The iPhone Is One of the Best Android Phones You Can Buy

The addition of Google Now to the iOS App Store has granted iPhone owners access to one of Google's most useful products. But it did something else, too. It made the iPhone a better Android phone than the vast majority of Android phones you can buy.

The Android Experience

Let's be clear right up front; if you want a top-flight, pure Android phone, you should be looking at the Galaxy S4 or Nexus 4 or HTC One, full stop. Not only do they?and a few other flagship handsets?feature powerful hardware, they're also equipped with Jelly Bean, Google's last major Android update. They're wonderful, you would enjoy them.

But those phones represent a lonesome minority, an elite advanced guard that most existing Android handsets may never join. Only 25 percent of Android devices run Jelly Bean, which means that only one in four can access Google Now.

And most older phones will never get promoted. And even if they do, individual app updates?even for Google products?can take forever.

By contrast, today's addition of Google Now to Google Search means that any phone running iOS 6?which means every iPhone back to and including 2009's 3GS?has access to one of Android's marquee features.

And that's just Google Now. There are 25 Google iPhone apps available in the iOS App Store today. Nearly all of them have been updated in the last three months, and the ones you use the most?Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, etc?are kept up as up to date as their Android counterparts. They work in harmony, too; trying to find directions in Google Now will open Google Maps instead of Apple's mediocre alternative. And as long as you're signed in with your Google account, what you do on one device carries over to any other.

Combine that interwoven goodness with the iPhone's exquisitely chamfered, super-lightweight body, and you've got yourself quite a package. To the extent that the Android experience is the Google experience, you really can't do much better.

What's Missing

There's more to Android than just Google apps, of course. The iOS desktop experience is far more rigid than what you'll find on even the clunkiest Froyo device. And while iOS notifications go a long way towards the seamless integration of Google services, you still can't get anything approaching the customizability Android provides with stock iOS.

But even that objection is largely surmountable. Jailbreaking an iPhone doesn't give you the same godlike powers as rooting an Android device, but it does let you continue to use App Store apps (like Google's) and make the phone look and feel like your own. Or like? Android.

The other big drawback is that some Google apps on iOS will lag behind, say, the latest Nexus release on certain features. But at least you can be more confident that you'll get them eventually.

What a Google Wants

The fact is, Google still doesn't ultimately care what device you're using its services on, just so long as you're using them. That's not going to change any time soon. Openness is baked into all of Google's services. Whereas iMessage's one true aim is to keep you bottled up inside iOS forever, Google has built Drive, Mail, and all of its other pillars to be as platform-neutral as possible. The more people using Google, the more highly relevant ads the company can serve.

And while the iPhone has always benefited from that to some degree?especially since Mountain View took charge of its iOS apps once and for all?Google Now's iOS availability is a strong acknowledgment that the company's willing to prioritize mass adoption of its best features ahead of getting its legacy Android devices up to speed.

What that means for you?since iOS updates bring so many legacy devices along with them?is that you can have more faith that an iPhone you buy today will get future Google bells and whistles than the vast majority of currently available Android phones.

Again, by all means, get an HTC One or a Galaxy S4. But do it for the design or the skin or the camera or the features. If it's Google you're looking for, you might just want to swing by the nearest Apple Store.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-iphone-is-one-of-the-best-android-phones-you-can-bu-484580304

twisted metal sea lion si swimsuit 2012 westminster dog show abe lincoln vampire hunter xi jinping matt bomer

Leftist priests: Francis can fix church 'in ruins'

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? A new pope from Latin America who wants to build "a church for the poor" is stirring hopes among advocates of liberation theology, a movement of social activism that alarmed former popes by delving into leftist politics.

Pope Francis has what it takes to fix a church "in ruins" that has "lost its respect for what is sacred," prominent liberation theologian Leonardo Boff said Saturday.

"With this pope, a Jesuit and a pope from the Third World, we can breathe happiness," Boff said at a Buenos Aires book fair. "Pope Francis has both the vigor and tenderness that we need to create a new spiritual world."

The 74-year-old Brazilian theologian was pressured to remain silent by previous popes who tried to draw a hard line between socially active priests and leftist politics. As Argentina's leading cardinal before he became pope, Francis reinforced this line, suggesting in 2010 that reading the Gospel with a Marxist interpretation only gets priests in trouble.

But Boff says the label of a closed-minded conservative simply doesn't fit with Francis.

"Pope Francis comes with the perspective that many of us in Latin America share. In our churches we do not just discuss theological theories, like in European churches. Our churches work together to support universal causes, causes like human rights, from the perspective of the poor, the destiny of humanity that is suffering, services for people living on the margins."

The liberation theology movement, which seeks to free lives as well as souls, emerged in the 1960s and quickly spread, especially in Latin America. Priests and church laypeople became deeply involved in human rights and social struggles. Some were caught up in clashes between repressive governments and rebels, sometimes at the cost of their lives.

The movement's martyrs include El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero, whose increasing criticism of his country's military-run government provoked his assassination as he was saying Mass in 1980. He was killed by thugs connected to the military hierarchy a day after he preached that "no soldier is obliged to obey an order that is contrary to the will of God." His killing presaged a civil war that killed nearly 90,000 over the next 12 years.

Romero's beatification cause languished under popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI due to their opposition to liberation theology, but he was put back on track to becoming a saint days after Francis became pope.

Scores of other liberation theologians were killed in the 1970s and 1980s. Six Jesuit teachers were slaughtered at their university in El Salvador in 1989. Other priests and lay workers were tortured and vanished in the prisons of Chile and Argentina. Some were shot to death while demanding land rights for the poor in Brazil. A handful went further and picked up arms, or died accompanying rebel columns as chaplains, such as American Jesuit James Carney, who died in Honduras in 1983.

While even John Paul embraced the "preferential option for the poor" at the heart of the movement, some church leaders were unhappy to see church intellectuals mixing doses of Marxism and class struggle into their analysis of the Gospel. It was a powerfully attractive mixture for idealistic Latin Americans who were raised in Catholic doctrine, educated by the region's army of Marxist-influenced teachers, and outraged by the hunger, inequality and bloody repression all around them.

John Paul and his chief theologian, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, drove some of the most ardent and experimental liberation theologians out of the priesthood, castigated some of those who remained, and ensured that the bishops and cardinals they promoted took a wary view of leftist social activism.

Yet much of the movement remained, practiced by thousands of grassroots "base communities" working out of local parishes across the hemisphere, nurtured by nuns, priests and a few bishops who put freedom from hunger, poverty and social injustice at the heart of the Church's spiritual mission.

Hundreds of advocates at a conference in Brazil last year declared themselves ready for a comeback.

"At times embers are hidden beneath the ashes," said the meeting's final declaration, which expressed hopes of stirring ablaze "a fire that lights other fires in the church and in society."

Boff and other advocates are thrilled that this new pope spent so much time ministering in the slums, and are inspired by his writings, which see no heresy in social action.

