Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/yaC2afS78Co/google-is-betraying-itself
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Google Is Betraying Itself [Blockquote]
Dior impresses and Versace dazzles in couture (AP)
PARIS ? France may have lost an A in its credit rating, but fashion seems to have won it back with a flourishing start to haute couture week ? from the A-list celebrities to Dior's 1950s A-line silhouettes.
Monday marked the lavish return to Paris couture of Donatella Versace, who wowed spectators with her unapologetic glitz, gold and famous friends.
Since haute couture is such an expensive affair ? shows have been known to cost in the millions ? Versace's decision to show in the French capital after eight years away appears to have been aided by the house's profitable 2011 collaboration with mass-market retailer H&M.
Haute couture, unlike ready-to-wear, is a protected French appellation existing only in Paris. The status is granted to select fashion houses that produce astronomically-priced, made-to-measure garments, bought by a shrinking number of super-wealthy women.
Year upon year critics predict couture's demise, calling anachronistic an art form that generates little or no money in a profit-driven industry.
Yet the presence this year of mega-brand Versace suggests otherwise.
"Madame Versace's return after all this time shows that haute couture is not in the past. Versace knows they need couture. We tap the creativity (of haute couture) for ready-to-wear like an ideas factory," the president of the French Couture Federation, Didier Grumbach, told The Associated Press.
For Christian Dior, it was less a question of tapping new ideas than revamping iconic old ones.
Interim designer Bill Gaytten seems to have pleased the fashion crowd by revisiting Dior's iconic New Look, including reworked 1950s bar-suits.
Question marks remain over who will permanently fill the shoes of Dior designer John Galliano, sacked after being caught on camera making slurred, anti-Semitic comments last year. The disappointment of Gaytten's previous fall-winter collection only served to intensify calls for Dior to name a successor. But the subtle confidence of Monday's offering has left critics scratching their heads: Has Gaytten been too quickly overlooked for the top job?
Ending the day, the award-winning Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen provided dark contrast from the rest of the shows with her highly abstract and unconventional creations. Tapping the dark depths of imagination and blurring the boundaries between art and fashion, the 27-year-old represents a younger and fresher side to Paris couture week.
ATELIER VERSACE
Donatella Versace climbed Mount Olympus for inspiration in the opening show of Paris' spring-summer haute couture week, in top form after an eight-year hiatus.
Gold metal discs sculpted the busts and accentuated the hips as models with never-ending legs slinked down 13 shimmering steps Monday at the grand salon of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the acclaimed Left Bank school.
The show marked the designer's return to haute couture week, with the Atelier Versace brand reportedly capitalizing on profits from last year's lucrative collaboration with H&M.
The clothes were pure Grecian drama. A yellow mini-dress with laser-cut silk satin sparkled with the help of Swarovski crystals.
The summer palette was served up in silvers, oranges and acid green. One goddess pearl gray evening gown made in Chantilly lace dazzled as the music climaxed with an aria from Tosca, sung by Greek legend Maria Callas.
Versace classics were revisited and given an Aphrodite-like twist, such as a leather biker jacket and sexy shorts with gold metallic gussets.
Gasps of delight came from the crowd, which included U.S. and French Vogue editors Anna Wintour and Emanuelle Alt as well as actresses Cameron Diaz and Diane Kruger.
"I loved it. It was so sexy, so typically Versace. I'm looking myself to see if I can get one," Kruger said after the show.
That means fashionistas can look for one of the numbers on a red carpet in the not-too-distant future.
CHRISTIAN DIOR
Christian Dior revamped its signature New Look for its 2012 spring-summer haute couture collection, with stand-in designer Bill Gaytten playing it safe following last season's panning.
Monday's show got started fashionably late ? but Dior is tardy in more ways than one. The front row was abuzz over Dior's ongoing silence on the appointment of a new creative director.
Would it be Raf Simons, artistic director of Jil Sander? Or perhaps French designer Haider Ackermann?
But the fashionistas were quickly jolted back into focus as floaty silk crepe silhouettes with nipped waists ? in shades of beige, aubergine, red, black and white ? filed through the sumptuous salons of the couturier on the Avenue Montaigne.
Gaytten had clearly hit on the house's bread-and-butter pieces, which go back to the 1947 collection that introduced fashion to a new ladylike look that thrived through the next decade and was copied many times over. It was a back-to-basics move following his fall-winter couture flop. Despite its predictability, the collection somehow worked, perhaps by dint of its subtlety and textural detail.
A classic A-line bar suit was given a light touch in ultra-feminine sheer silk with a full skirt, giving the show an ethereal, otherworldly feel.
Black silk dresses were painstakingly embroidered with delicate beads, followed by knee-length skirts featuring long knife-pleats that fluttered like butterfly wings. One model looked so weightless in cascading chiffon she might have taken off in flight had she walked just a bit faster.
The piece de resistance came near the end: a floor-length ballgown with a full black-and-white tulle skirt that brushed teasingly past photographers.
When Gaytten came to take his bow, he winked, perhaps because he knew he had produced some solid couture.
"I could show you a picture of every single one of those dresses from the 1950s. They were all copied. But it worked, it really did," said British fashion writer Colin McDowell.
It-girl of the moment, Olivia Palermo, summed it up: "Sometimes it's good to go back to basics."
