Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Scientists discover how a protein finds its way

Apr. 29, 2013 ? Proteins, the workhorses of the body, can have more than one function, but they often need to be very specific in their action or they create cellular havoc, possibly leading to disease.

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have uncovered how an enzyme co-factor can bestow specificity on a class of proteins with otherwise nonspecific biochemical activity.

The protein in question helps in the assembly of ribosomes, large macromolecular machines that are critical to protein production and cell growth. This new discovery expands scientists' view of the role of co-factors and suggests such co-factors could be used to modify the activity of related proteins and their role in disease.

"In ribosome production, you need to do things very specifically," said TSRI Associate Professor Katrin Karbstein, who led the study. "Adding a co-factor like Rrp5 forces these enzymes to be specific in their actions. The obvious possibility is that if you could manipulate the co-factor, you could alter protein activity, which could prove to be tremendously important."

The new study, which is being published the week of April 29, 2013, in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on proteins called DEAD-box proteins, a provocative title actually derived from their amino acid sequence. These proteins regulate all aspects of gene expression and RNA metabolism, particularly in the production of ribosomes, and are involved in cell metabolism. The link between defects in ribosome assembly and cancer and between DEAD-box proteins and cancer is well documented.

The findings show that the DEAD-box protein Rok1, needed in the production of a small ribosomal subunit, recognizes the RNA backbone, the basic structural framework of nucleic acids. The co-factor Rrp5 then gives Rok1 the ability to target a specific RNA sequence by modulating the structure of Rok1.

"Despite extensive efforts, the roles of these DEAD-box proteins in the assembly of the two ribosomal subunits remain largely unknown," Karbstein said. "Our study suggests that the solution may be to identify their cofactors first."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Scripps Research Institute.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Crystal L. Young, Sohail Khoshnevis, and Katrin Karbstein. Cofactor-dependent specificity of a DEAD-box protein. PNAS, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1302577110

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/xmv1NTIqvrI/130429175906.htm

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Synrgic Uno debuts as one of the last TI OMAP-powered Android phones (updated with video)

Synrgic Uno debuts as one of the last TI OMAPpowered Android phones

Taiwan might have an HTC One and an HTC First, but starting today, Singapore has a Synrgic Uno to join the banter (get it?). The name Synrgic might not immediately ring a bell, but if you dig a little deeper, you'll see a mention of its earlier phone plus three tablets from a while back. Alas, said phone was eventually canned as the quality didn't meet expectations, so consider this Uno a new attempt by the same Singaporean startup. Announced in its home city just now, this device is positioned as a mid-tier Android phone with some modest specs, namely a 4.7-inch, 720p IPS display with Gorilla Glass and, more interestingly, a dual-core 1.5GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 SoC (with 1GB DDR2 RAM and SGX 544 graphics chip). With the upcoming TI OMAP 5 series shifting towards automotive systems, chances are the Uno will be one of the last OMAP-powered smartphones before TI waves goodbye to the mobile world. More after the break.

Update: We've added a hands-on video after the break. In short: smooth software and solid hardware build, with some room for improvement on the coating at the top and bottom sides.

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Source: Synrgic

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/jtejC1fntOs/

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Billionaires flee tax havens as transparency ... - Financial Post

Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, Russia?s 14th-richest person, and his wife, Elena Rybolovleva, have been brawling for almost five years in at least seven countries over his US$9.5-billion fortune.

In a divorce complaint originated in Geneva in 2008, Rybolovleva accused her husband of using a ?multitude of third- parties? to create a network of offshore holding companies and trusts to place assets ? including about US$500-million in art, US$36-million in jewelry and an US$80-million yacht ? beyond her reach.

Massive offshore tax haven account leak includes names of 450 wealthy Canadians

The list, taken from a cache of 2.5-million leaked digital files, exposes the identities of nearly 130,000 people world-wide with savings stashed in hidden accounts as well as bank sales agents, the ICIJ said in a release.

Continue reading.

She has brought legal action against the 48-year-old Rybolovlev in the British Virgin Islands, England, Wales, the U.S., Cyprus, Singapore and Switzerland, and is seeking US$6-billion.

The suits provide a window into the offshore structures and secrecy jurisdictions the world?s richest people use to manage, preserve and conceal their assets. According to Tax Justice Network, a U.K.-based organization that campaigns for transparency in the financial system, wealthy individuals were hiding as much as US$32-trillion offshore at the end of 2010. Fewer than 100,000 people own US$9.8-trillion of offshore assets, according to research compiled by former McKinsey & Co. economist James Henry.

?For a lot of people, it?s not just the objective of not paying taxes,? Philip Marcovici, an independent Hong Kong-based tax lawyer and board member of Vaduz, Liechtenstein-based wealth adviser Kaiser Partner Group, said in a telephone interview.

?It?s the objective of obtaining the human right to privacy and seeking confidentiality about their financial affairs.?