"The option for the poor comes from the first centuries of Christianity. It is the Gospel itself," said then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio during a 2010 deposition in a human rights trial. He said that if he were to repeat "any of the sermons from the first fathers of the church, from the 2nd or 3rd century, about how the poor must be treated, they would say that mine would be Maoist or Trotskyite."

Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chavez, the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, said Romero and Francis have the same vision of the church. "When he says 'a church that is poor and for the poor,' that is what Monsignor Romero said so many times," he said.

Rosa Chavez said neither cardinal was among the most radical of churchmen.

"There are many theologies of liberation," he said. "The pope represents one of these currents, the most pastoral current, the current that combines action with teaching." He described Francis' version as "theologians on foot, who walk with the people and combine reflection with action," and contrasted them with "theologians of the desk, who are from university classrooms."

John Paul II himself embraced the term "liberation theology," but was also credited with inspiring resistance to the communist regime in his native Poland, and was allergic to socialist pieties.

For 30 years, the Vatican has been seeding Latin America, Africa and Asia with cardinals "who have tended to be, adverse, to put it kindly, to liberation theology," said Stacey Floyd-Thomas, a professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School.

In Brazil, Sao Paulo Archbishop Odilo Scherer, widely considered a possible pope, told the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper last year that liberation theology "lost its reason of being because of its Marxist ideological underpinnings . which are incompatible with Christian theology."

"It had its merits by helping bring back into focus matters like social justice, international justice and the liberation of oppressed peoples. But these were always constant themes in the teachings of the Church," Scherer said.

In 1984, Ratzinger put Boff in Galileo's chair for a Vatican inquisition over his writings, eventually stripping him of his church functions and ordering him to spend a year in "obedient silence." Nearly a decade later, in 1993, the Vatican pressured him again, and he quit the Franciscan order.

Now Boff says Francis has brought a "new spring" to the global church.

"Josef Ratzinger. He was against the cause of the poor, liberation theology," Boff said. "But this is from last century. Now we are under a new Pope."

___

Associated Press Writers Michael Warren in Buenos Aires, Jenny Barchfield in Rio de Janeiro, Marcos Aleman in San Salvador and John Rice in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leftist-priests-francis-fix-church-ruins-213627659.html

jimmy fallon jimmy fallon Pizza Lemon phillies phillies bryce harper

Obama jokes about aging during 2nd term

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Michael Douglas poses for a photo during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama talks with Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of Fox News, the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama looks to the podium during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

First lady Michelle Obama, right, and late-night television host Conan O'Brien attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he's not "the strapping young Muslim socialist" he used to be.

Obama poked fun at himself as well as some of his political adversaries during the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner attended by politicians, members of the media and Hollywood celebrities.

Entering to the rap track "All I Do Is Win" by DJ Khaled, Obama joked about how re-election would allow him to unleash a radical agenda. But then he showed a picture of himself golfing on a mock magazine cover of "Senior Leisure."

"I'm not the strapping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be," the president remarked, and then recounted his recent 2-for-22 basketball shooting performance at the White House Easter Egg hunt.

But Obama's most dramatic shift for the next four years appeared to be aesthetic. He presented a montage of shots featuring him with bangs similar to those sometimes sported by his wife.

"So we borrowed one of Michelle's tricks," Obama said. "I thought this looked pretty good, but no bounce."

Obama closed by noting the nation's recent tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas, praising Americans of all stripes from first responders to local journalists for serving the public good.

Saturday night's banquet not far from the White House attracted the usual assortment of stars from Hollywood and beyond. Actors Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Claire Danes, who play government characters on series, were among the attendees, as was Korean entertainer Psy. Several Cabinet members, governors and members of Congress were present.

And despite coming at a somber time, nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing and 10 days after a devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, the president and political allies and rivals alike took the opportunity to enjoy some humor. Late-night talk-show host Conan O'Brien headlined the event.

Some of Obama's jokes came at his Republican rivals' expense. He asked that the GOP's minority outreach begin with him as a "trial run" and said he'd take his recent charm offensive with Republicans on the road, including events with conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Michele Bachmann.

"In fact, I'm taking my charm offensive on the road -- a Texas barbeque with Ted Cruz, a Kentucky bluegrass concert with Rand Paul, and a book-burning with Michele Bachmann," Obama joked.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson would have had better success getting Obama out of office if he simply offered the president $100 million to drop out of last year's race, Obama quipped.

And on the 2016 election, the president noted in self-referential irony that potential Republican candidate Sen. Marco Rubio wasn't qualified because he hasn't even served a full term in the Senate. Obama served less than four years of his six-year Senate term before he was elected president in 2008.

"I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he's ready to be President," Obama joked.

The gala also was an opportunity for six journalists, including Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace, to be honored for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.

The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza won the Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the presidency.

Pace won the Merriman Smith Award for a print journalist for coverage on deadline.

ABC's Terry Moran was the winner of the broadcast Merriman Smith Award for deadline reporting.

Reporters Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene of the Center for Public Integrity won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues of national significance.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-28-Obama-Correspondents/id-09d4febe6e4d4128a38db58294475600

Hotel Transylvania eagles nfl schedule 2012 Fox News Suicide Google Ryder Cup Standings Dexter Season 7

Mobile App Ratings: Teens Review Their Favorite Social Apps From ...

This article was written by teen reporters from The Mash, a weekly publication distributed to Chicagoland high schools.

By Ashley Black, St. Charles East high school, and Mikhaela Padilla, Whitney Young high school

The time of simple communication is dwindling toward extinction. Think about it: When?s the last time you called a friend from a landline phone and talked for hours? Year after year, study after study, it?s shown that teens favor communicating through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

But now, there?s a new crop of social networking applications that are readily available to teens (aka free)?and there?s something for everyone. Want to show off a vacation photo? Instagram is your best bet. Interested in documenting your life, one check-in at a time? Path can help you with that. Or maybe you just want to send a silly selfie to your best friends? Check out Snapchat.

We rounded up some of the most popular communication apps, tried them out for ourselves and gave them report cards.

Instagram

Instagram allows its users to play professional photographer with filters, a cropping tool and focus options. Plus, you can see what your friends (and celebs) are up to through live updates.
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is a photo-only app that banks on creativity. ?People love it because it shows a little bit of your personality and your life,? said Brianna Booth, a freshman at Barrington.

Since Instagram?s launch in 2010, heaps of knockoff apps have debuted. Still, most lack the massive following that Instagram has built.

Instagram did come under fire late last year after changing its terms of service. Users worried that the app could sell their works of art. Instagram cleared that up: You own your photos, but Instagram can share your user data with its parent company, Facebook.

Grade: A
Top marks for: user-friendly tools, creativity and cult-like following
Could improve: confusing service terms

GifBoom

In a nutshell, GifBoom is a moving Instagram. The app makes it easy to create and share your very own gifs (aka animated photographs, like the ones on whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com). Unlike Tumblr, GifBoom only allows its users to share gifs?no still photos allowed.