IRIS VAN HERPEN
Iris Van Herpen's second haute couture show wrapped up a frenzied day of spring-summer collections with clothes that dipped into a darkly aquatic world, apparently inspired by "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
"Normal rules don't apply" is one of the slogans of haute couture's new enfant terrible, a 27-year-old Dutch designer. Even the invitations she sent stick out from the rest: a transluscent square of plastic with a crustacean-inspired etching.
As two gothic doors opened to dramatic music, a pearl sheath dress emerged from the night at Monday's show and grew lightweight octopus tentacles made of glass that enveloped its female host. As if this weren't enough, the model had to struggle against killer platforms ? boney vertical daggers, instead of heels.
All the pieces were highly architectural, often with accentuated shoulders and hips in metallic shades of aubergine and gray, as well as pearl.
One piece, a cape-dress, looked like a brooding stingray carcass given life by an intricate weaving of shimmering silk and metal fiber. At this point the perhaps puzzled spectators were struck with awe.
Haute couture is often a spiky affair, but white Plexiglas fangs poking out of a cap-sleeved mini-dress saw this taken to the next level. The message was clear: You can look but don't touch.
The only downside was the slightly repetitive use of the sheath silhouette, only rarely punctuated by a longer number.
Despite her youth and newcomer status, Van Herpen has made a name for herself in Paris.
"I just lead with intuition," the designer said backstage. "It's positive being new, as I can go wherever I want with total freedom."
Tuesday's haute couture collections include Chanel, Giorgio Armani Prive and Givenchy.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
What is a recommended company for homeowners insurance?
.
We are buying our first house, and would like to know if anybody has any recommendations on the best homeowners insurance for our money. Thank you!
Chosen Answer:
There is no way around needing Homeowners insurance if you are about to embark on the journey of purchasing a home. Depending on the size of the home, Homeowners insurance can cost as little as 0 a year to as much as 00 a year, if not more in some parts of the country. The amount of Homeowners insurance you receive will also be determined by the value of the interior property, including the upkeep of remodeling on the home, as well as whether your policy will include valuable electronics and jewelry.
Once you have determined what type of policy you would like to implement, you can begin discussing yearly and monthly costs with insurance agents. One thing to keep in mind while you are searching for Homeowners insurance is that the rates won?t vary that much between each company, but there are small ways to save a few dollars to a few hundred dollars, simply by finding some Homeowners insurance discounts that are available.
One of the easiest ways to receive a discount on Homeowners insurance is to install a home security system, and not the type that barks and growls. Many insurance companies are actually paired up with security companies like ADT or Brink?s and will give you a discount for using that insurance company and that security company as well.
Even if you get Homeowners insurance and decide to go back later and install a security system, don?t forget to go back and call your Homeowners insurance company once the system is installed so that you can receive a discount on your insurance. Further discounts may be given for motion sensors or even for video surveillance cameras installed on the home.
Another great way to receive a small discount on your Homeowners insurance is through fire and carbon monoxide detectors and fire resistant doors, brick and even walls. Remember that not all companies will offer the same discount for fire resistance and fire protection, so it is best to do research on how much of a discount can be received before diving in to remodeling the entire house for fire resistance.
Keeping up with newer appliances is another excellent way to help receive a Homeowners insurance discount. Older appliances are more likely to develop bad electrical connections, which can make the home susceptible to fire.
The first place to begin updating appliances is in the kitchen because kitchens are on the top of the list for places where fires begin. Many other insurance companies will offer a discount for new plumbing and electrical systems, or simply for a home that is less than ten years old altogether.
While some homeowners aren?t willing to consider a higher insurance deductible, or the price they will pay before the insurance will begin paying for loss or damages, asking for price quotes with higher deductibles is an excellent way to receive a discount on your insurance.
Most Homeowners insurance companies start out with a minimum deductible of 0 to 0 dollars, but try raising the deductible by 0 and see how much this will save you a year. Often times, this can make a difference of nearly 0-0 a year on the total insurance bill.
Remember, though, that if you choose this route, you may end up paying more than that 0 savings a year if something happens to your home and you have to pay the higher deductible. Simply weight the negatives and positives and decide if a higher deductible is right for you.
The final sure fire way to receive a Homeowners insurance benefit is to belong to a club or certain group. This could simply mean being in the ?65 and older? club and receiving a senior citizens discount, or it could also mean already being a member of the bank where you are looking to purchase Homeowners insurance. Some insurance companies also give a discount if you plan on having both your car insurance and Homeowners insurance with that company.
Before settling for the first set of numbers thrown at you by the insurance company, be sure to ask about these discounts and make your assets work for you when shopping for Homeowners insurance.
by: sprott88
on: 17th January 10
Source: http://unoccupied-propertyinsurance.com/what-is-a-recommended-company-for-homeowners-insurance/
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Federal prosecutors shut down Megaupload file-sharing site, founders charged
Details are still somewhat light at the moment, but reports are now coming out that the popular Megaupload file-sharing site has been shut down by Federal prosecutors in the US, and that the site's founders and other individuals have been charged with violating piracy laws. According to The New York Times, the indictment says that the company has cost copyright holders some $500 million in lost revenue, and that the site was at one time the 13th most popular on the internet. As the Times also notes, this news comes a day after Megaupload voluntarily blacked out its website to protest the SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy legislation now being considered by Congress.
