Dubai adds tallest hotel to superlative list

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? Superlative-hungry Dubai is adding another to its list: A 72-story hotel billed as the world's tallest.

The JW Marriott's Marquis Dubai formally opened Tuesday after gaining the title of tallest hotel from Guinness World Records.

At 355 meters (1,099 feet), the hotel would tower over skylines in most cities. But in Dubai, it sits in the shadow of its more than twice-as-high neighbor, the Burj Khalif, the world's tallest skyscraper at 828 meters (2,717 feet).

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-27-Dubai-Tallest%20Hotel/id-7d2c751813444473a9b70ebdc55441cc

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Imperial County betting its future on renewable energy

Situated in the southeastern corner of California, bordering Arizona and Mexico, Imperial County has long depended on agriculture and cash crops that grew from the good earth.

But lately the region ? which carries the dubious distinction of having the state's highest unemployment rate at 25.5% ? is betting its future on a different kind of farm: green energy.

Spurred by a state mandate that requires utilities to get a third of their electricity from green sources by 2020, renewable energy companies are leasing or buying thousands of acres in Imperial County to convert to energy farms providing power for coastal cities ? bringing an estimated 6,000 building jobs and billions in construction activity to the county.

Although renewable energy projects are sprouting up across the Golden State, no county needs them as much as Imperial, which has consistently ranked as the worst-performing region of California even in boom times.

The prospect of a construction boom has excited residents hungry for work. But some farmers and Native American tribes are crying foul, angry that the new projects are encroaching on land that they claim has cultural value or should be devoted to crops.

Solar, wind and geothermal projects are popping up on farms that once grew wheat, alfalfa and sugar beets. County officials say the normally hardscrabble region is benefiting from vast tracts of affordable land and lots of sunshine, the one resource the region can almost always count on.

"It's sunny 365 days of the year, damn near," boasted Mike Kelley, chairman of the county's Board of Supervisors. "Renewable energy is going to give Imperial County a shot in the arm."

Local advocates are betting that a "green rush" will lift a county that has struggled with economic upheaval. The Bureau of Labor Statistics just ranked El Centro as the second-worst metro area for job hunters, after Yuma, Ariz. Its unemployment rate fluctuated between 25% and 33% from 2010 and 2012.

Two of the county's top five employers are the Calipatria and Centinela state prisons. The agriculture sector shed jobs as farmers moved to automation and switched to less labor-intensive crops. Construction work vanished when El Centro, the county's biggest city, was hit hard by the housing crisis. Long-standing businesses such as a food processing plant moved elsewhere, taking away hundreds of jobs.

But with green energy companies scrambling to build solar installations and wind farms throughout the county, some residents are convinced that Imperial's fortunes will soon be looking up.

Tenaska Solar Ventures plans to break ground this year on its second project in the county after nearing completion on its first site, known as the Imperial Solar Energy Center South, on nearly 1,000 acres near El Centro.

The company came to the region both for its "abundant sunshine" and also proximity to the Sunrise Powerlink, a power transmission line completed last year that connects Imperial and San Diego counties, said Bob Ramaekers, Tenaska's vice president of development.

More than 500 construction workers have been hired to work on Tenaska Imperial South, with 70% coming from the local community, he said. A job fair held last year drew about 1,200 applicants. The second project will generate as many as 300 construction jobs, with priority given to local hires.

"One of the advantages of solar projects is they are not really high-tech. Anyone who has worked at all in the construction business can work in a solar facility," said Andy Horne, deputy executive officer of the county's natural resources department. "It's like a big erector set ? you bolt these things together and ba-da-bing, you have a solar project."

The lure of a steady, well-paid job is what persuaded Victor Santana, 27, to start training as a journeyman electrician two years ago. He had studied film in college and hoped to make movies, but ended up working a series of odd jobs after the economic downturn ? driving tractors, operating hay presses, selling vacuum cleaners. Even a video-editing gig he eventually found paid minimum wage,

"Things had dried up. There was only field work, or fast food, or working at the local mall," the El Centro resident said.

Santana finally decided to switch careers after hearing the pitch from green energy companies trickling into town. Now he earns about $21 an hour with regular raises every six months, and the prospect of steady work for another seven to 10 years just from the stream of solar and wind projects. "I feel a lot more secure than I did," he said.

Green energy may help Imperial hold onto its young people, who often try to land a government job or leave the county altogether in search of better-paying jobs elsewhere. Calipatria Unified School District is launching a vocational program this fall to prepare high school graduates for jobs in renewable energy. San Diego State is building a power plant simulator at its Brawley campus.

"With the advent of renewable energy, we are seeing a different kind of industrial base," said Mike Sabath, associate dean of academic affairs at San Diego State's Imperial Valley campus. "Hopefully that will provide opportunities to develop more job stability in the region than what we have enjoyed."

But construction has raised the hackles of some locals. There are farmers wringing their hands over fertile land snapped up by energy companies; they worry that a way of life is being edged out by corporations eager to cash in on the modern gold rush.

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/_yPeH4Dv-2I/la-fi-imperial-energy-20130227,0,7905808.story

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Vimeo Adds ?Looks? To Its Enhancer Toolbox, Powered By Visual FX Specialist Vivoom

Vimeo is helping its creators to improve their videos through a series of visual effects that it?s calling ?Looks.? The new feature will provide more than 500 different filters its creators can use to enhance their videos, all of which can be added, previewed, and selected through a cloud-based editor on Vimeo?s site. They?ll be able to see how effects look compared against their original videos.

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

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Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary

ALMATY (Reuters) - Iran was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions.

Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty, the first in eight months.

The United States, China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive nuclear work but made clear that they expected no immediate breakthrough.

In an attempt to make their proposals more palatable to Iran, the six powers appeared to have softened previous demands somewhat, for example regarding their requirement that the Islamic state ship out its stockpile of higher-grade uranium.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said the powers had tried to "get closer to our viewpoint", which he said was positive.

In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry commented that the talks had been "useful" and that a serious engagement by Iran could lead to a comprehensive deal in a decade-old dispute that has threatened to trigger a new Middle East war.

Iran's foreign minister said in Vienna he was "very confident" an agreement could be reached and Jalili, the chief negotiator, said he believed the Almaty meeting could be a "turning point".

However, one diplomat said Iranian officials at the negotiations appeared to be suggesting that they were opening new avenues, but it was not clear if this was really the case.

Iran expert Dina Esfandiary of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said: "Everyone is saying Iran was more positive and portrayed the talks as a win."

"I reckon the reason for that is that they are saving face internally while buying time with the West until after the elections," she said.

