3-D printing adds new dimension to business innovation

3-D printing may have an image problem. It's sometimes seen as a hobbyist pursuit -- a fun way to build knickknacks from your living room desktop -- but a growing number of companies are giving serious thought to the technology to help get new ideas off the ground.

That's literally off the ground in aircraft maker Boeing's case. Thirty thousand feet in the air, some planes made by Boeing are outfitted with air duct components, wiring covers and other small, general parts that have been made via 3-D printing, or, as the process is known in industrial applications, additive manufacturing. The company also uses additive manufacturing with metal to produce prototype parts for form, fit and function tests.

Whether it's the living room or a corporate factory, the underlying principle of 3-D printing -- additive manufacturing -- is the same. It's different from traditional manufacturing techniques such as subtractive or formative manufacturing, which mainly rely on removing material through molding, drilling or grinding. Additive manufacturing instead starts from scratch and binds layers of material sequentially in extremely thin sheets, into a shape designed with 3-D modeling software.

Boeing has been conducting research and development in the area of additive manufacturing since 1997, but the company wants to scale up its processes in the years ahead so it can use the technology to build larger, structural components that can be widely incorporated into military and commercial aircraft.

For these larger titanium structures that constitute the backbone of aircraft, "they generally fall outside of the capacity of additive manufacturing in its current state because they're larger than the equipment that can make them," said David Dietrich, lead engineer for additive manufacturing in metals at Boeing.

"That's our goal through aggressive new machine designs -- to scale to larger applications," he said.

Boeing's use of 3-D printing may seem unconventional because of the growing attention on the technology's consumer applications for things like toys, figurines and sculptures. But it's not.

In industry, "we don't like to refer to it as '3-D printing' because the term additive manufacturing has been around longer and is more accepted," Dietrich said.

For consumers, some of the more prominent 3-D printer makers include MakerBot, MakieLab and RepRap; industrial-grade makers include 3D Systems, which also makes lower-cost models, Stratasys, ExOne and EOS.

The cost of a 3-D printer varies widely. 3D Systems' Cube, which is designed for home users and hobbyists, starts at around US$1,300. But machines built for industrial-grade manufacturing in industries like aerospace, automotive and medical, such as those made by ExOne, can fetch prices as high as $1 million.

The average selling price for an industrial-grade 3-D printer is about $75,000, according to market research compiled by Terry Wohlers, an analyst who studies trends in 3-D printing. Most consumer printers go for between $1,500 and $3,000, he said.

3-D printing or additive manufacturing offers several advantages over traditional subtractive processes. The biggest benefit, some businesses say, is that the technology allows for speedier, one-off production of products in-house.

At Boeing, the team handling additive manufacturing in plastics has cut down its processing time dramatically. While it might take up to a year to make some small parts using conventional tools, 3-D printing can lessen the processing time to a week, said Michael Hayes, lead engineer for additive manufacturing in plastics at the company.

The company can also more easily tweak its products using the technology, he said. "You can fail early," Hayes said. "You can make the first part very quickly, make changes, and get to a high-quality part faster."

NASA is another organization that is using 3-D printers to experiment. The space agency has been looking at the technology for years, but over the past six months, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been using the technology more frequently to test new concepts for parts that may soon find their way into spacecraft.

Located in Pasadena, California, the lab has a dozen 3-D printers including consumer models made by companies such as MakerBot, Stratasys and 3D Systems.

Previously, 3-D printers were too expensive, but the revolution now is their affordability, said Tom Soderstrom, chief technology officer at the lab. JPL uses the printers as a brainstorming tool as part of what Soderstrom calls their "IT petting zoo."

So far, the program's results have been good. This past summer, mechanical engineers used the printers to create concepts for simple items like table trays. But an actual stand for a webcam was produced too, to be used for conference calls. And engineers realized, using the 3-D printers, they could incorporate the same swivel mechanism that was used for the stand into their design for a new spacecraft part for deploying parachutes.

"That was the 'aha' moment," Soderstrom said, that the printers could be used to conceive and print parts for actual spacecraft. The swivel part, which has been designed but not manufactured yet, would provide wiggle room to the parachute to reduce the torque or rotational impact when it deploys.

Another advantage of having a 3-D printer in-house is that it can give a company an easier way to fine-tune designs for new products, Soderstrom said. "It can take you 20 times to get an idea right," he said.

Soderstrom hopes that eventually entire spacecraft could be printed using the technology. The spacecraft would be unmanned, and small, perhaps a flat panel the size of an art book. "Not all spacecraft need to look like the Voyager," Soderstrom said.

For consumer-level 3-D printers, the technology is still developing. Depending on the machine, the printed objects are not always polished, and the software to make the designs can be buggy and difficult to learn, Soderstrom said. Software for generating designs for 3-D printing can be supplied by the printer vendor, take the form of computer-aided design programs such as Autodesk, or come from large engineering companies like Siemens.

Still, Soderstrom recommends that CIOs make the investment in 3-D printing and purchase or otherwise obtain several machines on loan. They don't have to be the most expensive models, he said, but companies should try to identify which business units might see the most benefit from the machines. Companies should try to find somebody who can act as the "IT concierge" -- a person with knowledge of the technology who can advise the company how best to use it.

"Producing a high-fidelity part on some of the cheaper 3-D printers can be hard," Soderstrom said. "This concierge could help with that." Certain skills this person may need could include knowing how to work with multiple different materials within a single object, he said.

Companies don't have to be as large as Boeing or NASA to get some use out of 3-D printers. The technology is also an option for small-business owners and entrepreneurs looking to make customized designs for prototypes and then print them in small-scale runs.

One company making strategic use of 3-D printing is shipping and logistics giant UPS. The company, which also makes its services available to smaller customers via storefront operations, has responded to the growing interest in the technology with a program designed to help small businesses and startups that may not have the funds to purchase their own 3-D printer.

A poll of small-business owners conducted by UPS showed high interest in trying out the technology, particularly among those wanting to create prototypes, artistic renderings or promotional materials. So, in July the company announced the start of a program that UPS said makes it the first nationwide retailer to test 3-D printing services in-store.

Staples claims to be the first retailer to stock 3-D printers for consumers, but UPS says its program makes it the first to offer 3-D printing services like computer-aided design consultations in addition to the printing itself.

Currently, there are six independently owned UPS store locations offering Stratasys' uPrint SE Plus printer, an industrial-grade machine. A store in San Diego was the first to get it, followed by locations in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; New York; and outside Dallas. In September, the printer was installed at a location in Menlo Park, California, just off Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, a street known for its concentration of venture capital companies backing tech startups.

The UPS Store will gather feedback from store owners and customers over the next 12 months and then will decide whether to add printers in additional stores if the test is successful.

