loos anonymity: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Authors Guild head blasts Amazon buy of Goodreads

NEW YORK (AP) ? Authors Guild president and best-selling novelist Scott Turow is condemning Amazon.com's purchase of Goodreads, a leading book recommendation website.

In a statement posted Friday on the Guild home page, Turow called the acquisition a "textbook example" of how a monopoly is built. Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. announced Thursday that it had bought Goodreads, a favorite Internet stop for readers to review and discuss books. Founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco, Goodreads has 16 million subscribers.

Goodreads co-founder Otis Chandler is defending the sale, which has set off a debate about Amazon's market power. In a blog posting Thursday on Goodreads, Chandler said that Goodreads would continue to operate independently and that Amazon's resources would help his company reach more readers.

___

Online:

www.authorsguild.org

www.goodreads.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/authors-guild-head-blasts-amazon-buy-goodreads-214458275.html

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Where Have All The Physical QWERTYs Gone?

It?s approaching three years since I emailed and got a reply from the late Steve Jobs. The topic of my caffeine-fueled missive that sunny day in June 2010 was the industry?s move towards touch-based interfaces and, specifically, Apple?s one-size-fits-all approach regarding the iPhone?s lack of a physical QWERTY keyboard.

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

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Rare Chinese Porpoises Dive Toward Extinction

Giant pandas have become China's poster child for endangered species, but now another iconic animal in the country can claim to be even rarer than the bears.

There are just 1,000 individual Yangtze finless porpoises left in the wild, according to a new report. That's less than half of what a similar survey of the porpoises found six years ago.

The rapidly dwindling numbers have conservationists worried that the species could vanish from the wild as early as 2025.

"The species is moving fast toward its extinction," said Wang Ding, head of the expedition to count the porpoises and a professor at the Institute of Hydrobiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Yangtze finless porpoises, the only freshwater finless porpoise in the world, live mainly in the Yangtze River and China's Dongting and Poyang lakes. They are threatened by shrinking food resources and man-made disturbances like shipping traffic.

The expedition, which took place over 44 days last fall, comes after a similar trek along the Yangtze in 2007 failed to find any surviving Baiji dolphins, a close relative of the finless porpoise that was subsequently declared functionally extinct.

The new report showed that some finless porpoises are splintering off into relatively isolated groups, which could hurt their ability to reproduce. The scientists also noted that more of the animals seemed to be flocking to wharf and port areas, perhaps to look for food.??

"They may risk their lives for rich fish bait resources there," Wang said in a statement from the World Wildlife Fund, a conservation group involved in the report. "But busy shipping traffic close to the port areas poses a threat to the survival of finless porpoise."

Other finless porpoises seemed to be avoiding human disturbances and were spotted gathering in dense groups in waters not open to ship traffic. But that strategy could backfire ? in these waters, the animals risk getting caught in illegal fishing traps.

As part of their conservation recommendations, the report authors urge for a year-round fishing ban in all river dolphin reserves, and for new reserves to be established in Poyang Lake and along the Yangtze.

The report, called the 2012 Yangtze Freshwater Dolphin Survey Report, was released Thursday (March 28).

Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rare-chinese-porpoises-dive-toward-extinction-131539710.html

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Big depositors in Cyprus to lose far more than feared

By Michele Kambas

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Big depositors in Cyprus's largest bank stand to lose far more than initially feared under a European Union rescue package to save the island from bankruptcy, a source with direct knowledge of the terms said on Friday.

Under conditions expected to be announced on Saturday, depositors in Bank of Cyprus will get shares in the bank worth 37.5 percent of their deposits over 100,000 euros, the source told Reuters, while the rest of their deposits may never be paid back.

The toughening of the terms will send a clear signal that the bailout means the end of Cyprus as a hub for offshore finance and could accelerate economic decline on the island and bring steeper job losses.

Officials had previously spoken of a loss to big depositors of 30 to 40 percent.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Friday defended the 10-billion euro ($13 billion) bailout deal agreed with the EU five days ago, saying it had contained the risk of national bankruptcy.

"We have no intention of leaving the euro," the conservative leader told a conference of civil servants in the capital, Nicosia.

"In no way will we experiment with the future of our country," he said.

Cypriots, however, are angry at the price attached to the rescue - the winding down of the island's second-largest bank, Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki, and an unprecedented raid on deposits over 100,000 euros.

Under the terms of the deal, the assets of Laiki bank will be transferred to Bank of Cyprus.

At Bank of Cyprus, about 22.5 percent of deposits over 100,000 euros will attract no interest, the source said. The remaining 40 percent will continue to attract interest, but will not be repaid unless the bank does well.

Those with deposits under 100,000 euros will continue to be protected under the state's deposit guarantee.

Cyprus's difficulties have sent jitters around the fragile single European currency zone, and led to the imposition of capital controls in Cyprus to prevent a run on banks by worried Cypriots and wealthy foreign depositors.

"CYPRUS EURO"

Banks reopened on Thursday after an almost two-week shutdown as Cyprus negotiated the rescue package. In the end, the reopening was largely quiet, with Cypriots queuing calmly for the 300 euros they were permitted to withdraw daily.

The imposition of capital controls has led economists to warn that a second-class "Cyprus euro" could emerge, with funds trapped on the island less valuable than euros that can be freely spent abroad.

Anastasiades said the restrictions on transactions - unprecedented in the currency bloc since euro coins and banknotes entered circulation in 2002 - would be gradually lifted. He gave no time frame but the central bank said the measures would be reviewed daily.

He hit out at banking authorities in Cyprus and Europe for pouring money into the crippled Laiki.

"How serious were those authorities that permitted the financing of a bankrupt bank to the highest possible amount?" Anastasiades said.

The president, barely a month in the job and wrestling with Cyprus's worst crisis since a 1974 war split the island in two, accused the 17-nation euro currency bloc of making "unprecedented demands that forced Cyprus to become an experiment".

European leaders have insisted the raid on big bank deposits in Cyprus is a one-off in their handling of a debt crisis that refuses to be contained.

MODEL

But policymakers are divided, and the waters were muddied a day after the deal was inked when the Dutch chair of the euro zone's finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said it could serve as a model for future crises.

Faced with a market backlash, Dijsselbloem rowed back. But on Friday, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot, a fellow Dutchman, said there was "little wrong" with his assessment.

"The content of his remarks comes down to an approach which has been on the table for a longer time in Europe," Knot was quoted as saying by Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad. "This approach will be part of the European liquidation policy."

