Thursday, April 11, 2013

Faster than silicon: Redesigned material could lead to lighter, faster electronics

Apr. 10, 2013 ? The same material that formed the first primitive transistors more than 60 years ago can be modified in a new way to advance future electronics, according to a new study.

Chemists at The Ohio State University have developed the technology for making a one-atom-thick sheet of germanium, and found that it conducts electrons more than ten times faster than silicon and five times faster than conventional germanium.

The material's structure is closely related to that of graphene -- a much-touted two-dimensional material composed of single layers of carbon atoms. As such, graphene shows unique properties compared to its more common multilayered counterpart, graphite. Graphene has yet to be used commercially, but experts have suggested that it could one day form faster computer chips, and maybe even function as a superconductor, so many labs are working to develop it.

Joshua Goldberger, assistant professor of chemistry at Ohio State, decided to take a different direction and focus on more traditional materials.

"Most people think of graphene as the electronic material of the future," Goldberger said. "But silicon and germanium are still the materials of the present. Sixty years' worth of brainpower has gone into developing techniques to make chips out of them. So we've been searching for unique forms of silicon and germanium with advantageous properties, to get the benefits of a new material but with less cost and using existing technology."

In a paper published online in the journal ACS Nano, he and his colleagues describe how they were able to create a stable, single layer of germanium atoms. In this form, the crystalline material is called germanane.

Researchers have tried to create germanane before. This is the first time anyone has succeeded at growing sufficient quantities of it to measure the material's properties in detail, and demonstrate that it is stable when exposed to air and water.

In nature, germanium tends to form multilayered crystals in which each atomic layer is bonded together; the single-atom layer is normally unstable. To get around this problem, Goldberger's team created multi-layered germanium crystals with calcium atoms wedged between the layers. Then they dissolved away the calcium with water, and plugged the empty chemical bonds that were left behind with hydrogen. The result: they were able to peel off individual layers of germanane.

Studded with hydrogen atoms, germanane is even more chemically stable than traditional silicon. It won't oxidize in air and water, as silicon does. That makes germanane easy to work with using conventional chip manufacturing techniques.

The primary thing that makes germanane desirable for optoelectronics is that it has what scientists call a "direct band gap," meaning that light is easily absorbed or emitted. Materials such as conventional silicon and germanium have indirect band gaps, meaning that it is much more difficult for the material to absorb or emit light.

"When you try to use a material with an indirect band gap on a solar cell, you have to make it pretty thick if you want enough energy to pass through it to be useful. A material with a direct band gap can do the same job with a piece of material 100 times thinner," Goldberger said.

The first-ever transistors were crafted from germanium in the late 1940s, and they were about the size of a thumbnail. Though transistors have grown microscopic since then -- with millions of them packed into every computer chip -- germanium still holds potential to advance electronics, the study showed.

According to the researchers' calculations, electrons can move through germanane ten times faster through silicon, and five times faster than through conventional germanium. The speed measurement is called electron mobility.

With its high mobility, germanane could thus carry the increased load in future high-powered computer chips.

"Mobility is important, because faster computer chips can only be made with faster mobility materials," Golberger said. "When you shrink transistors down to small scales, you need to use higher mobility materials or the transistors will just not work," Goldberger explained.

Next, the team is going to explore how to tune the properties of germanane by changing the configuration of the atoms in the single layer.

Lead author of the paper was Ohio State undergraduate chemistry student Elizabeth Bianco, who recently won the first place award for this research at the nationwide nanotechnology competition NDConnect, hosted by the University of Notre Dame. Other co-authors included Sheneve Butler and Shishi Jiang of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Oscar Restrepo and Wolfgang Windl of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The research was supported in part by an allocation of computing time from the Ohio Supercomputing Center, with instrumentation provided by the Analytical Surface Facility in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Ohio State University Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Program. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, the Center for Emergent Materials at Ohio State, and the university's Materials Research Seed Grant Program.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Pam Frost Gorder.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Elisabeth Bianco, Sheneve Butler, Shishi Jiang, Oscar D. Restrepo, Wolfgang Windl, Joshua E. Goldberger. Stability and Exfoliation of Germanane: A Germanium Graphane Analogue. ACS Nano, 2013; : 130326123449003 DOI: 10.1021/nn4009406

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/w9fiRPZ0kZo/130410131502.htm

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Hacker Challenge: Share Your Best Spring Cleaning Hack

Hacker Challenge: Share Your Best Spring Cleaning HackWelcome, Lifehackers, to our next Hacker Challenge! Each week, we issue a new challenge. You get until Sunday to prepare your submission and send it to us. That gives you a few days to think about it and a whole weekend to work it up. Our editors pick the best submissions and our favorite will win a copy of the Lifehacker book!

Let's get started!

This Week's Hacker Challenge: Share Your Best Spring Cleaning Hack

For this week's challenge, we'd like to see your best spring cleaning hack?anything clever or out of the ordinary you do to get you and yours ready for spring after those long winter months. We're flexible here. Entries can be about cleaning or organizing your home, car, computer or wherever else you're able to strike fear in the hearts of clutter and disorganization. We've shown you how you can declutter your life and embrace minimalism. We've also talked about spring cleaning tips for your home and computer.

Now, it's your turn. We want to see your best spring cleaning hack.

How to Submit Your Entry

Make sure to follow these instructions when you submit your entry:

  • Post your entry below or send it to challenge@lifehacker.com with the subject Hacker Challenge: Spring Cleaning. If you post your entry below and need to include more than one image, just reply to your own comment or host your extra pics on a free, quick image-hosting site like imgur and link out to your gallery.
  • We will accept entries up through Sunday night, April 14 at 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time
  • We will showcase the best submissions and announce our favorite Tuesday, April 16.

So get to work! And don't forget to check back for new challenges every week.

Standard Gawker contest rules apply, so be sure to check them out before submitting your entry.

Images by Brian A Jackson (Shutterstock) and Tina Mailhot-Roberge.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/CMzOyNDGjHs/hacker-challenge-share-your-best-spring-cleaning-hack

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NTSB probes case of texting helicopter pilot

(AP) ? Evidence gathered in an investigation of a fatal medical helicopter crash has raised questions about whether the pilot was distracted by personal text messages when he failed to refuel the helicopter before taking off and misjudged how far the aircraft could fly without more fuel.

The case, scheduled to be considered at a meeting Tuesday of the National Transportation Safety Board, underscores concerns the board has already expressed that use of cellphones and other distracting electronic devices has increasingly become a factor in accidents and incidents across all modes of transportation ? planes, trains, cars, trucks and even ships. The Aug. 26, 2011, accident near Mosby, Mo., which killed four people, appears to be the first fatal commercial aircraft accident investigated by the board in which texting has been implicated.

