keithdepp: February 2012

Monday, 27 February 2012

UPDATE: Facebook Might Be Reading Your Texts - Business Insider

Facebook might be monitoring your text messages as research for its own future messaging service, the London Sunday Times reports. Their story is behind a paywall, but Fox News has a write-up.

If you have Facebook's app on your phone, your texts could be read, according to the article. It's unclear if Facebook is still doing this.

The story also makes the eye-opening suggestion that YouTube's app is "capable of remotely accessing and operating users' smartphone cameras to take photographs or videos at any time."

UPDATE: Facebook responded to us with these clarifications:

There is no reading of user text messages.

On the Android App store, the Facebook app permissions include SMS read/write.

The reason it is on there is because we have done some testing (not with the general public) of products that require the SMS part of the phone to talk to the Facebook App. ?That's what the read&write refers to ? the line of communication needed to integrate the two things.

Lots of communications apps use these permissions.?Think of all those apps that act as replacements to the build-in sms software.

That's not necessarily what we're working on. ?SMS can be used for carrier billing (where users opt to pay for things like apps through their phone bill). ?Again ? that's not to say we're launching this. It's just an example of why an app might use these permissions. ?The Sunday Times leap to the conclusion that is was a messaging feature.

Anyway ? we have yet to make any such features available to the public. (so the Sunday Times is completely wrong when it says Facebook is reading people's SMS. Wrong on the terminology, and wrong on the suggestion that it has been implemented).

But Facebook is right to insert this into the Android app permissions ?? because yes, the app technically has the capability to integrate with the phone's SMS system ? even if that is just for our own testing.

(via ReadWriteWeb)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-might-be-reading-your-texts-2012-2

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Saturday 25th February 2012 : Luna City Express, Bloody Mary @ Egg London 25.02

Bloody Mary (Dame-Music, Contexterrior)
Luna City Express (Moonharbour)
Rosario Internullo (Desolat / Yellow Tail)
Neverdogs
Indira Paganotto
Cristian Viviano
Nils Hess
Nic & Kaleb
Jb
Anto Retox
Connor Benson
Monika Ross
John Denis
Will Baff
Gabri
D DaCosta
Kevin DCruz
Gavin Stockman
Varon V
Lj Laurie
+ more to be announced. ..

Supernova returns for the first party of 2012 featuring four very special guests, the Relations family, the Paradox & S.H.E. collectives & residents. ..

Contexterrior?s leading lady and Dame Music owner, Bloody Mary, takes centre stage in the Relations room. The French born, Berlin based dj/producer is a regular around the globes party hotspots & infamous establishments. Her special blend of electronic house & deep techno music has earned her an exceptional reputation for smashing the floor. Her productions on Jay Haze?s Contexterrior imprint, releases on Sender and her own Dame Music label, have proved she?s just as deadly in the studio as she is on the dancefloor. Prepare yourselves for an electronic blood bath?

Rosario Internullo returns to supernova. His last outing with us was at the Desolat showcase and what a party that was! Releasing on Loco Dice?s imprint as well as his own Yellow Tail platform, expect more exquisite sonics from this man on the 25th? Making her supernova debut is Indira Paganotto. Located in Gran Canaria and resident at the islands techno mecca, Moon, she has shot to stardom thanks to her seriously groovy sets, playing alongside Marco Carola, Paco Osuna, Dinky, Maceo Plex, Jamie Jones, Matthias Tanzmann and a host of stars. We look forward to welcoming her to the club?

Headlining the Terrace are very special guests, Luna City Express. We debuted these guys many moons ago at a notorious Sunday night gathering in London, and they have since become regular headliners here in the Capital. Part of Matthias Tanzmann?s Moonharbour family, this duo knows how to rock a dancefloor thanks to their super groovy sets. We can?t wait to let them loose on the terrace?

The Italian/Ibiza/London trio, the Neverdogs and Cristian Viviano will provide another sophisticated soundtrack alongside Nic & Kaleb (Zoo Project), John Denis and s/n residents Nils Hess, Jb & Anto Retox.

In room three, the Paradox people return for another party upstairs with Monika Ross (Melt), Willy Baff, Gabri & Anto Retox. With a crowd full of energy and high-octane djs, it?s a party in a party. ..

And finally, S.H.E. return with their lazers set to stun to host room four, with D DaCosta, KD Cruz, Gavin Stockman, Varon V & LJ Laurie.

We look forward to seeing you all again on the 25th!

Tickets: http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?328303

Source: http://www.spraci.com/events/254185.html

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Sunday, 26 February 2012

Q & A: What's the difference between lease and finance? | Finance ...

Question by Keith Sypler : What?s the difference between lease and finance ?
I am looking at the mazda website right now and i built my Rx-8. Whether it says and i want to lease or finance what does that mean? Best answer:
Answer by

loudizzle u no keepy keepy
lease

What do you think? Answer below!

Source: http://www.lovefinanceinfo.com/2012/02/q-a-whats-the-difference-between-lease-and-finance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=q-a-whats-the-difference-between-lease-and-finance

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sewatch: SES London 2012 ? Day 3 Coverage #SESLondon http://t.co/4E91bda2 by @DannyNMIgoodwin

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SES London 2012 ? Day 3 Coverage #SESLondon sewat.ch/wfYkor by @DannyNMIgoodwin il y a environ 3 heures via twitterfeed

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Source: http://twitter.com/sewatch/statuses/173652143134359554

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A Closer Look at Google Public DNS

Earlier this month, Google announced that it had become the largest public DNS service in the world, handling an average of more than 70 billion requests a day. From Google?s point of view, this was great. As it pointed out in its official blog, a good DNS service helps make the Web faster and more secure. That?s true.?But is a giant DNS in Google?s hands really good for the world?

The DNS or Domain Name System is often described as the ?phone book? of the Internet, but that analogy tends to understate its importance. Imagine that you?ve suddenly landed in the middle of a giant megalopolis without any street names or building addresses or distinguishing characteristics and no working GPS. That would be the Internet without a domain name system.

But while the DNS system is criticial for planetary communications, helping to run it typically hasn?t brought anyone power or glory. This led to a certain amount of neglect, which in turn created a business opportunity for companies willing to tackle the job of improving DNS.

