Photos can make for a somewhat distracting desktop and solid colors get a little boring. Patterns, however, are the best of both worlds. Here are some of our favorite pattern-based wallpapers, many of which will repeat infinitely (for those of you with extra large and multiple monitors).
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/yZY6Myfe6OE/
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Researchers identify genetic variation behind acute myeloid leukemia treatment success
Wednesday, February 27, 2013Researchers from the College of Pharmacy and Medical School working within the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, have partnered to identify genetic variations that may help signal which acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients will benefit or not benefit from one of the newest antileukemic agents.
Their study is published today in Clinical Cancer Research.
In the latest study, U of M researchers evaluated how inherited genetic polymorphisms in CD33, a protein that naturally occurs in most leukemia cells, could affect clinical outcomes of patients treated with an existing chemotherapy drug, gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO), an immuno-conjugate between anti-CD33 antibody and a cytotoxin known as calicheamicin, which binds to CD33 on leukemic cells. As GO is internalized by leukemia cells, the cytotoxin is released, causing DNA damage and generating leukemic cell death.
In recent clinical trials GO has been shown to induce remission and improve survival in subset of patients with AML, however there is wide inter-patient variation in response.
Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., and colleagues identified and evaluated three genetic variations of CD33 in two groups of patients with pediatric AML ? one group that received the drug GO, and one group that did not. They found that specific genetic variation in CD33 that significantly affected the clinical outcome of AML patients who received GO based chemotherapy.
"Understanding how genetics play a role in how drugs work is extremely useful, particularly for a drug like GO which has shown a very heterogeneous response in AML patients," said Jatinder Lamba, Ph.D., the study's lead author and a researcher who holds appointments in both the College of Pharmacy and the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota. "Our latest findings lead us to believe that genetic variation in CD33 influences how AML patients' leukemic cell responds to GO."
AML is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, and is the second most common form of leukemia in children. Though the most common type of treatment for AML is chemotherapy, Lamba says the disease remains hard to treat and newer, more effective therapies are needed.
"The overall goal of our study was to use genetic data to predict beneficial or adverse response to a specific drug, thus opening up opportunities to use this information for drug optimization to achieve maximum therapeutic efficacy and minimum toxicity. Our hope is that our research could serve as a marker of prognostic significance for clinicians to select the therapy that has the greatest odds of being effective for individual patients based on their CD33 genotype."
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University of Minnesota Academic Health Center: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/
Thanks to University of Minnesota Academic Health Center for this article.
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Kids in many parts of the world are growing up surrounded with technology, some from a very tender age. Many schools aren't teaching much if any programming, though, which has led Code.org to make a short film spurring young techies into action. We have a hunch that it might work -- the video has quite possibly the most star-studded collection of men and women explaining how they got into coding and why they like it, including Bill Gates, Gabe Newell and Mark Zuckerberg. There's even endorsements from unexpected sources, such as Miami Heat player Chris Bosh. It's true that most of them have a vested interest in creating future employees, but they collectively raise the real concern that there's a deficit of software and web developers. Catch the full feature after the break if you're looking to persuade a curious child.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft, Facebook
Via: PCMag
Source: Code.org
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/gates-zuck-and-crew-entice-kids-into-programming/
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You know him most famously as the "Jay" in "Jay and Silent Bob," the odd couple that frequently pops up in Kevin Smith's films (Smith himself plays Silent Bob), but Jason Mewes has managed to stay quite busy outside of his collaborations with his longtime friend (which currently includes a weekly podcast). His latest role comes in noobz, a wacky road trip comedy that pokes fun at the world of competitive gaming. Mewes recently stopped by the RT office for a guest spot on our Rotten Toatoes radio show and stayed a bit longer to offer us his Five Favorite Films, so without further ado, here they are!
Krush Groove is awesome because it has all the old hip-hop people that I like. You know, LL Cool J, Run-DMC, who I love, Fat Boys, Sheila E. One of my favorite scenes in any movie is in that movie when Run comes out and he's like "We have a whole lot of superstars..." It just gives me goosebumps when I watch it.
House Party is a favorite of mine because Kevin and I, when we first started hanging out actually, we started watching that movie. I watched it with him, he sort of introduced me to it. It has Martin Lawrence who's amazing, and some of my favorite quotes are from that movie. That whole house party dance with Kid n Play where they do the kicking and dancing, me and my buddies used to go to parties and try to do that and it's obnoxious.
Firefly or Serenity (the movie)... that was a really good show. I was really into Buffy and Angel, and when I was done watching them I was really bummed about it being over, and I'm like "I can't believe I've watched them all, what's next?" My buddy said "Hey, the guy who created that, Joss Whedon, also created a different show, called Firefly." So I watched that and there were only a few episodes, one season, but they made the movie, which was amazing. I'm just super into sci-fi.
I just really dug the whole thing, and it's something... I don't if I can explain it, except for Jack Skellington [Jason stars singing] "What's this? What's this?" The singing and the cool horror, it was just a different movie for me.
I'm sure a lot of people say this one. As a kid, the toys, the action figures, being able to watch the three movies, and being able to watch them over and over, and then so many years later, they came out with the new ones. And now they going to make more. It was a big movie growing up. As a kid, again, the toys -- I go back and watch some of those old commercials for [putting on his announcer voice] "The Millennium Falcon!" it just gives me goosebumps and reminds me of my childhood. Growing up, I didn't get any of the toys; my family couldn't afford to buy them. But what was awesome was my friend, he had two brothers, and they all wanted the same Star Wars toys, so their parents would get them three TIE fighters, or three Death Star sets. So on Christmas, I'd open up my presents, run to my friend's house, and they would get every single Star Wars thing, and I could play with them. And then they got into GI Joe, and they had the big hovercraft, and the space shuttle, it was awesome. Anyway, the combination of the movies and the toys makes it a classic for me.
