World News

Real-World Marauders Infest Online Games

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:29:00 -0700

Now that Kaspersky Lab has exposed the Winnti group's skulduggery, what can developers of online video games do to protect their intellectual property, and what can gamers do to keep their virtual bank accounts from being raided? Beyond those concerns, what can Winnti's ultimate targets do to protect against invasion via stolen certificates? "The defense against theft is to further harden the systems," noted tech analyst Rob Enderle.

A scenario involving cybercriminals using techniques developed by state-sponsored cyberespionage groups sounds like a plot point in a video game, but the Winnti crew aren't the villains in some new release. These Chinese hackers are very real, and online games are their target.

The group has been conducting a long-running cybercrime campaign targeting online gaming companies worldwide, Kaspersky Lab reported this week.

Winnti has been stealing digital certificates signed by legitimate software vendors, along with intellectual property including source code, Kaspersky said.

Kaspersky discovered in 2011 that many gamers were infected with the same malicious Trojan, but it wasn't the gamers or their respective information that Winnti was apparently after -- it was the game developers' code. The group targeted more than 30 companies across the world and, among other things, may have stolen in-game currency to sell for real money.

Countries Where Gaming Companies Have Been Affected

"The Winnti operators are actively harvesting legitimate digital certificates that are used by these victim companies to sign broadly installed software, which is of high value to attackers," said Kurt Baumgartner, senior security researcher for Kaspersky Lab.

"These certificates further enable future Winnti attacks and other threat actors in their further attacks around the globe," he added.

"Secondly, the Winnti group potentially is monetizing their own access to intellectual property and game servers, but we cannot verify these strong possibilities," Baumgartner told TechNewsWorld. "It seems reasonable that a coordinated multiyear effort like this one would need financial support of some sort."

Virtual Money Worth Big Dollars

While it might sound like a lot of effort would be involved to steal currency that can be used only for virtual items in a game, the fact is that many online games have thriving economies.

"There could well be (US)$1 billion in virtual currency stored in gamers' accounts worldwide," said Lewis Ward, IDC's research manager for gaming.

Some players will pay good real-world money to acquire something that is virtual; hence this has become a new opportunity that might simply be too good for thieves to pass by.

"It is a huge market, and it is still growing," said Scott Schober, CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems. "If the thieves can get access to the source code, they can slip in some stuff that can scarf up the information, and this could include skimming some virtual currency so that gamers don't even notice."

Still, online currency can be just as difficult to fence as real currency, diamonds or other stolen loot.

"Perhaps the idea was to fly under the radar and amass this currency and then quietly sell it to gamers in a virtual black market at a discount," Ward told TechNewsWorld. "In any event, this breach is yet more evidence that all game companies need to remain vigilant from a security perspective, because MMOGs in particular are becoming significant repositories of digital cash."

Stopping the Thieves

One of the reasons this continues to be a problem is that gamers don't often consider these threats.

"When you're buying something with your credit card, you associate it to your money and wallet, and in games you aren't thinking of the risks of getting hacked," Schober added. "It is a newer threat, as it has only been done on a smaller scale, but there will likely be copycats that will try to outdo this larger hack."

What's crucial is how the software developers react. This is important, because the developers and game publishers must protect their respective investments -- not only to protect users' data, but to ensure that criminals don't destroy a game's economy.

"Some gaming developers' awareness and practices have been improved since the start of the events, and we hope that will spread to other potential victims," said Kaspersky's Baumgartner. "The security community is also more aware and continues to investigate malware signed with Winnti-stolen certificates to better defend their customers as well."

Virtual Economies

The fact that these economies are now so large is only going to ensure that this problem continues, and thieves will look at new opportunities to steal the virtual cash. However, this could just be a precursor to threats against virtual currency used outside of gaming.

"The defense against theft is to further harden the systems that control this economy," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "The bigger concern is that the systems governing the electronic transfer of real cash are often not that much more advanced, and artificial cash like Bitcoin has been trending up."

With gaming devices increasingly requiring always-on connections, thieves will be finding new opportunities to exploit holes and penetrate systems.

"The always on exposure comes down to how the client systems are secured and monitored," explained Enderle.

"This isn't just game systems -- the entire security structure is based on catching a thief after they break in, which is increasingly too late," he pointed out.

"They can make as many attempts as it takes to break into a system, largely unnoticed," Enderle said. "An always-on system that isn't monitored for this activity -- and most game and client systems aren't -- almost ensures a hacker will eventually find a way to the cash, virtual or otherwise."

EcoMotors signs $200 million deal to produce engine in China

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:50:00 -0700

EcoMotors International, the suburban Detroit company developing an opposed piston-opposed cylinder engine, has signed a $200 million deal to build the engines in China.

EcoMotors' partner, Zhongding Power, will build a plant in China's Anhui province and will sell the turbodiesel engines to its customers. The plant will have capacity to build 150,000 engines per year, with high-volume production scheduled to begin in 2014.

EcoMotors CEO Don Runkle, 67, a former General Motors and Delphi executive, said a portion of the capacity will be reserved for EcoMotors to sell to its own customers. The two companies signed a letter of intent to work together in 2010.

"We've been working under contract with them to help develop the engine over the past year and a half," Runkle said. "So this was the next logical step."

Because of its lightweight design and other advantages over conventional engines, opposed piston technology could produce 30 percent fuel economy gains, its backers say. EcoMotors, Pinnacle Engines and Achates Power Inc. are trying to market the engine technology.

Zhongding plans to sell engines to makers of electrical generators and off-road and commercial vehicles. Runkle said that initial EcoMotors sales likely will be to generator manufacturers as well. The company has a letter of intent with Generac Power Systems, a Waukesha, Wis., generator company.

Runkle said that EcoMotors also has letters of intent with three Chinese manufacturers. He said he expects the engines to begin appearing in vehicles in 2015 or 2016. Chinese automakers are aggressively exploring new powertrains, making China an attractive market, he said.

"From our standpoint, it's a big target because of its size and its growth rate," Runkle said.

Advocates of opposed piston engines say the engines can produce sharply increased efficiency and lower costs. The technology, which dates to the early 1900s, operates two pistons in a single cylinder. Because of that, opposed piston engines don't use all the parts that today's engines use. There is no valvetrain or cylinder head, for instance. That cuts costs and reduces heat loss, friction and weight, giving the engines an advantage in power-to-weight ratio.

Automakers have passed on the technology because of high emissions. But Runkle says the EcoMotors engine will meet government regulations on emissions

Ford 1.5 -litre EcoBoost engine to debut on 2014 Fusion

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:20:00 -0700

DETROIT -- When the 2014 Ford Fusion debuts this fall it will be offered with a new 1.5-liter, four-cylinder EcoBoost engine, the fifth member of Ford's EcoBoost family, Ford said Thursday.

The engine will be quieter and more fuel efficient than the 1.6-liter EcoBoost offered on the current Fusion, while providing about the same horsepower and torque, said Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president of powertrain engineering.

The 1.5-liter EcoBoost will include some of the advanced technologies Ford introduced on its 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine, which debuted in 2012, including an exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head.

The integrated exhaust manifold "allows us to recover the heat that's normally wasted going through the exhaust pipe and warm up the engine more quickly," Bakaj said. That enables the to reach optimum running temperatures faster, with the added benefit that the system warms the cabin more quickly.

Phasing out the 1.6-liter

Because the manifold is integrated and not bolted on, the engine is lighter and simpler to manufacture, Bakaj said.

