nonscoring fatality: June 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Human Yawns Unleash Dog Yawns

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/human-yawns-unleash-dog-yawns-135613991.html

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Character Profile Entries

On the planet of LV-339, known as Eos, Aliens are running amok and the problem must be brought under control or the planet is lost forever

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Aliens: Plight of Eos?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This thread is only for instructional purposes so please do not post in this thread.

All character profiles must be presented to me via a private message before they are allowed to be submitted for official approval in the RP. The reason for this is because I don't want to have to reject a profile without having the chance to analyze it in a way where I can give proper, private feedback so that when it is submitted, it needs no further changes and can just be accepted right away.

I ask that you bear with me as much as you can on this, as it makes all of our lives a lot easier.

KumoriRyuu: Member for 2 years

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Government-backed movie streaming service coming to China in Q4, bringing Paramount titles along

Government-helmed China Movie Channel's site M1905 announced this week that it's joining forces with Jiaflix -- a consortium comprised of Hollywood-types like former Columbia exec Sid Ganis -- to launch a movie streaming service in China. The still unnamed offering is set to stream both Chinese and international films, including a deal struck with Paramount that will bring the studio's back catalog and future releases to the service. The fruits of the partnership are set to launch in the fourth quarter of this year, bringing streaming to a number of platforms, including smartphone and tablets. Jiaflix and China Movie Channel added that they'll have a plan in place to combat potential piracy through the service, but have yet to spell out what such a plan of action would entail.

Continue reading Government-backed movie streaming service coming to China in Q4, bringing Paramount titles along

Government-backed movie streaming service coming to China in Q4, bringing Paramount titles along originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Oz3s73zyKLo/

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Don Grady of "My Three Sons" dies at 68

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/don-grady-three-sons-dies-68-173300766.html

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Happy Canada day weekend!

Working till 2. Going to see some stand up comdey tonight. How far back from the stage do you reckon you have to be to be guarenteed not to get bullied by the comic?

Going to Derby on Sunday to get drunk and watch Italy win the European Championship.

Source: http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4357021

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Iran focus of Russian president's visit to Israel

JERUSALEM?Israel urged the visiting Russian president on Monday to step up pressure on Iran to curb its suspect nuclear program but there was no sign of any concessions from Vladimir Putin.

With Russia an influential voice in the international debate over Iran, the outcome of the 24-hour visit could have deep implications for whether Israel decides to strike Tehran's nuclear facilities or give the international community more time to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff.

Israel and Russia enjoy deep economic and cultural relations bolstered by the more than 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union who now live in the Jewish state. But they have deeply differing approaches to Iran's nuclear program and the

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with WWII veterans during an inauguration ceremony of a memorial to Red Army veterans of World War II in Netanya, Israel, Monday, June 25, 2012. The West's standoff with Iran over its nuclear program was expected to top the agenda on Monday as Russian President Vladimir Putin began a 24-hour visit to Israel. ((AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin, Presidential Press Service))

uprising in Tehran's close ally Syria. Russia has blocked drastic action against the two countries, while Israel has repeatedly hinted it may act militarily to stop Iran's nuclear program.

In a brief statement after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Putin said their talks covered the situation in Iran and the bloody uprising in Syria, but added that he saw negotiations as the only solution for such matters.

Netanyahu countered with far more detail.

"We agree that nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran pose a grave danger, first for Israel but also for the region and the whole world," he said. "Two things need to be done now: we need to bolster the sanctions and bolster the demands."

Netanyahu insisted that all uranium enrichment in Iran must cease and its underground nuclear facility near Qom be dismantled. He added that "the killing and horrible suffering of the Syrian people" must be stopped.

Israel sees Iran as its most dangerous enemy because it is convinced the country's nuclear program is meant to build bombs and not for peaceful purposes such as energy production, as Iran insists. The fears are compounded by Tehran's frequent calls for Israel's destruction, support for anti-Israel militants and arsenal of ballistic missiles.

Israel has said repeatedly that it would not tolerate a nuclear Iran, and while saying it prefers a diplomatic solution has also hinted of using a military strike as a last resort. Israel itself is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons.

Iran is under four sets of Security Council sanctions because of its nuclear program. Israel has welcomed these but warned they are not enough. Efforts aimed at tougher U.N. sanctions have been opposed in the Security Council by Russia and China, both permanent veto-wielding members that have extensive financial interests in Iran.

Russia, for instance, has built a $1 billion nuclear reactor in Bushehr. But Moscow, bowing to U.S. and Israeli demands, has also scrapped a deal to sell Iran long-range missiles that could provide a powerful deterrent against a potential air attack.

