Iran claims it has produced laser-guided shells

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's state TV is reporting the country has produced laser-guided artillery shells, capable of hitting moving targets with high accuracy.

The Monday report quoting Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi also says that the shell was an "intelligent" munition with the capability to identify its own targets.

The report was accompanied by footage showing an artillery piece firing a shell, followed by an explosion in the desert.

The report does not give details on specifications of the shell. It could not be independently verified.

Iran occasionally announces the production and testing of military equipment, ranging from torpedoes to missiles and jet fighters.

The country's military has run a program dating from 1992 which aims at self-sufficiency in producing modern weaponry.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-30-ML-Iran/id-0ebcb63025124a61a651b70ea7c4f14d

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Amazon Web Services Debuts Storage Gateway To Securely Upload Enterprise Data To The Cloud

After launching distributed database DynamoDB last week, Amazon Web Services is debuting another product?AWS Storage Gateway, which is a service that provides enterprises with a new option to securely upload and backup data to the AWS cloud from on-premises software appliances. Basically, the Gateway connect san on-premises software appliance with Amazon's cloud-based storage for a more secure integration between on-premises IT environments and AWS storage infrastructure. Via the Gateway, data is uploaded to AWS, where it is encrypted and stored in the Amazon's Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). The Gateway provides a solution fir enterprises looking for effective backup and rapid disaster recovery between on-premise applications and the cloud.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/nfHcFxq9XV4/

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Obama Calls for 'Fairness' in His Address to a 'Stronger' Union (Time.com)

Couching his argument in terms of fairness, President Obama proposed a range of policy initiatives Tuesday night in his State of the Union address, asking Congress to shift a heavier tax burden onto the very wealthiest earners, subsidize domestic manufacturers and energy producers, and crackdown on corporations and political interests that have exploited the nation in its dark economic hour.

"We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by," he said. "Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them." (See more on Obama and changes in America.)

Obama called for those making a gross income of more $1 million a year to pay a minimum rate of 30%, enumerating a policy principle for the so-called "Buffett rule," which was named for the billionaire Omaha investor who famously complained that he pays a lower rate than his secretary. The proposal, which has a slim chance of making it through a divided Congress, would predominantly affect those who currently pay a 15% rate on investment earnings, and would also deny mega-earners any targeted tax breaks or credits.

"You can call this class warfare all you want," he said, directly addressing Republican critics. "But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense."

In addition to once again proposing alternative energy tax credits, Obama put a renewed focus on natural gas and domestic manufacturing. He proposed subsidies for manufacturers willing to open plants in hard-hit communities, as well as a new tax on overseas profits. He worked in paeans to immigrations reform, a new housing refinancing program to be funded by a fee on large banks, and restrictions on congressional lobbying and trading. As with other policy initiatives put before a joint session of Congress in the last two years, these proposals will likely have more life in Executive Branch whitepapers than in committee rooms on Capitol Hill. (See more on Obama's State of the Union Address.)

Not everything Obama spoke about required congressional action. In a potential effort to sew up liberal dissent on a looming mortgage fraud settlement between state attorneys general, the federal government and the banks, Obama announced the creation of new law enforcement unit tasked with investigating securitization fraud, headed by New York AG Eric Schnereiderman, who broke from the settlement talks last year over a disagreement about potential immunity for banks in that matter. If the commission seemed like a political gesture, it was one of many in the speech.

Though never mentioned explicitly, signs of Obama's looming re-election campaign were everywhere. He directly addressed the claims of Republican front runner Mitt Romney, a big investment earner who could see his tax rate doubled by the Buffett rule, that "envy" drives the President's tax policies. "We don't begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it," Obama said. "When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. It's because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference -- like a senior on a fixed income; or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet. That's not right."

The plights or triumphs of swing states were ubiquitous, and Obama pledged to rejuvenate industry in "Cleveland (Ohio, 18 electoral votes) and Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania, 20 electoral votes) and Raleigh (North Carolina, 15 electoral votes)." Orlando, Louisville, Charlotte, Toledo and Chicago all got mentions too, but none as many as Detroit. His decision to bailout auto companies was implicitly celebrated in a long section of the speech dedicated to their subsequent rejuvenation. "We bet on American workers. We bet on American ingenuity," he said. "And tonight, the American auto industry is back."

The speech was also bookended by a narrative on the power of cooperation evident in the U.S. military. In Obama's telling, this collaborative spirit, a model for the nation, led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, which just happens to be his crowning foreign policy achievement. Romney, who has accused Obama of being an apologist overseas and declinist at home, was again the ghost in the room when Obama said, "Anyone who tells you America is in decline or our influence has waned doesn't know what they are talking about."

It was moments like this that underscored the tension in the President's argument. Obama was making an aggressive case for the merits of his first term, while trying to stoke a sense of urgency about his second. The nation was neither in disrepair nor perfect mint. And that view was reflected in Obama's tweaking of the State of the Union's most famous line: "The state of our Union is getting stronger," he said. "And we've come too far to turn back now."

