AB 1152: keeping Cal-SAFE safe - California's Children

February 27, 2013: "It is one thing for a school board to think about which of the K-12 programs are most important to the K-12 students in their district, and decide priorities.?It is quite another to pit two different groups of children (K-12 students and young children of teen parents) against each other for funding." -- Nina Buthee, at left, executive director of the??California Child Development Administrators Association?(CCDAA).

CCDAA is sponsoring AB 1152, a bill authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), that would exempt?California School Age Families Education (Cal-SAFE) Program from categorical "flexing" -- protecting funding for programs for teen parents from proposed changes to categorical programs. If passed, the bill will also require that unused Cal-SAFE funds not be retained by local education agencies (LEAs), but be returned to Cal-SAFE's state-wide budget line.?

The Cal-SAFE program, begun in 2000, works with teenaged parents, providing academic and support services to help keep them in school. According to TeenNow?California, Cal-SAFE's in-school program has had a 75% graduation rate (compared to a national graduate rate of 33% for teen parents.)?

In an e-mail to California's Children, CCDAA's Buthee said:?

Buthee added, "Most of the categoricals serve K-12 students (Miller-Unruh reading program, text book funding, home to school transportation, etc., etc.).? CalSAFE?s child development dollars are targeted at a different group of children ? the children of teen parents...

"Education for K-12 students is mandated by the state Constitution, and local boards cannot eliminate education for any of those students ? they must spend the money on those students, it is just how to spend the money on them.? There is no mandate to serve the young children of teen parents.? What happens when there is budget pressure, including the pressure of negotiations with unions?? One group the board must serve, the other it can eliminate."

CCDAA is seeking additional co-authors.

Written by Taylor McCulloch.

Source: http://californiaschildren.typepad.com/californias-children/2013/02/februrary-27-2013-the-california-child-development-administrators-associationccdaais-sponsoring-ab-1152-the-bill-that-wo.html

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Study Focus: Omega 3 Might Decrease Skin Cancer Risk ...

Another good reason to take your omega 3 supplement: it might lessen the chance of developing skin cancer.

A study published recently focused specifically on non-melanogenic skin cancers, which are strongly linked to sun exposure. UV rays not only damage skin cell DNA, but they also suppress a certain kind of immunity called ?cell mediated immunity.? This suppressed immunity means that not only do the sun rays cause DNA damage and cell mutation, but they also prevent the body?s immune system from getting rid of these mutated cells, which then go on proliferating, leading to skin cancer.

(Suppression of immunity due to sun exposure is termed photoimmunosuppression.)

Previous studies have found that an omega-3 rich diet is associated with a lowered risk of skin cancer. As well, mice given omega-3 supplements had an improved immunity and decreased skin cancer risk. This new study aimed to examine whether the same effect can be achieved in humans taking omega-3 supplements.

How was the study done?

Nickel allergy was employed in this study

Researchers tested about 80 volunteers who are known to have nickel allergy. The idea was the following

• Exposure to nickel in these volunteers would cause an allergic reaction.
• But, sun exposure would weaken this allergic reaction, as it weakens cell mediated immunity (photoimmunosuppression).
• So, the longer the exposure, the weaker the immune response, the weaker the allergic reaction to nickel.
• Then, if half of the volunteers took omega-3 supplements, their immunity would be less affected by the sun, and thus their allergic response to nickel would be stronger than in the group that does not take omega-3.

All these theories proved to be true in this study. And although it is a small study and further research is needed to confirm these findings, they are quite promising nonetheless.

Moreover, it was found that longer exposure to sun light lessened the benefits of omega-3 supplements. So omega-3 supplements should be viewed only as a small measure that can benefit the body in multiple ways, one of which is possibly reducing the risk of skin cancer.

Bottom line

While this study is quite small, it is yet another good reason to adhere to a diet rich in omega-3. But ultimately, this is by no means a replacement for using sunscreen. In fact, the single most important fact to take from this study focus is the extreme importance of sun protection. It is not just about delaying wrinkles. SPF saves lives.

Thank you for reading!

Source:

?

SM. Pilkington,?KA. Massey,?SP. Bennett, NMI. Al-Aasswad,?K. Roshdy,?NK. Gibbs,?PS. Friedmann, A. Nicolaou, LE. Rhodes. Randomized controlled trial of oral omega-3 PUFA in solar-simulated radiation-induced suppression of human cutaneous immune responses. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2013; 97 (3): 646-52.

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Source: http://www.futurederm.com/2013/02/26/study-focus-omega-3-might-decrease-skin-cancer-risk/

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ZTE Grand Memo hands-on

ZTE, like local rival Huawei, is desperately trying to establish itself as one of the bigger international smartphone players, focusing more and more on high-end "hero" devices. To that end, at a very businesslike (and rather awkward) Mobile World Congress press conference this week, the company revealed the Grand Memo. A 5.7-inch Galaxy Note-class device, the Memo incorporates high-end internals and a massive 5.7-inch 720p display.

As per ZTE's presser, the Grand Memo runs Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, though ZTE says the chipsets used will vary depending on country. (Update: ZTE staffers on the show floor tell us that the demo units on display are running Snapdragon S4 Pro (8064) chips, and that several different versions of the Memo will be available, including the Snapdragon 800-powered model announced earlier this week.)

For what it's worth, the company also had an NVIDIA Tegra 3-based Grand Memo on show at its MWC booth, however that device was unstable and extremely hot to the touch.

Other hardware notables include 2GB of RAM (1GB on the S4 version), 16GB of storage, 4G LTE support and a 13MP rear camera. The physical hardware of the Memo is standard smartphone fare -- a black slab with a plastic back and three buttons down below. On the back, a plastic battery cover. We saw several different back covers on the Grand Memo demo units at the show -- glossy, textures and matte versions in white and various shades of blue. Overall, the hardware is perfectly serviceable, if not outstanding.

Head past the break for more first impressions, along with more photos and video.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/EfBQoGVM6Dg/story01.htm

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Rebecca Hall Talks Violent Marriage To Benedict Cumberbatch In HBO's 'Parade's End'

Don't let the title fool you — the parade is just beginning for "Parade's End." Tonight (February 26) at 9 p.m. ET, HBO airs the first two installments of "Parade's End," director Susanna White and writer Tom Stoppard's five-part miniseries based on author Ford Madox Ford's novel series set in Europe during the threat of [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/02/26/rebecca-hall-benedict-cumberbatch-parades-end-hbo/

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Meatless Mondays: Leek and Parmesan Risotto | Food & Drink ...

Monday 25 February 2013 | ONLINE ONLY
Helena Parker

This week I felt, very briefly, a breath of spring in the air. So I decided for this Meatless Monday, I?d do a slightly lighter, sunnier meal. Never fear, it?s still hot, it?s still just as filling, but it just feels slightly less like one of those stodgy stews and heavy meals we?ve been living off for the past few months.

Risotto is one of those dishes which everyone always seems impressed that you make, because they think of Italian chefs and the intricacies of getting the rice just perfect. But honestly, it really doesn?t take much. Add wine, in liberal quantities, and everything will be just fine. Trust me.

