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Source: http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=208190
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Thursday, July 25, 2013
Olbermann says he's all about sports now
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Keith Olbermann isn't planning to talk politics on his new late-night sports show, although he will make an exception for a certain New York mayoral candidate.
Asked about Anthony Weiner's new sexting scandal and the candidate's online alias "Carlos Danger," Olbermann joked that Weiner "stole a great fake hotel sign-in name" that he would have liked to use.
He told the Television Critics Association summer meeting on Wednesday, "I guarantee you Carlos Danger will wind up in the first show."
He added, "The idea that anyone could call themselves, under any circumstances and for any reason, Carlos Danger is a tribute to something about him."
Olbermann's self-titled show originates from Times Square studios in New York and debuts on Aug. 26 on ESPN2. Airing at 11 p.m. EDT, it will focus on the day's sports topics through a mix of commentary, interviews, contributors, panel discussions and highlights.
Olbermann said there is no content clause in his contract that would prevent him from talking politics, something he did for eight years as a prime-time host on MSNBC and for a year on Current TV ? two stints that ended poorly. He quit MSNBC and was taken off the air at Current TV and later sued.
"It's been wonderful not talking politics," he said. "It was a lot of work and it took a lot out of me."
Olbermann had his first rehearsal on Wednesday. The job brings him back to ESPN, where he worked from 1992-97 with some controversy.
"It will be a sportscast with my stamp on it," he said, adding that plans include a segment on the Worst Person in the Sports World and clips from his previous life on ESPN.
"It's important to acknowledge I was there before," he said, but at same time, "I don't think the audience is that interested in hearing me say, 'Good evening, I'm sorry, and proceeding like that.'"
Olbermann noted that one of the people instrumental in bringing him back was ESPN executive Norby Williamson, a producer on his old "Sports Center" telecasts with whom he had "screaming matches."
"I'm listening, oh, just a little bit more than I used to to other people's ideas," Olbermann said.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/07/24/4187466/olbermann-says-hes-all-about-sports.html
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Friday, June 28, 2013
Britten's coronation opera revived after 60 years
LONDON (AP) ? The Earl of Harewood may have been exaggerating when he described the premiere of "Gloriana" as "one of the great disasters of operatic history."
Still, the Benjamin Britten opera, commissioned to help mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, was hardly a rousing success back in 1953.
Instead of the joyous celebration many expected, Britten and librettist William Plomer produced a somber work about the first Queen Elizabeth and her relationship with the Earl of Essex. Though the opera has festive elements, it ends on a downbeat note, with the monarch portrayed as an aging, disillusioned woman contemplating death.
The first night audience at Covent Garden ? which included many members of the royal family ? greeted it with bewilderment, some wags dubbed it "Boriana," and the piece soon disappeared from the Royal Opera's repertory.
Until now.
This month, "Gloriana" is back in a new production by Richard Jones that the company's director, Kasper Holten, notes commemorates a "triple anniversary": 60 years since the coronation and the opera's premiere and 100 years since the composer's birth.
"There was feeling that it deserved another chance, to be looked at again," said Holten, who holds the same job Lord Harewood did in 1953. "To see whether the piece isn't really better than its reputation."
That it is. "Gloriana" contains some of Britten's finest music, though it possibly falls short of being a masterpiece to rank with his "Peter Grimes" or "Billy Budd."
"There are fantastic moments," Holten said in an interview. "The courtly dances, the lute song. I think the problem is that there are other parts that dramatically fail to pick up the same pace. That makes for an uneven evening."
What may have seemed an inappropriately dark portrayal of monarchy 60 years ago also feels different with the passage of time ? a perspective heightened by Jones's production. He frames the work as a pageant being staged for the young queen by a local community group of amateurs. This mixture of Tudor pomp with nostalgia for a Britain that was still recovering from World War II makes for a poignant combination.
"On opening night I had a strong feeling that from the first moment, people got it," Holten said. "This piece is a part of their history and it says something about them."
Critical reaction has been mixed. Many applauded Jones's staging while finding fault with the piece itself. Writing in the Financial Times, Richard Fairman said it was "brave of the Royal Opera to bring the work back to the theatre where it had its troubled birth," but he added that "drama and music are stretched painfully thin. Perhaps that first-night audience was not so wrong-headed after all."
More positive was Michael Church in The Independent, who noted that in 1953 "people just weren't ready for a work which chimes so neatly with our post-modern consciousness. . Covent Garden," he said, "has now shown that 'Gloriana' is, if not a great work, certainly one of the most intriguing in the canon."
Part of what's intriguing is the way Britten and Plomer depict the title character. Basing his libretto on Lytton Strachey's psychological history, "Elizabeth and Essex," Plomer presents a queen who, as Holten says, "is quite a flawed character, struggling with the dilemma between personal and public roles."
The idea of the queen as outsider in her own court, beloved by her people but lonely nonetheless, struck a chord with Britten, who was drawn to portrayals of outcasts in many of his other works as well.
In the opera's final scene, after Elizabeth has condemned Essex to death for treason, she is left alone on stage. Britten daringly subverts expectations here: Instead of giving her a final aria with a soaring vocal line, he has her abandon singing altogether for stretches of spoken declamation.
"It's almost as if the musical language falls apart at the end, as if she loses her language," Holten said. "There's no more singing in her, she's been worn out. I think that's a beautiful effect."
"Gloriana," starring soprano Susan Bullock in the title role and tenor Toby Spence as Essex, runs through July 6.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brittens-coronation-opera-revived-60-years-095241157.html
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
David Hasselhoff, Ray Liotta, Shaun Toub Join Joe Carnahan's 'Stretch' (Exclusive)
By Jeff Sneider
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Director Joe Carnahan continues to assemble an impressive ensemble for his action-comedy "Stretch," adding Ray Liotta, David Hasselhoff and Shaun Toub.
Patrick Wilson stars in the Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions film as a down-on-his-luck limo driver named Stretch who discovered he only has one shift left to pay off a big debt to a bookie. When the chauffeur picks up a reclusive billionaire (Chris Pine) with some deviant appetites, Stretch vows to fulfill his every request, no matter how weird, to score the big tip that could settle his score.
As the night grows stranger and Stretch is pushed into some dangerous encounters, he worries that the freak in his back seat might just be his final fare.
