Thursday, February 28, 2013

Sourdough Bacteria Pump Out Mold Killers

60-Second Science

The sourdough bread bacteria Lactobacillus hammesii produces antifungal compounds as it digests bread flour. Christopher Intagliata reports.

More 60-Second Science

As many San Franciscans have noticed, sourdough bread stays fresher longer than the regular stuff. Sourdough?s extended freshness is due to extra fermentation that traps more moisture in the dough. But now we know that sourdough?s longevity is also because it can ward off mold. Because bacteria in some sourdough starters actually produce mold-killing compounds?essentially natural preservatives.

Most sourdough starters contain strains of Lactobacillus bacteria, like the poster child Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis. Eight years ago, researchers isolated another strain called Lactobacillus hammesii from a French sourdough starter.

They've now discovered that the strain pumps out a potent antifungal as it digests bread flour. So they baked bread with the L. hammesii starter, sliced it, and waited. The loaf resisted mold for 12 days?a few days more than L. sanfranciscensis sourdough, and twice as long as typical bread. Those results are in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. [Brenna A. Black et al, Antifungal hydroxy-fatty acids produced during sourdough fermentation: microbial and enzymatic pathways, and antifungal activity in bread]

L. hammesii isn't the most common sourdough strain. But researchers say it could eliminate the need for added preservatives. Which would mean store-bought sourdough that's additive-free AND lasts for weeks. Assuming you can wait that long to eat it.

?Christopher Intagliata

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]??


Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0bd1d7c1ea5c96c78d30981467dbfe6d

summer solstice Summer Solstice 2012 Waldo Canyon fire nba finals K Michelle roger clemens multiple sclerosis

Video: Wednesday's Market Roadmap

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50972519/

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

Himes gets DCCC finance post - CT Politics - Connecticut News

A senior staffer for Rep Jim Himes, D-CT4, confirmed late Wednesday that Himes will serve as finance chair for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the current election cycle.

The DCCC will make the announcement Thursday morning.

?As the Republican majority once again holds jobs, recovery, and the middle class hostage to extreme ideology, it is more important than ever that we fill the House with representatives who will eat, sleep, and breathe opportunity for their fellow?Americans,? Himes said Wednesday night. ?I?m thrilled to devote myself to that effort.?

The move confirms earlier media reports that Himes had interest in taking a?DCCC leadership role.

Himes, currently in his third term, is well-positioned, given his financial-services connections, to be a significant fundraiser for Democrats.

The DCCC could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Source: http://blog.ctnews.com/politics/2013/02/27/himes-gets-dccc-finance-post/

lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey chevy volt christina hendricks

Park Chan-wook Talks Stoker

ROTTERDAM -- Ever since his international breakthrough,?Oldboy -- which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 2004, and is now being given a U.S. makeover by Spike Lee -- Park Chan-wook has been a regular on the global festival circuit. But touring with?Stoker,?which finally opens in the U.S. on March 1, represents a new adventure, as he's been presenting his first English-language film, and one based on material he didn't write.

The first script written by British actor Wentworth Miller, the story revolves around the change in 18-year-old India (Mia Wasikowska) as she comes to terms with her father?s death, the reaction of his widowed mother (Nicole Kidman) and then the arrival of a mysterious uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode).

VIDEO: Nicole Kidman Gets Creepy in 'Stoker' Trailer

Stoker premiered at Sundance, and?then screened as the closing film to the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Before the curtain came up in Rotterdam, Park spoke with?The Hollywood Reporter about discovering the soft spots in even the most seasoned Hollywood?A-lister, commissioning Philip Glass to write a piano duet that serves as a musical metaphor for sex, and getting pleasure from audiences? misguided reception of the film as a horror movie.

The Hollywood Reporter: What was it like for you working on your first U.S. production, with American actors?

Park Chan-wook: Actors, I think, are all the same. Both Korean actors and American actors are all very sensitive people, and they are all curious to know what the director thinks of them and how they are evaluated, and they try to satisfy the director. And they like it if you listen carefully to their opinions and accept them. I?m used to working with those kinds of actors. It was just that I was working within the boundary of Korea, but the actors I was working with there are the hugest stars there. So I felt all actors are similar, especially excellent ones, who are intelligent. It?s not because they are from good colleges or anything, but they are very bright in their thinking. They think a lot about human emotion. As for the system, in a word, the biggest difference is that there were too few shooting days. I had to shoot twice the speed as I shot in Korea; I had only 40 days, and there wasn?t enough time for additional shooting.

REVIEW:?Stoker

THR: How did you work with Wentworth Miller on his screenplay?

Park: Wentworth I had just one long conversation, and after that I just worked on it. I worked with Erin Cressida Wilson, an excellent screenwriter who helped me. We didn?t get writing credits, but from the beginning to end we had a lot of small and tiny revisions. Let me put it this way: If we?re talking about food, the ingredients are the same, but the cooking method is a little bit different. So the taste in the end is probably a bit different. But once it?s in your stomach it?s all the same.

THR: But you certainly brought your trademark visual style and musical choices.

Park: Visual elements are, of course, the director?s job. As for the music, there?s a bit where the two of them are playing the piano together. In Wentworth?s screenplay, I believe it?s described as Eric Satie-esque. But I changed that to Philip Glass, and so it is newly composed.

So if a different director had worked with Wentworth?s script, visually or aurally what kind of result would come out of it? It would be an interesting thing to imagine that. It would have been a very different result. But that has something to do with why I chose the script -- there?s a lot of space in there, there?s not a lot of dialogue, and any director taking it on could breathe their own style into the film.

STORY:?Park Chan-wook on Hollywood Debut 'Stoker': I Wish I Had More Time With the Actors

THR: And there?s a lot of sexually-charged symbolism in the film, such as the piano duet you mentioned.

Park: The piano duet wasn?t in the script, and it wasn?t even my idea! When I first went to New York to meet with Philip Glass I asked him to create a song [India and Charlie] could play together for that scene. And he said, ?Well, I got to know what kind of scene it is for me to write it.? So we?re saying, it?s a piano performance, but it?s actually sex. And he said, ?Oh, I got it. I once made a piece called Four Hands, a married couple were playing it and one day the husband said, while we can play it like this, we can also play it like this' [mimes the man putting his arm around the woman to reach the other side of the keyboard]. Right away that night, I changed the script to have Charlie?s arm going around India.

Sex is part of the whole process of courting or being in love. And in this scene, it is expressed in stages: a A woman is alone and the man approaches quietly; she ignores him and plays the piece alone; he gets tired of waiting and suddenly boldly gets into it. At first she?s shy but then she reacts, and it escalates to more excitement and then climax. That?s the point of a woman feeling enough satisfaction and that the man, having taken care of her needs, just disappears. That?s what?s being shown in that scene.

THR: Is Stoker supposed to be the second installment of a trilogy about girls going through their rites of passage, with the first one being 2006?s I?m A Cyborg That?s OK?

Park: Before I got the script I hadn't been thinking any more about that sort of film. I looked through so many different scripts, but in the end I chose this one. And there's also the fact that I decided to focus on those themes more so than is in Wentworth?s original script. I think that must mean I hoped to make another film like I?m A Cyborg But That?s OK. I?m a father who?s raising a daughter, and it?s an interest I?ve naturally taken. As I grow older I spend more time with my wife and gradually my interest in the woman?s world is growing. I feel like there are comparatively less films that deal with this view. That?s why I became more interested in it.

Q&A: Park Chan-wook

THR: The film?s title reminds one of Bram Stoker, and there are quite a few visual devices common to horror films there. But the film doesn't exactly fit into that genre, does it?

