There are waaay too many social networks out there already, but people keep making them so what the hell, why not add one more. Anchor is social media for your office and is an easy way to keep all your coworkers' contact information available in one place. It also allows chatting and has ample room for overshares in the "company lobby," like 'went to the bathroom brb guys.'
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ? It would not be a proper Florida theme park attraction if you didn't exit through the gift shop.
But the souvenir station that awaits guests inside the new "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit, opening Saturday (June 29) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, is not your typical trinket stand.
The new Shuttle Express shop is helping to underwrite the preservation and presentation of a national treasure.
Though NASA owns the visitor complex and the new $100 million "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit ? as well as the $2 billion retired spacecraft that the facility showcases ? the space agency paid for none of it. [See photos of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit]
"An attraction like this is an investment in the future," said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the visitor complex for Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, which since 1995 has operated the center for NASA. "It's important to note that all of this attraction was not funded with taxpayer money or appropriated funds, but entirely funded through revenue generated here at the visitor complex."
Everything at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, including the "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit, is funded by the proceeds that are generated by ticket, food and, yes, merchandise sales, which translates to having to sell a lot of t-shirts, patches and models.
To encourage those sales, the Shuttle Express provides 4,000 square feet (372 square meters) for space shuttle and space-related souvenirs, which are displayed inside a playfully-laid-out retail space featuring children's artwork depicting their visions for the future of spaceflight.
Pins, pocket watches and a special patch
Of course, a souvenir shop is only as good as the items it sells and the visitor complex has produced a slew of new collectibles and gifts featuring Atlantis and the logo for the "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit.
Among the Shuttle Express' offerings are "Space Shuttle Atlantis" T-shirts, jackets and hats; cups and keychains; medallions and lapel pins. The pins alone are available in more than two dozen designs, each depicting the orbiter or other elements from the attraction.
The exhibit's logo, which replaces the "A" in "Atlantis" with the silhouette of the shuttle, is also emblazoned on decals and license plate frames, as well as pocket watches and collectible spoons.
One whole wall of the store is dedicated to embroidered patches, including the official mission emblems for all 135 shuttle flights. One of the patches in particular, an 8-inch (20 centimeters) badge, was created for the exhibit to honor all 33 of Atlantis' missions.
The "The Voyages of Atlantis" emblem was designed by local artist Tim Gagnon, who, in addition to designing the patches for other shuttle and International Space Station crews, worked with Atlantis' third-to-last crew to create the official STS-129 mission insignia.
"This fully embroidered patch celebrates every mission of the shuttle Atlantis," Gagnon wrote about his design. "The central focus is the launches of Atlantis as it'll be forever displayed at its home port, the Kennedy Space Center."
The emblem, which features the "Space Shuttle Atlantis" logo at its bottom, includes "iconic scenes and payloads" associated with the retired orbiter's 26-year history, said Gagnon, and includes 33 stars and 10 international flags representing each of Atlantis' missions and the countries represented by its crew members.
Angled and autographed
Another collectible created for the exhibit recreates the unique way in which Atlantis is displayed and involves the orbiter's final mission commander.
Unlike NASA's other orbiters, which, at least for now, are all displayed horizontally on or near the ground, Atlantis is mounted high in the air and steeply angled to one side. The orbiter's payload bay doors have also been opened.
The result is an exhibit that evokes how Atlantis appeared when it was in orbit, a view that was previously limited to astronauts in space.
That scene is captured in miniature by a new 1:100 scale model of Atlantis produced by Toys & Models Corporation for the visitor complex. The orbiter models are mounted on a base at the same 43.21 degree angle as the full-scale Atlantis is now displayed.
The 14.5-inch-long (37-centimeter) mahogany models also feature payload bay doors that open.
Limited to 135 individually-numbered pieces, each has the "Space Shuttle Atlantis" logo and a descriptive plaque on its base. The metal plaques are authentically signed by former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, who commanded STS-135, the last flight of Atlantis and the final mission of the space shuttle program.
See shuttles.collectspace.com for continuing coverage of the delivery and display of NASA's retired space shuttles.
Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2013 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/space-shuttle-atlantis-exhibit-opens-support-souvenirs-180805853.html
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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) revealed on June 26 a preview of the changes it will make to its Windows 8 operating system, bringing back the "start"...
This news article is one of hundreds published daily by Business News Americas about the commodities, markets, movements, companies, projects, economics and politics integral to the development of Latin America. Including news and insight from South America, Central America and the Caribbean, BNamericas includes Info. Technology insight and forecasts for business opportunities in Regional. The business development service focuses on major projects, active companies, such as Microsoft; and business and sales contacts, providing networking opportunities with leading executives throughout Latin America.
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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? Senegalese President Macky Sall is defending his refusal to decriminalize homosexuality one day after publicly clashing with President Barack Obama on the issue at a joint press conference.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Sall said Friday it was important for other countries to refrain from imposing their values beyond their borders.
Senegal's penal code imposes prison sentences of up to five years for committing "an improper, or unnatural act, with a person of the same sex."
Despite the law, Sall maintains that gays are not persecuted in Senegal, saying they are only prosecuted if they engaged in gay sex violating the law.
Activists strongly disagreed, pointing out that more than a dozen homosexuals are currently in jail for no other reason than their sexual orientation.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senegalese-president-defends-anti-gay-law-165212208.html
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Most of us will be shopping for barbecue supplies, American flags and fireworks, but the Independence Day holiday holds many other shopping opportunities. Special sales over Independence Day weekend will offer seven categories you can usually save on, said consumer and money-saving expert Andrea Woroch, who is featured on NBC?s ?Today,? MSNBC, Kiplinger Personal Finance and CNNMoney.
