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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/4eYGZImavRM/story01.htm
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Final Cut Pro X updated to turn your multi-cam iPhone videos into masterpieces
Apple just released an update to their executive video editing software suite which adds multi-camera syncing and broadcast monitoring suport. Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 also includes enhanced XML, so it can talk with third-party plug-ins more easily.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Angelina Jolie Downplays Brad Pitt Marriage Talk
Are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie really headed down the altar soon?
That's what could be expected, given Pitt's recent comments about the pressure to - and his desire to - propose, but according to Jolie, that's premature.
"I think anything said tends to be blown out of proportion," Jolie told People Sunday night at the SAG Awards, when asked about "a lot of ring-talk lately."
"Yeah, that was my fault," Pitt admitted with a smile.
Guess we know who wears the pants in that house.
The speculation about wedding bells in the near future for the famous couple stem from Pitt's remark that Brangelina is "getting a lot of pressure from the kids."
"It means something to them," he continued, adding that he would like to marry Angelina, and that "We will [get married] someday, we will. It's a great idea."
"'Please, get mommy a ring.' 'OK, I will, I will.' "
"It seems to mean more and more to our kids," he said. "I don't think we'll be able to hold out … it means something to me, to make that kind of commitment."
Probably not until Angelina demands it, however.
[Photo: WENN.com]
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/angelina-jolie-downplays-brad-pitt-marriage-comment/
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
HBT: Oswalt close to signing with Cardinals
Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM reports that the Cardinals and Roy Oswalt are close to agreeing on a contract. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald?confirms Duquette?s report, but adds that the process may take ?another day or two.?
No word on the specific terms being discussed, but Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier this week that the Cardinals made an offer to Oswalt a few weeks ago ?approaching $5 million.? Strauss didn?t think that would be enough to get it done and even pegged the Rangers as the favorites.
As for Duquette, he hears that the Red Sox, Astros and Rangers remain in the mix. The Astros are a bit of a head-scratcher given that they haven?t been mentioned until this point and aren?t anywhere close to contending, but perhaps Oswalt gave some thought to going back to where it all started.
Of course, the interesting part of a potential match with the Cardinals is that they already have five starters and Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook have full no-trade clauses in their respective contracts. By the way, Lohse will make $11.57 million in 2012 while Westbrook is owed $8.5 million this season and a $1 million buyout on his $8.5 million mutual option for 2013. Oswalt has the potential to make them better, obviously, but that could be a messy situation.
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Leadership scramble: GOP rivals vie for title
Evelyn Solomon of Boca Raton, Fla., a supporter of Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich waits during a Republican Jewish Coalition rally at the South County Civic Center, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Delray Beach, Fla. Romney and Gingrich square off over immigration and other issues as they look to woo Hispanics a day after a feisty, final debate before Tuesday?s Florida primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Evelyn Solomon of Boca Raton, Fla., a supporter of Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich waits during a Republican Jewish Coalition rally at the South County Civic Center, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Delray Beach, Fla. Romney and Gingrich square off over immigration and other issues as they look to woo Hispanics a day after a feisty, final debate before Tuesday?s Florida primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Audience members cheer as Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Astrotech Space Operations in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Republican presidential contenders are making a pitch to voters that sounds a lot like a children's game: Follow the leader.
When Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich aren't puffing up their own leadership credentials, they're running down the leadership skills of one another and President Barack Obama.
If anyone missed Monday's conference call from the Romney campaign about Gingrich's record as a "failed leader," not to worry. They could have tuned in to Tuesday's conference call. Or Wednesday's. Or Thursday's. Or checked out the "unreliable leader" banner splashed across a Romney news release that labeled Gingrich "unhinged." Romney's political biography, meanwhile, is all about his leadership as a businessman, Massachusetts governor and savior of the 2002 Olympic Games.
It's hard to miss Gingrich's frequent broadsides at Romney, meanwhile, for failing to provide consistent, visionary leadership. Or the former House speaker's pronouncements that he, by contrast, offers "exactly the kind of bold, tough leader the American people want." Or Gingrich's muscular descriptions of all that was accomplished in his four years as speaker in the 1990s.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, lagging them in the polls, keeps trying to muscle his way into the leader palooza by offering himself as the steady bet who can be counted on to offer more reliable conservative leadership than "erratic" Gingrich or "moderate" Romney.
In a race where all the candidates are trying to out-conservative one another, stressing leadership credentials gives the GOP rivals a way to try to distinguish themselves. And in a year when Obama's own leadership skills are seen as one of his weakest qualities, it gives the Republicans another arrow in their quiver as they argue over who would be most electable in a matchup with Obama come November.
Leadership is always a part of the equation in presidential elections. In 2008, for example, the candidates all were abuzz with claims that they offered "transformational" leadership. Obama announced he was running by declaring, "I want to transform this country."
This year, leadership is getting an extra dose of attention, perhaps because of statistics such as this: The share of Americans who view Obama as a strong leader slipped from 77 percent at the start of his presidency to 52 percent in a Pew Research Center poll released this month. And among Republicans, only about a fourth of those surveyed in the most recent poll viewed Obama as a strong leader, compared with 80 percent of Democrats.
At a campaign debate last week in Tampa, Fla., Gingrich and Romney both turned a question about electability into an answer about the L-word.