Van Gogh

More than 30% of the world?s 200 richest people, who have a US$2.8-trillion collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, control part of their personal fortune through an offshore holding company or other domestic entity where the assets are held indirectly. These structures often hide assets from tax authorities or provide legal protection from government seizure and lawsuits.

Rybolovlev, who lives in Monaco, made most of his fortune from the sale of two potash fertilizer companies for a combined US$8-billion in 2010 and 2011. He held both companies ? OAO Uralkali and OAO Silvinit ? through Cyprus-based Madura Holding Ltd.

Some of his art ? including works by Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso ? is now held in Xitrans Finance Ltd., a British Virgin Islands-based company, and stored in Singapore. Rybolovlev bought a New York City apartment for US$88-million in 2011 using a trust associated with his daughter, Ekaterina. The penthouse was purchased from the wife of former Citigroup Inc. chairman Sandy Weill, according to divorce documents filed in New York.

Liechtenstein, Cyprus

In the suit, Rybolovleva said the billionaire moved many of his assets, including jewels, furniture and the yacht, under the control of two trusts, Aries and Virgo, that he established in Cyprus in 2005, a few weeks after she refused to sign a post-nuptial agreement he offered her.

Sergey Chernitsyn, a spokesman for Rybolovlev at his Monaco-based family holding company Rigmora Holdings Ltd., said he declined to comment. Marc Bonnant, Rybolovleva?s Geneva-based attorney, also declined to comment.

Since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, the laws and treaties that created and sustained the offshore tax-dodging industry and allowed for the kinds of maneuvers used by Rybolovlev have been undergoing a shift toward transparency.

Liechtenstein, once fabled for its banking secrecy laws, began in 2009 to require its financial institutions to hold ? and release when required ? details about the beneficial owners of all accounts held there. Andorra and Switzerland made their own concessions within a day of Liechtenstein.

Money Laundering

Singapore, the heart of Asia?s banking and offshore industry, will make laundering of profits from tax evasion a crime under a law taking effect on July 1. Luxembourg announced on April 10 that it would end its bank secrecy policy in 2015.

Cyprus was bailed out of its financial troubles in March by the European Union, which required the nation to impose a tax on bank deposits of more than 100,000 euros. That month, the country lost US$2.4-billion in deposits, according to data from the European Central Bank.

The shift toward transparency has led many of the world?s wealthiest to reassess how and where they hold their assets, according to Goran Grosskopf, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based economist who has advised several billionaires, as well as the Russian government.

Li, Lee

Li Ka-Shing and Lee Shau Kee, Asia?s two richest men, control parts of their fortunes through offshore structures. Li owns his 43% stake in Hong Kong-based property developer Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. through namesake trusts and companies in the Cayman and British Virgin Islands, according to regulatory filings. Lee holds his shares in Henderson Land Development Co. through 10 firms set up in the two British island territories and Panama, filings show.

Alisher Usmanov, Russia?s richest man, earlier this year restructured the way he holds his US$19.7-billion fortune, moving the majority of his assets ? including his two most valuable, Metalloinvest Holding Co. and OAO MegaFon, worth US$12.7-billion combined ? under the control of British Virgin Islands-based USM Holdings.

He controls at least one asset ? a 30% stake in London soccer team Arsenal worth US$225-million, which he shares with a partner ? through Red & White Securities. The holding company is based on the Channel island of Jersey, a Crown dependency of the U.K. that has threatened to sever ties with the country after being criticized during 2012 for its tax policies.

Koch Industries

U.S. energy billionaire George Kaiser?s US$13.5-billion fortune benefits from the US$3.4-billion in assets held by his tax-exempt Kaiser Family Foundation, according to filings with the U.S Internal Revenue Service. The charity paid US$110-million for a liquid natural gas tanker in 2003. It then signed an exclusive agreement that gave control of the ship to Woodlands, Texas-based Excelerate Energy LLC, a for-profit gas delivery operation Kaiser controls with publicly traded German electric utility RWE AG.

Paolo Rocca, an Italian billionaire living in Argentina, is continuing a cat and mouse game with the Argentine government that was started by his grandfather in 1949. The family first established its San Faustin SA holding company in Uruguay that year, moving it to Panama in 1959, to Curacao and then to Luxembourg in 2011, using side entities in the British Virgin Islands and the Netherlands from which to control it.

?Girlfriend, Wife?

A small part of the US$15.3-billion fortune controlled by Texas billionaire Elaine T. Marshall, 70, is based in Liechtenstein, where her late husband, E. Pierce Marshall, started a foundation for their grandchildren, according to his will. The Dallas resident controls almost 15% of Koch Industries Inc., the second-largest closely held company in the U.S., after inheriting the stake in 2006.

Many of today?s wealthy remain focused on finding places to minimize their taxes and avoid double taxation, Grosskopf said. Mario Gassner, Chief Executive Officer of Liechtenstein?s Financial Market Authority, said there are other reasons the wealthy seek discretion.

