news sites: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Songza introduces paid ad-free service that costs $0.99 a week

Songza joined the ad-free music streaming club today with a club of its own: Club Songza. Like the premium services on Spotify and Slacker, you'll have to cough up a few pennies to belong -- about 99 of them a week, to be exact. Listening to music without commercial interruption isn't the only benefit however; apparently paid subscribers will get additional goodies like twice as many skips and access to more premium content as well. Songza diehards can go ahead and sign up for the service at the source, though we should remind you that there are always cheaper options for your music fix.

Comments

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Club Songza, Songza

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/B_ncSXwQ3G4/

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Lebanese troops disperse Sunni protesters

BEIRUT (AP) ? Lebanese troops fired in the air Friday to disperse dozens of Sunni Muslims demonstrating in support of a hardline cleric who has been on the run since the military crushed his fighters earlier this week.

Lebanon is grappling with rising tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims linked to the more than 2-year-old conflict in neighboring Syria, which has sparked deadly street fighting on several occasions in Lebanese cities between the rival sects.

The Lebanese military moved Friday to break up the demonstration in the southern port city of Sidon after protesters tried to reach the mosque complex where the Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir used to give his sermons. There were similar protests by Sunnis in the capital Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon's third largest.

Protesters briefly closed the highway linking Beirut with Tripoli Friday afternoon and damaged a Lebanese army statue near the northern city, the state-run National News Agency said.

Al-Assir's compound has been under army control since Monday following two days of fighting between troops and al-Assir's followers that left dozens of people dead.

The cleric's rapid rise in popularity among Sunnis underscored the deep frustration of many Lebanese who resent the influence Shiites have gained in government via the powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Al-Assir has been one of Hezbollah's harshest critics in Lebanon and had called on fellow Sunnis to go fight in Syria against President Bashar Assad's forces. His calls intensified earlier this year after Hezbollah fighters joined Assad's forces against the Syrian opposition, which is dominated by Sunnis.

Syria's conflict has increasingly taken on sectarian overtones. The rebels fighting to remove Assad are primarily Sunnis, and have been joined by Sunni fighters from other Muslim countries. Assad's regime, in contrast, is led by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, and his forces have been bolstered by fighters from Hezbollah, a factor that has helped fan the sectarian nature of the conflict.

Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries that are easily enflamed. Lebanon, a country plagued by decades of strife, has been on edge since the uprising in Syria against Assad erupted in March 2011.

Sidon, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Beirut, had largely been spared from violence plaguing Lebanon's border areas where Syria's civil war has been spilling over with increasing frequency.

On Friday, troops fired into the air with heavy machine guns mounted on armored personnel carriers to disperse the protesters. People ran in fear in the streets as cars sped away from the area.

Fighting in the Mediterranean city began Sunday after troops arrested an al-Assir follower. The army says the cleric's supporters opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.

Official reports said at least 18 soldiers were killed and 50 wounded in the fighting, while more than 20 of al-Assir's supporters died in the battle.

Some Sunni activists said the army was joined by Hezbollah fighters in the battle against al-Assir, a claim that the army denied.

Sidon's demonstration started after thousands attended Friday prayers in a mosque in the city center. The prayer was attended by a prominent ultraconservative Sunni Salafi cleric from northern Lebanon, Daia Al-Islam Al-Shahal, and the Sunni mufti of Sidon, Sheik Salim Soussan.

Soussan urged the army to open a "fair, objective and legal investigation" into the fighting in Sidon.

"We totally reject that some illegitimate armed groups take part in the raids, provocations and interrogation of people," Soussan said in an apparent reference to Hezbollah. "We put the state responsible for that."

Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb went off on a highway near the eastern city of Zahleh, in the Bekaa Valley, without causing casualties. Local TV stations said the morning bomb hit three SUVs carrying Hezbollah members.

There have been two other similar incidents in the eastern Bekaa Valley over the past weeks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lebanese-troops-disperse-sunni-protesters-121534805.html

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

House Leader Cantor on Supreme Court decisions, future of immigration reform

In a wide-ranging interview with Yahoo News, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor discussed the next steps Congress could take in the aftermath of this week's Supreme Court decisions on voting rights and same-sex marriage, the future of immigration reform, President Barack Obama's response to National Security Agency document leaker Edward Snowden and his own plan to change the perception of the Republican Party.

Cantor addressed this week's Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act, a decision that left Congress with the task of passing an new version of the law. Cantor said he planned to discuss options with Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights leader with whom Cantor traveled recently on a pilgrimage to the movement's landmarks in Alabama.

"I look forward to having some discussions," Cantor said. "I intend to talk to John Lewis about his thoughts on this matter. I think that you could probably say for both sides of the political aisle--no matter where you come from regionally--that very sacred right to vote is in the underpinning of this country."

