Facebook aims to take centerstage on Android phones

By Gerry Shih

MENLO PARK, California (Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Thursday unveiled its most ambitious attempt yet to enter mobile computing without a phone of its own, introducing a new app that replaces the home screen on some Android smartphones.

Called "Home," the new software lets users comprehensively modify Android, the popular mobile operating system developed by Google, to prominently display their Facebook newsfeed and messages on the home screens of a wide range of devices - while hiding other apps.

"Why do we need to go into those apps in the first place to see what's going on with those we care about?" Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told the hundreds of reporters and industry executives gathered at the company's Menlo Park campus.

"We want to bring all this content to the front."

The "Home" software will be available for download for free from Google Play starting April 12. In addition, AT&T Inc has exclusive rights to sell for $100 the first handsets, made by Taiwan's HTC Corp, that come pre-installed with the software starting the same day. France Telecom's Orange will be offering the phone in Europe.

Shares in Facebook finished trading up 82 cents, or 3.1 percent, at $27.07; Google stock closed at $795.07, down $11.13 or 1.38 percent.

Analysts say should the new software take off, it may begin to draw users away from Google services. Offering Facebook messaging, social networking and photos on the very first screen that Android users see could divert attention from the panoply of services, such as search and email, which generate advertising revue for Google.

Instead of traditional wallpaper or a "lock screen," users with Home installed will see a new Facebook "cover feed" that displays a rolling ticker-tape of photos, status updates - and eventually, ads - from Facebook's network.

Facebook's executives, acknowledging that messaging and communications remain the most fundamental use for smartphones, also showed off a new "chat heads" messaging interface, which would combine SMS text messages and Facebook chat messages under one tool.

"On one level, this is just next mobile version of Facebook," Zuckerberg said. "At a deeper level, this can start to be a change in the relationship with how we use these computing devices."

People who used the software and the HTC phone on Thursday appeared impressed by the highly visual design and interface that featured a multitude of pictures. But analysts say the jury is still out on whether Home has appeal beyond habitual Facebook users.

Some were skeptical consumers would leap at the chance to make Facebook so central to their lives.

"Facebook thinks it's more important to people than it actually is," said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research.

Golvin said that in markets like Spain and Brazil, mobile users spend far more time in messaging apps like Whatsapp compared to the Facebook app.

"For the vast majority of people, Facebook just isn't the be-all and end-all of their mobile experience. It's just one part," he said. "I see a more apathetic response among Facebook users than Facebook might be expecting."

COMPETITION WITH GOOGLE

Facebook's wide-reaching mobile strategy could heighten its competition with Google, the dominant Internet search engine and the developer of Android with whom it is locked in a battle for Internet users' time online and for advertising dollars. But if it proves to be popular among Android users, Home could also place the two companies in something of an uneasy partnership.

More than 750 million mobile devices featuring Android have been activated to date, according to Google, more than gadgets based on Apple Inc's iOS, the runner-up.

Zuckerberg downplayed the rivalry even as he praised Google's willingness to let other companies tinker with Android. He said he was confident Google would not make changes to Android that would hamstring Facebook.

"If 20 percent of time people are spending on their phones is in Home, I really think they're going to have a hard time making a rational decision" to limit Home's functionality, Zuckerberg told reporters.

Google issued a neutral statement, saying the new phone demonstrated Android's openness.

"The Android platform has spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices," the company said. "This latest device demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular."

Not everyone is sure that Google will remain neutral.

"Google has made Android open, but as they release the next version, are they going to be as open?" said Simon Mansell, the chief executive of TBG Digital, an advertising technology provider. "Facebook is hiding all the Google stuff with their own stuff, and how Google will respond is interesting."

For Facebook - founded in Zuckerberg's dorm room in 2004 as a website - bolstering its mobile presence is critical. Nearly 70 percent of Facebook members used mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to access its service at the end of 2012, and 157 million of Facebook's roughly 1 billion users accessed the service solely on a mobile device.

The company has stepped up efforts to ensure that its revenue-generating ads can be viewed on mobile devices and Zuckerberg has said that the company's engineers are now focused on creating "mobile-first experiences."

Zuckerberg said features like cover feed will be ad-free initially, but he envisioned advertising as another form of content that will eventually be integrated. Analysts say the company treads cautiously when introducing ads into any of its services, wary of infuriating users.

"This is about becoming more deeply embedded in the operating system on mobile devices, and creating a broader platform," said Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst for the research firm Ovum. "It will allow Facebook to track more of a user's behavior on devices, and present more opportunities to serve up advertising."

But "that presents the biggest obstacle to success for this experiment: Facebook's objectives and users' are once again in conflict. Users don't want more advertising or tracking, and Facebook wants to do more of both."

