500 Startups Grad OneSchool Raises $750K For College Student-Focused App

OneSchool, a free mobile app for college students which provides easy access to maps, course schedules, directories, bus routes, news, student groups and more, is announcing its official launch today in eight universities around the U.S. The company is also revealing it has raised $750,000 in seed funding from 500 Startups, Learn Capital and Magnolia Ventures.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/IxqvMS7FTvg/

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Sony VAIO series get minor processor refresh, Z series grabs LTE option on the way

Ahead of any possible Ultrabook announcements, Sony's looking to give its existing VAIO catalogue a (relatively underwhelming) shot in the arm with a bundle of hardware retweaks. The Z series looks to gain the most out of the Spring refresh, with a new off-white Carbon Fiber Silver color option set to be offered up alongside an optional LTE modem. The series also gets a processor step-up, with new Intel Core i5 and i7 options up to 3.5GHz, rounded off with the choice of SSD storage. Including the connectable drive, prices for the series refresh will start from $1,950. Meanwhile, both the S (13-inch, $800, 15-inch, $980)and E series will get a similar bump to Core i7 processors, with both the S and aforementioned Z series able to lock into an extended sheet battery accessory. If minor processor improvements, more battery options and LTE connectivity enough to fork over your cash, you can expect the revitalized units to arrive early next month.

Sony VAIO series get minor processor refresh, Z series grabs LTE option on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/23/sony-vaio-processor-spring-refresh-z-series-lte/

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Yemen officials: Saleh to depart for Oman

FILE - In this Friday, April 8, 2011 file photo, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh reacts while looking at his supporters, not pictured, during a rally supporting him, in Sanaa,Yemen. Yemeni officials say outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh will leave soon to Oman, en route to medical treatment in the United States. Washington has been trying to get Saleh out of Yemen _ though not to settle in the U.S. _ to allow a peaceful transition from his rule. However, there appear to be differences whether Saleh would remain in exile. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

FILE - In this Friday, April 8, 2011 file photo, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh reacts while looking at his supporters, not pictured, during a rally supporting him, in Sanaa,Yemen. Yemeni officials say outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh will leave soon to Oman, en route to medical treatment in the United States. Washington has been trying to get Saleh out of Yemen _ though not to settle in the U.S. _ to allow a peaceful transition from his rule. However, there appear to be differences whether Saleh would remain in exile. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)

Members of Yemen's parliament raise their hands to vote on the immunity law for Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the House of Representatives in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Yemen's parliament approved on Saturday a law that it said would limit immunity for officials who worked under President Ali Abdullah Saleh to "political" crimes they committed in an official capacity. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Members of Yemen's parliament raise their hands to vote on the immunity law for Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the House of Representatives in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Yemen's parliament approved on Saturday a law that it said would limit immunity for officials who worked under President Ali Abdullah Saleh to "political" crimes they committed in an official capacity. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Yemen Minister of Defense Mohammed Nasser Ali, center, attends a session on an immunity law for President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the House of Representatives in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Yemen's parliament approved on Saturday a law that it said would limit immunity for officials who worked under President Ali Abdullah Saleh to "political" crimes they committed in an official capacity. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 file image made from video, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh speaks on Yemen State Television. Yemeni officials say outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh will leave soon to Oman, en route to medical treatment in the United States. Washington has been trying to get Saleh out of Yemen _ though not to settle in the U.S. _ to allow a peaceful transition from his rule. However, there appear to be differences whether Saleh would remain in exile.(AP Photo/Yemen State TV, File)

SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? Outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh will leave soon to Oman, en route to medical treatment in the United States, Yemeni officials said on Saturday, part of an American effort to get the embattled strongman out of the country to allow a peaceful transition from his rule.

Washington has been trying for weeks to find a country where Saleh can live in exile, since it does not want him to settle permanently in the United States. The mercurial president, who has ruled for more than 33 years, has repeatedly gone back and forth on whether he would leave.

The officials' comments Saturday suggested Oman, Yemen's neighbor, could be a potential home for him. Three officials said he would go, but they were divided on whether he would remain in exile in Oman or return to Yemen after treatment. His return, even if he no longer holds the post of president, could mean continued turmoil for the impoverished nation at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

After nearly a year of protests demanding his ouster, Saleh in November handed his powers over to his vice president and agreed to step down. A unity government between his party and the opposition has since been created. However, Saleh ? still formally the president ? has continued to influence politics from behind the scenes through his family and loyalists in power positions.

The U.S. does not want to take him in, concerned it would be seen by Yemenis as harboring a leader they say has blood on his hands for the killings of protesters. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates already have rejected Saleh, American officials said.

Senior ruling party figure Mohammed al-Shayef told The Associated Press that Saleh would travel "in the coming days" to Oman, then head to the United States for treatment of wounds he suffered in an June assassination attempt.

After treatment, Saleh would return to Yemen to head his People's Congress Party, said al-Shayef, who is also a prominent tribal leader. Another top party official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk of the plans, gave the same itinerary, though he said Saleh would pass through Ethiopia en route from Oman to the U.S.

Saleh himself has spoken in recent weeks of working as an opposition politician after he leaves the presidency.

However, an official in the prime minister's office said Saleh "is supposed" to return to Oman to stay after his U.S. treatment is completed.

The official said Saleh's powerful son Ahmed was currently in Oman, arranging a residence for his father. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk the press. It did not seem that Ahmed, who commands the elite Republican Guard that has been at the forefront of the crackdown on protests, would remain in Oman.

The unity government has been struggling to establish its authority in the face of Saleh's continuing strength in the country. Like Saleh's son Ahmed, Saleh's nephew also commands one of Yemen's best trained and equipped security forces, and the president's loyalists remain in place in the government and bureaucracy.

Saleh agreed to step down under a U.S.-approved and Gulf-mediated accord with the opposition in return for immunity for prosecution.

Yemen's parliament on Saturday approved the immunity law, a key step toward Saleh's formal retirement from his post. Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi signed it into law later in the day.

Saleh is scheduled to hand over the presidency to his vice president on Feb. 21.

