Thursday, February 28, 2013

Pentagon to Open Communications Networks to Apple Devices in ...

DOD-logo-vector-RGBThe U.S. Department of Defense today announced (via Bloomberg) a "commercial mobile device implementation plan" that would allow iOS and Android devices to be used on its secure classified and protected unclassified communication networks beginning in February 2014.
The implementation plan establishes a framework to equip the department?s 600,000 mobile-device users with secure classified and protected unclassified mobile solutions that leverage commercial off-the-shelf products, promote the development and use of mobile applications to improve functionality, decrease costs, and enable increased personal productivity.? The plan orchestrates a series of operational pilots from across the DoD components that will incorporate lessons learned, ensure interoperability, refine technical requirements, influence commercial standards, and create operational efficiencies for DoD mobile users.
As Bloomberg notes, BlackBerry is currently the dominant device at the Pentagon with almost 450,000 devices being used by its employees. Over the past several years, BlackBerry has seen its enterprise dominance chipped away by Apple devices, as corporations and other government agencies have been trading in their BlackBerry devices for iOS and Android ones.

This would mark the first time that commercial products like iPhones and iPads would be allowed on the department's classified networks. The department also plans to create a military mobile applications store and hire a contractor that would build a network system capable of handling as many as 8 million devices.

Teri Takai, the DoD's chief information officer, said that the move is about "keeping the department's workforce relevant" in a time where information accessibility and cybersecurity are crucial to "mission success." The department currently uses older BlackBerry devices, but the company is set to launch its new BlackBerry Z10 phone, based on the company's revamped operating system, next month.

Source: http://www.macrumors.com/2013/02/27/pentagon-to-open-communications-networks-to-apple-devices-in-2014/

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ScienceDaily: Living Well News

