Being a DJ one of my biggest grievances with iTunes is the silent gap that iTunes (and the iPod) inserts between songs. For a lot of people this "gap" isn't a big deal because the music they listen to was intended to have a second or two of silence between tracks.
Being a DJ one of my biggest grievances with iTunes is the silent gap that iTunes (and the iPod) inserts between songs. For a lot of people this "gap" isn't a big deal because the music they listen to was intended to have a second or two of silence between tracks. The problem is with music that was intended to play from one song into another without gaps like DJ mixes, live performances, operatic rock 'n roll, jam bands and classical.
One gapless workaround was to rip your CDs into a single long AIFF then load that onto your iPod, but the disadvantage is that you lose individual tracks' ID3 tags. You can now skip between tracks by exporting the file with chapters, but who wants to go through all the trouble? A less elegant cheat is to enable iTunes' Crossfade Playback option in Preferences > Playback. While crossfade eliminates the gap it doesn't give the best results. Music gets out of sync and beats don't match.
I listen to a lot of DJ mixes and operatic rock 'n roll bands like Pink Floyd so easily my favorite new feature in iTunes 7 is the gapless playback option. The best part is that gapless playback isn't just for music purchased from the iTunes Store, when you first launch iTunes 7 it scans your library for music that shouldn't have gaps and just makes it so.
I'm not sure what the algorithm is for detecting gapless songs (maybe it searches for songs that don't fade to silence at the beginning or end) but I know that I like it. Dark Side of the Moon never sounded so good. Thanks Apple.
What is your favorite iTunes 7 feature?


1. Bundle up under a beanie or ear warmer that actually adds to your outfit.
Get the hat from Forever 21 for $7.90 and the crown ear warmer from Aerie for $15.95.
2. Layer a turtleneck under a summer dress so you can wear your favorite pieces year-round.
Get a non-bulky cropped turtleneck from Forever 21 for $7.90 (sizes S–L) or a layering turtleneck from Land's End for $29.50 (sizes XS–3X).
3. Tuck a pair of Ugg liners into your fashionable boots for an extra dose of warmth and cushion.
So you can actually wear your cute boots all winter long.
4. Master the art of tucking jeans into your boots without any bunching.
5. Keep your shoes looking spiffy with a leather conditioner that restores AND protects.
6. Break dumb rules by dressing in effortlessly cool winter white.
No white after Labor Day? BUH-BYE.
7. Get the pills off your favorite sweaters with an electric defuzzer that does all the work for you.
8. Don’t banish your favorite shorts to storage — layer them with fleece-lined tights to wear all winter.
You'll stay warm even while frolicking in the snow.
Get a pair of highly rated fleece-lined tights from Amazon for $10.50.
9. Add a faux-fur collar to the coat you already have for a dose of old Hollywood vibes.
Get it from Aerie for $34.95.
10. Try a leopard-print coat that makes literally every outfit look better.
Who even cares what you’re wearing underneath?
Get a wool version from Asos for $121 and a faux-fur option from Zara for $129.
11. DIY a cape with a giant blanket scarf and a belt.
Cozy + cute, the ideal combo.
Get a warm blanket scarf from Modcloth for $16.99.
12. And learn a lots of great ways to tie your scarf for a different look whenever you want.
Make one scarf look amazing the whole winter.
Check out the awesome ideas here!
13. Rock funky tights to transform your old LBD into a different look every time you wear it.
Get the left pair from Eloquii for $22.90 (14/16–22/24) and the right pair from Asos for $12.50 (S–L).
14. Add an extra bit of warmth by layering over-the-knee socks over your tights.
With a peek of your funky tights showing at the top.
Check out the selection of over-the-knee socks at Forever 21 here.
15. Harness the power of the cold by sticking your tights in the freezer to prevent runs.
Never say the cold didn’t do anything for you.
16. Up your layering game with sherpa-lined flannel for extra warmth.
Bonus: Mix the plaid with another pattern to kick it up a notch.
Get it from L.L. Bean for $64. Sizes: XXS–3X. Available in six colors.
17. Learn how to hang your sweaters so you don’t have sloppy shoulder bumps that don’t fit.
Check out how to do it here.
18. Invest in a good pair of boots that 1) are comfy, 2) will actually last, 3) are super cute.
Check a boot list curated from Amazon here.
19. Brighten up gray winter days with a pastel coat that will put a smile on your face.
It’ll hide the rest of your all-black outfit.
Get the left coat from H&M for $129 (sizes: 2–16) and the right coat from Eloquii for $199.90 (sizes:14/16–22/24).
20. Brighten up the same ole boots you wear every day with fun socks.
Get the left pair from Many Mornings on Etsy for $9.95, the middle pair from Topshop for $6, and the right pair from Urban Outfitters for $8.
21. Most importantly, stay ~actually~ warm.
Who cares about looking cute if you're shivering? Invest in a warm coat that's cute enough to put on when you need it.
Get this coat (Uniqlo's warmest ever) for $99.90. Sizes: XS–XXL. Available in five colors. It's water-resistant and even has an extra removable fleece lining for a boost of warmth.
Be warm. Be stylish. Beyoncé.


The head of Germany’s Jewish umbrella organization is calling on Germany to review – and possibly cancel – pension payments to former SS members who were injured during World War II, and who are living abroad.
Schuster spoke with the newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, which reported that more than 2,000 former SS soldiers outside Germany receive state pensions averaging about $370 a month, plus special health care allowances. Some recipients are non-German collaborators, who were injured while serving with the Nazi forces. They reportedly had been promised pensions by the Nazi authorities.
The benefits come through the Federal Pension Act, which was passed in 1950 to support war victims, whether civilians or veterans of the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS.
Germany is already checking on the cases of four retirees living in the Netherlands. According to German law, membership in the SS alone is not a reason for denying a pension or compensation claim. The individual must be found to have participated in crimes against humanity or the rule of law, the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung reported.
Germany’s Ministry of Labor indicated that there are 18 recipients of such pensions in Belgium and 49 in Switzerland. The ministry said none of the recipients in Belgium are former SS members, but an historian and three members of the Belgian parliament demanded three years ago that Germany reveal the names of the pension recipients.
A ministry spokesperson told the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung that the payments are not made for service in the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS per se, but rather as compensation for injuries received while serving.
Meanwhile, the number of recipients is dwindling; reportedly, 33 died in the past month.


This must be one of the most leaked phones in the history of tech blogs. Found in a newspaper yesterday, this Verizon advert shows the Droid 2, keyboard splayed and all, with the words "coming soon." Yes, but when?


Joindre Capital Services is bullish on Sequent Scientific has recommended buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 116 in its research report dated April 15, 2019.
Incorporated in 1985, SeQuent Scientific Ltd (SSL) undertakes its animal health business via Alivira Animal Health Limited, which is engaged in manufacturing veterinary APIs and formulations. Earlier SSL was engaged in the manufacturing human APIs, which has been demerged with effect from October, 2017. SSL is now involved in manufacturing ‗Praziquantel‘– a human and animal API and intermediates. SSL‘s subsidiary - SeQuent Research Limited - offers analytical services to the pharma industry. SSL‘s (consolidated) portfolio consists of about 23 commercial products in animal health API and over 500 products across 12 dosage forms. Post demerger of the human API business, it has 7 manufacturing facilities across India, Spain,Turkey, Brazi and Germany.
SeQuent trades at a attractive EV/EBIDTA of 11x on FY21E and hence we believe that the SeQuent stock should be purchased at the current price for a price target of around Rs 116 over the next 18 months.


Also: Police looking for three women in CVS theft; three charged after being caught with drugs in a car; man gave police a fake name.
SHIPPENSBURG - Jason Allen Cromer, Carlisle, is charged with drug delivery resulting in death in connection with the fatal overdose of an individual who was found dead April 5 in Shippensburg.
Testing determined the victim, 35, had ingested acryl fentanyl, a derivative of fentanyl.
Police identified Cromer as the person they believe provided the drugs to the victim, and an arrest warrant was issued on April 17. The Cumberland County Probation and Parole Department apprehended Cromer on April 18.
In addition to drug delivery resulting in death, Cromer is charged with criminal use of a communications facility; manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; and involuntary manslaughter.
A preliminary hearing was held April 23. Cromer is being held on $200,000 bail pending a trial.
RETAIL THEFT: Police are looking for three women who are suspected of stealing makeup from CVS, 415 E. Queen St., earlier this month.
According to Chambersburg Police, a store manager contacted the police department at about 9:44 p.m. April 12 to report the possible theft. The manager said three women entered the store just before 5 p.m., went and walked around the makeup aisle, then gained entry into the bathroom and took merchandise inside with them. The manager then found several pieces of packaging in the trash can in the bathroom.
Police provided a surveillance photo that shows three women whom police said are persons of interest. Anyone with information should call police at 717-264-4131 or leave a tip at the Crimewatch website, https://franklin.crimewatchpa.com/chambersburgpd.
DRUGS: At least two people were arrested and charged after police responded to a call April 21 of people using drugs in a silver Cadillac in the rear of 108 Lincoln Way West.
Rana Rand, 21, a passenger in the vehicle, was found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana and "multiple small glass crack pipes which still contained residue and burn marks from recent use," according to Chambersburg Police. She was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Alissa Timothe, 19, the driver of the vehicle, was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia as well as possession of a controlled substance. Police found multiple needles in the vehicle, which she admitted using to inject heroin, and several crack pipes with residue inside, police said. Police also found a small bag of heroin.
Christopher Falbo, 21, was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after he was found in the vehicle, police said.
FALSE ID: Tyon Harris, 27, is accused of giving police a false name and birth date when officers questioned him April 17 about an altercation on West King Street, according to Chambersburg Police. After police determined his true identity, officers learned he had two outstanding warrants for his arrest. He was charged with providing false identification to police and put in Franklin County Jail.


