Friday, February 22, 2013

Google Search by Image browser extension for Chrome now works on non-public images!

Google Search by Image browser extension for Chrome now works on non-public images!

Google has just updated their Search by Image browser extension for Chrome.

The update comes with a very useful new functionality. You can now use it on non-public images.

Until now, the app used the public URL of the image to search through their database. Google is now caching the image temporary on their servers to search for it.

I played with this new feature by running the extension on an image attachment in Gmail. Worked fine!

This entry was posted in News and tagged Google, Google Chrome, Google Image Search, Google Search, Google Search by Image on by Sushubh Mittal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechWhackBlog/~3/ZWv1Jmul2M4/

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Coach's big shot wins student tuition

Call it the shot heard ?round the world.

Or the sports world, at least.

Last Friday, Brandon University Bobcats men?s basketball coach Gil Cheung ? former girls hoops coach at Southridge School ? sunk a miraculous shot from half court during the school?s Shooutout for Tuition contest, giving BU student Mason Kaluzniak free tuition for a semester at the Manitoba school.

Kaluzniak was chosen at random for the contest, with the stipulation being that he could take the shot himself, or let someone else shoot for him. He chose Cheung, a former Bobcats captain, who led Brandon to two national championships in his playing days, before turning to coaching.

The moment was captured on video ? the 43-second YouTube clip had more than 1.8 million views by Peace Arch News? deadline Wednesday afternoon.

In the clip, Cheung, wearing dress pants and a shirt and tie ? he removed his jacket before walking to centre-court ? steps to the centre line, dribbles the ball three times, then fires the shot.

?It?s close, it?s close, it?s close!? bellows the Brandon University public-address announcer.

Then, swish.

?He did it, he did it!?

After making the shot, Cheung, shirt now untucked, runs around the court, arms outstretched like a human airplane, before being mobbed by his players and Kaluzniak.

The incredible moment has garnered more than just online notoriety for Cheung and his school.

The former South Surrey coach?s feat was picked up by a number of news outlets in both Canada and the United States, including TSN, ESPN and USA Today.

?It has really taken off,? said Cheung, who took the reins of the Brandon men?s hoops team in 2010, after serving as a head coach at both Douglas College and Southridge School and as an assistant coach at Simon Fraser University.

On Wednesday, Cheung and Kaluzniak were interviewed by Soledad O?Brien on the CNN talk show, Starting Point.

It was on that show that Kaluzniak admitted he chose Cheung to shoot for him simply because he knew him.

?I never really thought it was going to happen, so I figured I might as well pick a friend of mine, and if he misses, he misses, and I can bug him a little bit,? Kaluzniak told CNN.

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Source: http://www.peacearchnews.com/sports/192069421.html

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Obama Resorts to Local TV Interviews to Blame Sequester on GOP

The goal of Obama's local interviews is to halt $85 billion in budget cuts. The five-minute segments were granted to stations in states that have a high military presence. Adding weight to Obama's local TV interview campaign, the Pentagon announced cost-saving layoffs of up to 800,000 civilian employees who will be furloughed for 22 days.

In the interviews, Obama warned of the potential job loss that might occur in those eight states and blamed Republicans for the sequester.

"What I say to them is that there's no reason they should be furloughed, there's no reason they should lose their jobs or be laid off. This is a problem Congress can solve," Obama told a station in Maryland.

Obama has spent a lot of time attacking Republicans over the sequestration policy that will force an across the board $85 billion cut in government spending, but the whole plan was originally a White House idea.

The sequestration policy was an idea created by the White House and pushed by Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid; even the left-leaning PolitiFact fact-checking website has admitted as much.

Even as Obama has continued to say that sequestration is the Republican's fault, PolitiFact points out that the President's claim is "mostly false." Last October, PolitiFact noted that "Obama can?t rightly say the sequester isn?t his."

The President circumventing the White House Press Corps to directly appeal to other media outlets has been a standard habit, too. It's become so blatant that even the left-wing outlets Slate and Politico have complained about the President's refusal to engage with them.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BigJournalism/~3/L4cHGfYvSpw/Obama-Resorts-to-Local-TV-Interviews-to-Push-Tax-Hikes

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Wearable accessory patent application reveals some Apple iWatch-style thinking

Wearable accessory patent application reveals some Apple iWatch-style thinking

Given the growing number of iWatch rumors, it's no wonder this just-released Apple patent application is getting a lot of attention today. Here's what the USPTO document, attributed to Fletcher R. Rothkopf, Derek W. Wright, and Scott A. Myers, tells us in abstract:

A wearable accessory device is disclosed. The wearable accessory device includes a flexible display coupled to a bi-stable spring. Coupling the display to the bi-stable spring allows the accessory device to be easily worn in a number of convenient locations.

Of course, companies patent just about every idea, realistic or not, valid or not, sensible or not, that their engineers and designers come up with. It's very literally their jobs, given intellectual property litigation as it exists today. So, while iMore has learned Apple is moving ahead with the "iWatch" project, unless and until more solid information becomes available, it's impossible to separate any core technology that might actually be used from this patent, from anything doomed forever to remain little more than a render affixed to hands with, as always, overly-large thumbs.

So, while it's tempting to pull from this a "slap watch" concept where a bendable display could be wrapped around your wrist, providing access to all your stuff, much as the iPhone or iPad does today, for now it's an interesting insight into how some people at Apple are thinking about wearable technology, but not much more.

That said, there's an elegance and simplicity to the idea of a display and barely more than a display that resonates with the Apple and Jony Ive vibe, so if there are any elements of this that can be implemented into an actual product, I hope that idea, the minimalism, is it.

Source: USPTO via Engadget



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/fOtre4UwNUw/story01.htm

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Office workers beware: Sitting time associated with increased risk of chronic diseases

Feb. 18, 2013 ? The more you sit, the higher your risk of chronic diseases. Kansas State University researcher Richard Rosenkranz, assistant professor of human nutrition, examined the associations of sitting time and chronic diseases in middle-aged Australian males in a study that is published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Collaborators include University of Western Sydney researchers Emma George and Gregory Kolt.

The study's sample included 63,048 males ages 45-65 from the Australian state of New South Wales. Study participants reported the presence or absence of various chronic diseases, along with their daily sitting time: categorized as less than four hours, four to six hours, six to eight hours, or more than eight hours.

Compared with those who reported sitting four hours or less per day, those who sat for more than four hours per day were significantly more likely to report having a chronic disease such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. The reporting of chronic diseases rose as participants indicated they sat more. Those sitting for at least six hours were significantly more likely to report having diabetes.

"We saw a steady stair-step increase in risk of chronic diseases the more participants sat," Rosenkranz said. "The group sitting more than eight hours clearly had the highest risk."

The study is relevant to office workers sitting at desks and those sitting for long periods of time such as truck drivers, he said.