ScienceDaily: Living Well Newshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/news/living_well/ Stories about health and wellness, lifestyle issues and trends, family concerns and other topics about everyday life.en-usWed, 27 Feb 2013 23:05:30 ESTWed, 27 Feb 2013 23:05:30 EST60ScienceDaily: Living Well Newshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gifhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/news/living_well/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily.Sitting less and moving about more could be more important than vigorous exercise to reduce risk of type 2 diabeteshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183526.htm New research reveals that individuals at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes would benefit from being told to sit less and move around more often -- rather than simply exercising regularly. The experts suggest that reducing sitting time by 90 minutes in total per day could lead to important health benefits.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:35:35 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183526.htmHeading a soccer ball may affect cognitive performancehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183458.htm Sports-related head injuries are a growing concern, and new research suggests that even less forceful actions like 'heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks, according to new research.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:34:34 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183458.htmHigher indoor humidity inactivates flu virus particleshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183456.htm Higher humidity levels indoors can significantly reduce the infectivity of influenza virus particles released by coughing, according to new research.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:34:34 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183456.htmPraising children for their personal qualities may backfirehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183316.htm Praising children, especially those with low self-esteem, for their personal qualities rather than their efforts may make them feel more ashamed when they fail, according to new research.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:33:33 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227183316.htmResearch explores factors that impact adolescent mental healthhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227151258.htm Research indicates that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, well before adulthood. Three new studies investigate the cognitive, genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to mental health disorders in adolescence.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:12:12 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227151258.htmLipid researcher, 98, reports on the dietary causes of heart diseasehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227151254.htm A 98-year-old researcher argues that, contrary to decades of clinical assumptions and advice to patients, dietary cholesterol is good for your heart -- unless that cholesterol is unnaturally oxidized (by frying foods in reused oil, eating lots of polyunsaturated fats, or smoking).Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:12:12 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227151254.htmName your neighborhood, define your health?http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227134342.htm Does your neighborhood really define health? Most of us make a choice between suburbs, countryside, or city and settle down. But others, particularly those living in poverty, don?t always get to make that choice ?- the choice that could actually determine our quality and length of life. So how does this choice affect our health?Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:43:43 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227134342.htmContaminated diet contributes to exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Phthalates and BPAhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227121903.htm While water bottles may tout BPA-free labels and personal care products declare phthalates not among their ingredients, these assurances may not be enough. According to a new study, we may be exposed to these chemicals in our diet, even if our diet is organic and we prepare, cook, and store foods in non-plastic containers. Children may be most vulnerable.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:19:19 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227121903.htmTrust makes you delusional and that's not all bad: Trusting partners remember transgressions in ways that benefit the relationshiphttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227113100.htm New research is the first to systematically examine the role of trust in biasing memories of transgressions in romantic partnerships. People who are highly trusting tended to remember transgressions in a way that benefits the relationship, remembering partner transgressions as less severe than they originally reported. People low on trust demonstrated the opposite pattern, remembering partner transgressions as being more severe than how they originally reported.?Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:31:31 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227113100.htmDefining the new normal in aginghttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227113058.htm Researcher says terms such as "normal," "healthy" or "successful" aging can prejudice our views of seniors.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:30:30 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227113058.htmNew studies link gene to selfish behavior in kids, find other children natural givershttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102940.htm Most parents would agree that raising a generous child is an admirable goal -- but how, exactly, is that accomplished? New results shed light on how generosity and related behaviors -- such as kindness, caring and empathy -- develop, or don't develop, in children from 2 years old through adolescence.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:29:29 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102940.htmMarried opposite-sex couples have better overall health than same-sex couples who live togetherhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102100.htm Same-sex couples who live together have worse health than married opposite-sex couples and similar health as opposite-sex couples who are living together (after adjusting for socioeconomic differences), according to a new study.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:21:21 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227102100.htmPessimism about the future may lead to longer, healthier lifehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227101929.htm Older people who have low expectations for a satisfying future may be more likely to live longer, healthier lives than those who see brighter days ahead, according to new research.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:19:19 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227101929.htmDo thin models and celebrities really help sell to women?http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085840.htm Advertisers who put images of female celebrities and models next to their products spark scorn rather than shopping, according to new research.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:58:58 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085840.htmToo much vitamin D during pregnancy can cause food allergies, research suggestshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085838.htm Pregnant women should avoid taking vitamin D supplements, new research suggests. Substitution appears to raise the risk of children developing a food allergy after birth.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:58:58 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085838.htmSame-sex cohabitors less healthy than those in heterosexual marriages, study suggestshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085706.htm Same-sex cohabitors report worse health than people of the same socioeconomic status who are in heterosexual marriages, according to a new study, which may provide fuel for gay marriage proponents.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:57:57 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085706.htmIncreased risk of sleep disorder narcolepsy in children who received swine flu vaccinehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226194006.htm A study finds an increased risk of narcolepsy in children and adolescents who received the A/H1N1 2009 influenza vaccine (Pandemrix) during the pandemic in England.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:40:40 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226194006.htmTexting Gloves Dangerous in Winter, Says experthttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226141235.htm Fingers are one of the first body parts to suffer from the cold and popular fingerless texting gloves can lead to frostbite and in worst cases, amputation, says an expert.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:12:12 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226141235.htmTexting becoming a pain in the neckhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226101259.htm Orthopedic surgeon, spine specialist says excessive leaning head forward and down, while looking at a phone or other mobile device could result in what some people call ?text neck.?Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:12:12 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226101259.htmSleep reinforces learning: Children?s brains transform subconsciously learned material into active knowledgehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226081155.htm During sleep, our brains store what we have learned during the day a process even more effective in children than in adults, new research shows.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:11:11 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130226081155.htmMediterranean diet helps cut risk of heart attack, stroke: Results of PREDIMED study presentedhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225181536.htm Results of a major study aimed at assessing the efficacy of the Mediterranean diet in the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases show that such a diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or tree nuts reduces by 30 percent the risk of suffering a cardiovascular death, a myocardial infarction or a stroke.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:15:15 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225181536.htmDoing good is good for you: Volunteer adolescents enjoy healthier heartshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225162229.htm Giving back through volunteering is good for your heart, even at a young age, according to researchers.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:22:22 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225162229.htmTargeting CPR education in high-risk neighborhoods could save more liveshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225153046.htm Targeting CPR education in high-risk neighborhoods could increase the number of bystanders giving CPR and decrease deaths from cardiac arrest, according to a new statement.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:30:30 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225153046.htmGender gap disappears in school math competitionshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225153029.htm The idea that boys are better at math and in competitions has persisted for a long time - primarily because of the competition format. A new study shows that competitions that extend beyond a single round result in parity between the sexes.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:30:30 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225153029.htmGlobal surveys show environment ranks low among public concernshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225131541.htm A newly released international study reveals that the issue of climate change is not a priority for people in the United States and around the world. The surveys showed that when asked to rank priority worries, people were five times more likely to point to the economy over the environment.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:15:15 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225131541.htmMoments of spirituality can induce liberal attitudes, researchers findhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225131532.htm People become more politically liberal immediately after practising a spiritual exercise such as meditation, researchers have found.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:15:15 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225131532.htmMemory strategy may help depressed people remember the good timeshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225122047.htm New research highlights a memory strategy that may help people who suffer from depression in recalling positive day-to-day experiences.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:20:20 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225122047.htmA question of accountability: What happens when employees are left in the dark?http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225112320.htm All employees are accountable for something, but very few fully understand exactly what they are accountable for, according to a new study.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:23:23 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225112320.htmCatfight? Workplace conflicts between women get bad raphttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225092248.htm A new study suggests troubling perceptions exist when it comes to women involved in disputes at work.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:22:22 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225092248.htmMost babies slow to grow catch up by early teenshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225092246.htm New research shows that most babies who are slow to put on weight in the first nine months of life have caught up to within the normal range by the age of 13, but remain lighter and shorter than many of their peers. There are significant differences in the pattern of "catchup," depending on the infant's age when the slow weight gain occurs.Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:22:22 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130225092246.htmParents talking about their own drug use to children could be detrimentalhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222083127.htm Parents know that one day they will have to talk to their children about drug use. The hardest part is to decide whether or not talking about ones own drug use will be useful in communicating an antidrug message. Recent research found that children whose parents did not disclose drug use, but delivered a strong antidrug message, were more likely to exhibit antidrug attitudes.