Key groups reach immigration deal as overhaul advances

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prospects for a broad U.S. immigration overhaul brightened on Saturday after major U.S. business and labor groups reached an agreement on a guest-worker program, a source familiar with the deal said.

The agreement was reached on Friday night in a conference call between the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, and the president of the AFL-CIO labor organization, Richard Trumka, with New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer acting as the mediator, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A guest-worker program has been a major stumbling block to efforts by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight to reach a compromise on a way to create a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of whom are Hispanics.

Labor unions have argued against a guest-worker program, worrying that a flood of low-wage immigrant laborers would take away jobs from Americans. The agreement covers the pay levels for low-skilled temporary workers and the types of jobs that would be included.

Schumer briefed White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Saturday on the breakthrough, the source said.

The agreement still must be approved by the Gang of Eight senators, four Democrats and four Republicans. If they do so as expected, Senate legislation on a broad new immigration law would be advanced in the Senate in the coming weeks.

In recent days, the immigration effort had been stalled by failure to forge an agreement on the guest-worker program, although the White House insisted that progress was being made.

President Barack Obama wants to fulfill a campaign pledge by gaining passage of a law that would create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently in the country. He has vowed to do what he can on immigration through executive actions in the absence of legislation.

Immigration long has been a controversial issue in the United States and previous efforts to craft a comprehensive overhaul of American immigration laws have failed, with Democrats and Republicans remaining far apart.

Many Republicans previously had taken a hard position against illegal immigrants. Obama's unsuccessful Republican challenger last year, Mitt Romney, had advocated "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants. Republicans in Arizona and other states passed tough laws cracking down on illegal immigrants.

But the mood for a deal is ripe because Republicans saw Hispanic Americans vote overwhelmingly for Obama and other Democratic candidates in last November's elections and they need to woo this increasingly important voting bloc.

Many Republicans see gaining favor with the Hispanic voting bloc, which accounts for 10 percent of the U.S. electorate and is growing, as a matter of political survival.

Republicans want to ensure that security along the U.S.-Mexican border is improved before immigrants can get on a path to citizenship. Obama feels security is sufficient but this disagreement is not seen as a deal-breaker.

"We're seeing right now a good bipartisan spirit," Obama told Spanish-language network Univision on Wednesday. "I want to encourage that and hopefully we'll be able to get it done."

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-labor-groups-reach-immigration-deal-overhaul-advances-193136796.html

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BrowserCheck Business Edition

Large companies have IT personnel responsible for tracking software users have on their computers. For the small business, the task generally falls to end-users and one IT person already burdened with a long to-do list. If the user doesn't keep up with updates and IT doesn't notice, that is a security risk. Considering the amount of Web-based threats out there, the free BrowserCheck scanner from Qualys is a quick way to ensure Web browsers and installed plug-ins are up-to-date.

Cyber-criminals have a choice between buying?or creating?attacks targeting either zero-day vulnerabilities or older security flaws. The latter type is much cheaper and readily available. ?Recent research has shown a significant number of computers run outdated software. Targeting older software can be pretty lucrative.

Qualys offers BrowserCheck (three stars) for personal use and BrowserCheck Business Edition, both for free. The personal version scans the end user's computer and generates a security profile right away. BrowserCheck Business Edition collects the scan results from each computer and displays them in a dashboard. At one glance, the administrator can tell what browsers and plug-ins have been installed. For Windows machines, administrators can also check the status of antivirus and firewall protection, as well as the latest security updates via Windows Update. Thanks to automated scanning, BrowserCheck Business Edition allows administrators to schedule future scans to monitor any changes to the computer's software security profile.

Getting Started
I signed up for a BrowserCheck Business Edition on the Qualys site with a non-webmail account, as Qualys does not accept addresses from Web providers such as Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. Businesses that don't have their own domain name and rely on these email services are blocked from using the scanner, unless they have some other email address to use instead.

The dashboard's tables and graphs offer a bird's-eye view of how many insecure browsers and plug-ins are in the organization. I viewed detailed scanning results for each system and historic reports, as well as platform statistics, such as the most frequently installed plug-ins and browsers.

BrowserCheck supports server and desktop Windows versions all the way from Windows 2000 to Windows 8, Mac OS X, and Linux. I ran a basic scan using the stock Web browser for Android but not for Firefox, and I didn't test on iOS. Qualys can also analyze alternative Web browsers, such as Maxthon, Seamonkey, and Rockmelt.

BrowserCheck, Administrator
The administrator controls all the BrowserCheck settings, such as scanning all the browsers installed on the computer at the same time, checking if the antivirus, firewall, and Windows Update are turned on (Windows only), looking for missing Microsoft Security Updates (also Windows only), and setting up an automated scheduler.

The administrator can send the customized Quick Scan URL listed under account settings to users. When someone clicks on this link, BrowserCheck scans the computer and saves the results back to the dashboard. The no-install scanner can check the plug-ins and version number for that browser only. This is a nice and simple way for the administrator to see all the results of all the machines in one place. Even so, the BrowserCheck plug-in is the better option.

Administrators can email the link to the plug-in and ask users to install it manually, or push out the MSI agent onto the computers via a software distribution tool or a script. If the organization didn't already have a software distribution tool that can push out files to user computers, administrators would have to rely on users, or take the time to make the rounds and install the plug-in themselves.

BrowserCheck can also be silent, where the user doesn't get to see the results of the scan as it is sent directly to the dashboard.

BrowserCheck, User-Side
All the end-user has to worry about is clicking on the Quick Scan link from IT to run the no-install scanner or downloading and installing the plug-in. The administrator determines what to scan and how often, making the process really simple for the user.

The plug-in-based scanner collects machine information, such as the operating system and the machine name, and associates the scan results with the machine name in the dashboard. The no-install scanner results are saved without any machine-identifying information. It's more helpful to tell the administrator which computer has the outdated Java plug-in, rather than just saying one computer needed to be updated.

If "silent mode" wasn't on, the user would see the results, a list of all installed plug-ins and their statuses. BrowserCheck has 13 different types of statuses, such as Obsolete and Retired. Outdated ones appear first, with red "Insecure Version" and blue "Fix It" buttons, followed by yellow "Update Available" buttons to indicate the updates were non-security related. Up-to-date plug-ins have green buttons, and all the ones BrowserCheck doesn't recognize have gray "Unknown" buttons.

Clicking on "Fix It" or "Update Available" buttons downloads the latest versions, but there's no way to automate getting the latest updates.

The scan results page look very similar to Mozilla's own plugin check.?With BrowserCheck, though, I could view the status of the plugins for each browser, along with system-specific data for Windows machines. I was concerned that nearly half of the plug-ins were flagged as "unknown" by BrowserCheck. While great for Windows OS and for common plug-ins, there is quite a lot the scanner doesn't recognize.

