Mumford & Sons hold top spot on Billboard 200 in slow music week

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British folk band Mumford & Sons held their reign at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart with their Grammy-winning album "Babel" in a slow week that saw no new debuts in the top 10.

Mumford & Sons, who won Album of the Year at the Grammy awards earlier this month and performed twice on stage, saw a second week of Grammy-related boosts as "Babel" sold 62,000 copies, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

It is the fifth non-consecutive week at the top spot for the album, which was released in September 2012 and became one of last year's biggest-selling records.

The Grammy awards boost also helped Bruno Mars' "Unorthodox Jukebox" reach No. 2 with 48,000 copies, The Lumineers self-titled album at No. 5, and Alabama Shakes' "Boys & Girls" at No. 6.

The official "2013 Grammy Nominees" compilation dropped from to No.7 from No. 2, FUN.'s "Some Nights" dropped one spot to No. 8, Rihanna's "Unapologetic" climbed six places to No. 9 and Taylor Swift's "Red" dropped to No. 10 from No.4.

Josh Groban's "All That Echoes" at No. 3 and the "Now Music 45" compilation at No. 4 were the only two entries not related to the Grammys this week.

On the Digital Songs chart, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop" single held at No. 1 for the seventh consecutive week, with 363,000 downloads.

New York-based electronic artist Baauer's viral music video hit "Harlem Shake" climbed one spot to No. 2 this week, with 297,000 copies, while Bruno Mars' latest ballad, "When I Was Your Man," rounded out the top three.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mumford-sons-hold-top-spot-billboard-200-slow-191802075.html

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Email, voicemail, text: no response. What gives?

AP file

"We connect more but communicate less, in many ways" now despite all our gadgets, says Janet Sternberg, an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University.

By Martha Irvine, Associated Press

Technology is supposed to make us easier to reach, and often does. But the same modes of communication that have hooked us on the instant reply also can leave us feeling forgotten.

We send an email, a text or an instant chat message. We wait ? and nothing happens. Or we make a phone call. Leave a voicemail message. Wait. Again, nothing.

We tend to assume it's a snub, and sometimes it is.

Erica Swallow, a 26-year-old New Yorker, says she's heard a former boyfriend brag about how many text messages he never reads. "Who does that?" she asks, exasperatedly.

These days, though, no response can mean a lot of things. Maybe some people don't see messages because they prefer email and you like Twitter. Maybe we're just plain overwhelmed, and can't keep up with the constant barrage of communication.

Whatever the reason, it's causing a lot of frustration. A recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 39 percent of cellphone owners say people they know complain because they don't respond promptly to phone calls or text messages. A third of cell owners also have been told they don't check their phones frequently enough.

It happens in love. It happens in business.

"Tell me to go to hell, but just tell me something! I'm getting lonely over here." That's what Cherie Kerr, a public relations executive in Santa Ana, Calif., jokes she's considered putting after her email signature.

It happens in families.

Last year, Terri Barr, a woman on Long Island, N.Y., with grown children, sent her son a birthday present ? a $350 gift certificate for "a wonderful kayaking trip for six, lunch, wine, equipment," she says.

She sent him an email with the details, but he didn't respond. She says she then telephoned and texted him to tell him it was a present. He eventually sent a one-line email, she says, telling her he was too swamped to open her email gift right then.

Instant communication "can be wonderful ? but also terrible," says Barr, who shared the story more as a lament of modern communication than a reprimand of her son, whose busy work life, she acknowledged, often takes him overseas.

So this year, she sent him a birthday gift by snail-mail in a box. "He actually opened it," she says, and they've been talking more frequently since then.

Connecting more, communicating less
Many other people, though, sit waiting for responses that never come.

"That's where the frustration lies ? it's in the ambiguity," says Susannah Stern, a professor of communication studies at San Diego State University.

Though we often assume the worst, experts say we shouldn't.

Frequently, they say, people simply ? and unknowingly ? choose the wrong way to contact someone.

There are times in life when you need a little help, not from your spouse or an expert, but from your friends. TODAY's Willie Geist and his best bud of almost 20 years, Megan Colarossi, share a little friendly advice on everything from relationship issues to parenting challenges.

"I admit to having often been lax with checking my work number voicemail, which has led to me not responding to people waiting for my reply," says Janet Sternberg, an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University.

She's also had technical glitches. For instance: thinking she'd sent a text message to someone overseas and then, when he didn't respond, realizing she had his international number programmed incorrectly in her phone.

"The sheer management of all these devices and channels is exhausting and sometimes daunting, leaving less and less time for actual communication," Sternberg says. "We connect more but communicate less, in many ways."

That's why many people say they have no choice but to prioritize ? and to respond only to the most urgent messages.

That describes Mahrinah von Schlegel, who's working to launch a Chicago-based "incubator" that will offer shared office space and other resources for fledgling tech entrepreneurs.

"People get angry when not answered and send multiple messages," says von Schlegel, the 30-year-old managing director of the firm, known as Cibola. She says missed communication has caused her to lose some business deals. Often, it's when people try to contact her by Facebook or direct message on Twitter and she doesn't see the messages for days. Email, she says, is her preferred mode of communication.

But even then, she says, there are only so many hours in the day: "I still need time to eat and sleep and shower."

As she sees it, getting no response ? even when she's the one unsuccessfully trying to contact someone ? is just part of life in a high-tech world. A lot of young people say that, so they've become accustomed to having to try again, or try a different mode of communication if something is truly urgent.

"I think there's this understanding because we've grown up being bombarded by communication," says Mike Gnitecki, a 28-year-old special education teacher in Longview, Texas.

So he's willing to try "multiple points of contact" when trying to reach his students' parents ? because, if he wants a response, "that's just how it is."

Mass texting
David Gillman, a 25-year-old Chicagoan, also opts for brevity and efficiency by sending mass texts to several friends at once to save time.

He only expects those who have time or inclination to respond, and doesn't take it personally if they don't.

It gets trickier, he says, with people from older generations, including his parents, because they like to leave him voicemails, which he doesn't like to take time to check.

"I need to get better about that," he concedes.

Those types of missed communications ? and a lack of response ? can cause "turbulence" in a relationship, says Dan Faltesek, an assistant professor of social media at Oregon State University. But, he adds, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"It can be a little awkward, but you should talk to people about how you like to talk," Faltesek says. "Everyone will be happier when they say what the rules are."

And it'll go even more smoothly, he says, when people are willing to step outside their own favorite mode of communication to those preferred by the person they're contacting.

