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We all know that Apple shares have been taking a beating over the past several months but is that really a reflection of a drop in the company’s underlying value as a brand? The latest brand value rankings from MarketingWeek suggest that the answer is “no,” since the publication found that Apple’s brand value has actually increased year-over-year and that it remains the best in the world. MarketingWeek says that a company’s brand value is calculated by multiplying its earnings by the “brand contribution” percentage that “is determined by the proportion of financial value that is generated by the brand’s ability to create loyalty.”

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Google has confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy S 4 with stock Android that was announced at last week’s I/O will launch only in the United States. Again, the phone that will run for $650 will come with a stock version of Android 4.2 with the bootloader unlocked, making it a perfect device for developers.

Google did not say that the phone will never be available overseas, just that it will initially be launched only in the US, so there is still hope for the “Google edition” fans around the world.

Source: CNET UK

 

Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S 4 with stock Android to launch only in US

Facing the possibility of a shareholder revolt on Tuesday, Sprint at the last minute boosted its offer for Clearwire from $2.97 to $3.40 a share. Clearwire shareholders were set to vote today on the deal  – which would give Sprint the roughly 50 percent of Clearwire it doesn’t already own — but Clearwire canceled its stockholder meeting when the new offer came in, rescheduling the vote for Thursday, May 30.

(Update: Clearwire has rescheduled the meeting again, this time for Friday, May 31.)

Ever since Sprint made its $2.1 billion buyout offer in December, Clearwire shareholders have been expressing increasing dissatisfaction with the terms of the deal, especially after Dish Network swooped in with a counter offer. Sprint’s new bid is 19 percent higher than its old one and beats out Dish’s $3.30-a-share proposal.

Even if Clearwire shareholders accept Sprint’s new terms, Dish isn’t going away. The company is playing multiple hands, offering to buyout Sprint itself, despite the buyout deal it struck with Softbank. Sprint has kept Dish at arm’s length throughout the negotiations, but on Monday Softbank agreed to let Sprint start working directly with Dish, releasing internal documents necessary for any merger negotiation.

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The Xbox One was just unveiled at Microsoft’s Redmond campus and, true to multiple reports that circulated before the official reveal, the new console will indeed come with a Kinect.

And what a Kinect it is! The rumors of a vastly improved Kinect sensor array were right on the money — this next-generation model is capable of tracking motions as minute as wrist rotations, and Microsoft’s Marc Whitten said the new Kinect would even be able to read users’ heartbeats when they’re exercising or when players shift their weight. The new Kinect’s main camera is capable of recording 1080P RGB video at 30 frames per second (for a bit of perspective, the original model could only capture VGA video). Perhaps most importantly, the Xbox One will be capable of chewing on all the data the newfangled Kinect (no one has dropped an official name for the thing yet) captures at a rate of about 2GB of per second, which is probably partially why the onstage demos looked so brisk.

We got a brief glimpse of the new Kinect in action when Microsoft SVP Yusuf Mehdi called out commands and used minute hand gestures to manipulate content on the Xbox One — commands like “Xbox on” and “go to video” allow for near-instantaneous switching between running applications, and the Kinect is apparently also able to differentiate between users based on their voices.

In short, it’s a massive, massive upgrade compared to the venerable original model, which often exhibited issues with basic limb and motion tracking. Granted, demos we saw today were carefully staged, but the Kinect reacted to Mehdi’s commands and inputs without a hint of technical hesitation — if the new Kinect works in the living room as well as it did onstage, Microsoft may really have something here. And frankly, that’s saying something considering Microsoft managed to move 10 million of the original camera/sensor arrays between November 2010 and March 2011.

Session 6 of TEDGlobal 2013 has a captivating title: “The World on its Head.” Guest curated by Nassim Assefi and Gabriella Gómez-Mont — both from the inaugural class of TEDGlobal 2009 Fellows — the session will be a chance to turn our conceptions of the Middle East and Latin America upside down, and to rethink staid assumptions about politics, religion, art, architecture, peacemaking and more. 

Here, the TED Blog asks Assefi and Gómez-Mont to share what inspired the session and how they went about picking speakers.

