Is Microsoft abandoning indie game developers with the Xbox One?

microsoft

Yannick LeJacq NBC News contributor

5 hours ago

Microsoft

Microsoft rankled some independent game developers when the company admitted that it still won't allow them to self-publish games on the Xbox One.

As many a YouTube parody video will tell you, Tuesday's Xbox One reveal was about a lot of things ? TV, sports and "Call of Duty" being the main three. But as gamers and critics began to pick apart the new device, they inevitably began to wonder: What about the actual games?

While Sony's PlayStation 4 announcement in February inwas replete with independent game developers singing the company's praises both on and off the stage, Microsoft's Tuesdayevent featured a small number of sleekly polished, blockbuster franchises like, well, "Call of Duty."

Microsoft emphasized repeatedly that gamers have not heard the last word on all of the games coming to the Xbox One. Indeed, the company has already promised some 15 exclusive titles for the console's first year on the market. (Neither availability or pricing was shared Tuesday, although the company said Xbox One will be out later this year.) But while Microsoft may be doing its best to bring powerhouse studios the world over into its developer stable, the company may not be looking as kindly on independent game developers.

When a reporter from the tech site Shack News asked Matt Booty, general manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms, if Microsoft will continue to require indie game developers to find a publisher to get their games on Xbox Live Arcade, he said: "As of right now, yes. We intend to continue to court developers in the ways that we have."

"I would also expect that for this new generation, that we're going to continue to explore new business models and new ways of surfacing content," Booty continued. "But Microsoft Studios is a publisher that works with a wide range of partners, as do a lot of other people, to bring digital content to the box."

As Booty's comments suggest, the company isn't exactly departing from its current Xbox 360 strategy. But allowing self-published titles is fast becoming more of an industry standard through services like Valve's PC gaming distribution platform Steam, Nintendo's eShop, and Sony's PlayStation Network.

PC gaming is obviously a different beast entirely, but Sony ? Microsoft's closest competitor in the console market ? has been particularly aggressive in lionizing independent game developers as a largely untapped bastion of creativity the company wants to dip further into with the PlayStation 4. That may be because the company is finally owning up to its own mistakes in making the PlayStation 3 notoriously difficult to develop games for, but in either case the loss of a vibrant indie community risks giving a creative advantage (if not an immediately commercial one) to Microsoft's competitors.

Many indie developers took to Twitter to air their frustrations with Microsoft and its new console.

"So as someone who doesn't play 'Forza' or any EA Sports games and already has a computer hooked up to my TV, what does Xbox One offer me?" tweeted Tommy Refenes, the programmer behind the acclaimed platformer "Super Meat Boy" that first appeared on Xbox Live Arcade. Phil Fish, who also worked on a celebrated XBLA game "Fez," said that "there was absolutely nothing relevant" to him inthe announcement.

"Nothing about digital distribution or indies," Fish added. "Nothing at all."

Markus "Notch" Persson, the creator of the wildly popular and unprecedentedly profitable "Minecraft" game that also appeared on XBLA, said that he "tried to get excited about the Xbox One, but failed."

So the leaders of the indie game community clearly weren't thrilled by the Xbox One reveal. But does that mean that Microsoft is hanging them out to dry? Possibly. An independent developer who has worked with Microsoft in the past told NBC News that "premium" has become something of a buzzword for the company's new console, as if to emphasize that the company wants to maintain a strong hand in curating all gaming content that appears on XBLA.

NBC News asked Microsoft to comment about its reasons for not allowing developers to self-publish their work. We'll update this post when we hear back.

The production of indie games has also all but dropped off for the Xbox 360 in the lead-up to the Xbox One's release, while Sony continues to push out small and relatively cheap titles for the PlayStation 3 and handheld Vita console throughout this spring and summer.

Then again, it could just be that indie game development isn't the most pressing of Microsoft's concerns for the Xbox One. Many of Sony's games, such as Drinkbox Studios's "Guacamelee," have been warmly received by game critics, but none have made the commercial or cultural splash of a game like "Call of Duty" or even "Super Meat Boy." Sony may be opening itself up to indie developers in the hopes of finding the next "Minecraft," but it's just as likely that Microsoft isn't simply because it doesn't have to.

Update: Microsoft gave NBC News the following statement:

Xbox pioneered digital distribution of console games with Xbox LIVE Arcade opening up the console to entirely new classes of independent developers. Later, we introduced Xbox LIVE Indie Games to provide an outlet for the hobbyist creator. Xbox One is a platform that allows all creators, including those who work on games and apps, regardless of team size, funding, business model, etc. to take advantage of unique capabilities to build amazing experiences that push the limits of technology. We are committed to ensuring all Xbox platforms are the best platforms to help developers realize their visions and we look forward to sharing more details later.

Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at:ylejacq@gmail.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2c472ec0/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cmicrosoft0Eabandoning0Eindie0Egame0Edevelopers0Exbox0Eone0E6C10A0A37826/story01.htm

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Mosquito behavior may be immune response, not parasite manipulation

May 22, 2013 ? Malaria-carrying mosquitoes appear to be manipulated by the parasites they carry, but this manipulation may simply be part of the mosquitoes' immune response, according to Penn State entomologists.

"Normally, after a female mosquito ingests a blood meal, she matures her eggs and does not take another one until the meal is digested," said Lauren J. Cator, postdoctoral fellow in entomology and a member of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State. "If infected, however, mosquitoes will wait to eat until the parasites developing within the gut mature and migrate to the salivary glands."

It was thought that fasting until malaria could be transmitted was beneficial to the malaria parasite because if the female mosquito was not feeding, she was not being swatted. The return of hunger seemed to correlate with the migration of parasites to the salivary glands. The hungrier the mosquitoes are, the more they feed and the more chances to find new hosts.