"This is going to come down a question of leadership," Romney said. Then the former Massachusetts governor recited his track record as a leader in business and government and took a dig at Gingrich for having to "resign in disgrace" when he was speaker in the 1990s.
Gingrich, answering the same question, aligned himself with the leadership record of conservative hero Ronald Reagan and offered himself as someone "prepared to be controversial when necessary" to bring about great change.
The answers offer a window into how differently the two candidates define leadership ? Romney more as a manager with business school credentials, Gingrich more as a big-thinking visionary.
The leadership argument is a particularly potent campaign weapon for Romney because a number of Republicans who served in Congress with Gingrich have been happy to describe his shortcomings in running the House.
"If you were somebody trying to serve with him, you were always sort of left standing with your hands empty in terms of moving forward with an actual plan or putting a plan to paper," Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said of Gingrich on a Romney campaign conference call on Thursday. "So for me, it's an example that he's just not an effective leader. I think Mitt has the temperament and the ability to lead."
Gingrich, who resigned after a spate of ethics problems and a poor showing for House Republicans in the 1998 elections, managed to turn even his resignation as speaker into evidence that he's a strong leader.
"I took responsibility for the fact that our results weren't as good as they should be," he said in the Tampa debate. "I think that's what a leader should do."
As for the turbulence of his tenure as speaker, Gingrich casts that, too, as evidence of his bold leadership.
"Look, I wish everybody had loved me, but I'd rather be effective representing the American people than be popular inside Washington," he said earlier in the campaign.
Stephen Wayne, a presidential scholar at Georgetown University, said the harsh judgment of Obama's presidential leadership by Republicans and even some Democrats in part is due to the high hopes that he raised during the 2008 campaign. Obama the president has been measured against the words of Obama the candidate ever since.
Now that it's campaign season again, says Wayne, "he's not competing against his own image, he's competing against a real life person that has frailties. ... In a sense, that lowers the bar for Obama."
___
AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.
___
Follow Nancy Benac at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Euro rises to 6-week high against dollar (AP)
NEW YORK ? The euro jumped to a six-week high against the dollar after a European official said that Greece is close to reaching a deal with creditors to lower its debt.
Traders also sold the dollar after the government said that the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than economists had expected.
The euro rose to $1.3208 late Friday from $1.3104 late Thursday. It rose as high as $1.322, its highest point since Dec. 13.
European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that a Greek debt deal may be reached by the weekend. His comments were made at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Greece needs to reach a deal with its creditors to receive its next installment of bailout cash and avoid defaulting on its debt. A default could hurt Europe's financial system and trigger a financial panic around the world.
The euro rose even though ratings agency Fitch said Friday that it is downgrading the credit ratings of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia. Earlier in the month, Standard & Poor's downgraded nine euro zone countries.
Across the Atlantic, the U.S. government reported that the economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. Economists believe growth would need to be much stronger to sharply reduce unemployment.
The dollar was weaker against most other currencies Friday.
The British pound rose to $1.5724 from $1.5688. The dollar fell to 76.72 Japanese yen from 77.49 Japanese yen, to 0.9129 Swiss franc from 0.9205 and to 1.0012 Canadian dollar from 1.0014 Canadian dollar.
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Too Few Americans Getting Screened for Common Cancers: CDC (HealthDay)
THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans being screened for colon, breast and cervical cancers still fall below national targets, federal health officials said Thursday.
In 2010, 72.4 percent of women were being screened for breast cancer, below the target of 81 percent, for cervical cancer it was 83 percent of women, while the target is 93 percent, and for colon cancer 58.6 percent of Americans were screened, missing the target of 70.5 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Not all Americans are getting the recommended screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer," said report co-author Mary C. White, branch chief of the CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. "There continue to be disparities for certain populations."
The screening rates are particularly low among Asians and Hispanics, according to the report in the Jan. 27 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Among Asians, the screening rate for breast cancer was 64.1 percent, for cervical cancer it was 75.4 percent, and for colon cancer it was 46.9 percent.
Hispanics were less likely than non-Hispanics to have screening for cervical and colon cancer (78.7 percent and 46.5 percent, respectively), the researchers found.
Screening is important, said Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
"Screening saves lives," she said. "When you catch a cancer at a smaller size it does affect outcome."
Some people may be confused about screening, because different medical groups have different screening protocols, Bernik said.
"It's hard to get people to do screening in general. People look for any excuse not to get screened. When they see there is a controversy about when to start screening, they look at it as an opportunity to not do the test," she said.
Bernik also admits that screening can result in some over-treatment.
"With screening comes that risk," she said. "Unfortunately, we are not at a point where we can select the patients that are not going to have a problem, so we treat everyone equally. So, there is a little bit of over-treatment but, overall, you are improving survival for many people."
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women aged 50 to 74 get a mammogram every two years to screen for breast cancer.
Women aged 21 to 65, or those who have been sexually active for three years, should have a Pap test to screen for cervical cancer at least every three years, the task force recommends.
For colorectal cancer, men and women aged 50 to 75 should be screened with a yearly fecal occult blood test or sigmoidoscopy every five years, or have a colonoscopy every 10 years.
Other highlights of the report include:
- Breast cancer screening rates remained stable from 2000-2010, varying only about 3 percent.
- Colon cancer screening rates increased from 2000-2010, to more than 58 percent for both men and women.
- Cervical cancer screening rates dipped 3.3 percent from 2000-2010.
- Screening rates for all these cancers was much lower among the uninsured or those who didn't have a regular doctor.
The Affordable Care Act is expected to lower these barriers to access by expanding insurance coverage, the authors said.
"Other efforts are needed, such as developing systems that identify persons eligible for cancer screening tests, actively encouraging the use of screening tests, and monitoring participation to improve screening rates," the authors added.
More information
For more on cancer screening, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Youth rage boils amid north Nigeria sect attacks (AP)
KANO, Nigeria ? The angry youths piled on top of the burned-out truck near a blood-spattered police station Wednesday in Nigeria's north, alternating praises for the radical Islamist sect that bombed the precinct and promising to kill any officer who returned.
The crowd overran the station that morning following an attack there the previous night, apparently by the sect known as Boko Haram, which last week killed at least 185 people in a coordinated assault that struck several police stations in the country's second-largest city of Kano.
Their jubilation underscored a growing danger from Nigeria's exploding population: a swarming unemployed and undereducated youth across the north whose anger at Nigeria's corrupt and weak central government make them ready recruits for the sect and other radicals.
"The poorer Muslim north sees systemic bias in the provision of basic services and repeated incidents of police brutality," a recent report from Washington-based think tank The Jamestown Foundation said.
Suspected members of Boko Haram surrounded the police station Tuesday night in the Sheka neighborhood of the sprawling and dusty city of Kano, home to more than 9 million people. The gunmen ordered civilians to get off the street, then began chanting "God is great" as they threw homemade bombs into the station and sprayed it with assault rifle fire, witnesses said.
Associated Press journalists saw youths overrun the station Wednesday, as black soot and smoke charred its walls. Doors to jail cells stood open. Blood coated the floor of the local commander's private bathroom. Investigative files apparently rifled through by attackers or the crowd covered the floors.
Older men around the neighborhood attempted to calm down the youths gathered there, with one trying to lock up the station while security forces remained nowhere to be seen. Most Muslims across Nigeria's north say they disapprove of Boko Haram, which claimed the assault Friday in Kano that killed at least 185 people.
"We are not satisfied with what is happening now," said 26-year-old Abubakar Muawuya. Our leaders "have to call this Boko Haram and sit down with them."
But the group there remained jubilant, repeatedly beating on the burned-out truck. Cheering youths waved an officer's uniform and others jumped up and down on the truck, with one wearing a police ballistic helmet.
Some also ominously asked journalists visiting the site if they were Christians.
Nigeria's youth represent what a British Council report last year described as a looming "demographic disaster" for Africa's most populous nation. Estimates in the report suggest Nigeria's population of more than 160 million people will swell by another 53 million people by 2050. And while the country makes billions from producing oil, agriculture and other vocations have wilted away, meaning fewer jobs for the growing population where many earn less than $2 a day without access to electricity or clean drinking water.
Illiteracy remains high as an education gap grows wider ? children have access to better schooling in the Christian-majority south compared to those in the Muslim north, the report said. Analysts worry that will give extremist groups like Boko Haram fertile grounds to grow as well.
Boko Haram wants to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslims in communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people split largely into a Christian south and Muslim north. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has now killed at least 262 people in 2012, more than half of the at least 510 people the sect killed in all of 2011, according to an Associated Press count.
On Wednesday, Niger's foreign minister Mohamed Bazoum said the sect received training and weapons from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, al-Qaida's north Africa branch.
"There is no doubt the two organizations are connected and that they have the same objective of destabilizing our region," he said.
So far, Nigeria's weak and corruption-riddled central government has been unable to stop Boko Haram's increasingly bloody attacks. On Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan placed the federal police's top official on "terminal leave" following the Kano attacks. Inspector Gen. Hafiz Ringim remained in the top position in the police force and was given a national honor recently despite the unrelenting attacks.
A statement from the presidency also said Jonathan "approved the retirement" of all deputy inspector generals of police and appointed a committee to look at ways of reforming a police force still organized much like the British colonial government left it.
However, it remains unclear what can be done to salvage a police force where more than a fourth of its officers serve as assistants and drivers to the country's elite, while many of the rest extort motorists at checkpoints. Ringim himself was due to retire anyway in several months.
___
Associated Press writers Ahmed Mohamed in Nouakchott, Mauritania and Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria contributed to this report.
___
Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Irishman makes "billion-euro home" of shredded notes (Reuters)
DUBLIN (Reuters) ? An unemployed Irish artist has built a home from the shredded remains of 1.4 billion euros ($1.82 billion), a monument to the "madness" he says has been wrought on Ireland by the single currency, from a spectacular construction boom to a wrenching bust.
Frank Buckley built the apartment in the lobby of a Dublin office building that has lain vacant since its completion four years ago at the peak of an ill-fated construction boom, using bricks of shredded euro notes he borrowed from Ireland's national mint.
"It's a reflection of the whole madness that gripped us," Buckley said of what he calls his "billion-euro home."
"People were pouring billions into buildings now worth nothing," he said. "I wanted to create something from nothing."
A wave of cheap credit flowed into Ireland in the early 2000s after Ireland joined the currency zone fuelling a huge property bubble that transformed the country.
The bubble's collapse since 2007 plunged Ireland into the deepest recession in the industrialized world, forcing the former "Celtic Tiger" to accept a humiliating bailout from the EU and the IMF.
