Federal Judge blocks Xbox ban, grants motion to dismiss Motorola request for injunctive relief

Motorola's hopes of enforcing a German-won sales injunction against the Xbox 360, Windows 7 and other products have yet again been dashed -- a Federal judge has taken Microsoft's side. Judge James L. Robart granted a motion declaring that Motorola Mobility isn't entitled to injunctive relief, effectively blocking bans based on the firm's H.264 streaming and (previously dropped) WiFi patent complaints. The court had been sitting on the motion for nearly a year, but for Microsoft, the final word is worth the wait: Motorola "has not shown it has suffered an irreparable injury or that remedies available at law are inadequate to compensate for its injury," the court said, noting that Microsoft "will pay royalties under any license agreement from the time of infringement within the statute of limitations." Basically, Motorola will recoup all the scratch it's complaining it lost anyway, so no harm, no foul. Just a giant legal headache.

Comments

Via: FOSS Patents, Seattle Times

Source: Court Order (PDF)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/40tJA1Ckx18/

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Guest Post: Five Easy Ways To Save When Dining Out

?

The following is a guest post from David Bakke. ?He is?a former manager at a popular restaurant chain. He now writes about saving money on everyday expenses such as food and transportation on the personal finance blog, Money Crashers.

With the current state of our economy, it?s simply a necessity to save as much as you can. As we await the financial fallout from the November election, we need to continue to cut back on the things we enjoy in daily life, such as fine restaurants. Though this can be a difficult expense to trim, there are ways to dine out smartly. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Use a Coupon
Since dining establishments know times are tough and also want to sustain their business, many of them offer restaurant coupons and discounts, either online or in the newspaper. To take this a step further, sign up for deal-of-the-day websites, such as Groupon and Living Social, where you can get vouchers for as much as 80% off normal restaurant prices. These deals typically involve some of the lesser-known places in town, but it?s a great way to discover new eateries. The annual Entertainment Book, which is available in most metropolitan areas, offers buy-one, get-one free coupons for both fine and casual restaurants. It?s sold for around $20 and runs from November to November of the following year.

2. Forgo the Appetizer
Sure, you?re tempted to order some food before your main dishes when dining at your favorite spots. But appetizers, though tasty, are generally a way for?restaurants to get the check tally up and increase their profit margins. Plus, you can usually get something?at no charge by simply asking for some bread and oil or chips and salsa to get you going. This should more than tide you over until your entr?e arrives, and you?ll save a bundle. You can even find other ways to eat for free.

3. Order That Appetizer as Your Entr?e
Speaking of appetizers, if you?re particularly enthralled by a certain description, consider having that suffice as your main meal. It?s cheaper, to be sure. And if you?ve seen the massive entr?e portions often served at restaurants, it?s also a more manageable size. Even if you tack on a side salad, you?ll frequently still save. Another option is to split a main course with someone in your party ? it?s both cost and calorie efficient.

4. Drink Water
Ordering tap water with your meal provides multiple benefits: H20 is always good for you, you avoid having to pay for a beverage (which can increase your bill by upwards of $10 if you?re with the family), and you can more fully savor the taste of your meal with water on the side. Plus, as we all know, sugary sodas, sweet tea, and fruit juices are unfriendly to your waistline and your teeth. Once you decide water is the way to go, make sure the server knows you mean tap, not bottled. And when it comes, fill up on it ? then you can take home leftovers.

5. Just Say No to Dessert
Dessert options at most restaurants are delectable ? but costly. Again, for the whole party, it could add another $50 to your check, even at some of the kid-friendly family restaurants. If you are craving something sweet, instead of giving in to temptation at the restaurant, stop by the grocery store on the way home for some ice cream, cake, or cookies. You?ll save money and still feel satiated.

Final Thoughts
Don?t discount the power of return business. If you find a restaurant you like, frequent it often. Request your favorite server, chat up the owners, and you just might find an unexpected discount on your tab ? anything from comped drinks and appetizers to a yummy dessert and a coupon for your next meal. If restaurants come to count on your business, it?s only good customer service for them to give some ?love? back from time to time.

What other ways are there to save on dining out?

Source: http://www.pennypinchinmom.com/guest-post-five-easy-ways-to-save-when-dining-out/

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Animals learn to fine-tune their sniffs

ScienceDaily (Oct. 30, 2012) ? Animals use their noses to focus their sense of smell, much the same way that humans focus their eyes, new research at the University of Chicago shows.

A research team studying rats found that animals adjust their sense of smell through sniffing techniques that bring scents to receptors in different parts of the nose. The sniffing patterns changed according to what kind of substance the rats were attempting to detect.

The sense of smell is particularly important for many animals, as they need it to detect predators and to search out food. "Dogs, for instance, are quite dependent on their sense of smell," said study author Leslie Kay, associate professor of psychology and director of the Institute for Mind & Biology at the University of Chicago. "But there are many chemicals in the smells they detect, so detecting the one that might be from a predator or an explosive, for instance, is a complex process."

Kay was joined in writing the paper by Daniel Rojas-L?bano, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chile in Santiago, who received his PhD from UChicago in 2011. Rojas-L?bano, who did the work as a doctoral scholar, was the first author on the publication. Their results are published in an article, "Interplay Between Sniffing and Odorant Properties in the Rat," in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Scholars have hypothesized that animals may be able to focus sniffing, just as humans focus their sight to detect a target, like the face of a friend, in a crowd. Humans are also known to be able to adjust their ability to detect specific odors with practice when cooking or sampling wine, for instance.

Kay and Rojas-Libano drew from two ideas proposed by other scholars to test whether animals can focus their sniffs.

In one set of findings, researchers had shown that the nose can act like a gas chromatograph (a device that separates chemicals in complex blends like flower scents), absorbing substances for different times depending on how readily they interact with the water-based mucus on the sensory receptors in the nose. Odorants that have high "sorption values" are easily absorbed into the mucus, while odors that do not absorb easily into water have lower sorption values.

The other finding crucial to the current work was the discovery that changes in the airflow rates of scents entering the nose can change which odors the nose readily detects. Different parts of the nose have different airflows, and classes of receptors suited to detecting specific odors. Researchers had speculated that animals might be able to change airflow to target specific odors in a blend of chemicals, like focusing on smelling a particular scent in a perfume.

But until the publication of the paper by Kay and Rojas-L?bano, no one had been able to test the ideas that arose from those earlier findings.