Where did the theme “The World on Its Head” come from?

Nassim Assefi: Gabriella and I brainstormed, trying to tie together our two regions. What is the zeigeist in each of our regions? The undercurrents? What do they have in common? How have they been underestimated? Misunderstood? What is their hidden potential? We settled on “The World On Its Head” after viewing a wonderful map of the world with the South facing upward. That visual became a metaphor for rethinking deeply held assumptions and views of the world and sitting with the discomfort of a new idea until the brain adjusts.

Gabriella Gómez-Mont: For me, the idea of “The World on Its Head” rings strongly and intimately with moments in life when I had to truly rethink important things so deeply that the former map no longer works, no longer matches the new reality. That moment, pause, gap, chaos of no longer understanding anything because one fundamental part of understanding crumbles — it’s one of the most enigmatic and profoundly human moments one can go through.

It is both so strangely beautiful and tremendously brutal to rethink once unshakable truths. No wonder all of us, collectively and individually, try to make the world sit still and force maps to remain the same for centuries even when they no longer work. But in the end, that moment of confusion is a fundamental part of every transformation, adventure, and reconstitution — a pure turbulent threshold between paradigms. And then many new possibilities surface after finding one’s footing again in an upside-down world.

How did the guest curation come about?

Assefi: I had been pitching speaker ideas to [TEDGlobal curator] Bruno Giussani since the moment I met him, and many of those suggestions have made it to the TED stage. I play that role at TEDMED, too. In August 2012, we received a marvelous email invitation out of the blue from Bruno to guest curate/host a session at TEDGlobal. There are more than 300 TED Fellows from around the world, each doing amazing work, and no TED Fellow had ever guest curated a session at TED, so this is an incredible honor.

Gabriella and I were chosen in part because we work in, and come from, distinct regions of the world — I represent the Middle East/Central Asia, and Gabriella Latin America. I’m an internist and global women’s health specialist (most recently tackling maternal mortality in Afghanistan). I also write novels, work on civic peace-oriented projects in the Middle East, defend human rights from a medical angle, and am a feminist activist, a single mom, and a diehard TEDhead. Gabriella is an artist, a documentary filmmaker, a curator for the arts in Latin America, and now head of a civic think tank/laboratory for Mexico City.

I represent the sciences/health, literature, and global politics; she is the arts expert, the design/architecture person, a cultural force. We have different styles of working, but in reality, we overlap quite a bit. I speak Spanish and have worked in Central America. She has traveled in the Middle East. We’re both polyglots, crazy dancers, and global citizens, though we have strong predilections for our regions of origin.

What’s the thrust of the session?

Assefi: It’s about discarding assumptions about the Middle East, Latin America, and the way you think the world works in exchange for groundbreaking ideas that will hopefully inspire you to rethink politics, religion, art, peacemaking, the role of sports, underestimated economies and architecture, and even toxic environments.

Gómez-Mont: Exactly, that is a great description. I was interested in reformulating and rethinking certain gray areas we take for granted, and I wanted to focus on Latin America, on certain places and subjects that could be explored more thoroughly. We sought to make our speakers complement each other, understand how we could weave certain threads among individual narratives, regions and diverse disciplines. And diversity — of age, country of origin, religion, and so on — was important to us.

Can you describe your speakers?

Assefi: All are global citizens/multicultural. Each of them has taken on courageous work. The lineup include: architect and urbanist Teddy Cruz; explorer, writer and filmmaker Holly Morris; economic policy innovator Juan Pardinas; historian/political scientist Trita Parsi; performance artist Tania Bruguera; accidental theologist Lesley Hazleton; and founder of the Beirut Marathon, May El-Khalil.

We found our musician through two other TEDFellows, Meklit Hadero and Esra’a al Shafei. Dina el Wedidi is one of Meklit’s Nile Music artists and is featured in Esra’a’s MidEastTunes app. Through the Rolex Mentor and Protegee Arts Program, Dina has been paired with the famous Brazilian musician, Gilberto Gil. Dina seemed like a poetic fit for our session — the TED Fellow-link to discovering this brazen, beautiful, young woman singer-songwriter from the Middle East, who found her audience during the Arab Spring and is being influenced and mentored by a legendary Latin American musical force.

