Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273698723?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
OUYA ships 1,200 developer consoles, opens dev portal | Android ...
Begone, doubters. OUYA -- the Android-based game console that shattered about 16 Kickstarter records -- has shipped to developers. Some 1,200 of them have shipped to developers. And it's important to stress that these are for developers. (Did we mention anything about developers here? Because we really should.) As you can see in the video above -- and can the same people who "boxed" a device be the ones to do an unboxing?video? -- these are limited-edition devices, with transparent plastic and bugs and other things that are going to be completely reworked before production units ship in the spring.
What this milestone represents, of course, is a major step forward for a project funded by regular folks -- you and me -- through Kickstarter, meaning it's kind of a crapshoot as to what we'll actually get, when we'll get it, and how good it'll be when it hits our doorstep. (And full disclosure here: Android Central backed OUYA at the $1,337 level, so we've got one of these dev units on the way.) There won't be any apps on this dev version, but the egg has to come before the chicken. Or maybe it's the other way around.
In other news, OUYA?has fired up its developer portal, where you can download the developer kit, upload games and get things ready for launch in a few months. Huzzah!
More: OUYA; OUYA Developer Portal
Source: http://www.androidcentral.com/ouya-ships-1200-developer-consoles-opens-dev-portal
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China extends control over internet; now requires users to register ...
In this file photo, a Chinese man uses a computer at an Internet cafe in Beijing. China?s new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses. (Ng Han Guan /AP)
The Associated Press
China?s government tightened Internet controls Friday with approval of a law that requires users to register their names after a flood of online complaints about official abuses rattled Communist Party leaders.
Authorities say the law will strengthen protections for personal information. But it also is likely to curtail the Internet?s status as a forum to complain about the government or publicize corruption.
?Their intention is very clear: It is to take back that bit of space for public opinion, that freedom of speech hundreds of millions of Chinese Internet users have strived for,? said Murong Xuecun, a prominent Chinese writer.
The rules approved by China?s national legislature highlight the chronic tension between the ruling Communist Party?s desire to reap technology?s benefits and its insistence on controlling information.
Beijing encourages Web use for business and education but tries to block material deemed subversive or obscene. It has steadily stepped up censorship, especially after social media played a role in protests that brought down governments in Egypt and Tunisia.
The latest measure requires users to provide their real names and other identifying information when they register with access providers or post information publicly.
?This is needed for the healthy development of the Internet,? said Li Fei, deputy director of the legislature?s Legal Work Committee, at a news conference.
Li rejected complaints that the public will be deprived of a forum that has been used to expose misconduct.
?The country?s constitution protects citizens? rights in supervising and criticizing the state and government officials? behavior,? Li said.
The measure comes amid reports that Beijing might be disrupting use of software that allows Web surfers to see sites abroad that are blocked by its extensive filters.
At the same time, regulators have proposed rules that would bar foreign companies from distributing books, news, music and other material online in China.
The government has given no indication how it will deal with the technical challenge of registering the more than 500 million Chinese who use the Internet.
Microblog operators, two of which say they have more than 300 million users each, were ordered last year to confirm the identities of users but acknowledge they have yet to complete that task.
The main ruling party newspaper, People?s Daily, has called weeks for tighter Internet controls, saying rumors spread online have harmed the public.
The secretive ruling party is uneasy about the public?s eagerness to discuss politics and sensitive issues online despite threats of punishment.
In March, authorities scrambled to squelch online rumors about a possible coup amid a political crisis that led to the downfall of a prominent party figure, Bo Xilai, ahead of the party?s fall leadership transition. A dozen websites were closed and six people detained.
This week, 70 prominent Chinese scholars and lawyers circulated an online petition this week appealing for free speech, independent courts and for the ruling party to encourage private enterprise.
Communist leaders who see the Internet as a promising source of economic growth were slow to enforce the same level of control they impose on movies, books and other media, apparently for fear of hurting e-commerce and other fledgling online businesses.
Until recently, Web surfers could post anonymous comments online or on microblogs.
That gave ordinary Chinese a unique opportunity to express themselves to a public audience in a society where newspapers, television and other media all are state-controlled. Some of the most popular microbloggers have millions of readers.
It also made the Internet a clearinghouse for accusations of official misconduct.