See TIME's 2011 Person of the Year: The Protester.

See TIME's Top 10 Everything of 2011.

View this article on Time.com

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120125/us_time/08599210530100

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Hey guys, okay, I have almost finished all of the places, stuff like that, so by tomorrow we can start posting! Hope you enjoy the roleplay and have fun! Just make up your own characters or use one of the main characters, characters still available are Vice Anderson, Ace Anderson, and Mimi Sheslic. I may possibly introduce a new main character, Julia Potter, soon, but in the mean time, start posting!

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Cinedigm, New Video team up to buy indie films (Reuters)

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan 22 (TheWrap.com) ? Cinedigm Entertainment Group is teaming up with New Video to buy and distribute independent films, the two companies announced at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday.

As part of the joint venture, Cinedigm will handle the theatrical release of the movies. New Video will oversee the video-on-demand, digital distribution and home entertainment portion.

The move allows both companies to be a one-stop shop for moviemakers -- overseeing everything from their theatrical debuts to their digital streaming pacts.

"Theatrical continues to be the holy grail for filmmakers," Steve Savage, co-president of New Video, told TheWrap. "We didn't have theatrical, and they (Cinedigm) didn't have ancillary markets, so this was a perfect meeting of minds."

Cinedigm chairman and chief executive officer Chris McGurk said he hopes the company will be able to release one film a month. He hopes the move will position Cinedigm and New Video as a buyer on the level of Magnolia or Sony Pictures Classics.

"We're here at Sundance looking for quality films across all genres," McGurk said. "We're going to be offering a streamlined, cost-efficient and distinct distribution model that I think is going to be very attractive to filmmakers."

The agreement is effective immediately. McGurk said they hope to leave the festival with one or two acquisitions.

Last year, Cinedigm released 10 films, including a 3D Dave Matthews Band concert and the Sarah Palin documentary "Undefeated."

New Video is the largest aggregator of independent digital content worldwide, with Amazon, Apple's iTunes store, Hulu, Netflix and Walmart's Vudu serving as partners.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/film_nm/us_cinedigm

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GOP race offers scattershot list of angels, demons (AP)

WASHINGTON ? In the short time since Mitt Romney tried unsuccessfully to leave the rest of the GOP field behind in New Hampshire, the presidential race has served up a scattershot cast of angels and demons as the candidates try to strike a chord with different slices of the electorate.

Capitalism was in, then out, then in again. Insurance companies got a sideways sympathetic nod. Mike Huckabee and Betty White proved to have some cachet. The press was an ever-popular whipping child.

Europe and entitlements, felons, food stamps and French: All were on the outs with one candidate or another.

Newt Gingrich even ran an ad faulting Romney for his language skills: "Just like John Kerry, he speaks French," it warned ominously.

The GOP challengers went after Romney's venture capitalist credentials with a vengeance ? most memorably when Texas Gov. Rick Perry rebranded him a "vulture capitalist" ? then eased up somewhat when they caught grief from the defenders of free enterprise.

For a little while, even insurance companies ? typically a popular target for politicians of any stripe ? got a little love after Romney said he liked the idea of being able to fire them for poor performance. The other candidates summoned a chorus of outrage at the notion that Romney would relish firing anyone.

Republican strategist Terry Holt said it all adds up to "a blizzard of buzz words" as candidates try to deliver a headline-grabbing quote that will get people's attention.

But does it work?

"Ultimately, it all blends together into a general sense of the candidate," says Holt. "The back-and-forth is lost on most people."

And there's been a lot of back-and-forthing.

Romney and Gingrich both ran ads trying to claim a little luster from popular conservative Huckabee by rolling out nice things he'd said about them. But it turned out Huckabee hadn't endorsed either of them, and both got a scolding from the former Arkansas governor.

President Barack Obama, watching the GOP race from the sidelines, had to be hoping that a little of Betty White's uncanny popularity would rub off when he taped a video piece for her 90th birthday in which he joked that the actress looks so good she should cough up her long-form birth certificate to prove she's really that old.

The GOP candidates trotted out plenty of reliable enemies ? "Obamacare," federal regulations, big government, the Dodd-Frank financial regulations ? but added some new ones to the mix as well.

Gingrich, catering to South Carolina sensibilities and its port communities, singled out the Army Corps of Engineers, complaining in Thursday's debate that the corps "takes eight years to study ? not to complete ? to study doing the port. We won the entire Second World War in three years and eight months."

Candidates' messages zigzagged all over in search of a winning line that would work with voters.

Earning money was good ? except if your name was Mitt Romney.

A super PAC supporting Gingrich made a half-hour movie attacking Romney for reaping "massive rewards for himself and his investors," complete with sinister music and a baritone-voice narrator.

