Obama Nominates Astrophysicist to Head NSF

France Anne Cordova served as president of Purdue University from 2007 to 2012, and oversaw the creation of the Colombia?Purdue Institute for Scientific Research

By Helen Shen and Nature News Blog

France Anne Cordova speaking at Purdue University. Image: Mark Simons, Purdue University

Originally posted on the Nature news blog

Astrophysicist France Anne Cordova has been tapped to head the US National Science Foundation (NSF), which has been run by an acting director since March 2013. President Barack Obama?announced the pick on 31 July. If confirmed, Cordova would fill the gap left by Subra Suresh, who announced his resignation in February, after serving less than half of his six-year term leading the US$7 billion agency.

Cordova, who earned her doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, served as president of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, from 2007 to 2012. In 2010, she oversaw the creation of the Colombia-Purdue Institute for Scientific Research, which aims to foster scientific collaboration between the Colombia and the United States.

Earlier in her career, Cordova worked in the Earth and Space Sciences Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and went on to lead the department of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. In September 1993, Cordova was named NASA?s first female chief scientist.

?She?s a very accomplished academic researcher,? says?Umar Mohideen, chairman of the physics and astronomy department at the University of California, Riverside, where Cordova served as chancellor from 2002-2007. ?She?s managed academia, and those are qualities that would make her a good choice.?

Cordova now begins the sometimes lengthy process of winning confirmation from the ?US Senate?? normally an easy process for candidates to lead NSF. But her nomination comes at a time when Republican lawmakers in the Senate have used procedural tactics to slow consideration of Obama administration picks. EPA chief Gina McCarthy was confirmed on 18 July after a historic delay caused by political infighting, and?Obama has struggled to fill several other top science positions.

This article is reproduced with permission from the Nature news blog. The article was first published on July 31, 2013.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/basic-science/~3/Yx45QRv-REQ/article.cfm

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Trio arrested in front of church; 'True Religion' heroin found

Police arrested three people in front of Sacred Heart Church Thursday after allegedly finding 350 bags of "True Religion" heroin in the trunk of their car.

Rafael Cruz, 34, of undetermined address; Alfred Smart, 28, of 81 Elmwood Ave., Bridgeport. and Ariane Rey, 34, of 4 Crescent St., Ansonia, were arrested shortly after an 8:45 p.m. traffic stop led to a search of their car on suspicion of drugs, Police Sgt. Chris Broem said. All face multiple multiple charges involving narcotics and conspiracy. Cruz and Smart are also charged with sale of narcotics.

The heroin has a street value of $7,000, police said. It was wrapped as though it had just been picked up that night, Broem said; Cruz told officers the three had been in the Bronx, N.Y., earlier that day. Broem said he is concerned about the presence of heroin in Stamford.

"They were on the streets of Stamford, that's not good," he said.

Broem, who came to the scene in support of Lt. Christopher Baker, who made the stop, said Smart, the driver, was stopped for a traffic violation.

Police then determined the Ford Focus he was driving had no insurance. Smart also had difficulty answering questions, Broem said and Cruz was nervous.

Five units had been sent out Thursday night to find and stop drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol, Broem said.

A police dog brought to the scene indicated there were drugs in the vehicle, he said. When officers popped open the trunk, they found 350 bags of heroin labeled "True Religion," Broem said. He said that label is usually reserved for high-quality heroin.

Smart and Cruz both were each held on $75,000 bond. Rey was released on a written promise to appear in court.

Source: http://www.greenwichtime.com/policereports/article/Trio-arrested-in-front-of-church-True-Religion-4676162.php

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Sony Video Unlimited adds persistent library, grants cross-device access

Using Sony's Video Unlimited platform just got a little more appealing. Prior to Shacknews' discovery of a change in the store's terms of service, once you purchased a video it was only available on the PlayStation device it was downloaded to. Now, there's parity between its storefront and the likes of iTunes and Amazon Video that allow media access from a range of hardware tied to your account. Frankly, it's long overdue but not the first time the hardware giant's been slow to evolve. We've reached out to Sony to see if this applies to gadgets not carrying PlayStation branding and will update if we hear back. Till then, take a moment to appreciate a fuller, more apt definition of "unlimited."

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NJ BPU approves PSE&G's $446 million solar plan

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The board that regulates New Jersey's public utilities on Wednesday approved a $446 million solar energy plan proposed by the state's largest utility, adding several recommendations aimed at increasing oversight of the nearly half-billion-dollar programs.

The Board of Public Utilities unanimously approved Public Service Electric and Gas's nearly $200 million extension of its solar loan program that targets mainly residential and business customers. A $247 million extension of a program that will develop solar installations primarily on unused landfills and former industrial sites passed by a 3-1 margin.

Board commissioner Jeanne Fox, who cast the vote against the extension of the Solar 4 All program, raised concerns that ratepayers will be required to fund the program and that the new solar development could flood the market for solar energy credits that utilities buy from solar producers. Prices for the credits have fallen in recent years because more solar energy was being produced than the utilities needed.

Terry Moran, PSE&G's director of solar market strategy and development, said the company doesn't anticipate the Solar 4 All program having a negative impact on the solar credits market since it is reduced by more than two-thirds ? from 136 megawatts in an original proposal to 45 megawatts ? and will be rolled out over three years. A megawatt is capable of powering about 1,000 homes.

"We feel the reduced program will help alleviate that risk," Moran said.

The BPU on Wednesday modified PSE&G's proposal to require the company to furnish the board with monthly financial and progress reports; submit within 30 days its criteria for selecting projects and developers and give the board and ratepayer advocate 10 days to review contracts before they are executed. PSE&G's proposal had provided for yearly reporting.

