Don't act like you didn't know this was coming. Nokia has finally removed the see-through shroud covering its latest high-end device, known as the Lumia 1520, at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi. Thing is, it's not like any Windows Phone you've gazed upon before -- it's a top of the line smartphone with ...
Our poor baby!
In honor of her fresh album Prism, Katy Perry is continuing to open up about the very tough times she faced after splitting from Russell Brand back in 2011.
The songstress— who already admitted to suicidal thoughts — is now confessing that she spent weeks in bed post-breakup because she felt completely worthless without him.
"I'm not the kind of person who is always like, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. I was in bed for about two weeks. I was pretty f**ked, yes. It hurt a lot. I got a good knock. Unfortunately, although I had the outward self-identity I didn't have the inner kind, I hadn't built that up. My self-worth was in someone else's hands which is never a good idea, because it can be taken from you at any time. And it was, and it was shattered."
Yikes!
While it takes a fierce woman to go from zero to her own hero after such a heartwrenching end to such a whirlwind love affair, it's even more admirable that she's using her own struggles to inspire the masses!
Anyway, if it wasn't for Russell's text message to call it quits, Katy NEVER would've found such bliss with John Mayer AND a breathtaking work of art!
Are we right??! Obviously! HA!
What a roaring goddess!
Tags: divorce, gifs, john mayer, katy perry, love line, music minute, new album, prism, roar, russell brand
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 21-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Peter Vietti
onrpublicaffairs@navy.mil
703-696-5031
Office of Naval Research
ARLINGTON, Va.A faster, more precise way to create cockpit enclosures may end up saving the F-35 Lightning II program a significant amount in manufacturing costs.
Through its Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) program, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has invested in an automated thermoforming process that could cut costs by as much as $125 million over the course of the Joint Strike Fighter program.
"This is a great example of how the naval science and technology community delivers affordability along with cutting-edge results," said Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, deputy chief of naval operations for Warfare Systems. "Research like this also can produce a high return on investment across other warfighting domains."
An F-35 canopythe term used to describe the transparent enclosure over the cockpithas an unusual shape and specialized material that make the manufacturing process more complex than that for other aircraft.
Now what used to take up to six days to make will take only four days or less. The new automated process also will require fewer tools and help avoid costs when aircraft require replacement canopies.
Currently, skilled technicians load a preformed acrylic shell into a forming tool and put it in an oven where it heats at 200 degrees or more for up to six days. During that time, workers regularly enter the oven to observe the canopy's progress and manually adjust positioning clamps to control the forming process. Managing this process is critical for optimal canopy performance.
The new cost-effective method employs a control system with four cameras that can see inside the oven to calculate the rate at which the canopy's shape is forming. The clamps then automatically adjust to ensure the shape remains uniform throughout the process to meet the F-35's stringent performance requirements.
"We took an intensive, manual, time-consuming process and improved it to be more precise and efficient," said Neil Graf, program officer for ONR ManTech. "That's what Navy's ManTech program does: We look at ways to reduce manufacturing costs on aircraft, ships and submarines to save the taxpayer money."
The new method supports the Chief of Naval Operations' Navigation Plan that calls for the service to continue efforts to make investments to address near-term challenges and develop future capabilities even in the face of budget constraints.
ONR ManTech led a team of experts from the F-35 Program Office, Naval Air Systems Command, GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems and Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory to develop the automated system.
GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, in coordination with the F-35 Program Office, plans to implement the new process as early as 2014, producing initial and spare canopies for more than 2,000 planned and delivered aircraft.
###
The Department of Defense's Joint Strike Fighter program is developing the next generation of affordable, lethal strike aircraft. The F-35 is being manufactured in three variants: an aircraft-carrier version for the Navy, a conventional-take-off-and-landing jet for the Air Force and a short-takeoff/vertical-landing version for the Marine Corps.
ONR provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in science and technology with engagement in 50 states, 70 countries, 1,035 institutions of higher learning and 914 industry partners. ONR employs approximately 1,400 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract personnel, with additional employees at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 21-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Peter Vietti
onrpublicaffairs@navy.mil
703-696-5031
Office of Naval Research
ARLINGTON, Va.A faster, more precise way to create cockpit enclosures may end up saving the F-35 Lightning II program a significant amount in manufacturing costs.
Through its Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) program, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has invested in an automated thermoforming process that could cut costs by as much as $125 million over the course of the Joint Strike Fighter program.
"This is a great example of how the naval science and technology community delivers affordability along with cutting-edge results," said Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, deputy chief of naval operations for Warfare Systems. "Research like this also can produce a high return on investment across other warfighting domains."
An F-35 canopythe term used to describe the transparent enclosure over the cockpithas an unusual shape and specialized material that make the manufacturing process more complex than that for other aircraft.
Now what used to take up to six days to make will take only four days or less. The new automated process also will require fewer tools and help avoid costs when aircraft require replacement canopies.
Currently, skilled technicians load a preformed acrylic shell into a forming tool and put it in an oven where it heats at 200 degrees or more for up to six days. During that time, workers regularly enter the oven to observe the canopy's progress and manually adjust positioning clamps to control the forming process. Managing this process is critical for optimal canopy performance.
