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Sunday, June 30, 2013
Apple Remains No.1 Smartphone Maker As Android Leads In The OS Market Share In U.S.
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Source: www.ibtimes.com --- Saturday, June 29, 2013
Apple ranks as the leading smartphone maker in the U.S., while Android remains the nation’s top smartphone platform, according to comScore. ...
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
Singapore to Indonesia: Stop sending us your smog.
Air pollution in Singapore?rose to unhealthy levels this week because of illegal forest clearing in Indonesia,?prompting?Singapore?to urge Indonesia to do something to end the haze.
A masked man walks as the sun sets among buildings covered with haze at the Singapore Central Business District Thursday, June 20, 2013. Singapore urged people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically.
Joseph Nair/AP
EnlargeCloudy skies in Jakarta were no match for the breathtaking haze that hit Singapore?on Thursday?as air-pollution levels rose to record highs and sparked a war of words between diplomats in both countries over who should shoulder the blame.
Skip to next paragraph Sara SchonhardtIndonesia Correspondent
Sara Schonhardt is a Monitor contributor based in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she has been reporting since 2009.?Sara previously worked for various media in Thailand and Cambodia and received her master?s degree from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
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Companies have asked employees to work from home, the military has stopped training outdoors, and pictures of Singapore's iconic Marine Bay Sands towers barely visible through the haze have been splashed across social media platforms?and newspapers.
Despite the international blame game, the immediate cause was clear enough: fires used to clear land in Sumatra for farming and palm oil plantations. A local meteorological agency reported nearly 150 hotspots alone in Riau Province, itself a hotspot for mining, logging, and palm oil production.
Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace released a statement saying that the fires illustrated how Indonesia?s government policies aimed at reducing deforestation had failed?since half of them were in areas off-limits to land clearing.
Each year slash and burn practices in Indonesia shroud neighboring Singapore and Malaysia in thick haze. As deforestation has accelerated in recent years, it has worsened.
On Thursday,?Singapore sent a delegation from its environmental agency to Jakarta to call for immediate action.?Singapore?s environment minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, issued an angry statement?on his Facebook page saying no country or corporation ?has the right to pollute the air at the expense of Singaporeans? health and well-being.??
But Indonesia shot back its own statement: Singapore should stop ?behaving like a child,? said Indonesia?s?Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Agung Laksono, who oversees fire response.
Mr. Balakrishnan had asked the Indonesian government to name and shame the companies involved in the illegal burning. But Indonesia?s forestry ministry launched back, saying?Singapore and Malaysia shared the responsibility for putting pressure on the resource extraction industry since many of companies were based in their countries.
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Obama: I don't need 'photo op' with Mandela
President Obama is heading to South Africa from Senegal as part of his African tour, where Nelson Mandela's daughter says he might visit Mandela if doctors approve. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
By Stacey Klein and Ian Johnston, NBC News
Barack Obama said Friday that he did not need a ?photo op? with Nelson Mandela, saying the ?last thing? he wanted to do was be intrusive at a time when the anti-apartheid icon?s family are concerned about his health.
However, the president did not rule out a meeting with Mandela, whose ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said Friday had made a ?great improvement? compared to a few days ago.
On Tuesday, Mandela's daughter Zindzi said that her father ?opened his eyes and gave me a smile? when she told him Obama was coming.
Speaking about her ex-husband Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela says, 'From what he was a few days ago, there is great improvement' in the former South African president's condition.
Speaking on Air Force One as he flew to South Africa from Senegal, Obama said that ?we?ll see what the situation is when we land.?
?I don't need photo op," he said. "The last thing I want to do is be intrusive at a time when the family is concerned? with Mandela?s condition.
He said the main message he wanted to deliver was ?profound gratitude? for Mandela?s leadership and to say that ?the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with him, his family and his country.?
This message could be delivered to his family and not directly to Mandela, the president said.