Toub will play the no-nonsense owner of the limo company that employs Stretch, while Liotta and Hasselhoff are expected to cameo as themselves, according to an individual familiar with the project.
Ed Helms and James Badge Dale co-star alongside Brooklyn Decker.
Blumhouse's Jason Blum will produce with Tracy Falco and Carnahan, while Leon Corcos and Nila Najand will co-produce. Charles Layton will executive produce.
Universal will release the low-budget movie in North America on March 21, 2014. Production begins June 30 in Los Angeles.
Liotta recently starred in "The Place Beyond the Pines" and has several movies on the horizon including the Disney sequel "Muppets Most Wanted" and "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" in 2014. He's repped by UTA, Untitled Entertainment and attorneys Stewart Brookman and Craig Jacobson.
Hasselhoff is best known for his heroic portrayal of Mitch Buchannon on "Baywatch," which holds the Guinness World Record for most watched television series in history. He's currently in pre-production on the indie comedy "Killing Haselhoff," which he'll produce and star in. He's repped by manager Eric Gardner of Panacea Entertainment.
Toub co-starred in "The Last Airbender" as well as "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 3." He's currently in production on the Ernest Hemingway movie "Papa," which reunites him with his "Crash" producer Bob Yari. Toub is repped by Abrams Artists Agency.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/david-hasselhoff-ray-liotta-shaun-toub-join-joe-230524936.html
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Miesha Tate to pose nude in ESPN the Magazine
UFC bantamweight Miesha Tate is joining the ranks of MMA fighters who have posed nude in ESPN the Magazine's Body Issue. The magazine announced today that Tate will appear in the yearly issue that shows off athletes' bodies. It will hit newsstands on July 12.
Tate's opposing coach on the upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter," UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, was on last season's cover. Both women appearing in the magazine will give them one more thing to trash talk about as they film the TUF that will air in September.
[Related: Mets' Matt Harvey to flaunt curves in 'Body Issue']
UFC president Dana White said the filming is filled with their squabbles every day.
"It's going exactly the way you thought it would be going: bad," White said. "Dead serious. Miesha and Ronda hate each other. It's literally crazy drama every day. It's irritating."
Other fighters who have been in the Body Issue include Jon Jones and Gina Carano.
Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
? Native American fighter Dan Hornbuckle more than a face in the crowd
? Is Chris Weidman the one to take out Anderson Silva?
? Ricardo Lamas depending on family to get over disappointing pursuit of UFC belt
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/miesha-tate-pose-nude-espn-magazine-201403709.html
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Mobile Advertising Ecosystem Infographic - Business Insider
We are in the post-PC era, and soon billions of consumers will be carrying around Internet-connected mobile devices for up to 16 hours a day.?Mobile audiences have exploded as a result.
So, mobile advertising should be a bonanza, right? Not exactly. It has been a bit slow off the ground, and its growth trajectory is not clear cut. Part of the reason is that the mobile ad ecosystem is not as strictly delineated as the desktop ecosystem.?In mobile advertising, the rules of the road change with different combinations of device, wireless operator, and operating system.
In a recent report from?BI?Intelligence?on, we?explain the complexities and fractures of the ecosystem. We specifically examine the central and dynamic roles played by mobile ad networks, demand side platforms, mobile ad exchanges, real-time bidding, agencies, brands, and new companies hoping to upend the traditional banner ad.
Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>
Take look at this infographic from our report:
?
Mobile lacks the technical consensus that enables ad targeting, delivery, and measurement to work fairly seamlessly across the desktop world.?As the mobile ad industry matures it will likely become more streamlined and simple, but for now there are innumerable actors interacting with one another and attempting to find a niche.
Here's an overview of some of the major players in the ecosystem:
To access BI Intelligence's full report on The Mobile Advertising Ecosystem, sign up for a free trial subscription here.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-advertising-ecosystem-infographic-2013-6
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
D.C. Opens a Teddy Roosevelt-themed Restaurant | Devour The ...
Jun 25
When you think of restaurants and bars patterned after our nation?s long list of esteemed politicians, perhaps Teddy Roosevelt wouldn?t be the first name to pop in your head. After all, Honest Abe?s Burgers and Freedom is an actual place and who can top that? Well, trust-busting Teddy is going to give it the ole college try.
Introducing Teddy & The Bully Bar, a new D.C. establishment that seeks to honor our 26th president by filling you up with delicious food and drink. President Roosevelt?s profound love of hunting takes center stage here, as the dining room is filled with fake taxidermy animals and hunting trophies. The drink and dining specials are also similarly themed, offering up dishes made from bison, ostrich and other game.
The restaurant officially opened to the public yesterday, so if you are in the area why don?t you sling a couple back for Mr. Rough Rider himself.
Source: http://blog.cookingchanneltv.com/2013/06/25/teddy-roosevelt-restaurant-washington-dc/
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Senate faces key vote on immigration
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama campaigned from the White House for immigration legislation on Monday in advance of a Senate test vote on a bill calling for more than $30 billion worth of new security measures along the border with Mexico and offering a chance at citizenship for millions living in the country illegally.
Far outnumbered, conservative critics attacked without letup in speeches and electronic appeals. "It will encourage more illegal immigration and must be stopped," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, exhorted supporters, urging them to contact their own senators with a plea to defeat the measure.
After three weeks of desultory debate, the end game was at hand in the Senate for the most ambitious attempt to overhaul the nation's immigration system in decades.
Supporters exuded confidence they had more than the 60 votes required to send the measure over a key hurdle and on its way toward Senate passage by week's end.
Democrats appeared unified on the issue. Republicans were anything but, as evidenced by the divide among potential 2016 presidential contenders. Among them, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was an enthusiastic supporter of the bill, while Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Cruz were opposed.
Passage would send the issue to the House, where most conservative Republicans in the majority are strongly opposed to citizenship for anyone who came to the country illegally or overstayed their visa.
Some GOP lawmakers have appealed to Speaker John Boehner not to permit any immigration legislation to come to a vote for fear that whatever its contents, it would open the door to an unpalatable compromise with the Senate. At the same time, the House Judiciary Committee is in the midst of approving a handful of measures related to immigration, action that ordinarily is a prelude to votes in the full House.
"Now is the time to do it," Obama said at the White House before meeting with nine business executives who support a change in immigration laws. He added, "I hope that we can get the strongest possible vote out of the Senate so that we can then move to the House and get this done before the summer break" beginning in early August.
