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Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sergey Brin Thinks Your Smartphone Is for Girls
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Exurban residences impact bird communities up to 200 m away
Feb. 25, 2013 ? According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), impacts to bird communities from a single rural, "exurban" residence can extend up to 200 meters into the surrounding forest. The study also determined that sensitive bird species such as the hermit thrush and scarlet tanager prefer unbroken forests with no houses. Others, like the blue jay and black-capped chickadee, seem to like having, and often thrive with, human neighbors.
As part of the study, scientists sampled the presence of 20 species of birds both near and far from 30 rural residences in the Adirondack Park. Calculating their occurrence at increasing distances from the residences, they determined that "human-adapted" species are 36 percent more likely to occur near the homes than in the surrounding mixed hardwood-conifer forests, and that "human-sensitive" species were 26 percent less likely. Beyond 200 meters, occupancy rates were similar to the surrounding forest.
The report appears in the current online edition of the Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning. Authors of the study are Drs. Michale Glennon and Heidi Kretser of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Rural exurban development is residential development existing outside of cities and towns, and is generally characterized by larger lot sizes (5-40 acres or more) and lower density than suburban development. Exurban residences exist within an otherwise unaltered ecosystem.
Exurban homes change the environment by bringing vehicles, noise, lights, pets, people, and food sources into the forest, as well as by physically altering and fragmenting habitat. These changes can have myriad impacts, including altered species behavior and composition, increased human wildlife conflicts, new predator-prey dynamics, and decreased biotic integrity (a measure of how pristine a wildlife community is).
"Adirondackers take great pride in their surroundings and try not to unduly disturb the natural setting in which they live," said WCS Adirondack Program Science Director Michale Glennon. "A key finding of the study is that the ecological footprint of development can be much larger than its physical footprint. We found that even a small home and lawn can change bird communities some 200 meters away, which means more than 30 acres of the surrounding landscape, depending on what types of activities are occurring on the residential property. It is important that we learn how birds and other wildlife react to particular kinds of human activities, and find ways to minimize the negative impacts for wildlife in exurban areas."
The study found that species sensitive to human impacts include the black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, ovenbird, scarlet tanager and the winter wren. The presence of some species, like the scarlet tanager, are a good indicator of undisturbed forest health.
WCS Livelihoods and Conservation Coordinator Heidi Kretser said, "Some wildlife species are sensitive to exurban development and are less likely to be found near those residences than adapted species. More sensitive and less common species could ultimately be displaced from the area as a result of this kind of development."
The study was modeled after one conducted in a shrub-oak ecosystem in Colorado where scientists calculated a 180-meter ecological effect zone based on their results. Glennon and Kretser believe that the similar results in two different ecosystem types may indicate that human behaviors associated with exurban homes play a larger role in shaping avian community characteristics nearby than do habitat alterations created by construction and clearing.
While breeding bird communities were used to measure the impacts of exurban development in the study, the authors note that birds can serve as valuable indicators of overall biodiversity.
WCS Adirondack Program Director Zoe Smith said, "The Adirondack Park is one of the last large, intact, wild ecosystems in the northeastern United States, and it is becoming increasingly important as we face global threats like climate change. As we strive to find a healthy balance between conservation and the needs of humans within the park, we need to fully understand the impacts of different development patterns. This research is another step toward that understanding and can help inform decisions on development and land-use in this rural landscape."
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wildlife Conservation Society, via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Michale J. Glennon, Heidi E. Kretser. Size of the ecological effect zone associated with exurban development in the Adirondack Park, NY. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2013; 112: 10 DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.12.008
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/Li8Wee4mNTQ/130225131535.htm
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Paul Russell: Euthanasia's euphemisms
Here's a great summary of the changes in language employed by those who support changes to the law. This is a time-honoured campaigning tool for anyone who has ever tried to win an argument - but when dealing with life and death - it's just not appropriate.
When a social movement must rely on euphemisms to obfuscate its goals, it is a good bet that there is something wrong with its agenda. From the very beginning of the modern movement, euthanasia advocates have euphemistically bent language as a means of convincing society to endorse killing?an accurate and descriptive term that simply means to end life?as an acceptable method of ending human suffering.