The two sides agreed to hold expert-level talks in Istanbul on March 18 to discuss the powers' proposals, and return to Almaty for political discussions on April 5-6, when Western diplomats made clear they wanted to see a substantive response from Iran.

"Iran knows what it needs to do, the president has made clear his determination to implement his policy that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon," Kerry said.

A senior U.S. official in Almaty said, "What we care about at the end is concrete results."

ISRAELI WARNING

Israel, assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, was watching the talks closely. It has strongly hinted it might attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to ensure that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such aim.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said economic sanctions were failing and urged the international community to threaten Iran with military action.

Western officials said the offer presented by the six powers included an easing of a ban on trade in gold and other precious metals, and a relaxation of an import embargo on Iranian petrochemical products. They gave no further details.

In exchange, a senior U.S. official said, Iran would among other things have to suspend uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at its Fordow underground facility and "constrain the ability to quickly resume operations there".

The official did not describe what was being asked of Iran as a "shutdown" of the plant as Western diplomats had said in previous meetings with Iran last year.

Iran says it has a sovereign right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and wants to fuel nuclear power plants so that it can export more oil.

But 20-percent purity is far higher than that needed for nuclear power, and rings alarm bells abroad because it is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade uranium. Iran says it produces higher-grade uranium to fuel a research reactor.

Iran's growing stockpile of 20-percent-enriched uranium is already more than half-way to a "red line" that Israel has made clear it would consider sufficient for a bomb.

In Vienna on Wednesday, a senior U.N. nuclear agency official told diplomats in a closed-door briefing that Iran was technically ready to sharply increase this higher-grade enrichment, two Western diplomats said.

"Iran can triple 20 percent production in the blink of an eye," one of the diplomats said.

The U.S. official in Almaty said the powers' latest proposal would "significantly restrict the accumulation of near-20-percent enriched uranium in Iran, while enabling the Iranians to produce sufficient fuel" for their Tehran medical reactor.

This appeared to be a softening of a previous demand that Iran ship out its stockpile of higher-grade enriched uranium, which it says it needs to produce medical isotopes.

Iran has often indicated that 20-percent enrichment could be up for negotiation if it received the fuel from abroad instead.

Jalili suggested Iran could discuss the issue, although he appeared to rule out shutting down Fordow. He said the powers had not made that specific demand.

The Iranian rial, which has lost more than half its foreign exchange value in the last year as sanctions bite, rose some 2 percent on Wednesday, currency tracking websites reported.

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Yeganeh Torbati in Almaty, Georgina Prodhan in Vienna, Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Marcus George in Dubai; Writing by Timothy Heritage and Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powers-wait-hear-iran-response-nuclear-offer-043022098.html

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Who Can Benefit from Affiliate Tracking Software program ...

When it comes to affiliate programs and affiliate tracking software program, a big amount of concentrate is placed on business owners. This is for the reason that company owners are the ones who make a decision to begin an affiliate program and use an affiliate tracking service. When enterprise owners will probably be capable to advantage the most from affiliate programs and affiliate tracking software program, they are not the only ones who can. In fact, affiliate applications and tracking software not only benefit online business owners, but affiliates as effectively.

An affiliate is a term that is utilized to describe webmasters, web publishers, and web site owners. When they enter into an affiliate program, they are quite often referred to as an affiliate. The job of an affiliate, when it comes to affiliate programs, is to guide enhance the revenue of one particular of their partner web sites. This is accomplished by placing advertisements, such as banners or links, on their web page. Each time those advertisements are implemented to produce a sale the affiliate will be compensated for their function. This compensation is generally a percentage of each earned sale.

An affiliate will advantage from participating in an affiliate system considering they have the capability to earn capital. In fact, that is how most webmasters, internet publishers, and web page owners make most of their capital, by participating in an affiliate system. However, an affiliate plan can?t successfully operate without having affiliate tracking software program, so, in a way, this signifies that affiliates will also benefit from the use of this really important software program. With out affiliate tracking software program, it would be difficult or not possible for every single business owner to know where their sales came from. With no recognized this appropriate information and facts, affiliates would not be compensated for their operate.

As previously described, a business enterprise owner, otherwise identified as a merchant, can also advantage from the development of an affiliate program and affiliate tracking computer software. Perhaps, the greatest benefit comes from the development of an affiliate program. Affiliate programs are created to assist enhance home business sales. By partnering with a webpage owner, webmaster, or internet publisher that has an online webpage, that is in 1 way or a further connected to yours, you may well notice a steady raise in your on line websites traffic. If your web page sells merchandise or solutions, you may also notice an boost in your sales.

Affiliate tracking software is beneficial for small business owners as a result of it permits them to successfully operate an affiliate system. With affiliate applications, you have to have to be capable to know when 1 of your affiliates helped to generate a sale. It is also critical to know which affiliate that was and how considerably the sale was worth. This information is imperative mainly because it will make certain that you appropriately compensate all of your affiliates. Without an affiliate tracking software program system you would be unable to do this. If you tried without application, it is achievable that you would reward the wrong affiliate or not even reward one particular at all. This is the quickest way to commit your affiliate plan downhill hence, affiliate tracking is really important, if not needed.

As you can effortlessly see, affiliate applications and affiliate tracking computer software do not just advantage one sort of person they advantage a number of them. No matter if you are a small business owner, seeking to increase your sales, or a web site owner, webmaster, or internet publisher, searching to make added cash, you can thank affiliate tracking software for providing you the opportunity to do so.

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Religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf recommends ... - Minivan News

Religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf has called on Attorney General (AG) Azima Shukoor to amend the government?s draft bill on the implementation of death penalty, urging that convicts be beheaded or shot instead of given lethal injection.

In letter to the AG proposing its?recommendations for the bill, Salaf?explained that by beheading the convicted murderer, the pain he endured would be reduced while the heirs of the victim would still receive satisfaction.

Salaf argued that Islamic history had precedents for this form of execution, while the purpose of Qisas ? an Islamic legal term for equal retaliation which follows the principle of Lex talionis (?an eye for an eye?) ? would be achieved if it acted as a deterrent to others from committing such crimes.

Salaf also expressed support for the execution of convicts through firing squad, noting that scholars of Islamic jurisprudence had spoken in favour of the method.

The Attorney General in 2012 announced that the government had?drafted a bill on implementing the death penalty through lethal injection, and presented it to the public for comment.

Salaf disputed the reliability of this method, contending that such injections have been proved ineffective in executing a convict within a single needle.

The NGO argued that due to the West?s opposing stance towards death penalty, the Maldives could face difficulties and restrictions in receiving stocks of lethal injections, which would be a ?perfect excuse for any president who does not wish to enforce the death penalty?.

