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More than a million bicycles are stolen each year, according to various law enforcement agencies, and few ever find their way back to their owners. After a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year, one new startup hopes to change that.
The BikeSpike uses a tiny GPS chip that will monitor your bicycling speed and distance during rides, but will also track your bike if it's stolen or, if you crash, alert specified contacts from your smartphone.
After having multiple bikes stolen over the years, company founders Clay Neigher and Bill Fienup decided to fight back with technology. "We were just sick of people stealing something we were endlessly tweaking and modifying," Fienup says. "It'd be frustrating even if it were just a steel-frame beater bike; it's still ours."
The unassuming three-ounce BikeSpike attaches to your bicycle's bottle-cage mount; anyone attempting to steal your bicycle would probably miss it. If a thief takes off with your ride, you can track it yourself or temporarily share the location data with law enforcement officials to get it back. The company also sells a specially designed carbon cage that better integrates with the unit.
If the BikeSpike's built-in accelerometer detects a crash, it will send a message via Bluetooth to your phone. If you don't respond within a specified time frame, it sends a text message to predetermined contacts on your phone, alerting them you've been in an accident. The team added this crash-detection feature after a conversation with U.S. Olympic cyclist Evelyn Stevens, who rides for the professional Specialized-lululemon team.
"She told us she often rides at 4 a.m. alone," Fienup says. "If she gets nicked on the road, she could be unconscious and unable to call for help."
Recharging takes about 4 hours via a standard AC cord. Depending on how much bicycling time you're putting in, you might need to do this only about once a month. More frequent riders would need to recharge a bit more often, depending on signal strength, update frequency and other variables.
The device has earned comparisons with General Motors' OnStar, Apple's Find My Mac, and LoJack (which actually makes its own bicycle-identification product called ReuniteIt, which is not a GPS tracker but merely an identification label that points the finder to the National Bike Registry.) Fienup says motorcycle riders have also been enthusiastic about the BikeSpike, opening up an unanticipated and potentially lucrative market.
By using an open software platform, BikeSpike's creators are encouraging third-party developers to create downloadable gaming and fitness apps or better integrate with existing programs and sites, such as Strava.
More than 630 Kickstarter users helped the fledgling company exceed its $150,000 goal in early April, with those funds earmarked for certification and tool costs. The BikeSpike should retail for about $150. Shipping starts in October. A monthly monitoring fee, starting at $4 for Kickstarter benefactors, will be needed as well. Options include the Daily Commuter plan that provides basic theft-recovery services, and the Pro Plan that adds live updates and training options. Fienup expects up to 3500 units could be sold in the first year.
North Atlantic seaweed is safe to eatPublic release date: 30-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Birgitte Svennevig birs@sdu.dk 45-65-50-29-36 University of Southern Denmark
Seaweed has been eaten for thousands of years by people all over the world, and it can be considered a tasty and healthy food item. This is the conclusion from professor Ole G. Mouritsen, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Southern Denmark, who has scientifically studied the species dulse (Palmaria palmata).
Dulse has traditionally been eaten by populations along North Atlantic coasts in countries such as Iceland, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Norway and along the North American and Canadian Atlantic coasts. Dulse has particularly fine gastronomic qualities, and it can be commercially grown in tanks.
Previously other scientists from i.a. the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration have cautioned that dulse may contain dangerous levels of the neurotoxin kainic acid, which, when consumed in large doses, can lead to brain damage.
Professor Mouritsens research now shows that dulse contains only extremely small doses of kainic acid, and that a person needs to eat 150 kg fresh dulse in one go in order to experience the poisoning effect observed in animal studies.
"Dulse is - when you observe common sense rules for freshness and hygiene when handling food - perfectly safe to eat. No person can eat 150 kg in one go", says professor Mouritsen.
He and his colleagues also measured dulses content of heavy metals, inorganic arsenic and iodine - substances that may occur in seaweeds and may be harmful in large doses.
Dulse contains only very small concentrations of iodine, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead, and they are all below the WHO-defined limits. Nor the content of vitamin K is alarmingly high.
"Not even people who take blood thinning medicine need to worry if they eat dulse in moderation," says professor Mouritsen.
Two well-known seaweed species (Sargassum muticum and Sargassum fusiforme) are known to have a very high content of inorganic arsenic, which increases the risk of cancer. S. fusiforme is not found in North Atlantic waters, but can be purchased in stores. S. muticum is found in North Atlantic waters.
For his own part professor Mouritsen is not nervous to harvest and eat seaweed from North Atlantic waters.
"There are many delicious, healthy and safe seaweed species in North Atlantic waters. Just stay away from old seaweed washed up on the beach and harvest only seaweed from clean waters", he adds.
Dulse is a particularly delicate seaweed, he points out, and he is supported by restaurant chefs. Through time dulse has been one of the most popular seaweed species in the parts of the western world with a tradition for eating seaweed.
"Dulse has a very appealing taste. It tastes best as dried and can be added to bread, omelets, soups and fish dishes. It can be fried and served as a crisp substitute for bacon or sprinkled over a salad", suggests professor Mouritsen.
Other interesting edible seaweed species from North Atlantic waters are:
Winged kelp (Alaria esculenta). Raw in salads. Roasted and granulated with fresh fruit.
Oarweed (Laminaria digitata). Cooked in soups.
Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima). Raw in salads or packed around fish.