The law grants Saleh complete immunity for any crimes committed during his rule, including the killing of protesters during the uprising against his regime. However, parliament limited the scope of immunity for other regime officials and excluded immunity for terrorism-related crimes.

Initially, the law would have similarly given complete immunity to everyone who served Saleh's governments throughout his rule, sparking a public outcry and a new wave of protests. In response, the law was changed to grant them immunity only on "politically motivated" criminal acts. That apparently would not cover corruption charges.

Most protesters have rejected the accord entirely, saying Saleh should not be given immunity and demanding he be prosecuted.

Human Rights Watch said Saturday in a statement that the law allows senior officials to "get away with murder" and "sends the disgraceful message that there is no consequence for killing those who express dissent."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-21-ML-Yemen/id-c884e174bbb44b298b73930180e9549e

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Etta James Dies At 73

Sad news to report this morning, Etta James dies at the age of 73 after a long battle with leukemia. The legendary blues singer, whose version of “At Last” is a classic, died at Riverside Community Hospital in California, with her family by her side. The musical world has lost a great one. James’ manager, Lupe De Leon, confirmed the sad news of her passing to CNN this morning: “This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world. She was a true original who could sing it all ? her music defied category. I worked with Etta for over 30 years. She was my friend and I will miss her always.” During a musical career that spanned 50 years, Ms. James was a multiple Grammy winner and was inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In addition to the iconic “At Last”, she would later release hits such as “Id Rather Go Blind” (see the video below, gives me goosebumps each time I watch it) and “Tell Mama”, just to name a few. She served as an inspiration to many singers, including Celine Dion, Bonnie Raitt, Adele, Christina Aguilera [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/hn6AwHIN9gI/

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Ex-wife says Gingrich wanted 'open marriage' (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Dredging up a past that Newt Gingrich has worked hard to bury, the GOP presidential candidate's second ex-wife says Gingrich asked for an "open marriage" in which he could have both a wife and a mistress.

In an interview with ABC News' "Nightline" scheduled to air Thursday night, Marianne Gingrich said she refused to go along with the idea that she share her husband with Callista Bisek, who would later become his third wife.

The explosive interview was airing just two days before the presidential primary in South Carolina, a state with a strong Christian conservative bent, and as Gingrich tries to present himself as the strongest alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney.

In excerpts of the interview released ahead the ABC broadcast, Marianne Gingrich said her husband conducted his affair with Callista "in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington" while she was elsewhere.

"He always called me at night and always ended with `I love you,'" she said. "Well, she was listening."

Marianne Gingrich, who was Gingrich's second wife, said Gingrich told her "Callista doesn't care what I do."

"He was asking to have an open marriage and I refused," she said. "That is not a marriage."

She also said Gingrich moved to divorce her just months after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

"He also was advised by the doctor when I was sitting there that I was not to be under stress," she said. "He knew."

Gingrich, asked by a voter Thursday about his past mistakes, said questions about his past life were inevitable but that he'd long since sought forgiveness. He said he expected attacks when he got into the race.

"We knew we would get beaten up," he said while campaigning in Beaufort, S.C. "We knew we'd get lied about. We knew we'd get smeared. We knew there would be nasty ads and we decided the country was worth the pain."

He told reporters that he wouldn't say anything against his ex-wife, but added that his two daughters from his first marriage had written to ABC to complain that the interview was "tawdry and inappropriate." He didn't answer questions about the specifics of the interview, directing questions to his daughters.

In an interview Thursday with The Washington Post, Marianne Gingrich said that within days of asking for a divorce, her husband gave a speech in which he stressed the importance of ethics and family values in American culture.

"How could he ask me for a divorce on Monday and within 48 hours give a speech about family values and talk about how people treat people?" she said.

Marianne Gingrich said she and Gingrich went to marriage counseling after he asked for the divorce, but that he wavered over what to do and asked for an open marriage to allow him to see whoever he wanted.

She said she decided to go public about the details from their marriage now in order "to get out there about who I was, so Newt couldn't create me as an evil, awful person, which was starting to happen."

Marianne Gingrich has said that Gingrich proposed to her before the divorce from his first wife was final in 1981; they were married six months later. Her marriage to Gingrich ended in divorce in 2000, and Gingrich has acknowledged he'd already taken up with Bisek, a former congressional aide.

The House speaker who pilloried President Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky was himself having an affair at the time.

As plans to air the interview were disclosed, Gingrich's campaign released a statement from his daughters, Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Cushman, suggesting that Marianne Gingrich's comments may be suspect given the emotional toll that divorce takes on everyone involved.

"Anyone who has had that experience understands it is a personal tragedy filled with regrets, and sometimes differing memories of events. We will not say anything negative about our father's ex-wife," they said. "He has said before, privately and publicly, that he regrets any pain he may have caused in the past to people he loves."

Gingrich has worked in recent years to present himself as changed man, offering himself in this campaign as a 68-year-old grandfather who has settled down with wife No. 3 and embraced God through Catholicism.

Last year, he said it would be up to voters to decide whether to hold his past against him.

"I think people have to look at me, ask tough questions, then render judgment," he said then.

But he may not have been banking on his ex-wife, who has been silent so far in the 2012 campaign, to re-start that conversation.

A message seeking comment from Marianne Gingrich was not immediately returned.

___

Associated Press writer Shannon McCaffrey in Beaufort, S.C., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich_ex_wife

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Soda Taxes Might Save 2,600 Lives A Year, But Certainly Make Cents

People get emotional when you bring up the idea of a soda tax. Proponents of the tax are quick to compare it to excise taxes on cigarettes. They argue that it's a necessary measure for the sake of public health, pointing to the "externalities" of soda consumption as a justification for the apparent strangeness of a tax on a specific food item. And those against the tax are just as strident. They manage to appeal to conservatives and liberals alike, arguing that soda taxes force a nanny state's conception of nutrition on Americans and thereby limit freedom of choice -- and that soda taxes are regressive, hurting poor people more than they hurt the rich.

