Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295231398?client_source=feed&format=rss
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শনিবার, ৩০ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Researchers engineer plant cell walls to boost sugar yields for biofuels
Mar. 29, 2013 ? When blessed with a resource in overwhelming abundance it's generally a good idea to make valuable use of that resource. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant organic material on Earth. For thousands of years it has been used as animal feed, and for the past two centuries has been a staple of the paper industry. This abundant resource, however, could also supply the sugars needed to produce advanced biofuels that can supplement or replace fossil fuels, providing several key technical challenges are met.
One of these challenges is finding ways to more cost-effectively extract those sugars. Major steps towards achieving this breakthrough are being taken by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI).
"Through the tools of synthetic biology, we have engineered healthy plants whose lignocellulosic biomass can more easily be broken down into simple sugars for biofuels," says Dominique Loque, who directs the cell wall engineering program for JBEI's Feedstocks Division. "Working with the model plant, Arabidopsis, as a demonstration tool, we have genetically manipulated secondary cell walls to reduce the production of lignin while increasing the yield of fuel sugars."
JBEI is a scientific partnership led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) whose mission is to advance the development of next generation biofuels that can provide the nation with clean, green and renewable transportation energy that will create jobs and boost the economy. Loque and his research group have focused on reducing the natural recalcitrance of plant cell walls to give up their sugars. Unlike the simple starch-based sugars in corn and other grains, the complex polysaccharide sugars in plant cell walls are locked within a robust aromatic polymer called lignin. Setting these sugars free from their lignin cage has required the use of expensive and environmentally harsh chemicals at high temperatures, a process that helps drive production costs of advance biofuels prohibitively high.
"By embedding polysaccharide polymers and reducing their extractability and accessibility to hydrolytic enzymes, lignin is the major contributor to cell wall recalcitrance," Loque says. "Unfortunately, most efforts to reduce lignin content during plant development have resulted in severe biomass yield reduction and a loss of integrity in vessels, a key tissue responsible for water and nutrient distribution from roots to the above-ground organs."
Lignin has also long posed problems for pulping and animal feed. To overcome the lignin problem, Loque and his colleagues rewired the regulation of lignin biosynthesis and created an artificial positive feedback loop (APFL) to enhance secondary cell wall biosynthesis in specific tissue. The idea was to reduce cell wall recalcitrance and boost polysaccharide content without impacting plant development.
"When we applied our APFL to Arabidopsis plants engineered so that lignin biosynthesis is disconnected from the fiber secondary cell wall regulatory network, we maintained the integrity of the vessels and were able to produce healthy plants with reduced lignin and enhanced polysaccharide deposition in the cell walls," Loque says. "After various pretreatments, these engineered plants exhibited improved sugar releases from enzymatic hydrolysis as compared to wild type plants. In other words we accumulated the good stuff -- polysaccharides -- without spoiling it with lignin."
Loque and his colleagues believe that the APFL strategy they used to enhance polysaccharide deposition in the fibers of their Arabidopsis plants could be rapidly implemented into other vascular plant species as well. This could increase cell wall content to the benefit of the pulping industry and forage production as well as for bioenergy applications. It could also be used to increase the strength of cereal straws, reducing crop lodging and seed losses. Since regulatory networks and other components of secondary cell wall biosynthesis have been highly conserved by evolution, the researchers feel their lignin rewiring strategy should also be readily transferrable to other plant species. They are currently developing new and even better versions of these strategies.
"We now know that we can significantly re-engineer plant cell walls as long as we maintain the integrity of vessels and other key tissues," Loque says.
A paper describing this research in detail has been published in Plant Biotechnology Journal. The paper is titled "Engineering secondary cell wall deposition in plants." Loque is the corresponding author. Co-authors are Fan Yang, Prajakta Mitra, Ling Zhang, Lina Prak, Yves Verhertbruggen, Jin-Sun Kim, Lan Sun, Kejian Zheng, Kexuan Tang, Manfred Auer and Henrik Scheller.
This research was supported by the DOE Office of Science.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Fan Yang, Prajakta Mitra, Ling Zhang, Lina Prak, Yves Verhertbruggen, Jin-Sun Kim, Lan Sun, Kejian Zheng, Kexuan Tang, Manfred Auer, Henrik V. Scheller, Dominique Loqu. Engineering secondary cell wall deposition in plants. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2013; 11 (3): 325 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12016
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/VnUOT6b1alA/130329161247.htm
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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৮ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector
Epson's managed to cram two of most important facts about the Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector into its name. It's a 3D projector, and it's built around an LCD engine. The combination matters because, until now, one of the best arguments for choosing a DLP data projector has been precisely that if you need 3D, it's pretty much been the only way to go. Suddenly, that's no longer true, at least, not if what you need is a WXGA (1,280 by 800), 3,000-lumen projector, like the W16.
In many ways, the W16 is in competition with DLP projectors like the Editors' Choice ViewSonic PJD6683ws that I recently reviewed, and the more expensive Editors' Choice Optoma TW610ST. Unlike the W16, both of these DLP projectors offer short-throw lenses, which puts them in a slightly different category. However, the three models are comparable in almost every other way, with the same native resolution, similar brightness ratings, a similar level of portability, and, of course, 3D support. Where they differ primarily is in the technology they use: DLP or LCD.
