Standard Digital News - Kenya : New facility to boost agriculture

Updated 6 hrs 8 mins ago

By Nicholas Waitathu

Efforts to commercialise agriculture have received a major boost, after the Government and private sector launched a Sh112 million training centre in Thika ? Kiambu County.

The facility, which sits on a 200-hectare piece of land, aims to become a one-stop-shop for horticulture information, cutting across the value chain- production, value addition, logistics and marketing.

Add value

?The project seeks to add value by giving practical skills necessary to work in modern horticulture production,? Ministry of Agriculture permanent secretary Dr Romano Kiome said. ?At the moment, it takes two years for a fresh graduate to learn all the skills required to manage modern horticultural enterprises such as greenhouse farming, irrigation technologies, pest, and disease management.?

Focal point

Kiome said such a facility would provide a focal point for the industry to foster co-ordinated and expedite commercialisation of the sector.?

?The issues include how to enhance compliance to national and international production standards for all horticultural farmers and also how to promote her products in internal and external markets,? Dr Kiome said.

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000078265&story_title=Business:%20New%20facility%20to%20boost%20agriculture

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Report: Stuxnet cyberweapon older than believed

LONDON (AP) ? The sophisticated cyberweapon which targeted an Iranian nuclear plant is older than previously believed, an anti-virus company said Tuesday, peeling back another layer of mystery on a series of attacks attributed by many to U.S. and Israeli intelligence.

The Stuxnet worm, aimed at the centrifuges in Iran's Natanz plant, transformed the cybersecurity field because it was the first known computer attack specifically designed to cause physical damage. The precise origins of the worm remain unclear, but until now the earliest samples of Stuxnet had been dated to 2009, and The New York Times ? in the fullest account of the attack published so far ? traced the origins of the top-secret program back to 2006.

In a new report issued late Tuesday, Symantec Corp. pushed that timeline further back, saying it had found a primitive version of Stuxnet circulating online in 2007 and that elements of the program had been in place as far back as 2005.

Independent security experts who examined the report said it showed that the worm's creators were well ahead of their time.

"To me, it's amazing," said Mikko Hypponen, whose Finland-based F-Secure has studied Stuxnet. "We had no idea the U.S.-Israel cyberoperations were so advanced already almost a decade ago."

Hypponen is one of a host of experts who've concluded that Stuxnet was an attempt to sabotage the uranium enrichment centrifuges at Iran's Natanz nuclear plant, a key element in the Islamic republic's disputed atomic energy program. Because the United States and Israel are two of Iran's biggest foes, the shadow of suspicion immediately settled on their tech-savvy intelligence services.

That theory got a boost when the Times reported that President George W. Bush had ordered the deployment of Stuxnet against Iran, laying out in unprecedented detail how the worm had been crafted so as to surreptitiously send Natanz's centrifuge machines spinning out of control.

U.S. and Israeli officials have long declined to comment publicly on Stuxnet or their alleged involvement in creating and deploying the computer worm.

Symantec's report suggests that an intermediate version of the worm ? Stuxnet 0.5 ? was completed in November 2007. That worm lacked some of the sophistication of its descendant, Symantec said, and was designed to interfere with the centrifuges by opening and closing the valves which control the flow of uranium gas, causing a potentially damaging buildup in pressure.

That approach was dropped in later improved versions of the Stuxnet code.

Symantec said the servers used to control the primitive worm were set up in November 2005, suggesting that Stuxnet's trailblazing authors were plotting their attack at a time when many parts of the Internet now taken for granted were not yet in place. Twitter did not exist, Facebook was still largely limited to U.S. college campuses, and YouTube was in its infancy.

Alan Woodward, a professor of computer science at the University of Surrey, said that had troubling implications.

"Clearly these were very forward-thinking, clever people that were doing this," he said. "There's no reason to think that they're less forward-thinking now. What are they up to?"

___

Online:

The Symantec report: http://bit.ly/128ux2s

Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://raphae.li/twitter

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-27-Iran-Stuxnet/id-aca815f090bf46cf96b54ab4d970dc4a

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Racism's link to conservatism and/or group dominance - moving ...

After reading through many different articles on social dominance theory (SDT), a common theme that ubiquitously appeared is conservatism.? The relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and conservatism is explored in the article: "Racism, conservatism, Affirmative Action, and intellectual sophistication: A matter of principled conservatism or group dominance?" by Sidanius, Pratto, and Bobo (1996).?

This article is relevant to our study because vast majority of Americans align with the principles and ideas of the two major political parties: democratic and republican. Democrats have more liberal values while republicans have more conservative values. Many of the articles I have read implicitly implied that conservatism and racism are of the same thing. Of course many conservatives disagree because being racist today is socially unacceptable in most places in America. ? The question here is whether conservatism in itself is racist? A theory call 'principled conservatism model' says no because conservatism is driven by fighting for equality, fairness, and establishing a color-blind society (Sidanius et al., 1996). Furthermore, the model posits that conservatism's link to racism is due to a lack of education and that correlation between the educated and conservative is weak. Lastly, the model suggests that political conservatism is not related to racism (Sidanius et al., 1996).?

The study surveyed almost four thousand Euro-American students at the University of Texas asking about their educational level, political views, affirmative action attitudes, and racism. The findings are mostly non-conclusive. "Opposition to affirmative action among Whites cannot be exclusively understood in terms of either anti-Black affect, classical racism, or SDO" (Sidanius, et al., 1996). However, one strong conclusion is that racism declines with education is not only unfound, but rather, the opposite is true (Sidanius, et al., 1996).? Another key finding is that he social dominance theory gives the best explanation as to why racism and political conservatism are so often linked. The reason is that both racism and SDO has the mutual desire for non-egalitarian, or unfairness, and hierarchically structured social classes.?

