Syracuse on to Final Four, beats Marquette 55-39

Syracuse forward James Southerland (43) lands on Marquette guard Junior Cadougan (5) as Syracuse center Baye Keita (12) looks for the rebound during the second half of the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse forward James Southerland (43) lands on Marquette guard Junior Cadougan (5) as Syracuse center Baye Keita (12) looks for the rebound during the second half of the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse forward C.J. Fair (5) falls on Marquette guard Junior Cadougan (5) during the first half of the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse forward C.J. Fair (5) cuts down the net following their 55-39 win over Marquette in the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Marquette forward Steve Taylor Jr., (25) and Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams (1) reach for a loose ball during the first half of the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Syracuse guard Brandon Triche (20) heads towards the basket as Marquette guard Vander Blue (13) watches during the first half of the East Regional final in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 30, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Jim Boeheim calls this year's Syracuse team his best defensive group ever. Hard to argue, based on the suffocating performances that put the Orange in the Final Four.

Using its trapping, shot-challenging 2-3 zone to perfect effect for 40 minutes, No. 4-seeded Syracuse shut down No. 3 Marquette 55-39 in the East Regional final Saturday to earn Boeheim his first trip to the national semis since a freshman named Carmelo Anthony helped win the 2003 NCAA title.

"It's a great thing," Boeheim joked afterward. "We go once every 10 years."

Fittingly, a matchup between schools from the soon-to-break-apart, rough-and-tumble Big East became quite a struggle on the offensive end. Syracuse (30-9) was led by senior forward James Southerland's 16 points. Michael Carter-Williams, a 6-foot-6 guard who is out front in the zone, was named the regional's top player after having 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists Saturday.

Marquette (26-9) hadn't scored fewer than 47 points all season ? and, indeed, put up 74 in a victory over Syracuse on Feb. 25. But this time, Marquette kept turning the ball over, seeing its shots blocked or just plain missing.

"They beat us from start to finish. We collectively tried everything we knew to try," Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. "It is the zone, and it is the players in the zone."

Much like what happened Thursday in the regional semifinals, when Syracuse knocked off top-seeded Indiana by limiting it to a season-low output, too.

"I don't think we've played as good defensively as these last two games," senior guard Brandon Triche said. "We held some good teams down."

All told, Marquette made only 12 of 53 shots ? 23 percent ? and was 3 for 24 on 3-pointers. Vander Blue, who carried Marquette to the round of eight, was held to 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting. The Golden Eagles' 39 points were a record low for a team in an NCAA tournament regional final since the shot clock was introduced in 1986.

"They cover ground really good. You've got to get the ball in the middle, you've got to play inside out, you've got to get to the free throw line and wear them down with the 3-pointer when you can," Blue said. "They're really good at what they do in that zone."

In the national semifinals at Atlanta next week, Syracuse will face the winner of Sunday's South Regional final between Florida and Michigan.

Last season, Syracuse fell a victory short of the Final Four, losing to Ohio State in the round of eight.

"We wanted to get over the hump," Southerland said. "That's what I told the guys: We've still got two more to go."

The Big East is transforming radically before next season. Syracuse is heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Marquette is one of seven basketball-centric schools departing the conference to form a new league that is taking the Big East name with it.

But talk about a last hurrah.

Not only is Syracuse on its way to the Final Four, but the league also could have a second representative because Louisville is in the Midwest Regional final Sunday against Duke.

In this very same building, exactly three weeks ago, Syracuse wrapped up its final Big East regular-season schedule with a bad-as-can-be performance in a lopsided loss to Georgetown, scoring 39 points ? the Orange's tiniest total in a half-century.

Thanking fans after Saturday's victory, Boeheim said: "I'm sure some of you were here, three weeks ago today, when it didn't turn out so good."

That was Syracuse's fourth loss in a span of five games, a stumbling way to head into tournament play. Since then, though, Boeheim's team has won seven of eight games.

"When you bounce back like that, that says a lot about your kids, your team and your character," Boeheim said. "This is a heck of a bounce back."

And the secret to success? Defense, naturally.

"We got the right personnel for each key position," C.J. Fair said. "We got big long guards, we got big long forwards that can cover ground and our centers do a good job holding down the inside."

Syracuse really needed only one run on offense in the second half, making five shots in a row during a spurt that gave it a 41-28 lead with 9? minutes left.

With President Barack Obama ? a basketball enthusiast who picked Indiana to win the title ? and NFL Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins sitting in the crowd, Syracuse harassed Marquette into missing 14 of its first 15 tries from beyond the 3-point arc.

Marquette started 1 for 10 overall on field-goal tries, with Blue's 3-pointer about 1? minutes in the only make. He celebrated as though it came at the end of the game, not the outset, punching the air and tapping defender Triche on the back while heading to the other end of the court.

After Blue's 3, Marquette missed its next seven shots.

Davante Gardner ended that drought by scoring inside. Still, four of Marquette's next five possessions ended with turnovers: Gardner couldn't handle a teammate's pass, and the ball bounced off his face; Blue was called for traveling; Fair drew a charge from Blue; Junior Cadougan lost control of his dribble on a wild foray into the lane with the shot clock expiring.

That was part of a stretch ? disappointing for Marquette, delightful for Syracuse ? in which the Golden Eagles went nearly 6? minutes without a single field-goal attempt. Forget about putting the basketball through the net; Syracuse was so smothering, Marquette did not even manage to shoot.

That helped Syracuse build a 19-7 lead.

Enter Gardner, a 290-pound reserve forward.

He scored a career-high 26 points in Marquette's February victory over Syracuse, and he went right to work Saturday.

A 7-minute gap between baskets for Marquette was snapped by Gardner, who grabbed the rebound of his own missed free throw and sank a jumper, beginning a bunch of highlights for him.

Another jumper was followed by a defensive rebound, then an assist on Chris Otule's bucket. Gardner high-stepped back down the court, yelling and punching a fist, before chest-bumping Otule.

It was part of a run in which Marquette cut its deficit to 21-18 on yet another jumper in the lane by Gardner.

The thing is, the Golden Eagles can play defense, too ? what Big East team can't? ? and the teams combined for four turnovers, two blocks and 3-for-16 shooting in the early minutes. For the first half, Marquette shot 27 percent ? take away Gardner's 4 for 5, and his teammates were under 15 percent ? while Syracuse was at 36 percent.

Indeed, as Gardner almost single-handedly got his team back in the game with half of Marquette's initial 18 points, Syracuse went through an 0-for-6 blip.

But Southerland hit a 3, off a pass and screen by Carter-Williams, to put the Orange ahead 24-18 at halftime.

