Category: News

  • Unbekannte beschießen vier Linienbusse in Berlin

    Sowas gibt’s halt nur in der Großstadt!

    Berlin – Vier Busse der Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) sind am Donnerstag beschossen worden. Es blieb bei gesprungenen Scheiben, verletzt wurde niemand, wie die Polizei am Freitag mitteilte.

    Betroffen waren am Nachmittag und Abend in Schöneberg zwei Busse der Linie M48 und ein Fahrzeug der Linie M85. In Zehlendorf wurde ein Bus der Linie 101 beschossen.

    Die Polizei ermittelt wegen Sachbeschädigung. Zunächst war ungeklärt, welche Waffe verwendet worden war. Auch wurde noch geprüft, ob die Schüsse von einem oder mehreren Tätern abgegeben wurden und in Verbindung stehen.

    http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justi…672081,00.html

  • Soyabean oil production to increase biodiesel supply – Biofuels International

    Soyabean oil production to increase biodiesel supplyBiofuels InternationalBy modifying the metabolism to create a sufficient quantity of oil, the problem of biodiesel production will be resolved and this biofuel will then replace …


  • Landlords Can’t Force You To Sign Up With One Cable Co… But Can Charge You Extra For Water If You Pick Wrong

    For many years, cable/telco/satellite companies would do “exclusive” deals with apartment buildings and other developers, which would limit what services could be offered in those buildings. Back in 2007, the FCC stepped in to say such deals were illegal. But, of course, there are always loopholes. Broadband Reports highlights how a bunch of buildings are using loopholes like telling you can chose any cable company you like… but if you choose a different one they have to pay an extra $40 for water and trash. And… the FCC says these kinds of deals are legal, for now, though it may move against them soon. But, in the meantime, your landlord can effectively force you to choose a cable/telco/broadband provider.

    Permalink | Comments | Email This Story





  • Video: Chevrolet Volt undergoes solar heat testing in Detroit

    Chevrolet Volt - Solar Heat Test

    Before a vehicle hits the dealerships for sale to customers, the designers, engineers and the vehicle itself, go through numerous tests to make sure the buyer never comes across any issues. All that gets even more difficult when you’re introducing a vehicle in the market with new technology – like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

    General Motors has just released a video of the Volt undergoing heat testing at 95 degrees Celsius (greater than 200 degrees Fahrenheit).

    Of course, GM could just drive to some hot desert in the United States, but why leave frigid Detroit when you can create your own solar heat in Motor City.

    Click here for more news on the Chevrolet Volt.

    Check out the interesting video of the Volt undergoing solar heat testing after the jump.

    2011 Chevrolet Volt:

    2011 Chevrolet Volt Production Show Car

    2011 Chevrolet Volt:

    – By: Kap Shah


  • Simon Cowell Turned Down $100 Million To Remain On “American Idol”

    Simon Cowell turned down a $100 million deal to remain a judge on American Idol, The New York Post’s Page Six Column. The British music mogul announced this week that he will be leaving his post on the popular FOX talent show to bring his UK singing show, The X Factor, to The States.

  • JPMorgan Earnings Blow Past Expectations, Revenue Looks Light, Consumer Lending Still Very Ugly

    amieDimon-0909-1And they’re out.

    EPS of $.74 per share blew past estimates of $.61 per share. But revenue of $25.2 billion may be a bit light.

    Analysts had been looking for $26.8 billion.

    The stock is currently drifting lower by less than a buck on the news.

    Here’s Jamie Dimon’s commentary on the numbers:

    “We are gratified that we generated earnings of $3.3 billion for the fourth quarter and nearly $12 billion for the year. Though these results showed improvement, we acknowledge that they fell short of both an adequate return on capital and the firm’s earnings potential. We benefited from the diversity of our leading franchises, as demonstrated by the continued earnings strength of our Investment Bank, Commercial Banking, Asset Management and Retail Banking franchises. We are proud that, throughout these tumultuous times, we never stopped investing in the fundamental growth drivers of our consumer businesses – such as checking and credit card accounts in our Retail Banking and Card Services franchises – and have developed new products and services to meet the needs of consumers and small businesses. While we are seeing some stability in delinquencies, consumer credit costs remain high, and weak employment and home prices persist. Accordingly, we remain cautious.”

    In the fourth quarter, we further strengthened our credit reserves to nearly $33 billion, or 5.5% of total loans. Our earnings generated additional capital, and we ended 2009 with a very strong Tier 1 Capital ratio of 11.1% and a Tier 1 Common ratio of 8.8%. We remain confident that this capital and reserve strength, combined with our significant earnings power, will allow us to meet the uncertainties that lie ahead and still continue investing in our businesses and serving our clients and shareholders over the long term.”

