damian: April 2013

Monday, 29 April 2013

PFT: Patience rewarded from top to bottom in draft

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Here are the terms of trades completed on Saturday, April 27, the third and final day of the 2013 NFL Draft. All draft choices are 2013 selections unless otherwise noted:

The Jaguars traded a fourth-round pick (No. 98) to the Eagles. In exchange, the Eagles sent fourth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 101, 210) to Jacksonville. With pick No. 98, the Eagles selected Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley. Three picks later, the Jaguars selected South Carolina wide receiver Ace Sanders at No. 101. With pick No. 210, the Jaguars took Appalachian State cornerback Demetrius McCray.

The Buccaneers acquired a fourth-round pick (No. 100) from Oakland. The Raiders, in turn, received fourth- and sixth-round selections (Nos. 112, 181) from Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers took Illinois defensive tackle Akeem Spence at No. 100. The Raiders selected Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson at No. 112 and UCF running back Latavius Murray at No. 181.

The Giants traded for a fourth-round pick (No. 110) belonging to Arizona. In exchange, New York sent fourth- and sixth-round selections (Nos. 116, 187) to the Cardinals. The Giants took Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib at No. 110. With No. 116, the Cardinals took James Madison offensive guard Earl Watford, and with No. 187, they selected Clemson running back Andre Ellington.

The Steelers acquired a fourth-round pick from Cleveland (No. 111). In return, the Browns will get the Steelers? third-round pick in 2014. The Steelers selected Syracuse safety Shamarko Thomas at No. 111.

The Packers traded for Denver?s fourth-round pick (No. 125), giving the Broncos fifth- and sixth-round picks (Nos. 146, 173) in return. The Packers selected UCLA running back Jonathan Franklin at No. 125. At No. 146, the Broncos selected Western Kentucky defensive end Quanterus Smith. At No. 173, the Broncos took Virginia Tech offensive tackle Vinston Painter.

The Seahawks acquired the Lions? fifth-round selection (No. 137). In return, the Lions received fifth- and sixth-round choices (Nos. 165, 199) from Seattle. At No. 137, the Seahawks took Alabama defensive tackle Jesse Williams. The Lions took Appalachian State punter Sam Martin at No. 165 and Notre Dame running back Theo Riddick at No. 199.

The Colts acquired the Browns? fifth-round pick (No. 139) in exchange for Indianapolis? 2014 fourth-round pick. At No. 139, the Colts selected Tennessee-Martin defensive tackle Montori Hughes.

The Falcons acquired the Bears? fifth-round selection (No. 153), sending fifth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 163, 236) to Chicago. The Falcons selected Texas Christian defensive end / outside linebacker Stansly Maponga. The Bears took Louisiana Tech tackle Jordan Mills at No. 163 and Washington State wide receiver Marquess Wilson at No. 236.

The Rams traded back into Round Five, sending sixth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 184, 198) to the Texans for Houston?s fifth-round pick (No. 160). The Rams took Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy at No. 160. The Texans exercised pick No. 198 on Bowling Green defensive tackle Chris Jones. The Texans dealt selection No. 184 to Oakland (see next entry).

The Texans acquired a sixth-round pick from Oakland (No. 176). In return, Houston sent sixth- and seventh-round selections to Oakland (Nos. 184, 233). The Texans selected San Jose State offensive tackle David Quessenberry at No. 176. The Raiders used selection No. 184 on Tennessee tight end Mychal Rivera and selection No. 233 on Missouri Western State defensive end David Bass.

The Buccaneers traded running back LeGarrette Blount to the Patriots for running back / kick returner Jeff Demps and a seventh-round pick (No. 229). The Buccaneers traded the No. 229 pick to Minnesota (see next entry).

The Buccaneers acquired a sixth-round pick from Minnesota (No. 189). In return, the Vikings received sixth- and seventh-round picks (Nos. 196, 229). The Buccaneers took Miami (Fla.) running back Mike James at No. 189. The Vikings selected UCLA offensive guard Jeff Baca at No. 196 and Florida State defensive tackle Everett Dawkins with pick No. 229.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/27/draft-wrap-up-patience-is-rewarded/related/

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Sunday, 28 April 2013

Is this typical of how lesbians feel? - Empty Closets

I'm still in the process of figuring out my orientation, and I was wondering if this is typical to feel this way if you're a lesbian.

When I think about having sex with a guy, the whole idea of it seems foreign and actually strange.

When I think about intimacy/basically being naked with a girl, it seems like ok, this is safe. It's familiar. And therefore doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. [this is hypothetical, I have never been physically intimate with a girl in any way] I can't tell if I feel this way because a girl's body is like mine and that is familiar, or if it's because SHE IS A GIRL.

The idea of sex with a guy just seems...weird.

Is this typical of how lesbians feel about sex w/ the opposite gender vs. the same gender?

Also, I am very thin, and part of what spurred my questioning is that I realized when I would pick out what I was wearing, I would worry that T-shirts instead of frilly stuff would make me look like a lesbian because I am thin to the point of having no shape. I was literally worried I looked lesbian. I would put something on and look in the mirror and think "No..this won't work. I look lesbian." I realized after a few months of worrying about that pretty often that straight people probably don't worry they look lesbian, unless they ARE lesbian. Right? Has anyone else done this?

I also have been offended in the past when close guy friends have flirted with me. It's like, no...you're supposed to be my friend. I don't know if it's because it's in the friend territory already, or if I just don't feel comfortable with guys seeing me that way. Except for one guy ever, guys feeling that way about me makes me feel uneasy.

Lastly, I've only had one boyfriend and it lasted a very short period of time (2 weeks). I got in a relationship because I wanted to have a boyfriend. Not because I wanted to be close with him but because I felt like by having a boyfriend I was finally being grownup and mature. Like having a boyfriend was biting the bullet and being an adult, and that's what adults do, they have boyfriends. I was just 17 at the time, but you know what I mean. Is this typical of how lesbians have felt about relationships with guys in the past? The whole feeling like getting a boyfriend is something you do to be mature, not something you're diving into with glee?

Basically, the idea of being in a relationship with a girl seems safe, and the idea of being in a relationship with a guy seems...foreign. Is this also typical of how lesbians feel?

Feel free to dissect this post, answer only certain sections which apply if any, etc. It will help me a lot to hear from other people who have felt similarly.

