ventriloquy prompt: January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Feds: Megaupload user data could be gone Thursday

Federal prosecutors say data from users of Megaupload could be deleted as soon as Thursday.

U.S. prosecutors blocked access to Megaupload and charged seven men, saying the site facilitated millions of illegal downloads of movies, music and other content.

The company says its millions of users stored their own data, including family photos and personal documents. They haven't been able to see their data since the government raids earlier this month, but there has been hope they would be able to get it back.

Megaupload hires outside companies to store the data, for a fee. But Megaupload attorney Ira Rothken said Sunday that the government has frozen its money.

A letter filed in the case Friday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said storage companies Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc. may begin deleting data Thursday.

The letter said the government copied some data from the servers but did not physically take them. It said that now that it has executed its search warrants, it has no right to access the data. The servers are controlled by Carpathia and Cogent and issues about the future of the data must be resolved with them, prosecutors said.

Carpathia said in a statement Monday that it "does not have, and has never had, access to the content on MegaUpload servers," and therefore is unable to help customers access their data. It asked customers who are concerned about their data to contact MegaUpload. Cogent didn't respond to a request for comment.

Rothken said the company is working with prosecutors to try to keep the data from being erased. He said at least 50 million Megaupload users have data in danger of being erased.

Rothken said that, besides its customers, the data is important to Megaupload so it can defend itself in the legal case.

"We're cautiously optimistic at this point that because the United States, as well as Megaupload, should have a common desire to protect consumers, that this type of agreement will get done," he said.

Megaupload is based in Hong Kong. U.S. authorities said they had authority to intervene because some of its leased servers are in Virginia.

___

AP Business Writer Daniel Wagner contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-30-US-Megaupload/id-af331796531c4b6bbcf0f0b0f8281d7e

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Exxon selling Japan unit for $3.9B to cut refining

Sherman Glass, president of ExxonMobil Refining, right, speaks as Philippe Ducom, lead country manager of ExxonMobil Japan Group, left, and Jun Mutoh, representative director of TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K., listen during a press conference in Tokyo, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 . Exxon Mobil Corp. is selling its Japanese refining and marketing business to partner TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. in a deal valued at $3.9 billion as the energy giant seeks to shed some of its refining operations globally amid declining oil demand in Japan's mature market. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO (AP) ? Exxon Mobil Corp. is selling its Japanese refining and marketing business to partner TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. in a $3.9 billion deal that reflects a long-term decline in Japan's demand for fuel and a global strategy to refocus on exploration.

TonenGeneral Sekiyu will buy 99 percent of the shares of Exxon Mobil Yugen Kaisha, which refines and sells fuel and lubricants, the Japanese refiner said about the deal, announced Sunday. Exxon Mobil's stake in TonenGeneral will drop to 22 percent from 50 percent.

Large oil and gas companies have been shedding refining operations in recent years and turning to oil exploration and production in the hope of bigger profits. Tighter rules for car and truck fuel efficiency are expected to weigh on growth in demand for fuel in developed countries for years to come.

Sherman Glass, president of ExxonMobil Refining, told a press conference Monday in Tokyo that it was a restructuring move amid a changing global energy market, but said the company remained "very committed" to its refining ? or downstream ? operations.d

"What we continue to do is try to restructure ? in some cases invest, in some cases divest and in some cases restructure ? to make it a strong group of operations in our downstream" business, Glass told reporters.

The companies plan to conclude the deal in June.

Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company, has a "long-term strategy of moving away from refining, where the margins are wafer thin, and into exploration," said Nicholas Smith, a strategist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Tokyo. "Refining is something that anybody can do. You can buy the technology off the shelf."

TonenGeneral said the move would make it more flexible, efficient and competitive in a market where demand is declining as the population ages and shrinks.

"The Japanese market is getting tougher," said Jun Mutoh, the company's managing director. "The decision-making within the company will be more effective in the newly integrated production-distribution operation."

TonenGeneral will continue to deliver products and services under the Esso, Mobil and General brands and continue to rely on Exxon's technology and technological support in the refining and petrochemicals businesses.

Other major oil companies are making similar moves.

Marathon Oil spun off its refining operations last July. This summer ConocoPhillips also plans to split itself in two, separating its refining operations from its more profitable oil and gas exploration and production business. BP and Shell are selling refineries in the U.S. and Western Europe.

Exploring and producing oil and gas offers investors a chance for faster growth. Also, oil prices are high and are expected to remain so, which has helped producer profits and funded a boom in new exploration.

Glass also said Exxon would like to develop Japan as a market for natural gas, another key part of Exxon's business, but said exporting it from the U.S. would be "problematic" and that shipping it from Australia or the Middle East would be more likely options.

He cited the company's 2010 acquisition of XTO Energy for its expertise in shale gas and fracking, a drilling method that is used to free oil and gas from rock, as an example of investment in the business.