The Office of Rate Counsel had sought more oversight as part of its objections to PSE&G's filing, and had criticized the plan for giving the company an unfair market advantage since it will recover its costs by increases to ratepayers.

"We're glad to see that they at least were considering our objections and that they made some modifications based on that," director Stefanie Brand said.

Board commissioners who approved both programs spoke of the need for New Jersey to have a robust solar energy market but cautioned that it must proceed carefully.

"It is extremely important to have increased transparency," Joseph Fiordaliso said. "As an agency we have to monitor that very closely."

While landfills and brownfields are seen as prime locations for solar installations, so far they account for a tiny handful of the more than 20,000 solar projects already installed in New Jersey. Five landfill solar projects are in operation and about two dozen more are either in development or being considered, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"We're gratified that the board has approved both of our filings," Moran said. "As we've said during the course of these proceedings, we felt both of these filings are consistent with and satisfy the state's energy master plan goals, so we're really looking forward to the process of implementing both of them."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nj-bpu-approves-pse-gs-201622340.html

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Obama: Gov't with Oklahoma 'every step' of the way

President Barack Obama tries to comfort Plaza Towers Elementary School principal Amy Simpson Sunday May 26, 2013, in Moore, Okla., as he views the devastation of the school caused by tornado and severe weather last week. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama tries to comfort Plaza Towers Elementary School principal Amy Simpson Sunday May 26, 2013, in Moore, Okla., as he views the devastation of the school caused by tornado and severe weather last week. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama walks across the tarmac to greet people as he arrives on Air Force One, Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to the Moore, Okla., to see the response to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He will also visit with the families affected, and with first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama greets people on the tarmac as he arrives Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to the Moore, Okla., to see the response to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He will also visit with the families affected, and first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama is greeted by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin as he arrives Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to the Moore, Okla., to see the response to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He will also visit with the families affected, and first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama and school officials view the destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School, Sunday, May 26, 2013, in Moore, Okla., following the devastating tornado and severe weather last week. At the far right is FEMA administrator W. Craig Fugate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

MOORE, Okla. (AP) ? President Barack Obama visited tornado-devastated Moore, Okla., Sunday, consoling people staggered by the loss of life and property and promising that the government will be behind them "every step of the way."

"I'm just a messenger here," the president said, saying "folks are behind you" across America. He offered moral and monetary support in the wake of the monstrous EF5 tornado that killed 24 people, including 10 children, last Monday afternoon.

Standing with Gov. Mary Fallin and other state and federal officials, Obama noted a substantial rebuilding job ahead and said that "our hearts go out to you."

"This is a strong community with strong character. There's no doubt they will bounce back," he said. "But they need help."

The White House said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has already provided $57 million in rebates and incentives to help build about 12,000 storm shelters in Oklahoma. "These storm shelters can be the difference between life and death," presidential spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters accompanying Obama to Oklahoma on Air Force One.

For Obama, Sunday's visit had an all-too-familiar ring.

Only five months into his second term, he has traveled to the northeast to console people in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, and visited Connecticut and Arizona to comfort people traumatized by shooting rampages. He also has undertaken his consoler-in-chief role at the site of plant explosions and mine disasters, not to mention a series of natural disasters including Joplin, Mo., and the Jersey Shore, which was heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy last year.

Once on the ground, Obama urged the American people to make contributions, saying the damage was "pretty hard to comprehend."

Shortly after his arrival on a partly cloudy day, Obama rode past grassy fields strewn with scattered debris, witnessing devastation so awesome that it appeared as if garbage had literally rained from the sky. His first stop was the demolished site of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, where seven students were killed when the tornado turned the one-story building into a heap of bricks, broken concrete and twisted metal.

"I know this is tough," he told superintendent Susie Pierce as he gripped her hand. As he walked, the demolished school was on his left and on his right, homes as far as the eye could see were reduced to piles of rubble. Vehicles were turned upside down and toys like a pink doll carriage and children's books were strewn with furniture and ripped out wall insulation. Every tree had been stripped of its leaves and bark.

Obama at one point joined the Lewis family, which lost their home behind the school. He said the important thing was that they survived and could replace their things.

"What a mess," he told their son Zack, a third grader at the shattered school. Zack's father, Scott, ran into the school just before the storm hit and ran with his terrified son back to their home's storm shelter.

"You've got some story to tell," Obama told the boy. "This is something you'll remember all your life."

Obama later met privately with victims' families at Moore Fire Department Station (hash)1, which has turned into a command center with dozens of first responders sitting at folding tables where fire trucks are normally parked. Obama marveled that they saved so many lives "given the devastation."

"I know this is tough," he told superintendent Susie Pierce as he gripped her hand.

As he descended the stairs upon landing at Tinker Air Base near here, Obama was greeted first by Fallin, who had said earlier she appreciated the visit, but that her state also needed quick action from FEMA.

The Republican governor said that so far, the agency has done a great job of speeding relief and cash assistance to affected families, but said she's concerned about the long run.

"There's going to come a time when there's going to be a tremendous amount of need once we begin the debris clearing, which we already have, but really get it cleared off to where we need to start rebuilding these homes, rebuilding these businesses," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation." ''And we know at different times in the past, money hasn't come always as quickly as it should."

Fallin said the money is particularly vital for the victims. "A lot of people lose their checkbooks, they lose their credit cards, they lose their driver's license, their birth certificates, their insurance papers, they lose everything, and they have no cash. And some of the banks were even hit, the ATM machines, so people need cash to get immediate needs," she said on CBS.

