Star Trek: Into Darkness Will Have a NASA Ad for Real-Life Starfleet

Star Trek is every thing we hope space travel can be someday. Maybe we could do without all the universe-threatening disasters, but we're all hoping for a warp drive, or a tricorder, or a replicator. Until then, NASA is carrying the fire, and the 30-second NASA trailer that will play before Star Trek: Into Darkness aims to get you stoked about our current day, real-life Starfleet. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6LZKvuZ2V8k/star-trek-into-darkness-will-have-a-nasa-ad-for-real+life-starfleet

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Fohlin's Technology Blog - Zelda Universe Forums - The world's ...

My first bloggish post. Never done a blog before, so I suppose it will be bad, per usual. I dunno. Anyway.

There are tons of laptops out there today, laptops are being thrown into the shadows because of the tablets and the smartphones rise. Less and less laptops are being sold, check up the statistics.
But in these dark ages, there is a shining light on the world, something that gave me hope for the future and that things will all not be tabletish devices.

The Ultrabooks.

A short summary of what ultrabooks are:
Ultrabooks are Intel Laptops that are among the more powerful variants of the laptop market, some would say it's the Intel equivalent of Macbook Air, being thin and all that.
But the ultrabook is so much more than that.
First of all it is among the more powerful laptops there is, as mentioned earlier. It has to have at least an Intel processor so it can be called an Ultrabook. Other requirements are a minimum battery life.
I feel that the requirements of Ultrabooks are pretty fuzzy at times, but if you take a quick glance on Wikipedia, the requirements changes at all time.

What's set in stone from Intel is that they are supposed to remove the bulk without compromising performance and battery life.
That's a good thing, still having a lot of juice in your device and good battery life while still making it light to carry around with. Something pretty nice.
Requirements change from time to time, but there are some requirements seen in this picture below:

As you can see, the primary thing that decides if it will be an ultrabook or not is the processor, as Intel trademarked the name Ultrabook. If it doesn't have an Intel processor, it cannot be an ultrabook, simply as taht.
The rest of it is pretty standard, however there is one major thing that Intel hasn't specified there that I kinda dislike them for.

The resolution. I've seen some laptops today that still use 1366x768. That is an awful resolution in my opinion and especially Intel, who tries to push technology, should make at least 1080p a requirement for it to be called an Ultrabook. Personally I would love to see that Intel should make at LEAST 1600x900 a requirement for the lower tier ultrabooks, while the mid- to upper tier ultrabooks must have 1080p as a requirement. It feels pretty stupid having all that graphical power, all that juice inside your computer and then have to work on some stupid low resolution when you've bought an expensive machine. If it had been a normal laptop I wouldn't have complained, but when they market it as a powerful machine, why not have 1080p?
Why doesn't Intel make that an requirement? I have no idea.

But apart from that, I finally bought my very first ultrabook. In fact it is not even an ultrabook, it's an ASUS version that is called a Zenbook. At the time when ASUS made this ultrabook, touchscreens were a requirement on ultrabooks, making ASUS unable to call it an ultrabook.
Solution? Call it something similar like "Zenbook".

It is not a less good device because of that, it's in fact an amazing device but I do have some complaints about the device that I just bought, although they are extremely minor and shouldn't scare away customers from buying this zenbook at all. Just some nerdy needs that I have that I fixed.

Let us first look at this zenbook, make it into a little micro unboxing.

It comes in a very cool box itself, it really feels professional compared to other kinds of laptops I've unboxed before, together with friends and what not.
Some effort went into making the box look cool.
The zenbook itself is not very large, it's only a 13" compared to the 15.6" I have on the left. If you're wondering what the bottle to the right is, it's a bottle with stuff you have for cleaning screens. Like, freshen up my laptop before we take pictures.
Some further size comparison to it. I opted for going with a much smaller ultrabook as the size of the screen is not too important to me. I wanted a slick and small ultrabook that was light and had the requirements I was looking for.

This is where stuff starts to look pretty badass, the ultrabooks are so much smaller than a normal laptop and this picture was taken to show that. I could just simply throw out a random number here and just say it's 50% smaller or even greater than the laptop I'm comparing with.
It's also around 60% lighter than the laptop, when comparing what their weight. It's pretty good as I walk home from university all day, a walk that takes around 25-30 minutes and making it less heavy on my shoulders is just great.
Pretty horrible picture, but it does show how thin it is compared to a standard laptop.
vs.

The keyboard is fantastic and I prefer it a lot to my older laptops keyboard. There's less risk of the buttons falling off, or something falling under the keys and stops them from working properly. It's designed to be a better keyboard, but it is not only designed for ultrabooks. I know that there are laptops with these kinds of keyboards, but I like it a lot. The backlight works excellent and in the dark you can really see the keys.
vs.

Something this zenbook initially didn't impress me with was the touchpad. It felt weird using it, felt unresponsive and what not. Compared to my older laptop it felt meh but still usable. I discovered that it was because of some settings within Windows that made it feel unresponsive, but it was quickly changed once I got into the settings, same thing applied to Ubuntu when I installed it.
This however is the main gripe with the ultrabook. These kinds of chargers. I can honestly say I hate them. Why do companies make the end so big? What is the point to be honest? To sell more extension sockets?
I really hate these kinds of chargers, It's even more thick than the ultrabook so why this is designed like this really confuses me.
This is the worst thing with the ultrabook by far.
Overall it is a fantastic ultrabook, even though I haven't used it for a long time, I've owned it for around..what...5 days? But I tend to use the ultrabook more often in front of the tv rather than using my Nexus 7 instead, as I prefer the more clear picture. On that point, the display is matte, so it works AWESOME outdoors. I really wanted to try it out so I took it out on one of our sunny days and it working a lot better than my old laptop did outdoors.