The engine will be launched simultaneously in China on the 2014 Ford Mondeo, which is virtually identical to the Fusion.

During the initial phase of the 2014 Fusion launch, Ford will offer both the 1.5- and 1.6-liter EcoBoost engines, along with a 2.0-liter EcoBoost. Then the 1.6-liter engine will gradually be phased out in the Fusion.

Ford expects the new 1.5-liter to be the volume engine.

Having both engines will help Ford ease capacity constraints that have slowed sales of the hot-selling Fusion.

"There's so much demand for the Fusion, but we will want to transition to the 1.5-liter because of better efficiency," said Bakaj.

Ford will release horsepower, torque and fuel-economy estimates when the 1.5-liter engine debuts this year.

The 1.6-liter EcoBoost is listed at 178 hp and 184 lb. ft. of torque. The mpg rating is 23 city, 36 highway and 28 combined.

Built in Romania

The 1.5-liter EcoBoost was designed at Ford's engineering center in Dunton, United Kingdom. Manufacture has already begun at Ford's engine plant in Crajova, Romania.

Depending on demand, Ford could eventually make the engine elsewhere, Bakaj said.

Ford had cooling problems with the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine that led to recalls of the 2013 Fusion and Escape crossover. Bakaj said Ford fixed those problems in the 1.5-liter powerplant.

"This engine has utilized all the knowledge from the 1.6 recall," Bakaj said.

The EcoBoost has rapidly become the centerpiece of Ford's North American powertrain strategy. This year Ford has been averaging sales of 50,000 EcoBoost equipped vehicles per month and 70,000 globally.

Ford has sold 600,000 EcoBoost engines since the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 was introduced on the F-150 pickup in 2009. Ford added the 2.0-liter EcoBoost in 2010, the 1.6-liter in 2011 and the 1.0-liter in 2012.

By the end of 2013, Ford says, 80 percent of its global nameplates will be offered with EcoBoost engines.

Taller, now faster -- Dubai Police get Lamborghinis

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:33:00 -0700

DUBAI (Reuters) -- The city that boasts the world's tallest building is equipping its police with $400,000 Lamborghini sports cars that Dubai's deputy police chief says are in keeping with the Gulf capital's image.

They also go fast, since according to the website of Lamborghini, an affiliate of the Volkswagen Group, all the Italian company's cars reach 100 kph (60 mph) in well under six seconds.

Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina said that a fleet of Lamborghinis, each estimated to cost around $400,000, had been obtained by the Dubai police for use at main tourist sites.

"The aim is to reflect the reputation of the emirate and the high stature it achieved," Mazeina said.

"It will also help promote tourism and showcase the security role the Dubai police plays in safeguarding the city," he added.

The vehicles will be deployed at the downtown area near the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa tower, the Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard as well as the cafe- and restaurant-lined walk of the Jumeirah Beach Residence, one of the most popular waterfront developments in Dubai.

Photos of the vehicles published in local media in the United Arab Emirates showed a green-and-white vehicle decorated with the Dubai police insignia on the front hood.

Dubai, one of seven emirates in the UAE federation, is staging a recovery from the financial crisis it suffered during the global financial crisis in 2009. The emirate recently has announced several major projects, including a huge tourism and retail development with the largest shopping mall in the world.

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Margaret Thatcher, ' Iron Lady' who led conservative resurgence in Britain, dies at 87

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 9 Apr 2013 21:09:00 -0700

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” who led a conservative resurgence in her home country and forged a legendary partnership with President Ronald Reagan, died Monday following a stroke. She was 87.

Thatcher led Britain from 1979 to 1990, the first and only woman to hold the job and longest-serving prime minister of the postwar era.

“Margaret Thatcher didn’t just lead our country — she saved our country,” Prime Minister David Cameron said. “Margaret Thatcher took a country that was on its knees and made Britain stand tall again.”

Queen Elizabeth II planned to send a private message of sympathy to the family, said a statement from Buckingham Palace, where the Union Jack was lowered to half-staff. Cameron called Parliament back for a special session Wednesday to pay tribute.

President Barack Obama hailed Thatcher as an exemplar of British strength and resolve and a role model for young women. Invoking Thatcher’s friendship with Reagan, Obama said that she reminded the world “that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history — we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will.”

‘True force of nature’: World reacts to Thatcher's death

A grocer’s daughter with a sharp tongue and a no-nonsense style, Thatcher was elected to Parliament at age 34 and climbed the Conservative Party ladder. She became its leader at age 50 and swept into 10 Downing St. four years later.

The year she took office as prime minister, Thatcher took note of her place in history: “Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.”

Ten years earlier, she had predicted that no woman in her time would hold the job of prime minister. She held it for 11 years, longer than Winston Churchill or any other British leader of her century.

Thatcher transformed the British economy and took on its welfare state and powerful unions. Her government cut, closed or privatized state-owned industries, notably struggling steel plants and coal mines, and radically cut taxes and public spending — strong medicine, she conceded, but precisely what was needed to restart a stagnant nation.

“The problem with socialism,” she once said, “is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

In 1980, when fellow conservatives were fretting that her tough, anti-inflation economic policy was driving up unemployment, she addressed the prospect of whether she would make a political U-turn: “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”

Under her leadership, Britain fought and won a war with Argentina for the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean — determined to preserve one of the last outposts of the British empire.

Thatcher’s military worries became focused on a speck of land halfway around the world in 1982 when Argentina invaded the Falklands, a British archipelago. After American mediation attempts failed, Thatcher decided to retake the islands, a feat accomplished in a few weeks. The war was a huge boost to Thatcher’s popularity.

An estimated 650 Argentinians and 255 Britons were killed in the war. Argentina still asserts a claim to the islands, but the people there overwhelmingly voted last month to remain under British control. One islander told Reuters on Monday that Thatcher was “our Winston Churchill.”

Thatcher survived an assassination attempt when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a Conservative Party conference in the British city of Brighton in 1984, killing five people and injuring a cabinet minister, among others. Thatcher gave the keynote speech hours later and said: “This attack has failed. All attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail.”

She took on the British coal industry, nationalized and seen as politically untouchable. The coal union had brought down the government of another conservative, Edward Heath, with a strike a decade earlier, and coal workers walked off the job again in 1984 after the Thatcher government announced job cuts.

During the strike, she told the House of Commons: “We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty.”

Thatcher, anticipating the confrontation, had stockpiled coal to keep the country’s energy supply humming. The strike collapsed in March 1985.

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, of the Labour Party, told Sky News on Monday that Thatcher’s economic regime was to blame for many of the problems that Britain still faces.

“She created today’s housing crisis. She created the banking crisis. And she created the benefits crisis,” he said. “In actual fact, every real problem we face today is the legacy of the fact that she was fundamentally wrong.”

Thatcher had a well-known friendship with Reagan during his two terms as president in the 1980s. They shared an allegiance to free-market principles and opposition to the Soviet Union.

Thatcher recalled in her memoir, “The Downing Street Years,” that she met Reagan in 1975, when she led the political opposition in Britain and Reagan was the ascendant governor of California. She said that she was won over by his “warmth, charm and complete lack of affectation — qualities which never altered in the years of leadership which lay ahead.”

When Reagan died, in 2004, Thatcher delivered a recorded eulogy and said: “We have lost a great president, a great American and a great man. And I have lost a dear friend.”

Nancy Reagan on Monday said the world had lost “a true champion of freedom and democracy.” She said that Thatcher and her late husband had a strong personal friendship.

