Death penalty for 21 for Egypt soccer violence

CAIRO (AP) ? An Egyptian court sentenced 21 people to death on charges related to one of the world's deadliest incidents of soccer violence, which killed 74 mostly teenage fans of Egypt's most popular sports club last year.

The verdict comes after a day of clashes between security forces and protesters opposed to Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi that left seven dead.

Fans of al-Ahly, whose stands were attacked by rival club Al-Masry in the Feb. 1 incident in the Mediterranean city of Port Said, had promised more violence if the accused did not receive death sentences.

Families of the victims shouted "Allahu Akbar!," or God is great, after the judge read out his verdict. One man fainted, while others wailed and cried in disbelief as they carried pictures of the young men killed in the soccer riot.

Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid said in his statement read live on state TV that he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9.

Among those on trial are nine security officials.

Many Ultras, or die-hard soccer fans, have taken a leading role in protests over the past two years. Both Al-Ahly Ultras and Al-Masry Ultras widely believe that ex-members of the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak helped instigate the attack, and that the police at the very least were responsible for gross negligence.

It is not clear what kind of evidence, if any, was presented to the court to back up claims that the attack had been orchestrated by regime officials.

As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to the nation's top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval, though the court has final say on the matter.

All of the defendants ? who were not present in the courtroom Saturday for security reasons ? have the right to appeal the verdict.

The melee was the world's deadliest soccer violence in 15 years.

In the days leading up to the verdict, Al-Ahly fans warned of bloodshed and "retribution" if death sentences were not handed down. Hundreds of Al-Ahly fans gathered outside the Cairo sports club in anticipation of the verdict, chanting against the police and the government.

"The police are thugs!" yelled relatives of the deceased inside the courtroom before the judge took the bench.

The violence began after the Port Said home team won the Feb. 1 match, 3-1. Al-Masry fans stormed the pitch after the game ended, attacking Cairo's Al-Ahly fans.

Authorities shut off the stadium lights, plunging it into darkness. In the exit corridor, the fleeing crowd pressed against a chained gate until it broke open. Many were crushed under the crowd of people trying to flee.

Survivors of the riot described a nightmarish scene in the stadium. Police stood by doing nothing, they said, as fans of Al-Masry attacked supporters of the top Cairo club stabbing them and throwing them off bleachers.

Al-Ahly survivors said supporters of Al-Masry carved the words "Port Said" into their bodies and undressed them while beating them with iron bars.

While there has long been bad blood between the two rival teams, many blamed police for failing to perform usual searches for weapons at the stadium.

The soccer fans, known as Ultras, are among Egypt's rowdiest and are proud of their hatred for the police, who were the backbone of Mubarak's authoritarian rule. The Ultras then directed their chants against the military rulers who took over after Mubarak's ouster in 2011 until Morsi came to power in elections last June.

The Ultras from Egypt's sports clubs were engaged in deadly clashes with police near the Interior Ministry headquarters in Cairo that killed 42 people less than three months before the soccer melee in Port Said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/death-penalty-21-egypt-soccer-violence-091706473.html

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Gay marriage legalized in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island took a big step towards legalizing gay marriage today: same-sex marriage passed the state legislature 51-19, but faces a tougher battle in the Rhode Island state senate.

By Daniel Lovering,?Reuters / January 24, 2013

C. Kelly Smith, of Providence, R.I., center, a member of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, hugs fellow member Wendy Becker, left, also of Providence, after a House committee vote on gay marriage on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Today, the Rhode Island House of Representatives voted 51-19 in favor of gay marriage.

Steven Senne / AP

Enlarge

Rhode Island's House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday in favor of a bill to make same-sex marriage legal, but officials in the strongly Democratic state expect the measure to face an uphill battle in the state Senate.

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Lawmakers voted 51 to 19 in favor of the bill, which aims to make Rhode Island the 10th state and the last in New England to legalize gay and lesbian weddings.

Democratic Representative Arthur Handy, lead sponsor of the bill, said the issue was "about fairness and allowing all Rhode Islanders to have equal access to the rights and responsibilities that come with marriage."

"It feels good to see how far we've come in Rhode Island toward valuing all families, and I know we are close to the day when marriage equality becomes law here," he said in a statement.

House Speaker Gordon Fox, a co-sponsor of the measure who is openly gay, said he was "thrilled."

"We are marching toward equality," he said in a statement.

The legislation, supported by independent Governor Lincoln Chafee, has been introduced in the House every year since 1997. Handy has put it forward annually since 2003.

Sponsors of the bill tried to move through similar legislation in 2011, but met with opposition and were forced to change the bill to allow civil unions only.

Rhode Island remains the last of New England's six states without a law allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed, after Maine legalized same-sex marriage late last year.

Nine of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia have legalized gay marriage. Maryland was the most recent, with gay marriage becoming legal there on Jan. 1.

Another 31 states have passed constitutional amendments restricting marriage to heterosexual couples.

In Rhode Island, it remained unclear how the proposal would fare in the state Senate, though Handy said that in the last election cycle, both legislative chambers had elected more "pro-equality" candidates than ever before.

The state Senate president, Teresa Paiva Weed, opposes gay marriage but has said she would allow a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on the bill if it passed in the House.

Senate spokesman Greg Pare said earlier on Thursday that predictions of a close Senate vote had not changed.

(Reporting by Daniel Lovering; Editing by Jane Sutton and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/9PZXVQnpYIA/Gay-marriage-legalized-in-Rhode-Island

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Health News - Personal Epigentic "Signatures" Found Consistent in ...

Discovery may help distinguish indolent from lethal cancers

?

"Cityscape" plot showing hypermethylation. Red Peaks indicate driver changes. Credit: Science/AAAS

In a genome-wide analysis of 13 metastatic prostate cancers, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center found consistent epigenetic ?signatures? across all metastatic tumors in each patient. The discovery of the stable, epigenetic ?marks? that sit on the nuclear DNA of cancer cells and alter gene expression, defies a prevailing belief that the marks vary so much within each individual?s widespread cancers that they have little or no value as targets for therapy or as biomarkers for treatment response and predicting disease severity.

A report of the discovery, published in the Jan. 23 issue of Science Translational Medicine, describes a genomic analysis of 13 men who died of metastatic prostate cancer and whose tissue samples were collected after a rapid autopsy.

Samples from three to six metastatic sites in each of the patients and one to three samples of their normal tissue were analyzed to determine the amount of molecular marks made up of methyl groups that attach to sites along the genome in a process known as DNA methylation. The process is part of an expanding target of scientific study called epigenetics, known to help drive cell processes by regulating when and how genes are activated. Mistakes in epigenetic processes also are known to trigger or fuel cancers.