After helping cut down the net to celebrate Saturday, Southerland was asked whether he thought this sort of thing was possible when his team was leaving the same arena on March 9 after losing meekly to Georgetown.

"We just did a good job of recovering from that," Southerland explained, "and not sulking."

___

Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-30-BKC-NCAA-Syracuse-Marquette/id-fc181dca6c1e474a9a102111a6435831

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Business, labor close on deal for immigration bill

FILE - In this May 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday, March 29, 2013 to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. Schumer, who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this May 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday, March 29, 2013 to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. Schumer, who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Several southwest Michigan pastors along with immigrant families and members of the general public take part in a pray-in for immigration reform event outside of Representative Fred Upton's office in downtown Kalamazoo on Friday, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Matt Gade ) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

Several southwest Michigan pastors along with immigrant families and members of the general public take part in a pray-in for immigration reform event outside of Representative Fred Upton's office in downtown Kalamazoo on Friday, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Matt Gade ) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Prospects for a Senate deal on an ambitious rewrite of the nation's immigration laws improved markedly as business and labor appeared ready to set aside their differences over a new low-skilled worker program holding up the agreement.

The AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce had been fighting over wages for tens of thousands of low-skilled workers who would be brought in under the new program to fill jobs in construction, hotels and resorts, nursing homes and restaurants, and other industries. But on Friday, officials from both sides said there was basic agreement on the wage issue, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said a final deal on the low-wage worker dispute was very close.

That likely would clear the way for Schumer and seven other senators in a bipartisan group to unveil legislation the week of April 8 to overhaul the U.S. immigration system ? strengthening the border, cracking down on employers, allowing in tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers and providing a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

"We're feeling very optimistic on immigration: Aspiring Americans will receive the road map to citizenship they deserve and we can modernize 'future flow' without reducing wages for any local workers, regardless of what papers they carry," AFL-CIO spokesman Jeff Hauser said in a statement. "Future flow" refers to future arrivals of legal immigrants.

Under the emerging agreement between business and labor, a new "W'' visa program would bring tens of thousands of lower-skilled workers a year to the country. The program would be capped at 200,000 a year, but the number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and data collected by a new federal bureau pushed by the labor movement as an objective monitor of the market.

The workers would be able to change jobs and could seek permanent residency. Under current temporary worker programs, personnel can't move from employer to employer and have no path to permanent U.S. residence and citizenship. And currently there's no good way for employers to bring many low-skilled workers to the U.S. An existing visa program for low-wage nonagricultural workers is capped at 66,000 per year and is supposed to apply only to seasonal or temporary jobs.

The Chamber of Commerce said workers would earn actual wages paid to American workers or the prevailing wages for the industry they're working in, whichever is higher. The Labor Department determines prevailing wage based on customary rates in specific localities, so that it varies from city to city.

There was also disagreement about how to deal with certain higher-skilled construction jobs, such as electricians and welders, and it appears those will be excluded from the deal, said Geoff Burr, vice president of federal affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors. Burr said his group opposes such an exclusion because, even though unemployment in the construction industry is high right now, at times when it is low there can be labor shortages in high-skilled trades, and contractors want to be able to bring in foreign workers. But unions pressed for the exclusion, Burr said.

The low-skilled worker issue had loomed for weeks as perhaps the toughest matter to settle in monthslong closed-door talks on immigration among the senators, including Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida. The issue helped sink the last major attempt at immigration overhaul in 2007, when the legislation foundered on the Senate floor after an amendment was added to end a temporary worker program after five years, threatening a key priority of the business community.

The amendment passed by just one vote, 49-48. President Barack Obama, a senator at the time, joined in the narrow majority voting to end the program after five years.

___

Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-30-Immigration/id-a3fadbb327c54553995beec5214f28fb

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North Korea says to enter "state of war" against South Korea: KCNA

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in a continuing escalation of tough rhetoric against Seoul and Washington after coming under international sanctions for its nuclear test.

"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency said.

KCNA said the statement was issued jointly by the North's government, ruling party and other organizations.

North Korea has been threatening to attack the South and U.S. military bases almost on a daily basis since the beginning of March, when U.S. and South Korean militaries started routine drills, and has ordered its armed forces on the highest alert.

But the impoverished state has kept a joint industrial zone that is the source of hard currency where hundreds of South Korean workers and vehicles cross enter daily after crossing the rival Koreas' heavily armed border.

Few believe North Korea will risk starting a full-out war.

The two Koreas have been in a technical state of war because their 1950-53 conflict ended under an armistice and not a peace treaty, although Pyongyang earlier in March declared the truce no longer valid.

(Reporting by Sung-won Shim; Editing by Jack Kim)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-says-enter-state-war-against-south-001304441.html

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HP Pocket Playlist

The HP Pocket Playlist ($129 direct) is a 32GB flash drive that can be used to carry extra media files that won't fit on your phone or tablet. Whether it's because you bought the cheaper 8GB phone, or that your 64GB of stoarage space is already filled up, The Pocket Playlist is can hold movies, music, and photos that can be shared with a half-dozen friends simultaneously. All in all it's not bad if all you need is a pocket full of Marvel comic book movies, but you'll probably get a better bang for the buck from a hard drive-equipped media drive.

Design and Features
The Pocket Playlist is about the size of a mid-tier smartphone, measuring 0.35 by 2.5 by 4.75 inches (HWD), and it looks like one too, albeit one without a screen. Its casing is made of glossy black polycarbonate, with three physical switches and buttons on one edge, and two LED indicators for power and Wi-Fi status. It only weighs 2.24 ounces, so it will slip easily into your jeans pocket and not weigh it down too much. Last but not least, there's a micro-USB port on the bottom of the drive, for charging and transferring your content. The Pocket Playlist is similar in size to the Kingston Wi-Drive ($129.99): both are flash storage-based wireless drives. The Pocket Playlist comes with both an AC adapter and a car charger to keep the internal battery topped up.

The Pocket Playlist comes with an installer CD, which puts a copy of Arcsoft Media Converter on your PC. You can then use Media Converter to transcode media files like videos so they will play on your mobile devices. The program has presets for iOS devices, as well as generic settings for Android phones and tablets. If your files are in iTunes or another media library they most likely are already in the correct format. Copying files to the Pocket Playlist is a simple drag-and-drop affair, open the drive in Windows Explorer or in Mac OS Finder and copy stuff over manually via USB or wirelessly (more on that below). The drive is formatted FAT32, so it will work with both Mac OS and Windows out of the box. However, since the drive is FAT32, you're limited to a 4GB file size. Other wireless media drives like the Editors' Choice for wireless media drives Seagate Wireless Plus ($199.99) come formatted NTFS to allow for larger files. The Seagate comes with an NTFS utility for Macs, so Mac users aren't in a bind there. Seagate also packs in a media sync utility, so you don't have to search your computer for media files to put on your wireless drive.