Russia and China have joined world powers in a new set of low-level negotiations with Iran in July, after the last round yielded no breakthroughs.

Another Israeli concern is Syria. Russia has continued its arms sales to Damascus throughout the violent popular uprising against President Bashar Assad. Israel is afraid Russian weapons in Syria will fall into the hands of allied Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon, something Israel says happened during its 2006 war with the Lebanese group.

Putin began his official visit at a ceremony to inaugurate a Soviet Red Army memorial in the coastal city of Netanya, paying tribute to fallen soldiers of World War II that included tens of thousands of Jews.

"The memory of the fallen is sacred in my eyes. I am moved that you feel the same thing in Israel," he said, facing the sculpture of a massive pair of wings on a wind-swept hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

President Shimon Peres linked the past to the challenges of the present.

"I am confident that Russia, which defeated fascism, will not allow similar threats today. Not the Iranian threat. And not the bloodshed in Syria," he said at the ceremony.

At a state dinner later Monday, Peres pressed Putin further.

"I ask of you again: raise your voice against a nuclear Iran, against destroying a people. You know well the depth of sensitivity of the Jewish people when we are threatened with destruction," he said.

Putin responded that Russia has a "national interest" to secure peace and quiet in Israel but did not elaborate further.

The trip was Putin's second in Israel, having last visited seven years ago. On Tuesday, he heads to the West Bank and Jordan.

The Russian leader came with an entourage of hundreds of officials and businesspeople, who will be exploring possible military, technology and energy deals between the two countries.

Putin said his visit stressed not only the friendly relations between the countries but also a "solid basis on which to build dialogue and partnership." He said he spoke with Netanyahu about cooperation in science, technology, agriculture, medicine and culture.

The leaders also discussed the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi in Egypt's presidential election, as well as stalled Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

"Israel appreciates the democratic process in Egypt and respects its outcome. We look forward to working with the new administration based upon the peace agreement between us," said Netanyahu. "I believe that peace is an essential interest of both countries and I believe that peace is the basic element of stability on our region."

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has said it would maintain the treaty but would demand changes to it.

Source: http://www.ldnews.com/ci_20958706/standoff-iran-focus-putin-visit-israel?source=rss_viewed

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Turkey sends missile batteries to Syria border: reports

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-sends-missile-batteries-syria-border-reports-095332505.html

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Duke Energy warns of ?President paying your bills? scam

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV)- Duke Energy is alerting customers about a new identity theft scam claiming that their utility bills will be paid by President Obama through a federal program.

The company says that the scammers are contacting customers in person, through fliers, or through social media and text messages.

The customers are then asked for their birth day, social security number, and bank account information before being given a false bank account through which their utility bills can be paid through the program.

In reality, the company says, there is no money in the fake account, and the customer's bills are not being paid.

Duke Energy, along with the Better Business Bureau, is working to keep consumers educated, and are asking customers to follow a few simple steps in order to avoid getting involved in this or any other scam:

Never provide your social security number, credit card number or banking information to anyone requesting it over the phone or at your home unless you initiated the contact and feel confident with whom you are speaking.
If you receive a call claiming to be your utility company and feel pressured for immediate payment or personal information, hang up the phone and call the customer service number on your utility bill.
Never allow anyone into your home to check electrical wiring, natural gas pipes or appliances unless you have scheduled an appointment or have reported a utility problem. Also, ask utility employees for proper identification.
Always think safety first. Do not give in to high pressure tactics over the phone for information or in person to get into your home.

Source: http://statesville.wbtv.com/news/news/73801-duke-energy-warns-president-paying-your-bills-scam

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Friday, June 29, 2012

ANIMATION: A Great Source Of Entertainment | 321 Blog!

Chrome tops 310 million users, almost 100% growth over last year

Last year at Google IO, the company was bragging that it had racked up 160 million Chrome users. Since then, that number has nearly doubled, with the company claiming 310 million active users. Those consumers download roughly 1TB of data per day and type about 60 billion words according to Mountain View's crack team of analysts. The company even claims that 13 years of time have been saved thanks to the magic of Chrome's speedy rendering engine.

Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012's developer conference at our event hub!

Chrome tops 310 million users, almost 100% growth over last year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/NSEhtX35eJ8/

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What Is Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, the Cancer That Struck Nora Ephron?

Ask the Experts | Health

The When Harry Met Sally screenwriter recently succumbed to this enigmatic form of cancer, but there are new treatments in the pipeline

By Larry Greenemeier ?| June 28, 2012

cancer, leukemia,disease, blood BRAVE FACE: Nora Ephron at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. She was first diagnosed in 2006 with a type of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a category of blood diseases also referred to as "preleukemia." This later progressed to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Image: Courtesy of David Shankbone, via Wikimedia Commons

Nora Ephron's final act played out in Manhattan on June 26 where the 71-year-old writer and movie director died from pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common types of leukemia among adults. AML is a cancer caused when abnormal cells grow inside bone marrow and interfere with the production of healthy blood cells. The marrow eventually stops working correctly, leaving a person with an increased risk of bleeding and infections.

