Former Senator DeMint takes center stage in immigration debate

By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Jim DeMint announced in December that he was leaving the U.S. Senate to head the Heritage Foundation think tank, he said he thought he could wield more influence outside rather than inside the Congress.

Any doubt about that may have been put to rest on Monday with the release of a study by the foundation lambasting a bipartisan immigration proposal in the Senate as a budget-buster that would cost taxpayers trillions of dollars.

While the report was written by a scholar, Robert Rector, the main attraction was DeMint. That was true for boosters of the study and, as it turned out, for as detractors as well, who used DeMint's name to discredit the findings.

The publicity tour started on Sunday when the former South Carolina senator plugged the Heritage study on ABC's "This Week," not normally a venue for think-tank wonks.

It continued on Monday with DeMint defending it in advance on Fox News. Hours later, DeMint presided at the news conference where the report was released.

"He obviously has some influence as a former senator," said Tevi Troy, a former deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush.

Troy said the immigration fight would be an "interesting test case" of Heritage's clout since it is the first big issue it is taking on under DeMint's leadership.

Having DeMint as the star cut both ways, however. He is a long-time opponent of immigration reform and as a senator he helped kill a similar bill in 2007. Critics of the Heritage Foundation report - and there were many - used that fact to attack the study.

Among the most outspoken was Haley Barbour, the ex-governor of Mississippi and former head of the Republican National Committee. He noted pointedly on a conference call with reporters that "it was probably more than a coincidence" that Heritage, under DeMint, would be opposing the immigration bill. The study, Barbour said, "is a political document."

DeMint's "reputation as a researcher is, um, questionable," said a statement from America's Voice, a liberal advocacy group that favors the Senate legislation.

The content of the Heritage study was controversial enough. It estimated that the bill's provisions giving undocumented immigrants a 13-year path to citizenship - "amnesty" in DeMint's words - would cost $6.3 trillion over a lifetime because of government benefits that would be paid to them.

Conservative critics of the study called it deeply flawed because it failed to consider the benefits to the economy of the bipartisan immigration bill, which includes provisions sought by industry to fill high-tech and low-tech jobs that companies say are going begging.

OPENING SALVO

The foundation said it followed respected scholarly methodology in producing the study. "We are a research institution here," said Derrick Morgan, a Heritage vice president. "We can't necessarily speak to the motivations of other people. "But we very much want the fiscal costs to be part of the debate because it protects the American taxpayer."

The argument about the study, which took place just days before debate is scheduled to begin on amendments to the Senate immigration bill, marked the opening salvo in a war of talking points and studies that will play out over the next few months.

Heritage is at odds with liberal think tanks such as the Center for American Progress and also with analysts at the libertarian Cato Institute as well as some scholars at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The divisions mirror a split within the Republican party itself, with stalwarts such as Barbour as well as Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a rising star within the party, supporting immigration reform. Others such as Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas have lined up against it.

DeMint, a leader in the conservative Tea Party movement, is known for his outspokenness. In 2009, he helped to fire up conservative opposition to President Barack Obama's proposal to overhaul the healthcare system by declaring that the bill would Obama's Waterloo. Republicans were unable to stop the bill from becoming law.

DeMint's role is all the more interesting because of his ties to Rubio, a member of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who wrote the immigration reform bill under consideration.

DeMint was a strong supporter of Rubio's Senate candidacy in 2010 and the Florida senator, who is seen as a possible presidential candidate in 2016, has credited DeMint with helping him to win the seat.

"Immigration reform pits Rubio against mentor DeMint," said a headline on a CNN blog post.

"By the time that appeared on Monday afternoon, DeMint, unfazed, was back on television, telling Fox News: "what we need to do is put aside this whole idea of amnesty and fix our system one piece at a time."

The immigration bill, he said, "is going to be another Obamacare."

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro. Editing by Fred Barbash and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-senator-demint-takes-center-stage-immigration-debate-001600248.html

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'Fast & Furious 6' Peels Out Nine New Clips

It always feels like overkill when a studio releases a large number of clips from a movie in anticipation of its impending release date, but that's exactly what Universal Pictures has done with "Fast & Furious 6." Fortunately this series has proved time and again that it doesn't need a brilliant marketing strategy to get [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/05/06/fast-furious-6-nine-new-clips/

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Unusual comparison nets new sleep loss marker

May 3, 2013 ? For years, Paul Shaw, PhD, a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has used what he learns in fruit flies to look for markers of sleep loss in humans.

Shaw reverses the process in a new paper, taking what he finds in humans back to the flies and gaining new insight into humans as a result: identification of a human gene that is more active after sleep deprivation.

"I'm calling the approach cross-translational research," says Shaw, associate professor of neurobiology. "Normally we go from model to human, but there's no reason why we can't take our studies from human to model and back again."

Shaw and his colleagues plan to use the information they are gaining to create a panel of tests for sleep loss. The tests may one day help assess a person's risk of falling asleep at the wheel of a car or in other dangerous contexts.

PLOS One published the results on April 24.

Scientists have known for years that sleep disorders and disruption raise blood serum levels of interleukin 6, an inflammatory immune compound. Shaw showed that this change is also detectable in saliva samples from sleep-deprived rats and humans.

Based on this link, Shaw tested the activity of other immune proteins in humans to see if any changed after sleep loss. The scientists took saliva samples from research participants after they had a normal night's sleep and after they stayed awake for 30 hours. They found two immune genes whose activity levels rose during sleep deprivation.

"Normally we would do additional human experiments to verify these links," Shaw says. "But those studies can be quite expensive, so we thought we'd test the connections in flies first."