Check out the annual report: Arnold's name comes right after CEO A.G. Lafley's - and that may understate her importance. Arnold is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the three global business units in the $76 billion company. An organic growth goal of 4% to 6% annually means adding billions of dollars to the top line every year. But Arnold has done it before, transforming the once-sleepy health and beauty business.


Montgomerie said he'll use all 12 of his players on the opening day of play.
CHAMBOURCY, France (AP) -- European captain Colin Montgomerie told his players who their partners will be in the opening series of matches next month against the United States in the Ryder Cup.
Montgomerie would not reveal his pairings for the fourballs and foursomes, but said Wednesday that he will use all 12 members of the team on opening day.
He did disclose two likely pairings. Brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari will play a match together, as will Northern Irish pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.
The United States begins defense of its title on Oct. 1 at Celtic Manor in Wales.
"I know who is going to be on that first tee on Friday," Montgomerie said. "Barring, of course, accident or illness or a complete lack of comfort by a player with that position.
"And the players know already. It's important to let the players know earlier than not. There's no point in me keeping secrets."
At Brookline in 1999, Europe captain Mark James left three rookies on the bench until the final day of singles when the United States rallied from 10-6 down to claim victory.
Montgomerie said he wants every player to compete on the first day.
"I have spoken to them all either on the phone or by text," he said. "They are all absolutely up and raring to go."
Montgomerie said some pairings were obvious.
"The Molinaris will play a match together. I don't think that was a difficult decision," he said. "And it's likely Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will play a match together."
He'll make the other pairings public on the eve of the event, he said.


Yusuf Carter’s cheering section picked a good game to attend.
With a section of family members and friends looking on from just in front of the press box, Carter collected three hits and three RBIs Saturday night as the Patriots dropped the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 8-3 at TD Bank Ballpark.
As part of an unlikely six-run explosion in the first inning, Justin Huber had a RBI single and Josh Pressley and Jeff Nettles had back-to-back RBI doubles. Carter capped the rally with a two-run home run.
Southern Maryland starter Brian Slocum entered the game with a sub-2.00 ERA.
Derrick Gordon was brilliant for the second time in as many starts since joining the Patriots. He struck out eight and allowed one run in six innings to improve to 2-0.
The complexion of Father’s Day changed for Jason Anderson inside of an intensive care unit.
Seven months ago, in that emotional setting, he and his wife, Brittany, broke the news that they were expecting their first child to Jason’s cancer-stricken father.
“That was the last time I saw him smile,” Anderson said.
Roger Eldridge died of multiple forms of cancer at an Indiana hospital on the day after Thanksgiving with the knowledge that his son was beginning a new chapter of his life.
Anderson, a relief pitcher for the Somerset Patriots, is spending his first Father’s Day as an expectant dad with Brittany, who is due to give birth to a son on June 25. He flew home to Illinois prior to Saturday’s 8-3 victory against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs as part of a 10-day leave of absence from the Patriots.


Stickis, which we covered briefly back in October last year is launching its service this afternoon. Stickis, at first glance is a FireFox and Internet Explorer plugin much like other web annotation programs, such as Fleck, Diigo, and Trailfire. Stickis does do the webpage “sticky note” annotation of these programs. However, Stickis is not just about marking up a single page. It is about creating and subscribing to “channels” of these notes and other data sources.
The channels can consist of notes left by people, RSS feeds (blogs), and even specialized data channels for web services such as OpenTable or Yelp. When you subscribe to a channel, be it another user’s “sticky notes” or Yelp reviews, that channel is added to your network and begins to populate, in reverse chronological order, a collapsible tray that’s tucked away on the side of your browser screen. Then, when you visit a page, such as TechCrunch, that tray is populated with summaries of any related notes or reviews from you network through an analysis of the url and tags of your current page and those included in the note. One click on a summary brings up the sticky note.
Stickis does a deeper analysis for the web service channels such as OpenTable and Yelp, which makes it possible for a restaurant’s Yelp review and OpenTable reservation search widget to pop up in my tray when I go a page linking to a restaurant. I believe this contextual method makes it a much more consumable service than others, which require you actively seek out information by visiting an annotated page. It also allows for greater control of what data you see because of the subscription based method.
Creating notes is done with a fairly robust WISIWYG editor, allowing users to style text and backgrounds, as well as embed photos and movies by drag and drop. This makes it very easy to go through Flickr and start commenting away. Without the plugin installed users are still treated to a proxied version of the site with an AJAX version of the Stickis layered on top like this. A note or several notes can be replied to and even leave trackbacks when they link to blogs, because your personal Stickis channel page is in fact a personal blog where notes are stored as taggble posts. This can also be changed to post to a personal blog instead. Replies to notes will not clog your tray because you will only see the channels you subscribe to. You will see that a reply was made to a note, however, and can click through to it. If you see something you like, you can add the note’s creator to your network of channels.
Stickis is based in San Francisco and currently funded by about a million dollars in angel financing. They plan to monetize the business through the third type of Stickis content channel: web services. The hope is that Stickis will provide an easier and more relevant way for surfers to get a publisher’s content, drive more traffic to their site, and use their services. Yelp and OpenTable serve as the first vertical they are testing this out with. It’s easy to imagine some other verticals as well, such as concert ticket sales or travel accommodations. There’s no specific talk about how payments would be structured but affiliate fees seem the most sensible.


Keith Urban was back to work on Friday, giving his first performance since undergoing throat surgery in November.
According to Us Weekly, the singer performed Long Hot Summer, Making Memories of Us, You Gonna Fly and other hits for a sold-out crowd at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
The performance reportedly marked the last show for the 61-year-old stage that will be replaced next week.


Close to Torre Materita, in the charming Via Vecchia del Faro there is Villa Casa Tua, a villa of authentic beauty and elegance. The villa, accessible by car, with large parking for up to eight cars, stands in all its stunning grandeur. A garden of 5,000 sqm surrounds and divides it from other properties, large spaces and large panoramic terraces make it a place of great charm. The villa is divided into two units. The ground floor features a large living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a master bedroom with dressing room and en-suite bathroom. A space with showers and dressing room, serving the swimming pool, complete this first unit. The second unit consists of a living room that leads to a magnificent terrace from which it seems to touch the island of Ischia. There are also three bedrooms and two bathrooms as well as a kitchen that give direct access to the back of the terrace. The terrace, a true marvel of this property, surrounds this floor. The stunning views and the backside area equipped with wood-burning oven and outdoor dining area give vitality at a dwelling that can be experienced in every space. A large pool with a sun terrace around it are the real pearls of the villa. The house already has permission to build a tennis court. Nothing can be missing in this lovely residence, sophisticated and exclusive!


Police are now trying to find out if there is surveillance video showing actor Philip Seymour Hoffman withdrawing money from an ATM on the day before his death.
Philip Seymour Hoffman withdrew $1,200 from an ATM at a supermarket near his New York City apartment the night before he was found lifeless in his bathroom with a syringe still in his left arm, sources told NBC News.
The Oscar-winning actor, 46, withdrew the money in six transactions while talking to two men wearing messengers bags around 8 p.m. Saturday, sources said, citing bank records.
Hoffman was found dead hours later in his Greenwich Village apartment after an apparent drug overdose.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News on Monday that officials who searched Hoffman's apartment found 49 full bags of heroin, 23 empty bags of heroin, four bags of white powder believed to be cocaine, as well as various prescription drugs.
Detectives are investigating whether Hoffman purchased the drugs the night before he was found dead. No amount of money approaching $1,200 was discovered during the search of the apartment.
Investigators are trying to piece together Hoffman's last hours. He lunched at The Standard Grill, a Manhattan restaurant, on Saturday afternoon and paid a $120 bill, sources tell NBC.
Shortly before Hoffman withdrew the cash Saturday night, he spoke with his longtime partner, Mimi O'Donnell, on the telephone. She later told authorities that the actor seemed to be high during their conversation. It is the last confirmed contact with Hoffman.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, was found dead in his New York City apartment Sunday.
The two labeled “brands” of heroin found in the apartment — “Ace of Spades” and “Ace of Hearts” — tested positive for heroin, although more sophisticated tests that will confirm the purity of the drug are still ongoing.
A law enforcement official told NBC News that toxicology tests, which could take a few days to complete, will likely determine the actor’s cause of death. It was unclear Monday if the heroin Hoffman had injected was tainted or if he took too much of the drug.
Multiple law enforcement sources told NBC News that authorities found six bottles of prescription drugs — including the blood pressure medication clonidine hydrochloride; the addiction treatment drug buprenorphine; the attention-deficit disorder treatment drug vyvanse; the anti-anxiety drug hydroxyzine; and the muscle relaxer methocarbamol.
Hoffman had spoken openly about past substance abuse battles, saying he quit using drugs and alcohol and "got sober" at 22 years old.
But in early 2013, Hoffman checked himself into rehab for 10 days. He told TMZ that he had begun using prescription medicines, and his use escalated to heroin.
Hoffman's publicist, Karen Samfilippo, said in a statement Tuesday that the actor would be buried in a private funeral service in New York but did not say if that meant the city or elswhere in the state and did not say when.
NBC News' Jonathan Dienst, Katy Tur and Daniel Arkin contributed to this report.