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:31:31 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222083127.htmSmarter lunchrooms make lunch choices child's playhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222083125.htm In Jan. 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture passed a series of regulations designed to make school lunches more nutritious, which included requiring schools to increase whole grain offerings and making students select either a fruit or vegetable with their purchased lunch. However, children cannot be forced to eat these healthier lunches. In a new study, researchers determined that small, inexpensive changes to school cafeterias influenced the choice and consumption of healthier foods.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:31:31 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130222083125.htmInfluenza study: Meet virus' new enemyhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221194241.htm Virologists have discovered a new class of molecular compounds capable of killing the influenza virus. Working on the premise that too much of a good thing can be a killer, the scientists have advanced previous researchers' methods of manipulating an enzyme that is key to how influenza replicates and spreads. The new compounds will lead to a new generation of anti-influenza drugs that the virus' strains can't adapt to, and resist, as easily as they do Tamiflu.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 19:42:42 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221194241.htmScientists make older adults less forgetful in memory testshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221143946.htm Scientists have found compelling evidence that older adults can eliminate forgetfulness and perform as well as younger adults on memory tests. The cognitive boost comes from a surprising source -- a distraction learning strategy.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:39:39 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221143946.htmShould grandma join Facebook? It may give her a cognitive boost, study findshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221143912.htm Preliminary research findings suggest learning to use Facebook may help give adults older than 65 a cognitive boost. The study shows that seniors who learned to use Facebook saw improvements in their ability to continuously monitor and quickly add or delete the contents of their working memory.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:39:39 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221143912.htmHeavy backpacks may damage nerves, muscles and skeleton, study suggestshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221141604.htm Damage to muscles and the skeleton is the frequent consequence of carrying heavy backpacks and occupational gear on our backs. New research confirms that damage to the nerves that travel through the neck and shoulders is also a serious risk.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:16:16 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221141604.htmWanted: A life outside the workplacehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221115801.htm New research suggests the growing number of workers who are single and without children have trouble finding the time or energy to participate in non-work interests, just like those with spouses and kids.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:58:58 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221115801.htmIn rich and poor nations, giving makes people feel better than getting, research findshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104357.htm Feeling good about spending money on someone else rather than for personal benefit may be a universal response among people in both impoverished countries and rich nations, according to new research.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:43:43 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104357.htmAccidental poisonings leading cause of deaths at home, study findshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104157.htm An increasing number of people die from unintentional home injury, in large part due to accidental drug overdose, according to a new study.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:41:41 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221104157.htmSocial capital -- the benefit of Facebook 'friends'http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221084618.htm Intense Facebook usage is found to have a positive effect on psychological well-being, according to a new study.?Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:46:46 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221084618.htmWhen children can hop on one leg: Motor development in children under 5 can now be tested reliablyhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221084602.htm Researchers have determined normative data for different exercises such as hopping or running. This enables parents and experts to gauge the motor skills of young children for the first time objectively and thus identify abnormalities at an early stage.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:46:46 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130221084602.htmTalking about being old is important indicator of body dissatisfactionhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220203711.htm Similar to talking about being fat, talking about being old is an important an indicator of body dissatisfaction, shows new research. Body dissatisfaction is known to be correlated with, and predictive of, physical and mental health problems including binge eating, emotional eating, stress, low self-esteem, depression, and use of unhealthy weight control behaviors. High levels of talking about weight and being fat, ?fat talk?, is known to be a good indicator of body dissatisfaction.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:37:37 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220203711.htmScrap 'unwinnable' drugs war and divert funds into curbing global antibiotic misuse, experts sayhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220184955.htm Governments around the world should stop squandering resources fighting an "unwinnable war" against illegal drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. Instead, they should use the cash to curb antibiotic misuse, which poses a far more serious threat to human health, claims a leading ethicist.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:49:49 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220184955.htmMosquitoes exposed to DEET once are less repelled by it a few hours later, study claimshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220184949.htm Mosquitoes are able to ignore the smell of the insect repellent DEET within a few hours of being exposed to it, according to new research.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:49:49 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220184949.htmBackground checks, permanent records needed for all firearm transfers, not just gun sales by retailers, experts urgehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163633.htm Gun violence in the United States can be substantially reduced if Congress expands requirements for background checks on retail gun sales to cover firearm transfers between private parties, a new report concludes.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:36:36 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163633.htmBullied children can suffer lasting psychological harm as adultshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163629.htm Bullied children grow into adults who are at increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a new study.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:36:36 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163629.htmEmployees shed pounds in worksite-based weight loss intervention with behavioral counselinghttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163557.htm Workplace-based programs that include dietary advice coupled with behavioral counseling appear to be a promising approach for men and women with significant weight loss goals, based on the results of a pilot study. Employees enrolled in the intervention arm of a randomized controlled trial lost on average, 18 pounds over a six-month period compared to a two pound weight gain in a control group.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:35:35 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220163557.htmSeparated bike lanes, slower vehicle speeds greatly reduce bicycle injurieshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220131744.htm Using your bicycle to commute to work has numerous health and environmental benefits. Yet, the largest Canadian study on cycling injuries suggests cyclists are at risk of injury due to the lack of cycling infrastructure in large urban centers.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:17:17 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220131744.htmResveratrol shows promise to protect hearing, cognitionhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220131742.htm Resveratrol, a substance found in red grapes and red wine, may have the potential to protect against hearing and cognitive decline, according to a new study.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:17:17 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220131742.htmCure for common hangover? 'Pill' mimics action of human liver in fighting alcohol intoxicationhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220114337.htm In a discovery that could promise a quick fix to the common hangover, a team of engineers has identified a method for speeding up the body's reaction to the consumption of alcohol.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:43:43 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220114337.htmHealthy rivalry could boost sport and business performancehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220113859.htm New research shows that people can recover from poor performance when rivals comment on their failures. The research shows that while criticism from team members sends individuals into downward performance spirals, external criticism can be a trigger that boosts performance as people try to prove the outsiders wrong.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:38:38 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220113859.htmTrustworthy mating advice deepens bond between straight women and gay menhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220113235.htm A new psychology study suggests the glue that cements the unique relationship between gay men and straight women is honest, unbiased relationship advice.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:32:32 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220113235.htmHealth risks were not consumers' first concern over horse meat contaminationhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084703.htm Days after the initial announcement by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) on the 15th January that horse and pig DNA were found in beef burgers, researchers conducted an online consumer study, as part of the EU-funded project FoodRisC. This study took place before the latest developments about the widespread presence of horsemeat in certain beef products within some European countries.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:47:47 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084703.htmLack of sleep? Keep away from the buffethttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084701.htm New research shows that sleep-deprived people select greater portion sizes of energy-dense snacks and meals than they do after one night of normal sleep. Poor sleep habits can therefore affect people?s risk of becoming overweight in the long run.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:47:47 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084701.htmBilingual children have a better 'working memory' than monolingual childrenhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084444.htm Bilingual children develop a better working memory ?- which holds, processes and updates information over short periods of time -? than monolingual children, according to new research. The working memory plays a major role in the execution of a wide range of activities, such as mental calculation (since we have to remember numbers and operate with them) or reading comprehension (given that it requires associating the successive concepts in a text).Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:44:44 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084444.htmXenon flash for photos in dark from smart phoneshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084442.htm Small but mighty Xenon flash for mobile phones - great shots in the dark soon to be a reality.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:44:44 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220084442.htmAdding movement to 'dry run' mental imagery enhances performancehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219201523.htm Adding movement to mental rehearsal can improve performance finds a new study. For high jumpers the study shows that dynamic imagery improves the number of successful attempts and the technical performance of jumps The technique of mental rehearsal is used to consolidate performance in many disciplines including music and sport. Motor imagery and physical practice use overlapping neural networks in the brain and the two together can improve performance as well as promoting recovery from injury.Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:15:15 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219201523.htmBiological marker of dyslexia discovered: Ability to consistently encode sound undergirds the reading processhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219172159.htm Researchers believe they have discovered a biological marker of dyslexia, a disorder affecting up to one out of 10 children that makes learning to read difficult. The researchers found a systematic relationship between reading ability and the consistency with which the brain encodes sounds. The good news: Response consistency can be improved with auditory training.Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:21:21 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219172159.htmBiological marker predicts susceptibility to common coldhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219172157.htm Researchers have identified a biological marker in the immune system that -- beginning at about age 22 -- predicts our ability to fight off the common cold. The study found that the length of telomeres -- protective cap-like protein complexes at the ends of chromosomes -- predicts resistance to upper respiratory infections in young and midlife adults.Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:21:21 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219172157.htmPowerful people are looking out for their future selveshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219161254.htm Would you prefer $120 today or $154 in one year? Your answer may depend on how powerful you feel, according to new research.Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:12:12 ESThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130219161254.htm