So far at the San Diego store, costs to the customer have ranged from $10, for lifelike knuckles printed by a medical device developer, to $500 for a prototype printed by a prosthetics company. The biggest factor in determining price is the complexity of the design.

The customer brings in a digital file in the STL format to the store. The store then checks to make sure the file is print-ready by running it through a software program. If it is, the customer gets a quote for the printing and labor costs.

Sometimes the digital file needs to be reworked or created from scratch. In such cases, the customer can work with a contracted 3-D printing designer to iron out the design. Depending on how this meeting goes, it can be a several-step process before a file is ready for printing, said Daniel Remba, the UPS Store's small-business technology leader, who leads the company's 3-D printing project.

So far at the San Diego store, there have been several different types of customers coming in to use the printer, said store owner Burke Jones. They have ranged from small startups to engineers from larger companies, government contractors and other people who just have an interesting idea, he said.

One customer wanted a physical 3-D replica of his own head, Jones said. There was also a scuba diver who printed a light filter for an underwater lamp and a mountain biker who printed a mount for a camera.

For early stage companies, Jones estimates that the store has printed roughly a couple dozen product prototypes. In total, the store has done probably as many as 50 printing jobs for various types of customers, he said, producing 200 different parts.

In Menlo Park, the store has completed about 10 jobs with the printer, with at least 25 other inquiries pending.

There are other online companies that offer 3-D printing services. Two sites are Shapeways and Quickparts, which take files uploaded by the customer and then print the object for them. But the UPS Store project is different because it's more personal, Jones said.

"We get to know the people, and their vision," he said.

3D Hubs is another company betting that there are people who are interested in 3-D printers but don't own one. The site operates like an Airbnb for 3-D printers, by helping people find 3-D printers that are owned by other people or businesses nearby.

3-D printing is already a crucial element in some large companies' manufacturing processes. But for smaller companies, the technology's biggest obstacle may be a lack of awareness about when it's right to use it, said Pete Brasiliere, an industry analyst with Gartner.

Though the desktop machines may not be as advanced, their popularity within the "maker" culture could provide that knowledge to the business world. "The hype around the consumer market has made senior management aware," Brasiliere said.

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com

Zach Miners, IDG News Service , IDG News Service

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service
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Big Papi Keeps Getting Bigger

David Ortiz in Game 5 of the World Series at Busch Stadium on Oct. 28, 2013. If the Red Sox win the series, he'll take the MVP in a landslide.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

We may follow sports for their ordered rationality—for stats, standings, records, rules—but we watch them for the astonishing, the outlandish, the unprecedented. We watch sports to see rules get broken. Right now the Boston Red Sox’s designated hitter and (lately) surprisingly competent first baseman David Ortiz, aka Big Papi, 37 years old and one win away from his third World Series ring, is hitting a baseball like he’s waging war against possibility. Each at-bat feels like some great script that’s already been written and just needs to be acted out. Even his taken pitches exude an amused impatience: no sense in prolonging the inevitable.

Ortiz narrowly missed a grand slam early in Boston’s Game 1 rout of St. Louis, and homered later in the same contest. In Game 2, he put the Sox ahead with a sixth-inning home run, only to see the bullpen and defense fumble the game away. In Games 3 and 4 he went a combined 4 for 5 with three walks. In Game 5, he ripped the first pitch he saw for an RBI double, then collected two more hits. For the series, Ortiz is hitting .733 with a 2.017 (!) OPS.* Over this same stretch his teammates are batting .151. The Red Sox have received spellbinding pitching from ace Jon Lester and closer Koji Uehara, but, if they win the title, Ortiz will take the MVP in a landslide. And if they lose, 78-year-old Bobby Richardson—the only player to win Series MVP for a losing team, in 1960—should consider setting his phone to silent.

David Ortiz is a baseball player like Keith Richards is a guitar player. Many are more versatile, some are more virtuosic, and a few might even be more talented, but when Ortiz steps into the batter’s box it’s hard to remember any of their names. Terms like “charisma” and “star power” are tempting but imply something vaguely unearned, the stuff of politicians and rom-com actors. Ortiz’s blend of will, skill, and style takes special form in October, when he alchemizes the unbelievable into the inexorable. “I was born for this,” he declared after Game 5, over the protestations of absolutely no one. Ortiz’s career numbers in the postseason (.296 batting average/.403 on-base percentage/.554 slugging percentage) are excellent. His stats in the World Series (.465 BA/ 556 OBP/.814 SLG) are historically spectacular. He’s become a walking invitation to magical thinking, so much that his impact seems to exceed the diamond itself. In Game 4, Ortiz treated his teammates to a fiery fifth-inning pep talk, the contents of which remain unknown but which currently ranks somewhere between “How do you like them apples?” and Kennedy’s Inaugural in the annals of great speeches by Bostonians. At the time of this writing it’s still climbing.

Ortiz joined the Boston Red Sox in 2003, a lumbering castoff from the Minnesota Twins with a rep for flailing at curveballs when he wasn’t getting hurt. In his first season with the Sox he burst into unlikely stardom, hitting 31 home runs for a team that lost the ALCS in the 11^th inning of Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, the last great heartbreak of the bad old days. The following October, of course, Ortiz became the iconic bat on the most beloved Red Sox team of them all, and his performance in the 2004 ALCS comeback against the Yankees remains one of the most famous stretches of hitting in baseball history.

In 2004 I was a Bostonian living in New York and remember all that vividly. But the Ortiz moment at the front of my mind these days came earlier in that postseason, in a now-forgotten three-game ALDS sweep of the Anaheim Angels. The Red Sox had won the first two games handily and were up 6–1 in the top of the seventh inning of Game 3, at Fenway. With the bases loaded and two out, Sox reliever Mike Timlin walked in a run, then surrendered a game-tying grand slam to Vlad Guerrero. Tie game, 6–6.

Without dredging up the bones of insufferable exceptionalism, it’s worth remembering that there were about 85 years when the Red Sox were best known for their spectacular proficiency at losing important baseball games. When Guerrero hit that home run, a two-game lead felt more like a two-game deficit. As the game dragged into extra innings I was utterly convinced that if the Red Sox lost, the next two games and the series were as good as forfeited, because that’s how it always went.

Then Big Papi stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 10^th inning and crushed the first pitch he saw over the Green Monster.

Just like that, the series was over. The fact that this home run is now an afterthought in the postseason exploits of David Ortiz tells us all we need to know about everything he’s done since. But something about that home run still feels crucial, if only in retrospect. Here was a game the Sox were supposed to win, which meant they were really supposed to lose, except then they won, and suddenly rules were being broken.

