The Flying Fork: Apple-blackberry crisp, for your consideration

My friends are the owners (although proprietors almost seems more apropos, considering the bar in their basement and the homebrew on their taps) of a lovely piece of property south of town. A piece of property, known as the X Bar Ranch, big enough to host a host of folks every fourth (or third, considering the day of the week) of July. I always look forward to this event, much like I look forward to, say, Christmas, or the Victor Continental Show.

It's kind of a big deal.

Sherry is a hostess extraordinare, and her husband makes the best homebrew in five counties. I mean, they made their own orange soda for this party, people. HOMEBREW ORANGE SODA. On tap. Seriously.

Their friends and acquaintances all gather to blow things up, American-style, and they all bring food, also American-style.

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I happened to have some fruit laying around and needed a dish to cram onto the table with the hundred other dishes I would sample that evening, so I decided to bring a dessert this year. This was big for me, since dessert is the opposite of my strong suit. Still, I forged ahead.

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Baking is usually not my thing, because it requires precise measurements and chemistry to get batters and doughs to behave like they are supposed to. I didn't excel in chemistry in high school or college, so I have long avoided the pastry arts. I think it's good to know one's strengths as well as one's limitations.

So I didn't feel like tackling pie crust on Saturday morning. I didn't want to try to concoct a muffin or cake. That all seemed like more work, and more potential for failure than I was up for on my fourth of July weekend. I decided to make a crisp, harkening back to the fruit desserts of my youth. This, I figured, I could even do without a recipe.

So I peeled the apples. It turned out that I peeled too many, so I used three for the dessert and used the other three to make applesauce for the baby. (Sidenote: there is no comparison, people, between store-bought applesauce and homemade. It's easy to do and so worth the effort.)

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I happen to have a large supply of aluminum containers in my garage, and I love to take things to parties in them because I always forget to bring my bowl or Tupperware home with me, and as a hostess I know I always hate trying to track down the owners of the various and sundry receptacles left on my table.

So I threw the apples and the berries into my lovely aluminum container and mixed them around with half a cup of brown sugar, a tablespoon of cinnamon, and a tablespoon of cornstarch. (Apples get really juicy when mixed with sugar, so the cornstarch was my attempt to keep my dessert from becoming so runny it required a bowl to be eaten.)

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That was easy enough. Then I set to making the topping.

I grated the rind of a lemon (and then I squeezed the lemon juice over the fruit, because I can't waste a lemon) and I combined it with a stick of butter and a little salt in the food processor

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I added a teaspoon of vanilla to a cup and a half of oatmeal, and added that to the bowl as well.

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Then I added 3/4 of a cup of white sugar and a half a cup of brown sugar, and pulsed until there were no more big hunks of butter in the mixture. It got to a sort of crumbly/solid consistency, which looked good to me.

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With my fingers, I broke the topping into crumbles and covered the fruit. I had a lot of topping, but I used it all, considering that I knew the fruit, when cooked, would get pretty juicy and runny. I thought the extra topping would help soak it up.

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I baked this at 350 for 45 minutes. I kept checking as I went, but it took that long for the apples to get good and soft. The result was delish.

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It rained on the third of July, the night of our X Bar Ranch party, but it didn't matter. No stinking rain could stop the siren song of fire and loud noises. No one cared about a few drops while they ate piles of sweet corn and guzzled home brew. Rainouts are for wimps.

Apple-Blackberry Crisp for the Non-Baker

3 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
2 C blackberries
1 T cornstarch
1 T cinnamon
1/2 C brown sugar
juice of one lemon

For the topping:

1 1/2 C oatmeal
1 stick of butter
3/4 C white sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
dash salt
grated rind of one lemon

Step 1) Combine the filling ingredients in a baking dish (or aluminum throw-away pan).

Step 2) Combine the topping ingredients in a food processor and pulse until there are no large lumps of butter left.

Step 3) Cover the fruit mixture with the topping, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until the fruit is soft and the top looks like there is some liquid bubbling through.

Seriously, could this be easier? It's a fresh-tasting dessert and in my mind I tell myself it's also healthier than a dough-y, frosting-y dessert. Right? RIGHT?

Source: http://www.lawrence.com/weblogs/the-flying-fork/2010/jul/06/apple-blackberry-crisp-for-your-consideration/

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John Kerry confirmed as secretary of state (Washington Post)

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RIM changes name, unveils BlackBerry 10 in comeback bid

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd unveiled on Wednesday the long-delayed line of smartphones it hopes will put the company on the comeback trail in a market it once dominated, but said sales of the BlackBerry 10 in the United States will not start until March.

Signaling his hopes for a fresh start for the company that pioneered on-your-hip email, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins also said RIM was abandoning the name it has used since its inception in 1985 to take on the name of its signature product.

"From this point forward, RIM becomes BlackBerry." Heins said at the New York launch. "It is one brand; it is one promise."

RIM launched its first BlackBerry back in 1999 as a way for busy executives to stay in touch with their clients and their offices, and the Canadian company quickly cornered the market for secure corporate and government email.

But its star faded as competition rose. The BlackBerry is now a far-behind also-ran in the race for market share, with a 3.4 percent global showing in the fourth quarter, down from 20 percent three years before. Its North American market share is even worse: a mere 2 percent in the fourth quarter.

RIM said the first of the new BlackBerrys will be available on Thursday in Britain, with other countries following as carriers complete their testing.

In the U.S. market, which sets trends that other countries follow, the BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen device will go on sale in March. U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless said the phone would cost $199 for a two-year contract, while Canada's Rogers Communications is quoting C$149 ($150) for certain three-year plans.

SHARES SLUMP

RIM shares initially rallied on Wednesday, but soon fell as much as 8 percent below Tuesday's close. The stock is down 90 percent from its 2008 peak as the BlackBerry has lost ground to rival devices. But in the last four months its volatile shares have more than doubled as buzz grew about the new devices.

"It was such a well-advertised launch date that people moved the stock up and then they took profits ahead of when it was going to be revealed," said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at Macdougall, Macdougall and Mactier in Toronto.

"For RIM, it's a normal stock market day. It would have been an abnormal stock market day if it had got cut in half or something."

The legal name change to BlackBerry from Research In Motion takes affect after shareholders approve the decision, but the company already plans to do business under the BlackBerry name.

"We want our employees to say, 'I work for BlackBerry.' Our customers to say, 'I own a BlackBerry.' Our shareholders to say, 'I own BlackBerry stock,'" said chief marketing officer Frank Boulben. "We want to become what I'd call a branded house versus a house of brands."