?If you are married and have a girlfriend in another country, you may have a lot of assets that perhaps you don?t want your wife to know about,? he said. ?Or perhaps you are looking for a solution for your children to finance university studies, or you?re not in good relations with them and you don?t know what is going to happen to your fortune in the future.?

Russian billionaires create entities in the British Virgin Islands because they find its legal system, which is based on British law, more attractive than their own, Valery Tutykhin, an attorney with John Tiner & Partners, a Geneva-based law firm that specializes in wealth management, said in a phone interview.

The Cayman Islands are popular among billionaires because they don?t impose any type of income or investment taxes on funds organized in the Caribbean country, according to a 2013 taxation report by Amstelveen, the Netherlands-based tax and accounting firm KPMG International.

Delaware is the legal home to more than half of the corporate entities in the U.S. The state?s favourable tax laws cuts companies? tax burdens by an average of 40%, according to a 2011 study by Jacob Thornock at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. Delaware also doesn?t require officers and directors to be U.S. citizens, and allows them to remain anonymous, according to its business code.

Limited Liability

There are other structures, such as the Dutch stichting, the Liechtenstein foundation, and the German gGmbH, that billionaires can use to control their assets.

Ingvar Kamprad, who controls Ikea Group, the world?s biggest home-furnishings retailer, fled Sweden for Switzerland in the 1970s in what he said was a protest of his home country?s tax policies. He placed shares of Ikea into a Dutch foundation in the 1980s, and later put the company?s intellectual property rights into a Liechtenstein foundation.

The transfers removed Kamprad, the world?s fifth-richest man, from any direct ownership of Ikea. He is credited with the wealth by the Bloomberg index because he controls those entities. The billionaire disputes that he controls the company.

Per Heggenes, a spokesman for Stichting INGKA Ikea, the owner of the Ikea Group, said in an interview last year that Kamprad?s goal was to protect Ikea. The multiple layers of ownership serve as a deterrent to takeover, he said. The foundations, if kept intact, will hold the ownership of Ikea in perpetuity.

Monaco Resident

Dieter Schwarz, Germany?s second-richest man, created a gemeinnuetzige Gesellschaft mit beschraenkter Haftung ? a limited liability company with a charitable purpose ? in 1999 to hold his Lidl and Kaufland discount supermarket chains, which form the largest closely held food retailer in Europe.

The 73-year-old controls a US$23.6-billion fortune through the Neckarsulm, Germany-based Dieter Schwarz Stiftung gGmbH, a tax-exempt entity that had more than 30 million euros designated for charitable giving through October 2012 ? about 0.1% of Schwarz?s net worth ? according to Gertrud Bott, a company spokeswoman. The retail chains are overseen by his company, Schwarz Group.

In the U.K., structures that help billionaires avoid taxes are attracting increasing public scrutiny, according to Chizu Nakajima, a co-director of the Center for Research in Corporate Governance at London?s Cass Business School. Billionaire Philip Green controls Arcadia, the clothing retailer that includes the Topshop and Topman fashion chains, through London-based Taveta Investments Ltd., according to filings with the U.K.?s Companies House registry.

Wife?s Dividend

Taveta Investments is owned by Jersey-based holding company Taveta Ltd., the documents show. Taveta Ltd. is controlled by Green?s wife, who is a Monaco resident. The arrangement enabled a 1.2 billion-pound (US$2.3-billion) dividend paid by Arcadia to Green?s wife in October 2005 to go untaxed, according to an article published in London?s Guardian newspaper.

Green, who didn?t respond to a request for comment, defended the arrangement in a November 2012 interview with the Financial Times newspaper. He said the structure was legal, and that Arcadia had paid 2.3-billion pounds in taxes since 2002.

Establishing an offshore account remains cheap and easy, according to Tutykhin. The typical structure costs about US$1,500, he said, though he has seen ones marketed by Russian students for US$200. Even the most-reputable firms don?t charge much more to establish an offshore structure, he said, though billionaires will often spend ?tens of thousands? of dollars a year on lawyers to manage their holdings and assure discretion.

?Get Out?

Those wealthy individuals should stop searching for new tax havens to hide their assets, said tax advisor Marcovici.

?We live in a world where you only have two choices: play by the rules of the country you live in, or get out if you don?t want to play by the rules,? he said.

Bloomberg News

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/29/billionaires-flee-tax-havens-as-transparency-becomes-the-new-norm/

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Google Now available on iOS devices starting today

Google Now available on iOS devices starting today

When it comes to major news, we didn't expect to hear much from Google in the run-up to I/O, but clearly, the company just couldn't wait that long. Google Now, a service that Android users have enjoyed for a year, just became available on iOS devices in the form of an update to the Google Search app, confirming those leaked videos we saw a few weeks ago. It won't have integration with notifications or alerts at launch -- it may come in a future update, but the company wasn't willing to divulge its future plans -- so you'll need to enter the app and swipe up to refresh your list of cards. The iOS version won't have every type of card that you'll find on Android, either: boarding passes, activity summary, events, concerts, Fandango and Zillow aren't included this go-round. Improvements and additional features will likely trickle in over time, but it's certainly better than nothing for iOS fans who've looked at Jelly Bean users with a slightly jealous eye. We've included Google's blog post in its entirety below, and you can jump to More Coverage to download the app.