Source: http://emptyclosets.com/forum/sexual-orientation-gender-identity-support/92403-typical-how-lesbians-feel.html

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Action plan ensures Manitoba is one of North America's safest ...

Posted on 04/28/2013, 11:47 am, by mySteinbach.ca

Manitoba now has a new strategic action plan to prevent workplace injury and illness and to better ensure every worker makes it home safely at the end of the day. This announcement was made by Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard.

?This comprehensive strategy follows the province?s most extensive review of injury and illness prevention in more than a decade and doubles resources dedicated to injury and illness prevention,? said Howard. ?It strengthens our safety and health laws and will ensure employers are rewarded for practices that make their workplaces safer and healthier.?

The Manitoba government?s Five Year Plan for Injury and Illness Prevention incorporates recommendations from three reports issued in early April as part of a wide-ranging review of workplace injury and illness prevention.

The new strategy details plans for:

doubling funding for prevention services,
creating new requirements under the Workplace Safety and Health Act that more clearly define workers? legal rights, require mandatory orientation of new workers and provide stronger protection when a worker refuses unsafe work,
investing in resources that will ensure every high school student has access to workplace health and safety information in the classroom or online, and materials to help parents prepare their children to know about their rights to a safe workplace when they start their first job,
strengthening support for emergency responders and other workers in high-trauma jobs,
providing more ways for the public to report unsafe workplaces including a one-stop phone number for reporting unsafe workplace or injuries,
requiring mandatory safety orientation for new workers,
providing a mobile safety lab to bring safety awareness training and tools to rural worksites,
ensuring every new business in Manitoba gets information about their responsibilities to prevent injuries,
creating a leadership team of business owners and executives who have shown their commitment to safety and can help inform and mentor other business owners,
increasing enforcement of rules to prevent bullying and violence in the workplace, and
reviewing every workplace death to learn lessons about prevention.

?Dedicating more resources to prevention will help make Manitoba one of the safest places to work in North America,? said Howard. ?Enforcement is also an important part of injury prevention and our safety and health laws will be among the strongest in the country. Safety and health officers will now have the tools needed to ensure compliance.?

The minister also announced the Workers? Compensation Board of Manitoba will develop a strategy to eliminate claim suppression and inappropriate returnto-work practices, while ensuring employers that engage in genuine injury prevention are recognized and rewarded. That new strategy is expected in the fall of 2013.

?I?d like to thank Mr. Dave Gaudreau, MLA for St. Norbert, who assisted in conducting the comprehensive review of injury and illness prevention in our province,? said Howard. ?I also extend my gratitude to the many Manitobans who provided their input and recommendations.?

Information on Manitoba?s Five Year Plan for Injury and Illness Prevention and on the recent reviews is available at www.gov.mb.ca/labour/safety.

Source: http://www.mysteinbach.ca/newsblog/20233.html

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Berlusconi says Italy will get government Saturday

ROME (AP) ? Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi says he thinks Italy will finally get a government Saturday, a broad coalition that brings his conservatives back in power.

The media mogul also told journalists in Rome Saturday he wouldn't be part of the Cabinet headed by a center-left leader Enrico Letta.

Letta, who is a nephew of a longtime Berlusconi adviser, met earlier with the ex-premier for two hours as the rivals haggle over Cabinet posts.

Elections in February yielded political gridlock, leaving Letta 's Democratic Left party fractured and making runner-up Berlusconi kingmaker, since the center-left needs backing from his center-right bloc for a Parliamentary majority.

President Giorgio Napolitano, who agreed to serve an unprecedented second term, gave Letta the task of trying to assemble a stable coalition.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berlusconi-says-italy-government-saturday-121417644.html

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Saturday, 27 April 2013

UT-Austin Fuels the Energy Capital of the World | JSG News

Left to right: John Butler, Scott Tinker and Tad Patzek

Leading energy faculty at The University of Texas at Austin shared an update on the innovative research and programs taking place on the Forty Acres during the first-ever UT Energy Summit in Houston.

The event, held at Latham & Watkins LLP on April 18, showcased how faculty and staff from UT?s engineering, business and geology schools are working together on various energy-related projects. This interdisciplinary approach helps ensure a 360-degree understanding of the nation?s energy resources, as well as how energy impacts society. The event?s moderator, Marshall Adkins, director of energy research at Raymond James and Associates, hosted the three-person panel including:

Tad Patzek ? Chair of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering (PGE) Department in the Cockrell School
Scott Tinker ? Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and the Advanced Energy Consortium in the Jackson School
John Butler ? Associate Director of UT Energy Management and Innovation Center in the McCombs School

Patzek and Tinker are currently collaborating on three research projects, including an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation energy project. The extensive study, recently released, indicates natural gas production in the United States will accelerate over the next three decades, increasing the country?s energy independence, a high priority item in Washington D.C.

During the event, Patzek also shared the details of UT PGE?s one-of-a-kind drilling and completions lab, set to open in late spring, made possible through the support of Baker Hughes. The lab?s state-of-the-art technology will allow students the opportunity to access, analyze and make decisions on real-time field data. The new technology, particularly the drilling simulator, will create a world-class program benefiting current and future students.

?We are growing not only as the preeminent petroleum engineering department, but also the premier energy university, with UT?s diverse research portfolio,? Patzek said.

The deans from all three schools, Gregory L. Fenves (Cockrell School), Sharon Mosher (Jackson School), and Thomas W. Gilligan (McCombs School), as well as Thomas Edgar, the interim director of the Energy Institute, attended the event and contributed to the moderator/panel discussion.

The UT Energy Summit is expected to become an annual event, building the partnership between two great Texas cities ? Austin and Houston.

Source: http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2013/04/ut-austin-fuels-the-energy-capital-of-the-world/

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Atlantis Exposed: Space Shuttle Fully Unwrapped for NASA Exhibit

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ??Space shuttle Atlantis is ready for its spotlight ? well, almost.

The retired NASA orbiter, which is set to go on public display June 29 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, was fully revealed Friday (April 26) after workers spent two days peeling off its protective shrink-wrap cover of the past five months.

"It looks fantastic," Tim Macy, director of project development and construction for Delaware North Parks and Resorts, which runs the visitor complex for NASA, said after seeing Atlantis unwrapped. "It looks better than I thought it was going to look." [Photos: Rare Last Look Inside Shuttle Atlantis]

"It looks completely different with the plastic on it than the plastic off," Macy told collectSPACE.com. "But this is the way it is supposed to look. It looks so much like the [exhibit's conceptual] drawings."

