Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Seven Psychopaths is a 2012 comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Martin McDonagh. It stars Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, and Tom Waits. The film marks the second collaboration between McDonagh and Farrell, following 2008's In Bruges.

On September 7, 2012, Seven Psychopaths had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it was released in the United States and Canada on October 12, 2012, and it will be released in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2012.

Plot: Marty (Farrell) is a struggling writer who dreams of finishing his screenplay, "Seven Psychopaths". Billy (Rockwell) is Marty's best friend, an unemployed actor and part-time dog thief, who wants to help Marty by any means necessary. All he needs is a little focus and inspiration.

Hans (Walken) is Billy's partner in crime: a religious man with a violent past. Charlie (Harrelson) is the gangster whose beloved dog Billy and Hans have just stolen. Charlie is unpredictable and extremely violent and wouldn't think twice about killing anyone or destroying anything associated with the theft. Marty is going to get all the focus and inspiration he needs, just as long as he lives to tell the tale.

New Zealand's academic tourism business

According to a New Zealand academic, tourism business that attracts scores of interested tourists to Antarctic every year needs to be under scanner and subjected to stringent regulations to protect the ecology and wild life of the continent.

According to Daniela Liggett, Social Scientist, University of Canterbury, the volume of visitors to the Antarctic had steadily gone up in recent times, spelling serious trouble for the continent. Some of her observations are as under, which call for immediate corrective measures by concerned authorities.

- After commercial tourism to the Antarctic gained momentum in the mid-1960s, hardly 500 tourists every year had toured the continent.

- During the period 2007-2008, an amazing number of 46,265 tourists visited the Antarctic, but the number dwindled to 26,519 during the last season, mainly on account of economic setback world-wide and an embargo on heavy fuel usage in the Antarctic Treaty area, resulting in cruise tourism becoming costlier for operators.

- Tourism would be given importance; however, it is also vital that it is conducted with sincerity with an eye on environmental safety.

- Another danger was that big ships that are not ice-resistant, might encounter serious trouble in Antarctic waters. There could be major collisions against ice or rocks in inadequately mapped Antarctic waters and in case of any mishap, the rescue mission is not yet fully equipped to save crew and passengers totaling more than 500 or 1000, at any given time.

- Studies have revealed that frequent flights over penguin colonies or meddling with them have resulted in their health problems like escalated anxiety and heart rate. Penguins would not be disturbed or troubled if the visitors strictly followed a code of conduct and maintained a safe distance of 5 meters from them. They need to make conscientious efforts towards preserving and protecting the penguins and the wild life living in the continent and spread the message to other visitors too.

- At the same time, we must remember the influence of changing weather conditions and our various activities on the Antarctic flora.

- Tourism led to other environmental changes too. Release of hydraulic fluid from ship propellers as also engine shafts are causing pollution, strong winds carrying plastic bags and tiny bits of clothing are scattering them everywhere, with noise and air pollution wreaking additional damage.

- The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has no control over those operators who do not fall in their ambit, hence the concerned policy makers would need to arrive at an understanding with the operators to draw up a workable, intelligent and dogmatic plan of action.

- Though Antarctic tourism has thrown open so many concerns, it has its flip side too. The tourism has created good awareness about the continent among many visitors and has exhorted them to work towards preserving the continent.

- Tour operators have, whenever possible, helped the scientists by offering free travel to Antarctica or have transported their paraphernalia. They, along with the tourists, could effectively play the role of observers, by keeping an eye on the various activities of scientists and other travelers to the Antarctic.

Luxury sales growth to slow in 2012, Bain says

PARIS (Reuters) - Sales growth in the global luxury market will slow this year to 5 percent from 13 percent in 2011 at constant exchange rates as Chinese customers rein in their spending and concerns about the global economy take their toll, a study has found.

A closely watched report published on Monday by consultancy Bain & Co together with Italian luxury goods trade body Altagamma said the first signs of a deceleration began to appear in 2012 in China, the luxury industry's main engine of growth.

A change in government in China and a crackdown on corruption have dented luxury spending by its consumers, the report said.

This year, the Chinese luxury goods market is set to rise by 8 percent at constant currencies and 20 percent at current currencies to reach 15 billion euros ($19 billion), while last year it gained 30 percent using both measures, the report said.

Chinese consumers, many of whom shop abroad, have become the world's No. 1 buyers of luxury goods, ahead of the Japanese, the Americans and the Europeans, the study found.

Chinese consumers now make up half of luxury purchasers in Asia and nearly one-third in Europe.

Tourists overall represent 40 percent of total luxury sales and in some countries, such as France, they make up 60 percent. The country has become a top destination for Chinese tourists after simpler visa rules were introduced.