Much has been made this postseason of Ortiz being the lone player remaining from that 2004 Red Sox team, but that’s the stuff of drive-by hagiography and is only part of the story. Red Sox fans don’t just love Ortiz because he was there in 2004, they also love him because he was there in 2003 and has suffered through everything before and since: ugly divorces with erstwhile franchise stars from Nomar Garciaparra to Manny Ramirez to Josh Beckett, to his own positive PED test (failed in 2003 but revealed in 2009, despite the fact that MLB’s survey testing was supposed to remain anonymous), relatively abysmal 2009 and 2010 seasons, and many games lost to injury just last year, when then-manager Bobby Valentine essentially accused him of quitting on the team.

That charge, coming as it did from one of the most loathed figures in Red Sox history, likely made Ortiz even more popular, if such a thing is even possible. Ortiz’s connection to Boston is defined by triumph but was forged in misery, and has been nurtured by his own unique endurance. Big Papi is far from the greatest athlete in the city’s history, but a third World Series title would surely make him the most beloved. Brady is Brady but the Pats aren’t the Sawx; Bird is an icon but his heart always belonged to French Lick. Bobby Orr may have been the greatest player to ever lace up skates, but even in chilly Boston the stars on the ice will never outshine Fenway’s brightest lights. The Red Sox themselves have had plenty of immortals, from Williams to Yaz to Pudge to Pedro, but Ortiz’s championship success and staying power are unmatched. He’s also perhaps the first icon of Boston baseball who seems to unreservedly love playing there, a fact not lost on an ever-attentive and notoriously thin-skinned fan-base.

The significance of Ortiz being a dark-skinned Dominican man shouldn’t be ignored, nor should it be triumphantly waved around to shrug off a long history of Boston racism, in sports and everything else. Those wounds are still open, and still healing. A statue of Bill Russell will finally be unveiled in Boston’s City Hall Plaza on Nov. 1, a gesture that is long overdue. Russell is the greatest athlete in the city’s history by almost any measure and a man whose relationship to the region was long marred by bigotry and ugly mistreatment. As Russell’s former teammate and longtime Celtics announcer Tommy Heinsohn once put it, “[Russell] came to Boston and won 11 championships in 13 years, and they named a fucking tunnel after Ted Williams.” 

Ortiz is no Bill Russell—no one is Bill Russell—and the stoic, fiercely private Celtics center was never Ortiz. But not long ago the suggestion that a person of color from the Dominican Republic might stand before 37,000 Bostonians on a strange spring day and declare that “this is our fucking city” and be heard, instantly, as the voice of an injured Hub—more so than its Italian-American mayor, than its African-American governor, than any Kennedy, Cabot, or Winthrop—would have been unthinkable. Then again, so would the suggestion that the Red Sox might be on the brink of their third World Series title in 10 years. We watch sports to see rules get broken.

Correction, Oct. 30, 2013: This article originally misstated David Ortiz’s OPS in the 2013 World Series. It is 2.017, not 2.016. (Return to the corrected sentence.)

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2013/10/david_ortiz_2013_world_series_how_the_red_sox_s_best_player_became_boston.html
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Massive ads set to take over Windows' Bing app

Unwary users searching for Hertz, Jaguar, or Radio Shack while using the latest version of Windows may be in for a rude shock: the appearance of ads that can take over nearly your entire screen.

So far, the large ads are only accessible via the “smart search” within Windows 8.1. Typing “baseball,” for example, on the Windows Start page launches the Bing app, where images of baseballs are intermixed with the official Major League Baseball site, the relevant Wikipedia article, and relevant videos.

Type in “hertz,” however, and a customized “hero ad” will nearly fill your screen, offering links for Gold Plus rewards members, online rservations, and special offers, as well as links to actually reserve a rental car. And if you happened to be searching for hertz, the international unit of frequency, you’ll have to scroll horizontally to the third result on the right. It’s a marked change from the old Bing app, where eight separate results are visible on the first page, and the Web, where Bing’s results are organized vertically.

Bing’s “smart search” Hertz ad.

Microsoft began introducing ads into Bing smart searches this past summer, when smaller ads began appearing next to search results. Meanwhile, Windows 8.1 began introducing hero-sized index pages of its own, so that searches for “Prince” or “Lady Gaga,” for example, returned pages with biographical information and links to songs.

Searches for generic terms like “baseball” still seem safe, but beware wandering on the Web in search of brands.

“The goal of Hero ads is to enable searchers to quickly find the most relevant information and complete the most popular tasks for the brand they are specifically searching for via a beautiful visual and interactive experience created in partnership with our brand partners,” wrote Stephen Sirich, the general manager of Microsoft’s Online Division at Microsoft, in a blog post.

A search for “Hertz” using the Bing search app under Windows 8.0.

Similar ads have been created for Land Rover, Jaguar, Home Depot, Norwegian Cruise Line, Radio Shack, Hertz, Volkswagen, and a “few additional popular brands,” Sirich added. “We will continue to solicit feedback from both users and marketers during this pilot and will use those learnings to create an experience that works best for advertisers and Windows 8.1 users.”

Microsoft’s online business has consistently lost money, so the new ads will probably fill the hole where traditional banner advertising or other display ads would appear. But if more and more advertisers sign on, you’ll likely wade through a number of similar splash screens before ending up on actual, useful search results.

Fortunately, there’s an workaround: if you don’t like them, don’t click the ads. They’ll eventualy go away.

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A Timeline of Chris Brown's Troubles with the Law

Chris Brown was arrested in Washington, D.C., over the weekend for -- what else? -- an alleged assault. This time, he's accused of punching and breaking the nose of a man named Isaac Adams Parker, after Parker and friends tried to photobomb Brown outside the W Hotel. Brown claims it was his bodyguard who threw the punches.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/chris-brown-heads-rehab-timeline-his-legal-trouble/1-a-551310?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Achris-brown-heads-rehab-timeline-his-legal-trouble-551310
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iPhone and the Amazing Microfluid Dreamcoat

CODE Fluidics has 57 backers who have pledged about $4,140, as of this writing. The goal is $55,000, and the campaign ends Nov. 23. The funds will let CODE Fluidics get the mass production molds produced, as well as buy raw materials and make a production run. An early bird pledge of $35 will nab 250 backers a white or black iPhone 5/5s case with three color MicroCartridges that hold the fluids.

Forget the gold iPhone 5s and the tiny color palette of the iPhone 5c because they might not matter if CODE Fluidics can produce its color-changing case through a new Kickstarter campaign.

Here's the premise: CODE Fluidics thinks people are interested in expressing themselves through color, so the company developed a microfluid technology that lets consumers change the color of their products in real time as often as they want.