The new cost-effective method employs a control system with four cameras that can see inside the oven to calculate the rate at which the canopy's shape is forming. The clamps then automatically adjust to ensure the shape remains uniform throughout the process to meet the F-35's stringent performance requirements.
"We took an intensive, manual, time-consuming process and improved it to be more precise and efficient," said Neil Graf, program officer for ONR ManTech. "That's what Navy's ManTech program does: We look at ways to reduce manufacturing costs on aircraft, ships and submarines to save the taxpayer money."
The new method supports the Chief of Naval Operations' Navigation Plan that calls for the service to continue efforts to make investments to address near-term challenges and develop future capabilities even in the face of budget constraints.
ONR ManTech led a team of experts from the F-35 Program Office, Naval Air Systems Command, GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems and Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory to develop the automated system.
GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, in coordination with the F-35 Program Office, plans to implement the new process as early as 2014, producing initial and spare canopies for more than 2,000 planned and delivered aircraft.
###
The Department of Defense's Joint Strike Fighter program is developing the next generation of affordable, lethal strike aircraft. The F-35 is being manufactured in three variants: an aircraft-carrier version for the Navy, a conventional-take-off-and-landing jet for the Air Force and a short-takeoff/vertical-landing version for the Marine Corps.
ONR provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in science and technology with engagement in 50 states, 70 countries, 1,035 institutions of higher learning and 914 industry partners. ONR employs approximately 1,400 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract personnel, with additional employees at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves to the media as he arrives at the U.S. embassy for a meeting with the Arab League in Paris, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Kerry is in Paris for diplomatic talks about a peace process for Israel and Palestinian authorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves to the media as he arrives at the U.S. embassy for a meeting with the Arab League in Paris, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Kerry is in Paris for diplomatic talks about a peace process for Israel and Palestinian authorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
FILE - In this March 8, 2013 file photo, U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, stands as the US national anthem is played aboard US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Marseille, southern France. Le Monde newspaper says Monday, Oct.21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. The French government has summoned the Rivkin to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies.(AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joining a growing list of angry allies, France on Monday demanded an explanation from Washington of a report that the U.S. swept up 70 million French telephone records and text messages in its global surveillance net, even recording certain private conversations.
The fallout prompted a phone call from President Barack Obama to President Francois Hollande and, the White House said, an acknowledgment by Obama that the episode raises "legitimate questions for our friends and allies" about how U.S. surveillance capabilities are employed. Hollande's office issued a strongly worded statement afterward expressing "profound reprobation" over U.S. actions that it said intruded on the private lives of French citizens.
Spying among friendly countries is classic tradecraft but the sweep and scope of the National Security Agency program have surprised allies and raised indignation among those targeted — Germany, Mexico and Brazil among them.
The report in Le Monde, co-written by Glenn Greenwald, who originally revealed the surveillance program based on leaks from former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, found that when certain phone numbers were used, conversations were automatically recorded. The surveillance operation also gathered text messages based on key words, Le Monde reported.
"This sort of practice between partners that invades privacy is totally unacceptable and we have to make sure, very quickly, that this no longer happens," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "We fully agree that we cooperate to fight terrorism. It is indispensable. But this does not justify that personal data of millions of our compatriots are snooped on."
Seeking to limit damage in relations with one of America's closest allies, Obama called Hollande late Monday and made clear the U.S. government is reviewing its intelligence-gathering "so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share," a White House statement said. The statement said some recent disclosures have "distorted our activities" while others have raised genuine concerns by other countries.
Earlier, the French government summoned U.S. Ambassador Charles Rivkin for answers. A statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Paris said Rivkin assured Alexandre Ziegler, chief of staff to Fabius, that "our ongoing bilateral consultations on allegations of information-gathering by U.S. government agencies would continue."
The level of the diplomatic consultation at the time — between the U.S. ambassador and only an aide to Fabius — suggested that France was modulating its response. Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Paris early Monday for meetings on Middle East issues and could have been contacted immediately if it appeared relations were in deeper trouble. But the matter was subsequently elevated with Obama's phone call.
Hollande's office said later that the French leader asked Obama to make available all information on NSA spying of French communications.
Kerry would not confirm the newspaper account or discuss intelligence-gathering except to say: "Lots of countries are engaged in the activity of trying to protect their citizens in the world."
Le Monde reported that from Dec. 10, 2012 to Jan. 8 of this year, 70.3 million recordings of French citizens' telephone data were made by the NSA. Intercepts peaked at almost 7 million in Dec. 24 and again on Jan. 7, the paper said. The targets were people with suspected links to terrorism and people chosen because of their roles in business, politics or the French government, the report said.
Former CIA officer Bob Baer, who was stationed in Paris for three years, said the French intelligence service regularly spies on Americans — both on U.S. diplomats and business people. The spying has included rifling through possessions of a diplomat, businessman or spy in Paris hotel rooms and installing listening devices in first-class seats of the now-defunct Concord aircraft to record Americans' conversations, he said.