The researchers identified genes in the fruit fly that were equivalent to the human genes, but their activity didn't increase when flies lost sleep. When they screened other, similar fruit fly genes, though, the scientists found one that did.

"We've seen this kind of switch happen before as we compared families of fly genes and families of human genes," Shaw says. "Sometimes the gene performing a particular role will change, but the task will still be handled by a gene in the same family."

When the scientists looked for the human version of the newly identified fly marker for sleep deprivation, they found ITGA5 and realized it hadn't been among the human immune genes they screened at the start of the study. Testing ITGA5 activity in the saliva samples revealed that its activity levels increased during sleep deprivation.

"We will need more time to figure out how useful this particular marker will be for detecting sleep deprivation in humans," Shaw says. "In the meantime, we're going to continue jumping between our flies and humans to maximize our insights."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University School of Medicine. The original article was written by Michael C. Purdy.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Matthew S. Thimgan, Laura Gottschalk, Cristina Toedebusch, Jennifer McLeland, Allan Rechtschaffen, Marcia Gilliland-Roberts, Stephen P. Duntley, Paul J. Shaw. Cross-Translational Studies in Human and Drosophila Identify Markers of Sleep Loss. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (4): e61016 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061016

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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/Myxdqnu4Xbw/130503230415.htm

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Stocks gain after unemployment claims fall

NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market is all about jobs this week.

Stocks rose Thursday after unemployment claims fell to a five-year low. A day earlier it was just the opposite; the market slumped after companies added just 119,000 jobs in April, the fewest in seven months, according to payroll processor ADP. And stocks could swing again Friday when the government's closely watched monthly employment report is released.

"Everyone is looking to the April jobs numbers," said Tyler Vernon, chief investment officer at Biltmore Capital. "People are more confident that it was an anomaly last month and are looking for some bigger numbers."

Economists forecast that the employers added 160,000 jobs last month. Stocks slumped April 5 when the government said 88,000 jobs were added, less than half the number forecast.

Signs of increased hiring have supported this year's surge in stocks and pushed the market to record highs. The run-up has started to falter in recent weeks on concerns that the global economy is slowing. More jobs should boost consumer spending, a key driver of U.S. growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 130.63 points to 14,831.58 on Thursday, an increase of 0.9 percent. The index lost 138 points a day earlier. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 14.89 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,597.59, also recovering almost all of its losses from a day earlier.

Applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 324,000, the fewest since January 2008, the Labor department reported before the market opened.

The outlook for global growth also got a boost after the European Central bank cuts its benchmark interest rate a quarter of a percentage point to 0.5 percent.

The euro fell a penny against the dollar to $1.3060. The price of gold rose $21.40, or 1.5 percent, to $1,467.60 an ounce. The price of crude oil rose $2.96, or 3.3 percent, to $93.99 a barrel.

Higher profits from CBS, Facebook and other companies also lifted stocks Thursday.

Broadcaster CBS reported a 22 percent jump in first-quarter earnings as big events like the Super Bowl pushed advertising revenue higher. Its stock rose 95 cents, or 2 percent, to $47.35.

GM rose 98 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $31.16 after it lost less money in Europe and beat Wall Street's expectations for first-quarter profit. The automaker's earnings of 67 cents a share beat the 54 cents predicted by Wall Street analysts who follow the company.

Facebook gained $1.54, or 5.6 percent, to $28.98 after its first-quarter revenue rose 38 percent, surpassing Wall Street expectations. Nearly a third of the company's advertising revenue came from mobile devices, a greater share than analysts had expected.

The social networking site bucked the trend for companies reporting in the first quarter. Most are exceeding analysts' expectations on earnings, but falling short on revenue.

"If we continue to see several more quarters like this, investors would start to get nervous," said Andrew Milligan, head of global strategy at Standard Life Investments. He says that growth needs to pick up in the major export markets, like China and Europe, for U.S. companies to maintain earnings growth.

Facebook's earnings also boosted information technology stocks. The industry rose 1.4 percent, the most of the 10 groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Technology stocks have surged in the past two weeks, after lagging the S&P 500 in the first three months of the year. Their 5.7 percent increase in 2013 still trails the 18.5 percent gain for health care companies, the best performing industry in the index.

Seagate Technology was another technology company that gained Thursday. The company, which makes hard drives, jumped $2.69, or 7.3 percent, to $39.63, even after the company reported a slump in sales and earnings. The decline wasn't as bad as analysts had expected, though, and Seagate handily beat estimates for both sales and revenue.

Earnings at companies in the S&P 500 are at record levels. They are forecast to increase by 4.4 percent in the first quarter and keep rising throughout the year, according to S&P Capital IQ data.

Gains for technology companies helped push the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite higher. The index advanced 41.49 points, or 1.3 percent, to 3,340.62.

Stocks are rebounding after a slump Wednesday, when reports of slower manufacturing growth and hiring dragged down markets. The Dow had its worst drop in two weeks. The market was down even after the Federal Reserve Bank reaffirmed its plan to continue its stimulus program, which is now five years old.

For the year, the Dow is still up 13 higher, the S&P 500 is up 12 percent.

The gains suggest that the market is getting ahead of itself, given a lackluster outlook for the economy, said Uri Landesman of Platinum Partners. He thinks the stock market is set for a pullback.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note was unchanged at 1.63 percent, matching its low for the year. Bonds have gained as inflation remains tame.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-gain-unemployment-claims-fall-164802556--finance.html

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Sea surface temperatures reach highest level in 150 years on Northeast continental shelf

Apr. 26, 2013 ? Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). These high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are the latest in a trend of above average temperature seen during the spring and summer seasons, and part of a pattern of elevated temperatures occurring in the Northwest Atlantic, but not seen elsewhere in the ocean basin over the past century.