On Thursday, workers began carefully cutting back the 16,000 square feet (1,486 square meters) of shrink wrap that protected Atlantis as its $100 million exhibition building was completed around it. By the end of the first day, the shuttle's nose, tail, aft engines and left wing were exposed.

On Friday, the workers completed the process, revealing Atlantis' right wing and its 60-foot-long (18 meter) payload bay.

"I cannot wait to get the covers off the windows and get the doors open to see the final configuration," Macy said.

Opening the payload bay is the last major challenge to ready Atlantis for display, Macy said. That process, which is set to begin in May, will take about two weeks, as the doors are very slowly hoisted open, one by one.

NASA designed the cargo bay to open in the microgravity environment of space. Here on Earth, the hinges cannot support the doors' weight, so lines dropped from the five-story building's roof will be used to hold the doors in place.

Once open, visitors will be able to easily see into the payload bay, given the way that Atlantis has been mounted. Thirty feet (9 meters) in the air, the space shuttle has been tilted 43.21 degrees, such that its left wing extends toward the ground.

The end result is that Atlantis will appear to be back in space ? an effect that will be enhanced by lighting and a mural-size digital screen that will project the Earth's horizon behind the shuttle.

"It looks great even in the work lights," Macy commented. "Wait until we get the theatrical lights on it and light it the way we're supposed to, have that big screen going on behind it, it's going to be awesome."

Click through to collectSPACE.com to see photo galleries from the two-day process to unwrap space shuttle Atlantis.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/atlantis-exposed-space-shuttle-fully-unwrapped-nasa-exhibit-202446232.html

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Friday, 26 April 2013

AOL Is Shutting Down AOL Music And Firing Staff Who Are Live-Tweeting The Bloodbath

While there's still few details and no official announcement, AOL is shutting down its AOL Music news properties and is firing their employees, according to tweets from the official AOL Music site Spinner's account and some staff. Poor performance due to competition from independent bloggers may be to blame. However, reports indicate Winamp, Shoutcast, and flagship music blog Spinner may survive.

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

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Suitey Is A Software Powered Real Estate Brokerage For New York City Apartments And Homes

At first sight, Suitey looks like nothing more than a run-of-the-mill real estate website. But while sites like Trulia and Zillow merely provide a listing of available properties from a large assortment of brokerages and owners, all the properties on Suitey are being directly offered by Suitey itself. That?s because Suitey is a fully fledged real estate brokerage, and they believe they?re the first software-powered brokerage that offers a better, more transparent home buying experience. At their core, Trulia and Zillow are really nothing more than virtualized billboards. They provide a centralized location for brokers and owners to advertise their for-sale properties. Let?s say you?re looking for a new apartment, and you?ve narrowed down your list to five places. That means you?ll probably have to deal with five different real estate brokers, which from experience can be a total nightmare. With Suitey, everything is simplified. Once again, let?s say you?re looking for an apartment in Manhattan (for now, Suitey only offers listings in New York City). Once you narrow things down to five options on their website, you can contact a Suitey agent who will set a time to view all the properties with you. In the future, you?ll be able to video chat with the agent directly from the website. This face-to-face experience with Suitey?s agents is key to the company’s ethos. ?We want to ensure that our agents are people you?d feel comfortable buying a home from,? says David Walker, CEO of Suitey. He tells me that Suitey?s agents are heavily vetted by the company before they are hired in a process that ensures their competence and general likability. Once you?ve agreed to buy the home, Suitey gives you a one percent discount to sweeten the deal. That may not seem like much, but if you?re buying property for several million dollars, that rebate ends up being a couple thousand dollars you can put towards your deposit. ?I?ve never heard of anything quite like it, and it would interesting to see what happens,? says Laura Goldstein, Managing Editor of AOL Real Estate. ?People have such a bad association with real estate agents, and the customer service approach feels very appealing.? Suitey was one of the ten companies featured at the Entrepreneur Roundtable Accelerator?s Demo Day today. You can check out a roundup of startups from our coverage of the event here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NxUfX7EqjHo/

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Eric Schmidt Thinks Controlling Google Glass with Your Voice Is "the Weirdest Thing"

There's a lot of quirkiness to Google Glass and a lot of stuff that Google still has to figure out. One of those things, according to ol' Google CEO Eric Schmidt, is talking out loud to control Google Glass. In a talk at Harvard today, Schmitty literally called it "the weirdest thing". More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/HdNHEh9aeHo/eric-schmidt-thinks-controlling-google-glass-with-your-voice-is-the-weirdest-thing

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Jeter has 'no doubt' that he'll return to Yankees

New York Yankees' Derek Jeter pauses before answering a question about the fracture in his left ankle during a news conference before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees' Derek Jeter laughs during a news conference about his left ankle injury before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees Derek Jeter walks into a press conference without his walking boot before a baseball game between the Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Jeter said he didn't have time to put it on. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter wears a boot to protect his injured left ankle during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Don't count out the captain.

Derek Jeter is certain he will return to the New York Yankees this season at the same level that made him one of baseball's most revered players.

In a jocular mood and wearing pinstriped pants, a practice jersey and hat, Jeter expressed frustration in learning last week that there was a new break in the ankle, an injury that has sidelined him since Game 1 of the AL championship series. He likely will be out until after the All-Star break.

Still, he never wavered in his confidence that he will run ? without a limp ? to the shortstop position that has been his since 1996.

"When you have doubt, that's when you're in trouble. I have been told this bone will heal, and when it heals I'll be ready to go," Jeter said Thursday before the Yankees' 5-3 win over Toronto. "It's frustrating I can't magically make it heal sooner than it's taken."

Jeter was in the dugout for a game for the first time this season, getting to know several teammates that weren't with the Yankees when he played in his last spring training game in mid-March.

Kevin Youkilis, among the new Yankees, was out of the lineup for the fifth straight game because of a tight lower back.

"He tried to take some work in the cage," manager Joe Girardi said. "He's just not ready. I thought it would be today. So hopefully it's tomorrow. We'll just go day by day."

Girardi is confident that when Jeter returns, he'll be the same player who has 3,304 hits, including an AL-leading 216 last season.

"He's had a setback here," Girardi said. "We have to deal with it but, hopefully, we get him back and he's the same player he was at the end of last year."