Barbecue grills: Independence Day being the ?barbecue holiday,? grill equipment sales will abound. This is the time to stock up on propane and propane accessories. If you live in an apartment, read its use rules before buying outdoor cooking gear. Many complexes allow only electric grills due to the fire-hazards of flame cookers. In Tulsa it is illegal to use a fire cooking device on apartment balconies.
Summer gear: Summer?s first day was June 20 but retailers view July 4 as ?the first day of summer apparel closeout season? and they?re looking to unload the stuff. Cheap prices on warm-weather clothes will help clear the way for next season?s styles.
Tools: Warm weather is the time to throw the doors open and catch up on projects. Craftsmen will find savings on many handheld and power tools July 4 week from merchants such as Sears and Lowe?s.
Home improvement supplies: Many Americans see the long weekend as the time for yard work and home improvement and they can save money thanks to the markdowns on paint, lawn mowers and landscaping materials. While working in the heat, use these Popular Mechanics tips ( tulsaworld.com/PMhotworktips), Woroch said.
Outdoor furniture: The best prices on outdoor furniture are available as temperatures start to chill, but Independence Day weekend still offers plenty of deals. You might pay slightly more now but the cost will be offset by the furniture use you?ll get all summer.
Appliances: July?s scorching temperatures drive many to indoor, air-conditioned confines. More time spent inside focuses attention on appliances needing upgrades. Home Depot, Lowe?s, Ace Hardware and Sears plan for this, offering some of the year?s best appliance prices during their Fourth of July sales. But don?t make a major purchase without reading Consumer Reports? ratings on washers, vacuums, refrigerators, dishwashers, grills and lawn mowers at tulsaworld.com/CRhomeappliances
Laptops: What do Windows 8, Intel?s new Haswell chips and devices with last year?s Ivy Bridge processors and the rising popularity of tablets have in common? Great laptop prices this summer. Last year, parents spent almost $700 on back-to-school shopping, said National Retail Federation spokeswoman Kathy Grannis ( tulsaworld.com/NRFBack2School13).
Dear Action Line: I?ve made many mistakes in life, but how do I avoid making them in retirement investing? ? B.P., Tulsa.
Retirees often save for the day they will need assistance but oftentimes forget where these savings are or die without telling heirs where they are. Along comes the Unclaimed Property Program of the Oklahoma State Treasurer?s office, which (generally) takes possession of such funds after they have lain idle five years or longer. They remain in state custody until rightful owners or heirs come along to liberate them.
Only active print or digital subscribers of the Tulsa World are allowed to post comments on stories posted to Tulsaworld.com. After you fill out the form below and click submit, your comment will be published instantly online along with your screen name.
By clicking ?Submit? you are agreeing to our terms and conditions.
Article source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20130628_15_E4_bDearA251039
Source: http://usedclothessingapore.com/fashion-news/action-line-july-4-sales-only-start-with-barbecue/
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June 28, 2013 ? NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft launched Thursday at 7:27 p.m. PDT (10:27 p.m. EDT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The mission to study the solar atmosphere was placed in orbit by an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket.
"We are thrilled to add IRIS to the suite of NASA missions studying the sun," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington. "IRIS will help scientists understand the mysterious and energetic interface between the surface and corona of the sun."
IRIS is a NASA Explorer Mission to observe how solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as it travels through a little-understood region in the sun's lower atmosphere. This interface region between the sun's photosphere and corona powers its dynamic million-degree atmosphere and drives the solar wind. The interface region also is where most of the sun's ultraviolet emission is generated. These emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.
The Pegasus XL carrying IRIS was deployed from an Orbital L-1011 carrier aircraft over the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 39,000 feet, off the central coast of California about 100 miles northwest of Vandenberg. The rocket placed IRIS into a sun-synchronous polar orbit that will allow it to make almost continuous solar observations during its two-year mission.
The L-1011 took off from Vandenberg at 6:30 p.m. PDT and flew to the drop point over the Pacific Ocean, where the aircraft released the Pegasus XL from beneath its belly. The first stage ignited five seconds later to carry IRIS into space. IRIS successfully separated from the third stage of the Pegasus rocket at 7:40 p.m. At 8:05 p.m., the IRIS team confirmed the spacecraft had successfully deployed its solar arrays, has power and has acquired the sun, indications that all systems are operating as expected.
"Congratulations to the entire team on the successful development and deployment of the IRIS mission," said IRIS project manager Gary Kushner of the Lockheed Martin Solar and Atmospheric Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif. "Now that IRIS is in orbit, we can begin our 30-day engineering checkout followed by a 30-day science checkout and calibration period."
IRIS is expected to start science observations upon completion of its 60-day commissioning phase. During this phase the team will check image quality and perform calibrations and other tests to ensure a successful mission.
NASA's Explorer Program at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., provides overall management of the IRIS mission. The principal investigator institution is Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center. NASA's Ames Research Center will perform ground commanding and flight operations and receive science data and spacecraft telemetry.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory designed the IRIS telescope. The Norwegian Space Centre and NASA's Near Earth Network provide the ground stations using antennas at Svalbard, Norway; Fairbanks, Alaska; McMurdo, Antarctica; and Wallops Island, Va. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for the launch service procurement, including managing the launch and countdown. Orbital Sciences Corporation provided the L-1011 aircraft and Pegasus XL launch system.
For more information about the IRIS mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/iris
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June 27, 2013 ? Higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood may reduce the risk for hip fractures in postmenopausal women, recent research suggests.
Scientists analyzed red blood cell samples from women with and without a history of having a broken hip. The study showed that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids from both plant and fish sources in those blood cells were associated with a lower likelihood of having fractured a hip.
In addition to omega-3s, the researchers looked at omega-6 fatty acids, which are generally plentiful in a Western diet. The study also showed that as the ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3s increased, so did the risk for hip fracture.
