Thursday, February 28, 2013

Iran, P5+1 to return to Almaty after expert-level nuclear talks: report

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, was briefly hospitalized due to her bipolar disorder, the actress' spokeswoman said on Tuesday after video emerged of Fisher giving an unusual stage performance. The video came from a show Fisher gave aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean last week, according to celebrity website TMZ, which posted the clip. The clip shows Fisher, 56, singing "Skylark" and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," at times appearing to struggle to remember the lyrics. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-p5-1-return-almaty-expert-level-nuclear-080102462--sector.html

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Family Friendly Cambridge, Massachusetts: Education & Activities

harvardyard

Many people assume that Cambridge, Massachusetts is part of Boston, but Cambridge is actually a city unto itself offering a host of family friendly activities. Think festivals, nods to history, outdoor and sporting events, and of course unbelievable educational opportunities ?this is the home of Harvard University and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after all!? Cambridge is an educated, edgy, liberal city with plenty of opportunities for family fun and exploration.? In addition to all the fun outlined below, Cambridge also rumored to be home to Winnie-the-Pooh?s House. If you get a chance, look for him on Hurlburt Street. I think he?s waiting for you!

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?Family Friendly Cambridge Squares: Shopping, People Watching, and Festivals

Family Friendly Cambridge: Harvard Square

Cambridge is full of cultural squares including Kendall, Central, and the most famous: Harvard Square. Many families visiting Harvard Square enjoy people watching, grabbing a snack, shopping for books at the Curious George Bookstore, seeing the street performers, and taking a walk through the famous buildings of Harvard University. If you have a prospective student (yes, even young ones), you might join a free student tour. Also in the yard is the Old College Pump, used back in the day by the students. Although no water comes out, its great pumping fun makes a fun diversion for young kids!

Harvard Square also boasts its share of fun festivals. Experience the Cambridge Science Festival in April, The May Fair, appropriately taking place each May, or the Riverfest on the banks of the Charles each June.

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Museums: Explore Educational Interests in Cambridge

harvad natural history museum

Want to make your kids smarter? What better place to head to than Cambridge and its many science museums!

The Harvard Natural History Museum and Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology is a great place to start. Admittedly it sounds a bit?scholarly, but we?ve visited before and know firsthand about the kid friendly wonders to be explored here. The dinosaurs are fantastic and the hall of mammals a must see for your animal scientist. The minerals and gems exhibit is the best we have investigated. Not to be outdone, MIT offers the MIT Science Museum. Older kids (recommended for 12 and older) will relish the robotics and holography exhibits currently on display. Educational programs and workshops are available for students with advanced registration.

Finally, The Museum of Science which straddles Cambridge and Boston wows all ages. I remember going to this museum when I was school aged and it helped kindle my love of all things science. I remember the terrific exhibits and have now taken my own kids there. Of course it is modernized, but the hands on nature and in depth learning make this a great place for kids. I do not think one day is enough to see and do it all at this museum!

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Family Friendly Cambridge: Nature, Playgrounds, and Outdoor Activities

Family Friendly Cambridge: Outdoor Activities near theCharles River Collage

Although there are a few winter time activities (think ice skating at the Charles Hotel or Kendall Square), the spring-fall months offer an amazing assortment of outdoor activities to help your family burn off energy and take in the sights of Cambridge.

The Boston Duck Tours operate out of Cambridge near the Museum of Science spring through fall. See the sights of Boston from your amphibious vehicle through the streets and in the water with a ?conDucktor? narrating the way. A more leisurely tour of Boston can be taken on a cruising boat down the Charles River with the Charles River Boat Company. Sunset cruises on a beautiful day can?t be beat.

On land let the kids run free at the Alexander Kemp Playground. Redesigned and opened in 2009, the Kemp Playground is an environmentally friendly area designed to stimulate creative, exploratory, and social behaviors amongst our youngsters. Kids will have fun on the playground equipment, water play stations, sand attractions, and climbing nets. Be prepared: this is the type of park your kids will not want to leave.

Free family friendly games are offered during the summer on the banks of the Charles River.? The Parkland Games are sponsored by the Charles River Conservancy and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Families can participate in sporting games such as bocce, croquet, sack races, tug-of war, and many more. Great family fun and terrific memories are to be made at these games on sweet summer day.

For a more tranquil time, spend some time hiking and bird watching at the Fresh Pond Reservation. This area is a city oasis providing 162 acres of open space surrounding a reservoir; the paths here are used by joggers, dogs, and families to explore nature. Select Friday mornings free kids walks encouraging your little ones to gather nature booty, jump in leaves, and look for birds.

The Longfellow National Historic Site is part of our National Park Service. Not only was this home to one of nations most important poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but it was also headquarters to George Washington during early Revolutionary War days. The 2-acre outdoor grounds are open to the public year round. June through October, the mansion can be toured to see the artifacts of both Longfellow and Washington. Special programs at the house recreate revolutionary days for more interactive historic fun.

Insider tip: Although a cemetery seems like an odd place to while away a day, families from Cambridge love taking advantage of the beauty, serenity, history, and educational opportunities at the Mount Auburn Cemetery.

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Kid Friendly College TownsCheck out other kid friendly college towns:

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About Michelle Brennan

Michelle Brennan is Trekaroo?s New England Destination Guroo. She and her husband are Yankee born and raised and are loving life as they raise their 3 children in New England. They love to learn through travel and head out on excursions whenever possible.The suitcases are always packed....literally!!!! Find her on Google+.

Source: http://blog.trekaroo.com/family-friendly-cambridge-massachusetts/

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Home Depot leads Dow average higher

NEW YORK (AP) ? A jump in home sales and strong earnings from Home Depot helped the Dow claw back more than half of its losses from Monday. Improving consumer confidence also brought back buyers to the market.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 115.96 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,900.13. The Dow fell 216 points the day before, its biggest drop in three months, on concern that the European debt crisis may flare up again. The index has moved 100 points or more on four out of the past five trading days.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.09 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,496.94. The Nasdaq composite was up 13.40 points, or 0.4 percent, at 3,129.65.

Home Depot, the biggest home improvement store chain in the country, jumped $3.64, or 5.7 percent, to $67.56 after reporting that its income rose 32 percent in the latest quarter thanks to strong U.S. sales and the cleanup that followed Superstorm Sandy. That made it the biggest gainer in the Dow, accounting for about 28 points, or about a quarter, of its advance.

"Companies on the whole, particularly U.S. companies, are doing well," Michael Mussio, a portfolio manager at FBB Capital, said.

Strong earnings from home improvement companies, such as Home Depot and Lowe's, which reported earnings Monday that beat Wall Street forecasts, compounded evidence that the U.S. housing market is maintaining its recovery, Mussio said. Also Tuesday, the government reported that sales of new homes jumped 16 percent last month to the highest level since July 2008.

