Nano-Scale Terahertz Antenna May Make Tricorders Real

Correct me if 'm horribly wrong, but in Star trek, even though tricorders are multipurpose sensors, there are different types of them. Like engineering tricorders or just regular tricorders. Every story I see that says tricorders seems to only refer to medical tricorders. But really, if I was given a tricorder, I'd use it for determining the spectrum usage, what kind of radiation is around me, interfacing with computers, etc...

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/19egYx6vIpY/nano-scale-terahertz-antenna-may-make-tricorders-real

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Euro zone ministers reject private bondholders' Greece offer (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) ? Euro zone finance ministers Monday rejected as insufficient an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default.

At a meeting in Brussels, ministers said they could not accept bondholders' demands for a coupon of four percent on new, longer-dated bonds that are expected be issued in exchange for their existing Greek holdings.

Banks and other private institutions represented by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) say a 4.0 percent coupon is the least they can accept if they are going to write down the nominal value of the debt they hold by 50 percent.

Greece says it is not prepared to pay a coupon of more than 3.5 percent, and euro zone finance ministers effectively backed the Greek government's position at Monday's meeting, a position that the International Monetary Fund also supports.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the Eurogroup countries, said Greece needed to pursue a deal with private bondholders where the interest rate on the replacement bonds was "clearly" below 4.0 percent, stating:

"Ministers asked their Greek colleagues to pursue negotiations to bring the interest rates on the new bonds to below 4 percent for the total period, which implies the interest comes down to well below 3.5 percent before 2020."

The aim of the restructuring is to reduce Greece's debts by around 100 billion euros ($129 billion), cutting them from 160 percent of GDP to 120 percent by 2020, a level EU and IMF officials think will be more manageable for the growth-less Greek economy.

But with Greece off-track in its efforts to get its budget deficit in shape, the 2020 goal looks a long shot at best.

The disagreement increases the risk that it will prove impossible to strike a voluntary restructuring deal between Greece's creditors and the Greek government - an outcome that would have severe repercussions for financial markets.

Negotiations over what's called 'private sector involvement' (PSI) have been going on for nearly seven months without a concrete breakthrough. Failure to reach a deal by March, when Athens must repay 14.5 billion euros of maturing debt, could result in a disorderly default.

Despite the disagreement, Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of economic and monetary affairs, said he expected a deal on PSI to be struck "within days."

PERMANENT BAILOUT FUND

As well as assessing Greece's debt restructuring, euro zone ministers discussed efforts to enforce stricter budget rules for EU states via a "fiscal compact," and steps to finalize the structure of a permanent euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is due to operate from July.

The ESM will have an effective lending capacity of 500 billion euros and replace the European Financial Stability Facility, a temporary fund that has so far been used to bail out Ireland and Portugal and which will be used to provide part of a second, 130 billion euro package for Greece.

Germany has insisted that once the ESM is up and running, the combined potential outlay of the EFSF and ESM should not exceed 500 billion euros.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and IMF chief Christine Lagarde have said the ceiling should be raised, possibly up to 1 trillion euros, so it has more than enough capacity to handle any problems in major economies such as Spain or Italy.

The Financial Times reported Monday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was ready to see the ceiling of the combined firewall raised to 750 billion euros in exchange for agreement on tighter euro zone budget rules, but the report was immediately denied by her chief spokesman.

"It is not true. There is no such decision," Steffen Seibert told Reuters.

Monti told reporters after Monday's meeting that no conclusions had been reached on the ESM, which all 17 euro zone countries must back in a new treaty. Officials said the details would have to be finalized by an EU summit on January 30.

It was a similar situation for the "fiscal compact," which also involves a new treaty and which EU leaders are expected to agree at the summit next week.

"We have had an extremely constructive meeting on the fiscal compact and this text is a good basis for the discussions for the heads of government at the end of the month," said Juncker, sidestepping concerns about the text raised by the European Central Bank.

DEBT SUSTAINABILITY

Despite the continued deep differences, Greece and its private creditors do appear to be slowly converging on a deal in which private bondholders would take a real loss of 65 to 70 percent on their Greek bonds - giving a nominal reduction of 50 percent - officials close to the negotiations say.

Sources close to the talks told Reuters Monday that the impasse centered on questions of whether the deal would return Greece's debt mountain, currently over 350 billion euros, to levels that European governments believe are sustainable.

"There will likely be an updated debt sustainability analysis that will be discussed at the Eurogroup," a banking source in Athens said, requesting anonymity. "Talks will continue this week. The aim is to have an agreement by late next Monday."

Speaking in Berlin, Lagarde called on European leaders to complement the "fiscal compact" they agreed last month with some form of financial risk-sharing, mentioning euro zone bonds or bills, or a debt redemption fund as possible options.

Merkel told a news conference it was not the time to debate an increase in the euro zone's bailout funds.

"I don't think it is right to do one new thing then do another, let's get the ESM working," Merkel said, reiterating that Germany was prepared to accelerate the flow of capital into the ESM ahead of its planned introduction in mid-2012.

Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the second bailout would total 130 billion euros, if private bondholders forgave half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.

But Greek economic prospects have deteriorated since then, which means either euro zone governments or investors will have to contribute more than thought.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Brown and Alexandra Hudson in Berlin, Leigh Thomas in Paris, Lefteris Papadimas and Ingrid Melander in Athens; Writing by Noah Barkin and Luke Baker, editing by Mike Peacock/Jeremy Gaunt/Rex Merrifield)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/ts_nm/us_eurozone_ministers

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Bloomberg blasts use of movie during NYPD training (AP)

NEW YORK ? Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that New York police used "terrible judgment" in showing counterterrorism trainees a documentary-style film that says Muslim extremists are masquerading as moderates to destroy America from within.

Bloomberg said police have stopped showing officers "The Third Jihad," a 72-minute movie that has been branded inflammatory by some Muslim organizations and was produced by a conservative group called the Clarion Fund.

"Somebody exercised some terrible judgment," he said in Albany. "As soon as they found out about it, they stopped it."

The criticism was unusual for Bloomberg, who in recent months has vigorously defended the police department's counterterrorism efforts after an Associated Press investigation exposed a secret program to gather intelligence on Muslim neighborhoods.

Bloomberg said neither he nor Police Commissioner Ray Kelly knew about the film being shown.

"The Third Jihad" contains TV images of Hezbollah rocket attacks, children being held hostage by Muslim militants and a woman it says was arrested in Iran for wearing immodest clothing. It shows pictures it says were taken from Islamic videos and websites, including a doctored image of an Islamic flag flying over the White House.

It accuses Muslim extremists of posing as moderates and charges several Muslim organizations with being soft on terrorism. Speakers interviewed in the film say "Islamism is like cancer" and urge a "battle for our civilization."

The film is narrated by M. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Foundation for Democracy, based in Phoenix. Jasser rejected Bloomberg's criticism.

"I could not disagree more," Jasser said. "For him to say that without contradicting any of the facts that are presented in the movie is, I think, careless."