The new BlackBerry 10 phones will compete with Apple's iPhone and devices using Google's Android technology, both of which have soared above the BlackBerry in a competitive market.

The BlackBerry 10 devices boast fast browsers, new features, smart cameras and, unlike previous BlackBerry models, enter the market primed with a large application library, including services such as Skype and the popular game Angry Birds.

The new devices are sleek black numbers, one with the small "qwerty" keyboard that RIM made into its trademark, and one a pure touchscreen device that looks much like those its competitors already produce.

"QWERTY" DEVICE IN APRIL

The Q10 "qwerty" device will launch later than the Z10 touchscreen. Heins said it would hit global markets in April.

RIM picked a range of venues for its global launch parties, including Dubai's $650-a-night Armani Hotel, which occupies six floors of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower.

The New York event took place in a sprawling basketball facility on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, just north of the Manhattan Bridge. The Blackberry has been "Re-designed. Re-engineered. Re-invented," RIM said.

RIM, which is splurging on a Superbowl ad to promote its new phones, also introduced Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Alicia Keys as its global creative director.

"I was in a long-term relationship with BlackBerry, and then I started to notice some new, kind of hotter, attractive, sexier phones at the gym, and I kind of broke up with you for something that had a little more bling," Keys said at the New York launch.

"But I always missed the way you organized my life, and the way you were there for me at my job, and so I started to have two phones - I was kind of playing the field. But then ... you added a lot more features ... and now, we're exclusively dating again, and I'm very happy."

(Writing by Janet Guttsman; Editing by Frank McGurty, Lisa Von Ahn and Peter Galloway)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rim-starts-glitzy-blackberry-10-launch-parties-151850139--finance.html

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Home Improvement Tips That Can Work For Everybody

Fitted furniture is a terrible investment, unless you are entirely certain that you won?t be selling the home at any time in the future. While it is stylish and adds storage space, it costs a lot and you can?t take it along if you move.

TIP! Putting in another bathroom will add a great deal of value to your home. It is easy to understand that an additional bathroom is handy, particularly when each bathroom is on a different floor of the home.

If you enjoy doing things on your own, you may want to explore the world of home improvement. The following article shares tips for any do-it-yourselfer when it comes to home improvement.

In terms of renovating your roof, use white tiles or other similarly-hued materials. Light colors tend to reflect the rays of the sun while darker colors will absorb the heat and cause higher energy usage. This can save you quite a bit on your power bill.

If you live near woods or fields, you might want to protect your property with a good fence. The fences will prevent wild animals from entering your property.

When planting trees and shrubs, do not plant them too close to your house. Leaks and cracks can be caused if roots dig through the foundation of your home. If they are too close, move them away. Most trees can be transplanted to somewhere else in the yard without much effort.

A signed contract for your home improvement project should ideally include both your signature and that of the contractor. If you have the time and the funds available, have the contract legally reviewed. The contract should include warranty information, work to be completed, total costs and when the work will be finished.

TIP! Use wallpaper if you don?t like the way paneling looks. Wallpapering your home is a very simple and inexpensive way to add a new look to any room.

Add a ceiling fan to your home. A ceiling fan can be installed quickly and inexpensively. Keep your room cool with out air-conditioning and cool it more efficiently when the air-conditioning is on with a ceiling fan and save yourself some money.

Switch to a floor lamp to free up space on your nightstand or end table. The floor lamps can be moved to different areas of the room because they are free standing. Find a lamp that has a design that fits your personality.

TIP! You can make your home more appealing by painting your garage door. The harsh heat of summer and the icy cold of winter both take a toll on the look of any garage door.

A new mailbox can help add instant curb appeal to your home. You will notice that your mailbox makes your house look more up-to-date, which gives it curb appeal. Follow all city regulations when installing the new mailbox. You could finish this project in a few hours at most.

Invest in a snake for your drains. It will not be necessary for you to purchase drain cleaners so frequently in the future. Drain snakes aren?t for people who are inexperienced, so you might need a plumber to show you how it is used for the first time. Make sure the snake is the correct size, or you may damage your pipes when you use it.

TIP! Use aluminum foil to cover electrical outlets prior to painting. It is much easier to use foil, rather than tape, and it protects your covers from the mess.

Taping the trim is essential during painting projects. Paint can drip and run, no matter how carefully you paint. Tape the trim to keep the paint off. Once the paint reaches the trim, you?ll have to paint over it.

Balance the blades on your ceiling fan. Strive to improve the amount of noise in your home. A ceiling fan can use balance help when it is noisy and wobbling. Tightening all the screws on the fan?s moving parts, such as those connecting the blades with the arms and the arms to the motor housing, can curtail annoying noises and correct wobbles. Give your fan blades a thorough cleaning while you adjust the fan?s balance.

TIP! Don?t make improvements that are impractical. For instance, having an uncovered deck in Arizona or a sun room that has no ventilation in Michigan would be nonsensical renovations that will have potential buyers questioning your house upkeep decisions.

When improving your house, take the neighborhood?s character into consideration. If your home is the only Victorian in an neighborhood of saltbox cottages, it will look out of place. A remodel that will blend to the houses in the neighborhood will have a better chance to sell when it is time to move on.

It is amazing what a difference crown molding can make on your walls! Crown molding introduces a little visual interest to an otherwise plain wall and can significantly improve the appearance of a whole room. Not only is crown molding affordable, but it?s also easy to put in.

TIP! Employ colors that are analogus in places you rest. Analogous means the colors are harmonious on the color wheel, one next to the other, like violet to blue and red to orange.

Any payment schedule that you set up with a home improvement contractor should be based on work completion rather than certain time periods. This gives you the power to remove the contractor from the project if the work is not up to par to what you want without them requesting money due to incomplete projects.

Always be safe. For example, hardhats protect you in the event of an accident. This can ensure your safety and health while you work.

TIP! When you imagine your completed outdoor home improvement project, ask yourself if the changes you?re making will look out of place in the neighborhood. If it will stand out from the rest, are you willing to irritate your neighbors by following through? Aesthetically pleasing changes are more desirable than abnormal ones.

A room can receive a great face-lift simply from a coat of paint. Take a look at the different paint chips at your local home improvement store. There are thousands of beautiful, exciting and elegant colors to choose from. If you do not enjoy your new paint, redo it!

Implement a safety strategy by discussing escape routes with your family. If you have a fire or earthquake, your natural inclination is going to be to panic. Determining a safe path to exit the home can help ensure that everyone remains safe. These simple improvements can increase your homes value, as well as help protect your family.

TIP! Motion detectors should be installed near the entrance to your home. This lowers your electricity costs by automatically switching off the outdoor lights when no one needs them.

