Tuesday, January 31, 2012

T-Mobile Plans To Limit Domestic Data Roaming On April 5

tmodataroamingIf you tend to play on the magenta network, a leaked document out of T-Mobile may require your attention. According to TmoNews, the carrier will impose new rules for domestic data roaming on April 5. Instead of the unlimited data goodness you've likely grown accustomed to, the carrier will cut you off after you burn through an allotted amount of data. Here's how it'll work:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KX9mOauswd4/

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'A Wrinkle in Time' 50 years later

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the publishing of Madeleine L'Engle classic "A Wrinkle in Time."

Thanks to author Madeleine L?Engle, many readers know exactly what ?tesseract? means.

Skip to next paragraph

At least they think they know. In real life, "tesseract" is actually a geometry concept. But in pop culture, the word is inextricably linked to time travel and L?Engle?s classic novel ?A Wrinkle in Time,? which celebrates its 50h anniversary this year. A special edition of the book will be released tomorrow, with extras that include the text of L?Engle?s Newbery Medal acceptance speech, an introduction by ?Bridge to Teribithia? author Katherine Paterson, and an afterword by L?Engle?s granddaughter Charlotte Jones Voiklis.

In the novel, main character Meg Murry?s father left on a government mission months ago but has gone missing. Then, one night during a thunderstorm, Meg and her family are visited by a mysterious woman who introduces herself as Mrs Whatsit. Mrs Whatsit and her companions convince Meg, Meg?s brother Charles Wallace, and Meg?s friend Calvin that they must embark on a journey to find Meg and Charles Wallace?s father and save him from a terrible evil.

In addition to winning the Newbery Medal, ?A Wrinkle in Time? was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award and won the Sequoyah Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. The book was the first in a series by L?Engle about the Murry family which consisted of four other books. The first, ?A Wind in the Door,? follows Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin as they meet a cherubim and fight off new villains, creatures called Echthroi. The next book in the series, ?A Swiftly Tilting Planet,? jumps ahead several years to a time when Charles Wallace must save the world from a dangerous dictator. In ?Many Waters,? Meg and Charles Wallace?s brothers Sandy and Dennys are transported back to Biblical times, and the last book in the series, ?An Acceptable Time,? details the adventures of one of the members of the next generation of the family, a girl named Polly.

Despite time travel and other science fiction plot devices, L?Engle biographer Leonard Marcus says the book?s major theme is Meg?s love for her family, the most powerful weapon she possesses in the fight against the evil IT.

?At its core it?s about a girl?s love for her father,? Marcus said in an interview with The New York Times. ?And that emotional level transcends the genre aspect of the book.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/euHW_kpOreo/A-Wrinkle-in-Time-50-years-later

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Heat shake off slow start, beat Hornets 109-95

Miami Heat' Dwyane Wade (3) prepares to shoot as New Orleans Hornets' Al-Farouq Aminu (0) and Carl Landry (24) defend in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Miami Heat' Dwyane Wade (3) prepares to shoot as New Orleans Hornets' Al-Farouq Aminu (0) and Carl Landry (24) defend in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Miami Heat' LeBron James (6) is fouled by New Orleans Hornets' Jason Smith (14) as LeBron goes to the basket in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Miami Heat' Dwyane Wade (3) prepares to shoot as New Orleans Hornets' Emeka Okafor (50) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

New Orleans Hornets' Trevor Ariza (1) shoots as Miami Heat' Shane Battier (31) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Miami, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

(AP) ? Dwyane Wade's role as captain of the Miami Heat comes with certain privileges. For example, he can occasionally shake off calls from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

And no one complained, either.

Wade and LeBron James each scored 22 points, Mike Miller added 14 off the bench and the Heat rode the strength of a brilliant 18-minute run midway through the game to beat the Hornets 109-95 on Monday night, Miami's eighth win in nine games.

The Hornets finished with only 25 rebounds, the lowest total in the NBA this season. James had 11 rebounds ? more than any two Hornets ? and eight assists for Miami, which had six players in double figures and outscored New Orleans 54-23 from the midpoint of the second quarter through the end of the third.

"When a guy like D-Wade has a rhythm, you've got to keep feeding him," James said. "He brought us back."

Wade had 15 points in the second quarter, and perhaps his biggest contribution all night was when he got Spoelstra to change his mind. Looking to manufacture a jolt, Spoelstra wanted to go to a zone defense when Miami was struggling. Wade waved him off, thinking the Heat were on the verge of getting something going.

He was right.

"We started the game in a little bit of a fog and they came out and played very sharply," Spoelstra said. "They came out with a lot of energy ... then the game changed, I felt, in the second quarter. Dwyane really set the tone from that point on."

Chris Bosh and Norris Cole each scored 12 for the Heat, who trailed 45-33 midway through the second quarter before outscoring New Orleans 76-50 the rest of the way.

Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry each scored 14 for New Orleans, which lost for the 17th time in 19 games after a 2-0 start. Emeka Okafor scored 13 points and Greivis Vasquez added 11 for the Hornets.

"It's hard to play the kind of basketball that you need to play when you're not getting what you feel is a fair call at times," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "I thought our guys got beat up a little bit tonight going to the basket. ... Take nothing away from Miami. That is a championship-contending team. Their effort showed that tonight."

There were all sorts of indicators suggesting that Miami would get off to a less-than-ideal start.

It was Miami's third game in four nights, though all were at home. Monday's tip-off came about 24 hours after Sunday's down-to-the-wire epic against Chicago, where the Heat win wasn't secure until 0.1 seconds remained. And the second night of back-to-backs have been trouble all season for Miami, which had been 3-3 in those contests ? including both of its home defeats, those coming against Atlanta and Milwaukee.

So sure enough, the Heat started slowly ? and found themselves in a 12-point hole against a team with the worst record in the Western Conference. New Orleans made 10 of its first 11 shots, then used a 16-6 run in the second quarter to briefly grab control. Spoelstra had an idea. Wade apparently had a better one.

"He called our zone and as the captain at that time, I kind of vetoed it," Wade said. "It ain't gonna happen much. But I felt at the time we needed to be a little more aggressive."

With that, the game changed for good. Wade scored 11 straight Miami points to erase the deficit almost single-handedly ? 13 out of 15 points as well, assisting a basket by James to account for the other two ? and the Heat went into halftime up 51-49.