Though the study did not define the mechanisms for these relationships, the researchers hypothesized that inflammation may contribute to bone resorption, the breaking down of bone caused by the release of cells called osteoclasts.
"Inflammation is associated with an increased risk of bone loss and fractures, and omega-3 fatty acids are believed to reduce inflammation. So we asked if we would see fractures decrease in response to omega-3 intake," said Rebecca Jackson, the study's senior author and a professor of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at The Ohio State University.
"One thing that was critically important was that we didn't use self-report of food intake, because there can be errors with that. We looked directly at the exposure of the bone cell to the fatty acids, which is at the red blood cell level," said Jackson, also associate dean for clinical research in Ohio State's College of Medicine. "Red blood cell levels also give an indication of long-term exposure to these fatty acids, which we took into account in looking for a preventive effect."
Broken hips are the most common osteoporosis-related fractures, with an estimated 350,000 occurring annually in the United States. About 20 percent of people die in the year following a hip fracture.
The research is published in a recent issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
The observational study did not measure cause and effect, so the researchers say the findings are not definitive enough to suggest that taking omega-3 supplements would prevent hip fractures in postmenopausal women.
"We don't yet know whether omega-3 supplementation would affect results for bone health or other outcomes," said Tonya Orchard, assistant professor of human nutrition at Ohio State and first author of the study. "Though it's premature to make a nutrition recommendation based on this work, I do think this study adds a little more strength to current recommendations to include more omega-3s in the diet in the form of fish, and suggests that plant sources of omega-3 may be just as important for preventing hip fractures in women."
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are both polyunsaturated fatty acids and essential fatty acids, meaning they contribute to biological processes but must be consumed because the body does not produce them on its own. Previous research has suggested that while both types of fatty acids are linked to health benefits, omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties and omega-6 fatty acids seem to have both anti- and pro-inflammatory effects.
The researchers used blood samples and hip fracture records from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a large national prospective study of postmenopausal women that enrolled participants between 1993 and 1998 and followed them for 15 years. For this new work, the sample consisted of red blood cell samples and records from 324 pairs of WHI participants, half of whom had broken their hips before Aug. 15, 2008, and the other half composed of age-matched controls who had never broken a hip.
The analysis showed that higher levels of total omega-3 fatty acids and two other specific kinds of omega-3s alone were associated with a lower risk of hip breaks in the study sample.
On the other hand, women who had the highest ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids had nearly twice the risk of hip fractures compared to women with the lowest ratios. The current typical American diet contains between 15 and 17 times more omega-6 than omega-3, a ratio that previous research has suggested should be lowered to 4-to-1, or even 2-to-1, by increasing omega-3s, to improve overall health. The primary omega-6 fatty acid in the diet is linoleic acid, which composes about 99 percent of Americans' omega-6 intake and is found in corn, soybean, safflower and sunflower oils.
The specific omega-3 sources associated with lower risk for broken hips were ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), which comes from plant sources such as flaxseed oil and some nuts, and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), which is found in fatty types of fish. The other marine-sourced omega-3, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), on its own did not have a significant link to lower hip-fracture risk, "but all three omega-3s were in the protective direction," Orchard said.
Jackson, who was a vice chair of the WHI for more than a decade, said continuing analyses of data from the WHI will dig down to the genetic influences on metabolism and absorption of nutrients, and whether such genetic differences could affect health risk factors in postmenopausal women.
This work was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. The WHI was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Co-authors include Steven Ing of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism; Bo Lu of the Division of Biostatistics; and Martha Belury of the Department of Human Nutrition, all at Ohio State; as well as Karen Johnson of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Jean Wactawski-Wende of the State University of New York, Buffalo.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/GCZvb2QNB8w/130627151640.htm
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Darko Milicic, second pick of the famed 2003 NBA draft, was a professional bust.Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Ten years ago, a young man destined to transform the sport of basketball was drafted into the NBA. He hadn?t played a single minute in college and had appeared on the cover of a national magazine before turning 18. ?He?s going to own the game,? one scout declared.
Darko Milicic did not own the game. A decade after he was chosen with the No. 2 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, he?s not even playing in the NBA. The only player drafted above him, LeBron James, is celebrating his fourth league MVP and second NBA title; the three taken after him?Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade?are likely bound for the Hall of Fame. Draft ?busts? are a beloved sports talk topic, rich with the schadenfreude that comes when a bunch of people making a lot of money turn out to be terrible at their jobs. The common bust narrative decontextualizes its subject, with the bust seen as an isolated mistake as opposed to what it more often is?the product of widespread and deeply misbegotten consensus. The Detroit Pistons drafted Darko second overall because pretty much everyone would have drafted Darko second overall. In 2003, a scout told Sports Illustrated that one-fifth of NBA teams thought the young Serb would be better than LeBron himself.
How did so many of the league?s talent evaluators convince themselves of something that now seems so absurd? As Pistons GM Joe Dumars himself admitted last year, the Pistons didn?t know all that much about Milicic when they drafted him. ?With Darko, we may have had two sources of information. That was it,? Dumars said. Darko was the dubious beneficiary of a hazy mixture of groupthinking and magical thinking, a pre?YouTube moment made of wishful scouting reports from distant lands and flavored by a hint of racism. Milicic was the idealized vision of the Euro prodigy, a fantasy of the young and impossibly skilled white big man that proved so elusive in reality that it was practically cryptozoological. The story of Darko is the story of Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Maciej Lampe, Pavel Podkolzin, and Yaroslav Korolev, shipwrecks one and all, strewn upon the far shores of Basketball-Reference.com.
