'Game of Thrones' meets 'Downton' on a piano

By Anna Chan, TODAY

Honor. Power struggles. Family drama. Death. Both "Game of Thrones" and "Downton Abbey" feature plenty of those themes, and now, they have another theme in common -- their theme songs.

YouTube user Sagar Jethani mashed up the tunes pretty darn seamlessly on his piano to create "Game of Downton Abbey," a nearly three-minute opus complete with the howling of direwolves and hunting dogs. (OK, not exactly. His pooch Duncan got a little excited during the performance and offered up some vocals.) Check it out:

Sure, the video's about a year old, but with "Downton" airing season 3 right now and "GoT" coming right up, this is a great way to enjoy something from both.

"Downton Abbey" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on PBS. "Game of Thrones" returns March 31 on HBO.

Which TV theme songs would you like to hear mashed together? Tell us on our Facebook page!

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/01/30/16775217-game-of-thrones-meets-downton-abbey-on-the-piano?lite

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Microsoft expanding Mecklenburg data center

January 30, 2013 4:07 PM

Microsoft Corp. is expanding its data center in Mecklenburg County, creating 30 new jobs.

Microsoft will build two facilities on the campus to increase capacity for its growing customer base.

The company built the facility in 2010 and expanded the site in 2011. Microsoft is offsetting the gross carbon emissions from this data center by purchasing the equivalent amount of renewable energy credits.

?We appreciate the strong working relationship with the State of Virginia and the County of Mecklenburg,? said Christian Belady, general manager of Microsoft Data Center Services. ?This expansion will allow us to meet the growing demand from consumers and businesses for our cloud services in the region in an increasingly efficient manner. These facilities showcase state-of-the-art designs developed from our latest technology and infrastructure research that continues to minimize water, energy use, and building costs, while increasing computing capacity, software capabilities, and server utilization.?

Gov. Bob McDonnell approved a $200,000 grant from the Governor?s Opportunity Fund to help Mecklenburg County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $2 million in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project.

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Source: http://www.virginiabusiness.com/index.php/news/article/microsoft-expanding-mecklenburg-data-center/322767/

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Heffernan: An ode to Jane Austen, spinster god

?An old maid writes with the detachment of a god.?

In honor of the bicentennial of the publication of ?Pride and Prejudice,? I give you the above words by D.A. Miller, America's most swashbuckling reader of Jane Austen.

That?s the central mystery of Jane Austen?s novels. And what a mystery it is. The author?s voice, though we?re always reminded it belonged to a sour-faced spinster who couldn?t score a husband to save her life, flatly refuses to make itself meek. Meek? Jane Austen?s voice doesn?t even make itself human.

Rather, the Austen world spirit sweeps in omnisciently to ?Pride and Prejudice,? which turns 200 today, laying down universal truths like Solomon or HAL. From there it manipulates the pouts and slaps and rosy countenances of all the single ladies?the Catherines and Elizabeths and Emmas?all the coquettes, ing?nues and hysterics for whom Jay McInerney and all of us wild-eyed Janeites still pine.

The sadistic Austen voice brings authority, stern judgment and only the ghost of a chance for redemption: Her girls, after all, are always caught in the gears of a tightly engineered Austen marriage plot, from whose bourn no traveler returns.

The Austen voice can mock, rig and savor that plot only because it?that Austen-god?suspends itself well outside the life-threatening grip of courtship and matrimony.

This, anyway, is the argument of Miller in his book ?Jane Austen, or the Secret of Style.? I can think of no better way to celebrate the bicentennial of ?Pride and Prejudice,? Austen?s great novel of bulimia (among other matters) than with Miller?s book, which like anything good?Mr. Darcy, strong tea, food?can make the brain ache in big doses.

Great novel of bulimia? That?s right. Professor Miller, who taught me in graduate school to see the god in the spinster, also showed me what a tyrant Austen was about the importance of being thin and brief (good) versus being fat and prolix (bad, very bad). (Worse than you know.)

His lecture on this subject led to my fascination with the character of Charlotte, Elizabeth?s would-be best friend. You?ll recall that Elizabeth Bennet is the heroine of ?Pride and Prejudice,? the witty resourceful daughter of an emotionally abusive dad who likes Elizabeth best because she?s kind of a tomboy, and smart; she also sucks up to him by slagging off her sisters. In that way, Elizabeth reminds many female reader-types of ourselves?trying to upstage other maybe prettier girls as frivolous nitwits in the name of winning the attention of Important Men. Oh, and then hating ourselves for it.

In any case, Elizabeth has a friend, Charlotte. Charlotte is plainer than Lizzie, with no game in the drawing room. In short, she?s nowhere near as cool as Lizzie, so Lizzie bestows confidences on her?huge emotional outpourings of shame and remorse that she reserves for Charlotte alone, believing, in the immemorial way of popular girls, that the plainer girl is lucky to hear even the snotty, hiccupping self-pity of a superstar like Elizabeth Bennet.

Of course, Lizzie never reciprocates by listening to Charlotte, which is why she is appalled to find out that Charlotte is not with her in lockstep on her oft-repeated resolution not to marry a loser. Charlotte, who?s been an obedient sidekick to Lizzie for half the novel, turns the tables and boldly elopes with a loser?a former suitor of Lizzie?s, in fact?and Lizzie is absolutely crushed. Deservedly so. She can?t control everyone! (Only her maker, Austen, can.) It?s a horror when you realize this; take it from me.

How is this bulimia? I?ll tell you. Lizzie is all about being brief and witty; only goofy girls or sententious men talk too much. To monopolize conversations is like eating whole cakes. It shows no restraint and it?s disgusting. At the same time there?s much talk of Lizzie?s light-footedness and general low body weight. This is in contrast to the droning bore, Miss Bates, who is coded as fat and also can?t shut up.

But how does Lizzie keep her conversation and her figure in fighting shape? Does she have naturally modest appetites for food and attention? No. She is roiling with the same hungers everyone has, but she?s put herself in an empire-waist straitjacket of wit, wit and more wit, so she has nowhere to go when she just wants to babble and sob. To binge. To purge.

That?s where Charlotte comes in. By expressing herself to Charlotte at length and in sordid hues?gorging on cupcakes of emotion and then barfing them up in the silent, yielding bin of her friend?Lizzie frees herself up to impress Mr. Darcy by seeming slim and tart. (Is that the acid reflux?)