Thatcher was forced out of office by her own party in 1990, unhappy with some of her policies. Her reduction of British social spending also earned her the scorn of some pop culture figures and helped spawn the British punk movement. Billy Bragg and Sinead O’Connor lashed out in song, and Morrissey recorded a track called “Margaret on the Guillotine.”

Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of the former prime minister in “The Iron Lady,” said that Thatcher had endured hatred and ridicule unprecedented for “a public figure who was not a mass murderer.” While praising her conviction, however, Streep suggested that Thatcher had contributed to a widening income gap.

“Her hard-nosed fiscal measures took a toll on the poor, and her hands-off approach to financial regulation led to great wealth for others,” Streep said in a statement. She said that she would leave history to settle the matter of Thatcher’s greatness.

Thatcher played polarizing role in pop culture

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said Monday that Thatcher’s views had been vindicated — on unions, on communism and on the movement toward European political integration, of which she was extremely skeptical and urged Britain to stay out.

“The country is deeply in her debt,” Johnson said. “Her memory will live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today’s politics.”

Her successor as prime minister, John Major, said that Thatcher’s economic reforms and the British victory in the Falklands War “elevated her above normal politics, and may not have been achieved under any other leader.”

Former President George W. Bush said that Thatcher guided Britain with confidence and clarity.“

Prime Minister Thatcher is a great example of strength and character, and a great ally who strengthened the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States,” he said in a statement.

Thatcher’s daughter said in 2008 that she had been suffering from dementia for eight years, and had to be reminded that her husband was dead.

Margaret Hilda Roberts was born Oct. 13, 1925. At the hand of her grocer father, she later said, she learned both thrift and capitalist principles.

“Before I read a line from the great liberal economists,” she wrote, “I knew from my father’s accounts that the free market was like a vast sensitive nervous system, responding to events and signals all over the world to meet the ever-changing needs of peoples in different countries, from different classes, of different religions, with a kind of benign indifference to their status.”

China warns against troublemaking on Korean Peninsula

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 7 Apr 2013 20:18:00 -0700

BEIJING/SEOUL — China on Sunday warned against "troublemaking" on its doorstep, in an apparent rebuke to North Korea.

The North, led by 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, has been issuing vitriolic threats of war against the United States and U.S.-backed South Korea since the United Nations imposed sanctions in response to its third nuclear weapon test in February.

North Korean officials told diplomats late last week to consider leaving Pyongyang because of the tension, but embassies appeared to view the appeal as more rhetoric and staff have stayed put.

China, North Korea's sole financial and diplomatic backer, has shown growing irritation with Pyongyang's warnings of nuclear war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressing a forum on the southern island of Hainan, did not name North Korea but said no country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain".

Stability in Asia, he said, "faces new challenges, as hot spot issues keep emerging and both traditional and non-traditional security threats exist".

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed similar frustration in a statement late on Saturday, relating a telephone conversation with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"We oppose provocative words and actions from any party in the region and do not allow trouble making on China's doorstep," Wang said, according to a ministry statement on its website.

On Sunday, the ministry expressed "grave concern" at rising tension and said China had asked North Korea to "ensure the safety of Chinese diplomats in North Korea, in accordance with the Vienna Convention and international laws and norms".

China's embassy, it said, was "understood" to be operating normally in Pyongyang.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, addressing the Hainan forum, said avoiding conflict on the peninsula was vital. "There, any aggression is a threat to the interests of every country in the region," she said.

British Foreign Minister William Hague said North Korea's nuclear ambitions had to be taken seriously.

Interviewed by Sky News, he said the international response "should also be very clear, very united and calm at all times because it's important not to feed that frenetic rhetoric that we've seen over the last few weeks".

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry offered to mediate, saying it was "always willing to help find a solution, if this is the wish of the parties, such as hosting meetings between them".

Kim, the third member of his dynasty to rule North Korea, is thought to have spent several years in Switzerland being educated under a pseudonym. He took over in December 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong-il, who confronted South Korea and the United States throughout his 17-year rule.

Hackers target Israeli government websites

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 7 Apr 2013 19:45:00 -0700

JERUSALEM -- A weekend cyberattack campaign targeting Israeli government websites failed to cause serious disruption, officials said Sunday. The attacks followed warnings in the name of the hacking group Anonymous that it was launching a massive attack.

Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, of the government's National Cyber Bureau, said hackers had mostly failed to shut down key sites.

"So far it is as was expected, there is hardly any real damage," Ben Yisrael said. "Anonymous doesn't have the skills to damage the country's vital infrastructure. And if that was its intention, then it wouldn't have announced the attack ahead of time. It wants to create noise in the media about issues that are close to its heart," he said.

Posters using the name of the hacking group Anonymous had warned they would launch a massive attack on Israeli sites in a strike they called (hash)OpIsrael starting April 7.

Israel's Bureau of Statistics was down on Sunday morning but it was unclear if it was hacked. Media said the sites of the Defense and Education Ministry as well as banks had come under attack the night before but they were mostly repelled.

Israeli sites reported brief cyberattacks on the stock market website and the Finance Ministry website Saturday night. But the two institutions denied the reports.

Israeli media said small businesses had been targeted, and some websites' homepages were replaced by anti-Israel slogans. In retaliation, Israeli activists hacked sites of radical Islamist groups and splashed them with pro-Israel messages, media said.

Shlomi Dolev, an expert on network security and cryptography at Ben Gurion University, said attacks of this kind will likely become more common. "It is a good test for our defense systems and we will know better how to deal with more serious threats in the future," he said.

Dolev said Anonymous had declared on its forums that the main assault would be in the evening. Hackers have had little success in their attempts to take over and change Israeli sites so far and are planning "denial of service" attacks where sites are overwhelmed and communications are hindered.

He said Israel is well prepared to deal with the attacks. "This is a real battle. It is good training for our experts," he said.

Hackers have tried before to topple Israeli sites.

In January last year, a hacker network that claimed to be based in Saudi Arabia paralyzed the websites of Israel's stock exchange and national airline and claimed to have published details of thousands of Israeli credit cards.

A concerted effort to cripple Israeli websites during November fighting in Gaza failed to cause serious disruption. Israel said at the time that protesters barraged Israel with more than 60 million hacking attempts.

An official of the militant Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip praised the current attack. "God bless the minds and the efforts of the soldiers of the electronic battle," Ihab Al- Ghussian, Gaza's chief government spokesman, wrote on his official Facebook page.

LGBT activist jump into immigration fray, seeking same-sex partner protections, rights

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 7 Apr 2013 19:27:00 -0700

Petitioning to come to the United States as a foreign national is complicated. There’s visa paperworkquotas in many cases, and lengthy wait times. One misstep could mean a lengthy separation from your loved ones.

And that's just for straight people.

As pro-reform interest groups prepare to fight for their specific priorities in pending immigration reform legislation, LGBT activists aren’t standing on the sidelines.

“There is a shared struggle among the immigrant and the LGBT communities,” said Steve Ralls of Immigration Equality, an organization that offers legal aid to LGBT immigrants. “There is a growing recognition that if we can get fair immigration reform through Congress we can work on a lot of issues together moving forward.”

Gay rights activists say there are several fronts in the immigration fight -- from specific provisions for gay Americans and permanent residents seeking to bring a non-citizen partner to the country, to protections for undocumented LGBT individuals, to a broader call for equal rights.

“We’re investing in immigration reform because it is a social justice issue and we have a responsibility to advocate for the kind of world we want to live in,” said Maya Rupert, policy director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “But beyond that, there are LGBT people who are going to be directly impacted by every provision in the ultimate legislation, so we have to make sure that it’s being done in a way that is inclusive and conscious of their needs.”