To get the files over, you need to either connect the drive physically via USB or use the drive's built-in Wi-Fi router to connect to its built-in network. Wi-Fi is obviously slower, but is usable out in the field when you don't have the USB cable handy. One nit to pick is the physical switch that denotes operation via USB or Wi-Fi. If you put the drive in your bag and the switch is in the wrong position, you'll have to take it back out to use the drive over Wi-Fi. Drives like this should be intelligent enough to know which connection is active.

If you are using a portable or permanent hotspot, you can set the Pocket Playlist to pass Internet traffic through. Essentially, this means that the Pocket Playlist is connected to the hotspot and you phones and tablets are hooked to the Pocket Playlist. It's a good workaround that lets you still connect to the Internet while sharing the files on the drive. If you're in the middle of nowhere with no Internet signal, you can still serve the files locally to your devices.

A plus in favor of the Pocket Playlist is the drive's self-cataloging. You can drop files several folders deep on the drive, and the built-in file server will pick them out and display them in categories (movies, photos, music) on the Pocket Playlist's Android or iOS app. This is a better way to navigate your media files, and much better than the method on the Corsair Voyager Air ($219.99), which requires you to manually dig and find files in individual folders strewn about the drive.

The HP Pocket Playlist is a lightweight wireless media drive for people that need just a bit more storage for their smartphones and tablets. It can be used while travelling, or to share a media among a small group of people in an office or coffee shop. It's not bad, but there are better solutions like the Editors' Choice Seagate Wireless Plus that gives you a full Terabyte of storage and much better file management.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP Pocket Playlist with several other hard drive side by side.

More hard drive reviews:
??? HP Pocket Playlist
??? Corsair Voyager Air
??? Seagate Wireless Plus
??? Apricorn Aegis Bio 3.0
??? Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S3D7
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/c6NbZIAZ_CM/0,2817,2417221,00.asp

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'Dangerous dog' concerns in Center Point after deputy shoots pit bull ...

CENTER POINT, Alabama -- Although a city ordinance bans pit bulls and other "dangerous dogs" inside city limits, recent incidents have raised concerns about the animals.

Mary Margaret Hampton on Thursday told city council members three pit bulls belonging to a neighbor entered her yard twice since January, killing her Siamese cat and a Chihuahua puppy.

"They tried to attack me," Hampton said. "They tore the gate off the porch and tried to get into my house."

On Wednesday, a Jefferson County deputy sheriff shot a pit bull that lunged at him in Center Point. The dog was one of three that chased a woman into her house, said Chief Deputy Randy Christian. Another of the dogs was captured.

After Hampton's cat was killed, the neighbor's dogs were quarantined and the owners were told they had a week to get rid of the animals or a citation would be issued, a deputy told city officials Thursday night. Despite the warning, the animals were later brought back.

Mayor Tom Henderson said that happens all too often.

"Write them a citation right then. They're illegal period," Henderson said.

Other city officials agreed.

"You have to issue the citation to get the court process started," said Council President Roger Barlow.

Council member Linda Kennemur, chairwoman of the public safety committee, said the issue would be a good topic of discussion for the next community watch meeting, being held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The city Council in 2008 passed what it calls a "dangerous dog ordinance" that outlaws the keeping of pit bulls and any dogs "with a propensity, tendency or disposition to attack unprovoked" or any dog that is aggressive by nature.

Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/03/dangerous_dog_concerns_in_cent.html

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North Carolina Eliminates Latino Outreach Office (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Bungie shows off 'Destiny' characters on video

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 19 hrs.

"Halo" creator Bungie has been sparing with details on the gameplay of its next big project, "Destiny," but liberal with concept art. The veil was lifted a little further Friday with the release of a video showing characters making the jump from concept to in-game model.

The video was shown at Bungie's panel at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. While it doesn't contain any actual gameplay, there's plenty of info to be extracted from the character models and animations.

For instance, the "Cabal" fighters are heavily armored and likely fill the role of tank. The three classes shown at the end ? Titan, Warlock, and Hunter ? fit neatly into the "warrior, wizard, rogue" archetypes already in place in thousands of games.

Sharp-eyed viewers will identify several influences, from "Warhammer 40K" and "Star Wars" to manga like "Appleseed" to, of course, Bungie's previous games. A batch of concept art was also released, which Kotaku has kindly collected here.

More substantial information about the game itself will likely be given out at E3 in June.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a254d92/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cingame0Cbungie0Eshows0Edestiny0Echaracters0Evideo0E1C9145348/story01.htm

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Anxiety ahead of Supreme Court judgment in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Kenya is on edge awaiting the Supreme Court decision Saturday on whether it will uphold or invalidate the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as president, a potential flashpoint for unrest.

Kenyatta won by a hair in the March 4 election, with 50.07 percent of the vote, breaking the 50 percent mark by about 8,000 votes out of 12.3 million cast. His top rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, said Kenyatta won fraudulently and filed a petition with the court two weeks ago.

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga said that the six justices, including him, have a daunting task in making the decision.

Closing arguments presented Friday focused on a report released by the court that found discrepancies in partial recounts from five of 22 polling stations. The report said discrepancies for the presidential elections were also found in 75 other stations.

Lawyer George Oraro, representing Odinga, urged the court to cancel results from those areas that showed problems.

Kethi D. Kilonzo, representing the civil society group Africa Center for Open Governance, said the audit proved their petition against Kenyatta's election.

The electoral commission's lawyer, Nani Mungai, said there was no mischief behind what he called "clerical errors." And Fred Ngatia, who is representing Kenyatta, said the vote tallying was carried out with a tremendous amount of accuracy.

Disputes over a flawed 2007 election sparked months of ethnic violence that killed more than 1,000 people in Kenya.

Despite vicious online fights between supporters of Kenyatta and Odinga on Facebook and Twitter, the East African country has, for the most part, remained at peace during this latest election period.

However, the Supreme Court decision may change that, depending largely on whether Odinga accepts the court's decision, if it rules against him.

"People are eagerly awaiting the decision in their own calmness," said Bob Mkangi, a legal consultant. "There are people who are talking about it wherever you go in the bar in the streets in the supermarkets. Everyone in the country is captivated by this moment. It is a historic moment for Kenya. It is the first petition initiated under the new constitution."

Kenya adopted a new constitution in 2010 as part of reforms to prevent a recurrence of the postelection violence in 2007. The constitution formed the Supreme Court and scheduled reforms for the rest of the judiciary which was seen as corrupt and lacking independence.