One major complaint? It?s not super user-friendly at first. ?It was hard to navigate for the first week,? said Gina Paletta, a freshman at St. Charles East. ?I had no idea what I was doing and it took time to figure out.?

Once you get the hang of it, GifBoom is a unique app to have. If you?ve ever wished your Instagram photos could move, this app is for you.

Grade: B+
Top marks for: growing user base and clean design
Could improve: ease of use and tools

Pheed

If Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube had a baby (don?t ask us how), it would be Pheed. The easy-to-use, clutter-free app is quickly gaining popularity and followers. You can use Pheed to share texts, photos, videos, audio and live broadcasts.

Some would say the concept is new, but others find it repetitive. ?Facebook is all I need because other apps are basically all just the same,? said Jose Garcia, a junior at Carl Schurz.

But there is something that sets Pheed apart: Users can subscribe to premium channels for a fee (anywhere from $1.99 to $34.99 per month). For example, a singer might broadcast their performance or concert on Pheed and users would have to subscribe?and possibly pay a fee?to view it.

Grade: A-
Top marks for: clutter-free design and ease of use
Could improve: originality and premium fees

Path

If you love the idea of Facebook?s timeline, Path might just be your new favorite app. The new-ish concept allows you to share almost anything: your current location, what you?re listening to, future plans, cute stickers and more. The app also allows you to have conversations with friends (as shown above).

?Facebook and Instagram are easier to use and understand, but Path is a more minute-by-minute timeline of someone?s day,? said Brooke Rinker, a senior at St. Charles East.

One major difference between Facebook and Path is that you can have only 150 friends on Path. It creates a more close-knit feeling for many users, but some find it too restrictive.

Grade: B
Top marks for: live updating and variety
Could improve: sharing restrictions and ease of use

Snapchat

Snapchat is like nothing else on the app market. You take a photo or short video, add text or a doodle and send it to your friends to view for a set amount of time (one to 10 seconds, your choice). Once your friends open the pic, they have to press down on their phone screen to view your photo. After the timer is up, the photo or video disappears forever ? or so we?re told.

?Snapchat allows people to easily share information about their lives on a whole (different) level using photos,? said Willie Stevan, a sophomore at Whitney Young. ?I send about 15 snaps a day and receive, like, 50!?

One downfall? The privacy settings are questionable. A University of Michigan student and hacker, Raj Vir, reported that users secretly can save incoming images. Note to all: Don?t send anything via Snapchat that you wouldn?t want to resurface.

Grade: B+
Top marks for: originality and easy-to-use tools
Could improve: privacy settings

Also on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/mobile-app-ratings-teens-_n_3171661.html

al gore la dodgers lawrence o donnell magic johnson jetblue pilot solicitor general neighborhood watch

Happy Anniversary, William & Kate! A Look at Their Best Pics

As the royal couple celebrates two years of marriage, look back at their cutest moments since their fairy-tale wedding.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/prince-william-and-kate-middleton-anniversary-photos/1-b-448266?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aprince-william-and-kate-middleton-anniversary-photos-448266

ufc 143 what time does the super bowl start super bowl 2012 josephine baker ben gazzara nfl hall of fame 2012 ufc diaz vs condit

FBI Request to Hack Computer Denied (WSJ)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/301392973?client_source=feed&format=rss

illuminati illuminati ricin Google Fiber Boston Strong Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev Boston Bombing Suspect

Early Earth's chlorine blown away by giant impacts

Element has long puzzled scientists because modern levels are so low

By Erin Wayman

Web edition: April 24, 2013

Earthlings may owe a debt of gratitude to the enormous miniplanets that smashed into the planet in its youth. Such collisions might have knocked away much of the supply of chlorine concentrated on the planet?s surface, geochemists propose. Had that loss not occurred, the world?s oceans would have been too salty for complex life to thrive, they suggest.

The scenario may explain why Mars, which suffered fewer large impacts, may have more than twice as much chlorine as Earth does, the researchers report April 16 in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

?The story seems to hang together pretty well,? says James Brenan, a geologist at the University of Toronto who wasn?t involved in the study. ?Life, probably over a fairly long time, might have been able to adapt to this environment, though certainly things would be different than today.?

One snag is that the idea is ?a very difficult thing to test,? says geochemist Ray Burgess of the University of Manchester in England.

The composition of ancient meteorites, which are remnants of the raw material that built the planets, indicates that Earth should have 10 times as much chlorine as it does. The missing chlorine has perplexed scientists for decades. In 1995, geochemist William McDonough suggested that chlorine was dragged to Earth?s center by iron, nickel and other metals that formed the planet?s core.

Normally, chlorine and other elements known as halogens don?t readily dissolve in metals or often combine with other elements to form minerals found in rocks. But perhaps under the intense heat and pressure of the core, chlorine might have become more willing to mix with metal. ?I wasn?t happy with putting it in the core,? says McDonough, of the University of Maryland in College Park. But he didn?t know what else to do with it. ?I was scratching my head,? he says.

The new work suggests that, in fact, the core is not where chlorine went. In lab tests, Zachary Sharp of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and David Draper of the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston approximated the conditions of the core and observed chlorine?s behavior. They added iron metal, rocks typical of the mantle and a chlorine compound to a capsule heated to 1900? Celsius under pressures about 80,000 times higher than Earth?s atmospheric pressure. The result: Chlorine still didn?t dissolve in iron. That means chlorine probably isn?t hiding out in the core, Sharp says.

So he and Draper looked elsewhere for a solution. After ruling out the possibility that Earth never accumulated chlorine in the first place, the pair concluded that the incipient Earth rammed into giant planetary bodies more than 4 billion years ago and the repeated impacts blew the element away.

The explanation hinges on the peculiarity of chlorine. Unlike elements that mostly end up in rocks and metals, most of Earth?s chlorine is in salt deposits and brines or dissolved in the ocean. Because the element is concentrated on the surface, giant impacts in the past would have stripped away a good chunk of Earth?s chlorine supply, Sharp and Draper say.

Had the early impacts not happened, Sharp says, ?the Earth would have been a halogen-poisoned planet.? The oceans would be as salty as the Dead Sea, and high salinity would reduce precipitation. With less rain, there would be less erosion on land and fewer nutrients washing into the sea. In such a world, he says, ?it would be much more difficult for [complex] life to evolve.?

McDonough acknowledges that the new work disproves the idea that chlorine is trapped in the core. However, he?s not yet convinced that cosmic crashes removed the element. Even with the massive collision that created the moon, the pull of gravity returned to Earth most of the material that had been kicked into space, he says. ?But I don?t have a better idea.?

