Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314978459?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday 25 June 2013
Monday 24 June 2013
Correction: Libya story
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) ? In a June 20 story about Libya, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Human Rights Watch said international law requires countries to only apply the death penalty to severe cases. The group opposes capital punishment in all countries and in all circumstances as a matter of principle. Its statement noted that international law requires countries that retain the death penalty to apply it only for the most serious crimes.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Libyan PM asks displaced residents to delay return
Libyan prime minister calls for displaced residents of western town to delay return
Libya's prime minister on Thursday told ethnic Africans forced to flee their homes during the country's 2011 civil war to delay their planned return.
The western town of Tawergha was used as a staging ground by forces loyal to ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi to attack the nearby city of Misrata. Anti-regime rebels later overran Tawergha and the town's 40,000 residents fled or were driven out by vengeful rebels.
Scores were thrown into jails, where human rights groups recorded cases of torture. Now the displaced residents live in harsh conditions in refugee camps in Tripoli and Benghazi.
They had declared their intention to return on June 26, but Prime Minister Ali Zidan told a news conference that the time is not right yet. Many ex-rebels in Misrata continue to express anger against anyone from Tawergha.
Zidan promised his government would do more to resolve the Tawergha residents' problem.
Also Thursday, Human Rights Watch urged judicial authorities in Libya to drop criminal charges against two politicians facing the death penalty for using election posters deemed offensive to Islam.
Ali Tekbali and Fathi Sager from the National Libyan Party are charged with insulting religion, instigating sedition and harming national security. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.
HRW says the charges stem from posters used in elections last year showing men discussing the role of women in Libyan society. One allegedly resembles the Prophet Muhammad as depicted in a cartoon published last year by a French magazine that offended Muslims.
The New York-based said in the statement that it "opposes capital punishment in all countries and in all circumstances as a matter of principle, because the inherent dignity of the person is inconsistent with the death penalty. This form of punishment is unique in its cruelty and finality, and it is inevitably and universally plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error. International law requires countries that retain the death penalty to apply it only for the most serious crimes."
Hearings in the case resume Oct. 13.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/correction-libya-story-201446415.html
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A Weather App That Suggests The Best Times To Do Things
If there are weather apps, calendar apps and to do list apps, there should be an app that spits out an optimal schedule for you to follow. What's the point of jogging in the rain and then doing laundry when the sun comes out? Or maybe you like to run in the rain because it cools you off. Or you're really pale and trying to avoid direct sun. Whatever. It's between you and Foresee now.
Basically Foresee has you input the activities you like/want to do and then asks you to give specific weather parameters for each, from temperature to precipitation and even cloud cover. Foresee compiles data from WeatherUnderground and then recommends activities for your day (no notifications yet, but apparently they're on their way). When you figure out your plan you can share it to Facebook or Twitter. The app design is appealing, but it still seems kind of time consuming to add the fine details of each activity. On the other hand, if there's something you do once in a while under certain conditions, like clean your gutters, it could be a worthwhile thing to check. Anything that minimizes planning so you can actually do stuff is a net gain. Foresee is $1 for iOS only. [AppAdvice]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-weather-app-that-suggests-the-best-times-to-do-things-548511936
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NBC's Gregory: Why shouldn't Greenwald be charged?
WASHINGTON (AP) ? NBC "Meet the Press" host David Gregory got a rise out of Glenn Greenwald on Sunday by asking the Guardian reporter why he shouldn't be charged with a crime for having "aided and abetted" former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden.
Greenwald replied on the show Sunday that it was "pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists should be charged with felonies."
Greenwald first reported Snowden's disclosure of U.S. government surveillance programs. On Sunday, Ecuador's foreign minister and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said that Snowden was headed to Ecuador to seek asylum.
During his interview with NBC's Gregory, Greenwald declined to discuss where Snowden was headed. That refusal seemed to prompt Gregory to ask: "To the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden, even in his current movements, why shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?"
Greenwald said Gregory was embracing the Obama administration's attempt to "criminalize investigative journalism," citing an FBI agent's characterization of Fox News journalist James Rosen as a probable co-conspirator of a State Department contractor who was suspected of leaking classified information to Rosen. Rosen was not charged.