?Knowing both the genetic and epigenetic changes that happen in lethal prostate cancers can eventually help us identify the most aggressive cancers earlier and develop new therapies that target those changes,? says Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. ?But there has been an open question of whether epigenetic changes are consistently maintained across all metastatic sites of an individual?s cancer.?

The research team found that while methylation patterns vary from one patient to another, many methylation patterns occur ?very consistently? within different metastatic sites in an individual patient.? They identified more than 1,000 regions of the genome where various types of DNA methylation were consistently maintained within their 13 subjects? genomes.

?As they evolve and grow, cancer cells acquire and maintain changes that enable them to continue thriving,? says Yegnasubramanian. ?We know that cancer cells maintain and pass along genetic changes in the nucleus of cells across metastatic sites, and our research now shows that epigenetic changes also are maintained to nearly the same degree.?

The scientists say that the consistent methylation changes they found appear to represent so-called driver changes critical to the cancer?s development and could be targets for treatment. By contrast, other methylation changes found only sporadically in the metastatic sites are more likely what are called passenger changes that occur by chance and are less promising as treatment targets or biomarkers than driver changes.

?Our study shows that for prostate cancer, at least, each person develops his own path to cancer and metastasis, and we can find a signature of that path in the epigenetic marks within their tumors,? says Yegnasubramanian, who envisions that certain epigenetic changes can be grouped into clusters to be used as biomarkers signaling a lethal cancer.

Yegnasubramanian and his team also plan to study how each of the driver changes work and how they influence cancer metastasis.

The research was funded by the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program (PC073533/W81XH-08-1-0049), the National Institutes of Health (CA58236, CA070196, CA113374, CA135008, GM083084), the Prostate Cancer Foundation Creativity and Challenge Awards, the Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Cancer Research Fund/Dr. and Mrs. Peter S. Bing Scholarship, the V Foundation for Cancer Research Martin D. Abeloff V Scholar Award, the German Research Foundation Research Fellowship, the Finnish Academy of Sciences Finnish Distinguished Professor Award, the Commonwealth Foundation, Mr. David H. Koch, and the Irving A. Hanson Memorial Foundation.

Scientists participating in this research included Martin Aryee, Julia Engelmann, Philipp Nuhn, Meltem Gurel, Michael Haffner, David Esopi, Rafael Irizarry, Robert Getzenberg, William Nelson, Jun Luo, Jianfeng Xu, and William Isaacs from Johns Hopkins; Wennuan Liu from Wake Forest University; and G. Steven Bova from the University of Tampere in Finland.

Yegnasubramanian, Haffner, Esopi, Nelson, and Isaacs and The Johns Hopkins University have provisional or fully executed patents relating to DNA methylation biomarkers in prostate cancer.? Yegnasubramanian and Nelson, along with The Johns Hopkins University, hold a patent for a polypeptide for detection of methylated DNA.? This reagent has been made available to the research community via a nonexclusive license with Clontech, Inc., which provides royalties to The Johns Hopkins University, Yegnasubramanian, and Nelson from sales of kits containing this reagent.? The authors are pursuing intellectual property protection for the new prostate cancer biomarkers described in this research.

Source: http://www.healthcanal.com/cancers/35632-Personal-Epigentic-Signatures-Found-Consistent-Prostate-Cancer-Patient-Metastases.html

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Next big thing in real estate: tiny apartments

In response to skyrocketing rents in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a challenge to the city's best architects: to design a space no bigger than 350 square feet into a comfortable and affordable micro-apartment. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

By Ben Popken, TODAY contributor

New Yorkers are famous for their teeny apartments, but a new trend in dwelling seeks to transform those tiny spaces into big assets. They're called "micro apartments," and they make a few hundred square feet feel like over a thousand.

Fold-away beds, moveable walls, and coffee tables that expand to seat 10 for dinner are just a few of the clever touches that transform these shoe boxes into veritable mini-mansions.

"The main idea is to get double, triple, quadruple use from every space," Graham Hill, founder of the sustainable living site TreeHugger.com and the design company Life Edited, told Fair Companies?in a video interview.

With rising costs of living and a desire to limit one's environmental impact at top of mind, living simpler, and smaller, has taken off in cities around the world, especially ones known for their high rents. San Francisco recently passed an ordinance allowing for apartments to be built to 220 square feet. And "micro units" have also long been a Tokyo and Hong Kong mainstay.

For his part, Hill bought a 420-square-foot studio in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood and?renovated?it into a concept lab for tiny living, with boutique hotel style appointments, a home theater, and a pair of drop-down bunk beds for guests.

Feeling more like 1,000+ square feet, it boasts a kitchen with top-loading fridge, freezer and dishwasher. The stove top is three induction burners stacked in a drawer. To boil a pot of water for pasta, for example, you pull the burners out and plug them in, then stow them away after the linguine is served.

Hill's design was one of 34 submitted to New York Mayor Bloomberg's?adAPT NYC contest, which tasked teams with coming up with plans for?250-370 square foot apartments designed for 1-2 person households.

The young professionals who constitute the city's lifeblood often find themselves priced out of New York City altogether or living in an outer-borough?garret.?One-third of the city's households comprise of just one individual, a number projected to rise to 46 percent in Manhattan, where one-bedrooms routinely rent for north of $2,700 a month.

New York City Mayor's Office

A rendering of the "micro unit" apartment design that won New York Mayor Bloomberg's adAPT NYC contest Tuesday.

The winning design, announced Tuesday, will form the basis for a new apartment complex built in Kip's Bay at East 27th and 1st Avenue in Manhattan with 55 of the micro units. The apartments will be built prefabricated, and then stacked on top of each other and connected - structure, plumbing, electrical, and all - like LEGOs.

New York City Mayor's Office

The design is split up into a "toolbox" and "canvas" area, with essential living amenities in the first area, and a customizable living room/bedroom slot in the second.

Called "My Micro NY," the apartment's bedroom converts into the primary living space, and the hip, 10-foot ceiling design includes a 16-foot-long overhead loft space, Juliette balconies, a?full-depth closet, full-height pull-out pantry, fridge and range.

The complex will include a garden, porch with picnic tables, lounge, laundry room, storage, bike room, and a small gym. Rents will be about $2,000 a month. Eleven of the 55 units will be reserved for households with incomes no greater than 80 percent of the area median income.

Undoubtedly there will be a waiting list to become one of the first to live in the tiny, mod apartments. If you want to see what one looks like right away though, you can visit the?Museum of New York City where a model micro-apartment is currently on display in the exhibit, "Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers." You can walk around inside the unit and even try your hand at folding up and down the various pieces of hide-away furniture.

New York Mayor Bloomberg said Friday on WOR radio that he lived in an apartment for 10 years as small as the micro-units the city plans to build. His bed was a convertible couch, and he recalled it was a "pain" removing the pillows and making the bed, and not nearly as convenient as the sleek Murphy bed used in the design for the new units.

