Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/kate-middleton-praised-as-incredible-role-model-by-scouts/
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
'No more hurting people.' Will a safer future follow Boston tragedy's wake?
Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy killed in the Boston Marathon bomb attack, once held a sign that said 'peace' and 'no more hurting people.' Research finds a pattern of lessening violence as human history moves forward.
A photo of Martin Richard, 8, hangs at a makeshift memorial near the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon explosions, which killed three and injured more than 170. Martin was killed in the explosions.
Matt Rourke/AP
EnlargeOf all the images from the Boston Marathon tragedy that became suddenly iconic this week, none was more poignant than this: a photo showing how Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who died in the bomb attack, once held a sign that said ?peace? and ?no more hurting people.?
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As a city and nation struggle to move forward, that sign implies one of the big questions that remains: What can be done to prevent such acts of senseless destruction in the future?
The search for answers will take time.
In the case of the explosions that rocked the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15, the suspects identified Thursday by the FBI have now been captured. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a gun battle with police, while his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is at a Boston hospital under tight security.
But their motive was still a matter of investigation Saturday.
Whatever ?is eventually determined ? whether the attacks stemmed from affiliation with some terrorist ideology or by something else ? officials in cities around the nation are now thinking harder about how to protect against such potential attacks, notably on ?soft targets? like an outdoor road race that are difficult to secure.
One answer, already, is stepped-up security measures by law enforcement.
From public events in America this weekend to the running of ?the London Marathon this Sunday, the presence of law enforcement is greater than it would have been had the Boston attack not occurred. But, although Boston in recent days has seen a dramatic ?surge? of police and National Guard troops, limited government budgets and the huge number of soft targets mean that such efforts are an imperfect defense.
Another part of the answer is public vigilance ? ordinary people being alert about behavior that raises doubts about the intentions or mental stability of acquaintances. Again, this is an imperfect defense.
Some people who knew 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in school said that he did normal activities like sports and parties. ?He was never a troublemaker,? one former teacher said.
The Boston case also coincides with growing public debate about three issues with big implications for prevention of violent crime and terrorism: Gun control, immigration reform, and civil liberties in an era of drones and databases of online information.
On firearms, this was a case where the alleged bombers used guns as well as explosives. One of four people killed in the bombing and its aftermath was an MIT campus police officer who was shot while in his car.
The Tsarnaev brothers exchanged gunfire with police during a chase and manhunt that ended Friday night.
This comes during a week when supporters of stronger background checks for gun purchases failed in a US Senate vote. The National Rifle Association and some others argue that Americans? safety can be enhanced through a greater presence of armed ?good guys,? including guards to prevent Newtown-style tragedies in schools. At the same time, many Americans want to see access to assault weapons restricted, and efforts to ensure that people with criminal records or diagnosed mental disorders can?t buy firearms.
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Monday, April 22, 2013
Grains of sand from ancient supernova found in meteorites: Supernova may have been the one that triggered the formation of the solar system
Apr. 19, 2013 ? It's a bit like learning the secrets of the family that lived in your house in the 1800s by examining dust particles they left behind in cracks in the floorboards.
By looking at specks of dust carried to earth in meteorites, scientists are able to study stars that winked out of existence long before our solar system formed.
This technique for studying the stars -- sometimes called astronomy in the lab -- gives scientists information that cannot be obtained by the traditional techniques of astronomy, such as telescope observations or computer modeling.
Now scientists working at Washington University in St. Louis with support from the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, have discovered two tiny grains of silica (SiO2; the most common constituent of sand) in primitive meteorites. This discovery is surprising because silica is not one of the minerals expected to condense in stellar atmospheres -- in fact, it has been called 'a mythical condensate.'
Five silica grains were found earlier, but, because of their isotopic compositions, they are thought to originate from AGB stars, red giants that puff up to enormous sizes at the end of their lives and are stripped of most of their mass by powerful stellar winds.
These two grains are thought to have come instead from a core-collapse supernova, a massive star that exploded at the end of its life.
Because the grains, which were found in meteorites from two different bodies of origin, have spookily similar isotopic compositions, the scientists speculate in the May 1 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters, that they may have come from a single supernova, perhaps even the one whose explosion is thought to have triggered the formation of the solar system.
A summary of the paper will also appear in the Editors' Choice compilation in the May 3 issue of Science magazine.
The first presolar grains are discovered
Until the 1960s most scientists believed the early solar system got so hot that presolar material could not have survived.
But in 1987 scientists at the University of Chicago discovered miniscule diamonds in a primitive meteorite (ones that had not been heated and reworked). Since then they've found grains of more than ten other minerals in primitive meteorites.
Many of these discoveries were made at Washington University, home to Ernst Zinner, PhD, research professor in Physics at Washington University in St. Louis, who helped develop the instruments and techniques needed to study presolar grains (and the last author on the paper).
The scientists can tell these grains came from ancient stars because they have highly unusual isotopic signatures. (Isotopes are different atoms of the same chemical element that have a slightly different mass.)
Different stars produce different proportions of isotopes. But the material from which our solar system was fashioned was mixed and homogenized before the solar system formed. So all of the planets and the Sun have the pretty much the same isotopic composition, known simply as "solar."