After all, what is considered racism? Is it the attitude towards a certain group? A certain political views? Being against affirmative action? It appears that the idea of racism itself is a vague term and in linking it to political conservatism makes it even more vague. It is no doubt that conservatism has negative affect towards blacks and other ethnic groups, but it is unclear if it is directly linked to racism. The common ground here is that both racism and SDO have a similar direction and, thus, SDO give the best perspective amongst all that is extremely unclear. Studies on racism can be very difficult, especially today. Surveys can only give so much insight because it is unknown how truthful the participants are.?

Reference

Sidanius, J., Pratto, F., & Bobo, L. (1996). Racism, conservatism, Affirmative Action, and intellectual sophistication: A matter of principled conservatism or group dominance?. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 70(3), 476-490. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.476

Source: http://www.personal.psu.edu/bfr3/blogs/moving_psychology/2013/02/racisms-link-to-conservatism-andor-group-dominance.html

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On The Record ? The age of niche

The most interesting art always takes shape far away from the limelight. Out there in the margins, you?ll find the sounds and visions which will, in time, influence what happens in the mainstream. Any great musical leap forward ? or micro-genre hop, skip and jump ? first stepped out in the underground. The mainstream may get its tuxedos on for the Oscars or Brits and command all the attention and publicity that night and the morning after, but the real machinations and momentum which informed all those moves originally took place many miles away. The drawback for those who work in the niche, of course, is that it?s usually primarily about art and not commerce from where they stand. The money and publicity which drives projects onwards and upwards doesn?t gravitate towards the margins. Most times out there, you?re doing it for love, not profit.

These musings are brought to you by two recent observations from the reporter?s notebook: an interview with Cathal Cully from Girls Names and an interesting conversation at the recent 12 Points jazz festival in Dublin.

Living in the niche: Girls Names

Cully was talking about his band?s mindset, their fantastic new album ?The Second Life? and the financial struggle and demands to make it. ?I know people get into music for various reasons, like to become famous or whatever, but we were the opposite. We get a bit of stick here because we come from an art crowd in Belfast. I?ve no qualms in saying it?s as much an art project as anything else. I personally treat it as making art. Even saying the words ?music industry? seem wrong. The dirtiest thing about it is that people are making money in the music industry but the artists aren?t.?

The economics of keeping a band together is something Cully is acutely aware of. ?We paid for the recording ourselves and I still have a bit of money to pay off it. The whole economic thing is so frustrating and jobs are so hard to come by. I?m out of work at the minute, but I?ve been through so many jobs in the last year. I was labouring all last summer and autumn, then driving for a TV shoot and then working in a shop over Christmas. I just took whatever came along to pay for what has to be done.?

When people hear someone is in a band, especially a band who?ve released two albums and tour abroad a lot, there are a lot of perceptions in the air, as Cully noted in this quote which didn?t make the published piece. ?I think people assume things are different. We were at And So I Watch You From Afar a while back and someone asked Claire (Miskimmin, bass player) ?do you make a living from music??. It?s far from it. People think when they see us going off on tours and releasing records that we?re doing well, but we don?t even have management. We?re lucky in that we?re breaking even but it?s tough. We need to buy so much gear in the next few months but it?s not going to happen.?

A two day pow-wow called Jazz Futures, featuring various panel debates, presentations and talks, took place during the recent 12 Points festival in Dublin?s Temple Bar. I was there to talk about how the web had constructively disrupted the music business and it was interesting to tease out how this macro event, something which had changed every single aspect of the business, had trickled down to the jazz community.

Now, here?s a real niche. Ask most people about their feelings for jazz and they?ll tell you that they love the stuff, but they?re probably talking about the heritage acts and vintage breeds who make up the sound?s back catalogue. Modern, new jazzers? What, they?re still making jazz? Who knew?

They sure are and the quality is very high, as the 12 Points festival showed with its bookings from the European talent pool. But it?s not the mainstream and it?s unlikely to feature on many radars unless it comes with Norah Jones or Jamie Cullum or Michael Buble or someone else upfront honing their sound with the bigger audience in mind. The issues which the jazz folks face ? funding, media coverage, dwindling audience attention, talent development etc ? are problems which many niche artists can talk about until the cows come home so it?s worth noting that the jazzers have common cause with a lot of other people in the same predicament.

But it?s also worth noting that the niche is probably bigger than it seems. After all, when you combine all these different scenes, it rivals the mainstream in size and span, depending on how you choose to define and measure these things. In this post-long tail world, there?s room for all ? and many have taken advantage of this.

However, the problem for those who operate in niche areas is that the coverage and attention which the mainstream attracts will never come their way. It?s something which came up a few times at Jazz Futures, a feeling that jazz merited and deserved a level playing field when it came to media coverage, for instance. Of course, jazz merits and deserves this and should get the same coverage as rock/pop does, but it?s never going to happen. Girls Names also merit and deserve the same coverage that Bon Jovi and Coldplay get, but that too is never going to happen. The mainstream isn?t interested. The mainstream has made its decision and goes with the bold-type names which have been pushed their way by the major entertainment companies and corporations. The mainstream will never cover a jazz event like 12 Points in the same way as it covers a festival like the Electric Picnic because it?s made a decision that its target audience favours the latter over the former. And the numbers they?re looking at show that they?re right. Of course, the jazzers can produce another set of numbers, but the mainstream will just shrug and move on.