"New York?s ability to adapt with changing times is what made us the world?s greatest city ? and it?s going to be what keeps us strong in the 21st Century," said Mayor Bloomberg in a press release.

The AP contributed to this report.

Source: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2013/01/25/16651660-next-big-thing-in-real-estate-300-square-foot-apartments?lite

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The Daily Grind: Do you have a gaming rotation? | Massively

I've been looking at PlanetSide 2 rather longingly of late. SOE's MMOFPS launched back in November, and I spent a solid couple of weeks playing it quite heavily before moving on. It's one of those games that could fit pretty easily into my regular rotation if it weren't for the fact that you really need a consistent group of mates to make the most out of it.

The subject of game rotations is something else I've been thinking about this week. More specifically, I'm trying to adjust mine for PS2 and a couple of other titles. What about you, Massively readers? Do you have a gaming rotation, per se, or do you just play whatever, whenever?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Source: http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/24/the-daily-grind-do-you-have-a-gaming-rotation/

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Military has to decide which combat jobs for women

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon's decision to lift the ban on women serving in combat presents a daunting challenge to top military leaders who now will have to decide which, if any, jobs they believe should be open only to men.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to announce Thursday that more than 230,000 battlefront posts ? many in Army and Marine infantry units and in potentially elite commando jobs ? are now open to women. It will be up to the military service chiefs to recommend and defend whether women should be excluded from any of those more demanding and deadly positions, such as Navy SEALs or the Army's Delta Force.

The historic change, which was recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, overturns a 1994 rule prohibiting women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units.

The change won't take place overnight: Service chiefs will have to develop plans for allowing women to seek the combat positions, a senior military official said. Some jobs may open as soon as this year, while assessments for others, such as special operations forces, may take longer. The services will have until January 2016 to make a case to that some positions should remain closed to women.

Officials briefed The Associated Press on the changes Wednesday on condition of anonymity so they could speak ahead of the official announcement.

There long has been opposition to putting women in combat, based on questions of whether they have the necessary strength and stamina for certain jobs, or whether their presence might hurt unit cohesion.

But as news of Panetta's expected order got out, many members of Congress, including the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced their support.

"It reflects the reality of 21st century military operations," Levin said.

Objections were few. Jerry Boykin, executive vice president of the Family Research Council, called the move "another social experiment" that will place unnecessary burdens on military commanders.

"While their focus must remain on winning the battles and protecting their troops, they will now have the distraction of having to provide some separation of the genders during fast moving and deadly situations," said Boykin, a retired Army lieutenant general. He noted that small units often are in sustained combat for extended periods of time under primal living conditions with no privacy.

Panetta's move comes in his final weeks as Pentagon chief and just days after President Barack Obama's inaugural speech in which he spoke passionately about equal rights for all. The new order expands the department's action of nearly a year ago to open about 14,500 combat positions to women, nearly all of them in the Army.

In addition to questions of strength and performance, there also have been suggestions that the American public would not tolerate large numbers of women being killed in war.

Under the 1994 Pentagon policy, women were prohibited from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade level. A brigade is roughly 3,500 troops split into several battalions of about 800 soldiers each. Historically, brigades were based farther from the front lines, and they often included top command and support staff.

The necessities of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, however, propelled women into jobs as medics, military police and intelligence officers that were sometimes attached ? but not formally assigned ? to battalions. So while a woman couldn't be assigned as an infantryman in a battalion going out on patrol, she could fly the helicopter supporting the unit, or move in to provide medical aid if troops were injured.

And these conflicts, where battlefield lines are blurred and insurgents can lurk around every corner, have made it almost impossible to keep women clear of combat.

Still, as recent surveys and experiences have shown, it will not be an easy transition. When the Marine Corps sought women to go through its tough infantry course last year, two volunteered and both failed to complete the course. And there may not be a wide clamoring from women for the more intense, dangerous and difficult jobs, including some infantry and commando positions.

Two lawsuits were filed last year challenging the Pentagon's ban on women serving in combat, adding pressure on officials to overturn the policy. And the military services have been studying the issue and surveying their forces to determine how it may affect performance and morale.

The Joint Chiefs have been meeting regularly on the matter and they unanimously agreed to send the recommendation to Panetta earlier this month.

A senior military official familiar with the discussions said the chiefs laid out three main principles to guide them as they move through the process. Those were to maintain America's effective fighting force, preserve military readiness and develop a process that would give all service members the best chance to succeed.

Women comprise about 14 percent of the 1.4 million active military personnel. More than 280,000 women have been sent to Iraq, Afghanistan or to jobs in neighboring nations in support of the wars. Of the more than 6,600 U.S. service members who have been killed, 152 have been women.

The senior military official said the military chiefs must report back to Panetta with their initial implementation plans by May 15.

___

AP National Security Writer Robert Burns and AP Broadcast reporter Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/military-decide-combat-jobs-women-141230491.html

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Home Improvement: The Complete Sixth Season

24 Jan 2013

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Original Price: $ 20.00

• Get ready for some high-octane humor in the hilarious sixth season of the Emmy? Award-winning HOME IMPROVEMENT. Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson return in theic sitcom about friends, tools and the ?power? of family. This year, Tim ?The Tool Man? Taylor pulls out all the stops as he attempts to break Bob Vila?s steamroller record, and things at home get out of hand when Ji

Get ready for some high-octane humor in the hilarious sixth season of the Emmy(R) Award-winning HOME IMPROVEMENT. Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson return in the classic sitcom about friends, tools and the ?power? of family. This year, Tim ?The Tool Man? Taylor pulls out all the stops as he attempts to break Bob Vila?s steamroller record, and things at home get out of hand when Jill?s wild sisters visit to plan their parents? 50th anniversary. Laugh along with every unforgettable moment in this 3-disc set, including all 25 episodes and exclusive, all-new Season 6 bloopers. It?s a must-own collection for every HOME IMPROVEMENT fan.

Source: http://atixi.com/home-improvement-the-complete-sixth-season/

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IK Multimedia outs iLoud and iLoud Mini speakers, supplies mobile jam sessions

If you've been looking for a wireless speaker that is capable of outfitting your music gear, IK Multimedia is looking to oblige with it's latest offerings. The company has announced the iLoud and iLoud Mini Bluetooth speakers ahead of the official start of NAMM 2013. In addition to that wireless connectivity, the duo sports rechargeable batteries for supplying jams on-the-go and a 1/8-inch jack for connecting those trusty peripherals the good ol' fashioned way. Boasting big volume in rather small frames, the larger unit touts 40W RMS of power and the smaller clocks in at 12W RMS. The larger of the two units, the iLoud, tacks on a full-sized 1/4-inch jack for connecting that axe should you feel the need offer up your best Stevie Ray Vaughan. While both are set to arrive sometime in Q2 of 2013, the iLoud will sport a $299.99 (€239.99) price tag and the iLoud Mini is set to dock wallets for $199.99 (€159.99).