?If that is the case, it is a huge injustice to society. It is very dangerous that the current draft paves way for one government to execute it while another can make excuses to not execute it. It is unacceptable. Even today, convicts in several countries are still un-executed because of the non-availability of such injections,? Salaf said.

Salaf also proposed several other recommendations including barring intoxication as a legal defence for the crime of murder, meaning that even involuntary intoxication would not commute a convict from facing the death penalty. Salaf argued that if intoxication could be considered a defense, the purpose of implementing death penalty would be undermined as an accused could always misuse the defense of intoxication to avoid execution.

The current draft bill stipulates that the death penalty should be given to a convict who has murdered someone while in possession of his senses and conscience. In theory, a murder committed while under the influence of a substance will therefore not attract the death penalty.

Salaf also recommended that the current position of the bill on minors should be abolished and that even minors should face execution as soon as the final verdict is made.

Currently the bill stipulates that should a convict who is a minor, pregnant or in a critical medical condition be found guilty of murder, the execution shall be delayed.

Among other recommendations, Salaf proposed amendments to the number of judges that should hear a case concerning death penalty.

Salaf proposed that at a lower court level, the case should be heard by a panel of three judges, while a four member panel should hear such a case at the High Court and a five member panel at Supreme Court level.

Salaf also urged that such cases concerning the death penalty must be heard by male judges only. The NGO also recommended that a clause be included in which before the execution the convict should be given the opportunity to repent and carry out a short prayer.

According to current stipulations in the bill, a suspect found guilty of murder should also be provided with the opportunity to meet his family on the day of execution and say their last farewell.

Salaf in its recommendations called upon the attorney general to remove the clause in the draft bill giving the President the power to commute any death penalty sentence to a life imprisonment sentence, claiming that such a clause defeated the overall purpose of the bill.

Meanwhile, the attorney general?s office has said that it has looked to procedures followed by Egypt, Malaysia and the US in carrying?out the death sentence, while also obtaining the opinions of religious scholars and lawyers.

Push for the death penalty

In October last year, the government announced its intention to introduce a bill in the People?s Majlis to guide and govern the implementation of the death penalty in the country.

?It is currently a punishment passed by the judiciary and a form of punishment available within the penal system of the Maldives,? said Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel at the time.

?But for full guidance and matters governing the matter, legislation is required,? he added.

The last person to be judicially executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi, who was executed by firing squad in 1953 after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

Statistics show that from January 2001 to December 2010, a total of 14 people were sentenced to death by Maldivian courts.

However, in all cases, the president at the time has commuted these verdicts to life sentences.

Speaking to Minivan News, President of Jamiyyathul Salaf Abdulla Mohamed stated that the current bill by the attorney general was ?incomplete? as it had only focused on death penalty, and said that the principle of Qiasas was much broader.

?For instance, the bill does not give a remedy to the victims who are subjected to assault and other bodily harm. They should also get a legal remedy. However the bill is more focused on death penalty,? he said.

Asked if the NGO was of the view that victims could get a fair trial, given the present concerns raised over the impartiality and competency of the Maldivian judiciary, Abdulla Mohamed said the NGO had proposed recommendations to the judiciary on the issue.

?We have previously sent recommendations to the authorities concerning the state of judiciary. We have clearly highlighted the necessary qualifications and standards that a judge should have,? he said.

However, he rejected claims made by critics of judiciary that the judiciary was unprepared to implement death penalty, stating that it was just a ?mere excuse? to avoid the laws of Allah prescribed in Sharia? law.

?There are other laws passed such as the law against the abuse of women and several other laws where the authorities make efforts to ensure they are enforced and that justice is delivered. Why can?t it be the same in a law that lays down the principles of Islamic Sharia??? he questioned.

He further said that Islamic Criminal Law was very broad and very detailed, such that there are several conditions and requirements that have to be fulfilled before giving a punishment.

?The purpose of death penalty in Islam is to ensure that the orders of Allah are followed. It is an obligation to all of us as Muslims. Secondly, Islam greatly values a human being?s right to life. No one has the right to take the other person?s life. If he does so, he has to be punished,? he stated.

However the death penalty does not always mean one has to be executed, he explained. There are alternatives, as if even one heir decides to forgive the convict, he cannot be executed. Similarly, it is up to the heirs to demand blood money instead of the death penalty, and that even blood money can be forgiven if the heirs wish to do so.

Speaking to Minivan News previously, former Foreign Minister and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran Dr Ahmed Shaheed has identified the ?pathetic state of the [Maldives] judiciary? as one of the key human rights concerns he believed needed to be addressed in the country.

?[The judiciary] is not only corrupt, but also coming under the influence of radical Islam, even to the extent of violating codified laws of the Maldives and clear international obligations,? Dr Shaheed claimed.

?Disregard for rule of law has also meant that a culture of impunity is deeply entrenched, rendering many of the human rights of the people meaningless.?

Source: http://minivannews.com/society/religious-ngo-jamiyyathul-salaf-recommends-beheading-firing-squad-over-lethal-injection-53689

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Infrared digital holography allows firefighters to see through flames, image moving people

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Firefighters put their lives on the line in some of the most dangerous conditions on Earth. One of their greatest challenges, however, is seeing through thick veils of smoke and walls of flame to find people in need of rescue. A team of Italian researchers has developed a new imaging technique that uses infrared (IR) digital holography to peer through chaotic conflagrations and capture potentially lifesaving and otherwise hidden details.

The team describes its breakthrough results and their applications in a paper published February 26 in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express.

Firefighters can see through smoke using current IR camera technology. However, such instruments are blinded by the intense infrared radiation emitted by flames, which overwhelm the sensitive detectors and limit their use in the field. By employing a specialized lens-free technique, the researchers have created a system that is able to cope with the flood of radiation from an environment filled with flames as well as smoke.

"IR cameras cannot 'see' objects or humans behind flames because of the need for a zoom lens that concentrates the rays on the sensor to form the image," says Pietro Ferraro of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Istituto Nazionale di Ottica in Italy. By eliminating the need for the zoom lens, the new technique avoids this drawback.

"It became clear to us that we had in our hands a technology that could be exploited by emergency responders and firefighters at a fire scene to see through smoke without being blinded by flames, a limitation of existing technology," Ferraro says. "Perhaps most importantly, we demonstrated for the first time that a holographic recording of a live person can be achieved even while the body is moving."

Holography is a means of producing a 3-D image of an object. To create a hologram, such as those typically seen on credit cards, a laser beam is split into two (an object beam and a reference beam). The object beam is shone onto the object being imaged. When the reflected object beam and the reference beam are recombined, they create an interference pattern that encodes the 3-D image.