    Here, meanwhile, is further color on consumer lending, which is still looking very ugly:

    Consumer Lending reported a net loss of $1.4 billion, compared with a net loss of $416 million in the prior year. The decrease was driven by lower net revenue, a higher provision for credit losses and higher noninterest expense.

    Net revenue was $3.1 billion, down by $1.0 billion, or 24%, from the prior year. The decrease was driven by lower mortgage fees and related income and lower loan balances, partially offset by wider loan spreads. Mortgage fees and related income decreased due to lower mortgage production revenue and lower net mortgage servicing revenue. Mortgage production revenue was negative $192 million, compared with positive $62 million in the prior year, as an increase in reserves for the repurchase of previously-sold loans was largely offset by wider margins on new originations and the absence of markdowns of the mortgage warehouse in the prior year. Operating revenue, which represents loan servicing revenue net of other changes in fair value of the MSR asset, was $564 million, up by $41 million. MSR risk management results were $109 million, compared with $1.4 billion in the prior year.

    The provision for credit losses was $4.0 billion, compared with $3.3 billion in the prior year. The provision reflected an increase in the allowance for loan losses of $1.5 billion in the current quarter, resulting in an allowance for loan losses to ending loans retained1 of 5.04%, compared with 3.16% in the prior year (see Retail Financial Services discussion of the provision for credit losses, above, for further detail).

    Noninterest expense was $1.7 billion, up by $215 million, or 14%, from the prior year, reflecting higher servicing and default-related expense.

    See the full presentation and listen to the conference call here — >

    Join the conversation about this story »

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  • This Week in Mobile Tech Manor #71: Last CES?

    It’s the end of the week and we know what that means kiddos, time to share how I spent my time since our last visit. And that visit was a long time ago given the holidays and that big trade show in the desert. Besides the big show I went on vacation, attended a wedding and read a lot of e-books. This week’s column is dedicated to Steve Rubel, read on to find out why.

    The first week of the long hiatus from writing this column was my vacation, which was wonderful. We didn’t go anywhere, my wife and I simply hung out at the house and did the sort of stuff you do when you don’t have to work each day. I read lots of good books and we had a wonderful holiday period as a result. I did miss writing this column far more than I thought I would. I came to realize that I really enjoy sharing my weeks with you, and I almost broke down and wrote a column during my week of vacation. I came to my senses, though, and kept at the vacation as I should.

    The holidays held an unexpected joyous event, as my step-daughter got married on New Year’s Day. She married a great guy, a firefighter who has his head on straight. They had intended to get married later this year but he has an opportunity for a great job with another fire department for a lot more money, and since they are expecting their first child they were concerned about the health insurance situation given the job change. They decided not to risk losing coverage so they got a judge to marry them in his chambers on January 1st. It was really cool as the judge is the same guy who married Sheri and I 11 years ago. Talk about coming full circle.

    Sin City

    Of course the biggest time filler over the past three weeks was the big trip to Las Vegas for the CES. I won’t get into a lot of detail about the trip as I covered it on the site. But I do have some observations/ ruminations about the CES that are worth sharing. The week was so action-packed that there was a lot I couldn’t cover through normal show coverage so I’ll dump it on you here.

    The CES is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) show of its type for the press in the U. S. Each year thousands of us register for press credentials that provides access to press events and allows us to use the press facilities at the show. Each year the CES organizers along with Toshiba give each press registrant a press kit that is contained in some sort of laptop bag or backpack that can be used during the week. The bags are yours to keep, and it’s not unusual to see these distinctive bags at other events throughout the year as some start using them full-time going forward.

    I had accumulated so many of these press bags that in the past few years I have not brought them home, I would give them away to someone in Vegas before leaving. Not this year, as I really liked the messenger bag that the CES handed out. It is a really good messenger bag that will handle a laptop and all the assorted gear one normally carries with one. I like it so much I’ve been using it quite a bit since returning from the trip. Thanks CES and Toshiba for providing a useful piece of gear this year.

    The show was smaller than in years past, a reflection of the economic conditions affecting the industry. I did find that everyone at the show was highly optimistic about the near future, and that feeling was contagious. I returned from the show feeling quite good about the way the industry is headed, and about things to come this year.

    The show floor seemed as crowded as ever, and I grew quite tired of getting pushed and shoved while walking around the convention. One thing hadn’t changed this year, the prevalence of folks racing through the crowded halls while pulling a rolling laptop case behind them. I must have tripped on these things a dozen times, and I absolutely hate that people will use them in big crowds like this. I so wish they would be banned by the organizers, but I know that’s never going to happen. I wonder if anyone has ever been sued for injuries caused by these rolling bags? It’s definitely a big pet peeve of mine.