Show full PR text

IK Multimedia Announces iLoud, the First Portable Speakers Designed for Musicians
The range of portable speakers that sound like studio monitors

January 23, 2013 - IK Multimedia is proud to announce iLoud(R), the first portable stereo speakers designed for musicians. IK leveraged its 16 years of pro-audio engineering expertise, and its experience as the leading developer of mobile music-creation apps and accessories, to design battery-operated speakers that combine superior power, pristine frequency response and amazing low-end in an ultra-portable form factor that make them the perfect alternative to studio speakers for music creation and composition on the go.

The iLoud line consists of two models, iLoud and iLoud MINI, both of which provide musicians with sonic accuracy that's on par with professional studio monitors, making it possible, for the first time, to compose, record, and mix from a mobile speaker system.

Dynamic Duo
Despite their diminutive size, both iLoud speakers are indeed very loud. In fact, they're 2 to 3 times louder than comparable size speakers. The iLoud model offers a blasting 40W RMS of power, and it's little brother, iLoud MINI, a robust 12W RMS.

Both iLoud models provide highly accurate reproduction of a wide range of musical styles from rock, hip-hop and electronic dance music, to more nuanced and sonically demanding genres like classical and acoustic. The speakers are equipped with onboard DSP, for maintaining accuracy and efficiency at all volume levels, and high-quality, custom-designed neodymium loudspeakers. iLoud is equipped with a bi-amped 4-driver array, and iLoud MINI with a pair of full-range speakers. The enclosures feature bass-reflex and passive radiators construction, which helps create their superior bass response, with tilted profile for perfect listening position.

Plug and Play Convenience
iLoud also offers the possibility to connect a guitar, bass or dynamic microphone directly to the speaker and process the sound with a multitude of real-time effects apps. Featuring the same circuitry as IK's iRig - the most popular mobile interface of all time - the input allows users to plug in an instrument and access AmpliTube or other audio apps on their mobile device for practicing, performing and recording. The input also accommodates dynamic microphones, making it possible to run an app such as IK's VocaLive for realtime vocal effects and recording.

Ultra-Portability
In addition to their impressive response, volume, and features, the iLoud speakers are surprisingly small, exceptionally portable, and can be used everywhere. iLoud MINI, the smaller of the two, is only about the width and height of an iPad mini while iLoud has the size of an iPad. Only 6cm / 2.3" thick, either model can easily fit in a laptop bag or backpack. Both iLoud and iLoud MINI are also equipped with a high-performance Li-Ion rechargeable battery with smart power-management features that reduce its power consumption, making possible to go long periods without recharging, an important factor for mobile users.

Wired and Wireless
Both iLoud models support Bluetooth operation, which adds even more to their mobility. Users can stream music to them from any compatible mobile device such as an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad for casual listening. For sound sources like MP3 players that don't have Bluetooth capabilities, the iLoud speakers each have a stereo 1/8" mini-jack input for connecting line-level devices such as home stereos, DJ gear, mixers, MP3 players, and more.

Pricing and Availability
iLoud will be priced $299.99 / €239.99 and iLoud MINI $199.99 / €159.99 (excluding taxes) and they will be available in the second quarter of 2013 from the IK network of music and electronic retailers around the world.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

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Source: IK Multimedia

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AT&T gains customers in 4Q, posts big loss

NEW YORK (AP) ? The launch of the iPhone 5 helped AT&T attract more new customers in the holiday quarter than it has in three years, but it posted a big loss because of an annual adjustment to its pension obligations.

AT&T Inc. on Thursday said added a net 780,000 new customers on contract-based plans from October to December, its best result in three years. It activated 8.6 million iPhones in the quarter ? a record for any company. AT&T was the first company to introduce the iPhone in 2007, and has more iPhone users than any other U.S. carrier.

However, AT&T remained well behind Verizon Wireless, the country's largest cellphone company. It added 2.2 million devices on contract-based plans to its network in the quarter, extending its lead.

Dallas-based AT&T's quarterly loss was $3.86 billion, or 68 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $6.68 billion, or $1.12 per share, a year earlier, also caused by an adjustment to pension and retiree benefit obligations.

Excluding special items, AT&T earned 44 cents per share, 2 cents short of the average analyst estimate as polled by FactSet.

Revenue was $32.6 billion, up a hair from $32.5 billion a year ago. It slightly exceeded analyst estimates of $32.2 billion.

AT&T shares rose 5 cents to $33.80 in extended trading, after the release of the results.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-01-24-US-Earns-ATandT/id-0a1ef28dca1a4327bb1ebf8f9924bd6b

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PFT: Colin Kaepernick vindicates Jim Harbaugh

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When 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh decided to bench quarterback Alex Smith after he recovered from a concussion and to elevate Colin Kaepernick to the starting job, many proclaimed that anything less than a Super Bowl berth would be evidence that Harbaugh made the wrong decision.

Under that standard, Harbaugh knocked it out of the park.

It was a decision made both for the present and the future.? Indeed, the future of the position was secured when Harbaugh and G.M. Trent Baalke made Kaepernick a second-round pick during the lockout, before Harbaugh was even able to meet with his veteran players.

The fact that Harbaugh is such a good coach delayed Kaepernick?s debut, because Harbaugh lifted Smith to new heights as a quarterback.? The first pick in the 2005 draft, who amazingly was still with the team seven seasons later, played better than ever, leading the 49ers to a 13-3 record, a thrilling win over the Saints, and very nearly to the Super Bowl.

Harbaugh flipped the switch knowing that he would be exposed to short-term criticism if the 49ers didn?t at least match what they had done a year ago.? But Harbaugh never wavered.

?After the [Bears] game, Jim and I sat down [in his office] and I asked him, ?What?s your gut??? owner Jed York told Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports after Sunday?s win.? ?He said, ?Kaep. You OK [with that]??? I said, ?It?s your team.? You?ve got to go after it.? Whatever you think works.? I can defend either decision, and I understand either decision.?

?I trust Jim.? You either trust your coach or you don?t.? Obviously time will tell.? I think it proved to be a good move.? You see the evidence.? He?s playing well.? Jim made a gutsy, gutsy call.? And I don?t know that there?s any other coach in the league that would have made that call.?

There?s at least one ? John Harbaugh would have done it.

Others may have, too.? Because the head coach and his staff have the unique perspective of knowing how a quarterback performs in practice, how he works in the meeting room, how much time he spends watching film, and whether he?s just spinning his wheels or whether he?s learning and growing.? That?s the biggest point I made when defending the move:? Jim Harbaugh knows his guys, and he realizes which quarterback is more likely to succeed, now and in the future.

