Russia had elder Boston suspect under surveillance

In this undated photo provided by the Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service William Plotnikov, right, poses for a photo. Security officials suspected ties between elder Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Canadian, an ethnic Russian named William Plotnikov, who had joined the Islamic insurgency in the region. Russian agents placed the elder Boston bombing suspect under surveillance during a six-month visit to southern Russia last year, then scrambled to find him when he suddenly disappeared after police killed a Canadian jihadist, a security official told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service via NewsTeam)

In this undated photo provided by the Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service William Plotnikov, right, poses for a photo. Security officials suspected ties between elder Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Canadian, an ethnic Russian named William Plotnikov, who had joined the Islamic insurgency in the region. Russian agents placed the elder Boston bombing suspect under surveillance during a six-month visit to southern Russia last year, then scrambled to find him when he suddenly disappeared after police killed a Canadian jihadist, a security official told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service via NewsTeam)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT In this undated photo provided by the Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service, the body of William Plotnikov, killed in a standoff with police in Dagestan. Security officials suspected ties between elder Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and the Canadian, an ethnic Russian named William Plotnikov, who had joined the Islamic insurgency in the region. Russian agents placed Tsarnaev under surveillance during a six-month visit to southern Russia last year, then scrambled to find him when he suddenly disappeared after police killed a Canadian jihadist, a security official told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Dagestani branch of the Federal Security Service via NewsTeam)

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) ? Russian agents placed the elder Boston bombing suspect under surveillance during a six-month visit to southern Russia last year, then scrambled to find him when he suddenly disappeared after police killed a Canadian jihadist, a security official told The Associated Press.

U.S. law enforcement officials have been trying to determine whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev was indoctrinated or trained by militants during his visit to Dagestan, a Caspian Sea province that has become the center of a simmering Islamic insurgency.

The security official with the Anti-Extremism Center, a federal agency under Russia's Interior Ministry, confirmed the Russians shared their concerns. He told the AP that Russian agents were watching Tsarnaev, and that they searched for him when he disappeared two days after the July 2012 death of the Canadian man, who had joined the Islamic insurgency in the region. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

Security officials suspected ties between Tsarnaev and the Canadian ? an ethnic Russian named William Plotnikov ? according to the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, which is known for its independence and investigative reporting and cited an unnamed official with the Anti-Extremism Center, which tracks militants. The newspaper said the men had social networking ties that brought Tsarnaev to the attention of Russian security services for the first time in late 2010.

It certainly wouldn't be surprising if the men had met. Both were amateur boxers of roughly the same age whose families had moved from Russia to North America when they were teenagers. In recent years, both had turned to Islam and expressed radical beliefs. And both had traveled to Dagestan, a republic of some 3 million people.

The AP could not independently confirm whether the two men had communicated on social networks or crossed paths either in Dagestan or in Toronto, where Plotnikov had lived with his parents and where Tsarnaev had an aunt.

After Plotnikov was killed, Tsarnaev left suddenly for the U.S., not waiting to pick up his new Russian passport ? ostensibly one of his main reasons for coming to Russia. The official said his sudden departure was considered suspicious.

Plotnikov's father told the Canadian network CBCNews on Monday that his son had broken off contact when he returned to Russia in 2010 and he had no way of knowing whether his son knew Tsarnaev.

In an August interview with the Canadian newspaper National Post, Vitaly Plotnikov said his son, who was 23 when he died, had converted to Islam in 2009 and quickly became radicalized. But he said he fully understood what his son was up to in Russia only when he received photographs and videos after his death.

In one photo, a smiling William Plotnikov is shown posing in the woods, an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder and a camouflage ammunition belt around his waist. In the videos, which the National Post reporter watched with the father, the younger Plotnikov talked openly of planning to kill in the name of Allah.

Plotnikov had been detained in Dagestan in December 2010 on suspicion of having ties to the militants and during his interrogation was forced to hand over a list of social networking friends from the United States and Canada who like him had once lived in Russia, Novaya Gazeta reported.

The newspaper said Tsarnaev's name was on that list, bringing him for the first time to the attention of Russia's secret services.

Novaya Gazeta, which is part-owned by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and wealthy businessman Alexander Lebedev, has regularly criticized the Kremlin. One of its best known reporters, Anna Politkovskaya, angered the Kremlin with her reporting from Chechnya, and her 2006 murder in a Moscow elevator was widely presumed to have been in connection with her journalistic work.

The Islamic insurgency in Dagestan grew out of the fierce fighting between Russian troops and separatists in neighboring Chechnya that raged in the 1990s. Attacks now are carried out almost daily in Dagestan against police and security forces, who respond with special operations of their own to wipe out the militants.

As recently as Sunday, two suspected militants were killed in a shootout after being cornered in a house in the Dagestani village of Chontaul, according to police spokeswoman Fatina Ubaidatova.

Plotnikov was among seven suspected militants killed on July 14 during a standoff with police in the Dagestani village of Utamysh, according to the official police record.

After Plotnikov's death, Russian security agents lost track of Tsarnaev and went to see his father in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, who told them that his son had returned to the U.S., Novaya Gazeta said.

The agents did not believe the father, since Tsarnaev had left without picking up his new Russian passport, and they continued to search for him, the newspaper reported.

The Russians later determined that Tsarnaev had flown to Moscow on July 16 and to the United States the following day, the newspaper said. Tsarnaev arrived in New York on July 17.

Russian migration officials have said they were puzzled that Tsarnaev applied for the passport but left before it was ready.

His father, Anzhor Tsarnaev, said last week that his elder son stayed with him while waiting for the passport to be processed. He could not be reached Tuesday for comment on the Novaya Gazeta report.

The Tsarnaev family had lived briefly in Dagestan before moving to the United States a decade ago. Both parents returned to Dagestan last year.

The official with Russia's Anti-Extremism Center said Tsarnaev was filmed attending a mosque in Makhachkala whose worshippers adhere to a more radical strain of Islam. The official would give no further details about what the Russian security services knew about Tsarnaev's activities in Dagestan or about any possible connection to Plotnikov.

The AP was unable to determine whether the official was the same one who provided the information to Novaya Gazeta.

Plotnikov had settled in Utamysh, a small village about 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Makhachkala. It was not known whether he had spent any significant amount of time in Dagestan's capital.

Novaya Gazeta said Tsarnaev was also seen in the company of Mahmud Nidal ? a man who was both Palestinian and Kumyk, one of the dozens of ethnic groups living in Dagestan ? and who was believed to have ties to Islamic militants in the southern Russian region.