"We know that with very high confidence that more physically active people do better with regard to chronic disease compared with less physically active people, but we should also be looking at reducing sitting," Rosenkranz said. "A lot of office jobs that require long periods of sitting may be hazardous to your health because of inactivity and the low levels of energy expenditure."

Researchers discovered consistent findings in those who had a similar physical activity level, age, income, education, weight and height. Participants who sat more reported more chronic diseases -- even if they had a similar body mass index compared with those who sat less.

In general, people should get more physical activity and sit less, Rosenkranz said.

"It's not just that people aren't getting enough physical activity, but it's that they're also sitting too much," he said. "And on top of that, the more you sit, the less time you have for physical activity."

The study focused on males, because they have higher rates of diabetes and heart disease, but it is probably applicable in adults across gender, race and ethnicity, Rosenkranz said. Little is known about children and sitting with regard to chronic disease.

The research is part of the 45 and Up Study, the largest long-term study of aging in Australia, involving more than 267,000 people.

Researchers said that although most of the current evidence is suggestive of a causal connection, they cannot be certain in this study whether volumes of sitting time led to the development of chronic diseases or whether the chronic diseases influenced sitting time.

"It's a classic case of, 'Which came first: The chicken or the egg?'" Rosenkranz said.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Kansas State University.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Emma S George, Richard R Rosenkranz, Gregory S Kolt. Chronic disease and sitting time in middle-aged Australian males: findings from the 45 and Up Study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2013; 10 (1): 20 DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-10-20

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/GhojNgVnSqE/130218132357.htm

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Dixie State College Becomes A University

By Amy Nay
(KUTV) Utah has a brand new university to boast. And Governor Gary Herbert's doing just that. The governor was in St. George at the Eccles Fine Arts Center Saturday where he signed the bill making Dixie State College Dixie State University.
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"I'm very proud of this moment," said the Governor to a standing room only crowd, "This is a great day for the entire state of Utah. It shows
growth in our great state and our improved quality of life. It also shows how important education is for our future."
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A rousing rendition of the school song broke out during the Governor's comments, led by St. George Mayor Daniel MacArthur.

Some of the words as follows: If you're from Santa Clara, Washington or St. George, fine. Anything below the Iron County line. Then, you're from Dixie. HURRAH for Dixie. I'm from Dixie too!

"What a great day for Dixie!," Mayor MacArthur says the lyrics fit so well with Saturday's event with its unifying words mentioning all the communities positively impacted by the school. The Mayor says those boundaries should now be expanded, "Now that we're a university, we're universal!"
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"What a thrill to be part of something that's really significant for the community," President Stephen Nadauld told 2News, "Something so many people have been looking forward to for so long.

He says the school has already grown, adding nearly two dozen bachelor's degrees, 61 faculty positions and a nearly 53 percent student increase.

He says they'll continue in that direction, with plans to add new master's degrees and more. "We'll be a major force in Utah and a huge, huge force in this region."

Speakers thanked Utah's pioneers who persevered to settle this region, saying Saturday's historic signing was some 150 years in the making.
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There was no mention of any of the controversy over the name Dixie. In the weeks and months leading up to the school getting its university status, the name has been debated.

Students raised concerns about the possible racist connotations Dixie may have - often affiliated with the South and slavery.

But major donors spoke out in favor of the name, threatening to pull their support if it changed. Community members made their voices heard and last month, the school?s board of trustees voted unanimously to retain the name despite its controversial associations with the Southern Confederacy.

This week at the state capitol, a brief debate was held in the House of Representatives, but the bill HB61 passed. It went on to the Senate where it passed, as well. With Governor Herbert's signature Saturday morning, it's now official - Dixie State University.

(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcasting Group)

Dixie State College Becomes A University

Source: http://kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/dixie-state-college-becomes-university-3875.shtml?wap=0

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Tehran-Islamabad non-oil trade hits $718m in 10 months




TEHRAN - The value of non-oil trade between Iran and Pakistan hit $718 million in the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012-Janauary 19, 2013), ISNA reported.

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The amount showed 11.6 percent rise compared to the same period in the previous year.

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Iran?s and Pakistan?s shares of the bilateral trade were $533 million and $165 million, respectively.

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According to Pakistani Senior Minister for Commerce, Makhdoom Amin Fahimtrade, trade between Iran and Pakistan peaked to $1.32 billion in 2008-2009 but subsequently declined to $1.16 billion in 2009-2010 and further to $734.94 million 2010-11.

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Pakistan major items of exports of Iran include rice ($75.11 million), meat and meat preparations ($11.80 million), agricultural products ($6.96 million excluding rice and fruits, non value added textiles ($1.80 million).

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Major items of import included petroleum products; however Pakistan?s imports from Iran have decreased from $653.06 million in 2009 to $36.61 million in 2011. Other products include organic chemical $75.60 million, plastics ($65.37 million), iron ores and concentrates ($38.17 million), and steel ($32.29 million).


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Source: http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/105662-tehran-islamabad-non-oil-trade-hits-718m-in-10-months

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Friday, February 15, 2013

Gene associated with high anxiety can have protective effect on the battlefield

Thursday, February 14, 2013

The onset of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is unpredictable. Because it depends on the unforeseeable occurrence of traumatic events, it is difficult to identify preventative or causative factors. Scientists typically turn to patients who have already developed PTSD to study the disorder, but that means they can't draw comparisons to their psychological state prior to experiencing trauma.

Now, through a combination of genetic and psychological testing, Prof. Yair Bar-Haim and PhD student Ilan Wald of Tel Aviv University's School of Psychological Sciences have identified factors that mitigate against PTSD. Their study focused on infantry soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Soldiers have a high probability of experiencing traumatic events, explains Prof. Bar-Haim, so a susceptible subgroup is practically bound to develop the disorder.

Through psychological and DNA studies, they discovered that excessive threat vigilance, a behavior typically associated with elevated anxiety in everyday life, is a normal response in soldiers during combat deployment. In combat, those soldiers who avoided threats were more likely to develop PTSD as a result of traumatic experiences. This study, which was done in collaboration with the IDF, the National Institutes of Mental Health, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, was published today in JAMA Psychiatry.

Through attention bias modification training ? which trains participants to direct their attention either towards or away from threatening stimuli ? soldiers could learn to increase their vigilance towards threats before they're deployed, possibly reducing their risk for PTSD, he says. He also notes that this discovery could prove valuable in PTSD prevention for populations that are more likely to be exposed to traumatic situations.

A heightened attention to threat

To explore the causative factors of PTSD, Prof. Bar-Haim and his fellow researchers designed a study of 1,100 new infantry recruits to the IDF. Each participant underwent testing first at the time of recruitment, again after basic training, and finally six months into their deployment in a conflict zone. Several major vulnerability and resilience factors were measured: self-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD; threat-related attention bias; combat exposure; and genetic markers that indicate a tendency towards anxiety.