That means both legal and undocumented immigrants, Rupert said.

The number of LGBT immigrants is difficult to count, but researcher Dr. Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute used existing Census, Gallup and Pew Research Center data to calculate it. Gates estimates that about 900,000 LGBT immigrants live in the United States. About two-thirds of those are documented -- meaning that they are naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents or holders of a temporary visa. One-third -- about 267,000 -- are undocumented according to the estimate.

For documented LGBT immigrants, a key provision that activists have focused on is the inclusion of legislation called the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in a final comprehensive reform bill.

Partial victory with DOMA?
Currently, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident can petition for a visa for a foreign-born spouse -- but only if the spouse is of the opposite sex. That applies even if the same-sex couple is legally married in another country or in a U.S. state that recognizes gay marriage.

UAFA would make same-sex spouses or permanent partners of U.S. citizens eligible to petition for a family-based visa.

(Proponents of UAFA could win a partial victory of this issue if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Defense of Marriage Act this summer, but, unless UAFA passes, same-sex foreign national spouses would still only be eligible for a visa petition if they get married in a state that recognizes their relationship.)

Activists point to an ally in Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, an original Senate sponsor of the UAFA legislation and the head of the panel that will first review a draft immigration bill. The White House also specifically included the provision for same-sex immigrant permanent partners in a January fact sheet outlining the president’s priorities for reform.

A path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is also getting heavy support from LGBT groups, who note that a significant portion of undocumented LGBT people in the United States may be here because they faced discrimination in their country of origin.

“You can imagine the fear that an undocumented person faces with the uncertainty in current law if their deportation would mean the return to a home country where they cannot be out, where they cannot have a relationship or they would be subject to intense persecution,” says Ralls. “So a path to citizenship is critical for all undocumented people, and for undocumented LGBT people it is in many cases a critical safety issue for them.”

Public opinion shifting
Since 1994, the U.S. has classified persecution on the basis of sexual orientation as grounds to seek asylum. But the process can be arduous and confusing, and asylum-seekers have to offer rigorous documentation of hardship. Those whose claims are denied risk deportation.

Although many Latino groups heavily involved in the immigration reform movement -- including theLeague of United Latin American Citizens, the National Council de la Raza and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus -- have offered support for the inclusion of LGBT protections in any final legislation, there’s opposition within the Latino community as well as from outside groups.

In February, Sen. Marco Rubio -- a key player in the Senate Gang of Eight -- said that the inclusion of LGBT protections could hamper passage of the legislation. (Arizona’s Sen. John McCain has echoed that concern as well.)

"I think if that issue becomes a central issue in the debate it's going to become harder to get it done because there will be strong feelings on both sides,” Rubio said at an event sponsored by Buzzfeed.

As recently as a decade ago, the Hispanic and LGBT communities could have been considered quite the opposite of allies.

In 2006, a Pew Research Center study found that just 31 percent of Hispanics favored allowing gay marriage, compared to 56 percent who opposed it.

But in 2012, those numbers were almost a mirror image, with 52 percent of Hispanics backing gay marriage and about a third saying they are not in favor of legal marriage for gays and lesbians.

Amid the legal complications and the data, and regardless of how any final legislation reads, those involved in the issue say that the debate is raising awareness about a long-ignored population.

“Having a number that indicates that this is a sizable group -- more than 250,000 LGBT undocumented, nearly a million LGBT immigrants -- it’s not so much the overall number that’s important, it’s the fact that there is an estimate,” says Dr. Gates of the Williams Institute. “Unless you’re counted, you tend not to count.”

New tarantula is as big as your face - and poisonous too

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 5 Apr 2013 11:20:00 -0700

It's big, it's hairy and it's venomous.

The newest spider to give arachnophobes the willies, a tarantula named Poecilotheria rajaei has been discovered on the island nation of Sri Lanka.

With a leg span of 8 inches (20 centimeters) and enough venom to kill mice, lizards, small birds and snakes, according to Sky News, the crawler is covered in subtle markings of gray, pink and daffodil yellow.

"It can be quite attractive, unless spiders freak you out," Peter Kirk, editor of the British Tarantula Society journal, told the New York Daily News.

Even the scientists studying the spiders admit to being a little freaked out by its size: "It was slightly smaller than the size of the plate we have dinner on," Ranil Nanayakkara, co-founder of Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Education and Research, told the Daily News.

Tarantulas have been the subject of considerable study lately: Researchers are still trying to determine how or if tarantulas use silk from the spigots on their feet. And in 2012, a scientist reported discovering nine species of colorful Amazonian tarantulas in Brazil.

The newest tarantula, as part of the Poecilotheria genus of arachnids (sometimes called "Pokies" or tiger spiders), is a tree-dwelling spider. All the Pokies, known for being colorful, fast and venomous, are found only in India and Sri Lanka, Wired reports. [Photos: The World's Creepiest Spiders]

"They are quite rare," Nanayakkara told Wired. "They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled, and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings."

The spider was first seen in 2009 after the discovery of a dead male specimen, on which scientists noticed a unique pink abdominal band.

"In order to establish if this really was a new species to Sri Lanka and to the world, the authors carried out intensive and extensive surveys in the northern part of Sri Lanka to establish the distribution and ecology of this new species," the scientists write in the British Tarantula Society journal.

"But what was lacking was a female or any other specimen of the same type. Days of extensive searching in every tree hole and bark peel were rewarded with a female and to our satisfaction several juveniles too."

It's not yet known exactly how rare the newly discovered tarantula is, but there's some concern that habitat destruction is causing their number to dwindle. Additionally, northern Sri Lanka, where the spider was found, has been wracked by political violence in recent years.

"It demonstrates that wildlife continues to survive whilst we are in the throes of conflict and that they can adapt to its changing environment," Kirk told Sky News, "but … we risk destroying the habitats of species new to science and condemning them to extinction before they are even discovered."

Heaven-sent: Fake Apple products offered to Chinese ancestors

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 5 Apr 2013 10:56:00 -0700

BEIJING -- During China’s annual Qingming Festival, also known as “Tomb Sweeping Day,” people repair and clean the graves of dead relatives as part of an ancient custom to ensure a peaceful afterlife.

They also leave offerings of food, fake money, liquor and now, in a sign of the times, cardboard representations of popular Apple products – despite scathing criticism of the technology giant recently by China’s state-run media for its "arrogance" for having just a one-year warranty for Chinese consumers.

The onslaught on CCTV to the People's Daily newspaper grew to such a fever pitch that Apple CEO Tim Cook offered an apology Monday and announced that the company would change its policy.

But the hubbub hasn’t dampened interest n offering mock Apple products to relatives for them to enjoy in the afterlife.

Lots of gifts
Under Mao, the practice of leaving offerings to the dead was suppressed, but it was quickly reinstated once he was no longer in power. In 2008, Tomb Sweeping Festival was made a national holiday, and last year 520 million Chinese visited cemeteries – almost all bearing some kind of gift.

Traditional gifts include fake money and paper bags of clothing. But in recent years, as China has become more upscale, so has the giving – at least symbolically.

People now give paper representations of TV sets, washing machines, houses, luxury cars – and even mistresses. With the popularity of Apple products in China, they have gone to the top of the gift list.

Jia Bo, 27, designs various cardboard imitations of high-end products and sells them online. He has everything that a Chinese person would dream to have in this life or the next: Lamborghinis, ocean view mansions, professional cameras and pets for companionship.