The Cyprus rescue differs from those in other euro zone countries because bank depositors have had to take losses, although an initial plan to hit small deposits as well as big ones was abandoned and accounts under 100,000 euros were spared.

Warnings of a stampede at Cypriot banks when they reopened on Thursday proved unfounded.

For almost two weeks, Cypriots were on a ration of limited withdrawals from bank cash machines. Even with banks now open, they face a regime of strict restrictions designed to halt a flight of capital from the island.

Some economists say those restrictions will be difficult to lift. Anastasiades said the capital controls would be "gradually eased until we can return to normal".

The government initially said the controls would stay in place for seven days, but Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said on Thursday they could last "about a month".

On Friday, easing a ban on cheque payments, Cypriot authorities said cheques could be used to make payments to government agencies up to a limit of 5,000 euros. Anything more than 5,000 euros would require Central Bank approval.

The bank also issued a directive limiting the cash that can be taken to areas of the island beyond the "control of the Cypriot authorities" - a reference to Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus which considers itself an independent state. Cyprus residents can take 300 euros; non-residents can take 500.

Under the terms of the capital controls, Cypriots and foreigners are allowed to take up to 1,000 euros in cash when they leave the island.

(Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac and Gilbert Kreijger in Amsterdam; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-no-intention-leaving-euro-president-095234615--business.html

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Obama pitches public works spending to create jobs

President Barack Obama speaks at a port in Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, promoting a plan to create construction and other jobs by attracting private investment in roads and other public works projects. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

President Barack Obama removes his jacket before touring a tunnel project at the Port of Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, while promoting a plan to create jobs by attracting private investment in highways and other public works. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama tours a tunnel project at the Port of Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, while promoting a plan to create jobs by attracting private investment in highways and other public works. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

MIAMI (AP) ? Trying to show that the economy remains a top priority, President Barack Obama promoted a plan Friday to create construction and other jobs by attracting private money to help rebuild roads, bridges and other public works projects.

Obama fleshed out the details during a visit to a Miami port that's undergoing $2 billion in upgrades paid for with government and private dollars. The quick trip was designed to show that the economy and unemployment are top priorities for a president who also is waging high-profile campaigns on immigration reform and gun control.

Obama said the unemployment rate among construction workers was the highest of any industry, despite being cut nearly in half over the past three years.

"There are few more important things we can do to create jobs right now and strengthen our economy over the long haul than rebuilding the infrastructure that powers our businesses and economy," Obama said. "As president, my top priority is to make sure we are doing everything we can to reignite the true engine of our economic growth ? and that is a rising, thriving middle class."

Among the proposals Obama called for, which require approval from Congress, are:

?$4 billion in new spending on two infrastructure programs that award loans and grants.

?Higher caps on "private activity bonds" to encourage more private spending on highways and other infrastructure projects. State and local governments use the bonds to attract investment.

?Giving foreign pension funds tax-exempt status when selling U.S. infrastructure, property or real estate assets. U.S. pension funds are generally tax exempt in those circumstances. The administration says some international pension funds cite the tax burden as a reason for not investing in American infrastructure.

?A renewed call for a $10 billion national "infrastructure bank."

Arriving at the expansive port in Miami, Obama stood inside a double-barreled, concrete-laced hole in the ground, touring a tunnel project that will connect the port to area highways. The project has received loans and grants under the programs Obama touted and is expected to open next summer.

The president made private-sector infrastructure investment a key part of the economic agenda he rolled out in his State of the Union address last month. In the speech, he also called for a "Fix-It-First" program that would spend $40 billion in taxpayer funds on urgent repairs.

Congressional approval is not a sure bet, considering that House Republicans have shown little appetite for Obama's spending proposals. In fact, the infrastructure bank is an idea Obama called for many times in the past, but it gained little traction during his first term.

Obama's focus on generating more private-sector investment underscores the tough road new spending faces on Capitol Hill, where Republican lawmakers often threaten to block new spending unless it's paid for by cutting taxes or other spending. "These are projects that are helpful to the economy and shouldn't break down on partisan lines," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

But Florida Republicans, including Gov. Rick Scott, faulted Obama for being "late to the party." Before Obama arrived in Florida, Scott argued that state taxpayers have had to pick up too much of the tab for this and other port projects because the president was slow to support them.

Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters traveling with Obama that the initiatives discussed Friday will cost $21 billion, not including the $40 billion for "Fix-It-First." Krueger said any increased spending associated with the proposals would not add to the deficit.

Krueger said details of how the programs would be paid for would be included in the budget Obama is scheduled to release on April 10.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-29-Obama/id-2293a13f06f14aa1b27b34591cc46a6c

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Risk of autism is not increased by 'too many vaccines too soon,' study shows

Mar. 29, 2013 ? Although scientific evidence suggests that vaccines do not cause autism, approximately one-third of parents continue to express concern that they do; nearly 1 in 10 parents refuse or delay vaccinations because they believe it is safer than following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) schedule. A primary concern is the number of vaccines administered, both on a single day and cumulatively over the first 2 years of life. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers concluded that there is no association between receiving "too many vaccines too soon" and autism.

Dr. Frank DeStefano and colleagues from the CDC and Abt Associates, Inc. analyzed data from 256 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 752 children without ASD (born from 1994-1999) from 3 managed care organizations. They looked at each child's cumulative exposure to antigens, the substances in vaccines that cause the body's immune system to produce antibodies to fight disease, and the maximum number of antigens each child received in a single day of vaccination.

The researchers determined the total antigen numbers by adding the number of different antigens in all vaccines each child received in one day, as well as all vaccines each child received up to 2 years of age. The authors found that the total antigens from vaccines received by age 2 years, or the maximum number received on a single day, was the same between children with and without ASD. Furthermore, when comparing antigen numbers, no relationship was found when they evaluated the sub-categories of autistic disorder and ASD with regression.

Although the current routine childhood vaccine schedule contains more vaccines than the schedule in the late 1990s, the maximum number of antigens that a child could be exposed to by 2 years of age in 2013 is 315, compared with several thousand in the late 1990s. Because different types of vaccines contain varying amounts of antigens, this research acknowledged that merely counting the number of vaccines received does not adequately account for how different vaccines and vaccine combinations stimulate the immune system. For example, the older whole cell pertussis vaccine causes the production of about 3000 different antibodies, whereas the newer acellular pertussis vaccine causes the production of 6 or fewer different antibodies.

An infant's immune system is capable of responding to a large amount of immunologic stimuli and, from time of birth, infants are exposed to hundreds of viruses and countless antigens outside of vaccination. According to the authors, "The possibility that immunological stimulation from vaccines during the first 1 or 2 years of life could be related to the development of ASD is not well-supported by what is known about the neurobiology of ASDs." In 2004, a comprehensive review by the Institute of Medicine concluded that there is not a causal relationship between certain vaccine types and autism, and this study supports that conclusion.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier, via AlphaGalileo.