In another instance, a former French intelligence director stated that the spy agency compiled a detailed secret dossier of the proprietary proposals that U.S. and Soviet companies wrote to compete with a French company for a $1 billion contract to supply fighter jets to India.
But while corporate and spy- vs.-spy espionage may be common, the newspaper report indicated that French citizens were unwittingly drawn into U.S. surveillance, too.
Dennis Blair, a former director of national intelligence, tried to broker a closer intelligence-sharing relationship with France, so the two would simply ask each other to explain political or economic policies directly instead of resorting to snooping.
"The U.S. is overwhelmed by cooperation by France on things like ... terrorism and organized crime," Blair said in an interview Monday. "It dwarfs the amount of time we spend on spying on each other. I'm hoping the day will come when both countries realize they have a lot more to be gained by working with each other, but we're not quite there yet."
The most recent documents cited by Le Monde, dated April 2013, indicated the NSA's interest in communications linked to Wanadoo — once part of France Telecom — and Alcatel-Lucent, the French-American telecom company. One of the documents instructed analysts to draw not only from the electronic surveillance program, but also from another initiative dubbed Upstream, which allowed surveillance on undersea communications cables.
Snowden's leaks exposing details of the U.S. global surveillance apparatus have sparked an international debate over the limits of American spying. The strongest objection has come from Brazil.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff canceled a state visit to Washington over a dispute involving Brazil's desire to question Snowden after information he leaked indicated that the U.S. intercepted Rousseff's communications with aides, hacked the state-run oil company's computer network and snagged data on emails and telephone calls flowing through Brazil.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government canceled a Cold War-era surveillance agreement over reports that NSA snooping swept up communications in Europe.
"I can understand the anger in France," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. "You don't do that among partners. You don't do that among friends."
Mexico has also expressed outrage about an alleged NSA program that the German magazine Der Spiegel said accessed a domain linked to former Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his Cabinet. Also, a document from June 2012 indicated the NSA had read current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's emails before he was elected.
The U.S. is thought to avoid spying on its coalition of "'Five Eye" partners — Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — but considers other countries fair game.
The U.S. intelligence community has discussed bringing France into the Five Eyes alliance because of its close cooperation with U.S. troops and intelligence against al-Qaida in such as Afghanistan and Mali, according to two current U.S. intelligence officials. But the trust between both countries has never reached the level needed for that, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the relationship publicly.
___
Associated Press writers Lara Jakes and Lori Hinnant in Paris, Matthew Lee and Adam Goldman in Washington and Raf Casert in Luxembourg contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-21-US-NSA-Surveillance/id-6f0a6084dee34416831c4ba774f3e8ed"I am attracted to humans."
Late last week, on the day that Morrissey‘s self-penned Autobiography was released in the UK, the first reviews of (and details from) the book started to make their way online. It was reported that Moz spends a lot of time in the book talking about a significant same-sex relationship he had with Jake Walters in the mid-90′s. Pretty much everyone interested in the publication of Morrissey‘s autobiography picked up on the story. While he was still in Sweden (where he made an in-person appearance at a book signing), Moz issued an official statement seeking to clarify all the talk about his sexuality. In a grand and very typically Morrissey way, he issued a statement that clarifies the way that HE would like to classify his sexuality … on his own terms … with his own term. Click below to read the full text of his statement.
Statement
19 October 2013“Unfortunately, I am not homosexual. In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course … not many”.
-MORRISSEY, Sweden, 19 October 2013.
Honestly, I thought Morrissey would let his words in his Autobiography speak for him but clearly, he bristled a bit at all of the press that came out about his relationship with Jake. I love the man, I really do. He can call himself whatever he wants to call himself but the more I read his own words about his own life (including his relationships with women and men), it’s very clear to me the message he conveys in his book — whether he wants it expressly spelled out or not. Clearly, Morrissey doesn’t like being labeled … this isn’t news to anyone with any passing knowledge of him. And I wouldn’t expect anything less from him. This statement changes nothing in my mind. I’ve read his lyrics for decades. I’m reading his life story in his own words. I know what is going on. Morrissey will remain Morrissey until his dying day. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
[Source]
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves to the media as he arrives at the U.S. embassy for a meeting with the Arab League in Paris, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Kerry is in Paris for diplomatic talks about a peace process for Israel and Palestinian authorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry waves to the media as he arrives at the U.S. embassy for a meeting with the Arab League in Paris, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Kerry is in Paris for diplomatic talks about a peace process for Israel and Palestinian authorities. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, right, leaves the Foreign Ministry in Paris, after he was summoned Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. The French government had summoned the ambassador to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies. Le Monde newspaper said Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
FILE - In this March 8, 2013 file photo, U.S Ambassador to France Charles H. Rivkin, stands as the US national anthem is played aboard US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Marseille, southern France. Le Monde newspaper says Monday, Oct.21, 2013 that documents leaked by Edward Snowden show that the U.S. National Security Agency swept up 70.3 million French phone records in a 30-day period. The French government has summoned the Rivkin to explain why the Americans spied on one of their closest allies.(AP Photo/Claude Paris, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joining a growing list of angry allies, France on Monday demanded an explanation from Washington of a report that the U.S. swept up 70 million French telephone records and text messages in its global surveillance net, even recording certain private conversations.