But we don’t want to give away our speakers’ topics. It’s more fun if you are surprised by our session. At a TED conference, one generally doesn’t know what each speaker’s idea worth spreading will be until show time!

Which speakers do you think are going to knock our socks off? Why?

Assefi: That’s a cruel question, like asking a mother to choose the favorite between her children! The truth is, if curated well, different speakers will wow different people. It depends on what’s happening in your life, what you’ve been thinking about lately, and how open you are to certain ideas. Of the four I’ve chosen, I can imagine each one of them blowing you away. I predict Gabriella feels the same.

Gómez-Mont: I feel the same. And one never knows until that fateful day when the crowd goes silent and the curtain goes up what will happen in that space between those words on paper and the voice on stage — between the careful planning and the happily reckless, often serendipitous, many times shifting, sometimes accomplice or sometimes trickster — reality.

TED Global, themed “Think Again,” kicks off on June 10 in Edinburgh, Scotland. See the full list of speakers, and get lots more information about attending at the conference website. And stay tuned to the TED Blog where we will be bringing you live coverage of the conference.

Now leading the pack in gaming consoles, Microsoft’s future growth lies outside the gaming sphere. We’ll surely see tons of games at E3 in a few weeks, but at the big reveal of the Xbox One, the company chose to focus on non-gaming features, such as media streaming and Skype conversations.

But what makes streaming and entertainment a true upgrade on the Xbox One, which already has access to almost all streaming platforms? Instant Switching. It allows you to switch between inputs, games, menus, internet explorer, and almost anything else almost instantly. And what’s more, it lets you layer the power of Microsoft partnerships and information across live TV.

The Xbox responds to the voice; saying “Xbox On” turns on the console to the homescreen. The UI is familiar, and lets you see what you were doing last, along with trending content from friends, and other panels like games, tv, etc. But then you say “Xbox watch TV”, and live TV pops on. “Xbox show Guide”, and the guide pops up letting you see what’s available on Live TV. “Xbox watch ESPN”, and bloop, ESPN is on. Instant Switching at its best.

And here’s where it gets interesting:

“Xbox show Fantasy,” and instantly, along the right side of the screen showing a Knicks vs Celtics game you’ll see a run-down on your fantasy league, letting you access further information and even make alterations in real-time, right alongside the game itself.

The company also announced a new partnership with NFL which will offer exclusive content and access to Fantasy leagues in Snapmode in real-time.

This is thanks to a feature called Snapmode, which will offer new interactive experiences for Live TV. This includes social, applications, and more.

Because Xbox is now tapping into your live TV, it offers a more targeted and complete entertainment UI, with favorites showing all of your favorite content in a single destination.

And it’s all powered by your voice, should you like. What’s that? Is that the voice of Microsoft telling the hundreds of thousands of Xbox 360 owners out there, who proudly revel in their ownership of what’s considered the most popular gaming console out there, that they should maybe think about upgrading?

Of course, Microsoft wouldn’t upgrade software without hardware (which you can read more about here), and that includes the addition of a Blu-ray player.

Alongside announcing the Xbox One, Microsoft also announced a partnership with 343 Industries and Steven Spielberg to develop a live action TV show about Halo. They didn’t go into much detail, but how much you want to bet there’s some awesome Snapmode features and Xbox SmartGlass features?

Change.org said on Tuesday that it has received a $15 million round of financing led by Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. Uprising, an investment fund based in San Francisco, also participated in the round. Omidyar Network will hold a minority stake in the company. Also, Chris Bishko, an investment partner at Omidyar Network, will join Change.org’s Board of Directors. Change.org is a petition platform.

