APNewsBreak: Police charge 8 in Dublin 'New IRA'

DUBLIN (AP) ? Irish police charged eight men with Irish Republican Army membership Friday after police raided a suspected meeting of the outlaws' Dublin leadership, inflicting what a senior policeman called a major blow to the "New IRA" splinter group.

All eight men were being arraigned Friday night at Ireland's anti-terrorist Special Criminal Court, which handles IRA-related cases with three judges and no jury.

A senior police officer, speaking on condition he not be identified because he wasn't authorized to discuss the raid, told The Associated Press that officers from the Special Detective Unit have kept Dublin-based activists of the New IRA faction under surveillance for months in anticipation of catching them gathered together in a strategy meeting.

Such raids have rarely happened over the past four decades of IRA activity, either because the outlaws do a better job of concealing their meeting places or because police prefer to step back and keep gathering intelligence on the IRA figures rather than arrest them.

The senior officer said the meeting was called to reorganize the Dublin "brigade" of the New IRA after its previous commander, Alan Ryan, was fatally shot by criminal rivals last September in a turf war.

Seven men at the meeting in a house in the Tallaght suburb of southwest Dublin were charged Friday with membership in an outlawed organization.

The officer said the New IRA figures were discussing possible retaliatory attacks against the gang responsible for killing Ryan and a planned campaign of robberies designed to finance attacks in the British territory of Northern Ireland. At least two other men have been killed this year over the IRA feuding in Dublin.

An eighth man was charged Friday following a related swoop on a suspected New IRA arms dump hidden inside cargo containers in north Dublin. Police found parts for eight pipe bombs during initial searches of the containers and nearby fields Wednesday, then seized about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of plastic explosive during a follow-up search Thursday.

Most IRA members renounced violence and disarmed in 2005 following a failed 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom that left nearly 1,800 people dead. But several small splinter groups have persisted with sporadic gun and bomb attacks.

Last year, three IRA factions announced they had united under one command and would call themselves simply "the IRA." Irish media and police, seeking to distinguish this group from other IRA factions, have dubbed this organization the New IRA.

This week's Dublin raids represent the biggest arrest operation against the New IRA since its formation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-police-charge-8-dublin-ira-200029810.html

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Will Derek Hough be back on 'Dancing'?

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Michael Maloney TODAY contributor

6 hours ago

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Derek Hough may be back for yet another season of "DWTS."

"Dancing With the Stars" pro Derek Hough seems poised to win his fourth mirror ball trophy Tuesday night with partner Kellie Pickler. But will he return when the show comes back in September for another season?

?I don?t know yet,? he told reporters on the post-show red carpet Monday. ?Next year (2014) is going to be a little different. That?s when these projects I?m working on will come to life. Right now, they?re in the preparation stages. (So) it might be a good idea to do next season.?

As fans of Hough know, the three-time winner almost didn?t partake in this season.

?I was literally within an hour of not doing it,? he shared. ?I called the producers and said I have this weird feeling that I need to do this season. ... They said, ?Well, we need to know within the next hour.? Then, I was like, ?OK, Let?s do it.? Now, I know why.?

That reason? His amazing run with current partner, "American Idol" alum Pickler.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticized the pair earlier in the season for not having enough of an emotional connection in their dances.

?That actually stuck with me,? Hough said. ?I wanted (our freestyle) to be an emotional routine. I wanted it to connect with people and connect with us. Afterwards, I looked over and saw Carrie Ann crying. That was the moment to top off the season for us.?

Hough knows he could have gone all out and added more production values to the freestyle routine, but he opted to keep it simple.

?I?m all for big productions,? he told TODAY.com. ?I love putting on shows. I wondered if it was it right to downsize the routine physically and supersize it emotionally? I wanted to make it about Kellie and not wow the audience with a spectacle, but to wow them with heart. I think it paid off, but there was definitely a ping pong match going on in my mind.?

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/will-derek-hough-be-back-dancing-stars-6C10017093

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Google+ Gets A Refresh For Android To Mirror Its 41 Update Extravaganza From I/O, Adds New Location Section

Today, Google?updated its Google+ app for Android to get up to speed with all of the changes announced during last week's I/O Developers conference. In all, there were 41 new updates, including a new stream, photos experience and Hangouts. The Android version has all of that, and one new feature -- a new location section.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/lPBzztcFP3c/

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Stephen King's decision to skip the e-book format gets renewed attention

Stephen King said his new novel, 'Joyland,' will be released in paper format only. 'Let people ... go to an actual bookstore,' said King.

