months.

As anticipation for Sony's PlayStation event has grown, so have the rumors and leaks reportedly revealing the specifications for this mysterious machine. Here's a quick look at what Sony could have in store for us if the information making the rounds proves to be accurate:

The next PlayStation will come in two models
Sony will unveil two PS models priced at $429 and $529, reports gaming news site Kotaku.com, which got the information from a "reliable source." The source also says that Sony will launch the console in November ? information that aligns with previous rumors and leaks.

You'll be able to control the next PlayStation with your phone or tablet
That same source also told Kotaku that players will be able to control the PlayStation with a smartphone or tablet. That is, you'll be able to use your phone to chat online with PS friends and to buy games which will then be downloaded to the console (the latter of which which sounds a bit like Microsoft's Xbox 360-interfacing SmartGlass app).

The next PlayStation will head to the cloud
Last year Sony bought cloud gaming service Gaikai so it doesn't exactly come as a surprise to hear rumors that Sony will use their new console to stream video games to your home.

Kotaku and a source that goes by the name Superannuation report that Sony has registered several domains based around the phrase "PlayStation Cloud." Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has reported that its own sources say the PlayStation 4 will stream games as a way to allow people to play PlayStation 3 games on the new machine.

The next PlayStation will come with a new controller
Last year we learned that Sony had patented a controller that splits into two. But the most recent rumors suggest that Sony will, instead, reveal a new game controller with a built-in touch-screen. Photos supposedly showing the redesigned controller have even been making the rounds. But whether they are prototypes, the final model or even legitimate remains to be seen.

The next PlayStation will record and share your gameplay
Edge has reported that its sources say the next Sony game machine will continually record the most recent 15 minutes of onscreen gaming for players to edit and then broadcast if they want. They also report that the redesigned controller will have a new "Share" button so players can share screenshots and video clips online.

The next PlayStation will be more powerful than the next Xbox
With Sony expected to go head-to-head with Microsoft, one of the big questions is which new machine will out-muscle the other. Though powerful specs are not the only thing that determines success in a video games arms race, it'll certainly be interesting to see which console has the beefier guts. And so far, rumors indicate that Sony will dominate in the power department with 50 percent more raw computational power than Microsoft's forthcoming machine.

Of course, we'll find out just how accurate some of these rumors and leaks are later today. Sony will be livestreaming its event right here starting at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET. Our own NBC News games team will be on hand at the event in New York as well. So stay tuned here to InGame where we will be bringing you the PlayStation news as it happens.

Winda Benedetti writes about video games for NBC News. You can follow her tweets about games and other things on Twitter here @WindaBenedetti and you can follow her on Google+. Meanwhile, be sure to check out the IN-GAME FACEBOOK PAGE to discuss the day's gaming news and reviews.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/what-does-sony-have-store-next-playstation-1C8435299

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