Euthanasia, from the Greek, literally means ?good death.? As the historian Ian Dowbiggin has noted, the term once described ?a calm and easy? natural death at home, ?so family members and friends could say their farewells.?That changed after an 1870 essay by a teacher named Samuel D. Williams was published arguing that the value of human life depends on whether it is ?worthwhile??an idea known today as the ?quality of life ethic??and moreover, that mercy killing and assisted suicide should be allowed for those who are ?hopelessly suffering.? The essay went viral?to use today?s terminology?and within a few years, the word euthanasia had taken on its modern meaning. The euthanasia movement has been coining new definitions and idioms ever since.
The movement?s latest euphemistic phrase is ?aid in dying,? promoted most prominently by the (euphemistically) named assisted suicide advocacy organization Compassion and Choices (which came into being after a merger with the more descriptively named Hemlock Society). According to C&C, when a terminally ill patient swallows an intentionally prescribed lethal overdose of barbiturates, it isn?t really suicide. Why? Because the word ?suicide? has negative connotations, and C&C wants people to feel positive about some self-killings.
Here?s the idea: A terminally ill patient doesn?t really want to die, but has no choice. Hence, taking an intentionally prescribed lethal overdose of ?medication??another euphemism, since the purpose is not to treat but to poison oneself?doesn?t constitute suicide. Thus, in a C&C press release from a few years ago boosting use of ?aid in dying,? the (late) Peter Goodwin, a prominent assisted suicide-participating doctor, said, ?As a physician, I resent the term ?physician-assisted suicide.? I never felt I was assisting a suicidal patient, but rather aiding a patient with his or her end of life choice.? Since then, ?aid in dying? has become ubiquitous in media stories and assisted suicide advocacy.
Note that Goodwin?s complaint had nothing to do with accuracy and everything to do with emotions. He ?feels? rather than ?thinks.? And that?s how C&C wants listeners and readers to react?emotionally rather than rationally?toward the end that people are more likely to approve of legalizing assisted suicide if it isn?t called what it actually is.
But surely, accurate language must still mean something in public policy debates. Suicide is defined as ?the act or an instance of taking one?s own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind.? Thus, under C&C?s reckoning, if the distraught owner of, say, a failed business intentionally takes an overdose of prescribed sleeping pills, it?s suicide. But if the same man takes the pills because he has cancer, and the doctor prescribed the pills for that purpose, it isn?t suicide. That?s nonsensical.Assisted suicide proponents claim that changing the lexicon is necessary to avoid furthering a supposed stigma associated with suicide. I am not sure whether that stigma exists anymore. But if some suicidal people don?t kill themselves because they worry what others might think, why is that so bad? I mean, the outcome is a saved or extended life. Indeed, many once-suicidal terminally ill people later come to be glad that they didn?t do the deed. Aren?t their lives worth protecting?
I want to make it very clear that I don?t think we should judge or condemn anyone who is suicidal or commits suicide. None of us knows what our own emotional limits might be. Given sufficient despair, fear, or pain, any of us might be attracted to the siren song of self-destruction. The good news is that such causes of despair can often be treated and overcome?including in the dying.
The real issue, then, is how we react to our brothers and sisters who have fallen into a darkness sufficient to make them want to end it all. Should we engage in suicide prevention for all, or only for some? I believe that the dying deserve to have their suicidal desires treated just as seriously as the despairing widow or the troubled teen.
That?s certainly the hospice philosophy, the truly compassionate approach to terminal illness. In contrast to assisted suicide?which is about dying?hospice is about living. Hospice does not seek to simply ?extend life? but maintain its quality to the natural end, and that explicitly includes suicide prevention.Assisted suicide is suicide.The term is descriptive and accurate. When legalized, it amounts to state-approved suicide, an issue too culturally consequential for us to allow gooey euphemisms to serve as the sugar that helps the bitter hemlock go down.
Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute?s Center on Human Exceptionalism. He also consults for the Patients Rights Council and the Center for Bioethics and Culture. His previous ?On the Square? articles can be found here.?Source: http://blog.noeuthanasia.org.au/2013/02/euthanasias-euphemisms.html
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Monday, February 25, 2013
Oscars' Five Funniest Moments: Seth MacFarlane, Halle Berry's 'Pussy Galore'
By Ryan J. Downey
Seth MacFarlane at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702558/oscars-funniest-moments-2013.jhtml
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'Amour' wins Oscar for best foreign language film
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Michael Haneke's brutal depiction of an aging couple, "Amour," has won the Academy Award for best foreign language film.
It's the second time an Austrian film has won the best foreign language film award, following "The Counterfeiters" in 2008.
Though "Amour" was Austria's submission, it was a multinational production. The film's German-born director is Austrian, but it's in French and stars two French film legends, Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant.
They play a loving, elderly Parisian couple, one of whom has a stroke. "Amour" won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and received a total of five Oscar nominations, including best picture.
The other nominees Sunday night were Norway's "Kon-Tiki," Chile's "No," Denmark's "A Royal Affair" and Canada's "War Witch."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amour-wins-oscar-best-foreign-language-film-025334688.html
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Sunday, February 24, 2013
UFC 157 results: Ronda Rousey worried about sports bra as much as Liz Carmouche
UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey had more than opponent Liz Carmouche to worry about in their UFC 157 bout. She was also worried about a possible wardrobe malfunction.
Ronda Rousey proved to UFC fans that she's a force to be reckoned with by pulling off a first-round armbar victory over Liz Carmouche late in the first round of their UFC 157 main event fight. Rousey was in a bit of trouble early in the bout for a couple of reasons though. One was the fact that Carmouche was on her back hunting for a choke. The other was a the threat of a wardrobe malfunction. Rousey explained the situation to Ariel Helwani on Fuel's UFC 157 post-fight show:
"I was thinking about my bra, actually. I kept thinking, I didn't order this one myself, so they gave me my weigh in bra for the fight. If you look back, I was adjusting myself at one point while she was on my back. Multitasking!"
She also went into more detail about the whole UFC experience, and the fight itself:
"I was trying just to ignore everything until I was out there. It was weird. I was in there just yesterday so it felt like a familiar place. It didn't seem odd at all. I think I was less nervous. I think I was most nervous for the Julia Budd fight, way back, I don't know why I was so nervous for that one. On the ground I feel so comfortable. I don't ever feel like I'm in danger, so I don't mind taking a lot of risks. I felt fine with her on my back, I was thinking more about keeping my sports bra up while she is trying to choke me. I felt very safe and in control even though it didn't look like that."
Rousey (7-0) is expected to face the winner of the Cat Zingano-Miesha Tate bout for her next title defense.
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Source: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/2/24/4023638/ufc-157-results-ronda-rousey-sports-bra-liz-carmouche
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North Korea warns U.S. forces of 'destruction' ahead of war drills
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Sunday warned the top U.S. military commander stationed in South Korea that his forces would "meet a miserable destruction" if they go ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korean troops, North Korean state media said.
Pak Rim-su, chief delegate of the North Korean military mission to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, gave the message by phone to Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, KCNA news agency said.
It came amid escalating tension on the divided Korean peninsula after the North's third nuclear test earlier this month, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, drew harsh international condemnation.
A direct message from the North's Panmunjom mission to the U.S. commander is rare.
North and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
The U.S.-South Korean Combined Forces Command is holding an annual computer-based simulation war drill, Key Resolve, from March 11 to 25, involving 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 U.S. troops.
The command also plans to hold Foal Eagle joint military exercises involving land, sea and air manoeuvres. About 200,000 Korean troops and 10,000 U.S. forces are expected to be mobilized for the two month-long exercise which starts on March 1.
"If your side ignites a war of aggression by staging the reckless joint military exercises...at this dangerous time, from that moment your fate will be hung by a thread with every hour," Pak was quoted as saying.
"You had better bear in mind that those igniting a war are destined to meet a miserable destruction."