Update: As The Verge reports, the indictment itself doesn't mince any words, calling Megaupload an "international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy," and alleging that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom generated more than $175 million in "criminal proceeds." Those charges also come with some potentially hefty prison sentences, including a maximum 20 years for conspiracy to commit racketeering, five years for copyright infringement, 20 years for money laundering, and five years for each of the substantive charges of criminal copyright infringement.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Update: As The Verge reports, the indictment itself doesn't mince any words, calling Megaupload an "international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy," and alleging that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom generated more than $175 million in "criminal proceeds." Those charges also come with some potentially hefty prison sentences, including a maximum 20 years for conspiracy to commit racketeering, five years for copyright infringement, 20 years for money laundering, and five years for each of the substantive charges of criminal copyright infringement.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Federal prosecutors shut down Megaupload file-sharing site, founders charged originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/SzuO7gVl7hQ/
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Murdoch company to pay hacking damages in 36 cases
Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi arrive at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Rupert Murdoch and his wife Wendi arrive at the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
LONDON (AP) ? Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper company on Thursday agreed to pay damages to 36 high-profile victims of tabloid phone-hacking, including actor Jude Law, soccer player Ashley Cole and former British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. In a handful of Thursday's settlements whose financial terms were made public, the amounts ran into the tens of thousands of pounds (dollars).
Some 60 people have sued News Group Newspapers after their mobile phone voicemails were hacked by the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid. Other cases settled include those of former government ministers Chris Bryant and Tessa Jowell, ex-model Abi Titmuss and Sara Payne, mother of a murdered girl.
The settlements were made public at a court hearing in London on Thursday, and in some cases financial details were disclosed. Law's ex-wife and actress Sadie Frost received 50,000 pounds (about $77,000) in damages plus legal costs for phone hacking and deceit by the News of the World. Bryant received 30,000 pounds (about $46,000) in damages, plus legal costs.
News Group lawyer Michael Silverleaf offered Bryant the company's "sincere apologies" for invading his privacy.
The slew of settlements is but one consequence of the revelations of phone-hacking and other illegal tactics at the News of the World, where journalists routinely intercepted voicemails of those in the public eye in a relentless search for scoops.
The wide-ranging scandal prompted Murdoch to close the 168-year-old paper and several of his senior lieutenants have since lost their jobs. It has badly shaken his global media empire.
British politicians and police have also been ensnared in the scandal, which exposed the cozy relationship between senior officers, top lawmakers, and newspaper executives at Murdoch's media empire. A government-commissioned inquiry set up in the wake of the scandal is currently investigating the ethics of Britain's media ? and the nature of its links to police and politicians.
The settlements announced Thursday amount to more than half of the phone-hacking lawsuits facing Murdoch's company, but the number of victims is estimated in the hundreds. Mark Lewis, a lawyer for many of the phone hacking victims, said in an email that the fight against Murdoch wasn't over.
"While congratulations are due to those (lawyers) and clients who have settled their cases, it is important that we don't get carried away into thinking that the war is over," Lewis said. "Fewer than 1 percent of the people who were hacked have settled their cases. There are many more cases in the pipeline. ... This is too early to celebrate, we're not even at the end of the beginning."
Many victims have already settled with the company, including actress Sienna Miller and the parents of murdered teenager Milly Dowler, who were awarded 2 million pounds (about $3.1 million) in compensation.
___
Associated Press Writer Raphael Satter contributed to this report.
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Paul returns to SC, picks up key endorsement
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) ? Ron Paul has returned to South Carolina to pick up an endorsement from a state lawmaker popular with tea party activists.
State Sen. Tom Davis announced his support for the Texas congressman Sunday at a raucous rally in Myrtle Beach. Davis served as chief of staff to former Republican Gov. Mark Sanford and is considered a vocal fiscal conservative.
Paul placed second in the New Hampshire primary last week and third in Iowa's caucuses. He told supporters he expects to do well in South Carolina's January 21 primary.
Polls show Mitt Romney leading the field, in part because no single candidate has emerged as a clear alternative to the former Massachusetts governor.
Paul had been off the campaign trail since last Wednesday, resting and visiting family at home.
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Monday, January 16, 2012
Cassini Experiences Communications Problems - NASA Watch
"Friday, Dec. 23 (DOY 357) - No signal was detected from the spacecraft today at the beginning of track at Deep Space Station (DSS) DSS-43, the Canberra 70 meter station. Additional tracking was obtained at Canberra's DSS-45 and Goldstone's DSS-14 to no avail. The 2-way coherent signal was acquired at the one round trip light-time point into the track as usual, indicating it was a spacecraft problem and not a ground system error. Incident Surprise Anomaly (ISA) #50901 and Discrepancy Report (DR) C108400 were submitted to document this spacecraft anomaly. Commands were sent on Dec. 25 to inhibit the ultra-stable oscillator (USO) and use the auxiliary oscillator as the frequency source for the downlink signal. The spacecraft has operated in this mode for every pass starting on Dec. 27, and telemetry is being received for entire passes again. Data loss was limited to two round-trip light time periods. Analysis of the problem has been delayed because of the holidays with many of the key engineers being unavailable, but it is now well underway."
Source: http://nasawatch.com/archives/2012/01/cassini-experie.html
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Lopez, Anthony promoting new project (AP)
PASADENA, Calif. ? Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony were together again on Saturday ? at least to promote their new project.
