Sunday, March 31, 2013

PBS shows how hacking is reclaiming its good name after a bad rap (video)

PBS explains how hacking got a bad rap and is reclaiming its good name video

Hacking is still a loaded concept for many, often conjuring negative images of corporate espionage, fraudsters and prank-minded script kiddies. PBS' Off Book wants to remind us that hacking wasn't always seen this way -- and, thanks to modern developments, is mending its reputation. Its latest episode shows that hacking began simply as a desire to advance devices and software beyond their original roles, but was co-opted by a sometimes misunderstanding press that associated the word only with malicious intrusions. Today, hacking has regained more of its original meaning: hackathons, a resurgence of DIY culture and digital protests prove that hacks can improve our gadgets, our security and even our political landscape. We still have a long way to go before we completely escape movie stereotypes, but the mini-documentary may offer food for thought the next time you're installing a custom ROM or building your own VR helmet.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/31/pbs-explains-how-hacking-is-reclaiming-its-good-name/

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A Snapshot Of Wildlife In Utterakhand

Utterakhand, situated in lap of Himalayan mountain ranges, is a place blessed with superb natural beauty and exotic wildlife. There are plenty of wildlife parks & sanctuaries, making it a favorite haunt of nature-lovers and wildlife enthusiasts. If you happen to visit the state for wildlife excursion, the following places are worth taking a leap into.

Askot Sanctuary: nestled at an elevation of about 5400 ft in the Pithodagarh district, this sanctuary is a treasure trove of exotic flora & fauna. The scenery that abounds the region is captivating in every sense. Moreover, it is home to many wild animals including leopard, deer, bear and a variety of birds. This place is visited by many wildlife photographers and researchers year-round.

Best time to Visit: April to Sept
Nearest railhead: Tanakpur (204km)
Road: Pithorgarh (55kms)

Kedarnath Sanctuary: this place is like a dream comes true for nature-lovers. Surrounded by snow-capped peaks, fascinating glaciers, shimmering rivers & streams, this animal park is one of most beautiful corners of the state. Along with the captivating natural bounties, tourists can feasts their eyes on splendid wildlife scenes. One can spot many species of wild animals including snow leopards, snow cock, tahr and serow behaving in their home ground. In proximity to this sanctuary is the Kedarnath temple: one of the major sites of Chardham Yatra.

Best Season: April to September
Nearest railhead: Rishikesh (235kms)
Roads: 136kms from Chamoli and 47kms from Gtkashi

Valley of Flowers: rated among the natural wonders of India, this marvelous vale is a heaven for botanists and nature-lovers. Additionally, the awesome trekking trails make it favorite of mountaineers and researchers. This place is widely famous for its largest collection of wild flowers blooming in vibrant colors. The River Pashupati passes through the valley, adding more to its natural grace. For wildlife lovers, the region has a lot to brew in their platters; it houses splendid variety of fauna including tahr, snow leopards, black bears and musk deers.

Best time to Come: April to October
Nearest railhead: Rishikesh 302kms
Road: 25kms from Badrinath

Corbett National Park: the Indias first and finest wildlife sanctuary is the Corbett National Park in Nainital district of Utterakhand. Nestling along the beautiful River Ramganga, the Park is packed of natural fascinations. It was named after the great haunter, naturalist and author Sir Jim Corbett who spent an exciting life in this forestry. Inside the park is the residence of Sir Jim Corbett, which is now a fine museum with great collection of relics and souvenirs. With over 600 species of birds, this place is a real delight for bird-lovers. In term of wild animals, this place is home to a mix variety of the animals of Himalaya and the ones found in peninsular India. Over 50 mammals and 25 reptile species can be explored at Corbett. The River Ramganga boasts great opportunity for water sports like angling and boating.

Best season: mid-Nov to mid-June
Nearest railhead: Ramnagar and Kathgodam
Nearest airport: Pantnagar (130kms)
Roads: hire a jeep from Ramanagar Park.

About the Author:
whether you plan a wildlife tour in Utterakhand or looking for a spiritual sojourn like chardham yatra, hungry Bags can plan your trip to the finest level. A variety of tour packages including chardham yatra packages are offered by the company.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/A-Snapshot-Of-Wildlife-In-Utterakhand/4512672

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So, it's Easter: Is Hillary Clinton Running for President Yet?

The New York Times decided it was time for their bi-monthly check-in with Clinton aides to see how close the former Secretary of State is to running for the nation's highest office. Come on, shouldn't she know by now?

RELATED: Hillary Clinton Drops Out of the 2016 Presidential Race

It is pretty rude for her to keep us waiting for so long. It hasn't even been six months since the November election and we still don't know what her plans are for 2016. People are always saying she's totally going to run for President, OK? But people are also always saying she's totally not going to run for President, OK? (And of those two posts, which do you think got more traffic? Exactly.) But Hillary is also supporting gay marriage and her former staff set up a Super PAC in her name, which some think lends some credence to at least asking the question.

RELATED: Don't Say Hillary Clinton Is Running for President

And, everyone,?guess what?! She still doesn't know! Her aides seem pretty sick of having to answer this question. When it's for the Times' Jim Rutenberg they can let their hair down a little and say how tired they are of answering the question, though. Take a cue from one of Clinton's closest confidantes,?Phillip Raines:?

?There?s this kind of, ?I?m telling you a secret that she told me secretly,? but there?s no secret to tell,? said Mrs. Clinton?s longtime communications aide, Philippe Reines. ?Everyone?s gotten way ahead of themselves, and most importantly, they have gotten way ahead of her.?

Venting the frustration of all veterans of Clinton politics and the intrigue that constantly surrounds them, he added, ?What?s that acronym, WYSIWYG? What you see is what you get.?

So did we all catch that? Hillary still doesn't know and we should all probably stop asking or tea leaf reading until she tells us, because she'll tell us, when she knows for sure. Until then everyone should probably cool their jets a little. This is all a little ludicrous. As Rutenberg points out, the Iowa caucuses are 33 months away. That's more than two and a half years, to put it more plainly. People are driving the Hillary 2016 mobile in fourth or fifth gear when it should be in second or first gear. Shift down, y'all.

RELATED: Hillary Has Better Things to Do Than Attend the Democratic Convention

But if Hillary does enter the race, she will have more money than she could possibly imagine, according to one of her former campaign advisers. "I?ve talked to a number of donors who are willing to write whatever they?re permitted to write to a presidential campaign, and certainly to write very big money to any sort of 'super PAC'?that would be supportive of her," Harold M. Ickes, a former Clinton campaign adviser and Obama Super Pac moneyman, told Rutenberg. "They?re just saying to me, 'Whenever she?s ready, we?re ready.'"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/easter-hillary-clinton-running-president-yet-141027340.html

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Kan. gov says his sales tax plan fits with budget

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Gov. Sam Brownback said Thursday that Kansas' "budget reality" will push lawmakers toward approving his proposal to cancel a scheduled decrease in the state sales tax.

The Republican governor said he'll consider "anybody's proposal" as the GOP-dominated House and Senate negotiate the final version of tax legislation. But Brownback also said legislators have limited options for stabilizing the budget while seeking further cuts in individual income taxes.

Brownback and most Republican legislators want to follow up on massive income tax cuts enacted last year with another round of reductions in personal income tax rates. Last year's cuts created a budget shortfall, and Brownback has promised to protect important programs such as education funding and social services.

Meanwhile, the state's 6.3 percent sales tax is scheduled by law to drop to 5.7 percent in July, the result of a budget-balancing agreement in 2010 that temporarily boosted the tax to its current level. Legislators in both parties don't want to break the pledge, but some are willing to do it with the promise of future income tax cuts.