PRESS RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Change.org, the world’s largest petition platform and a certified benefit corporation, announced Tuesday that it has secured a $15 million round of investment led by Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. Omidyar Network will hold a minority stake in the company, and Chris Bishko, investment partner at Omidyar Network, will join Change.org’s Board of Directors. Uprising, a mission-aligned investment fund based in San Francisco, is also participating in the investment round.
Omidyar Network seeks to catalyze broad, positive social impact by funding both for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations around the world. The firm’s portfolio includes for-profits such as the world’s largest network of local groups, Meetup, as well as nonprofits such as the microlending site Kiva.
“Omidyar Network is pleased to make this investment in Change.org,” said Omidyar Network’s Managing Partner Matt Bannick. “We are particularly enthused to support an organization that so effectively uses technology to give people opportunities to connect around issues of personal importance and take actions that can significantly improve their communities.”
Change.org seeks to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see, and the site’s users have won thousands of victories. Prominent wins have included Bank of America dropping its $5 debit card fees, Seventeen magazine committing not to photoshop its models, and Trayvon Martin’s parents ensuring their son’s killer was prosecuted.
“We are honored to receive investment from such deeply mission-driven investors,” said Change.org’s Founder and CEO Ben Rattray. “Omidyar Network’s mission of empowerment aligns perfectly with ours, and we’re thankful to their leadership in growing the impact investment sector over the past decade.”
“Social enterprises can play an instrumental role in solving some of the world’s biggest problems,” Rattray said. “This funding will help us continue to expand our empowerment tools internationally while innovating on new products with the potential for disruptive social impact.”
Change.org has grown exponentially in the past year, climbing from 6 million users in early 2012 to more than 35 million users today, more than half of whom are now outside the United States. Three million new users join the site each month, making Change.org the world’s largest and fastest-growing petition platform. In April, Change.org received the Webby Award for best activism website.
Change.org is a certified B corporation, meaning it is held to high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency set by B Labs, an independent certifying group. To learn more about Change.org’s business model, use the contact details at the top of the release.

 

The post Change.org Receives $15 Mln appeared first on peHUB.

Microsoft announced its new Xbox called Xbox One at a press event in Redmond, Wash. Tuesday that puts a heavy emphasis on TV and living room entertainment with a heavy focus on live TV. Don Mattrick, President of Interactive Entertainment at Microsoft, called the new device an “all in one home entertainment system.”

The new device will offer direct access to live TV, which users can start with a simple voice command. The console can switch between games, music, live TV and apps through voice commands as well as through new, universal gestures. For example, to leave a full-screen live TV experience users kind of grab with both hands in thin air and then pull these hands together.

There is also a so-called snap mode will overlay an app over live TV to allow side-by-side multitasking. One of the apps taking advantage of this is Microsoft’s Skype, which will offer group video calls on the TV – something that isn’t possible with any other TV-based Skype integration, according to Yusuf Mehdi, SVP of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. Users can watch a movie and launch a Skype call while the movie continues.

Hardware-wise, the new device didn’t offer that many surprises: The Xbox One utilizes 8 GB RAM and an x86 processor. It comes with a Blu-ray drive, and uses WiFi Direct and USB 3 as well as a completely redesigned Kinect sensor device. That’s in line with earlier leaks, which had already pointed to the two HDMI ports, as well as Microsoft using a more PC-like architecture, with an AMD x86-processor powering the device.

Developing story, check back for updates.

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Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings said on Tuesday that they have reached an agreement to acquire Twin Rivers Paper Company from Brookfield Asset Management. No financial terms were disclosed. Twin Rivers is a specialty paper company with facilities in Madawaska, Maine, and Edmundston and Plaster Rock, New Brunswick.