Romney defended his capitalist credentials by lining himself up with the philosopher known as a father of capitalism, proudly announcing, "Adam Smith was right."

Perry managed to turn the news that U.S. troops had apparently been captured on video urinating on corpses in Afghanistan into an indictment of the Obama administration. The Texas governor accused the Obama team of piling on against "kids" who sometimes make "stupid mistakes."

It didn't do him much good: He was out of the race within days.

Then came the issue of infidelity: Gingrich chose not to comment on the details of his marriage to his second wife after she claimed that he'd asked her for an "open marriage" in which he could have both a wife and a mistress.

Gingrich managed to steer that conversation to the one enemy that all the candidates love to beat up on: the media.

"I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country," he declared.

But even rival Rick Santorum saw through the tactic, urging voters not to be swept away by Gingrich's blast at the press.

Republicans should "get past the glib one-liners, the beating up of the media, which is always popular with conservatives," Santorum said.

Democratic strategist Karen Finney said the Republicans' random list of friends and foes has emerged as candidates "try to pick off pieces of the Republican electorate" with very targeted appeals that will add up to an overall win in each primary or caucus state.

"The narrative is shifting based on the audiences they're speaking to," she said.

"There's always, `Who's the good guy and who's the bad guy,'" she said.

In this campaign, that lineup changes every day.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_angels_and_demons

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This week in The Slacktiverse, January 21/22 2012 (slacktivist)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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FCC Fridays: January 20, 2012

We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up an exhaustive listing of every phone and / or tablet getting the stamp of approval over the last week. Enjoy!

Continue reading FCC Fridays: January 20, 2012

FCC Fridays: January 20, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/20/fcc-fridays/

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Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-1 Gaming Mouse totes new sniping ...

Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-I Gaming Mouse

Shogun Bros. Understand Gamer need a Reliable, Accurate and Simply Operated Killing Device, this is the reason to develop the Ballista MK-1 for all they needs in their battlefield. We use all Top Design, Material and Components to create Best Mouse for them.

Features ?

Precision Sniping System ? Independent X and Y DPI setting (Allow User to Set Slow Vertical or Horizontal Movement for Stable Targeting)

Thumb Selector for Speed Shoot Mode Change

Extreme Accurate 5700 DPI, 1000HZ Polling Rate

Extreme Movement Sensation - 11570 Frame Per Second (No Jumping, No Skipping)

4 Level Customized DPI Setting with Active Indicator

Independent X, Y and Refresh Rate Indicator

5 Mode Customized Profile Setting with Indicator ? Total 20 Customized DPI Setting (Best for FPS, MMO, RPG and Normal Desktop Environment)

11 Macro Keys to Master in the Game

5 Finger Rest and Ergonomic Shape for Long Hours Fight

Design -

1. Driver Free Capability (Bring mouse to any PC for Gaming)
2. Rubberized Surface for best grip
3. Special Thick Thumb Rubber for Grip to Move
4. Vacuum Electroplating Button
5. X,Y and Mode DPI Indicator
6. Military Grade Fabric Cable with Interference Cancellation
7. Golden Plated USB

Pricing and Availability -

Worldwide Available on Q2 2012.

System -

Windows 95/98/2000/NT/ME/XP/Vista/Win 7/Mac OS X 10.5

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/19/shogun-bros-ballista-mk-1-gaming-mouse-totes-new-sniping-system/

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Marine's Iraq killings trial resumes in California (AP)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ? Testimony in the trial of a Marine sergeant charged in the biggest criminal case to emerge from the Iraq war resumed Friday with no explanation of what lawyers were negotiating during a two-day delay.

The judge advised jurors not to speculate on the reasons for the delay, and lawyers did not respond to repeated inquiries asking if there was talk of a plea deal.

"There were some negotiations going on and some other legal issues," Lt. Col. David Jones told the court before the all-Marine jury entered.

When the trial resumed, prosecutors showed long-disputed outtakes of a 2007 "60 Minutes" interview in which Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich defended the decisions he made Nov. 19, 2005 ? the day his squad killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha after a roadside bomb hit a Marine convoy, killing one and wounded two others.

Wuterich told "60 Minutes" he gave the interview because he wanted the truth to be told after being called a "monster" and "baby killer."

The 31-year-old was charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter and prosecutors have implicated him in 19 of the deaths ? including those of women and children. Most of the killings happened during a series of raids on homes after the bomb explosion.

Prosecutors have argued Wuterich lost control of himself after seeing his friend blown apart by the bomb.

When asked in the interview if he felt angry after the bomb hit, Wuterich said he felt no emotion and "was essentially like a machine." He said his mind went to another place and his training kicked in, prompting him to react.

He said he fired on five Iraqi men outside a car near the bombsite because the car was the only one out there at the time and the men started to run. He said he feared it was a car bomb or they had triggered the roadside explosion. After that, he said the squad stormed nearby homes believing they were chasing insurgents. The search continued throughout the day.

