Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295603264?client_source=feed&format=rss
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রবিবার, ৩১ মার্চ, ২০১৩
The Science of Storytelling: Live Stream on Saturday, 10 PM EDT
A panel of well-known scientists, intellectuals and writers will discuss the stories behind cutting-edge science, as well as the importance of conveying science to the public at an event set for March 30
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Watch a live stream below of an event, "The Science of Storytelling and the Storytelling of Science." The event, set for 10 pm EDT on Saturday, March 30,?will feature popular science educator Bill Nye, Hayden Planetarium astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, theoretical physicist Brian Breene, Science Friday's Ira Flatow, science fiction writer Neal Stephenson, World Science Festival Executive Director Tracy Day and Lawrence Krauss, director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University (ASU).?
The panelists will discuss stories behind the science of the origin of the universe as well as technologies that will change our future. Other topics will include the importance of public understanding of science and how to convey the excitement of science. The event is the final night in the Origins Stories Weekend, part of the Origins Project at ASU.?
Get the most recent updates from the Origins Project by following it on Twitter (@asuORIGINS) and Facebook (/ASUOriginsProject). The Twitter hashtag for the event is #OriginsStories.
Live stream videos at Ustream
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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=bb3e0af576e2c95f902b0a90aa59c57c
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NKorea says it is in a 'state of war' with SKorea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea warned Seoul on Saturday that the Korean Peninsula had entered "a state of war" and threatened to shut down a border factory complex that's the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.
Analysts say a full-scale conflict is extremely unlikely, noting that the Korean Peninsula has remained in a technical state of war for 60 years. But the North's continued threats toward Seoul and Washington, including a vow to launch a nuclear strike, have raised worries that a misjudgment between the sides could lead to a clash.
In Washington, the White House said Saturday that the United States is taking seriously the new threats by North Korea but also noted Pyongyang's history of "bellicose rhetoric."
North Korea's threats are seen as efforts to provoke the new government in Seoul, led by President Park Geun-hye, to change its policies toward Pyongyang, and to win diplomatic talks with Washington that could get it more aid. North Korea's moves are also seen as ways to build domestic unity as young leader Kim Jong Un strengthens his military credentials.
On Thursday, U.S. military officials revealed that two B-2 stealth bombers dropped dummy munitions on an uninhabited South Korean island as part of annual defense drills that Pyongyang sees as rehearsals for invasion. Hours later, Kim ordered his generals to put rockets on standby and threatened to strike American targets if provoked.
North Korea said in a statement Saturday that it would deal with South Korea according to "wartime regulations" and would retaliate against any provocations by the United States and South Korea without notice.
"Now that the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK have entered into an actual military action, the inter-Korean relations have naturally entered the state of war," said the statement, which was carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, referring to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Provocations "will not be limited to a local war, but develop into an all-out war, a nuclear war," the statement said.
Hours after the statement, Pyongyang threatened to shut down the jointly run Kaesong industrial park, expressing anger over media reports suggesting the complex remained open because it was a source of hard currency for the impoverished North.
"If the puppet group seeks to tarnish the image of the DPRK even a bit, while speaking of the zone whose operation has been barely maintained, we will shut down the zone without mercy," an identified spokesman for the North's office controlling Kaesong said in comments carried by KCNA.
South Korea's Unification Ministry responded by calling the North Korean threat "unhelpful" to the countries' already frayed relations and vowed to ensure the safety of hundreds of South Korean managers who cross the border to their jobs in Kaesong. It did not elaborate.
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said the country's military remains mindful of the possibility that increasing North Korean drills near the border could lead to an actual provocation.
"The series of North Korean threats ? announcing all-out war, scrapping the cease-fire agreement and the non-aggression agreement between the South and the North, cutting the military hotline, entering into combat posture No. 1 and entering a 'state of war' ? are unacceptable and harm the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula," Kim said.
"We are maintaining full military readiness in order to protect our people's lives and security," he told reporters Saturday.
In Washington, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, noted the "reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea."
"We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies," Hayden said. "But, we would also note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats, and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern."
The White House has stressed the U.S. government's capability and willingness to defend itself and its allies and interests in the region, if necessary.
"We remain fully prepared and capable of defending and protecting the United States and our allies," Hayden said.
The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Naval skirmishes in the disputed waters off the Korean coast have led to bloody battles several times over the years.
But on the streets of Seoul on Saturday, South Koreans said they were not worried about an attack from North Korea.
"From other countries' point of view, it may seem like an extremely urgent situation," said Kang Tae-hwan, a private tutor. "But South Koreans don't seem to be that nervous because we've heard these threats from the North before."
The Kaesong industrial park, which is run with North Korean labor and South Korean know-how, has been operating normally, despite Pyongyang shutting down a communications channel typically used to coordinate travel by South Korean workers to and from the park just across the border in North Korea. The rivals are now coordinating the travel indirectly, through an office at Kaesong that has outside lines to South Korea.
North Korea has previously made such threats about Kaesong without acting on them, and recent weeks have seen a torrent of bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang. North Korea is angry about the South Korea-U.S. military drills and new U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test last month.
Dozens of South Korean firms run factories in the border town of Kaesong. Using North Korea's cheap, efficient labor, the Kaesong complex produced $470 million worth of goods last year.
___
Associated Press White House reporter Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
___
Follow Sam Kim at www.twitter.com/samkim_ap.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nkorea-says-state-war-skorea-014344604.html
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শুক্রবার, ২৯ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Amazon acquires Goodreads, aims to make better recommendations for Kindle users
So, Amazon has a reading platform called Kindle. Goodreads has a platform that makes fairly excellent suggestions when it comes to reading materials. You probably see where this is going. This evening, Amazon announced that it was acquiring one of the more popular reading recommendation engines, and while the outfit isn't making clear what it plans to do with the technology, it shouldn't take a scholar to see how it'd bolster Amazon's Kindle reader line as well as its array of Kindle apps. (What'll happen to Shelfari, however, is perhaps a bigger mystery.)
Russ Grandinetti, Amazon's vice president of Kindle Content noted that "Goodreads has helped change how we discover and discuss books and, with Kindle, Amazon has helped expand reading around the world -- together, we intend to build many new ways to delight readers and authors alike." It's entirely likely that this will add another social angle to the Kindle framework, further establishing an ecosystem where friends could see suggestions based on what they're independently reading through their own Kindle accounts. The companies are expecting the deal to be finalized in Q2, which suggests that we'll see a proper integration just as back-to-school season begins. Right, guys?