Cator and colleagues who included Justin George, postdoctoral fellow; Simon Blanford, research associate; Courtney C. Murdock, postdoctoral fellow; Thomas C. Baker, professor of entomology; Andrew F. Read, professor of biology and entomology and alumni professor in biological sciences; and Matthew B. Thomas, professor of entomology, used a mouse model and showed that indeed female mosquitoes behaved in this way.

It was unclear if the malaria parasite caused the mosquitoes' response or if something else was in play. The researchers also looked at how the infected mosquitoes searched for meals and how they responded to the smell of humans. Although the mosquitoes used were biting mice, they also look to humans for a meal.

George ran the experiments testing the mosquito's sense of smell during various stages of parasite maturity and found that the mosquitoes responded to human smell much more readily once the parasites were ready to transfer to their hosts. The same was found of the meal-seeking behavior of the mosquitoes.

The researchers dissected the insects to determine the exact stage of the parasite in each mosquito they tested and what they found surprised them. They published their results in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B today (May 22).

"There were mosquitoes that took an infected blood meal, but didn't get infected or fought off the infection," said Cator. "These mosquitoes behaved in the same way as the infected mosquitoes."

The researchers then injected mosquitoes with killed E. coli to see the response. While the degree of fasting and food seeking was smaller, the noninfected, E. coli-challenged mosquitoes behaved in the same way. They fasted for about the same time and then went searching for a meal. Their responses to human smell and meal searching behavior also mirrored that of malaria-infected mosquitoes.

"Recently, a group from the Netherlands published in PLOS and while they were only looking at the mature parasites in the salivary glands, they found the same response to human odor," said Cator. "This supports that the response is a generalized response to a challenge rather than a manipulation by the malaria parasite and that our findings are probably relevant for human malaria transmission."

The National Institutes of Health supported this work.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/CrPpJiyguDk/130522142020.htm

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Yelp fires back at small business extortion claims ... - The Next Web

Yelp and its review service have once again come under fire, this time over stories where business owners claim that reviews are ?too self-centered and not trustworthy? and that it hides reviews. It looks like the company has had enough and is firing back at its critics, saying that the claims are not, and never has been, true.

In a blog post, Yelp?s Vice President of Communications & Public Affair Vince Sollitto, offered up what he says is evidence that contradicts the claims reported to the media. To be clear, the allegations that he hopes to debunk involve some believing that Yelp ?manipulates reviews and ratings to reward advertisers or punish non-advertisers.?

Sollitto cites a Harvard Business School study?as evidence that supports Yelp?s belief that it doesn?t penalize non-advertisers. Based on that specific study, it shows that the company doesn?t favor advertisers, at least by selective filtering.

In a Los Angeles Times article, journalist Sandy Banks reports that this is the complete opposite case. The story cites a local tutoring firm that received a one-star rating from a single complaint, but allegedly the positive reviews weren?t accounted for. The firm?s owner said that he was approached by Yelp to advertise, but business declined to avoid drawing attention to its one-star rating:

The salesperson claimed she couldn?t do anything directly, but would let the relevant department know. Suddenly, the negative review was gone and some positive reviews got through.

It?s near difficult, or even impossible for us to discern whether a particular rating was influenced through that interaction ? anything else is pure supposition.

But Yelp believes that it has further proof to back up its defense, coming from the legal system. Sollitto cites a 2011 decision that dismissed a class action lawsuit brought up by unhappy business owners. In that instance, Yelp faced the extortion claims over its advertising practices and ratings.

In his last point, Sollitto says that Yelp?s position is on solid footing thanks to a Google search ? yes, you?ve read that correctly. Quite candidly, he writes:

Want to see if businesses that advertise on Yelp really do get ?special treatment?? Feel free to do your own version of a simple Google test like this [site:yelp.com/biz ?Yelp sponsor? AND ?rude staff?] by inserting your own negative phrases in the last set of quotation marks.?The words ?Yelp Sponsor? only appear on pages of advertisers, which begs the question: if these Yelp advertisers get a special ?Delete? button for negative reviews, why in the world aren?t they using it? (Hint: because it doesn?t exist.) Nor is there any rational incentive for a Yelp sales team member to jeopardize his or her career by pitching a product that can?t be delivered because it doesn?t exist.

Sollitto says that people believe that Yelp is doing something nefarious because it uses an automated software service to protect users from businesses trying to ?game the system?. He acknowledges that only a small minority of companies try to write or buy favorable reviews, but anti-gaming measures are still required. However, he admits that out of the more than 39 million reviews Yelp receives, some are perfectly legitimate and do get caught up in the filter.

While not a perfect system, Sollitto believes that it?s an acceptable price to pay to prevent the service from becoming a place with dishonest reviews and ratings.

Photo credit:?Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Source: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/05/23/yelp-fires-back-at-small-business-extortion-claims/

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Aretha Franklin taking June off, postponing shows

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/aretha-franklin-taking-june-off-postponing-shows-035212521.html

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'Golfing Off' | Gifts To Go

Plenty of strategy mixed with a little luck of the draw makes for a fun way to spend some summer down time.

Nearly every weekend dinner with my adult family concludes with a fiercely competitive round of Play Nine, a lively card game loosely based on a round of traditional golf. To say we?re addicted, or at least some of are addicted, is not far from the truth.

This past weekend signaled the first weekend of school?s summer vacation and the ordinarily quiet neighborhood was host to more skateboards, scooters and bicycles than normal. It occurred to me that I spend alot of time at Gifts To Go focused on quality, educational books for children and teens and to date I?d completely overlooked the educational value of the simple, but challenging Play Nine card game we stock.