    Without a question the best part of the CES week is seeing friends that I interact with online but rarely get to hang out with in person. Kevin and I hang out all week, which is cool, and this year we got to spend a fair bit of time with podcast co-host Matt Miller. Matt’s a great guy and I love hanging out with him so it was a real treat. The three of us had a great dinner at the beginning of the week and it was a lot of fun. Matt’s dinner was pretty spicy and it was funny watching him sweat his way through it.

    Both Kevin and Matt ordered a Nexus One from Google and had them delivered to their hotel in Vegas. Talk about geeks, that’s about the geekiest thing you can do. Of course I was jealous, what kind of geek wouldn’t be?

    One of the strangest things about the CES each year is that it runs alongside the Adult Entertainment Expo. This makes for some very amusing scenes indeed, with scantily clad people walking all over Vegas alongside scores of geeks with pocket protectors. I was walking back to my hotel room in the Venetian one day and spotted a small group of women walking through the middle of the casino, and they were wearing thongs and not much else. That will make you stop what you’re doing.

    What made this scene memorable was another couple also walking through the casino at that time, accompanied by their two small children. Why anyone would take their kids to a Vegas casino is beyond me to begin with, but given this scene even worse. What do you say to your 6 or 7 year-old daughter about this, anyway? “No dear, that is highly inappropriate, but it’s OK in Vegas.” I don’t think so.

    One of the best things I did in Vegas, and I don’t mean the scene I just described, was having dinner with Steve Rubel. Steve and I had met once before this, and I always enjoy time spent with him. Steve is one of the first A-list bloggers, and his lifestream is one I follow religiously. He’s one of the smartest people I know, and he has a great knack for getting to the core issues of any topic under discussion. I always learn a lot chatting with Steve, and it was the best thing I did all week. I was glad Kevin got a chance to meet Steve in person at this dinner.

    I must admit that I was quite embarrassed when Steve told our waiter that jkOnTheRun is the best technology web site on the web. I don’t think the waiter really cared, he probably just wanted to get rid of us and go on a break. It was nice of Steve to pimp us out, though.

    This column is dedicated to Steve, as he confessed something that made my entire trip worthwhile. It seems Steve finds this column his favorite thing that I do, and he emails the column to himself each week. This lets him have the entire column on his phone, and he has developed a ritual where he reads This Week in Mobile Tech Manor on the weekend in a coffee shop while he has a good coffee. This is just so cool I can’t tell you. Sorry for the long hiatus, Steve.

    He spends 2/3 of his time traveling on business, and he is a true dedicated road warrior. He told us he has taken to leaving his laptop at home as much as possible, and just using his smartphone on his trips. He does this by using his phone for any content he creates of less than 1,000 words. I know I couldn’t do that, but he claims it has made his traveling so much easier that it is well worth it. That’s a true mobile geek.

    Last CES for Me?

    I haven’t made up my mind for sure but there’s a very good chance that the CES trip this year may be my last. It’s not easy for me to give up something I enjoy so much but I found this trip to be almost too much for me to handle. I suffered a severe back injury 20 years ago that has resulted in two different back surgeries over the passing years. These two laminectomies have been due to the initial injury and then re-injuring it years later.  In each of these surgieries they had to remove the lowest disc from my spine. These surgeries were tough, and required a 6-week recovery each time where I couldn’t risk damaging my spinal cord. The disc is the shock absorber between the spinal vertabrae, and when one is removed extreme caution must be taken to prevent permanent damage, even paralysis, until scar tissue grows back to replace the removed disc.

    Both of these recoveries went well for me, but an end result is that standing for extended periods, or even walking, can cause nerve pain that gets quite bad. In years past, given the tremendous amount of walking around the CES (up to 8 miles a day), by the end of the week my back has made its presence known by causing back pain and worse, cramps in my calves. If you’ve ever had a cramp in your calf you know how painful that is.

    This year I was troubled to find my calves cramping up the very first day of the show, and it happened again every day I was walking around Vegas. When the cramps hit, all I can do is sit or stretch out until they pass. Then I was able to continue for a while until my legs started cramping up again. By the end of the week it had almost gotten to be too much for me, and I seriously started thinking that this would be my last trip to cover the show.

    I must also admit that the extreme exhaustion that is caused by the massive effort to cover the CES scares the hell out of me. Casual readers probably don’t realize that I had a small stroke two years ago. That traumatic event was one of the most frightening of my life, and I relive it every year at CES time. You see, that stroke happened less than two days after returning from covering the CES that year. There’s no way to know for certain that the exhaustion from the constant walking played a role in my stroke, but the doctors at the time admitted it could have played a role.