Something I still can't grasp my head around is how to get into BIOS. When I first booted it up, Windows 8 was installed per default and I wanted to install Ubuntu on it instead of using Windows.
But there was no way for me to get into BIOS, as it seemed that ASUS had disabled the hotkey for getting into BIOS. Instead I had to go through Windows 8 and make it reboot into BIOS from there, where I managed to boot from my USB where I installed Ubuntu from. So I managed to get it working at least, but I still don't get up BIOS whenever I boot up.
I am slightly concerned that I will not be able to get BIOS up whenever I need it to, so I hope it'll never come to that.
There's possibly some means of going into BIOS through Ubuntu as well. But it is something I'm kinda annoyed at, as in the future I might change this drive into a SSD and I need to reinstall Ubuntu on it, how will I be able to do it when it doesn't go into BIOS first?
Hopefully it will automatically go to the next option, which is boot from USB and CD, but I have no idea yet. Maybe I need to call ASUS for it.

I do hope that Intel manages to push the Ultrabook concept out on the market. I don't think I need to make it a secret that I really like Intel and the ultrabook concept.
Let us just hope the future have something good in the future!

Source: http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/technology/154623-fohlins-technology-blog.html

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Diet, Health and Fitness Blog

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Source: http://diet-health-fitness-blog.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-naturally-prevent-heart-disease.html

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If Steve King Runs for Senate, His Opponents Will Have a Lot to Work With

Earlier this month Rep. Steve King said there was a better than 50 percent chance that he would run for the Iowa Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Tom Harkin. A staunch conservative with a history of saying inflammatory things, it would be an understatement to say that King is a divisive political figure. To take the state, he?d have to overcome money from a Karl Rove organization aimed at weeding out fringe GOP candidates from winning primaries, and win over districts far less conservative than his own. But his biggest obstacle may be overcoming 10-plus years of giving his opponents sound bites to run against him. Here are a few that you?ll likely hear on repeat if he runs:

Compared Immigrants to Dogs: During last year?s campaign, King made news when a comment of his at a town hall seemed to paint a parallel between immigrants and canines. In talking about which immigrants should be allowed to come into this country, King drew from his hunting experience for a metaphor: ?You want a good bird dog?? he told the crowd in Pocahontas, Iowa. ?You want one that?s going to be aggressive? Pick the one that?s the friskiest ? not the one that?s over there sleeping in the corner.? King went on to say that the United States should have ?the pick of the litter.?

Later, King would tell reporters that he meant no harm by the comment and that it was being blown out of proportion.

"It was a compliment ... They knew it was a compliment, they turned it into an insult because they're professional hyperventilators,? he said.

Waded into Legitimate Rape Debate: Former Rep. Todd Akin is the poster child for why Karl Rove feels the need to fight against fringe GOP candidates. His comment about ?legitimate rape? became all anyone could talk about during the last election, and very well could have kept Missouri in Democratic hands.

And King just couldn?t help himself by becoming part of the conversation. As a co-sponsor for a bill called the ?No Taxpayers Funding for Abortion Act,? King was asked whether exemptions should be made for victims of statutory rape or incest, such as a 12-year old girl who gets pregnant.

"Well I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way,? he said. ?I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter.?

Various media outlets picked up this comment as a sign that King may have partially agreed with Akin?s stance. And while they weren't nearly as controversial as Akin?s comments at the time, that doesn?t mean they won?t become part of the conversation in a senatorial election.

Called Joe McCarthy a Hero: Senator Joseph McCarthy?s name has become synonymous with paranoid witch hunts. And yet, in 2005, King called the former chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (or HUAC) a ?hero.?

?His tactics were relentless, his personality invidious, and his habits sometimes excessive,? King said. ?Nonetheless, he was a central figure in the movement to remove communist spies and sympathizers from our most sensitive government positions.?

And it?s not just a one time thing. For years, King has been pushing the sentiment, saying?in 2010 that he supported the re-establishment of HUAC? "but I would support a different committee name so that we don't have to deal with the history, and move forward."

Not a Fan of Gay Marriage: When the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could get married in the state, King warned that if they weren?t careful the Hawkeye State could become the ?Mecca? of gay marriage.? Anyone who didn?t already know how he felt about the issue needn?t look any farther than a 2003 press release he issued after a Sioux City judge granted two lesbians a divorce.

?Unicorns, leprechauns, gay marriages in Iowa ? these are all things you will never find because they just don?t exist,? he said.

But, if you want to look beyond that, check out when he said same-sex marriage was really just a push for socialism.

Maybe He'll Start His Own Country Anyway: Democrats don't want him to become senator, and Rove and other Republicans worry he may hurt their chances at picking up the seat. For them, they might rather he just start his own country somewhere and stay out of Iowa. Who knows, maybe he will. After the House of Representatives passed Obamacare in 2010, King told a crowd of Tea Party activists that he was thinking about it.?

"If I could start a country with a bunch of people, they?d be the folks who were standing with us the last few days," he told the crowd. "Let?s hope we don?t have to do that!?Let?s beat that other side to a pulp! Let?s take them out. Let?s chase them down. There?s going to be a reckoning!"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/steve-king-runs-senate-opponents-lot-133312396--politics.html

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Best Sleep Tracking Gadget or App?

Whether it's a gadget designed to keep an eye on your movements while you sleep, or it's a smartphone app that listens to your breathing or noise level at night, sleep tracking gadgets and apps can help you figure out whether you're actually getting a good night's rest or you may have a problem to address. This week, we want to know which ones you think are the best of breed, and why.

Some sleep tracking gadgets, like the Fitbit or the Zeo, or any of the other tools that we've covered before, strap to your arm while you sleep. Others are apps, like previously mentioned Sleep Time or Sleep As Droid, alarm clocks that do their best to watch your sleep cycles from your nightstand. We want to know which ones you rely on to help you get a better night's sleep, or identify systemic sleep problems that you may want to see a doctor about. Let us know in the discussions below!

Hive Five nominations take place in the discussions, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of nominations, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your post like so: VOTE: BEST SLEEP TRACKING APP. Please don't include your vote in a reply to another person. Nominations emailed to us will not be counted. Instead, make your vote and reply separate discussions. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get: "Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's five best mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it?it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!