The goal of the nine holes, otherwise referred to as hands, is to transform the initial random eight cards dealt into the lowest net score. Aside from the simple eye-hand coordination of handling standard sized cards and taking turns to play, number recognition and matching are important skills that younger family members can master while playing. The initial eight are arranged face down in two rows of four cards one row neatly above the second row. At each player?s turn, one of the original eight cards can be unveiled or replaced by selecting from the previous play?s discard or drawing anew from the deck. To minimize the net score, match the top row card with the bottom row card so the pair registers zero points. And for the strong nerved players, bonus point reductions can be achieved by matching not just two cards but two sets of two cards or three sets of two cards! The game continues player to player until one goes out after uncovering all eight cards. The strategy of going out is to reduce your own score while leaving the other players with higher scores. And just for fun, there are four Hole In One cards with a negative point value which add even more drama to the game.

Family game nights have been long proven to build family ties and bridge generation gaps but in today?s age of electronic gadgety are more important than ever to building basic social skills. Pick up a set of Play Nine cards before the long weekend arrives and you?ll be prepped with a fun activity for the family, neighbors, friends, anyone!

Always available at http://onlinegiftstogo.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=42_79_92&products_id=328.

Be sure to tell us if these were a hit at your home!

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Source: http://giftstogo.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/golfing-off/

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Weekends are the best time to buy airline tickets, study finds

May 22, 2013 ? While folk wisdom has its place, the "folks" may not be so wise when it comes to shopping for airline tickets, say researchers at Texas A&M University.

"There's been this industry folk wisdom that says Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to purchase airline tickets," says Steven Puller, an associate professor of economics at Texas A&M who specializes in industrial organization. "But we couldn't find any systematic analysis to back that up."

Rather, he says, the weekend is the best time to book airline tickets because airlines are more likely to discount fares on Saturday and Sunday.

In the study "Price Discrimination By Day-Of-Week Of Purchase: Evidence From The U.S. Airline Industry," published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Puller and co-author Lisa Taylor, a former Texas A&M graduate student, found that tickets purchased on the weekend were, on average, 5 percent cheaper than similar tickets purchased on weekdays.

"We find that when you control for a large set of factors -- the day-of-week of travel, whether the ticket was refundable, the number of days in advance that the ticket was purchased, how full the flights were, and other factors -- that tickets purchased on the weekends were sold, on average, for a 5 percent discount," Puller explains.

The study further finds this weekend purchase discount is greatest on routes with a mix of both business and leisure customers. There is not much of this type of discount for leisure destinations such as Orlando or Las Vegas, Puller notes.

The researchers suggest, although do not definitively conclude, that this weekend purchase effect reflects a common practice known as "price discrimination."

This happens when the same service is sold at different prices to different buyers, in this case, based on the day of the week that an airline ticket is purchased.

Puller says the airlines try to play the odds when deciding how to price flights.

"Take a route that serves both business and leisure travelers," he explains. "If the business travelers primarily purchase tickets on weekdays, then the typical traveler buying on the weekend is more likely to be a price-sensitive leisure traveler than a business traveler. There is an incentive for the airlines to lower fares on the weekends to try to entice the price-sensitive leisure traveler to buy a ticket."

But how do the airlines know if a particular buyer is travelling for leisure or business? "They don't," Puller contends. "They're playing the odds."

The researchers conducted the study by looking at a historical archive of actual tickets purchased on all major airlines. Puller says the study compared tickets with similar characteristics rather than simply looking at the cheapest fare available.

"If you're a traveler who just wants to get from point A to point B for the cheapest price possible, then these findings may not apply to you," he notes. "But many people do care about these factors."

The researchers only studied round-trip flights with nonstop service. The study did not examine first-class airfare or the holiday travel periods around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

Puller says these results could have implications for other industries that have the ability to change prices daily based on the types of customers who purchase on a specific day. "The software systems that are used in airline pricing are used in other industries such as cruises, hotels, car rentals," he explains. "We've only analyzed airline pricing, but I wouldn't be surprised if similar pricing practices are used in these other industries as well."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/consumer_behavior/~3/UxDQmQOiHAk/130522160301.htm

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Celebrities Respond to Oklahoma Tornado on Twitter, Pray For Victims, Urge Donations

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/celebrities-respond-to-oklahoma-tornado-on-twitter-pray-for-vict/

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Pakistan's Musharraf granted bail in Bhutto case

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? A lawyer for Pakistan's former military ruler says a judge has granted Pervez Musharraf bail in a case related to the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Despite the bail, the former military strongman is to remain under house arrest on the outskirts of Islamabad in connection with two other cases against him.

Lawyer Salman Safdar said Monday that the bail was about $20,000.

Government prosecutors have accused Musharraf of being involved in the gun and suicide attack that killed Bhutto in 2007 when he was in power. They have also blamed him for not providing the former premier with enough security.

Musharraf has denied the allegations and claimed they were politically motivated.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistans-musharraf-granted-bail-bhutto-case-103856906.html

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Tunisia announces 3 cases of coronavirus, 1 death

RABAT, Morocco (AP) ? A 66-year-old Tunisian man has died from the new coronavirus following a visit to Saudi Arabia and two of his adult children were infected with it, the Tunisian Health Ministry reported.

His sons were treated and have since recovered but the rest of the family remains under medical observation, the ministry said in a statement Monday. The World Health Organization confirmed the cases of the children, but said one of them was a daughter who was with her father for part of the trip to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. There was no immediate way to reconcile the differing reports.

The cases are the first for Tunisia and indicate that the virus is slowly trickling out of Saudi Arabia, where more than 30 coronavirus cases have been reported. There have been at least 20 deaths worldwide out of 40 cases.

"These Tunisia cases haven't changed our risk assessment, but they do show the virus is still infecting people," said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for WHO in Geneva.

The Tunisian fatality, a diabetic, had been complaining of breathing problems since his return from the trip and died in a hospital in the coastal Tunisian city of Monastir. Many previous coronavirus patients have had underlying medical problems, which WHO said might have made them more susceptible to getting infected. There is no specific treatment for the disease, but the agency has issued guidelines for how doctors might treat patients, like providing oxygen therapy and avoiding strong steroids.