The pilot, James Freudenbert, 34, of Rapid City, S.D., exchanged 20 text messages with an acquaintance over a span of less than two hours before the helicopter crashed into a farm field a little over a mile from where he hoped to refuel, documents made public by NTSB show. At least three of the messages were sent and five received while the helicopter was in flight, although not in the final 11 minutes of the last leg of the flight, according to a timeline prepared by investigators.

The timeline indicates Freudenbert also exchanged text messages at the same time he was reporting by radio to a company communications center that the helicopter was low on fuel. The helicopter was on the ground at the time waiting for the patient, who was being transferred from one hospital to another, and a nurse and a paramedic to board.

Although the pilot wasn't texting at the time of the crash, it's possible the messaging took his mind off his duties, interrupted his chain of thought and caused him to skip safety steps he might have otherwise performed, experts on human performance and cognitive distractions said. People can't concentrate on two things at once; they can only shift their attention rapidly back and forth, the experts said. But as they do that, the sharpness of their focus begins to erode.

"People just have a limited ability to pay attention," said David Strayer, a professor of cognitive and neural science at the University of Utah. "It's one of the characteristics of how we are wired."

"If we have two things demanding attention, one will take attention away from other," he said. "If it happens while sitting behind a desk, it's not that big of a problem. But if you are sitting behind the wheel of a car or in the cockpit of an airplane, you start to get serious compromises in safety."

In October 2010, two Northwest Airlines pilots overflew their destination of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by 100 miles while they were engrossed in working on flight schedules on their laptops.

A text message ? especially one accompanied by an audible alert like a buzz or bell ? interrupts a person's thoughts and can be hard to ignore, said Christopher Wickens, a University of Illinois professor emeritus of engineering and aviation psychology. If the subject of the email is especially engaging, or especially emotional, that also makes it hard to ignore, he said.

The helicopter was operated by a subsidiary of Air Methods Corp. of Englewood, Colo., the largest provider of air medical emergency transport services in the U.S. The company's policies prohibit the use of electronic devices by pilots during flight.

Freudenbert apparently didn't check the amount of fuel on board the helicopter before taking off from the company's base in St. Joseph, Mo., even though he had been briefed that the aircraft would be low on fuel because it had been used the night before for training exercises. He radioed that he had two hours of fuel shortly after the helicopter was airborne.

But when the helicopter landed less than 10 minutes later in Bethany, Mo., to pick up the patient, Freudenbert radioed the communications center again to report that the copter was lower on fuel than he had initially thought. He estimated he had about 45 minutes worth of fuel, and said he didn't want to use any of the 20 minutes of reserve fuel federal regulations require be maintained. Investigators calculate he actually had 33 minutes worth of fuel left at that point.

Freudenbert opted to continue the patient transfer to a hospital in Liberty, Mo., changing plans only enough for a stop at an airfield a few miles closer than the Liberty hospital. The helicopter stalled and crashed at 6:41 p.m. CDT on a clear summer evening before reaching the airfield. A low fuel warning light might have alerted Freudenbert to his true situation, but the light was set on "dim" for nighttime use and may not have been visible. A pre-flight check by the pilot, if it had been conducted, should have revealed the light was set in the wrong position, investigators were told.

___

Online:

National Transportation Safety Board: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl3_2012.html

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-09-Distracted%20Flying/id-71e8f4c045844985bc2d538fb23b83e7

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HealthTok Lands $18.7M From NEA, Emergence & Others To Make Your Health Plan More Engaging

Screen shot 2013-04-10 at 4.16.28 AMTraditionally, healthcare managers -- whether they be health plans, care organizations, brokers or employers -- have struggled to get their members to engage with their wellness programs and heath tools. Founded in 2009, Denver-based startup, WellTok, has been on a mission to help health plan providers boost engagement by providing a suite of Web and mobile social media-based solutions. Through a social health management platform, the startup is essentially looking to help health plans "consumerize" their services, leveraging the ease-of-use, accessibility and social and mobile functionality now inherent to so many consumer-facing products to improve the user experience of their health plans.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NWLJY251P3w/

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Nebraska Lets 7-Year-Old Brain Cancer Patient Score ... - SportsGrid

Inspirational ThingsNCAA Football

The last time I got out of my chair for a Nebraska touchdown run was way back, um, never. But I?ll have to admit that this was pretty damn cool. Jack Hoffman is a 7-year-old who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2011, and has undergone two surgeries and numerous rounds of chemotherapy since. But on Saturday he lived out every kid?s dream: scoring a touchdown in a Div. I college stadium in front of thousands of fans.

Jack?s passion has always been Cornhusker football, and when his dad asked if he could get a photo with Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead, a special relationship was born. Last season Burkhead invited Jack to a game, and the boy ended up being adopted by the entire team. And that led to the big moment you see pictured, as Jack actually suited up ? wearing Burkhead?s No. 22 ? and ran a play toward the end of the Cornhuskers? spring scrimmage game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Jack took a handoff from quarterback Taylor Martinez and, led by a cadre of blockers, scampered 69 yards for a touchdown as 60,000-plus fans went nuts. It was the game?s final score, and the entire team celebrated in the end zone, hoisting Jack on their shoulders.

And ? no flags.

Omaha.com:

Shortly afterwards, with a couple of television cameras and microphones in his face ? and the game ball still under his arm ? Jack summed up the day with three words.

?It was awesome.?

Nebraska assistant athletic director Jeff Jamrog credited wide receivers coach Rich Fisher for the idea. Fisher brought it up Friday, and Jamrog put the wheels in motion. Burkhead and Husker fullback C.J. Zimmerer, the president of NU?s chapter of Uplifting Athletes, agreed that the team was in position to give Jack a moment he?d never forget.

Jack is on a two-week break from a 60-week regimen of chemotherapy, which provided the window for Saturday?s play.

His father, Andy:

Andy said Jack is ?doing great? and that an MRI at Children?s Hospital in Boston showed that the tumor has shrunk substantially in the past year.

?We?re very optimistic for Jack,? Andy said.

Photo: Daily Nebraskan.


Source: http://www.sportsgrid.com/ncaa-football/nebraska-lets-7-year-old-brain-cancer-patient-score-td-before-60000-fans-and-it-sure-is-getting-dusty-in-here/

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Israel court: Life sentences for Jewish radical

JERUSALEM (AP) ? An Israeli court on Tuesday delivered two consecutive life sentences to a U.S.-born Jewish extremist for the murder of two Palestinians and the attempted murder of others.

Originally from Florida, Jack Teitel was living in the West Bank when arrested in 2009. He was convicted in January for the 1997 killings.

The Jerusalem District Court gave Teitel additional time for other charges, including weapon violations and incitement to violence. He was ordered to pay compensation to victims' families.

The indictment said Teitel sought to avenge the deaths of Israelis killed by Palestinians.