By Molly Driscoll,?Staff Writer / May 20, 2013

Stephen King's new novel 'Joyland' centers on a teenage carnival worker who learns about a never-solved murder case.

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Legendary author Stephen King?s decision not to released his new novel ?Joyland? in e-book format is getting renewed attention as the book's June 4 publication date draws near.

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?I have no plans for a digital version," King told the Wall Street Journal about his "Joyland." "Maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one.?

King has already made a name for himself as a maverick where e-books are concerned. In 2000 he made headlines when he released a shorter work titled ?Riding the Bullet? in e-book format only, making "Riding the Bullet" the world's first mass-market electronic book.

?Joyland? follows a 1970s college student who is employed at a carnival in North Carolina one summer and finds out about a murder that occurred several years ago and was never solved.

The book?s tagline on the front cover, ?Who dares enter the funhouse of fear?,? is reminiscent of some of King?s early horror works.

?Joyland? is being published by Titan Books imprint Hard Case Crime.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/pQNESZGRV-s/Stephen-King-s-decision-to-skip-the-e-book-format-gets-renewed-attention

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Car bomb, other attacks kill 20 in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A car bomb exploded as Sunni worshippers were leaving a mosque after evening prayers Tuesday in Baghdad, the deadliest in a string of attacks that killed at least 20 people nationwide in a week of the most sustained sectarian violence in the country since U.S. troops withdrew more than a year ago.

Rising tensions between Sunnis and the Shiite-led government have burst into a new round of bloodshed with 279 people killed since last week and scenes reminiscent of some of the worst carnage during the days when the two Islamic sects battled each other as well as U.S.-led forces in the chaotic years after Saddam Hussein's ouster.

The violence has raised fears the country is sliding back to the brink of civil war amid rising Sunni anger over perceived mistreatment at the hands of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and dangerous spillover from Syria's civil war next door, which pits mainly Sunni rebels against Syrian President Bashar Assad, a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters in Washington that the U.S. administration was "deeply concerned by the frequency and the nature of recent attacks." U.S. officials in Baghdad and Washington were in contact with a wide range of senior Iraqi leaders "to urge calm and help resolve ongoing political and sectarian tensions," he said Monday.

The explosion targeting the worshippers occurred in the western neighborhood of Abu Ghraib, the site of the infamous prison of the same name, killing 10 people and wounding 21, according to police and hospital officials. A bomb also targeted a tea house in Baghdad's mainly Sunni southern Dora neighborhood, killing three people and wounding 14, two police officers and a medical official said.

Several smaller attacks struck areas elsewhere in the country earlier Tuesday.

A suicide bomber set off his explosives-laden vest at a military checkpoint in the town of Tarmiyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad. The blast was followed by militants who opened fire at the Iraqi troops, killing three soldiers and wounding nine, a police official said.

In the northern city of Tuz Khormato, two parked car bombs went off simultaneously, killing three civilians and wounding 38 people, said Mayor Shalal Abdool. The town is about 200 kilometers (130 miles) north of the Iraqi capital.

And in Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, three bombs exploded back-to-back at a sheep market, killing one person and wounding 25, police Col. Taha Salaheddin said.

Authorities also raised the death toll from Monday's wave of bloodshed ? a series of blitz attacks stretching from north of Baghdad to the southern city of Basra and targeting bus stops, open-air markets and rush-hour crowds ? to 113 after many of the wounded died of their injuries. That made it the deadliest single day since July 23, 2012, when attacks aimed largely at security forces killed 115.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but such systematic carnage carries the hallmarks of the two sides that brought nearly nonstop chaos to Iraq for years: Sunni insurgents, including al-Qaida's branch in Iraq, and Shiite militias defending their newfound power after Saddam's fall.

Hours after Monday's stunning bombings, al-Maliki accused militant groups of trying to exploit Iraq's political instability and vowed to resist attempts to "bring back the atmosphere of the sectarian war."

Under Saddam, Iraq's Sunni minority held a privileged position, while the Shiites were largely oppressed. But since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam, those dynamics have been flipped.

Many Sunnis contend that much of the country's current turmoil is rooted in the policies of al-Maliki's government, which they accuse of feeding sectarian tension by becoming more aggressive toward the minority community after the U.S. military withdrawal in December 2011.