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/rss/living_well.xml

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Melissa King, Miss Teen Delaware USA, Resigns Crown After PORN Video Surfaces!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/melissa-king-miss-teen-delaware-resigns-crown-after-porn-surface/

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Doubts Emerge on the Value of Very Low Cholesterol Levels

Image: frentusha /iStockphoto


From Nature magazine.

Soon after Joseph Francis learned that his levels of ?bad? LDL cholesterol sat at twice the norm, he discovered the short?comings of cholesterol-lowering drugs ? and of the clinical advice guiding their use. Francis, the director of clinical analysis and reporting at the Veterans Health Administration (VA) in Washington DC, started taking Lipitor (atorvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin and the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history. His LDL plummeted, but still hovered just above a target mandated by clinical guidelines. Adding other medications had no effect, and upping the dose of Lipitor made his muscles hurt ? a rare side effect of statins, which can cause muscle breakdown.

So Francis pulled back to moderate Lipitor doses and decided that he could live with his high cholesterol. Later, he learned that other patients were being aggressively treated by doctors chasing stringent LDL targets. But Francis found the science behind the target guidelines to be surprisingly ambiguous. ?You couldn?t necessarily say lowering LDL further was going to benefit the patient,? he says.

The standard advice may soon change. For the first time in more than a decade, the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is revising the clinical guidelines that shaped Francis?s treatment (see ?How low can you go??). Expected to be released later this year, the fourth set of guidelines, called ATP IV, has been drawn up by an expert panel of 15 cardiologists appointed by the institute. The guidelines will set the tone for clinical practice in the United States and beyond, and will profoundly influence pharmaceutical markets. They will also reflect the growing debate over cholesterol targets, which have never been directly tested in clinical trials.

Since 2002, when ATP III called on doctors to push LDL levels below set targets, the concept of low cholesterol has become synonymous with heart health. Patients brag about their cholesterol scores, physicians joke about adding statins to drinking water, and some hospitals reward doctors when patients hit cholesterol targets.

In 2011, US doctors wrote nearly 250 million prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs, creating a US$18.5-billion market, according to IMS Health, a health-care technology and information company based in Danbury, Connecticut. ?The drug industry in particular is very much in favour of target-based measures,? says Joseph Drozda, a cardiologist and director of outcomes research at Mercy Health in Chesterfield, Missouri. ?It drives the use of products.?

ATP III reflected a growing consensus among physicians that sharply lowering cholesterol would lessen the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes, says Richard Cooper, an epidemiologist at the Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Illinois, who served on the committee that compiled the guidelines. The committee drew heavily on clinical data, but also took extrapolations from basic research and post hoc analyses of clinical trials. LDL targets were set to be ?less than? specific values to send a message, Cooper says. ?We didn?t want to explicitly say ?the lower the better? because there wasn?t evidence for that,? he says. ?But everybody had the strong feeling that was the correct answer.?

By contrast, the ATP IV committee has pledged to hew strictly to the science and to focus on data from randomized clinical trials, says committee chairman Neil Stone, a cardiologist at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago. If so, Krumholz argues, LDL targets will be cast aside because they have never been explicitly tested. Clinical trials have shown repeatedly that statins reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but lowering LDL with other medications does not work as well. The benefits of statins may reflect their other effects on the body, including fighting inflammation, another risk factor for heart disease.

Krumholz?s scepticism is rooted in experience. In 2008 and 2010, the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial challenged dogma when it reported that lowering blood pressure or blood sugar to prespecified targets did not reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. In the case of blood sugar, the risks were worsened. The trial demonstrated the folly of assuming that risk factors must have a causal role in disease, says Robert Vogel, a cardiologist at the University of Colorado, Denver. ?Short people have a higher risk of heart disease,? he says. ?But wearing high heels does not lower your risk.?

Jay Cohn, a cardiologist at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, also worries that the focus on LDL levels offers up the wrong patients for statin therapy. Most of those who have a heart attack do not have high LDL, he notes. Cohn advocates treating patients with statins based on the state of health of their arteries, as revealed by noninvasive tests such as ultrasound. ?If your arteries and heart are healthy, I don?t care what your LDL or blood pressure is,? he says.

?We can?t just assume that modifying the risk factor is modifying risk.?
Not all cardiologists want to abolish LDL targets. Indeed, Seth Martin, a fellow in cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, believes that ATP IV should reduce LDL targets further. The simplicity of targets has helped to deliver an important public-health message, he says, and motivated many patients to get the statin therapy that he believes they need. ?Just to throw that out the window doesn?t seem like the ideal scenario.?

Whatever the decision, the pharmaceutical industry will be watching closely, says Donny Wong, an analyst at Decision Resources, a market-research company based in Watertown, Massachusetts. Although most statins are off patent, the big pharmaceutical companies are racing to bring the next LDL-lowering drug to market. In particular, millions of dollars have been poured into drugs that inhibit a protein called PCSK9, an enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis. This approach lowers LDL but has not yet been shown to reduce heart attacks or strokes.

Francis expects the new guidelines to relax the targets. He and his colleagues decided last autumn to change the VA?s own clinical standards, so that they no longer rely solely on an LDL target but instead encourage doctors to prescribe a moderate dose of statin when otherwise healthy patients have high LDL cholesterol. The ATP IV guidelines will take a similar approach, he speculates, noting that the VA consulted several outside experts who are also serving on the ATP committee.

Despite an increasingly vegetarian diet, Francis?s cholesterol has not budged. ?Sometimes I want to call my physician and say, ?Don?t worry about that target,?? he says. ?It?s going to be changing very soon.?
?

This story is reprinted with permission from Nature. It was first published on February 26, 2013.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cce506b4a151d1f8aa11d637c60ec862

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Americans try to reach WBC title game at last

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) ? The World Baseball Classic begins late Friday night U.S. time and once again Japan is the team to beat.

The Japanese won the international tournament the first two times it was played, in 2006 and 2009, and has a reputation for preparing quite seriously for the event, while some nations will build their teams from players on break from spring training.

The group-play round will be held in four locations around the globe ? Japan, Taiwan, Puerto Rico and Arizona. The semifinals and final will be in San Francisco.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/americans-try-reach-wbc-title-game-last-201400814--mlb.html

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Tax, wage ID theft tops FTC's complaints list

The Federal Trade Commission received a record number of complaints last year ? more than 2 million ? and for the 13th year in a row, identity theft tops the list.

According to the 2012 annual report released on Tuesday, 18 percent of all consumer complaints were related to identity theft.

The new numbers show a huge rise in the percentage of identity theft fraud cases related to taxes and wages. The IRS recently acknowledged the serious nature of this problem and how it?s trying to fight back.

ConsumerMan: IRS identity theft crackdown nets 109 arrests

The FTC says there are three basic types of ID theft related to taxes and wages:

  • The most common is when the scammer ? using your Social Security number ? applies for an income tax refund in your name. If the crook gets your refund before you file your return, it can hold up the process for months.
  • ID thieves sometimes misuse Social Security numbers to create bogus dependents to boost their fraudulent refund. Again, this delays legitimate refunds.
  • They also use stolen SSNs to get a job. Victims don?t find out about this until they get a notice from the IRS that says they?re under-reporting their income.