Nidal was killed in May 2012 after refusing to give himself up to security forces that had surrounded a house in Makhachkala, according to official police records.

Shortly after Plotnikov identified Tsarnaev during his December 2010 interrogation, the Russian secret services, the FSB, studied Tsarnaev's pages on social networking sites and asked the FBI for more information, the Russian newspaper said.

The FBI has acknowledged receiving the request. The U.S. agency said it opened an investigation, but when no evidence of terrorism was found and no further information from the Russians was forthcoming, the case was closed in June 2011.

___

Berry reported from Moscow.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-30-Russia-Boston%20Suspect/id-d4755565fc4147eeae6b70b904c54a20

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Scaffold Wants To Bring Financial Advice To The People Who Need It Most

Financial advisory services often aren't targeted at the people at the lower end of the economic spectrum -- and arguably, those are the folks who really need money advice the most. That's where Scaffold, an app built over the past 24 hours at the TechCrunch Disrupt NYC Hackathon, wants to help out. Scaffold aims to be a financial advisory platform that can give actionable insights to lower income users who are particularly vulnerable to financial risk, such as people just coming out of homeless shelters or single mothers who are coming out of battered women shelters.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/rUpBcPYYP1I/

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Samsung announces the Galaxy Tab 3, 7-inches of mid-range tablet

Styled like the Galaxy Note 8.0, the Galaxy Tab 3 has more than a whiff of the mid-range about it

Samsung has pulled the wraps off their latest addition to the Galaxy Tab range with this, the new Galaxy Tab 3. This particular tablet is the 7-inch version, which will launch in a WiFi only flavor at the beginning of May. A 3G-enabled sibling will then follow in June. 

The styling follows on very much from the larger, Galaxy Note 8.0, continuing Samsung's new theme of adding their traditional three button setup to their tablet devices. Software wise we're looking at Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with the usual Touchwiz overlay, but on the hardware front things are distinctly mid-range. 

Powering the Galaxy Tab 3 is a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, on top of 8GB or 16GB of on board storage. This being Samsung though, storage is expandable by way of microSD card. The display is somewhat disappointing, with the Tab 3 sporting a resolution of just 1024x600. The cameras too are on the low end of things, with a 3MP rear shooter accompanied by a 1.3MP front facer. 

All this adds up to what should be a keenly priced tablet. Its predecessor has been retailing at Nexus 7 money for some time now. But, without a glaring jump in either hardware or software, it's difficult to think of a compelling reason to take the new Galaxy Tab 3 over the year old Nexus 7. Samsung brand power might come into play a little with this one. No pricing has been announced at this time and for the full press release, be sure to click on past the break. 

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/8lJrPg-Pen0/story01.htm

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Under Investigation, Rep. Don Young Pays $60,000 in Legal Fees ...

By Kent Cooper Posted at 3:23 p.m. on April 27

The?Congressman Don Young Legal Expense Trust?reported it paid $60,000 on 3/21 to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP for legal fees during the first quarter of 2013. The filing was made public this week.

In March, the House Ethics Committee formed an investigative subcommittee to probe whether Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) misused campaign accounts and made false statements. See Roll Call?article.

Source: http://blogs.rollcall.com/moneyline/under-investigation-rep-don-young-pays-60000-in-legal-fees/

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Drug maker Valeant in talks on $13 billion Actavis buy: source

(Reuters) - Canada's largest listed drug maker, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, is in talks to buy generic drugmaker Actavis Inc for more than $13 billion, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday night.

It is not clear how advanced the discussions are and a deal could still fall through, said the source, who declined to be identified because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

A Valeant spokeswoman declined to comment and an Actavis spokesman could not be reached for comment outside of business hours.

Valeant said in February it was in talks to make more acquisitions, and it remains open to discuss a potential "merger of equals."

Shares of Actavis, which has a market capitalization of $12.9 billion, have risen about 12 percent in the past three months.

Actavis, the third-largest global generic drugmaker, changed its name in January from Watson after buying Actavis as part of its strategy to expand in international markets and offer more specialty drugs.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks between the two companies on Friday.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, writing by Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/drug-maker-valeant-talks-13-billion-actavis-buy-131359421.html

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EPA: Alaska mine project could hurt salmon streams

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Build-out of a large-scale mine near the headwaters of a world-class salmon fishery in Alaska could wipe out as many as 90 miles of streams and alter stream flows, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a revised assessment released Friday.

The report said mining activity would claim at least 24 miles of streams in the Bristol Bay region, based on the scenarios evaluated, with the loss of wetlands ranging from 1,200 to 4,800 acres.

The EPA focused on the Pebble deposit and took into account information related to the proposed Pebble Mine but also noted the potential for multiple mines in the region, given the resource base, which it said would lead to further elimination or blocking of streams and wetland losses.

EPA initiated the review process in response to concerns raised by tribes and others about the impact large-scale mining could have on Bristol Bay fisheries. Critics of the EPA review ? including the Pebble Limited Partnership, the group behind the proposed Pebble Mine ? fear it could lead to the agency vetoing mining activity in the region.

Pebble Partnership CEO John Shively said the review was unnecessary, flawed and "consistent with the demands of those who want to deny the Pebble Partnership the right to submit a permit application."

The Alaska Department of Law also issued a statement.

"We believe the assessment is premature, as well as any action EPA might take based upon it," the state agency said. "Any consideration of impacts should be made within the context of an actual proposal and a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit application."

The Pebble Partnership has called the mine deposit one of the largest of its kind in the world, with the potential of producing 80.6 billion pounds of copper, 107.4 million ounces of gold and 5.6 billion pounds of molybdenum over decades.

EPA regional administrator Dennis McLerran said the revised report generally affirms conclusions reached in the initial report last year while including more details on transportation corridors, possible culvert failures and other factors.

It noted, for example, that culvert blockages or other failures would inhibit fish passage. It also said production of fish could be lost or diminished if blockages occurred during adult salmon immigration or juvenile salmon emigration and were not cleared for several days.

Extended blockages aren't likely during mine operations, but there could be a greater impact once mine operations end, the report states.

The report also noted that salmon could be affected by in-stream copper levels because leaching could occur during routine mine operations.

Tailing storage facilities and dams to hold mine waste are likely to be in place for hundreds to thousands of years because there is no plan for removal when mining operations end, according to the report. A tailings dam failure could wipe out or degrade rivers and streams for decades, though the risk of that is considered fairly low, the report states.