They were just getting started.

Miami scored the first nine points of the third, stretching the lead to 60-49 and capping what was a 27-4 run over a span of less than eight minutes. James scored 14 points in the quarter, Chalmers made all three of his shots ? all from 3-point range ? and the Miami lead was up to 87-68 by the end of the period.

"That's the game right there. You blink and all of a sudden the lead opens up," Okafor said. "With a team like that, you can't allow that to happen ? three superstars and a cast of players who can play. You give them that type of leeway, they just run with it."

By then, the only drama left was whether James would get his 33rd career triple-double. Instead, he got the fourth quarter off.

Notes: Justin Bieber, who has been the subject of more than a few tweets posted by Heat owner Micky Arison, was in attendance. ... Williams had high praise for the Heat before the game, especially Spoelstra. "Spo doesn't get enough credit in my opinion for the ability to coach talent, supreme talent, every night," Williams said. ... Miller ? no stranger to injury problems in his Heat tenure ? was grabbing at his right hand late in the first quarter and grimacing in pain, but stayed in the game. ... James became the 17th player in NBA history with 17,000 points, 4,500 rebounds and 4,500 assists. Of the first 16, 13 are Hall of Famers already, the others being Gary Payton, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, all sure-fire Hall entrants one day.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-30-Hornets-Heat/id-fa2e234af0c443019706deb50aaf4a7d

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Julian Assange to guest star on "The Simpsons" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be a guest character and voice on animated TV comedy "The Simpsons," playing a neighbor of the family after they move from their home in fictional Springfield.

Assange's "brief" guest starring role will be on the show's February 19 program, which marks the 500th episode of "The Simpsons," said Antonia Coffman, a spokeswoman for the show airing on the Fox television network in the United States.

In the episode, the Simpsons -- Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and their pets -- leave home and move to a rugged and isolated area where the find themselves living next to Assange, who portrays himself.

Simpsons executive producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly magazine that the show's creative team realizes Assange is "controversial," but that in putting together the show they avoided delving into his "legal situation." Instead, the writers made sure the appearance was satirical. Assange recorded his lines remotely from Britain.

Assange is currently under house arrest outside London and due to appear before Britain's Supreme Court on Wednesday to appeal his extradition to Sweden where he has been accused of sexual misconduct by two former WikiLeaks volunteers.

He angered U.S. officials in 2010 when WikiLeaks, in partnership with major newspapers, published a trove of leaked diplomatic cables that exposed the candid views of American officials and their allies about a wide range of topics including the wars in Afghanistan and, at the time, Iraq.

Assange and his supporters are concerned that if he is extradited to Sweden, U.S. officials might attempt to have him brought to the United States where possibly he could be charged for crimes related to the leaked documents.

Last week, Kremlin-funded English language channel Russia Today revealed it had given Assange his own television talk show. Assange will interview noteworthy figures on a show dubbed "The World Tomorrow," the channel said.

"The Simpsons," which debuted in 1989 on Fox, is the longest running primetime, scripted television series.

(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/tv_nm/us_simpsons_assange

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Purdue University creates 'bass' powered medical implant, knows where it hertz

We've seen all kinds of medical implants over the years, but none that had a musical preference -- until now. Researchers at Purdue University have created a pressure sensitive microelectromechanical system (MEMS) that uses sound waves as an energy source. The proof-of-concept has a vibrating cantilever that's receptive to sound -- or music -- in the 200 - 500Hz frequency spectrum, which is towards the bottom end of the audible range. The subcutaneous implant converts the low-frequency vibrations into energy, and then stores it in a capacitor. Once the cantilever stops vibrating, it sends an electrical charge to a sensor and takes a pressure reading, the result is then transmitted out via radio waves for monitoring purposes. The immediate real world applications include diagnosing and treating incontinence, but we're already wondering if that self-powering mp3 player implant could finally become a reality?

Purdue University creates 'bass' powered medical implant, knows where it hertz originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Santorum: Daughter with pneumonia recovering (AP)

BOCA RATON, Fla. ? Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Sunday his daughter Bella remains in the hospital with pneumonia but is recovering after a rough 36 hours.

Santorum spoke with Florida supporters by telephone from 3-year-old Bella's hospital room and said doctors hope she can go home in the next few days.

The former Pennsylvania senator also said, "We're going to get out on the campaign trail later tomorrow ... heading out to the Midwest, and start campaigning in the next states as we move this campaign forward."

Santorum aides did not immediately provide details, but his advisers are looking at upcoming contests in Missouri and Minnesota, as well as Arizona and Colorado.

"I feel very, very good about where we are and where the campaign is going," the candidate said.

But during the call with Florida voters, Santorum opened his remarks with his daughter, who has a genetic condition known as Trisomy 18. The condition typically proves fatal and Santorum often says his daughter wasn't expected to live past 12 months.

"She without a doubt has turned the corner," he said.

Santorum called his daughter's recovery a "miraculous turnaround" after an unexpected detour from the campaign just days before Tuesday's Florida primary.

Santorum got to his home in Virginia around midnight Friday for a quick break to do his taxes, but found his daughter "was not doing well."

"I was up with her a lot of the night," he said. "By the end of the day, it was really, really clear she was struggling."

Saturday evening, Santorum aides announced Bella had been admitted to the hospital and they canceled his morning interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" and church services in Miami. His aides later canceled his trip to Florida and instead sent his 20-year-old daughter to campaign for him.

Santorum described the situation as a "very, very tough night last night" but said by late Sunday Bella was "alert and back to her own beautiful, happy girl."

"It's been a very hectic 36 hours," Santorum said. "Life in the Santorum family has dramatically improved since the late afternoon."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_el_pr/us_santorum_daughter

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Santorum cancels trip to Fla. while daughter ill (AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? Republican Rick Santorum is staying home in Philadelphia to be with this hospitalized daughter and is canceling campaign stops in Florida.

Santorum's campaign says the former senator will stay in Pennsylvania with 3-year-old Bella, who has a genetic condition known as Trisomy 18. The condition typically proves fatal and Santorum often says his daughter wasn't expected to live past 12 months.

Spokesman Hogan Gidley says Santorum hopes to return to a campaign schedule soon.