To strengthen the argument, planetary geochemist Mikhail Zolotov of Arizona State University in Tempe suggests that the team develop simulations to assess how impacts could have affected elements in the young Earth?s atmosphere, oceans and crust. The team could also investigate whether other elements preferentially found on the surface are also lower than expected. ?

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349930/title/Early_Earths_chlorine_blown_away_by_giant_impacts

robert griffin iii dontari poe space shuttle nyc monkeypox nick perry 30 rock live nfl draft picks 2012

Pot smokers aren't totally off the hook in Colo.

DENVER (AP) ? Medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but employers in the state can lawfully fire workers who test positive for the drug, even if it was used off duty, according to a court ruling Thursday.

The Colorado Court of Appeals found there is no employment protection for medical marijuana users in the state since the drug remains barred by the federal government.

"For an activity to be lawful in Colorado, it must be permitted by, and not contrary to, both state and federal law," the appeals court stated in its 2-1 conclusion.

The ruling concurs with court decisions in similar cases elsewhere and comes as businesses attempt to regulate pot use among employees in states where the drug is legal. Colorado and Washington state law both provide for recreational marijuana use. Several other states have legalized medical use. Police departments have been especially concerned since officers are sworn to uphold both state and federal laws.

The Colorado case involves Brandon Coats, 33, a telephone operator for Englewood, Colo.-based Dish Network LLC. Coats was paralyzed in a car crash as a teenager and has been a medical marijuana patient in the state since 2009.

He was fired in 2010 for failing a company drug test, though his employer didn't claim he was ever impaired on the job.

Coats sued to get his job back, but a trial court dismissed his claim in 2011. The judge agreed with Dish Network that medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by a state law intended to protect cigarette smokers from being fired for legal behavior off the clock. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than half of all states have such laws.

Dish Network did not return a call seeking comment.

Coats' attorney, Michael Evans, issued a statement saying the ruling has wide implications for Colorado marijuana laws.

"This case not only impacts Mr. Coats, but also some 127,816 medical marijuana patient-employees in Colorado who could be summarily terminated even if they are in legal compliance with Colorado state law," Evans noted.

Evans plans to ask the state Supreme Court to review the case.

Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, called it a setback.

"It's unfortunate, considering how much support there is for medical marijuana, that employers don't see this like any other medication," Fox said.

The Marijuana Policy Project said the ruling appears to be limited to state law because it does not fall under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Judge John Webb dissented in the split decision, saying he couldn't find a case addressing whether Colorado judges should consider federal law in determining the meaning of a Colorado statute.

Marijuana supporters say the courts are discriminating against them because Colorado's Lawful Off-Duty Activities law protects workers being fired for legal behavior off the clock, citing cigarette smoking as a protected activity.

The court said lawmakers could act to change the law to protect people who use marijuana, but there have been no plans to do that at the state Capitol.

Colorado's amendment legalizing recreational marijuana doesn't give people a constitutional right to smoke pot and doesn't protect users from criminal prosecution, from being fired or from other negative consequences. Backers said smoking off the job was a gray area and warned people to be familiar with their employers' drug policies.

The Washington state Supreme Court also has found that workers can be fired for using marijuana, even if authorized by the state's medical marijuana law.

Last year, a federal appeals court ruled against a cancer survivor in Battle Creek, Mich., who was fired from his job with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. after failing a drug test for marijuana. Joseph Casias had a medical marijuana card and said he used pot to alleviate symptoms of an inoperable brain tumor.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, the California Supreme Court also has ruled that people could be fired for testing positive for marijuana. The Legislature passed a bill to change that in 2008, but it was vetoed.

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin, Peter Banda and Eugene Johnson contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-says-pot-smokers-fired-even-colo-200634860.html

dwyane wade the night they drove old dixie down levon robbie robertson the curious case of benjamin button secret service prostitute rich ross

4 Ways to Encourage Children to Save for College

When 4-year-old Afton Barron gets to kindergarten, she'll attend a college graduation for the first time. She'll present a graduate she doesn't know with a candy necklace.

Each year, the Utah-based Barron family attends a local college graduation so their daughters can present graduates with the necklaces - part of parents Randy and Janae Barron's plan to introduce their children to the idea of saving for a college education from an early age.

All of their children are responsible for kicking in half of the money for their 529 college savings plans, tax-advantaged higher education investment accounts. The Barrons' three daughters accumulate college savings through birthday and holiday gifts, essay contests and community service awards.

[Avoid the costly college savings mistakes parents make.]

Saving for their educations builds a positive attitude as much as it builds college funding. "Nothing builds a child's confidence more than investing in their own future," says Lynne Ward, executive director of the Utah Educational Savings Plan. When children participate "in saving for their own college expenses, they not only learn the value of saving but also make a commitment to achieve a higher education."

To get children to help contribute to their own college funds, check out the four tips below offered by the Barrons and a financial expert.

1. Match funds when possible: The Barrons match contributions their three girls deposit into their individual 529 plan accounts. The girls get excited seeing their money double.

When 14-year-old Morgan was in elementary school, she earned a $600 cash prize from an essay contest. Her parents added $600. Mom Janae recounted how Morgan's older sister Amber told her, "You're rich!" after learning of her sister's $1,200 total.

The excitement continued when they won other contests. Janae recalls one instance where both of the older girls won savings bonds. Amber, now 17, decided to cash out her savings bond so she could double it with her parent's contribution, since the Barrons only match 529 plan deposits. Morgan said, "Yeah, yeah, let's cash our savings bonds."

For an additional incentive, the Barrons offer to completely pay for graduate school for any of their children who graduate from college.

[Follow this college savings checklist in 2013.]

2. Let the state chip in: Check to see if your state offers a matching grant program, says Dale Ellis, 529 plan project coordinator for the Arkansas State Treasury. A matching grant is where a state plan matches money deposited into the account by parents or others.

The good news is that the state typically doesn't take into account who puts money into the plan, he says.

If a state provided matching funds, a child could deposit $250, the parent could deposit $250 and the state plan would add $500, for a total of $1,000 added to college savings. State matching funds could continue for as many years as an individual plan allows, Ellis says.

[Learn more about taking advantage of state 529 matching.]

3. Have a clear conversation about financial responsibility: The Barrons send the children family expense reports. Before their children pick a career field or guess at the cost of a college education, the Barrons want them to understand the costs of living both during and after college.

Randy sent his eldest daughter an email that included the annual cost of her cellphone, $500, and the cost to fix the family van that she drives, $3,000. He also mentioned auto insurance costs. The Barrons believe it helps their children choose career fields to study with enough potential income that they could support a family.

[Get the most from your tuition dollars with these majors.]

4. Share 529 plan statements: The Barrons show each daughter her 529 plan statement every quarter. They want their children to know how their contributions have added up.

Middle daughter Morgan has nearly $5,000 in her account. About $2,000 came from her contributions, $2,000 from her parents' matching funds and $1,000 from investment earnings.

"When children know there's money set aside for college, it raises the expectations they have in themselves," Ellis says. They can see how their money grows, and that now they need to get good grades and apply themselves.