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

Journal Reference:

Frank DeStefano, Cristofer S. Price, and Eric S. Weintraub. Increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines is not associated with risk of autism. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2013 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.02.001

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/WLfmupyDKeg/130329090310.htm

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North Korea: What happens if Kim Jong-un acts on his threats?

In the event that the 'bellicose rhetoric' of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un turns into something more serious, the opening hours of conflict could be 'pretty ugly,' defense analysts warn.

By Anna Mulrine,?Staff writer / March 29, 2013

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks during a meeting of information workers of the whole army at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang, March 28, 2013.

KCNA/REUTERS

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Veteran North Korea watchers, citing what they see as increasingly troubling signs coming from the dictatorial regime, are voicing concerns that its new young leader, Kim Jong-un, could do something ill-advised, even start a war.

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On Friday North Korea renewed what the U.S. has condemned as its ?bellicose rhetoric,? saying Kim had ordered the nation?s missile forces to prepare to strike the United States and South Korea.

In response to the prospect of North Korea following through on this and other marginally less dire threats, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday that the US military ?will unequivocally defend, and [is] unequivocally committed to the alliance with, South Korea.?

But if hostilities were in fact to erupt, how might they play out?

Some former US Special Operations Forces and longtime Korea defense analysts have their own thoughts on what an ?unequivocal? US military response could look like, including how US troops would be deployed in the event of a lethal first strike on US and allied military forces by North Korea ? precisely the sort of move Mr. Kim has been threatening to make.

What would such a first North Korean move resemble? It might involve small-scale infiltrations using mini-submarines, assassination attempts, ?maybe shooting someone on the DMZ [demilitarized zone] or missile tests that fly too close over Japan,? says Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

This might be done ?to show he?s in charge, he won?t be intimidated, or because he?s truly desperate,? Dr. Cronin says.

In the past, most such provocations generally have been met with international condemnation and strengthened sanctions.

Should Kim choose to do ?something even more outlandish,? the US military and South Korean response would be more dire, he adds.

One of the scenarios that most concerns US defense analysts, for example, involves North Korea?s estimated 500,000 to 700,000 rounds of artillery aimed at Seoul, says retired Brig. Gen. Russell Howard, former commander of the 1st Special Forces Group, which has an Asia focus.?

Should Kim decide to begin firing them, he says, ?in the first few hours of the conflict, it would be pretty ugly.?

At the same time, North Korea could begin ?swarming? its sizable contingent of 600,000 Special Operations commandos, adds Mr. Howard, now the director of the Terrorism, Research, and Education Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/D76sqSBE_6o/North-Korea-What-happens-if-Kim-Jong-un-acts-on-his-threats

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Vizio brings pricing and release information to spring line of laptops and desktops

For those opting to "replace" instead of "clean" this spring, Vizio's got a bit of news for you -- the outfit's latest line of touch-friendly laptops and desktops now have firm pricing details to pore over. Starting with the portables, the 14-inch Touch Thin + Light (CT14T-B0) will ship soon with an AMD A10 APU and a base price of $1,089.99; the Core i7-equipped CT14T-B1, however, will start at $1,419.99. For those needing a bit more screen to stare at, the 15.6-inch versions of these guys will go for $1,189.99 (AMD A10) / $1,469.99 (Intel Core i7). Sliding over to desktops, the 24-inch Touch All-in-One (CA24T-B0) will ship momentarily for $1,279.99 with an AMD A10 APU, while the Core i7-infused CA24T-B1 will start at $1,439.99 and the 27-inch CA27T-B1 will get going at $1,549.99. As you'd expect, Windows 8 will find itself on home across the entire range, and those looking to buy in immediately can do so at the source links below.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets

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Source: Vizio, Microsoft Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/29/vizio-spring-laptop-desktop-pricing-ship-date/

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Asian giants tiptoe toward free trade deal

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? China, Japan and South Korea are inching ahead with talks for a free trade zone that would rival the European Union and North America in economic heft. Despite the achievement of setting aside their often acrimonious relations to begin negotiations, progress will be slow. An agreement to start talks took 10 years.

After three days of meetings in Seoul that finished Thursday, South Korea said officials agreed to hold two more rounds of negotiations this year, with the second meeting to be held in China either in June or July. Negotiations will cover goods, services and investment and might be extended to intellectual property rights and electronic commerce.

Striking an optimistic tone on the first day of talks, Japan's negotiator Koji Tsuruoka said the "integration of three economies which are very significant economies in this area as well as globally will provide very fruitful results to industries ... and to people."

Trade between the three Asian powers totaled $684 billion in 2011, an increase of more than five times from 1999, underlining Asia's growing weight in the world economy after more than two decades of breakneck growth in China and the earlier rise of Japan and South Korea as manufacturing powerhouses.

Those booming commercial ties are one of the few bright spots for relations among the three. The legacy of Japan's colonial occupation of South Korea until 1945 and its World War II-era atrocities in China has provided fertile ground for animosity.

Beijing and Tokyo's dispute over the sovereignty of East China Sea islands led last year to anti-Japanese riots in China and a damaging consumer boycott of Japanese autos and other goods. China and South Korea's relations have been strained over Beijing's continuing support for North Korea even as the North engages in threatening behavior and rhetoric.

Against that background, progress toward a free trade zone that would be the world's third largest could easily be interrupted by any flare-up in political tensions. A separate Japan-South Korea trade deal has languished since talks were halted in 2004 as they could not narrow disagreements over opening agricultural trade. Negotiating a three-way deal among countries at different stages of development, and each with industries lobbying for protection from competition is by itself a complicated affair.

"Usually, it takes around one to three years at the least to conclude FTA talks with a large trading partner, but I think the ongoing talks may take some more time, considering the importance and size of the involved countries and the fact that they are three-way negotiations," Choi Kyong-lim, South Korea's chief negotiator, told reporters according to Yonhap.

The talks between China, Japan and South Korea come amid a slew of moves to lower trade barriers as nations seek to reinvigorate economic growth that is still lagging in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis.

South Korea, which already has free trade pacts with the European Union and its U.S. military ally, is separately negotiating a trade deal with China. As part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies to lift the Japanese economy out of two decades of stagnation, Japan has started negotiations with the EU and is seeking to join talks for a Pacific trade pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership that is being led by the U.S.