Filed under: Amazon
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/amazon-acquires-goodreads-kindle-recommendation-engine/
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Organization: Five Ways to Organize Craft Supplies - The Country ...
#1 Lazy Susan
A Lazy Susan is one of the standards of organization. ?Even craft supplies can be corralled into this easy to access organizing accessory. ?You will need:
#2 Magnetic Board
Let?s get some of our craft supplies up and onto the wall. ?A magnetic board is perfect for this. ?You will need:
#3 File It Away
Consumer Crafts also sells a variety of?craft storage solutions?that are perfect for filing away your craft supplies. ?I used this?card keeper?to file away my peel and stick stamps. ?Find an organizer the correct size, fill it up, add labels, and you are on your way to an organized craft area. ?Those file boxes are not just for the office ladies! ?Think outside of the box when it comes to typical office storage solutions.#4 Chalk Board Labels
Speaking of labels, chalkboard makes a wonderful label option as it can be changed as your storage needs change. ?Get these?full size self stick chalkboard sheets?to label all of your craft supplies. ?They can be easily cut with your electronic craft cutter, die cutter, craft knife, or scissors. ?Perfect for any organizing effort so be sure to pick up several packages.#5 Put it in a Jar
Glass jars are a standard in my organizing efforts. ?Consumer Crafts sells so many options that you can find a jar for every organization problem. ?From small to large:
So when all else fails, put your craft supplies in a jar. ?They will look instantly organized. ?The small glass cruets are my absolutely favorite! ?They corral those?miniature craft supplies in style.
Source: http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2013/03/organization-five-ways-to-organize.html
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Google to deliver goods quickly to online shoppers
This undated photo provided by Google shows a Google Shopping express van. Internet search leader Google is taking another step beyond information retrieval into grocery delivery. The new service, called Google Shopping Express, will initially provide same-day delivery of food and other products bought online by a small group of consumers in San Francisco and suburbs located south of the city. (AP Photo/Google)
This undated photo provided by Google shows a Google Shopping express van. Internet search leader Google is taking another step beyond information retrieval into grocery delivery. The new service, called Google Shopping Express, will initially provide same-day delivery of food and other products bought online by a small group of consumers in San Francisco and suburbs located south of the city. (AP Photo/Google)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Internet search leader Google is taking another step beyond information retrieval into grocery delivery.
The new service, called Google Shopping Express, will initially provide same-day delivery of food and other products bought online by a small group of consumers in San Francisco and suburbs located south of the city. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., didn't say how many people will be part of the test.
If the pilot program goes well, Google Inc. plans to expand delivery service to other markets.
"We hope this will help users explore the benefits of a local, same-day delivery service, and help us kick the tires on the new service," Google said in a Thursday statement.
The delivery service is part of Google's effort to increase consumer reliance on the Internet, so it will have more opportunities to show online ads, which generate most of its revenue.
Google has learned that the more time people spend online, the more likely they are to use its dominant search engine or one of its other popular services, like its YouTube video site or Gmail, that include advertising.
The delivery service also could spur merchants to buy more online ads if Google's same-day delivery service encourages consumers to do more of their shopping online. Having to wait days or, in some cases, more than a week for the delivery of online orders ranks among the biggest drawbacks to Internet shopping.
It's a problem that Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc., which operate the largest e-commerce sites, already have been trying to solve by offering same-day service in some U.S. markets. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, also offers same-day delivery in five markets.
A mix of national, regional and neighborhood merchants are enlisting in Google Shopping Express. The best-known names on the list include Target Inc. and Walgreen Co. All the merchants in the Google program will sell certain items through a central website. Google has hired courier services to pick up the orders at the merchant stores and then deliver them to the customer's home or office.
Although the couriers will be working on a contract basis, they will be driving Google trucks and wearing company-issued uniforms.
It remains unclear whether Internet shopping and same-day delivery can be profitable. Online grocer Webvan collapsed in 2001, largely because it couldn't devise a pricing plan that would pay for the costs of same-day delivery without alienating shoppers unwilling to pay too much extra for the added convenience.
Google is still trying to figure out how much to charge for its same-day delivery service. For the six-month test period in the San Francisco area, consumers won't have to pay a surcharge. Google instead will receive a commission from participating merchants.
The expansion into same-day delivery comes at the same time that Google is preparing to close some of its older online services so it can devote more attention and money to other projects.
The realignment has irked some Google users. The biggest complaints have centered on Google Reader, which allows people to automatically receive headlines and links from their favorite sites, and iGoogle, which allows Web surfers to design a page consisting of the Google search engine surrounded set up other online features, such as local weather reports and stock market quotes.
Google Reader is scheduled to close in July and iGoogle will shut down in November.
Google shares fell $8.47 to close at $794.19 on Thursday.
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Those Angry Days
Today we think of it as 'The Good War.' But Lynne Olson's excellent new book reminds us that, once upon a time, the question of US involvement in World War II was at least as contentious as Vietnam.?
Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America?s Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941 by Lynne Olson Random House, 520 pp.
EnlargeLynne Olson is best known for ?Citizens of London,? her 2010 bestseller about Americans who lived in London during the early days of World War II ? and their valor and ingenuity in advancing a US role in England?s success against the Nazis. She is also the author of ?Troublesome Young Men,? a 2007 chronicle of the upstart Tories who propelled Winston Churchill to the leadership of wartime Britain.
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In Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America?s Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941, as in her earlier projects, Olsen focuses on a handful of key figures to plumb the broader historical currents sweeping events toward a dramatic milestone. ?Those Angry Days? also invites comparison to Olsen?s other work in revisiting one of her abiding preoccupations: the intersection between politics and war.
?Those Angry Days? takes its title from Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a New Deal Democrat and aide to John F. Kennedy who noted that the intensity of feeling regarding early US involvement in World War II has been largely forgotten. In the days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, when American interests in the widening global conflagration seemed less clear, the rift between isolationists and interventionists in the United States was wide and deep, said Schlesinger, who called the division ?the most savage?political debate of my lifetime.? He added this observation: ?There have been a number of fierce national quarrels ? over communism in the later Forties, over McCarthyism in the Fifties, over Vietnam in the Sixties ? but none so tore apart families and friendships as this fight.?
As Olsen notes in this absorbing chronicle, the bitterness of that debate has been obscured in postwar histories that focus on American unity and resolve after Dec. 7, 1941. In ?Those Angry Days,? she assigns herself the task of recreating the splintered political climate of 1939-1941, when American policy toward the war was very much in a state of flux.