Trying to fund your education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for College center.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/4-ways-encourage-children-save-college-135907238.html

grammy award winners the band perry grammy awards whitney houston autopsy dobie gray bruce springsteen grammy nominations

Lloyds bank branch sale to Co-op collapses

By Matt Scuffham and Clare Hutchison

(Reuters) - The planned sale by state-backed Lloyds of hundreds of UK bank branches to the Co-op fell through on Wednesday, setting back government plans to boost competition in the industry.

The Co-op said it pulled out of the deal, worth up to 750 million pounds, due to toughening regulations and the worsening outlook for UK economic growth.

Lloyds, which is Britain's biggest retail bank and has over 2,900 branches in total, plans instead to spin-off the 630 branches under the TSB name and sell shares in the new company.

Parliamentarians had hoped the deal would create a viable competitor to Britain's established but unpopular lenders, which have been plagued by scandals including the mis-selling of insurance on loans and mortgages.

Britain's finance ministry said the government remained "determined to promote greater competition in the banking sector in order to provide consumers with more choice".

There was political support for the Co-op to play a bigger role in UK banking because of the firm's ethical credentials. The Co-operative is Britain's biggest mutual business, owned not by private shareholders, but by over 6 million individuals.

However, industry sources had expressed doubts for several months about the viability of the deal, mainly citing concerns about how the Co-op would meet regulatory capital requirements.

Co-op chief executive Peter Marks said in a statement that the deal would not currently deliver a suitable return in a reasonable timeframe and with an acceptable level of risk.

"This should serve as yet another warning to (chancellor) George Osborne that his economic plan is failing and he must urgently act to kickstart our flatlining economy," said Chris Leslie, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour party.

LLOYDS MUST SELL BRANCHES

Lloyds was ordered to sell the branches by European regulators as a condition of receiving state aid during the 2008 financial crisis when Britain pumped 20.5 billion pounds into the bank leaving taxpayers holding a 39 percent stake.

Industry sources said Lloyds will almost certainty need to request that EU regulators extend the November 2013 deadline they have set for a sale, which analysts expect to be granted.

A flotation of the branches is unlikely to be possible until the second half of 2014, sources have said.

Industry sources also said Lloyds has been hit with about 1 billion pounds in costs associated with the failed deal. The bank made underlying pretax profit of 2.6 billion pounds in 2012 and the Verde business, which comprises the branches for sale, has been making around 200 million pounds a year in profit, according to analysts.

Lloyds had prepared to operate the branches as a separate business from August, using the TSB brand which disappeared from the high street in 1995 when TSB and Lloyds merged.

Verde has around 5 million customers and represents about 6 percent of all bank branches in Britain.

Britain's "Big Five" lenders - Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander UK hold 83 percent of current accounts. Co-op's 150 year old banking business has only 2 percent.

A source close to the Co-op said there was no truth in speculation that it would now pull out of banking. Its other businesses include supermarkets, funeral services, travel and pharmacy.

Co-op's general insurance business was put up for sale last month in a move to bolster its capital but it has so far failed to find a buyer.

Co-op's future strategy will be shaped by incoming chief executive Euan Sutherland who takes the helm on May 1. Sutherland joins Co-op from European home improvement retailer Kingfisher.

"The challenge they've got is how can they grow the banking operation because it is fairly clear to me that it is a bit short on capital," said Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood.

With banks facing increasingly burdensome regulation and with low interest rates constraining profitability, Sutherland, who has spent his career in retail, might want to focus on that side of the business rather than banking, said analysts.

Co-op Bank made a loss of 674 million pounds last year. The other businesses in the group also struggled as the UK recession continue to bite.

Lloyds shares closed up 1.7 percent at 51.9 pence a share after a rise of 71 percent in the last 12 months.

(Additional reporting by Will James and David Milliken in London and Richa Naidu in Bangalore; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lloyds-sale-bank-branches-co-op-collapses-report-005223714--sector.html

barack obama dear abby WRAL John Harbaugh jill biden jill biden martin luther king jr

Suarez gets 10-game ban for biting opponent in arm

Liverpool's Luis Suarez is seen during his team's 2-2 draw against Chelsea in their English Premier League soccer match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday April 21, 2013. Suarez appeared to bite the arm of Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic at the end of a tussle during the game. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's Luis Suarez is seen during his team's 2-2 draw against Chelsea in their English Premier League soccer match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday April 21, 2013. Suarez appeared to bite the arm of Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic at the end of a tussle during the game. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's Luis Suarez is seen during his team's 2-2 draw against Chelsea in their English Premier League soccer match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday April 21, 2013. Suarez appeared to bite the arm of Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic at the end of a tussle during the game. (AP Photo/PA, Peter Byrne) UNITED KINGDOM OUT

Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic applauds supporters after his team's 2-2 draw against Liverpool during their English Premier League soccer match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday April 21, 2013. Luis Suarez scored a last-minute equalizer for Liverpool in a 2-2 draw, having earlier appeared to bite Branislav Ivanovic's arm in a second-half incident at Anfield. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

LONDON (AP) ? Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was banned for 10 matches by the English Football Association for biting an opponent during a Premier League match.

Unless he wins an appeal, that rules him out for the rest of the season. Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre says Suarez and the club were "shocked and disappointed" at the punishment.

The FA says in a statement Wednesday that a three-man independent panel ruled that the regular suspension of three games for violent conduct was "clearly insufficient."

Suarez bit Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on the upper right arm during the 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday. He wasn't sent off because the referee didn't see it.

Suarez has until Friday to appeal the seven games added to his sanction.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-24-SOC-Liverpool-Suarez-Banned/id-61d985f427474d688108eff19d6c5a57

timothy leary jonathan frid pujols watchmen hitch justin beiber lamar odom

To Share or Not to Share - Newsroom

(Illustration by Jamtoons/iStock)

What is it about social media that draws?people in? According to Facebook?s?website, its mission is ?to make the?world more open and connected.?People use Facebook to stay connected?with friends and family, to discover?what?s going on in the world, and to?share and express what matters to them.?

But is this really true? On social media sites, are people really?connected to each other, or merely engaged in an aggregation of?anonymous contacts? While it is true that Facebook?s popularity?has increased exponentially each year?since its inception, many current users censor?what photos and comments they share,?posting only content that positions them in?the best light possible. Yet even with this,?a large amount of personal information is?being made available online that may hinder?your online reputation, as well as aid?marketers in creating targeted advertising?intended to appeal to your interests and?preferences.

Beyond capturing a user?s time and?attention, social media is deemed a safe place?to share one?s innermost thoughts and feelings?for the world ? or at least a large online?audience ? to read. The need for a sense of?community and constant audience often?means users of social media sites such as?Facebook share far more information about?themselves than they reasonably should. Gone is the demand for?privacy. Now, people put their lives on the Internet for all to?see. For Christopher Michaelson, Ph.D., an ?associate professor of?business ethics at the Opus College of Business, this means that?people don?t fully understand the extent to which they are exposing?themselves online.

