MONDIAL HOT NEWS/24

Welcome Back Kotter’ Star Robert Hegyes Dies

2012-01-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

“Welcome Back Kotter” star Robert Hegyes dies; “Let’s Stay Together” sales boosted by Obama…

“Welcome Back Kotter” Star Dies: Robert Hegyes, known for his role as Juan Epstein on “Welcome Back Kotter,” has passed away at the age of 60. According to Reuters, Hegyes was in cardiac arrest when paramedics took the sitcom star to the hospital. The actor would later die at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey. On

“Welcome Back Kotter,” Hegyes played “Juan Luis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein,” a Jewish Puerto Rican student in a remedial class of kids known colloquially as the “Sweathogs.” His catchphrase was
“Hey, Mr. Kotter, I got a note!” and he would often mouth the words of the note as his teacher read it aloud, suggesting that Epstein had actually penned the excuse himself. “Kotter’s'” comedy was gentle, but the show is fondly remembered because it focused on the outcasts at school, and not on the students at the top of the food chain. The program also featured friendships that crossed ethnic boundaries. The cast, including series star John Travolta, reunited on the TV Land Awards and on “Good Morning America” in 2011. “My reality far exceeded my dreams when this thing came along, it just did,” Hegyes said then. (You can leave your thoughts about “Welcome Back Kotter” and Hegyes in the comments.)

“Let’s Stay Together” Sales Boosted By Obama: President Barack Obama’s decision to sing a line of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” has managed to help the economy. Since crooning a part of the tune at the Apollo Theatre, sales of the the classic Al Green number have increased by 490%, according to the Hollywood Reporter. As a result of the demand, the single had its best week since Nielsen began tracking downloads back in 2003. The presidential performance helped the song sell more than 16,000 downloads in the week ending Jan. 22, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The video of President Obama has been a social media hit garnering millions of views.more information...

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com

Woman accuses Greg Kelly, son of police commissioner and ‘Good Day New York’ co-host, of raping her

2012-01-26T09:28:00.000-08:00

“Good Day New York” co-host Greg Kelly — son of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly — was a no-show on the program Thursday morning after reports that a Manhattan woman had accused him of rape.

The woman told cops she had drinks with Kelly, 43, at the South Street Seaport Oct. 8 before he sexually assaulted her in the law office where she worked, sources said.

The accuser, who is around 30, did not report the alleged assault until Tuesday night, when she walked into the 13th Precinct stationhouse and gave her account, sources said.

Cops interviewed the woman, but because of the conflict created by probing the commissioner’s son, they quickly turned the case over to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.

Greg Kelly’s co-host, Rosanna Scotto, expressed her support for him as she walked into the FOX studios about 5:30 a.m.

"I love Greg. That's all I can say," Scotto said.

“Good Day New York” ran reports on the rape allegation and noted Greg Kelly’s denial but did not disclose his status with the program or explain why he wasn’t on the air.

Steve Lacey, the anchor of the early newscast, filled in for Kelly during the broadcast.

Scotto appeared more somber than usual, at one point remarking, "We need a distraction."

In an awkward moment, reporter Tai Hernandez said during a report from the field, "Thank you, Greg," and then, realizing her mistake, said "Steve."

A source said Greg Kelly was “not going anywhere today.”

He has not been criminally charged.

The police commissioner became aware of the accusation against his son when a man, claiming to be her boyfriend — apparently enraged over the alleged attack — recently approached the commissioner at a public event.

“He said, ‘Your son ruined my girlfriend’s life,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne. “The commissioner said ‘Well, what do you mean?’ He said he didn’t want to talk about it here so the commissioner told him to send a letter.”

Browne said he was unsure if the man ever sent a letter.

The woman told cops she met Greg Kelly on the street and decided to go for drinks, sources said.

It was unclear why she waited more than three months to make a report.

Greg Kelly, 43, denied the accusation in a statement by his lawyer, Andrew M. Lankler, Wednesday evening.

“Mr. Kelly is aware that the New York County district attorney’s office is conducting an investigation,” the statement said. “Mr. Kelly strenuously denies any wrongdoing of any kind, and is cooperating fully with the district attorney’s investigation. We know the district attorney’s investigation will prove Mr. Kelly’s innocence.”more information...

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com

Justin Bieber is an actual life saver, helps register new organ donors

2012-01-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

Justin “keeping it clean” Bieber gets a lot of grief from non-Beliebers for, well, pretty much everything he does.

But as we here at Celebritology have said before, no one can argue with the Biebs’s charitable giving. As it turns out, sometimes all he needs to give is a tweet to make an actual difference.

Helene Campbell, a 20-year-old Ottawa resident in need of a double lung transplant, started a campaignto tweet the teen pop star in order to raise awareness about organ donations and giving blood.

Under the Twitter handle “@alungstory,” Campbell, who blogs about herillness, tweeted last week, “Hey @justinbieber! I BELIEB you should use that Canadian voice of yours and help save lives like mine #beanorgandonor beadonor.ca #giveblood.”

Her message was retweeted by the Biebs, who later replied, “i got the word....you have amazing strength. i got u. #BeAnOrganDonor.” This exchange was, no doubt, seen by many of Bieber’s 16. 7 million followers.

From last Thursday, the day Bieber retweeted Campbell, to Tuesday, 1,000 people had registered online to become donors through the Trillium Gift of Life Network, “Ontario’s central organ and tissue donation agency,” according to their Twitter account. That number had risen to 1,200 yesterday, according to MTV, a significant increase in normal registrations.more information...

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com

Solar storm forces Delta, United to divert flights

2012-01-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

Solar storm: Delta Air Lines and United Airlines diverted flights over the poles to prevent loss of communications. This is the biggest solar storm in six years, says NASA.

Delta Air Lines was diverting some flights on polar routes between Detroit and Asia to avoid disruptions to aircraft communications by a strong solar radiation storm, the airline said on Tuesday.

The storm, considered the strongest since 2005, has caused minor disruptions for U.S. airlines, and Delta said it altered routes for "a handful" of flights, and that the changes were adding about 15 minutes to travel times.

"We are undergoing a series of solar bursts in the sky that are impacting the northern side of the world," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said.

"It can impact your ability to communicate," he said. "So, basically, the polar routes are being flown further south than normal."

United Airlines spokesman Mike Trevino said the carrier diverted one flight on Monday because of the storm, but none on Tuesday.

American Airlines reported no operational impact due to solar flares but that it is monitoring the atmosphere, spokesman Ed Martelle said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a press release on Monday that it had issued a watch on Sunday for "a geomagnetic storm associated with a bright flare on the sun."

NOAA said it was the strongest solar radiation storm in more than six years - and it was forecast to hit Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday, and it could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said. A coronal mass ejection - a big chunk of the Sun's atmosphere - was hurled toward Earth on Sunday, driving energized solar particles at about 5 million miles an hour (2,000 km per second), about five times faster than solar part.more information...

Source: http://www.csmonitor.com

Kelly Rowland just stared at Beyonce's baby

2012-01-25T05:54:00.000-08:00

Kelly Rowland has revealed she couldn't stop staring at Beyonce Knowles' "beautiful" baby the first time she met her.

The singer and Michelle Williams went to visit their former Destiny's Child bandmate and her newborn daughter Blue Ivy last week and Kelly can't stop gushing over her friend's tot.

When asked about the baby, the 'Down for Whatever' hitmaker said: "She's absolutely beautiful! And I say that with such a huge grin! I'm so excited for her (Beyonce) ... I just stared at her."

Kelly admits Michelle was equally as transfixed with the two-week-old tot - Beyonce's first child with her husband Jay-Z - when they paid a visit

Speaking at the Hpnotiq Harmonie and Live Louder 2012 Kickoff cocktail party at the W hotel in Hollywood last night (24.01.12), she revealed: "We all just stared at her (Blue Ivy). She is so beautiful."

Kelly, 30, is remaining tight-lipped on what gift she bought for Blue Ivy, but she insists it was a very fashionable present.

When quizzed on what present she gave the baby, she laughed: "That's between me and Blue. But you best believe her auntie will have her dressed to impress."
more information...

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Study: Magic mushrooms may help treat depression

2012-01-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

Psychedelic mushrooms may point to new ways to treat depression, suggest two small brain imaging studies that seem to show how psilocybin -- the active ingredient in such mushrooms -- affects the brain.

One study included 30 healthy people who had psilocybin inserted into their blood while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners measured changes in their brain activity. The scans revealed that psilocybin caused decreased activity in what the researchers described as the brain's "hub" regions -- areas especially well-connected with other areas.
That study was published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The second study included 10 healthy volunteers and found that psilocybin boosted their recall of personal memories and their emotional well-being for up to two weeks. The researchers said this suggests that psilocybin might prove useful as an adjunct to psychotherapy. That study will be published online Thursday in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

A study published last year found that people with anxiety who received a single psilocybin treatment had lower depression scores six months later.
David Nutt, who's with the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, was the senior author of both of the new studies.

"Psychedelics are thought of as 'mind-expanding' drugs, so it has commonly been assumed that they work by increasing brain activity, but surprisingly, we found that psilocybin actually caused activity to decrease in areas that have the densest connections with other areas," Nutt said in a college news release. "These hubs constrain our experience of the world and keep it orderly. We now know that deactivating these regions leads to a state in which the world is experienced as strange."

The impact of psilocybin reported by the study participants -- such as seeing "geometric" patterns, experiencing an altered sense of time and space, and unusual physical sensations -- correlated with a decreased flow of oxygen and blood to parts in the brain's posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the study authors said.

It's thought that the posterior cingulate cortex plays a role in consciousness and self-identity. Research has shown the medial prefrontal cortex to be especially active in people struggling with depression, so psilocybin's effect on this area of the brain could be responsible for some of the antidepressant effects reported in previous research, the study authors said.
Nutt and his colleagues also found that psilocybin reduced blood flow in the hypothalamus, where blood flow increases in people with cluster headaches. Some headache sufferers have reported that psilocybin improved their symptoms.

"Psilocybin was used extensively in psychotherapy in the 1950s, but the biological rationale for its use has not been properly investigated until now. Our findings support the idea that psilocybin facilitates access to personal memories and emotions," Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, and first author of both studies, said in the news release.

"Previous studies have suggested that psilocybin can improve people's sense of emotional well-being and even reduce depression in people with anxiety. This is consistent with our finding that psilocybin decreases mPFC activity, as many effective depression treatments do. The effects need to be investigated further and ours was only a small study, but we are interested in exploring psilocybin's potential as a therapeutic tool," Carhart-Harris added.
The study authors reiterated that both trials contained small numbers of participants, and further research into psilocybin's effects on the brain is needed.more information...

Source: http://yourlife.usatoday.com

Unanimous support for Obama tourism plan

2012-01-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan to significantly increase tourism to the United States has been applauded by the country’s major travel industry organizations.

The new initiatives, which include the expedition and simplification of the visa application process as well as the creation of a task force to promote travel to and within the United States, have been designed to make the U.S. “the world’s top travel and tourism destination” and are part of overall efforts by the White House to spur job creation.

U.S. Travel Association president and chief executive Roger Dow said the initiatives represented “significant steps” in boosting travel to and within the country, and most importantly would lead to jobs growth in a “moving economy”.

“This is the first time our country has had a national strategy and set goals for the amount of visitors we want to welcome to our country,” Mr Dow remarked.

“Not only will this increase traffic to America's wonderful destinations and attractions, but nearly half of the travelers will come to attend conferences and tradeshows.”

Echoing Mr Dow was NTA president Lisa Simon, who said the initiatives put the travel and tourism industry under the spotlight as a “key contributor to the nation’s economic vibrancy”.

“With President Obama’s action today, the travel and tourism industry has reached an all-time high in terms of vigor and visibility,” Ms Simon commented.

“His executive order, combined with the recent creation of Brand USA and ongoing Congressional hearings on travel issues, shows the vital economic contributions of tourism.”

