Stanford archives offer window into Apple origins (AP)

PALO ALTO, Calf. ? In the interview, Steve Wozniak and the late Steve Jobs recall a seminal moment in Silicon Valley history ? how they named their upstart computer company some 35 years ago.

"I remember driving down Highway 85," Wozniak says. "We're on the freeway, and Steve mentions, `I've got a name: Apple Computer.' We kept thinking of other alternatives to that name, and we couldn't think of anything better."

Adds Jobs: "And also remember that I worked at Atari, and it got us ahead of Atari in the phonebook."

The interview, recorded for an in-house video for company employees in the mid-1980s, was among a storehouse of materials Apple had been collecting for a company museum. But in 1997, soon after Jobs returned to the company, Apple officials contacted Stanford University and offered to donate the collection to the school's Silicon Valley Archives.

Within a few days, Stanford curators were at Apple headquarters in nearby Cupertino, packing two moving trucks full of documents, books, software, videotapes and marketing materials that now make up the core of Stanford's Apple Collection.

The collection, the largest assembly of Apple historical materials, can help historians, entrepreneurs and policymakers understand how a startup launched in a Silicon Valley garage became a global technology giant.

"Through this one collection you can trace out the evolution of the personal computer," said Stanford historian Leslie Berlin. "These sorts of documents are as close as you get to the unmediated story of what really happened."

The collection is stored in hundreds of boxes taking up more than 600 feet of shelf space at the Stanford's off-campus storage facility. The Associated Press visited the climate-controlled warehouse on the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay area, but agreed not to disclose its location.

Interest in Apple and its founder has grown dramatically since Jobs died in October at age 56, just weeks after he stepped down as CEO and handed the reins to Tim Cook. Jobs' death sparked an international outpouring and marked the end of an era for Apple and Silicon Valley.

"Apple as a company is in a very, very select group," said Stanford curator Henry Lowood. "It survived through multiple generations of technology. To the credit of Steve Jobs, it meant reinventing the company at several points."

Apple scrapped its own plans for a corporate museum after Jobs returned as CEO and began restructuring the financially struggling firm, Lowood said.

Job's return, more than a decade after he was forced out of the company he co-founded, marked the beginning of one of the great comebacks in business history. It led to a long string of blockbuster products ? including the iPod, iPhone and iPad ? that have made Apple one of the world's most profitable brands.

After Stanford received the Apple donation, former company executives, early employees, business partners and Mac enthusiasts have come forward and added their own items to the archives.

The collection includes early photos of young Jobs and Wozniak, blueprints for the first Apple computer, user manuals, magazine ads, TV commercials, company t-shirts and drafts of Jobs' speeches.

In one company video, Wozniak talks about how he had always wanted his own computer, but couldn't get his hands on one at a time when few computers were found outside corporations or government agencies.

"All of a sudden I realized, `Hey microprocessors all of a sudden are affordable. I can actually build my own,'" Wozniak says. "And Steve went a little further. He saw it as a product you could actually deliver, sell and someone else could use."

The pair also talk about the company's first product, the Apple I computer, which went on sale in July 1976 for $666.66.

"Remember an Apple I was not particularly useable for too much, but it was so incredible to have your own computer," Jobs says. "It was kind of an embarkation point from the way computers had been going in these big steel boxes with switches and lights."

Among the other items in the Apple Collection:

? Thousands of photos by photographer Douglas Menuez, who documented Jobs' years at NeXT Computer, which he founded in 1985 after he was pushed out of Apple.

? A company video spoofing the 1984 movie "Ghost Busters," with Jobs and other executives playing "Blue Busters," a reference to rival IBM.

? Handwritten financial records showing early sales of Apple II, one of the first mass-market computers.

? An April 1976 agreement for a $5,000 loan to Apple Computer and its three co-founders: Jobs, Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, who pulled out of the company less than two weeks after its founding.

? A 1976 letter written by a printer who had just met Jobs and Wozniak and warns his colleagues about the young entrepreneurs: "This joker (Jobs) is going to be calling you ... They are two guys, they build kits, operate out of a garage."

The archive shows the Apple founders were far ahead of their time, Lowood said.

"What they were doing was spectacularly new," he said. "The idea of building computers out of your garage and marketing them and thereby creating a successful business ? it just didn't compute for a lot of people."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_hi_te/us_apple_archives

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Argentina adopts wide definition of terrorism (Reuters)

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) ? Argentina enacted a law on Wednesday providing a wide definition of terrorism that critics fear will allow the state to jail people for up to 15 years for activities as diverse as marching in protests or pulling money out of banks.

The law, approved by Congress last week, seeks to punish anyone who "terrorizes" the population, leaving the definition of the term open.

The government of recently re-elected President Cristina Fernandez says the measure is needed to meet anti-money-laundering standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force, a multinational policy-making body.

Argentine anti-money-laundering chief Jose Sbatella said recently the measure sought to prevent "any group of economically powerful people from working in concert to wipe out the country's reserves or from terrorizing the population in a way that it induces them to withdraw all their deposits."

Legal experts in Argentina says the law's language leaves the definition of terrorism so open that local courts are sure to strike it down.

"The problem is in the ambiguity," constitutional lawyer Felix Lon told Reuters.

"It could refer to social protests or a headline published by a newspaper," he added. "A run on the banks could be considered terrorism."

Earlier this year, the government slapped controls on foreign currency purchases, widely seen as an effort to stem capital outflows.

Analysts criticized the measure as counter-productive, since it made many depositors nervous and thus more likely to seek safety in U.S. dollars.

In another policy widely criticized as heavy-handed, economists who publish inflation data at odds with the government's widely discredited monthly consumer price figures are fined by the Fernandez administration.

The president won re-election in October, promising to deepen the unorthodox policies that have made her popular among recipients of generous welfare spending. But business leaders complain about state intervention in the economy.

(Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/wl_nm/us_argentina_terrorism

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Military Bowl: Toledo outlasts Air Force, 42-41, after Falcons gamble on two-point conversion

Toledo (9-4) then recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock on the highest scoring of the four Military Bowls. The Rockets had taken a 42-35 lead with 5 minutes 1 second left on Bernard Reedy?s 33-yard touchdown reception. The sophomore wide receiver finished with 125 yards receiving on four catches, three of which went for scores, and was named MVP.