The report boosted housing companies, which led the S&P 500 higher. PulteGroup rose $1.03, or 5.7 percent, to $19.05, edging out Home Depot as the biggest gainer in the index. D.R. Horton advanced 88 cents, or 4.12 percent, to $22.25 and Lennar Corp. rose $1.35, or 3.7 percent, to $38.01.

The rebounding housing sector has been an important factor behind a rally that pushed the Dow above 14,000 last week, close to its record high close of 14,164 reached in October 2007. The Dow is still up 6 percent this year, even after Monday's sell-off. The S&P 500 is up 5 percent.

Also Tuesday, a measure of consumer confidence rose sharply, reversing three months of declines, as shoppers began adjusting to a payroll tax hike last month.

Investors closely watched testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed chairman said that the automatic government spending cuts due to take effect Friday would put a drag on the economy. He urged lawmakers and the White House to replace the cuts with longer-term policies to reduce the budget deficit.

Investors shouldn't be dissuaded from buying stocks by any flare-up in Europe's economic troubles, says Hans Olsen, a strategist at Barclays. The strategist says stocks should have a good year thanks to earnings growth and a pickup in corporate dealmaking.

Deals have accelerated sharply in the last three months and have involved household names including Heinz, Dell and American Airlines. Some of the acquired companies soared 20 percent or more when the deals are announced.

It's not yet clear how the recent see-saw in the market will affect investors. Individual investors have been creeping back into stocks since the start of this year, but the swings might yet unnerve them.

"The gyrations worry them, it scares them, even though the market is up," says Gabriel Fancher, an adviser at the Financial Group, a financial planner. "The market seems out of people's hands these days."

Tuesday's good news about the economy in the U.S. helped investors turn their focus away from Europe.

While U.S. market rose, European markets fell again as investors worried about Italy's political situation. The country is facing political gridlock after elections left Parliament with no clear-cut winner.

U.S. stocks slumped Monday after election results in Italy showed a race too close to call. That left investors fearful that the country, the euro region's third-largest, will struggle to form a government that can move forward with reforms to revive the economy, rekindling the region's debt crisis and worries over the viability of its shared currency, the euro.

Italy's main stock index dropped 4.9 percent Tuesday. The yield on Italy's benchmark government bond rose sharply, to 4.83 percent from 4.43 percent the day before, as investors sold them. That's still far below the 7 percent the yield traded at in January 2012, when confidence in Italy's finances was far lower. The euro was little changed against the dollar.

Other European indexes also fell, but not as much. Stocks fell 2.3 percent in Germany, 2.7 percent in France, and 1.3 percent in Britain.

In U.S. government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to prices, rose two basis points to 1.88 percent.

Among other companies making big moves Tuesday;

? Tyson Foods fell 86 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $22.40 after it said that its fiscal second quarter has been tougher than expected because of lower margins in its beef and pork divisions. The nation's biggest meat company said it's still optimistic about its full-year results.

? Oneok fell $1.86, or 4 percent, to $44.34 after the natural gas company cut its distribution growth forecast for the next three years, citing expectations of lower sales volumes and prices of natural gas liquids.

? Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia fell 16 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $2.85 after the company said its fourth-quarter net income slid 74 percent as it continues to struggle with weak results at its publishing and broadcasting divisions.

? Macy's rose $1.33, or 3.5 percent, to $39.85 after its results beat analysts' forecasts.

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AP Business Writer Bernard Condon contributed to the report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/home-depot-leads-dow-average-higher-174228560--finance.html

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Tribune hires advisers to field newspaper bids

(AP) ? Tribune Co. says it has hired investment banks JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Evercore Partners to help it sell its newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.

The move comes two months after the media conglomerate emerged from bankruptcy.

Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman said the company has received "a lot of interest" in its newspapers. Hiring the firms, he said, will help Tribune Co. determine whether a potential buyer's interest is credible and assist the company in considering its options.

The sale of the newspapers has been widely expected, especially after the company appointed a group of TV-focused board members and hired former Discovery Communications chief operating officer Peter Liguori as its CEO last month.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-26-Tribune-Newspapers/id-28aa6bf975cb48069fe847f90816f4b1

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Morrissey Claims War Wouldn?t Exist If More Men Were Gay

Morrissey Claims War Wouldn’t Exist If More Men Were Gay

Morrissey crazy talking againControversial singer Morrissey is at it again, after cancelling his appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel” because the gang from “Duck Dynasty” were also scheduled guests. Now the British singer insists that military action and nuclear weapons are “heterosexual hobbies” and the world would be a better place with more homosexuals. The former The Smiths singer said ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/02/morrissey-claims-war-wouldnt-exist-if-more-men-were-gay/

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Event Recap: South Florida Code Camp & IRWD 2013 | Appliedi.net ...

Earlier this month, Applied Innovations attended two major conferences in South Florida ? the South Florida .NET Code Camp and the 2013 Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference (IRWD). This year, over 900 developers met at the South Florida Code Camp, and IRWD remained true to its smaller, more engaged crowd.

At the Code Camp, we were excited to have the opportunity to connect, learn and share the latest Microsoft-related trends with other enthusiastic developers and programmers.We also got to chat with some current clients and partners in the industry. The consensus of the attendees was that this round of sessions was the best they?d seen, so the event was a success!

IRWD speakers also delivered, covering hot industry topics like designing a website that attracts your target audience, how to quickly engage visitors, how to increase organic search rankings with SEO and more. Another favorite, unique feature of IRWD are consultations ? online retailers have the ability to have one-on-one discussions with industry-leading experts in eCommerce, providing an informative and engaging experience for attendees.

Each year, these conferences help us fine-tune our knowledge of the latest industry trends in order to increase key metrics with online revenue for our clients. Some overall highlights and impressions include:

  • Metrics and reporting are key components to online success and enabling marketing/development teams to make informed decisions.
  • More businesses are opting to outsource web development and marketing functions to third-party solution providers.
  • The need for instant accessibility has grown drastically with the rise of social media and customers? expectations of immediate response, which has given way to more robust mobile applications for things like your eCommerce platform solution.
  • The hosted eCommerce solution provider options or SaaS based ecommerce options have increased greatly in numbers. However, we found a general dissatisfaction among clients using these services because hosted eCommerce solutions lock you into their hosting options which can be limited and tough to scale. With Applied Innovations, you are able to use several different eCommerce platforms. We also partner with Hotcakes, a new eCommerce platform being launched for the leading open source ASP.NET content management system, DotNetNuke. Combined with Hotcakes, Applied Innovations offers clients the unique advantage of portability between hosting providers while still being intimately knowledgeable about the eCommerce platform. Our partnership has afforded each of us an in-depth knowledge of the other?s service, allowing us to provide the same benefits as a hosted eCommerce solution.

