Suit: 185K spyware images sent to rental computers

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Spyware installed on computers leased from furniture renter Aaron's Inc. secretly sent 185,000 emails containing sensitive information ? including pictures of nude children and people having sex ? back to the company's corporate computers, according to court documents filed Wednesday in a class-action lawsuit.

According to the filings, some of the spyware emails contained pictures secretly taken by the rental computers' webcams or other sensitive information including Social Security numbers, social media and email passwords, and customer keystrokes, the Federal Trade Commission determined last year.

The attorneys also claimed Atlanta-based Aaron's hasn't properly notified at least 800 customers allegedly targeted by spyware made by DesignerWare, a company located in North East, Pa.

"Because Aaron's has been so uncooperative in agreeing to give proper notice and assistance to its customers, we've had to ask the court to intervene and order them to do it, so that people can protect their most private kinds of rights and property," said Maury Herman, a New Orleans attorney who was one of several to file the documents.

Aaron's officials have previously said the company never installed the spyware on computers rented out of company-operated stores and blamed individual franchisees for installing it. But the new filings claim Aaron's nonetheless received the secretly recorded data.

Aaron's said in a statement that it disagrees with the claims in the lawsuit and will defend the case vigorously. The company reiterated its assertion that some of its 700 franchise stores used the spyware, not the 1300-plus company-owned stores.

Attorneys for DesignerWare didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The new allegations grew out of a Federal Trade Commission settlement last year and are contained in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Erie. That's where a Casper, Wyo., couple, Brian and Crystal Byrd, have sued DesignerWare, Aaron's, the local franchise from which they rented a computer in 2010, and 45 other unidentified franchises they believed were using the spyware.

The filings seek court permission to file a new complaint adding 54 franchisees based on the 185,000 emails since traced to Aaron's computer servers.

"Aaron's, like the proverbial ostrich, has buried its head in the sand, hoping this litigation would just go away without having to do anything to protect its customers," the Byrds' attorneys wrote.

The couple's May 2011 lawsuit claimed the manager of the Casper store showed Brian Byrd a webcam picture of himself operating a rental computer after the manager activated the spyware in the process of trying to repossess the computer, which the manager mistakenly believed the Byrds hadn't paid off under their rent-to-own agreement.

Attorneys for DesignerWare have since said in court documents its PC Rental Agent software is benign and simply helps rental companies track computer use and shut down the devices if customers don't pay.

But the FTC found, in a settlement publicized in September, the software could do much more when "Detective Mode" was activated: Capturing screenshots, taking webcam images, logging keystrokes and forwarding that information to Aaron's by email.

The FTC settlement bars DesignerWare, the Aaron's franchise that operated the Wyoming store, and six other businesses that operated rental stores from using any location-tracking software without customer consent and from deceptively collecting information.

On Wednesday, attorneys for the Byrds also filed a new lawsuit in Fulton County, Ga. ? where Atlanta is located ? on behalf of a customer who claims an Oregon Aaron's franchise tracked her physical location by having Detective Mode trace her WiFi use of the computer.

That lawsuit, and the new documents filed in the Byrd's federal lawsuit, contends Aaron's corporate officials condoned the widespread use of the spyware on franchise rental computers.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suit-185k-spyware-images-sent-rental-computers-235100144.html

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Scenes From When Flying Was Still Civilized

There once was a Golden Age Of Flying. You didn't have to queue up, strip down, and surrender your beverage to the Goon Squad. Meals were served on real plates instead of sad, soggy cardboard boxes. The act of traveling itself was a pleasant part of the journey—instead of a necessary act of mass-transit. These conveniences still exist for the very rich, but there was a time when all of us had access to a fantastic world in the sky. That world is never coming back, but it's still nice to look back and fondly remember. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_DAAKKkxniU/scenes-from-when-flying-was-still-civilized

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Afghan police officer drugs, kills 17 colleagues

KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan police officer drugged 17 colleagues and shot them dead on Wednesday with the aid of the Taliban, police said, the latest in a series of so-called "insider" attacks involving Afghan security forces and the Taliban.

The attacks have undermined trust between coalition and Afghan forces who are under mounting pressure to contain the Taliban insurgency before most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

The killings, the worst in a string of similar attacks in recent months, occurred at a remote Afghan Local Police (ALP) outpost in the eastern province of Ghazni.

"An infiltrated local policeman first drugged all 17 of his comrades, and then called the Taliban and they together shot them all," the chief police detective for Ghazni, Mohammad Hassan, told Reuters.

Seven of the dead were new recruits still undergoing training, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message by spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

The rapidly growing ALP program is an American-designed initiative designed to recruit local men as security officers for their area.

The force has been beset by allegations of abuse and widespread corruption.

In September, Afghanistan suspended the training of new ALP recruits following a spate of insider attacks on foreign soldiers.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni and Mustafa Andalib; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Nick Macfie)

(This story was corrected to drop the mention of "green on blue" in the first paragraph)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-police-officer-drugs-kills-17-colleagues-053936494.html

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7 Personal Finance Myths Debunked - Business Insider

Think you're financially savvy?

When it comes to their personal finances, people carry around notions all their lives that may or may not be valid.

For example, you've heard that money can't buy you love, but can it buy happiness?

Most people believe that it can't -- but science may prove them wrong.

Here are seven personal finance myths that happen to be everyday beliefs about the way we consider and handle money.

Many of these myths fool even the smartest of savers. The latest research will help you discern the facts and see through the smoke.

This story was originally published by?Bankrate.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/7-personal-finance-myths-debunked-2013-2

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Republican Congressman Faces Tea Party Wrath for Flying Air Force One

In just over two years in Congress, Republican Scott Rigell of Virginia has piqued conservatives by voting to raise the debt ceiling, disavowing an anti-tax pledge, and partnering with Democrats on gun control legislation. He was one of only two Republicans last year to oppose holding Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt.

But the proverbial straw broke the tea party?s back on Wednesday, when Rigell joined President Obama at a major shipbuilder near his southeastern Virginia district that would be hurt by sweeping military cuts if Congress doesn?t reach a budget deal. President Obama, who called for reducing the deficit in part by raising taxes, thanked Rigell and Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott, whose district includes Newport News Shipbuilding, as ?two outstanding congressmen who care about this facility, care about Virginia and care about this country.?

Rigell did not appear on stage with the president, but to some conservative activists, his attendance amounted to a betrayal.

?There?s going to be a lot of discussion about Congressman Rigell and I think it?s much more likely he will face a primary challenge next year,? said Karen Miner Hurd, founder of the Hampton Roads Tea Party. ?He, like many Republicans, are turning their backs on what got them elected in the first place.?

Grover Norquist, the national anti-tax crusader whose pledge Rigell no longer supports, called him out on Twitter as a ?very cheap date? for flying with the president on Air Force One to the event. ??He?s being used by the White House as a prop for tax increases,? Norquist said in a telephone interview.