"If you want to embrace that theory, it means that every investigative journalist in the United States who works with their sources, who receives classified information is a criminal, and it's precisely those theories and precisely that climate that has become so menacing in the United States," said Greenwald, a former constitutional and civil rights lawyer who has written three books contending that the government has violated personal rights in the name of protecting national security.
Gregory responded that "the question of who is a journalist may be up to a debate with regard to what you are doing." Gregory also said he was merely asking a question.
"That question has been raised by lawmakers as well," Gregory said. "I'm not embracing anything, but, obviously, I take your point."
Later, Greenwald tweeted, "Who needs the government to try to criminalize journalism when you have David Gregory to do it?" and, "Has David Gregory ever publicly wondered if powerful DC officials should be prosecuted for things like illegal spying & lying to Congress?"
____
Follow Fred Frommer on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ffrommer
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nbcs-gregory-why-shouldnt-greenwald-charged-170757003.html
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Sunday 23 June 2013
Obama: Time for excuses on immigration is over
In this June 13, 2013 picture, Daniel Zambrano, of Tijuana, Mexico, holds one of the bars that make up the border wall separating the U.S. and Mexico where the border meets the Pacific Ocean, in San Diego. Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this June 13, 2013 picture, Daniel Zambrano, of Tijuana, Mexico, holds one of the bars that make up the border wall separating the U.S. and Mexico where the border meets the Pacific Ocean, in San Diego. Illegal immigration into the United States would decrease by only 25 percent under a far-reaching Senate immigration bill, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that also finds the measure reduces federal deficits by billions. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Declaring "the time for excuses is over," President Barack Obama is trumpeting the economic benefits of an immigration overhaul, arguing that a bipartisan bill picking up steam in the Senate would put the nation's loathed deficits and fragile entitlements on better footing.
A recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers' nonpartisan scorekeeper, was Exhibit A in Obama's weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. The report shows deficits would fall nearly $1 trillion over two decades after the bill becomes law.
What's more, Obama said, the influx of immigrant-driven investment, technology and businesses would give the economy a 5 percent shot in the arm.
"This bipartisan, common-sense bill will help the middle class grow our economy and shrink our deficits, by making sure that every worker in America plays by the same set of rules and pays taxes like everyone else," he said.
Confidence that the overhaul could pass the Senate by impressive margins is growing, and leaders scheduled a test vote on the bill for Monday, with a final vote expected by the end of next week. Although the heart of the bill is a 13-year pathway to citizenship for millions living in the United States illegally, it was a military-style surge to U.S.-Mexican border security, added this week to placate wary Republicans, that was credited for giving the bill a much-needed boost.
Obama didn't specifically address the border amendment Saturday, but he did note that the bill "would continue to strengthen security at our borders." Despite concerns from some Democrats that the security provisions ? 20,000 new agents, 350 miles of new fencing, 18 new unmanned drones ? are overkill, Obama spokesman Jay Carney said Friday it would constitute a "breakthrough" that the White House applauded.
"The bill isn't perfect. It's a compromise," Obama said, reprising a line he's used throughout the process when Democrats have complained the bill has become too conservative. "But it's consistent with the principles that I and others have laid out."
In the Republican address, Rep. John Kline of Minnesota says Obama must show leadership to avoid an impending hike on student loan interest rates. He said it's fortunate that Obama and House Republicans agree on the issue and have both proposed plans that would tie interest rates to the market. He accused Senate Democrats of blocking each plan.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say they are content to let rates double," Kline said. "This eleventh-hour scrambling is a perfect demonstration of why we need to take the politics out of student loans once and for all."
___
Online:
Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov
GOP address: www.youtube.com/HouseConference
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The Daily Roundup for 06.21.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/GURkaV7oi04/
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Saturday 22 June 2013
Russia raises questions on non-nuclear US weapons
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) ? Russia's foreign minister said Friday that conventional weapons must be taken into account when Washington and Moscow meet to discuss President Barack Obama's proposal to make radical reductions in their nuclear arsenals.