Europe has been hit by the euro zone debt crisis and luxury spending growth will approximately halve in 2012 from last year to 5 percent, with Italy and Spain suffering the biggest slumps, the report said.

However, the Americas region is projected to post strong gains, with revenue rising 13 percent by year's end.

At current exchange rates, the report predicts that global sales growth in the luxury market will slow this year to 10 percent from 11 percent in 2011 but it forecasts a strong fourth quarter.

"Concerns about market weakness are somewhat overblown," said Claudia D'Arpizio, a Bain partner in Milan and lead author of the study. "But we are seeing sharp disparities between brands that are not keeping up with the quickening pace of change in the market and those that are adjusting to shifts in tastes and demographics."

Bain estimates that the luxury goods market will grow at constant exchange rates by 4 percent to 6 percent a year between 2013 and 2015, bringing the market to over 250 billion euros.

More details about the state of the global luxury sector will be published later on Monday when LVMH , the world's biggest luxury group and owner of brands Louis Vuitton, Celine and Kenzo, releases its third-quarter sales figures after market close.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Elton John remembers Ryan White at his AIDS gala

NEW YORK (AP) — On the red carpet of his annual AIDS foundation benefit Monday night, Sir Elton John remembered AIDS sufferer Ryan White.

The 65-year musician said dealing with the teenager's death was a major turning point in his life, which at the time was "out of whack."

"Six months after Ryan died, I decided that was it," John said. And within a year of becoming sober, he begin thinking about starting a foundation and "giving something back and making up for lost time."

White contracted AIDS in 1984 after a blood transfusion for his hemophilia. Once diagnosed, he was expelled from middle school and became a poster child for young people afflicted with the disease. John was with the boy and his family when he died in 1990.

While great strides are being made in research and behavior, John said we have a long way to go.

"The stigma involved in people coming out and saying they're HIV-positive is still an underground thing, it's still a shame-based thing until we can get everybody tested and people to come out and be role models to people who have HIV, then we're still battling against this disease," John said.

Established in 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation continues its global humanitarian efforts to help raise money for a variety of services, including prevention programs, campaigns to end the stigma and discrimination, and treatment, care and support services for people living with the disease.

The EJAF proudly presented Enduring Vision awards to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft; Diana Jenkins, chairman, CEO and founder of beverage company Neuro; and Joseph Blount, an ardent benefactor to the foundation since its inception.

Stevie Nicks performed at the benefit. Other celebrity guests included Brooke Shields, Lance Bass, Alan Cumming and Courtney Love.

The EJAF raised $2 million at Monday's event.

No swimming: 52% impure NZ rivers

More than half of monitored recreational sites on our rivers are unsafe for swimming, a report has revealed.

The Ministry for the Environment's latest report card is issued weeks before summer weather sends Kiwis flocking to the water, showing that the water quality was poor or very poor at 52 per cent of monitored river sites.

A further 28 per cent were graded "fair" - with a risk of illness for those swimming there.

Only 20 per cent of monitored river recreation sites were graded good or very good.

Health effects from swallowing water tainted with faecal micro-organisms or other bacteria can be unpleasant. They include diarrhoea or vomiting, and infections of the eye, ear, nose and throat.

Children were particularly at risk of ear and skin infections, said the medical officer of health with the Toi Te Ora Public Health Service, Dr Phil Shoemack.


The report card canvassed sampling from 210 freshwater beaches, including lakeside areas, and 248 coastal beaches used for recreation that had been assigned grades based on monitoring data acquired over five summers.

Coastal beaches and freshwater beaches at lakes were found to be much cleaner than river sites.

Eighteen per cent of coastal beaches were graded as "very good" and a further 42 per cent as good.

Northland, Taranaki, Southland, Bay of Plenty and Marlborough were the worst regions for river quality at monitored recreational sites, although results from Auckland, Waikato and some other areas were not included.

A ministry official said the sites were chosen for their susceptibility to risk factors that might make swimmers sick, as well as their popularity for recreation, and were not representative of the overall water quality in the country's swimming spots.

Green Party environment spokeswoman Eugenie Sage said the results fell far short of what Kiwis should expect.

"It shows what a fake marketing image 100 per cent pure is, and we need to take action to make that image real," she said.

"By undermining the credibility of the brand, people will wake up to that internationally and see there's a major gap between the marketing image and reality.

"We need strong rules and water quality standards to clean up our rivers and prevent faecal contamination from agricultural intensification."

Environment Minister Amy Adams said our water quality was good by international standards and most popular sites were fine for swimming.

But she didn't see that as good enough, saying: "My preference will always be for all our sites to be safe for swimming."