The stars, who announced last summer they were ending their marriage after seven years, appeared on a stage Saturday to talk briefly about a new music series they are doing together. "Q'Viva! The Chosen" premieres on Univision on Jan. 28.
Anthony reached down to offer his hand and help Lopez climb three stairs to the stage, and later admired the four sparkling rings on her left hand. They sat side by side on director's chairs.
The two stars, along with Jamie King, travel throughout north and south America to search for artists who will come to the United States and participate in a live show of Latin music and entertainment. It airs in 12 weekly episodes in the U.S. and on Spanish-language stations across Latin America. An English-language version is planned later for Fox.
Anthony and Lopez were working this week to judge some of the contestants, Univision said.
"It was like any time that we work together," said Lopez, who wore a tight blue leather mini-dress for the morning news conference. "We have a great time working together."
Lopez, also a judge on Fox's "American Idol," said she'd be open to doing another season if the first one is successful.
Anthony said that there's been a misconception that "Q'Viva! The Chosen" is just a talent show.
"We're not judges," he said. "We're show producers. We're putting together a live show and we're documenting the process."
Their time on stage was limited. The news conference began 30 minutes late, and a reporter shouted down a talkative emcee to demand that journalists be allowed to ask questions.
Only two were allowed before Univision began a musical performance. Afterward, the stars were hustled offstage as Adele's hit about a breakup, "Rolling in the Deep," was played over the public address system.
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Sunday, January 15, 2012
Soldier faces hearing at Afghan base over suicide
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? An American soldier charged with abuse that led to the suicide of a 19-year-old fellow soldier in Afghanistan is facing a preliminary hearing Sunday on a base in the country, the military said.
The hearing came as two more members of the international force in Afghanistan died of what NATO described as "non-battle-related" injuries and two Afghan police were killed by a roadside bomb.
Spc. Ryan J. Offutt is charged with offenses including maltreatment, involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Pvt. Danny Chen, the military statement said. Offutt is one of eight infantrymen charged in connection with the suicide.
Chen shot himself in a guardhouse Oct. 3 in Afghanistan after what investigators say were weeks of racial slurs, humiliation and physical abuse.
Offutt, 32, of Greenville, Pa. was charged in December along with seven others in the same unit. He joined the Army in 2006 and served 14 months in Iraq before being deployed to Afghanistan. An attorney for Offutt could not immediately be contacted.
Chen, a native New Yorker of Chinese descent, had only been in Afghanistan for two months when he killed himself.
He had told relatives he endured weeks of racial teasing and name calling while in training in the U.S.
After arriving in Afghanistan, investigators said, Chen was subjected to hazing by members of his unit, the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
Chen's family has said investigators told them that at a remote base in southern Afghanistan, he was subjected to racial slurs and forced to do excessive sit-ups, push-ups, runs and sprints carrying sandbags.
On the day of his death, he had reported to the guard tower without his helmet or adequate water and was forced to crawl about 100 yards (100 meters) across gravel carrying his equipment as his comrades threw rocks at him, a family representative has quoted investigators as saying.
Sunday's hearing under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice will determine whether Offutt faces court-martial.
The two most serious charges, involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide, carry prison sentences of up to 10 years and three years, respectively.
The hearing is being held at Kandahar Air Field, the sprawling base for U.S. and NATO operations in the south.
Chen's family and Chinese community members in New York have called for legal proceedings related to his death to be held in the United States, so they could witness them.
Offutt's mother, Carol Tate of Sharon, Pa., told The (Sharon) Herald last month that she has spoken to her son and thought there were other factors that have not been made public, but she declined further comment.
The Army has identified the other soldiers charged as 1st Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz, 25, of Maryland (no hometown was given); Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas, 35, of Port Arthur, Texas; Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel, 26, of Aberdeen, S.D.; Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb, 29, of Youngstown, Ohio; Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, 26, of Brooklyn, Iowa; Spc. Thomas P. Curtis, 25, of Hendersonville, Tenn; and Sgt. Travis F. Carden, 24, of Fowler, Ind.
VanBockel, Holcomb, Hurst, Curtis and Offutt were charged with the most serious offenses, including involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, and assault and battery.
The NATO-led force also said two service members in southern Afghanistan died Sunday of injuries that were not battle-related.
A coalition statement did not say whether the injuries were the result of an accident, suicide, or other causes and it did not give the troops' nationalities.
Sunday's deaths bring to 16 the number of coalition troops who have died in Afghanistan this month.
On Saturday, a roadside bomb killed two Afghan police officers as they were driving home in the eastern province of Khost, provincial police chief Sardar Mohammad Zazia said.
Both officers were members of a counternarcotics squad, he said. Khost lies along the border with Pakistan's lawless northwestern tribal region and is a stronghold of the al-Qaida-allied Haqqani network.
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50 Cent Says He Posted Photo-Shopped Images Of Jay-Z & Beyonce's Newborn To Stop Followers From Mocking (omg!)
50 Cent is clearing the air about a post to his Twitter page that appeared to mock Jay-Z and Beyonce's baby Blue Ivy Carter. The post showed photos of a baby with the rapper's face photo-shopped over the infant.
But 50 Cent's rep tells AccessHollywood.com that he "did not post the image. He was not mocking Jay-Z or Beyonce but instead was trying to discourage his followers from doing so."
