Daily aggregation of mobile computing news from @cloud_aware, mobileaware.net.
In a Strange Land: Historical Precedent: Mobile Computing & Our ?
I have met stiff resistance from colleagues wedded to desktop and laptop computers when suggesting that we need to make mobile computing the focus for our ? (more)
Mobile Computing Growth = Monster Menacing Global Populace!!!
Came across this article on the MIT Technology Review website that speaks in detail about how mobile computing has become such as huge pare of the global . (more)
Sonia greets her new parents, Kristina and Rich England.
By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News
BRYANSK, Russia --?Kristi and Rich England of Marshall, Minn., shook with nerves and joy on their fourth and last trip to an orphanage in Bryansk, in?rural Russia. ?
They were finally taking Sonia, a partially blind and hyperactive 3-year-old, home with them.?The tearful Feb. 12 meeting, punctuated by Sonia?s screams of ?mama? and ?dada,? was all the more emotional because the Englands knew that they were the last lucky couple to leave Russia with an adopted child.?
?So many other families have seen their children and have loved their children and can?t bring them home,? said Kristi England, 34, a family doctor. ?It?s so unfair in so many ways.?
Those already undergoing the costly process of adopting a child from Russia found out Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law barring any future adoptions, canceling the ones in progress. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
The process wasn?t easy ? the Englands endured multiple background checks and spent at least $50,000 to ensure that Sonia, now called Sophia, could go home with them.
But the ban signed into law on Dec. 28 barring all U.S. adoptions ? which numbered more than 60,000 over the past two decades ? has marooned hundreds of families in the middle of adopting, and stranded thousands of children in orphanages throughout Russia.??
"We should do all we can so that orphaned children find a family in our country, in Russia," President Vladimir Putin said in defense of the ban.
Fueling the outrage in Russia over the fate of children adopted by Americans, Russian media reported earlier this week that Alexander Abnosov, 18, showed up in the Volga River port town of Cheboksary saying his adoptive family had mistreated him. He had left Russia five years earlier, having been adopted by a family outside Philadelphia, but said he fled after suffering from verbal abuse by his adoptive mother. ?
"She would make any small problem big and always try to find a reason to shout at you," he told Russia?s state-owned Channel 1.
While UNICEF estimates there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia, only about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt.?
But while Putin denies any direct connection, Kremlin-watchers say the ban is really about geopolitics and not about protecting kids.
NBC News
Russian child psychologist Valentina Rakova Valentina (left) stands with Kristina and Richard England and newly adopted Sonia in an orphanage in Bryansk, rural Russia.
They say it was retaliation by Moscow for an American law banning any Russian human rights violators from U.S. soil, enacted after the suspicious death in prison of Sergey Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer working for Heritage Fund, an American private equity firm.?
Russian media didn't hesitate to bolster the official line. ?
Despite the negative reports, child psychologist Valentina Rakova, who has worked in the Bryansk orphanage for 30 years, says the ban is terrible for children.?
?Here in Russia we have many examples of bad parents -- even worse than these American cases -- where kids are just tossed out,? she said as she coiffed Sonia, who requires special medical attention.
?A child like Sonia, no Russian would accept her,? Rakova said. ?Before the ban, orphans were offered to Russian families but no one took them in.??
Rakova's experience confirms the U.N.'s statistics. As far as she has seen, Americans are far more likely to adopt children who are ill or suffer from a disability.
Becky Preece, a housewife from Nampa, Idaho, is one such American. ?
She was finally able to take home 4-year-old Gabe, who has Down syndrome, in February, after years of filling out paperwork and a court battle. ?
Preece, who like the Englands beat the ban by days but was then delayed by red tape, said she saw a complete disconnect between the horrors of Russia?s adoption ban and the kindness and hospitality of the Russians themselves.?
NBC News
Becky Preece from Nampa, Idaho, adopted 4-year-old Gabe just days before the ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans went into force.
?It?s not a matter of the people,? she said while walking with the little boy in the thick Moscow snow.
?It?s politically charged and it?s something that is hard for us to understand because it?s so different from the experience that we?ve had here.?
Preece said she was excited to get Gabe into school back home, and watch him bond with his new brother who also has Down syndrome.?
?They need the infrastructure, they need the kind of support that we get at home for our children,? she said.?
But for the hundreds of American families who missed the cut and are now unable to bring their adoptive children home, the future could mean months -- even years -- of waiting and praying that the two superpower rivals find common ground before more of society?s most vulnerable pay the price.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jim Maceda is a London-based correspondent who has covered the Soviet Union and Russia since the 1980s.?
Related:
Boy's Christmas wish: Adoption of little brother caught in US-Russia spat
Thousands march in Moscow to protest Russian adoption ban
PARIS (AP) ? Authorities say a man has been arrested overnight for allegedly breaking into Paris' Museum of Natural History and cutting off a tusk from a centuries-old elephant skeleton with a chainsaw.