Noobz is currently available on DVD.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926916/news/1926916/
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Like many other children of the 1970s and 1980s, I did not exactly grow up thinking of Russia as a culinary hotspot. ?For me, ?Russia conjured up visions of the frozen steppes and white nights; of food shortages and old women queueing in the snow for a single loaf of bread; ?of ?grim-faced KGB men in fur hats driving Ladas; and of the assured mutual destruction of nuclear war. ?Even as a teenager, I clearly had a flair for the dramatic. ?But as Mikhail Gorbachov introduced glasnost and one by one the fortifications of the old USSR fell, ?it slowly became apparent that as much as the evil west had been misrepresented to an entire generation of Russians, so the image of a relentlessly grim Russia had also been misrepresented to my generation. ?Behind the po-faced curtain of communist rule and conformity was a vibrant and ancient food culture, waiting to be discovered by and shared with the West.
But despite it now being over two decades since the USSR disintegrated, and despite the growing numbers of eastern Europeans now living in London, I had still not dined in a Russian restaurant. ?But that was easily rectified when I was invited to a Winter Warmer dinner at Mari Vanna. Following the success of sister restaurants in St Petersburg, Moscow and New York, ?Mari Vanna?opened in Kinghstbridge, London in December 2011, a stone?s throw from Harrods. Walking into the ?candlelit interior is like stepping into the parlour of your ?eccentric Russian maiden aunt, who has a hoarding problem. ? Every inch of wall and every nook and cranny is overflowing with framed photographs, mismatched furniture, ornate crockery, French lace, crystal chandeliers ?from St Petersburg, lamps draped with fringed shawls, wooden stacking dolls, bookshelves filled with Russian literature, and crystal bowls of Sushki (a traditional Russian tea bread).?The eccentricity also extends to the bathrooms where you conduct your business to the sound of Russian folk songs and the loos have old-fashioned pull-chain mechanisms. It?s the kind of place that makes minimalists break out in a cold sweat ? but charming for all that, and a refreshing break from the blond wood Generic Gastropub school of decor.
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But there is nothing eccentric about the menu which reads like a greatest hits album of traditional, rib-sticking Russian food. ?We started off downstairs with cocktails from a characteristically unusual menu ? mine was a deliciously tart Oblepiha?s Dream?(?13 ? primarily composed of passion fruit, vodka and Champagne) but you could also have gone for Sex on The Birch?! Once we?d finished those, we moved upstairs to dine at a table with a good view of the impressive collection of jars of homemade infused vodka on offer. Luckily we did not have to face the agony of deciding what to order ? the restaurant had decided on a menu for the whole table and the food just kept on coming. Here?s how the evening unfolded.
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While we were waiting for the food, we were presented with an excellent plate of bread ? a nice mix of white, wholegrain and seeded. This was followed by a selection of Russian starters. ?Pirogi are traditional pasty-shaped pies popular in a number of eastern European cuisines. ?At Mari Vanna, you can choose from 3 flavours: the delicious ?beef and pork; the pescatarian seabass; and the slightly peculiar egg and cabbage (?3.00 each). ?The pastry is lighter than I had expected and deliciously crumbly with the presence of butter. ?Hiding its light under a bushel was herring in a shuba-coat ? a traditional layered salad with beetroot, salted herring and potatoes in a light mayonnaise dressing, covered in grated hard-boiled eggs (?11.00). ?I loved this ? particularly the interplay between the earthy beetroot and the salty herring ? it?s quite rich, but then you need your calories on the frozen steppes! A more familiar- looking Russian treat was the?Russian ?Olivier? salad with ox tongue (?10.00). ?Picture a classic Russian salad with diced carrots, pickled cucumbers, peas and boiled potatoes in a mayonnaise dressing, then add some rich and delicious cubes of cooked ox tongue ? voila! ?A new classic and a new addiction for me. To make sure we got a little fibre in our diet as well, there was a little pot of nutty buckwheat with mushrooms and onions?(?6.00); and to counteract any healthy effects of the buckwheat, there was also a decadent traditional Georgian bread pie called hachapuri, stuffed with suluguni cheese. Bread. Stuffed. With. Cheese. ?Ponder that for a second. It was like an eastern-European pizza sandwich and I confess that I was smitten.
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Of course, no Russian meal would be complete without traditional borsch (?9.00) - a beef and beetroot soup served with sour cream and pillowy pampushka bread. ?The consistency was more that of a beetroot broth, but the presence of the beef strips made this a substantial, tasty and satisfying dish. From the main course section of the menu, we had golubtzi (?15.00) ? another classic dish of cabbage leaves stuffed with pork, veal and rice and served covered ?in a rich and creamy tomato sauce. I remember my late sister making these for us in France and this dish held the lovely comforting taste of childhood memory ? satisfying and uncomplicated. ?This was followed by something altogether more sophisticated ? blinis served with sour cream, red onion, grated hard-boiled egg and our choice of smoked salmon (?17.00) or salmon roe (?23.00). ?I had always thought of blinis as small, fairly thick pancakes but what arrived were more along the lines of what I would call French cr?pes, to be filled with the salmon or roe and accompaniments, rolled up and eaten. ?I must say that the salmon roe filling was a revelation ? jewel-like, saltier than the salmon, and with the added textural interest of the lightly popping roe. ?Simply heavenly.