For Rigell, one of only seven Republicans representing districts carried twice by President Obama, the backlash shows the challenge of trying to straddle the divide coursing through the GOP since the November election. While the tea party movement that swept Rigell and historic numbers of Republicans into office in 2010 is trying to hold the line on taxes, the Republican establishment is increasingly calling for less ideological approach to governing,

In an interview with National Journal after the event with the president, Rigell said that he viewed the White House?s invitation as an opportunity to make a case against the so-called sequester on behalf of his district, which is home to more active and military personnel than any other in the country.

?If I have the opportunity to look the president in the eye in his role as commander-in-chief?my responsibilities to my district compel me to do so,? Rigell said. ?I didn?t accept the trip to get on Air Force One, and it?s not an endorsement of his plan. It was [an] opportunity to meet with president and show bipartisan support for the hardworking men and women of Newport News Shipbuilding.?

Rigell said he asked the president to offer alternative spending cuts and has been ?disappointed? in his failure to do so. He also faulted his Republican colleagues for refusing any compromise that would include ?even one dollar? of new revenue. ?That is not a wise position,? he said. ?How in the world can I face someone who works at Newport News Shipbuilding and rises at 5 a.m. with their lunchbox thinking they could be laid off and military readiness affected because of the dysfunction of this place??

A new national survey by the Pew Research Center supports Rigell?s concerns that his party needs to rethink its approach to the budget and other issues. The poll found that 62% of the public sees the GOP as out of touch with the American people. Majorities also view the party as not open to change and too extreme.

The party?s shift rightward was one reason Steve LaTourette of Ohio -- the other Republican who sided with Rigell on the Holder vote -- left public office this year and took over a centrist group called the Main Street Partnership.

?I really admire Congressman Rigell because he?s willing to actually think about issues and respond in a thoughtful way, rather than the party line or a kneejerk way,? LaTourette said. ?These votes are not popular with core members of the Republican base and it?s a fine line he has to walk.?

Virginia?s Second Congressional District is a particularly competitive battleground at a time when gerrymandering and partisan self-sorting have reduced the number of swing districts. It was represented throughout the 1990s by Owen Pickett, a Blue Dog Democrat known for working with Republicans to protect defense spending. The district swung back and forth over the following decade between the two parties. In 2010, Rigell was a successful car dealer and big Republican donor who had never run for office before. He won a crowded Republican primary with an endorsement from Gov. Bob McDonnell and went on to defeat Democrat Glenn Nye, elected just two years earlier in the Democratic wave that swept Barack Obama into the White House.

Rigell has backed the scaled-down budget promoted by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and opposed the fiscal cliff deal sealed on New Year?s Day. But he crossed party leaders by voting to raise the debt ceiling, calling it the ?best path forward with the options that we?re given here.?

In another attempt at nuance, Rigell opposes President Obama?s health care law but his staff says he stopped calling it ?Obamacare? after a black pastor complained it was a pejorative term.

Scott, 52, has had relative success in appealing to African Americans, who make up about 20 percent of his district. His campaign estimated that he received 13 percent of the African American vote, more than twice as much as Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012.

Rigell is a co-founder of the Fix Congress Now Caucus, a congressional reform group that backed the ?No Budget, No Pay? proposal to force members to pass a budget or forego a paycheck. Rigell has declined federal health care and pension benefits and, his website says, ?will return more than $100,000 of his consecutive two-year salaries back to the U.S. Treasury.??

In February, Rigell wrote an open letter to his constituents saying that he would not renew his commitment to the anti-tax pledge. He argued that by precluding closing corporate loopholes and ending government subsidies, the pledge would allow the national debt to continue to escalate. ?In practice," he said, "the pledge can work against the very goal we seek to advance."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republican-congressman-faces-tea-party-wrath-flying-air-060002713--politics.html

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IKEA stops selling all minced meat products from main supplier

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - IKEA stopped selling all minced meat products from its main supplier, two days after taking its trademark meatballs from the same Swedish supplier off menus over concerns they contained horsemeat.

The world's No. 1 furniture retailer, known also for restaurants at its huge out-of-town stores, said on Wednesday it had withdrawn Familjen Dafgard's IKEA-branded wiener sausages from stores in France, Spain, Britain, Ireland and Portugal, as well as stuffed cabbages and veal burgers in Sweden.

Tests in the Czech Republic on Monday showed a batch of meatballs from Sweden's Familjen Dafgard contained horse.

"Based on some hundred test results that we have received so far, there are a few indications of horsemeat," IKEA said in a statement. "We are now, together with our supplier and third party experts, reviewing how we can reinforce routines to avoid similar situations in the future."

A scandal erupted last month when tests in Ireland revealed some beef products contained horsemeat, triggering recalls of ready-made meals in several countries and damaging confidence in Europe's vast and complex food industry.

Familjen Dafgard is the only Swedish firm so far to confirm undeclared horse in its meat products amid the scandal. On Wednesday it said its own tests confirmed the batch tested by Czech inspectors, and three other batches, contained horse.

All these samples contained 1-10 percent horsemeat, said Lennart Nilsson, a veterinary inspector at Sweden's National Food Agency of the tests run by Familjen Dafgard.

The supplier said it was still trying to establish where its own meat suppliers had sourced the meat in the four batches.

Nilsson said Familjen Dafgard buys meat in Sweden and elsewhere in the European Union although the meat may well originate from third parties outside the union.

IKEA stopped meatball sales in stores across most of Europe, and in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic, all supplied by Sweden's Familjen Dafgard. No food sales have been stopped in IKEA stores that have other suppliers, such as in the United States, Canada, Russia, Australia and Japan.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ikea-stops-selling-minced-meat-products-main-supplier-151014737--finance.html

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Policy experts, health care leaders offer landmark roadmap for better ...

BERKELEY ?

An unprecedented, year-long collaborative effort involving policy experts from UC Berkeley, CEOs of major health insurers and health care delivery systems, and leaders from California?s public sector has produced a detailed roadmap that would transform the state?s health care system and improve care and outcomes while saving billions of dollars in the process.

The Berkeley Forum has developed a roadmap for transforming California?s health care system. (Courtesy of UC Berkeley?s School of Public Health)

The members of the Berkeley Forum for Improving California?s Healthcare Delivery System have?agreed to?support a risk-adjusted?global budget model of paying for coordinated care, and today (Tuesday, Feb. 26), will issue a detailed report on specific actions that would save the state of California $110 billion ? about $800 per household annually ? over the next decade.

Global budgets, whereby physicians and hospitals optimize care under pre-determined expenditure targets, are a major shift from today?s predominantly fee-for-service environment. The current system, in which providers are paid for each treatment or procedure rendered, leads to the provision of more and duplicative services rather than efficient care that promotes good health, the report authors said.

Roadmap for change

?For the first time, the key actors who deliver and pay for our health care have?come together?to?support?a roadmap?for fundamental change?in how we?buy and provide health care services,? said forum chair Stephen Shortell, the Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management at UC Berkeley and dean of the School of Public Health. ?They agreed that fee-for-service must be put to bed and that they support actions to move towards global budgets that will facilitate major innovations in delivering better, more coordinated care.?