The company started with an iPhone 5/5s case -- an obvious choice, given the popularity of the product and customers' desire to case their iPhones.

Microfluids at Work

Technically speaking, the CODE Case works by precisely forcing very tiny amounts of fluid into itsy-bitsy translucent channels that make up the flat back panel of the case.

The case consists of two basic parts: a plastic or polycarbonate exterior hard bumper frame, and a translucent back panel with the micro channels encased inside. On the bottom edge of the bumper case are two small holes so that colored fluid can get into and out of the case channels.

Consumers will be able to connect a fluid container to the holes in the case and force a new color of fluid into the back panel, effectively turning it green or blue or orange or whatever.

The polycarbonate frame itself doesn't contain any channels -- at least, not at this time -- so it's a fixed color.

The results appear bright and vivid in the photos of the prototypes, but the expression of color doesn't cover 100 percent of the back portion of the case. Because the channels are like one long, skinny tube that folds over on itself again and again, the effect is like looking at a fence with boards that have a small gap between them. At a glance, the fence is one big brown rectangle, but you can see the gaps and see through them if you pay closer attention. In this way, you can actually make out the Apple logo and iPhone name through the colored covers.

Can CODE Fluidics Do It?

Based on two years of work and more than 100 prototypes, CODE Fluidics seems to have worked out the kinks. To get the cases into mass production, the company has found a manufacturer in Minnesota that can create the injection molding for the cases and the cartridges that will hold the fluids.

As for the microfluid channel panels, the fledging company found an experienced company in Los Angeles that specializes in microfluidic systems for medical device makers. This company has the ability to scale parts volumes into 300,000 to 400,000 units.

If the Kickstarter campaign actually goes viral, CODE Fluidics has a backup manufacturer in Australia. Either way, CODE Fluidics has timelines from these scenarios that go from successful Kickstarter funding to finished products in about 15 weeks (March 2014).

The Numbers

Since its Kickstarter launch on Oct. 24, CODE Fluidics has nabbed more than 57 backers who have pledged about US$4,140 (as of this writing). The goal is $55,000, and the funding period ends Nov. 23.

The funds will let CODE Fluidics get the mass production molds produced, as well as buy the raw materials and make an initial production run.

An early bird pledge of $35 will get 250 backers a white or black iPhone 5/5s case with three color MicroCartridges that hold the fluids. Color choices include red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, pink, black, Kickstarter Green, and Clear. The retail price is $59.99.

At the $45 pledge level, backers get the case plus 10 color cartridges. As is typical with many Kickstarter projects, backers who act fast get the best options. When the available early bird support slots run out, prices jump to $50 and $60.

Create Your Own Pattern

If you've got $500 in spare change lying around, CODE Fluidics is offering a cool backer option: a limited edition, custom pattern CODE Case. All you have to do is send CODE Fluidics your design and they'll use it on your case. The catch? The pattern can be anything as long as you can draw it without picking up your pen and the paths don't cross.

Ultimately, CODE Fluidics plans to produce other color-changing products for other types of consumer goods that people want to customize, like hats, sunglasses, watch bands, and shoes -- but it all starts here, with the iPhone 5 and 5s.

---

MacNewsWorld columnist Chris Maxcer has been writing about the tech industry since the birth of the email newsletter, and he still remembers the clacking Mac keyboards from high school -- Apple's seed-planting strategy at work. While he enjoys elegant gear and sublime tech, there's something to be said for turning it all off -- or most of it -- to go outside. To catch him, take a "firstnamelastname" guess at WickedCoolBite.com.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/79305.html
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New SARS-like coronavirus discovered in Chinese horseshoe bats

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Oct-2013

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EcoHealth Alliance

10 years after SARS outbreak -- Ecohealth Alliance finds plausible evidence for direct bat to human transmission

NEW YORK October 30, 2013 EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, announced the discovery of a new SARS-like coronavirus (CoV) in Chinese horseshoe bats. Ten years after the SARS outbreak, EcoHealth Alliance scientists and an international group of collaborators have uncovered genome sequences of a new virus closely related to the SARS coronavirus that erupted in Asia in 2002 2003, which caused a global pandemic crisis. For the first time ever, the group was able to isolate the live SARS-like virus from bats allowing scientists to conduct detailed studies to create control measures to thwart outbreaks and provide opportunities for vaccine development. The research team involved scientists from China, Australia, Singapore, and the U.S. and the results were published today in the journal Nature. "Our discovery that bats may directly infect humans has enormous implications for public health control measures," stated co-senior author Peter Daszak, PhD, President of EcoHealth Alliance. Dr. Daszak is also principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Science Foundation (NSF) Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) grant, and leads EcoHealth Alliance's work on the USAID PREDICT project, both of which funded the current work. "Since 2003 there has been disagreement about the origin of the virus that directly evolved into human SARS-CoV, the causative agent of the first emerging pandemic threat of the 21st century. Even though our team reported that bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses in 2005, we have been searching for this missing link for 10 years, and finally we've found it," said Dr. Zhengli Shi, Director of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-senior author on the paper.

The research team isolated and cultured a live virus that binds to the human SARS receptor ACE2 and can therefore be transmitted directly from bats to people. During the original outbreak of SARS in the wet markets of Guangdong province in China over 10 years ago, it was thought that bat viruses first infected civets, and then the virus evolved to infect people by this intermediate wildlife host. The current breakthrough suggests that SARS may have originated from one of these viruses, precluding civets from playing a part in the transmission process. "This paper hasn't resolved the provenance of SARS CoV; nonetheless, it does provide compelling evidence that an intermediate host was not necessary," commented W. Ian Lipkin, MD, John Snow Professor and Director, Center for Infection and Immunity of Columbia University.

"EcoHealth Alliance continues to work on predicting and preventing the next pandemic crisis. Our research uncovered a wide diversity of potentially pandemic viruses present, right now, in bats in China that could spillover into people and cause another SARS-like outbreak. Even worse, we don't know how lethal these viruses would be if such an outbreak erupted," said Dr. Daszak. "The results point out the importance of continuing surveillance of viruses in bats, with the goals of identifying other viruses, including coronaviruses, that could cross species and potentially cause serious disease in humans or domesticated animals," conveyed Stanley Perlman, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
in the Department of Microbiology University of Iowa.

"There are lessons here for the recent outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus that likely originated in Saudi Arabian bats. We need to protect bat habitats from severe human-induced changes to the environment as well as create public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission," continued Daszak. It is not uncommon for bats to be used as a food source for many people in China and other parts of Asia so the risk is substantial. EcoHealth Alliance is working to help find alternative measures to decrease the hunting of bats for food and sport as well as monitoring the global wildlife trade. Bats are vitally important to the health of ecosystems providing seed dispersal and pollination services while also controlling insect populations and agricultural pests.