BrowserCheck for Security
For small businesses falling behind on patch management and regular software updates, BrowserCheck Business Edition is a great first step. There is nothing worse in security than not doing anything at all, so being able to see which computers have unsafe browsers or are missing security updates is a positive move.

If you just want a quick system that will tell you the state of your browsers and operating systems across your Windows network, BrowserCheck is sufficient. If you don't have a way to automatically deploy the MSI across all the computers, BrowserCheck will not be as effective as you depend on the users to install the plug-in. BrowserCheck Business Edition is the easiest way to ensure browsers and plug-ins within your organization are up-to-date with the latest security patches. If you need a little bit more, such as automated patching, investing in a more robust platform such as Panorama9?may be the way to go.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/7Fd-YK4CUfI/0,2817,2417226,00.asp

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Risk and reward at the dawn of civilian drone age

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The dawn of the age of aerial civilian drones is rich with possibilities for people far from the war zones where they made their devastating mark as a weapon of choice against terrorists.

The unmanned, generally small aircraft can steer water and pesticides to crops with precision, saving farmers money while reducing environmental risk. They can inspect distant bridges, pipelines and power lines and find hurricane victims stranded on rooftops.

Drones ? some as tiny as a hummingbird ? promise everyday benefits as broad as the sky is wide. But the drone industry and those eager to tap its potential are running headlong into fears the peeping-eye, go-anywhere technology will be misused.

Since January, drone-related legislation has been introduced in more than 30 states, largely in response to privacy concerns. Many of the bills would prevent police from using drones for broad public surveillance or to watch individuals without sufficient grounds to believe they were involved in crimes.

Stephen Ingley, executive director of the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, says resistance to the technology is frustrating. Drones "clearly have so much potential for saving lives, and it's a darn shame we're having to go through this right now," he said.

But privacy advocates say now is the time to debate the proper use of civilian drones and set rules, before they become ubiquitous. Sentiment for curbing domestic drone use has brought the left and right together perhaps more than any other recent issue.

"The thought of government drones buzzing overhead and constantly monitoring the activities of law-abiding citizens runs contrary to the notion of what it means to live in a free society," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said at a recent hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

With military budgets shrinking, drone makers have been counting on the civilian market to spur the industry's growth. Some companies that make drones or supply support equipment and services say the uncertainty has caused them to put U.S. expansion plans on hold, and they are looking overseas for new markets.

"Our lack of success in educating the public about unmanned aircraft is coming back to bite us," said Robert Fitzgerald, CEO of the BOSH Group of Newport News, Va., which provides support services to drone users.

"The U.S. has been at the lead of this technology a long time," he said. "If our government holds back this technology, there's the freedom to move elsewhere ... and all of a sudden these things will be flying everywhere else and competing with us."

Law enforcement is expected to be one of the bigger initial markets for civilian drones. Last month, the FBI used drones to maintain continuous surveillance of a bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy was being held hostage.

In Virginia, the state General Assembly passed a bill that would place a two-year moratorium on the use of drones by state and local law enforcement. The measure is supported by groups as varied as the American Civil Liberties Union on the left and the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation on the right.

Gov. Bob McDonnell is proposing amendments that would retain the broad ban on spy drones but allow specific exemptions when lives are in danger, such as for search-and rescue operations. The legislature reconvenes on April 3 to consider the matter.

Seattle abandoned its drone program after community protests in February. The city's police department had purchased two drones through a federal grant without consulting the city council.

In Congress, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., co-chairman of the House's privacy caucus, has introduced a bill that prohibits the Federal Aviation Administration from issuing drone licenses unless the applicant provides a statement explaining who will operate the drone, where it will be flown, what kind of data will be collected, how the data will be used, whether the information will be sold to third parties and the period for which the information will be retained.

Privacy advocates acknowledge the many benign uses of drones. In Mesa County, Colo., for example, an annual landfill survey using manned aircraft cost about $10,000. The county recently performed the same survey using a drone for about $200.

Drones can help police departments find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. Real estate agents can have them film videos of properties and surrounding neighborhoods, offering clients a better-than-bird's-eye view though one that neighbors may not wish to have shared.

"Any legislation that restricts the use of this kind of capability to serve the public is putting the public at risk," said Steve Gitlin, vice president of AeroVironment, a leading maker of smaller drones.

Yet the virtues of drones can also make them dangerous, privacy advocates say. The low cost and ease of use may encourage police and others to conduct the kind of continuous or intrusive surveillance that might otherwise be impractical.

Drones can be equipped with high-powered cameras and listening devices, and infrared cameras that can see people in the dark.

"High-rise buildings, security fences or even the walls of a building are not barriers to increasingly common drone technology," Amie Stepanovich, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Council's surveillance project, told the Senate panel.

Civilian drone use is limited to government agencies and public universities that have received a few hundred permits from the FAA. A law passed by Congress last year requires the FAA to open U.S. skies to widespread drone flights by 2015, but the agency is behind schedule and it's doubtful it will meet that deadline. Lawmakers and industry officials have complained for years about the FAA's slow progress.

The FAA estimates that within five years of gaining broader access about 7,500 civilian drones will be in use.

Although the Supreme Court has not dealt directly with drones, it has OK'd aerial surveillance without warrants in drug cases in which officers in a plane or helicopter spotted marijuana plants growing on a suspect's property.

But in a case involving the use of ground-based equipment, the court said police generally need a warrant before using a thermal imaging device to detect hot spots in a home that might indicate that marijuana plants are being grown there.

In some states economic concerns have trumped public unease. In Oklahoma, an anti-drone bill was shelved at the request of Republican Gov. Mary Fallin, who was concerned it might hinder growth of the state's drone industry. The North Dakota state Senate killed a drone bill in part because it might impede the state's chances of being selected by the Federal Aviation Administration as one of six national drone test sites, which could generate local jobs.

A bill that would have limited the ability of state and local governments to use drones died in the Washington legislature. The measure was opposed by the Boeing Co., which employs more than 80,000 workers in the state and which has a subsidiary, Insitu, that's a leading military drone manufacturer.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., recently drew attention to the domestic use of drones when he staged a Senate filibuster, demanding to know whether the president has authority to use weaponized drones to kill Americans on American soil. The White House said no, if the person isn't engaged in combat. Industry officials worry that the episode could temporarily set back civilian drone use.

"The opposition has become very loud," said Gitlin of AeroVironment, "but we are confident that over time the benefits of these solutions are going to far outweigh the concerns, and they'll become part of normal life in the future."

___

Associated Press writer Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/risk-reward-dawn-civilian-drone-age-182915844--finance.html

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World Backup Day: Now?s the Time to Fortify Your Digital Existence

If you haven't backed up your digital data yet, now is as a good a time as any to start. World Backup Day is on March 31 and it's only right to observe the pseudo-holiday by backing up your computer. ...