-  nzherald.co.nz

Cancer blow for top NZ cricket star

Martin Crowe with his wife, former Miss Universe,
Lorraine Downes.

Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe has been diagnosed with lymphoma.

The 50-year-old and his family received the diagnosis at the end of last week.

They are waiting for Crowe's prognosis, which is understood to be hopeful.

Family friend Louise Henderson, who is also Crowe's manager, said the former cricketer, his wife - former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes - his daughter and two stepchildren had issues to confront over the next couple of weeks.

"The diagnosis is very new. The family is still in shock and obviously dealing with the understanding that life as they know it for the foreseeable future is different."

Crowe played his first test at 19, and was quickly tagged "best young batsman in the world".

In 1985, he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.

He represented NZ in cricket from 1982 until 1995, hitting 17 test centuries, including a top score of 299.

Since then, Crowe has been a commentator and producer with Sky TV, and a familiar figure on television commercials for a hair loss treatment.

Lymphoma, which affects the blood, is the sixth most common cancer in the world. Nearly 300 New Zealanders a year die from it, and it is slightly more common in men than women.

- nzherald.co.nz

"Headline Oct17,2012/"

''A FRUSTRATING SCIENTIFIC JUNCTION!''

There are Scientists who question whether the powder was really the catalyst for what happened to Spievack's finger. Ken Muneoka, a Tulane Scientist who has been working on tissue regeneration for two decades, says his own research suggests that fingertips can grow back on their own, even in a man of Spievack's age.

Some of this back-and-forth is a scientific equivalent of play ground trash talk. Both Muneoka and Badylak are at the center of a sort of Manhattan Project to regrow limbs. DARPA, The Defense Department research-and-development agency, has been closely watching the progress of limb regeneration, given the thousands of soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, after getting body parts blown-off. The Agency is now spending million of dollars to fund two teams of researchers racing to regrow toes in mice.
They must show DARPA that they can successfully take the first step and grow a blastema a collection of cells that can form a new body part.

If they can do that, a toe is not far behind.

Professor Badylak is confident about his method, but he also believes that that his approach alone is not going to fully unlock the body's regenerative potential. There are researchers trying other methods. Many are adamant that pig material does not need to be used at all -that artificial scaffolds can work betters and faster.

Other researchers are using the scaffolds in entirely different ways.

Dr Badylak says he doesn't want to be known as ''the guy who grows fingers.''But like it or not, please for his help reach him daily in the form of e-mails, letters and phone calls. A Sad faraway look covers his face as he recalls the tragedies of the people who approach him for help.

For the moment, Professor Badylak works at a junction of having achieved something very very remarkable but not being able to explain exactly how he did it.

''It's a lot of fun. Much better than not being able to do it all. If you know that it can happen, then it's easy to remain enthusiastic and motivated about looking for the reasons why. If you do not know for sure that it can happen, then you start to wonder if there is even an answer.''

For Badylak the wondering seems to be over. The puzzle maybe incomplete but the answer he knows is somewhere out there!

Many thanks to !WOW!

Good night & God bless!

Foxconn Admits To Underage Interns Working In Factories

China’s biggest manufacturing company (with respect to the number of employees it owned of about 1.2 billion) Foxconn Technology Group, during a survey found underage interns as young as 14 working at one of its factories.

Foxconn Technology Group owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co produces iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc. and also assembles products for Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

The company has admitted all the responsibility of violating the rules and has apologized from all those school going underage students; furthermore it added that any employee who found to be involved in such violation would be terminated straight away.

A labor rights group in China also took notice of such violation and stated that “although the primary responsibility of such violation lays with the schools involved but the company itself also responsible for not confirming the age of its employees”.

Foxconn has claimed that it has faced a complaint from its underage interns in August that they were compelled by their schools to work in its factories in China.

So to fix this issue and some other issues as well The Fair Labor Association is hired by Apple to audit working conditions at Foxconn factories whose focus is to confirm the age of student interns.

Regards,

Windows 8 reportedly getting ‘overwhelmingly negative’ response from vendors

Supply chain vendors are apparently very unhappy about Windows 8. Per Business Insider, it seems that Topeka Capital analyst Brian White has been visiting with Asian supply chain manufacturers and has found that they have overwhelmingly negative feelings about Microsoft’s (MSFT) soon-to-be-launched operating system. To make things worse, one of White’s supply chain sources said that Windows 8 will not have any significant market impact until the second-half of 2013. All of these factors lead White to project that the PC industry is headed for a muted December quarter and well below the ramp expected with new products.