A local party official in China?s southwest was fired in November after scenes from a videotape of him having sex with a young woman spread quickly on websites.
Web surfers can circumvent filters by using virtual private networks ? encryption software that is used by companies for financial data and other sensitive information. But VPN users say disruptions began in 2011 and are increasing, suggesting regulators are trying to block encrypted traffic.
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Sam Sykes ? Love + War
Love + War
I don?t like the word ?relationship.?
No one does.
For one, it?s a long and soft word, full of hissing and seething noises, so it?s naturally unpleasant to hear. ?We like our soft words to be short, the better to convey the impact of their message, like ?love.? ?And we like our long words to have hard sounds in them so that they seem to have a foundation when they start to wobble under the weight of their syllables, like ?conflict.?
But the real reason we don?t like the word ?relationship? is that it?s too weak to convey the dire severity of its meaning. ?We have a warped definition of the word, one that conjures up images of Zach Braff agonizing through internal dialogue in a hospital cafeteria or an entire genre of books based around women standing around, waiting to see which werewolf or vampire will be the one to take her home.
I once received a review that bemoaned the sheer amount of ?relationship stuff? in?Black Halo. ?It was distinctly critical of how much time was spent getting the characters to know each other better and what they were doing as despair set in. ?His praise finally picked up when Lenk charged heedlessly onto a boat to save Kataria and kill people, which is when he said something along the lines of ?this is what it?s all about. ?Not relationships, but adventure and fighting.?
I kind of sighed.
Not that I blamed him. ?I don?t blame any critic for their views. ?But even if I did, I wouldn?t have blamed him for operating under a weird (if widespread) definition of the word ?relationship.?
We are raised with the belief that ?relationship? is a word that means ?solution.? ?You are not a normal person until you have a long-term relationship, according to the media. ?You are not a well-adjusted human being unless you have a good relationship with your family. ?You are incomplete until you can sit down, watch a shitty sitcom and get the ?jokes? that revolve around a woman wanting a man to buy tampons and him wanting to watch football instead. ?And if you are not normal, well-adjusted or complete, then you surely will be once you get a relationship, because that?s what normal people do.
And likewise, we are raised with the belief that ?conflict? is a word that means ?problem.? ?Conflicts are things that do not occur naturally. ?Conflicts happen because someone screwed up. ?Conflicts are problems to be solved. ?We define our stories with words like ?Man vs. Self,? ?Man vs. Man,? ?Man vs. Manatee? and the like with the implication that they will be overcome.
Conflicts are what define our stories.
But ?conflict? and ?relationship? mean the same thing.
The reason we don?t like the word ?relationship? is because society?s definition of it as ?solution? does not actually fit with what a relationship is. ?And what a relationship is is adversarial in nature. ?It is there to change the status quo, to push people toward each other or away from each other, to disrupt what is comfortable and create something different.
And that?s painful. ?Sometimes exceedingly so.
Because, win or lose, we don?t get to walk away from relationships unchanged. ?We can underplay violence pretty well in society and especially in fantasy literature. ?We throw in fight scenes with the expectation that victory for our heroes means the return of the status quo. ?The dragon is dead, so everything can go back to normal. ?We haven?t yet figured out a way to do this with relationships.
Nor should we.
Every story is about relationships. ?Every boat, sword, laser, ghost, dragon, demon or zeppelin is just a means of pushing that relationship forward.
And I don?t think I really understood this when I started writing.
I think, when I began with?Tome of the Undergates,?I viewed battles and relationships as separate entities. ?We had our fight scenes, then we had our talk scenes, then we had our fight scenes and then talking. ?It was easily staggered and people could skip parts they didn?t like. ?That?s not good writing.
In?Black Halo,?I think I stumbled around the truth a little. ?I knew that fight scenes were just dialogue with fists, that there should never be a fight scene that didn?t change the conversation in some direction. ?I knew that relationships were what broke people, not blood or swords. ?I knew that a woman turning her back on you was worse than a knife embedded in your shoulder. ?But I didn?t know how to express that.
It got better in?The Skybound Sea.
But I think it?s only at my current project that I understand how to make ?relationship? mean ?conflict? mean ?problem and solution.? ?I only now understand what it means to make two people love and hate each other at the same time. ?I only now understand what it means when battle is an extension of love, when swords are long kisses and blood drops are notes in a love song.