In response to Obama's comments Thursday in which the president won't be "scrambling jets" to bring Snowden back to the United States, Cantor criticized the president for what he called a "flippant" attitude toward a "grave matter."

"I think the president's remark was kind of flippant. I don't think he gives justice to this grave matter that the country's facing," he said, adding later: "I call on the president to reverse that attitude and say we're going to get engaged and we're going to lead."

Cantor also discussed his "Making Life Work" project, a Republican effort to focus on "creating the conditions for health, happiness and prosperity for more Americans and their families."

Five months after he revealed his plan in a speech in Washington, D.C., Cantor's ongoing effort is still a work in progress. House Republicans have passed two bills as part of the "Making Life Work" initiative -- one that would give workers more flexibility in their work schedule and another that would promote job training programs -- but neither have been taken up in the Senate. In April, House leaders pulled a Cantor-backed health care bill from a vote on the floor when it appeared doomed to fail.

Now Cantor is focused on a another health-related bill, which would increase funding for pediatric research through the National Institutes of Health by ending federal funding of political campaigns. While the old GOP might want to use that for deficit reduction, Cantor's vision would call for using it for the research, a move that could put him at odds with some of the more conservative lawmakers in the party.

"If that money can be, instead, put towards medical research in the area of pediatrics, we could perhaps find cures, because it's the only way you can get to a cure if you apply research dollars," he said. "The federal government has always been about providing a catalyst for that."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/news/house-leader-cantor-supreme-court-decisions-future-immigration-124741262.html

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Avalanche looking at MacKinnon for 1st pick

Prospects, from left, Zach Fucale, Darnell Nurse, Aleksander Barkov, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, Seth Jones, Sean Monahan and Hunter Shinkaruk pose for photographers during a news conference introducing the top prospects going into Sunday's NHL hockey draft, Friday, June 28, 2013, in Weehawken, N.J. The draft will be held June 29 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Defender Seth Jones, right, talks during a news conference introducing the top prospects going into Sunday's NHL hockey draft, Friday, June 28, 2013, in Weehawken, N.J. The draft will be held June 29 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Defender Seth Jones talks during a news conference introducing the top prospects going into Sunday's NHL hockey draft, Friday, June 28, 2013, in Weehawken, N.J. The draft will be held June 29 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The Colorado Avalanche own the top pick in the NHL draft and a whole lot of options.

Nathan MacKinnon and Seth Jones. Jonathan Drouin and Aleksander Barkov. They are the top candidates to go first Sunday at the Prudential Center.

Colorado won the draft lottery and has flirted with the idea of picking a puck-moving defenseman in Jones. But it appears the Avalanche are leaning toward choosing a forward, perhaps the 17-year-old MacKinnon.

MacKinnon, a 6-foot, 182-pound center, is a solid two-way presence with strong hands and stick-handling and skating skills. He is considered a natural scorer and a very good puck distributor.

Of course, Colorado could also decide to trade the pick to the Florida Panthers, who are slated to pick second, or to the Tampa Bay Lightning at No. 3, or even farther down to another club that is looking to make a splash and shoot to the top.

There is plenty of talent available, and this draft pool has already been touted as the best in a decade. This year's prospects have been favorably compared to the last blockbuster draft in 2003.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards highlighted that first round 10 years ago. Patrice Bergeron and Shea Weber went in the second round, and future All-Stars and Stanley Cup champions dotted the list of a loaded draft.

Fast forward to now and there is a new group of prospects vying to become as well known and decorated as some of today's stars.

MacKinnon, Jones, Drouin, and Barkov are likely to be taken in the top four.

Given the track record of defensemen at No. 1, the Avalanche could play it safe and nab an elite forward instead.

"As far as MacKinnon, I could tell you he's a heck of a player. Jones is a heck of a player," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "It's the same thing with Drouin. They're all premier players in the future for the NHL."

Fair or not to Jones, teams are skittish about taking a defenseman first. The last defenseman selected No. 1 was Erik Johnson by St. Louis in 2006. Johnson, who now plays for Colorado, had only four points in 31 games this season and has never lived up to his top billing.

Only 12 defensemen have gone No. 1, and Denis Potvin (1973, New York Islanders) is the only one to make the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Avalanche could make it 13 after winning the draft lottery for the first time.

Jones has deep roots with the Avalanche, dating to the early part of last decade when his father, former NBA forward Popeye Jones, struck up a friendship with Joe Sakic and Roy when they all played in Colorado.

Sakic is now the Avalanche's executive vice president of hockey operations, and Roy is the club's new coach.

Jones, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound defenseman, could become the first American picked No. 1 since Chicago's Patrick Kane in 2007 and the seventh overall. In a sport in which the majority percentage of players are white, it is that slice of history he would make as the first black selected No. 1 ? topping Evander Kane, who was picked fourth in 2009.

