Sunday, September 30, 2012

How Technology Is Empowering Teachers, Minting Millionaires, And Improving Education

Screen shot 2012-09-28 at 4.25.15 AMThanks to the rise of in-classroom technology, the focus in education tends to be on student engagement and how to improve learning. It becomes easy to forget the importance of great teachers. Startups, entrepreneurs, businesses (and the rest) need to remember that technology doesn't have to put teachers in jeopardy; it can help them lead the education evolution, even if their traditional role in the classroom becomes obsolete. Today, in spite of the significance and potential long-term value of the job they do every day, teachers (especially in K-12 and public education) tend to be underpaid. In May, we wrote about a few platforms that are looking to change that -- to empower the world's under-salaried educators. TeachersPayTeachers, a platform that enables teachers to buy, sell, and share their original content and lesson plans, hit a big milestone this week which is sure to catch the attention of educators around the country: It minted its first millionaire.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/f8xWiXbiCmM/

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Japan: Online Ticket Pre-Sales for ?Breaking Dawn Part 2? Comes with a Twilight Saga DVD of Your Choice @clara_press

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Source: http://www.spunk-ransom.com/2012/09/29/japan-online-ticket-pre-sales-for-breaking-dawn-part-2-comes-with-a-twilight-saga-dvd-of-your-choice-clara_press/

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

Adoption Tails 9/29/12 | Tree House Humane Society

It was another happy busy week at Tree House! Sweet little kittens Sedro-Woolley and Bia were adopted together and are surely already playing like crazy in their new home. Albee also went home with an adopter who is just head over heels for him. We are particularly happy for Albee, as he has been through quite a lot. He came to us in May after being found severely injured, with a broken leg and hip. He recovered quite nicely after some time and intensive care here. We are so glad that we were able to provide him with the care he needed to get him happy, healthy, and off to be part of a great new family.

Sweet Elsie went home with a very thoughtful adopter. Attentive and receptive through the whole process, we?re confident Elsie has found a wonderful home with a wonderful person. She took the tour and finally met miss Elsie right before heading out.? She spent time sitting with her and gently chatting with her.? She naturally fell for our sweet little lady and was particularly eager to get her home to a place Elsie felt truly safe and loved.? Elsie has not been a fan of the other cats since she?s been on the adoption floor, but luckily, she is off her forever home to be the princess she deserves to be.

Lady Lake was also adopted by a couple who visited a couple times. They were looking for a younger cat who was playful and sweet.? Lady Lake fit their every criteria, and while they were very excited to take her home on the spot, they decided to stop by the pet store and prepare her acclimation space before bringing her home. They quickly left to get their supplies, and then rushed right back over to pick her up!? She will be welcomed with open hearts and plenty of toys and treats to keep her busy. Peridot went home to long-time Tree House adopters, and we?re glad to know she?s in such great hands.

Beautiful Lummi, with her crazy kitten spunk and soulful eyes was adopted, and her new home has a young, cat-friendly dog to help burn off her energy. Zelus never made it to the adoption floor, because his foster parents just couldn?t give him up. After nine months, Sir Lanksalot was finally adopted! He?s off to live in a very zen environment which we hope makes him feel safe and secure. Kiara went home with our very own vet, where she?ll have five other Tree House friends- some new and some old! We?re so glad pretty Kiki will finally know a happy forever home.

Tigger went home to one of our very kind foster parents, where he could spend his last days in comfort. We are saddened by the passing of this special, FIV+ tabby boy, but comforted by the knowledge that he was doted on during the five days he knew a home. Our foster parent kept a watchful on on Tigger, communicating with us every step of the way. Tigger was humanely euthanized on September 26th, due to probable kidney cancer, and a combination of other ailments. Admitted almost six years ago, Tigger had built up quite a following, and our thoughts are with everyone who knew and loved him.

posted by Sydney M.

Source: http://scratchingpost.treehouseanimals.org/?p=3008

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Friday, September 28, 2012

New Zealand admits illegally spying on Kim Dotcom

Mark Coote / Reuters

The FBI requested the arrest of Kim Dotcom for leading a group that netted $175 million since 2005 by allegedly copying and distributing music, films and other copyrighted content without authorization.

By NBC News' Ian Johnston and wire reports

New Zealand's spy agency illegally carried out surveillance on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, an official report showed Thursday, prompting an apology from the prime minister and dealing a possible blow to a U.S. bid to extradite him.

Washington wants the 38-year-old German national, also known as Kim Schmitz, to be sent to the United States to face charges of internet piracy and breaking copyright laws.?

The FBI requested the arrest of Dotcom for leading a group that netted $175 million since 2005 by allegedly copying and distributing music, films and other copyrighted content without authorization.

Dotcom maintains that the Megaupload site was no more than an online storage facility, and has accused Hollywood of lobbying the U.S. government to prosecute him.

New Zealand police asked the?Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)?to keep track of Dotcom and his colleagues before a raid in late January on his rented country estate near Auckland, which saw computers and hard drives, works of art, and cars confiscated.

Megaupload founder's homes raided, $5M in luxury cars seized

A report by Justice Paul Neazor found that the GCSB had illegally spied on Dotcom because it is only allowed to gather ?foreign intelligence? and people who are New Zealand citizens or residents are protected.

Megaupload founder "Kim Dotcom," the alleged mastermind behind one of the Internet's biggest and most lucrative schemes, appeared in a New Zealand court Monday morning as new details emerged about his extravagant lifestyle. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

The illegal surveillance may deal another blow to the U.S. extradition case after a New Zealand court ruled in June that search warrants used in the raid on Dotcom's home were illegal.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key blamed ?human error? in a statement, saying the GCSB had relied on information from the police about Dotcom?s residency status without checking further and also made a mistake in interpreting the law.

?It is the GCSB?s responsibility to act within the law, and it is hugely disappointing that in this case its actions fell outside the law. I am personally very disappointed that the agency failed to fully understand the workings of its own legislation,? he said.

More international coverage from NBC News

The director of the GCSB, Ian Fletcher, said he was ?very sorry? over the affair in a statement, admitting that ?we got this wrong.?

?I know that it will take time to regain the trust and confidence that we have lost,? he said.

Opposition Labour Party leader David Shearer described the Neazor report as a ?whitewash,? and called for a broader inquiry in a statement.

He complained the report ?doesn?t address why, in the 15 meetings the Prime Minister had with GCSB this year, he was not briefed about this issue given it involved national security and a massive police operation involving the FBI.?