The 13-time All-Star is disappointed he failed in fulfilling his prediction that he would return by opening day. Now the reality is he will not be able to help his team until around mid-July, weeks after he's turned 39 years old.

No. 2 has a date in mind for his return, but he not saying when it is.

"The last timeline I set, I didn't make," Jeter said. "I don't want to disappoint myself or anyone else."

Jeter was always stubborn about injuries, refusing tests and claiming he was well enough to play. He has willed himself onto the field throughout a career in which his 2,531 games at shortstop rank only behind Omar Vizquel (2,709) and Luis Aparicio (2,581).

"I don't talk about injuries," he said. "It's just I think talking about injuries is just making an excuse for yourself. You either play or you don't."

In 2004, he famously dived into the stands to make a catch against the Boston Red Sox and walked off the field bloody and bruised. Yet, he took his position at Shea Stadium the next day.

When he dislocated his shoulder in 2003, he returned almost exactly to the day predicted and played through pain much of the season ? the only one of his 17 previous full seasons that he played less than 130 games.

At 38, he had no such luck. Jeter played for much of last September with a bad bone bruise. It finally gave out against the Detroit Tigers when he lunged for a groundball Oct. 13. A week later he had surgery, and a Christmas party at Yankee Stadium for his Turn 2 Foundation, he vowed to be on the field for the April 1 opener.

But Jeter was slowed by stiffness and soreness during spring training and only played five big league games, three at shortstop. When the pain persisted into April, he went for a new CT scan in Charlotte, N.C., and that test revealed the break.

"When I got it, it wasn't good news," Jeter said. "I thought I would go up there, when I went to see the doc, I thought he would say it was something different. Tape it up. Let's go. But it wasn't the case. It didn't feel too good for quite some time. I'm laughing and smiling and happy that I'm up here. But I'm still upset that I can't play."

For now he will be limited to playing cheerleader and working out until he is given the OK to start his on-field rehabilitation again. Jeter walked without a limp into and out of the news conference, and he wasn't wearing the protective boot he says he has to wear, even though he doesn't think it's necessary.

He'll spend at least the 10-game homestand in New York.

"It's tough to not be around the team," Jeter said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-25-BBA-Yankees-Jeter/id-7a70832d4a964c00b9f3600d93aa4c6e

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LG starts to find its niche, ships a record 10.3 million smartphones in Q1

(Reuters) - This year's U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania has attracted a record total of 9,860 entries, the United States Golf Association (USGA) said on Thursday. The number of applicants for the June 13-16 tournament eclipsed the previous best of 9,086 for the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. "The fact that we have a record number of entries, from across the world, is a testament to both the great appeal of the U.S. Open and the historic nature and grandeur of Merion Golf Club," USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said in a statement. The U.S. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lg-starts-niche-ships-record-10-3-million-000030774.html

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Fire in Russian psychiatric hospital kills 38

(Releads, adds Sheikh Mohammed's comments, Dubai dateline) DUBAI/LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - Godolphin are to close the Newmarket stable of trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni while dope tests are carried out on all racehorses in his care after 11 tested positive for steroids, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said on Wednesday. "There can be no excuse for any deliberate violation," Sheikh Mohammed, also Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, said in a statement sent to Reuters. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fire-russian-psychiatric-hospital-kills-38-015202057.html

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Monday, 15 April 2013

Analysis: Beijing to US on North Korea _ talk

BEIJING (AP) ? Embedded within Chinese leaders' convoluted, yet vague statements to Washington about North Korea is a simple message: Talk with Pyongyang.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's weekend discussions with officials in Beijing offered up the usual encouraging but familiarly noncommittal language on North Korea, emphasizing Beijing's desire to strike a balance between easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula while not appearing to side against its prickly communist ally Pyongyang.

But while neither side offered details of their exchanges, Beijing is communicating its strong desire for some form of direct contact between the U.S. and North Korea as a means of defusing the ongoing crisis over North Korea's nuclear threats that have prompted a massive show of force by the U.S. and South Korea.

"North Korea wants to talk, so why not talk?" said Shen Dingli, a regional security expert and director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University. The question for China, Shen said, is how to make such discussions come about, adding that China is unlikely to make such calls too explicit for fear of putting either side in an embarrassing quandary.

Highlighting the difficulties of getting North Korea to talk with the U.S., the North rebuffed last week's proposal by Seoul to resolve the tensions through dialogue. North Korea dismissed the proposal as a "crafty trick" to disguise what Pyongyang calls the South's hostility, and said it won't talk unless Seoul abandons its confrontational posture.

Chinese media reports on Kerry's Saturday talks largely downplayed North Korea, and the Foreign Ministry's official statements were predictably blurry. In its account of his meeting with Kerry, the ministry quoted Premier Li Keqiang as referring only to "those who stir up trouble on the peninsula only harm their own interests, like moving a stone only to drop it on one's own foot."

That was a near echo of President Xi Jinping's own comment in a speech earlier this month that "no one should be allowed to throw the region, or even the whole world, into chaos for selfish gains" ? seen as much as a rebuke to the U.S. and its allies as to North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un. The ministry's account of Kerry's meeting with Xi didn't mention the Korean Peninsula even obliquely.

While China has grown more critical of North Korea since the latter's third nuclear test in February, Beijing remains highly wary of pushing the hardline communist regime too far. China says it wants a Korean Peninsula free from nuclear weapons, but that all sides must play a role in that.

The stakes are high for China, with a potential conflict threatening its economic development and stability in the northeast along its long, meandering border with North Korea. Beijing abhors the prospect of a pro-U.S. unified Korean state on its border as well as internal North Korean conflict that could spark an outflow of refugees.

China was already displeased by Kim's lack of outreach and lack of concern for Beijing's interests, and signed on to tighter U.N. sanctions following the North's latest nuclear test in February. It's also stepped up customs checks along their border, slowed some deliveries of equipment to the North and cracked down on suspect financial transactions by North Korean banks.

That's had little apparent effect on Kim's behavior, and he seems emboldened by China's lack of a forceful response to past crises and Pyongyang's perceptions of China's fear of a collapse of the regime. While North Korea's population is starving and impoverished, the leadership gets by on Chinese food and fuel, along with growing investment, and imports of North Korean iron ore and other raw materials.