Three years ago, I sat down with David Ulevitch, a developer who founded OpenDNS in 2005 to help make the Internet faster and more reliable for individuals and businesses by providing a better domain name service. At the time, OpenDNS had built a small but profitable business providing improved DNS for free to individuals and for a fee to enterprises. It later grew to operate the largest network of public DNS servers, serving millions of users around the world.

Unlike Google, Ulevitch has never struck me as being obsessed with world domination, so I reached out to him this week to ask what he thought of Google?s entry, and now colossal presence, in the space.

What are the implications of Google being the largest public DNS service? Is this good for ordinary people who use the Internet?

First, I think it?s a clear indication that Google takes DNS seriously. I?ve always said that Google?s purview is limited to everything between the user and the advertisement. DNS fits squarely within those sights and cuts across a number of strategic areas of focus for Google?speed, security, analytics and control. I think efforts to make the Internet faster is good for ordinary people, but I think that there?s more to Google?s motives then pure benevolence. That?s not to say good can?t be a byproduct, but rather, there are ancillary benefits that may not be as friendly to the ordinary Internet user.

With DNS, it?s possible to control key components of Internet navigation. ?Google already controls search, they are quickly gaining market share to control the browser, and when you put in DNS, it becomes the trifecta of complete navigational control. ?The ?omnibox? is something Google introduced with Chrome, but I actually introduced it to Google PM Sundar Pichai a number of years before Chrome existed when demoing our vision for OpenDNS to him as he was then the PM for Google Toolbar, and other Google desktop products.

What role has Google played in the DNS ecosystem? Do you see them as a competitor or a partner?

Google has helped raise the importance of DNS above the network engineering community, which has been really good. They?ve also worked with us to advance the state of the art for DNS performance, something we?ve really enjoyed working with them to make happen. It?s not so much competition as it is choice in the market. If they started defaulting Chrome to use Google DNS, I think that?s something we would take issue with, but for now, we like the idea of people using a DNS other than their ISPs, that?s a good idea for a lot of reasons.

What are some of those reasons?

I like the idea of separation of services. ISPs provide a pipe. Other vendors provide security. Other vendors provide email. When one party controls all the services, it?s a ?synergy? for the company, but rarely for the consumer. With DNS in particular, there are performance and security benefits that third party DNS providers offer that ISPs aren?t incentivized to do since DNS is a cost-center for them, and a profit-center for us.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2012/02/25/a-closer-look-at-google-public-dns/?feed=rss_home

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Saturday, 25 February 2012

Loose cable blamed for speedy neutrinos

Faster-than-light flight saga ends predictably

Web edition : Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

Faulty wiring has been proposed as the glitch that caused a European physics experiment to clock particles flying faster than light.

Scientists at Italy?s OPERA experiment reported in September that nearly weightless particles called neutrinos were apparently traveling from the CERN laboratory on the Swiss-French border to an underground detector in Italy, 730 kilometers away, faster than the speed of light. The apparent violation of Einstein?s theory of special relativity immediately produced a chorus of theorists offering reasons why neutrinos simply could not be going that fast (SN: 11/5/11, p. 10). ?

?It was always clear to me that the results could not have been true,? says Nobel Prize-winner Sheldon Glashow, a physicist at Boston University and an early critic of the finding.

Yet during a second run of the experiment in November, neutrinos again appeared to arrive in Italy 60 nanoseconds earlier than light covering the same distance in a vacuum would have (SN: 10/22/11, p. 18).

On February 23 the OPERA team announced what might be causing the surprising observations: A bad connection with a cable that relays satellite GPS signals to keep the experiment?s clocks in sync could have made each particle?s trip seem to take less time than it actually did. ?

With technical problems clouding its results, the OPERA team will tighten its cables and repeat the experiment. MINOS, a neutrino experiment run by Fermilab near Chicago, will also go ahead with plans to time neutrinos sent from there to Minnesota.

?We should have been more cautious in the way we framed the results,? says Luca Stanco, a physicist who works on OPERA at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Padua, Italy. ?Now we are a little embarrassed.?

Found in: Atom & Cosmos and Matter & Energy

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/338735/title/Loose_cable_blamed_for_speedy_neutrinos

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Contraceptives Birth Control

You can prevent pregnancy in different ways and one of them is use of birth control pills. Most doctors, after proper clinical tests, Today women have a choice when selecting birth control. Many opt for the daily pill which has been around for decades.

No, you?re not. The friction of the two condoms rubbing against one another actually increases the chances of the condoms breaking, making it more dangerous rather than less.There are a number of oral contraceptives that can put you at substantially greater risk of developing side effects that could adversely affect your health.

Generally, all birth control pills, injections and methods are effective. That?s the reason why these are out in the market in the first place.There are many choices when it comes to contraception and birth control, possibly more than you are even aware of.

Birth control and pregnancy prevention is not a new idea.

As the old maxim goes, all men are not created equal: in all aspects of life especially with regards to penis sizes (and shapes).There are many types of contraceptives for women today. They are found in the forms of pills, injections, diaphragms, IUDs, and more.

A lot of young couples opt to wait a few years before beginning a family to enable them to provide a comfortable home and also have some savings and maybe a few labour-saving gadgets,This is a set of pills usually only available on prescription. The combined pill must be taken one each day for 21 days, starting on the fifth day after menstruation begins and ending on the 25th day.

Under age sex is becoming a great problem now days. Many teenagers try to have sex, because they want to spice up their relationship. There are a lot of us who are not ready to have kids but still have sex. This is where birth control pills and devices comes in.

Gone are the days when people relied on condoms, diaphragms, and spermicide to protect them from unwanted pregnancy. When the best time to get pregnant becomes a big question for you as a wife you should consider a few things first regarding Birth Control and Pregnancy.

If you think that you have nothing to worry about because you exercise and diet?think again. Yes?diet and exercise can help you mitigate some of the weight gain?but if you continue doing what you?ve been doing, you?ll still gain 15-25 pounds during this period.

Read about Art competition and also read about development company and internships for college students

Source: http://www.a1article.net/health-and-fitness/contraceptives-birth-control-4758.html

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Genetic risk for elevated arsenic toxicity discovered

Friday, February 24, 2012

One of the first large-scale genomic studies conducted in a developing country has discovered genetic variants that elevate the risk for skin lesions in people chronically exposed to arsenic. Genetic changes found near the enzyme for metabolizing the chemical into a less toxic form can significantly increase an individual's risk for developing arsenic-related disease.