Park: The title was Wentworth?s, so I can?t say anything about that. Idioms of horror films are there for sure. I didn?t have any idea of making a horror film. I think this kind of result is desirable -- me making a film with the presumption that I'm making a thriller, and the audience taking it as almost a horror film because they are so scared. Officially we define it as a psychological thriller, but in Sundance people just called it a horror film straight out. I find that an interesting outcome.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926928/news/1926928/

kevin rose sessions march madness scores doonesbury padma lakshmi daughtry lakers trade

Kenya's Mumias Sugar issues profit warning

* Raises per-share price to 10 rand from 8.55 rand * Plans to delist Cipla Medpro when sale complete MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian drugmaker Cipla Ltd on Thursday sweetened its offer by 17 percent to take over South Africa's third-largest drugmaker, Cipla Medpro South Africa Ltd, ending the uncertainty of an earlier offer that had been put on hold by the Indian company. Cipla, India's fifth-largest drugmaker by sales, said it would spend about $512 million, or 10 rand a share, to acquire Cipla Medpro and then delist the South African drugmaker. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenyas-mumias-sugar-issues-profit-warning-150815793--finance.html

jk rowling qnexa kingdom of heaven national enquirer whitney houston arizona republican debate arizona debate enquirer

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

You Can Make Gummy Bear Versions of Yourself

Somewhere in between the honor of getting a bronze statue of yourself and the shame of re-creating your sexual organs in plastic is this awesome gummy bear yourself service. You can basically create a gummy replica of yourself to eat. It looks absolutely delicious. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FHNdy25pc5g/you-can-make-gummy-bear-versions-of-yourself

Tate Stevens Miss Universe 2012 x factor x factor john kerry eastbay Samantha Steele

Progress at Iran nuke talks?

ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers offered Iran limited sanctions relief in return for a halt to the most controversial part of its atomic work during the first day of nuclear talks on Tuesday, and Iran promised to respond with a proposal on the same scale.

The talks in Kazakhstan were the first in eight months between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany - the "P5+1" - on a decade-old dispute that threatens to trigger another war in the Middle East.

Iran has used the time since the last meeting in June to further expand activity that the West suspects is aimed at enabling it to build a nuclear bomb, something that Israel has suggested it will prevent by force if diplomacy fails.

The two-day negotiations in the city of Almaty follow inconclusive meetings last year in Istanbul, Baghdad and Moscow.

Western diplomats described the first day of talks as "useful" but said Iranian negotiators did not immediately respond to the P5+1's demand that Tehran closes its underground nuclear facility Fordow, at the center of their concerns.

"Hopefully the Iranians will be able to reflect overnight and will come back and view our proposal positively," said a spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton who oversees Iranian diplomacy for the six powers.

With the Islamic Republic's political elite preoccupied with worsening infighting before a presidential election in June, few believe the meeting will yield a quick breakthrough.

"It is clear that nobody expects to come from Almaty with a fully done deal," the EU spokesman, Michael Mann, said before the meeting started.

OFFER PRESENTED

A U.S. official said that the offer - an updated version of one rejected by Tehran last year - would take into account its recent nuclear advances, but also take "some steps in the sanctions arena".

For years, the powers had attempted a mix of economic pressure and diplomacy to persuade Iran to scale back its atomic work, but Tehran has insisted that sanctions are lifted before it complies with any demands.

In Almaty, a source close to the Iranian negotiators told reporters: "Depending on what proposal we receive from the other side we will present our own proposal of the same weight. The continuation of talks depends on how this exchange of proposals goes forward".

At best, diplomats and analysts say, Iran will take the joint offer from the United States, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and China seriously and agree to hold further talks soon on practical steps to ease the tension. Initial meetings could involve only technical experts, who cannot strike deals.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Berlin that he hoped Iran "will make its choice to move down the path of a diplomatic solution".

But Iran, whose chief negotiator Saeed Jalili is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is a veteran of Iran's 1980s war against Iraq and the Western powers that backed it, has shown no sign of willingness to scale back its nuclear work.

It says it has a sovereign right to carry out nuclear enrichment for peaceful energy purposes, and in particular refuses to close the underground Fordow enrichment plant, a condition the powers have set for any sanctions relief.

FASTER ENRICHMENT

A U.N. nuclear watchdog report last week said Iran was for the first time installing advanced centrifuges that would allow it to significantly speed up its enrichment of uranium, which can have both civilian and military purposes.

Accelerating Western sanctions on Iran over the last 14 months are hurting Iran's economy and slashing oil revenue. Its currency has more than halved in value, which in turn has pushed up inflation.

The central bank governor was quoted on Monday as saying Iran's inflation was likely to top 30 percent in coming weeks as the sanctions contribute to shortages and stockpiling. [ID:nL6N0BP51A] Iranians say inflation is already much higher than that official figure.

But analysts say the sanctions are not close to having the crippling effect envisaged by Washington and - so far at least - they have not prompted a change in Iran's nuclear course.

Western officials said the powers' offer would include an easing of restrictions on trade in gold and other precious metals if Tehran closes Fordow.

The facility is used for enriching uranium to 20 percent fissile purity, a short technical step from weapons grade.

Western officials acknowledge an easing of U.S. and EU sanctions on trade in gold represents a relatively modest step. But the metal could be used as part of barter transactions that might allow Iran to circumvent financial sanctions.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman last week dismissed the reported incentive as insufficient and a senior Iranian lawmaker has ruled out closing Fordow, close to the holy city of Qom.

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Almaty, Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich, Arshad Mohammed and Stephen Brown in Berlin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powers-offer-iran-sanctions-relief-nuclear-talks-055616179.html

National Hurricane Center Zeek Rewards vanessa bryant vanessa bryant Prince Harry naked Prince Harry Vegas Melky Cabrera

Nigerian militants threaten to kill French hostages

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? A video posted online Monday apparently shows seven French hostages kidnapped from northern Cameroon, with a masked militant claiming the radical Islamic group Boko Haram from neighboring Nigeria holds them.

The video, posted to YouTube and mentioned on a jihadist website, shows one of two French men reading a statement, with a woman in between them. Four children sit on the ground near them, flanked by two masked militants wearing camouflage uniforms and holding rifles.

A masked militant in front says in the video that Boko Haram kidnapped the French hostages, a family of three adults and four children who were taken from outside a national park in Cameroon's Far North Region on Feb. 19. A black banner in the background, bearing the images of the Quran flanked by two Kalashnikov assault rifles, also resembles a symbol previously used by Boko Haram.

The man says the kidnappings came due to the French military intervention in northern Mali, where its troops have fought with Malian soldiers against Islamic extremists who took over the north in the months following a coup last year. The man also threatens the Nigerian and Cameroonian government, calling on them to release their imprisoned members.

"Let the French president know that he has launched war against Islam and we are fighting him everywhere," the man says in Arabic. "Let him know that we are spread everywhere to save our brothers."

The man threatens to kill the French hostages if the group's demands are not met.

The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the video's authenticity Monday, though it shares similarities with some Boko Haram propaganda videos published in the past.

However, in this video, the man speaks entirely in Arabic, while other Boko Haram videos have its leader Abubakar Shekau also speaking the Hausa language of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. Boko Haram has not published a video featuring hostages before. The video appears to have been filmed outside, as prayer mats hung in the background sway in a breeze.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement that "for us, these images are horribly shocking. They show cruelty without limits." He said France is fully mobilized to free the hostages but "verifications needed in these circumstances" are under way.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault of France told journalists his country's intelligence services are analyzing the video and "examining the nature of the demands."