Perhaps, then, it?s time for the niche to turn its back on the mainstream. Maybe it?s time to stop cribbing about the unfairness of their lot, about how the mainstream media prefers to cover shite rock and pop acts than their music, their sounds, their stars. Perhaps it?s time to stop fighting battles which can never be won because of how the battlefield has been drawn up. Indeed, maybe it?s time to stop fighting full stop and start creating even more great music, art and culture and wait, as has always happened, for the mainstream to realise what is happening. I don?t know about you, but I?m far more interested in and excited by what?s happening out in the niches and margins than anything going on in the mainstream.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2013/02/25/the-age-of-niche/

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Dennis Rodman worms his way into North Korea

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

__

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

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

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Frostbite Forces Adventurer to Quit Antarctic Trek

Seasoned adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has had to quit his attempt to be the first person to cross the South Pole on skis during the brutal Antarctic winter.

Fiennes, who has abundant experience in harsh environments, will be evacuated from the coldest continent after developing a case of frostbite, according to a blog post on the website of the expedition, called The Coldest Journey. Fiennes and his team made the decision to have him evacuated while it was still possible before the beginning of the formidable winter, with its near-permanent darkness and temperatures as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).

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

Fiennes will be driven by Ski-Doo, a type of snowmobile, some 40 miles (70 kilometers) from his team's current location to Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Station, located near the coast of East Antarctica, according to the blog post. From there, he will make his way by plane to Cape Town, South Africa.

The evacuation plan is currently being hampered by a blizzard at the team's location.

Once Fiennes is evacuated, the rest of the team has elected to carry on with the journey. They are still slated to begin their crossing on the originally planned date of March 21. The full crossing route will take them from Princess Elisabeth through the interior of the continent to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (named for the two explorers that raced to be the first to the South Pole), then over the Transantarctic Mountains onto the Ross Ice Shelf and to the United States' McMurdo Station, situated on the shore of the Ross Sea. In total, the trek will cover more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) and take six months.

Fiennes has gone on previous Antarctic and Arctic excursions, climbed to the summit of Mount Everest and run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, according to his expedition biography.

Reach Andrea Thompson at athompson@techmedianetwork.com and follow her on Twitter @AndreaTOAP and on Pinterest. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/frostbite-forces-adventurer-quit-antarctic-trek-223244775.html

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Do i need special travel insurance for a cruise holiday? | Travel with ...

If you?re looking for a getaway that combines luxury and relaxation with an opportunity to see some new sights and explore some of the world?s most picturesque locations, a cruise holiday may be the perfect solution. From the Scandinavian fjords to the beaches of the Mediterranean, cruise holidays can take you almost anywhere in the world at a smooth, easy going pace. But as with any trip abroad, it?s advisable to make sure you?re protected by travel insurance in case anything goes wrong.

Because some providers offer cruise travel insurance as a separate product, many potential holidaymakers believe that standard travel insurance doesn?t cover cruise holidays. This isn?t generally the case, but there are certain circumstances that you should be aware of before purchasing your insurance and setting sail.

Is cruise insurance different?

The difference between cruise travel insurance and regular travel insurance is generally minimal. It might represent a partnership between the insurer and a specific travel company, or possibly offer tailored extra features. Sometimes it might simply be in place to inform customers that cruise travel isn?t excluded from their policy ? which is unusual but not unheard of, so always worth checking.

If you already have regular travel insurance or you?re in the market for it, the first thing you should look out for is any relevant exclusions. They may not be explicitly related to cruise travel in the wording of your policy, but could nevertheless be significant. For example, most travel insurance policies will cover medical aid should you fall ill ? including transport to a local hospital if necessary. If you fall ill on a cruise and need to be airlifted or otherwise transported back home or to the nearest country, this may not always be covered, as it?s likely to be considerably more expensive than returning from a regular holiday.

Cancellation costs

Another issue might be cancellation costs. If you are forced to cancel a holiday due to unforeseen events, your travel insurance will often allow you to reclaim the money. But because of the greater expense, if there is a limit on the policy, the maximum amount you can claim back may fall far short of the cost of a luxury cruise. Speak to your insurance provider and see if they can offer anything that covers you for the full cost of your trip.

Finally, many cruise holidays include activities ? from water sports to on-shore hiking.? Make sure any activities outlined in your holiday plan are covered by your insurance. By keeping a keen eye on the details, you should have no problem procuring good value travel insurance that lets you free to enjoy a stress-free trip.

RIAS Travel Insurance specialise in helping customers enjoy a stress-free experience by providing extensive, affordable travel insurance for when you?re on holiday.

Source: http://www.travelwithamate.com/do-i-need-special-travel-insurance-for-a-cruise-holiday/

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Stocks edge lower; Barnes & Noble, Hertz jump

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks edged lower on Wall Street Monday, erasing an early rally, following signs that Italy could be headed for political gridlock.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,967 as of 12:40 p.m. EST. It had been up as much as 81 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell four points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,510 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1, or 0.04 percent, to 3,158.

Stocks rallied in the early going as exit polls showed that a center-left coalition in Italy that favored economic reforms in the euro region's third-largest economy was leading in the polls. That gain evaporated after another poll showed that the elections appear to be heading toward gridlock. Stocks slumped last year on concern that Italy would become engulfed in the European government debt crisis.

"The Italian elections have implications for the credit markets," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential. "The ultimate worry is that the credit markets start reacting."