Before Darko, there was Dirk. In 1998, Germany?s Nowitzki was selected with the ninth pick in the draft. Three years later, both Pau Gasol and Tony Parker were taken in the first round. The Euro prodigy craze of the Milicic era, though, had less to do with the success of their continental predecessors than with the rise of young Americans like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant. In 1995, Garnett became the first player in 20 years to jump from high school to the NBA, setting off a 10-year prep-to-pro run that produced some of the best players of a generation: Bryant, Jermaine O?Neal, Tracy McGrady, Amar?e Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, and of course LeBron James.
Despite their obvious skills, these players made many media members and front office executives uncomfortable. Intimations swirled that the game was deteriorating, that young Americans were bereft of ?fundamentals,? ?discipline,? and ?grounding??all qualities that European players were presumed to possess in abundance. Darko ?lives in a world where only the strong survive. He doesn?t need to be coddled,? declared ESPN?s Chad Ford, who in this period established himself as bard-poet of the Euro prodigy. (In 2003, Ford also questioned the Heat?s decision to draft Dwyane Wade over Maciej Lampe.)
On the one hand, as a 17-year-old whom only the smallest handful of NBA observers had ever laid eyes on, Darko was almost a parodic extreme of the sight-unseen adventurism of the prep-to-pro era. On the other, Darko was the imagined prep-to-pro antithesis, a man-child from a war-torn land who promised toughness and grit and everything that young American stars were imagined to lack. Ford interviewed an NBA scout who favorably compared Milicic to young American big men, whom the scout characterized as ?lazy and dunking all the time.? And as one unnamed insider told ESPN the Magazine for its cover story on Milicic: ?The brothers are gonna respect him.?
Ah yes, ?the brothers.? In case the racial overtones of all this weren?t suitably naked, Darko offered a potent Great White Hope-fulness at a time when dominant white American big men had seemingly gone the way of Bill Walton?s right foot. The great imagined fear of the prep-to-pro era was that (black) American teenagers would use their talent to con generous NBA benefactors out of millions, only to turn their attention to dunk contests and rap albums as they destroyed the moral fabric of basketball. (The fact that the NBA finally banned American high schoolers the same year that it implemented its controversial dress code hardly seemed coincidental.) One of the many ironies of Darko bust is that so many saw him as a bulwark against what he actually became: a terrible investment in an unprepared kid. He just didn?t look the part.
Any bust as spectacular as Milicic invites counterfactuals??what-ifs? and ?if-onlys.? Darko?s first coach, Larry Brown, was resolutely uninterested in the prized Serbian prodigy, playing him a total of 159 minutes in his rookie season. In a recent 2003 ?re-draft? for ESPN, Chad Ford had Darko going 14th overall to the Sonics, where, Ford notes, ?the chances of his earning minutes and developing right away would have gone up dramatically.? Earning many more minutes would have been difficult, though?had Darko played as often as LeBron James did that same season, he would have averaged more than eight fouls per game. A number like that is the mark of someone who does not know how to play basketball, and Brown had no interest in teaching him, not in a season in which the Pistons won the NBA championship, nor the next season when they were one quarter away from doing so again.
The team that?s done the best job developing international players was the same one that denied Darko?s Pistons their second title, the San Antonio Spurs. The 2013 Spurs have nine players who grew up outside the United States; according to this recent ESPN the Magazine story, they win because they Play the Right Way and eschew AAU phenoms who don?t dribble or pass. The ?recruiting analyst? concerned with ?loafing, lousy fundamentals, [and] a pervasive disinterest from players in showcasing anything but themselves? may not be the same voice that once urged the drafting of Darko over ?lazy and dunking? Americans. The tone sure matches, though, and it?s as ill-informed today as it was 10 years ago. Players like Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter?both of whom were drafted at age 22, and debuted in the NBA at 25?fit in with the Spurs for the same reason that Americans like Bruce Bowen and Danny Green fit in: They are experienced, thoroughly professional basketball players who know how to play in a system. That wasn?t the case with Darko, no matter his country of origin.
Darko wasn?t the first kid to go bust in the NBA?s youth-obsessed era. In 1999, Jonathan Bender was taken fifth overall and was out of the league after 262 injury-riddled games. Nor was Darko the first Euro prodigy to be grossly overvalued. In 2002, the Denver Nuggets drafted 19-year-old Nikoloz Tskitishvili fifth overall, four spots ahead of 19-year-old Amar?e Stoudemire. And Darko didn?t even have a totally terrible pro career?he logged serviceable years in Orlando, Memphis, and Minnesota, and for a long while his name graced one of the finest basketball blogs of all time. He just had a terrible career for a player drafted ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade, and as such is destined to spend eternity as the answer to a boringly easy trivia question.
In the 10 years since Darko came to America, international talent evaluation has become a calmer endeavor. In 2009, Spain?s Ricky Rubio was picked fifth overall and quickly emerged as one of the league?s most thrilling players; in 2011, the Czech Republic?s Jan Vesely was picked sixth overall and has thus far accrued more fouls than field goals. We?ve come to understand that sometimes these guys work out and sometimes they don?t, one of the many ways in which they are exactly like American players. Today, Darko would be drafted at an older age and likely stashed overseas for a few more years, at which point he?d join a team and might be a contributing player, even a star. But of course then he wouldn?t really be ?Darko,? the international superhero everyone tried a little too hard to believe in.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Treasury Department inspector general says he has no evidence that progressive groups seeking tax-exempt status got tough treatment from the Internal Revenue Service.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, J. Russell George says that while the term "Progressives" appeared on a list IRS screeners used to look for groups with potential problems, he has no indication that agency workers set aside applications from progressives for tough scrutiny.
