Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295667955?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
'I love mysteries,' says man claiming hidden gold
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) ? For more than a decade, he packed and repacked his treasure chest, sprinkling in gold dust and adding hundreds of rare gold coins and gold nuggets. Pre-Columbian animal figures went in, along with prehistoric "mirrors" of hammered gold, ancient Chinese faces carved from jade and antique jewelry with rubies and emeralds.
Forrest Fenn was creating a bounty, and the art and antiquities dealer says his goal was to make sure it was "valuable enough to entice searchers and desirable enough visibly to strike awe."
Occasionally, he would test that premise, pulling out the chest and asking his friends to open the lid.
"Mostly, when they took the first look," he says, "they started laughing," hardly able the grasp his amazing plan.
Was Fenn really going to give this glistening treasure trove away?
Three years ago, he lay two of his most beloved pieces of jewelry in the chest: a turquoise bracelet and a Tairona and Sinu Indian necklace adorned with exotic jewels. At the bottom of the chest, in an olive jar, he placed a detailed autobiography, printed so small a reader will need a magnifying glass. After that, he says, he carted the chest of loot, now weighing more than 40 pounds, into the mountains somewhere north of Santa Fe and left it there.
Next, Fenn self-published a memoir, "The Thrill of the Chase," distilling the autobiography and, intriguingly, including a poem that he says offers clues to lead some clever ? or lucky ? treasure hunter to the bounty.
It wasn't long before word of the hidden trove got out, and the publicity has caused a mini-gold rush in northern New Mexico.
But it has also set off a debate: Has Fenn truly hidden the treasure chest or was this, for the idiosyncratic, publicity-loving 82-year-old who loves to tell tales, just another way to have fun, a great caper to bolster his legacy?
One friend, Michael McGarrity, an author and former Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy, acknowledges it could be "a private joke," though he believes "Forrest has certainly buried something." If it was the treasure he saw, well, "it really is quite an astonishing sight to see."
There certainly seems to be no shortage of believers, including Doug Preston, whose novel "The Codex" about a notorious treasure hunter and tomb robber who buries himself and his treasure as a final challenge to his three sons, is loosely based on Fenn's story.
"I've seen the treasure. I've handled it. He has had it for almost as long as I've known him. It's real. And I can tell you that it is no longer in his vault," says Preston.
"I am 100 percent sure that he really did go out and hide this thing. I am actually surprised that anyone who knows him would think he was blowing hot air. It is just not his personality. He is not a tricky, conspiratorial, slick or dishonest person at all."
Fenn says his main goal is to get people, particularly children, away from their texting devices and looking for adventure outdoors.
But probably few are having more fun with the whole adventure than Fenn himself, a self-described schmoozer and endless flirt who is reveling in what he says are 13,000 emails from treasure hunters ? not to mention 18 marriage proposals.
"His net worth is much higher than what he put in the bounty," says Preston, guessing the treasure's value is in the million-dollar range. "He is having way more than $1 million worth of fun with this."
___
It all began, Fenn says, more than 20 years ago, when he was diagnosed with cancer and given just a few years to live.
That's when he decided to buy the treasure chest and fill it with some of his favorite things.
"Nobody knows where it was going to be but me," he recalls thinking. He revised the clue-poem's wording several times over the years, and made other changes in his plans. For a time, he thought of having his bones with the treasure chest, though how that might have been accomplished is unclear.
"But then," Fenn says with a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes, "I ruined the story by getting well."
In "The Thrill of the Chase," he lays out his unusual rags-to-riches story while sharing memories of his favorite adventures and mischief-making.
From the outset, the book tells readers the recollections "are as true to history as one man can average out that truth, considering the fact that one of my natural instincts is to embellish."
Average out the truth? Instinct to embellish? Well, one thing is certain: He certainly knows how to tell a tale.
Fenn was raised in Temple, Texas, where his father was a school principal, according to the book. The family was poor, he says, only eating meat on Sundays if there was a chicken to kill. But, Fenn writes, they spent every summer in Yellowstone National Park, where young Forrest and his brother Skippy launched many an adventure. He describes the brothers trying to fly a homemade plane and tells about being left on the side of the road after an argument during a road trip.
Fenn never went to college, although he did attend classes at Texas A&M University with his friends for a short time, before it was discovered he was not a registered student, the book says.
He married his high school sweetheart, Peggy Jean Proctor, and spent nearly two decades in the Air Force, including much-decorated service as a fighter pilot in Vietnam.
After returning to Texas, he, his wife and two daughters moved to Santa Fe, where, over time, he became one of this artistic enclave's best known and most successful gallery owners.
Details on how a man with no art background made such a dramatic but successful transition are scarce in his book. When asked to elaborate, he says simply, "I never went to college. I never went to business school. I never learned the rules that make businesses fail."
Those who know him credit his love of people. As an art dealer, he hosted a virtual who's who of the rich and famous at his gallery and guest house, including Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Sam Shephard, Jessica Lange and Michael Douglas, to name a few. Even at 82, he still throws one hell of a party, friends say, mixing up the guest list with the many actors, artists, writers and political leaders who live in or frequent this artistic mountain hideaway.
Perhaps the biggest misconception about Fenn ? whom some locals refer to as Santa Fe's Indiana Jones ? is that he was a treasure hunter himself.
"Forrest is a trader," said Dan Nietzel, a professional treasure hunter who has searched for Fenn's treasure. "He traded for these things. I think people think he went around digging all these things up."
But there are some intangibles Fenn has spent his life searching out.
"I love mysteries. I love adventures," he says.
As a teen, scouring Yellowstone every summer, he almost led friend Donnie Joe to an early demise when they got lost on horseback in Montana's Gallatin National Forest trying to retrace the steps of Lewis and Clark, according to his memoir.
"Donnie got in a serious swivet and wouldn't speak to me for a while, except to say that our unfortunate adventure was ill-conceived, dumb thought out, and I was over-rated like my horse," he writes.
His book moves on to the Vietnam War, describing his Air Force service, his combat missions and even his survival after being shot down.
While it's sometimes hard to know whether Fenn's zest for "embellishment" adds to his stories, military records emphatically back this chapter. They confirm that as a fighter pilot he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, silver and bronze stars, a purple heart and other medals. In one engagement, enemy fire shattered the canopy of his jet, cutting his face, and yet he continued to attack, the records show. In another, he showed "outstanding heroism," making repeated low strafing passes to draw fire until wounded forces on the ground could be rescued. He rose to the rank of major.
Fenn also describes himself as an amateur archaeologist. In the mid-1980s, he bought a ranch near Santa Fe that includes the 57-acre ancient pueblo of San Lazaro, where he has spent years digging up bones, pottery and other artifacts that he keeps in a room off his garage.