The yield on Italy's 10-year government bond edged up to 4.43 percent from 4.40 percent as investors sold them. The country's benchmark stock index, the FSTE MIB, rose 0.7 percent, giving up an early gain of 4 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, Barnes & Noble rose $1.33, or 10 percent, to $14.85 after founder and chairman Leonard Riggio told the bookseller he is going to try to buy the company's retail business. Hertz advanced $1.15 to $19.87, despite posting a fourth-quarter loss, after the rental car company said that pricing improved, volume rose and it cut costs.

Stocks gained even with the threat of across-the-board automatic government spending cuts less than a week away. Some $85 billion in cuts will occur over the next seven months starting March 1, with more in following years if lawmakers can't come to an agreement on how to reduce spending in a more measured and targeted manner.

The Standard & Poor's 500 had its first weekly decline of the year last week. Investors sent stocks plunging after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting revealed disagreement over how long to keep buying bonds in an effort to boost the economy.

Many analysts say the Fed's bond-buying program and the resulting low interest rates have been a big driver behind this year's stock rally, which lifted indexes to their highest levels since 2007.

Japanese stocks surged on reports that the prime minister's pick for central bank governor will be a strong advocate of loose monetary policy aimed at reviving the moribund economy. The Nikkei 225 gained 2.4 percent to end at 11,662.52

European stocks also advanced, but gave back much of their early gains. Benchmark indexes were up 0.4 percent in France, 1.5 percent in Germany and 0.8 percent in Spain. Britain's index was up just 0.3 percent after Moody's stripped the country late Friday of its triple-A credit rating.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, fell two basis points to 1.93 percent.

Among other stocks making big moves:

? Drugmaker Affymax plunged $14, or 85 percent, to $2.43 after the company recalled its anemia drug following severe allergic reactions and the deaths of some kidney dialysis patients.

?Mead Johnson fell $2.54 to $76.45 after the company said that a new regulation in Hong Kong could affect the company's sales there as well as in mainland China.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-edge-lower-barnes-noble-hertz-jump-172734343--finance.html

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Wall St trips and falls on cloudy Italian election

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks on Monday suffered their biggest drop since November after a strong showing in Italian elections by groups opposed to the country's economic reforms triggered worry that Europe's debt problems could once again destabilize the global economy.

The decline marks the biggest percentage drop for the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index since November7, and drove the S&P down to its lowest close since January 18. The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX, Wall Street's favorite barometer of fear, surged 34 percent, its biggest jump since August 18, 2011.

Selling accelerated late in the trading session after the S&P 500 fell below the 1,500 level, which has acted as a significant support point. Monday marked the S&P's first close under 1,500 since February 4.

Italy's center-left coalition holds a slim lead over former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right bloc in the election for the lower house of parliament, three TV projections indicated. But any government must also command a majority in the Senate, a race that is decided by region.

The resulting gridlock in parliament could lead to new elections and cast into doubt Italy's ability to pay down its debt.

"Europe hasn't gone away as an issue, it is going to hang around, and it is rearing its ugly head today," said Stephen Massocca, managing director of Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

"If someone gets elected who is simply not going to play by the rules, what are they going to do? It puts them in a real quandary here because their financial support, their monetary support is all stipulated by the fact that these austerity programs are going to be in place."

Earlier polls pointing to a center-left victory boosted stocks in Milan and other European markets, and also helped lift the S&P 500 to a session high of 1,525.84 on optimism that Italy would continue down its austerity path.

After a strong start to the year, equities have retreated more recently. The S&P 500's slight fall last week was its first weekly drop after a seven-week string of gains.

In Monday's volatile session, banks and other financial stocks were among the worst performers on worries about the sector's exposure to Italy's massive debt. The KBW Bank Index fell 2.7 percent.

The CBOE Volatility Index ended at 18.99, up 34.02 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 216.40 points, or 1.55 percent, to 13,784.17 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 27.75 points, or 1.83 percent, to 1,487.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 45.57 points, or 1.44 percent, to 3,116.25.

Although the overall market lost ground on Monday, there were a few bright spots.

Barnes & Noble Inc shares shot up 11.5 percent to $15.06 after the bookseller's chairman offered to buy its declining retail business.

Amgen Inc shares climbed 3.1 percent to $89.55, after rival Affymax issued a voluntary recall of its only drug, an anemia treatment that competes with Amgen's top-selling red blood cell booster, Epogen. Affymax shares lost 85.4 percent to $2.42.

The FTSEurofirst-300 index of top European shares edged up 0.04 percent and Italy's main FTSE MIB ended up 0.7 percent after earlier gaining nearly 4 percent.

Political uncertainty on the home front, though, is also on Wall Street's mind.

U.S. equities will face a test with the looming debate over so-called sequestration - U.S. government budget cuts that will take effect starting on Friday if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement over spending and taxes. The White House issued warnings about the harm the cuts are likely to inflict on the economy if enacted.

"Sitting out there is the one-thousand-pound gorilla - the sequester issue - and certainly nothing is happening there," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

Lowe's Companies Inc lost 4.8 percent to $35.86 after the home improvement retailer posted fourth-quarter earnings.

With 83 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported results so far, 69 percent beat profit expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

Volume was active with about 7.27 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq, above the daily average of 6.46 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq by a ratio of about 4 to 1.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry, Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-500-posts-worst-day-since-november-212229403--finance.html

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Forum - Diverse Issues in Higher Education

by Ronald Roach

Michelle Alexander

In 1965, a growing tide of Black male joblessness spurred the prediction by then Assistant U.S. Labor Secretary Daniel Patrick Moynihan that the Black family would experience considerable disruption in the coming years. Moynihan?s famous analysis, ?The Negro Family: The Case for National Action,? had stated that the Black family, ?battered and harassed by discrimination,? was ?the fundamental source of the weakness of the Negro community.?