Love. ?Hate. ?Relationship. ?Conflict.
They all basically means the same thing: change. ?Change is scary. ?But meaningful.
?Relationships? as we know them by the society?s definition are not meaningful. ?Society tells us that a relationship is a comfort, a normalcy, a solution.
Were that true, we would never feel our hearts beat faster when someone took a step closer to us, we would never listen to the radio and wonder what they were talking about when they played a love song from fifty years ago, we would never lie awake at night wondering how long we could go on being alone.
?Conflicts? as we know them by society?s definition are not meaningful. ?Society tells us that a conflict is a burden, an error, a problem.
Were that true, we would never spend our time consumed with thoughts as to how to punish those who have wronged us, we would never devote more energy to defining ourselves by what we want not to be than we do about what we?do?want to be, we would never look at an enemy and realize we were still alone.
But society is wrong. ?Literature is right.
Relationships are everything. ?Conflict is everything. ?Comfort means nothing. ?Change means everything.
We just need better words for them.
Source: http://samsykes.com/2012/12/love-war/
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Friday, December 28, 2012
News Analysis: Scientists to Seek Clues to Violence in Genome of Gunman in Newtown, Conn.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]As geneticists plan to study the DNA of a mass killer in hopes of eventually preventing rampages, some researchers question what good could come of the findings.
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Seriously, How Does the Media Still Not Know How Facebook Works?
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Your Business Can Benefit From Cloud Computing Program ...
By Donna L. Gaiter
Professional help is available to assist with your business communication needs when you ride the cloud designed to help your business succeed. It is important for your business to project a professional image in today?s competitive marketplace. Whether you are operating a small business or small home office you will find that one easy package can optimize your virtual office or teleworker environment.
Cost effective solutions furnished with the advancement of ride the cloud services can help take your business to the next level. Affordable and easy to maintain communications services that encompass local, long distance, inbound fax, audio conferencing and even more have been developed over the past few years to help you improve your business efforts.
Communications services employed by other businesses are also required for smaller businesses, but should be adjusted to a scale that meets their needs and is affordable. A business optimization suite of cloud business services encompassing communication services and web marketing and eCommerce solutions can be provided through application development for the cloud features that are available for this purpose. Comprehensive and complete web strategies are necessary for any size business that can gain from web promotion, internet training and web hosting services.
If you are a small business or an entrepreneur working out of a home office, you can benefit from the ride the cloud services to expand your online marketing reach and improve your overall performance. The available resources of web service professionals can help direct traffic to your website in an effort to grow your business as you become more successful. Even a teleworker can achieve a professional image to keep up with the competition by employing the available successful services and features.
You can count on professional web services to develop your website or create an online store as they strive to attract more traffic to your site and convert that traffic into new customers to enhance your online performance. The talent and skills of professionals will expand your online reach to target audiences as they use strategies such as SEO, link building, social networking, web design and web analytics all in an effort to contribute to your business success. You can gain from their skills to help drive global or local traffic to your website while measuring, tracking and addressing the increased market demand that can help grow your business to a new level.
Anyone wants a method to raise a website?s placement on the internet. One of the best ways to get heard and promoted on the web is at Crexendo business. For more tips and advice click this text
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Tags: cloud application development, internet marketing, online business, ride the cloud, Web Hosting
Source: http://dianemumm.com/2012/12/28/your-business-can-benefit-from-cloud-computing-program/
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
Kids on autism spectrum appearing more on TV, but is media getting ...
TORONTO - When "Parenthood" creator Jason Katims created the character Max Braverman ? an intelligent, inscrutable, insect-obsessed youngster with Asperger's ? he had in mind his own son, Sawyer, who was similarly diagnosed.
But while many are absorbed in the travails of the mop-topped Max on the generously open-hearted family drama, Katims' own teenaged son isn't among them.
"Everybody else in the family watches it but he doesn't," the Emmy Award winner said in a recent telephone interview, chuckling softly.
"He'll really just watch sports, it's really all he's interested in watching. He also likes things like politics and conspiracy theories, those kinds of things. But he doesn't really watch scripted television.
"I mean, he's trying to put me out of business."
Fortunately for Katims, millions of other people are playing close attention ? particularly those with a loved one on the autism spectrum.
And sadly, those numbers are growing. One in 88 American children has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) according to the Centers for Disease Control and ? while no federal monitoring system exists in Canada to provide a similar rate of prevalence ? ASD is the most common childhood neurological disorder or severe developmental disability here.
(A controversial decision was recently made to fold Asperger syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism, into an umbrella diagnosis for autism spectrum disorder, but the families interviewed for this story largely used the terms interchangeably).
Television can often be painstakingly slow to adapt to such shifts in demographics. But it's clear that some of the challenges faced by the autistic population have captured the imagination of TV writers, who are increasingly penning eccentric characters whose quirks would seem to align with typical characteristics of ASD on shows including "The Big Bang Theory," "Bones" and "Community."
These characters are never diagnosed, but they are smart, focused and passionate about certain subjects, stubbornly rigid, and navigate human relationships with either much effort or bemused distance, confused by sarcasm, idioms or other unspoken rules of social interaction that come naturally to most.
These characters are also incredibly familiar to some people on the spectrum and those around them.
But if these shows are helping to craft the popular understanding of a neural disorder still largely shrouded in mystery, it must be asked: Are they getting it right? And how do people on the spectrum or those close to them feel about the representations?
It was a consideration of crucial importance to Katims, who of course counts himself among that community. When the 52-year-old began developing "Parenthood" ? after bringing his beloved gridiron TV drama "Friday Night Lights" to a gratifying conclusion ? he saw an opportunity to tell stories that weren't being told on television: His own.
But he also felt a heavy sense of responsibility, almost immediately.
"When we were starting out, I really had a lot of apprehension about our ability to tell the story accurately," he said.
"I was sort of overwhelmed by the challenge of doing that and was sort of determined to make it not feel like a bad television version of it, but to make it feel real."
One way he accomplished that was by culling many of Max's stories from his own life. Though Katims does his best to nimbly sidestep autobiography, sometimes he'll casually share details of his home life with his writers, leave the room, and come back to find his personal anecdote expertly adapted into a pitch for a storyline.
The show (which airs Monday nights on Global) also employs behavioural psychologist Wayne Tashjian to work with the show's cast and crew to ensure accuracy. And Katims is quick to pay lavish praise to precocious 15-year-old star Max Burkholder, who portrays his TV counterpart with such a keen eye for detail, Katims says he's been able to delve far deeper into Max's journey than he originally anticipated.
"There's this cathartic element of being able to write about something that's personal to me, and put it out there in the world," he said.
And the portrayal is certainly having an effect.
Tom Hibben, a 30-year-old paramedic from Oklahoma City, was still reeling from the diagnosis of his son with Asperger syndrome when he and his wife sat down to watch the "Parenthood" pilot back in March 2010.
In that episode, a teary-eyed Kristina Braverman (Monica Potter) informs husband Adam (Peter Krause) of their son's diagnosis. In volatile disbelief, Adam spits back: "Asperger's? Like autism? Max is not autistic! I've seen autistic kids!"
Watching at home, Hibben and his wife exchanged stunned glances. Their memories wrenchingly recent, they were initially a little "horrified" by what they were watching, but they also got sucked in and continued following the show. Nowadays, they even sometimes do so with their son (now nine years old), who identifies with aspects of "Parenthood" ? specifically, Max's non-plussed reaction when he learned he had Asperger's.
Hibben, meanwhile, found himself more strongly relating to the stomach-churning anxiety Adam and Kristina felt when Max ? galvanized by his righteous indignity over the removal of a school vending machine ? decided to run for student council president.
The fictional Bravermans were stuck; they wanted to support him but didn't want to see his spirit crushed.
"That kind of hit home for us," said Hibben, a father of three who authors the blog www.adventuresinaspergers.com. "You want them to get involved, but do you want them to have that potential for them to get stomped or made fun of?"
That storyline culminated in Max delivering a stirring speech to his classmates explaining the particulars of what makes him different, resulting in his successful election.
Karen Wesley watched that scene through tears. The Austin, Tex., mother has three children, two of whom are on the autism spectrum. Her 16-year-old son had recently written an essay about his own struggles and read it over the PA system at school.