"Seth could be that poster child for USA hockey," Popeye Jones said.

It would make for a unique cultural twist if an American was picked No. 1 in the NHL days after Anthony Bennett of Canada was selected first by Cleveland in the NBA draft.

"We still have a high amount of interest in him," Rick Pracey, Colorado's director of amateur scouting, said of Jones.

Jones enters the draft as the top-ranked player on the NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters.

Even as praise is heaped on him, Jones knows scouts believe he has only scratched the surface of his potential.

"They'd like to see the shot improve a little bit, be a little more physical, those kinds of things," Pracey said.

The Avalanche, however, appear to have narrowed their focus on MacKinnon.

"He's a player that has been front and center all year, and he continues to be so," Pracey said. "He is a player that has withstood the pressures of a draft year, withstood the pressures of high expectations and the comparable that he's been held accountable to, not only this year but the past couple of years."

MacKinnon spent this past season with Halifax of the QMJHL and had 32 goals and 43 assists in 44 games. He scored 11 goals and had 22 assists in 17 playoff games.

"I think seeing that push and seeing him elevate his game and carry a team to a championship and then into the Memorial Cup is special," Pracey said. "Having this player handle the distractions and the media and all the scrutiny that goes with being a top player and then being able to perform and raise his game, are all key, key qualities."

After Florida and Tampa Bay, Nashville and Carolina round out the top five. All seven rounds will be held on the same day for the first time since 2006.

The next decade will tell if this class was worth the hype.

"It is certainly one of the better ones probably in the last couple of years in terms of overall depth," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "Compared to '03, it'd be difficult, now. You look back at those players, there was a lot of impact players from that draft.

"So, that's probably for future debate," Holmgren said.

___

AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-29-HKN-NHL-Draft/id-063814a69ec8445da370d5a9c17ed512

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Friday, June 28, 2013

'The Heat': A little of stars Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock goes a long way

'The Heat' milks the odd-couple film premise for all it's worth.

By Peter Rainer,?Film critic / June 28, 2013

Melissa McCarthy (r.) and Sandra Bullock (l.) star in 'The Heat.'

Gemma La Mana/20th Century Fox/AP

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Sandra Bullock plays a very straitlaced FBI special agent and Melissa McCarthy is the slobbo Boston cop she reluctantly teams up with to bring down a drug lord in ?The Heat,? a buddy-buddy action comedy that milks the odd-couple pairing until the cow runs dry. A little of McCarthy?s bullishness goes a long way ? ditto Bullock?s pinched uncomfortability.

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Android 4.3 leaks for 'Google Play edition' Galaxy S4

Android 4.3

The next version of Jelly Bean has leaked for the 'Google Play edition' GS4 — and there's a port for the European GS4 model already

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean isn't even official yet, but already a leaked build has appeared for the Samsung Galaxy S4 "Google Play edition." The pre-release build was uploaded by Samsung fansite SamMobile in its original form, and in the form of a custom ROM for the European Galaxy S4 — GT-i9505.

The initial batch of screnshots from the ROM (build number JWR66N) doesn't show any major differences from version 4.2.2, however we'll have to reserve judgment until we've played with the software for ourselves. For the moment, however, 4.3 looks to be a relatiely minor bump up from 4.2.

We'll bring you more coverage of this story as it unfolds.

Source: SamMobile (1, 2)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/bRY-XpsFFHM/story01.htm

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Myth of the Komodo Dragon?s Dirty Mouth

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The Myth of the Komodo Dragon?s Dirty Mouth
In 1969, an American biologist named Walter Auffenberg moved to the Indonesia island of Komodo to study its most famous resident?the Komodo dragon. This huge lizard?the largest in the world?grows to lengths of 3 metres, and can take down large prey like deer and water buffalo. Auffenberg watched the dragons for a year and eventually published a book on their behaviour in 1981. It won him an award. It also enshrined a myth that took almost three decades to refute, and is still prevalent today.

Source: National Geographic
Posted on: Thursday, Jun 27, 2013, 8:51am
Views: 14

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128828/The_Myth_of_the_Komodo_Dragon___s_Dirty_Mouth

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Zebrafish study paves the way for new treatments for genetic disorder

June 26, 2013 ? Scientists from the University of Sheffield have paved the way for new treatments for a common genetic disorder thanks to pioneering research on zebrafish -- an animal capable of mending its own heart.

Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common genetic disorder affecting the nervous system. More than 20,000 people in the UK suffer from CMT, which typically causes progressive weakness and long-term pain in the feet, leading to walking difficulties. There is currently no cure for CMT.

A research project conducted at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) and the MRC Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics (CDBG) by Dr Andrew Grierson and his team has revealed that zebrafish could hold the key to finding new therapeutic approaches to treat the condition.

Dr Grierson said: "We have studied zebrafish with a genetic defect that causes CMT in humans. The fish develop normally, but once they reach adulthood they start to develop difficulties swimming.

"By looking at the muscles of these fish we have discovered that the problem lies with the connections between motor neurons and muscle, which are known to be essential for walking in humans and also swimming in fish."

CMT represents a group of neurodegenerative disorders typically characterised by demyelination (CMT1), a process which causes damage to the myelin sheaths that surround our neurons, or distal axon degeneration (CMT2) of motor and sensory neurons. The distal axon is the terminal where neurotransmitter packages within neurons are docked.

The majority of CMT2 cases are caused by mutations in mitofusin 2 (MFN2), which is an essential gene encoding a protein responsible for fusion of the mitochondrial outer membrane. Mitochondria are known as the cellular power plants because they generate most of the supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used as a source of chemical energy.

Dr Grierson said: "Previous work on this disorder using mammalian models such as mice has been problematic, because the mitofusin genes are essential for embryonic development. Using zebrafish we were able to develop a model with an adult onset, progressive phenotype with predominant symptoms of motor dysfunction similar to CMT2.

"Motor neurons are the largest cells in our bodies, and as such they are highly dependent on a cellular transport system to deliver molecules through the long nerve cell processes which connect the spinal cord to our muscles. We already know that defects in the cellular transport system occur early in the development of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Motor Neuron Disease and spastic paraplegia. Using our zebrafish model we have found that similar defects in transport are also a key part of the disease process in CMT."

Dr Grierson and his team are now seeking funding to identify new treatments for CMT using the zebrafish model. Because of their size and unique biology, zebrafish are ideal to be used in drug screens for the identification of new therapies for untreatable human conditions.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/AGpvAXqKerU/130626184023.htm

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10 things you need to know today: June 27, 2013

The Supreme Court hands landmark wins to gay-marriage supporters, Obama starts a tour of Africa, and more

1. GAY-MARRIAGE SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE SUPREME COURT VICTORIES
The Supreme Court delivered two major victories for supporters of gay marriage on Wednesday. In a landmark ruling, the sharply divided court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, forcing the government to recognize marriages in the 12 states where it is legal. The court also said that supporters of California's gay-marriage ban, Proposition 8, had no standing to challenge a lower court ruling striking it down, paving the way for same-sex marriages in the nation's largest state. [Reuters]
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2. OBAMA ARRIVES IN SENEGAL TO START AFRICA TOUR
President Obama arrived in Senegal Wednesday night to begin a week-long, three-country tour of Africa. The trip, focusing on strengthening economic ties and underscoring the importance of democratic reforms, begins Thursday with a meeting with Senegalese President Macky Sall, followed by a trip to Goree Island, which was the largest slave trading post in Africa for centuries. [USA Today]
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SEE ALSO: WATCH: Nancy Pelosi wearily dismisses Michele Bachmann's DOMA statement

3. MANDELA'S CONDITION WORSENS
Anti-Apartheid icon Nelson Mandela's health deteriorated on Wednesday, as a government official briefed on his condition said the former South African president had been placed on life support. President Jacob Zuma canceled a trip to Mozambique scheduled for Thursday. Supporters lit candles and posted signs expressing love for Mandela, 94, who was elected the country's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in prison for fighting against white minority rule. [CNN]
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4. PERRY GIVES TEXAS REPUBLICANS ANOTHER CHANCE TO PASS ABORTION RESTRICTIONS
Hours after Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis' epic filibuster blocked a restrictive Texas abortion bill, Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday called a second, special legislative session to give Republicans another chance to pass it. The rules would force most Texas abortion clinics to close. Raucous outbursts by opponents prevented Republicans from getting it passed before the last session closed. Perry said the "breakdown of decorum and decency" wouldn't stop lawmakers from doing their job. [Texas Tribune, Huffington Post]
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SEE ALSO: Did a U.S. clerical mistake allow Edward Snowden to flee China?

5. FOOTBALL PLAYER AARON HERNANDEZ CHARGED WITH MURDER
NFL star Aaron Hernandez was arrested Wednesday and charged with orchestrating the murder of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, a friend. Prosecutors said they used surveillance video, cell phone data, and other evidence to trace Hernandez to the industrial park where Lloyd's body was found on June 17. Lloyd had been shot in the head. The New England Patriots promptly dropped Hernandez, a tight end who had signed a five-year, $40 million contract last summer. He is being held without bail. [Associated Press]
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6. TEXAS EXECUTES WOMAN IN STATE'S 500TH MODERN EXECUTION
Texas executed Kimberly McCarthy, 52, on Wednesday, for the 1997 murder of 71-year-old retired college professor Dorothy Booth. This marked the state's 500th execution since it resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982. Texas reached the grim milestone far ahead of other states ? Virginia is next with 110 modern executions. McCarthy, the first woman executed in the U.S. in nearly three years, was sentenced to die for killing Booth in a robbery. [Dallas Morning News]
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SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know today: June 27, 2013