Reports that Facebook was developing its self-branded smartphone have appeared sporadically and Zuckerberg has shot them down, as he did again on Thursday.

But with specialized software that adds a layer on top of Android, Facebook may get many of the benefits of having its own phone without the costs and risks of actually building a hardware device, analysts said.

"It's much lower risk than developing a phone or an operating system of its own, and if it turns out not to be successful, there will be little risk or loss to Facebook," Dawson said. "If it does turn out to be successful, Facebook can build on the model further and increase the value provided in the application over time."

(Writing by Edwin Chan; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-showcases-home-software-google-android-phones-172903514--sector.html

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Bronze warship ram reveals secrets

Apr. 4, 2013 ? Analysis of a bronze battering ram from a 2000 year-old warship sheds light on how such an object would have been made in ancient times.

Known as the Belgammel Ram, the 20kg artefact was discovered by a group of British divers off the coast of Libya near Tobruk in 1964. The ram is from a small Greek or Roman warship -- a "tesseraria." These ships were equipped with massive bronze rams on the bow at the waterline and were used for ramming the side timbers of enemy ships. At 65cm long, the Belgammel Ram is smaller in size and would have been sited on the upper level on the bow. This second ram is known as a proembolion, which strengthened the bow and also served to break the oars of an enemy ship.

Leading marine archaeologist, Dr Nic Flemming a visiting fellow of the National Oceanography Centre, co-ordinated a team of specialists from five institutes to analyse the artefact before it was returned to the National Museum in Tripoli in May 2010. Their results have been published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.

Dr Flemming said: "Casting a large alloy object weighing more than 20kg is not easy. To find out how it was done we needed specialists who could analyse the mix of metals in the alloys; experts who could study the internal crystal structure and the distribution of gas bubbles; and scholars who could examine the classical literature and other known examples of bronze castings.

"Although the Belgammel Ram was probably the first one ever found, other rams have since been found off the coast of Israel and off western Sicily. We have built a body of expertise and techniques that will help with future studies of these objects and improve the accuracy of past analysis."

Dr Chris Hunt and Annita Antoniadou of Queen's University Belfast used radiocarbon dating of burnt wood found inside the ram to date it to between 100 BC to 100 AD. This date is consistent with the decorative style of the tridents and bird motive on the top of the ram, which were revealed in detail by laser-scanned images taken by archaeologist Dr Jon Adams of the University of Southampton.

It is possible that during its early history the bronze would have been remelted and mixed with other bronze on one or more occasions, perhaps when a warship was repaired or maybe captured.

The X-ray team produced a 3-D image of the ram's internal structure using a machine capable of generating X-rays of 10 mevs to shine through 15cm of solid bronze. By rotating the ram on a turntable and making 360 images they created a complete 3-D replica of the ram similar to a medical CT scan. An animation of the X-rays has been put together by Dr Richard Boardman of m-VIS (mu-VIS), a dedicated centre for computed tomography (CT) at the University of Southampton.

Further analysis was carried out by geochemists Professor Ian Croudace, Dr Rex Taylor and Dr Richard Pearce at the University of Southampton Ocean and Earth Science (based at the National Oceanography Centre). Micro-drilled samples show that the composition of the bronze was 87 per cent copper, 6 per cent tin and 7 per cent lead. The concentrations of the different metals vary throughout the casting. Scanning Electron Microscopy, SEM, reveals that the lead was not dissolved with the other metals to make a composite alloy but that it had separated out into segregated intergranular blobs within the alloy as the metal cooled.

These results indicate the likelihood that the Belgammel Ram was cast in one piece and cooled as a single object. The thicker parts cooled more slowly than the thin parts so that the crystal structure and number of bubbles trapped in the metal varies from place to place.

The isotope characterisation of the lead component found in the bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) can be used as a fingerprint to reveal the origin of the lead ore used in making the metal alloy. Up until now, this approach has only provided a general location in the Mediterranean. But recent advances in the analysis technique means that the location can be identified with higher accuracy. The result shows that the lead component of the metal could have come from a district of Attica in Greece called Lavrion. An outcome of this improved technique means that the method can now be applied to other ancient metal artefacts to discover where the ore was sourced.

Micro-X-Ray fluorescence of the surface showed that corrosion by seawater had dissolved out some of the copper leaving it richer in tin and lead. It is significant that when comparing photographs from 1964 and 2008 there is no indication of change in the surface texture. This implies that the metal is stable and is not suffering from "Bronze Disease," a corrosion process that can destroy bronze artefacts.