"Oh my God, I was in tears because (Max's) speech was very similar to the one that my son made," said Wesley, who writes about her life at confessionsofanaspergersmom.blogspot.com.
"I just admired his bravery, and I won't say the average Asperger's kid would do that. It touched me."
Katims hears stories like this from parents of autistic kids all the time. The stories move him, but also reinforce just how slender is his margin for error.
"For people in that community, they're passionate about the show (but) they're also very discerning," he said. "They are not without their criticisms as well."
Indeed, "Parenthood" fans with ties to the autistic community occasionally seem to possess as fastidious an eye for inconsistencies and inaccuracies as a hotshot trial lawyer poking holes in a witness's story.
Among the complaints? Some feel that Max's struggles ? with compromising, socializing and empathizing ? are resolved too quickly. Some fret that the Bravermans should not have waited as long as they did to tell Max about his condition. Some think his "meltdowns" are too severe and frequent, while some feel the opposite.
And many point out that the Bravermans have a near-endless supply of resources ? an in-house learning aide (at one point), one stay-at-home parent and even the option to put Max in a school specially suited to him ? that aren't available to real families without crushing financial burden.
(Of course, this is television, where underemployed 20-somethings are always capable of affording cutting-edge fashion and spacious, lavishly appointed New York apartments).
In those respects, "Parenthood" is held to a much higher standard than shows that choose not to diagnose their characters' behaviour.
"Bones"' Canadian-raised creator Hart Hanson once told the Newark Star-Ledger that he based the show's central forensic anthropologist in part on a friend with Asperger syndrome, but decided not to label the character because he wanted the Fox show to appeal to as broad an audience as possible.
As played by Emily Deschanel, Temperance Brennan (nicknamed Bones) is a brilliant scientist who struggles to parse social cues in her dealings with perennially at-odds love interest Booth (David Boreanaz), and whose clinical curiosity and lack of emotional expression sometimes leave co-workers complaining that she's as chilly as the corpses she so expertly probes.
Canada's top-rated show "The Big Bang Theory" ? a comedy about nerdy, socially awkward men and the patient women they don't really deserve ? has a somewhat similar character in its breakout star, Sheldon Cooper (a role that has earned actor Jim Parsons two Emmys and a Golden Globe).
Sheldon, like Bones, is a bona fide genius, a physicist of considerable renown and a walking encyclopedia who exhausts his friends with deep reserves of obscure trivia.
But he also abhors physical contact, sticks so religiously to routine that he won't let anyone sit in his spot on the couch, possesses such an intractable obstinacy that friends roll their eyes at any nascent signs of a disagreement and treats social convention like the one complex puzzle he can never quite solve.
He actually summed up these issues quite succinctly in a recent monologue toward the end of an episode.
"You may not realize it, but I have difficulty navigating certain aspects of daily life," he said to his friends. "You know, understanding sarcasm, feigning interest in others, not talking about trains as much as I want to. It's exhausting."
But, as on "Bones," "Big Bang" has never directly confronted the reasons behind Sheldon's idiosyncrasies. The show's co-creator, Bill Prady, has said they resisted diagnosing Sheldon because the resultant responsibility would be too much for what is, at its heart, a goofy sitcom.
Still, many of those in or close to the autistic community love the character regardless.
"We adore Sheldon and we totally get him," said Lori Sherry, founder and president of the Asperger Syndrome Education Network (ASPEN), who counts "Big Bang" as her favourite TV program.
In fact, there's an aspirational dimension to Sheldon, given that he's successful and independent (even if he doesn't drive).
"We can only hope that we're raising a Sheldon," Hibben said. "My son reminds me, I hope, of Sheldon, because he's the smartest kid I know. He can read Egyptian hieroglyphics but he puts his pants on backwards every day of his life.
"We watch that (show) with a bit of optimism. And we get the jokes a little more. People with kids on the spectrum connect to it a bit more."
On both "Bones" and "Big Bang" ? as well as the oddball comedy "Community," which depicts Danny Pudi's gentle-but-detached Abed in a similar fashion ? the traits that distinguish these characters from their friends and co-workers also make them fertile sources of comedy.
Both Sheldon and Bones generate laughs from their off-kilter interpretations of social customs and their blunt honesty. Katims, too, acknowledges that he loves writing for Max.