Protests by Sunnis, which began in December amid anger over alleged random detentions and neglect, have largely been peaceful. However, the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/car-bomb-other-attacks-kill-20-iraq-201332433.html

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Emaze Raises $800K For The Presentation Sweet Spot Between PowerPoint And Prezi

Microsoft PowerPoint facilitates presentation design with zero constraints. And startups like Prezi provide well-designed templates and other features to help you communicate what matters. Now an Israeli startup called?Emaze?is trying a different take by offering a much simpler templating system for presentations that are intended to make you be concise.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4qNYNP6oB54/

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CA-ENTERTAINMENT Summary

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek of The Doors dies at age 74

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ray Manzarek, a founding member and keyboardist of 1960s rock group The Doors, died on Monday at a medical clinic in Germany at age 74 following a battle with cancer, the group's manager Tom Vitorino said. Manzarek, who lived in Northern California's Napa Valley wine country for the past decade, had been seeking treatment in Germany for bile duct cancer, Vitorino said. He died in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his wife and brothers.

CBS pulls 'Mike & Molly' finale with tornado storyline from air

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS said on Monday that the network will delay airing the season finale of sitcom "Mike & Molly" in the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornados, due to similarities between the events and the episode's storyline. "Due to the tragic events this afternoon in Oklahoma, we are pre-empting tonight's season finale of 'Mike & Molly,' which has a related storyline," a CBS spokesperson said in a statement.

Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio join U.S. 'X Factor' judges panel

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop singer Kelly Rowland and Mexican singer-actress Paulina Rubio have signed onto "The X Factor" judging panel replacing Britney Spears and music mogul L.A. Reid, the Fox television talent competition produced by Simon Cowell said on Monday. Rowland, who rose to fame with R&B group Destiny's Child, and Rubio will be charged with re-igniting the Fox series that failed to stave off falling ratings after giving Spears a reported $15 million salary last year.

Keanu Reeves makes director debut with modern Kung Fu film

CANNES (Reuters) - He's played a science-fiction hero, policeman and even Hamlet. But now actor Keanu Reeves is taking on a new role - as director of a contemporary martial arts movie aimed at both Chinese and Western audiences. Reeves has stepped behind the camera to make his directorial debut with "Man of Tai Chi", a trilingual film loosely based on the life of a stuntman, Tiger Chen, whom he befriended while working on the sci-fi "The Matrix" trilogy.

'Spider-Man' Broadway venue sold to Britain's Ambassador Theatre

(Reuters) - British theater company Ambassador Theatre Group's subsidiary Lyric Theatre LLC has purchased Foxwoods Theatre, currently home to the "Spider-Man" musical, from Live Nation Entertainment Inc, the companies said on Monday. Lyric Theatre paid about $65 million for Foxwoods, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

'Star Wars' to bring 'Rebels' to new animated Disney TV series

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Disney said on Monday it will produce a new "Star Wars" animated series to air on television in the fall 2014, giving fans of the science-fiction franchise fresh stories before the next live-action film hits theaters in 2015. "Star Wars Rebels," based on George Lucas' multibillion dollar film franchise, will be set in the two decades between the events of the third and fourth films, where the Empire becomes a dominant force in the galaxy, Disney said.

Week two of Cannes film festival gets off to explosive start

CANNES (Reuters) - Japanese director Takashi Miike got the final week of the Cannes film festival off to an explosive start on Monday, with big budget cop thriller "Shield of Straw" a sharp contrast to the more intense, intimate movies screened so far. Typically for Cannes, where critical passions run high, both exuberant cheers and boos rang out after an advance press screening of "Wara No Tate" ("Shield of Straw"), one of 20 entries vying for the top Palme d'Or prize awarded on Sunday.

Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift big winners at Billboard Awards

(Reuters) - Pop stars Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift won the big prizes on Sunday at the Billboard Music Awards, which also honored legendary performers Madonna and Prince. Bieber, who was named top male artist, also performed at the show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. He also took home Billboard's first Milestone Award, chosen by fans, for musical innovation and ingenuity.

Jon Stewart's humor a hit with millions of envious Chinese

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders. A recent segment on North Korea scored over 4 million views on microblogger Sina Weibo, and even stodgy state broadcaster CCTV has used Stewart's "The Daily Show" in a report, though they wouldn't let a Chinese version of him near their cameras.