Sea lettuce (Ulva sp). Raw in salads or dried and crushed into bread, dressings or omelets. Good source of iron.
Bladder Wrack (Fucus sp). Blanched - watch it change color from light brown to green when it hits the boiling water.
###
This press release was written by press officer Birgitte Svennevig.
Contact:
Professor Ole G. Mouritsen, tel + 45 6550 3506, email: ogm@memphys.sdu.dk
The scientific results on dulse is published here:
Journal of Applied Phycology, March 2013: On the human consumption of the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata (L.) Weber & Mohr) by Ole G. Mouritsen, Christine Dawczynski, Lars Duelund, Gerhard Jahreis, Walter Vetter, Mark Schroeder.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
North Atlantic seaweed is safe to eatPublic release date: 30-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Birgitte Svennevig birs@sdu.dk 45-65-50-29-36 University of Southern Denmark
Seaweed has been eaten for thousands of years by people all over the world, and it can be considered a tasty and healthy food item. This is the conclusion from professor Ole G. Mouritsen, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Southern Denmark, who has scientifically studied the species dulse (Palmaria palmata).
Dulse has traditionally been eaten by populations along North Atlantic coasts in countries such as Iceland, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Norway and along the North American and Canadian Atlantic coasts. Dulse has particularly fine gastronomic qualities, and it can be commercially grown in tanks.
Previously other scientists from i.a. the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration have cautioned that dulse may contain dangerous levels of the neurotoxin kainic acid, which, when consumed in large doses, can lead to brain damage.
Professor Mouritsens research now shows that dulse contains only extremely small doses of kainic acid, and that a person needs to eat 150 kg fresh dulse in one go in order to experience the poisoning effect observed in animal studies.
"Dulse is - when you observe common sense rules for freshness and hygiene when handling food - perfectly safe to eat. No person can eat 150 kg in one go", says professor Mouritsen.
He and his colleagues also measured dulses content of heavy metals, inorganic arsenic and iodine - substances that may occur in seaweeds and may be harmful in large doses.
Dulse contains only very small concentrations of iodine, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead, and they are all below the WHO-defined limits. Nor the content of vitamin K is alarmingly high.
"Not even people who take blood thinning medicine need to worry if they eat dulse in moderation," says professor Mouritsen.
Two well-known seaweed species (Sargassum muticum and Sargassum fusiforme) are known to have a very high content of inorganic arsenic, which increases the risk of cancer. S. fusiforme is not found in North Atlantic waters, but can be purchased in stores. S. muticum is found in North Atlantic waters.
For his own part professor Mouritsen is not nervous to harvest and eat seaweed from North Atlantic waters.
"There are many delicious, healthy and safe seaweed species in North Atlantic waters. Just stay away from old seaweed washed up on the beach and harvest only seaweed from clean waters", he adds.
Dulse is a particularly delicate seaweed, he points out, and he is supported by restaurant chefs. Through time dulse has been one of the most popular seaweed species in the parts of the western world with a tradition for eating seaweed.
"Dulse has a very appealing taste. It tastes best as dried and can be added to bread, omelets, soups and fish dishes. It can be fried and served as a crisp substitute for bacon or sprinkled over a salad", suggests professor Mouritsen.
Other interesting edible seaweed species from North Atlantic waters are:
Winged kelp (Alaria esculenta). Raw in salads. Roasted and granulated with fresh fruit.
Oarweed (Laminaria digitata). Cooked in soups.
Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima). Raw in salads or packed around fish.
Sea lettuce (Ulva sp). Raw in salads or dried and crushed into bread, dressings or omelets. Good source of iron.
Bladder Wrack (Fucus sp). Blanched - watch it change color from light brown to green when it hits the boiling water.
###
This press release was written by press officer Birgitte Svennevig.
Contact:
Professor Ole G. Mouritsen, tel + 45 6550 3506, email: ogm@memphys.sdu.dk
The scientific results on dulse is published here:
Journal of Applied Phycology, March 2013: On the human consumption of the red seaweed dulse (Palmaria palmata (L.) Weber & Mohr) by Ole G. Mouritsen, Christine Dawczynski, Lars Duelund, Gerhard Jahreis, Walter Vetter, Mark Schroeder.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
CAIRO (AP) ? The Egyptian president's office indicated Sunday a compromise has been reached with the judiciary to defuse an uproar over a proposed law that would have forced out thousands of the country's most senior judges.
Just three days earlier, the country's Islamist-led parliament pushed ahead with the disputed bill that would have lowered the retirement age for judges from 70 to 60. That would affect nearly a quarter of Egypt's 13,000 judges and prosecution officials.
The draft also would have barred the courts from reviewing or overturning presidential decrees issued by the president late last year, including his unilateral appointment of a new top prosecutor.
The crisis over the judiciary is a reflection of the deep polarization that has split the country over the rule of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party. Morsi has been in a power struggle with the judiciary since his June election.
In an attempt to resolve the situation, Morsi met Sunday with five top judges. A statement from the president's office after the meeting said Morsi will launch a conference this week to work out a compromise with judges regarding laws that affect the judiciary.
"The president said he will personally adopt all the conclusions of the conference for proposals of bills in order to submit them to the legislative council," the statement said.
After the meeting, opponents of the proposed law canceled protests set for Monday.
The president's allies say the courts are filled with loyalists of the deposed regime of Hosni Mubarak. The opposition accuses Morsi's backers of calling for reform of the judiciary as a cover to install their own supporters.