Key to Mr Obama’s executive order is improved visa processing in China and Brazil, whose visitor numbers to the United States are expected to grow by a whopping 135 per cent and 274 per cent respectively by 2016 (compared to 2010).

Under the new scheme, the U.S. will look to increase non-immigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 per cent this year, as well as ensure that 80 per cent of visa applicants are interviewed within three weeks of receipt of application.

According to the Department of Commerce, Chinese and Brazilian tourists currently spend more than $6,000 and $5,000 respectively each, per trip, which is well above the international average of $4000.

“Streamlining and enhancing the visa application process for international visitors to the United States without compromising our national security, is of vital importance to the U.S. airlines in continuing their contribution to the U.S. global economy,” Airlines for America (A4A) president and chief executive Nicholas E. Calio said in praise of the administration’s efforts to improve visa processing times for Brazil and China.

Amongst the strategy’s other initiatives is the rule to expand on and make permanent the Global Entry program (for low risk travelers to the U.S.), and the nomination of Taiwan to the Visa Waiver Program.
Additionally, the plan will see the appointment of 32 new private sector CEOs to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, international travel accounted for $134 billion in U.S. exports in 2010 and is the nation’s largest service export industry.more information...

Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.us

A re-election speech in State of the Union clothing

2012-01-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

While billed as a blueprint for "An America Built to Last," President Obama's State of the Union Address was also a game plan to help him win a second term.

The speech was skillfully crafted to avoid any overt re-election rhetoric, but it gave the president the largest audience he will have to cast his record of the last three years in the most favorable light. He also acknowledged the nation remains in the grip of economic problems, but said its better than it was and he's got an extensive strategy for making it better still.

"The state of our Union is getting stronger," declared Mr. Obama. "And we've come too far to turn back now." He spent more than an hour discussing his approach to moving the nation forward.

Relying on his sizeable rhetorical skills, the president devoted most of his speech to the economy, laying out plans for creating jobs, including:

Using the tax code to end outsourcing and bring jobs abroad back to the U.S.
New help for dislocated workers
Expanded worker training
Establishment of a Trade Enforcement Unit to act against foreign trade violations
More investment in research and development.

Scratch the surface of his State of the Union and key elements of his political fundraising speeches could be heard.

He reminded Congress and the nation of the auto industry bailout he arranged. "We bet on American workers," he said. "We bet on American ingenuity. And tonight, the American auto industry is back."

He called for more government funding to rebuild crumbling bridges, roadways and schools. He suggested that half the money no longer needed for the war in Iraq be used to pay down the debt and the rest for "some nation-building right here at home."

He spoke of his determination to help states and localities keep from laying off teachers while at the same time demanding more be done to keep kids from dropping out. (watch the full speech at left)

He served notice on college and university leaders: "If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down."

He reaffirmed support for immigration reform while portraying himself as tough on border enforcement.

He offered a new plan to help troubled homeowners refinance their mortgages while keeping the banking industry in line: "No bailouts, no handouts and no copouts," declared Mr. Obama.

And he made clear he would not stand for the repeal of his controversial programs led by health care reform.

Further, he spoke with new determination for his long-stated plan to get the richest Americans to pay higher taxes.

He invoked the words of billionaire Warren Buffett who has found fault in a tax code that let him pay a lower effective tax rate on his investment income than does his secretary on her salary.

Mr. Obama even invited Buffett's secretary to be in the House Chamber and watch the speech from the First Lady's box.

In speech after speech over the last year - Mr. Obama called on the rich to be made to pay their "fair share."

And he finally put a number to that phrase declaring:

"If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes."

He acknowledged that Congress may be unwilling to enact the lengthy agenda he put forward, but he wanted to sound like the "warrior of the middle class" that he sees as his path to a second term.

"I intend to fight obstruction with action," he told Congress to its face.

And as candidates know, if you can't win an election by delivering on your agenda, you can often win by running against those you blame for blocking your plans.

And with his campaign in mind, the president takes his State of the Union plan on a three day swing starting Wednesday to five battleground states he needs to win re-election: Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan.

The trip is billed as official presidential business and it won't cost his campaign a nickel.more information...

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com

Rihanna Steals Lady GaGa's YouTube Crown RiRi has become the most viewed female artist on the webiste...

2012-01-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

Rihanna has pinched Lady GaGa's YouTube crown to become the website's most viewed female artist on Vevo.

According to Billboard, RiRi scored over 2,068,076,591 YouTube hits over the weekend, taking the record from Lady G - who previously held the title after becoming thefirst musician to hit over one billion viewson the video site back in October 2010.

Since achieving the feat, GaGa has failed to emulate the success of multimillion viewed Bad Romance and Telephone, with her more recent efforts You And I and Marry The Night just edging past the 49 and 31 million mark respectively.

In comparison, RiRi's We Found Love has already topped 115 million views in just three months, with What’s My Name (230 million), Rude Boy (185 million), Man Down (133 million) and California King Bed (102 million) also contributing to her overall total.

After learning of her achievement, the Bajan babe took to Twitter to thank her fans, writing: "First chic to EVER reach 2 BILLION views on VEVO!!!! Congrats #RihannaNavy!!!! #QueenzOfVEVO. My fans run dis world!"

Justin Bieber still remains YouTube's most popular act, with his videos - including online hitBaby - earning him well over 2.2 billion views.more information...

Source: http://www.mtv.co.uk

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul detained by TSA at Nashville airport [Opinion: The Arena]

2012-01-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

Kentucky’s junior senator, Republican Rand Paul, was detained at the Nashville airport this morning by agents of the Transportation Safety Administration, and it was all over the news. Many were describing it as a show-down between a libertarian senator and the Obama police state.

He was on his way back to the nation’s capital when a scanner set off an alarm and Paul declined to allow a security officer to subsequently pat him down. Local police escorted the senator away, but he was allowed to board a later flight. The security scanner was somehow set off by Paul’s knee, although Paul said he has no screws or medical hardware around the joint.

Senator Paul rolled up his pants leg and showed the TSA agents that he wasn’t carrying anything in his trousers, and asked for another scan. The agents refused to allow him to go through the scanner a second time, and demanded the senator submit to a manual body search. Sen. Paul refused. "There is no problem. It was just a problem with their machine. But this is getting more frequent, and because everybody has to have a pat down it's a problem," Paul said.

The senator told the Bowling Green Daily News that he was "detained" in a small cubicle and couldn't make his flight to Washington for a Senate vote scheduled later in the day. Paul said the situation reflects his long-standing concern that the

TSA shouldn't be "spending so much time with people who wouldn't attack us."

Paul went through a millimeter wave machine that uses a generic outline of a body for all passengers, according to a TSA official who spoke to the Bowling Green Daily News on condition of anonymity to discuss agency screening procedures. When an alarm goes off, TSA officers target the area of the body that triggered the alarm and pat down the passenger.

After refusing the pat-down on the grounds that it was an infringement on his rights and “private property,” the senator wasordered by a TSA official to wait in the security area without giving an indication of when he would be allowed to leave. Security then escorted him out of the area but let him remain in the airport. As a result, Sen. Paul missed his scheduled flight to Washington for a Senate session. He was also due to speak at the March for Life later Monday in DC. The TSA said Paul was allowed to board another flight after a different screening. The second screening did not trigger an alarm.

The U.S. Constitution is pretty clear about protecting federal lawmakers from detention while they’re on the way to the capital. “The Senators and Representatives…shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same….” according to Article I, Section 6. Because of this, the TSA and the Obama Administration are adamant in insisting that the senator was not “detained.”

In a telephone interview with The Daily Caller, Sen. Paul said that being “detained” by the Transportation Security Administration at the Nashville airport Monday was a major ordeal that underscores flaws in TSA’s procedures that affect tens of millions of passengers every year. “It was a big headache. I missed my speech here. I was supposed to speak to the Right to Life
March, probably the biggest audience I’ll get to speak to, and I missed it.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney denied Monday that TSA agents had “detained” the Kentucky senator. "I think it is absolutely essential that we take necessary actions to ensure that air travel is safe," said Carney. “Let’s be clear,” Carney said. “The passenger was not detained.

He was escorted out of the area by local law-enforcement.”

But Sen. Paul told The Daily Caller that he certainly felt like he was detained. “If you’re told you can’t leave, does that count as detention?” Paul asked. “I tried to leave the cubicle to speak to one of the TSA people and I was barked at: ‘Do not leave the cubicle!’ So, that, to me sounds like I’m being asked not to leave the cubicle. It sounds a little bit like I’m being detained.”

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul issued the following statement on hiscampaign websitethis afternoon, following his son Rand’s treatment at the hands of the TSA in Nashville:

“The police state in this country is growing out of control. One of the ultimate embodiments of this is the TSA that gropes and grabs our children, our seniors, and our loved ones and neighbors with disabilities. The TSA does all of this while doing nothing to keep us safe.

“That is why my ‘Plan to Restore America,’ in additional to cutting $1 trillion dollars in federal spending in one year, eliminates the TSA.

“We must restore the freedom and respect for liberty that once made American the greatest nation in human history. I am deeply committed to doing that as President of the United States.”

The website also posted a picture of Senator Rand Paul talking to reporters following the incident with the TSA:

Louisville.com's The Arena section features opinions from active participants in the city's politics. Their viewpoints are not those of Louisville.com (a website is an inanimate object and, as such, has no opinions).more information...

Source: http://www.louisville.com

Women feel more pain than men, study finds

2012-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

Who hurts more, men or women? A new Stanford University study examining patients' medical records found surprisingly clear results: across the board, women report higher levels of pain than men.

For the study, researchers reviewed patients' electronic medical records. EMRs are used by only about one percent of hospitals in the U.S. today - including two Stanford-affiliated hospitals. Patients at these hospitals report their feelings of pain, typically in the form of scores on a scale of 0 to 10 - 0 meaning "none at all" and 10 meaning "the most imaginable."

Stanford Pediatrics professor Dr. Atul Butte and his colleagues reviewed 160,000 pain reports from over 72,000 patients. And after crunching the numbers, found a clear gender gap.

"In many cases, the reported difference approached a full point on the 1-to-10 scale," Butte said inStanford's Scope journal. "How big is that? A pain-score improvement of one point is what clinical researchers view as indicating that a pain medication is working." This makes the data not just statistically significant, but also clinically significant.

"We actually use these numbers," Butte said. "We use these as a kind of threshold - when do we start pain medicine? Are we treating someone with enough pain medicine? We need to have that understanding that there is a sex difference here."

The results were published in the Jan. 16 online edition of the Journal of Pain.

What accounts for the difference?

Since the data were self-reported, the explanation may be that women more readily report pain than men do. Since nurses often take these records, men may have been more reluctant to admit their pain to female nurses. Or the difference may be hormonal.

"Why the pain responses are at the higher level in females, we really don't know. Is it completely psychologically based? Is it related to hormones? We are really not clear," Dr. Prasad Movva with Kaiser San Jose's chronic pain program told the San Francisco Chronicle. "But this report is a good start definitely."

Why do you think women and men reported such different levels of pain?more information...

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com

The Truth About Beyoncé & Jay-Z's Baby

2012-01-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

As reporters were waiting outside New York's Lenox Hill Hospital, a nurse sighed. "I wishBeyoncé would just go away," a witness overheard him say. "I am so sick of her being here." The hoopla surrounding the Jan. 7 birth of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's daughter, Blue Ivy, was out of control, with security so tight that other parents were reportedly denied access to the special-care nursery just to protect the superstars' privacy.

The couple, who took over the fourth floor, reportedly paid $1.3 million to have two hospital suites renovated for their sole use.

But it didn't stop there: Gossip also swirled that Ingrid Jackson, a surrogate, actually gave birth to Blue.

"People are claiming that she used a surrogate, mostly because the size of her baby bump seems to have gone up and down throughout her pregnancy," says an insider.