"We are taking advantage of their expertise to bring additional gas to the market in a number of places around the world," he said. "We do believe that Japan is a promising market that we'd like to develop for LNG," or liquefied natural gas.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-30-AS-Exxon-Japan/id-d1b588fecf8b4465afc2eff5d2fd8ab5

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Monday, January 30, 2012

SAG Awards 2012: List of Winners!

"Dream big, dream fierce." - Viola Davis, The Help

It's an appropriate motto for The Help cast, recognized for their work as an ensemble, the top honor of the night at Sunday's 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The awards show gives actors a chance to honor their peers in a ceremony that often (historically) sheds light on who will go home with an Oscar next month.

And features an A-list red carpet, of course ...

The best in TV are also honored, with the Boardwalk Empire and Modern Family casts receiving the top accolades. Who else took home the trophies last night?

See our full list of 2012 SAG Award winners (bold, starred) below:

FILM

Best Actor

    George Clooney, The Descendants
    Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
    Demian Bichir, A Better Life
    JEAN DUJARDIN, The Artist *
    Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress

    Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
    VIOLA DAVIS, The Help *
    Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
    Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
    Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor

    Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
    Nick Nolte, Warrior
    Jonah Hill, Moneyball
    Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
    CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, Beginners *

Best Supporting Actress

    Berenice Bejo, The Artist
    Jessica Chastain, The Help
    Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
    OCTAVIA SPENCER, The Help *
    Jessica Chastain, The Help

Outstanding Performance by a Cast

    Bridesmaids
    The Artist
    The Descendants
    THE HELP *
    Midnight in Paris

Best Actress in a TV Series – Drama

    Glenn Close, Damages
    Kathy Bates, Harry's Law
    Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
    JESSICA LANGE, American Horror Story *
    Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Best Actor in a TV Series – Drama

    STEVE BUSCEMI, Boardwalk Empire *
    Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
    Michael C. Hall, Dexter
    Patrick J. Adams, Suits
    Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights

Best Actress in a TV Series – Comedy

    Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
    Tina Fey, 30 Rock
    Julie Bowen, Modern Family
    Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
    BETTY WHITE, Hot In Cleveland *

Best Actor in a TV Series – Comedy

    ALEC BALDWIN, 30 Rock *
    Ty Burrell, Modern Family
    Steve Carell, The Office
    Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
    Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Ensemble in a Drama Series

    BOARDWALK EMPIRE *
    Breaking Bad
    Dexter
    The Good Wife
    Game of Thrones

Ensemble in a Comedy Series

    30 Rock
    Glee
    The Big Bang Theory
    MODERN FAMILY *
    The Office

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/sag-awards-2012-list-of-winners/

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3 killed in Sacramento SUV-light rail train crash

Officials test the signals and lights at an intersection where an SUV and Light Rail train collided in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. Authorities say a light-rail train has collided with a sport utility vehicle in Sacramento, killing a man, a woman and a baby and injuring seven other people. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ? The driver of an SUV veered around a crossing arm and ignored flashing warning lights before the vehicle was struck by a light-rail train in Sacramento on Saturday, killing an infant and two adults, authorities said.

The other person inside the Nissan Pathfinder, a woman in her 30s, was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, said Niko King, assistant chief with the Sacramento Fire Department. Six of the roughly 50 passengers on the light rail train suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, he said.

King and a spokeswoman for the transit line said video from a camera at the crossing clearly shows the SUV driving around the crossing arm. The light rail followed two Union Pacific freight trains, which use separate tracks, and the arms had remained down during the interval, said Alane Masui, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Regional Transit District.

"They were down after the UP trains and before the (light rail) train approached, so the crossing arms were properly working," she said.

She said the length of time between the freight trains clearing the intersection and the light rail train crossing it had not yet been determined and would be part of the investigation. Investigators also were reviewing video from a camera mounted on the light rail train.

The collision, in a working class neighborhood south of downtown, occurred shortly after 4 p.m. and pushed the Pathfinder about 30 yards from the point of impact.

"All I heard was a big bang, and I saw a light-rail train heading south with a big truck smashed on it," said Ravin Pratab, 42, of Davis, whose car was among those waiting for the train at the rail crossing, on the opposite side of the tracks from the Pathfinder.

The train was going about 55 mph at the time, a typical speed for that location.

Authorities did not release the identities of those in the Pathfinder or their relationship. A man and woman in the vehicle, both in their 40s, died at the scene while the baby was pronounced dead at a hospital. Firefighters said one had been ejected.

The University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento would say only that the woman remained in serious condition late Saturday.

The light rail system carries an average of 50,000 passengers a day, with lines stretching from the state capital to its suburbs in the north, south and east.

Masui said there are four sets of tracks at the crossing ? two for freight and two for light rail so trains from both systems can run in either direction.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-29-SUV-Light%20Rail%20Crash/id-a4c9e17df39d489cab2c5b8a0f6688d6

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Feisty Gingrich stakes campaign on ability to beat Obama, but some doubt that claim (Star Tribune)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192631647?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

SAG Awards menu is months in the making (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? When your dinner party guests include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kate Winslet and Glenn Close, and the whole affair is televised live, it can take months to plan the menu. That's why the team behind the Screen Actors Guild Awards began putting together the plate for Sunday's ceremony months ago.