"Daniel devised an excellent experiment to test these hypotheses," Kay explained. Rojas-L?bano trained rats to detect a specific odor by rewarding them with a sugar pellet when they had detected a target odor and responded correctly. Electrodes attached to the rats' diaphragm muscles measured the rate at which they were taking in air. He then tested the animals with many mixtures of two chemicals to see if they could pick out those containing the target scent.

The rats were successful in making the distinctions, regardless of which type of odor they were seeking. But the rats learned to look for a highly absorbent odor much more quickly than the rats learning to detect a less absorbent odor. The rats also inhaled differently, depending on which type of odor they were detecting. The animals inhaled for a longer time when they were learning to detect the low-absorbing odor, and then reduced flow rates once they had learned to detect the odor, researchers determined.

"What was happening was that the air was moving through the nose at a slower rate and targeting those parts of the nasal epithelium that are further along in the pathway -- those more likely to pick up the low-absorbent odors," Kay said.

For highly absorbent odors, the animals inhaled more quickly because the parts of the nasal cavity that are sensitive to those smells are closer to the start of the nose's air pathway.

"I think one of the most interesting aspects of these experiments is the finding of the difference in difficulty the rats displayed to detect different targets from the same set of mixtures," Rojas-L?bano said. "This shows that there is more to olfaction than just receptor types and combinations. If detection was solely based on chemical-receptor interactions (as people seem to assume quite often), performance levels should have been more similar between the groups of rats. The physical properties of the odors matter a lot, and so does the type of sniff that an individual uses to smell the odors."

The project was supported with a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Chicago. The original article was written by William Harms.

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/PeGd8ou79-k/121030210035.htm

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Mavs dump West; Curry could start against Lakers

DALLAS (AP) ? The Dallas Mavericks are moving on without guard Delonte West, and their starting center for Tuesday night's season opener on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers will likely be someone who wasn't even on the roster a week ago.

The Mavericks waived West on Monday, the eve of a second straight season with a major roster makeover. West was part of the first retooling a year ago, and figured to be a valuable role player again before two suspensions in as many weeks for conduct detrimental to the team.

Dallas had to dump West to make room for Eddy Curry, a journeyman center who was picked up last week after San Antonio let him go. Curry likely will get the start against the Lakers because Chris Kaman and backup Brandon Wright are battling injuries.

West, who has bipolar disorder, indicated in a series of tweets after the second suspension that his future in Dallas was in doubt. The eighth-year pro was involved in a pair of locker room incidents during the preseason. He was on his second straight one-year contract for the veteran minimum, which was $1.2 million this season.

Part of West's value a year ago came from being a younger, experienced player to help aging point guard Jason Kidd and another 30-something guard in Jason Terry. But the Mavericks have a much younger backcourt after getting Darren Collison from Indiana to replace Kidd when they missed out on Deron Williams and adding free agent O.J. Mayo to fill Terry's scoring role.

Dallas grabbed Curry last week after he was released by San Antonio, and he had 11 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes in Dallas' preseason finale against Charlotte on Friday.

The fourth pick of the 2001 draft by Chicago, Curry improved his scoring averages all four seasons with the Bulls before getting traded to New York. He averaged a career-high 19.5 points per game in 2006-07 but has played just 24 games combined the past three seasons.

With West out and Curry in, the Mavericks have nine new players on their roster and should have four new starters on the floor against the Lakers with Dirk Nowitzki recovering from knee surgery. The only holdover is Shawn Marion.

"This is what we got. That's the way it is," said Marion, now second to Nowitzki in Dallas tenure. "We can't harp on it all day. We'll do what we gotta do."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mavs-dump-west-curry-could-start-against-lakers-220559482--spt.html

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IRL: Nuu SoftKey, MacBook Air and Thermaltake's eSports Cyclone ...

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

Welcome back! This week in real-life adventures with gadgetry, Sharif recommends an $80 gaming mouse and Dan pleads with you all not to buy a certain keyboard case for the iPad. As for Philip, he just purchased his first Apple product after years of buying Windows laptops and Zune players, which means he's got a little explaining to do.

NUU Softkey

I was looking for an iPad case to help me peck out articles on the go, but NUU's Softkey case for the new iPad / iPad 2 isn't it. The faux-leather folio disguises your tablet in a document wallet respectably enough, but its awkward prop made it useless as an impromptu movie screen on a long haul flight. In fact, the various stand configurations are all so weak that you constantly need to keep your hands on the device to prevent it collapsing before you.

Of course, none of that would matter if its keyboard was useful enough to relegate my laptop to the bottom of my carry-on. Unfortunately, it's topped with a rubber membrane that's too easily parted from its keys, meaning that the only travel you experience is when you depress the sheath in on itself. The keyboard, too, needlessly includes Escape, Arrow and Function keys that, while useful, could have easily been shed to increase the size of the letters. As such, my quest to turn the iPad into a useful work machine will struggle on.

-- Dan Cooper

MacBook Air (13-inch, 2012)

I'm not even sure what happened. One minute, I was dead-set on waiting for one of those hybrid laptop / tablet deals running Windows 8. The next, I was braving a New York City downpour to pick up a MacBook Air. I've been a die-hard Windows user since the 3.1 days: I stuck with it through Vista and I eagerly await next month's update. And yet, here in New York, thousands of miles from home, I feel like I've had the OS equivalent of an illicit cross-country fling. What if my wife finds out?

Truthfully, my reasons for picking up an OS X machine are far more practical than lecherous. It's become increasingly clear that my Windows-only approach is a bit outdated. As part of a group that obsessively covers technology, it only makes sense for me to stay current with as many hardware and software ecosystems as I can. I've used OS X for years in the work environment (and Mac OS 9 before that). But this Ivy Bridge-powered 13-inch Air represents the first time I've ever spent my own money on an Apple product. That's right, no iPods or iPhones in our home. Just look at my Zune HD and Windows Phone.

So far, I'm not regretting my decision. This keyboard and trackpad combo is supremely comfortable and the solid-state drive is impressively quick. As of this writing, I've been on battery for about three hours and only just crossed the 50 percent threshold. The screen may not be Retina-level, but I've no complaints about it so far (though I haven't done any photo editing just yet). Up next: installing Windows 7 (and later Win 8) for a little Boot Camp action so I can have two great OSes on one amazing machine. Yup, I'm officially a two-timer -- and I'm not ashamed.