A protest by opponents and supporters of the bill led to street clashes in the capital nine days ago, and thousands of judges met last week to demand international organizations investigate the crisis. The dispute also prompted the resignations of top aides and advisers to the presidency.
The announcement by the president's office effectively shelves the law that was under discussion by lawmakers. A new proposal for a judicial reform law will likely first be agreed upon by Morsi and judges, and then be sent to the parliament.
Morsi is also facing divisions within the country's battered police force.
Dozens of Egyptian police officers disobeyed orders Sunday and stormed a superior's office in the capital, shut down a security directorate in the north and went on strike in the south.
It was the year's third wave of strikes by police, who demand incentives like better wages, greater firepower and more benefits.
The police force has not recovered from the days of the 2011 uprising that deposed Mubarak. His police were a symbol of the regime's unchecked powers and abuses, and they were forced from the streets in the early stages of the revolt by angry protesters.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees police in Egypt, relies on low-ranking police to protect government buildings. Hundreds of policemen have been wounded this year and several have been killed in anti-government protests.
Dozens of low-ranking officers stormed the office of the deputy interior minister in charge of health care for police. His office is inside the main police hospital in Cairo's Nileside neighborhood of Agouza. They said promises of better health care have gone unfulfilled.
In the south, police at five stations in the province of Assuit went on strike, charging that the government did not fulfill any of their demands.
In the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh, police locked the gate to the security division with chains, according to security officials and state media reports.
Strikes also spread north of Cairo to Sharqiya and the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya.
Some are also calling for the dismissal of Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim. The minister met with some of the protesting policemen Sunday.
Others are protesting alleged attempts by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood to try to control the force, a charge the Islamist group denies. For decades, Egypt's police aggressively targeted the Brotherhood, and Morsi himself was imprisoned under Mubarak.
There are concerns that a recent decision to purchase 100,000 new 9mm pistols for police could lead to an even greater use of excessive force against unarmed protesters and civilians.
Officer Mohammed Mustafa was among those who stormed the deputy minister's office in Cairo on Sunday. He told The Associated Press that the group ended its sit-in after superiors vowed to look into their demands.
Though his salary has increased by almost three-fold following the uprising, Mustafa said he still earns only $185 a month. After 15 years on the job, low-ranking officers receive just $2,000 in compensation when they retire.
"Morsi, before he was president, promised that he would solve the problems of the police force," he said. "We want action, not words."
___
AP writer Mamdouh Thabet contributed to this report from Assiut, Egypt.
So there's less methane being released. OK, that's good and all--but it still doesn't address the several other really important problems with fracking.
Like the fact that the toxic chemicals they use to force apart the shale layers are a) basically unknown, b) often left down there, and c) known to be contaminating groundwater in some instances. Or the fact that the gas companies come in, tear up the countryside, create an ecological disaster, make vast amounts of money, and then, when they decide it's no longer worth their time--they just pack up and leave. And the local communities get to deal with the mess for the next 100 years or so.
The basic problem is that there's insufficient regulation here. Preventing companies from exploiting natural resources for tremendous profit while leaving behind a horrific environmental mess--and, in general, preventing privatized profits with socialized costs--is precisely what regulation is best for. The market not only will not deal with these issues, it cannot. It has no way of taking account of the externalities associated with hydrofracking.
Put in place some good common-sense regulation of hydrofracking, with enough teeth to make it actually mean something, and then we can talk about allowing it to happen within 100 miles of my house.
And yes, I live in the northernmost extension of the Marcellus shale in upstate NY, so this issue does affect me personally.
Like running out of gas on the final lap, spiking the ball on the one yard line after a Hail Mary, or catching the game-winning run sleeping on his lead at third, there is no worse feeling than losing on account of a premature celebration. The same goes for robo-bums fighting over a battery?you've got to plug in before doing the touchdown dance lest you wind up just as dead as your opponent.
KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban in Afghanistan vowed on Saturday to start a new campaign of mass suicide attacks on foreign military bases and diplomatic areas, as well as damaging "insider attacks", as part of a new spring offensive this year.
The offensive was announced via emails from Taliban spokesmen. The Islamist group has made similar announcements in recent years, which have sometimes been followed by spikes in violence after Afghanistan's harsh winter months.
The announcement of more mass suicide and insider attacks will likely be greeted with concern by the NATO-led military coalition, which is in the final stages of a fight against the Taliban-led insurgency that began in late 2001.
However, there was no immediate reaction to the Taliban's statement from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
After announcing their spring offensive last year, the Taliban launched a large attack in Kabul involving suicide bombers and an 18-hour firefight targeting Western embassies, ISAF headquarters and the Afghan parliament.
The start of the traditional "fighting season" is particularly important this year, with ISAF increasing the rate at which it hands security responsibility to Afghan forces before the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of 2014.
The Taliban statement said this year's offensive, named after Khalid bin Waleed, one of the companions of the Islamic prophet Mohammad, will involve "special military tactics" similar to those carried out previously.
"Collective martyrdom operations on bases of foreign invaders, their diplomatic centers and military airbases will be even further structured while every possible tactic will be utilized in order to detain or inflict heavy casualties on the foreign transgressors," the statement said.
Insider attacks, also known as "green on blue" attacks, involve Afghan police or soldiers turning their guns on their ISAF trainers and counterparts. They have grown considerably since last year and have strained relations between Kabul and foreign forces.