The report comes as the state prepares to implement the Affordable Care Act, which will add millions of additional people to the health insurance roster. (A copy of the forum?s full report, ?A New Vision for California?s Healthcare System,? and its executive summary are available online here.)

Convened by experts from UC Berkeley?s School of Public Health, forum members include presidents and CEOs of Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Cedars-Sinai Health System, Dignity Health, Health Net, HealthCare Partners, Kaiser Permanente, MemorialCare Health System, Monarch HealthCare, Sharp HealthCare and?Sutter Health. The heads of these hospital systems, medical groups and health insurers joined state and federal health care officials in a series of meetings held throughout the past year.

UC Berkeley?s Richard Scheffler, Distinguished Professor of Health Economics and Public Policy and director of the Petris Center on HealthCare Markets and Consumer Welfare, and Liora Bowers, director of Health Policy and Practice at the Petris Center, are lead authors of the report. While designed in the context of California?s unique set of health care challenges, the initiatives endorsed by the forum offer relevant and realistic reforms for states across the country, they said.

?The report represents an innovative private sector approach to a problem that the federal and most state governments have failed at: improving quality and slowing the rate of health care spending,? said Scheffler.

At the core of the forum?s report are two interrelated proposals to fundamentally change how health care services are financed and delivered. The first entails a major shift toward the use of global budgets, which would be adjusted for the underlying health of patient populations. Payments would also be partly tied to quality of care and patient satisfaction measures to ensure that high standards of care are maintained.

Broader access

The second proposal calls for broader access to and participation in integrated care systems that coordinate care for patients across conditions, providers, settings and time. Many of the forum participants? organizations are already implementing new payment and care coordination models.

?The Forum Vision represents a bottom-up, reality-based approach to addressing the cost of health care in California, and it comes as the state prepares to insure an additional two million people or more through the Affordable Care Act,? said Shortell. ?Getting the buy-in of the health care industry is critical for this effort. The Berkeley Forum represents the first time that top leaders in the private health care industry collectively voiced support for a transition to global budgeting and integrated care systems.?

The Berkeley Forum expects to save $110 billion for California in the next decade. (iStock)

The Forum Vision described in the report sets a goal of reducing the share of health care expenditures under fee-for-service systems from 78 percent to 50 percent by 2022. The forum also sets a goal that 60 percent of California?s population ? equivalent to about 23 million people today ? be enrolled in fully or highly integrated care systems by 2022, a doubling of the current figure.

?Health care costs are a great concern for all of us,? said L. Wade Rose, vice president of external and government relations of Dignity Health, the largest hospital system in California. ?It is vitally important that health care services in California are affordable so that all people who need care can receive it.?We know how to improve health care in the state, and the Berkeley Forum?s report identifies some of the specific measures that will help sustain access to care for all Californians.?

Beyond expanded use of global budgets and integrated care, the forum members are supporting six additional initiatives that would simultaneously improve care and increase savings.

Those initiatives address the need for better management of chronic conditions; expanded access to palliative care; programs to help the inactive engage in more physical activity; efforts to reduce infections acquired in health care settings; prevention of pre-term births and greater reliance on nurse practitioners and physician assistants for primary care services.

?Creating a forum for multiple parties ? medical groups, hospitals, insurers, regulators and academics ? to discuss ?industry issues and collaborate on solutions is groundbreaking, and it puts us on a path to improving the ailing California health care system,? said Pam Kehaly, president of Anthem Blue Cross.?

Currently, California spends more than $850 million per day on health care, according to the report. The report projects that health care costs in California will total $4.4 trillion from 2013 to 2022 under the status quo. By 2022, state health care spending is projected to increase to 17.1 percent of the state?s economy, and health insurance premiums for families would amount to nearly one-third of median income.?

Full implementation of the Forum Vision will require a new regulatory framework that allows for the development of more integrated care systems, provides incentives for efficiency and quality, and promotes market-based competition, according to the report. The report also noted that the growing rates of employer self-insurance, as well as government policies and private sector market forces that contribute to a decline in commercial HMO enrollment, present additional challenges to the vision that need to be addressed.

?We must make meaningful reform to the health care delivery system,? said Dr. Robert Margolis, CEO of HealthCare Partners LLC. ?This Berkeley Forum report provides a roadmap for private industry and government officials that will benefit California residents from a? quality and cost standpoint.?

Forum members point out that working in the vision?s favor is the fact that it is aligned with the goals of Gov. Jerry Brown?s recently released ?Let?s Get Healthy California? initiative, which is designed to make California the healthiest state in the nation over the next 10 years. Forum participants pledged to work with all sectors to achieve the cost savings that will be needed to support the state?s overall health objectives.

?What makes the actions to be taken stand out is that they were borne out of a?collaborative effort?among?industry and government agencies,? said Scheffler. ?Health care reform is just too complex a problem for any single firm, industry or government agency to tackle, so having these parties come to the same table and reach a?shared understanding for how to improve health care quality while reducing costs is a remarkable achievement.?

Related? information:

Source: http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/02/26/berkeley-forum-roadmap-for-california-healthcare-system/

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Clever battery completes stretchable electronics package: Can stretch, twist and bend -- and return to normal shape

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Northwestern University's Yonggang Huang and the University of Illinois' John A. Rogers are the first to demonstrate a stretchable lithium-ion battery -- a flexible device capable of powering their innovative stretchable electronics.

No longer needing to be connected by a cord to an electrical outlet, the stretchable electronic devices now could be used anywhere, including inside the human body. The implantable electronics could monitor anything from brain waves to heart activity, succeeding where flat, rigid batteries would fail.

Huang and Rogers have demonstrated a battery that continues to work -- powering a commercial light-emitting diode (LED) -- even when stretched, folded, twisted and mounted on a human elbow. The battery can work for eight to nine hours before it needs recharging, which can be done wirelessly.

The new battery enables true integration of electronics and power into a small, stretchable package. Details will be published Feb. 26 by the online journal Nature Communications.

"We start with a lot of battery components side by side in a very small space, and we connect them with tightly packed, long wavy lines," said Huang, a corresponding author of the paper. "These wires provide the flexibility. When we stretch the battery, the wavy interconnecting lines unfurl, much like yarn unspooling. And we can stretch the device a great deal and still have a working battery."

Huang led the portion of the research focused on theory, design and modeling. He is the Joseph Cummings Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The power and voltage of the stretchable battery are similar to a conventional lithium-ion battery of the same size, but the flexible battery can stretch up to 300 percent of its original size and still function.

Rogers, also a corresponding author of the paper, led the group that worked on the experimental and fabrication work of the stretchable battery. He is the Swanlund Chair at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Huang and Rogers have been working together for the last six years on stretchable electronics, and designing a cordless power supply has been a major challenge. Now they have solved the problem with their clever "space filling technique," which delivers a small, high-powered battery.