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/03/how-to-backup-your-data/

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The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: My Dreamscape

Mixing serene stop-motion scenes with abstract 3D animation, digital artist Mitch Myers delivers a haunting vision of his dreams. Which are apparently far better than my dreams. Those typically involve me running from hordes of the undead while dragging a footlocker full of avocados. Go figure. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/kO0YkR-a6Ac/the-weirdest-thing-on-the-internet-tonight-my-dreamscape

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Details of gene pathways suggest fine-tuning drugs for child brain tumors

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Pediatric researchers, investigating the biology of brain tumors in children, are finding that crucial differences in how the same gene is mutated may call for different treatments. A new study offers glimpses into how scientists will be using the ongoing flood of gene-sequencing data to customize treatments based on very specific mutations in a child's tumor.

"By better understanding the basic biology of these tumors, such as how particular mutations in the same gene may respond differently to targeted drugs, we are moving closer to personalized medicine for children with cancer," said the study's first author, Angela J. Sievert, M.D., M.P.H., an oncologist in the Cancer Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Sievert, working with co-first author Shih-Shan Lang, M.D., in the translational laboratory of neurosurgeon Phillip Storm, M.D., and Adam Resnick, Ph.D., published a study ahead of print today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study, performed in cell cultures and animals, focused on a type of astrocytoma, the most common type of brain tumor in children. When surgeons can fully remove an astrocytoma (also called a low-grade glioma), a child can be cured. However, many astrocytomas are too widespread or in too delicate a site to be safely removed. Others may recur. So pediatric oncologists have been seeking better options---ideally, a drug that can selectively and definitively kill the tumor with low toxicity to healthy tissue.

The current study focuses on mutations in the BRAF gene, one of the most commonly mutated genes in human cancers. Because the same gene is also mutated in certain adult cancers, such as melanoma, the pediatric researchers were able to make use of recently developed drugs, BRAF inhibitors, which were already being tested with some success against melanoma in adults.

The current study provides another example of the complexity of cancer: in the same gene, different mutations behave differently. Sievert and her colleagues at Children's Hospital were among several research groups who reported almost simultaneously in 2008 and 2009 that mutations in the BRAF gene were highly prevalent in astrocytomas in children. "These were landmark discoveries, because they suggested that if we could block the action of that mutation, we could develop a new, more effective treatment for these tumors," said Sievert.

However, follow-up studies in animal models were initially disappointing. BRAF inhibitors that were effective in BRAF-driven adult melanomas made brain tumors worse?via an effect called paradoxical activation.

Further investigation revealed how tumor behavior depended on which type of BRAF mutation was involved. The first-generation drug that was effective in adult melanoma acted against point mutations in BRAF called V600E alterations. However, in most astrocytomas the mutation in the BRAF gene was different; it produced a fusion gene, designated KIAA1549-BRAF. When used against the fusion gene, the first-generation drug activated a cancer-driving biological pathway, the MAPK signaling cascade, and accelerated tumor growth.

By examining the molecular mechanisms behind drug resistance and working with the pharmaceutical industry, the current study's investigators identified a new, experimental second-generation BRAF inhibitor that disrupted the cancer-promoting signals from the fusion gene, and did not cause the paradoxical activation in the cell cultures and animal models.

This preclinical work result lays a foundation for multicenter clinical trials to test the mutation-specific targeting of tumors by this class of drugs in children with astrocytomas, said Sievert. As this effort progresses, it will benefit from CHOP's commitment to resources and collaborations that support data-intense research efforts.

The direction of brain tumor research over the past several years reflects some of those data-driven advances, says Adam C. Resnick, Ph.D., the senior author of the current paper and principal investigator of the astrocytoma research team in the Division of Neurosurgery at Children's Hospital. "For years, astrocytomas have been lumped together based on similar appearance to pathologists studying their structure, cell shape and other factors," said Resnick. "But our current discoveries show that the genetic and molecular structure of tumors provides more specific information in guiding oncologists toward customized treatments."

Earlier this year, Children's Hospital announced its collaboration with the gene-sequencing organization BGI-Shenzhen in performing next-generation sequencing of pediatric brain tumors at the Joint Genome Center, BGI@CHOP. The center's sophisticated, high-throughput sequencing technology will greatly speed the discovery of specific gene alterations involved in childhood brain cancers.

This genomic discovery program dovetails with the work of the Childhood Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium, a multi-institutional collaboration recently launched by CHOP, with support from the Children's Brain Tissue Foundation. Because even large research centers may not hold enough tumor tissue specimens to power certain research, the consortium pools samples from a group of institutions, providing an important scientific resource for cooperative studies.

"The better we understand the mutational landscape of tumors, the closer we'll be to defining therapies tailored to a patient's specific subtype of cancer," added Resnick.

###

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: http://www.chop.edu

Thanks to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127476/Details_of_gene_pathways_suggest_fine_tuning_drugs_for_child_brain_tumors

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PS4's hardware, controller and origins detailed

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 1 hr.

A PlayStation 4 panel at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco Wednesday yielded some interesting new details on the upcoming console and how it will be better for gamers and developers alike ? and, surprisingly, that work began on it as early as 2008.

As far as changes players will notice right away, Sony representatives noted that the Blu-ray drive built in is 3 times faster than its predecessor's, meaning shorter loading times for disc-based games.

The controller, apart from the obvious additions of the touchscreen and colored LED, has also been tweaked: The analog sticks have been tightened, and the unresponsive "dead zone" in the center reduced, for improved sensitivity. The LED will be tracked by the new Eye camera, allowing motion controls and other in-game perks.

Unfortunately, there's still no indication of what the PS4 itself will look like ? that will likely have to wait until E3.

The news that the console had such an early start may come as a surprise to many, considering Sony denied they were working on a PS4 in 2011. Indeed, many industry commentators thought until recently that a 2013 debut for the next-generation consoles would be premature.

But Mark Cerny, the lead system architect for the PS4, told Gamasutra that he began canvassing developers and planning the architecture as early as 2008 ? making the decision to move away from the specialized Cell architecture of the PS3 and towards the more developer-friendly hardware found in ordinary PCs.

The PS3 has always been criticized as being tricky to develop for: Lots of power that is difficult to use properly. Its successor, as Sony repeated continually at its debut, will be far easier to navigate, and the newly-revealed specs bear that out.

Its 8 GB of high-speed RAM (GDDR5, normally found in high-powered graphics cards) will help to that end, and the 8-core CPU struck a balance between power and accessibility, as suggested by developers interviewed by Cerny. And the game-building tools are integrated tightly with existing Windows 7 development environments, removing a lot of trouble from the process.

