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Sunday, June 30, 2013
$30,894, 2013 Ford F-150 Best deal in town
Posted: Saturday, June 29, 2013 8:03 PM
? Location: Cincinnati
? Post ID: 14637696 ohio
Source: http://ohio.backpage.com/AutosForSale/30894-2013-ford-f-150-best-deal-in-town/14637696
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Swarm Releases New POS Add-Ons For Retailers
Retail Pro And Other Leading POS Providers Get Enhanced Analytics from Swarm
Press Release:
San Francisco, CA:?After months of testing at independent bike, surf, skate and snow shops in the US and Canada Swarm has released new point of sale (POS) add-ons compatible with Retail Pro, MerchantOS, Microsoft Dynamics, and several additional leading POS providers.
Shops using Swarm will now be able to measure customer foot traffic, conversion rates, dwell time, as well as view dashboards for all of their transactional data ? gross/net revenue, top-selling categories and more. The data is accessible from anywhere and can be viewed on any device.
Chain stores can get a birds eye view across all stores through a global dashboard. Swarm is already in use by hundreds of core shops nationwide and has expanded into mid-size chains including all O?Neill flagship stores and outlets.
?We?ve been chasing the idea of conversion rates and a realistic count of shoppers for years.? said Charlie McCormick, owner of City Bikes in Washington DC. ?There is nothing out there in the market for retailers that is effective like this.?
?Having all my store data right there at my fingertips makes running the business easier? said Sam Radkovich, owner of Lakeside Bicycles in Lake Oswego, Oregon ?I don?t have to run nine different reports every day to see how we did.?
In the coming months Swarm is releasing additional tools to help brick and mortar retailers better understand their customers and operations.
?We?re passionate about providing tools to help great retailers exceed their potential.? said Ryan Denehy, co-founder and EVP, Business Development at Swarm ?This is just the beginning. We?re psyched to work with so many great shop owners and look forward to significant growth throughout the balance of the year.?
Shops can try the solution free for the next 30 days by visiting this link: http://swarm-mobile.com/getstarted
For more information please contact:
EVP, Sales and Business Development
Swarm
www.swarm-mobile.com
TAGS: action sports retailers, MerchantOS, Microsoft Dynamics, oneill, point of sale, POS, retail news, Retail Pro, Ryan Denehy, swarm, swarm mobile
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
US checking reports of American killed in Egyptian protests
AFP-Getty Images
Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi burn a Freedom and Justice Party office Friday in Alexandria, Egypt.
By M. Alex Johnson and Jeff Black, NBC News
A U.S. citizen killed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt, site of anti-government protests, was identified as Andrew Pochter, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo told NBC News on Saturday.
Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, said the 21-year-old student was from Chevy Chase, Md.
In a statement, the school said Pochter was an intern at AMIDEAST, a nonprofit group not affiliated with Kenyon that is engaged in international education, training and development.
"We are providing appropriate consular assistance from our Embassy in Cairo and our Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department," a State Department said.
Al Jazeera and Reuters, both quoting doctors and Egyptian security officials, and the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported Friday that Pochter died from a stab wound to the chest in Alexandria.
Gen. Amin Ezzeddin, a senior security official in Alexandria, told Reuters that the American was using a mobile phone camera near an office of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood as it was being attacked by protesters. He died at a military hospital, Ezzeddin said.
At least 80 other people have been wounded in the Alexandria protests, MENA reported.
The protests are part of the buildup to nationwide "June 30" demonstrations marking a year since Morsi's election. Morsis opponents hope to force early presidential elections, citing a range of social and economic issues.
Morsi's supporters have promised that they will also take to the streets to defend the Muslim Brotherhood-backed government.
"There are no services. We can't find diesel or gasoline," Mohamed Abdel Latif, an accountant, told Reuters. "We elected Morsi, but this is enough."
Charlene Gubash of NBC News contributed to this report from Cairo, Egypt.
Related:
This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 4:45 PM EDT
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Only four sign up for Green Deal
27 June 2013
Last updated at 10:16 ET
Only four people have so far signed up to a flagship government scheme to make homes more energy-efficient.
The Green Deal, which was launched six months ago, was designed to provide measures such as home insulation.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said just four households have "pending" green deal plans.
However, DECC said that with more finance providers in place, it expected a steady rise in numbers.
In total it said there had been 38,259 Green Deal assessments, where customers are given initial advice about what energy improvements they might be eligible for.
Of those, 241 households have confirmed they would like to proceed with work.
Continue reading the main story?Start Quote
End Quote Greg Barker Minister for Energy and Climate ChangeIt will take time as this brand-new market finds its legs.?
A spokesman for DECC told the BBC that "some" of the four people who have signed up to the Green Deal will have had building work completed, but he was not able to be more precise.
"A slow start should have been expected for the Green Deal, but it has clearly not fired consumers' imaginations," said Mike O'Connor of the watchdog Consumer Futures.
FinanceThe government said there had been a delay in getting finance providers approved, with only five lenders signed up so far.
"The very first wave of Green Deal finance providers have only just got their individual finance terms and conditions in place," said Greg Barker, Minister for Energy and Climate Change.
But he said he expected 50 loan providers to be approved by the end of the year.
"It will take time as this brand-new market finds its legs, but I now expect the number of plans signed to start steadily rising," he said.
But Labour said the figures were proof that the scheme was not working.
"The Green Deal was billed as the biggest home improvements programme since World War 2, but these figures show it is failing," said Luciana Berger, shadow minister for energy and climate change.
"Households need help with their energy bills now - not in 10 years' time," she added.
Under the Green Deal, householders take out loans to finance improvements such as double-glazing, or more efficient boilers.
The idea is that the energy savings they make should more than compensate for the repayments.
The loan remains with the property, not the individual.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23081896#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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BBM still coming to Android before the end of the summer
BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins this morning on the company's quarterly earnings call reminded us that BBM — that's BlackBerry Messenger — will be available for Android and iOS "before the end of the summer."
He didn't give any further details, and it's worth noting that summer officially is all of a week old.
More: CrackBerry earnings call liveblog
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/IUmEHHo58LI/story01.htm
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Friday, June 28, 2013
Credit Cards And Personal Finance: Tips For Finding Balance | Loan
TIP! Never spend more than can be repaid when you are using your credit cards. It can be easy to run up a huge debt without realizing it, unless you keep tabs on how much you?re spending.