Santorum canceled his appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" and a stop at a Miami church.

Santorum is sending his 20-year-old daughter Elizabeth to Sarasota and Punta Gorda for campaign appearances on later Sunday.

Florida's presidential primary is on Tuesday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_el_pr/us_santorum_daughter

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Video: Nuclear inspectors go to Iran

The goal of the three-day visit is to try to determine whether the nation has a secret nuclear weapons program. NBC?s Ali Arouzi reports.

>>> rising tensions and threats related to iran 's nuclear ambitions a team of international inspectors have arrived there.

>> good evening, lester. in a rare visit to iran , a senior delegation of iaea inspectors began an important three-day visit that could influence washington's next move. their purpose, to determine whether iran has a secret nuclear weapons program . tehran maintains that its program is purely for civilian purposes. it's still unclear whether the delegation will be allowed to visit nuclear facilities or just hold talks with iranian officials. allowing in the iaea delegation and comments by president ahmadinejad earlier this week that iran was willing to restart nuclear negotiations seemed to be a sign iran was striking a more conciliatory notes. western powers call this a stalling tactic. iran 's speaker of the parliament warned the iaea team to be professional or suffer the consequences. tensions with the west were ratcheted up even further this month when washington and the eu imposed their harshest sanctions on iran so far. in response to those sanctions, iran 's parliament announced that it was considering retaliation with a preemptive ban on oil exports to the eu. iran 's oil minister announced iran would stop selling oil to some countries which could send oil prices sky high and leave some european countries scrambling for an alternative oil source. lester?

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46183156/

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Romney: Gingrich Can't 'Re-Write History' to Get Elected (ABC News)

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Belkin ScreenCast


More and more laptops equipped with Intel's second-generation Core processors offer a nifty perk for presentation givers and multimedia buffs: Wireless Display or WiDi, which beams the laptop's display and audio to a living-room HDTV or conference-room monitor with no cords or cables required. What is required, however, is a WiDi adapter or receiver connected to the TV, and Belkin has a fine example in the ScreenCast TV Adapter for Intel Wireless Display ($129.99 list). It's one of the most effective and easiest-to-use accessories we've seen, and as such, it's our Editors' Choice for WiDi adapters.

An alternative to the arguably better-known (or at least more promoted by Best Buy and, mea culpa, more often mentioned by PCMag) Netgear Push2TV HD (4 stars, $99.99 list), the ScreenCast is a similar black plastic box about the size of a trade paperback. It plugs into a TV or monitor using an HDMI cable (supplied) or three-pronged RCA cable (not supplied), and also into an AC outlet using a provided adapter.

Setup takes under a minute if you dawdle; the Belkin device even shaves a few seconds off the Netgear Push2TV setup time by shipping with its HDMI and power cables already connected. Once you've plugged the ScreenCast in, tune your TV to the proper video input (such as HDMI 2 or HDMI 3); after a few seconds, a "Ready for connection" screen will tell you to launch the WiDi software on your laptop. The latter will scan for adapters and find the ScreenCast. Double-click on it, and you'll be prompted for one-time entry of a four-digit security code that appears on the TV screen. Then you can rename the adapter to something descriptive such as "Living Room" or "Conference Room C."

Pressing the Windows key and P, as with a projector or other external monitor, lets you choose whether to duplicate the notebook's display on the TV or extend the desktop across both so you can, say, drag a Windows Media Player or WinDVD movie to the big screen while checking e-mail on the laptop.

The only thing that might be a little daunting for nontechnical users is keeping up with Intel's updates. Our test unit automatically noticed and installed a firmware update, and Belkin suggests making sure you've got the latest WiFi and graphics drivers and WiDi software to enjoy the latest capabilities.

Those capabilities include HDCP support for copy-protected as well as unprotected video content, meaning you can stream a DVD or Blu-ray title across the room at full 1080p resolution with 5.1 surround sound. PC Labs' Blu-ray of Ghostbusters, popped into a Toshiba Satellite P745-S4320 notebook, looked and sounded great on a 75-inch Sharp HDTV, as did 1080p video clips from YouTube and the Labs' collection. There were no latency problems or stutters at distances ranging from 5 to 15 feet, apart from a couple of buffering moments with the YouTube clips that were almost certainly ordinary cases of WiFi rather than WiDi latency.

Indeed, whereas our reviewer noticed some slight mouse and keyboard lag with the Push2TV, I couldn't make that complaint about the ScreenCast: Rather than "typing on the laptop's keyboard and watching the letters appear a millisecond (or two) later," text on the TV kept up with my utmost typing speed. Credit probably goes to driver updates since that June 2011 review (or your being a slower typist?Ed.), but it's another way the Belkin proved trouble-free. Actually, the only improvement the ScreenCast could use is a small price cut: At $129.99, its list price is $30 higher than its Netgear rival's, though we easily found online resellers offering it for around $100.

Just as the number of laptops with WiDi 2.1 is growing, it seems likely that more and more HDTVs will soon have WiDi receivers built in; Intel and LG announced last month that the latter's Cinema 3D Smart TVs will be so equipped in 2012. Even then, the Belkin ScreenCast earns an Editors' Choice nod as a sensational way to stream content to or just enjoy working on a big screen from the comfort of your couch.

More Media Hub & Receiver reviews:
??? Belkin ScreenCast
??? Netgear NeoTV NTV550
??? Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player (NSZ-GT1)
??? Roku LT
??? Grace Digital Victoria Nostalgic Internet Radio
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/TJH2G16w580/0,2817,2399461,00.asp

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Obama urges Congress to act in election year (AP)

CAMBRIDGE, Md. ? President Barack Obama rallied House Democrats for an election-year fight, urging them to work with Republicans if they show some willingness to put politics aside but telling the rank and file to call them out if they stand in the way.

Addressing Democrats on the final day of their three-day annual retreat, Obama outlined the political stakes over the next few months as congressional Democrats try to push his agenda in the face of Republican opposition, the GOP choses its nominee and signs of recovery in a fragile economy go a long way to determining his re-election chances and the party's fate.

Obama said Democrats should seize the opportunity "whenever there is a possibility that the other side is putting some politics aside for just a nanosecond in order to get something done for the American people, we've got to be right there ready to meet them," the president told the sometimes raucous crowd.