    You can perhaps see now why I approach the CES trip with a fair amount of trepidation. Hell, I might as well admit that the trip scares me a great deal. That fear actually gets worse after returning from the exhausting trip, and I find I am watching myself closely for any adverse effects. I’m thinking it may be time to hang up my CES bag.

    Help for Haiti

    The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti is on all of our minds currently, and they need all the help they can get. There are many aid programs in place to accept donations, and the tech community is rallying to help in case you are interested. Xavier Lanier of notebooks.com is spearheading an effort to match text messaging donations for the people of Haiti. It’s a great cause so see if you can help out these poor people in this devastating time.

    I can only imagine the ordeal that Haitians are facing right now. The coverage of the earthquake I have seen has been troubling to say the least. I’ve only been through one earthquake myself, and that was frightening enough even though fortunately it was not close enough to my location in Venezuela when it hit to be very damaging. Even so, to be on the 12th floor of a skyscraper that was swaying dramatically back and forth was downright scary, so I can only imagine what Haiti is like today.

    e-Books of the Weeks

    The long hiatus gave me plenty of time to read lots of good e-books, so I’ll only mention my top picks this time. I read the second and third installments in David Hewson’s great Nic Costa series. The Villa of Mysteries and The Sacred Cut were both stellar mysteries, and I quite enjoyed seeing how David has developed the characters in the series. That’s one of the joys of finding a good series, watching how the novelist advances the characters, as well as watching the writing get better and better. Hewson weaves very intricate, picturesque stories, and I am anxious to read the other four novels in the series.

    I read a lot of books on the new Kindle 2 I got for the holidays, and was happy to find some free books on Amazon’s top 100 list. One of them was a great find — Serial by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch. What happens when a serial killer who preys on hitchikers picks up a serial killer who hitches rides? A great story, that’s what. It’s still free, BTW.

    I found another series that I am really getting to like, the Alex LaDuca series by Noel Hynd. The first two books, Conspiracy in Kiev and Midnight in Madrid were action-packed mysteries that had more twists and turns than most novels. I am looking forward to continuing this series, too. Both of these books were free from Amazon, but I see they are not free anymore. They’re good enough that I’d have no problem paying for them. This shows it pays to check the Amazon list often for free novels.

    Wrap-up

    This has been a long piece for you to wade through, and I hope you enjoyed it. The CES dominated this week’s column, due to the huge show that it is. I am getting asked what gadget I liked best at the show, and invariably my answer is the Lenovo U1 Hybrid Notebook. I spent an hour with one in Vegas and I want one so badly.  Until next week, take care.

  • Nouvelle Ford Focus: maintenant la video

    Il y a quelques jours,nous vous présentions la Ford Focus 3. Après quelques videos sans intérêt de mulets, Ford nous propose maintenant le premier film promotionnel de la voiture.

     Pour retrouver toutes les caractéristiques de la future Focus III, rendez-vous ici. Voici donc la video et en dessous,le rappel de la gallerie photo.

     Nouveau: pour profiter facilement et rapidement des notifications de nouveautés sur le site, pensez à vous abonner via Twitter. Chaque modification, nouvel article ou nouvelle vidéo sur notre chaîne Youtube, fait l’objet d’un Tweet immédiat!

  • It’s Friday – The Best Time to Pick Up Women

    friday_night

    This is a guest post by Joseph Matthews from Art of Approaching, a hands-on guide to picking up any woman.

    To quote the actor Chris Tucker – “It’s Friday, you ain’t got no job, and you ain’t got sh*t to do!”

    Well, maybe you do have a job and things to do, but are you doing the things you WANT to do?

    Namely: Are you going out tonight to meet some women?

    Friday night is probably the BEST night of the week to meet women.

    Think about it:

    It’s been a long, hard week. People are getting off work. They don’t have anything to do the next day.
    They can sleep in as late as they want. They’re looking to unwind and release some stress. In other words…

    They’re out looking to have fun!

    And what does having fun entail? Well, for most women, having fun on a Friday night means – MEETING A MAN!

    That’s right. We go out to meet women. They go out to meet us!

    But the question you gotta ask yourself is: Are they gonna meet YOU?

    This is important. This can mean the difference between getting laid and quietly sobbing in the shower.

    So how are these women going to meet you?

    Well, that’s entirely up to you. I can give you some suggestions that will help you out, but honestly, it’s up to you to act and make it happen.

    The first thing you need to do to make sure women are going to meet you tonight is…

    Are you ready?

    GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

    That’s step number one. You GOTTA get out and go to where the women are. This means going out with friends, or, if they’re not around to hang out, go out by yourself!

    Regardless of how you do it, if you DON’T go out, you have 0% chance of meeting women. (I’m talking real women who could go home with you TONIGHT! Not internet women).