"There's just the budget reality," Brownback said. "I think it's coming across to people that you've got to get your resource package somewhere. The budget doesn't work without the tax piece of it."

The Senate approved tax legislation embracing Brownback's proposals to keep the sales tax at its current rate while guaranteeing cuts in individual income tax rates over the next four years. The top rate would drop for 2017 to 3.5 percent from 4.9 percent.

The House passed a tax plan that allows the sales to drop and cuts income tax rates less aggressively. The House plan would decrease personal income tax rates each year if overall state revenues grew more than 2 percent. The top rate for 2017 would be 4.88 percent, according to legislative researchers.

Three senators and three House members are negotiating tax issues. They planned to resume talks Monday, when lawmakers return from a long weekend for a five-day push to finish most of the year's business.

House GOP leaders contend a proposal to keep the sales tax at its current rate can't pass their 125-member chamber.

"The governor couldn't convince me to do it, and I've been pretty good about voting with the governor on stuff," said Rep. Scott Schwab, an Olathe Republican and one of the tax negotiators. "I don't know how you get there. I'm not sure he's got 20 votes."

Critics of Brownback's push toward phasing out personal income taxes note it would force the state to rely most heavily on its sales tax to finance government. Poor families tend to pay a higher percentage of their incomes to that tax than do wealthy ones.

The governor and many GOP lawmakers argue that phasing out personal income taxes will help all taxpayers by boosting the economy and creating jobs. Schwab said Brownback should trust that last year's cuts ? worth nearly $850 million during the fiscal year beginning in July ? already will boost the economy enough for the House plan to provide sufficient, future reductions in income tax rates.

Also, Schwab noted that the House and Senate are negotiating the final version of a proposed $14.5 billion budget after making significant changes from Brownback's spending proposals.

"The governor needs to understand that his budget has been altered by both chambers," Schwab said. "I don't think we need to raise taxes to pay for his budget if we're not going to pass his budget."

A key difference between the governor and legislators concerns higher education spending. Brownback proposed flat spending on universities, community colleges and technical colleges flat, while both chambers are seeking cuts.

"We're going to fight for our budget," Brownback told reporters. "You're going to need to collect revenue to run the state somewhere."

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apjdhanna

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kan-gov-says-sales-tax-133224407.html

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Cosmic Easter Eggs: Start Your Spring Galaxy Hunt This Weekend

As the saying goes, "In the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."

But if the young man is an astronomer, his fancy will likely also turn to thoughts of galaxies. Spring is truly the best season to hunt down and observe these cosmic Easter eggs of the night sky.

In summer and winter, our own galaxy, the Milky Way, dominates our sky and blocks our views of more distant galaxies. In spring and fall, we are looking outward from the disc of our galaxy and can see many more distant galaxies. Fall is dominated by a couple of large nearby galaxies, the ones in the constellations Andromeda and Triangulum, but in spring, we get a look at a number of more distant galaxies. Although they might be farther away from the Earth, the galaxies are gathered into huge clusters.

Take a look at the chart, which shows the view this coming weekend (March 30) looking to the east. In and around the triangle of first-magnitude (bright) stars Regulus, Arcturus and Spica are a vast number of distant galaxies. [Photo Gallery: 65 All-Time Great Galaxy Hits]

Timing is critical for observing the spring galaxies. Because the nights are getting shorter, there is only a brief window of opportunity before the galaxies are gone and the summer skies are with us.

This week, we have a full moon, but by the weekend, that moon will not be rising until after midnight. This gives us a couple of hours for galaxy hunting. Next weekend will be even better.

If you?re new to deep sky observing, prepare to be challenged. Experienced observers will tell you that the spring skies are crammed with bright and easy galaxies, but beginners will be challenged to find even one of them. That?s because galaxies are about the faintest things your eyes will ever see. The light from the galaxies has been traveling for millions of light years, and there is not very much left by the time it reaches your eyeballs.

The first secret is to search out very dark skies. Any form of light pollution, be it natural moonlight or artificial city lights, will destroy your chances of spotting galaxies. Spring galaxy season makes field trips to dark sky sites a necessity. Your local astronomy club is a wonderful resource. Chances are that they have scouted out the darkest sites in your region, and will be gathering there over the next couple of weekends to hunt down galaxies.

A second trick is to use averted vision when looking for faint objects. Instead of looking directly at the point where you expect the object to be, look slightly to one side. This will put the object on a more sensitive part of your eye?s retina.

Thirdly, give your telescope a light tap. Our eyes are programmed to see moving objects better than still ones, so making the telescope view move a little will often cause a faint object to pop out of the background.

Once you?re at a dark site, you will need a number of tools. I?d recommend a telescope with at least 6 inches (150 mm) aperture; 8 or 10 inches would be better. A wide field eyepiece is best for finding your targets; then switch to a higher magnification, around 100x, to study them in detail.

A pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars used to locate the fields and figure out the best star-hopping routes is as important as a telescope. A good star atlas, like the "Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas," or a good planetarium program on a laptop computer, will guide you. Finally, a red flashlight, a comfortable seat and warm clothing will round out your kit.

The majority of the galaxies in our skies are concentrated in a rather small area, best placed at this time of year. Looking east around 10 p.m., you will see the Big Dipper on your upper left and three bright stars straight ahead forming a large triangle. Follow the curving handle of the Big Dipper away from the bowl and you first come to Arcturus in the constellation Bo?tes, then to Spica in the constellation Virgo. Above and to the right is Regulus in Leo.

Many of the objects in Charles Messier's catalog are shown in this chart, labeled in white. This 18th-century comet hunter was the first to catalog the many deep sky objects which confused him in his searches for comets. Nowadays, amateur astronomers try to observe the 110 objects in his catalog as the best and brightest deep sky objects in the sky. Nearly half of the objects he cataloged are visible in this single small area of sky in our chart; only the brighter ones are shown here. Of these, almost all are galaxies, with only a few exceptions.

Many of Messier?s objects have distinctive nicknames, but many more are known simply by their catalog numbers. Although baffling to beginners, experienced observers soon become as familiar with the Messier numbers as they are with the streets in their hometown.

The vast majority of Messier?s galaxies are concentrated in the five constellations of Leo, Virgo, Ursa Major, Coma Berenices and Canes Venatici. The first three are bright, well-known constellations; the last two are faint areas of sky with hardly any bright stars. In fact, these constellations contain many more galaxies than they do stars.

Most beginners want to start with Ursa Major, because it contains the famous Big Dipper. Unfortunately, its galaxies are fairly hard to find. This is especially true of the famous Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), which, although bright, is spread over a large area of sky. For that reason, it is actually easier to see with binoculars than with a telescope. The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), just off the end of the Dipper?s handle, is much easier to spot. Look for its companion NGC5195 close by. In a really dark sky, you can see a faint bridge of stars joining the two.

The galaxies in Leo are much easier targets, especially the pairing of M65 and M66. [Most Extreme Stargazing Objects in the Night Sky]

But it?s Virgo that holds the real treasure trove of galaxies. Messier cataloged 11 galaxies in this constellation, along with eight in neighboring Coma Berenices. This area is so rich in galaxies that the problem lies not in finding them, but in identifying which galaxy is which. This is where a good star atlas or planetarium program comes in handy.

Experienced observers who have seen all the objects in Messier?s catalog should not neglect this area. For every galaxy Messier noted, there are dozens more to be found in the "RASC Finest NGC catalog," the "Herschel 400 catalog" and the "Caldwell catalog."

This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education, the leader in space science curriculum solutions. Follow Starry Night on Twitter @StarryNightEdu.

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cosmic-easter-eggs-start-spring-galaxy-hunt-weekend-203053811.html

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Jim Carrey Responds to Fox News: "A Media Colostomy Bag" (Little green footballs)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295517466?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Friday, March 29, 2013

First quarter report cards: Which fighters rose above early in 2013?