Megaupload suspect Kim Dotcom denies Internet piracy, money laundering

Ira Rothken, a U.S. lawyer working with Dotcom?s defense team, told Radio New Zealand that he wanted to find out what Key knew and when he found out.

Video is released from the mansion raid of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, just as the online file-sharing tycoon goes on trial. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

?We?ve seen a great amount of government aggression in this case, from the raid on a family with children ? Mr. Dotcom?s residence ? to illegal search warrants to what we think is an illegal search and seizure and we also have seen that the United States has illegally taken some data offshore,? Rothken said.

Feds shut down popular file-sharing website Megaupload

Asked if the case should continue, Rothken told Radio New Zealand, ?The prosecution [lawyers] in both New Zealand and the United States likely has a discretion that when you have such a high dose of illegality that goes into the process of dismissing the case in the interests of justice. Of course we think that?s the right thing to do.?

U.S. authorities are currently appealing a New Zealand court decision that Dotcom should be allowed to see the evidence on which the extradition hearing will be based.

The extradition hearing has been delayed until March 2013.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/27/14120478-new-zealand-admits-illegally-spying-on-megaupload-founder-kim-dotcom?lite

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Cook Taste Eat Teaches You to Cook with Free Daily Emails and Videos [Cooking]

Cook Taste Eat Teaches You to Cook with Free Daily Emails and VideosCook Taste Eat is a great new resource for both budding and advanced home cooks. The site presents a daily video each day teaching you chef techniques and tricks, and at the end of each week it all culminates in a tasty new meal.

Cook Taste Eat is hosted by chefs like Michael Mina, a James Beard Award winner and Michelin-star recipient, and singer-songwriter Michelle Branch.

In addition to the cooking videos and accompanying recipes, you'll find tasting notes, a cooking timeline, and drink pairing suggestions for each meal.

You can follow at your own pace?learning to prepare one part at a time or the whole meal in one go.

This week's menu is sesame-crusted ahi tuna with fava bean falafel, yogurt tahini, and grilled cucumber salad. Upcoming weeks will feature butter basted chicken, lobster pot pie, and dishes from guest chefs.

Sign up below for this free cooking class for food lovers.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/LhZeUBtfB0s/cook-taste-eat-teaches-you-to-cook-with-free-daily-emails-and-videos

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Insurance company bets on benefits of integration | Health Policy ...

Posted on 25 September 2012.

Insurance company bets on benefits of integration

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon

The biggest obstacle to blending physical and mental health care is money.

Doctors can?t bill insurance companies for treating their patients? mental health woes and psychologists can?t treat physical ailments. So the two health specialties remain separate, while confused patients get splintered care and often get sicker.

Most experts acknowledge that the system is ridiculous, but feel shackled to insurance company billing codes.

Enter an insurance company that wants to prove once and for all that integrated physical and behavioral health care is both better for patients and less expensive in the long run.

In a new experiment set to start next spring in western Colorado, the nonprofit health insurance company, Rocky Mountain Health Plans, will give hefty ?umbrella payments? to three primary care practices that are already working to integrate behavioral health. Also known as ?global payments,? the funding will replace traditional ?fee-for-service? payments that reimburse doctors for each visit with a patient or each test they order. The insurance company will then encourage the health providers to give patients excellent integrated care. That will vary from site to site and will depend on patients? needs. Care could include a traditional office visit with a doctor or a health coach, email exchanges, telephone counseling or a typical counseling session. Patients will get all the care in the familiar setting of their primary care office.

At the same time, Rocky Mountain will give the control groups ? three other primary care practices that are also trying to integrate behavioral health ?? reimbursements under the traditional ?fee for service? model, where providers bill for appointments and procedures.

Actuaries and data experts will then compare costs and patient outcomes. (Click here to read more about the experiment.)

The aim is to prove quickly that patients do better when doctors are paid to keep patients well rather than worrying about seeing as many patients as fast as possible to keep the cash flowing. Rocky Mountain ultimately wants to change the way it pays providers throughout Colorado and spur change around the country.

?This is not an academic exercise,? said Patrick Gordon, director of government programs for Rocky Mountain and executive director the Colorado Beacon Consortium, a coalition of nonprofit health groups that is seeking to boost the quality and efficiency of health care in western Colorado. ?This will be a transformative pilot that is being built with the goal of replicating success across the country.?

Throughout Colorado, Rocky Mountain insures about 220,000 people. Altogether the primary care practices that participate in the pilot will serve 30,000 to 50,000 patients including the full spectrum of privately and publicly-insured patients. The organizers have not yet picked the practices that will participate.

Rocky Mountain is fronting the cash for the reimbursements. A group called the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association?will coordinate the project while the Colorado Health Foundation?is paying for an evaluation to see how well the three-year program works.

Clinical psychologist Benjamin Miller ?will evaluate the effort. He is director of the Office of Integrated Healthcare Research and Policy in the family medicine department at the University of Colorado Denver.

?This is a total game changer in every facet,? said Miller. ?It?s disruptive innovation. We?re telling the system, ?We?re not going to play by the old rules anymore. We?re going to play with new rules and we want you to operate as a team.??

Miller said the experiment ?takes off the handcuffs of payment reform? and should produce some useful results.

?Everyone wants to know the answer to sustainability,? he said.

Currently, doctors are stuck trying to string together grants, fudge billing codes or give free office space to counselors in hopes that they?ll provide help to patients while creating their own streams of revenue.

Under the new concept, worries about finances will be gone.

?We?re going to take that off the table. Here is the financial support to make this sustainable,? Gordon said.

Rocky Mountain is pumping millions into covering up-front costs for various efforts to strengthen primary care practices and thereby reduce much more costly health expenditures such as surgeries, ER visits and lengthy hospital stays. The effort to integrate behavioral and physical health is part of the larger vision to bolster primary care.

Gordon could not say exactly how much the integration experiment would cost. But, in the long run, he and others are confident that giving patients much better primary care will help achieve the elusive holy grail of health reform: ?bending the cost curve,? or slashing the increasing costs of health care in the U.S.

?We know that behavioral health integration is absolutely essential,? Gordon said. ?The cost and structure of the payment model will probably vary from site to site. This project will give us much deeper insights into what those factors are.?

