Reducing numbers of one carnivore species indirectly leads to extinction of others

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Previous studies have shown that carnivores can have indirect positive effects on each other, which means that when one species is lost, others could soon follow. A team from the University of Exeter and the University of Bern has now found that reducing the numbers of one species of carnivore can lead to the extinction of others.

Published online February 28, 2013 in the journal Ecology Letters, the study shows that simply reducing the population size of one carnivore can indirectly cause another similar species to become extinct. The research shows that changes in population size, as well as extinction, can create ripple effects across sensitive food webs with far-reaching consequences for many other animals.

The research shows that species could suffer just as much from harm to another species as from being under direct threat themselves. This adds weight to growing evidence that a 'single species' approach to conservation, for example in fisheries management, is misguided. Instead the focus needs to be holistic, encompassing species across an entire ecosystem.

The researchers assembled experimental ecosystems with three species of parasitic wasps, along with the three types of aphids on which each wasp exclusively feeds. They set up four sets of tanks each containing the three aphid and three wasp species and allowed the populations to establish for eight weeks. Over the next 14 weeks (seven insect generations) the researchers removed a proportion of the wasps from three of the sets of tanks every day -- one species from each set. The fourth set had no wasps removed.

The team found that the partial removal of one wasp species led indirectly to the extinction of other wasp species. In the absence of one wasp species, the aphid it preyed upon grew in numbers. All three species of aphid feed on the same plant so increased competition for food led to changes in sizes of the aphid populations. However no aphid species went extinct and so the indirect extinctions of the wasps were not the result of extinction of their prey. Rather, it is likely that the wasps that went extinct had difficulty searching for suitable prey among large numbers of unsuitable ones.

Lead researcher Dr Frank van Veen of the University of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation said: "We have shown that the complex ripple effect of a change in population size across food webs is more sensitive than previously thought and that a reduction in the numbers of one carnivore can lead to the extinction of another carnivore species. We also found evidence that the initial indirect extinction can itself trigger further ones, potentially leading to a cascade of extinctions, like dominoes toppling over."

"The insect system is handy for experimentation but the same principles apply to any ecosystem, from mammals in the Serengeti to the fish in our seas. It clearly shows that we should have an ecosystem-based approach to conservation and to the management of fish stocks and other natural resources."

The research team has recently been awarded a ?470K grant by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to extend this research at a larger scale.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Exeter, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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. Dirk Sanders, Louis Sutter and F. J. Frank van Veen. The loss of indirect interactions leads to cascading extinctions of carnivores. Ecology Letters, 28 FEB 2013 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12096

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/AkQXwA9-3CY/130228124144.htm

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Scientists reconstruct Russia meteor trajectory (+video)

Relying on videos of the meteor as it streaked across the sky over the Ural mountains, a pair of Colombian astronomers say they have reconstructed the space rock's orbit.

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / February 26, 2013

This dashcam video frame grab shows a meteor streaking across the sky of Russia?s Ural Mountains earlier this month.

Nasha gazeta/www.ng.kz/AP/File

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A duo of Colombian scientists say they have reconstructed the orbit of the meteor that exploded earlier this month over?Chelyabinsk, Russia.?

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This is a virtual exploration of th epreliminary orbit computed by Zuluaga & Ferrin (2013). Scientific details can be found at arxiv:1302.5377

Relying on videos of the meteor from?Chelyabinsk's Revolutionary Square?and in the nearby city of Korkino, astronomers Jorge Zuluaga and Ignacio Ferrin at the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia, triangulated the speed and position of the meteorite as it fell to Earth.

Zuluaga and?Ferrin's?conclusion rests on the assumptions that a 20-foot hole in the ice of?Lake Chebarkul was caused by a fragment of the meteor, and that this fragment was traveling along the same trajectory as its parent body. Divers have yet to find a meteorite in the lake.?

The pair were inspired by blogger Stefan Geens, who analyzed video of the shadows cast by light poles in?Revolutionary Square as the blazing meteor passed overhead. Using simple trigonometry, Geens estimated the path of the meteor, noticing that it squared nicely with an image of the meteor's contrail that just happened to have been picked up by a European weather satellite.?

In a paper published online at arXiv.org,?Zuluaga and?Ferrin took Geen's analysis further, using a gravitational analysis to reconstruct the path of the rock going back four years before impact. Their analysis indicates that the meteor was one of the Apollo asteroids, a class of space rocks whose elongated orbits occasionally cross that of our planet. There are about 5,200 known Apollo asteroids, the largest of them being 1866 Sisyphus, a six-mile wide rock discovered in 1972. Sisyphus is comparable in size to the impactor thought to have caused a global extinction event some 66 million years ago, ending the age of the dinosaurs.?

In an effort to prevent a repeat of this sort of event, European Space Agency officials announced a plan to smash a spacecraft into an Apollo asteroid?in 2022?to alter its orbit, just for practice. The target of the joint European/US Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission, a rock named?65803 Didymos, poses no threat to our planet in the?foreseeable?future, unless of course the mission goes seriously wrong and Didymos is knocked into our path.??

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/DxrZUar9jQU/Scientists-reconstruct-Russia-meteor-trajectory-video

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Lions, bears removed from gangster's property