Conservationists said it was clear the mine would harm salmon and destroy streams, even if nothing ever goes wrong.

"Pebble is far bigger and more threatening to renewable resource jobs than any other mine proposal in Alaska and it's planned for the worst location possible," Tim Bristol, director of Trout Unlimited's Alaska program, said in a news release.

The new report updates an assessment EPA released last year and is meant to address concerns that were raised about things like missing data and incomplete information.

For example, rather than using a hypothetical mine scenario, EPA said it drew from plans developed for Northern Dynasty Minerals, which has a stake in the proposed Pebble Mine; data collected by Pebble Limited Partnership; and its own experts to come up with three different mine scenarios.

EPA said the scenarios realistically represent the type of development expected to happen in the Bristol Bay region. McLerran said it also accounts for modern mining practices. He said the focus has been on getting the science right so informed decisions can be made in the future.

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said he opposes a pre-emptive veto of the Pebble Mine or other projects and added "an open, public process that answers Alaskans' questions and puts better science on the table is a good thing."

The revised assessment will undergo a new round of peer review and public comment before EPA releases a final report that could affect permitting decisions for the proposed mine. That final report is expected later this year.

___

Follow Becky Bohrer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/beckybohrerap .

___

Online:

EPA's Bristol Bay assessment: http://www2.epa.gov/bristolbay

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/epa-alaska-mine-project-could-180650677.html

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These Adorable Animal Wine Racks Will Make Getting Drunk Feel So Cute

These wine racks are incredibly simple but absolutely adorable in its design. Made out of wood, the wine racks have the shape of animals with a body of a wine bottle. You can see an elephant, a penguin, a reindeer and a dog. I want them all. They would be perfect in my non existent winter cabin. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/AZru57dcQu8/these-adorable-animal-wine-racks-will-make-getting-drunk-feel-so-cute

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3 hurt as Alabama fuel barges explode, catch fire

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) ? A large fire that began with explosions aboard two fuel barges in Mobile, Ala., was rocked by a seventh explosion early Thursday and fire officials said they planned to let the fire, which has injured three, burn overnight.

Firefighters from Mobile and U.S. Coast Guard officials responded after 8:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday to a pair of explosions involving the gas barges in an area of the Mobile River east of downtown, authorities said.

As they were responding, a third explosion occurred around 9:30 p.m., Mobile Fire and Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Additional explosions followed over the next few hours.

The Coast Guard said early Thursday that a one-nautical-mile safety zone had been established around one barge, which it said was "at the dock for cleaning."

Authorities said three people were transported to University of South Alabama Medical Center after suffering burn-related injuries. Huffman identified them as workers with Oil Recovery Co. The three were in critical condition early Thursday, according to hospital nursing administrator Danny Whatley.

Across the river, the Carnival Triumph, the cruise ship that became disabled in the Gulf of Mexico last February before it was towed to Mobile's port, was evacuated, said Alan Waugh, who lives at the Fort Conde Inn in downtown Mobile, across the river from the scene of the explosions. Waugh saw the blasts and said throngs of Carnival employees and others were clustered on streets leading toward the river as authorities evacuated the shipyard.

"It literally sounded like bombs going off around. The sky just lit up in orange and red," he said, "We could smell something in the air, we didn't know if it was gas or smoke." Waugh said he could feel the heat from the explosion and when he came back inside, his partner noticed he had what appeared to be black soot on his face.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Carlos Vega said the initial blast took place in a ship channel near the George C. Wallace Tunnel ? which carries traffic from Interstate 10 under the Mobile River. The river runs south past Mobile and into Mobile Bay, which in turn flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

Video from WALA-TV (http://bit.ly/15NEYJl) showed flames engulfing a large section of the barge, and a video that a bystander sent to AL.com (http://bit.ly/13vWz4G) showed the fiery explosions and billowing smoke over the river.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, Huffman and Vega said.

"Once (the fire) is out and safe, a full investigation will take place," Huffman wrote.

Mobile Fire Chief Steve Dean told AL.com he was confident the fire wouldn't spread to nearby industrial properties, including the shipyard where the Carnival cruise ship is docked.

Huffman said the ship is directly across the river from the incident ? about two football fields in length.

The barges are owned by Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine, company spokesman Greg Beuerman said. He said the barges were empty and being cleaned at the Oil Recovery Co. facility when the incident began. He said the barges had been carrying a liquid called natural gasoline ? which he said is neither liquefied natural gas or natural gas. He said the company has dispatched a team to work with investigators to determine what caused the fire.

The explosion comes two months after the 900-foot-long Carnival Triumph was towed to Mobile after becoming disabled on the Gulf during a cruise by an engine room fire, leaving thousands of passengers to endure cold food, unsanitary conditions and power outages for several days. The ship is still undergoing repairs there, with many workers living on board.

Carnival didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment late Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the cruise ship was dislodged from its mooring by a windstorm that also caused, in a separate incident, two shipyard workers to fall into Mobile Bay. While one worker was rescued, the other's body was pulled from the water more than a week later.

___

Associated Press writer Phillip Lucas in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fuel-barges-explode-causing-large-fire-ala-072757586.html

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Akamai: Average U.S. Internet Speed Up 28% YoY, Now At 7.4 Mbps, But South Korea, Japan And Hong Kong Still Far Ahead

Akamai published its quarterly “State of the Internet” report for the last quarter of 2012 today. The report, as usual, looks at global Internet speeds, as well as the state of Internet security, the number if IPv4 numbers in use and other similar metrics. Internet speeds, of course, are the most interesting numbers for users in this report. South Korea has long been in the lead in this category, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Interestingly, though, the average Internet speed in South Korea has slowed down a bit lately. At an average speed of 14 Mbps, South Korean Internet users now surf 4.8 percent slower than last quarter and 13 percent slower than a year ago. In the U.S., Akamai found, the average connection now clocks in at 7.4 Mbps. That’s up a respectable 28 percent year-over-year and 2.3?percent since last quarter and enough to rank the U.S. No. 8 on Akamai’s list. Currently, about 19?percent of U.S. Internet connections deliver speeds over 10 Mbps+ connections. It’s encouraging to see that this number increased 90?percent since last year, though growth in this metric seems to have stalled a bit, as the U.S. only registered a low 5.5?percent increase since last quarter. Overall, the 10 countries with the fastest connections saw relatively minor speed increases over the last quarter, ranging from just 0.1?percent in the Netherlands to 7.4?percent in Sweden. Globally, though, the average connection speed grew by 25?percent year-over-year. The only country to see a major dip in speeds since the last quarter was Guatemala (39?percent). As for mobile connectivity, Akamai reports that its partner Ericsson found that mobile data traffic around the world grew 28?percent in the last quarter alone and doubled year-over-year. Android and Apple’s Mobile Safari are almost even here when it comes to connections over cellular networks (35.3?percent vs. 32.6?percent), but taking all connections into account (that is, including Wi-Fi), Apple accounts for 58.7?percent of requests compared to 21.7?percent for Android Webkit. In this quarter’s report, Akamai is also taking a closer look at DDoS attacks. The company says its own customers reported 768 attacks in 2012, a 200?percent year-over-year increase. While this is not necessarily representative of the Internet as a whole, it’s yet another indication that the number of these attacks across the Interent continues to increase.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yJjdAQ7A8qw/