And while he says he made his fortune selling paintings, his love is clearly of antiquities. His personal study, which was designed to house a 17-by-28-foot Persian rug from the late 1800s, is filled from floor to ceiling with valuables, ranging from gilded fore-edge books to war memorabilia, a brandy bottle left in his guest house by Kennedy Onassis, and even what he says is Sitting Bull's pipe.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2006 raided his home as part of an antiquities theft probe, but Fenn was never charged.
___
"Begin it where warm waters halt
And take it in the canyon down,
Not far, but too far to walk.
Put in below the home of Brown."
That's part of the poem of clues to the treasure's location, which Fenn published in his memoir three years ago. News reports have created a run on the book.
Based on the more than 9,000 emails Fenn says he has received just in the past few months, he estimates thousands of treasure hunters will descend on northern New Mexico this spring.
Dana Ortega, director of sales and marketing at Santa Fe's Inn and Spa at Loretto, said the hotel, which offers a special package starting at $300 that includes a copy of Fenn's now hard-to-find book, has seen a huge spike in interest.
"About 50 people came in on the package last year," she said. "Now our phones are ringing off the hook. ... So many people have the book so they are not all doing the package, but they call and want to stay here."
The local Chamber of Commerce should "give Forrest an award for increasing tourism," says McGarrity, his friend.
He talks of being stopped on the street by a man in a big truck with Texas plates, pulling an all-terrain vehicle and asking if he knew where Forrest Fenn lived.
"Are you hunting for treasure?" McGarrity asked.
"You betcha!" the Texan said.
But the publicity has also raised safety concerns.
A few weeks ago, a woman from Texas, drawn by a network report about the treasure, got lost searching the mountains near Los Alamos. She spent the night in the rugged terrain of Bandelier National Monument and was walking out the next day when rescuers found her. But the case prompted officials to warn searchers to be properly prepared for the outdoors. They also reminded the public it's illegal to dig, bury an item or use a metal detector on federal lands.
Also a concern: Fenn says he has had people ringing the buzzer at his gate and trying to follow him when he leaves.
For the most part, though, he says people reaching out to him are just trying to convince or trick him into giving more clues.
So far, the best anyone seems to have gotten out of him is that the treasure is more than 300 miles west of Toledo, not in Nevada, and more than 5,000 feet above sea level "in the Rocky Mountains. (Santa Fe, whose Sangre de Cristo mountains mark the start of the Rockies, is 7,260 feet above sea level.)
But he emphasizes two things: He never said the treasure was buried, and he never said it was in Santa Fe, or even New Mexico for that matter.
Nietzel says the most common place the clues about "where warm waters halt" first lead people is to Eagle Nest Lake, about 100 miles north of Santa Fe, because it has a dam that holds back warm water and is known for its brown trout.
Others are sure it must be in Yellowstone, because of Fenn's history there and his deep knowledge of the park.
Nietzel says he has made 29 searches for the treasure in six states, and he plans to resume his efforts when it gets a little warmer in the mountains.
Another friend of Fenn's, Santa Fe jeweler Marc Howard, says he has made about 20 searches, and is "still trying to match my wits against a seemingly impossible poem."
The scheme is similar to a treasure hunt launched in 1979 by the author of a British children's book, "Masquerade," which had clues to the location of an 18-carat jeweled golden hare hidden somewhere in Britain. That rabbit was found in 1982, although it was later revealed it was found with the help of the author's former live-in girlfriend.
Fenn, who lives with his wife in a gated estate near the center of town, insists he is the only person who knows where his treasure is hidden. Asked what his two daughters, Kelly and Zoe, think of him hiding part of their and their seven kids' inheritance, he replies only that "they've been saying for years that I am crazy." He doubts they have any interest in finding it, but says he wouldn't be surprised if one of two grandsons has gone looking for it.
And he is ambivalent about whether the chest is found soon, or even in his lifetime.
But "when a person finds that treasure chest, whether it's tomorrow or 10,000 years from now and opens the lid, they are going to go into shock. It is such a sight."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/love-mysteries-says-man-claiming-hidden-gold-173507907.html
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How to Keep a Guy Interested In Super Sexy Ways
Want to know how to keep a guy interested in you no matter what? Here are lots of sexy ways to make yourself dreamy and desirable in your man's eyes.
How to keep a guy interested
To keep a guy interested in you, you just need to remember a few ways to keep his interest aroused and his desire in you peaked.
Be spontaneous. Shock him, awe him, make plans for the evening or plan an entire elaborate date by yourself. Surprise him and never be too predictable.
Take initiatives in bed. Your guy may like taking control in bed, but when you dominate him and show off your confidence, he can't help but be awed by your confidence and sexiness in bed.
Awe his friends. Men are competitive. As long as he thinks he has the best girl in his social circle, he'll always cling to you and want to be with you. Awe his friends and make them think you're a great girl, and you've done a great job.
Show interest in his hobbies. A guy would absolutely love a girl who shows interest in his special hobbies, be it playing on his Xbox or climbing a mountain. Men want to spend their lives with a woman who truly understands them and connects to them.
Be his shoulder to lean on. Give him your strength and support when he's low on morale. Reassure him and help him confide his problems to you. Be his confidant and his warm pillow when he's in the dumps and he'll treat you like a goddess.Be his arm candy. Look good in his arms when both of you are together. Get a new hairstyle now and then, look fashionable and classy and he'll never want you to leave his arms.
Help him deal with life. Men may behave like the saviors of the world. But inside, they're still little boys who need a cuddle and a hug now and then. Help your man deal with the issues life throws at him.
Don't make him feel insecure. Flirt with others and talk to men, but never at the cost of his insecurity. When he's around, hug him close and he'll swell with affection for you.
Be a good cook. No matter what people say, the adage, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach still holds good.
Respect yourself. You're not a doormat. Let him know that you have the strength to move on if he does something stupid or treats you badly. Always make it look like you're the biggest prize he's won. You don't have to call yourself a prize in front of him, but show it to him by ignoring him or pushing him out of the bedroom when he misbehaves.
|For more information on how to improve your love life, cheek out 500 Lovemaking Tips. I'm sure you'll like it!
Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/how-to-keep-a-guy-interested-in-super-sexy-ways-323143
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Deputy: District attorney, wife found dead
KAUFMAN, Texas (AP) ? A sheriff's deputy says authorities are investigating the deaths of a North Texas county district attorney and his wife who were found dead in a home.
Kaufman County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Justin Lewis said Saturday that the county District Attorney, Mike McLelland, and his wife, Cynthia, were found dead in a home in an unincorporated part of the county. Authorities have blocked off the street where the couple's last known address is located.
Lewis said he couldn't discuss the investigation in further detail, including how the couple died and whether investigators believe their deaths are linked to the Jan. 31 slaying of an assistant Kaufman County district attorney, Mark Hasse.