The new virus has been compared to SARS, an unusual pneumonia that surfaced in China then erupted into a deadly international outbreak in early 2003. Ultimately, more than 8,000 SARS cases were reported in about 30 countries and over 770 people died from it.

The new coronavirus is most closely related to a bat virus and is part of a family of viruses that cause the common cold and SARS. Experts suspect it may be jumping directly from animals like camels or goats into people, but there isn't enough proof to narrow down a species yet. The virus can cause acute respiratory disease, kidney failure and heart problems.

"We still do not have a good idea of how people are getting infected and that is a major concern," said Hartl.

Last week, WHO said it was worried about "cases that are not part of larger clusters and who do not have a history of animal contact." WHO said those cases suggest the virus may already be spreading in the community.

The Saudi Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina will receive millions of pilgrims from around the world during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which falls in July and August this year.

___

AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report from London.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tunisia-announces-3-cases-coronavirus-1-death-102328940.html

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Obama urged to make economy a bigger, bolder topic

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five months into President Barack Obama's second term, allies and former top aides worry that his overarching goal of economic opportunity has been diminished, partly drowned out by controversies seized upon by Republicans in an effort to weaken him.

The former White House insiders, including longtime Obama adviser David Axelrod, say Obama needs to make his case anew for government's role in expanding education and innovation and to give, as Obama put it in one of his early seminal speeches, "every American a fighting chance in the 21st century."

Among their suggestions is that the president deliver a major address, perhaps at a commencement, that once again places his economic vision at the center of his agenda and speaks to what continues to be the overriding concern of the American public.

Instead, absent major legislative victories, Obama's second term has become a series of small actions overshadowed by a trio of recent troubles over the administration's response to the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, the IRS's targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department's seizure of Associated Press phone records as part of a leak investigation.

"The hardest thing in the hot house of Washington in weeks like this is to get above the maelstrom and really define major issues in your own terms," Axelrod said. "They need to find big platforms, whether it's congressional addresses, commencement speeches, high-profile interviews or a combination of those things and others."

As these Democrats see it, there has been an arc of Obama addresses that have spelled out the challenge and the hope of attaining the American Dream, from a 2005 commencement address at tiny Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., to his speech in Osawatomie, Kan., in late 2011, and that the time for another one is now.

Over the last two weeks, Obama has been trying to draw attention to his job-creation ideas with small events in Austin and, on Friday, in Baltimore. The daytime visits have been coupled with modest executive initiatives that tend to garner local media attention but get lost in Washington's attention to the contentious issues of the moment.

"There does seem to be a risk of getting bogged down in noise," said Jared Bernstein, who was part of Obama's economic team when he served as Vice President Joe Biden's chief economist. "He doesn't need to get out to talk about Benghazi and the IRS and the budget deficit. He needs to talk about investment in the nation's productivity."

Obama has called for more government spending on education, public works projects, and research and development and has proposed paying for it largely with higher taxes. But after letting one tax increase on the rich pass at the beginning of the year, Republicans have steadfastly refused any further tax hikes and have resisted Obama's spending plans. The result has been a fruitless search, at least so far, for a "grand bargain" to trim the nation's long-term debt.

In the face of Republican-led investigations in Congress and with some conservatives even suggesting impeachment proceedings against the president, some Obama advisers say that boldly elevating the economy would create a sharp contrast and emphasize their belief that Republicans are overplaying their hand. They note that as dissatisfaction with Washington has grown, Obama has continued to hold a substantial edge over the Republicans in Congress.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that creating jobs is the top priority of Republicans, too, but "we're also focused on holding this administration accountable" about what happened in Libya and with the IRS.

If Obama has a single long-term governing priority, it is a deep-seated belief that advances in technology and globalization have translated into a significant consumer benefits but have also eroded middle-class gains. "The result has been the emergence of what some call a 'winner take all' economy, in which a rising tide doesn't necessarily lift all boats," he wrote in his 2006 book, "The Audacity of Hope."

The opportunity to make a broad shift toward the economy might have presented itself this week, when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that the budget deficit for 2013 will be $642 billion ? lower than estimated and half of the record $1.4 trillion hit during Obama's first year in office. Instead, that bit of news was overshadowed by the IRS, Benghazi and AP phone record controversies.

Armed with a lower deficit number, some of Obama's liberal critics say he should abandon efforts to reduce deficits and focus exclusively on jobs.

"They should declare victory," said Lawrence Mishel, president and CEO of the liberal Economic Policy Institute. "Making the big policy and political project the grand bargain has been digging us in a deeper and deeper hole."

White House officials say the time to pause and deliver the type of major address that connects Obama's policies to his core beliefs is when it has the possibility of making a major impact. For now, they say, their economic tour across the country is better suited to the moment.

"What we think that these tours do is add another dimension to the argument of what we're trying to get done with Congress," White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri said. "That this is not just about budgets, this is about steps that Congress can take legislatively and the president can take unilaterally that will create jobs and help middle-class families."

How to emphasize Obama's jobs agenda was a subject Thursday during a meeting between top White House aides and outside Democratic operatives, many of whom had worked for Bill Clinton's administration. They had been called by Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough to consult and offer ideas on how to respond to the most recent uproars. Among those attending were such Clinton aides as Paul Begala and Mike McCurry.

"What the president can do is make decisions about what he wants to talk to the American people about," said Democratic consultant Tad Devine, who also attended Thursday's meeting. "And my view is, as someone who spends time sitting in focus groups listening to voters, what's at the top of mind with them is the economy still."

___

Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-urged-economy-bigger-bolder-140833020.html

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Food Fanatic Recipes of the Week: For a Healthy, Hearty, Happy Spring

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/food-fanatic-recipes-of-the-week-for-a-healthy-hearty-happy-spri/

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Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rain forest

Public release date: 20-May-2013
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Contact: Hannah Hickey
hickeyh@uw.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington

The Amazon rain forest, popularly known as the lungs of the planet, inhales carbon dioxide as it exudes oxygen. Plants use carbon dioxide from the air to grow parts that eventually fall to the ground to decompose or get washed away by the region's plentiful rainfall.

