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Source: http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20130801/multimedia/130809985
Friday, August 2, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Bill Clinton 'sings' big summer hit 'Blurred Lines'
12 hours ago
When you blur the lines between fantasy and reality as well as the folks at baracksdubs, it's clear where former President Bill Clinton comes down in the song-of-the-summer battle.
By mixing Clinton's words over Robin Thicke's hit "Blurred Lines," baracksdubs has hit viral video gold once again. The YouTube channel describes the new creation as "the womanizer of womanizers" singing "the other song of the summer."
Parts of Clinton speeches are used to create such lyrical snippets as: "But you're a good girl / The way you grab me / Must wanna get nasty / Go ahead, get at me."
But the highlight might be when President Obama is briefly added to the mix at the :25 mark, singing part of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" from a campaign event in New York in January 2012.
With 104 million views on YouTube, "Blurred Lines" has been a popular choice for video mash-ups all summer. The song was played over the top of re-imagined intros for "The Cosby Show" and "Full House." And Jimmy Kimmel got in on the act, among others.
Baracksdubs previously dubbed Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" the song of the summer, and mixed the president over yet another Pharrell Williams hit, below.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/entertainment/bill-clinton-sings-big-summer-hit-blurred-lines-6C10720162
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T-Mobile's HTC One gets fix for LTE data, stability
T-Mobile today announced an update to its HTC One that works on a trio of issues. Here's what's new in software version 1.27.531.11:
- Software stability
- LTE and reception
- Processor enhancements
The update keeps things on Android 4.1.2 — we're not expecting 4.2.2 in the U.S. for a little while still — and weighs in at 247 megabytes.
Source: T-Mobile; more: HTC One forums; Thanks, Steve!
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/0bhY3GF_ZuU/story01.htm
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Music streaming app Rhapsody adds editorial content on iOS
Music streaming app Rhapsody adds editorial content on iOS
Image courtesy Rhapsody
Music streaming service Rhapsody has announced a major update to its iOS app, giving subscribers much more content, and much more reason to stay inside the app for longer stretches of time. The update brings Rhapsody?s editorial content to users, giving them a chance to read about their favorite artists on the go, without leaving the app or loading an external website.
The Rhapsody update brings artist interviews, album reviews, videos, new artist recommendations and more to the service, which is available as a 14-day free trial for new users. Using more than 10 years of curated content, subscribers have access to playlists built around a genre or around a particular artist.
Rhapsody General Manager Brendan Benzing says the move comes in response to the growing number of users that use their mobile phones as their main point of interaction with the serveice. ?Curation and editorial content has been the cornerstone of Rhapsody since its inception, and we?ve brought it forward in an intuitive and engaging way for our iOS devices.?
Social features are also available in this version of the application, as users can share their favorite tracks and albums with friends. Music can be downloaded for offline play, saving on cellular data usage, and tracks can be marked as favorites for later repeated streaming.
?We?re more than a ?search/find/play? service. Let?s face it?that search bar can be intimidating when you can listen to virtually any song in the world. So, we guide listeners through that massive catalog by introducing them to new music and old favorites via curated editorial programming,? added Benzing, via a company release. ?It?s like the difference between shopping at Nordstrom versus Costco.?
Rhapsody isn?t the only music streaming service that has improved its mobile offering. For instance, Sony Music Unlimited recently launched offline listening and higher quality streams. Both updates confirm the importance of offering more features to mobile users to keep their attention in an increasingly crowded mobile landscape ? a genre that now has to compete with Apple?s own iTunes Radio, which was announced back in June.
Mediabistro Event
Join NYC?s First Bitcoin Conference
Bitcoin allowed Wikileaks to continue to receive donations after an extralegal political blockade prevented supporters from sending money. Explore topics like ?Bitcoin and Freedom of Speech? at Inside Bitcoins on July 30 in New York. Co-Founder and Executive Director of Freedom of the Press Foundation Trevor Timm will discuss how virtual currencies like Bitcoin can help journalists, publishers, and whistleblowers. Register today.
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Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Motorola/Google s Tech Development Strategy Starts to Emerge
Motorola invented the flip phone but its mobile offerings lagged in recent years
When Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2011,? big changes were in store for the ailing cell phone maker. Thousands lost their jobs as part of the restructuring. Meanwhile, Google brought in top officials from DARPA to reenergize Motorola?s moribund mobile technology.
Regina Dugan who headed the agency and her lieutenant Kaigham Gabriel set about injecting DARPA?s fleet-footed technology development approach into Motorola?s more deliberate culture.
Motorola?s Advanced Technology and Projects Group, which Dugan now leads, does not even call itself a research organization. Instead, like DARPA, it has started to structure projects to demonstrate avant-garde technologies that are just beginning to make the transition from laboratories pursuing basic science.? Projects will rope in investigators from other companies and universities, even more than Motorola researchers, to pursue prototypes for communications and information technologies that incorporate advances beyond simply making a cell phone a few millimeters thinner.
Toward that goal, the company is announcing on June 19th a collaboration with eight of the top public and private research universities.? Motorola negotiated a common agreement for conducting joint research that would allow the company to initiate a project rapidly with one or more universities.
A so-called master agreement between a single university and a company that provides boilerplate provisions for multiple research projects at a single school is routine.? What distinguishes the Motorola effort is that it is a? standard agreement that lays the groundwork for collaborative projects with multiple schools.
It can take up to a year to negotiate a corporate-academic agreement with a single university, which would hamper the urgency that the advanced technology group wants to bring to these efforts. ?A technical project leader can reach out to researchers,? Gabriel says. ?They can identify what the scope of work is, what?s the duration, what?s the expense.? We?re assuming that it takes less than 30 days and then we?re off and running, no additional work is required?
Motorola signed with California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Texas A&M University, and Virginia Tech University. The universities do not receive any funding up front, only when a project is initiated.