More details are likely to be forthcoming as GDC wears on, although many are aimed more at technically-savvy developers than gamers themselves. The conference runs until Friday.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a1bec00/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cingame0Cps4s0Ehardware0Econtroller0Eorigins0Edetailed0E1C9130A914/story01.htm

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In Chicago, thousands march to protest proposed school closings

By Renita Young and James B. Kelleher

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators rallied in downtown Chicago on Wednesday to protest the city's plan to close 54 public schools, primarily in Hispanic and African-American neighborhoods.

The closings, which the school board plans to vote on in May, would be the biggest one-time shutdown ever by a U.S. city. Wednesday's demonstration, organized by the teacher's union, drew parents, students and other critics of the plan.

Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, encouraged parents of the roughly 30,000 children whose schools will be closed later in 2013 to simply ignore the city's action at the end of summer vacation.

"On the first day of school, you show up at your real school," Lewis said at the rally in Daley Plaza.

The public school district, the third largest in the United States, has said it has a $1 billion annual deficit and needs to close under-used schools to save money. It believes the plan will save $560 million over the next decade.

After the rally at Daley Plaza on Wednesday, the demonstrators marched toward district headquarters. About 100 of them were handcuffed and removed by police after they locked arms and sat down in the street, chanting "Protect our children, save our schools."

Earlier Wednesday, a group of ministers from Chicago's South and West Sides opposed to the closings attempted to deliver a letter to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel at City Hall.

Emanuel, who supports the closings, did not meet with the group, which left their letter with a police officer.

"I think their No. 1 responsibility is a high quality education for every child and this plan simply does not deliver that," said Reverend Marshall Hatch of the New Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. "It seems to, of course, be more about the budget."

Enrollment in Chicago Public Schools has fallen 20 percent in the last decade, mainly because of population declines in poor neighborhoods.

The district has said it can accommodate 511,000 students, but only about 403,000 are enrolled and nearly 140 of its school buildings are more than half empty. The school board must approve the plan and is expected to vote on it May 22.

The closings are "not easy for our communities," CPS head Barbara Byrd-Bennett said in a statement. "But as CEO of this district, I need to make decisions that put our children first."

She said children at the under-used schools have been "cheated of the resources they need to succeed" for too long.

The decision to close dozens of schools follows a bitter strike by Chicago teachers last September, fought partly over the teachers union's accusation that Mayor Emanuel was undermining schools in poor areas of the city.

Chicago's is just one of many urban school districts around the United States grappling with declining enrollment.

Over the past decade, 70 large or mid-sized cities have closed schools, averaging 11 per district, according to the National Education Association, a labor union for teachers.

In Washington D.C., 23 schools were closed in 2008 and 15 more are expected to close over the next two years. Earlier in March, Philadelphia announced plans to close 23 schools.

An expansion of charter schools is at the heart of the school closings debate in Chicago. Charter schools are publicly funded, but mostly non-union and their numbers have increased even as neighborhood public schools are closed.

Chicago has promised a five-year moratorium on school closings after the planned shutdowns this year.

Many of the schools that would be closed are in neighborhoods that have seen frequent gun violence, leaving parents and school activists concerned the changes will endanger students who will have to cross gang boundaries.

Chicago recorded 506 murders in 2012 largely due to gang violence and nearly all of the children affected by the closings are in kindergarten through eighth grade.

(Writing by James B. Kelleher; Editing by David Bailey and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-thousands-march-protest-proposed-school-closings-235420095.html

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Computer chips: Building upward safely

Mar. 27, 2013 ? A computer model provides important clues for the production of tightly packed electronic components.

Greater numbers of ever-smaller components are required to fit on computer chips to meet the ongoing demands of miniaturizing electronic devices. Consequently, computer chips are becoming increasingly crowded. Designers of electronic architectures have therefore followed the lead of urban planners and started to build upward. In so-called 'three-dimensional (3D) packages', for example, several flat, two-dimensional chips can be stacked on top of each other using vertical joints.

Controlling the properties of these complex structures is no easy task, as many factors come into play during production. Faxing Che and Hongyu Li and co-workers from the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics, Singapore, have now developed a powerful modeling method that allows large-scale simulations -- and optimization -- of the fabrication process, which provides welcome assistance to designers.

Among the challenges of producing tightly packed computer chips is the need to prevent warpage of the underlying silicon wafer as electronics components are stacked on it. Warpage leads to a number of unwanted effects. "Strong warpage can cause wafer breakage, it makes tight packing more difficult and some processing machines cannot handle high-warpage wafers," explains Li. The degree of warpage depends on many design and process parameters, and optimizing the procedure experimentally is time-consuming and costly.

Using their computer model, Che and Li studied a wide range of parameters that influence the warpage of an 8-inch diameter silicon wafer. They focused, in particular, on how a silicon substrate responds to the deposition of layers of copper -- through which electrical currents eventually flow. "This is the first time that a model has been able to predict warpage [at] the level of the entire wafer," says Li. Moreover, the stress on the wafer can be determined accurately. The calculated values agreed well with experimental data. Importantly, with the computer simulations, the researchers could explore regimes that cannot be easily studied experimentally, such as how the depth of the connections between layers influences wafer warpage.

The next goal is to simulate even larger wafers with variable connection sizes, explains Li. "Today, there are two industry standards for 3D packaging applications, 8-inch and 12-inch wafers, but the latter are becoming increasingly important," she says. The team's model is applicable to these larger wafers, too, but it requires optimization. Currently, Che, Li and their co-workers are collecting warpage and stress data for 12-inch wafers. They will use these data for developing their model further, according to Li.

The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Institute of Microelectronics

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Faxing Che, Hongyu Y. Li, Xiaowu Zhang, Shan Gao, Kenghwa H. Teo. Development of Wafer-Level Warpage and Stress Modeling Methodology and Its Application in Process Optimization for TSV Wafers. IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, 2012; 2 (6): 944 DOI: 10.1109/TCPMT.2012.2192732

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/top_news/top_technology/~3/gt35Y3moD-8/130327162352.htm

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10 Things to Know for Wednesday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Wednesday:

1. DAY 2 FOR GAY MARRIAGE IN HIGH COURT

The justices on Wednesday will consider the law that prevents legally married gay couples from receiving a range of federal benefits.

2. WHY TRIP TO ITALY IS UNLIKELY FOR AMANDA KNOX

Despite a court decision ordering a new trial in her murder case, she says she won't willingly return for it. And the hurdles to extradite her are high.

3. HEALTH CARE REPORT COULD CAUSE OBAMA A HEADACHE

Insurers will pay an average of 32 percent more for medical claims on individual health policies under his overhaul, a study says.

4. FIRST WOMAN NAMED TO LEAD SECRET SERVICE

Obama signals his desire to change the culture at the male-dominated service by appointing law enforcement veteran Julia Pierson.