It's refreshing, then, to find that many scientists and public health experts are trying to cut through the rhetoric to find the empirical basis for arguments in favor of -- and against -- soda taxes. Such studies are, in their way, helping clear up some of the basic issues around the potential implementation of a soda tax before anyone can martial out their philosophical stances.

The latest such study comes from a group of researchers at UC-San Francisco and the Columbia School of Public Health and is published in this month's issue of Health Affairs. The researchers made some basic assumptions about the eating and drinking behavior of Americans and then, using a time-tested computer model of American nutrition and health, simulated the potential future impact of a national, penny-per-ounce excise tax on sodas. That's the form of soda tax that many proponents -- most notably Kelly Brownell of Yale -- think would be most effective and fair.

The simulation predicted that the tax would avert 2,600 deaths, 9,500 heart attacks and 240,000 new cases of diabetes every year. The introduction to the study cited numbers over the first 10 years of adoption, so some news sources initially picked up figures ten times as high, which would be somewhat outlandish. But even the real numbers are eye-popping. The same number of people -- 2,600 -- die of all heart diseases in New Hampshire in a year, for example.

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, lead writer of the study, told The Huffington Post that attributes the lives saved to two sources above all: lower median weight and decreased risk of diabetes.

The lower weight is relatively self-explanatory. A penny-per-ounce soda tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would likely raise the shelf price of soda by about 20 percent, according to past empirical work on soda. And Bibbins-Domingo's new study estimates that such an increase "would reduce consumption ... by 15 percent among adults age 25 to 64." The study estimates that 40 percent of the ensuing calorie reduction would be offset by calories from beverages such as milk and fruit juice, but that for the other 60 percent, people would switch to calorie-free drinks like water and diet soda.

The net effect of these changes would be to reduce average daily energy intake by 0.9 calories. That may not sound like much, but, over the course of a year, it would lead to an average weight lose of about a pound, which the study says would move almost 900,000 adults out of obesity range.

Still, the soda industry was quick to seize on the moderateness of this weight loss as a reason to discredit Bibbins-Domingo's research.

"Using assumptions based on ?lacking or inconclusive? evidence, the authors estimate their proposed tax would result in an average weight loss of less than one pound per year -- an insignificant amount for an obese person," wrote the American Beverage Associate in a statement on the study to The Huffington Post.

Other studies have indicated that a soda tax wouldn't even have that sizable an effect on weight loss. A 2009 piece in the Journal of Public Economics, from a team headed by Jason Fletcher of the Yale School of Public Health, examined the impact of extant taxes on soda across the country, to see how people respond to the relatively low sales and excise taxes already in place. Their research found that people do respond to soda taxes by drinking less soda -- but that the decrease is entirely offset by increased consumption of caloric beverages like milk and fruit juice. That means that, according to their model, a soda tax would not reduce obesity.

"We're in total agreement that prices matters, that taxes matter," Fletcher told The Huffington Post. "What's really key is what people drink instead. ... That's really a core issue."

Bibbins-Domingo admitted that the biggest cause for uncertainty in her paper is the assumption of 60 percent calorie reduction. But she argues that reduced consumption of soda would still be positive because such a reduction would also decrease diabetes rates.

"Sugar-sweetened beverages seem to be diabetes-promoting independent of weight gain," she told The Huffington Post. "Whether it's the high fructose corn syrup or some of the other additives, studies have shown an impact that's not dependent on the amount of weight that's gained. So a soda tax is likely to have a large overall effect even though the weight loss is small."

Bibbins-Domingo also pointed to recent studies that have linked soda consumption to hypertension, again beyond soda's relationship to weight gain.

Though Fletcher was quick to note that correlation -- between diabetes and drinking soda, for example -- is not causation, he admitted that his study modeled only for weight, not for these other diseases. And he said that his team had looked at the effect of relatively small taxes, so it's possible that a large tax levied on producers -- and thus visible before checkout -- of the kind that Bibbins-Domingo was investigating, could have a disproportionately large effect than the kinds of sales taxes that have already been put into place.

Renowned food policy expert Marion Nestle also said that the study helps confirm her long-held opinions on soda taxes. "The study looks like a prediction model; it?s not actually what necessarily happens," she wrote in an email. "Even so, it suggests that taxes are well worth a try as something that might do some good."

And Bibbins-Domingo noted, as past supporters have, that one advantage of taxing soda -- as opposed to something like red meat -- is that soda doesn't have any positive health benefits.

"There really is no evidence of any benefit and there is evidence of harm," she said. "We don't know exactly how people might change their consumption patterns, but I do think these studies show that overall, a soda tax would help things out. There are a lot of possible interventions, but this would be a good start."

And then, of course, there's the money. According to Bibbins-Domingo's study, a penny-per-ounce tax would generate about $13 billion in tax revenue per year -- no small sum in a time of fiscal uncertainty. That could go a long way towards putting a dent in the estimated $80 billion America spends on health care for the overweight and obese nationwide.

Many of those most affected by this increased cost, not incidentally, find themselves living on the lower rungs of America's economic ladder. And it's for that reason that Bibbins-Domingo disagrees with the critics who say that a soda tax is regressive.

Responding to that common criticism, she said, "The health benefits of these types of policy would accrue to that same group that would be affected by this type of intervention."

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/soda-taxes_n_1205630.html

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Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno hospitalized (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Legendary Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno, fired in the fallout from the school's child sex abuse scandal, was hospitalized on Friday for observation due to complications from lung cancer treatments, his family said in a statement.

Paterno, 85, has been undergoing a regimen of treatments since November for a treatable form of lung cancer, the statement said. He also fell in December and injured his pelvis, it added.

Paterno was sacked by Penn State in November for failing to tell police what he knew about child sex abuse allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Also fired was university president Graham Spanier.

Sandusky faces 52 charges stemming from accusations by 10 men who say he molested them as juveniles over a 15-year period.

The 67-year-old Sandusky has maintained his innocence. No date has been set for his trial, and he is under house arrest.

Paterno was hospitalized on Friday after experiencing "minor complications" from his cancer treatments, the statement said.