A police official said a neighbor of the Left Bank museum alerted authorities after hearing the sawing sound at around 3 a.m. Saturday.
The suspect, about 20 years old, had the tusk in his possession when police arrested him soon afterward outside the museum. Paris prosecutors' office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said the motive of the suspect wasn't immediately clear.
Museum official Jacques Cuisin told BFM-TV that the skeleton, which was draped under a plastic covering Saturday, belonged to an elephant that Portugal's king gave to French King Louis XIV in the late 17th century. Cuisin said it can be repaired.
"Come See Our New Home on Android," the invitation sent to members of the press on Thursday declared. Does this mean the long-rumored Facebook phone is about to become official? What is the social network's next move? And does it stand a chance?
Facebook is intending to introduce a modified version of Google's Android operating system, according to sourcing from TechCrunch's Josh Constine, the New York Times' Nick Bilton and Brian X. Chen, and the Wall Street Journal's Evelyn M. Rusli and Amir Efrati. This version of Android will put Facebook front and center and "will debut on a handset made by HTC, according to a Facebook employee and another person who were briefed on the announcement," Chen and Bilton explain.
"Imagine Facebook?s integration with iOS 6, but on steroids, and built by Facebook itself," Constine adds. "It could have a heavy reliance on Facebook?s native apps like Messenger, easy social sharing from anywhere on the phone, and more."
?It?s putting Facebook first,? a person familiar with the matter emphasized to Wall Street Journal reporters. But unlike competitors such as Amazon and Google, it is not putting Facebook itself into the hardware game.
"With Amazon, it's pretty clear," mobile industry consultant Chetan Sharma told NBC News. "They want to sell their content and services. They're building their own devices, which is different from what Facebook is doing."
However, the idea of a modified version of Android may be viewed as an act of hostility directed at Facebook's frenemy, Google.
"The reaction from Google will be interesting to see," Sharma pointed out. "There's obviously overlap ... It seems to Google that it's underpinning their Google+ efforts. Longer term, I don't see them letting it go and letting other people do their work."
But even if Google lets Facebook's plans fly, there are other issues to consider, Sharma says. "If it's just a phone that's going to be pushed by HTC, its chances are going to be limited," he explains. "[HTC] doesn't have the marketing powers." To truly stand a shot, Facebook needs to join hands with carriers.
Of course, some might wonder whether any carriers would be game. After all, Facebook's VoIP efforts and its baked-in Messenger service might conflict with carriers' business agendas, right?
Not necessarily so, says Sharma. "In certain markets [VoIP and Messenger] would be challenging," he elaborates. "In markets where unlimited voice and messaging is already bundled in ? in those scenarios operators have less resistance to the idea. They already make money on voice and messaging and they'll also make money on the data used by Facebook."
Initial whispers don't suggest that "Facebook Home," as the social network's device/software combo is expected to be named, is going to be pitched by any carriers, so we'll have to see how things fare with merely HTC. (Of course, that's assuming all these rumors and reports pan out.)
Things will be official on Thursday, April 4, and we'll be in Menlo Park, Calif., to report live.
Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.
Maybe it's that $169 price, or maybe it's the inclusion of an honest-to-goodness memory card reader, but we know some of you can't wait to get your mitts on HP's new Slate 7 Android tablet. Back when it was first announced, the company indicated it'd be available by April, but it would seem that plan has changed: the product page on HP's site is now saying the Slate won't arrive until sometime in June. We're not sure why there's a delay (we're asking for comment), but we do know this can't be good news for HP. By June, after all, Google I/O will have come and gone, and the next-gen Nexus 7 might already be on sale.
[Thanks, jmartj]
Update: HP has confirmed that it made a mistake in listing a June 2013 arrival date on the Slate 7's product page. In fact, the tablet is still slated (har) to arrive in April. Carry on.
A visitor looks at North Korean territory at the unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 30, 2013. North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has entered "a state of war" with South Korea a day after its young leader threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A visitor looks at North Korean territory at the unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 30, 2013. North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has entered "a state of war" with South Korea a day after its young leader threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors look at a giant relief map of Korean Peninsular at the unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 30, 2013. North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has entered "a state of war" with South Korea a day after its young leader threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors use binoculars to watch North Korean territory at the unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 30, 2013. North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has entered "a state of war" with South Korea a day after its young leader threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors take pictures North Korean territory at the unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 30, 2013. North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has entered "a state of war" with South Korea a day after its young leader threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A man uses binocular to watch North Korean territory at the unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, March 30, 2013. North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat Saturday, saying it has entered "a state of war" with South Korea a day after its young leader threatened the United States because two American B-2 bombers flew a training mission in South Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea warned Seoul on Saturday that the Korean Peninsula was entering "a state of war" and threatened to shut down a factory complex that's the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.