The young squad leader said in the "60 Minutes" interview he had never been in combat before that day but he had been trained to positively identify his targets before shooting to kill.

He said he believed his troops were under fire and it was coming from the direction of the homes.

After the first home, Wuterich said in the interview that he saw women and children had been killed but he didn't call for his squad to stop firing, saying he could not risk hesitating.

"You can't hesitate to make a decision," Wuterich said in the interview. "Hesitation equals being killed. I lost a fire team. I couldn't afford to lose anymore."

He said he saw some of the Iraqis as threats because they were military-age men and seemed to be suspicious.

The father of three said after he learned he had killed women and children that day, he could not sleep and was afraid of his dreams. His mother cried Friday as she listened to the tape.

Defense attorneys have said Wuterich did the best he could in the fog of war.

Jurors have been tasked with trying to decipher whether Wuterich acted appropriately as a squad leader that fateful day: Did he protect his Marines by going after the threat following the explosion, or did he go on a rampage, disregarding combat rules and leading his men to indiscriminately kill Iraqis?

Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., is one of eight Marines initially charged. None has been convicted.

Wuterich has said he regretted the loss of civilian lives but believed he was following the rules of engagement, which included unleashing deadly force if there was a hostile act or hostile intent by someone. Prosecutors have questioned why he didn't order his men to stop after finding no weapons or taking no gunfire during the raid on the first home.

One of his squad mates took the stand Friday. Sgt. Humberto Mendoza told jurors that after he helped remove the bodies of women and children who were riddled with bullets in a back bedroom of the second home, he felt himself questioning "things" that night.

Mendoza acknowledged he lied to investigators at first about what happened and wanted to cover it up to protect his squad, but he told jurors he decided it's time to tell the truth. Defense attorneys have pointed out many squad members had their cases dropped in exchange for testifying for the prosecution.

"Up to this day, I really don't know what happened in the back bedroom," Mendoza said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_us/us_marines_haditha

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Etta James, a Life and Legend (ContributorNetwork)

Etta James's sultry voice provided an entire generation's worth of inspiration to modern songstresses. CNN reports major players in the music industry such as Mariah Carey and Beyonce Knowles were both influenced by her songs and style. The Associated Press reports James passed away Jan. 20 in California from complications related to leukemia.

James was a matriarch for the modern female blues singer throughout her life.

1938: Born

The Biography Channel states James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 1938. By the age of 5, she was singing gospel choir songs in church and on the radio.

1950: Moved North

When James turned 12, she and her family moved north to San Francisco. She formed a trio with two other girls and singing became an even larger part of her life. Very quickly, the girls got noticed and James turned to professional singing.

1954: Return to L.A.

In 1954, James returned to Los Angeles to get more heavily involved in the recording industry. Johnny Otis spotted her two years earlier in San Francisco and the young lady embarked on a singing career, against the will of her mother. She changed her stage name to Etta James, a re-arrangement of her first name and was given a back up group called the Peaches (James's childhood nickname).

Her first recording, and first hit, came a year later. James sang "Roll with Me Henry" with Richard Berry. The song was renamed "The Wallflower" and it topped the R&B charts in 1955.

1960: Meteoric Rise

James signed a recording deal with Chess Records in Chicago in 1960. From this point, her career took off and never looked back. Hits such as "All I Could Do Was Cry," "Somthing's Got a Hold on Me," and "Trust in Me" were all hits during her run with Chess Records in the 1960s and early 1970s.

1973: Grammy Nomination

Her self-titled album "Etta James" earned James the first of several Grammy nominations in her career.

1984: Olympic Glory

James sang "When the Saints Go Marching In" for the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

1993: Hall of Fame

James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1993. At this point in her career, James was recognized for her wide-ranging vocals and styles that marked her long career.

2003: Grammy

In 2003, James was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her sassy and no-nonsense singing style was recognized for being open, honest and heart wrenching simultaneously.

2011: Last Album

James's last album entitled "The Dreamer" was released in November 2011, three months before her death. The Associated Press reports her last album was typical James fare as she even rocked out to the Guns 'N Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle."

The audacious songstress died five days short of her 74th birthday.

William Browning is a research librarian.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120121/en_ac/10862597_etta_james_a_life_and_legend

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93% Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

All Critics (188) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (175) | Rotten (13)

"Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol" is sheer hurtling mechanism-and it's great silly fun.

As usual with the series, the movie combines a plot line a toddler could understand with gadgets that would baffle an engineering Ph.D.

I'm thinking it, so I might as well say it: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is no Fast Five.

...it's pretty much state-of-the-art.

[Bird's] fresh touch gives breathless energy, tremendous excitement and, above all, humor to what could have been a wearying genre exercise.

Powered by Cruise's moxie, Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol proves that in a Hollywood action-ride culture drenched in fake adrenaline, it's cathartic to encounter the real thing.

still does not have the hang of what made the TV show so good.