"Although these issues have been challenging for Coach Paterno and his family, he has total confidence in his doctors and is determined to make a full recovery," the family said.

Paterno injured his arm and hip last August in an on-field collision with a player.

A member of the College Hall of Fame, Paterno was head coach of the Nittany Lions for 46 years. With 409 victories at Penn State, he won more games in big-time college football than any other coach in the sport's history.

Unrivaled for the longevity of his success, Paterno promoted the notion that football players could excel on the field and in the classroom. "Success with Honor" was the motto of his football program, which boasted high graduation rates among players.

(Reporting by James Kelleher and Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/us_nm/us_pennstate_paterno

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Engadget rides the Board of Awesomeness, results are... awesome (video)

We showed it to you a few days ago, and now we finally got to ride Chaotic Moon's Board of Awesomeness. For those who missed it the first time around, it's an electric skateboard rigged up with a 36 volt battery and an 800 watt motor capable of hurtling you down the road at up to 32mph. It's controlled by a Kinect sensor bar and one of Samsung's Windows 8 developers tablets strapped to the deck. Interestingly enough, Chaotic Moon built the thing with little hackery -- the only hardware mod was made to connect the Kinect's power cord to the battery. You control the throttle by pushing your hand closer or further away from the Kinect, which is made possible using the sensor bar's Beta 2 SDK. A pressure switch is on the deck to kill the motor should you fall off, which is nice since the thing has no brakes -- it stops via the motor's natural drag. Kinect controls were also initially used for steering, but folks found it to be counter-intuitive, so now it turns like any other skateboard.

Gallery: Board of Awesomeness hands-on

As you can see from the video above, our skateboarding skills aren't quite on par with Tony Hawk, but that 800 watt motor puts out a ton of torque, so starting it up took some getting used to. The control system is easy and intuitive to use and is like pushing an invisible gas pedal with your hand, though since we were riding it in a parking lot here at CES, we got nowhere near its 32mph top speed. However, we eventually got the hang of riding it at lower speeds, and would love to spend a few days learning how to properly ride it and really see what it can do. The best part? This is only version one of the Board of Awesomeness, and the company plans to create a faster one in the future -- we'll be practicing our riding skills in the meantime to get ready. We hope you enjoyed watching us get awesome, but if you want to see someone who can shred asphalt on the Board of Awesomeness, hit the video after the break.

Continue reading Engadget rides the Board of Awesomeness, results are... awesome (video)

Engadget rides the Board of Awesomeness, results are... awesome (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/13/engadget-rides-the-board-of-awesomeness-results-are-awesome/

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Target confirms Apple center openings, talk to Geniuses where you buy your socks

Target this week confirmed rumors that it will be adding Apple mini-stores to a handful of its retail locations. A representative for the bullseye store told The New York Times that 25 locations will be getting what it describes as "extended displays." The mega-retailer refused to go into details, so far as what the areas will stock, but it will likely contain, at the very least, the iPads and iPhones the store already carries. Not word on an exact date, either, but the areas should be open before year's end.

Target confirms Apple center openings, talk to Geniuses where you buy your socks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4YU-BWvVH8o/

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FDA sends user-fee recommendations to Congress (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? U.S. health regulators said on Friday they have submitted to Congress new recommendations for how manufacturers will help fund their review of new branded drugs, conventional generic medicines and a new generation of generic biotech treatments.

At the same time, they have still not finalized how such "user fee" programs will apply to a review of medical devices.

Under a user fee program, manufacturers pay to fund part of the Food and Drug Administration's review process, helping speed the decision of whether to bring new drugs to the U.S. market.

The FDA in return commits to certain performance goals, including the review of a certain percentage of drug applications in a set time.

"At a time of greater budgetary constraint, user fees provide a critical way for leveraging appropriated dollars, ensuring that the FDA has the resources needed to conduct reviews in a timely fashion," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a statement.

The programs include the fifth authorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA. PDUFA was enacted by Congress in 1992 and must be reauthorized every five years to govern the review of new prescription drugs.

Two new programs proposed for conventional generic drugs and for generic biotech drugs, or "biosimilars," are modeled on the act. The FDA said it received 800 to 900 new generic-drug related applications annually. Drugmakers have sought clarity on the biosimilar guidelines before building up that new segment of the industry.

Medical device makers have clashed with the FDA over the agency's request for higher user fees. FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley said the discussions were continuing, with a deadline set for Sunday.

The fees for devices and drugs provide about a third of the FDA's funding.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/biotech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/hl_nm/us_fda_fees

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Lawyer alleges Egypt military ruler lied to court

CAIRO A lawyer for the victims in the trial of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak has accused the head of Egypt's ruling military council and the ex-vice president of lying to the court on behalf of Mubarak.

The 83-year-old former president and some of his top former security officials are on trial on charges of complicity in killings of about 850 protesters during 18-day uprising that forced Mubarak from power on Feb. 11.

Amir Salem, who represents families of the victims, alleged in court on Monday that both Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of ruling military council, and former Vice President Omar Suleiman both lied in their testimonies.

Both Tantawi and Suleiman worked for decades as senior officials under Mubarak.

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/09/2910794/lawyer-alleges-egypt-military.html

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Archaeologists Use Modern Tools to Reconstruct Ancient Life

Carl Andrews

SOIL SPEAKS Lint in samples from an ancient earthen floor in Ashkelon, Israel, revealed that clay cylinders found there were loom weights.

ASHKELON, Israel ? To the naked eye, the white, powdery substance appeared to be plaster. That?s what the professional and volunteer archaeologists at a dig in Israel concluded.

To be certain, though, they subjected the chalky dust to spectroscopy and a petrographic microscope, only to discover that it was not a manufactured substance, but decayed plant life and fecal matter.

What that meant to the archaeologists from the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon ? a former seaport south of Tel Aviv that was home to successive civilizations over thousands of years ? was that structures thought to have been inhabited by people were more likely occupied by animals. That revelation upended their view of what they were excavating.

?For archaeologists,? said the expedition?s co-director, Daniel M. Master, a professor at Wheaton College in Illinois, ?it was the difference between a palace and a stable.?