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S.C. governor takes out ad space in battle over trespassing

Mark Sanford ad (screenshot)

Mark Sanford apparently decided the best way to battle charges of trespassing on ex-wife Jenny Sanford's property was to purchase a full-page newspaper ad.

?It?s been a rough week," the former South Carolina governor writes in the ad in Charleston's Post & Courier, which aims to clear the air as he heads into a competitive May 7 House special election race.

Sanford, who famously disappeared in 2009 to "hike the Appalachian trail" when he was vacationing with his mistress, published the ad over the weekend to respond to Jenny Sanford's complaints that he trespassed on her property during the Super Bowl.

Reiterating statements he released last week, Sanford said he had been unable to reach his ex-wife, who was apparently out of town at the time, to ask permission to come into the house to watch the Super Bowl with their 14-year-old son.

He suggested that the release of the trespassing complaints, which were sealed in court documents, had been politically motivated, noting "the unusual timing of supposedly sealed documents coming to light two weeks before an election." Then he details his and his wife's desire to protect their family.

Sanford even gave out his cellphone number.

The ad follows a week filled with media coverage of the trespassing complaints and political back-and-forth over the accusations in South Carolina. In a telling decision, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced shortly after the charges came to light that it would no longer invest in his race against Democratic candidate Elizabeth Colbert Busch.

Sanford's campaign has struggled to stay afloat.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mark-sanford-takes-full-page-ad-offers-cell-205227328--election.html

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How CBS s The Big Bang Theory Humanizes Scientists

See Inside

The co?executive producer of CBS's hit comedy and author of the forthcoming book Does Santa Exist? A Cheerful Philosophical Investigation talks about how his show helps to humanize scientists

By Erik Vance

Image: COURTESY OF ERIC KAPLAN

PROFILE
Eric Kaplan

TITLE
Co?executive producer, The Big Bang Theory

LOCATION
Los Angeles

Is science education an important part of The Big Bang Theory, which revolves around two physicist roommates and their friends?

It bears a family resemblance to science education. What we try to do is to make people feel that scientists are real people and that science is something that real people, like themselves, could do.

How do you balance scientific discourse with character development?

We try not to make too strong a dualism between the two because our characters are people who care passionately about science. For example, we had a fight between Sheldon [a main character], who is a physicist, and his girlfriend, Amy, who is a neuroscientist. And the content of the fight got pretty philosophical because he said, ?My research is intrinsically more important than yours because reality is physical, and the physical will ultimately explain biology and therefore explain the human brain.? And she said, ?My research is more fundamental than yours because when you're doing physics, something is going on in your brain, which my biology will be able to understand.? And then they broke up. All you really need to know is that she was saying she's smarter than he is, and he was saying that he's smarter than she is?the emotional reality of what was going on.

For the most part, the show's writers don't have science backgrounds. What do you do to prepare?

We read science journalism, and we familiarize ourselves as much as we can with things that our characters would be concerned with. For example, I was listening to an NPR story about the neuroscience behind habit formation and habit extirpation. That would be an interesting thing to deal with. And we have a consultant who is an actual physics professor at U.C.L.A.?David Saltzberg?so we run stuff by him.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the animations of atoms that break up the scenes? I think I noticed lithium once.

I think I asked the same question when I showed up. I was like, ?Hey, is that lithium?? And the answer I was given was, ?Yes, it is lithium.? But it's not [there] because lithium is an antidepressant or anything like that.

This article was originally published with the title Exploiting Physics for Serious Laughs.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c76fef06f16d43bc7ab5143660274000

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Did a foreign hand guide Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev?

US investigators are interested in a trip that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother suspected in the Boston bombing, took to the North Caucasus region of Russia in 2012. They want to know whether he had contact with foreign extremist groups.

By Howard LaFranchi,?Staff writer / April 22, 2013

In this Feb. 17, 2010, photo, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with police on April 19, smiles after accepting the trophy for winning the 2010 New England Golden Gloves Championship in Lowell, Mass. Federal investigators want to know whether a 2012 trip to the North Caucasus region of Russia turned him to hatred of US policy and to terrorism.

Julia Malakie/The Lowell Sun/AP/File

Enlarge

As more information emerges on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of two Chechen immigrant brothers accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings, the clearer the picture becomes of a radicalized Muslim whose shallow-rooted ideology was fed by a deepening hatred of US counterterrorist policy in Muslim countries.

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Less clear is where that radicalization ? and the germination of the bombing plot ? occurred. Federal investigators want to know if Mr. Tsarnaev, killed early Friday in a shootout with police, was essentially a home-grown terrorist, or if the 26-year-old received any training and direction from foreign extremist groups ? in particular during a six-month trip to his native North Caucasus region of Russia last year.

Russia seems likely to cooperate with US authorities on the Tsarnaev investigation, some regional experts say, especially because the threat of Islamist extremism and terrorism is a concern the Russians have long emphasized in their dealings with the US and on a variety of issues ? from human rights abuses to the war in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent President Obama his condolences over the Boston bombings even before the Tsarnaev brothers emerged as suspects.

Still, some analysts wonder if a recent row between the two countries over human rights abuses and what Russia interpreted as US interference in Russia?s domestic affairs suggest that lingering suspicions could hamper cooperation on the bombing case.

The FBI declined to discuss any plans to investigate with Russian authorities Tamerlan?s 2012 trip to Russia or other places he visited. But one US official noted that the FBI has a legal attach? in Moscow and one in Kiev, Ukraine, and that one could ?safely assume? the investigation is already under way. ? ??

The younger Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar, was formally charged Monday with use of a "weapon of mass destruction," specifically an improvised explosive device, resulting in death.