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Nobody was particularly hungry by this stage, but it would have been churlish not to try something from the tempting dessert menu. ?Although I was instantly drawn to the sweet cherry dumplings, in the end I could not resist the allure of the honey cake (?8.00)?. ?This impressive construction consists of seven layers of wafer-thin honey-filled sponge interspersed with buttercream, and a little chunk of comb honey on the side. ?I won?t lie to you ? it is intensely sweet, but it is the aromatic sweetness of honey rather than inspid cane sugar; and it is surprisingly light for all its sweetness. The portion is also generous and could easily be shared between two. ?And of course, no meal at Mari Vanna would be complete without sampling some of their home-made infused vodkas. I started with a safe choice ? the cherry vodka (?10.00), which had the most fantastic magenta colour and a proper cherry flavour tinged with a pleasingly sour edge ? not the saccharin flavour of glac? cherries. I was not brave enough to try the horseradish vodka, but I did try the cucumber and dill vodka (?10.00). ?This had a sparkling pale green colour and a surprisingly fresh and delicious taste ? like a dip in cool water on a hot summer?s day. ?It?s an extremely good match for the salmon roe blinis!
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My verdict? ?It?s a fabulous (if slightly bonkers) place to while away a few hours people-watching and eating decadent things while winter marches on. ?You truly do feel as if you?ve gone somewhere entirely different to London ? stepping out onto Knightsbridge ?after our meal was a slightly surreal experience, as you half expect your ruddy-cheeked Russian aunt to see you off at the door as you set off across the frozen steppes. ?The food was mostly very good and sometimes brilliant (yes, blinis and Oliver salad, I?m talking to you) ? and the infused vodkas were addictive. ?The catch? ?It?s not cheap. ?Allowing for the fact that we sampled more things when we visited than one might on a normal dinner a deux, I still reckon a meal would come to about ?70 per person including a bottle of wine and maybe a sneaky vodka. Given the fact that it?s located a short stagger from Harrods, I am guessing that most of the clientele are not there for a budget meal. ?For a special meal out though, I?d recommend it as a fun and slightly offbeat choice.
For another impression of the evening, see? Fiona?s post.
Liked: the crazy decor, the homemade infused vodkas
Disliked:?the fairly steep prices of some items
In a nutshell: A great (if pricey) ?introduction to Russian food and drink in a quirky and appealing venue
Wow factor out of 10:?7.5
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DISCLOSURE: ?I enjoyed this meal as a guest of Mari Vanna but received no remuneration other than the meal itself, and all opinions expressed are my own.
Mari Vanna
116 Knightsbridge
London
SW1X 7PJ
Tel. +44 (0) 20 7225 3122
Source: http://www.cooksister.com/2013/02/a-russian-winter-warmer-menu-at-mari-vanna.html
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Triple H is taking social media by storm with his actions inside and outside the ring.
After sending shockwaves throughout the WWE Universe with his brutal beatdown on Brock Lesnar, The Game delivered his first tweet from his official Twitter account, then promptly taunted Brock with a bold message sent via Tout.
"The ass-kicker is back," an intense Triple H proclaimed in the Tout. "Now the question is: Are you just gonna stand around and bleed? Or are you gonna do something about it?"
The King of Kings seems hell-bent on picking his familiar rival apart both physically and mentally after Lesnar stalked a recovering Mr. McMahon during the WWE Chairman's fight with Paul Heyman to kick off Raw. Lesnar required 18 staples to close the wound on his head suffered in a vicious attack at the hands of the furious Cerebral Assassin.
Now, Triple H has put the heat on Brock through his initial ventures into Twitter and Tout. Does The Game have any other verbal barbs planned for Lesnar in the aftermath of their staggering brawl? And what will The Anomaly say ? or do ? to settle the score as The Road to WrestleMania heats up?
By the looks of it, these two warriors are only getting started.
View CommentsSource: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2013-02-25/triple-h-twitter-tout-blasts-brock-lesnar-after-brawl
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? Finding the time to get your brakes checked or schedule your regular maintance can be difficult for anyone. That?s where the qualified and friendly staff at "AutoPRO-Houston? ?Mobile Service steps in ? the mobile auto repair shop will meet you at the location of your choice to assist you with your automotive repairs and needs, providing quick and convenient repair that works with your schedule.
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You will find loads of the way that one could begin to improve your home, from splashing new paint on the walls to putting in a brand new faucet in your kitchen. This website is filled with wonderful tips on how to bring your house back to normal with flair and excitement.
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Ceiling fan installation is an excellent and value effective diy project that you can consider. Fans are perfect for circulating the environment in the home, and keeping the house cool. They may also help reduce the price tag on your electric power bills by reduction of the requirement for air conditioning during the cooler times of the summer months.
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Microsoft has (finally) offered access to Internet Explorer 10 for users that haven't made the switch to Windows 8 just yet. The auto-upgrade process will roll out over the next few weeks and includes better JavaScript performance and, apparently, better battery life for mobile users. Spotted by Neowin user Mephistopheles, you can sample those fresh IE10 delights at the source link below.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Via: Neowin forums
Source: Internet Explorer 10
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/T6_3DhglxXI/
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FILE -This undated publicity file image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, left, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." As of Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, ?Identity Thief?, with a cumulative total of $93.7 million viewers, is the biggest hit so far in 2013. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
FILE -This undated publicity file image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, left, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." As of Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, ?Identity Thief?, with a cumulative total of $93.7 million viewers, is the biggest hit so far in 2013. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A week after losing the box office title to Bruce Willis, Melissa McCarthy took it back again.