The New York-based Clarion Fund did not return calls for comment. Its website, Radicalislam.org, says Clarion was founded in 2006 by Raphael Shore. Shore is a former leader of Aish HaTorah, a chain of Jewish educational centers.

The movie was shown on a continuous loop while officers were signing in for counterterrorism training sessions from October to December 2010, according to police documents obtained by the Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank at New York University. As many as 1,489 officers who underwent training, including 68 lieutenants, may have seen it, the documents say.

Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said that the police brass did not approve the use of the movie and that the decision to play it was made by a sergeant, who has since been reprimanded.

"This was never used in training, period. It was never authorized for use in training, period," Browne said.

The screening of the film inside the 36,000-member police department has been known for months, but police previously said only a few officers had seen it. They stopped showing it after a trainee complained.

The film was used as "intermission filler" and to "provide information for students during breaks to keep their attention focused on counterterrorism issues," Assistant Chief George W. Anderson wrote in one of the documents obtained by the Brennan Center.

Anderson wrote that he believed the video was given to police by someone in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Homeland Security said it didn't authorize the distribution of the movie.

This is not the first time a law enforcement agency has come under fire over its counterterrorism training materials. The FBI was criticized last year for presentations used in a training session that painted a negative picture of Islam. The FBI and other federal agencies pledged to review all their training materials.

Muslim activists said films like "The Third Jihad" are one-sided and teach police cadets that all Muslims are suspect.

"It's clearly a propaganda, anti-Muslim film," said Linda Sarsour, a member of the Muslim-American Civil Liberties Coalition. "It's overly dramatic, piecing together things out of context and threading it together to make this very false narrative about Muslim Americans."

A recent AP series detailed efforts by the New York Police Department to infiltrate Muslim neighborhoods and mosques with aggressive programs designed by a CIA officer. Documents reviewed by the AP revealed that undercover officers known as "rakers" visited businesses such as Islamic bookstores and cafes, chatting up store owners to gauge their views. They also played cricket and eavesdropped in ethnic clubs.

The surveillance efforts have been credited with enabling police to thwart a 2004 plot to bomb the Herald Square subway station.

Critics said the efforts amount to ethnic profiling and violate court guidelines on intelligence-gathering.

___

Read AP's previous stories and documents about the NYPD at: http://www.ap.org/nypd

___

Associated Press Writers Michael Gormley, Eileen Sullivan, Tom Hays and Deepti Hajela contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_nypd_intelligence

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Ex-CIA man accused of leaking classified info (AP)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. ? An ex-CIA officer who helped track down and capture a top al-Qaida figure was charged Monday with disclosing classified secrets, including the role of one of his associates on that covert mission, in the latest of a series of prosecutions by the Obama administration against suspected leakers.

John Kiriakou, 47, of Arlington, is charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and the Espionage Act. A federal judge ordered Kiriakou to be released on a $250,000 unsecured bond. Kiriakou declined to comment as he left the courthouse Monday.

According to authorities, Kiriakou divulged to three journalists, including a New York Times reporter, the role of "Officer B," who worked with Kiriakou on the capture of suspected al-Qaida financier Abu Zubaydah in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times, and his case has been made an example by those who believe the interrogation technique should be outlawed. And Kiriakou's public discussions of Zubaydah's waterboarding were a key part of the debate.

In a separate accusation, Kiriakou is alleged to have disclosed the identity of a covert operator to an unidentified journalist. Authorities say that journalist then gave the officer's name to a team of defense lawyers representing a suspect the U.S. held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. When the lawyers included information about the officer in a sealed legal brief in 2009, the CIA became suspicious and the government began to investigate.

The affidavit states that the defense lawyers were found to have done nothing wrong.

According to the affidavit, FBI agents interviewed Kiriakou last week, and he denied leaking the information. When specifically asked whether he had provided the Zubaydah interrogator's name to the Times for a 2008 article, he replied "Heavens, no." A New York Times spokeswoman declined to comment.

Kiriakou's attorney, Plato Cacheris, told reporters after the hearing that his client will plead not guilty. He also said a potential defense argument could be that the charges criminalize conduct that has been common between reporters and government sources for decades.

If convicted, Kiriakou could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

The case was secretly investigated by a top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of the Northern District of Illinois. Fitzgerald is best known for his successful prosecutions of Scooter Libby, former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, for perjury and of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for corruption.

Kiriakou has worked as a consultant to ABC News, although he hasn't appeared on the network since early 2009. ABC declined to comment on his arrest. In a 2007 interview with the network, Kiriakou said that waterboarding was used ? effectively ? to break down Zubaydah. But he expressed ambivalence about pouring water into a suspect's breathing passages to simulate drowning to try to get them to talk.

"(W)e were really trying to do anything that we could to stop another major attack from happening," Kiriakou said, describing the months after the Sept. 11 attacks. "I don't think we're in that mindset right now. ... And, as a result, waterboarding, at least right now, is unnecessary."

The attorney who represents Zubaydah in the prisoner's civil petition for release said he is not involved in the Kiriakou prosecution and has never met him. However, Brent Mickum said he had wanted to interview Kiriakou for information that might help the case, but the ex-CIA man refused, by email, to speak with him.

"He was basically out there talking to the whole world about our client and his involvement . I would have loved to hear what he had to say, but he refused to talk to me," Mickum said.

Mickum said he has come to believe Kiriakou has overstated his knowledge and involvement in the case against Zubaydah, who has been held without charges at Guantanamo since 2006.

Mickum said he and other attorneys who work at Guantanamo take security restrictions seriously and know not to reveal classified information such as the names of covert investigators. But he also said the government abuses the classification system, selectively leaking information and keeping secret anything that could embarrass U.S. officials.

The charges also accuse Kiriakou of lying about his actions in an effort to convince the CIA to let him publish a book, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," in 2010. The book explores "the inner workings of the U.S. intelligence apparatus," according to its description on Amazon.com, and "chillingly describes what it was like inside the CIA headquarters on the morning of 9/11."

Since leaving the agency, Kiriakou has also worked as a consultant and on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to his LinkedIn profile. He earned a bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern studies in 1986 and a master's degree in legislative affairs in 1988, both from George Washington University in Washington.

The Justice Department's campaign to prosecute leakers has been particularly aggressive under Obama. This is the sixth criminal leak case opened under the administration and the second involving a former CIA officer and the Times. Federal prosecutors in Alexandria claim Jeffrey Sterling divulged classified information to Times reporter James Risen about CIA efforts to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Sterling's trial has been delayed while prosecutors appeal several pre-trial rulings, including the judge's decision to effectively quash a government subpoena demanding that Risen testify. His attorneys argued that unless his testimony is absolutely critical to a government's case then prosecutors should not be able to subpoena a reporter and require him to testify about anonymous sources.

The Sterling case is not the only leak prosecution to run into trouble. In a case against former National Security Agency executive Thomas Drake, a judge sentenced him only to probation and scolded prosecutors for how they pursued the case.