Photo by Tony Alter.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/qwvXDpf4ykI/best-sleep-tracking-gadget-or-app

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New Audi A3 Sedan and hot 300 hp S3 Sedan unveiled

This is a car whose arrival we saw from a mile away. Previewed twice in 2011 (here and here) and again last week, the Audi A3 Sedan has finally broken cover ahead of the New York Motor Show before being given its public debut in Shanghai next month.

What came as a surprise is the joint unveiling of the S3 Sedan alongside the standard models. Now, Audi has never been shy of stretching out its car launches to multiple motor shows: the third-generation A3 was first shown in three-door form at Geneva last year, followed by the A3 Sportback and S3 in Paris six month later, while we had to wait till this year to see the S3 Sportback.

Offered in a booted form for the first time, the A3 Sedan follows the four-door coupe formula rather than a traditional three-box sedan. The boot is kept short, with the cabin glasshouse stretched backwards to enhance the visual effect. The wheel arches have been widened too, making it appear lower to the ground and more planted.

It is 150 mm longer, 11 mm wider but 9 mm lower than the A3 Sportback, with a long 2640 mm wheelbase and short overhangs. The designers are particularly proud of the ?tornado line? element across the car, a light-refracting edge that hides the visual bulk of the car?s rear end. It hides its hatchback roots rather well, despite having a high boot line.

The front end of the car gets a unique bumper with wider slats and more horizontal elements. Full LED headlights are an option. Round the back, the bootlid acts as a rear spoiler, whole the tapered rear lamps are designed to make the A3 Sedan appear lower and more athletic. It sits on the latest MQB platform, and with the smallest engine fitted (1.4 TFSI), weights just 1,250 kg.

Other than updated interior graphics, the dashboard is carried over whole from its hatchback siblings. The seating accommodation is identical to that of the five-door Sportback, but the Sedan has a bigger cargo area with the seats up.

Three engine choices are available from the get go: 1.4 TFSI with COD (cylinder on demand) making 140 hp/250 Nm, 1.8 TFSI with 180 hp and 250Nm, plus a 150 hp/320Nm 2.0 TDI, all mated to either a six-speed manual or dual-clutch S-tronic transmission. 0-100 km/h figure for each model is 8.4, 7.3 and 8.7 seconds respectively.

The S3 Sedan on the other hand uses the same 2.0 TFSI engine with 300 hp and 380 Nm found in other S3 models with a quattro all-wheel drive system. With the optional S-tronic ?box it dips below five seconds for the 0-100 km/h sprint. It takes 0.4 seconds longer (5.3 seconds) with a manual transmission. Top speed, as usual, is limited to 250 km/h.

Mechanical differentiators include 25 mm lower ride height with sports suspension, beefier brakes and variable-ratio electric power steering. Visually, the top model is distinguished by modifications to the bumpers, the singleframe grille, air intakes, side sills and rear spoiler. S-model hallmark such as the four tailpipes and silver exterior mirror housings are present too.

GALLERY: Audi A3 Sedan

GALLERY: Audi S3 Sedan

?

Source: http://paultan.org/2013/03/27/audi-a3-sedan-unveiled/

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Evernote (for Android)

If you thought Evernote, the multipurpose note-taking and organization program, couldn't get any more useful, wait until you get a look at all the new bonuses in version 5 of its Android app (free). This latest release overhauls the camera feature used for taking photos and saving them into your cloud-based Evernote account to make it more efficient, and adds shortcuts to frequently accessed notebooks, tags, and search terms via right-to-left swipe gesture. It also adds some really exciting new possibilities for what you can do with the Evernote Android app in conjunction with paper notebooks, the kind you'd use to keep sketches and handwritten notes. Online meets offline?what a twist. Evernote's Android app goes above and beyond what any mobile user could reasonably expect it to do, earning it five out of five stars and PCMag's Editors' Choice.

For the uninitiated, here's the 30-second explanation of what Evernote is: It's a freemium note-taking program that stores all your notes in the cloud so that you can access and edit them from any nearly place you have an Internet connection. You can type notes, upload images as part of your notes (think whiteboards, recipe cards, phone numbers scribbled on napkins), and record voice memos. Metadata, such as tags and your geographic location when you wrote the note, are stored with it, too, giving you a dozen or more ways to search for your notes later when you need them. The free version gives you a lot?there are no major shortcomings to working with it?but the $45-per-year Premium account is a sweet deal (more on the differences below). You can create Evernote notes in the desktop app for Windows or Mac, through the Evernote Web account, via its mobile app for iPhone or iPad, and of course in the Android app, which is the focus of this review here.

In many ways, Evernote is similar to Microsoft OneNote (which is part of SkyDrive), although on Android devices, it's more comparable with the newly released Google Keep Android app (free, 3 stars). Evernote is a clear head above Keep, in part because it works so well in all its various forms, whereas Google's Keep online version (free, 2.5 stars) is but a pitifully lightweight program with obvious bugs. Head-to-head against Evernote, OneNote pales in comparison, especially in terms of how and how well it helps you organize, find, and edit your notes. More importantly, Evernote integrates with dozens of other third-party tools, not to mention other useful apps and plug-ins under the Evernote umbrella (for example, Evernote Web clipper is a browser plug-in that quickly saves the contents of a Web page without making you copy and paste anything). The service just can't be beat.

What's New in Evernote's Android App Version 5.0?
The noteworthy features in Evernote's latest Android release are many, but my favorite is a new shortcut menu, which appears when you swipe from right to left. Shortcuts bring you to a search result of your choosing in just one swipe and one tap. For example, you can set up shortcuts to particular notebooks or tags. On a small smartphone screen, having these shortcuts makes a lot more sense than scanning through a scrolling list of all the available options.

Another new feature in version 5 of the Evernote Android app has to do with the camera features. When you snap a photo to upload now, you can shoot multiple photos at once and select the ones that you want to include after their thumbnails are on screen. It's a great time saving feature for when you're taking multiple photos of pages of a document or book.