However, "where they obstruct, where they're unwilling to act, where they're more interested in party than they are in country, more interested in the next election than the next generation, then we've got to call them out on it," the president said. "We've got to push. We can't wait; we can't be held back."

Coming off a three-day tour to promote his State of the Union message, Obama promised a "robust debate about whose vision is more promising" when Republicans choose their nominee.

On a day when reports showed the economy picking up late in 2011 but still considered "fragile" by the White House, Obama told Democrats wondering about their re-election prospects: "It's going to be a tough election because a lot of people are still hurting out there and a lot of people have lost faith generally about the capacity of Washington to get anything done."

House Republicans, who held their retreat in Baltimore last week, have repeatedly said the election will be a referendum on Obama's policies, especially his handling of the economy.

The president acknowledged that Democrats have embraced parts of his agenda when it was politically difficult and in some cases costly. The party took a drubbing in the midterm elections, losing control of the House and seeing their ranks diminished in the Senate.

And despite some past clashes with House Democrats over his willingness to compromise with Republicans, Obama was warmly received and was introduced as "our champion" by Rep. John Larson of Connecticut.

The president returned the warmth with a vote of confidence that Democrats would win back the House in November, making a nod to their leader as "soon-to-be once-again Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi."

"I believe in you guys. You guys have had my back through some very tough times," said the president, who received a small gift ? a DVD of House Democrats singing Rev. Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."

Last week, at a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in New York, Obama stood on the stage and crooned a line from the Green classic.

Democrats were upbeat at their three-day session, energized by Obama's State of the Union address and its populist themes as well as recent polls showing more Americans say the country is on the right track and approve of Obama's handling of the economy. Divisions in the Republican ranks that were on full display last year in the fight over extending the payroll tax cut and the bitter battle between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for the GOP presidential nomination also lifted Democratic spirits.

But the relationship with the White House hasn't always been cordial. Vice President Joe Biden, who addressed the Democrats prior to Obama's speech, described some of the rough patches.

He noted that several members in the room were mad at him in December 2010 after Obama negotiated an extension of President George W. Bush's tax cuts over the objections of some House Democrats. Last year, frustrated Democrats complained the Obama gave away too much in negotiating a spending bill and an agreement to raise the government's borrowing authority.

Biden said Pelosi told him at the last conference to "get tough. Enough is enough." He said the "message was heard. The message was heard. And I think we've delivered."

The vice president was more pointed in his political remarks than Obama and called out some Republicans by name. He said the American people will reject GOP unwillingness to compromise and its blatant determination to make Obama a one-term president.

Of the presidential candidates, Biden said Romney's criticism of the auto bailout and a host of positions stated by rival Newt Gingrich on government intervention will create a clear contrast for voters.

"These guys are helping us by saying what they believe," Biden said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_go_co/us_house_democrats

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Drew Houston, A Rocket Man In The Making Should DropBox Not Work Out

Screen Shot 2012-01-27 at 15.51.53Clearly controversy is swirling around web lockers and online storage companies in the wake of the Federal swoop on Megaupload, but if it all goes wrong rest assured that DropBox founder and CEO Drew Houston has a second career to fall back on. The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (or just "Davos" to those in the know) is a great place for the world's millionaires and billionaires to loosely affiliate with each-other (as Paul Simon might have put it) and part of that looseness extends to the Piano Bar of the Hotel Europe in the tiny - but 5-star-hotel-packed - village.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/h4iwK0o8h74/

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Auschwitz survivor dies in Oswiecim on anniversary (AP)

WARSAW, Poland ? Kazimierz Smolen, a 91-year-old Auschwitz survivor who after World War II became director of the memorial site, died Friday on the 67th anniversary of its liberation.

Smolen died in a hospital in Oswiecim, the southern Polish town where Nazi Germany operated Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II, said Pawel Sawicki, a spokesman for the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum.

Friday is the anniversary of the camp's 1945 liberation by Soviet troops. Jan. 27 was designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day by the United Nations in 2005, and was marked with ceremonies across Europe.

Two years after the war ended, Auschwitz-Birkenau became a museum ? and Smolen himself served as its director from 1955-1990. He continued to live in the town after his retirement, often attending the memorial ceremonies marking the camp's liberation.

Sawicki said soon after Smolen's death the news was announced to Holocaust survivors commemorating the anniversary in Oswiecim. They fell silent for a minute in his honor.

Smolen was born on April 19, 1920, in the southern Polish town of Chorzow Stary. He was a Polish Catholic involved in the anti-Nazi resistance who was arrested by the Germans in April 1941 and taken to Auschwitz in one of the early shipments of prisoners there. He left the camp on the last transport of prisoners evacuated by the Germans on Jan. 18, 1945, nine days before its liberation. He later attributed his survival to good health and extreme luck.

He once explained his decision to return to the camp to manage it as a way of honoring those who were killed there.

"Sometimes when I think about it, I feel it may be some kind of sacrifice, some kind of obligation I have for having survived," he said.

In other gestures of remembrance, Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg apologized for his nation's role in arresting and deporting Jews after it was invaded by Nazi Germany. During the war, 772 Norwegian Jews and Jewish refugees were deported to Germany. Only 34 survived.

He said it's time the nation acknowledges that politicians and other Norwegians took part and expressed "our deep regrets that this could have happened on Norwegian soil." He spoke at a ceremony in Oslo attended by the last surviving Jew in a group of 532 deported from Norway in 1942.

In Turkey, state television on Thursday broadcast the epic French documentary "Shoah," about the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime. It was the first time the film has been aired on public television in a predominantly Muslim country.

"It is a historical event," filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, 87, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his home in Paris. "It is extremely important that it is being shown in a Muslim country."

Germany's Parliament also gathered Friday for a special sitting to remember the Holocaust.

Prominent survivor and literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki recalled how the Nazi SS informed members of the Warsaw ghetto's Jewish council in July 1942 of plans for the inhabitants' "resettlement" to the east.

Reich-Ranicki, 91, recounted how a "deathly silence" was followed by uproar. He said those present "seemed to sense what had happened: that the sentence had been pronounced for the biggest Jewish city in Europe. The death sentence."

The Nazis set up the Warsaw ghetto in November 1940, cramming hundreds of thousands of Jews into inhuman conditions. Most who survived disease and starvation in the ghetto were transported to death camps.