PLAY IT NOW: Dana Delany Dishes On Working With 50 Cent On ?Freelancers?
After Tweeting a link to the pictures, along with the message, "[Y'all] play [too] much congratulations to JAYZ and Beyonce BABY #BlueIvyCarter IS GEORGOUS," 50 said he only re-Tweeted the photos in an effort to stop his fans from ridiculing the newborn.
"I would never make a picture like that its all over my time line," he later wrote. "[Y'all] play [too] much I'm sure Jay is the happiest he's ever been in his life."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Jay-Z
The "In Da Club" rapper also remembered his own fond memories of becoming a first-time father.
"I remember when MARQUISE was born I was so happy," 50 Tweeted. "I want to have another kid one day."
Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood?s Infamous Celeb Feuds
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Saturday, January 14, 2012
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with NXP's Jeff Miles (update: video embedded)
We've got plenty of questions about near-field communications, and who better to talk to than Jeff Miles, a VP at NXP, the company behind the NFC chips in your devices? Follow along at 6:30PM ET, after the break.
Update: Interview video now embedded.
Update: Interview video now embedded.
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with NXP's Jeff Miles (update: video embedded) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/11/live-from-the-engadget-ces-stage-an-interview-with-nxps-jeff-m/
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A Plenitude of Planets: Galactic Search Finds Exoplanets Are More Commonplace Than Stars
News |
Space
The ubiquity of extrasolar planets, and of relatively small worlds in particular, bodes well for searches for life-friendly Earth twins
?| January 11, 2012
The next time you look up at the night sky and find yourself marveling at the number of stars overhead, know that you are only seeing part of the magnificent bounty that our galaxy holds. Most of those Milky Way stars are not isolated orbs. Rather an average star has at least one planetary companion, invisible to the naked eye and in most cases as yet unseen by telescopes, according to a new analysis.
That extrasolar planets should be even more common than stars, which themselves seem innumerable, lends support to the hope that somewhere up in the night sky, circling one of those stars, is a world like Earth where life may have had a chance to take root, and maybe even have evolved into an intelligent form.
The analysis of planetary frequency in the Milky Way appeared in the January 12 issue of Nature. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) The researchers, led by astronomer Arnaud Cassan of the Paris Institute of Astrophysics at University Pierre and Marie Curie, used a small sample of planetary discoveries to infer the size of the overall planetary population. Extrapolating from a few known planets and the relatively low probability that each of those planets should be detectable from Earth, the researchers found that each star is home to an average of 1.6 planets.
The process is a bit like estimating the average number of children in a typical family by peering into a handful of random homes, counting the number of children in view, and estimating how many more are at school or otherwise out of sight. As such, the planetary demographics are still rudimentary; given the small-number of statistics, the actual average could be closer to one planet per star, or it could be well over two planets per star. But the general ubiquity of extrasolar planets, which other astronomical campaigns have also suggested in recent years, seems unassailable.
"This is not a surprise, but it's a really interesting thing to know," says astronomer Scott Gaudi of The Ohio State University, who did not contribute to the new research. Perhaps most encouraging is the finding by Cassan and his colleagues that the frequency of planets rises as the mass of those planets decreases. Large planets akin to Jupiter are relatively rare, midsize planets such as Neptune are present around roughly 50 percent of stars, and small planets just five to 10 times the mass of Earth are even more numerous than that. "Planets are common, and low-mass planets are as common as dirt in some sense," Gaudi says.
Cassan based the galactic census on a planet-finding method called gravitational microlensing. Using the Warsaw University Telescope in Chile, astronomers monitor roughly 200 million stars to look for the sudden and anomalous amplification in the light from any one of them. That brightening can be caused by another star passing in front of the background star, with the gravitational field of the intervening star acting like a lens to focus the light of the background star toward Earth. Such alignments are rare, but by monitoring so many stars for years on end, the campaign, known as the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), has recorded thousands of microlensing events.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=426e7073514883588bc81934615e7287
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Friday, January 13, 2012
Stocks drift higher on yet another slow trading day
The Dow crept up 33 points to close at 12393 as traders waited for quarterly financial results from Alcoa Corp. that might offer clues about the economic recovery.
Stocks drifted higher Monday in a fourth consecutive listless session. Traders waited for corporate financial results to start rolling in so they could look for clues about the economy.
Skip to next paragraphIn the unofficial kickoff to earnings season, Alcoa, considered an economic bellwether because so many companies use its products, said it lost $34 million from October through December because of lower demand for aluminum.
The results were released after the market closed for the day. Alcoa stock finished up 27 cents, or 2.9 percent, at $9.43, the biggest gain of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones industrial average.
The Dow closed up 32.77 points, or 0.3 percent, at 12,392.69. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2.89 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,280.70. The Nasdaq composite index rose 2.34, or 0.1 percent, to 2,676.56.
Stock trading has been subdued in recent days. The Dow's high and low were only 75 points apart Monday. In all of 2011, trading was that narrow on only 26 days. In the final five months, the average daily swing was 249 points.
The broader market has been calm, too. The S&P rose 19 points Jan. 3, the first trading day of the year, but has risen or fallen by less than four points each of the following four days.
Analysts think profit growth slowed for U.S. multinational companies from October through December because of weaker demand overseas. Europe is on the brink of recession, and China's explosive economy is cooling.