This marriage of social and natural sciences is an emerging discipline that has been called microarchaeology by Steve Weiner, director of the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science in the Weizmann Institute in Israel, which is collaborating with the expedition.

?The unique approach at Weizmann is not about instruments nor about methodologies,? Dr. Weiner said. ?It is all about solving archaeological problems with the help of instrumentation ? both in the field and in the lab.?

Weizmann archaeology researchers have a laboratory on the site here, along with equipment to study archaeometallurgy, ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating and micromorphology, the microscopic structures found in organisms and soil. A $2 million accelerator mass spectrometer is on order.

?We have developed a whole new integrative approach to archaeology that starts with the team identifying a good problem in the field and then continues interactively between field and lab,? Dr. Weiner said.

Dr. Master said: ?Steve?s team demonstrated that the white lamina that archaeologists have routinely called ?bits of plaster? were actually degraded plant remains. Further, his team showed ways of analyzing these plants that could detect the difference between sheaves of grain and plant bits mixed into animal dung.?

Dr. Master and Lawrence E. Stager, director of the Semitic Museum at Harvard University, who has overseen the dig for 25 years, embarked on a mutually beneficial collaboration with the Kimmel Center after Dr. Master was invited to lecture there. Suddenly, new windows opened.

Sifting sediment through flotation turned up lint near mysterious clay cylinders. That discovery, Dr. Master recalled, demonstrated that the clay cylinders were actually loom weights, and ?this observation has led to a revolution in the studies of the weaving industry across the eastern Mediterranean in the early Iron Age.?

Soil chemistry analysis found that a four-horned altar thought to be a traditional Levantine device for burning incense was not used for burning at all. Archaeologists identified it instead as a Mycenaean and Minoan libation altar on which liquids were poured.

?Our work with the Weizmann team has been a leap forward,? Dr. Master said.

Sharing workers and a mobile laboratory allows the expedition to analyze samples rapidly and adjust its excavating techniques accordingly. The application of pure science to practical challenges enables Kimmel Center experts to hone their research skills. The collaboration is not unique, but it is unusual for a discipline that falls between the humanities and natural science.

?In Israel, archaeology is taught in the faculties of the humanities, making it very difficult for archaeologists to fully exploit the powerful new scientific tools,? Dr. Weiner said.

?Although there is much good will both on the side of natural scientists intrigued by the exciting archaeological questions to be addressed and the archaeologists who are eager to obtain the information provided by scientific tools, a chasm of miscommunication exists between the two camps,? he said. ?The frequent result is that minimal benefit is obtained from maximal effort.?

The collaboration with the Leon Levy Expedition, he said, means ?we excavate, analyze samples in minutes, get results, change excavation strategy, sample as well as we can and then continue in the base camp lab and, between seasons, in the home lab.?

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=09b463ab5d4d9d1177f37202c7b081b4

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Most parents who get tested for breast cancer genes share results with their children

ScienceDaily (Jan. 9, 2012) ? A new study has found that when parents get tested for breast cancer genes, many of them share their results with their children, even with those who are very young. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also revealed that most parents think that their children are not distressed when they learn about the test results.

For parents, one of the primary motivations for getting tested for hereditary cancer genes is to better understand the risk that their children face; however, many parents struggle with the decision of whether, and when, to tell their minor children the results of such tests. To help determine what factors make parents more or less likely to report their test results to their children, Angela Bradbury, MD, of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and her colleagues interviewed 253 parents who had genetic testing for mutations in two common breast cancer-related genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) that can be inherited. All parents had children under the age of 25 at the time of the genetic test. The investigators asked parents whether they told their children their test results, and if they did, how they felt their children reacted to the information.

Genetic testing revealed that 29 percent of parents had a BRCA gene mutation that confers an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The majority of parents in the study shared their results with at least one of their children. (Among 505 children, 334 [66 percent] learned of their parents' test results.) Parents were more likely to report their results to older children; however, about half of ten to 13 year olds, and some even younger children were told of their parents' test results. Also, parents were more likely to share negative test results -- meaning no mutation was found -- particularly if the child was female. Most of the parents reported that test results did not appear to distress their children, although distress was more likely when the test revealed a mutation in one of the breast cancer genes and when the child was under ten years old.

"We know that adolescence is a time when children establish many important health behaviors they continue in adulthood. An understanding about children's reactions to these communications may assist parents in their decisions about whether, or when, to share their genetic test results," said Dr. Bradbury. "This could also help parents begin conversations with their children that can encourage them to adopt healthy behaviors but not cause them distress," she added. Such early conversations about cancer risk may provide parents with opportunities to promote protective health behaviors -- such as eating a healthy diet and not smoking -- that could help keep their children cancer-free.

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Journal Reference:

1. Angela R. Bradbury, Linda Patrick-Miller, Brian L. Egleston, Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, Mary B. Daly, Cynthia W. Moore, Colleen B. Sands, Helen Schmidheiser, Preethi K. Kondamudi, Maia Feigon, Comfort N. Ibe, and Christopher K. Daugherty. When parents disclose BRCA1/2 test results: Their communication and perceptions of offspring response. CANCER, January, 9, 2012 DOI: 10.1002/cncr.26471

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/~3/1PmWLsJTOa8/120109102905.htm

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Italy's PM: No nation can fight debt crisis alone (AP)

ROME ? No European nation is strong enough to ride out the continent's debt crisis alone, Italy's new premier insisted Saturday, urging fellow EU members to develop a common growth policy.

Premier Mario Monti, leader of the eurozone's third-largest economy, is an economist who was appointed in November with a mandate to pull Italy back from the brink of financial disaster.

"Italy, in order to develop economically and socially, needs Europe, and Europe to be stronger needs Italy," Monti said in a speech in the northern city of Reggio Emilia at a ceremony honoring the Italian flag.

"No European country is so strong that it can go forward alone in facing the great global economies," he added. "Europe needs to put into action common and coordinated growth policies on financial stability."