A sedated lion is surrounded by media at the estate of Ion Balint, known to Romanians as Nutzu the Pawnbroker, a notorious gangster, in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Authorities along with specialists of the animal welfare charity Vier Pfoten removed four lions and two bears that were illegally kept on the estate of one of Romania?s most notorious underworld figures who reportedly used them to threaten his victims. Balint was arrested on Feb. 22, with dozens of others on charges of attempted murder, depriving people of their freedom, blackmail and illegally holding arms.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A sedated lion is surrounded by media at the estate of Ion Balint, known to Romanians as Nutzu the Pawnbroker, a notorious gangster, in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Authorities along with specialists of the animal welfare charity Vier Pfoten removed four lions and two bears that were illegally kept on the estate of one of Romania?s most notorious underworld figures who reportedly used them to threaten his victims. Balint was arrested on Feb. 22, with dozens of others on charges of attempted murder, depriving people of their freedom, blackmail and illegally holding arms.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A sedated lion is surrounded by media at the estate of Ion Balint, known to Romanians as Nutzu the Pawnbroker, a notorious gangster, in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Authorities along with specialists of the animal welfare charity Vier Pfoten removed four lions and two bears that were illegally kept on the estate of one of Romania?s most notorious underworld figures who reportedly used them to threaten his victims. Balint was arrested on Feb. 22, with dozens of others on charges of attempted murder, depriving people of their freedom, blackmail and illegally holding arms.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A sedated lion is carried on a stretcher, at the estate of Ion Balint, known to Romanians as Nutzu the Pawnbroker, a notorious gangster, in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Authorities along with specialists of the animal welfare charity Vier Pfoten removed four lions and two bears that were illegally kept on the estate of one of Romania?s most notorious underworld figures who reportedly used them to threaten his victims. Balint was arrested on Feb. 22, with dozens of others on charges of attempted murder, depriving people of their freedom, blackmail and illegally holding arms. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A sedated lion is carried on a stretcher, at the estate of Ion Balint, known to Romanians as Nutzu the Pawnbroker, a notorious gangster, in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Authorities along with specialists of the animal welfare charity Vier Pfoten removed four lions and two bears that were illegally kept on the estate of one of Romania?s most notorious underworld figures who reportedly used them to threaten his victims. Balint was arrested on Feb. 22, with dozens of others on charges of attempted murder, depriving people of their freedom, blackmail and illegally holding arms. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ? (AP) ? A man known as Nutzu the Pawnbroker has been indicted for leading a fearsome criminal gang, but the public seems to be more interested in his pets: four lions and two bears.

Ion Balint ? his real name ? had long been known to have an affinity for wild beasts in his home.

"You said I fed men to the lions?" Balint was recorded saying on a videotape as he rode away from prison on a black stallion in 2010. "Why don't you come over and I'll give you some lions!"

Authorities won't confirm that the lions and bears were used to intimidate rivals at his high-walled and heavily guarded estate in the poorest part of Bucharest. The compound also contained less fearsome beasts, including thoroughbred horses and canaries.

Balint, 48, a stocky man with a mustache and a receding hairline, often appears dressed in T-shirts and tracksuits.

The Romanian news media were awash in unconfirmed reports about Balint's excesses, reporting that he used the lions and bears to intimidate rivals and that his house contained a torture chamber.

His son-in-law, Marius Vlad, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the reports were false.

"Many untruths are being reported," he said.

Bystanders and relatives who gathered near the gates of the estate described Balint as a good neighbor and an animal lover, and said they weren't bothered by roaring lions.

"We can hear them every day, but only when they're hungry or the female is in heat," said Gabriela Ionescu, 36, clutching her toddler daughter's hand. "They don't disturb us at all."

Authorities allege that Balint and his brother Vasile headed a criminal network which controlled much of the underworld activity in Bucharest, a city of 2 million. Some 400 police and detectives were involved in the investigation which led to the arrest last week of 67 suspects, including the Balint brothers.

In 2009, Balint was convicted of human trafficking, violence and pimping, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. That was reduced to six years, but Balint was free after a year.

On Wednesday, the four lions and two bears were sedated, put in cages and removed by environmental authorities and the Vier Pfoten animal welfare charity. The animals, which generally appeared in good condition, will be temporarily housed in a zoo and may eventually be relocated in South Africa, animal welfare officers said.

Mircea Pupaza, commissioner of the National Environment Guard, told The Associated Press that Balint had no documentation or health records for the animals, which he's kept illegally for 10 years. He could face a year in prison and a hefty fine for illegally keeping wild animals.

"The lions are a status symbol for him," said Livia Cimpoeru, a Vier Pfoten spokeswoman. She declined to speculate whether they had a more sinister purpose.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-02-27-Romania-The%20Lion%20Gangster/id-0d835ebbc7474d64b71b4501c01664c3

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JPMorgan to trim 4,000 jobs, many in consumer bank

NEW YORK (AP) ? JPMorgan is trimming about 4,000 jobs, or about 1.5 percent of its work force, becoming the latest big bank to shrink its staff.

The bank said the cuts will be focused in consumer banking and mortgages. Many of the cuts would come through attrition, but the bank will lay off workers as well, a bank spokeswoman said.

The cuts were revealed in a presentation to investors Tuesday. They are part of the bank's bigger cost-cutting campaign. They come after a year when the bank increased profit and revenue.

The move could signal a new direction for staffing: JPMorgan already shed about 1,200 jobs in 2012, after adding jobs in 2011 and 2010.

Job cuts have become a familiar story in the banking industry. Banks are navigating new government regulations that have crimped some old sources of revenue, like issuing credit cards to students or trading for the bank's own profit. The banks have also said that complying with the new regulations is costing them more money.

Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs all trimmed jobs in 2012. Morgan Stanley's current round of job cuts has focused on senior ranks and investment bankers. Bank of America has said it needs fewer people to work through problem mortgages, though it has cut jobs in other areas. Citigroup is scaling back in countries that it no longer sees as growth engines.

JPMorgan said it hopes to find jobs within the bank for displaced workers through a "redeployment" program.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-26-US-JPMorgan-Job-Cuts/id-85e8167b446d440d8a5604badff3a82c

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Lohan's attorney seeks deal with prosecutors

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Lindsay Lohan's attorney has suggested to prosecutors that the actress serve as a motivational speaker and perform non-jail activities to resolve her latest criminal case, according to a letter obtained Tuesday.

The letter from lawyer Mark Heller proposed several alternatives for Lohan, who could be sent to jail if a judge determines her actions in a traffic crash violated terms of her probation in a previous theft case.

His letter states that Lohan's turbulent home life has deeply impacted her and requires a different approach in the case.

The actress plans to spend time recording public service announcements and make "periodic visits to schools, hospitals, and other venues where she may provide inspirational talks, encouraging children to pursue positive goals and avoid bad habits," states the letter filed on Friday and released by the court Tuesday.

Heller also proposed the establishment of a nonprofit foundation in Lohan's name to benefit young people.

The actress "has made a commitment to herself to elevate her life and participate in activities which will advance her desire to lead a model life," Heller wrote in a motion seeking a delay in the case that returns to court on Friday. Trial is now set for March 18.

Lohan is charged with three misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, lying to police and obstructing officers from performing their duties. She has pleaded not guilty.

The actress could face 245 days in jail if she is found to be in violation of her probation.

The star of "Mean Girls" and "Freaky Friday" was sentenced to psychotherapy in November of 2011 in cases involving theft and drunken driving charges, but she has not been required to attend counseling since being placed on informal probation in March 2012.

Those terms were imposed by Judge Stephanie Sautner, who is retiring and will no longer handle Lohan's case.