One fantastic way to improve the function and value of your house is to install a filter system for your tap water. This is actually a simple improvement you can in a few hours. Units can be placed under the sink to filter the water.

To maintain hot water while traveling through pipes during the winter, you should insulate all plumbing. To insulate your plumbing, pick up some weatherizing tape and use it on your pipes. The tape plugs into your home?s electrical supply and keep the pipes above the freezing point.

TIP! Try to prepare and plan for your home improvement project. If you are painting rooms in your home, you should always cover the furniture before you begin painting.

If your living room is carpeted, do not leave the drapes open at all times. Your carpets can become bleached by being exposed to too much sunlight, and your hardwood floors can fade. Using furniture to block the sun?s damaging rays or only opening the drapes when the sun?s light is less intense can help to preserve your carpet.

You can use old shoe boxes to add additional storage space. Use any wallpaper you have left, or any fabric, to cover the boxes with. This can be a great way to add some drama to your rooms, as well as a nice storage solution.

TIP! Confirm that a contractor is insured by calling their insurance company before using their services. It?s not uncommon for some contracting companies to flash outdated insurance paperwork at customers in the hopes that customers won?t notice the company is no longer insured.

A fence installed around your back yard, or even a section of your yard can serve several purposes. This will prevent your loved ones from getting into contact with stray or wild animals. It can also help contain your own dog. There are many fencing designs that can help improve your home.

You can increase your home?s value by putting in a reliable water filtration system. That is a simple project which can be completed in just a few hours. One especially good choice is a system that can be positioned under your sink in the kitchen to filter all your water.

Your real estate agent can give you great advice as to what home improvement projects to take on, if you want to add value to your home. They know what people are looking for and what helps sell a house.

Be sure to add personal touches, but don?t go so far as to make your place ?that? house. For example, it is undesirable to have odd additions such as a widow?s walk on your home unless this is typical of your neighborhood. Having the home look too unusual will make it much more difficult to sell.

If you plan on doing more than one project, think carefully about their order. Start with your cabinets if you?re redoing your floor and cabinets. Starting with the cabinets will ensure that you?re not damaging an already replaced floor with falling debris. Make a detailed plan prior to beginning any improvement, and you?ll save yourself some headaches.

Are you tired of your bedroom furniture? Try sanding and refinishing your bedroom set. You can save a lot of money by refinishing the furniture you already have. The new stain can be just about any color you want.

Taking the tips and advice you have learned here, you will be able to work more efficiently at creating the home you?ve always dreamed of. Before long, you will be completing projects faster than ever before and attempting more difficult tasks that are sure to make your home more functional, beautiful, and more organized.

Posts related to Home Improvement Tips That Can Work For Everybody

Source: http://www.home-improvement-plans.com/home-improvement-tips-that-can-work-for-everybody/

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Senate Approves Bill on Sandy Aid (WSJ)

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New look at cell membrane reveals surprising organization

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Sight would dramatically alter a blind man's understanding of an elephant, according to the old story. Now, a look directly at a cell surface is changing our understanding of cell membrane organization.

Using a completely new approach to imaging cell membranes, a study by researchers from the University of Illinois, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Institutes of Health revealed some surprising relationships among molecules within cell membranes.

Led by Mary Kraft, a U. of I. professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, the team published its findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Cells are enveloped in semi-permeable membranes that act as a barrier between the inside and outside of the cell. The membrane is mainly composed of a class of molecules called lipids, studded with proteins that help regulate how the cell responds to its environment.

"Lipids have multiple functions serving as both membrane structure and signaling molecules, so they regulate other functions inside the cell," Kraft said. "Therefore, understanding how they're organized is important. You need to know where they are to figure out how they're doing these regulatory functions."

One widely held belief among cell biologists is that lipids in the membrane assemble into patches, called domains, that differ in composition. However, research into how lipids are organized in the membrane, and how that organization affects cell function, has been hampered by the lack of direct observation. Although the cell membrane is heavily studied, the imaging techniques used infer the locations of certain molecules based on assumed associations with other molecules.

In the new study, Kraft's team used an advanced, molecule-specific imaging method that allowed the researchers to look at the membrane itself and map a particular type of lipid on mouse cell membranes. The researchers fed lipids labeled with rare stable isotopes to the cells and then imaged the distribution of the isotopes with high-resolution imaging mass spectrometry.

Called sphingolipids (SFING-go-lih-pids), these molecules are thought to associate with cholesterol to form small domains about 200 nanometers across. The direct imaging method revealed that sphingolipids do indeed form domains, but not in the way the researchers expected.

The domains were much bigger than suggested by prior experiments. The 200-nanometer domains clustered together to form much larger, micrometer-sized patches of sphingolipids in the membrane.

"We were amazed when we saw the first images of the patches of sphingolipids across the cell surface," said Peter Weber, who directed the team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "We weren't sure if our imaging mass spectrometry method would be sensitive enough to detect the labeled lipids, let alone what we would see."

Furthermore, when the researchers looked at cells that were low on cholesterol ? thought to play a key role in lipid aggregation ? they were surprised to find that the lipids still formed domains. On the other hand, disruption to the cell's structural scaffold seemed to dissolve the lipid clusters.

"We found that the presence of domains was somewhat affected by cholesterol but was more affected by the cytoskeleton ? the protein network underneath the membrane," Kraft said. "The central issue is that the data are suggesting that the mechanism that's responsible for these domains is much more complicated than initially expected."

In addition, the new study found that sphingolipids domains were incompletely associated with a marker protein that researchers have long assumed dwelled where sphingolipids congregated. This means that data collected with imaging techniques that target this protein are not as accurate in representing sphingolipid distribution as previously thought.

"Our data are showing that if you want to know where sphingolipids are, look at the lipid, don't infer where it is based on other molecules, and now there's a way to directly image them," said Kraft, who also is affiliated with the department of chemistry at the U. of I.

Next, the researchers plan to use the direct-imaging method in conjunction with other more conventional methods, such as fluorescence, to further determine the organization of different kinds of molecules in the membrane, their interactions and how they affect the cell's function. They plan to begin by targeting cholesterol.

"Cholesterol abundance is important," Kraft said. "You change that, you tremendously change cell function. How is it organized? Is it also in domains? That's related to the question, what's the mechanism responsible for these structures and what are they doing?"

###

The paper, "Direct chemical evidence for sphingolipid domains in the plasma membranes of fibroblasts," is available from PNAS.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: http://www.uiuc.edu

Thanks to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126511/New_look_at_cell_membrane_reveals_surprising_organization

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Online social networking at work can improve morale and reduce employee turnover

Jan. 29, 2013 ? By allowing employees to participate in a work-sponsored internal social networking site, a company can improve morale and reduce turnover, according to a Baylor University case study published in the European Journal of Information Systems.