    The second step is **go to where the women are!**

    This is important. Bars and clubs are always a good bet to find women. But if that’s not your scene, you have other options available to you.

    1. Happy hour.

    friday_night2Yes, I know, this is a bar thing. But, happy hour usually occurs BEFORE things get too hectic, so if you’re older, this may be a good alternative to fighting off all those youngsters out there. Most women go to happy hour after work, and then go home and change for a night out on the town. This is a GREAT opportunity for you to set up a date for LATER THAT NIGHT.

    2. Bookstores & Coffee Shops

    If you have a little bit more of a laid back lifestyle, bookstores and coffee shops are a good place to check out on a Friday night. If you can find a coffee shop that’s open late, all the better! Typically, the women here are quieter, book-
    worm wallflower types. So it may be harder to initially engage them, but it’ll be easier to wrangle them into a conversation.

    3. Hotel Lobbies & Bars

    No, I’m not talking about the lobby of your local “Day’s Inn.” I’m talking about the NICE hotels in your area. You know, the 4 & 5 star kind with valet parking and an extremely nice bar area. These can be great places to meet women, especially considering a lot of “hotel hotties” are from out of town and looking for some adventure. This scene is also more laid back and less intense than your typical bar and club.

    Okay, so now that we’ve covered step 1 & 2, it’s time to go to the final step:

    MEET WOMEN.

    Let’s face it, even though women’s lib is going strong, women STILL don’t typically approach guys. They wait for YOU to approach THEM.

    So that begs the question: How do you approach them?

    In my book, “The Art of Approaching,” I go into this subject in detail. Inside my book, you’ll find:

    • Specific stories guaranteed to start a conversation with any woman you meet.
    • Funny one-liners to get her laugh right away!
    • Tactics to easily get 10-12 numbers a night.
    • A step-by-step guide that teaches you how to overcome any fear or nervousness you may have when it comes to meeting women!
    • Much, much more…

    At the very least, walk up to these women and say to them “Hi.” But if you really want to SUPERCHARGE your ability to meet the kind of beautiful, interesting women you’ve always wanted, be sure to check out my book.

    Click Here To Download Now!

    Wishing you success with women.

    photo credits: top – True Russian Vodka, bottom – sheilakane

    Related posts:

    1. Forget Casual Friday – It’s Naked Friday!
    2. Some Cheesy Pick-up Lines That Actually Work
    3. Father Lets Virgin Son Pick Hooker for Present

  • Beyond crossed senses in synaesthesia

    Cognitive Daily covers a super-elegant study that helps us understand whether synaesthesia is really just a case of ‘crossed senses’ or whether the perceptual blending effect requires the person to have processed some of the meaning of the triggering experience.

    The traditional explanation of most types of synaesthesia is that the brain’s sensory areas are overly connected, so activation of one sense triggers activity in another area which causes the experience. However, there has been some recent evidence that synaesthesia doesn’t work purely at this basic sensory level.

    For example, a recent study by neuropsychologist Jamie Ward and colleagues reported that letter-colour synaesthetes needed to be concentrating on the letters to trigger colours – seeing them ‘out of the corner of the eye’ didn’t work – suggesting there must be some involvement of focus and concentration and not just a reliance on incoming sensory information.

    To test the idea further, it would be ideal to be able to separate out experiences where we process just sensory information and experiences where we also understand meaning but as we tend to deal with both at once, this is not easy to do.

    But this new study managed to do exactly this in people with colour-speech synaesthesia, where affected people experience colours when they hear specific words, using a perceptual illusion called the McGurk effect.

    It’s an intriguing effect that you can see in action on the Cognitive Daily page, but essentially, it shows that seeing someone mouth a word affects what we hear, so if we are played the syllable ‘gah’, but see someone mouthing ‘bah’, the brain makes a compromise and we experience hearing the syllable ‘dah’.

    So the effect is a perfect tool to separate out sensory information and meaning, because the researchers can play exactly the same sound but change what word the participants hear simply by showing clips of people mouthing different words.

    If colour-speech synaesthesia works only through crossed-senses then the McGurk effect should make no difference to the colours because the exact same sound is played each time, but if this form of synaesthesia is triggered by meaning, the colours should differ because the McGurk effect changes which words are perceived and understood, despite the identical sound.

    This is exactly what the researchers found, providing additional evidence that synaesthesia is not just a sensory confusion, it is based in how the brain understands meaning.

    It’s an incredibly elegant study and the Cognitive Daily piece covers it equally as elegantly.

    Link to CogDaily on ‘Synesthesia and the McGurk effect’.
    Link to PubMed entry for study.
    pdf of study full text.