Analysts say a full-scale conflict is extremely unlikely, noting that the Korean Peninsula has remained in a technical state of war for 60 years. But the North's continued threats toward Seoul and Washington, including a vow to launch a nuclear strike, have raised worries that a misjudgment in how to address the warnings could lead to a clash.
The Kaesong industrial park, which is run with North Korean labor and South Korean know-how, has been operating normally, despite Pyongyang shutting down a communications channel typically used to coordinate travel by South Korean workers to and from the park just across the border in North Korea. The rivals are now coordinating the travel indirectly, through an office at Kaesong that has outside lines to South Korea.
But an identified spokesman for the North's office controlling Kaesong said Saturday that it would close the factory park if South Korea continued to undermine its dignity. Pyongyang expressed anger over media reports that suggested the factory remained open because it was a source of hard currency for the impoverished North.
Dozens of South Korean firms run factories in the border town of Kaesong. Using North Korea's cheap, efficient labor, the Kaesong complex produced $470 million worth of goods in 2012.
North Korea has previously made such threats about Kaesong without acting on them, and recent weeks have seen a torrent of bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang. North Korea is angry about annual South Korea-U.S. military drills and new U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test last month.
North Korea's threats are seen as efforts to provoke the new government in Seoul, led by President Park Geun-hye, to change its policies toward Pyongyang, and to win diplomatic talks with Washington that could get it more aid. North Korea's moves are also seen as ways to build domestic unity as young leader Kim Jong Un strengthens his military credentials.
On Thursday, U.S. military officials revealed that two B-2 stealth bombers dropped dummy munitions on front lines as part of drills with South Korean troops. Hours later, Kim ordered his generals to put rockets on standby and threatened to strike American targets if provoked.
North Korea said in a statement Saturday that it would deal with South Korea according to "wartime regulations" and would retaliate against any provocations by the United States and South Korea without notice.
"Now that the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK have entered into an actual military action, the inter-Korean relations have naturally entered the state of war," said the statement, which was carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, referring to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Provocations "will not be limited to a local war, but develop into an all-out war, a nuclear war," the statement said.
South Korea's military remains mindful of the possibility that North Korean drills could lead to an actual provocation, Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
"The series of North Korean threats ? announcing all-out war, scrapping the cease-fire agreement and the non-aggression agreement between the South and the North, cutting the military hotline, entering into combat posture No. 1 and entering a 'state of war' ? are unacceptable and harm the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula," Kim said.
"We are maintaining full military readiness in order to protect our people's lives and security," he told reporters Saturday.
Naval skirmishes in the disputed waters off the Korean coast have led to bloody battles several times over the years.
However, on the streets of Seoul, South Koreans said they were not worried about an attack from North Korea.
"From other countries' point of view, it may seem like an extremely urgent situation," said Kang Tae-hwan, a private tutor. "But South Koreans don't seem to be that nervous because we've heard these threats from the North before."
As Arizona child injury attorneys, we know that unstable furniture can topple over and hurt children. One of the most common types of injury is from television sets since nearly every family owns one. According to Safe Kids USA, one child dies every three weeks in the US from a TV tipping over, and nearly 13,000 more are injured. There is a huge increase in this kind of accident, and because of this, we would like to bring attention to the risk and give parents some tips on how to protect their kids from the same type of tragedy.
The Statistics
Here are some statistics about television tip-overs that parents should know:
According to the report, young children under the age of 5 are at the greatest risk of injury from televisions tipping over.
Head injuries and serious injuries requiring hospitalization are most common for the younger children.
Every 45 minutes, a child is injured from a television tipping over.
Most parents do not secure televisions to the wall.
Our Tips to Keep Your Child Safer
While there is no way to prevent all accidents, there are a few things you can do to make your child and your home a little safer. You can also ask friends and family to do the same things in their homes, especially if your children will be visiting them.
Secure all furniture that can topple, including televisions, armoires, dressers, and mirrors to the wall.
Crawl around on the floor at the height of your child and pull on all furniture and other items. If you can make them wiggle, your child can too. Secure them immediately.
Do not place heavy, unsecured objects on top of furniture.
Remove all cords, ropes or items that the child can pull on, causing something to fall down.
Contact an Arizona Personal Injury Attorney
The Husband and Wife Law Team at Breyer Law Offices has children of their own. We work hard to represent families who are grieving the loss or injury of a child because of a preventable accident. Contact us today to discuss the facts about your case.
Parkinson's disease protein gums up garbage disposal system in cellsPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Kreeger karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu 215-349-5658 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
PHILADELPHIA Clumps of ?-synuclein protein in nerve cells are hallmarks of many degenerative brain diseases, most notably Parkinson's disease.
"No one has been able to determine if Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, hallmark pathologies in Parkinson's disease can be degraded," says Virginia Lee, PhD, director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
"With the new neuron model system of Parkinson's disease pathologies our lab has developed recently, we demonstrated that these aberrant clumps in cells resist degradation as well as impair the function of the macroautophagy system, one of the major garbage disposal systems within the cell."