ADDIS ABABA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines and the government of Chad have signed an agreement to launch Chad’s new national carrier on Oct. 1, officials said on Friday.
Ethiopia’s state-owned flag carrier is in talks with a number of African states to acquire stakes and manage operations - a strategy aimed at gaining a competitive advantage against rivals such as those in the Gulf.
The airline is ranked by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the largest carrier in Africa by revenue and profit, outpacing regional competitors Kenya Airways and South African Airways.
On Friday, the head of Chad’s Civil Aviation Authority Mahamat Adjam told Reuters the new company will be named ‘Tchadia Airlines’, with the government owning 51 percent and Ethiopian Airlines the rest.
“The inaugural flight is planned for October 1 but the first destination has yet to be determined,” he said, adding the carrier would start off with a fleet of two Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes.
“It (the airline) will serve the four main cities in Chad and traffic to neighbouring countries,” Adjam said.
The move will help Chad as it will improve its international air connections. In 2012, Chadian authorities suspended international flights operated by state carrier Toumai Air after an investigation revealed serious safety problems.
The carrier operated flights to regional destinations including neighbouring Cameroon, Gabon and Ivory Coast. It also operated seasonal routes to Saudi Arabia and Dubai.
For Ethiopian Airlines, the partnership is another step in its efforts to work with national carriers across the continent.
The company has been in talks with Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea to set up carriers through joint ventures, and also aims to create a new airline in Mozambique that it will fully own.
Ethiopian Airlines is the frontrunner to set up and manage a new national carrier for Nigeria and has signed an agreement with the Zambian government to relaunch Zambia’s flag carrier at an initial cost of $30 million.
Last month, Ethiopian Airlines announced that net profit in the 2017/18 financial year rose to $233 million from $229 million the previous year.


Although the men’s cross country team is just two races into the 2010 season, only two weeks stand between the Red and Oct. 29’s Heps. While most of Cornell’s fall teams have numerous competitions or games under their belts at this stage in the season, the Red will enter the postseason with questions rather than answers based on the team’s performances at the Army and Paul Short races. After all, despite a comfortable margin of victory over West Point’s perennially competitive squad, Cornell fell to two Ivy league teams — Columbia and Dartmouth — at the Paul Short Invitational on Oct. 1.
However, due to the training cycles typical of distance running, the Red’s senior members are concerned less with results at this stage of the season, and more with quality of running in hard workouts and training.
“The meets so far have been a little less than what we would have hoped for, but we’ve had a pretty solid week of training and people are feeling really good moving into the championship races,” said senior Nate Edelman, who led Cornell at Paul Short with a 15th-place finish.
“We never like to lose to other Ivy league teams, but we’re pretty confident. … I think last year at Paul Short we lost to Dartmouth but beat them at Heps. We think we’re really good at timing our peaks right,” Edelman said.
The Red also points to other positive developments on a squad initially expected to be dominated by seniors and sophomores this year. Cornell has enjoyed freshman talent in the top seven, due to the strong performances of Gabe Heck and David Forward.
“Gabe Heck has been doing very well, especially for a freshman. He did well at Army and was top five at Paul Short … he’s exceeded expectations,” said sophomore team manager Kevin Johnson Jr., who led the Red freshmen last year and is recovering from season-ending surgery this fall.
In addition, Cornell will welcome the return of senior captain Matt Da Silva, who had been sidelined due to NCAA eligibility issues, as he is in his fifth year of cross country as a transfer from Purdue last season. Da Silva spent much of last year as the No. 2 runner behind Edelman.
The addition of Da Silva will also help to minimize the large spread between the 1-2 punch of Dannemiller and Edelman and the rest of the Red pack, by providing an experienced, proven runner able to lead a group and stick close to the other two seniors throughout races.
“The upperclassmen — Nate and Adrien — ran very well at Army and there was a gap between them [and the pack], but at the next race the gap was a lot smaller between them and the sophomore pack,” Johnson said.


The bullish divergence of the hourly chart relative strength index (RSI) has set the stage for a notable corrective rally toward the 10-day moving average (MA), however, the downward (bearish) sloping 50-hour MA is capping gains.
Acceptance above the 50-hour MA could set the tone for a stronger corrective rally, however, the gains will likely be short-lived as the head-and-shoulders breakdown witnessed on Sep. 7 turned the tide in favor of the bears. Further, the 5-day and 10-day MAs are trending south in favor of the bears.


There are plenty of question marks surrounding Kyler Murray as an NFL quarterback, but the way scouts view him is not nearly as important as the way team executives feel about the former Oklahoma star. For that reason, Murray still has a great shot at being taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Jason Cole of FanSided spoke with six NFL executives who believe there’s a good chance Murray will be a first-round pick. However, he will obviously have to commit to playing football before any team invests that much in him.
We’ve already heard that the majority of talent evaluators view Murray as a second- or third-round pick, but the opinion scouts have of players and where they end up getting drafted is not always aligned. That is particularly true with quarterbacks. Murray may have legitimate height concerns, but he’s only three inches shorter than Baker Mayfield. Mayfield came from the exact same college system as Murray and was the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft.
Murray has yet to commit to playing football and could still end up joining the Oakland A’s, and there are apparently concerns about him beyond his physical makeup. Still, it would be a surprise if he slipped into the second round with so many teams desperate for a franchise quarterback. That’s almost certainly why NFL executives believe he will go early.


For the first time in over two decades, the No. 1 song in America is primarily in Spanish, and the significance of that accomplishment is not lost on the two artists who fronted the original version of the song. Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi, two of the biggest names in the Latin music world before their latest single was released, collaborated on the track "Despacito," which was working its way up the charts all across the planet and doing very well for a song in Spanish...and then Justin Bieber got his hands on it and added a verse, and the rest is history.
"Despacito"" wasted no time in bolting up the Hot 100, and it has now led the charge for two weeks in a row, and it's likely that more frames at the top are in store for the catchy tune.
I spoke with Daddy Yankee recently just before he went on stage to perform during the season finale of The Voice, and I don't think he could have sounded more excited about what's been going on over the past few months.
Hugh McIntyre: How did you and Luis Fonsi get together to make this song?
Daddy Yankee: It was very interesting. Luis showed me the song and I created my verse and then "pacito pacito" over the hook that he had already and I think the combination of the "Despacito" and my creative of "pasito a pasito," they really make a good mix and drive attention from the audience.
McIntyre: So, the credit for the hook goes to you?
Yankee: Not the pre-hook, the "pacito pacito." You know? He had the whole verse and then he showed me the "Despacito" in the intro in the hook, and I told him, “You know, that's special!” That's how we got together to work on the song.
McIntyre: When you guys crafted this, did you know that it was going to be a hit when it was done?
Yankee: Yes, but it was unpredictable. We knew that we had something special, but at the end of the day, the people, they are the judges, so you can bet on that one song, but at the end of the day, people decide what's going to be a hit or not. But, we definitely... We had our intuition that we had something special.
McIntyre: How did you feel when the song was released and it immediately performed extremely well in a number of countries?
Yankee: Like everybody else! For me, it was big impression watching the numbers on YouTube. Everybody was programming the song into their stations in every country. It was unpredictable for me. It was amazing. It was a phenomenon, it was spontaneous and organic. We were not planning any of this.
McIntyre: How did you find out that Justin Bieber had heard this song and was interested in doing something with it?
Yankee: What I heard was that he was in Colombia at a club, and he heard the song. Very natural. He jumped on the phone, and you know that Justin... He always does a great job when he comes to interpretation.
McIntyre: Yeah, he did a great job on it.
Yankee: Of course, I like the way he flows. I like his music a lot.
McIntyre: When you heard Bieber recorded a verse and you had this remix, did you know that you had something extra special in your hands?
Yankee: Oh, definitely. Definitely. You know, Justin. He gave us another ingredient on the song. I think having two Latinos and Justin, who was born and raised in Canada... It's now a multicultural song. I think that is one of the reasons why everybody is feeling the song, because there's a lot of mixed in.
McIntyre: Now it's No. 1 in the U.S. In fact, it's number one essentially, everywhere, but it's a historical No. 1 because it's one of only three mostly Spanish chart-toppers in history. What does that make you feel?
Yankee: Oh, that's a good question. When you open the book of music history, Daddy Yankee is gonna be there, so it's all good.
It's incredible what happened. Right now, I just wanna say, "Thank you" to everybody who's listening to me around the world 'cause I just got the news that I'm number two artist most listened to around the world, so it's amazing. It's amazing. It's unbelievable right now what's happening.
We appreciate everything that everybody's talking about the song, you guys, all media because at the end of the day, that's what music is about, to unify the world.
McIntyre: Your name is out there on the charts all around the world and you've got a new presence in a lot of people's ears. What do you plan on doing for the rest of the year with that?
Yankee: Oh yes. Right now, keep making music. I think what happened with the "Despacito" actually opened a new door for me for different talents around the world to make a collaboration with Daddy Yankee, so I'm going to explore all those opportunities and options that I have right now. I'm going to have fun with it!


AMHERST - Award winning poet and professor Deborah Digges died Friday night of an apparent suicide at the McGuirk Alumni Stadium at the University of Massachusetts.
Digges, who was teaching at Tufts University in Medford, lived here for more than a decade. In 1996 she won the $50,000 Kingsley Tufts Award, the largest prize given nationally for a single piece of work, for her collection "Rough Music."
UMass spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski said that the women's lacrosse team from Temple University was practicing Friday at the stadium when they noticed a woman "in the upper reaches of the stadium."
He said they didn't pay much attention, but as they were leaving the stadium they found a woman lying on the ground just outside.
Digges, 59, was taken to Cooley Dickinson hospital in Northampton where she was pronounced dead.
Police found her car near the stadium, Blaguszewski said. Given what was found, he said police believe it was an apparent suicide.
In a 1996 interview after wining the poetry prize, Digges talked about how being a mother enriched her work.
"Kids keep you very close to experiences. You're kind of constantly thrown off track and that's good for a poet," she had said.
She had two children and a foster child then and a myriad pets. Digges had been studying to be a painter and didn't start writing poetry until she was 20, after she had her first son.
With painting, "you have to learn how to see. There has to be a cold eye as a painter. And you have to have a cold eye to write. Some part of you has to stand away ... what you see is not always beautiful."
She was the author of four poetry collections, including "Trapeze," and two memoirs, one called "The Stardust Lounge: Stories from a Boy's Adolescence," the story of her son Stephen's difficult adolescence.
Her first book, "Vesper Sparrows," won the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Prize from New York University. She received grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ingram Merrill Foundation.
According to her biography at the Tufts University Web site; "Digges loves animals and has four dogs and a cat." She volunteered at the Dakin Animal Shelter in Leverett and "frequently travels to East Africa where she works with children at the Tumaini Orphanage at the foot of Mount Kenya."
Tufts English Department Chairman Lee Edelman in an e-mail wrote that Digges "was a poet of breathtaking talent and astonishing verbal dexterity. Her poems join a keen and unsentimental intelligence with a passionate love for the particularities of things in their beauty, their transience, and their complexity.
"The passion of her poetry expressed itself as well in the passion she brought to her teaching and mentoring of students.