The crash that prompted the current charges occurred in June on Pacific Coast Highway while Lohan was on the way to a movie shoot.

Terry White, chief deputy city attorney in Santa Monica, declined comment on the letter. He said discussions about a possible resolution are scheduled to take place this week.

Lohan, 26, was on her way to a beach shoot with another person for the TV movie "Liz and Dick" when her car crashed into the back of a dump truck. Police allege she lied about being behind the wheel.

Heller is also seeking dismissal of the charges against Lohan, arguing that police ignored her when she said she didn't want to be interviewed without her attorney present.

Lohan was at the hospital at the time, not in custody, and showed no signs of impairment when officers gave her a field sobriety test, the lawyer said.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lohans-attorney-seeks-deal-prosecutors-203949506.html

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Janet Jackson Is Married to Wissam Al Mana! - UsMagazine.com

Janet Jackson is a master of deception! The "Rhythm Nation" singer, 46, denied reports she recently wed Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana, 37 -- because according to Jackson, they've been secretly married for months.

"The rumors regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private and beautiful ceremony," the couple told Entertainment Tonight in a statement on Monday, Feb. 25. "Our wedding gifts to one another were contributions to our respective favorite children's charities. We would appreciate that our privacy is respected and that we are allowed this time for celebration and joy."

PHOTOS: Stars and their soulmates

Us Weekly broke the news of the pair's engagement in December 2012. Jackson hasn't worn her ring publicly, a source explained, because "she's afraid it will get lost, so she keeps it locked up!"

PHOTOS: Hollywood's biggest engagement rings

This is the third marriage for Jackson, who split from longtime boyfriend Jermaine Dupri in 2009. She was previously wed to James DeBarge and Rene Elizondo. Similarly, Jackson attempted to keep those relationships hidden from the public.

PHOTOS: Michael Jackson's musical legacy

A Jackson source recently revealed the multiplatinum star is eager to start a family with Al Mana, whom she began dating in the summer of 2010. "She wants kids," the source told Us. "If she can't have them, she will adopt."

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/janet-jackson-is-married-to-wissam-al-mana-2013252

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On The Record ? The age of niche

The most interesting art always takes shape far away from the limelight. Out there in the margins, you?ll find the sounds and visions which will, in time, influence what happens in the mainstream. Any great musical leap forward ? or micro-genre hop, skip and jump ? first stepped out in the underground. The mainstream may get its tuxedos on for the Oscars or Brits and command all the attention and publicity that night and the morning after, but the real machinations and momentum which informed all those moves originally took place many miles away. The drawback for those who work in the niche, of course, is that it?s usually primarily about art and not commerce from where they stand. The money and publicity which drives projects onwards and upwards doesn?t gravitate towards the margins. Most times out there, you?re doing it for love, not profit.

These musings are brought to you by two recent observations from the reporter?s notebook: an interview with Cathal Cully from Girls Names and an interesting conversation at the recent 12 Points jazz festival in Dublin.

Living in the niche: Girls Names

Cully was talking about his band?s mindset, their fantastic new album ?The Second Life? and the financial struggle and demands to make it. ?I know people get into music for various reasons, like to become famous or whatever, but we were the opposite. We get a bit of stick here because we come from an art crowd in Belfast. I?ve no qualms in saying it?s as much an art project as anything else. I personally treat it as making art. Even saying the words ?music industry? seem wrong. The dirtiest thing about it is that people are making money in the music industry but the artists aren?t.?

The economics of keeping a band together is something Cully is acutely aware of. ?We paid for the recording ourselves and I still have a bit of money to pay off it. The whole economic thing is so frustrating and jobs are so hard to come by. I?m out of work at the minute, but I?ve been through so many jobs in the last year. I was labouring all last summer and autumn, then driving for a TV shoot and then working in a shop over Christmas. I just took whatever came along to pay for what has to be done.?

When people hear someone is in a band, especially a band who?ve released two albums and tour abroad a lot, there are a lot of perceptions in the air, as Cully noted in this quote which didn?t make the published piece. ?I think people assume things are different. We were at And So I Watch You From Afar a while back and someone asked Claire (Miskimmin, bass player) ?do you make a living from music??. It?s far from it. People think when they see us going off on tours and releasing records that we?re doing well, but we don?t even have management. We?re lucky in that we?re breaking even but it?s tough. We need to buy so much gear in the next few months but it?s not going to happen.?

A two day pow-wow called Jazz Futures, featuring various panel debates, presentations and talks, took place during the recent 12 Points festival in Dublin?s Temple Bar. I was there to talk about how the web had constructively disrupted the music business and it was interesting to tease out how this macro event, something which had changed every single aspect of the business, had trickled down to the jazz community.

Now, here?s a real niche. Ask most people about their feelings for jazz and they?ll tell you that they love the stuff, but they?re probably talking about the heritage acts and vintage breeds who make up the sound?s back catalogue. Modern, new jazzers? What, they?re still making jazz? Who knew?

They sure are and the quality is very high, as the 12 Points festival showed with its bookings from the European talent pool. But it?s not the mainstream and it?s unlikely to feature on many radars unless it comes with Norah Jones or Jamie Cullum or Michael Buble or someone else upfront honing their sound with the bigger audience in mind. The issues which the jazz folks face ? funding, media coverage, dwindling audience attention, talent development etc ? are problems which many niche artists can talk about until the cows come home so it?s worth noting that the jazzers have common cause with a lot of other people in the same predicament.

But it?s also worth noting that the niche is probably bigger than it seems. After all, when you combine all these different scenes, it rivals the mainstream in size and span, depending on how you choose to define and measure these things. In this post-long tail world, there?s room for all ? and many have taken advantage of this.

However, the problem for those who operate in niche areas is that the coverage and attention which the mainstream attracts will never come their way. It?s something which came up a few times at Jazz Futures, a feeling that jazz merited and deserved a level playing field when it came to media coverage, for instance. Of course, jazz merits and deserves this and should get the same coverage as rock/pop does, but it?s never going to happen. Girls Names also merit and deserve the same coverage that Bon Jovi and Coldplay get, but that too is never going to happen. The mainstream isn?t interested. The mainstream has made its decision and goes with the bold-type names which have been pushed their way by the major entertainment companies and corporations. The mainstream will never cover a jazz event like 12 Points in the same way as it covers a festival like the Electric Picnic because it?s made a decision that its target audience favours the latter over the former. And the numbers they?re looking at show that they?re right. Of course, the jazzers can produce another set of numbers, but the mainstream will just shrug and move on.