In this recipe, you can add chicken stock if you just can?t handle a meal without meat, but to be honest, it is perfectly delicious with vegetable stock. Especially if you?ve made it yourself (Instead of throwing away all the peelings you take off veg, keep them, boil them up with some onion, garlic, lots of herbs and seasoning and water, let it simmer for a good hour or two until the liquid has reduced considerably and everything is looking a bit mushy, and then sieve. Voila, your very own stock.)

The other great thing about this is it is endlessly adaptable. You can do pea and fresh mint; courgette and bacon (for non-veggie days); or just about any green vegetable you can root out. I used peas, leeks as they?re in season, and some leftover mushrooms in mine, but this is the basic recipe. It serves 2 easily, or alternatively one and heat up the leftovers tomorrow.

Ingredients
4 spring onions
2 leeks
2 garlic cloves
150g rice
Unspecified amount of white wine, min 1 glass
750ml vegetable or chicken stock
Grated Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative)

Method
1. Chop spring onions and leeks finely, crush garlic and put in large deep pan with some oil. Fry gently for 5 minutes or until softened.
2. Pour in the rice, stir it around a bit, then pour in a glass-full of wine. You can always add more later. Allow the rice to soak up most of the wine.
3. Pour in about 100-200ml stock, and again, wait for it to reduce down. Repeat, with stock or wine, depending on how liberal you are feeling with the wine, until the rice is cooked to however you like it. Al dente or soggy as baby food, it?s your decision. Never mind what the Italians say.
4. Sprinkle with parmesan, and eat immediately with more wine. And voila, a great vegetarian meal, once again.

Source: http://www.nouse.co.uk/2013/02/25/meatless-mondays-leek-and-parmesan-risotto/

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Bargain-hunting gives South African stocks a boost

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African stocks edged up on Monday as investors hunted for bargains following a recent sell-off with banks and retailers among the top gainers.

Major retailers, the biggest losers on the bourse so far this year after a thunderous rise in 2012, recouped some lost ground. Mr Price gained 2.5 percent higher to 121.82 rand and Woolworths climbed 3.6 percent to 68.80 rand.

Investors have been offloading retailers from their portfolios over the last month after a spate of sales updates and earnings results failed to justify the companies' lofty trading multiples.

The JSE Top-40 index was up 0.3 percent to 35,359.19 and the broader All-share index gained by the same margin, to 39,787.96.

"There's still a lot of nervousness in the market ahead of the budget, the outcome of Italy elections and the debt ceiling but there is some bargain hunting after last week's sell-off," Henre Herselman, a trader a Nedbank Private Wealth said.

Nedbank, whose 19 percent rise in annual profit undershot market expectations, gained 0.8 percent to 189.50 rand after beating forecasts with a 24 percent hike in dividend payout.

Rival FirstRand improved 0.75 percent to 30.73 rand after the lender said first-half headline earnings per share likely rose as much as 29 percent.

On the downside, contract mining and equipment firm Eqstra dropped 1.8 percent to 5.99 rand, falling for the second day on news of a 146 million rand buyout offer for shares it does not already own in civil engineering firm Protech Khuthele Holdings.

A below average 143 million shares were traded, according to preliminary exchange data, with advancers outpacing decliners 204 to 112, while 55 shares were unchanged.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bargain-hunting-gives-south-african-stocks-boost-153900139--finance.html

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Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Internet users who are illegally sharing music, movies or television shows are going to start to receive warning notices from the nation's five major Internet service providers.

The Copyright Alert System, organized by the recording and film industry, is being activated this week to target consumers who may be engaging in piracy using peer-to-peer software.

Under the new system, complaints will prompt an Internet service provider ? such as Verizon or AT&T ? to notify a customer whose Internet address has been detected sharing files illegally. A person will be given up to six opportunities to stop before the Internet provider will take more drastic steps, such as temporarily slowing their connection. Proponents say the focus is on educating consumers. They acknowledge it's unlikely to deter chronic violators.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/net-providers-begin-warning-illegal-downloads-231923384--finance.html

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Oregon coach Altman earns 600th career victory

EUGENE, Ore. -- Johnathan Loyd's performance in a loss to California on Thursday was so dismal it spurred a late-night call of concern from his coach.

"I was worried about him," Oregon coach Dana Altman. "But he bounced back tough."

He certainly did.

Loyd had his best game of the season with 15 points and nine assists to lead No. 23 Oregon past Stanford 77-66 on Saturday, keeping the Ducks (22-6, 11-4 Pac-12) tied with No. 12 Arizona atop the league standings.

Carlos Emory led the Ducks with 19 points and Arsalan Kazemi had 15 as Altman got his 600th career win.

E.J. Singler added 12 points and Tony Woods had nine points and nine rebounds for Oregon.

"Lots of guys played well but Johnny was the guy who stirred the drink," Altman said.

Loyd, making his ninth start in place of injured point guard Dominic Artis, was 6 of 8 from the field for a season high in points and a career high in assists.

It was a much different performance than his 0-for-6, no-point effort in a 48-46 buzzer-beating loss to the Golden Bears.

"It felt great tonight," Loyd said. "I needed it. My teammates had faith in me. They kept telling me they believed in me so I just stepped up."

Dwight Powell led the Cardinal (16-12, 7-8) with 16 points and Josh Huestis had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Oregon led 30-26 at halftime but outscored the Cardinal 11-4 early in the second half to go up 46-34 with 13:50 to play and Stanford never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

The Ducks shot a season-worst 27.6 percent against California on Thursday and it looked like things were on the same track when Damyean Dotson and Singler air-balled shot attempts in the opening minutes against the Cardinal.

But after falling behind 14-7, Oregon heated up.

The Ducks scored eight straight points, two on a short jumper from Loyd that put them up 15-14 with 11:01 to play in the half.

Stanford regained its lead 3:09 before halftime when Huestis capped a 6-0 run with a rebound dunk to make it 24-23.

Loyd followed with a 3-pointer, then dished to Kazemi for a dunk and made two free throws to help Oregon take a 30-26 halftime lead.

Powell was a force for the Cardinal in the first half, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. But the junior forward picked up his third foul right before halftime and then added his fourth 2 minutes into the second half attempting to block Woods from stuffing back a miss by Singler.

That sent the Cardinal's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder to the bench for a 6-minute stretch and the Ducks took advantage, going on a 14-6 run to push their lead to 46-34.

"You want guys on your team to step up," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "We needed some guys at that point to really assert themselves and make some plays for us to kind of keep us in position to where we have a chance to get back in the game. Unfortunately,. they kept gaining ground."

Oregon led 48-36 when Dawkins was hit with a technical foul with 10:13 to play for arguing a foul called against Cardinal guard Gabriel Harris.

Singler made one of the two free throws for the technical, then both free throws for the original foul call to put the Ducks up 51-36.

Oregon's lead grew to 66-42 with 5:27 left to play.

The Ducks finished the game shooting 48.4 percent and made 25 points off Stanford's 17 turnovers. They outscored the Cardinal 42-18 inside.