OXFORD United have offered two contract extensions to highly-rated teenagers as boss Pep Clotet looks to the future.
Shandon Baptiste and Malachi Napa, who signed their first professional contracts earlier this year, have been rewarded for their progress.
Midfielder Baptiste, who was only given a six-month deal to prove himself after a shoulder injury, made his senior international debut for Grenada this week.
Napa has impressed as a winger on loan at Vanarama National League South side Hampton & Richmond Borough.
Clotet, United’s manager, said: “They are very happy here and we told Shandon when he comes back (from Grenada) we’ll sit down again.
It comes a week after Josh Ruffels became the first senior player whose deal expires next summer to commit his future to United.
With other first-team regulars, including skipper Curtis Nelson, Rob Hall and Joe Rothwell, also in the final year of their contracts, Clotet is hopeful of further agreements soon.
For the U’s boss, establishing a core of young players who can develop together is key to the aim of taking the club to the next level.
And for him, it is preferable to invest in those who are already performing for the U’s than repeating the wholesale personnel changes seen this summer.
Clotet said: “What I said in the last (recruitment) meeting is to make sure we don’t get into a position like the one I found when I came here, with players in the last year of their contracts and there’s a feeling of needing to start over again.
“We need to be able to put the important stones first.
“That’s why I’m very happy Josh Ruffels signed a contract.
“It’s important we manage to make new contracts with the players we think are going to be important going forward.
“I would like the fans to remember in a few years that we managed to build a team here which managed to play together, like Bournemouth or Swansea – there was a group of players who built something and they are really loved.
“You have to weigh up a lot when it comes to whether you bring in a player from outside, or keeping a player you already have.
“Sometimes it’s better to put a better contract to keep a player longer, because they know the way you want to play and there’s always uncertainty when you bring in someone new.
“Everyone wants to win today, but when we think about developing a club strategically it’s important to understand that these are the right decisions to take.
“If you have to make more effort I think it’s fair to make it with someone who has already proved something, rather than give it to someone outside.


The mobile medical space better make some room – Panasonic, one of the kings in the rugged mobile pc space, is coming to play with the Toughbook H1 Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) sporting a digitizer by InPlay Technologies, GOBI-enabled broadband, and dual hot-swappable batteries. It will be available in January 2009 with a starting price of $2799. See this June 30 article on InPlay announcing a “major deal” with a Japanese rugged tablet pc OEM. Now we know who it was!
To better serve the growing demand for mobility in the healthcare environment, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company, manufacturer of durable, reliable Panasonic Toughbook ® mobile computers, today announced the Panasonic Toughbook H1, the first fully-rugged mobile clinical assistant (MCA) and the first device of its kind to integrate the low power Intel ® AtomÃ¢â€žÂ¢ processor. The new Toughbook H1 redefines performance and functionality for the MCA category with six hour battery life, dual hotÃ¢â‚¬”swappable batteries, standard daylight viewable screen and integrated GobiÃ¢â€žÂ¢ technology in a sealed and easily-sanitized package.
The Toughbook H1 is based on Panasonic’s innovative engineering, resulting from its own proprietary global healthcare industry research and Intel’s mobile clinical assistant (MCA) reference design. The company visited clinicians around the world to solicit feedback for the product. The resulting device improves workflow and eases clinical loads for doctors and nurses, allowing them to access patient records at the point of care and document a patient’s condition in real time. The workflow advantages offered by the H1 can help healthcare organizations maximize efficiency, which is critical as the market faces an aging population, increased demand for healthcare services and a shortage of nurses.
The Toughbook H1 MCA can help to reduce medication administration errors while helping clinicians deliver faster, safer care. With integrated RFID reader, 2.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with dual LED lights, a barcode reader, contactless smart card reader and fingerprint readers, the new Toughbook H1 MCA is a secure and intuitive platform for barcode medication administration (BCMA), vitals capture and electronic medical records (EMR) capture and review.
By leveraging Panasonic’s advanced battery technology and a low-power Intel Atom processor, the H1 offers a category-leading six hours of battery life, complemented by dual hot-swappable batteries that deliver extended life, allowing non-stop computing while on the move. This virtually eliminates down time, maximizing return on investment.
The Toughbook ® H1 has been designed for easy disinfection, reducing the risk of germs being spread from patient to patient. The device is the first MCA to offer a fanless design Ã¢â‚¬” limiting the opportunity for germs to be transported by the device Ã¢â‚¬” and also features a smooth surface with sealed buttons, a gapless LCD screen and no exposed ports.
To further aid in disinfection, a Panasonic-designed software utility can be programmed to remind users to wipe the unit down at defined intervals. The utility automatically records a successful cleaning for the hospital’s permanent records.
Panasonic is focused on delivering the industry’s most reliable mobile solutions, ensuring that practitioners and administrators can depend on their technology along the entire continuum of care.
Panasonic’s commitment to quality results in a total of more than 500 checks and tests before, during and after production, on every Toughbook unit built. The rugged H1 is MIL-STD-810F tested and is capable of withstanding three foot drops Ã¢â‚¬” similar to the height of a patient’s bed Ã¢â‚¬” while operational. The sealed unit is IP54 compliant for water-, rain- and dust-resistance and can easily handle being repeatedly sprayed and wiped with disinfectant.
The highly durable H1 is the first MCA device to be backed with a 3-year standard warranty.
In addition, Panasonic is using Intel’s MCA platform, together with the freely available Intel MCA Software Development Kit (SDK), to accelerate time-to-market for application developers by providing a development environment that is hardware agnostic. The company also offers dedicated developer support and sales training for its partners.
Customers provided significant input into the design of the H1. With its light weight, 3.4 pound design, low heat production, integrated hand strap and barcode reader placement, the Toughbook H1 offers improved ergonomics over first-generation MCA devices.
To meet the needs for mobility in both facilities and in-home health environments, the H1 offers a range of embedded wireless options including 802.11a/b/g/draft-n and Bluetooth ® 2.0. The device can also ship with Qualcomm’s new GobiÃ¢â€žÂ¢ technology, simplifying complex multi-carrier wireless deployments for IT departments. The H1 will be certified on all major networks in the US, allowing workers to stay connected regardless of their geography.
The H1 also comes with optional, next generation GPS technology allowing for location awareness with improved accuracy, faster satellite acquisition time and lower power consumption.
The Panasonic Toughbook H1 will be available worldwide in January of 2009. In the United States, the base H1 model is expected to be available at an estimated street price of $2,799 from authorized Panasonic resellers and distributors.
Panasonic Computer Solutions Company empowers the mobile workforce. The company is a unit of Panasonic Corporation of North America, which is the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC). Panasonic has delivered reliable, durable mobile solutions through its Toughbook ® line of notebook computers for fifteen years and has expanded the boundaries of wireless communications technology through a broad portfolio of products, ranging from fully rugged, industrial strength notebook computers and tablet PCs to business-rugged thin-and-light and ultraportable notebooks. A core manufacturer, Panasonic controls the entire process of design, manufacture, quality assurance, service and support. As a result, Panasonic Toughbooks are known for having the lowest failure rates in the industry. Government, industrial, and commercial usersÃ¢â‚¬”from Fortune 1,000 companies to small businessesÃ¢â‚¬”rely on solutions from Panasonic, wherever their work takes them.
All brand and company/product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies. All specifications are subject to change without notice. Information on Panasonic’s full line of notebook PCs for the mobile professional can be obtained by calling 800-662-3537 or at https://www.panasonic.com/toughbook.
This is going to put a bit of a squeeze on Motion.


The Department of History and Global Studies will offer African American History since 1865 as a course option for the first time in the spring.
The course, taught by Dr. Jeremy Elliott, assistant professor of language and literature, will cover emancipation and the civil rights movement.
The history department worked with Carl-Spain Center for Race Studies and Spiritual Action on a plan that launched at Summit in September.
Dr. Ron Morgan, professor of history and global studies and department chair, said the department is now working toward the creation of new curriculum and additional minor degree plans.
History of Mexico, taught by Dr. Ron Morgan, will be offered this spring for the first time in three years. Morgan said he plans a field trip for the class to visit the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, a library full of Latin American sources at the University of Texas at Austin.
“One thing I’m excited about is that I’ve reached out to Latino students at ACU who are interested in the subject, so I have lots of non-majors in the class,” Morgan said. “Probably about half of it or more, are students who are not history or teaching majors.
Morgan said another new cultural history class, Atlantic World, will be offered in the fall of 2019. The class will study the emergence of the Atlantic World as a world economic and cultural system from the time of Christopher Columbus and the connections between Europe, West Africa and the Americas.
Morgan said the course will also focus on the history of slave trading from Africa and the development of slave societies and cultures in Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica and the United States.


More than six years into a bull market, U.S. stocks look expensive. But it looks like Poland is on sale.
Stocks in Austria, France, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Spain also appear relatively inexpensive, based on the cyclically adjusted price/earnings ratio, or CAPE, as calculated by Joachim Klement, chief investment officer at Wellershoff & Partners, an investment consultancy based in Zurich.
This figure is also known as the Shiller price/earnings ratio, or Shiller P/E, as it was popularized by Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist and Nobel Prize winner.