McCarthy's road trip comedy "Identity Thief" topped the box office in its third week of release on Oscar weekend with $14 million for Universal. 20th Century Fox's "A Good Day to Die Hard," starring Willis, slid to fifth with $10.1 million.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. "Identity Thief," Universal, $14,017,085, 3,222 locations, $4,350 average, $93,619,615, three weeks.
2. "Snitch," Lionsgate, $13,167,607, 2,511 locations, $5,244 average, $13,167,607, one week.
3. "Escape From Planet Earth," Weinstein Co., $10,682,037, 3,353 locations, $3,186 average, $34,812,699, two weeks.
4. "Safe Haven," Relativity Media, $10,454,713, 3,223 locations, $3,244 average, $47,916,356, two weeks.
5. "A Good Day to Die Hard," Fox, $10,165,633, 3,555 locations, $2,860 average, $51,967,897, two weeks.
6. "Dark Skies," Weinstein Co., $8,189,166, 2,313 locations, $3,540 average, $8,189,166, one week.
7. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $5,750,866, 2,012 locations, $2,858 average, $107,176,012, 15 weeks.
8. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $4,825,388, 2,644 locations, $1,825 average, $58,243,441, four weeks.
9. "Beautiful Creatures," Warner Bros., $3,608,333, 2,950 locations, $1,223 average, $16,570,598, two weeks.
10. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $3,357,039, 2,070 locations, $1,622 average, $25,099,555, three weeks.
11. "Zero Dark Thirty," Sony, $2,230,084, 1,197 locations, $1,863 average, $91,539,075, 10 weeks.
12. "Argo," Warner Bros., $1,827,165, 802 locations, $2,278 average, $129,653,502, 20 weeks.
13. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," Paramount, $1,684,532, 1,425 locations, $1,182 average, $52,945,086, five weeks.
14. "Life of Pi," Fox, $1,605,366, 572 locations, $2,807 average, $113,525,126, 14 weeks.
15. "Lincoln," Disney, $1,481,081, 875 locations, $1,693 average, $178,603,571, 16 weeks.
16. "Mama," Universal, $1,173,900, 1,163 locations, $1,009 average, $70,230,570, six weeks.
17. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $1,125,886, 356 locations, $3,163 average, $8,844,950, seven weeks.
18. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $971,655, 659 locations, $1,474 average, $158,783,430, nine weeks.
19. "Amour," Sony Pictures Classics, $716,186, 328 locations, $2,183 average, $5,147,242, 10 weeks.
20. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $645,870, 402 locations, $1,607 average, $186,676,411, 17 weeks.
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
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ANKARA (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was in favor of reviving Turkey's stalled talks on its relationship with the European Union but a dispute over the divided island of Cyprus remained a stumbling block.
Speaking during a two-day visit to Turkey, Merkel, who favors a "privileged partnership" for Turkey in place of full EU membership, said it would be right to open a new chapter in Ankara's negotiations with Brussels.
But she said failure to agree on the Ankara Protocol, which would extend Turkey's customs agreement with the EU by opening its ports to goods from Cyprus, was hindering Turkey's membership ambitions.
"I said today that we should open a new chapter in the negotiations," Merkel told a news conference in Ankara.
"I must say however, that so long as the question of the Ankara protocol, which hangs closely together with Cyprus, is not solved, we will have problems in opening as many chapters as would be perhaps good and proper," she said.
Cyprus has been divided between the Greek Cypriot south and Turkish north since a Greek coup d'etat followed by a Turkish army invasion in 1974. Efforts to reunite the island have repeatedly failed and Turkey is the only nation to recognize the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Turkey began EU entry talks in 2005, a year after Cyprus was admitted, but its bid for membership has been blocked by the intractable dispute, as well as by opposition from core members Germany and France.
"We can sign the Ankara Protocol only if the visa dialogue process with the EU is signed at the same time," Erdogan said at a joint press conference, underlining a long-standing demand that Turkish citizens be allowed visa-free travel in Europe.
LONG PATH AHEAD
Turkey has complained bitterly over Berlin's lack of support for its EU hopes, and has accused the EU of double standards in conducting negotiations without full membership in mind.
Formal EU accession negotiations with Turkey began in October 2005, just weeks after Conservative Merkel beat Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in a federal election. Schroeder, who enjoyed close ties with Erdogan which he still maintains, had supported Turkey's entry.
As Germany, along with the EU, had already agreed to open negotiations, Merkel had to continue this position, although as Christian Democrat leader she personally opposed it and has always instead advocated a watered-down link with Ankara.
"We want a process with an open outcome. My position is known - I am skeptical towards full membership. But I fully support that the negotiations take place openly," Merkel said.
"We still have a long path ahead of us."
Turkey has completed only one of 35 policy "chapters" every accession candidate must conclude. All but 13 are blocked by France, Cyprus and the European Commission, which says Ankara does not meet standards on human rights and freedom of speech.
Socialist French President Francois Hollande said this month he was ready to unblock talks on the "chapter" or policy area dealing with help for EU regions. His conservative predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, strongly opposed Turkey's EU aspirations.
EU nations, which decide the speed of accession negotiations, reaffirmed their commitment to "active and credible" talks with Turkey at a meeting in Brussels on December 11.
Asked about the issue in light of Merkel's visit to Turkey, the European Commission said on Monday it would continue to push for progress.
"Member states have called for a new momentum and we believe that this new momentum will be there for the accession negotiations this year," European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.