Ephron?best known for writing When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle?was first diagnosed in 2006 with one of the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a category of blood diseases also referred to as "preleukemia" that can progress into AML if the bone marrow continually fails to produce enough healthy platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells over time. MDS made headlines recently when ABC's Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts announced she has been diagnosed with the disease.

Some types of leukemia, including AML, develop as a result of exposure to certain chemicals (including herbicides and pesticides), chemotherapy drugs (such as etoposide and a class of drugs known as alkylating agents) and radiation. Typically, however, a doctor is unable to pinpoint the exact cause in individual cases.

Although estimates vary, there are between 10,000 and 12,000 new cases of MDS in the U.S. annually. More than 80 percent of all MDS patients are older than 60. The National Cancer Institute projects that 13,780 men and women?7,350 men and 6,430 women?will be diagnosed with AML and that 10,200 men and women will die of the malady this year.

Scientific American spoke with Bart Scott, a medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of patients with MDS, about syndrome's progression to AML, who is most at risk for this cancer and whether there are any promising treatments on the horizon. Scott is also director of hematology and hematologic malignancies at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and an assistant member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's clinical research division.

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]

What is the typical trajectory for this form of cancer?
The trajectory of myelodysplastic syndrome is highly dependent upon two factors?the bone marrow myeloblast count and the cytogenetics. [A myeloblast is an immature blood cell that will eventually develop into a type of white blood cell.] The higher the bone marrow myeloblast count is at time of diagnosis the more likely a patient is to progress to acute myeloid leukemia. In general, the more abnormal the cytogenetics [a cell's hereditary and functionalm characteristics] are the more likely a patient is to progress to AML, but there are certain abnormalities that have a good prognosis.

Who are the typical victims of this form of leukemia?
The median age of diagnosis of MDS is 72, it is slightly more common in men than women, and there is a correlation between incidence and age. I would say that Ephron's course does seem consistent with MDS progression to AML.

What are the risk factors for this cancer?
They are based on increasing age as well as certain environmental exposures like pesticides and herbicides. This is not casual contact?we are talking about prolonged, persistent exposure. The amount of exposure required to cause the disease is unknown, however.

Given that Ephron lived most of her life in New York City, whose residents are not typically exposed to inordinately large amounts of pesticides or herbicides, what might account for her condition?
Some researchers have tried to understand MDS in terms of clustering, although there is very little clustering data available. The idea is to understand whether MDS tends to cluster in areas of higher exposure to certain toxic agents. In 2007 Xiaomei Ma [an associate professor of epidemiology the Yale School of Public Health] and a team of researchers published a paper in Leukemia Research regarding this phenomenon. They found that cases of MDS in Connecticut were clustered near the western border. In general, clustering supports the idea that environmental exposure is contributory to the development of a disease. This is the only paper that I know of that has demonstrated clustering in MDS.

We are doing a similar study in the state of Washington. Hanford Site is a nuclear production complex near the Tri-Cities area in southeastern Washington [encompassing Kennewick, Pasco and Richland]. We are looking to see if there is clustering in the Tri-Cities area. But these studies are difficult given the mobility of the area's population, unknown exposure time and any delay in the development of MDS after exposure.

What is the usual treatment?
There are three FDA approved treatments. One is azacitidine, approved by the FDA in 2004 and marketed as Vidaza. Decitabine, sold as Dacogen and approved in 2010 to treat MDS, is another option. [The FDA's oncologic drugs advisory panel in February, however, recommended against the approval of Dacogen to treat older patients with AML. The drug's maker wants FDA approval to use Dacogen in AML patients 65 years and older and who are not considered good candidates for high-dose chemotherapy as an initial treatment for AML.] The third is lenalidomide, also known as Revlimid and introduced in 2004.

However, the only curative treatment is stem cell transplantation. Stem cells are infused just like a blood transfusion. Sources of stem cells include cord blood cells, peripheral blood mobilized stem cells or bone marrow. Success depends on the stage of disease. The one-year treatment related mortality is approximately 20 percent. If patients are transplanted in an early stage of the disease, we have a success rate of 80 percent.