Go back and read ?Pride and Prejudice? and see for yourself. It?s about courtship all right, but it?s also about the ways we try vainly to keep ourselves aloof from emotions and the whims and longings of our mortal bodies. Some of that, in younger years especially, involves using our friends. (Susanna Sonnenberg explores this and more in her beautiful and unsparing new book, ?She Matters: A Life in Friendships.?) And some of it involves becoming authors ourselves and hoping that that will, once and for all, immunize us from being human. Here?s to that effort, vain and tender. Happy birthday, ?Pride and Prejudice.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/happy-anniversary--jane-austen--spinster-god-195103217.html

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Tips For Colin Kaepernick Jersey Dealing With Your Self Improvement

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Saturday Soapbox: Buy-to-let gaming ? Opinions ? Eurogamer.net

This week has seen two big stories about premium games trying to squeeze ever-more money out of their players. They're not immediately obvious bedfellows; Square Enix's Final Fantasy: All the Bravest is a mobile title divided into cash-hungry chunks, and Dead Space 3 is as typical an AAA console title as you'll get. But both excite the same feeling of unease, and not just because they share a common theme of exploitation; it's that point where something bearable becomes too much.

This is nothing to do with the free-to-play business model, but rather the application of its mechanics. Surely everyone loves free-to-play games by now, and the many shining examples across mobile and PC show it can be the basis for top-notch titles. But there are things we acknowledge as players about free-to-play, a familiarity with its structure that means certain mechanics are accepted as inevitable: plenty of cosmetic in-app purchases, a grind-heavy levelling or crafting system, even large sections of the gameworld hived-off without payment. These things, when they are the toll booths for a great free experience, do not bother me.

The thought of paying a tax does hang loosely over my idea of free-to-play mechanics, and perhaps that's why it's so startling to see them in full price games. In terms of Final Fantasy: All the Bravest the up-front cost is ?2.49 but, like it or lump it, on the App Store that's a premium. Square Enix has previously released its games (usually ports) at a much higher price, and it's clear this original title is some kind of exploration of how they can reduce the entry point but still get the full whack by the end - it's a game they want ?30 for, in other words, so they've chopped it into paid chunks and sold you the first one for ?2.49.

FF: ATB has three 'extra' worlds for ?2.49 each, plus 35 FF characters at 69p each, a total of just over ?30 if you want everything (for which there is an achievement). The hourglasses are 3 for 69p, up to 20 for ?1.99.

Now, that's the prerogative of Square Enix. There's another side to FF: ATB which goes even further, however, and strikes me as wholly unethical design. A brief explanation of how the game works; it's a visual reduction of the old-style Final Fantasy 'active time battle' system with a simple touch interface. This is an automated lightshow, where you swipe your finger up and down the ranks of characters, watch them whack away, and occasionally get whacked back. The thing is, it's not all that much of a game; battles are about luck and grind. It's like playing pachinko.

Bad enough, but it's what ties into this that goes beyond reason. This ?2.49 game is dependent on a free-to-play time mechanic during game overs - if all of the party in FF: ATB die, you have the choice to restart the battle (pointless, because winning is a matter of time), wait three minutes for each individual character to resurrect (which can take hours), or use one of the hourglass IAPs to revive the party. Let me make this absolutely clear: progression in this game is impossible without either waiting for long periods or paying for hourglasses. It quite simply locks you out.

This is the most cynical and unethical creep of free-to-play mechanics into a paid-for game I've ever seen. I would absolutely love to hear what Square Enix call it. If a company like this is prepared to timelock its players out of premium games then others will follow - and if so, shouldn't that be clearly marked, as distinct from other in-app purchases? Timelocks like this surely have to be addressed by vendors. I cannot fathom why any publisher would think conning people like this is a good idea, yet here we are.

Still, at least players on mobile are much more used to the way these tactics work, and wising up to the cash grabs. The intrusion of microtransactions feels more natural in this space, and many games handle them with considerably more nuance than Square Enix's offering. When you're paying ?40 for a game like Dead Space 3, however, where do you draw the line?

?Hey Carver, where'd ya get that sweet red helmet?? ?Picked it up at one of those new vending machines greenhorn, some other sucker takes the tab and I get the sugar.?

Let's get a few things out of the way: post-launch DLC is fine, cosmetic stuff like costumes is fine, and lots of AAA games offer great value for extra money. The issue with Dead Space 3 is nothing to do with downloadable extras, but the intrusion of a free-to-play mechanic into its high-priced world; you can pay to get extra resources for its weapon-crafting system.

That is not a small part of the experience. I may have a soft spot for Resi, but Dead Space is the current king of survival horror games. The way your kit expands and improves has always been a key ingredient in the best of this genre, and those sparse power nodes always felt like real treasure. It's a system that's absolutely fine as it is, and it will inevitably be changed for the worse by the intrusion of in-game purchases.

I'm sure EA and Visceral Games will say different, but there's no way the presence of microtransactions can avoid influencing its design. If no-one will pay, then why spend time putting it in? If people are going to pay, then how do you manipulate the circumstances to make them? On a project of this magnitude, a feature cannot exist in a vacuum - it warps everything around it to fit. Does that corridor really need to be this long? Why is that rare crafting item hidden in such an out-of-the-way place? Every time you see the little shop prompt, you'll know.

An amazing feature of FF: ATB is that you constantly earn Gil, the FF currency, throughout - yet there isn't a single thing in the game to spend it on. It's like Square are actually mocking the player at times.

This is a difficult subject, because on the one hand publishers will argue players get plenty of hours of entertainment for their money, and in many cases they'd be right. On the other, a game that launches in the standard ?40-?50 range is asking for what is quite simply an awful lot of money. Consumers paying that deserve a complete product in return; not one where a central mechanic has been artificially adjusted to squeeze more out. Can you imagine buying Dead Space 3, sitting down to play it in a darkened room, then feeling pressured to go and dig out your bank card?

Amid all the coverage of these events, the pun of the week went to RockPaperShotgun's twitter feed with 'The Grinding of Isaac?' That captures everything about how it feels; the biblical wrongness of grinding, however gently, being introduced into a premium game to eke a little bit more out of your wallet. As many wags this week have pointed out, EA is trying to charge you ?40 for an experience, and then charge you more to skip parts of it - a bittersweet joke because, of course, it's true.

It is a great pity that angry gamers are so good at getting het up about pointless things, like Dante's new hairstyle, rather than these game-ruining microtransactions - a bit of real consumer advocacy wouldn't go amiss. Don't we have the right to know if a premium game is built on core systems with a paid-for element? Shouldn't that be marked on its advertising and flagged in its product description? What about specific tools like timelocks? Developers are clearly going to use them, so what's the appropriate response?

The truth is that, for Square Enix and EA, the gamble is quite independent of the specialist press - its success or failure will be determined by the numbers, not any reputational damage on the way. Hoping that these companies make monetisation decisions in an ethical or even a design-led context has ended up here. The market will decide where we go, of course, and one can only hope it spits these experiments back in disgust. Failing that, welcome to the future; where buying a game is an ongoing process.

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-26-saturday-soapbox-buy-to-let-gaming

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Try These Magnificent Self Help Tips To Increase Your Confidence ...

Self improvement is when you work to make yourself a better person, and to ultimately improve your life. To reach your goals with personal development, you must educate yourself on how you can make yourself a better person and decide what works for you and what doesn?t. The article you are about to read will give you plenty of tips to get going on your personal development plan.