Quarterly profits for S&P 500 companies will probably only grow at half the rate of the previous three quarters, said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P's Capital IQ. The companies generate about half their revenue overseas, he said.
The U.S. is in a "half-speed recovery, and that probably isn't enough to offset the weakness in Europe and Asia," Stovall said.
Many analysts expect materials companies such as Alcoa to suffer as developing nations expand more slowly. Government-funded construction booms had driven up prices for metals and other basic products.
"China, India, Latin America ? that's where those companies have been really driving sales in the last few quarters," said John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet, a provider of financial data.
He said investors should pay close attention to what companies say about their overseas sales for clues to their future performance.
Analysts with S&P Capital IQ took a brighter view of the materials sector. They said in a note to clients that rising prices for steel, gases and chemicals will help offset declining global demand.
Another reason to expect slower profit growth: The results for the last three months of 2011 will be compared with the last three months of 2010, which are not as easy to improve on as results from earlier in 2010.
In early 2010, the U.S. was just emerging from its deepest recession in decades. Changes in the economy since late 2010 have been less dramatic, so the comparisons are more challenging, Butters said.
European markets closed lower Monday. French and German leaders met to craft the regional fiscal treaty that they agreed to pursue last year. It was their first crisis summit of the year.
The treaty would strengthen controls of spending by the 17 countries that use the euro. Excessive borrowing by nations such as Greece and Italy has hurt the European economy and roiled the financial industry.
About two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume remained light at 3.28 billion shares.
In other corporate news:
? Netflix Inc. shot up 13.8 percent after the company made its debut in Britain and Ireland. The stock has gained 28 percent this year, best in the S&P 500. Netflix traded above $300 last summer, then plunged to $62 after the company surprised customers with a price increase.
? CareFusion Corp. plunged 8.6 percent, the most in the S&P 500. The company, which makes medical equipment, announced preliminary results that were weaker than analysts had expected.
? Inhibitex Inc., which makes medicine to treat hepatitis C, soared 140 percent after Bristol-Myers Squibb said over the weekend that it would buy the company for $2.5 billion. Other developers of hepatitis C treatments followed the rally. Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 37 percent, and Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. added 22.7 percent.
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Ford unveils 2013 Fusion at Detroit auto show
DETROIT?? Ford hopes its redesigned Fusion can help it catch the Camry.
The original has been a huge hit since entering the market in 2005 and it topped the Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata last year with sales of 250,000. But the Fusion is still lagging Toyota's Camry, the best-seller among midsize sedans, which sold nearly 309,000.
Ford unveils the new Fusion Monday at the Detroit auto show. Gone is the shuttered grille, replaced by a more aggressive diamond-shaped one. The new version borrows the chiseled, aerodynamic look of Ford's other new cars, the Fiesta and Focus.
In the past, Ford would make different versions of a car for different regions of the world, spending millions more on development. But the 2013 Fusion will be sold globally, so Ford canvassed customers worldwide before choosing the final design. The company changed its original headlight, for example, after Chinese customers found it too sinister.
Here's more about the 2013 Fusion:
POWER: Ford will offer several types of Fusions, including a hybrid and plug-in hybrid. Ford expects the hybrid to get 47 miles per gallon in city driving, while the Fusion Energi, a plug-in hybrid which runs for a longer time on the battery alone, should get the equivalent of more than 100 miles per gallon. A 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine with Ford's EcoBoost system will get 37 mpg on the highway, while a 2.0-liter EcoBoost will be offered in a performance version.
Ford's base engine, a 1.6-liter I-4, will be the first Ford with an automatic stop-start system that shuts off the power when the car stops and restarts it when the driver releases the brake pedal, reducing fuel consumption. It's expected to get slightly better fuel economy than the current Fusion, which gets 33 mpg on the highway.
EXTERIOR: Ford wants the car to have a premium feel, so it even took the extra ? and more expensive ? step of embedding the Ford badge in the hood instead of attaching it to the grille. Ford designer Chris Hamilton described the look of the current Fusion as "slightly cold." Of the new Fusion, he says, "we wanted that feeling of the surfaces being worked on by hand."
INTERIOR: The 2013 has more rear-leg room thanks to thinner seats up front. Ford says it has used better, softer materials. Among the options are Ford's Sync voice-controlled entertainment system and its My Ford Touch dashboard screen.
OPTIONS: Ford will be the only car in its class with a lane-keeping system, which uses cameras to monitor whether a driver is staying in his lane and alerts him if he swerves off course. It will also have a system that parallel parks the car automatically, a blind-spot warning system and a cross-traffic alert which monitors oncoming traffic when the car is backing out of a parking space.
PRICE: Not revealed. The current Fusion starts at $20,200.
CHEERS: Analysts were wowed by the design at a preview last month. The Fusion is likely to follow the success of other recent Ford redesigns, including the hot-selling Ford Explorer SUV.
JEERS: There is some concern among analysts that Ford will price the Fusion too high, especially when buyers pile on the options. The new Ford Focus compact car has seen sluggish sales this year, in part because dealers were stocked with high-end versions that cost more than the Fusion.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45921172/ns/business-autos/
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Automotive Fast Prototype Fail Initial Paradox
New products improvement and innovation is much more troublesome and time consuming than most other business activities. Automotive speedy prototype enormously enhances figuring out speed and reduces the danger of new automotive sections improvement.