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Source: The Official Google Blog, iTunes

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/IfRW3CkQ4nQ/

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Robert Remini, Andrew Jackson scholar, dies at 91

Robert V. Remini, an award-winning scholar of Andrew Jackson and 19th century politics who viewed Washington firsthand in the 21st century when he became the official historian for the U.S. House of Representatives, has died. He was 91.

Remini, who retired from the House in 2010, died March 28 at Evanston Hospital after suffering a stroke, the University of Illinois at Chicago announced in a news release. Remini was a professor emeritus at the school.

Learned, readable and productive, Remini wrote and co-authored more than 20 books, starting in 1959 with "Martin Van Buren and the Making of the Democratic Party." On Jackson alone, he completed at least 10 books, including an influential trilogy of which the finale won the National Book Award in 1984. Benjamin Walker, star of the Broadway musical "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," has said he read Remini as part of his research.

Rep. Dennis Hastert, a fellow Illinois resident and then-Speaker, appointed Remini historian of the House in 2005. Three years earlier, Remini had been asked by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington to write a Congressional history, "The House," for which Remini interviewed legislators and sat in on Congressional proceedings, was published in 2006.

Remini also wrote biographies of President John Quincy Adams, the celebrated orator Daniel Webster and Mormon founder Joseph Smith. He was openly unhappy with the recent divisions in Congress and wrote often about the days when deals among enemies could be reached, including the pre-Civil War history "At the Edge of the Precipice: Henry Clay and the Compromise that Saved the Union," published in 2010.

Remini himself was willing to take sides. In "A Short History of the United States," which came out in 2008, he wrote that the Bush administration had been "itching to start a war with Iraq" and faulted the conflict as futile, poorly managed and expensive. Remini also criticized Bush as indifferent to civil liberties and for successfully pushing through tax cuts that favored the rich.

A steady admirer of Jackson, who was among the country's most idolized and divisive presidents, Remini celebrated him as a self-made man, patriot and populist who opened up American society and government and resisted his fellow Southerners' desire to secede. Remini noted Jackson's harsh positions on slavery and the treatment of Indians, but still found that Jackson "profoundly assisted" the country's "rise to greatness" and "proved for all time the reality and splendor of the American dream."

Historian Andrew R.L. Cayton would declare that Remini was "as tenacious a champion as any president could ever hope to have." Remini came of age when scholars followed the "great man" theory of history, history as determined by individuals with power. He was tougher on Jackson than previous biographers, notably Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., but was still criticized on occasion as too close to his subject.

"He has mastered in all their complex detail the many issues and events of Jackson's private and public life, but in doing so he has come to see the world too much from Jackson's point of view," historian John William Ward wrote in The New York Times in 1981 as he reviewed the trilogy's second volume.

"If ... we want to know more about Andrew Jackson, there is no better place to turn than this book. If, however, we wish to know more about the shaping of our society, which has entered into the shaping of ourselves, then we will have to turn somewhere else."

A native of New York, Remini was born in 1921. He grew up during the Great Depression, but thanks to his winning a scholarship from the Mothers Club of Long Island, he became the first of his family to attend college. He was an undergraduate at Fordham University, received a master's and Ph.D from Columbia University and spent much of his academic career in the history department of the University of Illinois in Chicago.

During World War II, he served in the Navy. He had planned to become a lawyer, but found himself reading history during idle times at sea. At Columbia after the war, he studied for his master's degree under Richard Hofstadter, then a new faculty member, but eventually an influential and popular historian who helped set Remini's scholarly path.

Remini had wanted to write his thesis on John Purroy Mitchell, a New York City mayor in the early 20th century. But Hofstadter told him that Mitchell's papers were not available and suggested Remini try Van Buren ? a 19th century New Yorker, the country's eighth president and an architect of the modern party system. Hofstadter's idea was not spontaneous: Columbia had received a grant to acquire microfilm copies of New York history documents, Van Buren's papers would be obtained first and the school needed a graduate student to review them.

Throughout his research on Van Buren, Remini was drawn to Jackson, a close ally of Van Buren's whose life was "demanding" the attention of the young scholar. After his Van Buren book was published, Remini wrote his first Jackson biography, "The Election of Andrew Jackson," and continued his research through the decades.

By the 1990s, he was sure he knew everything of worth about Jackson only to learn that a document had been discovered in Italy revealing that as a young man Jackson had sworn allegiance to the King of Spain.

"That information came as quite a blow," Remini wrote. "I was staggered. I couldn't believe it. But the facts were indisputable."

Remini married Ruth T. Kuhner in 1948. They had three children.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/robert-remini-andrew-jackson-scholar-dies-91-052218216.html

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98% 56 Up

All Critics (55) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (1)

Yes, on some level it's just a seven-year check-in with people maybe half-remembered, if that. Yet the films also serve as a kind of check-in with us, too.