For law professor and author Michelle Alexander, the mass incarceration of Black men stemming from the prosecution of the ?War on Drugs? has created social conditions among African-Americans far more devastating than what Moynihan predicted 48 years ago. ?It?s been said that things have worsened since the Moynihan Report was released, and I would say that is a considerable understatement,? she said Friday at the Urban Institute think tank and Fathers Incorporated organization policy forum, ?Black Families Five Decades after the Moynihan Report.?

?A revolution has occurred since Moynihan issued the so-called infamous report. A new caste system has emerged in poor communities of color?a caste system that has resulted in not only millions being locked up and permanently locked out, but a caste system that has managed to destroy [and] decimate Black families in the United States,? Alexander told forum attendees in a riveting keynote speech.

Alexander, author of the widely-praised The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness and an Ohio State University law professor, said the nation passed up the opportunity to help create better social conditions for Blacks and others. Instead of pursuing policies that might have made it possible to stem the tide of joblessness that has disproportionately curtailed opportunities for Black men over the past half century, the U.S. pursued criminal justice policies that has seen the nation?s prison population swell from 300,000 to well over 2 million, she noted.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, non-Hispanic Blacks accounted for 39.4 percent of the total prison and jail population in 2009. In 2010 Black males were imprisoned at the rate of 4,347 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents of the same race and gender. White males were incarcerated at the rate of 678 inmates per 100,000 U.S. White male residents and Hispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 1,755 inmates per 100,000 U.S. Hispanic male residents.

Noting that studies have shown that Blacks consume illicit drugs at a rate roughly comparable to other racial and ethnic groups, Alexander pointed to the disproportionately high prosecution of Black males for non-violent drug offenses as a significant factor in the high rate of Black male incarceration.

?In the years since the Moynihan Report, we?ve made a profound choice. Rather than good schools, we have built high-tech prisons. Rather than create good jobs and invest in the communities that need it most, we have embarked upon an unprecedented race to incarcerate that has left millions of Americans locked up and locked out,? she said.

Forum speakers and commentators featured in a short film about the Moynihan Report noted that, despite the controversy surrounding the report?s release, the analysis was fundamentally a plea to the nation to ensure economic opportunity for Black families. ?The Moynihan Report was a call to action with the principal focus on jobs, which got lost I must say,? Columbia University economist Irwin Garfinkel said in the Moynihan legacy video that was presented during the policy forum.

?Remember who Moynihan was. He was working for the Department of Labor? And the Labor Department has always and was then a principal advocate for jobs,? Garfinkel said. Moynihan later became a U.S. senator representing the state of New York.

Other forum speakers noted that the current statistical portrait of Black families bears out what the Moynihan Report predicted. ?The very numbers for Black families that so alarmed Moynihan in the 1960s have grown worse over time, and not just for Blacks. In fact, on many of the measures that Moynihan had looked at, White families are looking like what Black families looked like about 50 years ago,? said

Dr. Gregory Acs, director of the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

?In the early 1960s, about one in five Black children was born outside of marriage compared to about one in 50 White children. Now by 2010, non-marital child bearing had skyrocketed. Nearly three in four Black children were born outside of marriage and nearly three in 10 White children were born outside of marriage,? Acs said.?

Among the policy forum participants were Kenneth Braswell, executive director of Fathers Incorporated; Helen Mitchell, director of strategic planning and policy development in the Office of U.S. Representative Danny Davis; filmmaker Janks Morton, producer of ?What Black Men Think?; Dr. Jeffrey Shears, director of the Social Work Research Consortium in the Department of Social Work at the University of North Carolina?Charlotte; and Dr. Margaret Simms, director of the Low-Income Working Families project at the Urban Institute.

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The seven creepiest teachers who allegedly banged or inappropriately touched their students this week [SLIDESHOW]

(Recasts, adds witness and driver quotes, details) Feb 23 (Reuters) - A fiery pile-up at the Daytona speedway on Saturday injured at least 28 fans and a driver after the 10-car crash sent car debris, including a tire, flying into the crowd in the final lap of the Nationwide NASCAR race. Race officials said 14 fans were sent to nearby hospitals and another 14 were treated at the Florida track, which will host the prestigious Daytona 500 race on Sunday. "Stuff was flying everywhere," spectator Terry Huckaby, whose brother was sent to the hospital with a leg injury, told the ESPN sports network. ...

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Report: Barnes & Noble Might Give Up on the Nook

According to the New York Times, struggling bookmonger Barnes & Noble might be about to shelve its Nook. The problem is one more common to physical books than tablets: nobody's buying them. More »

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Toxic mice air drop: Dead poisoned mice to target Guam tree snakes

Toxic mice air drop: The US government is about target invasive brown tree snakes in Guam by bombing the island with dead mice laced with?acetaminophen, which is toxic to the reptiles.

By Eric Talmadge,?Associated Press / February 22, 2013

A Brown Tree Snake is held by a US Department of Agriculture wildlife specialist at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. The US government is planning to drop toxic mice from helicopters to battle the snakes, an invasive species that has decimated Guam's native bird population.

Eric Talmadge/AP

Enlarge

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam

Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on?Guam's?jungle canopy. They are scientists' prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake.

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Most of?Guam's?native bird species are extinct because of the snake, which reached the island's thick jungles by hitching rides from the South Pacific on U.S. military ships shortly after World War II. There may be 2 million of the reptiles on?Guam?now, decimating wildlife, biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.