The researchers noticed that where computer-based testing revealed a strong vigilance towards threats during deployment, the soldier was much less likely to develop PTSD. That discovery corresponded to significant genetic findings about the serotonin transporter gene, which plays a key role in the control of serotonin availability in the brain and modulates important psychological functions such as mood, appetite, and sleep. It has three variants ? short/short, short/long and long/long. The short/short variant of the gene is associated with enhanced threat vigilance and a higher incidence of anxiety and depression in everyday conditions. But in war zones, soldiers who carried the short/short variant of the gene were actually at an advantage, since their attuned attention towards threat protected them from developing PTSD in traumatic situations.

Re-training the mind

In the persistent conflict in Israel, rates of PTSD symptoms are at approximately six to seven percent. For soldiers serving in active war zones like Iraq or Afghanistan, the rate is much higher and could reach up to 20 percent, reports Prof. Bar-Haim. He commends the IDF and US Army for their commitment to finding a solution. "They are on the front line of science in trying to understand risk and resilience factors," he says.

Identifying this protective factor is a first step towards preventative treatment, Prof. Bar-Haim reports. Teaching soldiers to be more sensitive to threats prior to deployment could reduce the overall risk of developing PTSD. The researchers are currently developing a study that will test different preventative treatment options, and hope to have results in the next few years.

###

American Friends of Tel Aviv University: http://www.aftau.org

Thanks to American Friends of Tel Aviv University for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126800/Gene_associated_with_high_anxiety_can_have_protective_effect_on_the_battlefield

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Inside The Co-Creation Effect - Business Insider

SAPThis post is part of the "Future of Business" series, which examines how cutting-edge technologies are rapidly reshaping our world, from how businesses run to how we live. "The Future of Business" is sponsored by SAP.

See more Future of Business >>

For savvy companies, social media has become more than a place to listen to customers complain or rave about their products. It's become a new form of R&D.

Now Facebook, Twitter, and more specialized online tools are helping businesses find customers to give them feedback on products?or even participate in their design before they're built.

Best-selling author and global consultant Francis Gouillart?has dubbed this phenomenon the "co-creation effect."

His latest book is Power of Co-Creation: Build It with Them to Boost Growth, Productivity, and Profits.

"Social media has liberated social forces," he told Business Insider. "We thought traditionally of ourselves as a helpless individual, now everyone can be in a group. I can get a couple of people passionate about a topic and we have a means of being heard."

"What used to be a fairly isolated political process has become a form of business," says Gouillart.

Communities can spontaneously form on the Internet in a way that they just can't do in real life. People can sign Internet petitions and then organize themselves into physical protests from there. They can jointly contribute to crowd-funded projects on Kickstarter and other sites.?

"The whole democratization of business is a result of that," said Gouillart.

Of course, it doesn't always work out.?Take, for example,?Facebook's abandonment of a system where it asked users to vote?on planned privacy-policy changes. The social network said it didn't get enough helpful feedback out of the process.

If Facebook struggles to harness the co-creation effect, do ordinary businesses have any hope? Yes, if they look?at social media as more than a marketing tool.

Procter & Gamble has become the master of this. Campaigns on its Facebook page have helped it increase sales of Pepto-Bismol, Secret deodorant and Iams pet food.

And marketing is fine as far as it goes. But true co-creation is the next step.

Quirky, a manufacturing-services startup,?is probably the best example.?People submit ideas for $10 and other site visitors choose the best. If an idea is chosen, Quirky will make the product and pay a lifetime royalty for it.

But Quirky isn't the only form of co-creation. Sites like Instructables let people share their designs.

And sites like IdeaScale let companies gather interested individuals and brainstorm new ideas.

The platform you use isn't as important as a willingness to engage in conversations?and to think of your customers as collaborators.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-co-creation-effect-2013-2

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States' choices set up national health experiment

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is unfolding as a national experiment with American consumers as the guinea pigs: Who will do a better job getting uninsured people covered, the states or the feds?

The nation is about evenly split between states that decided by Friday's deadline they want a say in running new insurance markets and states that are defaulting to federal control because they don't want to participate in "Obamacare." That choice was left to state governments under the law: Establish the market or Washington will.

With some exceptions, states led by Democrats opted to set up their own markets, called exchanges, and Republican-led states declined.

Only months from the official launch, exchanges are supposed to make the mind-boggling task of buying health insurance more like shopping on Amazon.com or Travelocity. Millions of people who don't have employer coverage will flock to the new markets. Middle-class consumers will be able to buy private insurance, with government help to pay the premiums in most cases. Low-income people will be steered to safety net programs like Medicaid.

"It's an experiment between the feds and the states, and among the states themselves," said Robert Krughoff, president of Consumers' Checkbook, a nonprofit ratings group that has devised an online tool used by many federal workers to pick their health plans. Krughoff is skeptical that either the feds or the states have solved the technological challenge of making the purchase of health insurance as easy as selecting a travel-and-hotel package.

Whether or not the bugs get worked out, consumers will be able to start signing up Oct. 1 for coverage that takes effect Jan. 1. That's also when two other major provisions of the law kick in: the mandate that almost all Americans carry health insurance, and the rule that says insurers can no longer turn away people in poor health.

Barring last-minute switches that may not be revealed until next week, 23 states plus Washington, D.C., have opted to run their own markets or partner with the Obama administration to do so.

Twenty-six states are defaulting to the feds. But in several of those, Republican governors are trying to carve out some kind of role by negotiating with federal Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Utah's status is unclear. It received initial federal approval to run its own market, but appears to be reconsidering.

"It's healthy for the states to have various choices," said Ben Nelson, CEO of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "And there's no barrier to taking somebody else's ideas and making them work in your situation." A former U.S. senator from Nebraska, Nelson was one of several conservative Democrats who provided crucial votes to pass the overhaul.

States setting up their own exchanges are already taking different paths. Some will operate their markets much like major employers run their health plans, as "active purchasers" offering a limited choice of insurance carriers to drive better bargains. Others will open their markets to all insurers that meet basic standards, and let consumers decide.

Obama's Affordable Care Act remains politically divisive, but state insurance exchanges enjoy broad public support. Setting up a new market was central to former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's health care overhaul as governor of Massachusetts. There, it's known as the Health Connector.

A recent AP poll found that Americans prefer to have states run the new markets by 63 percent to 32 percent. Among conservatives the margin was nearly 4-1 in favor of state control. But with some exceptions, including Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico, Republican-led states are maintaining a hands-off posture, meaning the federal government will step in.

"There is a sense of irony that it's the more conservative states" yielding to federal control, said Sandy Praeger, the Republican insurance commissioner in Kansas, a state declining to run its own exchange. First, she said, the law's opponents "put their money on the Supreme Court, then on the election. Now that it's a reality, we may see some movement."

They're not budging in Austin. "Texas is not interested in being a subcontractor to Obamacare," said Lucy Nashed, spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, who remains opposed to mandates in the law.

In Kansas, Praeger supported a state-run exchange, but lost the political struggle to Gov. Sam Brownback. She says Kansans will be closely watching what happens in neighboring Colorado, where the state will run the market. She doubts that consumers in her state would relish dealing with a call center on the other side of the country. The federal exchange may have some local window-dressing but it's expected to function as a national program.