The Dallas Morning News reports that Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh confirmed the couple was shot at their home.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/deputy-texas-district-attorney-wife-found-dead-035915572.html
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NEC looking to hawk mobile division to PC partner Lenovo, says Bloomberg
Though we don't get to see its smartphone wares too often stateside or in Europe, NEC has always said its mobile division was a big part of its business. Now it looks to be trying to fob that arm off to PC venture partner Lenovo, according to unnamed Bloomberg sources. The Japanese company is also said to be eying potential domestic buyers if that doesn't pan out, and Reuters recently reported that it's selling retail subsidiary NEC Mobiling to the tune of $850 million. The move is said to be in the works to bolster profitability after two straight years of smartphone operation losses and 10,000 layoffs, but as always, such unattributed material needs to be digested with beaucoup salt.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo
Source: Reuters
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/PVZ13UhfhW0/
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Professional Business Marketing ? Good Leads? Selected by ...
Good Leads? was selected by Neoscope Technology Solutions as their partner to expand their Information Technology management solutions offerings. As a premium provider of lead generation and outsourced business development services, Good Leads will source new business opportunities for Neoscope Technology Solutions of Portsmouth, NH throughout New England.
(PRWEB) March 29, 2013
Good Leads? was selected by Neoscope Technology Solutions as their partner to expand their Information Technology management solutions offerings. As a premium provider of lead generation and outsourced business development services, Good Leads will source new business opportunities for Neoscope Technology Solutions of Portsmouth, NH throughout New England.
Bob Good, CEO of Good Leads, in making the announcement said, ?We are pleased with being selected as a business partner to build Neoscope Technology Solutions sales pipeline throughout New England. Our technology focused Prospect Builder? Program and methodology is well suited to grow their base of opportunities through our discovery and qualification processes.?
?After extensive research, we selected Good Leads based on their straight forward approach to lead generation. We look forward to Good Leads to begin delivering quality leads for our IT solutions offerings,? said Tim Martin, President of Neoscope Technology Solutions. Good Leads dedicated lead generation team will focus their efforts in a multi-sector approach including municipal governments throughout New England.
About Neoscope Technology Solutions:
Neoscope specializes in a wide range of services, including tailored IT services and solutions for small and medium businesses and their owners throughout New England. They are committed to providing each of their clients with high quality service and support. Their unique IT team is customer friendly and can help in every step of the way in growing business. The firm?s service offerings include Managed Services, Hourly IT services, Data Back-Up, Help Desk and Cloud Computing services. Neoscope Technology Solutions can be contacted at 603 505-4902. http://www.neoscopetechnology.com
About Good Leads:
Good Leads? is a premier provider of sales and marketing, lead generation and outsourced business development activities for technology centric firms on a global basis with significant emphasis in the U.S. and Canada. Bob Good is CEO and Founder of the 10 year old firm. Good Leads specializes in executive level lead generation and appointment setting with international emphasis on supporting external corporate sales teams. Good Leads corporate headquarters is in Salem, NH with sales offices in Massachusetts, Maine and California. Good Leads can be contacted at 866 894-LEAD. http://www.GoodLeads.com
Jim Muller
Good Leads
866 894-5323 251
Email Information
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Saturday, March 30, 2013
Philadelphian jumps on tracks to help fallen man
In this Thursday, March 28, 2013 photo, Christopher Knafelc, who rescued a man who had fallen off the platform in a north Philadelphia subway station, is photographed during an interview in a transit police office in Philadelphia. Knafelc, 32, jumped down onto the tracks to help the man, knowing that a train would be arriving in a few minutes. Train traffic was halted and the man was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Daily News, Brian X. McCrone) THE EVENING BULLETIN OUT, TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES
In this Thursday, March 28, 2013 photo, Christopher Knafelc, who rescued a man who had fallen off the platform in a north Philadelphia subway station, is photographed during an interview in a transit police office in Philadelphia. Knafelc, 32, jumped down onto the tracks to help the man, knowing that a train would be arriving in a few minutes. Train traffic was halted and the man was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Daily News, Brian X. McCrone) THE EVENING BULLETIN OUT, TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES
In this still image taken from security video provided by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), Christopher Knafelc jumps off a subway platform in north Philadelphia to help a man who fell onto the tracks Thursday afternoon, March 28, 2013. Knafelc, 32, jumped down to help the man, knowing that a train would be arriving in a few minutes. Train traffic was halted and the man was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition. (AP Photo/SEPTA)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? The recovering drug addict with a long rap sheet who had just sat down on the bench at a north Philadelphia train station often wondered if he was a good person, and perhaps never considered that anyone thought he was a hero to anybody.
But there was no self-doubt when Christopher Knafelc's instincts kicked in Thursday and he leaped onto the tracks to help a complete stranger he'd just seen flail and fall off the platform.
Now, Knafelc, 32, is being hailed as a hero and he's holding his head a little higher, viewing the good deed he did, and the praise that followed, as another sign that he is on the right path in life.
"It did help reinforce that I'm a good person," Knafelc told The Associated Press in an interview Friday at his mother's south Philadelphia apartment. "I questioned that a lot because of my colorful past."
Still, Knafelc deflected the praise by saying he was just doing the "right thing."
Knafelc said he has battled substance abuse ? including heroin and the powerful pain drug OxyContin ? since he was in middle school in Baden, a small town outside Pittsburgh, and spent years in and out of rehab.
"I created a pretty deep hole to come out of," he said.
Court records show Knafelc pleaded guilty in 2010 in Pennsylvania to charges of theft, driving under the influence, child endangerment and driving without a license. Two years ago, he came to Philadelphia, where his mother and a cousin live, to get a fresh start, he said.
He said he has been sober since 10 days after his daughter's birth in July 2010, when he picked her up from her crib and she smiled at him.
"That was the most powerful thing I've ever felt in my life to this day," Knafelc said. "It was better than any high from drugs."
On Thursday afternoon, he instinctively jumped down to help the man on the tracks, knowing that a train would be arriving any minute.
He called up to people on the platforms to get the trains stopped and held the man's head and neck stable until firefighters arrived. Train traffic was halted.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spokeswoman Jerri Williams said she spoke with Knafelc soon after his heroics.
"He's clean and sober for about 2? years but still trying to get his life together," she said. "I think by doing this good Samaritan deed he's kind of surprised himself."
Williams said she saw that as Knafelc recounted the incident on the tracks, "I could see the light go off, the a-ha moment" when he realized that after he was helped by many people in his past, he was able to finally help someone else in return.
"This almost instinctive move to save this guy made him see 'I am a good person,'" Williams said. "It's amazing. This incident may be the start of really good things for him."
Knafelc agreed with that assessment, and he connected the help he's been given by family members to survive his addiction with the favor he did the man on the tracks.
"I'll never be able to repay them, financially or any other way," Knafelc said. "The next best thing I can do is pay it forward."
Investigators do not know what caused the man to fall on the tracks. Surveillance video shows him walking slowly toward the platform's edge and then over it. He was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition.