The Cardinal, who handed Oregon its worst loss of the season three weeks ago at Maples Pavilion (76-52), shot 37.7 percent overall and made only 4 of 17 3-point attempts.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cbssportsline/cb_news/~3/JOfdzs6Ngz8/oregon-coach-altman-earns-600th-career-victory

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iFrogz Natural Series: Eco-friendly cases for iPhone 5

If you own an iPhone 5, and you want to enhance its looks with an eco-friendly case, today we might have the perfect case for you.

Natural case series comes from iFrogz, part of ZAGG, and each of these cases is made from combination of real wood and recyclable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Besides being eco-friendly, these cases also have an attractive design, and since they are durable, they can protect your iPhone 5 from dents, scratches, and abrasion.

There are five models available: Cacao with a retro design, Oasis that comes with clean lines and patterns, Rockwood with colorful zigzag lines, Surf that is designed to look like a retro surfing board and Zabrano that looks like zebrawood.

As we already said, all these cases are eco-friendly, attractive and protective at the same time, and you can get any case from Natural case iPhone 5 series for $49.99, so if you want to enhance the look of your iPhone, these cases might be perfect for you.

[via iTechNews]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gadgetlite/~3/tFLJvaBcLec/

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U.S. Is Sending More Troops to Niger

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Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578320792821555994.html?mod=rss_US_News

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Wal-Mart outlook gives glimpse of economy

In this Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2012, photo, Eva Cevallos with her eleven-month daughter, Quinn, shop during the Thanksgiving Pre-Black Friday event at the Walmart Supercenter store in Rosemead, Calif. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. offered a weak business outlook Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, as new economic challenges for its low-income U.S. shoppers start to take a toll. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2012, photo, Eva Cevallos with her eleven-month daughter, Quinn, shop during the Thanksgiving Pre-Black Friday event at the Walmart Supercenter store in Rosemead, Calif. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. offered a weak business outlook Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, as new economic challenges for its low-income U.S. shoppers start to take a toll. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

NEW YORK (AP) ? As the fortunes of many Americans go, so goes Wal-Mart, so goes the economy.

Even as the world's largest retailer on Thursday reported an 8.6 percent rise in fourth quarter profit during the busy holiday shopping season, it offered a weaker forecast for the coming months. The problem? The poor and middle-class Americans Wal-Mart caters to ? and who are big drivers of spending in the U.S. ? are struggling with rising gas prices, delayed income tax refunds and higher payroll taxes.

Melanie M. Burkhardt, a mother of two teenagers who shops at Wal-Mart, is one of those people. Burkhardt, a Waycross, Ga., resident, said she's been hit with a double whammy: the payroll tax hike, which has cut her household monthly income by $260, and higher gas prices.

"We had to do a flip on our budget," said Burkhardt, a legal assistant who plans to cut back on her trips to Wal-Mart. "This is money we used for things like going to a movie or splurging at Olive Garden. Not anymore."

It's widely known that Americans in the lower income brackets continue to struggle even as higher earners benefit from improved housing and stock markets, but Wal-Mart's results signal that matters may be getting worse for the nation's poor and middle-class. Wal-Mart is the latest in a string of big-name companies from Burger King to Zale to say those Americans are being squeezed by new challenges. But since Wal-Mart accounts for nearly 10 percent of nonautomotive retail spending in the U.S., it is a bellwether for the economy.

"Wal-Mart moms are the barometer of the U.S. household," said Brian Sozzi, chief equities analyst at NBG Productions who follows Wal-Mart. "Right now, they're afraid of higher taxes and inflation."

Indeed, while wealthier households have seen their stock portfolios grow, poor and middle-class Americans have struggled to regain their financial footing since the recession ended more than 3 ? years ago.

Stocks have roughly doubled since June 2009. Dividends and capital gains from stocks, which disproportionately benefit higher-income Americans, are taxed at lower rates compared with ordinary income

And while incomes for most Americans have failed to keep pace with inflation since the recession, that's been particularly true for middle and lower-income earners.

Median household income, adjusted for inflation, fell 1.5 percent to $50,054 in 2011 compared with 2010, the latest periods for which figures are available, according to the Census Bureau. That was down 8.1 percent from 2007, just before the recession began. (The median is the point halfway between the highest and lowest levels.)

But lower and middle-income households fared worse: The share of overall income earned by the bottom 80 percent of households shrank in 2011, while the income for the top 20 percent grew. And in 2012, inflation-adjusted hourly pay barely rose, inching up 0.3 percent.

Another hurdle for lower- and middle-income Americans has been the jump in gas prices since mid-January. The average price for a gallon of gas rose 47 cents in the past month to $3.78 on Thursday, according to AAA.

Tax changes also have hit the nation's lowest earners especially hard. On Jan. 1, Social Security payroll taxes rose 2 percentage points after a temporary tax cut expired. That sliced about $1,000 from the take-home pay of a household earning $50,000. Since the Social Security tax is levied against income only up to $114,000, it disproportionately affects middle- and lower-income households.

An even larger challenge for many lower-income Americans has been the government's delay in processing income taxes and paying refunds. That's because income tax rates weren't set until a last-minute deal between the White House and Congress on Jan. 1. So the IRS pushed back the start of tax-filing season to Jan. 30, two weeks later than usual.

As a result, by Feb. 14 the government had paid only $55 billion in refunds, down from $77 billion at the same time last year, according to an estimate by UBS. That drop of $22 billion is more than twice the impact of the higher payroll tax. Refunds have accelerated recently and will eventually be paid out, but the impact still can be felt by many taxpayers: About 78 percent of taxpayers receive refunds, and the figure rises to 82 percent for those reporting income below $50,000.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., said while its business has been volatile since December, the month of February, in particular, has been "slower than planned" largely due to the tax refund delay. The company said that resulted in Wal-Mart customers cashing about $1.7 billion in income tax refunds year to date, compared with $3 billion for the same period a year ago.

Bill Simon, president of Wal-Mart's U.S. namesake division, said shoppers used their refund money last year to buy TVs ahead of the Super Bowl. This year, the retailer said it isn't sure how customers will use the additional money when they get it, but some analysts say the most likely scenario is that they'll save it.

Wal-Mart said it's also unclear how the payroll tax will affect customers' spending habits, although Simon said shoppers are "talking about it." JP Morgan estimates that the payroll tax increase will equate to $70 a month less in take home pay for Wal-Mart shoppers, assuming an average annual income of $42,500. As a result, Wal-Mart is offering smaller packaging and less expensive products.

Wal-Mart earned $5.6 billion, or $1.67 per share, during the fourth quarter that ended Jan. 31, up from $5.16 billion, or $1.50 per share, a year earlier. Results were helped by a lower tax rate, which was 27.7 percent, compared with the rate of 30.9 percent a year ago. Net sales rose 3.9 percent to $127.1 billion.

Earnings topped Wall Street estimates of $1.57 per share, but sales fell short of the $127.8 billion analysts were expecting.