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Thomas H. Stimpson, son of the late Earl and Ellen Stimpson, was born on Dec. 11, 1916 and passed away in Ft. Myers, FL on Sunday, October 23, 2011, after a lengthy illness.
He was pre-deceased by his wife, Jane M. Stimpson; a daughter, Martha Jane Stimpson; a brother, James Stimpson, and sister, Ruth Stimpson Liechti.
Surviving are two children, Thomas Junior of Denver, CO and Judith Stimpson Haller of Beaver; a granddaughter, Megan Haller, and two grandsons, Brian Haller and Jarod (Erin) Stimpson, as well as a great-granddaughter, Natalie Stimpson.
A longtime resident of Beaver County, Thomas was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Rochester, where he served as treasurer and usher for many years. After retiring from Westinghouse, he retired to Lee County, FL with his wife of 27 years, Anna (Coonie) Bell Stimpson, her three children, Robert and James (Judith) Bell and Kathy Bell (Ronald) Himes, all of the Ft. Myers area; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at Sylvania Hills Chapel at 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 7, 2011. Memorial contributions may be made to Rochester First United Methodist Church or Hope Hospice, 9470 Health Park Circle, Ft. Myers, FL 33908.


A strong economy and price-slashing on after-Christmas goods prompted heavy consumer spending at major chain stores in January, boosting sales well above expectations.
In a month known for clearances, retail sales surged compared with January a year ago for discounters and specialty stores that performed well last year and for department store chains that have struggled against their lower-priced competitors.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. saw its biggest monthly gain since May, posting a 10.3 percent increase. Sales jumped 8.5 percent at Kmart Corp. and 9.6 percent at Dayton Hudson Corp. -- which runs department stores as well as the fast-growing Target chain. Specialty chains the Limited Inc. and the Gap Inc. saw hefty increases of 11 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Sales rose 7.3 percent at Federated Department Stores Inc. The operator of Macy's and Bloomingdale's had seen its monthly sales decline during three consecutive months last fall.
Other chains -- among them American Eagle Outfitters -- continued to display an ability to adapt to the tastes of teen-agers and cater to a large group with part-time jobs and disposable cash, analysts said.
"The month of January showed the continuation of a pattern we have been witnessing for over a half-year now, that is shining performance by discount department stores," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report in Upper Montclair, N.J. "We also see that when the prices are low and there are deep markdowns, conventional department stores also can shine."
An industrywide tally of 85 chain stores by Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. showed increases averaged 8.3 percent, the strongest year-over-year sales gain since April, said Michael P. Niemira, vice president. Niemira had predicted a 6.5 percent increase.
"It was definitely better than we expected," said Kelly Armstrong, an equity retail analyst with First Union Capital Markets in Richmond, Va. "The economy in general is strong, consumer confidence is up for the third month in a row after the dip it had following the Asian crisis, the unemployment rate is high and interest rates are low."
The sales gains, which measure stores open at least a year and exclude new stores, were notable given the surge of holiday shopping via the Internet, Armstrong said. Companies such as the Gap and Wal-Mart turned in solid store increases despite growing numbers of consumers shopping on their Web sites.
Strong January sales should lead to improved profit margins for many chains over the next several months as retailers reduce post-holiday inventory levels, Armstrong said.
Retailers that struggled the most were moderately priced department stores such as J. C. Penney Co. Inc., where sales fell 0.1 percent last month, and Sears, Roebuck and Co., where sales inched up 2.6 percent. At J. C. Penney, catalog sales grew by 14.3 percent.
At Sears, some categories performed better than others, said Arthur C. Martinez, chairman and chief executive officer. "Soft-good results included strong sales of women's ready to wear -- spurred by double-digit increases in sportswear and special sizes -- as well as intimate apparel, cosmetics and fragrances."
At Macy's parent company, Federated, some of the improvements could be attributed to a shift in promotions, with home merchandise going on sale the last weekend of January rather than this month, said James M. Zimmerman, chairman and chief executive officer of Federated.
Circuit City Stores Inc. exceeded expectations and increased same-store sales by 8 percent, the chain said.
Last month's performance reflects strength in all major product categories, including personal computers, consumer electronics and major appliances, said Richard L. Sharp, chairman and chief executive officer.
"The results were achieved against the toughest prior-year comparison we have faced in this fiscal year," Sharp said.


The Headteacher of a highly regarded primary school based in East London are currently looking for a PPA Teacher to strengthen their existing team. The position would be offered on a part time basis, 3 days per week supported buy a generous inner London weighted salary.
The school are looking for a confident, outgoing and experienced Primary school teacher who is happy to teach across the KS2 primary age ranges. Qualified Teaching Status is a requirement for the position. The school are looking to undergo interviews and trial days for this position imminently.
If you would like to be considered for this PPA teacher position please send through an up to date CV in response to this advert, alternatively feel free to give Peter from Reeson Education a call on 02038410777 for more information.


According to the Federal Reserve, the percentage of American families that own a small business is at the lowest level that has ever been recorded. In a report that was just released entitled “Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2010 to 2013: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances“, the Federal Reserve revealed that small business ownership in America “fell substantially” between 2010 and 2013. Even in the midst of this so-called “economic recovery”, small business ownership in America has now fallen to an all-time low. If the economy truly was healthy, this would not be happening. And it isn’t as if Americans are flooding the labor market either. As I detailed yesterday, the labor force participation rate in this country is at a 36 year low. That would not be happening if the economy was actually healthy either. The truth is that the middle class in America is dying, and this new report from the Federal Reserve is more evidence of this very harsh reality.
In order to build wealth, middle class Americans either need to have their own businesses or they need good jobs. Sadly, the percentage of Americans that own a business continues to decline steadily. In the report that I mentioned above, the Federal Reserve says that the proportion of U.S. families that have an ownership interest in a small business fell from 13.3 percent in 2010 to a brand new all-time low of 11.7 percent in 2013.
This is one of the factors that is increasing the gap between the extremely wealthy and the rest of us in this country. And of course another of the major factors is the steady decline in good paying jobs.
That’s the picture that emerges from a survey of Harvard Business School alumni.
The Obama administration continues to tell us that the unemployment rate is “going down” and that the economy is recovering, but that does not match the reality of what most Americans are experiencing on a day to day basis.
In a few deft seconds, a “no jobs” nobody who apparently doesn’t actually have one himself, essentially explained the contents of the chart below to his silenced CNBC hosts. Over the course of 170 “jobs Fridays” since mid-2000, the latter have apparently never noticed the single most stunning fact embedded in the monthly BLS report. Namely, that outside of health and education there has not been one net new job created in the American economy since July 2000! Yes, not a single new job—as in none, nein, nichts, nada, zip!
In addition, most of the new jobs that are being “added to the economy” each month are part-time jobs. Right now, we still have 1.4 million fewer full-time jobs than we did in 2008 even though more than 100,000 people are added to the population each month.
What this means is that the middle class is shrinking.
In its Study of Consumer Finances, released every three years, the Fed found that the wealthiest 3% of American households controlled 54.4% of the nation’s wealth in 2013, a slight increase from its last survey in 2010. It’s also substantially higher from the 44.8% they held in 1989, showing how quickly the income divide has been growing over the past decade or so.
At the same time, the share of wealth held by the bottom 90% fell to 24.7% in 2013. That’s compared to 33.2% in 1989.
How close does the share of wealth for the bottom 90 percent have to go before we admit that we have a major problem on our hands?
Is there anyone out there that would be okay with it hitting zero percent?
Since the last financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has been very good to the elite.
But most of the rest of us have had a really hard time.
Until more Americans start getting good jobs and building small businesses, things are not going to turn around for the middle class.
But the policies being pursued by our politicians continue to kill good jobs and continue to kill small businesses, so I wouldn’t expect significant changes any time soon.


A team of neuroscientists has published a paper claiming it has developed a mathematical calculation that could potentially predict the tipping point of any massive event -- from a market crash to a brain seizure.
can be predicted if you have the right information. For instance, when a team of neuroscientists monitored the brain activity of a macaque while its hand was being touched in a recent study, the team could identify which chain reaction of electrical stimulation in the brain signified that sensation. By replicating the same pattern, the team could cause the macaque to "feel" that same sensation artificially. Now, in a study let by professors at the University of Sussex, along with colleagues working in psychology and physics, that kind of pattern hunting has been translated into a computer simulation that those behind it say could one day "predict calamitous events before they happen".
The team, also made up of professors from the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science and the Centre for Research in Complex Systems at Charles Sturt University in Australia, developed an equation that revealed the effects of information flow between multiple nodes. According to Lionel Barnett, lead author on the paper, they found the fact that all the elements "casually influence each other" to be of most importance.
It means we must first identify all the parts of a system, then assess the relationship between individual nodes and then their causal effect on the whole. In doing so, we can find out when the fate of a node is dependant on its own behaviour because it behaves so differently from the others, and when its fate is dependant on all other nodes. "The dynamics of complex systems -- like the brain and the economy -- depend on how their elements causally influence each other; in other words, how information flows between them," said Barnett.
'information flow' peaked at or to one side of the phase transition. While some of these results could be established by analytical maths, other had to be obtained by computer simulation.
'finite' simulations leading to ceiling effects and the like."
Using supercomputers at the Charles Sturt University in Australia, the team found that one measure called "global transfer entropy flow" reached a peak, repeatedly, "on the disordered side of the transition -- just before the tipping point".
It's the density of the information flow that anticipates the tipping point -- "all other measures peak strictly at the tipping point itself" explained Seth.
In a statement, Seth had called the implications of the study "far-reaching", suggesting it might be possible to predict calamities in the real world before they happen and affect the outcome as a result -- for instance, delivering brain stimulation before a seizure to prevent it. "This would change the course of the dynamics and prevent the seizure," he said, before suggesting its applications could spread to financial, climate sand even immune systems.
Speaking to Wired.co.uk, Seth went on to explain why he believes this really could be feasible, despite the systems discussed being so vastly different. "Financial networks and epilepsy detection, [for example]are also canonical examples of phase transitions about critical points," he said. "While the Ising model is of course a highly simplified abstraction, our findings nonetheless warrant exploration of the possibility that measures of information flow will be sensitive to transitions in these systems in well. For instance, in epilepsy, electrical activity in the brain moves to a highly ordered (hypersynchronous) state during seizures, preserving some of the important dynamical features we have studied in the Ising model. Arguably similar dynamical features characterise transitions in financial systems -- bad things happen when all the indicators start to 'move together' too much."
The proposal is along the lines of other work done by simulation software companies, including Simudyne, that suggest complexity science is the answer to decision-making. Even here, however, the company falls short of claiming it can predict the future, and acknowledges the depth of human factors and how they can interfere with mathematically-drawn conclusions. The difference here is the joint Sussex-Australia team has applied the principles of a known model and is only focussing on phase transitions. The team plans to expand on the work through further research.