Sunday will mark the end of the first quarter. It's been a busy three months in MMA, so it's a good time to look back at the past three months and see who rose above the rest.

Biggest upset: Did you expect to see Robbie Lawler walk away with the win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 157? What about Antonio Rogerio Nogueira beating former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans? But there's no question who scored the biggest upset of the first quarter of 2013. Antonio Silva's TKO of Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 left more than Overeem's jaw on the floor.

Best knockout: Vitor Belfort's knockout of Michael Bisping at the January UFC on FX was memorable, as was Tyron Woodley's 36-second dismantling of Jay Hieron at UFC 156. Wanderlei Silva, Robbie Lawler and a slew of Bellator fighters have posted impressive knockouts. But the one that had everyone talking was on "The Ultimate Fighter." Uriah Hall's knockout of Adam Cella* was perfectly executed, and had the rest of the TUF house worried about Hall's skills. For that, Hall wins knockout of the first quarter.

* The knockout actually occurred last year, but aired in the first quarter of 2013.

[Also: Video blog shows the other side of UFC's Dana White]

Best submission: For the best tapouts of the first three months of 2013, Bellator provided a nominee when Dave Vitkay choked out Jesse Peterson in just 18 seconds. Gabriel Gonzaga's guillotine of Ben Rothwell stands out, as is Ronda Rousey's arm bar of Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. The winner comes from the undercard of UFC 157 as Kenny Robertson managed a weird yet incredibly painful looking kneebar-esque submission of Brock Jardine. It was the kind of submission that left MMA fans wondering what had happened.

Best rising star: There were plenty of candidates for fighters who really made an impressive leap in the MMA world early in 2013. Jordan Mein's UFC debut at UFC 158 included rolling out of an arm bar with Dan Miller, and then knocking him out before the first round ended. Abel Trujillo's TKO win by knees to the body of Marcus Levesseur was pretty fantastic, too. But it's Trujillo's opponent at UFC 160, Khabib Nurmagomedov who is taking home the prize. His TKO of Thiago Tavares in Brazil showed he can fight well under any conditions.

Best fight: Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit put on a great scrap at UFC 158. Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva's bout was thrilling before Stann was knocked out. Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson's title fight at UFC on Fox 6 was memorable, as was Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo's title bout at UFC 156. The one fight that stood out above the rest, though, was Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice's fight from UFC 156. Throughout the bout, both fighters should have given up. Both fighters should have been knocked out. But neither man gave in. Bermudez won the decision, but both fighters will be remembered for this bout.

Do you agree? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

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? Watch: Who could crash the Final Four?
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? Jarome Iginla traded to Pittsburgh, not Boston, in late-night stunner

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/first-quarter-report-cards-fighters-rose-above-early-174635867--mma.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Can a Single Brain Cell "Think"? If So, What Does That Imply About the "Neural Code"?

My previous post suggested that two big, ambitious brain-mapping initiatives in Europe and the U.S. might be premature, given that scientists know so little about how physiological processes in the brain generate perceptions, memories, emotions, decisions and other components of the mind. The Human Genome Project began only after researchers had deciphered the genetic code, but neuroscientists aren?t close to cracking the ?neural code,? the brain?s operating program. One smart commenter pointed out that Scientific American recently published an article about neural coding, ?A Single Brain Cell Stores a Single Concept,? by Rodrigo Quiroga, Itzhak Fried and Christof Koch. I?m familiar with, and fascinated by, the research of Quiroga et al. In fact, I wrote about their work in a 2005 article for Discover Magazine, which I?m re-printing below. The research raises more questions than it answers about how brains make minds. But I wonder, re-reading my article, whether I engaged in the same hype of which I accuse some neuroscientists.

In the neurosurgery ward of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Danny, a stocky 21-year-old college student wearing blue pajamas and sporting a wispy goatee, sits on a bed watching one photo after another flash on a laptop screen. Several macho movie stars appear in rapid succession, including Arnold Schwartzenegger, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, and Mr. T, the mohawk-ed brawler who plays Stallone?s rival in the boxing film Rocky III.

At first glance, one might guess that Danny has volunteered for a Hollywood survey: Who?s your favorite action hero? But the black cables emerging from the white turban wrapped around his skull hint at his role in investigating a profound scientific question: How do thoughts form in the human brain?

Danny suffers from epilepsy, and he has had electrodes temporarily implanted into his brain to monitor seizures; ideally, the electrodes will pinpoint the neural defect triggering his seizures so it can be surgically removed. During the week or so that the electrodes remain in Danny?s brain, he has volunteered to participate in experiments aimed at understanding the underpinnings of cognition. Such research is quite rare; for obvious ethical reasons, neuroscientists have few opportunities to gather data from deep inside a living human brain.

This particular experiment touches on one of the most challenging puzzles of neuroscience: How do brain cells recognize items as complicated as a toaster oven, the number nine, a zebra, Bill Clinton, or the film character Rocky? Are single cells like transistors in a computer, or pixels on a television screen, contributing just minute pieces of information that only when combined with the output of thousands or millions of other cells form the complex pattern that means Rocky? Or can a single neuron learn to recognize that face?

Most neuroscientists adhere to the pixel view of neurons, arguing that individual cells can?t possibly be clever enough to make sense of a concept as subtle as Rocky; after all, the world?s fastest supercomputers have difficulty performing that pattern-recognition feat. But Itzhak Fried, the neurosurgeon who implanted the electrodes in Danny?s brain and who leads this UCLA research program, believes he has found ?thinking cells? in the brains of subjects like Danny. If he?s right, neuroscientists may be forced to overhaul their view of how the human brain works.

A true thinking cell should be able to recognize a person or fictional character even in many different guises. Danny is a big fan of Hollywood action heroes, especially Rocky; he owns DVDs of all four films in the series and never tires of watching them. So, amid the images that flash on the laptop screen, the research team has included shots that show Rocky running through the streets of Philadelphia, staring longingly at his girlfriend Adrian, or draped in the American flag after defeating his Russian rival. Now and then, to test whether a cell?s recognition cuts across sensory modes, Rocky or some other name is spelled out on the laptop screen or uttered by an eerie synthesized voice.

As Danny peers at the laptop, signals stream from more than 100 ultra-thin electrodes, each sensitive enough to detect the murmuring of a single cell?and into the cables that emerge from his head. The cables ferry the signals across the room to a cabinet crammed with amplifiers. A computer atop the cabinet displays the readouts from Danny?s cells as a series of multi-colored lines unfolding across a screen. Every now and then, a line jerks upward, as one of Danny?s cells sputters in response to an image or name. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, the Argentinian neuroscientist overseeing this research session, points to one especially energetic squiggle and whispers, ?That?s Rocky.?

The vast majority of modern brain research involves technologies such as magnetic resonance-imaging, positron emission tomography, and electroencephalography. All measure neural activity from outside the skull. Figuring out how brains work with external scanners is like studying life on a cloud-shrouded planet with satellites. Implanted electrodes, by contrast, are like probes that drop down to the planet?s surface. Electrode studies of monkeys and other animals whose brains resemble ours have yielded valuable insights, but these creatures cannot describe their subjective sensations.

A handful of other hospitals are carrying out electrode research that piggybacks on the clinical treatment of patients with epilepsy, Parkinson?s disease, and other neurological disorders. But no research program approaches UCLA?s in experience, sophistication, or published results, says Christof Koch, a neuroscientist at the California Institute of Technology who has been collaborating with the UCLA group since 1998. ?There is no one technique that?s going to give you all the answers? to the riddle of cognition, Koch says. ?But this is one that?s very, very good, and we?re getting better at it.?