The special twist in this release has to do with how Evernote plays nice with other apps, in this case, real paper notebooks (and more specifically, the Moleskine brand). You can now buy special Evernote stickers (included with select Moleskine notebooks, starting around $25) that you apply to real paper and that turn into tags when you upload an image of that paper to Evernote. And you can customize the sticker's meaning. For example, one of the stickers is a blue square with a white airplane. You can customize your Evernote Android app in the settings such that this sticker adds a tag called "travel" and automatically saves any images that use this sticker into a notebook called "Itineraries." It's all highly customizable, and quite frankly, pretty darn cool.

Another new feature is voice-to-text speech. In other words, you can now dictate notes, and Evernote will save an audio recording of your voice memo, too.

Back to Basics
As in all the other versions of Evernote, the Android app gives you access to a lovely set of organizational tools: tags, notebooks, and stacks, which are groups of notebooks. These tools hide behind the left side of the screen, but are laid out spaciously here and within their sub-pages in a way that makes them easy to access even on a small screen.

Within your own tags and notebooks, you can click on any one to show content that meets your search criteria. An additional text search bar, found through the eyeglass icon, gives you additional ways to get to the notes you need. One very cool feature that? isn't new (I still love it though) is that if you have any uploaded images that contain the keywords from a search?even if they are handwritten on a scrap of paper or whiteboard?Evernote will find them. In the desktop and Web apps, the matched words are highlight in yellow, although they're not called to attention in the Android version. This OCR feature isn't foolproof, but it's an incredible addition that's available in both free and Premium accounts.

Evernote Premium vs. Free
Evernote Premium costs $5 per month or $45 per year and adds some noticeable perks to the free Evernote account. Free account holders can only upload 60MB of data per month, whereas paid users max out at 1GB per month, which comes in handy if you upload a lot of images and documents or clip a lot of Web pages. When Premium users enter search terms, Evernote not only scans typed content and images, but also hunts through PDFs.

Another perk for Premium users is offline notebooks, an amazingly useful option when working on a mobile device. This feature lets you save the most recent copy of selected notes locally on your Android so they're available to read and edit when you don't have an Internet connection.

Premium users can give other users the ability to edit a note, adding collaboration to the experience. When you decide to share a notebook, you can to make the files viewable only, or both viewable and editable. You can require that they be an Evernote account holder or not. When you're ready to share, one click sends a short email with a link to the files. (For additional details about Evernote Premium accounts, see Evernote's information page).

Forever Note
You can do a lot with the free version of Evernote, and I would only recommend upgrading to Premium if you're so committed to Evernote that it will be your one-and-only note-making app. Luckily, committing to Evernote is not a difficult decision, especially if you're an Android user, as this edition of Evernote is one of the more complex and rich ones available. Most of the new features aren't even available yet in other mobile versions of the Evernote app?sorry, iOS users; you'll have to wait. Evernote is easily the best note-taking service you'll find. It integrates with so many other programs and services, including now actual paper. All the thoughtful features and excellent search tools just make Evernote a stellar service. If you want to get organized, Evernote deserves your attention.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/eV42KSke6wA/0,2817,2417034,00.asp

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Officials: Attacks in Iraq kill 5, wound 25 people

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-attacks-iraq-kill-5-wound-25-people-094757218.html

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Pharrell And N.O.R.E. Had No 'Problem' Crafting Latest Single

'He gave me a thousand fives,' N.O.R.E. says of Pharrell's in-studio excitement when the pair recorded their new single.
By Rob Markman

Pharrell
Photo: Frederick M. Brown/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704359/pharrell-nore-single.jhtml

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US challenges Laos over missing activist (The Arizona Republic)

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Reader recommendation: The Hobbit

What happens when ordinary people decide to pay it forward? Extraordinary change...

Teenager Sergei Abramov writes for and edits his own student website, a nonprofit partly funded by Microsoft.

Sergei Abramov's goal: an educational blog that doesn't bore his fellow Russian teens

Students from all over Russia visit the 16-year-old's site, The Blog of a School Wise Guy, to learn about math, physics, literature, new scientific breakthroughs, or just curious facts.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/upwFzGQDX6w/Reader-recommendation-The-Hobbit

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Josh Goes Policy Wonk in Georgia-Tenn Border War (talking-points-memo)

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Toshiba Elevators President's Visit to UAE

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Monday, March 25th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

President & CEO of Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, Mr. Shinichiro Akiba was in Dubai recently to participate Middle East Business Partners meeting, organized by Toshiba Elevator Middle East LLC, the subsidiary company of Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corporation, Japan. During this visit, the President had one to one meeting with business partners viz. M/s. Addamegh for Elevators and Escalators, M/s. Al Futtaim Engineering and Technologies, Saudi Arabia, M/s. Al Mana Lifts WLL. Qatar, M/s. Al Sulaimi Group, Oman, M/s. Lamar For Elevators & Escalators Co. WLL, Kuwait, M/s. Smart System Solutions, Lebanon, M/s. Suleiman Al-Adham & Sons Co, Jordan at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Dubai.

During his Opening speech, Mr. Akiba also proudly mentioned that for Saudi Arabia M/s. Al Futtaim Engineering and Technologies is appointed as a distributor for Toshiba Elevators & Escalators and M/s. Addamegh for Eastern region of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Akiba in his speech, he expressed his pride in visiting UAE, Dubai and really astonished looking at the growth of this country, every year. ?Now today?s world, any business entity around the world cannot ?skip Middle East market if they wants to go for an expansion, as Middle East is one of the fastest growing economy with rich resources and huge potential for growth. Though Toshiba Elevators are late entrants into this market, they realized the importance of tapping the market and accordingly acquired majority share from a Dubai based company during Nov.2011 and renamed as Toshiba Elevator Middle East L.L.C (TELME), and now doing well by having decent share in overall market and very good share in high rise segment sector.

He also thanks the rulers of UAE, particularly the President & Ruler of Abu Dhabi His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vice President & Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for making this region, a pleasant and adorable and business friendly to establish business in this region and for expansion from this hub to different parts of the world. He also mentioned that the excellent infrastructure with free market environment and the domestic business potential making this area very conducive for business expansion and once again thanked royal family of this country for the success.