Meteorites, most of which are pieces of asteroids, have the solar composition as well, but trapped deep within the primitive ones are pure samples of stars. The isotopic compositions of these presolar grains provide clues to the complex nuclear and convective processes operating within stars, which are poorly understood.
Even our nearby Sun is still a mystery to us; much less more exotic stars that are incomprehensibly far away.
Some models of stellar evolution predict that silica could condense in the cooler outer atmospheres of stars but others predict silicon would be completely consumed by the formation of magnesium- or iron-rich silicates, leaving none to form silica.
But in the absence of any evidence, few modelers even bothered to discuss the condensation of silica in stellar atmospheres. "We didn't know which model was right and which was not, because the models had so many parameters," said Pierre Haenecour, a graduate student in Earth and Planetary Sciences, who is the first author on the paper.
The first silica grains are discovered In 2009 Christine Floss, PhD, research professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, and Frank Stadermann, PhD, since deceased, found the first silica grain in a meteorite. Their find was followed within the next few years by the discovery of four more grains.
All of these grains were enriched in oxygen-17 relative to solar. "This meant they had probably come from red giant or AGB stars" Floss said.
When Haenecour began his graduate study with Floss, she had him look at a primitive meteorite that had been picked up in Antarctica by a U.S. team. Antarctica is prime meteorite-hunting-territory because the dark rocks show up clearly against the white snow and ice.
Haenecour with the NanoSIMS 50 ion microprobe he used to look for presolar grains in a primitive meteorite. The silica grain he found is too small to be seen with the unaided eye, but the microprobe can magnify it 20,000 times, to about the size of a chocolate chip.
Haenecour found 138 presolar grains in the meteorite slice he examined and to his delight one of them was a silica grain, But this one was enriched in oxygen-18, which meant it came from a core-collapse supernova, not a red giant.
He knew that another graduate student in the lab had found a silica grain rich in oxygen-18. Xuchao Zhao, now a scientist at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics in Beijing, China, found his grain in a meteorite picked up in Antarctica by the Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition.
With two specks to go on, Haenecour tackled the difficult problem of calculating how a supernova might have produced silica grains. Before it explodes, a supernova is a giant onion, made up of concentric layers dominated by different elements.
A massive star that will explode at the end of its life, a core-collapse supernova has a layered structure rather like that of an onion.
Some theoretical models predicted that silica might be produced in massive oxygen-rich layers near the core of the supernova. But if silica grains could condense there, Haenecour and his colleagues thought, they should be enriched in oxygen-16, not oxygen-18.
They found they could reproduce the oxygen-18 enrichment of the two grains by mixing small amounts of material from the oxygen-rich inner zones and the oxygen-18-rich helium/carbon zone with large amounts of material from the hydrogen envelope of the supernova.
In fact, Haenecour said, the mixing needed to produce the composition of the two grains was so similar that the grains might well come from the same supernova. Could it have been the supernova whose explosion is thought to have kick-started the collapse of the molecular cloud out of which the planets of the solar system formed?
How strange to think that two tiny grains of sand could be the humble bearers of such momentous tidings from so long ago and so far away.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Pierre Haenecour, Xuchao Zhao, Christine Floss, Yangting Lin, Ernst Zinner. FIRST LABORATORY OBSERVATION OF SILICA GRAINS FROM CORE COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE. The Astrophysical Journal, 2013; 768 (1): L17 DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/768/1/L17
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Zooey Deschanel misidentified as Boston Marathon bombing suspect by Fox TV?s closed-captioning
April 22 (Reuters) - Pep Guardiola is not the only connection between Bayern Munich and Barcelona, who meet in their Champions League semi-final, first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. Both teams are dominating their leagues to an almost embarrassing extent, have won the Champions League four times apiece, share an acrimonious rivalry with Real Madrid, and owe part of their success to the flamboyant Dutchman Louis van Gaal. Both have also been in two Champions League finals in the last four years, though the Catalans won both of theirs and the Bavarians came out losers on each occasion. ...
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Sunday, April 14, 2013
Korean rapper Psy chases new megahit with
By Ju-min Park and Elaine Lies
SEOUL (Reuters) - Hips swinging, South Korean rapper Psy launched the dance and video of his new song "Gentleman" at a packed Seoul concert on Saturday, with nearly 160,000 tuned in online to see if he could carry off a repeat of his megahit "Gangnam Style".
The video for "Gangnam Style" is the most watched ever on YouTube with more than 1.5 billion hits, and its horse-riding dance has been imitated by thousands around the world, from Eton schoolboys, to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
But a recent challenge from the "Harlem Shake" global dance craze upped the ante for "Gentleman", and the 35-year-old Psy has made it clear he was aware of the high expectations.
"Of course I feel more burden than before, because lots of people are watching," he told a news conference before the concert. "(Today's show) is a performance of thanks for the 'Gangnam Style' success."
The video for "Gentleman", whose refrain is "I'm a mother father gentleman", featured a fast, hip-swinging dance by Psy in his trademark sunglasses and a variety of jackets, from baby blue to hot pink and sparkly white.
Fans, many of them dressed in white as Psy had requested before the concert, packed the 50,000 seats at Seoul's World Cup Stadium. The concert was also streamed live on the Internet.
"Gentleman", released on Friday at midnight, had more than 1.2 million hits on YouTube for the song alone before the concert. It was 90th on the Apple iTunes store chart.