Most employers will not care what school or college you went to, they will care that you earned the degree and can do the work. Working with large financial institutions or law firms is an exception to this rule. Truthfully, it?s more crucial that you have obtained a degree and expanded your horizons.

Exercise is not only for people wanting to lose weight. There are tons of reasons to exercise. As you work out, your body will release chemicals necessary to relieving your stress.

TIP! Stay around like-minded individuals. This will help you to have a better attitude and maintain it as well as keeping you away from bad people that aren?t behind your dreams and goals.

You can?t change unless you make a directed, continuous effort to do so. It is important to make any changes that are necessary for growth.

You need to be your highest priority since you can?t please everybody. That doesn?t mean you should become selfish, but rather that you take control of your own emotions. You should never sacrifice your beliefs in the search for happiness.

One part of depression you may not thought of to look at is your diet and increasing the amount of complex carbohydrates that you consume. If you are not getting enough complex carbs, you serotonin levels will be low. You can do this by eating more raw veggies, fruits, nuts, brown rice, whole grains and assorted beans.

TIP! Make sure the goals you set for yourself are small and manageable so you can easily achieve them and develop the lifestyle that will make you happy. Figuring out your weaknesses and doing what you can to deal with them will make you a happier, more satisfied person.

Be ready to take down any ideas you may have, no matter what the setting is. Use a notepad app on your phone or even carry a real notepad with you. Just write down what their idea or thought is and then develop it more when you have the time and are feeling creative.

Strengthening your faith and expressing love are two great self improvement goals. You can not have faith without love. Therefore, it is important that you never become complacent in your faithfulness. Put your faith into action by helping others and loving not only your peers, but yourself as well.

Figure out what you want your life to be and do what it takes to accomplish it. If you lay around all day wishing your life was better but not doing anything to make it better, it will never happen. Make your dreams reality by taking decisive action.

TIP! We all make mistakes which includes making poor food choices once in a while. Stress is as bad for your body as a piece of cake, so remember that life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

Leadership is the cornerstone of personal development. Leadership is generally approached as being influential. Reflect back on your leadership experiences. What experiences have had the greatest impact on your life? What changes have occurred thanks to these events? What do you feel makes you a good team player? When you examine these thoughts, you will become more of a team player and leader.

You must understand that a divide exists between where you currently are, and the place you would like to go. This first step can start you on the way to reaching your goals. If you cannot see this discrepancy, it is unlikely that you will reach your highest potential.

TIP! Consider your personal character attributes when determining what you want to change. Your aesthetics can be changed quicker than your personality can! Clothes and looks are no reflection of the true personality of person.

If you suffer from anxiety, try going to see a movie with a friend. You will be out and about but you don?t have to talk a lot or even see who you?re with most of the time. This will give you the chance to get acquainted with the idea of being around more people.

Stress is one of the biggest road blocks to happiness. When the human mind is preoccupied with a state of stress, damage can be caused to both physical and mental aspects of the body. All of us need to have clear, relaxed thinking to enable us to plan and execute our life?s purpose, and this only happens when we let go of stressful thoughts. Allow yourself a set time during each day that you can relax and empty your mind. Taking a little bit of time for yourself will help you stay calm, and keep your goals in mind.

It is important that you feel comfortable using the abilities that you have. Being different isn?t a bad thing, since we all have different strengths and skills, which makes for an interesting world of personalities. Concentrate on good skills you already have rather than worry about talents you would like to acquire.

TIP! Are you experiencing difficulty meeting romantic partners? Think about looking on the Internet. Up to 40% of couples meet over the Internet nowadays.

You need to have an emergency fund. Many people handle every unexpected expense with a credit card, building up debt. If you put back just a few dollars every week you will quickly build up an emergency fund. Having an emergency fund in place can help provide a safety net throughout all the phases of one?s financial life.

Try writing down goals you want to reach if you want to better yourself. For example, should you want a greater amount of confidence, write about it. Then, brainstorm things that you could do or have done that will improve your confidence. Finally, you will need to put yourself in a situation where you can practice being confident. Developing a plan of attack will make it more likely that you succeed.

When you are trying to improve yourself, you should aim to have a high amount of self-discipline. Learn to exercise restraint over the desires of the flesh to achieve a higher level of self control. Overindulgence, overeating, lust, and selfishness are all base impulses that you can overcome. If you can cut out the negative aspects of your personality you?ll find your entire being becomes healthier and happier.

TIP! Choose one element of your life to focus on improving. You may want to improve multiple aspects of yourself, but keeping a narrow focus makes it easier to define and achieve your goals.

Start each morning believing that it will be better that day than it was the day before. Put the effort that is needed to accomplish this. Steady, unending improvement should be your goal. Try your hardest to achieve something different today than what you achieved yesterday.

Your reaction to a situation can determine your level of stress. Acknowledge and manage your stress by carefully analyzing your circumstances. If a mistake is the issue, there are ways to correct it or cope with living with your mistake. Focus more on your accomplishments instead of your failures.

Avoid going shopping as a form of entertainment or comfort. Shopping your stress away, or ?retail therapy? as some people say, is really more of a stress inducer, because it distracts you from the stress for a while but it all comes back with big bills and interest charges when the bills come in.

TIP! Try to make the most of your time at work and get more done. Take an ample amount of breaks when you are working hard.

Don?t just respect people who have power or something to offer you; treat everyone with respect. The way you deal with people speaks volumes about your character.

Leadership is about exercising authority, but good leaders are humble, too. When rebukes are necessary, be gentle yet firm, and keep in mind that you must be able to serve to be able to lead effectively. A real leader models integrity and upholds the appropriate virtues. These qualities are required in order to lead successfully.

Behind every great champion is an equally great coach. It is important to surround yourself with a positive mentor and coach. Everyone should help one another. This is an important strategy for ensuring that everyone is able to achieve their goals. Behind every successful story, there?s a great mentor.

TIP! Do you drink a lot? Do you use tobacco products or any other harmful things? You should treat your body as if it is a temple. One way to improve your life is by getting rid of any bad habits that you have.

Know the obstacles you face before you hit them. This is very hard for many people to do. In order to change problems you are having, you must identify what they are. It?s easier to move forward if you take care of what is standing in your way.

Find books that inspire you. Everyone?s idea of a positive piece of writing is different. It may be a religious bible, or alternatively a book of inspirational quotes. By keeping something around that you can refer to for encouragement, you will be better able to handle all that life throws at you.

Take care of yourself physically to get the most out of your personal development activities. Just simple things, such as exercise, getting enough rest and a proper diet, will all keep your energy level up and make you feel good enough to be successful in your personal development journey. It might seem easy, but it can prove to be very difficult.

TIP! Focus on the things that you have determined are most important to you. Focus on the more positive things in life because they matter.

As was mentioned earlier, self improvement can help you better yourself. Try different things and select the strategies that work best for your situation. Use the advice in the article and you can take the first step in a journey of self improvement.

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Victor Imbimbo: You Can't Choose Your Family, But...