(Additional reporting by Alexandra Hudson in Berlin, Robin Emmott in Brussels; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-remains-stumbling-block-turkeys-eu-ambition-merkel-190326208.html
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Forgotten and filed away decades ago, millions of documents on geothermal research are now helping scientists make harvesting Earth?s energy affordable
Geothermal power plants, like this one in southwestern Iceland, use superheated rocks to boil water into steam to turn electric turbines. Image: Flickr/ Chris Beckett
Geologic data does not come cheap, especially when you are using it to build a multimillion-dollar geothermal power plant. Just ask Susan Petty, president and chief technology officer at AltaRock Energy. Her company is part of a $43.8-million pilot project to tap thermal energy from Oregon's Newberry Volcano. Engineers are injecting water deep underground to fracture superheated rocks and create a geothermal reservoir. Their eventual goal is to recirculate pressurized steam back to the surface to test a new kind of technology called an enhanced geothermal system (EGS). Unlike conventional power plants that rely on near-surface hydrothermal systems like springs and geysers, EGS can draw energy up to depths of three to five kilometers. Over the next 50 years, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates, EGS power plants could produce 100 gigawatts of economically viable geothermal energy, an amount equivalent to about 10 percent of the country's current electrical capacity.
Yet geothermal wells need to be drilled in the right place. Without data on the distribution and quantity of geothermal energy in the upper part of the earth's crust or a volcano as a reference point, wells may not produce much energy at all. To date, two to five out of every 10 geothermal wells prospected end up dry. Petty says that, in terms of the available exploration data, the geothermal industry is in the same place oil and gas companies were during the early 1900s. Wells cost between $2 million and $5 million, meaning geothermal investors risk losing millions on poor odds, Petty says. ?The risk involved in geothermal prospecting sets the industry apart from other renewables.?
The risky nature of the business could soon change, however.
A wealth of geologic data from all 50 states and the Gulf of Mexico has been sitting unused in state and federal filing cabinets for decades. The Arizona Geological Survey is leading a coalition of universities and federal agencies on a nationwide treasure hunt to find and digitize these legacy data in a National Geothermal Data System (NGDS) to eliminate some of the financial risk companies like AltaRock face while prospecting for geothermal resources. Since the project's inception in 2008 under $35-million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office, collaborators have digitized information from over 1.25 million oil and gas, water, and geothermal wells and expect to have as many as three million wells in the system by the end of the year.
"It has been a rescue mission," says Roland Horne, director of Stanford University?s geothermal program. Project collaborators have found a wellspring of geothermal exploratory data in basements and old file cabinets. The legacy data come from extensive surveys of geothermal resources that were funded by the states and federal government in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. A prime example is a 1975-to-1992 DOE survey of geopressured resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The survey documents data from 16 wells off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas that show geopressured and geothermal energy reserves in the Gulf exceed the energy contained in all the conventional natural gas reserves of the continental U.S. At the time, the geothermal energy could not be profitably commercialized, so the data were filed away and forgotten.
Previously, getting ahold of geothermal exploration data depended on whom you knew, says Lee Allison, director of the Arizona Geological Survey. "A lot of this stuff was only available if you knew the people and could say, 'Hey, let me have access to your data,'" Allison says. One of the largest sets of geophysical data in the NGDS was collected and digitized by Southern Methodist University geophysicist David Blackwell and a team of researchers in 2011. They worked under a grant from Google.org to digitize data from 35,000 different locations. Their work shows that geothermal energy can generate three million megawatts of renewable electricity?approximately 10 times the capacity of U.S. coal power plants.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1e710fca06a47acd62a7da5752d0798f
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By Lynn Andriani
Everyone's favorite kitchen workhorse can do a lot more than short ribs, as these light, bright dinners show. (Slow pizza, anyone?)
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The new generation IP telephone system is different from standard systems. VOIP ( voice over net protocol ) or IP telephone is a speedy net based fone communication service offering highly favourable options for small company companies. PBX Business Communications Systems PBX or Non-public Branch Exchange telephone system incorporates a few features that help in methodical external and internal small company communication. The IP telephone service is also referred to as digital fone service or broadband phone service. The calls are moved to the right person over a dedicated telephone line or a high bandwidth web connection. One can programme an inventory of telephone numbers where he will be able to be available in the PBX telephone list. Auto attendant, caller ID, call screening, call forwarding, call transfer, voicemail, fax to e-mail, web administration and music on hold are some examples of the features that feature a small enterprise PBX system. Loosen your work force : You now do not have to keep your work force near to the vest for them to be ultra productive. The find me follow me call forwarding feature in the hosted PBX telephone system utilises this list of telephone numbers supplied by the individual to track him. The result's no lost connections and a better overall productiveness. Now employees can have a call routed to their home telephone, cell-phone, hotel room telephone, or any other telephone they wish.
As you can bring folks together that are in multiple locations online you'll scale back the need of your staff to go seriously and therefore you can tell your shopper you are becoming green. Go green : By doing video conferencing you are turning green. Advanced Features at a Tiny part of the exact Cost With a virtual office small enterprise telephone service you can take advantage of all of the advancements of a traditional telephone service at cheap rates. While making calls, the callers can hear pro sounding greetings integrated in the auto attendants of the system. If the user is not available or busy, the callers can select options like voice mail, fax mail, or e-mail to convey their messages. Therefore , before going for an office telephone system you need to ensure that the service supplier can effectively meet all of your business communication needs.