Fried, the driven yet affable commander-in-chief of the program, founded it in 1992 after leaving Yale. Since then more than 100 of his epileptic patients with electrodes implanted in their brains for diagnostic purposes have volunteered as subjects for basic research. From the outset, Fried has been protective of his patients and their privacy; this is the first time he has allowed a reporter to watch him and his team at work.

Fried was born and raised in Israel, and he spends several months a year working at a hospital in Tel Aviv as well as at UCLA. He flew from Israel to Los Angeles on a Sunday, and during a three-hour operation on Monday he drilled ten holes in Danny?s skull and inserted the electrodes into his brain. The following day, wearing a white lab coat over aqua scrubs, Fried strode into a conference room packed with researchers who had gathered to discuss plans for Danny. The team included two undergraduates who flew here from the University of Pennsylvania, a few graduate students from UCLA and Caltech, a couple of postdocs, and two physicians.

Fried briskly provided background on the patient: Danny is a bright, friendly young man, he said, who is looking forward to working with the research team as a way to ?break the boredom? of his hospital stay. ?Okay, let?s get down to practical issues,? he continued in his distinctive Israeli accent. Rapid-fire, he queried the researchers on the status of their ?paradigms.? He prefers that term to ?experiments,? which might suggest electrodes had been implanted in Danny?s brain primarily for research rather than diagnostic purposes.

The discussion keeps returning to problems with data storage and analysis. Several researchers asked for upgrades in equipment for storing data?which the microelectrode experiments generate by the terabyte?and Fried said he?d see what he could do. The researchers also received detailed instructions on how to grapple with a major technical challenge: electrodes in patients? brains often detect pulses from two or more nearby neurons at the same time, which may show up in the computer as one big signal. Quiroga has written a program that mathematically unravels overlapping pulses. The process, called cluster-cutting, makes it possible to extract more information from the data, at least in principle. But some of Quiroga?s colleagues were still trying to familiarize themselves with the fine points of what the team has dubbed ?Rodrigo?s code.?

The researchers had prepared more than enough studies to keep Danny from becoming bored. One called for him to view computer-generated pictures of celebrities morphing into each other: Mr. T into Will Smith, and Sly into Arnie. The objective: to see if a cell that lights up for Sly fires more slowly as the photo gradually morphs into Arnie, or just abruptly falls silent. In other words, are face-recognition cells like simple on-off switches, or can they act like dimmers?

Another paradigm, called X-Cab, is designed to yield insights into how we navigate. More than a decade ago microelectrode studies of rats and monkeys revealed place cells that light up when the animals move to a particular spot in a maze. Previous versions of X-Cab, which involves driving a virtual taxi through a cyber-city, have confirmed that humans have place cells, too, as well as view cells that respond to specific landmarks, and goal cells that respond to the driver?s ultimate destination.

Arne Ekstrom, a UCLA postdoc, and Indra Viskontas, a graduate student, had made preparations for Danny to test drive a new version of the X-Cab program, which allows the driver to pick up and discharge passengers. Fried asked if they had made the changes he requested in the paradigm. ?Almost all of them,? Viskontas replied, adding that she and Ekstrom ?respectfully? disagreed with some of Fried?s requests and wanted to discuss them with him.

Fried nodded. ?Any more questions?? he asked, scanning the room one last time. ?If not, to work.?

Back in his office, Fried recalled how he ended up overseeing this unusual program. One of his role models was Wilder Penfield, the Canadian surgeon who carried out pioneering operations on epileptics in the 1950?s and 1960?s. After removing the skull-cap of patients, Penfield electrically tickled different spots of their brains with wires and asked them what they felt; because the brain lacks pain receptors, the patients needed no anesthesia. They could report feeling a tingle in their left forefinger, seeing a blue flash, hearing a low-pitched hum.

This procedure not only helped to guide Penfield?s surgical treatment of each patient; it also yielded clues to what different parts of the brain do. ?Here was somebody who was really looking at the human mind,? Fried said, ?but at same time he was helping a human being.? Fried?s method is much more refined than Penfield?s. Fried typically drills a dozen holes in the patient?s skull and inserts a dozen hollow macroelectrodes, which can detect large-scale electrical waves emanating from a seizure.

Protruding from the end of each macroelectrode are as many as ten flexible microelectrodes that can detect the pulses of individual neurons. The patient?s clinical status dictates the placement of the macroelectrodes. In Danny?s case, tests suggest that his seizures originate in his frontal lobes, so Fried inserted most of the macroelectrodes in that region. He embedded one macroelectrode in Danny?s hippocampus, a minute region that underpins memory and is often implicated in epileptic seizures.

The patient?s clinical health and comfort, Fried emphasized, take precedence over research objectives. Even the most carefully planned paradigm must be set aside if the patient becomes bored, tired, frustrated, gets a headache, or just wants to be left alone. Fried carefully screens prospective colleagues to ensure that they treat his patients like human beings rather than laboratory animals.

?The person who will not do well,? he said, ?is a compulsive-obsessive animal physiologist who, if he doesn?t control all the variables, falls apart.? But Fried also said he believes that ?there is a responsibility? to take advantage of these rare chances to learn more about the behavior of individual neurons, which he calls the building blocks of cognition.

Following Penfield?s example, Fried occasionally does studies that involve stimulating brain cells with minute electrical jolts. In 1998, he and three colleagues discovered that a female patient burst into laughter every time they stimulated a spot at the top of her brain called the supplementary motor area. Her hilarity was not just physiological; the woman felt subjective sensations of ?merriment or mirth.? She displaying a syndrome known as confabulation?she invented reasons for her hilarity, telling the researchers at one point, ?You guys are just so funny? standing around.?

But most of Fried?s findings, which he has described in more than a dozen papers in such leading journals as Nature, Neuron, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involve not electrically stimulating neurons but passively listening to their chatter as a patient performs various tasks. In one set of experiments, Fried, Koch, and Gabriel Krieman, a Caltech grad student, found cells that light up both when a subject looks at an image?of a baseball, say, or a woman?s face?and when he closes his eyes and recalls the image in his minds? eye. The results provide the most convincing evidence yet that human perception and imagination share neural circuitry.

The experiments that have attracted the most attention are those supporting the existence of ?thinking cells.? The possibility of such cells has been debated at least since the 1950s, when researchers found single neurons in the visual cortex of cats and other animals that respond to simple stimuli, such as lines oriented at a certain angle or moving in a specific direction or light of a particular wavelength. Some theorists wondered whether single neurons might also respond to much more complicated stimuli, such as specific people.

Once known as gnostic cells, after the Greek word for knowledge, they were dubbed grandmother cells in the late 1960s by neuroscientist Jerry Lettvin of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lettvin meant to make fun of?if not to dismiss?speculation that single cells could be dedicated to recognition of family members or other individuals who loom large in an individual?s mental universe. In one paper, he joked that mother-smothered neurotics such as Portnoy, the hero of Phillip Roth?s novel Portnoy?s Complaint, could be cured of their Oedipal disorders by having all the mother cells purged from their brains.

Many neuroscientists found it hard to believe that a single cell could recognize an inanimate object, let alone a human being. Even objects as simple as chairs, trees, or buildings come in an almost infinite variety of forms, and the same object looks different from different perspectives or in different contexts. Neuroscientists were therefore startled in the early 1970s when experiments on monkeys by Charles Gross of Princeton turned up cells that respond selectively to hands and faces?not specific faces but faces in general.