Let?s face it, in today?s society, consumers need all the advice they can get on managing their finances and avoiding the pitfalls presented by over-spending! Credit cards can either be an excellent tool for building your financial life or a great service when used properly.Continue reading for great credit card tips.
If you do not have credit and want a credit card, consider getting a co-signer. This can be anyone who trusts you, like a relative or close friend. This person needs to be willing to agree to paying the balance if you don?t make the payments. This is one of the best ways to land your first card and start building a good credit score.
TIP! It is common for credit cards to be linked to loyalty or affinity programs. If you regularly use a credit card, it is essential that you find a loyalty program that is useful for you.
Never use a credit card for purchases that cost far more than you have to spend. While it?s suitable to pay for an item that you can afford to pay for later, you should avoid using credit to purchase big ticket items that you are going to run into problems paying for.
Do not have a pin number or password that would be easy for someone to guess. It can be a huge mistake if it?s something like your birthday, middle name, or child?s name since anyone can obtain this information.
Credit Score
If you have damaged your credit, think about getting a credit card that is secured. Cards like these need a collateral. In other words, you will be borrowing money that is yours while paying interest for this privilege. Not a very good idea, unless you are trying to fix your credit score. When you are going to apply for one of these secured credit cards, make certain the company you choose is reputable. They might offer you better cards later which can further enhance your credit score.
TIP! A lot of people don?t get credit cards so it looks like they have no debt. Maintaining the use of one or more credit cards responsibly is the only way to build your credit.
Only open a credit card at a retail store cards with merchants you shop there often. Every credit inquiry impacts your credit score, this action is recorded. Too many retail store inquiries can make your credit score.
Speak with the company you have your credit card through in order to get your interest rates lowered. If you have a positive credit history with the company, they may be willing to reduce the interest they are charging you. It could save you a lot of money and there is no cost to asking for it.
TIP! Research all of the charges that a credit card company may include with an offer. Look beyond interest rates.
The majority of people do not manage their bank cards in the proper manner.While some situations understandably cause debt, there are many people who abuse the privileges and end up with payments they cannot afford. The very best thing that you can do is pay off your entire balance every single month. This will allow you to use your credit rating.
Be certain you monitor card transactions carefully. You can even get mobile alerts if they are available. That way, you can question irregular activity on your account right away. Contact your bank if you learn of activity you didn?t authorize. You may also need to contact police.
TIP! Don?t pay a bill with that particular credit card. Sometimes, in desperation, card owners will use cash advances to get themselves through a month that they cannot afford to make any credit card payments.
Make sure you know your card?s interest rate will be with a given credit card.You must understand the interest charges your card will bring before you agree to accept it.
Ask for reduced interest rates and fees if you miss a payment or make it late. A late payment often results in rate hikes and penalty fees on your entire account. Communicating with your card company can often help you deal with such punitive measures; you can often get extra charges cut down.
Creditors use your credit score to determine what type of card to offer you. The best bank cards are offered to people with great scores.
There is a spending limit for almost every credit card. Ensure that you stay within this limit and use your card only when you need to. Spending up to the limit on your cards is harmful in the long term, because you will have no financial cushion for emergencies.
Many thieves say they got their cards from mailboxes when those boxes did not lock.
Be sure not to apply for more credit cards than you need. Having too many credit cards will make it next to impossible to control your finances and can make it very complicated. Also, if you have lots of unsecured credit at your disposal, you are more likely to buy things you don?t need and run up huge amounts of debt.
TIP! It is a good idea to review the receipt of all of your credit card purchases, and the time to do it is right at the check-out stand. This way, all information will be fresh in your mind.
Retain a sales receipt when making online purchases with your credit card online.Keep these receipts and compare them with your statement to make sure the correct amount.File a dispute if there is any discrepancy. This is necessary to ensure you don?t get overcharged for any purchases.
Do not apply for rewards cards unless you have a good credit history. These cards encourage excessive spending to get rewards, and you can end up with credit problems if you overspend. It is much better to start with a low-limit credit card than with one that offers rewards.
TIP! Don?t use a credit card for withdrawing cash from the ATM or for buying casino chips. There are typically high fees associated with cash advances, and you will most likely being paying interest on the cash the instant you take it out.
Never leave blank spots when signing credit card receipts. If there is a blank for a tip, mark a line across the area to ensure nobody adds in an unauthorized amount. Make sure your statement matches the purchases you make.
Take precautions to only use credit when you have no other alternative. Use your debit card when you can. Save your credit card purchases for big ticket items such as a computer or television. Small purchases like forgotten items at the store should be purchased using debit instead. Using the debit card for smaller purchases saves money.
Do not buy anything with your credit card purchases on a public computers. Only use your own computer.
If you are using more than one credit card, determine how they rank in terms of APR when deciding which one to use. Try to use the card with the lowest interest before the ones with higher interest. If at all possible, you need to reduce the amount of your monthly credit card debt. However, if you need to carry a balance, using the cards with the lowest APR can reduce the amount you spend on interest payments.
Interest Rates
The credit card company should be contacted the very minute that you find that you have misplaced your credit card. In most cases, you will only be held accountable for the initial $50 in unauthorized purchases made by the person who stole your card, but it is always best to involve the proper authorities as soon as possible.
Don?t believe that any interest rates they offer you is concrete and cannot be changed. Credit card issuers have several interest rates they can offer to customers. If your interest rate is high, make a call to the bank and talk to them about it.
Do not make a payment on your credit card right after you charge an item. This will help to improve your payment history and give you a better credit score.
This may make you to overspend because you are not aware of how high your balance is.
Review credit card statements closely. Report any inaccuracies to your credit company right away. This can help to prevent you from paying more than you really owe and it is possible that it might help your credit score.
Never lie about your income to get a high limit.There are some creditors that won?t verify how much income you make and raise your limit regardless, which often leads to higher limits that are difficult to control.
After having used your secured credit card responsibly over a period of time, some companies will offer you cards that are unsecured. You will also find that you start receiving mail offers in the mail. You will now need to re-assess your use and circumstances after a thorough evaluation of the situation.
