Thursday, January 31, 2013

Taking on Tunnel Vision - Battling For Health

Taking on Tunnel Vision

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NOTE: The contents in this blog are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or a substitute for professional care. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before making changes to any existing treatment or program. Some of the information presented in this blog may already be out of date.

Source: http://battlingforhealth.com/2013/01/taking-on-tunnel-vision/

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PolitiFact: Sunrise mayor?s statement about Baker Act half-true

Following the shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan has become one of the leading advocates in Broward County for changing laws to improve school safety.

Ryan called for several gun control measures, including the need to address mental health and guns, in the political blog browardbeat.com.

?Now someone committed involuntarily for 72 hours under the ?Baker Act? (as a danger to themselves or others) will have their guns returned to them by the police automatically and immediately upon discharge after 72 hours AND their commitment is never entered into a background check database,? said Ryan. ?As a result, there is also no impediment or second thought given to someone being released and purchasing a gun.?

Ryan?s claim, made in a guest column for the blog on Jan. 14, suggests that it?s a cinch for someone ?committed? under the Baker Act to reclaim their guns and then stay off lists that would ban them from getting a new one. We decided to check it out.

Under the Baker Act, law enforcement can take someone against his or her will to a facility for a mental health evaluation if the person is a danger to themselves or others. A person can?t be held involuntarily for longer than 72 hours, but a medical expert needs to examine the person and sign off on his or her release.

The simple act of being held under the Baker Act doesn?t mean the person is mentally ill or in need of commitment. In 2010, less than 1 percent of about 140,000 involuntary examinations led to involuntary placement in a mental health treatment facility, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families. (That number doesn?t account for people who voluntarily remained in facilities.)

We couldn?t find data regarding how often someone who is Baker Acted has a firearm taken.

?Most individuals don?t have weapons at the time of the Baker Act,? said Miami-Dade County Judge Steve Leifman, who chairs judicial committees on mental health.

But interviews with attorneys, law enforcement officers and experts on the Baker Act revealed that it does happen.

Whether the law enforcement agency takes the gun for safekeeping depends on the specific case, they said.

For example, if a wife reports that her husband is despondent and has a gun and he is Baker Acted at home, police would take the gun, said Col. Jim Previtera of the Hillsborough County Sheriff?s Office. But if someone is Baker Acted on the street and didn?t have a gun with him, the sheriff?s office wouldn?t go to the home and seize the gun.

For evidence of Ryan?s claim, he pointed us to a 2009 Florida attorney general?s opinion. It specifically states that law-abiding people who are released under the Baker Act should get their guns back.

?In the absence of an arrest and criminal charge against the person sent for evaluation under Florida?s Baker Act, [law enforcement] may not retain firearms confiscated from such persons and retained by that office,? concluded then Attorney General Bill McCollum.

The opinion didn?t outline procedures for gun retrieval. So in practice, that means ?there is absolutely no consistency around the state in how this is being practiced,? said former state Baker Act director Martha Lenderman, who now trains law enforcement.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/30/3209180/politifact-sunrise-mayors-statement.html

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You CAN Lose Weight! Just Follow These Tips | meizitang ...

To lose weight successfully, you need the right motivation. Don?t try to lose the weight to please anyone else; you need to do this for yourself. Read the following article to figure out how to find the motivation to lose your access weight.

It is important when trying to lose weight to keep track of your calories. Try buying a cheap spiral notebook. Use the notebook as a food journal. For example, you can track the type and amount of food that you eat, as well as the caloric and fat content of each item. This is a highly effective method of monitoring your progress and zeroing in on slip-ups and cheating.

We can drop excess pounds by keeping an eye on the foods that we consume. The two main components that allow for weight loss and a healthy lifestyle are good nutrition and a regular exercise routine. More than anything else, you should know that it?s important to burn a greater number of calories than you consume.

Keep zip-locks filled with nutritious snacks available at all times so that you can pick one up when you get the urge to snack on something unhealthy. Buy small ziplock bags, and fill them with nuts, dried fruits, dried kale, or other nutritious options. These can easily be stored in your purse or desk at work.

Find ways to make exercise enjoyable. Although the beneficial effects of exercise on weight loss is well-proven, a lot of people find it tough to stick with the kind of physical activity that?s required. Get out for a walk with a friend, play with your pet or play video games that encourage physical movements.

When you think about losing weight, consider it a change of your lifestyle in general rather than a quick project to get you ready for swimsuit season. If you change your usual habits, you can be more successful and lose more weight.

Choose food that is low calorie but fills you up quickly. Enjoy a small plate of fresh veggies, like carrot and celery sticks, in advance of a meal to knock back your hunger pangs so that you don?t devour higher calorie foods and desserts. Drinking water, coffee, or other unsweetened beverages before meals can have the same effect.

If the purpose of your workout routine is fat loss, the routine should consist of primarily cardiovascular exercises. Cardiovascular exercises lead to faster fat burning and an elevated heart rate. Anything that raises your heart rate can be considered a cardio workout so try and choose something that you enjoy.

Something to consider while you are being more careful about what you are eating is to also be aware of what time of day you have a meal at. Heading off to bed feeling a little hungry is far better for you than sacking out on the sofa after a huge evening meal. Get the majority of your eating for the day in before dinner.

You will be surprised how fast you can see results simply by utilizing the information that has been provided here for you. It is important to find motivation within yourself so that when the workouts get hard you keep on pushing through to get the results you really want.