It was still summer when show producer Kathy Connell and executive producer and director Jeff Margolis first sat down with chef Suzanne Goin of Los Angeles eatery Lucques with a tall order: Create a meal that is delicious at room temperature, looks beautiful on TV, is easy to eat and appeals to Hollywood tastes. Oh, and no poppy seeds, soups, spicy dishes, or piles of onions or garlic.

"It can't drip, stick in their teeth or be too heavy," Connell said. "We have to appease all palates."

The chef put together a plate of possibilities: slow-roasted salmon with yellow beets, lamb with couscous and spiced cauliflower and roasted root vegetables with quinoa. There was also a chopped chicken salad and another chicken dish with black beans.

To ensure the dishes are both tasty and TV-ready, Connell and Margolis, along with the SAG Awards Committee and the show's florist and art director, dined together at this summertime lunch on tables set to replicate those that will be in the Shrine Exposition Center during the ceremony. The pewter, crushed-silk tablecloths and white lilies you'll see on TV Sunday were also chosen months ago.

The diners discussed the look of the plate, the size of the portions and the vegetarian possibilities.

"We'd like the portions a little larger," Connell told the chef.

"And a little more sauce on the salmon," Margolis added.

Come Sunday, it's up to Goin to prepare 1,200 of the long-planned meals for the A-list audience.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_en_tv/us_sag_awards_menu

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Somali captors move US hostage after SEAL raid (AP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia ? Pirates moved an American hostage at least three times in 24 hours and threatened Thursday to kill him after U.S. Navy SEALs rescued an American and a Dane in a bold, dark-of-night raid that raises questions about whether other Western captives are now in greater danger.

"If they try again, we will all die together," warned Hassan Abdi, a Somali pirate connected to the gang holding the American, who was kidnapped Saturday in northern Somalia.

"It's difficult to hold U.S. hostages, because it's a game of chance: die or get huge money. But we shall stick with our plans and will never release him until we get a ransom," Abdi said.

U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into Somalia early Wednesday and hiked to where captors were holding 32-year-old American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, a 60-year-old Dane. A shootout ensued and nine captors were killed. Buchanan, Thisted and the U.S. troops were all unharmed. The two aid workers had been kidnapped by gunmen in October while working on demining projects for the Danish Refugee Council.

Buchanan and Thisted were flown to the U.S. Naval Air Base at Sigonella on the Italian island of Sicily to undergo medical screenings and other evaluations before heading home, a U.S. defense official said. Buchanan's family was meeting her at the base, which is the hub of U.S. Navy air operations in the Mediterranean.

The U.S. government said the raid was prompted by Buchanan's deteriorating health. An ailing Frenchwoman kidnapped by Somali gunmen died in captivity last year after not having access to her medication.

In the aftermath of Wednesday's rescue, the gang holding the American kidnapped in the northern town of Galkayo have moved him three times, Abdi said.

"Holding hostages in one place is unlikely now because we are the next target," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

He also expressed concern that the U.S. has pirate informants.

"It wasn't just a hit-and-run operation, but long planned with the help of insiders among us," Abdi said, noting that the Americans struck at a time when the pirates were least on their guard.

U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said U.S. officials have been in contact with the family of the latest American kidnapping victim.

"We are also working with our contacts in Kenya and in Somalia to try to get more information," Nuland told reporters in Washington.

"Obviously we condemn kidnapping of any kind and call for the immediate release of the victims ? any victims. We also would note that our travel warning for Somalia does caution U.S. citizens about the risk of travel."

Other hostages held in Somalia include a British tourist and two Spanish aid workers seized in neighboring Kenya, a French military adviser and 155 sailors of various nationalities hijacked by pirates at sea.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders, known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, employed the two Spanish women. The group said it was pleased that Buchanan and Thisted were freed and was seeking the release of its workers, Montserrat Serra and Blanca Theibaut. It hinted, though, that it views military raids as risky.

"MSF strongly favors the nonviolent resolution of such cases, as the use of force endangers the lives of the hostages and may result in the tragic loss of human lives," the group said. "We call upon the Somali population, especially the local authorities in control of the areas where the two are held, to do everything in their power to assist in their safe release."

It's not always clear what group is holding a captive in Somalia, and hostages have sometimes been sold from one gang to another. Captives can be held for long stretches: Two journalists from Canada and Australia were held for 15 months before being released in 2009, and the French military adviser has been missing for more than two years.

The security community is divided over whether the U.S. raid would make life more difficult for the other captives or whether the killings of the nine captors might make pirates think twice about launching future operations, a Western official in Kenya said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

On Wednesday evening, hours after the U.S. military raid, the gang holding the American hostage started circulating false rumors that they had executed him.