The LCD engine gives the W16 two key advantages. First, it can't show rainbow artifacts, which are always a potential issue for single-chip DLP projectors because of the way they create colors. And second, its color brightness is the same as its white brightness, which isn't true for most DLP projectors. A difference between the two can affect both color quality and the brightness of color images. With most LCD projectors, you have to weigh these advantages against the disadvantage of not having 3D. With the W16, you don't.
Basics: Portability, Connections, and Setup
At six pounds, the W16 is in a weight class that often winds up permanently installed in one room or on a cart for moving from room to room. However, it's also light enough to carry, and Epson ships it with a soft carrying case, complete with a shoulder strap, so you can take it with you easily.
Setup is standard, with both manual focus and zoom controls plus a fairly typical set of connectors on the back, including the expected HDMI for a computer or video source, VGA for a computer or component video, and both S-Video and composite video ports. Also worth mention is a USB A port for reading files from a USB memory key and a USB B port for USB display and audio as well as for providing mouse control from the projector's remote.
Brightness and Image Quality
The W16's 3,000-lumen rating is in the typical range for the projector's price and weight class. In my tests, it was easily bright enough for the 92-inch diagonal image I used, or even a somewhat larger image, to stand up to the typical level of ambient light in a conference room or classroom.
The data image quality was near excellent, with the W16 handling most of our standard suite of DisplayMate tests without problems. Colors were fully saturated, vibrant, and eye-catching in all modes. Color balance was also good, with suitably neutral grays at all levels from white to black in all but the brightest mode, with a slight yellowish tint in the brightest shades in that mode. However that's not really an issue, since it's typical for projectors to have less than perfect color balance in their brightest modes.
A potential issue for data images is that the W16 doesn?t hold detail as well as it could. In my tests, black on white text was readable at 6.8 points, but not as crisp as it should be. White on black text wasn't as well formed, and was easily readable only down to 7.5 points. For most images, this won't matter, but if you need to show a lot of fine detail, it may.
Video quality is better than par for a data projector. In fact, it's good enough to let you watch a full-length movie comfortably. I saw some mild loss of shadow detail (details based on shading in dark areas) and just a hint of posterization (shading changing suddenly in areas that should change gradually). However, these showed only in scenes that tend to cause these problems, and the W16 handled those scenes far better than most data projectors. It also helps that, as an LCD-projector, it doesn't show rainbow artifacts.
3D and Other Issues
Like most 3D data projectors, the W16 doesn?t come with glasses. But the really bad news is that if you're replacing a DLP 3D projector, you can't use your old DLP-link glasses. You have to buy Epson's, at $99 (direct) each. As with most other data projectors, if you need enough for an audience of more than a few people, you'll wind up paying more for the glasses than for the projector.
Keeping that in mind, it's still worth mention that even though Epson says the projector doesn't fully support HDMI version 1.4a, it can connect directly to a 3D Blu-ray player, game console, or other video device for full 1080p 3D input (with the projector scaling it to 720p).
Also note that although Epson says that the 3D will work with a 3D computer equipped with a Quad-buffered, Open GL 3D-compatible graphics card, it doesn't support the 3D format that computers typically use, and it doesn't support 3D with a VGA connection. To get the right 3D format, according to Epson, you have to add third-party software on the computer and connect by HDMI.
For my 3D tests, I connected the projector to a Blu-ray player. The 3D video image quality was reasonably good overall, despite some minor 3D-related motion artifacts I saw in scenes that tend to bring out the problem. I didn't see any crosstalk.
A last important note is that if you need sound, you shouldn't count on the W16's anemic audio system. The 2-watt mono speaker offers reasonably good sound quality, but only if you're close enough to hear it. If you need sound, plan on using an external audio system, even for a small room.
The Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector falls short of getting an Editors' Choice, with good, but not great, image quality for both data and video, and underwhelming audio. Even so, it may well be your preferred choice, especially if you're bothered by rainbow artifacts in DLP projectors but need 3D now or want to future-proof your purchase for later. The Epson PowerLite W16 3D WXGA 3LCD Projector lets you have it both ways, so you can get your rainbow-free cake and 3D too.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/0ouXkgi_TbI/0,2817,2417118,00.asp
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Year Walk and Ridiculous Fishing | Indie Gamer Chick
You know what I don?t understand?? Portable gaming consoles.? I get the concept, I think.? It?s a console, but you can take it anywhere.? Cool, right?? Except, when I think of situations where I use a portable gaming device, I typically only have a few minutes to play.? I?m not into gaming in car rides (even the nice Vita screen is unplayable with the sun glaring), I don?t do a lot of plane rides, and when I?m at home, I would rather play a game on a proper console.? The only times where it makes sense for me to play a portable game are when I?ve got ten minutes or less to kill.? Waiting in a line, or out having a cigarette, or with whatever time I have to spare during a lunch break.? That?s why I?m baffled at the types of portable games that are popular on Vita or 3DS these days.? Hey, I loved Persona 4 Golden as much as the next person, but I would have loved it just as much if I had played in on the PlayStation 3.? Probably more, in fact.? Why does Uncharted even need a stripped down portable version?? Why did Nintendo make a port of Ocarina of Time one of the flagship launch-window titles for 3DS?? These aren?t games designed to be portable.? These are console games that require significant time investments.? What if I just want to play something for five minutes while taking a dump?
The only valid argument I?ve heard is ?what if you have to share the television with others??? Granted, that was never a problem with me.? Only child here that had her own television from an early age.? I guess my parents weren?t keen on watching endless reruns of Barney and Sesame Street.? Still, as someone who is very fond of consoles, I?ve oddly never had the desire to carry one around with me.? Brian says I?m almost certainly in the minority on that.? I say that just proves how much smarter I am than everyone else.
And don?t say I don?t know humility.? I do.? It?s what measures moisture in the air.
The kind of portable gaming sessions I want are readily available.? They?re typically found on phones.? Most of the time.? Year Walk is a bizarre horror-adventure game based on Swedish mythology.? It seems like it could be a decent title, but this is one of those cases where the game failed to grab my interest right out of the gate and I just couldn?t get into it.? I?m not a big fan of point and click games.? This is more exploration-oriented than average, but I fucking hate games where you wander around with no clue of where to go, what your objectives are, or what the ultimate goal is.? Plus, it had features I?m not too keen on, like sound-based puzzles.? I typically play my iPhone games with the sound turned off, because I have a strong desire to not annoy those around me.? I mean, more so than usual.
I don?t deny Year Walk is spooky. It really is. But I don?t feel it?s put to good use on iOS. I would have rather played this on a television.
I didn?t finish Year Walk.? Not even close.? I spent most of the game just aimlessly shambling about.? Yea, the settings were spooky, but I would have rather played this on a console, or the Vita.? I probably should have fired this up on the iPad, where at least I could have seen things better.? But, the truth was, I didn?t want to play it anymore.? I was bored.? I think horror-adventure fans might get a lot more mileage out of this than I did.? Really, I was just disappointed that this wasn?t a game about Wicket?s first birthday.
. .
. .
. .
Get it?? Wicket was an Ewok.? Ewok sounds like Year Walk?
. .
. .
You know, Brian told me that one was no good.? I didn?t listen to him.? And now he?s gloating.? He said ?it?s too obscure a Star Wars pun and you have to make too large a logical leap to draw the connection.?? Fine.? Trying again: I thought Year Walk was boring.? Would have been better if it had starred Luke Yearwalker.
. .
. .
. .
Ridiculous Fishing has absolutely no connection to Year Walk, other than being on iPhone.? When I told someone I was reviewing this, they said ?I?ve never liked a fishing game.? Never ever ever.?? Although I can?t say the same (I was quite fond of Sega Bass Fishing when I was ten),? saying this is about fishing is like saying Punch-Out is an authentic boxing simulator.? Here, you use the tilt-controls of your phone to lower a fishing lure to the bottom of the sea.? While it?s descending,? you want to avoid touching fish.? Once you touch a fish, the descent stops and the lure starts to surface.? Any fish you touch at this point are on the hook and being reeled in.? When you reach the surface, the fish fly up in the air.? At this point, you whip out a gun and shoot them.
No, seriously.? You shoot them.? With a gun.? Okay, so it?s not the most ridiculous form of fishing I?ve ever seen.? These Lithuanians I believe have that covered.
God bless YouTube.
Fishy fishy in the brook.. I wonder if Brooks Bishop hated that rhyme as a kid?
I?ve never, ever liked tilt-controls.? Ridiculous Fishing is the first game that I truly enjoyed because?of tilt-controls.? It just works.? It?s accurate, it feels natural, and it makes the game more fun.? And Ridiculous Fishing is perfectly suited for micro-gaming sessions.? Got five minutes to kill?? Cast a line, scoop up some fish, shoot those fuckers up, and get back to what you were doing.? It also has actual depth to it, with time-sinky upgrades and a decent (not spectacular) variety of fish to catch. ? In a sense, it?s the perfect mobile game.? My biggest complaints are how there?s no jelly-fish repellent among the items.? Well, that and the Game Center leaderboards are sort of limited.? Oh, and maybe the game is a teeny-tiny bit overpriced at $2.99.? A little steep for a game with no variety at all, especially on the iPhone market.? Of course, Year Walk cost $3.99 and it?s on the wrong platform.? It would probably make an excellent PC game, but at its price, it?s like paying LeBron James to play on your cricket team.
Wait, you mean we?re not going to eat them?
Year Walk was developed by Simogo and I really want to try it on a console at some point. Ouya, perhaps?
Ridiculous Fishing was developed by Vlambeer and is Chick Approved.
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Source: http://indiegamerchick.com/2013/03/27/year-walk-and-ridiculous-fishing/
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মঙ্গলবার, ২৬ মার্চ, ২০১৩
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On-Demand Car Service Uber Finally Embraces Microsoft With A New Windows Phone App
I'm a little embarrassed to admit how reliant I've become on Uber when I'm traveling -- most regular cab drivers seem to find me terribly repellant -- but now the service is now is working to expand its reach even further. The folks behind the on-demand car service announced earlier today that Windows Phone users now have a native app of their own, albeit one that doesn't look quite as pretty as what iOS and Android users are privy to.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/OWPcHTBioS0/
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রবিবার, ২৪ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Congo says foils plot to assassinate president
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's government said on Friday it had thwarted a plot involving a Belgian member of parliament that aimed to assassinate President Joseph Kabila and overthrow his government.
Two suspects - a Belgian doctor of Congolese origin named Jean-Pierre Kanku Mukendi and Isidore Madimba Mongombe, a former policeman - were arrested last month in the capital Kinshasa, Interior Minister Richard Muyej told journalists.
Muyej said the two men, who were in possession of a small quantity of weapons at the time of their arrest, confessed to the plot.
"(Mukendi) admitted that this plan to attack the city of Kinshasa and physically eliminate the head of state was adopted at a large meeting presided by himself on January 20 in Kinshasa," he said.
Muyej claimed Mukendi had, while living in Belgium, founded a group called "Mouvement Debout Congolais", or the Arise Congolese Movement, with the assistance of a member of Belgium's Chamber of Representatives.
"With the help of the Belgian member of parliament Laurent Louis, he increased his meetings with Congolese compatriots ... in the aim of preparing and finalizing their project to overthrow (Congo's) institutions," he said.
Louis, an independent MP, told Reuters that while he opposed Kabila's rule, he was not involved in any plot to overthrow the Congolese government by force.
"I am opposed to violence ... What's more, these meetings were totally public. There weren't any secret meetings to plot this or that," he said by telephone.
Joseph Kabila became president of the vast mineral-rich but chronically unstable Congo in 2001 following the assassination of his father, President Laurent Kabila.
While he won the country's first democratic poll in nearly five decades in 2006 in a vote endorsed by observers as free and fair, Kabila's reelection five years later was tarnished by widespread irregularities.
Twenty men suspected of belonging to another insurgent group were arrested in South Africa last month and charged with plotting to overthrow Kabila after they traveled to the country to seek military training and buy arms.
(This story corrects month of arrest in second paragraph)
?
(Reporting by Bienvenu Bakumanya; Additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Richard Valdmanis)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-says-foils-plot-assassinate-president-180316564.html
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Military releases names of three Marines killed in shooting
(Reuters) - Military officials on Saturday released the names of two Marines killed in a shooting at a Virginia base, along with the identity of the gunman, also a Marine, who took his own life in the incident.
The shooting on Thursday at Marine Corps Base Quantico, about 40 miles south of Washington, was the second fatal non-combat incident involving Marines on U.S. soil in a matter of days.
Seven Marines died and eight other service members were wounded when a mortar exploded during a live-fire training exercise on Monday at an munitions depot in Nevada.
In the Virginia incident, a Marine shot dead two colleagues at a barracks at Quantico's Officer Candidates School before turning a gun on himself.
A statement from the base identified the victims as 19-year-old Lance Corporal Sara Castromata of Oakley, California, and Corporal Jacob Wooley, 23, of Guntown, Mississippi.
The gunman was identified as Sergeant Eusebio Lopez, 25, of Pacifica, California. Lopez was a tactics instructor at the school and his military specialization was as a machine-gunner, the base said. He joined the Marine Corps in May 2006 and was promoted to his current rank in July 2011.
Military spokesmen have so far declined to comment on what may have motivated the shooting at the base.
Castromata, who joined the Marines in 2011 and was promoted to her current rank in February, was serving as a warehouse clerk. She had won the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
Wooley was a field radio operator who joined the Marines in 2010 and was promoted to his current rank last July.
He had won the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
"We send our prayers and condolences to the families, fellow Marines and friends of the Marines who were lost in this tragic incident," base commander Colonel David Maxwell said in the statement. "Our priority is to take care of and support all of those who are affected by this loss."
He said the incident remained under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
According to Maxwell, base security officers received a 911 call at about 10:30 p.m. on Thursday and responded within five minutes, backed up by local police. They fired no shots.
The Officer Candidates School provides basic instruction for prospective Marine officers. The sprawling Quantico base is also home to the Marine Corps' Brig military prison and the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Gunna Dickson)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/military-releases-names-three-marines-killed-shooting-033258411.html
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American Realty offers to buy Cole Credit Property Trust for $5.7 billion
LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Indian Wells runner-up Juan Martin del Potro believes Britain's Andy Murray can become world tennis number one this year. The towering Argentine beat Murray in the quarter-finals last week on the California hard courts and is looking forward to locking horns with him on grass after confirming he will play at the Aegon Championships at London's Queen's Club two weeks before Wimbledon. "Murray is a big champion, he already won a grand slam, he made the finals in Australia and he has everything he needs to be at the top in the future," Del Potro said in a statement. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/american-realty-offers-buy-cole-credit-property-trust-102647939--sector.html
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Speeding Iowa dad ignores police with baby coming
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) ? An Iowa man who was pulled over for speeding as he rushed his pregnant wife to the hospital said he was determined to keep going despite the police lights flashing behind him.
Tyler Rathjen planned to keep going as his wife, Ashley, began giving birth to their son in the passenger seat. But a red light with heavy traffic finally forced him to stop.
"I should not stop, I'm not going to, I'm going to get to the hospital," Tyler Rathjen recalled thinking in an interview with Cedar Rapids TV station KCRG (http://bit.ly/ZOaOiD).
The baby's head and arms were already out by the time Iowa City Officer Kevin Wolfe reached the passenger door.
"We were all having a different experience," Wolfe said.
Ashley Rathjen gave birth to her third son, Owen, just blocks from Mercy Iowa City hospital on March 10.
"I kept saying: there's no break (in contractions) there's no break," she said. "He was coming at that time."
Wolfe helped with the final steps of delivery and then escorted the Williamsburg family to the hospital. His dashboard camera captured the episode.
Owen is now home with his parents and two brothers.
Ashley Rathjen said her newborn son will probably retell the story for years to come.
"I'm sure it will be a life story to tell everybody (about) how he made his grand entrance," she said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/speeding-iowa-dad-ignores-police-baby-coming-173912890.html
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Prince delivers funk-filled finale at SXSW
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, musician Prince holds a news conference at The Apollo Theater announcing his "Welcome 2 America" tour in New York. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday night, Match 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, musician Prince holds a news conference at The Apollo Theater announcing his "Welcome 2 America" tour in New York. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday night, Match 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)
This Fall 2012 publicity photo provided by Rogers and Cowan shows musician Prince performing in concert in Chicago. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday, March 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Rogers and Cowan)
This Fall 2012 photo provided by Rogers and Cowan shows musician Prince performing at a concert in Chicago. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday, March 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Rogers and Cowan)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? How else would Prince shut down the South by Southwest Music Festival that is basically a weeklong showcase of rock n' roll?
By throwing a totally different kind party: a grooving, brass band-backed funkfest that stretched to 3 a.m. and outlasted many fans lucky to get inside in the first place.
As Justin Timberlake and the Smashing Pumpkins headlined other SXSW wrap-ups nearby, Prince prevailed as the toughest ticket Saturday night by performing for only 300 people in his first appearance at the annual music smorgasboard that featured 2,200 bands and artists this year.
Prince towered over them all ? but his concert at the tiny La Zona Rosa club that sits on the fringe of the SXSW mayhem was no grandiose spectacle. He performed on a spartan stage behind a giant video board, and contentedly played bandleader instead of superstar for this funk-filled SXSW finale.
"They called our people and said they wanted some funk in Austin," said Prince, before belting out the last bars of a gentle rendition of "Purple Rain."
A 12-piece brass band joined the latest incarnation of Prince's New Power Generation for a run of hits like "1999" and "Cool" that jammed a groove twist. The show began with the band making a Mardi Gras-style march onto the stage, which was quickly drowned out by shrieks upon the sight of Prince emerging in a magneta, high-collared shirt and snug black blazer.
Few fans, however, came away with photographed keepsakes. Prince is notoriously rigid about controlling his music and image, and organizers warned the crowd three times before the show that taking pictures was forbidden. Fans who flaunted the rule were scolded by security or told to scram.
Even simply using a cell phone was banned? a biting irony, given that the concert was thrown by Samsung Galaxy and promoters worked the crowd beforehand offering customers fresh phone batteries or device test-drives.
Prince never played guitar during the set. Nor did he perform his new single "Screwdriver" that debuted earlier this year, opting instead for funk covers: Curtis Mayfield's "We're a Winner" and Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Until You Get Enough" among them as the night dragged on and weary fans made their way to the exits early.
"Don't make me hurt you. You know how many hits I got?" Prince said during the first of several pseudo-set closers, before launching into yet another encore.
Green Day, Dave Grohl, Vampire Weekend, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks also starred at SXSW this week.
____
Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber
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মঙ্গলবার, ১২ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Tips to Help You Generate Leads on Facebook - SearchPro Systems
SEO or search engine optimization is the match of good content on your site with optimizing with search engines and most importantly, proper social media management. One of the most important social networks to focus on for any SEO campaign is Facebook. This is because Facebook has over 750 million active users online and that number grows daily. One of best things your business can do is be on Facebook and begin to create a community there with your customer base.
So how does Facebook work for SEO? When a Facebook page has more likes on it the page is more popular. An active, popular page will rank higher on search engines than non-active pages. By generating these likes or leads, you?ll attract more customers to your business page. Here are some tips to help you with your social media management for Facebook:
Create a Business Page
The first step of course is to create your own Facebook page. This page is a must have in order to build up leads to build up your online presence. From here, you?ll create a community with your customers that will keep your page active and popular to search engines.
Make an Industry Group
Making a group is a very easy way to get leads. When a customer joins your group, they can invite anyone in their friend?s list to join your group as well. This can be a successful way to generate leads.
Use Plugins
When creating new content for your site, be it a new blog post, press release, product announcement, or posting pictures from an event you want to make sure it?s easy for your audience to share that with their friends. By adding the Facebook Like plugin, your content can be easily shared and viewed on Facebook.
Invite your Friends
Before we create a business page, most of us have our own personal Facebook page already. By inviting your friends to your new business page, you have a quick, simple way to build likes up on your page and get the local support of your community.
Use Business Page to Comment
If you?ve liked a post on any page that?s not your own, switch to your business page and use that to comment. You will give your page greater exposure on Facebook and people will click through to your page more.
Interact
As a business page owner, it?s imperative that you interact with your customers on your page. In the comments section is the best place to do this. Answer customers? questions, and ask some yourself to generate a conversation. Create polls as well to gauge customers? reactions to future plans.
Share, Share, Share
When you create new content for your website or blog, share it on your Facebook page. This will give that content greater exposure and give it a better chance to be shared by your customers to their Facebook communities. Make sure to share meaningful, relevant content that is important to your audience.
Source: http://www.searchprosystems.com/tips-to-help-you-generate-leads-on-facebook
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শনিবার, ৯ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Movie studios sign on for satellite-based digital delivery to theaters
We doubt we'll see any reduction in ticket prices, but the process of bringing new movies to theaters could get easier very soon as five major studios have signed on with the Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition (DCDC) to use its satellite distribution network. Lionsgate, Universal, Disney, Warner and Paramount are all on board with the scheme, which says it will provide participants access to "a host of delivery options" as digital projection becomes increasingly common. The Hollywood Reporter quotes spokesman Randolph Blotky saying the network is expected to reach 300 locations when it launches this summer, all of which will be equipped with an appliance from video distributor KenCast. The satellite end of things is being handled by EchoStar/Deluxe, and once it's rolled out should make things much easier than the current system of shipping hard drives back and forth. Of course, what we're not hearing so far is if/how this upgrade will reach smaller, older theaters that are facing pricey upgrades from film-based equipment, but with theater chains like AMC, Regal and Cinemark forming the DCDC along with Universal and Warner, those considerations are probably a little further down the list.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/NlzJvbyhgig/
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শুক্রবার, ৮ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Cubans mourn Venezuela's Chavez, worry about the future
HAVANA (Reuters) - Mourners lined up across the country on Thursday as Cuba paid homage to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, amid concerns that his generous policies would not survive him.
In many cities and towns, people filed through government-arranged memorials to pay tribute to the man who poured oil and money into the island nation to help revive its economy after a near-collapse in the 1990s.
In Havana, lines stretched around the full sweep of Revolution Square, where former Cuban leader Fidel Castro used to speak to rallies of a million people, as they went to the memorial beneath a giant statue of Cuban hero Jose Marti.
Such honors were previously reserved only for commanders in Cuba's 1959 revolution, including Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine who helped lead the rebellion and years after his death remains an inspirational figure for leftists globally.
Whether Chavez, who died of cancer on Tuesday at the age of 58, will achieve the same posthumous status remains to be seen, but for Cubans his importance could not be understated.
"He gave us help when we needed it most. He gave us hope," said grim-faced student Tomas Silvio, 24, as he left the Marti monument.
A tearful woman behind him carried a large photo of Chavez, inscribed with the words "Heart of my life."
Chavez came to Cuba's rescue after the communist island's economy plummeted into what is known here as the "Special Period" after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, its top ally and benefactor for 30 years.
Under his rule, Venezuela had been shipping Cuba 115,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for the services of 44,000 Cubans, most of them medical personnel.
He and President Raul Castro, who replaced older brother Fidel five years ago, worked to integrate the two countries' economies with some 30 joint ventures and agreements for many more that have yet to take wing.
According to official Cuban figures, Cuba-Venezuela trade in 2011 was $8.3 billion, out of the island's total of $20 billion.
While life is still not easy for most Cubans, who earn an average of $19 a month but receive various social benefits, it is better than the deprivation and prolonged power blackouts they suffered during the Special Period.
Predictably, the prospect of life without Chavez has raised worries of a return to those times.
Most Cubans are pulling for Chavez' preferred successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, to win an upcoming election for the presidency, under the assumption that he will continue the late leader's policies.
His expected opponent, the more conservative Henrique Capriles, has said if elected, Venezuela's oil largesse, which also goes to a number of countries besides Cuba, will end.
But there are doubts about whether Maduro has the political force to keep the Chavistas unified and in power.
"I don't think Maduro has the strength that Chavez had. Will he be able to survive a coup? I don't think so," said housewife Deisy Gonzaga, 34, as she waited for a bus amid the crumbling buildings of Central Havana.
WORD OF POTATOES
Cuban insecurity is fanned by the fact that despite the efforts of Chavez, life on the Caribbean island is still Spartan, with little money, few extras and limited choices.
A few blocks from the long line of mourners in Revolution Square, Cubans queued up around the wire fence of a neighborhood agricultural market because word had spread that for the first time in weeks, potatoes were available.
A security guard at the gate kept order by allowing customers in a few at a time, but there were still shouts of discontent from the anxious and growing crowd.
"We haven't had potatoes for some time. I guess the harvest has started," said retired engineer Anibal Fontana, 78, as he stood with an empty sack in hand, waiting his turn.
"Cubans are used to this, lines for everything," he said.
Not all Cubans are worried about Venezuela's political future. Lazaro Rodriguez, a building manager in the Vedado district, said he expects Maduro to win and continue the policies of Chavez.
"Nothing is going to happen here because nothing is going to happen in Venezuela," Rodriguez said. "What Chavez has done, the move to the left in Latin America, is irreversible."
(Reporting By Jeff Franks; Editing by Todd Eastham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cubans-mourn-venezuelas-chavez-worry-future-023935741.html
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মঙ্গলবার, ৫ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Yellen defends Fed's low interest rate policies
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The No. 2 official at the Federal Reserve said Monday that she does not see any risks at the moment from the Federal Reserve's low-interest rate policies that would prompt her to urge that the policies be curtailed.
Janet Yellen, vice chair of the Fed, provided an aggressive defense of the central bank's efforts to keep interest rates low, seeking to answer critics both inside and outside of the Fed who have warned that the efforts could generate higher future inflation or market instability.