The discovery could point the way to new screening and intervention options for people who are exposed to groundwater with high levels of arsenic, said scientists at the University of Chicago Medicine, Columbia University, and in Bangladesh in a study published in PLoS Genetics.

"These results add clarity to the genetic architecture that is playing a role in arsenic toxicity and its underlying biology," said senior author Habibul Ahsan, MD, MMedSc, Louis Block Professor of health studies, medicine and human genetics at the University of Chicago Medicine. "It's a rare type of study for a major problem affecting millions of people around the world, and it opens up opportunities for genetic studies of other major public health problems in developing countries."

The group's genome-wide association study, or GWAS, was conducted in nearly 3,000 individuals exposed to arsenic for decades in Bangladesh. Since the widespread installation of hand-pumped wells to tap groundwater sources in the 1970s, as many as 77 million people ? about half the population of Bangladesh ? have been accidentally exposed to dangerous levels of arsenic. The World Health Organization calls the exposure "the largest mass poisoning of a population in history."

For more than a decade, Ahsan and colleagues have studied the epidemiology of arsenic-related disease, such as skin lesions, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses, in this population, as well as the effectiveness of interventions to prevent toxicity. In the new study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute, the researchers sought genetic answers for why some individuals appear to be at higher risk for developing disease after arsenic exposure.

"Whatever the source of exposure, different individuals vary with respect to their susceptibility to the toxicity of arsenic," Ahsan said. "Even if they consume or are exposed to arsenic at the same dose and duration, some individuals will manifest toxicity phenotypes and others won't."

Researchers genotyped thousands of arsenic-exposed individuals from the group's main studies for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) throughout the genome, and looked for associations with arsenic metabolite levels and risk of skin lesions.

After ingestion, the body metabolizes inorganic arsenic into first monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and then dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). MMA is considered to be more toxic, while DMA is water-soluble and more easily excreted. Higher levels of DMA or lower levels of MMA measured from an individual's urine are associated with lower toxicity.

A research team led by Ahsan and Brandon Pierce, PhD, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Chicago Medicine, then used GWAS to search for SNPs associated with DMA and MMA levels. They found several significant genetic variants in the region of a likely candidate gene: arsenite methyltransferase (As3MT), an enzyme critical for arsenic metabolism. A second GWAS looking for SNPs associated with the development of skin lesions after arsenic exposure, pointed to many of the same variants. In a further study of gene expression levels, those same SNPs were associated with reduced expression of the arsenic metabolizing enzyme.

"This makes perfect sense," Ahsan said. "It gives us a very coherent story that we can now investigate in relation to other arsenic pathologies and in relation to a wide range of arsenic doses in this population."

"Now that we understand the molecular basis of some of this disease risk, it is conceivable to now think of incorporating this information into testing, evaluating, or potentially coming up with successful biomedical interventions," Ahsan continued. "By exploiting these metabolic pathways for a subgroup of individuals who will really be at higher risk for getting those diseases, we may be able to reduce fatal outcomes in this population."

The genetic findings provide strong evidence that efficient metabolism of arsenic through methylation protects against the toxin. Compounds that boost methylation, such as folic acid, could reduce arsenic toxicity ? a strategy currently being tested by co-author Mary Gamble, PhD, associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University.

"If we could somehow find a way to do that in Bangladesh, it would make individuals much better methylators of arsenic, and as this current study shows if you're a better methylator you're at a lower risk for disease," said co-author Joseph Graziano, PhD, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Director of Superfund Research Program at the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University.

Risk variants may also help assess the potential toxicity of cancer chemotherapies which use arsenic or related compounds. SNPs associated with elevated sensitivity to arsenic toxicity could steer oncologists toward lower doses or alternative treatments in certain cancer patients, Ahsan said.

Beyond the clinical applications, the current study demonstrates that large-scale genomic studies are possible in a largely rural population of a developing country. The study offers a rare example of a GWAS result with clear, immediate potential for translational impact.

"Many genomic signals that we see are not robust enough or do not pertain to a large population," Ahsan said. "But in this study, that is not the case. The finding is robust, and the impact is massive."

###

University of Chicago Medical Center: http://www.uchospitals.edu

Thanks to University of Chicago Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 31 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117895/Genetic_risk_for_elevated_arsenic_toxicity_discovered

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Friday, 24 February 2012

'Mad Men,' more PaleyFest panels to stream live (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - The annual PaleyFest TV celebration in Southern California is going live online.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120224/ap_en_tv/us_tv_paleyfest_online

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Analysis: Obama goes on offense over high gasoline prices (reuters)

Share With Friends:

| Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/203871851?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Meds for Autism Not Well Understood: Study (HealthDay)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]HealthDay - THURSDAY, Feb. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Children with autism may
benefit from medications to treat children with attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other related disorders, but clearer
guidelines are needed, a new study shows.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120224/hl_hsn/medsforautismnotwellunderstoodstudy

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Thursday, 23 February 2012

Emma Watson: Fashion Gave Me Life After 'Harry Potter'

If there's one thing Emma Watson is known for (other than the Harry Potter movie franchise, of course), it's her amazing sense of style -- and for that, the British actress is quite grateful.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/emma-watson-says-fashion-gave-her-life-outside-harry-potter/1-a-430688?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aemma-watson-says-fashion-gave-her-life-outside-harry-potter-430688

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What's the Total Value of the World's Sunken Treasure?

When the last responders leave the sunken cruise liner Costa Concordia, the wreck's status may shift from grave site to treasure trove. Its passengers and interior decorators reportedly left behind a wealth of cash, jewels, antiques, and thousands of pieces of art. Souvenir hunters, looters, and even the mafia may have plans to dive the wreck for a piece of that fortune.

It's been a busy month for shipwreck headlines and shipwreck hunters. The team that announced the discovery of the Port Nicholson, a World War II?era British merchant ship found 50 miles off the coast of Maine, says it bore 71 tons of platinum ingots worth about $3 billion. Other shipwreck hunters turned up the HMS Victory, which sank in the English Channel in 1744 with a "secret" cargo of gold valued at $1 billion. And, in an episode that shows the high stakes of shipwreck salvaging, Spain is currently recovering the estimated $500 million haul of gold and silver from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Se?ora de las Mercedes that sank in 1804; an American company found the ship but lost court cases to Spain over the rights to the treasure.