With Italy making what he called a "decisive contribution" to euro-zone stability, "now it's the time for everyone to do their homework. No one can think they can do less than the others. Europe will overcome the crisis only with the determined and united action of all members," said Monti, a former EU commissioner.

Monti didn't single out any country, but some critics have felt that Germany has been putting its own economic policy ahead of EU-wide interests. Monti will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday and at a major European summit in Brussels at the end of the month.

EU leaders at that summit will be wrestling with a worsening economic outlook, as more European nations tip over into recession, skepticism keeps rising over many EU countries' bonds and the survival of the euro remains in doubt.

"The eurozone must continue to represent an anchor and a secure reference point in all its geographic extensions," Monti said.

Monti has successfully prodded Italy's often slow-moving parliament into approving quick spending cuts, new and higher taxes and reforms to the long-generous pension system that will see Italians working longer and retiring later.

He singled out two factors in Italy's favor: the fact that many of its families and business "are among the least indebted among industrialized nations." But the premier tried to rally Italians to combat two chronically stubborn problems: corruption and widespread tax evasion by companies and citizens alike.

Foreign investors are frequently discouraged from operating in Italy, where bureaucrats and politicians are often involved in corruption when it comes to securing permits, contracts or funding.

Monti's next priority is spurring growth in Italy, where the economy is stagnant, women have one of the EU's lowest rates of employment and youth joblessness rates run 30 percent nationally and much higher in the underdeveloped south.

But unions have vowed strikes and rallies to protest the government's plan to overhaul labor laws protecting workers, including abolishing a provision that makes it very difficult to fire workers.

Lawmakers, with an eye on 2013 elections, may also be nervous about demanding their voters make financial sacrifices.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120107/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_financial_crisis

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Summary Box: France, Italy to discuss debt crisis

(AP)? GRIM TIMES: The leaders of two European powerhouses, France and Italy, faced increasing pressure as they prepared to discuss the spiraling debt crisis that threatens to engulf both of their economies.

ECONOMIC DETIORATION: The interest rate on Italy's 10-year bond rose above 7 percent again Friday, a level that has eventually forced other countries to seek bailouts. Meanwhile, new data showed economic sentiment and retail sales are falling across the region, while unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone is stuck at 10.3 percent.

THE PLAYERS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy had pressed Rome to adopt stringent austerity measures last year. Italian leader Mario Monti said ahead of Friday's talks that Italy would meet its target of balancing its budget by next year. France, meanwhile, faces the loss of its prized AAA credit rating, which would have far-reaching consequences for Europe.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsWebMD/~3/jRl1BMXc-30/

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Summary Box: Stocks mixed despite stronger hiring (AP)

HIRING IMPROVES: The unemployment rate fell in December to 8.5 percent, the lowest in nearly three years. Employers added 200,000 net jobs. Employers have added more than 100,000 jobs for six months, the longest such streak since April 2006.

BUT ELSEWHERE: Stocks traded mixed because of discouraging news from Europe. Economic sentiment and retail sales are falling there, and unemployment is high. Italy's borrowing costs spiked back up to dangerous levels, signaling fear the nation might default.

FEARS WIN OUT: Stocks' failure to rise on the jobs news was a reminder of how closely U.S. markets are tied to threats overseas. A likely recession in Europe could hurt U.S. corporate profits and entangle banks that do business with Europe, threatening the fragile economic recovery.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120106/ap_on_bi_ge/us_wall_street_summary_box

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Snaer helps Florida State rout Auburn

Florida State's Michael Snaer, right, drives past Miami's Garrius Adams during a college basketball game in Tallahassee in this Feb. 6, 2010 file photo.

Buy Photo ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO / PHIL COALE

Published: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 9:17 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 9:17 p.m.

TALLAHASSEE - Florida State followed up one of its worst first halves with one of its best on Wednesday night.

Michael Snaer scored a career-high 22 points ? going 10 of 10 from the free-throw line ? and Ian Miller added 15 points as Florida State routed Auburn 85-56 on Wednesday night.

Snaer had 14 points in the first half as the Seminoles (9-5) grabbed a 50-16 halftime lead. It was a stunning reversal of fortune for Florida State, which trailed Princeton 27-10 at the half in Friday's triple-overtime loss to Princeton.

"It's almost like we were of a different mind-set tonight," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Hopefully we can continue that type of focus. . I thought the first half tonight was about as good as we have played. That's the kind of team we should be on a consistent basis."

Hamilton would love to see more of this. Florida State went on a 28-3 first-half run, outrebounded Auburn by 15 and made 84.6 percent (22 of 26) of its free-throw attempts.

Xavier Gibson also had 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks for the Seminoles, who scored a season-high 85 points.

"Now that we realize that this is what we need to be successful, now that we understand it, we're going to bring it every night," Snaer said. "Every time we play."

Chris Denson had 15 points and Kenny Gabriel added 10 points and seven rebounds for Auburn (10-4), which made just 5 of 33 (15.2 percent) of its shots in the first half.

Auburn led 5-4 in the opening minutes after a 3-pointer by Gabriel. But Florida State went on a 20-0 run ? including nine points from Snaer ? to build a 24-5 lead with 10:34 left in the first half.

The Tigers tried to make 3-pointers to close the gap but was just 1 of 9 in the first half and 4 of 14 for the game.

Florida State made 22 of 26 shots from the free-throw line. Miller was 5 of 6 from the line, and Gibson was 4 of 4 from the line.

The Seminoles also showed off their height and athleticism inside, blocking 10 shots and outrebounding Auburn 45-30.

"We have not always been as precise or on the same page as we should," Hamilton said. "Tonight I thought we were very focused."

The Seminoles shot 53.7 percent (29 of 54) from the floor. The Tigers shot 32.3 percent (21 of 65) .

Source: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120104/wire/120109828

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18. Kallis and Petersen put South Africa on top

CAPE TOWN: Jacques Kallis and Alviro Petersen hit centuries as South Africa dominated the first day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at Newlands on Tuesday.

South Africa were 347 for three at the close after being sent in to bat.