FBI warns that Android phones are havens for malware

A division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning to smartphone users about mobile malware and device safety, specifically regarding the Android operating system. A report published late last week the Internet Crime Complaint Center revealed that it has been made aware of various malwareattacks, such as Loozfon and FinFisher, that target Android smartphones. Each malware is different and can range from stealing a user’s address book to completely taking over the infected device. The agency notes that Loozfon and FinFisher are just two examples of active malware that are used by criminals and users should take precautions to protecting their devices.

When purchasing a smartphones users should know the features of the device and use protective features such as device encryption and antivirus software to guard personal data. When downloading and purchasing apps, the FBI advises that users not only read reviews but also understand the permissions, such as Geo-location, they are granting the apps. Geo-location is used in applications to track a user’s location mostly for marketing purposes, but it can also be used for malicious purposes such as cyber stalker or burglaries.

The agency recommends that for physical security smartphone owners should consider locking their devices with a pass code and only connect to trusted Wi-Fi networks. Lastly, smartphones should always be kept up-to-date and users should avoid jailbreaking or rooting their devices to avoid greater security concerns.

All in all, users should be using the same precautions on their mobile phone as they do on their computers.

British hacker spared extradition to U.S.

LONDON - A British computer hacker accused by the United States of breaking intomilitary systems will be spared from extradition because he is at risk of committing suicide.

Gary McKinnon, who has been fighting extradition for seven years, faced up to 60 years in an American jail if found guilty of what one U.S. prosecutor called the biggest military computer hack of all time.

May told parliament, I have concluded that Mr. McKinnon's extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr. McKinnon's human rights, also said I have therefore withdrawn the extradition order against Mr. McKinnon.

McKinnon, 46, admits hacking into Pentagon and NASA computers under the pseudonym Solo but said he was just looking for suppressed evidence of UFOs.

U.S. officials say the former computer systems administrator accessed 97 military and NASA computers between 2001 and 2002, disabling key naval systems and causing more than $700,000 of damage.

He suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and has been fighting extradition sinceBritish police arrested him in 2005.

May said she had taken her decision not to extradite him after studying medical reports and taking extensive legal advice, also said Mr. McKinnon is accused of serious crimes, but there is also no doubt that he is seriously ill. It would now be up to British prosecutors to decide whether McKinnon had any case to answer in a court in Britain.

Brazil reserves half of college places for minorities, poor

According to the census 51% of Brazilians are black or
mixed race

Rio de Janeiro: The law that sets aside half of state college places for minorities and graduates of public high schools is paying off one of Brazil's historical debts, President Dilma Rousseff said Monday. 

"That law helps pay off Brazil's historical debt to our poorest young people," she said on her weekly radio program "Breakfast with the President". 

Rousseff signed the measure in August, but it only went into effect this Monday. 

"Our goal is to increase access to our universities and our state institutions to youths from public schools, the blacks and the Indians. These universities are among the best in the country and, very often, students from public schools have a hard time getting into them," Rousseff said. 

The 50-percent quota will be phased-in over four years, beginning with the 2013 freshman class, she said. 

Close to half of Brazil's population consider themselves black or of mixed-race, according the 2010 Census, and most belong to the poorest strata of society. 

Several of Brazil's state universities are regarded to be among the best in the world. 

Rousseff recalled during her program that Brazil also has a financing policy, the University for Everyone Program, that provides scholarships so that even the poorest students can aspire to higher education and which has already benefited 1.1 million students. 

IANS 

Sri Lanka selectors ponder separate Twenty20 team

Sri Lanka chief selector Ashantha de Mel has said that the national selection committee may streamline the selection of teams, and have a separate Twenty20 squad, following Sri Lanka's 36-run loss to West Indies in the World Twenty20 final in Colombo.

The changes are likely to be introduced in the one-off T20 international against New Zealand to be played at Pallekele on October 30.

Vice captain Angelo Mathews is expected to take the reins for the game against New Zealand, with Mahela Jayawardene having resigned from the captaincy following the World Twenty20 final.

"We will have to go with Mathews for the moment but we will assess the captaincy. The team should be captained by a player who has a permanent place in the side," de Mel said. "We need to separate the Test and ODI players from the T20 players and pick a squad that will fulfill the requirements of T20 cricket.

"We will pick a young side with players who can make a clean strike of the ball," he said. Sri Lanka hit the least sixes of the four semi-finalists in the World Twenty20 and managed only one six to West Indies' seven in the final. "We really have to assess the situation and start building a team of T20 cricketers for the next World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014," said de Mel.

"We need to find some strong hitters who can clear the boundary successfully. Players like Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews don't have the power so they adopt different methods to score runs like the scoop and the reverse sweep. Even playing those strokes you need the strength to clear the fielders," he said.