Earnest touted the federal contributions so far, including Obama's signing of a disaster declaration within hours of the storm to speed aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Earnest said that 450 FEMA personnel were working on the ground in Oklahoma and have delivered 43,000 meals, 150,000 liters of water and thousands of cots, blankets and tarps. He said 4,200 people have applied for disaster assistance, and $3.4 million in payments have been approved.

Among the tornado victims were 10 children, including two sisters pulled by the strong winds out of their mother's grasp, an infant who died along with his mother trying to ride out the storm in a convenience store and seven students at Plaza Towers. Many students were pulled from the rubble after the school was destroyed.

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-26-Obama/id-a8bbc9ac55ba4979b8f0a336687fa5ca

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Obama OKs honor for Birmingham bombing victims

President Barack Obama signs a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing of 1963, Friday, May 24, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. From left are, Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. sponsor of the bill; Lisa McNair; Thelma "Maxine" Pippen McNair mother of Denise McNair; Dianne Braddock sister of Carole Robertson; and Rev. Arthur Price Jr., pastor of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama signs a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing of 1963, Friday, May 24, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. From left are, Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. sponsor of the bill; Lisa McNair; Thelma "Maxine" Pippen McNair mother of Denise McNair; Dianne Braddock sister of Carole Robertson; and Rev. Arthur Price Jr., pastor of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama signs a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing of 1963, Friday, May 24, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House. Standing, from left are, Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Lisa McNair. Seated at right is Thelma "Maxine" Pippen McNair, the mother of Denise McNair. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama signs a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing of 1963, Friday, May 24, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Watching, from left are, Dr. Sharon Malone, wife of Attorney General Eric Holder; Attorney General Eric Holder and Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. sponsor of the bill. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama speaks to the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, May 24, 2013, before signing a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing of 1963. From left are, Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin; Birmingham Ala. Mayor William Bell; Dr. Sharon Malone, wife of Attorney General Eric Holder; Attorney General Eric Holder; Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. sponsor of the bill; the president; Thelma "Maxine" Pippen McNair mother of Denise McNair; seated, Lisa McNair; Dianne Braddock sister of Carole Robertson, Rev. Arthur Price Jr., pastor of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and former US Attorney Gordon Douglas Jones. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday to award Congress' highest civilian honor to four girls killed in an Alabama church bombing during the civil rights movement. He called it a tragic loss that "helped to trigger triumph and a more just and equal and fair America."

The Congressional Gold Medal will go to Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair.

Addie Mae, Carole and Cynthia, all 14, and Denise, 11, were killed when a bomb planted by white supremacists exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on Sept. 15, 1963. Twenty-two others were injured.

Denise's mother and sister, and Carole's sister were among those who stood around Obama's desk in the Oval Office as he signed the bill.

"For us to be able to be in this Oval Office with so many people who have worked hard to make this day possible, and understanding that that tragic loss, that heartbreak helped to trigger triumph and a more just and equal and fair America, that's an incredible thing for us to be able to participate in," he said.

September will mark the 50th anniversary of the bombing, which helped spur passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Three Ku Klux Klan members were convicted of the bombing years after the attack. Two are dead and one is in prison.

While Congress widely embraced awarding the medal, the idea has divided the victims' relatives.

Some are supportive while others say they would prefer financial compensation and have little interest in the award.

Sisters of Denise and Carole sat in the House gallery during the debate and vote on the measure. Relatives of Addie Mae and Cynthia, also known as Cynthia Morris, have said they aren't interested in a medal. Addie Mae's sister lost an eye in the bombing.

Also present for the bill-signing was Attorney General Eric Holder and his wife, Sharon Malone. Her late sister, Vivian Malone Jones, was one of the first black students to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963 in defiance of racial segregation.

Reps. Terri Sewell, a Democrat, and Spencer Bachus, a Republican, led the Alabama congressional delegation's efforts to honor the bombing victims. They represent adjoining Birmingham districts in Congress.

Past recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal include George Washington, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife Coretta Scott King.

___

Associated Press writer Henry C. Jackson contributed to this report.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-24-US-Obama-Birmingham-Bombing/id-80f055b89680465c94cea826c62cb8bf

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Racist Dogs? Advice for When Friends' Pets Don't Like You - The Root

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(The Root) --

"We live in a diverse urban city. I am white and my husband is Filipino and white, but he's often mistaken for Indian or black/mixed because of his dark complexion. He is great with animals in general and is a supersweet, calm, gentle person; we foster rescue dogs that are really sensitive, and they love him! But on several occasions when we're meeting with co-workers and friends, their dogs will bark and act aggressively toward him, yet not toward the other white people who are also present.

"I've researched why dogs may behave this way, but I'm wondering what to do about this from my end. Is there a polite thing that we can do or say to alleviate this socially? If we are somewhere long enough for the dog to calm down and interact with my husband, it works out, but most of our friends are dog people, so I am curious if you know of a polite fix!" --Needing a Doggie Olive Branch

You've done your research, so you're aware that doggie racism is a real thing.

Cue the "Stop playing the race card" chorus asking, "Has it really come to this?"

Yep, it has.

OK, the term "racism" is a bit loaded with all sorts of human baggage. But it will do. After all, it is well-known that individual dogs can develop aversions to people with certain characteristics -- from men with beards to children to people who carry keys or smoke cigarettes to, yes, those with a particular complexion.