The fallout prompted a phone call from President Barack Obama to President Francois Hollande and, the White House said, an acknowledgment by Obama that the episode raises "legitimate questions for our friends and allies" about how U.S. surveillance capabilities are employed. Hollande's office issued a strongly worded statement afterward expressing "profound reprobation" over U.S. actions that it said intruded on the private lives of French citizens.
Spying among friendly countries is classic tradecraft but the sweep and scope of the National Security Agency program have surprised allies and raised indignation among those targeted — Germany, Mexico and Brazil among them.
The report in Le Monde, co-written by Glenn Greenwald, who originally revealed the surveillance program based on leaks from former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, found that when certain phone numbers were used, conversations were automatically recorded. The surveillance operation also gathered text messages based on key words, Le Monde reported.
"This sort of practice between partners that invades privacy is totally unacceptable and we have to make sure, very quickly, that this no longer happens," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "We fully agree that we cooperate to fight terrorism. It is indispensable. But this does not justify that personal data of millions of our compatriots are snooped on."
Seeking to limit damage in relations with one of America's closest allies, Obama called Hollande late Monday and made clear the U.S. government is reviewing its intelligence-gathering "so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share," a White House statement said. The statement said some recent disclosures have "distorted our activities" while others have raised genuine concerns by other countries.
Earlier, the French government summoned U.S. Ambassador Charles Rivkin for answers. A statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Paris said Rivkin assured Alexandre Ziegler, chief of staff to Fabius, that "our ongoing bilateral consultations on allegations of information-gathering by U.S. government agencies would continue."
The level of the diplomatic consultation at the time — between the U.S. ambassador and only an aide to Fabius — suggested that France was modulating its response. Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Paris early Monday for meetings on Middle East issues and could have been contacted immediately if it appeared relations were in deeper trouble. But the matter was subsequently elevated with Obama's phone call.
Hollande's office said later that the French leader asked Obama to make available all information on NSA spying of French communications.
Kerry would not confirm the newspaper account or discuss intelligence-gathering except to say: "Lots of countries are engaged in the activity of trying to protect their citizens in the world."
Le Monde reported that from Dec. 10, 2012 to Jan. 8 of this year, 70.3 million recordings of French citizens' telephone data were made by the NSA. Intercepts peaked at almost 7 million in Dec. 24 and again on Jan. 7, the paper said. The targets were people with suspected links to terrorism and people chosen because of their roles in business, politics or the French government, the report said.
Former CIA officer Bob Baer, who was stationed in Paris for three years, said the French intelligence service regularly spies on Americans — both on U.S. diplomats and business people. The spying has included rifling through possessions of a diplomat, businessman or spy in Paris hotel rooms and installing listening devices in first-class seats of the now-defunct Concord aircraft to record Americans' conversations, he said.
In another instance, a former French intelligence director stated that the spy agency compiled a detailed secret dossier of the proprietary proposals that U.S. and Soviet companies wrote to compete with a French company for a $1 billion contract to supply fighter jets to India.
But while corporate and spy- vs.-spy espionage may be common, the newspaper report indicated that French citizens were unwittingly drawn into U.S. surveillance, too.
Dennis Blair, a former director of national intelligence, tried to broker a closer intelligence-sharing relationship with France, so the two would simply ask each other to explain political or economic policies directly instead of resorting to snooping.
"The U.S. is overwhelmed by cooperation by France on things like ... terrorism and organized crime," Blair said in an interview Monday. "It dwarfs the amount of time we spend on spying on each other. I'm hoping the day will come when both countries realize they have a lot more to be gained by working with each other, but we're not quite there yet."
The most recent documents cited by Le Monde, dated April 2013, indicated the NSA's interest in communications linked to Wanadoo — once part of France Telecom — and Alcatel-Lucent, the French-American telecom company. One of the documents instructed analysts to draw not only from the electronic surveillance program, but also from another initiative dubbed Upstream, which allowed surveillance on undersea communications cables.
Snowden's leaks exposing details of the U.S. global surveillance apparatus have sparked an international debate over the limits of American spying. The strongest objection has come from Brazil.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff canceled a state visit to Washington over a dispute involving Brazil's desire to question Snowden after information he leaked indicated that the U.S. intercepted Rousseff's communications with aides, hacked the state-run oil company's computer network and snagged data on emails and telephone calls flowing through Brazil .
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government canceled a Cold War-era surveillance agreement over reports that NSA snooping swept up communications in Europe.
"I can understand the anger in France," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. "You don't do that among partners. You don't do that among friends."
Mexico has also expressed outrage about an alleged NSA program that the German newspaper Der Spiegel said accessed a domain linked to former Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his Cabinet. Also, a document from June 2012 indicated the NSA had read current Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's emails before he was elected.