Christine Ferguson, director of the Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange, says she expects to see a big shift to state control in the next few years. "Many of the states have just run out of time for a variety of reasons," said Ferguson. "I'd be surprised if in the longer run every state didn't want to have its own approach."

In some ways, the federal government has a head start on the states. It already operates the Medicare Plan Finder for health insurance and prescription plans that serve seniors, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Both have many of the features of the new insurance markets.

Administration officials are keeping mum about what the new federal exchange will look like, except that it will open on time and people in all 50 states will have the coverage they're entitled to by law.

Joel Ario, who oversaw planning for the health exchanges in the Obama administration, says "there's a rich dialogue going on" as to what the online shopping experience should look like. "To create a website like Amazon is a very complicated exercise," said Ario, now a consultant with Manatt Health Solutions.

He thinks consumers should be able to get one dollar figure for each plan that totals up all their expected costs for the year, including premiums, deductibles and copayments. Otherwise, scrolling through pages of insurance jargon online will be a sure turn-off.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/states-choices-set-national-health-215012597.html

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Samsung may not do a major redesign on the Galaxy S IV

Samsung May Not Do A Major Redesign On The Galaxy S IV

www.droiddog.com

Rumors are flying about the Samsung Galaxy S IV, or whatever Samsung chooses to name it. The latest rumors are from Korean journal DDaily, who says that it will be the first model to not face a major redesign. The changes from the original Galaxy S to the Galaxy S II were pretty dramatic, and the ch...

Source: http://www.facebook.com/DroidDog/posts/453046844767236

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The State of the Union vs. Chris Dorner

President Barack Obama touched on a variety of issues-- energy, jobs, technology, climate change and the middle class-- in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Yahoo News asked voters to respond to his speech. Here's one perspective.

COMMENTARY | President Obama seemed cool and collected, as he delivered most of his State of the Union speech tonight. Then he hit it out of the park on the subject of gun control. I confess I came to tears as harangued Congress to let the subject of gun control come to a vote, over and over, in old-time revival cadence. He said the young girl killed in Chicago deserved a vote, Gabby Gifford deserved a vote, and the families in Newtown, Aurora, Tucson, and elsewhere deserved a vote. It was definitely the highlight of his speech on an emotional topic.

I've been lucky not to have been caught in any crossfire of the serial shootings we've all been subjected to on the news lately -- from Aurora to Sandy Hook, from Chris Kyle at the shooting range to Chris Dorner right in my backyard in nearby San Bernardino. (I live in Los Angeles.) But as the president readied his speech, my local news was filled with a gunfight between Dorner and police, of horrific proportions on my TV screen. Then newscasts on every television channel suddenly cut to the president's speech in the middle of it all!

It was horrifying and ironic. I was glad that Obama addressed gun control in such an attention-getting way, but was disappointed he didn't mention a ban on assault weapons. I'm proud that my representative in Congress is Sen. Diane Feinstein, a staunch advocate against assault weapons. In the end, I wished the president had said more.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/state-union-vs-chris-dorner-070500774.html

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Gambrills Baseball Bull & Oyster Stew Roast | Annapolis Sports ...

Medal of Honor recipient: Taliban 'simply couldn't have' outpost

It was 6 a.m. on October 3, 2009 when Staff. Sgt. Clinton Romesha and 52 of his fellow soldiers awoke to find their small outpost not far from Afghanistan?s border with Pakistan, under attack.

They were outnumbered ? eight times over ? by more than 400 heavily armed Taliban fighters who had occupied the high ground on all four sides of the small base, nestled on the floor of a tiny valley of the Hindu Kush.

?Four hundred Taliban versus 53 American soldiers. It just doesn?t seem fair ? to the Taliban,? Mr. Romesha joked at a Pentagon ceremony Tuesday, before sounding a somber note. The outpost ?was our home,? he said, ?and they simply couldn?t have it.?

RECOMMENDED: Top 3 lessons the US military has learned in Afghanistan

But they were going to try. The Taliban were raining down fire upon the American troops at Combat Outpost Keating, using rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), mortars, anti-aircraft machine guns, and small arms to fire into what senior military officials described as a ?fish bowl.?

It was a battle that was to last one full day ? a day that ultimately became the deadliest of that year for US troops, leaving eight American soldiers dead and 80 percent of the buildings on the base destroyed.

On Monday, in a ceremony at the White House, Romesha, who was wounded in the battle, was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama. Mr. Obama cited the now retired staff sergeant?s ?conspicuous gallantry? and adherence to the code of never leaving behind a fallen comrade as he rallied the American force and called in airstrikes to repel the Taliban attackers.

On Tuesday, it was the Pentagon?s opportunity to pay tribute to one of its own as it inducted Romesha into the Hall of Heroes, only the fourth living recipient to be awarded the military?s highest honor for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Romesha ?embodies the essence of a soldier, and represents what every man and woman who dons this uniform strives to be,? Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, the service?s top officer, said during the ceremony.

General Odierno pointed to Romesha?s fellow soldiers from his Bravo troop of the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, which became one of most decorated units in US military history, earning nine Silver Stars, 18 Bronze Star medals with Valor, and 27 Purple Hearts.

On that October morning in 2009, Romesha, who had already served two tours of duty in Iraq, distinguished himself, repeatedly moving through an open and uncovered avenue on the base, which was being hit with a barrage of gunfire and RPG fire, as he made sure his fellow soldiers were in place and well-equipped.

Romesha at one point took cover near a generator to fire at a Taliban machine gun team that that was on high ground. ?After destroying this team,? he turned his sights on another machine gun team ?that was firing an overwhelming amount of fire? onto the base, according to the Defense Department?s official narrative of the battle.

As he was doing that, however, an RPG hit the generator and knocked Romesha backward, onto his assistant gunner.

?Not noticing his own wounds, Romesha re-engaged the enemy with his weapon system until an additional soldier arrived to man the machine gun.?

At this point, Romesha moved back along the base?s deadly open avenue to assemble another team and to make sure they were well equipped with ammunition.

It was only when he arrived back at the barracks to put together the team did another soldier notice his wounds and provide first aid.

His shrapnel wounds treated, Romesha assembled a five-man team and told them to load up on ammunition. In the meantime, he went to check on a fellow soldier holding Taliban at bay.

As he did, Romesha grabbed ?the only accessible sniper rifle along the way, a Dragunov belonging to the Afghan National Army.?

?With complete disregard for his own safety,? according to the official citation, Romesha ?engaged multiple enemy positions,? including a machine gun nest and sniper. He also killed three Taliban fighters who had breached the perimeter of the outpost.

Along the way, the team also secured the ammunition depot and an entry control point that the Taliban was trying to break through.

He and his fellow soldiers then pushed forward 100 meters to prevent Taliban fighters from taking the bodies of US soldiers who had been killed during the battle.