Cruises on the WOW! factor.

Snagging Oscar-winning animation director Brad Bird to fill the director's chair proves to be an inspired choice--and, upon thought, a bit of a no-brainer.

The screenplay doesn't rely too much on gimmicks to advance the plot. Instead, the plot is also character-driven to an extent. There are interesting dynamics going on in the Mission Impossible team.

Director Brad Bird juices and gooses the whole affair with edge and excitement, new energy, humor and heartbeat, and a terrific feel for big, bold, audaciously daring sequences that beg for the biggest screen available.

Great stunts and not a dull moment,

Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol could very well be the series' best installment.

It has a few very good ideas, and then, the rest of it is totally lackluster.

Watching Tom leap from a hospital window on to a passing truck, I couldn't help but worry: Tom, those knees won't last forever.

Succeeds in dishing up exactly what you would expect: State of the arts stunts, non-stop action, and a series of clearly laid-out heists and chases that go awry in all kinds of creative ways.

Bird manages the escalations from the preposterous through the more preposterous to the most preposterous with skill and wit...

...great cinematic entertainment.

Better than the tower climb is the scene in which Hunt infiltrates the Kremlin with, essentially, a high-tech magic trick; the playfulness of the effect demonstrates the usefulness of Bird's background in the astonish-the-audience culture of animation.

So exciting you have to remind yourself to breathe.

Ghost pulls off the impossible.

Film number four has found its optimum screen display, its best director for the job and its sense of humour while increasing the gadgets and death-defying stunts.

Something goes wrong and the entire Kremlin blows up. 'The wattage of my smile has overpowered the antiquated Russian electrical grid,' explained Tom.

The cinematography is rewarding enough for a travelogue. The good guy vs. the world with a hateful bad guy is involving. This is another film where you should just leave your brain at home, relax, and enjoy it.

Welcome to the post-Pixar action movie.

More Critic Reviews

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_ghost_protocol/

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Findings prove Miscanthus x giganteus has great potential as an alternative energy source

Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
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Contact: Jennifer Shike
jshike@illinois.edu
217-244-0888
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Concerns about the worldwide energy supply and national, environmental and economic security have resulted in a search for alternative energy sources. A new University of Illinois study shows Miscanthus x giganteus (M. x giganteus) is a strong contender in the race to find the next source of ethanol if appropriate growing conditions are identified.

M. x giganteus is a bioenergy crop that can be grown to produce ethanol. The study investigated the establishment success, plant growth and dry biomass yield of the grass. Tom Voigt, lead scientist and associate professor in the U of I Department of Crop Sciences, said the overall goal is to promote biomass yield per acre for ethanol production using the fewest inputs with no environmental damage.

Researchers compared establishment and growth rates, and biomass yield at four locations over the past three years to identify regions best suited for the grass. Data was collected at sites in Urbana, Ill.; Lexington, Ky.; Mead, Neb.; and Adelphia, N.J. The study is part of the Department of Energy-funded North Central Sun Grant Feedstock Partnership Project.

The growing conditions were adequate at each location in different years. However, late planting and extreme winter temperatures during 2008 affected establishment rates at the Illinois site. Lower yields occurred at the New Jersey site in 2010, which could be attributed to the site's sandy soils and warm, dry weather conditions in that year.

"For the most part, we found that Miscanthus responds to sites in which water is adequately available," Voigt said. "The combination of warm temperatures and adequate precipitation spread throughout the growing season creates ideal growing conditions."

Voigt said the study increased researcher's understanding of how different environments impact M. x giganteus growth, development and biomass yield. In addition, they discovered positive environmental impacts.

Nitrogen fertilizer had no significant effects on the grass's biomass yield in season two or three at any site. M. x giganteus also promotes erosion control as the perennial forms a large mass of roots underground.

"We are trying to develop a recipe for management practices that can be used by farmers interested in growing the grass," Voigt said. "We want bioenergy crops to find their way into more marginal settings where ground is less easy to work with. Miscanthus can work where food crops can't."

Voigt said the results of the study are positive and prove that energy crops have great potential as alternative energy sources.

###

This study, "Miscanthus x giganteus Productivity: The Effects of Management in Different Environments" was published in GCB BIOENERGY Volume 3, Issue 6, December 2011. Researchers included Matt Maughan, Germn Bollero, D.K. Lee, Robert Darmody and Thomas Voight of the University of Illinois; Stacy Bonos, Laura Cortese and James Murphy of The State University of New Jersey; Roch Gaussoin and Matthew Sousek of the University of Nebraska Lincoln; David Williams and Linda Williams of the University of Kentucky; and Fernando Miguez of Iowa State University. Funding was provided by the Department of Energy.