Prince reigns over own music releases in new deal

LONDON (Reuters) - Singer Prince has signed a new deal with Kobalt Music Group to market and distribute his future work without giving up control over his rights, the company said on Monday. The singer-songwriter, who is famed for changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol in a wrangle over musical rights, will release his own work as well as a slate of new music by other artists that he produces, Kobalt said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-entertainment-summary-000906596.html

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Prenatal exposure to traffic is associated with respiratory infection in young children

May 20, 2013 ? Living near a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection developing in children by the age of 3, according to a new study from researchers in Boston.

"The connection between in utero and early life cigarette smoke exposure and adverse infant respiratory outcomes is well-established, but the relation of prenatal ambient air pollution to risk of infant respiratory infection is less well-studied," said lead author Mary Rice, MD, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Our study extends previous findings by showing that proximity to a major roadway during the prenatal period is associated with increased risk of subsequent respiratory infection in children."

The study results will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference in Philadelphia.

The study included 1,271 mother-child pairs enrolled during the first trimester of pregnancy between 1999 and 2002 in Project Viva in eastern Massachusetts. The distance from home addresses to the nearest Federal class 1/2A ("major") roadway was calculated using geographic information system software. Respiratory infections were defined as maternal report of any doctor-diagnosed pneumonia, bronchiolitis, croup or other respiratory infection from birth until age 3.

Statistical analyses of the relationship between exposure to a major roadway and respiratory infection were adjusted for gender, birth weight, maternal education, household income, neighborhood income and education, maternal smoking during pregnancy, postnatal household smoking, breastfeeding, daycare attendance, presence of other young children in the household and season of birth. Of the 1,271 mother-child pairs studied, 6.4% lived less than 100 meters, 6.5% lived 100 to 200 meters, 33.7% lived 200 to less than 1000 meters and 53.4% lived 1,000 meters or more from a major roadway. By the age of 3, 678 (53.3%) of the children had had at least one doctor-diagnosed respiratory infection. After adjustment for possible confounders and risk factors for respiratory infection, children whose mothers lived less than 100 meters from a major roadway during pregnancy were 1.74 times as likely as those living 100 meters or more from a major roadway to have had a respiratory infection. Those living 100 to 200 meters from a major roadway were 1.49 times as likely to have had a respiratory infection.

"In our study, living in close proximity to a major roadway during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of respiratory infection in children, adding to the growing body of evidence linking exposure to traffic with adverse effects on health," said Dr. Rice. "Future research will need to clarify whether the apparent harmful postnatal effects of living close to a major road during pregnancy is due to air pollution from traffic or other exposures related to roads. We plan to further explore this connection using a measure of black carbon, a component of traffic-related air pollution. Using black carbon measures, we also plan to disentangle the associations of pre- vs postnatal air pollution exposures with respiratory infection in early life."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/m5GcSR10byk/130520142747.htm

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Life after the Strip: Neon graveyard in Las Vegas

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Report: Obama Administration Apologizes for Another National Security Leak

Damascus-Before-After-Bombing

Israel Channel 2 broadcast this satellite image showing a Damascus airport warehouse before and after the airstrike (Screenshot: Channel 2 News)

The Justice Department's seizure of Associated Press reporters' phone records was reportedly one element of a "sweeping" federal investigation to find out who leaked classified information about a failed Al-Qaeda plot to bomb an American airliner.

Now, the Obama administration has reportedly apologized to Israel for another leak of classified information to the media, one that occurred earlier this month and which Israeli officials are concerned could place Israeli lives at risk.

Israel Radio's diplomatic correspondent Chico Menashe reported Sunday morning (via the Jerusalem Post):

American officials apologized to their Israeli counterparts for confirming that Israel was behind the airstrikes on the Damascus airport earlier this month, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.

The confirmation reportedly came from the lower ranks at the Pentagon, and the reasons for the leak are being investigated.

Menashe tweeted: "The U.S. has apologized to Israel for leaking details of the attack in Syria. Senior administration officials said to their [Israeli] counterparts that they are examining the issue and that low-level [officials] were responsible for the leak."

Menashe also wrote, "US officials told that they [will] review the matter. The leak forced Assad to react harshly."

U.S. apologized for leaking details of Israel. US officials told that they review the matter.The leak forced assad to react harshly.

The New York Times attributed its report about the bombing on May 3 to an Obama administration official: "Israel aircraft bombed a target in Syria overnight Thursday, an Obama administration official said Friday night, as United States officials said they were considering military options, including carrying out their own airstrikes."