In 2007, Odinga refused to go to the courts for arbitration and took his protests to the streets over the flawed election in which President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner. The street protests degenerated into tribe on tribe violence, where communities settled old scores over land and resources.

The Supreme Court's formation and the newfound trust Kenyans have in the judiciary is frequently cited as one of the reasons Kenya's contentious election this year has not yet sparked any violence.

Millions turned out for election day on March 4, forming long winding lines that took hours to move.

Many had expected a low registration of voters because of apathy following the 2007-08 violence, but hyped up campaigns by Kenyatta, Odinga and other presidential candidates led to the highest registration in the country ever. Kenya's electoral commission registered 14.3 million people.

Election day, though, did not go as planned. An electronic voter ID system intended to prevent fraud failed for reasons yet to be explained by the electoral commission. Vote officials instead used manual voter rolls.

After the polls closed, results were to be sent electronically to Nairobi, where officials would quickly tabulate a preliminary vote count in order to maximize transparency after rigging accusations following the 2007 vote. But that system failed, too. Election officials have indicated that computer servers overloaded but have yet to fully explain the problem.

As the early count system was still being used, election results showed more than 330,000 rejected ballots, an unusually high number. But after the count resumed with the arrival in Nairobi of manual tallies, the number of rejected ballots was greatly reduced, and the election commission said the computer was mistakenly multiplying the number of rejected ballots by a factor of eight.

Odinga's lawyers told the Supreme Court this week that the switch from electronic voter identification to manual voter roll was stage managed to allow inflation of Kenyatta's votes to take him past the 50 percent threshold. That accusation has been vehemently denied by the electoral commission and Kenyatta's legal team.

If the court upholds Kenyatta's win, he will become the second sitting president in Africa to face charges at the International Criminal Court. He and Deputy President-elect William Ruto both face charges related to having helped orchestrate the 2007-08 postelection violence. Both deny the charges. Ruto's trial begins in late May; Kenyatta's begins in July. Kenyatta has promised to report to The Hague.

Because of a vacancy, Kenya's Supreme Court currently has six justices on it, which leaves open the possibility of a split decision

In the case where there is a tie then the declaration by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission that Kenyatta won will stand, legal consultant Mkangi said. The next stage will be planning for the swearing in ceremony.

"Save for any outright violation of the constitution and the law we are obligated to accept the decision that it (Supreme Court) makes," he said. "Never will we have decisions that please everyone. We might not necessarily agree with the decision but must accept the decision."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/anxiety-ahead-supreme-court-judgment-kenya-151306898.html

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Children with sleep apnea have higher risk of behavioral, adaptive and learning problems

Mar. 29, 2013 ? A new study found that obstructive sleep apnea, a common form of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), is associated with increased rates of ADHD-like behavioral problems in children as well as other adaptive and learning problems.

"This study provides some helpful information for medical professionals consulting with parents about treatment options for children with SDB that, although it may remit, there are considerable behavioral risks associated with continued SDB," said Michelle Perfect, PhD, the study's lead author and assistant professor in the school psychology program in the department of disability and psychoeducational studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "School personnel should also consider the possibility that SDB contributes to difficulties with hyperactivity, learning and behavioral and emotional dysregulation in the classroom."

The five-year study, which appears in the April issue of the journal SLEEP, utilized data from a longitudinal cohort, the Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea Study (TuCASA). The TuCASA study prospectively examined Hispanic and Caucasian children between 6 and 11 years of age to determine the prevalence and incidence of SDB and its effects on neurobehavioral functioning. The study involved 263 children who completed an overnight sleep study and a neurobehavioral battery of assessments that included parent and youth reported rating scales.

Results show that 23 children had incident sleep apnea that developed during the study period, and 21 children had persistent sleep apnea throughout the entire study. Another 41 children who initially had sleep apnea no longer had breathing problems during sleep at the five-year follow-up.

The odds of having behavioral problems were four to five times higher in children with incident sleep apnea and six times higher in children who had persistent sleep apnea. Compared to youth who never had SDB, children with sleep apnea were more likely to have parent-reported problems in the areas of hyperactivity, attention, disruptive behaviors, communication, social competency and self-care. Children with persistent sleep apnea also were seven times more likely to have parent-reported learning problems and three times more likely to have school grades of C or lower.

The authors report that this is the first sleep-related study to use a standardized questionnaire to assess adaptive functioning in typically developing youth with and without SDB.

"Even though SDB appears to decline into adolescence, taking a wait and see approach is risky and families and clinicians alike should identify potential treatments," said Perfect.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

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Journal Reference:

1. Michelle M. Perfect, Kristen Archbold, James L. Goodwin, Deborah Levine-Donnerstein, Stuart F. Quan. Risk of Behavioral and Adaptive Functioning Difficulties in Youth with Previous and Current Sleep Disordered Breathing. SLEEP, 2013; DOI: 10.5665/sleep.2536

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/ixobQhrv17k/130329161243.htm

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Buster Posey gets $167M, 9-year deal from Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? At age 26, Buster Posey can envision one day retiring with the San Francisco Giants.

For now, he is their new franchise man.

The Giants rewarded the NL MVP and batting champion catcher with a $167 million, nine-year contract Friday, a deal that includes a club option for 2022 that could raise the value to $186 million over a decade.

"It's hard to put into words what I feel right now, just an incredible feeling know that for the next nine years I'll be a part of this very storied franchise," Posey said. "I'm incredibly humbled to know I'll be a part of that."

He came to the plate Friday night to rousing cheers from the sellout crowd of 42,808 and led off the second inning against Oakland's A. J. Griffin with a single to left. Posey finished 2 for 4 in the 3-1 win.

"That's just great, he's the face of the franchise," pitcher Barry Zito said. "He's the captain of this team as young as he is. That's a huge nod from ownership, from the Giants, to say, 'Pose, you're our guy and we're going to go on with you.'"

Posey had been due to make $8 million this year. He instead gets a $7 million signing bonus, with $5 million payable Oct. 15 and the remainder Jan. 15, and his 2013 salary is reduced to $3 million.

He will make $10.5 million in 2014, $16.5 million in 2015, $20 million in 2016 and $21.4 million in each of the following five seasons. The Giants' option is for $22 million with a $3 million buyout.

"Obviously this is a big day for the Giants and a big day in Giants history," CEO Larry Baer said. "By any measure the largest and boldest commitment we've ever made to a player, and obviously that's a big deal. We don't make these kinds of commitments lightly. ... In order to make a commitment like this we have to look at other measures, too, and look at the person. A nine-year commitment sounds like a lot but it wasn't scary to us when you look at Buster the person."

Posey's agreement includes a full no-trade clause and is the longest for a catcher and the largest in Giants history, surpassing Matt Cain's $127.5 million, six-year contract signed before the start of last season.