More than 3,000 miles away, environmental officials in Hawaii have long feared a similar invasion ? which in their case likely would be a "snakes on a plane" scenario. That would cost the state many vulnerable species and billions of dollars, but the risk will fall if?Guam's?air-drop strategy succeeds.

"We are taking this to a new phase," said Daniel Vice, assistant state director of U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services in Hawaii,?Guam, and the Pacific Islands. "There really is no other place in the world with a snake problem like?Guam."

Brown tree snakes are generally a few feet (1 meter) long but can grow to be more than 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Most of?Guam's?native birds were defenseless against the nocturnal, tree-based predators, and within a few decades of the reptile's arrival, nearly all of them were wiped out.

The snakes can also climb power poles and wires, causing blackouts, or slither into homes and bite people, including babies; they use venom on their prey but it is not lethal to humans.

The infestation and the toll it has taken on native wildlife have tarnished?Guam'simage as a tourism haven, though the snakes are rarely seen outside their jungle habitat.

The solution to this headache, fittingly enough, is acetaminophen, the active ingredient in painkillers including Tylenol.

The strategy takes advantage of the snake's two big weaknesses. Unlike most snakes, brown tree snakes are happy to eat prey they didn't kill themselves, and they are highly vulnerable to acetaminophen, which is harmless to humans.

The upcoming mice drop is targeted to hit snakes near?Guam's?sprawling Andersen Air Force Base, which is surrounded by heavy foliage and if compromised would offer the snakes a potential ticket off the island. Using helicopters, the dead neonatal mice will be dropped by hand, one by one.

U.S. government scientists have been perfecting the mice-drop strategy for more than a decade with support from the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior.

To keep the mice bait from dropping all the way to the ground, where it could be eaten by other animals or attract insects as they rot, researchers have developed a flotation device with streamers designed to catch in the branches of the forest foliage, where the snakes live and feed.

Experts say the impact on other species will be minimal, particularly since the snakes have themselves wiped out the birds that might have been most at risk.

"One concern was that crows may eat mice with the toxicant," said William Pitt, of the U.S. National Wildlife Research Center's Hawaii Field Station. "However, there are no longer wild crows on?Guam. We will continue to refine methods to increase efficiency and limit any potential non-target hazards."

The mouse drop is set to start in April or May.

Vice said the goal is not to eradicate the snakes, but to control and contain them. Just as the snakes found their way to?Guam, they could stow away on a ship, or more likely the cargo hold of an airplane, and begin breeding on other islands around the Pacific or even the U.S. West Coast.

That "snakes on a plane" scenario has officials in Hawaii on edge. The islands of Hawaii, like?Guam, lack the predators that could keep a brown tree snake population in check.

Native Hawaiian birds "literally don't know what to do when they see a snake coming," said Christy Martin, a spokeswoman for the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, a partnership of Hawaii government agencies and private organizations.

A 2010 study conducted by the National Wildlife Research Center found brown tree snakes would cause between $593 million and $2.14 billion in economic damage each year if they became established in Hawaii like they are on?Guam. Power outages would cause the most damage, followed by a projected decline in tourism. The cost of treating snake bites would account for a small share.

"Once we get snakes here, we're never going to be able to fix the situation," Martin said.

Though the snakes are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea,?Guam?is much closer to Hawaii and its snake population is much more dense, meaning it is the primary threat for snake stowaways.

So far,?Guam's?containment seems to be working. Only a few brown tree snakes have ever been found in Hawaii, and none over the past 17 years.

"If we continue doing what we are doing, the chance of success is very high," Vice said. "If what we are doing stops, I think the possibility of the snakes getting to Hawaii is inevitable."

___

AP writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report from Honolulu.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/5QKzfHBtQI8/Toxic-mice-air-drop-Dead-poisoned-mice-to-target-Guam-tree-snakes

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Mozilla CEO: looking at a 2014 time frame for a US Firefox OS release

With a number of other countries already in line to get their hands on Mozilla's Firefox OS, it's pretty clear that the company doesn't have the States at the top of its list of priorities. While attending its press conference at MWC today, however, we just had to ask: when will we be getting a turn at the mobile operating system? CEO Gary Kovacs assured us that the US is indeed on the list (albeit a bit further down), and his company has both plans and partners lined up for what looks to be a 2014 release time frame for the low cost operating system.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/mozilla-ceo-looking-at-a-2014-timeframe-for-a-us-firefox-os-rel/

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Malloy joins critics of GOP on budget impasse

WASHINGTON -- Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other Democratic governors got a pep talk Friday from President Obama about the impact of the looming March 1 sequestration, and they joined in pinning the blame for the impasse on Republicans.

Malloy, in town for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association, told reporters that Obama was finding it difficult to negotiate with congressional Republicans.

"There is no leadership in the Republican Congress or the Senate and maybe that's the big problem -- there's nobody to deal with anymore," Malloy said, adding that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have problems within their own party caucuses.

Some Republican lawmakers are adamantly opposed to Obama's approach to the budget deficit, saying the president doesn't want to cut spending sharply enough but instead wants to rely on tax increases. They've also expressed anger that, in their view, he's unfairly portraying them as the side that is refusing to compromise.

Malloy stood bare-headed in sleet and freezing rain outside the White House as he and other Democratic governors -- Peter Shumlin of Vermont, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Martin O'Malley of Maryland and John Hickenlooper of Colorado -- held a news conference after meeting with Obama.

Shumlin, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said Democratic governors should urge Republican governors to press their GOP colleagues in Congress to adopt the Obama approach.

The message to Republican governors, he said, is: "Speak up! Don't be part of the problem."