Of course, Harbaugh didn?t feel so strongly about Kaepernick in March to refrain from ?evaluating? Peyton Manning.? And every 49ers fan should now be happy that the ?evaluation? didn?t become an acquisition.

Kaepernick is only 25, more than a decade younger than Manning.? And Kaepernick is four months younger than Joe Montana was when he led the team to the first of four Super Bowl wins.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/21/kaepernick-vindicates-jim-harbaugh/related/

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No. 13 Butler steals 64-63 win over No. 8 Gonzaga

Butler forward Roosevelt Jones shoots over Gonzaga guard Mike Hart during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Butler forward Roosevelt Jones shoots over Gonzaga guard Mike Hart during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Butler forward Khyle Marshall, right shoots over Gonzaga forward Kelly Olynyk during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Gonzaga guard Kevin Pangos, center, goes after a loose ball between Butler's Andrew Smith, left, and Roosevelt Jones during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Butler guard Kellen Dunham, right, drives around Gonzaga guard Kevin Pangos during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Butler center Andrew Smith, center, fights for a rebound between Gonzaga's Sam Dower, left, and Kelly Olynyk during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Roosevelt Jones stole an inbound pass with 3.5 seconds left and hit a floater from just inside the foul line right before the buzzer to help No. 13 Butler upset No. 8 Gonzaga 64-63 on Saturday night.

Jones finished with 20 points and the Bulldogs have now won 13 in a row including two straight without their top scorer, Rotnei Clarke. It's the first time Butler (16-2, 3-0 Atlantic 10) has ever beaten three top 10 teams in one season. They also defeated No. 9 North Carolina in November and No. 1 Indiana in December.

Gonzaga (17-2, 4-0 West Coast Conference) was led by Saw Dower and Elias Harris who each had 20 points. The loss ended the Zags eight-game winning streak.

The game was considered the biggest non-power conference matchup of the season, and it met the hype.

Trailing 33-32 at the half, Butler scored the first five points of the second half and never trailed again until Elias Harris scored with 1:24 to go the teams traded leads on the next four possessions before Jones won it.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-19-Gonzaga-Butler/id-f4ef7da01248453bbfb35750ba3984d5

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Ultra-Orthodox clout may ebb after Israel election

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, long the power brokers in Israeli politics, could see their influence drop after Tuesday's parliamentary election.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to be re-elected, may seize on popular frustrations with the ultra-Orthodox community and play hardball with his longtime allies by turning instead to moderate parties ? a move that could resolve simmering domestic issues and draw in more moderate forces on the key issue of peacemaking with the Palestinians.

Shas, the largest ultra-Orthodox party and a key partner in the outgoing coalition, is bracing for such an eventuality.

"There certainly is such a fear," said party spokesman Asher Gold. "The reason Shas historically was in all coalitions was not because they liked Shas, but because of its political power."

Shas and other ultra-Orthodox parties have risen to prominence thanks to Israel's system of proportional representation.

Controlling just 15 to 20 seats in the 120-member parliament, ultra-Orthodox parties have often provided the cushion needed for prime ministers to ensure a parliamentary majority. They have used this outsized influence to win exemptions from otherwise compulsory military service and receive generous government subsidies for their religious institutions ? breeding widespread resentment among the general public. While diplomatic issues are not their main concern, the ultra-Orthodox also have tended to favor a hard line toward the Palestinians in peace efforts.

According to recent opinion polls, Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu bloc, along with nationalistic and religious allies, is expected to win a narrow majority of seats in Tuesday's vote. But there is widespread speculation that Netanyahu will reach across the aisle and seek more centrist parties for his coalition in order to present a more moderate face to the world. These parties, particularly the "Yesh Atid" movement headed by former TV talk show host Yair Lapid, have urged an end to the generous subsidies to the religious parties, meaning that Netanyahu could be forced to pick sides.

"If he forms a hawkish ultra-religious government, which the polls show that he can, this is not the kind of government that will be able to work with the Obama administration. And it might not be the kind of government that will curry favor with the Israeli public," said Reuven Hazan, head of the political science department at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

"The more he can ditch either ultra-religious or ultra-hawkish parties and bring in more moderate centrist parties, the better he looks both inside Israel and outside Israel," Hazan said.

In the meantime, Netanyahu has already flexed his muscles against the ultra-Orthodox, saying he plans to enact an egalitarian compulsory service law and take the Housing Ministry away from Shas, which represents Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent. The ministry, which has been used to build affordable housing for Shas' working-class constituents, "won't be in sectoral hands," Netanyahu said recently. "They need to serve all Israeli citizens."

Netanyahu has not said who he will invite into the next coalition, saying he must first be re-elected. But speaking to Channel 10 TV over the weekend, he indicated his next government would be committed to pursuing peace talks with the Palestinians. Negotiations have remained frozen during Netanyahu's four-year term, with the Palestinians refusing to negotiate because of continued settlement construction on occupied lands and Israel refusing to halt such construction as a pre-condition of talks.

Netanyahu's relations with the U.S., Israel's top ally, have been notably tense throughout his past four years in office. And in recent weeks, the Netanyahu government has infuriated the international community with plans to build thousands of homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, occupied territories the Palestinians seek for their future state.

Netanyahu has shrugged off the criticism, but at the same time, he has a history of co-opting moderate parties.

Lapid's "Yesh Atid," or "There is a Future," and "Hatnua," headed by former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, have said they would not be the liberal fig leafs for an extremist, ultra-Orthodox government. But neither Lapid, whose party represents middle class interests, nor Livni, whose party focuses largely on clinching a peace deal with the Palestinians, have ruled out sitting in a Netanyahu government.

The privileges granted to the ultra-Orthodox have enraged the secular and modern Orthodox majority of Israelis. Last year, Netanyahu was forced to abandon his plans to extend the draft exemptions under intense public pressure, though he so far has produced no ultra-Orthodox recruitment program.

The ultra-Orthodox camp is not monolithic: Shas is more flexible than other ultra-Orthodox parties on the draft. Other ultra-Orthodox lawmakers demand that the status quo remain and say they will not join a government that applies the draft universally.