The study, which looked at a financial institution's efforts to acclimate new employees into the organization, also found that participation led to a greater sense of well-being and organizational commitment and better employee engagement.

"For millennials, mixing their work life and their social life via an online social networking created positive emotions for the employees who use the system," said Hope Koch, Ph.D., Baylor University associate professor of information systems in the Hankamer School of Business and study co-author. "These emotions led to more social networking and ultimately helped the employees build personal resources like social capital and organizational learning."

SNSs can have a positive impact on IT employees and their workplace, especially when the new employees are relocating to unfamiliar areas and need to build a network, assume highly technical jobs and become integrated into a large organization where it may be difficult to know where to go for help, according to Koch.

The study centered on a financial institution's efforts to reduce IT employee turnover by starting a social and work-related online networking site. Under the supervision of executives, the IT new hires developed and managed the site's content. Since most new hires had moved hundreds of miles to start their new jobs with the institution, they initially used the social pages as an introduction to the community. After a year or so with the organization, the more senior new hires began using the system to acclimate and mentor incoming new hires.

All study respondents worked in the institution's IT department and included new hires, middle managers and executives. With less than three years of experience, most new hires and interns were men between 21 and 27 years old. The middle managers and executives were baby boomers or members of generation X.

The internal social networking site helped the new hires build social capital in several ways, according to Koch.

"It gave them access to people who could provide useful information and new perspectives and allowed them to meet more senior new hires and executives. These relationships set the new hires at ease during work meetings, helped them understand where to go for help and increased their commitment to the financial institution's mission," she said.

Ironically, middle managers, even though they wanted freedom from mentoring new hires, developed a negative attitude toward online social networking when they realized that the new hires had managed to accrue social capital and social experiences with senior executives that they had not had access to in their many years of work.

The SNS system also helped the new hires maintain relationships with one another, thus facilitating a network of acquaintances that can do small favors and help build emotionally close friendships. Finally, by allowing the new hires to access information on the SNS, meet other new hires and develop and maintain relationships with their peer group, the financial institution was able to shift some of the burden of acclimating the new hires away from middle managers and human resources.

Despite the good outcome of this institution's experience, the study data suggest that organizations should move cautiously when implementing SNSs, Koch said. "While the new hires enjoyed using the system, the middle managers experienced frustration, isolation and envy, and the senior executives were somewhat circumspect.

"Before beginning an internal social networking initiative, organizations should consider analyzing how the system may impact both its users and non-users, paying particular attention to potential isolation of non-users and the negative stigma associated with SNS in the workplace," Koch said.

Co-authors of the study were Dorothy Leidner, Ph.D., Ferguson Professor of Information Systems at Baylor; and Ester Gonzalez from Washington State University.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Baylor University, via Newswise.

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Journal Reference:

1. Hope Koch, Ester Gonzalez, Dorothy Leidner. Bridging the work/social divide: the emotional response to organizational social networking sites. European Journal of Information Systems, 2012; 21 (6): 699 DOI: 10.1057/ejis.2012.18

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/ajPsITaSz-0/130129171339.htm

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Following Steve Jobs' Insane Fruit Diet Put Ashton Kutcher in the Hospital

Ashton Kutcher, method actor, truly goes the distance to capture the essence of a character. In the case of portraying Steve Jobs for the upcoming indie flick jOBS, Kutcher put himself on a diet of strictly fruits, nuts, and seeds, mimicking Jobs 'fruitarian' lifestyle. More »

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Science in Ten-Hundred Words: The ?Up-Goer 5? Challenge

A central question of communicating science to a wider audience often boils down to this: can you take a complex scientific topic and explain it in a way that someone unfamiliar with the field can understand? The commonly-cited techniques for meeting this challenge, such as cutting out jargon and using relatable analogies, sound easy in principle but are often quite tough in practice.

Perhaps that is why the Up-Goer Five text editor, created by geneticist Theo Sanderson, has struck such a cord with many scientists, including me and my co-blogger Anne Jefferson. Inspired by a brilliant xckd comic that took the elimination of jargon to an almost absurd degree by attempting to describe the blueprints of the Saturn V moon rocket using only a list of the most thousand commonly used English words (hence, Up Goer Five ? ?the only flying space car that has taken anyone to another world?), the text editor compares anything that you type into it against that same list and gently chides you when you use a word that isn?t on it.

Anne and I were not the first scientists to discover the Up-Goer Five editor, but when we blogged about our attempts to describe urban hydrology (without ?stream? or ?river?), and paleomagnetism (without ?magnet?), and challenged other scientists to try their hand at describing what they do in Up-Goer Five-speak, we were inundated with responses ? so many that to record them all for posterity, and to allow future entries to be more easily collected, we set up a dedicated Tumblr blog called ?Ten Hundred Words of Science? to showcase them all.

In just over a week, it has accumulated almost three hundred entries, with subjects ranging from string theory (?the different kinds of bits we see come from just one kind of wrapped long thing moving in different ways?) to cognitive science (?I study what it is about human minds that allows us to speak to each other?), via volcanology (?Tiny pieces of fire rock from inside the world can fly through the air?), plate tectonics (?Even though the ground under your feet feels very still, it is actually moving really, really slowly?), nanotechnology (?If you take a big thing and make it small, it does something different than what you?d expect?) and everything else in between.

Some might not see this as anything more than a gimmick, and argue that the constraints you are forced to work under are too severe; that by replacing jargon with a dense thicket of ?simple? words, you are just replacing one sort of linguistic complexity with another. That certainly can happen, but only if you miss the point of the exercise.

What the vast majority of the submissions we?ve read in the past week clearly show is that if you seek to move beyond the straight replacement of forbidden words and seek to recast the concept you?re trying to explain, then something quite profound can result. Here for example, is Darwin?s theory of evolution by natural selection, distilled down to its essence by Richard Carter:

all the animals and green things we see in the world?have all been made by the same, fixed, easy steps acting all around us. These easy steps, taken in the largest sense, being growing and having babies; being like your parents (but not exactly like them); and being able to avoid dying for as long as possible.

If the unifying theorem of all biology can be so vividly described despite the limitations being imposed by the Up-Goer 5 list, then I think we can find it within all of us to do the same with our own research. I certainly feel that my own attempt to recast the magnetic signals I study as memories of past locations stored within the rocks, that they can give us if we ask them in the right way, did give me some insight into explaining what I do. As Anne remarked:

In many ways, I think telling people that you study little green things that lived more than ?10 hundred times 10 hundred years ago? gives more of a sense of the enormity of geologic time in a palpable way than saying that you study organisms that lived more than a million years ago?