Close any credit accounts that you don?t use. Keeping unused accounts open exposes you to become a victim to identity theft. You could be charged fees on something that you?re not using.
Credit Card
Keep a running total of your credit card and look at it often.Doing this will keep you aware of how much you have spent and on what. It is easy to ignore our own behavior and let our credit card spending escalate until it is out of control.
Pay your credit card expenses in full every month. Unless your credit card has percent interest, you will get a finance charge put on your bill when it is not paid for completely. If you only try to pay the minimum amount monthly, it will take you a longer to pay off the amount owed because of finance charges.
Use your bank cards often to ensure you don?t wish to lose them. If they lie dormant, they can close it with very little warning.
Credit Card
Do not pay any money up front unless you are getting a credit card.Not a single card company asks for fees upfront. You should also avoid giving someone money to assist you with procuring credit card. If you have decent to good credit, you will not have issues getting one by yourself.
Be sure that you?re making your payments each month. Most credit card companies charge late fees for being late. If you?re late or miss several payments, the fee could become higher each time.
Frequently, consumers are left to their own devices when it comes to finances, and they often are victims of high interest rates on their bank cards. It is to be hoped that this article imparted some useful financial information to help you navigate the world of credit.
Source: http://loanfinance.info/credit-cards-and-personal-finance-tips-for-finding-balance
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
Obama: No wheeling or dealing to extradite Snowden
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? President Barack Obama says he won't engage in wheeling, dealing and trading to get NSA leaker Edward Snowden extradited to the U.S.
Obama says he also won't be scrambling military jets to go after a 29-year-old hacker, rejecting suggestions the U.S. might send the Air Force to force down a plane carrying Snowden from Russia to another country.
Obama says he hasn't personally called the leaders of Russia or of China. He says he shouldn't have to. He says expelling a criminal is something that should be dealt with through routine legal channels.
Obama says the fact Snowden obtained the secret documents shows significant vulnerabilities at the National Security Agency. He says the damage that's been done is that NSA programs to obtain phone and Internet records have been exposed.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-no-wheeling-dealing-extradite-snowden-115318521.html
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High school seniors fare no better than in 1970s
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Students preparing to leave high school are faring no better in reading or math than their peers four decades ago, the government said Thursday. Officials attributed the bleak finding on more lower-performing students staying in school rather than dropping out.
The news was brighter for younger students and for blacks and Hispanics, who had the greatest gain in reading and math scores since the 1970s, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly referred to as the Nation's Report Card.
"In some ways, the findings are full of hope. Today's children ages 9 and 13 are scoring better overall than students at those ages in the early '70s," said Brent Houston, principal of the Shawnee Middle School in Oklahoma and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which administers the tests.
But he also noted challenges for older students.
"There is a disturbing lack of improvement among 17-year-olds. Since the early 1970s, the average scores of 17-year-olds in both reading and mathematics have remained stagnant," he said.
The report says that in reading, today's 9- and 13-year-olds are outperforming students tested in 1971, when that skill was first tracked. They also did better in math, compared with students in 1973, the initial measurement.
Officials suggest the results for 17-year-old students reflect fewer low-performing students dropping out.
For instance, Hispanic students had a 32 percent dropout rate in 1990 and that number fell to 15 percent in 2010, said Peggy Carr, an associate commissioner with the National Center for Education Statistics.
"These students are generally scoring at the lower end of the distribution but it's a good thing that they're staying in schools," Carr said.
Even so, they're still not learning more despite increased education spending.
"Today's results are the nation's education electrocardiogram and show positive results for the early grades and increased performance by students of color, but the nation's high school students are in desperate need of serious attention," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia.
"Today's economic trends show the rapidly growing need for college- and career-ready students. These results show that most of the nation's 17-year-olds are career ready, but only if you're talking about jobs from the 1970s," he added.
Black and Hispanic students at all ages narrowed the performance gap with white students, according to the report.
Among 17-year-old students, the gaps between black and white students and between Hispanic and white students were cut by half.
In math, 9-year-old black and Hispanic students today are performing at a level where black and Hispanic 13-year-olds were in the early 1970s.
"Black and Hispanic children have racked up some of the biggest gains of all," said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, an advocacy organization. "These results very clearly put to rest any notion our schools are getting worse. In fact, our schools are getting better for every group of students that they serve."
The overall composition of classrooms is changing as well.
Among 13-year-old students, 80 percent were white in 1978. By 2012, that number fell to 56 percent. The number of Hispanics roughly tripled from 6 percent in 1978 to 21 percent in 2012.
"Over a 40-year period, an awful lot changes in our education system," said Jack Buckley, the chief of the National Center for Education Statistics.
While most groups of students saw their scores climb since 1971, the same cannot be said when comparing 2008 results with 2012. The 9-year-old and 17-year-old students saw no changes and only Hispanic and female 13-year-olds showed improvement in reading and math.
The 2012 results were based on 26,000 students in public and private schools. The tests took roughly one hour and were not significantly different than when they were first administered in the early 1970s.
Unlike high-stakes tests that are included in some teachers' evaluations, these tests are a more accurate measurement because "these are not exams that teachers are not teaching to," Haycock said.
"Nobody teaches to the NAEP exam, which is why it's such as useful measure to what our kids can actually do," she said.
___
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Scientists discover thriving colonies of microbes in ocean 'plastisphere'
June 27, 2013 ? Scientists have discovered a diverse multitude of microbes colonizing and thriving on flecks of plastic that have polluted the oceans -- a vast new human-made flotilla of microbial communities that they have dubbed the "plastisphere."
In a study recently published online in Environmental Science & Technology, the scientists say the plastisphere represents a novel ecological habitat in the ocean and raises a host of questions: How will it change environmental conditions for marine microbes, favoring some that compete with others? How will it change the overall ocean ecosystem and affect larger organisms? How will it change where microbes, including pathogens, will be transported in the ocean?
The collaborative team of scientists -- Erik Zettler from Sea Education Association (SEA), Tracy Mincer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and Linda Amaral-Zettler from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), all in Woods Hole, Mass. -- analyzed marine plastic debris that was skimmed with fine-scale nets from the sea surface at several locations in the North Atlantic Ocean during SEA research cruises. Most were millimeter-sized fragments.