Overall, Applied Innovations enjoyed two successful and informative experiences at both conferences. Here?s some of the fun we had:

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Source: http://www.appliedi.net/blog/2013/02/27/event-recap-south-florida-code-camp-irwd-2013/

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

5 Small Business Marketing Essentials - Found Online Solutions

Posted on February 26th, 2013 by seosurrey in Email Marketing

5 Essentials of Small Business Marketing to Keep You Ahead of the Competition

Small business marketing is not for the faint of heart, but if you?ve been in marketing for longer than two seconds, you know that. Marketing your business is dependent on doing some key factors well and these items can make or break a small business in this dog eat dog world we live in. Competition is fierce and learning how to make the most from your web pages is tricky.

Here are five important actions to keep you ahead of the competition!

  1. Create a Marketing Plan ? Don?t leave anything to chance. Construct a well-thought out, concise plan that maps out every one of your marketing elements along with what you need to do to make it work. Make it as detailed as possible. At the very least fill in the broad strokes. ?But don?t just plan blindly, base it on research. ?How do customers typically find and choose a business like yours? ?No point planning a direct mail campaign if most of your audience prefers to look online
  2. Social Media Marketing ? 91 percent of experiences social marketers generate improved website traffic and 79 percent generate more quality leads according to MediaBistro.com. How do they do this? They don?t waste time with their social media marketing. Map out a plan for social media an stick to it.
  3. Build a Mailing List ? MarketingProfs.com reported emails averages a ROI (return on investment) of $40 for every $1 spent. This far exceeds keyword ads ($17) and banner ads ($2). Don?t be misled into thinking collecting and building an email list is dead. If you don?t build a list, you?re failing to build your business! ?You just cannot afford to leave such a large source of potential profits for your competition. ?Build an email list above all things ? it?s worth gold.
  4. Video Marketing ? Research shows a video is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google than any other text page! This really is too good to pass up. Small businesses can engage in this by video marketing. The video market is still relatively untapped and having a simple video advertising your wares can gain you loads of Google traffic along with authority.
  5. Have a Mobile Presence ? Ensure your site is optimized for mobile, as more than half of all searches now are emanating from some type of mobile device. Microsoft reports that mobile browsing is projected to overtake desktop browsing by 2014. Having your pages mobile optimized can help improve your reach, and also corral impulse buyers.

Don?t Be a Superhero and Do It Alone!

None of us can do it all, particularly when it comes to the constantly changing world of online marketing. Find out what?s working now, learn from the best you can afford, and hire the best outsourcing you can get. It will pay off handsomely in the end!

Source: http://foundonlinesolutions.com/email-marketing/5-small-business-marketing-essentials/

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Utah liquor bill aims to take down 'Zion curtains'

Manager Dustin Humes fixes a drink in a small room which is out of the view of patrons at Vivace Restaurant Monday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers are considering repealing a law that requires restaurants to mix alcoholic drinks out of view from patrons. Commonly known as ?Zion curtains,? the mandate went into effect for restaurants in 2010 as part of a compromise when lawmakers lifted a mandate for bars to operate as members-only social clubs. The rule does not apply to restaurants that opened before 2010. A House committee is expected to discuss the bill Wednesday. Restaurant owners and tourism officials say the law is unnecessary and hinders tourism. But some lawmakers say that removing the mandate could encourage underage drinking and influence customers to drink too much. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Manager Dustin Humes fixes a drink in a small room which is out of the view of patrons at Vivace Restaurant Monday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers are considering repealing a law that requires restaurants to mix alcoholic drinks out of view from patrons. Commonly known as ?Zion curtains,? the mandate went into effect for restaurants in 2010 as part of a compromise when lawmakers lifted a mandate for bars to operate as members-only social clubs. The rule does not apply to restaurants that opened before 2010. A House committee is expected to discuss the bill Wednesday. Restaurant owners and tourism officials say the law is unnecessary and hinders tourism. But some lawmakers say that removing the mandate could encourage underage drinking and influence customers to drink too much. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Manager Lindsay Pitts makes a mojito in the bar which is beyond the view of patrons, in the kitchen of La Jolla Groves Restaurant Monday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers are considering repealing a law that requires restaurants to mix alcoholic drinks out of view from patrons. Commonly known as ?Zion curtains,? the mandate went into effect for restaurants in 2010 as part of a compromise when lawmakers lifted a mandate for bars to operate as members-only social clubs. The rule does not apply to restaurants that opened before 2010. A House committee is expected to discuss the bill Wednesday. Restaurant owners and tourism officials say the law is unnecessary and hinders tourism. But some lawmakers say that removing the mandate could encourage underage drinking and influence customers to drink too much. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Manager Dustin Humes inspects a wine glass in a small room which is out of the view of patrons at Vivace Restaurant Monday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers are considering repealing a law that requires restaurants to mix alcoholic drinks out of view from patrons. Commonly known as ?Zion curtains,? the mandate went into effect for restaurants in 2010 as part of a compromise when lawmakers lifted a mandate for bars to operate as members-only social clubs. The rule does not apply to restaurants that opened before 2010. A House committee is expected to discuss the bill Wednesday. Restaurant owners and tourism officials say the law is unnecessary and hinders tourism. But some lawmakers say that removing the mandate could encourage underage drinking and influence customers to drink too much. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Manager Dustin Humes holds wine bottles in a small room which is out of the view of patrons at Vivace Restaurant Monday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers are considering repealing a law that requires restaurants to mix alcoholic drinks out of view from patrons. Commonly known as ?Zion curtains,? the mandate went into effect for restaurants in 2010 as part of a compromise when lawmakers lifted a mandate for bars to operate as members-only social clubs. The rule does not apply to restaurants that opened before 2010. A House committee is expected to discuss the bill Wednesday. Restaurant owners and tourism officials say the law is unnecessary and hinders tourism. But some lawmakers say that removing the mandate could encourage underage drinking and influence customers to drink too much. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Manager Lindsay Pitts walks around the bar which is beyond the view of patrons in the kitchen of La Jolla Groves Restaurant Monday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Utah lawmakers are considering repealing a law that requires restaurants to mix alcoholic drinks out of view from patrons. Commonly known as ?Zion curtains,? the mandate went into effect for restaurants in 2010 as part of a compromise when lawmakers lifted a mandate for bars to operate as members-only social clubs. The rule does not apply to restaurants that opened before 2010. A House committee is expected to discuss the bill Wednesday. Restaurant owners and tourism officials say the law is unnecessary and hinders tourism. But some lawmakers say that removing the mandate could encourage underage drinking and influence customers to drink too much. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Wine spritzers are a favorite at Rovali's near Salt Lake City. Behind the bar, in full view of patrons, waiters siphon soda and syrup into glasses of ice ? then they duck behind a fake olive tree and a barricade to add the chardonnay.

Utah's famously strict liquor laws forbid the restaurant from pouring alcohol in front of customers. The ban is based on the idea that the state should shield the mixing of cocktails and pouring of drinks from children. The so-called "Zion curtains" went up around the state as part of a compromise after lawmakers lifted a mandate in 2010 requiring bars to operate as members-only social clubs.

But this year, the curtains may be coming down.