Today, there is more information available to decision makers?than one can feasibly manage, make sense of or put to use.?What does this mean for marketers? Jonathan Seltzer, an instructor?of marketing at the Opus College of Business, said, ?The sheer?wealth of data that is available increases the segmentation well?beyond what was previously imaginable.? Social media sites and?online networks leverage the power of peer-to-peer relationships?and referrals to learn about their users and make money based on?what they know. ?In theory, better targeting should mean more?efficient marketing for business, and in a consumer economy that?should equate to lower costs and happier customers,? said Michael?Porter, Ed.D., director of the Master of Business Communication?program at the Opus College of Business. But this may not always?be the case.

Information is Power

Not so many years ago, large companies were cautious about?using social media sites to gather information about job applicants?for fear of legal repercussions. Today, it is common practice to?Google an applicant?s name as a way to learn more about past work?history, interests and hobbies, as well as an applicant?s personal?life. Mick Sheppeck, Ph.D., an associate professor of management?at the Opus College of Business, noted, ?Companies are increasingly?using personal information as they?search for qualified applicants and this?is likely to continue until people become?more cognizant of what they are?sharing online and who can access that?information.?

In a January 2013 WCCO segment??Beware: Your Reputation is Now Being?Googled,? Greg Swan, a digital strategist?at Weber Shandwick, noted that 70 percent?of job candidates are rejected purely?based on the results of searching one?s name?online. ?It used to be that you?d ask someone,??Have you Googled yourself lately???and we?d all ?giggle. But now that?s a real?thing,? Swan said.

That?s not to say people are naive?about what they do and don?t share online,?but many do not realize the full extent of?their actions until it?s too late. Generally speaking, social media?users can be broken into two camps in terms of how they think?about personal information and one?s right to privacy. Sheppeck?said the smaller camp believes that access to personal data is the?way of the world. Regardless of safeguards, individuals cannot protect?themselves and should quit worrying. The other, larger camp?needs to pay more attention and be mindful of what they choose?to share. ?Millennials, even more than other groups, are limited in?their awareness of how personal information is being used today,??Sheppeck said.

Targeting the Masses

According to a February 2012 survey by the Pew Research?Center, 73 percent of 2,253 adult respondents answered that they?would not be OK with a search engine (such as Google) keeping?track of their searches and using the results to personalize?future searches. And 68 percent said they were uncomfortable?with targeted advertising for the same reason: They didn?t want?anyone tracking their behavior. That being said, user actions do?not reflect these findings as millions of people routinely share the?most intimate details of their lives online.

When Facebook launched in 2004, it was heralded for its lack?of advertising. With 1 billion active monthly users as of October?2012, a lot has changed since its founding. The ?average Facebook?user is regularly commenting on photos and ?liking? content,?updating their status and connecting with friends and family, as?well as those they?ve never met. While no stranger to advertising,?the average Facebook user may not realize how her information?is being used to generate the targeted ads she sees every time?she logs in. If you recently became engaged, the ads are tailored?accordingly and may include bridesmaid dresses, photographers,?upcoming wedding shows and invitations, with many products?and vendors showing up as promoted posts in a user?s news feed.?Once you update your status to reflect your recent nuptials, the?ads will change again, likely ?focusing on the next logical step after?that blissful walk down the aisle ? the?honeymoon followed by babies.

For those looking to advertise with?Facebook, the online social giant leverages?its more than 1 billion users, saying,??We?ll help you reach the right ones.??But what does that mean? Every piece?of information shared on Facebook says?something about a user. Individually,?those pieces of information aren?t much,?but together they tell a very complete?story about each user?s personal life,?education and work experience, likes and?hobbies, and much more. By targeting a?group based on location, age and likes,?marketers can reach a very specific segment?of their target audience and one?that is likely to be receptive to the message?being communicated.

Facebook?s primary source of revenue?is advertising. By selecting key?words and personal information shared by each user ? such as relationship?status, location, employment, likes and activities ? businesses?can run ads targeting a selected subset of users. A February?2012 article on the New York Times opinion page stated that?Facebook earned $3.2 billion in advertising revenue in 2011,?which makes up 85 percent of its total revenue.

The same article noted Google?s use of personal data for?advertising and its resulting $36.5 billion in advertising revenue?in 2011. By simply ?analyzing what people sent ?over Gmail and?what they searched on the Web,? Google obtains a mass of data?and information to sell ads, markedly more information than even?Facebook, given that Google is one of the most popular search?engines used today.

A Right to Privacy

According to Porter, ?There is a balance that consumers need?to accept between privacy and free services as a part of the economic?exchange.? As consumers, your buying habits and purchases?provide information about you, and retailers would be foolish to?ignore this information, but at what point does it cross the line??To that end, Sheppeck raised several interesting questions:??How much data is too much? Where should companies draw the?line when it comes to mining for customer information? If privacy?is the number one concern, at what point is an individual?s privacy?breeched??

Additionally, Sheppeck added, the mere act of tracking and?storing personal data puts that data at risk and, therefore, puts?individual privacy at risk. If the practice of mining?personal information is to continue with?little or no legislation regulating it there must?be safeguards in place to protect said data. While?breeches of security are to be expected, consumers?expect that personal information will be protected?in addition to being leveraged.

What the Future Holds

With far more questions than answers, this?issue is just starting to heat up. As users of social?media start at a younger age and people become?more conscious of how their personal information?is being used, as well as how it impacts?their online reputation and subsequent ability?to get a job, the legal ramifications will start?coming to light. ?Right now, the economy is?our primary concern. As the economy improves?or at least stabilizes, issues regarding user privacy?and how personal information is managed?will find their way into the courtroom, and the?resulting legislation will better safeguard the personal data being?shared online,? Sheppeck said. ?In the near future, we will need?a federal standard that articulates data areas that are off limits.?

Until then, users must be vigilant about what they do and?don?t share online. It often is forgotten that the Internet lives on.?You may delete a post or picture, but ?somewhere, on some far?distant server, there is a record of you at last year?s office party?with a lampshade on your head.

Read more from B. Magazine.

Source: http://www.stthomas.edu/news/2013/04/23/to-share-or-not-to-share/

Ed Sheeran Fun ll cool j Presidents Day 2013 jack white wiz khalifa 2013 Grammys

Play Tetris To Fix Your Lazy Eye

I cured my own lazy eye, in spite of being told repeatedly that it wasn't possible, and it wasn't through corrective lenses. Video games did play a major role however.

Basically I did my own research about what the cause is (one eye being worse than the other, so the brain learning over time to suppress the double input and only pay attention to the remainder) and what treatments did work for kids. They however said this couldn't be done with older people.