?I think this is a great vehicle for getting us to be thoughtful about the way we explain our work to each other and to non-scientists. It definitely takes more thought to distill a complex topic down to a jargon-free explanation of the core principles and why they are exciting. And sometimes it takes more words. But, in the end, if it helps people to understand what science is all about, then that effort and those carefully chosen words are totally worthwhile.

As such, we hope that people continue to take the challenge, and submit them to Ten Hundred Words of Science. Because you?re not just explaining something to other people ? you?re also explaining it to yourself.

?And if you want a slightly less stringent vocabulary to work with, then Theo Sanderson has now come up with Up-Goer Six, an editor that colour codes your words based on their frequency of usage, rather than rejecting them outright.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a42b42f1853fd236762560d9bb07778b

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Program in Warren County Supports Families With Special Needs

If you have a child with special needs or you know someone who does, you know the challenges that come with it. There is a program in Warren County that aims at helping parents and their children. It's the Special Education Advisory Committee. It's made up of teachers, administrators, and parents of children with special needs.

Leaders of the group said it's a great place for parents to get support and learn different tricks on how to teach their kids.

"What our goal is, is to level the playing field," said Director of Special Services at Warren County Public Schools, and one of the leaders of The Special Education Advisory Committee, Michael Hirsch. "They assist parents in navigating the process of special education. Particularly with students that are pre-school students or young students identified with a disability. They will help parents navigate the sometimes tricky maze of public school," he added.

They don't just help with the maze of school. They also help with the maze of life, and they try to make the journey as easy as possible. "We provide a combination of supports for students with disabilities so that they can access the curriculum, be successful students, successful citizens, and hopefully have a productive work life and college life after graduation," said Hirsch.

Tara Smith is a social worker at the school. She has to help decide if a student should be identified as a student with special needs, and it's not always easy to tell. Once they've figured all of that out, parents can work with teachers so they're child can get the most out of their day.

"A lot of kids just do really well with that consistency between settings. What's really working at home that we could do at school that's working for this parent? Then what can the parent do if teachers are having success? If it's academic issues or other issues," said Smith.

"Special Education serves about 13 percent of our total school population. We believe in Warren County, and all of the counties around here, that our students can learn and that includes students with disabilities," said Hirsch.

?
For more information or how to get involved, call Michael Hirsch, Ed.S., Director of Special Services, Warren County Public Schools, at 540-635-2725 ext. 33223.

Source: http://www.tv3winchester.com/home/headlines/Program-in-Warren-County-Supports-Families-With-Special-Needs-188746061.html

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Report: Pentagon to boost cybersecurity force fivefold

37 min.

Reuters

The Pentagon has approved a major expansion of its cybersecurity force to counter a growing threat of hacking and to conduct offensive operations against foreign foes, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing U.S. officials.

The officials, who were not named because the plan is not yet public, said the move would increase the cybersecurity force fivefold, from 900 personnel to a total of 4,900 troops and civilians.

It said senior Pentagon officials made the decision late last year amid a string of attacks, including one that wiped out more than 30,000 computers at a Saudi Arabian state oil company.

The increase in personnel was requested by the head of the Defense Department's Cyber Command.

A Pentagon spokesman had no immediate comment, but said he was aware of the report in the Washington Post.

The plan, the paper said, calls for creating three types of force under the Cyber Command.

"National mission forces," would protect computer systems that undergird electrical grids and other kinds of infrastructure. "Combat mission forces," would help commanders abroad execute attacks or other offensive operations, while "cyber protection forces," would focus on protecting the Defense Department's own systems.

(Reporting by Sarah Lynch; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/report-pentagon-boost-cybersecurity-force-fivefold-1C8135108

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Italian court: Missile caused 1980 plane crash

ROME (AP) ? Italy's top criminal court has ruled there is "abundantly" clear evidence that a stray missile caused an Italian passenger jet to crash into the Mediterranean Sea in 1980, killing all 81 people aboard.

Quoting from the Rome ruling on Monday, the Italian news agency LaPresse said the court upheld a Palermo appeals ruling that Italian radar systems didn't adequately protect the skies and Italy must compensate the victims' families.

What caused the Itavia DC-9 to crash during a flight from Bologna to Palermo has been one of Italy's enduring mysteries.

Some theorized a bomb exploded. Others contended the jet was caught in the crossfire of a military aerial dogfight, with a Libyan plane possibly the target. French, U.S. and NATO officials have denied military activity in the skies that night.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-28-Italy-1980%20Plane%20Crash/id-333115f3037f47f6b3ce2c4944f95f33

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Irrational Games answer PC Bioshock Infinite questions

A few days ago Irrational Games revealed the PC specs for Bioshock Infinite but there are more questions needing answered. Is it Windows 8 certified? Is there a Steam offline mode? Yes, there?s been plenty of queries so hopefully Irrational?s?Technical Director Chris Kline can fill in any gaps.

Q: Does the game support 120 hertz?

Chris Kline:?If you play the game with the frame rate locked then the game will render at the lesser of the maximum rate that your hardware is capable of, given the current scene and your chosen resolution and graphics options, and the refresh rate of your monitor. If you use the in-game UI option to disable frame rate locking, then the game will only be limited by your hardware and not the monitor refresh rate. For example, if you have a 120 Hz monitor, and your graphics card is capable of rendering the scene at 187 FPS, then the game will render at 120 FPS (if frame rate is locked) or 187 FPS (if unlocked).

Q: Does this title support Windows XP, Vista, 7, or 8?

Chris Kline: Windows XP is not supported. The PC version requires Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8.

Q: Is it Windows 8 Certified or just compatible?

Chris Kline:?Compatible.

Q: Today I learned the PC requirements for?BioShock Infinite?and that it will come with a bench tool.? If not free, how would I know if it will run?

Chris Kline:?If your PC meets the minimum requirements that we?ve already announced, you can be confident that the game will be playable on that specification with some combination of settings. How fast the game runs and how beautiful it will look depends on how powerful your PC configuration is. So if your PC is at the low end of the requirements you may need to run at a lower resolution and/or lower some of the configurable graphics quality settings.

Q: How would it run on a GTX460?

Chris Kline: I have not personally tested with this specific graphics card, and I don?t have access to your machine, so I?m not able to give you hard numbers. However, that card is above our minimum requirements for graphics cards. Therefore if your machine meets the other minimum requirements for?BioShock Infinite, I believe it will run well.