"Use the reverse golden rule," Faltesek advises. "Treat others the way THEY like to be treated."

An example: Gnitecki, the teacher in Texas, is considering sending a survey home to ask parents how they'd like to be contacted.

Tech and communication experts agree that choosing a primary means of communication, and letting it be known, is one way to improve communication.

Rebecca Otis, content and social media manager at Digital Third Coast, an Internet marketing firm in Chicago, also recommends getting rid of email and social media accounts you don't check regularly. And text messaging, she says, should be reserved for communication that requires a more urgent reply.

Finding ways to prioritize, and receive, the most important messages also helps.

San Francisco-based AwayFind Inc. is among companies that have developed applications that help filter email ? in this instance, alerting users to important emails on their mobile devices.

In the end, we can't possibly respond to everything, says Jared Goralnick, the company's founder and CEO, who's also part of a nonprofit group called the Information Overload Research Group, which looks for ways to deal with out-of-control communication.

As he sees it, it's good to be responsive, "but not to set an expectation that you'll be available for everything."

"That's just not sustainable," he says.

In other words, if we're going to keep our sanity, we'll sometimes have to accept the no response.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2013/02/26/17106226-email-voicemail-text-no-response-what-gives?lite

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Texting Gloves Dangerous in Winter, Says expert

Feb. 26, 2013 ? The popular half-gloves that leave fingers uncovered for texting may be good for communicating electronically but they may also lead to permanent loss of fingers due to exposure to the cold.

"Fingers are one of the first body parts to feel the effects of the cold and damp and along with toes, ears and the nose are frequently subjected to frostbite and even amputation," says Arthur Sanford, MD, Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns, Loyola University Health System. "Better to fat finger a text due to wearing winter gloves than to lose a finger due to the cold."

Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas. "Blood vessels start to constrict at or below 32 degrees Celsius to preserve body temperature," says Sanford. "The lack of blood in areas of the body can lead to freezing and the death of skin tissue."

Sanford says he treats frostbite in people of all ages. "The old lady who goes out in the snow to get her mail, falls, breaks a hip and lays in the cold and wet for hours until being discovered is a typical victim of frostbite," he says. "But the younger person who goes on a drinking bender and walks home in the snow and damp is also a familiar sight at Loyola trauma."

When suffering from prolonged exposure to cold, use room temperature or slightly warm water to gently revitalize the body. "Do not use hot water, do not rub with handfuls of snow and do not vigorously massage the frozen area," warns Sanford. Overstimulation can actually worsen the situation.

Winter wellness tips from Sanford and Loyola include the following:

? Dress in layers. "If a sweater, pair of socks or other article of clothing gets wet, you can quickly remove it and still be protected from the cold and wet," says Sanford.

? Wear a hat, gloves or mittens and proper footwear including socks and boots. "Texting gloves may look cool and be handy for communicating but it is better to wear full gloves or mittens and save your fingers," says Sanford.

? When outerwear becomes wet, go inside and change to dry clothing. "Wet socks especially are dangerous and can lead to a condition called trench foot which results in poor blood circulation, decay of tissue, infections and even amputation," says Sanford.

? If affected area becomes numb, turns red or blue, swells or feels hot, go to the emergency department. "An emergency physician will assess the tissue and take the proper steps to save the body part," says Sanford.

Hypothermia, when the body temperature is below 95 degrees F(35 degrees C), was the cause of death for 700 Americans between 1979 -- 1998. "Frostbite in January, operate in July is a common mantra here at Loyola," says Sanford. "Bundling up for winter may take you out of media circulation temporarily but better that than to permanently lose the ability to text due to frostbite."

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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/top_news/top_health/~3/Fix8HP4hpmE/130226141235.htm

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College Common Sense ? Going to College and Paying for It | At ...

Admit it- when faced with the challenge of helping your homeschooled students apply to colleges, and figuring out financial aid and scholarships, don?t you wish someone would just hold your hand and walk you through it?

That?s what Denise Ames has done with College Common Sense- Going to College and Paying For It. We reviewed the online subscription?and found it thorough and packed with useful information that our 16, 14, and 11 year old all absorbed with interest.

In brief, the online course is six video sessions, each approximately 20 minutes long, and with an accompanying .pdf file for you to download and print. The .pdf files are a slightly abridged transcript of each session, which makes them an efficient tool for note-taking and future reference. Sprinkled throughout are all the links to websites that students will need to access in order to work through the process of considering the cost of college, applying for financial aid, and finding scholarships.

?How do you eat an elephant??

?One bite at a time.?

This program takes a lengthy and intimidating task, and chops it into time managed and mentally chewable bits for parents and students.

Starting with the first video, ?The Big Picture?, Denise explains briefly, with a combination of slides and speaking on camera, the three major steps of going to college, as well as the real cost of going to college ? not just the price of tuition. This is a great introductory session for both parents and kids to watch together. The .pdf file also contains a college campus visit checklist. Be sure to set aside time for all the discussions that these videos will generate. We sat at the table and talked for at least 45 minutes about our educational goals and plans after viewing just this first session.

The second and third videos are ?How Financial Aid Works? and ??All About the Free Money?. While these are probably of more interest to parents holding on to their checkbooks for dear life, students need to know what it takes for them to qualify for financial aid and scholarships. One of the things Denise emphasizes throughout is that the student must take ownership and responsibility for their education, and be involved in every step of the process. Parents have an important role, but the student truly is pivotal.

Also included with the files for these sessions are worksheets for using FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and calculating the Cost of Attending.

The unique and valuable gem right in the middle of College Common Sense is session #5 ?The System That Works?. Anything that involves a 3-ring binder, dividers, and a highlighter sounds totally cool to my compulsively organized mind! Denise has created a system for keeping track of what would otherwise feel like an overwhelming task. In this section she outlines seven steps for doing scholarships. If a scholarship requires personal references or an essay, the instructions for these are included as well.

I appreciated all the details about different kinds of scholarships and where they come from, and how to make prudent and informed decisions every step of the way. The exercise at the end of the fifth session using the examples of real scholarships illustrates the differences in types of scholarship and the application process.

?You in the Process? brings the focus and responsibility for the entire procedure back to the student. It?s the one time that your child needs to be completely self-involved, but in a good way. Thankfully the file contains the outline of this session, because we will come back to all of this wise advice again and again.

The last video session truly does ?Pull It All Together?. I?ve told my kids over the years that their lives will be the sum total of the decisions they?ve made. Denise puts it this way-

The people we call lucky are the ones who recognize the opportunities as they pass through their lives and take advantage of them.