Toshiba is not relying on one region, and as a business policy Toshiba elevator?s entry in foreign market has been successful in countries such as China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and thereafter UAE and from there branching out various entities in GCC as well as ME. He do understand that they are entering into a matured market where other competitors are well established, and can forgo profit to secure orders, as they have enough maintenance income to back up. With the environment where the prices are the governing factor, Toshiba also offering their support to the maximum possible, to secure good projects. However, every business partners must know that there are limitations in provisions they can take in a specific financial year, and he requested every Business Partners to work around the budget and try to maximize the results as a single group, with good results using cost effective measures, value engineering and highlighting Toshiba Elevator?s technical advancements such as Green Elevator, Quality and Global Maintenance Support System. He was sure every business partner is aware that with the current business environment, adding more units should be the prime motto as it would lead to sustain future maintenance income and Toshiba Maintenance policy is world classic one very quick to attend breakdown calls with Global Maintenance Support System.? He advised all Business partners to link every business functions strongly to attract market as a team to become ?Supplier of Choice? from client and Toshiba being highly reputed corporate its always pursue ?Safety & Compliance? in every aspect of our business and same to be adhered by all.

Mr. Shinichiro Akiba further thanked his representative and Managing Director of Toshiba Elevator Middle East LLC Mr. Mohamed Iqbal and his team for making such business expansion in a short period and securing milestone projects in every area.

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Permalink: http://www.me-newswire.net//news/7115/en

Source: http://www.me-newswire.net//news/7115/en

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Data Recovery From Lost Partition | how to instal software

Saturday, March 23rd, 2013 | tips trik

Recently, I often see some posts in which users are seeking for help about data recovery from lost partition, which remind me the days I was annoyed by data loss problems. Only those who have ever experienced can understand the feeling. So I pity those users. However, now I have got some professional knowledge about data recovery, which is enough for me to solve most of the data loss problems. Then I will share a simple but effective method for data recovery, which may help those users get rid of the annoyance resulting from data loss problems.

First of all, I will focus on the situation where a partition is lost. Actually it is not difficult to recover lost important data. In most situations, the problem is caused by mistaken operations, computer viruses? attack or software failure. Those factors are likely to damage master partition table, which makes the operating system fail to find partition record according to master partition table, so it can not find the lost partition and partition data. Therefore, if we can break the principle that we have to find a partition according to partition table and directly scan data storage area, those data in the lost partition can be found and recovered easily.

Much experience and technology about data recovery must be grasped if we want to carry out the aforementioned operations manually, which most users can not suffice. However, aiming at some common data loss problems (for example, data deleted accidently, partition formatted mistakenly, partition lost by accident), it is not necessary to learn so much professional knowledge if users can find excellent partition recovery software on the internet. With its help, we can recover lost data in many situations without knowing professional technology.

Since there is no institution or individual that can guarantee absolutely successful data recovery, we should try our best to protect data and prevent serious data loss problem as we can. Therefore, it is necessary to take some actions. Establishing firewall and installing antivirus software are not enough because they can not definitely guarantee data security because mistaken operations and some new types of viruses are also likely to make data lost. Therefore, it is necessary to back up important data in real time and prepare excellent partition recovery software to deal with unexpected data loss problems.

However, there are various kinds of partition recovery software in the software market, debased software included. So when choosing partition recovery software, users are supposed to be cautious and choose the software of high reputation, which will guarantee data recovery success rate.

Lastly, I hope those users who encountered data loss problems can recover lost data quickly and share your experience to help more users.

Tags: data recovery, data recovery software, recover lost data ?

Source: http://howtoinstal.com/2013/03/data-recovery-from-lost-partition/

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The Talking Shoe from Google and Adidas

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Have you ever wished your shoes could talk? ?Well, if you weren?t impressed with Google?s goggles, then maybe they?ll snag your interest as you imagine wearing a pair of sleek, black sneakers that encourage you to workout, and let?s you know when you?re being lazy. ?Does it help that it?s a British accent? ?Check out the newest, coolest invention, the Talking Shoe.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rollingout/~3/MfLUQ5Xj3lw/

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Apple rolls out fix for password reset security hole, iForgot site back up

Apple?s iForgot password reset page is now back online, and iMore has verified that the security hole, discovered earlier today in Apple?s password reset page, has been closed.

Previously, after providing a victim?s Apple ID and date of birth, an attacker could send a URL to Apple that would change the password for that account, without needing to answer any security questions. In response, Apple blocked access to the password reset page, and a short while later took the entire site down in light of another loophole that still allowed the attack to be performed.

This vulnerability came at an interesting time, just a day after Apple began to roll out its two-step verification system. Users who had already enrolled in the new system seem to have been immune from the password reset vulnerability.

Unfortunately some users were held in a three-day waiting period for enabling two-step verification, while others live in countries where two-step verification is not currently available.

Today?s events serve as an important example of why two-step verification is a good idea. People interested in getting two-step verification set up can find out how with iMore?s tutorial.

Update: Details on how the exploit worked can be found here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/eCuuc3eH3j4/story01.htm

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MMA Fighter Faked Death, Arrested for Armed Robbery

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/mma-fighter-faked-death-arrested-for-armed-robbery/

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iCloud revealed as America?s most-used cloud storage service

Apple (AAPL) may not have the best reputation for online services but that hasn?t stopped its iCloud online storage service from becoming the most-used cloud service in the United States. A new report from Strategy Analytics shows that 27% American web users user iCloud, giving it a lead of 10 percentage points over runner-up Dropbox, which is used by 17% of American web users. What makes Dropbox?s share remarkable is that, as Strategy Analytics notes, it ?has no associated content ecosystem,? which should seemingly put it at a disadvantage compared to iCloud, Amazon?s (AMZN) Cloud Drive and Google (GOOG) Play. So the fact that Dropbox ranks only behind Apple for the title of America?s most-used cloud service is impressive, especially for a company that Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer recently dismissed as a ?little startup.??Strategy Analytics? full press release is posted below.