Prosecutions under the Espionage Act have been particularly contentious. Opponents say the law can be used to unfairly target those who expose government misdeeds. The law was used, for instance, to charge Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case, and a grand jury has been investigating whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be prosecuted for the mass of disclosures by WikiLeaks that were allegedly fostered by leaks from Army Pfc. Bradley Manning.

"Safeguarding classified information, including the identities of CIA officers involved in sensitive operations, is critical to keeping our intelligence officers safe and protecting our national security," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "Today's charges reinforce the Justice Department's commitment to hold accountable anyone who would violate the solemn duty not to disclose such sensitive information."

In light of the indictment, CIA Director David Petraeus reminded his agency's employees of the essential need for secrecy in their work.

"When we joined this organization, we swore to safeguard classified information; those oaths stay with us for life," he said "Unauthorized disclosures of any sort ? including information concerning the identities of other agency officers ? betray the public trust, our country, and our colleagues."

___

Associated Press writers Ben Fox in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Brett Zongker in Washington contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_go_ot/us_cia_leak_charges

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Pakistan: Bad heart drugs suspected in 25 deaths

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? A government health official says bad drugs are suspected of killing at least 25 heart patients over the last month in the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Javed Akram said Monday that 100 other heart patients who had taken the same medicine have been admitted to hospitals in the city and 50 of them are in critical condition.

Akram is leading a probe into the deaths set up by the government of Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital. He said the suspected drugs were given free to patients by the state-run Punjab Institute of Cardiology.

Akram said patients developed red spots on their skin within days of taking the medicine that is suspected of killing them.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-23-AS-Pakistan-Bad-Drugs/id-fe38098de9284eada856bfc722e79013

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Megaupload suspect denies Internet piracy

Megaupload founder "Kim Dotcom," the alleged mastermind behind one of the Internet's biggest and most lucrative schemes, appeared in a New Zealand court Monday morning as new details emerged about his extravagant lifestyle. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

The founder of file-sharing website Megaupload was ordered to be held in custody by a New Zealand court Monday, as he denied charges of Internet piracy and money laundering. Two other suspects were also arrested in Europe.

Prosecutor Anne Toohey argued at a bail hearing that Kim Dotcom, a German national also known as Kim Schmitz, was a flight risk "at the extreme end of the scale" because it was believed he had access to funds, had multiple identities and had a history of fleeing criminal charges.

---

"The FBI believes the sums located are unlikely to represent all the overseas bank accounts owned by Mr. Dotcom," she said.

Toohey told the court that when police detained Dotcom there was an open safe about four yards away from him containing a firearm, Radio New Zealand reported. The safe's keys were in the lock.

But Dotcom's lawyer said he posed no threat of absconding or restarting his businesses, arguing that his client had cooperated fully, his passports had been seized and his funds frozen, and also that he had a distinctive appearance.

"He is not the sort of person who will pass unnoticed through our customs and immigration lines and controls," defense lawyer Paul Davison said of the former hacker, who is reportedly 6ft 6ins and 285 lbs.

Davison also said Dotcom wants to stay in New Zealand because his wife and children were there, Radio New Zealand said.

Judge David McNaughton said the bail application was too complicated for an immediate ruling, adding he would issue a written decision no later than Wednesday.

U.S. authorities want to extradite Dotcom on charges he masterminded a scheme that made more than $175 million in a few short years by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorization. Megaupload's lawyer has said the company simply offered online storage.

FileSonic halts file-sharing
Prosecutor Toohey said two other men sought for involvement in Megaupload had been arrested in Europe. U.S. authorities had earlier issued international warrants for Sven Echternach, 39, a German, and Andrus Nomm, 32, of Estonia.

The shockwaves of the case appeared to be spreading among rival websites offering lucrative file-sharing. FileSonic, a website providing online data storage, said in a statement on its website that it had halted its file-sharing services.

"All sharing functionality of FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally," it said.

Natalie Slade / AP

An aerial shot of Kim Dotcom's house in Coatesville, north west of Auckland.

Dotcom, 38, and three others, were arrested Friday after New Zealand police raided his country estate at the request of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police cut Dotcom out of a safe room he had barricaded himself in, because, according to his lawyer, he was frightened and panicked.

Presenting the case for flight risk, the prosecutor said 45 credit cards in three wallets were found in the mansion under Dotcom's various names, while three passports were also found. But his defense lawyer said: "My client collects them (credit cards), most of them are out of date."

Dotcom smiled and waved at around 20 supporters who filled the courtroom and spoke to them after the judge's decision.

"Hey guys thanks for turning up, I appreciate it," he said, wishing a female supporter a "happy birthday."

Defense lawyer Davison said Dotcom was "realistic about what is happening."

"He would obviously prefer to be at large. He doesn't want to be there any longer than he absolutely has to be," he told reporters outside the court.

Media reported that Dotcom ordered around NZ$4 million ($3.2 million) of renovations to the sprawling mansion that he leased near Auckland, with its manicured lawns, fountains, pools, palm-lined paths and extensive security.

The case is being heard as the debate over online piracy reaches fever pitch in Washington, where Congress is trying to craft tougher legislation.

Piracy laws debated
Lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation on Friday, postponing a critical vote in a victory for Internet companies that staged a mass online protest against the fast-moving bills.

The movie and music industries want Congress to crack down on Internet piracy and content theft, but major Internet companies such as Google and Facebook have complained that current drafts of the legislation would lead to censorship.

Critics of the U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and Protect IP Act (PIPA), quickly showed their opposition to the shutdown of Megaupload.com, with hackers attacking the public websites of the Justice Department, the world's largest music company Universal Music, and the two big trade groups that represent the music and film industries.

Dotcom's New Zealand lawyer Davison said in court that Megaupload's business was being misrepresented and authorities were being aggressive to add drama to the case.

"His business did not reproduce or copy material as alleged," he told the court, adding that copyright holders had been given access to Megaupload to identify improper posting of material. He likened the site to the popular YouTube video site, where people "promoted their creativity."

In New Zealand, questions are being asked about how Dotcom, who moved to the country in 2010, could be given permanent residency under a business investor scheme despite criminal convictions for insider trading.

A legal expert said extradition arrangements between New Zealand and the United States were reasonably straightforward and standard, but there were some important factors.

New fallout from the government's shutdown of the file-sharing site, Megaupload, with CNBC's Julia Boorstin. The hacker group Anonymous attacked various government sites and content-related organizations, as a result.

"The offence for which extradition is sought must be an offence in the jurisdictions of both states," said Otago University law professor Kevin Dawkins, adding that an accused must be tried on the offence for which they are extradited.

'Fast cars, hot girls, superyachts'
New details emerged about Dotcom's lavish lifestyle and tastes, with reports that he had a heated lap pool built just off the master ensuite, with underwater speakers, and imported spring water.

"It's insane, and it gets more insane inside. When we were there we called it 'extreme home makeover, millionaire edition'," a source close to the teams that did renovation work told the New Zealand Herald.