"We're not just interested in who's there. We're interested in their function, how they're functioning in this ecosystem, how they're altering this ecosystem, and what's the ultimate fate of these particles in the ocean," says Amaral-Zettler. "Are they sinking to the bottom of the ocean? Are they being ingested? If they're being ingested, what impact does that have?"
Using scanning electron microscopy and gene sequencing techniques, they found at least 1000 different types of bacterial cells on the plastic samples, including many individual species yet to be identified. They included plants, algae, and bacteria that manufacture their own food (autotrophs), animals and bacteria that feed on them (heterotrophs), predators that feed on these, and other organisms that establish synergistic relationships (symbionts). These complex communities exist on plastic bits hardly bigger than the head of a pin, and they have arisen with the explosion of plastics in the oceans in the last 60 years.
"The organisms inhabiting the plastisphere were different from those in surrounding seawater, indicating that plastic debris acts as artificial 'microbial reefs," says Mincer. "They supply a place that selects for and supports distinct microbes to settle and succeed."
These communities are likely different from those that settle on naturally occurring floating material such as feathers, wood, and microalgae, because plastics offer different conditions, including the capacity to last much longer without degrading.
On the other hand, the scientists also found evidence that microbes may play a role in degrading plastics. They saw microscopic cracks and pits in the plastic surfaces that they suspect were made by microbes embedded in them, as well as microbes possibly capable of degrading hydrocarbons.
"When we first saw the 'pit formers' we were very excited, especially when they showed up on multiple pieces of plastic of different types of resins," said Zettler, who added that undergraduate students participating in SEA Semester cruises collected and processed the samples. "Now we have to figure out what they are by [genetically] sequencing them and hopefully getting them into culture so we can do experiments."
The plastic debris also represents a new mode of transportation, acting as rafts that can convey harmful microbes, including disease-causing pathogens and harmful algal species. One plastic sampled they analyzed was dominated by members of the genus Vibrio, which includes bacteria that cause cholera and gastrointestinal maladies.
The project was funded by a National Science Foundation Collaborative grant, a NSF TUES grant, and a Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health Pilot award.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/EvM7_1uPFzw/130627142549.htm
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Sony posts PS3 4.46 firmware update, instructions to fix consoles busted by 4.45
After the 4.45 firmware update knocked some PlayStation 3s out of commission last week, Sony has fulfilled its promise of a fixed version. 4.46 is now available to download, while a series of steps has been posted to the support site to walk users through updating any consoles that installed 4.45 and then failed to reboot. Affected owners will need a USB memory stick with at least 168MB of space, although certain older models can also use SD, Memory Stick or Compact Flash cards. There's still no word on exactly what went wrong, but for instructions on how to configure the flash storage and reboot into safe mode so you can start gaming again, just hit the source link below.
Source: PlayStation Support
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Power for seaports may be the next job for hydrogen fuel cells
June 27, 2013 ? Providing auxiliary hydrogen power to docked or anchored ships may soon be added to the list of ways in which hydrogen fuel cells can provide efficient, emissions-free energy.
Hydrogen fuel cells are already powering mobile lighting systems, forklifts, emergency backup systems and light-duty trucks, among other applications. Now, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have found that hydrogen fuel cells may be both technically feasible and commercially attractive as a clean, quiet and efficient power source for ships at berth, replacing on-board diesel generators.
The Sandia study was completed for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Auxiliary power to docked ships, usually provided by on-board diesel engines, is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, accounting for one-third to one-half of the in-port emissions attributed to ocean-going vessels. According to a 2004 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, average daily emissions for a busy port could exceed the total emissions from nearly 500,000 vehicles.
Evaluating fuel cell barges at western U.S. ports
The study evaluated a simple fuel cell strategy that consists of mounting a hydrogen-fueled proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell on a floating barge. Supplying a container ship with average power and run times (1.4 megawatts over 48 hours) requires four 40-ft containers, two for the fuel cell and two for hydrogen fuel storage, which could readily fit on a typical flat-top barge. For ships requiring less power, such as tugboats, a single container housing both the fuel cell and hydrogen will suffice, according to the Sandia study.
To evaluate the feasibility of the fuel cell barge strategy and analyze potential deployment options, Sandia's Joe Pratt visited ports up and down the West Coast and in Hawaii. He gathered data from two U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration facilities and the ports of Long Beach, Calif., Los Angeles, Calif., Oakland, Calif., Portland, Ore., Tacoma, Wash., Honolulu, Hawaii and Seattle, Wash.
"While Sandia has previously examined the potential for hydrogen and fuel cells in other applications, this is the first study of a maritime environment," Pratt said.
Cheaper, cleaner than grid-based "cold-ironing"
A common alternative to auxiliary diesel engines is a practice called "cold-ironing," in which a vessel at berth connects to a source of electricity on the shore. (The engine, made of steel or iron, literally becomes cold, hence the name.) Electricity supplied by a hydrogen fuel cell thus could become a new form of cold-ironing.
The U.S. Navy has been employing grid-based cold-ironing for many years to save fuel. Ports in California are now turning to the practice to meet the state's environmental regulations. While only a few berths have grid-based cold-ironing, ports throughout California are installing infrastructure to meet the state Air Resources Board's regulations that take effect in 2014.
But grid-based cold-ironing is complex and costly, and most ports lack the infrastructure needed to meet the power needs of multiple ships at berth. Those costs can run up to $5-10 million or more per berth, said Pratt. The Port of Oakland is installing 11 berths on six terminals at an estimated cost of about $70 million.
In addition, switching to grid-based power doesn't eliminate emissions. Instead, that approach shifts the emissions to the source of electricity. Depending on the electricity source, the overall reduction in emissions can be relatively small.
Many potential deployment options, economic benefits
The hydrogen fuel cell barge bypasses the need for electrical infrastructure. The barge also has the capability of being moved from berth to berth as needed and to anchorage points to power vessels that are waiting for berths.
"In California, ports are already installing the necessary infrastructure for cold-ironing because of the regulations introduced a few years ago," said Pratt. "So hydrogen fuel cell auxiliary power has the opportunity for greater impact elsewhere. While this was an unexpected finding, we discovered other locations and applications for hydrogen fuel cell power."
At ports in Oregon and Washington, grid-based cold ironing infrastructure is limited or nonexistent. Using a hydrogen fuel cell to power container ships at berth has attracted interest for its potential economic and environmental benefits, Pratt said, and he continues to work with those ports on quantifying the benefits and deployment options.
Hawaii's Honolulu Harbor in Oahu had a different need. Much of the cargo is unloaded and then reloaded onto barges for distribution to the other islands. As the barges have no power, they carry diesel generators to provide power to shipping containers that require refrigeration, known as "reefers."
"You can replace the diesel generator with a hydrogen fuel cell without changing the operations. It's just a power source in a box, a shipping container in this case," said Pratt. Hawaii ports aren't facing the same emissions regulations as California ports, but the potential savings in fuel cost is attractive for the company operating the inter-island transportation service, along with anyone else suffering from high fuel expenses.
The study's basic fuel cost analysis showed that at today's prices hydrogen, at about $4 per kilogram, with a fuel cell is cost-competitive with maritime fuels using a combustion engine. Subsequent analysis has shown that when generators are frequently producing less than maximum power, such as in the Hawaii application, the efficiency advantage of fuel cells compared to the combustion engine is widened. Even hydrogen at $5 per kilogram can potentially save tens of thousands of dollars per year for each generator.
"Fuel cost is only part of the total economic picture," Pratt said.
He is now developing a detailed plan for the Hawaiian interisland transport barge application. "A successful deployment of the containerized fuel cell on a floating platform in a typical marine environment will be useful not only in this particular service, but also because it validates the concept for the larger, container-ship-sized application," Pratt said. "It's challenging on many levels, but technically feasible with potential worldwide commercial impact."
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/M4Yd38LGiIA/130627082713.htm
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Thumb Social Polling App Merges With YPulse Research Firm, Rolls Out Thumb Pro For Brands
Instant polling app Thumb has just announced that it has merged with YPulse, a research insights firm that focuses on millennial opinions and behaviors. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Thumb is a mobile app that launched back in the summer of 2010 as Opinionaded, aiming to get real-time feedback for life's toughest, and sometimes silliest, questions. Users simply pose a question to the network, and receive instant feedback from a group of their peers.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0httCCsS2hs/
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Obama aims to sidestep Congress with new initiatives to reduce carbon emissions
By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News
?
President Barack Obama will direct his administration?on Tuesday?to begin addressing the issue of climate change with executive branch actions, sidestepping a Congress that has displayed little appetite for addressing the issue. ?
Among a range of initiatives aimed at cutting carbon emissions both at home and internationally, the president will announce a directive for the Environmental Protection Agency to establish carbon emission standards for both new and existing power plants.
The speech he will deliver at Georgetown University is being billed as a major policy address by the White House on?one of the top priorities of his second term. And the administration made it clear they are more than willing to do what they can to bypass Congress.?
?I think, going back to the president?s words in the State of the Union, he made it very clear that his preference would be for Congress to act, and move comprehensive energy and climate legislation forward,? a senior administration official said in a conference call previewing the speech, explaining that Obama?s actions rely on existing executive authority. ?At this point, the president is prepared to act.?
President Obama is expected to take sweeping action on climate change Tuesday in a speech outlining his plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, among other actions. MSNBC.com's Dafna Linzer, The Root's Edward Wyckoff Williams and Mother Jones' David Corn discuss Snowden's actions and what President Obama's speech could mean for the health of our planet and the future of executive power.
But that?s not to say his actions will lack for controversy. His proposals are certain to engender stiff resistance from Republicans in Congress and the broader business community.
?I think this is absolutely crazy,? House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said last Thursday in anticipation of Obama?s announcement. ?Why would you want to increase the cost of energy and kill American jobs at a time when the American people are still asking, ?Where are the jobs???
Perhaps no proposal of Obama?s is more controversial than his anticipated directive to the EPA. Proponents of such a rule argue that the?move is essential to addressing the underlying causes of climate change; critics charge that these new rules would only result in higher energy prices for consumers, amounting to a de-facto tax on consumers.
The president?s forthcoming climate actions don?t stop at the EPA, however. Obama is also?set to outline a series of initiatives that span across the government, all with the goal of stemming the production of greenhouse gases.
?The president believes we have a moral obligation to leave our children a planet that?s not polluted,? said a senior administration official. ?It?s true that no single step can reverse the effects of climate change, but it?s important to prepare.?
Internationally, the president will call for an end to U.S. financing of new coal plants abroad that lack filters or carbon-capture technology. (An exception would be made for developing countries in which there is little alternative.) Obama will also seek a new international agreement in 2015 with a goal of establishing international emissions agreements past 2020. On a global level, Obama will also push for free-trade agreements supporting environmentally friendly goods and services.
Domestically, Obama will also announce steps to boost fuel-efficiency standards for heavy vehicles in the United States after 2018. And the president will look to improve the government?s energy efficiency, for instance by requiring federal agencies to issue reports on the effect of climate change on key sectors of the economy. Obama will also outline a climate data initiative, and direct new federal projects meet standards to withstand storm or flood risk ? a proposal that seems like a direct outgrowth of the government?s experience in dealing with the aftermath of 2012?s Hurricane Sandy and its effect on the New York and New Jersey area.
Carolyn Kaster / AP
The Capitol Dome is seen behind the Capitol Power Plant in Washington, Monday, June 24, 2013. The plant provides power to buildings in the Capitol Complex.
Obama?s speech will also be noteworthy for what it lacks: any new declaration regarding the status of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline between the United States and Canada. Republicans have forcefully pushed Obama to approve construction of the pipeline, which they argue would spur job growth in the U.S. And even some of the administration?s allies in organized labor have endorsed the project, prompting speculation within Washington that Obama could use approval of the project to buy himself political breathing room on some of his other initiatives.
But a senior administration official told reporters that the State Department-led review of the latest pipeline proposal was not yet complete, making any new pronouncement by Obama unlikely.
?The bottom line is that this proposal is not yet ready for a decision,? the official told reporters.
Taken together, Obama?s speech?on Tuesday?marks some of the most direct actions taken by his administration to address climate change, especially in the face of congressional inaction.
?This is a serious challenge, but it?s one uniquely suited to America?s strengths,? Obama said in a video released over the weekend previewing his speech.