In addition to his Palestinian victims, Teitel also targeted a dovish Israeli professor with a pipe bomb and messianic Jews who venerate Jesus. A teenager was injured when opening a booby-trapped package.

The court rejected his insanity plea.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-court-life-sentences-jewish-radical-131528834.html

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Goat that walked into Mont. bar was taken from zoo

In this April 3, 2013 photo shows Butte-Silver Bow Animal Shelter supervisor Jacki Casagranda sits with "Shirley" a pygmy goat in Butte Mont. The goat was picked up at a local bar by the animal warden last weekend. Fairmont Hot Springs Resort general manager Steve Luebeck says staffers knew the goat was missing but didn't realize it had been stolen until they saw a story in The Montana Standard reporting that a goat had been taken into a Butte bar early Sunday. Shirley was returned to the resort's petting zoo. (AP Photo/The Montana Standard, Walter Hinick)

In this April 3, 2013 photo shows Butte-Silver Bow Animal Shelter supervisor Jacki Casagranda sits with "Shirley" a pygmy goat in Butte Mont. The goat was picked up at a local bar by the animal warden last weekend. Fairmont Hot Springs Resort general manager Steve Luebeck says staffers knew the goat was missing but didn't realize it had been stolen until they saw a story in The Montana Standard reporting that a goat had been taken into a Butte bar early Sunday. Shirley was returned to the resort's petting zoo. (AP Photo/The Montana Standard, Walter Hinick)

(AP) ? So the goat that walked into a Montana bar last weekend ... was stolen from a petting zoo.

Fairmont Hot Springs Resort general manager Steve Luebeck says staffers knew the goat was missing but didn't realize it had been stolen until they saw a story in The Montana Standard on Wednesday reporting that a goat had been taken into a Butte bar early Sunday.

The pygmy goat, named "Shirley, was returned to the resort's petting zoo.

Luebeck tells The Standard (http://bit.ly/11rcGB5 ) he has never had an animal stolen from the zoo, which has goats and miniature horses. He says zoo managers would like to know who took the animal so they can press charges.

___

Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-04-04-Bar%20Goat/id-d92e4621811347b0a96a3284608ca45a

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'Selfless' U.S. diplomat killed in Afghan attacks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday railed against the "cowardly" terrorists responsible for the attack that killed five Americans in Afghanistan, including a "selfless, idealistic" young diplomat on a mission to donate books to students.

In the deadliest day in eight months for the United States in the war, militants killed six Americans in separate attacks Saturday, the violence occurring hours after the U.S. military's top officer arrived in Afghanistan for consultations with Afghan and U.S.-led coalition officials.

Kerry, in Turkey for meetings with the country's leaders, said 25-year-old Anne Smedinghoff of Illinois had assisted him when he visited Afghanistan two weeks ago. She served as his control officer, an honor often bestowed on up-and-coming members of the U.S. foreign service.

At a news conference with Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, Kerry described Smedinghoff as "a selfless, idealistic woman who woke up yesterday morning and set out to bring textbooks to school children, to bring them knowledge."

"Anne and those with her," Kerry said, "were attacked by the Taliban terrorists who woke up that day not with a mission to educate or to help, but with a mission to destroy. A brave American was determined to brighten the light of learning through books, written in the native tongue of the students she had never met, whom she felt it incumbent to help."

Kerry said Smedinghoff "was met by a cowardly terrorist determined to bring darkness and death to total strangers. These are the challenges that our citizens face, not just in Afghanistan but in many dangerous parts of the world ? where a nihilism, an empty approach, is willing to take life rather than give it."

The attack also killed three U.S. service members, a U.S. civilian who worked for the U.S. Defense Department and an Afghan doctor when the group was struck by an explosion while traveling to a school in southern Afghanistan, according to coalition officials and the State Department.

Another American civilian was killed in a separate attack in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement.

It was the deadliest day for Americans since Aug. 16, when seven U.S. service members died in two attacks in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban insurgency. Six were killed when their helicopter was shot down by insurgents and one soldier died in a roadside bomb explosion.

Officials said the explosion Saturday came just as a coalition convoy drove past a caravan of vehicles carrying the governor of Zabul province to the event at the school.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility and said the bomber was seeking to target either a coalition convoy or the governor.

Kerry said the terrorists only "strengthened the resolve of the nation, the diplomatic corps, the military, all resources determined to continue the hard work of helping people to help themselves."

He said "America does not and will not cower before terrorism. We are going to forge on, we're going to step up. ... We put ourselves in harm's way because we believe in giving hope to our brothers and sisters all over the world, knowing that we share universal human values with people all over the world ? the dignity of opportunity and progress," the Obama administration's top diplomat said.

"So it is now up to us to determine what the legacy of this tragedy will be. Where others seek to destroy, we intend to show a stronger determination in order to brighten our shared future, even when others try to darken it with violence. That was Anne's mission," he added.

The deaths brought the number of foreign military troops killed this year to 30, including 22 Americans. A total of six foreign civilians have died in Afghanistan so far this year, according to an AP count.

The Taliban have said civilians working for the government or the coalition are legitimate targets, despite a warning from the United Nations that such killings may violate international law.

In earlier remarks Sunday to U.S. consulate workers, Kerry said that "folks who want to kill people, and that's all they want to do, are scared of knowledge. They want to shut the doors and they don't want people to make their choices about the future. For them, it's you do things our way, or we throw acid in your face or we put a bullet in your face," he said.

Kerry described Smedinghoff as "vivacious, smart, capable, chosen often by the ambassador there to be the lead person because of her capacity."

He said "there are no words for anyone to describe the extraordinary harsh contradiction for a young 25-year-old woman, with all of her future ahead of her, believing in the possibilities of diplomacy to improve people's lives, making a difference, having an impact" to be killed, Kerry said.

Smedinghoff previously served in Venezuela.

"The world lost a truly beautiful soul today," her parents, Tom and Mary Beth Smedinghoff, said in a statement emailed to The Washington Post.

"Working as a public diplomacy officer, she particularly enjoyed the opportunity to work directly with the Afghan people and was always looking for opportunities to reach out and help to make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war," they said. "We are consoled knowing that she was doing what she loved, and that she was serving her country by helping to make a positive difference in the world."

The last American diplomat killed on the job was Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya. Stevens and three other American died in an attack Sept. 11 on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya. No one has yet been brought to justice in that attack.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-mourns-1st-diplomat-killed-since-benghazi-074808807.html

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Distorted thinking in gambling addiction: What are the cognitive and neural mechanisms?

Apr. 8, 2013 ? Fascinating new studies into brain activity and behavioural responses have highlighted the overlap between pathological gambling and drug addiction. The research, which is presented at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013)? has implications for both the treatment and prevention of problem gambling.