What ultimately is so compelling about 56 Up is the universality of the experiences. We were all once children. And we all will die. And in between, there is everything else.

We feel good, refreshed and depressed in watching these people get older, also embarrassed in moments and cautioned about the passage of time.

Apted, himself now in his early 70s, says he hopes to continue the series further. Long may it live.

Watching "56 Up" gives you the wonderful feeling of seeing a sociological experiment blossom into something novelistically rich and humane.

Time has been neither kind nor cruel to the 13 men and women profiled in "56 UP." It has just been time, which is what this groundbreaking series is about.

Chances are that you'll come away from this long film feeling a sense of knowing its characters.

We might say that '56 Up' serves much the same function as 'Amour,' but it responds to the inevitability of decline with compassion, not dread.

What started as a crafty way of looking at the U.K.'s rigid class structure has grown into a portrait of melancholy middle age, with its heartbreaks and minor-key triumphs.

Those British kids are now 56

Watching the eighth film is intriguing but, in a way, disappointing. At this point in the game, it feels as if all the characters have determined their lots in life and are simply plodding through their interviews.

Quite simply one of the great documentary projects in the history of cinema, an engrossing sociological experiment on film; and though this mostly mellow installment isn't as revelatory as some earlier ones, it's still a remarkable document.

... feels like a retrospective and summation of the whole series, with ample quotation from the previous films, an approach that makes it interesting even for viewers who haven't seen the previous installments.

A completely unique and remarkable documentary project.

Apted skillfully weaves old footage with the new, and we become poignantly aware of another factor shaping their lives (and our own): biology, as the we watch the once-cute kids grow gray and heavy.

Perhaps the boldest and probably longest running sociological experiment on film.

I think the best thing about this movie (and the entire series) is that it forces the viewer to think about their own lives. It's kind of an awakening experience.

Once again, Apted assembles a captivating documentary that's profoundly educational, essential viewing to aid the understanding of the human experience.

"56 Up" is well worth seeing.

56 Up is still moving and philosophic, though not as exciting as earlier episodes, which had more drama.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/56_up/

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Ohio St. star entering NBA draft

Updated?Apr 5, 2013 10:35 PM ET

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)

Forward Deshaun Thomas will forego his final season of eligibility at Ohio State and will enter the NBA draft.

Thomas finishes his Buckeyes career ninth on the school's all-time scoring list. He averaged 19.8 points and 5.9 rebounds this season as the Buckeyes landed in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

''My three years at Ohio State have been the best years of my life,'' Thomas said. ''I have grown tremendously as an individual and as a basketball player. I intend to return to finish my degree, but I believe that now is the best opportunity to pursue my dream and begin my career as a professional basketball player.''

Ohio State went 29-8 this season. In three years, Thomas helped lead the Buckeyes to 94 victories, three NCAA tournament appearances and a Final Four appearance in 2012.

The Buckeyes also won Big Ten regular-season titles in 2011 and 2012 and earned a pair of league tournament titles in 2011 and 2013.

''To see Deshaun grow into the man he has become has been amazing,'' Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. ''His accomplishments on the floor speak for themselves but I am just as proud of him and what he has done off the floor. We recruited him offering the opportunity to grow as a person and player and that is exactly what happened.

''I know there is much more in-store for him in the future and I am proud to have been able to coach him.''

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/Ohio-State-forward-Deshaun-Thomas-to-enter-NBA-draft-040513

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Thursday, April 4, 2013

UPDATE 2-Soccer-Barton summoned to hearing over "ladyboy" tweet

By Julien Pretot

PARIS, April 4 (Reuters) - Joey Barton has been summoned by the French soccer federation's Ethics Committee after the Olympique Marseille midfielder called Paris St Germain's Brazilian defender Thiago Silva an "overweight ladyboy" on Twitter.

"Joey Barton has been summoned by the Ethics Committee and will be heard on April 15," committee president Laurent Davenas told Reuters by telephone on Thursday.

Barton, who has more than two million followers on the microblogging site, has been involved in a spat with Thiago Silva this week following disparaging comments the Briton made about some of the PSG player's international team mates.

PSG threatened action against Barton on Wednesday after the Olympique Marseille midfielder likened Thiago Silva to a transsexual and called him an "overweight ladyboy" on his Twitter feed, comments that also drew condemnation from gay activists.

Thiago Silva has not responded on Twitter.

Barton's tweet caused a stir in French media, making the front page of sports daily L'Equipe which asked: "That is British humour?"

OM have apologised on behalf of Barton

"Olympique Marseille and Joey Barton wish to apologise to Thiago Silva and his club for the inappropriate comments the English player made on social media in the past 36 hours", OM said in a statement on their website (www.om.net).

"Olympique Marseille officials have asked Joey Barton to end the row between him and the Paris Brazilian defender. The OM midfielder has promised to end right now the publication of any invidious comment against Thiago Silva."