The advisory reports on conditions in the second half of 2012.

Sea surface temperature for the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem reached a record high of 14 degrees Celsius (57.2?F) in 2012, exceeding the previous record high in 1951. Average SST has typically been lower than 12.4 C (54.3 F) over the past three decades.

Sea surface temperature in the region is based on both contemporary satellite remote-sensing data and long-term ship-board measurements, with historical SST conditions based on ship-board measurements dating back to 1854. The temperature increase in 2012 was the highest jump in temperature seen in the time series and one of only five times temperature has changed by more than 1 C (1.8 F).

The Northeast Shelf's warm water thermal habitat was also at a record high level during 2012, while cold water habitat was at a record low level. Early winter mixing of the water column went to extreme depths, which will impact the spring 2013 plankton bloom. Mixing redistributes nutrients and affects stratification of the water column as the bloom develops.

Temperature is also affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf. The advisory provides data on changes in distribution, or shifts in the center of the population, of seven key fishery species over time. The four southern species -- black sea bass, summer flounder, longfin squid and butterfish -- all showed a northeastward or upshelf shift. American lobster has shifted upshelf over time but at a slower rate than the southern species. Atlantic cod and haddock have shifted downshelf."

"Many factors are involved in these shifts, including temperature, population size, and the distributions of both prey and predators," said Jon Hare, a scientist in the NEFSC's Oceanography Branch. A number of recent studies have documented changing distributions of fish and shellfish, further supporting NEFSC work reported in 2009 that found about half of the 36 fish stocks studied in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the past four decades.

The Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) extends from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The NEFSC has monitored this ecosystem with comprehensive sampling programs since1977. Prior to 1977, this ecosystem was monitored by the NEFSC through a series of separate, coordinated programs dating back decades.

Warming conditions on the Northeast Shelf in the spring of 2012 continued into September, with the most consistent warming conditions seen in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. Temperatures cooled by October and were below average in the Middle Atlantic Bight in November, perhaps due to Superstorm Sandy, but had returned to above average conditions by December.

"Changes in ocean temperatures and the timing and strength of spring and fall plankton blooms could affect the biological clocks of many marine species, which spawn at specific times of the year based on environmental cues like water temperature," Kevin Friedland, a scientist in the NEFSC Ecosystem Assessment Program, said. He noted that the contrast between years with, and without, a fall bloom is emerging as an important driver of the shelf's ecology. "The size of the spring plankton bloom was so large that the annual chlorophyll concentration remained high in 2012 despite low fall activity. These changes will have a profound impact throughout the ecosystem."

Michael Fogarty, who heads the Ecosystem Assessment Program, says the abundance of fish and shellfish is controlled by a complex set of factors, and that increasing temperatures in the ecosystem make it essential to monitor the distribution of many species, some of them migratory and others not.

"It isn't always easy to understand the big picture when you are looking at one specific part of it at one specific point in time," Fogarty said, a comparison similar to not seeing the forest when looking at a single tree in it. "We now have information on the ecosystem from a variety of sources collected over a long period of time, and are adding more data to clarify specific details. The data clearly show a relationship between all of these factors."

"What these latest findings mean for the Northeast Shelf ecosystem and its marine life is unknown," Fogarty said. "What is known is that the ecosystem is changing, and we need to continue monitoring and adapting to these changes."

Ecosystem advisories have been issued twice a year by the NEFSC's Ecosystem Assessment Program since 2006 as a way to routinely summarize overall conditions in the region. The reports show the effects of changing coastal and ocean temperatures on fisheries from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border. The advisories provide a snapshot of the ecosystem for the fishery management councils and also a broad range of stakeholders from fishermen to researchers.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/OO7wc-3mfWU/130426115614.htm

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Military grooms new officers for war in cyberspace - PhysOrg.com

The U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system.

Students at the Army, Navy and Air Force academies are taking more courses and participating in elaborate cyberwarfare exercises as the military educates a generation of future commanders in the theory and practice of computer warfare.

The academies have been training cadets in cyber for more than a decade. But the effort has taken on new urgency amid warnings that hostile nations or organizations might be capable of crippling attacks on critical networks.

James Clapper, director of national intelligence, called cyberattack the top threat to national security when he presented the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment to Congress this month. "Threats are more diverse, interconnected, and viral than at any time in history," his report stated. "Destruction can be invisible, latent, and progressive."

China-based hackers have long been accused of cyber intrusions, and earlier this year the cybersecurity firm Mandiant released a report with new details allegedly linking a secret Chinese military unit to years of cyberattacks against U.S. companies. This year, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post all reported breaches in their computer systems and said they suspected Chinese hackers. China denies carrying out cyberattacks.

On Tuesday, hackers compromised Associated Press Twitter accounts and sent out a false tweet. AP quickly put out word that the report was false and that its accounts had been hacked. AP's accounts were shut down until the problem was corrected.

Once viewed as an obscure and even nerdy pursuit, cyber is now seen as one of the hottest fields in warfare?"a great career field in the future," said Ryan Zacher, a junior at the Air Force Academy outside Colorado Springs who switched from aeronautical engineering to computer science.

Last year the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland began requiring freshmen to take a semester on cybersecurity, and it is adding a second required cyber course for juniors next year.