Rockets sophomore quarterback Terrance Owens completed 20 of 25 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and senior tailback Adonis Thomas added 127 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries to give Matt Campbell his first victory as a head coach. The team?s offensive coordinator for the last three years was named head coach on Dec. 12 following Tim Beckman?s departure for Illinois.

?For this team, for this staff, I couldn?t be prouder,? Campbell, at 32 the youngest coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision, said after receiving the trophy on the podium at midfield.

Air Force (7-6) had tied the game at 35 with 5:59 left in the third quarter on Mike DeWitt?s two-yard scoring run. The junior fullback?s second touchdown capped a seven-play drive that began at midfield and included a 20-yard run by Jefferson and an 11-yard run from sophomore wide receive Ty MacArthur to set up first and goal from the 2.

Several minutes earlier, Toledo struck first in the second half when safety Jermaine Robinson intercepted Jefferson?s pass that went off wide receiver Mikel Hunter?s hands. The throw was a bit behind Hunter, who tried to make the catch while twisting his body in mid-air, but he couldn?t control it, and Robinson collected the carom before going 37 yards into the end zone with 8:56 left.

It didn?t take long for the offensive fireworks to commence when in the first quarter the teams combined for 35 points and scored on five of six possessions during one stretch. Toledo got the defensively challenged affair started with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Owens to wide receiver Bernard Reedy with 6:38 to play.

Air Force?s Cody Getz muffed the ensuing kickoff, and the Rockets were in business again when Junior Sylvestre recovered at the Falcons 41. On the next play, Thomas dashed around the left side and sprinted down the sideline for a touchdown and a 14-0 advantage.

Air Force responded by going 76 yards in eight plays on a drive that included a pass interference penalty against Toledo. That violation, following an 18-yard completion from Jefferson to wide receiver Mikel Hunter, placed the ball at the Rockets 19. Three plays later on third and 12, Jefferson broke through the line of scrimmage, cut to his right and was gone for a 22-yard touchdown with 2:29 remaining.

As quickly as Jefferson had drawn the Falcons within a touchdown, junior wide receiver Eric Page expanded the lead back to 14 by returning the kickoff 87 yards for a score. The first-team all-Mid-American Conference kick returner handled the kick with plenty of room in front of him, waited for his blocking to develop and followed Reedy through a hole up the middle and into the open field. No one was catching Page thereafter on his way to his first kickoff return for a touchdown this year.

The Falcons wasted little time in replying though, beginning their next possession with a 60-yard run by wide receiver Jonathan Warzeka to the 3. DeWitt finished the drive with a scoring run on the next play, and after Toledo had a rare three plays and punt, Air Force took over at its 21 to start the second quarter.

From there, the Falcons used nine plays to tie the game on a drive that included a 15-yard facemask penalty added to a 16-yard run by Warzeka. Air Force picked up 18 yards on a pass from Jefferson to Kauth and thereafter ran the ball seven straight times, culminating in senior running back Asher Clark?s one-yard touchdown on fourth and goal.

The exhausting pace continued on Toledo?s next possession that lasted all of five plays and ended with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Owens to Reedy over the middle. But the Falcons had the last word of the half, recovering Reedy?s fumble after a long reception and completing the 44-yard drive with Jefferson?s dart to Warzeka for a 37-yard touchdown on fourth and three.

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=854999a2a62cc545712e1383bdd2fd72

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4- Luz de Luna [Sony 2002] by Javier Solis [CD]

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Stocks slide; S&P 500 turns negative for year

FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2011 file photo, traders John Panin, center, and Robert Charmay, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. A pair of successful bond auctions that raised $14 billion for Italy forced down the interest rate the country pays on its debt and boosted European markets on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2011 file photo, traders John Panin, center, and Robert Charmay, right, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. A pair of successful bond auctions that raised $14 billion for Italy forced down the interest rate the country pays on its debt and boosted European markets on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks weakened Wednesday, ending a five-day advance in the S&P 500 index, as new signs of strain emerged in the European banking system. The euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar in nearly a year and Treasurys rallied.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 140 points. The S&P is now negative for the year again, after barely turning positive on Friday.

The European Central Bank said banks had parked $590.72 billion with it overnight, surpassing the record set only Monday. That means European banks were less willing to take the risk of making short-term loans to each other, opting instead to earn low interest rates from the ECB. The disclosure also hurt the euro, which fell to $1.291, its lowest level against the dollar since January.

The worrying news from the ECB overshadowed two successful auctions of Italian government debt. Italy was able to pay much lower borrowing rates than last month. The strong demand from investors raised hopes that Italy would be able to avoid sinking into a financial crisis, as smaller countries like Greece and Portugal have.

John Merrill, chief investment officer at Tanglewood Wealth Management, said markets would remain vulnerable to flare-ups in Europe's long-running financial crisis until leaders there come up with more convincing solutions for paying down their enormous debt loads and keeping the 17-nation currency union intact.

"We live in a Band-Aid world," Merrill said. "Nobody really is addressing underlying issues."

European leaders agreed at a summit Dec. 9 to forge closer fiscal ties over the long term, but investors are still worried that Greece might default on its debt or be forced to leave the euro bloc. A Greek exit from the currency union would likely cause huge disruptions for the country's economy and losses for European banks that hold Greek government debt. Investors fear that could cascade into another global financial panic, as happened in 2008 following the collapse of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 139.94 points, or 1.1 percent, to 12,151.41. Materials and energy companies led the declines. Alcoa Inc. fell 3 percent and Caterpillar Inc. fell 2.4 percent.

With only two more trading days left in the year, markets were thinly populated in a holiday-shortened week. Shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange totaled 2.3 billion, less than half of the usual volume.

The S&P 500 fell 15.79 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,249.64. The Nasdaq composite declined 35.22 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,589.98.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.93 percent from 2 percent late Tuesday as investors moved money into less risky assets.