7. WALMART JOINS COMPANIES DUMPING PAULA DEEN
Hours after Paula Deen appeared on the Today show to assure fans she is not a racist, three more companies cut their ties to the embattled celebrity chef. Walmart and Home Depot said Wednesday that they would stop carrying Deen-branded cooking products, and Caesars Entertainment stripped Deen's name from four restaurants it runs. Fans are rallying behind the Southern cooking star, who also lost her Food Network shows, with demand surging for a tickets on next year's annual "Paula Deen Cruise." [NBC, New York Daily News]
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8. MILITARY OVERTURNS CONVICTION AGAINST IMPRISONED MARINE
The military's highest court has overturned a conviction of a Marine, Larry Hutchins, for the killing of an unarmed Iraqi man in 2006 ? one of the highest profile cases against an American soldier in the Iraq war. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled that Hutchins was improperly denied a lawyer when he was first questioned. [Los Angeles Times]
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SEE ALSO: The last word: He said he was leaving. She ignored him.

9. MORSI WARNS PROTESTS COULD DERAIL EGYPT'S DEMOCRACY
Egypt's first Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, marked his first year in office with a speech Wednesday in which he acknowledged making mistakes but warned that mounting unrest is "threatening to paralyze the country." Soldiers have been posted around the country ahead of planned weekend protests to demand Morsi's removal from power. Morsi told rivals to "enter elections if you want to change the government." [BBC News]
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10. FEDERER UPSET EARLY AT WIMBLEDON
Defending Wimbledon champion Roger Federer was knocked out of the storied tennis tournament in the second round Wednesday night by Sergiy Stakhovsky, an unseeded Ukrainian. "I'm still kind of in disbelief that that actually happened," Stakhovsky, ranked No. 116 in the world, said after the epic ? 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) ? upset. Federer's shocking defeat came two days after the elimination of another favorite, Rafael Nadal, in the first round. [Wall Street Journal]

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Myth of the Cool Office Is Being Evil

Don't be fooled by the perks at all those Silicon Valley (and Alley) offices ? it's all just part of a subtle plot to control employee behavior. The founders of Fab.com, which just got itself a $1 billion valuation, admitted as much to Bloomberg's Sarah Freier. The shopping site?wields?its beer on tap, free lunch, and ice-cream machine as a means to force Fab employees to send emails in a "certain font," use high-quality paper, and always "be Fab" ? whatever terrible thing that means. Those types of office perks abound at startups, of course, not only as a way to attract the best talent, but also to get that "talent" working on message, official office font included. Each and every kegerator serves as a reminder of what you owe the company. And that's just the food and drink. Let's take a look, by way of a couple recent trend stories and startup proclamations, at how the so-called "escalation of perks" keeps employees in line all over the tech world and "progressive" companies the world over.

RELATED: Larry Ellison Is So Rich He Can Buy Part of Hawaii

Unlimited Vacation Days Nobody Takes

It sounds like the best perk ever: You could, officially, and under official policy, get paid for a three-month summer vacation. But of course the increasingly popular you-work-so-hard-that-we-won't-count strategy doesn't work that way. First, most companies wouldn't allow it. The marketing company Xiik, for example,?boasts the limitless vacation offer, but in its fine print discourages long hiatuses. "There are no hidden agendas; xiik employees can take as much paid time off as needed," claims a Xiik project manager on the company website, before clarifying what that really means: "As nice as it would be to regularly leave for months at a time, common sense prevails: In most cases, it simply doesn't make sense to be away from work for extended periods."

RELATED: A New Minimum Wage, Frank Lautenberg, and Silicon Valley's Next Political Move

Translation: non-stop vacation is a ruse.

RELATED: Silicon Valley's Incubator Glut Is Real

Sure, three months of leave is a bit much. But how much is okay to take when your HR manager says you can take as much as you like? An employee completely loses leverage when he or she doesn't have a set amount of days to claim. If a boss says no to a lengthy request under the unlimited policy, then there's not really much a worker can do; an employee with a set amount of time off can always go with the but-still-have-a-week-left-this-year line.

RELATED: Selfish Silicon Valley Has a Higher than Average Unemployment Rate

Even worse than a company that denies the unlimited vacation it promises, however, is one that discourages extra days off by convincing employees working at a cool office is more fun than not working at all. There's something incredibly?Foucauldian?about startup workers failing to indulge in their vacation because staying late at an office with a pool table is like a vacation, as Molly Young?described in a much discussed essay?in last week's?New York Times Thursday Styles section.?