Barton arrived in France on loan from Queens Park Rangers following a colourful career in England during which he spent two-and-a-half months in prison for assault during a night out in Liverpool.

At the time of the attack, he was already on bail for attacking former Manchester City team mate Ousmane Dabo and he stubbed out a cigar in the eye of a youth-team player at the club in 2004.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/1-soccer-om-barton-apologise-ladyboy-tweet-095159105--sow.html

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Tom Cruise Almost Ready For Space Travel | Stuff.co.nz

Tom Cruise wants to fly into space after "other people test it out first".

The 50-year-old action hero says going into orbit has always been a boyhood dream.

Civilians will soon be able to follow astronauts into space as Sir Richard Branson plans to launch two-hour tourism missions on his Virgin Galactic later this year. ?

According to UK newspaper The Sun, Cruise is ready to follow the entrepreneur out of this world as soon as he's sure it's safe.

"Who wouldn't want to do something like that?" he gushed at the Moscow premiere of his new film Oblivion.

"I'm going to let a couple of other people test it out first but it would be great. I was always hoping when I was a kid that we would be travelling to different planets by now."

According to the Associated Press, over 500 people have purchased $200,000 tickets on Virgin Galactic.

Cruise has been thinking of space travel frequently as he plays one of the last surviving people on Earth after an alien invasion in his new futuristic film.

He admitted he's curious about life on other planets and encountering other beings doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

"I don't think you can actually count it out," he confessed. "It might be a little arrogant to think we were the only ones in all the galaxies throughout the universe - but I've never met one!" he laughed.

Cruise has had some experience prepping for space travel so he'll be ready to go when the time comes.

The actor flew a Space Shuttle simulator at Nasa's space centre in Houston, Texas as part of his research for Oblivion, according to The Sun.

- Cover Media

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/8504405/Cruise-almost-ready-for-space-travel

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twin city sidewalks: The Top 7 Pizza Luc?s of All Time

The other day, a friend of mine had a great idea for how to kick off spring in Minnesota: a bicycling tour of all the Pizza Luc?s*. We met one morning at the Seward Pizza Luc?, and biked to all the rest of them*. Going to all the Pizza Luc?s* in one day offered an excellent chance to fulfill my lifelong research dream of ranking all the Luc?s in order of hipness.

Here?s my methodology. One goes to a Luc? and orders a beer and a slice of pizza. Then you keenly observe the environment, paying close attention to a definitive list of prearranged criteria:

Bar/restaurant spectrum: Is it a bar or a restaurant? I.e., do they serve whisky?

Punk-o-meter levels: Using a patented device, you can easily measure the tattoo and piercing density of the servers at each Pizza Luc?. (The punk-o-meter records metallic signatures and divides it by the square root of atmospheric angst in the room, corrected for total area.)

Music: What music is playing when you eat? How cool is it? What would Pitchfork Do?

Average patron age: Who is there? What are their ages? What kind of clothes are they wearing?

Building: You can tell a lot from just the building type, material, shape, and architectural style.

Add these up, and you get a definitive score for each Pizza Luc? that will tell you how it ranks on the definitive list of the Top 7 Pizza Luc?s of all time.

#7 ? Richfield

OK, so we didn?t go to Richfield. Have you been to Richfield? I biked through it once. It sucked. The new Luc? isn?t easily bikeable. You have to cross at least one and probably two freeways to get there from proper Minneapolis.

However, I did talk to one of the bartenders at one of the cooler Luc?s about the Richfield Luc?. He had worked there once, and through him, I garnered enough information about this newest Luc??

Apparently they have Miller Lite on tap, its really big, and feels like a sports bar. It?s ?weird,? and is in some sort of large park area.

Also, the name ?Richfield? couldn?t possibly be more bougie if it tried. Really, the only things worse would be ?Moneytown?, ?Yuppsville,? or ?Edina.?

B/R Spectrum: Miller Lite
Punk-o-Meter: 2
Music: Moby?
Avg Age: Nobody under 30
Bldg type: I imagine the worst

#6 ? Hopkins

Hopkins is also a suburb. However, Hopkins is my favorite suburb, with an actual historic downtown and (not one but two) key metro bike trails. I've come before to this Luc? on summertime bike rides to and from points West, and sit out on their lovely patio. This time, no patio.

Walking into the Hopkins Luc? you quickly wonder, was this a Chuck E. Cheese at some point? Then you realize that it used to be a Pizza Hut. It has that weird Smurf warehouse vibe. There is far too much space. Large booths and cavernous ceilings cultivate a suburban affect of isolation.

Servers wear baseball caps backwards. Other wear hoodies. Ours has a fedora, not any tattoos. (The only tattoo that the Punk-o-meter could detect was on one of the busboys, a ?super Mario mushroom? on a bicep.)

The pizza tastes the same as any other Luc?, but the window looks out on the Deli Express warehouse, where they must manufacture those tiny shrink-wrapped ham sandwiches on squishy white bread that sit on the shelf at Super America for weeks.