5. WHICH STATE HAS THE NATION'S TOUGHEST ABORTION LAW

North Dakota's governor signs a measure banning the procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy ? any time a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

6. LAST CELLPHONE DOMINO FALLS

T-Mobile ? the only major U.S. carrier without the iPhone ? says it will begin offering Apple's popular device April 12.

7. HOW VENEZUELA'S BIG COMPANIES BECAME ARMS OF THE GOV'T

During his reign, Chavez transformed the country's enormous state industries into pools of patronage.

8. WHAT A NEW JERSEY MAN FELT AFTER WINNING POWERBALL JACKPOT

"Pure joy," says bodega owner Pedro Quezado as he officially claims his $338 million prize.

9. IT'S ROCKET SCIENCE AND CHILD'S PLAY

The private SpaceX capsule returns to Earth with old space station equipment ? and Legos that crews used to teach children about science.

10. WHO'S IN A HUGE TAX HOLE

Singer Dionne Warwick says she owes $10 million to the IRS and the state of California.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-things-know-wednesday-103500895.html

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MacGyver Challenge Winner: Build a Custom IKEA Workspace

In this week's MacGyver Challenge, we asked you to share your best IKEA hack. We received some great entries, but the winning hack shows us a custom workspace built from several IKEA products.

Check out the description of the winning entry below and read about some of our other favorite entries.

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Winner: Build a Custom IKEA Workspace

Click on the image for a closer look.

Brian could have just purchased an actual IKEA desk, but he decided he wanted something a little different?and a little cheaper. He built his new desk around a storage door that he picked up from IKEA's clearance section for about about $20, adding ADILS table legs to complete the desk. Brian then attached four hanging wire racks he found at at Dollarama to the underside of the desk for cable management. The racks are large enough to hold a power bar, two external hard drives, a USB hub, and all the necessary cables. He is also using the FANTASTIK napkin holder as a laptop stand (a trick he learned on Lifehacker) and finishes the whole thing off with the addition of an EXPEDIT shelf paired with DIODER light accents. Nice job, Brian!

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Honorable Mentions

We got a lot of great entries and we'd be remiss if we didn't share some of our favorites. Here are some of the entries that really impressed us.

Turn an IKEA Bathroom Mirror Into a Webcam Arm

Mike did not like that his webcam was so far away from him when it sat atop his monitor. He also wanted something that would provide flexibility in placing his camera. That's when he hit upon the idea of using a vanity mirror he had lying around collecting dust?one that happened to be the IKEA FRACK. It's got a nice, sturdy accordian-style extension arm made of stainless steel and a threaded shaft for attaching the mirror. And as it turns out, the thread pitch on the shaft is the same size used for most standard camera mounts. Mike mounted it to his wall and now he has full control over the position of his webcam. You can read more about it on his blog.

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Give Your Dog a Window-Watching Spot

Renragrelyt has a dog named Dash. Dash likes to look out the window, but he didn't have a very good place to do that. So renragrelyt made one for him.

He used an IKEA end table along with some fabric, memory foam, and wood to create this rather attractive little window bench?complete with inset food and water bowls for Dash.

Total cost?about $27.

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Create an Entire Entertainment Center

Rob and his wife had just moved into a new home that had unfortunately little storage space. They needed somewhere to store DVDs, games, and TV gear. Simple?a quick trip to the furniture store for an entertainment center and all done, right? Perish the thought. Rob decided to build his own.

First, Rob measured the space he had and then fired up Sketchup to layout and design the entire thing so that he could maximize the space they had. He ended up using IKEA BILLY bookcases with height extenstions for the sides of the entertainment center, IKEA base kitchen cabinets for storage under the TV, and IKEA BILLY bookcase extensions for the top. Rob also put a pretty extensive amount of customization into the project, as well. He framed around the bookcases using 1x4s, drilled holes for cable runs, and created his own counter top above the repurposed kitchen cabinets. All in all, a beautiful job!

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Repurpose an IKEA Cabinet Into a Bunny Hutch

Ambuyea needed a home for the rabbit Pierrot and decided to recruit an IKEA PS cabinet to that duty. The cabinet is metal, which makes cleanup easy. One of the doors has been replaced with chicken wire so that on the rare instance that Pierrot needs to be crated, he can still see what's happening in the world. Lucky Pierrot!

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A big thanks to everyone who took the time to send us entries! Be sure to check back every week for a new challenge.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/LdUJxac6VQw/macgyver-challenge-winner-build-a-custom-ikea-workspace

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Internet Advertising Companies - Evolution of Social Media and ...

A Unique Method of Advertising

Internet advertising made up 9 percent of all advertising in the United States in 2012. This market share will tend to increase in the following years as more advertisers shift and increase their spending on online technologies. This Internet advertising expansion is transforming the advertising business landscape by offering more effective methods of connecting advertisers and potential clients. At the same time, it is a revenue source for online media companies that face stiffer competition from traditional firms.

Online Advertisers

Internet advertising companies are devoted to creating advertising content for business clients. They also deal with every aspect of their clients? online campaign from a full-scale online advertising campaign with search engine optimization, sponsorships and e-mail advertising to just simple ad banners. Some of these Internet advertising companies do not have a physical location where they can meet their clients in person. They work with their customers through the phone, email and fax. Some online advertising providers are set up like traditional agency companies where they meet with customers and create online advertisement campaigns.

Separating the Best from the Rest

In order to be the best in this business, an Internet advertising company must always keep up with changing business relationships and economic structures. The business world of online advertising moves at a lightning speed. In order to stay ahead of their competitors, a successful Internet advertising company must know the rules of advertising and how to adapt these policies to the different demands of the online world.

The utilization of Internet advertising is expected to increase each year. Although this is evidence of its success, it also means that competition among companies is growing every year. When advertising online, there is a great potential to reach targeted consumer groups with ease. However, there is also the possibility to disappear in a sea of competing similar ads.

In order to avoid this, an Internet advertising company must be different. The most effective and efficient Internet advertising providers are those that think outside the box even though they are guided by a sound marketing strategy. This is a very delicate balance and one that needs sufficient online advertising experience. This knowledge can be used in fully utilizing the hidden potential of new media formats that helps ads be truly unique online. These companies also work hard to provide a full spectrum of online advertising services.

Online Advertising Concepts and Methods

Online advertising has been growing every year since it started in 1994. A lot of advertisers have been made aware of the growth and potential of this media form. One of its advantages is that consumers have the power to choose what ads they want to see.

There are a lot of Internet advertising methods that are used by online advertising companies in the world today. Content advertising is one of the most popular Internet advertising concepts that many companies utilize. This involves creating online content to draw the attention of a website?s visitors. This is the primary advertising technique that is used on the Internet because the Internet itself is composed of information or content.