THE CLOUD STORAGE WARS: APPLE LEADS WITH 27% MARKET SHARE

[More from BGR: BlackBerry Z10 said to have ?disappointing? preorder volumes in the U.S.]

Dropbox hits 17% of market share with no associated content ecosystem

Over half of Americans online have never used cloud storage service

Boston, MA ? March 21, 2013: Apple is dominating the cloud storage wars, followed by Dropbox, Amazon and Google according to Strategy Analytics ?Cloud Media Services? surve.?In a recent study of almost 2,300 connected Americans, Strategy Analytics found that 27% have used Apple?s iCloud followed by 17% for Dropbox, 15% for Amazon Cloud Drive and 10% for Google Play (see chart).

Usage of cloud storage is heavily skewed towards younger people, in particular 20-24 year olds, whilst Apple?s service is the only one with more female than male users. Amongst the big four, Google?s is the one most heavily skewed towards males.

Cloud storage is overwhelmingly dominated by music; around 90% of Apple, Amazon and Google?s cloud users store music. Even Dropbox ? which has no associated content ecosystem ? sees around 45% of its users storing music files. Dropbox?s recent acquisition of Audiogalaxy will add a much needed native music player to the platform in the coming months.

?Music is currently the key battleground in the war for cloud domination. Google is tempting users by giving away free storage for 20,000 songs which can be streamed to any Android device, a feature both Amazon and Apple charge annual subscriptions for,? observes Ed Barton, Strategy Analytics? Director of Digital Media. ?However, the growth of video streaming and the desire to access content via a growing range of devices will see services such as the Hollywood-backed digital movie initiative Ultraviolet ? currently used by 4% of Americans ? increase market share.?

Barton continues, ?The cloud?s role in the race to win over consumers? digital media libraries has evolved from a value added service for digital content purchases to a feature-rich and increasingly device agnostic digital locker for music and movies. Dropbox being used by 1 in 6 Americans shows that an integrated content storefront isn?t essential to build a large user base, however we expect competition to intensify sharply over the coming years.?

Strategy Analytics found that, the big four cloud storage services aside, recognition of other brands was uniformly low. Furthermore 55% of connected Americans have never used a cloud storage service ? although, amongst consumers who have used one, one third (33%) had done so in the last week.

?There needs to be considerable investment in evangelizing these services to a potentially willing yet largely oblivious audience,? suggests Barton. ?Given the size of bet Hollywood is making with Ultraviolet, this will be essential to their success given a crowded market and widespread apathy. However, more fundamental questions remain ? is the use of more than one cloud service going to be too much for consumers to handle and will consolidation in such a fragmented market become inevitable??

Barton concludes, ?Although cloud storage is fast becoming a key pillar of digital platform strategies for the world?s leading device manufacturers and digital content distributors, there?s still a lot of work to do in educating consumers ? particularly those over 45. With over half of consumers yet to use any consumer cloud based service, 2013 predictions for the ?year of the cloud? seem unrealistic. However given the market influence of the leading players pushing the concept, in particular Apple, Amazon, Google and Ultraviolet, I won?t be surprised to see mainstream adoption and usage spike within the next two to three years in the key US market.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/icloud-revealed-america-most-used-cloud-storage-030747050.html

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Newtown parents describe meeting with killer's dad

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2012 file photo, Alissa Parker, left, and her husband, Robbie Parker, leave the firehouse staging after receiving word that their six-year-old daughter Emilie was one of the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, Conn. Alissa Parker told ?CBS This Morning? in an interview that aired Thursday, March 21, 2013, that she wanted to meet with Adam Lanza's father, Peter Lanza, to tell him ?something? she needed to get out of her system. It's not clear what that something was. CBS planned to show the rest of the interview with Alissa and Robbie Parker on Friday morning revealing more details about their meeting with Peter Lanza. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2012 file photo, Alissa Parker, left, and her husband, Robbie Parker, leave the firehouse staging after receiving word that their six-year-old daughter Emilie was one of the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, Conn. Alissa Parker told ?CBS This Morning? in an interview that aired Thursday, March 21, 2013, that she wanted to meet with Adam Lanza's father, Peter Lanza, to tell him ?something? she needed to get out of her system. It's not clear what that something was. CBS planned to show the rest of the interview with Alissa and Robbie Parker on Friday morning revealing more details about their meeting with Peter Lanza. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? When Alissa and Robbie Parker met face to face recently with the father of the young man who killed their daughter and 19 other first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School, they weren't angry with him and didn't blame him for the massacre.

Instead, the Parkers said they and Peter Lanza shared their condolences for one another and talked about his son, Adam Lanza, during the emotional meeting, which lasted more than an hour.

"I don't feel like he should be held responsible for what happened that day," Alissa Parker told "CBS This Morning" during the second part of an interview that aired Friday. "That was not ultimately his decision to do that, so how can I hold him responsible? Were there missteps in the raising of his son? Possibly."

Adam Lanza, 20, fatally shot 20 children and six educators with a military-style rifle on Dec. 14, then killed himself as police arrived. Authorities say he also killed his mother, Nancy, at their Newtown home before he went to the school. The Parkers lost their 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, in the rampage.

Alissa Parker said she told Peter Lanza that there was an opportunity to learn from the killings and his cooperation was vital.

The Parkers wouldn't reveal what Peter Lanza said about his son. Connecticut state police haven't released any information about a motive, but people close to the investigation have told The Associated Press that Adam Lanza showed interest in other mass killings and had literature on other mass shootings at his home. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

Peter Lanza, who was divorced from Nancy Lanza, has declined to comment about the meeting with the Parkers, who said they came away from it with a better understanding of Adam Lanza.

Robbie Parker, who was among the first of the victims' parents to publicly discuss the shooting, said he and his wife wanted to meet with Peter Lanza because he was the only person who could answer their questions.

"Adam's gone and his mother's gone, and those are the two people that could give us the most information to the questions that all of us have," he said.

The Parkers, who have two other daughters, ages 3 and 5, said they're not angry because they know they can't undo what happened at the school that day.

"So the idea of wasting any energy on anger towards somebody or trying to point blame at anybody seems like a waste of time and energy that we can use to be better parents to our girls," Robbie Parker said.