All this undersea treasure hunting got us wondering: Just how much money is out there buried at sea? We put the question to marine archeologists, a historian, and a shipwreck hunter. Their answers ranged from "Who knows?" to "$60 billion"?and each was instructive.

How Many Shipwrecks are There?

An estimate of the value of sunken treasure in the world begins with a guess at the number of sunken ships. James Delgado, director of the Maritime Heritage Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), estimates that there are a million shipwrecks underwater now.

"Given everything that's charted and all the rest, I would say that the majority of them remain undiscovered," Delgado says. After all, 70 percent of the planet's surface is water, and humans have only begun to be able to reach the depths. "[Considering] this, 95 percent of the ocean still remains unknown to us. It's the last frontier," Delgado says. "We know more about the surface of the moon than what's at the bottom of the sea."

Maritime historian Amy Mitchell-Cook at the University of West Florida says she doesn't think it's possible to make an estimate. "Even in Pensacola Bay, where I am, I don't think we have an accurate number of shipwrecks," she says. "There were Spanish, French, English, and Americans all in the area, as well as international trade. We know a lot of ships sank, but we don't have a complete set of records."

How Much Treasure is Down There?

The short answer, Sean Fisher says, is $60 billion. Fisher is a shipwreck hunter at Mel Fisher's Treasures in Key West (Sean is Mel's grandson), and he gives this figure based on his company's historical research. Fisher specializes in finding Spanish vessels that sank while toting gold, silver, and other loot from the Americas to Europe. And the Spaniards, Fisher says, kept records in triplicate, allowing modern-day shipwreck hunters to see the preserved ship manifests. Those manifests reveal an incredible amount of wealth crossing the ocean, and occasionally sinking into it.

"For about 300 years, the Spaniards came over here and stole all of the wealth of the Americas," Fisher says. "They would lose about 10 percent of that as the cost of doing business. Several wrecks out there by themselves are worth several billion dollars."

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/gonzo/whats-the-total-value-of-the-worlds-sunken-treasure?src=rss

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500px Rolls Out New Browsing And Sharing Features ? Plus A Market

Upstart photo-sharing service 500px is bringing some significant changes to the site that should be going live right now (although they're being hammered, so be patient). The site was already one of the frontrunners as far as design and user uptake, and these new features should help that right along. There's a new curated and social photo stream called "Flow" and a new layout for photo sets that can, like the excellent The Big Picture (or In Focus, of course), be used to tell a story. And perhaps most significantly, they've added a full-on market, allowing people to buy and sell photos digitally or in print.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/e_cpScudatA/

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Washboard Muscle Mass

If you want to achieve a fantastic overall body that you want to boast, at that point you need to adhere to a disciplined and healthy and balanced approach to it. Your muscles will definitely speak for your commitment to health and fitness. Even if you happen to be incredibly active, you need to be incredibly certain about exercising. You need to follow a healthy and balanced eating plan too. You need to certainly not have virtually any excuses for certainly not following your eating plan and exercise schedule. Being disciplined and arranged happens to be the core of health and fitness system. No nonsense muscle building offers a functional approach to constructing muscles.

The first thing that you need to do in the morning after rousing happens to be to exercise. You need to certainly not fail to see your exercise schedule even if you happen to be unwell. Your routine need to consist of a great deal of cardio and weights. If you have actually happened a xmas at that point additionally you need to certainly not fail to see your exercise schedule. You can do outdoor projects like quick walks and running. Swimming happens to be additionally an outstanding cardio vascular exercise. Individuals that swim routinely do certainly not have virtually any issues in preserving their weight. You can easily additionally play some outdoor sports like cricket so that you can easily satisfy your cricketing urge and at the same time you can easily lose some weight in the bargain.

Some individuals seem that if you happen to be vegetarian you will definitely diet. This happens to be certainly not real. Non vegetarian food items happens to be additionally healthy and balanced. You can easily consume slim cut of chick and fish. Poultry incorporates a great deal of protein. If you want to build muscles at that point you need to consume protein in adequate amounts. This happens to be considering protein happens to be a crucial component in muscular tissue business. You can easily additionally take protein shakes to supplements your protein requirements.Muscle building happens to be certainly not an hopeless process. Many people seem that they can easily certainly not achieve ripped and muscle body like body building firms.

Source: http://www.freelancewritingjobs.me/washboard-muscle-mass/

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Wednesday, 22 February 2012

To Modernize The Checkbook, Zipmark Launches Developer Platform For Mobile Payments

Following its recent raise of $2 million in seed funding, the still invite-only mobile payments startup Zipmark is today announcing the launch of its developer program and API. The New York-based company, founded in 2010 by Citigroup alum Jay Bhattacharya and CTO Jake Howerton, leverages the existing check processing network to allow users to avoid credit card fees while also eliminating the risk of bounced checks.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ISd6VZXnK60/

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Deal done: Europe seals new $170B Greece bailout

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, talking to Greece's Prime Minister Lucas Papademos on Monday, admitted after the Greek bailout deal was unveiled that "it's not an easy (program), it's an ambitious one."

By NBC News, msnbc.com and news services

Updated at 5 a.m. ET: BRUSSELS -- After months of tough negotiating, Europe and the International Monetary Fund sealed a deal early Tuesday to hand Greece ?130 billion ($170 billion) in additional bailout loans to save it from a default that threatened the viability of the euro, undermining global economic confidence.

The early-hours agreement to avert default comes after negotiators persuaded private bondholders to take greater losses and Athens to commit to very severe austerity measures.

Ministers finalized measures to cut Greece's debt to 120.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, a fraction above the target, to secure its second rescue in less than two years and meet a bond repayment next month.

The eurozone and the IMF, which will be providing the money for the new bailout, hope the new program will eventually put Greece back into a position where it can survive without external support and secure its place in the euro currency union. Finance ministers from Greece and the other 16 euro countries meeting in Brussels wrangled until the early morning hours over how that could be achieved.

What does the Greece bond swap bailout deal mean?

On top of the new rescue loans, Athens will also ask banks and other investment funds to forgive it some ?107 billion in debt, while the European Central Bank and other national central banks in the eurozone will forgo profits on their holdings.

The accord, which had been months in the making, seeks to reduce Greece's massive debts on all fronts, with both private and official creditors going beyond what they had said was possible in the past.