Until recently people believed much of the rain forest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean. University of Washington research showed a decade ago that rivers exhale huge amounts of carbon dioxide though left open the question of how that was possible, since bark and stems were thought to be too tough for river bacteria to digest.

A study published this week in Nature Geoscience resolves the conundrum, proving that woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River, and that this tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath.

The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world's other rivers.

"People thought this was one of the components that just got dumped into the ocean," said first author Nick Ward, a UW doctoral student in oceanography. "We've found that terrestrial carbon is respired and basically turned into carbon dioxide as it travels down the river."

Tough lignin, which helps form the main part of woody tissue, is the second most common component of terrestrial plants. Scientists believed that much of it got buried on the seafloor to stay there for centuries or millennia. The new paper shows river bacteria break it down within two weeks, and that just 5 percent of the Amazon rainforest's carbon ever reaches the ocean.

"Rivers were once thought of as passive pipes," said co-author Jeffrey Richey, a UW professor of oceanography. "This shows they're more like metabolic hotspots."

When previous research showed how much carbon dioxide was outgassing from rivers, scientists knew it didn't add up. They speculated there might be some unknown, short-lived carbon source that freshwater bacteria could turn into carbon dioxide.

"The fact that lignin is proving to be this metabolically active is a big surprise," Richey said. "It's a mechanism for the rivers' role in the global carbon cycle it's the food for the river breath."

The Amazon alone discharges about one-fifth of the world's freshwater and plays a large role in global processes, but it also serves as a test bed for natural river ecosystems.

Richey and his collaborators have studied the Amazon River for more than three decades. Earlier research took place more than 500 miles upstream. This time the U.S. and Brazilian team sought to understand the connection between the river and ocean, which meant working at the mouth of the world's largest river a treacherous study site.

"There's a reason that no one's really studied in this area," Ward said. "Pulling it off has been quite a challenge. It's a humongous, sloppy piece of water."

The team used flat-bottomed boats to traverse the three river mouths, each so wide that you cannot see land, in water so rich with sediment that it looks like chocolate milk. Tides raise the ocean by 30 feet, reversing the flow of freshwater at the river mouth, and winds blow at up to 35 mph.

Under these conditions, Ward collected river water samples in all four seasons. He compared the original samples with ones left to sit for up to a week at river temperatures. Back at the UW, he used newly developed techniques to scan the samples for some 100 compounds, covering 95 percent of all plant-based lignin. Previous techniques could identify only 1 percent of the plant-based carbon in the water.

Based on the results, the authors estimate that about 45 percent of the Amazon's lignin breaks down in soils, 55 percent breaks down in the river system, and 5 percent reaches the ocean, where it may break down or sink to the ocean floor.

"People had just assumed, 'Well, it's not energetically feasible for an organism to break lignin apart, so why would they?'" Ward said. "We're thinking that as rain falls over the land it's taking with it these lignin compounds, but it's also taking with it the bacterial community that's really good at eating the lignin."

###

The research was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the Research Council for the State of So Paulo. Co-authors are Richard Keil at the UW; Patricia Medeiros and Patricia Yager at the University of Georgia; Daimio Brito and Alan Cunha at the Federal University of Amap in Brazil; Thorsten Dittmar at Carl von Ossietzky University in Germany; and Alex Krusche at University of So Paulo in Brazil.

For more information, contact Ward at nickward@uw.edu or 858-531-1558 and Richey at jrichey@uw.edu or 206-368-1906.

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Public release date: 20-May-2013
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Contact: Hannah Hickey
hickeyh@uw.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington

The Amazon rain forest, popularly known as the lungs of the planet, inhales carbon dioxide as it exudes oxygen. Plants use carbon dioxide from the air to grow parts that eventually fall to the ground to decompose or get washed away by the region's plentiful rainfall.

Until recently people believed much of the rain forest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean. University of Washington research showed a decade ago that rivers exhale huge amounts of carbon dioxide though left open the question of how that was possible, since bark and stems were thought to be too tough for river bacteria to digest.

A study published this week in Nature Geoscience resolves the conundrum, proving that woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River, and that this tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath.

The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world's other rivers.

"People thought this was one of the components that just got dumped into the ocean," said first author Nick Ward, a UW doctoral student in oceanography. "We've found that terrestrial carbon is respired and basically turned into carbon dioxide as it travels down the river."

Tough lignin, which helps form the main part of woody tissue, is the second most common component of terrestrial plants. Scientists believed that much of it got buried on the seafloor to stay there for centuries or millennia. The new paper shows river bacteria break it down within two weeks, and that just 5 percent of the Amazon rainforest's carbon ever reaches the ocean.

"Rivers were once thought of as passive pipes," said co-author Jeffrey Richey, a UW professor of oceanography. "This shows they're more like metabolic hotspots."

When previous research showed how much carbon dioxide was outgassing from rivers, scientists knew it didn't add up. They speculated there might be some unknown, short-lived carbon source that freshwater bacteria could turn into carbon dioxide.

"The fact that lignin is proving to be this metabolically active is a big surprise," Richey said. "It's a mechanism for the rivers' role in the global carbon cycle it's the food for the river breath."

The Amazon alone discharges about one-fifth of the world's freshwater and plays a large role in global processes, but it also serves as a test bed for natural river ecosystems.

Richey and his collaborators have studied the Amazon River for more than three decades. Earlier research took place more than 500 miles upstream. This time the U.S. and Brazilian team sought to understand the connection between the river and ocean, which meant working at the mouth of the world's largest river a treacherous study site.