The U.S. is thought to avoid spying on its coalition of "'Five Eye" partners — Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — but considers other countries fair game.
The U.S. intelligence community has discussed bringing France into the Five Eyes alliance because of its close cooperation with U.S. troops and intelligence against al-Qaida in such as Afghanistan and Mali, according to two current U.S. intelligence officials. But the trust between both countries has never reached the level needed for that, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the relationship publicly.
___
Associated Press writers Lara Jakes and Lori Hinnant in Paris, Matthew Lee and Adam Goldman in Washington and Raf Casert in Luxembourg contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-21-US-NSA-Surveillance/id-c8a3049dcfe44ac6a7acd3177f575410The MMA Hour is back in your life on Monday. Below is a rundown of who will be stopping by and when:
1 p.m. ET -- MMAFighting.com's Dave Meltzer will look back at UFC 166 and discuss other MMA news.
1:25 p.m. -- Jon Fitch will preview his World Series of Fighting 6 bout against Marcelo Alfaya on Saturday night.
1:45 p.m. -- Rousimar Palhares will talk about his recent release from the UFC and what's next.
2:05 p.m. -- Garry Cook, the UFC's executive vice president and managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa, will talk about UFC Fight Night 30 and the promotion's international expansion plans.
2:25 p.m. -- Mark Munoz will preview his UFN 30 main event fight against Lyoto Machida.
2:45 p.m. -- Pat Miletich will talk about receiving a lifetime achievement award from RFA on Friday night.
3:05 p.m. -- AKA's Javier Mendez will look back at Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier's performance at UFC 166.
3:15 p.m. -- We'll answer your #themmahour questions on anything and everything going on in the MMA world. Hit us up on Twitter using that hash tag, leave a question in the comments section below, or give us a call.
Plus, we'll be taking your calls on anything and everything. Got a question or comment? Give us a call at 1-888-418-4074.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. GMT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here or via TuneIn here.
ShareContact: Leslie Capo
lcapo@lsuhsc.edu
504-568-4806
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
New Orleans, LA A study led by Xiaoching Li, PhD, at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence, has shown for the first time how two tiny molecules regulate a gene implicated in speech and language impairments as well as autism disorders, and that social context of vocal behavior governs their function. The findings are published in the October 16, 2013 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
Speech and language impairments affect the lives of millions of people, but the underlying neural mechanisms are largely unknown and difficult to study in humans. Zebra finches learn to sing and use songs for social communications. Because the vocal learning process in birds has many similarities with speech and language development in humans, the zebra finch provides a useful model to study the neural mechanisms underlying speech and language in humans.
Mutations in the FOXP2 gene have been linked to speech and language deficits and in autism disorders. A current theory is that a precise amount of FOXP2 is required for the proper development of the neural circuits processing speech and language, so it is important to understand how the FOXP2 gene is regulated. In this study, the research team identified two microRNAs, or miRNAs, miR-9 and miR-140-5p that regulate the levels of FOXP2. (MicroRNAs are a new class of small RNA molecules that play an important regulatory role in cell biology. They prevent the production of a particular protein by binding to and destroying the messenger RNA that would have produced the protein.) The researchers showed that in the zebra finch brain, these miRNAs are expressed in a basal ganglia nucleus that is required for vocal learning, and their function is regulated during vocal learning. More intriguingly, the expression of these two miRNAs is also regulated by the social context of song behavior in males singing undirected songs.
"Because the FOXP2 gene and these two miRNAs are evolutionarily conserved, the insights we obtained from studying birds are highly relevant to speech and language in humans and related neural developmental disorders such as autism," notes Xiaoching Li, PhD,
LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy as well as Neuroscience. "Understanding how miRNAs regulate FOXP2 may open many possibilities to influence speech and language development through genetic variations in miRNA genes, as well as behavioral and environmental factors."
###
The research team also included Zhimin Shi, PhD, and Lijuan Fu, PhD, from the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center, Zhide Fang, PhD, from the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, and Guanzheng Luo, PhD, and XiuJie Wang, PhD, from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This research was supported by grants to LSUHSC's Dr. Li from the National Institutes of Health and the Brain Behavior Research Foundation.
LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's academic health leader, LSUHSC comprises a School of Medicine, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSUHSC faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSUHSC research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSUHSC faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease.
To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu and http://www.twitter.com/LSUHSCHealth
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
ShareContact: Leslie Capo
lcapo@lsuhsc.edu
504-568-4806
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
New Orleans, LA A study led by Xiaoching Li, PhD, at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence, has shown for the first time how two tiny molecules regulate a gene implicated in speech and language impairments as well as autism disorders, and that social context of vocal behavior governs their function. The findings are published in the October 16, 2013 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
Speech and language impairments affect the lives of millions of people, but the underlying neural mechanisms are largely unknown and difficult to study in humans. Zebra finches learn to sing and use songs for social communications. Because the vocal learning process in birds has many similarities with speech and language development in humans, the zebra finch provides a useful model to study the neural mechanisms underlying speech and language in humans.