___

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_eu/eu_holocaust_remembrance_day

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Making the Blackest of Black Materials

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Making the Blackest of Black Materials
"We made carbon nanotubes that are blacker than anything else." Our material absorbs more than 99 percent of visible and ultraviolet light and 98 percent of infrared light.

Source: POPSCI
Posted on: Friday, Jan 27, 2012, 8:55am
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117148/Making_the_Blackest_of_Black_Materials

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Papa Murphy's Joins American Cancer Society Relay For Life ...

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed)?Vancouver, WA - January 26, 2012 - Papa Murphy's International today announced it has joined the 2012 American Cancer Society Relay For Life? National Team Program. Employees and franchise owners will come together this year to raise money and awareness in the fight against cancer. All funds raised will support the American Cancer Society's efforts to save lives by helping people stay well, get well, find cures, and fight back against a disease that has taken far too much from too many.

"Papa Murphy's is proud to be a part of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life National Corporate Team Program. Our commitment will help raise funds to save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays," said Ken Calwell, Papa Murphy's CEO.

Relay For Life National Corporate Team Program members commit to forming 50 or more relay teams throughout the country and in every major office or location. Papa Murphy's is one of 51 companies participating in the Relay For Life National Corporate Team Program in 2012. The fifth largest pizza chain now boasts over 1,300 locations in 37 states and Canada, all of which have a nearby Relay For Life event.

An American Cancer Society Relay For Life event lasts up to 24 hours and brings together teams from local businesses, schools, churches, and families to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. For more information about the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, visit RelayForLife.org.

About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation's largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.5 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

About Papa Murphy's
Papa Murphy's is the fifth-largest pizza chain in the country and a revolutionary of the take 'n' bake pizza segment. Papa Murphy's operates over 1,300 franchised and corporate-owned locations in 37 states and Canada. The Vancouver, Wash.-based company offers custom-made pizzas featuring high-quality, fresh toppings generously layered on pizza dough that is made fresh each morning in each store. By baking Papa Murphy's pizzas at home, customers get to experience the home-baked aroma of a convenient, delicious meal that the brand is known for. In addition to handmade pizzas, the company offers other take 'n' bake items such as Cheesy Bread, Cinnamon Wheels, and chocolate chip cookie dough. Papa Murphy's was voted "#1 Rated Pizza Chain" by participants in Zagat Survey's 2010 & 2011 Fast Food Surveys and is a four-time recipient of Pizza Today's Chain of the Year award. For more information, visit www.papamurphys.com or go to Facebook at www.facebook.com/papamurphyspizza.

ACS20513

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Source: http://3blmedia.com/theCSRfeed/Papa-Murphys-Joins-American-Cancer-Society-Relay-Life-National-Corporate-Team-Program

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Taxpayers Finance Rat Condos

Millions of American homeowners face foreclosure, but at least one sort of housing crisis has been remedied: No longer will research rats suffer the indignities of crowded cages.

That is to say that the federal government has ordered labs to provide precisely measured living quarters for all rodents used in federally funded research. Thus, a female rat and her offspring must be housed (for their short, genetically altered lives) in lodgings that feature no less than 124 square inches of floor space and 7 inches of head room. By comparison, a mama mouse and her litter merit a mere 51-inch area. (Space taken up by food bowls, water containers, litter boxes, and toys doesn?t count.)

The new requirements appear in the latest edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (page 57), published by the National Research Council. No such requirements have appeared in previous editions.

Researchers are alarmed, to say the least. According to the National Association for Biomedical Research, the new standards will increase lab costs by hundreds of millions of dollars?chunks of it from taxpayers?thereby detracting from research projects. Scientists also say there?s no evidence that luxury cage space will have any positive effect on Rattus norvegicus.

Alas, the opposition doesn?t faze the folks at the National Research Council, who warn that ?departures from the Guide for reasons of convenience, cost, or other non-animal welfare considerations are not acceptable.?

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Source: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/27/tales-of-the-red-tape-26-taxpayers-finance-rat-condos/

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Woods shoots 69, in contention in Abu Dhabi

Tiger Woods from U.S. plays a ball on the 1st hole during the second round of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Tiger Woods from U.S. plays a ball on the 1st hole during the second round of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Tiger Woods from the U.S. plays a bunker shot on the 18th hole during the second round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Tiger Woods from U.S. tees off on the 1st hole during the second round of Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

(AP) ? Tiger Woods moved into contention in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship with a 3-under 69 Friday, two shots behind leader Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark.

Woods had three straight birdies on the back nine to finish with a two-round total of 139.

Woods, who was three shots back after the first round, started slowly before making three birdies over five holes. He dropped a shot on the 16th after an errant drive landed in deep rough.

"I thought I played well today," Woods said. "I made a couple putts here and there, but it was tough out there. The greens got a little quicker, a little bit drier and the rough is certainly getting deeper and more lush."

Olesen (67) has a one-shot lead over two players, including 18-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero (65). Woods is another shot back in fourth, tied with a group that includes Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy (72) and Robert Karlsson of Sweden (72).

Spain's Sergio Garcia (69), Ireland's Padraig Harrington (69) and South Africa's Charl Schwartzel (70) were at 140.

McIlroy's round was marred by a two-shot penalty for brushing away sand in front of his ball, which sat on the fringe on the ninth. Meanwhile, fourth-ranked Martin Kaymer (73) failed to make the cut in a tournament he has won three times. Meanwhile, a relatively unknown 22-year-old Dane surged into the lead of the star-studded tournament in a bid to win his first event on the European Tour.

Much of the attention was on Woods, who is trying to follow up his season-ending victory at the Chevron World Challenge with another win. The Chevron success ended a two-year run without a victory, a period in which the 14-time major winner endured a series of injuries and turmoil in his personal life.

Woods had a bogey-free first round but admitted the greens fooled him much of the day. He seemed to sort them out on Friday, making several key putts including a 10-footer for his final birdie on the 15th.

But he said players "were grinding along" and that it was anyone's tournament to win with the leaderboard featuring nine players within two shots of Olesen.

Woods is optimistic the changes in his swing instituted by new coach Sean Foley are paying off.