"There's a reason that no one's really studied in this area," Ward said. "Pulling it off has been quite a challenge. It's a humongous, sloppy piece of water."

The team used flat-bottomed boats to traverse the three river mouths, each so wide that you cannot see land, in water so rich with sediment that it looks like chocolate milk. Tides raise the ocean by 30 feet, reversing the flow of freshwater at the river mouth, and winds blow at up to 35 mph.

Under these conditions, Ward collected river water samples in all four seasons. He compared the original samples with ones left to sit for up to a week at river temperatures. Back at the UW, he used newly developed techniques to scan the samples for some 100 compounds, covering 95 percent of all plant-based lignin. Previous techniques could identify only 1 percent of the plant-based carbon in the water.

Based on the results, the authors estimate that about 45 percent of the Amazon's lignin breaks down in soils, 55 percent breaks down in the river system, and 5 percent reaches the ocean, where it may break down or sink to the ocean floor.

"People had just assumed, 'Well, it's not energetically feasible for an organism to break lignin apart, so why would they?'" Ward said. "We're thinking that as rain falls over the land it's taking with it these lignin compounds, but it's also taking with it the bacterial community that's really good at eating the lignin."

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The research was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the Research Council for the State of So Paulo. Co-authors are Richard Keil at the UW; Patricia Medeiros and Patricia Yager at the University of Georgia; Daimio Brito and Alan Cunha at the Federal University of Amap in Brazil; Thorsten Dittmar at Carl von Ossietzky University in Germany; and Alex Krusche at University of So Paulo in Brazil.

For more information, contact Ward at nickward@uw.edu or 858-531-1558 and Richey at jrichey@uw.edu or 206-368-1906.

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/uow-are052013.php

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Exclusive: South Africa's NUM seeks 15-60 percent wage rises from gold, coal producers

By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said it would seek pay rises of up to 60 percent from gold and coal producers, raising the prospect of fresh strikes as firms battle higher costs and falling prices in an already heated labor climate.

Africa's biggest economy is hoping to avoid the 2012 wildcat strike action at platinum and gold mines that cost billions in lost revenue and production and killed over 50 people.

Mineworkers are mobilizing to assert themselves, with the NUM fighting a challenge to its once near monopoly in the shafts from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which has poached tens of thousands of platinum miners from it in a violent struggle for members.

NUM said it was seeking an entry-level minimum monthly wage of 7,000 rand ($750) for gold and coal surface workers and 8,000 rand for those underground in a submission to the country's Chamber of Mines, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Elize Strydom, the industrial relations adviser at the Chamber of Mines, said the minimum wage for surface workers is currently 4,700 rand and for underground miners it is 5,000 rand, so the demands for the latter are a 60 percent increase.

NUM also said it wanted 15 percent increases for "all other wage categories," or more experienced and skilled workers.

The chamber of mines said in a statement it had received the "proposals" from NUM and urged all parties to compromise in the talks which will begin around the middle of June.

"We appeal to all parties to explore every option in trying to reach settlement without resorting to damaging industrial action, and to reach agreements that will strike a balance between what is affordable to the companies and meets the expectations of the employees," the chamber said in a statement.

It gave no further details.

Sliding precious metals prices have raised the pressure on miners as they ready for pay talks. Spot platinum on Friday closed at $1,450 an ounce, down around 35 percent from a record high of $2,240 hit in March 2008, and most South African shafts are losing money at this price.

Gold is down about 19 percent this year, losing its safe haven allure on concern the U.S. central bank will end its extensive stimulus for the U.S. economy.

INFLATION PRESSURE

Mining companies have been awarding above-inflation wage rises over the past decade but with labor now accounting for over half their costs in South Africa, they are reaching a point where this is no longer sustainable for their income statements, especially as power and other costs climb steeply.

But even increases above inflation do not go far for workers at the bottom end of the pay scale who on average have eight dependants and are mostly drawn from poor rural areas.

South African inflation is currently running at just under 6 percent and looks set to accelerate given recent weakness in the rand currency, which investors have sold off because of concerns about labor unrest in the mining sector. Rising inflation especially for food will harden the resolve of workers.

The NUM still represents most workers in the gold and coal sectors, and to head off any challenge from AMCU in those shafts it will need to be seen taking a hard line with management.

The rivalry between the two unions triggered violence that killed over 50 people last year and tensions are running high. An AMCU organizer was murdered last weekend, prompting a 2-day strike at platinum producer Lonmin .

AMCU has not yet submitted its wage demands to platinum producers, who negotiate with unions on a company-by-company basis. But they can ill afford to be generous given current prices for the precious metal.

Anglo American Platinum , the world's top producer, now plans to cut 6,000 jobs from an initial target of 14,000 as it seeks to restore profits after falling into a loss last year. It is hardly in a position to give big pay rises after scaling back its original plan under government pressure.

Gold and coal producers negotiate through the country's chamber of mines. South African gold companies include AngloGold Ashanti , Africa's top bullion producer, Gold Fields , Harmony and Sibanye . Coal producers include Anglo American and Exxaro .

(Additional reporting by Agnieszka Flak; editing by Keiron Henderson and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-south-africas-num-seeks-15-60-percent-105230576.html

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Harvard Students Demand Investigation Into Jason Richwine's Thesis On Hispanic IQ

Think Progress:

Over 1,000 Harvard students delivered a petition to Harvard University?s JFK School on Saturday, demanding an investigation into how and why the school approved a 2009 doctoral thesis arguing that Hispanics have lower IQs. The thesis was written by Jason Richwine, a co-author of a paper by the conservative Heritage Foundation that argued immigration reform would cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion. The discovery of Richwine?s paper by the Washington Post sparked a firestorm around the Heritage study, and several days later Richwine resigned from the think tank.