Obama said Wednesday in a speech in Berlin that he wants U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles reduced by one-third, more than required by a treaty that took effect two years ago.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told The Associated Press and Bloomberg news agencies Friday that talks on further nuclear reductions should also factor in new types of American weapons, such as so-called "prompt global strike" weapons that would let the U.S. strike targets anywhere in the world in as little as an hour.
Lavrov didn't specify how Russia wants to limit such weapons, but noted that they have a capability comparable to nuclear weapons.
"Imagine a weapon which is delivered to any part of the Earth in one hour, that's the goal," he said. "It doesn't have an inhumane effect of a nuclear weapon, but militarily it's much more efficient. We have to take this into account before we decide on any further reductions."
Lavrov's comments reflected Moscow's reluctance to conduct further nuclear arms cuts at a time when it is lagging far behind the United States in designing new weapons, and its conventional forces are a shadow of the Red Army's former might. All that has prompted Moscow to rely increasingly on its nuclear deterrent, and it has invested a large share of its petrodollars into modernizing its nuclear missiles and atomic submarines.
The minister said U.S. missile defense plans have remained a top concern for Moscow, and the U.S. refusal to conclude a treaty that would bar space-based weapons has worried Moscow. He added that NATO's edge in conventional forces also should be taken into account.
"And besides, if we speak about further reductions, provided we agree on all these things comprehensively, then the reductions would already be meant at a level which would be very commensurate with the level of the nuclear weapons of other states, not just the Russian Federation and the United States," he added. "It has all to be taken into account."
He said that U.S. and Russian experts will meet to discuss those issues in detail.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-raises-questions-non-nuclear-us-weapons-171800622.html
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High-scoring Game 4 flips script on Stanley Cup
The Chicago Blackhawks mob Brent Seabrook, after his game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the first overtime period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Boston. Chicago won 6-5. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Chicago Blackhawks mob Brent Seabrook, after his game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the first overtime period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Boston. Chicago won 6-5. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook (7) celebrates his game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins with Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) during the first overtime period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Boston. Chicago won 6-5. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane, left, shoots as Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40), of Finland, leaps in vain as Kane's shot scored during the second period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Boston. Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19), and Bruins defensemen Andrew Ference (21) watch. Chicago won 6-5 to even the series 2-2. (AP Photo/Harry How, Pool)
Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, left, of Finland, watches the puck caroms from the net on a shot by Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane, not shown during the second period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Boston. Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrates as Bruins defensemen Andrew Ference (21) and Dennis Seidenberg (44), of Germany, watch. Chicago won 6-5 to even the series 2-2. (AP Photo/Harry How, Pool)
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook (7) celebrates his game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the first overtime period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Wednesday, June 19, 2013, in Boston. Chicago won 6-5. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Finding room to roam in the first three games of the Stanley Cup finals was next to impossible, and scoring goals was even more difficult.
Not so much in Game 4, raising all sorts of questions about the rest of the deadlocked series.
Chicago's 6-5 overtime victory at Boston on Wednesday night was the highest-scoring game in this year's NHL playoffs. There were breakaways, rebounds, long slap shots and tips. Eleven goals in all, coming from all over the ice.
When it was over, the Blackhawks and Bruins were tied at two games apiece heading into Game 5 on Saturday night.
"I guess a series like this can take some unexpected turns sometimes, and you saw that last night," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said Thursday. "I'm not going to make any predictions for what happens in the next game, but obviously there's a lot of things we want to carry into this game, Game 5, here."
The biggest variable could be the recovery of goalies Tuukka Rask of the Bruins and Corey Crawford of the Blackhawks, who have a couple days to find their game again before the series resumes in Chicago.
Rask and Crawford had been the best two goalies in the playoffs before each of them stumbled under heavy pressure in Game 4. Rask gave up too many prime rebound opportunities, and Crawford was beaten repeatedly on his glove side.
"Every goal is stoppable, but I don't think there was any weak one, so to speak," said Rask, who was coming off a 2-0 shutout and had allowed just eight goals in the previous eight playoff games. "Mistakes piled up and I wasn't able to bail our guys out. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't."
Crawford was great in each of the first two finals games in Chicago. He had 51 saves in the three-overtime series opener, keeping the Blackhawks in the game long enough for Andrew Shaw to score the winning goal in a 4-3 victory.