A film posted on the Internet shows Dotcom, surrounded by topless women and men spraying champagne on board a superyacht during a "crazy weekend" in Monaco reported to have cost $10 million.

"Fast cars, hot girls, superyachts and amazing parties. Decadence rules," said the commentary accompanying the so-called fun documentary, which Dotcom dedicated to "all my fans."

The FBI estimates that Dotcom personally made around $115,000 a day during 2010 from his empire. The list of property to be seized, includes nearly 20 luxury cars, one of them a pink Cadillac, works of art, and NZ$10 million invested in local finance companies.

Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10214044-megaupload-suspect-kim-dotcom-denies-internet-piracy-money-laundering

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Video: Christie on MTP: S.C. results ?disappointing?

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46090592#46090592

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Pilot Season: ABC Orders Supernatural Drama Pilot 666 Park Ave (omg!)

ABC has picked up the supernatural drama pilot 666 Park Ave., according to The Hollywood Reporter.

ABC picks up Shawn Ryan's Last Resort

From the producers of The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle and Gossip Girl, the project is based on Gabrielle Pierce's book series about an innocent Midwestern couple who get hired as resident managers of an Upper East Side apartment building in New York. Unbeknownst to them, the residents have all made deals with the Devil to have their desires fulfilled.

David Wilcox is on board to adapt the book and executive-produce, alongside Alloy Entertainment's Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo.

ABC orders pilot for Shonda Rhimes' period drama

666 Park Ave. is the fourth drama pilot ABC has ordered this season, following Shawn Ryan's Last Resort, Roland Emmerich's untitled election project and Shonda Rhimes' Gilded Lilys.

Related Articles on TVGuide.com

• ABC picks up Shawn Ryan's Last Resort

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Female Fish Attracted to Well-Fed Mates (LiveScience.com)

For some animals, looks and wealth aren't everything. Female mosquitofish prefer mates that had a steady nutritional upbringing over those that suffered a poor start in life with a restricted diet, even though the male fish are physically similar in adulthood, a new study shows.

Male mosquitofish ? an invasive species in Australia originally introduced to control mosquitoes ? born in a food-scarce environment will delay sexual maturation and undergo a period of accelerated growth when food becomes available. The fish use this strategy, called compensatory growth, to ensure that they mature to the same size as males that developed normally. Researchers found that females choose to associate with larger males, regardless of developmental history, as is the case with many other animal species. But when given the choice between two equal-size males, the females gravitate toward the males that had experienced normal growth.

The researchers are unsure how the females are able to tell the difference between the seemingly identical males, but they suggest that differences in locomotion or the relative length of genital organs (called gonopodia) may be involved.

Whatever the case, "this work demonstrates there are hidden costs to a poor start in life," study lead author Andrew Kahn, a biology graduate student at the Australian National University, said in a statement.

A selection bias

Kahn and his colleagues reared 365 newborn male mosquitofish, all of which were fed the same amount of food for their first week of life. They then put around half of the fish on a severely restricted diet for three weeks, before returning them to a normal diet until they matured.

In an aquarium with three compartments, the researchers tested 47 pairs of full-sibling brothers that were nearly identical in size but had different developmental histories. They placed one male at each end of the aquarium and a virgin female in a transparent cylinder in a central compartment.

When the researchers removed the cylinder, the now-free females were more attracted to the normal-growth males ? they spent more time staring at those males.

The effects of poor nutrition

As for how the females could pinpoint a male fish's nutritional background, various physical or other cues may be at play. Perhaps the female fish caught a glimpse of the male's genitals. Research has shown that early food limitation decreases the length of a male's gonopodia relative to his body size and other studies suggest that females prefer males with longer gonopodia.

On the other hand, the females may have been able to detect subtle differences in how the males moved, a factor also affected by developmental history in some fish species.

At the end of the day, the researchers believe the females are looking to mate with the normal males because they are likely healthier.

"If males have undergone a period of poor nutrition they might be more susceptible to diseases, which they could then pass on to the female," Kahn said. "And there are the indirect genetic reasons ? by choosing males who have had a better development history, your offspring have a good chance of being better at getting food when they are young."

The research was published Jan. 11 in the journal Biology Letters.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120119/sc_livescience/femalefishattractedtowellfedmates

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IRL: The CES 2012 Edition, featuring AirDrop, a new MBP and Crumpler

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

We came, we saw, we collapsed. After seven days in Vegas and 700-plus posts, we'd love nothing more than to catch up on The Daily Show, eat something other than In-N-Out Burger and bask in what we hope will be a slow news week. Alas, though, the show must go on, and so must our gadget ramblings. And what better place to start than with the gear we schlepped to CES? You'd think, like marathoners prepping for a race, that we'd stick with the high-tech equivalent of broken-in sneakers, red gatorade and other safe bets. But in fact, the week saw a few of us taking a chance on unfamiliar tech -- everything from the Elgato Turbo H.264 to the Sony NEX-C3. For Darren, the transition from thumb drives to AirDrop was benign, though largely ineffectual. In Terrence's case, an impulsive foray into the world of Macs left him without functioning USB ports. Good times, right? Meet us past the break for a few tales of what went right (or dreadfully wrong) last week in Vegas.

Continue reading IRL: The CES 2012 Edition, featuring AirDrop, a new MBP and Crumpler

IRL: The CES 2012 Edition, featuring AirDrop, a new MBP and Crumpler originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/20/irl-the-ces-2012-edition-featuring-airdrop-a-new-mbp-and-crum/

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Arab League considers extension of Syria mission

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, anti-Syrian regime protesters chant slogans and flash the victory sign as they march during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, anti-Syrian regime protesters chant slogans and flash the victory sign as they march during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this Tuedsay, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, a young anti-Syrian regime protester shows bullet casings, said by protesters to be left by Syrian army soldiers, at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, an anti-Syrian regime protester flashes the victory sign as he waves the Syrian revolution flag during a demonstration, at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, anti-Syrian regime protesters shout slogans and flash the victory sign as they march during a demonstration, at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the border with Lebanon. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian government tanks and armored vehicles have pulled back from an embattled mountain town near Damascus, activists and witnesses said Thursday, but at least 16 people were killed by security forces elsewhere as a monthlong Arab League fact-finding mission expired.

The pullback from Zabadani left the town under the control of the opposition, activists said. The besieged town of Zabadani has witnessed heavy exchanges of fire between army troops and anti-government military defectors over the past six days.

The 10-month uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad has turned increasingly militarized and chaotic as more frustrated regime opponents and army defectors arm themselves and fight back against government forces. The capital has seen three suicide bombings since late December which the government blamed on terrorist extremists.

Arab League foreign ministers will consider extending the League's observer mission in Syria in a meeting Sunday in Cairo, officials said Thursday.

Although the mission expired Thursday, Adnan al-Khudeir, head of Cairo operations room that handles reports by the monitors, told The Associated Press that observers will remain in Syria until a decision is made on Sunday.

According to al-Khudeir, the meeting chaired by the Qatari foreign minister will discuss a report by the head of the mission Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi who is arriving in Cairo from Syria on Thursday.