The Bank of Italy raised $11.8 billion in two bond auctions, reflecting investor approval of the country's recently passed austerity measures. The yield on Italy's six-month bill offering was half the interest rate the country paid in a similar auction last month. The yield on the country's 10-year bond remained dangerously high, however, at 6.93 percent. It had risen to 7 percent Tuesday, a level that is considered unsustainable.

Italy is the euro zone's third-largest economy and is considered too big to save under the euro zone's current bailout funds. Investors have grown fearful over the past few months that Italy will find it difficult to pay off its massive debts, which stand at around $2.5 trillion.

The worries were reflected in U.S. bank stocks. Bank of America Corp. fell 3.5 percent, while Regions Financial Corp. fell 2.7 percent.

In other corporate news:

? Sandridge Energy Inc. stock declined 4.4 percent on news that it is selling drilling rights in two states to a Spanish energy company, Repsol YPF.

? Cavium Inc. fell over 1 percent, a day after the chipmaker said its fourth-quarter results will fall below its previous forecast.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-28-Wall%20Street/id-562de1af76e1408fa56b34f89a71be7f

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So Many Levels Of Irony (talking-points-memo)

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Blake Griffin Dunks Against Warriors (VIDEO)

Prize acquisition Chris Paul scored 20 points and nine assists while Blake Griffin added 22 points and seven rebounds as the L.A. Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors 105-86.

Monta Ellis, who was probably happy to be making news for balling instead of texting graphic photos of a Warriors employee, had 15 points and eight assists for G.S.

It was not a spectacular opener for CP3 and Blake, but at least they won, unlike the other L.A. team, the Lakers, who were undone by Derrick Rose's game winner.

The Clippers are expected to be a playoff contender for the first time in an eternity, and here's a big reason why. Watch a nice highlight of Griffin throwing it down:

Blake Griffin Dunks Against Warriors

With the lockout finally over, the best pro basketball league/reality show on the planet is now underway. In case you missed it, check out THG's 2011-12 NBA Preview!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/blake-griffin-dunks-against-warriors-video/

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Pope Christmas message calls for end to violence in Syria (Reuters)

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) ? Pope Benedict called for an end to violence in Syria and a resumption of Middle East peace talks on Sunday on a Christmas Day marred by a bomb blast at a Catholic Church in Nigeria.

The leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics delivered his twice-yearly "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message and blessing to tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square on a crisp but clear day as millions of others watched on television around the world.

At the end of his address, the 84-year-old pope, celebrating the seventh Christmas season of his pontificate, delivered Christmas greetings in 65 languages, including Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, Swahili, Hindi, Urdu and Chinese.

"May the Lord come to the aid of our world torn by so many conflicts which even today stain the earth with blood," he said, speaking in Italian from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica.

"May the Prince of Peace grant peace and stability to that Land where he chose to come into the world, and encourage the resumption of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. May he bring an end to the violence in Syria, where so much blood has already been shed," he said in a firm, steady voice.

At least 5,000 people have been killed in nine months of violence that has rocked the Arab nation in clashes between government forces and protesters calling for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

Declaring "let us speak out for those who have no voice," Benedict also called for more help for those suffering from hunger, food shortages and displacement in the Horn of Africa, and for those affected by floods in Thailand and the Philippines.

The pope did not mention a blast at a Catholic church on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja in his address, which was prepared before news of explosion arrived in Rome.

But Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi condemned the blast as blind, absurd "terrorist violence" that enflames hate.

"We are close to the suffering of the Nigerian Church and the entire Nigerian people so tried by terrorist violence, even in these days that should be of joy and peace," Lombardi told Reuters.

According to early reports, at least 19 people were killed.

In his address he also called for full reconciliation and stability in Iraq and Afghanistan.

DECRIES COMMERCIALISATION OF CHRISTMAS

While his Christmas Day message took a partly political slant, mentioning some of the world's flash points, Benedict's Christmas Eve homily some 14 hours before lamented how the true meaning of the day had been overshadowed by materialism.

In that homily, he urged humanity to see through the superficial glitter and commercialism of the season and rediscover the real significance of the humble birth of Jesus.

"Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God's humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity," he said.

"Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light."

"... let us strip away our fixation on what is material, on what can be measured and grasped. Let us allow ourselves to be made simple by the God who reveals himself to the simple of heart," he said.

Benedict urged his listeners at the Saturday night Mass to find peace in the symbol of the powerless Christ child in a world continually threatened by violence.

He also urged that those marking the holiday in poverty, suffering or far from home not be forgotten.

At the start of Saturday night's Christmas Eve service, he was wheeled up the central aisle of St Peter's Basilica standing on a mobile platform which he has been using since October.

The Vatican says it is to conserve his strength, allow more people to see him and guard against attacks such as one on Christmas Eve, 2009, when a woman lunged at him and knocked him to the ground. He is believed to suffer from arthritis in the legs.

But he seemed to be in good shape during the solemn service in Christendom's largest church as choirs sang, cantors chanted and music filled the centuries-old basilica.

The pope continues his Christmas and New Year's celebrations on Dec 31 with a year-end Mass of thanksgiving known by its Latin name Te Deum.

On January 1 he marks the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, on January 6 he marks the Epiphany and on January 8 will baptise several newborns in the Sistine Chapel.

He is due to visit Mexico and Cuba in March.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/lf_nm_life/us_christmas_pope

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Pregnant Jessica Simpson Shows Off Giant Belly in Sweatpants (omg!)

Whoa momma!

Jessica Simpson's growing baby bump was hard to miss as the 31-year-old star headed to lunch with mom Tina and nephew Bronx in Calabasas, Calif. Friday.

The mom-to-be left her 4-inch heels at home, looking comfy in oversized sweats, a plaid jacket and UGGs.

PHOTOS: Jessica's chic maternity style

Last week Simpson was spotted visiting a Monique Lhuillier wedding boutique in L.A. Dresses in the store range from $3,000 to $20,000.

Simpson and Eric Johnson got engaged on Nov. 11, 2010. This Halloween, the duo announced via a visual "Mummy" pun that they were expecting their first child together.