In addition, the deal is a record guarantee for a player with fewer than three years of major league service time ? more than doubling the $80 million, seven-year contract Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez received before the 2011 season. It also is a record guarantee for a player with fewer than four years of service time, topping the $151.45 million over 11 years Colorado's Todd Helton was assured in March 2001.

"I don't know if we had a mountain to climb but we had a hill to climb to try to get on the same page," general manager Brian Sabean said. "If he's not the face of the franchise, he's certainly a player that comes around either once every baseball life or not that often."

The Giants captured their second championship in three years behind the play of the All-Star, who won the NL batting title and MVP award after missing most of 2011 following season-ending left leg and ankle injuries.

Posey knows that there will be times things don't go as well as they have so far for him with a World Series and Rookie of the Year award in 2010 followed by another title and season of honors last year.

"You get kind of spoiled when you win the World Series in your first year," he said. "I can't see how you can play here and not want to spend your career here."

Posey received his deal a day after the Giants gave Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy contract extensions through 2016.

Posey batted .336 with 24 homers and 103 RBIs while playing 148 games for the NL West champions, including 111 starts at catcher and 29 at first base. During the Giants' 2010 and '12 championship runs, Posey has hit a combined .244 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

Two of those homers and five RBIs came in last year's NL division series against the Reds, when San Francisco became the first team in big league history to rally from a 2-0 deficit to win a five-game series with three straight road victories.

"We've got a group of guys who are not going to rest on what we've accomplished so far," Posey said. "Nine years is a long time. It's exciting. I enjoy the challenge of trying to get better. I enjoy the ups and downs that baseball brings."

On May 25, 2011, Posey tore three ligaments in his left ankle and broke a bone in his lower leg in a devastating collision at the plate with Scott Cousins, then with the Marlins.

Posey received his nice payday two days after turning 26. He will donate $50,000 per year to Giants charities.

He could wind up playing his entire career in the Bay Area ? and the Giants certainly hope that will be the case. The club posted a photo on its Twitter account Friday of Posey, Baer, Sabean, vice president and assistant general manager Bobby Evans and Bochy ? with the hashtag "SFG4Life."

"It's truly one of the great days for Giants fans," Baer said. "Our fans will be very privileged to watch Buster for the foreseeable future, and ideally Buster will be wearing a Giants uniform for the entirety of his career, which is our goal."

Posey is represented by the same agency that negotiated Cain's deal last year, and both sides were eager to do something again this year to provide long-term security for the catcher.

"We're extremely pleased to reach an agreement that keeps Buster in a Giants uniform for a long time," agent Jeff Berry of CAA Baseball said. "Buster and the Giants have brought each other mutual success, and this contract reflects Buster's extraordinary accomplishments in just three years in the major leagues."

The contract includes the following bonuses: $100,000 for NL MVP, $100,000 for World Series MVP, $75,000 for NL championship series MVP, $50,000 for a Gold Glove, $50,000 for All-Star game election, $25,000 for All-Star selection and $50,000 for a Silver Slugger.

In 2010, Posey wasn't even called up from Triple-A Fresno until late May but still batted .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in 108 games to help the Giants capture their first NL West crown since 2003.

Even with the injury, Posey plans to catch for as long as his body allows it.

"My passion is to be behind the plate for as long as I can," he said. "For anyone who's caught, it's a special position you can't describe until you get back there."

Yet he did once play all nine positions in one game during college.

San Francisco gave him $6.2 million when he signed in August 2008 as the fifth overall pick out of Florida State, the richest deal for an amateur joining the Giants.

For Evans in his negotiations, there weren't many players to use as a gauge for having so many accomplishments in such a short career. The Giants entered talks with the idea they would find a way to sign Posey for the long haul.

"The organization will be better off for it each day he's in our uniform," Sabean said.

___

AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/buster-posey-gets-167m-9-deal-giants-193222348--mlb.html

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Here Are Some Great Ideas For Your Home Improvement Project ...

You can benefit yourself and your family by doing some home improvements. The best way to ensure success, however, is to thoroughly educate yourself on the best techniques for your particular project. The tips that you are about to read can help you to make good choices about your home improvement.

If you are not able to get a designer, you can do it yourself. The Internet, library, home improvement store and bookstores are great tools for increasing your knowledge. One layout in a magazine can be your inspiration for what you want your home to look like. These resources can also provide information for less expensive projects that you can do on your own.

Your home will be more valuable with refinished hardwood floors. While putting a new finish on your floor is a large project, it isn?t really that difficult. Many hardware stores offer instructional courses and allow you to rent needed equipment. The cost will be cheaper when you do it yourself.

If you?d like to get your garage organized, purchase a few clear plastic storage containers and start sorting items by type and frequency of use. Label these boxes and ensure they?re stackable. This is a cost effective way of cleaning out your garage, as well as keeping rodents and bugs away from your things.

TIP! If you?re looking for decor, solar lights are a good option. If strong lighting is what you require for a pathway, you probably need electric lights.

You can make your home safer and more attractive by simply replacing exterior doorknobs. You can do this simple project within an hour. A screwdriver is the most complex tool you require. You can buy nice doorknobs at the local home improvement center.

Choose granite tiles rather than granite slab. Good quality granite slabs can cost thousands of dollars. By using granite tiles, you can achieve the same pleasing look with just a few hundred dollars. You can take the money you saved and apply it to another project if you want.

Home improvements can be a lot of fun when you do it yourself. Keep a positive attitude, and make sure you take the time to enjoy the job. Take before and after photos to show your friends and family what you did as the job progressed and feel the pride of doing it yourself.

TIP! If you are extensively renovating your kitchen, it?s smart to get a spot set up that you can use as a workshift ?kitchen? for a while. You might be without your kitchen for several weeks; if you have a small space set aside with a microwave and fridge you can continue preparing meals and avoid eating too much take-out food.

You should always keep your air conditioner filter changed. If the filter is dirty or clogged, your AC unity will have to compensate by working harder and using more power. This could lead to longer than necessary running time and costs. To prevent a buildup of dust and debris, change the AC or furnace filter monthly.

It can be beneficial to work on home improvements. The trick to getting what you want from the experience is to learn all you can about your projects. If you use the tips in this piece, you are sure to get the right kind of start.

Source: http://kitchenremodelingmichigan.com/home-improvement/here-are-some-great-ideas-for-your-home-improvement-project/

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bally technologies' laura olson-reyes named a 2012 ?great women ...

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LAS VEGAS, March 27, 2013 ?Bally Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BYI), a leader in slots, video machines, casino-management, interactive applications, and networked and server-based systems for the global gaming industry, today announced that Senior Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications Laura Olson-Reyes earned a 2012 Great Women of Gaming ?Proven Leader? award.