"For 10 years we discussed a China-Japan-Korea FTA and nothing happened. China and Korea have very high tariffs. But as soon as Mr. Abe said Japan will join TPP, then China and Korea were keen to restart talks," said Motoshige Itoh, a government adviser and professor at Tokyo University.

Some experts see China's possible deal with Japan and South Korea as its attempt to counter the U.S. which is turning its foreign and economic policy focus to Asia. They urge South Korea to also join the U.S.-led Pacific trade deal to balance already heavy reliance on trade with China.

"China's intention is to first form a Northeast Asian economic cooperation that excludes the U.S. while Japan can't sit still as South Korea advances to the Chinese market with Korea-China free trade talks," said Heo Yoon, a professor at Sogang University Graduate School of International Studies.

Despite concerns about greater competition in some industries, the South Korean government said a free trade bloc with China and Japan would sharply lower non-tariff barriers and boost its exports to both countries.

The government-funded Korea Institute for International Economic Policy estimates as much as a 0.44 percentage point addition to South Korea's annual growth rate during the five years after the deal took effect.

The auto industry will be a particularly sensitive issue for South Korea where automakers and unions are likely to lobby vociferously against greater Japanese penetration of a market that domestic producers such as Hyundai Motor Co. dominate with 90 percent of sales.

South Korean cars are not popular in Japan while Korean consumers have lately been snapping Japanese vehicles such as Nissan's Cube. South Korea shipped just $33 million worth of vehicles to Japan in 2012 while importing $523 million Japanese cars, according to Korea International Trade Association.

"We are concerned about the free trade deal with Japan," said Kim Tae-nyen, an executive director at Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. "We don't expect much gain from a deal with China" as Korean automakers already sell locally produced vehicles in China.

Agriculture is also expected to be a sticking point in negotiations as both South Korea and Japan must contend with powerful farmer lobbies worried that cheap Chinese agricultural products will flood domestic markets.

China, meanwhile, is likely to seek lower tariffs on its agricultural products and labor-intensive manufactured goods. But trade experts said Beijing will be reluctant to open its service industries or to allow a freer inflow of foreign capital ? areas in which South Korea wants to remove barriers.

___

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo contributed to this story.

___

Follow Youkyung Lee on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-giants-tiptoe-toward-free-trade-deal-090602455--finance.html

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'Waste heat' may economize CO2 capture

Mar. 28, 2013 ? In some of the first results from a federally funded initiative to find new ways of capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from coal-fired power plants, Rice University scientists have found that CO₂ can be removed more economically using "waste" heat -- low-grade steam that cannot be used to produce electricity. The find is significant because capturing CO₂ with conventional technology is an energy-intensive process that can consume as much as one-quarter of the high-pressure steam that plants use to produce electricity.

"This is just the first step in our effort to better engineer a process for capturing CO₂ from flue gas at power plants," said George Hirasaki, the lead researcher of Rice's CO₂-capture research team. The researchers hope to reduce the costs of CO₂ capture by creating an integrated reaction column that uses waste heat, engineered materials and optimized components. Hirasaki's team was one of 16 chosen by the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2011 to develop innovative techniques for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

The team's first findings appear in two new studies that are available online this month in the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control.

Power plants fired by coal and natural gas account for about half of the CO₂ that humans add to the atmosphere each year; these power plants are prime candidates for new technology that captures CO₂ before it goes up in smoke. Each of these plants makes electricity by boiling water to create steam to run electric turbines. But not all steam is equal. Some steam has insufficient energy to run a turbine. This is often referred to as "waste" heat, although the term is something of misnomer because low-grade steam is often put to various uses around a plant. Rice's new study found that in cases where waste is available, it may be used to capture CO₂.

Hirasaki, Rice's A.J. Hartsook Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, said employing waste heat is just one example of a number of ways that Rice's team is looking to improve upon a tried-and-true technology for CO₂ capture. That technology -- a two-phase chemical process -- has been used for decades to remove naturally occurring CO₂ from natural gas.

In the first phase of the process, gas is piped upward through a vertical column while an ammonia-like liquid called amine flows down through the column. The liquid amine captures CO₂ and drains away while the purified natural gas bubbles out the top of the column. In the second phase of the process, the CO₂-laden amine is recycled with heat, which drives off the CO₂.

"The CO₂ that comes out of the ground with natural gas is under high pressure, while the CO₂ at power plants is not," Hirasaki said. "There's also a greater volume of CO₂ per unit mass at a power plant than at a natural gas well. For these reasons and others, the amine process must be re-engineered if it is to be cost-effective for CO₂ capture at power plants."

A major challenge in adapting two-phase amine processing for power plants is the amount of heat required to recycle the amine in the second phase of the process. Using existing amine processing technology at power plants is impractical, because amine recycling would require as much as one-quarter of the high-pressure steam that could otherwise be used to drive turbines and make electricity, Hirasaki said. This phenomenon is known as "parasitic" power loss, and it will drive up the cost of electricity by lowering the amount of electricity a plant can produce for sale.

"It has been estimated that the use of current technology for CO₂ capture would drive up the cost of electricity by 70 to 100 percent," said Rice graduate student Sumedh Warudkar, a co-investigator on the Rice University team. "In our study, we examined whether it would be possible to improve on that by using lower-value steam to run the amine recyclers."

To test this idea, Warudkar used a software package that's commonly used to model industrial chemical processes. One variable he tested was tailoring the chemical formulation of the liquid amine solution. Other variables included the type of steam used, and the size and pressure of the reactor -- the chamber where the flue gas flows past the amine solution.

"There's a great deal of optimization that needs to take place," Warudkar said. "The question is, What is the optimal amine formula and the optimal reactor design and pressure for removing CO₂ with low-value steam? There isn't one correct answer. For example, we have developed a process in which the gas absorption and solvent heating occurs in a single vessel instead of two separate ones, as is currently practiced. We think combining the processes might bring us some savings. But there are always trade-offs. The Department of Energy wants us to investigate how our process compares with what's already on the market, and these first two studies are the first step because they will help us identify an optimal set of operating conditions for our process."

The results are encouraging. The research suggests that two elements of Rice's design -- optimized amine formulation and the use of waste heat -- can reduce parasitic power loss from about 35 percent to around 25 percent.

Additional research is under way to develop and test novel materials and a single integrated column that the team hopes can further economize CO₂ capture by increasing efficiency and reducing parasitic power loss.

Study co-authors include Michael Wong, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of chemistry, and Ken Cox, professor in the practice of chemical and biomolecular engineering. The research is supported by the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rice University. The original article was written by Jade Boyd.