?The Medal of Honor is not often given when things went well on a battlefield,? Romesha pointed out during the Pentagon induction ceremony.

Romesha is part of a ?new greatest generation of Americans? that have stepped forward after 9/11, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the assembled audience Tuesday. ?This generation has endured enormous hardships and they have done it with tremendous courage.?

As he prepares to depart his post as Defense secretary, Mr. Panetta took time during the ceremony to reflect on the condolence letters he has signed, and ?the lives that were cut short in the prime of their life ? the promises, the dreams, the aspirations that each of those fallen heroes carried with them.?

He said he hoped their sacrifice would encourage politicians to ?carefully weigh when we send American men and women into battle.?

Then he turned to Romesha. ?Your courage,? Panetta told him, ?is now a part of American history.?

RECOMMENDED: Top 3 lessons the US military has learned in Afghanistan

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/medal-honor-recipient-taliban-simply-couldnt-outpost-005953552.html

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Police make six more arrests over phone hacking

LONDON (Reuters) - British police investigating the hacking of mobile phones to generate stories at Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid made six more arrests of journalists or former journalists on Wednesday.

The phone hacking in the new arrests was believed to have taken place in 2005 and 2006, the police said. Five suspects were arrested and taken in for questioning in London and one in Cheshire in northern England.

Operation Weeting was set up to investigate the allegation that journalists and private detectives working for the News of the World tabloid, owned by News Corp's British arm News International, repeatedly hacked into mobile phones.

Revelations that the hacking extended from celebrities and politicians to crime victims, including murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, caused public outrage.

The scandal escalated into a wider crisis embroiling the top echelons of the British political establishment, media, and police, and led to Murdoch closing down the News of the World in July 2011.

The latest arrests involve a suspected conspiracy separate to the one under which charges have already been made.

Earlier this month, a senior police officer was jailed after she was found guilty of offering to sell details about the phone-hacking inquiry to the tabloid, the first person to be convicted as part of the investigation.

Prime Minister David Cameron's former media chief Andy Coulson, who was editor of the News of the World between 2003 and 2007, and Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of News International and a confidante of Murdoch, are among those charged with criminal offences.

Last week, News International agreed to settle most outstanding civil lawsuits brought against it by phone hacking victims, including actor Hugh Grant and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-six-more-arrests-over-phone-hacking-115236770--finance.html

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Union girls, boys earn wins over Broken Arrow

The junior guard hit three 3-pointers, all in the second quarter, and scored a season-high 12 points, helping lead the No. 11 Redskins to a 58-48 win over the 14th-ranked Tigers.

Burgess had made five treys all season. Her nine second-quarter points were part of a 19-2 run that put Union in control of the game.

"I don't know what it is," she said. "I don't usually shoot 3s but I've been shooting better in practice and my teammates are always pushing me to shoot it more."

I'mani Davis had a season-high 26 points with 13 rebounds and Esther Udoumoh chipped in 14 as the Redskins (13-9, 8-5) won for the seventh time in their last eight games.

They can clinch a share of the Frontier Conference title by beating first-place Muskogee at the UMAC in both teams' regular-season finale on Friday night. Broken Arrow (13-8, 8-5) also can share in what still could be a five-way tie for the title by winning at Owasso - if the Redskins knock off Muskogee.

Union also won the boys game, exploding for 47 second-half and racing to an 80-56 win over the sixth-ranked Tigers and knocking them out of a first-place tie with Owasso in the conference race.

Carson Meier scored 20 points to pace four Union players in double figurers. The 12th-ranked Redskins (13-9, 8-5) have won three of their last four.

"We've been trying to get focused for the last couple of week with the playoffs coming up," Union coach Rudy Garcia said. "We challenged our guys to come out and play with more heart and energy."

Jordan Phelps and Jordan Huffman scored 15 and 13 for the Tigers (16-5, 10-3), who still can clinch a share of the Frontier title by winning at Owasso on Friday night.

Union 58, Broken Arrow 48 (girls): Toree Thompson led the Tigers with 23 points, her eighth straight game with 20 or more.

Union scored the game's first six points and trailed only once. The Tigers eased in front 15-14 early in the second quarter, but Union scored the next four baskets - three treys by Burgess and Davis' driving layup - to build a 25-15 lead.

Union 80, Broken Arrow 56 (boys): Shawn Olden and Josh Palmer scored 13 reach and Jeffery Mead chipped in 11 to pace the Redskins.

Union led most of the way, but Broken Arrow was close at 43-41 before the Redskins closed the third quarter on a 12-2 run. Alex Barton's 3-pointer out of the corner produced the first double-digit lead, at 53-43.

UNION 58, BROKEN ARROW 48 (girls)

Broken Arrow 11 8 11 18 - 48
Union 14 19 13 12 - 58
BA (13-8, 8-5): Thompson 23, Gaulden 11, Davis 6, Jones 4, Jacobson 2, McBride 2.

Union (13-9, 8-5): Davis 26, Udoumoh 14, Burgess 12, Hill 4, Fox 2.

UNION 80, BROKEN ARROW 56

Broken Arrow 19 12 12 13 - 56
Union 19 14 22 25 - 80
BA (16-5, 10-3): Phelps 15, Huffman 13, Campbell 8, Rovang 8, Cantrell 6, Josh Holliday 3, Waymire 2, John Holliday 1.

Union (13-9, 8-5): Meier 20, Olden 13, Palmer 13, Mead 11, Davis 9, Barton 6, Redam 5, Wannemacher 3.


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mike.brown@tulsaworld.com

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20130213_230_B7_UinsRg135276&rss_lnk=2

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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Where Few Trees Have Gone Before

Jefferson Park, Oregon, climate change Jefferson Park, Oregon Image: COURTESY OF HAROLD S. J. ZALD Oregon State University

In perhaps the slowest invasion in history, mountain meadows in the Pacific Northwest?where hikers and backpackers revel in breath-taking scenery?are gradually giving way to hemlocks, Pacific silver firs and other conifers. In these high-elevation, subalpine meadows of Jefferson Park in the central Cascade Range in Oregon, snow typically covers the meadows until July or August and returns again in November or December?too short a growing season for most trees to take root. But with a warming climate, snow has begun melting earlier and growing seasons have lengthened; that extra time with little or no snow cover has given trees a boost. As a result, tree occupation rose from 8 percent in 1950 to 35 percent in 2008, reports a U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service?funded study published last October in Landscape Ecology.

At a time when so many forests are threatened, aren't more trees something to celebrate? Not necessarily, say the authors of the new study. These tall trees block light that meadow grasses, shrubs and wildflowers need to survive. Once trees become established, the surrounding seed banks of native grasses tend to fade away. The meadows' ?biodiversity value is much larger than the amount of area they occupy,? explains lead author Harold S. J. Zald, postdoctoral research associate at Oregon State University, who hatched the idea for the study while backpacking in the Cascade Range. The researchers do not yet know which plant or animal species would be endangered.