How does an entire group get stereotyped and scorned by man's best friend? It can happen as the result of training or a bad experience, but most often it stems from a simple lack of exposure, animal behavior expert Dr. Nicholas Dodman told Slate in a piece that broke down the phenomenon way back in 2003. Here's how he explained it:

Typically, such behavior indicates that the dog was not exposed to the people it now targets during its developmentally "sensitive time" -- weeks 3 through 12 -- when its understanding of the world was formed. "If you take a dog who has never encountered a black man, or someone who has a funny walk, who uses a walker, or has a gimp or a limp, and he sees the first one in his life when he's six months old ?... it's going to be a shock."

I think it's safe to replace "black man" with the more general "person darker than everyone else."

I have a two-step recommendation for what to do when dogs lose it around your sweet, sensitive, animal-loving, only-brown-person-around husband.

First, see everything Dodman explained above? Remember it, because you're going to need to relay it to your friends so that they know exactly what's happening. Make it clear that no one thinks the barking dog's owners are intentionally training "racist watchdogs" like the ones marketed "especially for South African circumstances" in the 1980s (I think we can give your friends the benefit of the doubt here). This will set the stage for the joke your husband is going to make.

Yes, step 2 is that your husband should make a joke. He has to. Immediately. ?

Whoa! OK, Muffin -- I know you don't see that many brown people, but I'm not dangerous. Don't pull a George Zimmerman and attack me! I don't even have Skittles!

OK, I know I'm the only Filipino guy here, but Dan is the only one in salmon-colored shorts. He deserves to be attacked!

Or, you know, whatever's funny to him.

?

Source: http://www.theroot.com/views/doggie-racism-real-heres-how-deal

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NYPD to increase presence after bias killing

NEW YORK (AP) ? A spate of anti-gay attacks in New York City is prompting police to increase their presence in some gay-friendly neighborhoods heading into what's usually a time for celebration.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said Monday that the NYPD has pledged to station command vehicles in Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen through the end of June, which is Gay Pride Month.

The decision comes after a man walking with a companion was shot dead Saturday. Police say the gunman made homophobic remarks.

The killing happened in Greenwich Village, where the gay rights movement crystallized in the 1960s.

Several other gay bashings have been reported in Manhattan recently.

Quinn and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott also say public schools will soon have assemblies or other discussions on bullying and hate crimes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nypd-increase-presence-bias-killing-180717050.html

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Telus agrees to acquire Mobilicity for $380 million, despite Canada's push for increased mobile competition

Regulators in Canada have been making a push to enhance competition in the mobile space, with Industry Minister Christian Paradis going so far as to lay out a set of rules for the nation's upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction that he promises will give citizens "more choices and more access at better prices." Granted, that ideal world only works if the carriers can stay afloat long enough to bid. According to William Aziz, Mobilicity's own chief restructuring officer, the operator has been "losing a significant amount of money every month." To that end, he reckons that an "acquisition by Telus is the best alternative," and he seems to think that the $380 million deal will receive a hasty approval considering the circumstances.

The purchase price is thought to be high enough to cover the debts looming over Mobilicity, and it'll give its 150 employees a secure job at Telus. If it sails through, a quarter-million Mobilicity customers should see no interruption in service as the integration takes place. Of course, a secondary benefit for Telus is gaining access to the spectrum Mobilicity currently uses. The end result for customers in the world's nicest country? We'd love to say that one fewer player will result in better service, lower prices and greater fulfillment for all... but something tells us that's probably wishing for a bit much.

[Image credit: Andrew Currie, Flickr]

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No idle chatter: Malaria parasites 'talk' to each other

May 15, 2013 ? Melbourne scientists have made the surprise discovery that malaria parasites can 'talk' to each other -- a social behaviour to ensure the parasite's survival and improve its chances of being transmitted to other humans.

The finding could provide a niche for developing antimalarial drugs and vaccines that prevent or treat the disease by cutting these communication networks.

Professor Alan Cowman, Dr Neta Regev-Rudzki, Dr Danny Wilson and colleagues from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute's Infection and Immunity division, in collaboration with Professor Andrew Hill from the University of Melbourne's Bio21 Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology showed that malaria parasites are able to send out messages to communicate with other malaria parasites in the body. The study was published today in the journal Cell.

Professor Cowman said the researchers were shocked to discover that malaria parasites work in unison to enhance 'activation' into sexually mature forms that can be picked up by mosquitoes, which are the carriers of this deadly disease.

"When Neta showed me the data, I was absolutely amazed, I couldn't believe it," Professor Cowman said. "We repeated the experiments many times in many different ways before I really started to believe that these parasites were signalling to each other and communicating. But we came to appreciate why the malaria parasite really needs this mechanism -- it needs to know how many other parasites are in the human to sense when is the right time to activate into sexual forms that give it the best chance of being transmitted back to the mosquito."

Malaria kills about 700,000 people a year, mostly children aged under five and pregnant women. Every year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, which is transmitted through mosquito bites. It is estimated that half the world's population is at risk of contracting malaria, with the disease being concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions including many of Australia's near neighbours.

Dr Regev-Rudzki said the malaria parasites inside red blood cells communicate by sending packages of DNA to each other during the blood stage of infection. "We showed that the parasites inside infected red blood cells can send little packets of information from one parasite to another, particularly in response to stress," she said.

The communication network is a social behaviour that has evolved to signal when the parasites should complete their lifecycle and be transmitted back to a mosquito, Dr Regev-Rudzki said. "Once they receive this information, they change their fate -- the signals tell the parasites to become sexual forms, which are the forms of the malaria parasite that can live and replicate in the mosquito, ensuring the parasites survives and is transmitted to another human."