The French gas group GDF Suez last week identified the captives as an employee working in Yaounde, the Cameroon capital, and his family. The group was vacationing in the north, a company statement said without elaborating. Cameroonian and Nigerian soldiers continue to search for them in the arid, rural border region the two countries share in West Africa.

Waza Park, a natural wildlife reserve in Cameroon's Far North Region attracts mainly foreign tourists. But the area often suffers from raids by bandits lurking in Cameroon, Chad and neighboring Nigeria, who abduct locals for ransom. A local witness told the AP he saw gunmen on motorcycles abduct the tourists on Feb. 19.

Boko Haram ? which means "Western education is sacrilege" ? has launched a guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings across Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north. It is blamed for at least 792 killings last year alone, according to an AP count. It is known to have ties to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, an Algerian-based group that opened a front in Mali.

The sect, which typically speaks to journalists in telephone conference calls at times of its choosing, could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.

Boko Haram remains highly fragmented, without a clear command-and-control structure. One splinter organization launched from Boko Haram appears to be Ansaru, which has claimed the recent north Nigeria kidnappings of a British citizen, a Greek, an Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino, all employees of a Lebanese construction company called Setraco. The group earlier claimed the kidnapping in December of a French national working on a renewal energy project in Nigeria's northern Katsina state.

However, the video claiming the kidnapping comes after supposed Boko Haram leaders denied this weekend that they took part in the kidnapping of the seven French citizens ? leading to more questions about who actually remains in control of the group. Shekau hasn't been seen in a video since late November.

A total of 15 French citizens are currently being held in western Africa. In addition to the seven kidnapped in Cameroon, there is one other in Nigeria and seven thought to be in northern Mali.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/video-claims-nigeria-sect-holds-7-french-hostages-163759996.html

indoor football league newt gingrich wife callista rick perry travis barker get back on board rob lowe peyton manning

From Nike Air to Adidas Boost: The Evolution of Athletic Shoe Tech

Adidas unveiled a new midsole foam in Manhattan on Feb. 13 designed to provide runners the greatest energy return of any product created. Gerd Manz, Adidas global senior innovation director, tells PM that the company worked with chemical manufacturer BASF to create a thermoplastic polyurethane foam that outperforms EVA foam in energy return, cushioning, and durability and can withstand more extreme temperature changes (EVA foam is used in nearly 95 percent of all running shoes).

Adidas created a new manufacturing process for the shoe industry?mimicking examples found in automobile manufacturing?that heat-steams the individual pea-size foam capsules together into the sole for its new Boost running shoe, which it planned for public release tomorrow. Manz says the manufacturing process has been used on other materials in the past, but this was akin to Adidas "cooking a leg of lamb instead of a cake."

Yohan Blake, Jamaican track star, says the new energy response is "everything" to him while he runs. The Boost's midsole density remains on par with other shoes but offers more "energy displacement out of the same height," which also gives a runner more cushioning, a combination Manz says wasn't possible until now. Adidas plans to start adding Boost to all its performance running shoes soon, and eventually will phase out EVA foam altogether.

Boost is just the latest in a long history of shoe companies experimenting with advanced materials and designs to make athletic shoes lighter and better. Here's the best of the rest.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/technology/the-evolution-of-athletic-shoe-tech?src=rss

heart shaped box lucid 2012 ncaa tournament bracket matterhorn chris harrison girl scouts printable bracket

Scientists show off stretchy battery

Researchers have demonstrated a flat, "stretchy" battery that can be pulled to three times its size without a loss in performance.

While flexible and stretchable electronics have been on the rise, powering them with equally stretchy energy sources has been problematic.

The new idea in Nature Communications uses small "islands" of energy-storing materials dotted on a stretchy polymer.

The study also suggests the batteries can be recharged wirelessly.

In a sense, the battery is a latecomer to the push toward flexible, stretchable electronics. A number of applications have been envisioned for flexible devices, from implantable health monitors to roll-up displays.

But consumer products that fit the bendy, stretchy description are still very few - in part, because there have been no equally stretchy, rechargeable power sources for them.

"Batteries are particularly challenging because, unlike electronics, it's difficult to scale down their dimensions without significantly reducing performance," said senior author of the study John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

S for stretch

"We have explored various methods, ranging from radio frequency energy harvesting to solar power," he told BBC News.

In recent years, Prof Rogers worked with colleagues at Northwestern University, focusing on stretchy electronics of various sorts made using what they termed a "pop-up" architecture. The idea uses tiny, widely spaced tiny circuit elements embedded within a stretchy polymer and connected with wires that "popped up" as the polymer was stretched.

But batteries do not lend themselves to this idea; traditionally they are much larger than other circuit elements. They could be made from smaller elements wired together, but to create a small battery with sufficient power, the elements must be spaced more closely than those of the pop-up circuits.

The team's new idea was to use "serpentine" connections - wires that loop back on themselves in a repeating S shape, with that string of loops itself looped into an S shape.

Stretching out the polymer in which the tiny solar cells were embedded first stretches out the larger S; as it is stretched further, the smaller turns straighten - but do not become taut, even as the polymer was stretched to three times its normal size.

The team says the stretchy battery can be charged "inductively" - that is, wirelessly over a short distance. Prof Rogers said that the uses for such batteries and the stretchy circuits they power were myriad.

"The most important applications will be those that involve devices integrated with the outside of the body, on the skin, for health, wellness and performance monitoring," he explained.

However, the prototype batteries described in the paper were only run through 20 charge/discharge cycles, and Prof Rogers said that "additional development efforts to improve the lifetime will be required for commercialisation".

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21585817#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

powerball numbers freddie mercury Horshack Beady Eye Eric Idle rory mcilroy Fatboy Slim

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Fidel Castro appears at parliament, leadership speculation continues

Fidel Castro's surprise appearance added to expectations, fueled by his brother, that the usually routine session might shed light on future leadership of the communist-run nation.

By Marc Frank,?Reuters / February 25, 2013

Cuba's leader Fidel Castro and his brother Cuba's President Raul Castro attend the opening session of the National Assemby in Havana, Cuba, Feb. 24. Cuba's parliament reconvened Sunday with new membership and was expected to name Raul Castro to a new five-year-term as president. Raul Castro fueled speculation on Friday when he talked of his possible retirement and suggested he has plans to resign at some point.

Ismael Francisco/AP

Enlarge

Retired Cuban leader?Fidel?Castro?made a rare public appearance Sunday by joining the opening session of the National Assembly, state media reported amid speculation the gathering could give clues on planning for a future leadership succession.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his brother,?Fidel?Castro?has given up all official positions except as a deputy in the National Assembly. At Sunday's session, he took his seat beside brother President?Raul?Castro, only the second time he has graced the assembly chambers since his illness and the first since 2010.

Fidel?Castro's surprise appearance added to expectations, fueled by his brother, that the usually routine session might shed light on future leadership of the communist-run nation.

In a back and forth with reporters on Friday,?Raul?Castro?joked about his eventual retirement and urged them to pay attention to Sunday's conclave, which is closed to foreign journalists.

"I'm going to turn 82; I have a right to retire already," he said. "You don't believe me? Why are you so incredulous?" he said.

The 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote Feb. 3, are expected to name a new 31-member?Council of State?with?Raul?Castro?as president, despite his quip.

The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the?Council of State, which also functions as the nation's executive through theCouncil of Ministers?it appoints.

