Blog

Capital city of Jamaica, Kingston has been announced as the state of emergency by the authorities in Jamaica after the supporters of gang leaned who is wanted in United States on gun attacked three police stations. The main reason for the attack is an attempt to pressurize the government to let the leader free.

United States issued travel alert for US citizens who are traveling to Jamaica. According to this alert, there is a possibility of violence in Kingston metropolitan area. If the situation goes out of hand, then there is a possibility of blocking the roads to the airport.

Extra precautions are being taken by the U.S Embassy in Kingston. Alert issued by United States also mentioned, American citizens should consider the risks involved in traveling to Kingston and surrounding areas and U.S citizens who are in Jamaica are suggested to watch the news reports and determine the security level outside before stepping out of hotel or homes. The possibility of street violence is very high in Kingston right now.

The government and authorities are trying their best to provide security for the innocent citizens and control the situation as much as possible.

Related posts:

1. Earthquake Hits Chile
2. British Citizens Advised Not To Travel To Israel
3. 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Solomon Islands, No Tsunami Alert

Twitter said today that it will no longer allow third-party ads to be injected into users’ Twitter timelines. The ban is particularly interesting given it’s almost exactly what the company’s own recently announced advertising platform, Promoted Tweets, does — insert paid and relevant tweets into timelines (as well as search results pages). Fresh off the heels of developer anger and confusion over Twitter’s unexpected efforts to launch and acquire mobile clients last months, the news was carefully laid out in a long blog post by Twitter COO Dick Costolo.

To be clear, Twitter will continue to allow developers to display ads around user timelines. And further, many developers already don’t include ads within streams, knowing that Twitter monetization is a touchy and evolving topic, even if the company had not previously formally clarified its stance. Costolo said he expected today’s API terms of service changes to negatively impact “a few” companies. One seeming target: Ad.ly, which bills itself as “an in-stream advertising platform that matches top-tier Twitter publishers with top-tier brands.”

Costolo explained in the blog post that Twitter’s decision hinges on the concept of near-term vs. long-term monetization opportunities (he used some variation of those terms at least nine times). Costolo said Twitter wants to protect user value and the health of its platform, while “Third party ad networks may be optimized for near-term monetization at the expense of innovating or creating the best user experience.”

Twitter’s Promoted Tweets, meanwhile, are displayed “in a manner that preserves the integrity and relevance of the timeline,” Costolo said.

Twitter shares half of the revenue collected for Promoted Tweets with developers who display them. Costolo justified that share by saying Twitter pays for maintaining its network, fighting spam, scaling the service, supporting users and paying its staff of 200 (and growing). He said there continue to be opportunities to build on top of Twitter, including “third-party monetization engines,” as well as metadata around tweets, vertical clients, and analytics.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

Social Advertising Models Go Back to the Future

---

Monica Bellucci and husband Vincent Cassel have welcomed their second child. According to PEOPLE, the Academy Award-winning Italian star, 45, gave birth to daughter Leonie in Rome on Friday.

Bellucci and Cassel are already parents to 5-year-old daughter Deva.

Bellucci will next share the silver screen with cash-strapped star Nic Cage in the upcoming period drama The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

One of my favorite topics, as many of you know, is epigenetics. It’s the burgeoning area of science that has blown apart the traditional nature-nurture dichotomy by examining the lifestyle-induced activation or dampening of genes. Epigenetics is increasingly filling in the gaps for understanding and monitoring degenerative disease risk. If you’re relatively new to MDA, take a look-see at my past articles (Gene Expression, What I Mean By “Reprogramming Your Genes”, Gene Expression: Location, Location, Location, Environmental Toxins and Gene Expression, Epigenetics and Depression) for a good Primal introduction to the concept. That said, when it comes to science there’s always more to read and know. New discoveries. Bold initiatives. Elegant correlations. Confirmed expectations and unexpected wrinkles. It’s what gets me up and roaring in the morning. Gladly, I’m not the only one….

Mark,

I’m fascinated by the idea that all the signals I send my body through diet and exercise and other environmental conditions can, as you say, literally reprogram my genes. I’m always on the lookout now for research that shows how lifestyle factors are related to gene expression. Have you seen anything new in your studies?

Stephanie

Thanks to Stephanie for the shared enthusiasm and question for today. In the last several years, research into gene expression has garnered increasing attention and dollars. Popular media outlets like the Los Angeles Times, PBS and Time Magazine have devoted features to the field. I was even quoted (although quite out of context) in a recent LA Times piece on epigenetics. Foundations and government granting agencies have increasingly supported the expansion of epigenetic research, including a mapping of the human epigenome. (So far, Europe is ahead of the game.) Among the organizations doing amazing work in epigenetics is the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

Much of recent epigenetic research delves into prenatal exposure and subsequent gene expression. Here are some highlights of the latest studies.