Gabriel gave an example from an ongoing effort of the type of project that might be contemplated under the new agreement. Motorola is investigating whether the emerging technology of 3D printing might be used by consumers to customize their cell phones. ?To what extent can I, at the last minute, make the back of the phone or the front or have certain functional as well as aesthetic elements that are part of the phone?? he asks. Current 3D finished parts do not meet commercial standards for product finish or durability. Gabriel speculated that a? small company on the East Coast might have created an innovative ink and a university in the Midwest might have devised a novel printable structural material. ?As part of a project we would go out to a company and a university and pull them in to to improve 3D printing,? Gabriel says.
It remains to be seen whether there is blowback as to whether Motorola/Google is trying to capture the best and brightest among IT researchers for its internal needs. But Fred Farina director of Caltech?s offfice of technology transfer did not seem worried. ?We?re open to Intel doing the same thing and IBM doing the same thing.? Just because they [Motorola] came and agreed on something and they were the first company to do this on the? IT side, I would say to other companies ?bring it on? and we will work with you as well.?
Others praised the flexibility that Motorola brought to the process after having dealt with companies that wished to dictate stringent contractual terms that could, say, hinder a researcher?s ability to publish in academic journals. ?Everybody?s goals were aligned, says Sam Liss, Harvard?s director of business development.
?I really enjoyed this negotiation because of its openness, says Lesley Millar, director of the office of technology management at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. ?It was very candid, on the table, let?s get out there and address the issues one by one,?
The agreement specifies that Google has the option to negotiate exclusive licensing of a technology for particular uses that it has funded the university to develop.? It does not impede researchers from publishing, but? lets Motorola review the final manuscript to ensure that it contains no confidential information.
Image Source: Anannas96
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Thursday, June 6, 2013
Development not at cost of environment: Expert (Lead) - Prokerala
Kochi (Kerala), June 5
Noted ecologists and green activists Wednesday cautioned the government against aiming 8-9 percent GDP (gross domestic product) annual growth at the cost of environment and sought a balanced approach towards sustainable development for a equitable society.
"Alarming urbanisation and rapid westernisation with their concomitant extravaganza and wasteful consumption are the new challenges we are facing. Development cannot be for the privileged at the cost of the deprived who have as much right to better quality of life," former state chief conservator of forests M. Manoharan said at a seminar held to mark World Environment Day in this port city on the Malabar coast.
Noting that environment and society have many peculiarities, Manoharan said though India was blessed with rich biodiversity and abundant natural resources, meeting the needs of over 1.2-billion people was a major challenge, as fruits of development, including education, healthcare, jobs, housing and infrastructure have not reached about 70 percent of the population living in rural areas across the country.
"Majority of villages and urban areas face acute shortage of drinking water and other needs, including farming activity. About 300 million people are yet to get electricity in their homes despite the national rural electrification programme, millions of youth remain jobless or under employed despite the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and about 50 percent of the children are malnourished in spite of many healthcare programmes under the National Rural Health Mission," Manoharan noted.
Asserting that every developmental activity needed infrastructure, trained and skilled manpower and investments, the state electricity regulatory board chairman said it had to be sustainable with least adverse impact on environment.
"Clamouring for abandoning developmental projects, highlighting only their adverse impact will not solve the socio-economic problems of our society. Changes in policies and strategies of environmental movements with changes in political governance or proponents of projects will erode the credibility of such movements," Manoharan pointed out.
Admitting that any development would have some cost and benefit as well as adverse impact, the former IFS officer said sustainable strategies for implementing developmental projects was the only way forward for least adverse environmental impact.
"Projects for conservation of natural resources and human environment prepared without consulting their custodians and addressing problems of the affected people will not have social acceptance for implementation," Manoharan observed.
In this context, the regulatory official hoped policy makers, judiciary, executive and other stakeholders, including activists would work together for viable solutions and sustainable development in a democracy.
Earlier in the day, conservation evangelist M.K. Prasad was feted and honoured on the occasion by hundreds of activists, students and members of non-government organisations (NGOs).
Popularly known as MKP, the octogenarian was instrumental in saving the Silent Valley tropical rain forest in this southern state during the seventies by spearheading a national movement against a hydro power project in the fragile bio-diverse hotspot in Idukki district, about 140 km from here.
In a fitting tribute to the yeomen services Prasad rendered to protect the rich flora and fauna heritage in the state, 98-year-old former Supreme Court judge and constitutional expert V.R Krishna Iyer honoured the evangelist on his 80th birthday and released a Festschrift, a collection of articles and essays on environment and society, by green experts.
"Though am I very old at 98 with poor eyesight and hearing, I came to the event venue to personally greet Prasad and acknowledge his contribution to the environment and his inspiring guidance to a generations of social activists, students, ecologists, naturalists and NGOs," Iyer said raising his voice that drew thunderous applause and standing ovation from the packed hall.
Among experts who participated in the event and spoke on Prasad's dedication to the noble cause were Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) director-general Sunita Narain, World Wide Fund (WWF) India's former chief executive Dilnavaz Variava, Sanctuary Asia editor and veteran naturalist Bittu Sahgal, Western Ghats ecology expert panel chairman Madhva Gadgil and Manoharan.
"I am touched and moved by the occasion though the credit goes to the fraternity and the large community that dwells in the midst of nature in harmony with its flora and fauna," an emotional Prasad told IANS later on the margins of the event./eom/710 words.
Source: http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a384075.html
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Obama email flap: White House defends top officials' use of 'secret' accounts
White House spokesman Jay Carney defended the Obama administration?s commitment to transparency after an Associated Press investigation showed that some of the president?s top political appointees are using ?secret? government e-mail accounts in a bid to avoid unwanted messages.
Most of the agencies the AP contacted had not replied to its questions about secret e-mail accounts three months after the news agency requested the information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The accounts in question, which are not published on agency websites, provide an alternate way for top officials to communicate without having to sort through a mountain of spam.
The Labor Department?s initial response ? later rescinded ? was to ask the AP to pay more than $1 million to receive its e-mail addresses. The Health and Human Services Department initially turned over a list of 240 accounts that did not include Secretary Kathleen Sebelius?s alternate, unpublished e-mail address.
RECOMMENDED: Barack Obama: How well do you know America's 44th president?
Agencies that had not turned over lists of e-mail addresses include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Pentagon, and the Transportation, Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Agriculture departments. So, the AP said, ?the scope of using the secret accounts across the government remains a mystery.?
The issue is a sensitive one, given a memo President Obama issued on his first full day in the White House pledging that his administration was "committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.? The document went on to say, "we will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration."
At Tuesday?s White House briefing, Mr. Carney offered a spirited defense of the practice of officials' use of nonpublic e-mail addresses. ?This is a practice consistent with prior administrations of both parties,? he said. Having alternate e-mail accounts makes "eminent sense,? the press secretary said. He told of having his e-mail made public by his predecessor, Robert Gibbs, shortly before Carney assumed his current position. "I changed it so I wouldn?t be inundated with ? tons of e-mails and spam and the like.... But that is a very reasonable thing to do.?
Want your top political issues explained? Get customized DC Decoder updates.
Carney disputed the AP?s use of the ?secret label? for unpublished e-mail addresses. ?The issue here is are these accounts ? these work accounts ? secret, and the answer is no, because they are subject to FOIA requests and they are subject to congressional inquiry, just like their public addresses,? he said.
He added, ?This administration has made significant strides in improving FOIA practices, compared with all of our predecessors?. [We] have disclosed more information, invoked FOIA exemptions less frequently, and answered more requests.?
The AP offered several reasons that top officials' use of alternate ? or secret ? e-mail addresses is problematic. The practice makes it harder to ensure that agencies are meeting their duty to turn over relevant documents in response to congressional investigations or civil lawsuits, the AP said. ?Secret accounts also drive perceptions that government officials are trying to hide actions or decisions,? the report stated.
Court decisions on federal privacy rules have set a high bar for withholding public officials? records.
?An e-mail address given to an individual by the government to conduct official business is not private,? Aaron Mackey, a FOIA attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Arlington, Va., told the AP.
As if to emphasize that point, the AP decided to publish Secretary Sebelius's unpublished account address, despite requests not to do so, citing her oversight of Medicare, Medicaid, and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
RECOMMENDED: Barack Obama: How well do you know America's 44th president?
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-email-flap-white-house-defends-top-officials-211400243.html
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This Inflatable Aircraft Carrier Houses a Solar-Powered Wonder Plane
When you're flying around the world in a lightweight solar-powered plane with a wingspan larger than most commercial airliners, you need to guarantee you've always got a safe place to store it on the ground. So the support team behind the Solar Impulse
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Singer Sharon Jones says she has cancer
5 hours ago
Jordi Vidal / Getty Images file
Sharon Jones performs in Barcelona, Spain, in 2010.
LOS ANGELES -- Soul group Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings on Monday postponed the release of its forthcoming album and tour after Jones was diagnosed with early-stage bile duct cancer, according to a statement on the band's website.
The singer, 57, is to undergo surgery, and is expected to make a full recovery but will require a "lengthy" rehabilitation period, the statement said.
"Over the last few weeks I haven't felt good and I didn't know what was going on," Jones said in a statement. "We just found out that I have a stage-one tumor on my bile duct. Luckily we caught it really early and fast and the doctors say it's operable and curable!"
Bile ducts carry bile produced by the liver from the gallbladder into the small intestine to aid with digestion.
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are best known for the 2007 song "100 Days, 100 Nights" and 2010's "I Learned the Hard Way."
The group's fifth album, "Give the People What They Want," was scheduled to be released on Aug. 6. A new release date has not been announced.
The band is credited with reviving interest in soul music over the past decade and preceding such acts as the late British soul singer Amy Winehouse.
Without Jones, the brassy Dap-Kings have also provided backing music to such artists as Winehouse and British rockers The Heavy and Muse.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.
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EU slaps levies on Chinese solar panel imports
BERLIN (AP) ? The European Union announced Tuesday that it is to impose anti-dumping levies on imports of Chinese solar panels, in a move that could trigger a trade war between two of the world's largest economies.
EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht said Tuesday the 27-nation bloc will impose a tariff of about 12 percent on the import of panels, cells and wafers immediately, increasing it to an average of 47 percent starting in August unless a settlement is reached with China.
China is the world's largest producer of solar panels and is accused by the EU of selling them below-cost to corner the market. Its exports of solar panels to Europe totaled 21 billion euros in 2011.
De Gucht said the price at which Chinese solar panels are sold in Europe should be 88 percent higher according to the Commission's calculations. Chinese solar panels' market share in the EU has risen to 80 percent over recent years.
The cheap Chinese products are flooding the market and threaten to bring down EU manufacturers, de Gucht warned.
"It has the potential to destroy an important industry in Europe if we don't act today," he added.
The Commission, the bloc's executive arm, hopes to reach a settlement with Beijing and has therefore taken a phased approach that leaves two months for intense negotiations before the special duties reach the punitive level of 47 percent.
"The ball is now in China's court," de Gucht said.
"This is a one-time offer to the Chinese side to negotiate."
The trade row between the EU and China is the world's biggest anti-dumping case by sales volume, according to EU officials.
The global solar panel market is suffering from overcapacity, which has led to stiff competition that has forced several European manufacturers out of business.
De Gucht added that to reach a settlement, Chinese manufacturers would have to agree to increase their prices and accept a lower market share quota.
"I would like to see an agreement. If we get it right it would be better for both sides," he stressed.
If a settlement can't be reached, the permanent anti-dumping tariffs would require approval by a majority of the EU's 27 member states six months from now.
But several EU nations, including heavyweight Germany, have spoken out against imposing special duties and urged the Commission to reach a settlement with China.
Germany has the bloc's biggest solar industry, but Berlin fears imposing special duties could provoke Chinese retaliation on imports of European goods which, in turn, would harm German exporters.
China rejects the EU's price-dumping allegations. Premier Li Keqiang warned last month imposing punitive tariffs would hurt European consumers and might encourage trade protectionism, stopping short of threatening retaliation.
But the problem with the solar industry is not new for Beijing. The U.S. last year imposed punitive tariffs on solar panel imports after finding that China's government was subsidizing companies that were flooding the U.S. market.
___
Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-slaps-levies-chinese-solar-panel-imports-135458692.html
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Points connected sign can show any place you need to go, what's up online (video)
Most street signs aren't especially street-savvy when they can't change with the passing weeks, let alone the moment. Breakfast NY's new Points sign is much, much smarter. As long as it has an Ethernet or WiFi connection, it can spin its arrows toward locations on demand or as they become relevant, whether it's the local bar at night or a concert stage in the afternoon. The signage is also aware of what's happening, not just where: Points can tap into Foursquare, RSS feeds, Twitter and other sources to display trending hotspots, sports scores and other live updates. The curious can experiment with internet-connected demo signs today; Breakfast NY is taking rental requests now, with expectations that Points signs can deploy from July 1st onwards. As for pricing? You'll have to get a quote. While the company tells us that a days-long rental will likely involve a lower five-digit sum, it expects each order to be at least somewhat unique.
Source: Breakfast NY
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/2KyGlYbzCWc/
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Saturday, May 25, 2013
Fidelity 401(k) client account average balances hit $80,900 ...
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Source: http://www.pionline.com/article/20130523/DAILYREG/130529937
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Friday, May 24, 2013
World stocks mixed ahead of Fed chief testimony
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-stocks-mixed-ahead-fed-chief-testimony-093425564.html
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Measles surges in UK years after vaccine scare
LONDON (AP) ? More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of a vaccine scare that raised the specter of autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease.
This year, the U.K. has had more than 1,200 cases of measles, after a record number of nearly 2,000 cases last year. The country once recorded only several dozen cases every year. It now ranks second in Europe, behind only Romania.
Last month, emergency vaccination clinics were held every weekend in Wales, the epicenter of the outbreak. Immunization drives have also started elsewhere in the country, with officials aiming to reach 1 million children aged 10 to 16.
"This is the legacy of the Wakefield scare," said Dr. David Elliman, spokesman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, referring to a paper published in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues.
That work suggested a link between autism and the combined childhood vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, called the MMR. Several large scientific studies failed to find any connection, the theory was rejected by at least a dozen major U.K. medical groups and the paper was eventually retracted by the journal that published it. Britain's top medical board stripped Wakefield of the right to practise medicine in the U.K., ruling that he and two of his colleagues showed a "callous disregard" for the children in the study. Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them about 5 pounds each ($7.60) and later joked about the incident.
Still, MMR immunization rates plummeted across the U.K. as fearful parents abandoned the vaccine ? from rates over 90 percent to 54 percent. Wakefield has won support from parents suspicious of vaccines, including Hollywood celebrities like Jenny McCarthy, who has an autistic son.
Nearly 15 years later, the rumors about MMR are still having an impact. Now there's "this group of older children who have never been immunized who are a large pool of infections," Elliman said.
The majority of those getting sick in the U.K. ? including a significant number of older children and teens ? had never been vaccinated. Almost 20 of the more than 100 seriously ill children have been hospitalized and 15 have suffered complications including pneumonia and meningitis. One adult with measles has died, though it's unclear if it was the disease that killed him.
The first measles vaccines were introduced in the 1960s, which dramatically cut cases of the rash-causing illness. Since 2001, measles deaths have dropped by about 70 percent worldwide; Cambodia recently marked more than a year without a single case.
Globally, though, measles is still one of the leading causes of death in children under 5 and kills more than 150,000 people every year, mostly in developing countries. Measles is highly contagious and is spread by coughing, sneezing and close personal contact with infected people; symptoms include a fever, cough, and a rash on the face.
Across the U.K., about 90 percent of children under 5 are vaccinated against measles and have received the necessary two doses of the vaccine. But among children now aged 10 to 16, the vaccination rate is slightly below 50 percent in some regions.
To stop measles outbreaks, more than 95 percent of children need to be fully immunized. In some parts of the U.K., the rate is still below 80 percent.
Unlike in the United States, where most states require children to be vaccinated against measles before starting school, no such regulations exist in Britain. Parents are advised to have their children immunized, but Britain's Department of Health said it had no plans to consider introducing mandatory vaccination.
Last year, there were 55 reported cases of measles in the United States, where the measles vaccination rate is above 90 percent. So far this year, there have been 22 cases, including three that were traced to Britain. In previous years, the U.K. has sometimes exported more cases of measles to the U.S. than some countries in Africa.
Portia Ncube, a health worker at an East London clinic, said the struggle to convince parents to get the MMR shot is being helped by the measles epidemic in Wales.
"They see what's happening in Wales, so some of them are now sensible enough to come in and get their children vaccinated," she said.
Clinic patient Ellen Christensen, mother of an infant son, acknowledged she had previously had some "irrational qualms" about the MMR vaccine.
"But after reading more about it, I know now that immunization is not only good for your own child, it's good for everyone," she said.
___
Online:
Public Health England's Measles website:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Measles/
___
AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe in New York contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/measles-surges-uk-years-vaccine-scare-100011003.html
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Monday, May 20, 2013
CDC says 20 percent of U.S. children have mental health disorders (Washington Post)
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Electric and magnetic characteristics of a material which could be used in spintronics: Promising doped zirconia
May 17, 2013 ? Materials belonging to the family of dilute magnetic oxides (DMOs) -- an oxide-based variant of the dilute magnetic semiconductors -- are good candidates for spintronics applications. This is the object of study for Davide Sangalli of the Microelectronics and Microsystems Institute (IMM) at the National Research Council (CNR), in Agrate Brianza, Italy, and colleagues.
They recently explored the effect of iron (Fe) doping on thin films of a material called zirconia (ZrO2 oxide). For the first time, the authors bridged the gap between the theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements of this material, in a paper about to be published in The European Physical Journal B.
Spintronics exploit an intrinsic property of the electrons found in semi-conductors called spin, akin to the electrons' degree of freedom. This determines the magnetic characteristics, known as magnetic moment, of the material under study. The challenge is to create such material with the highest possible temperature, as this will ensure that its magnetic properties can be used in room-temperature applications.
To study iron-doped zirconia, they examined its magnetic properties and its electronic structure from both a theoretical and experimental perspective. They then compared theory and experiments to find the most stable configuration of the material. Theoretical work included first-principles simulations. In parallel, their experimental work relied on many different well-established analytical techniques, including X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and alternating gradient force magnetometer measurements.
Sangalli and colleagues therefore gained a better understanding of doped zirconia, which features oxygen vacancies, playing a crucial role in providing its unique electronic and magnetic characteristics. They have also predicted theoretically how the deviation from the standard structure influences this material's properties. They are currently investigating, experimentally, how the magnetism evolves with changing concentrations of iron and oxygen vacancies to confirm theoretical predictions.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer Science+Business Media.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Davide Sangalli, Elena Cianci, Alessio Lamperti, Roberta Ciprian, Franca Albertini, Francesca Casoli, Pierpaolo Lupo, Lucia Nasi, Marco Campanini, Alberto Debernardi. Exploiting magnetic properties of Fe doping in zirconia. The European Physical Journal B, 2013; 86 (5) DOI: 10.1140/epjb/e2013-30669-3
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/GcElie8Nbh8/130517094600.htm
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Movie review: Games with words get tense 'In the House' | The Salt ...
"In the House" ? Fabrice Lucchini plays a writing teacher who's impressed by the work of a student, in Francois Ozon's sexually charged drama.Cohen Media Group
Review ? Thriller plays on tension between fact, fiction.
French director Fran?ois Ozon?s latest, the insidiously creepy domestic thriller "In the House," ties knots in your stomach as it walks its characters through a moral swamp of truth and fantasy.
Mr. Germain (Fabrice Luchini) teaches writing and French literature in a Paris high school, where years of lackluster students and esteem-boosting educational theories have left him jaded. He shares his frustration with his wife, Jeanne (Kristen Scott Thomas), an art gallery manager worried that her gallery?s new twin-sister owners (both played by Yolande Moreau) are too provincial to approve of her sexually frank artists. Ozon?s inclusion of a sexual blow-up doll with Hitler?s face is, presumably, a commentary on artistic overreach, or something.
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?In the House?
A writing teacher takes a student under his wing, but the story that emerges spells trouble for them both, in this sharp French thriller.
Where ? Broadway Centre Cinemas.
When ? Opens Friday, May 17.
Rating ? R for sexual content and language.
Running time ? 105 minutes; in French with subtitles.
Emerging from this sea of mediocrity is Claude Garcia (Ernst Umhauer), a student who not only does his assignments but seems to show a creative spark. In his writing, Claude details how he has befriended a classmate, Rapha (Bastien Ughetto), and insinuated himself in Rapha?s home ? where Rapha?s dad (Denis M?nochet) talks about his ego-deflating sales job, and where Rapha?s still-hot mom (Emmanuelle Seigner) pores over decorating magazines and dreams of a home makeover.
Germain warns Claude about writing mockingly about his classmates, but still finds Claude?s story compelling enough to tutor him through more chapters. But the lines ? between student and teacher, between writer and subject, and between documentation and fabrication ? all become blurry.
Ozon, adapting a Juan Mayorga play, generates maximum tension by burrowing into the deepening t?te-?-t?te between Germain and Claude, in which manipulation and rule-breaking threaten to undo them both. Claude?s depiction of the middle-class paradise of Rapha?s house, and the student?s growing attraction to Rapha?s mom, is intercut with wicked asides from Germain, who enters the scene like a ghostly critic.
The only fault of "In the House" is the ending. Germain tells Claude that a good ending is one that the reader (or viewer) doesn?t see coming, but then can?t see how it could have gone any other way. Alas, Ozon fails to achieve that, with a finale that?s muddled and a bit out of left field.
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Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/56309851-223/claude-french-rapha-germain.html.csp
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Justin Bieber, Frank Ocean To Duke It Out At O Music Awards
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Tyler, the Creator are also nominated at the fourth annual awards show.
By Emily Blake
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707441/o-music-awards-2013-nominations.jhtml
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Friday, May 17, 2013
Cambodian shoe factory collapse kills 2, injures 7
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) ? The ceiling of a Cambodian factory that makes Asics sneakers collapsed on workers early Thursday, killing two people and injuring seven, in the latest accident to spotlight lax safety conditions in the global garment industry.
About 50 workers were inside the factory south of Phnom Penh, the capital, when the ceiling caved in, said police officer Khem Pannara. He said heavy iron equipment stored on the floor above appeared to have caused the collapse.
Two bodies were pulled from the wreckage and seven people were injured, he said. Rescuers combed through rubble for several hours and after clearing the site said that nobody else was trapped inside.
At a clinic where she was being treated for her injuries, worker Kong Thary cried on the telephone as she recounted the collapse.
"We were working normally and suddenly several pieces of brick and iron started falling on us," the 25-year-old said.
An initial investigation showed the ceiling that collapsed was poorly built and lacked the proper building materials to support heavy weight, said Ou Sam Oun, governor of Kampong Speu province, where the factory was located.
Chea Muny, chief of a trade union for factory workers, identified the factory as a Taiwanese-owned operation called Wing Star that produces sneakers for Asics, a Japanese sportswear label. He said shoes made at the factory were imported to the United States and Europe.
An Asics spokeswoman in Tokyo confirmed the factory was in contract to make Asics running shoes. She said Asics was trying to determine what happened.
"We understand that some people have died, so first we offer our condolences," said spokeswoman Masayo Hasegawa in Tokyo. She said she did not have information on the last time the building structure had been inspected but added, "We want the highest priority to be placed on saving lives."
The factory complex, which opened about a year ago, consists of several buildings and employs about 7,000 people, said Pannara, the police officer. The structure where the collapse occurred was mainly used as a storage warehouse for shoe-production equipment but had a small work area for about two dozen people, Chea Muny said.
The garment industry is Cambodia's biggest export earner, employing about 500,000 people in more than 500 garment and shoe factories. In 2012, the southeast Asian country shipped more than $4 billion worth of products to the United States and Europe.
The accident comes about three weeks after a building collapse in Bangladesh killed 1,127 people in the global garment industry's deadliest disaster.
"This shows that the problem is not only isolated to Bangladesh, and that companies (elsewhere) are trying to drive prices down by taking shortcuts on workers' safety," said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch.
Last month, the U.N.'s labor office released a report that called for "urgent attention" to worker safety violations in the Cambodian garment and footwear industry.
The report by the International Labor Organization found "a worrying increase in fire safety violations," including that only 57 percent of factories kept paths free of obstructions. It reported "unacceptable" heat levels, abuse of overtime hours and a lack of worker access to drinking water.
___
AP writers Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok and Malcolm J. Foster in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cambodian-shoe-factory-collapse-kills-2-injures-7-042837834.html
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Thursday, May 16, 2013
Patience & Persistence when it comes to diet, exercise & health
I felt?I needed to address a problem that I see more and more in my practice.? People? you have to know, understand and accept that getting healthy takes patience and persistence.? Bottom line is you didn?t get to where you are overnight, nor will you recover overnight. There is no pill to swallow to suddenly make you healthy nor does simply making the decision to get healthy make you healthy overnight, BUT it?s a huge first step.
The first issue?is a lack of persistence.? Usually I see people who either go all in, cold turkey, all or nothing and fail because who can sustain that kind of pressure?? Or, I see people who start trying to say eliminate?food from a box or gluten.? It gets uncomfortable for them.? You actually have to think outside of?the box for lunch if you eliminate boxes and bread. People don?t like to be uncomfortable. Problem is it?s in this uncomfortable place that real change, growth and healing happens. I?ve heard Yogis say, Yoga begins when the pose gets hard.? Your job is to breath and hold the pose.? You see, for change to occur you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.? It is the only way to change, grow and heal. The same example goes for exercise.? I either try to?get people to join group fitness (your best option), get a trainer or follow?an at home workout circuit. It?s like pulling teeth to get people to stick to it.? If you aren?t used to working out or you are trying a new kind of workout, you get uncomfortable and quit.? Is there a learning curve to a new sport or activity? Yes.? Are you going to be sore if you try something new? Of course. That is no reason to quit.
So whether it?s exercise or food, change is hard.? You have to get ok with being uncomfortable and frustrated on occasion.? It is the only way to change and get healthy. You have to have persistence to push through the uncomfortable bits.? They will get easier.? A month from now or a year from now, you will wonder what you were complaining about!
The second problem I see is lack of patience.? You didn?t get to your current state in a week, a month or even a year ago, so why do you think it should take a week to find your way back to health?
I have had patients who have come for acupuncture who have previously been seeing a variety of western doctors for years to no avail.? They give me 1-2 weeks to ?cure? them. Really?? You have had?a chronic condition for 6 years and you want it gone in 2 weeks?? You need to be patient.
I have had patients who come in on a dozen different medications. Usually I see a combination of blood pressure, diabetes, pain, cholesterol and anxiety meds.? Some have been amazingly dedicated to changing their lives.? They want the freedom to live a long happy drug free life.? We work on changing diet, stress levels and exercise.? It is a slow process.? They make huge strides over 6 months to a year. Yet, they get chronically disappointed that they aren?t ?there? yet.? I can?t emphasize enough that you have to see, acknowledge and reward those small victories along the way.? Feel pride in what you have accomplished.? It is a long road on the return to health. Just because you are not where you ?want? to be doesn?t mean you are failing.
Be proud and persist and you will get there. Problem is that when you get ?there? you will have learned so much that your destination will have changed. You see, people assume they know what they need to know to be healthy, but you should never stop learning and in that your destination will be ever changing, and that?s ok.? Enjoy the journey, the learning and the healing.? Never give up, but celebrate and reward the progress that you make along the way.
Small changes lead to revolutionary health changes. Never forget it. And? as Maya Angelou says, when you know better, you do better.
Share your struggles and success below in the comments.? You might just inspire someone on the verge!
Source: http://www.acupunctureinwestchase.com/blog/index.php/2013/05/patience-persistance/
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Paralysed British men fight right-to-die case in court
By Estelle Shirbon
LONDON (Reuters) - Two paralysed British men who want to die but cannot kill themselves went to court on Monday seeking protection from prosecution for those who could help them end their lives.
The case is one of the most high-profile attempts to change the law on the right to die in Britain, where assisted suicide is illegal.
"I'm constantly thinking, 'how on Earth can I do it without getting someone into trouble?'" said Paul Lamb, who was left paralysed by a car accident in 1990.
"I just want my wishes to be respected, that's all I want," Lamb, 57, told reporters outside the courtroom.
He is immobile except for limited movement in his right hand, requires 24-hour care and is constantly on morphine to relieve pain.
Judge Igor Judge, speaking at the start of the hearing in the Court of Appeal, said he was aware of the men's "desperate situation" and he was sympathetic.
"But they must surely know that we cannot decide this case as a matter of personal sympathy. We have to decide it as a point of law."
Lamb was in court in his wheelchair as the judge spoke.
The other man, named only as Martin, is a 48-year-old who was left unable to speak or move after a stroke four years ago. He can communicate only through movements of the head and eyes.
"It is their experience that their life has become unbearable," said Paul Bowen, a lawyer representing Lamb.
LAW "INADEQUATE"
The details of the two men's cases are different, but in essence both are seeking help from the courts in ensuring that anyone who helps them to die will not be prosecuted.
Bowen cited a report to parliament last year that concluded that British law in the area of assisted dying was "inadequate, incoherent and should not continue".
The issue of whether or not to decriminalise assisted suicide for people whose lives are unbearable to them is a matter of debate in many countries.
Right-to-die advocates say people capable of making that decision should be allowed to die with dignity. Opponents say liberalising the law could leave vulnerable people at risk.
Switzerland and the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Montana are among places where some forms of euthanasia or assisted suicide are legal under certain circumstances.
By coincidence, Monday's court hearing started two days before a bill is due to be presented to the British parliament that would legalise assisted suicide in certain circumstances.
But Bowen said that even if that bill were to become law at some point, it would not be enough for Lamb.
Lamb's case was originally brought by a man with locked-in syndrome, Tony Nicklinson. A court dismissed both Nicklinson's and Martin's cases last August on the grounds that it was for parliament and not for a court to change the law in this area.
After being told the court's decision on August 14, Nicklinson refused food and medication and died on August 22.
Lamb, who was not involved at that stage, has since been allowed to take up the legal battle where Nicklinson left off.
(estelle.shirbon@thomsonreuters.com, +44 207 542 7947)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/paralysed-british-men-fight-die-case-court-142508632.html
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Email Deliverability Ninja Trick - ShoeMoney Internet Marketing Blog
Email deliverability is a lot like SEO. Actually measuring results it is even worse. Some people still believe stats like opens and clicks are an indicator? thats a shame.
In Email you are totally guessing unless you use something like our?Spamguard system. We are the only company to quantify our email deliverability but its not like we are doing anything revolutionary. Any email platform could do it? but they know the results would not be pretty. Those guys believe its much better to leave you in the dark thinking your clicks and opens is what matters. Not actually getting into the inbox.
But I digress?
One thing everyone can agree on that has a major factor is getting someone to add your contact information to their address book.
Lemme explain quick what this is for those who don?t know. Everyone has a list of contacts or ?address book? in your email program. Whenever you email someone they are automatically added to that address book. People who are in your address book will override any sort of spam filter and from our experience if you have someone added to your address book then you will receive 100% of their emails.
In the Mass Email Deployment Industry this has always been the holy grail. Spammers have been coming up with unique ways hack in or manipulate systems to get their spam domains and accounts added to users address books so they can drastically increase revenue.
But lets take this to a legit company.?Like one of our clients. How do we get customers to add their email address without doing anything shady?
We simply get them to reply to an email. Thats it? And you want to get them to do it right away. ?Because when I write all the email copy for you I start to build a relationship. ?But when the copy gets more salesy and could trip spam filters that is when we are already added to the contact list and bypass those.
Here are 2 simple tricks you can do:
- Double Opt In ? instead of making them click on a link just have them reply to the email.
- Offer a discount ? After you welcome them to your list offer them a discount if they just reply to the email and keep the subject intact.
There are a lot of other ways but those are 2 ways everyone here should be able to implement right away 100% automated programatically. I am sure your email provider will be able to do this for you at no charge. If not maybe its time you get on board with a?enterprise level platform?that works intimately with your company and really helps you grow in more ways then just email marketing.
-
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Conference Travel Survival Guide -
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Source: http://www.shoemoney.com/2013/05/13/email-deliverability-ninja-trick
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
First snapshot of organisms eating each other: Feast clue to smell of ancient Earth
Apr. 29, 2013 ? Tiny 1,900 million-year-old fossils from rocks around Lake Superior, Canada, give the first ever snapshot of organisms eating each other and suggest what the ancient Earth would have smelled like.
The fossils, preserved in Gunflint chert, capture ancient microbes in the act of feasting on a cyanobacterium-like fossil called Gunflintia -- with the perforated sheaths of Gunflintia being the discarded leftovers of this early meal.
A team, led by Dr David Wacey of the University of Western Australia and Bergen University, Norway, and Professor Martin Brasier of Oxford University, reports in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the fossil evidence for how this type of feeding on organic matter -- called 'heterotrophy' -- was taking place. They also show that the ancient microbes appeared to prefer to snack on Gunflintia as a 'tasty morsel' in preference to another bacterium (Huroniospora).
'What we call 'heterotrophy' is the same thing we do after dinner as the bacteria in our gut break down organic matter,' said Professor Martin Brasier of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences, an author of the paper. 'Whilst there is chemical evidence suggesting that this mode of feeding dates back 3,500 million years, in this study for the first time we identify how it was happening and 'who was eating who'. In fact we've all experienced modern bacteria feeding in this way as that's where that 'rotten egg' whiff of hydrogen sulfide comes from in a blocked drain. So, rather surprisingly, we can say that life on earth 1,900 million years ago would have smelled a lot like rotten eggs.'
The team analysed the microscopic fossils, ranging from about 3-15 microns in diameter, using a battery of new techniques and found that one species -- a tubular form thought to be the outer sheath of Gunflintia -- was more perforated after death than other kinds, consistent with them having been eaten by bacteria.
In some places many of the tiny fossils had been partially or entirely replaced with iron sulfide ('fool's gold') a waste product of heterotrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria that is also a highly visible marker. The team also found that these Gunflintia fossils carried clusters of even smaller (c.1 micron) spherical and rod-shaped bacteria that were seemingly in the process of consuming their hosts.
Dr Wacey said that: 'recent geochemical analyses have shown that the sulfur-based activities of bacteria can likely be traced back to 3,500 million years or so -- a finding reported by our group in Nature Geoscience in 2011. Whilst the Gunflint fossils are only about half as old, they confirm that such bacteria were indeed flourishing by 1,900 million years ago. And that they were also highly particular about what they chose to eat.'