We were inspired by this program to start using Denise?s binder system to keep all of the future reference information organized as we research the college question for our high schoolers. The front of the binder contains all of the College Common Sense files for each video, along with our notes. Both Noah and Emma have their own section to organize their specific plans, and we are keeping it on a coffee table in our school room so that it is always in view. There is something motivating about seeing it there every day, and it helps remind us to regularly review and accomplish what needs to be done next.

There?s more to College Common Sense, though. Each week we received an email with lesson plan ideas, some even directed toward middle schoolers. At first a parent might think that considering college during middle school is a bit premature, but the earlier parents start planning the possible financial costs, the better. And the tween years are a great time for kids to start thinking ahead about what direction they?d like to take their education. It?s been my experience that the sooner a child owns their education, the more invested and self-motivated they become. This program resonated with me as a parent because Denise also approaches this topic from that perspective.

To sample Denise?s wisdom, gained from 10+ years experience in college admissions and financial aid counseling, you can subscribe to the free newsletter, and receive free lesson plans via email. Check out the links on her website for scholarship and grant information, colleges, and helpful articles from around the web for students to read and ponder.

College Common Sense is available as a DVD and workbook for $50 + $5 shipping/handling, or a one-year online access to the video and workbook materials for $25.

Does all this feel like too much information? Have doubts about whether or not your child is college bound? Thinking about skipping the traditional college route and using an alternative method to earn a degree? This course still applies to you, as we do not know what direction the Lord has in mind for our children. Having this resource on hand instead of scrambling to figure things out is worth all the Tums at Walgreens.

Others on the Schoolhouse Review Crew?also used College Common Sense.
Click the banner below to find out more.

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Source: http://athomeandschool.com/2013/02/26/going-to-college-and-paying-for-it/

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Pentagon F-35 program chief lashes Lockheed, Pratt

AVALON, Australia (Reuters) - The Pentagon program chief for the F-35 warplane slammed its commercial partners Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government and failing to see the long-term benefits of the project.

U.S. Lieutenant-General Christopher Bogdan made the comments during a visit to Australia, where he has sought to convince lawmakers and generals to stick to a plan to buy 100 of the jets, an exercise complicated by the second grounding of the plane this year and looming U.S. defense cuts.

Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp , is sole supplier of engines to the $396 billion F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin provides the body of the radar-evading jet, the most expensive combat aircraft in history.

"What I see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney doing today is behaving as if they are getting ready to sell me the very last F-35 and the very last engine and are trying to squeeze every nickel out of that last F-35 and that last engine," Bogdan told reporters at the Australian International Airshow in southern Victoria state.

"I want them both to start behaving like they want to be around for 40 years," he added. "I want them to take on some of the risk of this program, I want them to invest in cost reductions, I want them to do the things that will build a better relationship. I'm not getting all that love yet."

A Lockheed Martin executive at the airshow declined to comment when reached by Reuters, saying he was unaware of Bogdan's comments. Executives from Pratt & Whitney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bogdan caused a stir shortly after joining the F-35 program last August when he described the relationship between the government and Lockheed Martin as the worst he'd ever seen. There had been little improvement since then, he said.

"Are they getting better? A little bit," he said. "Are they getting better at a rate I want to see them getting better? No, not yet."

If the project stays on track, Pratt & Whitney will eventually provide 4,000 engines and Lockheed Martin 3,000 planes.

The Pentagon plans to buy 2,443 of the warplanes in the coming decades, although many analysts believe U.S. budget constraints and deficits will reduce that number.

Australia, a close American ally, is considering doubling its fleet of 24 Boeing Co F/A-18 Super Hornets amid delays and setbacks in the F-35 project. That means Canberra could buy far fewer F-35s than initially planned.

LEAKS

Bogdan was also critical of what he suggested were leaks from Pratt & Whitney's camp about the engine issue, which led the Pentagon to suspend F-35 flights last Friday.

Two sources told Reuters that Pratt & Whitney is 99 percent sure the fan blade problem that grounded the jets was not caused by high-cycle fatigue, which could force a costly design change, and the aircraft could be flying again within the week.

"Until all those tests are done and I see the results, I don't know what's going on," Bogdan said. "However ... my gut would tell me it's on the spectrum of the minor side - 99 percent is bold, flying next week is bold."

Bogdan also gave the example of taking six months to close a deal with Pratt & Whitney for engines on its fifth bloc of jets, shortly after General Electric Co had been dropped as a second supplier of engines for the program, leaving Pratt & Whitney as sole supplier for the next 40 years.

"Now, you would think a company like Pratt & Whitney that was just given the greatest Christmas gift you could ever, ever get for a company would act a little differently," Bogdan said.

Bogdan is flying back to the United States this weekend, just in time to hear about the future of U.S. military budgets, which are slated to be cut by nearly $500 billion over the next decade, an amount which could double unless Congress acts in the next week to avert spending reductions known as "sequestration".

Bogdan said he was confident the F-35 program would remain on track and on budget if he was given the discretion to deal with any cuts.

The risk is that money is cut from the $6 billion set aside for the development program by the end of October next year.

"I need every penny of that $6 billion to get over the finish line," Bogdan said. "If they take money out of development something's going to have to give. I'm either going to have to push the program out or I'm going to have to shed capability."

Budget cuts aside, Bogdan said he was confident of bringing the cost of each plane down to around $90 million by 2013, compared to around $120 million now.

Budget cuts have already forced Italy to scale back its F-35 orders, and Turkey has delayed its purchases by two years. Orders from Japan and Israel have buoyed the project, and additional Israeli orders are expected in 2013.

Lockheed is building three different models of the F-35 for the U.S. military and eight countries that helped pay for its development: Britain, Canada, Italy, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia and Norway.

(Editing by Dean Yates)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-f-35-program-chief-lashes-lockheed-pratt-090507792--finance.html

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Mbakwe, Minnesota take down No. 1 Indiana 77-73

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? Indiana was starting to settle in again at No. 1 after weeks of shuffling at the top of the national rankings in this wildly unpredictable season of college basketball.

Trevor Mbakwe and Minnesota stepped forward, flexed their muscles and did their best to push the Hoosiers out.

Mbakwe had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Gophers take down top-ranked Indiana 77-73 on Tuesday night, the seventh time the No. 1 team in The Associated Press' poll has lost a game this season.

"We're trying to do big things so we have to learn from this mistake, but we have to dust it off real fast," Hoosiers star Victor Oladipo said.