Gordon said initial estimates show that if primary care practices give high quality integrated behavioral and physical health care to all patients in western Colorado who earn at or below 250 percent of the poverty level ? or about $56,000 a year for a family of four ? health providers could cut the rate of growth in health expenditures by 4 to 5 percent over three years.

?Even relatively modest impacts on (growth) trends can produce more than enough to pay for all of these interventions,? Gordon said. ?It also puts us in a position to share gains with government payers and employers.?

The ultimate goal is to make behavioral health sustainable in primary care. That means giving people help with a much wider array of issues beyond traditional mental health concerns such as depression or schizophrenia.

For instance, Gordon cites the potential benefits of a technique called motivational interviewing in which health providers spend time asking patients how they want to change their lives. The technique can help change unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, poor diet or a sedentary lifestyle, all of which lead to poor health outcomes.

?When you engage a patient in what they want for themselves?they are much more likely to ?change elements of their own behavior,? Gordon said. ?This is very much in contrast with the traditional didactic approach of most conversations between physicians and patients.?

One of the most promising methods for inducing behavior change is to start group visits for people with diabetes, for pregnant moms or for obese people.

?They have proven to be very powerful,? Gordon said. ?You get a peer dynamic. And it?s the group that drives the discussion more than an authoritarian physician.?

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Source: http://www.healthpolicysolutions.org/2012/09/25/insurance-company-bets-on-benefits-of-integration/

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Top Five Discounts in Auto Insurance You can Benefit from ...

Finding affordable car insurance is not easy these days that?s why consumers are looking for discounts when it comes to getting insurance whatever kind of insurance it may be. Although most people would say that it is difficult to land on a cheap or affordable insurance policy nowadays, there are ways to do so.

If you want to save on your auto insurance, you should take a look at the top 5 discounts given by auto insurance companies.

Multiple Vehicles Insured

According to experts, experienced drivers usually enjoy very low insurance premiums on their cars and drivers who have more than one car are qualified for multiple vehicle discounts. This gets better if you have a good credit score too.

Combined Policies

Experienced drivers who have home insurance or rental policy from an insurer can easily get a discount on other policies if they are loyal to one company or insurer.

Student Driver

If you already have a policy and would like to get your student driver insured, you will easily get a auto insurance policy at real competitive prices. The reason why rates of such policies drop significantly at a certain point is because your kids won?t be using the car while they are away in college and only use them when they are at home. This means that the lesser the mileage, it is more unlikely to get into accidents.

Vehicle Safety

If you are getting a new insurance policy on your vehicle, make sure that you mention all the safety features of the particular vehicle or the vehicles you would like to insure. This includes items such as anti-lock brakes, automatic seat belts, and airbags.

Your Anti-Theft Security

To get more discounts from your insurer you can also mention your anti-theft devices. This includes your car?s ignition cut-off system, your fuel cut-off system as well as window etching. All these things will qualify you for an additional discount on your policy.

Experienced drivers usually get all of these discounts so be sure to be one of these drivers to ensure that you get the most out of your hard-earned money.

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Source: http://www.amahoro-onlus.org/769-top-five-discounts-in-auto-insurance-you-can-benefit-from.html

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Monday, September 24, 2012

New chemistry technique reproduces nature's elusive complexity

ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2012) ? Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown how to synthesize in the laboratory an important set of natural compounds known as terpenes. The largest class of chemicals made by living organisms, terpenes are made within cells by some of the most complex chemical reactions found in biology.

The new technique, described in an advance online edition of the journal Nature Chemistry on Sept. 23, 2012, mimics a crucial but obscure biochemical phenomenon that allows cells to make terpenes. The discovery may one day result in cheaper, fully synthetic versions of the cancer drug Taxol, the antimalarial compound artemisinin and hundreds of other useful terpene products.

"It's exciting for us because we're now making molecules that have never been made in the laboratory before, and we've done this by first observing what nature does," said the senior investigator for the study Ryan A. Shenvi, a chemist at Scripps Research.

Powerful Biological Functions

Terpenes take their name from one of their best-known representatives, the paint thinner turpentine -- a derivative of pine sap. Many terpenes, like those in turpentine, are small, plant-made molecules that turn into vapor at relatively low temperatures and waft easily through the air. These often serve as important chemical signals for plants, and are used by humans in fragrances and flavorings.

Some terpenes are more complex, and are synthesized by plants and other organisms as powerful cellular defense mechanisms. "Having such strong biological functions can make them very useful in medicine," said Shenvi. Paclitaxel (Taxol), a widely used cancer drug, is a terpene derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. Artemisinin, the basis for a major class of antimalarial therapy, is a terpene made by the sweet wormwood herb. But the terpene family is highly diverse and also includes vitamin A, menthol, cholesterol and steroids.

Many terpenes, including Taxol and artemisinin, are made naturally in cells by processes that are so complicated, and so hard to understand, that chemists haven't been able to recreate them fully using organic chemistry techniques. The commercial production of these two medicines still depends on the relatively expensive harvesting of starting compounds from plants.

Taking Up the Challenge

In the new study, Shenvi and a postdoctoral researcher in his laboratory, Sergey V. Pronin, set out to recreate one of the two major terpene synthesis processes in nature. Known as tail-to-head polycyclization, this process is used by cells to make numerous complex terpenes. (The other major terpene synthesis process, head-to-tail polycyclization, is already partially reproducible with organic chemistry, and results in terpenes that include steroids.)

The tail-to-head polycyclization process begins with a relatively simple chain of carbon atoms, each of which is decorated with other, mostly hydrogen atoms. The goal of the process is to bend this linear hydrocarbon structure in a way that yields one ringlike structure, then another, and so on in a "polycyclic" chain.

A crucial feature of this process is the effective displacement of positive charge from one carbon atom on the structure to another, in just the right sequence. What makes this feat so challenging for chemists to reproduce, and even to analyze, is that this positively charged state in principle can slide along numerous alternative pathways on the emerging structure. Moreover, because it powerfully attracts negatively charged ions, this carbon-based positive charge, which chemists refer to as a carbocation ["carbo-cat-eye-on"], is inclined to snuff itself out almost immediately.

"Carbocations are notoriously tricky to include in synthetic procedures in the laboratory, because their lifetimes are so short," said Shenvi. "And yet nature has evolved tools to handle them."

Chief among these tools are cyclase enzymes, which hold terpene molecules that are under construction and use their own charged structures to protect carbocations from being quenched -- at least long enough to let them do their work. Chemists who have sought to synthesize terpenes in the laboratory generally have done so without trying to mimic these enzymes' charge sequestration mechanism.