Are there any promising treatments in late-stage testing?
Yes, there are several drugs being investigated in phase II and phase III trials. We currently have a phase III trial open with a drug called rigosertib for patients who have failed prior treatment with azacitidine or decitabine, which are known as demethylating agents. The proposed mechanism of action for these drugs is that they alter gene expression profiles in the cancer cells and increase their susceptibility to death. Rigosertib is a cell cycle inhibitor and would prevent the cancer cells from growing and induce direct damage to the cancer cells, causing their death.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=920d74b7be2c0b0108d262bd8a7ac2c2

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'Done...for you big boy;' How emails nailed Barclays

By Steve Slater and Kirstin Ridley , Reuters

LONDON -- "Done ... for you big boy," read a message sent by a Barclays banker to one of the lender's traders, who had asked him to fix a key lending rate artificially low.

"Dude, I owe you big time! Come over one day after work and I'm opening a bottle of Bollinger," a trader from another firm emailed a banker at Barclays, showing his thanks for the rate set artificially low.

UK-based Barclays has agreed to pay $453 million in fines to UK and U.S. regulators to settle its part of an investigation into whether banks manipulated the London Interbank Lending Rate, know as Libor.

Investigators were helped by extensive emails and other messages about Libor, a set of benchmarks designed to indicate the rate at which banks estimate they are able to lend to each other. Libor is used to set corporate and personal borrowing rates worldwide.

Communications released by authorities on Wednesday showed Barclays traders calling each other "superstar" and with little concern for covering their tracks as they urged colleagues responsible for submitting Barclays' Libor rates to try and influence final prices.

Requests came in such as: "We need a really low 3m fix, it could potentially cost a fortune. Would really appreciate any help."

And: "Your annoying colleague again ... Would love to get a high one month. Also if poss a low three month ... if poss ... thanks."

Traders made their requests in person, via email and through electronic "chats" over an instant messaging system.

On a few occasions, some traders even made entries in electronic calendars to remind themselves what requests to make of Barclays' Libor submitters the next day.

One trader would shout across the desk to make sure other traders had no conflicting preference to ask the Libor submitters.

"The traders were barking orders like they were at a fast food drive-through and the submitters were so accommodating that they might as well have said, 'do you want fries with that'," said Bart Chilton, a commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which led the settlement agreement.

Some 257 requests were made to rate submitters from at least 14 Barclays derivatives traders over four years. Traders at other banks also tried to influence Barclays' rate, while Barclays' traders put pressure on the rates offered by others.

Most of the world's biggest banks are under investigation as regulators from Europe, North America and Japan attempt to prove banks rigged rates. Barclays is the first to settle.

"This is the way you pull off deals like this chicken, don't talk about it too much, 2 months of preparation... the trick is you do not do this alone ... this is between you and me but really don't tell ANYBODY," a Barclays trader told a trader at another bank.

Investigators said Barclays derivatives traders got the bank to submit inaccurate rates between 2005 and 2008 so they could profit. The bank also submitted artificially low rates from September 2007 to May 2009 to ease fears it faced funding problems during the financial crisis.

Judging by the messages, Barclays was not alone in having an interest in lowering their submitted rates during the crisis to avoid signaling to markets their distress.

On one occasion, a manager said if Barclays submitted its correct rate, "It's going to cause a @!$%# storm," and the bank submitted a lower rate.

But the bank's treasury staff were beginning to become uneasy. In late 2007, Barclays told the UK Financial Services Authority and the British Bankers' Association, the trade body under whose auspices Libor is set, of its concerns that rivals were setting rates too low.

Months later, a senior Barclays treasury manager called the BBA and warned them that rates were not accurate, but that Barclays was not the worst offender.

"We're clean, but we're dirty clean, rather than clean-clean," he said.

"No-one's clean-clean," the BBA representative responded.?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/27/12443484-donefor-you-big-boy-how-emails-nailed-barclays?lite

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Computer learns to make oriental ink paintings

12 hrs.

John Roach

A computer has mastered Sumi-e, a style of oriental ink painting that conveys a scene with just a few, delicate brush strokes.

The accomplishment takes automated image manipulation to a new frontier, according to MIT?s Technology Review, and may open the door for a new photo app to compete with the likes of Instagram.

The challenge Ning Xie and colleagues at the Tokyo Institute of Technology faced was to get a computer to generate natural-looking brush strokes in a repeatable manner.

Previously, researchers have tackled the problem using a so-called dynamic programming approach, but doing so was computationally expensive and only produced a stroke for a specific shape.?

That?s a problem if you want to turn a snapshot of a flower vase on the table into a Sumi-e painting with the touch of a button and do it all again moments later with a picture of your child in a sandbox.

So, Xie?s team used a technique called reinforcement learning, whereby the computer was rewarded when it made nice, smooth lines for a variety of strokes but not when it stroked poorly.

In this way, the computer learned a library full of brush strokes and now calls on them at any time to create a Sumi-e painting.?