In the researchers' new imaging system, a beam of infrared laser light is widely dispersed throughout a room. Unlike visible light, which cannot penetrate thick smoke and flames, the IR rays pass through largely unhindered. The IR light does, however, reflect off of any objects or people in the room, and the information carried by this reflected light is recorded by a holographic imager. It is then decoded to reveal the objects beyond the smoke and flames. The result is a live, 3-D movie of the room and its contents.

The next step in moving this technology to the field is to develop a portable tripod-based system that houses both the laser source and the IR camera. The systems may also be suitable for fixed installation inside buildings or tunnels. In addition, the team is exploring other applications, most notably in the biomedical field for non-destructive testing of large aerospace composite structures.

"Besides life-saving applications in fire and rescue, the potential to record dynamic scenes of a human body could have a variety of other biomedical uses including studying or monitoring breathing, cardiac beat detection and analysis, or measurement of body deformation due to various stresses during exercise," Ferraro says. "We are excited to further develop this technology and realize its application for saving and improving human life."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Optical Society of America.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. M. Locatelli, E. Pugliese, M. Paturzo, V. Bianco, A. Finizio, A. Pelagotti, P. Poggi, L. Miccio, R. Meucci, P. Ferraro. Imaging live humans through smoke and flames using far-infrared digital holography. Optics Express, 2013; 21 (5): 5379 DOI: 10.1364/OE.21.005379

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/bXDcFd2sAks/130226101454.htm

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Live from ASUS at Mobile World Congress!

We've live from ASUS on the first official day of Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona, Spain. Chances are we're about to get some Android tablet action dropped on us.

So check in after the break for all the liveblog action, starting at 1:30 p.m. CET, or 7:30 a.m. EST. Morning, U.S. folks!

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/sWYKNXxaJqc/story01.htm

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Photos: Texas A&M's Joeckel sprints, stretches, jumps at NFL Combine

Photos: Texas A&M lineman Luke Joeckel sprints, stretches and jumps at NFL Combine

Feb 23, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Texas A&M Aggies offensive lineman Luke Joeckel does the broad jump during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/texas-aggies/20130223-photos-texas-am-lineman-luke-joeckel-sprints-stretches-and-jumps-at-nfl-combine.ece

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Prime suspect named in Las Vegas shooting, crash

This photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Ammar Harris in a booking photo from a 2012 arrest in Las Vegas. Police have identified Harris as a suspect in a shooting that sent a Maserati into a taxi that exploded, killing three people on Feb. 21, 2013 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

This photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Ammar Harris in a booking photo from a 2012 arrest in Las Vegas. Police have identified Harris as a suspect in a shooting that sent a Maserati into a taxi that exploded, killing three people on Feb. 21, 2013 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

This photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Ammar Harris in a booking photo from a 2012 arrest in Las Vegas. Police have identified Harris as a suspect in a shooting that sent a Maserati into a taxi that exploded, killing three people on Feb. 21, 2013 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

This photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows a black Range Rover SUV in Las Vegas that was found Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013, at an apartment complex east of the Las Vegas Strip. It has been impounded as evidence in connection with a shooting that sent a Maserati into a taxi that exploded, killing three people. Police are looking for 26-year-old Ammar Harris in connection with the shooting. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2013 file photo, law enforcement personal investigate the scene of a mulit-vehicle accident on Las Vegas Blvd and Flamingo Road Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Variously known as an adult playground and Disneyland for grown-ups, Las Vegas has worked to brand itself as a place where tourists can enjoy a sense of edginess with no real danger. But a series of high-profile and seemingly random incidents that have left visitors to the Strip dead or in the hospital is threatening Sin City?s reputation as a padded room of a town where people can cut loose with no fear of consequences. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jeff Scheid) LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT

This undated image provided by Robert S. Beckett shows Kenneth Cherry Jr., also known as rapper Kenny Clutch. The Clark County, Nev., coroner's office identified Cherry as the Maserati driver who died after being peppered with gunfire from someone in a Range Rover SUV, sparking a fiery crash that killed two others, in Las Vegas, Feb. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Robert S. Beckett)

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? A 26-year-old man was being sought Sunday as the prime suspect in a pre-dawn shooting on the Las Vegas Strip last week which led to a fiery crash that left three people dead and several others injured.

Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Jones said Sunday that investigators are working around the clock to sort through evidence and find Ammar Harris following the discovery Saturday of a black SUV used as a getaway car in the shooting and six-vehicle chain-reaction carnage on the neon-lit boulevard near the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Flamingo resorts.

Jones cited "lots of information coming at us all at once, especially on the Range Rover." He wasn't specific.

An aspiring rapper driving a Maserati was shot to death Thursday, and two people in a taxi died in a crash and fireball when the Maserati hit their vehicle.

Harris, who police said was arrested last year on allegations that he was a pimp, was named Saturday as the prime suspect in the triple homicide. Jones said police didn't know where he was.

Police released a jail photo of Harris taken following his arrest in Las Vegas last year on pandering, kidnapping, sexual assault and coercion charges. The disposition of that case was not immediately known.

Harris sometimes goes by the name Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, police said. The photo shows him with tattoos on his right cheek and words on his neck above an image that appeared to depict an owl with blackened eyes. Jones warned that Harris should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police had been searching for the black Range Rover, with blackout windows and distinctive black rims, since it was last seen speeding away from the shooting. It was located at a gated apartment complex a couple of blocks east of the Strip, and was impounded as evidence.

Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr., was mortally wounded when the dark gray Maserati he was driving was peppered by gunfire from the SUV. Taxi driver Michael Boldon and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, of Maple Valley, Wash., died in the taxi.

Boldon, 62, was a family man who moved from Michigan to Las Vegas. Sutton-Wasmund, 48, was a businesswoman and mother of three.

A passenger in the Maserati was wounded in the arm and four people from four other vehicles were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The Maserati passenger has not been identified, and police said he was cooperating with investigators.

The blink-of-an-eye chain of events had family members and friends in Las Vegas, California, Michigan and Washington mourning the dead this weekend.

"My son was a good boy," Kenneth Cherry Sr. told reporters in a Saturday news conference convened by Las Vegas lawyers Vicki Greco and Robert Beckett.

Beckett said they wanted to respond to rumors that the 27-year-old son ? who produced a rap video using the name Kenny Clutch ? was a gangster and a troublemaker. The attorneys had represented his son, an unmarried father of three, and now represent his estate and family.

"My son was a victim just like the two people in that taxi," Cherry Sr. said. "Trouble found him. The people in the taxicab, trouble found them."

Court records show Cherry had no criminal cases or convictions in Las Vegas, and police said there was no record of arrests

The Clark County coroner determined that Kenny Cherry died Thursday of at least one gunshot to the chest. The deaths of Cherry, Boldon and Sutton-Wasmund were ruled homicides.