___
Associated Press researcher Judith Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.
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3 of 4 reptiles stolen from Calif. museum found
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) ? A Central California science museum has recovered three of four reptiles stolen in a burglary caught on surveillance video, and arrested a suspect in the heist.
The Discovery Center's education coordinator Ian Goudelock says a 3 1/2-foot savannah monitor lizard, red-tailed boa constrictor and a ball python are back at the Fresno museum on Friday. A 3-foot-long ball python remains missing.
The suspect broke into the museum on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, smashed the tanks that held the four reptiles and made off with them in a garbage bag. The suspect also went into the center's gift shop and stole children's toys, the phone system and the security monitor.
Fresno police says they made an arrest on suspicion of the burglary, but the suspect's name was not immediately available.
___
Information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com
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Man-size jellyfish robot could ply the high seas
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech graduate students test Cyro, a man-size jellyfish robot, as it moves up and down underwater.
By Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience
A giant, slimy, tentacled robot modeled after one of the world's largest jellyfish could be a precursor to self-powered, autonomous robots that monitor the seas, map the seafloor and even reveal secrets of marine life, engineers say.
Dubbed Cyro, the newly unveiled robotic jellyfish is a scaled-up version of another mechanical swimmer, this one the size of a human hand, called RoboJelly that was developed by the same team of researchers at Virginia Tech College of Engineering.
At 5-foot-7 (1.7 meters) and weighing 170 pounds (77 kilograms), Cyro is the jelly equivalent of an average human guy.
Jellyfish make great models for self-powered and autonomous bots partly because of their relatively low metabolic rate, meaning they can move through the sea on little energy. They also come in various sizes and inhabit a range of aquatic habitats from shallow coastal areas to the deep-sea, meaning engineers have plenty to work with when looking for a mimic for particular uses.
Cyro is modeled after Cyanea capillata, or the lion's mane jellyfish, whose bell stretches about 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) across, with some observations suggesting the bell can reach 9 feet (2.7 m) across. The robot model also has a central "bell," this one holding the creature's electronic guts, with a thick layer of squishy silicone meant to mimic jellyfish skin covering the entire creature, Alex Villanueva, a mechanical engineering graduate student at Virginia Tech, told LiveScience. [Video ? See Cyro the Robotic Jellyfish in Action]
The robot's arms, which are powered and controlled by the central electronics, move radially from an outward position in toward the center. That radial "musculature" triggers the pulsing motions of the artificial mesoglea, or the gelatinous substance that makes up the jellyfish's skin.
The research team tested the jellybot in Virginia Tech's diving well, a 14-feet-deep (4.3 meters) swimming pool, where Cyro showed off its vertical know-how, moving from 8 feet deep (2.4 m) to the surface with just five complete pulsing motions, said researcher Kenneth Marut, a graduate student in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, during an interview.
Cyro is still in the prototype stages, and so years away from real deployment in the seas, the researchers said. The team, which also includes graduate student Tyler Michael, is working on horizontal movements, as Cyro currently can move only in the up-down direction.
"We hope to improve on this robot and reduce power consumption and improve swimming performance as well as better mimic the morphology of the natural jellyfish," Villanueva said. The team also hopes to learn about the real McCoy.
"Our hopes for Cyro's future is that it will help understand how the propulsion mechanism of such animal scales with size," Villanueva said.
Both Cyro and its smaller cousin RoboJelly came out of a $5 million, multi-university project funded by the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research. The engineering team is led by Virginia Tech mechanical engineering professor Shashank Priya.
Follow Jeanna Bryner on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?and Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Survey: Samsung takes the lead from Nokia, BlackBerry in key emerging markets
By Martyn Herman LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Whether by design, necessity, self-interest or because of all three, nurturing youngsters has become fashionable for England's elite with no expense spared in the hunt for the new Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard. The length and breadth of the country, scouts from top clubs are hoovering up promising footballers barely old enough to tie their bootlaces in a bid to unearth the 30 million pounds ($45.40 million) treasures of the future. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/survey-samsung-takes-lead-nokia-blackberry-key-emerging-233306758.html
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Sprint, Softbank agree to ditch Huawei over spy concerns
SprintSprint (S) and Japanese carrier Softbank (SFTBY) have confirmed to U.S. lawmakers they won?t use equipment from Huawei following their upcoming merger, Bloomberg reported. Softbank announced plans last October to pay more than $20 billion to acquire a 70% stake in Sprint. The deal was approved by the board of directors at both companies and was awaiting the green light from the Federal Communications Commission.
[More from BGR: Sony reveals new details about PlayStation 4 controller]
Earlier this year, however, the United States Department of Justice asked the FCC to defer the planned merger so that it would have more time to review the proposal for ?any national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues.?
[More from BGR: How you know Samsung has hit it big: Best Buy is giving it its own in-location ?store?]
U.S. officials have become increasingly worried about telecom equipment provided by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. It was previously reported that both companies could be working with the Chinese government for non-commercial reasons.
?If government approval of the transaction is somehow contingent on an agreement to restrict purchase of equipment from any vendor based on the flag of heritage, then it is a sad day for free and open global trade and it does nothing to secure the network,? Bill Plummer, a Huawei spokesperson, said regarding the news. ?Everyone is global and every company faces the same cyber challenges.?
Sprint also plans to replace Huawei equipment in Clearwire?s network, in which the company owns a majority stake.
?I have met with Softbank and Sprint regarding this merger and was assured they would not integrate Huawei in to the Sprint network and would take mitigation efforts to replace Huawei equipment in the Clearwire network,? said Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who is the head of the House Intelligence Committee.
This article was originally published on BGR.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sprint-softbank-agree-ditch-huawei-over-spy-concerns-133354417.html
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Big depositors in Cyprus to lose far more than feared
By Michele Kambas
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Big depositors in Cyprus's largest bank stand to lose far more than initially feared under a European Union rescue package to save the island from bankruptcy, a source with direct knowledge of the terms said on Friday.
Under conditions expected to be announced on Saturday, depositors in Bank of Cyprus will get shares in the bank worth 37.5 percent of their deposits over 100,000 euros, the source told Reuters, while the rest of their deposits may never be paid back.
The toughening of the terms will send a clear signal that the bailout means the end of Cyprus as a hub for offshore finance and could accelerate economic decline on the island and bring steeper job losses.
Officials had previously spoken of a loss to big depositors of 30 to 40 percent.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Friday defended the 10-billion euro ($13 billion) bailout deal agreed with the EU five days ago, saying it had contained the risk of national bankruptcy.
"We have no intention of leaving the euro," the conservative leader told a conference of civil servants in the capital, Nicosia.
"In no way will we experiment with the future of our country," he said.
Cypriots, however, are angry at the price attached to the rescue - the winding down of the island's second-largest bank, Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki, and an unprecedented raid on deposits over 100,000 euros.
Under the terms of the deal, the assets of Laiki bank will be transferred to Bank of Cyprus.