Another security official who has years of experience in the region said it was likely the men holding the American would move him onto a ship with other foreign hostages, because ships were easier to defend and planning rescue operations is more complicated when hostages from other countries are involved.

At least one pirate agreed with his analysis.

"I think land captivity is going to end now. Sea is much safer," pirate Mohamed Nur said by phone from the coastal town of Hobyo. "Even ships are not very safe, but you can at least hit back and resist."

Americans have been captured by Somali pirate gangs before. In 2009, the cargo vessel Maersk Alabama was briefly hijacked before pirates took to the lifeboat with the ship's captain, who was rescued after Navy sharpshooters killed the pirates.

But in a sign that pirates are getting increasingly violent ? and perhaps jittery ? four Americans onboard a hijacked yacht were killed last February. It's still unclear why the hostages were shot.

Several senior pirates condemned Wednesday's U.S. raid, which was authorized by President Barack Obama, and at least one warned that other U.S. hostages might suffer as a result.

"They send hit squads and kill all they want, so there is no way we will care for their (hostages) while they are killing us. They will see the aftereffects and reap the results of their actions," said Bile Hussein, a Somali pirate commander.

A spokesman for Somalia's U.N.-backed government said the pirates got what they deserved.

"Pirates have no place in our society," Abdirahman Omar Osman told the AP. "This is a huge and unforgettable lesson for them."

___

Associated Press writers Jason Straziuso and Katharine Houreld in Nairobi, Kenya, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Katharine Houreld at http://twitter.com/khoureld

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/af_somalia_raid

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'Anderson' executive producer Jim Murphy steps down (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 27 (TheWrap.com) ? Jim Murphy, co-executive producer of Anderson Cooper's syndicated daytime talk show "Anderson," has stepped down.

Murphy joined the show seven months before its September 2011 premiere, following stints on "Good Morning America," "CBS This Morning," "40 Hours" and "CBS Evening News."

Murphy's exit is the most recent in a string of departures for the talk show. In December, executive producers Cathy Chermol and Lisa Morin both stepped down -- according to the New York Post, Morin's departure was for personal reasons, while Chermol quit after a disagreement with Cooper over her handling of a special on the Penn State scandal. Terence Noonan, of "Dr. Oz," stepped in following their exits.

No reason was given for Murphy's departure.

Cooper characterized Murphy as "a good friend," praising his efforts in getting "Anderson" off the ground.

"I'm grateful for Jim's help and his hard work launching the show. He's a good friend and will always be a friend of our show," Cooper said. "We have a terrific team in place led by our executive producer, Terence Noonan, and I'm really excited about the momentum we've built and the future of the show."

"This has been an amazing experience being involved in the creation of this great new show and it has been exceptional to get to know and work with Anderson and the rest of the team," Murphy added. "I leave the show in great hands with Terence."

Despite the upheavals, "Anderson," which has been receiving lukewarm ratings since its launch, has shown signs of improvement. For the week ending January 15, the show grew by 25 percent and reached a series high with a 1.5 household rating.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/tv_nm/us_andersoncooper

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Fitch downgrades 5 eurozone nations (AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany ? Fitch Ratings downgraded the debt of Italy, Spain and three other countries that use the euro on Friday, a possible setback as European leaders work to contain the continent's debt crisis.

The lower government-debt ratings for Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia could make it more expensive for these countries to borrow.

Fitch said its decision was based on the deteriorating economic outlook in Europe, a concern that Europe's bailout fund is not large enough and a belief that European leaders are not acting quickly or boldly enough to prevent the debt crisis from worsening.

The downgrade came after European financial markets had closed. The major stock indexes of Germany, France and Britain fell slightly on Friday, while the euro rose 0.83 percent to $1.3189.

Government debt ratings can play a significant role in determining countries' borrowing costs. The higher the costs the greater the likelihood of default for a heavily indebted country.

Ireland, Greece and Portugal have been cut off from bond market borrowing because of investors' fears that they might default. They have had to take bailout loans from other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund.

Lower debt ratings do not guarantee higher borrowing costs, however.

Borrowing costs for many European countries have fallen in recent weeks despite Standard and Poor's decision on Jan. 13 to lower its ratings for nine countries that use the euro. This reflects growing investor confidence in those countries' economic policies and the impact of the European Central Bank's decision to loan hundreds of billions of euros to banks at very low rates. Some of that money has been used to buy government bonds, which are paying higher interest rates and enabling banks to earn a tidy profit.

The latest example was on Thursday, when Italy borrowed nearly $6.5 billion in two-year bonds at an interest rate of 3.76 percent. It paid 4.85 percent in a comparable bond auction in December.

Fitch lowered its ratings for the five countries by one notch and placed a negative outlook on all of them ? meaning there is more than a 50 percent chance of a further downgrade over the next two years.