Source: http://www.meizitang-botanicalslimminggel.com/blog/uncategorized/you-can-lose-weight-just-follow-these-tips/

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New England fishermen say new regs mean ruin

Jim Weinberg, left, and Capt. Peter DeCola of the First U.S. Coast Guard District in Boston, right, confer during during the New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. The council met to decide 2013 limits on stocks including cod on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. (AP photo/Portsmouth Herald, Ioanna Raptis)

Jim Weinberg, left, and Capt. Peter DeCola of the First U.S. Coast Guard District in Boston, right, confer during during the New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. The council met to decide 2013 limits on stocks including cod on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. (AP photo/Portsmouth Herald, Ioanna Raptis)

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Marine Division Chief, Doug Grout, listens to the discussion during the a New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013. The council met to decide 2013 limits on stocks including cod on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. (AP photo/Portsmouth Herald, Ioanna Raptis)

(AP) ? Minutes after New England fishery managers took a vote that cast doubt on the historic industry's future, the prospects most clear to Gloucester fishermen Paul Vitale were his own.

"I'm bankrupt. That's it," said the 40-year-old father of three. "I'm all done. The boat's going up for sale."

The New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday approved a year-to-year cut of 77 percent on the Gulf of Maine cod limit and 61 percent for Georges Bank cod.

The cuts come on top of a slew of other reductions, ranging from 10 to 71 percent, on the catch of other bottom-dwelling groundfish species, such as haddock and flounder.

Fishermen say now they're staring at industry collapse because they've been left with far too few fish for most boats to make a living.

"We are headed down the wrong course here, of exterminating the inshore fleet, for no good reason," said David Goethel, a New Hampshire fisherman and council member.

The cuts, in effect May 1, are expected to be backed by federal managers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA's top federal fisheries regulator, John Bullard, acknowledged the reductions will be devastating. But he said the fish stocks are struggling and the industry's steady, excruciating decline must be reversed.

"The first thing we have to do is put denial behind us," he said.

The cuts hit an industry that was crucial to the nation's early economy and remains imbued with the risk and romance of man versus nature ? depicted in the famous "Man at the Wheel" statue in Gloucester of a fisherman facing the sea.

The new low limits reduce the cod catch to just a fraction of what it once was and prevent fishermen from landing more plentiful species, such as haddock and pollock. That's because fishermen can't pull up the healthier groundfish without catching too much of the cod that swim among them.

An economic analysis by the council projected that the cuts would reduce overall groundfish revenues by 33 percent, from about $90 million in 2011 to about $60 million in 2013. But fishermen said the projection is far too optimistic.

"It's fantasy. ... I mean, I'd rather go to Disney World. I've got a better chance of meeting Peter Pan," said Goethel, who predicted the entire New Hamsphire fleet would be eliminated.

Fishermen have consistently disputed the accuracy of the science that drives regulation and that indicates the stocks are in bad shape. And they noted the industry has generally fished at or below levels recommended by science in recent years, but the advice has proven wrong.

"I've done everything they told me to do, and all of the sudden I come up here to a meeting today, and they're going to send me in a coffin out of this place," said New Bedford fisherman Carlos Rafael, who said he may have to sideline half of his fleet of 20 groundfish boats.

Peter Shelley of the Conservation Law Foundation said the council had no choice but to cut catch limits drastically so struggling stocks can recover.

"A far worse result would be to fail to take the kind of action that would secure a future for this fishery," he said.

Maggie Raymond of the Associated Fisheries of Maine said some boats in her group would try to hang on by targeting healthy, but less valuable, stocks of redfish and haddock. Others won't make it, she said.

As the fleet shrinks, related jobs, such as fish processors, will be lost and infrastructure will disappear from the valuable waterfront properties in local ports, she said. That won't return quickly, if ever, Raymond said.

Gib Brogan of the environmental group Oceana said too many boats have been chasing too few fish for too long. Industry downsizing will is actually "right-sizing," he said, and when those fish come back in greater numbers, the industry will figure out how to benefit.

"If there are fish to catch, there will be someone out there catching it," Brogan said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-31-Fishing%20Crisis/id-5c30ac68aadf45198b5b5f1625cb68a0

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NFL Support on Facebook, Visualized

To celebrate the impenidng Super Bowl, Facebook decided to analyze NFL support across the US based on Likes. Many of the results are as you'd expect—but there are a few interesting quirks along the way. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/5Buh5CJT82o/nfl-support-on-facebook-visualized

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Is the Free-Radical Theory of Aging Dead? (preview)

Cover Image: February 2013 Scientific American MagazineSee Inside

The hallowed notion that oxidative damage causes aging and that vitamins might preserve our youth is now in doubt


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In Brief

  • For decades researchers assumed that highly reactive molecules called free radicals caused aging by damaging cells and thus undermining the functioning of tissues and organs.
  • Recent experiments, however, show that increases in certain free radicals in mice and worms correlate with longer life span. Indeed, in some circumstances, free radicals seem to signal cellular repair networks.
  • If these results are confirmed, they may suggest that taking antioxidants in the form of vitamins or other supplements can do more harm than good in otherwise healthy individuals.

David Gems's life was turned upside down in 2006 by a group of worms that kept on living when they were supposed to die. As assistant director of the Institute of Healthy Aging at University College London, Gems regularly runs experiments on Caenorhabditis elegans, a roundworm that is often used to study the biology of aging. In this case, he was testing the idea that a buildup of cellular damage caused by oxidation?technically, the chemical removal of electrons from a molecule by highly reactive compounds, such as free radicals?is the main mechanism behind aging. According to this theory, rampant oxidation mangles more and more lipids, proteins, snippets of DNA and other key components of cells over time, eventually compromising tissues and organs and thus the functioning of the body as a whole.

Gems genetically engineered the roundworms so they no longer produced certain enzymes that act as naturally occurring antioxidants by deactivating free radicals. Sure enough, in the absence of the antioxidants, levels of free radicals in the worms skyrocketed and triggered potentially damaging oxidative reactions throughout the worms' bodies.

This article was originally published with the title The Myth of Antioxidants.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=99595e86bdbfe6687e34b528d5f1c171

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Wallenda crosses Fla. tightrope 200 feet over road

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) ? Famed daredevil Nik Wallenda glided 500 feet across a wire suspended 200 feet above the ground on Tuesday, wowing several thousand people below in his hometown of Sarasota.