Police say the shooting appeared to stem from an argument at the valet area of the upscale Aria resort-casino about a block south of the crash scene. The shooting happened after a night featuring Morocco-born rapper French Montana at Aria nightclub Haze.

Cherry's parents live in Emeryville, Calif., and the father said his son's body would be taken back to Oakland. He said his son started a music career there and was recognized by other rappers within a West Coast hip-hop strain called hyphy.

But Chuck Creekmur, chief executive of AllHipHop.com, said Cherry wasn't well-known in wider music circles.

Kenny Clutch's YouTube music video, "Stay Schemin," shows scenes of Las Vegas Strip hotels as he sings about paying $120,000 for his Maserati.

"One mistake change lives all in one night," he raps in one verse.

Kenneth Cherry Sr., who said he runs a cellphone business, said he helped his son make payments on the Maserati. He said he last spoke with his son on Wednesday, when they talked about the high cost of the son's cellphone use.

Cherry Sr. described his son as an entrepreneur but didn't say how he made money or if he had jobs other than his music production.

Boldon's family in Las Vegas was struggling to cope with his death, said Tehran Boldon, the taxi driver's younger brother.

Boldon's sister, Carolyn Jean Trimble, said Boldon was a father, a grandfather and a car race enthusiast who drove a Mercedes when he wasn't in a cab. He owned a clothing store in Detroit and worked at a car dealership, his sister said, and drove taxis after moving to Las Vegas about 1? years ago.

The irony that a man with a taste for beautiful cars was killed by a sports car wasn't lost on Trimble.

"He would be tickled to death: 'Damn, of all things, a Maserati hit me, took me out like that,'" she said. "I'm happy he didn't suffer."

In Washington, Sutton-Wasmund co-owned a dress shop, said Debbie Tvedt, the office manager for a Maple Valley plumbing company that Sutton-Wasmund started with her husband, James Wasmund. Sutton-Wasmund was in Las Vegas attending a trade show with her business partner.

"It's a big loss," Tvedt said in a telephone interview with AP.

The Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce website said Sutton-Wasmund was a board member from 2004 to 2011 before becoming a marketing representative.

A phone message left for James Wasmund was not immediately returned.

The famously glowing, always-open Las Vegas Strip was closed for some 15 hours after the crash. Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Eric Kemmer recalled a similarly long closure after the 1996 drive-by slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur.

That shooting ? involving assailants opening fire on Shakur's luxury sedan from a vehicle on Flamingo Road ? happened about a block away from Thursday's crash.

The Shakur killing has never been solved.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas, Garance Burke in San Francisco, Kathy McCarthy in Seattle and AP Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-24-Vegas%20Gun%20Battle/id-0ba1beeb2f624dc9a9c6b0617e3ff925

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Google hopes for reinforcements in social network battle

Google is promising businesses greater returns on advertising if they sign up to its social network, in a fresh bid to take on rivals Facebook and Twitter.

The internet search giant has been emailing advertisers boasting that businesses with Google+ pages see a 5-10 per cent rise in click-throughs when linked with its AdWord campaigns. These display adverts on Google when users search for specific words.

Google also features businesses' Google+ pages prominently on the right hand side of search results. These also show recent posts on the page and the number of people who have given a "+1" ? the equivalent of Facebook's "like" button ? to those brands.

Insiders suspect the push by executive chairman Eric Schmidt to sign up companies to the social network, launched in November 2011, is a response to innovations from Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter last week introduced a system allowing businesses to tailor advertising campaigns on the microblogging site and Facebook last month unveiled Graph Search, a feature allowing users to search all the connections across the site.

Having more businesses on Google+ could strengthen the company's commercial clout as it would allow it to build up more detailed pictures of the brands and businesses users like through the +1 feature.

But one advertiser accused Google of "hacking its own system" to ensure the social network's success. When users search on the site, those brands or businesses on the social network are given greater presence, raising questions over whether Google is abusing its power.

It sparked a similar controversy last September when it launched its own car insurance comparison site. Google is also talking to music labels about launching a streaming service, so it is less reliant on advertising.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/266/f/3511/s/28e2fbb3/l/0L0Sindependent0O0Cnews0Cbusiness0Cnews0Cgoogle0Ehopes0Efor0Ereinforcements0Ein0Esocial0Enetwork0Ebattle0E850A80A230Bhtml/story01.htm

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HP to make $169 Android tablet, eschewing Windows

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Hewlett-Packard Co. is making a tablet computer that uses Google's Android operating system, steering clear of Microsoft's latest tablet-oriented version of Windows, the company said Sunday.

The HP Slate 7 will have a 7-inch screen, making it similar in size to the Amazon Kindle Fire. It will cost $169 when it goes on sale in April in the U.S.

Most tablet makers, including Samsung and Amazon, have chosen Android as the best and cheapest operating system for products that can compete against Apple's iPad. HP previously made a tablet based on Palm's WebOS software, but the effort fizzled. The company also makes a more powerful tablet with PC-type components for the corporate market, which runs a PC-style version of Windows 8. It hasn't produced a tablet using Windows RT, Microsoft's product for iPad-type tablets.

"When we looked at creating a real killer product for consumers, a very portable, very entertainment-focused device, we thought that Android was the better choice," said Alberto Torres, who signed on as head of HP's mobile devices division five months ago. Previously, he worked for cellphone maker Nokia Corp. "Of course, we continue to work closely with Microsoft on other products as well."

Torres didn't rule out using Windows RT in the future, saying the company plans a broad portfolio of tablets tailored toward different types of buyers. But HP's choice of Android for a consumer device and Windows 8 for a corporate tablet leaves little room for Windows RT, which Microsoft hopes will expand the reach of Windows beyond corporate tablets.

Torres said the Slate 7 will use a relatively "vanilla" version of Android. The company is avoiding the interface modifications Asian manufacturers apply and the deeper changes imposed by Amazon and Barnes & Noble for their tablets. The Slate 7 will ship with the ability to talk to printers, HP's forte. At $169 the device is aggressively priced, costing half of what Apple charges for an iPad mini.

HP made the announcement on the eve of Mobile World Congress, the wireless industry's annual trade show, which starts Monday in Barcelona, Spain.

Competitor Samsung Electronics announced a new tablet earlier Sunday, to launch in the April to June time frame. The Galaxy Note 8.0 will be slightly larger than the Slate 7. It will run Android and accept pen input.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hp-169-android-tablet-eschewing-windows-170033998--finance.html

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Mozilla, AT&T and Ericsson team up to help you make calls from your browser, sans-plugin

Seems like you can make calls from everywhere these days, so really, why not one's browser? Mozilla, AT&T and Ericsson are using MWC to launch their new WebRTC-based proof of concept that'll bring plugin-free phone functionality to Firefox, letting users make voice calls, video calls, share files and access things like their address book through the comfort of their browser. Ericsson and Mozilla will be showing the proof of concept off this week at MWC -- if you're not in Barcelona, you can live vicariously through the press release after the break.