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

Journal References:

Sumedh S. Warudkar, Kenneth R. Cox, Michael S. Wong, George J. Hirasaki. Influence of stripper operating parameters on the performance of amine absorption systems for post-combustion carbon capture: Part I. High pressure strippers. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.01.050
Sumedh S. Warudkar, Kenneth R. Cox, Michael S. Wong, George J. Hirasaki. Influence of stripper operating parameters on the performance of amine absorption systems for post-combustion carbon capture: Part II. Vacuum strippers. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.01.049

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/~3/6tZEhtWnOxQ/130329090631.htm

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Approaching Menopause in a Healthy and Natural Manner | Jackie's ...

Related eBooks

As a woman ages beyond her reproductive phase in life; she enters into a phase of life in which there is a decrease in hormonal production; which marks the onset of menopause. This hormonal decrease affects many different body functions for which the hormone functions in the body for. It is therefore important to understand how to control the effects of these effects of menopause to ensure that aging in the woman is seamless into her golden years.

Source:Approaching Menopause in a Healthy and Natural Manner

Bet You Can't Tell The Difference Between These Actual Anti ...

1. ANTI-INTERRACIAL State v. Jackson. Missouri (1883): "They cannot possibly have any progeny, and such a fact sufficiently justifies those laws which forbid the intermarriage of blacks and whites."

2. ANTI-INTERRACIAL Scott v. Georgia (1869): "The amalgamation of the races is not only unnatural, but is always productive of deplorable results. Our daily observation shows us, that the offspring of these unnatural connections are generally sickly and effeminate [...]They are productive of evil, and evil only, without any corresponding good."

3. ANTI-INTERRACIAL Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924: The law's stated purpose was to prevent "abominable mixture and spurious issue." It "forbade miscegenation on the grounds that racial mixing was scientifically unsound and would 'pollute' America with mixed-blood offspring."

4. ANTI-GAY Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), 2011: ?It not only is a complete undermining of the principles of family and marriage and the hope of future generations, but it completely begins to see our society break down to the extent that that foundational unit of the family that is the hope of survival of this country is diminished to the extent that it literally is a threat to the nation?s survival in the long run.?

5. ANTI-INTERRACIAL Senator James R. Doolittle (D-WI), 1863: "By the laws of Massachusetts intermarriages between these races are forbidden as criminal. Why forbidden? Simply because natural instinct revolts at it as wrong."

6. ANTI-INTERRACIAL Scott v. Sandford (1857), Chief Justice Taney: "Intermarriages between white persons and negroes or mulattoes were regarded as unnatural and immoral."

7. ANTI-INTERRACIAL Lonas v. State (1871): Attorneys argued that intermarriage was "distasteful to our people, and unfit to produce the human race in any of the types in which it was created." Tennessee's court agreed, saying that "any effort to intermerge the individuality of the races as a calamity full of the saddest and gloomiest portent to the generations that are to come after us."

8. ANTI-INTERRACIAL Bob Jones University, (1998!!!): "Although there is no verse in the Bible that dogmatically says that races should not intermarry, the whole plan of God as He has dealt with the races down through the ages indicates that interracial marriage is not best for man."

9. ANTI-GAY Family Research Council publication, 2002: "A little-reported fact is that homosexual and lesbian relationships are far more violent than are traditional married households."

10. ANTI-INTERRACIAL From a submitted briefing to the Court on Loving v. Virginia: "I believe that the tendency to classify all persons who oppose [this type of relationship] as 'prejudiced' is in itself a prejudice," a psychologist said. "Nothing of any significance is gained by such a marriage."

Don't deny it. For every single one of these quotes you could easily switch out intermarriage for same-sex marriage, and vice versa. Just as how most people no longer regard interracial marriage as unseemly and revolting, most will eventually cease viewing homosexual relationships in such a negative light. The times are a-changin', and the likes of the Family Research Council, National Organization for Marriage, American Family Association, and Fox's Todd Starnes' views on homosexual relationships will meet up with anti-miscegenation beliefs on the dust-bin of history.

Special thanks are due to the Boston Law Review's paper "American Wedding: Same-Sex Marriage and the Miscegenation Analogy" for assistance with quotes. Also, much respect to Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, who had a similar idea way back in 1996 and provided several of the quotes above.

Source: http://www.mediaite.com/online/bet-you-cant-tell-the-difference-between-these-actual-anti-interracial-and-anti-gay-marriage-quotes/

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Biologists Home in on Tiger Stripes and Turing Patterns [Slide Show]

From Simons Science News (find original story here).

In 1952, Alan Turing, a British mathematician best known for his work on code-breaking and artificial intelligence, was convicted of engaging in homosexual acts and sentenced to chemical castration. Amid that personal drama, he still found the time to publish a visionary paper on the mathematics of regularly repeating patterns in nature, which could be applied to the stripes on tigers and zebra fish, the spots on leopards and the spacing in rows of alligator teeth, to name a few.

Now, more than 60 years later, biologists are uncovering evidence of the patterning mechanisms that Turing proposed in his paper, prompting a resurgence of interest in them, with the potential to shed light on such developmental questions as how genes ultimately make a hand. ?That structure is there,? said Jeremy Green, a developmental biologist at King?s College London. ?We just need to put the chemistry onto the mathematics to get the biology.?

>> View the Tiger Stripes and Turing Patterns slide show

For the work that led to his 1952 paper, Turing wanted to understand the underlying mechanism that produces natural patterns. He proposed that patterns such as spots form as a result of the interactions between two chemicals that spread throughout a system much like gas atoms in a box do, with one crucial difference. Instead of diffusing evenly like a gas, the chemicals, which Turing called ?morphogens,? diffuse at different rates. One serves as an activator to express a unique characteristic, like a tiger?s stripe, and the other acts as an inhibitor, kicking in periodically to shut down the activator?s expression.

To explain Turing?s idea, James Murray, emeritus professor of mathematical biology at the University of Oxford and an applied mathematician at Princeton, imagined a field of dry grass dotted with grasshoppers. If the grass were set on fire at several random points and no moisture were present to inhibit the flames, Murray said, the fires would char the entire field. If this scenario played out like a Turing mechanism, however, the heat from the encroaching flames would cause some of the fleeing grasshoppers to sweat, dampening the grass around them and thereby creating periodic unburned spots in the otherwise burned field.

The notion was intriguing but speculative. Turing died two years after the publishing of his paper, which languished in relative obscurity for decades. ?He didn?t actually apply it to any real biological problem,? Murray said. ?It was mainly a boon for mathematicians looking for analytical problems.?