EcoHealth Alliance's contribution to the USAID-funded PREDICT program targets pathogen discovery in high-risk wildlife species in emerging disease global hotspots. This is a completely new approach for pandemic diseases most of which originate in wildlife in this case EcoHealth Alliance scientists are identifying the wildlife host and cataloging both known and previously unknown viruses before spillover events could infect people.

The results published in Nature, are based on genetic analyses of samples taken over the course of a year from members of a horseshoe bat colony in Kunming, China. At least seven different strains of SARS-like CoVs were found to be circulating within the single group of bats. The findings highlight the importance of research programs targeting high-risk wildlife groups in emerging disease hotspots to predict, prepare for, and prevent pandemics.

PREDICT is part of USAID's Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) program, designed to target surveillance of wildlife populations and identify potential pandemic viruses before they emerge. "This work validates our assumption that we should be searching for viruses of pandemic potential before they spillover to humans. That USAID has designed and implemented such an innovative approach through their EPT program is very forward thinking. We may finally begin to get ahead of the curve and prevent pandemics," said University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, One Health Institute Director, Professor Jonna Mazet, Co-Director of PREDICT.

"The paradigm setting study provides the most compelling information to date that zoonotic coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV and perhaps the MERS-CoV, are preprogrammed to transmit directly between species. Clearly, SARS-CoV is not extinct, but rather, the virus is hiding out in animal reservoirs-poised to recolonize the human host at the first opportunity. The study further demonstrates the critical importance of continued surveillance and the development of public health preparedness platforms to control these important and deadly emerging human coronaviruses," said Ralph Baric, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

###

Dr. Daszak's EEID grant (R01TW005869)managed by the Fogarty International Center at NIHis part of a joint NIH-NSF initiative that supports efforts to understand the underlying ecological and biological mechanisms that govern relationships between human-induced environmental changes and the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases. Additional U.S. government funding for the research came from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH (R01AI079231), a Fogarty award supported with International Influenza Funds from the Department of Health and Human Services (R56TW009502) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT initiative. The State Key Program for Basic Research and the National Natural Science Foundation of China also provided support.

About EcoHealth Alliance

Building on over 40 years of groundbreaking science, EcoHealth Alliance is a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and safeguarding human health from the emergence of disease. The organization develops ways to combat the effects of damaged ecosystems on human and wildlife health. Using environmental and health data covering the past 60 years, EcoHealth Alliance scientists created the first-ever, global disease hotspots map that identified at-risk regions, to help predict and prevent the next pandemic crisis. That work is the foundation of EcoHealth Alliance's rigorous, science-based approach, focused at the intersection of the environment, health, and capacity building. Working in the U.S. and more than 20 countries worldwide, EcoHealth Alliance's strength is founded on innovations in research, training, global partnerships, and policy initiatives. For more information, http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/.

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Oct-2013

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Contact: Anthony M. Ramos
ramos@ecohealthalliance.org
212-380-4469
EcoHealth Alliance

10 years after SARS outbreak -- Ecohealth Alliance finds plausible evidence for direct bat to human transmission

NEW YORK October 30, 2013 EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, announced the discovery of a new SARS-like coronavirus (CoV) in Chinese horseshoe bats. Ten years after the SARS outbreak, EcoHealth Alliance scientists and an international group of collaborators have uncovered genome sequences of a new virus closely related to the SARS coronavirus that erupted in Asia in 2002 2003, which caused a global pandemic crisis. For the first time ever, the group was able to isolate the live SARS-like virus from bats allowing scientists to conduct detailed studies to create control measures to thwart outbreaks and provide opportunities for vaccine development. The research team involved scientists from China, Australia, Singapore, and the U.S. and the results were published today in the journal Nature. "Our discovery that bats may directly infect humans has enormous implications for public health control measures," stated co-senior author Peter Daszak, PhD, President of EcoHealth Alliance. Dr. Daszak is also principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Science Foundation (NSF) Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) grant, and leads EcoHealth Alliance's work on the USAID PREDICT project, both of which funded the current work. "Since 2003 there has been disagreement about the origin of the virus that directly evolved into human SARS-CoV, the causative agent of the first emerging pandemic threat of the 21st century. Even though our team reported that bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses in 2005, we have been searching for this missing link for 10 years, and finally we've found it," said Dr. Zhengli Shi, Director of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-senior author on the paper.

The research team isolated and cultured a live virus that binds to the human SARS receptor ACE2 and can therefore be transmitted directly from bats to people. During the original outbreak of SARS in the wet markets of Guangdong province in China over 10 years ago, it was thought that bat viruses first infected civets, and then the virus evolved to infect people by this intermediate wildlife host. The current breakthrough suggests that SARS may have originated from one of these viruses, precluding civets from playing a part in the transmission process. "This paper hasn't resolved the provenance of SARS CoV; nonetheless, it does provide compelling evidence that an intermediate host was not necessary," commented W. Ian Lipkin, MD, John Snow Professor and Director, Center for Infection and Immunity of Columbia University.

"EcoHealth Alliance continues to work on predicting and preventing the next pandemic crisis. Our research uncovered a wide diversity of potentially pandemic viruses present, right now, in bats in China that could spillover into people and cause another SARS-like outbreak. Even worse, we don't know how lethal these viruses would be if such an outbreak erupted," said Dr. Daszak. "The results point out the importance of continuing surveillance of viruses in bats, with the goals of identifying other viruses, including coronaviruses, that could cross species and potentially cause serious disease in humans or domesticated animals," conveyed Stanley Perlman, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
in the Department of Microbiology University of Iowa.

"There are lessons here for the recent outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus that likely originated in Saudi Arabian bats. We need to protect bat habitats from severe human-induced changes to the environment as well as create public health measures to reduce the risk of transmission," continued Daszak. It is not uncommon for bats to be used as a food source for many people in China and other parts of Asia so the risk is substantial. EcoHealth Alliance is working to help find alternative measures to decrease the hunting of bats for food and sport as well as monitoring the global wildlife trade. Bats are vitally important to the health of ecosystems providing seed dispersal and pollination services while also controlling insect populations and agricultural pests.

EcoHealth Alliance's contribution to the USAID-funded PREDICT program targets pathogen discovery in high-risk wildlife species in emerging disease global hotspots. This is a completely new approach for pandemic diseases most of which originate in wildlife in this case EcoHealth Alliance scientists are identifying the wildlife host and cataloging both known and previously unknown viruses before spillover events could infect people.

The results published in Nature, are based on genetic analyses of samples taken over the course of a year from members of a horseshoe bat colony in Kunming, China. At least seven different strains of SARS-like CoVs were found to be circulating within the single group of bats. The findings highlight the importance of research programs targeting high-risk wildlife groups in emerging disease hotspots to predict, prepare for, and prevent pandemics.

PREDICT is part of USAID's Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) program, designed to target surveillance of wildlife populations and identify potential pandemic viruses before they emerge. "This work validates our assumption that we should be searching for viruses of pandemic potential before they spillover to humans. That USAID has designed and implemented such an innovative approach through their EPT program is very forward thinking. We may finally begin to get ahead of the curve and prevent pandemics," said University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, One Health Institute Director, Professor Jonna Mazet, Co-Director of PREDICT.

"The paradigm setting study provides the most compelling information to date that zoonotic coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV and perhaps the MERS-CoV, are preprogrammed to transmit directly between species. Clearly, SARS-CoV is not extinct, but rather, the virus is hiding out in animal reservoirs-poised to recolonize the human host at the first opportunity. The study further demonstrates the critical importance of continued surveillance and the development of public health preparedness platforms to control these important and deadly emerging human coronaviruses," said Ralph Baric, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

###

Dr. Daszak's EEID grant (R01TW005869)managed by the Fogarty International Center at NIHis part of a joint NIH-NSF initiative that supports efforts to understand the underlying ecological and biological mechanisms that govern relationships between human-induced environmental changes and the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases. Additional U.S. government funding for the research came from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH (R01AI079231), a Fogarty award supported with International Influenza Funds from the Department of Health and Human Services (R56TW009502) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT initiative. The State Key Program for Basic Research and the National Natural Science Foundation of China also provided support.

About EcoHealth Alliance

Building on over 40 years of groundbreaking science, EcoHealth Alliance is a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and safeguarding human health from the emergence of disease. The organization develops ways to combat the effects of damaged ecosystems on human and wildlife health. Using environmental and health data covering the past 60 years, EcoHealth Alliance scientists created the first-ever, global disease hotspots map that identified at-risk regions, to help predict and prevent the next pandemic crisis. That work is the foundation of EcoHealth Alliance's rigorous, science-based approach, focused at the intersection of the environment, health, and capacity building. Working in the U.S. and more than 20 countries worldwide, EcoHealth Alliance's strength is founded on innovations in research, training, global partnerships, and policy initiatives. For more information, http://www.ecohealthalliance.org/.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/ea-nsc103013.php
Tags: redskins   eagles   NFL Network   bruno mars   Hunter Hayes  

Car trouble? There's an app for that

Automatic's car monitor on the iPhone 5s.

Given all the marketing hype out there, everyone has heard about the Internet of things, even if it's not at all clear what it is. (For an informative guide, read my primer on the Internet of things.) Well, the $100 Automatic device for the iPhone 4s and later (and soon for some Bluetooth 4.0-equipped Android smartphones) from Automatic Labs gives a good example of the Internet of things in action.

I've been testing this device on an iPhone 5s for a couple weeks in my 1996 Toyota Corolla; it's now available for sale from the Apple Store. It plugs into the car's engine computer port (on nearly every U.S. car since 1996) and uses your compatible iPhone as its central brain. When you get in the car, the device automatically connects to the iPhone via the low-power Bluetooth 4.0 radio (aka Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth Low Energy), sending data about your driving patterns and engine condition to Automatic's iPhone app. You get feedback on your driving habits, track the routes you've taken, and see how much money each trip has cost you.

[ Move over, smartphone -- the car is getting smarter. | See InfoWorld's recommendations for a road warrior's must-have mobile toolkit, and discover the best productivity apps for your iPad. | Keep up on key mobile developments and insights via Twitter and with the Mobilize newsletter. ]

How does the Automatic device do all these things? That's the Internet of things part. If all it did was communicate with your iPhone, that'd be useful but limited. But it uses your iPhone as a waystation to other resources.

If your engine reports a problem, for example, the Automatic app can check with Automatic's database to know what the error code actually means for your specific car, providing you both an alert and an understandable explanation -- much better than just seeing the check-engine light come on. It can also check your location via the iPhone's GPS and compare that to a database of mechanics, to suggest a nearby repair shop.

The same combination of local sensor (the Automatic device reading the car computer), the smartphone (your portable brain), and the Internet (the big brain and universal data source) is what makes the Automatic an example of the Internet of things in action. It's how the app can tell you how much money each trip costs you and its actual gas mileage, by reading the mileage and gas consumption data from the car computer and using current gas prices in your area to compute the costs on your iPhone.

Likewise, if you brake too hard, start too fast, or exceed 70mph, the Automatic knows that from the car computer and warbles to let you know -- a kind way to try to change your behavior. It also indicates these issues in the iPhone app so that you can see any patterns of inefficient driving, using a scoring system meant to engage you to try harder. If you tap the specific trip where you erred, it uses GPS data to show you exactly where you went astray, so you can see where you sped and for how long, where you slammed on the brakes, and so on.

Source: http://podcasts.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/car-trouble-theres-app-228717?source=rss_applications
Tags: adrian peterson   Jordan Linn Graham   Cody Rhodes   Sloane Stephens   Lady Gaga Vma  

Amazing Lego Optimus Prime actually transforms from truck to autobot

Lego builder Alex Jones, AKA Orion Pax, has constructed an amazing Lego replica of Optimus Prime. The detail and functionality are phenomenal. Jones has been working on his Lego G1 Transformers series for over 10 years. Cybertron would be proud.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KDx2OxBqV-M/@jesusdiaz
Tags: Blackfish   Batman Arkham Origins   tom brady   Yom Kippur 2013   neil armstrong  

Gabfest Extra: What Went Wrong With Healthcare.gov?

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011, AT 3:07 PM
Obama Gets Firsthand Look at a Tornado Damage

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/gabfest/2013/10/healthcare_gov_problems_on_the_gabfest_extra_what_went_wrong.html
Category: WWE   danielle fishel   Star Trek Into Darkness   syria   Andrea Sneiderman  

In Iraq, Sunni attacks spark Shiite calls to arms

FILE - In this file photo taken on May 26, 2004, Qais al-Khazali, then the top aide of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and leader of a militant group called Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, inspects the damage after overnight fighting against Iraqi army and US forces in Najaf, Iraq. The wave of attacks by al-Qaida and Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis in 2013 so far, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense. Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, said he wants American help in quelling the violence. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on May 26, 2004, Qais al-Khazali, then the top aide of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and leader of a militant group called Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, inspects the damage after overnight fighting against Iraqi army and US forces in Najaf, Iraq. The wave of attacks by al-Qaida and Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis in 2013 so far, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense. Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, said he wants American help in quelling the violence. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Sept. 27, 2009, file, Haidar Talib, a member of a militant group called Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, embraces his 4-year-old son Mustafa as he is released from U.S. military custody in Baghdad, Iraq. The wave of attacks by al-Qaida and Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis in 2013 so far, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense. Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, said he wants American help in quelling the violence. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Oct. 8, 2013, women walk past the aftermath of a car bomb attack in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah in southeastern Baghdad, Iraq. The wave of attacks by al-Qaida and Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis in 2013 so far, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense. Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, said he wants American help in quelling the violence. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

In this photo taken Friday, Oct. 25, 2013, Iraqis walk past posters for Shiite people who were killed during recent attacks of Sadr city in Baghdad, Iraq. The wave of attacks by al-Qaida and Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis in 2013 so far, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense. Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, said he wants American help in quelling the violence. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

In this photo taken Friday, Oct. 25, 2013, a man walks past posters of Shiite people who were killed during recent attacks in Sadr city in Baghdad, Iraq. The wave of attacks by al-Qaida and Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis in 2013 so far, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense. Iraq’s Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, said he wants American help in quelling the violence. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

BAGHDAD (AP) — The wave of attacks by al-Qaida-led Sunni extremists that has killed thousands of Iraqis this year, most of them Shiites, is provoking ominous calls from Shiite leaders to take up arms in self-defense.

They generally insist they'll do it legally, under the banner of the security forces. But Iraq's young democracy is still struggling, nearly two years after U.S. troops withdrew, and the specter of armed Shiite and Sunni camps revives memories of the sectarian fighting that took the country to the brink of civil war in the mid-2000s.

Since April, bombings and shootings have killed more than 5,500 people. Averaging at least two a week, they target outdoor markets, cafes, bus stations, mosques and pilgrimages in Shiite areas.

Iraq's Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet with President Barack Obama on Friday, says he wants American help in quelling the violence.

Departing for Washington, he appealed for quicker delivery of offensive weapons such as helicopters that Baghdad says it needs.

In a guest column Wednesday in The New York Times, al-Maliki warned that al-Qaida "is engaged in a renewed, concerted campaign to foment sectarian violence and drive a wedge between our people."

He stressed that a "deeper security relationship" with the U.S. is needed.

Since late December, Iraq's minority Sunnis have been protesting what they perceive as discrimination and tough anti-terrorism measures against them by the Shiite-led government. The Sunni attacks followed a government crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija in which 44 civilians and one member of the security forces were killed, according to U.N. estimates.

Now high-profile calls are being made for Shiites to play a role in their own defense by creating armed "popular committees," attached in some form to the regular security forces. The idea raises the specter of some of Iraq's darkest years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime, paving the way for long-repressed majority Shiites to seize power.

Iranian-backed Shiite death squads roamed Baghdad from 2006-2008, killing Sunnis by the dozens and dumping their often mutilated bodies on the streets or in the river in retaliation for the devastating bombings and suicide attacks blamed on Sunni insurgents.

It was a cease-fire by militia leader and anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, along with a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a series of U.S.-Iraqi offensives that helped quell the bloodshed. While Iraqis continued to face near-daily attacks, they hoped the days of rampant sectarian warfare were behind them. Now a politician, al-Sadr has urged calm among his followers and made no public statements about the calls to take up arms to protect Shiites.

Zuhair al-Araji, a Sunni lawmaker, pointed out that the insurgents are targeting not only Shiites but moderate Sunnis, and that arming Shiite groups would backfire. "We are worried that some militias will infiltrate these proposed committees and we will see grave consequences," he said.

But Jassim Mohammed al-Fartousi, whose 24-year-old son was among some 80 people killed in a suicide attack Sept. 21, reflects growing public demand for a response.

"The government and the security forces are incompetent," he said. "The popular committees will make us feel safe."

The civil war in neighboring Syria is also stoking the tensions as it takes on increasingly sectarian undertones, with many Iraqi Shiites traveling to the country to support President Bashar Assad's government against mainly Sunni rebels.

Qais al-Khazali heads a feared Shiite militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq (Band of the Righteous), an Iranian-backed group that repeatedly attacked U.S. forces in Iraq and says it is sending fighters to Syria. He spent years in U.S. detention but was released after he was handed over to the Iraqi government.

Last year, the group decided to lay down its weapons and join the Iraqi political process, a move welcomed by al-Maliki. But addressing a conference of tribal leaders and clerics on Oct. 9, al-Khazali said his group needed to react to the "killings and destruction."

He said his "committees" would not participate in raids, but would cooperate with security forces in "patrolling their areas and setting up roadblocks."

Still, the security forces are supposed to be nonsectarian, and the suggestion of a Shiite militia in league with a Shiite prime minister's security forces is sure to heighten Sunni distrust.

Ali al-Moussawi, al-Maliki's spokesman, sounded lukewarm to the idea, saying the security forces "do not need armed committees; they need help with intelligence."

The law bans the formation of armed groups outside the state security forces, but the government made an exception for the Sunni militia formed by U.S. forces to fight al-Qaida.

Also calling for Shiite self-defense measures are Shiite lawmakers, one of them affiliated with al-Maliki's parliamentary bloc, and some clerics connected to parties with militant wings.

Earlier this year, Wathiq al-Batat, a Shiite cleric who was a senior official in the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, formed what he calls the Mukhtar Army to protect Shiites. He claims to have more than 1 million members, a number that has not been independently verified.

In an interview with the Beirut-based Iraqi satellite channel al-Sumaria last week, he said his militia was "well-intentioned" and wouldn't attack Sunnis as such, only "takfiri" groups, a term applied to Sunni radicals.

Al-Batat demanded that in order to be within the law, some of his followers should be integrated into the Defense or Interior Ministries to work with the security forces.

Despite some attacks on Sunni mosques following Sunni actions, Shiite reprisals are far less intense than they were in the tit-for-tat bloodshed of 2006-2007, when Sunnis would be snatched off the streets and killed and many families were driven from their homes.

But that may change if the "popular committees" come into being, some warn.

Hadi Jalo, a political analyst in Baghdad, said the government "could implicitly give the green light to some armed groups to help the security forces struggling to put an end to violence and to ease the pressure from the public."

Shwan Mohammed Taha, a Kurd who serves on the parliament's defense and security committee, warned such a move could prove a turning point.

"The atmosphere is already tense and such move will lead to the militarization of society and then to all-out civil war," he said.