Alissa Parker said she believes Nancy Lanza bears some accountability for what happened. The Bushmaster rifle used in the school shootings belonged to Nancy Lanza.

Asked whether she forgives Adam Lanza, Allisa Parker said it's not her burden to bear.

"I do hold him accountable, but I feel like God will determine that," she said. "And I feel like he's in a place where the judgment will happen, and I don't have to. I don't have to judge him, and I'm at peace with that."

___

Associated Press Writer John Christoffersen in New Haven, Conn., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-22-School%20Shooting-Killer's%20Father/id-a65dbf38be4945c6ad25c5ff036878e9

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What you eat before surgery may affect your recovery

Friday, March 22, 2013

According to a new study, the last few meals before surgery might make a difference in recovery after surgery. Fat tissue is one of the most dominant components that make up the body, and fat tissue is always traumatized during major surgery.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) found that this direct trauma greatly impacts the chemical balance of fat tissue?chemicals that are known to communicate with nearby and distant organs. In the study, mice that consumed a typical Western, high-fat diet showed an exaggerated imbalanced response. Importantly, restricting food intake to a lower-fat diet just a few weeks before surgery reduced the imbalance back toward a more normal response.

The study is published in the April 2013 issue of Surgery.

Senior study author C. Keith Ozaki, MD, Director of BWH Vascular Surgery Research, and colleagues measured how fat responds to surgery and whether restricting calorie intake before surgery changed how the fat tissue responded to typical trauma that usually occurs during an operation.

"Surgeons have learned that generally minimizing trauma accelerates patient recovery from surgery," noted Ozaki. "While we do this well for specific organs such as the heart, blood vessels, liver, and so forth, we historically have paid little attention to the fat that we cut through to expose these organs. Our findings challenge us all to learn more about how fat responds to trauma, what factors impact this response, and how fat's response is linked to the outcome of individual patients."

Researchers fed one group of mice a high-fat diet (containing 60 percent calories from fat), while a control group was given a more normal diet (containing 10 percent calories from fat).

Three weeks before surgery, researchers switched some of the high-fat diet mice to the normal diet. During surgery, the researchers performed procedures that would occur during a typical operation and observed that such surgical trauma rapidly affected the fat tissues located both near and away from the trauma site. This resulted in increased inflammation and decreased specialized fat hormone synthesis, especially in the young adult mice and those that had a simulated wound infection.

However, reducing food intake before surgery tended to reverse these activities for all mice age groups, even in the setting of the simulated infection. The results suggest that while fat is a very dominant tissue in the human body, its ability to rapidly change might be leveraged to lessen complications in humans during stressful situations such as surgery.

In an accompanying review article composed with key collaborator James Mitchell, PhD, assistant professor of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, the researchers suggest that restricting diet in humans before surgery provides a unique opportunity to test whether this method will decrease the incidence and severity of surgical complications brought on by over-exuberant inflammation and other stressors.

Simply cutting out certain dietary elements (without malnutrition) may be a feasible, inexpensive and effective way of protecting the body against stress from an operation. In the review article, the researchers specifically point to further studying this method in patients undergoing vascular surgery, a population that faces increased risks of surgical complications such as wound-healing problems, heart attack and stroke.

"The relationship between surgical outcomes and obesity has always been complex," said Ozaki. "Our results and those of others highlight that the quality of your fat tissues appears to be important, along with the total amount of body fat when it comes to the body's response to an operation."

###

Brigham and Women's Hospital: http://www.brighamandwomens.org

Thanks to Brigham and Women's Hospital for this article.

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

This press release has been viewed 58 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127408/What_you_eat_before_surgery_may_affect_your_recovery

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Research explores links between physical and emotional pain relief

Mar. 21, 2013 ? Though we all desire relief -- from stress, work, or pain -- little is known about the specific emotions underlying relief. New research from the Association for Psychological Science explores the psychological mechanisms associated with relief that occurs after the removal of pain, also known as pain offset relief.

This new research shows that healthy individuals and individuals with a history of self-harm display similar levels of relief when pain is removed, which suggests that pain offset relief may be a natural mechanism that helps us to regulate our emotions.

Feeling Worse to Feel Better: Pain-Offset Relief Simultaneously Stimulates Positive Affect and Reduces Negative Affect

Research shows that feeling pain leads to negative emotions, but less is known about the relief that occurs when pain is removed. Is pain offset associated with positive emotions, or simply the alleviation of negative emotions?

Franklin and colleagues used recording electrodes to measure participants' negative emotions (eyeblink startle response) and positive emotions (muscle activity behind the ear) in response to loud noises; sometimes the loud noise was presented alone and other times it was presented 3.5, 6, or 14 seconds after receiving a low- or high-intensity shock.

Participants showed increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions after pain offset. The greatest increases in positive emotion tended to occur soon after high-intensity shocks, whereas the greatest decreases in negative emotions tended to occur soon after low-intensity shocks.

These findings shed light on the emotional nature of pain offset relief, and could provide insight into why some people seek relief through self-injurious behavior.

The Nature of Pain Offset Relief in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: A Laboratory Study

In this study, the researchers examined whether the emotional relief that comes with physical pain removal might be a potential mechanism that could help to explain why some people engage in self-harm behaviors.

Participants with or without a history of self-harm were assessed for emotion dysregulation and reactivity, self-injurious behavior, and for psychiatric disorders. Using a similar recording electrode procedure as in the first study, Franklin and colleagues were able to measure positive and negative emotions in response to loud noises, either alone or after receiving a painful shock.

Surprisingly, healthy individuals displayed pain offset relief levels that were comparable to those of individuals with a history of self-harm, and there was no correlation between pain offset relief and self-harm frequency.