In this Feb. 20, 2013 photo, a cadet works at a large computer display inside a classroom at the Center for Cyberspace Research, where cyber warfare is taught, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

The school offered a major in cyber operations for the first time this year to the freshman class, and 33 midshipmen, or about 3 percent of the freshmen, signed up for it. Another 79 are majoring in computer engineering, information technology or computer science, bringing majors with a computer emphasis to about 10 percent of the class.

"There's a great deal of interest, much more than we could possibly, initially, entertain," said the academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Michael Miller.

Since 2004, the Air Force Academy has offered a degree in computer science-cyberwarfare?initially called computer science-information assurance?that requires cadets to take courses in cryptology, information warfare and network security in addition to standard computer science. The academy is retooling a freshman computing course so that more than half its content is about cyberspace, and is looking into adding another cyber course.

"All of these cadets know that they are going to be on the front lines defending the nation in cyber," said Martin Carlisle, a computer science professor at the Air Force Academy and director of the school's Center for Cyberspace Research.

In this Feb. 20, 2013 photo, a cadet walks past multiple computer displays inside a classroom at the Center for Cyberspace Research, where cyber warfare is taught, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

About 25 Air Force cadets will graduate this year with the computer science-cyberwarfare degree, and many will go on to advanced studies and work in their service's cyber headquarters or for U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Md., the Defense Department command responsible for defensive and offensive cyberwarfare.

Almost every Army cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, takes two technology courses related to such topics as computer security and privacy. West Point also offers other cyber courses, and a computer security group meets weekly. One of the biggest cybersecurity challenges is keeping up with the head-spinning pace of change in the field.

"You know American history is pretty much the same" every year, said Lt. Col. David Raymond, who teaches a cybersecurity course. "In this domain, it's really tough to keep up with how this thing evolves."

In this Feb. 20, 2013 photo, Martin Carlisle, standing, a computer science professor at the Air Force Academy and director of the school's Center for Cyberspace Research, instructs cadets in cyber warfare, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

In his congressional report, Clapper noted that the chance of a major attack by Russia, China or another nation with advanced cyber skills is remote outside a military conflict?but that other nations or groups could launch less sophisticated cyberattacks in hopes of provoking the United States or in retaliation for U.S. actions or policies overseas. South Korea accused North Korea of mounting a cyberattack in March that shut down thousands of computers at banks and television broadcasters.

Gen. Keith Alexander, head of U.S. Cyber Command, told Congress in March the command is creating teams to carry out both offensive and defensive operations. A spokesman said the command is drawing cyber officers from the service academies, officer schools and Reserve Officer Training Corps programs.

In this Feb. 20, 2013 photo, cadets work at computers inside a classroom at the Center for Cyberspace Research, where cyber warfare is taught, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Teams from the three academies compete in events such as last week's National Security Agency Cyber Defense Exercise, in which they try to keep simulated computer networks running as an NSA "aggressor team" attacks. Teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies also took part, along with graduate students from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and Canada's Royal Military College.

Air Force won among undergraduate schools. The Royal Military College won among graduate schools.

That hands-on experience is invaluable, said 2nd Lt. Jordan Keefer, a 2012 Air Force Academy graduate now pursuing a master's degree in cyberoperations at the Air Force Institute of Technology.

"You can't just go out there and start hacking. That's against the law," he said. The competitions, he said, "gave me actual experience defending a network, attacking a network."

In this Feb. 20, 2013 photo, a cadet works at a computer inside a classroom at the Center for Cyberspace Research, where cyber warfare is taught, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke, noting that really high-level computer skills are rare, suggested the military might have to re-examine some of its recruiting standards to attract the most adept cyberwarriors.

"Hackers are the 1 percent, the elite and the creators," said Clarke, who served as White House cybersecurity adviser during the Clinton administration. "I wouldn't worry a whole heck of a lot (about whether they) can they run fast or lift weights."

Cyber's appeal was enough to get Keefer to put aside his dream of becoming a fighter pilot, a job with undeniable swagger. "It's a challenge, and for people who like a challenge, it's the only place to be," Keefer said.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://phys.org/news/2013-04-military-grooms-officers-war-cyberspace.html

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Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol F1 review

What is a DJ? Everyone who considers him or herself one can probably give you a unique answer. Is everyone with a music collection and a sense for good timing a DJ, or does their music collection have to exceed a certain number of gigabytes or slabs of vinyl to be in the club (no pun intended)? Audio playback devices are certainly getting more plentiful and powerful on a large scale; anyone who's played with an iOS DJ app can tell you that. In the deeper end of the DJ pool, things aren't expanding at such a frantic pace. But every once in a while a new toy crops up that adds depth and breadth to the way music nerds play back music. Native Instruments' just-released Traktor Kontrol F1 is a blinking slab of rainbow-tinged hardware with an intense devotion to manipulating samples. While boxes from Roland and Akai have been defining genres for decades, this 16-pad add-on takes the sampling game to a new arena. Will DJ's want it? We feel it's safe to say they will. At $279, should they buy it? That question's a little more complicated.

Continue reading Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol F1 review

Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol F1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel details 14 dual-core Ivy Bridge processors ahead of Computex

Intel announced its quad-core Ivy Bridge processors in April, but we've known that dual-core CPUs must be on the way too. And alas, the chip maker does have some up its sleeve -- 14, to be exact. Core i5 and Core i7 versions will be the first to ship, with Core i3 processors launching later this year along with new Pentiums and Celerons. Of the 14 dual-core processors, six are desktop-grade. The rest are mobile, though four are ultra-low voltage (which will be denoted by a U at the end of their name). Computex is just around the corner, and we expect to see plenty of Ivy Bridge systems -- especially Ultrabooks with ultra-low voltage CPUs -- there next week. In the meantime, we've already reviewed the Lenovo ThinkPad x230, a system running a dual-core 2.6GHz Core i5 Ivy Bridge processor. If you're into the nitty-gritty details, you'll find plenty to love in the Intel slides below the break.