Italy was lowered to a rating of A-, while Spain was downgraded to A. The rating of a sixth country, Ireland, was affirmed at BBB+, but it also received a negative outlook.

Fitch also issued a warning to Italy, a recent focus of the crisis because of its euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in debt and sluggish, bureaucracy-choked economy. The agency said the third-largest eurozone economy would face permanently higher borrowing costs that would make it harder to keep its debt under control. It resisted stronger ratings action because of the "strong commitment" of the new Italian government under Prime Minister Mario Monti to balance the country's budget and make Italy a better place to do business.

European leaders have been criticized for moving too slowly in tackling the crisis, which started in October 2009 when Greece admitted it was in deep financial trouble.

Led by Germany, the eurozone's largest member, governments have resisted sweeping solutions such as pooling their borrowing power in so-called eurobonds and have balked at increasing the financing of their bailout funds from euro500 billion. Efforts have focused instead on making bailed-out countries try to cut spending and reduce their budget deficits. The 17 members have also agreed to come up with a treaty requiring national laws to limit deficits.

At the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos this week, leading European finance chiefs have sought to reassure anxious global business leaders that Europe is on track to solve its debt crisis.

But Fitch said that European leaders' "gradualist" approach to tackling the crisis meant that Europe will continue to face episodes of severe financial volatility that would erode government's ability to repay debt.

Fitch said the eurozone's difficulties would be compounded by a shrinking economy.

"The eurozone crisis will only be resolved as and when there is broad economic recovery," Fitch said. "It is evident that further substantial reforms of the governance of the eurozone will be required to secure economic and financial stability, including greater fiscal integration."

Greece is locked in talks to secure a crucial debt relief deal with private investors while also tackling demands from its European partners and the IMF for deeper economic reforms.

Failure on either front would force the recession-bound country to default on its debt in less than two months, pouring new fuel on the fires of Europe's debt crisis.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_credit_ratings

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Pac-Man Is NP-Hard

Assuming NP != P your first sentence is correct. And maybe this is what laymen should know about it. However for completeness...

In general a problem is presented as a string of n bits and the algorithm (Turing Machine) has to decide whether it is acceptable or not (good or bad etc.) For example, take the graph coloring problem. This involves a graph on m vertices and you have to color it using k colors such that neighboring vertices have different colors. The input to the algorithm is a description of the graph and k as a bit-string. And the bit-string is acceptable if there is a proper coloring.

If the Turing machine can decide whether the bit-string with n bits is acceptable in less than p(n) steps where n is a polynomial, then the problem is in P.

NP does *not* stand for Not P.

NP means that there is a witness to the acceptability of a bit-string that can be verified in p(n) steps. For example, the witness for the graph coloring is an actual assignment of the colors to the vertices. It is quite straightforward to verify that the coloring is proper (no neighboring vertices have the same color, it takes less than n^2 color comparisons. NP stands for Nondeterministic Polynomial, I am
not a fan of the name.

NP-Hard means that the problem is such that any NP problem can be reduced to it (with a polynomial correspondance). Therefore, if you had a polynomial algorithm for it than you had one for *all* NP problems. This would imply P=NP and is doubtful to be true. In other words a proof of NP-hardness means: Yes, it is harder than P, at least most scientists think so.

I have no idea yet how the Pac-Man problem is represented as a bit-string. I will find out tomorrow on a lecture...

It is worth mentioning the class co-NP. This is a the class of problems for which there is a witness that the input is *not* acceptable. Think what witness could easily verify that a graph is not k colorable... For example existence of a full k+1 subgraph would suffice but other constructions also prohibit k coloring which have no full k subgraph in them. I do not recall from the top of my head whether k coloring is co-NP or not. But I think it is not, here is why:

There is a conjecture that may have more chance than P = NP. And that is: P = NP intersect co-NP. That is if both acceptability and non-acceptibility can be polynomially verified then there would be a guaranteed polynomial algorithm. So far this appears to be the case.
The last famous problem that is NP and co-NP at the same time and was found to be in P was prime testing.

And of course there are many, many other complexity classes...

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/3nfltwimYbE/pac-man-is-np-hard

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Sundance doc traces Simon's 'Graceland' hit album (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Paul Simon recalls his return to South Africa like a family reunion ? musical brothers getting back together after decades apart.

The trip last summer to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his "Graceland" album was a far more joyous occasion than some of his earlier travels on behalf of the record.

The Sundance Film Festival documentary "Under African Skies" chronicles the creation of "Graceland," its overnight success and the furor it caused as critics accused Simon of impeding progress to abolish South Africa's system of racial segregation known as apartheid.

Simon said he was surprised by protests that sprang up on his "Graceland" tour in the 1980s. But looking back, he said the album and tour with South African musicians raised awareness that helped end apartheid in the 1990s.

"Once I saw it had an immediate acceptance and that people loved it and had great affection for the music, I thought that the tour and the album were going to be a very effective way of showing just how evil apartheid was," Simon said in an interview alongside "Under African Skies" director Joe Berlinger.