But the costs for Greece, in potential loss of autonomy and further strict austerity measures, were implicit from a statement from Eurogroup, which Europe's finance ministers belong to.

A Greek economist talks about a bailout's potential pitfalls before the final agreement is unveiled. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.

"The Eurogroup is fully aware of the significant efforts already made by the Greek citizens but also underlines that further major efforts by the Greek society are needed to return the economy to a sustainable growth path," the statement read. "We reiterate our commitment to provide adequate support to Greece during the life of the programme and beyond until it has regained market access, provided that Greece fully complies with the requirements and objectives of the adjustment programme."

So it was clear that Greece, which kicked off Europe's debt crisis two years ago, was at the very best starting a long and painful road to recovery. At the worst, the new program would push the country even deeper into recession and see it default on its debts further down the line.

"It's not an easy (program), it's an ambitious one," said Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, adding that there were significant risks that Greece's economy could not grow as much as its international creditors were hoping.

The austerity measures wrought from Greece are also widely unpopular among the population and may hold difficulties for a country which is due to hold an election in April. Further protests could test politicians' commitment to cuts to wages, pensions and jobs.

So social upheaval was a real risk, Paschos Mandravelis, a political analyst at Greece's Kathimerini newspaper, told NBC News' Andy Eckardt.

"If people in the broad middle class landscape get desperate and feel choked, there is the possibility of some kind of uprising," he said.

"We don't have money...Now our only target is to have food to survive," Greek shopkeeper Michael Ipermahos says about the gravity of the financial crisis. "My advice to my children is to leave Greece, throw away their Greek passports and be a citizen of another country."

A Greek's only hot seller: Tear gas masks

And some economists say there are still questions over whether Greece can pay off even a reduced debt burden.

A return to economic growth could take as much as a decade, a prospect that brought thousands of Greeks onto the streets to protest against austerity measures Sunday. The cuts will deepen its five-year recession, hurting government revenues.

Europe's economy edges closer to recession

A report prepared by experts from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund said Greece would need extra relief to cut its debts near to the official debt target given the worsening state of its economy.

If Athens did not follow through on economic reforms and savings to make its economy more competitive, its debt could hit 160 percent by 2020, said the report, obtained by Reuters.

"Given the risks, the Greek program may thus remain accident-prone, with questions about sustainability hanging over it," the nine-page confidential report said.

NBC News, msnbc.com, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/21/10463356-deal-done-europe-seals-new-170b-greece-bailout-to-avoid-chaotic-default

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Personal Finance Roundup - The Consumerist

Tax Prep Nightmare: Don't Get Ripped Off by Your Tax Pro [Daily Finance] "Be smart about selecting who helps with your return and your experience will be better for it."

Buying a New Car? Let a Website Handle the Haggling [Moneyland] "What if you could eliminate much of the distasteful back-and-forth and just get the car you want, at a price you know is fair?"

Why It's Important To Do Estate and Inheritance Planning [The Digerati Life] "It's sad enough when someone goes, but when the deceased's family and friends end up with difficult issues to work through, then it's even sadder."

How to Travel Full-Time for $17,000 a Year (or Less!) [Wise Bread] "Here are a few of my secrets."

How to Solve 4 Sticky Work Dilemmas [US News] "Some ideas for handling delicate job situations."

?FREE MONEY FINANCE

From ConsumerReports.org:

Source: http://consumerist.com/2012/02/personal-finance-roundup-239.html

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Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Cell energy sensor mechanism discovered

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012) ? Johns Hopkins and National Taiwan University researchers have discovered more details about how an energy sensing "thermostat" protein determines whether cells will store or use their energy reserves.

In a report in the Feb. 9 edition of Nature, the researchers showed that a chemical modification on the thermostat protein changes how it's controlled. Without the modification, cells use stored energy, and with it, they default to stockpiling resources. When cells don't properly allocate their energy supply, they can die off or become cancerous. The Johns Hopkins team focused especially on enzymes that add or remove so-called acetyl groups from protein molecules.

"Understanding how cells are affected by adding acetyl groups to proteins, particularly those involved in energy use, is important because there is increasing use of drugs that block acetyl-removing enzymes for treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases," says Jef Boeke, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology, genetics and oncology, and director of the High Throughput Biology Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Blocking acetyl-removing enzymes turns on anticancer genes that help fight cancer; however, it is not known what other genes and cellular processes may also be affected by these treatments."

To determine which enzymes remove acetyl chemical groups from which proteins, the researchers engineered human cells with reduced levels of each of 12 enzymes known to remove acetyl chemical groups. In each of these cell lines, they then turned down each of about 20,000 genes and used a DNA "chip" to identify which genes were affected by reduced levels of the acetyl-removing enzymes. The DNA chip highlighted a specific interaction between the thermostat protein, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and one of the acetyl-removing enzymes, HDAC1.

With less HDAC, AMPK was turned "off," presumably because it retains its acetyl group, the researchers concluded. AMPK acts like an energy thermostat because when energy levels are low in the cell, AMPK kick-starts processes that use the cell's energy reserves and cuts off reactions that store energy. On the other hand, when the cell has plenty of energy, AMPK turns off, causing energy in the form of sugar and fats being stored for later use.

Because the HDAC1 protein turned on AMPK, the researchers presumed there would be a corresponding acetyl-adding enzyme to specifically turn off AMPK. To find this enzyme, they extracted AMPK protein from eight different cell lines, each with reduced levels of a type of acetyl-adding enzyme. They found that AMPK in cells with reduced levels of this acetyl-adding enzyme, called p300, was less acetylated than in cells containing normal amounts of p300.

To confirm the idea that adding or removing acetyl groups directly affects how AMPK controls the way the cell uses energy, they measured the cell's energy stores with the help of a dye that accumulates in the fat globules of a cell. The dye let them estimate the size of fat globules that store energy. The cells unable to add acetyl to AMPK contained less of the dye and therefore smaller fat globules compared to normal human cells. Conversely, the cells unable to remove acetyl groups from AMPK contained more of the dye, indicating bigger fat globules. The research team concluded that when AMPK contains acetyl groups the cell uses less of its energy reserves than when AMPK does not contain acetyl groups.

Boeke says the work on human cells followed similar studies on yeast energy proteins done earlier in his laboratory.