Democrats have complained that a report George released last month revealing IRS mistreatment of tea party groups unfairly omitted mention of progressives.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/investigator-no-sign-progressives-mistreated-132046101.html
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A male Cambodian tailorbird, which scientists say is a new bird species unique to Cambodia discovered in Phnom Penh, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society. A statement released Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said the wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird lives in dense, humid lowland scrub in Phnom Penh and other locations just outside the city. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society,
A male Cambodian tailorbird, which scientists say is a new bird species unique to Cambodia discovered in Phnom Penh, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society. A statement released Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said the wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird lives in dense, humid lowland scrub in Phnom Penh and other locations just outside the city. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society,
A male Cambodian tailorbird, which scientists say is a new bird species unique to Cambodia discovered in Phnom Penh, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society. A statement released Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said the wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird lives in dense, humid lowland scrub in Phnom Penh and other locations just outside the city. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society,
A male Cambodian tailorbird, which scientists say is a new bird species unique to Cambodia discovered in Phnom Penh, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society. A statement released Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said the wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird lives in dense, humid lowland scrub in Phnom Penh and other locations just outside the city. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society,
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) ? A previously unknown bird species has been discovered in Cambodia, not in some remote jungle but in the country's capital.
Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups, including BirdLife International found the wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird living in dense, humid lowland scrub in Phnom Penh and other locations just outside the city, the society announced Wednesday.
The statement described the bird as gray in color with a brownish-red cap and black throat. It said only one other bird species is unique to Cambodia, the Cambodian laughingthrush, found only in the remote Cardamom mountain range.
The discovery of the bird, also known as Orthotomus chaktomuk, was announced in a special online edition of the Oriental Bird Club's journal Forktail, the statement said.
"Finding any new bird species is special, but to find one so close to my home and the homes of millions of people is particularly special," said Simon Mahood of the Wildlife Conservation Society, who with a colleague investigated the discovery. "The bird is probably not rare, although its habitat is threatened. In the places where it can be found it is abundant."
However, the Forktail article says the bird's natural habitat is shrinking and it should be considered slightly endangered.
"Asia contains a spectacular concentration of bird life, but is also under sharply increasing threats ranging from large-scale development projects to illegal hunting," the statement quoted WCS bird conservation coordinator Steve Zack saying. "Further work is needed to better understand the distribution and ecology of this exciting newly described species to determine its conservation needs."
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SANFORD, Fla. -- The sound of a single gunshot punctured George Zimmerman's murder trial on Thursday -- a jarring reminder of what ended the cries for help on a rainy February night last year.
Jurors for the first time heard the shot that brought a nation?s focus to a teenager named Trayvon Martin and a town that had been known before mostly for an airport and the end of a railway.
They also heard screams. ?Yelps,? in the words of the witness who made the 911 call that captured the sound of the shot that killed Martin.
Zimmerman has admitted shooting Martin, who was unarmed, but said he did so in self defense. The prosecution has sought to cast doubt on Zimmerman's claim that he was ever in danger.
Jenna Lauer, who lived close enough to the fight between Martin and Zimmerman that ?it sounded like they were in our living room,? insisted on the stand she heard just one pleading voice from her townhouse.
She called the screams ?life-threatening.?
?It sounded like they were desperate,? Lauer said. ?Whoever it was really needed help.?
That testimony, gripping as it was in a riveting fourth day of a murder trial, did not give any insight into whether it was Martin or Zimmerman begging for assistance. So what Lauer heard may not change much in the outcome of these proceedings.
What the next witness saw, however, may carry a lot of weight.
Selma Mora, a neighbor who was making coffee when the altercation took place, testified she saw a man wearing clothes that matched the description of what Zimmerman was wearing on the night in question. That man, she said, was positioned on top in the 2-person struggle.
Mora went on to say that man got up after the confrontation and walked away, with one hand on his head and another on his waist.
Zimmerman, who has appeared mostly unmoved by even the most graphic of testimony, looked quickly to his defense team and back when Mora made that statement -- one of his most animated moments of the trial to this point.
Mora?s testimony is significant because if Zimmerman was indeed on top of Martin, Zimmerman's self-defense argument is harder to make. And although it?s possible Zimmerman's was the voice heard screaming for help, it?s less believable that a man on top of another would sound ?desperate,? in the words of Lauer.
Mora?s account also makes it more difficult for the defense to credibly claim that Martin was using the pavement as a ?deadly weapon? -- a claim Zimmerman attorney Don West used in his opening statement on Monday. Zimmerman?s taped account of the events to Sanford police suggested Martin was on top of him, saying ?You?re going to die tonight.?
None of the witnesses so far claim to have heard anyone say those words.
All this adds to the most powerful quote recounted Thursday by Martin?s friend, Rachel Jeantel.
Although the defense tried for hours to impeach Jeantel's testimony, and made significant headway in undermining her credibility by forcing her to admit she lied under oath about her visit to the hospital after Martin?s death, she refused to stand down when pressed about hearing Martin say ?Get off? in the waning seconds of their last phone conversation.
Defense attorney West pressed Jeantel for long periods on those words. But the 19-year old high school student was emphatic in recalling Martin say, ?Get off.?
Those words, much like the testimony of the two witnesses Thursday, help chip away at the suggestion Martin was the aggressor the night of the shooting and that Zimmerman feared for his life. While Jeantel has been skewered on social media for everything from her appearance to her use of language to her stream of ?Yes sir? and ?No sir,? the constant barrage of withering questions from the defense may have left a jury consisting mostly of mothers with sympathy for the young witness.
Jeantel?s admission that she changed parts of her story did not help the prosecution, yet she never seemed to have a filter or any pause to concoct a layer of deceit. That might make her stubbornness about what she heard Martin say seem more reliable rather than less.
Could the mounting evidence push the defense to put Zimmerman on the stand? That answer remains no, according to attorney Mark O?Mara.
?Nothing has happened that has impacted that decision,? O?Mara told reporters after Thursday?s proceedings. The state of Florida?s self-defense laws are very strong, and make the prosecution?s job quite difficult even with the collection of testimony unraveled this week. ?If I think they?ve gotten close,? O?Mara said, ?I might put on a case (for Zimmerman taking the stand). We?re a long way off from that.?