At Bank of Cyprus, about 22.5 percent of deposits over 100,000 euros will attract no interest, the source said. The remaining 40 percent will continue to attract interest, but will not be repaid unless the bank does well.
Those with deposits under 100,000 euros will continue to be protected under the state's deposit guarantee.
Cyprus's difficulties have sent jitters around the fragile single European currency zone, and led to the imposition of capital controls in Cyprus to prevent a run on banks by worried Cypriots and wealthy foreign depositors.
"CYPRUS EURO"
Banks reopened on Thursday after an almost two-week shutdown as Cyprus negotiated the rescue package. In the end, the reopening was largely quiet, with Cypriots queuing calmly for the 300 euros they were permitted to withdraw daily.
The imposition of capital controls has led economists to warn that a second-class "Cyprus euro" could emerge, with funds trapped on the island less valuable than euros that can be freely spent abroad.
Anastasiades said the restrictions on transactions - unprecedented in the currency bloc since euro coins and banknotes entered circulation in 2002 - would be gradually lifted. He gave no time frame but the central bank said the measures would be reviewed daily.
He hit out at banking authorities in Cyprus and Europe for pouring money into the crippled Laiki.
"How serious were those authorities that permitted the financing of a bankrupt bank to the highest possible amount?" Anastasiades said.
The president, barely a month in the job and wrestling with Cyprus's worst crisis since a 1974 war split the island in two, accused the 17-nation euro currency bloc of making "unprecedented demands that forced Cyprus to become an experiment".
European leaders have insisted the raid on big bank deposits in Cyprus is a one-off in their handling of a debt crisis that refuses to be contained.
MODEL
But policymakers are divided, and the waters were muddied a day after the deal was inked when the Dutch chair of the euro zone's finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said it could serve as a model for future crises.
Faced with a market backlash, Dijsselbloem rowed back. But on Friday, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot, a fellow Dutchman, said there was "little wrong" with his assessment.
"The content of his remarks comes down to an approach which has been on the table for a longer time in Europe," Knot was quoted as saying by Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad. "This approach will be part of the European liquidation policy."
The Cyprus rescue differs from those in other euro zone countries because bank depositors have had to take losses, although an initial plan to hit small deposits as well as big ones was abandoned and accounts under 100,000 euros were spared.
Warnings of a stampede at Cypriot banks when they reopened on Thursday proved unfounded.
For almost two weeks, Cypriots were on a ration of limited withdrawals from bank cash machines. Even with banks now open, they face a regime of strict restrictions designed to halt a flight of capital from the island.
Some economists say those restrictions will be difficult to lift. Anastasiades said the capital controls would be "gradually eased until we can return to normal".
The government initially said the controls would stay in place for seven days, but Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said on Thursday they could last "about a month".
On Friday, easing a ban on cheque payments, Cypriot authorities said cheques could be used to make payments to government agencies up to a limit of 5,000 euros. Anything more than 5,000 euros would require Central Bank approval.
The bank also issued a directive limiting the cash that can be taken to areas of the island beyond the "control of the Cypriot authorities" - a reference to Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus which considers itself an independent state. Cyprus residents can take 300 euros; non-residents can take 500.
Under the terms of the capital controls, Cypriots and foreigners are allowed to take up to 1,000 euros in cash when they leave the island.
(Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac and Gilbert Kreijger in Amsterdam; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-no-intention-leaving-euro-president-095234615--business.html
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Songkick Concerts (for Android)
Hardcore music fans have their beloved bands' tour schedules seemingly imprinted on their souls, but those of us with more casual devotions may have trouble keeping tabs on our favorite artists' performance dates. Enter Songkick Concerts, a slick Android app (free) (also available on iOS) that notifies you when an artist plans to come to your town. Concertgoers, consider Songkick Concerts a must-have download.
How Songkick Concerts Works
Songkick Concerts lets you obtain concert information in two ways. One option is the active way. Tap the "+" icon, key in an artist's name, tap the search button, select the artist's database entry, and then tap "Track." You'll know that an artist is on tour if you see a red "On Tour" sash adorning the listing. If the artists aren't on tour, Songkick Concerts simply displays "No Upcoming Events."
If tapping icons is a bit too much exertion, you can simply let Songkick Concerts dig up tour information for you. When you launch the Songkick Concerts, the app automatically scans your device's music file library (as well as Last.FM and Pandora mobile apps) for artists to match against its database?and it works surprisingly well. Nine of the ten music tracks on my Samsung Galaxy Note II?pulled an artist entry?even a song from the relatively unknown Death Grips. Songkick Concerts didn't recognize a Heems track, but overall I was impressed that the app has its ear tuned to both popular and underground acts.
The Songkick Concerts Experience
The Songkick Concerts homescreen features three areas: "Artists," "Calendar," and "Locations."
"Artists" displays a thumbnail grid of performer images showing performers you manually added and those which Songkick automatically generated based on your music file collection. When you bring a finger to the icon of an artist on tour, Songkick Concerts displays the tour dates, tour venues, and locations. Tapping the entry takes you to a second screen where you can let others know if you're attending ("I'm going"/"I might go"), check out the venue location on Google Maps, view other artists in the event lineup, purchase tickets (from the likes of LiveNation, Stubhub!, and others sellers), and view other Songkick Concert users who plan to attend the same show.
"Calendar" displays the shows you may attend and artist tour dates. It also lets you add a date to Google Calendar if you prefer to house tour information there?a nice touch. "Locations" lets you add cities that you're willing to visit to attend shows. For example, I inputted Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, so Songkick Concerts only displayed tour dates from artists who are planning to appear in those cities. Songkick Concerts makes finding concerts very simple.
Party On, Wayne
Whether you're a concert frequenter or simply want to see a live music show once in a while, Songkick Concerts is the Android app to download. Songkick Concerts not only lets you view when your favorite performers are coming to town, but lets you purchase tickets, too. It quickly became my go-to app whenever the idea of attending a live show popped into in my head. Music fans: get this app.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/kbu74RSzcXs/0,2817,2417193,00.asp
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Thief makes off with reptiles from Calif. museum
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) ? A 7-foot-long boa constrictor, two ball pythons and a monitor lizard were stolen from a Central California science museum by a man who was caught on camera throwing the reptiles into a plastic trash bag.
Workers at the Discovery Center in Fresno discovered the theft Thursday morning, the center's director, Mary Ellen Wright, told the Fresno Bee (http://bit.ly/Yk5G8m). The unidentified suspect apparently broke in overnight, smashing the tanks that held the reptiles.
Surveillance video showed the man putting four reptiles into a garbage bag: the red-tailed boa constrictor, two 3-foot-long pythons and a 3 1/2-foot savannah monitor lizard. The suspect also went into the center's gift shop and took children's toys, the phone system and the security monitor, the Bee reported.