?The FTC report, when combined with the recently released Javelin Research survey ? that reported the number of identity theft victims reached over 12.6 million in 2012 ? is yet another confirmation of the inevitability of victimization,? said Adam Levin, chairman of Identity Theft 911.

?Human error, misplaced trust, individual over-sharing of information and countless data breaches impacting all segments of the business community and all levels of government have contributed to the depressing reality that it is literally impossible to prevent identity theft.?

Here is the complete list of the FTC?s Top 10 Complaint Categories for 2012:

  1. Identity theft: 369,132 complaints ( 18 percent)
  2. Debt collection: 199,721 complaints (10 percent)
  3. Banks and lenders: 132,340 complaints (6 percent)
  4. Shop-at-home and catalog sales: 115,184 complaints (6 percent)
  5. Prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries: 98,479 complaints (5 percent)
  6. Impostor scams: 82,896 complaints (4 percent)
  7. Internet services: 81,438 complaints (4 percent)
  8. Auto-related complaints: 78,062 complaints (4 percent)
  9. Telephone and mobile services: 76,783 complaints (4 percent)
  10. Credit cards: 51,550 complaints (3 percent)

?This report illustrates that we still have a huge problem with fraud in this country,? said John Breyault, director of Fraud.org, run by the National Consumers League. ?It?s more important than ever that people educate themselves and learn how to spot the warning signs of fraud.?

It?s also important to report suspected scams and let the authorities know if you?ve been victimized. They may not be able to help you specifically, but you might help them catch the bad guys.

?Law enforcement agencies nationwide will use this information to help stop those who try to scam U.S. consumers,? said Charles Harwood, acting director of the FTC?s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

You can file a complaint with the FTC online.

More Information:

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitteror visit The ConsumerMan website.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/tax-wage-id-theft-tops-ftcs-list-most-complaints-1C8569858

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Another iOS 6.1 Bug Allows Thieves to Bypass Your Lock Screen

Another iOS 6.1 Bug Allows Thieves to Bypass Your Lock ScreenAnother iOS 6.1 Bug Allows Thieves to Bypass Your Lock Screen Researchers have discovered another lock screen bug in iOS 6.1, which allows someone to get past your lock screen without a passcode and view that phone's data after plugging it into a computer.

Hackers recently found an iOS 6 bug that let thieves into your phone, but they could only access the Phone app and the features contained within. This new bug, however, is a bit more open, allowing attackers to plug in the phone via USB and access its data (like contacts, voicemails, photos, and more) without needing a passcode. The trick is remarkably similar to the other lock screen bug in iOS 6, but involves using the screenshot tool as well as the emergency call button to get in. Check out the video above to see it in action, and watch out for the loud annoying music.

Apple promises to close this bug with the next version of iOS, 6.1.3. However, 6.1.3 also breaks the latest jailbreak, so it's a tradeoff. Once again, this is a good reason to enable Find My iPhone, so if your phone does get lost or stolen, you can wipe your data and protect it from ne'er-do-wells.

Apple iOS v6.1 (10B143) - Code Lock Bypass Vulnerability #2 | Seclists.org via Ars Technica

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/dIB9CtZW-Go/another-ios-61-bug-allows-data-thieves-to-bypass-your-lock-screen

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Laser mastery narrows down sources of superconductivity

Monday, February 25, 2013

Identifying the mysterious mechanism underlying high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) remains one of the most important and tantalizing puzzles in physics. This remarkable phenomenon allows electric current to pass with perfect efficiency through materials chilled to subzero temperatures, and it may play an essential role in revolutionizing the entire electricity chain, from generation to transmission and grid-scale storage. Pinning down one of the possible explanations for HTS?fleeting fluctuations called charge-density waves (CDWs)?could help solve the mystery and pave the way for rapid technological advances.

Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have combined two state-of-the-art experimental techniques to study those electron waves with unprecedented precision in two-dimensional, custom-grown materials. The surprising results, published online February 24, 2013, in the journal Nature Materials, reveal that CDWs cannot be the root cause of the unparalleled power conveyance in HTS materials. In fact, CDW formation is an independent and likely competing instability.

"It has been difficult to determine whether or not dynamic or fluctuating CDWs even exist in HTS materials, much less identify their role," said Brookhaven Lab physicist and study coauthor Ivan Bozovic. "Do they compete with the HTS state, or are they perhaps the very essence of the phenomenon? That question has now been answered by targeted experimentation."

Custom-grown Superconductors

Electricity travels imperfectly through traditional metallic conductors, losing energy as heat due to a kind of atomic-scale friction. Impurities in these materials also cause electrons to scatter and stumble, but superconductors can overcome this hurdle?assuming the synthesis process is precise.

For this experiment, Bozovic used a custom-built molecular beam epitaxy system at Brookhaven Lab to grow thin films of LaSrCuO, an HTS cuprate (copper-oxide) compound. The metallic cuprates, assembled one atomic layer at a time, are separated by insulating planes of lanthanum and strontium oxides, resulting in what's called a quasi-two-dimensional conductor. When cooled down to a low enough temperature?less than 100 degrees Kelvin?strange electron waves began to ripple through that 2D matrix. At even lower temperatures, these films became superconducting.

Electron Sea

"In quasi-two-dimensional metals, low temperatures frequently bring about interesting collective states called charge-density waves," Bozovic said. "They resemble waves rolling across the surface of a lake under a breeze, except that instead of water, here we actually have a sea of mobile electrons."

Once a CDW forms, the electron density loses uniformity as the ripples rise and fall. These waves can be described by familiar parameters: amplitude (height of the waves), wavelength (distance between waves), and phase (the wave's position on the material). Detecting CDWs typically requires high-intensity x-rays, such as those provided by synchrotron light sources like Brookhaven's NSLS and, soon, NSLS-II. And even then, the technique only works if the waves are essentially frozen upon formation. However, if CDWs actually fluctuate rapidly, they may escape detection by x-ray diffraction, which typically requires a long exposure time that blurs fast motion.

Measuring Rolling Waves

To catch CDWs in action, a research group at MIT led by physicist Nuh Gedik used an advanced ultrafast spectroscopy technique. Intense laser pulses called "pumps" cause excitations in the superconducting films, which are then probed by measuring the film reflectance with a second light pulse?this is called a pump-probe process. The second pulse is delayed by precise time intervals, and the series of measurements allow the lifetime of the excitation to be determined.