Without a tether or safety net, Wallenda was the lone figure against a blue sky, aided only by a balancing pole. He made the death-defying stunt look easy, but the performance was anything but simple: it took dozens of circus workers to pull and release the thick black cables that controlled Wallenda's wire as he walked. The morning was windier than expected, and at one point near the end, Wallenda dipped down to one knee on the wire, which led to loud gasps among the crowd.

"I have to get into a zone where I kind of forget about everything else and just focus on what I'm doing," he said shortly before he stepped on the wire. "Fear is a choice but danger is real, and that's very, very true for my line of work."

When Wallenda went to one knee, the drama reached a fever pitch.

"Scary," said Neil Montford, a vacationer from the United Kingdom, while wiping sweat from his brow and looking skyward.

Wallenda, 34, wore a gold cross around his neck and prayed with his wife, children and parents prior to the walk.

"It's my job, it's my career, it's my passion, it's what I love to do," he said.

The Sarasota City Commission allowed the stunt without a tether. Wallenda wore a tether for the first time last summer when he walked across Niagara Falls because the television network that was paying for the performance insisted on it.

Wallenda is a seventh-generation high-wire artist and is part of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family. His great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, fell during a performance in Puerto Rico and died.

But Wallenda wasn't focused on the possibility of tragedy. In the hours before the stunt, Wallenda walked underneath the wire, which was suspended between a crane and a condo in downtown Sarasota. He spoke of his city, of the nearby sparkling bay and how he loved to hear the cheers of the crowd while hundreds of feet up in the air.

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wallenda-crosses-fla-tightrope-200-feet-over-road-164138847.html

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Mysteries of spider silk strength unraveled

Jan. 27, 2013 ? Scientists at ASU are celebrating their recent success on the path to understanding what makes the fiber that spiders spin -- weight for weight -- at least five times as strong as piano wire. They have found a way to obtain a wide variety of elastic properties of the silk of several intact spiders' webs using a sophisticated but non-invasive laser light scattering technique.

"Spider silk has a unique combination of mechanical strength and elasticity that make it one of the toughest materials we know," said Professor Jeffery Yarger of ASU's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and lead researcher of the study. "This work represents the most complete understanding we have of the underlying mechanical properties of spider silks."

Spider silk is an exceptional biological polymer, related to collagen (the stuff of skin and bones) but much more complex in its structure. The ASU team of chemists is studying its molecular structure in an effort to produce materials ranging from bulletproof vests to artificial tendons.

The extensive array of elastic and mechanical properties of spider silks in situ, obtained by the ASU team, is the first of its kind and will greatly facilitate future modeling efforts aimed at understanding the interplay of the mechanical properties and the molecular structure of silk used to produce spider webs.

The team published their results in a recent issue of Nature materials and their paper is titled "Non-invasive determination of the complete elastic moduli of spider silks."

"This information should help provide a blueprint for structural engineering of an abundant array of bio-inspired materials, such as precise materials engineering of synthetic fibers to create stronger, stretchier, and more elastic materials," explained Yarger.

Other members of Yarger's team, in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, included Kristie Koski, at the time a postdoctoral researcher and currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, and ASU undergraduate students Paul Akhenblit and Keri McKiernan.

The Brillouin light scattering technique used an extremely low power laser, less than 3.5 milliwatts, which is significantly less than the average laser pointer. Recording what happened to this laser beam as it passed through the intact spider webs enabled the researchers to spatially map the elastic stiffnesses of each web without deforming or disrupting it. This non-invasive, non-contact measurement produced findings showing variations among discrete fibers, junctions and glue spots.

Four different types of spider's webs were studied. They included Nephila clavipes (pictured), A. aurantia ("gilded silver face"-common to the contiguous United States), L. Hesperus the western black widow and P. viridans the green lynx spider, the only spider included that does not build a web for catching prey but has major silk elastic properties similar to those of the other species studied.

The group also investigated one of the most studied aspects of orb-weaving dragline spider silk, namely supercontraction, a property unique to silk. Spider silk takes up water when exposed to high humidity. Absorbed water leads to shrinkage in an unrestrained fiber up to 50 percent shrinkage with 100 percent humidity in N. clavipes silk.

Their results are consistent with the hypothesis that supercontraction helps the spider tailor the properties of the silk during spinning. This type of behavior, specifically adjusting mechanical properties by simply adjusting water content, is inspirational from a bio-inspired mechanical structure perspective.

"This study is unique in that we can extract all the elastic properties of spider silk that cannot and have not been measured with conventional testing," concluded Yarger.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Arizona State University.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Kristie J. Koski, Paul Akhenblit, Keri McKiernan, Jeffery L. Yarger. Non-invasive determination of the complete elastic moduli of spider silks. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3549

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/vTijetqY7Dw/130128104741.htm

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New technique sheds light on RNA

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

When researchers sequence the RNA of cancer cells, they can compare it to normal cells and see where there is more RNA. That can help lead them to the gene or protein that might be triggering the cancer.

But other than spotting a few known instigators, what does it mean? Is there more RNA because it's synthesizing too quickly or because it's not degrading fast enough? What part of the biological equilibrium is off?

After more than a decade of work, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed a technique to help answer those questions.

The method involves a compound called bromouridine, which can be used to tag or label newly created RNA. Researchers apply the bromouridine for 30 minutes then isolate the RNA to see where the new RNA was made. They call this process Bru-Seq.

On the other hand, the researchers can follow up the bromouridine labeling with a rinse with the chemical uridine for different periods of time. They call this BruChase-Seq because the uridine chases away the newly made RNA so they can look at how the RNA ages over the course of one hour, two hours or six hours. In other words, is the RNA degrading like it's supposed to?

"We can see the whole pattern of all the RNA that's synthesized and all the RNA that's stable vs. degrading. We can sort it out in terms of synthesis and stability and see if a particular RNA is more stable in the cancer cell than the normal cell or if it is taking longer to degrade in the cancer cell than in the normal cell," says study author Mats Ljungman, Ph.D., associate professor of radiation oncology at the U-M Medical School.