Utah lawmakers are considering whether to repeal the requirement, a move that would ease restrictions and encourage new business. Right now, the requirement applies to restaurants that have been in operation for less than three years.

Doing away with the curtain would mark yet another small step by the state to relax its liquor laws.

Lawmakers have introduced a handful of pending bills this year that would ease Utah liquor regulations, including a measure allowing customers to order a drink before they order food and another to make more liquor licenses available to restaurants.

They are scheduled to discuss whether to do away with the curtains Wednesday; the measure has not yet been voted on by either chamber.

The Zion curtains have a long history in the state, and its nickname nods to Utah's legacy as home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The barriers first went up decades ago in the social clubs that existed before bars were legalized in 2009, unmistakable glass walls separating customers from bartenders.

Those who oppose the Zion curtains say the law forces restaurant owners to waste money and space on configurations to keep bartenders out of sight of patrons using barriers or strategically positioned service bars. Curtain opponents also say the law hinders tourism by annoying outsiders and reinforcing their perception of Utah as staunchly sober.

At Rovali's, an Italian restaurant in Ogden that opened in 2010, waiters explain the state's befuddling liquor laws to out-of-towners and, Montanez said, "you see the eye roll."

"That kind of stifles guests," he said. "They're a little rankled by these weird laws."

Some lawmakers warn that removing the mandate could encourage underage drinking and influence customers to drink too much.

The majority of Utah legislators and residents belong to the Mormon church, which teaches its members to abstain from alcohol.

"Alcohol is a drug," said Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, who opposes the law. "It has social costs. We have DUIs. We have underage drinkers. We have problems that are caused by drinking."

Valentine said he would consider supporting the proposal if the state promised trade-offs such as bulking up police presence around restaurants and nearby roads, or a measure keeping children from entering restaurants serving liquor.

For restaurant owners moving into existing spaces, the law presents a nightmare, said Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden. Restaurants sometimes have to cut into floor space, he said, where more tables should be.

"It really just hampers the new guys, the little guys," Wilcox said. "A lot of these guys, too, they're not large operators. They've got one shop: 'This is my restaurant. My lifelong dream. I've invested everything into this.'"

At Rovali's, Montanez plays sommelier for guests who order wine service, setting off a presentation that underscores the patchwork nature of current laws. Montanez opens the wine at the table and invites guests to sniff the cork. If they purchase the bottle, he can pour and serve the bottle. If they order by the glass, however, he must slip away to pour the drink behind a partition.

"Everything we do is show," Montanez said, likening the visible pouring of drinks to a dessert cart.

The display of pastries and sweets bolsters dessert sales at the restaurant by about 15 percent, he said. In comparison, Montanez estimates that removing the curtain would boost wine sales by a similar margin.

"You can't get creative, that's for sure," he said of the partition. "You have to stick with the rules."

Melva Sine, president of the Utah Restaurant Association, said the curtain mandate confuses diners and raises eyebrows. Utah should impose one set of rules for all restaurants, regardless of their start date, Sine said.

"It lessens consumer confidence: What's the reason that you're doing this in the back room?" she said.

Sine rejects the notion that the visible flow of liquor would tempt youngsters to drink.

"We have got to stop feeling like everyone who drinks alcohol is doing something wrong," she said. "We all want people to go out and enjoy themselves and be responsible."

___

Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-27-Utah%20Liquor%20Laws/id-635954f8cdb3438a92bd5eed585b48e0

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'Mortal Instruments' Behind The Scenes: Magnus Bane In His Boxers

Actor Godfrey Gao saunters around set in his skivvies during MTV News' visit.
By Amy Wilkinson, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Cast of "The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones"
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702620/mortal-instruments-magnus-bane-set-visit.jhtml

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Report: Stuxnet cyberweapon older than believed

LONDON (AP) ? An anti-virus firm says the cyberweapon that targeted an Iranian nuclear plant is older than previously believed, a finding that may shed more light on a mysterious series of attacks attributed by security experts to U.S. and Israeli intelligence.

The Stuxnet worm, which experts believe damaged or destroyed centrifuges at Iran's Natanz plant in about 2009, revolutionized the cybersecurity field because it was the first known computer attack specifically tailored to cause real-world damage.

Previously the earliest samples of Stuxnet dated from 2009, but Symantec's findings push the timeline back.

The company said late Tuesday it found a primitive version of the worm dating back to November 2007 and that one element of the program dates to late 2005.

U.S. and Israeli officials have declined to comment on the attacks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-stuxnet-cyberweapon-older-believed-104634378.html

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Elnathan John- The Dark Corner: DISCOVERING DEATH

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Source: http://elnathanjohn.blogspot.com/2013/02/discovering-death.html

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HP finally parts with webOS in LG Electronics deal

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, file photo, South Korean models pose with a CINEMA 3D Smart TV during a press conference to introduce the LG Electronics' television and the company's marketing strategy for 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. Hewlett-Packard said Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, it is selling its webOS operating system technology to South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Hewlett Packard Co. and LG said on Monday that LG will use webOS to support its "smart TV" technology. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, file photo, South Korean models pose with a CINEMA 3D Smart TV during a press conference to introduce the LG Electronics' television and the company's marketing strategy for 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. Hewlett-Packard said Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, it is selling its webOS operating system technology to South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Hewlett Packard Co. and LG said on Monday that LG will use webOS to support its "smart TV" technology. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Hewlett-Packard is selling its webOS software to South Korean electronics company LG Electronics, securing a new home for a technological orphan.

The deal announced Monday rids HP of the centerpiece of its ill-fated, $1.8 billion purchase of Palm Inc. three years ago.

HP used webOS as its springboard into the smartphone and tablet computer market in 2011, but quickly scrapped the mobile devices running on the software amid disappointing sales. With that retreat, Hewlett-Packard Co. stopped developing webOS for its own products and gave away the underlying technology as open-source software for programmers elsewhere to modify for their own needs.

LG Electronics has grander plans for webOS. Initially, the software will be melded into a new line of Internet-connected televisions from LG Electronics Inc. If those are successful, LG Electronics is considering selling household appliances and other devices that run on webOS in an attempt to create a so-called "smart" home. That's a concept that could appeal to a generation of consumers who wouldn't consider leaving their homes without their smartphones.

In a sign of its commitment to webOS, LG Electronics is also acquiring the team of engineers who had been working on the software for HP. The precise number of HP workers transferring to LG Electronics wasn't disclosed. The affected employees currently work in San Francisco and Palm's former Sunnyvale, Calif. headquarters, and will remain based in those cities, according to LG Electronics. It still hasn't been determined if LG Electronics will take control of the employees' current offices or move them to other locations in the same cities.

The opportunity to pick up a pool of talented software programmers and gain control over the core of webOS were the main reasons LG Electronics wanted to do the deal instead of simply relying on the free open-source project, LG Electronics spokesman John Taylor said.

Financial terms of the webOS sale weren't disclosed. It's unlikely that LG Electronics had to pay much, given that HP had already absorbed $1.6 billion in charges to account for the diminished value of Palm and other costs caused by its decision to stop making webOS devices.