In a more sophisticated variant of the technique, largely pioneered by Gedik, the standard single pump beam is replaced by two beams hitting the surface from different sides simultaneously. This generates a standing wave of controlled wavelength in the film, but it disappears rapidly as the electrons relax back into their original state.

This technique was applied to the atomically perfect LaSrCuO films synthesized at Brookhaven Lab. In films with a critical temperature of 26 degrees Kelvin (the threshold beyond which the superconductivity breaks down), the researchers discovered two new short-lived excitations?both caused by fluctuating CDWs.

Gedik's technique even allowed the researchers to record the lifetime of CDW fluctuations?just 2 picoseconds (a millionth of a millionth of a second) under the coldest conditions and becoming briefer as the temperatures rose. These waves then vanished entirely at about 100 Kelvin, actually surviving at much higher temperatures than superconductivity.

Ruling out a Suspect

The researchers then hunted for those same signatures in cuprate films with slightly different chemical compositions and a greater density of mobile electrons. The results were both unexpected and significant for the future of HTS research.

"Interestingly, the superconducting sample with the highest critical temperature, about 39 Kelvin, showed no CDW signatures at all," Gedik said.

The consistent emergence of CDWs would have bolstered the conjecture that they play an essential role in high-temperature superconductivity. Instead, the new technique's successful detection of such electron waves in one sample but not in another (with even higher critical temperature) indicates that another mechanism must be driving the emergence of HTS.

"Results like this bring us closer to understanding the mystery of HTS, considered by many to be one of the greatest problems in physics today," Bozovic said. "The source of this extraordinary phenomenon is slowly but surely running out of places to hide."

###

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory: http://www.bnl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126997/Laser_mastery_narrows_down_sources_of_superconductivity

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Oscars' Five Funniest Moments: Seth MacFarlane, Halle Berry's 'Pussy Galore'


By Ryan J. Downey


Seth MacFarlane at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702558/oscars-funniest-moments-2013.jhtml

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Census Bureau drops use of segregation-era term

WASHINGTON (AP) ? After more than a century, the Census Bureau is dropping its use of the word "Negro" to describe black Americans in surveys.

Instead of the term that came into use during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation, census forms will use the more modern labels "black" or "African-American".

The change will take effect next year when the Census Bureau distributes its annual American Community Survey to more than 3.5 million U.S. households, Nicholas Jones, chief of the bureau's racial statistics branch, said in an interview.

He pointed to months of public feedback and census research that concluded few black Americans still identify with being Negro and many view the term as "offensive and outdated."

"This is a reflection of changing times, changing vocabularies and changing understandings of what race means in this country," said Matthew Snipp, a sociology professor at Stanford University, who writes frequently on race and ethnicity. "For younger African-Americans, the term 'Negro' harkens back to the era when African-Americans were second-class citizens in this country."

First used in the census in 1900, "Negro" became the most common way of referring to black Americans through most of the early 20th century, during a time of racial inequality and segregation. "Negro" itself had taken the place of "colored." Starting with the 1960s civil rights movement, black activists began to reject the "Negro" label and came to identify themselves as black or African-American.

Still, the term has lingered, having been used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his speeches. It also remains in the names of some black empowerment groups that were established before the 1960s, such as the United Negro College Fund, now often referred to as UNCF.

For the 2010 census, the government briefly considered dropping the word "Negro" but ultimately decided against it, determining that a small segment, mostly older blacks living in the South, still identified with the term. But once census forms were mailed and some black groups protested, Robert Groves, the Census Bureau's director at the time, apologized and predicted the term would be dropped in future censuses.

When asked to mark their race, Americans are currently given a choice of five government-defined categories in census surveys, including one checkbox selection which is described as "black, African Am., or Negro." Beginning with the surveys next year, that selection will simply say "black" or "African American."

In the 2000 census, about 50,000 people specifically wrote in the word Negro when asked how they wished to be identified. By 2010, unpublished census data provided to the AP show that number had declined to roughly 36,000.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-stopping-term-negro-census-surveys-164013710--politics.html

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Question sent in: ?I was receiving workers compensation benefits ...

car crash

Question:

I had a back injury back in 2009 that lead me to get a lumbar fusion on 2010. Then I had another surgery in 2011 to remove the hardware because it was hurting me. After the second surgery I have been receiving medical treatment (pain injections, and pain medicine.) On Oct. 2012 I was involved in a car accident that created more pain, not only in my lower back but my upper back and neck. As soon as the insurance from the workers compensation injury noticed my car accident they stopped sending me my checks I was receiving before because of my car accident I was involved in. Can they do that? I live in Illinois and it wasn?t my fault (about the car accident). Thanks for the advice in advance.

Answer: The issue is whether the MVA is legally considered an intervening accident sufficient to break the chain of causal connection to your work accident. This is based on how the accident changed your symptoms, any changes in the doctor?s examination and x-ray/MRI findings. The insurance company stopped your checks so I expect the medical records do indicate that the accident aggravated your condition but there are cases that say that alone is not enough to stop the WC. Your WC may need to proceed to arbitration to get your benefits restarted and unfortunatley, that process could take 6 months or longer if either party appeals.

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Source: http://jhansenlawfirm.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/question-sent-in-i-was-receiving-workers-compensation-benefits-after-a-spinal-fusion-surgery-and-i-had-a-subsequent-accident-in-a-vehicle-the-compensation-manager-found-out-and-stopped-my-benef/

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

5 Ways to Spend Family Time On a Budget

by Mommy on February 25, 2013

Are you planning for the future but still thinking for today? Then try these 5 creative ways to get the most out of your money without compromising without breaking the wallet.

  1. Stop thinking you have to do extravagant things to spend some QT with the family.? Never underestimate the power of sites like Groupon (www.groupon.com) or Living Social (www.livingsocial.com), who can assist you with planning an economical family adventure without the need of a third or fourth job in order to pay for it.
  2. Parks can a families best friend. Parks are places that the entire family can enjoy and it doesn?t cost a thing to go to them. If you are looking for a little more fun, you can always invite some friends and family for a small picnic with hot dogs and burgers.?
  3. Movie nights are something that we tend to enjoy a lot. We pick a night that we can all sit down with a bowl of popcorn and the latest kid friendly movie that we can find.
  4. Cooking together is a great way for children to learn and to also be able to spend time with one another.
  5. There have been a ton of board games that have made it?s way to the shelves. The best part about board games is that you can do them anywhere and especially at home with your family. There are board games for nearly all ages and some as young as three years old.

How do you spend family QT on a budget?