Despite that, it's not clear what, if any, further pressure China is willing to exert, and if Xi, Li or others offered any further commitments, neither side was saying.

"Theoretically, there is more that China can do, but we're very worried that doing so could stimulate Kim to do even more dangerous things," said Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Renmin University in Beijing.

"Be prudent, don't go too far" is China's message to Washington and South Korea, Shi said.

While direct Washington-Pyongyang communication may offer a start, the ultimate key to easing tensions long-term lies in involving the other regional players, said Zhang Liangui, a researcher with the ruling Communist Party's main research and training institute in Beijing.

That would mark a return to Beijing's preferred format of six-nation talks involving the two Koreas, China, the U.S., Japan and Russia, a process stalemated since 2009 over how to ensure North Korean compliance with denuclearization measures. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again communicated Beijing's preference for the Chinese-hosted talks in his Saturday meeting with Kerry.

"This is not an issue for the two sides only," said Zhang, who is close to the Chinese leadership but said he had no direct knowledge of Kerry's meetings. "It concerns the entire region, so all the countries involved should take part."

China is not the only one suggesting a phone conversation between the sides. Flamboyant former NBA player Dennis Rodman made the same point following a bizarre trip to Pyongyang and meetings with Kim in March.

Both Kim and President Barack Obama love basketball "and there is even more they could talk about if Obama would just pick up the phone and call him," Rodman said following the trip.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-beijing-us-north-korea-talk-090502853.html

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In the virtual cockpit: What it takes to fly a drone

Nidhi Subbaraman , NBC News ? ? ? 20 hrs.

Drone pilots escape the physical demands and dangers of a traditional cockpit. There's no g-force pinning them to their seats, no uncomfortable pressure suit to wear and no panic because the aircraft they are sitting in is spiraling out of control.

Instead of soaking in sensory information through their eyes and ears and fingers, drone pilots spend hours watching their crafts through their computer screens ? their only physical link with the craft they fly.

Over the last few years, the military has been taking on drones faster than it can train pilots. The old guard, airmen and women who clocked flight hours in regular aircraft before taking control of a Predator, is being replaced by a generation of cadets with basic flight training and hours and hours of video game time. Drones themselves are evolving into complex automatons, making novel demands on their minders' brains and bodies. Scientists who study how machines and humans work together are only just filling in our understanding of what it really means to be a drone pilot.

A drone operator who has a flying history will tell you that switching gears to remote control takes some getting used to.

In a manned aircraft, "you can see outside, where you can hear the noise of the engine and hear the turbulence ? You have all your five senses," Phil Hall, a pilot for NASA's Global Hawk research drone, told NBC News.

But drone pilots today rely on a computer screen, system status updates and a map, sometimes continents away from the craft they are flying.

"In a manned aircraft if you have a problem you know right away," Hall said, but when there's a drone involved, there's a bit of translation, and there's only so much of the situation you can read.

Some of the hardest lessons to teach new drone pilots? Where to look for information that in a manned craft would be right at their fingertips, says Tom Miller, an ex-Air Force pilot who now flies NASA's Global Hawk drone. For example, in the case of a lost data link, a drone is programmed to return to either a pre-programmed location or its original launch point. When that happens, "A pilot needs to know what the programming is if they need to manage it," so the programming can be changed if needed, Miller said.

Boredom an issue
Drones like the Global Hawks are so sophisticated that they need more minding than flying. In other words, flying a drone doesn't suck up every drop of a pilot's focus every second they are at the controls. This makes boredom a unique but very real problem among pilots, and it cuts into their performance, a study published last year found.

Missy Cummings, an ex-Navy pilot and MIT professor who led the study, explained that "babysitting" a craft while waiting for a target makes it harder for pilots to spring back into action when they're needed. When she tested the subjects' attention through 4-hour simulations, she found that high scorers were distracted: They read a book, checked their phones or left the controls to get a snack.

But training for one drone doesn't mean you're ready to fly another, as drone controls can vary greatly between models. "They're apples and oranges," Hernan Posada, who pilots NASA's Predator named Ikhana, said. Predator drones, among the oldest, are operated with a stick and rudder, while the newer Global Hawk is controlled with a mouse and keyboard. The Predator is less autonomous and needs a lot more manual control, especially during take offs and landings, Posada explained.

"A lot" of unmanned aircraft systems were "built as if a (jet) pilot was going to fly it," which explains the rudder and stick, Raza Waraich who has studied the link between control design and rates of crashes, said. But newer designs are made for those without flight training to fly the craft. "I found a couple of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) that incorporate the PlayStation2 controller," he said, explaining that pilots would use the video game controller to navigate menus.

Which is just as well, since some believe the newest recruits into drone flight school are already wired differently. "They grow up playing Xbox and Nintendo and gaming systems ... they have a different multitasking capability, they collaborate differently with their fellow pilots" and other operators, said Brad Hoagland, a colonel with 23 years in the Air Force, who is now studying drones and drone pilots as a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Different physical cues
Starting in 2010, the Air Force designated drone piloting as its own career path. Trainees would complete one tough year without going through undergraduate pilot training, motivated in part because the Air Force's targeted need for operators was higher than the rate at which they are graduating.

"We've been building the platform faster than we can fill them with operators," Hoagland said.

There's some evidence that suggests putting a pilot with less flight experience behind the drone controls is a better strategy than the other way around.

"Pilots in an aircraft are used to an entirely different set of physical cues," MIT's Cummings said in an email. A 2004 report that studied drone accidents showed that pilots with real flight experience made more mistakes than operators with no flight experience. That's because "pilots learn to rely on a set of cues they do not have in the control of UAVs so it is not clear that pilots are the best qualified people for control of drones," Cummings said.

But pilots who made the switch seem happy with their decision. Hoagland, citing an internal Air Force study, said 487 fighter and bomber pilots were assigned to a three-year stint on drone duty, and when their time was up, 412 of those mid- to late-career pilots decided to stick with drones. The younger cadets have caught the bug too, he says. When a brood of 244 fresh undergraduates were given a chance to pick any career in the Air Force, 25 percent of them decided to become drone pilots.

Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2aad3c1f/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cvirtual0Ecockpit0Ewhat0Eit0Etakes0Efly0Edrone0E1C9319684/story01.htm

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Sunday, 14 April 2013

Ouya details their shipping schedule for early backers of the console project

Ouya shipping schedule

All backers still on-track to receive their unit by May 25, one quarter of which will come before the end of April

Ouya founder and CEO Julie Uhrman has sent out a message to the Kickstarter backers of the Ouya console that gives a peek at their projected shipping schedule. We see a sharp uptick today, and another near the end of the month when "larger-scale" weekly shipments are expected.

She also mentions that they have made a tweaks to the process that could shave days off the shipping time. We imagine building, sorting, and shipping out consoles to all the backers is not an easy job. Things can (and often do) go wrong, throwing off projections. Here's hoping everything goes smoothly and backers have their unit in hand soon.

Source: Kickstarter

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/i7oY8XXzcEc/story01.htm

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Sudan, South Sudan to open border, resume oil

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) ? South Sudan's president says he and Sudan's president have agreed to a resumption of oil exports and border trade.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir traveled to South Sudan on Friday for the first time since the south peacefully broke away from Sudan in 2011.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir said the two presidents agreed to the free movement of people and goods across the border. Ten border points are to be opened.

Kiir said the two leaders will continue discussions on the contested region of Abyei, a sticking point between the two nations.

Bashir said he believed his visit signals the beginning of a normalization of relations and strategic partnership between the two countries.

Officials from both countries will soon meet to discuss rebel groups based in the two nations.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-south-sudan-open-border-resume-oil-165940566.html

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Suu Kyi visit highlights Japan's Myanmar push

TOKYO (AP) ? Japan's long-deferred aspirations for a larger role in Myanmar are getting a boost this coming week with a visit by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The visit by Suu Kyi, in Japan for the first time in 27 years, is highlighting Japan's interest in helping to craft a blueprint for Myanmar's economy and tapping its growth potential.

So far, Japan's investments and involvement lag far behind those of China and India. But that is fast changing, after Tokyo forgave about half of Myanmar's more than $6 billion dollars in debt, clearing the way for renewed international lending to the impoverished Southeast Asian country.

A high-powered delegation of business leaders, including top executives from Toyota Motor Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Sumitomo Chemical, toured Myanmar, also known as Burma, in February and pledged to cooperate in encouraging more investment.

Although Suu Kyi is not in government, she is widely respected, especially in Japan, where she is expected to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other top officials and give speeches at two of Japan's most prestigious universities during her seven day visit that starts Saturday.

"Aside from being the opposition leader and an icon for democracy and political freedom, she is a goodwill ambassador. The idea is to encourage the Japanese government and corporate Japan to support Myanmar," said Jeff Kingston, a professor at Tokyo's Temple University.

The handover of power by Myanmar's military junta in 2011 to a nominally civilian government ushered in sweeping political and economic reforms, including releasing prominent political prisoners and allowing Suu Kyi, who spend years under house arrest, to run in parliamentary by-elections.

As of late February, Japan was the 11th largest investor in Myanmar, with $270 million in overall investments, way behind the $14.2 billion committed by China and $9.6 billion by Thailand, the top two sources with 33 percent and 23 percent respectively of total foreign direct investment.

Although it scaled back most business activity and cut government aid when the U.S. and other western nations imposed sanctions in 2003 after the previous, military regime put Suu Kyi under house arrest, Japan did not impose sanctions on Myanmar.

Small-scale humanitarian assistance continued, and most major Japanese businesses kept their offices and business registrations. The maintenance of commercial and government relations is proving vital now that Myanmar is embarking on its economic reforms

Japan's biggest contribution so far to Myanmar's economic reform effort has been the debt forgiveness arrangement, involving billions of dollars in bridge loans by Japanese banks, that enabled the Asian Development Bank and World Bank to resume lending for crucial humanitarian and infrastructure projects.

Underscoring the government's keenness for closer cooperation, Finance Minister Taro Aso made Myanmar his first overseas destination after taking office late last year. Although the visit had been planned much earlier, it also reflected Tokyo's determination to drum up business in fast-growing Southeast Asian markets to help counterbalance Japan's vulnerability to problems with China over territorial and other disputes.

Of the 35 Japanese projects under way in Myanmar, the biggest is one to develop the 2,400 hectare (5,900 acre) Thilawa special economic zone south of the capital, Yangon, which is being led by a Japanese consortium of major trading houses, including Mitsubishi, Marubeni and Sumitomo.

To support that project, Japan has promised long-term loans for related infrastructure such as power plants, roads and bridges at an interest rate of 0.01 percent.

Another major trading house, Mitsui & Co., is beginning imports of rice and is planning to build rice mills in Myanmar, once the world's biggest rice exporter, to help it process 300,000 tons a year for export.

In the financial sector, Daiwa Securities Group and the Tokyo Stock Exchange are working with Myanmar's financial regulators to help set up a stock market by 2015. Meanwhile, convenience store operators such as Family Mart and Lawson are considering opening outlets.

China's investments, largely in energy and mining, have generated controversy over exploitation of Myanmar's rich natural resources that has done little to resolve the country's chronic power shortages. In response, last year the Myanmar government abruptly suspended construction of the China-backed Myitsone dam, which would displace thousands and flood the spiritual heartland of Myanmar's Kachin ethnic minority.

The Japanese focus on manufacturing, services, and infrastructure projects such as road building has gotten a much warmer reception.

"Myanmar is very keen to attract investment from places other than China. Japan in particular is very welcome because the Japanese have shown they are interested in investing in projects that add real value," said Rachel Calvert, a risk expert at the IHS consultancy in Singapore.

Though Myanmar was one of Asia's strongest economies in the 1950s, conditions declined steadily after a military coup in 1962. Its market of more than 60 million people, with average per capita income of only about $715, offers huge potential, analysts say.

But the risks are likewise high, given the lack of many modern legal and political institutions, endemic corruption, relatively scarce skilled labor and crumbling infrastructure. Only a quarter of the Myanmar population has access to electricity, which is intermittent at best.

"It's not all smooth sailing. The country was under military rule since 1960s. There's a lot of basic building block things that have to happen to make Myanmar a more effective investment environment," said Temple University's Kingston.

Now that Myanmar is open for business, the rush of investors means strong competition: the list of visitors to Myanmar's Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, which shows scores of photos of visitors perched on brown leather sofas topped with white lace antimacassars, reads like a "Who's Who" of international commerce: equity investors from China, Japanese logistics companies and megabanks and big global conglomerates such as Nestle, Unilever and Dupont.