The film shows Simon's South African musical colleagues enjoying their first taste of success outside their oppressed nation on the "Graceland" tour. But critics charged that the tour violated a United Nations cultural ban meant to pressure South Africa's white minority into doing away with government policies of segregation against blacks.

There were protests and even bomb threats, resulting in tight security as the tour progressed around the world.

Even today, there is lingering bitterness against Simon. "Under African Skies" includes a sometimes-uneasy exchange last summer between him and Dali Tambo, the son of African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo and the founder of Artists Against Apartheid. Dali Tambo had remained a harsh critic of Simon.

The joint interview arranged by filmmaker Berlinger helped clear the air between Simon and Tambo, who ended their meeting with a warm hug on camera.

That meeting was part of Berlinger's aim to examine both the musical origins of "Graceland" but also its unpleasant political fallout.

"I made it clear I didn't want a puff piece, a Paul Simon puff piece, and he didn't want a Paul Simon puff piece," Berlinger said. "We established that we're going to do an honest exploration of these issues and also go deeply into how this music was made, which, to me, is actually the more interesting part of the film.

"The political story is relevant and has resonance in today's world as well, but how this album was made, the dissection of that music and that achievement to me was as interesting, or more so, than the political story."

The film traces the creation of the album, from early recording sessions Simon did in South Africa to capture the raw material for many of the songs, to a London studio session with vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to an early performance on "Saturday Night Live" that enchanted the audience months before "Graceland" was released.

"Under African Skies" also follows Simon on his return to South Africa last summer, when he and musicians from the album reunited for a performance.

Simon had a gracious welcome there, reminiscent of a trip back to South Africa he took a few years after the "Graceland" tour, when apartheid had ended and South Africa's new president, Nelson Mandela, invited him to come and perform.

Mandela's invitation amounted to the "official announcement that was nothing about `Graceland' that the ANC saw as harming the cause. In fact, the opposite," Simon said. "We all felt particularly honored to even meet Nelson Mandela. I think of him as one of the great, great leaders of the 20th century. One of the great teachers. To be in his presence actually was extraordinary. We felt great about it."

___

Online:

http://www.sundance.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_mu/us_film_sundance_paul_simon

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Infants Grasp Gravity with Innate Sense of Physics (LiveScience.com)

Infants as young as 2 months old already have basic knowledge of "intuitive physics," researchers report in a new study.

Most studies into infant cognition employ eye-tracking technology ? psychologists can tease out what an infant is thinking and what she considers to be unexpected by following her gaze in different scenarios. This method, called violation of expectation, involves showing babies photos, videos or events that proceed as expected, followed by others that break everyday rules. If the infant understands the implicit rules, he or she will show little interest in an expected situation, but will stare at images of a surprising event.

But at what point in their development do babies begin to understand how the physical world works?

"We believe that infants are born with expectations about the objects around them, even though that knowledge is a skill that's never been taught," Kristy vanMarle, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri, said in a statement. "As the child develops, this knowledge is refined and eventually leads to the abilities we use as adults."

To come to this conclusion, vanMarle and her colleague, Susan Hespos, a psychologist at Northwestern University, reviewed infant cognition research conducted over the last 30 years. They found that infants already have an intuitive understanding of certain physical laws by 2 months of age, when they start to track moving objects with both eyes consistently and can be tested with eye-tracking technology.

For instance, at this age they understand that unsupported objects will fall (gravity) and hidden objects don't cease to exist. In one test, researchers placed an object inside of a container and moved the container; 2-month-old infants knew that the hidden object moved with the container.

This innate "physics" knowledge only grows as the infants experience their surroundings and interact more with the world. By 5 months of age, babies understand that solid objects have different properties than noncohesive substances, such as water, the researchers found.

In a 2009 study, a research team (which included Hespos) habituated 5-month-old infants to either a blue solid or a blue liquid in a glass cup, which appeared to be the same when at rest. They tipped the glasses left and right, and poured the contents into other glasses, allowing the infants to form ideas about how the substances worked. Infants habituated to the liquid (but not the solid) weren't surprised that straws could penetrate it, but were confused when straws couldn?t penetrate the blue solid. The opposite happened with infants habituated to the solid.

Hespos and vanMarle also learned that babies have rudimentary math abilities: Six-month-old infants can discriminate between numbers of dots (if one set held twice as many dots as the other), and 10-month-old infants can pick out which of two cups holds more liquid (if one cup held four times as much liquid as the other). Also at 10 months of age, babies will consistently choose larger amounts of food ? such as crackers ? in cups, though only if there are no more than three items in any cup.

While infants appear to be born with intuitive physics knowledge, the researchers believe that parents can further assist their children in developing expectations about the world through normal interactions, such as talking, playing peek-a-boo or letting them handle various safe objects.