HP, which is based in Palo Alto, is in the process of eliminating 29,000 jobs in an effort to cut costs amid a slump that has seen its revenue falling for the past 18 months. Through January, HP had jettisoned more than 15,000 of the jobs targeted in its streamlining.

HP is still holding on to some vestiges of its Palm acquisition. Among other things, HP retains ownership of other computing coding outside webOS, along with Palm's hardware and Palm's customer contracts. HP will also continue to employ former Palm employees who weren't involved in webOS and will continue to handle customer support for people who still use Palm products made in the past.

Besides getting webOS' source code and other key parts of the technology, LG Electronics will take over stewardship of the open-software project.

HP is jettisoning webOS just as the company is gearing up to introduce a new tablet that features a 7-inch screen and will sell for just $169. The upcoming device, called Slate 7, will run on the popular Android software made by Google Inc. It will supplement a more sophisticated and expensive tablet computer designed primarily for business users. That tablet runs on Windows 8, a recently released makeover of Microsoft's ubiquitous operating system.

HP's stock fell 13 cents to close at $19.07.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-25-Hewlett-Packard-WebOS/id-8a8fba91315f45c7919651a8aea597de

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Network Effect: SingTel-Owned Amobee Expands Mobile Ad Platform To Cover Its Globe, Optus And Telkomsel Holdings

amobee_logoWhen the pan-Asian mobile carrier SingTel paid $321 million to acquire mobile ad platform SingTel in May last year, the thinking was that the Singapore-based SingTel could use Amobee to serve targeted ads to its 480-million mobile subscriber base across the region. Some eight months after the deal has closed, that network effect is coming into play: today Amobee is announcing that it will take over all mobile ads for SingTel, as well as Globe in the Philippines, Optus in Australia and New Zealand and Telkomsel in Indonesia. The deal is exclusive and will mean that all four carriers will be served ads through Amobee’s PULSE mobile ad platform — which was initially developed by Amobee in California but has since been integrated into SingTel’s servers in the Asia-Pacific region. Initially, this deal will cover 200 million users, Amobee says, but will be extended out to eventually cover all of SingTel’s 480 million subscribers. Overall, SingTel is active in 20 countries. Amobee continues to work with other carriers that are not part of the SingTel group. These include AT&T and Sprint in the U.S., Vodafone and Telefonica, as well as others across Europe and the Middle East. But the Asia-Pacific portion of its business is now growing. Whereas last year it made up 10 percent of Amobee’s revenues, this year that rose to at least one-third. The idea is for SingTel to gain better control over ads across its network of operations, and offer publishers a more attractive, targeted advertising option than going with one of the other established players — such as Google, the king of the mobile advertising hill. “Instead of competing against Google, it?s about doing something different,” noted Mark Strecker, COO for Amobee, in an interview with TechCrunch. “A lot of carriers are looking for alternatives to Google.” That strategy, of course, will take on a new twist for SingTel in the coming years. SingTel is one of the 18 carriers that has signed on to work with Mozilla in the development of the Firefox OS for mobile (and the two partner on investments to boost that ecosystem, too, such as this $25 million investment in mobile search startup Everything.me). One of the promises of the new HTML5-friendly platform is that it will give carriers a bigger say in how mobile services are localized for their respective customer bases. That will include what ads get delivered,

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XUF48RG_5zg/

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Shazam conjures iPad and Android tablet versions, zips past 300 million users

Shazam conjures iPad and Android tablet versions, zips past 300 million users

If you've finally caught up to the curve with the latest tablet but are still hopelessly behind on the latest tunes or TV programs, Shazam now has a slate-friendly flavor of its media-discovery software for iPad and Android. The update includes new touches like a refreshed home page, improved tag result layout, a new way to browse your friends' tagging and interactive mapping that shows users' taste in cities around the world, as shown above. The outfit says the interface is enhanced for the slate environment and that it just passed 300 million users worldwide, giving you plenty of sources to find the latest thing. It'll arrive for free at the App Store and Google Play in a few weeks, according to Shazam -- hit the PR after the break for more.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Pe0yiMNN35s/

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Dennis Rodman worms his way into North Korea

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman is heading to North Korea with the VICE media company ? tattoos, piercings, bad-boy reputation and all.

The American known as "The Worm" is set to arrive Tuesday in Pyongyang, becoming an unlikely ambassador for sports diplomacy at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.

Rodman, three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, a VICE correspondent and a production crew from the company are visiting North Korea to shoot footage for a new TV show set to air on HBO in early April, VICE told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview before the group's departure from Beijing.

It's the second high-profile American visit this year to North Korea, a country that remains in a state of war with the U.S. It also comes two weeks after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in defiance of U.N. bans against atomic and missile activity.

Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a surprise four-day trip to Pyongyang, where he met with officials and toured computer labs in January, just weeks after North Korea launched a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket.

Washington, Tokyo, Seoul and others consider both the rocket launch and the nuclear test provocative acts that threaten regional security.

North Korea characterizes the satellite launch as a peaceful bid to explore space, but says the nuclear test was meant as a deliberate warning to Washington. Pyongyang says it needs to build nuclear weapons to defend itself against the U.S., and is believed to be trying to build an atomic bomb small enough to mount on a missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S.

VICE said the Americans hope to engage in a little "basketball diplomacy" in North Korea by running a basketball camp for children and playing pickup games with locals ? and by competing alongside North Korea's top athletes for a game Rodman said he hopes leader Kim Jong Un will attend.

"Is sending the Harlem Globetrotters and Dennis Rodman to the DPRK strange? In a word, yes," said Shane Smith, the VICE founder who is host of the upcoming series. "But finding common ground on the basketball court is a beautiful thing.

"These channels of cultural communication might appear untraditional, and perhaps they are, but we think it's important just to keep the lines open," he said. "And if Washington isn't going to send their Generals then we'll send our Globetrotters."

The Washington Generals were the Globetrotters' regular, long-suffering opponents in a long-running series of comic exhibition games. DPRK is an acronym of North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

VICE, known for its sometimes irreverent journalism, has made two previous visits to North Korea, coming out with the "VICE Guide to North Korea." The HBO series, which will air weekly starting April 5, features documentary-style news reports from around the world.

The Americans also will visit North Korea's national monuments, the SEK animation studio and a new skate park in Pyongyang.

The U.S. State Department hasn't been contacted about travel to North Korea by this group, a senior administration official said, requesting anonymity to comment before any trip had been made public. The official said the department does not vet U.S. citizens' private travel to North Korea and urges US citizens contemplating travel there to review a travel warning on its website.

In a now-defunct U.S.-North Korean agreement in which Washington had planned last year to give food aid to Pyongyang in exchange for nuclear concessions, Washington had said it was prepared to increase people-to-people exchanges with the North, including in the areas of culture, education and sports.