As the 19-year-old recovers in a Boston hospital from throat and leg wounds he sustained in the same shootout, investigators are combing through seized computers, questioning contacts, and revisiting a closed file the FBI had opened on Tamerlan Tsarnaev after Russia asked the US in 2011 to investigate the ethnic Chechen as an adherent of radical Islam and for links to extremist groups.

The FBI closed the file after questioning Tamerlan and family members but finding no evidence of contacts with terrorist organizations.

But evidence is surfacing of a radicalization that began at least as early as 2009, when the cars-and-clothes-loving Tamerlan informed an uncle he was giving all that up ?to do God?s business.?

And what did the community-college dropout do in Chechnya and Dagestan ? the latter being the focal point of a jihadist anti-Russia insurgency ? when he visited the two North Caucasus regions for six months last year? One obvious question US investigators will ask their Russian counterparts is: Given that you were already worried about Tamerlan in 2011, did you keep tabs on him when he returned last year? If so, what did you learn?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/PWTBxiTdZN4/Did-a-foreign-hand-guide-Boston-bombing-suspect-Tamerlan-Tsarnaev

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Crests approaching in several towns in Midwest

CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) ? An all-too-familiar springtime ritual is playing out around the nation's heartland this weekend as volunteers, National Guardsmen and even prison inmates join together in an effort to ward off fast-rising floodwaters.

Dire flooding situations dotted at least six Midwestern states following torrential rains this past week that dumped up to 7 inches in some locations. Record flooding was possible in some places as dozens of rivers overflowed their banks.

The floods and flash floods have forced hundreds of evacuations, closed countless roads, swamped farmland, shut down barge traffic on much of the upper Mississippi River and closed two Mississippi River bridges.

Several Mississippi River towns north of St. Louis were expected to see crests on Sunday, including hard-hit Clarksville, Mo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/crests-approaching-several-towns-midwest-070600592.html

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Source: http://www.artipot.com/articles/1560560/painter-ferrari-shoes-and-boots-newest-types-available-today-on-the-net.htm

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Statistical Errors Keep 4700 K-3rd Students From NYC 'Gifted' Programs

FWIW, I was a "gifted" student in the 1950s (IQ 160). They brought me up to believe that I was part of an elite and everybody else was stupid. I now know that I was wrong. It's a fundamental mistake to write off the other 80% as being too stupid for a good education.

We read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and obviously we were the alphas. The other kids are betas and gammas who just aren't as smart as us and a good education would be wasted on them. (This was a mirror of the British class structure, of course.)

Yes, it's true that 80% of kids can't do well in the educational system, and yes, it's true that a problem is the parents. I draw 2 conclusions:

(1) If you have a bad family background, school gives you a second chance. Not a school dedicated to getting high scores on machine-graded multiple-choice questions, but a school in which teachers act like human beings with feelings, and can relate to kids and support them, the way surrogate parents do.

(2) Every study says that the main factor that correlates with school achievement is family income. Adequate housing, health care, and employment is necessary (if not sufficient) for raising kids. You can't read to your kids if you're working 2 low-paid jobs, morning to night. The U.S. has about the greatest inequality, and the most widespread poverty, of any developed country. We didn't use that science education to eliminate poverty, we used it to make millionaires into billionaires. The upper 1% owns 75% of the wealth. Let's distribute that wealth a little bit and eliminate the poverty.

If you take those 80% and give them the advantages I had (father with a secure, well-paying union job, mother who didn't have to work), I think most of them would learn a lot. I think it would turn out that the percent of kids who can't learn wasn't 80% but much lower -- maybe 40%. Maybe 20%. Maybe less.

We can look at countries like Finland, which has eliminated inequality and poverty as much as possible, to see what an egalitarian society is like. They seem to be doing pretty well.

How much money should we spend on education? Well, if our society invests $1 in tax money in a kid, and we get $2 back in social benefits, we should invest as much money as we can with those returns. Any business would. If we went back to the levels of investment in public education we had in the 1960s and 1970s, I think we'd have the same high rates of economic development we had in that time.

And you can get that return from kids in the top 20% and the bottom 80%.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/hlKx-r9vxwA/story01.htm

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Living with a Chronic Disease - Mental Health and Anxiety Blog ...

hank?s point? of view in this video is THE ?new normal?.

Thanks so much, I have a chronic disease that means I lose allot of my hair, and its been almost a year that? I have been dealing with it and im becoming more accustomed to my ?new normal?

Not being able to tie my hair up without the people around me seeing hideous bald patches, or walking or running on windy days when my hair flicks back..

To other people it seems like such a tiny thing, its ?just hair?, but especially as a girl? It can be really degrading

?That?s the thing about being a person.?

The older I get the more I realize that my? happiness is ultimately connected to my ability to adapt to my new normal.

i have a chronic disorder called Hypopituitarism. which is caused when pituitary? glands don?t produce the right amount of hormones. it makes it basically impossible to loose weight, and you gain weight almost insistently. i was diagnosed at 13. i am 15 now. up until my diagnoses i did everything in my power to loose weight. being the fat one in the family wasn?t fun. now i have a disorder that makes it impossible to stop being the fat one in the family. the most i can do is maintain my weight.

Thank you so much for this? video. My daughter has several incurable diseases and she was diagnosed at 15. She is so strong everyday. People who have not been touched by these life events can be so utterly clueless and frustrating. In the world of the new normal, just getting through an average day is often a heroic effort. It is inspiring to hear from someone who has achieved success while dealing with an incurable medical condition.

Hank blushing/getting emotional? when he talks about Katherine. Damn, I wish I had love like that.

I?m only fifteen and I?ve racked up some pretty severe scoliosis, a touch of pain amplification syndrome, and I?ve just recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. It sucks but thankfully some of the symptoms I have that are caused by fibromyalgia are eased with aqua therapy. If only they could invent? some drug that made my nervous system stop freaking out?

I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (like schizophrenia + bipolar disorder) about a year and a half ago. Helping my friends and family to understand what I am experiencing is also not easy. We have such a stigma about mental illnesses in our culture that I often feel very uncomfortable trying to explain my panic attacks, mood swings, and delusions to my close friends, even more? so to the students I tutor. I really appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue, Hank.

I loved this video. I?m sixteen years old and I got diagnosed with Crohn?s about 5 months ago. It? sucks and is scary, but hearing other peoples similar stories really helps.