"I thought it was really good, really funny. It is hard to compare with the classic though. 'Gangnam Style' is perfect," said Mark McKeon, a 25-year-old English teacher at the concert, who said he thought the new song still would do well.
Others said the video helped. "When I listened to just the song, it wasn't good, but it is now okay with lots of dancers dancing together," tweeted one Korean man.
ROCKY ROAD TO FAME
Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, graduated from Berklee College of Music in the United States but had a rocky decade in show business before "Gangnam Style" rocketed him to global fame.
His debut 2001 album, "Psy from the Psycho World", ran into trouble with the authorities for "inappropriate content" in the lead song, which was seen as sexually suggestive. He was charged with possession of marijuana in 2002.
He released five more albums.
Psy's brash style - at Saturday's concert, he danced to a Beyonce song in a skimpy bodysuit - contrasts sharply with the polished stars that dominate K-pop, an increasing presence on the world stage.
A Music Industry White Paper published by the Korean Creative Content Agency said sales of K-pop outside Korea surged 135 percent in 2011 to $196 million. In 2006, overseas sales were worth $16.7 million.
"Gangnam Style" racked up 3.59 million digital sales in the United States and Canada last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BDS, ninth in the best-selling list. It was third on Amazon's MP3 song bestseller list for 2012.
But it has been challenged by "Harlem Shake", an electronic dance track by DJ Baauer released last year that went viral as a YouTube craze after Australian teenagers posted their version of the dance, sparking thousands of imitations.
(Editing by Jon Hemming)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/korean-rapper-psy-chases-megahit-gentleman-video-135801186.html
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Saturday, April 13, 2013
Goal of nuclear-free NKorea tests US, China ties
BEIJING (AP) ? Bound by threats from North Korea, the U.S. and China agreed Saturday to rid the bellicose nation of nuclear weapons in a test of whether the world powers can shelve years of rivalry and discord, and unite in fostering global stability.
Beyond this latest attempt to restrain North Korea, the burgeoning nuclear crisis has so frustrated the U.S. and China that they are forming a new and tentative bond with the potential to carry over into areas that have vexed them for decades.
But they will need to overcome the longstanding prickly relations between Beijing's communist government and Washington's free-market democracy. The two are economic competitors, and China is far more reluctant than the U.S. to intervene in international military conflicts.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday described a "synergy" between the two countries to achieve worldwide security and economic stability.
"We have a stake in China's success. And frankly, China has a stake in the success of the United States," Kerry told reporters in the Chinese capital. "And that became clear in all of our conversations here today. A constructive partnership that is based on mutual interest benefits everybody in the world."
Kerry met with the new Chinese leaders to discuss a range of issues, most notably the persistent and increasingly pitched threats that North Korea has issued against the U.S., South Korea and Japan the over the past several months.
North Korea appears to be readying a missile test, in what the U.S. says would be its third since December, and there are varying opinions in Washington as to whether the North is able to develop and launch nuclear-tipped missiles.
One U.S. intelligence assessment suggested North Korea had the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a missile, even if any such weapon would have low reliability.
Kerry and the Chinese foreign policy chief, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, said the two nations would work together to create a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, effectively forcing North Korea to give up its arsenal.
The reclusive North Korean government and its young leader, Kim Jong Un, are more likely to listen to China, its main economic and diplomatic partner and lifeline to the outside world, than anyone else.
Yang, through an interpreter, described China's stance on North Korea as "clear cut" and called for resuming the six-nation talks that fell apart four years ago and are aimed at ending the nuclear threat.
"China is firmly committed to upholding peace and stability and advancing the denuclearization process on the Korean peninsula," Yang told reporters. "We maintain that the issue should be handled and resolved peacefully through dialogue. ... To properly address the Korean nuclear issue serves the interests of all parties."
But Kerry made clear that the U.S. would keep close watch on how China continues to deal with North Korea to "make sure this is not rhetoric but that this is real policy."
North Korea was but one issue that was high on the priority list of discussions, Kerry said.
China and the U.S. have the two most powerful economies and are two of the largest energy users. They agreed to hold high-level talks on climate change and to ease business investment cooperation.
Kerry also raised the possibility of scaling back America's military presence in the Asia-Pacific region once the Korean nuclear crisis is resolved. Beijing has been disgruntled about U.S. missile defense systems in China's backyard.
"Obviously, if the threat disappears," meaning a nuclear-free North Korea, "the same imperative does not exist at that point in time for us to have that kind of robust, forward-leaning posture of defense," Kerry said. "And it is our hope in the short run that we can address that."
Western experts predict that China will move slowly and cautiously, if at all, toward becoming a more reliable U.S. ally. China remains deeply skeptical of President Barack Obama's policy shift to Asia, which Beijing views as U.S. attempts to contain its economic might.
It's also unlikely that China will sever its long ties with North Korea. The Chinese dramatically have boosted trade with their neighbors and maintain close military relations some six decades after they fought side by side in the Korean War. They provide North Korea with most of its fuel and much of its food aid.
China has a history of quickly reversing course after talking tougher with North Korea. In late 2010, as American officials were praising Beijing for constructive efforts after the North shelled a South Korean island, a Chinese company agreed to invest $2 billion in a North Korean industrial zone.