Professor Cowman said he hopes to see the discovery pave the way to new antimalarial drugs or vaccines for preventing malaria. "This discovery has fundamentally changed our view of the malaria parasite and is a big step in understanding how the malaria parasite survives and is transmitted," he said. "The next step is to identify the molecules involved in this signalling process, and ways that we could block these communication networks to block the transmission of malaria from the human to the mosquito. That would be the ultimate goal."

This project was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Victorian Government.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/xJcSffHqZF0/130515125036.htm

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PPC Training in Kolkata ? Learn PPC Courses | Bidyut Bikash Dhar

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Judge orders new Apple vs. Samsung trial to reevaluate $450.5 million in damage awards

Samsung has tentatively been on the hook for $1.05 billion in penalties after allegedly infringing on Apple's patents, but that figure is about to change -- for better or for worse. Judge Koh has ordered a reevaluation of $450.5 million of the damages in a second trial, arguing that the jury set one damage figure per product where there were six infringement claims that had to be taken into account for each device. She also believes that Apple may be entitled to damages for sales not included in the original case. There's a chance Samsung can lower the amount it ultimately has to pay, but the extra factors and devices could easily worsen its situation. Koh hasn't set a trial date, either, but we'd like it to come soon: Apple versus Samsung is quickly becoming the battle that never ends.

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Beam me up, Yoda: Obama flubs 'Star Trek' term

President Barack Obama pause as he speaks to reporters in the White House briefing room in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2013, following a meeting with congressional leaders regarding the automatic spending cuts. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama pause as he speaks to reporters in the White House briefing room in Washington, Friday, March 1, 2013, following a meeting with congressional leaders regarding the automatic spending cuts. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? He's not a dictator and won't entertain the idea of a "Jedi mind-meld" with opponents. There's no "secret formula or special sauce" he can slip foes to make them see things his way. And not to worry, he says, the situation may look dire but won't be an "apocalypse."

So who was the guy in a suit and tie who showed up Friday in the White House briefing room, mixing metaphors and references to "Star Wars" and "Star Trek"?

"I am not a dictator. I'm the president," Barack Obama declared as he rejected the idea of using Secret Service agents to keep lawmakers from leaving until everyone agreed on a budget. He answered reporters' questions shortly after an inconclusive, 52-minute meeting with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.

"So ultimately, if (Senate Minority leader) Mitch McConnell or (House Speaker) John Boehner say, 'We need to go to catch a plane,' I can't have Secret Service block the doorway. Right?"

Even if he did bar his office ? the oval one ? Obama said he wouldn't do a "Jedi mind-meld" with Congress' top two Republicans to persuade them "to do what's right."

Yoda-quoting nerds, Beltway insiders and even Hollywood heroes were instantly abuzz. The presidential mishmash of sci-fi references went viral, turning off geeks who had considered Obama one of their own after a slip of the tongue that was almost as bad as confusing Klingons and Ewoks, or even Democrats and Republicans.

Jedi are from "Star Wars," while mind melds happened on "Star Trek."

Mister Spock of "Star Trek" weighed in.

"Only a Vulcan mind-meld would be effective on this Congress. LLAP," Leonard Nimoy emailed after The Associated Press sought his reaction. Nimoy signed off with the abbreviation for his "Live long and prosper."

Maybe it was the power of the Force or some kind of Starfleet prime directive, but the White House couldn't ignore comments like that, flashing in and out of time and space and mixed metaphors like a Tardis traveling at warp speed in social media. It later tweeted: "We must bring balance to the force," with a link to an Obama photo inside a border designed to look like outer space.

As for the situation that led Obama to the briefing room in the first place, he could have quoted Bobby McFerrin and just said: "Don't worry. Be happy."

Instead, the president went with: "This is not going to be a apocalypse."

___

AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein and Associated Press writer Caleb Jones in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-01-US-Obama-Jedi-Mindmeld/id-a9022e62e5bf4d16a0447fef3f7eb4ed

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SpaceX on verge of 3rd supply run to space station

This Jan. 12, 2013 photo provided by NASA shows the Dragon spacecraft inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. where teams had just installed the spacecraft's solar array fairings. The California company known as SpaceX is scheduled to launch its unmanned Falcon rocket on Friday morning, March 1, 2013, carrying a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments. (AP Photo/NASA, Kim Shiflett)

This Jan. 12, 2013 photo provided by NASA shows the Dragon spacecraft inside a processing hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla. where teams had just installed the spacecraft's solar array fairings. The California company known as SpaceX is scheduled to launch its unmanned Falcon rocket on Friday morning, March 1, 2013, carrying a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments. (AP Photo/NASA, Kim Shiflett)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) ? The International Space Station is about to get another commercial shipment.

The California company known as SpaceX is set to launch its unmanned Falcon rocket on Friday morning, hoisting a Dragon capsule containing more than a ton of food, tools, computer hardware and science experiments.

There won't be any ice cream, though, for the six-man station crew. The freezers going up are filled with mouse stem cells, protein crystals and other research items. On the previous Dragon delivery in October, chocolate-vanilla swirl was tucked inside.

Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 80 percent. Launch time is 10:10 a.m.

This will be the third space station visit for SpaceX, or more formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the creation of Elon Musk of PayPal and Tesla electric car-maker fame.

NASA is paying the company to supply the orbiting lab; the contract is worth $1.6 billion for 12 delivery runs.