Continue reading Intel details 14 dual-core Ivy Bridge processors ahead of Computex

Intel details 14 dual-core Ivy Bridge processors ahead of Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FAA grants Virgin Galactic permit for powered tests, becomes Sir Richard's BFF

Virgin Galactic is one step closer to relieving WhiteKnightTwo of its babysitting gig. The FAA has given the Branson bunch permission to switch on SpaceShipTwo's rocket-powered motors mid-flight. The upcoming trials could open up the doors to getting at least 500 lucky people total ballers out of the Mojave Desert and into the weightless environment of suborbital space. Current regulations call for more testing than back in 2004 when SpaceShipOne first achieved manned spaceflight, but they're worthwhile if past problems are prevented. What do you think will come first: frequent space-flyer miles, or Virgin Pure T6s and T7s in every home?

FAA grants Virgin Galactic permit for powered tests, becomes Sir Richard's BFF originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 19:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dairies pamper cows with massages, waterbeds

CHILTON, Wis.?? Lucky, a 7-year-old dairy cow, had been walking with a limp for several weeks when veterinarian Sara Gilbertson was called. Instead of prescribing painkillers, Gilbertson tried an unusual new therapy ? a chiropractic adjustment that included a full-length spinal massage.

Gilbertson rubbed the Holstein's spine by gently squeezing it from neck to tail, pausing to apply firm pressure to one hip and readjust several vertebrae. The cow stood in calm silence, moving only enough to reach another mouthful of hay. Later, as Lucky reclined on a bed of sand, Gilbertson noted with satisfaction how relaxed and comfortable the animal seemed.

Cow comfort has become a key concern for the nation's farmers, who have known for generations that contented cows give more milk. The traditional techniques for keeping cows happy aren't complicated ? feed them well, keep the temperature comfortable and give them room to move around. But some dairy farmers are turning to a new array of creative options intended to keep cows as mellow ? and productive ? as possible.

Some farmers have installed waterbeds for their cows to rest on, while others play classical music. And some hire animal chiropractors to give older cows a tuneup and correct minor issues in calves, all part of the effort to ensure maximum milk output.

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      Look for more?exciting eats and foodie trends on the Bites blog

Do the methods really work? There's no sound scientific data to back up the claims, but dairy farmers say they can see the difference with their own eyes ? cows are giving more milk, the milk quality is improving and the herds seem to be enjoying the indulgences.

"It's kind of like how an athlete with a sprained ankle isn't as productive," said Larry Meyer, 36, whose parents own the dairy farm in Chilton, Wis., where Lucky and another 115 dairy cows live. "If you can get a cow healthy and back to normal, it makes a difference in their productivity."

Cows can suffer injuries if they slip on a slick spot of concrete or get stepped on by another 1,500-pound bovine, and some calves get their necks kinked during the birthing process. The injuries can cause pain when the animals stand, making them reluctant to jostle for food and leading to compensatory injuries. That, in turn, leads to less milk production.

That's why farmers are willing to spend about $75 per session for a chiropractic adjustment.

"The cows tolerate it incredibly well," said Gilbertson, the veterinarian. "They may be apprehensive at first, until they figure out how good it feels."

Chiropractors for cows
Meyer didn't have specific figures on how much milk Lucky gave following her chiropractic treatments, but because her mother was the most productive cow in the herd, he wanted to make sure Lucky was in good shape.

While chiropractic care is reserved for injured cows, dairy farmers also are investing in healthy cows' happiness.

Richard Conrad installed $70,000 waterbeds on his farm in Grafton, Ohio, about a year ago. It took the 220 dairy cows a few months to adjust to the softer surface but now they seem to enjoy it, he said.

"They were real skeptical at first because it was real jiggly," said Conrad, 53, "but once they adapted they didn't look back. They just jump on and stay there."

The result has been milk with fewer impurities and in greater volume ? cows that used to give about 80 pounds of milk per day now average about 90 pounds, Conrad said. However, he couldn't credit the waterbeds with all the improvement; he also upgraded ventilation in his barns and installed misting technology to keep the herd cool.

Dairy farmers commonly adjust air, temperature and lighting to keep cows happy. Some have also installed large rotating brushes that gently scratch the cows' backs and massage their faces and shoulders, said Marcia Endres, a University of Minnesota Extension dairy scientist.

And some dairy producers have employed even more unusual techniques, even in absence of scientific data that justifies their use. In Germany, for example, the Dortmund Concert Hall plays recordings of different classical pieces for specific cows. The hall then serves milk from the respective cows during live concerts featuring those same pieces.

"Which means you'll now be able to both listen to and taste the musical highlights," the hall says in one advertisement.

Dairy experts agree the concept is entertaining, if a bit of a logical stretch. They also agree that dairy farmers need to be careful about introducing new techniques ? music, waterbeds, chiropractic care ? into a herd that's already relatively comfortable.

"Cows are creatures of habit. They like things to stay the same," Endres said. "So many producers like to not introduce too much change. Cows just don't like a lot of weird things happening to them."

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

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Free iPad 2 vector mockup template | Design share blog

Today I?ve chosen Free iPad 2 vector mockup template is a fully scalable vector shape iPad 2 psd. white and black iPad 2. You are welcome to use this psd blank white template shapes to print design,soft shadow, posters, ad flyers, web design, advertising and other.