The Belgammel Ram was found by a group of three British service sports divers off the coast of Libya at the mouth of a valley called Waddi Belgammel, near Tobruk. Using a rubber dinghy and rope they dragged it 25 metres to the surface. It was brought home to the UK as a souvenir but when the divers discovered that it was a rare antiquity, the ram was loaned to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Ken Oliver is the only surviving member of that group of three and the effective owner. He decided in 2007 that is should be returned to a museum in Libya. With the help of the British Society for Libyan Studies this was arranged in 2010. During the intervening period Dr Nic Flemming invited experts to undertake scientific investigations prior to its return to Libya. These services were offered freely and would have cost many tens of thousands of pounds if conducted commercially. The team's objective was to understand how such a large bronze was cast, the history and composition of the alloy, its strength, how it was used in naval warfare, and how it survived 2000 years under the sea.

Since the Belgammel Ram was discovered, other rams have been found, some off the coast of Israel near Athlit, and more recently, off western Sicily. The latter finds look to be the remains of a battle site. On the 8^th April there is a one-day colloquium hosted by the Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, to discuss the finds of the Egadi Islands Project.

Nic Flemming continued: "We have learned such a huge amount from the Belgammel Ram and have developed new techniques which will help us unpick future mysteries.

"We will never know why the Belgammel Ram was on the seabed near Tobruk. There may have been a battle in the area, a skirmish with pirates. It could be that it was cargo from an ancient commercial vessel, about to be sold as salvage. The fragments of wood inside the ram show signs of fire, and we now know that partsof the bronze had been heated to a high temperature since it was cast which caused the crystal structure to change. The ship may have caught fire and the ram fell into the sea as the flames licked towards it. Some things will always remain a mystery. But we are pleased that we have gleaned so many details from this study that will help future work."

The Libyan uprising of 2011 resulted in many battles in the area around the museum. Fortunately the museum suffered no damage. The Belgammel Ram is safe.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK).

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Jonathan R. Adams, Annita Antoniadou, Chistopher O. Hunt, Paul Bennett, Ian W. Croudace, Rex N. Taylor, Richard B. Pearce, Graeme P. Earl, Nicholas C. Flemming, John Moggeridge, Timothy Whiteside, Kenneth Oliver, Anthony J. Parker. The Belgammel Ram, a Hellenistic-Roman BronzeProembolionFound off the Coast of Libya: test analysis of function, date and metallurgy, with a digital reference archive. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2013; 42 (1): 60 DOI: 10.1111/1095-9270.12001

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/SKbhmFPlIS0/130404122455.htm

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Australia's example in healing the sexually abused

A special panel begins work taking testimony from Australians sexually abused as children in institutions, such as churches and police stations. Allowing victims to speak will be a first step toward personal healing and national reform.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board / April 3, 2013

Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard set up the the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which began work April 3, taking testimony from survivors of sex abuse in places like churches and orphanages.

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On Wednesday, Australia set an example for the world by opening an official inquiry that will allow people who were sexually abused as children in institutions to finally tell their stories.

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At least 5,000 Australians are expected to be heard by the commission, many of them able to recount their experiences in private before the six-member panel. They will shed light on a half century of abuse in orphanages, churches, schools, detention centers, and child-care centers, and groups such as the military, Scouts, and organized sports.

Up until now, many were too ashamed to speak out. Or their stories were neglected by authorities. As children, they suffered for years in silence.

It is noteworthy that a woman prime minister, Julia Gillard, set up this panel.

?I want this to be a moment of healing, for us to say to them as a nation ?we hear you, you?re valued, and you?re believed? because for too long, so many of these survivors have just run into closed doors and closed minds,? Ms. Gillard told ABC NewsRadio.

The commission?s purpose is not to prosecute or award compensation. Rather it is, as the chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, stated, ?to bear witness, on behalf of the nation, to the abuse and consequential trauma inflicted on many people who have suffered sexual abuse as children.?

The panel will also make recommendations for new laws and practices to prevent further sex abuse in both private and public institutions.

Empathy and truth-telling can be powerful healers, as many doctors now recognize. In cases of sexual abuse, it can help ease a person?s suffering by shining the truth onto an evil act and dissipating its emotional hold. When an entire nation takes responsibility for having so many institutions that allowed the abuse to take place ? and then covered it up ? the empathy is writ large.

?There have been too many adults who have averted their eyes to this evil,? Gillard said. She said the commission?s work will be a ?moral moment? for Australians.

The panel comes soon after a similar inquiry by Ireland into decades of institutional sex abuse there. And it also builds on a global trend toward using ?truth commissions? ? in countries from post-apartheid South Africa to one possibly in post-dictatorship Tunisia where the Arab Spring began.

A commission in Canada is finishing up a probe into past treatment of its aboriginal children forced into schools for cultural assimilation. In February, Maine started a truth commission into the forced assimilation of native Wabanaki children.