Perhaps, then, it?s time for the niche to turn its back on the mainstream. Maybe it?s time to stop cribbing about the unfairness of their lot, about how the mainstream media prefers to cover shite rock and pop acts than their music, their sounds, their stars. Perhaps it?s time to stop fighting battles which can never be won because of how the battlefield has been drawn up. Indeed, maybe it?s time to stop fighting full stop and start creating even more great music, art and culture and wait, as has always happened, for the mainstream to realise what is happening. I don?t know about you, but I?m far more interested in and excited by what?s happening out in the niches and margins than anything going on in the mainstream.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2013/02/25/the-age-of-niche/

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Meatballs pulled from Ikea shelves

STOCKHOLM (AP) ? Swedish furniture giant Ikea became entangled in Europe's widening meat scandal Monday, forced to withdraw meatballs from stores across Europe amid suspicions that they contained horse meat.

Stores in the U.S. and Canada were not affected, Ikea said.

The company reacted after authorities in the Czech Republic said they had detected horse DNA in tests of 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) packs of frozen meatballs that were labeled as beef and pork. The Czech State Veterinary Administration said it tested two batches of Ikea meatballs and only one of them contained horse meat. It did not say how much.

Meatballs from the same batch had been sent from a Swedish supplier to 12 other European countries ? Slovakia, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland ? and would be pulled off the shelves in all of them, Ikea said.

Later Monday, the company expanded the withdrawals to stores in 21 European countries and in Hong Kong, Thailand and the Dominican Republic, all of which were getting meatballs from the same Swedish supplier.

Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said that included most European countries, but not Russia and Norway, which use local suppliers. Stores in Poland and Switzerland use both local suppliers and the Swedish one, but would now only use locally produced meatballs, she said.

"This is an extraordinary effort to ensure that no one is worried," Magnusson told The Associated Press.

She added that two weeks ago Ikea tested a range of frozen food products, including meatballs, and found no traces of horse meat. The company plans to conduct its own tests to "validate" the Czech results, she said.

Ikea's North America branch said the U.S. stores get their meatballs from a U.S. supplier.

"Based on the results of our mapping, we can confirm that the contents of the meatballs follow the Ikea recipe and contain only beef and pork from animals raised in the U.S. and Canada," Ikea North America spokeswoman Mona Astra Liss said in a statement.

Ikea is known for its assemble-it-yourself furniture but its trademark blue-and-yellow megastores also have cafeteria-style restaurants offering Swedish dishes such as meatballs served with boiled or mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberry jam.

European Union officials met Monday to discuss tougher food labeling rules after the discovery of horse meat in a wide range of frozen supermarket meals that were supposed to contain beef or pork. So far those foods include meatballs, burgers, kebabs, lasagna, pizza, tortelloni, ravioli, empanadas and meat pies, among other items.

Authorities say the scandal is a case of fraudulent labeling but does not pose a health risk.

Gunnar Dafgard AB, a family-owned frozen foods company in southwestern Sweden that supplies Ikea's meatballs in Europe, posted a brief statement on its website saying "the batch in question has been blocked and we are investigating the situation."

Spokesman Ola Larsson said the company was conducting its own DNA tests and wouldn't comment further until it has those results.

Sweden's food safety authority said it wasn't taking any action but was waiting for Czech authorities to specify the quantity of horsemeat detected.

"If it's less than 1 percent it could mean that they handled horsemeat at the same facility. If it's more, we assess that it's been mixed into the product," said Karin Cerenius of Sweden's National Food Agency.

The Czech authority said a total of 760 kilograms (1,675 pounds) of the meatballs were stopped from reaching the shelves. It also said it found horse meat in beef burgers imported from Poland during random tests of food products.

"Unfortunately, the testing method we use detects just the quality ... the presence or non-presence of horse DNA," said Jan Vana, a senior official at the State Veterinary Administration. "At the moment, we can't say the quantity of it."

Spanish authorities, meanwhile, announced that traces of horse meat were found in a beef cannelloni product by one of the brands of Nestle, a Switzerland-based food giant.

In a statement on its website, Nestle Spain said it was withdrawing six "La Cocinera" products and one "Buitoni" product from store shelves. It said it was taking the action after traces of horse meat were found in beef bought from a supplier in Spain and that it was taking legal action against the company.

Processed food products ? a business segment with traditionally low margins that often leads producers to hunt for the cheapest suppliers ? often contain ingredients from multiple suppliers in different countries, who themselves at times subcontract production to others, making it hard to monitor every link in the production chain.

Standardized DNA checks with meat suppliers or more stringent labeling rules on disclosing the origin of processed food's ingredients will add costs that producers will most likely hand over to consumers, making food more expensive.

The scandal has created a split in the European Union between nations like Britain, which see further rules as a protectionist hindrance of free trade under the 27-nation bloc's single market, and those calling for tougher regulation, including Austria and Germany.

"Consumers have every right to the greatest-possible transparency," German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said.

At the meeting in Brussels, several EU agriculture ministers called upon the Commission, the bloc's executive arm, to speed up presenting a proposal on tougher regulation by this summer.

The scandal began in Ireland in mid-January when the country announced the results of its first-ever DNA tests on beef products. It tested frozen beef burgers taken from store shelves and found that more than a third of brands at five supermarkets contained at least a trace of horse. The sample of one brand sold by the British supermarket kingpin Tesco had more than 25 percent horse meat.

___

Associated Press writers Juergen Baetz in Brussels, Karel Janicek in Prague and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ikea-withdraws-meatballs-more-20-countries-211231901--finance.html

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Protest votes add to uncertainty in close Italy election

ROME (Reuters) - Italians finish voting in one of the most closely watched and unpredictable elections in years on Monday with a surge in protest votes fuelling concern that the ballot may not produce a government strong enough to pull Italy from its economic slump.

A bitter campaign, fought largely over economic issues, has been closely watched by financial markets, still wary after the debt crisis that took the whole euro zone close to disaster and brought technocrat prime minister Mario Monti to office in 2011.

For the euro zone, the stakes are high. Italy is the third largest economy in the 17-member bloc and the prospect of political stalemate could reawaken the threat of dangerous market instability.

Opinion polls give the centre-left coalition led by the veteran former industry minister Pier Luigi Bersani a narrow lead but the race has been thrown open by the prospect of a huge protest vote against austerity policies imposed by Monti and rage at a wave of corporate and political scandals.