Yesterday, I received a call from a lovely woman named May* living in Birmingham, Ala. May initially called my office to find out where our magazines were available near her home. However, we started to chat about being a family caregiver. And, after a few minutes, she asked if I would give her some advice.

Since my clever response of "no hablo ingles" didn't even get a faint response, I realized that her question could be rather serious. It was. May blurted out, "My mother and I never got along, how am I supposed to be there for her every day? I don't even like her."

Now May, that is a question!

First, I congratulate May for having the courage to ask such a brutally honest question. Trust me. Having communicated with thousands of family caregivers, there are many questions dealing with some aspect of this emotionally-draining issue. Let's face it. Not everyone was raised by Ozzie and Harriet (especially for those of you over 50 years old).

So how do you take care of someone you may love but who you just don't like? Dr. Robert Holden, Ph.D. has a wonderful saying, "You need to be honest before you're positive." I cannot think of a more appropriate place to start.

It's nonsense for anyone to tell you to just block out the past and make today a fresh start. It's baloney! And, unless you are a super-enlightened person with incredible control over your ego, I believe this advice is not too constructive. So let's take a look at several steps that May and I discussed. I believe they can help.

Let's call them "The 4 Ls":

Level

If you are feeling angst about your relationship with the loved one you're caring for, you are not alone. There is a good chance that they have similar feelings. Perhaps they're not on the same level, but there is an emotional distance between you.

These conditions, although uncomfortable, promote the opportunity to put your cards on the table and discuss what is bothering you. It's an effort to bridge the distance between you. Remember, be honest. If you're not, you'll be back in the same position next week!

Learn

Since life is not a one-way street, this is also the time to openly listen to the thoughts of your loved one. Our egos, especially when they have been bruised for a long time, can make accepting alternative viewpoints difficult... to say the least. But, if you are sincerely open, you may learn something that can help build a healthier conversation and relationship. By the way, this is also a great approach in dealing with everyone in general.

Let Go

While acceptance can be difficult, it can also be very liberating. Accepting the relationship, warts and all, is necessary if there is any chance of moving forward in a way that can make the time you spend together enriching. (OK, OK, how about we start with tolerable and try to evolve to enriching!) There are countless family caregivers, who after their experience as a caregiver have moved their relationship to a place they never knew possible.

Live

Yes, live! Under the best of circumstances, being a family caregiver presents some challenging times. No one is asking you to give up who you are for the sake of being the primary caregiver. But it is very important that you determine expectations as soon as possible to ensure resentment does not creep in (any more than normal). You need to talk with your loved one about each of your needs and foster respect for each other's circumstances. Don't feel you need to give up friendships and time for yourself.

Well, I really debated on bringing this up but... there is actually a fifth "L."

Leave

I wouldn't really be giving you the complete picture if I didn't mention that sometimes a relationship is in such a state that it just can't be worked out. There are times that people can't forget their differences -- not because they are stubborn, or selfish, or uncaring, but because there is just too broad a chasm to cross. When being together is this unmanageable, it can affect the health and well-being of both the family caregiver and the one in their care. This being the case, it may be that the best thing for everyone's sake is to find other resources to provide caregiving assistance in a way that ensures your family member experiences the best quality care possible.

As I said to May, working these situations out takes time, because emotional changes (on both sides) don't happen overnight. There's a Latin phrase that applies here. Tabula Rasa. It means "blank state." Instead of starting with a blank slate, let's be realistic -- start with a polka dot slate and over time work toward removing the not-so-pretty dots.

Thanks again May!

*May's name has been changed for her privacy

Help yourself. Help others.

For more by Victor Imbimbo, click here.

For more on caregiving, click here.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victor-imbimbo/family-caregiver_b_2552169.html

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Time and Punishment: Police Have Done More Than Prisons to Cut Crime in New York

[unable to retrieve full-text content]While the American prison population has doubled in the past two decades, New York City has reduced its numbers as its crime has declined over the same period.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/nyregion/police-have-done-more-than-prisons-to-cut-crime-in-new-york.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Daughter Of Breast-Cancer Survivor Petitions Victoria's Secret To ...

The petition asks Victoria?s Secret to consider making a line of bras for women who have had a mastectomy.

After decades of watching her cancer-survivor mother struggle to find bras that fit, and those bras were either cheap and purely functional or incredibly expensive. So she?s called on Victoria?s Secret to see if the company can make mastectomy bras that look good, fit, and don?t break the bank.

The daughter started her petition on Change.org earlier this month and has already amassed more than 27,000 signatures.

In the letter addressed to various higher-ups at VS and its parent company Limited Brands, she writes:

So many of us have mothers, daughters, and friends who have faced breast cancer. These inspiring women who have had mastectomy surgery as part of their treatment deserve to feel beautiful, too.

Victoria?s Secret is known for helping women feel confident and comfortable. Please celebrate the strength and hope of the survivors in our lives with a ?Survivor? line of mastectomy bras.

?Victoria?s Secret is supposed to make women feel beautiful, yet the women that deserve that feeling the most get left out,? explains the daughter in a statement. ?Every woman knows someone that has been impacted by breast cancer, and women are passionate about this cause. What better way to give back to women than to help cancer survivors feel good about themselves??

Heck, if Hasbro can be convinced to create a gender-neutral Easy-Bake oven, maybe a petition will get Victoria?s Secret ? or maybe some other company that wants to step in and get noticed ? to create a line of bras for women who have undergone a mastectomy.

Source: http://consumerist.com/2013/01/17/daughter-of-breast-cancer-survivor-petitions-victorias-secret-to-create-nice-bras-for-women-with-mastectomies/

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eBay And PayPal Expect To Do $20 Billion Each In 2013 Mobile Commerce

eBay reported strong earnings today, thanks to growth in mobile adoption as well as improved performance in the Marketplaces business. The company also released its mobile commerce numbers for the year, which blew past original estimates.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/W4OJuy74Oj4/

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Fortune Cookie-your best Chinese E-learning tool!

in this APP, you will be able to
1. Recognize the Chinese characters with daily fortune cookie messages in both simplified and traditional Chinese with pinyin and English translations

2. Review the previous unread fortune cookies and learn more Chinese

3. Listen to the sound tracks by native speakers of all words and improve pronunciations and listening skills.

4. Earn energy to unlock more sound audios for every fortune cookie by sharing the app via Facebook, Twitter, email, and SMS.

5. Non-stop learning Chinese everyday anytime anywhere

6. Enjoy the achievement of your Chinese learning progress every time you move one level up.

7. Share your improvement to your friends and let them know it?s not hard to learn Chinese with this Fortune Cookie app.

?