Many ?truth? panels aim for social reconciliation by allowing victims to tell their stories and perpetrators to confess their actions and apologize. Often such actions can be a substitute for harsh justice if done well and if institutional reforms are made.

As Australia?s panel does its work over the next couple years, other nations can learn from it. Breaking a society?s conspiracy of silence about child sex abuse is a major first step toward preventing it. And being heard and embraced will help the abused to be healed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Y4A6M2sKy2k/Australia-s-example-in-healing-the-sexually-abused

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Barca, PSG wide open through Leg 1

For the second straight round, Barcelona will return to Spain with more questions than answers. While today?s 90-minute score is far kinder to the Blaugrana?than during their Round of 16 scare, today?s 2-2 draw at Paris Saint-Germain comes with four ominous words: Lionel Messi is hurt.

The Barcelona star came off at halftime after putting his team up 1-0 in the 38th minute. The final moments of his day were spent near the sideline pushing at what appeared to be a right hamstring problem.

With Cesc F?bregas on in the second half, Bar?a and PSG looked destined to take the one-goal game back to?Catalonia. Then a late rush of goals left the sides on even footing: Zlatan Ibrahimovic?s 78th minute goal fulled PSG even; a late Xavi Hern?ndez penalty kick seemed to give Barcelona the win; but Blaise Matuidi?s stoppage time tally eventually provided PSG?s silver lining.

But until we know more about Messi?s injury, it?s impossible to put this result in context. If Messi can?t play eight days from now, Paris Saint-Germain are in great shape. True, they were drawn in their home leg and allowed two away goals, but for much of the match at the Parc de Princes, they seemed to be the better side. Messi?s opener against the run of play changed that dynamic, but with the teams even ahead of kickoff next Wednesday, PSG has reason to hope their plan can send them into the semifinals.

(MORE: Bayern worlds ahead of Juventus.)

Ancelotti?s plans go to waste

If Messi plays, however, that plan my prove as irrelevant as it was on Tuesday. So what if PSG were the better team over the first 38 minutes? Ezequiel Lavezzi?s shot off the woodwork in the fifth minute ultimately didn?t matter. Lucas Moura?s success down the right? Ibrahimovic?s 18th minute direct kick, forcing a diving stop from V?ctor Valdes? Or the shot Ibrahimovic scuffed wide in the 25h after being set up eight yards?

With two pieces of gold in the 38th minute, Barcelona rendered all that insignificant. That?s when Daniel Alves, with the outside of this right foot, curled a ball over a defense pushing out from a corner kick. Messi sprinted by Moura and Javier Pastore, past a PSG defense that?d failed to reestablish its shape, and onto Alves?s ball. He drilled his left-footed volley into the ground, off Sirigu?s left post, and in for the opening goal.

As the teams went in for halftime, you couldn?t help but wonder what was going through the mind of Carlo Ancelotti, the PSG coach whose plan seemed so right from the get-go. His team was dropping very deep in defense, his back four willing to camp inside the penalty area long before Barcelona?s attack forced them to retreat. Ancelotti allowed his central defenders to come into midfield and challenge the withdrawn Messi, while the team?s counterattack was generating threat after threat with Moura on the right. Sometimes those threats resulted in shots on goal, other times they won free kicks that made the surprise selection of David Beckham seem prescient.

But just Lionel Messi can dominate a match (his Tuesday goal lifting his season total to a context-defying 59), the world?s best player can just as readily serve as an equalizer. For so many reasons, Paris Saint-Germain looked more likely to find the first goal, with Barcelona?s only hints of potential being Andr?s Iniesta?s 20-plus-yard shots taken in front of a recoiling midfield. Yet with a sharp angle finish that did justice to the brilliant ball he was served, Messi?s moment of magic proved more valuable than 38 minutes from PSG?s 11 stars.

If it weren?t for V?ctor Valdes?s work before the goal, Messi?s may not have been the opener. Defender Gerard Piqu? was particularly strong, giving one of his better performances of the season. The near 70 percent possession Bar?a held during the first half also limited their exposure. And Alves?s pass? It was the best of the Champions League season.

But ultimately, it was Messi who made all that work pay off.

(MORE: Three goals in 15 minutes close PSG-Bar?a ? Highlights)

Late match explosion

Bar?a?s clean sheet was ruined in the 79th minute after being left to defend a restart without two defenders. Given how the ball was served, it?s unlikely Javier Mascherano or Jordi Alba (injured in the preceding sequence) could have helped when?Thiago Silva provided the high point of his stand-out performance, uncoiling on a ball from 12 yards out. The resulting rebound off the left post came to Ibrahimovic, who pulled the Parisians even.