  • Artificial Pancreas Research Project

    Check out this article that I received from the JDRF yesterday.

    JDRF Artificial Pancreas Project

    Baby steps….but what the heck.

  • Liverpool (Pevsner Architectural Guides) – Joseph Sharples

    £7.85 on Amazon Link

    Great little book – a must for anyone on this forum.

    Listed Heritage
    ‘A detailed, authorative, and practical guide’

    Architects Journal
    ‘It is a superb and erudite read, fluent and engrossing’

  • Interesting Zoo’s

    Zoo antwerp, Belgium, one of the oldest in the world, 1843:

    The Zoo of Antwerp,next to the trainstation, is the green heart of the city, populated by more than 5,000 animals. After more than 160 years this romantic English garden is still a unique meeting spot for young and old.

    Then:

    Now:

    trainstation and tracks next to the zoo:

    Station on the background:

    Ariel view:

    Extention of the zoo, finished 2018:

  • Briatore Fires Queens Park Rangers Coach

    Flavio Briatore may have been exonerated by the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance for his involvement in the crash-gate, but that doesn’t mean the Italian manager is going soft on his employees. As you all know by now, the 59-year old is also co-owner of London Championship division club Queens Park Rangers, where managers tend to stay for a very short period of time.

    According to British newspaper The Guardian, Briatore just fired the manager/coach of his team Paul Hart after only 5 games in… (read more)

  • Harrison Ford, Rosie O’Donnell Weigh In On Jay/Conan Debacle

    jay_leno_released_from_hospitalrosie

    Add comedienne Rosie O’Donnell and veteran Harrison Ford to the growing list of celebrities joining Team Conan; both believe Jay Leno should hit the bricks and let his Tonight Show successor, Conan O’Brien, continue hosting the show.

    (I still like Letterman’s idea of letting the guys share co-hosting duties….)

    The former View moderator shared her view after being asked at HBO’s Television Critics Association panel on Thursday.

    “I have been a big fan of Conan O’Brien… and [‘The Tonight Show’ is] a franchise that has been 60 years with NBC, and if you’re privileged enough to be asked to drive the bus, you should say thank you and drive it to the best of your ability and when it’s time for them to hire a new driver, you should say, ‘Thank you for allowing me to drive this for as long as I did,’ and pass the keys to the new guy with red hair, and not try to flatten his tires, before he even gets going.”

    Harrison Ford was in town for the red-carpet premiere of his new movie Extraordinary Measures. He also sympathizes with Conan. The pair have met a couple of times because their children attend the same California school.

    “I mean, poor guy moved out to Los Angeles to do this show and moved his whole family out there. Put his kids in a new school,” the 67-year-old actor told reporters. “He’s getting the shaft in a way.”

  • Chevrolet Spark tem lançamento confirmado para a Argentina até 2012, Brasil também está na rota do compacto


    O novo compacto global da GM, o Chevrolet Spark, já está confirmado para o mercado argentino. O modelo está sendo apresentado pela GM daquele país e a própria montadora informou que o modelo começa a ser vendido por lá até 2012.

    O mais engraçado é que além dessa informação a GM argentina acabou confirmando indiretamente o que esperávamos ouvir, que o Spark terá sua produção iniciada na planta de Gravataí onde hoje são fabricados os Chevrolet Celta e Prisma. Sim, pois a GM estará investindo R$ 1 bi na planta para a produção de dois novos compactos, um hatch e um sedan, para substituir a atual geração do Celta e Prisma, projeto esse que é chamado de Ônix internamente pela GM do Brasil e que também tem data prevista de lançamento para até 2012 no mercado nacional.

    Aqui no Brasil seu principal alvo será o novo Fiat Uno que chega ainda no primeiro semestre desse ano. Os propulsores a equipar os novos compactos da GM serão os atuais 1.0 e 1.4 ambos bicombustíveis.

    Fonte: Auto Diário


  • Angelman Syndrome – Angel-like Genetic Disorder

    Angelman syndrome (AS) was first described by Dr. Harry Angelman, who is an English physician. He noticed that there are 3 children under his care with similar developmental problems. They looked very happy and tend to flap their hands when excited. Therefore, Dr. Harry Angelman described these children in his paper called “Puppet Children” as these children’s characteristics just like the puppet.
     