Kallis, playing in his 150th Test match, was on 159 not out. He and Petersen (109) put on 205 for the third wicket, a record for South Africa against Sri Lanka.

It was a triumphant return to his home town for Kallis after making the first ?pair? of his career during South Africa?s defeat in the second Test in Durban. He was in imperious form as he reached his half-century off 37 balls and his century off 114 deliveries with 17 fours.

His scoring rate slowed later in the day and by the close he had faced 215 balls and hit 21 fours and a six.

It was Kallis? 41st Test century, his ninth at Newlands ? and his first against Sri Lanka. He joined Gary Kirsten, the current coach, as the only South Africans to hit centuries against all nine possible Test opponents.

Petersen scored a century on his debut against India in Kolkata in 2009-10 but made only three half-centuries in eight subsequent appearances and was replaced as captain Graeme Smith?s opening partner by Jacques Rudolph at the start of this season.

Rudolph was shifted to number six in the batting order to make way for Petersen, who was rewarded for strong domestic form.

Petersen took full advantage of his recall with an authoritative innings which included 13 fours and a six.

He saw two partners leave early, with both Smith and Hashim Amla falling to fast bowler Dhammika Prasad, who replaced the injured Dilhara Fernando.

There was an anxious wait for Petersen, who was stuck on 99 during the tea break. But he went to his century in the first over after the resumption, off 165 balls, before playing a loose drive to be caught by Sri Lankan captain Tillekeratne Dilshan at cover off the left-arm opening bowler Chanaka Welegedara. ? AFP

Source: http://thestar.com.my.feedsportal.com/c/33048/f/534601/s/1b870e6c/l/0Lthestar0N0Bmy0Csports0Cstory0Basp0Dfile0F0C20A120C10C50Csports0C10A20A56420Gsec0Fsports/story01.htm

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Ecuador Court Upholds $18 Billion Judgment Against Chevron for Oil Pollution (ContributorNetwork)

According to the Miami Herald, an appeals court in Ecuador has upheld an $18 billion judgment against Chevron Corp. for the dumping of millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater into streams and creeks in the country. The environmental contamination was caused by Chevron's predecessor Texaco over several decades up until the 1990s, followed by the two companies merging in 2001.

Chevron has refused to accept the ruling in the case that has extended for over 18 years and says it will continue to fight the decision. Here are some facts about the oil contamination in Ecuador:

* PBS reported that Texaco discovered oil in the South American country in 1967, which helped contribute to the nation's first oil boom and economic growth during the 1970s.

* Today, Ecuador is in about $14 million worth of debt and money from oil proceeds makes up approximately 40 percent of its export earnings and roughly 33 percent of the government's total revenue.

* The country had initially invited Texaco to explore and produce oil through a partnership with the Ecuadorian government in which the oil company designed the wells and built the transportation pipeline, according to the University of Michigan.

* Texaco disposed of highly toxic oil byproducts, also called production water, by dumping it into pits next to each well and then allowing it to flow into nearby waterways after the pits reached capacity.

* The wastewater was high in cancer-causing chemicals like benzene and hydrocarbons and contaminated the pristine land and water of numerous indigenous tribes in Ecuador.

* NPR noted that in 1993 the original lawsuit was filed against Texaco in a New York court, but Chevron later argued that the case should be moved to Ecuador instead.

* The lawsuit includes 145,000 pages of evidence of oil contamination through the 30 years that Texaco extracted 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil in the country.

* An article from the Examiner added that the court case represents around 30,000 indigenous people and farmers who are looking for the cleanup of contaminated areas in addition to health care.

* Currently the $18 billion in damages is approximately close to one-third of Ecuador's gross domestic product and it's the most expensive environmental lawsuit in history.

* Ecuadorian government officials have decided to close off the Yasuni National Park in the Amazon, a large undeveloped oil field with an estimated 1 billion barrels, to oil companies through at least 2013 as a way to protect the area, according to UPI.

* Government-owned oil company Petroecuador said that it is spending millions to clean up numerous sites contaminated by Texaco.

Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120105/sc_ac/10795261_ecuador_court_upholds_18_billion_judgment_against_chevron_for_oil_pollution

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LG Unveils Google TV: Lack of Quality TV Content is Still an Issue

LG Electronics has announced its alliance with Google to launch its own Google TV.

LG is the latest entry to Google's ambitious internet TV alliance, which includes Samsung, Sony and Vizio. The company will be showcasing its Google TV in the International Consumer Electronic Show-2012 to be held at Las Vegas between Jan 10 and 3.

In a press release, LG has said that the new TV will be a hybrid one that combines the Google's Android OS and LG's 3D and smart TV technologies.

The company has not specified the size of the TV. However, it is expected to be available in medium and larger (40''-55'') sizes. The TV comes with LG's Magic Remote Qwerty which has small QWERTY pad in addition to the regular remote buttons.

LG has said that the new Google TV is user friendly and allows multitasking, as it is possible to run search, social networking and TV functions simultaneously.

Another important feature is that it uses its own Cinema 3D technology and has a built-in 2D to 3D conversion engine.

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LG-Google TV is expected to hit the market, sometime later this year.

According to a Google TV blog post, this is a major step towards expanding Google TV base and bringing in new user friendly Google TV-powered devices to the consumers.

Samsung and Vizio are expected to launch their Google products by next year while Sony has already released its Google TV and set-top boxes.

Google with the new partnerships hopes to boost its TV products. But it is still unclear how it is going to tackle its problems regarding the TV content. Though Google has released its Android OS and encouraged the developers to build applications for the TV, it is struggling to expand its base due to lack of popular content.

Major TV content producers and studios have blocked their content from being accessed by Google TV. This has prevented Google TV from providing quality content. So it cannot be a substitute for regular telecast and cable services but can just complement the regular TV with additional content and features.

If Google don't find a way to convince the content creators to provide their content through Google TV, then any amount of hardware enhancement will serve no actual purpose to consumers or to its partners.

Here is preview video of Google TV:?