-- Philip Palermo

Thermaltake eSports Cyclone Edition

I admit that when I first wrote about Thermaltake's eSports Cyclone Edition gaming mouse, I didn't take it all that seriously. A protruding 6,000 RPM fan to keep your trigger finger cool and slip-resistant -- isn't that slightly OTT? Well, yes it is. But it's also beautiful, exuberant and happiness-inducing -- as is the very thought that someone out there has the guts to bring stuff like this to market. My Cyclone's fan mostly sits detached and idle on a shelf these days, because Fall where I live is cool enough already, but that detracts little from the $80 mouse itself. It's comfortable and well-built, and rather than just being a boring gimmick it leaves me with a strong sense that someone at TT eSports genuinely loves their job. Not convinced? Check out the Taiwanese company's obscene gold and yellow Chao gaming headphones and you soon will be.

-- Sharif Sakr

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/14/irl-nuu-softkey-macbook-air-thermaltake-esports-cyclone-edition-gaming-mouse/

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Shot Pakistani girl can recover, UK doctors say

LONDON/BIRMINGHAM (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban has every chance of making a "good recovery", British doctors said on Monday as 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai arrived at a hospital in central England for treatment of her severe wounds.

Yousufzai, who was shot for advocating education for girls, was flown from Pakistan to receive specialist treatment at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital at a unit expert in dealing with complex trauma cases that has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.

"Doctors...believe she has a chance of making a good recovery on every level," said Dr Dave Rosser, the hospital's medical director, adding that her treatment and rehabilitation could take months.

He told reporters Yousufzai, whose shooting has drawn widespread condemnation, had not yet been assessed by British medics but said she would not have been brought to Britain at all if her prognosis was not good.

TV footage showed a patient, believed to be the schoolgirl, being rushed from an ambulance into the hospital surrounded by a large team of medical staff.

She will now undergo scans to reveal the extent of her injuries, but Rosser said they could not provide any further details without her agreement.

Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet from near her spinal cord during a three-hour operation the day after the attack last week, but she now needs intensive specialist follow-up care.

The unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a large blue and white glass-plated complex in the south of England's second city, has treated every British battle casualty for the last decade, Rossner said.

Built at a cost of 545 million pounds ($877 million), the hospital has the world's largest single-floor critical care unit for patients with gunshot wounds, burns, spinal damage and major head injuries.

Treatment for the schoolgirl is likely to include repairing damaged bones in her skull and complex follow-up neurological treatment.

"Injuries to bones in the skull can be treated very successfully by the neurosurgeons and the plastic surgeons, but it is the damage to the blood supply to the brain that will determine long-term disability," said Duncan Bew, consultant trauma surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust in London.

Judging the best way forward in such difficult cases requires a wide range of experienced medics working as a team.

"In trauma, it is really the coordinated impact of intensive care that is critical. It's not just about keeping the patient alive but also maximizing their rehabilitation potential. With neurological injuries that is paramount," Bew said.

Doctors said youth was on her side since a young brain has more ability to recover from injury than a mature one.

"On the positive side, Malala has passed two major hurdles - the removal of the bullet and the very critical 48-hour window after surgery," said Anders Cohen, head of neurosurgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Centre in New York.

MALALA'S SECURITY A PRIORITY

Compared with some of the nation's ageing hospitals, the new National Health Service (NHS) hospital offers a spectrum of services ranging from plastic surgery to neuroscience.

They may all be needed in Malala's case.

The hospital and government officials declined to give any details about the security measures that would be put in place to protect Malala but a spokesman for the interior ministry said her security was "a priority for both Pakistan and the UK".

A hospital spokesman said no extra measures were in place but because the unit treated British military personnel it already had "fairly robust security".

Care of soldiers on the battlefield has improved dramatically in recent years, so that many now survive injuries that would have been a death sentence in the past.

As a result, Birmingham now handles extremely challenging injuries that were previously little known and has built up enormous experience in head and brain injuries, multiple fractures and amputations.

In the last five years, the Birmingham centre has treated 481 service personnel seriously injured in Afghanistan, according to the Ministry of Defence.

She did not come from Pakistan with any of her relatives but the Pakistani Consulate are proving support and her family may join her at a later date.

Yousufzai, a cheerful schoolgirl who had wanted to become a doctor before agreeing to her father's wishes that she strive to be a politician, has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of an education.

Pakistanis have held some protests and candlelight vigils but most government officials have refrained from publicly criticizing the Taliban by name over the attack, in what critics say is a lack of resolve against extremism.

($1 = 0.6216 British pounds)

(Additional reporting by Michael Holden, editing by Peter Millership and Diana Abdallah)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-schoolgirl-attacked-taliban-sent-uk-treatment-035131487.html

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

Source: http://www.100milefreepress.net/news/173594891.html

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Soda Makers Teaming With Chicago For Wellness Challenge ? CBS ...

Rahm Emanuel attends wellness challenge event with American Beverage Association. (Credit: Craig Dellimore/WBBM Newsradio)

CHICAGO (CBS) ? The City of Chicago is teaming up with the soda industry to help city employees make healthier choices.

Major soda makers, like Coke and Pepsi, and the American Beverage Association are launching a wellness challenge.

City workers will get new vending machines which will display calorie information so people can make healthier choices. The machines will include more low-calorie drinks.

The challenge also will pit Chicago and San Antonio against each other to see who can be the healthiest city and lose the most weight.

The beverage is putting up a $5 million prize between the two cities.

The vending machines will eventually be made available nationwide.

LISTEN: WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore Reports

Source: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/10/08/soda-makers-teaming-with-chicago-for-wellness-challenge/

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Video: ?New Romney? keeps Obama campaign on their toes

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49335128#49335128

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ROCK HILL: New mountain bike trails open at Riverwalk in Rock Hill ...

ROCK HILL ? New mountain bike trails are open and free to use at Rock Hill's Outdoor Recreation Center at Riverwalk off Cherry Road.

Riverwalk trails offer varying levels of difficulty ? easy, difficult and most difficult.

The trails branch off of the Piedmont Medical Center trail from a common entry point and then split off based on level of difficulty. The Piedmont Medical Center trail is a 2.25 mile asphalt trail located on the banks of the Catawba River at the Rock Hill Outdoor Center.

Cars can be parked in a lot at the trail head.