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jurors-in-zimmerman-trial-hear-911-call--deadly-gunshot-235753735.html
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Foursquare's latest update to its iOS app now lets you check friends in, so you're not all blankly staring at your phones and ignoring each other. Don't worry, you'll have to give your friends explicit permission to do so. Just check under the settings tab. [Foursquare]
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Major government and media websites in South and North Korea were shut down for hours Tuesday on the 63rd anniversary of the start of the Korean War. Seoul said its sites were hacked, while it was unclear what knocked out those north of the border.
Seoul said experts were investigating attacks on the websites of the South Korean presidential Blue House and prime minister's office, as well as some media servers. There were no initial reports Tuesday that sensitive military or other key infrastructure had been compromised.
The attacks in South Korea did not appear to be as serious as a March cyberattack that shut down tens of thousands of computers and servers at South Korean broadcasters and banks. Seoul alerted people to take security measures against cyberattacks.
The North Korean websites that shut down Tuesday included those belonging to the national airline, Air Koryo, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the North's official Uriminzokkiri site and Naenara, the country's state-run Internet portal. All but Air Koryo were operational a few hours later.
South Korean National Intelligence Service officials said they were investigating what may have caused the shutdown of the North Korean websites. North Korea didn't make any immediate comment.
Operators of several Twitter accounts who purported to be part of a global hackers' collective known as Anonymous claimed that they attacked North Korean websites. The Associated Press received no answer to several requests to speak to the Twitter users. Shin Hong-soon, an official at South Korea's science ministry in charge of online security, said the government was not able to confirm whether these hackers were linked to Tuesday's attack on South Korean websites.
It wasn't immediately clear who was responsible. North and South Korea have traded accusations of cyberattacks in recent years.
South Korean officials blamed Pyongyang for a March 20 cyberattack that struck 48,000 computers and servers, hampering banks and broadcasters for several days, although television programming was not interrupted and officials have said that no bank records or personal data were compromised. Seoul officials said in April that an initial investigation pointed to a North Korean military-run spy agency as the culprit.
North Korea blamed South Korea and the United States for cyberattacks in March that temporarily disabled Internet access and websites in North Korea.
Experts believe North Korea trains large teams of cyber warriors and that the South and its allies should be prepared against possible attacks on key infrastructure and military systems. If the inter-Korean conflict were to move into cyberspace, South Korea's deeply wired society would have more to lose than North Korea's, which largely remains offline.
The shutdowns came on a war anniversary that both countries were marking with commemorations. They also are gearing up for the 60th anniversary of the end of the fighting July 27, a day North Koreans call "Victory Day" even though the Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans were gathering Tuesday to Pyongyang's main Kim Il Sung Square for the largest of many rallies around the nation denouncing the United States. On Monday evening, men lined up in the shadow of the capital's iconic Juche Tower to practice coordinating their steps as they hoisted signs reading "Sweep away the imperialist American aggressors," ''sworn enemies," and "U.S. troops out of South Korea" while a man with a megaphone barked out orders.
In South Korea, thousands of people, including Korean war veterans, gatherrf at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul for a commemoration. Two South Korean army units held military drills in Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province, near the demilitarized zone, defense officials said in Seoul.
North Korea in recent weeks has pushed for diplomatic talks with Washington. Tensions ran high on the Korean Peninsula in March and April, with North Korea delivering regular threats over U.N. sanctions and U.S.-South Korean military drills.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/websites-2-koreas-shut-down-war-anniversary-063134457.html
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The transition into college can often be a challenging one; students sometimes struggle to find a place for themselves at their new home. Luckily for some, pledging a fraternity or sorority can ease that transition.
"When I thought of the friends I had made in college thus far, I knew I wasn't as happy as I could be. I decided to rush because I wanted to find an infallible support system of girls who shared common interests with me," said Sarah Collins, a freshman at Syracuse University.
Collins admits to having early reservations about joining a sorority, but she now acknowledges the benefits of being a sister of Kappa Alpha Theta, Chi Chapter.
"I can see just how much rushing has helped me transition into the college lifestyle. Theta has brought a wide range of personalities together and provided us life-long friendship as well as given us the strength to be active members of society," Collins said.
Not everyone can get involved in Greek life on campus right away. At the University of Maryland, sororities require students to have 12 credits and a minimum GPA of 2.5 to rush, and formal rush is held during the spring semester only. As a result, many girls, like freshman Kayla Yerkes, wait to rush.
Yerkes, now a sister of Alpha Xi Delta, Beta Eta chapter, nonetheless admits that waiting to go through the formal process in the spring had its benefits. "I'm glad I did formal rush because I got to see sororities I would have overlooked had I not been forced to see them all," she said.
Jake Wegbreit, a freshman at the University of Rochester, also waited until his second semester to get involved in Greek life on campus. He learned about his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Rho Nu chapter through friends he met at Hillel.
"Right after winter break, I was at Hillel and there were three brothers talking to me about how great it was and how happy being in AEPi has made all of them. They told me how they have gotten so much out of being part of AEPi. That was the deciding factor so I went through rush and I pledged," Wegbreit said.
Other students wait to rush until even later in their college career. Kat Cook, a sophomore at the University of Maryland, pledged Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Theta chapter just this past semester.
"As a freshman I had a solid group of friends and didn't feel like I needed it to have a fun social life, but then sophomore year I decided wanted to get involved," Cook said.
Despite different rushing experiences, students across various campuses have found it to be a rewarding experience.
"Brotherhood is indescribable. All I know is that I love it. I love how there will always be someone that wants to hang out at almost anytime," Wegbreit said about his fraternity.
Tyler Varian, a freshman at George Washington University, spoke similarly about his experience as a brother of Zeta Beta Tau, Phi Alpha Alpha chapter.