"The U.S. has to be cautious in expecting a major breakthrough on North Korea out of the new Chinese leadership," said Christopher Johnson, a former CIA analyst who is now a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "There's a risk of too much exuberance on the U.S. side. ... The Chinese just can't turn the battleship as quickly as we might like."
But Johnson said even minor progress on North Korea could translate into a warming between Washington and Beijing, which appears now to be "at least willing to talk."
"If we can talk on an issue that is as sensitive as an issue as North Korea, we can talk about other issues," Johnson said. "It speaks very well for other touchy issues in the relationship at the moment."
___
Jakes reported from Washington.
___
Follow Bradley Klapper on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bklapperAP and Lara Jakes at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/goal-nuclear-free-nkorea-tests-us-china-ties-200746904--politics.html
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Four more dogs found dead in Idaho as dog disappearances, killings mount
By Laura Zuckerman
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Four dogs have been found beaten in the head and shot to death in rural southern Idaho, authorities said on Thursday, adding to the mysterious disappearance and killing of dozens of dogs that has left residents in that area on edge.
Examinations showed that the German Shepherd mixes, whose carcasses had been dumped in a pile off a highway south of Twin Falls, had been bludgeoned and shot in the head, said Gary Trostel, deputy with the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office.
"We didn't know until today how they had died: poisoned or shot or what. We knew it was some type of head trauma the way the eyes bulged out and with all the bleeding," Trostel said.
Animal control officers reported last month that roughly 30 dogs had gone missing since November in Twin Falls and nearby communities in a farming region known as the Magic Valley.
A German shepherd discovered by hikers last month in an area known as the Devil's Corral in neighboring Jerome County appeared to have suffered what animal control officers called a "ritualistic execution" in which its head was crushed with rock and its carcass covered with a purple cloth.
Trostel said an examination of that dog showed it had been beaten and shot in the head.
The Humane Society of the United States is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the dog's death. It was unclear if that dog's death was related to the other disappearances and killings.
Trostel said pet owners in the area are in a state of "constant concern". He said residents were being urged to report any stalking or disappearance of pets and to prevent their dogs from roaming.
"We're staying on it and working with what leads we have. We know something is going on but we don't know what it all means. We're trying to find out," said Trostel.
No one has claimed the dead dogs. The carcasses show no signs that the animals had been used for dog fighting, which is illegal in Idaho, Trostel said.
(Editing by Dan Whitcomb)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/four-more-dogs-found-dead-idaho-dog-disappearances-225639807.html
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Best-selling author Daniel H. Wilson on naming robotic villains and high-end gaming PCs
Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire.
In the latest installment of our weekly smattering of queries, best-selling author and roboticist Daniel H. Wilson talks corporate Kool-Aid and the evils of stock market AI. Join us on the other side of the jump for the full gamut of responses.
Filed under: Misc
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/12/engadget-questionnaire-daniel-h-wilson/
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Today in Drink Tech: Ultrasonic Beer Frother and Spoon-friendly ...
Apr 11
Not only do technology and food get on splendidly, but tech and beverages are major besties as well. It seems nearly every day a new and innovative way to chomp, swallow and drink comes to our attention. Today we are going to look at two new ways to get your drink on.
First up, an ultrasonic beer frother. Wait, what? This device solves the age old problem of what to do when your beer is sort of flat. You just place your brew on the doodad, push a button and it will turn a lifeless serene beer-scape into a frothy wonderland. This magical gadget hails from Japan, but you can import one for around $40.
Next, we present to you a coffee mug that will ensure your stirring spoon never accidentally pokes you in the eye and turns you into a cyclops. Designer Lee Hae Seung Scott has created the NOTA coffee mug, which comes with a nifty little slot that cradles and holds spoons firmly in place. Alas, this eye-protecting innovation is not yet available for purchase so we?ll have to continue to lay our spoons on the table for the time being.
Source: http://blog.cookingchanneltv.com/2013/04/11/ultrasonic-beer-frother-and-spoon-friendly-coffee-mug/
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Saturday, April 6, 2013
Italy pardons US Air Force officer in CIA case
ROME (AP) ? Italy's president on Friday pardoned a U.S. Air Force colonel convicted in absentia by Italian courts in the CIA-conducted abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from a Milan street in a move he hoped would keep American-Italian relations strong, especially on security matters.
President Giorgio Napolitano's office said the head of state granted the pardon "in hopes of giving a solution to a situation to an affair considered by the United States to be without precedent because of the aspect of convicting a U.S. military officer of NATO for deeds committed on Italian soil."
Joseph Romano was security chief of northern Italy's Aviano air base where the abducted Egyptian Muslim cleric was taken before being flown out of the country and eventually to Egypt. He was one of 23 Americans convicted in absentia in the case and whose convictions were upheld last year by Italy's highest criminal court. Three other American had been acquitted in a first trial because of diplomatic immunity, but earlier this year, a Milan appeals court convicted the three, who included a former CIA station chief.
The trial was the first in the world involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program to abduct terror suspects and transfer them to third countries where torture is permitted. Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was abducted in 2003 while walking down a street in Milan, where he preached. The cleric was hustled by car off to Aviano, then transferred to a U.S. military base in Germany, before being flown to Egypt, where he said he was tortured. He was eventually released.
Romano's defense said he was never formally notified of charges. Twenty-three Americans were convicted, all in absentia, and Italy's highest criminal court last year upheld the convictions.