Additional authors of the study include Yu-yi Lin, Shang-Yun Liu and Yi-hsuan Chou of the National Taiwan University; Jin-ying Lu of the National Taiwan University Hospital; Chin Ni Khnor and Chi-Long Lin of Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Samara Kiihl and Rafael Irizarry of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Yasir Suhail, Zheng Kuang and Joel Bader of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The study was supported by funds from National Science Council grants, National Taiwan University Frontier and Innovative Research, National Taiwan University Excellent Translational Medicine Research Project, a National Health Research Institutes Career Development grant, the Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Research Foundation and a National Institutes of Health Common Fund grant.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medicine, via Newswise.

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

Journal Reference:

Yu-yi Lin, Samara Kiihl, Yasir Suhail, Shang-Yun Liu, Yi-hsuan Chou, Zheng Kuang, Jin-ying Lu, Chin Ni Khor, Chi-Long Lin, Joel S. Bader, Rafael Irizarry, Jef D. Boeke. Functional dissection of lysine deacetylases reveals that HDAC1 and p300 regulate AMPK. Nature, 2012; 482 (7384): 251 DOI: 10.1038/nature10804

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221145915.htm

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Science Proves Getting Back with Your Ex Is an Awful Idea [Love]

Click here to read Science Proves Getting Back with Your Ex Is an Awful Idea

Hey babe, we used to make each other miserable, but it's been a year, so now we won't anymore, right? No, says scientific research. A new study from the University of Kansas confirms what we all knew anyway. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fGnEGZrwZr4/science-proves-getting-back-with-your-ex-is-an-awful-idea

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Executive Speech Coach - Business Presentations: Power ...

Speaking Fundamental: Speak Slower

This is an important public speaking fundamental yet I was reluctant to bring it to your attention. Why? Because it is so fundamental. But I've noticed that many of us need to be reminded of the fundamentals from time to time.

I watched an experienced and capable speaker at a conference. I stopped listening early in his presentation because it was too difficult to keep up with his rapid patter. I tuned out and missed most of his speech.

Naturally I was impressed that he asked me for constructive feedback after his presentation. He didn't say, "How was I?" Instead he asked, "How might I improve?" That's the sign of a concerned professional.

His biggest error was that he spoke too quickly. I suggested that he slow down - a lot. That would make it easier for the translator to translate his words (we were speaking at a foreign conference). It would also allow the audience to hear and digest his words while thinking about the ideas, and it would help listeners to identify the key learning points.
The next day he spoke much slower. His presentation was better received. He was fabulous. All it took was for him to speak slower.

I read about a trial lawyer who suffered a massive stroke. He had to totally relearn how to speak. His impossible goal was to return to the court room. He endured and he returned to presenting in the court room. One of his lessons was that he was more persuasive by speaking more slowly.

In the movie, The King's Speech, you might have noticed that when King George VI delivers his first radio speech he spoke slowly with dramatic pauses - because he had to. Yet, those two techniques made his speech more dramatic and thus more effective.

When you speak in public - speak slower than you normally would. You will sound more confident. You will be better heard. You will be better understood.

Got something worth saying? Slow down.

George Torok

Presentation Tips on Twitter Presentation Skills Club on Facebook
Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives
?

Source: http://executivespeechcoach.blogspot.com/2012/02/power-presentations-tip-56-speak-slower.html

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LIDAR Map Shows Height of Earth's Forests

You need 1m posting or better lidar data to get the individual trees and buildings. For the State of North Carolina, which was one of the first states with complete lidar coverage ( for floodplain mapping purposes), 1/3 of the state was flown at -12m posting distance and 2/3 was flown at 5m posting distance , Even at this relatively coarse resolution, there are about 26 billion x,y,z points for the State data set. You can process this as a single file using GRASS GIS or LAStools in a couple of days on a 2Ghz cpu ( single threaded). Consider that 1 m posting gives you 25 times the data points as 5 m posting and pretty soon you are talking about interesting data set sizes.
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Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/I9SnTvlh65g/lidar-map-shows-height-of-earths-forests

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Monday, 20 February 2012

Online Business Marketing

by Sokun Nget on February 19, 2012

Many people who have a business want to market and promote their products. Online business marketing is a great way to do it. You can make a great investment for your business by promoting it online. You can do this by email and it is called email marketing. It is a great way to communicate with customers and make new ones that are interested in buying your products. Email marketing can help you save a lot of money because it is a very cost effective way to promote your business and products all at the sme time. You can sell your products online and ship them to your customers. Open an online store and see how well it will do. You will really be surprised. You will love your customers and they will also love you.

Online chat will allow you to gain customer relationships. A customer relationship is very important when yopu have a business and it can gain you loyal and long standing customers. You can advertise your business through social media and also sell your products. This is called social media marketing. More and more business owners are turning to online marketing because it is cheap and plus it is easy to get the word out online. You can get started right away. You can offer your customers coupons online to help them save and they will really appreciate you for it.

Online business marketing is easy for beginners too. If you need help, then there are many sites that offer technical support or easy to use software to help you get off to a good start. Start promoting your business and products online today and you will notice positive results real soon. Traditional businesses also use email and social media for marketing purposes. It is a great way to increase your income really fast. Your business can get their own website to promote products and sell them fast to customers who are interested. You can gain customers from around the world. Online business marketing is leading the business world today. You will really be amazed at what all you can do online.

For personalized help with your blogging why not try my consultation.

Share Abidings is a blog based on fact and experience not just things people can guess. The webmaster has read many books on personal development and blogging. It isn't a complicated blog and is in simple language.

Source: http://www.abidings.com/2012/02/online-business-marketing.html

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Obama voices support for Yemen VP days before vote (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

AP - President Barack Obama has voiced his support for Yemen's vice president days before an election expected to make Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi the country's new leader.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen

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Fantasy Golf and the Benefits Associated with It | Articles Cast

The people who love playing golf enjoys the relaxing feeling of playing while enjoying every swing of the golf club and watching tournaments. This sport is considered as an expensive game and not a lot of people can afford to play it. Some people are already happy by watching tournaments and watch their favorite golfers compete.

One of the concerns of the player with this game is that it cannot be played for a whole year round because of the weather. The winter season is not a good season to play since the ground is covered with snow. Instead of going outside, they use their time watching tournaments on TV or practice their swing indoors. During these times, they also prefer playing fantasy golf. So how are you supposed to play golf even without going outside your house?