Dr Luke Clark, a senior lecturer at the University of Cambridge (UK), told the meeting that neurocognitive tests of impulsivity and compulsivity, and also positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of the brain have started to show how gambling becomes addictive in pathological gamblers -- people whose gambling habit has spiralled out of control and become a problem.

"Around 70% of the British population will gamble occasionally, but for some of these people, it will become a problem," he said. "Our work has been seeking to understand the changes in decision-making that happen in people with gambling problems. It represents the first large scale study of individuals seeking treatment for gambling problems in the UK, at a time when this disorder is being re-classified alongside drug addiction as the first 'behavioural addiction'. Given the unique legislation around gambling from country to country, it is vital that we understand gambling at a national level. For example, 40% of the problem gamblers at the National Problem Gambling Clinic report that the game they have a problem with is roulette on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals; this kind of gambling machine is peculiar to the British gambling landscape."

In collaboration between the University of Cambridge and Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, director of the UK's only specialist gambling clinic in the Central and North West London NHS Trust, Dr Clark and his colleagues compared the brains and behaviours of 86 male, pathological gamblers with those of 45 healthy men without a gambling problem.

"We approach gambling within the framework of addiction, where we think that problematic gambling arises from a combination of individual risk factors, such as genetics, and features of the games themselves. To study individual factors, we have been testing gamblers at the National Problem Gambling Clinic on neurocognitive tests of impulsivity and compulsivity, and we have also measured their dopamine levels using PET imaging," said Dr Clark.

The tests showed that problem gamblers had increased impulsivity, similar to people with alcohol and drug addictions, but there was less evidence of compulsivity. Levels of dopamine -- a neurotransmitter involved in signalling between nerve cells and which is implicated in drug addiction -- showed differences in the more impulsive gamblers.

"Previous PET research has shown that people with drug addiction have reduced dopamine receptors. We predicted the same effect in pathological gamblers, but we did not see any group differences between the pathological gamblers and healthy men. Nevertheless, the problem gamblers do show some individual differences in their dopamine function, related to their levels of impulsivity: more impulsive gamblers showed fewer dopamine receptors," said Dr Clark. "These studies highlight the overlap between pathological gambling and drug addiction.

"To study the properties of the games themselves and how they relate to problem gambling, we have focussed on two psychological distortions that occur across many forms of gambling: 'near-miss' outcomes (where a loss looks similar or 'close' to a jackpot win) and the 'gambler's fallacy' (for example, believing that a run of heads means that a tail is 'due', in a game of chance). In one important discovery, we were the first lab to show that gambling 'near-misses' recruit brain regions that overlap with those recruited in gambling 'wins'. These responses may cause 'near-misses' to maintain gambling play despite their objective status as losses."

Dr Clark said that these findings had implications for both prevention and treatment. "Gambling distortions like the 'near-miss' effect may be amenable to both psychological therapies for problem gambling, and also by drug treatments that may act on the underlying brain systems. By understanding the styles of thinking that characterise the problem gambler, we may also be able to improve education about gambling in teenagers and young adults, to reduce the number of people developing a gambling problem."

The researchers also found a striking demonstration of the underlying brain regions that are involved in gambling when they studied the gambling behaviour of patients who had experienced brain injury due to a tumour or stroke.

"We have seen that two gambling distortions -- the 'gambler's fallacy' and the 'near-miss' effect -- that are evident in the general population, and which appear to be increased in problem gamblers, are actually abolished in patients with damage to the insula region of the brain," he said. "This suggests that in the healthy brain, the insula may be a critical area in generating these distorted expectancies during gambling play, and that interventions to reduce insula activity may have treatment potential.

"The insula is quite a mysterious part of the brain, tucked deep inside the lateral fissure. It is important in processing pain and, more broadly, in representing the state of the body in the brain, and it is striking that gambling is a very visceral, exciting activity. Our ongoing neuroimaging work will look at the relationship between responses in the insula and the body during our gambling tests."

Future work will investigate the styles of thinking that are in evidence when the problem gamblers at the National Problem Gambling Clinic play the simplified games the researchers have developed. "This is the first study to directly look at whether these biases are more pronounced in problem gamblers. We are also starting to recruit the siblings of problem gamblers (those who do not have a gambling problem themselves) in order to look at underlying vulnerability factors," concluded Dr Clark.

This research is funded by grants from the UK's Medical Research Council, and involves further collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Oxford.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by British Neuroscience Association, via AlphaGalileo.

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


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/~3/FIugbNX4fB0/130408085046.htm

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Monday, April 8, 2013

Louisville beats Cal 64-57 to reach title game

Louisville guard Bria Smith (21) drives the ball against California guard Brittany Boyd (15) in the first half of a national semifinal at the Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Louisville guard Bria Smith (21) drives the ball against California guard Brittany Boyd (15) in the first half of a national semifinal at the Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

California guard Afure Jemerigbe (2) goes up for s shot against Louisville forward Sara Hammond (00) in the first half of the women's NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament semifinal, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. Louisville's Antonita Slaughter (4) and Bria Smith (21) defend. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

California guard Layshia Clarendon (23) drives against Louisville guard Bria Smith (21) in the first half of a national semifinal at the Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Louisville head coach Jeff Walz and Jude Schimmel (22) talk on the sideline against California in the first half of a national semifinal at the Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

California guard Afure Jemerigbe (2) and Louisville guard Jude Schimmel (22) battle for a loose ball in the first half of a national semifinal at the Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

(AP) ? The more Louisville extends its remarkable run, the more coach Jeff Walz wants to make sure his Cardinals enjoy every moment.

As long as they have one more upset in them for the NCAA championship game.

The upstart Cardinals got 18 points ? all on 3-pointers ? from Antonita Slaughter and they methodically clawed back from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat California 64-57 on Sunday night in the NCAA semifinals.

For a team that has beaten Baylor, Tennessee and now the second-seeded Golden Bears, a little celebration was in order.

"We're going to go on Bourbon Street," said Walz, whose team has one last practice Monday before Tuesday night's title game. "I'll tell the kids, as long as they're back by 2, we're OK."

Bria Smith scored 17 on 6 of 7 shooting for the fifth-seeded Cardinals (29-8), who became the first team seeded lower than fourth to win a Final Four game. The result ensures an all-Big East Conference final in the league's last season in its current form: Louisville will play Connecticut, which beat Notre Dame 83-65, one night after the Louisville men's team plays Michigan for the championship.

The Cardinals are the 10th school to have both basketball teams reach the Final Four in the same season. Only UConn won both titles in the same season, back in 2004.

"The way I look at it, I think the men are trying to feed off of our success," Walz said with a smirk before adding on a serious note that he'd received word from Atlanta that the Louisville men "were in the hotel lobby jumping up and down and cheering for us."

Layshia Clarendon scored 17 for Cal (32-4), which had won the Spokane Region as a second seed. Gennifer Brandon added 12 for the Golden Bears and Brittany Boyd added 10 points.