That top court decision paved the way for extradition requests by Italian authorities, but so far none have come from Premier Mario Monti's government, which is staying on in a caretaker role following elections earlier this year. Napolitano, as president, has the power to grant pardon, and he issued Romano's pardon a month before his seven-year-term expires.
The presidential palace statement said that in deciding to pardon Romano, Napolitano had "above all, taken into account the fact that the president of the United States, Barack Obama, immediately after his election, put an end to an approach of handling the challenges to national security" that were put into place after the Sept. 11 attacks, "a precise and concrete" moment in history. Referring to U.S. war on terror approaches like extraordinary rendition, the statement said such practices were "considered by Italy and the European Union not compatible with fundamental principles of rule of law."
Obama and Napolitano have enjoyed a strong personal relationship. Napolitano also considered a recent change in Italian law on criminal procedures that renounces Italian jurisdiction on crimes committed by NATO soldiers, the statement said.
Asked for reaction, the White House referred the matter to the Pentagon, which said it had no comment.
Although concern for the continuation of the long and traditionally strong Italian-U.S. ties weighed on Napolitano's decision, the timing might boost Rome's position in a current dispute with India. Two Italian marines are facing criminal action by courts in India for the shooting of two Indian fishermen mistaken for pirates while the Italians were providing security for an Italian cargo ship in the Indian Ocean. Italy insists it should try its own military men, while India insists it has jurisdiction.
In the cleric's abduction case, the Americans were convicted in absentia following a three-and-a-half year trial and never were in Italian custody.
Roman's lawyer had said he would take the case to the EU human rights court on the basis that Romano was never formally notified of the charges against him, and that lower courts had rejected some witnesses. Romano was one of only two Americans who received permission to hire his own lawyer during the original trial.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italy-pardons-us-air-force-officer-cia-case-200455612.html
Friday, April 5, 2013
US trade deficit narrows to $43B in February
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in February as exports climbed close to an all-time high and the volume of imported crude oil fell to the lowest level in 17 years.
The gap between exports and imports shrank to $43 billion in February, down 3.4 percent from January's revised $44.5 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the smallest trade imbalance since December when the gap had declined to $38.1 billion, the lowest point in nearly three years.
Exports rose 0.8 percent to $186 billion, close to the record high set in December. Stronger exports of U.S. energy products and autos offset declines in sales of airplanes and farm equipment.
Imports were flat at $228.9 billion with the volume of crude oil falling to the lowest point since March 1996.
The politically sensitive deficit with China shrank to $23.4 billion, the lowest point in 11 months. Exports to the European Union were down 0.9 percent in February, compared to January, reflecting continued economic weakness as that region struggles with a recession triggered by a debt crisis.
Through the first two months of this year, the U.S. deficit is running at an annual rate of $524.5 billion, down slightly from last year's $539.5 billion imbalance.
Economists expect the deficit this year will narrow slightly, in part because of continued gains in U.S. energy exports. A narrower trade gap boosts growth because it means U.S. companies are earning more from overseas sales while U.S. consumers and businesses are spending less on foreign products.
But Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said that he was worried that expectations for exports to keep rising faster than imports may fall short given uncertain global conditions.
"We are concerned that subdued global demand will hold back export growth. And the rest of the data released this week makes us more concerned that the domestic economy is a bit weaker than we thought," he said.
In a separate report Friday, the government said that the U.S. economy created just 88,000 jobs in March, the fewest in nine months.
The economy as measured by the gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter. Economists believe economic growth strengthened in the January-March quarter to around 3 percent.
In addition to increases in U.S. energy exports, economists are also hopeful that exports of other products will rise this year as well, helped by stronger growth in some major export markets.
That forecast is based on an assumption that the European debt crisis will stabilize, helping boost exports to that region and that growth in Asia will rebound further. The outlook for Europe has been clouded in recent weeks by a flare-up of financial problems in Cyprus and raised new worries about the danger that the debt troubles could destabilize more European nations.
For all of 2012, the trade deficit with China increased to $315.1 billion, the largest imbalance ever recorded with a single country. The high deficits with China are adding pressure on the Obama administration to take a harder line on China's trade practices. Some U.S. manufacturers contend that China keeps the value of its currency artificially low to make its exports to the U.S. cheaper.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew traveled to Beijing last month on his first foreign trip since taking over the Treasury job from Timothy Geithner. Lew discussed a variety of trade issues including currency, copy-right piracy and computer hacking. In his talks with the Chinese, Lew drew a distinction between criminal cyberattacks, which are a common threat, and spying by state-sponsored enterprises. The White House has called on Beijing to take action to stop computer attacks aimed at stealing company secrets.
Production of oil and natural gas has been rising in the United States because drillers have learned to tap once-inaccessible reserved trapped in shale formations. New techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have made this possible.
Increased production has lowered U.S. prices of crude oil and natural gas, which refiners use to make gasoline, diesel and other fuels. Crude in the U.S. has been selling for $20 per barrel cheaper than international crude. With lower input costs, U.S. refiners are making enormous amounts of petroleum-based fuels and selling them on the international market at a huge profit.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-trade-deficit-narrows-43b-february-123535108--finance.html
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Pennsylvania Dirt: Mountain Biking in the East | The official blog of ...