He said the measure would be good for the economy, for business and for workers who are "oftentimes exploited at low wages."
As for the overall economy, he said, "I think every business leader here feels confident that they'll be in a stronger position to continue to innovate, to continue to invest, to continue to create jobs and ensure that this continues to be the land of opportunity for generations to come."
Leaving little to chance, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced it was launching a new seven-figure ad buy Monday in support of the bill. "Call Congress. End de facto amnesty. Create jobs and economic growth by supporting conservative immigration reforms," the ad said.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the legislation will reduce the deficit and increase economic growth in each of the next two decades. It is also predicting unemployment will rise slightly through 2020, and that average wages will move lower over a decade.
At its core, the legislation in the Senate would create a 13-year pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States. It also calls for billions of dollars to be spent on manpower and technology to secure the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, including a doubling of the Border Patrol with 20,000 new agents.
The measure also would create a new program for temporary farm laborers to come into the country, and another for lower-skilled workers to emigrate permanently. At the same time, it calls for an expansion of an existing visa program for highly-skilled workers, a gesture to high tech companies that rely heavily on foreigners.
In addition to border security, the measure phases in a mandatory program for employers to verify the legal status of potential workers, and separate effort to track the comings and goings of foreigners at some of the nation's airports.
The legislation was originally drafted by a bipartisan Gang of 8, four senators from each party who negotiated a series of political tradeoffs over several months.
The addition of the tougher border security provisions came after CBO informed lawmakers that they could potentially spend tens of billions of dollars to sweeten the bill without fearing higher deficits.
The result was a series of changes negotiated between the Gang of 8 and Republican Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee. Different, lesser-noticed provisions helped other lawmakers swing behind the measure.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, likened some of them to "earmarks," the now-banned practice of directing federal funds to the pet projects of individual lawmakers.
He cited a provision creating a $1.5 billion jobs fund for low-income youth and pair of changes to benefit the seafood processing industry in Alaska. Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., issued a statement on Friday trumpeting the benefits of the first; Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, and Mark Begich, a Democrat, took credit for the two others.
Grassley also raised questions about the origin of a detailed list of planes, sensors, cameras and other equipment to be placed along the southern border.
"Who provided the amendment sponsors with this list?" asked Grassley, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee that approved an earlier version of the bill. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano "did not provide the committee with any list. Did Sikorsky, Cessna and Northrup Grumann send up a wish list to certain members of the Senate?"
___
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-faces-key-vote-immigration-204341973.html
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Arbor The Painting Dog Donates New Painting To Oklahoma Pets ...
(ACTIVISM) OKLAHOMA CITY ? Arbor, the painting rescue dog, is slowly becoming one of the world?s most adored painters. Her most recent painting, Hope Through The Rubble, sold for $1,000, with all the proceeds going to the Central Oklahoma Humane Society. And previously, she has painted in support of abused animals. Not to burst the late Vincent Van Gogh?s bubble, but that number makes Arbor a more successful living artist. Continue reading below, to find out how the painting?s proceeds are helping the victims of the Oklahoma City tornado, and learn who is the new lucky owner of Arbor?s most recent work. ? Global Animal
Las Vegas rescue dog, Arbor, paints once again, this time the proceeds will benefit victims of the Oklahoma City tornado. Photo Credit: Facebook
Oklahoma City News, Ted Malave
OKLAHOMA CITY ? Rescue dog, turned internationally recognized painter, Arbor the Painting Dog, sold her latest painting, ?Hope Through the Rubble,? for $1,000. Arbor won?t be burying any of the money in her backyard, however, as 100% of the net proceeds are going to benefit the Central Oklahoma Humane Society.
The COHS was one of the primary organizations providing care and shelter for pets that were displaced after the devastating May 20th tornado outside of Oklahoma City.
The auction ended Thursday night, receiving 79 bids, with the winning bid going to Michelle Barker of Wichita, KS.
Michelle has ties to Oklahoma and states, ?I wanted to take part, in a small way, in the extraordinary generous gesture and gift created by Arbor to help the COHS.?
The artwork will be a birthday gift to her best friend, Shadow, her Labrador/Border Collie mix, who will be 10 years old in July.
This is Arbor?s highest selling painting to date trumping her previous high of $453. Arbor?s parents, Bryce and Jennifer Henderson, of Henderson, NV, have an inquiry in with Guinness World Records to see if this is the highest selling painting, by a dog, ever sold.
The Henderson?s were elated with the final selling price of the painting.
?It?s hard to believe,? said Bryce, ?that a little over two years ago Arbor was a stray sitting in a kennel at the county shelter with no home or future. She is a great example of the many wonderful pets you can find at your local shelter and we hope it encourages others to adopt.?
Amy Shrodes, Director of Outreach with the COHS says they already have plans for the donation, ?The funds raised will be used to support our Adoption Program, and will help enable us to find loving homes for the homeless dogs and cats from the May 20th tornado.? She adds, ?We are so thankful to be selected as the beneficiary of one of Arbor?s masterpieces during our time of need. Our animals consider her a role model for the canine population.?
The painting, entitled ?Hope Through the Rubble,? was painted entirely by Arbor as she holds a paintbrush in her mouth. The only assistance she receives is applying paint on the brush and an occasional rotation of the canvas.
More Oklahoma City News:?http://kfor.com/2013/06/14/arbor-the-painting-dog-auctions-off-work-for-1000/
Watch this heartwarming video of Arbor painting ?Hope Through the Rubble,? interspersed with pictures of pets found and reunited after the storm:
DONATE: Global Animal is collecting donations for vetted animal rescue organizations working on the ground to help with medical costs for injured animals, boarding and food, as well as helping reunite pets with their guardians in Oklahoma.
Your compassion in action and support of Global Animal Foundation can help save the lives of animals in crisis.
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Source: http://www.globalanimal.org/2013/06/24/picasso-pooch-paints-for-oklahoma-pets/101194/
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Saudi Arabia says Syrian war on rebels is 'genocide'
By Lesley Wroughton
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday the Syrian government's attempts to suppress a rebellion amounted to "genocide" and called for rebels to get military aid to defend themselves, in a sharp escalation of rhetoric over the conflict.