Voigt is also principal investigator for the Feedstock Production Agronomy Program at the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) located in the Institute for Genomic Biology. The EBI is a biofuels research consortium that includes the University of Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and funding agency BP.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jennifer Shike
jshike@illinois.edu
217-244-0888
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Concerns about the worldwide energy supply and national, environmental and economic security have resulted in a search for alternative energy sources. A new University of Illinois study shows Miscanthus x giganteus (M. x giganteus) is a strong contender in the race to find the next source of ethanol if appropriate growing conditions are identified.

M. x giganteus is a bioenergy crop that can be grown to produce ethanol. The study investigated the establishment success, plant growth and dry biomass yield of the grass. Tom Voigt, lead scientist and associate professor in the U of I Department of Crop Sciences, said the overall goal is to promote biomass yield per acre for ethanol production using the fewest inputs with no environmental damage.

Researchers compared establishment and growth rates, and biomass yield at four locations over the past three years to identify regions best suited for the grass. Data was collected at sites in Urbana, Ill.; Lexington, Ky.; Mead, Neb.; and Adelphia, N.J. The study is part of the Department of Energy-funded North Central Sun Grant Feedstock Partnership Project.

The growing conditions were adequate at each location in different years. However, late planting and extreme winter temperatures during 2008 affected establishment rates at the Illinois site. Lower yields occurred at the New Jersey site in 2010, which could be attributed to the site's sandy soils and warm, dry weather conditions in that year.

"For the most part, we found that Miscanthus responds to sites in which water is adequately available," Voigt said. "The combination of warm temperatures and adequate precipitation spread throughout the growing season creates ideal growing conditions."

Voigt said the study increased researcher's understanding of how different environments impact M. x giganteus growth, development and biomass yield. In addition, they discovered positive environmental impacts.

Nitrogen fertilizer had no significant effects on the grass's biomass yield in season two or three at any site. M. x giganteus also promotes erosion control as the perennial forms a large mass of roots underground.

"We are trying to develop a recipe for management practices that can be used by farmers interested in growing the grass," Voigt said. "We want bioenergy crops to find their way into more marginal settings where ground is less easy to work with. Miscanthus can work where food crops can't."

Voigt said the results of the study are positive and prove that energy crops have great potential as alternative energy sources.

###

This study, "Miscanthus x giganteus Productivity: The Effects of Management in Different Environments" was published in GCB BIOENERGY Volume 3, Issue 6, December 2011. Researchers included Matt Maughan, Germn Bollero, D.K. Lee, Robert Darmody and Thomas Voight of the University of Illinois; Stacy Bonos, Laura Cortese and James Murphy of The State University of New Jersey; Roch Gaussoin and Matthew Sousek of the University of Nebraska Lincoln; David Williams and Linda Williams of the University of Kentucky; and Fernando Miguez of Iowa State University. Funding was provided by the Department of Energy.

Voigt is also principal investigator for the Feedstock Production Agronomy Program at the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) located in the Institute for Genomic Biology. The EBI is a biofuels research consortium that includes the University of Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and funding agency BP.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uoic-fpm011912.php

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Obama?s reorganization plans earn early criticism (Washington Post)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/187672509?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Headphone-wearing pedestrian injuries triple as audiophiles stop noticing onrushing trains

The number of pedestrians injured or killed while wearing headphones has tripled in the last six years: 16 oblivious PMP users were offed in 2004, the number rising to 47 for last year. The research, carried out by Dr Richard Lichenstein at the University of Maryland found that headphone wearers became "inattentionally blind" to dangers such as passing cars and on-rushing trains. That's not us being flip either: 55 percent of the incidents involved locomotives. The majority of victims were male (68 percent) and under the age of 30 (67 percent): which puts your average Engadget reader in the center of the danger zone -- take it from us guys: sometimes it's better to press pause, "Baby, baby" will still be there when you've crossed the railway.

Headphone-wearing pedestrian injuries triple as audiophiles stop noticing onrushing trains originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/17/headphone-wearing-pedestrian-injuries-triple-as-audiophiles-stop/

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Stricken Italian liner shifts, 29 people missing (Reuters)

GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) ? A stricken Italian cruise liner shifted on its rocky resting place on Monday as worsening weather disrupted an increasingly despairing hunt for survivors and authorities raised their estimate of the number missing to 29 people.

As the Costa Concordia's owners blamed their captain for veering shorewards on Friday in a bravura "salute" to residents of a Tuscan island, the giant ship slid a little, threatening to plunge its whole gigantic carcass and 2,300 tonnes of fuel below the Mediterranean waters of the surrounding nature reserve.

The slippage forced rescuers to suspend for a few hours their efforts to find anyone still alive after three days in the capsized hull, resting on a jagged slope outside the picturesque harbor on the island of Giglio. Six bodies have been found. Most of the 4,200 passengers and crew survived, despite hours of chaos.

An Italian coastguard official told Reuters late on Monday that the number of people missing had been revised up to 29 - 25 passengers and four members of staff - from 16, showing how much uncertainty still surrounded the disaster.

Another maritime official said later that 10 Germans were thought to be among the missing passengers.