Washington and Seoul regularly hold military exercises which they say are purely defensive. North Korea, which has stepped up its bellicose threats towards the United States and South Korea in recent months, sees them as rehearsals for invasion.
North Korea threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a debate at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Sung-won Shim; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-warns-u-forces-destruction-ahead-war-071306123.html
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Smarter lunchrooms make lunch choices child's play
Feb. 22, 2013 ? In January 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture passed a series of regulations designed to make school lunches more nutritious, which included requiring schools to increase whole grain offerings and making students select either a fruit or vegetable with their purchased lunch. However, children cannot be forced to eat these healthier lunches. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers determined that small, inexpensive changes to school cafeterias influenced the choice and consumption of healthier foods.
Andrew S. Hanks, PhD, and colleagues from the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (B.E.N. Center) studied the effects of multiple small interventions, called the smarter lunchroom makeover, in the cafeterias of two junior-senior high schools (grades 7-12) in western New York. In the lunchroom, changes were implemented to improve the convenience and attractiveness of fruits and vegetables (e.g., fresh fruit next to the cash register in nice bowls or tiered stands) and make the selection of fruits and vegetables seem standard through verbal cues from cafeteria staff (e.g., "Would you like to try an apple?"). The smarter lunchroom makeover took no more than 3 hours in one afternoon and cost less than $50 to implement. These types of changes are applications of the behavioral science principle termed "libertarian paternalism," which promotes influencing choice through behavioral cues, while preserving choices.
To measure the impact of the smarter lunchroom makeover, researchers recorded what was left on trays after lunch, both before and after the intervention. After the smarter lunchroom makeover, students were 13% more likely to take fruits and 23% more likely to take vegetables. Actual fruit consumption increased by 18% and vegetable consumption increased by 25%; students were also more likely to eat the whole serving of fruit or vegetables (16% and 10%, respectively).
These low-cost, yet effective interventions could significantly influence healthier behaviors, potentially helping to offset childhood obesity trends. Dr. Hanks notes, "This not only preserves choice, but has the potential to lead children to develop lifelong habits of selecting and consuming healthier foods even when confronted with less healthy options." These simple changes could also be effective in the cafeterias of other organizations, including hospitals, companies, and retirement homes.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier Health Sciences, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Andrew S. Hanks, David R. Just, Brian Wansink. Smarter Lunchrooms Can Address New School Lunchroom Guidelines and Childhood Obesity. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.12.031
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/living_well/~3/NL8iUcd4N1I/130222083125.htm
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New generation of governors seeking the limelight
WASHINGTON (AP) ? For governors with national ambitions, this is pad ? and promote ? your record time.
Republicans Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is trying to ditch his state's income tax while Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is working to shift people off his state's Medicaid rolls and onto private insurance. They are among the Republicans trying to claim an outside-the-Beltway mantle in a GOP lacking a single standard bearer.
Their Democratic counterparts, like Martin O'Malley of Maryland and Andrew Cuomo of New York, are putting themselves at the vanguard of Democratic wish lists ? from gay marriage and gun control to manufacturing jobs and capital punishment ? as they seek to be seen as a voice on issues paramount to a diverse coalition of minorities, women and young people that twice elected President Barack Obama.
These are the sort of politics that will be the subtext during the annual National Governors Association meeting in Washington, where governors are gathering amid another standoff between the White House and congressional Republicans over deep spending cuts. The timing gives governors, especially those jockeying to be seen as leaders of their respective parties, the chance to point to their stewardship of tight state budgets and policy agendas as Washington is mired in gridlock.
Several governors face re-election in 2014 ? Republican Chris Christie goes before New Jersey voters later this year ? and the races will become part of the so-called "invisible primary" for those looking to build a national following among party activists and financial donors for their upcoming campaigns, if not for a future presidential one someday. Those with aspirations beyond their states are mindful that a leadership vacuum exists in the GOP and that one is on the horizon in the Democratic Party, too, given that Obama is in his second term.
"Any way you slice it, governors writ large, and Republican governors in particular, are spearheading robust policy agendas that are making real change to the bottom line of their states," said Phil Musser, a GOP strategist and former executive director of the Republican Governors Association.