CNN, which broke the story first on May 3, quoted two unnamed U.S. officials:

The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials first told CNN.

U.S. and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials. This is the same time frame that the U.S. collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon.

One official said the United States had limited information so far and could not yet confirm those are the specific warplanes that conducted a strike. Based on initial indications, the U.S. does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.

Two weeks later, Israel still has not officially taken responsibility for the bombings, which allegedly targeted Iranian Fateh-110 missiles intended to bolster Hezbollah's arsenal.

Israeli security analysts suggest that confirmation of Israel Defense Forces involvement - even if leaked via American sources - not only could potentially endanger any agents still on the ground in Syria, but would also put pressure on embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad to retaliate against the Jewish state.

Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center, told TheBlaze, "It requires the Syrians to react officially rather than deny that it happened or that it was an accident. It forces Syria and Hezbollah and Iran to react officially and say they want to seek revenge, which makes things more dangerous for Israel."

"Can you imagine if things were reversed and somebody did that to the U.S.?" he added.

Assad may already be responding. Britain's Sunday Times reported that the Syrian military has placed advanced weapons on standby to strike Israel, in the event Israel strikes targets again in Syria.

The report said that reconnaissance satellite images show Syria has surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles ready for use and aimed at Tel Aviv. Each can carry a half ton payload, according to the paper.

In an interview with CNN shortly after the airstrikes, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad called the attack a "declaration of war," adding that Syria would retaliate in its own time and way.

At the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the tumult facing the Middle East, calling it "one of its most sensitive periods in decades with the escalating upheaval in Syria at its center."

"We are closely monitoring the developments and changes there and we are prepared for any scenario. The government of Israel is working responsibly and with determination and sagacity, in order to ensure the supreme interest of the state of Israel - the security of Israeli citizens in keeping with the policy that we have set, to - as much as possible - prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and to [other] terrorist elements," he said.

"We will work to ensure Israelis' security interest in the future as well," Netanyahu added.

Last week, Russia said it would move forward with a sale of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria, after Netanyahu made a visit to Moscow in person to try to convince the Russians to halt the deal. Once deployed, the advanced system will make future Israeli sorties over Syria more difficult, as well as rendering any notion of a U.S. or European-led no-fly zone much more complicated to implement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-obama-administration-apologizes-another-national-security-leak-182208023.html

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AP CEO calls records seizure unconstitutional

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The president and CEO of The Associated Press says the government's seizure of AP journalists' phone records was "unconstitutional" and already has had a chilling effect on newsgathering.

Gary Pruitt says the Justice Department's secret subpoena of reporters' phone records has made sources less willing to talk to AP journalists.

The Justice Department disclosed the seizure of two months of phone records in a letter the AP received May 10. The letter did not state a reason, but prosecutors had said they were conducting a leaks investigation into how the AP learned about an al-Qaida bomb plot in Yemen before it was made public last year. Pruitt said the AP story contradicted the government's claim at the time there was no terrorist plot.

Pruitt spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-ceo-calls-records-seizure-unconstitutional-162821460.html

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Pets in Listing Photos: Cute But Maybe Not Good for a Sale | AOL ...

Humans are known to discard all pretenses of rational thinking when it comes to pets, but could photos of playful pups in real estate listings really drive purchases?

New York realtor Phyllis Galloway thinks so, and in her 30 years at Sotheby's International Realty she's made a name for herself marketing homes to pet owners. "Pets warm up a listing and give a home character," she told The Wall Street Journal.

But Galloway also recognizes that people who don't like animals or have allergies may be turned off. And although pets draw eyeballs to a listing, it usually ends up becoming all about the sweet-faced quadruped rather than the property on sale.

"Eight out of 10 people -- if you show them a photo with a dog in it, they wouldn't remember the apartment, they would remember the dog," Nicole Oge, senior vice president of marketing at Town Residential, told the Journal.

See more on real estate listing practices:
Photoshopped Listings Sometimes Make for Not-So-Real Estate
Home Listings: 10 Terms That Can Kill a Sale
Real Estate Broker Warms Up Cold Listings With Hot Models

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find homes for rent.
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/05/17/pets-listing-photos/

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Edward Furlong: Arrested Again After Fight With Girlfriend!