Traditionally, the automotive business may be utilising speedy prototype as a vital device in the automotive sections structure course of action. The highly fast-paced automotive structure cycles want a particularly swift prototyping procedure which could yield automobile sections swift and inexpensively.
The primary goal of automotive prototyping will be to learn fairly quickly: how a whole new automotive products behaves in its pure operating conditions, earlier than transferring the prototype towards the creation line. A lot of periods, mistakes are discovered only after a new automotive element is introduced. This is often the principle explanation for very poor automotive sections structure, from products mismatch, very poor engineering and perform or end, and overpriced creation. So that you can speed up the figuring out curve, earlier than these high-priced automotive prototyping mistakes are created, a single will have to speed up and facilitate feedback loops from tests in the lab and marketplace trials.
Automotive Manufacturing Systems
Operating with the assortment of speedy prototype equipment, automotive prototyping engineers employ essentially the most state-of-the-art 3D printers, in their quest for ultimate sort, perform and utility. Operating in state-of-the-art production centers, the automotive engineers make use of the engineering to confirm what they are performing, and, equally important, to avoid wasting massive quantities of time, and revenue.
Automotive speedy prototype Compresses Progress Time
The benefits of 3D speedy prototype model development as opposed to viewing a cad/cam model on a home pc display is palpable. Automotive sections engineers get together explore the pros and cons of a quickly generated automotive sections model and explore the pros and cons within the structure, as they pass it roughly, twisting and viewing the prototype, and make up your mind if that may be what that they had in mind. This way, dilemmas get solved up front, earlier than going to the assembly line! When determined which the automotive prototype structure is a go, the model can then be sent to a die maker.
Automotive Prototyping and therefore the Die Maker System
The die maker can not use model to produce the die, but given that they have it in their hand and may have a look at it and feel it, they might decide the place the parting lines shall be Markets.com and precisely what amount steel they may must yield it. The timing within the die course of action is enormously compressed.
Examples of Automotive speedy prototype Areas
Engine castings and sections
Car or truck Engine sections
Automobile Mechanical sections
Car or truck Dashboards
Car or truck Handles and Knobs
Automobile Physique Elements
Car or truck Trim sections
Fall short to begin with Paradox in Automotive speedy prototype
The automotive speedy prototype paradox will be to fail earlier nstead of later on. By failing earlier, the structure engineers astonishingly triumph in accelerating the undertaking; this enormously reduces improvement expense chance. By thinking of all automotive prototype failures as figuring out experiments, the engineer has quite a bit a lot less emotional stress, figuring out that they are practicing the outdated adage, that results originates from ninety-nine percent failure and introspection.
Source: http://tristaterentallistings.com/automotive-fast-prototype-fail-initial-paradox/
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Sunday, January 8, 2012
Injury-hit Heat prevail over Hawks in marathon (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? The Miami Heat overcame the absence of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James to beat the Atlanta Hawks 116-109 in triple overtime on Thursday, avenging their only loss of the season so far.
Wade missed his second consecutive game with a bruised left foot and was joined on the sidelines by James, who has a left ankle injury.
The Hawks had beaten the Heat 100-92 on Monday.
"This game was not defined at all by the box score or the numbers, or any of the tangible things," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. "It was defined by all the intangible, 'X factor' areas. It looked like a heavyweight fight at the end."
The Heat led 54-49 at half time, and started quickly in the third quarter building a 13-point lead but were caught and passed by the Hawks, who closed the quarter on a 16-1 run to hold a 70-68 advantage.
Chris Bosh picked up the offensive slack in the absence of Wade and James for the Heat with 33 points, draining a three-pointer with less than a second left in regulation to level the score at 93-93 and send the game into overtime.
"It was a lucky shot," said Bosh.
"I saw Rio (Mario Chalmers) and he had a big guy on him. I just wanted to slip the screen, maybe confuse them a little bit, and get myself to pop back behind the three (point-line). I knew it was good as soon as I let it go."
Chalmers scored 13 of his 29 points in overtime, including five in the third extra period where the Heat outscored Atlanta 7-0.
"It's a tough loss because it was a fool's gold-type of game. They don't have Wade, they don't have LeBron," said Hawks reserve guard Willie Green, who scored 14 points.
"We can't take the guys that they have lightly. We beat ourselves. Give credit to those guys, take nothing away from them, but I thought we just didn't play with the sense of urgency that they did."
Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 20 points, and Ivan Johnson was sensational off the bench for Atlanta, scoring 13 points all in the second half.
(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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What donors? Super PACs buy time to keep secrets (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Independent political groups backing top Republican candidates are taking advantage of federal rules that will effectively let them shield the identities of their donors until after key primary elections this month.
These political action committees, known as super PACs, notified federal election regulators in recent weeks that they intend to file their financial reports every month. Those requests, once approved, effectively will allow the groups to hold off disclosing the names of their contributors until after primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Without the change, those groups would have had to file reports before the GOP primaries.
Just this week, a new political committee supporting former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum ? the Red, White and Blue Fund ? made a similar request to the Federal Election Commission, which would delay its next deadline to file to Jan. 31. That's the date of the Florida primary, after which candidates with little money will find it hard to continue the race.