Republicans hold a majority of governor's mansions and view the states as models of conservative governing. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has made transportation funding reform a key piece of his legislative agenda as he seeks to grapple with growing road-and-bridge costs. Ohio's economy has rebounded during Gov. John Kasich's term, and he has promoted plans to overhaul the state's tax code and school funding system.
Jindal, in his second term at age 41, has built up a record of ethics reforms, cuts to business taxes and his state's response to the devastating BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He has proposed eliminating the state income tax ? a move cheered on by conservatives ? by raising sales taxes and possibly boosting tobacco taxes and broadening the list of services taxed by the state. An Indian-American, the governor also has been pitching ways for the GOP to reach out to minorities and working-class voters. And he regularly urges his former colleagues in Congress ? he was a House member ? to move beyond a debate over who can better manage the federal government.
Christie is seeking re-election in Democratic-tilting New Jersey. Blunt and straight-talking, he has seen his approval ratings soar since Superstorm Sandy and has been working to broaden his appeal with an anti-Washington message while vowing to avoid the "old ways of wasteful spending and rising taxes."
Democrats hope this year's campaign in New Jersey will expose what they contend is a weak record on the economy ? the state's unemployment rate was 9.6 percent in December, well above the national average ? and ratchet up support for state Sen. Barbara Buono, Christie's likely opponent.
In Wisconsin, Walker, who survived a union-led campaign to recall him from office, has proposed changes to the state's Medicaid plan in the aftermath of Obama's health care law. Instead of simply expanding Medicaid, a move opposed by conservatives, Walker wants to lower his state's income-eligibility rate and make other changes that he says will reduce the number of people on Medicaid but still cut the number of uninsured. State Democrats are wary of the plan.
Among Democrats, at least two governors who appear to have aspirations beyond their states ? Cuomo and O'Malley ? are pushing progressive agendas that pull the heartstrings of the party faithful even as many activists wait to see whether former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton or Vice President Joe Biden will try to succeed Obama.
Cuomo has sky-high approval ratings and a long list of accomplishments that include pushing same-sex marriage and enacting the first gun control measure in the nation following the Connecticut school massacre.
O'Malley has portrayed his time as Baltimore mayor and Maryland's governor as indicative of a results-oriented approach. He regularly promotes his state's strong record on education and pushes for gay marriage and gun control. O'Malley has most recently pushed for Maryland to abolish the death penalty.
___
Follow Ken Thomas at: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas
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Thursday, February 21, 2013
Mali rebels fighting in Gao; car explodes in Kidal
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? Islamic extremists clashed with military in Mali's northern city of Gao, a military official said Thursday, as French forces continued their push to eliminate remnants of al-Qaida-linked fighters who had controlled northern Mali.
Malian military spokesman Capt. Daouda Diarra said that fighters with the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO, attacked a Gao checkpoint late Wednesday and made their way into the city. The fighters are trying to gain control of the mayor's office, but the army has tried to repel the attacks, he said.
In Kidal, a town further north where control by French and Chad forces has been tentative, a car explosion in a mechanics garage killed two, including the driver and a security guard, a resident said.
Mossa Ansary said Thursday's explosion took place about 800 meters (875 yards) from a French military base. It was unclear if it was a suicide car bombing. French and Chadian forces are patrolling the city of Kidal, though it remains unclear if the northern administrative capital is secure.
Radical Islamic fighters spent weeks on the run from Malian cities under a French ground and air assault that began Jan. 11 after the rebels had pushed to southern territories. The French, meanwhile, are tightening a dragnet against the al-Qaida-linked militants in one of their last remaining redoubts, mountain sanctuaries near Algeria's border.
France's main military spokesman on Thursday said that a French Tigre attack helicopter fired on a pickup truck containing jihadist fighters during clashes in rugged northern Mali, killing about 10 insurgents.
Col. Thierry Burkhard said the firefight on Wednesday in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountain range, near the Algeria border, came in the third day of an operation code-named "Panther," as French forces track and try to eliminate the Islamic extremists.
Burkhard said the operation is ongoing in the area. More than 20 insurgents and one French legionnaire died in similar clashes on Tuesday.
France's government has said it still hopes to pull out of its Mali operation in the coming weeks ? eager for African forces to help stabilize the impoverished West African country. But the French President said that France will "go all the way ? that's to say, arresting the last terrorist chiefs in northern Mali."
Gao Mayor Sadou Diallo said about 1,000 French troops are in the Gao region, along with about 3,000 Malian and African soldiers.
U.N. discussions about an African force for Mali have been under way for months, alongside efforts for a European Union training mission to help the Malian military.
___
Associated Press reporter Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mali-rebels-fighting-gao-car-explodes-kidal-143856635.html
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NFL Mock Draft 2013: Are the Lions going to find their Mingo star?
Detroit is looking like a team in need of at least one pass-rusher, if not several. This draft sets up nicely with their fifth overall pick.
The Detroit Lions gave Cliff Avril the franchise tag last season and he came up with a respectable 9.5 sacks. That's good but it might not be enough to guarantee Avril another franchise tag, even if Detroit desperately needs a better pass-rushing attack and has already cut veteran Kyle Vanden Bosch. With Lawrence Jackson also hitting free agency, what will the Lions do to improve the pass rush?
For more on the Lions free agency and draft news, check out Pride of Detroit
Their biggest play during the offseason will likely come during April's NFL Draft, where the Lions hold the fifth overall pick after a disappointing 4-12 season under Jim Schwartz. While Schwartz has managed to keep his job, he probably won't hold that position if Detroit doesn't get back to .500 next season. That's going to depend a lot on finding better players on the defense, and that player could be LSU OLB/DE Barkevious Mingo. Rob Rang mocked Mingo to the Lions in his latest draft projection:
The Lions could do the same this year but would still have depth concerns with backup Lawrence Jackson also entering free agency and 34-year old Kyle Vanden Bosch coming off the least productive season of his career. Mingo, 6-4, 240, lacks polish but possesses jaw-dropping athleticism. Considering the NFC North's passing attacks, the defensive tackle talent already on the roster, and the fact that Detroit's home games at Ford Field are on turf, Mingo's speed off the edge could translate into turnovers.
Even if Mingo isn't the pick, the Lions have plenty of options at that position in this years draft pool. Bjoern Werner, Damontre Moore, Mingo, Jarvis Jones, and Alec Ogletree are just a few names at the top of perhaps the most talented positional group in the 2013 draft.
This Lion might have a really big Bark... evious.
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Source: http://detroit.sbnation.com/2013/2/21/4010848/2013-nfl-mock-draft-lions-barkevious-mingo
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The Internet's Secret Police Come Out Of The Shadows | Fast ...
There?s an invisible war happening on the Internet, and with the exception of a few recent, high-profile cases, you've only noticed one side?s victories.
Mostly, you're sucked into it when your password gets stolen, an ad you click sells you counterfeit goods, or your malware-infected friend emails you a link to an Eastern European fake Cialis store. But you almost never think of this stuff when it's not happening to you.
Last year, Google shut down 224 million ads promoting sketchy goods or websites. Pinterest recently purged so many spam bots that follower counts fell across the network. And despite being cited as access points for phishing and other hacker attacks, Facebook prevents bad guys from accessing 600,000 accounts using stolen passwords every day.
Dedicating significant resources to protecting online products is the modern cost of doing business for large Internet companies. Only recently, however, have they started to really talk about it.
?When I first started talking to people about this a year ago,? says David Baker, who as the director of engineering for advertising overseas ad security, ?a lot of the questions were, ?okay, Google is finally doing something about this??I had to explain to them that, no, we?ve been working in this space for many years, pretty much as long as Google has had advertising.? In 2009, for instance, Baker's team shut down a group of sites that were selling digital cameras at prices that looked good--until a follow-up call suggested customers also buy batteries and other accessories that should have already been included. More recently, it caught scammers in China who were posting ads for used cars they didn?t own and then filling orders by stealing them.
Baker, who has long blond hair and a jovial demeanor, doesn't look like the character a movie director might cast as an engineer. A request he made about 18 months ago similarly swung outside the stereotype. He wanted to talk to people. More specifically, he wanted to talk about Google's ad security work. ?I could see her initial reaction was one of apprehension,? he says of the first Google PR person he talked with about the idea. ?Here?s this long-haired hippie freak engineer who wants to talk about all these nasty things on the Internet.?
But soon, Baker says, she got more excited about the idea than he was. Google had discussed its ad security efforts before, but last year it started publishing stats about the bad ads it blocked. The search giant wasn?t alone in raising the profile of its ad security efforts. AOL, Facebook, Google, and Twitter, along with the Interactive Advertising Bureau, launched the Ads Integrity Alliance in 2012 with goals to share information about bad ads and a very public launch.
Other security teams across the Internet's most popular services say they've noticed a similar shift, if not as formal of one. "In the security world I think, it used to be that companies were afraid to acknowledge that anything bad ever happened,? says Joe Sullivan, who oversees about 200 employees as Facebook's chief security officer. ?But when it comes to security on the Internet, I think we all understand the reality now is that every legitimate site on the Internet is under constant attack.?
Even President Barack Obama acknowledged that a new cyber war could be much more than a government problem. Shortly after it was revealed that the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other prominent news organizations had been hacked, and shortly before a report showed a secretive unit of the Chinese military was believed to be involved in stealing data from U.S. organizations, President Obama signed an executive order that would allow intelligence about cyber warfare to be shared with private companies.
Sullivan's team at Facebook handles everything from subpoenas to malware. In December, it worked with the FBI to shut down a botnet that had infected 11 million computers, a portion of which belonged to Facebook users. But when I bring up this incident, what I assume to be an achievement, to Sullivan, e-crimes manager Mat Henley and Internet threat researcher Mark Hammel, there?s no boasting. ?Ideally, none [of our efforts would be public], Sullivan explains later. ?The goal is, we don?t like when we?re in clean up mode.? We prevent the problems from happening.?
He chalks up some increasing visibility of his security team to simply being proactive. Cases where Facebook reaches out to law enforcement, like the botnet case, are more likely to be publicized. "You have to find a balance," he says. "You have to build really strong walls. But you want to set up an environment where people don?t try to crawl over the walls."
Del Harvey, Twitter's director of trust and safety, says Internet companies as a whole have been started to be more open about their natural limitations. If someone is sending harassing messages online and says they're going to show up in person, for instance, users should get law enforcement involved. "Even if we suspend their account, that is not going to stop their car," she says. "If they are driving to your house, it?s not like, 'Oooh, engine shut off. They must have killed my Facebook.' It doesn?t work that way. And not acknowledging that reality is absolutely doing users a disservice." She's also taken to noting at industry conferences the fact that--with fake email addresses, disposable phone numbers, and proxy servers--no user can be permanently blocked.
Sullivan may have noticed a widespread understanding that malicious behavior exists everywhere on the web, but to Baker, who works only with ads, there's still a long way to go before talking about online mischief--blocked or otherwise--doesn't come as a shock to most people. "I don?t think that enough people are aware of the stress that exists on the entire Internet, beyond Google," he says. "I don?t think there is a broad common recognition that you need to protect yourself from threats."
The reality, however, is that sites like Google, Facebook, Twitter and others couldn?t exist without their mischief patrol teams. Facebook's security team just laughs when I bring up their hypothetical nonexistence. ?We would have been overrun by spam," Twitter's Harvey says.
[Image: Flickr user David Goehring]
Source: http://www.fastcompany.com/3005966/internets-secret-police-come-out-shadows
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Georgia execution halted at the last minute
JACKSON, Ga. (AP) ? The execution of a Georgia man who killed a fellow prisoner in 1990 was halted Tuesday at the last minute so courts could consider claims that he's mentally disabled and other issues.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted its stay of execution as 52-year-old Warren Lee Hill was being prepared for lethal injection. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the appeals court said further review is needed of recent affidavits by doctors who changed their minds about Hill's mental capacity.
"In other words, all of the experts ? both the State's and the petitioner's ? now appear to be in agreement that Hill is in fact mentally retarded," judges in the majority wrote in their order.
The state court of appeals also issued a stay to allow more time to consider a challenge related to the state's lethal injection procedure.
Earlier in the day, the state parole board, the Supreme Court of Georgia and the U.S. Supreme Court had all declined to stop the execution.
"We are greatly relieved that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the execution of Warren Hill, a person with mental retardation. All the doctors who have examined Mr. Hill are unanimous in their diagnosis of mental retardation," defense attorney Brian Kammer said in an email.
A spokeswoman for the state attorney general declined comment.
Hill was sentenced to die for the 1990 beating death of fellow inmate Joseph Handspike. Authorities say he used a board studded with nails to bludgeon Handspike while he slept and other prisoners pleaded with Hill to stop. At the time Hill was already serving a life sentence for murder in the 1986 slaying of his girlfriend, Myra Wright, who had been shot 11 times.
Hill has received support from various activists and from former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn.
"Georgia should not violate its own prohibition against executing individuals with serious diminished capacity," President Carter said in a statement.
Hill was originally set to be executed in July, but the state delayed his execution when it changed its execution procedure from a three-drug combination to a one-drug method. The state Supreme Court then further delayed the execution after Hill's lawyers filed a challenge saying corrections officials violated administrative procedure when they made the change. The state's high court earlier this month denied that challenge, and Hill's execution was reset for Tuesday.
Hill's lawyers argue that he is mentally disabled and therefore shouldn't be executed. The state maintains that the defense failed to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Hill is mentally disabled.
Death penalty defendants in Georgia have to prove they are mentally disabled beyond a reasonable doubt to avoid execution, the strictest standard in the country. Hill's lawyers have said the high standard for proving mental disability is problematic because psychiatric diagnoses are subject to a degree of uncertainty that is virtually impossible to overcome. But Georgia's strict standard has repeatedly been upheld by state and federal courts.
Georgia passed a law in 1988 prohibiting the execution of mentally disabled death row inmates, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the execution of mentally disabled offenders is unconstitutional.
Hill's lawyers last week released new sworn statements from the three doctors who examined Hill in 2000 and testified before the court that he was not mentally disabled. The doctors wrote in their new statements that they were rushed in their evaluation at the time, they have acquired additional experience and that there have been scientific developments in the intervening 12 years. All three reviewed facts and documents in the case and wrote that they now believe that Hill is mentally disabled.
The state questioned the credibility of the doctors' statements. These doctors met with Hill and reviewed extensive documentation in the case in 2000, but they haven't seen him since and didn't have significant new information in front of them during their recent review, the state argued. Therefore, it is not credible that they are able to refute the testimony they were so adamant about in 2000, the state argued.
The state has cited expert testimony and IQ tests that concluded Hill was not mentally disabled. Before trial, Hill's family members described him as "the leader of the family" and "a father figure," the state notes. He was not in special education classes and served in the Navy, where he received promotions, the state said.
The defense has referenced a state court judge's assessment that Hill was mentally disabled and a test that showed his IQ to be about 70. The defense also cited expert testimony that it is not unusual for someone who is mildly mentally disabled to be able to function at a satisfactory level in an environment as structured as the military. With the new statements from the three doctors last week, all doctors who examined him now agree that Hill is mentally disabled, Hill's defense argued.
___
Associated Press writer Christina Almeida Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/georgia-execution-halted-last-minute-015424413.html
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Monday, February 18, 2013
New system for composite automotive mass production | JEC ...
Such demand is driven by the need to reduce CO2 emissions and by the automotive OEM requirement to lower manufacturing costs through reduced cycle times, which will make carbon composites cost-competitive for mass production.
As the first qualified supplier of resin systems for the first real composite application for a mass production car, Huntsman will showcase its new Araldite? system designed for the high-pressure RTM process, allowing a 5-minute ?part-to-part? production cycle, which corresponds to more than 30% time saving in comparison to the first-generation HP-RTM commercial system.
http://www.jeccomposites.com/news/composites-news/new-system-composite-automotive-mass-production
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