PHOTOS: Pregnant stars in high heels!

But while Simpson might've been looking at bridal couture this weekend, she told Us Weekly last month she and her NFL beau were planning to get married after they've welcomed their little one.

"We were always going to wait [until] after the baby" she explained. "We flirted around with different dates before I found out I was pregnant, and thankfully we didn't lock anything down. I want to enjoy the day? I'm glad we didn't make a deposit."

PHOTOS: 2011's cutest babies

"I just didn't want to be stressed out," Simpson said. "Now when I get stressed out it's like 50 times worse. So I really want to enjoy that day and now I get to have my baby with me."

Another possible reason for Simpson's visit to the bridal boutique? Her BFF Cacee Cobb confirmed in August that she is engaged to Scrubs star Donald Faison.

?

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Molly Sims Reveals Her Style Secrets (omg!)

2011 was a good year for Molly Sims, who wed her beau Scott Stuber in September and made her debut as the host of Project Accessory in October.

PHOTOS: See Molly Sims' gorgeous wedding gown!

And now, the supermodel will ring in the new year on the cover of Shape, in which she reveals how she puts together her signature look.

"My staples are a beautiful pair of black pants, a lightweight coat, a great black heel, and a black cardigan," the Lifetime star tells the magazine. "Everything else is just a topping on my fashion sundae. I could also go boho with tons of different beads and crystals or opt for a rock 'n roll vibe with mixed metals."

PHOTOS: 10 ways to dress like a celebrity

But as modest as she is about putting together her polished ensembles, the 38-year-old star knows a thing or two about accessorizing. She launched Grayce by Molly Sims, a jewelry collection sold on HSN.com and at Henri Bendel department stores in 2010.

PHOTOS: Celebrities who love their bodies

Sims also shares how she has managed to maintain her enviable long and lean figure.

"I have to work out 60 to 90 minutes at least five days a week and stick to a high-fiber, low-calorie eating plan," she says. On her latest fitness resolution, she says, "I wanted to be consistent with my exercise, so I committed to working out for 30 days in a row, no matter what. For an hour every day, I did something. I was on the elliptical or the treadmill, and if someone asked me to go to a class -? whether it was spinning, boxing, yoga, you name it -- I went. By the end of the month, I felt so good, I just kept going. I didn?t want to lose my momentum."

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Miami Dolphins Talking Points: The first responsibility for the new coach? Sell tickets

A trio of Dolphins talking points to jump start your Thursday:

1. The first responsibility for the Dolphins? new head coach? Sell tickets.

It?s no secret that the Dolphins have had trouble at the gate this year, as the team has been forced to buy its own tickets to avoid local TV blackouts for five of seven home games. But how bad is their ticket situation right now? According to figures compiled by the Sports Business Journal, pretty bad.

Overall, NFL attendance has increased by 0.1 percent this year. But after five home games, the Dolphins had an average attendance of 59,246, a 13.8 percent decrease from last year (68,755). That?s the second-biggest drop in the NFL, ahead of only the Cincinnati Bengals, who have dropped 20.6 percent in attendance despite a surprising playoff push under rookie QB Andy Dalton.

The Dolphins are filling Sun Life Stadium to just 78.8 percent capacity, also the second-lowest figure in the league behind Cincinnati (only Cleveland, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Washington are under 90 percent). The Dolphins have yet to fill the stadium to 98 percent capacity yet this year, and are one of three teams to host a game with less than 75 percent capacity (Cincinnati (three times) and Tampa Bay).

So this won?t be strictly a football hire for Stephen Ross and the Dolphins. The coach?s ability to excite the fan base and sell season tickets will be just as important as his philosophies and X?s and O?s.

2. Brian Billick says Dolphins must resolve front-office structure first.

Billick, the former Ravens coach who has been with Fox and NFL Network the past four seasons, was asked this morning on 560-AM if he has been contacted by the Dolphins about their coaching vacancy.

?No, I haven?t,? he said on The Joe Rose Show. ?We?re a long way from that kind of speculation.?

Billick said the Dolphins have more on their plate than just hiring a head coach. He didn?t mention Carl Peterson by name, but obviously Peterson?s role with the team needs to be resolved (will he be Jeff Ireland?s boss? Will he remain just an advisor?) before a team can hire a coach.

?I think they still have some structuring to do to decide how they want to piece the top end of that organization together, before they can go and approach and sit down and present to any coach to say OK, here?s the partnership that we?re advocating that we can put together,? Billick said.

Billick said he?s never met Ireland before, and while that wouldn?t preclude him from coming to Ireland, he would only take a coaching job if he?s confident in the relationship he would have with the general manager.

?This has become a general manager?s league to a large degree, and a lot of GMs are looking for a guay that I can lock in his room, feed his meals under the door, and just crank out a brilliant game plan,? Billick said. ?Regardless of who Miami wants to pursue ? and this is true of all the other clubs ? you?ve got to pursue a partnership.?

And if you?re wondering if Billick would keep Miami?s defensive staff intact if he were given the job, here?s all you need to know:

?There?s no better defensive coordinator in the league than Mike Nolan,? said Billick, who worked with Nolan as his coordinator from 2002-04 in Baltimore. ?Outstanding vision for the game. There?s no better coach than Mike Nolan, I promise you.?

3. Will Allen deserves a lot of credit for the secondary?s turnaround.

The Dolphins? secondary has been making plenty of big plays lately, with nine interceptions in their last seven games, but Allen doesn?t have one of them. The Dolphins? third cornerback, he has modest stats this year ? 39 tackles, three passes defended and zero interceptions.

Allen, though, deserves a lot of credit for the secondary?s turnaround, particularly for helping the development of young guys such as Vontae Davis, Sean Smith, Nolan Carroll and Jimmy Wilson.

?Will is so smart, he knows everything before it happens,? Smith said. ?He?ll call it out, and you?re nodding your head when he?s doing it, but you?re thinking, ?Nah, no way.? And then it happens, and he?ll come back and explain why. To know somebody out there is thinking like that, it takes our game to another level.?