Andre Hollins added 16 points for the Gophers (19-9, 7-8 Big Ten), who outrebounded Cody Zeller and the Hoosiers by a whopping 44-30 and solidified their slipping NCAA tournament bid with an emphatic performance against the Big Ten leader. The fans swarmed the court as the last second ticked off, the first time that's happened here in years.

"We weren't physical enough on the glass. That's the bottom line," Indiana coach Tom Crean said.

Zeller was held to nine points with four turnovers for the Hoosiers (24-4, 12-3), who have held the No. 1 ranking for 10 of 17 polls this season including the last four. Oladipo scored 16 points, but 14 of the 17 points by Jordan Hulls came before halftime.

"Cody's certainly capable of a lot," Crean said, "and I think he'll bounce back just fine."

Mbakwe, a sixth-year senior, posted his conference-leading seventh double-double. At 24 years old, he was a man among boys in many ways in this game, dominating both ends of the court when the Gophers needed him most. Minnesota had 23 offensive rebounds.

"We did need to play with a sense of urgency, play with a little edge," Gophers coach Tubby Smith said. "I think Trevor set that tone for us."

Elliott Eliason, who played every bit as well as Zeller, the slender sophomore in the post on the other side, scored seven straight points for Minnesota to tie the game at 46 shortly after Oladipo's reverse layup had given the Hoosiers a 44-36 edge, their biggest of the game.

Hollins, who missed eight of his first nine shots, scraped off a high screen by Eliason to pull up for a 3-pointer and give the Gophers a 51-48 lead. Mbakwe got a rebound to keep a key possession alive then grabbed another board to set up his off-balance bank shot to make it 56-53 in favor of Minnesota.

"I didn't feel I was playing up to my potential lately. I just wanted to come out and be aggressive," Mbakwe said.

Mbakwe was called for a loudly questioned blocking foul, his fourth, with 4:39 remaining on Zeller's fast-break layup and free throw that put the Hoosiers up 59-58. But Austin Hollins answered with a pump-fake layup that drew a foul for a three-point play and a two-point advantage for the Gophers.

The Hoosiers didn't lead again, and Joe Coleman's fast-break dunk with 2:35 left gave Minnesota a 68-61 cushion, enough of one to withstand a couple of 3-pointers by Christian Watford and one by Hulls in the closing minutes.

Mbakwe, who played for Crean when they were at Marquette in 2007-08, has had some of his better games against the Hoosiers.

This was his best.

He gave the Gophers and their home crowd a double-shot of energy early with 10 points in the first 6? minutes, plus a jarring block of Zeller's inside shot that knocked the 7-footer to the court.

"He's a high-level, high-energy, tough guy who plays the game at a desperate level," Crean said. "Obviously I'm biased, but there's no shame in that."

Zeller, Indiana's leading scorer and the second-best shooter in the Big Ten behind Oladipo, was 0 for 4 from the field in the first half with two turnovers, two fouls and two points. The Gophers scored only three points in the last 7 minutes of the half, but they trailed only 34-30.

The Hoosiers are still in position for their first outright Big Ten regular season championship since 1993, with a one-game edge in the loss column over Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin. With home games against Iowa and Ohio State, Indiana could still clinch the title before the finale at Michigan on March 10.

For now, though, the Hoosiers have to regroup and re-establish their inside game after the trampling in the paint they endured here.

"They were relentless on the glass. We just didn't do a great job of boxing them out," Oladipo said.

The Gophers were back on their uniquely raised home court, trying desperately to boost spirits that have sagged under the weight of eight losses in their previous 11 games. Smith even had the team meet with a sports psychologist. They hadn't topped 58 points in their previous five games. After being ranked in 11 straight polls, the Gophers didn't get one vote this week.

They'll get a few in the next one.

"We've had a lot of people supporting them, encouraging them. I think they knew how important the game was, but I sensed a very calm, matter-of-fact group of guys," Smith said, adding: "They're very confident about who they are."

___

Follow Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mbakwe-minnesota-down-no-1-indiana-77-73-022747229--spt.html

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Low profile for sport on BBC power list - Women's Views on News

The Radio 4 programme Woman?s Hour recently published its list of the UK?s most powerful women.?

Out of the 100 women featured on the Power List, just four were from the world of sport: Clare Balding, Karren Brady, Heather Rabbatts and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.

The top twenty was ranked in order of power and was topped, somewhat bizarrely in my view, by HM The Queen.

The other 80 were listed in alphabetical order, and the sporting four featured in this group.

But what is power and how can it be measured?

The Woman?s Hour website?s?definition?was based on a list of questions:

?Which women have the biggest impact on our economy, society, politics and culture?

?Who has the ability to inspire change as a role model or a thinker?

?Does power boil down to having the money to make things happen?

?Has new technology changed what it is to be powerful??

The Woman?s Hour Power List, the site continued, looked at ?the achievements of British women across public life and offer some measure of the progress women have made in society?.

It hoped to ?shine a light on the top female politicians, business women and leaders in their field ? from areas as diverse as finance, education, health, engineering and the arts?.

And it asked how much power these women have in modern Britain.

Anyone could be nominated via an online form. The nominees were then judged by a panel comprising Eve Pollard, former Woman?s Hour editor Jill Burridge, Baroness Oona King, writer Val McDermid, journalist Dawn O?Porter and Priti Patel MP.

In addition to this, ?expert witnesses? could be called to advise on specific areas.

I was going to put a name forward, but I wasn?t quite sure where or if sport would fit into it.

I was glad to see four did actually make the list, but there could have been so many more.

So, if you?ll indulge me, I?d like to mention a few outstanding women from sport who I think should have made the list.

But first, a look at the four women who did make it.

They are a diverse group, coming at their roles from varying angles, but with a shared love of sport and a will to influence the future.

Clare Balding was a figure of ridicule when she started her broadcasting career.

She still has her detractors, but they are now in a minority and Balding is undoubtedly a rising star.

She has gone from being ?the horsey one? to being able to show a real depth of knowledge in everything she covers. Her stock rose greatly during the London Olympics when her hard work clearly paid off with universal acknowledgement as one of the best broadcasters around.

Since then she seems to have gained confidence and is not afraid to make comments on wider issues pertaining to women.

On the Radio 4 website Balding is quoted as saying, ?I think ?ambitious? is one of those adjectives used for women in a derogatory way.

?And, yet, I think ambition is crucial in life ? you have to know what you might be capable of and push yourself slightly beyond it.?