One or two suppliers even offer virtual telephone numbers and toll free numbers for the amenity of the shoppers. You must understand the costs, features and functionality around your new telefone system. Additionally, bundling is a standard technique to get more services for less, but use caution because bundling could also increase the cost. Underestimating deployment : It can occur fast getting the new telephone system installed. Consider doing the installation on a Fri. evening and have it go into Sat. and if required even into Sun. Nevertheless understanding what you are up against will save you some heart ache and possibly unrequired down-time.
Source: http://www.carmencab.com/?p=89
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Feb. 25, 2013 ? New research highlights a memory strategy that may help people who suffer from depression in recalling positive day-to-day experiences.
The study is published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Previous research has shown that being able to call up concrete, detailed memories that are positive or self-affirming can help to boost positive mood for people with a history of depression. But it's this kind of vivid memory for everyday events that seems to be dampened for people who suffer from depression.
Researcher Tim Dalgleish of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and colleagues hypothesized that a well-known method used to enhance memory -- known as the "method-of-loci" strategy -- might help depressed patients to recall positive memories with greater ease.
The method-of-loci strategy consists of associating vivid memories with physical objects or locations -- buildings you see on your commute to work every day, for instance. To recall the memories, all you have to do is imagine going through your commute.
In the study, depressed patients were asked to come up with 15 positive memories. One group was asked to use the method-of-loci strategy to create associations with their memories, while a control group was asked to use a simple "rehearsal" strategy, grouping memories based on their similarities.
After practicing their techniques, the participants were asked to recall as many of their 15 positive memories as they could.
The two methods were equally effective on the initial memory test conducted in the lab -- both groups were able to recall nearly all of the 15 memories.
But the strategies were not equally effective over time.
After a week's worth of practice at home, the participants received a surprise phone call from the researchers, who asked them to recall the memories one more time.
Participants who used the method-of-loci technique were significantly better at recalling their positive memories when compared to those who used the rehearsal technique.
These data suggest that using the method-of-loci technique to associate vivid, positive memories with physical objects or locations may make it easier for depressed individuals to recall those positive memories, which may help to elevate their mood in the long-term.
In addition to Dalgleish, co-authors on this research include Lauren Navrady, Elinor Bird, Emma Hill, Barnaby Dunn and Ann-Marie Golden, all of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit.
This research was supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council.
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Source: http://yahoodiary.com/blog/53797/small-business-opportunity-magazine-website/
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Ancient cave formations in Siberia reveal effects of warmer past on frozen ground
Ancient cave formations in Siberia reveal effects of warmer past on frozen ground
By Puneet Kollipara
Web edition: February 25, 2013
A researcher works in Ledyanaya Lenskaya Cave, in northern Siberia. The cave is in an area where the soil is frozen year-round.
Credit: Sebastian FM Breitenbach
A stalagmite?s past may help reveal Earth?s future. By studying Siberian cave formations as old as 500,000 years, researchers have found that even moderate climate warming may set off significant thawing of permafrost.
If such extensive thawing of frozen soil occurred today, it could trigger a massive release of greenhouse gases, scientists report online February 21 in Science. Permafrost locks in huge amounts of carbon, so if the frozen ground thaws, much of the carbon could convert to carbon dioxide and methane and boost global warming.
During an era with average temperatures just 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than preindustrial times, permafrost melted in areas that today are frozen year-round, the researchers report. Alarmingly, this melting came with a change in climate less than the 2 degrees that the United Nations has set as a target for averting catastrophic effects of warming, says Ted Schuur of the University of Florida, Gainesville, who was not involved in the study.
The new research, he says, is the first to shed light on permafrost from hundreds of thousands of years ago. ?It's nice to look back in the past and see what's already happened on the Earth, and that gives us some confidence about our future predictions,? Schuur says.
Mineral deposits in Siberian caves add layers much like trees add rings. Researchers searched in the formations for clues on permafrost?s history and found that just a 1.5? Celsius rise could thaw permafrost in areas that are completely frozen now.
Credit: Anton Vaks
Researchers can use soil and ice to calculate the age of existing ? but not past ? permafrost.
Anton Vaks of the University of Oxford and an international team probed what happened to permafrost in warmer climates long ago by studying speleothems, ancient cave formations that include stalactites on cave ceilings and stalagmites on cave floors. These formations grow as mineral-laden water seeps into caves. In areas with permafrost, that only happens when the climate is warm enough to cause thawing, the researchers say. So determining the age of speleothem layers gave the researchers an indirect way to study ancient thawing permafrost.
Vaks and his team sampled speleothems from six caves along a path from northern Siberia south to the Gobi Desert. They dated layers going back 500,000 years by measuring the amounts of certain radioactive elements within the layers.
In nearly all of the warm periods studied, layers grew on speleothems in areas that today have partial permafrost cover, the researchers found. During the warmest period studied, some 400,000 years ago, global temperature was 1.5 degrees higher than in preindustrial times. Only during that period did speleothems grow in the cave farthest to the north.
That suggests that 1.5 degrees of warming was enough to thaw permafrost even in areas that are fully covered today. And the finding implies the same could happen in the future, says George Kling of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. ?Our challenge is to predict how much and how fast the carbon currently frozen in permafrost will enter the atmosphere,? he says.
Vladimir Romanovsky of the University of Alaska Fairbanks praises the study but warns against generalizing its findings to permafrost in other regions of the globe, noting that the method has some uncertainty. ?Permafrost could be only one of the possible causes of growing or not growing of speleothems.? One possibility is that fractures in still-frozen permafrost could allow water to seep through, he says.