Allen was a mere afterthought for the Dolphins during training camp. An 11-year veteran, Allen hadn?t played since tearing his ACL in Week 6 of the 2009 season, and although former coach Tony Sparano said Allen was competing with Benny Sapp for the starting nickel job this year, Allen didn?t feel like that was the case.

Allen pulled his hamstring two days into camp, making his situation worse.

?I felt like in training camp I really didn?t get a chance to compete at all,? Allen said Wednesday as the Dolphins prepared to face the Patriots. ?I feel like I didn?t get a fair shot, but that was on me. Maybe I should?ve had myself in better shape.?

Allen was cut by the Dolphins at the end of training camp but re-signed after the Dolphins cut Sapp after the Week 1 meltdown against the Patriots.

Yet Allen has made a big impact on the Dolphins? secondary during the second half of the season. Used only as a third cornerback, he led the Dolphins with seven tackles last week against Buffalo, and batted down a pass, as well.

Allen, 33, isn?t thinking about retirement.

?This is not the end for me by a longshot,? he said. ?The thing I feel the most confident about is that my body feels better now than it has all year.?

Tags: Benny Sapp, Brian Billick, Carl Peterson, Jeff Ireland, Jimmy Wilson, Mike Nolan, Nolan Carroll, Sean Smith, Stephen Ross, Tony Sparano, Vontae Davis, Will Allen

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 10:02 am and is filed under 2011 regular season, Ben Volin, Front office, Talking Points. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thedailydolphin/2011/12/22/miami-dolphins-talking-points-the-first-responsibility-for-the-new-coach-sell-tickets/

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Looking Back On A Big Year For Sports Video Games [Stick Jockey]

A walk-on running back; a dad who couldn't tell his kids what he did; a fat kid who started going to the gym and never stopped. A guy who came to know his sport's greatest venue in ways some champions never will. The top man at sports video gaming's dominant publisher, and a college student who considers himself a "virtual athlete," watching every out from his wheelchair.

Stick Jockey, the sports video game column of Kotaku, brought to you more than four dozen stories in 2011 of those who play video games, those who make them, and all who are fans. These are my 10 most favorite.

Tecmo Bowl's Still Running After Touching Down at 20

Twenty years after its Christmastime release, Tecmo Super Bowl, the progenitor of modern simulation sports gaming, still runs strong. Tecmo Super Bowl retains not only a simplicity of design but simplicity of play. Or at least its illusion. "Everybody who played this game as a kid thought they were the best at it," said Wisconsin attorney Chet Holzbauer. "Everyone has a group of friends that, if they were the best in that group, they thought there was no way anyone else could be better than them."

The Rest of the Story: Holzbauer runs the Madison Tecmo Tournament, what is likely the largest Tecmo Super Bowl tournament in the world. Scheduled for March 3, it has already maxed out its 128-player field and is accepting registrants for alternate slots should any of them drop out. Matt Knobbe's TecmoBowl.org remains current with the modern game, publishing modified rosters and cutting Tecmo-ized highlights of current players and their feats. This sweet Tecmo Tim Tebow shirt can be yours for $18. More ?

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The Lockout's End Brings Peace to NBA 2K's Holiday Season

Following the most decorated entry in a widely acclaimed series, NBA 2K12 released under the cloud of a lockout that stretched to five months before the league's players and owners reached a new labor agreement. The work stoppage pinched the game's "NBA Today" mode, as well as the inclusion of rookies, whose absence was most glaring from features like the "My Player" career mode. 2K Sports soldiered on, and the cloud lifted on Nov. 27.

The Rest of the Story: The NBA tips off with five games tomorrow, and NBA 2K12 rebooted some of its promotional efforts to capture enthusiasm for basketball's return. You can see simulations of all five season openers here. Tomorrow, NBA 2K12 producer Erick Boenisch will be in Oakland to see the Golden State Warriors take on Chris Paul and the new-look Los Angeles Clippers; Jason Argent, 2K Sports' vice president of marketing, will sneak away from his mom's Palm Springs home to wsee the Lakers play the Bulls/
More ?

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Chaotic Conference Alignments Scramble College Football's Video Game, Too

The spasms caused by major conferences' realignment provided endless water cooler and talk radio fodder for college football fans. EA Sports' Ben Haumiller has taken every development with the curiosity and intrigue of a diehard college football fan, and the headache and worry of someone whose job is made easier by league stability. Haumiller's helming NCAA Football 13, which may yet have to account for a 22-team superconference, and could also see 11th-hour changes to the membership of the Big East and Big 12. "Every time Joe Schad at ESPN reports this team is moving to this conference, this really means we've got more work to do," Haumiller said. "It's not just the part of your brain that goes, as a college football fan, hey, that's interesting. You're also thinking, alright, gotta write that down and get started on it as soon as possible."

The Rest of the Story: There are no profound developments in conference realignment yet, leaving the proposed Mountain West/Conference USA alliance up in the air, as well as West Virginia's departure for the Big 12, which is the subject of a lawsuit. Haumiller, a Florida State alumnus, was on the sideline at Doak Campbell Stadium for this year's No. 1 vs. No. 5 matchup of Oklahoma and Florida State, both as a fan and in a professional capacity (gathering audio for use in NCAA 13. At E3, he routed Snoop Dogg head to head in a matchup of Oregon vs. USC. More ?

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How EA Sports Kept Loose Lips from Sinking Blitz

A veil of secrecy kept the reveal of NFL Blitz an almost perfect October surprise for EA Sports. For 18 months, producer Jeff Ross couldn't even tell his kids what he was working on, lest one of them say something to a friend at school and word spread to the Internet. The game was originally submitted to the ESRB under the fictitious title "Madden Playbook Creator" to avoid suspicion.

The Rest of the Story: Blitz is on track for a Jan 4 release on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Unfortunately, the NFL clamped down on some features that gamers remembered from Blitz's earlier incarnations, such as late hits. Still, Ross promises that the game will still deliver "over-the-top, fast arcade action with big hits and guys catching on fire" when it arrives. More ?