PRESS RELEASE

Edmundston, NB, and Madawaska, ME –Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings today announced that they have reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Twin Rivers Paper Company, Inc. (“Twin Rivers”) from Brookfield Asset Management Inc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in approximately three weeks, allowing time for certain procedural requirements. Blue Wolf and Atlas, both New York-based private investment firms, have long track records of building forest products companies inNorth America.
Twin Rivers, with facilities in Edmundston and Plaster Rock,New Brunswick, and Madawaska,Maine, has been a vital economic engine for the region for over 80 years, producing specialty papers and lumber for a variety of markets. Through the acquisition of a controlling stake in Twin Rivers, Atlas and Blue Wolf are showing their commitment to the future of the business, and will work with the company in the development of its long-term capital and growth plans.
“Twin Rivers produces specialty papers and lumber products that are well regarded throughout the industry. Our plan is to build on these strengths as we seek to position the operations for long-term success and as a key contributor in the revitalization of the forest products sector inMaine and New Brunswick,” saidAdam Blumenthal, Managing Partner of Blue Wolf.
“With the active support, direction and guidance our firms bring, we believe we can provide Twin Rivers with additional resources to address its capital needs, cost structure, market exposure and other critical operational challenges presented by the highly competitive forest products industry,” saidTim Fazio, Managing Partner of Atlas Holdings.
Twin Rivers is a major employer inNew Brunswick and northern Maine, and the acquisition was welcomed by a wide variety of constituencies.
“We have a proud history in our forest sector and certainly recognize the strategic importance of the Twin Rivers operation. The local communities and our entire forest sector value the jobs and role that Twin Rivers plays. We are excited to have new partners such as Atlas and Blue Wolf invest in the Province and commit to growing this operation and working with us as we continue to rebuild our economy,” said David Alward, Premier of New Brunswick.
“We welcome Blue Wolf and Atlas to our State,” added Maine Governor Paul LePage. “These investors have a track record of successful change in forest products companies, and we look forward to working with them as they implement their strategy.”
Dave Coles, President of the Canadian Energy and Paperworkers Union, which represents workers at Twin Rivers’ operations in Edmundston and Plaster Rock, New Brunswick said, “We have long represented workers at companies owned by Atlas and Blue Wolf, and we know them to be thoughtful and creative investors who are committed to the industry. We will work with the new ownership to protect jobs and pensions for our active and retired members.”
“We welcome this change of ownership, to a group we know well,” said Jon Geenen, International Vice President of the United Steelworkers, which represents workers at Twin Rivers’ Madawaska, Maine paper mill. “We expect the new owners will be dedicated to ensuring the sustainability of this company into the future.”
Together, Blue Wolf and Atlas Holdings have a depth of experience in successfully collaborating with stakeholders to build investee companies into sustainable, highly competitive enterprises in both Canada and the United States – including, Northern Resources Nova Scotia Corporation (“Northern Resources”), a pulp mill located in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and Finch Paper Holdings LLC, an integrated pulp and paper business located in Glens Falls, New York.
Separately, Atlas Holdings has been investing and operating in the forest products, packaging and paper industries since 1999. Atlas currently owns approximately 30 locations in North America, Europe andAsia focused on these markets, employing more than 5,000 people. Blue Wolf has been investing in the forest products industry since 2007, and currently owns seven companies in the United States, primarily manufacturing businesses, including two building products companies.
“Twin Rivers has been vital to the region’s economy for over 80 years, and we want to ensure it continues to be,” said Blumenthal. “We look forward to working with all stakeholders to create a viable, stable and long-term future for Twin Rivers and the forestry sector in both countries.”

The post Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings to Buy Twin Rivers Paper appeared first on peHUB.

It must be nice being Tom Cruise, as not only are you a world famous movie star, but you’re granted access to some of the greatest toys the planet has to offer. For instance, showing up to Willow Springs Raceway in a Red Bull helicopter (Tom is flying of course) and then having the chance to jump into a million dollar Formula 1 car for some quick laps. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not jealous (yes I am) but I’ve think I’ve chosen to follow the wrong line of work.

Source: RedBull.com

Microsoft on Tuesday announced a redesigned Kinect motion sensor at its Xbox One press event in Redmond, Washington. The accessory comes bundled with the new gaming console and delivers faster performance, improved gestures and voice recognition, and more. The sensor will allow for gamers to use a variety of voice commands to control the console, such as turning it on, watching tv, listening to music or searching the Web. Users can also navigate the Metro interface with pinch and swipe hand gestures. The Kinect can analyze a whopping 2GB of data per-second and is now equipped with a 1080p camera, a significant boost from the VGA sensor in the original model. Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming console is expected to be available this holiday season.