Buckley was given a 100 percent mortgage at the peak of the boom to buy a 365,000 euro home on the far reaches of Dublin's commuter belt, despite the fact he had no steady income.
He has separated from his wife who lives in the home, which has since lost at least one-third of its value.
Living in his "billion euro home" since the start of December, Buckley is working on adding a kitchen to the living room and hall.
The walls and floor are covered in euro shreddings and the house is so warm Buckley sleeps without a blanket.
Pictures made from notes and coins decorate the walls, including one of a house, made from Irish 5 pence pieces.
"There are houses in Ireland worth less than that," Buckley quips.
Buckley said he wants Europe's politicians to solve the eurozone debt crisis without destroying its currency. But if the currency ultimately fails, he will happily use the euro zone's defunct notes as fodder for future projects.
"Whatever you say about the euro, it's a great insulator."
($1 = 0.7704 euros)
(Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by Carmel Crimmins and Paul Casciato)
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The American Museum of Natural History Hosts ?Beyond Planet Earth? Tweetup with Scientific American
January 25, 2012 |??
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I knew it was going to be a wonderful night when I magically found street parking on Central Park West directly across from the American Museum of Natural History. Camera in hand I entered the planetarium where I enjoyed a presentation of vintage films and movies depicting space travel and life on other planets.
I was soon flying towards the ?dark side of the moon? and out into the Milky Way during a 3D presentation of the planets that was out of this world. I then eagerly entered the reception at The Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians where finally the opportunity to shoot presented itself and I took full advantage of capturing the guests, listening to speakers and meeting the editors and bloggers at Scientific American magazine in this magnificent setting.
The Beyond Planet Earth exhibit itself was also an excellent and fun place to shoot and I highly recommend checking out the exhibit yourself in person as there are many interactive apps and ways to explore! I have never had an opportunity like this before and I found the museum, discussions and science exhilarating! Perhaps, if there?s a next time, I can roller skate around the deserted museum taking photos and really bring ?a night at the museum? to life!
Related:
Scientific American Tweet-Up at the American Museum of Natural History
Getting Ready for Scientific American Tweet-Up at the American Museum of Natural History
About the Author: Erica Angiolillo is a freelance photographer who lives on Long Island with her husband & two children. She is the in house photographer for Manhattan Athletics & NYC Titans/Spartans baseball teams. You can enjoy her love of photography on Facebook at Gotcha! By Erica. Follow on Twitter @eangiolillo.More??
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=e06ccf1ad0104aa5d3be475aa10ede1a
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Vaccination program credited in fight against whooping cough
Facing an epidemic of whooping cough that led to the deaths of 10 infants in 2010, California public health officials launched a massive vaccination effort and public awareness campaign about the disease.
And on Tuesday, they announced the payoff: no deaths in 2011, a first in two decades. The number of whooping cough, or pertussis, cases also plummeted from about 9,154 in 2010 to 2,795 in 2011, according to the California Department of Public Health.
In Los Angeles County, the number of cases dropped from 1,395 in 2010 to 520 in 2011. Four of the deaths in the state occurred locally.
"Controlling an outbreak is huge," said Dr. Gil Chavez, deputy director of infectious diseases for the state. "It really happens in a partnership."
The state worked closely with doctors, hospitals, schools and clinics to get more people vaccinated and to get pertussis identified and treated earlier, Chavez said.
Pertussis is a bacterial disease that infects the respiratory system. Children and adults may have severe coughing with a whooping sound at the end of a spasm. Infants may have a runny nose and a cough without the whoop sound.
Chavez said that the deaths can also be prevented if cases are identified and treated quickly, usually with antibiotics."To have gone through a year like 2011 with 3,000 cases and having no fatalities is pretty remarkable," he said.
Infants are the most vulnerable because they are not fully vaccinated until they are 6 months old. As a result, public health officials urged pediatricians to watch out for the disease and to get babies treated immediately after a diagnosis to improve their chances of survival.
"That is probably the most important thing," said Dr. James Cherry, a pediatrics professor at UCLA and an expert in pertussis. "If you get babies in hospitals, in ICUs, they are more likely to survive."
Babies often get pertussis from parents and others who have been misdiagnosed as having asthma or bronchitis, Cherry said. So in their vaccination efforts, state and local health departments focused on vaccinating people who were around infants, including pregnant and postpartum mothers, grandparents and older siblings.
The state also passed a law in 2010 requiring the immunization of students entering grades 7 to 12. Most children are vaccinated for pertussis, but it wanes after about five years. The vaccine is included in the DTaP inoculation, which also protects against tetanus and diphtheria.
"I don't think there was a lot of awareness of the transmission of this from older siblings," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles County's director of public health.
Fielding said health officials throughout California need to continue being vigilant so the numbers don't increase again. "We have to make sure we don't let our guard down," he said.
anna.gorman@latimes.com
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Study finds tablet, e-book ownership soared
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Tablets and e-readers were a popular gift over the holidays, so much so that the number of people who own them nearly doubled between mid-December and January, a new study finds.
A report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project set to be released Monday found that 29 percent of Americans owned at least one tablet or e-reader as of the beginning of this month. That's up from 18 percent who said the same in December.
The iPad from Apple Inc. is perhaps the best-known example of these gadgets, along with Amazon.com's various Kindle devices and the Nook from Barnes and Noble. The iPad put tablets on the map and the cheaper Kindle Fire and Nook devices helped get them in the hands of more people.