"Certainly I have much more experience within the system, and I've grown to understand what Sean wants me to do and how my body is going to do those things and produce the numbers he wants me to produce," Woods said. "If you would have asked me (six to eight months ago) if I would understand the system as well as I do and the numbers I'm producing, I probably would have said no ... Now I do and when we talk, it's very simple."

While Woods was the picture of consistency Friday, the big-hitting McIlroy took fans on a rollercoaster ride after holding a share of the lead after the first round.

The 22-year-old U.S. Open champion, playing with Woods for a second day, opened with a bogey and double bogey after an errant drive and some shaky putting. He rallied with three birdies before a double bogey on the ninth. That's where he got a two-shot penalty for brushing away the sand in front of his ball. Playing partner Luke Donald (72) spotted the infraction and called him on it.

rather than get rattled, McIlroy produced two birdies on the next three holes to end at even par.

"Obviously, that wasn't the best start, 3 over through three. I battled back really well to get it back to even par after eight," McIlroy said. "Made a mistake on 9 when I brushed the sand off the green, wasn't thinking clearly and a penalty there. Felt like I played the back nine well. Even par, considering everything that happened out there today, is a decent score."

Players are allowed to brush away sand on the green but not on the fringe.

"I mean, my ball was just maybe six feet off the green and there was a lot of sand in between my ball and the hole. I just brushed the sand and Luke was like, 'I don't think you can brush sand off the fringe,'" he said. "And I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, you're right'. Just one of those things ... You're going to get a bad deal every now and again, and just have to take it on the chin and try and come back and get the shots back as quick as possible."

Kaymer headlined the list of 60 players to miss the cut of 2 over. The 27-year-old German, who had come in as a favorite after his past success on the course, blamed putting for his troubles.

"Expectations were very high," he said. "When you go to a tournament where you've played very well in the past, you expect you're going to be successful somehow and it hasn't happened this week. It's OK. I practiced hard in the winter and it will come together at some stage."

British Open winner Darren Clark also missed the cut after shooting a 9-over 153. Others failing to qualify for play on the weekend included Colin Montgomerie of Scotland (147), Edoardo Molinari of Italy (149), American Todd Hamilton (149) and Michael Campbell of New Zealand (149).

___

Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-27-GLF-Abu-Dhabi-Championship/id-c1a5e2f915614457bd2a7338faef7f00

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Fracking is Whack - Join Us in New York. (Democracyforamerica)

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

'Finance Degree Guides' Helps Those Looking for a New Career in ...

Tempe, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/25/2012 -- As the economy continues to struggle to improve, many people are considering starting a new career.

For some, a job in the financial field is appealing for many reasons: the work is interesting, jobs tend to be stable with decent salaries, and having a finance degree can open up many doors in terms of career choices and options.

But for many people, knowing how to go about getting the education that is necessary to work in the field of finance can be confusing and even overwhelming. Also, some prospective students who wish to get a finance degree may already be working, and so while the idea of an online program may be one they would like to pursue, they may be unsure if that would even be a reasonable option for them.

A website has been getting a lot of attention lately for its comprehensive, reassuring and helpful information about anything and everything related to a masters in finance.

Finance Degree Guides features in-depth articles, tips and advice about how both prospective students as well as those already working in the field can further their education, get the finance degree they need, and obtain their career goals. The site also covers what types of jobs are typically available to those with a degree in finance.

Busy people who need to schedule college around an already-full workday will also be pleased to read that online finance degree programs are definitely an option.

?Apart from the campus-primarily based institute, there are a selection of on-line faculties that provide finance diploma programs as well,? an article on the website assured readers, adding that college students who want to make a rewarding profession in ?a snug and hassle free method? can enroll in the on-line finance degree programs.

?Students can enroll in these applications distantly and handle their studies as per their own schedule. The pliability of the net diploma programs makes them a super solution to gain larger degree for individuals who are into full-time or part-time jobs. Compared to the normal finance diploma applications, the web training in finance are also more affordable.?

About Finance Degree Guides
Finance Degree Guides is an online resource devoted to helping prospective students get all of the information they need to make an informed decision about the best type of masters in finance degree program for them, as well as a wide variety of helpful articles about possible career choices, and much more. The website is easy to use and also includes a list of Finance Degree Resources that can help students meet their career goals. For more information, please visit http://www.financedegreeguides.org

Source: http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/finance-degree-guides-helps-those-looking-for-a-new-career-in-finance-to-reach-their-goals-124050.htm

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Senate Democrats promise to push Obama tax agenda (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate are promising to press ahead this year with his proposals to require millionaires to pay at least 30 percent in taxes and curb tax preferences for companies that ship jobs overseas.

Senate Democratic leaders promise votes soon on such tax "fairness" initiatives, which a key theme of Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night.

The move would build on last year's drive to renew the payroll tax cut. It comes immediately after GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney revealed that he pays an effective tax rate of less than 15 percent despite income exceeding $20 million a year.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the decision by Republicans to embrace the payroll tax cut despite widespread reservations bodes well for the upcoming debate.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_el_pr/us_democrats_taxes

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In GOP response, Daniels blames Obama for economy (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama has resorted to "extremism" with stifling, anti-growth policies and sought to divide Americans, not unite them, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said in the formal Republican response to the president's State of the Union address.

Eight months after deciding against a bid for his party's presidential nomination, Daniels used his nationally televised speech Tuesday to lash out at Obama and cast the GOP as compassionate and eager to unchain the country's economic potential.

He took particular aim at Obama's efforts to raise taxes on the rich and castigate them for not contributing their fair share to the nation's burdens. Joined by Republicans on Capitol Hill and the presidential campaign trail, the GOP goal was to both blunt and shift the focus away from Obama's theme on Tuesday of fairness, which included protecting the middle class and making sure the rich pay an equitable share of taxes.

"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant effort to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others," Daniels said, speaking from Indianapolis. "As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat."

"This election is going to be a referendum on the president's economic policies," which have worsened the economy, said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The politics of envy, the politics of dividing our country is not what America is all about."

Campaigning for president in Florida on Wednesday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Obama "seemed to be setting up an entire year of divisiveness, an entire year of getting nothing done."

Also drawing frequent GOP attacks were Obama's proposed tax increases, which included making sure millionaire earners pay at least a 30 percent tax rate.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., said Obama's proposals to boost taxes on the wealthy and give tax breaks for domestic U.S. manufacturers and others were "nothing more than the usual Washington game that has led to a tax code already littered with lobbyist loopholes."