Read the whole story at Think Progress

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/19/harvard-students-demand-investigation_n_3303270.html

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Algeria pilots' strike grounds national carrier | Morocco World News

ALGIERS, May 18, 2013 (AFP)

Air Algerie planes were grounded for several hours on Saturday when the national carrier?s pilots staged a wildcat strike over pay, aviation industry sources in the North African country said.

News agency APS reported pilots at Algiers airport as saying their demands related to salaries, although no official of the aircrew union was available for comment.

Morning talks between management and the union were reported to have ended in agreement, APS added.

The work stoppage caused delays not only with Air Algerie flights but also with other carriers, an airport source said, before normal operations resumed in the afternoon.

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/05/91217/algeria-pilots-strike-grounds-national-carrier/

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Glance: Europe's Key Institutions

Following the chaotic bailout of Cyprus, top European Union officials are saying it's time to rethink how the region manages its crisis ? and who should be involved.

Here is a look at the key institutions involved in Europe's economic policymaking:

?EUROPEAN UNION

An economic and political partnership among 27 European countries. It has a combined population of half a billion people and an annual economic output of some 12.8 trillion euros ($16.5 trillion). The president of the European Council, the body which brings together the leaders of the 27 EU countries, is Herman Van Rumpoy.

?EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The EU's executive arm. As well as drafting and enforcing European laws, it also runs the EU's budget, manages the day-to-day business of implementing EU policies and represents the EU internationally ? for example in the forthcoming trade talks with the U.S.. The current president of the Commission is Jose Manuel Barroso.

?EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The EU's main legislative body. It has three main roles: debating and passing European laws; scrutinizing other EU institutions to make sure they are working democratically; and debating and adopting the EU's budget.

?EUROZONE

The name given to the economic group of 17 EU countries that use the single European currency, the euro. The 17 countries are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. There is no one leader of the eurozone but its economic management is run by the....

?EUROGROUP

The meeting of the 17 finance ministers of the eurozone. It is responsible for ensuring that there is financial stability and economic growth among its members. It has also become the main decision-making body for agreeing eurozone emergency bailouts and assistance. The current president of the Eurogroup is Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

?EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

The eurozone's central bank. Its main task is to maintain price stability in the eurozone, which it does mainly by setting interest rates for the region. Its current president is Mario Draghi.

?INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Formed in 1944, the IMF is a global organization of 188 countries that provides loans, monitors and issues recommendations to help improve the economies of its members. It contributes money to the eurozone's bailouts and helps monitor the region's economy. Its current managing director is Christine Lagarde.

?TROIKA

Is a committee set up to manage and monitor the bailout loans for the eurozone countries and consists of the European Commission, ECB and IMF. No eurozone country gets a bailout until an inspection team from the troika makes sure the right political and economic measures are in place to ensure the loan gets paid back.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glance-europes-key-institutions-154118667.html

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Family Safe Following Gilbert House Fire | Northland's NewsCenter ...

By KBJR News 1

Family Safe Following Gilbert House Fire

May 17, 2013 Updated May 17, 2013 at 6:25 AM CDT

Gilbert, MN (NNCNOW.com) --- A family of five is safe this morning after their house went up in flames in Gilbert Thursday night.

Fire fighters arrived to the home on the 300 block of Wisconsin Avenue around 11 p.m. and worked well into the morning hours.

Homeowners, Chad and Michelle Robinson were in the home at the time with their three kids.

Michelle says she heard a popping sound and quickly realized one side of the house wall was on fire.

The family was able to escape safely and is staying with relatives.

Two homes nearby also suffered damages from the fire.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of the blaze.

The Fayal and Eveleth Fire Departments assisted fire suppression.

Source: http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/Family-Safe-Following-Gilbert-House-Fire-207844881.html

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U.S. chides Russia over missiles as peace plans suffer

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-chides-russia-over-missiles-peace-plans-suffer-115030682.html

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3-D modeling technology offers groundbreaking solution for engineers

May 16, 2013 ? Software developed at the University of Sheffield has the potential to enable engineers to make 'real world' safety assessments of structures and foundations with unprecedented ease.

Developed in the Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, the software can directly identify three-dimensional collapse mechanisms and provide information about margin of safety, vitally important to engineers.

A method of directly identifying two-dimensional collapse mechanisms was first developed in the Department in 2007, and commercialised through the spinout company LimitState Ltd. This method, for the first time, fully automated the hand calculation techniques that had been relied upon by engineers for decades. Software incorporating this method is now used in dozens of countries worldwide.

Now, in a study published by the Royal Society, the researchers have shown that the same basic approach can be applied to 3D problems, ensuring that real world features can be taken into account.

Professor Matthew Gilbert, who co-authored the study, says: "The software we have developed means that engineers should in future be able to model real world geometries much more easily than before, obviating the need to idealise a complex 3D problem as a much simpler 2D problem. This should lead to more reliable assessment of margin safety and, ultimately, save companies time and money on projects."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/rQuV5ALg4gg/130516105610.htm

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At least 6 dead in Texas tornadoes

GRANBURY, Texas (AP) ? A rash of tornados slammed into several small communities in North Texas overnight, leaving at least six people dead, dozens more injured and hundreds homeless. The violent spring storm scattered bodies, flattened homes, threw trailers onto cars.

In Granbury, the worst-hit city, a tornado tore through two neighborhoods around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Resident Elizabeth Tovar described the fist-sized hail that heralded the tornado's arrival, prompting her and her family to hide in their bathroom.

"We were all, like, hugging in the bathtub and that's when it started happening. I heard glass shattering and I knew my house was going," Tovar said, shaking her head. "We looked up and ... the whole ceiling was gone."

The powerful storm crushed buildings as it tore through the area, leaving some as just piles of planks and rubble. Trees and debris were scattered across yards, fences flattened.

Behind one house, a detached garage was stripped of most of its aluminum siding, the door caved in and the roof torn off. A tree behind the house was stripped of its branches and a vacant doublewide mobile home on an adjoining lot was torn apart.