If polls are wrong and Netanyahu's list wins more seats than is currently expected, "he will be freer to act," said Menachem Friedman, an expert on the ultra-Orthodox. With a poorer performance, "he will have a tougher time" because potential partners will be able to drive a harder bargain, he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-20-Israel-Religious%20Might/id-08ac0d53d0ac4faa93523acd54016476

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Circa Raises $750K From Group Including Lerer Ventures To Revolutionize Mobile News Delivery

We’ve learned today that mobile news-delivery company Circa has raised another $750K on top of the $900K raised previously. The company launched its app of the same name, which allows you to follow an often-changing story in bite-sized chunks, only three months ago. A few more big names have joined in this up-round, including: Lerer Ventures, Advancit Capital, Menlo Talent Fund, Alex Bard and Eamon Leonard. Those investors join individual contributors from its previous 900K raised, including Dave Morin, David Karp and Josh Spear, as well as firms such as Quotidian Ventures and SK Ventures. When I spoke to Circa’s co-founder and CEO Matt Galligan today, he told me that he’s extremely happy about the growth of its userbase as well as how the app itself is coming along. The team announced version 1.1, which included some design and usability tweaks that Galligan is specifically proud of. Circa currently employs seven non-editorial staffers and 12 others who manage the current news categories within the app. Regarding the funding, Lerer Partner and former CEO of Huffington Post, Eric Hippeau, had this to say: We think Circa has developed the right technology and persona to capture a large audience looking for their mobile devices as their main source of news. Growth is on the horizon, as far as what types of content you’ll be able to find within Circa. Galligan tells us “Right now, we’re exploring what categories that we want to go into next,” mentioning such verticals as Business and Sports. When thinking about what makes Circa different, Galligan says if you think of CNN as something that has nailed TV coverage of news and Huffington Post as a publication that does well on the web, Circa can be that application for mobile news delivery. Circa allows you to follow an ongoing story, like Lance Armstrong admitting that he doped during his cycling career. It updates as individual bits of information come in, rather than making you read an entirely new story each and every time. Galligan also says that Circa has been approached by large news outlets that are interested in working with his company to adopt its format. With the money, it seems like Circa will continue to hire and work on perfecting what it believes will be a format that publications will want to pay closer attention to as time goes on. People who read the news on

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

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Immigration, education and prosperity: building on the London ...

Yesterday?s Financial Times leader?reflects on its?own research, which finds?that ?pupils? in London?s poorest neighbourhoods are outperforming average students in the? regions?:

Much is still unknown about why London is doing so well. But some credit can? be given to the initiative known as London Challenge, regrettably scrapped by? the coalition in 2010. This helped to create an ecosystem of experts and schools?to identify weaknesses and share best practice. Ofsted, the schools regulator,? has praised its impact on student performance.

Government policy has since focused? on expanding academies, which are free from local authority control. But? autonomy alone is not the answer. The world?s best school systems have high? levels of autonomy. So do some of the worst. The experience of London Challenge? and successful academies shows that collaboration between high and? underperforming schools and informal benchmarking are as important.

Successive governments have tried and failed to address the blight of? underperformance in areas such as Doncaster or Yarmouth. There are many? contributing factors, such as a lack?of expectations fuelled by a dearth of job opportunities. But it is urgent that the lessons of London?s success be translated to these regions.

Policy makers should test a new initiative in some underperforming cities. Local?commissioners could be appointed to co-ordinate education experts, teachers and? business. This group could help to identify weaknesses and foster collaboration? between schools to spread best practice. This cannot be a short-term experiment.? Previous attempts to replicate London?s success were abandoned too soon.? Improving schools is a five to 10-year task, which means there has to be? cross-party consensus on how to deal with these educational deserts. The future?of Britain?s children depends on it.

The?disjuncture?between analysis and conclusion here is stark:? we simply don?t know what the main influence on educational achievement in London is ? broadly, whether it?s changing to the education, or changes amongst the cohorts being educated ? but the recommendation for action focuses on what to do about schools.

Indeed, the conclusion seems to contradict other recent?analysis by Chris Cook, the FT?s excellent education correspondent and data geek hero.??Chris finds that?only in a very few schools do poorer children (those eligible for Free School Meals) achieve better than the national average. That is, in the country as a whole, the quality of the school generally?matters a great deal less to a child?s?educational achievement than does that?child?s family?s income.? Moreover, in another benchmarking exercise,?he finds that??two-thirds of the variation in children?s exam results?can be explained?without any reference to the quality of the school at all.

So why is?it different in London? Are the schools really so much better that they are able to counteract the influence of poverty in ways that so few schools elsewhere are able to?

The answer is a??yes, probably?.? It does look as though the London Challenge, in particular, had a beneficial?effect in the way the FT leader sets out, based on collaboration and a virtual circle of best practice, as well perhaps as making the most of London?s undoubted educationalist talent pool.? After all, even children arriving from other English regions after the age of 11 seem to end up doing better than their peers who stayed in the regions.

But, given what we know from the statistics, there must also be other causes ? something specific about London itself, not just?its schools,?which has driven up achievement so much more there in the last 10 years, compared with other regions.

This other something is, I suspect, immigration.? As I set out in some detail?here?and here, there is already really quite compelling evidence to suggest the cognitive and social advantages of emergent bilingualism and biculturalism has been?powerful enough to overcome the economic disadvantages suffered by many of them.? This particularity about the?shift in the type of children educated in London in the last decade will, I suspect, turn out to have been a more powerful cause of improved educational achievement than anything that the schools themselves have done.? There?s a PhD or two waiting to be done in the field.

Such PhD findings are likely to be very?unpopular with government (of any colour, as it stands), who will be more than happy to stick with the convenient, but wrong, assumption, that improving educational achievement is just a matter of improving schools (and outright governmental corruption currently flows from that assumption).

Nevertheless, it?s important that pro-immigrations keep on making the case for diversity, not just on the basis that it creates a better educated workforce, but because well-educated diversity flows creates a more prosperous, productive country as a whole.? As Alesine et al. (2013)?find (h/t Chris Dillow) from their extensive research into the economic effects of?birthplace diversity*, there is:

?a positive and robust correlation between birthplace diversity and productivity.? This association is particularly strong for the diversity of immigrants, especially for skilled immigrants in richer countries. Expanding the diversity of skilled immigration by one standard deviation (e.g., from Iran to Ireland, or Ireland to US) increases long-run real income by a factor of 1.2 to 1.5. These results hold for OLS?and 2SLS?estimators in a dataset of 93 countries and are robust to a wide range of alternative speci.cations. We interpret these findings as suggestive of production function effects of diversity. These effects can theoretically arise though complementarities in skills, cognitive abilities or problem solving capabilities that emerge from the combination of workers with diverse origins in a joint production task. Such positive production function effects have been uncovered in a number of recent empirical and experimental studies at the team and .rm levels, but evidence at an aggregate level had so far been limited to US cities and states.? These results have potentially strong implications for the design of immigration policies (p.21).

In the short term, of course, it?s too much too expect?that the life chances of people in South Yorkshire (to take one??poorly performing? area in the FT research) will be enhanced by a new wave of productive immigration with a dynamic similar to that in London (or early 20th century New York); however desirable that may be for the open-minded, it just ain?t going to happen.? Nevertheless, what it?s important for Labour policymakers to bear in mind, as they prepare to take over after Gove?s scorched earth period of misuse of office, is that further?initiatives?to improve education in such areas need to be developed more holistically than the FT leader above recommends.

We need to develop ways in which schools and the wider institutions of the state are able to instil in whole communities the affinity for educational achievement which currently marks out London from the rest.? Some of this is, of course, related to economic opportunity ? the desire to get good results in order to get that job?which is actually?available, but it?s also about creating a love of learning for learning?s sake amongst children, either through initiatives?with parents (e.g. the creation of 21st century ?reading rooms? in schools or run by schools) and/or, where need be, in loco parentis.

This, of course, needs money.? And lots of it.? But if there?s one New Labour achievement that One Nation Labour should be keen to celebrate and build on, it?s Education, Education, Education.? The FT agrees.

* The notion of birthplace diversity, as opposed to ethnic diversity, is important, because it is the very newness that creates the kind of?surge of achievement we?have seen in London in the last decade.? As the study says (p.2):

Albeit loosely linked through immigration, ethnic and birthplace diversity are empirically (perhaps surprisingly) almost completely uncorrelated. Conceptually, ethnic and birthplace diversity also di?er as people born in different countries are likely to have been educated in di?erent school systems, learned di?erent skills, and speak different languages; once gathered in a single country, .rst-generation immigrants arguably form a more diverse group than second and third-generation immigrants (or than people of di?erent ethnicities) that grew up speaking the same language and, more often than not, learned from each other inside or outside of school: the melting pot does indeed melt!

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Source: http://thoughcowardsflinch.com/2013/01/18/immigration-education-and-prosperity-building-on-the-london-success-story/

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Eamon Martin Appointed Head Of Roman Catholic Church In Ireland By Pope Benedict

* Martin will become "Primate of All Ireland"
* Brady was hit by sexual abuse scandal
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Friday appointed the new head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland to succeed Cardinal Sean Brady, whose tenure has been plagued by scandal over the sexual abuse of children on the predominantly Roman Catholic island.
The Vatican said Monsignor Eamon Martin, 51, had been named "coadjutor" archbishop of Armagh, meaning he will automatically succeed Brady when he retires next year.
Brady, who will remain primate until his retirement, has resisted calls by three of the four main parties in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland's deputy first minister to resign over the sexual abuse scandal.
The Vatican's move was seen as an attempt to give him a soft exit. While it spared him the embarrassment of stepping down before his scheduled retirement, he will effectively be sidestepped as Martin takes over the running of the diocese.
Armagh, which is in Northern Ireland, is a particularly significant diocese because its archbishop has the title "Primate of All Ireland," the senior Church position on the divided island.
A BBC television documentary last year reported that Brady failed to warn parents their children were being sexually abused by a priest in 1975 after he had been given the information by one of the victims.
The abuser, Father Brendan Smyth, died in 1997, just one month into a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to 74 charges of indecent and sexual abuse of boys and girls for more than 30 years.
Brady apologised at the time of the documentary but said it was misleading.
The Church in Ireland, where for centuries religion was embedded in the national psyche, has been rocked by a series of reports of child sex abuse stretching back decades and of leaders' complicity in covering them up.
Ireland last year closed its embassy to the Vatican, one of its oldest diplomatic missions, after relations hit an all-time low over the abuse scandals.
"I am saddened that many good Catholics were let down so badly over the issue of abuse and that some have even stopped practising their faith," Martin said in a statement about his appointment.
"As Church, we must continue in our efforts to bring healing to victims and ensure that young people are always protected, respected and nurtured," he said.
A Vatican report last year accused the island's religious leaders of negligence and called for more reforms there to avoid a similarly "shameful" scandal in the future.
Years of crisis over sexual abuse have included several damning government reports, the resignations of several Irish bishops and a papal letter to Irish Catholics.
As in other countries, Catholic leaders were accused of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse and shuttling clergy accused of abuse from parish to parish instead of defrocking them or turning them in to police. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/eamon-martin-head-of-roman-catholic-church-in-ireland_n_2502325.html

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Return to Zanzibar | Peter Gostelow - Adventure Cycling ...

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Source: http://petergostelow.com/2013/01/19/return-to-zanzibar/

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Video: Ceiling Hike on the Table

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50501363/

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Seeing beyond cameras: Predicting where people move in CCTV blind spots

Public release date: 16-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Neha Okhandiar
n.okhandiar@qmul.ac.uk
020-788-27927
Queen Mary, University of London

A new model from Queen Mary, University of London could be a useful security tool in tracking people in large, busy venues such as airport terminals and shopping centres.

The research fuses information gathered from multiple Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) network cameras and geographical maps for the first time, and could be useful in locating people in blind-spots where the CCTV cannot see, known as invisible areas.

Co-author Professor Andrea Cavallaro and director of Queen Mary's Centre for Intelligent Sensing, based in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science explained, "Linking distant and disjointed camera views to follow individuals in a large CCTV network, for example in a train station or in a sports venue, enhances the ability to monitor wide areas to tackle crime. Also, this new research model could be used to collect data to guide the redesign of the layout of buildings in order to facilitate the flow of people, which could help evacuation in an emergency situation."

The researchers created a novel re-identification method that predicts a person's movements in invisible areas using a combination of behavioural models and floor plans. The model was tested using CCTV footage from London's Gatwick airport to predict a person's movements based on specific destinations on site such as exits, shops, seating areas and meeting points.

The possible path each person is likely to follow is predicted after generating a number of potential movement trajectories from one monitored zone to another, using the fact that specific destinations act as 'attractors' for human movements. The model accounts for the natural willingness of people to stay at a comfortable distance from walls and other barriers.

The research will feed into a new EU four-year video surveillance project called CENTAUR, coordinated by Fortune 100 company Honeywell, and is published in the journal Neurocomputing.

###

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?

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

Public release date: 16-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Neha Okhandiar
n.okhandiar@qmul.ac.uk
020-788-27927
Queen Mary, University of London

A new model from Queen Mary, University of London could be a useful security tool in tracking people in large, busy venues such as airport terminals and shopping centres.

The research fuses information gathered from multiple Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) network cameras and geographical maps for the first time, and could be useful in locating people in blind-spots where the CCTV cannot see, known as invisible areas.

Co-author Professor Andrea Cavallaro and director of Queen Mary's Centre for Intelligent Sensing, based in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science explained, "Linking distant and disjointed camera views to follow individuals in a large CCTV network, for example in a train station or in a sports venue, enhances the ability to monitor wide areas to tackle crime. Also, this new research model could be used to collect data to guide the redesign of the layout of buildings in order to facilitate the flow of people, which could help evacuation in an emergency situation."

The researchers created a novel re-identification method that predicts a person's movements in invisible areas using a combination of behavioural models and floor plans. The model was tested using CCTV footage from London's Gatwick airport to predict a person's movements based on specific destinations on site such as exits, shops, seating areas and meeting points.