The percentage of people who own a tablet jumped to 19 from 10 between mid-December and early January. E-book reader ownership also rose to 19 percent from 10 percent of U.S. adults.
Men and women were equally likely to own tablets, and the likelihood of tablet ownership was higher for people with higher household incomes, the report found. Those with higher levels of education were also more likely to own tablets than those who completed fewer years of school.
E-readers, meanwhile, were slightly more common among women.
The figures are from ongoing surveys conducted by Pew about tablet and e-reader ownership. They were conducted between November 2011 and January 2012. The first, pre-holiday survey was conducted among 2,986 Americans 16 and older. Two post-holiday surveys were conducted among about 2,000 adults in January.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
The biology of politics: Liberals roll with the good, conservatives confront the bad
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Public release date: 23-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Mike Dodd
mdodd2@unl.edu
402-472-0547
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
New study brings to light physiological, cognitive differences of political left and right
From cable TV news pundits to red-meat speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire, our nation's deep political stereotypes are on full display: Conservatives paint self-indulgent liberals as insufferably absent on urgent national issues, while liberals say fear-mongering conservatives are fixated on exaggerated dangers to the country.
A new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests there are biological truths to such broad brushstrokes.
In a series of experiments, researchers closely monitored physiological reactions and eye movements of study participants when shown combinations of both pleasant and unpleasant images. Conservatives reacted more strongly to, fixated more quickly on, and looked longer at the unpleasant images; liberals had stronger reactions to and looked longer at the pleasant images compared with conservatives.
"It's been said that conservatives and liberals don't see things in the same way," said Mike Dodd, UNL assistant professor of psychology and the study's lead author. "These findings make that clear quite literally."
To gauge participants' physiological responses, they were shown a series of images on a screen. Electrodes measured subtle skin conductance changes, which indicated an emotional response. The cognitive data, meanwhile, was gathered by outfitting participants with eyetracking equipment that captured even the most subtle of eye movements while combinations of unpleasant and pleasant photos appeared on the screen.
While liberals' gazes tended to fall upon the pleasant images, such as a beach ball or a bunny rabbit, conservatives clearly focused on the negative images of an open wound, a crashed car or a dirty toilet, for example.
Consistent with the idea that conservatives seem to respond more to negative stimuli while liberals respond more to positive stimuli, conservatives also exhibited a stronger physiological response to images of Democratic politicians presumed to be a negative to them than they did on pictures of well-known Republicans. Liberals, on the other hand, had a stronger physiological response to the Democrats presumed to be a positive stimulus to them than they did to images of the Republicans.
By studying both physiological and cognitive aspects, the researchers established unique new insights into the growing notion that political leanings are at least partial products of our biology, UNL political scientist and study co-author Kevin Smith said.
Recent research on the subject has focused mostly on physiological reactions to negative stimuli. The new study's use of cognitive data regarding both positive and negative imagery adds to the understanding of how liberals and conservatives see and experience the world, Smith said.
UNL political scientist and co-author John Hibbing said the results might mean that those on the right are more attuned and attentive to aversive elements in life and are more naturally inclined to confront them. From an evolutionary standpoint, that makes sense, he said.
The results also are consistent with conservatives' support of policies to protect society from perceived external threats (support for increased defense spending or opposition to immigration) and internal ones as well (support for traditional values and being tough on crime), Hibbing said.
The researchers were careful to not make a value judgment on either political orientation. But they did note that their discovery provided an opportunity to recognize the relevance of deeper biological variables in politics and turn down political polarization.
Rather than believing those with opposite political views are uninformed or willfully obtuse, the authors said, political tolerance could be enhanced if it was widely understood that political differences are based in part on our physiological and cognitive differences.
"When conservatives say that liberals are out of it and just don't get it, from this standpoint, that's true," Hibbing said. "And when liberals say 'What are (conservatives) so frightened of? Is the world really that dangerous?' Given what each side sees, what they pay attention to, what they physiologically experience the answer is both sides are right."
###
The study, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, is in a forthcoming edition of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B and was authored by Dodd, Hibbing and Smith, as well as UNL's Amanda Balzer, Carly Jacobs and Michael Gruszczynski.
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Public release date: 23-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Mike Dodd
mdodd2@unl.edu
402-472-0547
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
New study brings to light physiological, cognitive differences of political left and right
From cable TV news pundits to red-meat speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire, our nation's deep political stereotypes are on full display: Conservatives paint self-indulgent liberals as insufferably absent on urgent national issues, while liberals say fear-mongering conservatives are fixated on exaggerated dangers to the country.
A new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggests there are biological truths to such broad brushstrokes.
In a series of experiments, researchers closely monitored physiological reactions and eye movements of study participants when shown combinations of both pleasant and unpleasant images. Conservatives reacted more strongly to, fixated more quickly on, and looked longer at the unpleasant images; liberals had stronger reactions to and looked longer at the pleasant images compared with conservatives.
"It's been said that conservatives and liberals don't see things in the same way," said Mike Dodd, UNL assistant professor of psychology and the study's lead author. "These findings make that clear quite literally."
To gauge participants' physiological responses, they were shown a series of images on a screen. Electrodes measured subtle skin conductance changes, which indicated an emotional response. The cognitive data, meanwhile, was gathered by outfitting participants with eyetracking equipment that captured even the most subtle of eye movements while combinations of unpleasant and pleasant photos appeared on the screen.