Luigi Bartoletti, a 57-year-old salesman from Rome said he had voted for the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo, who has electrified the race with a furious campaign against corruption and privilege in the elite.

"But unfortunately I don't believe there will be a stable government," he said. "The hope is that by voting for these people, even if they're inexperienced, there may be a minimum of checks on the management of public affairs."

The 5-Star Movement, heavily backed by a frustrated younger generation increasingly shut out of full-time jobs, has polled strongly and some believe it could challenge Silvio Berlusconi's PDL party as Italy's second largest political force.

But the 76 year-old Berlusconi has campaigned fiercely at the head of a centre-right coalition, pledging sweeping tax cuts and echoing Grillo's attacks on Monti, Germany and the euro in a media blitz that has halved the lead of the centre-left since the start of the year.

Support for Monti's centrist coalition meanwhile has faded and he appears set to trail in well behind the main parties.

Polling stations opened for the first day of voting on Sunday and by the time they had closed, some 54 percent of voters had cast their ballots, a sharp fall on the level of 62.5 percent seen at the same stage in the last election in 2008, interior ministry figures showed.

Voting ends at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Monday with the first exit polls due shortly afterwards.

SENATE RACE

Whatever government emerges will inherit an economy that has been largely stagnant for much of the past two decades and problems ranging from record youth unemployment to a dysfunctional justice system and a bloated public sector.

At the same time, the credibility of the political system has been hit by corruption scandals and criminal investigations affecting state-controlled defense group Finmeccanica and Italy's third-largest bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Despite the opinion polls suggesting the centre-left is leading, it is far from clear that Bersani will be able to control both houses of parliament and form a stable government capable of lasting a full five-year term.

Italy's electoral laws guarantee a strong majority in the lower house to the party or coalition that wins the biggest share of the overall national vote.

However the Senate, elected on a region-by-region basis, is more complicated and the result could turn on a handful of regions where results are too close to call, including Lombardy in the rich industrial north and the southern island of Sicily.

Many politicians and analysts believe Bersani and Monti will end up in an alliance after the vote, despite a number of spiky exchanges during the campaign and Monti's insistence that he will not join forces with Bersani's leftist allies.

For his part, Bersani, who has pledged to maintain the broad reform course set by Monti while doing more to help growth, says he would seek support from other parties and would be ready to offer the former European Commissioner a job in his government.

But there is no guarantee that it would be possible to form a stable alliance that would also include far-left partners or trade unions that have fiercely opposed key reforms by the Monti government including attempts to ease hiring and firing rules.

After repeated rounds of tax hikes and spending cuts, sliding wages and declining standards of living, Italians are increasingly wary of the austerity medicine prescribed by Monti to prevent Italy's huge public debt from sliding out of control.

However, doubts about any of the alternatives proposed by his political rivals have left many voters despairing of simple improvements and counting on the power of protest to change the whole system.

"I'm voting Grillo and I hope a lot of people do, because it's the only way to show how sick to the teeth we are with the old parties," said 34-year-old lab technician Manila Luce.

(Additional reporting by Stefano Bernabei and Gavin Jones; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italians-head-polls-crucial-vote-euro-zone-000341345--business.html

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AP sources: Boeing proposes battery fix for 787s

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Boeing attempted a major step Friday toward getting its 787 Dreamliners flying again, proposing a fix for the plane's troubled batteries that could allow the flights to resume as early as April, congressional officials said.

The next question is whether the Federal Aviation Administration will agree to let the planes fly even though the root cause of a battery fire in one plane and a smoking battery in another is still unknown.

A Boeing team led by CEO Ray Conner presented the plan to Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Huerta. The airliners, Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced, have not been allowed to fly since mid-January.

The plan ? a long-term solution, rather than a temporary fix ? calls for revamping the aircraft's two lithium ion batteries to ensure that any short-circuiting that could lead to a fire won't spread from one battery cell to the others, officials said. That would be achieved by placing more robust ceramic insulation around each of the battery's eight cells. The aim is to contain not only the short-circuiting, but any thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that leads to progressively hotter temperatures.

The additional spacers will enlarge the battery, requiring a bigger battery box to hold the eight cells. That new box would also be more robust, with greater insulation along its sides to prevent any fire from escaping and damaging the rest of the plane, officials said.

The plan will require testing and partially recertifying the safety of the plane's batteries, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

The testing and recertification will take time, with engineers currently estimating completion sometime in April at the soonest, they said. Even after the batteries are recertified, it could take some more time to get the planes back into the air. Boeing will have to send teams to eight airlines in seven countries to retrofit their planes.

It's up to Huerta to decide whether to approve the plan. But Boeing's plan is not a surprise, since the company has kept regulators closely informed, the officials said.

"The FAA is reviewing a Boeing proposal and will analyze it closely," the agency said in a statement Friday. "The safety of the flying public is our top priority and we won't allow the 787 to return to commercial service until we're confident that any proposed solution has addressed the battery failure risks."

Boeing also acknowledged the meeting, but spokesman Marc Birtel would not discuss what was said. "We are encouraged by the progress being made toward resolving the issue," the company's written statement said.

Boeing, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board still have not identified the root cause of a Jan. 7 fire that erupted in an auxiliary power unit battery of a Japan Airlines 787 about a half-hour after the plane landed at Boston's Logan International Airport. The safety board is investigating that incident, but NTSB officials didn't attend Friday's meeting and declined to comment on the proposal.

Engineers and battery experts gathered by Boeing developed a list of possible causes for the fire and a plan to modify the batteries to address the spread of a fire created by any of those causes, officials said.

Nine days after the Boston fire, an All Nippon Airways 787 with a smoking battery made an emergency landing by in Japan. The FAA and aviation authorities overseas ordered the planes grounded soon afterward. There are a total of 50 of the planes in service worldwide, and Boeing had orders for 800 of the airliners at the time they were grounded.

On Thursday, United Airlines cut its six 787s from its flying plans at least until June and postponed its new Denver-to-Tokyo flights as airlines continued to tear up their schedules while the plane is out of service. United is the only U.S. carrier with 787s in its fleet.

The 787 is the world's first airliner made mostly from lightweight composite materials. It also relies on electronic systems rather than hydraulic or mechanical systems to a greater degree than any other airliner. And it is the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which are lighter, recharge faster and can hold more energy than other types of batteries.

Boeing has billed the plane to its customers as 20 percent more fuel efficient than other mid-sized airliners. That's a big selling point, since fuel is the biggest expense for most airlines.