Apparently, the creative team behind Anchorman are big on celebrating anniversaries, because a year ago–to the day–Funny or Die debuted the first Anchorman: The Legend Continues teaser trailer, and while the newest teaser trailer was released a few days ago, the fact that today is the one-year anniversary for the first teaser might help explain why the new teaser is currently trending. If you recall last year’s teaser, you’ll recognize the newest one is done in almost the exact same manner, but that doesn’t stop it from being funny and effective. I mean, are you really going to see the Anchorman movies because of their compelling plot? Of course not.

The joy comes from the actors and the way they play their characters. The fact that they work for a news program helps bring our heroes together is almost incidental. Seeing them together, weaving their tapestry of silliness is where this title always shines, and the trailer does a fantastic job of accentuating the positives.

All while reminding us to stay classy, which, considering today’s social media climate, is probably really good advice.

A quick look at the December 2013 release’s IMDB page reveals, well, just about everyone in Hollywood has a part in it. Here’s a sample of a few of the cameos you’ll see this Christmas:

Harrison Ford
Jim Carrey
Kanye West
Sacha Baron Cohen
Tina Fey
Amy Poehler
Luke Wilson
Vince Vaughn

From the looks of that, it sounds like joyous chaos in the form of Anchorman: The Legend Continues is coming for us this winter.

The BlackBerry Achievement Awards (formerly the Wireless Achievement Awards) recognize excellence in entrepreneurship and development on the BlackBerry platform. This years winners were announced in Orlando Florida during the BlackBerry Live conference.

App of the Year: PriceCheck Mobile for BlackBerry
Scan barcodes to make comparison shopping a breeze. The app started out in South Africa and has grown their barcode inventory to over 30 million items.

Click here to download PriceCheck Mobile for BlackBerry 10 for free.

Putting Customers First: ING DIRECT Canada
I first saw ING DIRECT showcase their app during the BlackBerry 10 launch event. The app features “Orange Alerts” that deliver banking notifications directly to your device.

Click here to download ING DIRECT for BlackBerry 10 for free.

Mobile Innovation of the Year: DIRECTV Latin America
Managing technical support for 5 million clients in Latin America and the Caribbean is no small task. Thankfully they’ve built a BlackBerry 10 app that helps over 4000 technicians to manage service calls using their device and also connect to set top boxes via Bluetooth to validate access, diagnose problems and check signal strength.

Making the World a Better Place: e-Cycle
e-Cycle makes it easy for companies to securely recycle old devices. Instead of shredding the device e-Cycle wipes and resells the device via their buyback program to recoup a bit of the costs of the upgrade.

Entrepreneur of the Year: Nobex Technologies Inc
Nobex has developed one of the highest rated apps on BlackBerry World. Nobex Radio and Podcasts allows users to listen to tune in to online radio and subscribe to Podcasts using a polished BlackBerry 10 app.

Click here to download Nobex Radio and Podcasts for BlackBerry 10 for free.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

Samsung and Verizon Wireless are holding a promotional event in New York City to celebrate the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S 4, which will be in stores for the first time on on Thursday. The event will be held from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm on Thursday at the Bryant Park Verizon Wireless store on West 42nd Street in NYC.

Customers who purchase a Galaxy S 4 at the event will receive a free flipcover in their choice of black, white, pink, blue or green, while supplies last. The flipcovers can also be customized with etching in various themes and designs. Attendees can also participate in the “Samsung Galaxy Challenge” to test their current phone against the S4 for a chance to win a $25 Verizon gift card.

Come comment on this article: Verizon and Samsung hosting Galaxy S 4 promotional event Thursday in New York City

Microsoft on Tuesday finally took the wraps off its highly anticipated Xbox One, the successor to its Xbox 360 gaming console that will launch in time for the holidays this year. Earlier rumors have indicated that the new console will run on the “core” version of Windows 8 and will feature an 8-core 1.6GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, an 800MHz graphics processor, a 50GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, but Microsoft finally put all of the speculation to bed on Tuesday during its big Xbox event.

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Chief Keef, the 17-year old rap star, has been arrested in Atlanta for smoking weed in an upscale hotel.