"The natural synthetic pathways were assumed to be much too difficult and maybe impossible," Shenvi said. "But we decided that we would have to recreate it somehow if we wanted to develop a broadly useful technique for making this group of terpenes."

Following Nature's Lead

Pronin and Shenvi eventually found that a type of vinyl epoxide seems to serve as a partial substitute for cyclase enzymes. "We think that it effectively holds the negatively charged counteranion, which would otherwise follow and quench the carbocation before the reaction is complete," said Pronin.

As a demonstration of the power of their new technique, the chemists used it to make two different types of terpene, known as funebrene and cumacrene, starting from relatively simple organic chemistry ingredients. These terpene compounds had never before been fully synthesized outside of living cells.

Shenvi emphasizes that this report represents merely an initial, foundational description of this new strategy, and that technical obstacles still prevent its widespread use. "But once we can get past these obstacles, we should be able to use this new approach to fully synthesize many other valuable compounds," he said. "Basically the entire realm of terpenes will be reproducible with organic chemistry."

Funding for the study, "Synthesis of highly strained terpenes by non-stop tail-to-head polycyclization," was provided by a start-up grant from the Scripps Research Institute and a grant from Eli Lilly & Co.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Scripps Research Institute.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Sergey V. Pronin, Ryan A. Shenvi. Synthesis of highly strained terpenes by non-stop tail-to-head polycyclization. Nature Chemistry, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/NCHEM.1458

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/7iGecnedq_s/120923141822.htm

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Sunday, September 23, 2012

Slovenia's Energy-Minded Premier Shares Hopes for a Solution on Iran

Iran was high on the agenda of Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa , who made his first visit to Washington as head of government this week and is hoping to help mediate efforts to bring Tehran on board with a package of proposals regarding its nuclear capability.

"We are a nuclear energy country. We use atomic energy for 20 percent of our electricity," he said over lunch at the Willard Hotel yesterday. He met with President Bush on Monday and with Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday.

Slovenia's interest in seeing the situation with Iran regularized has to do with natural gas. Slovenia imports 40 percent of its natural gas requirements from Russia. Energy security is a priority for Slovenia and it would like to see gas pumped from Iran via Turkey to Europe, Jansa said.

During his morning meeting with Cheney, Jansa said he learned that Iran would not give its response to Western proposals until August. "We had wanted them to decide by the G-8 meeting. But if the decision is positive, we can wait until August. They did not refuse but asked for more time," he said, noting that there was still disagreement on the time frame. The Group of Eight meeting of industrial nations starts this weekend.

Jansa said he believes that the next crisis the European Union will have to grapple with after Iran is Ukraine. He added that the question of gas and oil was important not only because it could be used as a political tool but also because of high prices. Skyrocketing oil prices accounted for 60 percent of inflation in Slovenia this year, he said.

Jansa, on his sixth visit to Washington, but his first as prime minister, is here with Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel , a former ambassador to Washington.

Jansa was once a freedom fighter, journalist and critic of Yugoslav army excesses. His arrest in 1988 along with three others for critical articles and his six-month detention without legal representation helped spark massive street protests in Ljubljana that eventually allowed Slovenia to break away from Yugoslavia and declare independence in 1991. "That changed my destiny," Jansa said.

Under his leadership, the tiny nation of 2 million, which became a European Union member in 2004, is playing an increasingly visible international role. In September its ambassador to Vienna and its first ambassador to Washington, Ernest Petric , will head the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency. By January 2007, Slovenia will enter the Euro monetary zone and at the beginning of 2008, Slovenia will take over the presidency of the European Union.

On Iraq, Jansa said he feared a withdrawal of foreign troops now could set off chaos but agreed with the U.S. leadership that Iraqi security forces should gradually take over the task of keeping law and order. Rupel said there were several Slovenian instructors in Iraq helping train Iraqis as part of a program put together by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. There are 50 Slovenians in Afghanistan helping run the regional government in Herat.

Toast of the Town

After 17 years as president of Meridian International Center, serving as host, mentor and liaison for the diplomatic community in Washington, Walter L. Cutler , a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, bowed out in style Monday night at a festive dinner among friends in one of the dining halls of the Inter-American Development Bank.

In toasting Cutler, host Luis Alberto Moreno , president of the IDB and previously Colombia's ambassador for more than seven years, said Meridian, its activities and annual autumn ball in the garden-enclosed mansion on Crescent Place, off 16th Street, were part and parcel of Washington's special magic. Founded in 1960, the Center is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote international understanding.

"When ambassadors are sent to Washington, their governments actually think they will get to meet the American president every week. Instead, they are embraced by people like Walt Cutler who help them traverse and navigate the maze of official and diplomatic life like pros," Moreno said.

Cutler assured the guests that despite the many farewells, he really was leaving the job to retire. He could not remember the time when Colombia did not donate the flowers that make up the majestic arrangements adorning the dance floor and banquet rooms of Meridian's yearly ball, Cutler reminisced.

He recalled that the many exchange programs for young aspiring diplomats and public servants that Meridian has organized over the years have yielded 120 heads of state from 69 countries, among them three Latin American presidents, including Colombia's incumbent President ?lvarez Uribe, who first came to Washington on a 1988 visitors' program.

Cutler will be replaced by Stuart W. Holliday , 41, the Meridian International Center announced Tuesday afternoon. The former ambassador for special political affairs at the United Nations from 2003 to 2005 was recently director of Quinn Gillespie & Associates here, a public affairs firm, and a former U.S. diplomat at the U.N. Security Council.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032402880_xml/~3/1y6lwVckM2g/AR2006071101509.html

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amyhoy: "is it still champagne if it comes out of the replicator?" "not if it's the european union federation."

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Saturday, September 22, 2012

Edmonds in running for 'Prettiest Painted Places' honor | My ...

Edmonds in running for ?Prettiest Painted Places? honor

The mural that started it all: Pat Brier?s ?A Day in Edmonds.?

Edmonds is one of five communities in Washington state in the running to be named one of the ?Prettiest Painted Places in America.?

In partnership with the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce, Jeff Stilwell of the Edmonds Mural Society entered Edmonds in the Prettiest Painted Places contest. Sponsored by the Paint Quality Institute, whose mission is to educate the public about quality paints and coatings, the ?Prettiest Painted Places? competition has drawn five entries from Washington: Coupeville, Edmonds, Leavenworth, Port Townsend, and Vashon-Maury Island.

During the next few weeks, the five Washington communities will vie with nearly 200 nominees from other states for regional and national honors, as judges with expertise in color selection, exterior painting, and home improvement review the entries, conduct additional research and make selected site visits. Finalists will be announced in late September, and the nation?s 12 ?Prettiest Painted Places? will be revealed in mid-October.

The Paint Quality Institute has conducted its competition twice before, most recently in 2000. A wide variety of ?places? have been entered in the competition. Nominees range from well-known places, such as Cape Cod, Mass. and Napa, Calif. to hidden gems like Bell Buckle, Tenn. and Holly Springs, Miss.

The names and locations of all of the nominees are posted on the Paint Quality Institute website at blog.paintquality.com.

The Edmonds Mural Society began in the fall of 2009 with the raising of its first mural, ?A Day in Edmonds,? by Pat Brier. Funds to support the murals come from the 200-plus supporting members of the Edmonds Mural Society.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 20th, 2012 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://myedmondsnews.com/2012/09/edmonds-in-running-for-prettiest-painted-places-honor/

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Friday, September 21, 2012

Microsoft wins German ban on Motorola devices

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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Expensive Minor Online Business Web Hosting Errors

Possessing a hardworking domain title in your web-site will help you evidently talk along with your prospective clients and shoppers. An amazing domain identify causes it to be effortless for prospective clients and buyers to locate your internet site, claims a specific thing particular about both you and your industry, and will help preserve your model.

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one. It is simple to say.

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Very poor: TeamSpecialists.com

More beneficial: TeamExperts.com

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Very poor: PhenomenalMnemonicDevices.com

More beneficial: GreatMemoryDevices.com

Most useful: MemoryDevices.com

three. Its very easy to read through, even though all letters are lowercase.

Lousy: theenglishpoets.com

Even better: englishpoets.com

Observe: Ensure it is not difficult for viewers by capitalizing just about every phrase into your printed resources.

four. It is catchy and straightforward to keep in mind.

Case in point (undoubtedly one of Taco Bell?s true domains): FourthMeal.com

This instance includes a caveat; I do not advocate feeding on a fourth food of speedily meals late at nighttime!

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seven. It?s the fewest syllables available.

Weak: ExperiencedCareerAdvisors.com

More suitable: CareerExperts.com

eight. It communicates what you are promoting or manufacturer.

Satisfactory: JaniceJones.com

More suitable: JonesCPA.com

nine. It ends with .com.

For instance you would like to select LeadershipStrategies.com, but it truly is currently taken. Please don?t get LeadershipStrategies.internet. It will just confuse your valued clients and websites website visitors. Maintain researching-you?ll appear up which includes a domain identify that matches these standards. Also, as an instance you reside in Canada; your preferred options could possibly be .com and .ca.

ten. It might use hyphens although not underscores.

Weak: Janice_Jones_CPA.com

Even better: Jones-CPA.com

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Source: http://studentsite.mrandosciasclass.net/2012/09/18/expensive-minor-online-business-web-hosting-errors/

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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Melting Arctic snow threatens to leave seals out in the cold

Ringed seals are currently under consideration for threatened species listing.

By Live Science Staff / September 18, 2012

A ringed seal peaks out from its snow cave.

Brendan Kelly, NSF

Enlarge

Arctic-dwelling ringed seals build snow caves on top of sea ice so they can shield their pups from freezing temperatures and predators. But shrinking snow cover could threaten the seals' ability to make these icy lairs, researchers warn.

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The seals need at least 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow cover to make their shelters. While the mid-winter snowfall rate is expected to increase slightly by the end of the century,?Arctic sea ice?is expected to start forming later in the season. This means that heavy snow falling earlier in the winter will drop into the ocean instead of piling up on the ice, the researchers said.

Drawing on 10 different climate models, the researchers predicted that the area of the Arctic that gets 8-inch accumulations of snow will drop by almost 70 percent during the 21st century. This would significantly reduce the area where?ringed seals?can build sufficient caves. Earlier snowmelts and increased rainfall will also threaten to dissolve the seals' caves before the pups are ready to venture outside on their own, the researchers said.

Ringed seals are currently under consideration for threatened species listing. In fact co-researcher Brendan Kelly of the National Science Foundation was interested in the trend in snow depth because he was contributing to a government report related to the petition to get the ringed seals listed.?

In addition to its importance to the health of ringed seals, the snow cover is also critical to sea-ice thickness, which, in turn, is critical to the livelihoods of animals like?polar bears?and walruses that use the ice as habitat. Since snow is more reflective than ice, it also has a cooling effect on the surface. "So the presence of snow helps sustain the icepack into spring time," Hezel said.

The study was led by researchers at the University of Washington and published Sept. 15 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter?@livescience. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/fJi5IlXSYXg/Melting-Arctic-snow-threatens-to-leave-seals-out-in-the-cold

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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Like Peanut Butter And Chocolate: Apple?s Jony Ive To Design One-Of-A-Kind Leica M

leica-appleApple's going to have to temporarily share its design wizard Sir Jonathan Ive, with high-end camera maker Leica, as Ive will be creating a special, super limited edition of one version of the new Leica M announced by the company yesterday according to PetaPixel. That's bound to be a drool-worthy camera, and this might represent the perfect storm of tech design fanboyism. No details about what the new Leica will look like or whether it'll differ considerably from its stock base model, but only one will ever exist, and that's likely enough to get the kind of people who can afford this sort of thing salivating. The single edition will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to charity.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Zy1bBAMCnKU/

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Monday, September 17, 2012

Time Management Lessons from Raising Twin Boys ? simple ...

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At the dinner table, my wife and I were talking about the piece she just published in her blog, The Red Sticks. She spoke about how she manages her time while raising our twin boys.?You can read her whole post here ? Dividing Time.

In summary, she mentions five important things to remember:

1.?It is okay not to be able to do everything.
2.?Prioritize.
3.?Don?t forget me time.
4.?Use your kid?s downtime to your advantage.
5.?Enjoy your kids.

Although the post was written with parents ? particularly Moms ? in mind, these lessons can be applied to one?s personal and professional life. No wonder she is doing a great job with the boys and on top of this, she is still able to do her personal stuff (like writing).