“Compared to luxury ‘cars,’” which can cost from $10-$150, imitation Apple products “are much more affordable,” said Jia.

This season’s hot seller is an entire set of “Apple” products. For only $7 you can send a Mac computer, iPhone and iPad to your relatives in heaven. For an extra 50 cents, you can upgrade to an iPhone 5.

Jia thinks these new gifts show changes in Chinese attitudes. “In the past, people only focused on basic needs. But now, particular young people, care more about the quality of life.”

“That’s why Pomeranian dogs are also very popular,” said Jia, though he noted that he believed the breed was originally Japanese.

New materialism
Bao Wenying, a customer at Jia’s online store, was pleased with her purchase, writing on the website: "They look very real. I think my grandparents will be thrilled after they receive these Apple products. Did I buy too much? I guess old [Steve] Jobs will take care of them.”

Wang Weibin, a resident from Jinhua, Zhejiang province, chose a “Mercedes-Benz” for his uncle. It was a chance to give him a new experience. “When he was alive, everyone was riding bicycles,” said Wang.

Not everyone likes the trend. Some grumble that these “luxury” goods merely reflect materialism in Chinese society.

“These are just commodities,” said Bao Xingdan, a 43-year-old housewife from Zhejiang. She prefers the traditional offering of burning fake money.

She pointed to the spiritualism of it. “This kind of paper can be used as money – only if people are chanting scriptures as they fold the paper into the shape of money.”

Bao added that for each piece of paper, people usually have to repeat a scripture at least three times.

Others think all these practices are just superstitions and that the best way to respect elders is to treat them well when they are alive.

Meanwhile, in Beijing there’s been a crackdown on the imitation Apple products—ironically the same week that state newspapers were criticizing the company.

It seems that China’s desire to give Apple products to its ancestors is undeterred by the government’s media or police. On earth Beijing is causing Tim Cook headaches, but Steve Jobs surely has a lot of Chinese friends in heaven.

Hands on with Facebook Home : Social takes over Android

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 5 Apr 2013 04:32:00 -0700

Facebook revealed "Facebook Home," Thursday, a clever little way to overhaul an Android phone ... and turn it into a Facebook phone. Facebook Home will be supported on a variety of Android devices, but first it'll launch on an HTC device incredibly appropriately named "First."

On first touch, the HTC First feels like an average Android device. It's not as solid as the gorgeous HTC One, but it's not exactly flimsy either. It's sturdy and has a clean look to it. The First feels a tad small in a world of XXXXL Android smartphones, but it won't feel unusual to those who've been toting around any iPhone prior to the elongated iPhone 5.

Of course, the phone's definitely not really the main attraction here. It's the software, more specifically Facebook Home. As soon as you glance at the phone, you'll see that it basically feels as if Facebook took Android over. Photos and posts from your news feed are displayed full-screen, slowly cycling through. You can tap on them once to open up comments or double-tap to like 'em.

"Chat heads," icons representing the people with whom you're exchanging messages, follow you everywhere. From the main screen to the app folders. Tap on 'em and you're right in the messages. The whole experience is pleasantly smooth, with all gestures feeling entirely natural and instinctive.

You're probably getting the idea at this point though: Facebook Home means that Facebook's invading and taking over your phone. Will this be desirable? We'll see. The good thing is that you can turn off Facebook Home at anytime and that its settings are granular enough to let you turn off certain notification types.

New bird flu strain : Littel evidence of global threat so far

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 5 Apr 2013 04:07:00 -0700

Could the recent outbreak of illnesses or death from a new strain of bird flu be the beginning of the next pandemic? Were I a betting man, I'd say the odds are against it. The world is far better prepared and aware than it was even just a few years ago. But because of that greater vigilance, we know there is a potential threat from the H7N9 virus that has now killed five people and infected 14, so far all in China. No responsible scientist would discount it.

As the World Health Organization’s FAQs on H7N9 phrases it, “Any animal influenza virus that develops the ability to infect people is a theoretical risk to cause a pandemic. However, whether the influenza A(H7N9) virus could actually cause a pandemic is unknown.”

All flu viruses pass among many species, especially birds, pigs and humans. They come in many strains, and they mutate frequently. The big danger is a new one that would be both deadly to humans and to which humans have no immunity. The Spanish flu of 1918, for example, which mutated as it jumped between pigs and people, killed an estimated 20 to 40 million people worldwide.

The new strain is different from H5N1 avian influenza, which has killed 371 people out of 622 infected in 15 countries since 2003.

One of the most frightening aspects of this latest outbreak is that it is occurring suddenly over thousands of square miles in China. A Chinese blogger put together this map of the cases up to Thursday morning. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy translated the map and checked out the information.

“It is very alarming to have so many cases appear so suddenly over such a wide area,” the center’s director, Dr. Michael Osterholm, told NBC News.

Another cause for concern: No one knows where the deadly virus is coming from. The guess is chickens. Similar H7N9 viruses occur in birds, including chickens in China, the United States and throughout the world. But with modern genetic technology scientists can identify strains precisely. On Thursday, Chinese officials said they had found the virus in a pigeon near a Shanghai market. If the virus is being spread by chickens or pigeons, it is does not appear to make them sick, so culling sick animals might be a very difficult path to containment.

So far, it appears that the virus doesn't spread easily among people. The WHO has said that more than 400 close contacts of confirmed cases are being closely monitored, with no evidence of person-to-person spread. However, there were reports by the official Chinese news agency Xinhuan late Thursday that one person who'd had contact with a dead victim was showing flu symptoms including

The controversial recent research on “killer flu viruses”has now been vindicated , experts say, because it showed just what genes need to change to allow person to person transmission. So far, the new virus lacks the genes it needs to spread among people. But experts warn the more viruses circulate, the greater chances for a mutation that will allow for spread among humans.

The global health community has begun discussions about making a vaccine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday plans to start preparing a vaccine, just in case. The CDC has also developed a diagnostic test for H7N9 and is submitting it to the Food and Drug Administration for approval, a spokeswoman said. The tests might be available shortly, but a vaccine would likely not be widely available for months. Tests have found that the virus is sensitive to Tamiflu and other anti-influenza medications which many nations have stockpiled. Let’s hope they are not needed.

Exploison rocks power plant north of Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 5 Apr 2013 03:48:00 -0700

Georgia authorities are investigating an explosion at power plant 50 miles north of Atlanta.

Four plant employee suffered a minor injuries and all others are accounted for, according a spokesperson for Georgia Power, owner of the plant. Only one of the four injured was sent to the hospital, and has been released.

The explosion occurred as the plant was preparing for a planned maintenance outage at the Plant Bowen Unit 2, a coal-fired power plant near Euharlee, Ga.

Witnesses told NBC Atlanta affiliate WXIA the explosion sounded "louder than a sonic boom."

There have been no injuries reported to residents around the plant.

Job-seeking teens might get a break this summer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 4 Apr 2013 14:38:00 -0700

Teenagers looking to make some money this summer could have an easier time finding a job than in recent years, if the economic momentum of the last few months holds up.

That would be a welcome turn of events for the youngest generation of workers, who have had an incredibly tough time finding work after so many years of a weak economy.

“Young people have been hit the hardest by all this,” said Harry Holzer, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University who studies low-wage work.

Holzer said the good news for young people is overall job growth has been relatively strong for the past few months. Plus, other sectors of the economy, such as the housing market, also appear to be improving.

But by this summer, teens also could find their job prospects hurt by other factors weighing on the economy, such as the government belt-tightening due to the sequester. “It’s a mixed picture,” Holzer said.