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Madden Veterans Trade Hard-Hitting Action for Facebook Strategy

Earlier this year, a dozen veterans of EA Sports' Tiburon studio, including its former general manager, reunited elsewhere to form Row Sham Bow, a new studio dedicated to making a Facebook game called Woodland Heroes. It was quite a departure from their previous assignment, which for many had been working on the Madden NFL franchise. "When we started building the game, we didn't talk about the demographic or the target audience; over the course of the design, we talked about what we wanted to play," said Ian Cummings, formerly Madden's creative director.

The Rest of the Story: Woodland Heroes has been a critical success, winning Gamasutra's best social game of 2011. "It is a great feeling to have our peers and fans alike recognize the work that we've done so far and the direction we are trying to go, even when we feel like we are just starting to figure out how the hell this crazy social game industry works," Cummings said. While his time with Madden still is fondly recalled, Cummings says he has "really enjoyed an extra sense of relaxation on Sundays, being able to watch every NFL game at home at my own leisure without having to take any notes." More ?

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The President Ends a Four-Year Term

After four years as the president of sports video gaming's heavyweight label, Peter Moore moved on to higher office within Electronic Arts, leaving EA Sports' big chairto Andrew Wilson, the label's chief of development before ascending to the top job. "He becomes a voice of the gamer, when he speaks to the development team," Moore said. "And the unique advantage Andrew Wilson has coming into this job, is his development background. He can sit down with producers, with developers, with network engineers and know exactly what they do and what they face on a daily basis."

The Rest of the Story: Moore left Wilson more than the keys to a nice sports bar. Three of the label's top franchises, Madden, FIFA and NHL all set sales records soon after their release. Wilson's first full year will see a highly anticipated reboot of SSX in February and, as 2K Sports' exclusive license with Major League Baseball expires that year, potentially news on that front as well. More ?

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My Workout Partner is a Role-Playing Game

Two college pals who were formerly scrawny and chubby gamers before buckling down and hitting the gym had no idea of the response they would get when they developed a web site that made working out into a type of role-playing game. Their brainchild, Fitocracy, scores users' workouts in a manner similar to leveling up in an MMO. "I actually don't treat life any differently than an RPG," said Fitocracy co-founder Brian Wang, who grew up as a skinny kid playing Chrono Trigger. "I'm always thinking of leveling up myself, which in this case, is actually myself, not my World of Warcraft character."

The Rest of the Story: Fitocracy's user base has continued to climb, thanks to recognition from webcomics like XKCD and Penny Arcade and mainstream outlets like The New York Times and CNN. Membership still is on an invitation-only basis as the site remains in beta. But it has added a premium "Hero" membership level offering additional workout routines, easily copying friends' workouts, early access to new features, and other perks. More ?

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A Walk-On Who Made the Team Wants You to Know What It Really Means

Seven years after walking on to the Auburn team as a freshman, Alex Howell now is in charge of NCAA Football's "Road to Glory," a career mode that emulates some of what he experienced as a college football player. Self-described as "the biggest JRPG nerd," Howell overhauled RTG with RPG elements, including a "Coach Trust" system that sought to cement the relationship of a star player to the man who recruited him, and whose livelihood depends on his success.

The Rest of the Story: Road to Glory made strides under Howell's design but still has some ground to cover before becoming a truly compelling experience. "RTG is coming along better than last year thanks to the huge consumer feedback we have received," Howell said. "I'm listening to our fans and putting inmany requests they've asked for." His first year of work at EA Sports also saw him credited with ESPN's College GameDay in work on their "Virtual Playbook," which in years past has been nominated for an Emmy. "Looking forward to another amazing year at Tiburon," Alex says.
More ?

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Ten Days of Grace Brings Golf's Church to the Masses

A four-day pass to The Masters Tournament is truly a bucket-list item, one any golfer would consider himself fortunate to have, if only once. Shannon Yates, an environmental artist for EA Sports, got to spend 10 days, sunup to sundown, on Augusta National's fabled golf course, coming to know its beauty and its challenge in ways even that tournament's champions may not know. Brought to high-definition video gaming for the first time, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters delivered a painstakingly authentic rendering of the course, thanks to the scanning Yates and his team performed over a week and half in August 2010. "We spent two full days on Amen Corner," Yates said. "When we crested the hill on No. 11, I remember talking to the assistants gathered at the scanner, and saying ?We have to get all of this exactly right. We will scan this as many times as we have to, to get this right."

The Rest of the Story: Yates' game easily came home as Stick Jockey's Sports Video Game of the Year, thanks as much to its technical achievement as to new gameplay features incorporated within it. The project has moved to a March release window now, to hit shelves before The Masters tees off in April. Yates himself is back on the job, but did take some time off after the game's release for an annual trip down the Florida coast aboard his Harley-Davidson. More ?

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How A Video Game Made Him Into A Major Leaguer

A decade before most boys grapple with the reality they aren't ever going to make the majors, Hans Smith had to come to terms with the fact he'd never even step foot on the diamond. A video game changed all of that. MLB The Show and its "Road to the Show" career mode provided more than a diversion to the 25-year-old college student with cerebral palsy. It made him into, in his words, a "virtual athlete." Sony San Diego, the makers of the game, were so touched by his dedication that they included, at his request, a new control set to include gamers of all levels of ability.

The Rest of the Story: MLB 11 The Show shipped with "ADVA Settings," named for the Association of Disabled Virtual Athletes that Smith created for a course project at Boise State University. The control set allowed gamers with limited motor function the ability to play not just the single player modes, but also in multiplayer modes against competitors using other control sets. Though the ADVA is inactive as of now, Smith and his story went to numerous mainstream outlets, including The New York Times, as a heartwarming example of cooperation among those who love The National Pastime. "We do get plenty of emails, fan mail, requests, to add feature XYZ to The Show," said Kolbe Launchbaugh, a senior designer on the game. "Nothing really compares to the passion and honesty behind the words that Hans sent us. He thanked us for making the game, and he thanked us for giving him an experience he could not have had in real life More ?