However, there is considerable debate over how many can be attributed to infiltration by insurgents and how many are by disgruntled members of the Afghan security forces.
Last August, then ISAF commander, U.S. General John Allen, said about a quarter of such attacks involved the Taliban.
The spring offensive was coordinated to begin on May 28 - or the 8th of the Islamic month of Thaur - to coincide with a national holiday to mark the overthrow of the Soviet-backed government of Mohammad Najibullah in 1992, the statement said.
(Reporting by Dylan Welch and Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Paul Tait)
I haven't done a roleplay fight in a very long time and would like to try it again. I would like a melee fight with realistic human or humanlike characters.
Any weapon type from any culture is okay as long as it's reasonable and realistic. I will be using a katana for this fight.
Who would have guessed that the air-traffic controllers and meat inspectors would be the first ones lucky enough to avoid the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration?
So it went on Friday, when Congress passed legislation to give the Federal Aviation Administration special flexibility in implementing its sequester cuts. The bill exempted air-traffic controllers from furloughs, which had caused flight delays at major airport hubs throughout the Northeast for the past five days. Meat inspectors also received a carve-out in late March following a powerful lobbying push and under the guise of ensuring food safety.
Now, with two sequester tweaks on the books, other special-interest groups, unions, and lobbyists are planning to rev up their efforts to undo the cuts bit by bit or, in this case, by a few billion dollars here or there. The actions of the FAA over the past week, alongside airline groups and unions, offer a playbook for others to use as they too seek exemptions.
?What you?re seeing now is an unraveling of the sequester. This is predictable as the sun rising in the east, and it will happen piece by piece over the next 60 to 90 days,? says Steve Bell, senior director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former staff director for the Senate Budget Committee.
Already, interest groups are plotting new ways to cast their particular sequester cuts as dire or unfair or safety hazards since they see an opening to escape the full force of the legislation. Remember the hollering a few weeks ago about cancer patients being turned away from treatment or clinical trials? Well, the American Cancer Society Action Network plans to ramp up its pressure on lawmakers following the FAA legislation. The group has an energized grassroots organization; a lobbying team in Washington; and lots of face time with lawmakers. After all, if air-traffic controllers can get a pass, then the cancer advocacy group thinks patients should too.
?We?re no longer just talking about why we need this additional funding. We?re talking about people who are dying because of what politicians are unable to do,? says Christopher Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Action Network, the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society. The message, he adds, ?is going to get more edgy.?
It took a mere six days for the FAA to push Congress to change its language on the agency?s sequester cuts. The furloughs of air-traffic controllers began April 21. Each ensuing day, the agency released a press release and tweeted about the number of flights delayed due to sequestration and the resulting reduced staffing at airports.
On Wednesday alone, 863 flights were delayed at major hubs in New York, Washington, Cleveland, Dallas, and Jacksonville, Fla. On average, New Yorkers? flights were delayed by one hour, while delays at the Los Angeles airport spanned into two hours, says Mark Duell, vice president of operations at FlightAware.com, an industry tracking group. The airlines also threatened to undo their rule to not keep passengers waiting on the tarmac for more than three hours.
Forget that an additional 2,132 flights were delayed on Wednesday, due to weather or other typical airline mishaps. This week, for instance, New York suffered from high winds, and Florida experienced thunderstorms, Duell says.
When the flights were delayed, the message from the airlines was clear: This is all the fault of the sequester. Pilots and flight attendants in their announcements attributed problems to the government cuts, says airline industry analysts. This riled up consumers and made them aware of the sequester cuts in a way they may not have experienced them before. (In mid-March, a majority of Americans had yet to see evidence of the sequester in their lives, says Gallup pollsters).
Then came the lobbying muscle to fight the FAA cuts. That?s the thing about the airline industry?it has lots of manpower. The airline pilots have a union, as do the air-traffic controllers. Major airlines have an industry group alongside the regional airlines. Even companies involved in shipping, transportation, air express, and postal delivery got involved.
It was all-out blitz, from the cable-news shots of angry passengers delayed at major airports and missing connecting flights to websites set up by the industry to decry the issue. ?Don?t Ground America? was the slogan of one industry advocacy site. ?The FAA?s unnecessary and reckless action will disrupt air travel for millions of Americans, cost jobs, and threatens to ground the U.S. economy to halt,? says the site.
This combination of angry consumers and a powerful industry?combined with a lack of opposition?forced Congress to vote to give the FAA more room to maneuver with its sequester cuts. In the weeks to come, the question is: Will this prove as a successful template for other industries or a one-off lucky break for the FAA on the sequester?
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced its plans to furlough its employees. The group representing them, the National Treasury Employees Union, wants those furloughs scaled back. ?Congress just voted to make it more likely that their flights home for another vacation today will not be delayed, but they should be staying here to find a way to stop the sequester and prevent the loss of services the American people rely on,? said NTEU President Colleen Kelley in a statement.?
In the coming weeks, the cuts least likely to receive much attention are those that affect the poor or the unemployed. Already, workers who?ve been out of job for six months or more have seen ?federal unemployment checks cut by about 11 percent cuts due to the sequester.
?It pains and saddens me that there is no outcry to undo the sequester cuts for them,? says Judy Conti, a federal advocacy coordinator with the National Employment Law Project. ?The political reality is that members of the House are not willing to do that.?