Macroautophagy, literally self eating, is the degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular bits and pieces by a compartment in the cell called the lysosome.
Lee, also a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and colleagues published their results in the early online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry this week.
Alpha-synuclein (?-syn ) diseases all have clumps of the protein and include Parkinson's disease (PD), and array of related disorders: PD with dementia , dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. In most of these, ?-syn forms insoluble aggregates of stringy fibrils that accumulate in the cell body and extensions of neurons.
These unwanted ?-syn clumps are modified by abnormal attachments of many phosphate chemical groups as well as by the protein ubiquitin, a molecular tag for degradation. They are widely distributed in the central nervous system, where they are associated with neuron loss.
Using cell models in which intracellular ?-syn clumps accumulate after taking up synthetic ?-syn fibrils, the team showed that ?-syn inclusions cannot be degraded, even though they are located near the lysosome and the proteasome, another type of garbage disposal in the cell.
The ?-syn aggregates persist even after soluble ?-syn levels within the cell are substantially reduced, suggesting that once formed, the ?-syn inclusions are resistant to being cleared. What's more, they found that ?-syn aggregates impair the overall autophagy degradative process by delaying the maturation of autophagy machines known as autophagosomes, which may contribute to the increased cell death seen in clump-filled nerve cells. Understanding the impact of ?-syn aggregates on autophagy may help elucidate therapies for ?-syn-related neurodegeneration.
###
Co-authors are Selcuk A. Tanik, Christine E. Schultheiss, Laura A. Volpicelli-Daley, and Kurt R. Brunden, all from Penn.
This research was funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Diseases (NS053488), the JPB Foundation, and the Jeff and Anne Keefer Fund.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.
[ | E-mail | 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.
Parkinson's disease protein gums up garbage disposal system in cellsPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Kreeger karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu 215-349-5658 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
PHILADELPHIA Clumps of ?-synuclein protein in nerve cells are hallmarks of many degenerative brain diseases, most notably Parkinson's disease.
"No one has been able to determine if Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, hallmark pathologies in Parkinson's disease can be degraded," says Virginia Lee, PhD, director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
"With the new neuron model system of Parkinson's disease pathologies our lab has developed recently, we demonstrated that these aberrant clumps in cells resist degradation as well as impair the function of the macroautophagy system, one of the major garbage disposal systems within the cell."
Macroautophagy, literally self eating, is the degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular bits and pieces by a compartment in the cell called the lysosome.
Lee, also a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and colleagues published their results in the early online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry this week.
Alpha-synuclein (?-syn ) diseases all have clumps of the protein and include Parkinson's disease (PD), and array of related disorders: PD with dementia , dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. In most of these, ?-syn forms insoluble aggregates of stringy fibrils that accumulate in the cell body and extensions of neurons.
These unwanted ?-syn clumps are modified by abnormal attachments of many phosphate chemical groups as well as by the protein ubiquitin, a molecular tag for degradation. They are widely distributed in the central nervous system, where they are associated with neuron loss.
Using cell models in which intracellular ?-syn clumps accumulate after taking up synthetic ?-syn fibrils, the team showed that ?-syn inclusions cannot be degraded, even though they are located near the lysosome and the proteasome, another type of garbage disposal in the cell.
The ?-syn aggregates persist even after soluble ?-syn levels within the cell are substantially reduced, suggesting that once formed, the ?-syn inclusions are resistant to being cleared. What's more, they found that ?-syn aggregates impair the overall autophagy degradative process by delaying the maturation of autophagy machines known as autophagosomes, which may contribute to the increased cell death seen in clump-filled nerve cells. Understanding the impact of ?-syn aggregates on autophagy may help elucidate therapies for ?-syn-related neurodegeneration.
###
Co-authors are Selcuk A. Tanik, Christine E. Schultheiss, Laura A. Volpicelli-Daley, and Kurt R. Brunden, all from Penn.
This research was funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Diseases (NS053488), the JPB Foundation, and the Jeff and Anne Keefer Fund.
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.
[ | E-mail | 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.