"It's just always fun to write a character who will say whatever is on their mind," he said. "I enjoy writing Max and it's similar sometimes to how I enjoy my son. An aspect of one of the things I really like about him is how authentic he is.
"He doesn't know how to say anything false. And while that's a real challenge in his life for many reasons, there's also something very charming about it."
Hibben, for one, has no problem with finding humour in these characters, because he does the same with his son.
He relates a recent story in which his wife accidentally sent his nine-year-old to school with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, forgetting that he detested jelly.
"He looked her straight in the eye (later) and said: 'You need to be more careful next time you make my lunch. You screwed it up again,'" Hibben recalled, laughing. "When I was a kid, I'd be unconscious. But he has no fear of repercussions. He corrects teachers when they use incorrect grammar in class."
It's not as though, Hibben points out, their lives are sad.
"Sometimes it sucks, but most of the time it's just freaking hilarious."
Added Wesley: "My kids, if I didn't laugh a lot at the situations, I probably would be in tears."
Wesley, for her part, loves "Big Bang" too. She says her kids draw strength from seeing characters who bear some resemblance to them on TV. But she says it would be beneficial if producers at least alluded to the possibility of a diagnosis for Sheldon.
Natalie Dalton, a mother of two from St. John's, N.L., with a son diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, disagrees. She "adores" Sheldon and says that his Asperger qualities are readily apparent, but magnified to the thousandth degree.
Which is why she'd rather not see him overtly associated with the condition.
"To diagnose his character now would be to make a mockery of Asperger's/autism," she wrote in an email. "Although I love the show, I would be offended if Sheldon was meant to accurately depict a person with Asperger's."
Dr. James Bebko, a professor and autism researcher with York University's department of psychology, is similarly skeptical that Sheldon displays anything more than a shallow resemblance to someone actually dealing with Asperger syndrome.
"One of the things that's part of society now is that it doesn't seem OK anymore just to be eccentric ? it has to be pathologized in some way," he said.
"Part of the dynamic of what's going on is that (viewers) with various disorders or challenges are also trying to normalize their experience or their child's experience, so they're looking for examples of that sort of behaviour in recognized personalities or in media."
And Bebko says it's easy to understand why: Sheldon and Bones are highly successful professionals, and thus optimistic examples for young people on the spectrum.
But their lives are sadly not reality for most people with different forms of autism.
"I know a number of individuals with Asperger who are successful in their lives ? but they are the exception," Bebko said.
In fact, a recent study published by Pediatrics found that one in three young adults with autism had no paid job experience, college or technical school nearly seven years after high-school graduation ? a poorer showing than those who have mental disabilities.
While Bebko thinks that TV shows drawing attention to autism is a positive development (and he likes what little he's seen of "Parenthood"), he warns that there's a danger in viewers forming strong impressions from fictional media.
"What's important is that they have to realize it's entertainment," he said.
Like Bebko, Autism Speaks executive vice-president of programs and services Peter Bell emphasizes that autism is a spectrum disorder that takes many distinct forms. At one end, there are some highly functioning, independent people who can resemble those being depicted on TV. At the other end, there are people with much more significant challenges, some of whom need 'round-the-clock supervision.
Bell points out that roughly 40 to 50 per cent of the autistic population has communication challenges so significant many are largely non-verbal, and that population is hardly represented on TV at all. ("Touch" casts Toronto's Kiefer Sutherland as the father to a mute son but doesn't diagnose the child).
"It does run the risk of stereotyping what autism might look like," said Bell, an avowed "Parenthood" fan who even had a cameo on the show.
"Because I think for the vast majority of people who live with autism, they do have very significant challenges that probably wouldn't play well on the screen."
So we await the depiction of a character at the more severe end of the autism spectrum.
Meantime, Katims continues to explore the real anxieties he experiences as the parent of a child on the spectrum ? questions of whether his son will marry or hold a job ? to the simultaneous delight and trepidation of other parents trying to chart a path in similarly murky waters.
And those from outside the community are also watching ? and learning. After the second episode of the show aired, Google searches for "Asperger's" spiked. (Actually, many of the curious seekers badly misspelled the word).
So while "Parenthood" is just a TV show, to many people it means more. And that group, of course, includes Katims himself.