Wright said the reptiles ? worth hundreds of dollars ? are mortal enemies, and she is worried about their conditions.
"It would be like throwing two pit bulls in a locked room," she said.
Wright said the animals also could injure the thief. The monitor lizard has sharp, 2-inch claws.
Police are looking at the video, according to the Bee. A call to a Fresno police spokesman Friday was not immediately returned.
___
Information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thief-makes-off-reptiles-calif-museum-175004362.html
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The justice who will decide gay marriage
Supreme Court Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy (R) and Stephen Breyer await the start of a hearing on Capitol??
Few things were certain after the Supreme Court's first foray into the issue of gay marriage earlier this week?except that conservative-leaning swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy will control the outcome.
The four liberal and the four conservative justices appeared to split right down the middle on how (and whether) to decide the constitutionality of both Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. Kennedy?who in the past authored the court's two most important opinions affirming gay rights?seemed to be on the fence in both cases.
The most likely scenario: Kennedy will form a coalition with the liberals to strike down Proposition 8 and DOMA without substantially addressing the plaintiffs' claims that gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry and have those marriages treated equally to opposite-sex marriages by the law.
The hope for a "nation-wide ruling on same-sex marriage was clearly dashed on Tuesday," said Doug NeJaime, a professor at Loyola Law School.
Gay rights advocates had pinned their hopes on the 76-year-old Sacramento native and Ronald Reagan appointee, based on his striking down of a state anti-sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas (2003) and a Colorado statute that prohibited local governments from passing anti-discrimination laws protecting gay people in Romer v Evans (1996).
But in both cases, Kennedy appeared unsympathetic to the argument that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marriage. He repeatedly noted that same-sex unions are historically new and that there's not much "sociological" evidence about them and their offspring. He did, however, express sympathy for the children of same-sex couples, saying he believed their voices were "important" and that they were harmed because their parents were not allowed to wed.
Kennedy did seem far more open to striking down both anti-gay marriage laws on procedural grounds. While this would have a much more limited effect than a broader decision, it would still be a victory for the gay rights movement.
In the Proposition 8 case about California's 2008 voter-approved gay marriage ban, Kennedy dropped a bombshell early into oral arguments when he wondered aloud whether the Supreme Court should have ever agreed to hear the case in the first place. (At least four justices must vote to take on a case, which happens privately in the judges' chambers.)
"I just wonder if?if the case was properly granted," Kennedy said to attorney Ted Olson, who was arguing for the ban to be struck down. Kennedy later asked attorney Charles Cooper, who was arguing on behalf of Proposition 8, why the Supreme Court should hear the case at all.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor took up Kennedy's line of argument, asking Cooper why they couldn't let the issue of same-sex marriage "percolate" longer before making such a major decision.
Kennedy appears to be weighing dismissing the case altogether, and Sotomayor's questioning suggests he may be able to get the four liberal justices to join him. If they dismiss the case, the lower-court decision stands allowing gay marriage in California, but no other state would be affected. If that's the route the court goes, it's possible Kennedy would write the opinion without substantially addressing the plaintiffs' claims that they have the same right to marry as people of another sexual orientation.
Interestingly, Kennedy's comments in Wednesday's DOMA oral arguments also suggest he may take a way out that doesn't require him to rule on the substance of whether the law discriminates against gay couples. DOMA defines marriage at the federal level as only between opposite-sex couples, denying federal benefits and obligations to same-sex married couples in the nine states that allow it. Kennedy appeared very intrigued by the argument that DOMA improperly intrudes into the states' domain of marriage, characterizing the law as potentially in "conflict" with states' rights.
Chief Justice John Roberts also pursued this line of questioning, repeatedly asking the attorneys arguing against DOMA if they believed it was a violation of federalism. Neither attorney would take the bait, however, instead sticking with the reasoning that DOMA discriminates against same-sex couples.
"The chief justice got both parties to the case to admit that they don't think there's a federalism issue here," said Chapman University law professor John Eastman. Eastman is the chairman of the anti-gay marriage group the National Organization for Marriage. "I don't know whether that persuaded Justice Kennedy that he was going down the wrong line."
NeJaime said it's possible Kennedy could write an opinion striking down DOMA on federalist grounds, while the four liberal justices joined in a concurring opinion that struck it down as discriminatory. (If Kennedy sides with the liberals, he could assign the opinion to himself since he is the most senior justice of that group.) If so, Kennedy's decision could say nothing substantial about gay rights, merely sticking to the argument that it's an overreach of federal power.
"You could end up with two decisions from Kennedy that basically allow same sex marriage in some ways but do nothing on the substance," NeJaime said.
?
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/kennedy-decide-gay-marriage-cases-201558362--election.html
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Pat Riley to Danny Ainge: Shut up
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Miami Heat President Pat Riley has added another chapter to his rivalry with the Boston Celtics.
After LeBron James complained about calls and Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge chided him for it, Riley lashed back Friday night.
Riley's response: "Danny Ainge needs to shut the (expletive) up and manage his own team."
This saga started Wednesday after Miami's 27-game winning streak ended in Chicago. James told reporters that night that he does not believe some of the hard fouls he takes are "basketball plays." A day later, Ainge told Boston radio station WEEI that "it's almost embarrassing that LeBron would complain about officiating."
Riley was clearly irked, calling Ainge "the biggest whiner going when he was a player."
The Heat and Celtics play April 12 in Miami.
Miami beat New Orleans 108-89 on Friday night, with James leading the way with 36 points. When informed afterward of the statement, James said he appreciated Riley having his back.
"That's who we are," James said. "We ride together, all of us, from the top to the bottom. We all protect each other on and off the floor and it was big-time to see that."
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Friday, March 29, 2013
Arizona gun proponents launch free gun program
Former Tucson, Ariz. mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky poses with a shotgun at Black Weapons Armory in Tucson, Thursday, March 28, 2013. The weapon is similar to those to be given away as part of a privately funded program he is launching to provide residents in crime-prone areas with free shotguns so they can defend themselves against criminals. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Former Tucson, Ariz. mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky poses with a shotgun at Black Weapons Armory in Tucson, Thursday, March 28, 2013. The weapon is similar to those to be given away as part of a privately funded program he is launching to provide residents in crime-prone areas with free shotguns so they can defend themselves against criminals. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Cindy Fayala, right, a resident of Pueblo Gardens, and her friend Willie Blake, who lives in a nearby community Western Hills II, talks about their concern about a new program former mayoral candidate Sean McClusky is launching to provide residents in crime-prone areas with free shotguns so they can defend themselves against criminals, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Cindy Fayala, a resident of Pueblo Gardens, right, and her friend, Willie Blake, who lives in a nearby community Western Hills II, walk through Pueblo Gardens Thursday, March 28, 2013 in Tucson, Ariz. They are concerned about a new program launched by former mayoral candidate Sean McClusky to provide residents in crime-prone areas with free shotguns so they can defend themselves against criminals. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Black Weapons Armory store owner Tommy Rompel, left, shows former mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky, a shotgun at the Tucson, Ariz. store on Thursday, March 28, 2013. The weapon is similar to those to be given away as part of a privately funded program he is launching to provide residents in crime-prone areas with free shotguns so they can defend themselves against criminals. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Residents of Pueblo Gardens walk past a sign for the Tucson, Ariz. development, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Former mayoral candidate Sean McClusky is launching a new program to provide residents in crime-prone areas with free shotguns so they can defend themselves against criminals. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? A campaign promising free shotguns for people to protect themselves in Tucson's most troubled neighborhoods has divided some residents in a community still reeling from a shooting rampage in 2011that killed six people, left a congresswoman and several others wounded, and made the city a symbol of gun violence in America.