Promoting technology and sports are two major policy priorities of Kim Jong Un, who took power in December 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

But the often over-the-top Rodman, with his maze of tattoos, nose studs and neon-bleached hair, seems like an unlikely diplomat to a country where male fashion rarely ventures beyond military khaki and growing facial hair is forbidden.

During his heyday in the 1990s, Rodman was a poster boy for excess. He called his 1996 autobiography "Bad as I Wanna Be" ? and showed up wearing a wedding dress to promote it.

Shown a photo of a snarling Rodman, piercings dangling from his lower lip and two massive tattoos emblazoned on his chest, one North Korean in Pyongyang recoiled and said: "He looks like a monster!"

But Rodman is also a Hall of Fame basketball player and one of the best defenders and rebounders to ever play the game. During a storied, often controversial career, he won five NBA championships ? a feat that quickly overshadowed his antics for at least one small North Korean group of basketball fans.

Along with soccer, basketball is enormously popular in North Korea, where it's not uncommon to see basketball hoops set up in hotel parking lots or in schoolyards. It's a game that doesn't require much equipment or upkeep.

The U.S. remains Enemy No. 1 in North Korea, and North Koreans have limited exposure to American pop culture. But they know Michael Jordan, a former teammate of Rodman's when they both played for the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.

During a historic visit to North Korea in 2000, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright presented Kim Jong Il, famously an NBA fan, with a basketball signed by Jordan that later went on display in the huge cave at Mount Myohyang that holds gifts to the leaders.

North Korea even had its own Jordan wannabe: Ri Myong Hun, a 7-foot-9 star player who is said to have renamed himself "Michael" after his favorite player and moved to Canada for a few years in the 1990s in hopes of making it into the NBA.

Even today, Jordan remains well-loved here. At the Mansudae Art Studio, which produces the country's top art, a portrait of Jordan spotted last week, complete with a replica of his signature and "NBA" painted in one corner, seemed an odd inclusion among the propaganda posters and celadon vases on display.

An informal poll of North Koreans revealed that "The Worm" isn't quite as much a household name in Pyongyang.

But Kim Jong Un, also said to be a basketball fanatic, would have been an adolescent when Rodman, now 51, was with the Bulls, and when the Harlem Globetrotters, an exhibition basketball team, kept up a frenetic travel schedule worldwide.

In a memoir about his decade serving as Kim Jong Il's personal sushi chef, a man who goes by the pen name Kenji Fujimoto recalled that basketball was the young Kim Jong Un's biggest passion, and that the Chicago Bulls were his favorite.

The notoriously unpredictable and irrepressible Rodman said he has no special antics up his sleeve for making his mark on one of the world's most regimented and militarized societies, a place where order and conformity are enforced with Stalinist fervor.

But he said he isn't leaving any of his piercings behind.

__

Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington contributed to this report from Washington. Follow AP's bureau chief for Pyongyang and Seoul at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dennis-rodman-worms-way-north-korea-051224872.html

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Jenelle Evans: Back in Rehab For Heroin Addiction!?

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Ranulph Fiennes pulls out of 'Coldest Journey' expedition

British polar adventurer Ranulph Fiennes, known as the oldest person to summit Mount Everest in 2009, couldn't continue his winter Antarctica crossing expedition, dubbed 'The Coldest Journey,' due to frostbite.

By Danica Kirka,?Associated Press / February 25, 2013

In this 2009 file photo, British explorer Ranulph Fiennes, who became the oldest Briton to scale Mount Everest, is seen relaxing on his return from the mountain in Katmandu, Nepal.

Binod Joshi/AP/File

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British explorer?Ranulph?Fiennes on Monday pulled out of an expedition to cross Antarctica during the region's winter after developing frostbite ? a bitter disappointment for an adventurer who had spent years preparing for one of the last great polar challenges.

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The explorer and his five-member team had hoped to traverse nearly 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) in a place where temperatures often dip as low as minus 70 Celsius (minus 94 Fahrenheit). The expedition, dubbed "The Coldest Journey," will continue without him.

"The condition is such that he has very reluctantly decided ... to withdraw from Antarctica while the possibility to do so still exists, before the onset of the Antarctic winter," the expedition said in a statement.

Fiennes, who has been going where others fear to tread for decades and in 2009 became the oldest person to summit Mount Everest, already is missing parts of his fingers on his left hand because of frostbite suffered on a North Pole expedition a decade ago.

"This will be my greatest challenge to date," he had said on his website before the journey began. "We will stretch the limits of human endurance."

The polar trek is especially dangerous because no aircraft can travel inland in the winter due to the darkness and risk that fuel will freeze. That means that there would be virtually no chance of a search and rescue operation if disaster strikes.

The team is working toward evacuating Fiennes from Antarctica, but that evacuation is being hampered by a blizzard. The team said he was transported by snowmobile to the Princess Elisabeth Station, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from his current position. From there, he will be flown to Novo to get a connecting flight to Cape Town in South Africa.

But he will be unable to leave until there is a let-up in weather conditions. The remaining members of the team plan to start the crossing as scheduled March 21.

"This decision has not been taken lightly and it is, naturally, a huge disappointment to Fiennes and his colleagues," the statement said.

The expedition is trying to raise $10 million for the charity "Seeing is Believing," which seeks to prevent blindness.

Polar adventurer and balloonist David Hempleman-Adams, who walked unsupported to the South Pole in 1996, said he believed the winter crossing would be unprecedented.

"The crossing's definitely been done before," he said. "However that was very different. That was in summer months. And that was hugely supported with aircraft and things like this. As far as I know this will be the first winter crossing."

The team has been outfitted with high-tech equipment that prompted comparisons to the preparations for a flight into space, including special breathing apparatus. The expedition will use 20-ton tractors to transport sledges with mounted living quarters and fuel that is designed not to freeze in the extreme temperatures.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/dTYJJNhfMi0/Ranulph-Fiennes-pulls-out-of-Coldest-Journey-expedition

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Court takes up question of arrestee DNA sampling

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Salisbury, Md. police department thought they had finally caught a break.

A man wearing a hat and scarf and brandishing a gun had raped and robbed a 53-year-old woman in her home and then vanished into the night. Almost six years later, Alonzo King was arrested in a nearby county and charged with felony second-degree assault. Taking advantage of a Maryland law that allowed DNA tests following felony arrests, police took a cheek swab of King's DNA which matched a sample from the 2003 Salisbury rape. King was convicted of rape and sentenced to life in prison.

But then a Maryland court said it had to let him go.

King was never convicted of the crime for which he was arrested and swabbed. Instead, he pled guilty to the lesser charge of misdemeanor assault, a crime for which Maryland cannot take DNA samples. The courts said it violated King's rights for the state to take his DNA based on an arrest alone. The state Court of Appeals said King had "a sufficiently weighty and reasonable expectation of privacy against warrantless, suspicionless searches."

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will try to balance the rights of Americans who have not been convicted of a major crime to keep their DNA out of the government's hands against the government's interest in closing cold cases and the rights of crime victims to finally see justice done.