The only catch is that humans manually draw contours on a photo that the computer then fills in with strokes.

The technique is explained in a paper posted on arXiv.org and to be presented at the International Conference of Machine Learning in Edinburgh, Scotland.

"The results ... we think are of good quality," Xie and colleagues conclude.

??? Via Technology Review?

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

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BCS gets boot in favor of 4-team playoff

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The best way to determine a major college football champion seemed so obvious to so many for so long. Just have a playoff.

Now the people in charge of making that decision are on board, too.

Come 2014, the BCS is out. Playoffs are in.

A committee of university presidents approved a plan Tuesday for a four-team playoff put forward by commissioners of the top football conferences.

For years, the decision-makers had balked at any type of playoff because they said it would diminish the importance of the regular season. If only two teams had a chance to win a championship in the postseason, even one loss could be too many. That made for some high stakes regular-season matchups. As recently as 2008, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive proposed the type of plan adopted Tuesday, and it was quickly shot down.

Four years later, minds changed.

"It's a great day for college football," BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said. "As soon as the commissioners realized they could do this and protect the regular season, the light went on for everybody."

The move completes a six-month process for the commissioners, who have been working on a new way to determine a major college football champ after years of griping from fans. The latest configuration is certain to make even more money for the schools than the old system ? and it still won't satisfy everyone. Some will think it's too small and, yes, there are some who liked things just the way they are.

"There were differences of views," Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said. "I think it would be a serious mistake to assume it was a rubber stamp."

Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman was the most notable holdout. He had said that he preferred the status quo or a tweak of the Bowl Championship Series. Perlman said the playoff still wouldn't be his first choice, but he was not going to stand in the way of progress. After the commissioners presented their proposal to the presidents, it took the CEOs about an hour and a half to come to a decision.

"This is the package that was put forth and we will strongly support it," Perlman said.

Instead of simply matching the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 teams in a title game after the regular season, the way the BCS has done since 1998, the new format will create a pair of national semifinals.

The BCS has been a constant target for criticism. Lawmakers have railed against it. A political action committee was formed dedicated to its destruction. The Justice Department looked into whether it broke antitrust laws. Even President Obama said he wanted a playoff.

Now it's a reality.

No. 1 will play No. 4, and No. 2 will play No. 3 on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The sites of those games will rotate among six bowls. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., is guaranteed a spot, and the to-be-determined site of the newly formed bowl created by the SEC and Big 12 is likely to be another, Slive said.

The other current BCS bowls ? the Orange, Sugar and Fiesta ? are not yet guaranteed spots in the rotation, but will get first crack at bidding for them. The Cotton Bowl, played at the $1.1 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, has long wanted to be part of the BCS and will no doubt push to be a part of the rotation, possibly as host to the Big 12-SEC game.

The winners of the semis will advance to the championship on the first Monday in January that is six or more days after the last semifinal. The first "Championship Monday" is set for Jan. 12, 2015.

The site of the title game will move around the way the Super Bowl does, with cities bidding for the right to host.

The teams will be selected by a committee, similar to the way the NCAA basketball tournament field is set. The men's tournament has 68 teams, and 37 at-large bids.

The football committee will have a much tougher task, trying to whittle the field down to four. This season, 125 schools will play at the highest level of college football.

Among the factors the committee will consider is won-loss record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results and whether a team is a conference champion. The selection committee will also play a part in creating matchups for games at the four sites that do not hold a semifinal in a given year.

"I think it's tremendous progress," said Washington State coach Mike Leach, a playoff proponent. "Five years ago there wasn't even dialogue about a playoff. Instead of diving in the water, they dipped their toes in. I think it's' going to be ridiculously exciting and it's going to generate a bunch of money. I wish they dived in."

Leach predicted that the playoff field would eventually grow.

Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, on the other hand, was happy to keep it small, and wants it to stay that way.

"I may be in the minority. I think we had a pretty good thing going," he said. "If it stays at four I think it will be fine. Think it will be pretty exciting."

No one has put a hard number on it yet, but this new format figures to more than double the TV revenue of the current BCS and Rose Bowl contracts. Those pay out about $155 million annually.

The commissioners want to lock in this format for 12 years with a television partner. The current BCS deal with ESPN runs through the 2013 season. The new format will be presented to potential TV partners in the fall, starting with ESPN.

There are still some details to work out, such as who will be on the committee and how exactly the money will be distributed among the conferences. But everybody in charge is on board.

While lower divisions of college football already have a playoff, the highest level has for decades used bowls and polls to determine its champion. Those days are coming to an end.

"A milestone that's good for college football," Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford called it.

And a long time coming.