Source: http://www.iphoneappreview.com/app/fortune-cookie-your-best-chinese-e-learning-tool/

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Listen To Samuel L. Jackson Sing Taylor Swift

Some days, the world can seem like a cruel place, where no one looks out for anyone but themselves. But on other days, videos of Sam Jackson singing "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" show up on the internet. Also, watch the first trailers for "Mud" and "S-VHS" in today's Dailies! » The first [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/01/16/samuel-l-jackson-taylor-swift/

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How to set a default calendar on your iPhone and iPad

If you've created your own calendars on your iPhone or iPad, there's probably one that you create more events on than the others. Your Calendar app will default to the generic calendar but if it's not the one you want, you can easily change it to default to the one you use most. This makes creating events much quicker since you don't have to toggle calendars when you create each individual event or appointment.

Not sure how? Follow along.

1. Launch the Settings app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.

2. Tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars and scroll down towards the bottom.

3. Under the Calendars section, tap on Default Calendar.

4. Now tap on the name of the calendar you want newly created events to default to.

That's all there is to it. Any new events created from now on will default to the calendar you've chosen. The only time you'll need to change it is if you want to create an event outside of that calendar.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/V2quXVsQZVc/story01.htm

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The requirement for Home Healthcare | tcob1.net : Live, Business ...

Home healthcare has turned into a popular concept within the U . s . States plus some other areas around the globe. If a person is ill or perhaps is recuperating from the surgical procedures or illness, then dealing with the individual in their house, under amiable conditions appears to be the greatest option sometimes. In has acquired lots of recognition and support people these days have inclined towards it. Involve home healthcare has largely developed because on many occasions people avoid their house for jobs, work along with other issues, and consequently, home healthcare is needed. Some details about home healthcare are reported below for any better knowledge of the idea:

Oftentimes, dealing with patients within their home results in better and faster recovery as they possibly can stay near to their beloved persons. This usually happens with older patients..

You will find many agencies which offer home healthcare services. You should hire the one that is licensed and licensed. If you wish to employ a this point ought to be stored in your mind.

Various services are supplied by these home healthcare agencies. Included in this are service for disabled persons, care for those who are recuperating from surgical procedures or illness, services for specific illnesses like Parkinson, Alzheimer and so forth.

While employing you have to specify towards the agency do you know the services you need to avail and obvious out all discussions of costs and price in the very start. It is best to make contact with a company that is experienced and reputed.

Thus, if you wish to employ a home healthcare then follow each one of these details and recommendations and you?ll have the ability to hire the very best agency and avail the very best services.

Source: http://www.tcob1.net/the-requirement-for-home-healthcare/

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Insight: How SandRidge Energy's CEO adapted the Chesapeake playbook

(Reuters) - For 17 years, Tom Ward and Aubrey McClendon teamed up to build Chesapeake Energy Corp into the second-largest natural gas producer in the United States.

The two Oklahoma City energy men were a study in contrasts. CEO McClendon was brash and aggressive; company president Ward came across as steady and soft-spoken.

When Ward left in 2006 to start his own natural-gas company a few miles away, however, he borrowed from the Chesapeake playbook. At SandRidge Energy Inc, Ward adopted some of the same idiosyncratic business practices deployed by McClendon.

At Chesapeake, McClendon intertwined his personal financial deals with the company he runs.

Similarly, Ward has melded his own financial interests with those of publicly traded SandRidge more than many of the company's shareholders may know, an examination of court documents, Oklahoma state records and Securities and Exchange Commission filings shows.

Like McClendon, Ward has faced criticism from shareholders and others for running a public company like a private firm, drawing large paychecks and bonuses even during periods when his company struggled.

In 2008, Ward received personal loans from the chairman of Bank of Oklahoma - one of SandRidge's key lenders. He also took the unusual step of opening the company's books for the lender's review of that personal deal. The mixing of personal and corporate roles posed a potential conflict of interest for the CEO, analysts say.

Now, the question is whether Ward will be forced to change his ways as McClendon was earlier this year, when shareholders shook up Chesapeake's board and stripped him of his job as chairman following a series of Reuters reports. On Monday, Chesapeake said it was not awarding McClendon, who remains CEO, a bonus for 2012.

Two large SandRidge shareholders - hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital and investment firm Mount Kellett Capital - have been pressing to replace Ward and the board and to put the company up for sale.

"There is constant intermingling of the personal and the private" between the CEO and SandRidge's business, said Dinakar Singh, founder of TPG-Axon, which owns 6.7 percent of SandRidge.

Greg Dewey, a spokesman for SandRidge, declined to respond to questions from Reuters on Ward's transactions or on any similarities between SandRidge and Chesapeake. But he stressed that "in each case, we have followed our own internal guidelines and we know the (Securities and Exchange Commission) rules very well and have followed those."

In addition to borrowing $75 million from Bank of Oklahoma's chairman, Ward also collected $67 million from SandRidge by selling back his personal interests in a controversial corporate perk: stakes in the company's wells. McClendon, too, had a similar incentive at Chesapeake.

SandRidge has also paid nearly $28 million more to Ward or firms linked to him or his family, according to SEC filings. (SEE FACTBOX)

Those payments are in addition to the more than $116 million Ward has received in compensation as CEO since 2007. Between 2007 and 2011, Ward made more than $7 million more than the two men who served as CEO of Chevron, a company more than 60 times the size of SandRidge by market capitalization. (Compensation data for 2012 is not yet available for Chevron.) Ward's pay included $4.2 million for accounting services related to his personal and family finances.

In each case, SandRidge disclosed the benefits that Ward has drawn, and nothing is illegal about the compensation packages. But some analysts and shareholders question why Ward earns so much, given the company's size and stock price. As natural gas prices plummeted, SandRidge shares fell from a high of $69 in July 2008 to about $7 today.

Some corporate-governance experts don't see a problem. "As long as it's disclosed, I think it's fine," said David Larcker, an accounting professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

Others say Ward's transactions raise questions about how SandRidge is being run and create the risk he is putting his own interests ahead of the company's.

"The number of related-party transactions (SandRidge) reports is out of proportion to the size of the company," says Paul Hodgson, an independent corporate-governance consultant.

Ward's compensation has drawn the attention of California pension fund CalSTRs, which owns 880,000 SandRidge shares and is in talks with the company over executive pay.

"We believe that compensation at this point is too high relative to the stock performance," said CalSTRS spokesman Ricardo Duran. "Our standard throughout our portfolio is to, wherever possible, link executive compensation to performance. We feel that standard's not being met."

PARALLEL PATHS

Ward and McClendon, who began working together in their 20s, co-founded Chesapeake in 1989 with 10 employees and $50,000 in cash. The two Oklahoma natives were "land men," traveling back roads to lease promising acreage for drilling.

Ward, 53, grew up in the tiny town of Seiling, Oklahoma. He became Chesapeake's operational brain. McClendon, born into the state's wealthy Kerr family, became its financial wizard.

Chesapeake prospered by being first to snap up acreage in emerging oil and gas plays.

For years at Chesapeake, Ward and McClendon enjoyed an unusual corporate incentive. They received up to a 2.5 percent stake in the profits of every well the company drilled, as long as they paid 2.5 percent of the costs.