Governments,?Cuba?watchers and Cubans will be watching to see if there are any new, and younger, faces among the Council of State members, in particular its first vice president and five vice presidents, with an average age over 70.

The new government is almost certain to be the last headed up by the?Castro?brothers and the generation that has ruled?Cuba?since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution that led to a long-running feud with Washington.

Raul?Castro, 81, would begin his second term on Sunday, theoretically leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.

Eighty percent of the parliament's 612 members, with an average age under 50, were born after the Revolution.

EFFORT TO PROMOTE YOUNGER GENERATION

Raul?Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as president in 2008, has repeatedly called for senior leaders to hold office for no more than two, five-year terms.

"Although we kept on trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice,"?Castro?said at a Party?Congress?in 2011.

"Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a reserve of well-trained replacements....It's really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century," he said.

The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan to "update"?Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to transform it from one based on collective production and consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far more important role.

Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by the country's first comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.

Fidel?Castro, these days referred to as the "historic leader of the revolution," is no longer seen as wielding real power, but he has maintained a public presence through his writings, meetings with important visitors and rare appearances.

Esteban Lazo, member of the political bureau of the Community Party and vice president of the?Council of State, 68, was named parliament president Sunday to replace a retiring Ricardo Alarcon, who served for 20 years.

(Reporting By Marc Frank; Editing by David Adams and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/-Y7R18uKYzc/Fidel-Castro-appears-at-parliament-leadership-speculation-continues

PNC Bank Louisville football Fidelity pnc Charlie Strong Calendar 2013 john boehner

Deadly storm dumps snow in North, rain in South

Hurricane force winds blew into Texas creating a 'historic' blizzard and whiteout conditions in the Texas-Oklahoma panhandle. Kansas also saw its share of snow as the storm blew north, and blizzard warnings are in effect. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.

By Ian Johnston and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

A powerful winter storm continued to hit much of the country Tuesday, with heavy snow spreading from the Plains to the Great Lakes and severe thunderstorms possible in the South, forecasters warned.

The National Weather Service said the storm would ?continue to bring a variety of hazards? to the affected areas. Winds have been gusting up to hurricane strength, with 84 mph recorded at El Paso, Texas.

On Monday, the storm was blamed for at least two deaths: Heavy snow caused a roof of a house in Woodward, Okla., to collapse, killing one person inside, and in northwest Kansas, a 21-year-old man was killed when his SUV overturned on an icy patch of Interstate 70.

Full coverage from weather.com

??We have roofs collapsing all over town,? Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill, Jr., told Reuters. ?We really have a mess on our hands.?

Authorities pleaded with people to stay off the roads because of what Weather Channel meteorologist Greg Postel described as a ?really nasty blizzard.?

The NWS said that heavy snow would spread from the Plains to the Great Lakes, with ?blizzard conditions possible through early Tuesday.?

?On the south side of the storm system, severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are possible across portions of the Gulf Coast and Southeast,? it added.

Severe thunderstorms and the threat of heavy rainfall remained possible over sections of the southeastern states and the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, the NWS said, as the south side of the storm system moved through the area.

In a storm summary message posted at 4 a.m. ET, the weather service said blizzard warnings were in effect for parts of central northern Oklahoma with storm watches and warnings in effect for some places from central Oklahoma into the southern Great Lakes.

In Chicago, the wintry mix could affect voter turnout in the special primary to replace former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., in the Illinois 2nd District. As much as five inches of slushy snow was expected in the city?s southern suburbs, and a storm watch has been issued for the northern part of the state.

Michael Schumacher / AP

Drivers attempt to deal with tricky conditions on the I-40 service road Monday after a blizzard blasted Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle.

Storm watches and warnings were also in effect for portions of the Appalachians, mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states, while ice storm warnings and freezing rain advisories were in effect for parts of West Virginia.

The NWS warned of high winds in the Appalachians in Tennessee, North Carolina and southern Virginia.

In Texas, residents discovered that even their snowdrifts are bigger as they began to dig out from a whopping 19 inches of snow in Amarillo that stranded as many as 100 motorists in the Panhandle and caused Gov. Rick Perry called out military forces.

Farther south, there were flood and flash-flood warnings and watches for ?much of the Gulf Coast and southeast U.S. from Louisiana to Georgia.?

Flood watches were also in effect for parts of the mid-Atlantic Region, the NWS notice added, as rain was expected throughout the greater Washington, D.C., area on Tuesday. The mix of rain and wind was expected to begin by noon, picking up through?the later part of the day. Meteorologists warned people should expect more rain than sleet as temperatures were likely to remain above freezing. The rain should move out of the area by Wednesday morning, and might yield to sunny skies later in the afternoon.

Commuters in New York City and the tri-state area should also expect to see a late-afternoon cocktail of rain, sleet, and snow. The worst of the storm was likely to hit overnight, though morning commuters might also catch the tail of the storm on Wednesday, forecasters said. As much as six inches of snow could accumulate at higher elevations inland.

Related:

2 dead as wind-whipped winter storm pounds Great Plains

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17098892-deadly-storm-dumps-snow-in-north-heavy-rain-in-south?lite

alec time 100 bob beckel anna paquin warren buffett 2012 nfl schedule dishonored

Samsung HomeSync Android TV box hands-on (video)

DNP  Samsung HomeSync Android TV box handson video

Yesterday, Samsung announced the HomeSync Android TV box, and as expected that device is making an appearance here on the MWC 2013 show floor. Boxy media hubs can only be so attractive, but the HomeSync's grey-and-black aesthetic is sleek, and the brushed-metal finish will look familiar to anyone who's used a Sammy handset or laptop. There's a pair of USB 3.0 inputs, an HDMI port, optical audio and Ethernet connections on the rear, and buttons for power and settings on the front, but you can easily hide the console deep inside your home theater rig -- it can be controlled exclusively with a Android 4.2-equipped smartphone or tablet.

The Jelly Bean-powered HomeSync runs a 1.7GHz dual-core processor with 1TB of storage, and it supports up to eight accounts for uploading, downloading and sharing content between devices. Those with a Galaxy device will be able to wirelessly stream content to their TVs in full 1080p, and Play Store access is on board for downloading additional media. It worked well during our hands-on, but as with any WiFi-equipped streaming device, there was noticeable lag when mirroring the smartphone display on the connected HDTV. Still, assuming the price is right, we can see this being a solid component within any home theater setup. Take a closer look in our hands-on video after the break.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/samsung-homesync-hands-on/

ufc 145 jones vs evans marian hossa philip humber red sox white sox chuck colson

Life extension enthusiasts rejoice: Your brain cells can outlive your body

Brain cells can live at least twice as long as the organisms in which they reside, according to new research.

The study, published today (Feb. 25) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that mouse neurons, or brain cells, implanted into rats can survive with the rats into old age, twice as long as the life span of the original mice.

The findings are good news for life extension enthusiasts.

"We are slowly but continuously prolonging the life of humans," said study co-author Dr. Lorenzo Magrassi, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pavia in Italy.

So if the human life span could be stretched to 160 years, "then you are not going to lose your neurons, because your neurons do not have a fixed lifetime."

Long-lived cells

While most of the cells in the human body are being constantly replaced, humans are born with almost all the neurons they will ever have. [10 Odd Facts About the Brain]

Magrassi and his colleagues wanted to know whether neurons could outlive the organisms in which they live (barring degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's).

To do so, the researchers took neurons from mice and implanted them into the brains of about 60 rat fetuses.

The team then let the rats live their entire lives, euthanizing them when they were moribund and unlikely to survive for more than two days, and then inspected their brains. The life span of the mice was only about 18 months, while the rats typically lived twice as long.