Bally Technologies Senior Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications Laura Olson-Reyes

The annual awards, presented by Casino Enterprise Management magazine, honor the brightest women in the gaming industry from around the world. The ?Proven Leader? category honors leaders who have worked in the gaming industry for a minimum of 10 years.

?I appreciate the confidence and support of my company for nominating me for this distinguished honor,? Olson-Reyes said. ?The Bally leadership team provides many opportunities for women to learn, enjoy challenging work, and advance into levels of greater responsibility ? and for that I am extremely grateful.?

Winners of the award were recognized for demonstrating exceptional achievement in at least three of five areas: Ability to go above and beyond job responsibilities; commitment to company and co-workers; contributions to the industry as a whole; commitment to mentoring; and strong overall life balance.

?Laura shows her professional strengths daily, mentors employees internally, and has the creativity and ability to see beyond the moment,? said Vice President of Corporate Marketing Dan Savage. ?The professionalism and passion Laura demonstrates for her work is also felt in her community. She was instrumental in forging a partnership between Bally and the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.?

Olson-Reyes joined Bally Technologies in 2007 as Director of Corporate Communications and was promoted to Senior Director, Corporate Marketing & Communications in 2012. She has more than 20 years of gaming experience.

In addition to director-level roles with non-gaming companies SellingSource.com and ACCEPTx, Olson-Reyes served nearly five years with Aristocrat Technologies, Inc. as Senior Manager ? Communications, and eight years as Corporate Communications Manager at Anchor Gaming and its Powerhouse Technologies subsidiaries Automated Wagering International, Inc. (AWI), Video Lottery Consultants (VLC), and United Tote Company.

Olson-Reyes also has experience working in Marketing for casino operators Harrah?s Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) and Stratosphere Hotel Casino & Tower. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Print Journalism from the University of Montana.

An in-depth article featuring profiles of this year?s award winners will be featured in the May 2013 issue of Casino Enterprise Management magazine. The winners will also receive a prestigious crystal Great Women of Gaming Award and the chance to be featured on a CEM Audio Edge talk radio show. For more information about the Great Women of Gaming Awards, visit www.greatwomenofgaming.com.

About Bally Technologies, Inc. With a history dating back to 1932, Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies designs, manufactures, operates, and distributes advanced gaming devices, systems and technology solutions worldwide. Bally?s product line includes reel-spinning slot machines, video slots, wide-area progressives, interactive and mobile applications, and Class II, lottery, and central-determination games and platforms. Bally also offers an array of casino management, slot accounting, bonusing, cashless and table management solutions. For more information, please contact Laura Olson-Reyes, Senior Director, Marketing & Corporate Communications, at 702-584-7742, or visit http://www.ballytech.com.? Connect with Bally on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

?

I have extensive knowledge and experience of Gaming operations as well as European and International organisations involved in manufacturer and supply of gaming equipment, systems & services.

Source: http://news.casinolifemagazine.com/bally-technologies%E2%80%99-laura-olson-reyes-named-a-2012-%E2%80%9Cgreat-women-of-gaming%E2%80%9D-proven-leader/

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Mobile ads to push Twitter ad revenue near $1 billion in 2014: report

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter will generate nearly $1 billion in ad revenue next year due to a surge in mobile advertising on its Web microblogging service, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Mobile ads will account for roughly half of Twitter's advertising revenue this year and will make up more than 60 percent of the company's ad revenue by 2015 according to research firm eMarketer.

The increasing popularity of Twitter's mobile ads - introduced in March 2012 - caused eMarketer to raise its 2014 ad revenue estimates for Twitter to $950 million, versus its previous estimate of roughly $800 million. Twitters' ad revenue this year will total $582.8 million, according to the report, roughly double what it was in 2012.

Twitter, which allows people to share 140-character messages on its online service, is privately held and does not disclose financial results.

With more than 200 million monthly active users, Twitter is among the Web's most popular social networking services, along with Facebook Inc, and is expected by analysts to float shares to the public within two years.

As consumers increasingly access the Web on smartphones, mobile ads have become increasingly important to the businesses of Web companies such as Facebook and Google Inc. Facebook said in January that its mobile ad revenue doubled from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, representing roughly 23 percent of its $1.33 billion in fourth-quarter ad revenue.

"Twitter has ultimately benefited from the increased focus on mobile by competitors like Google and Facebook, which have both expanded their own mobile ad offerings and worked to convince advertisers to shift dollars to mobile devices," eMarketer said on Wednesday.

eMarketer said its revenue forecasts are based on analysis of reports that track media buying trends, Twitter usage data and interviews with executives at advertising agencies, online publishers and others.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mobile-ads-push-twitter-ad-revenue-near-1-162046260--sector.html

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Gun control backers struggle to win some Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It would seem a lobbyist's dream: rounding up votes for a proposal backed by more than 8 in 10 people in polls. Yet, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks for firearms purchasers through the Senate next month.

Backed by a $12 million TV advertising campaign financed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, gun control groups scheduled rallies around the country Thursday aimed at pressuring senators to back the effort. President Barack Obama was meeting at the White House with gun violence victims.

Moderate Senate Democrats like Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are shunning Bloomberg as a meddling outsider while stressing their allegiance to their own voters' views and to gun rights. While saying they're keeping an open mind and support keeping guns from criminals and people with mental disorders, many Democrats are avoiding specific commitments they might regret later.

"I do not need someone from New York City to tell me how to handle crime in our state. I know that we can go after and prosecute criminals without the need to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding North Dakotans," Heitkamp said this week, citing the constitutional right to bear arms.

Heitkamp does not face re-election next year, but Pryor and five other Senate Democrats from Republican-leaning or closely divided states do. All six, from Southern and Western states, will face voters whose deep attachment to guns is unshakeable ? not to mention opposition from the still potent National Rifle Association should they vote for restrictions the NRA opposes.

"We have a politically savvy and a loyal voting bloc, and the politicians know that," said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the NRA, which claims nearly 5 million paying members.

The heart of the Senate gun bill will be expanded requirements for federal background checks for gun buyers, the remaining primary proposal pushed by Obama and many Democrats since 20 first-graders and six women were shot to death in December at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada already has given up any hope of winning majority support for reimposing a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for ammunition.

Today, the background checks apply only to sales by the nation's roughly 55,000 federally licensed gun dealers. Not covered are private transactions like those at gun shows and online. The Senate measure is still evolving as Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., use Congress' two-week recess to negotiate for additional support in both parties.

Expanding background checks to include gun show sales got 84 percent support in an Associated Press-GfK poll earlier this year. Near universal background checks have received similar or stronger support in other national polls.