"With our technique, we're adding 10-fold more depth to the picture of how genes are expressed," he adds.

Ljungman is part of the Cancer Center's new Translational Oncology Program, which brings together cancer researchers from across the University of Michigan to speed the translation of basic science into clinical trials and new treatment opportunities for patients.

The Cancer Center is currently using gene sequencing techniques to help match advanced cancer patients with potential clinical trial opportunities based on the make-up of their tumor.

In addition to helping with cancer sequencing, Ljungman sees potential for this new technique to help with identifying diseases such as diabetes or inflammation. In the paper describing the technique, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers describe how they used it to understand an inflammatory response in cells. The researchers have also used the technique to test blood samples.

With a great deal more investigation, Ljungman envisions that one day the test could potentially be offered to people visiting their doctor as a way to monitor changes in the RNA.

"If something is significantly changed from one test to the next, it could be a red flag or an early warning sign of disease. That would be the broadest use of this technology," Ljungman says.

###

University of Michigan Health System: http://www.med.umich.edu

Thanks to University of Michigan Health System for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126494/New_technique_sheds_light_on_RNA

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Google faces legal action over alleged secret iPhone tracking | The ...

By Josh Halliday, The Guardian
Sunday, January 27, 2013 13:40 EST

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Google is facing a fresh privacy battle in the UK over its alleged secret tracking of the internet habits of millions of iPhone users.

An estimated 10 million Britons could have grounds to launch a privacy claim over the way Google circumvented Apple?s security settings on the iPhone, iPad and desktop versions of its Safari web browser to monitor their behaviour.

At least 10 British iPhone users have started legal proceedings and dozens more are being lined up, according to Dan Tench, the lawyer behind the action at the London-based firm Olswang.

?This is the first time Google has been threatened with a group claim over privacy in the UK,? Tench told the Guardian. ?It is particularly concerning how Google circumvented security settings to snoop on its users. One of the things about Google is that it is so ubiquitous in our lives and if that?s its approach then it?s quite concerning.?

A letter before action has been sent to Google executives in the US and UK on behalf of two users, including Judith Vidal-Hall, the privacy campaigner and former editor of Index on Censorship. Another 10 are preparing to launch proceedings, and plans are afoot for a group to form an umbrella privacy action.

The legal action comes just months after Google was hit with a $22.5m fine in the US over a privacy breach between summer 2011 and spring 2012.

Google has admitted it intentionally sidestepped security settings on Apple?s Safari web browser that blocked websites from tracking users through cookies ? data stored on users? computers that show which sites they have visited. Security researchers revealed in February 2012 that Google?s DoubleClick advertising network was intentionally stored these cookies on users? computers without their consent.

Although the legal bill for Google is likely to be small compared with last year?s profits of $10.7bn (?6.8bn), the damage will be significant given the millions of iPhone users in Britain at the time. The exact figure for compensation is not known and will depend on a number of factors.

Alexander Hanff, a privacy campaigner working on the legal claims, said: ?This group action is not about getting rich by suing Google, this lawsuit is about sending a very clear message to corporations that circumventing privacy controls will result in significant consequences. The lawsuit has the potential of costing Google tens of millions, perhaps even breaking ?100m in damages given the potential number of claimants ? making it the biggest group action ever launched in the UK.?

Lawyers for claimants in the UK have ordered Google to reveal how it used the private information it secretly obtained, how much personal data was taken, and for how long. It is understood the claimants are suing Google for breaches of confidence and breach of privacy, computer misuse and trespass, and breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

News of the legal action was first reported by the Sunday Times. Vidal-Hall, who could not be reached by the Guardian, was quoted as saying Google was guilty of ?electronic stalking?. She added: ?It angers me that our data is either being sold or passed on to third parties.?

A Facebook group called Safari Users Against Google?s Secret Tracking has vowed to hold Google to account for the tracking. It said: ?Google deliberately undermined protections on the Safari browser so that they could track users? internet usage and to provide personally tailored advertising based on the sites previously visited. There was no way to know that Google did this. In fact, they made it clear that they did not do this on the Safari browser.?

It continued: ?It could mean for many users that surprises such as engagements, presents and holidays were destroyed when partners looked at their computers and saw display ads based on sites previously visited. There are many examples of the inappropriate consequences of such intrusion.?

Google is no stranger to damaging privacy battles, having being censured for snooping on Wi-Fi users with its StreetView cars and the failed launch of its email social network, Google Buzz.

Google declined to comment. A statement released by the company at the time of the $22.5m fine in July claimed it had ?collected no personal information? with the cookies.

guardian.co.uk ? Guardian News and Media 2013

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Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/27/google-faces-legal-action-over-alleged-secret-iphone-tracking/

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Misconceptions about a popular pet treat

Jan. 28, 2013 ? A popular dog treat could be adding more calories than pet owners realize, and possibly be contaminated by bacteria, according to a study published this month by researchers at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the University of Guelph.

The treat in question: the "bully" or "pizzle stick." The American and Canadian researchers analyzed the caloric density and bacterial contamination of these popular items, made from the uncooked, dried penis of a bull or steer. They also administered a survey to pet owners to assess their knowledge of these treats.

The study, published in the January 2013 issue of the Canadian Veterinary Journal, examined 26 bully sticks purchased from retailers in the United States and Canada and made by different manufacturers.

A random subset of the 26 bully sticks was tested for caloric content. These bully sticks tested contained between nine to 22 calories per inch, meaning the average six inch stick packed 88 calories--nine percent of the daily calorie requirements for a 50-pound dog, and 30 percent of the daily calorie requirements for a 10-pound dog.