Link Advertising

Another of the Internet advertising concepts commonly used today is link advertising. This involves placing a link with a short description to attract users to a particular website. The most important factor in link advertising is the offer. A lot of advertisers expect people to click on any link they post. Those who do not see success wonder why people are not responding if no one clicks. Basically, people are not interested in the ad itself.?What interest them are the benefits that they will get from that ad. People will not click if an ad fails to express the idea that a benefit is waiting for them.

Viral Advertising

Viral advertising is an Internet advertising concept that is similar to word of mouth advertising. The key point is to encourage more traffic to come to a company?s website. It involves the use of methods such as viral software, eBooks and screensaver distribution, putting a tell-a-friend note on a webpage and offering an affiliate program for products and services. Success in this Internet advertising method depends on the ability to stir a buzz in an online community. A merchandiser must present their product as something interesting and unique so that potential clients help spread the word.

Incentivized Advertising

This advertising method utilizes shifting traffic to visit a website. It involves different approaches such as auto-surf advertising, safelist advertising, paid to read advertising and traffic exchange programs. Being successful in this advertising approach depends on the offer and how the seller presents it. Many advertisers who fail either do to deliver the results that they have promised or do not have a good offer.

Obtrusive Advertising

This kind of advertising forces online traffic to view an advertisement. Common examples include popunder advertising and popups. The most important rule here is to avoid untargeted traffic. Showing an ad to the wrong people is just a waste of time. Targeting the correct consumer group is not only the basis for success when using this technique. It also depends on the offer presented and the way it it?s presented. In this way, it is one of the Internet advertising methods that are similar to incentivized advertising.

Source: http://smartinternetadvertising.blogspot.com/2013/03/internet-advertising-companies.html

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Amazon Expands X-Ray Feature To TV Shows On Kindle Fire With Data From IMDb

Amazon just announced that it is adding its X-Ray feature to TV shows. The feature already worked with movies thanks to data from IMDb, but the company will now use this very same data for other video content. All the Kindle Fire family will receive the feature. The Amazon Instant Video app on Wii U will get is as well. As a reminder, X-Ray allows you to discover more about the content you are reading or watching. It first appeared with books, it shows you the different characters, where they appear in the book and how they are related to the story. Then Amazon added X-Ray to movies back in September 2012. In that case, watchers can instantly know the name of an actor in a scene. IMDb is an Amazon company, allowing the Kindle team to tap into a very comprehensive movie database. As IMDb provides data for TV shows as well, adding TV shows to X-Ray was just a matter of time. The idea is to make the video experience unique on Amazon’s devices, making people want to buy those tablets and stay in the Amazon ecosystem. It’s been known that Amazon doesn’t make much profit from selling hardware. Instead, it wants people to use the Kindle Fire tablets to buy content. Of course, the X-Ray feature only works with videos you buy or rent from Amazon Instant Video or videos from the Amazon Prime collection. X-Ray could be one of those little features that make you choose Amazon over Netflix or iTunes. In addition to providing the X-Ray feature to Kindle Fire users, the feature will make its way to Amazon Instant Video’s Wii U app. This little fact shows that what matters for Amazon is that people consume content from Amazon, no matter the platform. X-Ray for movies and TV shows may eventually come to Android and iOS. If the experience is not compelling enough, customers will neglect their tablets and Amazon won’t make any money from those users. That’s why Amazon cut the price of the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ as well from $299 to $269 for the base model. Amazon now wants to get the best tablet they can make in everyone’s hand so that people can start reading and watching content — Amazon content. Developing?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1IBx5ZbqDWo/

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Icahn opens door to Blackstone tie-up on Dell bid

By Greg Roumeliotis and Soyoung Kim

(Reuters) - Two of the most prominent U.S. investors could upset Michael Dell's $24.4 billion buyout bid for Dell Inc, after billionaire Carl Icahn opened the door to an alliance with Blackstone Group to wrest control of the computer maker from its founder.

Icahn said on Monday he has started preliminary talks with Blackstone. Both sides have made bids that could be superior to the offer on the table from Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake.

The backroom negotiations show how what started as Michael Dell and Silver Lake's plan to take the PC maker private could turn into a months-long process.

Icahn has proposed paying $15 per share for 58 percent of Dell. Blackstone has indicated it can pay more than $14.25 per share. The Silver Lake group offered $13.65 per share for all of Dell.

Dell and Silver Lake declined comment. Blackstone did not respond to requests for comment.

Icahn, who owns a $1 billion stake in Dell, said both his and Blackstone's offers give the company's largest investors what they wanted most - the ability to retain publicly traded shares of Dell.

Southeastern Asset Management, Dell's largest independent shareholder and one of the most vocal opponents of the Silver Lake plan, said it was pleased about that prospect, as well as the higher offers.

Another investor, Bill Nygren, co-manager of the Oakmark Fund, added, "Given the wide range of estimated values for Dell shares, if all else is nearly equal, we believe a proposal is superior if it allows investors who want to remain invested in Dell the opportunity to do so."

The outcome of the auction would determine the future of Dell, which was regarded as a model of innovation as recently as the early 2000s but has struggled to make up for declining market share of the global PC market.

A source earlier said that Dell had slashed its internal forecast for fiscal 2013 operating profit to about $3 billion - down sharply from the $3.7 billion it had predicted previously.

Dell's shares closed up 2.6 percent to $14.51 on Monday, indicating investors expect a deal to be done at a price higher than the Silver Lake bid. Earlier in the session they touched $14.64, the stock's highest level in 10 months.

"We continue to believe a higher bid than the current $13.65 per share offer will likely be offered but, based on our assumptions, a $15 per share bid may be a threshold," Wells Fargo Securities analyst Maynard Um said in a note.

"We believe a higher Silver Lake/Dell bid might still be a more attractive and strategic option, assuming information regarding the public stub and financial services sale is accurate," he said.

Late on Sunday, two sources close to the matter said that the Silver Lake group had no plans yet to increase or amend its offer until Dell's special committee comes out with a ruling on the rival proposals.

DOES DELL STAY?

As part of his deal with the special committee of Dell's board that is running the auction process, Michael Dell has to explore the possibility of working with third parties on alternative offers. On Monday, Dell said he had reaffirmed that commitment.

Michael Dell was planning to meet with Blackstone to discuss the private equity firm's bid, two sources familiar with the situation said.

Whether Michael Dell would actually support a deal led by Blackstone, though, is very much an open question. Blackstone has already made an aggressive push to recruit Oracle Corp President Mark Hurd to run Dell if it takes over the company. {ID:nL1N0CD0MI]

A number of issues remain to be addressed, one person familiar with the matter said of Michael Dell. Among them, what Michael Dell would do if a buyer wanted to sell a business and he did not, the source said.