There are tons of families. A little kid, probably about 12 years old, walks by me wearing a ?student government? tee shirt. That is the Hopkins Luc? in a nutshell.?

B/R Spectrum: Actual bar
Punk-o-Meter: 3
Music:? Top 40
Avg Age: 40
Bldg type: Ex-Pizza Hut

#5 ? Uptown?

The Uptown Luc? is either empty or slammed. There is no in between.

There is no bar at the uptown Luc?. If memory serves me correctly, this is the second extant luc?, the one right after the first one. Yet, the uptown Luc? seems somehow empty, lacking something. The main room is too small, the entry is narrow, refuses to breathe. The patio is too small, with a Coen Brothers view of the parking lot.

On the other hand, the bartender sets off the Punk-o-meter. He has a braided beard (a la Johnny Depp in that Disney pirate movie).

The rest of the staff, though doesn't really register. They're a bit too obsequious. They really want to please me, and this displeases me. The waiter tries to sell me a rice krispie bar.?

Today, there are families in all the booths. Young children, on the cusp of junior high, eating with parents who brought them here to prove they are cool.

B/R Spectrum: Not even the pretense of a bar
Punk-o-Meter: 7
Music: Dinosaur Jr.
Avg Age: 27
Bldg type: Boring one-story commercial space, fronted by large parking lot

#4 ? Saint Paul

The key thing about this Pizza Luc? is that it's in Saint Paul. (Notice: This Luc? is four blocks from my parent?s house.) That means everybody has driven here, and most of them have brought their children or have a senior citizen discounts.

Frankly, this Pizza Luc? is boring. At best, the bar area sometimes has a friendly vibe. You can imagine getting into interesting conversations late at night. Squinting my brain, I can imagine being semi-punk here. Then again, the Saint Paul cops hang out here all the time, slowly eating in booths.

The staff have plenty tattoos and piercings, just about on par with the Uptown Luc? (which is saying something). The bartender has five piercings all by himself, and puts the Punk-o-meter into the red zone (DANGER!).

There's a guy non-ironically wearing a Dale Earnhardt leather jacket dominated by his signature. Are we in a city or a suburb?

My mom just showed up. I have to go.

B/R Spectrum: They have a bar, but there's no whisky; it's an illusion
Punk-o-Meter: 6
Music: Foo Fighters
Avg Age: 44
Bldg type: Semi-boring one-story commercial space

#3 ? Duluth


I?ve been to the Duluth Luc?! Really. It?s in Duluth. North of here a stretch.

People speak about the Duluth Luc? in hushed tones. Duluth is surprisingly cool, has young people and a downtown with old buildings in various states of disrepair. The Duluth Luc?, so they say, is unique. It's a world of its own because the cooks are so far from the pizza supply lines and Luc? civilization that they have to make their own ingredients. They do crazy things. The pizzas are not just pretending to be artisanal, they actually have to be artisanal.? They grow their own wheat or something.

When I was there, the Duluth Luc? was displaying locally forged blacksmithery, like candelabras and some sort of large throne. It would have been goth except everyone was in flannel.

The fog rolls in off Gitcheegumi and onto a pizza. For what its worth, the Duluth Luc? is one of the coolest places in Duluth.

B/R Spectrum: They distill their own moonshine
Punk-o-Meter: 5, with the usual northwoods caveats
Music: They only play Low here, but they play it so low that you can only hear it subconsciously
Avg Age: 32
Bldg type: Downtown large building

#2 ? Seward

This Luc? was part of the great Luc? expansion of 2004, when the pizza dough was spread eastward at a rapid pace.

The bar is tiny, but insists upon itself. The servers rate a solid 8 on the punk-o-meter, and it sits well balanced on Franklin Avenue, part of a neighborhood in a way that would be true in Saint Paul if Saint Paul actually had streetlife or businesses on Selby Avenue.

Seward is as diverse and vibrant as Minneapolis gets. Anywhere else, this Luc? would be inconsequential. Instead, it is a window on the Twin Cities, where hippies and somalis meet and eat pizza.?

B/R Spectrum: Actual bar, if a bit small
Punk-o-Meter: 8
Music: Can't recall
Avg Age: 26
Bldg type: Ugly two-story mixed-use with great windows

#1 ? Downtown

The Downtown Luc? is the original. It's also a surprisngly dynamic place. It can be a complete mob scene. Before sports, it fills with jerzee'd bros. After bar close, the servers body surf atop lines of too ebullient clubbers. Weekday evenings, bike messengers hang out at the bar drinking PBR. The hipper of the business types - ad people, architects - stop by at happy hour.

Entering the Downtown Luc?, you are forced to choose: bar/restaurant or slice on a paper plate. You go to your appointed side, and never the twain shall meet.

Their patio is a tiny slice of sidewalk next to an alley where the deliveryperson leaves their Luc?mobile for brief minutes, honking each time they pull out across the sidewalk.