"While calorie information isn't currently required on pet treats or most pet foods, these findings reinforce that veterinarians and pet owners need to be aware of pet treats like these bully sticks as a source of calories in a dog's diet," said Lisa M. Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN, professor of nutrition at TCSVM who is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition.

Freeman was first author on the paper. Co-authors were J. Scott Weese, professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph, and Nicol Janecko, a research associate at the Canadian university.

"With obesity in pets on the rise, it is important for pet owners to factor in not only their dog's food, but also treats and table food," Freeman added.

All 26 treats were tested for bacterial contaminants. One (4 percent) of the sticks was contaminated with Clostridium difficile; one (four percent) was contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics; and seven (27 percent) were contaminated with Escherichia coli, including one tetracycline-resistant sample.

The number of treats sampled was small and not all of these bacterial strains have been shown to infect humans. However, the researchers advise all pet owners to wash their hands after touching such treats, as they would with any raw meat or raw meat diets. The very young, elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised and other high-risk individuals should avoid all contact with raw animal-product based treats and raw meat diets, note the scientists.

To learn more about veterinarian and pet owner perceptions of dog foods and treats, the research team developed a 20-question Web-based survey. The survey was posted online for public participation for 60 days and all responses were anonymous. It was completed by 852 adults from 44 states and six countries. Most respondents were female dog owners.

"We were surprised at the clear misconceptions pet owners and veterinarians have with pet foods and many of the popular raw animal-product based pet treats currently on the market," said Freeman. "For example, 71 percent of people feeding bully sticks to their pets stated they avoid by-products in pet foods, yet bully sticks are, for all intents and purposes, an animal by-product."

Another surprising finding was the large number of people who did not know what bully sticks actually were. A higher proportion of veterinarians (62 percent) were able to correctly identify the source of bully sticks as bull penis compared to general respondents (44 percent). Twenty-three percent of the respondents fed their dogs bully sticks.

Further research with a larger sample size is needed to determine whether the calorie content and contamination rate found in this study is representative of all bully sticks, or other types of pet treats, according to the authors.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Tufts University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Lisa M. Freeman, Nicol Janecko, J. Scott Weese. Nutritional and microbial analysis of bully sticks and survey of opinions about pet treats. Canadian Veterinary Journal, January 2013

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/mAJUX0F5Meo/130128082912.htm

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Facebook launches Ask Our Chief Privacy Officer, says knowing is half the battle

Facebook launches Ask Our Chief Privacy Officer, hopes to clear the air

There's no denying that Facebook's voting system for privacy policies is flawed -- when halting any measure requires enough votes to populate a large country, the attempt at democracy is more of a token gesture. As proposed, the company has launched an Ask Our Chief Privacy Officer page that's a tad more engaging. Fill out a short form and CPO Erin Egan just might offer a direct answer as to why Facebook chose a given privacy path, and possibly tackle any outstanding concerns head-on. Those curious users whose questions are picked will have to wait for a monthly public response to get their answers, so don't consider the page a personal hotline. It might, however, help make better sense of a company whose attitude towards our information is in constant flux.

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Facebook

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/PqXFLn9BA4M/

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Davis-White match US record with 5th dance title

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? With a world title and an Olympic silver medal of their own already, Meryl Davis and Charlie White were quite happy to share this latest accomplishment.

Davis and White won their fifth straight ice dance crown at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, matching a record held by four other couples. As the audience stood and cheered, Davis knelt close to the ice for several seconds, her head bowed.

"Being in such an elite group of American ice dancers from the past and seeing that we belong with them, it's special," White said. "All the hard work and our families and their dedication, our support group ? you need a lot of things to come together to make that happen, including staying healthy. There are a lot of little things. I'm proud of us for being able to stick with it, and our continuing love for the sport has helped a lot.

"I'm pleased and I couldn't be more proud."

Judy Schwomeyer and James Sladky (1968-72); Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert (1981-85); Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev (1999-2003); and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (2004-2008) also won five straight titles.

Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow also won five, but not in consecutive years.

The Olympic silver medalists and 2011 world champions had had such a big lead after the short dance they had to do little more but step on the ice to win. But they did so much more than that with their dramatic and powerful routine to "Notre Dame de Paris," setting personal bests for both overall score (197.44 points) and free dance (118.42).

They finished more than 20 points ahead ? yes, you read that right ? of Madison Chock and Evan Bates (175.91). Maia and Alex Shibutani were docked a point for an extended lift and finished third (174.21).

Earlier Saturday, Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir overcame a big mistake to win their first pairs title.

"Coming to the U.S. Championships is a good time and there's always a positive energy," Davis said. "It's such an honor to come here. I think being able to perform really well pushes us to put out a better performance, and we are honored to get the results that we did."

For generations, Americans weren't even an afterthought in ice dance. They were so far below the world powerhouses it's a good bet the Russians and British didn't even know their names.

But that has changed in the last 10 years, and Davis and White now set the standard in the sport. Their rivalry with Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir is the best thing going, with the training partners playing a game of "Can you top this?" Virtue and Moir edged the Americans at the Vancouver Olympics, as well as at the 2010 and 2012 world championships. The Americans won the world title in 2011, as well as the last four Grand Prix finals.

Though they have no peers in the United States, that doesn't mean they coast when they come to nationals.

Far from it.

"That energy only pushes us and makes us feel even more excited," Davis said.

Their performance was spellbinding, so intense no one in the arena dared breathe. Every inch of the ice, every nuance of music was filled with intricate and elegant moves, one more difficult than the next. Their skating skills have always been superb, their edge quality so fine that coaches pop in DVDs of them to show their students.

But it is the way they combine the athletic strengths with the beauty and elegance of a dance that makes them so breathtaking. They are a sporting event and a theater show rolled into one. Their lifts can barely be described they were so intricate and innovative. In one, White twirled Davis like a rifle and whipped her from his front to back all while skating and turning at full speed.

They oozed emotion, using the tips of their eyelashes all the way down to the toes of their feet to express the character of the dance, and the audience was as exhausted as Davis and White when they finished.