"Credit Louisville, which obviously has been really hot," Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "They outfought us in the second half."

It was the third straight upset by Louisville, which had to beat defending national champion Baylor and the powerful Lady Vols just to get to the Big Easy. They will need to summon one more to win it all. Not that they're worried about it.

"No one expects us to be here," Slaughter said. "No one expects us to be in the championship game. Just come together as a team and win as a team."

Shoni Schimmel, who had been one of the stars of the tournament, struggled early for Louisville, but finished with 10 points, including a clutch transition pull-up that gave Louisville a 57-54 lead with 2:06 left.

Clarendon responded with a left win 3 of her own to tie it, but Sara Hammond, playing with four fouls for the last 7:20, gave the Cardinals the lead for good with a strong move inside as she was fouled. Suddenly, Cal was forcing desperate 3s and not hitting them.

After shooting 58. 6 percent (17 of 29) in the first half, Cal shot only 30 percent (9 of 30) in the second, negating the Bears' 38-26 advantage in rebounds.

"In the first half we got out a lot on the run. We didn't get a chance to run at all (in the second half) because we weren't getting stops," Clarendon said. "We made a lot of mistakes. It's not like we played somebody who was too good and just flat out beat us."

On Saturday night, the Louisville's men's team had to erase a 12-point second-half deficit against Wichita State, so the women didn't need much inspiration when they went into halftime trailing 37-27. They came out and quickly narrowed their deficit with a 7-0 run that began with Schimmel's 3. Smith added a mid-range jumper and Hammond scored inside to make it 37-34.

Cal was back up 47-39 when Clarendon spun into the lane for a pull-up jumper, but the Cardinals then scored the next seven points, starting with Slaughter's deep 3 and ending with Jude Schimmel's free throws that made it as close as 47-46.

The Cardinals finally pulled back into the lead when Hammond's free throws made it 53-52 with 3:40 left.

"We come out, we executed perfectly to start the second half," Walz said. "Once we took the lead, I could see it in our kids' eyes, the excitement, 'Hey, we can do this, we're going to do this.'

"We're playing our best basketball at the end of the year and that's all that matters," Walz added. "We're figuring out a way to pull them out."

Before tip-off, Walz had the relaxed look of a coach who had been there before, which of course he had in 2009, when Louisville climbed out of a 12-point hole to beat Oklahoma State in the national semifinals before falling to Connecticut in the title game. He walked over to the Cal bench for a friendly chat with Gottlieb, giving her a hug before he walked back toward his bench, and then went across the court to welcome some fans in the front row.

Walz's team also appeared more composed in the first few minutes, racing to an 8-2 lead with the help of Slaughter's first 3 and a pair of layups by Smith. Smith's third basket inside the first five minutes gave Louisville a 10-6 lead, then Cal started to look more comfortable.

Talia Caldwell's putback marked the beginning of a 12-1 run, capped by Clarendon's transition jumper that gave the Golden Bears an 18-11 lead.

Jude Schimmel's 3 got Louisville as close as 25-22 midway through the half, but the Cardinals had trouble keeping pace while Shoni Schimmel, their leading scorer, missed six of her first seven shots.

Cal, which had won with strong rebounding all season, also controlled the game in that department, 23-11 overall and 8-3 in offensive rebounds in the first half. Complicating matters for Louisville was that Hammond, their leading rebounder (6.5 per game), sat out most of the half with two fouls.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-07-BKW-Final-Four-Louisville-California/id-d2ad15c1e2c3494b9cfc9ff75b7af126

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Syria oil industry buckling under rebel gains

Syria's vital oil industry is breaking down as rebels capture many of the country's oil fields, with wells aflame and looters scooping up crude, depriving the government of much needed cash and fuel for its war machine against the uprising.

Exports have ground practically to a standstill, and the regime of President Bashar Assad has been forced to import refined fuel supplies to keep up with demand amid shortages and rising prices. In a sign of the increasing desperation, the oil minister met last week with Chinese and Russian officials to discuss exploring for gas and oil in the Mediterranean off Syria's coast.

Before the uprising against Assad's regime began in early 2011, the oil sector was a pillar of Syria's economy, with the country producing about 380,000 barrels a day and exports - mostly to Europe - bringing in more than $3 billion in 2010. Oil revenues provided around a quarter of the funds for the government budget.

But production now is likely about half that, estimates Syrian economist Samir Seifan, given the rebels' gains. The government has not released recent production figures.

Since late 2012, rebels have been seizing fields in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, one of two main centers of oil production. Most recently, they captured the Jbeysa oil field, one of the country's largest, after three days of fighting in February.

At the same time, overburdened government troops have had to withdraw from parts of the other main oil center - the northeastern Kurdish-majority region of Hassakeh, where they have handed control of the oil fields to the pro-government militia of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD. Production from some of those fields still goes to the Syrian government, but the fields are more vulnerable to theft and smuggling.

Syrian activists, including Rami Abdul-Rahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, say it is not clear how much of the fields are controlled by the rebels. Still activists and state media state say most of Syria's fields are no longer under direct government control. In November, rebels made one of the biggest gains when they briefly captured the large al-Omar field in Deir el-Zour only to lose it to government troops days later. They still control many other fields, the Observatory says.

So far, the rebels have largely been unable to benefit from the oil fields, particularly since the country's two refineries in the central city of Homs and the coastal city of Banias are in the hands of Assad's troops. Regime warplanes' control of the air makes it difficult for rebels to exploit the fields, as do the divisions among rival rebel factions.

"A number of challenges exist. In view of their lack of cohesion, the various strands of the armed opposition are unlikely to be able to mobilize in a unitary fashion to produce and export," said Anthony Skinner, Middle East-North Africa chief at the British risk analysis firm Maplecroft.

"Rebels also clearly lack the engineers and qualified workers to ensure uninterrupted production from the oil fields," Skinner added. "Even if they were to do so, the regime would seek to bomb identifiable vehicle tankers to prevent the armed opposition from earning revenue to buy heavy weaponry."

But looting is rife. A Syrian activist in the province of Hassakeh said some people in the area are using primitive ways to refine oil. Thieves put crude into tankers, then set fires around it until the fuel begins to turn to vapor that passes through a metal hose. The hose is cooled with water to condense the vapor, and gasoline, kerosene or diesel is produced, said the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/06/3326934/syria-oil-industry-buckling-under.html

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Iran must be set deadline of weeks to halt enrichment: Israel

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A senior Israeli minister called on world powers on Sunday to set a deadline for military action of weeks to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear enrichment program after talks ended without progress at the weekend.

World powers and Iran failed again to end a deadlock in the decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program during the meeting in Kazakhstan, prolonging a standoff that could yet spiral into a new Middle East war.