The Armed Citizen Project is part of a national campaign to give shotguns to single women and homeowners in the nation's crime-ridden neighborhoods, an effort that comes amid a national debate on gun control after mass shootings in Arizona, Colorado and Connecticut.
While towns in Idaho, Utah, Virginia and Pennsylvania have debated ordinances recommending gun ownership, the gun giveaway effort appears to be the first of its kind.
"If you are not willing to protect the citizens of Tucson, someone is going to do it, why not me? Why not have armed citizens protecting themselves," said Shaun McClusky, a real estate agent who plans to start handing out shotguns by May.
Arizona gun proponents have donated about $12,500 to fund the gun giveaway and McClusky, a former mayoral and city council candidate, hopes to collect enough to eventually arm entire neighborhoods.
Participants will receive training on how to properly use, handle and store their weapon, as well as trigger locks. It costs about $400 per participant for the weapon and training.
Tucson police officials declined to discuss the gun program or public safety concerns, but statistics published by the department show violent crime was at a 13-year low in 2010, with 3,332 incidents. That compares with 5,116 violent crimes ? including homicides, sexual assaults, and robberies ? in 1997. Tucson averages about 50 homicides a year.
"Just like any other city in Arizona and in the nation we have our issues, but it is not crime-ridden," said Vice Mayor Regina Romero. "I would never say you have to carry a gun or you have to be afraid for your life."
Research has produced inconclusive results on whether defensive gun use lowers crime. Some research suggests guns result in more suicides and accidental deaths, while other studies have shown criminals are wary of gun owners.
"People don't want to confront an armed person at home," said Garen J. Wintemute, director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program. "But, separately, there is solid evidence that in communities with higher rates of gun ownership, burglary rates are up, not down, and that's because guns are hot loot."
Wintemute said it's likely the risk of violence in the home participating in the gun giveaway will go up.
But those behind the program argue shotguns are affordable, easy to use and don't require precise aim when shooting, making them the perfect home protection weapon. The goal is to arm hundreds of people in Tucson, Houston, New York, Chicago, Detroit and at least 10 other cities by the end of the year.
"It is our hypothesis that criminals have no desire to die in your hallway. We want to use that fear," said Kyle Coplen, 29, the project's founder and a University of Houston graduate student.
Tucson became a symbol of American's gun violence in 2011 when a mentally ill man opened fire at a political meet-and-greet hosted by then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords outside a Tucson-area supermarket. Giffords, who is still recovering from her critical wounds, has in recent months become a champion of universal background gun checks and other gun restrictions denounced by Second Amendment proponents.
Moved by Giffords advocacy, the Tucson City Council recently approved a measure requiring universal background checks at gun shows held on city property. City officials said the gun giveaway program appears to be legal, so they have no recourse to shut it down.
One of the neighborhoods targeted by the program is Pueblo Gardens, an ethnically diverse, blue-collar neighborhood in southern Tucson where residents say occasional shootings, drug busts and car thefts are not uncommon.
The no-frills landscape is dotted with pickup trucks, palm trees, window bars, cacti, chain fences and toy-littered lawns. Many residents own guns, if only because of the handful of sex offenders who call the area home. More than 90 percent of the humble, single-story homes are occupied by renters.
Pueblo Gardens could benefit from a public safety campaign, but some residents say they are appalled anyone would think the answer is more guns.
"We could take that $400 per shotgun and give it to these people so they could go buy groceries, pay rent, pay their utility bills, something useful," said neighborhood association president Cindy Fayala. "Vigilantism is not the answer."
McClusky argued that like signs posted in yards advertising alarm systems, signs that warn the homeowners have guns would get the message across, he said.
"I'd like to prevent them from becoming a victim," he said.
At least 13 single women in Houston have already benefited from the program.
Tiffany Braggs, 44, said she had never owned or fired a gun before she signed up for The Armed Citizen Project in Houston after her condominium management board warned residents of growing crime.
"I feel a little bit more secure knowing that I can defend my home and my children," said Braggs, who now plans to buy a handgun to keep in her purse.
Alan M. Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation in Bellevue, Wash., said he expects to see more gun giveaways as President Barack Obama and other leaders call for gun restrictions.
"All this is happening because it's a pushback," he said. "If others weren't screaming for more control you wouldn't see all the sales for guns and ammunition."
___
For more information about the national gun giveaway program, visit http://www.armedcitizenproject.org/
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AAXA LED Showtime 3D
The AAXA LED Showtime 3D is a versatile and highly portable mini-projector, able to display a range of content. At heart it's a multimedia projector, though it does a decent job with data images as well. It is a DLP-based projector with an LED light source, rated at 450 lumens of brightness, and has native WXGA (1,280 by 800) resolution.
The Showtime is a small projector that can fit (barely) in an outstretched hand. It measures 1.4 by 5.9 by 5.4 inches. I weighed it on our postal scale at 1.1 pounds for the projector alone, and 1.7 pounds with the power adaptor. Behind the lens is a focus ring; I found it a bit tricky to bring it to a good focus. In back are the ports: VGA; HDMI; USB type A for running content from a USB thumb drive; composite audio/video in (for which a cord is included); and audio-out.
You control the projector with the small IR remote that's provided. From a main menu you can run music, video, images, and text from a USB thumb drive, switch between connections (VGA, composite video, HDMI, and 3D (HDMI), and change settings.
Although 3D is part of the projector's name, it isn't central to the projector. 3D-ready DLP projectors are commonplace, but they still require active-shutter 3D glasses (which aren't included with the Showtime) and a quad-buffered 3D graphics card. But it's a nice feature to have available, particularly in such a small and lower-brightness projector.
Performance
I tested the Showtime in our studio, doing the official tests in theater-dark conditions but also viewing images and video in varying conditions of ambient light. It does well for its low rated brightness; the image was able to stand up to a fair amount of ambient light without it looking degraded. The image filled our test screen (about 60 inches diagonal) from about 8 feet away.