Polls in some Southern states have been comparable. March surveys by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found more than 9 in 10 people in Florida and Virginia backing expanded background checks, the same margin found by an Elon University Poll in North Carolina in February.

Analysts say people support more background checks because they consider it an extension of the existing system. That doesn't translate to unvarnished support from lawmakers, in part because the small but vocal minorities who oppose broader background checks and other gun restrictions tend to be driven voters that politicians are reluctant to alienate.

"It's probably true that intense, single-issue gun voters have been more likely to turn out than folks who want common-sense gun laws," said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group that Bloomberg helps lead. Glaze, however, said he believes that has changed somewhat since Newtown and other recent mass shootings.

Several moderate Democrats are holding back as they assess the political landscape. They're also waiting to see exactly what the Senate will consider.

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said Wednesday his state's voters tell him, "Don't take away our rights, our individual rights, our guns." Begich said he opposes a strict proposal requiring background checks for nearly all gun sales but will wait to see whether there is a bipartisan compromise he can support.

The problems faced by gun control supporters go beyond the challenge of winning moderate Democrats. GOP opponents are sure to force Democrats to get 60 of the Senate's 100 votes to win, and there are only 53 Democrats plus two independents who generally support them.

Also targeted by Bloomberg's ads are 10 Republicans, including Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, home of ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded in a mass shooting; the retiring Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; and moderate Susan Collins of Maine.

In another indicator of hurdles facing gun control forces, the Senate voted 50-49 last week to require 60 votes for any legislation narrowing gun rights. The proposal lost because 60 votes in favor were required, but six Democrats voted for the proposal, offered by conservative Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

"It confirms there's no such thing as an easy gun vote," said Jim Kessler, a senior vice president of the centrist Democratic group Third Way.

Underscoring the uncertainty about moderate Democrats:

?Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is "still holding conversations with Virginia stakeholders and sorting through issues on background checks" and proposals to ban assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines, spokesman Kevin Hal said.

?Pryor said of Bloomberg's ads: "I don't take gun advice from the mayor of New York City. I listen to Arkansans." Spokesman Michael Teague said Pryor opposes universal background checks but could favor expanding the requirement to gun show sales.

?Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., told the Greensboro News & Record she favors expanded background checks, but said her vote would depend on the measure's details. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., answered, "Yes," when the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette asked whether he supports gun show background checks.

The gun bill also increases penalties for illegal gun sales and slightly boosts aid for school safety.

More abrupt changes like an assault weapons ban generally get slight majorities in polls. Democratic leaders decided to omit it from the Senate bill because such a provision lacks enough votes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gun-control-backers-struggle-win-democrats-065637861--politics.html

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South Sudan military says 163 killed in clashes

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) ? A battle between South Sudan soldiers and rebels allegedly backed by neighboring Sudan killed 163 people, most of them rebels, government officials said Thursday.

South Sudan's military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said government forces also captured an airstrip in the town of Okello, which he claimed the rebels have been using to import most of their military supplies. Okello is in South Sudan's southeast Pibor County, where rebel leader David Yau Yau hails from.

"This airstrip has been used by Khartoum (Sudan) intelligence to transport and supply arms and ammunition to David Yau Yau. Some of the arms that were being dropped by Antanovs were captured, AK-47s. Some are broken, some are in good condition," Aguer said.

He said 143 rebels led by Yau Yau died in the battle Tuesday, and that 20 soldiers were killed and 70 wounded.

South Sudan peacefully broke away from Sudan in 2011 but is still dealing with violence inside its own borders. Military battles and fights between tribes kill dozens of people with alarming frequency. After decades of war with Sudan, the country is flooded with assault rifles.

Death tolls are almost impossible to verify without months of investigations, given how remote the country is and the complete lack of infrastructure. In late December 2011 and early January 2012, cattle raid attacks between tribes killed at least 600 people in Jonglei. A government disarmament campaign afterward collected more than 10,000 weapons.

Aguer said South Sudan's military will continue to "deal with the militia group" and that it would be a matter of time before Yau Yau's rebels are cleared from Pibor County.

South Sudan accuses Sudan of arming the rebellion to block South Sudan's plans to build an oil pipeline eastward through Ethiopia to a port in Djibouti.

A dispute with Sudan over oil transit fees led South Sudan to shut down its oil industry last year and look for alternative ways to transport its crude. The two governments recently reached an agreement that is supposed to restart South Sudanese exports through Sudan's oil pipelines.

Sudan has repeatedly denied having any ties to the rebels. It accuses South Sudan, in turn, of supporting rebels in Sudan's South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

Yau Yau first rebelled against South Sudan after he failed to win a parliamentary seat in the 2010 general elections. He accused the ruling party of rigging the vote. In 2011 he accepted an amnesty offer and was promoted to a general. But last year he fled to Sudan and started a rebellion in Pibor against South Sudan's government.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-28-South%20Sudan-Violence/id-4aba64516d54490e91e5d48517b18bd6

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Oculus founder: booze and Rift don't mix

You know that rule about not drinking and operating heavy machinery at the same time? You can widen that common-sense topic to include not getting tooled up before strapping the Oculus Rift to your face. In conversation with Joystiq, company founder Palmer Luckey has mentioned that the nausea-inducing effects of virtual reality can, unsurprisingly, become magnified if you combine it with the demon drink. Hey, it's something to bear in mind before you lose your lunch.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Comments

Source: Joystiq

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Hk1o1ns9uFo/

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Latest tech multimillionaire is still in school

Nick D'Aloisio, 17, became a multi-millionaire when he sold his app, Summly, to Yahoo. The teenager talks about the big sale, saying "it will be different" working for the tech giant, and that he's excited about the future of his technology.

Meet Nick D?Aloisio, a regular 17-year-old and possibly the world?s youngest tech multimillionaire after his smartphone app was sold to Yahoo for an estimated $30 million.

The British teen, who started designing apps at the age of 12, came up with the idea for Summly while doing school work.

?I was revising for history exams and using Google and search engines. And I realized there was a gap in the market,? he said.

D?Aloisio created a technology that summarized news stories into 400 characters. He launched Summly and soon after Apple featured it as a new and noteworthy app.

?When I was 15, I released a demo of the app,? D?Aloisio told TODAY. ?And the Hong Kong billionaire, Li Ka-Shing, his kind of investment fund, reached out to me. We had a phone call where they didn?t know my age. At the end of the call, they were like, ?When should we meet? We?ll fly to London.? I was kinda like: ?Before school or after school.? "

Asked if the money will change him, D?Aloisio said no.

?My motivation was never about the money, it was about the technology and the product. So because of that, I don?t think going forward it will feel that different,? he said.