?Those Angry Days? promises to benefit from some good timing, coming as it does on the heels of ?Lincoln,? the widely discussed Steven Spielberg film in which a compelling moral ideal ? in this case, racial equality ? operates against a backdrop of political expedience and sordid compromises. In Olsen?s story, the evolution of America?s role in World War II, a conflict now remembered as "The Good War" fought by "The Greatest Generation," reveals equally imperfect political realities.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/4xPK40iVUvk/Those-Angry-Days
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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৮ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Mate choice in mice is heavily influenced by paternal cues, mouse study shows
Mar. 28, 2013 ? Hybrid offspring of different house mice populations show a preference for mating with individuals from their father's original population.
Mate choice is a key factor in the evolution of new animal species. The choice of a specific mate can decisively influence the evolutionary development of a species. In mice, the attractiveness of a potential mate is conveyed by scent cues and ultrasonic vocalizations. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Pl?n investigated whether house mice (Mus musculus) would mate with each other even if they were from two populations which had been separated from each other for a long time period. To do this, the researchers brought together mice from a German population and mice from a French population. Although to begin with all the mice mated with one another randomly, the hybrid offspring of French and German parents were distinctly more choosy: they showed a definite preference for mating with individuals from their father's original population. According to the researchers, this paternal imprinting accelerates the divergence of two house mouse populations and thus promotes speciation.
In allopatric speciation, individuals of a species become geographically isolated from each other by external factors such as mountains or estuaries. Over time, this geographic separation leads to the sub-populations undergoing various mutations, and thus diverging genetically. Animals from the two different sub-populations can no longer successfully reproduce, so two new species evolve.
To find out what role partner selection plays in such speciation processes, Diethard Tautz from the Max Planck Institutefor Evolutionary Biology and his colleagues conducted a comprehensive study on house mice -- the classic model organisms of biology. "To investigate whether there are differences in the mating behaviour of the mice in the early stages of speciation, we caught wild house mice in southern France and western Germany. The two populations have been geographically separate for around 3,000 years, which equates to some 18,000 generations," says Diethard Tautz. Due to this geographical separation, the French and German mice were genetically different.
The Pl?n-based researchers created a semi-natural environment for their investigations -- a sort of "Playboy Mansion" for mice. The research enclosure was several square meters in size and was divided up using wooden walls, "nests" made out of plastic cylinders, and plastic tubes. It also featured an escape tube with several entrances, which led into a cage system nearby. "We constructed the enclosure in such a way that all animals had unimpeded access to all areas, but thanks to the structural divisions were also able to create their own territories or retreat into nests," explains Tautz. "The escape tube was a control element. If the mice retreated to it only very seldom -- as was the case in our experiment -- then we could be sure there was no overpopulation in the central enclosure."
In this central enclosure, the French and German mice had both time and space to mate with each other and reproduce. "At first, all the mice mated with each other quite randomly. But with the first-generation offspring, a surprising pattern emerged," says Tautz. When the first-generation hybrid offspring of mixed French and German parentage mated, they showed a specific preference for pure-bred mates whose "nationality" was that of their father only. "There must be some kind of paternal influence that prompts the hybrid mice to choose a mate from a specific population, namely that of their father," concludes the biologist, based on the results of his study. "This imprinting must be learned, however, meaning that the animals must grow up in the presence of their fathers. This was not the case for the original mice, which were kept in cages for a time after being caught."
"We know that mice use ultrasonic vocalizations to communicate with each other and that particularly in the case of male mice these vocalizations can reveal signals of individuality and kinship. We believe that, like birdsong, the vocalizations of the males have a learned component and a genetic component," says Tautz. Therefore, French and German mice really could "speak" different languages, partly learned from their fathers, partly inherited from them. Individual mice thus have a mating preference for mice that speak the same language as they do.
The French and German mouse populations had evidently been geographically separated long enough for preliminary signs of species differentiation to be apparent as regards mating preferences. In addition, another aspect of mating behavior also sped up the speciation process. Although mice have multiple mates, the researchers found evidence of partner fidelity and inbreeding. The tendency to mate with relatives fosters the creation of genetically uniform groups. When both occur together, this accelerates the speciation process.
In a next step, Diethard Tautz wants to find out whether the vocalizations of the mice play the decisive role in paternal imprinting, or if scent cues are also involved. Furthermore, the biologist wants to identify the genes that are involved in mate selection.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Inka Montero, Meike Tesche and Diethard Tautz. Paternal imprinting of mating preferences between natural populations of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus). Molecular Ecology, 2013 DOI: 10.111/mec.122271
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/oUt1DL9X6YE/130328125331.htm
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Creative Writing ? Continuum by Smriti Parikh, SYBMM, Sophia ...
They have gone. The room is empty. She is not at all sure that she understands. He has decided everything without even giving her a chance to speak. It is only the stale, cold, unmoving air that tells Ayesha that she is now alone.
In her head, the words still reverberated. ?ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! DON?T WANT ANYONE?S ADVICE OR SYMPATHY! SHE ISN?T DYING OKAY? SHE IS VERYMUCH ALIVE AND VERY MUCH CAPABLE OF DOING EVERYTHING BETTER THAN YOU AND I! I WANT EVERYONE OUT OF OUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW!? He yelled. First time in the whole of eight years that she had known him, he yelled. Even in his anger he cared for her. He hadn?t changed.
When the air failed to move for a few more minutes, she whispered, ?Sameer?? She strained her ears to listen to the shuffle of his feet, even his exasperated sigh, but there was nothing. She was alone, her and darkness, for the first time in two months.
It had been two months now since Ayesha had lost her eyesight. One fateful day had changed the way Ayesha looked at her life. In fact, it barred her from looking at anything at all. It was the 26th of March and it had been raining on their anniversary like always. Sameer was singing in his croaky voice when out of nowhere another bike cut their way and Sameer lost control of his own bike. In a moment, the world turned upside down and Ayesha slid all the way down the flyover with the bike on top of her. Sameer remained motionless on the top, unconscious. When he opened his eyes he saw everyone staring at him with moist pupils but his wife. Soon enough he was told that Ayesha had suffered a traumatic head injury which had damaged her retinal muscles completely. It struck the daylights out of Sameer to know that Ayesha, the only person who mattered to her, will never be able to see the light of day.
Ayesha had taken it in a different stride all together. She was dejected and angry at the same time but she never blamed Sameer. She knew that it wasn?t his fault. She knew he would never hurt her even in her dreams. But those first few weeks were gruesome.