___

ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

___

Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphdrussoAP

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College Students to Recieve Less Financial Aid

June 28, 2012, 12:37 pm

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Starting this fall, college students will be getting less financial aid from California.

?? Gov. Jerry Brown announced Thursday that he vetoed $195 million from the final budget he signed - more than $22 million of that by speeding up reductions to the Cal Grants program, which provides grants to qualified college students.

?? The Legislature had approved a 6 percent cut starting next fall but the governor cited the state's financial problems for moving up 5 percent of the cut to the 2012-13 academic year. Students who qualify for the top award will see a drop of about $500 to $9,223, another roughly $150 cut in 2013-14 and then a dramatic decrease to $8,000 in 2014-15.

?? Students attending qualified private, for-profit schools will be cut to $4,000 starting next year.

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Key dates in EU antitrust action against Microsoft

FILE - This set of flagpoles sits at one of the entrances to Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash., in this Oct.19, 1998 file photo. The General Court of the European Union has upheld most of a massive fine against Microsoft Corp. by the European Commission's competition watchdog in 2008. In a ruling Wednesday, June 27, 2012, it rejected Microsoft's appeal but did cut the fine by ?39 million to ?860 million ($1.1 billion). (AP Photo/Joe Brokert, File)

Brussels (AP) ? A European appeals court on Wednesday upheld most of a massive penalty levied against Microsoft Corp., ending the company's 14-year legal struggle with the continent's competition regulators.

The EU probe was triggered by a 1998 complaint that Microsoft wouldn't give Sun Microsystems some technical information needed for Sun's server software to communicate with Microsoft's Windows desktop operating system. The EU looked more broadly into whether Microsoft had abused its near-monopoly over Windows to corner other markets, including server software, internet browsers and streaming media software.

Here's how the case developed:

? March 24, 2004: The European Commission finds Microsoft guilty. It fines the company ?497 million ($613 million). It also orders Microsoft to share technical documents with rivals and market a version of Windows without a media player.

? June 15, 2005: After losing an appeal, Microsoft makes Windows XP N ? without Media Player ? available. There are few takers. The same month, EU also raises concerns about usability of Microsoft's technical documents.

? July 12, 2006: EU decides Microsoft isn't obeying the 2004 decision and penalizes it an additional ?280.5 million ($357 million).

? March 1, 2007: EU threatens Microsoft with even more penalties as it accuses the company of further noncompliance by setting royalty fees too high for technical documents.

? Oct. 22: Microsoft agrees to slash fees for the technical documents. It also offers access to open source developers and others for a one-time fee of ?10,000. Though this resolves key parts of the dispute, the EU says Microsoft is still subject to penalties for noncompliance until then.

? Jan. 14, 2008: Following a complaint by Web browser developer Opera Software ASA, the EU announces it is investigating Microsoft again. This time, it's on suspicion of abusing its market position by squeezing out other Internet browsers and software rivals dependent on Microsoft programs.

? Feb. 27: EU regulators impose a ?899 million penalty ($1.3 billion) ? a record at the time ? for failing to fully comply with the 2004 antitrust order. This is on top of the fine imposed in 2004 and the penalty of 2006 and brings the total to nearly ?1.7 billion.

? May 9: Microsoft announces it has appealed the penalty.

? Jan. 16, 2009: The European Commission orders Microsoft to untie its Internet Explorer browser from Windows.

? July 24: Microsoft agrees to offer a choice of rival Web browsers on Windows to ward off new European Union antitrust fines.

? Dec. 16: The European Union drops the browser case after Microsoft after the company agrees to give Windows users in Europe a choice of up to 12 other Web browsers. This ends all of the EU's active cases against Microsoft, though the appeal of the 2008 fine remains pending.

? Wednesday: The General Court of the European Union rejects Microsoft's appeal of the 2008 penalty, but reduces it to ?860 million, ending the case.

Associated Press

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The Biggest Winner of Google I/O: ASUS

No, nothing really beats skydivers landing on top of the building where Google I/O is taking place?all while recording the whole spectacle wearing Project Glass specs. But when you look beyond that stunt it?s easy to see who the bigger winner is of this heavily attended annual show: ASUS. The company managed to crank out a $199 Kindle Fire killer in four months. This is a product that should send shivers down the spines of Amazon, Samsung and anyone else who makes an Android slate.

While there?s a lot of debate as to whether 7-inch tablets have staying power, the success of the Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet prove that consumers have an appetite for devices that are primarily geared toward content consumption and gaming. Why have sales trailed off for the Fire in particular? Partly because of the third-generation iPad 3 and partly because consumers aren?t willing to live with the limitations of that device. There?s no front-facing camera, and you don?t get access to Google?s suite of applications.