"Natural interaction with the parent and objects in the world gives the child all the input that evolution has prepared the child to seek, accept and use to develop intuitive physics," vanMarle said.

The study was published in the January issue of the journal WIREs Cognitive Science.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120124/sc_livescience/infantsgraspgravitywithinnatesenseofphysics

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Scotland's social mind will settle independence vote

Continue reading page |1 |2

Centuries of political union would end dramatically if the Scots voted for independence from the UK. It's not just a political fight: this is also a fascinating social psychological battle for voice and identity that involves multiple political and national groups. When the referendum is held, Scottish identity may prove more crucial than all other factors.

The issue has shot up the British political agenda after David Cameron ? Englishman, prime minister of the UK and leader of the Conservative party ? threw down the gauntlet to Alex Salmond ? Scot, first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish Nationalist party (SNP) ? to hold a yes/no referendum in Scotland on independence as soon as possible. Salmond, however, wants the referendum to go ahead in 2014 ? possibly with a third option.

Distinctiveness is important in this. The Conservatives are profoundly unionist: they want Scotland to remain part of the UK. Cameron espouses unity through the idea of "one-nation Conservatism", downplaying the distinctions between the English ? who form the majority of the UK population and host the UK's Westminster parliament in London, on their territory ? and the Scots.

The tension between distinctiveness and solidarity is well known in social psychology. Once we label people as belonging to separate groups we tend to perceive the groups as more different from each other than they really are. If we belong to one of those groups, we tend to readily identify with it and value its distinctive culture and way of life.

In this way, the very existence of the geographical, cultural and political border between Scotland and England strengthens and perpetuates the perception of larger differences than really exist between the English and the Scots. What Salmond and the SNP have done spectacularly well is to build an increasingly strong sense for the Scots that Scotland is different and, more importantly, better.

Seeds of support

Our work proposes a relationship between certain social-psychological factors surrounding national identity and support for the SNP. We analysed a 1989 survey of over 1000 16 to 19-year-olds who were then approaching their first opportunity to vote in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It asked how they felt about the differences between England and Scotland, how strongly they identified with Scotland, their views about Scottish independence and voting intentions at the next election. At the time, the Labour party was the dominant party in Scotland, Scottish devolution was yet to come, and the Conservative ? and English ? Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of the UK.

The seeds of support for the SNP were starting to germinate, nourished by two ingredients: a sense of injustice about how Scottish people were being treated by the English ? termed "relative deprivation" by social psychologists ? and identification with Scotland, what we refer to as "social identity". These two factors fuelled the belief that Scotland should manage its own resources and would do perfectly well without England. We found those who held this belief, known as "social change ideology", were significantly more likely to vote for the SNP.

Since 1989 the Scots have experienced Scottish devolution, become less trusting of the Labour party (in part because Labour led the UK into the Iraq war), and have increased their support for the SNP, which is now the majority party within Scotland. Added to the potent, persisting elements of relative deprivation, national identity and social change ideology, the Scots have a further feature vital for independence: political empowerment ? known as "collective efficacy" in social psychology. The SNP has shown the Scots that they can govern and that the Scottish parliament is taken seriously by the English.

The rise of these social-psychological factors explains the current position. But what of the future and the referendum? Currently just under 40 per cent of Scots support independence. How might this change?

Double bind

The SNP might prove more persuasive now, as it can maintain a more distinct and consistent position than the other political parties in a referendum campaign. Social psychological research shows that distinctiveness and consistency can be persuasive because it attracts closer attention. For the Labour and the Liberal Democrats parties, sustaining consistency poses a dilemma. Independence is risky for them: if Scotland becomes independent, these parties will lose all their Scottish members of the Westminster parliament, seriously damaging Labour's prospects of re-election at Westminster and reducing the number of Liberal MPs there. However, if Labour and Liberal Democrat members of the Scottish Parliament argue against independence, they may risk being viewed as serving English rather than Scottish interests.

Research shows very clearly that groups, in this case the Scots, react negatively to disloyalty. If the SNP can successfully depict Labour and the Liberal Democrats as disloyal to Scotland, this could also bolster support for independence.

So the referendum polarises the political scene, effectively pitting the SNP against the rest. As a minority against the undifferentiated mass of other political groups in the UK, the SNP is likely to stand out in voters' minds as the party that most clearly represents Scotland's interests to Scottish people, which we believe will produce a psychologically compelling motivation to vote for independence.

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[OOC] The War in Dubai:

Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?The War in Dubai:?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "The War in Dubai:"

You may edit this first post as you see fit.

Wake: Member for 1 years

Alright so I guess will become the chat since it is already calling itself OOC......

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

yes, ooc stands for 'Out of character' on this site. If you need any help figuring out how the tabs work just ask me.

Wake: Member for 1 years

Explain everything in the greatest and clearest detail possible, I already know everyone is probably going to have problems........

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

Yup, you are good Sam.......