After waking up every morning, she would lie in her bed for ages, trying to stretch her eyelids apart with all her might, hoping that maybe if she tore her iris apart by pushing them hard enough, she will be able to see a tiny speck of light one morning. Tired, she would get up; put her feet down on the ground to find her slippers at the same bloody place every day. Furious, she would kick them only to convince herself that she will be able to find them again. Some days she would, some days she would fail and most of the days she ended up crying. She would feel nervous when she would feel Sameer?s piercing gaze at her back, the only man who would pray that may she walk to the bathroom without stumbling into the furniture; furniture which disappeared every day, one piece at a time, just like Ayesha?s passion. She would feel ashamed when Sameer would strip her to give her a bath and excited when his fingers would run down her spine. She would be frustrated every time Sameer would sigh at her naked beauty and angry when he decided against making love to his blind wife. When Sameer would leave for work, Ayesha would sit in front of the muted TV. She would continue staring at it till Sameer came home and would only move when he lifted her up to feed her. She often wondered whether Sameer cried when he saw her scribbling random letters on a paper, when he saw her genius slip away in vain with each drop of ink. At night, Ayesha couldn?t differentiate between her dream and her reality. Because all she ever saw now, was black.
After three weeks, Ayesha had accustomed herself to everything ?new?. She got used to the stumbling and the black holes in her life while Sameer continued his occasional sobbing through the night. Until one night when Ayesha bared herself to him, took his hand and put it on her breasts. She knew Sameer wanted to love her and she knew she wanted to be loved. As the night dropped down so did her inhibition and the fear that Sameer did not love her anymore. The bodies melted together in unison as the hot summer sky ignited their passions even more. Next morning the slippers weren?t where they should be and Ayesha was happy.
Ayesha began familiarizing herself to her own house. At ten steps to the front was her dresser and at 27 to the right was her bathroom. She had started cooking too. In a week she figured out how her OCD-struck mind had organized the whole kitchen. Her hours of sitting idle in front of the TV were replaced by her obsession, writing. Her whole existence had found meaning in those five hours when she would write for her online magazine. She found happiness in doing things that she would have found tiresome otherwise. She would go to dinner every Sunday with Sameer. She started listening to things which no one else could hear. The chirp of the bird in the cacophonic city life of Bombay, the click of the lock at 6.15 sharp every evening when Sameer would come, the periodic dripping sound of water echoing through the house, and the soft ?tsk? of Sameer?s kiss on her lips. Every sound meant something to her now. For her, everything that was simple earlier had become complex except for her life. Overnight, a complex whole of her had become so simple that she no longer recognized herself.
Sameer too had realized that Ayesha was the same person if not physically different. The sway of her hips was still breathtaking and her hair left the same fragrance in every room she had stepped into. Her food had the same phenomenal taste and her eyes?well her eyes were deeper now. As vacant as they looked, they held so much of meaning. As much sorrow as they held within them, they still managed to make him laugh every time they crinkled at the edges. If possible he had fallen in love with this new Ayesha who had embraced life in her own unique way.
Together both of them wove themselves into a comfortable routine of life. Everything continued to go on as normally as it could till two days ago.
Ayesha stood in front of the mirror, gazing at something she could not even see. Her hand stuck to her belly. It was 6.10. Five more minutes and Sameer was to come home. She had never been more scared and excited at the same time. Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok. Each second punctuated her life. Click. She could hear his footsteps approaching. There was a certain bounce in them, she decided. Her heart dove deeper and deeper. Finally Sameer?s touch, he hugged her from behind and whispered, ?You?re pregnant!?
The entire world came to a standstill. She could hear his smile but she could hear the scream of her own heart as well. She was joyous, no doubt, this was what she always wanted, but things were different back then. She clutched her stomach and sat on the ground. She couldn?t breathe for one more minute. She let out a piercing wail and hugged her own knees. For her it was almost like fire licking her already charred soul. To know that you will never be able to see your own child, it had to be God?s cruel game.
Sameer, confused and befuddled, asked what happened. How would he know? How could Ayesha tell that she was jealous of her own husband? Thick tears trickled down her cheek and onto his shirt as she held onto her husband tightly. Sameer?s hand went down to her belly, an action that invited belligerence. She pushed him away, got up and walked towards the bathroom. In that moment of utter grief, her quantum Physics had gone so awry. All the paths she had familiarized herself to were stranger today. She collided into every single piece of furniture. Each collision marked her defeat, yet again.
Scared, Sameer called up, her parents first and then his, to give them the news of the baby. Similar reactions of anger followed. The next two days Ayesha stayed stuck in front of the mirror, her hand rubbing the stomach and her eyes crying. She practiced opening and closing eyes to confirm her blindness. Only tears rolled out. Sometimes she wondered why she could even cry now that she had already lost her eyes. Sameer didn?t bother Ayesha too. He maintained his distance. For the first time in eight years he was unable to decipher Ayesha. He couldn?t think of why she would be sad when all she ever wanted was a baby.
Two days later, the parents stood at the door. Ayesha was wrapped in her mother?s arms. Anxious advices flew into her ears. Ayesha remained silent, answering in her own head.
?Don?t have the baby Aishu.?
Why.
?How will you take care of it??
Just like everyone else does.
?You cannot see.?
I know, but how does it matter? I still have a heart. Didn?t you know that I was not well without even seeing my face?
?How will you manage??
Like a normal human being. I AM A NORMAL HUMAN BEING!
In the other room Sameer?s parents ranted out their woes and worries. They oscillated between the concern of their own child and Ayesha. ?What will happen to your future beta? With Ayesha?s condition you will have to be at home for the baby most of the time. And not only that, how will Ayesha run through the house when the baby cries? A mother should always be there on her toes for her child, will Ayesha be able to do that? Sameer, you have a job, you are the only earning member of your family. How will this work out? As much as we are happy about Ayesha?s pregnancy, we don?t want you to go ahead with it. Drop it son.?
That was it. It was his life. He had called them to celebrate not to deliberate. He stood up, went to Ayesha held her hand, let out a sigh and yelled, ?ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I DON?T WANT ANYONE?S ADVICE OR SYMPATHY! SHE ISN?T DYING OKAY? SHE IS VERYMUCH ALIVE AND VERY MUCH CAPABLE OF DOING EVERYTHING BETTER THAN YOU AND I! I WANT EVERYONE OUT OF OUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW!?