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/mozilla-att--ericsson/

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Louisiana state president of Capital One Bank to be inducted into LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction

POSTED: Saturday, February 23, 2013 - 5:00am

UPDATED: Saturday, February 23, 2013 - 5:04am

New Orleans, La ? Robert M. Stuart, Jr., head of middle market commercial banking and Louisiana State President for Capital One Bank, has been selected for induction into the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction.?

Stuart and two other members that comprise the 2013 Hall of Distinction class will be inducted March 22, at a ceremony to be held at the Business Education Complex, the new home of the E. J. Ourso College. Selection into the Hall of Distinction is the E. J. Ourso College of Business? highest honor for alumni and friends of the college. Inductees are recognized for their business, academic, government and community contributions. The Hall of Distinction was established in 1996.

?Rob has provided invaluable input as a member of our Dean?s Advisory Council,? said E. J. Ourso College Dean Richard D. White, Jr. ?His accomplishments and his civic contributions to the business community more than qualify him for induction into the Hall of Distinction.?

Stuart, who joined Capital One in 2005 following the company?s acquisition of Hibernia Corporation, has more than 30 years of banking experience.

Before being appointed to his current position, he was responsible for leading Capital One Bank?s middle market commercial banking business in Louisiana and Texas.

At Hibernia, Stuart served in several management positions, including chief credit officer, Baton Rouge City President, and head of middle-market corporate banking in South Central and Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas, Commercial Dealer Services and Consumer Finance Company Banking and Public Finance.

Stuart began his banking career at Fidelity National Bank, for which he served as a Commercial Lending department manager. Hibernia acquired Fidelity in 1986.

Among his many accomplishments in banking, Stuart led Hibernia?s efforts to finance a $55 million expansion of LSU?s famous Tiger Stadium, undertaken by the Tiger Athletic Foundation in the late 1990s.

Stuart has dedicated many hours of his spare time throughout his career to help local communities. He serves as the chair of the Southeast Super Regional Committee and on the executive committees and boards of the LSU Foundation, the Tiger Athletic Foundation and the Louisiana Flagship Coalition. Additionally, he serves on the boards of Blueprint Louisiana, Council for a Better Louisiana, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Louisiana Economic Development Board, the Shaw Center for the Arts and as a member of E. J. Ourso College of Business Dean?s Advisory Council. He is also a past chair of Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Woman?s Hospital.
A native of Baton Rouge, Stuart earned his bachelor?s and master?s in finance, both from LSU. He also completed the General Manager Program at Harvard Business School.
??

Source: http://www.nbc33tv.com/news/local-news/louisiana-state-president

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Best military commanders in A Song of Ice and Fire

In terms of demonstration within the text, Robb is clearly the best field commander we have seen...both as a campaign and battle commander. He is the class of the field. Others who have demonstrated talent include Jon Connington, Randall Tarly,??Addam Marbrand, Jaime and Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Stannis and Renly Baratheon, and various Greyjoys, Victarion probably the most in spite of being an idiot otherwise. ?? Tywin, Ned, Jon Arryn, the Blackfish, the Halfhand and others are people who, within context, we should assume have talent, Ned more than others, but it has not been shown directly. I should add Mance. His logistical accomplishment is only rivaled by Renly.

Edited by James Arryn, 19 February 2013 - 06:57 PM.

Source: http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/81458-best-military-commanders-in-a-song-of-ice-and-fire/

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Sony Xperia SP reported to bring aluminum framed 4.6-inch screen, customizable clear element

We've already heard plenty about Sony's upcoming mid-ranger, the Xperia SP (codenamed "HuaShan") -- said to be a dual-core mid-ranger packing a 720p screen. And although there's no Sony press conference at this year's Mobile World Congress, we're expecting to see it next week in Barcelona.

Today new reports hint at some interesting build quality details for the SP, including an apparent aluminum-framed chassis (with plastic back) and customizable clear element, similar to the Xperia U. These latest details come from XperiaBlog, which cites a "trusted source" with knowledge of the device, and if accurate it's interesting to see Sony revisiting the transparent element as a design feature.

The screen size is also reported at 4.6-inches, which would put it on par with Sony's late 2012 flagship, the Xperia T. And the rear camera is reportedly a 8MP Exmor RS unit -- a lower megapixel count than the Xperia T, but with a more advanced sensor. Storage is said to clock in at 8GB internal, expandable via microSD. Other stats include measurements of 130.6 x 67.1 x 9.98mm and a fairly hefty weight of 155 grams.

MWC is traditionally where Sony shows off its mid-range devices, so we'll hopefully learn more about the Xperia SP in Barcelona in the days ahead.

Source: XperiaBlog

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Y6d4wB7z2m4/story01.htm

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Game Analytics Opens To The Game Developing Masses, Raises $2.5M From Sunstone Capital, CrunchFund, And Others

These days it seems like everyone and their cousin is trying to craft the next smash hit game, but simply bringing a concept to fruition isn?t enough. It's got to be engaging and well-designed, and that's exactly what Game Analytics wants to help developers out with. The Copenhagen-based startup has announced today that it has opened its (what else?) game-centric data analytics platform to the game developing masses. On top of that, it has also locked up $2.5 million in funding from Sunstone Capital, CrunchFund*, and angel investors like HuffPo CEO Jimmy Maymann, former Podio CEO Tommy Ahlers, Ren? Rechmann, and Anil Hansjee.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UwKP6OJ9VJs/

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Tax break used by oil pipeline firms costing government billions

Congress is looking at eliminating a tax break used by oil and gas pipeline companies after a study showed it costing the government four times more than previously estimated.

The tax break for ?master limited partnerships? will cost the U.S. government $7 billion in lost revenue through 2016, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. The increased cost is due to the popularity of the tax-free publicly traded partnerships that have taken over the U.S. pipeline business and are now spreading into the rest of the oil and gas industry.

Examples of MLPs in San Antonio include Tesoro Logistics LP and NuStar Energy Partners.

Canada ended a similar tax break in 2011 and there are proposals in Congress to end it in the U.S. for all but renewable energy companies.

MLP?s don?t pay corporate income taxes because they?re structured as partnerships, and they don?t distribute taxable dividends. Individual members pay personal income tax on any profits, offsetting to some extent the government?s loss of revenue.