Karren Brady crosses effortlessly between the worlds of business and sport.

She came to public prominence when she became the first female Managing Director of a football club at Birmingham City from 1993 to 2009.

Since then she has featured on Alan Sugar?s ?The Apprentice?, while maintaining her links with football, becoming vice-chair of West Ham United in January 2010.

She has spoken out against sexism in business and in sport and continues to campaign on the issue.

In an interview with the Telegraph in 2012 she said, ?I don?t feel any shame in saying I enjoy my work.? I do.

?There are two things important to me: my children and my work.? I won?t give either up.?

Heather Rabbatts CBE is another woman equally at home in business and sport.

After spells as chief executive at the London boroughs of Lambeth, Merton and Hammersmith and Fulham she turned her attention to football, becoming Executive Deputy Chair of Millwall FC in 2006.

In 2012 she became the first female board member at the Football Association (FA).

She is also a trustee of the Royal Opera House and sits on several other boards.

She has broken through spectacularly in the notoriously male-dominated world of football.

In an interview with The Independent?following?her appointment at Millwall, Rabbatts said, ?Given football is the national game and such a huge part of our cultural life, women should have a bigger part in it.

?When you look at the people running it on the FA Council, where the average age is about 65 and there?s only one woman out of 93, you think, ?Come on guys, get real.

?More and more women are going to football. Don?t you need to embrace us??

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson competed in five Paralympic Games, winning 16 medals, of which 11 were gold.

Since her retirement from competitive sport in 2007 she has carved out a career in television.

She is also a non-executive director of UK Athletics and is on the board of the London Marathon.

She was made a life peer in 2010, and speaks not only on disability issues, but more recently has used her time in the House of Lords to contribute to the Welfare Reform and Legal Aid Bills.

So, these are the four women to whom we can look to make a difference and to fight for a greater role for women?s sport and women?s role within sport.

As for my choices, top of the list is Sue Tibballs, CEO of the Women?s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF).

Her profile is steadily increasing as she is called upon for a pertinent comment whenever the future of women?s sport or the state of women?s fitness is discussed.

The WSFF website is awash with excellent initiatives to get women more active. When searching for an ?expert? opinion, it is one of the first sources I turn to.

Commenting on WSFF?s ?She Moves??campaign, Tibballs said, ?We know that women have busy lives and often lack the time or motivation to invest in getting fit and making themselves feel good.

?Women are finding it harder than ever to prioritise exercise while they are facing the pressures of work, childcare and running homes?

??As a mother myself, I know that big life events like having a child or starting a new job can create real barriers to staying active, and we want to bring women together to motivate each other to stay fit and healthy.?

My second choice? England cricket captain?Charlotte Edwards.

Despite suffering surprise losses in the last two international tournaments, Edwards has been exemplary in her conduct both on and off the field.

She became the first woman to join the MCC World Cricket Committee, in May 2012 and will be a real force to be reckoned with when promoting women?s cricket in this traditionally conservative world.

Indeed, cricket is one sport in which women are, at last, making an impact. Things are changing with pace. I considered several candidates from cricket, who could not only have the potential to be movers and shakers in the game, but could influence policy with regard to the promotion of sport and physical activity to a wider audience.

These include former England captain Clare Connor, the first female member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) cricket committee, and the woman who did it all first and is still influential,?Rachael Heyhoe-Flint.

Now Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, she was elected to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2010. She was the first woman to be inducted to the ICC Hall of Fame.

Hope Powell, the England women?s football manager could also have made it onto the list. She has been instrumental in the regeneration of the women?s game in this country.

And finally, cyclist Lizzie Armistead. Never afraid to voice an opinion, Armistead has shown herself to be confident and erudite when discussing the gender gap in cycling.

She has already taken on an unofficial role as an advocate for women?s cycling equality.

In a recent interview with the BBC, Armistead was forthright in her views, saying, ?The sexism I have encountered in my career can get quite overwhelming and very frustrating.?

The thing that strikes me is that not one of the names on the official list operates solely in sport. This is in direct contrast to my own suggestions and implies that excellence in one field is not enough when that field is sport.

It is a shame that this seems to be the case as this is not the impression given by the definition quoted.

However, it is good to see sport represented.

Those of us who are passionate about women?s sport and about sport in general can only follow the careers of these four women who did make the 100 list with interest.

Source: http://www.womensviewsonnews.org/2013/02/sport-given-low-profile-on-bbc-power-list/

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Wasp transcriptome creates a buzz

Feb. 22, 2013 ? New research delivers a sting in the tail for queen wasps. Scientists have sequenced the active parts of the genome -- or transcriptome -- of primitively eusocial wasps to identify the part of the genome that makes you a queen or a worker. Their work, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, shows that workers have a more active transcriptome than queens. This suggests that in these simple societies, workers may be the 'jack-of-all-trades' in the colony -- transcriptionally speaking -- leaving the queen with a somewhat restricted repertoire.

Studying primitively eusocial species -- like these wasps -- can tell us about how sociality evolves. Seirian Sumner and colleagues sequenced transcriptomes from the eusocial tropical paper wasps -- Polistes canadensis. All social species ultimately evolved from a solitary ancestor -- in this case a solitary wasp, who lays the eggs and feeds the brood. But how does this ancestral solitary phenotype split to produce specialised reproducers (queens) and brood carers (workers) when a species becomes social?

This paper gives a first insight into the secret lives of social insects. It shows that workers retain a highly active transcriptome, possibly expressing many of the ancestral genes that are required for our solitary wasp to be successful on her own. Conversely, queens appear to shut down a lot of their genes, presumably in order to be really good reproducers.

Long-standing analyses based on the fossil record holds ants and wasps in a clade known as Vespoidea, with bees as a sister group. The team reassess the relationships between the subfamilies of bees, wasps and ants and suggest that wasps are part of a separate clade from ants and bees, though further genome sequences and comparative data will help to resolve this controversy.

The dataset offers a first chance to analyse subfamily relationships across large numbers of genes, though further work is required before the term Vespoidia could be dropped, or reclassified. Sumner says: 'This finding would have important general implications for our understanding of eusociality as it would suggest that bees and ants shared an aculeate wasp-like ancestor, that ants are wingless wasps, and that bees are wasps that lost predacious behaviours.'