The Fed is buying $85 billion per month in Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities to push long-term rates lower.
Yellen said while the risks needed to be monitored closely, "At this stage, I do not see any that would cause me to advocate a curtailment of our purchase program."
Her comments to a policy conference sponsored by the National Association for Business Economics echoed remarks Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made last week in congressional testimony and in a speech he made Friday night.
Yellen said that while there were risks from the Fed's aggressive efforts to boost the economy and reduce unemployment, there were also risks from not being aggressive enough.
"At present, I view the balance of risks as still calling for a highly accommodative monetary policy to support a stronger recovery and more rapid growth in employment," Yellen said.
The comments from both Yellen and Bernanke sent a strong signal that the Fed is standing by its low-interest rate policies. Questions about whether the Fed might decide to curtail the bond purchases and end them altogether had arisen based on criticism from some Fed regional bank presidents that they believed the risks outweighed the benefits of the bond purchases.
Both Yellen and Bernanke sought to assure financial markets that the Fed is closely monitoring the bond buying efforts and will respond to any threats that the purchases, which have pushed the Fed's holdings above $3 trillion, could raise the threat of financial instability. Some critics have worried that the extended period of low interest rates were causing some investors to pursue riskier investments.
Yellen said that at the moment she did not see "pervasive evidence of trends such as rapid credit growth, a marked buildup in leverage or significant asset bubbles that would clearly threaten financial stability."
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Why Every Office Should Switch To Walking Desks
Man was not meant to spend all day hunched over a dimly lit screen; disturbingly high incidences of obesity, joint pain and fatigue are our bodies’ not-so-subtle ways of saying they want to get up and move around. After piloting a walking desk – a standing desk attached to a treadmill – for a month, I’m convinced they should become the default workstation. Immediately, my daily calorie burn jumped 30.7 percent, and I lost 3 pounds and a percent of body fat in a week. I also experienced less joint pain throughout the day. What Is A Walking Desk? The Lifespan TR-1200-DT5 (retail: $1,500) places a square standing desk atop standard-size treadmill (74″). Instead of a large front dashboard, a relatively discrete control panel for speed is attached on the body-facing side of the desk. Speed varies from .4 MPH to 4MPH (about the pace of a light run). Getting Started With Slow But Steady Adjustments Migrating to the walking desk was relatively easy: I just plopped my laptop and monitor down on the squarish 46-inch desk and got to work. The intuitive interface lets you choose several tracking mechanisms for calorie burn and distance. The first day I couldn’t walk more than an hour at a time before I felt like I was losing concentration. It also takes some getting used to walking like a Tyrannosaurus rex (arms tucked-in and elbows bent at the keyboard). At first, I would work for an hour walking, and then sit for 30 minutes. The first day I walked about four hours. Now I only rest once a day. It also took a bit to develop the musculature in my upper back to support raised arms for hours on end. This is no longer a problem. After experimenting with different speeds, I now vary between .8 and 1.2, picking up speed in the late morning/early afternoon to offset the natural fatigue that precedes the morning news rush. Every so often I have to lean on my elbows or straddle the rails to take a break. Burning More Calories While it’s intuitive to think that walking for an extra 5 to 8 hours a day would burn more calories, recent scientific evidence suggested otherwise. A study of “exergames” – video games that require full-body movement – found “no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general, or at anySource: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/97pY8HXI4Dk/
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রবিবার, ৩ মার্চ, ২০১৩
Kerry: Divided Egypt needs political compromise
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry looks down during a pause in a statement to the media with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, not pictured, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Cairo is the sixth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip and begins the Middle East portion of his nine-day journey. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry looks down during a pause in a statement to the media with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, not pictured, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Cairo is the sixth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip and begins the Middle East portion of his nine-day journey. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Egyptian activists burn a poster depicting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a protest outside the Egyptian foreign ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 2, 2013. Cairo is the sixth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip and begins the Middle East portion of his nine-day journey. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An Egyptian activist shouts slogans as she holds a poster depicting Egyptian Islamist President Mohammed Morsi doctored to resemble Adolf Hitler during a protest outside the Egyptian foreign ministry during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 2, 2013. Cairo is the sixth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip and begins the Middle East portion of his nine-day journey. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr leave after a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Cairo is the sixth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip and begins the Middle East portion of his nine-day journey. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gives a statement to the media at the start of a meeting with business leaders in Cairo, Egypt on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Cairo is the sixth leg of Kerry's first official overseas trip and begins the Middle East portion of his nine-day journey. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's bickering government and opposition need to overcome their differences to create "a sense of political and economic viability" if the country is to thrive as a democracy, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.
He urged them to compromise for the good of the country.
In meetings with Egypt's foreign minister and opposition politicians, some of whom plan to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections, Kerry said an agreement on economic reforms to seal a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan package was critical. Closing the IMF deal also will unlock significant U.S. assistance promised by President Barack Obama last year.
But Kerry's message to the liberal and secular opposition may have been blunted as only six of the 11 guests invited by the U.S. Embassy turned up to see the top American diplomat at a group meeting, and three of those six said they still intended to boycott the April polls, according to participants.
Undaunted, Kerry told reporters he had heard great passion from those who did attend and was convinced that they wanted to work in Egypt's best interests.