Source: Bloomberg

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Mike W. Thomas covers technology/telecom, military, manufacturing/aviation, regulatory issues as well as nonprofits/education.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_16/~3/CYI28mOejhc/tax-break-used-by-oil-pipeline-firms.html

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Chinese cyberspies have hacked most Washington institutions

The information compromised by such intrusions, security experts say, would be enough to map how power is exercised in Washington to a remarkably nuanced degree. The only question, they say, is whether the Chinese have the analytical resources to sort through the massive troves of data they steal every day.

READ: Zero Day ? A special report on the threat in cyberspace

?The dark secret is there is no such thing as a secure unclassified network,? said James A. Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which has been hacked in the past. ?Law firms, think tanks, newspapers ? if there?s something of interest, you should assume you?ve been penetrated.?

The rising wave of cyber-espionage has produced diplomatic backlash and talk of action against the Chinese, who have steadfastly denied involvement in hacking campaigns. A strategy paper released by the Obama administration Wednesday outlined new efforts to fight the theft of trade secrets.

Cyberspying against what could be called the ?information industry? differs from hacks against traditional economic targets such as Lockheed Martin, Coca-Cola and Apple, whose computer systems contain valuable intellectual property that could assist Chinese industrial or military capabilities.

Instead, journalists, lawyers and human rights workers often have access to political actors whose communications could offer insight to Chinese intelligence services eager to understand how Washington works. Hackers often are searching for the unseen forces that might explain how the administration approaches an issue, experts say, with many Chinese officials presuming that reports by think tanks or news organizations are secretly the work of government officials ? much as they would be in Beijing.

?They?re trying to make connections between prominent people who work at think tanks, prominent donors that they?ve heard of and how the government makes decisions,? said Dan Blumenthal, director of Asian studies at the American Enterprise Institute, which also has been hacked. ?It?s a sophisticated intelligence-gathering effort at trying to make human-network linkages of people in power, whether they be in?Congress or the executive branch.?

China?s aggressive effort

Russia and some other nations also are said to engage in cyber-
espionage against private companies and institutions, but security experts and U.S. officials say China?s effort is the most aggressive and comprehensive. The infor?mation-technology staffs of private groups have scrambled to neutralize the intrusions, often hiring outside specialists to expel hackers and installing monitoring systems to keep them out.

Yet such efforts do not always succeed, security experts say. Hackers often build secret ?back door? access to computer systems or redouble their efforts to penetrate again once they?ve been purged.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/chinese-cyberspies-have-hacked-most-washington-institutions-experts-say/2013/02/20/ae4d5120-7615-11e2-95e4-6148e45d7adb_story.html?tid=socialss

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LifeProof Frē iPhone 5 Case

Though Apple ditched the delicate all-glass design of the iPhone 4/4S in favor of a sturdier aluminum back panel for the iPhone 5, it's still not the most durable smartphone. The easily scuffed and scratched body has many iPhone owners wrapping their handsets in all manner of protective cases. But for those looking for maximum protection, there's the LifeProof Fr? iPhone 5 Case ($79.99 direct), which offers dust, shock, and water protection without the bulk that comes with typical ruggedized cases.

Design, Features, and Setup
The Fr? looks and feels a lot like the Lifeproof iPhone 4/4S Case, which is a good thing. The Fr? is 0.48 inches thick and weighs just over an ounce. It's going to feel noticeably thicker than the 0.3-inch iPhone 5, but the phone is already impossibly thin and 0.48 inches is still pretty reasonable. It looks and feels like a standard, non-rugged case, which is definitely a plus. The case is available in black, white, cyan, brown, and magenta. There are two interlocking plastic pieces, with a clear plastic screen cover built into the front. I'm not a fan of anything that gets between your finger and the glass, but for the sake of protection and waterproofing, the plastic cover is tolerable. It is prone to air bubbles and will flex to the touch, but this doesn't affect usability. The plastic cover does, however, make the screen appear dimmer and more reflective than normal. There's also a clear plastic window on the back of the case that exposes the Apple Logo.

Otherwise, you get raised buttons that allow you to use all the iPhone controls, while a sealable door and plug cover the Lightning port and headphone jack along the bottom edge. The headphone jack is fairly narrow, but LifeProof includes an adapter that extends the jack beyond the case. Rounding out the package is a microfiber cloth and a replacement headphone jack plug.

Initial setup for the Fr? is a bit more intense than with your run-of-the-mill case. It's one of the few fully waterproof cases, you can dunk it under water up to 6.6 feet for up to 30 minutes, but it must be water-tested before you begin using it. This is easy enough; simply assemble the case without a phone inside and fully submerge the case in water. (Detailed instructions on setup and testing can be found on LifeProof's website.) The case is also dustproof, snowproof, and shock proof, meaning it can withstand drops from up to 6.6 feet. I dropped it from about 4-feet high in the PCMag Labs and the iPhone 5 was left unharmed.

Performance and Conclusions
My initial water test went perfectly, and not a single drop penetrated the Fr?'s seal. Lifeproof claims its speaker ports enhance sound, but in my tests the case muffled audio a bit, especially on speakerphone calls. Transmissions through the microphone were also a bit muted. The lens opening on the back is covered in anti-reflective glass, which did not distort photos or wash out the phone's built-in flash. Touch gestures do not register when the phone is fully submerged, but you can start the camera app up before going under and use the hardware Volume Up button to snap photos or start video recordings.

LifeProof has once again managed to create a rugged iPhone case without the bulk typically associated with such robust protection. The Fr? is thinner and lighter than cases from Otterbox and other rugged competitors, and none offer full waterproof protection either. The plastic screen cover and muffled audio are a bit of bummer, but it's forgivable considering the level of protection you're getting. The LifeProof Fr? is a good choice for the adventure crowd and is compact enough to be used as an everyday case for clumsier iPhone owners.?

More Cases & Carrying Gear Reviews:
??? LifeProof Fr? iPhone 5 Case
??? Mophie Juice Pack Helium
??? Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard mini
??? Belkin Portable Keyboard Case for iPad mini
??? Unu Ecopak Detachable iPhone 5 Battery Case
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/suSsRSYeG-w/0,2817,2415503,00.asp

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LSU Football: Power Ranking the Tigers' Running Backs

Alfred Blue is the smooth one.

Before suffering a season-ending injury, Blue was on pace for a 1,000-yard rushing season. Through three games, one in which he was injured, Blue rushed for 270 yards and two touchdowns.

Finally healthy again, Blue sets out to finish what he started this season. Oh, and he's more than capable of reaching that 1,000-yard mark.

Blue, who seems to run through tacklers with ease, possesses that coveted breakaway speed. It allows him to hit another gear once he passes the second level, which creates long runs.