The rats were found to be completely normal (though not any smarter), without any signs of neurological problems at the end of their lives.

And the neurons that had been transplanted from mice were still alive when the rats died. That means it's possible the cells could have survived even longer if they were transplanted into a longer-lived species.

Life extension

The findings suggest that our brain cells won't fail before our bodies do.

"Think what a terrible thing it could be if you survive your own brain," Magrassi told LiveScience.

While the findings were done in rats, not humans, they could also have implications for neuronal transplants that could be used for degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease, Magrassi said.

But just because brain cells may be able to live indefinitely doesn't mean humans could live forever.

Aging is dependent on more than the life span of all the individual parts in the body, and scientists still don't understand exactly what causes people to age, Magrassi said.

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://news.yahoo.com/brain-cells-outlive-body-200523739.html

Olympics 2012 Schedule Kenneth Branagh Lupe Ontiveros London 2012 China muhammad ali Opening ceremony London 2012 Google Fiber

Ben Affleck Hollywood?s New It Man: Caption This Photo

The Academy Awards may have snubbed him for Best Director but hunky Ben Affleck proved last night that he is Hollywood’s new It Man. Because Ben is on fire, he has been chosen as Right Celebrity’s Caption This photo contest for the week, sweet! Affleck not only looked amazing last night but when his film Argo took home the top honor he proved that even though you are on top, you still have to be humble and give thanks to those who have stuck by you. I will elaborate on this a little bit more in one hot second. First though I want to remind you guys about our Caption This photo contest. It is so easy, all you need to do is take a look at the above gorgeous picture of Ben and has lovely wife Jennifer Garner and caption it by leaving your witty remarks in the below comments section. Then next Tuesday, yes the contest is a day early this weeks thanks to the Oscars, when a brand new hot topic and pic are posted come back here to see if your name is in print as the winner! I told you easy and lets be honest [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/TXY9S7HQqbg/

obama cnbc dexter dexter ny times paul mccartney Sandy Hook Victims

Environmental detectives: Scientists seek to solve breast cancer ...

Deep in a laboratory freezer, 100,000 vials of blood have been frozen for the better part of five decades.

?

For scientist Barbara Cohn, it?s a treasure trove. Collected from more than 15,000 San Francisco Bay Area women after they gave birth in the 1960s, each vial of blood holds a woman?s lifetime of secrets.

?

Scientists say these vials could help them unravel one of the most enduring medical mysteries: Why do some women, with no family history, develop breast cancer?

?

The blood bears the chemical signature of environmental pollutants, some long banned, that the women were exposed to decades ago. Cohn, who directs the research in Berkeley, Calif., believes these early-life exposures may hold the key to understanding a woman's risk of breast cancer today.

?

The women's blood is being tested for traces of dozens of pollutants???used by industry and found in many consumer products???that can impersonate estrogen and other hormones. The theory is that early exposure to these chemicals, even before birth, inside the mother?s womb, may fundamentally alter the way that breast tissues grow, triggering cancer decades later.

?

Cancer patients and their doctors have long puzzled over what factors in a woman?s environment may raise her risk of breast cancer. One of every eight women in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime, with more than 232,000 new cases diagnosed yearly, according to the American Cancer Society. Only 5 to 10 percent can be accounted for by genetics; other known risk factors include age, obesity and low physical activity.

?

Earlier this month, a science advisory panel?urged the federal government to fund more projects aimed at uncovering the environmental causes of breast cancer because eliminating these factors may provide the greatest opportunity to prevent it.

?

It?s particularly vexing for scientists because it?s difficult to unlock a woman?s exposures during her most critical times for breast development: in the womb and during puberty and pregnancy.

?

?As researchers looking at adult outcomes of disease processes such as breast cancer, one of the biggest challenges we face is trying to get a handle on prenatal exposures and what is going on in the prenatal environment,? said Shanna Swan, an environmental health scientist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

?

Many scientists have been looking for connections between various environmental exposures and the disease???with mixed results. Some findings suggest links to a few chemicals, including the banned pesticide DDT. But others have found no link.

?

For example, experts from the American Cancer Society, reviewing previous studies, in 2002 found no association between breast cancer and chlorinated chemicals including DDT.

?

And in 2011, an institute of the National Academies of Sciences reported ?a possible link? between breast cancer and some common ingredients of vehicle exhaust, benzene and 1,3-butadiene. But the report?said the jury is still out for most other widespread chemicals, such as pesticides, ingredients of cosmetics and bisphenol A (BPA).

?

Nevertheless, absence of evidence isn?t evidence of absence, said Elizabeth Ward, National Vice President of Intramural Research at the American Cancer Society. Many of the biggest risk factors remain unknown, she said.

?

The problem with most studies is that they measured levels of chemicals in women later in life, after they were diagnosed with cancer, not during periods when the breast is most susceptible, said Suzanne Fenton, a reproductive toxicologist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina.

?

?The research doesn?t prove that the link doesn?t exist or that these chemicals are safe for the breast,? Fenton said. ?It shows that we may not have been asking the right question.?

?

The strongest evidence for this link emerged decades ago. Researchers first suspected that hormone-mimicking chemicals may play a role in breast cancer when they discovered that women who took the anti-miscarriage drug diethylstilbestrol (DES)???a potent form of estrogen prescribed for pregnant women from 1938 until 1971???had about a one-in-six lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. The risk is one in eight for all women. In addition, their daughters, who were exposed to DES in the womb, developed breast cancer at about two times the rate of unexposed women.

?

Some scientists say timing of exposure may be the single most important factor when evaluating how chemicals may contribute to breast cancer risk.

?

The breast is a complex tissue that undergoes several important periods of development and remodeling over the course of a woman?s life. During these periods???before birth when the bud of the mammary gland forms, at puberty when breast cells are rapidly growing and dividing and during pregnancy as the mammary gland transitions to lactation???the breast may be especially susceptible to outside chemicals.

?

When breasts are exposed to hormone-like substances during those sensitive times, it could ?influence susceptibility of the tissue to carcinogens or other hormonal stimuli that could increase cancer risk later on,? said Ruthann Rudel, a researcher at the Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit research group in Massachusetts, and lead author of a 2011 review.

?

Cohn and colleagues at the Public Health Institute are using the blood samples of more than 100 women who enrolled in the Child Health and Development Studies in the 1960s to investigate exposures during two of these critical periods, pregnancy and postpartum. The women were members of the Kaiser Permanente Health Plan in the Oakland, Calif., area who gave birth between 1959 and 1967.

?

The scientists recently reported that women who had high levels of a certain PCBs in their blood shortly after giving birth were three times more likely to develop breast cancer later in life than women with lower levels. Because PCBs break down very slowly in the body, a woman?s blood levels postpartum may also predict the PCB levels in her blood during earlier periods of her life, such as puberty, Cohn said.

?

Banned in the United States 35 years ago, the industrial chemicals persist in the environment and accumulate in food webs. Nearly every U.S. resident still has detectable levels in his or her blood.

?

In a previous study, Cohn and her colleagues demonstrated that age at time of exposure matters for other chemicals, too. In the same group of women, they found that those with high blood levels of the banned pesticide DDT shortly after giving birth were five times more likely to develop breast cancer before age 50 than the women with the lowest blood levels. Other studies measuring DDT exposure later in life found no link.

?

Cohn can?t say for sure that the associations they observed between breast cancer and PCBs or DDT were not due to some other factor. ?No human study can be definitive,? said Cohn, an epidemiologist who has been involved with the study group for 17 years. ?It?s impossible to measure every single exposure pertinent to breast cancer."