Crouching in the weeds like an animal stalking its prey, I wait. I hear the bugs talking to each other around me, but I ignore their chatter and fiddle with my telephoto lens. The only thing I?m hunting for today is a killer photo.
My other half rides his Specialized mountain bike religiously. I?ll often catch him just caressing his tangible fun and drooling over the mud that covers the gears. He gets restless if he hasn?t ridden his bike in a while, flying downhill at rapid speeds. Curiosity finally overcame me and I asked to come along to catch a glimpse of the madness? And take a few pictures too.
Pennsylvania ? although far from on par with the mountain biking trails of British Columbia or Colorado ? does offer more cross country trails than most states in the east. We hail from Pittsburgh so whenever Brad (my other half) gets anxious for a local ride he will explore the many wooded trails of Frick Park or test himself on the newly constructed downhill course at North Park. Dr. J?s 4 foot wide downhill course at North Park snakes it way through a wooded area tempting new riders and experienced riders alike to try their hand at the ladder bridges, drops, and berms.
But when my adrenaline junkie can?t get his fix from local rides, he straps his Enduro mountain bike to the roof rack and heads southeast of the city to Seven Springs Mountain Resort where the downhill terrain lets advanced bikers experience trails with rock gardens, table tops, banks, and 20 foot jumps. The downhill course is open from May to October, which means the trails are maintained during that time and a chairlift is being operated to take riders to the top of the mountain.
As soon as we arrive at Seven Springs, I noticed all the other enthusiasts have just as much gear as Brad. This sport is dangerous, so don?t skimp when purchasing or renting your gear. For this type of downhill recreation you?ll likely need a full face helmet, chest pad, knee pads, a leatt brace (or neck brace), goggles, gloves, pants, and a jersey material shirt. But of course if you?re just going on a casual mountain bike ride through the woods, less gear will suffice.?If you have yet to cough up the dough for your own body armor, no problem. You can usually rent gear at any resort that offers downhill terrain.
A few words of advice before you hit up the course at Seven Springs: scout ahead before you take on a big jump, allow yourself a few warm-up runs prior to sending the big stuff, keep your eyes off the obstacles under you and focus on what?s ahead. ?Have those fingers on the brakes at all times because you will need them, hot shot. Some grip strength workouts are a good idea if this is your sport. After a day of riding your hands will feel fatigue. May I recommend rock climbing with friends to get your hands in shape for riding??Your stance should be in an attack position: knees and elbows out, head up, strong wrists, so basically mimic a push up on top of your bike.
Essentially, this is not a sport for the weak at heart. If you?re attempting it for the first time, then embark on some easier downhill terrain first, and steer clear of the infamous rock garden until you?ve had some rides under your belt. ?Rock and Roll? trail at Seven Springs Resort is designed for beginner mountain bikers. The entire bike park has over a dozen runs for all levels. Recent additions to the terrain include a new slope-style area with bigger jumps that the crew has been working on over the past few years to enhance your experience. When you?re dialed in and ready to ride, get after it! Slash berms, scrum tables, zone out and enjoy your day with the dirt.
I wait in the weeds, camera positioned at the last 25 foot jump before the course comes to an end. Quickly snapping photos, I watch the brave souls launch not only their bodies but their equipment in the air. It?s hard to tell through the full face helmets, but riders range in age from adolescent boys to middle-aged men. All of them exhibiting fearlessness as they gain more air with each run.? After a few hours at the course, Brad has worked his body to exhaustion and begins peeling the gear, drenched in perspiration, off his body. I offer water, a proud hug, and a brief look at the shots from his day of downhill biking.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a sweet spot to live for mountain bikers. If you?re enticed by the sport and want to start asking questions or shopping, most bikers will recommend Pro Bikes with shops in both Squirrel Hill and Mount Lebanon. The crew is renowned for their expertise and wide selection of gear and bikes. You could just stop by to gain some general knowledge.
Hone your skills at the new indoor park in Pittsburgh: The Wheel Mill in Wilkinsburg.
Or just read up on the sport in Dirt Rag Magazine, published in Pittsburgh and circulated nationally.?Needless to say you?ve got options for epic rides in the east and plenty of places to quench your thirst for mountain biking knowledge.
Chelsie K is a freelance writer and photographer from Pittsburgh, PA.? Over the last three years she has trekked to Mount Everest base camp, rode a camel in the Thar Desert in India, photographed the temples of Angkor Wat, kayaked in Halong Bay Vietnam, and taught a classroom full of wide-eyed Korean children.
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Google Maps contest under privacy investigation in India
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Police in India are investigating to determine whether U.S. Internet company Google Inc. violated rules in a competition that asked users to add information about their local areas for its online map services after a government agency raised security concerns.
Google, which ran the "Mapathon" in India in February and March, said its aim was to make more local information accessible to all and that it did not break any laws.
Police are acting on a complaint filed by Survey of India, the country's national survey and mapping agency, which said the contest was illegal and may threaten national security.
"One complaint has been received and we are forwarding it to the cybercell for further action," said Chhaya Sharma, a deputy commissioner of police in New Delhi.
Google officials said the company had not yet received an official communication from the police.
Google invited users to help "create better maps for India" by adding knowledge of their neighborhoods and promised the top 1,000 mappers prizes of tablets, smartphones and gift vouchers.