Daniels is a rarity in the GOP these days ? a uniting and widely respected figure, contrasting with the divisiveness emanating from the contest for the presidential nomination being waged among former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others.

President George W. Bush's first budget chief and a two-term Indiana governor, Daniels often rails against wasteful spending big budget deficits, though critics note he served during the abrupt shift from fleeting federal surpluses to massive deficits early in Bush's term.

"When President Obama claims that the state of our union is anything but grave, he must know in his heart that this is not true," Daniels said. He added that while Obama did not cause the country's economic and budget problems, "He was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse."

The night's rhetoric come at the dawn of a presidential and congressional election year in which the defining issues are the faltering economy and weak job market and the parties' clashing prescriptions for restoring both. Obama and congressional Democrats have focused on the more populist pathway of financing federal initiatives by taxing millionaires, while Republicans preach the virtues of less regulation and smaller government.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Obama's address "a campaign speech designed to please his liberal base," and warned that he should keep legislation advancing his priorities "free from poison pills like tax hikes on job creators."

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who heads large group of House conservatives, said Obama's speech was riddled with "the ridiculous idea that America isn't fair because successful people get to keep too much of the money they earn."

Republicans fired back at Obama's vision of "an economy built to last," saying it was their party that understood the best way to trigger economic growth was to get the government out of the way.

"The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly sane pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy," Daniels said.

Obama has halted, for now, work on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from western Canada to Texas' Gulf Coast. Republicans say the project would create thousands of jobs, a claim opponents say is overstated. The administration has also pursued policies aimed at reducing pollution and global warming.

To underscore Obama's decision on Keystone, Boehner invited three officials from companies he said would be hurt by the pipeline's rejection to watch the speech in the House chamber, along with a pro-pipeline legislator from Nebraska, through which the project would pass.

Obama was delivering his address during a rowdy battle for the GOP presidential nomination that has ended up providing ammunition for Obama's theme of fairness.

That fight has called attention to the wealth of one of the top contenders, Romney, and the low ? but legal ? effective federal income tax rate of around 15 percent that the multimillionaire has paid in the past two years. Romney, in Florida campaigning for that state's Jan. 31 primary, released his tax documents for the two-year period on Tuesday.

"The president's agenda sounds less like `built to last' and more like doomed to fail," Romney said in Tampa, Fla. "What he's proposing is more of the same: more taxes, more spending, and more regulation."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_union_gop_reaction

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WealthTV 3D joining handful of 3D networks

The network we love to hate has made it a long way in the four years since we promised to never cover it again because of its ridiculous claims. Not only is it still on the air, but Herring Broadcasting has announced it will be adding a linear 3D channel to the existing handful of 3D channels that includes ESPN 3D, n3D and 3net. No word on any broadcaster carriage agreements, yet, but WealthTV 3D has spent two years producing original 3D content in anticipation of the launch and viewers can currently tune in online via Roku boxes. Some of the 3D content has been available via Verizon FiOS VOD since 2010 and while we have long since laughed off the CEO's reaction to our feelings about his channel, our opinion of WealthTV probably isn't going to be changed by adding another dimension.

Continue reading WealthTV 3D joining handful of 3D networks

WealthTV 3D joining handful of 3D networks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Neuroscientists explore how longstanding conflict influences empathy for others

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

MIT postdoc Emile Bruneau has long been drawn to conflict ? not as a participant, but an observer. In 1994, while doing volunteer work in South Africa, he witnessed firsthand the turmoil surrounding the fall of apartheid; during a 2001 trip to visit friends in Sri Lanka, he found himself in the midst of the violent conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan military.

Those chance experiences got Bruneau, who taught high school science for several years, interested in the psychology of human conflict. While teaching, he also volunteered as counselor for a conflict-resolution camp in Ireland that brought Catholic and Protestant children together. At MIT, Bruneau is now working with associate professor of cognitive neuroscience Rebecca Saxe to figure out why empathy ? the ability to feel compassion for another person's suffering ? often fails between members of opposing conflict groups.

"What are the psychological barriers that are put up between us in these contexts of intergroup conflict, and then, critically, what can we do to get past them?" Bruneau asks.

Bruneau and Saxe are also trying to locate patterns of brain activity that correlate with empathy, in hopes of eventually using such measures to determine how well people respond to reconciliation programs aimed at boosting empathy between groups in conflict.

"We're interested in how people think about their enemies, and whether there are brain measures that are reliable readouts of that," says Saxe, who is an associate member of MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research. "This is a huge vision, of which we are at the very beginning."

Before researchers can use tools such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate whether conflict-resolution programs are having any effect, they need to identify brain regions that respond to other people's emotional suffering. In a study published Dec. 1 in Neuropsychologia, Saxe and Bruneau scanned people's brains as they read stories in which the protagonist experienced either physical or emotional pain. The brain regions that responded uniquely to emotional suffering overlapped with areas known to be involved in the ability to perceive what another person is thinking or feeling.

Failures of empathy

Hoping to see a correlation between empathy levels and amount of activity in those brain regions, the researchers then recruited Israelis and Arabs for a study in which subjects read stories about the suffering of members of their own groups or that of conflict-group members. The study participants also read stories about a distant, neutral group ? South Americans.

As expected, Israelis and Arabs reported feeling much more compassion in response to the suffering of their own group members than that of members of the conflict group. However, the brain scans revealed something surprising: Brain activity in the areas that respond to emotional pain was identical when reading about suffering by one's own group or the conflict group. Also, those activity levels were lower when Arabs or Israelis read about the suffering of South Americans, even though Arabs and Israelis expressed more compassion for South Americans' suffering than for that of the conflict group.

Those findings, published Jan. 23 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, suggest that those brain regions are sensitive to the importance of the opposing group, not whether or not you like them.

However, because the study did not reveal any correlation between the expression of empathy and the amount of brain activity, more study is needed before MRI can be used as a reliable measure of empathy levels, Saxe says.

"We thought there might be brain regions where the amount of activity was just a simple function of the amount of empathy that you experience," Saxe says. "Since that's not what we found, we don't know what the amount of activity in these brain regions really means yet. This is basically a first baby step, and one of the things it tells us is that we don't know enough about these brain regions to use them in the ways that we want to."