    Angelman Syndrome is now a familiar genetic disorder to most clinical geneticists and child neurologists in Cytogenetics. It is a recognizable syndrome which related to mental retardation and infantile seizures. Unlike Prader-Willi syndrome that I described last week, individual with Angelman syndrome is because the loss of maternally inherited region 15q11 – q13 of chromosome 15. Simple to say, the AS individual does not inherit the region 15q11 – q13 of chromosome 15 from his/her mother but only from father.

    angelman syndrome - angel-like syndrome
     
    The Angelman syndrome clinical diagnosis is heavily dependent on the combination of some common behaviour like excessive laughter, apparent happiness with tremulous movements and gait ataxia (lack of coordination of muscle movement). Usually, the normal prenatal and birth history do not provides any clues in diagnosis of AS in Cytogenetics. CT scans, laboratory tests of blood and urine are usually normal including metabolic screening. Consequently, it is difficult for the clinical experts to encounter the AS especially when the child is less than 12 months of age. It is because the tremulous movements, ataxia and severe lack of speech may not be apparent during that time.
     
    There are many common features of Angelman syndrome.

    i. Severe speech deficit (usually absent speech)
     
    ii. Mental retardation
     
    iii. Microcephaly (small head)
     
    iv. Seizures (convulsions in which AS patient’s body shakes rapidly and uncontrollably)
     
    v. Developmental delay
     
    vi. Feeding problems
     
    vii. Hypopigmentation (the loss of skin color)
     
    viii. Frequently drooling
     
    ix. Tend to put objects in mouth
     
    The facial features general physical appearances are generally normal for the individual of Angelman syndrome. As the child with AS growing up, the correct diagnosis may become evident when speech is essentially absent and the attempts at walking are compromised because of sever ataxia. In addition, the seizures will occur more frequently after 1 year of age.
     
    In conclusion, the individual of Angelman syndrome may be hyperexcitable with excessive laughing, grabbing and pulling to engage others. They are just like the ‘Angels’ who always bring happiness to people. Usually, the parents may be the first to suggest the possibility of Angelman syndrome. Thus, earlier detection of this genetic disorder may help the children to overcome the learning problem through the assessment from the clinical experts.
     

    My ultimate hope is this Cytogenetics and Cancer Research blog can really help in increasing the awareness of people about the genetic disorders and cancer.

    Angelman Syndrome – Angel-like Genetic Disorder is a post from: Cytogenetics and Cancer Research

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  • The Modern Woman – Relationships

    Im currently in a very difficult relationship right now. Why have women changed?

    Women today are not giving us any cues that they want to be asked out, and without some indication or encouragement that he might be well received, a man is not going to risk the rejection—which men are far more sensitive to than women evidently realize.

    The days of men asking women out are gone! Women don’t even take the time to do little unspoken things, that interest a man. Something basic to our culture is being lost. No wonder so many women are so unhappy.

    In fact, many men have come to think women don’t even like men, because of the way women react to their initial overtures, yet, the women wonder why men aren’t asking them out, they’re either not saying yes, or they’re not sending the signals

    One of the rarest qualities to find in a young woman today—at least towards eligible men—was kindness. So many men are simply starving for kindness from a woman but so often find sarcasm and cynicism instead. One man commented to me on a climate nowadays of a prevailing hostility among women towards men. It is easy for a man to feel that some women are actually looking to find fault, ready to pounce on him at the slightest ill-chosen word or misspoken comment. In women this can manifest in self-righteousness, or a kind of assumed moral superiority over men—often unconscious on their part. Men complain that they often feel around women that they cannot win, or say or do anything right. Such women drive men away.

    Perhaps women today may have good reasons for these attitudes, but they are very wounding to a man, especially to an interested man who is serious, sincere, and sensitive. Such a man will not ask such a woman out.

    He simply doesn’t want to be around it. I understand that in today’s world it can be imprudent and even downright dangerous for a woman to be too kind too soon to a man she doesn’t know well, and even then there still is chance of betrayal. The Sexual Revolution has ruined it for everyone as far as trust goes, but sarcasm and cynicism towards men have become epidemic in our society, and it has become so ingrained, so second-nature, that most women are not even conscious that they’re being that way—but the men are. And they go the other way.

    In terms of the risk factor, traditionally it has always been up to the woman to control how far things went and how fast, and, if she liked him, still keep the man captivated. In the confusion of the day that that was perhaps one more thing that was lost, or at least severely damaged. What has been lost,is an ancient womanly wisdom that women in previous ages had always intuitively known, on how to "handle" (not manipulate) a man—that is, how to anticipate him and keep him happy.

    A modern woman might interpret this sort of thing as "game playing" but it is not. It is a deadly serious business that holds civilization together. Quails and pelicans have their mating rituals and dances and so do humans.

    We all know that women have a need, especially in marriage, to be reassured that they are loved and cherished—they want to hear it. And a man who thinks that his love ought to be self-evident is thought to be rather obtuse in these matters. He should tell her he loves her often, as well as show it on every possible occasion. Yet, a man has a corresponding need for reassurance from the woman he loves, which society tends to ridicule, especially since the rise of feminism. His need is to be admired.