"Sanctions are not enough and the talks are not enough. The time has come to place before the Iranians a military threat or a form of red line, an unequivocal red line by the entire world, by the United States and the West ... in order to get results," Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said.

Steinitz, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Army Radio action should be taken within "a few weeks, a month" if Iran did not stop enriching uranium, although he did not elaborate.

Netanyahu himself has spoken of a mid-2013 "red line" for denying the Islamic Republic the fuel needed for a first bomb, although several Israeli officials have privately acknowledged it had been deferred, maybe indefinitely.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China - and Germany are trying to persuade Iran to abandon its higher-grade uranium enrichment, as a first step to a broader deal.

Refined uranium can be used to power atomic reactors, Iran's stated aim, or provide material for weapons if processed more. Iran says its nuclear work is intended for peaceful purposes.

Steinitz said in the interview that Iran was using talks to play for time while continuing to strive for a nuclear weapon.

"We warned beforehand that the way in which these talks are being conducted is a ploy to gain time, the Iranians are talking and laughing their way to a bomb while enriching uranium. We have a very clear stance on the matter and the world is beginning to understand," he said.

Steinitz cited North Korea's threat to use nuclear weapons against South Korea and the United States as an example of what Israel, widely believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, fears could happen if Iran managed to produce a nuclear weapon.

"I think that what is currently happening in Korea serves to demonstrate to us all ... how urgent it is to stop Iran's nuclear (activity)," Steinitz said.

"North Korea was somehow allowed by the international community to gain nuclear weapons and it is threatening to use (them) against South Korea, Japan and even the United States. Imagine what could happen within two or three years not only to Israel but to Europe, the United States and the whole world if the fanatical and extreme regime in Tehran attains nuclear weapons."

(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-must-set-deadline-weeks-halt-enrichment-israel-062039592.html

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Just 4 Democratic senators don't support gay marriage

MANCHESTER, England, April 5 (Reuters) - Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes a lack of goals and maverick striker Mario Balotelli's departure to AC Milan in January has harmed the defence of their Premier League crown. Second-placed City are 15 points behind rivals Manchester United, whom they face at Old Trafford on Monday, and Mancini said last week the title race was over. "Mario scored 15 goals last season. This is the difference, the goals we did not score," Mancini told a news conference on Friday. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/two-more-democratic-senators-announce-support-same-sex-143745018--politics.html

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HBO is making Ephron documentary with her son

NEW YORK (AP) ? Nora Ephron will be the subject of an HBO documentary being made by her one of her sons, journalist Jacob Bernstein.

The network said Friday that the project, titled "Everything is Copy," will also have Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter as executive producer.

Ephron died at age 71 last year. She was the writer behind films "When Harry Met Sally," ''You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle." Her last project is the current Broadway play about journalist Mike McAlary, with Tom Hanks in the starring role.

The documentary's title is a reference to Ephron's feeling that all of life's experiences provide fodder for a writer.

The documentary project was first reported in the Hollywood Reporter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hbo-making-ephron-documentary-her-son-174936897.html

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Sahara went from green to desert in a flash

Science file

This is a view of the Great Sand Sea of Egypt from the Gilf Kebir Plateau in the Sahara desert.

By Becky Oskin
LiveScience

From lakes and grasslands with hippos and giraffes to a vast desert, North Africa's sudden geographical transformation 5,000 years ago was one of the planet's most dramatic climate shifts.

The transformation took place nearly simultaneously across the continent's northern half, a new study finds. The results will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

The findings come from analyses of dust blown west from Africa and dropped into the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers sifted through 30,000 years of dust and ocean bottom muck retrieved with ocean drilling ships. The changing levels of windblown dust in the ocean sediments provide scientists with clues to Africa's climate and how it has changed over time. Simply put, a lot of dust means drier conditions and less dust means a wetter environment.

The wet period, called the African Humid Period, started and ended suddenly, confirming previous studies by other groups, the sediments revealed. However, toward the Humid Period's end about 6,000 years ago, the dust was at about 20 percent of today's level, far less dusty than previous estimates, the study found.

The study may give scientists a better understanding of how changing dust levels relate to climate by providing inputs for climate models, David McGee, an MIT paleoclimatologist and lead study author, said in a statement. Sahara desert dust dominates modern-day ocean sediments off the African coast, and it can travel in the atmosphere all the way to North America.

McGee and his colleagues are now testing whether the dust measurements can resolve a long-standing problem: the inability of climate models to reproduce the magnitude of wet conditions in North Africa 6,000 years ago.

Email Becky Oskin or follow her @beckyoskin. Follow us?@OAPlanet, Facebook?or Google+. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a6359ae/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C0A50C17620A1760Esahara0Ewent0Efrom0Egreen0Eto0Edesert0Ein0Ea0Eflash0Dlite/story01.htm

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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Editor's Letter: The social smartphone

In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter The social smartphone

There's a good chance 2011's HTC Status, with its portrait QWERTY layout and dedicated Facebook button, never found its way into your social network. That last attempt at the mythical Facebook phone failed to garner much praise, but if social networks gave up so easily, well, we'd all still be using MySpace. HTC and Facebook are at it again, this week launching the $99 First, exclusively on AT&T in the US.

Yes, it's a name every commenter could love (or hate).

Yes, it's a name every commenter could love (or hate), a title cheekily reminiscent of the HTC One. This, though, is a rather different device, aiming more toward the mid-range and relying on some serious social integration to make it stand out. It's the first phone running the Facebook Home interface, which will be available on many devices starting on April 12th. It delivers a far more comprehensive Facebook experience than the previous apps have managed, and intriguingly Zuckerberg himself said that Home is "the next version of Facebook." The end of the web? Stay tuned.

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Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/05/editors-letter-the-social-smartphone/

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Friday, April 5, 2013

UK's online music royalties generate more cash than radio for the first time

UKs online music royalties generate more cash than radio for the first time

The UK's Performing Right Society has announced that the cash generated from online music licensing has surpassed that of radio for the first time. The society's 2012 report reveals that digital royalties brought in £51 million ($76.7 million) from stores, ringtones and subscription services, compared to the £47 million ($70.6 million) generated by folks listening to the wireless. The rest of the motherland's music industry, however, has less to celebrate, thanks to big drops in physical media sales, people shunning pubs and clubs as well as big falls in live music events. You know, it's almost as if it won't be long before you'll only be able to buy music online.

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Via: The Guardian

Source: PRS (.PDF)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/gg8wykc3HYE/

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Consider the BlackBerry Z10, a Smart Fish in an Ocean of Smartphones

So maybe you're shopping for a new cellphone this weekend. You could wait for that heady new Facebook phone, but that would make you one of them. Or you could hold out for that cheap iPhone, which Apple swears is coming. And then there's the latest savior from BlackBerry, which, hey, when I tried it out over the last two?weeks ? and out at the bar on the weekend ? at least nobody made fun of it.