Chock and Bates and the Shibutanis have the misfortune of trying to compete with that, and there was no way they could come close. At least, not now.

Chock and Bates' lifts are filled with unique positions, and they were done with great speed and control. But it was the love story they displayed to "Dr. Zhivago" that was so delightful. Close your eyes, and you could almost see the horses and the sleigh in the falling snow.

"It's been such a great season," Chock said. "We have been working very hard, and we hope to keep getting better and better from here."

The Shibutanis' routine to "Memoirs of a Geisha" was seamless, the elements flowing from one to the other so perfectly it was impossible to tell where one ended and the next began. The siblings opened with a pairs spin that was better than anything seen during the actual pairs competition earlier in the afternoon, and it lasted for what seemed like forever ? no easy feat to maintain that speed and momentum.

Their twizzles ? traveling spins ? are, simply, exquisite. They are done in perfect unison, right down to the raising of their arms while they spin. Their big flaw was that he held his sister too long on a lift, a mistake they also made in the short dance.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/davis-white-match-us-record-5th-dance-title-234053501--spt.html

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Today in History

Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo!, try visiting the Yahoo! homepage or look through a list of Yahoo!'s online services.

Please try Yahoo Help Central if you need more assistance.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/today-history-050206767.html

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"Fruitvale," "Blood Brothers" win top awards at Sundance

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) - Drama film "Fruitvale" and documentary "Blood Brothers" won the top awards at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, giving them a big boost to reach independent movie audiences this year.

"Fruitvale," starring Octavia Spencer and Michael B. Jordan and directed by 26-year-old, first-time filmmaker Ryan Coogler," picked up the U.S. drama jury and audience awards for its "moral and social urgency."

The film is based on the true story of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was killed by police in Oakland, California, on New Year's Eve in 2008 and whose death sparked riots against police brutality. Movie studio The Weinstein Company purchased distribution rights for the film.

"This film had a profound impact on the audience that saw it ... this award goes out to my home in the Bay Area where Oscar Grant breathed, slept, loved, had fun and survived for 22 years," Coogler said in his acceptance speech.

Oscar-winning documentarian Davis Guggenheim awarded the U.S. documentary jury prize to "Blood Brothers," saying it shook the voting panel to their core.

The documentary follows an American man who moves to Africa and works with children suffering from HIV at an orphanage, and through his work, the children gain a voice.

"It is so encouraging for the kids ... their lives are so encouraging, and they die and no one remembers their name ... To take their story so that everyone sees it, it's so awesome," director Steve Hoover said."

Young actress Shailene Woodley, praised for her performance in "The Descendants" last year, and her co-star Miles Teller won the Special Jury acting prize in "The Spectacular Now."

Actress Lake Bell, who made her directorial debut in the U.S. drama category with quirky comedy "In A World," picked up the drama screenwriting award.

Hosted by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who premiered his raunchy directorial debut "Don Jon's Addiction" this year, the Sundance Film Festival Awards pick winners at the top gathering for independent movies made outside of Hollywood's major studios.

"Sundance is a community of people of filmmakers and film lovers who all believe together that there's more to movies than glitz and glamour and money and the box office. In Hollywood, you can feel like a freak if you talk about movies as art, and here, you don't have that," Gordon-Levitt said.

WORLD CINEMA WINNERS

The Sundance Film Festival, now in its 35th year, is backed by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. The 10-day gathering of the independent film industry is held in snowy Park City, Utah.

In previous years, films that win the top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival often go on to achieve Hollywood awards success as well.

Last year, mythological drama "Beasts of the Southern Wild" won the top prize at Sundance and is now nominated for four Oscars in major categories.

The award winners are voted for by special juries of industry professionals and by the audience for the audience favorite awards.

In the world cinema categories, South Korean drama "Jiseul" picked up the grand jury drama prize. The film, directed by Muel O, follows the residents of a small town who were forced to hide in a cave for 60 days after the military attacked their village.

Cambodian documentary "A River Changes Course," about three young Cambodians struggling with adversity in a country ravaged by war and debt, picked up the world cinema grand jury award.

"Events like these really bring our communities together to share in the beauty of the world and the beauty of our future," director Kalyanee Mam said.

"Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer," which follows the story of three members of a Russian feminist punk band jailed for performing a "punk prayer" in a Russian Orthodox church, picked up special jury prize in the world documentary category.

Co-director Mike Lerner said the three members of the band had "started a feminist revolution that we hope will continue around the world."

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fruitvale-blood-brothers-win-top-awards-sundance-044044943.html

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Read This Article To Learn About Email Marketing | Goozleology ...

The world wide web has given businesses a brand new world for reaching customers. Email marketing is one method that is effective at maintaining customer relations. Use the advice from the article, below, to launch a successful email promoting campaign.

If you plan to use emails as a marketing tool, you must first gain permission from each customer you would like to include in your campaign. If you fail to do this, customers who did not agree to receive your emails may report your company for sending

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Source: http://goozleology.com/read-this-article-to-learn-about-email-marketing.html

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Government Seized Cars | BJs Car Database

autosKeep the eyes open as well as pay attention, similar government seized cars could possibly be running, and also you don?t would like to buy the wrong one. These vehicles subsequently tend to be made accessible intended with regard to online car auctions. Searching pertaining to spare parts on these web sites is usually easier as compared to participating at online auctions. As well as also to imagine a majority of these kinds of vehicles come upon the best car manufacturers inside the world. Generally the police auctions will be held while you will find a complete lot of items to put up with regard to sale. These enterprise people get a wide range of profit from buying automobiles from the auction and selling them in the higher price.

With one of a majority of these new sites popping up all over the place, folks frequently forget that the us authorities still holds public auctions to sell federal government seized government seized cars. Car auctions will be incredibly nice places inside that you might buy the own car. Feeling uncomfortable has a bad effect as it creates impact upon your bidding strategies. The business man who wishes to acquire business trucks at affordable prices should visit a respectable auction. The need to have a car for numerous necessary purposes by an median individual has not dwindled; actually it has noticeably increased.