Mathews exposed his stumps and was bowled attempting to play the scoop shot against Darren Sammy and Jayawardene failed to clear the short third man fielder when he reverse swept Sunil Narine. De Mel said that Dilshan Munaweera, who was unused after the group stages of the World Twenty20, was a player who could hit sixes.

"Chamara Kapugedera is another batsman who could easily clear the boundary but he has been under so much pressure from all quarters for failing to contribute big scores that he was eventually dropped," de Mel said.

Kapugedera hit 13 sixes in six matches for NCC in the Premier club T20 tournament and had a strike rate of 179.64.

De Mel also said Sri Lanka paid the penalty for not being aggressive enough chasing a West Indies total of 137 for victory. Sri Lanka's batsmen were circumspect after the dismissal of Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second over, and struggled to score at the require run rate throughout the innings. They were eventually dismissed for 101.

"I don't know what went wrong with our batting, for in the earlier matches we used to score at least 50 runs in the first six overs of Powerplay. Here they managed only 30 runs which put the fielding side on top.

"I think we also panicked during our innings when there was a slight drizzle and threw away wickets rather unnecessarily trying to up the score, the two run outs of Thisara Perera and Jeevan Mendis didn't help either. Everything seemed to go against us."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Armstrong paid motorcyclist to deliver EPO

Rock Racing cyclist Tyler Hamilton of the U.S. races in the prologue
of the Amgen Tour of California in Sacramento, February 14, 2009.

(Reuters) - Lance Armstrong paid for a motorcyclist to deliver the banned bloodbooster EPO to him during the 1999 Tour de France, former team mate Tyler Hamilton said in a BBC radio documentary broadcast on Monday.

American Armstrong, who won the Tour a record seven times from 1999 to 2005, has been stripped of his titles by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) who have accused the 41-year-old of being a central figure in an elaborate doping conspiracy.

"Yeah in '99 we had a motorcycle driver...we had him follow the Tour around for the better part of three weeks," said Hamilton, who was one of Armstrong's U.S. Postal team mates from 1998 to 2001.

"He'd stay close enough to where we were staying at the hotels to drop off at any key moment.

"We knew other people were going to take risks so we were gonna take it too," added Hamilton who said they put the used syringes into drinks cans before crushing them.

"Lance paid him between $15,000-20,000 to do it.

"Then, as Lance had won the Tour, we would all club together to buy him a Rolex watch. Somewhere out there he's wearing a gold Rolex watch."

Well-Off Will Benefit Most From Change to Student Debt Relief Plan, Study Says

With nearly one in six student loan borrowers in default, the federal government is making changes to its repayment plan to help troubled borrowers keep up with their payments.

But a report says the changes ultimately will provide only marginal help for low-income borrowers who are at the greatest risk of default.

The New Rule

Under current rules, borrowers pay 15 percent of their discretionary income, based on a formula that is meant to exclude money spent on basic life necessities. The remaining balance and accrued interest is forgiven after 25 years of payments.

The Obama administration is tweaking the program to make it easier for some borrowers, by expediting changes that will reduce monthly payments from 15 percent of discretionary income to 10 percent and forgive outstanding balances after 20 years of payments, instead of 25 years.

Benifiting mostly Well-off

The report that will be released on Tuesday by the New America Foundation, a nonprofit and nonpartisan policy institute, says the changes to income-based repayment could provide some benefits to all participants. But the primary beneficiaries would be high-income, high-debt participants who could make relatively small payments for 20 years and then have a large part of their debt forgiven, the authors said.

The foundation cites as an example advice given by financial planners such as the Advantage Group in California.

“Stop wasting your money on student loan payments,” says the Advantage Group Web site. The firm notes that an average graduate from California Western School of Law owes more than $145,000 in student loans, amounting to monthly payments of more than $1,690.

But the changes introduced by the Obama administration could allow a graduate making $70,000 a year to reduce monthly payments to $448 a month and “have over $100,000 of debt forgiven,” the Advantage Group says.

Terry DeMuth, chairman of the Advantage Group, said the firm was simply trying to help its clients benefit from the program.

The New America Foundation report recommends that the administration make changes that would focus the benefits of income-based repayment on lower-income borrowers and limit those for borrowers earning big incomes.

“If you are low-income, it doesn’t really give you a big bang,” said Jason Delisle, one of the authors of the study, which estimates that monthly payments for low-income borrowers would drop to $20, from $25, under the changes. “If you are high-income and have a lot of debt, this is a huge giveaway.”