If the justices rule for King, more than 1 million DNA profiles that have been stored in a federal database for matching with future crime scene evidence may have to be purged and others will never be collected, leading some repeat offenders to go free, advocates say.

"The early collection of DNA prevents crime," said William C. Sammons of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. "Had the recidivists been identified early in their career through arrestee collection, they would not have been able to commit the bulk of their crimes."

But privacy activists see letting police use DNA information without a warrant or a conviction as another loss for American privacy, with Americans' genetic information held by the government eventually being used for other purposes, just as Social Security numbers were originally not intended to be used for identification.

"Regardless of what the government does with the DNA sample and the limits it places on the sample's use, all the highly personal data in it is in the government's possession, and outside the individual's control," said Jennifer Lynch, lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Getting DNA swabs from criminals is common. All 50 states and the federal government take cheek swabs from convicted criminals to check against federal and state databanks, with the court's blessing. But now 28 states and the federal government now also take samples from people who have been arrested for various crimes, long before their guilt or innocence has been proven. According to court documents, the FBI's Combined DNA Index System or CODIS ? a coordinated system of federal, state and local databases of DNA profiles ? contains more than 10 million criminal profiles and 1.1 million arrestee profiles.

Victims' rights groups argue that the earlier the DNA test, the earlier repeat criminals are put in jail. And since arrestees already have to tell police their names and give them their fingerprints and any identifying documents they're carrying, they have no right to hide genetic information that could help solve cold cases, they say.

"Arrestees have no greater interest in withholding the identifying information used in DNA fingerprinting than in withholding traditional fingerprints. The only difference is that it is a better means of identification that is more effective in protecting the public from recidivists like Alonzo King," said Jonathan S. Franklin, a lawyer for DNA Saves and other victims' rights groups.

The Obama administration added that the government's interest in solving crimes outweighs the right to keep personal genetic information secret. "The government ? and society at large ? has an overwhelming interest in solving crimes," which not only helps victims but also exonerates the innocent, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. wrote in court papers.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union see DNA evidence as a slippery slope, however.

"In less than 25 years CODIS has expanded from including samples only from persons convicted of serious felonies, to the now-routine collection of DNA from persons convicted of any felony, to samples from persons who have not been convicted of anything but have merely been arrested for minor offenses," said Michael T. Risher, lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California.

He said that expansion is best seen in California, which seizes and searches the DNA of everyone arrested for any felony ? leading it to have the third-largest DNA database in the world, after the United States and the United Kingdom.

"The brightest, most fundamental line in our criminal justice system is the one that separates those who have been convicted of a crime from those who are presumed innocent," Risher said. If the government can cross that line to collect DNA, the database can grow without limit, he said.

Governments rarely get rid of the samples once they have them. Only nine states that collect DNA from arrestees automatically expunge samples from individuals who are not eventually convicted, court papers said. "The other states and the federal government retain these samples even when the subject has never been convicted, or even charged, of any crime," he said.

The Supreme Court is expected to make a final decision before summer.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-takes-arrestee-dna-sampling-182736235--politics.html

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Capt. Kirk's Vulcan entry wins Pluto moons contest

This photo provided and annotated by NASA/Hubble Space Telescope shows the five moons in their orbits around Pluto. The smallest moons ? no more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) across ? were discovered in that past two years and are currently referred to as P4 and P5. Astronomers announced a contest Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 to name the two tiny moons. Twelve choices are available at the website ?plutorocks.? (AP Photo/NASA/Hubble Space Telescope)

This photo provided and annotated by NASA/Hubble Space Telescope shows the five moons in their orbits around Pluto. The smallest moons ? no more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) across ? were discovered in that past two years and are currently referred to as P4 and P5. Astronomers announced a contest Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 to name the two tiny moons. Twelve choices are available at the website ?plutorocks.? (AP Photo/NASA/Hubble Space Telescope)

FILE - This file image provided by NASA on Feb. 22, 2006 from it's Hubble Space Telescope shows Pluto and three of it's five moons. Astronomers announced a contest Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 to name the two tiny moons of Pluto discovered over the past two years. Twelve choices are available at the website ?plutorocks.? (AP Photo/NASA, File)

(AP) ? "Star Trek" fans, rejoice.

An online vote to name Pluto's two newest, itty-bitty moons is over. And No. 1 is Vulcan, a name suggested by actor William Shatner, who played Capt. Kirk in the original "Star Trek" TV series.

Vulcan snared nearly 200,000 votes among the more than 450,000 cast during the two-week contest, which ended Monday. In second place with nearly 100,000 votes was Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the underworld.

Vulcan was the Roman god of lava and smoke, and the nephew of Pluto. Vulcan was also the home planet of the pointy-eared humanoids in the "Star Trek" shows. Think Mr. Spock.

"174,062 votes and Vulcan came out on top of the voting for the naming of Pluto's moons. Thank you to all who voted!" Shatner said in a tweet once the tally was complete.

Actor Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the reason- and logic-based Spock, had this to say in an email to The Associated Press: "If my people were emotional they would say they are pleased."

Don't assume Vulcan and Cerberus are shoo-ins, though, for the two tiny moons discovered over the past two years with the Hubble Space Telescope.

The contest was conducted by SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., the research base for the primary moon hunter. The 10 astronomers who made the discoveries will take the voting results into account, as they come up with what they consider to be the two best names.

The International Astronomical Union has the final say, and it could be another month or two before an edict is forthcoming. Now known as P4 and P5, the moons are 15 to 20 miles across.

The leader of the teams that discovered the mini-moons, Mark Showalter said Monday he is leaning toward the popular vote.

But Showalter pointed out that asteroids thought to orbit close to the sun are called vulcanoids, and there could be some confusion if a moon of Pluto were to be named Vulcan. Vulcan, in fact, was the name given in the 19th century to a possible planet believed to orbit even closer to the sun than Mercury; no such planet ever was found.

What's more, Showalter said in a phone interview, Vulcan is associated with lava and volcanoes, while distant Pluto is anything but hot.

As for Cerberus, an asteroid already bears that name, so maybe the Greek version, Kerberos, would suffice, said Showalter, a senior research scientist at SETI's Carl Sagan Center.

Styx landed in No. 3 position with nearly 88,000 votes. That's the river to the underworld.

Pluto's three bigger moons are Charon, Nix and Hydra.

To be considered, the potential names for the two mini-moons also had to come from Greek or Roman mythology, and deal with the underworld. Twenty-one choices were available at the website http://www.plutorocks.com when voting ended Monday. Of those, nine were write-in candidates suggested by the public, including Shatner's entry for Vulcan.

Shatner's second choice for a name, Romulus, did not make the cut. That's because an asteroid already has a moon by that name ? along with a moon named Remus.

And forget the Disney connection.

"We love Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, too," Showalter informed voters a few days into the voting. "However, these are not valid names for astronomical objects. Sorry."

Altogether, 30,000 write-in candidate names poured in.