Although there was an explosion of theoretical work and computer modeling in the 1970s that successfully reproduced patterns like spots and stripes using Turing mechanisms, molecular biology was nowhere near the point where researchers could identify the specific molecules acting as activators and inhibitors.

The latest research suggests that Turing-type mechanisms may be responsible for the spacing between hair follicles in mice and feather buds on a bird?s skin, the ridges that form on a mouse?s palate and the digits on a mouse?s paw.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0128b968aa71170cce067fdbe7454168

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China's first lady serenaded Tiananmen troops

BEIJING (AP) ? A photo of China's new first lady Peng Liyuan in younger days, singing to martial-law troops following the 1989 bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, flickered across Chinese cyberspace this week.

It was swiftly scrubbed from China's Internet before it could generate discussion online. But the image ? seen and shared by outside observers ? revived a memory the leadership prefers to suppress and shows one of the challenges in presenting Peng on the world stage as the softer side of China.

The country has no recent precedent for the role of first lady, and also faces a tricky balance at home. The leadership wants Peng to show the human side of the new No. 1 leader, Xi Jinping, while not exposing too many perks of the elite. And it must balance popular support for the first couple with an acute wariness of personality cults that could skew the consensus rule among the Chinese Communist Party's top leaders.

The image of Peng in a green military uniform, her windswept hair tied back in a ponytail as she sings to helmeted and rifle-bearing troops seated in rows on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, contrasts with her appearances this week in trendy suits and coiffed hair while touring Russia and Africa with Xi, waving to her enthusiastic hosts.

"I think that we have a lot of people hoping that because Xi Jinping walks around without a tie on and his wife is a singer who travels with him on trips that maybe we're dealing with a new kind of leader, but I think these images remind people that this is the same party," said Kelley Currie, a China human rights expert for the pro-democracy Project 2049 Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

"It's using some new tools and new techniques, for the same purposes: to preserve its own power."

Peng, 50, a major general in the People's Liberation Army who is best known for soaring renditions of patriotic odes to the military and the party, kept a low profile in recent years as her husband prepared to take over as Communist Party chief. Her re-emergence has been accompanied by a blitz in domestic, state-run media hailing her beauty and charm, in a bid to harness the singer's popularity to build support for Xi at home and abroad.

"Peng Liyuan: Let the world appreciate the beauty of China," declared the headline of a China News Service commentary that said the first lady's elegant manners, conversation and clothing would highlight Chinese culture. Her presence on diplomatic trips would demystify the first family for the Chinese public, the commentary said.

However, the government is stepping into little-charted and possibly treacherous waters for China.

In 1963, the glamorous Wang Guangmei, wife of President Liu Shaoqi, wore a tightfitting qipao dress to a state banquet in Indonesia. When the political tides turned against Liu four years later, radical Red Guards forced Wang to don the same dress and paraded her through the streets as a shameful example of capitalist corruption.

Revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing, played a key role in the same radical campaign in which political opponents were mercilessly persecuted; after his death, she was put on trial and imprisoned, then moved to a hospital where she hanged herself.

The lifespan of Peng's Tiananmen image in the finicky world of the Chinese Internet has so far been short, and she remains a beloved household name with huge domestic popularity. The photo has circulated mainly on Twitter, which is blocked in China. The few posts on popular domestic microblogs did not evade censors for long.

Many young Chinese are unaware that on June 3 and 4, 1989, military troops crushed weekslong pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing with force, killing hundreds, possibly thousands, of people. Those who do know about the assault tend to be understanding of Peng's obligations as a member of a performance troupe in the all-powerful People's Liberation Army. At the time, her husband Xi was party chief of an eastern city.

"The photo probably has a negative impact more so internationally than domestically," said Joseph Cheng, a political scientist at City University of Hong Kong. He said more scrutiny of Peng is likely and such images could raise questions about Xi's interest in reforms.

"It has been several months now that Xi Jinping has assumed the top leadership role and certainly, we have found no indicator that he is interested in this stage to push serious political reform."

The image is a snapshot of the back cover of a 1989 issue of a publicly available military magazine, the PLA Pictorial, according to Sun Li, a Chinese reporter who said he had taken a photo of it on his cell phone several years ago when it was inadvertently posted on his microblog. Sun said he quickly deleted it and had no idea how it resurfaced on the Internet years later.

Microblog users can easily save images and recirculate them even after the original posts have been deleted. The picture spread further after it was tweeted by the U.S.-based China Digital Times, which tracks Chinese online media.

Warren Sun, a Chinese military historian at Monash University in Australia, said he had little doubt about the authenticity of the image, citing a 1992 academic report as saying that after the crackdown, Peng performed a song titled "The Most Beloved People" in a salute to martial law troops.

While most of her army career has been in singing, the militaristic overtones of many of Peng's public appearances set her apart from Michelle Obama, former French first lady Carla Bruni and most of their counterparts in other countries. But for Peng, the Tiananmen photo was no one-off: She has been in the military since age 18 and has fronted TV music videos featuring dancing lines of men with combat fatigues and heavy weaponry.

She also starred in a song-and-dance number in 2007 that has perky women in Tibetan garb sashaying behind her while she sings an ode to the army that invaded Tibet in 1959. "Who is going to liberate us? It's the dear PLA!" go some of the lyrics. The video has provoked severe criticism from Tibetan rights groups.

In an indication of Peng's appeal in China despite her past, a man whose 19-year-old son was killed in the Tiananmen crackdown said he bears no grudges against her.

"If I had known about this back then, I would have been very disgusted by it. But now, looking at it objectively, it's all in the past," said Wang Fandi, whose son Wang Nan died from a bullet wound to his head. "She was in the establishment. If the military wanted her to perform, she had to go. What else could she do?"

Wang was a teacher at the China Conservatory of Music when Peng had been sent there by the military to study singing in her 20s. Though he never taught her directly, Wang had known who she was and describes her as being modest, a talented folk singer and an outstanding student.

"When I look back at history, I will look at it from other perspectives," Wang said. "Even if she had done something wrong, we shouldn't make a fuss about it. What's important is what happens in the future."

___

Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gillianwong

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-first-lady-serenaded-tiananmen-troops-103522468.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Tim McCarver to step down from Fox after season

FILE - In this July 21, 2012, file photo, Tim McCarver greets the crowd before accepting the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting as part of the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. McCarver says he will step down from his position at Fox after this season. (AP Photo/Heather Ainsworth, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Tim McCarver will make his 55th straight season of Major League Baseball his last.

The two-time champion catcher will call the World Series this year and then retire from his analyst job at Fox.