An image provided by Yellowstone National Park, Mont., shows a gray wolf in the wild.
By John Flesher and Matthew Brown, The Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. --?Federal wildlife officials have drafted plans to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move that could end a decades-long recovery effort that has restored the animals but only in parts of their historic range.
The draft U.S. Department of Interior rule obtained by The Associated Press contends that roughly 5,000 wolves now living in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes are enough to prevent the species' extinction. The agency says having gray wolves elsewhere ? such as the West Coast, parts of New England and the Southern Rockies ? is unnecessary for their long-term survival.
A small population of Mexican wolves in the Southwest would continue to receive federal protections, as a distinct subspecies of the gray wolf.
The document was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday the rule was under internal review and would be subject to public comment before a final decision is made.
If the rule is enacted, it would transfer control of wolves to state wildlife agencies by removing them from the federal list of endangered species.
Wildlife advocates warn that could effectively halt the species' expansion, which has stirred a backlash from agricultural groups and some hunters upset by wolf attacks on livestock and big game herds such as elk.
Some biologists have argued wolves will continue spreading regardless of their legal status. The animals are prolific breeders, known to journey hundreds of miles in search of new territory. They were wiped out across most of the U.S. early last century following a government sponsored poisoning and trapping campaign.
In an emailed statement, the agency pointed to "robust" populations of the animals in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes as evidence that gray wolf recovery "is one of the world's great conservation successes."
Wolves in those two areas lost protections under the Endangered Species Act over the last two years.
In some states where wolves have recovered, regulated hunting and trapping already has been used to drive down their populations, largely in response to wolf attacks on livestock and big game herds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently reported that wolf numbers dropped significantly last year in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana for the first time since they were reintroduced in the mid-1990s.
Federal officials have said they are monitoring the states' actions, but see no immediate threat to their survival.
In Oregon and Washington, which have small but rapidly growing wolf populations, the animals have remained protected under state laws even after federal protections were lifted in portions of the two states.
Between 1991 and 2011, the federal government spent $102 million on gray wolf recovery programs and state agencies chipped in $15.6 million. Federal spending likely would drop if the proposal to lift protections goes through, while state spending would increase.
John Flesher reported from Traverse City, Mich.
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? A self-described pimp was indicted Friday on charges that could bring the death penalty if he is convicted in a fatal shooting and fiery crash that killed three people on the Las Vegas Strip in February.
In an unexpected move, the Clark County District Court grand jury also indicted Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, 27, on a charge of robbery and three felony sex assault counts in a 2010 rape case that had been dismissed last year when the alleged victim refused to testify.
Prosecutor David Stanton said the second indictment didn't represent double-jeopardy under Nevada law because the earlier case was dismissed without prejudice before a preliminary hearing. That let prosecutors seek new charges when the alleged victim, who now lives in Texas, testified before the grand jury in Las Vegas.
The rape charges could put Harris in prison for a minimum of 10 years. He could get two to 15 years on the robbery charge if convicted.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said he was considering the death penalty in the Las Vegas Strip incident but had not made a decision. Wolfson was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment.
The indictment in the Strip shooting and crash accused Harris of the same 11 felonies contained in a criminal complaint filed Feb. 22: Three counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and seven counts of discharging a weapon.
Harris is expected to plead not guilty at his arraignment May 6 in Clark County District Court in both cases. A Monday court date in Las Vegas Justice Court was canceled.
Harris was being held without bail at the Clark County jail in Las Vegas. His lawyers, David Schieck and Randall Pike, weren't immediately available for comment.
Tourists compared the carnage and crashes early Feb. 21 to a Hollywood action film. The stunningly violent shooting occurred at the busy intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road, which is flanked by Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Bally's and the Flamingo.
Harris is accused of shooting from a black Range Rover into a Maserati sports car that then slammed into a taxi that burst into flames. Taxi driver Michael Boldon, 62, of Las Vegas, and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, 48, of Maple Valley, Wash., were killed. The Maserati driver, 27-year-old Kenneth Cherry Jr., died at a hospital.
Another man in the Maserati suffered gunshot wounds and survived. Five other people in several other vehicles suffered lesser injuries.
Police said Harris and Cherry had exchanged angry words at a casino valet stand before speeding with tires squealing up the neon-splashed Strip. Investigators found no gun in the Maserati and no evidence that Cherry returned fire before crashing.
Long before the shooting, Harris posted videos of himself fanning a stack of $100 bills and boasting about luxury cars, prostitutes and living in a house full of women who were all paying him. Records showed he lived in Miami, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
Records also show Harris was never convicted of pimping. But the 2010 case prompted police to seek charges of pandering by force and felon in possession of a concealed weapon. Prosecutors went ahead with robbery, sexual assault, kidnapping and coercion with a weapon charges before the case was dropped.
Harris was previously convicted in South Carolina in 2004 of felony possession with intent to sell a stolen pistol and convicted in Atlanta of a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge.
___
Find Ken Ritter on Twitter: http://twitter.com/krttr
No company wants to stay in its home market forever. But when the time comes for your company to hit the airport and expand to new countries, how do you go about it?
According to 99Designs??Patrick Llewellyn, the best way to traget other locales is actually quite simple: Take what he calls the minimum viable approach, asking yourself what is the minimum set of requirements to approach a new market?
Foe 99Designs, a company that hosts effective, if slightly controversial design competitions, the blend is translation of language to the local?tongue, the translation of its support mechanisms into what the market will understand, and to support payment options that are extant and in use. In short, the company keeps its core in place, while adjusting the customer-facing elements of its service.