Current hours for the trails are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information visit www.rockhilloutdoorcenter.com or call 326-2453.

Anna Douglas 803-329-4068

Source: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/10/09/4324145/new-mountain-bike-trails-open.html

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Rising seas washing away Ghana's former slave forts

As sea levels rise on Ghana?s populated shores, the government mulls defense measures for its forts, castles, and communities.

By Chris Stein,?Contributor / October 4, 2012

President Obama speaks to the media following his tour of the Cape Coast Castle, a former slave holding facility, in the town of Cape Coast, Ghana, in this July 2009 file photo.

Jason Reed/Reuters/File

Enlarge

The ocean is starting to wash away historical slave trading forts and castles on the coast of Ghana, threatening a thriving tourist industry as well as the homes of coastal dwellers.?

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The waves have already taken a toll on Ada Foah?s Fort Kongenstein, an 18^th ?century Danish trading fort. All that remains of it are dilapidated foundations and collapsing arches hanging off of a shelf of sand. The sea has claimed the rest.

The beating taken by this smaller fort may soon be in store for the castles at Cape Coast and Osu, both UNESCO World Heritage sites, along with most of the coastal forts and?key attractions for the country?s $2.1 billion tourist industry.

The forts were built by the Danish for defense and slave trading before eventually coming under the control of the British in the 19th century, and their foundations on rocky terrain affords them some protection, says scientist?Kwasi Appeaning Addo, but they, too, will fall to the tides if measures are not taken.?The castle at Osu, which is also the seat of government, may flood as soon as 2050, Mr. Addo says.

?Erosion is a major threat to coastal tourism,? says Addo, a lecturer in coastal science at the University of Ghana. ?The foreign castles are particularly at risk.??

Blame climate change, Addo says. Sea levels in parts of Accra, Ghana?s capital, could rise by up to 80 centimeters by 2100, according to a study he authored. The coast in the capital is receding at just over one meter a year, he says, while Ada Foah loses about 3.5 meters a year, according to a recent University of Ghana study.

Local causes, too

But also to blame is the growth of human population along the coast, which will likely be exacerbated as Ghana?s offshore oil industry brings more people to the shores for work. Also not helping: the practice of "sand winning," where soil is taken from the beach as a cheap building material for houses.

In addition, the tides determine if Enoch Tawiah has a home.?

When the seas are low, Mr. Tawiah fishes tuna and redfish in the azure waters behind his house. But when the ocean surges, he and the other residents of the eastern Ghana town of Ada Foah must flee inland, with no assurance that their homes will be there when they get back.

?People that are not lucky, [the water] will break their houses,? Tawiah says. He estimates over 100 of his neighbors evacuate ? to the homes of relatives, if they?re lucky ? during storms.

Adaptation efforts

With the beach retreating, the government has tried to encourage the residents of Ada Foah to follow suit, offering to resettle them further inland, says Eugene Dugbatey, a district assemblyman. They won?t go, Mr. Dugbatey says; the sea is where these fishermen make their money.

So Ghana?s government has stepped in with expensive infrastructure projects meant to preserve the coast.

A sea defense wall is under construction in Ada, made of a series of rock groins that jut perpendicularly from the shore.

?It?s a sand trap,? says Andre Olivier, a site engineer for the $78 million project that is expected to finish at the end of next year. ?You?re stopping the current? behind the rocks ?and then sedimentation takes place."

Groins are used elsewhere along the Ghanaian coast. Further east, near the city of Keta, a series of groins protects Fort Prinzensten, another Danish settlement that was nearly destroyed by waves before the walls were built, according to a report by UNESCO.

Near Accra, the UNESCO report said the sloping piles of rocks that prevent further soil erosion called revetments are shoring up beaches that have already sustained erosion.

But groins only go so far to alleviate erosion, Addo says. While the areas upstream of the groins may recover, those downstream will be depleted further. And curbing erosion is not Ghana?s job alone, he argues.

?What happens in C?te d'Ivoire eventually affects Ghana. What happens in Ghana is affecting Togo and affecting Benin and may affect Nigeria,? he says. He called for the countries to work together to come up with a strategy to combat erosion.

Still, Tawiah holds out hope that the groins lining the beach will save his home and livelihood.

?When the sea defense wall [is built], then I think we can stay,? Tawiah says. Until then, he will be at the mercy of the seas. ?For now there is no change. For now.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/rw11vQZHzJg/Rising-seas-washing-away-Ghana-s-former-slave-forts

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Learn More About ...

http://www.virginiawomenscenter.com

Just like all aspects of your health, education and regular preventative check-ups?can help keep you informed and engaged in your care. However, it?s also important that you pay close attention to your own body so that you can know what is normal for you and seek medical care when your health changes and is no longer normal. With your breast health, this self-awareness is no exception.

Women?s breasts are always changing. They change during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause. Along with these normal changes, problems can arise. It is important for you to be aware of any changes in your breasts. Tools such as screening mammograms and clinical breast exams, which are procedures that are performed by health care professionals at facilities like Virginia Women?s Center, can help detect breast cancer before it has progressed.

In addition to regular screening mammograms and clinical breast exams, some women choose to perform a formal step-by-step breast self-exam and others prefer a visual inspection. No matter the technique you choose (both can be performed in the comfort of your own home and without any formal training), it?s important that you are aware of what your breasts normally look and feel like. Should you notice any changes, you can proactively seek medical care.

When inspecting your breasts, stand or sit in front of a mirror. Pay attention for the following changes

• Changes in color or shape of your breast
• Changes in color or texture of your skin
• Changes in nipple shape or texture
• Evidence of nipple discharge
• Dimpling or puckering anywhere on your chest

It?s common for women to be so concerned performing breast self-exams ?right? that they become stressed over the technique. Performing a breast self-exam or a visual inspection of your breasts regularly are both ways for you to know how your breasts normally look and feel and to notice any changes. The goal, with or without a formal breast self-exam, is to report any breast changes to your health care provider right away.

In addition to being aware of your own health, it?s important to be knowledgeable about your specific family history, which can shape your health both in the present and the future. Knowing your family and personal health histories can help you and your health care provider determine the best plan for your individual care.

In the end, it?s important to remember that all women are unique and different. In addition to staying on top of preventative appointments and screenings, self-awareness is a key aspect to detecting changes not only in your breasts, but in your overall health.