Crawford had 33 stops when the series shifted to Boston for Game 3, but Chicago was unable to get anything going against Rask. And then came more of the glove-side problems on Wednesday night that the Bruins have exploited all series long.
"A couple tough breaks last night, especially when we had the lead at 3-1 or 4-2, Boston is going to open up a little bit," Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said Thursday. "I think for us that we can play better defensively, maybe get in some shooting lanes and block some of those shots."
Chicago held leads of 1-0, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4, but Boston rallied each time. The glove-side issue is a tricky little one for coach Joel Quenneville and the Blackhawks, who know that's where the Bruins are trying to go, but don't want Crawford to focus so much on that area that it gets into his head.
"We're very comfortable with Corey," Quenneville said, dismissing the idea of inserting backup Ray Emery. "Corey has been rock solid all year for us, and when he's got the ball, he's been outstanding, and he's the biggest reason why we're here today."
Rask was working on a shutout streak of 129 minutes, 14 seconds when Michal Handzus had a beautiful sliding score in the first period Wednesday night off a nice pass from Brandon Saad on a fast break.
It was a sign of things to come for the Bruins, who had sustained trouble with the Blackhawks' speed for the first time in the series.
Marcus Kruger completed a 2-on-1 break in the second period with his third goal of the playoffs. Kruger and Michael Frolik got down the ice so quickly that there was time for Kruger to poke home his own rebound after Rask stopped his first attempt.
"I thought we gave them a lot of space," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "It doesn't mean they don't have a pace to their game, but it means we gave them too many options. And the neutral zone for me, not just on the forecheck but even our neutral zone on the counter, wasn't very good."
Zdeno Chara, Boston's 6-foot-9 defenseman, was back during the rush by Kruger and Frolik but was unable to break it up. The 2009 Norris Trophy winner was on the ice for five of Chicago's six goals, with the Blackhawks using their speed to make life difficult on the captain of the Bruins.
"I think he was OK," Julien said. "There's no doubt they went after him and he was OK, because our whole team was OK. I don't think anybody on our team can stand up today and say I thought I had a great game, and that's why we're sitting here today tied 2-all."
The move by Quenneville to put Toews and Kane back together on a line with Bryan Bickell also played a role in the rough night for Chara and Rask. Toews had a tip-in for his first goal since May 25 against Detroit, snapping a 10-game drought. Kane had a nifty rebound score for his first goal of the series.
The productive night for that line ? Bickell had two assists and was credited with six hits ? could lead to some adjustments for Boston in the pivotal Game 5.
"I think you want to learn from every game, regardless of if you win or lose," said Bruins center Chris Kelly, who failed to convert a prime scoring opportunity on Wednesday night. "Like winning, you want to put the game behind you. It's in the past, there's nothing you can do about it. Look to the next one."
___
Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
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Sarah Gadon Joins Amazing Spider-Man 2
Yesterday, we reported that Shailene Woodley (The Descendants), who was set to play Mary Jane in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, had been cut from the picture because director Marc Webb wanted to ?streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship.?? The character would appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 3, but would likely be recast.? However, a new wrinkle has emerged as the production has possibly cast their new MJ already by hiring Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis).
Hit the jump for more.? The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens in 3D on May 2, 2014. [Update: The actress has taken to Twitter to clear things up: "To all those a twitter, I will not be playing MJ in Spider-Man. I have a role in the film, but it is not that one 
."]
Last night, ET Canada [via JoBlo] tweeted the following:
?
That?s pretty vague, but it?s possible that the studio wants to lock down an actress to play Mary Jane so the production can hit the ground running on The Amazing Spider-Man 3.? There?s also the disappointing possibility that Webb?s statement was false, and they felt Woodley?s performance wasn?t in line with their vision for the character, so they hired Gadon to play the role.? I personally have no problem with Gadon since I?ve only seen her in Cosmopolis and Antiviral, and she was fine in both if not particularly memorable due to being overshadowed by incredibly unhinged lead characters. Of course, it?s also possible that Gadon isn?t playing Mary Jane at all.
I?m sure this will all be sorted out soon, but it does raise the question of how vital the Mary Jane role is to The Amazing Spider-Man 2.? Is it something that can be excised completely with no harm to the story?? Because when they tried to cut most of the Rajit Ratha (Irrfan Khan) role from The Amazing Spider-Man, it only led to confusion.