One question is how much weight Boeing's proposed fix would add. The heavier the plane is, the less fuel-efficient it is.

Having the plane flying as soon as April "would be fantastic news for Boeing," said Carter Leake, an aerospace analyst at BB&T Capital Markets.

If the battery fix ends up being as described, "I don't think it's that difficult to retrofit. I think it would be viewed very favorably" by investors, Leake said. If FAA were to approve Boeing's proposed fix as early as next week, that would be a "home run" for the company, he said.

However, the idea of recertifying part of the design is trickier. Getting certification from the FAA for a particular part or design is an involved process ? and one that's likely to make investors nervous.

"Recertification suggests time," Leake said. "Given what most know about aircraft certification processes, six months would be sort of quick."

Leake added: "The FAA takes it slow. You're talking about statistical testing. You're proving through testing that this meets very stringent criteria. That usually involves time, and time is not on Boeing's side."

Among the many unanswered questions is how the 787 battery problems will affect Boeing's effort to win FAA permission for the planes to make flights that venture further from the nearest airport, such as those that travel over wide expanses of ocean. The FAA has tighter requirements for such flights in twin-engine planes because it wants to make sure the plane can keep flying if it loses an engine or encounters other problems far away from a safe landing.

Until it was grounded, the 787 could fly up to three hours away from the nearest airport. That's far enough for flights between the U.S. and Europe and some flights over the Arctic, for instance. But Boeing wants permission for flights up to 5.5 hours from the nearest airport. Its 777 is already certified for such flights.

Boeing said last month before the grounding orders that it was close to submitting a plan for those longer flights.

The grounding has forced airlines that own the 787 to rework their schedules. LOT Polish Airlines has said the grounding of its two 787s is costing it $50,000 per day. Most affected has been ANA, which has 17 of the planes.

Boeing has had hundreds of people looking for the cause of the problem and working on possible solutions.

The mess comes just as Boeing is boosting 787 production from five planes per month to 10 per month by the end of this year. It has said the speedup will still happen, even though it can't deliver the planes ? or collect most of their $200 million-a-plane list price from airlines ? until they're flying again.

"Even with the FAA review/grounding, we believe it's more likely than not that Boeing continues to build at its planned rate until it's apparent that a fix for the battery issue will require an extended period of time (more than couple of months)," UBS analyst David Strauss wrote in a note this week.

___

Freed reported from Minneapolis.

___

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-sources-boeing-proposes-battery-fix-787s-205323948.html

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Japan: Hitachi Seaside Park Water Stage

The eight islands of Japan sprang into existence through Divine Intervention.

The first two gods who came into existence were Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, the Exalted Male and Exalted Female. It was their job to make the land for people to live on.

They went to the bridge between heaven and earth and, using a jewel-encrusted halberd, Izanagi and Izanami churned up the sea into a frothy foam. As salty drips of water fell from the tip of the halberd the first island was formed. Its name was Onogoro.

So far, so good. But when Izanagi and Izanami first met on their island, Izanami spoke to Isanagi without being spoken to first. Since she was the female, and this was improper, their first union created badly-formed offspring who were sent off into the sea in boats.

The next time they met, Izanagi was sure to speak first, ensuring the proper rules were followed, and this time they produced eight children, which became the islands of Japan.

I'm sure you did not fail to miss the significance of this myth for the establishment of Japanese formal society.

At present, Japan is the financial capital of Asia. It has the second largest economy in the world and the largest metropolitan area (Tokyo.)

Technically there are three thousand islands making up the Japanese archipelago. Izanagi and Izanami must have been busy little devils with their jewelled halberd...

Japan's culture is highly technical and organized. Everything sparkles and swooshes on silent, miniaturized mechanisms.

They're a world leader in robotics, and the Japanese have the longest life-expectancy on earth.

Text by Steve Smith.

Source: http://www.360cities.net/image/hitachi-seaside-park-water-stage

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This Is Officially the Best Copyright-Free Way to Sing Happy Birthday

You might not know it, but the melody from Happy Birthday To You is actually copyrighted, owned by Time Warner, and won't enter the public domain until 2030 at the earliest. That's why the Free Music Archive set out to find an alternative—and this is officially the best choice. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/zSX7aFbdSfc/this-is-officially-the-best-copyright+free-way-to-sing-happy-birthday

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Nokia Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 press shots revealed

See that group of phones just sitting around, pretending not to have a care in the world? Turns out, this is the new Lumia 720, which is now greeting the world for the first time in a leaked press photo. If you'll recall, this device, along with the Lumia 520 (shown after the break), was recently leaked for arrival within Indonesia. While we've yet to learn of other markets or concrete specs for the pair of smartphones, it just became a bit more likely that we'll see the Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 formally greet the world in just a matter of days. Game on, Nokia.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

Comments

Via: The Verge

Source: @evleaks (Twitter) (1), (2)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/22/nokia-lumia-720-and-lumia-520-press-shots/

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Death Toll Rises in Damascus Blasts (Voice Of America)

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With $650K In Seed Funding, YC-Backed Upverter Chases The Dream Of A Hardware Startup Revolution

Toronto's Upverter is a startup that's poised to effect change that could reshape the landscape of entrepreneurship. That's not something you can say about most of the businesses we cover on a daily basis, whether or not they have good ideas. But it's definitely true of Upverter, the company that's hoping to build a cloud-based hardware engineering platform that can match and overtake its desktop-based counterparts within the next few years.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QdfKGJ4mkHc/

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Carter County mayor's proposed gun resolution defeated in commission

ELIZABETHTON ? The very first veto ever cast by Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey was overridden in the Carter County Commission on Tuesday night. The mayor also suffered a defeat when a proposed resolution he wanted to send to Nashville calling on the state to nullify any federal gun restrictions was also narrowly defeated.

The defeat of the mayor?s proposed gun right?s resolution revolved around two points. Commissioner Steve Lowrance said he was a strong supporter of gun rights, but felt the mayor was merely using it in an effort to get re-elected. The second point was the resolution?s call for Tennessee to nullify any federal law to restrict the rights of Tennesseans to keep and bear arms.

Lowrance said he possessed guns since an early age and had shot deer and bear as a youngster. He said he was a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, but felt the mayor was merely using the issue.

Humphrey reacted strongly to the criticism and said he was motivated by the Obama Administration?s plans for gun control. He said the administration is playing on the nation?s grief over a massacre in a school to push forward legislation that Humphrey saw as unconstitutional.