Virginia Women?s Center is an advertiser on Richmondmom.com

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Virginia Women's Center

Women's health care has changed a lot over the last few decades. That?s why Virginia Women?s Center has brought the medical services women most rely on under one convenient roof. Virginia Women's Center is care that revolves around you.

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Source: http://richmondmom.com/2012/10/05/breast-self-awareness/

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New Treadmill Helps Physical Therapy Patients Defy Gravity ...

About the panel

Barbara Ficarra Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA is an award-winning journalist, media broadcaster, health educator, speaker and consultant More??

David Harlow David Harlow is Prinicipal of the Harlow Group LLC, a healthcare law and consulting firm based in Boston, MA. More??

Stephen Schimpff Stephen C. Schimpff, MD is the retired CEO of the Univ. of MD Med. Center and the COO of the Univ of MD Medical System. More??

Andrew Schorr Andrew, a leukemia survivor and respected medical journalist is the founder of PatientPower, an excellent web resource. More??

John Sharp John Sharp has interests in social media in healthcare and clinical research informatics including secondary use of EMR More??

Christina Thielst Christina Thielst is a hospital administrator, consultant, educator and author with 30 years of healthcare experience. More??

Source: http://healthworkscollective.com/trish-broome/54236/new-treadmill-sinai-helps-physical-therapy-patients-defy-gravity

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Copyright Trolls 2.0: image sites embrace Righthaven tactics - GigaOM

Remember the hired gun lawyers who scoured the internet for copyright infringement and then took a cut of the legal settlement? If you thought those tactics vanished with notorious copyright troll, Righthaven, you?re mistaken. Here?s a look at a new form of copyright trolling.

A photo company sued sports site Bleacher Report this week for using photos of New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and a celebrity actress. It turns out the case is just the tip of a much larger campaign in which image owners are using a controversial legal tactic known as ?copyright trolling? to pressure websites to pay up.

The term ?copyright troll? is familiar to many thanks to Righthaven, an infamous band of lawyers who extracted large sums from bloggers who reproduced news clippings without permission. Federal judges became disgusted with Righthaven?s scorched earth approach and finally knee-capped it late last year.

Righthaven may be gone but its business model is still alive and well. Under this model, lawyers scour the web for copyright infringement and then take a cut from defendants who pay a settlement to avoid being sued. Unlike Righthaven, however, the new breed of copyright trolls don?t represent newspapers but instead stock photo sites.

?There?s literally thousands of letters a year. They?re just pumping them out,? said publisher Matthew Chan, who received such a letter in 2008. He has since watched the process mushroom and, in response, set up a site to track what he calls ?extortion letters.?

An email posted on the site provides insight into the trolling tactic. The email is from Dan Levine, a lawyer looking to recruit other lawyers to join a gun-for-hire scheme:

Given the rampant copyright infringement on the Internet today, a virtually endless supply of such cases is available. That said, I would suggest that initially you would start with ten (10) such cases, which would enable you to begin work immediately in a way that we all can independently assess whether to pursue more together later. [see full email here]

Levine, the recruiter, promises he will provide quality leads on who to sue (?We do not go after the perverbial [sic] 14 year old blogger?) and says lawyers who pursue the cases can keep one third of the bounty. The other two thirds are presumably to be split between Levine and whoever owns the copyright to the images. Levine did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This style of copyright trolling has gone on for some time but has largely flown below the radar. According to Chan, this is because sites like Getty and other image owners have been more restrained in filing lawsuits and rely instead on extracting quiet settlements (Righthaven, on the other hand, just sued anything that moved). Chan says the letters? demands for payments can range from a few hundred to $20,000 per image.

All of this, of course, raises the question of whether what Getty and others are doing is fair play. After all, photographers have a right to be paid for their work. And, these days, most people have a pretty good idea that internet images aren?t just there for the taking. If Getty and others don?t enforce their copyright, what exactly are they supposed to do instead?

It?s a good point, but the issue here isn?t the principle: it?s the tactics. Nearly all of the letters and the lawsuits from the image owners aren?t about compensation for a real loss. Instead, they?re opportunistic shakedown ventures that seek penalties that are far disproportionate to the offense. Chan frames it well:

?I?m a publisher and author and I?ve been infringed on. Know how I handle it? I send an email asking them to stop.?

This is what most of us do. I hate it when people jack my writing, but almost always the offender turns out to be ignorant, careless or lazy ? not a hardened thief or criminal. And almost invariably they will remove the infringing item. In the case of Bleacher Report, the complaint (see below) doesn?t say the sports site is in the habit of ripping of others? photographs. Instead, it?s a good bet that this was an intern?s mistake rather than company policy. But instead of having an opportunity to fix the error by removing the photographs, Bleacher Report is now in a copyright purgatory that will cost it tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This mess shows we need a legal system that can distinguish between the two types of infringers ? the careless and the criminal. If we instead allow the odious methods used by the trolls to gain traction, more innocent people and businesses will be damaged for no good reason and the overall internet economy will suffer.

Here?s the complaint. If you?re curious, the offending photos were for a story ?Hayden Panettiere, Mark Sanchez in and out as Football?s newest ?It? couple?

Bleacher Report Complaint

Source: http://gigaom.com/2012/09/19/copyright-trolls-2-0-image-sites-embrace-righthaven-tactics/

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How to Find Company Information without Google Search: Top 7 ...

?Have you Googled it?? is one of the phrase we often heard referring to the search for particular information on Google. Google seems not only a company or product name; it?s also a verb.

Seemingly the ultimate starting point to search for everything, Google is not an ideal place to search for certain information. One of such is company information.

Sure, you can Google for company information (there you go again?) but unless you type the company name, the stakeholders, etc. you won?t get far in your search. It?s probably better for you to search using business-only search engines.

I have compiled a small list of popular business search engines you can use to find information related to a particular company. They are also great if you want to build a B2B list for you to contact to build business relationship.

So, just forget Google for a while and check out the following better-than-Google search engines for company information (not in a particular order):

1. CrunchBase

TechCrunch?s CrunchBase is a free, wiki-style directory of tech companies, people and investors. Just like Wikipedia, anyone can edit the information.

There are nearly 100,000 companies listed in the directory, more than 130,000 tech people and over 8,000 financial organisations. Information is organised via milestones ? so you can search any updates regarding any companies, including acquisitions, new funding rounds, and so on.

You can do both text-based search and location search.