If launched Friday, the Dragon should arrive at the space station on Saturday morning. Astronauts will use the station's robot arm to grab the Dragon and attach it to the orbiting complex.

A variety of plant life is going up, including 640 seeds of mouse-ear cress, a small flowering weed used in research. Other experiments involve paint; high school students want to see how it will adhere and dry in space.

Russia, Europe and Japan also provide delivery services to the space station, but none of those cargo craft can return goods like the SpaceX Dragon. This latest Dragon will spend more than three weeks at the space station before departing and parachuting into the Pacific with a full load of medical specimens, fish, plants and old equipment.

NASA's shuttles used to be the main haulers up and down, but retired two years ago.

SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, Calif., is working to modify its Dragon capsules to transport astronauts to the station in another few years. A handful of U.S. companies are vying for the job.

Until then, NASA is buying seats for its astronauts on Russian Soyuz rockets to get to the station.

As is his custom, Musk will monitor the launch from SpaceX Mission Control in California.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-28-Private%20Space/id-7c73f203d0b74b80a88e58204a5f37ff

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Groupon fires founder, CEO Andrew Mason

Cadie Thompson , CNBC.com ? ? ? 8 hrs.

Groupon, the struggling online daily deals pioneer, announced Thursday that it has ousted CEO Andrew Mason.

Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis were appointed to the newly created ?Office of the Chief Executive? until a replacement is found.

The announcement was made after the market closed Thursday. Groupon shares shot up to $4.90 in after-hours trade, from a close of $4.53 on the Nasdaq.

In a cheeky email to employees, Mason wrote, "After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding -- I was fired today. If you're wondering why ... you haven't been paying attention."

(Mason tweeted the email from his account. Read the full text below.)

The announcement came one day after Groupon announced a disappointing fourth quarter, prompting its stock to slide 24 percent. The fourth quarter net loss attributable to common stockholders was $81.1 million.

"On behalf of the entire Groupon Board, I want to thank Andrew for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon. As a founder, Andrew helped invent the daily deals space, leading Groupon to become one of the fastest growing companies in history," Lefkofsky said.

Rumors that Mason, 33, wasn't long for this post have been buzzing for some time as the company has struggled with growth and its stock has fallen below $5.

The company plans to hire a recruiting firm for the CEO search, a spokesman said.

The Groupon board met on Thursday and decided to replace Mason. No Groupon board members will be considered as CEO candidates, according to a person familiar with the board's deliberations.

Newly hired chief operating officer Kal Raman -- brought onboard to turn around the international operations -- is a possible candidate. However, the company is likely to favor an outside candidate who has e-commerce and global experience, said the person, who is familiar with Groupon's strategic thinking.

Arvind Bhatia, managing director at Sterne Agee, said after the dismal earnings that he still has a "buy" rating on Groupon stock.

Mason's email:

(This is for Groupon employees, but I'm posting it publicly since it will leak anyway)

People of Groupon,

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today. If you're wondering why ... you haven't been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that's hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.

You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I'm getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we've shared over the last few months, and I've never seen you working together more effectively as a global company - it's time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.

For those who are concerned about me, please don't be - I love Groupon, and I'm terribly proud of what we've created. I'm OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I'll now take some time to decompress (FYI I'm looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I'll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.

If there's one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what's best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness - don't waste the opportunity!

I will miss you terribly.

Love,

Andrew

This story includes reporting from The Associated Press and Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/groupon-fires-founder-ceo-andrew-mason-1C8623938

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Pope presides over final general audience

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Benedict XVI is preparing for his final general audience, the weekly appointment he kept with the faithful and tourists to teach them about the Catholic faith.

Some 50,000 tickets have been requested for Benedict's final master class in St. Peter's Square; thousands more people are expected to pack the main boulevard leading to the piazza to watch Wednesday's audience on giant TV screens.

On Tuesday, the Vatican said Benedict would in retirement continue to wear the white cassock of the papacy and be called "emeritus pope" or "Your Holiness," raising questions about the peculiar situation soon to confront the church: having a reigning and a retired pope, living side-by-side.

The Vatican says it foresees no problems and Benedict has said he will pray and be "hidden to the world."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-presides-over-final-general-audience-070603903.html

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How to Stop Facebook from Making Its New Notification Sounds

Recently, Facebook started rolling out a new "feature" that plays a sound every time you receive a notification. Luckily, there's an easy way to turn it off.

Facebook Chat already makes a sound whenever you receive a message, but this feature makes a sound when you receive any notification. Here's how to turn that feature off:

1. Click on the gear in the upper right-hand corner and go to Account Settings > Notifications. Alternatively, you can click here to go there directly.
2. Under "How You Get Notifications," click the "View" link next to "On Facebook."
3. Uncheck the box that says "Play a Sound When Each New Notification Is Received." Then click "Save Changes."

This has been rolling out since November, and not everyone has the feature yet. However, this setting affects Facebook Chat's notifications too, so everyone should have it. If you haven't gotten the new "feature," you can still head into the settings now and turn it off before it rolls out to you.