• The placenta displays different epigenetic markings throughout pregnancy, which can alert physicians to developing complications like poor fetal growth or preeclampsia.

• Researchers recently compared intestinal gene expression in breastfed and formula fed infants. The intestinal tract acts as a primary site for immune response, particularly in infants whose bodies must quickly learn to adapt to foreign foods outside the sterile womb environment. Glitches in intestinal (and related immune) development can cause food allergies, asthma and inflammatory bowel disease. Of particular note, gene expression that regulated cellular response to oxygen deprivation was more pronounced in breastfed babies, suggesting a possible cause for why breastfed infants have a lower SIDS risk.

• Prenatal exposure to common environmental toxins can induce epigenetic changes that put a child at more risk for later cancer than post-birth exposure does. The study focused particularly on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are associated with oil and coal burning.

• Scientists have found that the memory ability of offspring may be impacted by their mother’s early learning environment. Mice with genetic memory impairment that were offered a sensory rich environment (toys, activity and attention) had offspring that showed enhanced memory ability even when the pups themselves received none of the environmental benefits their mothers had.

• Gene expression related to longevity and cancer was negatively impacted by alcohol and typical Western diet consumption.

• Researchers have identified food compounds that inhibit epigenetic dysfunction. Sulforaphane (broccoli), indole-3-carbinol (cruciferous vegetables) and organosulfur (garlic and onions) compounds are among the most protective food related substances discovered so far.

The take home message here is that you can literally reprogram your genes to live a long, healthy, productive, happy and energetic life. You can either sit idly by and end up a victim of poor gene expression, or you can take control of the signals you send your body (through diet, movement, stress management and many other lifestyle behaviors) and become the best version of you possible.

I’ll be sure to keep covering the latest epigenetic updates. Fascinating stuff to be sure. I hope these updates have offered some food for thought. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks again for the great comments and questions, and keep ‘em coming!

Get Free Health Tips, Recipes and Workouts Delivered to Your Inbox

Related posts:

1. Dear Mark: Gene Expression
2. Environmental Toxins and Gene Expression
3. Gene Expression: Location, Location, Location

There is a mixture of sympathy and horror here in Great Britain for the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, whose financial situation, in her own words, “is under stress.”  She was caught on camera by an undercover reporter for the News of the World offering to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, for £500,000, which would be approximately $750,000.   The reporter who did the sting posed as a businessman.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has a lot of business connections.  He is the UK’s Special Representative for Trade and Investment.  He travels the world meeting royalty, heads of state and businessmen, greasing the wheels for business deals to be done by British companies all over the world, and courting investment here.  We followed Prince Andrew on one such trip to North Africa.  His position as a member of the royal family does afford him incredible access, which he uses, not for his own enrichment, but to help British business.  It is a job, from what we could tell from our contact with the Duke, he takes very seriously.

So this scandal is about Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, trying to make money off the connections Prince Andrew makes.  In the exchange filmed by the undercover reporter, Ferguson goes out of her way to explain that the Prince knew nothing of her plans.  That he is totally clean and above board in his work at the UK’s trade ambassador.  And his spokespeople have insisted he was completely unaware of this.  A lot of people will believe that here.  But others will be skeptical, as Prince Andrew has been called “Air Miles Andy” in the past by the tabloid media here for his liberal use of air travel, which is not connected to this at all, but is one example of some of the bad press he has gotten here over the years.

But for now, Ferguson is the one caught trying to cash in on royal connections, officially severed after her divorce from Prince Andrew, but still very real in terms of her close relationship to Prince Andrew.   She has been said to have commented that they are “the happiest divorced couple.”

Ferguson and Prince Andrew still vacation together with their two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.  And she lives on his royal estate, as she has had serious financial problems.

And that is why she said she tried to cash in on connections.  Despite the fact that she at one point had a lucrative contract with Weight Watchers and has taken on numerous projects and speaking engagements over the years, she has been in and out of debt.

Said to be extremely generous with friends, she is also seen to live beyond her means.      Sarah Ferguson has done a lot of work for charities.   Many here believe her heart is in the right place.  But her judgment skills are not—even the Duchess herself admitted “a serious lapse in judgment.”

In this TV interview, WATE’s Kristen Farley sits down with UT Knoxville Professor Larry McKay about a recent study that found viruses and bacteria in East Tennessee drinking water.

Kirsten Gillibrand, a senator from New York, is apparently unsatisfied with the CPSC’s pledge to implement a voluntary ban of drop-side cribs. Gillibrand plans to introduce legislation this week that would outlaw the sale of drop-side cribs and ban them from daycare centers and hotels. Earlier this month, the CPSC said that this crib design has killed at least 32 infants and toddlers since 2000, that over 7 million drop-side cribs have been recalled since 2005.