___

Follow Sinan Salaheddin on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sinansm.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-30-Iraq-Shiites%20On%20Edge/id-6e747fcabb994d62b6cab93a8b721c61
Similar Articles: Jimmy Graham   Captain Phillips   Covered California   Nothing Was The Same   Wentworth Miller  

Caption Contest: Giant-sized Xbox One takes over Vancouver parking lot

Xbox Unveils Colossal Xbox One Console to Celebrate the Biggest Launch in Xbox History

One Source draws on the power of the Canadian community to unlock unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experiences

VANCOUVER, Oct. 30, 2013 /CNW/ - Today, a larger-than-life Xbox One appeared in downtown Vancouver to kick off the national celebration of the Xbox One launch. By coming together, the Canadian Xbox Live community can power on and unlock incredible one-of-a-kind experiences and rewards by pledging their gamertags to the project known as One Source. Every gamertag pledged will contribute to unlocking these experiences - starting this week in Vancouver.

"Xbox One is the biggest launch in Xbox history," said Greg Barber, Vice-President, Consumer Channels Group, Microsoft Canada. "Xbox One offers the best exclusive games, the best multiplayer experience and service and great entertainment - and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate with our community."

Canadian Xbox fans can pledge with their gamertag to One Source in three ways: either in person at the console, through the Xbox Live Dashboard, or online at www.xbox.ca/onesource. Fans that take part early will have more chances to win great prizes, and as community support grows, fans will continue to unlock unique, immersive experiences, that can only be provided by Xbox.

"With One Source, we are celebrating the launch with our fans in an unprecedented way," explained Craig Flannagan, Director of Marketing, Xbox, Microsoft Canada. "We are giving the power to our fans to unlock incredible experiences."

To learn more about One Source or to pledge with your gamertag, visit the Xbox Live Dashboard or www.xbox.ca/onesource.

Xbox One* arrives in stores on November 22. The Xbox One retails for $499, which includes the console, an Xbox One controller, the Kinect sensor for Xbox One and Xbox One Chat Headset.
*Advanced TV hardware required. Games and media content sold separately. Initial set-up and some games and features require broadband Internet; ISP fees apply. Some features require Xbox Live Gold membership; additional fees and/or requirements.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/30/caption-contest-microsoft-giant-sized-xbox-one-takes-over-vancouver/?ncid=rss_truncated
Category: kanye west   miss america   Apple.com   Blurred Lines Lyrics   Miley Cyrus VMA  

It's Not a Broken Promise If You Never Meant It

Here’s the ObamaCare rollout in two sentences: Millions of Americans are losing their health insurance policies because of the law. And many of the soon to be uninsured can’t sign up for the new federal benefits because the Obama administration screwed up its Web site.

 

Yikes.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2013/10/30/it039s_not_a_broken_promise_if_you_never_meant_it_318917.html
Similar Articles: vikings   affordable care act   Pope Francis   twerking   Joanna Krupa  

Sony confirms its official PlayStation 4 launch titles: 21 games including five indies (updated)

There's a good chance you're already well-acquainted with most of the launch titles for the PlayStation 4 by now, but Sony has today made things official and confirmed the complete list of titles that'll be available on day one. That list totals 17 21 retail and download-only games in all (compared to 23 for the Xbox One, ten of which overlap between the two consoles), including five first-party titles, eleven third-party games, and five from indie developers.

Sony does note the list is still subject to change -- we just saw Angry Birds: Star Wars added to both the PS4 and Xbox One launch line-ups yesterday -- but time is obviously fast running out for any major additions. Also, while this is the launch day line-up, Sony has of course announced a number of other games that are set to roll out by the end of the year or early next year, some of which were pushed back from launch due to delays. You can find the complete launch line-up after the break.

Update: It looks like we spoke a bit too soon. Sony has just added a few more titles to the list, boosting the total to 21. UK gamers can also look forward to two additional games not on the North American list: Escape Plan and Flow.

Sony Computer Entertainment Titles

• Flower


• Killzone Shadow Fall


• Knack


• Resogun


• Sound Shapes

Third-Party Titles

• Angry Birds Star Wars, Activision


• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, Ubisoft


• Call of Duty Ghosts, Activison


• FIFA 14, EA Sports


• Battlefield 4, Electronic Arts


• Just Dance 2014, Ubisoft


• Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment


• Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment


• Madden NFL 25, EA Sports


• NBA 2K14, 2K Sports


• Skylanders Swap Force, Activision

Indie Titles

• Contrast, Compulsion Games


• Pinball Arcade, FarSight Studios


• Super Motherload, XGen Studios


• Tiny Brains, Spearhead Games


• Warframe, Digital Extremes

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/30/sony-confirms-its-official-playstation-4-launch-titles-17-games/?ncid=rss_truncated
Related Topics: big bang theory   elton john   Star Trek Into Darkness   made in america   Jenna Wolfe  

Caption Contest: Giant-sized Xbox One takes over Vancouver parking lot

Xbox Unveils Colossal Xbox One Console to Celebrate the Biggest Launch in Xbox History

One Source draws on the power of the Canadian community to unlock unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experiences

VANCOUVER, Oct. 30, 2013 /CNW/ - Today, a larger-than-life Xbox One appeared in downtown Vancouver to kick off the national celebration of the Xbox One launch. By coming together, the Canadian Xbox Live community can power on and unlock incredible one-of-a-kind experiences and rewards by pledging their gamertags to the project known as One Source. Every gamertag pledged will contribute to unlocking these experiences - starting this week in Vancouver.

"Xbox One is the biggest launch in Xbox history," said Greg Barber, Vice-President, Consumer Channels Group, Microsoft Canada. "Xbox One offers the best exclusive games, the best multiplayer experience and service and great entertainment - and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate with our community."

Canadian Xbox fans can pledge with their gamertag to One Source in three ways: either in person at the console, through the Xbox Live Dashboard, or online at www.xbox.ca/onesource. Fans that take part early will have more chances to win great prizes, and as community support grows, fans will continue to unlock unique, immersive experiences, that can only be provided by Xbox.

"With One Source, we are celebrating the launch with our fans in an unprecedented way," explained Craig Flannagan, Director of Marketing, Xbox, Microsoft Canada. "We are giving the power to our fans to unlock incredible experiences."

To learn more about One Source or to pledge with your gamertag, visit the Xbox Live Dashboard or www.xbox.ca/onesource.

Xbox One* arrives in stores on November 22. The Xbox One retails for $499, which includes the console, an Xbox One controller, the Kinect sensor for Xbox One and Xbox One Chat Headset.
*Advanced TV hardware required. Games and media content sold separately. Initial set-up and some games and features require broadband Internet; ISP fees apply. Some features require Xbox Live Gold membership; additional fees and/or requirements.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/30/caption-contest-microsoft-giant-sized-xbox-one-takes-over-vancouver/?ncid=rss_truncated
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