Speaking at a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal criticized Iran, Russia and Hezbollah for backing and arming Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"Syria is facing a double-edged attack. It is facing genocide by the government and an invasion from outside the government ... (It) is facing a massive flow of weapons to aid and abet that invasion and that genocide. This must end," he said.
The prince did not spell out what he meant by genocide but the kingdom has accused Assad of using air and artillery strikes against heavily populated civilian areas.
The Syrian war has also become increasingly sectarian, pitting the president, from an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, against rebels mostly from the country's Sunni Muslim majority.
The fighting has accentuated sectarian divisions across the region. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states have already sent arms to the insurgents, while analysts and diplomats say Shi'ite power Iran, along with Russia, is among Assad's main suppliers.
Prince Saud said the world's top oil exporter "cannot be silent" at the recent decision by Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah to send fighters into Syria to back Assad - the latest sign of how Syria's neighbors are getting entangled.
"The most dangerous development is the foreign participation, represented by Hezbollah and other militias supported by the forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard," the prince said, repeating a call for rebels to be armed.
"The kingdom calls for issuing an unequivocal international resolution to halt the provision of arms to the Syrian regime and states the illegitimacy of the regime," he added.
KERRY TALKS
Kerry has returned to the Middle East after a two-day visit to India and, his aides say, will continue efforts to strengthen the Syrian opposition and revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
In Jeddah, Kerry held discussions with Prince Saud and Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who coordinates the kingdom's efforts to topple Assad.
The discussions included Washington's plans for providing direct military support to General Salim Idriss of the Supreme Military Council, the military wing of Syria's main civilian opposition group.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will arm the rebels but has not disclosed what type of assistance he will provide.
Kerry is trying to ensure that the aid to the rebels is properly coordinated among the allies, in part out of concern that weapons could end up in the hands of extremist groups.
"Our goal is very clear, we cannot let this be a wider war. We cannot let this contribute to more bloodshed and prolongation of the agony of the people of Syria," he said at the conference.
A meeting between Kerry and European and Arab counterparts in Doha last week agreed to increase support for Syria's rebels although there was no consensus over providing arms, with Germany and Italy strongly opposed.
More than 93,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which began as a protest movement against Assad.
(Reporting By Mahmoud Habboush and Lesley Wroughton, Editing by Angus McDowall and Andrew Heavens)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-says-syrian-war-rebels-genocide-160955544.html
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Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Debbie May: Hobbies That Make Money
Many have taken their hobbies and made them into giant businesses.? Alexandra Ferguson started by making a couple of custom throw pillows for a friend?s birthday.? She made around 30 more to give as Christmas presents that year.? Just a few years later, she ditched her old job and is predicting annual revenues of a million dollars.? Niche products have an advantage because you can focus on specific markets and demographics.
Most of us have hobbies and some of them have the potential to bring in cash at some point in our lives.? In all cases, do thorough research on your local laws, zoning restrictions, licensing and insurance requirements, and tax implications before getting started.? Out of hundreds of options, here?s a short list that may stimulate ideas for other possibilities.
Baker
Before you head down the trail blazed by people like Debbi Fields, check your local health laws that regulate the sale and distribution of food items.? While there are lots of stories about people who started businesses in their home kitchens, many jurisdictions now require a separate kitchen before you can open for business.
If you?ve got the skills, enjoy cooking and have some secret recipes that have been handed down in your family, this is a way to turn all that into cash with a small initial investment.? Stick with just a few specialty products and make yourself known.? Local farmers? markets and food fairs are a good way to get started.
Dance Instructor
Television shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance have popularized and rekindled interest in all types of dancing.? If you enjoy dancing and have taken lessons in the past, you may be able to parlay that into a steady income.? You don?t have to be an expert to teach beginners, and you don?t have to own a dance studio.? Some existing studios will rent their dance floor during their downtime to help pay their own bills.? If that option isn?t available, you might convert a room in your home or part of your garage.
Photographer
The opportunities for photography are almost limitless, but you?ll have to invest in high-quality equipment.? Freelance photographers can earn $2,000 and up doing weddings, depending on the specific package and photos desired.? The internet has created a huge market for stock photos that can be placed with stock agencies for a contracted period and specified commission.
Some photographers choose to fund their own shoots to give them the flexibility to select the subjects they like best.? They do their own marketing for the images they produce.? Others work with agencies on assigned shoots and are paid fees and expenses.? You can also sell your photos directly to the public through art fairs, boutiques, and flea markets.? It?s wise to understand copyright laws to ensure you?ve protected your legal interests.
Woodworker
People will pay for quality handmade items of solid wood.? If you?ve got a shop in the garage and the necessary tools, there?s a ready made market for wood furniture and custom-designed wooden objects.? There?s also a sizable need for the refinishing and restoration of all things made of wood including antique boats and furniture.? If you?re a woodcarver with a good imagination, you can create all sorts of things to sell at craft shows and online at websites like eBay.
Coach
You don?t have to coach a professional sports team to make some serious money in a sport that you love.? If you?re qualified, you can work year-round coaching seasonal sports.? The requirements at public and private schools vary by location, but there are also opportunities at country clubs and youth clubs such as the YMCA.? These include sports that aren?t continuously in the limelight such as volleyball, swimming, badminton, and track.? You can also freelance as a personal coach to athletes who want one-on-one training.? Depending on the sport, you may need access to an appropriate training facility and equipment.
Other Ideas
The best idea is a hobby that you love and are very good at.? Here are a few others that may spark some interest: personal shopper, blogger, sewing/knitting, web designer, dog walker, teacher/tutor, party planner, gardener, handyman, music teacher, musician, and homemade crafts of all types.
What to do
Turning your hobby into money takes some planning and marketing.? While the creative part can be lots of fun, it?s important that the business side is locked down before you get yourself in too deep.? Put together a system for tracking your expenses and sales, and devise a method for setting your pricing structure.? Design a creative logo and packaging scheme to attract maximum attention.
Social media and online advertising have made it easier and cheaper to get the word out.? Join online discussion groups that are interested in your products and use those to promote your work.? Professional photos also go a long way in showcasing your products and driving sales.? Personally interact with the local media, volunteer some of your services, and engage the chamber of commerce.? Word-of-mouth goes a long way to help get you started.