Managers who plan to hire hourly summer workers expect to add an average of 30 workers this year, up from 27 last year, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the job placement company Snagajob. The Ipsos survey of 1,005 seasonal hiring managers found that 68 percent plan to hire summer workers this year.

They should find plenty of willing applicants.

The unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds was 25.1 percent in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares with 14.9 percent six years ago, in February 2007. The nation officially went into recession in December 2007, and the weak recovery began in June 2009.

The unemployment rate, which includes only people who are actively looking for a job, is seasonally adjusted to account for variations such as more teens employed in the summer.

The overall unemployment rate for all working Americans fell to 7.7 percent in February, the lowest level in four years, as the economy added 236,000 new jobs. The March unemployment report is due out Friday, and economists will be watching closely to see if the momentum in the job market continues.

Teens have always had more trouble finding a job than adults. Still, the recession and weak recovery appear to have made it especially hard for young people trying to dip their toe in the working world.

“These are people in a tough job market who have the least skills (and) the shortest work history,” said Paul Ashworth, chief North American economist for Capital Economics.

Ashworth said the good news for young workers is that some of the recent job growth has been in sectors such as leisure and hospitality that tend to employ younger, less skilled workers.

Younger workers also tend to be cheaper and less in need of health benefits, and that could be appealing to cost-conscious employers.

Ashworth also noted that American teens are much better off than young people in countries such as Spain or Italy, which have grappled with drastically higher jobless numbers for younger workers.

But he conceded that American teens haven’t had it too easy, either.

“Young people probably have suffered unduly, but being brutally honest that’s often the way it goes in recessions,” Ashworth said.

sourch by nbc

Hyundai and KIA

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 4 Apr 2013 13:45:00 -0700

Hyundai and Kia recalling 1.9 million vahicles

Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are initiating one of their largest recalls ever – or more precisely, three separate service actions announced today that involve 1.9 million vehicles sold in the U.S. market since late 2006.

The majority of the vehicles involved were subject to earlier recalls designed to address the same issue – electronic gremlins that could impact a wide variety of systems, from stop lamps to stability control, and even prevent the use of the push-button stop feature.

Meanwhile, the small Japanese automaker Subaru is recalling 200,000 vehicles of its own due to brake line corrosion issues.

The Detroit Bureau: Lawsuit Claims Design Defect Can Lead Ford Cars to Surge out of Control

The larger recalls involving Hyundai and Kia present some serious headaches for the Korean makers after repeated efforts to deal with the electronic control issues. The two makers operate in the U.S. as separate companies but share much of the same technology under the skin of their vehicles.

The largest announcement, involving 1.06 million Hyundai models, follows an earlier 2009 recall and three separate service actions addressing problems with taillight assemblies. Covered are the 2007 to 20009 Accent, 2007 to 2010 Elantra, 2010 to 2011 Genesis Coupe, 2007 to 2011 Santa Fe, 2011 Sonata, 2007 to 2009 Tucson and 2008 to 2009 Veracruz.

According to Hyundai, the “condition could potentially result in intermittent operation of the push-button start feature, intermittent ability to remove the vehicle's shifter from the park position, illumination of the "ESC" (Electronic Stability Control) indicator lamp in the instrument cluster, intermittent interference with operation of the cruise control feature, or intermittent operation of the stop lamps."

The Detroit Bureau: VW Golf Named World Car of the Year

A total of 623,000 Kia models are impacted by the same problem, and include the 2007 to 2010 Rondo, the 2007 Sedona, 2011 Optima, 2007 to 2011 Sorento, 2010 and 2011 Soul, and the 2007 to 2010 Sportage.

A third recall by Hyundai specifically targets potential airbag problems involving 190,000 compact Elantra sedans sold during the 2011 to 2013 model-years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pressed the maker to act after receiving complaints that a support bracket can become displaced in the event of a crash that triggers the side-impact airbags.

The Detroit Bureau: First Look: New 2014 Acura MDX Crossover

NHTSA was first alerted to the problem when a passenger had serious lacerations to their ear during a crash. Hyundai has since found several vehicles that could experience the same sort of problem, apparently due to the installation of a special auto-dimming mirror offered as an option in the U.S. market.

Hyundai said the problem can be easily fixed. “Industrial manufacturing adhesive strips placed over the bracket prevent displacement of a dislodged bracket during side curtain airbag deployment."
Repairs for all the new Hyundai and Kia recalls will be made at no charge to owners.

The three new recalls come just days after NHTSA announced it would begin a formal investigation of reports of excessive corrosion potentially impacting nearly 400,000 older Hyundai Sonata models. The rust issue could lead to failure of the rear suspension, the agency noted.

The Detroit Bureau: Chevy Delivers NY Auto Shows Big Surprise with Debut of Camaro Z/28

Corrosion is also being blamed for the recall of about 200,000 Subaru Legacy and Outback models produced between December 2003 and April 2009 and sold in 20 cold-weather states, as well as the District of Columbia.

Designated 2005 through 2009 model-years, the Legacy and Outback all-wheel-drive vehicles could experience break line cracks that could result in fluid leaks. That, in turn, might reduce brake functionality and lead to a crash.

Subaru also plans to notify owners and make repairs at no charge.

Copyright © 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 4 Apr 2013 10:00:00 -0700

54 killed, 90 wounded in attack on Afghanistan compound

Still image from April 3, 2013 video footage shows damage at the site of an attack by Taliban suicide bombers at a courtroom in Farah province in western Afghanistan.

At least 54 people were killed and 90 others wounded Wednesday in an insurgent attack on a government compound in western Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters were facing trial, local officials said.

Nine insurgents with explosives strapped to their bodies stormed the compound in Farah province, bordering Iran, Reuters reported. Explosions were followed by protracted gun battles.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Among the dead were 35 civilians, 10 members of the Afghan Security Forces and the nine suicide attackers, Mohammad Akram Khpalwalk, governor of Farah province, said.

Most of the 90 to 95 people wounded were civilians, said Dr. Abdul Jabaar, the head of the hospital where victims were taken.

The attack was the deadliest single assault n the country since 2011.

President Hamid Karzai called the attack "genocide" against fellow Afghans and said a delegation would be sent Thursday to begin an investigation and to assist victims and their families.

"Once again, terrorists shed the blood of our innocent people who went as individuals to local institutions for their work in Farah province," Karzai said in a statement.He pledged that the perpetrators would be accountable to the nation for the killings.

sourch by nbc.

Google

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 23:20:00 -0700

'China's Google' Baidu is making

smart glasses

Baidu, China's largest search engine, is working on its own smart glasses technology - similar to Google's Glass project.

A spokesman for the Chinese firm said the glasses would be able to search by using facial recognition.

Kaiser Kuo told Reuters that Baidu had not yet decided whether the glasses would be made commercially available.

"We experiment with every kind of technology that is related to search," Mr Kuo said.

Like Google Glass, the Baidu glasses - reportedly known internally as Baidu Eye - consist of a small LCD screen attached to a slim headset.

A leaked image taken at Baidu's offices show a person wearing a headset matching the description - but Baidu would not confirm if it was Baidu Eye.

Some early reports had suggested that news of the technology was in fact an April Fool's joke - but while some reports on 1 April were embellished, there was truth behind the rumours.

Alarm

Mr Kuo said that the technology makes the most of Baidu's considerable expertise in facial recognition.