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oxford, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- David Wacey, Nicola McLoughlin, Matt R. Kilburn, Martin Saunders, John B. Cliff, Charlie Kong, Mark E. Barley, and Martin D. Brasier. Nanoscale analysis of pyritized microfossils reveals differential heterotrophic consumption in the ?1.9-Ga Gunflint chert. PNAS, April 29, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221965110
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/most_popular/~3/hiDQhD4eNRI/130429154107.htm
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Did Syria cross Obama's 'red line'?
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House declared Thursday that U.S. intelligence indicates Syrian President Bashar Assad has twice used deadly chemical weapons in his country's fierce civil war, a provocative action that would cross President Barack Obama's "red line" for a significant military response. But the administration said the revelation won't immediately change its stance on intervening.
The information, which has been known to the administration and some members of Congress for weeks, isn't solid enough to warrant quick U.S. involvement in the 2-year-old conflict, the White House said. Officials said the assessments were made with "varying degrees of confidence" given the difficulty of information gathering in Syria, though there appeared to be little question within the intelligence community.
As recently as Tuesday, when an Israeli general added to the growing chorus that Assad had used chemical weapons, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was continuing to monitor and investigate but had "not come to the conclusion that there has been that use."
The Syrian civil war has persisted, with an estimated 70,000 dead. Obama has so far resisted pressure, both from Congress and from within his own administration, to arm the Syrian rebels or get involved militarily. He has, however, declared the use of chemical weapons a "game changer" that would have "enormous consequences."
The White House disclosed the new intelligence Thursday in letters to two senators, but had Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announce it to reporters traveling with him in the United Arab Emirates. The letters were sent in response to questions from senators of both parties who are pressing for more U.S. involvement, and it marked the first time the administration has publicly disclosed evidence of chemical weapons use.
"Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin," the White House said in the letters, which were signed by Obama's legislative director, Miguel Rodriguez. He went on to write that "given the stakes involved," the U.S. was still seeking "credible and corroborated facts" before deciding how to proceed.
Two congressional officials said the administration has known for weeks ? and has briefed Congress ? that the CIA and other intelligence agencies have evidence of two incidents of sarin gas use.
A U.S. official said intelligence agencies have had indications of chemical weapons use since March and reached the conclusions made public Thursday about two weeks ago. The two incidents are believed to have occurred around March 19 in the Syrian city of Aleppo and suburbs of Damascus, the official said.
The officials commented only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly by name.
The White House described the attacks as "small scale," but the full extent of the chemical weapons use and resulting casualties was not immediately known.
Even as Assad has ratcheted up the attacks on his own people, Obama has limited U.S. assistance to non-lethal aid, including military-style equipment such as body armor and night vision goggles. However, he has repeatedly said that the use of chemical weapons, or the transfer of the stockpiles to a terrorist organization, would change things.
"That's a red line for us," he said in August. "There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front, or the use of chemical weapons. That would change my calculations significantly."
A senior defense official said the White House letters were not an "automatic trigger" for policy decisions on the use of military force. The official alluded to past instances of policy decisions that were based on what turned out to be flawed intelligence, such as the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq after concluding that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.
Lawmakers from both parties sounded less than patient.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Democratic leadership, was asked what should be done about Assad crossing the "red line." He said, "That's up to the commander in chief, but something has to be done."
And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, "I think it's pretty obvious that that red line has been crossed. Now I hope the administration will consider what we have been recommending now for over two years of this bloodletting and massacre and that is to provide a safe area for the opposition to operate, to establish a no-fly zone and provide weapons to people in the resistance who we trust."
Other lawmakers questioned whether a cautious U.S. response to the newly disclosed intelligence would only strengthen Assad's resolve to keep a grip on power.
"If Assad sees any equivocation on the red line, it will embolden his regime," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
The White House disclosure put the U.S. in line with Britain, France, Israel and Qatar, key allies who have cited evidence of chemical weapons use. The four countries have also been pressing for a more robust response to the conflict.
U.S. commanders have laid out a range of possible options for military involvement in Syria, including establishing a "no-fly zone" or secured area within Syria where citizens could be protected, launching airstrikes by drones and fighter jets or even sending in tens of thousands of ground forces to secure the chemical weapons caches. But the military has made it clear that any action would likely be either with NATO backing or with a coalition of nations similar to what was done in Libya in 2011.
Following the U.S. disclosure, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said, "There would doubtlessly be a very strong reaction from the international community if there were evidence that chemical weapons had been used."
Ahmad Ramadan, a member of the Syrian National Coalition opposition group's executive body, called the U.S. assertion an "important step," and he said that America had a "moral duty" to follow it with action.
The White House said the current intelligence assessments of sarin use are based in part on "physiological samples." U.S. officials said that could include human tissue, blood or other body materials, in addition to soil samples.
Sarin is an odorless nerve agent that can be used as a gas or a liquid, poisoning people when they breathe it, absorb it through their skin or eyes, or take it in through food or water. In large doses, sarin can cause convulsions, paralysis and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people usually recover from small doses, which may cause confusion, drooling, excessive sweating, nausea and vomiting.
The Aum Shinrikyo cult used sarin in attacks in the Tokyo subway system in 1995 that killed 12 people and sickened thousands.
The White House said it was still seeking to confirm the "chain of command" that led to the chemical weapons use. But officials said they were confident attacks were initiated by the Assad government, not rebels, given that they see no evidence of Assad losing control of the stockpiles.
The U.S. said the completion of a stalled U.N. investigation would be critical in confirming the use. But it's unclear whether U.N. inspectors will ever be able to conduct a full investigation in areas where there is the most evidence of chemical weapons use.
The Syrian government has so far refused to allow the U.N. experts to go anywhere but Khan al-Assal, where Assad's government maintains the rebels used the deadly agents.
Officials said the U.S. was consulting with allies and looking for other ways to confirm the intelligence assessments.
___
AP National Security Writers Robert Burns in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Lara Jakes in Washington, as well as AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier, and AP writers Lolita C. Baldor and Lauran Neergaard in Washington and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/crossing-red-line-us-says-syria-used-poison-221631098--politics.html
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