Websites such as eBay offer great platforms to sell products with minimal overhead cost to you.? The website of choice for crafts is Etsy, essentially the handmade version of eBay.? Craft fairs, galleries, flea markets, and state and county fairs rent space where you can set up a sales booth.? You can also host home-based fairs for friends and acquaintances who can spread the word.
At some point you may think of taking your hobby full time.? Most have found the best way to do that is by easing into it.? Test the waters and put together a business plan before making the final leap.
Geoffrey Michael (www.geoffreymichael.pro) is a freelance writer specializing in business, marketing, personal finance, law, science,?aviation, sports, entertainment, travel, and political analysis.? He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and is also licensed to practice law in California and New Hampshire.? Geoffrey wrote this feature article exclusively for DebbieMay.com, an organization dedicated to helping small businesses succeed.
Source: http://www.debbiemay.com/2013/06/hobbies-that-make-money.html
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IRS supervisor in DC scrutinized tea party cases
WASHINGTON (AP) ? An Internal Revenue Service supervisor in Washington says she was personally involved in scrutinizing some of the earliest applications from tea party groups seeking tax-exempt status, including some requests that languished for more than a year without action.
Holly Paz, who until recently was a top deputy in the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status, told congressional investigators she reviewed 20 to 30 applications. Her assertion contradicts initial claims by the agency that a small group of agents working in an office in Cincinnati were solely responsible for mishandling the applications.
Paz, however, provided no evidence that senior IRS officials ordered agents to target conservative groups or that anyone in the Obama administration outside the IRS was involved.
Instead, Paz described an agency in which IRS supervisors in Washington worked closely with agents in the field but didn't fully understand what those agents were doing. Paz said agents in Cincinnati openly talked about handling "tea party" cases, but she thought the term was merely shorthand for all applications from groups that were politically active ? conservative and liberal.
Paz said dozens of tea party applications sat untouched for more than a year while field agents waited for guidance from Washington on how to handle them. At the time, she said, Washington officials thought the agents in Cincinnati were processing the cases.
Paz was among the first IRS employees to be interviewed as part of a joint investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.
Congressional investigators have interviewed at least six IRS employees as part of their inquiry. The Associated Press has reviewed transcripts from three interviews ? with Paz and with two agents, Gary Muthert and Elizabeth Hofacre, from the Cincinnati office.
The IRS declined comment for this story.
A yearlong audit by the agency's inspector general found that IRS agents had improperly targeted conservative political groups for additional and sometimes onerous scrutiny when those groups applied for tax-exempt status.
The audit found no evidence that Washington officials ordered or authorized the targeting. But the IRS watchdog blamed ineffective management by senior IRS officials for allowing it to continue for nearly two years during the 2010 and 2012 elections.
Since the revelations became public last month, much of the agency's leadership has been replaced and the Justice Department has started a criminal investigation. Both Paz and her supervisor, Lois Lerner, who headed the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status, have been replaced.
Agency officials told congressional aides that Lerner was placed on administrative leave. They did not disclose the status Paz, other than to say she was replaced June 7.
Lerner is the IRS official who first disclosed the targeting at a legal conference May 10. That day, she told The AP: "It's the line people that did it without talking to managers. They're IRS workers, they're revenue agents."
On May 22 ? the day after Paz was interviewed by investigators ? Lerner refused to answer questions from lawmakers at a congressional hearing, citing her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.
Paz told congressional investigators that an IRS agent in Cincinnati flagged the first tea party case in February 2010. The agent forwarded the application to a manager because it appeared to be politically sensitive, Paz said. The manager informed Paz, who said she had the application assigned to a legal expert in Washington.
At the time, Paz headed a technical unit in Washington that provided guidance to agents who screened applications for tax-exempt status. The agents worked primarily in Cincinnati. One of their tasks was to determine the applicant groups' level of political activity.
IRS regulations say tax-exempt social welfare organizations may engage in some political activity but their primary mission cannot be influencing the outcome of elections. It is up to the IRS to make that determination.
"It's very fact-and-circumstance intensive. So it's a difficult issue," Paz told investigators.
"Oftentimes what we will do, and what we did here, is we'll transfer it to (the technical unit), get someone who's well-versed on that area of the law working the case so they can see what the issues are," Paz said. "The goal with that is ultimately to develop some guidance or a tool that can be given to folks in (the Cincinnati office) to help them in working the cases themselves."
By the fall of 2010, the legal expert in Washington, Carter Hull, was working on about 40 applications, Paz said. A little more than half had "tea party" in the name, she said.
IRS agents in Cincinnati were singling out groups for extra scrutiny if their applications included the words "tea party," ''patriots" or "9-12 project," according to the inspector general's report. Paz said she didn't learn that agents were targeting groups based on those terms until June 2011, about the time Lerner first ordered agents to change the criteria.
Paz said an IRS supervisor in Cincinnati had commonly referred to the applications as "tea party" cases. But, Paz said, she thought that was simply shorthand for any application that included political activity.
"Since the first case that came up to Washington happened to have that name, it appeared to me that's why they were calling it that as a shorthand," Paz told congressional investigators.
Paz said she didn't think the agents in Cincinnati were politically motivated.
"My impression, based on, you know, this instance and other instances in the office is that because they are so apolitical, they are not as sensitive as we would like them to be as to how things might appear," Paz said.
"Many of these employees have been with the IRS for decades and were used to a world where how they talked about things internally was not something that would be public or that anyone would be interested in," Paz added. "So I don't think they thought much about how it would appear to others. They knew what they meant and that was sort of good enough for them."
For several months in 2010, Hull worked closely with Hofacre, the agent in Cincinnati, to review the tea party cases, Paz said. In Hofacre's interview, she complained that Hull micromanaged her work.
Hofacre left for a different IRS job in October 2010 and was replaced by an agent whose name was blacked out in the transcript. Paz said the new agent sat on the tea party applications for more than a year because he was waiting on guidance from Washington on how to proceed. Officials in Washington, however, thought the agents in Cincinnati were still processing the cases, she said.
As a result, many applications languished for more than a year, which, the inspector general said, hurt the groups' ability to raise money.
"I knew they were waiting for guidance," Paz said. "I did not know that they were not working the cases because what had been done previously was, they were working the cases in consultation with Washington. And I was under the impression that that was continuing."
Hull was to be interviewed by congressional investigators on Friday. Efforts to reach Hull and Paz for comment were unsuccessful.