Why would Beyoncé use a surrogate? Pressure to get back onstage quickly is one reason. "The mother is a surrogate and Bey wanted to keep working right after the baby was born," Angie Beyince, who claims to be Beyoncé's cousin, told Hip Hop Weekly. "What pregnant woman wears heels 6 inches tall? That's not good for the baby!"

Reality star Yandy Smith added to the controversy by Tweeting: "Congrats Beautiful Bey & Jay! Even though that baby been here for a month already." Yandy later said she was joking.

Then there is the discrepancy in the due dates. In October, Beyoncé reportedly said during an interview in Australia that the baby was due in February. Yet, on the set of her video "Countdown," filmed in September, Beyoncé said she was six months along, puttinger her due date in December.

FOR MORE OF THE TRUTH ABOUT BEYONCE'S BABY AND THE RUMORS SHE USED A SURROGATE, PICK UP THE NEW ISSUE OF OK! — IN STORES NOW!

more information...

Source:
http://www.okmagazine.com

One Indian killed, six hurt in Nigeria terror attack

2012-01-22T05:11:00.000-08:00

ABUJA: An Indian was killed and six Indians, including two children, were injured in a terror attack in the Nigerian city of Kano that left over 150 people dead, said authorities.

The High Commission of India here said 23-year-old Kevalkumar Kalidas Rajput has died.

Coordinated bomb attacks targeted security forces and gun battles broke out Friday in Nigeria's second-largest city of Kano.

Rajput, who hailed from Gujarat, was working for Kano-based company M/s Relchem since March 2011.

He and two of his co-employees Hari Prasad Bhusal and Raj Singh - both Nepali nationals - lost their lives when their car apparently entered a zone of hostilities, said a press release.

Six Indians, including two children, belonging to two families have received injuries from falling shrapnel and debris. They are being treated in Kano hospitals.

Officials of northern Nigeria's Kano State government said Saturday that about 150 people lost their lives in Friday's terrorist attacks which rocked the state capital of Kano.

State Commissioner of Information Faruk Umar told Xinhua that the toll was arrived at after early morning mopping up operations by rescue and aid agencies.

The attacks are believed to be the work of members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

Hundreds of Nigerian troops have been deployed at major streets in northern Kano to enhance security following the multiple explosions in the city.

Armed soldiers had also been deployed at some strategic public and private buildings in the metropolis to prevent possible attacks.

Spokesperson for Boko Haram Abul Qaqa told reporters that the attacks were in response to the refusal of the Kano State government to release some fellow terrorists who had been arrested in the state.

He said they were forced to resort to the attacks after an open letter sent in 2011 to prominent people in the state were ignored.more information...

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Alienware X51 PC Aimed at Typical Gamers

2012-01-22T04:56:00.000-08:00

A recent live event saw the introduction of the latest Alienware x51 PC in San Francisco. The device is an effort from Alienware in creating a regular gaming computer. The standard processor that will be used on the Alienware x51 PC is a dual-core Core i3 processor from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Other processor options that users have are a Core i5 and a Core i7 processor.

The graphics card options will be provided by Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). The Alienware x51 PC will also utilize the H61 Express Chipset from Intel. The standard RAM for the Alienware x51 PC is 4GB which can be increased up to around 8GB. The device will also feature a 1TB hard drive. The device will also feature a slot-loading DVD burner for the standard model and users have the option for a Blu-Ray Disc player.

The Alienware x51 PC also features an integrated Wi-Fi connectivity for all models of the device. According to the company, the entire system can be upgraded by the users of the device including the motherboard.

The Alienware x51 PC will be the first slim tower desktop offering of Alienware, which is something new to the desktop offerings of the company. With the slim design, observers indicated that it will be a problem to store the device.

Industry watchers have also noted that the low price tag of the Alienware x51 PC shows that it is not always true that gaming PCs are always expensive. This will allow users to play games using Alienware hardware without spending too much for the hardware.

Speculations have also emerged on whether gamers will accept the Alienware x51 PC. It may be possible for the device to duplicate success of the MX14 series of laptops from Alienware. The laptops of Alienware are more popular in the market compared to its desktop devices.

On advantage that the Alienware x51 PC has over its rivals is that only a small number of its rivals are offering a similar device at that price tag.more information...

Source: http://www.planetinsane.com

Resident Evil 6: Return to form, or Gears with Zombies pt. 2?

2012-01-22T04:49:00.000-08:00

Those who don't do gaming news past 10pm are probably waking up to discover a bullet-filledResident Evil 6 trailer this morning, and initial feedback from readers has certainly been mixed.

A lot of CVG forum goers, initially at least, seemed very impressed by the Resi reveal, however others have hit the comments to express their disappointment that Resident Evil 6 looks to be "a full on action game now".

Those comments certainly echo those of CVG columnist James Jenkins, who in a Resident Evil 6 opinion piece yesterday afternoon begged Capcom to return to its horror routes.

Others, such as CVG reader nOVA1987, think Resident Evil 6 looks "actually amazing". He writes: "They have gone back to zombies, eerie locations and have literally crossed RE5 and RE4 with a slight mix classic RE. CAN NOT WAIT!"

What is it then? Are the naysayers being far too vocal on the comments threads? Or does Resident Evil 6 really look far too Resi 5-esque to truly impress? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.more information...

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com

A tale of Apple, the iPhone, and overseas manufacturing

2012-01-22T04:40:00.000-08:00

A nеw crash οn Apple offers up аn fаѕсіnаtіnɡ detail аbουt thе evolution οf thе
iPhone, аnԁ gives a fаѕсіnаtіnɡ–аnԁ unsettling–look аt thе practice οf overseas manufacturing.

Thе article, аn іn-depth crash bу Charles Duhigg аnԁ Keith Bradsher οf Thе Nеw York Times, іѕ based οn interviews wіth, аmοnɡ others, “more thаn three dozen current аnԁ former Apple employees аnԁ contractors–many οf whοm requested anonymity tο protect thеіr jobs.”

Thе piece uses Apple аnԁ іtѕ recent history tο look аt whу thе success οf ѕοmе U.S. firms hasn’t led tο more U.S. jobs–аnԁ tο examine issues regarding thе link between corporate America аnԁ Americans (аѕ well аѕ people overseas). One οf thе qυеѕtіοnѕ іt qυеѕtіοnѕ іѕ: Whу isn’t more manufacturing taking рƖасе іn thе U.S.? Anԁ Apple’s аnѕwеr–аnԁ thе аnѕwеr one mіɡht ɡеt frοm many U.S. companies–appears tο bе thаt іt’s simply nο longer possible tο compete bу relying οn domestic factories аnԁ thе ecosystem thаt surrounds thеm.

Thе iPhone detail crops up relatively early іn thе tаƖе, іn аn anecdote аbουt thеn-Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Anԁ іt leads frankly іntο qυеѕtіοnѕ аbουt offshore labor practices:

In 2007, a modest over a month before thе iPhone wаѕ scheduled tο grow іn stores, Mr. Jobs beckoned a handful οf lieutenants іntο аn office. Fοr weeks, hе hаԁ bееn carrying a prototype οf thе device іn hіѕ pocket.
Mr. Jobs angrily held up hіѕ iPhone, angling іt ѕο everyone сουƖԁ see thе dozens οf tіnу scratches marring іtѕ fаkе screen, according tο someone whο attended thе meeting. Hе thеn pulled hіѕ keys frοm hіѕ jeans.
People wіƖƖ carry thіѕ phone іn thеіr pocket, hе ѕаіԁ. People аƖѕο carry thеіr keys іn thеіr pocket. “I won’t sell a product thаt gets scratched,” hе ѕаіԁ tensely. Thе οnƖу solution wаѕ using unscratchable glass instead. “I want a glass screen, аnԁ I want іt perfect іn six weeks.”

A tall order. Anԁ another anecdote suggests thаt Jobs’ staff wеnt overseas tο fill іt–along wіth οthеr requirements fοr thе top-secret phone scheme (code-named, thе Times ѕауѕ, “Purple 2″):

Thаt last quote thеrе, Ɩіkе several others іn thе tаƖе, leaves one feeling nearly impressed bу thе nο-holds-barred capabilities οf thеѕе manufacturing plants–impressed аnԁ queasy аt thе same time. Here’s another quote, frοm Jennifer Rigoni, Apple’s worldwide give plea manager until 2010: “Thеу сουƖԁ hire 3,000 people overnight,” ѕhе ѕауѕ, speaking οf Foxconn City, Foxconn Technology’s complex οf factories іn China. “Whаt U.S. plant саn find 3,000 people overnight аnԁ win over thеm tο live іn dorms?”

Thе article ѕауѕ thаt cheap аnԁ willing labor wаѕ tο bе sure a factor іn Apple’s сhοісе, іn thе early 2000s, tο follow mοѕt οthеr electronics companies іn moving manufacturing overseas. Bυt, іt ѕауѕ, give chain management, production alacrity, аnԁ flexibility wеrе Ɩаrɡеr incentives.

“Thе entire give chain іѕ іn China now,” thе article quotation mаrkѕ a former high-ranking Apple executive аѕ saying. “Yου need a thousand rubber gaskets? Thаt’s thе factory next door. Yου need a million screws? Thаt factory іѕ a block away. Yου need thаt screw mаԁе a modest bit different? It wіƖƖ take three hours.”

It аƖѕο mаkеѕ thе point thаt οthеr factors come іntο play. Apple analysts, thе Times piece reports, hаԁ estimated thаt іn thе U.S., іt wουƖԁ take thе company аѕ long аѕ nine months tο find thе 8,700 industrial engineers іt wουƖԁ need tο oversee workers assembling thе iPhone. In China іt wound up taking 15 days.

Thе article аnԁ іtѕ sources paint a vivid depiction οf hοw much simpler іt іѕ fοr companies tο ɡеt things mаԁе overseas (whісh іѕ whу ѕο many U.S. firms ɡο thаt route–Apple іѕ bу nο means lonely іn thіѕ). Bυt thе underlying humanitarian issues nag аt thе reader.

Perhaps thеrе′s hope–аt smallest amount fοr overseas workers–іn last week’s news thаt Apple hаѕ joined thе Hοnеѕt Labor Association, аnԁ thаt іt wіƖƖ bе providing more transparency whеn іt comes tο thе mаkіnɡ οf іtѕ products.

Aѕ fοr manufacturing returning tο thе U.S.? Thе Times piece cites аn unnamed guest аt President Obama’s 2011 dinner wіth Silicon Valley bigwigs. Obama hаԁ qυеѕtіοnеԁ Steve Jobs whаt іt wουƖԁ take tο produce thе iPhone іn thе states, whу thаt work couldn’t return. Thе Times’ source quotation mаrkѕ
Jobs аѕ having ѕаіԁ, іn nο uncertain terms, “Those jobs aren’t coming back.”

Apple, bу thе way, wουƖԁ nοt provide a comment tο thе Times аbουt thе article. Anԁ Foxconn disputed thе tаƖе аbουt employees being awakened аt midnight tο work οn thе iPhone, saying strict regulations аbουt working hours wουƖԁ hаνе mаԁе such a thing impossible.more information...

Source: http://zimtribune.com

JUSTIN BIEBER TO SING AT SELENA GOMEZ'S UNICEF CONCERT?

2012-01-20T06:51:00.000-08:00

THIS WOULD BE VERY EXCITING INDEED.

Selena Gomez is throwing a concert in aid of UNICEF, the charity she is ambassador for, and apparently there is going to be one heck of a special guest.

The concert, which will be held this evening in the House of Blues in Los Angeles, has been getting some press in the last few days, as the rumor mill working away and speculating that a certain someone very close to Selena’s heart will be making an appearance. That’s right, you guessed it, the man himself Mr Justin Bieber may be joining the line-up.

According to a source speaking to hollywoodlife.com, “Justin will be a surprise guest at Selena’s concert. UNICEF is really important to Selena and Justin knows this.”