During the current quarter, Wal-Mart says it expects earnings to range from $1.11 to $1.16 per share, below the $1.18 per share analysts polled by FactSet are expecting. For its namesake U.S. business, Wal-Mart expects first-quarter revenue at stores open at least a year, a measure of a retailer's health, to be unchanged from a year ago. The pace of revenue growth has slowed in recent quarters, and some analysts believe Wal-Mart's forecast could be too optimistic.

For the year, Wal-Mart expects earnings of between $5.20 and $5.40 per share, while analysts expect $5.38 per share.

Despite the subdued forecast, investors were bracing for a weaker report after Bloomberg published a story Friday that leaked an email from an executive characterizing the first two weeks of February as "a total disaster." Shares fell that day, but investors appeared to be relieved on Thursday that Wal-Mart's outlook wasn't worse. Shares rose about 1 percent, or $1.05 per share, on Thursday to close at $70.26.

------

D'Innocenzio reported from New York. Rugaber reported from Washington, D.C.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-21-Earns-Wal-Mart/id-231841ab20d143f18bca2fccd328a448

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Sony unveils its next game console, the PlayStation 4, arriving in ...

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Introduces PlayStation?4 (PS4?)

PS4's Powerful System Architecture, Social Integration and Intelligent Personalization, Combined with PlayStation Network with Cloud Technology, Delivers Breakthrough

Gaming Experiences and Completely New Ways to Play

NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today introduced PlayStation?4 (PS4?), its next generation computer entertainment system that redefines rich and immersive gameplay with powerful graphics and speed, intelligent personalization, deeply integrated social capabilities, and innovative second-screen features. Combined with PlayStation?Network with cloud technology, PS4 offers an expansive gaming ecosystem that is centered on gamers, enabling them to play when, where and how they want. PS4 will be available this holiday season.

Gamer Focused, Developer Inspired

PS4 was designed from the ground up to ensure that the very best games and the most immersive experiences reach PlayStation gamers. PS4 accomplishes this by enabling the greatest game developers in the world to unlock their creativity and push the boundaries of play through a system that is tuned specifically to their needs.

PS4 also fluidly connects players to the larger world of experiences offered by PlayStation, across the console and mobile spaces, and PlayStation? Network (PSN).

The PS4 system architecture is distinguished by its high performance and ease of development. PS4 is centered around a powerful custom chip that contains eight x86-64 cores and a state of the art graphics processor.

The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has been enhanced in a number of ways, principally to allow for easier use of the GPU for general purpose computing (GPGPU) such as physics simulation. The GPU contains a unified array of 18 compute units, which collectively generate 1.84 Teraflops of processing power that can freely be applied to graphics, simulation tasks, or some mixture of the two.

PS4 is equipped with 8 GB of unified system memory, easing game creation and increasing the richness of content achievable on the platform. GDDR5 is used for this memory, giving the system 176 GB/second of bandwidth and providing a further boost to graphics performance.

The end result for gamers is new games with rich, high-fidelity graphics and deeply immersive experiences that shatter expectations.

Shared Game Experiences

Social interaction is central to PS4 experiences, so new features were built into the actual foundation of the system's hardware architecture. PS4 provides dedicated, "always on" video compression and decompression systems that enables seamless uploading of gameplay. For the first time ever, gamers can share their epic triumphs with the press of a button. Gamers simply hit the "SHARE button" on the controller, scan through the last few minutes of gameplay, tag it and return to the game-the video uploads as the gamer plays. Gamers can share their images and videos to their friends on social networking services such as Facebook.

PS4 also enhances social spectating by enabling gamers to broadcast their gameplay in real-time to friends using live internet streaming services such as Ustream. During live broadcasts, friends can make comments on the streamed gameplay and, if a gamer gets stuck on a challenging level, friends can also join the game in completely new ways. For example, friends can offer health potions or special weapons when a player needs them most during actual gameplay.

Furthermore, users can connect their Facebook account with Sony Entertainment Network account. Through PS4, users are able to deepen their connections through co-op play or "cross-game chat".

PS4 Second Screens

PS4 integrates second screens, including PlayStation?Vita (PS Vita), smartphones and tablets, to wrap gamers in their favorite content wherever they are. A key feature enabled by second screens is "Remote Play" and PS4 fully unlocks its potential by making PS Vita the ultimate companion device. With PS Vita, gamers will be able to seamlessly pull PS4 titles from their living room TVs and play them on PS Vita's beautiful 5-inch display and intuitive dual analog sticks over Wi-Fi networks*1. It is SCEI's long-term vision is to make most PS4 titles playable on PS Vita*2.

A new application from SCE called "PlayStation?App" will enable iPhone, iPad, and AndroidTM based smartphones and tablets*3 to become second screens. Once installed on these devices, users can, for example, see maps on their second screens when playing an adventure game, purchase PS4 games while away from home and download it directly to the console at home, or remotely watch other gamers playing on their devices.

Immediate Gameplay

PS4 radically reduces the lag time between players and their content. PS4 features "suspend mode" which keeps the system in a low power state while preserving the game session. The time it takes today to boot a console and load a saved game will be a thing of the past. With PS4, gamers just hit the power button again and are promptly back playing the game at the exact point where they left off. Additionally, users can boot a variety of applications including a web browser when playing a game on PS4.

PS4 also enables games to be downloaded or updated in the background, or even in stand-by mode. The system takes it one step further by making digital titles playable as they are being downloaded. When a player purchases a game, PS4 downloads just a fraction of the data so gamers can start playing immediately, and the rest is downloaded in the background during actual gameplay.

Personalized, Curated Content

On the newly designed PS4 menu screen, players can look over game-related information shared by friends, view friends' gameplay with ease, or obtain information of recommended content, including games, TV shows and movies. The long-term goal of PS4 is to reduce download times of digital titles to zero: if the system knows enough about a player to predict the next game they will purchase, then that game can be loaded and ready to go before they even click the "buy" button. PS4 will further enrich users' entertainment experiences, by meeting their potential needs.

Gaming in the Cloud

Launched in November 2006, PlayStation Network, a network service for PlayStation users, now operates in 67 countries and regions*4 around the world with the total number of downloaded content of more than 2.8 billion*5. In addition to a variety of games available in PlayStation?Store, PS4 users will be able to enjoy a variety of services offered by PSN, such as Sony Corporation's Music Unlimited, a cloud-based music subscription service and Video Unlimited, a premium video service, as well as various content distribution services.

By combining PlayStation Network with Gaikai Inc's cloud technology, it is SCE's goal to make free exploration possible for various games. In the future, when a gamer sees a title of interest in PlayStation Store, they can immediately start playing a portion of the actual game - not a stripped down version of the game. With Gaikai and PlayStation Store, gamers will be able to experience appealing games and only pay for the games they actually love. PlayStation Network and the cloud will offer additional value to PlayStation gamers. SCE is exploring unique opportunities enabled by cloud technology with the long-term vision of making PlayStation libraries including an incredible catalog of more than 3000 PS3 titles*6 that is unmatched in the industry, mostly ubiquitous on PS4.