On Thursday, Obama said he had already had the "privilege of meeting Madiba [Mandela's clan name] and speaking to him."
"And he's a personal hero, but I don't think I'm unique in that regard," Obama added. "If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages."
Madikizela-Mandela, speaking outside Mandela's former home in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, said her ex-husband seemed to be getting better.
?I?m not a doctor but I can say that from what he was a few days ago there is great improvement," she said.
When asked by NBC News Special Correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault?whether the family would welcome a visit by Obama, Zindzi Mandela said Thursday she wasn't aware of any formal request. However, she added that decision would be left with doctors treating the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Ahead of his arrival in Johannesburg on Friday, an anti-Obama protest was held not far from the hospital where Mandela is being treated with one demonstrator claiming the U.S. president had been a ?disappointment.?
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
Protesters protest the visit of President Barack Obama in Pretoria Friday. One said he viewed Obama as a "disappointment" and thought Nelson Mandela would too.
Reuters reported that nearly 1,000 trade unionists, Muslim activists, South African Communist Party members and others marched to the U.S. Embassy where they burned a U.S. flag, calling Obama's foreign policy ?arrogant and oppressive.?
"We had expectations of America's first black president. Knowing Africa's history, we expected more,? Khomotso Makola, a 19-year-old law student, told Reuters. He said Obama was a ?disappointment, I think Mandela too would be disappointed and feel let down.?
South African critics of Obama have focused in particular on his support for U.S. drone strikes overseas, which they say have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, and his failure to deliver on a pledge to close the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba housing terrorism suspects.
However, Nigerian painter Sanusi Olatunji, 31, had brought portraits of both Mandela and Obama to add to a growing number of flowers, tribute notes and gifts outside the hospital.
?These are the two great men of my lifetime,? he told Reuters. ?To me, Mandela is a prophet who brought peace and opportunity. He made it possible for a black man like me to live in a country that was only for whites.?
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View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.
In the latest statement on Mandela?s condition, South African President Jacob Zuma said the 94-year-old was ?much better? on Thursday than he had been the previous night. "The medical team continues to do a sterling job," he added.
A statement issued by Zuma?s office said he and Obama would hold ?crucial bilateral talks that will take forward relations between the two countries? on Saturday.
?South Africa values its warm and mutually beneficial relationship with the United States immensely. This is a significant visit which will take political, economic and people to people relations between the two countries to a higher level, while also enhancing cooperation between U.S. and the African continent at large,? it said.
The statement noted Obama?s visit was being made as South Africa prepares to celebrate ?20 years of freedom? ? 1994 saw the first elections in the country in which all its citizens were eligible to vote. Mandela voted for the first time in his life in that year and was elected the country?s first black president, serving until 1999.
?South Africa greatly appreciates the solidarity provided by the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the United States during the struggle for liberation,? the statement said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:05 AM EDT
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Singer Jessie J. stops fight during her concert
Celebs 
June 28, 2013 at 2:21 PM ET
Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters
Jessie J. performing at the Malta concert where she stopped a fight.
They say music soothes the savage breast, but at British singer Jessie J.'s "Isle of MTV" performance in Malta on Wednesday, music didn't keep two concertgoers from breaking out into a fight.
The singer was in the middle of her song, "Rainbow," which ironically is about how people are all similar and should get along, when she noticed the altercation between two fans near the stage. "Stop the music, stop the music," she shouted to her band in a video captured by a fan and posted to You Tube. (The fighting fans can't clearly be seen in the video.)
"OK, so, you guys in the front, guys ... see I don't perform when people are fighting," the singer announced, as the audience applauded her words.
"OH MY GOD!" another fan could be heard saying.
"OK, so here's the deal right?" Jessie J. continued. "Music is about bringing people together. You don't need that angriness in your lives, OK? So kiss and make up and let's party."
"Jes-sie! Jes-sie!" fans chanted in appreciation.