The issue of climate change is one Obama has spoken about since well before he was elected president. But the most significant piece of climate legislation in decades ? the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade climate bill ? stalled in Congress after it narrowly won passage in the heavily Democratic House of Representatives in 2009, six months into Obama?s first term. The legislation encountered bipartisan resistance in the Senate, where it subsequently died.
This story was originally published on Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:11 AM EDT
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Reading DNA, backward and forward: Biologists reveal how cells control the direction in which the genome is read
June 24, 2013 ? MIT biologists have discovered a mechanism that allows cells to read their own DNA in the correct direction and prevents them from copying most of the so-called "junk DNA" that makes up long stretches of our genome.
Only about 15 percent of the human genome consists of protein-coding genes, but in recent years scientists have found that a surprising amount of the junk, or intergenic DNA, does get copied into RNA -- the molecule that carries DNA's messages to the rest of the cell.
Scientists have been trying to figure out just what this RNA might be doing, if anything. In 2008, MIT researchers led by Institute Professor Phillip Sharp discovered that much of this RNA is generated through a process called divergent expression, through which cells read their DNA in both directions moving away from a given starting point.
In a new paper appearing in Nature on June 23, Sharp and colleagues describe how cells initiate but then halt the copying of RNA in the upstream, or non-protein-coding direction, while allowing it to continue in the direction in which genes are correctly read. The finding helps to explain the existence of many recently discovered types of short strands of RNA whose function is unknown.
"This is part of an RNA revolution where we're seeing different RNAs and new RNAs that we hadn't suspected were present in cells, and trying to understand what role they have in the health of the cell or the viability of the cell," says Sharp, who is a member of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. "It gives us a whole new appreciation of the balance of the fundamental processes that allow cells to function."
Graduate students Albert Almada and Xuebing Wu are the lead authors of the paper. Christopher Burge, a professor of biology and biological engineering, and undergraduate Andrea Kriz are also authors.
Choosing direction
DNA, which is housed within the nucleus of cells, controls cellular activity by coding for the production of RNAs and proteins. To exert this control, the genetic information encoded by DNA must first be copied, or transcribed, into messenger RNA (mRNA).
When the DNA double helix unwinds to reveal its genetic messages, RNA transcription can proceed in either direction. To initiate this copying, an enzyme called RNA polymerase latches on to the DNA at a spot known as the promoter. The RNA polymerase then moves along the strand, building the mRNA chain as it goes.
When the RNA polymerase reaches a stop signal at the end of a gene, it halts transcription and adds to the mRNA a sequence of bases known as a poly-A tail, which consists of a long string of the genetic base adenine. This process, known as polyadenylation, helps to prepare the mRNA molecule to be exported from the cell's nucleus.
By sequencing the mRNA transcripts of mouse embryonic stem cells, the researchers discovered that polyadenylation also plays a major role in halting the transcription of upstream, noncoding DNA sequences. They found that these regions have a high density of signal sequences for polyadenylation, which prompts enzymes to chop up the RNA before it gets very long. Stretches of DNA that code for genes have a low density of these signal sequences.
The researchers also found another factor that influences whether transcription is allowed to continue. It has been recently shown that when a cellular factor known as U1 snRNP binds to RNA, polyadenylation is suppressed. The new MIT study found that genes have a higher concentration of binding sites for U1 snRNP than noncoding sequences, allowing gene transcription to continue uninterrupted.
A widespread phenomenon
The function of all of this upstream noncoding RNA is still a subject of much investigation. "That transcriptional process could produce an RNA that has some function, or it could be a product of the nature of the biochemical reaction. This will be debated for a long time," Sharp says.
His lab is now exploring the relationship between this transcription process and the observation of large numbers of so-called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). He plans to investigate the mechanisms that control the synthesis of such RNAs and try to determine their functions.
"Once you see some data like this, it raises many more questions to be investigated, which I'm hoping will lead us to deeper insights into how our cells carry out their normal functions and how they change in malignancy," Sharp says.
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/vK48xKSPdxQ/130624141412.htm
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11 Rebellious Animals (PHOTOS)
Just like these 19 rebellious humans, these 11 animals prove that some rules are meant to be broken. But they do so a little more adorably.
Check out the 11 animal rebels in the slideshow below and let us know which one is the biggest rule-breaker of all.
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Biological arithmetic: Plants do sums to get through the night
June 24, 2013 ? New research shows that to prevent starvation at night, plants perform accurate arithmetic division. The calculation allows them to use up their starch reserves at a constant rate so that they run out almost precisely at dawn.
"This is the first concrete example in a fundamental biological process of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation." said mathematical modeller Professor Martin Howard from the John Innes Centre.
Plants feed themselves during the day by using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into sugars and starch. Once the sun has set, they must depend on a store of starch to prevent starvation.
In research to be published in the open access journal eLife, scientists at the John Innes Centre show that plants make precise adjustments to their rate of starch consumption. These adjustments ensure that the starch store lasts until dawn even if the night comes unexpectedly early or the size of the starch store varies.
The John Innes Centre scientists show that to adjust their starch consumption so precisely they must be performing a mathematical calculation -- arithmetic division.
"The capacity to perform arithmetic calculation is vital for plant growth and productivity," said metabolic biologist Professor Alison Smith.
"Understanding how plants continue to grow in the dark could help unlock new ways to boost crop yield."
During the night, mechanisms inside the leaf measure the size of the starch store and estimate the length of time until dawn. Information about time comes from an internal clock, similar to our own body clock. The size of the starch store is then divided by the length of time until dawn to set the correct rate of starch consumption, so that, by dawn, around 95% of starch is used up.
"The calculations are precise so that plants prevent starvation but also make the most efficient use of their food," said Professor Smith.
"If the starch store is used too fast, plants will starve and stop growing during the night. If the store is used too slowly, some of it will be wasted."
The scientists used mathematical modelling to investigate how such a division calculation can be carried out inside a plant. They proposed that information about the size of the starch store and the time until dawn is encoded in the concentrations of two kinds of molecules (called S for starch and T for time). If the S molecules stimulate starch consumption, while the T molecules prevent this from happening, then the rate of starch consumption is set by the ratio of S molecules to T molecules, in other words S divided by T.