Their work suggests that novel genes play a much more important role in social behaviour than we previously thought.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Pedro G Ferreira, Solenn Patalano, Ritika Chauhan, Richard Ffrench-Constant, Toni Gabaldon, Roderic Guigo and Seirian Sumner. Transcriptome analyses of primitively eusocial wasps reveal novel insights into the evolution of sociality and the origin of alternative phenotypes. Genome Biology, 2013 [link]

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/EbH3qr8IcW4/130225201823.htm

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Fatal hot air balloon crash in Egypt under investigation

A hot air balloon crash near Luxor, Egypt, killed 19 foreign tourists. Two people, including one Egyptian, were also injured. Egyptian officials are investigating what cause the hot air balloon to ignite and crash.

By Haggag Salama,?Associated Press / February 26, 2013

An aerial view of the balloon launch site near Luxor in Egypt, shortly prior to a hot air balloon explosion which killed 18 tourists Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013.

(AP Photo/Christopher Michel)

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A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's ancient city of Luxor caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field on Tuesday, killing at least 19 foreign tourists, a security official said.

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It was one of the worst accidents involving tourists in Egypt and likely to push the key tourism industry deeper into recession.

The casualties included French, British, Belgian, Hungarian, Japanese nationals and nine tourists from Hong Kong, Luxor Governor Ezzat Saad told reporters.

Three survivors of the crash ? two British tourists and one Egyptian ? were taken to a local hospital. One of those tourists, a British citizen, has now reportedly died.

Egypt's civil aviation minister, Wael el-Maadawi, suspended hot air balloon flights and flew to Luxor to lead the investigation into the crash.

According to the Egyptian security official, the balloon carrying at least 20 tourists was flying over Luxor early Tuesday when it caught fire, which triggered an explosion in its gas canister, then plunged at least 300 meters (1,000 feet) from the sky.

The balloon crashed into a sugar cane field outside al-Dhabaa village just west of Luxor, 510 kilometers (320 miles) south of Cairo, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The security official said foul play has been ruled out.

An official with the state prosecutor's office said initial findings show that the accident occurred when the pilot's landing cable was caught around a helium tube. He spoke anonymously because the investigation is ongoing.

The head of Japan Travel Bureau's Egypt branch, Atsushi Imaeda, confirmed that four Japanese died in the crash. He said two were a couple in their 60s from Tokyo. Details on the other two were not immediately available.

In Hong Kong, a travel agency said nine of the tourists that were aboard the balloon were natives of the semiautonomous Chinese city. There was a "very big chance that all nine have perished," said Raymond Ng, a spokesman for the agency. The nine, he said, included five women and four men from three families.

They were traveling with six other Hong Kong residents on a 10-day tour of Egypt.

Ng said an escort of the nine tourists watched the balloon from the ground catching fire around 7 a.m. and plunging to the ground two minutes later.

In Britain, tour operator Thomas Cook confirmed that two British tourists were dead and two were taken to a hospital.

"What happened in Luxor this morning is a terrible tragedy and the thoughts of everyone in Thomas Cook are with our guests, their family and friends," said Peter Fankhauser, CEO of Thomas Cook UK & Continental Europe.

"We have a very experienced team in resort with the two guests in the local hospital, and we're providing our full support to the family and friends of the deceased at this difficult time," he said.

In Paris, a diplomatic official said French tourists were among those involved in the accident, but would give no details on how many, or whether French citizens were among those killed.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to be publicly named according to government policy, the official said French authorities were working with their Egyptian counterparts to clarify what happened. French media reports said two French tourists were among the dead but the official wouldn't confirm that.

Hot air ballooning, usually at sunrise over the famed Karnak and Luxor temples as well as the Valley of the Kings, is a popular pastime for tourists visiting the area. Tickets for a hot air balloon ride per person are around 200 Egyptian pounds, or roughly $30.

The site of the accident has seen past crashes. In 2009, 16 tourists were injured when their balloon struck a cellphone transmission tower. A year earlier, seven tourists were injured in a similar crash.

Egypt's tourism industry has been decimated since the 2011 uprising and the political turmoil that followed and continues to this day. Luxor's hotels are currently about 25 percent full in what is supposed to be the peak of the winter season.

Scared off by the turmoil and tenuous security following the uprising, the number of tourists coming to Egypt fell to 9.8 million in 2011 from 14.7 million the year before, and revenues plunged 30 percent to $8.8 billion.

Magda Fawzi, whose company operates four luxury Nile River cruise boats to Luxor, said she expects the accident will lead to tourist cancellations. Tour guide Hadi Salama said he expects Tuesday's accident to hurt the eight hot air balloon companies operating in Luxor, but that it may not directly affect tourism to the Nile Valley city.

Poverty swelled at the country's fastest rate in Luxor, which is highly dependent on visitors to its monumental temples and the tombs of King Tutankhamun and other pharaohs. In 2011, 39 percent of its population lived on less than $1 a day, compared to 18 percent in 2009, according to government figures.

In August, Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi flew to Luxor to encourage tourism there, about a month after he took office and vowed that Egypt was safe for tourists.

"Egypt is safer than before, and is open for all," he said in remarks carried by the official MENA news agency at the time. He was referring to the security situation following the 2011 ouster of autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.

Deadly accidents caused by poor management and a decrepit infrastructure have taken place since Morsi took office. In January, 19 Egyptian conscripts died when their rickety train jumped the track. In November, 49 kindergarteners were killed when their school bus crashed into a speeding train because the railway guard failed to close the crossing.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful political force and Morsi's base of support, blames accidents on a culture of negligence fostered by Mubarak.

___

Associated Press writers Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong, Jill Lawless in London and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/7wjNiZH6FpM/Fatal-hot-air-balloon-crash-in-Egypt-under-investigation

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Researchers test holographic technique for restoring vision

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Researchers led by biomedical engineering Professor Shy Shoham of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology are testing the power of holography to artificially stimulate cells in the eye, with hopes of developing a new strategy for bionic vision restoration.

Computer-generated holography, they say, could be used in conjunction with a technique called optogenetics, which uses gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins to damaged retinal nerve cells. In conditions such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) -- a condition affecting about one in 4000 people in the United States -- these light-sensing cells degenerate and lead to blindness.

"The basic idea of optogenetics is to take a light-sensitive protein from another organism, typically from algae or bacteria, and insert it into a target cell, and that photosensitizes the cell," Shoham explained.

Intense pulses of light can activate nerve cells newly sensitized by this gene therapy approach. But Shoham said researchers around the world are still searching for the best way to deliver the light patterns so that the retina "sees" or responds in a nearly normal way.

The plan is to someday develop a prosthetic headset or eyepiece that a person could wear to translate visual scenes into patterns of light that stimulate the genetically altered cells.