No one had really followed up on Gross?s findings, however, until the late 1990s, when Fried and his colleagues started reporting how epileptic patients reacted to various images. Some neurons were apparently smart enough to comprehend the highly abstract concept ?non-human animal.? Their neurons fired when the patient was shown a picture of a tiger, eagle, antelope, and rabbit, but not when shown pictures of humans or inanimate objects. Other cells favored images only of food, or of buildings, or of human faces. Some cells responded to all faces, but others were picky, firing for male faces but not female ones, or scowling faces but not smiling ones?or, finally, faces of specific individuals.

One of the first neurons of this type was the so-called Bill Clinton cell, which was buried deep in the amygdala of a female patient. The cell responded to three very different images of the former President: a line drawing of Clinton laughing; a formal painting of him; and a photograph of him mingling with other dignitaries. The cell remained mute when the patient viewed images of other people, including male politicians and celebrities. Fried?s group found cells in other volunteers that responded in this same highly selective way to actors, including Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt, and Halle Berry.

One reason celebrities have played a prominent role in Fried?s experiments is that their photographs are often easier to come by than images of a patient?s own relatives. But as part of her dissertation project on biographical memory, the UCLA graduate student Viskontas has for several years been showing patients photographs of family members. Viskontas is reluctant to reveal details about her results, which have not been published yet. But she confirms that she has found neurons that respond to a particular relative: father, mother, brother, sister, grandfather, and, yes, grandmother. The experiments have also found cells that light up when a patient sees an image of himself. Call them narcissism cells.

Viskontas is wary of over-interpreting these results or others emerging from the UCLA program. She does not believe, for example, that they support the most extreme version of the grandmother-cell hypothesis, in which cells are exclusively and permanently assigned to one person, place, or thing. The past few decades, she adds, have revealed that brain cells are versatile, or ?plastic,? changing their roles in response to new experiences. The UCLA experiments may not be detecting long-term memory but so-called working-memory, in which cells are temporarily assigned to the job of representing Grandma, Jennifer, Aniston, or Rocky only as a result of the stimulation provided by the experiment.

Koch isn?t so sure. It would make sense, he argues, for our brains to dedicate some cells to people or other things frequently in our thoughts. The larger significance of the UCLA experiments, he says, is that neuroscientists may have to change their view of neurons as simple switches, transistors, or pixels. Each neuron may be more like a sophisticated computer, running customized software. After all, individual neurons can receive input from hundreds of thousands of other cells, some of which inhibit rather than encourage the neuron?s firing. The neuron may in turn encourage or suppress firing by some of those same cells in complex positive or negative feedback loops.

What excites Koch most about the thinking-cell results is the possibility that they may illuminate a fundamental component of cognition. Our comprehension of the world, he says, requires that we ignore much of the data flooding in through our senses. When we turn on a TV or reminisce about a movie, our brains somehow instantly compress raw sensory data into meaningful concepts and categories. This feat may be accomplished at least in part, Koch says, by cells that represent not just this or that particular image of Rocky but ?the platonic ideal of Rocky.?

Quiroga notes that a short story by a fellow Argentinian, Jorge Luis Borges, spelled out what would happen to us if we lacked this capacity for compression. ?Funes the Memorious? tells the tale of a youth who, after falling from a horse and striking his head, becomes gifted, or cursed, with photographic recall of every minute experience. He is so overwhelmed by the infinitude of his perceptions that he retreats into a darkened room. ?To think is to forget a difference, to generalize, to abstract,? Borges writes. ?In the overly replete world of Funes there were nothing but details.? Unlike Danny, Funes had lost the capacity to perceive the platonic ideal of Rocky.

In Danny?s hospital room, weighty philosophical issues yield to more practical concerns, like getting a tray on rollers properly positioned over his lap. ?I?m not an engineer, just a scientist,? Quiroga says apologetically as he struggles with the balky tray. He eventually succeeds with the help of Emily Ho, who is an engineer, and the team?s chief troubleshooter.

As other researchers come and go, Ho remains in Danny?s room, manning the amplifiers, computers, and other equipment. When the readouts from Danny?s microwires go haywire, Ho starts checking lights and other appliances that might be causing electrical interference. Within minutes she traces the problem to the remote-controller that Danny uses to make his bed go up and down. After she unplugs it, the readouts return to normal.

The atmosphere in the room is surprisingly cheery. One reason is the frequent presence of Danny?s father, Bill, owner of a carpeting business. Although silence reigns during experiments, so that Danny doesn?t get distracted, between sessions Bill teases both the researchers and his son. At one point, Ho, watching signals from Danny?s neurons scroll across a computer screen, tells him that he?s got ?great brain cells.?

?Are you kidding?? Bill exclaims. ?He?s got lousy brain cells!?

Danny grins, even more so later after his father fumbles a styrofoam container of Chinese food, sending chicken chunks skidding across the floor. ?Who?s got the lousy cells?? Danny chortles.

Bill turns serious when asked why he and his wife agreed to let their son participate in these studies. ?It?s a duty,? Bill says. Danny, Bill points out, has benefited because many other patients before him have volunteered to be subjects for research. In the future, people suffering from epilepsy or other brain disorders may benefit from what the UCLA team learns from Danny.

For his part, Danny says he enjoys hanging out with the scientists and doing the experiments??as long as there?s no math.?

Image: Scientific American; Dan Saelinger; DOMINIQUE BAYNES (prop styling).

?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=eda4808854a4663ba0ea13add16714c2

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Food Fanatic Recipes of the Week: Fries, Brownies and More!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/food-fanatic-recipes-of-the-week-fries-brownies-and-more/

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Supreme Court could strike down DOMA

Hundreds rally outside the Supreme Court March 27. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

A majority of Supreme Court justices expressed concern Wednesday about a federal law that excludes same-sex couples from marriage.

On the second day of arguments over the legality of gay marriage, the probing questions from both wings of the court suggest the so-called Defense of Marriage Act could be struck down. Such a decision would be a major victory for the gay rights movement, just a day after it appeared unlikely the court would decide the Proposition 8 California case in a way that settles the question of whether same-sex couples can wed.

In Wednesday's arguments, the court's conservative leaning justices asked pointed questions about whether DOMA, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, intrudes into states' traditional right to regulate marriage. The more liberal justices seemed amenable to the argument that DOMA discriminates against gay people and was passed with the clear intention of excluding an unpopular group.

DOMA prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages even in the nine states (and the District of Columbia) that allow them. Justices could strike down the law in a narrow way that would force the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages only in states where it's already allowed, or in a broader way that would make dozens of state gay marriage bans legally vulnerable. Such a broad ruling from the court is considered much less likely.

The Justice Department would typically defend a federal law being challenged in the Supreme Court, but the Obama administration has declined to defend DOMA in court because it believes it is unconstitutional. Paul Clement, an attorney chosen by members of the House of Representatives who support DOMA, defended it instead.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative-leaning swing vote who has written two landmark opinions affirming gay rights, seemed unconvinced by the argument advanced by Clement that DOMA defines marriage as only between opposite-sex individuals to avoid confusion. Clement said that the federal government has an interest in "uniformity," and had passed the law to avoid having to treat same-sex couples differently based on whether they live in states that allow gay marriage or not.

Kennedy pointed out that DOMA excludes married same-sex couples in more than 1,100 federal statutes and laws, which has a substantial impact on the "day to day life" of those couples and their children. He said the law does not provide uniformity because it affects "only one aspect of marriage."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said excluding married gay couples from sick leave, tax benefits, Social Security survivor benefits, and hundreds of other federal benefits and obligations relegates same-sex couples to a "skim milk marriage" that is substantially worse than what heterosexual couples are allowed.

Justice Elena Kagan suggested that the law was not passed for uniformity's sake, but to discriminate. She read aloud from the House report on the law when it passed 17 years ago saying it expressed "moral disapproval of homosexuality."