"Let's go, let's go again," the singer told her band, before delivering one more word to the fighters. "Look at me, come on, look at me. Are we good? Sort it out, bro."
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/singer-jessie-j-stops-fight-during-her-concert-6C10485346
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Friday, June 28, 2013
Yahoo! News - Top Stories
Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/topstories
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US unemployment benefit applications fall to 346K
Job seekers line up to register to attend a job fair held in Atlanta, Thursday, May 30, 2013. The Labor Department reports on the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, Thursday June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Job seekers line up to register to attend a job fair held in Atlanta, Thursday, May 30, 2013. The Labor Department reports on the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, Thursday June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/John Amis)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000 last week, evidence that the job market is still improving modestly, despite signs of slower growth.
The four-week average, a less volatile figure, declined 2,750 to 345,750, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's near the five-year low of 338,000 that the average touched last month.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs. Since March, they have fluctuated between 340,000 and 360,000, a level consistent with steady hiring. Employers added 175,000 jobs in May, almost matching the average monthly gain for the past year. The unemployment rate was 7.6 percent, down from 8.2 percent a year earlier.
Steady job gains could help the economy expand later this year. Growth was only 1.8 percent at an annual rate in the first quarter, the government said Wednesday, down from a previous estimate of 2.4 percent.
The main reason for the lower estimate was consumers spent less than previously thought.
A separate report Thursday showed that consumer spending rose 0.3 percent in May, after falling by the same amount in April. Incomes rose 0.5 percent, the most in three months, the Commerce Department said.
Still, the report revised spending lower in several months earlier this year, causing some economists to lower their forecasts for the April-June quarter.
Nearly 4.6 million people received unemployment benefits in the week ended June 8, the latest data available. That's about 23,000 more than in the previous week.
Slower growth could mean the Federal Reserve may delay its plans to slow its monthly bond purchases, economists said. Those purchases are intended to keep long-term interest rates low.
Chairman Ben Bernanke rattled financial markets last week when he said the Fed would slow its purchases if the economy continued to strengthen. But the Fed may not be able to follow through until growth accelerates from the first quarter's pace. Some economists think that may not happen until the final three months of the year.
Some economic reports this week have been encouraging. U.S. factories are fielding more orders. Higher home sales and prices are signaling a steady housing recovery.
Spending at retail businesses rose in May, a sign that solid job growth has encouraged Americans to open their wallets. And the improving job market has lifted consumer confidence to its highest point in 5? years.
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Testimony in Jackson case focuses on paparazzi
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Scrutiny by paparazzi has made it more difficult for the children of Michael Jackson to grieve for their dead father, a family cousin who serves as co-guardian of the singer's children told a jury on Thursday.
TJ Jackson said the three children don't like the attention, and he supports any legislative effort to curb photographers from pursuing images of the sons and daughters of celebrities.
"In my opinion, I know it's making everything harder for the kids to grieve and recover and progress," Jackson said.
The comments came as Jackson testified during a civil trial involving the death of the pop star about his relationship with his famous uncle and the singer's parenting of his children.
He cited remarks made Tuesday by Halle Berry in Sacramento as the Legislature considers a bill that would change the definition of harassment to include photographing or recording a child without the permission of a legal guardian.
Anyone convicted of a first offense could spend between 10 days and a year in jail.
TJ Jackson said he had to consider whether Michael Jackson's youngest son Blanket should attend martial arts classes on Tuesday because photographers would be interested in getting a shot of the 11-year-old on the fourth anniversary of his father's death.
TJ Jackson is Tito Jackson's son and a member of the musical group 3T with two of his brothers.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/testimony-jackson-case-focuses-paparazzi-200124296.html
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Solar power heads in a new direction: Thinner
June 26, 2013 ? Most efforts at improving solar cells have focused on increasing the efficiency of their energy conversion, or on lowering the cost of manufacturing. But now MIT researchers are opening another avenue for improvement, aiming to produce the thinnest and most lightweight solar panels possible.
Such panels, which have the potential to surpass any substance other than reactor-grade uranium in terms of energy produced per pound of material, could be made from stacked sheets of one-molecule-thick materials such as graphene or molybdenum disulfide.
Jeffrey Grossman, the Carl Richard Soderberg Associate Professor of Power Engineering at MIT, says the new approach "pushes towards the ultimate power conversion possible from a material" for solar power. Grossman is the senior author of a new paper describing this approach, published in the journal Nano Letters.
Although scientists have devoted considerable attention in recent years to the potential of two-dimensional materials such as graphene, Grossman says, there has been little study of their potential for solar applications. It turns out, he says, "they're not only OK, but it's amazing how well they do."
Using two layers of such atom-thick materials, Grossman says, his team has predicted solar cells with 1 to 2 percent efficiency in converting sunlight to electricity, That's low compared to the 15 to 20 percent efficiency of standard silicon solar cells, he says, but it's achieved using material that is thousands of times thinner and lighter than tissue paper. The two-layer solar cell is only 1 nanometer thick, while typical silicon solar cells can be hundreds of thousands of times that. The stacking of several of these two-dimensional layers could boost the efficiency significantly.
"Stacking a few layers could allow for higher efficiency, one that competes with other well-established solar cell technologies," says Marco Bernardi, a postdoc in MIT's Department of Materials Science who was the lead author of the paper. Maurizia Palummo, a senior researcher at the University of Rome visiting MIT through the MISTI Italy program, was also a co-author.
For applications where weight is a crucial factor -- such as in spacecraft, aviation or for use in remote areas of the developing world where transportation costs are significant -- such lightweight cells could already have great potential, Bernardi says.
Pound for pound, he says, the new solar cells produce up to 1,000 times more power than conventional photovoltaics. At about one nanometer (billionth of a meter) in thickness, "It's 20 to 50 times thinner than the thinnest solar cell that can be made today," Grossman adds. "You couldn't make a solar cell any thinner."
This slenderness is not only advantageous in shipping, but also in ease of mounting solar panels. About half the cost of today's panels is in support structures, installation, wiring and control systems, expenses that could be reduced through the use of lighter structures.
In addition, the material itself is much less expensive than the highly purified silicon used for standard solar cells -- and because the sheets are so thin, they require only minuscule amounts of the raw materials.
John Hart, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and art and design at the University of Michigan, says, "This is an exciting new approach to designing solar cells, and moreover an impressive example of how complementary nanostructured materials can be engineered to create new energy devices." Hart, who will be joining the MIT faculty this summer but had no involvement in this research, adds that, "I expect the mechanical flexibility and robustness of these thin layers would also be attractive."
The MIT team's work so far to demonstrate the potential of atom-thick materials for solar generation is "just the start," Grossman says. For one thing, molybdenum disulfide and molybdenum diselenide, the materials used in this work, are just two of many 2-D materials whose potential could be studied, to say nothing of different combinations of materials sandwiched together. "There's a whole zoo of these materials that can be explored," Grossman says. "My hope is that this work sets the stage for people to think about these materials in a new way."
While no large-scale methods of producing molybdenum disulfide and molybdenum diselenide exist at this point, this is an active area of research. Manufacturability is "an essential question," Grossman says, "but I think it's a solvable problem."
An additional advantage of such materials is their long-term stability, even in open air; other solar-cell materials must be protected under heavy and expensive layers of glass. "It's essentially stable in air, under ultraviolet light, and in moisture," Grossman says. "It's very robust."
The work so far has been based on computer modeling of the materials, Grossman says, adding that his group is now trying to produce such devices. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of utilizing 2-D materials for clean energy" he says.
This work was supported by the MIT Energy Initiative.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/8FVH4mhCcNE/130626153926.htm
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
Texas abortion fight turns personal, pits Gov. Perry against Democratic filibuster star Davis (Star Tribune)
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