 

“Drop-side cribs could get banned” [WGN TV Chicago]

RELATED
“32 Fatalities in Drop-Side Cribs in Last 9 Years” [CPSC]

" Burocracia é um mecanismo gigante operado por pigmeus. "

Honoré de Balzac

Twitter has seen a healthy amount of growth, especially last year, but it is adding new users at a steady pace even now. A big part of its success is due to the third-party services that have grown around it, built on the Twitter API. Twitter’s popularity hasn’t translated into too much revenue just yet, as is the case for many of the hot n… (read more)

¿Sabía que a pesar de que es fácil de prevenir, hay más casos de cáncer de piel cada año en comparación a los casos de cáncer del seno, cólon pulmones, y próstata? ¿O que el cáncer de la piel está afectando a gente cada vez más joven? Eso se traduce a más de un millón de estadounidenses con cáncer cada año. Todo los años se designa el viernes antes del Día de Recordación por los Caídos como el “Día para no Freírse” (Día para Protegerse del Sol”) —como un recordatorio para ser prudente con el sol (Sunwise) y proteger su piel cuando disfrute del tiempo al aire libre.

¿Qué hace para prudente con el sol (Sunwise) y protegerse de la exposición excesiva al sol?

Do you like computer mice? Do you like ambidexterity? Do you like looking at renderings of concept products that are not yet real? Today, my friend, is your lucky day. Gaze upon the Nink wireless optical mouse. Imagine the feel of that corrugated shell under either your right or your left palm. Visualize the sensation of using either index finger to tenderly scroll that wheel up and down, up and down. You can almost feel the mild resistance as the Nink lovingly caresses your desk, gliding back and forth at your slightest bidding…

[Devin adds: What the hell, worst ambidextrous mouse ever. Get a Xai.]

An unwanted mobile ad might as well be poison to a company’s brand.

It’s intrusive and it’s undesirable to both the sender and recipient. But with the fragmentation and technical complexities of purchasing SMS campaigns, brands often have no choice but to blast irrelevant SMS ads, or they simply ignore the mobile platform altogether. Those companies avoid mobile advertising because to users, the current state of SMS advertising is no different than spam.

The mobile advertising marketplace is broken. What’s needed is a platform for advertisers that aggregates the ad inventory from all the mobile carriers. Alcatel-Lucent delivers such a solution with Optism.

The big difference is Optism only delivers permission-based advertisements. That means consumers must opt in before they receive any marketing messages. Ads scheduled through Optism are personalized and conversational, thereby achieving astonishing response rates — as high as 40 percent.

Optism uses Alcatel-Lucent’s existing relations with all major carriers to act as a “one-stop shop” for purchasing mobile ad campaigns. With all carriers aggregated, purchasing ad space is easy, plus reporting is consistent no matter which carrier(s) carry your campaign.

Typically, Optism campaigns begin with a question. The end user responds via SMS, which in turn delivers a relevant response. The goal of this conversational dialogue is to turn what was initially an advertisement into wanted information.

For more, watch the interview with Thomas Labarthe, VP Mobile Advertising at Alcatel-Lucent, below, and check out the Optism blog and interactive brochure.

Click here to view all Alcatel-Lucent posts

---

Primeiro, vejam a foto acima. Viram? Esse carro “era” um Datsun 1979, mas agora ele é anunciado por seu dono como “O carro quase mais selvagem do planeta“, e que não achamos em nenhum outro lugar. O carro está praticamente 100% alterado, a sua parte frontal não lembra nem de longe o carro original, que pode ser visto nessa foto.

Mas não é só a parte da frente que chama a atenção. Também foram inclusos 4 carburadores Holley e um aerofólio da Subaru. Um verdadeiro “carro Frankstein pseudo-super-esportivo”. A parte traseira do carro, incluindo o aerofólio ficaram “incomuns”, para não falar outra coisa.

Para quem estíver interesasdo nessa jóia rara, ela está em Nevada e você pode comprá-lo por um lance generoso no eBay, que atualmente está em US$ 14.900. Vejam mais fotos do Datsun customizado logo a seguir.

Imagens do veículo

Via | Autoblog.uk

A research paper published by the American Chemical Society indicates that biodiesel production from municipal sewage is tantalizingly close (within several pennies) of being profitable. Although kind of disgusting, few would argue there isn’t a tremendous, renewable supply of the stuff. Nor would they say that every municipality doesn’t already have its’ own sources.