Chief Justice John Roberts objected to the argument that Congress passed DOMA based on a dislike or hatred for gays and lesbians. He asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, representing the Obama administration, whether he believed the 84 senators who voted for it at the time were all motivated by animus. Verrilli said the lawmakers could have voted for DOMA due to a "lack of careful reflection," but that the law discriminates no matter why it was passed.

Roberts also objected to Attorney Roberta Kaplan's characterization of gay people as a disadvantaged minority group lacking political power.

"As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your case," Roberts said.

But Roberts did seem concerned by the federalist argument. He, Kennedy and Justice Samuel Alito posed tough questions about whether the federal government was overreaching with the statute. Kennedy said DOMA did not seem to recognize states's "historical" responsibility for marriage and suggested that the central question of the case is whether the federal government has the authority to regulate marriage.

Both attorneys arguing to strike down DOMA refused to make a federalist argument against the law, however?instead insisting it was a discrimination case.

Before even getting to the merits of the case, the justices spent nearly an hour grappling with whether they should decide it at all because of procedural issues.They appointed Harvard professor Vicki Jackson to make the case that House Republicans do not have the legal right, or standing, to appeal the lower court's decision.

Several justices were also critical of the Obama administration's decision to stop defending the law in court while still enforcing it. Roberts appeared to have serious doubts about the case's procedural issues, repeatedly saying that it is "unprecedented" for the U.S. government to appeal a case while disagreeing with a lower court's ruling.

The two gay marriage cases before the court this term have been dogged by procedural concerns, as both were left orphaned by public officials who no longer wanted to defend them.

On Tuesday, Kennedy wondered whether the court should have agreed to hear the Proposition 8 case at all. Other justices suggested they were skeptical that supporters of Proposition 8 had standing to appeal the case once California officials decided to drop it.

It's possible that neither case could end with a decision. In DOMA, that means the lower court's decision would stand and DOMA would be illegal in the Third Circuit. The plaintiff, Edith Windsor, would be repaid the $360,000 she had to pay in estate taxes when her wife died because the government didn't recognize her marriage in New York, where gay marriage is legal. In the Proposition 8 case, gay marriage would most likely become legal in California if the justices throw it out on standing or do not reach a majority.

A group from Alabama prays in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, before the court's hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay ... more? A group from Alabama prays in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, before the court's hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay marriage case, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) less?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/conservative-justices-stress-federal-overreach-gay-marriage-case-163526050--politics.html

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Trovagene launches easier test for HPV infection

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Shares of Trovagene Inc. jumped Wednesday after the maker of molecular disease-detecting tests launched its new urine-based test for a common, sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer, some other cancer types and genital warts.

Trovagene said the HPV High Risk test looks for 15 different strains of human papilloma virus most likely to cause disease. It involves sophisticated genetic testing of a urine sample to detect snippets of DNA from those 15 strains, all of which can cause cervical cancer, but not genital warts.

The virus, called HPV for short, is the most common sexually transmitted one in the country. About 14 million people are infected each year, and 80 percent of all women are exposed to HPV at some point. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV lurks in an estimated 79 million American women and men, most of whom don't know it.

That's because there is no general HPV test, there's none approved for some of the diseases it can cause and most women getting a routine Pap smear don't get a separate test for HPV at the same time.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, aiming to increase awareness and limit spread of HPV, last year recommended that DNA testing for HPV infection be a mandatory part of women's screenings for cervical cancer.

Both those tests involve an uncomfortable procedure in which a metal instrument is inserted in the vagina to collect cells from the cervix. With a Pap smear, the cells are analyzed for the presence of cancer or pre-cancerous changes, while the HPV test looks for the virus itself.

San Diego-based Trovagene said its product might help overcome roadblocks to widespread testing for HPV, namely the cost, inconvenience and resistance of some patients to the invasive collection of cells from the cervix.

There are at least a few dozen types of HPV. Different types can cause cancer of the cervix, genital warts, warts growing in the throat and, less commonly, cancers of the throat, vagina, vulva, penis and anus.

About 90 percent of HPV infections go away on their own within a couple of years, knocked out by the body's immune system. Patients diagnosed with an HPV infection typically get follow-up tests every six to 12 months to see whether the infection has cleared up or persisted long enough to require treatment.

The Trovagene test, soon to be available through health care providers, would make follow-up tests after diagnosis easier.

Chances of HPV infection can be reduced by use of condoms, limiting number of sexual partners and immunization against most disease-causing types. Two vaccines are recommended for adolescent boys and girls and for men and women through age 26: Merck & Co.'s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Cervarix.

Trovagene shares rose 35 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $6.10 in regular trading Wednesday, then climbed another 65 cents, or 10.7 percent, to $6.75 in after-hours trading. Shares have traded in a range of $1.86 to $8.96 over the past 52 weeks.

___

Follow Linda A. Johnson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trovagene-launches-easier-test-hpv-191356444.html

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Porsha Williams Divorce: It's Over!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/porsha-williams-divorce-its-over/

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Icahn opens door to Blackstone tie-up on Dell bid

By Greg Roumeliotis and Soyoung Kim

(Reuters) - Two of the most prominent U.S. investors could upset Michael Dell's $24.4 billion buyout bid for Dell Inc, after billionaire Carl Icahn opened the door to an alliance with Blackstone Group to wrest control of the computer maker from its founder.

Icahn said on Monday he has started preliminary talks with Blackstone. Both sides have made bids that could be superior to the offer on the table from Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake.

The backroom negotiations show how what started as Michael Dell and Silver Lake's plan to take the PC maker private could turn into a months-long process.

Icahn has proposed paying $15 per share for 58 percent of Dell. Blackstone has indicated it can pay more than $14.25 per share. The Silver Lake group offered $13.65 per share for all of Dell.

Dell and Silver Lake declined comment. Blackstone did not respond to requests for comment.

Icahn, who owns a $1 billion stake in Dell, said both his and Blackstone's offers give the company's largest investors what they wanted most - the ability to retain publicly traded shares of Dell.

Southeastern Asset Management, Dell's largest independent shareholder and one of the most vocal opponents of the Silver Lake plan, said it was pleased about that prospect, as well as the higher offers.

Another investor, Bill Nygren, co-manager of the Oakmark Fund, added, "Given the wide range of estimated values for Dell shares, if all else is nearly equal, we believe a proposal is superior if it allows investors who want to remain invested in Dell the opportunity to do so."

The outcome of the auction would determine the future of Dell, which was regarded as a model of innovation as recently as the early 2000s but has struggled to make up for declining market share of the global PC market.

A source earlier said that Dell had slashed its internal forecast for fiscal 2013 operating profit to about $3 billion - down sharply from the $3.7 billion it had predicted previously.

Dell's shares closed up 2.6 percent to $14.51 on Monday, indicating investors expect a deal to be done at a price higher than the Silver Lake bid. Earlier in the session they touched $14.64, the stock's highest level in 10 months.

"We continue to believe a higher bid than the current $13.65 per share offer will likely be offered but, based on our assumptions, a $15 per share bid may be a threshold," Wells Fargo Securities analyst Maynard Um said in a note.

"We believe a higher Silver Lake/Dell bid might still be a more attractive and strategic option, assuming information regarding the public stub and financial services sale is accurate," he said.

Late on Sunday, two sources close to the matter said that the Silver Lake group had no plans yet to increase or amend its offer until Dell's special committee comes out with a ruling on the rival proposals.

DOES DELL STAY?

As part of his deal with the special committee of Dell's board that is running the auction process, Michael Dell has to explore the possibility of working with third parties on alternative offers. On Monday, Dell said he had reaffirmed that commitment.