How to Stop Facebook From "Beeping" | Simple Help

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/AmHu6Ysoeis/how-to-stop-facebook-from-making-its-new-notification-sounds

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European Commission invests ?50 million into 5G research with a 2020 target

You're still waiting to get 4G? That's old hat: the European Commission is already thinking about 5G. It's investing €50 million ($65.3 million) into research with the hope that the next-next-generation cellular technology will be a practical reality by 2020. About €16 million ($20.9 million) of that is headed toward METIS, an Ericsson-led alliance hoping to develop wireless with 10 to 100 times the capacity, a similar increase in speed and just a fifth of the lag. Like a UK parallel, though, there's only so much technology talk the Commission can offer at this stage. The funding is as much for regional pride as progress -- officials want 5G to be a Europe-led affair after Asia and North America took center stage on 4G.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Comments

Via: The Next Web

Source: European Commission

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/26/european-commission-invests-50-million-into-5g-cellular-research/

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iTunes in the Cloud looks to be hitting parts of Europe with TV series, films

While stateside users might complain that we get all the good stuff in Europe first, Apple's iTunes in the Cloud for movies and TV shows has finally got around to rolling in to France and other parts of Europe, eons after it came out in the US. We confirmed that the new functionality works in France, which lets you buy films and TV shows from a computer, Apple TV or iOS device, then download it for free from the cloud on another. Others have reported by Twitter that it's working in Holland and Sweden as well, making it the first big move for the service since it rolled into the UK, Australia and Canada last summer. Until now, users in those nations were only able to download books, apps and music purchased in iTunes from the cloud. There's still no word from Apple about the move, however, and the list of supported countries hasn't been updated for those features -- so we'll enjoy it for now and hope Cupertino doesn't change its mind.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Apple

Comments

Via: TNW

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/itunes-in-the-cloud-hits-europe/

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Why America?s Charities Are So Uncharitable

Nastia Liukin (right) visits with Emily Crowley at Boston Children's Hospital in 2010. The charitable hospital was recently cited in a government report for its high charges despite sitting on $2.6 billion in investment assets.

Photo by Gail Oskin/Getty Images for Boston Children's Hospital

In the 2009 movie Whip It, Ellen Page plays Bliss Cavendar, a 17-year-old from Bodeen, Texas. Bliss is a social misfit yearning to break out of the constraints of small-town culture. After spotting a flier on a trip to Austin, she finds refuge in the speed, violence, and vaguely illicit appeal of Roller Derby. Skating under the name of ?Babe Ruthless,? she becomes a star, a vision of youth and purity amid the tattoos and beer-soaked sexuality of the sport. But her passion for skating quickly collides with her mother?s view of feminine propriety. Mom is horrified to discover her daughter?s love of Roller Derby and tries to bar her from the championship match.

What Bliss needed was a better strategy. She should have argued that her Roller Derby competitions were a socially sanctioned charitable activity, akin to the Red Cross or?better yet?the Junior League. Meet the Renegade Roller Girls of Bend, Ore. Like their fictitious Texas cousins, they promise violence and scantily clad action in the ?hottest show in town, with our no holds barred play,? and they display the same affection for in-rink violence. But unlike the league in the movie, they do not operate in the shadows of abandoned warehouses; instead, they are registered as a 501(c)3 organization, approved as a public charity by the Internal Revenue Service.

The Renegade Rollers are hardly alone. In 2008, the same year that the roller-skating outfit received its charitable status, the IRS approved, along with 50,000 other new charities, the applications of the All Colorado Beer Festival and the Grand Canyon Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. In fact, the IRS routinely approves more than 99.8 percent of the applications it receives for public charity status, often in very short order. In truth, starting a charity takes little more than a stamp, $400 for the filing fee, and a passing facility for filling out government forms.

There are more than 1.1 million charities in the United States, and it is perhaps not surprising that some cases slip through the crack. But the story of the Renegade Roller Girls reveals something more basic about our system for identifying what is or is not a charity. Roughly put, we don?t have one. The failure of the IRS and other regulators to act as gatekeepers has consequences that go beyond a few amusing anecdotes. There are substantial economic costs in the form of lost income tax and property tax revenue from organizations that hardly qualify as charities (as well as the deductions taken by their donors). It also means that more and more charities are competing for a finite amount of money from public and private donors, diminishing the effectiveness of real charities. And when people become aware of this problem, it?s understandable that they come away feeling that many charities are downright uncharitable.

Charitable hospitals are perhaps the best example. They are a linchpin in the American medical system, accounting for about two-thirds of all Medicare beds in this country. And while they are only about 1 percent of the country?s charities, charitable hospitals collect 43 percent of all charitable revenue, about $650 billion a year.

The phrase charity hospital may still conjure up images of scruffy floors, Jell-O-laden dinner trays, and volunteer nuns, but that isn?t the reality anymore. Charitable hospitals can be extraordinarily luxurious. Witness the Greenberg Pavilion at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, which advertises its hotel-like amenities such as Frette bed linens and original works of art. (A hospital room there can run $2,400 a night.) And they can be extraordinarily profitable, too. Leaders of charitable hospitals routinely are paid into the seven figures, even more on some occasions. In fact, charitable hospitals are far more likely to make money: 77 percent of charitable hospitals are profitable compared to 61 percent of for-profit institutions. Some are immensely profitable, such as Boston Children?s Hospital, which was recently cited in a government report for its high charges despite sitting on $2.6 billion in investment assets.

The purpose here is not to demonize charitable hospitals; they are the product of a changing business, regulatory, and health care system. Charitable hospitals are not worse than for-profit hospitals; they are, in fact, fundamentally the same. In 2006, the Congressional Budget Office compared for-profit and charitable hospitals across various critical service criteria and found only the smallest differences between them. The CBO study found the charitable hospitals to be slightly more likely to provide uncompensated and specialized services; on the other hand, for-profit hospitals were modestly more likely to provide Medicare or Medicaid services and to serve economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. It is hard to come away from the CBO study with the view that there are any significant business differences between the two, which makes the lucrative charitable tax exemption that charitable hospitals receive all the more puzzling. Illinois, for one, has tried to strip several of its charitable hospitals of their tax exemptions for just this reason.