And no splurges are on the horizon. ?Well, I can?t touch the money. It?s like in a trust fund with my parents. So I?ll be managing it with them,? D?Aloisio said.

The Yahoo acquisition was pegged at $30 million by All Things D, which cited unnamed sources who said the company paid 90 percent in cash and 10 percent in stock. The British teen will reportedly go to work for Yahoo for 18 months as part of the deal.

?I?m really excited that we?ve sold it because Yahoo?s a really great company to be joining right now, I think with Marissa Mayer there as their CEO,? he said.? As a technologist, it?s great time to be joining the company because they?re focusing on mobile and applications and that?s exactly what Summly was.?

Since the acquisition, Summly is no longer available as a free app, but will be incorporated into several Yahoo offerings as it repositions its focus on mobile.

?I think the plan is to take our technology, this summarization algorithm and integrate it into as many different parts of Yahoo as possible,? D?Aloisio said.

With one mega-deal under his belt, D?Aloisio said he has a few role models to emulate.?Mark Zuckerberg?s obviously very inspirational because he?s a young CEO of kinda a big company and he started when he was 19. I think Steve Jobs is also really inspirational for me because he was very persistent in doing what he wanted to do and that?s why Apple became what it is,? D?Aloisio said.

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Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a0df7ab/l/0Llifeinc0Btoday0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174864650Elatest0Etech0Emultimillionaire0Eis0Estill0Ein0Eschool0Dlite/story01.htm

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Finnish hotel seeks professional guest for 35 days

HELSINKI (AP) ? Fed up with the neighbors? Pipes burst in the kitchen? Or, you just want to get away from it all for a while?

Hotel Finn in the heart of Helsinki might just be the ticket ? they're seeking a "professional sleeper" for 35 days to test their rooms and write all about it.

Hotel manager Tio Tikka says he thought up the stunt to help promote the hotel after lengthy renovations.

Tikka said Wednesday that they were looking for a "dynamic person to write a quality blog" about their daily experiences at the basic hotel, which has no bar or restaurant.

Requirements: Fluent Finnish and English, Russian a plus. The job opens May 17 with applications closing end of April.

So far more that 600 would-be hotel sleepers have applied.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/finnish-hotel-seeks-professional-guest-35-days-160346380.html

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Interview: Granta China | New Writing | Granta Magazine

This month, Granta China launches its first issue, Britain, which features translations from previous editions of the magazine, including work by David Mitchell, A.S. Byatt, Hari Kunzru, Kazuo Ishiguro, Geoff Dyer and Jeanette Winterson. Here the editors of Granta China, Peng Lun and Patrizia van Daalen, spoke to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about how these writers expand and explode perceptions of Britain and how they both first discovered the magazine.

TH: Do you think that the views of Britain and its past in this issue will come as a surprise to your readers?

Yes, most certainly. I think Chinese reader can rarely glimpse into such personal accounts of Britain?s history, from its colonial history through the writing of Andrea Stuart, or more recent history ?and social history? like in the stories by Hanif Kureishi or Geoff Dyer. We thought that the personal angle of these pieces would make British history very accessible and real to Chinese readers, who otherwise might know of it only through text books and the general media.

Several of the pieces in the issue ? by David Mitchell, Rachel Seiffert and Mark Haddon for instance ? deal with childhoods spent in various corners of Britain. Do these younger perspectives offer a way of unlocking the culture?

Young perspectives always facilitate access to a culture because they are more easily accepted, and it is easier, most times, to assimilate with them. It might well be that any reader, including a Chinese reader, will feel the sense of terror and of inevitable catastrophe described in ?The Gun?, or the sense of loneliness in ?The January Man?. Without ?infantilizing? culture, young perspectives perhaps just take the locks away; the reader does not need to be shy before cultural differences any more.

It was reported recently that Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, a past Granta Best of Young American Novelist, was in the Chinese best-seller lists. This bodes well for Granta coming to China. What are your hopes for the magazine launching in your country, hungry as it is for literature?

The Chinese best-seller lists are sometimes hugely disappointing but also sometimes surprisingly hopeful for people like us. It can happen that very literary novels suddenly sell well, which gives us the energy we need to complete projects such as bringing Granta to China. We have high hopes that we can make the magazine ?Chinese? and successful by imposing its high values of quality and thorough reporting of what is going in the world of literature, here and elsewhere. We are much looking forward to publishing the Best of Brazilian writers, as well as Best of British, but also to construct our Desire issue with more local content. There are a lot of young people out there with lots of curiosity and a very critical mind when it comes to literature we hope to challenge them into discussions and to trigger their interests into following Granta for years to come.

The British landscape features prominently and variously in the issue you?ve assembled, from Robert Macfarlane?s sparse and frost-covered Cumbria, to Gary Younge?s failed postwar utopia, Stevenage, and Hanif Kureishi?s culturally divided Bradford. How important was landscape for you when creating this issue?

Landscape is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Britain. And yet in British literature landscape has always played an important role. Britain?s urban landscape is a recurring theme in very contemporary novels that are coming to us, but rural Britain is on our minds now as it was when we were reading modern British classics. We thought it should be possible for us to include landscape without making it the central theme, and yet allowing readers to feel how important urban and rural contrasts are in Britain?s literature and culture today, like a red thread coming from British literature of earlier centuries.

How did you first discover the magazine?

Patrizia van Daalen: For me it was the first time I went to London, age fourteen or something like that, in the living room of the older brother of the friend I was travelling with. I could not read English with confidence then, so the Granta issues I found there seemed way out of reach for me, both linguistically and intellectually. The fascination stayed though, strong enough for me to get back to Granta when I could finally read English properly!

Peng Lun: When I was a journalist in my twenties, I spent a lot of time writing and translating for some other magazines. One or two of editors asked me to write regularly about Western magazines, such as what their cover stories are. This task pushed me to surf on the Internet for information various magazines and I found Granta. The interesting themes of the different issues attracted me.

David Mitchell The January Man
A.S.Byatt No Grls Alod. Insept Mom
Andrea Stuart Sugar in the Blood
Rachel Seiffert Hands across the Water
Hari Kunzru Lila.exe
Kazuo Ishiguro The Gourmet
Mark Haddon The Gun
Robin Robertson 1964
Photo Essay Home
Geoff Dyer On the Roof
Joe Dunthorne Critical responses to my last relationship
Ross Raisin When You Grow into Yourself
Gary Younge Stevenage
William Boyd The View from Yves Hill
Robert Macfarlane Nightwalking
Hanif Kureishi Bradford
Jeanette Winerson Orion
Sarah Waters Helen and Julia

Source: http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Interview-Granta-China

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