mSpy is one of the most popular and top rated cell spy software meant for mobile phones as well as computers. This invaluable application features a portfolio of solutions for monitoring your family members, business partners as well as employees. The security feature of this software platform ensures the safety of your cell phone and the entire personal and confidential information stored in it. mSpy can compatibly work with most popular kinds of? smartphones, android, blackberry, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile. Once installed in a cell phone, this program can track the mobile phone activities of the user of the phone and inform you all of that precisely. The most effective logging and reporting features of this software has made it highly popular among millions of people using mobile tracking software. Who will require mSpy? Those with a need of knowing the truth behind personal and business interactions can just install mSpy mobile sms spy on the target cell phone and monitor the entire range of activities happening through it. This is an invaluable tool for you to catch your cheating spouse, watch over your kids for their misbehaviors and nab your employees when they go wrong or engage in inappropriate activities. The Wonderful Advantages of mSpy Easy Installation: The whole process of installing this tracking software only takes about 15 minutes to complete. This can be done without giving room to any suspicions. The installation procedure is detailed in the user manual. Protecting the Safety of the Phone: Every spying software must be able to work secretly. mSpy will not leave even a trace of information of indication for the user to discover or even doubt that it has been installed on their phone. Remote access Capability:?After the physical installation, you need not touch the phone by hand. You can monitor it from a remote user account. Number of Plans to Choose: Based on the monitoring needs of the buyer, there are a number of plans to choose from. Therefore, this program offers enough amount of flexibility with respect to budget and functionality. The user-friendly interface and 10 days money back guarantee are the other attractive features. The Various Monitoring features of MSpy 1. GPS tracker: The GPS tracker feature can track the exact location of the cell phone and fix it on the maps. 2. Email reading:?The program can record all the emails sent and received by the device. 3. SMS tracking:?The complete details of all the SMS and text conversations can be recorded. 4. Call tracking: All inbound and outbound calls pertaining to the target phone can be logged with time and duration details. Subscribers can also record and listen to conversations in real time. 5. Internet history:?You can have the complete log of the websites visited through the cell phone?s browser even after the history is deleted from the target mobile. 6. Blocking Applications:?You can block some websites from being visited from the target mobile to protect the interests of your kids. 7. Accessing photos and videos and phone book:?You can enjoy an unrestricted access to the contacts, photos and videos stored on the target phone. 8. SMS commands:?From a remote location, you can issue commands to lock your phone that is stolen or lost. You can also use this feature to take a data back up or delete the informati0n stored in it. 9. SIM change Notification: if the SIm of the target mobile is changed, the program sends an SMS alert to notify you of the same. 10. Keystrokes recording:?The inbuilt key logger capability records the keystrokes of the mobile in real time. 11. Reverse phone lookup facility:?Most unique to mSpy, the reverse phone look up feature enables the subscriber track the person using the number irrespective of whether it belongs to a mobile or a fixed landline. mSpy?s sophisticated surveillance tools can spy all the activities of a mobile phone or computer thereby offering the complete portfolio of monitoring solutions. For further information, please, visit http://www.mspy.com/.
The OUYA Tegra 3-powered Android game console is having quite a day, but now that it's shipping, CEO Julie Uhrman is informing early recipients of what to expect when they open the packaging. According to an email sent out to Kickstarter backers this evening, their new box will have a software update required as soon as it's plugged in. After the Wii U we hope this isn't a trend (but fear it is) although the Ouya promises to take only seconds or at most minutes to complete. Also detailed are the 104 games already available from the 8,000 registered developers including Beast Boxing Turbo, Stalagflight, and KnightmareTower, plus entertainment apps like XBMC and Flixster. The games are all free to try out, but a credit/debit card is required upfront.
We've already offered our opinion of the shipping hardware after a quick hands-on, although backers are encouraged to contribute their own during the preview period before it officially launches. To that end, the company is planning a Reddit AMA next month and will have its own forums available for feedback soon. Until then, you can get the rest of the info directly at the source link below.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Credit agency Standard & Poor's said it sees no immediate ratings impact on Russian banks from the Cyprus bailout, though imposing capital controls could lead to operational risks for lenders and borrowers.
Cyprus is finalizing capital controls to prevent a run on its banks when they reopen on Thursday after the Mediterranean island state agreed a rescue package with the European Union.
S&P credit analyst Sergey Voronenko said in a report that restrictions on the flow of funds were having only a limited direct impact on rated Russian financial institutions despite their sizable loan exposure to the island.
Russia's central bank reiterated on Wednesday that it did not see systemic risks to the country's banking system emanating from Cyprus should it impose capital controls, though clients might be "inconvenienced."
S&P estimated that as of January 31, cross-border loans to Cyprus-based companies of Russian origin totaled about 23 billion euros ($29.6 billion) - or around 10 percent of the corporate loan books of the three Russian banks it rates - VTB, Gazprombank and Alfa Bank.
VTB has the biggest exposure to the island among Russian banks via its subsidiary Russian Commercial Bank.
S&P said that cash flows related to these loans could be shifted to banks located in other countries.
"However, the imposition of cross-border capital controls and restrictions on money transferring could lead to operational risks both for lenders and borrowers," it said.
Russian banks have said they see a limited impact from the Cypriot banking crisis, with VTB saying its worst-case losses would be tens of million of euros.
Russian officials have expressed concern that Cyprus may keep capital controls for a lengthy period, and have linked their willingness to restructure a 2.5 billion euro bailout loan granted in 2011 to the duration of such restrictions.