?This infringes on our inalienable rights,? Humphrey said. ?Guns don?t kill people, people do.? He said it was a mental health problem.

Humphrey said his proposed resolution was done in an attempt to send a message to the state, the Congress and the president.

The question of nullification was defended by Humphrey, who said Tennessee and several other states had been called upon to nullify the Obama initiative.

The nullification question was debated by Commissioner Pat Hicks, a former history teacher. He said the Supreme Court in two decisions had ruled ?the states have no right to nullify the acts of Congress.?

Commissioner Ronnie Trivett discussed the War of 1812, and said if it had not been for the citizens holding their own weapons, ?we would all be speaking with an English accent.?

Hicks responded by saying the hero of the War of 1812 was Andrew Jackson and when he became president he threatened to march federal troops into South Carolina over the state?s threats to nullify a tariff it opposed.

At first, it appeared the resolution would be approved. A motion to table it garnered only 7 votes. But when it came up for a vote, it fell one vote short, 12-8.

The vote to override the veto passed by only one vote. Unlike vetoes at the state and national levels, which require a two-thirds vote to override, the County Commission can override the mayor?s veto by a simple majority of 13 votes.

Humphrey?s veto was an attempt to stop a request for a private act to take away the mayor?s supervisory power over the director of the Carter County Landfill. The Commission had voted 16-5 last month to send the resolution for calling on the state legislature to enact a private act that would place landfill director Benny Lyons under the supervision of the Landfill Committee of the County Commission.

The mayor vetoed the resolution the next day, saying ?you can?t manage by committee.? A few weeks ago he said he decided to veto the measure in order for the commissioners to have more time to think.

On Tuesday, one of the mayor?s strongest supporters was Commissioner John Lewis. ?It would be a mistake,? Lewis said to replace the mayor with a committee. Lewis said if the landfill needed help, the state government would be much more likely to take a phone call from the mayor than from a mere chairman of a committee.

Several other commissioners also defended the mayor and the veto. ?I think it would be a bad move and a bad precedent,? Charles Von Cannon said of the move to strip the mayor of his supervisory power in one area.

?I think this is giving too much power to one committee,? Nancy Brown said.

Lyons was asked to speak and came forward to say that ?I don?t have anything against the mayor,? but said there was more continuity after elections with a committee. He said a mayor may be defeated, meaning an entirely new start, but there would usually be some members of a committee who win re-election, so the changes would be more gradual.

The commissioners also accepted the recommendation of the Carter County Landfill to go with a new waste carrier for the transfer station. The recommendation was to continue negotiations with Advanced Disposal on a contract for the next five years. If successful, it will be the first time in 20 years, since the transfer station was opened, that Allied Waste has not held the contract.

Landfill Committee Chairman Joel Street Jr. said the contract will save the county approximately $90,000 per year.

In other matters, the Commission took two votes to elect Jerry Pearman to the Carter County Planning Commission. Pearman is a former County Commissioner and formerly served as chairman of the Planning Commission.

The mayor had good news to announce during his report to the Commission. Humphrey said construction started on Tuesday on the animal shelter the county is jointly building with the city of Elizabethton. The project has long been planned and was set back last year when bids on the previous design for the shelter came in over budget.

He said the proposed reroofing of the Carter County Justice Center is still in the design stage because the problem with the saturated insulation is factored in to the previous estimates.

The commissioners also heard from Elizabethton-Carter County Public Library director Melodi Goff about efforts to consolidate the city library board and the county library board. She said the move would be an advantage for the county because it would give county representatives a vote on the decision making board.

Source: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?id=104916

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Homebuilding takes a breather, wholesale prices up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. builders broke ground on fewer homes last month but a jump in permits for future construction to a 4-1/2-year high indicated the housing market recovery remains on track.

Another report on Wednesday showed wholesale prices rose for the first time in four months in January. However, the gain was smaller than expected and left scope for the Federal Reserve to keep buying bonds to stimulate the economy.

Housing starts dropped 8.5 percent in January to an 890,000-unit annual rate, pulled down by a sharp drop in the volatile multi-family unit category, the Commerce Department said.

But starts for single-family homes hit their highest since July 2008 and permits for future construction, which lead starts by at least a month, were at their highest since June of that year.

The drop in starts followed an outsized gain in December and was confined to the Northeast and Midwest, suggesting winter weather likely contributed to the pullback.

"The fundamentals are there and the drivers are looking good," said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. "We see more new construction this year. The only question is whether it will be in the multi-family or single-family segment."

Housing has shifted from being a headwind for the economy to being a pillar of support, although mortgage rates have crept higher in recent weeks, cooling loan demand.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers on Wednesday reported disappointing quarterly results, hurt in part by lower selling prices, but other homebuilders have been able to take advantage of the recovering market.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed producer prices rose 0.2 percent last month as rebounding food costs offset declining gasoline prices. Wholesale prices had slipped 0.3 percent in December, and economists had expected them to rise 0.4 percent in January.

Food prices accounted for more than 75 percent of the rise in wholesale prices last month.

INFLATION PRESSURES MUTED

Away from the spike in food prices, the producer price report showed inflation pressures were generally muted.

In the 12 months through January, wholesale prices were up 1.4 percent and data on Thursday is expected to show consumer inflation below the U.S. central bank's goal of 2 percent.

"Inflationary pressures remain well contained," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago. "The Federal Reserve would rather see inflation slightly higher in response to stronger economic conditions than benign because the recovery remains tepid."

In an effort to drive down borrowing costs and spur stronger growth, the Fed last year launched an open-ended bond buying program and said it would keep it up until it saw a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market.

But minutes of the U.S. central bank's January 29-30 meeting suggested that concerns over the costs of the program could compel it to slow or stop asset purchases before seeing an acceleration in job growth.

U.S. stocks fell on the minutes, while the dollar rose to session highs against the euro and the yen. U.S. Treasury debt prices trimmed gains.

Wholesale prices excluding volatile food and energy costs edged up 0.2 percent last month after gaining 0.1 percent in December. In the 12 months through January, those so-called core prices rose 1.8 percent, the smallest gain since February 2011.

A surge in the cost of fresh and dried vegetables pushed up food prices in January. Gasoline prices surprisingly recorded another substantial decline last month, even though prices at the pump have been rising almost every week this year.

The core PPI was lifted by a jump in the cost of drugs, while passenger car and light truck prices fell.