"I wanted to step down while I know I can still do the job and proud of the job I've done," the 71-year-old McCarver said during a conference call Wednesday.

His health is good, McCarver said. So are his passion and energy for the game.

It was just time.

"It's not a tough call," he said. "It's not a sad thing for me."

McCarver had been thinking about moving on for a couple of years. This winter, Fox executives visited him at his home in Florida to discuss extending his contract, which expired after the 2013 season.

They never even started negotiations. McCarver had already made up his mind.

He has worked 28 consecutive MLB postseasons on network television dating to 1984, providing analysis for a record 23 World Series.

McCarver got his start in broadcasting in 1980 with the Philadelphia Phillies and NBC's "Game of the Week." He has also called local games for the New York Mets and Yankees and the San Francisco Giants.

McCarver later worked for ABC and CBS before joining Fox in 1996. Last year, he was honored by baseball's Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for major contributions to baseball broadcasting.

"You've always been a great symbol of class," Commissioner Bud Selig told McCarver on the conference call.

McCarver spent 21 seasons in the majors between 1959 and 1980, mostly with the Cardinals and Phillies. He was a two-time All-Star and won the World Series in 1964 and 1967 with St. Louis.

He missed the start of the 2011 AL championship series because of a minor heart-related procedure, but the test result that necessitated that medical work turned out to be a false positive.

McCarver has seen other people in various businesses stay at their jobs until their health eventually forced them out, and their quality of life was often not very good after they retired. McCarver didn't want that for himself.

A wine aficionado with a second home in California's Napa Valley, he'd love to travel to Italy for cooking classes.

"I plan on living a very long life, believe me," McCarver said. "I hope Mother Nature cooperates."

McCarver could still appear on Fox or its new cable network, Fox Sports 1, in a different role in the future. But until he tests out retirement, he can't predict whether he'll still want to do a little broadcasting.

McCarver worked with announcer Jack Buck on CBS from 1990-91 then became broadcast partners with his son, Joe Buck, at Fox in 1996.

Joe Buck said he had learned more about broadcasting from McCarver than anyone else, "even my father."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-27-BBO-McCarver-Retires/id-c5016680eb544905bff60ac34e2330ae

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Tidemark Launches Storylines, A Way To Tell A Story About A Company With Design And Infographic Style Visuals

Tidemark is launching a new service today that provides a visual way to view a company's performance. The SaaS platform provides a way to see data that in many ways borrows from the infographic style that has become so popular as a marketing tool. As part of the release, Tidemark is also announcing an integration with Box, for in-line use of the online storage and collaboration service.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Q1b05659gio/

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Uncovering Africa's oldest known penguins

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Africa isn't the kind of place you might expect to find penguins. But one species lives along Africa's southern coast today, and newly found fossils confirm that as many as four penguin species coexisted on the continent in the past. Exactly why African penguin diversity plummeted to the one species that lives there today is still a mystery, but changing sea levels may be to blame, the researchers say.

The fossil findings, described in the March 26 issue of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, represent the oldest evidence of these iconic tuxedo-clad seabirds in Africa, predating previously described fossils by 5 to 7 million years.

Co-authors Daniel Thomas of the National Museum of Natural History and Dan Ksepka of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center happened upon the 10-12 million year old specimens in late 2010, while sifting through rock and sediment excavated from an industrial steel plant near Cape Town, South Africa.

Jumbled together with shark teeth and other fossils were 17 bone fragments that the researchers recognized as pieces of backbones, breastbones, wings and legs from several extinct species of penguins.

Based on their bones, these species spanned nearly the full size spectrum for penguins living today, ranging from a runty pint-sized penguin that stood just about a foot tall (0.3 m), to a towering species closer to three feet (0.9 m).

Only one penguin species lives in Africa today ? the black-footed penguin, or Spheniscus demersus, also known as the jackass penguin for its loud donkey-like braying call. Exactly when penguin diversity in Africa started to plummet, and why, is still unclear.

Gaps in the fossil record make it difficult to determine whether the extinctions were sudden or gradual. "[Because we have fossils from only two time periods,] it's like seeing two frames of a movie," said co-author Daniel Ksepka. "We have a frame at five million years ago, and a frame at 10-12 million years ago, but there's missing footage in between."

Humans probably aren't to blame, the researchers say, because by the time early modern humans arrived in South Africa, all but one of the continent's penguins had already died out.

A more likely possibility is that rising and falling sea levels did them in by wiping out safe nesting sites.

Although penguins spend most of their lives swimming in the ocean, they rely on offshore islands near the coast to build their nests and raise their young. Land surface reconstructions suggest that five million years ago ? when at least four penguin species still called Africa home ? sea level on the South African coast was as much as 90 meters higher than it is today, swamping low-lying areas and turning the region into a network of islands. More islands meant more beaches where penguins could breed while staying safe from mainland predators.

But sea levels in the region are lower today. Once-isolated islands have been reconnected to the continent by newly exposed land bridges, which may have wiped out beach nesting sites and provided access to predators.

Although humans didn't do previous penguins in Africa in, we'll play a key role in shaping the fate of the one species that remains, the researchers add.

Numbers of black-footed penguins have declined by 80% in the last 50 years, and in 2010 the species was classified as endangered. The drop is largely due to oil spills and overfishing of sardines and anchovies ? the black-footed penguin's favorite food.

"There's only one species left today, and it's up to us to keep it safe," Thomas said.

###

National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent): http://www.nescent.org

Thanks to National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127480/Uncovering_Africa_s_oldest_known_penguins

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Anti-violence campaign draws criticism for rapper Chief Keef photo

Instagram

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

A Chicago anti-violence campaign is being criticized for featuring a photo of a 17-year-old rapper who has had run-ins with the law over firearms ? including a 2011 conviction for pointing a gun at a police officer.

The anti-violence group 500campaign posted a picture of the young rapper Chief Keef on its Instagram feed this week with the caption, ?Angry because over 500 were murdered in Chicago.?

The image prompted an instant backlash from people who thought the rapper with often violent lyrics had no place in an anti-violence ad, with one?commenter calling on Keef to "repent of his messages of murder and drugs."

But 500campaign founder Bryant Cross told?NBC Chicago?the image was appropriate.?

?Chief Keef and brothers like him are the ones we should be engaging,? said Cross, who posts pictures to his campaign's Instagram feed. ?We have to be able to engage everyone, not just the people we like.?

Cross said the person who submitted the photo claimed Keef gave his approval.

Keef, whose real name is Keith Cozart, released his debut album "Finally Rich" through Interscope Records in 2012. Well-known rappers who make cameo appearances on the album include Young Jeezy and 50 Cent.