Mutations in the FOXP2 gene have been linked to speech and language deficits and in autism disorders. A current theory is that a precise amount of FOXP2 is required for the proper development of the neural circuits processing speech and language, so it is important to understand how the FOXP2 gene is regulated. In this study, the research team identified two microRNAs, or miRNAs, miR-9 and miR-140-5p that regulate the levels of FOXP2. (MicroRNAs are a new class of small RNA molecules that play an important regulatory role in cell biology. They prevent the production of a particular protein by binding to and destroying the messenger RNA that would have produced the protein.) The researchers showed that in the zebra finch brain, these miRNAs are expressed in a basal ganglia nucleus that is required for vocal learning, and their function is regulated during vocal learning. More intriguingly, the expression of these two miRNAs is also regulated by the social context of song behavior in males singing undirected songs.
"Because the FOXP2 gene and these two miRNAs are evolutionarily conserved, the insights we obtained from studying birds are highly relevant to speech and language in humans and related neural developmental disorders such as autism," notes Xiaoching Li, PhD,
LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy as well as Neuroscience. "Understanding how miRNAs regulate FOXP2 may open many possibilities to influence speech and language development through genetic variations in miRNA genes, as well as behavioral and environmental factors."
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The research team also included Zhimin Shi, PhD, and Lijuan Fu, PhD, from the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center, Zhide Fang, PhD, from the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, and Guanzheng Luo, PhD, and XiuJie Wang, PhD, from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This research was supported by grants to LSUHSC's Dr. Li from the National Institutes of Health and the Brain Behavior Research Foundation.
LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's academic health leader, LSUHSC comprises a School of Medicine, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSUHSC faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSUHSC research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSUHSC faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease.
To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu and http://www.twitter.com/LSUHSCHealth
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NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market hit an all-time high Thursday as Wall Street put the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis behind it and focused on corporate earnings.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.61 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 1,733.15 — a record close. Nine of the 10 industry groups in the index finished higher, with technology the only group that fell.
The market rose throughout the day as investors got back to focusing on corporate earnings and economic data. American Express and Verizon rose the most in the Dow Jones industrial average after reporting earnings that beat expectations from financial analysts.
The Dow ended the day down two points, or 0.01 percent, to 15,371.65. The index of 30 big U.S. companies was held back by declines in IBM, Goldman Sachs and UnitedHealth.
IBM's third-quarter revenue fell and missed Wall Street's forecast by more than $1 billion. The stock closed down $11.90, or 6 percent, to $174.80. Earlier, it had touched its lowest level of the past year — $172.57
Goldman Sachs also weighed down the index. The investment bank's revenue fell sharply as trading in bonds and other securities slowed. Goldman fell $3.93, or 2.4 percent, to $158.32.
The focus on earnings is a change of pace for Wall Street, which had been absorbed in Washington's political drama over the last month.
Now that the U.S. has avoided the possibility of default, at least for a few months, earnings news is expected to dominate trading for the next couple weeks. So far, only 79 companies in the S&P 500 have reported third-quarter results, according to S&P Capital IQ. Analysts expect earnings at those companies to increase 3.3 percent over the same period a year ago.
"I don't think we can completely close the door on the debt ceiling chapter just yet, but we can get back to the stuff that really matters," said Jonathan Corpina, who manages trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for Meridian Equity Partners.
Other indexes also posted noticeable gains. The Nasdaq composite closed up 23.71 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,863.15.
The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of primarily smaller, riskier companies, also hit an all-time high. It closed up 9.85 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,102.27 and has risen nearly 30 percent this year.
Market analysts think the 16-day partial shutdown of the government caused billions of dollars of damage to the economy. Government employees were furloughed, contracts were delayed, and tourism declined at national parks.
Analysts at Wells Fargo said the shutdown likely lowered economic growth by 0.5 percentage point.
There remain broader concerns that Democrats and Republicans won't be able to draw up a longer-term budget. The deal approved late Wednesday only permits the Treasury Department to borrow through Feb. 7 and fund the government through Jan. 15.
"The agreement represents another temporary fix that pushes fiscal uncertainty into the early months of next year," Wells Fargo analysts said.
Despite the worries, signs of normalcy returned to financial markets Thursday.
The one-month Treasury bill was back to trading at a yield of 0.01 percent, about where it was a month ago, and down sharply from 0.35 percent on Tuesday.
Usually a staid, conservative security, the one-month T-bill was subjected to a wave of selling at the beginning of the month. Investors feared the T-bill would be the first piece of government debt to be affected by a U.S. default if the debt ceiling was breached and the federal government could no longer pay its obligations.
The yield on the more closely-watched 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.60 percent from 2.67 percent Wednesday.
Among other stock moves:
— Verizon rose $1.65, or 4 percent, to $48.90. The telecommunications company earned an adjusted 77 cents per share for the recent quarter, beating expectations of financial analysts.
— UnitedHealth Group dropped $3.82, or 5 percent, to $71.37. The health insurance giant narrowed its 2013 profit forecast, instead of raising it, giving some analysts pause.