Daniel and Amanda Layne initially thought they were safe sheltering under their carport. But then "it started getting worse and worse," and the couple took shelter in their bathroom, Daniel Layne said.

"The windows and the cars are gone. Both our cars are messed up. I had a big shop. Ain't a piece of it left now," Layne said with a shrug.

Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds described the devastating aftermath and the hunt for bodies in Granbury, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

"Some were found in houses. Some were found around houses," Deeds said. "There was a report that two of these people that they found were not even near their homes. So we're going to have to search the area out there."

Deeds said around midnight that 14 people were still missing but Mayor Pro Tem Nin Hulett told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday morning that he believed most residents had been accounted for.

"Our highest priority right now is to try to get the people that are out there in those communities under a shelter somewhere," Hulett said.

Deeds said about 50 people were taken to a hospital in Granbury. Yet more gathered at a local elementary school where paramedics provided on-site treatment. Matt Zavadsky, a spokesman for MedStar Mobile Healthcare, estimated that as many as 100 people were injured.

Utilities said about 20,000 homes and businesses were without power early Thursday.

Another tornado that storm spotters told the National Weather Service was a mile wide tore through Cleburne, a courthouse city of about 30,000 about 25 miles southeast of Granbury.

Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain said early Thursday that no one was killed or seriously hurt, although seven people suffered minor injuries. He estimated that dozens of homes were damaged and declared a local disaster.

In one neighborhood, a trucking company trailer that had been parked on the street was picked up and dropped onto a nearby car and garage.

Another tornado hit the small town of Millsap, about 40 miles west of Fort Worth. Parker County Judge Mark Kelley said roof damage was reported to several houses and a barn was destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

Hail as large as grapefruit also pelted the area around Mineral Wells on Wednesday evening. A police dispatcher reported only minor damage.

___

Associated Press writers Terry Wallace and Jamie Stengle in Dallas and freelance photographer Mike Fuentes contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/least-6-confirmed-dead-texas-tornadoes-112738025.html

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iOS 6 approved for use on American military networks

The Defense Department has officially given the thumbs up to Apple devices running iOS 6 -- paving the way for iPhones and iPads to become standard issue around the Pentagon. The move was hardly shocking. In fact, the Wall Street Journal had it on good authority weeks ago that the DoD was planning to give iOS its seal of approval. With Samsung devices running the Knox security suite and BlackBerry 10 already trickling into the hands of Pentagon employees, the decision sets the stage for a three-way bout for military market supremacy. And we're sure the government drones can't pick sides fast enough. After all, who wants to live under the tyranny of BlackBerry 7 any longer than necessary?

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Bloomberg

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/17/ios-6-approved-for-use-on-american-military-networks/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Chat now: Is half of America really mentally ill at some point?

By Alasdair Fotheringham VAJONT, Italy, May 15 (Reuters) - A chest infection was the latest setback to hit Britain's pre-race favourite Bradley Wiggins on the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday. Tour de France champion Wiggins, finished the 11th stage in the main pack behind winner Ramunas Navardauskas to stay fourth overall, two minutes five seconds behind leader Vincenzo Nibali. "I'm not feeling very good at the moment, I've had a pretty rough 24 hours," Wiggins told reporters. "I've got a chest infection and a bog-standard head cold. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/is-half-of-america-really-mentally-ill-at-some-point--a-yahoo--news-chat-141351442.html

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When green means danger: A stunning new species of palm-pitviper from Honduras

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A new species of green palm-pitviper of the genus Bothriechis is described from a seriously threatened cloud forest reserve in northern Honduras. Because of similarity in color pattern and scalation, the new species (Bothriechis guifarroi) was previously confused with other Honduran palm pitvipers. Genetic analysis revealed that the closest relatives of the new species are actually found over 600 km to the south, in the mountains of Costa Rica. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys.

The gorgeous new species was discovered by scientists during two expeditions in 2010 aimed at studying the fauna of Texiguat Wildlife Refuge, one of the most endemism-rich and diverse highland forests in Mesoamerica. This beautiful, but highly toxic, snake represents the 15th endemic species occurring in the region. Texiguat Wildlife Refuge was created in 1987 to protect populations of wildlife such as the famous but elusive jaguar and Central America tapir, as well as howler and white-faced monkeys, sloths, and a variety of endemic amphibians, reptiles, and plants.

To draw attention to the dedication and sacrifice of many grassroots conservationists in Honduras and Central America, the new species was named in honor of Mario Guifarro of Olancho. Guifarro was a former hunter and gold miner who became an outspoken conservationist when he saw the vast rainforests of eastern Honduras being destroyed and converted to cattle ranches. After years of threats and multiple attempts on his life, Guifarro was ambushed and murdered on 15 September 2007 while on a mission to delimit a biosphere reserve for the indigenous Tawahka.

The lead author of the study Dr Josiah Townsend, Department of Biology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, comments on the importance of the discovery and conservation status of the new species: "The description of Bothriechis guifarroi has important implications for Central American biogeography as well as conservation. We recommend that B. guifarroi be immediately classified as Critically Endangered due to its limited known area of occurrence and the potential for anthropogenic damage to its habitat. We also consider that this species warrants immediate consideration for protection under CITES, given its striking appearance and high potential for exploitation in the pet trade."

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Townsend JH, Medina-Flores M, Wilson LD, Jadin RC, Austin JD (2013) A relict lineage and new species of green palm-pitviper (Squamata, Viperidae, Bothriechis) from the Chort?s Highlands of Mesoamerica. ZooKeys 298: 77, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.298.4834

Pensoft Publishers: http://www.pensoft.net

Thanks to Pensoft Publishers for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128272/When_green_means_danger__A_stunning_new_species_of_palm_pitviper_from_Honduras

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The Lead: CIA role underreported (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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