The scientists did find one bright spot: depressions in the landscape carved out by glaciers held deeper snow that lasted longer through the summer. Such indentations might hold important reservoirs of meadow species even as global temperatures rise, Zald says.

To gather data, the researchers pinpointed study plots with GPS, counted trees by species, measured snow depth in late July, and sleuthed back through time by taking tree core samples to determine their age. Using LiDAR data??basically laser beams sent down from an airplane,? Zald explains?the team created a precise, three-dimensional map of vegetation, rock and soil, helping the researchers understand where trees became established and how deep the snow was over the rugged landscape.

Although there is still much to learn, the study highlights yet another impact of climate change. ?Over the past 20 years in the Pacific Northwest, we've been focused on conservation of old-growth forests as well as conservation of species such as the spotted owl and salmon,? Zald says. ?But in the process, we haven't really paid attention to meadow decline. Moving forward, this may be an emerging conservation issue.?

This article was originally published with the title Where No Tree Has Gone Before.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a7e5681a0f3bb1421ff91911d8946efd

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Female Entrepreneurs Say SEO and Socia Media Are the Future of ...

web-women-owned-businessBeing an entrepreneur is tough. Being a female entrepreneur is tougher but we?ve come a long way since Avon opened the door for women back at the turn of the century. From computers to cupcakes, women are making their own way with both brick and mortar businesses and online ventures.

A recent survey conducted by Web.com Group, Inc. and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) shows an uptick in optimism among women entrepreneurs. 81% of those surveyed felt good about where their business was headed and 85% thought 2013 was going to be the year of the female entrepreneur.

Though most people associate running your own business with freedom, entrepreneurs know that it actually means you work harder and longer than anyone else. That?s okay, said the women in this survey because their main reason for starting their business was to realize their vision ? they saw a need and they want to see it through.

But even the most successful entrepreneurs experience a few sleepless nights. 57% said they worry about the state of the economy, 40% are concerned about the cost of health insurance and 36% worry about business tax issues.

web-women-focusWhen it comes to marketing, 73% of those surveyed plan to increase spending in the coming year. Almost half of women business owners said that SEO and social media were the future of small business marketing and that they had a big impact on their bottom line. 52% said the only thing more important was website design and maintenance.

Traditional marketing barely showed up as a blip on the survey:

  • Print and direct mail: 1.6%
  • Email marketing: 6.2%
  • Even online advertising came in at only 4.4%

The women were asked, which social media network was the most valuable and LinkedIn came out on top but with only 27% of the vote. Facebook followed with 26%, then YouTube with 18% and Twitter with 17%.

When asked what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, most said you had to have passion for the idea. After that, they said you had to have a long-term plan for success and the willingness to take risks and fail.

I?ll leave you with a couple of quotes from top female entrepreneurs:

?My best successes came on the heels of failures.?

? Barbara Corcoran, real estate investor, Shark on the ABC show Shark Tank

?If you are committed to creating value and if you aren?t afraid of hard times; obstacles become utterly unimportant. A nuisance perhaps; but with no real power. The world respects creation; people will get out of your way.?

? Candice Carpenter of iVillage

?Until you?re ready to look foolish, you?ll never have the possibility of being great.?

? Cher

Source: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2013/02/female-entrepreneurs-say-seo-and-socia-media-are-the-future-of-smb-marketing.html

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Court grants Indiana employer relief from contraceptives mandate

(Reuters) - An Indiana company has won temporary court relief from having to provide its employees with coverage for contraceptives and other birth-control procedures, as mandated under the 2010 healthcare overhaul.

By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued an injunction pending appeal in favor of the Grote family, whose Grote Industries makes vehicle safety systems and has more than 1,100 full-time workers.

Members of the Grote family are Catholic, and opposed including coverage for various contraception and sterilization procedures in a group health insurance plan for their privately-held company, which is based in Madison, Indiana.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-grants-indiana-employer-relief-contraceptives-mandate-175252891--finance.html

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You're descended from a fuzzy, bug-eating, scampering critter, say scientists

And so are all other placental mammals, according to a new morphological and genetic analysis that paints a clearer picture of our Cretaceous-period common ancestor.

By Charles Choi,?LiveScience Contributor / February 7, 2013

An artist's rendering of the hypothetical placental ancestor, a small, insect-eating animal with a long, furry tail. The research team reconstructed the anatomy of the animal by mapping traits onto the evolutionary tree most strongly supported by the combined phenomic (physical traits you can see) and genomic data and comparing the features in placental mammals with those seen in their closest relatives.

Image courtesy of Carl Buell

Enlarge

A tiny, furry-tailed creature is the most complete picture yet as to what the ancestor of mice, elephants, lions, tigers, bears, whales, bats and humans once looked like, researchers say.

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These new findings also suggest this forerunner of most mammals appeared shortly after the catastrophe that?ended the age of dinosaurs, scientists added.

"Species like rodents and primates did not share the Earth with nonavian dinosaurs, but arose from a common ancestor ? a small, insect-eating, scampering animal ? shortly after the dinosaurs' demise," said researcher Maureen O'Leary at Stony Brook University in New York.

The study was so thorough that the team, made up of 23 scientists from around the world, was able tospeculate on the appearance of this hypothetical ancestor inside and out, from its brain and inner ear bones to its ovaries and even what its sperm may have looked like (it sported a head and tail like modern-day sperm cells do).

The largest living branch of the mammalian family tree holds the?placentals?? mammals that keep fetuses alive with placentas, as opposed to?marsupials such as kangaroos, which raise offspring in pouches, or monotremes such as platypuses, which develop fetuses in eggs. [See Images of the Furry Mammal Ancestor and Descendants]

"There are over 5,100 living placental species and they exhibit enormous diversity," said researcher Nancy Simmons at the American Museum of Natural History.

The roots of placentals

Much remains controversial about the origins of placentals, such as when they arose and how they diversified. Fossil evidence suggests they evolved after the?end-Cretaceous mass extinction?event about 65 million years ago that ended the age of dinosaurs; and the "explosive model" based off this data proposes that placental lineages emerged and diversified to fill niches left vacant after this catastrophe. However, genetics research suggests placental lineages were actually far older, hinting their diversification was linked to the breakup of the continents before the end of the Cretaceous period.

"In the field of mammal research, there had been a big divide between people working with DNA and others working on morphology," said researcher John Wible at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.

To uncover the roots of the placental family tree and help resolve the decades-old debate as to when placentals evolved, an international team of researchers took part in a six-year research collaboration called Assembling the Tree of Life. The project adopted two distinct approaches to evolutionary studies ? molecular data, which examines DNA, and morphological data, which looks at anatomical features such as bone length, types of teeth and the presence of stripes in the fur. [Animal Codes: 10 Coolest Genome Sequences]

The molecular team gathered DNA sequences of living animals while the morphology team analyzed the anatomy of both living and extinct mammals. The molecular team was limited largely to living mammals, because researchers currently cannot extract genetic material from fossils more than 30,000 years old, so morphological data was key when it came to exploring more ancient branches of the mammal family tree.