If this is true, not only does it show that Justin is a charitable kinda guy, but also that he understands how much UNICEF means to Selena and that he wants to lend a hand. He's turing out to be pretty good boyfriend material, we're impressed.

We suppose the only downside is that, because the source let this news slip, if it is true and does happen, it won’t be a surprise, obviously. That is a bit of a shame but then, who cares if you get to see Justin and Selena sharing the stage. Who knows, they may even KISS.

All shall be revealed tonight in Hollywood. We can’t blinking wait to see what happens.
more information...

Source: http://www.sugarscape.com

Lady Gaga nominated for a Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Award

2012-01-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

The 25-year-old singer will do battle with 'The Voice' contestant Beverly McClellan, Girl in a Coma, Hunx and His Punx, and MEN for the Outstanding Music Artist accolade at the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards, which aims to recognise and honour media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.

The cast of 'Glee' - which features Chris Colfer and Jayne Lynch - have been given a nod for Outstanding Comedy Series, while the Clint Eastwood-directed movie 'J.Edgar' has been recognized in the Outstanding Film - Wide Release category.

Chaz Bono - who was born a woman named Chastity and began gender reassignment surgery three years ago - has a double nomination with his 'Becoming Chaz' show up for Outstanding Documentary and his appearance on the 'Late Show with David Letterman' earning an Outstanding Talk Show Episode nod.
Mike Thompson, GLAAD's acting president, said in a statement: "As media continue to tell new stories about LGBT people and families, a majority of Americans now support full equality of LGBT Americans.

"This year's nominees enlighten and entertain, while spotlighting the diversity of our community.

Audiences expect to see their own worlds reflected in media, and today more than ever, those include the lives of LGBT people. Viewers know that LGBT characters and stories are simply natural extensions of, and glimpses into, their own experiences from across America."

The awards will be presented at three ceremonies in New York on March 24, Los Angeles on April 21 and San Francisco on June 2.

Selected list of GLAAD nominees:

Outstanding Drama Series:
'Degrassi'
'TeenNick'
'Grey's Anatomy'
'ABC'
'Pretty Little Liars'
'ABC Family'
'Shameless'
'Showtime'
'Torchwood: Miracle Day'
'Starz'

Outstanding Comedy Series:
'Exes and Ohs'
'Logo'
'Glee'
'Fox'
'Happy Endings'
'ABC'
'Modern Family'
'ABC'
'The Big C'
'Showtime'

Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character):
'Acceptance' Man Up!, ABC
'Beards' Hot in Cleveland, TV Land
'Prom' Drop Dead Diva, Lifetime
'Recruited' NCIS, CBS
'The Boy Has Style' Are We There Yet?, TBS

Outstanding Documentary:
'Becoming Chaz', OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
'The Strange History of Don't Ask, Don't Tell', HBO
'The World's Worst Place to be Gay?', Logo
'Two Spirits', PBS
'We Were Here', Red Flag Releasing

Outstanding Reality Programme:
'Dancing with the Stars'
'ABC'
'Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys'
'Sundance Channel'
'The Glee Project'
'Oxygen'
'The Real L Word'
'Showtime'
'The Voice'
'NBC'

Outstanding Talk Show Episode:
'Chaz Bono', 'Late Show with David Letterman', CBS
'Children & Teens Caught in the Wrong Bodies' Anderson, syndicated
'Coming Out on the Oprah Show: 25 Years of Unforgettable Guests' The Oprah Winfrey Show, syndicated
'The Wedding of Scott Cronick & David Gorshein' Conan, TBS
'Zach Wahls' The Ellen DeGeneres Show, syndicated

Outstanding Daily Drama:
'All My Children'
'ABC'
'Days of Our Lives'
'NBC'

Outstanding Music Artist:
Beverly McClellan, 'Fear Nothing', Oarfin Records
Girl in a Coma, 'Exits & All the Rest', Blackheart Records
Hunx and His Punx, 'Too Young to Be in Love', Hardly Art
Lady Gaga, 'Born This Way', Interscope Records
MEN, 'Talk About Body', IAMSOUND Records

more information...

Source: http://www.irishcentral.com

Beyonce, Adele, Chris Brown Up for NAACP Image Awards

2012-01-20T06:37:00.000-08:00

Beyoncé, Adele, Chris Brown, Bruno Mars and Cee Lo Green are all in the running for top music awards at the 43rd annual NAACP Image Awards on February 17th. Beyoncé is nominated for Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Album for her record 4, while Mars, Brown, Green and Common are all up for Outstanding Male Artist. Jennifer Hudson, Lupe Fiasco, Ledisi and Mary J. Blige are also nominated for Outstanding Album alongside Beyoncé.

Though the NAACP is traditionally designed to honor "the accomplishments of people of color," Adele is nevertheless nominated for Outstanding Song and Music Video for her smash hit "Someone Like You."

The complete music nominations for the NAACP Image Awards are as follows. The ceremony will be broadcast on NBC on February 17th at 8 p.m. ET.

Outstanding Song
"Best Thing I Never Had" - Beyonce
"Fool for You" feat. Melanie Fiona - Cee Lo Green
"I Smile" - Kirk Franklin
"So In Love" feat. Anthony Hamilton - Jill Scott
"Someone Like You" - Adele

Outstanding Album
4 - Beyonce
F.A.M.E. - Chris Brown
I Remember Me - Jennifer Hudson
Lasers - Lupe Fiasco
The Light of the Sun - Jill Scott

Outstanding New Artist
Committed
Diggy Simmons
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.
Mindless Behavior
Wynter Gordon

Outstanding Male Artist
Anthony Hamilton
Bruno Mars
Cee Lo Green
Chris Brown
Common

Outstanding Female Artist
Beyonce
Jennifer Hudson
Jill Scott
Ledisi
Mary J. Blige

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration
Boyz II Men
Cee Lo Green feat. Melanie Fiona
Mary J. Blige feat. Drake
Sounds of Blackness
The Roots

Outstanding Music Video
"25/8" - Mary J. Blige
"Hear My Call" - Jill Scott
"I Was Here" - Beyoncé
"Someone Like You" - Adele
"Where You At" - Jennifer Hudson

Outstanding Jazz Album
Chano y Dizzy - Terence Blanchard and Poncho Sanchez
Friends - Stanley Jordan
Guitar Man - George Benson
Legacy - Gerald Wilson
Road Show Vol. 2 - Sonny Rollins

Outstanding Gospel Album (Traditional or Contemporary)
Becoming - Yolanda Adams
Church on the Moon - Deitrick Haddon
Hello Fear - Kirk Franklin
Something Big - Mary Mary
The Journey - Andrae Crouch

Outstanding World Music Album
Afrodiaspora - Susana Baca
Carnival Fever - Brother B
Live at 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - Boukman Eksperyans
Sounds of Blackness - Sounds of Blackness
The First Grader - Alex Heffes

more information...

Source: http://www.rollingstone.com

Risks posed by returning Russian spacejunk unclear

2012-01-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

A Russian space probe designed to burnish the nation's faded space glory in a mission to one of Mars' moons has turned into one of the heaviest, most toxic pieces of space junk ever.

It will come crashing down to Earth in just a few days.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos' latest forecast has the unmanned Phobos-Ground probe falling out of Earth's orbit Sunday or Monday, with the median time placing it over the Indian Ocean just north of Madagascar. It said the precise time and place of its uncontrolled plunge can only be determined later, and unless someone actually spots fiery streaks in the sky, no one may ever know where any surviving pieces end up.

Space experts agree it's unlikely to pose big risks.

At 13.2 metric tons (14.6 tons), the Phobos-Ground is one of the largest spacecraft ever to plummet to Earth, considerably larger than the two defunct satellites that fell to Earth last fall and landed in the water.

Roscosmos predicted that only between 20 and 30 fragments of the Phobos probe with a total weight of up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds) will survive the re-entry and plummet to Earth.

It's the third satellite to crash out of the sky in under five months: An old NASA 6-ton atmospheric research satellite came tumbling down in September, and a 3-ton German science satellite followed suit in October. But both were well past their prime.

Russia's Phobos-Ground probe is still a mere babe. It was launched in November, and a glitch left it stranded in orbit around Earth instead of bound for Mars to collect soil samples.

"What's different about this re-entry is that it's not a re-entry of an old, inert satellite that just was expected for years. It's something that is coming down because of an accident ... for me, that puts it in a different category," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.

Another striking difference is the 11 metric tons (12 tons) of highly toxic rocket fuel aboard Phobos-Ground, accounting for the bulk of its weight for the long journey to the Martian moon of Phobos. This makes it potentially the most toxic spacecraft to fall ever.

Roscosmos insists all the fuel will burn in the atmosphere and pose no danger, and some experts in Russia and the West share that forecast.And if it's any consolation, both of the two previous uncontrolled satellites harmlessly showered fragments over water.

"The fuel indeed poses lethal danger in case of close contact, but I haven't heard of a single case of any civilians poisoned by rocket fuel from all the derelict satellites and failed rockets throughout the space era," said Igor Lissov, an independent Moscow-based space observer. "The objective reality is that it burns on re-entry. There is no reason to panic."

Some experts theorized, however, that part of the fuel might have frozen in the cold of space and could survive the fiery descent, posing a strong threat if it spills over populated areas. Such fears prompted the United States to shoot down its USA-193 spy satellite with a Navy missile in 2008.

Some botched Russian rocket launches in the past have showered fragments over populated areas in Siberia and neighbouring Kazakhstan.

In the latest such mishap, fragments of a Russian satellite that failed to enter a designated orbit after its launch last month came down around Novosibirsk, the third-largest Russian city with a population of about 1.5 million, damaging some houses but hurting no one. The fragments of the Meridian satellite, however, fell from a lower altitude at a far slower speed than the Phobos-Ground debris will have on re-entry.

Engineers from the Moscow-based company NPO Lavochkin, which built the Mars probe, said in an article giving a detailed description of the design that its fuel tanks are made of aluminum alloy. That means they should melt early on re-entry, backing up official assurances that the fuel would burn up on its way down.

McDowell said the probability is low that a large lump of toxic stuff will prove hazardous.

He noted that some of the probe's equipment is dense and could survive re-entry, but added the odds are that any surviving pieces will wind up in the ocean.

"All the best rules in the world" put in place to prevent uncontrolled satellites from crashing down do little if any good in the event of a launch failure, McDowell said. "This is always going to be the risk that something breaks, and you end up with a situation like this. You can minimize it, but you can't prevent it entirely."

The $170-million Phobos-Ground mission was Russia's most expensive and the most ambitious space endeavour since Soviet times. The spacecraft was intended to land on the crater-dented, potato-shaped Martian moon, collect soil samples and fly them back to Earth, giving scientists precious materials that could shed more light on the genesis of the solar system.

The probe was successfully launched Nov. 9 and entered a preliminary orbit where its engines were supposed to fire to set it on its path to Mars. They never did, and attempts to fix the glitch by Russian and European Space Agency experts failed.

Russia's space chief has acknowledged the Phobos-Ground mission was ill-prepared and risks of its failure were high, but said that Roscosmos had to give it the go-ahead so as not to miss the limited Earth-to-Mars launch window.

Phobos-Ground marked Russia's first planned foray beyond Earth's orbit since a botched 1996 robotic mission to Mars. That probe, designed by the same Lavochkin company, crashed shortly after launch due to an engine failure. The firm also built two other Phobos-bound probes that failed in 1988.

The crash of Mars-96 generated strong international fears because of some 200 grams of plutonium onboard. The craft eventually showered its fragments over the Chile-Bolivia border in the Andes Mountains, and the pieces were never recovered.

Russian officials continue to insist the craft plunged into the Pacific, their way of deflecting criticism for not warning the inhabitants of the impact area and for failing to search for plutonium and other debris.

Fears of radiation also were sparked by the fall of a nuclear-powered Soviet spy satellite that crashed over northwestern Canada in January 1978. The Soviets claimed the craft completely burned on re-entry, but a massive recovery effort by

Canadian authorities recovered a dozen fragments, most of which were radioactive.