I cannot thank you enough for this video! I myself have? Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue and Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which is EXACTLY as much fun as it sounds. I?m brewing up a video response but for now, just a very heartfelt thank you from someone (myself) dealing with chronic illness every day.

Thank you for this vlog Hank, it has inspired me to leave my very first coment.
As a birthday gift to me this year, I went to the Dr over a rash I have and to my suprise the Dr wasn?t the least concerned. She was concerned with an unrelated area. I have a treatable, but chronic type of skin cancer, the meds are kicking my? butt and I can?t get too far from the toilet ect?
Thanks for showing me a beter way of looking at it.
I survived having kids, this should be able to do this too.
Again thank

i can?t say i know what you?re going through in the least, but i do hope that you find happiness in whatever normal it is you? live in and that you keep it.

poorly worded youtube comments made purely? out of emotion! ASSEMBLE!

i have bad incontinence issues, and until this video i have never in my life (i have spina bifida, so? this has been lifelong) been able to come to terms with it. i?m starting to come to now because of this video, which i find to be VERY courageous, especially given how? well, NORMAL your other videos seem to be. normal in comparison to how having something like having IBD must make you feel all the time. now i know that i CAN be normal, and not be ashamed of it. thank you hank.

U have ibd, I have ibs, I have the same bathroom needs. I?ve had it forever, sadly have to tell my teachers every year that I have to use the bathroom when needed however many? times as needed, I also have five other disorders which makes it more difficult lol

Thank? you for opening my mind to sufferers of IBD Hank. It?s a wonderful thing when the population is educated therefore (hopefully) sympathetic to chronic diseases such as this. God bless you x

I?ve had CVID for the past 4 years and I?ve been trying to have a better outlook on life since then and I connected with you on a lot of what you said and I guess what I?m trying to say is thank you for making this because I would never have guessed that a person as awesome as you and someone I look up to so much has had problems that made him feel like he wasn?t normal and that?s my goal: To be someone no one would ever guess has a chronic disease and I hope I can pull it off as well as you? did

They almost thought I had Celiac Disease but the? tests came out negative. You have no idea how much I want to give you a hug right now.

Same here. Dermatillomania as? well. People have a hard time understanding that it?s a compulsive disorder, and not a ?bad habit.?

?in case I poop in my pants? PMSL! Hank. I love you. You? have such a refreshing outlook on life. You make me smile

Wow, Hank. Thank you. Really, thank you. I?ve never thought of my situation as normal. I?ve actually always thought myself as not normal, and? I?ve wished multiple times that I could become normal. A long time ago, some things happened, and long story short, I don?t have parents anymore. I?ve always looked at people who are with their parents and thought ?I wish I were normal like them.? But with this ?new normal? concept you talked about, I realized I am normal. It?s different, but it?s normal.

Thanks Hank. I had UC for the first 27 yrs of my life, then I saw a specialist that told me it was actually Crohn?s Disease (in both small and large intestine). Yep chronic disease is really a trip (to the bathroom, a lot) Those of you with symptoms as Hank described, should not put off seeking help and getting a diagnosis from the BEST Gastroenterologist you can. It DOES make a difference, it can make ALL the difference in your life. Been there, did that, am doing better 20? yrs on.

I have trichotillomania?..for those of you who don?t want to look it up, it?s an? impulse disorder that causes one to pull their hair out.

omg. you might have just? answered my ailments exactly?guess im off to the Dr?s

I have chronic back pain. I just say ?Well I have a hernia so excuse me,? and I lay on the floor.

Constant pain is awful. Thank you so much for sharing!! I watch this whenever I start to go crazy from? ouch-ness.

I have Celiac Disease.?

I have familial polyposis but? won?t show symptoms until my 30?s..my dad and aunt have it too. It sucks because people don?t, and can?t understand. Thank you for making this so the diagnosis doesn?t seem so bleak.

When you said ?if you have IBD you know what im talking about? i felt? so much less alone in this world that revolves around Ulcerative Colitis all the time. Thank you.

I have a chronic disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa which is causing the rods and cones on my retina to slowly die away. It? sucks. Because it?s a degenerative disease, it will slowly continue to get worse over the course of my life until I go completely blind sometime over the next 20 years. Chronic diseases are terrible.

Source: http://mental-health.fitnessthroughfasting.com/personality-disorder/living-with-a-chronic-disease.php

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Rock Hall of Fame fetes, inducts new members

Mario Anzuoni / REUTERS

Geddy Lee of Rush performing at the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

By Piya Sinha-Roy, Reuters

A star-studded crowd gathered to celebrate the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees on Thursday, as Oprah Winfrey and Usher gathered to pay homage to the likes of Donna Summer, Quincy Jones, Randy Newman and Rush.

Disco queen Summer, producer Jones and comedy-rock singer Newman were inducted along with Canadian progressive rock band Rush, blues guitarist Albert King, hip hop pioneers Public Enemy, rockers Heart and veteran producer Lou Adler.

Television personality and media mogul Winfrey, who said she was discovered by veteran R&B producer Jones when he cast her in "The Color Purple" in 1985, praised his decades-long career, during which he launched stars such as the late Michael Jackson.

"He defines the word legend, he is remarkable and everybody knows it," Winfrey said.

"I continue to be amazed at what goes on in his head ... he's of this time and so far ahead of this time," she added as she presented Jones, 80, with his induction trophy.

"Queen of Disco" Summer, who died last May aged 68, was inducted by singer Kelly Rowland, who praised Summer's career for paving the way for female artists

Mario Anzuoni / REUTERS

John Mayer helping induct blues guitarist Albert King into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Her words remind us of exactly who we are," she said.

Summer's husband and daughters were on hand to accept her trophy and singer Jennifer Hudson got the crowd on their feet singing Summer's hits "Bad Girls" and "Last Dance."

Newman, 69, kicked off the night with "I Love LA", joined on stage by musicians Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and John Fogerty and later performed his songs "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and "I'm Dead" with former Eagles member Don Henley.

Henley, who inducted Newman, criticized the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for its delay in including Newman, calling it "one of those inductions long overdue, in fact, shamefully overdue."

Newman was less critical, saying he was "glad" to be inducted while he was still alive.

"I always wanted to be respected by musicians ... it means a great deal to me that the people I respect are giving me respect," Newman said.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Mayer paid homage to late pioneering American blues guitarist Albert King, who died in 1992 aged 69.

"The blues is in every undercurrent of the music that I play ... Albert is forever embedded in that music," Mayer said.