Showalter said he will keep the list handy as more moons undoubtedly pop up around Pluto once NASA's New Horizons spacecraft arrives in 2015. It will be the first robotic flyby ever of the planetoid, or dwarf planet near the outer fringes of the solar system.

"I have learned not to underestimate Pluto," Showalter wrote on the website. With so many good names available, "Pluto needs more moons!"

___

Online:

Pluto-naming contest: http://www.plutorocks.com/

Johns Hopkins University: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-02-25-Pluto%20Contest/id-8a70e833f7b94be6adda12fba05cabfd

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Michigan GOP re-elects Chairman Schostak

Lansing?Michigan Republican Chairman Bobby Schostak won another two-year term, overcoming a challenge from attorney Todd Courser who had argued the party needs to take its core conservative principles to young people and minorities who heavily supported President Barack Obama.

Schostak had the backing of Gov. Rick Snyder, who made a convention speech celebrating the Michigan's GOP's successes in the face of Obama's strong showing in the state and across the country. He characterized the gathering of Republicans in the Lansing Center as more unified than the strident battle for control of the state Democratic Party going on at the same time in Detroit.

Republicans will head into the 2014 election with an advantage because Democrats "are fighting with each other," Snyder said.

Courser had maintained that Republicans trail Democrats in connecting with voters it needs, particularly youth on college campuses and minorities, because it lacks the kind of sophisticated technology used by the Obama campaign.

His argument was that GOP candidates don't have to abandon conservative stances that appeared to hurt them last year, but must use data-mining techniques and tailored messaging to connect with real people who share those views.

The race for chairmanship, while not as divisive as the Democrats' battle, mirrored the struggle among national party leaders about how to respond to Obama's victory?particularly his showing among demographics such as Latinos, youth, African Americans and working women ? that are key to future elections success.

Courser, a Lapeer attorney who describes himself as a constitutional conservative, maintained the party needs to sharpen is message but not move toward the center. Schostak bridged whatever divide there is between those with such views, such as the various local tea party groups around the state, and more-moderate Republicans who've been the party's base.

Courser maintained the that GOP did too much losing last year: 16 electoral votes to Obama, the U.S. Senate race to incumbent Debbie Stabenow, five state House seats and an array of state university board seats. Schostak and Snyder noted that Obama's victory didn't keep Michigan from holding onto a state House majority, nine of 14 congressional seats and a State Supreme Court conservative majority.

Peter Konetchy of Roscommon, who was a GOP primary candidate for the U.S. Senate last year, was at the convention promoting his political action committee to support candidates for the state legislature who'd push for state's rights legislation to counter federal gun laws, educational standards and the Affordable Care Act.

Konetchy wouldn't say whether he wanted a new chairman, but he's clearly disillusioned with the direction of the state party. He believes it's swinging moderate when it should be heading toward more conservatism.

"I don't think Washington, D.C., will be ever be able to restrain itself," Konetchy said. "But I believe the state can."

Phil Sawinski of Detroit said he had no preference in the chairmanship race. He was more interested in the effect the convention might have on Snyder.

"If it has the result of informing the governor to oppose Obamacare and sign the anti-gun-free-zone bill when it comes up in the legislature, that will put a smile on my face," said Sawinski, who was carrying a sign advertising a "Vote Biblically" web site.

Snyder, of course, unsuccessfully tried to persuade lawmakers to approve a state-created health insurance exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act, usually dubbed Obamacare. He's now pushing for legislative approval to accept a $31-million federal grant to make Michigan the seventh state creating an exchange cooperatively with the federal government.

And Snyder last year vetoed a bill that would have permitted concealed handguns in gun-free zones, such as libraries, public schools and churches. He objected to weapons in schools after a young gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school. Similar legislations has been reintroduced but tweaked to require permission from a school board or superintendent for concealed weapons in schools.

gheinlein@detroitnews.com

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130223/POLITICS02/302230375/1361/rss41

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ND school investigating fans in KKK-style hoods

In this Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 photo provided by Shane Schuster, three people in the Red River High School student section wear Ku Klux Klan-style white robes and hoods during a semifinal game in the North Dakota Boys Hockey Tournament at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. Mark Rerick, the Grand Forks Public Schools' athletics director, said he asked administrators from the Grand Forks high school to investigate the incident after the photo appeared on the social network site Twitter. (AP Photo/Shane Schuster)

In this Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 photo provided by Shane Schuster, three people in the Red River High School student section wear Ku Klux Klan-style white robes and hoods during a semifinal game in the North Dakota Boys Hockey Tournament at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. Mark Rerick, the Grand Forks Public Schools' athletics director, said he asked administrators from the Grand Forks high school to investigate the incident after the photo appeared on the social network site Twitter. (AP Photo/Shane Schuster)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) ? A North Dakota high school principal says appropriate action is being taken after three students briefly donned Ku Klux Klan-style white robes and hoods Friday night during a state hockey semifinal game.

The photo caused an uproar on Twitter when it was posted by 19-year-old Shane Schuster, who was seated with some friends at Ralph Engelstad Arena when something in the student section across the rink caught his eye.

"I thought, 'Are those KKK hoods?' I couldn't believe it," Schuster said. "I was shocked."

Schuster said he focused his camera phone and snapped a photo, later uploading it to Twitter.

Kristopher Arason, Red River's principal, said the school's investigation determined that the students put on the attire just after Red River's first goal and wore it for about 30 seconds to a minute. The teens removed the outfits after students in the section told them it was offensive, he said.

"We, as a school, are extremely disappointed with the behavior of these three students," Arason said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Saturday. "This behavior is not a representation of our school or student body."

Arason said administrators were notified of the incident at the completion of the game. The students and their parents have been contacted and "appropriate action is being taken," he said.

Arason did not indicate what disciplinary action, if any, the three unidentified students could face.

Red River topped Fargo's Davies High School 2-0 to advance to Saturday night's North Dakota Boys State Hockey Tournament title game against Grafton-Park River.

Davies High School is named in honor of Ronald Davies, the former federal judge from Fargo whose 1957 rulings integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. ? a pivotal event in the civil rights movement.

The photo that Schuster posted on the social media site shows the three hooded fans in the middle of the Red River Roughriders section, in which everyone is dressed in white as part of a "whiteout." The post had been retweeted 75 times by late Saturday afternoon, with many users expressing their outrage.

The hockey tradition of encouraging fans to all wear all white was started more than 25 years ago by the original Winnipeg Jets ? which currently are the Phoenix Coyotes. In 1987, Jets fans donning white shirts and jerseys packed Winnipeg Arena to watch the team take on the Calgary Flames in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The practice has since spread to the college and high school levels.

Arason said Red River has a tradition of wearing a different color for each of the three days of the state tournament in accordance with the team's colors. Roughrider fans wore black for the first day, white for the second and red for the final day.

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Follow Dirk Lammers on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ddlammers

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-23-Hooded%20Hockey%20Fans/id-3ce36f0e802a49afb166ef47f888130b

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