($1 = 0.7777 euros)
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Oksana Kobzeva; Editing by Megan Davies, John Stonestreet)
Spahub.com, the largest online spa directory, launches their new wellness blog as the latest addition to their website, with contributing writers covering a range of health and wellness topics; everything from spa facials to cosmetic surgical procedures.
Best Prices on all YOUR Health and Fitness Requirements! CLICK HERE
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Olympus Has Fallen" provided the biggest box office surprise so far this year with this weekend's $30 million opening, about $10 million above industry and analysts' projections.
Bigger may ultimately prove better when it comes to president-in-peril movies. Sony is in post-production on its similarly-themed Roland Emmerich film "White House Down," and the $150 million epic starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx is expected to be a blockbuster.
But it's good to be first, and the strong debut for "Olympus" is a coup for Film District, which marketed and distributed the $70 million Millennium Films production.
To put the success of "Olympus" in perspective, it easily topped the $25 million debut that Bruce Willis managed with "Good Day to Die Hard" in February. And its opening was bigger than the bows of Sylvester Stallone's "Bullet to the Head," Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Last Stand" and Jason Statham's "Parker" combined, according to Box Office Mojo.
It was the biggest opening ever for Film District, which was founded in September 2010 by Peter Schlessel, in partnership with Graham King and Timothy Headington.
The Film District marketing department, led by Christine Birch, identified the target demographic as older, male and maybe military, and nailed it. The "Olympus" audience was 73 percent over 25 and 53 percent male. A series of special pre-release screenings at military bases paid off, too -- cities with large armed forces populations like Norfolk, Va., El Paso, Texas, and Honolulu all overperformed, Film District distribution chief Jim Orr told TheWrap.
The gender breakdown suggests "Olympus" turned into a date-night movie, no small feat for an R-rated action film.
"I think Gerard Butler gets a lot of credit for that," Orr said. "He's an action star."
That's something Butler may have needed to be reminded of. He's never been able to match the box-office success of 2007's "The 300," and was coming off a string of misfires in non-action roles.
He topped a first-rate ensemble cast that included Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Dylan McDermott, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster and Ashley Judd. But the biggest name - and one the marketing campaign focused on -- was director Antoine Fuqua.
The "Training Day" director attracted an audience, and they loved the film. It received an "A-" CinemaScore, very strong for an action film.
"When we saw the Saturday numbers coming in, we knew word of mouth was a factor," Orr said.
Fuqua didn't waste any time either, which was critical, since it was important for "Olympus" to beat the bigger, more-hyped "White House Down" to market.
"That made a difference," Orr said, "and gave us some flexibility." April 5 was the original release date for "Olympus," but Film District switched off that to avoid "The Heat," the Sandra Bullock-Melissa McCarthy FBI movie, and get in ahead of "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," which opens Thursday.
"The Heat" subsequently shifted its release date to June 28 - the same day "White House Down" debuts.
The irony of dueling movies and dates isn't lost on Orr. He was at Paramount back in 1998, when that studio debuted "Deep Impact," a movie about a giant lethal mass hurtling toward earth. Two months later, Disney rolled out "Armageddon" - about a giant lethal mass hurtling toward earth.
For the record, there was plenty of room in the market for both films. "Armageddon" opened to $36 million and went to make $201 million domestically. "Deep Impact" opened to $41 million, and made $140 million.
"I sure don't think our opening will hurt 'White House Down,'" Orr said. "In fact, I think the buzz around our success could help it."
A like for music is something almost every human being has in common. While tastes can differ greatly, there's no denying almost all of us like listening to music. Soundtracker Radio aims to make not only listening to music more engaging, but finding music easier than ever. The premise is simple, you listen to the music you've already got on your iPhone or iPad through the Soundtracker Radio app and others around you can see and listen in.
The whole premise of Soundtracker Radio is to be able to interact with other users around you so everyone can find more music and discover what others enjoy. The music that's played through Soundtracker Radio is the music you've already got on your device or music your friends and contacts have that they're sharing. If you don't have any friends currently using Soundtracker Radio, that's okay, you can still check out trending music and stream those tracks live as well.
The main menu of Soundtracker Radio pulls out from the side and lets you switch between your activity feed which will feature what you and your friends have listened to lately to stations that you've created and more. The most engaging way of discovering music is to view the map around you by tapping on the Nearby tab. This will launch a map of your current location and show users around you and what they're currently listening to.
To create a station, you can tap on the main menu button and choose the create station option option underneath your name. From here you can choose to add up to 3 artists that you'd like to a mix and give it a name. Once you're done the station will automatically start streaming. One thing I have noticed is that album art doesn't always pull in correctly and mach the artist's name. For instance, one of my albums pulled in the cover art for Calvin Harris but it was actually Ellie Goulding. Hopefully bugs like this will get fixed quickly.