Blue's long runs in his LSU career makes him LSU's home-run hitter in the backfield, but when it comes to talent alone, he's second behind LSU's breakout star from a year ago.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1537003-lsu-football-power-ranking-the-tigers-running-backs

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This Is America's Last Steam-Powered Sawmill

During the second half of the 19th century, the U.S. lumber industry?previously concentrated in the South and Northeast?carved into the timberlands of the Pacific Northwest. By 1880, some 77 steam-powered sawmills were turning out lumber in Oregon and Washington alone.

Today, Monroe, Ore., is home to the nation's last commercial steam-powered mill, the Hull-Oakes Lumber Co. Its annual output of 18 million board-feet is a fraction of that produced by most modern electrified facilities. But Hull-Oakes specializes, cutting beams more than 80 feet long and up to 3 feet thick, for bridge construction, as the spars or masts of tall ships, and more. A photo on the mill's website shows a 1940s 18-wheeler hauling a single log, a "110-foot timber for the world's longest love seat," the caption says.

Ralph Hull built Hull-Oakes in 1938 on the site of another mill that had burned down. Hull salvaged the boilers and planer but had everything else hauled in for the new facility, including the 1906 Ames Regal steam engine. The 16,000-pound brute remains the heart of the mill, churning at 150 rpm. Its reliability and staying power mirror that of Hull-Oakes's 60 employees.

Don Wagner, who signed on as a forester 50 years ago, is part of a great tradition. "Look at our mill supervisor," he says. "This is the only place he ever worked, and the only place his dad ever worked. Our lumber grader is third-generation: His dad worked here nearly 50 years, and his grandfather was a timber-faller."

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/extreme-machines/this-is-americas-last-steam-powered-sawmill?src=rss

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Russia offers to broker Syria talks

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Russia and the Arab League proposed Wednesday to broker talks between the Syrian opposition and President Bashar Assad's regime to try to resolve the country's civil war, while a government airstrike on a rebellious Damascus suburb killed at least 20 people.

The 23-month-old conflict in Syria, which has killed more than 70,000 people and laid waste to the country's cities, has repeatedly defied international efforts to bring the parties together to end the bloodshed. Wednesday's offer from Moscow, one of Assad's closest allies, suggested the regime could be warming to the idea of a settlement as it struggles to hold territory and claw back ground it has lost.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin and the Arab League are attempting to establish direct contact between the Syrian regime and the opposition. Sitting down at the negotiating table is the only way to end the conflict without irreparably damaging Syria, he said.

"Neither side can allow itself to rely on a military solution to the conflict, because it's a road to nowhere, a road to mutual destruction of the people," Lavrov said in Moscow, where he hosted league officials and several Arab foreign ministers.

Both Lavrov and Arab League General Secretary Nabil Elaraby said their main priority was creating a transitional government in Syria to navigate a way out of the conflict.

No conditions for the Syrian negotiations have been set. Lavrov said both sides' readiness to begin talks was "the most important thing."

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem will lead a delegation to Moscow on Monday, and Russia is expecting a visit in March from the opposition Syrian National Coalition leader, Mouaz al-Khatib.

Al-Khatib has said he is open to talks with the regime that could pave the way for Assad's departure, but that the Syrian leader must first release tens of thousands of detainees. The government has refused.

Russia's proposal Wednesday got a cool reception from the opposition.

"We cannot agree to that," said Abdelbaset Sieda, a senior member of the Syrian National Coalition. "Assad and his group must go first. After that we can discuss with others in the regime who didn't share in the killing of our people."

Still, Wednesday's proposal was notable because it emanated from Russia ? Assad's chief advocate on the international stage. It is unlikely that Moscow would publicly propose to host talks without having first secured Damascus' word that it would indeed sit down with the opposition.

The timing also might mean the regime is showing a willingness to negotiate.

Syria's rebels have notched a series of tactical victories in recent weeks, capturing the nation's largest hydroelectric dam and overtaking airbases in the northeast. They also have cut off a key highway in Damascus and are making forays to within a mile of the heart of the heavily guarded capital.

The air raid Wednesday hit the Damascus suburb of Hamouriyeh, killing at least 20 people, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. More people were believed to be buried under the debris.

Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, put the death toll higher, saying up to 35 were killed and dozens more were wounded.

Amateur videos posted online showed several vehicles on fire as thick black smoke billowed from a street. The videos show the bodies of two people, who were burned, in a pickup truck and the charred corpse of another person lying on the ground.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other reporting on the events by The Associated Press.

Earlier Wednesday, two mortars crashed into a sports complex in the normally calm neighborhood of Baramkeh in central Damascus, killing one soccer player and wounding three more.

The mortar attack was the second in as many days in Damascus. On Tuesday, two mortars exploded near one of Assad's palaces, but no one was hurt.

The state news agency said the mortars that hit a complex housing Tishrin Stadium and a hotel killed Youssef Suleiman from al-Wathbah club based in Homs. He was wounded inside the hotel as players were getting ready for practice and died later at a hospital.

Suleiman, a striker, had played internationally on one of Syria's national youth teams. His teammates said he was the father of a 6-month-old baby.

State TV broadcast video of what it said was the hotel. The explosion blew out the windows on the first floor of the building, and shattered glass covered three beds in one of the rooms in which a bloodied duffle bag lay on the floor.

"We were collecting our things about to head to the stadium when we heard the first explosion and the windows were blown off," said Ali Ghosn, a 20-year-old al-Wathbah player.

"Youssef was hit in the neck. We ran out to the corridor when the second explosion struck and I saw Youssef fall down bleeding from his neck," he told the AP in Damascus as some of his colleagues wept.

The attack occurred a few hours before the team was to play the Hama-based al-Mawaair club in Syria's domestic league, which has been delayed several times because of the violence. The game was postponed after the mortar strike.

The nine-team league got under way just last week with all matches scheduled to be played in the heavily guarded capital in front of empty stands.

Assad has tried to maintain an image as the head of a functioning state even as rebels edge closer to his seat of power and targeted attacks suggest rebels may be trying to shatter the sense of normalcy he has tried to portray in the capital.

Also Wednesday, Syrian rebel army chief Gen. Salim Idriss told Al-Arabiya TV that if the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah does not end its involvement in Syrian towns near the border, "the Free Syrian Army will pound Hezbollah's positions with all the weapons it has."

Syrian activists have said that Hezbollah fighters clashed with rebels in Sunni and Shiite villages just inside Syria over the weekend.

A local Lebanese official in Hermel, near the border, said Hezbollah fighters had entered Syria to protect the Shiite villages. Two of them were killed, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss Hezbollah matters.

___

Lucas reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-offers-broker-syria-talks-191538855.html

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