Keef has been arrested twice before despite his young age and was sued earlier this year for child support by a girl who claims he got her pregnant when he was just 15. One of his previous arrests was for heroin manufacture.

The rapper has been in Atlanta shooting a video with Gucci Mane for the track “Darker”.

Chief Keef was arrested in Atlanta yesterday. Yes, again. trib.in/118Csvy

— RedEye Chicago (@redeyechicago) May 21, 2013

He can not stay out of trouble RT @globalgrind: JUST IN: Chief Keef arrested for disorderly conduct! bit.ly/118fPr7

— ‘ Shayy † || Feb 30(@Love_Shayyxx) May 21, 2013

Tryna party with Gucci Mane, mistake 1 thru100, go home & go to school—>”@tmz: Chief Keef — ARRESTED in Atlanta tmz.me/1a0o0oN“

— GrownWomanStatus (@HedesireMF) May 21, 2013

RT @_murmade: Woke up to see Chief Keef got arrested…… I’m sure it’ll be a great day.

— Kaimell THE Mack (@KaimellBeMackin) May 21, 2013

I wonder how many tears he’ll drop to this judge RT @tmz: Chief Keef — ARRESTED in Atlanta tmz.me/1a0o0oN

— Keith N. (@JusAire) May 21, 2013

A new analysis shows that the nation’s land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country’s yearly needs.

The findings come from an in-depth look at the water resources that would be needed to grow significant amounts of algae in large, specially built shallow ponds. The results were published in the May 7 issue of Environmental Science and Technology, published by the American Chemical Society.

“While there are many details still to be worked out, we don’t see water issues as a deal breaker for the development of an algae biofuels industry in many areas of the country,” said first author Erik Venteris of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

For the best places to produce algae for fuel, think hot, humid and wet. Especially promising are the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern seaboard.

“The Gulf Coast offers a good combination of warm temperatures, low evaporation, access to an abundance of water, and plenty of fuel-processing facilities,” said hydrologist Mark Wigmosta, the leader of the team that did the analysis.

Wooing algae as fuel

Algae, it turns out, are plump with oil, and several research teams and companies are pursuing ways to improve the creation of biofuels based on algae — growing algae composed of more oil, creating algae that live longer and thrive in cooler temperatures, or devising new ways to separate out the useful oil from the rest of the algae.

But first, simply, the algae must grow. The chief requirements are sunlight and water. Antagonists include clouds, a shortage of water, and evaporation.

A previous report by the same team looked mainly at how much demand algae farms would create for freshwater. That report demonstrated that oil based on algae have the potential to replace a significant portion of the nation’s oil imports and drew the attention of President Obama.

The new report focuses on actual water supplies and looks at a range of possible sources of water, including fresh groundwater, salty or saline groundwater, and seawater. The team estimates that up to 25 billion gallons of algal oil could be produced annually, an increase of 4 billion gallons over the previous study’s estimate. The new amount is enough to fill the nation’s current oil needs for one month — about 600 million barrels — each year. The study’s authors note that the new estimate is exactly that — an estimate — based to some degree on assumptions about land and water availability and use.

“I’m confident that algal biofuels can be part of the solution to our energy needs, but algal biofuels certainly aren’t the whole solution,” said Wigmosta. Most important, he notes that the cost of making the fuel far exceeds the cost of traditional gasoline-based products right now.

Big ponds, big potential

An algae farm would likely consist of many ponds, with water maybe six to 15 inches deep. A few companies have built smaller algae farms and are just beginning to churn out huge amounts of algae to convert to fuel; earlier this year, one company sold algae-based oil to customers in California. Players in the algae biofuels arena range from Exxon-Mobil, which launched a $600 million research effort four years ago, to this year’s teenage winner of the Intel Science Talent Search, who was recognized for her work developing algae that produce more oil than they normally do.