RELATED: BlackBerry's Not Selling Enough New Phones Yet

Indeed, the BlackBerry Z10 has succeeded for the struggling Canadian company in at least one sense: It's no longer embarrassing to whip out a BlackBerry in public, a low bar for an information and communication machine. Although one BetaBeat blogger had the exact?opposite?experience, every time I took out the Z10 people responded with awe and wonder. It has the "BlackBerry" name right there on the front. And yet, people wanted to touch it ? it was almost as if they'd hoped the once popular BBM machine had cleaned itself up a bit. Nostalgia is powerful these days, but is it powerful enough?

RELATED: The Future of BlackBerry 10 Sales Looks Hazy

Just looking at the thing, one does get the impression of an evolution. Before turning on the BlackBerry Z10, you want to like it. While switched off, the buttonless screen looks like a chic yet wise black hole full of information. Its plastic "BlackBerry" crested back adds durability, not chintz, making it the type of phone I can throw in my purse without investing in another $30 case. And while it has a much bigger screen than the 3.5-inch iPhones 4 and 4S, its slim body makes an otherwise giant 4.2-inch screen manageable. It's after turning the thing on when those impressed BlackBerry onlookers started to lose interest ? not because of anything too offensive, just for a lack of interest to learn.

RELATED: Emails Tying Apple to Indian Intelligence Were Likely Faked

As other reviewers have noted in the two weeks since the Z10's release (are you sick of that commercial yet?), the BlackBerry 10 operating system has a "steep learning curve." That's an accurate statement for phone savvy tech bloggers and an understatement for most phone users. Indeed, there is a lot of learning involved, mainly because the Z10 has no home screen button. Users have to swipe to get around: swipe up to get to some places, swipe left to get to others, swipe right to get elsewhere. Once in a program, you might find yourself swiping furiously just to get out of it. (When in doubt, swipe up!) It is possible to get used to the swiping, but unforunately for BlackBerry when someone comes in to a phone store and tries out the phones, familiarity matters.

RELATED: How to Spot a Fake Online Product Review

Windows 8 has had this problem (especially when it comes to its Surface tablet), with sales lagging because people don't like the totally new look, something CEO Steve Ballmer says consumers will get over once they get used to the product. BlackBerry has already had a similar adoption issue, per its first (otherwise good) earnings report:?It hasn't sold enough phones to loyal users yet. That report, however, did not include U.S. sales, since the phone only went on sale in U.S. markets two Fridays ago. But there was a notable lack of lines, which drove down BlackBerry's shares on its debut day, according to multiple media reports. Despite what that says about future sales, even with a big launch event, all that March Madness marketing, and generally favorable reviews from the tech press, people didn't show in droves.

RELATED: Londoners Turn to Technology to Stop the Looting

I suspect it has something to do with this familiarity problem. But this is more than just a nostalgia issue. People can get over the newness of something. Remember the original iPhone reviews? People didn't understand a phone without a keyboard. The problem with the new BlackBerry, however, is that it doesn't give to many people a legitimate reason to switch back to their old BBM-ing, clickety-clack ways. The loyalists who like the BlackBerry of yonder will find it too different. And the current iPhone and Samsung customers won't have a reason to align with a new brand and its new OS. (The BlackBerry Q10, with the same new operating system and that familiar tactile keyboard, arrives later this month.)

Think about it: BBM is only as good as the number of people that use it. For people who live in cities, BlackBerry Maps doesn't have subway directions. The whole app itself is a big mess. It only maps directions from a current location to another place. So, if you want to figure out distances or routes from somewhere you're not, it's impossible. By the way, for Google loyalists, the app store, BlackBerry World, doesn't feature a Google Maps app. Speaking of the World store, it doesn't offer Instagram, which is kind of bizarre because it prominently features its the trademark app of its owners at Facebook (which would now tell you too much Facebook up front is not enough). Maybe that's not your social network of choice, but it's indicative of a larger issue: BlackBerry isn't at the forefront of apps, a thing that kind matters for a gadget aspiring to be on the vanguard.

None of which is to say the Z10 doesn't offer some (very user-specific) reasons to switch from your iPhone or Android device this weekend. The new BlackBerry's keyboard is smart and responsive. And BlackBerry users care about these things, because of the tactile keyboard. Once you realize that you can basically type a sentence of garbled up typos and the phone knows what you mean, translating it into real words, you won't miss the old clicky keys.

The hub, which shows emails, phone calls, text messages, and all modes of communication in one easy to read screen (pictured at right), provides the perfect snapshot of phone happenings. iPhone and Android software feature similar notifications centers, but BlackBerry collects them all in one place without making you launch a bunch of applications to read a text message or answer an email. Click on "Gmail," and the email screen just slides right over. Instead of clicking the (non-existent home button), just thumb right to get back the hub. It's all very smooth.

While nice, those two things alone probably won't get?hoards?of people to tackle a device with so much learning involved. But there is one group I can see loving this phone: business people currently using two different phones. BlackBerry's whole work-personal balance thing makes this an enticing device for?consolidating?gadgets. BlackBerry Enterprise Service, which involves setup with your company business, keeps work email completely separate,?technically,?but aligned physically. So, say you want to leave your company; you can just disengage that account, which your company has complete control over and keep the phone. Unless you're like the Path CEO and get some sick bragging-rights pleasure out of toting two gadgets with the same purpose, the promise of ditching the ole "work-only" BlackBerry makes the purchase of a Z10 more than worthwhile.

And for those of you who take the plunge, take heart: The stigma of owning a BlackBerry has evaporated. The judgmental masses will look at you and your phone like a celebrity and her entourage on the verge of a comeback, like Britney Spears circa Blackout. Nobody's quite ready to call it a comeback. But it's something. Something very promising.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/consider-blackberry-z10-smart-fish-ocean-smartphones-220336338.html

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How the New York Political Scandal Reads Like a Cheesy Gangster Movie

The New York political scandal is the stuff of movies: an alleged attempt to rig the city?s mayoral election that got six politicians ? both Republicans and Democrats ?arrested. It's complete with tales of bribery and, of course, a land deal.

And if anyone does want to write a movie about it, they can just use the criminal complaint by federal prosecutors. The dialogue therein includes a goldmine of quotable lines from the defendants that read like a cheesy gangster flick.

Here?s the gist of what happened, according to prosecutors: Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith wanted to run as a Republican in the New York City mayoral race, and he?s accused of bribing GOP leaders with the help of Queens Republican city councilman Dan Halloran. An undercover agent posing as a real estate developer provided the money, and Halloran also allegedly accepted money from him in connection with a Spring Valley land deal. The mayor of that town, Noramie Jasmin, is accused of taking bribes to support the project.