The monitors will remain in 17 different places around Syria until the Arab League makes a final decision, he says.

"If there is a decision to extend the mission of the observers, we are ready to send more monitors after training them in three days," he said, adding that the total number of monitors might reach 300.

The mission has been mired in controversy, with the opposition claiming it served as a cover for the regime to continue its brutal crackdown against protesters.

Rejecting charges that the observers have been ineffective in reducing violence, another official said extending the mission would help the opposition more than the regime.

"The killings are less, the protests increase," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made. "The mission's presence offers assurance to the people because the observers can spot any violations. There is a conviction even among Syria opponents that the extension is better than withdrawal."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday the monitors have had a "mixed picture" of results, enabling some protests and some media coverage, but violence continues.

"We believe that we've got to increase the economic pressure on the Assad regime to change course," she said.

More than 5,400 people have been killed since the uprising erupted last March.

Activists reported continued violence Thursday. In Damascus, a Syrian security agent was wounded when a small explosive device tore through his car in the Tadamon neighborhood, a Syrian official said. No other damages were reported from the morning explosion, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give statements.

A military security brigadier, Adel Mustafa, also was killed by soldiers who had defected and refused his orders to shoot at civilians in the Bab Qibli area of Homs, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella group of activists. The officer had previously overseen many killing and arrest operations, according to the LCC.

In Zabadani, activist Fares Mohammad said Syrian forces withdrew Wednesday night to two military barracks on the outskirts.

"There is a cautious calm, but fear of another major assault being prepared against Zabadani," he told The Associated Press by telephone from the resort town, located alongside the Lebanese border 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of Damascus.

The Syrian opposition has on several occasions throughout the uprising gained control of a town or city, but ultimately forces loyal to Assad retook them. It is unusual however for the army to take so long to recapture a town so close to the capital.

The activist said the siege had eased, although heating oil has not been allowed into the town, where it snowed earlier this week. Military checkpoints surrounding the Zabadani were still in place, he said, while about 100 armed defectors were "protecting" it.

Residents said government mortars had shelled the town on Wednesday, but that too had stopped.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the pullout from Zabadani, saying only two armored personnel carriers were left behind at one of the checkpoints near the town.

Syrian officials issued no comment about the fighting in Zabadani.

Activists said at least 16 people were killed by security forces across Syria on Thursday, including four activists who were ambushed in the northern Jabal al-Zawiya region.

___

Michael reported from Cairo. Additional reporting by Bradley Klapper in Washington.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-19-ML-Syria/id-dd8dd87cbb87473fb96056f317d2c83f

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Boas time big squeeze to prey's heartbeat

During its long, slow squeeze, a boa constrictor will feel every last heartbeat of the animal it has captured. This slithering predator uses its prey's heartbeat to decide when it's safe to stop constricting, a new study has demonstrated.

The snakes are less worried about over-squeezing their prey ? which include lizards, birds and mammals ? into a mushy meal, and more worried about the energy such a death embrace takes, the researchers say.

"Constriction is an energetically costly and potentially dangerous activity," researchers from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., write in the Jan. 18 issue of Biology Letters. "Thus it would be greatly advantageous for constricting snakes to accurately and precisely determine when prey are incapacitated and no longer capable of retaliation or escape."

Varying the time and effort spent squeezing seems to be an innate skill in these animals, but the study indicates they can even improve upon their natural abilities.

Lab-created prey
A boa in the wild tends to constrict a rat for about 20 minutes before feeding on it. To test boas, the researchers say, they inserted fake beating hearts into dead but still-warm rats. When the researchers let the boas loose on the experimental prey, they let the heartbeat continue the whole time, shut it off after 10 minutes, or left it off the entire time.

When given prey with a continuing heartbeat, the snake kept constant pressure for a few minutes beyond the usual 20 minutes, periodically adjusting the coils of its body to ensure adequate squeezing, before it gave up. When given prey with no heartbeat, the snakes squeezed about half as hard, made no visible coil adjustments, and stopped squeezing after about 10 minutes.

When the heart stopped beating about 10 minutes into the constriction, the boas kept squeezing for several minutes but then backed off. The boas usually clenched this prey for about 17 minutes altogether, applying pressure that measured midway between that used for the heartbeat and no-heartbeat groups.

"Our results are the first to demonstrate that snakes use the heartbeat in their prey as a cue to modulate constriction effort and to decide when to release their prey," the researchers write.

Perfecting an innate skill
Even snakes that had never eaten live prey before reacted the same way in the heartbeat experiments, which means changing their constriction pressure and duration is probably a skill they are born with. The researchers add that wild-caught snakes squeezed harder for longer than their captive-born relatives did.

"The ability to respond to a heartbeat is innate, whereas the magnitude of the response is guided by experience," the authors write. "We suggest that the capacity to improve performance though learning enables snakes to become efficient predators of variable and unpredictable prey animals."

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The researchers say the snake may have evolved this ability to sense its prey's heartbeat as a way of dealing with lizards, as opposed to warm-blooded prey. With a metabolism that's already slow, lizards can survive hours of being squished. Their hearts will beat even after they have stopped moving.

The researchers alternatively think that the snake's extra-sensitive skin could have developed separately, when they lost their legs, to help them sense their environment, and snakes simply use this sensitivity to help dispatch prey.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46041548/ns/technology_and_science-science/

truffles

Will Android be the death of PCs?

Horace Dediu/Jeremy Reimer/Asymco

History of computer platforms

By Athima Chansanchai

In a viewpoint the author admits is "extremist," an industry analyst believes that if iOS and Android devices are considered to be substitutes for personal computers, then not only is the latter's market share going to dip below 50 percent, but collapse is also imminent.

Finland-based?Horace Dediu, who runs Asymco, which on LinkedIn is self-described as "a company selling software development and consulting services for companies interested in deploying mobile applications," published a blog post today?that might make some people's heads explode?? particularly those of us without a penchant for numbers. In that post, he charts "The rise and fall of personal computing," which compares PCs to Macs, iOS and Android devices in shipped units and market share.

In his last graph, Dediu talks about the integration of smartphones into the personal computing space.

I will concede that this last view is extremist. It does not reflect a competition that exists in real life. However, I put this data together to show a historic pattern. Sometimes extremism is a better point of view than conservatism. Ignoring this view is very harmful as these not-good-enough computers will surely get better. A competitor that has no strategy to deal with this shift is likely to suffer the fate of those companies in the left side of the chart. Treating the first share chart as reality is surely much more dangerous than contemplating the third.

Horace Dediu/Asymco

Market share, with data from Gartner and IDC

As the commenters below the post note, there is no inclusion of Nokia's Symbian or Research in Motion's BlackBerry; but in a world that seems increasingly skewed toward Android and iOS, Dediu looks like he's already made the leap.?

As he puts it:

The ?entrants? into personal computing, the iPad, iPhone and Android, have a combined volume that is higher than the PCs sold in the same period (358 million estimated iOS+Android vs. 336 million PCs excluding Macs in 2011.) The growth rate and the scale itself combine to make the entrants impossible to ignore.