The availability of water has been one of the biggest concerns regarding the adoption of broad-scale production of algal biofuel. Scientists estimate that fuel created with algae would use much more water than industrial processes used to harness energy from oil, wind, sunlight, or most other forms of raw energy. To produce 25 billion gallons of algae oil, the team estimates that the process annually would require the equivalent of about one-quarter of the amount of water that is now used each year in the entire United States for agriculture. While that is a huge amount, the team notes that the water would come from a multitude of sources: fresh groundwater, salty groundwater, and seawater.

For its analysis, the team limited the amount of freshwater that could be drawn in any one area, assuming that no more than 5 percent of a given watershed’s mean annual water flow could be used in algae production. That number is a starting point, says Venteris, who notes that it’s the same percentage that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows power plants to use for cooling.

“In arid areas such as the Desert Southwest, 5 percent is probably an overstatement of the amount of water available, but in many other areas that are a lot wetter, such as much of the East, it’s likely that much more water would be available,” says Venteris.

“While the nation’s Desert Southwest has been considered a possible site for vast algae growth using saline water, rapid evaporation in this region make success there more challenging for low- cost production,” Venteris added.

Venteris and colleagues weighed the pluses and minuses of the various water sources. They note that freshwater is cheap but in very limited supply in many areas. Saline groundwater is attractive because it’s widely available but usually at a much deeper depth, requiring more equipment and technology to pump it to the surface and make it suitable for algae production. Seawater is plentiful, but would require much more infrastructure, most notably the creation of pipelines to move the water from the coast to processing plants.

The team notes that special circumstances, such as particularly tight water restrictions in some areas or severe drought or above-average rainfall in others, could affect its estimates of water availability.

The work was funded by the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. In addition to Venteris and Wigmosta, PNNL scientists Richard Skaggs and Andre Coleman contributed to the project and authored the study.

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Reference: Erik R. Venteris, Richard L. Skaggs, Andre M. Coleman, and Mark S. Wigmosta, A GIS Cost Model to Assess the Availability of Freshwater, Seawater, and Saline Groundwater for Algal Biofuel Production in the United States, Environmental Science and Technology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es304135b.

LG will be holding an ImaGination Begins event next week in Macau, where it has been confirmed the company will announce the LG Optimus G Pro for some new Asian markets. The device is currently available in the U.S. through AT&T and has been released in the Korean and Japanese markets. There was some thought that LG might release the Optimus GK, a smaller version of the Optimus G Pro, at the event.

source: Android Central

Come comment on this article: LG Optimus Pro G confirmed for May 30th ImaGination event in Macau

Zach Sobiech, a Minnesota teen who inspired millions through his battle with a rare bone cancer, has died at the age of 18.

Sobiech battled the terminal cancer, osteosarcoma, from the age of 14. Last year, a song he penned about his illness called “Clouds” went viral on YouTube,

“With heavy hearts, we are saddened to share that Zach Sobiech passed away this morning. Zach was at home and at peace with those he loved most. Zach’s life ended just as he lived, embraced by the love of his family, friends, grace and music,” says The Children’s Cancer Research Fund.

“Cancer may have taken Zach too soon, but he leaves a lasting legacy that most of us will never achieve. His message of love and hope delivered through infectious lyrics and memorable tunes have imprinted on the minds and hearts of millions around the world. Zach became a beacon of light and benevolence in a world that sometimes weighs too heavily. In turn, he received a flood of well-wishes that helped him, and his loved ones, smile through tremendous pain and worry.”

Zach recorded two albums worth of music, which helped raised money for awareness and research for his rare disease. His fight attracted nationwide attention, including that of many celebrities.

If you want to donate to Zach’s cause, you can do so here.

After years of leaks, rumors and speculation, Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox will finally be unveiled on Tuesday during a press conference in Redmond, Washington. Recent reports suggest that the new “Xbox 720,” “Xbox Infinity” or whatever else it might be called will feature vastly improved specs such as an eight-core processor, 8GB of RAM, an 800MHz graphics processor, a 50GB 6x Blu-ray drive, gigabit ethernet connectivity and enhanced TV features. The new console may also require an always-on Internet connection to play games, though reports on that front have conflicted. We’ll know all there is to know shortly, however, and here’s how to watch all the action live from your computer, Xbox or smartphone:

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