"Obviously, it's very personal to me," he said. "I've heard many stories over the time of doing the show, of people who have brought their own children in (for diagnosis) through seeing the show.
"People recognize Max in their children, or their grandchildren, or their nieces and nephews."
Asked how it feels to wield such positive influence, Katims pauses.
"It means a lot to me."
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Obama thanks EPA's Jackson for service on environment
Slipping in her entry for Weirdest Celebrity News of 2012 just under the wire, Kate Winslet of all people went and had a secret marriage early this month that only came to light last night. And who did she marry? A man named Ned Rocknroll. Or Rock'nRoll, depending on who you ask. Yup. Kate Winslet has married the old cartoon mascot for the Hard Rock Caf?. Well, no, such a thing never existed, but that sure is what Ned Rocknroll sounds like. Or maybe an American guest character on a Japanese cartoon. Something like that. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-thanks-epas-jackson-environment-154446842.html
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Returing
Hey everyone. I'm back. Don't know if I was missed but after a hiatus I'm returning to my roots of where I began to love writing, through roleplaying. I know im not the best at spelling on the fly as well as grammar, but its my passion. I missed this place but it's changed so much. Play-by-post is my favorite but it seems all the casual roleplayers have moved on to the Tab version of roleplay. I tried to find a play-by-post that wasn't too complicated. Meaning low character counts and quick smaller replies. I hope somewhere out there is a roleplay I can connect with. If you know of any I would be excited. Thanks for taking me back. It's good to be back.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/KnuREtJE1PQ/viewtopic.php
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Sunday, December 23, 2012
Adding More Bricks to the Great Firewall of China - NYTimes.com
HONG KONG ? China appears to have reinforced its Internet firewall in recent days, blocking some of the leading services that allow people on the mainland to access forbidden sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
International business transactions also are being affected, Internet analysts said. The New York Times Web site remains 100 percent blocked on the mainland, along with the Chinese-language edition of The Times and Rendezvous.
At least three foreign companies ? Astrill, WiTopia and StrongVPN ? have apologized to customers whose virtual private networks, or VPNs, have been slowed or disabled. VPNs are used to circumvent the Communist government?s firewall. The companies, meanwhile, were suggesting some work-arounds.
The daily newspaper Global Times, affiliated with the Communist Party, acknowledged the firewall had been ?upgraded,? but it also warned that foreign providers of VPN services were operating illegally.
China blocks online searches of politically sensitive terms, smothers embarrassing news events, blocks online messages from dissidents and simply deletes any microblog posts that it dislikes.
The firewall also blocks countless Web sites that are openly available to users elsewhere around the world ? from pornography sites and commercial come-ons to news reporting, political activism and religious proselytizing. Users on the mainland thus have to use VPNs to reach the banned sites.
Liu Xiao Ming, the Chinese ambassador to Britain, told the BBC on Friday that there was ?a misconception about the Internet and development in China.?
?In fact, the Chinese are very much open in terms of the Internet,? he said, quoted in an article in The South China Morning Post. ?In fact, we have the most number of Internet users in China today.?
An estimated 600 million Chinese have access to the Internet.
Foreign businesses also use VPNs not only to safeguard their transactions but also to keep government censors and rival companies from seeing their corporate communications.
Global Times quoted an anonymous executive at a foreign technology company operating in China who said the lack of a VPN would damage the firm?s operations.
Josh Ong, China editor of the tech monitoring site The Next Web, said in an interview with the Voice of America that international companies were reporting disruptions in their corporate VPN services.
?A lot of companies have a general policy that they must use their own proxy network in order to transfer data, especially into and out of China,? Mr. Ong said. ?So you are looking at banks or e-commerce companies, anyone who is transferring very sensitive information, a lot of them use corporate VPNs.?
Mr. Ong suggested that the tightening of the firewall could be tied to the recent leadership change in the Chinese Communist Party.
?It is certainly possible that some of it is just a general flexing of might, kind of coming in with a strong arm to really show who?s in control,? he said. ?But there is definitely something intentional happening when these VPN services are being restricted.?
As Bill Bishop wrote recently on DealBook, China?s management of the Internet ?has not been encouraging for those who want to believe the leadership will push reforms.?