"Discovering the tree of life is like piecing together a crime scene ? it is a story that happened in the past that you can't repeat," O'Leary said. "Just like with a crime scene, the new tools of DNA add important information, but so do other physical clues like a body or, in the scientific realm, fossils and anatomy. Combining all the evidence produces the most informed reconstruction of a past event."

Mammal morphology bank

When it comes to studying morphology, a dataset of 500 anatomical characteristics, or "characters," is often considered large. However, for this new project, the researchers generated a groundbreaking 4,500 characters using a cloud-based and publicly accessible database called MorphoBank.

"We couldn't have accomplished this without MorphoBank," said researcher Michelle Spaulding at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. "This website allowed members of the team, spread all over the globe, to work simultaneously."

Combining both DNA and morphological datasets led to an unprecedented amount of information for each of the 83 mammals they investigated.

"It's not that we hadn't combined morphology with DNA before," Spaulding said. "This time, we ratcheted up the amount of morphological detail phenomenally, providing a larger anatomical base for the study as compared with DNA than is typical."

What our ancestor looked like

From all this data from living and extinct mammals, the scientists extrapolated the appearance of the most recent common ancestor of all placental mammals.

"We have all these placentals alive today, from?elephants to shrews, from things that fly to things that swim," Spaulding said. "What could?the common ancestor of these things?that are so different possibly look like?"

The scientists then worked with an artist to illustrate this ancestor. In addition to a furry tail, the researchers suggest the four-legged creature likely ate insects, weighed from 6 grams (about the weight of some shrews) up to 245 grams ? less than half a pound ? and was more adapted for general scampering than built for more specialized forms of movement, such as swinging from trees. Also, its cerebral cortex ? the part of the brain linked to higher mental processes ? was probably convoluted, folds linked with greater brain activity, the researchers found.

"That's the power of 4,500 characters," Wible said. "We looked at all aspects of mammalian anatomy, from the skull and skeleton, to the teeth, to internal organs, to muscles, and even fur patterns. Using the?new family tree of mammals?in tandem with this anatomical data, we were able to reconstruct what this common placental ancestor may have looked like." [Meet the Mammal Ancestor (Infographic)]

Their research also suggested placental mammals appeared after the end of the age of dinosaurs, with the original ancestor developing about 200,000 to 400,000 years after the event.

"This is about 36 million years later than the prediction based on purely genetic data," said researcher Marcelo Weksler at Brazil's National Museum at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

This supports the notion that the mass extinction was a critical event in mammalian evolutionary history. "The diversification of placental mammals was not tied to the breakup of continents from a supercontinent, Gondwana," O'Leary told LiveScience.

The discrepancy between these findings and past research that looked only at genes is the result of the way genetic studies "assign a rate of change to genes through time," O'Leary explained. "A weakness of that approach is that it involves many assumptions about rates of gene change through time."

In the future, "I will continue looking for key fossils from the Late Mesozoic and Early Paleogene that help us contribute even more to this family tree," O'Leary said. "I have been working in Africa to make such discoveries with projects in Mali and Senegal. I plan to continue trying to make fossil discoveries that expand the placental mammal family tree."

The scientists detailed their findings in the Feb. 8 issue of the journal Science.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter?@livescience. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

Copyright 2013?LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/SuZO6d81oVI/You-re-descended-from-a-fuzzy-bug-eating-scampering-critter-say-scientists

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Monday, February 11, 2013

Record $1 million reward posted for fugitive ex-Los Angeles cop

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A record $1 million reward was posted on Sunday for information leading to the capture of a fugitive former Los Angeles policeman suspected of targeting police officers and their families in three killings committed in retaliation for his 2008 firing.

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said the reward, raised from private donations, police unions, businesses and city and county governments, marks the largest sum ever offered in Southern California in a criminal investigation.

The reward was posted as law enforcement agencies across the region pressed on for a fourth day in their search for the suspect, ex-LAPD officer and U.S. Navy reservist Christopher Dorner, 33. Beck described it as the most extensive manhunt ever mounted in the Los Angeles area.

He called the spate of revenge-driven violence Dorner is accused of committing "an act of domestic terrorism."

"This is a man who has targeted those who we entrust to protect the public. His actions cannot go unanswered," Beck said.

At a news conference, Beck said investigators were making progress but he declined to elaborate, saying they presumed that if Dorner is still alive, he would be following media coverage of the manhunt closely.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa added, "Our dedication to catching this killer remains steadfast, our confidence in bringing him to justice remains unshaken."

An LAPD spokesman also said police would be providing extra security for the recording industry's Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angles.

The search for Dorner has been focused in the snow-covered San Bernardino Mountains northeast of Los Angeles since a pickup truck belonging to Dorner was found abandoned and burning near the popular ski resort community of Big Bear Lake on Thursday.

Police throughout the region also have chased down numerous unconfirmed sightings and dead-end leads.

One of the latest of those, prompted by calls from two individuals reporting they had seen someone resembling Dorner, led police on Sunday to a hardware store in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley community of Northridge.

The store was evacuated and searched, but no evidence of Dorner's presence was uncovered, police said.

His last confirmed encounters with authorities came early on Thursday in two Riverside County towns east of Los Angeles, police said. He is accused of exchanging gunfire with a pair of police officers in Corona, injuring one, and later ambushing two policemen at a stoplight in Riverside. One of those officers was killed, the other wounded.

'UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE'

A rambling manifesto posted on Dorner's Facebook page last week claimed he was wrongly terminated from the LAPD in September 2008 and vowed to seek revenge by unleashing "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" on police officers and their families.

A former Navy lieutenant, Dorner was named as a suspect in last weekend's slayings of a campus security officer and his fiance, the daughter of a retired Los Angeles police captain blamed in Dorner's manifesto for his dismissal. The couple, Keith Lawrence, 27, and Monica Quan, 28, were found shot dead last Sunday in their car on the top level of a parking structure in the city of Irvine, south of Los Angeles.

Dorner had ended his military service two days earlier, but the Navy has not disclosed the circumstances of his discharge.

Quan's father, Randy, had represented Dorner in disciplinary proceedings that led to his dismissal from the LAPD after a police inquiry found he had made false statements accusing a superior officer of using excessive force against a homeless person.

Beck announced on Saturday a reopening of the inquiry to "reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair."

The LAPD also has launched an inquiry into a police shooting in which two women were wounded when officers opened fire on a pickup truck resembling Dorner's vehicle in a case of mistaken identity on Thursday. The two women, one of them aged 71, were delivering newspapers when they were shot.

The police officer who was killed in an ambush that morning was publicly identified on Sunday as Michael Crain, 34, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in the Riverside Police Department for 11 years.

LAPD spokesman Andrew Smith said "an army" of police officers would be providing security for a public memorial service planned for Crain on Wednesday.