Potential buyers are likely to want to sit down with Michael Dell to discuss his plans for a privately held Dell Inc in more detail, the source said, adding that Blackstone had not done so yet.

Switching bidding allegiances could preserve an affiliation with the company for Michael Dell, who founded the technology giant at the age of 19 with just $1,000.

Under the Silver Lake plan, he planned to contribute his roughly 16 percent share of Dell's equity to the deal, along with cash from his investment firm MSD Capital, and remain CEO of the company. Silver Lake is putting up $1.4 billion.

(Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim, Nadia Damouni and Greg Roumeliotis in New York and Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Paritosh Bansal and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dells-board-evaluates-rival-bids-source-004054117--sector.html

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'Moderate' New England red tide forecasted for 2013

Mar. 25, 2013 ? New England is expected to experience a "moderate" red tide this spring and summer, report NOAA-funded scientists studying the toxic algae that cause blooms in the Gulf of Maine. The "red tide" is caused by an alga Alexandrium fundyense, which produces a toxin that can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Red tide typically occurs annually along some portions of the Gulf of Maine coast. This year's outlook is similar to the 2012 red tide which was also classified as "moderate."

As with the past five forecasts for this region, the 2013 outlook is based on the quantities of the A. fundyense in its cyst (dormant) state detected in Gulf of Maine sediments last fall. These data are combined with a computer model to produce a range of bloom scenarios based on previous years' conditions. This year, the team also used a forecast of toxicity impact developed from 34 years of historical data as part of the 2013 outlook. The 2013 bloom is expected to fall somewhere in the middle in terms of toxicity impact, justifying a "moderate" forecast done by the established method.

"This region is very fortunate to have a long time series of cyst abundance data, toxicity records in shellfish, and long-term measurements of ocean conditions from ships and moored instrumented buoys to develop these two complementary approaches to the seasonal forecast," said Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) biologist Don Anderson.

The forecast team emphasizes the need to consult state and local management agencies for updated harvesting closure information. In order to protect public health, shellfish beds are closed when toxicities rise above a quarantine level, often during the peak harvesting season. Due to effective monitoring by state agencies, there have been no illnesses from legally harvested shellfish in recent years, despite some severe blooms during that time period. There have been, however, several severe poisonings of individuals who ignored closure signs.

"Red tide is a chronic problem throughout the Gulf of Maine, affecting commercial and recreational harvesting interests," said Chris Nash, shellfish program manager for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. "State agencies are responsible for monitoring toxicity levels in shellfish harvest areas and implementing harvest closures when needed. As a state manager, regional-scale, seasonal outlooks help us plan and use limited monitoring resources effectively. Ultimately our goals are to protect public health and give consumers confidence in the quality of the seafood products they purchase from markets and restaurants, and these forecasts are useful in realizing those goals."

Project researchers regularly share their field observations and models with more than 150 coastal resource and fisheries managers in six states as well as federal agencies such as NOAA, the FDA and the EPA. Real-time forecasts are updated on a weekly basis and additional information will be provided on the "Current Status" page of the Northeast PSP website. The National Weather Service is also providing extended hydrological and meteorological outlooks to accompany the bloom forecasts.

"NOAA-funded research has led to the development of seasonal forecasts which aid in monitoring and planning for red tides," said Quay Dortch, program coodinator for NOAA's Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program. "These forecasts will be an important part of the Operational HAB Forecasting System NOAA is developing to reduce the impacts of harmful algae."

The forecasting project is a collaboration of investigators from NOAA's National Ocean Service, National Weather Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, WHOI, NCSU, University of Maine, the FDA, Maine Department of Marine Resources, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and the North Atlantic Clam Association. Funding is provided through the NOAA program Prevention, Control and Mitigation of Harmful Algal Blooms (PCMHAB), led by Dennis McGillicuddy (WHOI). Long-term support for Alexandrium studies in the Gulf of Maine is provided by the NOAA NOS NCCOS Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR) and NIEHS and the NSF through the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/vX6Pr8poPnY/130325135416.htm

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Hopkins' Blake Road shows the changing face of Twin Cities ...

It?s no secret that America?s suburbs are changing. Long gone are the days of ?The Brady Bunch? and ?E.T.,? when everyone living there was white, middle-class and spoke only English.

Fifty six percent of poor people in the Twin Cities now live in the suburbs, according to a 2011 analysis of census data. The most racially diverse cities in the metropolitan area are not Minneapolis and St. Paul, but Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park. People of color make up at least 10 percent of the population in 73 of the 187 communities across the seven-county metro area.

Ethnic and economic diversity is taking hold in places you?d least expect ? like the west metro suburbs. Eden Prairie is 5 percent Somali, according to the latest estimate.

And take a look at Blake Road in Hopkins, right across from the elite Blake School and a few blocks north of the Edina city line. A 1950s-style shopping plaza reflects the rich diversity of ethnic communities that populate the area, as well as the presence of poverty. It sports a halal meat market right next to a pawn shop. Around the corner is Sambusa King, specializing in spicy Somali meat pies, and down the street is Blake Grocery, which advertises ?African American and Mexican Food? as well as the fact they accept food stamps and sell moneygrams.

Forget the stereotypes

The blend of Somali, East Asian, Latino, African-American and white families, all living within this small section of Hopkins, recalibrates stereotypical images of the West suburbs.

This explains why the Blake Road corridor is a focus ? along with North Minneapolis, St. Paul?s East Side, the Central Corridor and South Minneapolis ? for the Local Initiative Support Corporation?s Building Sustainable Communities Program. The Twin Cities is one of 30 areas nationally where LISC works to help residents of distressed communities find transformative solutions to their problems.

?There are not as many community organizations or outreach services in a place like Blake Road as there are in the central cities,? notes Gretchen Nichols, LISC-Twin Cities program director. ?The cultural dynamics are very different, so we?re trying to create a sense of community ownership.?

LISC helps fund an extensive roster of projects that engage low-income residents in making improvements and creating opportunities around Blake Road. The projects range from sprucing up a neighborhood park to expanding participation in early childhood education classes. ?We give support to help build community and involve residents in decisionmaking about their future,? Nichols says.

Community garden, tutoring?

The Blake Road Corridor Collaborative (BRCC) ? which includes the city of Hopkins, the police department, school district, recreation services, Hennepin County, a local food shelf, a basketball academy, a Lutheran church, several West Metro social service agencies and LISC ? spearheads programs to improve life in the area.

BRCC Coordinator Ann Beuch notes that residents have initiated many of the collaborative?s projects such as a community garden, a fitness challenge, after-school activities and a tutoring program for elementary school children.