The 114,500-tonne ship, one of the biggest passenger vessels ever to be wrecked, foundered after striking a rock just as dinner was being served on Friday night. It quickly rolled on its side, revealing a long gouge below the waterline.

Firefighters' spokesman Luca Cari said there were still small movements of the vessel but they were not considered dangerous. However, searches were suspended overnight and would resume at daybreak.

Another senior firefighter, Luciano Roncalli, told Reuters that all the unsubmerged areas of the liner had been searched, indicating faint hopes of finding more survivors in the flooded and upturned maze of luxurious state rooms and tennis courts, bars and spas that are now submerged beneath the sea.

Environment Minister Corrado Clini said he would declare a state of emergency because of the risk that the ship's fuel would leak into the pristine Tuscan Archipelago National Park. No fuel spillage has been detected so far, he said on an Italian television show due to air on Monday evening.

Should rougher seas dislodge the wreck and cause it to sink or break up, that could scupper any hopes for the owners, a unit of Florida's Carnival Corp., of salvaging a liner which cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build just six years ago.

"SALUTE" TO SHORE

Investigators say the ship was far too close to the shore and its owners, Costa Cruises, said the captain, who has been arrested, had carried out the rash maneuver to "make a bow" to people on the island, who included a retired Italian admiral.

The skipper denies charges of manslaughter and his lawyer has said his actions saved many lives.

The father of the ship's head waiter told Reuters his son had telephoned him before the accident to say the crew would salute him by blowing the ship's whistle as they passed close by Giglio, where both the waiter, Antonello Tievoli, and his 82-year-old father Giuseppe live.

"The ship obviously came too close," the elder Tievoli said. "I don't know if Antonello asked the captain to come near, but the responsibility is always the captain's."

The captain, Francesco Schettino, was arrested on Saturday. He is accused of manslaughter and abandoning his ship before all those on board were evacuated. Prosecutors say he also refused to go back on board when requested by the coastguard.

Costa Cruises chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi on Monday blamed errors by Schettino for the disaster. He told a news conference the company would provide its captain with any assistance he required. "But we need to acknowledge the facts and we cannot deny human error," he added.

"These ships are ultra-safe. It is an exceptional event, which was unforeseeable," he said, fighting back tears.

He said the ship deviated from its correct route and Schettino had contravened safety procedures. "The company disavows such behavior, which caused the accident," he said.

Foschi said company vessels were forbidden to come closer than 500 meters to the Giglio coast. Investigators say the liner, designed as a floating pleasure palace for over 3,000 paying customers, was about 150 meters (yards) offshore when it hit the rocks that tore a long gash in its thousand-foot hull.

Schettino denies being too close to the coast and says the rock he hit was not marked on charts.

His lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, issued a statement saying Schettino was "broken-up, troubled and saddened by the loss of life." But he believed he had saved many lives by carrying out a difficult emergency maneuver with anchors after the accident, which turned the ship closer to the shore.

CHAOS AND PANIC

Foschi denied allegations passengers had not been trained how to evacuate the ship, where there were scenes of chaos and panic after the collision. There were around 1,020 crew from 38 nations on board but many were entertainers or catering staff rather than seasoned mariners.

Foschi called the crew "heroes" and said they had responded properly.

"We had to evacuate over 4,200 people in difficult circumstances so the entire operation took more than two hours. The reason for this is the listing of the ship which did not enable us to use both sides to evacuate people."

The calm weather which since Friday has aided the search of the wreck, by some estimates the biggest passenger vessel ever to founder, took a turn for the worse with rougher seas and a light drizzle falling. Forecasters said it would get worse.

A salvage expert on Giglio, who asked not to be named, told Reuters the ship was clearly moving after being held in place by sharp points of rock that had pierced the hull. Rougher seas could break it free, which would be a "big problem," he said.

The ship is resting in about 20 meters (60 feet) of water but could sink up to a further 130 meters if it became detached from the rocks.

Cari of the fire brigade said the rescuers could hear no noises from possible survivors inside the half-submerged ship.

"Obviously the more time passes, the less possibility there is of finding anyone alive," he said.

MEMORIES OF TITANIC

The United Nations' shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, said it was important not to pre-judge the outcome of an inquiry but said it would examine changes to regulations if these were shown to be necessary.

Recalling the sinking of the 46,000-tonne Titanic in April 1912, IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu said: "In the centenary year of the Titanic, we have once again been reminded of the risks involved in maritime activities."

The disaster occurred as passengers were sitting down to dinner on Friday night, triggering panic with thousands jostling to get on lifeboats and some leaping into the icy sea.

Passengers say there were long delays in sending an SOS and organizing the evacuation of those on board and this had resulted in chaos. More than 60 people were hurt.

Italian passengers told newspapers they used their mobile phones to call the Carabinieri police in the city of Grosseto on the mainland to raise the alarm, while the crew were still insisting to them that there was only an electrical fault.