Another concern is that the method the researchers used might not detect partial thawing. If that had happened, water may not have reached caves, and speleothems would not have grown, Romanovsky says. But even partial thawing could change the climate, he warns, by turning previously locked-up carbon into greenhouse gases.
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The Sun's Sunday splash was written by Mazher Mahmood
The Sun on Sunday has morphed over the past month into the News of the World. The seventh day Sun has returned to the agenda of News International's late, unlamented title.
Three weeks ago the splash was a celebrity "confession" about a pop star's "wild night with a stripper". Two weeks ago, the lead was a kiss and tell (a woman telling tales about Manchester United footballer Patrice Evra).
Last week, a page one blurb headlined "My love for Ashley by topless bisexual nympho" alerted readers to an inside spread in which a woman told of her relationship with footballer Ashley Cole.
But they were mere pointers to today's confirmation of the new News of the World: a classic sting by the Fake Sheikh (aka Mazher Mahmood).
Billed as a "world exclusive" (though I can't imagine anyone fighting to get it), the story is given five pages. It claims to have exposed a former world heavyweight boxing champion, Herbie Hide, "as a drug Mr Fixit ready to throw a title fight for ?1 million."
It is a cut-and-paste Mahmood "investigation." Hide, now 41, who last fought three years ago, was "approached" by NoW (sorry SoS) reporters posing as businessmen "interested in organising exhibition bouts in the Middle East."
He was secretly taped and filmed agreeing, in return for ?1 million, to throw a fight. He was also persuaded to procure four grams of cocaine "when our reporter suggested that cocaine was not readily available in Norwich."
According to the Mahmood article, Hide called a friend who turned up with the drug (which turned out to be a mixture of cocaine and mephedrone).
And in classic fashion, the last couple of paragraphs tell how the NoW (sorry again, the Sun) has "passed its dossier" to the police.
The rest of the SoS content was remarkably similar to that of the old News of the World, which was closed down on Rupert Murdoch's orders in July 2011 following the confirmation of its phone-hacking activities.
On page 3 were pictures of a celebrity in a bikini on a Caribbean beach, one of which showed her two children (isn't that against the editors' code?). There was an "exclusive" spread about Katie Price (aka Jordan) being pregnant. A serious spread, with editorials and Guido Fawkes's political gossip column, featured a lengthy "exclusive" article by the chancellor George Osborne explaining away the significance of Britain losing its AAA rating.
And on it went, through a couple more celebrity spreads, an odd tale of woman alleged to be "tanorexic" (don't ask), and a spread about a woman, now 43, telling of abuse by her stepfather when she was 13, a continuation of Sara Payne's former NoW anti-paedophilia campaign.
Gradually, in a post-Leveson environment, the paper has become indistinguishable from the News of the World. The advantage for Murdoch is that it's much, much cheaper to produce and, of course, it's hacking-free.
PS: Memo to Sue Douglas, hopeful of acquiring The People in order to turn it into the News of the People, your USP has just disappeared.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/feb/24/sun-on-sunday-newsoftheworld
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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ? A man charged with disorderly conduct for his loud whistling in downtown Portland has reached a deal with the city ? he can whistle, but he can't linger in one spot.
Robert Smith, of Westbrook, has been cited by police twice in the past year after businesses complained. He pleaded guilty last summer and reached a deal with the city in which he can keep whistling as long as he's moving.
Smith maintains that his whistling ? audible a block away ? is protected free speech and usually brings smiles.
"God is showing me what I'm doing is OK," he told The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/15e6AEN). "He shows me every day with laughter."
But downtown businesses have complained about the 32-year-old Smith's never-ending noise-making.
Janis Beitzer, of the Portland Downtown District, understands why some business owners are upset.
"Just like if somebody plays an instrument in front of your business or has the radio on constantly, it's irritating," Beitzer said.
Smith said he works a construction job during the summer, but when he's not working he usually takes a bus into Portland and walks downtown streets from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., wearing a baseball cap, wrap-around sunglasses and a backpack while listening to classic rock and oldies through his headphones.
As he walks the streets, some people laugh and smile. But others scowl or roll their eyes in disgust, making rude comments after passing by.
In a plea agreement last summer, Smith pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and agreed to no longer whistle while standing in one place. As long as he's walking while he whistles, authorities agreed not to bother him.
The prosecutor, Trish McAllister, disagreed that Smith's whistling is protected by the First Amendment. A Portland city ordinance says whistling, hooting and other unnecessary noises that "annoy, disturb or injure the health, peace or safety of others" are forms of disorderly conduct.
"The judge and I viewed this as a behavioral issue," she said. "(Smith) was aggressive. He would follow people who gave him a wrong look."
___
Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/maine-man-whistle-must-keep-moving-142219466.html
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By Noely Neate
February 25, 2013
I had one of those bizarre mornings where a lot of similar themes unexpectedly came together and smacked me in the face about how self-obsessed we Australians have become.
I had a conversation with a friend about Sunrise on 7 (which I am not allowed to watch anymore as my husband says it makes me rant too much) and David Koch?s obsession with superannuation while pretending he is a ?man of the people?.?? His super carry-on drives me insane. Most Australians are worried about paying their monthly bills, not their bloody super. Rant for another day. ?To settle down I went cruising various news sites and came across an awesome article on BBC New Magazine ?called Australia: Where the good life comes at a price?which?tells ls us?how bloody good we have it in this country.
To push me over the edge I went to AUSVOTES 2013 and read a brilliant, thought-provoking article by Ed Butler titled The ego behind anti-welfarism. It focused on?how most Australians now believe they have ?earned? their privilege, not that they are lucky.? I urge people to read this article and then have a good look at themselves in the mirror. Like what you see?