Survey of India first wrote to Google saying its "Mapathon" was against rules and then filed a police complaint, R.C. Padhi, a top official at the agency, told Reuters.
"We have to ensure that security is not compromised at any cost," Padhi said, adding that some information uploaded on Google Maps could be "sensitive".
Google is open to discussing specific concerns over the issue with public authorities in India, Paroma Roy Chowdhury, a company spokeswoman in India said in a statement.
"Google takes security and national regulations very seriously, and the Mapathon adhered to applicable laws," Roy Chowdhury said.
Latest in series of disputes
The investigation is the latest in a series of disputes between various governments and Google over privacy and security issues involving its popular mapping products.
In March, Google agreed to pay $7 million in the United States to settle an investigation into an incident in which its Street View mapping cars allegedly collected passwords and other personal data from home wireless networks between 2008 and 2010.
In 2011, city police in the southern Indian technology hub of Bangalore ordered Google to suspend a Street View service over security concerns, three weeks after the company started collecting images from the city.
Tarun Vijay, a lawmaker from India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, last month complained to the government over the "Mapathon" contest.
"Will we allow any Indian organization to invite people for mapping their localities and have entire data stored in USA? Special to Google?," Vijay wrote on the Twitter social networking site on March 20.
"If there is a law, it has to be followed. I have asked whether Google followed the law," Vjay told Reuters on Friday, after meeting India's defense and interior ministers over the issue. "I have taken up that they should be acting urgently."
Separately, Google and other social media companies are also fighting a criminal case brought by an Indian journalist related to allegedly "offensive" content on their web sites.
(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by John Chalmers and Matt Driskill)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.
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Thursday, April 4, 2013
What Are Facebook Chat Heads?
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Jjg1PEerU8M/what-are-facebook-chat-heads
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Stand Out from Other Job Applicants by Bringing More Than Just Your Resume to the Interview
In today's tough job market, anything you can do to stand out from the crowd of applicants can help you land a job. Two ways you can impress the interviewer in a short amount of time are bringing work examples and creating a presentation for the interview.
Rather than just bring the standard cover letter and resume, you can bring along everything from a work portfolio to thank you emails from clients or customers. Recruiter Abby Kohut says on the DailyWorth blog that she's always wowed when people bring their work samples and is also impressed when candidates show a five-minute or less presentation on their experience and why they're perfect for the job.
The ZipRecruiter Blog also echoes these recommendations, saying that maybe one or two out of every ten job candidates will do a presentation?and set themselves apart from 80-90% of the competition with this effort.
Creativity helps too, as one job seeker created a Time Magazine cover with her photo on it for her "resume accompaniment" when applying for a job at the Time Warner Foundation. (People have done crazier things to land a job.)
Q&A: To Get a Job, You MUST Stand Out | ZipRecruiter Blog
How to Ace a Job Interview | DailyWorth
Photo by AIGA Austin
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Reynolds lifts Tribe over now 0-2 Jays in 11th
By IAN HARRISON
Associated Press
Associated Press Sports
updated 10:58 p.m. ET April 3, 2013
TORONTO (AP) - Mark Reynolds made his first hit of the new season a winner.
Reynolds hit a tiebreaking home run in the 11th inning and the Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Wednesday night.
"I'm just happy I got my first hit," said Reynolds, who was 0 for 7 with three strikeouts before his big blast. "I didn't care if it was a go-ahead homer or not."
Reynolds drilled a leadoff shot into the second deck off Sergio Santos (0-1), the fifth Blue Jays reliever.
"He's going to miss sometimes, but when he does that, it's a game changer and it was tonight," Indians manager Terry Francona said of Reynolds, who set a major league record with 223 strikeouts in 2009.
The drive helped the Indians overcome a blown save by Chris Perez, who surrendered a tying shot by Jose Bautista in the ninth but was happy to see Reynolds bail him out.
"That was a big hit for us," Perez said of Reynolds' homer. "He crushed it."
The overhauled Blue Jays lost their second straight to begin the season. Toronto's offense has just three runs and nine hits in two games.
"This team's built to score runs," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We haven't done that yet. But we're going to hit."
Toronto dropped its first two games of the season for the first time since an 0-3 start in 2004, but Bautista denied that high expectations were causing the Blue Jays to press.
"No," he said. "That's a big N-O. Both capital letters."
Cleveland's Michael Brantley went 4 for 5 with an RBI, the fifth four-hit game of his career.
Matt Albers (1-0) got one out for the win, and Joe Smith finished for his first save.
The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the eighth against reliever Darren Oliver. Nick Swisher led off with a walk and moved to second on Brantley's fourth single. Carlos Santana hit a grounder to third, where Swisher was forced out, but Maicer Izturis' throw to first sailed wide, allowing Brantley to score.
Bautista tied it with a one-out shot to left off Perez in the ninth. Bautista had gone hitless in his first three at-bats, grounding into a pair of inning-ending double plays.
After Bautista swung and missed a first-pitch slider, Perez tried to sneak a fastball past the Blue Jays slugger.
"I had good movement on it," Perez said. "It just caught too much of the plate."
Edwin Encarnacion followed with a walk, but Perez sent it to extra innings by getting Adam Lind and J.P. Arencibia to fly out.