Three people, a South Korean honeymoon couple and a crewman, were rescued on Sunday and police divers also found the bodies of two elderly men, still wearing life vests. The bodies of two French tourists and a Peruvian crewman were found on Saturday.

Carnival Corp, the ship's Miami-based parent company, said it estimated the impact on its 2012 earnings for loss of use alone to be around $90 million. Its share price was down around 16 percent on the London market.

Industry experts said the disaster could seriously hit cruise bookings at a key time of the year but the sector would eventually recover.

There was deep anger in Italy about the accident.

In a frontpage editorial for the respected daily Corriere della Sera, Pierluigi Battista wrote: "Italy owes the world, international public opinion, the families of those who lost their lives, those who were injured and those who fortunately remained unhurt, a convincing explanation and the toughest possible sanctions against those responsible for this tragedy."

(Additional reporting by Silvia Ognibene, Silvia Aloisi and Kate Hudson and Catherine Hornby; Writing by Barry Moody, Philip Pullella and James Mackenzie; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/wl_nm/us_italy_ship

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Antarctic lake bid edges closer

15 January 2012 Last updated at 19:15 ET By David Shukman Environment & science correspondent, BBC News

An ambitious plan to explore a vast lake trapped beneath the Antarctic ice is a step closer to becoming reality.

An advance party has braved freezing temperatures to set up vital equipment and supplies at Lake Ellsworth.

The project by UK engineers to drill through the two-mile-thick ice-sheet is scheduled for the end of the year.

The aims are to search for signs of life in the waters and to extract sediments from the lake floor to better understand the past climate.

It is is one of the most challenging British scientific projects for years.

The task is so complex that preparations have had to be spread over two Antarctic summer seasons.

In the first phase a "tractor train" has just hauled nearly 70 tonnes of equipment from an ice runway at Union Glacier through the Ellsworth mountains to the lake site.

The journey of about 250km (155 miles) involved crossing a mix of deep snow and rock-hard ice and took three days.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

It is really harsh and working there with equipment means you have to use thin gloves ?

End Quote Andy Tait British Antarctic Survey

Once there, a four-man team stored the equipment and "winterised" it to cope with the incredibly low temperatures to come.

Wind-blown snow is expected to partially cover the gear but GPS markers fixed to the corners of the site will help locate it again.

The area around Lake Ellsworth is notorious for its deep cold and constant winds.

Lake Ellsworth is one of more than 400 sub-glacial lakes in Antarctica and was chosen for the drilling operation because of its relative accessibility.

One of the advance team, Andy Tait of the British Antarctic Survey, now back in the UK, told me about the sheer difficultly of conditions.

"The maximum summer temperature is minus 20 and with a wind of something like 30 knots you can imagine the cold.

"It is really harsh and working there with equipment means you have to use thin gloves - it is really cold."

But the delivery of equipment is just one part of the preparations for the drilling and sampling operation.

Key components are still being manufactured and tested before they can be shipped south.

Most challenging is the complex sampling probe which has been designed to cope with a combination of extremely high pressures and extremely low temperatures.

It must also be assembled and delivered in conditions of the highest possible sterility.

For the first time in Antarctic exploration, an investigation is being planned with cleanliness standards higher than those of most surgeries.

Because one of the key aims is to search for signs of biology in the lake waters - one of the most tantalising questions - all possibility of contamination has to be eliminated.

Continue reading the main story

How scientists will reach Lake Ellsworth

1. A hot water drill will melt through the frozen ice sheet, which is up to 3km (2 miles) thick. After drilling, they will have an estimated 24 hours to collect samples before the borehole re-freezes

2. A probe will be lowered through the borehole to capture water samples

3. A specialised corer will then recover sediment from the floor of the lake through the same borehole

Watch the team's animated explation of the planned drill.

Source: Subglacial Lake Ellsworth Consortium

I watched as one team worked in a clean room at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton.

Each hi-tech component - including the titanium sampling bottles and specially-engineered filters - has to be sterilised.

Inside the clean room where the probe is being developed and put together

And the final assembly of the 5.5m probe will take place inside a unique "tent" accessed by gloved inlets along its sides.

This November, the second phase of shipments will take place and the operation will begin in earnest.

The drilling will be carried out by a system using hot water and is expected to take three days.

Once the bore-hole is open providing access to the lake beneath the ice, the team will then have 24 hours in which to lower the sampling devices.

Computer modelling indicates that the hole will then start to re-freeze making it impossible to use.

The plan is to first lower the water sampling probe - a process that should take an hour - and then a corer to extract lake sediment.

According to Andy Tait, all eyes will be on the weather. Although many stages of the operation can be handled under cover, ideally conditions will be calm when the drilling starts.

The engineering, the planning, the science are impressively thorough - but Antarctica is the most challenging place on earth in which to work, and outcomes can never be certain.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/science-environment-16538129

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