But, I took my own initiative anyways. I used something similar to a patch method where I basically just covered my good eye for a few weeks while watching TV and - you guessed it - video games. This resulted in double vision since I stopped suppressing the partial vision in my worse eye which was corrected with a prism (and my optometrist told me how bad of an idea this was, etc, which later I was told that his advice was wrong.) In addition, during this process I developed the eye in ways it hadn't before (namely, fine motor motion that was previously just ignored.)

After a long period of wearing the prism, I slowly learned how to read with both eyes. Or rather, how one eye leads the other eye - nobody taught me that, I just had to learn it on my own.

Later on down the line I found a competent doctor who said he could treat my double vision, and did so with an excruciatingly painful surgery (morphine couldn't cure my headaches.)

5 years later, I was able to eventually get it so that I would rarely if ever see double, no prism required. Every optometrist I've seen since then tells me that I never had a lazy eye. It's not true though because my medical records up until I was 21 say otherwise, rather they haven't seen anybody who was able to correct it in the way I have.

There's still one issue that I had to correct since then, namely being able to diverge the eyes on demand, which solves a range of other problems (such as not having double vision while laying down.) It was tricky to figure out how to train my brain how to do that, but once I did the results were good. Here's the gist of it:

Go find one of those "magic eye" cards where you try to see a 3d object by diverging your eyes (if you were around in the 90's, you might recall these as those annoying books that people used to faddishly carry around,) only use the simpler ones with more easily recognizable patterns. Something like this would do:

http://www.eyetricks.com/3dstereo83.htm [eyetricks.com]

Try to diverge your eyes so that two of those lizards become one. It is very difficult at first. A good trick is to have this picture displaying on a glossy (or at least somewhat reflective) monitor, and then put a light very far in front of your monitor so that it is behind you. Then position it so that it glares off of the screen, and each instance of that glare you see in your two eyes covers two of those lizards. Then simply focus your vision back and forth from that lightbulb, eventually getting rid of the lightbulb. Eventually you'll want to get to the point where you can cup your hands between your eyes so that your fingers guide each one to the lizards. Go from one lizard apart to two lizards apart, then three, then four.

This should take you about a week to do pretty well. Once that happens, you'll easily be able to master diverging your eyes proper at any angle you look at something.

Use different stereograms if you have to, just make sure they have that distinctive object in them rather than a bunch of small otherwise indistinguishable dots.

Personally, I still am unable to spot the 3d objects in those, but neither can a lot of people with perfect eyesight, so don't sweat it. However they still make good divergence training tools.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/BryyNi4grks/story01.htm

first day of spring Club Penguin Espn Bracket First Day Of Spring 2013 Suki Waterhouse dancing with the stars Bates Motel

Gut Microbe Makes Diesel Biofuel

Reconfiguring the genetics of the food pathogen E. coli produces hydrocarbons indistinguishable from those burned in trucks

By David Biello

E. coli can now replicate the hydrocarbon molecules that burn predominantly in big trucks and other powerful moving machines. Image: Flickr/Carlos de Paz

Welding bits and pieces from various microbes and the camphor tree into the genetic code of Escherichia coli has allowed scientists to convince the stomach bug to produce hydrocarbons, rather than sickness or more E. coli. The gut microbe can now replicate the molecules, more commonly known as diesel, that burn predominantly in big trucks and other powerful moving machines.

"We wanted to make biofuels that could be used directly with existing engines to completely replace fossil fuels," explains biologist John Love of the University of Exeter in England, who led the research into fuels. "Our next step will be to try to develop a bacterium that could be deployed industrially." Love?s work was published April 22 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That means harnessing E. coli's already high tolerance for harsh conditions, such as the high acidity and warmth of the human digestive tract. That hardiness also seems to be helping the bacterium survive its own production of such longer-chain hydrocarbons, which could have proved toxic to the microbes, in the way brewer's yeast cells are killed off by the alcohol they ferment. The engineered E. coli used genetic code from the insect pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens and from the cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme as well as soil microbe Bacillus subtilis to make the fuel molecules from fatty acids, along with a gene from the camphor tree?Cinamomum camphora?to cut the resulting hydrocarbon to the right length.

The E. coli are currently fed on sugar and yeast extract, which suggests that the resulting fuel would be expensive compared with the kind refined from oil found in the ground. "We are hopeful that we could change their diet to something less valuable to humanity," Love suggests. "For example, organic wastes from agriculture or even sewage."

Exactly how the E. coli microbes expel the diesel fuel molecules is unknown at this point. The researchers have found them floating in the growth medium, suggesting the microbes are somehow secreting the hydrocarbons from their cells once produced. "We don't know how they get there yet," Love admits. But that may solve a problem posed to other would-be biofuels produced in microbes; algal oils have proved difficult to extract cheaply and effectively from inside the algae themselves, among other challenges.

Besides a better grasp of the process itself, fine-tuning the genetic engineering may one day yield other useful hydrocarbons, such as jet fuel or even gasoline (a short-chained hydrocarbon). Similar work at the University of California, Berkeley, has tinkered with E. coli genetics to allow the bacteria to digest the inedible parts of plants known as cellulose and turn them into microbial diesel that can be used in place of fossil-fuel diesel or other useful hydrocarbons. And E. coli has been harnessed in the past to make specialty oils for cosmetics; the company Amyris makes the moisturizing oil known as squalane from E. coli fed sugarcane and grown in vats in Brazil. The synthetic biologists at Amyris have also coaxed yeast to produce the antimalarial drug artemisinin, a technology that is currently being commercialized with drugmaker Sanofi.

Regardless, industrial-scale fuel production from microbes remains a much tougher proposition than making specialty oils or medicines, given the low cost and high volumes required to compete with the fuels made from fossil sources. "Fuel is actually a lot cheaper than artemisinin, so it has to be made in significantly larger quantities," Love notes. "That in itself is a challenge."

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d7ead1449b1788bf22e13a011d3ffafa

Golf Channel Andy Enfield La Salle University the voice Denny Hamlin My Chemical Romance Olympus Has Fallen

Tim Cook teases "exciting new product categories" for this fall and 2014

Apple's quarterly conference calls are always full of enlightening snippets of information, and the call following the release of the second quarter of 2013 financial results was no exception. In addition to revealing explosive growth in China, aggressive iPhone 4 pricing in developing markets, and that there are still trade-offs that would exist were Apple to hypothetically make a hypothetical iPhone with a screen of some size hypothetically larger than the 4 inches of the current iPhone 5, Cook hinted that Apple is investing in "the potential of exciting new product categories" and that Apple might be announcing new products in the fall.

Of course, he wasn't nearly so direct, merely indicating that the fall quarter is when things might pick up a bit, saying that "We've got a lot more surprises in the works." In fact, the guidance for the next quarter seems to indicate that Apple's not planning anything major over the next two months. Apple hasn't had a major product launch so far this year - in fact, Cook lamented that perhaps Apple should have held back on the introduction of the new iMacs until the start of 2013 - and at this pace may not until this fall. Cook repeatedly hinted that Apple's engineers and developers are "hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software, and services that we can't wait to introduce in the fall and into 2014." So much for speculation of a summer iPhone launch, eh?