Ayesha came back to the present. Her heart felt contended. She had decided. One more time she whispered, ?Sameer?? This time he heard her. Ayesha heard the heavy feet dragging across the room.
Ayesha spoke, ?I am ready.?
Sameer was not really sure if he understood what she meant.
Ayesha continued, ?I am ready to have this baby. If you believe that I am capable of doing all things better than anyone else then I should be. I trust you Sameer.?
Ayesha could not see, but she knew that Sameer was crying. A tear dropped down from his cheek on Ayesha?s foot. She moved a step forward, blindly. She stretched her hands to hold onto her husband, the only person who still thought of her, as her. He held onto her almost immediately. Her hands moved up to the familiar territory of Sameer?s wet face. She wiped the tears and kissed him on his cheek. He did not know what to say. A vacuum had formed around both of them. Voids created by the past were being filled by the news of the present.
He whispered thank you in her ear and clutched onto his wife tighter, seeking solace in her when she herself was searching for comfort in him. They both complemented each other, like always. Like they did from the first time he said, ?Will you?? and before he could complete she had said ?YES!? and like they did when on their first night together they realized that they fit in each other?s craters perfectly.
They stood still on the same spot, embracing their lives. For in that moment, they both understood that they are never alone.
Source: http://bmmbox.com/buzzbox/creative-writing-continuum-by-smriti-parikh-sybmm-sophia-college/
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বুধবার, ২৭ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Atlassian Extends Confluence Collaboration Platform, Now Competing More With Jive Software And Other Social Providers
Atlassian?is getting more competitive with social collaboration companies like Jive Software with a new offering thst extends its social collaboration service beyond its core users.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Yzxu5iF8tIs/
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Researchers attach Lyme disease antibodies to nanotubes, paving way for diagnostic device
Mar. 26, 2013 ? Early diagnosis is critical in treating Lyme disease. However, nearly one quarter of Lyme disease patients are initially misdiagnosed because currently available serological tests have poor sensitivity and specificity during the early stages of infection. Misdiagnosed patients may go untreated and thus progress to late-stage Lyme disease, where they face longer and more invasive treatments, as well as persistent symptoms.
Existing tests assess the presence of antibodies against bacterial proteins, which take weeks to form after the initial infection and persist after the infection is gone. Now, a nanotechnology-inspired technique developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania may lead to diagnostics that can detect the organism itself.
The study was led by professor A. T. Charlie Johnson of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Penn's School of Arts and Sciences along with graduate student Mitchell Lerner, undergraduate researcher Jennifer Dailey and postdoctoral fellow Brett R. Goldsmith, all of Physics. They collaborated with Dustin Brisson, an assistant professor of biology who provided the team with expertise on the bacterium.
Their research was published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
"When you're initially infected with the Lyme disease bacterium, you don't develop antibodies for many days to a few weeks," Johnson said. "Many people see their physician before antibodies develop, leading to negative serological test results. And after an initial infection, you're still going to have these antibodies, so using these serological diagnostics won't make it clear if you're still infected or not after you've been treated with antibiotics."
The research team's idea was to flip the process around, using laboratory-produced antibodies to detect the presence of proteins from the organism. This is an extension of previous work Johnson's lab has done connecting other biological structures, such as olfactory receptors and DNA, to carbon nanotube-based devices.
Carbon nanotubes, rolled-up lattices of carbon atoms, are highly conductive and sensitive to electrical charge, making them promising components of nanoscale electronic devices. By attaching different biological structures to the exteriors of the nanotubes, they can function as highly specific biosensors. When the attached structure binds to a molecule, that molecule's charge can affect the electrical conduction of the nanotube, which can be part of an electrical circuit like a wire. Such a device can therefore provide an electronic read-out of the presence, or even concentration, of a particular molecule.
To get the electrical signal out of these nanotubes, the team first turned them into transistor devices.
"We first grow these nanotubes on what amounts to a large chip using a vapor deposition method, then make electrical connections essentially at random," Johnson said. "We then break up the chip and test all of the individual nanotube transistors to see which work the best."
In their recent experiment, Johnson's team attached antibodies that naturally develop in most animals that are infected with the Lyme disease bacterium to these nanotube transistors. These antibodies naturally bind to an antigen, in this case, a protein in the Lyme bacterium, as part of the body's immune response.
"We have a chemical process that lets us connect any protein to carbon nanotubes. Nanotubes are very stable, so we have a very reactive compound that binds to the nanotube and also has a carboxylic acid group on the other end. For biochemists, getting any kind of protein to bind to a carboxylic acid group is just child's play at this point, and we have worked with them to learn how to perform this chemistry on the side wall of nanotubes. "
After using atomic-force microscopy to show that antibodies had indeed bound to the exteriors of their nanotube transistors, the researchers tested them electrically to get a baseline reading. They then put the nanotubes in solutions that contained different concentrations of the target Lyme bacteria protein.
"When we wash away the solution and test the nanotube transistors again, the change in what we measure tells us that how much of the antigen has bound," Johnson said. "And we see the relationship we expect to see, in that the more antigen there was in the solution, the bigger the change in the signal."
The smallest concentration the nanotube devices could detect was four nanograms of protein per milliliter of solution.
"This sensitivity is more than sufficient to detect the Lyme disease bacterium in the blood of recently-infected patients and may be sufficient to detect the bacterium in fluids of patients that have received inadequate treatment," Brisson said.
"We really want the protein we are looking to detect to bind as close to the nanotube as possible, as that is what increases the strength of the electrical signal," Johnson said. "Developing a smaller, minimal version of the antibody -- what we call a single chain variable fragment -- would be a next step.
"Based on our previous work with single chain variable fragments of other antibodies, this would probably make such a device about a thousand times more sensitive."
The researchers suggested that, given the flexibility of their technique for attaching different biological structure, eventual diagnostic tools could incorporate multiple antibodies, each detecting a different protein from the Lyme bacterium. Such a setup would improve accuracy and cut down on the possibility of false-positive diagnoses.
"If we were to do this type of test on a person's blood now, however, we would say the person has the disease," Johnson said. "The first thought is that if you detect any protein coming from the Lyme organism in your blood, you are infected and should get treatment right away."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Mitchell B. Lerner, Jennifer Dailey, Brett R. Goldsmith, Dustin Brisson, A.T. Charlie Johnson. Detecting Lyme disease using antibody-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube transistors. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2013; 45: 163 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2013.01.035
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/jKHfAQDeP-s/130326194140.htm
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Iowa governor holds hearing on releasing killer
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) ? Iowa's governor has called a rare public hearing Wednesday to gather input on whether he should free an inmate widely credited with turning his life around while serving 38 years in prison for a 1974 murder.