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Harry Reid Focuses On July For The 'Nuclear Option'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told top advisers that he is prepared to take action if Senate Republicans block three upcoming nominations, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Reid is reportedly focusing on the month of July to approach filibuster reform and possibly execute the "nuclear option," which would change the Senate rules and no longer require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

?This would take away the right to filibuster on nominations,? a senior Senate Democratic aide told the Washington Post. ?All executive branch and judicial nominations would be subject to majority votes. He would not do it on legislative items.?

A Senate Democratic aide confirmed the Post report to HuffPost and said that Reid met recently with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a leader of the push to reform the filibuster, to lay out his thinking going forward.

Reid has consistently said publicly that he reserves the right to change Senate rules if he considers the GOP to be abusing the ones left in place by the bipartisan agreement in January.

Reid warned in April that he would enact the "nuclear option" if President Barack Obama's judicial nominations are kept from moving forward.

?All within the sound of my voice, including my Democratic senators and the Republican senators who I serve with, should understand that we as a body have the power on any given day to change the rules with a simple majority, and I will do that if necessary," Reid said.

Ryan Grim contributed reporting.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/harry-reid-nuclear-option_n_3293865.html

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IDC: Android OEMs Shipped 162M Smartphones In Q1, More Than 4X Apple's Rate; Windows Phone Now In (Distant) Third

IDC today was the latest to publish its numbers on smartphone market shares after the major handset makers released Q1 earnings, and like Gartner, Strategy Analytics and the rest, it underscores the power of Google's Android platform at the moment: Android OEMs shipped 162.1 million handsets in the quarter, giving the platform a 75% share of total worldwide shipments, while Apple's 37.4 million devices put it at an increasingly distant second position at 17.3%. Microsoft's Windows Phone, driven primarily by its partner Nokia (79% of all WP shipments), grew the most of all platforms, with a rise of 133.3%, but that still puts it at a single-digit?share, 3.2% on 7 million devices shipped.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BHDknH1Z5jw/

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New insights into how materials transfer heat could lead to improved electronics

Friday, May 17, 2013

U of T Engineering researchers, working with colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, have published new insights into how materials transfer heat, which could lead eventually to smaller, more powerful electronic devices.

Integrated circuits and other electronic parts have been shrinking in size and growing in complexity and power for decades. But as circuits get smaller, it becomes more difficult to dissipate waste heat. For further advances to be made in electronics, researchers and industry need to find ways of tracking heat transfer in products ranging from smart phones to computers to solar cells.

Dan Sellan and Professor Cristina Amon, of U of T's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department, investigated a new tool to measure the thermal and vibrational properties of solids. Working with colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, they studied materials in which heat is transferred by atomic vibrations in packets called phonons. Their results were recently published in Nature Communications.

"In an analogy to light, phonons come in a spectrum of colors, and we have developed a new tool to measure how different color phonons contribute to the thermal conductivity of solids," said Jonathan Malen, an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at CMU.

According to the researchers, the new tool will give both industry and academia a clearer picture of how an electronic device's ability to dissipate heat shrinks with its size, and how materials can be structured at the nanoscale to change their thermal conductivity.

For example, in the initial demonstration, the team showed that as silicon microprocessors continue to shrink, their operating temperatures will be further challenged by reduced thermal conductivity.

"Our modeling work provides an in-depth look at how individual phonons impact thermal conductivity," said Sellan, who undertook his research as a PhD Candidate in Professor Amon's lab. Currently an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin, Sellan is developing experimental techniques for thermal measurements.

Professor Amon, who is also Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at U of T, said Sellan's insights will allow researchers to design nanostructured thermoelectric materials with increased efficiency in converting waste heat to electrical energy. This work has exciting implications for the future of nano-scale thermal conductivity research."

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University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering: http://www.engineering.utoronto.ca/home.htm

Thanks to University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128297/New_insights_into_how_materials_transfer_heat_could_lead_to_improved_electronics

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British team hails new embryo selection method for IVF success

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - British fertility experts have devised a new IVF technique that takes thousands of snapshots of a developing embryo that they say can help doctors pick those most likely to implant successfully and develop into healthy babies.

At a briefing in London before publishing their results, the researchers said they are already using the technique to select "low risk" embryos that are the least likely to have chromosomal abnormalities that could hamper their development.

In their study, published in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online, the team's chances of producing a successful live birth after in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) were increased by 56 percent using the new technique compared to the standard method of selecting embryos that look best through a microscope.

"In the 35 years I have been in this field, this is probably the most exciting and significant development that can be of value to all patients seeking IVF," said Simon Fishel, a leading fertility doctor and director at the IVF clinic operator CARE Fertility where the technique is being developed.