(more…)

Android 2.2 is out, and it’s pretty nice! But what’s next for Android? A better keyboard? More sexy? And how exactly does Google decide what goes into each version of Android anyway? Let’s ask Lead Android Andy Rubin. More »










Android – Google – Apple – Handhelds – IPhone

It was only today at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event that Tweetup (the “AdSense for Twitter”) was announced, so Twitter’s blog post spelling the end of third party advertising platforms will be very badly-timed news for a lot of developers. More »










Twitter – Online Communities – Social Networking – Trending and Popularity – Browser Plugins

I’m told that the finale of “Lost” had the third highest ad rates of this season, behind only the Superbowl and the Oscars.  How many people watched those ads?  According to Bloomberg News, about 13.5 million.

Compare that to the finale of MASH, which was watched by almost 106 million viewers (including me, up late by very special dispensation). 

Now, MASH was the most watched finale of all time.  But the stark difference between its numbers and those of the most-heralded finale of the year illustrate why no series is ever going to surpass MASH’s record.  (The superbowl finally did this year, as people tuned in to watch the Saints.)  We live in a different world, one where there’s something for almost everyone–but not the same thing.

Lost – Television program – M*A*S*H – Television – Arts

Materials: (1) Helmer drawer unit on casters, (1) Vika Amon table top, (1) Hyllis shelving unit, (2) discontinued Ikea shoe racks, (1) Lack shelf, (1) Kolja mirror. The only extra hardware needed were some standard screws, drywall anchors and four small L shaped brackets.

Description: I design jewelry and work from my bedroom, where I already have a huge Vika Gruvan desk, an overflow of bookcases and no extra room to spare. So this action-packed little corner was pretty much my only option.

I also had no cash at the moment (Hey, not all of us can be Tiffany) so buying brand new furniture was out of the question, all the Ikea items I used were bought on Craigslist. I think I spent less than $40 total including hardware.

Here’s the steps so you too can do the jam:

First, I assembled the Helmer drawer unit. Then, using its height as a guide, I attached the L shaped brackets to the wall. (As you can see in the picture, I used some left over curtain brackets from another project to keep costs down.)

Next, I assembled the Hyllis shelving unit. Here is where I had to work some magic. The table top is wider than the shelves so in order to slide it in place without having to cut the table down to size I had to invert the Hyllis’ legs. This seriously compromises its stability, so I had to anchor it to the wall. After that, I slid the table top in place and secured it to the brackets with screws.

Then I hung the mirror (No, I’m not -that- vain, I just need to look at my work!) and the Lack shelf. As an extra bonus I installed a wire/tool dispenser made of L shaped brackets and a steel rod (Costs $2.50 to make). Since I still needed more shelving I added the shoe racks underneath the table. I bought two of them and stacked them, going under and around the Hyllis unit, then secured them with screws.

And that’s pretty much it.

Hey, it is not the sexiest of units, but it works for me. Plus it was $40 bucks. Beat that.

~ Sunny H., Chicago

Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Wagon, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury

Mercedes-Benz has a pretty ambitious goal to grow its U.S. sales by 30 percent over the next five years, and execs apparently think they will need to expand downmarket to do it. According to Automotive News, Ernst Lieb, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, feels that the bringing in the B-Class hatchback and introducing additional C-Class derivatives will provide the best possibility of attracting more customer since growth opportunities for the E-Class and S-Class are likely limited.

Arch rival BMW already offers coupe, convertible and station wagon variants of the 3 Series in the States, along with the less costly 1 Series range, not to mention its ever-expending array of Mini products. In North America, surging Audi offers its A4 in sedan and wagon formats, along with the closely related A5/S5 Coupe and Cabriolet, and it also offers the less costly A3 hatchback.

For its part, Mercedes currently only offers the C-Class in a four-door sedan bodystyle in the States. A C-Class coupe is reportedly due to arrive here in 2011 with a convertible coming in 2013 off of the revised C-Class that’s due in 2012. And while the C-Class expansion makes sense, critics have feared for years that introducing the B-Class in America could lead to brand dilution (which is part of the reason that parent Daimler’s teetering Smart franchise has remained so distinct).

By comparison, in spite of its relatively slow sales here, the 1 Series arguably makes more sense in the context of the BMW lineup of performance luxury cars. So why isn’t brand dilution an issue for Mercedes overseas? In Europe, where the A and B Class have been available for a decade, Benz has a different, more mainstream image, with a much more comprehensive model range.

Despite a comparative dearth of entry-level products, Mercedes’ sales remain on a pronounced uptick in America, with sales through April increasing by 26 percent to 68,826 units. In 2009, Benz dealers sold through 190,538 units.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req’d]

Report: Mercedes-Benz C-Class lineup set to expand in U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 May 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments