'Shrek: The Musical' finds its story on humor-filled stage | The Salt ...

Perry Sook plays Shrek, with Jeremy Gaston as the talkative Donkey and Whitney Winfield as Princess Fiona, in the national touring production of "Shrek the Musical," based on the popular DreamWorks film. The musical opens Feb. 26 at Capitol Theatre. Courtesy LvR/paparazzibyappointment

Review ? DreamWorks franchise comes to charming stage life in musical form.

Musicals with origins in prior incarnations ? think "American Idiot," a full-length rock album by band Green Day before it became a full-cast musical worthy of Broadway ? can be strange creatures.

So there?s a certain method in the madness of turning DreamWorks? "Shrek" film series franchise into a musical. After all, the main character himself is something of a strange character, not by virtue of his green skin and horns, but because he prizes the solitude of his swamp above all ? until fate intervenes. The third incarnation of the national tour of this Broadway show plays Capitol Theatre through March 3. Here?s all you need to know in an opening-night review:

?

?Shrek: The Musical?

When ? Through March 3. Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Where ? Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City.

Tickets ? $30-$57.50, at 801-355-ARTS or visit www.arttix.org.

Bottom line ? Forget that you?re watching actors working off the template of an animated cartoon, and this charming musical finds sure footing despite a somewhat slow start. Two hours and 30 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission.

Plot summary ? A classic story of ogre meets princess, ogre bonds with princess, but both narrowly escape the crossed wires of misunderstanding ? and a catty, bratty Lord Farquaad ? to find true love. "Shrek: The Musical" inverts and even subverts the fairy-tale paradigm not just with a flurry of contemporary cultural references, but with an allegory about inner-beauty. A sub-plot about a band of story-book characters evicted from their proper habitat is fine, but ultimately forgettable. However, there?s no arguing that without them, the musical would lose more than a little luster in its ensemble cast.

High point/low point ? High points abound, with lead Perry Sook lending Shrek poignant urgency in his singing during "When Words Fail." Whitney Winfield holds her own as Princess Fiona. But it?s Christian Marriner who almost steals the show as Lord Farquaad, with his almost impossibly haughty delivery of an ego so outsize it doesn?t known when to stop growing. As for low points, the singing of Pinocchio in Act I?s opening numbers is hard on the ears, but that?s probably part of the point in such a minor character. In addition, not all of Shrek?s Celtic brogue accent is audible.

Best special or unexpected effect ? A unique exploding prop during Princess Fiona?s singing competition in "Morning Person," at the beginning of Act II, gives new meaning to the phrase "leaving the nest."

Best joke or sight-gag ? Has to be the farting and belching contest between Shrek and Princess Fiona during "I Think I Got You Beat." If that?s too earthy for your taste, you can always wait for Lord Farquaad or Jeremy Gaston, who plays Donkey, to supply the next round of howlers. Everything from "Scarface" to Carly Rae Jepsen gets a knowing reference.

Is it worth the time and ticket price? ? Not every scene flows forcefully, or even logically, into the next. It?s sometimes wearisome to wait for the slow first act to pay off by the second. What seems like a shoe-in musical for the kids might not be, thanks to the way the plot mocks its own fairy-tale expectations. In the end, these are all minor complaints against a production that gains considerable momentum by show?s end. Like Shrek himself, the whole rumbling enterprise finds its own way home, and a sense of comfort inside its own green skin and flower-shaped horns. Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but eminently enjoyable on its own terms.

bfulton@sltrib.com

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Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/55907179-223/musical-shrek-princess-act.html.csp

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Obama, top lawmakers to meet Friday on budget cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House conceded Wednesday that efforts to avoid automatic budget cuts are unlikely to succeed before they kick in and is initiating new talks with congressional leaders to confront seemingly intractable tax-and-spend issues.

President Barack Obama will meet at the White House Friday with House and Senate leaders of both parties several hours after the deadline for averting the cuts, known in Washington-speak as a "sequester," has passed. This would put the White House and Congress essentially in the position of looking past the cuts to the next looming fiscal showdown: A March 27 deadline to continue government operations or force a government shutdown.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the White House talks, arranged Tuesday, are designed to be a "constructive discussion" about how to keep the cuts from having harmful consequences. Obama has been calling for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases to achieve deficit reduction goals.

The White House has warned that the $85 billion in cuts could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms and meat inspections. The cuts would slash domestic and defense spending, leading to forced unpaid days off for hundreds of thousands of government workers.

The impact won't be immediate. Federal workers would be notified next week that they will have to take up to a day every week off without pay, but the furloughs won't start for a month due to notification requirements. That will give negotiators some breathing room to keep working on a deal.

The Senate planned to vote on a Democratic stop gap measure on Thursday that would forestall the automatic cuts through the end of the year. It would replace them with longer-term cuts to the Pentagon and cash payments to farmers, and by installing a minimum 30 percent tax rate on income exceeding $1 million.

But Republicans oppose tax increases and will likely block the measure. Carney argued that such opposition would mean the cuts, known as a sequester in budget terms, would be the responsibility of Republicans.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Friday's session will focus on ways to reduce government spending, but he also said he will not back down on his opposition to any new revenues. McConnell, along with House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, will attend meeting at the White House.

"We can either secure those reductions more intelligently, or we can do it the president's way with across-the board cuts. But one thing Americans simply will not accept is another tax increase to replace spending reductions we already agreed to," said McConnell, R-Ky.

Carney said Obama also spoke briefly with congressional leaders Wednesday ahead of a ceremony in the Capitol to unveil a statue of civil rights heroine Rosa Parks. Obama and House Speaker John Boehner jointly led the unveiling, standing with the statue between them as they grasped and pulled in opposite directions on the braided cord that held the covering.

With the cuts now imminent, the administration continued its campaign Wednesday to cast them in dire terms. Education Secretary Arne Duncan appeared in the White House briefing room to detail what he described as bad choices in reducing assistance to schools and early childhood programs.

"The only choice I can make would be to hurt fewer poor children and help more special needs kids, or do the opposite," Duncan said. "It's a no-win proposition."

He said the first to feel the pinch will be school districts in and around military bases and Native American reservations, entities which receive direct federal aid to make up for lower local property taxes.

Duncan's remarks came a day after the Department of Homeland Security announced that the forced cuts had prompted the federal immigration enforcement agency to start releasing illegal immigrants being held in immigrant jails across the country.

Carney on Wednesday said the decision was made by career immigration and customs enforcement officials, without input from the White House.

Friday's meeting reflects a move to jumpstart negotiations after weeks of inaction on cuts that both parties have said could inflict major damage to government programs, the military and the economy at large. No serious talks to avert the cuts have been under way, and Friday's meeting will be the first face-to-face discussion between Obama and Republican leaders this year.

Republicans were considering offering a measure that would give Obama authority to propose a rewrite to the 2013 budget to redistribute the cuts. Obama would be unable to cut defense by more than the $43 billion reduction that the Pentagon currently faces, and would also be unable to raise taxes to undo the cuts. The GOP plan would allow the Obama proposal to go into effect unless Congress passed a resolution to overturn them.

The idea is that money could be transferred from lower-priority accounts to accounts funding air traffic control or meat inspection. But the White House says that such moves would only offer slight relief. At the same time, however, it could take pressure off of Congress to address the sequester.

In the House, where Republicans in the last Congress passed legislation to replace the cuts, Boehner has said it's now up to Obama and the Senate to figure a way out. The Senate never took up the House-passed bills, which expired when the new Congress was seated in January.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-top-lawmakers-meet-friday-budget-cuts-150046443--politics.html

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Linking insulin to learning: Insulin-like molecules play critical role in learning and memory

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Though it's most often associated with disorders like diabetes, Harvard researchers have shown how the signaling pathway of insulin and insulin-like peptides plays another critical role in the body -- helping to regulate learning and memory.

In addition to showing that the insulin-like peptides play a critical role in regulating the activity of neurons involved in learning and memory, a team of researchers led by Yun Zhang, Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, show that the interaction between the molecules can fine-tune how, or even if, learning takes place. Their work is described in a February 6 paper in Neuron.

"People think of insulin and diabetes, but many metabolic syndromes are associated with some types of cognitive defects and behavioral disorders, like depression or dementia," Zhang said. "That suggests that insulin and insulin-like peptides may play an important role in neural function, but it's been very difficult to nail down the underlying mechanism, because these peptides do not have to function through synapses that connect different neurons in the brain"

To get at that mechanism, Zhang and colleagues turned to an organism whose genome and nervous system are well described and highly accessible by genetics -- C. elegans.

Using genetic tools, researchers altered the small, transparent worms by removing their ability to create individual insulin-like compounds. These new "mutant" worms were then tested to see whether they would learn to avoid eating a particular type of bacteria that is known to infect the worms. Tests showed that while some worms did learn to steer clear of the bacteria, others didn't -- suggesting that removing a specific insulin-like compound halted the worms' ability to learn.

Researchers were surprised to find, however, that it wasn't just removing the molecules that could make the animals lose the ability to learn -- some peptide was found to inhibit learning.

"We hadn't predicted that we would find both positive and negative regulators from these peptides," Zhang said. "Why does the animal need this bidirectional regulation of learning? One possibility is that learning depends on context. There are certain things you want to learn -- for example, the worms in these experiments wanted to learn that they shouldn't eat this type of infectious bacteria. That's a positive regulation of the learning. But if they needed to eat, even if it is a bad food, to survive, they would need a way to suppress this type of learning."

Even more surprising for Zhang and her colleagues was evidence that the various insulin-like molecules could regulate each other.

"Many animals, including the humans, have multiple insulin-like molecules and it appears that these molecules can act like a network," she said. "Each of them may play a slightly different role in the nervous system, and they function together to coordinate the signaling related to learning and memory. By changing the way the molecules interact, the brain can fine tune learning in a host of different ways."

Going forward, Zhang said she hopes to characterize more of the insulin-like peptides as a way of better understanding how the various molecules interact, and how they act on the neural circuits for learning and memory.

Understanding how such pathways work could one day help in the development of treatment for a host of cognitive disorders, including dementia.

"The signaling pathways for insulin and insulin-like peptides are highly conserved in mammals, including the humans," Zhang said. "There is even some preliminary evidence that insulin treatment, in some cases, can improve cognitive function. That's one reason we believe that if we understand this mechanism, it will help us better understand how insulin pathways are working in the human brain."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard University.

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Journal Reference:

1. Zhunan Chen, Michael Hendricks, Astrid Cornils, Wolfgang Maier, Joy Alcedo, Yun Zhang. Two Insulin-like Peptides Antagonistically Regulate Aversive Olfactory Learning in C.?elegans. Neuron, 2013; 77 (3): 572 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.11.025

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/HFukdteMQE0/130226162837.htm

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Citrus shrimp linguine

Big, juicy shrimp made bright with a citrus sauce over a bowl of comforting pasta is just the thing to stay warm in the winter while hoping for the first signs of spring.

By Perre Coleman Magness,?The Runaway Spoon / February 26, 2013

Linguine serves as the perfect nest for big, juicy shrimp glazed with a citrus cream sauce.

The Runaway Spoon

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It?s winter. Generally, it?s cold and gray, though here in Memphis, the months are punctuated with weirdly frustrating days of 70 degree F. weather. I love winter food, but I have souped and stewed and braised myself silly and I?m ready for something lighter and fresher. This recipe started as just that. A quick whip-up with the last citrus at the bottom of the fruit bowl and some shrimp from the freezer.? But this good enough to share, and could not be a quicker family meal or company dish.

Skip to next paragraph Perre Coleman Magness

The Runaway Spoon

Perre Magness has studied food and cooking around the world, mostly by eating, but also through serious study. Coursework at Le Cordon Bleu London and intensive courses in Morocco, Thailand and France has broadened her own culinary skill and palate. The kitchen of choice is at home, cooking like most people, experimenting with unique but practical ideas.

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Big juicy shrimp remind me of summer, and citrus is sometimes the one spot of sunshine in the winter foodscape. Add a little garlic and fresh, leafy parsley and this is a bright, sunny dish. A touch of cream adds some body, but mostly this sauce just glazes the pasta and shrimp with zest. Use a high-quality olive oil to make sure the citrus really shines.

Citrus Shrimp Linguine

Serves 4

12 ounces linguine

1 orange

1 lemon

1 lime

3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup heavy cream

Small handful flat leaf parsley leaves, plus more for sprinkling

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the linguine in a pot of well-salted water according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water.

Grate the zest of the orange, lemon, and lime into the carafe of a blender. Juice the citrus to produce 3/4 cup juice combined. Add the juice to the blender with the garlic, parsley, olive oil, cream, 1 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Blend until smooth.

Pour the sauce into a large skillet or pot that will hold the pasta. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened. Add the shrimp and cook, turning once, until cooked through. They will be pink, firm, and curled tightly. Immediately add the pasta to the pot and a couple of tablespoons of cooking water. Use tongs to toss everything together, coating all the pasta with the sauce.

Serve immediately sprinkled with a little chopped fresh parsley.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of food bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by The Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own and they are responsible for the content of their blogs and their recipes. All readers are free to make ingredient substitutions to satisfy their dietary preferences, including not using wine (or substituting cooking wine) when a recipe calls for it. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/C2DOWB8EJKU/Citrus-shrimp-linguine

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Nokia Lumia 520 tries to arrive at FCC incognito, given away by codename

Nokia just tried to hustle a certain RM-914 model through the FCC, but thanks to an earlier glance at the Fed's Indonesian counterpart POSTEL, we know we're actually looking at the Lumia 520. As the Finnish outfit just announced, that model represents the new low-end of its Windows Phone 8 line, though it's decently spec'd with a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 4-inch 800 x 480 IPS display and 1,430mAh battery. While eschewing LTE, the device will pack various WCDMA and HSPA+ frequencies for 3G, though in this case, we're not looking at WCDMA 900 / 2100 bands, meaning it's indeed a US model. Its next stop ought to be store shelves later this quarter -- followed by your pocket, if the $183 or so WP8 handset rings your bell.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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How the Ocean loses nitrogen: Scientists identify key factor that controls nitrogen availability in the Ocean

Feb. 24, 2013 ? During an expedition to the South Pacific Ocean, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, along with their colleagues from the GEOMAR and Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, discovered that organic matter derived from decaying algae regulates nitrogen loss from the Ocean's oxygen minimum zones.

They published their discovery in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience.

One of the central aims of today's marine research is to better predict the response of our Ocean to global warming and human activity in general. Understanding of the oceanic nitrogen cycle is of key importance in this effort as nitrogen is the limiting nutrient for life in the Ocean. Its bio-available form (so-called fixed nitrogen, such as ammonium) is produced biologically from nitrogen gas by bacteria or is transported to the ocean as dust or river run-off. However, due to the activity of marine microorganisms growing in virtually oxygen free conditions, this fixed nitrogen is rapidly converted back to nitrogen gas, which escapes from the Ocean to the atmosphere. There are two processes, which are mainly responsible for this nitrogen loss: denitrification and anammox (anaerobic oxidation of ammonium with nitrite), both performed by anaerobic bacteria.

Up to 40% of global oceanic nitrogen loss occurs in so-called oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), which are areas with low to non-measurable oxygen concentrations. "The eastern tropical South Pacific OMZ is one of the largest OMZs in the world," explains Tim Kalvelage from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, the first author of this study. "We assumed that if we could identify and constrain the parameters that regulate N loss from this OMZ, we could better predict the N loss from all OMZs, and possibly from the Ocean, as well." Professor Andreas Oschlies of GEOMAR Kiel and speaker of the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 754 adds: "This research is fundamental for improving our current biogeochemical models that, so far, cannot reliably reproduce the patterns of N loss that we measure."

As a part of the German National Research Foundation (DFG) funded SFB 754 a series of expeditions onboard of the research ship Meteor in 2008/2009 were specifically dedicated to collect samples from the South Pacific OMZ. Further analyses and measurements followed in the laboratories of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research and Institute for General Microbiology in Kiel. The results provide a detailed overview of nutrient distributions, rates of N loss processes and abundances and identity of bacteria in the South Pacific OMZ. Furthermore, models were employed to calculate the amount of algal biomass that is exported from the surface to the deeper OMZ waters. This large-scale study resulted in the so far most comprehensive nitrogen budget for an oceanic OMZ. The results were surprising: "We saw that the rates of nitrogen loss, mainly due to anammox, strongly correlated with the export of organic matter," explains Tim Kalvelage. "This was unexpected because anammox bacteria do not grow on organic matter but use ammonium and CO₂." The scientists found out that the N-rich organic matter most likely serves as a key source of ammonium for the anammox reaction.

Professor Marcel Kuypers concludes: "Our results will help to more realistically estimate the short- and long-term impacts of human-induced ocean de-oxygenation and changing productivity on nitrogen cycling in the OMZs, as well as the rest of the Ocean. This is critical to estimate how much CO₂ can be taken up by the Ocean in the future."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Institut f?r marine Mikrobiologie?, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. Tim Kalvelage, Gaute Lavik, Phyllis Lam, Sergio Contreras, Lionel Arteaga, Carolin R. L?scher, Andreas Oschlies, Aur?lien Paulmier, Lothar Stramma, Marcel M. M. Kuypers. Nitrogen cycling driven by organic matter export in the South Pacific oxygen minimum zone. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1739

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/eMvfZhHrqMM/130224142723.htm

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Using Solo 401k Plan to Generate Passive Income Investing in Notes

Generating passive income using self-directed Solo 401 k Plan by investing in notes will be focus of upcoming seminar in Los Angeles. Sense Financial Services will present the Solo 401 k rules on using the self-directed retirement account for non-traditional investments.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) February 24, 2013

?The Ultimate Retirement Plan? seminar will highlight the rules and advantages of the Solo 401 k retirement plan. The plan, also known as the Individual 401 k or Owner-Only 401 k, will be the focus of the upcoming Los Angeles event. The seminar will be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Culver City. The event is open to the public and there is no cost to attend the event but pre-registration is required.

The Solo 401 k is a conventional 401 k Plan designed for the self employed individuals. As a 401 k, it was outlined by the IRS in 1981 and is subject to the same rules. However, the self-directed plans offered by Sense Financial contain more options to its participants.

The Solo 401 k retirement plan being offered by Sense Financial is often referred to as ?self-directed? because of its investment capability. Owners of the plan can diversify their retirement portfolio by exercising the plan?s ability to make a wide range of investments. Solo 401 k rules allow for the usage of funds for almost any investment class, such as real estate, hard money loans, notes and precious metals.

This investment control is an attractive feature of the Solo 401 k retirement account. The plan is singular in the level of control it gives. Its ?checkbook control? enables participants to access and direct funds with the ease of writing a check.

IRS Solo 401 k rules also allow for investments in notes, which will be the focus of the seminar. The IRS permits the use of Solo 401 k funds to purchase notes from third parties. The Solo 401 k owner is trustee over the plan. And as the trustee of the self-directed plan he may chose any investment he wishes. Investing in notes has the potential to yield high returns. Payments on the note go back to the plan to grow, tax-deferred or tax free!

The high contribution limits of the plan allow large amounts of income to be sheltered from taxes. In 2013, the IRS increased the contribution limits to $51,000 which is $1,000 more compared to the previous year.

The seminar will also explain the Solo 401 k loan feature. This feature allows a loan to be made for any purpose, in the amount of up to $50,000 or 50% of the fund, whichever is less.

?The Ultimate Retirement Plan? will focus on these and other benefits of the Solo 401 k. Additional Solo 401 k rules such as eligibility and IRS-prohibited transactions will also be explained during the seminar.

For more information and to register for the event, please visit: http://www.sensefinancial.com/registration-form/

About Sense Financial Services:

Sense Financial is California's leading provider of retirement accounts with ?Checkbook Control?: the Solo 401 k and the Checkbook IRA. Over the years, they have assisted hundreds of clients obtain checkbook control over their retirement accounts while providing them with the ability to invest in virtually any investment class, including real estate, private lending, mortgage notes and much more without the need for custodian approval.

To learn more about the solutions they provide, please contact: (949) 228-9393.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebsense-financial/solo-401k-plans/prweb10462632.htm

Source: http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/02/24/using-solo-401k-plan-generate-passive-income-investing-notes

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ASUS' MWC press event happens tomorrow at 7AM ET, get your liveblog here!

Regardless of how you feel about ASUS, we think we can all agree on this: the company knows how to put on a good show. The outfit's made it pretty obvious it's about to announce a new PadFone here at Mobile World Congress, thanks to teasers involving a Spanish-speaking statue and a spaceship landing atop La Sagrada Familia. Plus, chairman Jonney Shih has a little trouble controlling the volume of his voice, especially if you get him on the subject of ubiquitous cloud computing. So the keynote tomorrow should be fun -- and yeah, we're excited about that new PadFone, too. Follow our liveblog tomorrow at 7AM ET and all will be revealed.

February 25, 2013 7:00 AM EST

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, ASUS

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/XNT0IRaq_68/

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Green Home, Green Business ? Home Improvement Projects Made ...

TIP! New windows will reduce both heating and cooling costs and upgrade the look of any home. These windows offer quite the reward, so consider them.

A lot of people want to do home improvement projects, yet they find it too hard to do, and give up. Most home improvement projects are not as hard as they seem if you take the time to do some research and to educate yourself first. Utilize the advice provided here when you try your hand at home improvement.

TIP! Apply a glaze to your bathroom to improve its looks. It can really make it look brand new! Plus it?s a much cheaper choice than replacing all of those older fixtures and flooring; a bathroom can be glazed for just a couple of hundred dollars.

One home improvement project that can increase the home?s value is finishing the basement. Finished basements add livable square footage for higher property values and greater enjoyment. Shop around for the best values to keep costs down. Actually finishing your basement can up the value of your home by 30 percent or more.

TIP! Avoid allowing contractors to work on your house without signing a contract. If possible, get a lawyer to look at the contract before work begins.

Watch for offers from flooring stores and home improvement stores that will save you money on installation fees. To encourage people to buy carpet, they will quote low installation costs. When you see this type of sale, it?s time to move as often full-priced installation can cost more than the carpet itself.

TIP! When considering a bathroom upgrade, think about making the room handicap-accessible. Although it is not necessary to completely convert the bathroom now, preparing it for future adaptations as you grow older will be very convenient.

It?s a good idea to have a professional take a look at your existing floors before you commit yourself to the expensive proposition of installing all-new hardwood. Sometimes you may have beautiful, natural hardwood hiding underneath layers of carpet or linoleum that is just waiting to be refinished. If this is the case, you?ll just need to strip the old carpet or flooring and refinish the natural floor underneath.

TIP! Enlist the help of a professional for electrical improvements. They?ll know what they?re doing and suggest the best plan of action.

An easy, inexpensive way to keep your house (and your feet) toasty warm is to add a heat source beneath your tiled floors. If you are already planning to install tile floors, talk to a flooring person about using radiant heat. The sales person will be able to guide you on which type of flooring should be used as well as the options available for radiant heating. When you are ready to sell your home, this will be an attractive feature for potential buyers.

TIP! Dormer windows can make use of extra attic space that would otherwise go unused. This will improve the look of your house from the outside and give you much more attic space inside.

As stated before in the beginning of this article, many people are interested in home improvement, but give up after finding it too difficult to do. It is not hard if you are armed with the right know-how. It can be simple if you use this article?s advice.

Source: http://greenhomegreenbusinessplanet.com/home-improvement-projects-made-simple/

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HuffPost Workouts: Oscar-Winning Music You Can Exercise To

While the big moments of the 2013 Oscars undeniably belong to movies (and wardrobe malfunctions), music has been nominated for its very own Academy Award since 1935. Categories for best original score and best original song were introduced at the 7th Academy Awards.

Since then, a wide range of songs and artists have been recognized. Nominated for best original song this year are: "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"; "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"; "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"; and "Skyfall" from "Skyfall."

We combed the archives for the Oscar-winning songs you can work out to. Let us know if you actually would in the comments below -- or if we left any off the list!

• "Lose Yourself" from 2002's "8 Mile"
• "Flashdance... What A Feeling" from 1983's "Flashdance"
• "Jai Ho" from 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire"
• "Fame" from 1980's "Fame"
• "Theme From 'Shaft'" from 1971's "Shaft"
• "Things Have Changed" from 2000's "Wonder Boys"
• "Last Dance" from 1978's "That God It's Friday"
• "Hard Out Here For a Pimp" from 2005's "Hustle & Flow"
• "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" from 1987's "Dirty Dancing"

For more from our HuffPost Workouts series, click here.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/24/oscar-workout-music-oscars-songs_n_2736213.html

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Obama Faces 'Cliff Fatigue' in Latest Budget Fight

ANALYSIS By RICK KLEIN

Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk. Delays await at airports. Padlocks are ready at national parks.

The nation will suffer greater risk of wildfires, workplace deaths, and even surprise weather events, if government predictions are to be believed. Our entire military readiness and superiority are at risk.

What if nobody cares?

President Obama sure does. He's making the case, aggressively and comprehensively, that the automatic spending cuts set to go into effect at the end of the month will have a devastating impact, both on the economy and on essential government services.

"They will slow our economy. They will eliminate good jobs. They will leave many families who are already stretched to the limit scrambling to figure out what to do," the president said Saturday in his weekly radio address.

But there are few signs to suggest the public is listening. A poll out late last week found that barely one in four Americans said they'd heard much about the automatic spending cuts - known unhelpfully for public-comprehension purposes as "sequestration" - and four in 10 said they were comfortable with the cuts going into effect.

"Here's yet another deadline, and everyone's telling us everything will be destroyed if we go past it," said Michael Dimock, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which conducted the poll. "It's very hard to get the same sense of urgency for a third time in a row, just two months after the last one."

Call it cliff fatigue. After a series of dramatic confrontations with congressional Republicans, an American electorate that has little trust in Washington - and that's seeing a soaring stock market, plus a recovering housing market - looks to be tuning out the latest round of fiscal fighting, at least for now.

That's troublesome news for Obama, and not just for the recurring fights over spending and deficits. As his second-term agenda gets cranking with Congress' return this week, the president needs to convince the public not just on the merits of his priorities but also on the urgency.

This may be the only time in his presidency where heavy legislative lifts are realistic. That period is starting with a rough stretch: The spending cuts Obama once guaranteed would never take place now almost definitely will.

The fight is displaying Washington at its worst - all accusations and finger-pointing, no real attempts at problem-solving. Both sides have plans, but the president is spending far more energy explaining why the sequester is the Republicans' fault, and how bad the consequences of those cuts will be, than he is trying to negotiate something that would stop it.

"It really is sad. The president's stock in trade is political games, and this is another political game he's playing," Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., vice chairman of the House Budget Committee, told ABC News. "It results in greater cynicism on the part of the public, and none of the things he's saying are true. And people recognize this - it's 2-and-a-half cents on every dollar."

Price said the president is exaggerating the impact of cuts that amount to less than 2.5 percent of federal spending - an estimated $85 billion this year, out of a federal budget in the neighborhood of $3.5 trillion.

Moreover, Price said, the public will wind up blaming the president - notwithstanding polling that suggests the opposite for now. While many Republicans are on record preferring alternatives to the across-the-board cuts, they also argue that the president could mitigate their impact if he so chose.

"People know that if bad things occur, it's because the president wants them to occur," Price said. "The president is the president. He's in charge of the government. He has the authority right now to make sure bad things don't happen."

The White House disputes that such flexibility exists, given the blunt mechanisms in a law that was designed to never be implemented because it was so draconian.

"Only Congress can avoid this self-inflicted wound to our economy and middle class families," White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri wrote in an official blog posting last week.

Lawmakers may wind up explicitly granting the administration flexibility in distributing the cuts as part of a compromise that would only be passed after they go into effect. Beyond that, however, one side will have to give to avoid the once-unthinkable from being reality.

In the meantime, the president will continue to make the case that the sequester is Republicans' doing. He'll be at a shipyard in Newport News, Va., on Tuesday, to highlight the particular impact on defense programs.

The president needs the public to care deeply about budget cuts. If the sequester doesn't register in the national consciousness, airport lines will be nothing compared to the wait for Republicans to join the president at a negotiating table again.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-faces-cliff-fatigue-latest-budget-fight-002001001--abc-news-politics.html

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Iran draft budget reduces reliance on oil

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran says its proposed national budget greatly reduces the country's reliance on oil revenues that are down because of Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech late Saturday that his government will seek to compensate the fall in oil revenues by cutting spending and increasing taxes in the next Iranian calendar year, which begins March 21.

Iran has long depended on oil sales for about 80 percent of its foreign currency revenue.

Iran's income from oil and gas exports has dropped by 45 percent as a result of sanctions.

The West fears Iran may ultimately be able to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-draft-budget-reduces-reliance-oil-192953871.html

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Someone Tell President Obama: American Bridges Aren't "Crumbling"

Feb 23, 2013 09:50 AM EST

President Obama has been on a blitz while pushing what seems to be an evergreen priority for Democrats these days: "infrastructure investment." In his State of the Union speech, President Obama spoke of Merica's "deteriorating roads and bridges" and proposed what he called a "Fix-It-First" program that would see the government hire construction workers to work on America's infrastructure.

This worry is overblown. The Reason Foundation put out a report this week that found America's infrastructure is in fine shape, though there's certainly work to be done.

All 50 states lowered their highway fatality rates from 1989 to 2008 and 40 states reduced their percentages of deficient bridges during that time. Nationwide, the number of deficient bridges in the country fell from 37.8 percent of all bridges in 1989 to 23.7 percent in 2008.

The Reason Foundation study tracks spending per mile on state-owned roads and measures road performance in seven categories: miles of urban Interstate highways in poor pavement condition, miles of rural Interstates in poor condition, congestion on urban Interstates, deficient bridges, highway fatalities, rural primary roads in poor condition and the number of rural primary roads flagged as too narrow.

Moreover, if America's infrastructure is in bad shape, it's not because of a lack of government spending. Reason Foundation found that inflation-adjusted infrastructure spending has grown by 60% in the last twenty years despite the government controlling roughly the same amount of road mileage.

It's popular to cite th World Economic Forum rankings of world infrastructure, but misleading. The U.S. was ranked 16th in infrastructure according to the WEF, behind similar countries like Canada. But the top countries in the world for infrastructure are small and dense - those of the Netherlands and Singapore, for example. Among the world's largest countries, the U.S. stands behind only Canada, and among the world's most populous countries is bested by France, Germany and Japan. U.S. infrastructure certainly comes out well compared to the rest of the European Union, as Charles Lane pointed out.

There are certainly things that the federal government can and should do in the area of infrastructure investment. Last year, Ed Glaeser laid out a positive agenda - because President Obama at the time was on a previous pro-infrastrucutre blitz - for infrastructure investment that would focus on market reforms and decentralization that would fix what needs to be fixed while staying humble in scope.

LET USERS PAY: In the early days, we paid for infrastructure, such as the Erie Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge, by charging tolls. That was easy to do, as demand for these improvements was enormous. But our fondness for big projects gradually and dangerously moved us away from this ideal. The Highway System is meant to be funded with gas taxes paid into the Highway Trust Fund, but funding formulas mean that the taxes each state pays into the fund rarely match the money received.

The stimulus delivered a dollop of highway spending provided with general tax dollars, and the Congressional Budget Office projects that the Trust Fund will be broke by 2014. Yet Congress is now promoting a vast new road spending bill. The budget the president presented yesterday supports paying for infrastructure with ?current user-financed mechanisms,? but also proposes tapping ?part of the savings from ending the war in Iraq and winding down operations in Afghanistan,? which just means using general tax revenue to pay for highways.

DE-FEDERALIZE TRANSPORT SPENDING: Most forms of transport infrastructure overwhelmingly serve the residents of a single state. Yet the federal government has played an outsized role in funding transportation for 50 years. Whenever the person paying isn?t the person who benefits, there will always be a push for more largesse and little check on spending efficiency. Would Detroit?s People Mover have ever been built if the people of Detroit had to pay for it? We should move toward a system in which states and localities take more responsibility for the infrastructure that serves their citizens.

INSTITUTIONALIZE MAINTENANCE FUNDING: Throughout the world, political leaders love to cut ribbons on new projects, but they hate the hard work of maintaining older infrastructure. The natural result is that bridges become unsafe and highways are riddled with potholes. As I suspect that states and localities will always do too little to invest in maintenance, this would be a good place to redirect federal spending.

Instead of funding new projects, the Highway Trust Fund could instead become solely a road and bridge maintenance fund. Obama?s 2013 budget moves in this direction by espousing a ?fix-it-first policy,? but that isn?t the same as tying future tax revenue to needed maintenance.

Despite President Obama's dire warnings, American infrastructure is not "crumbling." Infrastructure investment isn't a magic wand for economic sluggishness. There are positive steps in a federal infrastructure reform agenda that can be undertaken, but President Obama's dire warnings about the decrepit state of American infrastructure aren't true and aren't helping move the conversation forward.

Source: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/KevinGlass/2013/02/23/someone-tell-president-obama-american-bridges-arent-crumbling-n1518816

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The Desplat Sound

Alexandre Desplat

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

In the category for Best Score at the Oscars this year, there are nothing but worthy contenders. Thomas Newman?s dark, smoky score for Skyfall?along with Roger Deakins? stunning cinematography, also nominated?was largely responsible for making that perfectly serviceable action film feel like more than just the latest product from the 007 factory. John Williams? simple yet soaring music for Lincoln, with its echoes of Aaron Copland, nearly reached the standard of the great Spielberg/Williams collaborations of yore?even if Spielberg laid it on a little thick with his use of the score at moments when Tony Kushner?s script was doing just fine on its own. Mychael Danna?s delicate, Indian-inflected music for Life of Pi and Dario Marianelli?s sprightly dances for Anna Karenina both provided elegant sonic backdrops for what were, in my view, otherwise flawed films.* But the composer I?m most hoping to see ascend the podium?and not just because he?s a lanky French dreamboat who?ll look great in evening wear?is Alexandre Desplat, who created the score for Argo.

Though it has some beautiful passages (especially those involving the haunting voice of the Iranian-born singer Sussan Deyhim), the conventionally suspenseful Argo score might not have been my choice for Desplat?s most interesting work this year, let alone over the course of a nearly 30-year career. In 2012 alone the astonishingly prolific Parisian also scored Zero Dark Thirty, Moonrise Kingdom, Rise of the Guardians, Rust and Bone, and several more films not released in the United States. Desplat may be my favorite composer working in mainstream movies today?when I see his name connected to a project, I know there?ll be at least one interesting thing about it.

One of Desplat?s chief strengths as a composer (though one, ironically, that may put him at a disadvantage in awards season?he?s been nominated five times and never won) is that he has no recognizable signature style. Directors don?t hire him to provide a known quantity, an ?Alexandre Desplat sound.? He?s an infinitely malleable shape-shifter, capable of creating taut suspense scores (Argo, The Ghost Writer) or yearning romantic ones (Twilight: New Moon; Lust, Caution; Moonrise Kingdom). When he?s working with the right director, Desplat can write music that?s inextricable from the viewer?s memory of the film itself. I can?t think of Fantastic Mr. Fox?the only Wes Anderson movie since Rushmore that I?ve unreservedly loved?without immediately hearing Desplat?s music, a marvel of playfulness and wit with an inventive orchestration perfectly suited to Anderson?s bricoleur sensibility. Banjo, mouth harp, celeste, and glockenspiel combine to create a sound that?s equal parts hoedown and windup music box, with the odd nod to Ennio Morricone. (Desplat himself provides the whistled leitmotif associated with the film?s fox-hunting farmer villains.) And you have to watch Zero Dark Thirty a second time to fully realize the degree to which the music?all low, moody brass and muffled percussion, with very few discernible melody lines?provides an unsettling substrate for the shifting moral alliances of the story.

A classically trained flutist and longtime cinephile who always knew he wanted to compose for films, the 51-year-old Desplat grew up frequenting Parisian moviehouses in the days before home video, immersing himself in the work of great European and American composers: Among the influences he?s cited are Bernard Herrmann, Henry Mancini, Georges Delerue, Maurice Jarre, Nino Rota, and Franz Waxman. But his knowledge of non-Western, non-film-related musicianship is also wide-ranging: Desplat played bossa nova and Brazilian pop with a band in his teens and is also versed in Greek and Afro-Caribbean music and jazz.

That musical sophistication and richness of reference is evident in everything he does, especially when it comes to orchestration, an aspect of film composing Desplat is especially passionate about. (?If I was rich enough,? he told one interviewer, ?I?d buy the London Symphony Orchestra.?) You wouldn?t think the sound of the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute, would be at home in the very British universe of Hogwarts School, but Desplat uses the instrument to enchanting effect in the scores he wrote for parts one and two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And in his jangly, Herrmannesque score for Roman Polanski?s The Ghost Writer he had the inspiration of using ?singing flute??a style of playing in which flutists vocalize directly into their instruments, ? la Jethro Tull?for the film?s oneiric main theme. To my ear, it?s among Desplat?s best work:

The charming musical suite that accompanies the final credits of Moonrise Kingdom pays tribute to the composer?s love for stacking one unexpected sound atop another, as a young boy?s voice names each instrument as it joins the mix (an homage to Benjamin Britten?s Young Person?s Guide to the Orchestra, which the movie?s 12-year-old hero listens to on his portable record player throughout the film).

Desplat has said in interviews that he?s not interested in using music simply as mood-appropriate underscoring: ?I always think the score should bring out the invisible, because what?s on screen is on screen. Why double it?? True to his word, Desplat?s scores often function in counterpoint to the on-screen action or explore the film?s themes on a structural level that might not be immediately apparent to listeners, even if the music still affects them viscerally. For example, in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?the story of a man who ages backward through time so that he?s born as an old man and dies as a baby?Desplat wrote a subtle ?palindrome hook,? a simple piano theme that sounds the same played forward as backward. (He talks about its construction here while demonstrating on the piano.)

There?s one more reason to hope Alexandre Desplat wins on Sunday: I bet he?d give a killer speech. He comes across in interviews as a beautifully spoken, unfailingly modest, insatiably curious guy?a self-described synesthete who strongly associates music with color. (His score for The Tree of Life was composed in C major because, he says, ?to me C sounds white and pure,? while the Harry Potter scores appear to him as ?grey-bluish.?) Asked by an interviewer whether his idea for the palindrome theme in Benjamin Button made him pause for a second to pat himself on the back, Desplat laughed off the notion: ?You never say to yourself, ?It?s brilliant.? You always keep in mind that you?re a worm and that you have to do something better each time.? That?s the attitude I like to see in my Oscar winners. Vas-y, Alexandre!

Correction, Feb. 22, 2013: This article originally misspelled Dario Marianelli's last name. (Return to the corrected sentence.)

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=e3b9f06631d5cce3dccc87c15040aaf0

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Coins Are Out, Tweets Are In: There?s A Twitter-Activated Vending Machine In Canada

As part of the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Hot Wheels and Chevrolet developed the first Twitter-activated vending machine. AutoShow guests can receive an exclusive Hot Wheels Camaro from the vending machine by sending a tweet using #ChevyCIAS @HotWheelsCanada and having their geo-location Twitter services enabled. See the video above to see it in action.

Related Post:
Pizza Vending Machine Makes Fresh Pizza In Less Than 3 Minutes

Source: http://www.zagg.com/community/blog/coins-are-out-tweets-are-in-theres-a-twitter-activated-vending-machine-in-canada/

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Hire Professional Edmonton Web Developer Services ? City Bolt

You must be aware of the importance of having a website in today?s competitive business world. Almost all businesses have an online presence to promote their products and services. They will be at a loss if they do not make the most out of the online marketing techniques. Millions of people from all over the world use the Internet to garner information. Making use of online marketing ensures that the business is not left behind. An expert Edmonton web developer understands how to rework on a website?s content so that it is relevant and unique. Search engines care about Internet portals that truly help visitors.?

A Calgary web developer will help people to design their portals so that they are easy to navigate. Users like portals that are simple and attractive. This means that the headers and tabs are prominent and that there is a nice balance between text and images. No one wants a portal that has only text. Hence, it would be a great idea to hire developers to design an effective domain. The traffic on the Internet will decide the success of the company by increasing its sales. The online platform is of great use in terms of promoting products and services. It should be interactive for the clients and customers so that they will spend more time going through it. Keeping everything in mind, these professionals meet the exact needs of the business? portal. The experts will encompass all the integral activities that allow you to maximize the potential of the site.

A highly skilled Edmonton web developer can effectively design a portal, develop content and come up with e-commerce solutions. They will suggest the best template for your business domain that will generate more traffic. There is no doubt that the Internet domain can be a powerful tool for your business and hence you should update it regularly. When you have an expert with you, he will take care of all these aspects. They are well aware of the latest technology and hence will provide the best solutions. Hiring their service can boost the efficiency of your business portal. The professional Edmonton web developer also provides quality service and never delays the projects.

The services offered by a highly experienced Edmonton web developer can help you to get the maximum benefits out of your investment. These professionals have technical expertise and the knowledge required for online marketing. Most importantly, these developers can provide good results in project management, development and market analysis. So, what are you waiting for? Conduct an online search to find the best web development company located in Edmonton. Ensure that you take time in order to find the best service that is suitable for your business and budget. It is highly recommended that you look at the past projects of a company before you hire them.

Resources:
Francis Green is the author of this article on Edmonton Web Developer. Find more information, about Calgary Web Developer here

Source: http://citybolt.com/internet-and-businesses-online/web-design/hire-professional-edmonton-web-developer-services.html

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Why sourdough bread resists mold

Feb. 21, 2013 ? Sourdough bread resists mold, unlike conventionally leavened bread. Now Michael Gaenzle and colleagues of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, show why. During sourdough production, bacteria convert the linoleic acid in bread flour to a compound that has powerful antifungal activity. The research, which could improve the taste of bread, is published online ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

The major benefits from the research are twofold: better tasting bread, says Gaenzle, because "preservatives can be eliminated from the recipes, and because sourdough bread has a more distinct and richer flavor compared to bread produced with yeast only;" and novel tools to control fungi in malting and plant production, via treatment of seeds with the anti-fungal fatty acids.

Genuine sourdough bread differs from ordinary bread in having an extra fermentation step, over and above yeast fermentation. This step is mediated by lactic acid bacteria, typically of the genus Lactobacillus, says Gaenzle.

In the study, "we offered linoleic acid to lactobacilli and screened for organisms producing potent antifungal activity," says Gaenzle. The investigators then fractionated the metabolites to isolate and identify compounds with antifungal activity. "The identification was a bottleneck in the research project," says Gaenzle. "In collaboration with analytical chemists, we had to develop novel methods for identifying the compounds."

L. hammesii produced substantial quantities of hydroxylated monounsaturated fatty acids which the researchers found strongly inhibited mold formation. A second antifungal fatty acid produced by cereal enzymes contributes to the antifungal activity of sourdough.

"The two compounds and their formation by cereal or microbial enzymes had been described previously, but their antifungal activity and their generation in food production was unknown," says Gaenzle. These new findings, he says, were "a step towards understanding how and why lactobacilli metabolize fatty acids. This could be useful in the long term to improve our understanding of the biology of these organisms."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. B. A. Black, E. Zannini, J. M. Curtis, M. G. Ganzle. Antifungal hydroxy-fatty acids produced during sourdough fermentation: microbial and enzymatic pathways, and antifungal activity in bread. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/AEM.03784-12

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/b02TezJ_35g/130221194239.htm

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Source: Boeing to propose 787 battery fix to FAA

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Boeing has developed a plan that it intends to propose to federal regulators to temporarily fix problems with the 787 Dreamliner's batteries that have kept the planes on the ground for more than a month, a congressional official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner is expected to present the plan to Michael Huerta, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, in a meeting on Friday, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

Boeing Co. spokesman Marc Birtel said the company doesn't talk in advance about meetings with federal officials.

"Everyone is working to get to the answer as quickly as possible, and good progress is being made," Birtel said.

The FAA and overseas aviation authorities grounded all 50 of the planes in service worldwide after a lithium ion battery caught fire on a plane parked in Boston and a smoking battery led to an emergency landing by another plane in Japan. The 787 is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. It was supposed to exemplify the future of commercial aviation, but the groundings have been a major public black eye and financial drain for Boeing, which vies with Airbus for the position as the world's largest commercial aircraft maker.

The plane is also the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries to help power its electrical systems. Lithium ion batteries weigh less, charge faster and hold more energy than other batteries of comparable size. But they are also more susceptible to short-circuiting that can cause fires if they are damaged, have manufacturing flaws, are exposed to excessive heat or are overcharged.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the battery fire in a Japan Airlines 787 that was discovered shortly after the plane landed at Boston's Logan International Airport on Jan. 7. Japanese authorities are investigating a battery failure in an All Nippon Airways 787 that made an emergency landing nine days after the fire. Investigators have said the batteries experienced short-circuiting and thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that causes progressively hotter temperatures, but they haven't found the root cause of the incidents.

Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday its investigation has uncovered a new problem: The aircraft's auxiliary power unit, which contains a lithium ion battery, was improperly connected to the main battery that overheated.

NTSB investigators found the Boston fire started with multiple short-circuits in one of the battery's eight cells. That created an uncontrolled chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," which is characterized by progressively hotter temperatures. That spread the short-circuiting to the rest of the cells and caused the fire.

The board's findings are at odds with Boeing's initial battery testing before FAA's safety certification of the plane, which concluded that any short-circuiting could be contained within a single cell, preventing thermal runaway and fire from spreading.

Among the measures being discussed to make the batteries safe enough to return the 787 to the skies are adding more ceramic spacers between battery cells to contain any short-circuiting and fire within that cell. That would be in line with Boeing's initial test results.

More ceramic spacers would make the battery larger, which would require a bigger box to contain the battery cells. A more robust box lined with material to prevent any fire from spreading is also under discussion.

"What Boeing is trying to do is fix the battery so that (its initial testing) assumption is now valid," said Jon Hansman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology aeronautics professor and a member of the FAA's Research and Development Advisory Committee.

"So if you can fix this part, the rest should be ok," he said.

Boeing hasn't said how much the 787 grounding will cost it. Imperial Capital analyst Ken Herbert estimated last week that it could cost Boeing $25 million a month in direct costs, with the total price tag climbing past $1 billion, including spending to fix the problem and expenses for delayed deliveries.

Boeing is still building five 787s each month, and has said it still wants to speed up to 10 a month by the end of the year. The company had orders for 800 of the planes at the time they were grounded.

It would take a delay of more than a couple of months for Boeing to back away from its speed-up plan, UBS analyst David Strauss wrote in a note on Wednesday.

Eight airlines in seven countries have 787s in their fleets. United Airlines, the only U.S. carrier with 787s, has cut its five 787s out of its schedule through the end of March. The grounding has been the most disruptive for Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has 17 of the planes.

LOT Polish Airlines is losing $50,000 a day due to the grounding of its two Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes, according to information made public by the Polish government on Wednesday. One of LOT Polish Airlines' 787s was stranded in Chicago by the grounding. LOT is still waiting for six more 787s to be delivered, several of them early this year.

___

Freed reported from Minneapolis.

___

Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/source-boeing-propose-787-battery-fix-faa-212304933--finance.html

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Israel Denies 'Prisoner X' Gave Info to Australia

Israel denied on Tuesday that a man identified by media as an Australian-Israeli Mossad agent who committed suicide in jail had any contact with Australia's security services.

"Following recent publications, the prime minister's office stresses that the late Zygier had no contact with the Australian security services and organizations," the Prime Minister Office?s said in a statement, in Israel's first mention of Ben Zygier by name.

?The Prime Minister's Office would like to note that between the Government of Israel and all its agencies, and the Government of Australia and the Australian security agencies, there is excellent cooperation, full coordination and complete transparency in dealing with current issues,? noted the statement.

On Monday, Australian network ABC said Zygier was arrested after giving Australian intelligence officials a comprehensive account of a number of Mossad operations.

Former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday he believed Zygier's felony was "more serious" than just a leak to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization.

"I suspect it was something more serious than just sharing information with ASIO," he told ABC radio, according to a report in AFP.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Rishon Lezion court authorized the release of part of a report on the investigation surrounding the imprisonment and death of Zygier, who had come to be known as ?Prisoner X.?

Among the details revealed in the report: Zygier ?definitely? committed suicide, and was not ?disappeared? by Israeli authorities for threatening to reveal or revealing Mossad secrets. He killed himself using a sheet that was in his cell.

However, even though his death was self-inflicted, the report said, the Israeli Prisons Service and others responsible for Zygier's detention and imprisonment were not without guilt in the matter.

?It is very possible that the Prisons Service officials involved in the case could be charged with death by negligence,? the court said, since they clearly did not take the necessary steps to prevent Zygier's suicide.

Taking all the evidence into account, the court added, ?there seems to be enough evidence to say that it was the errors of the Prisons Service that caused Zygier's death.?

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/165443

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Chinese military believed to be behind series of U.S hacking attacks

Independent.ie Tuesday 19th February, 2013

Ben Blanchard and Joseph Menn - 19 February 2013 A SECRETIVE Chinese military unit is believed to be behind a series of hacking attacks, a U.S. computer security company said, prompting a strong denial by China and accusations that it was in fact the victim of U.S. hacking.

Read more

Source: http://www.caribbeanherald.com/index.php/sid/212672629/scat/d805653303cbbba8

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Source: http://forums.ferra.ru/index.php?showtopic=54553

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Rifle. Ohio State Posts Record Setting Performance at NCAA Qualifier

Feb. 17, 2013

NCAA Qualifier Results?

Columbus, Ohio- The Ohio State rifle team fired a team record 4633 combined score Sunday at the NCAA Qualifier held at the Hugh W. Wylie Range.

The Buckeyes were led in both smallbore and air rifle by junior Amanda Luoma. The Cortland, Ohio native fired a season best 584 in the smallbore and a personal best 593 in air rifle. Freshman Remington Lyman also posted a personal best in air rifle with a 583, while posting a solid 574 in smallbore.

Senior Maxwell Snyderman (574), sophomore Greg Hagar (572) and junior Dan Chapman (568) rounded out team scoring for the Buckeyes in smallbore. The team smallbore score of 2304 was a season high. Other notable performances included a 575 by senior Walter Riker, and a 570 from both senior Robert Mangaudis and freshman Alex Kimura.

In air rifle, Chapman (578), Hagar (577) and Snyderman (573) rounded out team scoring for Ohio State, while Kimura posted a personal best 582 and sophomore Megan Polonsky fired a 577.

Team selection for the NCAA Rifle Championships, which will be hosted by Ohio State March 8-10, will take place on Wednesday with individuals being selected on Thursday.

Ohio State returns to action next weekend to defend its Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference Championship. The WIRC Championship will take place Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23, at the Hugh W. Wylie Range.

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Source: http://onlyfans.cstv.com/schools/osu/sports/c-rifle/recaps/021713aaa.html

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