Live Poll

Do you spend more time on your smartphone or your personal computer?

• 173604

  Smartphone. I can do everything on it, and it's with me all the time.

  22%

• 173605

  PC/Mac/other. I have a smartphone, but it won't be replacing my home/laptop anytime soon.

  78%

VoteTotal Votes: 2962

We've seen the addition of iPhones supplementing Macs and PCs at home, and Chromebooks arriving after Android handsets. We've also seen the rapid rise of Android, how its handsets have overtaken the iPhone in the U.S., and how its apps in the Android Market will close in on Apple's, but have we arrived at that moment when smartphones replace the personal computer? Take our poll and let us know where you're at.

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/17/10173984-will-android-be-the-death-of-pcs

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Northwest storm likely 'major' not 'epic'

One of the worst snowstorms in years is hitting the Pacific Northwest, closing schools and roads and cancelling flights. The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore reports from Seattle.

By Msnbc.com staff and wire

A major winter snow storm headed for the Pacific Northwest turned south slightly overnight and was no longer expected to hit Seattle with a foot of snow on Wednesday.

NBC meteorologist Bill Karins said the forecast had changed, with the heaviest falls of snow now expected to stay south of the Seattle area.

---

He said "significant" amounts, perhaps 3 to 6 inches, were still expected Wednesday morning, but said this would not an "epic" or "historical" storm.

However Karins cautioned that the Northwest in general was still experiencing a "major" snowstorm.

The National Weather Service said that it had kept "all warnings and advisories in place" but had lowered its snow totals "especially over the Seattle metro area."

Anthony Bolante / Reuters

A snowplow leads the traffic on the I-5 Interstate Highway as snow falls in Seattle Tuesday.

"Latest model runs have shifted the track of the low (pressure area) south a bit ... with major implications for snowfall amounts over western Washington," the weather service said, according to NBC News.

Schools preemptively closed in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Bellingham, while crews salted down streets and dozens of flights were canceled as the region prepared for the storm.

Alaska Airlines announced late Tuesday that it canceled 38 flights into and out of Seattle and Portland, Ore. The airline was waiving re-booking fees for passengers traveling Tuesday through Thursday in those cities.

Conditions on the roads were expected to be dangerous as the storm was forecast to begin dumping snow on the area just before the morning rush hour.

"Wednesday is going to be a good day to stay at home," said Brad Colman, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle. "The road is going to be treacherous."

Several inches of snow have the potential to paralyze the city of Seattle, which owns relatively few snowplows. Its drivers are mostly inexperienced with driving in snow or ice.

Several downtown hotels reported all their rooms were booked. Elsewhere, shoppers stocked up on groceries.

Pickup with snow plow stolen
In Everett, north of Seattle, police reported a thief broke into an Everett School District parking lot early Tuesday and drove off in an old pickup equipped with a snow plow. The faded yellow truck had the snow plow in front and a full hopper of sand in the back, Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

Snow has been falling steadily in parts of western Washington and Oregon since the weekend, but Weather Service meteorologists said the biggest amounts could be on the way.

Bec Thomas, who lives on Camano Island north of Seattle, stocked up on bottled water and food. As her children built snowmen, made snow angels and sledded in nearly a foot of fresh snow on Tuesday, she made food that could be reheated on her wood stove.

The last snowstorm knocked out her power for a week.

"We take it very seriously," said Thomas, a fine arts photographer. "We'll probably be snowed in until Thursday."

Forecasters said 3 to 6 inches of new snow could fall in the Olympia area and 1 to 2 inches north of Seattle. The Cascade Mountains could see 1 to 3 feet of new snow through late Wednesday, and officials warned of high avalanche danger there.

Dan Pelle / AP

With the incoming winter storm in mind, Don Mortenson, 77, of Spokane, Wash., looks at an aluminum snow shovel at the General Store on Tuesday.

Troopers: Be prepared
In eastern Washington, forecasters predicted that about 6 inches of snow could fall on Spokane by late Wednesday with several more inches falling Thursday. The Pullman area could see as much as 12 inches of new snow by Wednesday night.

State troopers advised motorists to be prepared.

"The No. 1 thing is to drive for the road conditions," Trooper Keith Leary said. "People need to slow down, take their time. If they're not prepared, don't get out on the roadways."

John Lee, a Mill Creek graphic designer decided to work from home Tuesday rather than face a snowy commute into Seattle, said it was "a bit exciting" because it was the first snow of the season.

But he added: "I hope it doesn't escalate to something bigger."

The Seattle Times initially described the coming bad weather as a "megastorm" in its print edition Tuesday, but then revised it to "Less snow in the forecast? It's 'evolving'" on its website later in the day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10180456-northwest-storm-likely-major-but-not-epic

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What You Missed While Not Watching The South Carolina GOP Debate (Time.com)

-5 minutes. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly sets the scene for the 16th GOP debate: "All Mitt Romney has to do tonight is not fall down or throw up." Papa bear. A national treasure.

0 minutes. Big crowd. Curdling screams in Myrtle Beach. You think this is a vacation town? Think again. This is the ultimate political fighting championship, a no-holds-barred blood sport. Little bear Bret Baier announces that Fox News has done away with the time-is-up sound. That's how crazy it is going to be. "The doorbell didn't work for dog owners," he explains. The Google Chat chime didn't work for anyone born after Watergate. "But warning," Baier adds, "We do reserve the right to bring back the bell if we have to." Sure you do. 3 minutes. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets us going by deflecting a question about how he went from promising to "repudiate every effort of the news media to get Republicans to fight each other to protect Barack Obama" to parroting the Obama campaign's line of attack against Mitt Romney. He answers honestly, saying he had two choices after his drubbing in Iowa at the hands of negative attack ads from Romney allies: "You either have to unilaterally disarm and leave the race or you have to at least bring up your competitor's record." Then he attacks Romney's job creation record in Massachusetts.

5 minutes. Baier has two more follow ups for Gingrich, both about his Romney attacks. This is called throwing meat to the lions. The crowd is restless. Someone must bleed. But Gingrich is ginger. "I raise questions that I think are legitimate questions," he says. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the Weekend's New Hampshire Republican Debates)

7 minutes. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney defends himself. Nothing special. "My record is out there, proud of it, and I think if team want to have someone who understand how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, that I'm the guy that can best post up against Barack Obama."

9 minutes. Now it's Texas Gov. Rick Perry's turn. He is asked about his comment that Romney practiced "vulture capitalism." Perry gets specific about one of the steel companies Romney invested in. "I visited Georgetown, South Carolina. It was one of those towns where there was a steel mill that Bain swept in, they picked that company over and a lot of people lost jobs there," Perry says. Then he pivots. "And Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money," he says, meaning income tax returns. The crowd roars like a jet engine. Like when Caesar tossed swords to the gladiators.