The Phobos-Ground contains a tiny quantity of the radioactive metal Cobalt-57 in one of its instruments, but Roscosmos said it poses no threat of radioactive contamination.more information...

Source: http://www.ctv.ca

India must be cautious over polio milestone: WHO

2012-01-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

India may be celebrating a milestone in its fight against polio with no new cases in the last year, but complacency should not set in as a resurgence of the infection can occur if efforts are not sustained, the WHO head in India warned on Friday.

The last case of the crippling disease was detected on January 13, 2011 in a two-year-old girl in India's West Bengal state. A full year without any new cases will mean India will no longer be "polio-endemic," leaving only Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

"We are all subject to relaxing a bit when we have achieved some goal but we simply cannot allow that to happen with polio," Nata Menabde, the India head of the World Health Organization (WHO), told AlertNet in an interview.

"The important point is that while India may have stopped transmission of wild polio virus, it does not prevent such a virus from being re-imported or in fact the virus could be around and it has just not been detected."

Menabde said that while one year of no reported cases of the virus was an important public health achievement, it would take another two years of no cases before India could be certified as being "polio-free."

Until the 1950s, the disease crippled thousands every year in rich nations. It attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours of infection.

It often spreads in areas with poor sanitation -- a factor that helped it keep a grip on India for many decades -- and children under five are the most vulnerable. But it can be stopped with comprehensive, population-wide vaccination.

Just two years ago, 741 Indians fell sick with polio, nearly half the world's cases that year. The number of reported cases dropped to 42 in 2010 and only one last year.

Menabde said the secret of India's success was based on several factors, including a mass eradication program costing billions of dollars and mobilizing millions of people across the country to give every child under five the oral polio vaccine.

Around 900,000 doses of oral polio vaccine were given, immunizing 172 million children and involving 2.3 million vaccinators who visited 200 million homes in 2011 alone.

India has also used mobile vaccination teams that immunize children at bus stops, train stations, inside moving trains and in marketplaces.

But the health official took a cautionary note, saying that these efforts needed to continue as there were countries such as Tajikistan, Angola, Bangladesh and Russia which were certified as polio-free for many years, but had seen re-infections.

"If even one case occurs here again, we really have to mobilize a major effort and respond to it as emergency and do the mop up campaigns and vaccinate children around the area where such a thing may happen," said Menabde.

"It has been a major investment, we have to sustain this success, we have to finish the job as while there is one polio case in anywhere in the world, every country is vulnerable."
more information...

Source: http://www.reuters.com

Miss America confronted family pain with pageant

2012-01-15T00:27:00.000-08:00

The nation's newest Miss America is a 23-year-old Wisconsin brunette who had long conversations with her family mulling whether or not to make her father's jail time for mail fraud the heart of her campaign in the beauty pageant.

While her competitors pushed platforms including promoting the health benefits of milk and protecting the environment, Laura Kaeppeler (KEP'-ler) said she wants children of incarcerated adults to feel less alone, to have mentoring and as much of a relationship with their parents as possible.

"There are many of you out there — and I was one of them — but it doesn't have to define you," Kaeppeler told The Associated Press after winning the crown and $50,000 scholarship on Saturday night.

To win, she said beauty queens and politicians should remember they represent all Americans, sang an opera song and strutted in a white bikini and black evening gown.

Her looks, smarts and personal vocation impressed a panel of seven celebrity judges enough to give her the next year with the title.

"What happened with my father is not what my year is going to be focused on," she said. "It's going to be focused on looking forward and moving to the future because that's what my family has done and that's what I'll encourage others to do, as well."

Kaeppeler estimated that there are more than 2 million children with a parent in jail.

Kaeppeler's father, Jeff Kaeppeler, told the AP he served 18 months in federal prison for mail fraud, a sentence his daughter said started as she was graduating high school and entering college.

Jeff Kaeppeler said when his daughter approached the family about making the personal topic her chosen platform, they supported it even though they knew it would be discussed publicly.

"It taught us that God can turn anything into good if you let him," he said. "Laura is totally on board with that idea. She let that drive her and inspire her this past year to get ready for this.

"We've seen a miracle," he said while waiting backstage for a news conference in which his daughter called him her "best friend" and briefly took pictures with him onstage.

"I love you," he whispered to her as dozens of cameras snapped photos.

Miss Oklahoma Betty Thompson came in second, while Miss New York Kaitlyn Monte placed third.

Kaeppler introduced herself to pageant viewers by referencing her home state's Green Bay Packers, the NFL's defending Super Bowl champions.

"If you're watching, Aaron Rodgers, call me," she said, referring to the football team's superstar quarterback.

She was good enough during preliminary competitions to be chosen as one of 15 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the pageant's finale. Her bid lasted through swimsuit, evening wear, talent and interview competitions that saw cuts after each round.

She was asked minutes before being crowned whether Miss America should declare her politics.

"Miss America represents everyone, so I think the message to political candidates is that they represent everyone as well," she said. "And so in these economic times, we need to be looking forward to what America needs, and I think Miss America needs to represent all."

The pageant aired live to east coast viewers on ABC and tape delayed to the rest of the country. The event was the culmination of a week of preliminary competitions and months of preparations for the titleholders from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Kaeppeler, of Kenosha, Wis., some 40 miles south of Milwaukee, said her crowning moment was a blur.

"I was crying even before my name was called," Kaeppeler said. "It was just surreal to have this honor."

She replaces Teresa Scanlan of Nebraska, who won last year at age 17 and plans to use her scholarship to pay for law school.

As the new Miss America, Kaeppeler will spend the next year touring the country to speak to different groups and raising money for the Children's Miracle Network, the Miss America Organization's official charity.

She majored in music and vocal performance at a private Lutheran liberal arts college in Kenosha, and told pageant officials initially that she planned to obtain a master's degree in speech and language pathology and become a speech therapist.

But that changed once she became Miss Wisconsin.

She now says she intends to use the scholarship money to pursue a law degree and become a family attorney who specializes in helping children of incarcerated kids.

"I really feel like I've been called to work in this," she said. "Whether I became Miss America or not, this is something that I would pursue in my career no matter what."more information...

Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/

Cruise Captain Detained

2012-01-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

Italian media report that the captain of a cruise liner that ran aground with some 4,000 people aboard has been detained for questioning in the case.

Sky Italia reported Saturday that investigators based in the Tuscan city of Grosseto confirmed Francisco Schettino was detained for investigation of alleged manslaughter, abandoning his ship while people were still aboard and causing a shipwreck.

The ANSA news agency says he was taken to Grosseto's jail, to be held until next week, when a judge will decide whether he should be released or formally put under arrest. The courthouse was closed late Saturday and couldn't be reached.

In Italy, suspects can be held without charge for a few days for investigation. A judge must either validate the jailing, putting the suspect under arrest, or declare him free to go.more information...

Source: http://www.time.com

Heather Locklear Hospitalized After Reportedly Mixing Alcohol and Prescription Meds: Most Shocking Celebrity Meltdown?

2012-01-13T14:18:00.000-08:00

We're pretty worried about Heather Locklear. The stunning "Melrose Place" actress was rushed to a hospital by ambulance Thursday night after taking a dangerous mix of alcohol and prescription drugs, law enforcement sources told TMZ.

"She is in no danger and she's going to be just fine," her parents, Bill and Diane Locklear, said in a statement issued by Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center.

The petite blonde, 50, was reportedly taken to the hospital after the fire department and sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call at Locklear's home in Westlake Village, north of Los Angeles. Her sister is said to have called 911.

Locklear has had a rough couple of years. In November, she and her longtime boyfriend Jack Wagner called off their engagement. In 2009, she pleaded no contest to reckless driving after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of prescription medication. In 2008, her doctor called 911 out of fear that she may have overdosed on prescription medication -- reporting a "suicide attempt" -- but it wound up to be a false alarm.

From Locklear to Sinead O'Connor's scary ramblings to classics like Charlie Sheen and Britney Spears, click through our slideshow and let us know: Who had the most shocking celebrity meltdown?more information...

Source: http://www.sodahead.com

BEYONCE'S HOSPITAL ROOM Like a 5-Star Hotel [PICS]

2012-01-12T02:20:00.000-08:00

Lenox Hill Hospital constructed a suite for VIPs which looks like a Four Seasons penthouse ... and the room was christened Saturday when Beyonce gave birth.

TMZ has obtained photos of the room where Blue Ivy came into this world, and it's baller. There are 4 flat screen TV's, state of the art electronics, a kitchenette, nice art, mahogany walls and plush furnishings. And take a look at the bed where Jay Z got some shut eye!

Sources connected with the hospital tell TMZ ... the suite was not constructed specifically for Beyonce, but it was always intended that Beyonce would be the first patient to use it.more information...

Source: http://www.tmz.com

The magical (and sometimes ridiculous) gadgets of tomorrow

2012-01-11T23:34:00.000-08:00

Brian Lam is the editor of Wirecutter, a list of the very best gadgets.

Hello! I just found a handful of wonderful technology in Las Vegas, an oasis in the desert, at CES, the country’s biggest electronics show.

There are over 100,000 people here to see roughly 20,000 gadgets brought to the light of day in less time than it takes for a rattlesnake to shed its skin.

Without hype, these are the gadgets that will be worth knowing about in 2012. I found about 9, with the help of my friends.

(Below these, I’ve listed a few dozen that were lauded, but I believe are not very important, interesting, or relevant.)

A HOBO PHONE: The most important phone at CES is the SpareOne, a simple phone that can run off of an AA battery—perfect for stashing as an emergency phone along with a prepaid SIM card.

ART CAMERA: This is the only gadget at the show that melts my heart every time I think about it. Fuji has a new interchangable lens camera called the XPro-1 that follows up their adored X100 street camera, which even regular people lusted after. Why? The X100 looks like a rangefinder/leica, manual controls when you needed them, and took great photos with its fast, fixed lens. X1-Pro camera is the followup that will have changeable lenses and potentially be able to use Leica M mount lenses with an adapter, said Fuji. It will also have an awesome lens collection of three primes: a wide, 50mm equivalent and a modest zoom macro. These are the kinds of fast lenses that can give your photos those romantic out of focus backgrounds that make every place look like Paris. The body alone is $1700, which is DSLR priced, but the images should keep up with DSLRs of the same price. I want this more than anything else I’ve seen at the show, and I think I might get one over the also amazing Sony NEX-7 Camera, which is technically astounding but has a mediocre lens selection that is not worthy of a $1300 camera. If you want to know a LOT about this camera, check out DP Review’s awesome preview.

That’s all I care about in cameras at CES. But wow, I care about this camera a LOT.

A DRONE FOR THE REST OF US: The Parrot AR DRONE 2.0 is an update to the ipad-controlled quadcopter toy that makes it a bit more serious and a lot cheaper as a tool for aerial photography. The new one is better at staying in place (it has an air pressure sensor that lets it maintain altitude more steadily) and an HD wireless video camera. When I saw it running, the drone was loitering in place, occasionally flipping over in mid air. It is also cheaper than the last model than at $300. I want one. My dream is to fly one over the beach and film the ocean from above.

BIG TV: The real action in TVs is, as always, not with the mega high end concept televisions but the Panasonic and Samsung plasma TVs that are the ones people will end up owning.

Samsung’s amazing D7000 plasma HDTV was one of the best TVs of last year, and its follow up in the PNE8000, will also be great as a TV. It will have gesture and voice commands, which are a useful way to control the TV when the remote is on safari. Considering how hard it was for Microsoft to master Xbox’s Kinect and its voice and motion controls, it could suck.

Samsung is also going to be dropping 2 to 4 sets of 3d glasses in the box of every new 3D tv. These generally cost over $100 each, so this is more than an afterthought–it’s serious charity that everyone else will have to follow.