The Nexus 7 made by ASUS offers full access to the Google Play store while taking a page out of Amazon?s playbook by putting content front and center. Magazines, TV shows, movies all get heavily promoted on this device. And with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, users can enjoy exciting new features like Google Now, which remembers what you searched to help you do everything from find the best route to take to work to keep up to date on your favorite sports teams.

But none of these benefits would matter without sexy and powerful hardware, which ASUS has pulled off for a very tantalizing price. The Nexus 7 packs a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor , 1280 x 800-pixel IPS screen, and front-facing camera inside a device that feels solid and weighs only 12 ounces. The Kindle Fire has a dual-core CPU, a lower-res 1024 x 600-pixel screen and lacks a camera.

The Nexus 7 does have some drawbacks, including the lack of a microSD card slot for expanding the meager 8GB of internal storage (a 16GB version sells for $249). In addition, while the screen is bright and scratch-resistant, it?s reflective surface will make it difficult to use outdoors. Yup, e-ink readers are still your best bet for the beach.

But for the $199 price ASUS looks like it has a hit on its hands. It?s really up to Google to market this device and get the right distribution channels in place to capitalize on the early buzz. (Selling this device through the Google Play store alone won?t work.) After all, the Kindle Fire 2 is just around the corner, and it won?t be long before other competitors step up their low-cost slate game. For now, though, ASUS has stolen the thunder from a lot of other companies heading into the crucial back-to-school shopping season.

How did ASUS do it? According to chairman Jonney Shih, it?s all about speed. In an interview with AllThingsD, Shih said that he dedicated an entire team of workers to make the Nexus 7 a reality, moving several members to Silicon Valley to create a 24-hour development cycle.

This is not an anomaly. ASUS also completely revamped its Ultrabook in a short period of time, adding a fantastic 1080p IPS display and ripping out the keyboard to improve the typing experience. As a result, the Zenbook Prime is our favorite product in that category. So right now ASUS has the most compelling low-cost tablet and the best Ultrabook. That?s a pretty impressive one-two punch for a company whose fortunes were tied to netbooks not long ago.

At times ASUS can be overly ambitious, such as with the Padfone. The product has yet to come to the U.S. but reviewers who have tried this combination phone and tablet say that it was a little clunky. But that?s the great thing about ASUS. It responds faster and innovates faster than anyone else, and now it?s about to reap the rewards.

Editor-in-chief Mark Spoonauer directs LAPTOP?s online and print editorial content and has been covering mobile and wireless technology for over a decade. Each week Mark?s?SpoonFed?column provides his insights and analysis of the biggest mobile trends and news. You can also follow?him on twitter.

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'Game Of Thrones' Replaces George W. Bush Look-Alike

Severed head resembling former president, once seen skewered on the walls of King's Landing, has been digitally replaced on HBO series.
By Josh Wigler

George W. Bush's likeness on a severed head in "Game of Thrones"
Photo:

Former President George W. Bush has lost his head — again.

"Game of Thrones" made headlines earlier this month when it was revealed that one of the heads lining the walls of King's Landing in the season one finale resembled the former U.S. commander-in-chief. HBO responded by immediately issuing an apology, pulling the episode from their streaming and online services, and even halting home-video shipments of the season.

Now, the episode is back online, and Bush's head has been erased, the Washington Post reports. In his stead is a generic, weak-chinned Westerosi, with a sad frown that pretty much epitomizes the unexpectedly dramatic situation.

George W. Bush's Head and Other 'Game of Thrones' Controversies

When word first hit about the likeness of Bush's severed head appearing on "Thrones," HBO officials were quick to release an apologetic statement: "We were deeply dismayed to see this and find it unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste ... we made this clear to the executive producers of the series who apologized immediately for this inadvertent careless mistake. We are sorry this happened and will have it removed from any future DVD production."

For their part, executive producers and co-showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — who first pointed out the resemblance to Bush in a DVD commentary track, which was then picked up and widely reported by an eagle-eyed Reddit user — followed suit with an apology of their own.

"We use a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show: heads, arms, etc. We can't afford to have these all made from scratch, especially in scenes where we need a lot of them, so we rent them in bulk," the pair said in a joint statement. "After the scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush."

Well, no one can say the head looks like Bush now, can they? Then again, from the right angle, in the right light ...

Sound off about the "Game of Thrones" Bush controversy in the comments below!

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Ronaldo stands by as Portugal goes out

By GRAHAM DUNBAR

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:26 p.m. ET June 27, 2012

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) -Cristiano Ronaldo watched helplessly as the penalty shootout drama passed him by.