11 minutes. Romney diffuses the roar. Talks about the steel business. Says he wants to "get the private sector working again." Ignores the stuff about his tax returns, which will almost certainly show that he pays little taxes because most of his income comes from investments.

12 minutes. Another question for Romney, about American Pad and Paper, a company that Romney's firm took over, loaded up with debt and made money from before it failed. Romney says bankruptcy sucks, free enterprises is good, and America is not Europe. Romney also says, "We've got a president in office three years, and he does not have a jobs plan yet. I've got one out there already and I'm not even president, yet." A stunning bit of misinformation. Obama's most recent job's plan is called "The American Jobs Act." Kind of hard to miss.

16 minutes. Still not quite the full combat that the crowd wants to see. Maybe Texas Rep. Ron Paul can help. He is asked if he should stop attacking other candidates. "There was one ad that we used against Senator Santorum, and I was only -- I only had one problem, is I couldn't get all the things in I wanted to say in one minute," he answers. The crowd likes.

17 minutes. Santorum defends himself with lots of details about right to work, No Child Left Behind and other things he has voted for that conservatives don't like. Then he gets outraged about a spot run by Romney's Super PAC that says Santorum wanted to allow felons to vote. Santorum asks Romney directly if felons should be allowed to vote after they have served their time? Then the back and forth finally starts. Romney starts to answer by dodging, but Santorum cuts him off demanding an answer to his question. "We have plenty of time. I'll get there. I'll do it in the order I want to do," Romney says. The upshot: Romney is against violent criminals ever getting the vote, he distances himself from the Super PAC, even though he has spoken at their fundraisers, and Santorum, who once endorsed Romney to be president, does not like Romney. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the Final Iowa Debate)

22 minutes. Perry jumps in to repeat a line he always seems to be repeating. "Washington, D.C., needs to leave the states alone," he says. But he can't leave it there, so he adds, "and let the states decide these issues and don't do it from Washington, D.C. That's what needs to happen." Emphatically.

23 minutes. The candidates have been talking over their time, so Baier says, "We may have to rethink that whole bell thing." As they say on the Tweets, #notarealthreat. First commercial break.

26 minutes. We're back for the obligatory chain of clich?s delivered by the state GOP chair, because this is how Fox News rolls -- ads within the infomercial. Back in the Myrtle Beach thunder dome, the moderators try to stick it to Romney one more time, pointing out that the recently retired candidate Jon Huntsman called him "a perfectly lubricated weather vein." Romney smoothly recites stuff he has said before. "I believe in free enterprise, I believe in freedom, I believe in liberty, I believe in an opportunity society." Believe in America.

30 minutes. Perry gets asked about the Justice Departments effort to undo South Carolina's strict voter identification law. But the question has clear racial overtones: "Governor Perry, are you suggesting on this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, that the federal government has no business scrutinizing the voting laws of states where minorities were once denied the right to vote?" Perry runs with it. "I'm saying also that South Carolina is at war with this federal government and with this administration," he says. To recap: Asked about Jim Crow, Perry embraces the Civil War. South Carolina, you remember, was the first nation to secede in 1860 to defend slavery. Crowd loves it. Mostly for the war. But old racist nostalgia lurks menacingly at the edges.

33 minutes. Discussion of unemployment benefit policy. Santorum says return the hard decisions to the states. Gingrich says require job training. Then Gingrich keeps the racial undertones going by declaring: "We think unconditional efforts by the best food stamp president in American history to maximize dependency is terrible for the future of this country."

36 minutes. Romney gets a question about the possibility of more bank bailouts if Europe collapses. He says he would not give anyone in government a blank check, and that he would force failing firms into bankruptcy. Which just about sums up the basic idea behind Dodd-Frank, the Obama-backed financial reforms that Romney opposes.

39 minutes. Paul gets asked about his vision of military spending cuts and the impact on a military state like South Carolina. Paul says he would close foreign bases, and build up domestic bases.

42 minutes. Each of the candidates must name their ideal income tax rate. Perry says a 20% flat tax. Santorum says 10% and 28%. Romney says 25%. Gingrich says 15%. Paul says 0%."What's so bad about that?" he asks. Paul wins.

43 minutes. Romney gets a direct question: "Governor, will you release your income tax records?" His answer is a Harvard Business School case study in equivocation: "You know, I looked at what has been done in campaigns in the past with Senator McCain and President George W. Bush and others. They have tended to release tax records in April or tax season. I hadn't planned on releasing tax records because the law requires us to release all of our assets, all the things we own. That I have already released. It's a pretty full disclosure. But, you know, if that's been the tradition and I'm not opposed to doing that, time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I am going to get asked to do that around the April time period and I'll keep that open." Go ahead, and try to figure that out. One thing is clear, when Romney says "you know," you almost certainly do not.

MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the GOP National-Security Debate

44 minutes. Romney is asked again the same question. It gets worse. "I think I've heard enough from folks saying, look, let's see your tax records," he says. "I have nothing in them that suggests there's any problem and I'm happy to do so. I sort of feel like we are showing a lot of exposure at this point. And if I become our nominee, and what's happened in history is people have released them in about April of the coming year and that's probably what I would do." Probably, if he thinks about deciding to listen to what people say about history and what not.

45 minutes. Romney gets a question about his opposition to the DREAM Act, which would give citizenship to upstanding immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as young children. "I think we have to follow the law and insist those who come here illegally, ultimately return home, apply, and get in line with everyone else," Romney says.

47 minutes. Santorum is asked about the high unemployment rate in the black community. He cites a study that says the poor should do three things to avoid poverty. "Work, graduate from high school, and get married before you have children," he says. Work is probably the key one in the list, for avoiding unemployment.

49 minutes. Paul says there is racial disparity in drug arrests and sentencing. "This is one thing I am quite sure that Martin Luther King would be in agreement with me on," he adds. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the CNBC 'Oops' Republican Debate)

51 minutes. The string of questions about issues for blacks and Latinos continues, with a question to Gingrich about his rhetoric. "You recently said black Americans should demand jobs, not food stamps. You also said poor kids lack a strong work ethic and proposed having them work as janitors in their schools. Can't you see that this is viewed, at a minimum, as insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans?" It's a loaded question, and Gingrich bites its head off. "No I don't see that," he says. What follows is an epic back and forth between Gingrich, Fox News pundit Juan Williams and the crowd, which is again riled by the scent of some blood. Gingrich keeps using lines like, "I know among the politically correct, you're not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable." With the crowd's help, he vanquishes Williams.

55 minutes. The crowd is screaming so loud with approval for Gingrich that Baier must address the less frenzied home viewer: "They can't hear me, but I'll talk to you." The crowd is on its feet. Pretty sure this is the first mid-debate standing ovation in 16 debates. Commercial break to regain order.

62 minutes. We're back. Time to probe Paul's foreign policy ideas. Paul gets into an argument with Baier about whether he would pursue Bin Laden. Paul says he would, but the details are complex, and almost certainly inconsequential to the upcoming presidential election.