Whether you happen to be keen upon purchasing products to resell, as well as keep for the own, a majority of these kinds of auctions shall allow one to do so upon the fraction upon the cost. Inside this kind of happens, they might pay extra cash within comparison with they could possibly be within the job position to afford. It really will be also some sort of method during which you acquire and also sell items as well as solutions simply by supplying them up pertaining to simply some sort of bid, taking bids, as well as following that selling the merchandise pertaining to the greatest bidder. Whenever you have the pocket PC, you may also surf other vehicle pricing web sites while you browse through their own online listings. The truth is actually that you may discover some government seized cars readily available pertaining to the fraction of their price, only one needs to go through a lot of Bucks to get towards the luxury cars. The following is actually why it is actually really the best news for everybody to understand that there is actually such a thing seeing that federal government car auctions the place you might get the car within the surprisingly low cost.

Some of these government seized cars put up for auction is actually often near to brand-new, and they also will probably end up being going for unbelievably low prices as the result of the very fact the quick sale is required since it costs money to store a majority of these cars. They may be held at normal interval at some places. While the final prices paid may find oneself being more seeing that compared to this, you might upon average get some sort of car from the auction with regard to about ninety percent less the retail value inside the price at some sort of used car dealership. The computer software needs being user friendly, safe and also reputable.

You may well find out specifically what the protocol is actually inside advance of time simply by checking directly along with the auction institution. Have ever wondered if there is definitely certainly some sort of alternative to purchasing your own up coming car through some sort of dealer. While the easiest thing to do whenever searching pertaining to spare parts, whether pertaining to a tractor or perhaps a passenger vehicle, would end up being to go towards the dealership of its manufacturer, it may possibly not end up being the most economical. Buying car simply isn?t simply the incredibly easy task while some sort of result of the several prerequisites it needs; financial consideration can be simply one amongst the several variables. A majority of these cars might end up being sold pertaining to less but their own value will be essentially some sort of lot a lot more within comparison with his or her cost. Have you ever been seeking pertaining to the brand new utilized auto to buy Pertaining to anybody which have, there will be certainly extremely good chance that you simply have visited numerous area car dealerships as well as there?s also the superb probability that you have kept your own eyes and ears open pertaining to the method to and also through perform.

Source: http://bjshengr.com/government-seized-cars/

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Acer announces Liquid E1 phone with 4.5-inch qHD display, Android 4.1.1

Acer announces midrange Liquid E1 with 45inch qHD display, Android 411

Acer just added another smartphone to its Liquid E line of mid-range handsets, and it's called, unsurprisingly enough, the Liquid E1. Device specs aren't bad for a phone of this caliber: you get a 4.5-inch qHD (960 x 540) IPS display, a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage, a microSD card slot, a 5-megapixel camera and a decent 1,760mAh battery. It ships with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, though we would've preferred the latest Android 4.2 on board instead. While the specs didn't wow us, the curved design does look quite handsome at first blush -- it measures 132 x 68.5 x 9.9mm and weighs in at 4.59 ounces (130g), so it appears quite lightweight as well. We'd be inclined to like it even more if the price was low enough, but Acer hasn't announced that just yet. We hope to get a closer look at this smartphone at Mobile World Congress, but until then you'll just have to make do with the picture above.

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Via: Phone Arena

Source: Weibo (Acer), Eurodroid

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/k4WTGuB3sN4/

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Japan's consumer prices fall for fourth year

A woman walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Japan?s benchmark stock index jumped about 2 percent Friday after the country?s currency continued to slide against the dollar. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

A woman walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Japan?s benchmark stock index jumped about 2 percent Friday after the country?s currency continued to slide against the dollar. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

(AP) ? Japan's consumer prices fell in 2012 for the fourth straight year, highlighting the central bank's challenge in fighting deflation as its governor Friday reaffirmed plans for aggressive monetary easing.

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa told reporters that it would take substantial effort to achieve a 2 percent inflation target, announced earlier this week, aimed at breaking a prolonged spell of falling prices that are thought to be discouraging business investment and stalling recovery for the world's third-largest economy.

The consumer price index, which excludes fresh foods, fell 0.1 percent in 2012, adding to pressure on the central bank to make progress in re-energizing the economy. The CPI also dipped 0.2 percent in December, as expected.

The central bank has pledged to do everything it can to meet the new inflation target declared under pressure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has made reviving the recession-stricken economy his top priority since taking office a month ago.

At the same time, Shirakawa cautioned, the central bank's role is also to ensure stability and prevent financial bubbles ? a growing worry among those skeptical that massive stimulus spending and heavy-duty monetary easing will do the trick after 20 years of economic malaise.

"Bubbles take a heavy toll on the economy," Shirakawa said. "The causes for them are varied, but they keep recurring," he said.

With monetary authorities of all the major economies in stimulus mode, massive amounts of money are flooding into world markets. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index surged 2.9 percent, or 305.78 points, on Friday to 10,926.60. It has risen nearly 10 percent since the beginning of the year.

Shirakawa also stressed the need for improved fiscal discipline.

"Long-term interest rates will jump and erode the effect of monetary easing" if the central bank appears to be carelessly buying government bonds to achieve its target inflation rate, he said. Japan's public debt is already more than twice the size of the economy and rising fast.

While the central bank agreed to the inflation benchmark and "unlimited" monetary easing through open-ended asset purchases, the government must do its part to push ahead with reforms needed to revive growth and improve Japan's competitiveness, he said.

Japan's monetary easing has contributed to a weakening of its currency ? another of Abe's goals aimed at boosting the manufacturing sector by making Japanese products more price competitive overseas.

The yen was trading at 90.50 to the dollar late Friday, after hitting a two-and-a-half year low earlier in the day.