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Source: http://www.mommyposh.com/2013/02/25/5-ways-to-spend-some-family-time-on-a-budget/

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NY wife: Officer wanted to kill me, eat others

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2012, file courtroom drawing, Federal Defender Julie Gatto requests bail for her client, New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle, right, at Manhattan Federal Court in New York. The New York City police officer accused of kidnapping conspiracy admits to thinking about abducting, cooking and devouring young women. His own lawyer has shown prospective jurors a kinky staged photo of a woman trussed up in a roasting pan to test their tolerance for the officer?s "weird proclivities." (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2012, file courtroom drawing, Federal Defender Julie Gatto requests bail for her client, New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle, right, at Manhattan Federal Court in New York. The New York City police officer accused of kidnapping conspiracy admits to thinking about abducting, cooking and devouring young women. His own lawyer has shown prospective jurors a kinky staged photo of a woman trussed up in a roasting pan to test their tolerance for the officer?s "weird proclivities." (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)

In this courtroom sketch, Gilberto Valle is seen in federal court in New York, Monday, Feb 25, 2013. The wife of Valle, a New York City police officer, will testify at a federal trial to explain how she discovered that he was discussing kidnapping, killing and eating women. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)

FILE - This Oct. 25, 2012 file photo shows a passage of a Federal complaint filed in New York, against New York City Police Department officer Gilberto Valle. Valle is accused of kidnapping conspiracy and admits to thinking about abducting, cooking and devouring young women. His own lawyer has shown prospective jurors a kinky staged photo of a woman trussed up in a roasting pan to test their tolerance for the officer?s "weird proclivities." (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The estranged wife of a police officer struggled to keep her composure Monday as she testified about discovering shocking online chats and other evidence on his computer showing he had discussed killing her and abducting, torturing and eating other women.

"I was going to be tied up by my feet and my throat slit, and they would have fun watching the blood gush out of me because I was young," Kathleen Mangan-Valle told a Manhattan jury that one chat revealed.

Mangan-Valle, 27, also read about plans to put one friend in a suitcase, wheel her out of her building and murder her. Two other women were "going to be raped in front of each other to heighten their fears," while another was going to be roasted alive over an open fire, she said.

"The suffering was for his enjoyment, and he wanted to make it last as long as possible," she said.

Mangan-Valle broke down in tears several times, but the emotional peak of the day came when a defense attorney showed her pictures of Officer Gilberto Valle in uniform feeding their newborn daughter, prompting her and Valle to openly weep as the judge sent the jury away for an afternoon break.

The drama came on the first day of testimony at the closely watched trial of the 28-year-old Valle, a baby-faced defendant dubbed the "Cannibal Cop" by city tabloids.

Valle is accused of conspiracy to kidnap a woman and unauthorized use of a law enforcement database that prosecutors say he used to help build a list of potential targets. A conviction on the kidnapping count carries a possible life sentence.

The officer has claimed his online discussions of cannibalism were harmless fetish fantasies. But in opening statements Monday, a prosecutor said "very real women" were put in jeopardy.

"Make no mistake," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Jackson. "Gilbert Valle was very serious about these plans."

Defense attorney Julia Gatto argued that her client "never intended to kidnap anyone." She added: "You can't convict people for their thoughts, even if they're sick."

A college graduate and New York Police Department patrolman, Valle appeared to be leading a normal life before "things got bad," his wife said. "Weird stuff started happening."

Mangan-Valle testified her husband began asking questions about where she liked to jog, what the lighting was like and whether other people were around. Using spyware on his computer, she said, she uncovered gruesome photos and the names, heights and weights of women.

She also found that he had visited a fetish website that featured images of dead women.

"I was scared. ... I'd never seen that before," she said.

Once Mangan-Valle fled her home and reported his strange behavior to the FBI last year, agents uncovered "a heinous plot to kidnap, rape, murder and cannibalize a number of very real women," Jackson said.

The officer had attempted to contact potential victims, including a New York City elementary school teacher, to learn more about their jobs and residences, the prosecutor said. His Internet research also included the best rope to tie someone up with, recipes, human flesh, white slavery and chemicals that can knock someone out, Jackson said.

Gatto countered in her opening statement that there was "no proof of a crime here. The charges are pure fiction."

Valle, she said, had always been aroused by "unusual things," including the thought of a woman boiled down on a platter with an apple in her mouth. He found a home at a fetish website with 38,000 registered members, where regulars discuss "suffocating women, cooking and eating them," she said.

The defense has denied that Mangan-Valle was a potential victim. Valle had made clear that his wife "was unavailable for any kidnapping fantasy," the defense has said in court papers.

On cross-examination, Gatto asked Mangan-Valle if she declined to meet with the defense before the trial began.

"You're representing the man who wants to kill me," she responded. "No, I don't want to talk to you."

Valle is expected to take the stand to make the case that it was all role-playing fantasy. The defense also is planning to call experts to explain the fetish subculture and to show jurors the videotaped testimony of the fetish website's co-founder Sergey Merenkov.

Merenkov called the site "a clone of Facebook, but it is oriented to people with fetishes that are not considered standard." Asked about the most popular fetishes, he responded, "All sorts of asphyxiation" and "peril cannibalism."

Tiger Howard Devore, a psychologist and certified sex therapist who specializes in dealing with sexual dysfunction and fetishes, said the cannibalism fetish known as voreaphilia isn't common.

"For most laymen, they're going to think about it as cannibalism," Devore told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. "But what it really is, is an obsession about consuming the flesh of the other, and this can have a whole range of expressions. ... It is mostly played out in fantasy, mostly played out in role-playing."

There are well-known criminal extremes like Jeffrey Dahmer, who saved pieces of his victims' body parts and ate the flesh, Devore said, though "the instances of this kind of violence are extremely rare."

___

Associated Press writer Eileen AJ Connelly contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-25-Police%20Officer-Cannibalism/id-55a8b695e8b54c70ac85d78c9c7ff686

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Finchem says PGA Tour opposes ban on anchoring

MARANA, Ariz. (AP) ? PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem threw a big wrinkle into the plan to outlaw the anchored putting stroke when he said Sunday the tour opposed the ban because there was not enough evidence to suggest players had an advantage by using a long putter.

"We hold the USGA in highest regard as a key part of the game of golf," Finchem said. "We don't attempt to denigrate that position in any way whatsoever. It's just on this issue, we think if they were to move forward they would be making a mistake."

The U.S. Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club announced Nov. 28 a proposed rule that would prohibit players from anchoring the club to their body, the method used for belly putters and broom-handled putters that are pressed against the chest.