But after meeting with Foreign Minister Kamel Amr, he acknowledged the difficulty in overcoming the deep differences. He said he would make that point to President Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist from the Muslim Brotherhood, in their talks Sunday.
"I say with both humility and with a great deal of respect that getting there requires a genuine give-and-take among Egypt's political leaders and civil society groups just as we are continuing to struggle with that in our own country," Kerry told reporters, in apparent reference to the current stalemate in Washington over the federal budget.
'There must be a willingness on all sides to make meaningful compromises on the issues that matter most to all of the Egyptian people."
Kerry spoke by telephone with Mohammed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate who heads the National Salvation Front, an opposition coalition calling for the election boycott.
He also met privately with Amr Moussa, a former minister under ex-President Hosni Mubarak who's now aligned with the Salvation Front. Moussa, an ex-Arab League head, ran for president last summer.
Neither ElBaradei nor Moussa attended the group meeting.
The Salvation Front says now is not the time for elections that will further polarize the country while violent clashes continue between protesters and security forces, further shaking the faltering economy.
Even as Kerry arrived from Turkey on the latest stop in his first official overseas visit as secretary of state, activists in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura said a 35-year-old protester was killed when an armored police vehicle crushed him to death during violent anti-Morsi protests Saturday.
In the restive Suez Canal city of Port Said, a police vehicle ran over five people Saturday after protesters marching along a main street refused to allow the car through.
The continuing political turmoil has scared away tourists and foreign investors, eroding Egypt's foreign reserves by nearly two-thirds of what it was before the uprising. Those reserves, which stand at less than $14 billion, are needed to pay for subsidies that millions of poor Egyptians rely on for survival.
Kerry told business leaders that the U.S. is not picking sides in Egypt, and he appealed to all sides to come together around human rights, freedom and speech and religious tolerance. Equally essential, he said, is uniting to undertake the reforms necessary to qualify for the IMF package. Those include increasing tax collections and curbing energy subsidies.
"It is clear to us that the IMF arrangement needs to be reached and we need to give the market place some confidence," Kerry said.
"It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy gets stronger, gets back on its feet and it's very clear that there is a circle of connections in how that can happen," he said. "To attract capital, to bring money back here, to give business the confidence to move forward, there has to be sense of security, there has to be a sense of political and economic viability."
Opposition politician Mohammed Abu Hamed said Kerry told the six attendees that Egypt must quickly end the turmoil to restore investor confidence and help the country get the loans it needs. But he said he was unmoved by Kerry's unity appeal and suggestion that if the opposition wanted its voice heard it should participate in the elections.
"He is coming with conviction that elections are the solution," Abu Hamed told The Associated Press after the meeting.
"Three of us insisted on our position to boycott elections and explained our opinion," he said. "The other three said they would take part, but that there needs to be guarantees of transparency and fairness in the elections."
One invitee who decided not to attend, Ahmed Maher, the founder of a group that helped spark the revolution that toppled Mubarak, said he didn't go because the meeting's goals were unclear, its allotted time of about an hour was not long enough and it lacked major opposition figures.
"It is clear that nothing has changed in Washington's shallow way of dealing with Egypt," he said. "There are no deep conversations. Everything is just being rushed through." He added that the elections will be a "one-sided game" because the Muslim Brotherhood is running Egypt.
Kerry finished his day with Kamel Amr at the foreign ministry. Before the meeting, several hundred people protested against Kerry's visit. They burned Kerry's pictures and chanted that Washington was siding with the Muslim Brotherhood; they dispersed before Kerry arrived.
The foreign minister said he was hopeful that the Obama administration would come through for Egypt.
"Of course, we expect from friends, especially the United States as a strategic partner, to stand by Egypt in this period, especially on the economic issues," he said.
Kerry is in Cairo on the sixth leg of a nine-nation trip to Europe and the Middle East.
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Obama: We will get through cuts
Obama: We will get through cuts
By JIM KUHNHENNBy JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press?
?House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2013, following a meeting with President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders regarding the automatic spending cuts. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2013, following a meeting with President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders regarding the automatic spending cuts. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio enters the White House in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2013, for a meeting with President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders to discuss the automatic federal spending cuts. A fiscal deadline all but blown, President Barack Obama says he once again wants to seek a big fiscal deal that would raise taxes and trim billions from expensive and ever growing entitlement programs. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
In this Feb. 28, 2013, photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio pauses while meeting with reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, to answer questions about the impending automatic spending cuts that take effect March 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Democratic leaders finish a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, after answering questions about the impending automatic spending cuts that take effect March 1. From right to left are, Senate Majority Whip Sen. Richard Durbin of Ill., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In this Feb. 28, 2013, photo, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., joined by fellow House Democratic women, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, to talk about the impending automatic spending cuts that will most likely take effect late Friday, March 1. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says Americans will get through the automatic spending cuts kicking in Friday.
Obama says the nation shouldn't be making "dumb and arbitrary" cuts. He says Republicans have allowed the cuts to happen.
Obama stays he still believes the cuts can be replaced, but he wants a deal that includes more taxes.
He says as long as the cuts stay in effect, Americans will know that the economy could have been better had they been averted.
Obama spoke after a meeting with congressional leaders that yielded no immediate results.
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