Barcelona regained their lead just before fulltime when Xavi Hern?ndez converted from the spot, the penalty kick rewarded after a clumsy Sirigu takedown of Alexis Sanchez following a backheel from F?bregas. Yet minutes later, a ball knocked down by Ibrahimovic for Blaise Matuidi set up the midfielder for a deflected shot that beat Valdes.

The way PSG scored their goals will be particularly concerning to Barcelona. Defending aerial balls will always be a problem for them, but with Carles Puyol, it becomes a major liability. Silva?s play on the 79th minute restart came as Gerard Piqu? and little else had to defend Silva, Alex, and Ibrahimovic. Then in stoppage time, a ball lofted from the right by Christophe Jallet allowed Ibrahimovic to set up Matuidi.

(MORE: Highlights of Bayern?s cruise past Juve.)

Just deserts and moving on

A sliver of controversy will follow the tie to Barcelona, with Ibrahimovic appearing to have been offside position ahead of his goal. Yet the result was no less than the Parisians deserved. While the teams played an even match after Messi?s opener, it was PSG that came out the better team with a superior plan. Had they broken through with one of their early chances, Barcelona would have been left to solve an often debilitating scenario: Breaking down a deep, tightly organized team with a group particularly ill-equipped to bust bunkers.

But thanks to Messi, Barcelona got on the board first, a fact that brings us full circle. Until we know Messi?s status for leg two, it?s impossible to assess the value of today?s result. If he?s healthy, Barcelona did well to get two goals in Paris. If he can?t go, they may be left wishing they?d got more than one score in the 45 minutes where they had their star.

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/02/lionel-messi-injury-psg-vs-barcelona-uefa-champions-league-results/related/

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White House pitches brain mapping project

President Barack Obama announces a new research initiative that he hopes will advance understanding of the human mind and will help revive middle class job growth.

By Maggie Fox, Senior Writer, NBC News

President Obama pitched a human brain research initiative on Tuesday that he likened to the Human Genome Project to map all the human DNA, and said it will not only help find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer?s and autism, but create jobs and drive economic growth.

Obama proposed $100 million in federal funding to kick start the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies or BRAIN Initiative.

?Imagine if we could reverse traumatic brain injury and PTSD for our wounded veterans coming home,? Obama said at an event unveiling the initiative at the White House.

He said federal investment in basic research had led to completely unexpected inventions, from the Internet to GPS technology. ?The Apollo project that put man on the moon gave us, eventually, CAT scans,? Obama said.

He said the Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, had paid $140 for every dollar invested.

?As humans we can identify galaxies light-years away, study particles smaller than an atom but we still haven?t unlocked the mystery of the?3 pounds of matter than sits between our ears,? Obama said.

"Ideas are what power our economy.?It?s what sets us apart.?It?s what America has been all about," he added.

"We have been a nation of dreamers and risk-takers; people who see what nobody else sees sooner than anybody else sees it.? We do innovation better than anybody else -- and that makes our economy stronger.?When we invest in the best ideas before anybody else does, our businesses and our workers can make the best products and deliver the best services before anybody else."

Obama said he?ll send the proposal to Congress next week as part of his budget request. Although Congress is working to slash the federal deficit, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor signalled an early willingness to pay for this one.

?Mapping the human brain is exactly the type of research we should be funding, by reprioritizing the $250 million we currently spend on political and social science research into expanded medical research, including the expedited mapping of the human brain. It's great science,? Cantor said in a statement.

It's not clear just what the initiative will do. Obama and collins said they'd appointed a "dream team" of experts to lay out the agenda -- they should report back before the end of the summer.

Allen Institute for Brain Research

The brain's "emotion center", the amygdala, is highlighted in this 3-D representation of the human brain from the Allen Human Brain Atlas.

?Investing in biomedical research is one of the wisest choices we can make as a nation,? National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins told the gathering. ?The United States has been at the forefront of one medical breakthrough after another.?

The public-private initiative, with money from groups such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's?brain mapping project, aims to find a way to?take pictures of the brain in action in real time.

The $100 million funding will come from the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation, the White House said.

?We want to understand the brain to know how we reason, how we memorize, how we learn, how we move, how our emotions work. These abilities define us, yet we hardly understand any of it," said Miyoung Chun, vice president of science programs at The Kavli Foundation, which is taking part in the initiative and which funds basic research in neuroscience and physics.

The project has some big money and some big science to build on. Allen pumped another $300 million into his institute's brain mapping initiative a year ago, and has published freely available maps of the human and mouse brains. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute built a whole research campus devoted to brain science, called Janelia Farm, in Virginia.

Arati Prabhakar, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) pointed to a project that allowed a quadriplegic woman to control a robot arm with her thoughts alone.

"There is nothing like a project to inspire people to go to that next level," Collins told a telephone briefing.