As a side note, if you?re interested in checking out how your graphics card compares to our minimum and recommended specifications, here is a helpful comparison chart where more powerful cards are at the top and less powerful ones at the bottom:?Tom?s Hardware ?Best Graphics Cards For The Money: January 2013 ? Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart

Q: What are your plans for widescreen in?BioShock Infinite?

Chris Kline:?We?ve done a lot of work for?BioShock Infinite?to support a wide range of display setups and resolutions, so I?m confident you?ll have a great full-screen play experience when it is released.

Q: Will it support?Steam?offline mode?

Chris Kline:?Steam?Offline Mode is supported.

Q: Will there be any DRM?

Chris Kline:?We are using the standard?Steam?DRM. You?ll need a?Steam?account and a broadband internet connection during initial installation for?Steamauthentication. But otherwise it works pretty much like any other Steam title: you can install under the same?Steam?account on multiple machines, activate Steam Offline Mode to play on an airplane, etc.

Q: Will I be able to run this on ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4500 series?

Chris Kline:?Unfortunately this card is below our minimum requirements, so I cannot state with confidence that it will perform well on your PC.

Q: If I purchase a boxed copy of?BioShock Infinite, does that mean I?ll still be able to play it using?Steam?or do I have to actually purchase it throughSteam?

Chris Kline:?You do not need to purchase the game via?Steam?to play it using?Steam.

Q: Will the game require the disc to be in the computer or is it able to directly download from Steam? I bought the collector?s edition but my computer doesn?t have an optical drive.? Am I allowed to input a code into Steam and download it without the disc?

Chris Kline:?Boxed copies will include a?Steam?key. So if you bought a boxed copy but your computer doesn?t have an optical drive, you can still activate and install the game via a?Steam?download.

Q: Is?BioShock Infinite?a Steamworks title?

Chris Kline:?Yes,?BioShock Infinite?is a Steamworks title, and activation requires a?Steam?account.

Q: The minimum PC specs confuse me.? It says that the minimum video memory is 512, but it also states that it can run on Intel integrated chipsets which my system says is 384 megs.

Chris Kline:?This is a little complicated to answer because Intel graphics works a little differently from other vendors. As Intel says in their?Graphics Memory FAQ:

?Intel graphics do not have dedicated memory but utilizes some of the computer?s system memory. The amount of memory used for graphics may be a fixed amount or may vary up to a maximum amount. It depends on if your computer manufacturer has configured your computer to use a fixed amount, a dynamic amount (varying up to a maximum amount), or a combination of both fixed and dynamic amounts of graphics memory.?

The best way for you to find out if your computer has enough graphics memory is to follow the instructions in the?Intel Graphics Memory FAQ?in the section titled?How much graphics memory does my computer have???This explains a method that allows you to find out how much memory your Intel graphics setup has access to, taking into account the memory it shares with system memory.

Source: http://www.incgamers.com/2013/01/irrational-games-answer-pc-bioshock-infinite-questions/

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For Super Bowl ads, it's go viral or go home

20 hrs.

Ben Popken, NBC News contributor

Call them super leaks, super teasers or super previews. But for a growing number of Super Bowl advertisers, they are super smart business.

For years, Super Bowl commercials were closely guarded secrets until they aired on the biggest ratings day of the year. These days, companies have discovered that teasing them online in advance of the big day is a more efficient way of getting their brand message in front of the masses.

CBS, which will broadcast Super Bowl XLVII on?Feb. 3, sold 30-second ad slots for up to $4 million, so it?s no wonder advertisers try to squeeze every drop of value out of their investment.

"We are seeing more teasers because they have been effective," said?Steve Posavac, professor of marketing at Vanderbilt University. "This year, many advertisers feel that if they don?t release a teaser, they will fail to gain consumers? mindshare, and that their ads will be lost in the clutter."

Mercedes-Benz roared out of the starting line first last week, with its spot featuring Kate Upton. Strutting in daisy dukes and a low cut tank top, the striking supermodel blows suds in slow motion at a group of guys as they wash her Benz and ogle her frame, mouths agape.

Though it shows less skin than a standard shampoo commercial -- and seems demure in comparison to?Upton's past backseat turn for Carl's Jr.?last year ? it has already drummed up plenty of buzz. As of Friday night, the teaser racked has up more than 4.6 million YouTube views.

That?s right, more than a week before the San Francisco 49ers face the Baltimore Ravens, Mercedes-Benz?s ad is already a success. And, thanks to the Parents? Television Council, we have the first Super Bowl controversy.

"This ad [reinforces] for millions of wives, daughters and sisters across the country that you use your sex appeal to get what you want," a Parents' Television Council spokesperson told the Daily Mail, complaining that the ad "isn't selling cars, it?s selling sexual objectification."

The sound bite provided global media outlets (ours included) the perfect news hook. In the following days, the ad has been discussed, analyzed, and played over and over again, at no cost to the Mercedes. Talk about return on investment!

The luxury German automaker isn?t the only player in this game. Coca-Cola, Sketchers, Wonderful Pistachios (with 'Gagngam Style' superstar Psy) and MiO (with Tracy Morgan) have released previews.

Coke is also making a huge social media play with its "Mirage" campaign. In it, three quirky character-driven groups -- show girls, badlanders, and cowboys -- race across an African desert to be the first to reach the thirst-quenching Coca-Cola oasis. A preview spot is circulating online encouraging viewers to vote online to determine which group ends up winning in the final spot. Online surfers can either vote by "old-fashioned" online button clicking, or vote-casting with the Twitter hashtags #CokeCowboys, #CokeShowgirls and #CokeBadlanders.

The beverage giant?s advertising company has also cooked up animated gifs, "sabotage videos" and other content ready-made for Tweeting, Tumbling, Instagramming, and Facebooking.?

Indeed,?Coke?has come a long way from Mean Joe Greene?s jersey toss in Coke?s legendary commercial 34 years ago.

The reason for the big social push is simple: More shares equal more views, which equals more brand exposure.

"Without a social media component, a Super Bowl ad is worthless," said?David Johnson, CEO of public relations agency Strategic Vision.

Social has risen and advertisers are rising to meet it.

"Three quarters of the audience will be on a 'second screen' during the Super Bowl,? said Ankarino Lara, chief product officer for Thismoment, which builds branded online content distribution software. "The biggest brands recognize the audience shift and plan mobile and on live elements in their campaigns."

According to data by the Unruly Viral Video Chart, the "Billboard 100 of viral videos," 75 percent of the top 20 most-shared ads from Super Bowl 2012 went up online before game day;? 55 percent of sharing happened after March 1, 2012; and total Super Bowl ads shares increased by 129 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Audi is taking a similar "choose your own adventure" approach as Coke's. On Thursday night, it posted the beginning of its ad, showing a kid driving to his high school prom dateless but in his dad's new 2013 Audi S6 high-performance sports sedan. The German automaker also uploaded three versions of the ending, giving viewers 24 hours to vote on which one will make the final cut.