RELATED: Hackers Got a Woman Fired by a Startup After She Called Out Sexual Harassment

The Open Office Space Panopticon

Despite all the idealized talk from the Yahoos and Googles of the world all about lofty, cubicle-free, office-less offices and how they increase productivity and serendiptiy?and "casual collisions of the workforce," they actually don't work like that. A recent Quartz article outlines all the terrible things that come out of the open quarters, such as decreased productivity and more airborne illnesses. Which leads one to ask (even one who works in an open, office-less loft with Quartz): What's with these proliferating wall-less floor plans?

Trading in a cubicle for a shared desk not only encourages conformity ? no more quirky puppy posters! ? but also lets your boss see what your doing at all times. Or at least he or she wants you to think. On top of that feeling of?watchfulness that also exists in a cubicle plan,?management has also made it so that your co-workers act as a surveillance state as well. Not only do workers internalize the ever-watching boss, but they have their nosy cube mates to keep them on track to. To that end, it's no surprise that when the trend first started proliferating, office workers attempted to create barriers to block people out, per The New York Times. Also, it's a crime against humanity not to include desk drawers, a detail many of these open plans neglect. (Where to put embarrassing but necessary essentials, like tampons and drugs?)?

Free Lunch Means No Lunch Break

Comped meals are an essential requirement of the fancy office these days, so much so that one Warby Parker employee acquired a "gut" after a week of working in her tricked-out office. Indeed, the startup perk-a-thon serves as an all-too-easy yet ever-so-tempting way to get employees to feel guilty about not conforming to standards, as we saw at that Fab office. And while a stocked office fridge might keep people hanging around for an extra hour on either side of their official eight hours, eating at your desk does not, in fact, make workers more productive. Workers apparently "waste" 2 billion minutes a day of "productivity" getting snacks, lunch, and coffee, according to Staples, which has a vested interest in fostering fewer coffee breaks. That same company study, however, found that short breaks increase productivity.?

People, we fought for all these worker rights after the industrial revolution. Let's not give them all up for a free beer you've earned at happy hour... outside the office.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myth-cool-office-being-evil-210812840.html

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Watch the trailer for Anderson Silva?s latest movie

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is in "Tapped," the latest movie to try to profit off of capture the beauty of MMA. The trailer shows Lyoto Machida and Krysztof Soszynski are in it, too. What the trailer does not show is what the movie is about, except for maybe punching bags and getting choked out by Silva?

For the plot of the movie, we turn to IMDB:

A disgruntled teenager, sent to do community service at a rundown Karate school, enters an MMA tournament to face the man who killed his parents.

Obviously. Here's the other part we learn from IMDB: It stars Martin Kove. If you don't recognize the name, perhaps you remember John Kreese, the terrifying sensei of Cobra Kai? The guy who ordered Daniel-San's leg swept at the All-Valley Karate Tournament? Yes, Silva got to work with the villain from "The Karate Kid."

In the past, Silva has worked with Steven Seagal. The movie star was even cageside for Silva's fights and took credit for teaching him the kick that knocked out Vitor Belfort. But with this movie and work with Kreese mean we'll be hearing Silva yell, "Cobra Kai, never die!" at UFC 162?

Thanks, With Leather.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/watch-trailer-anderson-silva-latest-movie-152628084.html

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OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 2 now available

Hot on the heels of iOS 7 beta 2, Apple has also just released OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview 2. If you're running a beta version of Mavericks, you can grab the update via the Mac App Store.

The build number for the updated version is 13A497d. It is accompanied by new seeds of Xcode 5 and OS X Server as well. Beta software, is as always, under NDA and should only be downloaded and used by developers. The public release of OS X Mavericks is slated for this fall.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/GBRFohTHBbw/story01.htm

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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Heat, Spurs set for pivotal Game 5 of NBA Finals

Miami Heat forward LeBron James shoots during NBA basketball practice, Saturday, June 15, 2013, in San Antonio. The Heat take on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, with the best-of-seven games series even at 2-2.(AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, David Santiago) MAGS OUT

Miami Heat forward LeBron James dunks during NBA basketball practice, Saturday, June 15, 2013, in San Antonio. The Heat take on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, with the best-of-seven games series even at 2-2.(AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, David Santiago) MAGS OUT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? Tony Parker's hamstring, not Dwyane Wade's knee, is the current chief injury concern.

Manu Ginobili, not Chris Bosh, is mired in the slump of the moment.

Things change quickly at the NBA Finals, and with everything suddenly seeming right with the Miami Heat, it's up to the San Antonio Spurs to change them back Sunday night in Game 5.

"It is a must-win. We don't want to go back down there down a game with two games remaining at their house," Spurs star Tim Duncan said Saturday.

"Obviously, we lose this game, we're not giving up or anything, but we want to go back up with a chance to finish there. Huge pressure if we have to go back there and try to win two."

The Heat evened the series with a 109-93 victory Thursday night, setting up what's often the pivotal moment of the finals. Of the 27 times the series was tied at 2-2, the Game 5 winner went on to win 20 of them.