This research is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/qb4963q8I7k/130624093524.htm
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Snowden pardon petition passes 100,000 signatures
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A petition asking President Barack Obama to pardon admitted state secret leaker Edward Snowden has passed 100,000 signatures.
The petition posted on Whitehouse.gov calls the former National Security Agency contractor a "national hero." It says he should immediately be pardoned for any crimes in "blowing the whistle" on classified government programs to collect phone records and online data.
White House policy is to respond to any petition that gets 100,000 signatures within 30 days. The Snowden petition crossed the threshold in two weeks.
The White House wouldn't say when its response will come. But it routinely declines to comment on petitions regarding law enforcement matters, including pardon requests. And the ultimate answer is the administration's pursuit of Snowden on espionage charges.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/snowden-pardon-petition-passes-100-000-signatures-143323747.html
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Discovery Communications' John Hendricks: From Huntsville to ...
"Why can't this be on TV? That was in Huntsville at UAH. That was a lingering question that was on the road to the Discovery Channel."
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - John Hendricks was a history student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the 1970s when he had an idea that would change television. Today, Hendricks is the founder and chairman of Discovery Communications, a worldwide empire with more than 100 channels and 1.5 billion viewers. Then, he was a work-study student helping his professors find documentaries to screen in their classes.
"As I was looking through all this volume of catalogs for documentary films that were available, I just had this question," Hendricks said in an interview this month. "Why can't this be on TV? That was in Huntsville at UAH. That was a lingering question that was on the road to the Discovery Channel."
Hendricks looks back at building Discovery and growing up in Alabama during the space race and the Civil Rights Era in the new memoir "A Curious Discovery: An Entrepreneur's Story" being published June 25 by HarperCollins. The book tells the stories behind some of the Discovery networks' most popular shows, including "Trading Spaces," "The Crocodile Hunter" and "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," and it's a how-to manual for would-be entrepreneurs.
In the book, Hendricks writes about his bad business moves as well as his good ones, including the day Discovery faced bankruptcy because his sole source for a new round of funding said "no" at the last moment. "All that counted was the Chronicle investment was dead," he writes, "and stupidly, I now realized, I had failed to use the intervening months to solicit any other investor prospects."
"For something to be useful, people need to know the whole story," Hendricks said this month. "If you're going to have three or four successes in your life, you've probably had five to 10 significant failures."
The book contains enough detail about Hendricks' path to be studied at business schools, but a man who has worked with everyone from Walter Cronkite and "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin to Oprah Winfrey also has stories to tell. Among others, he recounts the terrible day he learned Irwin had died from stingray barb, and he takes readers inside his long, close relationship with Walter Cronkite.
Some of Hendricks' best stories involve expanding Discovery's portfolio from documentaries aimed at 25 percent of the viewing public - his original audience - to reality programs like "Trading Spaces," and, eventually, shows like "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." Now, Discovery is now a major source, under its different network banners, of programs not too far from ones Hendricks once dismissed as "Tattoo TV."Part of the reason for the stretch was economic, and again Hendricks is direct. "For us to be a global force in programming and to have the resources that we can continue to undertake very expensive productions like 'North America, which is now running on Discovery," he said in the interview, "we have to break beyond that 25 percent and reach over and develop a portfolio of networks that also work within (the) amusement and entertainment platforms."
But Hendricks has come to appreciate reality TV in all of its dimensions, and he said that happened in stages. First, Hendricks said he realized that shows about people like Cake Boss Buddy Valastro and Georgetown Cupcake founders Katherine Berman and Sophie LaMontagne were not only incredibly popular, but inspirational. They tell the stories of legitimate American entrepreneurs whose paths aren't that different from Hendricks' own. Later, Hendricks said he came to see shows about different, even exotic lifestyles - whether Amish teenagers or Honey Boo Boo - as legitimate ways to satisfy legitimate viewer curiosity about their world.
Hendricks was careful to put a fence around the original Discovery brand and spin off new networks to showcase new programming. He cites a big-time model for that, too.
"You can think of it this way," Hendricks said in the interview. "Disney Corp. has a wonderful legacy of that all-family brand of Disney, but at one point to be able to survive and grow and prosper, Disney had to be able in their motion picture business to offer R-rated films. So, they did that through a number of separate divisions and studios that they owned that didn't carry the Disney brand. For years, they owned Miramax and Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures."
Today, Hendricks stays busy with Discovery Communications and its ongoing challenges in a changing media world. When he's not in the corporate offices outside Washington, he's involved in developing Gateway Canyons, a Colorado resort designed to offer guests "curiosity adventures" on land protected from development. He travels for work and to satisfy his own curiosity - a recent trip to Tanzania included time spent with the last hunter-gather tribe in Africa - and visits Huntsville to see his brother-in-law Jim Sisson, lead engineer for the Apollo program's lunar rover, and his nephews Martin and Alan. Hendricks' sister, Linda, died some years ago.
Hendricks life in Huntsville echoes through the book, and longtime residents will enjoy his memories of Budd's and Bill's Men's Wear, clothing stores where he worked; the day Huntsville schools integrated in 1963; and his parents' pleasure at seeing his picture in The Huntsville Times for winning a local insurance agents' essay contest on "The Free Enterprise System."
"It's funny how the tiniest event can change the trajectory of one's life," Hendricks writes in his book. "Writing that essay was one of those moments, and I've often thought about how deeply it influenced everything that came after. Putting those few hundred words on paper forced me to really think about what motivates people to accomplish something in life, to invent or adapt new products, and to create experiences that did not exist before."
Hendricks says growing up in Huntsville was key to what he has accomplished.
"If you look through the book," he said in the interview, "there's a kind of continuing thread. I'm going to name-drop here, and I'm so sorry to do it, but Oprah had read the book and called me. And she said, 'John what you've done is a kind of business memoir, but what you've done is capture a thread: What was the thread that led to Discovery?'
"I have to say that Huntsville was just a big part of that thread," Hendricks said. "It was such an inspiring place to grow up."