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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927718/news/1927718/
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Friday 21 June 2013
Man sentenced for hacking university computer
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Source: www.connectmidmissouri.com --- Thursday, June 20, 2013
Camp pleaded guilty in April to scheming with another student to hack the computer system at the Warrensburg school from March 2009 to March 2010. ...
Source: http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=911912
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown now available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad
We'd heard about the impending release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown earlier in the week, and true to their word 2K Games has launched the title today for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. XCOM is as close to a direct port of the console and PC/Mac game as possible on an iOS device, and as such weighs in at a whopping 1.86GB. So grab a coffee while it's downloading. About the game:
Threatened by an unknown enemy, Earth?s governments unite to form an elite paramilitary organization, known as XCOM. As the commander of XCOM, you must create a fully operational base, research alien technologies, plan combat missions, and lead your soldiers in fierce battles against a terrifying alien invasion. The decisions you make will affect the fate of humanity. You are our last hope.
You'll need an iPad 2 and up, iPad mini, iPod touch 5th gen or iPhone 4S or 5 to play XCOM, and you'll need to drop $19.99/?13.99 to get your hands on it. We've not had a lot of time to check it out yet, but it looks incredible. Grab it now from the App Store and drop into the comments once you've played and let us know what you think!
- $19.99 - Download Now
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/9PiEWiB42Bg/story01.htm
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Particle accelerator that can fit on a tabletop opens new chapter for science research
June 20, 2013 ? Physicists at The University of Texas at Austin have built a tabletop particle accelerator that can generate energies and speeds previously reached only by major facilities that are hundreds of meters long and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build.
"We have accelerated about half a billion electrons to 2 gigaelectronvolts over a distance of about 1 inch," said Mike Downer, professor of physics in the College of Natural Sciences. "Until now that degree of energy and focus has required a conventional accelerator that stretches more than the length of two football fields. It's a downsizing of a factor of approximately 10,000."
The results, which were published this week in Nature Communications, mark a major milestone in the advance toward the day when multi-gigaelectronvolt (GeV) laser plasma accelerators are standard equipment in research laboratories around the world.
Downer said he expects 10 GeV accelerators of a few inches in length to be developed within the next few years, and he believes 20 GeV accelerators of similar size could be developed within a decade.
Downer said that the electrons from the current 2 GeV accelerator can be converted into "hard" X-rays as bright as those from large-scale facilities. He believes that with further refinement they could even drive an X-ray free electron laser, the brightest X-ray source currently available to science.
A tabletop X-ray laser would be transformative for chemists and biologists, who could use the bright X-rays to study the molecular basis of matter and life with atomic precision, and femtosecond time resolution, without traveling to a large national facility.
"The X-rays we'll be able to produce are of femtosecond duration, which is the time scale on which molecules vibrate and the fastest chemical reactions take place," said Downer. "They will have the energy and brightness to enable us to see, for example, the atomic structure of single protein molecules in a living sample."
To generate the energetic electrons capable of producing these X-rays, Downer and his colleagues employed an acceleration method known as laser-plasma acceleration. It involves firing a brief but intensely powerful laser pulse into a puff of gas.
"To a layman it looks like low technology," said Downer. "All you do is make a little puff of gas with the right density and profile. The laser pulse comes in. It ionizes that gas and makes the plasma, but it also imprints structure in it. It separates electrons from the ion background and creates these enormous internal space-charge fields. Then the charged particles emerge right out of the plasma, get trapped in those fields, which are racing along at nearly the speed of light with that laser pulse, and accelerate in them."
Downer compared it to what would happen if you threw a motorboat into a lake with its engines churning. The boat (the laser) makes a splash, then creates a wave as it moves through the lake at high speed. During that initial splash some droplets (charged particles) break off, get caught up in the wave and accelerate by surfing on it.
"At the other end of the lake they get thrown off into the environment at incredibly high speeds," said Downer. "That's our 2 GeV electron beam."