All the players will meet up to start the draft. They will have to arrange everything including the players that will be on their respective teams. The players have to monitor the performance of the golfers on their team on the duration of their game. After their game, the results will be based on the average performance done by the players included on their team.

Actually, you can find a couple of websites where you can register to play fantasy golf. You do not have to worry because the mechanics and rules are the same and there are not fee in registering. What are the possible benefits that can be obtained from this game?

The best thing about this is that it is as exciting as playing golf. You will feel like you are actually playing golf even if you are only watching the tournament and you are not playing on the field. While you are watching the tournaments, you are expecting more from the golfers that are part of your team. While you are monitoring the performance of the golfers on your team, you also share the thrill and excitement that they feel.

There are also prizes given to the winners. There are times wherein they provide prizes like free golf play to the nearest golf course to you and cash prizes. You do not play just to enjoy the game but you can also win prizes.

It is a new alternative of enjoying the thrill of playing golf. You can actually enjoy this game more since playing actual golf is a bit expensive. The fun and excitement that this game offers is already enough for the person to stay contented on watching tournaments instead of playing on an actual game.

The best thing about playing fantasy golf is that you can win prizes by registering and watching your favorite player. To know more about this, you can visit play fantasy golf.

Source: http://articlescast.com/recreation-sports/fantasy-golf-and-the-benefits-associated-with-it

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Kit foxes make themselves at home within Bakersfield city limits

Like lovers in Paris, San Joaquin kit foxes will always have Bakersfield.

The rare little foxes come out mostly at night. They find fabulous food everywhere: chunks of cheeseburger from dumpsters, shreds of taco on windblown wrappers. And the accommodations: What can beat a cozy den in the student quarter ? specifically, beneath portable classrooms in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District?

The 17,000-student district isn't crazy about the foxes, especially when about one-third of its 23 elementary and junior high schools have to deal with them on a regular basis. Administrators have offered a wildlife biologist $25,000 for a plan to manage the endangered species, which is literally, and uneasily, underfoot.

Mostly nocturnal, the achingly cute 5-pound critters sometimes emerge early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Their burrows can also house skunks and feral cats; officials say odors enter classrooms along with fleas.

Michael Brouse, the district's business manager, said nobody can recall "a student-kit fox encounter," but the animals can pose a problem. They leave copious droppings. They get tangled in soccer nets. And, to the chagrin of administrators, they love schools, with their wide-open campuses, brown-bag lunches, and strict adherence to environmental regulations.

"There's a certain amount of paranoia about what you can do legally," Brouse said. "You can't just shoo them away."

A few years ago, Brouse said, one of his district's principals told him about a fox plopping itself across a classroom doorway, briefly detaining both teacher and students.

"In essence, the kids were held hostage in the classroom until the kit fox decided to get up and go," Brouse said.

About the size of small house cats, the foxes are not aggressive but, according to school officials, can do more than their share of damage. Digging burrows in crawl spaces beneath portable classrooms, foxes last year created dirt piles that jammed up against the structures 2 feet overhead. In a couple of buildings, flooring rotted and had to be replaced.

Exactly what the Panama-Buena Vista district will do about its fox colonies is up in the air. With permits from environmental agencies, other schools have filled in inconvenient burrows and built artificial dens in out-of-the-way spots on campus. Some have placed one-way doors at den openings to ensure that foxes who get out, stay out.

A century ago, more than 12,000 of the foxes roamed the San Joaquin Valley. With much of the valley since given over to farming and oil extraction, the population has fallen to fewer than 3,000, scientists say. They've been a fixture on the federal endangered species list since 1967 ? yet as many as 400 make themselves at home in Bakersfield's golf courses, subdivisions and schools, especially those near the edge of town.

"At first, we thought they were displaced stragglers that would be pushed out or die off as development continued," said Bryan Cypher, a biologist with the Endangered Species Recovery Program at Cal State Stanislaus. "But they're doing surprisingly well in the urban area."

Coyotes, the foxes' chief enemy, aren't as numerous in the flat, open stretches of town as in places where thick brush and steep arroyos can shield them. That leaves a fox with many potential dens to choose from in Bakersfield. Besides schools, there are culverts, irrigation channels, power lines and hundreds of storm-water drainage basins.

Then there's the food: In the wild, the foxes subsist on kangaroo rats. In town, there's fast food galore, plus the kibble that fox lovers, over the objections of biologists, set outside for their nocturnal visitors.

"Bakersfield in the past hasn't necessarily been the most endangered-species-sympathetic area," Cypher said, "but many people enjoy having the foxes around."

For 10 years, Linda DeRose, a 71-year-old retired teacher, has watched foxes skitter around the portable classrooms at Stockdale Elementary School across from her house. "Everybody who sees them really likes them. They're really cute, they run real fast, they have big ears. It's amazing they're able to exist in such proximity to people."

It could help, she said, that her husband sometimes puts out cat food for the neighborhood strays, a meal that also goes down well with foxes. When workers at Stockdale erected barriers to keep foxes from re-entering their burrows last December, the animals "were running around the neighborhood like crazy," she said. "They were frantic."

Sometimes residents have alerted the city about street work putting foxes in harm's way. A few have dug into their pockets for the foxes; three years ago, an animal lover freed a kit fox dangling by its neck from the volleyball net at Independence School. She also paid $1,200 for the leg amputation the fox required. It was the year's sixth "entanglement," according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

At Cal State Bakersfield, officials ask biologists about possible harm to kit foxes before they schedule events at an outdoor amphitheater.

But proximity to well-meaning people may have its downside. A 2010 study found that Bakersfield foxes, while healthy, are fatter and have higher cholesterol than their country cousins. Researchers comparing the hair of local foxes with clippings from Bakersfield barbershops found chemical traces of the same foods.

Ted Murphy, a retired Cal State Bakersfield biology professor, has tracked the city's kit foxes for more than 40 years.

"I had a bunch of citizen-scientists who would call me whenever they came across one," he said. "It was a huge network."

Guards at an ice cream plant saw the same fox show up night after night. Little wonder, Murphy said; every night, the lucky fox was provided with chocolate-coated ice cream treats. At homes bordering a golf course, a fox would drop by patio after patio after sundown, drawn by residents who offered eggs, hot dogs, whatever was at hand. Murphy said he knew a pilot who was greeted by a fox each night he'd land at the local airport.