?

Laboratory research may bear out a definitive link. In lab animals, scientists can test the effects of various levels and mixtures of chemicals, which would be unethical in humans. ?The work we do in humans helps frame the type of questions to be answered by animal studies,? Cohn said. Such collaboration, she said, ?is critical to advancing our knowledge.?

?

These questions involve knowing more about how hormonally active chemicals interact with developing breast tissue.

?

?A chemical that has weak effects later in life may have very different effects during earlier periods of development when the mammary gland is most sensitive,? said Dr. Hugh Taylor, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine.

?

Taylor and his colleagues found that in mice, BPA, an estrogen-like chemical, can have the same effect in a developing fetus as the drug DES, a more potent estrogen. Both ?turned up? the expression of genes in the developing mammary gland that are known to play a role in tumor formation. ?You are essentially changing the software so that things are programmed to read differently,? Taylor said.

?

Most cancers aren?t one single piece of damage, but a collection of injuries to a cell or a tissue over a lifetime, making it hard to pin a cause on any one agent, Taylor said. Yet, if endocrine disruptors give you a predisposition for tumor growth, ?you?re starting life with one strike against you,? he said.

?

BPA, used to make hard plastics, liners of food cans and some paper receipts, is found in most human bodies.

?

Studies in mice and rats suggest that exposure to BPA and other endocrine disruptors in the womb not only alters the structure of the breast, but the way that the tissues communicate with one another and receive hormonal signals from other parts of the body.

?

?BPA sets the thermostat in a more sensitive way so the mammary gland has more sensitivity to estrogen, and the breast tissue now exhibits an exaggerated response to the hormone. It sees a little bit of estrogen and now thinks it is a lot,? said Dr. Ana Soto, a cancer researcher at Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts. And the body can?t tell the difference between synthetic estrogen mimics and natural estrogens.

?

BPA and other chemicals also may play a role in breast density???a known risk factor for breast cancer. A preliminary study?by University of Wisconsin researchers found that women with higher blood levels of BPA had denser breast tissue than women with low levels.

?

With so much uncertainty about environmental risk factors, these issues remain largely absent from major breast cancer awareness campaigns.

?

?Despite billions spent in the name of breast cancer, we still don?t know enough about the causes,? said Karuna Jaggar, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, a San Francisco-based advocacy organization that considers itself the watchdog of the breast cancer movement.

?

While decades of research have failed to turn up strong, environmental risk factors, Cohn is optimistic that scientists are now on the right track. ?The science is playing catch up. We have learned from what we didn?t learn,? she said.

?

Nevertheless, federal funding is in short supply, and there is always the risk it will run out for the Oakland group. Research now is turning to the second and third generations -- the daughters and granddaughters of the original study members. Just like she did with their mothers and grandmothers, Cohn will look for patterns of exposure and disease as they age.

?

Like a treasure trove about to be unlocked, Cohn said these generations of women ?hold the key to understanding? breast cancer.

?

?

Source: http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/environmental-detectives-scientists-seek-to-solve-breast-cancer

prometheus trailer patrice oneal shamrock slainte the quiet man yellow cab dropkick murphys

Monday, February 25, 2013

Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider: Questions about automatic budget cuts

There are a lot of unknowns about the $85 billion in budget cuts known as the sequester which will kick in on March 1, and that's reflected in the questions coming in from readers and listeners, so let's go through a few that were in my inbox. ?One big issue, why do the cuts have to be across the board?

"Wouldn't it truly be up to the departments as to how to implement the cuts?" asked @soonertravis on Twitter.

That may make sense in the abstract, yes. The Congress would give the Pentagon a basket of money and the military would decide how to spend it, or it could be the Department of Transportation or Commerce.

But that's not how things work.

Instead, federal agencies must spend money as the Congress instructs, and these cuts are across the board in almost all spending areas, so everything must be cut by an equal amount.

Obviously, that means nothing is prioritized in terms of what is important and what can be chopped.

Some lawmakers have suggested approving a plan to give federal departments that kind of flexibility for the rest of this fiscal year, but it hasn't received a lot of support in the Obama Administration.

"I don't think it would help that much this far into the fiscal year," said Defense Undersecretary Robert Hale. "I think it's a bad deal, the flexibility."

Now on to one of the biggest stories of the past few days, the plans to furlough over 700,000 civilian defense workers at the Pentagon.

"Are the employees being furloughed with pay?" asked @upyouns.

As of now, no federal employees would be furloughed with pay, because the goal is to save money by furloughing them. ?For example, the Pentagon would save $4.86 billion by forcing civilian defense workers to take one furlough day a week from late April until the end of the fiscal year in September.

But - and this is important to note - in the past when federal employees have been subjected to furloughs because of budget fights or government shutdowns, often the employees got the days off and then were given retroactive pay, even though they didn't work.

"(A)re these real furloughs or are they being done for theatrics?" asked @code192man.

That is an issue for some in the Congress, who wonder if the they are hearing about a worst case scenario that won't really happen from some federal agencies, like the Pentagon. Soon enough, we should know the details of what will have to be cut by each agency.

Another oft-repeated question is, how can anyone know that $85 billion will be cut when the Congress hasn't passed a budget in four years?

"You're reporting from a "budget plan"- there's been no budget passed/approved for 4 years," said an aggravated @RufusKG on Twitter.

Sigh. This one almost needs its own page on snopes.com.

Please stick with me on this, because it is not really confusing.

What hasn't been passed for four years in Congress is a "budget resolution," which is a non-binding document that sets out the parameters of the budget. That resolution does not have the force of law. It is not signed by the President. ?It merely is a framework for the budget.

But, even if that budget resolution is not approved by the House and Senate, Congress can still vote on the spending bills for the federal budget, and that's what lawmakers have done, okaying omnibus budget bills and/or a stop-gap funding resolution to keep the government running.

But even when I tell people that, they tell me I'm still wrong.

Here is the omnibus budget bill that was approved in late 2011 - http://1.usa.gov/VvWADY?- read through it, and you will see that it funded the operations of the federal government for the Fiscal Year 2011.

And right now, the federal government is running on a temporary extension of what is basically that plan, funded at $1.047 trillion for the discretionary side of the budget (everything outside of Medicare and Social Security.)

So, yes Virginia, the budget has been approved by the Congress (it runs out on March 27). ?But, there is no non-binding budget resolution.

As for whether the sequester will mean $85 billion in cuts, it depends on who crunches the numbers as to how much is really cut this year, but there will be cuts.

Here is what the Congressional Budget Office has said about how much would be saved:

?

The provisions of the Budget Control Act that established automatic procedures to restrain discretionary and mandatory spending are set to take effect on March 1; if fully implemented, they will reduce total funding in 2013 by $85 billion. (The American Taxpayer Relief Act delayed the reduction by two months and reduced it by $24 billion.) CBO estimates that, in 2013, discretionary funding (which is provided through annual appropriations) will decline by $71 billion and funding for mandatory programs (which is not subject to annual appropriations) will be reduced by $14 billion, as a result of those procedures. By CBO?s estimate, budgetary resources for defense (other than spending for military personnel) will be cut by around 8 percent across the board, and nondefense funding that is subject to the automatic reductions will be cut by between 5 percent and 6 percent. ?According to that estimate, discretionary outlays will drop by $35 billion and mandatory spending will be reduced by $9 billion this year as a direct result of those procedures."

?