Now, on to the most quotable parts of the investigation, according to the criminal complaint:

?That's politics, that's politics, it's all about how much. Not about whether or will, it's about how much, and that's our politicians in New York, they're all like that, all like that. And they get like that because of the drive that the money does for everything else. You can't do anything without the f---ing money." --Halloran?

A cooperating witness -- who taped many conversations --met up with Halloran at a Manhattan restaurant in September. Halloran said he needed money for his congressional campaign. The witness offered him money, who, in turn, said he could help secure money within the city budget for the witness. This line arose in the course of their conversation.

?Money is what greases the wheels?good, bad, or indifferent.? -- Halloran?

Halloran, who allegedly got $7,500 from the witness, capped off their meeting with this line.

?I?d say, ?if I even give you a nickel more, you?d have to stand on the Empire State Building, and drop every person you endorsed, and hold Malcolm up and say he?s the best thing since sliced bread. Matter of fact, he?s better than sliced bread.?? --Smith

Smith talked with an undercover agent, posing as a real estate developer, and a cooperating witness, about bribes they made on his behalf to party committee leaders. He wondered if the leaders were delaying providing a certificate that?d help Smith get on the GOP ticket because they wanted more money. Smith told the agent not to give any more money to the leaders, adding this bit of advice.

"The one that I like I'm going to pick. So, if I like yours, I pick you... If I don't like it you can stick [it] where the sun doesn't shine." --Jasmin

Spring Valley Mayor Jasmin met with the cooperating witness in August 2011 about a parcel of land she wanted to acquire for the town, that would then go to bid among private developers. She dropped this line when discussing how?d she pick a developer.

?Oh, I can assure you, I don?t know you at all.? -- Jasmin

Jasmin allegedly coached undercover agents on how to present themselves at a board of trustees meeting about the land project. She was asked if the main undercover agent ? posing as a real estate developer ? should act as if he had met Jasmin before. This is how she answered.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-political-scandal-reads-cheesy-gangster-movie-132956602--politics.html

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EC Malta English Language School ? I Want to Write Right ? Free ...

3

I Want to Write Right

Look no further ! You?ve Come to the Right Place and Help is at Hand.

Hello from Amanda and Marco at the Writing Clinic.

We?ve both been teachers at EC Malta for many years and we both understand just how difficult it can seem sometimes to express ourselves in another language. We?ve also had to study other languages so we?ve been in your shoes and completely understand what you may go through sometimes. All you need is the right state of mind, a bit of guidance and a pen and paper would be handy!

1

We are both crazy about other languages and cultures because we are attracted to the ways different languages work in different ways. My goodness?.. If we all thought and acted in the same way, just imagine how boring the world would be.

Now ,since every language is beautiful and different in its own way, the most important step is trying to let go of the biggest obstacle which is the false security of thinking in our own language when we want to express ourselves in another. In fact, this is the main difference between writing and speaking because if the other person doesn?t understand you they can ask you to explain again or you will just be able to realise from the look on their face ( that person you?re chatting to may not speak your language or understand why you have made a mistake but at least there?s an option to sort it out) Sadly, until modern technology invents a new system, a piece of paper will never be able to give explanations to a confused reader if you?re not around.

2

No language is a direct translation of another ( ?. Thankfully ! ) The words and the grammar are all different just like our cultures and in that way those differences have to be respected as well.

Did you know that the Eskimos have so many different words for something as simple as ?snow?? Just imagine the confusion on an Eskimo?s face if Amanda and Marco were somewhere near the North Pole and translated this sentence directly into their language?.

?Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Would you care for a nice cup of tea before we play snowballs on this lovely day??

Somehow we think that it wouldn?t work but if you do see any Eskimos in class we would like to know how you say it correctly. We did actually have a lovely student from Greenland at EC seven years ago?.

Equally funny are the word for word translations which Mr Google gives you on those electronic devices. Forget that! Just keep it simple and try to think in English if your reader wants to read a text in real English.

The secret is simple but it takes some effort of course. First of all, just relax and try to feel comfortable with something that is different. If you can get on a local bus then this is much less of an adventure. Don?t hold on to what you have known from before. Our style is new,exciting and different and if you follow the rules step by step you will definitely see immediate results week after week and that is more or less a promise? Except of course if you still believe you can eat soup with chopsticks!!

If you want to hear about just how successful you can be and if you still have a few little doubts in your mind because it simply sounds too good to be true , then just ask your friends who come to Writing Clinic regularly and you will see for yourself .

Students focus on writing different sentences in different texts and compositions which are about real topics ,useful in the real world and in everyday situations. Students work alone, in pairs and in mini- groups helping each other , giving advice and sharing knowledge ( ? Extra speaking practice too , great ! )

Amanda and Marco monitor the session , walking round offering extra advice and suggestions , ready to give time one on one to every student who has a question. Meanwhile, students learn how to ? think? in English, keeping their ideas simple by brainstorming for ideas which they develop by following basic structures and which they go on to check and edit.
In this way, our great writers to be feel confident that they have some solid structure and bases and soon enough they become aware of their own mistakes which simply disappear week after week. Just imagine the improved results in your writing after a month!

As well as looking at usual mistakes, students learn more about style in essays, letters, reports, stories, reviews and summaries. They learn to emulate structures from model texts or do fun activities like writing to music to really write about how they feel from the heart.

Each week, students happily complete a writing project which Amanda and Marco just as happily correct. You can leave your work at Adriana?s office and you will have your corrected copy with comments and constructive feedback on the same or next day. Don?t be afraid to do more than one piece of writing if you?re in the mood and full of inspiration and in the same way, don?t be afraid to give us any writing which you think may be too short or incomplete. We LOVE what we do and even more, we LOVE seeing your progress from week to week!

Look out for our special free Writing Clinic sessions for speakers from the same language group. We understand that students from specific language families usually have the same issues. ?S? or no ?S? , ?the? or maybe no ?the? , ?at the beginning or at the end? , ? to be or not to be? ?!?! Sounds familiar? Don?t worry about all these questions. We fully understand why you have all this on your mind so just relax and let us guide you towards a great long-lasting improvement in your writing skills.

Otherwise, our general free Writing Clinic is held every Friday afternoon in the East Block on the fourth floor. You can register every week on the notice board opposite Adriana?s office next to the library on the first floor. Don?t wait too long to write your name down as the free places go so quickly and by Wednesday the lists are often full. Everybody is more than welcome and we look forward to seeing you soon. Don?t worry about your level because we have groups of mixed levels and nationalities and all students are there to help and encourage each other so everybody can come out of a pleasant session feeling they have learnt something. It?s also a super way of meeting new friends from different countries so you can go for a coffee or a cocktail afterwards and work on your speaking skills as well ;)

We really hope to have the pleasure of seeing you at Writing Clinic soon ;)

Marco Brown

Source: http://www.ecenglish.com/blogs/Malta/?p=2776

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