Transportation access is a significant challenge for the neighborhood, according to a study BRCC did with the University of Minnesota?s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. Many residents rely on public transportation but the service is not fully meeting residents? needs, Beuch notes. The community celebrated a victory in 2009 when sidewalks were installed along Blake Road. ?Before that there were only beaten paths where kids tried to ride bikes and parents push strollers,? Beuch explains.

Buses to ECFE classes

Because many Somali families do not have access to a car, BRCC and LISC partnered with Blue Cross/Blue Shield?s Growing Up Healthy initiative to provide bus service to special Somali early childhood education classes at the Harley Hopkins Family Center, which is run by the local school district and conducts special Somali and Latino early education classes along with other classes in English serving many East Indian, African-American and lower-income families along with the middle-class white families you typically expect to find. The buses doubled participation in the Somali classes, notes Christine Fehst, coordinator of the Early Childhood and Family Education programs for the Hopkins School District. ?Many families would not be able to come here without the buses.?

In the Somali and Latino classes, families with children under five receive advance preparation for elementary school, learn more about American culture and get advice on typical child-raising questions. The classes, like all those at the Family Center, begin with 20 minutes of child/parent interaction with kids taking the lead in choosing activities.

The parents then move to another classroom while the children stay with early childhood educators to play, do art projects, hear stories or begin reading lessons, depending on their age. Parents, meanwhile, discuss perennial issues such as sleep, nutrition, discipline, sibling rivalry and communications with each another and parent educators, as well as learn about family resources available in the area.?

Parenting support

?One of our main goals in all of our classes is that parents pay attention to their ways of parenting,? explains parent educator Kathryn Moore. ?It?s the most important job in the world! And these classes are an opportunity for support in this important job.?

Somali immigrant Nimo Ibrahim enrolled in the class in 2010, and now works at Harley Hopkins as a teacher?s assistant and para-education assistant. ?It was an eye-opening experience,? she says about first attending the Somali class as a parent. ?I had not seen anything like it when I lived in St. Louis and Atlanta. It was like Wow! ? to be part of a group of people from your own culture taking and learning about raising children in America.?

Jay Walljasper?specializes in writing about cities, travel, and social issues.? He is author of "The Great Neighborhood Book and All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons," and is the editor of?On the Commons. A version of this article first appeared on the LISC website.

Source: http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2013/03/hopkins-blake-road-shows-changing-face-twin-cities-suburbs

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RIT Shows Off Community Photo Project

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RIT's 28th Community Photo Project, the Big Shot, happened Saturday night at 8:30. The project's focus, the world's largest domed stadium.

Before

In the "before" shot, pictured, you can see the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium with all it's lights off for the first time since its construction.

After

Using a technique they describe as painting with light, about 2,500 volunteers from around the world helped to achieve this final image by aiming their light source at the stadium while R.I.T. photographers shot the photo.

The night-time photograph was shot from a 40 ft. construction lift.

Source: http://rochester.ynn.com/content/top_stories/650399/rit-shows-off-community-photo-project

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Obama says American pope would be effective

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is rejecting the notion that an American pope would be too closely aligned with the U.S. government.

Obama says the Catholic bishops in the U.S. "don't seem to be taking orders from me." And he says an American pope would preside just as effectively as a leader of the Catholic church from any other country.

Cardinals are meeting in the Vatican to vote for a new pope. No American has ever served as pontiff and some cardinals worry an American pope's actions would be viewed as serving the U.S. instead of the church.

The president, in an interview with ABC News aired Wednesday, says the new leader of the Catholic church will have "a tremendous and positive impact on the world."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-13-Obama-Pope/id-220776e1cda748f4ba907366dd6db995

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Facebook ?likes? can reveal users? politics, sexual orientation, IQ

Researchers predict personal traits using data from social media site

By Rachel Ehrenberg

Web edition: March 11, 2013

You might predict that most fans of the satirical, Fox News?mocking show ?The Colbert Report,? are Democrats. But it turns out that liking rapper Nicki Minaj and enjoying cuddling also hint at leftward political leanings. A new study finds that the things someone ?likes? on Facebook can predict personal attributes such as political leaning, age, gender and sexual orientation.

The study harnessed data from 58,000 volunteers who used an app on Facebook called myPersonality, which study coauthor David Stillwell of the University of Cambridge in England created several years ago. Via the app, participants shared private information including the results of IQ tests and personality questionnaires that asked questions such as whether their parents were married and whether they smoked or drank alcohol. The researchers compared those data with the pages participants had ?liked? on Facebook. After learning from a subset of the data which ?likes? linked with which traits, the program then predicted traits for the other participants based on ?likes? alone.

Many of the study?s findings are intuitive or even obvious: Liking Jesus Christ is strong evidence of being Christian, the researchers report March 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.?Similarly, liking Cover Girl makeup is a strong indicator that a participant is female and liking Rush Limbaugh strongly links with identifying as Republican. But some less obvious connections also emerged: The computer program could predict 73 percent of the time whether someone was a smoker, for example based on ?likes? of the heavy metal rock band Slayer and the Facebook group ?I Bottle Everything Up Until I Finally Snap.?

The computer also correctly identified gay men 88 percent of the time, even though less than 5 percent of them had liked things explicitly related to sexual orientation. Predictions instead relied on less obvious links such as liking the TV show Desperate Housewives or the musical Wicked.??

And then there were connections that seem to come from left field: Being a fan of thunderstorms and curly fries, for example, were each weakly linked to higher intelligence.

?I?m glad that many of the findings seem to be intuitive,? says coauthor Michal Kosinski, who studies psychology at the University of Cambridge in England and works part-time for Microsoft.

Of course, the line between intuition and stereotyping is a blurry one. But the computer isn?t biased, says Kosinski. It just spits out correlations.

?It is striking that the computer can pick up on sexual orientation,? he says. He is eager to explore the link between curly fries and intelligence.

The study?s methods are sound, says New York University?s Sinan Aral,? an expert on information diffusion in social networks. But the computer performed best on somewhat obvious traits, such as gender, age, and race. Since the researchers didn?t compare the technique with any others, he says, it?s hard to know how its predictive power would stack up against correlations based on other easily available data such as census information and voting records.

?If I wanted to predict your political affiliation and I knew just your age, your state and your gender, or any two of those three, could I do just as well?? Aral asks.

He adds that all of the data come from people who are willing to share information about themselves and take a lot of online tests. The volunteers may not represent the average Facebook user. But that weakness might not matter to marketers.

?The dream of every marketer is to learn more about their customers so they can deliver more useful content and gain more trust,? says social media marketing expert Adam Steinberg of the Atlanta digital marketing firm Silverpop. ?Anything that helps them understand their customers more is valuable.?

The study did not reveal connections between any personality traits and liking Science News. But liking science weakly correlated with higher intelligence.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348896/title/Facebook_likes_can_reveal_users_politics_sexual_orientation_IQ

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