SCE will announce new details of PS4 and its robust lineup of games from 3rd party developers and publishers, the independent gaming community and SCE Worldwide Studios, as well as further enhancements to the entire PlayStation ecosystem between now and the holiday 2013 launch.

*1

Depending on network environment or titles, users may not be able to play games outside comfortably.

*2

Exept games that require peripherals such as PlayStation?4 Eye ).

*3

Depending on the version of OS or other conditions, users cannot use the application.

*4

Number as of December 31st , 2012

*5

Number as of February 19st , 2013

*6

Number as of December 31st , 2012, including free trials.

Main Processor	Single-chip custom processor CPU : x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores GPU : 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon? based graphics engine
Memory	GDDR5 8GB
Hard Disk Drive	Built-in
Optical Drive (read only)	BD 6xCAV DVD 8xCAV
I/O	Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0) ?AUX
Communication	Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth? 2.1 (EDR)
AV output	HDMI Analog-AV out Digital Output (optical)

*Specifications are subject to change without notice.

List of Third Party Game Developers and Publishers

As of February 20th, 2013

(in alphabetical order of developer/publisher)

ACQUIRE Corp.

KADOKAWA SHOTEN CO., LTD.

ARC SYSTEM WORKS CO.,LTD.

Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.

ARTDINK CORPORATION

LEVEL-5 Inc.

ASCII MEDIA WORKS Inc.

MAGES. Inc.

Bethesda Softworks, LLC

MarvelousAQL Inc.

CAPCOM

NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.

Chara-Ani Corporation

NAMCO BANDAI Studios Inc.

CRAFTS & MEISTER CO.,LTD.

NIHON FALCOM CORPORATION

CyberConnect2 Co.,Ltd.

Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.

D3 PUBLISHER Inc.

O-TWO inc. (peakvox)

Dimps Corporation

PlatinumGames Inc.

Electronic Arts Inc.

SEGA Corporation

FromSoftware, Inc.

SPIKE CHUNSOFT Co.,Ltd.

GANBARION Co., Ltd.

SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.

Genki Co., Ltd.

SystemSoft Alpha Corp.

Granzella Inc.

TECMO KOEI GAMES Co.,Ltd.

GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.

TOSE CO., LTD.

GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc.

tri-Ace Inc.

GUST CO.,LTD.

Ubisoft Entertainment

IDEA FACTORY Co., Ltd.

WILL CO., LTD

IMAGEEPOCH INC.

XING Inc.

Index Corp.?ATLUS)

YUKE'S Co.,Ltd.

KADOKAWA GAMES,LTD.

45 companies in total

BLUESIDE Inc.
Ratloop Asia Pte Ltd
Red Hare Studios
XPEC Entertainment Inc.

4 companies in total

17-Bit

JETPACK Interactive Entertainment Ltd.

5th Cell Media LLC

Klei Entertainment Inc.

Activision Publishing, Inc.

Lab Zero, Inc

Armature Studios

LucasArts, a Lucasfilm Ltd. company

Behaviour Interactive

Metanet Software Inc

Bethesda Softworks, LLC

Minority Media Inc.

Blind Squirrel Games?

Nicalis, Inc

Certain Affinity, Inc.

Panic Button, LLC

Darkside Game Studios, Inc.

Psyonix Studios, Inc.

Devolver Digital

Slant Six Games

?Disney

Sony Online Entertainment LLC

Double Fine Productions, Inc.

Spark Unlimited

Double Helix Games

Spry Fox LLC

DrinkBox Studios Inc.

SuperVillain Studios

Edge of Reality, Inc.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

Electronic Arts Inc.

Telltale, Inc.

FarSight Studios

Tribute Games Inc.

Gaijin Games, Inc.

Turtle Rock Studios, Inc.

Gearbox Software

Ubisoft Entertainment

HB Studios Multimedia

vBlank Entertainment Inc.

Heavy Iron Studios, Inc.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc.

High Voltage Software, Inc.

WayForward Technologies, Inc.

inXile Entertainment Inc.

Zombie Studios, LLC

Iron Galaxy Studios, LLC

47 companies in total

4A Games

Kalyspo Media

505 Games

Laughing Jackal

Abstraction

Ludosity

Beatshapers

Mediatonic

Big Ant

Milestone

Big Bit

Mojang

BitComposer

Onmi Systems

Bloober Team S.A.

Prodigy Design

Boss Alien

Ripstone

Bugbear

Roll7

Cauldron

Ronimo

City Interactive

Rovio

Criterion Games

Shortround

Croteam

Sperasoft

Curve Studios

Sproing

Dakko Dakko Ltd

Stormbasic

Deck 13

Straight Right

Double Eleven

Targem

Eko Software

Tate

FatShark

Techland

Flying Wildhog

Tonika

Four Door Lemon

Torus Games

Frozenbyte

Vector Cell

FuturLab

Virtual Toys

Gaijin

Vlambeer

GHOST GAMES - AN EA STUDIO

Wizarbox

Green Hill Studios

53 companies in total

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/sony-ps4-announcement/

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And the Oscar (and thanks) goes to?

Public release date: 19-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jason Maderer
maderer@gatech.edu
404-385-2966
Georgia Institute of Technology

Identifying trends and customs in 60 years of Academy Awards speeches

Who is most likely to cry at this month's Academy Awards? Does everyone actually thank the Academy, or does it just seem like they do? Which person is more popular than God at the Oscars?

Georgia Tech master's student Rebecca Rolfe (Digital Media) found those answers and more while analyzing 60 years of Academy Awards acceptance speeches as part of a research project that focused on gratitude. Rolfe watched more than 200 speeches from 1953, the first year the awards ceremony was televised, to 2012, and has outlined the trends and patterns on an interactive website. She has also determined the anatomy of an Academy Awards speech, or at least the one that winners tend to give.

Rolfe focused on five categories: actor/actress in a leading role, actor/actress in a supporting role and best director. Because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hasn't posted every video on its YouTube channel, Rolfe was able to watch 207 of the 300 speeches since 1953.

While every speech is unique, Rolfe noticed a certain pattern that is used by winners.

"Winners tend to start their speeches broadly by thanking the Academy or fellow nominees, then gradually make it more personal," Rolfe said. "After reflecting on the win's significance, they typically thank their peers, colleagues and sometimes even their lawyer before mentioning family."

Nearly every speech (79 percent) closes with some version of "thank you."

I'd like to thank the Academy is one of the most famous phrases in Oscar history, but less than half of the winners (40 percent) actually say it.

Unsurprisingly, leading actresses are almost twice as likely to cry than leading actors. However, crying is a recent trend. Seventy one percent of tears have been shed since 1995, including 12 of the last 15 best actresses. Rolfe can only guess why.

"Much like the movies, acceptance speeches are a type of performance," she says. "I believe the tears are real, but perhaps, maybe even subconsciously, actresses know what is expected of them when they accept the honor. Maybe the public has come to expect an emotional speech, so actresses are more emotional than they would be otherwise."

Only one director has ever choked up: Steven Spielberg for "Schindler's List" at the 1993 ceremony.