The possible path each person is likely to follow is predicted after generating a number of potential movement trajectories from one monitored zone to another, using the fact that specific destinations act as 'attractors' for human movements. The model accounts for the natural willingness of people to stay at a comfortable distance from walls and other barriers.

The research will feed into a new EU four-year video surveillance project called CENTAUR, coordinated by Fortune 100 company Honeywell, and is published in the journal Neurocomputing.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/qmuo-sbc011413.php

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New Antarctic geological timeline aids future sea-level predictions

Jan. 16, 2013 ? Radiocarbon dates of tiny fossilised marine animals found in Antarctica's seabed sediments offer new clues about the recent rapid ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and help scientists make better predictions about future sea-level rise. This region of the icy continent is thought to be vulnerable to regional climate warming and changes in ocean circulation.

Reporting this month in the journal Geology a team of researchers from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the University of Troms? presents a timeline for ice loss and glacier retreat in the Amundsen Sea region of West Antarctica. The team concludes that the rapid changes observed by satellites over the last 20 years at Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers may well be exceptional and are unlikely to have happened more than three or four times in the last 10,000 years.

This study is part of an urgent international effort by polar scientists to understand if the recent rapid changes are unusual in the geological past.

The team studied the average rate of glacial retreat since the end of the last Ice Age around 12,000 years ago. Their work centred on Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers, which drain ice from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into Pine Island Bay.

Lead author Dr Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand from BAS says, "As snow and ice builds up on the vast Antarctic Ice Sheet, the ice flows from the centre of the continent through glaciers towards the sea where it often forms floating ice shelves and eventually breaks off as icebergs. The floating ice shelves hold back the ice on land. A critical issue for us is to understand how the 'grounding line' -- the position where the ice sitting on land (glaciers) begins to float (ice shelves) -- has retreated landward over time. Satellite data are available only for the last 20 years and show that since 1992 the Pine Island and Thwaites glaciers have experienced significant thinning (melting), flow acceleration and rapid landward retreat of their grounding lines, with that of Pine Island Glacier having retreated up to 25 km. It's possible that the grounding lines may retreat even further inland over coming decades. Our study has revealed that episodes of fast glacier retreat similar to that observed over recent decades can only have occurred very rarely during the previous 10,000 years."

The investigation was carried out in 2010 during an expedition on-board the German research ship RV Polarstern. The science team used gravity corers up to ten metres long to extract mud from the sea floor of the continental shelf in the Amundsen Sea.

Co-author Dr Gerhard Kuhn from AWI explains, "It was important to get a better understanding of the rapid retreat that we see in the satellite data. As coring targets we selected three relatively shallow undersea ridges that lie within 110 kilometres of the current grounding line and flank a deep glacial valley which was carved into the sea bed by the glaciers during past ice sheet advances. These locations gave us the best chance to collect the tiny skeletons and shells of animals made of calcium carbonate. Such 'calcareous' microfossils are critical for using the radiocarbon technique to determine the age of the sediments, but they are normally extremely rare on the Antarctic continental shelf."

Co-author Dr James Smith, also from BAS, adds, "First we determined the distance between the core locations and the modern position of the grounding line. Then by dating the type of sediment material deposited at a core site in the open ocean (after the grounding line had moved further landward), we were able to calculate the average rate of glacier retreat over time."

This new research will be used to improve the accuracy of computer models that are essential to predict future ice loss in the Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its likely contribution to global sea-level rise. Over the last two decades the melting of West Antarctic glaciers has contributed significantly to sea-level rise (recent studies have suggested that continued melting would raise global sea level by up to 0.3 mm a year).

Some of the radiocarbon dating work was undertaken at the Natural Environment Research Council Radiocarbon Facility (Environment). The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by British Antarctic Survey.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. C.-D. Hillenbrand, G. Kuhn, J. A. Smith, K. Gohl, A. G. C. Graham, R. D. Larter, J. P. Klages, R. Downey, S. G. Moreton, M. Forwick, D. G. Vaughan. Grounding-line retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from inner Pine Island Bay. Geology, 2012; 41 (1): 35 DOI: 10.1130/G33469.1

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/OXlgs2K17bM/130116111737.htm

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Air Berlin to cut 900 jobs in savings drive

Wednesday, 16 January, 2013

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Cooking Tip of the Day: Recipe: Crockpot Chuck Wagon Chili

Chuck Wagon Chili is so delicious and packed with vegetables... even the pickiest eaters will love it.

Crockpot meals make life so much easier... not to mention healthier too... by slow cooking, the meat becomes tender without any pre-browning in a skillet... so what's not to love?

Tips

Vegetable and meat quantities are approximate... you definitely have leeway here... use up what you have... or change something you don't care for.

For the stew meat I buy the leanest meat.. you can buy the chuck instead but it will have a higher fat content... that quite honestly I don't think is necessary.

The canned tomatoes I list are a suggestion.. there are many varieties and brands to choose from.? If you can't find exactly what I list.. pick something similar... if you must substitute planned canned tomatoes .. just remember you will need to alter the spices a bit to compensate.

If you can't find the canned tomatoes with the chilies, you can also substitute it with plain tomatoes and add a can of mild chilies that are easily found in the Mexican food section of the grocery store.

If you do use frozen corn instead of canned, add it frozen, it will be fine.

The spices listed produce a chili with a slight kick... no flame thrower here... just a little zip.. if you want it hotter... add to your taste.. just be careful... you can always add... taking away too much heat is more difficult... adding more ingredients to lower the heat... well... you could end up with enough chili for an army.

Serve with shredded cheese, chopped green onions, sour cream and even tortilla chips... they make great toppings... add some cornbread and you have a terrific hearty meal!

Recipe: ?Crockpot Chuck Wagon Chili

All you need:

About 1 1/2 - 2 pounds beef stew meat

1 can (14.5 oz.) Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Zesty Mild Green Chilies

1 can (14.5 oz.) Del Monte Petite Cut Diced Tomatoes with Zesty Jalapenos

1 can (about 15 oz.) light red or dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (about 15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

1can (about 15 oz) corn or equivalent amount frozen corn

3 medium onions, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

? teaspoon corn starch

1/3 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoon cumin

? teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon salt

Grated Cheddar Cheese, for garnish

Sour Cream, for garnish

Finely chopped green onion, for garnish

Tortilla chips, for garnish

All you have to do:


In a crock pot combine all ingredients, including beef, except for garnishes.??Cook on low for 7-8 hours or until done, stirring occasionally.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped green onion and tortilla chips.

Another quick stir.... flip the heat on to low.. and 7-8 hours later... Dinner!

Now how easy was that??

Source: http://cookingtipoftheday.blogspot.com/2013/01/recipe-crockpot-chuck-wagon-chili.html

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