UNDATED -- Lottery players in states that play Mega Millions are getting the chance to vie for the seventh-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.
The Mega Millions jackpot for tonight's (Tuesday) drawing is up to $330 million thanks to brisk sales pushing the big prize higher. That works out to about $208 million if taken as a lump sum.
The game is similar to Powerball - players try to win by matching five regular numbers plus the "Mega ball." Tickets cost $1.
The game is available in 41 states -- including Minnesota -- and the District of Columbia.


STEPHANIE ZOLLSHAN — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE Jonah King, 3, cuts out pieces of paper for his three-dimensional fantasy habitat at a workshop for kids to make imaginary worlds a reality through art inspired by the fantastical worlds of Tony DiTerlizzi, whose exhibit is on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge.
Take a guided tour of the Rube Goldberg exhibition for inspiration, and create your own contraption or simple machine. Fun for all ages.


The Company is a holding company managing its business through its subsidiaries. It markets Commercial lines property casualty insurance, Personal lines property casualty insurance, Life insurance and Investments through insurance agencies in 32 states.
The Fool has written over 100 articles on Cincinnati Financial.
CINF earnings call for the period ending December 31, 2018.
The insurance company bank has a long history of solid payouts, but can it survive the big losses from recent natural disasters?
One diversified manufacturer and two financial services companies reigned supreme.
The insurer raises its quarterly payout by 3%.
The insurance business has been good to this dividend payer.
These heavy-hitter dividend payers hit it out of the park last year.
Why haven't more people heard of these stocks?
Industry, sector and description for Cincinnati Financial.


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C & J Coins & Jewelry can be found at Main St 166. The following is offered: Coin Collecting. The entry is present with us since Sep 9, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In Woburn there are 1 other Coin Collecting. An overview can be found here.
C & J Coins & Jewelry is located at 166 Main St, Woburn, MA. This business specializes in Coin Collecting and Hobby Shops. C & J Coins & Jewelry is open Call for appointment and accepts All Major Credit Cards, American Express, Cash Only, Discover, Mastercard, Personal Checks and Visa.


Comedy Central has ordered a multi-camera sitcom from distributor Debmar-Mercury and Gary Sanchez Productions, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production shingle.
Comedy has ordered a 10 episode first season, with the option to purchase an additional 90 episodes after the initial run. Debmar-Mercury will retain the rights to take the series into syndication later on.
Jon Heder, who starred in Napoleon Dynamite and Blades of Glory, will play the lead role as a computer IT specialist who leaves the big city to move home with his parents.
Ferrell, McKay and Chris Henchy will write and produce the series, which will premiere in 2010.
"Combining the creative genius of the Gary Sanchez gang with the brilliant business model established by Mort and Ira at Debmar-Mercury should ensure many, many great laughs in the years to come on Comedy Central," says Michele Ganeless, president of Comedy Central in a statement.
Network will have 200 hours of HD programming at launch.


HOUSTON (AP) - James Harden scored 38 points and the Houston Rockets used a huge second quarter to build the lead and get an easy 112-85 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night.
The Rockets trailed by as many as seven in the first quarter, but built a 62-44 lead at halftime behind a 40-point second quarter.
Houston was up by 22 at the start of the fourth and a 5-0 run, with a 3 from Harden, made it 102-78 with five minutes remaining. Coach Mike D'Antoni cleared the bench with 3 ½ to go after the Rockets extended that run to 10-0, with another 3-pointer from Harden.
The victory is Houston's third in four games as the Rockets bounced back from a 108-94 loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
Harden, Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker managed just two 3-pointers combined against the Bucks on a night Houston went 16 for 52 from long range. The Rockets took a few less on Thursday with 40, but the trio fared way better in the area. Harden made five, Gordon added four and Tucker had one.
The Nuggets, who entered the day just a half-game behind the first-place Golden State Warriors, got 20 points from Jamal Murray as they lost for the second time in three games after winning their previous six. They did not shoot well on 3-pointers, making just four of 24, with three coming from Gary Harris.
The Rockets did a good job of feeding Clint Capela inside early and the center had 13 points and 11 rebounds by halftime. He finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
The Nuggets had cut the lead to 13 midway through the third before a 3-pointer by Gordon started a 5-0 run that made it 76-58. Denver went on a 5-1 run, with a 3-pointer from Harris, after that but Harden ended the run with a 3 that left Houston up 80-63 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.
That 3-pointer started a 10-2 run by the Rockets, with the first eight points from Harden that left them up 87-65 entering the fourth.
Nuggets: Nikola Jokic had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. ... Harris scored 11 points. ... Monte Morris scored 16 points off the bench.
Rockets: Capela extended his career-best streak of games with at least 10 rebounds to 11. ... Gordon had 18 points. ... Kenneth Faried sat out with a sore left knee. ... Gerald Green missed the game with a strained groin.
Nuggets: Visit Oklahoma City on Friday night.
Rockets: Host Kings on Saturday.


A new study finds that married couples are more aggressive when they have low blood sugar.
A candy bar might do more than just satisfy a sweet tooth. It could actually make you “sweeter” when dealing with your spouse.
A new study found that hunger is often to blame for domestic arguments. According to Bloomberg, research released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that dieting, skipping a meal, or just being hungry can be a recipe for disaster when it comes to spousal interactions.
Brad Bushman, the lead study author, said the findings are some of the first to depict the relationship between low sugar levels and the propensity for marital discord, including arguments, simple confrontations and even domestic violence.
Self-control comes in part from the fuel we give our brains. This is one of the few physiological aspects we can control. People who are hungry are often very cranky.
Voodoo dolls. The couples measured their blood sugar levels each morning and night for 21 days. Each evening they would stick up to 51 pins in a voodoo doll, depending on how mad they were at their spouse. I think it goes without saying that if you jabbed 51 pins into the doll, you were very angry.
Virtual game. At the end of the 21 days, the couples were told they were competing against their significant other in a computer game. As punishment for losing a round in the game (which was rigged by the researchers), the victor would play an irritating noise in their spouse’s earphones at whatever volume they wanted. In reality, the partner was not actually hearing the obnoxious noises.
Study participants with lower nightly blood sugar levels were more aggressive — both in “pinning” their voodoo doll and in blasting their partner with a louder noise for longer. These findings remained true even after researchers controlled the data for relationship satisfaction.
I know that I’m incredibly crabby and short-tempered when I’m hungry. I think anyone who knows me well would agree. “Krystal’s in a bad mood? Give her a cookie.” Next time I have a seemingly irrational urge to lash out at my husband, maybe I’ll take a quick trip to the kitchen instead. What a great excuse to have a bowl of ice cream.
Have you experienced being “hangry” – when you’re so hungry that you are quick to anger over the smallest things? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.


He asserted that neither the party nor he himself have said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will be banned.
Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath Monday said the BJP was "distorting" his party manifesto's reference to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to divert public attention. His statement comes a day after BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, party vice president Prabhat Jha and MP unit chief Rakesh Singh lashed out at the Congress for being "opposed to Lord Ram and the RSS".
"The BJP is intentionally fanning the RSS issue to divert people's attention from the public welfare issues mentioned in our 'Vachan Patra' (document of pledges). In our manifesto, we have not mentioned that the RSS would be banned, nor do we have any such intention," Nath told reporters here.
The Congress manifesto, released on Saturday, under a head titled 'administration reforms' reads, "The holding of RSS shakhas in government premises would be banned and the order regarding relaxation given to public servants to attend them will be revoked".
The Congress government had banned RSS activities in government premises in Madhya Pradesh in 1981. The ban was revived in 2000 by then chief minister Digvijaya Singh under the Civil Services Conduct Rule, senior journalist Rakesh Dixit said.
Thereafter, he said, the ban continued under BJP chief ministers Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur, before incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan lifted the ban in September 2006, describing the RSS as a "socio-cultural organisation and not a political outfit".
"BJP is trying to put words in our mouth. The RSS is free to hold its shakhas (classes) except in government premises. People will decide whether the RSS is a cultural or political organisation. We do not want to get into it," Nath clarified.
The Congress leader said the BJP was intentionally trying to create confusion so that the "people-friendly" points in the (Congress) agenda go ignored.
"The public is intelligent, it won't be carried away with such tactics," he remarked.
The Chhindwara MP said the Congress had incorporated the point (RSS issue) in their manifesto after getting suggestions that the RSS shakhas being held in tribal hostels and other government schools were hindering studies.
On the issue of the Ram temple, he said the BJP raises it when polls draw close.
"Where was the BJP since last four and a half years? When elections are round the corner and six months are left for it, the BJP is remembering Ram Temple," he said, adding the saffron party was running a smear campaign claiming that the Congress was against the (building of) Ram temple.
"This (RSS mention) is not an issue. I know (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah very well. They turn a non-issue into an issue," Congress spokesperson Shakti Singh Gohilhe told reporters here.
On Sunday, in a hurriedly convened press conference, Patra had claimed that the Congress believed in "mandir nahin banane denge, shakha nahin lagne denge (won't allow the temple, won't allow shakhas)".
"These are the very people who had earlier said that Lord Ram did not exist, that he was a mythical character. That is why they were opposed to the construction of the Ram temple," he had said.
Hitting out at former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, Patra had said, "Digvijaya Singh has also said that the RSS should be banned".
Likewise, BJP vice president Prabhat Jha had Sunday told reporters in Mandsaur that former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had banned the RSS, but their moves had boomeranged.
BJP state unit chief Rakesh Singh too had lashed out at the Congress and dared it to "impose a ban on the RSS if it has the strength".
The 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly will go to polls on November 28 and the results will be announced on December 11.