It?s hard to understand why some organizations receive charitable status and others do not. One of our core, and fairly obvious, organizing principles is that a charity must dispense a public service rather than a private good. But many of our most prominent civic charities would struggle to meet that basic test. Tickets to symphonies, operas, and the like are often so prohibitively expensive that their primary services effectively exclude everyone but the well-off.

Private schools are perhaps an even better example, not only because they charge enormous tuition fees but also because they are of questionable social value. Average costs at prep schools exceed $10,000 a year?a figure that has skyrocketed in recent years?and can reach more than $40,000 in some cases. Not surprisingly given these costs, private school students tend to be wealthy, white, and from much better educated families than their public school peers. Nevertheless, we grant these institutions of privilege charitable and tax-exempt status, even though they unquestionably lead to greater social and economic stratification through the hollowing out of the public school system. Private schools are of course largely supported by their tuition fees, but the benefits they receive from their charitable status are substantial. Indeed, sometimes it is that very status that leads the superwealthy to make incredible gifts to some very fortunate schools. Take, for example, the $49 million Ethel Allen left the Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y., last year, or the $50 million gift by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson to support the Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas.

It may seem that changing the charitable status for private schools is unthinkable. Perhaps, but it has been tried before. In 2009, the British Charity Commission revoked the charitable charters for two private schools, finding that they provided too little in the way of financial aid to needy students. While the commission?s ruling was ultimately overturned by the courts, the commission?s position still stands for the common sense notion that charities should demonstrate a public benefit in order to maintain their charitable status. When so much of the American charitable sector seems so uncharitable, it is perhaps time we remind ourselves what a charity is really supposed to be.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=71500e841601a43cd7a3f6842eb7324c

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Oscars Red Carpet: The Best Moments You Didn't See

MTV News' memorable run-ins with Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence and other A-listers — with co-host Al Roker?
By Josh Horowitz

Kristen Stewart at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702524/oscars-2013-red-carpet-best-moments.jhtml

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Florida town remembers Trayvon Martin a year after killing

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A year after the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in this central Florida town, there is a small memorial, a new police chief and an effort to improve race relations.

Trayvon Martin, 17, was gunned down on February 26, 2012, as he walked to his father's fiancee's home in one of Sanford's gated communities. The man accused of his killing, George Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic on neighborhood watch, is set to be tried on June 10.

A judge could grant immunity to Zimmerman at a pre-trial hearing on April 29 under Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to use lethal force in self defense if they are in fear of serious bodily harm.

Martin's death drew top-tier civil rights leaders, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who brought a national spotlight to this town just north of Orlando and not far from Disney World.

That spotlight forced the town of 53,000 to confront police work that seemed to be a throwback to the days of separate and resolutely unequal racial sensibilities.

"This situation, with all eyes on Sanford is making them (city leaders) do something about it now," said Cindy Philemon, 49, who helps run the local black heritage museum and welcome center.

A year later Martin's family says it does not want the case considered in racial terms. "We don't want people to see this as a black kid. I want people to see this as a teenager ... who was walking, minding his own business," Martin's mother, Sabrina Fulton, told the NPR radio show "Tell Me More" on Monday night.

Despite the pain of losing her son, Fulton said she was glad that a debate had opened up about Florida's Stand Your Ground law.

The family is backing an amendment to the law seeking to restrict its application. "You can't follow, pursue and chase anyone, be the aggressor, have a confrontation with him, shoot and kill him, and then go home to your bed and nothing happens," she said.

During the weekend, volunteers in the black community hastily worked to complete a modest memorial of stuffed animals, cards and crosses in time to remember the first anniversary of Martin's shooting. It has also become a way for Sanford to remember the many other black victims of violence whose stories largely went untold.

City Manager Norton Bonaparte, who is black, said Sanford had begun to tackle deep-seated problems between police and the black community that were exposed in public forums after Martin's death.

"In honoring Trayvon's life, we have to make ourselves a better community," Bonaparte said.

The police chief at the time of Martin's shooting lost his job over criticism that his department and prosecutors chose not to charge or arrest Zimmerman.

The new chief starts his job in April.

"Now, it's like the police are getting more involved in being with the community," Philemon said. "They are starting to do their part in interacting with us. They say there is not as many shootings as there once was."

Another resident, Thelma Holmes, 62, agreed saying, "It is better than what it was before, because we had a lot of killings of young men ... The people and the police, they're both trying."

Trayvon's death will not be forgotten.

"It started people to come forward. So his death is not going to be in vain," Philemon said. "And he will always be remembered."

Martin's parents and lawyers will be in New York City, not Sanford, to hold a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night.

Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder, was granted bond and ordered to surrender his passport, agree to be electronically monitored, reside in Seminole County, and observe a nighttime curfew.

(Editing by David Adams, Leslie Gevirtz and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/florida-town-remembers-trayvon-martin-killing-034053549.html

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Sony?s New a58 DSLT Camera Features People And Object Autofocus Tracking, Selective Digital Noise Reduction

Sony today announced a new entry-priced DSLT (Digital Single Lens Translucent) camera, the a58, priced at $600 bundled with a newly designed 18-55mm zoom kit lens, and coming to retail in April this year. The a58 pushes the needle forward for Sony's DSLR-style interchangeable lens line, with a nice hop-on point for the company's Translucent Mirror tech for consumers looking to get into more pro-style gear.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/XZ-Bh1gzWq8/

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