For their stretchable electronic circuits, the two developed "pop-up" technology that allows circuits to bend, stretch and twist. They created an array of tiny circuit elements connected by metal wire "pop-up bridges." When the array is stretched, the wires -- not the rigid circuits -- pop up.

This approach works for circuits but not for a stretchable battery. A lot of space is needed in between components for the "pop-up" interconnect to work. Circuits can be spaced out enough in an array, but battery components must be packed tightly to produce a powerful but small battery. There is not enough space between battery components for the "pop-up" technology to work.

Huang's design solution is to use metal wire interconnects that are long, wavy lines, filling the small space between battery components. (The power travels through the interconnects.)

The unique mechanism is a "spring within a spring": The line connecting the components is a large "S" shape and within that "S" are many smaller "S's." When the battery is stretched, the large "S" first stretches out and disappears, leaving a line of small squiggles. The stretching continues, with the small squiggles disappearing as the interconnect between electrodes becomes taut.

"We call this ordered unraveling," Huang said. "And this is how we can produce a battery that stretches up to 300 percent of its original size."

The stretching process is reversible, and the battery can be recharged wirelessly. The battery's design allows for the integration of stretchable, inductive coils to enable charging through an external source but without the need for a physical connection.

Huang, Rogers and their teams found the battery capable of 20 cycles of recharging with little loss in capacity. The system they report in the paper consists of a square array of 100 electrode disks, electrically connected in parallel.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Northwestern University. The original article was written by Megan Fellman.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Sheng Xu, Yihui Zhang, Jiung Cho, Juhwan Lee, Xian Huang, Lin Jia, Jonathan A. Fan, Yewang Su, Jessica Su, Huigang Zhang, Huanyu Cheng, Bingwei Lu, Cunjiang Yu, Chi Chuang, Tae-il Kim, Taeseup Song, Kazuyo Shigeta, Sen Kang, Canan Dagdeviren, Ivan Petrov, Paul V. Braun, Yonggang Huang, Ungyu Paik, John A. Rogers. Stretchable batteries with self-similar serpentine interconnects and integrated wireless recharging systems. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1543 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2553

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/8rXHnZdluCo/130226113828.htm

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Money in politics? The sky is the limit in Mo. (The Arizona Republic)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287307923?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Tibetan monks self-immolate in anti-China protest

BEIJING (AP) ? Two Tibetan monks in their early 20s set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule near dozens of pilgrims who had gathered for prayers to mark the end of the Tibetan New Year festival, a Tibet rights group said. Both died.

One of the monks, Tsesung Kyab, self-immolated Monday outside a temple in Luqu county in northwestern Gansu province while the other, Phagmo Dundrup, set himself ablaze Sunday at a monastery in neighboring Qinghai province, said the Washington, D.C.-based, International Campaign for Tibet reported.

The ICT said large numbers of religious pilgrims had gathered at both monasteries for prayer ceremonies to commemorate the end of the Tibetan new year festival, Losar. The group says it received images of the self-immolation in Luqu, in which pilgrims watched as Tsesung Kyab was ablaze.

The latest self-immolations bring the total since 2009 to 106. Last week, two Tibetan teenagers set themselves on fire in a double self-immolation in Aba prefecture of Sichuan province, Tibet rights advocacy groups said. Seventeen-year-old Richen and his childhood friend Sonam Dargye, 18, were among the youngest to have died after staging the fiery protests.

The protests have come despite an intensified crackdown in Tibetan areas by Chinese authorities hoping to stop the self-immolations. Authorities have detained and jailed Tibetans they accuse of helping others self-immolate, an act that Beijing now considers a crime.

A woman who answered the phone at the Communist Party's propaganda department in Gannan prefecture, which oversees Luqu county, said she was unaware of the reported self-immolation while county officials could not be reached. Authorities in Qinghai's Haidong prefecture, where the second protest took place, either could not be reached or said they had no information on the case.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tibetan-monks-self-immolate-anti-china-protest-011846664.html

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What Is the Copyright Alert System?

The Copyright Alert System was conceived all the way back in 2011 as a new way to deal with seemingly unstoppable online piracy. It finally goes into effect today, and it will impact a huge portion of US Internet users. Sounds scary, but what is it, exactly? And what does it mean for you?

The Copyright Alert System is the latest in a long line of counter-piracy policing schemes...

The Internet is a huge problem for copyright holders. Their businesses are dying, and really, why would anybody bother to pay for stuff when it is so easy to get it for free on BitTorrent. So far, the rights holders have tried everything from suing customers to trolling Google to stop piracy, and it has all failed. This might be their last best hope at shutting down piracy?or at least better containing it.

...under which the RIAA, MPAA, and others notify ISPs of infringement...

As designed, the participating internet service providers?AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon?don't directly monitor your online behavior under the Copyright Alert System. Instead, big media lobbying groups like the RIAA and MPAA ("content partners") keep an eye on P2P file-sharing networks, identify users who are being naughty, and then pass that information on to the ISPs.

...which in turn come after users with "mitigation measures"...

After verifying rights holder claims, the ISPs respond differently depending on how many times a user has been busted sharing illegal stuff. The first time you'll get a warning, the second time, you might be required to call your ISP, and measures could go as far as throttling your connection speeds. The information about how the system works is hazy because it varies from ISP to ISP.

...that's been incorrectly called a "six strike" system...

It's only really a five strike system, and the "strikes" aren't really strikes because if you get that far, your ISP won't terminate your account or anything. You're also unlikely to get sued at any point in the process, although according to leaked documents, legal action isn't off the table.

The idea is to inform users that they're doing something wrong?in case they thought it was legal?to give them ample time to correct their behavior and learn about legal ways to acquire what they want before something crazy like a lawsuit happens. Importantly, the ISPs won't give up any information about the individuals fingered with copyright alerts unless required to do so by subpoena or other court order.

...but could prove just as useless as everything that came before it.

This all sounds great in theory?and we're big supporters of anything that gets people sued less?but we'll have to wait and see if this actually does any good. It's not like anything else has.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5986722/what-is-the-copyright-alert-system

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Memory strategy may help depressed people remember the good times

Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
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Contact: Lucy Hyde
lhyde@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science

New research highlights a memory strategy that may help people who suffer from depression in recalling positive day-to-day experiences. The study is published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Previous research has shown that being able to call up concrete, detailed memories that are positive or self-affirming can help to boost positive mood for people with a history of depression. But it's this kind of vivid memory for everyday events that seems to be dampened for people who suffer from depression.

Researcher Tim Dalgleish of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and colleagues hypothesized that a well-known method used to enhance memory known as the "method-of-loci" strategy might help depressed patients to recall positive memories with greater ease.

The method-of-loci strategy consists of associating vivid memories with physical objects or locations buildings you see on your commute to work every day, for instance. To recall the memories, all you have to do is imagine going through your commute.

In the study, depressed patients were asked to come up with 15 positive memories. One group was asked to use the method-of-loci strategy to create associations with their memories, while a control group was asked to use a simple "rehearsal" strategy, grouping memories based on their similarities.

After practicing their techniques, the participants were asked to recall as many of their 15 positive memories as they could.

The two methods were equally effective on the initial memory test conducted in the lab both groups were able to recall nearly all of the 15 memories.

But the strategies were not equally effective over time.

After a week's worth of practice at home, the participants received a surprise phone call from the researchers, who asked them to recall the memories one more time.

Participants who used the method-of-loci technique were significantly better at recalling their positive memories when compared to those who used the rehearsal technique.

These data suggest that using the method-of-loci technique to associate vivid, positive memories with physical objects or locations may make it easier for depressed individuals to recall those positive memories, which may help to elevate their mood in the long-term.

###

In addition to Dalgleish, co-authors on this research include Lauren Navrady, Elinor Bird, Emma Hill, Barnaby Dunn and Ann-Marie Golden, all of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.

This research was supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council.

For more information about this study, please contact: Tim Dalgleish at tim.dalgleish@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk.

Clinical Psychological Science is APS's newest journal. For a copy of the article "Method-of-Loci as a Mnemonic Device to Facilitate Access to Self-Affirming Personal Memories for Individuals With Depression" and access to other Clinical Psychological Science research findings, please contact Lucy Hyde.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
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Contact: Lucy Hyde
lhyde@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science

New research highlights a memory strategy that may help people who suffer from depression in recalling positive day-to-day experiences. The study is published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Previous research has shown that being able to call up concrete, detailed memories that are positive or self-affirming can help to boost positive mood for people with a history of depression. But it's this kind of vivid memory for everyday events that seems to be dampened for people who suffer from depression.

Researcher Tim Dalgleish of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and colleagues hypothesized that a well-known method used to enhance memory known as the "method-of-loci" strategy might help depressed patients to recall positive memories with greater ease.

The method-of-loci strategy consists of associating vivid memories with physical objects or locations buildings you see on your commute to work every day, for instance. To recall the memories, all you have to do is imagine going through your commute.

In the study, depressed patients were asked to come up with 15 positive memories. One group was asked to use the method-of-loci strategy to create associations with their memories, while a control group was asked to use a simple "rehearsal" strategy, grouping memories based on their similarities.

After practicing their techniques, the participants were asked to recall as many of their 15 positive memories as they could.

The two methods were equally effective on the initial memory test conducted in the lab both groups were able to recall nearly all of the 15 memories.

But the strategies were not equally effective over time.

After a week's worth of practice at home, the participants received a surprise phone call from the researchers, who asked them to recall the memories one more time.

Participants who used the method-of-loci technique were significantly better at recalling their positive memories when compared to those who used the rehearsal technique.

These data suggest that using the method-of-loci technique to associate vivid, positive memories with physical objects or locations may make it easier for depressed individuals to recall those positive memories, which may help to elevate their mood in the long-term.

###

In addition to Dalgleish, co-authors on this research include Lauren Navrady, Elinor Bird, Emma Hill, Barnaby Dunn and Ann-Marie Golden, all of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.

This research was supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council.

For more information about this study, please contact: Tim Dalgleish at tim.dalgleish@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk.

Clinical Psychological Science is APS's newest journal. For a copy of the article "Method-of-Loci as a Mnemonic Device to Facilitate Access to Self-Affirming Personal Memories for Individuals With Depression" and access to other Clinical Psychological Science research findings, please contact Lucy Hyde.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/afps-msm022513.php

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Video: C. Everett Koop, former surgeon general, dies at 96

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50949139/

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More Choices, Less Commitment ? The Gospel Coalition Blog

"If I lived in Iowa, I'd be married with four children by now." Gregg Blatt is the CEO of Match.com's parent company. He's a 40-something bachelor living in Manhattan, and it's not entirely clear whether his wry comment aims to slight Iowa or New York.

Either way, it's clear that overwhelming choice can cripple commitment. Blatt himself wonders whether the glittering promise of online dating?your perfect match is only a click away?encourages us to become never-satisfied consumers of relationships, always looking to upgrade. And if we suspect we can easily find a superior choice on the Internet, how might that knowledge negatively affect the desire to invest in our current relationship, or even marriage? Assuming we one day get tired of compulsive consumption and decide to stop playing the field, will we be able to? Might the intoxication of choice lead to the death of commitment?and contentment?

Dan Slater thinks so. His recent article in The Atlantic implies that online dating, far from making marriage easier, is actually making it harder?by making commitment less likely:

The positive aspects of online dating are clear: the Internet makes it easier for single people to meet other single people with whom they might be compatible, raising the bar for what they consider a good relationship. But what if online dating makes it too easy to meet someone new? What if it raises the bar for a good relationship too high? What if the prospect of finding an ever-more-compatible mate with the click of a mouse means a future of relationship instability, in which we keep chasing the elusive rabbit around the dating track?

Slater's dog-track metaphor is strikingly apt. The rabbit isn't real, it's never caught, yet the greyhound still obsessively chases it. And the multiplying "rabbits" (as provided by the proliferation of online dating services) deceive us into believing that the odds of catching one have improved exponentially. In reality, as our expectations of relational satisfaction have risen, so has the likelihood of disappointment?and with it, the chances that we will keep on compulsively chasing. Of course, this process suits the online dating companies. "[T]he profit models of many online-dating sites are at cross-purposes with clients who are trying to develop long-term commitments," Slater observes.?"A permanently paired-off dater, after all, means a lost revenue stream." That's why most of the users on Match.com?are return customers, coaxed back into activity by plaintive "How could you leave us?" emails, and the consumer's own relational restlessness.?

Lowering the Bar

Evidence also suggests that even if we do finally commit to someone, the multiplicity of options makes it less likely we'll stay committed. Psychologist Barry Schwarz, author of The Paradox of Choice, argues that "a large array of options may diminish the attractiveness of what people actually choose, the reason being that thinking about the attractions of some of the unchosen options detracts from the pleasure derived from the chosen one."

In 2011, Mark Brooks, a consultant to online dating companies, published the results of an industry survey titled "How Has Internet Dating Changed Society?" The survey responses, from 39 executives, produced the following conclusions:

• "Internet dating may be partly responsible for a rise in the divorce rates."
• "Above all, Internet dating has helped people of all ages realize that there's no need to settle for a mediocre relationship."
• "Low quality, unhappy, and unsatisfying marriages are being destroyed as people drift to Internet dating sites."
• "The market is hugely more efficient. . . . People expect to?and this will be increasingly the case over time?access people anywhere, anytime, based on complex search requests. . . . Such a feeling of access affects our pursuit of love. . . . [T]he whole world (versus, say, the city we live in) will, increasingly, feel like the market for our partner(s). Our pickiness will probably increase."
• "Internet dating has made people more disposable."

That's frightening. But online dating is surely not the only cause of commitment-phobia. As Slater points out, gender may also play a role, though "researchers are divided on the question of whether men pursue more 'short-term mates' than women do." Certainly, with young women in the United States much more likely to graduate from college than their male peers, and college graduates much more likely to date other college graduates, men seem to have the luxury (or rather, the curse) of choice.

Then there is the pornography epidemic. It raises (or rather, lowers) the bar on what we expect of a prospective spouse because of its unremitting insistence on physical performance and cosmetic beauty, over and against mental and moral qualities. As Christian men, we may pray unctuously for the Lord to provide a wife of noble character (Proverbs 31:10-31), but our hearts are being continually conditioned to lust after the wife of maximal hotness. "Charm is deceitful," God protests, "and beauty is vain!" But we dismiss him like one of those impertinent pop-ups that gets in the way of what we really want to see.

Devastating Results

The devastating societal results are already being ruefully catalogued. The sexually graphic film?Shame (2011) sees a porn-addicted Michael Fassbender sloping from one brief encounter to another. Together in a hotel room with a beautiful woman who believes in monogamy, he is unable to perform. Because his only commitment is to an endless, open-ended lack of commitment, real intimacy eludes him. And by the time the film ends, we're not sure it will ever be regained.

?

Or take George Clooney in Up in the Air (2009). He plays a character whose aversion to emotional commitment means that, according to his own family, he has essentially ceased to exist. Taken in by the false promises of sexual "freedom," he has withheld commitment for years. And now that he wishes to give it, he's no longer free to do so.

Pointedly, The Velveteen Rabbit appears briefly in the film. It's a children's story about a stuffed toy rabbit who becomes real when he is loved. At one point, the rabbit asks the wise Skin Horse how the process happens.

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

It's a mesmerizing, sad story about how real love?real commitment?inevitably unmakes us. Perhaps that's partly why we're so afraid of it. But the story also explains why that "unmaking" is such a desirable thing.

It's how you become "real."

Our Undoing

Truly committing to another human being will certainly be our undoing. It requires substitutionary sacrifice: your life is subsumed in the quest for the other's contentment. In the case of marriage it means each person forsaking all others, which to the world looks like a very shabby prospect.

But this selfless giving of oneself to another human being holds unique power to make both the lover and the beloved truly beautiful. By losing their lives, they have gained them. But we can only taste this if we commit?and allow other to commit to us.

Committing to love at great cost to ourselves is the most desirable choice we can make in God's universe. He demonstrated this love for us on a tiny hill outside Jerusalem. He made the choice to love self-sacrificially. Forsaking all others, he committed himself to a particular people, at a particular time, in a particular place. Even the living God?powerful, sovereign, utterly free, whose triune nature means that he does not depend on others in order to love and be loved?nevertheless committed himself to love one bride.

Will we trade the deceptive and ever-declining thrills of choice-idolatry for the unique pleasures of commitment? We should do it, and soon. Because even if, by God's grace, our chains fall off, even if our dungeon flames with light, we may be powerless to get up and leave, because our hearts have been crippled. We put off commitment and venerate choice, idly believing that we will commit when we are ready. But when that day finally arrives, we may realize with widening eyes that we're no longer choosing sin. Sin is choosing us. We will have become imprisoned by choice.

And for those of us who have experienced this prison first-hand, isn't it strange when the world describes us as "butterflies"? That is too delicate, too lovely. Brothers and sisters, let me propose a more fitting insect: the moth. Drawn to the light but finally unable to enjoy it. Dulled. Restless. All-consuming.

Barry Cooper studied English at Oxford University and theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of Discipleship Explored, and is co-author of the Christianity Explored evangelistic program. He writes the blog Future Perfect, Present Tense, and is currently helping to plant Trinity West Church in Shepherd's Bush, London.

Copyright ? 2013 by the author listed above. Used by permission.

Source: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/02/25/more-choices-less-commitment/

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11 Glorious GIFs That Sum Up the Oscars Red Carpet

From the good to the bad to the boring, see our reactions to the Oscars looks that everyone's talking about!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/oscars-dresses-2013-gif-reactions/1-a-523603?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aoscars-dresses-2013-gif-reactions-523603

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Obama urged to back tough arms trade treaty at U.N. talks

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Three dozen arms control and human rights groups have written to U.S. President Barack Obama ahead of new arms-trade negotiations at the United Nations next month, urging him to back a tough treaty that would end loopholes in international weapons sales.

Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence and a convention is needed to prevent the unregulated and illicit flow of weapons into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities.

The U.N. General Assembly voted in December to restart negotiations in mid-March on what could become the first international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global arms trade after a drafting conference in July collapsed because the United States and other nations wanted more time.

"The United States, as the world's leading arms supplier, has a special responsibility to provide the leadership needed for an ATT (arms trade treaty) with the highest possible standards for the transfer of conventional arms and ammunition," the groups wrote to Obama in a letter delivered late on Friday.

"The Arms Trade Treaty can provide a key tool to help reduce enormous human suffering caused by irresponsible international arms transfers and arms brokering," the letter said.

The 36 groups that co-authored the letter include Amnesty International USA, Arms Control Association, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Oxfam America, National Association of Evangelicals and other groups.

The point of the treaty is to set standards for all cross-border transfers of any type of conventional weapon - light and heavy. It also would set binding requirements for nations to review all cross-border arms contracts to ensure the munitions will not be used in human rights abuses, do not violate embargoes and are not illegally diverted.

Deputy U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden confirmed the White House had received the letter, saying it "raises a number of important issues." She said Washington would support a treaty under certain conditions.

"The March 2013 Arms Trade Treaty Conference will seek an Arms Trade Treaty that will contribute to international security, (and) protect the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms trade," she said in an email that provided the most extensive public U.S. statement on the treaty in months.

U.S. SAYS "NO WEAK TREATY"

Hayden said Washington would not support a treaty that infringed on the constitutional right of U.S. citizens to bear arms - a sensitive political issue in America. Since adoption of a treaty next month will require consensus, the United States and all other delegations have de facto veto powers.

"The U.S. objective is to bring other countries in line with existing U.S. best practices, which will have a positive humanitarian impact and reduce the chances that illicit arms flow to terrorists and those that would commit human rights violations," Hayden said.

She also said Washington would not accept a "weak treaty."

If a treaty is approved, it will require ratification by signatories' legislatures before it goes into effect. The leading U.S. pro-gun group, the National Rifle Association (NRA), has vowed to fight hard to prevent ratification of the treaty if it reaches Washington.

The treaty's supporters accuse the NRA of deceiving the U.S. public about the pact, which they say would have no impact on domestic gun ownership and would only apply to exports.

The main reason the arms trade talks are taking place at all is that the United States - the world's biggest arms trader, which accounts for more than 40 percent of global transfers in conventional arms - reversed U.S. policy on the issue after Obama was first elected and decided in 2009 to support a treaty.

The authors of the letter called on Obama to ensure that any approved treaty requires exporting states to "assess the risk of a proposed export being used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international human rights or humanitarian law, or acts of terrorism."

They also urged the United States not to back exclusion of ammunition from the arms trade treaty, which will be negotiated by about 150 countries at U.N. headquarters March 18-28.

"The exclusion of ammunition from the scope of the treaty would greatly reduce the treaty's ability to achieve many of its most important goals," the groups wrote, adding that the United States already licenses the import and export of ammunition.

But the White House made clear it would continue to oppose the inclusion of ammunition in the draft treaty.

"Ammunition is a fundamentally different commodity than conventional arms," Hayden said. "It is fungible, consumable, reloadable, and cannot be marked in any practical way that would permit it to be tracked or traced."

(Reporting By Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-urged-back-tough-arms-trade-treaty-u-000216736.html

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Monkeying around with puzzles makes chimps happy

: Zoological Society of London

Phil the chimpanzee plays with a puzzle at the Whipsnade Zoo.

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience

Chimpanzees don't need to be rewarded for playing with brainteasers. Like humans with a crossword puzzle, they're motivated by the challenge alone, new research finds.

For the study, published today (Feb. 23) in the American Journal of Primatology, researchers followed six chimpanzees at the Zoological Society of London's Whipsnade Zoo. Three of the chimps are half-brothers (Phil, Grant and Elvis), and their family group includes another male and two females.

Zookeepers gave the chimps a homemade puzzle made of plumbing pipes. Inside the network of pipes were two red dice. The chimps had to figure out where to poke sticks into holes in the pipes to get the dice to change directions and fall into an exit chamber. The game is based on the real-world task of using sticks to pull termites out of their nests as a snack.

The chimps also got nearly identical puzzles, which held Brazil nuts instead of dice. In these versions, the prize for figuring out the puzzle was getting to eat the Brazil nuts. [ Video: Chimps Outsmart Humans in Memory Game ]

"We noticed that the chimps were keen to complete the puzzle regardless of whether or not they received a food reward," study researcher Fay Clark of the Zoological Society of London said in a statement. "This strongly suggests they get similar feelings of satisfaction to humans who often complete brain games for a feel-good reward."

The brainteaser was part of the zoo's voluntary enrichment activities for the chimps, which also include treats hidden in boxes and do-it-yourself materials so the chimpanzees can build their own beds every night.

Chimps have proven adept at play and games in general. In 2011, a study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that chimps could figure out which characters they control in a video game, exhibiting a grasp of the concept of their own agency. In the wild, chimpanzees play, too. One 2010 study found that young female chimps in Uganda carried sticks around and took them to bed, possibly playing with them as if they were dolls.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas ?or LiveScience@livescience. We're also on Facebook ?&Google+.

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/24/17076349-monkeying-around-with-puzzles-makes-chimps-happy?lite

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Has anyone ever used a lucid dream to do something productive?

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/K8XBMMbhdBk/has-anyone-ever-used-a-lucid-dream-to-do-something-productive

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NFL combine: Oregon State WR Markus Wheaton and Oregon Ducks RB Kenjon Barner to take the field Sunday

The NFL Scouting Combine continues Sunday with wide receivers and
running backs taking the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

?

Former Oregon running back Kenjon Barner and former Oregon State wide receiver Markus Wheaton are scheduled to perform in front of NFL scouts.

The combine is televised on NFL Network.

?

Former Oregon offensive lineman Kyle Long performed Saturday. He ran the third fastest 40-yard dash time among offensive linemen at 4.94 seconds. His broad jump of 8 feet, 11 inches ranked 14th. He ranked eighth in the 20-yard shuttle with a time of 4.63.

?

Long is projected by many to be taken in the first two rounds of the NFL draft, April 25-27.

?

On Monday, former Oregon defensive lineman Dion Jordan and linebacker Kiko Alonso will perform. On Tuesday, former Oregon State cornerback Jordan Poyer and former Oregon safety John Boyett will take the field.

?

Here's a look at how an NFL scout and NFLDraftScout.com senior analyst Rob Rang view Barner and Wheaton heading into Sunday's workouts.

Kenjon Barner, running back, 5-9, 196

?
Scout's take: "I kind of like the speed. He's a good back. But at that size I don't see him running inside for anybody. Pass blocking will be an issue. Not a great returner. He might find a niche as a third-down guy or maybe on special teams. I liked LaMichael James better. He seemed like he had more big plays, longer runs. I thought he ran a little harder. At that size Barner is not that dynamic. His size puts him at the low end of the positional profile unless you're just absolutely dynamic."
Round projection: Fourth.
?
Rang's take: "I think he's less of a prospect than LaMichael James because he I don't think he's quite as fast as James in terms of straight-line speed. But to me, Barner might be a better all-around player. Better receiver. Better return man. But he's not a very physical guy. He won't be drafted as highly as James (second round last year). Maybe fourth or fifth, or lower, unless he runs really well. I love the hands out of the backfield. That was something I didn't expect. I could see him giving a team five or seven snaps per game. I think he could be effective as a change-of-pace back."
Round projection: Fifth
?

Markus Wheaton, wide receiver, 5-11, 189

Scout's take: "He's good. You're looking at a lighter guy. But yet he's got real good speed. He made a lot of plays for OSU. Size could be a limitation. His run after the catch was not that great. He's more of a route runner. He'll catch the ball on the move and downfield but he's not a guy who will make a lot of moves and make you miss. He's not dynamic that way. He's a sharp kid and he's been well coached. His technique is very good."
Round projection: second or third.

Rang's take: "He's obviously a dynamic athlete with great lateral ability and straight-line speed. He has ability to elude defenders. There's only a few receivers in this draft who can do that. His inconsistency is a bit of a concern. To me he's one of those guys that projects best to a team that wants to throw the ball downfield consistently. I like him as a blocker but have reservations about his overall size. He has a slim build. But I think he'll run well."
Round projection:? second.

?-- Aaron Fentress

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2013/02/nfl_combine_oregon_ducks_kenjo.html

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USA-Canada Tuesday on Fox Soccer

[SOCCER ON THE AIR] Fox Soccer's coverage of the Concacaf Under-20 Championship from Puebla, Mexico, continues with the quarterfinals. The four quarterfinal pairings: USA-Canada and Cuba-Costa Rica on Tuesday and Panama-El Salvador and Mexico-Jamaica on Wednesday. For the complete schedule ...

Feb. 26 Quarterfinals: USA vs. Canada, 6 p.m.
Feb. 26 Quarterfinals: Cuba vs. Costa Rica, 9 p.m.
Feb. 27 Quarterfinals: Panama vs. El Salvador, 6 p.m.
Feb. 27 Quarterfinals: Mexico vs. Jamaica, 9 p.m.
March 1 Semifinals: QF 1 Winner vs. QF 2 Winner, 6 p.m.
March 1 Semifinals: QF 3 Winner vs. QF 4 Winner, 9 p.m.
March 3 Third-Place Game SF 1 Loser vs. SF 2 Loser, 4 p.m.
March 3 Final: SF 1 Winner vs. SF 2 Winner, 7 p.m.

Source: http://www.socceramerica.com/article/50493/usa-canada-tuesday-on-fox-soccer.html

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Gillmor Gang: Gangnam Style

The Gillmor Gang ? John Taschek, Robert Scoble, John Borthwick, and Steve Gillmor ? went bicoastal with @stevegillmor at @borthwick's Betaworks Studios in New York City. @scobleizer and @jtaschek held down the West Coast as it threatened to float away in Googlemania. With a touch Chromebook and a Google Glasses video surfacing, at least half the Gang is predicting Apple is in trouble. Certainly the Googlers get network while a Tim Cooked Apple gets supply chain, but who's to say (Scoble) that the fun ride is over for ownership of innovation. I think not, fascinated as I am with the amazing platform being nurtured around the iPad Mini and what it augurs for Apple's move to the streaming cloud.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/JzmLd7rWbig/

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Inaugural 3D Creative Summit Will Take Off in London

February 23rd, 2013 ? No Comments ? Newsflash

The inaugural 3D Creative Summit will be held at the British Film Institute Southbank in London on March 27-28.

The event is open to industry professionals, as well as to the public. It is being produced by the International 3D Society and Ravensbourne digital design college.

Attendees may expect to hear executives from companies such as Dreamworks, FOX, and SKY speak about last year?s strides in 3D cinema and TV.

Creator of hit SKY series, Galapagos: 3D, Sir David Attenborough will also speak. Attendees will have a chance to learn about shooting 3D film at an event called ?The Rig Zone.? Two day tickets for non-members are going for 99 British pounds.

Source: ScreenDaily.com

Tags: 3d creative summit?International 3D Society?ravensbourne?sir david attenborough

Source: http://hdguru3d.com/inaugural-3d-creative-summit-will-take-off-in-london/

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Pluto moon vote helps the case for Vulcan

M. Showalter / NASA / ESA

An image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, surrounded by four smaller moons. P4 and P5 will be getting new names. One of them might be called Vulcan.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The organizer of a contest to name Pluto's two tiniest moons can't guarantee that either one of them will be called "Vulcan" ??but if the name nominated by the original captain on the "Star Trek" TV show retains its lead in the voting, planetary scientist Mark Showalter promises to argue the best case he can.

"My starting position is that we should work with the names that received the most votes," Showalter told NBC News on Friday.

The "Pluto Rocks" voting is due to conclude at noon ET Monday, to be followed by a 1 p.m. Google+ Hangout sponsored by the SETI Institute, the place where Showalter works. Right now, Vulcan holds a commanding lead with about 140,000 of the 370,000 votes cast. But even if Vulcan holds onto that edge, don't expect Showalter to declare immediately that Vulcan is the choice.

"There will not be an announcement on Monday," he said.

---

For one thing, it's not totally up to Showalter to make the nomination. He's just one of the leading scientists on the discovery teams for P4 and P5, the two moons that were found in 2011 and 2012. All the members from each of the teams will have to agree on the names to be submitted to the International Astronomical Union for approval. Even then, the IAU could voice concerns about the names they submit, leading to alternate suggestions. Showalter said he's actually seen that happen in the case of the Uranian moon that ended up being called Cupid.

Kirk ... takes ... command
Vulcan wasn't on Showalter's initial list of prospects, but he added it to the ballot at the urging of William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original "Star Trek" series in the late 1960s. Shatner favored the name because it was the fictional home planet of Kirk's pointy-eared science officer, Mr. Spock. "Let's hope the IAU thinks Vulcan is a good name," Shatner wrote in a tweet to his 1.35 million Twitter followers.

Showalter said Shatner's endorsement definitely skewed the results. "Early on, it's pretty clear there were some Trek fans who seem to have resorted to augmented voting technologies," Showalter said. But he's convinced that the groundswell of support for Vulcan is genuine, and he said he's "come up with a pretty good case" for using the name.

"I want people to feel that their vote counted," Showalter said.

The IAU's guidelines for Pluto's moons stipulate that they should be named after Greek or Roman gods who have some connection to the mythological underworld. Those guidelines worked for Pluto's three other moons, Charon (ferryman of the dead), Nix (goddess of darkness) and Hydra (a many-headed monster).

Vulcan has a family relationship to the underworld, in that he was Pluto's nephew. And in his capacity as the god of fire, Vulcan tended to hang out in the depths beneath Mount Etna and other volcanoes, rather than on the heights of Mount Olympus. That may not be Hell, exactly, but it's certainly the underworld.

Showalter admitted that it might be tricky to have the god of fire associated with one of the coldest places in the solar system. "It may well be there's a consensus that it's a great name, but not a great name for a moon of Pluto," he said. Also, the name Vulcan has been associated with a hypothetical planet that was thought to circle the sun within Mercury's orbit. The 19th-century French astronomer who discovered Neptune, Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, spent fruitless years looking for it. Pluto's moon is in an entirely different place, but Showalter sees that as a potential plus.

"Maybe we'd be doing Le Verrier a favor by saying that when he was looking for the ninth planet inside Mercury's orbit, he was looking in the wrong direction," Showalter joked.

Some have said the name Vulcan should be reserved for a planet beyond our own solar system. In response, Showalter points out that there's no IAU procedure for giving names to extrasolar planets (beyond generic designations such as?Kepler-37b or Gliese 163c). That situation may change if planet-naming ventures such as Uwingu take hold. But in the meantime, Showalter feels that Vulcan should at least be given a fair shot at solar system fame.

Another moon to name
So it's virtually a sure thing that Showalter will try making the case for Vulcan. But what about the other Plutonian moon?

Right now, Cerberus is hanging onto the No. 2 spot in the voting, and unless Styx or some other name comes from behind in the next few days, Showalter will argue the case for Cerberus as well. That name fits perfectly with the mythological underworld theme, because Cerberus was the three-headed hound that guarded the gates of the underworld.

One drawback is that there's already an asteroid named Cerberus, and the IAU doesn't want newly named celestial bodies to be confused with previously named objects. Showalter said there are at least two ways around that issue: One is to argue that the asteroid and the moon wouldn't be confused. The precedent for this is Io, a mythological name that refers to a Jovian moon as well as an asteroid. Another way out is to change the spelling slightly ? say, to the Greek name Kerberos. One precedent for this is the Plutonian moon Nix, which uses an alternate spelling to avoid confusion with the asteroid Nyx. (By the way, there's already an asteroid named Vulcano, but that name is considered different enough from Vulcan,)

Opening the moon-naming process up to a vote has been a lot of work, even if it's a non-binding vote, and Showalter said he doubts that he'll do it again. But he's gratified by the response: The contest?attracted hundreds of thousands of votes from scores of countries around the world, generated more than 30,000 write-in suggestions for names, and gave Pluto fans and "Star Trek" fans lots to think about.

What would Spock think about all this? Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played the alien on the original "Star Trek" show, said via Twitter that "'Vulcan' is the logical choice."?I can imagine Spock saying that, but I can also imagine him uttering just one word. ...

Spock said, "Fascinating," a lot! Here are the times he said it. Enjoy!

More about Pluto and its moons:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17060016-star-trek-boost-helps-pluto-moons-discoverer-make-his-case-for-vulcan?lite

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