In all, agents singled out 298 applications for additional scrutiny because the groups appeared to be involved in political activity, the inspector general's report said. But IRS agents in Cincinnati weren't given adequate training on how to handle the cases until May 2012, the report said.
Before the training, only six applications had been approved. Afterward, an additional 102 applications were approved by December 2012, the report said.
Of those 102 applications, 29 involved tea party, patriots, or 9-12 organizations, the report said. Many applications are still awaiting action. None has been rejected, according to the IRS.
___
Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap
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Monday, June 17, 2013
UK reportedly set up fake internet cafes, hacked diplomats' BlackBerrys during 2009 G20 summit
If you're antsy at the idea of PRISM reading your Facebook messages, be thankful you're not a foreign diplomat. The Guardian is reporting that GCHQ, the UK's communications surveillance unit, hacked delegates' BlackBerry handsets during 2009's G20 summit in London. According to leaked documents, spies were able to relay private messages to analysts in "near real-time," and pass that information along to top politicians as they were negotiating deals. The organization is also said to have set up fake internet cafés around the conference area, which used key-logging software to steal dignitaries passwords for long-term surveillance. If you'll excuse us, we're just off to, you know, change all of our login details.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: The Guardian
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/SGaQk-2JmEk/
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Smarter Than C-3PO: Future Robots Will Work in Teams, Scientist Says
In the next few decades, teams of roving robots will take to the seas, the air and other hard-to-reach spots, communicating with one another and working to solve scientific problems, according to a Canadian scientist.
Such flotillas of smart machines could peer at coral reefs from underwater and in the air, or perhaps explore terrain that is difficult for humans to reach, said Gregory Dudek, research director of McGill University's mobile robotics laboratory in Montreal.
First, however, researchers will need to make sure the robots do not overwhelm the waiting humans with data. These robots should parse much of the information themselves and communicate the most interesting results to humans, sort of like a highlight reel from a sports game.
"It's getting a robot to go in some environment ? on the surface, under the water, on the moon, wherever ? and getting it to tell me what it sees," Dudek told the Canadian Science Writers' Association June 7 during its annual meeting.
One example, he said, could be an underwater robot that sends back the locations and types of coral that it views.
'This perception of C-3PO'
Last year, Dudek took on a new responsibility: leading the new NSERC Canadian Field Robotics Network. With the federal government and industry partners providing 5 million Canadian dollars ($4.91 million) in matching contributions, robotics scientists across Canada will work together on projects to advance research in the field.
This work will culminate in an annual field test, in which robots will rove together underwater or on land, for applications ranging from monitoring oil pipelines to making real-time iceberg warnings.
At the conference, Dudek showed a video of a robot that could adjust to walking from the beach to swimming in the nearby water. He said advances in the field are making these machines smarter and faster. For instance, robots can perform multiple functions at the same time: walking, analyzing and sending back information.
The public, however, "has this perception of C-3PO" from "Star Wars" when talking about robotics, so it is difficult to convey how exciting this really is to researchers, Dudek said.
Networks of robots will need to balance how often they will meet and how often they'll work, he added. Regular contact will be essential to ensuring one robot isn't doing all of the assignments. For example, if two machines are exploring the city of Montreal, and one were to stumble into a dead end, resources should be reallocated, Dudek said.
Meeting, however, could involve long-distance technologies ? the same ones as humans often use. Depending on the terrain, the robots could communicate using short-range radio, Bluetooth or even light beams. But talking shouldn't happen all the time, Dudek added.
"If we say, 'Let's meet very often,' it's not efficient, and you spend all your time in meetings," he said.
Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/smarter-c-3po-future-robots-teams-scientist-says-143445186.html
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PFT: Panthers taking words out of Newton's mouth
APAs the Titans add receivers, the speculation grows that soon-to-be-30-year-old Nate Washington isn?t long for a job.
And yet he still has one.
To Washington?s credit, he doesn?t care.? Which could be one of the reasons why he has been able to keep going.
?I am not worried about it, and never was worried about it, to tell you the truth,? Washington recently said, via Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.? ?At the end of the day, I am here, and I am here to do a job.? I have no problem with who they brought in or didn?t bring in.? It doesn?t matter to me.??
Still, Washington knows that, as he ages, he needs to find other ways to force the team to keep him around.
?If all these other guys are going to get younger, faster and bigger, then I have to get older, wiser, bigger and stronger,? Washington said.? ?It is about me giving my all.? If I do that, I know I can look myself in the mirror.? At this point, I have nothing to prove.? I just need to make sure the guys believe in me and know I am going to work and do everything I can to help us win.?
His effort this year includes gaining five pounds of muscle.? He now feels stronger and faster than ever, and he understands the game in ways young players don?t.
Washington has been a solid, but not spectacular, performer during his eight-year career.? He has one 1,000-yard season, in 2011.? Last year, he caught 46 passes for 746 yards and four touchdowns.
That was still good enough to lead the team in receiving yards.
This year, he?s dealing with a depth chart that includes two first-round picks (Kenny Britt and Kendall Wright) and a second-rounder (Justin Hunter). He?s also dealing with guys like Britt calling him old.
While Washington seems to be taking the high road, we suggest that he consider taking a page out of the Cris Carter playbook, who had this to say when a young Bears defender called Carter ?old man? in 1998:? You should get on your knees and pray that you can play this game as long as me.
While there aren?t many things of which I?m sure, I?m sure Britt won?t play pro football as long as Washington.
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Iran's president-elect says economy will take time
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's newly elected reformist-backed president said Sunday that the country's dire economic problems cannot be solved "overnight," as he took his first steps in consulting with members of the clerically dominated establishment on his new policies.
Hasan Rowhani's surprise victory in Friday's elections puts him in charge of an executive branch that traditionally has taken the lead in handling the economy, but nuclear efforts, defense and foreign affairs remain primarily in the hands of the ruling clerics and their powerful protectors, the Revolutionary Guard.
This creates a challenge for Rowhani, as Iran suffers from more than 30 percent inflation as well as 14 percent unemployment rates linked to Western sanctions for Tehran's suspect nuclear program. Rowhani has called for reaching out to the international community but has little authority over the nuclear activities tied to sanctions.
The semi-official ISNA agency said Rowhani discussed inflation and unemployment as well as possible members of his cabinet with Ali Larijani, speaker for Iran's conservative dominated parliament.
"Today, we took the first step for cooperation between two branches of power," Rowhani was quoted as saying. Rowhani will take office in August and needs parliament to approve his proposed nominees for 18 ministries.
Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guard declared its willingness to cooperate with the president. "We announce our comprehensive readiness for interaction and cooperation with the next administration in the framework of legal duties and assignments," the Guard said on its webpage.
The outward displays of cooperation by Iran's establishment reflect its desire to close the political rift caused by unrest over disputed election results in 2009, and signal to world leaders that the ruling clerics are not publicly standing against Rowhani's call for outreach and dialogue with the international community.
Iran's stock exchange meanwhile climbed for the second continuous day. The rise came after a night of a celebration in Tehran, as the announcement of Rowhani's victory sent tens of thousands of jubilant supporters into the streets. Cars honked and blared music ranging from patriotic songs to the Lambada.
Riot police, who were frequently deployed on Tehran streets in the run-up to Friday's vote, were conspicuous in their absence. State TV showed footage of the celebrations and rebroadcast a speech he made after his victory was announced Saturday, asserting Iran's readiness to improve its ties with the world.
The website of the Tehran Stock Exchange said the market jumped 1,194 points by its closure at noon on Sunday, reaching 47,460 from its Saturday close of 46,623, almost a 2.5 percent increase.
On Saturday the stock exchange index improved by 2 percent while Iran's national currency, the rial, strengthened by 9 percent against the U.S. dollar.
Foreign currency shops Sunday traded each U.S. dollar for 34,600 rials compared to 36,300 rials Thursday, the eve of the election.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irans-president-elect-says-economy-time-111129547.html
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Pavement: The Sutcliffe Catering Song
The days are getting longer, the weather's getting warmer. It's this time of year that anyone and everyone could use some killer strollin' music to strut to. Might I suggest the hidden Pavement not-exactly-a-classic-but-damn-well-should-be "The Sutcliffe Catering Song"? You just have to like it.
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Dot Earth Blog: Why Colorado?s Fire Losses, Even with Global Warming, Need Not Be the ?New Normal?
11:53 a.m. | Updated below |
As Coloradans grappled with the impact of the state?s latest wildfire disaster, some writers were quick to call this ?the new normal? due to greenhouse-driven climate change.
Global warming is almost surely contributing to drought and heat in ways that exacerbate fire risk, but the prime driver of losses in these recent fires is a heavily subsidized burst of development in zones of implicit fire danger.
And assertions that such losses are the new normal distract from glaring opportunities to cut unnecessary (and costly) exposure to this danger in the West, even as the grander task of curbing emissions of greenhouse gases proceeds.
This Twitter item and the Storify post it links to provide my quick take on the prime lessons and opportunities related to Colorado?s latest fire:
I also discussed ways to cut vulnerability in hot spots for climate-related hazards, including wildfire hot zones, in my chat yesterday with David Roberts of Grist. Here?s my prime point (with relevant links):
We?ve grown our vulnerability at a pace far exceeding whatever forces climate change is exerting on the same scenarios. Whatever you do on carbon, job one right now is to get out of harm?s way, and especially to tweak those knobs where you know that policies are putting us there. There?s an economist in Colorado who proposed ending the mortgage deduction for second homes if a house is in a fire zone. I think it?s a great idea.
Here?s our talk (the relevant portion starts around the 13th minute, but I hope you take the time to watch the whole thing):
The following excerpts from an article I wrote for Outside Magazine (and a related Dot Earth post) on President Obama?s second-term opportunities for environmental progress are worth reposting:
Stop subsidizing the building boom in danger zones:
The president and Congress should?cut federal subsidies?that keep the price of insurance in some high-risk zones (flood plains, coastal areas threatened by rising seas, and regions prone to wildfires) artificially ? and disastrously ? low.
?If we had never created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the private market would be charging much higher premiums and it would be much more of a deterrent for people living in these places,? says Eileen Fretz, director of flood management at the non-profit,?American Rivers. While we?re not likely to completely end government-backed insurance, last June?Congress passed legislation?that cut NFIP funding for businesses, second homes, and repeat beneficiaries (that is, homes that flooded multiple times). This is a good start, but we need to do more: stop giving taxpayer protection, and indirectly encouraging development, to communities behind levees. We also need to actively protect our most valuable flood protection infrastructure ? wetlands, barrier islands, and dune beaches.
Similar opportunities lie in the nation?s wildfire ?red zones,? where the government is spending $3 billion a year on wildfire protection. ?We ain?t seen nothing yet,? says Ray Rasker, an economist and director of?Headwaters Economics. Only 16 percent of private wildland now has homes, he says. ?Put climate change on top of new development, and you have a crisis.? He suggests?cutting support for construction of at-risk homes, doing away with breaks like the federal mortgage tax deduction. [The rest.]
Here?s a bit more on this last point that didn?t make it into the piece but is worth adding here:
Given the disastrous impact of wildfires on communities from Texas to Colorado, President Obama can order a reexamination of forest management practices on federal lands that have resulted in huge accumulations of fuel for conflagrations. He can insure that federal agencies responsible for developing?codes for construction and materials?move ahead with plans for national codes and standards for building in what?s called the ?wildland-urban interface.? The standards would tighten depending on level of hazard determined through a ?fire exposure severity zoning system.?
I encourage you to explore the fantastic Headwaters Economics report and Web presentation on these issues here:
The Rising Cost of Wildfire Protection
Wildfires are becoming more severe and expensive. This report describes how the protection of homes in the Wildland-Urban Interface has added to these costs and concludes with a brief discussion of solutions that may help control escalating costs.
11:53 a.m. | Update | Chris Mehl of Headwaters Economics sent this helpful update on their analysis of fire risk in a warming climate:
We worked with a retired Congressional Research Staffer to produce a?backgrounder?on the rising cost of wildfire protection.
Wildfires are becoming more severe and expensive, and the report describes some of the causes of growing fire costs; along with how the protection of homes in the Wildland-Urban Interface has added to these costs.? It concludes with a brief discussion of solutions that may help control escalating costs.
Second, homes in the WUI drive wildfire suppression costs (not to mention safety concerns) and this?interactive map and tables?shows the level of WUI development at both county and state levels?and also what?s not developed in terms of future costs.
Third, following the drought/temp theme of your story we?ve looked at what higher temps mean for fires in three states:Montana, the California Sierra Nevada, and?Oregon. Details include:
- A?Montana?report?found that, statewide, protecting homes from wildfires costs an average of $28 million annually. If development near fire-prone forests continues, costs to protect homes likely will rise to $40 million by 2025. A 1? F increase in summer temperatures would at least double home protection costs. Additional development and hotter summers combined could increase the annual cost to?exceed $80 million?by 2025.
- Research in?California?s Sierra Nevada?found that rising average summer temperatures are strongly associated with an increase in acres burned. Within the study area, an annual increase in average summer temperature of 1? F is associated with a 35 percent growth in area burned.
- An?Oregon?study?found that a rise in average summer temperature of 1? F is associated with an increase of 420 wildfires?a large effect given that, on average, 1,800 wildfires burn in?Oregon?per year.
These reports are part of our long-term commitment to better understand and address why wildfires are becoming more severe and expensive.? All of our wildfire research is summarized here.
More background:
?Climate change and wildfire: How vulnerable are we?? ? Max Moritz of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists last year
?Why People Keep Moving Into Fire-Prone Areas? ? Colorado Public Radio interview with Gregory Simon, University of Colorado, Denver.
A Twitter conversation with Phil Plait of Slate?s Bad Astronomy blog is worth a look.
9:49 a.m. | Addendum | After re-reading my published post, I changed the headline to ?Colorado?s Fire Losses? from ?Colorado?s Fires? because it?s the losses that can be sharply cut through various policy shifts, not necessarily the fires themselves (although many such fires are the result of human proximity to combustible forests and grasslands).
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Friday, April 19, 2013
Strophes: The Beautiful Lyrics Reader Is Finally Mobile
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Monday, April 8, 2013
To crack human brain's code, a search for visionaries
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - To crack the code of the human brain, Cori Bargmann figures it's best to keep an open mind.
As one of two leaders of a scientific "dream team" in the initial phase of President Barack Obama's ambitious $100 million project to map the brain, Bargmann said the first step is to find the right combination of people to set research priorities.
"You might start with people who are very senior and are household words in their fields, and then you may realize that what (you) actually need is the young Turk who's a visionary wild man," Bargmann said.
Bargmann, a neurobiologist at The Rockefeller University in New York, and William Newsome, a neurobiologist at Stanford Medical School in California, are the co-chairs of a committee announced by the White House on Tuesday for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative. That long title has been dubbed BRAIN for short.
Both Newsome and Bargmann are at the top of the neurobiology pyramid, professors at premiere institutions, winners of dozens of scientific honors and awards, authors of research papers in prestigious journals. As Newsome noted wryly, "I don't need this aggravation, to some extent, but I think this is really important."
Bargmann, who recalls watching the first Apollo moon landing in 1969 as an 8-year-old, this year won a $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for her work on the genetics of neural circuits and behavior and synaptic guidepost molecules.
This project was something no scientist, so far, has turned down.
"If there's going to be a program to try to do something significant and the taxpayer's going to be involved in it, you make the time to try to help," she said. "As far as I know, everyone who was asked to help said yes."
The BRAIN effort isn't quite like any other, Bargmann said. Even the Human Genome Project had a more focused goal at the start: to determine the precise sequence of chemical "letters" that constitute the full complement of human DNA.
In contrast, before BRAIN tries to solve a single mystery of the human mind, it will build the scientific infrastructure to be able to ask the right questions. Like the U.S. space program in the 1960s, she said, BRAIN could get the public excited about science in a way that other research has not.
"I believe that brain science will be to the 21st century what quantum physics and DNA molecular biology were to the 20th century," Newsome said.
The ultimate goal is to decode brain activity to help researchers understand complex ailments ranging from traumatic brain injury to schizophrenia to Alzheimer's disease, which cost Americans $500 billion annually, according to Francis Collins, the head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, who picked Newsome and Bargmann for the job.
The program would initially be funded with $100 million called for in the president's fiscal 2014 budget, set for release on Wednesday, which is subject to approval by Congress. That sum would be divided among the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Science Foundation, with partners from the private sector.
Bargmann found it refreshing that Obama said the project would provide tools for understanding Alzheimer's and psychiatric disease, but he did not promise cures. "It isn't promising too much," she said.
SWITCHING BRAIN CELLS ON AND OFF
She was also encouraged by support from two prominent Republicans: House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, and Newt Gingrich, former presidential candidate and former House speaker, who credited Obama for taking "a very important step toward the most dramatic breakthroughs in human health."
The Democratic president does not often get such enthusiasm from his Republican opponents.
Fast-developing technology makes this "a unique moment in time" to make this inquiry, Newsome said.
"I think the brain is the most mysterious and complex entity in the universe," he said by telephone. "And I think that new technologies that have developed within the last five years give us a shot at cracking open the problem of the brain in ways that previous generations of scientists never dreamed."
One of these technologies, Newsome said, is optogenetics, which uses genetic engineering to make certain nerve cells in the brain sensitive to different kinds of light, exciting or inhibiting these cells depending on the light's wavelength.
That means scientists can artificially switch the brain's circuits on or off during behavior to see how they contribute to essential functions like vision, learning and decision-making, Newsome said.
The other technological leap of the last decade has been the ability to record the electrical activity of hundreds or even thousands of neurons, a big improvement over the previous requirement of studying one neuron at a time. Since the human brain is composed of some 100 billion neurons - nerve cells that pulse with electrochemical signals - the one-at-a-time approach slowed research to a crawl.
It's not just the number of neurons, but seeing how these billions of neurons interact with each other that could make a map of the brain a reality.
That map is likely to be less like an atlas on paper and more like an online traffic video, Bargmann said, "because the brain is never the same in any two people, and it's not the same in one person at two different times."
Both Bargmann and Newsome are working in their own laboratories on pieces of this puzzle. Newsome focuses on the brain's way of mediating visual perception and visually guided behavior (see his lab's site at monkeybiz.stanford.edu ).
Bargmann's research aims to tackle a big subject - how environment and genes interact to shape human behavior - by looking at the relatively simple neurological system of a worm. (see lab.rockefeller.edu/bargmann/ )
(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Vicki Allen)
Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/lZfakPovUL4/story01.htm
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