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95% Yellow Submarine

I don't mean to sound trite, but they should just rename this film "Drug Trip: The Movie" and be done with it. Seriously.Ok then, with that out of the way, I must say, this is a bit of a hard film to really rate or review. Obviously I'm gonna have to do just that, but it is a bit difficult for me.This fantasy centered around The Beatles going out to stop a bunch of creatures caleld Blue Meanies who have taken over a place called Pepperland combines the terrific music of The Beatles with really cool and unique art disrection and visual styles to create a film that is really just an otherworldlt experience. Just so you know, I didn't see this high, but I did have a couple of drinks. I really cn't say what would be the best way to experience this film. I leave that up to you.There's a story, but it's pretty much just a thin clothesline to hang some great tunes and trippy visuals on. This will probably not appeal to some people, but, I at least got something out of it, even if I don't truly know how I feel about this film-hence why my rating is mainly a formaility.I do think this should be seen though, because it is entertaining, and there's some wild stuff going on, even if it does get a bit too self indulgant with the psychedelia. At least there's the music and some subtle, dry humor to make the film more than just trippiness.

April 16, 2007

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Mars 'has life's building blocks'

24 May 2012 Last updated at 16:45 ET By Mark Mardell North America editor

New evidence from meteorites suggests that the basic building blocks of life are present on Mars.

The study found that carbon present in 10 meteorites, spanning more than four billion years of Martian history, came from the planet and was not the result of contamination on Earth.

Details of the work have been published in the journal Science.

But the research also shows the Martian carbon did not come from life forms.

A team of scientists based at the Carnegie Institution for Science, based in Washington DC, found "reduced carbon" in the meteorites and says it was created by volcanic activity on Mars.

Reduced carbon is carbon that is chemically bonded to hydrogen or itself.

They argue this is evidence "that Mars has been undertaking organic chemistry for most of its history."

The team's leader Dr Andrew Steele told BBC News: "For about the last 40 years we have been looking for a pool of what is called 'reduced carbon' on Mars, trying to find where it is, if it's there, asking "does it exist?"

"Without carbon, the building blocks of life cannot exist... So it is reduced carbon that, with hydrogen, with oxygen, with nitrogen make up the organic molecules of life."

He says the new analysis has answered the first question.

"This research shows, yes - it does exist on Mars and now we are moving to the next set of questions.

"What happened to it, what was its fate, did it take the next step of creating life on Mars?"

He hopes the next mission to land on the Red Planet - the Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the "Curiosity" rover - will shed more light on the big question.

"The question 'are we alone' has been a big driver of science but it relates back to our own origins on this planet. If there is no life on Mars why? It allow us to make a more informed hypothesis about why life is here."

So does Dr Steele think there was, or is, life on Mars?

He laughs: "Get me some rocks back, I'll have a look and let you know."

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Avianca and United Airlines Sign Codeshare ... - Travel World News

United Airlines and Avianca have signed a codeshare agreement to offer their customers more and improved flight options. The agreement allows both companies to commercialize flights operated by the other under their own code. The airlines also signed a frequent flyer agreement which enables reciprocal accrual and redemption benefits on the passengers? loyalty program of choice.

Avianca?s customers will be able to fly seamlessly to more destinations in the United States, while United customers will benefit from greater access to Colombian destinations. The codeshare agreement is effective for ticket purchase starting on May 22, 2012 for travel starting June 21. The frequent flyer agreement will be effective starting June 21. These agreements form part of the integration process that Avianca and TACA Airlines are undergoing to become member of Star Alliance.

?We continue to enhance our world-class network by adding more destinations for our customers,? said Hershel Kamen, United?s Senior Vice President of Alliances, Regulatory and Policy. ?United?s partnership with Avianca will expand our own network across Colombia and create more benefits for our customers.?

?We are confident that this agreement opens new travel possibilities that benefit our customers. This codeshare joins together two regions through seamless travel on United Airlines and Avianca, providing more and better connectivity and enabling customers to enjoy an improved flight experience,? said Alex Benitez, Vice-President Alliances, Fleet and Network Planning for AviancaTaca. ?We continue to harness new opportunities as markets grow and work towards delivering improved connectivity and new routes for our passengers.?

Markets Served by the Agreement, Phase I

The first phase of implementation enables Avianca?s passengers to travel to Denver, Chicago, New York/Newarkand Houston, via Miami; to Houston, via Fort Lauderdale; and to Boston, Cleveland, Denver, New Orleans, Chicago, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio, Seattle, and Tampa, via Washington D.C./Dulles.?It also offers United customers the opportunity to travel to Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena, Medellin, and Pereira via Avianca?s hub in Bogota; to Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cali, Medellin, and Bogota, via Miami; and to Bogota via Fort Lauderdale, Washington, D.C./Dulles, New York/JFK, and Orlando.
Passenger Benefits

Avianca, www.avianca.com; United Airlines, www.united.com

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ShopAndroid Daily Giveaway #79: Galaxy Nexus SURFACE Case, OtterBox Defender for Droid RAZR & more

Today's ShopAndroid.com Giveaway will feature the Seidio SURFACE Case for Galaxy Nexus, OtterBox Defender Case for Droid RAZR, Mobi Hard Shell Case for G2X, and the Jabra STONE2 Bluetooth Headset.

To become eligible to win one of these featured accessories, leave a comment stating which item you'd like for your Android device.  One lucky winner will be selected at random and announced next week. Good luck!