The NGA convenes here Saturday for two days of conferences.

Sequestration means that $85 billion in phased federal spending cuts kick in starting March 1. The reductions are the result of a 2011 law that Obama and Congress enacted as a draconian incentive for the administration and Congress to reach agreement on a deficit-cutting plan. Lacking an agreement, sequestration would kick in automatically.

No agreement has been reached.

chuck@hearstdc.com

Source: http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Malloy-joins-critics-of-GOP-on-budget-impasse-4301450.php

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Governors: Looming cuts threaten economic gains

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, center, seen with National Governors Association Chairman Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware, left, and Vice Chairman Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, speaks during the opening news conference of the NGA Winter Meeting in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. The nation's governors say their states are threatened if the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts, known as the sequester, take effect March 1. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, center, seen with National Governors Association Chairman Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware, left, and Vice Chairman Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, speaks during the opening news conference of the NGA Winter Meeting in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. The nation's governors say their states are threatened if the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts, known as the sequester, take effect March 1. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, left, leads fellow Democratic Governors Associations members along the driveway of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. From left are, Shumlin, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Vermont Gov. Maggie Hassan, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, center, accompanied by fellow members of the Democratic Governors Associations, speaks outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. From left are, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Virgin Islands Gov. John De Jongh, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Hassan, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, center, accompanied by fellow members of the Democratic Governors Associations, looks up to the overcast sky, outside the White House in Washington, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. From left are, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Virgin Island Gov. John de Jongh, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Hickenlooper, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, accompanied by other members of the Democratic Governors Associations, speaks outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, following their meeting with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Washington's protracted budget stalemate could seriously undermine the economy and stall gains made since the recession, exasperated governors said Saturday as they tried to gauge the fallout from impending federal spending cuts.

At the annual National Governors Association meeting, both Democrat and Republican chief executives expressed pessimism that both sides could find a way to avoid the massive, automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, pointing to the impasse as another crisis between the White House and Congress that hampers their ability to construct state spending plans and spooks local businesses from hiring.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a former congressman, noted that the cuts ? known in Washington-speak as "the sequester" ? could lead to 19,000 workers laid off at Pearl Harbor, site of the surprise attack in 1941 that launched the United States into World War II. Today, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam supports Air Force and Navy missions.

"That will undermine our capacity for readiness at Pearl Harbor. If that doesn't symbolize for the nation ... what happens when we fail to meet our responsibilities congressionally, I don't know what does," Abercrombie said.

The budget fight came as many states say they are on the cusp of an economic comeback from the financial upheaval in 2008 and 2009. States expect their general fund revenues this year to surpass the amounts collected before the Great Recession kicked in. An estimated $693 billion in revenues is expected for the 2013 budget year, nearly a 4 percent increase over the previous year.

"It's a damn shame," said Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat. "We've actually had the fastest rate of jobs recovery of any state in our region. And this really threatens to hurt a lot of families in our state and kind of flat line our job growth for the next several months."

At their weekend meetings, governors were focusing on ways to boost job development and grow their state economies, measures to restrict gun violence and implement the new health care law approved during Obama's first term.

Some Republican governors have blocked the use of Medicaid to expand health insurance coverage for millions of uninsured while others have joined Democrats in a wholesale expansion as the law allows. The Medicaid expansion aims to cover about half of the 30 million uninsured people expected to eventually gain coverage under the health care overhaul.

Yet for many governors, the budget-cut fight remains front-and-center and fuels a pervasive sense of frustration with Washington.

"My feeling is I can't help what's going on in Washington," Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, said in an interview Saturday. "I can't help the fact that there's no leadership here, and it's all politics as usual and gridlock. But I can do something about the way we do things in the state of Iowa."

Indeed, right now no issue carries the same level of urgency as the budget impasse.

Congressional leaders have indicated a willingness to let the cuts take effect and stay in place for weeks, if not much longer.

The cuts would trim $85 billion in domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers at the Transportation Department, Defense Department and elsewhere.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces.

The looming cuts were never supposed to happen. They were intended to be a draconian fallback intended to ensure a special deficit reduction committee would come up with $1 trillion or more in savings from benefit programs. It didn't.

"We should go back and remember that sequestration was originally designed by both the administration and Congress as something so odious, so repellent, that it would force both sides to a compromise. There can't be any question, this is something that nobody wants," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.

Obama has stepped up efforts to tell the public about the cuts' negative impact and pressure Republicans who oppose his approach of reducing deficits through a combination of targeted savings and tax increases. House Republicans have said reduced spending needs to be the focus and have rejected the president's fresh demand to include higher taxes as part of a compromise.

Governors said they are asking the Obama administration for more flexibility to deal with some of the potential cuts.

"We're just saying that as you identify federal cuts and savings, allow the states to be able to realize those savings, too," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican and the association's vice chairwoman.

___

Follow Steve Peoples at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples and Ken Thomas at: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

___

Online:

National Governors Association: http://www.nga.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-23-Budget%20Battle-Governors/id-22eb029fd2194e118d2c555f476061de

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WTS: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 N7100 & Samsung Galaxy S3 4G @ Affordable price

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Carly Rae Jepsen Gets 'Over You' In New Video

Jepsen falls for a bad boy, again and again, in her 'Tonight I'm Getting Over You' video.
By Jocelyn Vena

Carly Rae Jepsen in her "Tonight I'm Getting Over You" music video
Photo: Interscope

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Liam Payne hits back at Boy George on twitter

One Direction star Liam Payne has hit back at Boy George after he insulted him on twitter.