Not everybody is happy about?a centralized, administration-led project.?Michael Eisen, a biologist at the University of California at Berkeley, said earlier this year that grand projects in biology such as?Project ENCODE?for DNA analysis?were emerging as the "greatest threat"?to individual discovery-driven science.

"It's one thing to fund neuroscience, another to have a centralized 10-year project to 'solve the brain,'" Eisen wrote in a?Twitter update?in February.

?

Related:

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 2, 2013 6:00 AM EDT

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Nuance plans talking smartphone ads that deliver ?Dear Abby?-style personal advice

By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - A show of force by U.S. stealth jets over the Korean Peninsula after talk of war by Pyongyang has caused only minor concern in China, a measure of Beijing's belief that the North is to blame for the tensions and that hostilities are not imminent. The presence of U.S. forces in places like South Korea and Japan has long worried Beijing, feeding its fears that it is being surrounded and "contained" by Washington and its allies, especially following the U.S. strategic pivot to Asia. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nuance-plans-talking-smartphone-ads-deliver-dear-abby-030037334.html

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Walker: Activision?s animated ?face man? has human flaws

By Rob Walker

Since being posted a few days ago, an Activision ?real-time character demo? video has racked up close to 1 million views, and it?s not hard to see why: The animated figure it shows is extremely realistic, and the idea that games could be populated with characters who are this close to human in appearance is a bit mind-blowing. Admittedly, the guy is not completely convincing (His mouth and teeth are a problem, if you zero in on them.) But if Activision hasn?t bridged the so-called uncanny valley?that theoretical zone in our perception where a rendered or robotic being is almost convincing in a way that creeps us out?then it seems to be getting awfully close. Maybe this is the first example I?ve seen of the unnerving valley.

Or maybe not. While other observers turned to the animation blurs lines between reality and technology?meshing images of a real human with computer animation with what seems to be more realism than previous efforts along these lines ?I found myself distracted by a curious detail of the demo: the dialog.

Yes, the guy looked quite realistic. But why is he complaining about a yogurt parfait?

Ominous background music strikes the suspenseful tone of menace you?d expect from a maker of action games as we fade in on a bald white guy, maybe age 40. He blinks once and then speaks, sounding a little whiny: ?I ordered a yogurt parfait and the whole parfait was fruit. Frozen fruit. There is no yogurt. It?s supposed to be half fruit, and half yogurt. The whole thing was frozen fruit.? The angle changes, the music continues melodramatically and Baldy repeats his curious harangue. Then he falls silent and runs through a random series of facial expressions. Is he still thinking about his parfait? (For a moment I hoped that somehow this is a limitation of the technology?it?s possible to make incredibly realistic game characters, but they can only talk about yogurt. Think how it would change the future of gaming!)?

Happily, I?m not the only one who zeroed in on the yogurt factor. Monday morning I found this parody video, in which clips of Activision "Face-Man" are intercut with live actors in a silly yogurt-shop setting. He becomes a petulant costumer with a disconcerting penchant for shifting facial expressions (which are part of the original video); the suspenseful music becomes the score for a really weird customer-service confrontation.

So far, this parody video has a mere 2,100 or so views, and that?s a shame?it?s hilarious. I can?t imagine how any of the 1 million viewers of the original demo wouldn?t laugh out loud as I did. Activision "Face-Man" really needs to become a meme, showing up everywhere to announce his customer dissatisfaction, in the manner of those all-purpose ?Hitler Reacts? videos.

Goofiness aside, the parody video actually made me feel better: When you intercut "Face-Man" with actual humans, he?s much less convincing. It appears we still have a way to go before these animated figures can fool us completely: We haven?t reached the unnerving valley just yet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/parody-video-of-activision%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98face-man%E2%80%99-shows-how-a-yogurt-fixation-does-not-a-human-make-204706886.html

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Source: http://forums.ferra.ru/index.php?showtopic=55232

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AP PHOTOS: Final Four slate is set

After a weekend of blowouts and another upset, the men's NCAA Final Four is set.

Top overall seed Louisville will face Wichita State next Saturday, while Michigan takes on Syracuse in the other national semifinal.

In regional playoffs for the women's tourney, Kentucky plays UConn and Georgia faces California on Monday. Notre Dame faces Duke and Tennessee plays Louisville on Tuesday. The winners advance to their national semifinal.

Here are scenes from the latest NCAA men's and women's matchups.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-final-four-slate-set-014008862--spt.html

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Crucial step in human DNA replication observed for the first time

Apr. 1, 2013 ? For the first time, an elusive step in the process of human DNA replication has been demystified by scientists at Penn State University. According to senior author Stephen J. Benkovic, an Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry and Holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Chemistry at Penn State, the scientists "discovered how a key step in human DNA replication is performed."