American brands Ford Motor Co., PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, GE, Caterpillar and Danish brewer Carlsberg have all signed distribution deals in Myanmar.

Balancing the interests of competing foreign investors and the public can be tricky, as Suu Kyi herself found after villages confronted her to demand an explanation for her support of the Letpadaung copper mine project, which is partly owned by a Chinese company.

An official panel headed by Suu Kyi that assessed the situation ruled that the mining contract should be honored for the sake of good relations with China, and to reassure other foreign investors.

China is not the only investor to face scrutiny over its projects: a nongovernmental group, MekongWatch, has been lobbying on behalf of some 3,900 villagers who were ordered to vacate land to make way for the Thilawa special economic zone.

"The Myanmar government says they are squatters and until recently the Japanese government said it was the responsibility of the recipient government to do something," said Yuki Akimoto, a spokeswoman for the group.

Akimoto said she was thinking hard about how to broach the issue with Suu Kyi in a planned meeting in Tokyo, given the various complications of the issue. As is often the case, land titles and ownership remain unclear, and a surge in property prices in booming Yangon is prompting speculative buying. But ultimately, it is the poor who are most likely to lose their livelihoods.

"Despite the so-called reforms, there are few tools ordinary citizens can use to protect their rights," she said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suu-kyi-visit-highlights-japans-myanmar-push-084301771--finance.html

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Saturday, 13 April 2013

Lead narrows for Chavez heir amid crime, shortages

Venezuela's interim President Nicolas Maduro gives a thumbs up as Argentina's soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona sits behind him as they leave after paying their respects at the burial site of late President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 12, 2013. Maduro, who served as Chavez's foreign minister and vice president, is running against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in Sunday's presidential election. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles waves to supporters as he speaks with the media after playing a basketball game with friends in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 12, 2013. Capriles is running against ruling party candidate Nicolas Maduro in the April 14 presidential election. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano

Posters featuring Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez and interim President Nicolas Maduro hang on a pole at the 23 de Enero neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 12, 2013. Maduro,who served as Chavez's foreign minister and vice president, is running against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in Sunday's presidential election. AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

An official checks a voting machine in preparation for Sunday's presidential election at a polling station in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 12, 2013. Interim President Nicolas Maduro,who served as Chavez's foreign minister and vice president, is running against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in Sunday's vote.(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A picture of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez covers a door at the 23 de Enero neighborhood campaign command center for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 12, 2013. Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's hand-picked successor, is running for president against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles on April 14, in an election to replace Chavez who died on March 5. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Nicolas Maduro hopes to ride a tide of grief into Venezuela's special presidential election Sunday and win voters' endorsement to succeed the late Hugo Chavez, the adored larger-than-life leader who chose him to carry on the messy, unfinished Chavista revolution.

That will mean inheriting multiple problems left behind by Chavez, troubles that have been harped on by opposition challenger Henrique Capriles.

Although he's still favored, Maduro's early big lead in opinion polls sharply narrowed in the past week as Venezuelans grappled with a litany of woes many blame on Chavez's mismanagement of the economy and infrastructure: chronic power outages, double-digit inflation, food and medicine shortages. Add to that rampant crime ? Venezuela has among the world's highest homicide and kidnapping rates.

Maduro, a former union activist with close ties to Cuba's leaders who was Chavez's longtime foreign minister, hinted at feeling overwhelmed during his closing campaign speech to hundreds of thousands of red-shirted faithful Thursday.

"I need your support. This job that Chavez left me is very difficult," said Maduro, who became acting president after Chavez succumbed to cancer March 5. "This business of being president and leader of a revolution is a pain in the neck."

Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who lost to Chavez in October's regular presidential election, hammered away at the ruling socialists' record of unfulfilled promises as he crisscrossed Venezuela. His campaign libretto included reading aloud a list of unfinished road, bridge and rail projects before asking what goods were scarce on store shelves.

Maduro, 50, hewed to a simple message, a theme of the October presidential campaign: "I am Chavez. We are all Chavez." He promised to expand a myriad of anti-poverty programs created by the man he called the "Jesus Christ of Latin America" and funded by $1 trillion in oil revenues during Chavez's 14-year rule.

His campaign mobilized a state bureaucracy of nearly 2.7 million workers that was built up by Chavez while he cemented a near-monopoly on power, using loyalists in the judiciary to intimidate and diminish the opposition, particularly its broadcast media.

There are no easy answers for the troubles besetting Venezuela even though the country has the world's largest oil reserves.

Many factories in the heartland operate at half capacity because strict currency controls leave them short of the hard currency needed to pay for imports. Business leaders say some companies are on the verge of bankruptcy, unable to extend lines of credit with suppliers abroad.

Chavez imposed currency controls a decade ago to stem capital flight as he expropriated large land parcels and dozens of private businesses. But the restrictions have backfired. In a roaring black market, dollars sell at three times the official exchange rate and Maduro has already devalued Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, twice this year.

The government blames shortages of milk, butter, corn flour and other staples on hoarding. The opposition points at the price controls imposed by Chavez in an attempt to cool double-digit inflation.

"Chavez is unique in having survived with high popularity through years of stagflation," said Siobhan Morden, head of Latin American strategy for Jefferies LLC.

But Maduro's "sympathy votes will fade" eventually, Morden said. "Can he survive a six-year term with stagflation? If he feels he has to grow the economy, what will he do given the ideological constraints?"

Capriles said he will reverse land expropriations, which he said have ruined some farms and turned Venezuela into a net importer of food, including beef and coffee.

But even Capriles said currency and price controls cannot be immediately scrapped without triggering a disastrous run on the bolivar. As a way of immediately injecting dollars into the economy, he proposes ending the shipment of cut-rate oil to Cuba.

He said he would also re-establish close ties with the United States, which Chavez has vilified since a 2002 coup attempt that Washington initially endorsed.

Maduro made his campaign a paean to Chavez.

He followed his mentor's playbook of blaming many of Venezuela's woes on sabotage and subterfuge by "the extreme right," Colombian paramilitaries, U.S. putschists and other shadowy forces. Hard evidence is never provided. "Captured" suspects are never identified.

The government's media machine, meanwhile, provides a pervasive message aimed at keeping Chavistas on board.

Yadaira Nunez, a 43-year-old grandmother married to a volunteer firefighter, lives with three generations in a wooden shack in a squatters settlement outside the central city of Valencia, but she doesn't blame the government for worsening blackouts and food shortages.