"Being part of a fraternity has allowed me to expand my social network and has enhanced my college experience as a whole," said Varian. "Being a brother in ZBT has helped define who I am as a person and has allowed me to seamlessly transition from high school to university."
Additionally, Greek life provides an opportunity for students to get involved in a far more extensive way than other extracurricular activities on campus allow.
"We, as an entirety, strive to make noticeable differences in our local and global communities," said Collins about her experience in Kappa Alpha Theta, and also the Greek community as a whole. ?"Being involved on a campus expanded my connections and allowed me to meet so many goal-oriented and caring people," she said.
Greek life may not be for everyone, but for those who do choose to pledge in their college career can find their niche in college as soon as their first semester, easing the move to college.
Said Collins: "Greek life is the perfect combination of sisterhood, service opportunity and social expansion to create a smooth transition into college."
By Mel DeCandia, University of Maryland
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Follow Uloop on Twitter: www.twitter.com/uloop
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/uloop/can-greek-life-ease-the-t_b_3478980.html
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Astronomers have a good day when they detect one planet inside a star system's habitable zone. A mostly European team of researchers must be giddy, then, as it just found three of those ideally located planets around Gliese 667C. The group has combined existing observations from the ESO's Very Large Telescope with new HARPS telescope data to spot the trio of super-Earths, all of which could theoretically support liquid water. As long as the discovery holds up, it may have a big impact on exoplanetary research: it shows both that three super-Earths can exist in one system and that more than one survivable planet can orbit a low-mass star. We can only do so much with the findings when Gliese 667C is 22 light-years away, but it's good to learn that space could be more human-friendly than we once thought.
Source: ESO
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/IK0wDR6mCZE/
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June 24, 2013 ? Wild bird populations are generally thought to benefit from being given additional food in winter but our understanding of the effects of such food provision is incomplete.
The results of a new study, carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has found that feeding wild blue tits in winter resulted in less successful breeding during the following spring.
The research, published in Scientific Reports, revealed that woodland blue tits that were provided with fat balls as a supplementary food during the winter months went on to produce chicks that were smaller, of lower body weight and which had lower survival than the chicks of birds that did not receive any additional food.
Dr Jon Blount from Biosciences at the University of Exeter who led the research said: "Our research questions the benefits of feeding wild birds over winter. Although the precise reasons why fed populations subsequently have reduced reproductive success are unclear, it would be valuable to assess whether birds would benefit from being fed all year round rather than only in winter. More research is needed to determine exactly what level of additional food provisioning, and at what times of year, would truly benefit wild bird populations."
Dr Kate Plummer, lead author of the paper, said: "There could be a number of different explanations for our results. One possibility is that winter feeding may help birds in relatively poor condition to survive and breed. Because these individuals are only capable of raising a small number of chicks, they will reduce our estimation of breeding success within the population. But more research is needed to understand whether winter feeding is contributing to an overall change in the size of bird populations."
It is estimated that around half of UK householders feed birds in their gardens. This equates to around 50-60 thousand tonnes of bird food provisioned each year and contributes to a thriving bird food industry.
Jane Lawler, Marketing Director at Gardman, commented: "As the wider scientific evidence shows, feeding wild birds with appropriate foods delivers a range of positive benefits. A number of unanswered questions remain, however, and this is why we have been supporting this and other research, using the information gained to inform our products and the advice that we provide to our customers."
The three year study was conducted across nine woodland sites in Cornwall. During winter, populations of blue tits were left unfed, given plain fat balls or given fat balls enriched with vitamin E -- a vitamin commonly present in bird food such as nuts and seeds. Nest boxes and bird feeders were distributed around the woodland study sites and reproductive success was investigated by checking the nest boxes in the spring to determine the number of eggs laid and the growth and survival of chicks.
Studies elsewhere have shown that feeding wild birds in winter can have almost immediate benefits for survival and can enhance future breeding success, so the latest results provide important new information and inform the debate around the role that feeding wild birds may play in their population processes. Whether providing food is detrimental or beneficial to wild bird populations, it is clear that more research is needed to better understand its effects.
The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Royal Society, Gardman Ltd and the BTO.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/wcdq5VhRpT8/130624111011.htm
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On his lyrically sound third solo LP, Wale gives fans something that will take several listens to really get.
By Rob Markman
Wale
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709550/wale-the-gifted-lp.jhtml
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Microsoft rolled back a much-criticized requirement that its upcoming Xbox One gaming console be regularly connected to the Internet and made clear that there will be no limitations on sharing games.
Microsoft Corp. has been criticized for vague statements about whether it will allow Xbox One buyers to play secondhand software. Gamers also expressed distaste for a requirement that the console be connected to the Internet once every 24 hours.
Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment business, said in a blog post Wednesday that an Internet connection will no longer be required to play games on the Xbox One after its initial setup, and users can share and play games like they have on the Xbox 360.
Mattrick said the changes are in response to feedback Microsoft received since unveiling plans for the console in May.
"You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you," he wrote. "Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world."
In a shot aimed at Microsoft, rival Sony Corp. announced during last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles that its upcoming PlayStation 4 will not require a regular Internet connection to work and that the company won't try to restrict used game sales.
Both consoles will go on sale later this year, the Xbox One at $499 and the PS4 at $399.
__
Online:
Mattrick's post: http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update
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Editor's note: Marc Young is a Berlin-based freelance journalist covering President Obama's visit for Yahoo! News.
Ever since John F. Kennedy made his legendary ?Ich bin ein Berliner? address almost 50 years ago to the day, Berlin has been a place where U.S. presidents come when they have something important to say.
In 1963, JFK set down a marker that America would not yield West Berlin to the Soviets just two years after the Wall had been built. And Ronald Reagan made one of his most memorable speeches in the still-divided city in 1987, demanding Mikhail Gorbachev tear down that very same Cold War barrier.
Keenly aware of the gravitas a Berlin visit can lend, Barack Obama made a passionate plea for a better world as a presidential candidate in 2008 to a huge crowd of 200,000.
Now returning as the leader of the free world, President Obama is giving an eagerly awaited foreign policy address in front of Berlin?s symbolic Brandenburg Gate. But with the entire center of the German capital on lockdown for the duration of his whirlwind 25-hour-and-5-minute visit, Obama will have little opportunity to mingle with Berlin?s denizens.
Yahoo News correspondent Marc Young hit the city?s few remaining unblocked streets to find out what people thought of all the presidential pomp and ask which U.S. president they considered to be the best Berliner.
10 a.m. on Unter den Linden boulevard
Bernd Schneider
The 63-year-old civil engineer for Germany?s railway took the day off to travel from Leipzig, an hour south of Berlin by train. But on the city?s grand Unter den Linden boulevard, there was no getting any closer to the Brandenburg Gate just visible in the distance. After growing up in communist East Germany, Schneider fled to the West in 1986, just three years before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
?I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I asked the police if they were getting the day off, since it?s so sunny and nice, but they really didn?t think it was that funny.
?Obama is okay. I?m not really bothered by the [National Security Agency] snooping, I grew up in East Germany and you just can?t compare it with the Stasi [or the Ministry for State Security, the former secret police of East Germany]. I guess if I send pictures of my vacation and say, ?The weather was the bomb,? I?m going to be scanned. But I don?t mind if it helps stop terrorism. However, I?m pretty un-German about stuff like that.?
Presidential pick: JFK
10:45 a.m. near the Ritz Carlton Hotel at Potsdamer Platz
Once a derelict wasteland near the Berlin Wall, Potsdamer Platz is now home to shiny glass towers and the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where Obama and his family spent the night in Berlin. Rumor has it that the president picked it because of its nice gym. Manfred Fiifi, a 58-year-old Berlin resident who works as a security official for an embassy, stopped by after a doctor?s appointment.
?It?s a huge operation today, but these types of visits are normal for Berliners. I?m here because of my profession; it?s interesting to see how the police are handling all this.?
(At this point, the police stop a car to let a dog sniff for explosives. One burly officer demands we step further away with the friend phrase: ?When the dog is dangling from your bones??)
?I don?t have anything against Obama, he?s doing the best he can. I?m not disappointed in him, but I didn?t really expect that much from him either. Of course, JFK was the first U.S. president to come to Berlin, then Reagan and Obama. So I?d say Kennedy really set the standard.?
Presidential pick: JFK
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/view-obama-berlin-visit-street-134111608.html
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Who wants to hear Taylor Swift sing about women's health and the wage gap? Lots of people, as it turns out! A new parody Twitter account called Feminist Taylor Swift (@feministtswift) has become an instant viral sensation, racking up over 80,000 followers in less than a week. All of the tweets are Taylor Swift lyrics rewritten with a feminist slant. For example:
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China supercomputer: China's Tianhe-2 has bested its American counterpart in a semi-annual ranking of the world's most powerful supercomputers.
Researchers have clocked the Tanhe-2, developed by the National University of Defense Technology in Changsha, Hunan Province, China, as the world's most powerful supercomputer.
Photo by Jack Dongarra/University of Tennessee
EnlargeThose nostalgic for the postwar era take heart: There are still computers that take up an entire room.
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It's just that today, they're a bit faster than the?Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, the first general purpose digital computer. First?announced?in 1946 and in operation until 1955, ENIAC, which took up 1,800 square feet and?weighed?60,000 lbs., could perform up to 5,000 calculations per second, as long as it was addition. For division problems, it could do 38 per second.
Today's fastest computer? Almost 34,000 trillion calculations per second.
That distinction belongs to Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China?s National University of Defense Technology. According to TOP500, a project that twice a year measures the world's 500 fastest supercomputers, Tianhe-2 is about twice as powerful as the second fastest, the?Titan supercomputer based at the?US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.?
The TOP500 list is compiled by computer scientists at the University of Mannheim, Germany; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Researchers measure computing power in "flop/s," that is, floating point operations per second. The bog-standard 2.5 gHz processor found in an office laptop is theoretically capable of?10 billion flop/s, or 10 gigaflop/s.
TOP500 measured the Tianhe-2 at 33.86 quadrillion flops/s, or 33.86 petaflop/s. To put things in perspective, that would be the equivalent of stringing together about 3.4 million standard processors.?
Which is sort of what they did, but with faster processors. According TOP500, the Tianhe-2 is composed of 16,000 nodes, each of which has two Intel Xeon Ivy Bridge processors and three Xeon Phi processors.?
Intel chips remain a popular choice for those wanting to build supercomputers. According to TOP500, the Santa Clara, Calif. company provides the processors for more than four fifths of the 500 fastest supercomputers.
The processors may be American, but the rest is all Chinese, according to University of Tennessee computer scientist and TOP500 editor Jack Dongarra. ?Most of the features of the system were developed in China, and they are only using Intel for the main compute part. That is, the interconnect, operating system, front-end processors and software are mainly Chinese,? said Dr. Dongarra in a press release.
Tianhe-2, whose name means "Milky Way 2," marks China's return to the top position of the list since November 2010, when the machine's earlier incarnation, Tianhe-1A reigned. Tianhe-1A, which was clocked at ?2,566 billion flop/s, now ranks at number 10.
If processor technology continues to advance at the same pace that it has in the past, two decades from now we'll all be walking around with Tianhe-2's in our pockets, or perhaps embedded in our contact lenses. As TUAW noted in 2011, the iPad 2 has more processing power than the supercomputers of the 1990s.?
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