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

Okay, go to the main body of the rp, [link on the first post in ooc] look under the little pink spot, the tabs are directly below it. Each tab takes you to a different part of the roleplay.
Introduction, takes you to the page where the rules and basic description of what the Rp is about.
characters are where character profiles can be made and will have links to accepted characters.
Places are the location(s) where the rp is taking place, there can be multiple places in an rp but to keep this one simple will just stick with 'Dubai' as our main location
Groups is mostly unused, but it is basically what organizations or factions are in an rp. This one will go unused for this rp.
Activity is the same as the posting tab, you just hit the button that says 'reply to this rolepay' and you will be able to make a post for your character (provided you made one that was accepted by the gm of course)
chat is the global chat for the entire site. If you still need help you can go to the chat and just ask away, most people will be helpful and point things out for you.
Posting has already been covered in activity so will skip it.
OOC take you back here to the out of character forum, sort of the personal chat for the individual forum. The tab that takes you here shoe the 10 most recent post on the ooc forum and gives you a link to the ooc forum itself.

if you need anymore help, like i said the chat is there for use and I'm always reading the OOC forum.

Wake: Member for 1 years

I am trying to think of a way of putting the bio from fanfict into the character tab here.

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

Can we just copy and paste our old profiles from Fanfiction to this RP?

Honey-Heartbeat626: Member for 0 years

No they divide things into predetermined sections so I am trying to figure out where stuff would fit.....

Hopefully everyone gets on soon......

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

I've got the bio for assassin up, you can just use that as a reference, and those sections in the character creation are just guide lines, you don't have to follow them religiously.

Wake: Member for 1 years

Yea, that works..... Everyone do what Shy did.....

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

Um, Honey-Heartbeat626 (using your gateway name at the moment) you might want to rething your character name... cause it's coming up as Just because I'm a Caster class, does not mak

Wake: Member for 1 years

Submited my OC, let me know if it works..........

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

Yea I think Sam just reverse the OC summary and OC name in the character creation......

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

Names are permanent on a character bio, if you want to change it your going to have to resubmit a new character.

It always bugged me that that was the one thing you couldn't edit.

Wake: Member for 1 years

So Shy is there anyway to copy over what we have in the RP now into this new one?

Balzmann: Member for 0 years

That's... going to take some group coordination I think. We could try taking turns, copy and pasting our entire rp on to this site, which will take a while but do able. It's the only Idea I can think of.

Wake: Member for 1 years

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Republican hopefuls take fight to Florida (Reuters)

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) ? After a bruising clash in South Carolina, Republican presidential frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich will take their battle to a bigger stage when the campaign moves to Florida on Sunday.

Gingrich, a former U.S. House of Representatives speaker, thrashed Romney in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, suggesting the race for their party's nomination and the right to face President Barack Obama in November may last months more.

The largest of the early voting states by far, Florida presents logistical and financial challenges that appear to give an advantage to Romney's well funded campaign machine.

But Gingrich has momentum after coming from behind in South Carolina to win around 40 percent of the vote, followed by Romney with 28 percent. Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator, was in third with 17 percent and U.S. congressman Ron Paul in fourth with 13 percent.

"We proved here in South Carolina that people ... with the right ideas beats big money," Gingrich told supporters after his victory in the conservative state.

After strong performances in a series of debates, Gingrich was seen by South Carolina voters as the most likely Republican to beat Obama, a Democrat, in the November 6 election.

They also rejected millionaire former businessman Romney's pitch that he is the best bet to fix a broken U.S. economy and win the White House.

Romney and Gingrich, who have attacked each other mercilessly in a series of negative television ads since December, face off in a debate in Tampa, Florida, on Monday night.

ROMNEY TAX SOLUTION?

Romney has stumbled over questions about his personal finances in recent debates and acknowledged last week that he only pays a 15 percent tax rate, much lower than that of most working Americans.

The former Massachusetts governor has so far resisted calls from rivals, and even ally New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to release his tax returns.

To try to put the tax return controversy behind him, the Romney campaign has a plan to settle the issue next week, a Republican official said.

That is part of a strategy to be more aggressive against Gingrich, a formidable debater who nevertheless has personal and professional baggage that the Romney team could exploit. Romney accuses Gingrich of being a Washington insider.

"The choice within our party has also come into stark focus. President Obama has no experience running a business and no experience running a state. Our party can't be lead to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never run a state," Romney said on Saturday.

Romney saw his aura of inevitability erode in South Carolina after leading opinion polls by 10 percentage points a week ago.

In Florida, he leads Gingrich by 40.5 percent to 22 percent, according to a poll of polls by RealClearPolitics.com. Santorum, a social conservative who is from Pennsylvania, is third with 15 percent.

Campaigns must spend at least $1 million each week to reach voters in the sprawling southern state, according to local political officials. Romney's allies have already spent $5 million, mostly on ads attacking Gingrich. No other candidate has a significant presence in the state.

(Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign

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