"I think that's what everyone would like, 2-2 in the finals for Game 5," LeBron James said. "We are excited about the opportunity. We have another opportunity to win on someone else's floor."

It's the same situation Miami was in two years ago, losing Game 5 in Dallas. But the Heat also had dropped the previous game, and James was struggling through a poor series by his standards.

Everything looks good for the Heat as they arrive at this stage now. James was dominant in Game 4 with 33 points and 11 rebounds, and Wade scored 32 points, not appearing to be bothered at all by a painful right knee that had limited his effectiveness in the postseason.

With Bosh breaking out with 20 points and 13 rebounds, everything that was a problem for the Heat a few days ago no longer looks to be the case. Instead, the obstacles look to be piling up for the Spurs.

"It's a part of the playoffs," Wade said. "There's always high moments. There's always low moments. There's moments when you have guys who are in a slump, et cetera. Guys who come out of it. Great story lines. It's all of it."

The teams returned to practice Saturday after taking a day off, and though Parker said his strained right hamstring was feeling better and he hoped to be close to 100 percent by the game, he later made that sound impossible.

"My hamstring can tear any time now," he said. "So if it was the regular season, I would be resting like 10 days. But now it's the NBA Finals. If it gets a tear, it's life."

Ginobili is averaging 7.5 points on 34.5 percent shooting in the series, making only three of his 16 3-point attempts. Parker said he's still confident in his longtime teammate, and coach Gregg Popovich said he wasn't worried about either player ? about all he did say on a day when he was a man of even fewer words than usual.

During his brief responses to eight questions, he added that he wasn't surprised by the Heat's lineup change in Game 4, but wouldn't say whether the Spurs would do anything different Sunday.

"I'd hate to be trite and say anything is possible. Your question demands my triteness," he answered.

The last three games have all been blowouts, a somewhat surprising result that wasn't so surprising to James. When their Big Three all play like they Thursday, the Heat can make even a good team like the Spurs look pretty bad.

"If we play our game, if we force turnovers, we rebound, execute offensively and don't turn the ball over, we can win against anybody," James said. "We're a confident bunch. But we're going against a great team that's going to make adjustments as well. And that's why it's a 2-2 series right now."

The Heat won only twice in San Antonio in their first 24 seasons, and now can win in back-to-back games, which would give the defending champions two chances to close out the Spurs back home. Game 6 is Tuesday night.

But the team that won 27 consecutive games during the regular season, the second-longest winning streak in NBA history, hasn't been able to win two in a row since taking the last four games of the second round and the opener of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Spurs haven't been any better at maintaining momentum, following their two victories in this series with turnover-filled losses by a combined 35 points, and Duncan said their focus has to be sharper.

"That's what it's all about right now, is that focus for a longer period of time. Taking care of the ball, understanding what you want to do and less defensive mistakes, and for whatever reason it seems like the team that's coming off a loss has done a better job of sustaining that for a longer period of time," Duncan said.

"I hope that's the case for us tomorrow, but we have to find a way to alleviate that, whether it's a win or a loss."

The Spurs have never lost a Game 5 in the NBA Finals, including victories in 2003 and '05 when the series were tied 2-2. Sunday's game could be the last time Duncan, Parker and Ginobili play at home in the finals, and they want go out a winner.

"This game is huge," Ginobili said. "We don't want to go to Miami knowing that we have to win both. Going there to win one of the two is a different situation. So Game 5, regardless of where you play, it's huge for you at 2-2. We've seen it too many times. We really want to win this one."

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-15-NBA%20Finals/id-a41e974cfb24498c951ad2b7c136cb4e

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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Medications to prevent clots not reaching some patients

June 14, 2013 ? Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that hospitalized patients do not receive more than one in 10 doses of doctor-ordered blood thinners prescribed to prevent potentially lethal or disabling blood clots, a decision they say may be fueled by misguided concern by patients and their caregivers.

Calling the rate of missed doses "unacceptably high," the researchers add that hospitalized patients are at a significantly greater risk of developing venous thromboembolism, or VTE, and that preventive blood thinners can prevent it a majority of the time.

"There appeared to be a lack of understanding about the risks and benefits of blood thinners among patients and medical staff, even though the research is clear that blood thinners are very effective at preventing blood clots," says Kenneth M. Shermock, Pharm.D., Ph.D., the director of the Center for Medication Quality and Outcomes at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and leader of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE. "Blood clots and their resulting effects are the most common cause of avoidable death for hospitalized patients and we've got a medication that can prevent most of these events. But too many patients are not benefitting."

Shermock and his colleagues say their study found that 12 percent of ordered doses were not administered to patients, with the most commonly documented reason being patient or family-member refusal (59 percent). Patients were sometimes off the floor getting tests or in surgery when the doses are scheduled to be given.