"What you are doing with your camera, for example, taking a picture of a celebrity and then checking on our database to see if we have a facial image match, you could do the same thing with a wearable visual device."Such words are likely to alarm those worried about the capabilities of this type of technology.

Campaign group "Stop the Cyborgs" has called for limits on when the headsets can be used.

"We want people to actively set social and physical bounds around the use of technologies and not just fatalistically accept the direction technology is heading in," a campaigner told the BBC last month.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco - home of Google - a cafe has said it will ban customers from using Google Glass on its premises.

In response to worries, Google has said: "We are putting a lot of thought into how we design Glass because new technology always raises important new issues for society."

EUROPA LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 22:52:00 -0700

Chelsea are without Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie against Rubin Kazan at Stamford Bridge.

Left-back Cole has a hamstring injury, while central defender Cahill is sidelined with a knee injury.

Demba Ba is ineligible after playing for Newcastle in the group stage.The Russian visitors will be without striker Alexander Ryazantsev and French midfielder Yann M'Vila, who both miss the trip to London through injury."I have to pick a team that can win any game," said Benitez. "You have to approach the next game like the most important game.

"Sometimes we will pick one team for one game and we will change three, four, seven players for the next one. That is the way to compete and to be capable of winning in every competition.

"Rubin can score goals away, they will try to do that. It will be tough. It's important to score and to do well."

Rubin are competing in the last eight of a European competition for the first time after beating holders Atletico Madrid in the last 32 and their Spanish compatriots Levante in the last round.

Rubin manager Kurban Berdyev believes Chelsea are the toughest quarter-final opponents they could have faced.

"However, for us, it will become just an extra motivating factor that will make this tie more attractive," said Berdyev.

"We will try to give our best in these matches against a top English team to perform at their level."

They also have fitness concerns over midfielder Alan Kasaev, who was ruled out of their weekend league win against Lokomotiv Moscow.

Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez is expected to reshuffle his starting XI as the Blues prepare for their third match in six days.

The Spaniard was forced to defend his team selection after his much-changed side were beaten 2-1 at Southampton on Saturday - a result which hindered their hopes of a top-four Premier League finish.

He made another seven changes for Monday's FA Cup quarter-final win against Manchester United and the move paid dividends as Chelsea reached the competition's semi-finals for the fifth time in seven years.

Benitez will be forced to make at least two changes from that team with the absences of Cole and Ba.

Cole, 32, could be sidelined for two weeks after being substituted after 21 minutes against United and, along with Cahill, looks set to miss next week's return leg in Russia.

anti-HIV

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 21:47:00 -0700

Body's anti-HIV 'training manual' offers vaccine hopes

The body's own "training manual" for successfully attacking HIV has been recorded by scientists and it is hoped it can be used to design vaccines.

HIV mutates in order to survive the onslaught of a patient's immune system.

However, some patients develop highly effective antibodies that can neutralise huge swathes of HIV mutants.

An analysis of the arms race between body and virus, published in the journal Nature, has shown how these antibodies are made.

When someone is infected with HIV, their body produces antibodies to attack it. But the virus mutates and evades the offensive, so the body produces new antibodies that the virus then evades and the war goes on.

However, after about four years of this struggle some patients hit on to a winner by targeting something the virus finds harder to change - an Achilles heel.

"Even though the virus mutates and there are literally millions of quasi-species of virus because of all these mutations, but there are parts the virus can't change otherwise the virus cannot infect - these are the vulnerable sites," Prof Barton Haynes, of Duke University, in North Carolina, told the BBC.

At this stage of the infection it is far too late to make a difference for the patient as the virus is hiding in untouchable reservoirs.

However, some researchers believe that vaccines that encourage the body to produce these "broadly neutralising antibodies" may give people immunity to the virus.

Super antibody

The research team's study is based on a patient in Africa who had a rapid diagnosis, about four weeks after being infected with the virus.

They were eventually able to produce an antibody named CH103 that could neutralise 55% of HIV samples.

It was not produced in one easy step. Rather it was the product of the war of the immune system and HIV trying to out-evolve each other.

However, through regular genetic analyses of both the immune system and virus, researchers could piece together each of the steps that culminated in the production of CH103.

It is like a training manual for the immune system.

Prof Haynes said: "What we were able to do was map out the arms race of both virus and antibody, and in doing so we have now a map.

"This is the first time we've been able to see the actual road map."

He said the challenge now was to see if re-creating those steps could lead to a viable vaccine.

However, he said it would almost certainly need to be a vaccine combining multiple "Achilles heels" - in the same way that HIV therapies are a combination of drug treatments.

Prof Jane Anderson, consultant at Homerton hospital in London and chair of the British HIV Association, said: "The study gives important insights into the ways in which the human immune system responds to HIV infection and increases our understanding about the relationships between the virus and the human host.

"This is another welcome step on the path to develop vaccines against HIV."

Dr Sarah Joseph, who tests HIV vaccines at the Medical Research Council clinical trials unit, said: "This paper is really interesting. Some people do make antibodies that neutralise a lot of HIV virus, bit it is not of use to them as they produce it way too late."

She said harnessing these antibodies "could be a big deal" and there was "even talk about mass-producing antibodies and infusing people with them".

appeared on bbc

microcar

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 21:20:00 -0700

Selling the world’s largest microcar collection

Small, quirky and exceedingly rare, the cars of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum will seek new homes on 15 and 16 February.

The auction, conducted by RM Auctions in Madison, Georgia – where themuseum has stood for 15 years –includes roughly 200 cars and more than 300 pieces of automotive ephemera. Isettas, Messerschmitts andPeels are among the notable micros that will go to the auction block.

For further information on the individual auction lots, click here.

McLaren P1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 21:05:00 -0700

McLaren reveals P1 performance stats

Want to know how fast the 903bhp supercar will go/cost? Step this way. Plus, first official production pics.

This is the moment quite literally some of you have been waiting for. You've seen the camouflage development mules. You've seen the interior. You've learned about its hybrid drivetrain and how much power its packing.

Today, you will learn that the McLaren P1 supercar will accelerate from 0-62mph in "less than three seconds" and on to a limited top speed of 218mph. Fast, no?

That's not all. McLaren has revealed more acceleration details with which you can arm yourself in the inevitable Discussing Which Supercar Is Best In The Pub On Friday Night With Friends game (deluxe edition). The P1 will sprint from 0-124mph (0-200km/h) in less than seven seconds, and go from 0-186mph (0-300km/h) in 17 seconds. McLaren rightly informs us that last benchmark is some nine seconds quicker than the old McLaren F1.

To provide you with some perspective, the Porsche 918 Spyder is estimated to hit 62mph in under three seconds and 124mph in around eight seconds, while a Bugatti Veyron SS – the 1,183bhp orange merchant of speed – hits 124mph from rest in 7.3 seconds and 186mph in 15 seconds dead. So despite McLaren's claims that the P1 was never meant to be the fastest outright, it's clearly no slouch.

Production is limited to 375 models only, combining – as you know – a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 to an electric motor to provide 903bhp. And because it's a hybrid, emissions (combined) sit below 200g/km of CO2. There are also DRS and IPAS technologies on board to ally it closely with the company's Formula 1 activity. This is good.

Pirelli has been working with McLaren on the tires too, and has developed a special compound for the P1, probably something a little bit less rubbish than the F1 tire TopGear.com made in Turkey. Ahem.

And here's one of the best bits about the P1. We're told the brakes are akin to those on a GT3 racer, developed by Akebono and featuring a new kind of carbon ceramic disc, previously used in space. Space!