Asked about the report, Justin Hamilton, a spokesman for the Education Department, said in a statement that income-based repayment “isn’t necessarily right for everyone, but it can be an incredibly helpful resource for people struggling to manage their student loan debt.”

Planet with four suns discovered by volunteers

The new planet - a gas giant - is about six times the size of Earth

Astronomers have found a planet whose skies are illuminated by four different suns - the first known of its type.

The distant world orbits one pair of stars which have a second stellar pair revolving around them.

The discovery was made by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website along with a team from UK and US institutes; follow-up observations were made with the Keck Observatory.

A report on the Arxiv server has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal.

The planet, located just under 5,000 light-years away, has been named PH1 after the Planet Hunters site.

It is thought to be a "gas giant" slightly larger than Neptune - more than six times the radius of the Earth.

"You don't have to go back too far before you would have got really good odds against one of these systems existing," Dr Chris Lintott, from the University of Oxford, told BBC News.

"All four stars pulling on it creates a very complicated environment. Yet there it sits in an apparently stable orbit.

"That's really confusing, which is one of the things which makes this discovery so fun. It's absolutely not what we would have expected."

Binary stars - systems with pairs of stars - are not uncommon. But only a handful of known exoplanets (planets that circle other stars) have been found to orbit such binaries. And none of these binary systems are known to have another pair of stars circling them.

Asked how this planet remained in a stable orbit whilst being pulled on by the gravity of four stars, Dr Lintott said: "There are six other well-established planets around double stars, and they're all pretty close to those stars.

"So I think what this is telling us is planets can form in the inner parts of protoplanetary discs (the torus of dense gas that gives rise to planetary systems).

"The planets are forming close in and are able to cling to a stable orbit there. That probably has implications for how planets form elsewhere."

PH1 was discovered by two US volunteers using the Planethunters.org website: Kian Jek of San Francisco and Robert Gagliano from Cottonwood, Arizona.

They spotted faint dips in light caused by the planet passing in front of its parent stars. The team of professional astronomers then confirmed the discovery using the Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

- BBC.co.uk

NEC, eyeOS combine cloud technologies

LONDON —NEC Corp and eyeOS, a leader in the cloud desktop market, announced an innovative Cloud Desktop solution that provides a complete desktop inside a web browser, reducing total cost of ownership due to low investment in physical desktops and maintenance costs.

The new desktop solution allows users worldwide to access their data and applications from anywhere and any device. It maximizes mobility and provides high performance, scalability and security, suitable for companies and organization in both the public and private sector. As a web solution, the NEC and eyeOS web desktop doesn’t require any installation in customers’ devices. It allows companies to achieve substantial cost savings by consuming less power and requiring less bandwidth than a standard virtual desktop solution.

By simply entering a username and password, a whole professional desktop is available and can be customized. Users can access their data and applications in a seamless manner from the same environment. Data is always available and synchronised between devices when using cloud data storage capacities. In addition, uploading and sharing files can be done quickly and easily.

Jaime Serrano, president of NEC Iberica, said: This desktop solution represents an economical alternative to standard desktop licensing models and helps small, medium and large enterprises with the difficult task of managing their desktop environments. Likewise, it is an ideal solution for startups, training centers and any organization that aims to reduce their investment for physical desktops and maintenance costs.

NEC will manage the solution via its Cloud Competence Centre in Madrid. For eyeOS, this collaboration contributes to their vision of generating solutions that help companies manage their professional desktops through cloud platforms.

Gareth Bale in Ronaldo and Messi's class, says Redknapp

Harry Redknapp has warned Croatia that Wales' Gareth Bale is in the class of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Wales visit Croatia in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier and Bale's ex-club boss insists the Tottenham man is the "full package" and would "improve any team".

Bale inspired Wales to a first win of 2012 with two goals to beat Scotland.

"He's an amazing, amazing talent and he's after the Ronaldos and Messis of this world and he's getting better and better," Redknapp said.

"He's almost unplayable when he's on his game. He is a genuine world-class player.

"There's nobody he couldn't play for. He'd improve any team."

Winger Bale, whose Tottenham contract runs until 2015, has scored all of Wales' three goals in 2012 and the 23-year-old's match-winning performance against Scotland earned Chris Coleman a first win as Wales manager.

"It was amazing how he turned the game around," continued Redknapp.

"With 10 minutes to go you're looking for somebody who can do something special and Gareth can do something special.

"He can do everything and could play anywhere. He's the full package.

"He can head it, he can dribble, he can shoot, he's got a great physique, he's an amazing athlete, he can score with both feet - there are no weaknesses in his game.

"He is already at the top but any team in the world would love to have Gareth Bale playing for them.

"And he is a great lad as well with a good family behind him. It couldn't happen to a nicer lad."