Among the other findings: you might see a man hoist Oscar into the air with one hand (26 percent), while nearly 60 percent of winning actresses cradle the statue with both hands, like a baby.

Almost half of winners thank their family. Only 5 percent (11 total mentions) thank God, who loses out to Hollywood power player Harvey Weinstein. The co-founder of Miramax has been thanked the most times (12) in Oscar history.

Speeches have become considerably longer over the years. In the 1960s, a typical speech was about 40 seconds long. Now it averages nearly two minutes, although the orchestra has only cut off nine winners in these prestigious categories.

Rolfe's website allows users to compose their own speech, which is then compared to actual speeches given throughout the history of the ceremony. She focused on the Academy Awards because the announcement-acceptance format has basically remained unchanged through the years, providing her a consistent way to study gratitude and identify trends.

"In a way, we see a part of ourselves on stage at the Oscars," Rolfe explained. "While judging speeches each year, we shape the trends and customs society expects and accepts. Some of them, like length and crying, change over time. Hopefully this project is another tool for researchers as they analyze gratitude, an historically understudied field."

###

The research project was funded by the AP-Google Journalism and Technology Scholarship Program, which is overseen by the Online News Association.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 19-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jason Maderer
maderer@gatech.edu
404-385-2966
Georgia Institute of Technology

Identifying trends and customs in 60 years of Academy Awards speeches

Who is most likely to cry at this month's Academy Awards? Does everyone actually thank the Academy, or does it just seem like they do? Which person is more popular than God at the Oscars?

Georgia Tech master's student Rebecca Rolfe (Digital Media) found those answers and more while analyzing 60 years of Academy Awards acceptance speeches as part of a research project that focused on gratitude. Rolfe watched more than 200 speeches from 1953, the first year the awards ceremony was televised, to 2012, and has outlined the trends and patterns on an interactive website. She has also determined the anatomy of an Academy Awards speech, or at least the one that winners tend to give.

Rolfe focused on five categories: actor/actress in a leading role, actor/actress in a supporting role and best director. Because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hasn't posted every video on its YouTube channel, Rolfe was able to watch 207 of the 300 speeches since 1953.

While every speech is unique, Rolfe noticed a certain pattern that is used by winners.

"Winners tend to start their speeches broadly by thanking the Academy or fellow nominees, then gradually make it more personal," Rolfe said. "After reflecting on the win's significance, they typically thank their peers, colleagues and sometimes even their lawyer before mentioning family."

Nearly every speech (79 percent) closes with some version of "thank you."

I'd like to thank the Academy is one of the most famous phrases in Oscar history, but less than half of the winners (40 percent) actually say it.

Unsurprisingly, leading actresses are almost twice as likely to cry than leading actors. However, crying is a recent trend. Seventy one percent of tears have been shed since 1995, including 12 of the last 15 best actresses. Rolfe can only guess why.

"Much like the movies, acceptance speeches are a type of performance," she says. "I believe the tears are real, but perhaps, maybe even subconsciously, actresses know what is expected of them when they accept the honor. Maybe the public has come to expect an emotional speech, so actresses are more emotional than they would be otherwise."

Only one director has ever choked up: Steven Spielberg for "Schindler's List" at the 1993 ceremony.

Among the other findings: you might see a man hoist Oscar into the air with one hand (26 percent), while nearly 60 percent of winning actresses cradle the statue with both hands, like a baby.

Almost half of winners thank their family. Only 5 percent (11 total mentions) thank God, who loses out to Hollywood power player Harvey Weinstein. The co-founder of Miramax has been thanked the most times (12) in Oscar history.

Speeches have become considerably longer over the years. In the 1960s, a typical speech was about 40 seconds long. Now it averages nearly two minutes, although the orchestra has only cut off nine winners in these prestigious categories.

Rolfe's website allows users to compose their own speech, which is then compared to actual speeches given throughout the history of the ceremony. She focused on the Academy Awards because the announcement-acceptance format has basically remained unchanged through the years, providing her a consistent way to study gratitude and identify trends.

"In a way, we see a part of ourselves on stage at the Oscars," Rolfe explained. "While judging speeches each year, we shape the trends and customs society expects and accepts. Some of them, like length and crying, change over time. Hopefully this project is another tool for researchers as they analyze gratitude, an historically understudied field."

###

The research project was funded by the AP-Google Journalism and Technology Scholarship Program, which is overseen by the Online News Association.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/giot-ato021913.php

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Hackers take Jeep's Twitter account for a ride

DETROIT (AP) ? Someone hacked their way into Jeep's Twitter account on Tuesday, posting fake tweets about the brand being sold to Cadillac and that it was suspending factory production.

The move was similar to an incident involving the Burger King restaurant chain on Monday. A spokesman for Chrysler Group LLC, which owns Jeep, said he had no idea if the two cases were linked, although he said the visuals looked similar.

Messages left with Twitter spokeswomen were not immediately returned.

Hackers took control of the account around 1:30 p.m. EST, posting that the Jeep brand had been sold to General Motors' Cadillac because employees had been caught "doing this." Accompanying the tweet was a photo of a man holding a bottle of pills. Later, the hackers tweeted that Jeep production had been halted.

The false tweets took place for a little under an hour before Chrysler's social media agency was able to regain control of the account with help from Twitter, Chrysler spokesman Ed Garsten said. The false messages were deleted from the account around 3 p.m.

The agency, Ignite Social Media of Birmingham, Mich., near Detroit, spotted the misdeeds quickly and worked to wrest the account back from the hackers, Garsten said. He said he has no idea who hacked into the account, and he thought Chrysler would take steps to guard against future attacks.

"I can only imagine that they're taking a look at it," he said.

Jeep normally uses Twitter to promote its vehicles and parts, or to spotlight its customers.

Garsten said he didn't think the incident hurt the Jeep brand because most people realized it was a hacking incident. The hackers were successful in making Jeep's tweets more popular.

"I guess I see that Jeep was trending during that time," he said.

Burger King's Twitter account went through a similar takeover on Monday, as hackers posted obscene messages and changed its profile picture to a McDonald's logo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-19-US-Jeep-Twitter-Hacked/id-f0f2cfe69a824190bccea166ee6b8dbc

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Santana won't pitch in World Baseball Classic

The Mets officially denied Johan Santana?s request to pitch in the World Baseball Classic, Sandy Alderson told reporters today.

?He wants to play. We know that,? Alderson explained. ?But, under the circumstances, we don?t think it?s in his best interest or ours. ? We think that he will be better served with a full, routine, progressive spring training as opposed to the accelerated program the WBC would represent.?

Yesterday at Tradition Field, Santana threw a bullpen session off the mound. Terry Collins later said Santana will make his first Grapefruit League start on March 2.

?You don?t have too many opportunities to represent your country in an event like that,? Santana said, according to ESPN New York. ?I feel bad about it. At the same time, I understand everything that they?re saying and they?re doing. There?s not much I can do about it.?

Santana missed the entire 2011 season because of surgery on his throwing shoulder.

---

2:02 PM:?According to SNY?s Matt Dunn, Santana was preparing to pitch in the WBC, since it was something he really wanted to do.