What is going on with the city of Rifle? “They” are wanting to tear down city hall and build a new four-story building. Who would occupy the top two stories of this new monstrosity?
The city of Rifle wants to get into the real estate business by having the top two floors be “affordable housing.” Is the city of Rifle going to take over all the real estate business in this town? Are we becoming a socialist regime akin to communism?
City Hall only needs a bit of maintenance to be in excellent condition. We don’t need a new “Trump Tower” here. The city is already grossly over budget on projects and the taxes are going higher and higher. Flushing your toilet, washing your clothes, or taking a shower is high fee for using the sewer pipes.
What is the “life expectancy” of a city manager? This is the person who is qualified to advise about finances and projects. We have had two city managers and three pro-tem managers in the last short period of time.
When advertising for a city manager it should read as a “very temporary position.” The Chief of Police is the current CM pro-tem. Who is it causing the position to be so undesirable? Is it the council? Is it the mayor? Who? We deserve some answers.


I was pitched headfirst into the world of e-books in 2002 when I took a job with Palm Digital Media. The company, originally called Peanut Press, was founded in 1998 with a simple plan: publish books in electronic form. As it turns out, that simple plan leads directly into a technological, economic, and political hornet's nest. But thanks to some good initial decisions (more on those later), little Peanut Press did pretty well for itself in those first few years, eventually having a legitimate claim to its self-declared title of "the world's largest e-book store."
Unfortunately, despite starting the company near the peak of the original dot-com bubble, the founders of Peanut Press lost control of the company very early on. In retrospect, this signaled an important truth that persists to this day: people don't get e-books.
A succession of increasingly disengaged and (later) incompetent owners effectively killed Peanut Press, first flattening its growth curve, then abandoning all of the original employees by moving the company several hundred miles away. In January of 2008, what remained of the once-proud e-book store (now called eReader.com) was scraped up off the floor and acquired by a competitor, Fictionwise.com.
Unlike previous owners, Fictionwise has some actual knowledge of and interest in e-books. But though the "world's largest e-book store" appellation still adorns the eReader.com website, larger fish have long since entered the pond.
And so, a sad end for the eReader that I knew (née Palm Digital Media, née Peanut Press). But this story is not just about them, or me. Notice that I used the present tense earlier: "people don't get e-books." This is as true today as it was ten years ago. Venture capitalists didn't get it then, nor did the series of owners that killed Peanut Press, nor do many of the players in the e-book market today. And then there are the consumers, their own notions about e-books left to solidify in the absence of any clear vision from the industry.
The sentiment seeping through the paragraphs above should seem familiar to most Ars Technica readers. Do you detect a faint whiff of OS/2? Amiga, perhaps? Or, more likely, the overwhelming miasma of "Mac user, circa 1996." That's right, it's the defiance and bitterness of the marginalized: those who feel that their particular passion has been unjustly shunned by the ignorant masses.
Usually, this sentiment marks the tail end of a movement, or a product in decline. But sometimes it's just a sign of a slow start. I believe this is the case with e-books. The pace of the e-book market over the past decade has been excruciatingly—and yes, you guessed it, unjustly—slow. My frustration is much like that of the Mac users of old. Here's an awesome, obvious, inevitable idea, seemingly thwarted at every turn by widespread consumer misunderstanding and an endemic lack of will among the big players.
I don't pretend to be able to move corporate mountains, but I do have a lot of e-book related things to get off my chest. And so, this will be part editorial, part polemic, part rant, but also, I hope, somewhat educational. As for Apple, that connection will be clear by the end, if it isn't already. Buckle up.


Voters have been turning out in force for Hungary's election - in which right-wing nationalist Viktor Orban is likely to win a third term as prime minister.
BUDAPEST (RETUERS) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party was re-elected on Sunday (April 8) for a third successive term with a strong mandate, with preliminary results showing Fidesz possibly gaining a two-thirds majority in parliament.
With 74.6 per cent of votes counted, National Election Office data projected Fidesz winning 134 seats in the 199-seat parliament.
Nationalist Jobbik was projected to win 26 seats, with the Socialists in third place with 20 lawmakers.
Hungary’s right-wing Jobbik party came a distant second in Sunday elections, prompting the resignation of Jobbik’s chairman Gabor Vona.


Follow along for live updates from Tampa, where the UConn women cap the 2016-17 regular season against USF.
2Q | Bulls are HOT. Flores finds Nagy on the run then she finds Pujol for a 3. USF brings it to 49-34.
HAVE A NIGHT LAIA FLORES!!!! ???????????????????? She's got 12 points.
UConn shooting 50% from long range (7-of-14) and have 21 points already from 6-1 sophomore Napheesa Collier.
HALF | At the break, No. 1 UConn leads USF 56-38.
Halftime show interpretive dance with Tori Amos' "Home on the Range" playing. More intense than the dog-and-Frisbee show at Gampel Saturday.
.@UHCougarWBB and @SMUBasketballW will be underway in minutes on the @American_DN !
Alliya Butts drains a three as time expires to put Temple on top by nine!
3Q | USF Starting ???? on the floor.
3Q | Pujol fouled behind the arc, she goes to the line for 3 free throws.
3Q | Pujol puts in all three, and USF trails 58-43.
3Q | Laksa for three!!! Bulls creeping back, still lots of time to play. Need a defensive stop.
USF trails No. 1 UConn 65-48.
With 4:46 to play in the 3rd, @USFWBB down 65-48. Bulls actually have 25-23 rebound edge.
Crystal up to 10 points to go with four assists and zero turns ... She is the fourth Husky in double-figures ... 69-51 at 3:20 Q3.
3Q | Bulls starting to attack, Jespersen finding her touch, but UConn answers every shot.
.@SMUBasketballW 's Morgan Bolton for ????
END 3Q | USF trails No. 1 UConn 80-57 with 10 minutes to play.
Crystal Dangerfield at the buzzer. UConn up 80-57 after Q3. Collier with 29 points, 10 rebounds.
Gabby heads to the FT line with 16 points, nine boards and seven assists. Crystal up to seven assists. Her CH is nine. 86-59 at 5:43 Q4.
Wow! A 3FG by Napheesa and she is up to 39 points. Only @MooreMaya (41 and 40) and @coolkesh42 (46) have scored more ... EVER!


Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday there is "a ways to go" before North Korea is denuclearized, explaining that "to the extent they are behaving in a manner inconsistent with that, they are in violation of one or both the U.N. Security Council resolutions," Reuters reports.
Why it matters: President Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week for "keeping your word" after remains of U.S. soldiers from the Korean War arrived. But per Pompeo, the reclusive nation is still far from completing its commitment to denuclearize. "Chairman Kim made a commitment to denuclearize. The world demanded that they do so in the U.N. Security Council resolutions... we can see we still have a ways to go to achieve the ultimate outcome we're looking for."


Announcement is made of the engagement of Katie Lynn Wasko and James Melko III. She is the daughter of Kenneth and Deborah Wasko of Seymour, and he is the son of Cathy and James Melko Jr., of Oxford.
A June 18 wedding is planned.
The future bride is a graduate of Seymour High School and Briarwood College. She is a dental hygienist.
The future bridegroom attended Seymour High School and is a construction worker for Cirillo Construction, Seymour.


A rep for IMGlobal says a French report claiming the film would appear at the festival is false.
Madonna’s feature film W.E. will not be screening as part of the Festival de Cannes in May, according to IMGlobal, the sales agent that is handling the film.
currently in post-production, it is not expected to be completed in time for Cannes and is instead aiming for a bow on the fall film circuit.
Madonna is expected to visit Berlin next month to host a private screening of select footage for foreign distributors attending the European Film Market.
The official selection of films that will appear at Cannes won’t be announced by artistic director Thierry Fremaux until April.


Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing on Monday called on Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
A statement issued by the Foreign Office said that the two leaders discussed matters related to mutual interest, and Ambassador Jing reiterated his government's desire to work closely with the new government.
Qureshi, on the other hand, praised Chinese President Xi Jinping's vision for China's socio-economic development. He said Pakistan could learn a lot from China's experience in the sector, especially in the field of agriculture.
The foreign minister also expressed his eagerness to welcome State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Pakistan in September.
The foreign minister looked forward to an in-depth exchange of views with his Chinese counterpart on all matters of mutual interest, the statement added.
Welcome to the club and the clubhouse of your second home. Keep it up and hang on tough.
In my view, because of strong Pakistan's and China's relationship, our neighbours and international community is jealous and concerns about peace and prosperity in the region. And they will never succeed in their evil plans.
Chinese started putting pressure on Govt not to disclose the terms of ambiguous CPEC before IMF of make it public as Pak people are demanding for disclosure. Also Pompeo visit is in next month regarding the same matter. Pak specially IK govt wants loan from IMF which requires disclosure of the CPEC terms debt amount etc. Chinese fear that IK may opt to disclose it.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi must inform Chinese Envoy about excessive buying of CPEC project goods from China, which put Pak in adverse position in foreign exchange reserves.
@wsyed Sorry but beggars can't be choosers. Bring in the culture of society paying tax and strengthen laws and their implementation and things will start to change automatically.
The Chinaman looks nervous. Is this his first overseas assignment?


Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson, who made major league baseball history as the first African-American manager, is in poor health.
Corrections and clarifications: In an earlier version of this story, an extra World Series championship was included among Frank Robinson's accomplishments. Robinson won two World Series, both with the Baltimore Orioles.
Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson, who made major league baseball history as the first African-American manager, is in poor health, close friends of Robinson told USA TODAY Sports.
The friends were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly as the family has requested privacy.
Robinson, 83, has been in hospice care for several months in Southern California.
Robinson, a 14-time All-Star, had a legendary career. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1956 when he hit a rookie-record 38 homers for the Cincinnati Reds, won the Triple Crown in 1966 with the Baltimore Orioles, and remains the only player to win an MVP award in each league -- with the Reds in 1961 and the Orioles in 1966. He also led his teams to two World Series titles, winning with the Orioles in 1966, when he also was voted the World Series MVP, and 1970.
Robinson, who had his greatest years with the Reds and Orioles, played 21 years in the major leagues before retiring in 1976 with 586 home runs. It was the fourth-highest total in baseball at the time, trailing only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. The longest of those home runs came on May 8, 1966, when his 541-foot blast off Luis Tiant cleared Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
He continued to influence the game long after retirement, becoming the first African-American to manage in the major leagues, with the Cleveland Indians. He also managed the San Francisco Giants, becoming the National League’s first African-American manager, and later managed the Orioles, Montreal Expos and Washington Nationals. He compiled a 1065-1176 (.475) record over parts of 16 seasons, winning the 1989 AL Manager of the Year award with the Orioles.
He spent the last 12 years working for the Commissioner’s office mostly as a vice president, and later as a senior advisor to Commissioner Rob Manfred.


Facebook is a model of offering incredible, nuanced privacy protections to its users, allowing them to configure exactly how much of their data they want to share and how they want it to be used -- Facebook offers these protections, it just doesn't deliver them. Every Facebook privacy setting seems to be an empty checkbox, not hooked up to anything that alters its data-collection.
Aleksandra Korolova took several steps to tell Facebook not to track her location: she turned off Facebook's access to her Iphone's location data in the relevant Ios control panel, and cleared and switched off "Location History." She does not list her city in her Facebook profile and does not post photos. She turned off location access and declined to state a location for Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. She doesn't tag her location in Facebook posts and doesn't check in to locations when she gets there.
But Korolova still sees ads for businesses near her home and work, and the places she travels to, which are labeled as being shown to her because she was "recently near their business."
Korolova cares about this stuff in part because she's a researcher who published a paper that showed that stalkers can use Facebook's ad-location services to track people to areas as specific as a single house.
Based on Facebook's marketing materials for advertisers, Korolova thinks they're deriving her location from her IP address, cell-site data, nearby wifi networks and Bluetooth spotting.
The possible harms of not giving users meaningful controls about their location data are amplified by the tools Facebook provides to advertisers to target people based on their location. As we’ve shown in a recent academic paper published at the Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection, Facebook provides advertisers with tools to run ad campaigns targeting people “who live in” or “were recently in” a geographic area as small as a single house.
This means anyone in the world can create an ad campaign to reach people who have recently visited a particular location, such as a place of worship or an abortion clinic. And since individuals cannot meaningfully stop Facebook from inferring or using their location for advertising, they also cannot avoid such ads. Imagine opening Facebook during a visit to an abortion clinic in order to communicate with friends for support in a difficult decision, and instead, seeing an ad campaign for cute baby clothes created by anyone who wants to target women making this difficult decision.


This collection highlights the life and contributions of one of Buffalo's most distinguished citizens in the first half of the 20th century. Thomas B. Lockwood was an attorney and businessman as well as philanthropist and bibliophile. He and his wife, Marion Birge Lockwood, donated the funds to construct the University at Buffalo's original Lockwood Memorial Library. When the building was dedicated in 1935, Lockwood presented his remarkable collection of rare materials to the university.


Dear readers, our team started work at 4 a.m. Wednesday and from reporters and designers to press crews and carriers we had one goal in mind: getting you the most comprehensive report possible on today's storm and doing it early enough to deliver before conditions deteriorated Wednesday night.
Everyone has cooperated, but Mother Nature is being coy. Two lanes of the Hathaway Bridge, closed all day, were opened around 7 p.m. Wednesday but it could be temporary and there's a possibility we may not be able to delivery Thursday's News Herald to Beaches area customers on time.
We're going to do our best and hope the bridge remains open. We remain heartened at the numerous calls and emails we recieved today thanking us for getting Wednesday's edition out early and delivered.
And we ask for your understanding and patience as we, at this point, remain at the mercy of the weather and mindful of the safety of our carriers.
Home delivery subscribers continue to have free access to our online edition and we thank you again for your patience.


ARM, whose chips power more than 90 percent of all mobile devices worldwide, plans to demonstrate a prototype mobile phone running Android's mobile operating system stack next week at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.
A Google spokesperson told eWEEK Feb. 7 that ARM will be demonstrating Android on an early prototype device to show how the platform works on an ARM processor.
The spokesperson added that a number of other companies will be "demonstrating Android on their hardware in various forms at Mobile World Congress," but declined to say which firms or what forms their products would take.
Google released the open-source-based Android software in November to great fanfare-and a fair amount of skepticism from analysts, who said cracking into the mobile operating system market is every bit as challenging as writing reliable software.
Google's stated goal for Android is to create a mobile platform that makes surfing the Web from a smart phone as painless as surfing it from a PC. Android is expected to challenge the Symbian, Microsoft, Linux, Apple and Research In Motion operating systems, which command more than 90 percent of the worldwide market.
To support the platform launch and evangelize about the benefits of a new open-source mobile operating system, the search vendor teamed with T-Mobile, HTC, Motorola, Qualcomm and others to launch the Open Handset Alliance. Soon after, Google launched a software kit to let developers begin writing applications for Android.
Software maker A la Mobile introduced a suite of prototype applications for Android in January, but little has been heard out of the Android camp overall thus far. Buzz is building in anticipation of the Mobile World Congress Show Feb. 11-14, where cutting-edge devices and mobile applications make their debut.
A spokesperson for mobile phone manufacturer HTC said HTC will not show an Android device at the show, but said the company is still on track to ship a device with the Android platform in the second half of 2008.
A Qualcomm spokesperson said the company will show "different applications and functionality running on Android" on prototype devices.
Spokespeople for Open Handset Alliance members Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile USA, and Motorola did not respond to questions about what, if anything, their companies will be showing off involving Android at Mobile World Congress.
Even as supporters prime the pump in support of Android, Google is locked in battle with AT&T and Verizon, all of which are bidding for a block of 700MHz spectrum that might be used to build out expansive wireless networks.
Google is also rumored to be partnering with Dell to create a Google-branded phone.


Fleet Foxes have confirmed that they will “definitely” be releasing their second album in 2010.
The band are currently holed away in Seattle working on material for the follow-up to the their critically acclaimed self-titled 2008 debut.
Despite the success of their first album, Pecknold revealed that the new album had taken a different direction than the first.
As for the new songs, Pecknold said he thinks they’re “less poppy” then those on the first record.


Speaking to religious conservatives, the Kentucky senator invoked Christ and tied anti-war beliefs to his opposition to abortion.
Once again, Senator Rand Paul is confounding the normal categories into which we place politicians. A Southern, pro-life Republican, he took his anti-war message to a Values Voters Summit, telling the socially conservative audience -- usually regarded as antagonistic to libertarians -- that Jesus Christ wouldn't approve of most wars, perhaps even wars of self-defense.
I'm not a pacifist. But I do think it unacceptable not to hate war. I'm dismissive of those who champion war as sport, and show no reluctance to engage in war. Any leader who shows glee or eagerness for war should not be leading any nation. I believe truly great leaders are reluctant to go to war, and trying mightily to avoid war. Though I detest violence, I would kill someone who injured or threatened my family. Though I hate war, I could commit a nation to war. But only reluctantly and constitutionally, and after great deliberation. I believe that while some would find this a contradiction in terms, that there is such a thing as a Christian or just theory of war. That a just war is a war of self-defense. At the same time, I'm conflicted. I don't believe Jesus would've killed anyone, or condoned killing, perhaps not even in self-defense. I'm conflicted.
The coarsening of our culture toward violent death has more consequences than even war. Tragically this same culture has led to the death of 50 million unborn children in the last 40 years. I don't think a civilization can long endure that does not have respect for all human life born and not yet born. We have a great many problems in this country to solve, but I believe there will come a time when we are all judged on whether or not we took a stand in defense of all life from the moment of conception until our last natural breath.
That portion of Paul's speech is far more anti-war than anything you'll hear from the vast majority of elected Democrats. How will it be received by the anti-war left, which is largely composed of people who favor legal abortion and support the Supreme Court's decision in Roe vs. Wade?


Atlanta’s Mastodon have been very loudly getting on with the business of being the world’s most inspired alternative metal outfit for a long time now. 2011’s ‘The Hunter’ marked a shift away from the overarching narratives of goblins fighting their way up bloodied mountaintops that had come to define their records, in favour of remarkable standalone anthems like ‘Curl Of The Burl’. In ‘Asleep In The Deep’, this sixth record contains their grooviest, most accessible number ever, while the title track and the single ‘High Road’ are further indomitable classics-in-waiting. Musically ‘Once More ‘Round The Sun’ is equivalent to having several tons of hot molten lava poured into your eye sockets for about an hour. Behold!


Extreme natural events, not man-made climate change, led to last summer's historic drought in the Great Plains, a new federal study said Friday.
Drought occurred in six Plains states between last May and August because moist Gulf of Mexico air "failed to stream northward in late spring," and summer storms were few and stingy with rainfall, said a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Neither ocean states nor human-induced climate change, factors that can provide long-lead predictability, appeared to play significant roles in causing severe rainfall deficits over the major corn producing regions of central Great Plains," the report summary said.
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