Independent scientists not involved in the work welcomed it as a significant advance but said full randomised controlled trials - the gold standard in medicine - should be conducted before it is adopted as mainstream practice.

"This paper is interesting because we really do need to make advances in selecting the best embryos created during IVF," said Allan Pacey of Sheffield University, chair of the British Fertility Society.

"The idea of monitoring embryo development more closely is being used increasingly in clinics around the world and so it is good to see the science involved submitted to peer review and publication," he added. "All too often, developments in IVF are trumpeted as advances when they remain unproven."

Experts say that today, as many as 1 to 2 percent of babies in the Western world are conceived through IVF. The standard methods of selecting embryos are based largely on what they look like through a microscope, and many IVF cycles fail because the embryo chosen and transferred to the womb fails to develop.

The scientists who led this study said that using time-lapse images, they had found that developmental delays in the embryo at crucial stages are good indicators of likely chromosomal abnormalities that could result in a failed pregnancy.

VIEWING FAR MORE IMAGES

"In conventional IVF laboratories, embryo development will be checked up to six times over a 5-day period," said Alison Campbell, Care Fertility's embryology director and the lead researcher on the study being published.

"With time-lapse we have the ability to view more than 5,000 images over the same time period to observe and measure more closely each stage of division and growth."

Using this new knowledge, the team developed what they call morphokinetic algorithms to predict success (MAPS). By applying these MAPS to the selection of embryos, they predict they could reach a live birth rate for patients undergoing IVF of 78 percent - about three times the national average.

Fishel, whose CARE Fertility clinics are Britain's largest independent provider of assisted conception cycles, with around 3,500 a year, said he is charging around 750 pounds ($1,100) for IVF using the MAPS technique - compared to several thousand pounds for a standard IVF cycle.

But Sue Avery, head of the Women's Fertility Centre in Birmingham, said it was too soon for all clinics to adopt it.

"Until the new technique is compared to current practice we cannot know whether different embryos are being chosen," she said. "The IVF community needs a prospective randomised controlled trial to prove that the new approach delivers better results before it can be recommended to patients."

($1 = 0.6533 British pounds)

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-team-hails-embryo-selection-method-ivf-success-232325649.html

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US rate on 30-year mortgage rises to 3.51 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose this week but stayed near their historic lows. Cheaper mortgages have helped the economy by spurring more home-buying and refinancing.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for the 30-year loan increased to 3.51 percent from 3.42 percent last week. That's still near the average of 3.31 percent reached in November, the lowest on records dating to 1971.

The average on the 15-year loan rose to 2.69 percent. That's up from 2.61 percent last week, which was the lowest on records going back to 1991.

Low mortgage rates have helped sustained the housing recovery that began last year. Home sales and construction are up from a year ago, and prices are rising in most U.S. markets.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-rate-30-mortgage-rises-3-51-pct-141314538.html

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Sorenson Media CEO Peter Csathy Tapped To Lead Manatt's Digital Media Group

After more than a decade, digital media businesses are finally starting to come into their own, as advertising and subscription dollars are moving from traditional media online. With that in mind, there's a new fund being formed to make investments in digital media companies, from legal and consulting firm Manatt. That fund will be led by a digital media veteran, Sorenson Media CEO Peter Csathy.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_5qc43rcAkg/

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3-D modeling technology offers groundbreaking solution for engineers

May 16, 2013 ? Software developed at the University of Sheffield has the potential to enable engineers to make 'real world' safety assessments of structures and foundations with unprecedented ease.

Developed in the Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, the software can directly identify three-dimensional collapse mechanisms and provide information about margin of safety, vitally important to engineers.

A method of directly identifying two-dimensional collapse mechanisms was first developed in the Department in 2007, and commercialised through the spinout company LimitState Ltd. This method, for the first time, fully automated the hand calculation techniques that had been relied upon by engineers for decades. Software incorporating this method is now used in dozens of countries worldwide.

Now, in a study published by the Royal Society, the researchers have shown that the same basic approach can be applied to 3D problems, ensuring that real world features can be taken into account.

Professor Matthew Gilbert, who co-authored the study, says: "The software we have developed means that engineers should in future be able to model real world geometries much more easily than before, obviating the need to idealise a complex 3D problem as a much simpler 2D problem. This should lead to more reliable assessment of margin safety and, ultimately, save companies time and money on projects."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/rQuV5ALg4gg/130516105610.htm

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