While liberals' gazes tended to fall upon the pleasant images, such as a beach ball or a bunny rabbit, conservatives clearly focused on the negative images of an open wound, a crashed car or a dirty toilet, for example.
Consistent with the idea that conservatives seem to respond more to negative stimuli while liberals respond more to positive stimuli, conservatives also exhibited a stronger physiological response to images of Democratic politicians presumed to be a negative to them than they did on pictures of well-known Republicans. Liberals, on the other hand, had a stronger physiological response to the Democrats presumed to be a positive stimulus to them than they did to images of the Republicans.
By studying both physiological and cognitive aspects, the researchers established unique new insights into the growing notion that political leanings are at least partial products of our biology, UNL political scientist and study co-author Kevin Smith said.
Recent research on the subject has focused mostly on physiological reactions to negative stimuli. The new study's use of cognitive data regarding both positive and negative imagery adds to the understanding of how liberals and conservatives see and experience the world, Smith said.
UNL political scientist and co-author John Hibbing said the results might mean that those on the right are more attuned and attentive to aversive elements in life and are more naturally inclined to confront them. From an evolutionary standpoint, that makes sense, he said.
The results also are consistent with conservatives' support of policies to protect society from perceived external threats (support for increased defense spending or opposition to immigration) and internal ones as well (support for traditional values and being tough on crime), Hibbing said.
The researchers were careful to not make a value judgment on either political orientation. But they did note that their discovery provided an opportunity to recognize the relevance of deeper biological variables in politics and turn down political polarization.
Rather than believing those with opposite political views are uninformed or willfully obtuse, the authors said, political tolerance could be enhanced if it was widely understood that political differences are based in part on our physiological and cognitive differences.
"When conservatives say that liberals are out of it and just don't get it, from this standpoint, that's true," Hibbing said. "And when liberals say 'What are (conservatives) so frightened of? Is the world really that dangerous?' Given what each side sees, what they pay attention to, what they physiologically experience the answer is both sides are right."
###
The study, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, is in a forthcoming edition of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B and was authored by Dodd, Hibbing and Smith, as well as UNL's Amanda Balzer, Carly Jacobs and Michael Gruszczynski.
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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uon-tbo010412.php
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At least 9 die in Iran passenger boat sinking: IRNA (Reuters)
TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Nine bodies have been recovered from a passenger vessel that sank off the Iranian coast with 22 people aboard, but five survivors have been rescued, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
Rescue officials said they feared most of those on board had been trapped inside the boat when it capsized and sank in bad weather while sailing from the island of Hormuz to Bandar Abbas on Saturday evening.
IRNA reported that the boat had run out of fuel and was tossed about in heavy winds before capsizing. The strong wind also hampered the rescue effort, it said.
(Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Editing by Tim Pearce)
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Judge narrows Apple and Motorola patent battle to five points (Digital Trends)
U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard Posner has significantly narrowed the high-profile patent litigation between Apple and Motorola over the technology used in their iOS and Android-powered mobile devices, reducing the number of claims in the case that could go to trial from eight to five. Posner ruled that one of Apple?s patents in the case is invalid, and that Apple was not guilty of infringing on Motorola patents for authenticating telecommunications users and encrypting communications. However, the five remaining issues are eligible to go to trial. Posner has given the companies until January 23 to decide which of the remaining five issues they want tried; the jury trail has been scheduled to start June 11.
The ruling comes just days after Motorola won an early victory against Apple with the International Trade Commission, in which an administrative judge ruled Motorola smartphones weren?t violating three Apple patents. Apple?s complaint now moves on to a full ITC panel.
Judge Posner was hearing the case by special designation from a lower-court case in Chicago. He ruled that an Apple patent detailing a method for drawing graphics on a display was invalid because it was too vague; however, he also ruled that Apple was not guilty of infringing on two Motorola patents, finding one had been anticipated by earlier patents.
So far, neither Apple nor Motorola have commented on Judge Posner?s ruling.
The patent infringement case between Apple and Motorola could soon become the first direct conflict between Apple and Google over Android, which Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously considered a ?stolen product.? Until now, Apple has been content to target Android device makers like Samsung, HTC, and Motorola with its litigation; however, since Motorola Mobility is currently in the process of being acquired by Google, the Motorola case could shift into a direct conflict between Apple and Google. Google has consistently claimed it doesn?t want Motorola Mobility so it can get into the Android handset business itself; rather, it wants Motorola?s extensive intellectual property portfolio to protect Android from litigation from the likes of Apple, Oracle, and Microsoft.
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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Exclusive: Pakistan-U.S. ties on hold for "re-evaluation" (Reuters)
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? Pakistan's ties with the United States remain on hold following a NATO cross-border air attack, its foreign minister said on Thursday, and Washington should not push Islamabad to go after militant groups or bring them to the Afghan peace process.
"Now that the re-evaluation process is under way as we speak, so till the time that that re-evaluation process is not complete, we cannot start the re-engagement," Hina Rabbani Khar said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
The November 26 NATO attack on the border with Afghanistan, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, plunged relations between Washington and Islamabad to their chilliest levels in years.
Yet Khar struck a positive note, stressing the long alliance was vital for the two countries.
"I think this will also give us the ability, if we play it right, to strengthen the partnership and to make it much, much more effective," she said.