HOUSTON – There were few surprises at the weigh-in for UFC 166 on Friday at the Toyota Center, with both heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and former champion Junior dos Santos declaring themselves fit and ready for their rubber match Saturday for the belt.
Velasquez, who routed dos Santos at UFC 155 in December to retain the title, weighed in at 241. Moments earlier, dos Santos, who won the belt with a first-round knockout of Velasquez on Nov. 12, 2011, at UFC on Fox 1, was 240.
Dos Santos promised more fireworks.
"I'm here to give you guys one more knockout," dos Santos told the loud pro-Velasquez crowd.
Velasquez had little to say, as usual, other than saying he expects a tough fight.
"He's a tough dude and I expect this fight to be tougher than the second," Velasquez said. "That's what I trained for. That's what I'm ready for. I trained for a five-round fight and I'm ready for whatever comes."
Other weights:
Daniel Cormer, 224, vs Roy Nelson, 249.
Gilbert Melendez, 156, vs. Diego Sanchez, 156.
Gabe Gonzaga, 257, vs. Shawn Jordan, 255.
John Dodson, 125, vs. Darrell Montague, 126.
Tim Boetsch, 186, vs. C.B. Dollaway, 186.
Nate Marquardt, 171, vs. Hector Lombard, 169.
Jessica Eye, 135, vs. Sarah Kaufman, 135.
George Sotiropoulous, 155, vs. K.J. Noons, 156.
T.J. Waldburger 170.5, vs. Adlan Amagov, 171.
Tony Ferguson, 155, vs. Mike Rio, 156.
Andre Fili, 148.5, vs. Jeremy Larsen, 145.5. (Fili was 2.5 pounds over and the UFC decided not to re-weigh him. He forfeits 20 percent of his purse to Larsen for missing weight.)
Kyogi Horiguchi 135, vs. Dustin Pague.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/cain-velasquez-junior-dos-santos-weight-rubber-match-222650195--mma.html
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma
Obama Gets Firsthand Look at a Tornado Damage
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.
Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has made his career monitoring the Earth's climate, and he's alarmed at what he sees. After reading a new, bleak international report on climate change, Holthaus has decided one important way to reduce his carbon footprint is to give up airplane travel for good.
It was another busy fall week here at GossipCenter. Check out what caught our eye below!
Kim Kardashian Steams Up Instagram: Putting an end to the naysayers, Kim showed off her post-baby body on Instagram. Giving his seal of approval, her man Kanye West posted a hasty response- “HEADING HOME NOW.”
Kristen Bell Marries Dax Shepard: After six years of dating, the Hollywood couple said "I Do" this week. The brief ceremony took place in the Beverly Hills county clerk’s office.
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey to Host Golden Globes: After their successful hosting gig at the Globes in 2013, the comedy duo have re-upped with NBC to host the awards show for the next two years. In response to the announcement, the "Parks and Recreation" star tweeted, “Sorry @taylorswift13 but Amy & Tina will be back for the next two @goldenglobes.”
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: Music fans everywhere will have a chance to help select who will get the honor of induction in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Included in the list of 16 hopefuls are acts like Peter Gabriel, LL Cool J, Cat Stevens, Nirvana, Kiss, NWA, Linda Ronstadt, Hall and Oates, the Replacements, and Yes.
"Glee" Will End After Sixth Season: With the untimely death of Cory Monteith this summer, "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy announced that the show will end next year after its sixth season. Though he had an ending in mind, it involved Monteith's character Finn, which has caused him to go back to the drawing board."When a tragedy like that happens you sort of have to pause and figure out what you want to do, so we're figuring that out now," he explained.
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roughly half a million Americans have applied for health insurance through new federal- and state-run exchanges under President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, an administration official said on Saturday.
That figure comes as problems with the federal marketplace's entry portal serving 36 states, the website Healthcare.gov, have thwarted consumers from shopping for federally subsidized health coverage and drawn derision from Republicans, who oppose the law, popularly known as Obamacare.
The acknowledgement of the number of applicants, late on a weekend evening, appeared to be part of a ramped-up damage control effort by the White House.
Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is expected to provide private health coverage to an estimated 7 million uninsured Americans through the new online marketplaces that opened for enrollment in all 50 states on October 1.
But the Healthcare.gov website was hobbled by technical issues - including error messages, garbled text and delays loading pages - that administration officials blame partly on an unexpectedly high volume of 14.6 million visitors in its first several days of activity.
Obama is frustrated by the poor start and told advisers during a recent Oval Office meeting that the administration had to take responsibility for not having the site ready on time, an official said.
"The website is unacceptable, and we are improving it, but the product is good and across the country people are getting access to affordable care starting January 1," one administration official said.
"We are going to work intensely for the next six months to make sure we meet the demand."
Another administration official said that among the roughly half a million applicants, more than half lived in states where the federal government was administering the health exchanges in full or in part.
Official figures from October activity are not due until next month.
Obama is holding a healthcare-themed event at the White House on Monday and will likely address the problems.
Members of his administration plan to travel the country to encourage people in areas with high levels of the uninsured to apply, an official said, and call centers were getting more staff to deal with phone calls from applicants who have trouble getting through online.