Still, Michael Dell is very concerned that Blackstone's offer would dismantle the PC maker he founded in 1984, two people close to Michael Dell said. The founder is worried that the buyout firm's plans would be inconsistent with his strategy to reinvest in the company, the sources said.

Michael Dell is planning to meet with Blackstone to discuss the private equity firm's bid, two other sources familiar with the situation said.

Blackstone made no mention of asset sales in its preliminary offer. But people familiar with the matter have told Reuters that Blackstone has considered a potential sale of Dell's financial services business as part of its turnaround plan.

Michael Dell's role also remains unclear in a Blackstone-led deal. The buyout firm has already made an unsuccessful push to recruit Oracle Corp President Mark Hurd to run Dell if it takes over the company, one source familiar with the situation said last week. {ID:nL1N0CD0MI]

A number of issues remain to be addressed, a separate person familiar with the matter said on Monday of Michael Dell. Among them, what Michael Dell would do if a buyer wanted to sell a business and he did not, the source said.

Potential buyers are likely to want to sit down with Michael Dell to discuss his plans for a privately held Dell Inc in more detail, the source said, adding that Blackstone had not done so yet.

Switching bidding allegiances could preserve an affiliation with the company for Michael Dell, who founded the technology giant at the age of 19 with just $1,000.

Under the Silver Lake plan, he planned to contribute his roughly 16 percent share of Dell's equity to the deal, along with cash from his investment firm MSD Capital, and remain CEO of the company. Silver Lake is putting up $1.4 billion.

(Additional reporting by Nadia Damouni and Jessica Toonkel in New York and Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Paritosh Bansal and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dells-board-evaluates-rival-bids-source-004054117--sector.html

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Don't chase the money - Chase the passion. - ShoeMoney Internet ...

I get messages from people all the time who want to make money online. ?They read the blog/newsletter, ?see my phat AdSense Check and think I have the magic bullett.

Guess what I DO! ?Prepare yourself for it!

You have passion and expertise about something. ?Share that with people.

Let me give you some examples. ?I will start with myself.

  • In 2003, while working a full time job and also reselling computers online, ?I discovered a way to format ringtones and wallpapers for my Nextel phone. ?I loved doing it. ?It was a fun hobby. ?Long story short ? I ?took that knowledge and created a website that others could upload ringtones to. ?By 2005 the site was getting a ton of traffic. ?I got a call from Google that suggested I put AdSense code on the site. ?Overnight that site turned into a multimillion dollar website that I sold in 2010.
  • In 2007, ?after having success with contextual advertising and affiliate marketing I thought it would be fun to create AdSense looking ads that got high clickthroughs but instead of going through Google I would bypass them and use my affiliate link. ?Then I thought it would be fun to allow others to use this. ?Then one day at a conference a person from eBay said eBay affiliates were doing really well with my ShoeMoney Ads ad network and suggested I build it just around eBay. ?I created AuctionAds that did exactly that. ?I created this with a part time developer and within 4 months it was generating over 2 million a month and I sold the company literally 4 months to the day that it launched. ?Again this was a fun project that was almost like a hobby.
  • In 2003 I started a blog for fun sharing my life. ?Not a ?how to make money? blog but just shit I was doing. ?It evolved into what you are reading now. ?And its made millions of dollars.
  • In 2010 I shared my knowledge and experience on how I learned to make money online via a product called the ShoeMoney System. ?It?s sold over 2 million dollars worth to date and still continues to sell.
  • In 2011 for fun I created a website called freeseoreport.com. ?It was a free site where people could run a report on their site and a keyword they were trying to rank for then showed them what they were doing vs the top 10 people in every country and ever search engine. ?This was something I found of value myself in trying to figure out backlinks and onpage stuff that I was missing out on. ?I made money on the ?backend? by sending people value added emails educating them on a variety of subjects related to seo with affiliate links. ?There was also a viral component where for each person you?referred?to the website you got another free report. ?The site was getting about 600 new people a day running about 3,000 reports per day. ? The site was purchased 7 months later by an SEO firm.
  • Many years ago, ?really before I was well known, ?3 other marketers and myself started a high dollar conference called the elite retreat. ?Its 8k per person and limited to 30 people. ? We will be having our 10th event this fall.
  • In 2012 I created an automated email marketing system called the PAR Program. ?This is my total focus now. ?I stumbled into this because I took what I loved about email marketing and all the money we had made from it, ?did it for a large company and after seeing the results started offering it as a service. ?I have done ZERO marketing (I am bogged down with sales) and the company is growing like a rocket.

Ive done other stuff but those are the key ones. ?I have also had failures. ?Not because they were bad ideas but I just did not have the resources time wise to devote to making them work. ?All of them were fun projects but more importantly great experiences.

Lets look at others:

  • A friend of mine who is also passionate and educated about mixed martial arts started a site called ufcjunkie.wordpress.com (now mmajunkie.com due to trademark). ?He started the site as a hobby just putting his thoughts about the world of mixed martial arts online. ?He started the site on a wordpress free hosted platform. ?Within 5 years the site sold to USA TODAY for 8 figures.
  • 2 kids from hawaii, who were passionate about cats, thought it would be funny to post a picture of a cat captioning it with what they think the cat would say in ?cat language?. ?They uploaded a picture regularly and people found them funny. ?Again this was on a free wordpress hosted blog. ?The site was called icanhazcheeseburger.wordpress.com. ?The fun site got massive traction so they allowed others to upload their funny cat photos. ?Then one day they stumbled on to a blog called ShoeMoney.com, ?saw some guy holding a 134k AdSense check and put the code on their site. ?It made a ton and they sold the site for millions.
  • A long time ago a kid who grew up with his parents owning a wine selling business decided to start blogging about wine. ? People started stumbling on to the site who were also interested in wine. ?Then he started recording himself and the video?s started to become very viral. ?So much so that he got invites to appear on Conan Obrien and Ellen. ?He is now a multimillionaire with a #1 best selling book bringing in residual income. ?His site is?winelibrary.com and his name is?Gary Vaynerchuk.
  • A?Chinese?immigrant with very broken english started a blog because he was interested in making money online. ?Then he decided to show how much he was making online monthly. ?Started with very little. ?Then the blog started getting traction. ?He did this all while having a computer business. ?But he kept on sharing how he was making money online from his blog and exactly how much he was making. ?People loved it and he started getting a following. ?The site literally is called ?I make money by telling people I make money online?. ?Thats it! ? And now his site literally is nothing but promoting affiliate products or doing paid reviews of people?s ?how to make money? products. ?It worked out for him? ?He now makes a high six figure income basically doing nothing?. ?He has someone doing his posts for him as he travels around the world making more money month after month. ?He recently released a product keeping the same theme of being transparent and walking you through how to make money with a blog. ?He crushed it. ?- ?John Chow of johnchow.com
  • A former collegate pitcher decided to make a website offering a product to teach people how to gain more MPH on their fast ball offered a dvd set doing just that. ?He now has a thriving business at topvelocity.net
  • A guy started a blog making fun of celebrities for fun. ?Years later it evolved into perezhilton.com

See a trend here?

Lets get back to the original question? ? ?I want to make money online. ?Where do I start? ?

I don?t know ANY successful internet millionaire who did not stumble onto their internet success. ?None of them had visions of being a internet millionaire. ?They had passions, interest, and education about a subject and?pursued?it. ?That is the key. ? None of them had to quit their day jobs. ?They all started because it was a hobby. ?It was fun?

The one thing I have learned is when someone starts something that they consider ?work? they will give up quickly.

  • I have handed over websites to people that were generating hundreds of dollars a month for them to take and run with. ?Guess what? ?They didn?t do anything they just sucked up the revenue and let it die.
  • I have given PPC keywords to people that I was making a lot of money with promoting affiliate offers. ?Guess what? ?They ran it until they died then came to me for more keywords. ?The didn?t research or even care how it was making money.