In other words, while the budget will drop by $85 billion overall, actual spending (outlays) will only go down by $35 billion on the discretionary budget and $9 billion on Medicare/Social Security because of previous spending decisions by the Congress.

We have time for one more question, and it's on a lot of minds.

"How about Congress? Do they get furloughed?" asked one of my listeners.

The answer is - no.

Elected officials and senior administration officials who had their nomination confirmed by the U.S. Senate cannot have their pay docked during a furlough.

One top defense officizal said last week that he would give up part of his check if furloughs go into effect; for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), it won't matter, as he already gives his entire salary to charity.

As for cuts in staff at the congressional level, the details would be different for every lawmaker and each committee in the House and Senate, depending on how much was being spent so far this year.

We will find out more on that subject next week.

Source: http://www.wsbradio.com/weblogs/jamie-dupree/2013/feb/21/questions-about-automatic-budget-cuts/

oscar red carpet daytona 500 start time ryan zimmerman oscars red carpet jennifer lopez wardrobe malfunction hugo hugo

HP launches Slate 7 Android tablet with Beats Audio for $169

The HP Slate 7 is beyond fashionably late to the Android tablet party, but it tries to make up for its tardiness with a very low price. When the device arrives in April, HP?s first Google-powered tablet just announced at this year?s Mobile World Congress will cost just $169. That?s $30 less than the the Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD. So how does this value-priced device stand out? HP is playing up the Slate 7?s Beats Audio sound and wireless printing capabilities.

The Slate 7 certainly doesn?t look like a $169 tablet, thanks to its stainless steel frame and soft-touch back that?s available in gray or red. The device measures .42 inches thick (about the same as the Kindle Fire HD?s .41 inches) and weighs 13.05 ounces, making this tablet lighter than the Fire (13.9 ounces) but heavier than the Nexus 7 (12 ounces). The Slate 7 has a microSD card slot and microUSB port.

To differentiate its tablet, the Slate 7 is the first with Beats Audio built in, which is designed to deliver richer and more robust sound. According to Alberto Torres, HP?s senior vice president of its Mobility Global Business Unit, Beats really kicks in when you?re using headphones. However, the Slate 7 does sport stereo speakers. As you might expect from HP, the Slate 7 has wireless printing capabilities via ePrint. The app lets you print from most applications.

MORE: Top 10 Tablets Right Now

To differentiate its tablet, the Slate 7 is the first with Beats Audio built in, which is designed to deliver richer and more robust sound. According to Alberto Torres, HP?s senior vice president of its Mobility Global Business Unit, Beats really kicks in when you?re using headphones. However, the Slate 7 does sport stereo speakers. As you might expect from HP, the Slate 7 has wireless printing capabilities via ePrint. The app lets you print from most applications.

MORE: Top 10 tablets right now

The Slate 7 does skimp on some specs for its low price. For starters, the 1024 x 600-pixel display has a lower resolution than the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 (both 1280 x 800). On the other hand, HP says its High-aperture-ratio Field Fringe Switching (HFFS) technology gives its panel wide viewing angles, whether you?re viewing documents or playing Angry Birds Space.

Powering this Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet is a 1.6-GHz ARM A9 dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, and you?ll find 8GB of storage on board. The Slate 7 features a VGA camera up front and a fairly low-res 3-MP camera on the back. By comparison, the Nexus 7 boasts a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, though HP claims that its device offers swift performance.

When we asked HP?s Torres whether shoppers will just opt for the faster Nexus 7 or more family friendly Kindle Fire HD for $30 more, he told us that ?we are going to have a very strong value proposition with Beats Audio and that the design is far superior than those other tablets that you mention.? Torres also reminded us that HP ?wants to be the leader in tablets so to expect other price points.? In other words, don?t be surprised to see a larger, more premium Android Slates in HP?s lineup in the not too distant future.

Stay tuned for Laptop's hands-on impressions of the Slate 7 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/hp-launches-slate-7-android-tablet-beats-audio-169-1C8516739

ron burgundy millennial media nit championship transcendentalism bells palsy channel 5 news uc berkeley

"Argo" wins Oscar for Best Picture

"I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It's good, it is work, but it's the best kind of work. There's no one I'd rather work with." ? Ben Affleck, thanking his wife, Jennifer Garner, as he accepted the best picture Oscar for "Argo."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/argo-wins-oscar-best-picture-045945405--finance.html

LGBT Giovanna Plowman martin luther king jr quotes Inauguration 2013 Tony Gonzalez Richard Blanco The Following

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Melissa McCarthy: Los Angeles 'Has Turned Me Into A 90-Year-Old Woman'

Story comes courtesy of Los Angeles Magazine.

By Nancy Miller

I moved to Los Angeles from New York in 1992. I had never been here before. I just kind of showed up. I didn?t have a car and had about $150. My best friend, Jos?, was nice enough to let me share his studio apartment in Santa Monica, which was literally a lean-to?I?m sure it?s been demolished by now. We weren?t in a romantic relationship, but we shared the same full-size bed, which was wedged inside the kitchen area, for almost a year. What?s insane is that we thought nothing of it. I thought everything was great. My older sister Margie had more sense. She came from Illinois to visit me, and since there was nowhere for her to sleep, the three of us now had to share the same bed. In the morning she sat bolt upright and shouted, ?This is not OK!? and I was like, What?s her problem?

I didn?t have a car, so I only took jobs that I could walk to. I worked at the YMCA and at the Starbucks on Montana. One time Chris Farley came into Starbucks, and I lost it. He was the one person I admired so much that every muscle in my body just froze. I could tell he was shy, and I was trying not to freak him out. I just stared at him and thought, Tell him you love him. Tell him you love him. Instead I said, ?Hi, can I help you?? That was it. I couldn?t even process how amazing it was to have him standing in front of me.

The big change for me was joining the Groundlings. It?s where I learned how to write and really act. I remember [comedian-writer] Mike McDonald saying, ?You can?t just be crazy for the sake of crazy. You have to justify why.? That was the missing link I needed?I apply this to everything I do now. The first show I ever went to at the Groundlings was when McDonald, Kathy Griffin, and Jennifer Coolidge were doing improv. My head exploded. They were fearless. There was nothing they wouldn?t do, but they were also excellent technicians of comedy. The next day I started taking classes, and it?s where I spent the next 12 to 13 years of my life. It?s also where I met my husband [Ben Falcone], so that?s pretty good.

Anybody who moves to L.A. is constantly explaining why we live here to other people. The first question is usually, ?Do you like it?? I understand this because I once swore I?d never live here. I was a wild animal when I lived in New York, staying out until four in the morning, then I moved here and started living like a senior citizen. Going to dinner before 9:30 used to be an atrocity to me. I wondered, What kind of savages eat at 6:30? Now Ben and I wait outside a restaurant at 4:15 and I?m looking in the window, pointing at my watch. This city has turned me into a 90-year-old woman. I?m also still a chatty Midwesterner. My big thing here is that people don?t say ?good morning? on the street. That doesn?t make sense. I?m not asking for a hug. Stop acting like a jackass. So now I make eye contact and force people to respond. It?s my personal quest.

Discover more great stories from Los Angeles Magazine here.

Related on HuffPost:

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

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/23/melissa-mccarthy-los-angeles_n_2746831.html

jeff foxworthy heather morris the bachelor finale march madness bracket south by southwest i want to know what love is courtney

5 live Sport: Premier League Football 2012-13: Fulham v Stoke

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qwcqj/5_live_Sport_Premier_League_Football_201213_Fulham_v_Stoke/

texas tornados seattle seahawks new uniforms wisconsin recall wisconsin recall doris day buffalo sabres texas news

Bid on a signed Johnny Manziel football, help a student with leukemia!