We discussed how her tips in managing her time at home can apply in business and this is what we came up with:

  • Prioritize.?This is about?making the?best use of your limited time and resources when demands are seemingly limitless.?Your day?only has?a limited number of hours. This is the same for your week, your month, your year, etc. There?is a maximum number of things that you can possibly do (with good quality) in a period of time? therefore, you need to prioritize.
  • Don?t forget me time.??Me time? at work is the time you dedicate to developing yourself. Identify areas of improvement in your skills and capabilities. Talk to your boss and your peers to get feedback and continue to improve yourself.?Part of accountability is continuous self-improvement.? Not only do you look at what you?re already good at but also what else you can improve on.
  • Use your downtime to your advantage.?Obviously, there are times at work when things are toxic ? everything needs to be done right away and deadlines overlap. However, there are also down times. There are two ways you can make use of your office down times. First, you can schedule your vacation at this time and make sure you maximize the number of days you go on leave. The other way is is through?extracurricular activities in ?at work such as organizing a community outreach and writing in the newsletter.? If there are opportunities for you to use or exhibit your talents, then volunteer.
  • Enjoy your work.?Look forward to it everyday and think of having fun. Try not to see work as work but as an opportunity to learn something or mentor someone. You will see how it will impact your productivity!

So who says managers can?t learn from Moms? This post is a perfect example. ?After all, our Moms are probably our first ?managers?.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles.

Source: http://glennremoreras.com/2012/09/15/time-management-lessons-from-raising-twin-boys/

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Sunday, September 16, 2012

AMD's Hondo tablet chip will happily run Windows 8 and Linux, but not Android

AMD's Hondo tablet chip will happily run Windows 8 and Linux, but not Android

Today's business jargon gem: TAM, Total Addressable Market. AMD feels that Windows 8 comes with plenty of the stuff, so it sees no commercial need to make its forthcoming tablet chip -- codenamed Hondo -- play nice Android as well. Speaking to The Inquirer, corporate VP Steve Belt said it was a "conscious decision" not to go after compatibility with Google's OS, because AMD doesn't want to spread itself into "other markets." What could this mean for us tablet-buyers? No dual-booting Windows / Android magic on AMD devices, for one thing, which is perhaps a shame now that ASUS has shown off the combo's potential. On the other hand, Belt made it clear that Honda will support Linux, which -- for now, at least -- is more than can be said of Intel's rival low-power silicon, Clover Trail.

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AMD's Hondo tablet chip will happily run Windows 8 and Linux, but not Android originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 Sep 2012 08:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/onimN-zXgSQ/

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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Restless legs, heart disease link still murky

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Researchers have found a link between restless legs syndrome and future heart disease in women, suggesting people with the strange condition may want to be extra careful about protecting their tickers.

But the new findings contradict earlier studies, and one expert said it's too early to be alarmed.

"The evidence to date is not really convincing enough to go out to the public and say, 'If you have restless legs, you should be concerned about heart disease,'" said Dr. Tobias Kurth, a director of research at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Bordeaux.

Restless legs syndrome, or RLS, refers to unpleasant sensations in the legs that trigger an uncontrollable urge to move.

It is a recognized neurological disorder, but because the symptoms are so vague and may be fleeting, it is unclear when it should be considered a disease. As a result, estimates of how common the condition is have ranged widely - from just a few percent to nearly a quarter of all people.

The new findings, published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, are based on data from the massive Nurses' Health Study. Researchers tracked more than 70,000 women from 2002, when none of them had heart disease, until 2008.

Overall, there was no link between RLS and heart disease. But women who had been diagnosed with the disorder at least three years before the study began were at higher risk.

The rate of death from heart disease was 3.5 percent per decade among this group, compared to 1.7 percent per decade among women without RLS. They were also more likely to have non-fatal heart attacks.

Dr. Xiang Gao, who led the work, said the study doesn't prove that RLS causes heart disease, even though he and his colleagues tried to rule out several possible explanations, such as differences in sleep duration and physical activity.

"Because this an observational study there are still some unknown factors that could affect the association," cautioned Gao, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Gao said it is too early to recommend taking medicine for RLS, which comes with side effects and limited benefits, in hopes of staving off future heart problems.

But he advised people with RLS to have their heart health checked regularly by a doctor and to have a healthy lifestyle to cut their risk of heart disease.

Previous research has supported the link between RLS and heart disease, but it hasn't been able to tease out which came first. The only two studies that have taken a stab at that did not find any association between the neurological problem and later heart problems, although they didn't consider the duration of RLS.

"Overall to me that means there is no consistent evidence that restless legs per se should be considered as a risk factor for coronary heart disease," said Kurth, who led one of those studies.

While he acknowledged that some people can have severe RLS that warrants treatment, he said that in other cases the problem may be mild or go away on its own.

"Is this syndrome a disease in everybody? That is the question for me that is still unclear," Kurth told Reuters Health.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Q8J7w8 Circulation, online September 11, 2012.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/restless-legs-heart-disease-still-murky-182738877.html

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Transfer to Another College or University | College Education


Is it possible to transfer to another college or university while the students are currently finishing their certain semester? Well, the college or university where the students are taking their major of study probably will suggest that they should arrange the transfer during the mid-break period where it won?t interrupt the lecture process. There are many students who are transferring to another college and university to continue their major study or even taking new study like the criminal justice programs. These students are having their own reasons and causes on what and why they choose to move their education to another academic institution.

One of the most common reasons is the expensive lecture cost that the students have to deal each time they are starting new semester. Not only that, if they don?t stay at the college or university dorm, you can be sure that the students have to put aside extra cost for renting apartment. Usually, the apartments which available for renting near the college and university are still considered to be expensive and the students have to choose the apartments that located quite far from the study area. It means that they have to spend more money to travel to college and university by using the public transportation.

Perhaps the financial problem is not the main reason why students are choosing to transfer to another college and university. But it is about the students? passion and interest on the lecturing subjects or the major study that they already take. Some colleges or universities provide help for the students in case they want to transfer from rn to msn programs because the aforementioned academic institutions are aware that they can?t force the students to learn something that they don?t have passion or interest in it and each college or university applies different transfer requirements.

Comments are closed.

Source: http://www.ariusa.org/transfer-to-another-college-or-university.html

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Friday, September 14, 2012

US hostage appeals for family help in new video

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? An elderly American aid worker kidnapped over a year ago in Pakistan is asking his family to get Jewish communities in the United States to pressure Washington to meet al-Qaida's demands so he can go free, according to a new video of the captive.