Seattle rockers Heart, fronted by sister duo Nancy and Ann Wilson, were inducted by Chris Cornell and performed their hits "Barracuda" and "Butterfly."

"Equality is coming right along. For us, music is the real church, it's a life calling, it's bigger than men and women put together, music makes us all equal and human," Nancy said.

Canadian progressive rockers Rush had the largest number of fans in the Nokia theater, receiving rousing standing ovations as they were inducted by Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins.

The night's longest speech went to Public Enemy's eccentric rapper Flavor Flav, who giggled and rambled as he talked about the influence of his group's music.

Public Enemy -- comprising rappers Flavor Flav, Chuck D, Professor Griff and DJ Lord -- were influential in bringing a political and social conscience to hip hop in the 1980s.

"We all come from the d--- blues. Let's not get it twisted. We studied the forms of music in DJ culture ... we've always known and paid respect to where music comes from," Chuck D said.

Mario Anzuoni / REUTERS

Professor Griff. Flava Flav and Chuck D of Public Enemy perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The hip hop collective also sampled music from Summer, Jones and Rush as they performed their tracks "Bring The Noise", "911 is a Joke" and the seminal "Fight The Power."

To be eligible for induction in 2013, a candidate must have released their debut album or single at least 25 years earlier. The ceremony will be televised on HBO on May 18.

The eight inductees were chosen by some 500 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which includes past inductees and for the first time, allowed fans to vote.?

More in TODAY Entertainment

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/04/19/17823612-donna-summer-quincy-jones-rush-feted-inducted-into-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame?lite

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High-salt diet and ulcer bug combine to increase risk of cancer

Apr. 18, 2013 ? Numerous epidemiologic studies have shown that a diet high in salt is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. Now Timothy L. Cover and colleagues of Vanderbilt University show that high dietary salt combined with infection by the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori greatly increases the risk of cancer.

The study was published ahead of print in the journal Infection and Immunity.

In the study, the researchers infected Mongolian gerbils with H. pylori. One set of gerbils received a regular diet; the other, a high salt diet. At the end of the experiment the researchers analyzed the animals' stomach tissues. Every animal on the high salt diet developed cancer, compared with just 58 percent of those on the regular diet.

It appears development of gastric cancer required the presence of a particular bacterial oncoprotein, known as CagA, which is produced by H. pylori. Gastric cancer did not develop in animals on the high salt diet that were infected with a mutant H. pylori which did not produce CagA. In earlier studies, Cover and others had shown that culturing H. pylori in a high salt environment boosts production of CagA. "This was one of the driving forces that led us to undertake the current studies," says Cover.

The investigators note that while no studies, to their knowledge, have examined relationships among a high salt diet, and infection with H. pylori expressing cagA, "in several parts of the world that have high rates of gastric cancer, there is a high prevalence of cagA+ strains and a large proportion of the population consumes a high-salt diet."

The investigators also detected significantly higher levels of gastric inflammation in H. pylori-infected gerbils on a high salt diet than in those on a regular diet, a finding which Cover says is relevant to many types of cancer. They also showed that transcription of various inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin 1-beta, are elevated in the former as compared to the latter, suggesting that "these factors may contribute to the increased inflammation and increased gastric risk that accompany a high salt diet," says Cover.

At least 50 percent of humans are infected with H. pylori, at least 90 percent of them without symptoms.

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Story Source:

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

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

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Journal Reference:

1. J. A. Gaddy, J. N. Radin, J. T. Loh, F. Zhang, M. K. Washington, R. M. Peek, H. M. S. Algood, T. L. Cover. High dietary salt intake exacerbates Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinogenesis. Infection and Immunity, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/IAI.01271-12

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/_w01J71Ex6g/130418162314.htm

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The 2 brothers lived in U.S. for a decade

BOSTON (AP) ?

In May of 2011, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, then a senior at a prestigious high school, was awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the city of Cambridge, Mass., to pursue higher education. Now, Tsarnaev is on the run, described as "armed and dangerous" and suspected of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Two brothers, one now dead, one alive and at large. After hours of only grainy images of two men in baseball caps to go on, a portrait gradually started emerging Friday of the men suspected in the attack.

Tsarnaev, 19, and his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed during a violent night in Cambridge, had been living together on Norfolk Street in Cambridge. An uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., told The Associated Press that the men lived together near Boston and have been in the United States for about a decade. They came from the Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's page on the Russian social networking site Vkontakte says he attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, graduating in 2011, the year he won the scholarship, which was celebrated with a reception at City Hall, according to a news release issued at the time. Before moving to the United States, he attended School No. 1 in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus that has become an epicenter of the Islamic insurgency that spilled over from Chechnya. On the site, he describes himself as speaking Chechen as well as English and Russian. His world view is described as "Islam" and he says his personal goal is "career and money."

Tsarnaev appeared in the video released by authorities on Thursday, identified as Suspect Number 2, striding down a sidewalk, unnoticed by spectators who were absorbed in the race. He followed Tamerlan by about 10 feet. He wore what appeared to be a gray hoodie under a dark jacket and pants, and a white baseball cap facing backward and pulled down haphazardly.

Tamerlan was stockier, in khaki pants, a light T-shirt, and a dark jacket. The brim of his baseball cap faced forward, and he may have been wearing sunglasses.

According to the website spotcrime.com, Tamerlan was arrested for domestic violence in July 2009, after assaulting his girlfriend.

He was an amateur boxer, listed as a competitor in a National Golden Gloves competition in 2009.

___

Noveck reported from New York.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stories-2-brothers-suspected-bombing-124623274.html

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Digital Public Library of America's online doors open for business ...

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Launches Today

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) launched a beta of its discovery portal and open platform today. The portal delivers millions of materials found in American archives, libraries, museums, and cultural heritage institutions to students, teachers, scholars, and the public. Far more than a search engine, the portal provides innovative ways to search and scan through its united collection of distributed resources. Special features include a dynamic map, a timeline that allow users to visually browse by year or decade, and an app library that provides access to applications and tools created by external developers using DPLA's open data.

"The wonder and joy of entering an expansive library for the first time is truly a special feeling. We are delighted to be able to share this unified, open collection with Americans and the world, and can't wait to see what people discover, and what new applications and knowledge will be created," said Dan Cohen, Executive Director of the DPLA.