Van Jr. High School student Byron Jones found out in January that he had leukemia and had to leave school. Now he has to get regular costly chemotherapy, bone marrow and blood transfusions.

"I drive to Dallas every Thursday to get chemotherapy, and if I need blood or anything, I do that," he said.

Van Jr. High School has rallied behind Byron. The students started collecting donations, selling t-shirts and bracelets, and now they're having a silent auction, and they invite everyone to be a part!

?

If you are interested in bidding on an autographed Jonny Manziel football,? the? silent auction is occurring this week, Feb. 18-22.

The bidding will start at $2500.00 and the auction will end at 3:00pm, Friday, February 22, 2013.? You will need to email Paige Redmond your bid at redmondp@van.sprnet.org to place your bid.

An email to each bidder will go out daily at 3:00pm to give them an update on the highest bid and bidder. On the final day Paige will send an email out at 12:00pm stating who is currently in the lead and at what amount.?

In the event of a tie bid at the deadline on Friday, February 22, 2013, she will notify the parties involved with the tie to give them an opportunity to place one final bid.? If the winning bidder cannot follow through on the promise to pay, then the second place bidder will be notified.?

Cashier checks and money orders are the only forms of payment that can be accepted.?

The monies received will go directly to the family to help pay cover costs incurred from weekly medical treatments.

You can also donate in any amount to Byron at Texas Bank and Trust. Just go to any Texas Bank and Trust and donate to the Byron Jones fund.

There will be a blood drive for Byron at the Van Jr. High gymnasium on February 26 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Copyright 2013 KLTV. All rights reserved.

Source: http://canton.kltv.com/news/community-spirit/97492-bid-signed-johnny-manziel-football-help-student-leukemia

boardwalk empire iOS 6 Release Date Canelo Alvarez Chavez vs Martinez Yunel Escobar Irish Daily Star seth macfarlane

Ronda Rousey wins historic women's UFC debut

Ronda Rousey celebrates defeating Liz Carmouche after their UFC 157 women's bantamweight championship mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Rousey won the first women?s bout in UFC history, forcing Carmouche to tap out in the first round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Ronda Rousey celebrates defeating Liz Carmouche after their UFC 157 women's bantamweight championship mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Rousey won the first women?s bout in UFC history, forcing Carmouche to tap out in the first round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Ronda Rousey, left, tries to pull an armbar on Liz Carmouche during their UFC 157 women's bantamweight championship mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Rousey won the first women?s bout in UFC history, forcing Carmouche to tap out in the first round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Ivan Menjivar, center, taps out as he is choked by Urijah Faber, right, during their UFC 157 bantamweight mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. At left is referee Jason Herzog. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Lyoto Machida, left, of Brazil, kicks Dan Henderson during their UFC 157 light heavyweight mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Machida won by split decision after the third round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Robbie Lawler, right, chokes Josh Koscheck during their UFC welterweight mixed martial arts match in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Lawler won by TKO in the first round. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

(AP) ? Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche made history just by stepping into the UFC cage. When Rousey recorded another savage victory with her signature move, she demonstrated why she could be a trailblazer in women's sports for years to come.

Rousey won the UFC's first women's bout Saturday night, beating Carmouche on an armbar with 11 seconds left in the first round of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 157.

Rousey (7-0) defended her belt with her seemingly inevitable move, forcing Carmouche to tap out after bending back her arm. Rousey raised both arms in victory while flat on the canvas after the longest fight of the mixed martial artist's ascendant career.

"Is this real life right now? I'm not sure," said Rousey, a former judo star with just two years of pro MMA experience.

Former UFC champion Lyoto Machida counterpunched his way to a split decision over Dan Henderson on the undercard at Honda Center, and bantamweight Urijah Faber beat Ivan Menjivar with an acrobatic rear naked choke late in the first round.

But the sellout crowd largely showed up to see Rousey, whose unique combination of star power, athleticism and skill singlehandedly ended UFC President Dana White's long-standing disinterest in women's MMA. White even put Rousey and Carmouche in the main event of a pay-per-view show by the sport's dominant promotion.

Rousey was awarded the equivalent of the bantamweight belt she won in the now-defunct Strikeforce before her first UFC fight, but quickly showed she deserved it.

"I was actually less nervous walking out than I was for some of my earlier fights," Rousey said. "I felt like the UFC champion, and I know how hard I am working. This was a wild ride, and I can't wait to get back in the octagon."

Rousey and Carmouche didn't disappoint in their pressure-packed debuts. Although Rousey was heavily favored, Carmouche (7-3) actually had Rousey in trouble early, nearly landing a rear naked choke while clinging to Rousey's back in the opening two minutes.

Rousey, who had never been seriously threatened in any previous bout, barely escaped the chokehold by getting her chin and mouth underneath Carmouche's arm. Rousey gradually imposed her will on the former Marine after that, rolling her across the canvas and finally getting side control on Carmouche before patiently separating her arms to land an armbar.

"That was the most vulnerable a position I've been in so far in my career," Rousey said. "That was pretty tight, that neck crank, and I was very happy to get out of it. She had the choke across my mouth and ... her forearm was pushing against my teeth. That can't have been any more fun for her than it was for me. Crazy sport we're in, huh?"

Rousey has won all seven of her professional MMA bouts and three amateur fights by armbar, a judo move that has dislocated at least two prior opponents' elbows.

"I had to learn to take my time in MMA, and I was just able to keep a clear head," said Rousey, who became the first American woman to win an Olympic judo medal in Beijing.

Rousey dealt with constant attention from media and fans in recent weeks, a function of her rising stardom in the UFC and the larger sports world. She said the pressure wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

"There's no amount of press that can save these girls from me," she said.

Carmouche earned a huge ovation from the sellout crowd for giving Rousey more trouble than she had ever faced.

"I thought I had it," said Carmouche, who served three tours of duty in Iraq. "Like everything else, you make a mistake, and it turns around."

Machida (19-3), the former light heavyweight champion, had lost three of his previous five bouts before edging Henderson (29-9) in a slow, technical fight. Machida used his typical elusiveness and unorthodox, karate-based techniques to pick away at Henderson.

Both fighters raised their arms in victory after the final horn, but Machida landed 68 percent of the fight's significant strikes, with a 23-8 advantage in head strikes.

Two judges favored Machida 29-28, while the third had Henderson winning 29-28.

"He's a very great opponent for me, and I have a lot of respect for him," Machida said while fans booed. "My strategy was to keep the fight standup, and I think I got it. I think I completely dominated the first round, second round, third round."

Faber (28-6) got his career back on track with an impressive victory over Menjivar (25-11). With his home-state crowd behind him, Faber took early control on the ground and then finished Menjivar by clinging to his back and wrapping both legs around his standing opponent, forcing Menjivar to tap out while on his feet with 26 seconds left in the opening round.

"Ivan is a very crafty veteran," Faber said. "I just attacked the neck. He let me hold on too long, and that was that."

Although Faber has a huge fan following for his years of success in other promotions, he was just 2-2 since moving to the UFC two years ago, dropping narrow decisions to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao.

Robbie Lawler stopped Josh Koscheck with 1:03 left in the first round with a series of strikes, earning the knockout of the night award in his first UFC fight since October 2004. Court McGee also beat Josh Neer by unanimous decision in his welterweight debut.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-24-MMA-UFC-157/id-2bea12099cad401b96d465f9c785552f

susan g komen kenyon martin kenyon martin big miracle slab city super bowl snacks appleton