Source: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/06/discovery_channels_john_hendri.html
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Ecuador, Where Edward Snowden Seeks Asylum, Is No Utopia For Journalists
NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden is bound for the sunnier skies of Ecuador, on this whirlwind tour of countries semi-hostile to the United States. While Ecuador has been a safe haven for world-class leakers in the past, including Wikileaks editor Julian Assange, the country is no utopia for journalists. Given a “Partly Free” rating by Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press scale, their report notes, “Attacks on journalists and media houses continue to rise. In 2011, Fundamedios, the national press freedom watchdog organization, cited nearly 150 incidents of aggression (physical, verbal, and legal) against the media by authorities as well as by ordinary citizens.” President Rafael Correa reportedly called the media ?assassins with ink.? At least one journalist who criticized Correa’s handling of a police uprising had to flee to Miami after being charged with 3 years imprisonment under the country’s no-so-friendly defamation laws. Correa has hit back at critics, saying “We won’t tolerate abuses and crimes made every day in the name of freedom of speech. That is freedom of extortion and blackmail.” (Journalists Without Boarders?labels?Ecuador’s media issues with a pleasant-sounding “satisfactory” rating). Indeed, Correa could point out that while the rest of the free world is looking to imprison Assange, Ecuador is protecting him in their London embassy. The whole Wikileaks ordeal has lead to a frosty relationship between the U.S. and Ecuador. In leaked diplomatic cables, the U.S. ambassador alleged Correa had promoted a?corrupt?officer, which prompted Ecuador to expel the diplomat, and for the U.S to then?expel?the Ecuadorian counterpart in kind. So, not everyone is convinced that Ecuador is protecting Assange for purely principled reasons.?”There is a huge gap between what Correa says about press freedom and reality,” said C?sar Ricaurte, head of press watchdog group, Fundamedios. “If Assange were Ecuadorean, I dare say he would already be in jail.” Whether Ecuador is doing this as a public relations stunt, or it has a convoluted stance on press freedom, it appears that leakers have a new safe-haven.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/E5XRUpt8ip4/
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Hong Kong says Snowden has left for third country
HONG KONG (AP) ? A former National Security Agency contractor wanted by the United States for revealing highly classified surveillance programs has been allowed to leave for a "third country" because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law, the territory's government said Sunday.
Hong Kong's government did not identify the country. Snowden, who has been in hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks since he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs, has talked of seeking asylum in Iceland.
However, Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency cited an unidentified Aeroflot official as saying Snowden would fly from Moscow to Cuba on Monday and then on to Caracas, Venezuela. The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group tweeted that Snowden was "over Russian air space" and later said in a statement he was bound for an unnamed "democratic nation via a safe route for the purpose of asylum."
The White House had no immediate comment about the departure, which came a day after the United States made a formal request for his extradition and gave a pointed warning to Hong Kong against delaying the process of returning him to face trial in the U.S.
The Department of Justice said only that it would "continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel."
The Hong Kong government said in a statement that Snowden left "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel."
It acknowledged the U.S. extradition request, but said U.S. documentation did not "fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law." It said additional information was requested from Washington, but since the Hong Kong government "has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong."
The statement said Hong Kong had informed the U.S. of Snowden's departure. It added that it wanted more information about alleged hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by U.S. government agencies which Snowden had revealed.
WikiLeaks said it was providing legal help to Snowden at his request and that he was being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from the group. Its founder, Julian Assange, who has spent a year inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning about sex crime allegations, told the Sydney Morning Herald that his organization is in a position to help because it has expertise in international asylum and extradition law.
Snowden's departure eliminates a possible fight between Washington and Beijing at a time when China is trying to deflect U.S. accusations that it carries out extensive surveillance of American government and commercial operations. Hong Kong, a former British colony, has a high degree of autonomy and is granted rights and freedoms not seen on mainland China, but under the city's mini constitution Beijing is allowed to intervene in matters involving defense and diplomatic affairs.
Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but the document has some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political.
The Obama administration on Saturday warned Hong Kong against delaying Snowden's extradition, with White House national security adviser Tom Donilon saying in an interview with CBS News, "Hong Kong has been a historically good partner of the United States in law enforcement matters, and we expect them to comply with the treaty in this case."
Snowden's departure came as the South China Morning Post released new allegations from Snowden that U.S. hacking targets in China included the nation's cellphone companies and two universities hosting extensive Internet traffic hubs.
He told the newspaper that "the NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data." It added that Snowden said he had documents to support the hacking allegations, but the report did not identify the documents. It said he spoke to the newspaper in a June 12 interview.
With a population of more than 1.3 billion, China has massive cellphone companies. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile network carrier with 735 million subscribers, followed by China Unicom with 258 million users and China Telecom with 172 million users.
Snowden said Tsinghua University in Beijing and Chinese University in Hong Kong, home of some of the country's major Internet traffic hubs, were targets of extensive hacking by U.S. spies this year. He said the NSA was focusing on so-called "network backbones" in China, through which enormous amounts of Internet data passes.
The Chinese government has not commented on the extradition request and Snowden's departure, but its state-run media have used Snowden's allegations to poke back at Washington after the U.S. had spent the past several months pressuring China on its international spying operations.
A commentary published Sunday by the official Xinhua News Agency said Snowden's disclosures of U.S. spying activities in China have "put Washington in a really awkward situation."
"Washington should come clean about its record first. It owes ... an explanation to China and other countries it has allegedly spied on," it said. "It has to share with the world the range, extent and intent of its clandestine hacking programs."
____
Sylvia Hui in London and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-says-snowden-left-third-country-081745849.html
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
Sun emits a solstice CME
June 22, 2013 ? On June 20, 2013, at 11:24 p.m., the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later. These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground.
Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 1350 miles per second, which is a fast speed for CMEs.
Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they funnel energy into Earth's magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time. The CME's magnetic fields peel back the outermost layers of Earth's fields changing their very shape. Magnetic storms can degrade communication signals and cause unexpected electrical surges in power grids. They also can cause aurora. Storms are rare during solar minimum, but as the sun's activity ramps up every 11 years toward solar maximum -- currently expected in late 2013 -- large storms occur several times per year.
In the past, geomagnetic storms caused by CMEs of this strength and direction have usually been mild.
In addition, the CME may pass by additional spacecraft: Messenger, STEREO B, Spitzer, and their mission operators have been notified. If warranted, operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from the solar material.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130622154606.htm
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