The good
Clean and useable interface that's much more enjoyable than the default Music app
Favorites makes it easy to find and tune back in to stations that you've found through discovery
Nearby is an awesome feature if there are quite a few people in your area using the service, this is common is larger city areas
The bad
Album art and actual artist don't always match up correctly which can throw you off when creating mixes
If you use iTunes match, that music doesn't appear to be loaded, only songs and albums you have physically saved on your device
The bottom line
Soundtracker Radio is only as engaging as you and the people around you make it. If you've got a lot of friends that are always eager to learn about and download new music, this is definitely an app you'll want to share with them. The nearby option is really the best feature of the app but if no one around you is using the service, it makes it irrelevant pretty fast. While there are lots of mixes to discover under the trending section, sharing and exploring new music with friends is a lot more engaging.
Whether you're an audiophile or are just in search of new music to check out, we'd still suggest giving Soundtracker Radio a try despite some of its limitations.
So i get alot of people asking me where should they visit for good food (mainly because my instag is filled with alot of food pictures) and hence,i've decided to kinda compile some of the restaurants/bars/cafes that i've tried recently and blog about each of them slowly...
I know i haven blogged in a really long time but thats only because im just lazy. Im not that busy anymore. Just pardon that okay:)
Let's start with brunch. And usually for brunch,people would love to order food that are not too heavy but filling enough to last them till dinner. For me,i love ordering traditional (or even innovative) egg benedicts simply because i love eggs and i love how the egg yolk flows out!
Some weeks ago,my girlfriends and i decided to head down to Dempsey Hill for brunch (or brunchner as i would like to call it because its that filling.) I know Dempsey Hill is really out of the way if you dont drive but trust me,its worth the trip because there are just so many awesome restaurants in that area.
I've mentioned in my earlier posts that i LOVE the food from CA.CALIFORNIA simply because its got good price,good ambience and most importantly,GOOD FOOD! So we headed back to that restaurant once again and here's what we ordered.
They were having some kinda promotion when we visited the place so SL ordered a meal which includes a drink,a side dish and the main dish of which she ordered Caesar Salad and Baked chicken.
I love eating salads because they are absolutely sin-LESS! In terms of calories and whatever that you're concerned of (gaining weight especially),salads are the best way to fill your tummies in the most yummy and healthy?way.
Caesar Salad The good thing about salad served at CA.CALIFORNIA is that they not only serve it with lettuce and the usual ingredients,it was served with peaches and mangoes which was really refreshing and i really liked that idea:)
The baked chicken I personally thought the baked chicken was nothing special. It really tasted like normal baked chicken that you can find anywhere else or even prepare them yourself. I give credits for the garnishing though,makes it look really appetizing. Oh,and for the price (since its a promotion item and its a whole set),its pretty worth it still.
Both Phang and i decided to order the BDBF (or BDBH,i cant rmb) because i've tried it before and im mad in love with it. Its a really good deal because you get to eat everything (salad,sausage,egg,bread,bacon) in just one plate and the price was really worth it as well. It cost around $18+ (i cant remember the exact price.)
For drinks,they really serve quite a variety of drinks from soda to coffee to cocktails and even mocktails. And like i mentioned,it turns into a bar at night so they even serve beer. Since we went in the day,i didnt want to drink so i ordered a mocktail and its called SAFE SEX ON THE BEACH. Basically it just taste like sex on the beach without the alcohol:) ?And their root beer comes in a retro bottle:) After which,we had Ben & Jerry's for dessert. Oh,btw,the restaurant is just beside Ben & Jerry's so its really easy to locate and they kinda co-operate the whole place together. I've never been there at night?but it seems like they have?live band there and stuff like that so im guessing it'll be a good place to chill with a bunch of buddies on a weekend night:)
**********************
?Another place that i found their food really yummy is Dolce Tokyo. I've previously visited this place for dessert and i really love their desserts hence i returned to try their main course and i ordered Salmon Benedict.
From front, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Timmy Hill, Joey Logano, Paul Menard and others pit during the first caution flag during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, March 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
From front, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Timmy Hill, Joey Logano, Paul Menard and others pit during the first caution flag during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race in Fontana, Calif., Sunday, March 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Rescue workers tend to the wreckage of the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin after he collided with Joey Logano on the final lap of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race in Fontana, Calif., Sunday March 24, 2013. The pair had been battling for the lead the last three laps. The No. 18 car of Kyle Busch passes behind on its vicory lap. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his lower spine during a last-lap crash while racing for the win against former teammate Joey Logano, and Joe Gibbs Racing gave no indication Monday how long its driver could be sidelined.
"I just want to go home," Hamlin tweeted from a hospital in Southern California. He later posted a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up and appeared to be wearing a back brace
The team said he had what is called an L1 compression fracture; essentially, the first vertebra in the lumbar section of his spine collapsed.
Hamlin was expected to be released from the hospital Monday and return to North Carolina to be evaluated by Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates.
NASCAR does not race this weekend, but returns to action April 7 at Martinsville Speedway, where Hamlin, who is 10th in the Sprint Cup standings, is a four-time winner.