I did our data image testing (using the DisplayMate suite of projector tests) over a VGA connection to a computer, and then repeated the tests over an HDMI connection. With VGA, the image was suitable for typical business presentations, at least in a small room with low or no lighting. Text was reasonably good, with text readable down to the smallest size (though a bit fuzzy at the two smallest sizes). Colors looked reasonably bright considering the projector's relatively low brightness. White areas showed a trace of a greenish tint. There was a trace of rainbow artifacts (little red-green-blue flashes) in images that tend to bring them out.
Even though I set my laptop to the projector's native resolution, I saw traces of what seemed to be scaling artifacts (indicating a resolution mismatch between projector and image source). We've noticed the same phenomenon in many lower-brightness LED-based WXGA projectors we've tested, including the Editors' Choice 3M Mobile Projector MP410 ($599 direct). If it has an effect on normal data images, it's usually in the form of blurred type, which doesn't seem to be a problem with the Showtime, at least over VGA.
When I switched the connection to HDMI, though, the artifacts were worse; This was true both at 720p, the resolution to which it automatically rescaled the images to when I switched the connection to HDMI, and when I went in and reset my computer to 1,280 by 800. Data image quality was somewhat degraded over HDMI, so I'd suggest you stick to VGA for data presentations.
Video Quality
Video image quality was suitable for short to mid-length clips as part of a presentation. The rainbow effect, which we frequently see in DLP projectors, was more apparent in video than in data images. It could be enough of a distraction to people who are sensitive to it that I'd hesitate to use this projector for full-length movies, though you could use it for such in a pinch.
Colors were bright and well-saturated, at times to the point of punchiness. Reds in particular seemed exaggerated. Some people prefer their colors on the garish side, but at times I found it a bit distracting. This effect persisted even when I adjusted the color setting from Normal to Cool.
The audio from the Showtime's pair of two-watt speakers is of decent quality and is reasonably loud.
The AAXA LED Showtime 3D is a versatile projector, able to display data presentations and play movies, games, audio files, and other content. It is 3D capable, though it requires a quad-buffered 3D graphics card and active-shutter 3D glasses. As an LED projector, it should have long (20,000 hour) lamp life.
It's brighter than the Editors' Choice 3M Mobile Projector MP410 a 300-lumen LED-based model. The MP410 is slightly lighter, can also display a range of multimedia content (though it's primarily a data projector), and has a bit better image quality for both data and video.
The BenQ Joybee GP2 is also dimmer than the Showtime at 200 rated lumens. But it has a wide range of connectivity options, adding a USB type B port for connecting to a computer via cable; an SD card slot; and a dock that fits an iPhone or iPod touch and lets you play content from these devices.
The AAXA LED Showtime 3D is fairly bright for its size and has usable image quality for both data and video. It can display a variety of content and is 3D capable. It's worth considering if you're looking for a multimedia projector with some data presentation chops.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/BZE2tO3O24c/0,2817,2417095,00.asp
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Op-Ed: Chicago?s Low-Income Families Are Sick of Feeling Disposable
On the afternoon of March 27, thousands of families, teachers, community members, school leaders and concerned residents of Chicago descended on Daley Plaza to protest the closing of 54 public schools.
These 54 are over three times the amount of schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has closed in a calendar year (before the largest number was seventeen). These closings should be understood not only as a tired excuse by CPS to address budget shortfalls, but part and parcel of a larger project that involves the mass disinvestment, displacement, and state-sanctioned disposability of low-income African-American and Latino/a communities.?
As such, it defeats the purpose of this article to go in depth into some tired conspiracy theory. Instead, it behooves us to understand the attempt to close schools as manufactured conflict by way of a business plan (formerly Renaissance 2010) championed my major corporations (through philanthropic interests) deeming urban education as cost ineffective and in need of a ?makeover.??
The major problem with this view is that to make schools ?cost-effective,? competitive, and efficient, there has to be ?winners? and ?losers.?? According to CPS, the losers continue to be from groups that have been historically marginalized and isolated.
Currently 51 of the 54 closing schools are in African-American communities classified as ?low income.? Many of these communities have experienced mass depletion of resources and infrastructure while funds have been reallocated to revitalization projects aimed in making Chicago a ?global city.??
As schools are closed, express bus lanes, multi-million art projects, and tourism campaigns are allocated to the central business district. Simultaneously, garbage services and road maintenance have been reduced in the areas where schools are being closed. The maintenance of parking meters have been privatized, while the city is still able to secure a revenue stream through the collection of fees for parking tickets, making the city even less accessible for low-income families. From this type of disinvestment, the city has deemed its outskirts to be a non-desirable periphery that is solely designated for those who will be relegated with minimal access to the aforementioned areas.
Deepening the concept of the disposability of low-income families, CPS has hired Tom Tyrrell, a former Marine colonel whose claim to fame is his success with hostage negotiation in the Kosovo conflict in the mid-1990s. For me this begs a particular question: If the city is equating its low-income communities to war-torn countries, what does it say about the residents of these areas? Are they refugees? Prisoners of war? Enemy combatants? If so, what policies do you put in place for this group of young people?
Unfortunately, in a hyper-segregated city like Chicago with marginalized communities experiencing chronic disinvestment, structural poverty, and food insecurity, the answer is chilling. The city has deemed that jail is the most viable place for these young people. As the eye is currently on Chicago in reference to youth violence, few critiques have posited the current wave of violence as indicative of chronic disinvestment, structural poverty, and food insecurity.
At this moment, crime-fighting strategies are focused on ?getting bad guys off the street? without a systemic understanding of the aforementioned concerns as central to youth violence.?
The closure of 54 schools has the greatest potential to increase violence in our communities. One of the consequences of hyper-segregation via local residential policies is that communities don?t know each other. As a historical consequence, tensions are ?manufactured? when communities resort to protectionism.
Contrary to popular belief, this is not inherent to Black and Latino/a communities. Instead, this can happen in affluent homogenous suburbs. In an environment where individuals are stressed due to lack of infrastructure and basic services, this becomes a perfect storm for conflict.
Deeper police presence will not address these issues in the long-term. More importantly, high mobility rates in education has the potential to make the learning experience of young people even more stressful as they have to adapt to new school cultures.
At the same time I remain thankful for those who have dedicated head, heart, and soul to the fight. My prayer is that the march serves as another reminder to the powers that be that we will not take this lying down. The fight will be long and bloody, but we believe in the necessity of our struggle! ??
Related Stories on TakePart:
? Op-Ed: Watching Our Chicago Schools Close Is ?Like Being Stuck in a Bad Dream?
? What Will the Closure of 61 Chicago School Buildings Mean for Kids?
? What Happens When a Rich and Poor School Share the Same Campus?
David Stovall, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His current projects include participation in Chicagoland Researchers and Advocates for Transformative Education (CReATE) and the Chicago Grassroots Curriculum Taskforce, of which he is a core member. TakePart.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/op-ed-chicago-low-income-families-sick-feeling-175600526.html
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