In their paper in the Feb. 26 issue of Nature Communications, the Technion researchers show how light from computer-generated holography could be used to stimulate these repaired cells in mouse retinas. The key, they say, is to use a light stimulus that is intense, precise, and can trigger activity across a variety of cells all at once.

"Holography, what we're using, has the advantage of being relatively precise and intense," Shoham said. "And you need those two things to see."

The researchers turned to holography after exploring other options, including laser deflectors and digital displays used in many portable projectors to stimulate these cells. Both methods had their drawbacks, Shoham said.

Digital light displays can stimulate many nerve cells at once, "but they have low light intensity and very low light efficiency," Shoham said. The genetically repaired cells are less sensitive to light than normal healthy retinal cells, so they preferably need a bright light source like a laser to be activated.

"Lasers give intensity, but they can't give the parallel projection" that would simultaneously stimulate all of the cells needed to see a complete picture, Shoham noted. "Holography is a way of getting the best of both worlds."

The researchers have tested the potential of holographic stimulation in retinal cells in the lab, and have done some preliminary work with the technology in living mice with damaged retinal cells. The experiments show that holography can provide reliable and simultaneous stimulation of multiple cells at millisecond speeds.

But implementing a holographic prosthesis in humans is far in the future, Shoham cautioned.

His team is exploring other ways, aside from optogenetics, to activate damaged nerve cells. For instance, they are also experimenting with ultrasound for activating retinal and brain tissue.

And Shoham said holography itself "also provides a very interesting path toward three-dimensional stimulation, which we don't use so much in the retina, but is very interesting in other projects where it allow us to stimulate 3-D brain tissue."

In mid-February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first artificial retina and retinal prosthesis, which works in a different fashion than the Technion project. The FDA-approved device, the Argus II, uses an artificial "retina" consisting of electrodes, and a glasses-like prosthesis to transmit light signals to the electrodes.

"I think Shy's lab is very smart to pursue many methods of restoring vision," said Eyal Margalit, a retinal disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He said researchers around the world are also looking for ways to use stem cells to replace damaged retinal cells, to transplant entire layers of healthy retinal cells, and in some cases "bypass the eye entirely, and stimulate the cortex of the brain directly" to restore lost vision.

Shoham's co-authors on the paper included Dr. Inna Reutsky-Gefen, Lior Golan, Dr. Nairouz Farah, Adi Schejter, Limor Tsur, and Dr. Inbar Brosh.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Technion Society. The original article was written by Kevin Hattori.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Inna Reutsky-Gefen, Lior Golan, Nairouz Farah, Adi Schejter, Limor Tsur, Inbar Brosh, Shy Shoham. Holographic optogenetic stimulation of patterned neuronal activity for vision restoration. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1509 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2500

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/top_news/top_technology/~3/G1QOPaftAZc/130226134259.htm

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DOD Announces 'Fix' To Gay Web Site Ban That Doesn't Fix Anything

americablog.com:

The Pentagon yesterday issued a memo apparently intended to at least partly "fix" the problem whereby a number of Defense Department computers were banning access to gay and trans Web sites, in addition to other liberal political content, while not banning similar conservative and anti-gay Web sites. The problem is that the new Pentagon memo doesn't really fix a thing.

Read the whole story at americablog.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/dod-announces-fix-to-gay-_n_2769797.html

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Cats Needed for Stem Cell Study - PawNation

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Source: http://www.pawnation.com/2013/02/26/cats-needed-for-stem-cell-study/

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Microsoft Says Windows Phone Store Now Features More Than 130K Apps, 40K New Developers Registered Since WP8 Launch

Microsoft only provides sporadic updates to how the Windows Phone Store is doing, but today, it used the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to offer a few new numbers. According to Microsoft, there are now over 130,000 apps in the Windows Phone Store, and the average Windows Phone user has now downloaded 55 apps. App downloads, the company says, have increased by 75 percent since the Windows Phone 8 launch late last year, and paid app revenue has increased 91 percent. The Windows Phone developer ecosystem, too, is growing quickly, according to Microsoft. More than 40,000 new developers registered with the company in the first 90 days since the launch of Windows Phone 8, and there are now over 15,000 apps in the store that leverage features only available in Windows Phone 8. SDK downloads, too, are up and have now topped 500,000 ?since October 30, 2012. One thing that’s worth noting when looking at the number of new developers is that Microsoft reduced the price of registering as a developer from $99 per year to $8 for the first year during the eight days after the Windows Phone 8 launch, so the numbers may be a good bit higher because of this. New Dev Center App Microsoft also launched a mobile version of its Dev Center dashboard today. The Dev Center app?provides developers with easy access to all the key metrics about their app, including download data, crash trends and reviews. The app, of course, also features a live tile and lets developers share a link to their apps with others without having to go into the store first. To make Windows Phone even more attractive to developers, the company also teamed up with services ?like Box, mobile backend provider Buddy?and Photon Cloud, a service for game developers, to offer Windows Phone developers a number of special offers like free API calls and free service for a limited time.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/w2u9CZRzOFI/

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Voters head to polls in ex-Rep. Jackson's district

FILE - In the Dec. 15, 2012, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Debbie Halvorson speaks during a candidate presentation at the 2nd Congressional District slating meeting in South Holland, Ill. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/John Smierciak, File)

FILE - In the Dec. 15, 2012, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Debbie Halvorson speaks during a candidate presentation at the 2nd Congressional District slating meeting in South Holland, Ill. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/John Smierciak, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2012 file photo, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Robin Kelly speaks during a candidate presentation at the 2nd Congressional District Slating Meeting in South Holland, Ill. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/John Smierciak, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, Illinois Democratic U.S. Congressional hopeful Anthony Beale, speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Candidates for former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 2nd congressional seat made their final push for votes Monday Feb. 25, 2013, ahead of tomorrow's high-stakes primary. Turnout is expected to be paltry despite the lurid headlines surrounding the disgraced Chicago Democrat and millions in outside super PAC money driven largely by the guns debate. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

CHICAGO (AP) ? The primary contest to replace disgraced former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson was in the hands of Chicago-area voters Tuesday, just three months after his resignation and an intense period of campaigning by more than a dozen candidates.

The front-runners ? former state Rep. Robin Kelly, former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale ? planned Election Day stops at train stations and restaurants in the district that spans Chicago's South Side, south suburbs and some rural areas. They were among 14 Democrats and four Republicans in the special primary, but the Democratic winner was expected to sail through the April 9 general election because of the heavily-Democratic region.