Santana says he will now prepare for the regular season, and will soon talk with Terry Collins and the staff about a new plan of attack.

Matthew Cerrone, MetsBlog.com:

The moment Sandy Alderson?s questions his team?s chances to be in a pennant race this summer, I expect he?ll start shopping Santana; but only if Johan is pitching well and looking strong. To do that, I think they?re going to get him early rest and pace his performance. Johan will have value if he looks good and the Mets are willing to eat most of his remaining salary, which I think they will. Teams are more likely to pay for a guy like Santana than a hitter, when in a pennant race, and this front office knows that. But, Santana first needs to go slow and create confidence he?ll be capable for a contendor in the second half? not pitching in the WBC is the first smart step.

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Source: http://metsblog.com/metsblog/johan-santana-will-not-pitch-in-wbc/

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The Daily Roundup for 02.18.2013

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/18/the-daily-roundup-for-02-18-2013/

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IRL: Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 and the full-frame RX1

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

Not too long ago, full-frame digital cameras were cumbersome, heavy and very expensive. They're still a long ways from making a home in the bargain bin, but Sony's new RX1 definitely has size in check. In order to reduce the model's footprint, the Japanese camera maker added a fixed 35mm lens to this point-and-shoot-esque digicam, modeled after the company's gorgeous and versatile RX100. Both of these flagship Cyber-shots offer tremendous bang for your buck, but they'll thin out your wallet faster than they'll capture 10 consecutive 20-plus-megapixel frames. Still, as you'll read after the break, our resident camera reviewer Zach Honig is very much in love.

Filed under: Cameras, Misc, Sony

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mzxXbV5O92c/

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Sidley Austin: Washington Energy Update

Washington Energy Update

Sidley Austin
February 12, 2013
3 pages

In this Issue:

• Climate Change Topic Continues to Dominate Before State of the Union Address
• Energy Committee Senior Republican Sets Stage for Potential Energy Legislation
• Biofuels Mandate Remains Target for Reform in 113th Congress
• Department of Interior Responds to Senate Energy Committee Leaders Regarding Coal Royalty Payments on Public Lands

Source: http://www.mycorporateresource.com/newjoomla3/index.php/-industry-/energy-renewable-a-alternative/1252-renewable-energy/117456-sidley-austin-washington-energy-update

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Hackers aim at retail... How Michael Jordan keeps making $80M a year... Apple's subliminal TV ads... Mystery billionaire backing Heinz deal ? VIDEO

---

Dealers work in the trading room of Gaitame.Com Co., a foreign exchange brokerage in Japan on Monday. The yen fell against the dollar, extending losses that made it the worst-performing major currency in the past three months, after Group of 20 nations refrained from censuring Japanese policies driving the decline.

Business news from around the Web:

Obama faces risks in Keystone pipeline decision (The New York Times)

SEC freezes Swiss account over Heinz trades (The Wall Street Journal)

Hackers aim arrows at retail bulls eye (Fox)

Apple's new subliminal TV ads (CNN)

How Michael Jordan continues to earn $80 million a year (Forbes)

Will an end to Saturday mail hurt your business?

Ed Stych reports on Twin Cities breaking business news for MSPBJ.com, manages online features, and writes the Fast 50 Diary features for the print edition.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_58/~3/nmcmll6ARLM/roundup-feb-18-morning.html

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Real Estate Weekly ? Blog Archive ? Eastdil and CBRE marketing ...

425 Lexington Avenue

Eastdil Secured and CBRE Group are teaming up to market for sale two of Midtown Manhattan?s premier office buildings, 499 Park Avenue and 425 Lexington Avenue.
?499 Park Avenue, also referred to as the Black Diamond, and the statuesque 425 Lexington Avenue, home to the world headquarters of law firm Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLC, offer investors an unparalleled combination of boutique and corporate excellence,? said Darcy Stacom, CBRE vice chairman.
?These two Hines trophies present a rare opportunity to be acquired as a portfolio, or individually, and should command worldwide attention,? said Eastdil?s Senior Managing Director Douglas Harmon.
The buildings are being marketed on behalf of the owner, Hines U.S. Core Office Fund.
?We have had outstanding success with these two assets over the last 10 years in terms of investment performance, and the interest we expect both locally and globally only reinforces our continuing commitment to New York City as the world?s preeminent global real estate location,? said Hines? Senior Managing Director for the New York office, Tommy Craig.
499 Park Avenue, designed by I.M. Pei, is one of New York?s finest boutique trophy office towers. The property is 28 stories of sleek black glass and totals approximately 300,000 square feet of prime office and retail space. Its location is irreplaceable at the southeast corner of 59th Street and Park Avenue, at the convergence of Manhattan?s two foremost submarkets, Plaza District and Park Avenue. Built in 1980, the building has consistently garnered some of the highest rental rates in the city and has attracted leading boutique firms that seek the prestige and elegance of a Park Avenue address. They are also drawn to the tower?s ideal floor sizes of 11,000 square feet, as well as its protected views of Central Park and the Upper East Side.
One of the Grand Central market?s newest and most prominent buildings, 425 Lexington Avenue, built in 1987, is a 31-story office tower containing 750,000 square feet of office and retail space. The building is currently 100 percent leased to Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLC and CIBC. Offering optimal floor plates ranging from 18,000 to 36,600 square feet, the building provides a rare Manhattan amenity?gardened terraces on the 7th, 8th and 9th floors. 425 Lexington Avenue occupies the entire easterly block front between 43rd and 44th streets, and is situated directly across from Grand Central Terminal and the world-renowned Chrysler Building.
In addition to Eastdil Secured?s Harmon and CBRE?s Stacom, Adam Spies and Kevin Donner of Eastdil Secured, and Bill Shanahan and Paul Gillen of CBRE, will be instrumental in the marketing effort.

Other posts by REW Staff

Source: http://www.rew-online.com/2013/02/15/eastdil-and-cbre-marketing-pair-of-midtown-towers/

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Tank storing radioactive waste leaking in Washington

By CNN Staff

updated 10:42 PM EST, Fri February 15, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Leak is in the range of 150 to 300 gallons per year
• It poses no immediate risk to public health, says the state governor
• Hanford site once played a major part in U.S. plutonium production

(CNN) -- A tank storing radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington is leaking liquids to the tune of 150 to 300 gallons per year, the governor said Friday.

"This is an extremely toxic substance, and we have to have a zero-tolerance policy for leaks of radioactive material into the ground and potentially groundwater of the state of Washington," Gov. Jay Inslee said.

He stressed that the leak poses no immediate public heath risk but said that fact should not be an excuse for complacence.

"At the same time that I am making clear that this is a long-term, very significant concern of the state of Washington; it is not a short-term concern," he said.

"We have been assured by people that I do trust that this poses no immediate threat to ... health. It would be quite some time before these leaks could breach groundwater or the Columbia River."

The governor said he would be traveling next week to Washington to meet with outgoing Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who called Inslee on Friday morning with news of a leaking single-shell tank.