Seidio SURFACE Case for Galaxy Nexus

The Seidio SURFACE Case is perfect for keeping the slim look of your Galaxy Nexus.  The case consists of interlocking top and bottom pieces that fit your device snugly, with a felt lining on the interior to keep your Galaxy Nexus safe from scratches on the inside and out.  There's access to all ports and buttons of your Galaxy Nexus, with the exception of the three-pin connector.

read more

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Managing Your Home Improvement To Do List |

Don't get overwhelmed- start a list

This is the last week for National Home Improvement month. What projects did you get completed? Just because the month is ending and you may not have gotten all of the tasks you wanted done, doesn?t mean you should give up.? Use this last week to create a plan of attack to get those chores completed.

Start your plan by creating a list of projects. It doesn?t matter how big or small, just brainstorm all of the things you need to get done. If you noticed your house losing heat in the winter add installing new windows.? Is your driveway looking spotty from car leaks?? Add power wash the driveway to the list.? By taking the time to see what all needs to be done we can move to the next step to organize the tasks. Remember you don?t have to get everything done this summer and you definitely don?t have to do it all yourself.

Next we organize the list. Create two columns and add all of the things that you can do yourself, like power washing the driveway.? In the second column add the items that you will need help with or may need to hire a professional. If you plan on building a retaining wall, you?ll want big strong helpers. If you plan on building a patio cover you may want to add electrical channeling, this should be left to the professionals unless you are a contractor or electrician.

At this point you have a pretty good idea of what projects you will be able to get accomplished. You can add an estimated time of completion to each project. Washing your driveway can be done in a few hours, at most, so you could get a second project done that day.? For the second half of your list you need to decide which tasks are the most important to you and if you have the funds to complete them. Many companies offer financing, so that should help.? Pick one or two items from this list and start saving your money.? It may take longer to get this side done, but the confidence that comes with using a licensed reputable company will be well worth the money spent.

Hopefully you feel much less overwhelmed now that you have organized your to do list for the summer.?? Just remember you don?t have to do everything this summer or do everything by yourself. ?And don?t forget the most important part, have some fun in between all of this work.

?

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NATO summit's forgotten people: Afghan civilians

Far from the bright lights of Chicago where world leaders met to shape NATO's exit from Afghanistan, one of the war's victims, 12-year-old Aleema, sums up her life in three words: "It's the worst."

Aleema, who has lived in a mud hovel in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul for four years since her family fled fighting in southern Afghanistan, is one of the forgotten people of the NATO summit, which ended on Monday.

There the focus was on the soldiers who fight the war: getting 130,000 NATO combat troops out by a fixed deadline of 2014 and finding funds to pay Afghan forces to continue the decade-long battle against Taliban insurgents.

But civilians have borne the brunt of the war. More died in 2011 alone than the total number of NATO troops killed in 10 years.

Last year's 3,021 civilian deaths marked the fifth straight year that the toll has risen, UN figures show, while 3,007 NATO soldiers have died since the 2001 US-led invasion, according to icasualties.org.

Meanwhile the number of internal refugees last year hit nearly half a million, the highest for about a decade, part of what Amnesty International has called "a largely hidden but horrific humanitarian and human rights crisis".

And more than 30,000 Afghans sought asylum abroad last year -- another 10-year high. Thousands of others make their way abroad illegally.

Aleema, a sad-eyed girl in ragged clothes, is one of the 447,547 "internally displaced persons" who have fled their homes, mainly in the war-torn south.

Explaining why her life is "the worst", she says simply: "We don't have proper food and we don't have a proper house."

She wants to go home to Helmand province, but knows that won't happen while the fighting continues.

The Taliban are far from defeated on the battleground, a tentative peace process is in tatters and the fighting is expected to persist, if not intensify, once the foreign troops leave.

Ask Aleema's neighbours in the Charahi Qambar refugee camp, a maze of narrow dirt alleys and open drains on the western outskirts of Kabul, whom they blame for driving them from their homes and they tend to spread the net wide.

"All of them, they are all killing innocent people -- the Taliban, the foreign forces and the government forces," said Said Gul, 35, also from Helmand.

He has lived with his extended family of 18 in Charahi Qambar for four years and has lost hope of returning home, putting his future "in the hands of God".

As children play in the dirt and garbage, he sits stoically beside bowls of potatoes and onions for sale, trying to supplement what he calls "a little bit" of aid from charities.

Nigel Jenkins, country director for the US-based International Rescue Committee, said many in the aid community in Afghanistan felt the NATO withdrawal was being "rushed".

"NATO is portraying a situation in Afghanistan that is suitable for transition," he told AFP.

"That does not really stand up to scrutiny with the facts on the ground. The figures -- on internally displaced persons, asylum seekers, the civilian casualties -- speak for themselves."

Acknowledging that NATO is determined to stick to its deadline, Jenkins added: "We can't change it now. The train has left the station. But what we can do is better provide for Afghans in the most need."

Funding for aid projects is already drying up, he said, looking to a development conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo in July to help fund education and other services for Afghans when NATO troops have gone.

"There have been gains over the past 10 years and we would love to see those gains continue, but I think there is a danger they could be lost if there is a big drop in funding."

In Tokyo, governments and international organisations will discuss financial commitments for a 10-year period after 2014.

Billions of dollars of Western aid have already poured into Afghanistan since 2001. Donor nations and the UN have pledged some $500,000 dollars this year for purely humanitarian assistance, Jenkins said.

The UN refugee agency is overhauling its approach to Afghanistan after Peter Nicolaus, UNHCR's representative in Afghanistan, in December described the strategy as the "biggest mistake UNHCR ever made".