Of course, Cook declined to comment on when exactly that new hardware, software and services will hit the physical and virtual shelves, but it's looking like 2014 will be the year to watch for Apple.

Exactly which "exciting new product categories" Apple is exploring come the fall and 2014 is up in the air. There's the Apple Watch, which Apple is supposedly working hard on. There's the long- and oft-rumored iTV. And there are things that can almost state as fact as coming (though we won't until they're announced), like iOS 7 and a new iPhone without a bigger screen.

It's telling that Cook felt the need to state that these new products might come late this year or even into next year. The move was likely a deliberate effort to set investor expectations - the next quarter will be good, at least as far as Apple quarters are concerned (most companies would consider a quarter like this last one to be an extraordinary cause for celebration) - but not extraordinary like the preceding holiday quarter. And while Cook isn't happy about the decline in Apple's stock price, calling it "very frustrating", he said that "the most important objective at Apple will always be creating the most innovative products." And innovation takes time.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/h7_nuFKAYVs/story01.htm

jessica simpson santa tracker happy holidays Stores Open On Christmas Day Santa Claus Feliz Navidad Netflix down

News in Brief: Yangtze's age revealed

Geologists narrow window on time of the Chinese river?s origin

By Erin Wayman

Web edition: April 22, 2013

Enlarge

The Yangtze River formed by at least 23 million years ago but not before 36.5 million years ago, a new study finds.

Credit: Tan Wei Liang Byorn/Wikipedia

The world?s third longest river has a new age: The Yangtze River was in place by at least 23 million years ago, geologists report April 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Yangtze stretches for 6,300 kilometers across China, from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea. Geologists have debated the river?s age for more than a century, with estimates ranging from 2 million to 45 million years old. ?

A team led by Hongbo Zheng of Nanjing Normal University in China investigated the Yangtze?s antiquity by studying rocks in the Jianghan Basin, which the river flows through downstream of the Three Gorges Dam. The researchers found rocks there that appear similar to the river?s modern sediments and dated them to roughly 23 million years ago. Older sediments ? which can?t form in the presence of flowing water ? put an upper limit on the Yangtze?s age of 36.5 million years.

The researchers say the timing of the Yangtze?s birth corresponds with changes in China?s topography caused by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Asia?s summer monsoon rains also intensified around that time, which would have fed the fledgling river.?

---

Suggested Reading

A. Maxmen. Tibetan Plateau history gets a lift. Science News. Vol. 173, April 5, 2008, p. 222. [Go to]

S. Perkins. Three Gorges Dam is affecting ocean life. Science News. Vol. 169, May 20, 2006, p. 318. [Go to]

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349900/title/News_in_Brief_Yangtzes_age_revealed

merry Christmas a christmas story twas the night before christmas santa Capital STEEZ George Bush After Christmas Sales 2012

'Zoobiquity': What Humans Can Learn From Animal Illness

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz is a cardiac consultant for the Los Angeles Zoo, a member of the zoo's Medical Advisory Board and director of imaging at the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center.

Joanna Brooks/Vintage

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz is a cardiac consultant for the Los Angeles Zoo, a member of the zoo's Medical Advisory Board and director of imaging at the UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center.

Joanna Brooks/Vintage

Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, a cardiologist at the UCLA Medical Center, coined the term "zoobiquity" to describe the idea of looking to animals and the doctors who care for them to better understand human health. Veterinary medicine had not been on her radar at all until about 10 years ago. That's when she was asked to join the medical advisory board for the Los Angeles Zoo and she began hearing about "congestive heart failure in a gorilla or leukemia in a rhinoceros or breast cancer in a tiger or a lion."

Natterson-Horowitz explores the connection between human and veterinary medicine in a book she co-authored with Kathryn Bowers, Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health. "This comparative way of thinking is something that veterinarians learn from their first week of veterinary school," she tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "When they learn about the heart, they learn about a four-chambered heart in a mammal and a three-chambered heart in a reptile and a two-chambered heart in a fish. ... Physicians, we don't learn that way. We don't think that way."

The realization that a comparative approach, she says, could advance our knowledge of human medicine was something of a revelation. "It's been exciting for me," she says. " ... On rounds with students, when we're talking about ... breast cancer ? to point out that breast cancer has been seen in mammals from kangaroos and camels to whales, and that there is an increased rate of breast cancer and ovarian cancer in some Venezuelan jaguars."

Doctors, she says, can also learn about human psychological issues ? everything from self-injury to sexual dysfunction ? from studying the same problems in animals.

"Some dogs will just lick and lick and lick at their paws until the skin breaks," she says, "and it starts to bleed, but they continue to lick. So, you see, these grooming-related behaviors ... they're presumably doing this to comfort themselves. It's a kind of attempt to take a very challenging life or environment and make it more acceptable to them."

Interview Highlights

On the fight-or-flight response

"I learned from veterinarians that, you know, animals from Rottweilers and chihuahuas, in different kinds of canaries and lap dogs, that they can also faint in response to fear, and why that happens is really interesting and shared with us. It turns out that whether it's rabbits or monkeys or deer, that danger and noise ? the perception of danger ? causes these animals' heart rates to plummet ? particularly the juveniles ? and that really superslow heart rate keeps them still, and that's probably protective. It's an anti-predation response, which is different from what we typically think about the fight or flight, so it turns out that animals and humans are equipped not with two, but with three responses: fight, flight or faint."

On a salve for self-injury among horses

"They found that ... a flank-biting stallion, if you bring that isolated horse in a stall and return it to a herd ? you know, horses being herd animals ? that the companionship can really improve the self-injuring behavior. If there aren't other horses, they have actually had success putting little chickens in a stall with a horse, so just the presence of companionship can help with self-injury."

On the sexual education of stallions

"How a stallion is raised from foalhood has a big impact on his sexual performance and sexual health as an adult. ... First of all, they make sure that the horse does not have too much sexual experience too early. That can be detrimental. They are careful with which mares they put with the young stallion for his first experiences. You know, a mean mare ? a mare that might physically hurt the young stallion ? could impact him psychologically, so they're just careful about those early sexual experiences."

On the lack of of comparative medicine education in medical school

"It used to be different. My father is a physician, and he tells me that when he went to medical school they had courses in comparative anatomy and comparative pathology, but my dad is turning 90 this year, so it seems that sometime between when he went to medical school and when I went to medical school, the comparative perspective of those courses were dropped from the curriculum."

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/04/22/177452982/zoobiquity-what-humans-can-learn-from-animal-illness?ft=1&f=1007

2012 westminster dog show abe lincoln vampire hunter xi jinping matt bomer westminster kennel club dog show jeremy lin game winner chocolate covered strawberries