Three of the last five major champions used a belly putter.

The governing bodies are nearing the end of a 90-day comment period before deciding whether to adopt the rule, which would not take effect until 2016. Finchem has been meeting with his players the last few months, with USGA executive director Mike Davis presenting the rule to a player meeting in San Diego last week. Finchem sent a letter to the USGA and R&A on Friday to state the tour's position.

The PGA of America also opposes the ban.

"I think the essential thread that went through the thinking of the players ... was that in the absence of data or any basis to conclude that there is a competitive advantage to be gained by using anchoring, and given the amount of time that anchoring has been in the game, that there is no overriding reason to go down that road," Finchem said.

The long putter has become a polarizing issue in recent years, even though it has been around for the last four decades.

The USGA and R&A said they wanted to ban the anchored stroke because they felt it took too much skill out of the game. Its goal was to define the golf stroke as the club moving freely through the entire swing. They conceded in November there was no empirical data, only a recent spike in more players using long putters.

Finchem wanted to make clear that the PGA Tour was not in a "donnybrook" with the USGA over who sets the rules. Rather, he was responding to its request for comment. Even so, it puts the USGA in a position of going through with the ban or backing down because the PGA Tour opposes it.

Finchem has said over the last month that while slightly different rules for the PGA Tour are acceptable, he did not think anchoring would be one of them. And he did not indicate which direction the tour would go if the USGA followed through with the ban.

"I haven't spent much time worrying about that," Finchem said. "That would be speculation, and I haven't really thought about it. I've thought more about some areas of bifurcation, whether it would work or not. But I think that the focus here ought to be, if possible, to go down the same road, everybody go down the same road on anchoring, and that's certainly where we are right now.

"We just hope they take our view on it," he said. "We'll see."

The USGA issued a statement that it is listening to "many productive conversations across the golf community" on the proposed rule.

"As we consider the various perspectives on anchoring, it has always been our position that Rule 14-1b aims to clarify and preserve the traditional and essential nature of the golf stroke, which has helped to make golf a unique and enjoyable game of skill and challenge," the statement said.

The USGA said it would decide on the proposed rule in the spring.

The tour's opposition to the anchoring ban was not surprising. Finchem met with his 16-member Player Advisory Council and policy board last week, and several players had indicated that the tour would go against the USGA.

Where it leads is still up in the air.

Finchem said the lack of empirical data was a problem, along with the fact golf's governing bodies have allowed long putters over the last two generations of golf. He suggested that if the USGA had tried to ban the anchored stroke in 1975, not many would have protested.

"I think we could understand it if for some reason or another ... it had negative results for the game of golf," Finchem said. "We have to look at it from the standpoint of is it good, bad or indifferent for the game as a whole ? professional level, amateur level ? and we conclude that it's not (a bad thing)."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/finchem-says-pga-tour-opposes-ban-anchoring-220019852--golf.html

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Monday, February 25, 2013

2013 NFL Draft Profile: Gavin Escobar, Tight End, San Diego State University

Home ? 2013 NFL Draft ? 2013 NFL Draft Profile: Gavin Escobar, Tight End, San Diego State University

Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Pewter Plank recently posted our review of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers contributions from the tight end position in 2012, and we pointed out that there was a?distinct?difference between the tight ends on the roster this past season. Luke Stocker and Nate Byham were both bruising blockers, contributing mostly by paving the way for the running of Doug Martin. Dallas Clark was the primary receiving tight end, failing to contribute to the blocking schemes, and instead adding a moderate amount of production as a pass receiver. With Clark aging and out of contract, it?s obvious that the Buccaneers will need a replacement for him, and it needs to be someone suited to his role in the offense. A tight end with reliable hands who can run good routes and provide a short to intermediate option for Josh Freeman.

That?s where Gavin Escobar is at his best.

The San Diego State prospect is a massive human being, measuring 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing 254 pounds. He?s got long arms, big hands, and a solidly built frame, but doesn?t look awkward or uncoordinated considering his size. He?s certainly not the fastest player, even at his position, clocking in at 4.84 seconds in the 40 yard dash at the NFL Draft Scouting Combine. What he lacks in straight line speed, he more than makes up for in agility and change-of-direction, posting solid times in the 3-cone drill and 20-yard-shuttle. This means that Escobar has the natural ability to make cuts while running patterns and beat defenders by breaking hard to the football on timing routes. ?He combines this agility with amazing hands, snatching the ball out of the air with ease with his big hands. He impressed while running ?The Gauntlet? drill at the combine, where he runs in a straight line and receives passes from all directions. He caught every pass in stride and used his hands to secure the ball away from his body and bring the ball in naturally. So Escobar proved at the combine what we already knew about him, he?s a big target that runs good routes and has incredible hands.

Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Escobar was one of the best tight ends in the nation in 2012, hauling in 42 catches for 543 yards and 6 scores. He was a semifinalist for the Mackey Award (given to the nation?s best tight end), and first-team All-Conference in the Mountain West. He had an even more impressive 2011, including a two score game against Boise State. The decline in productivity is likely due to a drop in quarterback performance, as 2011 signal caller Ryan Lindley moved on to the NFL.

The knock on Escobar, aside from lacking in timed speed, is his inability to be a full-time blocker. Gavin was mainly used as a slot receiver at SDSU, providing a big target for his quarterback, and not often kept in to block for runners. He is somewhat capable of blocking, according to his CBSSports Draft Profile. This concern won?t be as big of an issue for the Buccaneers, who already have solid blocking tight ends. Escobar could play in passing situations more often than not, or line up as a slot receiver with Luke Stocker playing on the line. He could be called upon to block when needed, but he would not need to be a key part of the run blocking efforts for the Buccaneers. The other concern listed on his draft profile is his tendency to get pushed off his route at the line, but that this is something he?s been improving upon. Escobar will likely face tougher competition in the NFL when it comes to getting off the line and getting into his route, so this is something that teams must look at carefully when evaluating Gavin.

Overall, I believe that Escobar would fit perfectly in the offensive role left vacant by Dallas Clark. A taller receiver with soft hands would be a great target for Josh Freeman, who prefers to throw passes higher and allow his receivers to go up and get them. Escobar will be available on the second day of the draft, between rounds two and three, and I think the Buccaneers should definitely target him after?addressing?defensive back and defensive line needs at the 2013 NFL Draft.

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Topics: NFL Draft, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Source: http://thepewterplank.com/2013/02/24/2013-nfl-draft-profile-gavin-escobar-tight-end-san-diego-state-university/

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