"Let me categorically say that we consider our relations and our relationship with the U.S. to be an extremely important one."
Khar said proposals for the tenor and rules for relations with the United States could be out within days.
"We are trying to push for it as we speak," Khar said. "I know that they have completed their recommendations and we will look for an appropriate day to hold the joint session of parliament. The recommendations could come out in days."
The United States sees Pakistan as critical to its efforts to wind down the war in neighboring Afghanistan, where U.S.-led NATO forces are battling a stubborn Taliban insurgency.
But the NATO border incident exacerbated a crisis in relations which erupted after U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a unilateral raid on Pakistani soil in May last year. It embarrassed Pakistan's powerful military.
Ties between Washington and Islamabad were also severely hurt a year ago by the killing of two Pakistanis by a CIA contractor: "I would say they are conveniently on hold until we start re-engaging," said Khar.
FOCUS ON HAQQANI NETWORK
The foreign minister rejected some media reports that Islamabad had snubbed a request by U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman to visit, saying it was a matter of choosing a more beneficial time.
The United States has long sought Pakistani cooperation in tackling the Haqqani network, the Afghan insurgent group now seen as the gravest threat to NATO and Afghan troops.
In October, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Islamabad with top U.S. military and intelligence officials and urged the Pakistanis to persuade militant groups to pursue peace in Afghanistan, and to tackle them if they don't cooperate.
Earlier, the then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, blamed a deadly bombing at the U.S. embassy in Kabul on the Haqqani network, which has long ties to al Qaeda. He said it acted as a "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence.
Pakistan argues that the United States needs to be patient and gain a greater understanding of the region's complexities before acting, and that pressure would only hurt efforts to pacify Afghanistan.
"'Push' is never wise. I think that every country must be allowed to develop their own strategy and their own timing," said a confident-sounding Khar, stressing that another incursion by NATO or the United States would be harmful.
"What is unacceptable to Pakistan is to have any troops on the ground. What is unacceptable to Pakistan is not to respect the inviolability of our borders," she said. "All of these things make it more difficult for us to be an effective partner."
While the United States is expected to keep a modest military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, all of President Barack Obama's 'surge' troops will be home by fall and the administration - looking to refocus on domestic priorities in a presidential election year - is exploring further reductions.
Khar said the United States should take a closer look at realities on the ground in Afghanistan, where the Kabul government is hoping to make security forces more effective before Western combat troops are due home by the end of 2014.
She said: "They need to ensure that they are bound by ground realities and not artificial lines of any type, timelines or anything else."
(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Ed Lane and Alastair Macdonald)
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Stephen King's 10 favorite books
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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/1nly2aFf-YI/Stephen-King-s-10-favorite-books
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Giveaway: 3 Deluxe licenses for iPad/iPad 2 video tutorials by Made Simple Learning
Got a new iPad, and still not sure of all the ins and outs that come with it? Or, are you in charge of your company’s iPad rollout and
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/U6hqXQV6EK0/story01.htm
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Sundance time: Indie film world gathers in Utah (AP)
PARK CITY, Utah ? Independent films that may have been years in the making get their first audiences at this week's Sundance Film Festival. That could also mean careers in the making for unknown directors and actors whose movies connect with the right crowds.
Robert Redford's independent-cinema showcase was opening Thursday with 117 feature-length films, 64 short films and a lot of anxious filmmakers on the agenda during its 11-day run.
Some are established directors showing their latest work, such as Spike Lee with his urban drama "Red Hook Summer," in which he reprises the character he played in "Do the Right Thing"; Stephen Frears with his sports-wagering caper "Lay the Favorite," starring Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rebecca Hall; documentary veteran Joe Berlinger with his Paul Simon portrait "Under African Skies"; and Julie Delpy with her relationship comedy "2 Days in New York," in which she stars with Chris Rock.
Other films are from up-and-comers competing for prestigious Sundance prizes, such as Sheldon Candis' coming-of-age story "Luv," featuring rapper Common and Danny Glover; Ry Russo-Young's domestic drama "Nobody Walks," with John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby and Rosemarie DeWitt; and Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos' hip-hop story "Filly Brown," starring newcomer Gina Rodriguez, Lou Diamond Phillips and director Olmos' father, Edward James Olmos.
What makes Sundance the place to be for rising film talent every January?
"There's a combination of factors. First, it's the beginning of the year. That's a very good time to start the year with a whole variety of new films, which Sundance brings together and curates rather well," said James Marsh, who returns to the festival for the third time with his Northern Ireland drama "Shadow Dancer," featuring Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough.
"And Sundance has an international profile beyond North America. We know it's a place that careers can get made and films get noticed," said Marsh, whose Academy Award-winning "Man on Wire" premiered at the festival in 2008 and won Sundance's top honor for world-cinema documentaries.
Sundance organizers say this year's films are all over the map in style, story and tone. Yet they see a general theme of unease and uncertainty about life that may have grown out of worldwide political, social and economic unrest of the last few years.
"We're seeing people questioning the status quo of the American dream. Like what is family, having babies, should I get married, is marriage even something I want to consider?" said festival director John Cooper. "A lot of stuff we took as status quo is being put to the test these days."
Along with a program of short films, the festival was beginning Thursday night with one film from each of its four main competitions:
? Actor-turned-director Todd Louiso's U.S. dramatic entry "Hello I Must Be Going," a love story between a 19-year-old man and a 35-year-old divorcee that stars Melanie Lynskey.