Other companies are also hopping on the social bandwagon:?

• Doritos has reprised its annual "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, allowing a fan-made commercial to air during the game.?
  
• Lincoln has teamed up with Jimmy Fallon to let fans write the script for its commercial on Twitter with the hashtag #Steerthescript.?
  
• Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Toyota will include fan-submitted photos in a commercial.?
  
• VW is promoting the #GetHappy hashtag.
  

Advertisers still have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, though, and some are deliberately taking an "anti-leak" strategy that still has an eye on Twitter impact.

"Some advertisers are holding back ads for a 'surprise' factor and for the instant chatter that will take place on social media during the game," said Katherine Wintsch, founder of The Mom Complex, an Interpublic Group of Companies unit focused on marketing to mothers.

Brands still place a premium on using the Super Bowl as the ultimate stage for product debuts; Anheuser-Busch is going to debut two new drinks at the game: Budweiser Black Crown and Beck's Sapphire.

"I don?t know what it is, but everyone finds humor in dog ads or baby ads," John Yorke, President of creative firm Rain 43, said. "Last year, we saw lots of both ? and the highest rated ads came from these categories ? so if it ain?t broke, don?t fix it ? expect to see more of this trend."?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/super-bowl-ads-its-go-viral-or-go-home-1C8119016

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The New H.265 Video Format Will Help Chew Up Video So Your Network Can Swallow It

Streaming video is the future. Well, it's the present, but the future too. And as resolutions increase, it's going to be a tougher and tougher proposition to pipe all that data to your screen of choice in a timely fashion. Fortunately, the new H.265 standard has been approved by the ITU and it's here to help. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/w_7EeSdgF8A/the-new-h265-video-format-helps-chew-up-video-so-networks-can-swallow-it

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Ten Afghan police officers killed in suicide bombing

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Ten police officers, including the local counter-terrorism chief, were killed in a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan on Saturday.

Shortly after 5 p.m. (1230 GMT) a man driving a motorbike detonated a large bomb at a busy roundabout in the north city of Kunduz near a group of police officers, provincial police chief spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said.

"As a result of a suicide attack 10 policemen were killed, including the head of the traffic department and the head of the counter-terrorism office," said Hussaini.

Four civilians and five other police officers were wounded in the bombing, he said.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack but militants, including the Taliban, are active in the area.

The attack came a day after a suicide bomber in a car killed at least five civilians and wounded 15 others when he attacked a NATO convoy in the north eastern province of Kapisa.

Responsibility for that attack was claimed by the Taliban via spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Taliban militants have been waging an 11-year war against Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a U.S.-led NATO force.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni and Mohammad Qasim Nori; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ten-afghan-police-officers-killed-suicide-bombing-170405473.html

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Immune cell suicide alarm helps destroy escaping bacteria

Friday, January 25, 2013

Cells in the immune system called macrophages normally engulf and kill intruding bacteria, holding them inside a membrane-bound bag called a vacuole, where they kill and digest them.

Some bacteria thwart this effort by ripping the bag open and then escaping into the macrophage's nutrient-rich cytosol compartment, where they divide and could eventually go on to invade other cells.

But research from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine shows that macrophages have a suicide alarm system, a signaling pathway to detect this escape into the cytosol. The pathway activates an enzyme, called caspase-11, that triggers a program in the macrophage to destroy itself.

"It's almost like a thief sneaking into the house not knowing an alarm will go off to knock down the walls and expose him to capture by the police," says study senior and corresponding author Edward Miao, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at UNC. "In the macrophage, this cell death, called pyroptosis, expels the bacterium from the cell, exposing it to other immune defense mechanisms."

A report of the research appears online in the journal Science on Thursday January 24, 2013.

Miao, also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, says the new findings show that having this detection pathway protects mice from lethal infection with the type of vacuole-escaping Burkholderia species: B. thailandensis and B. pseudomallei.

Both are close relatives. But they differ in lethality. B. pseudomallei is potentially a biological weapon. Used in a spray, it could potentially infect people via aerosol route, causing sickness and death. Moreover, it also could fall into a latent phase, "essentially turning into a 'sleeper' inside the lungs and hiding there for decades," Miao explains. In contrast, B. thailandensis, which shares many properties with its species counterpart, is not normally able to cause any disease or infection

These environmental bacteria are ubiquitous throughout S.E. Asia, and were it not for the caspase-11 pathway defense system, that part of the world could be uninhabitable, Miao points out.

This grim possibility clearly emerged in the study. Mice that lack the caspase-11 detection pathway succumb to infection not only by B. pseudomallei, but also to the normally benign B. thailandensis. "Thus caspase-11 is critical for surviving exposure to ubiquitous environmental pathogens," the authors conclude.

Miao points to research elsewhere showing that the pathway's abnormal activation in people with septic shock, overwhelming bacterial infection of the blood, is associated with death. "We discovered what the pathway is supposed to do, which may help find ways to tone it down in people with that critical condition.

As to bioterrorism, the researcher says it may be possible to use certain drugs already on the market that safely induce the caspase-11 pathway. "Since this pathway requires pre-stimulation with interferon cytokines, it is conceivable that pre-treating people with interferon drugs could ameliorate a bioterror incident. This could be quite important in the case of Burkholderia, since these bacteria are naturally resistant to numerous antibiotics.

"But first we have to find out if they would work in animal models, and consider the logistics of interferon stockpiling, which are currently cost prohibitive."

###

University of North Carolina Health Care: http://www.med.unc.edu

Thanks to University of North Carolina Health Care for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126466/Immune_cell_suicide_alarm_helps_destroy_escaping_bacteria

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French, Malian forces capture Gao rebel stronghold

KONNA, Mali/PARIS (Reuters) - French and Malian forces fighting Islamist rebels took control on Saturday of the rebel bastion of Gao, the biggest military success so far in an offensive against al Qaeda-allied insurgents occupying the country's north.

The United States and Europe back the U.N.-mandated Mali operation as a counterstrike against the threat of radical Islamist jihadists using the West African state's inhospitable Sahara desert as a launching pad for international attacks.

In an overnight assault on Gao backed by French warplanes and helicopters, French special forces seized the town's airport and a key bridge over the River Niger, killing an estimated dozen Islamist fighters without suffering any losses or injuries, the French army said.