Warren Weinstein did not specify what those demands were. Previous al-Qaida conditions for his release have included the freeing of militant suspects and a halt to U.S. airstrikes.

In the video message released late Thursday by the group, the 71-year-old said he is well and is getting his medications.

"I'm being taken care of and to request ... that you and the family please make as many contacts as you can with Jewish communities in the United States in order to put pressure on the American government and President Obama to work with and accept the demands of the mujahedeen in order for me to gain my freedom," Weinstein says in the video, referring to the fighters holding him.

The video was posted on the Internet by al-Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab, according to IntelCenter, a U.S.-based group that monitors media websites.

He also urged his family to ask the "Republican candidate," presumably presidential contender Mitt Romney, to use his influence to get him released.

"Perhaps you can also make an appeal to the Republican candidate to see if they would also work and put pressure on President Obama and deal with the mujahedeen in order to respond to their demands," he said.

Weinstein was abducted last August in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home. He was the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a U.S.-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors.

It was Weinstein's second video this week. In a release Wednesday he sought the help of the Israeli prime minister in securing his release.

The aid worker said President Barack Obama and the American government "have shown no interest in my case." He appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for help "as one Jew to another," asking him to accept the militant group's demands so he could return to his family.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-hostage-appeals-family-help-video-065224382.html

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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Hayfever vaccine study raises hopes for new allergy treatment as clinical trial is launched

Hayfever vaccine study raises hopes for new allergy treatment as clinical trial is launched

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Researchers are developing a new vaccine for hayfever which could be more effective, less invasive for patients and less expensive than vaccines already available to patients within the NHS.

Scientists at Imperial College London and King's College London have carried out a study which showed a significant reduction in skin sensitivity to grass pollen that was associated with an increase in 'blocking antibodies' in the bloodstream. The results are so encouraging that King's has today launched a clinical trial in collaboration with Guy's Hospital, working together as part of King's Health Partners. The trial is funded by the Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research via the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme, and will further investigate the vaccine as a potential new hayfever treatment.

The researchers say the approach defines a completely new concept in treating allergies and in the future could have an impact on treating other conditions such as asthma and food allergies.

Hayfever affects one in four people in the UK. An allergic reaction to grass pollen triggers a blocked or runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes and in some cases asthma symptoms. For many individuals this can interfere with work or school performance, sleep and social activities. Tablets and sprays may temporarily relieve symptoms, but for severe cases one option is a vaccine to 'switch off' the allergy, called immunotherapy.

The vaccines currently used involve high doses of allergen given by injection underneath the skin (subcutaneously) or sometimes as a daily tablet or drops under the tongue. In most cases this involves large numbers of injections in an NHS allergy clinic or daily tablets/drops taken continuously, which can be inconvenient for patients and expensive for the NHS.

Published today in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, this new study shows that a series of low dose allergen injections (less than a 1000th of the usual dose) into a higher layer of the skin (intradermally), rather than subcutaneously, led to a 90 per cent reduction in skin reactivity to grass pollen.

Researchers administered the vaccine intradermally to volunteer hayfever sufferers from Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. One group of subjects received six injections of grass pollen extract at two-week intervals over 10 weeks. The participants' allergic responses in the skin were then measured. The initial injection provoked an allergic reaction on the arm visible as a lump around 10 cm in diameter lasting 1-2 days. Over time a dramatic 90 per cent reduction was seen in the size of the lump suggesting that the allergic reaction was gradually being switched off with each injection. The size of the lump did not decrease in another group of subjects who received only two injections separated by 10 weeks.

During the study none of the participants reported unwanted side-effects and the injections did not trigger hayfever symptoms.

The researchers believe that the method of injecting the vaccine intradermally is a major factor in its success, as the skin is a highly active immunological area ? more so than underneath the skin where allergy vaccines are traditionally administered.

Dr Stephen Till, Senior Lecturer at King's College London, said: 'The results of our study are hugely exciting. We now want to find out if this process can also switch off grass allergy in the nose and improve hayfever symptoms, so we are today launching the PollenLITE clinical trial to further test our new approach.'

Professor Stephen Durham, Head of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Imperial College London, said: 'There is great interest in giving immunotherapy by novel alternative routes to improve uptake by the immune system. The results of this study provide an excellent foundation for going on to test the intradermal vaccine route in clinical trials.'

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, as part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre, are today launching the PollenLITE trial to test this new vaccine. The trial is a collaboration with Imperial College London, which together with King's College London forms the basis of the MRC and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma.

The PollenLITE team is looking for 90 hayfever sufferers to take part. Volunteers will receive either seven injections of small quantities of grass pollen into the dermis, or a placebo (dummy) injection in early 2013. In the summer of 2013 study participants will record their symptoms daily and scores will later be compared in the two groups. Small samples of skin and blood at the beginning and end of the study will be taken for experiments into how this new treatment works.

Dr Till at King's concluded: 'Hayfever is one of the most common diseases in the UK and can have a serious impact on people's everyday lives. PollenLITE is a major trial that has the potential to identify a new treatment that is more effective, convenient and cheaper for the NHS than the current alternative.

'Crucially, if this approach proves to be effective it would define a new scientific and clinical principle that could also be applied to other allergic diseases such as asthma and food allergies. This could be a pivotal study in immunological research.'

###

King's College London: http://www.kcl.ac.uk

Thanks to King's College London for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123364/Hayfever_vaccine_study_raises_hopes_for_new_allergy_treatment_as_clinical_trial_is_launched

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

What Is the Future of Computers?

In 1958, a Texas Instruments engineer named Jack Kilby cast a pattern onto the surface of an 11-millimeter-long "chip" of semiconducting germanium, creating the first ever integrated circuit. Because the circuit contained a single transistor ? a sort of miniature switch ? the chip could hold one "bit" of data: either a 1 or a 0, depending on the transistor's configuration.

Since then, and with unflagging consistency, engineers have managed to double the number of transistors they can fit on computer chips every two years. They do it by regularly halving the size of transistors. Today, after dozens of iterations of this doubling and halving rule, transistors measure just a few atoms across, and a typical computer chip holds 9 million of them?per square millimeter. Computers with more transistors can perform more computations per second (because there are more transistors available for firing), and are therefore more powerful. The doubling of computing power every two years is known as "Moore's law," after Gordon Moore, the Intel engineer who first noticed the trend in 1965.