Vizio, the king of cheap TVs, had a rough year in 2011 winning few awards. This year, they’ve also got a super widescreen HDTV called the cinemawide that is super cool. No, really–it’s wide as a hollywood movie at 21:9 (2560 x 1080) instead of the more standard 16:9 and much wider than all other TVs you can buy now in the US. If you’re a movie buff, this could make watching films super cool as long as the sets perform well. It’s 58-inches. At the very least, it will look amazing in a livingroom. I want.

THIN COMPUTERS: Everyone’s talking about ultrabooks! I don’t even know what an Ultrabook technically is, but they all seem to be Macbook Air like, thin and powerful. That is a good thing.

But a real head turner at the show is the Dell XPS 13, which is lighter and smaller than a Macbook Air but with better screen resolution. It has some cloud connect thingy that lets it check your email and get it ready for you to read, among other tasks, while its in sleep mode so you can get back to work as soon as you open the lid. It has a backlit keyboard, and is aluminum and carbon fiber. Mark from Laptop Mag has a solid hands on here. The kicker? This pup starts at just under $1000. The thing that makes it inferior to the Air is its screen is lower resolution.

There’s one laptop I liked with better resolution and slightly more power potential than the Air, although at a larger price and footprint: HP’s Specter 14. It has a gorilla glass lid and a $1400 price tag. (The reason it’s not the primary laptop of choice here is because most agree the XPS has it by wow factor.)

But here’s the bottom line: Sometimes this year, Intel’s faster chipset called Ivy Bridge as well as Windows 8 are coming out. Wait for them to get a PC.

WIRELESS SOUND: I trust Bang & Olufsen to make good, expensive gear, and so I have a good bit of faith the Beolit 12 wireless speaker will be wonderful. Some Jambox wireless speaker competitors have tried and failed to take the throne, but this B&O airplay speaker is high powered at 120 watts, so it kind of opens up a new category out of nowhere: Wireless airplay speakers that can make you deaf.

MATERIAL MATTERS: Gorilla glass, the miracle glass that is strong enough to put on gadget faces like the iphone or even TVs, is now 20% stronger in version 2.0. This means it can be implemented in a thinner manifestation on future gadgets to improve touchscreen responsiveness, weight and thinness. It’s amazing to think about Gorilla Glass as a lost technology that Corning couldn’t monetize until Steve Jobs pushed them to convert a factory to start making it again, in 6 months. I can’t recall exactly, but in Walter Isaacson’s bio, I think the tech was decades old.

ANNOUNCING THE BEST GADGET OF CES: An expensive fridge by LG that can take a can of beer from warm to cold in 5 minutes. Here’s a video by my friend, John Mahoney, for Pop Science:http://bcove.me/q4z2nhu7

APPENDIX: LOVED OR UNLOVED STUFF THAT DID NOT CAPTURE MY INTEREST

Onkyo is doing this thing called Instaprevue, which lets us see thumbnails previes of the video inputs on a receiver. It’s neat and useful, but not worth upgrading a receiver for.

Buffalo is showing off an 802.11AC router. The AC spec is faster than G or N. This won’t matter for awhile because the standard needs to settle and N wireless has been keeping up with media streaming pretty ok these days. Plus, your laptop and phone won’t work with it.

Netgear has a wireless extender that works with dual band routers.

Intel’s refocusing on smartphone processors. This is good news because competition for ARM is good news.Or, it will be once gets into things we can buy.

The Nokia Lumia 900 is the first Windows Phone to come to the US–it’s basically the older phone with a bigger screen, on AT&T. I am appreciative but dispassionately unaffected by Android. Windows Phone, on the other hand, makes me crazy. It’s got a slick interface and wonderful Nokia hardware. Too bad the apps are atrocious. I am carrying a Windows Phone now, next to my iPhone. And if you know me, that is a crazy thing in and of itself. I reluctantly say Windows does not matter, but I want it to matter a lot.

Eton Solar Speakers. I’m embarrassed I want this, but I do. Probably because I live in a van in the desert sometimes.

Android phones of note are a Droid 4, which is supposedly to be one of the best with a keyboard and a Droid RAZR Maxx that is the RAZR from last year with an extended battery, which kind of defeats the purpose because the RAZR was intended to be thinner than everything. I’d prefer a Windows Phone.

Samsung and LG made TVs using OLED technology. Samsung’s OLED TVs are supposed to be 40% more color accurate and 1000x more responsive than LCD. Sony has a concept TV where 6 million LEDs light up a TV instead of using traditional methods . LG is showing off a 4k (basically ultra-hd) 84-inch TV, Sony’s got a 4K projector, and JVC has a camera to get this content. These future techs are amazing, but wildly expensive. I’d guess 4 times more expensive than a plasma. If you can afford a yacht, maybe one of these sets is right for you in the near future–when there’s actually content worthy of it. One day, maybe they’ll be more than museum pieces. But not today. Today they are as useful as sand. I won’t file any of this stuff as junk, though, because 10 years ago, LCD TVs couldn’t touch tube TV prices, either. I’ll call it wonderfully irrelevant in an Epcot world of tomorrow way.

Panasonic is Samsung’s major competition in TVs and they’ve followed up their top line VT30 and budget ST30 HDTVs with the VT50 and ST50s. They’ll be solid, as are Panasonic’s TVs every year. But Samsung’s been catching up and is less expensive these days, so who knows what the reviewers will pick. I heard Panasonic is building MySpace into its TVs, which is obviously ridiculous. Don’t hold it against them. But this could be the year that Panasonic falls to Samsung. Who knows.

I like Sony TVs and commend them for reducing their product lines from 6 to 3. Clarity is wonderful! But based on LCD tech, these TVs are always wildly expensive for the size. Pass.

Tablets–Unlike phones, where Android has made quite a few people happy, I still feel like Android Tablets are generally uninteresting because the app selection is next to nothing. Vizio has one of the best of the show from a pure hardware perspective, while Viewsonic has one of the cheapest.

Samsung has tablets of 3 different sizes under the Galaxy Brand. But the tablets at the show were not interesting to me. I prefer the iPad and Kindle Fire over these, for app selection and media buying infrastructure, at those two prices. Also, as Wilson Rothman from MSNBC said to me, “I am shocked to hear how many are shipping with Honeycomb 3.2, with promised upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich later.” (Ice Cream Sandwich is the new version of Android.)

In chatting with Mark from Laptop Mag and Joanna from The Verge, I’ve come away with admiration for both like the Lenovo U310 and Samsung Series 9 which are strong followups to last year’s favorite Ultrabooks. They’re both updates to older models from last year, and can’t be considered brand new, but these well-tested machines are still worth knowing about.

Oh, some people like the Vizio laptops, but I’ll wait and see. Nah, I’ll just get a Dell XPS or a Macbook Air.

Canon has a megapowered point and shoot called the GX-1. You can ignore it. It’s got a sensor that is bigger than most point and shoots but smaller than the sensors in the best , interchangeable lens cameras that are small, high quality and that I am in love with as an idea and category. The Canon is a non starter at $800 because it has a slow f/2.8 zoom lens and for the money you can get a better camera at the price in a DSLR or interchangeable lens cam.

Garmin realizes it can’t beat the smartphone so they’re linking their GPS to Android handsets to give it gas, weather and traffic data in their new flagship. (It’s called the 3590LMT and it’s $400.) They’re charging $20 for traffic data and $10 for traffic cameras and $10 for fuel prices and $5 for weather, per year. I still prefer a smartphone and a GPS app. At these prices, you should, too. At least they’ve got a golf course GPS that will be useful.

Polaroid has a point and shoot that runs android and doesn’t print photos. It’s bad.

Camcorders–I should know more about this. I don’t because I’m into digital cameras that shoot video rather than standalone camcorders. However, they’re still important because a good camcorder can shoot quality video that keeps up with a high end DSLR for less than $1000.

Sony has a camcorder with a projector built into it. I can’t decide if this is stupid or genius. Let’s go with go with “ehhhhhh fine.”

Camcorder Info says they’re excited to test the Panasonic flagship, the HC-X900M and Panny is claiming “near pro” level performance from this $900 camera. They’re also interested in the JVC GZ-GX1 because it follows up a camera that had too many bells and whistles. This one is more simple, and $900.

Pico Projectors–New, better mini projectors. But they are still one or two generations away from being anything but piss poor. The high end ones usually hit at the CEDIA show later in the year.

Car Audio–Pioneer has an update to its App radio that works with Android and has a bigger screen. The concept is useless because it depends on specially written apps to display themselves in a special mode on the screen of the radio. Duh, just use the phone’s screen and an iPod cable with a regular car stereo.

Solar powered Kindle cover. It has a reading light and they claim the cover provides three hours of reading for every one hour of sunlight, but at $80, this thing makes no sense. A Kindle needs so little power to operate that you could charge it for a few minutes by USB and have a lot of reading time. And if you’re in the desert of some place without power, you should get a general purpose solar panel with battery, like the Orange Joos.

Here’s an obscene portable PC gaming machine from Razor. This is weird. But people who used it said it’s a solid way to play PC games, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Limke is a little dongle that charts your pulse and charts your oxygen levels and compares them to your friends online. Cute app, but if I wanted this kind of information, I’d live in a hospital full time. Heart rate and oxygen levels are symptomatic and it would be more constructive to track walking with something like a fit bit. I’m a little bit over health tracking at the moment. I find it a distraction to actually taking care of your health. Exercise, get a juicer, sleep well.

The Lenovo Yoga is a concept for a laptop that turns into a tablet but it is ultimately flawed because laptops and tablets have different power and battery life profiles. Ignore.

Cable and satellite are screwed. This is probably the most desperate gadget of the show. Dish is making amega-DVR that can play video in many rooms and capture every prime time show from every major network with one click. They’re also previewing their satellite channel lineup for free for 24 hours–through the internet. All of this seems like a desperate try to stave off the inevitable march towards watching internet streamed TV on tablets while we bathe, cook, lay in bed, and sit on the can. Good for old fashioned mansion-ites who love live television.

The OLPC 3.0 Tablet is a tablet for poor kids designed by rich people. $100. Solar charged. Not junk, per say, but not relevant to most of us. I really appreciate it for its attempt to computerize the rest of the world.

More BS: Haier made a see through TV. Sharp is making 17 different LCD panels that are bigger than 60 inches, but that’s useless because LCDs are too expensive at those sizes. Friends at Televisioninfo.com believe it’s a way for Sharp to earn business partners by showing their manufacturing might. I buy that. They’re also making battery powered TVs up to 60 inches. This is simply dumb.

Lenovo is making a TV with Android built in. It’s not built on Google TV, though, which is Google’s interface for TVs? This is a clusterfuck. For Lenovo and for Google. Focus!

Also, too many people are making waterproof computers and tablets. Stop it.

META: For Writers At CES

The first thing I notice every year when I settle into a hotel at CES is that no matter how fancy the hotel, the tap water smells like eggs. They say the memory of smell is powerful although elusive and I use the memory of the smell of the tap water to wake me up when my eyes start glossing over at CES.

Eggs.

CES can buckle a strong man’s knees. The quantity of data and visceral noise on the show floor causes many junior reporters to whine and go cross-eyed and sometimes catch a cold from all the hubbub, hand shaking, and fondling of dirty gadgets. This is my 10th year visiting the show. I’ve learned the key is to wash your hands every 120 minutes and to avoid touching your eyes and nose. Also, to take the monorail, not the cab line. Get a trailer to write from if you can.

Another key to being at CES as a writer is to avoid worrying about CES’s terrible signal to noise ratio and instead, do something about it. Ignore the bullshit, shoot down the overhyped, and focus on the most interesting. If a writer complains about CES and writes 40 posts about it, it’s a little hypocritical, no?

The last key is to enjoy Las Vegas with people you only get to see once a year and get into a healthy amount of trouble. Living a fun life and escaping the news machine will give any reporter the time and perspective to think a bit more about what’s real in all the manufactured news, in a manufactured show, in a manufactured town filled with mirage. If a writer can do that, they can avoid being part of the problem and get the space to think and write at the pace of a human, not at the pace of a robot.more information...