Sadly, for us mere mortals, the price is equally cosmic. Because McLaren has confirmed that this limited run, 903bhp rear-wheel-drive hypercar that we estimate will weigh around 1,500kg (3,305lbs), will cost £866,000 ($1.3 million).

That's quite a chunk of change, but then the upcoming Porsche 918 Spyder and new Ferrari Enzo aren't going to be cheap.

This story originally appeared on TopGear.com.

Venom GT

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 20:54:00 -0700

Hennessey Venom GT: A record surplus of speed

John Hennessey, the Texas-based tuner of performance automobiles (“making fast cars go faster” is his company's credo), has reason to be a little smug. His Hennessey Venom GT recently set the production-car speed record, edging out the Volkswagen Group’s Bugatti Veyron SuperSport.

In the asterisk-strewn realm of speed records, the Venom GT’s run to 265.7mph (427.6kph) at a Texas airfield in February is not unblemished; the SuperSport was tested to 268mph, but Hennessey is quick to note that production versions of that car are limited to 258mph to prevent their tires from exploding.

Regardless of what Veyron defenders may say, Hennessey’s run, explored in depth in the April issue of Top Gear magazine, was the loudest salvo yet from a company that has fuelled garish horsepower fantasies since 1991. The question facing Hennessey is, quite literally, where to now? With two miles of runway to work with before reserving the last nine-tenths of a mile for deceleration, the Venom GT has few straightaways on which to discover its outermost limits.

“You can run at Bonneville,” Hennessey said, referencing the expansive salt flats in the southwestern state of Utah, “but that’s like running on the beach. We ideally would be testing next in another controlled environment, like the runway, which minimises risk of critters crossing the road.”

The on-board video of the attempt shows the test driver pump his fists as he decelerates from the record run, in a seeming display of exaltation. Hennessey explained this was not the case.

“Our goal was 270, which would have silenced the Veyron camp for good,” he said. “So he was actually mad. If you watch closely he had some trouble shifting from fourth to fifth. He was angry at himself. But you also see him up around 262, 263 adjusting his visor, which had fallen down. That goes to show how comfortable and stable this car is, even at those speeds.”

About that car: maximum output of 1,244 horsepower and 1,115 pound-feet of torque, with a curb weight of 2,743lbs (1,244kg). The Venom GT presents a perverse interpretation of the “Simplify, then add lightness” axiom of Lotus Cars founder Colin Chapman.

Based, incidentally, on the chassis and body of the Lotus Exige sports coupe, the Venom GT is limited to a total run of 29. “We’ve built and delivered eight, we have four on order, and we expect to sell out the run next year,” Hennessey said.

By the time the company locates a suitable straightaway, it may have already moved to Venom 2.0. “The Venom GT2 is coming next year,” Hennessey said. “Different roof, new headlamps, some other changes in store.”

Though he did not confirm a timeline, Hennessey noted that higher-horsepower versions of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette, which debuted at the Detroit auto show in January, are in the pipeline, as is a blown SRT Viper. New, Frankenstein-esque builds like the Venom GT are not on the immediate horizon, at least that Hennessey will admit to.

“I’m always looking at potential cars, but to do a standalone kind of car, it doesn’t make sense for us right now,” he said. “All in, we might have spent $4 million, $5 million on developing the Venom GT. The Pagani Huayra, you’re looking at least at $25 million.”

“Look, if the car is cool, and the performance potential is there, we’re always interested.”

To read more about the Venom GT’s record run, pick up the April 2013 issue of Top Gear magazine.

Didier Drogba says Chelsea still a lure for Jose Mourinho

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 11:54:00 -0700

Didier Drogba says Jose Mourinho could return to Chelsea because he has "unfinished business" with the Blues.

The striker was a key member of the Portuguese manager's squad during his three years at Stamford Bridge.

Drogba lines up for Galatasaray against Mourinho's Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday - a trophy the forward won with the Blues last May.

"I don't think he's got over Chelsea," the 35-year-old Drogba said of Mourinho. "They haven't got over him."

Drogba, who left the west London outfit in the summer, feels his former club would benefit from having the 50-year-old manager back in charge for next season.

The Ivory Coast international also feels Mourinho's failure to win the Champions League at Stamford Bridge could tempt him to return.

The Real Madrid coach, who has won the Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan, claimed two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and twice lifted the League Cup during his three years in charge at Chelsea, between 2004 to 2007.

"When he came, he brought success," said Drogba, who scored the winning penalty in last season's Champions League final shootout win over Bayern Munich.

"We won league titles back-to-back with some great football and the only thing he didn't win was the Champions League.

"Maybe that is one of the reasons why he might want to come back. It is unfinished business."

Interim Blues manager Rafael Benitez, who has been an unpopular figure with some of the club's fans, has already stated he expects to leave the club in the summer.

And Drogba added: "I think for the club it is the best solution to bring Jose back. The fans want him back. He loves Chelsea.

"Because you want to rebuild a team and to give them the strength we had a few years ago, he could be the right person.

"He is a winner and is close to the players. He went to Inter and is at Real Madrid, but is still talking about Chelsea, so he loves this club."

Drogba might also be interested in returning to Chelsea in some capacity, should Blues owner Roman Abramovich pursue a deal for Mourinho.

The former Marseille striker, brought to the club by Mourinho in 2004, said: "Let me finish at Galatasaray first and then we will talk about that."

But he added that he still has strong feelings for the Blues.

"For this club I gave everything and, of course, they gave it back to me," he said. "I feel at home when I go to London. When I go to Chelsea's training ground, I can walk around with my eyes closed."

Drogba left Chelsea for Chinese team Shanghai Shenhua at the end of the last season, but he returned to Europe in January, signing an 18-month deal with Turkish giants Galatasaray.

Croods retains

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 11:29:00 -0700

Croods retains top spot at UK box office

Caveman cartoon The Croods has topped the UK and Ireland box office chart for a

second successive week.

The Dreamworks animated feature about a prehistoric family who are forced to abandon their cave pulled in £3.3m between Friday and Sunday.

The Croods easily held off Bruce Willis' action figure-inspired sequel GI Joe: Retaliation, which debuted at number two with £2.8m.

Danny Boyle's Trance is third after taking £1.6m in its opening week.

The thriller stars Rosario Dawson as a hypnotherapist attempting to help James McAvoy's amnesiac art thief remember where he hid a stolen masterpiece.

The Croods, which features the voices of Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone, started out in 2005 as a co-production with British animators Aardman, scripted by Monty Python's John Cleese.

Dreamworks took over the project - originally titled Crood Awakening - when Aardman's five-film deal was curtailed after just two productions with the US studio.

Elsewhere, other new releases in the top 10 include US science fiction film The Host, a new entry at number five with £991,000, and Finding Nemo 3D, which took £265,000 to claim the number nine spot.

Wreck It Ralph finally slipped out of the top 10, but the arcade-based animation has now taken £22.6m since its release eight weeks ago.

Expert's Expect Drought to Last Until My

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 3 Apr 2013 11:14:00 -0700

Expert's Expect Drought to Last Until My

The severe drought in parts of northwestern and southwestern China is likely to continue into May because of the hot, dry weather, authorities said.

Sourch by: cctv

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Didier Drogba says Chelsea still a lure for Jose Mourinho

Didier Drogba says Jose Mourinho could return to Chelsea because he has "unfinished business" with the Blues.

The striker was a key member of the Portuguese manager's squad during his three years at Stamford Bridge.

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Croods retains

Croods retains top spot at UK box office

Expert's Expect Drought to Last Until My