For a little while, Murphy, the founder of his school's Facility for Animal Care and Treatment, had a fox he'd walk on a leash.

"It's a hell of a lot easier for a fox to make a living in this town than in the dry grass," he said.

steve.chawkins@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/pXGlW-Lqnw0/la-me-kit-fox-20120220,0,1687688.story

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Sunday, 19 February 2012

Funeral begins as mourners say goodbye to Houston

A coffin holding the remains of singer Whitney Houston is carried into the New Hope Baptist Church before her funeral services in Newark, N.J. on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

The hearse carrying the body of Whitney Houston leaves Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, N.J. for a short ride to the New Hope Baptist Church for her funeral Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

Candles burn at a memorial at a memorial to Whitney Houston outside New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., early Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. Whitney Houston's funeral will take place later Saturday at the church where she sang in the choir as a girl. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) ? The biggest names in entertainment clapped hands, swayed to gospel hymns and sang along with the choir at Whitney Houston's hometown funeral Saturday in the church where the future pop star once wowed the congregation as a young girl.

"We are here today, hearts broken but yet with God's strength we celebrate the life of Whitney Houston," Rev. Joe A. Carter told the packed New Hope Baptist Church after the choir behind him sang "The Lord is My Shepherd." ''Whitney, you are the only woman that could bring all of us together. Whitney, today is your day."

A gospel choir, members dressed in white and gold, opened the funeral with song, and churchgoers were swaying and clapping along. Some stood in the aisles in the full church. Others were more mournful; singer Ray J., who spent time with Houston during her last days, broke down crying. His sister, singer Brandy, put her arm around him.

Filmmaker Tyler Perry praised Houston's "grace that kept on carrying her all the way through, the same grace led her all the way to the top of the charts. She sang for presidents."

Mourners fell quiet as three police officers escorted Houston's casket, draped with white roses and purple lilies. White-robed choir members began to fill the pews on the podium. As the band played softly, the choir sang in a hushed voice, "Whitney, Whitney, Whitney."

Family had prepared a service where singer Dionne Warwick, Houston's cousin; music mogul Clive Davis, who shepherded Houston's career for decades; actor Kevin Costner, her co-star in "The Bodyguard," and sister-in-law Patricia Houston were to speak.

Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, R. Kelly and gospel stars CeCe and Bebe Winans were to sing. Houston's voice, a recording of her biggest hit, "I Will Always Love You," was to close the funeral.

Close family friend Aretha Franklin, whom Houston lovingly called "Aunt Ree," had been expected to sing at the service, but she was too ill to attend. Franklin said in an email to The Associated Press that she had been up most of the night with leg spasms and sent best wishes to the family. "May God bless and keep them all," she wrote.

Singers Chaka Khan, Mariah Carey, Roberta Flack, Jordin Sparks and Jennifer Hudson were among those filling pews. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader, and actor Lela Rochon were also gathering as the choir began to sing gospel and the congregation clapped.

A program featuring a picture of Houston looking skyward read "Celebrating the life of Whitney Elizabeth Houston, a child of God." Pictures of Houston as a baby, with her mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston and daughter, Bobbi Kristina filled the program.

"I never told you that when you were born, the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long," Cissy Houston wrote her daughter in a letter published in the program. "And I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise and cherish for 48 years."

"Rest, my baby girl in peace," the letter ends, signed "mommie."

Houston's mother was helped by two people on either side of her as she walked in and sat with her granddaughter and other family. Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown, briefly appeared at her funeral, walking to the casket, touching it and walking out.

The service marks one week after the 48-year-old Houston, one of music's all-time biggest stars, was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel in California. A cause of death has yet to be determined.

To the world, Houston was the pop queen with the perfect voice, the dazzling diva with regal beauty, a troubled superstar suffering from addiction and, finally, another victim of the dark side of fame.

To her family and friends, she was just "Nippy." A nickname given to Houston when she was a child, it stuck with her through adulthood and, later, would become the name of one of her companies. To them, she was a sister, a friend, a daughter, and a mother.

"She always had the edge," Jackson said outside the church Saturday. "You can tell when some kids have what we call a special anointing. Aretha had that when she was 14. ... Whitney cultivated that and took it to a very high level."

A few fans gathered Saturday morning hours before the service as close as they could get to the church, some from as far away as Washington, D.C., and Miami. Bobby Brooks said he came from Washington "just to be among the rest of the fans."

"Just to celebrate her life, not just her death," said Brooks, "just to sing and dance with the people that love her."

Others were more entrepreneurial, setting up card tables to sell silk-screened T-shirts with Houston's image and her CDs. But only the invited would get close to the church; streets were closed to the public for blocks in every direction. But their presence was felt around the church, with a huge shrine of heart-shaped balloons and personal messages that covered the street corner around the church entrance.

Elton John, Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce and Jay-Z, and "American Idol" musical director Rickey Minor were also expected to attend Saturday's invitation-only service.

Houston's death marked the final chapter for the superstar whose fall from grace while shocking was years in the making. Houston had her first No. 1 hit by the time she was 22, followed by a flurry of No. 1 songs and multi-platinum records.

Over her career, she sold more than 50 million records in the United States alone. Her voice, an ideal blend of power, grace and beauty, made classics out of songs like "Saving All My Love For You," ''I Will Always Love You," ''The Greatest Love of All" and "I'm Every Woman." Her six Grammys were only a fraction of her many awards.

But amid the fame, a turbulent marriage to Brown and her addiction to drugs tarnished her image. She became a woman falling apart in front of the world.

Her last album, "I Look To You," debuted on the top of the charts when it was released in 2009 with strong sales, but didn't have the staying power of her previous records. A tour the next year was doomed by cancellations because of illness and sub-par performances.

Still, a comeback was ahead: She was to star in the remake of the movie "Sparkle" and was working on new music. Her family, friends and hard-core fans were hopeful.

The funeral is for invited guests only. Houston is to be buried next to her father, John Houston, in nearby Westfield, New Jersey.

Contributing to this report were Global Entertainment and Lifestyles Editor Alicia Quarles and Mesfin Fekadu.

___

Online:

http://www.whitneyhouston.com

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-02-18-Whitney%20Houston-Funeral/id-7a70ac5fb362422589f0c05f6c97c6fc

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