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Stick Jockey is Kotaku's column on sports video games. It appears Saturdays.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/deadspin/excerpts/~3/X_1goDO8wxw/looking-back-on-sports-movers-makers-and-video-gamers-in-2011

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U.N. condemns Damascus bombs, expresses grave concern (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) ? The United Nations expressed grave concern about twin suicide car bombings in Damascus and condemned the attacks that killed 44 people and lent a grim new face to the uprising in Syria.

With world powers arguing about details of a U.N. resolution on Syria, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate end to the bloodshed and urged the Syrian government to implement a peace plan proposed by the Arab League.

The first batch of 50 Arab League monitors will head to Syria on Monday to assess whether Damascus is abiding by an Arab peace plan, Egypt's state news agency reported on Friday.

European and U.S. officials want the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on Syria's government because of its nine-month-old crackdown on protesters against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, which U.N. officials say has killed more than 5,000 people.

The suicide bombs, aimed at two security buildings, sent human limbs flying and streets in Syria's capital were littered with human remains and the blackened hulk of cars.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi said the attacks were carried out by "terrorists (trying) to sabotage the will for change" in Syria, and followed warnings from Lebanon that al Qaeda fighters had infiltrated Syria from Lebanese territory.

Some of Assad's opponents said the suicide attacks could have been staged by the government itself.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the "terrorist attacks."

"Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and ... any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable," its statement said.

"EXTREME OPPOSITION"

Western powers say government security forces have been responsible for most of the violence in Syria. But Russia, an old ally of Damascus, wants any resolution to be even-handed.

"If the requirement is that we drop all reference to violence coming from extreme opposition, that's not going to happen," U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin said in New York after Russia submitted a revised draft resolution to the council.

"If they expect us to have arms embargo, that's not going to happen," he said. "We know what arms embargo means these days. It means that - we saw it in Libya - that you cannot supply weapons to the government but everybody else can supply weapons to various opposition groups."

German Ambassador Peter Wittig said the latest Russian draft did not go far enough. "We need to put the weight of the council behind the Arab League," he said.

"That includes the demands to release political prisoners, that includes a clear signal for accountability for those who have perpetrated human rights violations."

Assad has used tanks and troops to try to crush the street protests inspired by other Arab uprisings this year. Such rallies are now increasingly eclipsed by an armed insurgency against his security apparatus.

But Friday's blasts signaled a dramatic escalation.

"It's a new phase. We're getting militarized here," said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma who felt Friday's bombs were a "small premonition" of what may come in a country that some analysts see slipping towards civil war.

"This is when the Syrian opposition is beginning to realize they are on their own," he added, referring to Western reluctance to intervene militarily in Syria.

MANGLED BODIES

The interior ministry spokesman said 166 people were wounded by the Damascus explosions. It broadcast footage of mangled bodies being carried in blankets and stretchers into ambulances, a row of corpses wrapped in sheets lying in the street.

The United States condemned the attacks, saying there was "no justification for terrorism of any kind" and that the work of the Arab League should not be hindered.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Al Qaeda are Sunni Muslim militants. Assad and Syria's power elite belong to the Alawite branch of Shi'ite Islam while the majority of Syrians, including protesters and insurgents, are Sunnis.

"I'm defending my people," Ali, 45, an Alawite factory worker issued by police with a gun which he has used against protesters in the city of Homs, said in comments passed on to Reuters. "We can't let them topple the regime, they'll go after us and kill us all."

Syria has generally barred foreign media from the country, making it hard to verify accounts of events from either side.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 civilians were killed outside the capital on Friday, eight of them in Homs.

The Arab League peace plan stipulates a withdrawal of troops from protest-hit cities and towns, release of prisoners and dialogue with the opposition.

Damascus says more than 1,000 prisoners have been freed since the Arab plan was agreed and the army has pulled out of cities. Anti-Assad activists say no such pullout has occurred.

Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Alao said on Saturday that his country's oil production had fallen by about 30 to 35 percent as a result of sanctions imposed on Syria over its crackdown.

The European Union has stepped up its sanctions against Syria's oil industry, including blacklisting state-owned firms. The Arab League has also imposed sanctions on financial and other dealings with Syria.

(Additional reporting by Dominic Evans and Louis Charbonneau; Writing by Andrew Roche; Editing by Peter Millership)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111224/wl_nm/us_syria_attacks

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Go to work on a Christmas card: UK's wrapping paper and festive cards could provide energy to send a bus to the moon more than 20 times

ScienceDaily (Dec. 23, 2011) ? If all the UK's discarded wrapping paper and Christmas cards were collected and fermented, they could make enough biofuel to run a double-decker bus to the moon and back more than 20 times, according to the researchers behind a new scientific study.

The study, by scientists at Imperial College London, demonstrates that industrial quantities of waste paper could be turned into high grade biofuel, to power motor vehicles, by fermenting the paper using microorganisms. The researchers hope that biofuels made from waste paper could ultimately provide one alternative to fossil fuels like diesel and petrol, in turn reducing the impact of fossil fuels on the environment.

According to some estimates 1.5 billion cards and 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper are thrown away by UK residents over the Christmas period. They currently go to landfill or are recycled in local schemes. This amount of paper could provide 5-12 million litres of biofuel, say the researchers, enough to run a bus for up to 18 million km.

"If one card is assumed to weigh 20g and one square metre of wrapping paper is 10g, then around 38,300 tonnes of extra paper waste will be generated at Christmas time," said study author Dr Richard Murphy from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London. "Our research shows that it would be feasible to build waste paper-to-biofuel processing plants that give energy back as transport fuel."

Co-author and PhD student Lei Wang, also from Imperial's Department of Life Sciences, said: "The fermentation process could even cope with festive paper and card which has been 'contaminated' with the likes of glitter and sellotape. The cellulose molecules in sellotape would be broken down into glucose sugars and then fermented into ethanol fuel, just like the paper itself. Insoluble items like glitter are easy to filter out as part of the process."

Dr Murphy added: "People should not stop recycling their discarded paper and Christmas cards because at the moment there is no better solution. However, if this technology can be developed further, waste paper might ultimately provide a great, environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels. There's more work to do to assess the effectiveness and benefits of the technology, but we think it has significant potential."