(Additional reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Tim Ahmann and James Dalgleish)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/housing-starts-drop-multi-family-permits-four-high-133325377--business.html

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Sports@11...Mayweather deal, UNLV-CSU preview, Moser slip on NBA plans? Another...

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Verizon, Sprint Update Four Android Smartphones; Galaxy Note Up Next

Sprint and Verizon both announced minor software updates to several of their handsets on Monday. These handsets included Sprint's years-old Evo 3D (which recently got an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich), and Verizon's HTC Rezound, Droid Incredible 2, and LG Spectrum. The software updates patch minor bugs, and in some cases add new features to the older handsets.

Meanwhile, Samsung has begun rolling out an Android operating system upgrade to the international Galaxy Note "phablet," which adds substantial new features and performance. This update is so far only being deployed in Germany, but according to David Ruddock of the Android Police blog, this is "quite typical of Samsung's OTA [over the air] distribution practices," in which it tests updates in the German market first. David expects that the update will "be rolled out on a wider basis ? in the coming weeks."

The Sprint update

The HTC Evo 3D was set apart by its 3D camera when it debuted almost two years ago on Sprint's network. It's since made its way to prepaid carrier Virgin Mobile, although there's no announcement of an update on Virgin's network.

According to Sprint, the update includes a "Sprint Connection Optimizer." This periodically scans for WiFi signals and may load itself when you don't want it to. It also fixes bugs involving how long it takes to load the text messaging app, and how AVI movies couldn't be streamed from your computer through DLNA.

The Verizon updates

The HTC Rezound and Droid Incredible 2 are getting an unspecified "HTC Device Enhancement." Verizon won't say what it does, but "Verizon Wireless and HTC encourage you to download this upgrade."

Verizon's information about the LG Spectrum update is a little more specific. This update adds the feature to reject incoming calls, will let you take pictures while making a call, adds "Improved dialer performance," and removes a number of previously impossible-to-uninstall Verizon apps, such as the long-defunct V CAST Apps store. This will free up space on the phone and its app launcher.

The Samsung Galaxy Note update

The original "Phablet," the Samsung Galaxy Note has been stuck on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for a while now. Samsung confirmed in December than an upgrade would bring it features previously reserved to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III, called the "Premium Suite," including a popup note-taking app and the ability to run two apps at once. The premium suite also includes an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which uses Google's "Project Butter" technology to make the device run more smoothly.

Samsung hasn't announced when the U.S. update will be available, but again, it's now being rolled out internationally.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/verizon-sprint-four-android-smartphones-galaxy-note-next-182100371.html

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Military invests in smart-phone reconnaissance

AOptix signs a $3 million contract with the US Department of Defense to help develop smart phones with Smart Mobile Identity technology, which scans fingerprints and other physical features for identity verification. Biometrics developers say they aren't far from making the technology commercially available.

By Steph Solis / February 18, 2013

In this file photo, Maciej Witucki, CEO of TPSA holds an iPhone during news conference at Warsaw Stock Exchange building in Warsaw on Feb. 12. SMI smart phones could become commercially available in the future, allowing people to scan fingerprints and other physical features for identification purposes.

Peter Andrews

Enlarge

Imagine a smart phone that can record your facial features, identify a criminal suspect with voice recognition, and reduce fraud in welfare and other programs.

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In a few years, Smart Mobile Identity technology (SMI) may become an essential part of our daily lives, transforming everything from phone reception and online banking to identity verification of criminal suspects and enemies in combat.

The Department of Defense is looking to take advantage of biometrics developments with smart phones and similar devices. AOptix, a biometrics and identity technology firm, has received a $3 million contract from the Defense Department to help develop smart phones with SMI capabilities. Its team will collaborate with CACI International, a data security company.

Chuck Yort, vice president and general manager of Identity Solutions at AOptix,?says in an email interview that the SMI technology will be available as a smart phone attachment that wraps around the phone (much like a case). The attachment would include iris and fingerprint sensors.

The SMI device will include an app for the user interface and identification features, among other functions, Mr. Yort says.

Similar technology is used for the identity verification of immigrants at airports and border crossings.

AOptix is one of several firms developing biometrics ? biological analysis for data collection.

Data collection in the military

AOptix aims to make biometrics easy to use, Yort says. So between its versatility and clean user interface, the smart phone makes sense as the next medium.

As of now, the smart phone platform has iris scanning that works at a distance and in bright sunlight.

For the Defense Department, the smart-phone platform would mean being able to verify suspects and persons of interest in a war zone and collecting data more efficiently.

These kinds of developments are nothing new for the Defense Department, Wired?s Spencer Ackerman writes. The US Central Command still have data on three million people from the Iraq War, and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) is working on devices that scan irises and fingertips from farther distances than SMI devices.

?It?s worth noting that even though the military is backing away from foot patrols in warzones, it?s not backing away from biometric data acquisition ? far from it,? Mr. Ackerman writes.

However, faster, portable biometrics would work to the advantage of troops, who often have to act fast in high-pressure environments, Mark Crego, managing director of border and identity services at Accenture Health and Public Services, says in a phone interview.

The military?s data collection efforts could help keep troops safe in war zones and, as a result, make it easier for troops to trust inhabitants in those areas and build relationships with them, Mr. Crego says. If a base scanned the faces or fingerprints of locals (assuming they are open to it), the military would have an easier time weeding out potential suspects and getting to know the people.

?If I am setting up a military base and I cannot trust the people around me ? the military base will never be able to integrate with the culture and help out the people around them,? he says. ?We will have the ability to identify people and can build a better, trusting relationship between the community and the military.?

Biometrics at your fingertips

SMI technology is being marketed to a variety of other fields, including immigration, banking, health care, and disaster response.

Crego says biometrics can help reduce identity fraud and illegal immigration at many airports and border crossings. In India, the human services officials began scanning fingerprints to keep track of who participates in the food stamps program, in hopes of reducing fake claims.

For the individual, it could make a smart phone a better medium for data storage and banking.

?Biometrics by themselves are not a privacy problem anymore than using your name to get to your bank account,? he says. ?The credit bureaus have more information than you?d want anyone to know ? Using biometrics systems makes it much more difficult [for someone] to steal my identity.?

The only factor that could inhibit widespread use is the cost, Crego says. Developers have discussed price ranges in biometrics labs, but the specs remain expensive. Chances are, whenever an SMI smart phone hits stores, it will come with a high price tag.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/BDcGudSPRCI/Military-invests-in-smart-phone-reconnaissance

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