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Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/277419/20120106/lg-unveils-google-tv-lack-quality-content.htm

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Near dead heat for Romney, Santorum in Iowa GOP caucus

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? Mitt Romney eked out a minuscule 8-vote victory over Rick Santorum in Iowa's Republican presidential caucuses, the state party chairman said early Wednesday, ringing down the curtain on an improbable first act in the campaign to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama in the fall.

Appearing hours after the caucuses had ended, Matt Strawn said Romney had 30,015 votes, to 30,007 for Santorum, whose late surge carried him to a near win.

"Game on," declared Santorum, jaw set, after easily outdistancing several other contenders to emerge as Romney's unvarnished conservative rival for the primaries yet ahead.

Romney looked past his GOP rivals and took aim at Obama. "The gap between his promises four years ago and his performance is as great as anything I've ever seen in my life," he told supporters in Iowa's capital city.

The narrow margin, out of more than 122,000 straw poll ballots cast, was a fitting conclusion to a race as jumbled as any since Iowa gained the lead-off position in presidential campaigns four decades ago.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul ran third and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was fourth. Both men vowed to carry the fight to New Hampshire's primary next week and beyond.

Not so Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who came in fifth and told supporters he would return home to reassess his candidacy.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was a distant sixth, and her campaign appeared in disarray. She told reporters she would carry on ? less than an hour after her campaign manager raised doubts in an Associated Press interview about whether she would stay in the race.

Romney is heavily favored in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary on Jan. 10. South Carolina on Jan. 21 figures to be a tougher test, the first contest in the South and a state that is part of the Republican political base.

Already, the top two finishers in Iowa were staking out their turf.

Officials said Romney would receive an endorsement in the morning from Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who twice won the New Hampshire primary and was the GOP presidential nominee in 2008.

Santorum said that was to be expected, and jabbed at his rival. "John is a more moderate member of the Republican team, and I think he fits in with Mitt's view of the world," he said.

Returns from 1,772 of 1,774 precincts showed both Santorum and Romney with 24.5 percent and Paul with 21.5. Santorum had 29,944 votes, Romney had 29,926 and Paul 26,163.

Gingrich had 13 percent, followed by Perry at 10 percent and Bachmann with 5 percent.

No matter how close the final results in Iowa, there were no plans for a recount.

Doug Heye, a spokesman for the state party, said the ballots were counted under the supervision of campaign representatives who certified the totals. He said the numbers were double-checked when they were reported to state officials and there was no reason to check them again.

"On to New Hampshire," Gingrich said to the cheers of his supporters, vowing to carry on his campaign no matter the Iowa outcome.

The former speaker led in the pre-caucus polls as recently as a few weeks ago, only to fall under the weight of attack ads run by a super PAC run by allies of Romney.

Paul, too, said he was looking forward to the nation's first primary in a week's time, telling supporters his was one of two campaigns with the resources to do the distance. "There's going to be an election up in New Hampshire, and believe me this momentum is going to continue and this movement is going to continue and we are going to keep scoring," he told supporters.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/orlandosentinel/news/local/lake/~3/VjbTNcafCUI/sns-ap-us-gop-campaign,0,3961968.story

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31 inmates killed in northern Mexico prison fight (AP)

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico ? A vicious fight among inmates armed with makeshift knives, clubs and even stones left 31 people dead in a prison in a drug cartel-plagued state in northern Mexico, authorities said.

Another 13 prisoners were wounded in the brawl in the penitentiary in the Gulf Coast city of Altamira, Tamaulipas state's Public Safety Department said in a statement.

The fight started when a group of inmates burst into a section of the prison they were banned from and attacked the prisoners housed there, the department said.

Local media said the fight was between members of the rival Gulf and Zetas drug cartels but authorities wouldn't confirm the reports. Tamaulipas state has been the scene of bloody turf battles between the two former allies.

Tamaulipas state officials said many of the dead were killed by makeshift knives. A state official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation said several of the inmates were beaten to death with clubs or stones.

Soldier and marines managed to take control of the prison, the official said.

The safety department said 22 of the inmates killed were serving sentences for state crimes and nine for federal offenses. It gave no other details.

The port of Altamira in southern Tamaulipas, near the border with the state of Veracruz, is in a region that has seen a spike in drug-violence in the last two months. Authorities say the port is used to bring in cocaine and precursor chemicals used to make methamphetamine into Mexico.

In 2010, four inmates at the Altamira prison were killed when an armed gang stormed the penitentiary as 11 inmates were being transferred. Authorities did not confirm reports that the raid was an attempt to free prisoners. Gang raids on prisons are common in Tamaulipas.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120105/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_prison_violence

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iPad App Store Hits 3 Billion Downloads

iPad App Store Hits 3 Billion Downloads

The growth of Apple?s iPad growth has been mind blowing in all areas. In fact, when it first launched, it was?considered?to be a failure, but now the iPad has become a PC replacement for many. Apple?s iPad sales have not only been amazing, but App Store growth has been too.

Now ABI Research, a research firm?has?announced?in a press release that 3 billion applications have been downloaded since the iPad first launched in 2010. In addition, the iPad represents nearly a fifth of all cumulative iOS downloads, despite the fact that it debuted nearly three years after the iPhone, and two years after the iOS App Store opened. Also, it is?estimated?that 120,000 applications have been created specifically for the iPad?available on the App Store as of the third quarter of 2011. That number sounds consistent with news that appeared last June after the number of applications on the App Store passed 100,000. ABI?s data does not include iPhone applications, which can also be run from the iPad but do not take advantage of the iPad?s larger screen.

In the end, Android and Android tablets are still ?winning? though. Yay, oh wait?

Author: Parth Dhebar

Parth Dhebar is a 17 year-old entrepreneur. He is the founder of Simple Reviews, a blog focused on reviewing iPhone and iPad applications. Parth is a recognized name in the industry, known for covering Apple news. He is an editor at Techie-Buzz covering news on Apple. You can follow him on Twitter @pdparticle.

Parth Dhebar has written 269 articles for us.

The author of this post can be contacted at parth@techie-buzz.com

Source: http://techie-buzz.com/apple-2/ipad-app-store-hits-3-billion-downloads.html

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