The results of the research will be published in the journal eLife on 2 April 2013.

Part of the DNA replication process -- in humans and in other life forms -- involves loading of molecular structures called sliding clamps onto DNA. This crucial step in DNA replication had remained somewhat mysterious and had not been well studied in human DNA replication. Mark Hedglin, a post-doctoral researcher in Penn State's Department of Chemistry and a member of Benkovic's team, explained that the sliding clamp is a ring-shaped protein that acts to encircle the DNA strand, latching around it like a watch band. The sliding clamp then serves to anchor special enzymes called polymerases to the DNA, ensuring efficient copying of the genetic material. "Without a sliding clamp, polymerases can copy very few bases -- the molecular 'letters' that make up the code of DNA -- at a time. But the clamp helps the polymerase to stay in place, allowing it to copy thousands of bases before being removed from the strand of DNA," Hedglin said.

Hedglin explained that, due to the closed circular structure of sliding clamps, another necessary step in DNA replication is the presence of a "clamp loader," which acts to latch and unlatch the sliding clamps at key stages during the process. "The big unknown has always been how the sliding clamp and the clamp loader interact and the timing of latching and unlatching of the clamp from the DNA," said Hedglin. "We know that polymerases and clamp loaders can't bind the sliding clamp at the same time, so the hypothesis was that clamp loaders latched sliding clamps onto DNA, then left for some time during DNA replication, returning only to unlatch the clamps after the polymerase left so they could be recycled for further use."

To test this hypothesis, the team of researchers used a method called F?rster resonance energy transfer (FRET), a technique of attaching fluorescent "tags" to human proteins and sections of DNA in order to monitor the interactions between them. "With these tags in place, we then observed the formation of holoenzymes -- the active form of the polymerase involved in DNA replication, which consists of the polymerase itself along with any accessory factors that optimize its activity," Hedglin said. "We found that whenever a sliding clamp is loaded onto a DNA template in the absence of polymerase, the clamp loader quickly removed the clamp so that free clamps did not build up on the DNA. However, whenever a polymerase was present, it captured the sliding clamp and the clamp loader then dissociated from the DNA strand."

The team members also found that, during the moments when both the clamp loader and the clamp were bound to the DNA, they were not intimately engaged with each other. Rather, the clamp loader released the closed clamp onto the DNA, allowing an opportunity for the polymerase to capture the clamp, completing the assembly of the holoenzyme. Subsequently, the clamp loader dissociated from DNA. "Our research demonstrates that the DNA polymerase holoenzyme in humans consists of only a clamp and a DNA polymerase. The clamp loader is not part of it. It disengages from the DNA after the polymerase binds the clamp," Hedglin added.

Benkovic noted that this mechanism provides a means for the cell to recycle scarce clamps when they are not in use for productive replication.

In addition to Benkovic and Hedglin, other Penn State researchers who contributed to the paper include Senthil K Perumal and Zhenxin Hu.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Penn State.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Mark Hedglin, Senthil K Perumal, Zhenxin Hu, Stephen Benkovic. Stepwise assembly of the human replicative polymerase holoenzyme. eLife, 2013; (in press) [link]

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/FJWArHcm-sM/130401151039.htm

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Dana White says Alexander Gustafsson still fighting on Saturday?s UFC on Fuel card

Reports made the rounds on Sunday that this weekend's bout between Gegard Mousasi and Alexander Gustafsson was off. News outlets from Sweden said Gustaffson suffered a cut on his face that would take weeks to heal, and doctors wouldn't clear him. But the UFC disagrees.

UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting that the bout is still on. Mousasi-Gustafsson is set for the main event for Saturday's card in Stockholm.

"The [Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation] has not said he can't fight, and he wants to fight," White texted to reporter Ariel Helwani.

Gustafsson is from Sweden and is popular in his home country. Besides wanting to fight in front of his home crowd, Gustafsson has another incentive to want the fight with Mousasi to happen. He's riding a six-fight win streak, with his last win coming over former UFC light heavyweight champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. A win over Mousasi could put Gustafsson on the top of the pile of 205 lbers looking for a shot at the title. He even has plans to push for a title shot after the fight.

"My biggest concern right now is Mousasi," Gustafsson said in early March. "That's my biggest focus. It's the only thing I think of right now. I don't really think about [being No. 1] that much. I'm going to grab the mic from whoever has it after the fight and I'm going to challenge the champ after this fight, so let's see what happens."