Rasberry Williams, 66, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder after shooting a neighbor over a $30 gambling debt outside a Waterloo pool hall. His decade-long bid to have his sentence commuted to a set number of years so he can become eligible for parole has won the backing of the Iowa Board of Parole, prison wardens, the prosecutor who convicted him and the judge who oversaw his trial.
But the only opinion that matters is that of Gov. Terry Branstad, who called the hearing in Waterloo to allow the public to sound off on the parole board's 4-0 recommendation that Williams' sentence be adjusted. Branstad is the third Iowa governor to consider Williams' request and has until May 4 to accept or reject the board's recommendation. During 18 years in office spread over three decades, Branstad has commuted the life terms of only two inmates, the last being in 1992.
Williams' supporters, however, argue the governor should show leniency to reward a remarkable rehabilitation. Prison officials describe Williams as a model inmate who got an education in prison, mentored scores of young offenders and served as a fixture in programs where he warned young people to avoid trouble. And, in what officials call his most noteworthy act, he once intervened to save the lives of prison guards who had been taken hostage by another inmate.
"It's an extraordinary case, and that's what makes it so compelling," said Waterloo attorney David Dutton, who prosecuted Williams but recently came out in support of commutation. "He's served 38 years and during that time, he's saved two guards and has comported himself as a model citizen, albeit under very difficult conditions. That, in my view, indicates a person who has truly understood the importance of acting on behalf of others. I think that's a sign of a changed person, and a person that is not going to be a threat to society."
Branstad requested Wednesday's hearing because he wanted to hear from people who live in the community where the shooting happened, said the governor's spokesman, Tim Albrecht. He said Branstad will consider the impact on victims, public safety and Williams' behavior while incarcerated, in deciding Williams' future.
Jeremy Haile, who tracks criminal justice issues at the Sentencing Project, which advocates shorter sentences, said it's rare for a governor to free someone convicted of murder because of the political risks involved. The hearing is a smart move, he said, because strong support for Williams would help justify a decision to release him.
"Ultimately, executives have to act not because they will benefit politically, but because extending mercy is the right thing to do," Haile said.
Only a dozen Iowa inmates serving life sentences have had them commuted since 1986, state data shows. Nationally, Haile said the number of life sentences had risen dramatically in recent decades in a tough-on-crime political climate and executives at the state and federal level have been increasingly reluctant to show mercy.
Williams was convicted in the death of his next-door neighbor, 40-year-old Lester Givhan. The two began arguing over a $30 debt at a pool hall, and when Givhan refused to pay, Williams waited outside, confronted Givhan and shot him once. Williams turned himself into police hours later.
Givhan had a gun in his pocket, and the then-28-year-old Williams claimed he acted in self-defense. "I had to stand my ground," he told the parole board in January. He said he worried Givhan would've killed him, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press through the public records law.
But jurors didn't buy that, and even Williams' defense lawyer, Wallace Parrish, said he was guilty.
"When you have facts like that, it was like getting hit on the head with a hammer," Parrish said. "You had him lying in wait, you had intent. There was no defending that. It was like he read a book on the elements of first-degree murder, and went out and committed each element deliberately."
The attorney also said, however, that Williams had served enough time for "a crime of passion" and would not pose a safety risk if allowed to live with his sister in Chicago. Parrish called the former prosecutor's support for Williams' commutation "very significant."
Dutton opposed the parole board's 2005 recommendation to commute Williams' sentence. But he said he didn't know then that Williams had helped save the lives of two guards who were held hostage in 1979 by an inmate at the penitentiary in Fort Madison.
In a letter supporting Williams' commutation, inmate George Goff said he planned to ignite gasoline in a cell where he was holding guards at knifepoint, but Williams approached and told him, "'boy don't you do that! It is not worth getting a life sentence for.'"
Goff freed the hostages unharmed.
"If it not been for Rasberry Williams that day there would have been two dead guards and I would be doing a life sentence," Goff wrote.
Gov. Tom Vilsack denied Williams' commutation bid in 2006, citing concerns he had been gambling in prison, which Williams denied. His successor, Gov. Chet Culver, reviewed Williams' commutation file during his final days in office in 2011 but didn't act.
Among those hoping Branstad will give Williams another chance is Walter Polk, 65, who worked with Williams at the WonderBread bakery in Waterloo even after his arrest.
"He was so trustworthy and the company liked his work, that he worked up until his conviction," Polk said. "Rasberry was a happy-go-lucky person, a person to keep you laughing. . . . I knew he had this incident in his life, but I think he just got caught up in in the moment."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iowa-governor-holds-hearing-releasing-killer-183926507.html
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বুধবার, ১৩ মার্চ, ২০১৩
How to Score an Epic Movie Trailer
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NdoaB-WmGjE/how-to-score-an-epic-movie-trailer
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শুক্রবার, ৮ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Snapshot: Facebook expected to unveil changes Thurs. + 8 Mistakes Never to Make on LinkedIn + Hawks win (VIDEO)
- Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor
Atlanta Weather
*The forecast for Atlanta on Thursday calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 67 degrees.
National Weather Item
*Winter Storm Saturn to dump heavy snow on Boston and New York City.
Today?s Talkers
*Facebook has called a news conference for Thursday and TechCrunch is reporting that, in addition to several news feeds, we'll see larger photos and image-based ads.
*Walmart plans to add 115 new stores this year that are less than 60,000 square feet to compete with Dollar General, Walgreens and supermarkets. But the retail giant isn?t abandoning the big box just yet, reports Forbes, adding that Walmart expects to open 125 Supercenters this year, too.
*A few faux pas on LinkedIn can damage your career, says Forbes in a story titled ?8 Mistakes You Should Never Make on LinkedIn.? Mistakes, according to the article, including not including a photo ? and including the wrong photo. Good: a professional headshot. Bad: A photo of dog, baby or husband. Click here to read about other potential professional pitfalls.
Sports
*The Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday at Philips Arena. Score: 107-96. Click here to see video.
Next Hawks game
The Atlanta Hawks play Boston on Friday in Boston. Game time: 8 p.m. Click here to see the team?s scheduled.