Redknapp managed Bale, who was named Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year in 2010-11, during his four years at Tottenham.

And he was his boss when Bale shot to international prominence with his first hat-trick in Spurs' Champions League defeat at Inter Milan in 2010.

"It was a great performance the other night," said Redknapp.

"The one in Milan when we had 10 men, to do what he did to Maicon who, at the time, was rated as the best right-back in the world, that really destroyed his career almost. It was amazing."

Former Wales player Mickey Thomas feels Ronaldo's Real Madrid and Messi's Barcelona will soon be "fighting for Bale's signature".

"It's probably the best I've seen [from a Wales player]," said Thomas.

"I played with some great players in my career but, watching that performance, not just his goals - his ability to create opportunities for his team-mates - and when he's in that mood and when he's in that stride, he is unstoppable.

"I've seen the best. I've seen Ronaldo; I've seen them all. He's on a par with them now.

"The only difference is they play for Barcelona with players like Messi. He's at Tottenham.

"Let me tell you, he will be at one of those clubs before too long. Those top teams - Barcelona and Real Madrid - will be fighting for his signature, for sure."

-  BBC.co.uk

App cuts up news into digestible bytes

SAN FRANCISCO —

Offering a new way to read the news on a mobile device, an app launched delivers content in “flash card” segments in an effort to optimize new formats.

Rather than trying to shoehorn existing content into a new environment, we’ve created the first truly mobile first news experience. Circa brings comprehensive yet to-the-point news updates delivered in an engrossing mobile experience.

Circa was co-founded by South Korean entrepreneur Ben Huh, creator of the humoristic Cheezburger Network, and software developer Arsenio Santos. Instead of articles, Circa presents the news with flash card-like segments of facts, statistics, quotes, pictures or maps.

Circa said, Each story has the same details you’d find in traditional articles, but broken down into individual chunks of information that are much easier to consume and also said it had hired a team of excellent journalists from around the world to produce stories and easily keep them up to date as new details emerge, providing great coverage around the clock.

Xbox Music to offer on-demand music free on tablet

LOS ANGELES —

Buyers of tablets that run Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 8, are in for a pleasant musical surprise: they’ll be able to handpick from a selection of millions of songs and stream them for free as long as they put up with an audio ad every 15 minutes.
 
The new feature, called Xbox Music, is not on offer anywhere else at the moment. Sweden’s Spotify, for instance, allows track selection and playback on personal computers for free with the occasional audio ad but doesn’t allow user to pick exactly the song user want on tablets unless you pay $10 a month for its premium subscription.
 
Although this is a step forward for the music industry, its appeal is limited by the expense of most mobile data plans. Most cost more the more data user use, which can make streaming music on cellular networks fairly expensive. The free version of Xbox Music won’t let user download songs and save them for offline playback. That will require paying $10 a month.
 
The paid subscription is also required if user want to use Xbox Music on the Xbox 360 game console or on smartphones that use Windows Phone. On the game console, an Xbox Live Gold membership, which costs $60 a year, is also required. On PCs running Windows 8, Xbox Music will basically match Spotify’s offer of free track selection and playback.

Xbox Music General Manager Jerry Johnson showed how one’s playlists are saved online and can be accessed when switching between the service on the Xbox 360 game console, a Windows Phone and a Windows 8 tablet.
 
Each iteration looked similar and had a clean interface with sharply detailed cover art. Xbox Music will be the default music player on all new Windows 8 devices, which will be available upon the launch of the new operating system on Oct 26.
 
Current users of the Xbox about 66 million worldwide will gradually be introduced to the service with a 30-day free trial.

Felix Baumgartner Completes Record-Setting Jump

This post is highlighting a marvelous effort from a 43-years old temerarious personality named Baumgartner  from Austria,who after few the attempts succeeded to achieve the milestone of a 24-mile high jump from the second major layer of earth atmosphere (Stratosphere) on this Sunday.

Although the weather conditions for this risky high jump wasn't appropriate but the daredevil Baumgartner succeeded to achieve the high jump fall of speed greater than the speed of sound which was the main objective of this high fall jump,while the other main goal of this daredevil was to break the 52 years old record of highest skydiver ever.

To achieve this milestone Baumgartner jumped from a huge-helium filled balloon above the New-Mexico at the height of approximately three times then that of the altitude of Jetliners of about 120,000 feet (previous record was of 102,800 feet) with the speed greater then speed of sound of 833.99 mph (while speed of sound is761.207 mph) although he was expected to hit with the speed of 690 mph less then speed of sound.