?But honestly thats just the top of the ice berg. ?

For everyone who is making money on line there is millions of people who ?want to?. ?Out of those very few will take action. ?There is no doubt anyone can do it and the best part about it is you can do it from anywhere in the world no matter what level of education or experience.

This?opportunity?will not be around forever. ?Mostly because big brands are just now starting to see the value of some of the marketing techniques and dumping in tons of money where guys like us just can?t compete. ?Fortunately they move at a snails pace and for now guys sitting at home can do much more cutting edge techniques that big businesses can?t keep up.

I got a little off topic but my point is that if you really want to make money online it costs you no money at all to take action right now. ?And I mean RIGHT NOW.

Chase the passion not the money.

?

?


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Source: http://www.shoemoney.com/2013/03/25/dont-chase-the-money-chase-the-passion

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Bringing home the bacon: More men doing the grocery shopping.

More and more men are doing the grocery shopping as women's opportunities expand.

By Lou Carzolo,?Contirbutor / March 24, 2013

A customer checks out the ready made food section at a grocery store in Cincinnati. A number of studies suggest that men have been shouldering more household duties, like grocery shopping, over the past few decades.

Al Behrman/AP/File

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Almost 500 years after John Donne proclaimed that no man is an island, it can now be said that some men have a man aisle ? a sign of the grocery-shopping times that illustrates how roles have shifted in 21st century families. This month, the National Retail Federation's Stores Magazine even reports that there's a change afoot in who's doing the shopping, though this shift first came to light via 2010 U.S. Census figures, which revealed 20% of fathers with preschool-aged children and working wives were the primary caregivers at home.

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Yet, if the media needed more tangible proof, it found it in a somewhat silly place: the corner of a New York City grocery store dedicated to manly goods, and dubbed "The Man Isle" [sic] by the operators of Westside Market NYC. Media outlets such as the New York Post and Los Angeles Times couldn't get enough, though a closer look reveals that this "man aisle" is more marketing gimmick than manly substance. Check out the store photos posted by Business Insider and you'll see what we mean: Doritos? Ramen noodles? Teriyaki beef jerky? Hmmm. Could this really be the "caveman aisle" instead?

Still, the hype over one store's cheap (and successful) publicity stunt can't obscure the overarching facts: More men grocery shop today than the guys of previous generations. Chalk up the Great Recession as a key factor: The Center for American Progress reports that between December 2007 and mid-2009, a sharp rise occurred in the number of married couples where the woman was left to bring home the bacon because her husband was unemployed. And so the men (including yours truly) stepped up to literally bring home the bacon.

But do men need a "man aisle" to get the hang of grocery shopping, or is such a dedicated aisle merely a crutch for men to feel more comfortable and macho at the supermarket? Historical trends lead us to believe that the answer is no; just as women have diversified in skills and opportunities over the last few generations, we now see more men cooking at home, and taking an interest in the gourmet offerings at stores such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. And as the reporter of this story can attest, a family that's bucking traditional gender roles in the name of making complicated economic times work, needs no incentive from gimmicky man aisles.

But don't expect the "man aisle" trend to slow down anytime soon. Nielsen?reported in 2011 that men are shopping more than ever, while the St. Louis Post-Dispatch cites statistics showing that 31% of grocery shopping is being done by men, up from about 14% in the 1980s.

That study, by the way, was done by the broadcast equivalent of the man aisle: ESPN, the sports network. That fact alone speaks volumes to us. But what say you, dealnews readers? Are you a household wherein the man handles the domestic duties? If so, do you find these man aisles enticing or irrelevant? Sound off in the comments below.

Lou Carzolo is a contributor to Dealnews.com

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/XWoFQJpnpy0/Bringing-home-the-bacon-More-men-doing-the-grocery-shopping

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Snowstorm takes aim at Plains, Midwest

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? An early spring snowstorm forced the cancellation of more than 100 flights at Denver International Airport and closed several roads Saturday as it moved eastward, dumping more than a foot of snow in some places.

The snow started falling around midnight in northeast Colorado and then moved into northwest Kansas and southwest Nebraska.

Ten to 15 inches of snow had fallen by Saturday afternoon north of Interstate 70 in northwest Kansas and northeast Colorado, with another 1 to 2 inches expected in the area, said Ryan Husted, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Goodland, Kan., where 15 inches of snow had fallen.

The storm also dropped up to 7 inches of snow in southwestern Nebraska before tapering off Saturday afternoon, said David Pearson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service near Omaha, Neb.

"But the wind is really blowing, so visibility in those areas is still going to be pretty low," Pearson said.

Husted said winds gusting at speeds of up to 45 mph were creating snow drifts of 2 to 3 feet in parts of Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska.

I-70 had been shut down Saturday from Denver to Colby, Kan., because of poor visibility. The northbound lanes of Interstate 25 also were closed south of Fort Collins, Colo., because of multiple accidents.

"It's a mess here," said Jerry Killingsworth, a National Weather Service meteorologist also based in Goodland, Kan. "Heavy, wet snow, tree limbs down."

At the Goodland 24/7 truck stop, truckers milled around. With roads in the area closed, they are "just waiting," said Samantha Lamb, the truck stop's assistant manager.

"Our hotel across the street from us is pretty full," Lamb said. "Our parking lot has a good 35, 40 trucks in it."

As the system moved eastward, it threatened to inconvenience fans attending the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in Kansas City.

Scott Blair, a meteorologist in Pleasant Hill, Mo., said light showers and drizzle began switching over to snow Saturday afternoon in Kansas City and western Missouri. The heaviest snowfall was expected overnight, with up to 6 inches forecast for the Kansas City metropolitan area.

"If people don't need to be out driving tomorrow that would certainly be recommended," he said.

Dan Gavitt, vice president of the NCAA men's basketball championships, said teams and officials already are onsite and that no game delays are anticipated.

"This region routinely has winter snow and has the appropriate equipment and procedures to manage these winter conditions," Gavitt said in a written statement. "We encourage fans planning to attend games to pay attention to the weather, use good judgment and follow any directions from local authorities regarding travel and weather."

North Carolina coach Roy Williams was nonplussed.

"It's no distraction, unless the roof goes off, we'll still be able to play and the whole bit like that," Williams said.

Elsewhere, some churches and other organizations were calling off events. Among them, the final game of the Emporia State baseball series with Southwest Baptist was canceled.

Denver International Airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said about 106 flights have been canceled, many of which involved commuter jets headed to nearby destinations or to mountain towns.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said up to a foot of new snow in the mountains could create dangerous avalanche conditions.

Colorado State Patrol troopers also spent part of Saturday working a crash near Johnstown involving a tractor-trailer that burst into flames. An estimated 20 to 50 vehicles, including four tractor-trailers, crashed or slid off the roadway in the area. The patrol said several people were hospitalized, but no fatalities have been reported.

The system will move into Illinois and Indiana overnight and into Sunday.

Meteorologist Dan Smith with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, Ill., said snowstorms aren't uncommon in early spring. The latest the area has seen snow, he said, was April 23, in 1910.

"One good thing about (the snowstorms) is it doesn't matter how much you get, it usually doesn't stick around too long because temperatures start to warm up pretty good," he said.

Farther south, tornadoes were possible in Louisiana and Mississippi, while strong winds and low humidity could lead to forest fires and wildfires in parts of New Mexico and West Texas.

___

Associated Press writers Jason Keyser in Chicago, Thomas Peipert in Denver, David Skretta in Kansas City, Mo., and Margery A. Beck in Omaha, Neb., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/snowstorm-takes-aim-plains-midwest-171700123.html

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