2. Business.com

Business.com is a classic-style business directory. You can choose the appropriate categories to seek for vendor listing or enter any texts in the search bar. Companies are presented in a list in the form of company name, description and website URL. Getting listed costs you a fee, but searching for information is always free.

According to Business.com, there are more than 10,000 vendors (and advertisers) listed on the site.

3. LinkedIn.com Companies

LinkedIn.com is still the numero uno in business social networking. However, not many business owners know that you can easily search for company information using LinkedIn.com company search feature.

You can start your search for companies by entering the company name, keywords or industry, and you?ll be presented with a list of companies with description, location, the number of employees and so on.

There are more than 2.6 million companies ? including headquarters and subsidiaries ? listed on LinkedIn, with nearly 700,000 companies are US-based. Pretty impressive, I must say!

4. Manta

Just like some others, Manta is a business networking site. It?s a go-to place for businesses to connect with prospects, as well as getting found online. Although seems familiar, Manta is not your typical business networking site. What?s ?unusual? with Manta is the number of listing: There are about 11.5 million companies of all sizes ? both US and non-US ? listed with Manta!

Just like a good business search engine, you can search companies by company name, category or location. You can find plenty of information from the resulting list, such as website, phone number, description, contact person and so on ? including recommendations.

5. Facebook Business Pages

Facebook is THE social networking site, no doubt about it ? with 900 million users, you can?t just go wrong. However, what most business owners don?t realise is the fact that you can actually search for company information via Facebook search engine. While on the general search bar will return you a list of people, companies and everything else, from this particular page, you can search on the particular category you want.

Just visit Facebook Pages, choose ?Brands & Products? or ?Companies & Organizations? tab and you?ll see a list of business pages based on your location and interest. You can always search form a particular business page via Facebook?s internal search engine.

6. Google+ Local

Okay ? I say no Google early on, but this one is something not to miss ? it?s not Google search, anyway; it?s Google+ :)

Just like Facebook, using Google+ Local you can get recommendations on local businesses. You, of course, can search any companies from any cities you want. You will then be directed to the companies? Google+ business pages for contact info, updates and so on.

Google+ Local focuses on restaurants and hotels ? so if your industry is food and beverages or you are marketing to that industry, Google+ might be a good starting point for your search.

7. YP.com

YellowPages.com ? now YP.com is a long-time favourite for company information. Previously not too helpful with its company name and contact information, now it?s trying to go web 2.0 by offering more perks to companies listed ? photos, reviews, and so on. But still, I wish I can see more details on the detailed pages as many of them are not complete (most just company name and phone number.)

You can always search for any other details, such as finding directions and people (whitepages).

So ? there you go ? 7 business search engines I recommend you to visit when looking for company information. There are many other useful search engines on the web, but to get you started, I suggest you to kick-off with the above list.

What?s your favourite business search engine? Any recommendations on the ones you regularly use that are not listed above? Please share by leaving a comment below.

Ivan Widjaya
Finding company information from the right place

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Source: http://www.noobpreneur.com/2012/09/17/how-to-find-company-information-without-google-search-top-7-business-search-engines/

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New gene could lead to better bug-resistant plants

ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2012) ? The discovery of a new gene could lead to better bug-resistant plants.

Research led by Michigan State University and appearing on the cover of this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrates that domestic tomatoes could re-learn a thing or two from their wild cousins.

Long-term cultivation has led to tomato crops losing beneficial traits common to wild tomatoes. Anthony Schilmiller, MSU research assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, was able to identify a gene that is involved in one of these beneficial traits.

Many tomato secrets are found in its hair. Trichomes, or hair-like protrusions, produce a mixture of specialized chemicals that shape the interactions between the plant and its environment. The location of the chemicals allows some of them to act as the first line of defense against pests.

One class of compounds, acyl sugars, is a frontline defender. Trichomes secrete acyl sugars to fend off pests. Schilmiller teamed with Robert Last, MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and Amanda Charbonneau, MSU doctoral researcher, to try to understand how these chemicals are made. Little was known about how acyl sugars were produced until now, and this research identifies and describes the first gene that participates in the production of the protective sugars in cultivated tomatoes, Schilmiller said.

"Acyl sugars play a critical role in allowing wild tomatoes to fend off bugs," he said. "Because cultivated tomatoes were not bred for their acyl sugar amounts and quality, they have reduced levels compared to wild ones we do not eat. Understanding how they are made is the first step toward breeding cultivated tomatoes, and other plants in this family, to make them more resistant to herbivores."

Other Solanaceous crops that could benefit from this research include potatoes, peppers, eggplants and petunias.

In addition, this work shows that the newly discovered gene is active only in one specific cell of one trichome type.

"Not only will we be able to potentially engineer heartier tomatoes, but understanding how to specifically target trichome gene expression without affecting the fruit, we'll also be able to add other important chemicals for insect resistance and possibly other beneficial traits to the surface of the plants," Schilmiller said.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Michigan State University.

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

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/8JPFopyHoNM/120917161422.htm

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Microsoft News: Windows 8 Event and Hints on Surface Pricing

Microsoft will hold a Windows 8 launch event in New York City on October 25.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/nSqOG33tF-w/

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Body Builders: Scientists Make Progress in Tailor-Made Organs

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Tissue engineers have succeeded in making artificial organs that use a patient?s cells to become a living part of the body. Some hope to eventually prod the body to regenerate organs itself.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/health/research/scientists-make-progress-in-tailor-made-organs.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Food & Drink Innovation Network ? NEW BBQ RUBS FROM ...

August 8th, 2012

California Rancher has launched a new range of meal kits to enable amateur and keen BBQers to create BBQ cooking at home.

Whether it?s in the kitchen, on the BBQ or around the campfire, these kits can be used to give flavour to a meal.

The range is being sold across Wholefoods stores as well as in independents, online and also via Not on the High Street.

There are four different kits in the range, each using California Rancher?s all natural range of seasonings and sauce:

? Wild West Wings ? Sticky Lickin? Banjo Pickin? Chicken
? Santa Maria Steak ? Fearsome Wild West Steaks
? Ranchero BBQ Ribs ? Lipsmackingly Sticky, Tender and Succulent Ribs
? Trail Blazin? Burgers ? Foot-Tappingly Tasty Homemade Burgers

Friends Jon and Ben also created and run the California Rancher brand of premium BBQ rubs, BBQ meal kits, sauces and seasonings, which launch into Wholefoods this month.

Jon said:

?BBQ is a serious business. You?ve got to get it right. Flavour is paramount.?

California Rancher won Gold in the Great Taste Awards 2011 and Gold and Silver in the Taste of the West awards 2011.

Jon and Ben set up the Grillstock BBQ and music festival in 2010 and have been overwhelmed with the response to it in its three years.

Jon said: ?Bristol seems to sizzle and come to life over that weekend.

?We?ve created something we never dreamed would be so successful. Next year it?s going to be even hotter.?

Related posts:

1. NEW ONLINE FOOD COMPANY HOPES TO CHANGE HOME COOKING
2. DISCOVERY FOODS TO MARKET ROLLED TORTILLAS
3. SCRATCH LAUNCHES NEW CHRISTMAS MEAL KIT
4. SHARWOOD?S LAUNCHES NEW WRAP KITS
5. NEW FIRM LAUNCHES SCRATCH COOKERY KIT IN CENTRAL LONDON
6. SCHWARTZ UNVEILS NEW RECIPE INSPIRATIONS KITS
7. NEW PRODUCTS AND DESIGN FROM SCHWARTZ
8. WILD LAUNCHES STABLE FRUIT FLAVOURS FOR BAKED GOODS

Source: http://www.fdin.org.uk/2012/08/new-bbq-rubs-from-california-rancher/

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Thousands of fish die as Midwest streams heat up

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) ? Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees.

About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon were killed in Iowa last week as water temperatures reached 97 degrees. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead sturgeon, catfish, carp, and other species in the Lower Platte River, including the endangered pallid sturgeon. And biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of large- and smallmouth bass and channel catfish and is threatening the population of the greater redhorse fish, a state-endangered species.

So many fish died in one Illinois lake that the carcasses clogged an intake screen near a power plant, lowering water levels to the point that the station had to shut down one of its generators.

"It's something I've never seen in my career, and I've been here for more than 17 years," said Mark Flammang, a fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "I think what we're mainly dealing with here are the extremely low flows and this unparalleled heat."

The fish are victims of one of the driest and warmest summers in history. The federal U.S. Drought Monitor shows nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states are experiencing some form of drought, and the Department of Agriculture has declared more than half of the nation's counties ? nearly 1,600 in 32 states ? as natural disaster areas. More than 3,000 heat records were broken over the last month.

Iowa DNR officials said the sturgeon found dead in the Des Moines River were worth nearly $10 million, a high value based in part on their highly sought eggs, which are used for caviar. The fish are valued at more than $110 a pound.

Gavin Gibbons, a spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute, said the sturgeon kills don't appear to have reduced the supply enough to hurt regional caviar suppliers.

Flammang said weekend rain improved some of Iowa's rivers and lakes, but temperatures were rising again and straining a sturgeon population that develops health problems when water temperatures climb into the 80s.

"Those fish have been in these rivers for thousands of thousands of years, and they're accustomed to all sorts of weather conditions," he said. "But sometimes, you have conditions occur that are outside their realm of tolerance."

In Illinois, heat and lack of rain has dried up a large swath of Aux Sable Creek, the state's largest habitat for the endangered greater redhorse, a large bottom-feeding fish, said Dan Stephenson, a biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

"We're talking hundreds of thousands (killed), maybe millions by now," Stephenson said. "If you're only talking about game fish, it's probably in the thousands. But for all fish, it's probably in the millions if you look statewide."

Stephenson said fish kills happen most summers in small private ponds and streams, but the hot weather this year has made the situation much worse.

"This year has been really, really bad ? disproportionately bad, compared to our other years," he said.

Stephenson said a large number of dead fish were sucked into an intake screen near Powerton Lake in central Illinois, lowering water levels and forcing a temporary shutdown at a nearby power plant. A spokesman for Edison International, which runs the coal-fired plant, said workers shut down one of its two generators for several hours two weeks ago because of extreme heat and low water levels at the lake, which is used for cooling.

In Nebraska, a stretch of the Platte River from Kearney in the central part of the state to Columbus in the east has gone dry and killed a "significant number" of sturgeon, catfish and minnows, said fisheries program manager Daryl Bauer. Bauer said the warm, shallow water has also killed an unknown number of endangered pallid sturgeon.

"It's a lot of miles of river, and a lot of fish," Bauer said. "Most of those fish are barely identifiable. In this heat, they decay really fast."

Bauer said a single dry year usually isn't enough to hurt the fish population. But he worries dry conditions in Nebraska could continue, repeating a stretch in the mid-2000s that weakened fish populations.

Kansas also has seen declining water levels that pulled younger, smaller game fish away from the vegetation-rich shore lines and forced them to cluster, making them easier targets for predators, said fisheries chief Doug Nygren of the Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

Nygren said he expects a drop in adult walleye populations in the state's shallower, wind-swept lakes in southern Kansas. But he said other species, such as large-mouth bass, can tolerate the heat and may multiply faster without competition from walleye.

"These last two years are the hottest we've ever seen," Nygren said. "That really can play a role in changing populations, shifting it in favor of some species over others. The walleye won't benefit from these high-water temperatures, but other species that are more tolerant may take advantage of their declining population."

Geno Adams, a fisheries program administrator in South Dakota, said there have been reports of isolated fish kills in its manmade lakes on the Missouri River and others in the eastern part of the state. But it's unclear how much of a role the heat played in the deaths.

One large batch of carp at Lewis and Clark Lake in the state's southeast corner had lesions, a sign they were suffering from a bacterial infection. Adams said the fish are more prone to sickness with low water levels and extreme heat. But he added that other fish habitat have seen a record number this year thanks to the 2011 floods.

"When we're in a drought, there's a struggle for water and it's going in all different directions," Adams said. "Keeping it in the reservoir for recreational fisheries is not at the top of the priority list."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-fish-die-midwest-streams-heat-183228110.html

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NCAA moves closer to sweeping penalties overhaul

NCAA President Mark Emmert gestures during a news conference in Indianapolis, Monday, July 23, 2012. The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. ?(AP Photo/Michael Conroy

NCAA President Mark Emmert gestures during a news conference in Indianapolis, Monday, July 23, 2012. The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. ?(AP Photo/Michael Conroy

NCAA President Mark Emmert gestures during a news conference in Indianapolis, Monday, July 23, 2012. The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. ?(AP Photo/Michael Conroy

NCAA President Mark Emmert, left, announces penalties against Penn State as Ed Ray, NCAA Executive Committee chair and Oregon State University president, looks on at right, during a news conference in Indianapolis, Monday, July 23, 2012. The NCAA has slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. ?(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Nearly a year after promising to impose harsher sanctions on the most egregious rule-breakers, NCAA leaders endorsed a proposal Thursday that would make schools subject to the same crippling penalties just handed to Penn State.