As Washington moves on from a 16-day government shutdown that concluded this week, Republicans are also turning up the heat on the administration to address the program's problems. Republicans in the House of Representatives triggered the government shutdown in a failed attempt to defund or delay Obamacare.
Republicans have criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for declining to appear before an oversight panel to discuss the issue on October 24.
(Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Peter Cooney and Eric Walsh)
A pair of researchers have uncovered more than two dozen vulnerabilities in products used in critical infrastructure systems that would allow attackers to crash or hijack the servers controlling electric substations and water systems.
The vulnerabilities include some that would allow an attacker to crash or send a master server into an infinite loop, preventing operators from monitoring or controlling operations. Others would allow remote code-injection into a server, providing an opportunity for an attacker to open and close breakers at substations and cause power outages.
“Every substation is controlled by the master, which is controlled by the operator,” says researcher Chris Sistrunk who, along with Adam Crain, found vulnerabilities in the products of more than 20 vendors. “If you have control of the master, you have control of the whole system, and you can turn on and off power at will.”
The vulnerabilities are found in devices that are used for serial and network communications between servers and substations. These products have been largely overlooked as hacking risks because the security of power systems has focused only on IP communication, and hasn’t considered serial communication an important or viable attack vector, Crain says. But the researchers say that breaching a power system through serial communication devices can actually be easier than attacking through the IP network since it doesn’t require bypassing layers of firewalls.
An intruder could exploit the vulnerabilities by gaining physical access to a substation — which generally are secured only with a fence and a webcam or motion-detection sensors — or by breaching the wireless radio network over which the communication passes to the server.
“If someone tries to breach the control center through the internet, they have to bypass layers of firewalls,” Crain said. “But someone could go out to a remote substation that has very little physical security and get on the network and take out hundreds of substations potentially. And they don’t necessarily have to get into the substation either.”
He points to a recent presentation at the Black Hat security conference that discussed methods for hacking wireless radio networks, which a lot of utility control systems use, including ways to crack the encryption.
“There are quite a few ways onto these networks, and utilities have to worry about this new attack vector,” Crain said.
Once in the network, an intruder can send a malformed message to the server to exploit the weakness.
“The device is supposed to throw that [malformed] message away,” says Sistrunk, “and in these cases it’s not and is causing issues.”
Neither Crain nor Sistrunk is a security researcher. Sistrunk is an electrical engineer at a major utility, but conducted the research independently of his employer and therefore asked that it not be identified. Crain recently launched a consulting firm called Automatak that focuses on industrial control systems. They began to examine the systems last April using a fuzzer that Crain created, and submitted their findings to the Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control System-CERT, which helped them notify the vendors.
“We found vulnerabilities in virtually all implementations [of the protocol],” Sistrunk said. “Some of them are worse than others.”
Since then, ICS-CERT has published a number of advisories about the vulnerabilities, and vendors have distributed patches for nine of them, but the rest remain unpatched so far. Despite the distribution of patches, Crain and Sistrunk say that many utilities have not applied them because they’re unaware of the serious nature of the vulnerabilities.
The systems use DNP3, a protocol for serial communications that is used in almost all electrical utilities in the U.S. and Canada to transmit communication between servers located in data centers and field devices. Electric utilities generally have a data center with two or three servers that can each monitor and communicate with a hundred or more substations, depending on the size of the utility.
The servers communicate with programmable logic controllers and remote-terminal units in the field to collect status data from them in order to allow operators to monitor conditions and to allow them to trip breakers as needed or to increase or decrease the voltage.
Causing the server to crash or enter an infinite loop would blind operators to conditions in the field — something they might not initially realize since a crashed server in the data center doesn’t always register to operators, who work in other locations. Sistrunk says it would likely take operators a while to notice that the data they’re seeing on their screens, which is fed by the servers, hasn’t refreshed in a while. In the meantime, they might make bad decisions based on outdated data.
A lot of utilities also use the master servers for security purposes to control alarm systems, so crashing them would potentially disable alarms as well.
Sistrunk says a reboot of the server will generally resolve the issue, but an intruder could continue to send malicious messages to the server causing it to crash repeatedly. He also said that in some cases they found that the attack would corrupt the system configuration, which meant the system had to be reconfigured or restored from a backup before operations returned to normal.
Of the 25 vulnerabilities they uncovered the most serious was the buffer overrun vulnerability that would allow someone to inject arbitrary code into the system and own the server.
One of the vulnerabilities they found exists in the source code for a popular library from Triangle Microworks. It’s not known how many vendors and products have used the library and are therefore vulnerable, but Crain and Sistrunk say that the library is one of the most popular among vendors and is used by 60 to 70 percent of them for their products.
Crain says the standard for DNP3 is not the problem but that the vulnerabilities are introduced in the insecure ways that vendors have implemented it.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that separate security standards set by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation for how to secure power systems focus only on IP communications, overlooking the real vulnerabilities that serial communications also present.
The researchers plan to discuss their findings at the S4 security conference to be held in Florida in January.