These results do not support the hypothesis that heightened pain offset relief is a risk factor for future self-injury. Instead, Franklin and colleagues speculate that the biggest risk factors for nonsuicidal self-injury may concern how some people overcome the instinctive barriers that keep most people from inflicting self-harm.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal References:

1. J. C. Franklin, K. M. Lee, E. K. Hanna, M. J. Prinstein. Feeling Worse to Feel Better: Pain-Offset Relief Simultaneously Stimulates Positive Affect and Reduces Negative Affect. Psychological Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/0956797612458805
2. J. C. Franklin, M. E. Puzia, K. M. Lee, G. E. Lee, E. K. Hanna, V. L. Spring, M. J. Prinstein. The Nature of Pain Offset Relief in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: A Laboratory Study. Clinical Psychological Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/2167702612474440

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/top_news/~3/wLRtroHHGUo/130321205714.htm

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Online Marketing Strategies for Your Business

Internet Marketing is quickly being one of the many adequate terms to avail your business online. Either you have a pet shop, or a medical store, or a fast food joint, everything now relies on how strong your marketing is. You might do offensive offline marketing, but outside a powerful online strategy, your business has an option of losing out on a main block of consumers, who are seeking your services or products online.

Become an internet marketing proficient, faced with a number of questions from common folks like you. How do I market online? How do I drive clients to my business? These marketing have wide branches, so selecting 1 of them that is correct for the type of business that you individual is very essential.

Pay per click is simply the most famous online marketing process accessible. In this, your ads display up whenever few searches accessing related keywords and once they click on the ads, they are straight to your site or landing page. The price that you?ve to bring is the rate of the click which changes from ad networks to ad network. Pay for each click has repeated two bifurcations- find and show.

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Source: http://www.briefingwire.com/pr/online-marketing-strategies-for-your-business

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Terrence Malick's 'Badlands' Burns With New Life On Criterion Blu-Ray

There's essentially nothing to say about "Badlands," Terrence Malick's first film, that hasn't already been said. The Bonnie and Clyde story of an impressionable young girl and the bad boy who sweeps her away from a quiet life marked the beginnings of Malick's enigmatic career and status as a master, and anyone who has seen [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/03/20/badlands-criterion-bluray/

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N.Y. fracking foes will register as lobbyists, if necessary

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? Artists Against Fracking said Monday neither the group nor Yoko Ono or Sean Lennon have been told to register as lobbyists in their campaign against gas drilling in New York, but will if necessary to continue their work.

A good-government advocate and two lobbying experts said the state should review whether Artists Against Fracking and its supporter-celebrities should be registered as lobbyists.

The group and nearly 200 entertainers connected with it aren't currently registered lobbyists, a search by The Associated Press of the database of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics shows.

Registration would require disclosure of how much money the group has raised and how it's been spent ? a measure intended as a way for the public to know who is influencing public policy.

David Fenton, a spokesman for the group, said it would have no objection if required to register.

"Yoko and Sean, as true with many New Yorkers, have expressed concerns about fracking, participated in the submission of comments to the Department of Environmental Conservation, and visited Albany with their own resources," Fenton said. "As such, neither Yoko, Sean, nor their Artists Against Fracking endeavor have been required to be registered lobbyists. If there is a need to register, of course, that will occur."

Over the years, several celebrities or their groups have been required to register as lobbyists. But whether celebrities must register hinges on its specific circumstances. The line between lobbying and free speech isn't bright or clear.

Under state law, a lobbyist is defined as any person or organization "employed, retained" in "any attempt to influence the passage or defeat of any legislation ... or approval or disapproval of any legislation by the governor." That can include nonprofit groups and their unpaid advocates.

The activists, among them actors Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon, are trying to protect the environment from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The group says forcing water and chemicals deep into shale deposits to extract gas threatens drinking water and the environment.

The group's website implores, "Tell Governor Cuomo: Don't Frack New York."

"You spend money lobbying, you have to register," said David Grandeau, former executive director of the state lobbying commission and now an attorney representing lobbyists and clients. On Monday, after an AP article appeared on the group, he added: "It's clearly lobbying" and said the commission "missed the boat."

A good-government advocate said the lobbying regulator, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, should look into the case.

"When someone is trying to influence or change public opinion, there's always a concern if the public doesn't know exactly how much money they are spending to do that," said Barbara Bartoletti, of the League of Women Voters. "I don't know if they are splitting hairs between educating the public or lobbying."

The commission can't confirm or deny it will take on any case, spokesman John Milgrim said.

Ravi Batra, a former member of the commission board, called it an important issue.

"When celebrities get involved in influencing public opinion, it behooves everyone to make sure the law is followed to the letter," he said.

There's no public record of how much money Artists Against Fracking has spent, but its website contains links for visitors to make donations, which are directed to the Sustainable Markets Foundation. Although the foundation is an established charitable organization and its donations are recorded publicly, it isn't registered with New York as a lobbying client, either.

Under New York law, however, it appears Artists Against Fracking is required to be a registered lobbyist because the law hinges on spending over $5,000. The group hasn't filed lobbying reports, so the amount it has spent and what it was spent on isn't known publicly. Experts in Albany say the website and public events appear to have cost well over $5,000.

The widow and son of musician John Lennon recently attended an anti-fracking event in Albany with Ruffalo, actors Zooey Deschanel, Alec Baldwin and Hugh Jackman, and singer Lady Gaga, along with other longtime activists such as David Crosby and Paul McCartney.

A week ago, Artists Against Fracking widely released a music video done through Skype from various locations featuring dozens of entertainers singing a Sean Lennon song, "Don't Frack My Mother." In it, Ono sings part of the chorus, "Don't frack me!"

Failing to register as a lobbyist is not a criminal offense. Commonly, when a person new to lobbying is believed to have failed to lobby as required by law that person is given a chance to submit a lobbing form and pay a $200 fee.

One of the main players supporting fracking, the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York, is registered.

Lobbying is big business in New York. The New York Public Interest Research Group reported that more than $220 million was spent lobbying in 2011 ? and that was before the fracking debate really heated up.

The biggest penalty for failure to follow the lobbying law resulted in a $250,000 fine against Donald Trump and others over casinos in 2000, and the Philip Morris tobacco company was hit with a $75,000 fine in 1999.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-fracking-foes-become-lobby-necessary-031144650.html

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