Chesapeake had disclosed the existence of this perk. But last year, Reuters reported significant facts that Chesapeake hadn't divulged: McClendon had arranged to borrow more than $1 billion to finance his acquisition of these well stakes, used the stakes themselves as collateral, and obtained most of the financing from a company that was also an investor in Chesapeake. In response to the resulting outcry, the company cut short the perk.

Ward left Chesapeake in early 2006 to begin his own firm, buying into a private energy company in Texas. He renamed that company SandRidge Energy and took it public the following year.

At SandRidge, Ward initiated a more-lucrative version of the perk, raising the maximum stake to 3 percent, as disclosed in SEC filings.

A Reuters review of SEC filings and court documents shows Ward's well perk at SandRidge provided a safety net when he faced a severe personal financial crunch.

By 2008, Ward had borrowed heavily from Wachovia and other lenders. He had pledged holdings of SandRidge stock as collateral for those loans. When the global financial crisis struck, those shares plunged in value. According to documents filed in 2010 shareholder lawsuit against SandRidge, Ward's lenders issued a so-called margin call, which typically requires a borrower to put up more cash or face the liquidation of his collateral.

In October 2008, Ward raised cash by selling his stakes in SandRidge wells back to the company for $67 million, according to SEC filings. A Reuters analysis of costs incurred by Ward between 2006 and 2008 for the well program show he made an estimated $19 million on the deal.

The payout to the CEO came at a time when SandRidge was itself in financial distress. By the end of 2008, the company had just $636,000 in cash on hand, according to the company's annual report.

KAISER TO THE RESCUE

Despite the big payout, Ward wasn't out of the woods. The same month, he did another deal that potentially mingled his personal and corporate interests, this time with George Kaiser, chairman and majority shareholder of BOK Financial, parent company of Bank of Oklahoma.

Kaiser's Bank of Oklahoma has been a lender to SandRidge and was recently among a group that entered into a $1.75 billion credit agreement with the energy company, according to an SEC filing.

Kaiser did not respond to several requests for comment for this story.

In a suit filed in federal court in Oklahoma in December 2010, a SandRidge shareholder alleged that Ward improperly profited from a series of transactions with Kaiser.

Those transactions, Ward's attorneys wrote in response to the suit, came at a time when the SandRidge chief "was facing unexpected economic difficulties." This crunch, they wrote, involved "an upcoming repayment obligation on a credit line with Wachovia Bank and other creditors that was secured, in part, by Mr. Ward's SandRidge stock."

At the time, Ward had pledged at least 25 million SandRidge shares as collateral for a personal credit line from Wachovia and others, according to an SEC filing. The filing did not say how large the loan was, or what it was needed for. But the SandRidge shares were worth about $45 apiece, or some $1.1 billion in total when he pledged them to the banks in August 2008. By late October, the shares had fallen to less than $10, or around $240 million in total.

As the shares plunged in value, the lenders called on Ward to post more collateral. That same October, he turned to Kaiser, borrowing $75 million from him and a charitable trust Kaiser controlled. The deal gave Kaiser warrants granting him the right to buy a substantial interest in SandRidge, using shares then owned by Ward, according to an SEC filing.

SandRidge stock continued to fall between October and December 2008. Ward realized he would need to renegotiate the terms of the $75 million loan from Kaiser, according to a court document filed by Ward's attorneys.

The revised deal, renegotiated on Christmas Eve in Tulsa, was complex. It included the payment to Kaiser of 8.9 million SandRidge shares, worth some $50 million at the time, and a warrant giving Kaiser the right to buy more shares in the future.

It also came with an unusual condition. Ward agreed to open SandRidge's financial records to Kaiser, to "facilitate (Kaiser's) due diligence investigation of the issuer for a limited period of time following the sale," according to the deal's agreement.

James Cox, a law professor at Duke University, said he has never come across another situation in which a public company's books and records were opened as part of a private deal.

"Access is being provided for no apparent corporate purpose," Cox said.

The shareholder and SandRidge agreed to dismiss the suit on November 9, 2012, court documents show. The company later disclosed that Ward agreed the same day to pay SandRidge $5 million to settle a lawsuit. It declined to say whether the payment was related to the Kaiser suit.

Lingering anger over SandRidge's big 2008 payout to Ward is one reason some shareholders say they have recently called for the CEO's ouster.

Ward and SandRidge are fighting back. On November 19, the company's board unanimously approved resolutions that make it more difficult for the company to be taken over.

Now, hedge fund TPG-Axon is soliciting support from other shareholders to replace the board. No deadline has been set for that solicitation. TPG-Axon hasn't said how much support it has garnered so far.

(Reporting by Michael Erman in New York, Anna Driver in Houston and Brian Grow in Atlanta; Editing by Patricia Kranz and Blake Morrison)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-sandridge-energys-ceo-adapted-chesapeake-playbook-100332103--finance.html

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Pot Smokers Might Not Turn into Dopes after All

Getting high on a regular basis as a teenager has been said to lower your IQ?but the truth may not be so simple. Image: Flickr/prensa420

Cannabis rots your brain ? or does it? Last year, a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggested that people who used cannabis heavily as teenagers saw their IQs fall by middle age. But a study published today ? also in PNAS ? says that factors unrelated to cannabis use are to blame for the effect. Nature explores the competing claims.

What other factors might cause the decline in IQ?
Ole R?geberg, a labor economist at the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research in Oslo and the author of the latest paper, ran simulations which showed that confounding factors associated with socioeconomic status could explain the earlier result. For example, poorer people have reduced access to schooling, irrespective of cannabis use.

Is this a case of correlation versus causation?
Possibly. The data used in the original paper came from the Dunedin Study, a research project in which a group of slightly more than 1,000 people born in New Zealand in 1972?73 have been tracked from birth to age 38 and beyond. As with all such birth-cohort epidemiological studies (also called longitudinal studies), there is a risk of inferring causal links from observed associations between one factor and another.

Past research on the Dunedin cohort shows that individuals from backgrounds with low socioeconomic status are more likely than others to begin smoking cannabis during adolescence, and are more likely to progress from use to dependence. R?geberg says that these effects, combined with reduced access to schooling, can generate a correlation between cannabis use and IQ change.

According to R?geberg, people with low socioeconomic status are, on average, likely to show declining IQ as they age and gradually self-select or are sorted into less cognitively demanding arenas. For example, they are less likely than people with high socioeconomic status to attend university, and more likely to take manual jobs.

Do other studies show a drop in IQ with cannabis use?
R?geberg cites three studies in which cannabis use is not associated with declining IQ. He says that these studies show clear reductions in IQ for the heaviest smokers, but these are not permanent, and people who have stopped smoking heavily show no decline.

What do the original paper's authors make of R?geberg's analysis?
Madeline Meier, a psychologist at the Duke Transdisciplinary Prevention Research Center in Durham, North Carolina, who co-wrote the original paper with her colleagues, says that R?geberg's ideas are interesting. However, she points out that the authors of the first PNAS paper restricted their analysis to individuals in middle-class families and those with low or high socioeconomic status. The outcome suggests that the decline in IQ cannot be attributed to socioeconomic factors alone.