The Portugal captain, and star attraction at the European Championship, stood slightly apart from his teammates on Wednesday as they watched Spain advance to the final. The defending champions won the shootout 4-2 after a 0-0 draw.

Ronaldo never even got to take his kick.

Ronaldo was fifth in line to step up to the spot - a strategy rendered worthless when the Spanish, who kicked first, sent their fifth man Cesc Fabregas to seal victory.

However, Portugal coach Paulo Bento says "I don't regret anything" about the order of penalty takers.

Bento says: "We had defined before what would be the best conditions to succeed."

More news

Spain ousts Portugal in PKs

PST: Cesc Fabregas scored the deciding penalty Wednesday to give Spain a 4-2 shootout win over Portugal and a spot in the European Championship final.

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Double the sales tax? Japanese see hit to wallets, little impact on national debt

Japan's lower house of parliament voted today to double the sales tax. The bill still has to pass the upper house, and many question if it can make a significant dent in Japan's massive public debt.

By Gavin Blair,?Correspondent / June 26, 2012

Demonstrators shout slogans during an anti-sales tax hike rally in front of the Diet building in Tokyo on June 26.

Itsuo Inouye/AP

Enlarge

Japan?s lower house of parliament today passed a controversial bill to double the consumption tax to 10 percent. The move comes as the country grapples to rein in its public debt, set to hit one quadrillion ? 1,000 trillion ? yen ($12.6 trillion) this fiscal year.

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The bill, which still has to make its way through the upper house, will increase the sales tax to 8 percent in 2014 and 10 percent in 2015. Some are concerned that the tax increase could dampen already fragile consumption in the world?s third-largest economy, and that it won?t raise enough money to make a significant dent in the growing debt mountain.

?Everybody knows a debt crisis is coming,? says Martin Schulz, senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo, ?most people in Japan are simply closing their eyes to it.?

After months of political wrangling, the bill was approved by a resounding 363 to 96 votes, with the support of the two main opposition parties.

?We have taken a big first step toward reform, both for the sake of present-day Japanese and for future generations,? Prime Minister Yoshihiro Noda told reporters after the vote.

However, 57 members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, led by powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, voted against the government. This raises the prospect of a mass defection that could rob Mr. Noda of his parliamentary majority.

How high of a deficit can one country sustain?

According to Ministry of Finance statistics, debt now represents 230 percent of Japan?s $5.5 trillion economy, compared with 165 percent in crisis-stricken Greece and America?s 100 percent debt. While more than 90 percent of Japanese debt is still owned domestically, meaning there is no immediate danger of the kind of external pressure that crippled Greece, Japan is now in uncharted waters for a modern industrial economy, and the potential consequences for the world economy are exponentially more severe.

Japan is also the second-largest foreign holder of American debt behind China, with approximately a trillion dollars in US Treasury bonds. The Japanese government would have to consider selling at least some of these reserves to raise funds if servicing its own debt at home became problematic. That, in turn, could increase the cost of borrowing for the US government, putting further pressure on its also creaking public finances.

However, selling US treasuries would be ?very politically sensitive,? according to?Dr. Schulz, and something Japan would do its best to avoid.

Over the years, Japan has managed to sustain such astronomically high levels of debt in part by borrowing at very low interest rates from its own citizens and corporations, essentially drawing on high household saving rates and huge trade surpluses. With both of these now dwindling, however, that lifeline may soon be cut.

A one-time nation of savers

Some 20 years ago, Japanese households saved nearly 15 percent of their incomes ? the rate for the US was less than half that. By 2011, saving rates in the US had fallen to 3.6 percent, but in Japan they had plummeted to 3.2 percent.? ?

With Japan recording its first trade deficit in 31 years in 2011, and a return to surpluses looking unlikely due to the declining competitiveness of its export industries, fresh funds to pay for its ballooning debts are going to be harder to come by.

Half of the government?s annual budget is now funded by issued debt, and options for bringing it under control are limited.

Takashi Shiono, an economist at Credit Suisse in Tokyo, says the government is ?almost ignoring the debt except for trying to raise the consumption tax.? ?However, Mr. Shiono believes that as long as the government can keep borrowing from the still considerable pool of Japanese household assets, and the trade deficit doesn?t worsen severely, the debt will remain manageable.

How to escape downward spiral

The best chance of Japan escaping this downward spiral would be a period of sustained economic growth, something that looks unlikely with an aging, shrinking population and increasingly strong competition for its industries from lower-cost and more innovative Asian rivals.

And even growth would bring its own perils.??

If the economy did improve meaningfully, some inflation would be inevitable, leading to a rise in interest rates. Even a small rise in the cost of borrowing for the government would make it impossible to pay the interest on its vast debt. The most likely resulting scenarios are either rampant inflation or default.

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