The Indians opened the scoring in the third. Michael Bourn led off with a double just beyond the reach of Izturis at third. Two outs later, Swisher walked and Brantley followed with an RBI single between third and short.
Izturis tied it in the bottom half with a leadoff drive to right, his first, and Toronto's first homer of the new season.
Cleveland starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who lost a career-high 17 games last season and ended the year with nine straight road losses, looked sharp in his season debut.
"I thought he was outstanding," Francona said. "His secondary stuff, his direction to the plate was down. His offspeed, especially his changeup, was really good."
Jimenez allowed one run and three hits in six innings, walked two and struck out six.
"I felt really good," Jimenez said. "That's a tough lineup. They have everything. They can run, they can hit for power."
Brantley and Santana hit consecutive singles in the sixth, but Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow ended his outing by getting Reynolds to ground into a double play.
Morrow allowed one run and six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out eight.
NOTES: Indians LHP Scott Kazmir will miss his first scheduled start of the season, Saturday at Tampa Bay, because of a sore abdominal muscle on his right side. Kazmir will return to Cleveland for tests and rejoin the team before Friday's game against the Rays. ... The Indians claimed right-hander Robert Whitenack on waivers from the Chicago Cubs and optioned him to Double-A Akron. Cleveland also transferred RHP Frank Herrmann (right elbow) to the 60-day DL. ... Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said backup Henry Blanco will "probably" catch the next start by knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Arencibia had three passed balls in Dickey's debut Tuesday. ... Attendance was 24,619, about half the size of Tuesday's opening night crowd of 48,857. ... Cleveland 2B Jason Kipnis celebrated his 26th birthday.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsAbsurdly early?MLB awards
Posnanski: Everybody knows that we don?t have much patience in America. So with every team having played at least one game in the Majors, here's an updated look at the awards races.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51424123/ns/sports-baseball/
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Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Francis marks anniversary of John Paul II death
VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Francis prayed Tuesday before the tomb of Pope John Paul II on the eighth anniversary of the beloved pontiff's death in what the Vatican said was evidence of Francis' "profound spiritual continuity" with popes past.
In his three weeks as pope, Francis has jolted the Catholic Church with several gestures that broke with papal tradition, including renouncing certain liturgical vestments, choosing to live in the Vatican hotel rather than the papal apartments, and washing the feet of a Muslim woman during a Holy Thursday ritual re-enacting Jesus Christ's washing of his apostles' feet.
But Francis has also visited with his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, and spoken on the phone with him at least three times. And on Monday, he visited the tomb of St. Peter, the first pontiff, which is located in the necropolis underneath St. Peter's Basilica.
On Tuesday, he waited until the basilica was closed to the general public to visit the tomb of John Paul II, the Polish pope who died in 2005. The tomb is located in the St. Sebastian chapel, just inside the entrance of the basilica. He also prayed before the tombs of Popes Pius X and John XXIII.
"As with the visit yesterday to the tomb of St. Peter and the Vatican grottoes, this evening's visit to the basilica expresses the profound spiritual continuity of the popes' petrine ministry, which Pope Francis lives and feels intensely, as he has shown repeatedly with his phone calls to his predecessor Benedict XVI," the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in a statement.
Traditionalist Catholics have been devastated by some of Francis' gestures, which they have seen as a rejection primarily of efforts by Benedict XVI to revive the pre-Vatican II tradition of the church, including much of the pomp of the papacy.
As a result, Francis' visit to the tomb of Pope Pius X was particularly significant. Pius X, who lived from 1835-1914, is known to some degree as the anti-modern pope: He wrote an encyclical on the dangers of "modernism" in church doctrine and is the namesake of the schismatic group of traditionalist Catholics, the Society of St. Pius X, with whom Benedict tried unsuccessfully to reconcile during his eight-year pontificate.
Visiting Pius' tomb could be seen as a gesture by Francis to those traditionalists upset by his election. Aside from the gesture, however, he and Pius share many priorities ? particularly a concern for the poor.
John XXIII, meanwhile, called the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that brought the church into the modern world. The Society of St. Pius X was formed in 1969 in stark opposition to Vatican II's modernizing reforms.
In visiting both tombs on Tuesday night, Francis may have been sending a signal that he sees himself as something of a bridge between the two seemingly contrasting pontificates and the resulting divisions within the church today.
John Paul in 2001 made the then-Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio a cardinal. Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13 and took the name Francis, the first time a pontiff has chosen that name.
___
Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/francis-marks-anniversary-john-paul-ii-death-200942981.html
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AT&T HTC One coming April 19, starting at $199
32GB for $199.99, 64GB for $299.99, pre-orders start April 4
AT&T has announced that its HTC One will go on sale from April 19. The device will be sold on two-year plans with 32GB of storage for $199.99, in addition to the AT&T-exclusive 64GB model that'll set you back $299.99. AT&T's also offering a free HTC Media Link HD box to on-contract buyers.
The release timing gives the HTC One a crucial couple of weeks on store shelves in the U.S. ahead of the launch of its main competitor, Samsung's Galaxy S4.
The AT&T HTC One will be available for pre-order starting this Thursday, Apr. 4, at 1 p.m. CDT, so if you're looking to guarantee yourself a handset, that's when you'll want to place your order.
More: HTC One review
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/dFzj1fIDB3E/story01.htm
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