In their original analysis, Meier says, she and her colleagues controlled for socioeconomic status and found that in all socioeconomic categories, the IQs of children who were not heavy users remained unchanged from adolescence to adulthood. Therefore, she says, socioeconomic status does not influence IQ decline.

So who is right?
It is hard to say. Both analyses study the same data set in different ways, and each has merits.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1312f750eae92d4a9004776b2f91fa98

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Robot waiters in China restaurant!

Watch: Harbin restaurant staffed by robot waiters

shanghaiist.com

By Erik Crouch The reign of our robot overlords begins in Heilongjiang province. The Robot Restaurant in Harbin features robotic waiters, cooks, and busboys, who?for now?are completely under the control of their human creators. These bots are more advanced than the noodle-slicing Ultraman of 2011, a...

Source: http://www.facebook.com/SGEntrepreneurs/posts/448128748574962

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UN urges focus on North Korea human rights record

GENEVA (AP) ? The U.N.'s top human rights official said Monday that as many as 200,000 people are being held in North Korean political prison camps rife with torture, rape and slave labor, and that some of the abuses may amount to crimes against humanity.

For that reason, said Navi Pillay, the world body's high commissioner for human rights, nations must mount an independent probe into North Korea's human rights record.

The U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. General Assembly, which includes all 193 member nations, have condemned North Korea's human rights record, but Pillay said stronger action is needed, including such a probe ? one authorized by the United Nations but performed by experts independent of the U.N. system.

The stinging criticism and call from the world body's top human rights official for "a full-fledged international inquiry into serious crimes" in North Korea comes a year after Kim Jong Un became the new leader of the nuclear-armed Asian country upon the death of his father.

"There were some initial hopes that the advent of a new leader might bring about some positive change in the human rights situation," Pillay said. "But a year after Kim Jong Un became the country's new supreme leader we see almost no sign of improvement."

Pillay's statement was based on extensive research submitted by a special investigator for the 47-nation Human Rights Council based in Geneva and meetings that she held there in December with two survivors of the prison camps, said Pillay's spokesman, Rupert Colville.

A U.N. report in September by special rapporteur Marzuki Darusman said some 150,000 to 200,000 people are estimated to be imprisoned in six North Korean camps for alleged political crimes. Pillay said she found "their personal stories were extremely harrowing" after meeting with the two survivors.

"They described a system that represents the very antithesis of international human rights norms. We know so little about these camps, and what we do know comes largely from the relatively few refugees who have managed to escape from the country," Pillay said. "The highly developed system of international human rights protection that has had at least some positive impact in almost every country in the world, seems to have completely bypassed" North Korea.

She said the camp system involves "rampant violations, including torture and other forms of cruel and inhumane treatment, summary executions, rape, slave labor, and forms of collective punishment that may amount to crimes against humanity." Living conditions are reported to include scarce food, little to no medical care and inadequate clothing.

"One mother described to me how she had wrapped her baby in leaves when it was born, and later made her a blanket by sewing together old socks," Pillay said.

While the world's focus remains on North Korea's nuclear program and its rocket launches, Pillay said, those important issues "should not be allowed to overshadow the deplorable human rights situation ... which in one way or another affects almost the entire population and has no parallel anywhere else in the world."

Pillay said North Korea also has used the death penalty to punish minor offenses and abducted South Korean and Japanese nationals over the years.

North Korea's mission to the United Nations in Geneva, which was given a copy of the report before its publication Monday, did not have an immediate public response to it.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-urges-focus-north-korea-human-rights-record-133320620.html

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US Embassy employee murdered in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? An official in South Africa says a woman suspected of murdering an American Embassy employee over the weekend will appear in court Tuesday.

The U.S. Embassy on Monday confirmed the death of Christopher "Norm" Bates, who was the information management officer at the Johannesburg U.S. Consulate. He was an 11-year State Department employee.

Police Lt. Col. Lungelo Dlamini said the 41-year-old Bates was allegedly stabbed to death Sunday morning around 3 a.m. at a Johannesburg apartment. Dlamini said a guard heard a woman screaming and saw the woman with a knife in her hand and Bates with stab wounds.

Dlamini said the 29-year-old woman would appear in court Tuesday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-embassy-employee-murdered-south-africa-152455560.html

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Reddit co-founder dies in NY weeks before trial

NEW YORK (AP) ? The family of a Reddit co-founder who committed suicide weeks before he was to go on trial on federal charges that he stole millions of scholarly articles is blaming prosecutors for his death.

Aaron Swartz hanged himself in his Brooklyn apartment Friday night, his family and authorities said. The 26-year-old had fought to make online content free to the public and as a teenager helped create RSS, a family of Web feed formats used to gather updates from blogs, news headlines, audio and video for users.

In 2011, he was charged with stealing millions of scientific journals from a computer archive at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in an attempt to make them freely available.

He had pleaded not guilty, and his federal trial was to begin next month. If convicted, he faced decades in prison and a fortune in fines.

In a statement released Saturday, Swartz's family in Chicago expressed not only grief over his death but also bitterness toward federal prosecutors pursuing the case against him in Massachusetts.

"Aaron's death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach. Decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's office and at MIT contributed to his death," they said.

Elliot Peters, Swartz's California-based defense attorney and a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the case "was horribly overblown" because Swartz had "the right" to download from JSTOR, a subscription service used by MIT that offers digitized copies of articles from more than 1,000 academic journals.

Peters said even the company took the stand that the computer crimes section of the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston had overreached in seeking prison time for Swartz and insisting ? two days before his suicide ? that he plead guilty to all 13 felony counts. Peters said JSTOR's attorney, Mary Jo White ? the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan ? had called Stephen Heymann, the lead Boston prosecutor in the case.

"She asked that they not pursue the case," Peters said.

Reached at his home in Winchester, Mass., Heymann referred all questions to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston, Christina DiIorio-Sterling. She did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from the AP seeking comment.

A zealous advocate of public online access, Swartz was extolled Saturday by those who believed as he did. He was "an extraordinary hacker and activist," the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international nonprofit digital rights group based in California wrote in a tribute on its home page.

"Playing Mozart's Requiem in honor of a brave and brilliant man," tweeted Carl Malamud, an Internet public domain advocate who believes in free access to legally obtained files.

Swartz co-founded the social news website Reddit, which was later sold to Conde Nast, as well as the political action group Demand Progress, which campaigns against Internet censorship.

He apparently struggled at times with depression, writing in a 2007 blog post: "Surely there have been times when you've been sad. Perhaps a loved one has abandoned you or a plan has gone horribly awry. ... You feel worthless. ... depressed mood is like that, only it doesn't come for any reason and it doesn't go for any either."

Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, faculty director of the Safra Center for Ethics where Swartz was once a fellow, wrote: "We need a better sense of justice. ... The question this government needs to answer is why it was so necessary that Aaron Swartz be labeled a 'felon.'"