Former UT Austin physicist Toshiki Tajima and the late UCLA physicist John Dawson conceived the idea of laser-plasma acceleration in the late 1970s. Scientists have been experimenting with this concept since the early 1990s, but they've been limited by the power of their lasers. As a result the field had been stuck at a maximum energy of about 1 GeV for years.
Downer and his colleagues were able to use the Texas Petawatt Laser, one of the most powerful lasers in the world, to push past this barrier. In particular the petawatt laser enabled them to use gases that are much less dense than those used in previous experiments.
"At a lower density, that laser pulse can travel faster through the gas," said Downer. "But with the earlier generations of lasers, when the density got too low, there wasn't enough of a splash to inject electrons into the accelerator, so you got nothing out. This is where the petawatt laser comes in. When it enters low density plasma, it can make a bigger splash."
Downer said that now that he and his team have demonstrated the workability of the 2 GeV accelerator, it should be only a matter of time until 10 GeV accelerators are built. That threshold is significant because 10 GeV devices would be able to do the X-ray analyses that biologists and chemists want.
"I don't think a major breakthrough is required to get there," he said. "If we can just keep the funding in place for the next few years, all of this is going to happen. Companies are now selling petawatt lasers commercially, and as we get better at doing this, companies will come into being to make 10 GeV accelerator modules. Then the end users, the chemists and biologists, will come in, and that will lead to more innovations and discoveries."
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Saturday 15 June 2013
Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?
Army Maj. Nidal Hasan cannot use the defense that he acted to protect Taliban leaders from US soldiers deploying to Afghanistan, a military judge ruled Friday. His challenge now is to come up with another explanation to argue at his court-martial.
A military judge said Friday that she would not allow Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage that left 13 dead, to tell jurors that he did so to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.
Bell County Sheriff's Department/AP/File
EnlargeA military judge overseeing the court-martial of Maj. Nidal Hasan ruled Friday that the Army psychiatrist cannot argue in court that he killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in defense of Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, including leader Mullah Omar.
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Hasan?s decision to forego his court-appointed Army lawyers and forge his own defense has slowed the proceedings, more than they already had been. Questions that have previously arisen include whether the American-born Muslim can wear a beard at trial, and whether his claim that he acted on behalf of the Taliban proved that the shootings were an act of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism rather than of ?workplace violence,? as the Pentagon characterizes it.?
The legal gyrations speak to two key issues, military law experts say. For one, the Hasan case indicates that the inability of defendants in capital murder cases to simply plead guilty is a flaw in the military justice system. Given the judge's decision Friday, Hasan is left with no real defense, beyond insanity, to try to explain his attack on the Fort Hood soldier readiness center on Nov. 5, 2009, they note.
For another, the stakes are high for a military justice system that has seen every death-penalty sentence since 1962 overturned, says David Frakt, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has worked as defense counsel at the US terrorist detention camp at Guant?namo Bay, Cuba.
?He has to put on a defense, and now when this particular defense has been rejected he still has to come up with some other totally fictitious defense,? says Mr. Frakt. Moreover, Army justice officials "are really trying to be extroardinarily careful with this case not to blow it, so that if they do get a death verdict they want it to stick. The easiest way to do that is to bend over backwards, to be accomodating to the defense, to remove potential appelate issues.?
The court has already had plenty of opportunities for potential missteps.?Hasan?s trial began May 29, whereupon Hasan promptly fired his appointed Army attorneys and asked to defend himself. After finding Hasan mentally and physically competent to act as his own attorney, the judge had little option but to allow the tactic.
This week, the attorneys, who must remain on standby for any legal questions, had argued to the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, that it would be unethical for them to help Hasan present the so-called ?defense of others? defense.
In her ruling Friday, Osborn said that no soldiers at the Texas Army post posed an immediate threat to anyone in Afghanistan, and that the legitimacy of the Afghanistan war is a nonissue in the trial, according to the Associated Press.
For many Americans, Hasan?s maneuverings are cause for frustration and anger. Delays and Hasan acting as his own attorney have inflicted additional anguish on survivors and victims? families, some say.
?This is the worst kind of mockery of American military justice,? Dallas Morning News columnist Tod Robberson wrote earlier this month. ?I can understand the judge?s decision to err on the side of caution and grant Hasan significant leeway, since every aspect of this case is likely to be reviewed on appeal. But sometimes, a judge has to exercise authority as the manager of the court and declare firmly: Enough is enough.?