But a facial laceration could thwart his plans. The fight is on, but it should be an interesting week as we watch if the fight still happens on Saturday.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-president-dana-white-says-alexander-gustafsson-still-141308060--mma.html

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MLB openers feature Strasburg, rivalries, AL vs NL

The field is painted for opening day as Atlanta Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez, left, throws batting practice at Turner Field on Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Atlanta. The Braves play their season opener against the Phillies on Monday. (AP Photo/ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)

The field is painted for opening day as Atlanta Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez, left, throws batting practice at Turner Field on Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Atlanta. The Braves play their season opener against the Phillies on Monday. (AP Photo/ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton)

A Houston Astros fan runs through the rain outside the stadium before the Astros' season opener baseball game against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Houston. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool )

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg stands in the dugout during an exhibition baseball game against the New York Yankees at Nationals Park on Friday, March 29, 2013, in Washington. The Yankees won 4-2. Strasburg is expected to start opening on Monday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Cincinnati Reds grounds crew members prepare the field ready at Great American Ball Park for Monday's opening day baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Russell Martin balances a baseball during a team baseball workout at PNC Park, Sunday, March 31, 2013 in preparation for the season opener Monday against the Chicago Cubs in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The Kansas City Royals have been absent from the playoffs since the day Billy Butler was born. They've barely had a winning season in the last two decades. They've often lost 100 games in a year.

And yet, buoyed by the best record in spring training, hope abounds ? for the Royals, for most everybody putting on a big league uniform.

"There's no reason we shouldn't be better," said Butler, the Royals' All-Star slugger. "How much better that is? I'm not a mind reader. I'm not a projector."

Ah, opening day.

The hot dogs taste better, the boxscores mean more and most every team thinks it's just a break or two away from reaching the World Series.

A dozen games were set for Monday across the majors. Star pitchers Justin Verlander, Stephen Strasburg and Adam Wainwright try to get off to great starts, old rivalries are renewed at Yankee Stadium and Dodger Stadium, and a quirky interleague schedule unfolds.

No snow is in the forecast for any ballpark on April Fools' Day, but freezing temperatures are expected at Target Field in Minnesota when Verlander and the AL champion Tigers take on the Twins.

"It's going to be cold but I've pitched in that kind of weather before," Verlander said. "I don't think about it. It's always cold in Detroit on opening day."

The season started Sunday night in Houston when the Astros, who shifted from the National League to the American League during the winter, hosted the Texas Rangers.

Long the site of baseball's traditional opener, Cincinnati was going to have a new look Monday. That's when Josh Hamilton and his new Los Angeles Angels teammates visit Cincinnati in the first interleague matchup this season.

The Astros' move left 15 teams in each league, meaning an AL vs. NL matchup most every day this season.

"It is very strange," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

On both coasts, there was a very familiar look ? Red Sox-Yankees and Giants-Dodgers.

Mariano Rivera was set for his final opening day when the banged-up Yankees hosted Boston. The New York closer is among several big names who missed most or even all of last year ? Troy Tulowitzki, Victor Martinez and John Lackey are in that group.

Injured stars Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira won't be in pinstripes for the first pitch.

"It's still the Yankees, it's still going to be a good lineup," Boston starter Jon Lester said Sunday. "They're missing a few of their big guys but anybody that fills in for them, it's like what I said, they're going to put professional at-bats together and still ? it's not going to be a walk in the park."

No easy decisions, either, for Boston manager John Farrell, one of six new skippers in the majors this year.

At Dodger Stadium, Matt Cain starts for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants when they play Los Angeles in the century-old rivalry.

It will mark the 64th season at the microphone for Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. Heck, Tigers manager Jim Leyland seems like a mere pup by comparison, now starting his 50th year in pro ball.

All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez is sidelined for the Dodgers. Around the majors, third basemen Chase Headley of San Diego, David Freese of St. Louis and Brett Lawrie of Toronto will begin the season on the disabled list.

Mets third baseman David Wright plans to be in the lineup at Citi Field to take on San Diego. He hurt his ribcage at the World Baseball Classic.

"I feel good physically," Wright said. "It would have been nice to have maybe a few more at-bats toward the end, but I didn't have that luxury."

On Tuesday, there are two more openers ? Baltimore at Tampa Bay, and Cleveland at revamped Toronto.

All 30 teams will pay tribute to the 20 children and six adults killed last December at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Players, managers, coaches and umpires will wear a memorial patch through Tuesday that includes the seal of Newtown, a black ribbon and 26 stars, and there will be a moment of silence at each stadium.

Seven weeks after teams broke out the bats and balls, players seemed ready to get going.

"I'm really prepared. Well, finally spring training is over, it was a long one," Seattle ace Felix Hernandez said Sunday, a day before his start in Oakland.

"It's another season. We're a different team. It's always special, opening day, not for me but for all the guys," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-31-BBO-Opening-Day/id-bd58e2409f1d40cb8a6d1e50e1dcc6ba

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