65 minutes. Gingrich, emboldened by his destruction of Williams and the liberal elite, is buoyed, and calls Paul's ideas "utterly irrational." Then he gives the crowd what they came to see. "We're in South Carolina. South Carolina in the Revolutionary War had a young 13-year-old named Andrew Jackson. He was sabered by a British officer and wore a scar his whole life. Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear-cut idea about America's enemies: Kill them." Damn right. Sabered. Fox News shows a crowd shot. People are pumping their fists in the air. Kill him. Kill him.

67 minutes. Paul talks some more about war mongering. Baier again offers his empty bring-back-the-bell threat. Romney distances from his own adviser who made the totally reasonable observation that you will have to negotiate with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. But all of this is a let down. The adrenaline rush is fading. Romney tries to capture some of it by saying things like, "These people declared war on us. They've killed Americans. We go anywhere they are, and we kill them." But Romney's "kills" don't have the bite of Gingrich's "kills."

72 minutes. Perry has sat all this out. But now he gets a curveball, a question about the conservative government in Turkey, and whether Turkey deserves to stay in NATO. It's a leading question, and Perry, clearly trying to look like he knows about this stuff, follows it off a cliff. "Well, obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists. . ." he begins. This is Turkey he is talking about. The non-terrorist, Democratically-elected government of Turkey. It goes downhill from there.

74 minutes. Perry tries to salvage things by suggesting to Baier that Fox News replace the bell with a gong. If only.

76 minutes. Things are getting weird. Romney is asked about a bill Obama signed, which included a section that Obama opposed that allows the military to detain Americans indefinitely. He says he agrees with this section. He is met by huge boos from crowd. (MORE: What You Missed While Not Watching the Las Vegas GOP Debate)

79 minutes. Baier concedes defeat on the bell thing. "Take whatever time you want he says to Santorum." Santorum does. He agrees with Obama that the new military powers are overreach.

81 minutes. Perry, who a few minutes ago called a non-terrorist U.S. ally a bunch of terrorists, tries to reclaim his stature by talking about his flat tax, and his desire to cut regulation. Asked what can be done to help the housing market, Perry says, "We don't need the federal government in the housing market anymore." Seeing as the housing market is now substantially propped up by the federal government, this is basically a call for a sharp temporary decline in home prices.

83 minutes. The candidates give their views of entitlement reform. If you have read the other summaries of the other debates, you already know this stuff.

93 minutes. Break time. Last break.

97 minutes. Romney is asked why he sucks on guns. He is explains that he doesn't suck quite so bad. Then he says he hunted moose recently, or elk. It sounds like this, "I'm not going to describe all of my great exploits. But I went moose hunting actually -- not moose hunting, I'm sorry, elk hunting with friends in Montana. I've been pheasant hunting. I'm not the great hunter that some on this stage, probably Rick Perry, my guess is you are a serious hunter. I'm not a serious hunter." This is, it must be said, much better than the tax return answer.

103 minutes. More talk of the evils of Super PACs, since a pro-Romney group is running a spot claiming that Gingrich favored China's pro-abortion policies, when he did not. More back and forth over whether Gingrich and Romney could order their supporting PACs to stop using misleading ads, which they probably could. "I have complained about with Governor Romney's super PAC, over which he apparently has no influence, which makes you wonder how much influence he'd have if he were president," says Gingrich. Old ground. Finally, Romney breaks down and declares that he wishes the wealthy people giving to his Super-PAC just gave to him. "I haven't spoken to any of the people involved in my Super PAC in months and this is outrageous," Romney says. By this he appears to mean that it is outrageous he does not have direct control of money that clearly was donated by people who want to donated to him.

108 minutes. There is apparently extra time, because Perry gets a question about the border fence and Gingrich gets a question about No Child Left Behind. No news.

111 minutes. We are done. The crowd has not yet formed into a mob. No actual blood has been spilled. A success, considering. See you Thursday night. We'll do it all again. Don't dwell on why.

See TIME's 2011 Person of the Year: The Protester.

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personhood amendment haynesworth

Seal Plastic Bags with Aluminum Foil and an Iron [Macgyver Tips]

One of the best ways to keep food from spoiling is to seal it in an airtight bag, but you might want to reuse the same bag a food came in instead of putting it in a new Ziploc bag. To do this, reddit user gastropump suggests using an iron to cinch the bag the shut.

It's the same basic premise as a vacuum sealer and works great to keep food lasting longer. With your food inside the bag, fold a piece of aluminum foil over the opening of the bag. Then run the iron over the foil for a few minutes so the plastic melts together. Wait for it to cool and remove the aluminum foil. Now you have an airtight bag to keep your food from spoiling too quickly.

LPT: Seal plastic bags airtight with an iron and aluminum foil | reddit

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/cFrpjftTBt4/seal-plastic-bags-with-aluminum-foil-and-an-iron

miguel cotto

OK, MG, I Take It Back

A few weeks ago, I wrote: A couple weeks ago, MG wrote: Android development itself remains a huge pain in the ass. I hear this again, and again, and again. Which took me a bit aback. I?ve developed numerous Android and iOS apps (though not games, so I can?t speak to the differences there) over the last few years, and neither set of developer tools seems to me to be hugely superior: both have their strengths and their really irritating failings. Oh, the irony. Up until recently all the Android apps I'd worked on had had fairly vanilla graphics requirements. But for the last few weeks I've been in crunch mode developing an Android app with moderately elaborate graphics -- and. Well. I stand by what I said, to a point: the developer tools for the two platforms are comparable. But Android's fragmentation has become a giant millstone for Android app development, leaving it far behind its iOS equivalent. It's not the panoply of screen sizes and formats on devices running Android; the Android layout engine really makes that annoying, but no big deal. It's not the frequent instances of completely different visual behavior on two phones running exactly the same version of Android; again, annoying, but relatively minor. Device fragmentation is just an irritation. OS fragmentation, though, is an utter disaster.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/9-5vrqIz2vo/

fugazi

Apple audit shows some suppliers used child labor (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Apple Inc released on Friday an audit of its major suppliers, saying it found a number of violations including breaches in pay, benefits and environmental practices in plants in China.

The Cupertino, California-based company, notorious for keeping its supply chain a secret, also for the first time released a list of its major suppliers.

The company said it conducted 229 audits last year, representing an 80 percent increase over 2010.

Apple said it probed all levels of its supply chain, including final assembly and component suppliers.

The consumer device giant will grant access to an independent auditing team from the Fair Labor Association in an effort to overcome criticism regarding working conditions at factories in its supply chain.

"It's a level of transparency and independent oversight that is unmatched in our industry," Apple said in the audit report.

Apple said it found 6 active and 13 historical cases of underage labor at some component suppliers but said it did not find any underage workers at its final assembly suppliers.

The report titled "Supplier responsibility progress report" also said it asked suppliers to repay workers after it found 67 facilities had docked worker pay as a disciplinary measure.

Apple also terminated business with one supplier and was correcting the practices of another supplier. Both were repeat offenders, the report said.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/bs_nm/us_apple_suppliers

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