Finance Minister Taro Aso, meanwhile, fended off criticism that Japan is manipulating its currency ? a criticism voiced by some of its trading partners who have said they fear the weaker yen could precipitate competitive devaluations.

Japan's monetary easing is aimed at combatting deflation, and the yen is in a correction after a long spell of appreciation, he said.

"Suggesting it is currency manipulation is completely off the mark," Aso told reporters.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-25-AS-Japan-Economy/id-269d1e7851fd457a8c922e16c2c7ccbf

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Saudi prince calls for Syrian rebels to be armed

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - A senior member of Saudi Arabia's monarchy called on Friday for Syrian rebels to be given anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to "level the playing field" in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad.

"What is needed are sophisticated, high-level weapons that can bring down planes, can take out tanks at a distance. This is not getting through," said Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former intelligence chief and brother of the Saudi foreign minister.

Insurgents in Syria have seized territory in the north of the country and control suburbs to the east and south of the capital, but Assad's air power and continued army strength have limited their advances 22 months into the conflict.

"I'm not in government so I don't have to be diplomatic. I assume we're sending weapons and if we were not sending weapons it would be terrible mistake on our part," the Saudi prince said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"You have to level the playing field. Most of the weapons the rebels have come from captured Syrian stocks and defectors bringing their weapons," he said.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which started nearly two years ago with mainly peaceful protests but has mushroomed into a civil war that has driven half a million people from the country and displaced many more.

King Abdullah of Jordan, which has taken in some 300,000 Syrian refugees, 20,000 of them in the last week, told the Davos meeting that anyone who thought Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was going to fall within weeks did not understand the complex situation and the balance of forces.

One major problem was that radical al Qaeda forces had established themselves in Syria for the last year and were receiving money and equipment from abroad, he said.

NEW TALIBAN IN SYRIA?

Noting that Jordanian forces were still fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan alongside NATO troops, he said: "The new Taliban we are going to have to deal with will be in Syria."

Even in the most optimistic scenario, it would take at least three years to "clean them up" after the fall of the Assad government, the monarch said.

He called for major powers to craft "a real and inclusive transition plan" for Syria, saying the army must be preserved intact to form the backbone of any new system and avoid the anarchy that prevailed in Iraq after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion.

The United Nations should stockpile food and emergency supplies in Jordan to be moved into areas of Syria controlled by the opposition to prevent more people leaving.

Syria has accused Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, the United States and France of funding and arming the rebels, something they have all denied. But U.N. diplomats say that weapons are clearly reaching the rebels via Gulf Arab states and Turkey.

Saudi Arabia has called in the past for the rebels to be armed, but diplomats say that Western countries are reluctant to allow sophisticated weapons into the country, fearing they would fall into the hands of increasingly powerful Islamist forces.

The United States has designated one Islamist group in Syria - the Nusra Front - as a terrorist organization and expressed concern about the growing Islamist militant strength in Syria.

But the Saudi prince said foreign powers should have enough information on the many rebel brigades to ensure weapons only reached specific groups.

"Leveling the plain militarily should go hand in hand with a diplomatic initiative ... You can select the good guys and give them these means and build their credibility," he said.

"Now they don't have the means, and the extremists have the means and are getting the prestige."

(Reporting by Paul Taylor; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-prince-calls-syrian-rebels-armed-140944304.html

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Syria calls on dissidents, refugees to return home

(AP) ? Syria's government is calling on hundreds of thousands of citizens who fled the country during the civil war to come home.

That includes opponents of President Bashar Assad.

The state-run SANA news agency says the government will help citizens return, whether they left "legally or illegally." Syrian opposition figures who want to take part in reconciliation talks will also be allowed back, SANA reported late Thursday.

The talks are part of Assad's initiative to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 60,000 lives. The opposition has rejected the initiative, insisting Assad must step down.

More than half million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries during the 22-month civil war. They include opposition activists and defectors, including army officers, who have switched to the rebel side, fighting to topple Assad.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-25-ML-Syria/id-7a9d456abc454416b02a9b651bacee88

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

BodBot Offers Free, Personalized Exercise Plans to Help You Get to Your Fitness Goals

BodBot Offers Free, Personalized Exercise Plans to Help You Get to Your Fitness GoalsBodBot Offers Free, Personalized Exercise Plans to Help You Get to Your Fitness Goals Web/iOS/Android: Webapp BodBot may be in alpha, but it's already a great service that can help you build a custom daily workout plan, complete with exercises catered to your personal fitness goals and desired activity level. Whether you're a gym rat or just want to start an exercise routing you'll actually stick to, BodBot can help you build a plan.

The Tekzilla video above does a good job of walking you through the basics of the service. BodBot's design is a little lacking, but it does a great job at asking the kinds of questions that will help you get to exercises that work for you. It starts you off asking about your gender, current activity level, desired impact level, and the reasons why you're working out. From there, it'll show you some typical exercises that match up with the goals you've provided, and offers up an exercise plan for the next few days.

From there, you'll have to sign up (completely free) to continue to build out your plan, use the calendar, and to add other data like your starting weight, desired weight, and any equipment you have or like to use when you're at the gym. All of that information is used to build better workout plans for you. You'll also get morning emails with your workout of the day in them, along with a little encouragement. Install the BodBot app for Android or for iPhone to use the service on your phone.

There is a social component to BodBot, but it's definitely not the service's strong suit. The same is true for its tracking features?you can log your weight and body fat percentage over time. Honestly, there are better services for both of those.

Creating your workout plans and keeping track of your workouts are all free at BodBot, but if you have $10/month, you can sign up for a BodBot Plus account to unlock the tracking tools and some fitness tests to further personalize your workouts. Give it a shot and build your exercise plan for free, then decide if you need the additional features.

BodBot | via Tekzilla Daily

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/_shqiePeen8/bodbot-offers-free-personalized-exercise-plans-to-help-you-get-to-your-fitness-goals

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