Groups backing GOP candidates Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman have also said they would begin filing monthly reports, which they said eases administrative burdens. Before then, the super PACs filed reports quarterly to the FEC, a practice they said required submitting tedious reports before each state's primary. Democratic-leaning super PACs have not yet asked for similar extensions.
The subtle administrative change is significant since such groups are expected to play a crucial role in this year's election. In one case, Romney-leaning Restore Our Future ran a series of attack ads against Gingrich that have been widely cited as a reason for the former House speaker's plummeting support. Gingrich placed fourth in the Iowa caucuses behind Romney, Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
"It is secret money ? you won't know until after the primaries have occurred who helped fund them," said Trevor Potter, a former Republican FEC commissioner and president of the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center. "Whether they're doing this for the right or wrong reasons, it's the opposite of what the disclosure system was designed to do."
Robert Kelner, a campaign-finance expert and partner with the Washington law firm Covington & Burling, noted that once the FEC approves the requests, the groups eventually will file disclosure reports more frequently. "It's sort of in the eye of the beholder if that's improving or undermining disclosure," he said.
The FEC has already approved requests from Restore Our Future and Huntsman-leaning Our Destiny PAC.
The new super PACs sprung from a series of federal court rulings, including the Supreme Court's Citizens United case in 2010 that stripped away restrictions on corporate and union spending in elections. The groups can't coordinate directly with campaigns but many of them active in this election are staffed by longtime supporters of the candidates.
As a result, campaign-finance watchdogs have assailed the rulings as a dangerous return to the pre-Watergate era. The filing changes also have the effect, they say, of shielding donors until dates when many candidates might likely drop out.
The super PACs, for their part, said they are doing nothing illegal, following established law and exercising their free-speech rights.
Restore Our Future treasurer Charles Spies said his political committee complies with FEC rules and has been above board disclosing the identities of its donors. His group was the first to ask the FEC ? in a two-sentence request ? for the fling change in December.
Democratic-leaning Priorities USA Action hasn't asked for a change in its filing frequency, nor has its GOP counterpart, American Crossroads, a group backed by former President George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove. Both have nonprofit arms that are regulated by the IRS and don't have to disclose their donors.
Super PACs have already spent millions on television ads and mailings to boost their favored candidates in Iowa. And the Red, White and Blue Fund and Our Destiny have already begun planning for ads in South Carolina.
____
Follow Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum
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Saturday, January 7, 2012
US weapons 'wish list' revealed
4 January 2012
Last updated at 15:13 ET
An alleged US military wish list of real and conceptual non-lethal weapons has been published online.
The document includes improvements to equipment already in use as well as proposals for new technologies.
The list includes lasers and heat beams designed to disperse crowds, and nausea-inducing sound waves targeted at scuba divers.
Experts said the document acted as a "sales pitch" for continued funding.
The list - named the Non-Lethal Weapons Reference Book - is said to have been produced by the US Department of Defense's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD).
A copy of the report was obtained and published by "anti-secrecy" site Public Intelligence. The organisation has a track record of publishing US government documents relating to national security.
A spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense said she could neither confirm nor deny the document's authenticity.
Running to over 100 pages, the report details the characteristics of each weapon - as well as possible collateral damage and the policy implications of its use.
Typical effects of the weapons on the human body include temporary blindness, deafness and loss of movement.
One example, the Impulse Swimmer Gun, is described as being able to "suppress underwater swimmers and divers". It says an "underwater pulsed sound wave" affects a diver's hearing causing severe nausea.
The report noted "impact on aquatic life" as possible collateral damage. The weapon is marked as being in the "developmental" stage.
Of the more outlandish ideas, an entry for "Laser Based Flow Modification" details how lasers could be used to disrupt the aerodynamic flow around an aeroplane's wings, forcing an "enemy" plane to change direction.
Other non-lethal weapons said to be in development include:
- A system designed to move people through an area by emitting a "heat sensation" causing "involuntary movement".
- Electro-muscular pulses which "substantially increase" the time a hostile person can be incapacitated.
- A portable system which emits high-powered microwaves capable of stalling a car engine at a distance.
- An unmanned, airborne vessel equipped with a microwave-emitting device capable of preventing a ship's propulsion by causing "electrical system malfunction".
The JNLWD was setup in 1996 with the goal of facilitating and deploying non-lethal weapons in the US military in the wake of US operations in Somalia and Bosnia.
"They came up with a new set of missions that didn't involve blowing things up," explained James Lewis, military technology expert and senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"They're developing the technologies to make it work. It's not clear if some of these things will ever see the light of day, but that's what they're trying to do."
The JNLWD has been criticised in the past for spending money on projects that had never materialised.
A 2009 report by the US Government Accountability Office said that the JNLWD had spent at least $386 million (?250m) on 50 research projects - but had failed to actually produce any new weapons.
However, a need to deploy non-lethal techniques in "nation-building" operations was becoming increasingly crucial, Mr Lewis told the BBC.
"One of the big problems in Iraq was if you set up a checkpoint and the cars didn't stop. At least half the time the car was completely innocent - but the only thing guys had to stop them with were weapons."
Mr Lewis told the BBC that this document was designed as a fresh sales pitch to Congress and the Department of Defense.
"It says: 'here's what we've done, here's what we'd like to do, and here's why you want to do it.'"
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/technology-16415007
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