However, Patrick warns you to keep your expectations in measure with your input; if you are going for the minimum viable option, your result could be constrained.
For 99Designs the approach has been a success. Now with 6 languages in place ? Dutch was added yesterday at the conference ? it has an office in Berlin, and growth rates in the German market, where it has seen growth rates outstrip other markets by 50 to 60 percent. Enjoy!
All Critics (71) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (64) | Rotten (7)
A lark, but it's a serious-minded lark, addressing issues of class and culture, the haves and have-nots.
Charming enough to satisfy even the trenchant-commentary crowd.
The plot thickens, but the mood grows lighter.
Unexpectedly, and blithely, amusing.
The film itself vaporizes before your eyes, but it's likable. Given its unstable mishmash of thuggery and whimsy, that's something of an achievement.
Like the spirit it celebrates, "The Angel's Share" is a neat little jolt of pleasure - and guaranteed to leave you feeling just a mite warmer.
As heartwarming and uplifting as any tale could be that features vicious beatings and grand larceny.
While it has some likable characters, particularly its charismatic lead, it's impossible to shake the feeling that we've seen this movie before.
Lead actor Paul Brannigan, the product of Glasgow's working-class East End, is a natural.
The usual Loachian elements are all in place, but there is a gentle spirit at work here as well, and not just the alcoholic spirits around which the plot revolves.
The Angels' Share is a stellar bit of activist cinema with a light touch.
Sweet-natured and high-spirited, it's a fanciful fable with a wee dash of magical realism.
This is one of the most likable movies so far this year.
Although the English director Ken Loach has been making socially conscious movies for close to 50 years, this shaggy comedy unfolds like the work of a young man on a lark.
With The Angels' Share, Ken Loach expertly combines a handful of genres which congeal into an often funny, always charming affair that serves as a salute to whisky to boot.
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AAA??Apr. 27, 2013?12:42 PM ET AP PHOTOS: Survivors found in Bangladesh collapse By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press
A survivor is carried on a stretcher into a waiting ambulance after being evacuated from a garment factory building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
A survivor is carried on a stretcher into a waiting ambulance after being evacuated from a garment factory building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Rescue workers provide Oxygen to a survivor from the garment factory building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes.(AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)
Rescue workers evacuate a survivor from the garment factory building that collapsed Wednesday, in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)
A survivor is given oxygen as she was evacuated from a garment factory building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
A survivor, seen at bottom right, is evacuated from a garment factory building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Working round-the-clock, rescuers have pulled more than two dozen survivors from the rubble of a Bangladesh garment factory that collapsed 4 days ago, killing some 350 people.
From within the wreckage, "We are still getting response from survivors though they are becoming weaker slowly," said Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan, the head of the fire services.
"The building is very vulnerable. Any time the floors could collapse. We are performing an impossible task, but we are glad that we are able to rescue so many survivors," he said.
The disaster is the worst ever for the country's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards.
Apr. 25, 2013 ? A dramatic leap forward in the ability of scientists to study the structural states of macromolecules such as proteins and nanoparticles in solution has been achieved by a pair of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The researchers have developed a new set of metrics for analyzing data acquired via small angle scattering (SAS) experiments with X-rays (SAXS) or neutrons (SANS). Among other advantages, this will reduce the time required to collect data by up to 20 times.
"SAS is the only technique that provides a complete snapshot of the thermodynamic state of macromolecules in a single image," says Robert Rambo, a scientist with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, who developed the new SAS metrics along with John Tainer of Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division and the Scripps Research Institute.
"In the past, SAS analyses have focused on particles that were well-behaved in the sense that they assume discrete structural states," Rambo says. "But in biology, many proteins and protein complexes are not well-behaved, they can be highly flexible, creating diffuse structural states. Our new set of metrics fully extends SAS to all particle types, well-behaved and not well-behaved."
Rambo and Tainer describe their new SAS metrics in a paper titled "Accurate assessment of mass, models and resolution by small-angle scattering." The paper has been published in the journal Nature.
Says co-author Tainer, "The SAS metrics reported in our Nature paper should have game-changing impacts on accurate high-throughput and objective analyses of the flexible molecular machines that control cell biology."
In SAS imaging, beams of X-rays or neutrons sent through a sample produce tiny collisions between the X-rays or neutrons and nano- or subnano-sized particles within the sample. How these collisions scatter are unique for each particle and can be measured to determine the particle's shape and size. The analytic metrics developed by Rambo and Tainer are predicated on the discovery by Rambo of an SAS invariant, meaning its value does not change no matter how or where the measurement was performed. This invariant has been dubbed the "volume-of-correlation" and its value is derived from the scattered intensities of X-rays or neutrons that are specific to the structural states of particles, yet are independent of their concentrations and compositions.
"The volume-of-correlation can be used for following the shape changes of a protein or nanoparticle, or as a quality metric for seeing if the data collection was corrupted," Rambo says. "This SAS invariant applies equally well to compact and flexible particles, and utilizes the entire dataset, which makes it more reliable than traditional SAS analytics, which utilize less than 10-percent of the data."
The volume-of-correlation was shown to also define a ratio that determines the molecular mass of a particle. Accurate determination of molecular mass has been a major difficulty in SAS analysis because previous methods required an accurate particle concentration, the assumption of a compact near-spherical shape, or measurements on an absolute scale.