Braves
The Atlanta Braves meet the Detroit Tigers on Thursday in a Spring Training game. Game time: 8 p.m. Click here to see the team's schedule.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_59/~3/Tn2UMmn-0A8/snapshot-facebook-expected-to-unveil.html
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বুধবার, ৬ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Bolshoi Ballet dancer detained over acid attack
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police detained one of the Bolshoi Ballet's top dancers on Tuesday over an acid attack that nearly blinded the troupe's artistic director and exposed fierce backstage rivalries at the famed theatre.
Russia's Interior Ministry said in a statement that Pavel Dmitrichenko, a Bolshoi soloist who is to dance in "Sleeping Beauty" this month, is suspected of plotting the attack that left Sergei Filin, 42, with severe burns after a masked assailant threw a jar of acid in his face.
Police also said they detained a man suspected of carrying out the attack and another thought to have driven him to the crime scene outside Filin's apartment on January 17.
The attack shocked a country used to violent settling of scores, shining the spotlight on infighting at one its top cultural institutions. The involvement of one of its star dancers is likely to deepen the sense of crisis at the Bolshoi.
A police source told the RIA news agency that investigators had evidence Dmitrichenko, who has played the evil villain in Swan Lake and lead in Sergei Prokofiev's Ivan The Terrible, had ordered the attack but that they were still seeking his motive.
Life News, a Russian website with close ties to the police, said the suspected attacker, Yury Zarutsky, and his driver, Andrei Lipatov, were found by tracking cell phone calls made from the crime scene.
The Bolshoi Theatre's spokeswoman, Katerina Novikova, could not be reached for comment on Dmitrichenko's detention but said earlier on Tuesday, after a search of his apartment, that she knew of no dispute between him and Filin.
She looked irritated and became defensive when addressing the possibility of divisions in the company, saying: "I think the Bolshoi Theatre troupe is waiting for Sergei's return, and loves him and wishes him a speedy recovery."
HISTORY OF INTRIGUE
Filin was left writhing in agony in the snow for about 20 minutes after the attack. As artistic director of the theatre's ballet company, he had the power to make or break careers in the fiercely competitive world of ballet.
He said before heading to Germany last month for treatment that is expected to save his sight that he believed he knew who was behind the attack and hinted it might be connected to his work, but refused to give a name.
The daily Izvestia cited a friend of Filin's as saying that he and Dmitrichenko, who has been with the troupe since 2002, had quarreled over his management decisions.
"The artistic director is entitled to his point of view in determining the repertoire and who dances in what ballet. If Sergei was influenced by all those who wanted to see their friends, loved ones, acquaintances, wives and girlfriends in one role or another, the Bolshoi would have ceased to exist," said Grigory Belkin, described by the paper as a close friend of Filin's.
"There were many cases when people tried to bribe him ... The conflict with Dmitrichenko was probably in this vein."
The theatre has been no stranger to intrigue since it was built under Empress Catherine the Great in 1776 and the ballet troupe has gone through five artistic directors since 1995.
In 2003, Bolshoi bosses were heavily criticized for trying to fire ballerina Anastasia Volochkova for being too heavy. In 2011, deputy ballet director Gennady Yanin, then seen as a candidate for the artistic director post, quit after pornographic images of him appeared on the Internet.
The theatre, near Moscow's Red Square, reopened to great fanfare in 2011 after a six-year, $700-million renovation that restored its tsarist opulence but was criticized for going far over budget.
It has frequently been under fire over its artistic program since then.
Leading Russian cultural figures wrote to President Vladimir Putin last November calling for the dismissal of the Bolshoi's general manager, Anatoly Iksanov. Among his critics are veteran dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze, who challenged him for his job.
The Bolshoi dismissed the criticism, saying it failed to take into account the troupe's latest performances.
(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-police-detain-suspect-over-bolshoi-acid-attack-064321938.html
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Demolition continues at scene of missing Florida sinkhole victim
SEFFNER, Florida (Reuters) - Demolition crews resumed work on Monday at a Tampa-area home where a sinkhole opened last week underneath a bedroom, swallowing a man asleep in his bed.
Jeff Bush, 37, was declared "presumed dead" by Hillsborough County officials on Sunday as rescue workers abandoned any hope of recovering his body.
The goal on Monday was to demolish the rest of the house before efforts will begin to stabilize the sinkhole, said William Puz, a spokesman for Hillsborough County. The hole was about 30 feet wide and 60 feet deep and filled with clay and debris. It is unlikely that Bush's body will ever be retrieved, officials said.
Two nearby houses have been evacuated because the sinkhole has weakened the ground underneath them, and their residents probably will never be allowed inside again, said Jessica Damico of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue.
Bush, a landscaper who mowed highway medians for a living, had moved into the four-bedroom home only two months ago which he shared with his brother, Jeremy Bush, 36, and four others.
A wrecking crew on Sunday began the demolition going about its job as carefully as possible to preserve the home's contents for survivors.
Workers recovered a family Bible, flag, military medals, a purse, teddy bears and generations of photos. On Monday they recovered two antique rifles that were family heirlooms.
Bush disappeared into the hole that opened up under his bedroom on Thursday night. The other occupants of the house, which is owned by the family of Jeremy Bush's fiancee, had been preparing for bed when they heard a loud crash and Jeff Bush screaming.
With the sinkhole expanding, engineers placed listening devices, microphones, ground-penetrating radar and other equipment testing the soil on the site to seek a safety zone to work and any sign of life below, which they never detected.
Jeremy Bush said the family was discussing plans for a memorial service and a possible marker at the site.
On Monday he sounded frustrated and upset as he watched the demolition. "I'm the only one who tried to get him out," he said, while begging county authorities to do more to find his brother's body when the lot is cleared.
Sinkholes in Florida are caused by the state's porous geological bedrock, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
As acidic rainwater filters into the ground, it dissolves the rock, causing erosion that can lead to underground caverns, which cause sinkholes when they collapse.
(Editing by David Adams; Editing by David Gregorio)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/florida-home-where-sinkhole-swallowed-man-partially-razed-010935952.html
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WiFi Alliance absorbs WiGig, reinforces commitment to 60GHz wireless
Just a little over two months since the WiFi Alliance and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance made their engagement plans known, the two groups are finally in marital bliss. They've long worked together on developing and building the 60GHz wireless standard, but decided it was best to make the partnership official in order to get the most out of their collaboration. Long-term plans include expanding WiGig's capabilities and implementing a baseline interoperability certification program by early 2014. This united effort could point to quite a growth spurt; ABI Research forecasts that there'll be annual shipments of 1.8 billion devices with both WiFi and WiGig support by 2016. Though there are no new product announcements at the moment, it looks like the newly unified WiFi Alliance will have plenty to work on over the coming years.