"The Malian army and the French control Gao today," Malian army spokesman Lieutenant Diaran Kone told Reuters.

The speed of the French action in a two-week-old campaign suggested French and Malian government troops intended to drive aggressively into the north of Mali in the next few days against other Islamist rebel strongholds, such as Timbuktu and Kidal.

There have been 30 French air strikes on militant targets around Gao and Timbuktu in the past 36 hours.

News that the French and Malian troops were at Gao, the largest northern town held by the Islamists, came as African states struggled to deploy their intervention force in Mali, known as AFISMA, under a U.N. mandate.

Regional army chiefs said on Saturday that a total of 7,700 African soldiers would be dispatched, up from 5,700.

Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, Guinea and Uganda are due to join the mission but it was not clear if progress had been made at meetings in Abidjan or Addis Ababa to overcome gaps in transport, equipment and financing.

French army spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said French forces had come under fire from rebel fighters inside Gao, but that both the bridge and airport runway were undamaged.

In Paris, the French defence ministry said Malian and French troop reinforcements were brought in and that soldiers from Chad and Niger, who have experience in desert warfare, were also flown in.

These Malian and regional troops would have the task of securing Gao and its surrounding area, the ministry said.

To the west, French forces recaptured Lere, on the road to Timbuktu, and were advancing, a Malian military source said, asking not be named.

For two weeks, French jets and helicopter gunships have been harrying the retreating Islamists, attacking their vehicles, command posts and weapons depots. The French action had stymied a sudden Islamist offensive launched in early January that had threatened Bamako, Mali's capital in the south of the country.

Reacting to the French-led offensive, one of the leaders of the alliance of Islamist groups occupying Mali's north promised resistance to what he called the "new Crusader aggression", in comments published by Al Jazeera's Arabic website.

Yahya Abu Al-Hamman, leader in the Sahel of al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM, which along with Malian militant group Ansar Dine and AQIM splinter MUJWA occupies Mali's north, said a "Jihadist Islamist emirate" would be created in the territory.

Washington and European governments, while providing airlift and intelligence support to the anti-militant offensive in Mali, are not planning to send in any combat troops.

FRANCE TAKING THE LEAD

At an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, AU leaders called on the United Nations to provide emergency logistics and funding to allow the African force for Mali to deploy.

AU officials say AFISMA is severely hampered by logistical shortages and needs airlift support, ammunition, telecoms equipment, field hospitals, food and water.

There appeared to be some embarrassment among African ministers and leaders that the continent was having to rely on a former colonial power, France, much criticised for past meddling in Africa, to take the lead in the military campaign in Mali.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said France's intervention was "justified".

"If Africa can't do it, somebody else should do it," Mushikiwabo told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.

France, which dispatched its military to Mali at the Bamako government's request, already has 2,500 soldiers on the ground in its former colony.

Around 1,900 African troops, including Chadians, have been deployed to Mali so far. Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Niger and Chad are providing troops while Burundi and other African nations have pledged to contribute.

While the French and Malians thrust northeast in a two-pronged offensive towards Gao and Timbuktu, Chadian and local forces in neighbouring Niger are preparing a flanking thrust coming up from the south.

FRANCE: "LOT OF WORK" AHEAD

Malian army officers said the Islamist insurgents had pulled back to avoid deadly French air strikes.

"They are all hiding. They are leaving on foot and on motorcycles," Malian Army Captain Faran Keita told Reuters at Konna, about 500 km (310 miles) southeast of Gao.

Konna's capture by the Islamist insurgents on January 10 triggered the sudden French military intervention. Reporters there saw charred rebel pickup trucks that had been blasted by French air strikes. Munitions lay scattered about.

The question remained whether the Islamists would fight to hold Gao and Timbuktu or withdraw further north into the trackless desert wastes and mountain fastnesses of the Sahara.

"France can expel rebels from certain of the key towns but it cannot occupy and control the entire north Mali. North Mali is the size of France," Jakkie Cilliers, Executive Director of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told Reuters.

On a visit to Chile, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault admitted French forces in Mali still faced "a lot of work".

On Friday, the Islamists blew up a road bridge on the main road south from Gao to Niger, but military officials from Niger said the Chadian and Nigerien forces could still reach Gao by other routes when they advanced.

The AU is expected to seek hundreds of millions of dollars in logistical support and funding at a conference of donors for the Mali operation to be held in Addis Ababa on January 29.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-malian-forces-capture-gao-rebel-stronghold-090357450.html

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US Military Building Space Robot to Recycle Satellites (Video)

A Pentagon project to harvest and reuse parts from dead satellites is gaining steam, and a new video shows how the far the military program has come in its first few months.

The new video serves as a progress report through last November for the?Phoenix program, a project by the?Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to recycle space junk back into valuable satellite parts, or even completely new spacecraft. DARPA scientists began the project in July and are working toward launching the first demonstration mission in two years or so.

"Today, satellites are not built to be modified or repaired in space," Phoenix program?manager Dave Barnhart said in a statement unveiling the video Tuesday (Jan. 22). "Therefore, to enable an architecture that can reuse or repurpose on-orbit components requires us to create new technologies and new capabilities. This progress report gives the community a better sense of how we are doing on the challenges we may face and the technologies needed to help us meet our goals."?

An animation of a Phoenix servicing spacecraft working on orbit runs in the background of the 2 1/2-minute video. The foreground, meanwhile, shows some of the progress that has been made in the lab to date.?[DARPA's Project Phoenix (Video)]

This progress includes the development and testing of prototype satellite-grappling technology and tele-operations control software, among other gear, according to the video.

The Phoenix program plans to use a robot mechanic to grab still-working antennas from the many retired and dead satellites in geosynchronous orbit, about 22,000 miles (35,406 kilometers) above Earth. These large, bulky antennas would then be attached to small "satlets," or nanosatellites, launched from Earth, creating new space systems on the cheap.

The goal is to demonstrate a way to turn part of the ever-expanding cloud of space junk around our planet into space resources, saving money in the process, DARPA officials have said. The first on-orbit demonstration mission is targeted for 2015.

"We have a long way to go, but we are laying the foundation for improving how we build space systems, with the goal of changing the economic model for space operations," Barnhart said.

Phoenix isn't the only satellite-servicing effort currently underway. NASA's?Robotic Refueling Mission?(RRM), which was delivered to the International Space Station in July 2011, is testing out the technology necessary to repair and refuel satellites on orbit.

The latest round of RRM experiments is going on right now, with the space station's two-armed Dextre robot attempting to snip wires, unscrew caps and pump simulated fuel using the RRM test module, NASA officials have said.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-military-building-space-robot-recycle-satellites-video-213731095.html

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