Beale planned to vote at a school in Chicago, Halvorson was set to cast a ballot at a suburban community center and Kelly voted early.

Voters haven't seen an open primary since 1995, when Jackson first won office.

Turnout at the polls was expected to be low, and candidates and election officials braced for a possible winter storm that could dump up to six inches of snow on the region and complicate Tuesday's logistics. Election officials said they were in communication with streets and sanitation workers about making sure pathways to polls were kept clear.

In Chicago, fewer than 2,800 voters, or roughly 2 percent or registered voters in the district, cast early ballots. In suburban Cook County ? the bulk of the district's voting population ? it was nearly 2 percent. The last time the Chicago area had a special primary election for Congress was 2009 after Rahm Emanuel left his seat to take a job as White House chief of staff. Roughly 18 percent of registered voters in the district spanning North Side neighborhoods voted. In suburban Cook County, the percentage was far lower.

Guns and ethics were on the minds of voters, and both were main issues on the campaign trail, particularly as Jackson's legal saga played out in federal court. He pleaded guilty to illegally spending $750,000 in campaign money on personal items and faces prison time. The son of the civil rights leader is the third consecutive congressman from the district to leave office under an ethical or legal cloud.

Still, gun control became the top issue on the campaign trail, including at candidate forums and television ads.

Independence USA, the super PAC of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, poured more than $2 million into the race for anti-gun ads in support of Kelly and against Halvorson, a former state lawmaker and one-term congresswoman. Kelly supports a ban, but Halvorson does not.

"Gun control, we need it," said retiree Angela Craig, an undecided Chicago voter. She had supported Jackson in the past but didn't feel like she got enough time to weigh the candidates.

Jackson resigned in November after a months-long medical leave. He pleaded guilty early this month to charges that he misspent $750,000 in campaign money on lavish personal items, including a Rolex watch and furs. His departure created a rare opening in the district.

__

Sophia Tareen can be reached at http://twitter.com/sophiatareen

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-26-House-Jackson%20Seat/id-6604acf8d2ee4c339376a329912eae90

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John Kerry urges Syria opposition to attend Rome talks

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Syria's opposition on Monday to attend a planned international meeting in Rome this week, saying that President Barack Obama was evaluating further steps required in order to help protect Syrian civilians.

"Today we were discussing various options and I'm not going to go into what they may or not be at this point in time," he told reporters on a visit to London where he met British officials.

"I want our friends in the Syrian opposition council to know we are not coming to Rome simply to talk. We're coming to Rome to make the decision about next steps and perhaps even other options that may or not be discussed further after that."

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed and Mohammed Abbas; Writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by Michael Holden)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/john-kerry-urges-syria-opposition-attend-rome-talks-142803813.html

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Jennifer Lawrence Falls on Stairs After Winning Best Actress

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/jennifer-lawrence-falls-on-stairs-after-winning-best-actress/

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List of 85th annual Academy Award winners

Jennifer Lawrence speaks onstage during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Jennifer Lawrence speaks onstage during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Anne Hathaway accepts the award for best actress in a supporting role for "Les Miserables" during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Actor Christoph Waltz accepts the award for best actor in a supporting role for "Django Unchained" during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

List of the 85th annual Academy Award winners announced Sunday in Los Angeles:

1. Best Picture: "Argo."

2. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln."

3. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook."

4. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."

5. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables."

6. Directing: Ang Lee, "Life of Pi."

7. Foreign Language Film: "Amour."

8. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, "Argo."

9. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Brave."

11. Production Design: "Lincoln."

12. Cinematography: "Life of Pi."

13. Sound Mixing: "Les Miserables."

14. Sound Editing (tie): "Skyfall," ''Zero Dark Thirty."

15. Original Score: "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna.

16. Original Song: "Skyfall" from "Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth.

17. Costume: "Anna Karenina."

18. Documentary Feature: "Searching for Sugar Man."

19. Documentary (short subject): "Inocente."

20. Film Editing: "Argo."

21. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Les Miserables."

22. Animated Short Film: "Paperman."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Curfew."

24. Visual Effects: "Life of Pi."

___

Oscar winners previously presented this season:

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Jeffrey Katzenberg

Honorary Award: Hal Needham

Honorary Award: D.A. Pennebaker

Honorary Award: George Stevens Jr.

Award of Merit: Cooke Optics

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Online:

http://www.oscars.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-24-US-Oscars-List/id-a67de7a23b594c1cbc13f54999a40cc8

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Researchers devise new image sensor that could meld screens with cameras

CCD sensors have long ruled the digital imaging roost, but a team of researchers at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria have concocted flat, flexible and transparent image sensors that could eventually change things up. Made from a flexible polymer film suffused with fluorescent particles, the prototypes catch only a specific wavelength of light and shoot it to an array of sensors that surround the sheet's edge. At that point, the rig calculates where light entered the polymer by measuring how much it has diminished during its travel time, and then composes an image from that data. It's said the process is similar to how a CT scan functions, but uses visible light instead of X-rays. Not only is the membrane relatively inexpensive and potentially disposable, but the solution is a world's first, to boot. "To our knowledge, we are the first to present an image sensor that is fully transparent - no integrated microstructures, such as circuits - and is flexible and scalable at the same time," said Oliver Bimber, co-author of the group's paper.

As of now, the setup only snaps black and white images with a resolution of 32 x 32 pixels, but there are plans to boost its fidelity by leveraging higher quality photodiodes (or even composite photos). Also, color photographs could be achieved by using several sheets that capture different hues of light. So, what's this all mean for practical applications? Researchers believe its prime use lies in layering the film on TV screens and other displays to offer gesture controls without pesky, additional cameras. In addition, objects can be imbued with sensor capabilities if wrapped with the layer, and even CCD's could benefit from having a slice of the polymer slapped on them to take photos at different exposures. Hit the second source link for the scientific nitty-gritty, or head past the break for a glimpse at the setup's photos.

Filed under: Cameras, Alt

Comments

Via: Gizmodo

Source: The Optical Society, Optics InfoBase

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/researchers-transparent-flexible-image-sensor-screen-camera/

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Oscar Ratings Up, Seth MacFarlane Says 'No Way' To Second Go-Round

'Lotta fun to have done it, though,' MacFarlane tweets about Oscars, whose rating were up 11 percent among 18-49 viewers.
By Gil Kaufman

Seth MacFarlane at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702623/oscar-ratings-seth-macfarlane.jhtml

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