? Australian filmmaker Kieran Darcy-Smith's world-cinema drama "Wish You Were Here," a dark story of a vacation gone wrong featuring Joel Edgerton and Teresa Palmer.
? Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul's world-cinema documentary "Searching for Sugar Man," a portrait of promising 1970s singer-songwriter Rodriguez and his fade into obscurity.
? Lauren Greenfield's U.S. documentary "The Queen of Versailles," examining the housing boom-and-bust story of a couple trying to build a palatial 90,000-square-foot mansion.
The competitions, a midnight film program and Sundance's star-laden lineup of non-competition premieres have produced many critical and commercial hits over the years, including "sex, lies and videotape," "Precious," "The Blair Witch Project," "Clerks," "Winter's Bone" and "In the Bedroom."
Actors and filmmakers owe their careers to Sundance and the exposure they got there, among them "Super Size Me" director Morgan Spurlock, "Girlfight" star Michelle Rodriguez and "Napoleon Dynamite" star Jon Heder, who returns to the festival this year with writer-director So Yong Kim's child-custody tale "For Ellen," starring two other Sundance veterans, Paul Dano ("Little Miss Sunshine") and Jena Malone ("Donnie Darko").
"I feel like I owe Sundance everything as a filmmaker," said "Queen of Versailles" director Greenfield, a photographer whose debut film, the eating-disorder documentary "Thin," premiered at Sundance in 2006.
"I feel like I had a really charmed entrance into the documentary world by being able to have my first film at Sundance," he continued. "I wasn't really looking for a second career, but Sundance allowed me to feel like a filmmaker and really get confidence in that part of my voice as an artist."
Delpy, whose Sundance premiere "2 Days in New York" is a sequel to her 2007 film "2 Days in Paris," said the warm and appreciative audiences at the festival help take the edge off the nerve-racking experience of showing a film for the first time.
She likened filmmaking to laying an egg ? not as in something she expects to bomb at the festival but as in something that cost her effort and struggle.
"It was painful and it hurts, but it's an egg, and it's out of me," said Delpy, who does not want to be so attached to her creation that its Sundance reception could do her harm.
"I take the business very seriously, and I'm super-professional," Delpy said. "But at the same time, I'm not going to kill myself about it. I'm very happy with the film, and we'll see. You never how people react until you show the film."
___
Online:
http://www.sundance.org
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Jensen to be introduced as new OBU football coach
MOORE ? Chris Jensen must be used to building football programs. Four years after becoming the first head coach for Southmoore High School, he is leaving to take the same position with Oklahoma Baptist University, according to several of his former players.
?It was a big shock when I heard about it,? junior Tre Edwards said. ?I was in baseball and I kind of stopped practicing the whole time. I didn?t believe it. I thought someone was just playing with me.?
OBU has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. today to introduce its first head football coach since 1940. Jensen will not talk publicly about his new position until the press conference, but he told his players that he was leaving during a meeting Tuesday.
?We went to our locker room to get ready to work out in the gym,? junior Jackson Stallings said. ?The coaches told us to stay. He walked in and said this was one of the hardest decisions of his life and the opportunity he was presented was what was best for his family, and he was going to be the head coach at OBU. And he was going to be named that tomorrow.?
Before becoming the head coach at Southmoore, Jensen was the defensive coordinator at Westmoore.
In his first season with the SaberCats, he led the team to a 2-8 record in 2008. The Cats bounced back the next year to go 11-1 before losing to Jenks in the state semifinal round.
In Jensen?s final season at SHS the team went 5-6 and lost to Tulsa Union in the first round of the postseason. Overall, he amassed a 24-20 record in his four years.
Jensen?s replacement has not been named yet. But the players would like someone in their former coach?s mold.
?I hope it doesn?t change,? Edwards said. ?I hope we still have the faith and pride going on through Southmoore. He has left a pretty good legacy here the last four years. Hopefully, we just keep it and take off like we were trying to do this year. I hope we get a coach just like him.?
Source: http://normantranscript.com/x87191135/Jensen-to-be-introduced-as-OBU-football-coach
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Paolo Maldini appears interested in PSG position
Associated Press Sports
updated 9:21 a.m. ET Jan. 19, 2012
MILAN (AP) -Former AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini appears interested in following Carlo Ancelotti and Leonardo to Paris Saint-Germain in a management or coaching capacity.
Maldini tells the Gazzetta dello Sport that while he hasn't been offered anything, "that doesn't mean it won't happen. ... I met the president and there's reciprocal respect with him, besides with Leo and Carlo."
Maldini adds, "I know what I can offer: experience, a love for this sport, a desire to dedicate myself to a serious project. But I've never asked anybody for anything."
Since retiring in 2009, Maldini says he has had informal discussions with former Milan coach Leonardo and current Rossoneri manager Massimiliano Allegri.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsMourinho's 'woeful Barca loss
Another loss to Barcelona has piled pressure on Jose Mourinho, with support for the Real Madrid coach ebbing after another ill-tempered and ineffective display against its biggest rival.
Getty ImagesHe's back
David Beckham has re-signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy, agreeing to a new two-year contract with the Major League Soccer club.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46054362/ns/sports-soccer/
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Comcast's connected cable box making a run at the FCC?
Comcast's connected cable box making a run at the FCC? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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