In addition to keeping up the manhunt in and around Big Bear Lake, police were searching areas around the homes of more than 50 Los Angeles police officers whose families authorities believe Dorner has targeted as potential victims.

(Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman. Editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/record-1-million-reward-posted-fugitive-ex-los-000154654.html

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Northeast slowly recovering from blizzard

A man uses a snowblower around a statue of Nathan Hale outside the Wadsworth Atheneum after a winter storm in Hartford, Conn., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A howling storm across the Northeast left much of the New York-to-Boston corridor covered with more than three feet of snow on Friday into Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

A man uses a snowblower around a statue of Nathan Hale outside the Wadsworth Atheneum after a winter storm in Hartford, Conn., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A howling storm across the Northeast left much of the New York-to-Boston corridor covered with more than three feet of snow on Friday into Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

A plow clears a path outside Poquonock Elementary School in Windsor, Conn., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A howling storm across the Northeast left much of the New York-to-Boston corridor covered with more than three feet of snow on Friday into Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Courtney Bazininet hands a shovel to her friend, Alice Fernald, after getting her car temporarily stuck in a snow bank, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Portland, Maine. Residents are digging out after a blizzard dumped a record 31.9 inches of snow on the city. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Snow begins to melt on cars parked at a dealership after a winter storm in Hartford, Conn., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A howling storm across the Northeast left much of the New York-to-Boston corridor covered with more than three feet of snow on Friday into Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

School buses are covered in snow after a winter storm in Hartford, Conn., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A howling storm across the Northeast left much of the New York-to-Boston corridor covered with more than three feet of snow on Friday into Saturday morning. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

(AP) ? Travel eased and life slowly returned to normal for most New Englanders after a massive blizzard, but many remained without power in cold and darkened homes and a forecast of rain brought a new worry: Weight piling up dangerously on roofs already burdened by heavy snow.

The storm that slammed into the region with up to 3 feet of snow was blamed for at least 14 deaths in the Northeast and Canada, and brought some of the highest accumulations ever recorded. Still, coastal areas were largely spared catastrophic damage despite being lashed by strong waves and hurricane-force wind gusts at the height of the storm.

Hundreds of people, their homes without heat or electricity, were forced to take refuge in emergency shelters set up in schools or other places.

"For all the complaining everyone does, people really came through," said Rich Dinsmore, 65, of Newport, R.I., who was staying at a Red Cross shelter set up in a middle school in Middletown after the power went out in his home on Friday.

Dinsmore, who has emphysema, was first brought by ambulance to a hospital after the medical equipment he relies on failed when the power went out and he had difficulty breathing.

"The police, the fire department, the state, the Red Cross, the volunteers, it really worked well," said the retired radio broadcaster and Army veteran.

Utility crews, some brought in from as far away as Georgia, Oklahoma and Quebec, raced to restore power to more than 300,000 customers ? down from 650,000 in eight states at the height of the storm. In hardest-hit Massachusetts, where some 234,000 customers remained without power on Sunday, officials said some of the outages might linger until Tuesday.

Driving bans were lifted and flights resumed at major airports in the region that had closed during the storm, though many flights were still canceled Sunday.

The Boston-area public transportation system, which shut down on Friday afternoon, partially resumed subway service and some bus routes on Sunday. Beverly Scott, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said full service was expected on Monday ? albeit with delays.

"Give yourself more time and expect that it is going to take us more time," Scott advised riders.

Boston public schools were among many in the region that had already decided to cancel classes on Monday.

Boston recorded 24.9 inches of snow, making it the fifth-largest storm in the city since records were kept. The city was appealing to the state and private contractors for more front-end loaders and other heavy equipment to clear snow piles that were clogging residential streets.

On eastern Long Island, which was slammed with as much as 30 inches of snow, hundreds of snowplows and other heavy equipment were sent in Sunday to clear ice- and drift-covered highways where hundreds of people and cars were abandoned during the height of the storm.

More than a third of all the state's snow-removal equipment was sent to the area, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, including more than 400 plow trucks and more than 100 snow blowers, loaders and backhoes.

The National Weather Service was forecasting rain and warmer temperatures in the region on Monday ? which could begin melting some snow but also add considerable weight to snow already piled on roofs, posing the danger of collapse. Of greatest concern were flat or gently-sloped roofs and officials said people should try to clear them ? but only if they could do so safely.

"We don't recommend that people, unless they're young and experienced, go up on roofs," said Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

In Middlefield, Conn., two cows were killed when the roof of a barn gave way under the weight of heavy snow ? one of two such incidents in the state that prompted agriculture officials to issue an advisory to farmers.

Officials also continued to warn of carbon monoxide dangers in the wake of the storm.

In Boston, two people died Saturday after being overcome by carbon monoxide while sitting in running cars, including a teenager who went into the family car to stay warm while his father shoveled snow. The boy's name was not made public. In a third incident, two children were hospitalized but expected to recover.

A fire department spokesman said in each case, the tailpipes of the cars were clogged by snow.

Authorities also reminded homeowners to clear snow from heating vents to prevent carbon monoxide from seeping back into houses.

In Maine, the Penobscot County Sheriff's office said it recovered the body of a 75-year-old man who died after the pickup he was driving struck a tree and plunged into the Penobscot River during the storm. Investigators said Gerald Crommett apparently became disoriented while driving in the blinding snow.

Christopher Mahood, 23, of Germantown, N.Y., died after his tractor went off his driveway while he was plowing snow Friday night and rolled down a 15-foot embankment.

In eastern Long Island, parts of which were hit by nearly 30 inches of snow, hundreds of cars were stuck on roads, including the Long Island Expressway, a 27-mile stretch of which was closed Sunday for snow-removal work. Officials hoped to have most major highways cleared in time for the morning commute Monday.

In Massachusetts, eight teams were formed to assess damage from flooding along the state's coastline, with the hardest hit-areas including historic Plymouth and portions of Cape Cod.

"Considering the severity of the storm, the amount of snow and the wind, we've come through this pretty well," Gov. Deval Patrick told CBS's Face The Nation after meeting with local officials in Plymouth.

Utility companies reported steady progress in restoring power to customers.

In Massachusetts, some 234,000 customers remained without power on Sunday ? down from 400,000 at the height of the blizzard, the vast majority in the southeastern part of the state. Rhode Island reported about 54,000 outages Sunday, down from 185,000. Connecticut still had about 15,000 without power, while in New York, just under 2,400 outages remained.

Newport resident Christine Carreiro, who spent time at a shelter with her 2-year-old son, who suffers from asthma and needs treatment from an electrically powered nebulizer, said she was thankful for the effort by line workers.

"Whoever was fixing the power lines left their families to help us," she said. "I'm very grateful.

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Salsberg reported from Wayland, Mass. Associated Press writers Stephen Singer in Manchester, Conn., and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-10-Northeast%20Snow/id-0640d747ce5344458733e34f958f7c92

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