    It is the way men are made.

    A man needs to feel that he is a hero in the eyes of the woman he loves. It may sound corny, and most men may not admit it, but real life is corny, and it is true. It is from such admiration that a man derives his strength. The quest for this admiration, either in the eyes of a specific woman, or hoping to catch the eye of a woman, supplies him with inspiration and motivation to serve and accomplish in his world.

    There are women, thanks perhaps to the effects of feminism, who act as though there were some sort of anathema against showing a man admiration, as if to say, "I’m not going to feed his stupid ego!" But, perhaps if his ego were fed once in a while he wouldn’t be in the state of starvation that so diminishes a man as to prod him into the very ways that women find so intolerable. The result is a seemingly endless cycle of resentment and mutual punishment.

    Many women appear to have unwittingly made it a point of pride to take an unhealthy (if unconscious) pleasure in denying men what they most need by reacting to them with sarcasm, cynicism, laughs at the expense of men, and a general attitude derived from the world. Many of these cynical attitudes towards men become self-fulfilling prophecies so discouraging to a man that he may start to live down to the belittlement, just as he would live up to praise were it offered. Male ego only becomes a problem when it is undernourished. Properly fed, it spends less time rebelling and trying to feed itself in unattractive and self-defeating ways. Properly fed, it causes a man to strive to be the best that he can be for the woman he loves and the society he serves. Some women may take offense at what I’m saying here, as though I were placing the whole onus of the problem on women.

    I am not.

    It is important not to confuse the generalities of politics and rhetoric with the tender particularities of where we most essentially live. The question at hand is why women aren’t getting asked out more often. This is not an unimportant issue. It is important to remember that contemporary society is under a profound malaise, with everything good, pure, and holy coming under attack.

    One of the chief things under attack is the family, the home. And if family is under attack then it stands to reason that everything that leads up to family—namely how men and women find each other—is also under attack.

    I have noticed that most women do not have the foggiest idea how men feel, or what men feel, and most men feel too vulnerable to tell them. Some women are so embittered as to no longer care. They may be beyond my reach. In any case, the fact remains that I know men who have actually given up on women—who have, after so many rebuffs, come to the conclusion that women simply don’t like men.

    Men are far more vulnerable to women than women can even imagine. Men are sensitive to things in women that women are not even aware of. The slightest bit of sarcasm from a women in whom he’s interested can cause him to call off the whole pursuit. A woman who thinks this weak on the man’s part simply doesn’t know how men are built and what men are feeling these days. We live in a culture that sinfully exploits women, but many women have retaliated by vengefully diminishing men with their tongues and attitudes. There is much healing needed on both sides.

    While not seeking a slavish dependence, a man needs to be needed by the woman he loves, yet the constant message sent (ad nasuem) by the modern woman is "I’m strong and independent! I don’t need a man!" Of course, this is a hollow and defensive cry and betrays her bitter disappointment in men—otherwise she wouldn’t need to announce it so much—but men hear it at face value and retreat.

    A man may admire a woman for her strong independent qualities, but let her start telling him of them often enough and what he hears is "Well, she doesn’t need me then!" and his eye begins to wander in search of someone who does. A man may respect a women for her independence, but he will cherish and love her for appreciating and needing (and in so doing bringing out) his manliness.

    If a woman were to ask my advice on how to get a man interested in her, I would tell her to pay attention to him. Listen to him. The world in which a man lives is very cold and competitive, and when a woman creates a safe place where a man may open himself up, it is usually irresistible to him. But this requires reverence.

    Should she show the slightest hint of ridicule over what he says, or take him lightly he will turn to stone. Listen to what is important to him, his hopes and dreams. Most men when they talk like this are rather admirable and if she admires him she should not hide it. She need not make a show of it—which he would see through—it must be real. If it is authentic it is not "game playing", but honesty. If she were interested in him in the first place that implies some admiration, doesn’t it? It would be game playing not to admire him.

    The old saying that men are only interested in "one thing" namely sex, is cynical and false. Men who become that way do so because they have given up on love and the hope that a woman would really receive him if he did open up to her.

    What does a man look for in a woman? In a word, a home. To a little child, a woman (usually its mother) is a place. This is not to say a thing. It is to say a home. And only a person can be a home. This is what a man looks for in the woman who would be his wife. This is not to say that it is her job to raise him—certainly not—but the shelter she provides for him emotionally, where he may be himself, generally makes him better, stronger, more of a man, and inspires him to provide for her and shelter her physically. Indeed, to the point of laying down his life.

    If a woman gives a man what he really needs—genuine interest, understanding, and acceptance of him as he really is, he will ask her out, and keep coming back for more.