"Such requirements hinder both accuracy and throughput of mass estimates by SAS," Rambo says. "We've established a SAS-based statistic suitable for determining the molecular mass of proteins, nucleic acids or mixed complexes in solution without concentration or shape assumptions."
The combination of the volume-of-correlation with other metrics developed by Rambo and Tainer can provide error-free recovery of SAS data with a signal-to-noise ratio below background levels. This holds profound implications for high-throughput SAS data collection strategies not only for current synchrotron-based X-ray sources, such as Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, but also for the next-generation light sources based on free-electron lasers that are now being designed.
"With our metrics, it should be possible to collect and analyze SAS data at the theoretical limit," Rambo says. "This means we can reduce data collection times so that a 90- minute exposure time used by commercial instruments could be cut to nine minutes."
Adds Tainer, "The discovery of the first x-ray scattering invariant coincided with the genesis of the Berkeley Lab some 75 years ago. This new discovery of the volume-of-correlation invariant unlocks doors for future analyses of flexible biological samples on the envisioned powerful next-generation light sources.
This research was funded through DOE's Office of Science and the National Institutes of Health.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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Journal Reference:
Robert P. Rambo, John A. Tainer. Accurate assessment of mass, models and resolution by small-angle scattering. Nature, 2013; 496 (7446): 477 DOI: 10.1038/nature12070
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Los Angeles Lakers' Steve Nash (10) drives to the basket as San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker, right, of France, defends him during the second half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio won 102-91. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Los Angeles Lakers' Steve Nash (10) drives to the basket as San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker, right, of France, defends him during the second half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio won 102-91. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Los Angeles Lakers' Steve Blake (5) passes to teammate Dwight Howard (12) as he is pressured by San Antonio Spurs' Matt Bonner, left, and Tim Duncan, second from right, during the second half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio won 102-91. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker, right, of France, drives as Los Angeles Lakers' Steve Nash (10) defends during the first half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan (21) is defended by Los Angeles Lakers' Dwight Howard (12) while trying to score during the first half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker (9), of France, drives to the basket as he is defended by Los Angeles Lakers' Earl Clark (6) during the second half of Game 2 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio won 102-91. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) ? Steve Nash needed three injections for pain relief on the Los Angeles Lakers' day off. He's still more likely to play in Game 3 on Friday night than Steve Blake or Jodie Meeks.
And just in case anybody forgot, Kobe Bryant is at home in a walking boot, his season over.
Late in a season featuring just about every tribulation imaginable, the Lakers have almost no healthy guards ? never mind anybody who could keep up with Tony Parker.
If they can't cover the gaping holes in their backcourt and figure out how to slow the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers' tumultuous season probably won't extend past the weekend.
Los Angeles still has two star big men, but even Dwight Howard realizes this patchwork roster is getting awfully flimsy. He won't use it as an excuse for whatever happens after the Spurs took firm control of the series in Texas.
"We have total confidence that we can come back and win this series," Howard said after a light practice at the Lakers' training complex. "We believe in each other. We worked too hard to get to the playoffs. We had to fight to get in. We're not just going to give up because we're down and we have a lot of guys that are injured."
But the Lakers realize they're in a tight spot heading back to Staples Center. Nash and Meeks, who has a sprained left ankle, are doubtful for Game 3 when the Lakers attempt to get started on just the third comeback from an 0-2 playoff series deficit in franchise history.
Coach Mike D'Antoni said Blake is definitely out with a strained right hamstring. Nash attempted to remain optimistic after getting two epidural injections and a cortisone injection ? his third pain-relieving injections in a week ? on his sore back and hamstrings.
"Fingers crossed that it helps at all, and second, that it helps that quickly," Nash said. "I have been called a doctor of chemistry by certain people in the media, but I couldn't make a prediction. ... I'm still in a lot of discomfort, not only from last night, but from getting a bunch of darts stuck in me."
If none of the Lakers' top four guards can play in Game 3, D'Antoni will choose a starting backcourt from the remainders: Darius Morris, Andrew Goudelock and Chris Duhon. Morris and Duhon were buried on the end of D'Antoni's bench all season, while Goudelock was busy winning the NBA D-League's MVP award.
Although the Lakers are down to third-string guards, they've still got high-caliber big men in Howard and Pau Gasol. D'Antoni is counting on a big game in the low post from Howard and another do-everything performance by Gasol, who had two triple-doubles in the Lakers' final three games of the regular season.
"Knock on wood that nothing else happens, because it's hard to lose teammates, and teammates that are playing their hearts out," said Gasol, who had a concussion and a serious foot injury earlier this season. "We've fought so hard to be here, and it's hard not to have the players that we can have at this point to have a better chance against a really good San Antonio team."
Howard's foul trouble helped doom the Lakers in Game 2, when Parker took advantage of the shot-blocking center's absence with a series of slashing drives past the Lakers' overmatched guards to the unprotected rim, tipping the game decisively in San Antonio's favor. The veteran, tested Spurs aren't getting excited about two solid wins.
"It's going to change," Tim Duncan said. "The energy is going to be in their building. They're going to continue to attack. They believe they're due a win, they're due more calls, they're due all kinds of different things, and they're going to come out even harder than they played before. We're going to be ready for that, and we've got to start building a personality on the road."