Other research done by Shermock suggests that in some cases nursing staff may have implied to patients that blood thinners are optional. Shermock says it is important to understand the reasons behind this finding and provide more education emphasizing the proven benefits of blood thinners for hospitalized patients.

For the PLOS ONE study, Shermock and his colleagues analyzed more than 103,000 VTE prophylaxis doses of unfractionated heparin or enoxaparin ordered for more than 10,500 patients at The Johns Hopkins Hospital between Dec. 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008. Patients from 29 floors were included in the analysis: 11 medicine floors, nine surgery floors, four neurology floors and five intensive care units. They found that while 12 percent of the time ordered doses of blood thinner were not given to the patients, some floors of the hospital had much lower compliance rates.

The findings are similar to results previously reported from a Harvard study, but on a much larger scale. At Harvard, in 2012, the researchers went on to provide an individual information session with every patient to explain the value of the blood thinner shots, an intervention that was successful but costly, Shermock says. The value of his larger study, Shermock says, is that a clear pattern of where the problem is at its worst emerged. The worst compliance rates were found on medicine floors, most notably two of them where some 25 to 30 percent of doses were not administered. Education programs specifically targeted to medicine floors, he says, could yield good results at a fraction of the expense.

Shermock says that, overall, a majority of patients get most of their prescribed doses, which are given at eight-, 12- or 24-hour intervals. Nearly 60 percent of patients received all of their ordered doses. Roughly 20 percent of patients accounted for 80 percent of missed doses, with 20 percent of patients missing at least a quarter of their doses and 10 percent missing more than half of their doses, he says.

Focusing specifically on those patients who have missed doses could make a big impact, he says. The electronic medical record could be of help with that, showing in real time which patients have refused their medication and thus lead to the staging of an immediate intervention. "We want to be able to get to these patients before there is an adverse event," he says.

In addition to gaining unique insight on the nature of the problem, the Johns Hopkins team appears to be out in front in terms of solutions. Since learning about the data from the study, the Johns Hopkins multidisciplinary Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Collaborative has conducted studies looking at provider and patient factors associated with non-administered doses of VTE prophylaxis. The committee has also learned from nurses, for example, that some patients refused prophylaxis because of the pain and bruising associated with the shots, so a pilot program has been started to test a new method of injection that is less painful.

Meanwhile, a research team led by Elliott R. Haut, M.D., intends to continue this new line of research thanks to a three-year $1.5 million contract from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. The contract, entitled "Preventing Venous Thromboembolism: Empowering Patients and Enabling Patient-Centered Care via Health Information Technology," will allow the group to more effectively target and intervene in instances where blood thinners are not being provided, and work with patients, nurses and other members of the health care team to come up with better ways to provide effective VTE prophylaxis.

Michael B. Streiff, M.D., the study's senior author and an associate professor of medicine and pathology in the Division of Hematology, says there remains some discussion about whether all patients on medical floors need prophylactic blood thinners, because some may be at very low risk of developing blood clots. That being said, Streiff points out that we do not yet have a well-validated tool to identify which patients do not need prophylaxis.

"The nurses may be exactly right that some of the patients don't need blood thinners," he says, "but more research is needed."

Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study include Brandyn D. Lau, M.P.H.; Deborah B. Hobson, B.S.N.; Valerie S. Ganetsky, Pharm.D.; Peggy S. Kraus, Pharm.D.; Leigh E. Efird, Pharm.D.; Christoph U. Lehmann, M.D.; Brian L. Pinto, Pharm.D., M.B.A.; and Patricia A. Ross, Pharm.D.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/YDSijuju-xo/130614230352.htm

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German ministers quiz web firms on US surveillance

BERLIN (AP) ? German ministers questioned major Internet companies on Friday about U.S. tracking of web activity, days before a visit to Berlin by President Barack Obama.

Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said European-based company representatives of Microsoft and Google didn't have information on the tracking program and open questions remain about the broader issue of intelligence access to user data.

Facebook sent a reply to a series of questions and Apple didn't participate in the meeting.

German ministers already are pressing Washington for information following public disclosures by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of two NSA programs, which collected millions of telephone records and track foreign Internet activity on U.S. networks.

Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to raise the issue with Obama when he visits Berlin next week.

The meeting was called by the justice minister and Vice Chancellor Philipp Roesler, both members of the Free Democratic Party, the junior partner in Merkel's governing coalition. Civil rights including data protection traditionally have been a key issue for the junior party.

In a statement following the meeting, Google said it assured the ministers that it provides user data to governments "only in accordance with the law."

"Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don't follow the correct process," spokesman Kay Overbeck said in an emailed statement. "And we refuse to participate in any program that requires us to provide governments with access to our systems or to install their equipment on our networks."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-06-14-Germany-US-Surveillance/id-aaa931c84c8b4807ab36de7dfd9b0c81

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