The tank was built in the 1940s and holds roughly 447,000 gallons of sludge, according to the governor's office. The Hanford site houses 177 tanks, 149 of which are single-shell tanks.

The leaking tank is believed to be the first to lose liquids since 2005.

The Hanford site is a 586-square-mile area that once played a major part in U.S. plutonium production. The site is now home to one of the largest nuclear cleanup efforts in the world.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_latest/~3/Tvyh83lk020/index.html

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4th Eviction-Motivated Suicide Rocks Indebted Spain; Protesters Shout Eviction Is 'Murder' (VIDEO)

Another struggling tenant in Spain committed suicide this week, rather than be evicted from his home. This is the fourth eviction-motivated suicide in the European nation since Monday.

As Spanish-language news site Informacion reports, police confirmed the 46-year-old man hung himself on Feb. 13 in the Spanish city of Alicante.

The man had allegedly not paid his rent for the past five years, according to the site. Police reportedly found his body when they arrived to evict him. Friends told Informacion they were not surprised, and that the deceased tenant had previously threatened to commit suicide if eviction papers were served.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that an elderly couple overdosed on prescription medications rather than be forced to leave their home in Mallorca. And earlier in the week, a 56-year-old man residing in the Basque town of Basauri Vizcaya killed himself after falling behind on his payments, according to ThinkSpain.

These suicides are part of a much larger trend in a country stricken by its own housing crisis, which began in 2008. "Between December 2011 and March or April 2012, the number of suicides presumably linked to economic problems has increased significantly," a Spanish forensic investigator told Latin American news network Tierram?rica in August.

Reuters reported in November that Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos vowed to stop the eviction of needy families after the high-profile suicide of 53-year-old Amaia Ega?a, who jumped to her death from the balcony of her apartment after becoming unable to make her mortgage payments.

But the government's fall reforms, which included a two-year moratorium on evictions, have apparently failed to stem the tide of eviction-motivated suicides, or cooled the fury of activist groups protesting them.

According to the AP, over 350,000 Spaniards have received eviction notices since the housing bubble popped five years ago. In Spain, tenants who are evicted are still liable for huge payments. Banks have the authority to garnish wags if necessary.

On Wednesday, members of the Spanish parliament bowed to public pressure and agreed to discuss an initiative that would put in place new protections for struggling tenants and homeowners, writes EuroWeeklyNews. As protesters stood outside the parliament and shouted slogans like, "Not eviction, it's murder," the Spanish legislature decided to review the bill, which would change the law to end evictions altogether and erase debts owed by struggling homeowners who agreed to give up their homes, according to Agence France-Presse.

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/4th-eviction-suicide-spain_n_2697192.html

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Valentine's Day under attack in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Romance is not dead in Pakistan, but it's under attack.

Conservatives in Pakistan tacked up posters urging people to boycott Valentine's Day on Thursday, saying it's a western-inspired event that's spreading vulgarity in their country. Romantics fought back with an arsenal of flowers, pink teddy bears and heart-shaped balloons.

"Here in this part of Pakistan we are faced with bomb blasts, and we don't have much opportunity to enjoy and celebrate so to me it is one of those few occasions to celebrate," said Taimur Hassan, a 29-year-old man working in the northwestern city of Peshawar. He was out buying a gift for his girlfriend, and looking for something different than a stuffed bear he got her last year.

That's exactly the type of behavior many of Pakistan's conservatives are worried about.

For them, Valentine's Day is nothing but an occasion to encourage illicit relations between the country's young ? unmarried ? males and females. It's a sign that Western culture and values are eating away the fabric of Pakistan's traditional, Islamic society. Valentine's Day, they say, is not a Pakistani holiday and not part of the culture here.

In the southern city of Karachi, billboards implored people to "Say no to Valentine's Day." The "no" was encapsulated in a black heart, and the sign said the holiday reflects insensitivity and ignorance of Islam.

Tanzeem-e-Islami, the organization that put up the billboards, called on the interior ministry to suspend cell phone service on the holiday that celebrates love. Group spokesman Muhammad Samee said many young people use mobile phones to send Valentine's Day greetings and suspending the service for the day would save people from "moral terrorism."

Attitudes toward Valentine's Day, named after a Christian saint said to have been martyred by the Romans in the 3rd Century, vary across the Arab world, with some devout Muslims opposing the holiday as a Western celebration of romantic love that corrupts Muslim youth.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a hardline Pakistani cleric, warned that young people who celebrate Valentine's Day will be celebrating children's births in November.

"In Islam, there is a concept of respecting and loving mother, sister, wife and daughter for 365 days a year," said Ahmed, who thinks the holiday breeds vulgarity across the country.

Fearing a backlash against the holiday, Pakistani officials charged with monitoring and censoring television content issued a letter on Wednesday asking TV stations to be respectful when airing programs on Valentine's Day. The letter, issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, noted that large segments of society do not think the holiday is in line with Pakistani culture and religion.

However, the instructions were rescinded following a hue and cry on social media and pressure from TV channels, according to an official with the regulatory authority. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In Pakistan, social media like Twitter and Facebook have increasingly become a way for the country's small, liberal, secular segment of society to voice their opinions. By midday Thursday, Valentine's Day was one of the most popular themes on Twitter.

Despite the earlier regulatory warning, TV channels didn't seem to be shying away from Valentine's Day programming. Many featured video of people shopping for presents like heart-shaped balloons and interviews with helmeted motorcycle riders driving off with bouquets of flowers.

Mazhar Abbas, director of current affairs at Express News, said the station hadn't received any complaints on its programming.

While Valentine's Day is widely celebrated in some Muslim countries like the United Arab Emirates, in other areas it's been met with opposition:

?In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, government officials and clerics in Jakarta called for young people to skip Valentine's Day, saying it was an excuse for couples to have forbidden sex.

?In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the government opposes Valentine's Day, but tolerates it. It has not banned people or shops from celebrating the holiday. Some gift shops, toy stores and flower stores were selling special Valentine's Day items, but the celebrations are not widespread, mostly are observed by university students or newlyweds.

?Iranian officials in January banned the import of Valentine's Day gifts, but people in the capital, Tehran, were still out purchasing such gifts and making plans for meeting boyfriends or girlfriends for romantic dinners.

Despite the opposition in Pakistan, Valentine's Day romanticism ? or at least the marketing sentiment ? wasn't dampened much in the capital, Islamabad. Peddlers approached cars at stop signs hawking heart-shaped balloons, and the prices at flower stalls nearly doubled.

Eid Muhammed, a salesman at a gift shop in Peshawar, said gift card sales had dropped in recent years as people preferred to send text messages to their loved ones instead. But he said more people were buying gifts for their sweethearts. He estimated that about 90 percent of the customers were young people, and most were men.

One of the few exceptions was Amina Mahmood, a female college student, who was buying flowers for a special someone she chose not to describe.

"Some days are so special that we should not miss them," she said shyly.

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Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Adil Jawad in Karachi, Asif Shahzad and Munir Asif in Islamabad, Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/valentines-day-under-attack-pakistan-142915308.html

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