Source: http://venturebeat.com

It's on! Twitter vs. Google in battle over search results

2012-01-11T23:12:00.000-08:00

Google launched a new social search feature Tuesday in which users had to option to switch to "personal results." A neat video was released and life moved on, so we thought.

Full coverage of Google at Tech Talk
Full coverage of Twitter at Tech Talk

The news didn't sit well with microblogging service Twitter, whose general counsel Alex Macgillivray came out swinging with this tweet: "Bad day for the Internet. Having been there, I can imagine the dissension @Google to search being warped this way."

Welcome to 2012's first high-tech cat fight.

What's the fuss all about?

It seems like Twitter is feeling burned by Google's decision to feature results from its social network Google+ above other site - like, say, Twitter.

Twitter has built a reputation for breaking news in the past few years. Its simple 140-character format lets users broadcast updates quickly. Just last year, tweets broke news of the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan in real time. The company released this statement after Google's new search went live yesterday.

"For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results anytime they wanted to find something on the Internet.
Often, they want to know more about world events and breaking news. Twitter has emerged as a vital source of this real-time information, with more than 100 million users sending 250 million Tweets every day on virtually every topic. As we've seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and Tweets are often the most relevant results.
We're concerned that as a result of Google's changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that's bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users."

Hey now. Wasn't it Twitter who ended the partnership to include real-time results with Google searches? Yep. And Google released a rebuttal to Twitter last night via Google+.

"We are a bit surprised by Twitter's comments about Search plus Your World, because they chose not to renew their agreement with us last summer (http://goo.gl/chKwi), and since then we have observed their rel=nofollow instructions."

Between Oct. 2009 and July 2011, Google was paying Twitter to include tweets in search results, which included a real-time feed at the top.

Wait, what?

This is confusing. Twitter ended a partnership where they were getting paid to show up prominently in Google results. And now they're complaining because they're not showing up over Google+ results? It sounds like a battle over minute details.

Keep in mind that social networks have generally been closed to Google results. That's why your smart aleck remarks on Facebook pages don't show up when you Google your name.

Showing up in Google search results is highly valuable for any website. How social network members feel about their posts being Google-able is whole another story.

So why does it seem like so many critics are lashing out at Google for not indexing social networks, like Twitter and Facebook, over Google+? If the playing field were level, it makes a natural and convincing argument.

"Facebook and Twitter and other services, basically, their terms of service don't allow us to crawl them deeply and store things. Google+ is the only [network] that provides such a persistent service," Google's Amit Singhal told Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan. "Of course, going forward, if others were willing to change, we'd look at designing things to see how it would work," he continued.

It seems like in this battle, Google damned if they do and damned if they don't. Google+ is technically a social network, but let's be honest. Most people use is a public profile, not a place to share their most intimate (and mundane) details.

Facebook has remained mum on the matter, letting Google and Twitter duke it out.

The thing Twitter is forgetting is that if Google's results start to become a cesspool of spam and low-value links, users will jump ship. After all, the Internet is a fickle place. Bing, anyone?more information...

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com

Exclusive Insider Talk: Lenovo Racer-A hands-on with Stephen Miller

2012-01-10T23:21:00.000-08:00

Here at CES 2012 during Showstoppers, we’ve been fortunate enough to get a personal interview with no less than Lenovo’s own Stephen Miller speaking all about the 1st IA platform smartphone based on the Intel Medfield chip, the Lenovo Racer-A SmartPhone. This device is part of the Idea Smart Phone K series and has a 4.5-inch 720p multi-touch display with fabulous viewing angles. This device is capable of playing back 1080p, 30 frames per second video – it’s also got a 720p wireless display, full 3D media center, and an 8M AF camera on the back. The processor is the real hero here as it is, believe it or not, a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Medfield SoC.

This device will run Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread out of the box, WCDMA and HSPA+ connectivity, and LPDDR2 1GB + 32GB eMMC on the inside to keep you running quick and at the top of your game. The battery is 1890 mAh strong and will last the whole live-long day with the smartphone running a completely custom user interface over Android. This device is both light and relatively thin (or thick depending on who you’re talking to), and as you’ll notice – it’s got three Android capacitive buttons below the display.

This smartphone has five home screens and its user interface is very similar to what we’ve seen with the Lenovo Android dual-core tablets of 2011, but the launcher is Lenovo’s newest for smartphones specifically. Playing video at full resolution, you’ll be able to scrub or jump to any moment without lag. You can connect straight to your Lenovo Smart TV via Wi-fi, streaming video over your home network.

The camera is a dual-LED flash having 8 megapixels on the back with a 5 megapixel camera on the front – HD for both sides! The gallery application that comes with the device is unique in that it’s got a sort of 3D view to it, viewing images, zooming in and out with great ease and without a hitch. The ports on this device are thus: a microUSB port on the bottom right of the device, a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, and that’s it. There’s also a speaker grille at the top along with the power/lock button, and the back of the device is removable along with the battery.

Dual-Hyperthreading is being used on this device, taking all the bits of a process and making them work as effectively as possible, and the battery does not get eaten up while you process. The Intel Medfield chip makes all of this possible. This device is made to be an everywhere device, booting up in a matter of seconds and with details that make it great for education, business, and the home. Inside the device you’ll also find a compass, gyroscope, and GPS.

This device is upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich, mind you, plans in the works for an eventual upgrade inside 2012 – though the interface will likely remain quite similar to what it is right this minute. This device will be released inside the second half of 2012 in the China market. We’ll have a much closer look at this device later this year when its much closer to release time – seeya then!more information...

Source: http://www.slashgear.com

The Next Big Thing: Android in the home, and in the fridge

2012-01-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

Nearly every device in your house, from your television to your refrigerator, is going to be networked and could very well be Android-powered, panelists said today at a CNET CES event in Las Vegas.

Of course you'd expect Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, to say that. But the vision was also endorsed by executives at Google partner Samsung, Sling Media, and Benchmark Capital, who spoke to CNET's Brian Cooley and Molly Wood about ecosystem trends. Here's what they said.

Eric Schmidt, Google executive chairman

The smartphone will become the portal to other devices and appliances in the home, which will all work together seamlessly and allow access to whatever type of information you want anywhere in the house. It's already happening, with Wi-Fi being used now to control lights in houses.

Google's strategy is to move the focus from mobile devices to a more encompassing utilitarian function that shares information and intelligence much like peer-to-peer devices do. "You want to be able to walk into your house and have all the appliances adjust, know it's you," Schmidt said. "A text message goes to the TV because that's your preference" and it all syncs together.

An early foray is the TV. Google TV (offered by LG and soon Samsung, Sony and others) represents a melding of the computer with Android apps and the TV. "Google TV is the only offering I know of that fully integrates the television experience and the browsing experience," Schmidt said.

Asked if the fragmentation of the Android market, with so many different makes and models of devices, was a threat to the ecosystem, Schmidt said he preferred "differentiation" rather than "fragmentation" and argued that consumers want choice. "Fragmentation means the app only runs on one device and not the others. That is not happening to Android," he said. "Competition provides value, drives cost down, etc. etc."

As far as the most surprising thing he saw in 2011, Schmidt said he was surprised to see how powerful ecosystems can be. "Amazon, Apple, even the Facebook ecosystem, which have similar characteristics in this regard, as well as Google,... everyone is working against this cloud platform model. It means everyone is a winner...and you get enormous growth effects. The secret is to make them open enough...to enable the creative people, the content creators, developers...to love them."

Tim Baxter, president of sales, marketing, and operations for Samsung Electronics America

Samsung's job is to provide device choices to the market and leverage its expertise in the consumer market to create products for businesses as well, he said.

"We are not a cloud infrastructure company. We are an entertainment company. We are a company that is focused on adding value in hardware and recognizing the industry, the market, and consumer expectations that have radically shifted from discrete devices to connected devices," he said. "People want choices, and we are about giving them choices."

Blake Krikorian, Sling Media co-founder and Amazon board member

"Fragmentation will continue to be the challenge as well as the strength for the (Android) platform," he said. "Android will have growing pains." (Krikorian used to work with Andy Rubin, Android Inc. co-founder and senior vice president of mobile at Google, and at mobile firm General Magic.)

Meanwhile, Krikorian said Android works well for home automation but iOS doesn't. "I didn't want to have to swipe the damn thing to make it work."

Bill Gurley, general partner at Benchmark Capital

"I think Google's Android execution may be the most aggressive strategic initiative in the history of (tech) business," he said, while Google also has succeeded in protecting its search empire. "It's amazing the momentum they have."

In addition, Google has been smart about investing in developer relations. "What Google is doing with Android, it's going to destroy a lot of market cap. It's already happened with RIM and Symbian."

Apple, meantime, has alienated partners. "Apple made one mistake, they haven't made many," he said. "They got greedy on the rake (commission)," of 30 percent. They alienated Amazon and Facebook.... They should have made them their best friend and had them deeply integrated in the operating system like Twitter is.... now we've got a multifaceted war."more information...

Source: http://ces.cnet.com

Hong Kong’s only travel fair to highlight Wellness and Medical Tourism

2012-01-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

ITE & MICE, Hong Kong’s only travel fair, continues to highlight the theme of Wellness and Medical Tourism (WMT), which will next be held from June 14 to 17, 2012 at Halls 1A to 1E at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center.

Hong Kong, with relatively high income and living costs and a population fond of traveling abroad, offers excellent potential as a market for WMT.

In 2007/08, health expenditure in Hong Kong funded by out-of-pocket payments by households rose by 8.92 percent to HK$27.5 billion, and individually-purchased private health insurance rose by 12 percent to HK$4.7 billion. For WMT Market News Update, go to:http://www.itehk.com/ITEHK/index.php?

In 2010, Hong Kongers made 84.4 million departures, and incurred US$17.5 billion on international tourism expenditure, while Japan, with a population 18 times that of Hong Kong, spent US$27.9 billion or 1.6 times as much. Hong Kong thus has a very high per capita spending on international tourism. For more information, go to: http://www.itehk.com/ITEHK/index.php?module=press&lang=en&menuID=main&to... .

The comprehensive ITE & MICE, which in 2011 was visited in the two trade days by 11,820 visitors with 73 percent from Hong Kong and 17 percent from mainland China, and in the two public days 69,320 visitors with 72 percent preferring to travel in FIT and 5 percent tailor-made groups, is the ideal platform for promoting WMT.

Scattering in the last expo were some 50 exhibitors that included hospitals, healthcare groups, clinics, spas and hot spring facilities, hotels and resorts, etc. There was a Taiwan pavilion specifically for WMT, while several NTOs from Asia and Europe also highlighted and included WMT in their pavilions or official stands. A seminar on WMT for trade with speakers from pavilions of Taiwan and Thailand drew 140 pre-registrations.

ITE & MICE draws some 800 visitors from trade and mass media from Hong Kong, China (mainland), and abroad, and there is also extensive pre-show publicity. Therefore, WMT exhibitors can enjoy publicity beyond the fairground - before, during, and after the expo.

Organized by TKS Exhibition Services Ltd., ITE & MICE is supported by the China National Tourism Administration, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, Macau Government Tourist Office, trade associations of travel agents, and event industries from Hong Kong and in the region. Official Air, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, sponsor the hosted buyer program of ITE & MICE.

For further info including a past exhibitor list and market news, please visit the official website of www.itehk.com . For inquiries about exhibiting and visiting, please send an email to travel@tkshk.com or contact the organizer, TKS, at (852) 3155 0600.more information...

Source: http://www.eturbonews.com/

'Doomsday Clock' Ticks One Minute Toward Destruction

2012-01-10T22:51:00.000-08:00

In a sign of pessimism about humanity's future, scientists today set the hands of the infamous "Doomsday Clock" forward one minute from two years ago.