The former Culture Club singer thanked Harry Styles for posing for a picture with his niece at a Brit Awards after party

But he added: ?B*llox's to Liam and the disrespectful w**ker of a minder!?

However, Payne replied: ?@BoyGeorge?now now boy lets not tell porkies firstly thanks for getting my name wrong three times secondly then asking me where is liam?... (sic)

?Akward then when you finally got it right saying you wanted Niall instead. if you would have asked me for a picture i would have stopped bro.

?I just did what you said and pointed niall out for you so u just keep wearing ur strange hats and enjoy yourself my little Georgie pie... It's still not cool you just look weird.?

Boy George later wrote: ?@Real_Liam_Payne You were rude but whatever! Everyone wants a piece of you! I get it. I bet Debbie Harry is fuming!?

One Direction picked up the Global Success gong at the Brit Awards and performed their Red Nose Day charity single.

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Source: http://entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/214954-liam-payne-hits-back-at-boy-george-on-twitter/

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Rumor: iPad Mini 2 Images

A series of new images have appeared which apparently show the rear-shell of the as-yet-unreleased iPad mini. The images were posted to the Chinese site WeiPhone and seem to show an aluminum shell that looks slightly thicker than the current generation iPad mini. The shell also appears to have a blue Apple logo and ?iPad? writing, although it is unclear if this is simply placeholder colored areas that would be printed black in a subsequent manufacturing process.

While the shell appears moderately thicker, it is difficult to establish exactly how much due to the lack of comparison or measurements of the panel. The iPad 3, the first iPad to sport a Retina Display, was moderately thicker than the iPad 2 to accomodate the increased battery capacity and high resolution screen. Interestingly these images show a rear panel that has not yet received the chamfering treatment that debuted with the original iPad mini.

While the authenticity of these images has not been verified, it will be interesting to see if Apple does choose to increase the thickness of the second generation iPad mini in order to accommodate a Retina Display screen. One of the key selling points of the iPad mini is the lightweight and thin form factor and any addition to that would likely not be welcomed by users.

Thickset?

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$100M Calif. mansion has unusual sale requirement

HILLSBOROUGH, Calif. (AP) ? As if the $100 million asking price wasn't deterrent enough, the owner of a mansion for sale in a ritzy San Francisco suburb says the buyer can move in only after his death.

The unusual arrangement is for a 16,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style home on more than 45 acres in Hillsborough.

The San Mateo County Times reports (http://bit.ly/VyKCcz ) the owner, 76-year-old Christian de Guigne (deh GHEEN-yay) IV, was born and raised in the home and doesn't plan to turn it over to the new owner until he dies.

Sotheby's International Realty agent Gregg Lynn says the arrangement was common for property traded up until the 20th century. He called the estate a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Another home nearby recently sold for $117.5 million.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-02-21-US-Mansion-Sale-Unusual-Deal/id-a8302bf1724c41dfa0f5038d19aaf537

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New Brunswick Unveils New Oil and Gas Rules

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Apple supplier Foxconn places hiring freeze on its largest plant

Thursday, 21 February, 2013

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'Argo' Blu-Ray Exclusive: The Story Behind The Rescue

With the Oscars happening this Sunday, there's no better time to revisit one of the upcoming ceremony's front-runners than now. We're talking, of course, about "Argo," director and star Ben Affleck's drama based on the true story of the rescue of six American men and women in Tehran after the fall of the Shah. There's [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/02/19/argo-blu-ray/

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Robert Scoble Is Switching To Android

Social media maven Robert Scoble says he's migrating from Apple to Android. "I'm no longer an Apple fanboy," Scoble wrote in a post on Google+ yesterday. "I'm getting ready to leave the Apple platform and switch to Android."

That might not seem like a big deal. But the fact is, a lot of people follow Scoble on social media and consider him influential. They respect his opinion. And Scoble isn't just any fanboy. He's the kind who?camps outside Apple stores?and sleeps on the sidewalk when a new Apple product is coming out and cheers like a triumphant hero when he walks out of the store with the latest iToy in his hands. (See also here and here and here.)

Scoble isn't the first high-profile Apple defector. A few months ago we reported that legendary Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki had become a hardcore Android fan.?

Reasons For Switching

Kawasaki said he moved to Android because he simply believed that Android had leapfrogged past Apple and was delivering a better solution.

Scoble said he's bailing because "Apple lately HAS slipped in my eyes and there are lots of examples how (Google Now, Waze maps, and tons of apps that are here already and coming on the Android platform, like SwiftKey keyboards)."

Scoble still believes that "most apps are smoother and have fewer problems on iOS," but he's switching anyway.?

Partly Scoble seems excited about Google's Project Glass wearable computer. He's getting one soon, and says that "of course that will work better if you use Android."

Yet Another Switcher

The irony is that Scoble was writing this stuff about Android in a post where he was criticizing a reporter from GigaOm who Scoble felt had unfairly criticized Apple.

The GigaOm reporter, Mathew Ingram, had written an article describing his own switch from Apple to Android.

Ingram originally adopted Android because he got sick of Apple's walled garden, only to discover that he also likes the way Android handles notifications and finds it less intrusive than how Apple does it.

Scoble went on a rant saying you can just turn off Apple notifications if you don't like them.?But then Scoble confessed that he too is in the process of switching to Android.

What does it mean when high-profile "influencers" and devoted Apple lovers start moving to Android? They all have different reasons, and you may or may not agree with them or be persuaded by their arguments. But even the most hardcore Apple fans must recognize that these decisions are significant.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/hk1eQUg7OgE/robert-scoble-is-switching-to-android

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