He said the international community had failed to help returnees find a means of earning a living and so reintegrating into society.

In Aleema's squalid camp, they are not holding their breath for a dramatic change in their fortunes. None of those interviewed by AFP had heard of the NATO summit, and the Tokyo conference is likely to go equally unnoticed.

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Romney Wins in Kentucky; Obama's Race Tighter (WSJ)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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is a great resource for knowing about Snoring - Healthy Referral ...

Posted on24 May 2012.

(EMAILWIRE.COM, May 24, 2012 ) Singapore, SG ? Studies reveal that one third of adult population in the world snores. Hours of disrupted sleep not only trouble the ones who snore but also the sleeping partner of the snorer. Many relationships tend to fall apart just because of the discomfort that snoring brings to both the partners. There are, however, many Snore Stop solutions that can be utilized to get rid of snoring.

People who snore tend to wake up in the morning with a feeling of incomplete rest and feel the urge to go back to sleep again. For all

those who wonder about ?How Can I Stop Snoring? can seek benefit from variety of home based Snoring Remedies that Work. Some of these are as follows:

Getting an extra pillow while sleeping. This ensures that the head is in elevated position. A raised head, four inches above the bed, ensures easy breathing for the snorers. A wedge shaped pillow or special anti-snoring pillows can be tried to ease the trouble.

Avoiding dairy products before the bedtime helps. Most people enjoy having a warm cup of hot flavored milk before going to bedtime. However, dairy products can increase the likelihood to snore, if taken immediately before sleeping.

Quitting smoking is very important for every snorer. It irritates the tissues of airways and leads to inflammation. Not only will it help relieve the snoring but it will also improve the overall health.

Say NO to alcoholic beverages. Alcohol makes the muscles of the throat relax and can at times collapse the airway. It is best to avoid alcohol especially before bedtime.

Shedding off those extra pounds before going to sleep can also help remove the excess fat around the throat and the mouth.

In addition to the afore-mentioned remedies, taking a tablespoon of honey before bedtime, setting a regular sleep regime, avoiding sleeping on the back, and using an air humidifier in the room are a few Snore Remedies that can work great for any snorer.

Snoring can pose significant problems if not addressed well in time. It has been associated to daytime somnolence, dizziness, inability to focus, and irritability. These cumulatively lead to hypertension, cardiac diseases, and even diabetes. For all those who wish to get rid of troubles that come associated with snoring, it is best to seek timely cure. Giving a few above-mentioned Cures for Snoring a try is a good idea. There are many anti-snoring devices available in the market that can also be used. Primary care doctor can be consulted to seek advice on best snoring solution available.

ABOUT How Stop Snoring:

How Stop Snoring (http://howstopsnoring.net/) is dedicated to provide the snorers with complete information on snoring. Their easy to navigate website throws light on the causes of snoring as well as useful tips on how to effectively deal with the problem.

Meera Watts
6564921426
contact@howstopsnoring.net

Source: EmailWire.Com

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White House: Apps for key government services coming within a year

2 hrs.

Suzanne Choney

With more of us relying?on our phones and the hundreds of?thousands of apps available to help manage our lives, the Obama administration Wednesday issued a directive to?every federal agency to make "two key government services the American people depend on available on mobile phones?within the next 12 months."

"Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device," said President Barack Obama in a statement.?

The plan is part of a larger effort announced Wednesday to make "large amounts of government data more easily accessible to the public to spur entrepreneurs to develop innovative new services and mobile applications that take advantage of this data, creating new opportunities, businesses and jobs in the process. These actions are part of a larger digital strategy being implemented by the Administration?? a roadmap that will guide the Federal government as it makes the most of new sources of digital information."?

"Mobile is rapidly becoming the platform of choice for Americans; it is now anticipated that by 2015 more people will be accessing the Internet via mobile phones than via traditional desktop computer," the White House said in a?statement. "By next spring, the American people will be able to access dozens of additional government services on their mobile phones for the first time."

There are hundreds of federal agencies, so the task will be formidable.?In the?directive, the administration points to some successful examples already done by cities around the country, including San Francisco.

The City of San Francisco releases its raw public transportation data on train routes, schedules, and to-the-minute location updates directly to the public through web services This has enabled citizen developers to write over 10 different mobile applications to help the public navigate San Francisco?s public transit systems???more services than the city could provide if it focused on presentation development rather than opening the data publicly through web services.

Part of the directive calls for launching a "shared mobile application development program, in conjunction with the Federal CIO Council, that will help agencies develop secure, device-agnostic mobile applications, provide a development test environment to streamline app delivery, foster code-sharing, and validate official government applications."

U.S. Chief Information Officer?Steven VanRoekel said, in a statement, that it is "critical that the federal government keep up with the way the American people do business. Already, families can use government apps to check the wait time at the airport, get access to critical veteran services, and check the status of their tax return. Today?s directive will accelerate our drive to make key services easily accessible to more Americans than ever."

Apps are indeed becoming more relevant in some ways than the Internet; the mobile programs are how more and more of us are getting information, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center?Internet & American Life Project and The Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University.

While the government effort is ambitious, security concerns ? a growing issue with mobile phones that have increasingly sophisticated operating systems???are noted in the directive, called "Digital Government: Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People":

The rate of change of mobile operating systems, new update and notification capabilities from external hardware and software vendors, diversity of the devices themselves, and introduction of employee-owned devices (BYOD) also make security in the mobile space more challenging than in a traditional desktop environment and require new approaches to continuously monitor and manage devices and secure the data itself.

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

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