The trial has become a showcase, Frakt says, of flaws in America's military justice system. Even the military commission designed to deal with terrorism suspects now allows those charged with terrorism to plead guilty when execution is a possibility.
Meanwhile, Judge Osborn?s troubles are far from over, as she will seek to keep appellate issues to a minimum while dealing with a defendant who many believe will try to use the court as a soapbox for jihad.
The judge ?has got to figure out where to draw the line here, where to balance these issues,? says Aitan Goelman, a former Department of Justice terrorism prosecutor. ?She wants to prevent this from turning into a complete circus without depriving a defendant who is accused of serious crimes of their right to defend themselves.?
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Tuesday 11 June 2013
Apple unveils music streaming service
Eddy Cue the Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services gestures to applause after demonstrating the new iTunes Radio during the keynote address of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Monday, June 10, 2013 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Eddy Cue the Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services gestures to applause after demonstrating the new iTunes Radio during the keynote address of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Monday, June 10, 2013 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Apple CEO Tim Cook walks on stage to deliver the keynote address of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Monday, June 10, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Apple unveiled an Internet radio service called iTunes Radio on Monday and said the service will personalize listeners' music based on what they've listened to and what they've purchased on iTunes.
Apple said iTunes Radio will be available this fall in the U.S. It will be free with advertisements included, although subscribers of Apple's iTunes Match music-storage service will get a commercial-free version of iTunes Radio. That service costs $25 a year.
In unveiling the long-expected service Monday at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Apple enters a crowded field. Google Inc. started an on-demand subscription music service called All Access last month. Other leading services include Spotify, Rhapsody and Pandora.
Apple was a pioneer of online music sales and is still a leader there, but streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify have emerged as popular alternatives to buying. Pandora relies on its users being connected to the Internet at all times and plays songs at random within certain genres for free.
As with Pandora, iTunes Radio will let people create stations based on specific songs, artists or genres. So users can put in a particular song, and the station will play songs like it. Apple did not provide details on how the other songs will be determined. Pandora uses a formula to analyze songs based on musical and other characteristics.
Users won't be able to type in the name of a specific song and have it play right away. Pandora doesn't allow that, either. That's something available through other services that charge monthly fees, including Spotify and Google's All Access.
Analysts were lukewarm.
"This is a nice free feature that lots of people will probably try out, but existing Pandora users won't have much reason to switch," Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum, said in an emailed comment.
Dawson said a service that lets people call up specific songs on demand would have made a bigger splash, "but that would likely have disrupted Apple's existing iTunes business, and the music industry as a whole, too much."
Pandora charges $36 a year for ad-free listening, more than Apple at $25. Pandora also has a free, ad-supported version like iTunes Radio. In February, Pandora capped free listening on mobile devices to 40 hours per month. Apple said Monday that its service would have no limits.
ITunes Radio will also offer featured stations, which play songs that are the most-talked about on Twitter, for example.
The service integrates Apple's Siri virtual assistant so that users can get information by speaking questions such as "Who plays that song?" Users can also tell Siri to skip songs, stop or pause playing. And they can ask to play more songs like the one currently playing, or buy them on iTunes with a click, Apple said. Pandora also lets listeners purchase songs, through either iTunes or Amazon.
Apple said iTunes Radio will be built into iOS 7, the new software for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. That's coming this fall. It will also work with Apple's iTunes software on Mac and Windows computers.
Pandora investors did not seem concerned about the potential Apple competition. The company's stock rose 37 cents, or 2.5 percent, to close at $15.49 following the afternoon announcement. It added another 12 cents in extended trading.
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Saturday 1 June 2013
This Week On The TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast: Moto X, Locks, And Austin
TechCrunch is in Austin this week for some excellent pitch-offs and BBQ. We also learned of the new Moto X, a secret phone that could change Motorola's fortunes, the August smart lock, and the new iPod. It's one of our only live shows done with three members of the team in the same room and features Jordan Crook, Matt Burns, and John Biggs as Sir Sweatsalot. Enjoy!Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/TguAffy9uvA/
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