The measure includes postseason bans of up to four years, fines that could stretch into the millions and suspensions for head coaches. A final vote on the sweeping overhaul will not occur before the board of directors' October meeting.

"Coaches come to me and say, 'I feel like a chump. I'm trying to do things the right way and I have peers who laugh at me because I don't play the game and bend the rules the way they do,'" board chairman Ed Ray said in a statement released by the NCAA. "That's got to stop ... Most coaches are terrific people who love their student-athletes, try to do it the right way, try to have the right values and succeed. They're very frustrated. This has got to stop. I think most coaches are saying it's about time. We want a level playing field."

The plan calls for changing the current two-tiered penalty structure of major and secondary violations to a four-tiered concept, increasing the size of the infractions committee from 10 up to 24 in an effort to speed up the enforcement process and holding coaches individually accountable for any violations that occur in their program.

But it's the penalties that will make school leaders take notice.

A program found to have made a "serious breach of conduct" with aggravating circumstances could face postseason bans of two to four years. In addition, the program may have to return money from specific events or a series of events or the amount of gross revenue generated by the sport during the years in which sanctions occurred ? fines that could cost a school millions of dollars.

If this sounds familiar, it should. After the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal at Penn State, the NCAA barred Penn State from playing in a bowl game or the college football playoff until after the 2016 season and levied a $60 million fine ? the rough equivalent to a year of gross revenue from the football program.

Coaches, too, would face new guidelines. They would be presumed responsible for any violations committed by their staffs. If they cannot prove they were unaware, the head coach could be suspended from 10 percent of the season to the full season.

The board also approved a provision that would publicly identify individuals responsible for the violations if there is a finding of lack of institutional control or failure to monitor.

The changes are the next step for university leaders nearly a year after they met with NCAA President Mark Emmert at a two-day retreat in Indianapolis. Afterward, presidents said they unanimously supported stronger sanctions and promised to make significant changes over the next 12 to 18 months.

Ray, the Oregon State president, and former Penn State President Graham Spanier were two of the leaders who spoke after the meeting. Also in attendance was University of Miami President Donna Shalala, whose football and basketball programs were accused of major violations just a few weeks later. The Miami investigation is ongoing.

With so many major scandals over the past 20 months, NCAA leaders not only wanted to put teeth in the sanctions ? they want them in place before the end of this year.

"Our intention is to make this real in October," Ray said. "We want the membership to have a final review. We will listen to compelling arguments for additional changes, but this is the recommendation with all the feedback we've gathered since our first report in January and second detailed report in April."

Ray's committee also approved a measure that will allow BCS officials to expand the bowl limit so they can create a four-team playoff. That measure was expected to be a formality after the BCS voted to expand the playoff system.

And the board approved a new selection process for bowl games if conferences with bowl tie-ins do not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the spots.

Under the new measure, if a bowl cannot be filled by the conference affiliations, the open spots would be filled through a six-tier tiebreaking process that will consider wins versus Football Championship Subdivision teams, teams with seven losses, teams making the move to the FBS that go 6-6 and any 5-7 team with a top-five score on the Academic Progress Rate.

The board also reiterated its support to provide athletes an annual stipend of up to $2,000 to cover the so-called full cost of attendance but did not vote on the measure. The stipend originally was approved last fall, but was halted in December because too many schools were opposed to it.

In other actions, the board:

? Chose Wake Forest President Nathan Hatch as the new chairman of the board and Michigan State President Lou Anna Simon new chairwoman of the Executive Committee.

? Voted to support a change in constitutional language that would allow schools from outside the U.S. to join the NCAA. The move virtually assures that Simon Fraser University of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, will become the first non-U.S. member when the Division II Presidents Council votes next week.

? Heard a proposal to rewrite the massive rulebook manual. No vote will occur until at least January.

___

Online:

http://ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/ncaa/pdfs/2012/ewg+penalty+guidelines

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-08-02-NCAA-Board%20Of%20Directors/id-117fdafc12e54b93b08d1fc9cc9b5295

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The Differences That Aren?t (Theagitator)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/238568632?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Kohistani strikes blow for Afghan women

While most Olympic athletes are backed by strong support in their home countries, Afghanistan's Tahmina Kohistani has encountered not just disapproval, but outright opposition.

But the 100m sprinter said her appearance at the London Olympics, as her country's only female athlete, was important not just for her, but for all women in conservative Afghanistan.

"This means a lot for me and my country. There were a lot of people who were trying to disturb me, to stop me from training, but I am here," she said on Tuesday.

"A lot of people will be watching me," she added. "Being a Muslim female athlete is most important for me.

"I represent a country where every day there are suicide bomb blasts. It is important that a girl from such a country can be here."

Kohistani, 23, from the north-eastern province of Kapisa, admits it would be a "miracle" to reach the 100m final, let alone claim a medal.

The 1.60m (five foot three) runner, instantly recognisable on the track by her traditional headscarf, has a personal best of 15.0sec -- more than four seconds slower than the late Florence Griffith-Joyner's long-standing world record.

The slow time is not surprising given Kohistani comes from a country with few facilities, where many people are openly hostile to the involvement of women in sport.

She is part of a six-strong Afghan team in London including Rohullah Nikpai, whose taekwondo bronze at Beijing 2008 was the war-ravaged, deeply religious country's first ever Olympic medal.

"I know that having a medal at the Olympics is very difficult, but I am here to open a new way for the women of Afghanistan because in my society there is no sport for females," Kohistani said.

"My people do not accept sport for women, they think sport is not good for them, but my family supports me and they have no problems."

And Kohistani, who will take part in the 100m heats on August 3, holds out the faint hope that a slip-up by her rivals could open the way to a place in the final.

"It is all in the mind. The race is fast. If any of the favourites make a mistake, maybe it will be a miracle for me," she said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kohistani-strikes-blow-afghan-women-201209142.html

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