In the study, published this month in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Energy and Environmental Science, the researchers describe how they fermented different types of paper and cardboard in the laboratory to assess how chemically and economically feasible it is to turn them into ethanol fuel. They found that it is not only possible in laboratory experiments but should be economically viable on a large scale as well.

Across the year, around 60 per cent of the UK's waste paper is collected for recycling or other waste management schemes, which equates to around 8 million tonnes. The scientists say that using a well-tested fermentation method and a novel cocktail of efficient and cheap chemical enzymes, their system could be scaled up to the size of existing industrial processing plants and be used to convert 2000 tonnes of waste paper per day into biofuels.

There is already an urgent need for councils to prevent reusable materials like cardboard and paper being sent to landfill sites, saving money and avoiding unnecessary waste, a message echoed by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson in a speech about Recycle for London's Nice Save campaign this week. This new research shows that in addition to recycling, waste materials can be used to generate energy, and some of that can be as valuable vehicle fuel.

High grade ethanol, such as that made in this study, can be (and already is) blended with fossil-based petrol to make a fuel with lower greenhouse gas balance than conventional petrol for cars and vans, and can also be used to power large diesel vehicles like buses and trucks, if modifications are made to their engines. This approach is already used in Brazil, the USA and the EU, among other regions, where ethanol biofuels are being made from sugar cane, grain and other crops. Most of the UK's biofuel is currently imported from abroad.

The authors of this study are now analysing the environmental performance of bioethanol made from waste paper using life cycle assessment (LCA) and comparing it with the conventional transport fuel petrol. LCA is an environmental management tool that evaluates the 'cradle-to-grave' effects of a product for its influence on a range of environmental impact categories, including its ability to contribute to climate change or soil acidification or to cause algal blooms in fresh water.

The math:

• Bioethanol predicted from using Christmas waste is 5.2-12 million L, energy content of ethanol is 22 MJ/L
• Economy mileage for a diesel bus is 39 L/100km (Wikipedia info)
• Diesel energy conte nt is 3 8.6 MJ/L
• Bus running needs 15 MJ/km
• Bus using bioethanol can run 1.47 km/L
• Distance of bus running is 7.6-18 million km
• Times travelling to moon (distance is 0.38 million km) is 20-47 times

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Imperial College London.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Lei Wang, Mahdi Sharifzadeh, Richard Templer, Richard J. Murphy. Technology performance and economic feasibility of bioethanol production from various waste papers. Energy & Environmental Science, 2012; DOI: 10.1039/C2EE02935A

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111223091335.htm

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Engadget Podcast 269 - 12.23.2011

It may be Christmas Eve Eve and the fourth day of Hannukah, but so far, this has felt like just another week in the consumer electronics biz. Another loco crazy, pre-CES, sink-or-swim, walk-a-dozen-miles-to-charge-your-cell kind of week. But that doesn't mean we don't have a couple of nice presents for you...including, of course, your very own Engadget Podcast.

Host: Brian Heater, Tim Stevens
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Just a Dream

01:37 - Engadget Distro now available on Android Market and iOS Newsstand!
04:46 - AT&T abandons T-Mobile merger plans (updated)
11:02 - Sony PlayStation Vita review (Japanese edition)
24:38 - Microsoft's CES 2012 keynote won't deliver 'significant news,' more of 'a wrap-up'
32:09 - SOPA hearing delayed until the new year as petition signatures top 25k
35:47 - T-Mobile, Motorola respond to Senator Franken's Carrier IQ questions
37:20 - Two days in the desert with Apple's lost founder, Ron Wayne
41:55 - Fusion Garage's website goes dark -- has it bitten the dust? (update: it's back?)
45:00 - The Engadget Interview: Fusion Garage's Chandra Rathakrishnan... post-fallout
50:02 - Indian villagers walk a dozen miles to charge cellphones
53:14 - Listener questions












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Editor ousted over racial slur against Rihanna (AP)

AMSTERDAM ? The editor of a Dutch fashion magazine has been fired after the publication used a racial slur to refer to Barbados-born Rihanna, setting off a social media furor and prompting an outraged response from the singer.

Eva Hoeke, editor of "Jackie," and the magazine's publisher said in a joint statement on Facebook that the misuse of a racial slur ? "although without malicious intentions" ? was cause for Hoeke's departure after eight years on the job.

The slur was used in an article about how to dress your daughter like a pop star. Responding to criticism that flashed across the ocean, Hoeke said at first that her use of the term was meant as a joke.

She then put out a Twitter item with a more explicit apology, saying she learned, "1. Don't publish bad jokes in the magazine 2. Don't pretend bad jokes to be funny. Sorry guys. My bad."

On Tuesday, Rihanna responded herself via Twitter: "Your magazine is a poor representation of the evolution of human rights! I find you disrespectful, and rather desperate!!"

Rather than a positive article useful to Dutch girls, Rihanna said Jackie chose to print an item "degrading to an entire race. That's your contribution to this world!" She also ended her tweet with an indelicate phrase.

Hoeke said she was unaware the word she used was so loaded because "you hear it all the time on radio and TV."

By Wednesday, the Facebook apology had attracted hundreds of comments, many condemning Hoeke but some saying the reaction was overblown.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_en_mu/eu_netherlands_rihanna

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Committee of advisers may help Kim Jong Un (AP)

SEOUL, South Korea ? A South Korean lawmaker says intelligence officials are predicting a committee will handle key affairs until the twenty-something son of late leader Kim Jong Il formally becomes leader.

Hwang Jin-ha said Wednesday the National Intelligence Service made the assessment during a closed-door briefing. He says it believes the committee will be headed by the North Korean Workers' Party military commission.

Kim's third son and heir Kim Jong Un is a vice chairman of that commission.

Hwang says the intelligence service predicted Kim's aunt Kim Kyong Hui and her husband, Jang Song Thaek, a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, will play larger roles in supporting the younger Kim.

Hwang says the intelligence service didn't say how it got the information.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_as/as_kim_jong_il_leadership_committee

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