This is the Alpha and Omega of Luc?. This where the pizza dough was born, and this is where it will die, someday when all things Luc? have lost their luster, when veganism is rampant, and no longer requires exceptional efforts, when the world becomes a garlic clove.

B/R Spectrum: The real deal
Punk-o-Meter: 9
Music: H?sker D?
Avg Age: 27
Bldg type: Awesome downtown warehouse

Conclusion: Going to all the Pizza Luc?s shines a spotlight on atmosphere. Because the pizza is the same at each one, the doughy noumenal essence remains a constant. The remaining Luc? differences reveal a spectrum that throws space itself into relief.

Does the same slice of pizza taste the same in Hopkins and Seward? Is Parmesan less pungent in Saint Paul? Can a good or bad tattoo make or break a hoppy beer?

To move down the Luc? spectrum away from the original is to encounter Baudrillard's simulacrum. With each subsequent Luc?, the hipness fades. Exposed brick becomes a painting of exposed brick becomes a large wall painted the color of red brick. Giant artichoke murals fill the emptiness inside our hearts. Pepper flakes fade.

* OK So we didn't go to all the PL's, technically speaking. For example, we didn't bike to Duluth. And at some point during the journey, I mentioned to my friend that there was a Pizza Luc? in Richfield, and he was like WTF? And I said, yes, there is one there now. And he said, hell no. And so we didn?t go to that one.?

Source: http://tcsidewalks.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-top-7-pizza-luces-of-all-time.html

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Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Using machinery correctly, thorough inspections can stop injuries ...

Unsafe?machinery operation continues to be a major concern for small businesses. In a?recent press release, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reminded?construction companies about the proper use of machinery.?

OSHA cited a contractor?in Arizona with three violations following the investigation into the death of a worker in August. The citations include failing to visually inspect the machinery before use, not training the employee operator to maintain safe distance?and failing to recognize trenching hazards within the workspace.?The?penalties total $8,400 and once the company receives the receipt of the citations, it has 15 business days to?comply, request an informal conference?or contest the findings.?

?OSHA continues to see tragic cases where workers die because the necessary steps were not followed to ensure quick couplers are properly connected prior to starting excavation work,? said T. Zachary Barnett, director of OSHA?s Phoenix area office. ?Employee safety must be the top priority. It is the employer?s responsibility to assess the hazards and fix them.?

Leading by example
Workplace accidents?caused?by incorrect?machinery use are avoidable. With more than?20 percent of workplace deaths occurring in construction in 2011, the industry had the highest number of compensation claims, according to Ogletree Abbott, a Texas-based law firm. Construction business owners may want to consider providing workers?refresher courses on machinery use.?In addition, it?s a good idea to talk to?employees about safe habits and knowing when?to communicate with supervisors about concerns.?With more than?95 percent of incidents caused by employer negligence and only 4 percent due to employee error, companies need to remember that safety enforcement begins at the top.

Along with retraining employees to respect safety rules, employers?may consider?setting up quarterly sessions or a designated safety month to continually remind workers?of the importance of working cautiously.?Long-term communication between business owners?and workers is vital to keeping the workplace safe for everyone.

Source: http://www.safeatworkaz.com/?p=1365

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Obama's dad training kicks in (CNN)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/296211412?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Japanese taking tablet security more seriously

This recent short report from japan.internet.com on a survey by goo Research into IT device security, the second time they have conducted this survey, the first being in November 2012.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 12th of March 2012 1,033 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.5% of the sample were male, 16.4% in their teens, 17.9% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, and 27.9% aged fifty or older.

Here?s a scam virus advert on a tablet:

Ads for scam Android antivirus. No, Android isn't like Windows at all...

I seem to remember translating the previous survey, but I cannot find it on the site. Perhaps I got half-way through and decided it wasn?t interesting enough to be published?

Anyway, I?m curious why tablet security is increasing but smartphone staying static. One factor in the tablet rise is no doubt due to Android increasing market share, and curiously enough if all the extra 36 tablet owners in Q1SQ were non-iOS users, and all of them used security software, then the rise from 42.1% to 55.2% is explained, but I?m sure that?s just a numerical fluke.

Research results

Q1: Which of the following devices do you have? (Sample size=1,033, multiple answer)

Notebook, netbook, ultrabook 74.1%
Desktop computer 50.5%
Smartphone (to SQ) 42.8%
Tablet (to SQ) 13.8%

Both smartphone and tablet ownership are up about four percentage points since the previous survey. Unfortunately, the ?none? figure was not reported.

Q1SQ: Regardless of being free or paid for, do you use security software or services on your smartphone, tablet? (Sample size=see below, multiple answer)

? This survey
March 2013
N=1,033
Previous survey
November 2012
N=1,068
Smartphone 55.2%
N=442
56.6%
N=412
Tablet 55.2%
N=143
42.1%
N=107
Read more on: goo research,smartphone,tablet

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/u7VaCwFcEXM/

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