The Lakers fell apart physically while San Antonio steadily kept control of Game 2 ? never running away, but never allowing much of a threat from Los Angeles. Nash aggravated his right hamstring in the first half, while Blake needed help to the locker room after getting hurt in the fourth quarter ? and Meeks didn't even play.
D'Antoni laughs at many Lakers' fans notion that his shortened rotations late in the season are the reason for their injuries now, including Bryant's torn Achilles tendon at the close of a minutes-heavy season. Los Angeles finished the regular season on a 28-12 surge, rallying from seven games below .500 in late January to the seventh seed in the West.
"We were trying to get in the playoffs, and we went short (because) we had injuries," D'Antoni said. "Some guys had to play heavier minutes than normal. Most of the year, we played 10 guys. I don't know how many guys people want us to play. Matter of fact, when we were (losing), we were playing a lot of guys. We shortened it up to get to the playoffs. Take your pick: We can have everybody rested and be at the beach right now, or we can be in the playoffs."
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A study published in Science showed that monkeys conditioned to eat a certain color corn switched to a disliked color when other monkeys were eating it.
MUNICH, April 23 (Reuters) - Barcelona centre half Gerard Pique acknowledged his team were thoroughly second best as Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 win in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. "They gave us a thrashing," he said. "We will try to turn it around in the return leg (on May 1) and put in a good performance for the fans. "They were better and faster than us. There is no point talking about the referee, there is no excuse." Arjen Robben, who sparkled on the wing for Bayern and scored one of the goals, hailed his team's spectacular performance. ...
?In an age where literally everything has to be arch, knowing, witty or retro, Iron Maiden fans somehow still don?t give a fuck.? Thank you, professor Henry Brubaker.
Here is a little piece from The Daily Mash. Have a nice weekend.
FANS of the band Iron Maiden are somehow unaffected by the self-consciousness epidemic sweeping the Western world.
As thousands of Maiden fans rushed to buy the band?s beer just because they like the band and they like beer, scientists marvelled at their integrity.
Professor Henry Brubaker of the Institute for Studies said: ?In an age where literally everything has to be arch, knowing, witty or retro, Iron Maiden fans somehow still don?t give a fuck.
?They just like their thing for what it is, their hairy backs aren?t a statement and when they wear double denim with a bumbag it?s in no way ironic.
?The rest of us will never achieve that level of enjoyment of anything, because our stupid aspirations have made us into dicks.?
46-year-old Maiden fan Roy Hobbs said: ?I go to work doing a job I can?t even be bothered to describe, then I come home and eat either a pie or a casserole with my wife, who is also into Maiden, then we drink a couple of beers and listen to The Number of the Beast.
?We?re very happy. Why wouldn?t we be??
Raising the enjoyment level.
Hobbs confirmed that he had no opinion whatsoever about stick-on moustaches, retro gaming, boutique camping, dieting, vintage things, banter, street food, garlic presses or Jude Law.
Professor Brubaker said: ?Their houses may smell of feet and engine oil but they make everyone else in the country look like pretentious twats.?
Source: The Daily Mash
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ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - Angry teachers on Wednesday attacked offices of Mexico's main political parties in the capital of the southwestern state of Guerrero to protest against an education overhaul, breaking windows, spray-painting walls and starting fires.
Dozens of teachers opposed to President Enrique Pena Nieto's new education reform ran riot in the city of Chilpancingo, trashing installations of his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the main opposition parties.
Police were nowhere to be seen.
Television footage showed masked protesters throwing chairs, papers and plants out of the upper floors of the PRI offices in Chilpancingo as others destroyed images of Pena Nieto and sprayed colorful graffiti about him on the walls of buildings.
Teachers in Guerrero, home to the popular beach resort of Acapulco, are fighting the legislation that aims to revamp the country's failing education system by imposing tougher oversight of teaching standards and cracking down on abuses.
The law takes away control of teacher assessment from a powerful teachers union and seeks to end the practice of teachers passing on posts to relatives or simply selling them.
Teachers have been one of the most militant groups in Mexico in recent years, periodically causing major disruptions in some states during efforts to force through change.
"We need to avoid the law of the jungle imposing itself, chaos and the breakdown of public order," PRI chairman Cesar Camacho said, pledging to investigate the unrest.
Images from Milenio Television also showed protesters armed with sticks attacking offices of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), which also backed the education reform.
The footage showed people had set fire to a building next to the PRI complex. It was unclear if it belonged to the party.
Milenio's website quoted Chilpancingo Mayor Mario Moreno as saying the city lacked the means to take on the protesters. "We've already asked for federal assistance," he said.
Previous demonstrations in Guerrero have shut down main roads in the state, which is already suffering from a wave of violence that spawned vigilante-style "community self-defense" groups.
The groups have taken the law into their own hands, rounding up who they see as suspects, including police, and prompting criticism the government is no longer in control of some areas.
Guerrero state police said elements from the self-defense groups were among the people attacking the political offices.
The protests in Chilpancingo kicked off after Guerrero's state congress on Tuesday rejected demands from the teachers to amend the education bill, which involves constitutional changes that must be approved by Mexico's state legislatures.
To escape disruption from the protests, the state congress moved this week to Acapulco, which last year became the murder capital of Mexico with more than 1,000 homicides reported.
Pena Nieto signed the education law in February. Lawmakers must still draw up separate legislation to implement it.
(Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Simon Gardner and Mohammad Zargham)
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Public release date: 30-Apr-2013
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