Hamlin was airlifted from the Fontana track after a collision with Logano sent him nearly head-on into the inside wall in a place where Auto Club Speedway does not have energy-absorbing SAFER barriers. There are barriers on the inside of some of the walls, but portions of the track between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4 are not protected.
Track spokesman David Talley said Monday the SAFER barriers are installed upon NASCAR's recommendation, and track officials will wait to see what, if anything, NASCAR recommends after Hamlin's accident.
"NASCAR is reviewing the incident and any improvements that can be made, will be made," Talley said. "If NASCAR feels that additional SAFER Barriers are needed, then we will absolutely make those enhancements. SAFER barrier recommendations are based on past history and this is a situation we, nor NASCAR has ever seen at this track before."
IndyCar last year returned to Auto Club Speedway for the first time since 2005 and the season finale is scheduled to be held at the track in October.
But the issue of the SAFER barriers and Hamlin's impact seemed to be overshadowed by the most recent flare-up in this new feud.
Logano managed to finish third despite wrecking into the outside wall after hitting Hamlin, who spun Logano last week at Bristol to spark a bitter post-race confrontation.
Because of the recent bickering between the former teammates, Logano was somewhat defiant after Sunday's accident.
"He probably shouldn't have done what he did last week, so that's what he gets," Logano said.
On Monday, Logano's car owner said the driver was unaware of Hamlin's condition when he made the comment during a television interview.
"That's a tough thing, Joey had no idea what the situation was with Denny when he was doing the interview," Roger Penske said. "It's one of those things that came out and taken out of context isn't what he meant. He can't take it back, but people are certainly blowing that up to mean something different than what he knew at the time."
Tony Stewart also got into a post-race shoving match with Logano, who aggressively blocked Stewart on a late restart. Stewart claimed Logano threw a water bottle at him when he approached, but crews separated the two before it turned into a full fight.
Stewart later railed against the 22-year-old Logano in several interviews and accused him of being "nothing but a little rich kid that's never had to work in his life."
Logano was 18 when he broke into NASCAR with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 with the nickname "Sliced Bread." He'd risen rapidly through the racing ranks with the financial backing from his father, Tom, who used funds from the family's Connecticut waste management company to help his two children pursue their dreams.
Logano had the means to pursue a racing career, and was in Georgia racing quarter midgets at the age of 6 while his older sister chased a life of competitive ice skating.
But Tom Logano's near-constant presence at the NASCAR races hurt Logano's reputation, and him angrily demanding his son go after Kevin Harvick after a 2010 incident at Pocono only made things worse.
On Monday, Patricia Driscoll, girlfriend of Kurt Busch, referred to Logano as (hash)TrustFundRacer in a series of tweets that accused him of reckless racing with "no less than 5 drivers."
"We were lucky that none of the others were hurt by his actions," Driscoll tweeted.
An agitated Penske thought the criticism of Logano's upbringing was out of line.
"He's a solid young man and his family has supported him in racing as many families of professional athletes do in every sport," Penske said. "Anyone who looks at that as a criticism, to focus on that is just petty."
He also said he supported his driver, who signed last year to join the Penske Racing organization as teammate to defending Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski.
"Listen, Joey is a great driver and what happened at the end there wasn't anything more than hard racing," Penske said. "I stand behind him and I think he's going to go down as one of the greatest drivers to ever race."
It never developed at JGR, where Logano replaced Stewart in 2009 and was teammates with Busch and Hamlin. Signs of a rift between Hamlin and Logano didn't show publicly until after this year's season-opening Daytona 500, when the two exchanged barbs on Twitter.
Then came an on-track incident at Bristol last week, more exchanges on Twitter, and finally their last-lap battle for the win at Fontana. Although the crash seemed to be a result of hard racing, Logano's lack of empathy immediately after the race gave the impression his contact with Hamlin was intentional.
Hamlin got himself out of the car, but then slumped to the ground beside it before an ambulance arrived. He was eventually airlifted out due to traffic around the track.
The injury is a bit more common in open-wheel racing, which has had three incidents of drivers breaking their backs since 2009.
Will Power broke several vertebrae in his lower back in a 2009 crash during practice at Sonoma and missed that event and the final three races of the season. He couldn't train for two months and wore a back brace for almost four months.
He also suffered a compression fracture of his fourth thoracic vertebrae in the 2011 season finale at Las Vegas but missed no racing as he healed during the offseason.
Justin Wilson fractured his fifth thoracic vertebra in 2011 and missed the last six races of the season. Wilson said he was in a back brace for 10 weeks.
Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti fractured the L1 vertebrae in his back in a 2003 motorcycle accident. He needed surgery and was out of a race car for almost nine months.
In NASCAR, Sterling Marlin missed the last seven races of the 2002 season with a fractured vertebra in his neck.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
Share ] 