Before the Massachusetts' case, Swartz aided Malamud in his effort to post federal court documents for free online, rather than the few cents per page that the government charges through its electronic archive, PACER. Swartz wrote a program in 2008 to legally download the files using free access via public libraries, according to The New York Times. About 20 percent of all the court papers were made available until the government shut down the library access.

The FBI investigated but didn't charge Swartz, he wrote on his website.

Three years later, Swartz was arrested in Boston. The federal government accused Swartz of using MIT's computer network to steal nearly 5 million academic articles from JSTOR.

Prosecutors said Swartz hacked into MIT's system in November 2010 after breaking into a computer wiring closet on campus. Prosecutors said he intended to distribute the articles on file-sharing websites.

JSTOR didn't press charges once it reclaimed the articles from Swartz, and some legal experts considered the case unfounded, saying that MIT allows guests access to the articles and Swartz, a fellow at Harvard's Safra Center for Ethics, was a guest.

Experts puzzled over the arrest and argued that the result of the actions Swartz was accused of was the same as his PACER program: more information publicly available.

The prosecution "makes no sense," Demand Progress Executive Director David Segal said at the time. "It's like trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library."

Swartz faced 13 felony charges, including breaching site terms and intending to share downloaded files through peer-to-peer networks, computer fraud, wire fraud, obtaining information from a protected computer, and criminal forfeiture.

JSTOR announced this week that it would make more than 4.5 million articles publicly available for free.

Swartz's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Highland Park, Ill.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reddit-co-founder-dies-ny-weeks-trial-075550632.html

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CES 2013: Household roundup

The household product category isn't the fastest-evolving in the technology scene. Our refrigerators and ovens are all "good enough" at this point that most folks don't worry that their food won't stay cold or won't cook all the way through. That doesn't mean there isn't some truly amazing innovation going on -- but, honestly, most of the potentially game-changing tech for your home did not make its grand debut at this year's CES. Instead we were treated to a few interesting products that were mostly a refresh of items from previous shows. Wireless charging continued to have a strong presence this year, and even seems on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. Then, of course, there were the companies, like Samsung, that decided there was no better place for a tablet than embedded in your kitchen appliances. Want to know what to expect from your household electronics in 2013? Head on past the break.

Continue reading CES 2013: Household roundup

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/12/ces-2013-household-round-up/

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McKennis of US wins downhill; Vonn 6th in Austria

From left, Italy's Daniela Merighetti, second placed, Alice Mckennis of the United States, winner, and Anna Fenninger of Austria, third placed, celebrate on the podium of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Anton, Austria, Saturday, Jan.12, 2013. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

From left, Italy's Daniela Merighetti, second placed, Alice Mckennis of the United States, winner, and Anna Fenninger of Austria, third placed, celebrate on the podium of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Anton, Austria, Saturday, Jan.12, 2013. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Alice McKennis, from the United States, celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Anton, Austria, Saturday, Jan.12, 2013. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Austria's Anna Fenninger competes on her way to take the third place of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Anton, Austria, Saturday, Jan.12, 2013. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Lindsey Vonn of the United States competes on her way to take the sixth place of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Anton, Austria, Saturday, Jan.12, 2013. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Alice McKennis, from the United States, top, celebrates with her teammates after wining an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Anton, Austria, Saturday, Jan.12, 2013. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

ST. ANTON, Austria (AP) ? Alice McKennis of the United States earned her first World Cup victory by winning a downhill Saturday, and Lindsey Vonn was sixth after returning from a nearly monthlong break.

McKennis had never finished in the top three before coming down the Karl Schranz course in 1 minute, 14.62 seconds to beat Daniela Merighetti of Italy by 0.07.

"I am overwhelmed, extremely happy and excited," McKennis said. "It's definitely a dream come true."

Anna Fenninger of Austria was third, and overall World Cup leader Tina Maze of Slovenia finished fourth.

Wearing bib. No. 4, McKennis used the advantage of an early start on a course that was softened by fresh snow during the past two days.

"I felt pretty good and I felt I had nailed it, but it's hard running so early as you don't know," McKennis said. "It was pretty nerve-wrecking waiting for the next hour. I was just freaking out the whole time."

Some racers, including fellow Americans Vonn, Julia Mancuso and Stacey Cook, clocked at least one faster split time. But no one matched McKennis' strong finish.

Vonn, the defending overall champion who returned to the circuit after recovering from an intestinal illness, was 0.34 behind, while her American teammate Laurenne Ross was fifth, 0.32 off the lead.

"I am extremely happy for our whole team, Alice winning today, and Laurenne," Vonn said. "The strength of our whole team has been fun to watch. It makes me happy to be part of such a great group of girls. The success we're having this year is pretty incredible."

After the top racers came down and she had all but secured the victory, the 23-year-old McKennis walked through the finish area looking at the stands, searching for her father Greg.

"He wasn't really much of a racer, but he put a lot of work in getting me here," said McKennis, who grew up at a ranch in Glenwood Springs, Colo. "I wouldn't be here without him, so a lot of credit to him. It's great having him here."

McKennis became the fifth American winner of a World Cup race this season after Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, Steven Nyman and Ted Ligety, who took a giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland, just moments after McKennis won Saturday in Austria.

"It's been so exciting, especially watching the men's speed team get back up there," McKennis said. "And obviously Ted winning the race today, that's awesome. And Mikaela, she's incredible at such a young age (17), pretty inspiring."

McKennis said "we all push each other, we all want to be the best ... It's been a goal for every single one of us to get on the podium and we've almost done that with the speed team now."

Vonn won two downhill races this season but failed to finish the third, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where Lara Gut of Switzerland placed first. Days later, Vonn went back to the United States to get her physical strength back after her illness and returned for training on snow in Austria last week.

"I feel great. I am really happy to be back. I love the adrenaline at the start and going fast again. I really felt good," Vonn said after the race. "These were definitely tough conditions. The snow was definitely not great, but the course workers did a great job on it. I almost didn't think that it was possible to run today because there was just too much snow."

Vonn and Cook, who finished 22nd, remained 1-2 in the downhill standings.

"I definitely made some mistakes. But in general I felt good and I felt like my skiing was where it should be. I felt strong," Vonn said. "Of course, it's downhill so I am hoping to be on the podium, but considering the conditions I am extremely happy with this result. You make one mistake and you are easily in 20th or 30th place. So I think, all things considered, it was a real good performance."

As snow at the top of the course was too soft, organizers decided to use the lower super-G start, shortening the initial 2.2-kilometer long downhill course by 436 meters.

"It was definitely a disadvantage to start later," said Vonn, who started 17th. "The later numbers had a hard time except for Merighetti, she skied amazing. This was a great result for my first race back."

A women's super-G on the same course is scheduled for Sunday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-12-SKI-Women's-World/id-2d9ce6db69d74e1c89a9f6f7378d467f

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