"Many decades in the visioning, two and a half years in the planning, with a small steering committee and an incubation hub at the helm, and featuring dozens of great libraries, universities and archives involved in hundreds of meetings, workshops, plenary meetings, and hackathons, attracting thousands of volunteers backed by millions of foundation and government dollars, today the Digital Public Library of America goes live! It's a great day for education and progress, as if the Ancient Library of Alexandria had met the Modern World Wide Web and digitized America for the benefit of all," said Doron Weber, Vice Chair of the DPLA Steering Committee and Vice President, Programs at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a major, active funder of the project.

The DPLA portal is powered by a rich repository of information, known as the DPLA platform, which enables new and transformative uses of America's digitized cultural heritage. With an application programming interface (API) and maximally open data, the DPLA can be used by software developers, researchers, and others to create novel environments for learning, tools for discovery, and engaging apps. The DPLA App Library features an initial slate of applications built on top of the platform; developers and hobbyists of all skill levels are freely able to make use of the data provided via the platform.

"The DPLA launches virtually today, a symbol of what people can accomplish through collaboration in a networked era," said John Palfrey, president of the Board of Directors of the DPLA. "The most exciting idea is that we cannot begin to imagine the extraordinary things that librarians and their many partners can accomplish with this open platform and such extraordinarily rich materials, from so many institutions large and small, together and at the ready. We will create new knowledge together and make accessible, free to all, information that people need in order to thrive in a democracy."

"The DPLA's goal is to bring the entire nation's rich cultural collections off the shelves and into the innovative environment of the Internet for people to discover, download, remix, reuse and build on in ways we haven't yet begun to imagine," said Maura Marx, Director of the DPLA Secretariat. "Regular users can search in the traditional way using the portal, and developers and innovators can build on big chunks of code and content using the platform-we're creating access, not controlling it."

Led by Cohen, the DPLA aims to expand the realm of openly available materials, and make those riches more easily discovered and more widely usable and used. To date, the DPLA has partnered with six state and regional digital libraries and an equal number of large cultural heritage institutions- including the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian Institution, the New York Public Library, and Harvard University-to provide access to millions of unique digital objects.

"Among the 2.4 million records available at launch, you will find gems that include daguerreotypes of former Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, images of women marching for the vote in Kentucky, news film clips of the Freedom Riders during the Civil Rights movement, The Book of Hours, an illuminated manuscript from 1514, Notes on the State of Virginia, written by Thomas Jefferson, and paintings by Winslow Homer," said Emily Gore, DPLA Director for Content.

Dakota quillwork leather vest [1890-1899], Minnesota Historical Society

Dakota quillwork leather vest [1890-1899], Minnesota Historical Society
With its content partners, the DPLA has developed a number of diverse virtual exhibitions that tell the stories of people, places, and historical events both here in the US and abroad; all are available freely via the portal. A History of Survivance: 19th c. Upper Midwest Native American Resources in the DPLA, developed by the Minnesota Digital Library, tells the story of extraordinary cultural disruption, change and continuity in Minnesota and the surrounding areas during the 19th century through objects of both Native and non-Native origin. Other exhibitions include Boston Sports Temples, developed by Digital Commonwealth (Massachusetts), which celebrates the rich histories of Boston's professional stadiums and arenas; and This Land Is Your Land: Parks and Public Spaces, an exploration of the history, impact, and significance of our national parks and protected areas curated by the South Carolina Digital Library.

"The project unleashes access to a volume and variety of historical and cultural assets through a dynamic, digitized information platform," said Jorge Martinez, vice president and chief technology officer at Knight Foundation. "It offers an invaluable opportunity to reanimate this information and further strengthen the roles of libraries as centers for engagement-bringing communities together, fostering deeper understanding and connecting people with traditional culture ? by leveraging the power of new technology."

The DPLA began in October 2010 with a small meeting of representatives from foundations, research institutions, cultural organizations, government, and libraries who came together to discuss best approaches to building a national digital library. In 2011, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University established, with the support of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a two-year planning initiative to guide the conceptualization, planning, and development of the DPLA.

Today's launch is, in large part, the culmination of that effort, marking the transition from a two-year planning initiative towards a fully realized, standalone 501(c)3 non-profit organization that will continue to make the riches of America's libraries, archives, and museums freely available to the world.
A series of festivities to celebrate the launch, scheduled to occur at the Boston Public Library today and tomorrow, were postponed until the fall in the wake of the April 15 Boston Marathon tragedy, which occurred near the storied public library.

"I see the building of a new library as one of the greatest examples of what humans can do together to extend the light against the darkness," said Dan Cohen, reflecting on the recent events in a letter to the DPLA community. "In due time, we will let that light shine through."

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/18/digital-public-library-of-america-launches-in-beta/

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Quick-Thinking Netizen Builds Simple Site To Stop A Boston Marathon ?Conspiracy Theory Kook?

Conspiracy theorists have a habit of revealing the darkest side of the Internet when they snatch up important website names after national tragedies. Slate‘s Dave Weigel highlights one quick-thinking Californian who wasn’t about to see conspiracy ‘kooks’ desicrate the memories of those killed in the recent Boston Marathon bombing. Jaimie Muehlhausen?bought BostonMarathonConspiracy.com before anyone could use it as a search-engine optimized sounding board for their crazy views. The website now just has a simple message: I BOUGHT THIS DOMAIN TO KEEP SOME CONSPIRACY THEORY KOOK FROM OWNING IT. PLEASE KEEP THE VICTIMS OF THIS EVENT AND THEIR FAMILIES IN YOUR THOUGHTS. THANK YOU. “Sadly, one of my first thoughts was that it would only be a matter of hours before a certain group of people would begin to say it was a government conspiracy; an act of terror on our own people for political gain,”?Muehlhausen explained in an email to friends. Her insticts appeared to be confirmed when he began seeing conspiracy theories about the Boston bombing creep into the public sphere. “So, I went back to my desk and quickly bought the domain for BostonMarathonConspiracy dot com and and posted a simple message saying that I purchased it only to make sure the kooks don’t get it.” Indeed, TechCrunch was alerted to so-called “cyber-squatters”?who were purchasing high-value URLs, such as bostonbombing.net, immediately after the incident. This isn’t the first time cybersquatters have attempt to profit from a crisis. After the Sandy Hook massacre, one man began selling SandyHookMovie.com for $200, in a depraved attempt to make a profit off of those who might think about making a movie honoring the victims. Thankfully, sometimes good people are also clever. Muehlhausen concludes his letter, “Since I woke up this morning, I have received another large number of emails, some from reporters, but most from people with a quick, simple message of thanks. I didn?t do it to be thanked. I just did it because it seemed like the right thing to do.”

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zTOEZ2b8exE/

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