"It is now five minutes to midnight," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) director Kennette Benedict announced today (Jan. 10) at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

That represents a symbolic step closer to doomsday, a change from the clock's previous mark of six minutes to midnight, set in January 2010.

The clock is a symbol of the threat of humanity's imminent destruction from nuclear or biological weapons, climate change and other human-caused disasters. In making their deliberations about how to update the clock's time, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists focused on the current state of nuclear arsenals around the globe, disastrous events such as the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and biosecurity issues such as the creation of an airborne H5N1 flu strain.

The Doomsday Clock came into being in 1947 as a way for atomic scientists to warn the world of the dangers of nuclear weapons. That year, the Bulletin set the time at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight symbolizing humanity's destruction. By 1949, it was at three minutes to midnight as the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated. In 1953, after the first test of the hydrogen bomb, the doomsday clock ticked to two minutes until midnight.

The Bulletin — and the clock — were at their most optimistic in 1991, when the Cold War thawed and the United States and Russia began cutting their arsenals. That year, the Bulletin set the clock at 17 minutes to midnight.

From then until 2010, however, it was a gradual creep back toward destruction, as hopes of total nuclear disarmament vanished and threats of nuclear terrorism and climate change reared their heads. In 2010, the Bulletin found some hope in arms reduction treaties and international climate talks and nudged the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock back to six minutes from midnight from its previous post at five to midnight.

With today's decision, the Bulletin repudiated that optimism. The panel considers a mix of long-term trends and immediate events in the decision-making process, said Benedict. Trends might include factors like improved solar energy technology to combat climate change, she said, while political events such as the recent United Nations climate meeting in Durban play a role as well. This year, the

Fukushima nuclear disaster made a big impression.

"We're trying to weight whether that was a wake-up call, whether it will make people take a closer look at this new and very powerful technology, or whether people will go on with business as usual," Benedict told LiveScience on Monday in an interview before the announcement of the "doomsday time" decision. [Top 10 Alternative Energy Bets]

Other factors that played into the decision included the growing interest in nuclear power from countries such as Turkey, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, Benedict said.

The Bulletin panel found that despite hopes of global agreements about nuclear weapons, nuclear power and climate change in 2010, little progress has been made.

"The world still has approximately over 20,000 deployed nuclear weapons with enough power to destroy the world's inhabitants many times over," said Lawrence Krauss, an Arizona State University professor and the co-chair of the BAS Board of Sponsors. "We also have the prospect of nuclear weapons being used by terrorist non-state actors."

Likewise, talks on climate change have resulted in little progress, the panel found. In fact, politics seemed to trump science in discussions over the last two years, said Robert Socolow, a Princeton professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and a member of the Bulletin's Science and

Security board.

"We need the political leadership to affirm the primacy of science as a way of knowing, or problems will be far worse than they are already," Socolow said.more information...

Source: http://www.foxnews.com

Hands on with Sony's first independent smartphone, the Xperia Ion

2012-01-10T00:33:00.000-08:00

Sony plans to introduce its first Sony-branded phone on AT&T’s LTE network this year, the company announced at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 9. The Xperia Ion has impressive specs and a beautiful screen, though it wasn’t a perfect experience in our hands.

The Xperia Ion has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 16GB of internal storage behind a gorgeous 1280x720 display. Only a few companies have managed to eschew the lesser PenTile displays, but with the force of the Bravia brand behind Sony’s phones (the Sony Ericsson brand in the photos is just an anachronism, we’re told) , we expect they’ll lead the charge for high-quality screens. How the battery life will be on those phones is another matter.

The Xperia Ion felt light and not too big in hand for it’s 4.6-inch screen size—in fact, we barely noticed its large size, despite usually balking at phones of similar girth. The edges weren’t very comfortable to hold, but the rounded back may do better work in that area.

The sleep and volume buttons on the sides had nice give, but the navigation buttons along the bottom of the screen were very under-responsive. Those soft buttons are stylized with an underscoring light, and we seemed to have better luck tapping at the light than the icon itself—a little misleading given the history of how Android buttons are used, but we would learn. If that was the correct way.

Other than the iffy soft buttons, the screen was very responsive and took swipes and taps beautifully. The phone has 12-megapixel camera that we didn’t get to test out, but Sony boasts that the app can go from launch to the first shot in 1.5 seconds.

One big issue was left unaddressed by Sony: there was no mention of an upgrade trajectory to Android 4 in its press release. Given that Sony is new to handling its own phone business, we’d tread carefully with that.

The Xperia Ion also allows it to fit in a dock and be used with a large display. This works much like the media side of the webtop experience Motorola launched earlier in the year: we could send text messages, play music, and view photos. The phone was controllable with the TV’s remote, and a Sony representative told Ars that it would work with any TV’s remote—not just Sony’s. However, the phone also displays a browsing app on the TV, which can’t be used without a keyboard worked into the mix.more information...

Source: http://arstechnica.com

Justin Bieber Wants to be Like Madonna Rather Than Hanson

2012-01-10T00:26:00.000-08:00

Justin Bieber wants to be more like Madonna and less like the boy band Hanson. So will we see the Biebs wearing a cone bra or a wedding dress anytime soon?

As much fun as it would be to see Justin dressed in drag, he doesn't want to be like Madge style-wise—he's hoping to have her staying power.

The pop star has seen what has happened to teen stars of the past—the appeal of the three cheerful blonde boys responsible for getting "MMMBop" stuck in everyone's heads quickly waned as their young fans grew up and moved on to more mature artists.

Justin Bieber and Hanson do have a love of repetition in common. In one of Justin's first big hits, he repeats the word "baby" just as much as they repeat "MMMBop" in theirs. However, he's hoping to make the similarities end there.

Here's what a pal of the Biebs told the Chicago Sun-Times about his need to stay relevant: "He wants to become what he calls a 'forever star,' like a Madonna or a Stevie Wonder or a Sinatra or Tony Bennett. He does have this thing about wanting to be eternally loved by his fans." This should come as no surprise since this is what every young musician wants, and it's obvious that Justin is going to work hard to make it happen.

Dating Selena Gomez might help, since female teen celebrities tend to go on to be more successful than the boys—think Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson. Not all of these lovely ladies make a majority of their money off of music nowadays, but they've all got projects that keep them in the public eye (and raking in the cash).

Dating Selena Gomez aside, Justin Bieber does have a very good chance at managing to stay relevant since he has a few male teen idols to look up to. He's following in former boy band star Justin Timberlake's footsteps by getting into hip-hop music and making the move to movies. His first film is going to be a basketball drama with Mark Wahlberg, who will also be able to give the Biebs some tips on staying relevant—he made the decision to abandon his rapper alter ego Marky Mark to become a major movie star.

So what do you think of Justin's desperation to stay relevant as he gets older, can he do it, or will Selena Gomez go on to become a big star like Madonna while he slowly fades away?more information...

Source: http://celebs.gather.com

The Lumia 900: Nokia's first 4G LTE Windows Phone device

2012-01-10T00:20:00.000-08:00

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop announces the Lumia 900, Nokia's first 4G LTE Windows Phone, during a Nokia press conference at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas
Nokia is adding a third device to its Lumia family of smartphones — the Lumia 900. The gadget will be a 4G LTE device and it's coming to AT&T's network.

The Lumia 900 is a 4.3-inch device, which happens to look a great deal like the Lumia 800 — except obviously bigger, since the Lumia 800 is a puny 3.7-inch device.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
We're still waiting to hear more about the device's specs, but we've heard whispers it's got a 1.4GHz CPU and 512MB RAM.

Nokia is particularly proud of the Lumia 900's camera. The device offers a snazzy back-facing camera with Carl Zeiss optics (a F2.2 aperture lens with a 28mm focal length). This means that you'll wind up with sharper and clearer photos. Oh, and the front-facing camera is supposedly pretty darn great, too. Nokia hopes you'll use it — and its ability to handle extra wide shots — while video-conferencing using the device's built-in Tango app.

As far as using the device goes, well ... it's a Windows Phone experience with a handful of special Nokia touches such as the The ESPN and Nokia Drive apps.

No specific details about the Lumia 900's availability or pricing are available just yet.more information...

Source: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com

Lady Gaga moving in with boyfriend

2012-01-09T23:53:00.000-08:00

Lady Gaga has reportedly asked her boyfriend to move in with her.

The Born This Way singer has been dating The Vampire Diaries actor Taylor Kinney since they met on set when he starred in the video for her song You and I in July.

They were pictured together for the first time last month and he has agreed to share a home with the pop superstar, with them reportedly looking for homes in her native New York and his home state, Pennsylvania.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "They've been looking for two places - one near his parents in Pennsylvania and one in the Big Apple."

Last month, Gaga reportedly went to see a $2.14 million 6,000 square feet property in a gated Community in Bent Creek, Pennsylvania.

Tyler Nehlig, who lives at the property next door to the one Gaga is said to be interested in, said: "I think it would be really interesting if she moved here. I think they might have to step up front gate security a little bit to slow down paparazzi maybe."

Gaga, 25, has been spotted in the local town numerous with Taylor, visiting local restaurants and shops.more information...

Source: http://tvnz.co.nz

Beyoncé’s birth and baby: setting the record straight

2012-01-09T23:43:00.000-08:00

Unless you were hiding under a rock this weekend, you probably know that Beyoncé and Jay-Z welcomed their daughter on Saturday night.

As with all phases of the closely watched celebrity pregnancy, crazy crackpot theories about the birth and newborn were flying around the Internet over the weekend.

If you thought the rumors accusing Beyoncé of faking her pregnancy with a prosthetic baby bump were crazy, then you’ll love this post in which we sort through the most recent absurdity and debunk the myths:

The baby isn’t named Ivy. Beyoncé and Jay-Z named their little diva Blue Ivy Carter, according to a statement released by the couple today. Some sources were reporting that the child is named Ivy Blue. Why Blue Ivy? Nobody really knows at this point. Maybe the mega-stars named their kid after their favorite color and plant, but let’s be clear—this is speculation, not a fact.

The baby name has no connections to Lucifer. Some people are saying that the baby’s name, Blue Ivy, is proof of Jayoncé’s membership in a Satan-worshiping Illuminati cult, and if you spell the name backwards you get the Latin name of Lucifer’s daughter, Eulb Yvi. Turns out Lucifer didn’t have a daughter and these aren’t even Latin words. And no, Ivy isn’t meant to be an acronym for “Illumaniti’s Very Youngest.”

Beyoncé didn’t have a c-section. The celebrity gossip site TMZ led the world to think Beyoncé had an elective c-section, which is common among superstars. After all, Posh Spice (aka Victoria Beckham) had four. But today the pop star issued a statement putting the kibosh on this story.

Her birth was emotional and extremely peaceful, we are in heaven. She was delivered naturally at a healthy 7 lbs and it was the best experience of both of our lives.

The couple didn’t rent an entire hospital floor. The New York Daily News ran a story reporting that music’s power couple paid $1.3 million to seal off an entire floor of Manhattan’s Lenox Hill hospital during Beyoncé’s birth. A follow-up story said that a Brooklyn father and his wife were barred from seeing their preemie twins in the NICU due to security for Beyoncé over the weekend. Today, the hospital issued a statement disproving this information:

Lenox Hill Hospital and its staff were delighted to welcome the Carter family for the birth of their firstborn on Saturday evening, but we are troubled by the misinformation being circulated in some news media reports. The suggestion that the couple paid $1.3 million to rent an entire maternity floor is simply not true. The family is housed in an executive suite at the hospital and is being billed the standard rate for those accommodations…

The family does have its own security detail on site. However, the hospital has been and continues to be in control of managing all security at the facility. We have made every effort to ensure minimal disruption to other families experiencing the births of their own children over the past three days. No security plan that we or the Carters’ security team put in place would have prevented or delayed families from gaining access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and to date, no families have complained to the hospital about being denied access to the NICU.more information...

Source: http://blog.sfgate.com