Moore's law renders last year's laptop models defunct, and it will undoubtedly make next year's tech devices breathtakingly small and fast compared to today's. But consumerism aside, where is the exponential growth in computing power ultimately headed? Will computers eventually outsmart humans? And will they ever stop becoming more powerful?

The singularity

Many scientists believe the exponential growth in computing power leads inevitably to a future moment when computers will attain human-level intelligence: an event known as the "singularity." And according to some, the time is nigh.

Physicist, author and self-described "futurist" Ray Kurzweil has predicted that computers will come to par with humans within two decades. He told Time Magazine last year that engineers will successfully reverse-engineer the human brain by the mid-2020s, and by the end of that decade, computers will be capable of human-level intelligence.

The conclusion follows from projecting Moore's law into the future. If the doubling of computing power every two years continues to hold, "then by 2030 whatever technology we're using will be sufficiently small that we can fit all the computing power that's in a human brain into a physical volume the size of a brain," explained Peter Denning, distinguished professor of computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School and an expert on innovation in computing. "Futurists believe that's what you need for artificial intelligence. At that point, the computer starts thinking for itself." [How to Build a Human Brain]

What happens next is uncertain ? and has been the subject of speculation since the dawn of computing.

"Once the machine thinking method has started, it would not take long to outstrip our feeble powers," Alan Turing said in 1951 at a talk entitled "Intelligent Machinery: A heretical theory," presented at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. "At some stage therefore we should have to expect the machines to take control." The British mathematician I.J. Good hypothesized that "ultraintelligent" machines, once created, could design even better machines. "There would then unquestionably be an 'intelligence explosion,' and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make," he wrote.

Buzz about the coming singularity has escalated to such a pitch that there's even a book coming out next month, called "Singularity Rising" (BenBella Books), by James Miller, an associate professor of economics at Smith College, about how to survive in a post-singularity world. [Could the Internet Ever Be Destroyed?]

Brain-like processing

But not everyone puts stock in this notion of a singularity, or thinks we'll ever reach it. "A lot of brain scientists now believe the complexity of the brain is so vast that even if we could build a computer that mimics the structure, we still don't know if the thing we build would be able to function as a brain," Denning told Life's Little Mysteries. Perhaps without sensory inputs from the outside world, computers could never become self-aware.

Others argue that Moore's law will soon start to break down, or that it has already. The argument stems from the fact that engineers can't miniaturize transistors much more than they already have, because they're already pushing atomic limits. "When there are only a few atoms in a transistor, you can no longer guarantee that a few atoms behave as they're supposed to," Denning explained. On the atomic scale, bizarre quantum effects set in. Transistors no longer maintain a single state represented by a "1" or a "0," but instead vacillate unpredictably between the two states, rendering circuits and data storage unreliable. The other limiting factor, Denning says, is that transistors give off heat when they switch between states, and when too many transistors, regardless of their size, are crammed together onto a single silicon chip, the heat they collectively emit melts the chip.

For these reasons, some scientists say computing power is approaching its zenith. "Already we see a slowing down of Moore's law," the theoretical physicist Michio Kaku said in a BigThink lecture in May.

But if that's the case, it's news to many. Doyne Farmer, a professor of mathematics at Oxford University who studies the evolution of technology, says there is little evidence for an end to Moore's law. "I am willing to bet that there is insufficient data to draw a conclusion that a slowing down [of Moore's law] has been observed," Farmer told Life's Little Mysteries. He says computers continue to grow more powerful as they become more brain-like.

Computers can already perform individual operations orders of magnitude faster than humans can, Farmer said; meanwhile, the human brain remains far superior at parallel processing, or performing multiple operations at once. For most of the past half-century, engineers made computers faster by increasing the number of transistors in their processors, but they only recently began "parallelizing" computer processors. To work around the fact that individual processors can't be packed with extra transistors, engineers have begun upping computing power by building multi-core processors, or systems of chips that perform calculations in parallel."This controls the heat problem, because you can slow down the clock," Denning explained. "Imagine that every time the processor's clock ticks, the transistors fire. So instead of trying to speed up the clock to run all these transistors at faster rates, you can keep the clock slow and have parallel activity on all the chips." He says Moore's law will probably continue because the number of cores in computer processors will go on doubling every two years.

And because parallelization is the key to complexity, "In a sense multi-core processors make computers work more like the brain," Farmer told Life's Little Mysteries.

And then there's the future possibility of quantum computing, a relatively new field that attempts to harness the uncertainty inherent in quantum states in order to perform vastly more complex calculations than are feasible with today's computers. Whereas conventional computers store information in bits, quantum computers store information in qubits: particles, such as atoms or photons, whose states are "entangled" with one another, so that a change to one of the particles affects the states of all the others. Through entanglement, a single operation performed on a quantum computer theoretically allows the instantaneous performance of an inconceivably huge number of calculations, and each additional particle added to the system of entangled particles doubles the performance capabilities of the computer.

If physicists manage to harness the potential of quantum computers ? something they are struggling to do ? Moore's law will certainly hold far into the future, they say.

Ultimate limit

If Moore's law does hold, and computer power continues to rise exponentially (either through human ingenuity or under its own ultraintelligent steam), is there a point when the progress will be forced to stop? Physicists Lawrence Krauss and Glenn Starkman say "yes." In 2005, they calculated that Moore's law can only hold so long before computers actually run out of matter and energy in the universe to use as bits. Ultimately, computers will not be able to expand further; they will not be able to co-opt enough material to double their number of bits every two years, because the universe will be accelerating apart too fast for them to catch up and encompass more of it.

So, if Moore's law continues to hold as accurately as it has so far, when do Krauss and Starkman say computers must stop growing? Projections indicate that computer will encompass the entire reachable universe, turning every bit of matter and energy into a part of its circuit, in 600 years' time.

That might seem very soon. "Nevertheless, Moore's law is an exponential law," Starkman, a physicist at Case Western University, told Life's Little Mysteries. You can only double the number of bits so many times before you require the entire universe.

Personally, Starkman thinks Moore's law will break down long before the ultimate computer eats the universe. In fact, he thinks computers will stop getting more powerful in about 30 years. Ultimately, there's no telling what will happen. We might reach the singularity ? the point when computers become conscious, take over, and then start to self-improve. Or maybe we won't. This month, Denning has a new paper out in the journal Communications of the ACM, called "Don't feel bad if you can't predict the future." It's about all the people who have tried to do so in the past, and failed.

Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover?or Life's Little?Mysteries @llmysteries. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

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