Bruneau is now testing whether these brain regions send messages to different parts of the brain depending on whether the person is feeling empathy or not. He hypothesizes that when someone reads about the suffering of an in-group member, the brain regions identified in this study send information to areas that process unpleasant emotions, while stories about suffering of a conflict-group member activate an area called the ventral striatum, which has been implicated in schadenfreude ? taking pleasure in the suffering of others.

###

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice

Thanks to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117007/Neuroscientists_explore_how_longstanding_conflict_influences_empathy_for_others

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Conference peers 20 years into Broadway's future

In this Jan. 19, 2012 photo, The Palace Theatre marquee and billboards advertising Broadway shows are seen in Times Square, in New York. Leaders in entertainment, academics and marketing gathered Monday, Jan. 23, to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway will look like in 2032. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

In this Jan. 19, 2012 photo, The Palace Theatre marquee and billboards advertising Broadway shows are seen in Times Square, in New York. Leaders in entertainment, academics and marketing gathered Monday, Jan. 23, to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway will look like in 2032. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

In this Jan. 19, 2012 photo, a Broadway street sign is seen in Times Square in New York. Leaders in entertainment, academics and marketing gathered Monday, Jan. 23, to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway will look like in 2032. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

In this Jan. 19, 2012 photo, billboards advertising Broadway shows are seen in Times Square in New York. Leaders in entertainment, academics and marketing gathered Monday, Jan. 23, to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway will look like in 2032. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

In this Jan. 19, 2012 photo, a theatergoer buys Broadway tickets at the Times Square TKTS discount ticket booth in New York. Leaders in entertainment, academics and marketing gathered Monday, Jan. 23, to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway will look like in 2032. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

(AP) ? Leaders in entertainment, academics and marketing gathered Monday to peer into their crystal balls and try to predict what Broadway will look like in 2032. Many agreed on at least one thing: Change is coming.

They discussed everything from Broadway's aging audience, its fragmented and maddening ticketing systems, the often poor experience it gives patrons, the power of social networks to harness fans and the continuing need to attract world-class talent.

The 13 speakers at the one-day inaugural TEDxBroadway included Jujamcyn Theaters president Jordan Roth, "Sleep No More" producer Randy Weiner, Citibank's social media strategist Frank Eliason and author Juan Enriquez. While some speakers made bold predictions, others demurred.

"I think it's safe to say that 20 years from now, Broadway will be a street in New York," said Kara Larson, founder of Arts Knowledge, a marketing consulting firm. She said people will continue to go there to take in a show. "Beyond that, I'm not willing to go."

Eliason warned that Broadway has become too much like a top-down business and needs to make a better human connection with its audience, which is bombarded by other rival entertainment. "You feel like they're rushing you in and rushing you out," he said. "That human connection is extraordinarily important."

The event, in front of about 200 attendees and peppered by short video clips from actor Neil Patrick Harris, was held in the off-Broadway complex's New World Stages, in the theater where "Million Dollar Quartet" is performed. Organizers hope it will be the first of many annual conclaves.

TEDx events are independently organized but inspired by the nonprofit group TED ? standing for Technology, Entertainment, Design ? that started in 1984 as a conference dedicated to "ideas worth spreading." Video of the Broadway event is likely to be made available later.

The gathering was the brainchild of three men: Ken Davenport, a writer, director, producer and industry pioneer; Jim McCarthy, the CEO of ticket discounter Goldstar; and Damian Bazadona, the founder of Situation Interactive, an online marketing firm.

"How will our shows be created? How will they be marketed? Who's going to come see them? These were all the questions that Jim, Damian and I sat around one day asking each other. And the only answer that we could all agree on was that we had no idea," Davenport said. "None. So what we decided to do is invite some of the smartest people we knew into this room today and ask them those same questions."

Patricia Martin, an expert on commerce and culture, predicted a new flowering of cultural energy as long as the stories Broadway tells are told with love. "It must lift our spirits and it must help us be compassionate," she said.

Weiner, whose immersive, genre-bending "Sleep No More" is playing off-off-Broadway has routinely sold out due to enthusiastic word-of-mouth, said his experience may help other producers. His marketing cost for "Sleep No More" is zero.

"The show is the marketing. It's about unifying the show, the experience, the marketing ? that is in many ways why the show has been so successful," he said, urging fellow producers to sink money into the experience. "There's something to be learned in that for Broadway."

Bazadona said that Broadway shows can overcome their limited supply by embracing different platforms beyond the four walls of a theater, opening the door to the idea of broadcasting a show on screens far away. "To me, innovative development is the best path to artist development," he said.

Barry Kahn, CEO of dynamic ticket pricing company Qcue, made a plea for the box offices to try and work together and not compete. Many theatergoers, he said, just want to see any Broadway show and the cutthroat battles between each theater's box offices drags the whole industry down.

"We have a common goal," he said. "If we compete against each other, we're going to drive each other all out of business. But if we work together, we can all be better off."

One of the most popular speakers was Vincent Gassetto, the principal of a public middle school in the Bronx whose students recently were treated to a performance of the "Spider-Man" musical and came home buzzing about it. For many, it was their first Broadway show.

Gassetto urged listeners not to overlook this diverse and enthusiastic talent pool as arts funding shrivel. "They're going to be your writers, your producers, they're going to be your actors and, at the very least, they're going to be your audience members," he said.

Other speakers included former Lincoln Center Director Gregory Mosher, who predicted that the subscription model for theater would soon become extinct, and Joseph Craig, a marketing expert, said lessons should be learned about how a dusty and dirty Las Vegas turned itself around in the late 1980s to become a booming draw in the late 1990s.

Roth stressed one key thing that makes Broadway different from other entertainment ? it is live. He underlined how important the live experience must remain for Broadway to remain a destination hub. "If we don't, whether we're telling stories we make up or stories we license, we will be cultural derivatives ? non-essentials," he said.

"If we do, we'll thrive on our cultural primacy. Not because we do it better than any other medium, but because we do what no other medium can do. We do it live. And that's original."

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Online:

http://www.goldstar.com/tedxbroadway

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Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-23-Theater-TEDxBroadway/id-3c9a351703f74a66bb203709be4a42e7

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