The only problem during the jump Baumgartner faced was of uncontrollable spinning for a short time,but listen what Baumgartner said about this,"When I was spinning first 10, 20 seconds, I never thought I was going to lose my life but I was disappointed because I'm going to lose my record. I put seven years of my life into this".

Another interesting fact of this high jump that it broke a site record with more than 8 million simultaneous live streams at its peak on YouTube,while 216,000 likes, 10,000 comments and more than 29,000 shares on its picture on Facebook in less than 40 minutes.

In last  Baumgartner said that he plans to settle down with his girlfriend and fly helicopters on mountain rescue and firefighting missions in the U.S. and Austria.

Regards

China's first Sino-U.S. university founded

Yu Lizhong, president of Shanghai New York University
(NYU Shanghai) attends the ceremony to mark the founding
 of NYU Shanghai in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 15, 2012. 

(Xinhua) -- Shanghai New York University (NYU Shanghai) was founded Monday in China's economic hub, showing China's dedication to the cultural and educational sectors.

As China's first Sino-U.S. university operating as an independent legal entity, New York University and the Shanghai-based East China Normal University (ECNU) will jointly operate the institution.

"NYU Shanghai will be a 'melting pot' for cultivating innovative talents from China and the rest of the world," said Yu Lizhong, president of NYU Shanghai.

The campus, located in the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, is expected to welcome its first group of 300 undergraduates, including about 150 from the Chinese mainland, next fall, Yu said.

About 40 percent of both its student and faculty populations will come from abroad.

NYU Shanghai is positioned as "a beneficial attempt in, and exploration of, building a high-level Chinese-foreign cooperative university," according to China's Ministry of Education.

Upon graduation, students will receive degrees from New York University, and NYU Shanghai will grant each student a graduation certificate and a degree.

The university's syllabi and curricula follow examples set by world-leading universities and feature a well-rounded education, English lectures and courses with Chinese characteristics, Yu said.

Moreover, the university offers a liberal arts education, as all students will take courses in the humanities and social and natural sciences before choosing a major.

The student to faculty ratio in the university will be eight to one, or double the average seen in Chinese universities, Yu said.

Its assessment of student applications will be based on students' performances on China's national college entrance examination and in an NYU-style student screening process.

According to plan, the annual tuition for each student from the Chinese mainland will be about 100,000 yuan (about 15,950 U.S. dollars), which is less than what most international students pay to attend many U.S. universities, said Yu.

Tuition fees will be officially announced after being approved by the Shanghai municipal pricing authorities.

The university will accommodate an estimated 3,000 Chinese and international students in the future.

Cameron strikes Scottish independence vote deal

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron signed a deal in Edinburgh on Monday on holding a referendum on Scottish independence. The historic vote, set for 2014, could lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom after more than 300 years.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and nationalist Scottish leader Alex Salmond signed an agreement on Monday to give the Scottish people a referendum on independence in 2014.

The referendum will ask voters a straight yes or no question on whether they want Scotland to leave the 305-year-old union with England.

Cameron opposes a break-up of the union, arguing that Britain is stronger together, and opinion polls show only between 30 and 40 percent of Scots support independence.

Monday’s deal represents the starting gun for what will likely be two years of fierce campaigning with the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) pitted against Cameron’s Conservatives, their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, and the Labour Party.

“I don’t think Scotland can afford to stand alone and I think we need to be part of a bigger system. The UK has served us reasonably well over 300 years and I don’t see any reason to change it now,” said Scottish Labour Party MP John Robertson.

The agreement also represents a victory for Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond.
Speaking in Edinburgh before he and Cameron put pen to paper, Salmond said: “The agreement will see Scotland take an important step toward independence, and the means to create a fairer and more prosperous Scotland.”

"I look forward to working positively for a yes vote in 2014."

The landmark vote will also make history by allowing 16 and 17 year olds to take part.

The SNP had pressed for the 2014 date, giving them time to try to win over voters, and coinciding with the anniversary of the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn -- a famous Scots victory over the English.

“This agreement marks the end of six months of wrangling and negotiations between Edinburgh and London over the terms on which the referendum will be fought. It is the end of the phoney war and there’s a sense in Scotland that people just want to get on with the real thing now,” Scottish journalist Alex Massie told FRANCE 24.

Scotland and England have shared a monarch since 1603 and have been ruled by one single parliament in London since 1707. In 1999, for the first time since then, a devolved Scottish parliament was opened following a referendum.

The devolved Scottish government currently has powers over areas such as health and education, as well as a separate legal system.

A potential separation raises questions about what would happen to revenues from North Sea oil reserves.

Salmond has said he wants to retain the sterling currency and the British monarch as head of state.

(FRANCE 24 with wires)