"Well, that's also sabotage. You can't close your eyes to reality," she said. "What's the proof? That as elections near there's no flour. Look, my granddaughter doesn't have milk because we can't find milk anywhere."

And for many Venezuelans, it's enough that Chavez told them to elect Maduro ? at least for now.

"To not vote for Maduro would be to betray him," Nunez said of Chavez. And if Maduro proves a failure? "We'll get rid of him. We'll get rid of him immediately."

The election winner will have the aid of the historically high oil prices that Chavez enjoyed during most of this rule. The windfall let Chavez spend $500 billion on social programs and trim the poverty rate from 50 percent to about 30 percent.

That came with a steep price, though.

State oil company PDVSA's debt reached $40 billion last year as Chavez ordered the company into food distribution and bankrolling social programs.

Critics say the government failed to reinvest in the oil industry, causing production and refining to slump. Oil revenues dropped from $5.6 billion five years ago to $3.8 billion in 2012. The country even imports 100,000 barrels a day of gasoline from the United States.

Neither Maduro nor Capriles possess the irrepressible charm of Chavez, who spent hours on television giving folksy speeches, and micro-managed by turning complaints from ordinary citizens into orders for Cabinet ministers that had to immediately be resolved.

"Maduro is a little boring. He puts on a good show, but then when he starts talking you want it to end quickly," said Lorena Franco, a 25-year-old nurse.

Capriles supporters turned out in the hundreds of thousands at his rallies, knowing he was a longshot but also believing Maduro won't be able to finish out even half of his six-year term.

"I think the people will turn on him," said Danais Trepiano, a 30-year-old mother.

She is typical of young, upper-middle-class Venezuelans who feel excluded and vilified. Trepiano's father had to close his leather bag-making business. She helps out by designing T-shirts and selling them online and has given up on finding a full-time paying job.

She went to private schools but can't afford to the same for her 6-year-old daughter. She attends a public school where Trepiano said she is brain-washed with Chavista propaganda.

"I told her 'I'm going to Capriles' march.' She said: 'But Chavez is the heart of the people. They told me at school.'"

Trepiano, who also holds Spanish citizenship, struggles with whether to stay in Venezuela.

"When I feel truly strangled, I'll leave," she said. "I'm sick of crime. I'm sick of not finding anything in the stores."

___

Associated Press writers Frank Bajak in Tacaraigua and Jorge Rueda in Caracas contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-13-Venezuela-Election/id-0bda571211574b6dbbe715078d347ddb

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BlackBerry?s first major BB10 update detailed in leak

BERLIN, April 11 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich have received more than 200,000 ticket requests for their Champions League semi-final game in Munich, thousands of which were made before they advanced against Juventus, the club said on Thursday. "We have been updating the figure constantly and at the moment it stands at 200,000 ticket requests for the semi-final home leg," a Bayern Munich official told Reuters. Bayern's stadium fits only 69,000 and that includes the 39,500 ticket holders and any fans travelling with their opponents. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blackberry-first-major-bb10-detailed-leak-175534971.html

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Facebook Home now available for select Android smartphones

When 79-year-old Evie Branan suffered a massive stroke six years ago, it left her in a semicomatose state. Branan was unable to eat, speak, or move on her own, and she became a resident of Willowbrook Manor, a long-term care facility in Flint, Michigan. With the help of her family and the caregivers at Willowbrook, [...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-home-now-available-select-android-smartphones-182003444.html

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Lynn Whitfield's New Role Highlights Children in Foster Care ...

?Thousands of families continue to welcome neglected children and teens into their homes each year and actress Lynn Whitfield?s forthcoming role in?Nicholas DiBella?s ?King?s Faith??aims to highlight those acts of benevolence by way of America?s foster care system.

The drama, which is set to hit select theaters a week before?National Foster Care Month, tells the story of a troubled 18-year-old, Brendan King (played by Crawford Wilson), who is trying to leave his past street life behind before it jeopardizes his new relationship with an adopted family (played by Whitfield and James McDaniel).

During a recent interview with the Huffington Post, the Howard University alum turned Emmy Award-winning actress opened up about her role as Vanessa Stubbs and her thoughts on the increasing number of African-American women landing lead roles on network television.

Q:Congratulations on your latest film, ?King?s Faith.? Can you talk about your role as Vanessa Stubbs?

A:The film itself is about this Caucasian kid that kind of lived on the wrong side of the tracks for a long time. Got busted and put into juvenile detention and then when he gets out is in lots of foster care homes. This kid is taken in by an African-American couple who recently just lost their own son to gun violence. And Vanessa Stubbs is this woman who is still grieving for her own son and is a little bit resentful that her husband, Mike, is dead set on taking in this kid as foster parents. She?s looking in and looking at grieving and resentment and wondering what God is doing with her life. So I just found her emotional dilemma to be kind of interesting.

Q:While preparing for the role did you tap into any friends or family who had experiences with adoption?

A: I know a lot of people that have adopted kids. I read about kids who are older and about to age out of the system and are not the most desirable. Thank God, I don?t know about grieving the death of a child. But I know there are grieving counselors. My daughter lost her father when she was 12 and going into puberty. So I know that grieving is a whole thing onto itself. So I did some research on that. And then looking at the set of circumstances that were written into this character and finding a place in myself where some of those truths exist.

Q: What are your thoughts on the significance of the film?s release in honor of National Foster Care month?

A: It?s something that?s a nod to people who have decided to be a part of the foster care system, who are doing it well. Let?s face it, there are some people who are not doing it well, and doing it as a commercial venture. But there are people who do it extremely well and have great successes. Extend a thank you to them and perhaps for families or individuals who?ve not only thought about it, who might be good at it. So I think it is very significant that way.

A: In addition to your role in ?King?s Faith,? you?re also currently a part of the touring theater production, ?My Brother Marvin.? How did you land the role as Marvin Gaye?s mother?

Q: I was invited to do the role. So I guess at this point sometimes I don?t have to land something, it?s just that they land me. The life of an artist is always re-proving what you can do, and I feel like there is still so much more to do. Because I still enjoy it, and I?m not one of those actors who feels like, ?Oh, I?ve arrived and you should worship at my altar,? kind of thing. I still love the art form and I look forward to new challenges and new opportunities?