Filed under: Wireless
Source: WiFi Alliance
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/wifi-wigig-alliance-unified/
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মঙ্গলবার, ৫ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Bids for Ankeny football stadium project come in below budget
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DesMoinesRegisterStaffBlogsAnkeny/~3/0FRQKc6lQu4/article
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শুক্রবার, ১ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Study: Boozy Brits underestimate their drinking
LONDON (AP) ? Truth and alcohol may not mix, particularly when people are asked how much they drink.
That's the implication of a study released Wednesday that reveals a big gap between the booze Britons own up to drinking and the amount of alcohol sold nationwide. The study indicates that people routinely underestimate their alcohol consumption by around 40 percent.
That may not be particularly surprising, but the study puts a figure to the phenomenon of the drunk who claims not to have anything more than a couple of beers. Lead author Sadie Boniface said the unreported alcohol equates to nearly one bottle of wine per British adult per week ? an amount she said wasn't just disappearing.
"It has to have gone somewhere," she said in a telephone interview.
Boniface and Nicola Shelton, both with the University College London's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, derived their figures by comparing self-reported data in a public health survey accounting for 14,041 people aged 16 and up to alcohol sales figures kept by British tax authorities.
The gap was huge. More than 20 percent of Britons' annual wine consumption ? or 2.6 million hectoliters (69 million gallons) ? was unaccounted for. Nearly half of Britons' beer consumption ? 45 million hectoliters (1.2 billion gallons) ? was unclaimed. And Britons seemed particularly reluctant to take credit for gulping down whiskey, vodka, tequila and gin. Nearly 60 percent of Britain's spirit consumption remained unreported.
Boniface said the more accurate reporting of wine versus beer and spirits might have something to do with the cultural baggage attached to them.
"If you think about drinking wine, you generally think of sitting around a fancy meal," she said. "It's thought of as much more of a civilized drinking occasion than drinking spirits might be, although that's just speculation."
The study, published in the European Journal of Public Health, considered a host of other possible reasons for the underreporting. Maybe children under the age of 16, tourists or homeless people ? all groups which wouldn't have been covered by the survey ? were buying the unclaimed booze. Maybe the whiskey was being kept on shelves rather than being sipped after dinner. Maybe the wine was being used in cooking, or thrown out when it expired, or being spilled across white carpets.
Boniface said those factors were all considered and then ruled out.
"It can't be a small minority ? such as homeless people ? that are drinking vast, vast amounts," she said. "It's a widespread problem."
Issues around self-reporting aren't new ? people routinely overestimate their height or underestimate their weight, for example. And it's long been known that alcohol intake is particularly liable to be underreported; Boniface said that many doctors mentally double the alcohol intake given to them by their patients.
But Boniface said the study fleshed out an issue which is particularly salient in the context of Britain's struggle to control a surge in boozing which has seen Britain's annual alcohol-related death toll more than double between 1992 and 2008. If authorities don't know how much Britons are drinking, she said, then how can they get a handle on the situation?
Underreporting has "huge consequences for public health," she said, "and we don't have any idea what they are."
___
Online:
European Journal of Public Health: http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org
Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://raphae.li/twitter
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Suit: 185K spyware images sent to rental computers
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Spyware installed on computers leased from furniture renter Aaron's Inc. secretly sent 185,000 emails containing sensitive information ? including pictures of nude children and people having sex ? back to the company's corporate computers, according to court documents filed Wednesday in a class-action lawsuit.
According to the filings, some of the spyware emails contained pictures secretly taken by the rental computers' webcams or other sensitive information including Social Security numbers, social media and email passwords, and customer keystrokes, the Federal Trade Commission determined last year.
The attorneys also claimed Atlanta-based Aaron's hasn't properly notified at least 800 customers allegedly targeted by spyware made by DesignerWare, a company located in North East, Pa.
"Because Aaron's has been so uncooperative in agreeing to give proper notice and assistance to its customers, we've had to ask the court to intervene and order them to do it, so that people can protect their most private kinds of rights and property," said Maury Herman, a New Orleans attorney who was one of several to file the documents.
Aaron's officials have previously said the company never installed the spyware on computers rented out of company-operated stores and blamed individual franchisees for installing it. But the new filings claim Aaron's nonetheless received the secretly recorded data.
Aaron's said in a statement that it disagrees with the claims in the lawsuit and will defend the case vigorously. The company reiterated its assertion that some of its 700 franchise stores used the spyware, not the 1300-plus company-owned stores.
Attorneys for DesignerWare didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The new allegations grew out of a Federal Trade Commission settlement last year and are contained in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Erie. That's where a Casper, Wyo., couple, Brian and Crystal Byrd, have sued DesignerWare, Aaron's, the local franchise from which they rented a computer in 2010, and 45 other unidentified franchises they believed were using the spyware.
The filings seek court permission to file a new complaint adding 54 franchisees based on the 185,000 emails since traced to Aaron's computer servers.
"Aaron's, like the proverbial ostrich, has buried its head in the sand, hoping this litigation would just go away without having to do anything to protect its customers," the Byrds' attorneys wrote.
The couple's May 2011 lawsuit claimed the manager of the Casper store showed Brian Byrd a webcam picture of himself operating a rental computer after the manager activated the spyware in the process of trying to repossess the computer, which the manager mistakenly believed the Byrds hadn't paid off under their rent-to-own agreement.
Attorneys for DesignerWare have since said in court documents its PC Rental Agent software is benign and simply helps rental companies track computer use and shut down the devices if customers don't pay.
But the FTC found, in a settlement publicized in September, the software could do much more when "Detective Mode" was activated: Capturing screenshots, taking webcam images, logging keystrokes and forwarding that information to Aaron's by email.
The FTC settlement bars DesignerWare, the Aaron's franchise that operated the Wyoming store, and six other businesses that operated rental stores from using any location-tracking software without customer consent and from deceptively collecting information.
On Wednesday, attorneys for the Byrds also filed a new lawsuit in Fulton County, Ga. ? where Atlanta is located ? on behalf of a customer who claims an Oregon Aaron's franchise tracked her physical location by having Detective Mode trace her WiFi use of the computer.
That lawsuit, and the new documents filed in the Byrd's federal lawsuit, contends Aaron's corporate officials condoned the widespread use of the spyware on franchise rental computers.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suit-185k-spyware-images-sent-rental-computers-235100144.html
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