The fact is the Baby Boomers are the wealthy in this country. They are the ones with superannuation and homes they have paid off . They are the reason ?finance news is now part of our nightly news. They are the people who have convinced us all that the Economy?is the most important aspect of our upcoming election, because share prices and the like affect the returns on their shares and their superannuation.? These are also the people who have forgotten that we are the ?lucky country. Many of them have also forgotten empathy, and passed that on to the public at large.
I many will frown at that statement, but take a breath and think about it.
What sort of country are we that we condone the hit on struggling single mothers by making their lives worse? Yet there is a Hands off my super!?cry at the thought of cutting tax concessions on super?? Single mothers would love to have the luxury of superannuation!
Homeless people have no idea about superannuation!? People dying, waiting on hospital surgery lists don?t give a rats butt about superannuation ? they will most likely not be alive to benefit from it.? No-one cares about these people, we all just bow down to the all powerful ?Economy?. Somewhere over the years we lost our humanity .
Baby Boomers consistently tell us they ?worked hard to live comfortably? and ?earned everything they have?, and to a certain degree they have, though they also have a tendency to re-invent history.? They love to proclaim that they ere savers who were not wasteful on big screen TV?s and McMansions, which is true.What they neglect to say is that they did not have the same issues faced today which inhibit saving or paying off your mortgage early, and that many of those issues are actually social.
For starters, back in the day the bank gave you a mortgage based on one sole wage earner, not both as is needed today. In most cases women stayed home and looked after the kids, so there were no child care expenses.? If the earnings were the result of a university education, they didn?t pay for that at all ? it was free education.
Same with school. If you went to a state school it was deadset free, unlike today, where it is hundreds of dollars a year. Every teeny extra thing is charged and that is before you get to uniforms.
If a woman did work, as my mother did, you had grandparents on both sides who helped look after your kids while you were at work or on school holidays ? another luxury we don?t have today.? In fact, many grandparents would move in with their kids when they retired, helping with resources to pay off that mortgage quicker and look after the kids at the same time whilst they happily lived on a pension. Now many families are not located near their immediate family, and often even if grandparents are close, they are probably either still working or busy enjoying their environment.? I can?t imagine my Nan saying to my mum, ?Sorry love, can?t look after the kids these school holidays, your father & I are off to Europe for 8 weeks?.
Hell, in the past our grandparents came on a holiday with us, thoroughly enjoying spending time with the family and treating the holiday as a luxury, not a right.? See, the likes of my grandparents were happy to help their families out, they didn?t think of themselves first, they thought of the family as a whole and being forged by both the Great Depression and two World Wars, they seriously knew what a shit economy was and appreciated that times were better.? They cared about their families and their neighbours because they had lived through the hard times when if you didn?t help each other out you were stuffed as you never knew who in the street was going to lose their job next.
Our Grandparents knew what was important ? health and happiness for your family.? Baby Boomers benefited from that, and like most spoiled kids don?t appreciate what they had.
Worse, they passed this disease on to their children, my generation.? The whole,??I pay tax so I deserve my cut attitude?.? You know what, you don?t, and you should actually appreciate you live in a country where you have even earned enough money to pay bloody tax!
Welfare as per the Oxford Dictionary is ?statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well-being of people in need?.
?Basic? is the operative word. Welfare money should not be used for private education, private health or to top up the wealthy?s superannuation funds. ? Education is a right. There are perfectly good state schools around and if you choose not to use them pay for that choice!
We have public hospitals. If you don?t want to wait in line with the rest of us and can afford to pay to go private then bloody well pay for it yourself. ? If you have the savings and smarts to invest well and look after your superannuation with good choices well good on you, well done. You don?t need taxpayer funded help.
Sadly the average Australian today can tell you what the price of the $AUD is against the Greenback, but they can?t tell you how many homeless we have in this country.??Think about that for one moment.
We are a lucky country. We did not go down the gurgler like most others, and we should be appreciating that and using that wealth to improve our welfare systems now, while we can afford it, to set up future generations of wage earners to keep our country strong ? not to make the poor poorer as we seem to be doing now.
Is this the future you want for your children?? Caring about your own immediate family is not what makes us an enlightened country, caring about ALL people regardless of race or creed?does!? In reality if the difference taken off the single mother was taken off the affluent it would maybe mean the ?lucky? person loses a few days off their yearly overseas holiday.
For the single mother, it could mean the ability to service her car and maybe get a job to improve her family?s future.
To the homeless person, it could mean the ability to rent a room, clean up, buy some clothes and maybe get a job to get back on track.
We need to start asking our politicians what they will do to improve the lives of ALL Australians, not just how are they going to keep the new ?affluent? middle class in the life they have become accustomed to 
Twitter and political conversation is invigorating and interesting, and there are some very smart policy experts and economists out there. I urge you, please, over coming months when =you have one of those stimulating political discussions, just take a moment to think that behind those numbers and complex policies there are actual real people who will be affected.
These decisions are not just abstract theories.? Government is there to ?service the community or state?, not to be a business. Let?s dial down the ?economic? talk and dial up the HUMANITY.
Seriously, if our grand parents and great grand parents who suffered and struggled through depression and war could see us now, would they be proud?? Somehow I don?t think so
Cheers,
Noely? @YaThinkN
*AUSVOTES 2013?is an excellent resource online for this year?s federal election. It is unbiased and is looking at all aspects of this upcoming election. I thoroughly recommend that you bookmark or favourite it to read on a regular basis!
Source:?Yathink.com.au
Credit:??What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us??
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