A month after the record's release, the teen was sentenced to 60 days in juvenile detention for violating probation on the 2011 conviction, after investigators found a music video showing?him holding a rifle at a?gun range, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

?I am a very good-hearted person,? the rapper told the judge at his sentencing, the Sun-Times reported. ?I am sorry for anything that I have done wrong.?

Music site Pitchfork withdrew the video, saying that the production ?was rushed and never should have happened,? citing the violence that led to?506 homicides in Chicago in 2012.

Cross, who created the 500campaign to draw attention to those deaths, said he is planning an anti-violence rally for June 10.

?There?s a depression out here, people are wondering what they can do,? Cross said. ?I wanted to get people worked up so they at least feel like there?s something they can do to address the violence.?

Keef tweeted in December that his song "Love Sosa" would be included in the new video game Grand Theft Auto 5. The message was retweeted more than 11,700 times.

?Disrespect them O boys,? Keef raps in the song, ?You won?t speak again boy.?

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The First 6 People Who'll Get Google Glass

Google's finally starting to reveal the winners of its #ifihadglass promotion, and surprise! You're not one of them. Not yet, anyway, unless you happen to be one of the following six golden ticket recipients. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qSmakt6Eqx8/here-are-6-people-wholl-get-google-glass-before-you

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WordPress.com Has Imported 15M Posts In The Last 30 Days, Remains A Top Safe Haven For Nomad Bloggers

Here’s a familiar scenario: You’ve become bored with the current blogging platform you’re on or it decides to shut down like Posterous did?after?Twitter acquired it.?What do you do with all of your posts? Sure, you could hop from one platform to the other, but you need a safe and trustworthy place to store all of your important thoughts. I spoke with Automattic’s Matt Mullenweg?yesterday about the topic, and he gave me some insight on how WordPress.com provides a consistent and simple import process for a lot of the popular publishing platforms out there. And it seems that?WordPress, after all these years, is still the place people come to with their content.?In the past 30 days alone, 15 million posts have been imported into the platform.?The top two services that tend to migrate to WordPress are Blogger and Tumblr, Mullenweg tells me. And then there is Posterous. As soon as Twitter announced Posterous’ shutdown date, the Posterous founders jumped into action with a service called Posthaven, promising to keep it alive forever. The new service has since seen 850K posts imported. However, there has been a spike in Posterous imports to?WordPress.com?in the last few weeks and 2 million total since WordPress began supporting the platform in July 2010. Mullenweg discussed why WordPress is an important and longstanding platform in the blogosphere and how?the freedom is really in your hands. TC: When did you start seeing a lot of activity coming from Posterous? Matt Mullenweg: We’ve seen two big spikes: in March 2011 when they de-emphasized blogging to focus on group sharing and events, and in March 2012 when they were acquired by Twitter. The latest spike started in January but wasn’t as big as those first two. TC: As far as importing, what are the other services that you get content brought in from the most? Matt Mullenweg: The top two by far are Blogger and Tumblr, with residual amounts from Movable Type and LiveJournal still. In the past 30 days we’ve imported over 15 million posts. Tumblr and Blogger are always the two highest because they’re both good at introducing people to blogging, and in Blogger’s case they get huge promotion and integration from Google, but people quickly run into their limitations and look for a more flexible platform. TC: How many Posterous posts all time have been imported and how many have been imported since the April 30th shutdown

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hi-fY_CsyGQ/

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Glitzy Daisy: AWESOME FOOD

So i get alot of people asking me where should they visit for good food (mainly because my instag is filled with alot of food pictures) and hence,i've decided to kinda compile some of the restaurants/bars/cafes that i've tried recently and blog about each of them slowly...

I know i haven blogged in a really long time but thats only because im just lazy. Im not that busy anymore. Just pardon that okay:)

Let's start with brunch.
And usually for brunch,people would love to order food that are not too heavy but filling enough to last them till dinner. For me,i love ordering traditional (or even innovative) egg benedicts simply because i love eggs and i love how the egg yolk flows out!

Some weeks ago,my girlfriends and i decided to head down to Dempsey Hill for brunch (or brunchner as i would like to call it because its that filling.) I know Dempsey Hill is really out of the way if you dont drive but trust me,its worth the trip because there are just so many awesome restaurants in that area.

I've mentioned in my earlier posts that i LOVE the food from CA.CALIFORNIA simply because its got good price,good ambience and most importantly,GOOD FOOD!
So we headed back to that restaurant once again and here's what we ordered.

They were having some kinda promotion when we visited the place so SL ordered a meal which includes a drink,a side dish and the main dish of which she ordered Caesar Salad and Baked chicken.

I love eating salads because they are absolutely sin-LESS! In terms of calories and whatever that you're concerned of (gaining weight especially),salads are the best way to fill your tummies in the most yummy and healthy?way.

Caesar Salad
The good thing about salad served at CA.CALIFORNIA is that they not only serve it with lettuce and the usual ingredients,it was served with peaches and mangoes which was really refreshing and i really liked that idea:)

The baked chicken
I personally thought the baked chicken was nothing special. It really tasted like normal baked chicken that you can find anywhere else or even prepare them yourself. I give credits for the garnishing though,makes it look really appetizing. Oh,and for the price (since its a promotion item and its a whole set),its pretty worth it still.

Both Phang and i decided to order the BDBF (or BDBH,i cant rmb) because i've tried it before and im mad in love with it. Its a really good deal because you get to eat everything (salad,sausage,egg,bread,bacon) in just one plate and the price was really worth it as well. It cost around $18+ (i cant remember the exact price.)

For drinks,they really serve quite a variety of drinks from soda to coffee to cocktails and even mocktails. And like i mentioned,it turns into a bar at night so they even serve beer.
Since we went in the day,i didnt want to drink so i ordered a mocktail and its called SAFE SEX ON THE BEACH.
Basically it just taste like sex on the beach without the alcohol:) ?And their root beer comes in a retro bottle:)
After which,we had Ben & Jerry's for dessert. Oh,btw,the restaurant is just beside Ben & Jerry's so its really easy to locate and they kinda co-operate the whole place together. I've never been there at night?but it seems like they have?live band there and stuff like that so im guessing it'll be a good place to chill with a bunch of buddies on a weekend night:)

**********************

?Another place that i found their food really yummy is Dolce Tokyo. I've previously visited this place for dessert and i really love their desserts hence i returned to try their main course and i ordered Salmon Benedict.

Source: http://glitzydaisy.blogspot.com/2013/03/awesome-food.html

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