?I have lived in Beijing since 2005, and these have been the most draconian few days of Internet restrictions I have experienced,? he said last month.
?Indiscriminate blocking of major parts of the global Internet is not going to help China in its quest to internationalize the renminbi and make it a reserve currency,? Bill said. ?Internet controls at the level of the last few days may also deter foreign firms from moving their regional headquarters to China.?
Barbara Demick of The Los Angeles Times bureau in Beijing offered this cautionary tweet:
My colleagues Sharon LaFraniere and David Barboza wrote about similar concerns over China?s Internet censorship last year, and they spoke to Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, an investment and strategy consultancy based in Beijing.
?It has been double the guard, and double the guard, and you never hear proclamations about things being relaxed,? said Mr. Clark, a 17-year resident of China. ?We have never seen this level of control in the time I have been here, and I have been here since the beginning of the Internet.?
Source: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/adding-more-bricks-to-the-great-firewall-of-china/
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From 2013 through 2030, 75 million baby boomers will do this ...
They will retire! At the rate of a staggering 12,000 per day (that's 368,000 per month) for 17 straight years they will be retiring to enjoy reaping the benefits of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Me included, God willing.
With new jobs (most of them at the wage level of a burger flipper, or worse yet, well paying government jobs) happening at about 144,000 per month, just how is this going to work out? How long will the upstarts tolerate being taxed into oblivion for the benefit of us old folks? Of, I forgot, those making less than $50,000 in combined family income pay (on average) a net zero in Federal income taxes. That leaves the rich. Or the printing press....
And what is left once the Dollar has no real value and the rich have been destroyed as a class (or up and left the country, taking their jobs with them)?
PS: Guess what happens when 368,000 people per month retire and 144,000 upstarts find jobs? The percentage of unemployed figure consistently drops monthly, making everything look rosy as all get-out.
Source: http://nepacrossroads.com/about27122.html
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Your 10 Favorite Holiday Flicks!
We asked, you answered! From A Christmas Story to Elf, iVillage readers share their memories their favorite Yuletide movies
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
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Source: http://katewinslet-celebfan.blogspot.com/2012/12/simpson-racing-suitsaferacer.html
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Bentley announces $15.7 mil in tornado relief
HACKLEBURG, AL (WAFF)- Governor Robert Bentley stopped in Hackleburg Wednesday to announce some much needed relief for towns hit hardest by the April 27th tornados.
It's been nearly two years since the tornados devastated North Alabama, but many areas are still recovering. Homes, businesses and entire communities were destroyed in towns like Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, Union Grove and Rainsville.
Bentley, along with several other state and local leaders, announced $15.7 million of long term disaster relief funding will be awarded to nine communities in North and West Alabama.
DeKalb County will receive $950,000, Franklin County will receive $125,000 and Hackleburg will receive money to help revitalize downtown.
Funds were also awarded to Cordova, Marion County, Moulton, Phil Campbell, Tuscaloosa city and Tuscaloosa County.
Copyright 2012 WAFF. All rights reserved.
Source: http://ftpayne.waff.com/news/news/87821-bentley-announces-157-mil-tornado-relief
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Alan Cox Automotive | AAA Approved Repair Facility | Marietta, GA
Alan Cox Automotive is now an AAA certified auto repair facility.? AAA is very selective when it comes to their approved facilities and they are proud to be included in the directory.? Alan Cox Automotive has always provided great services to its clients, but now AAA members can be assured that they are at the right place when looking for auto repairs.
AAA thoroughly screens its shops annually, and bases their decision on these focus points:
- Reliability
- Honesty
- Customer Satisfaction
- Fair Pricing
- Cleanliness
- Staff Training
- Warranty and Guarantees of Service or Repairs Performed
Alan Cox Auto specializes in Asian import vehicles such as Honda, Acura, KIA, Hyundai and many more. So when you bring your car in you know that your car is receiving specialized attention because the mechanics are so familiar with these makes.
In a recent press release announcing the new the owner of Alan Cox Automotive had this to say , ?We have always been dedicated to making sure our customers get the best from us. Our technicians have always been ASE and manufacture certified and we have always strived to provide excellent and speedy customer service. We are proud to be recognized as an Approved Auto Repair shop by the AAA and will continue to provide the very best in service and repairs to our customers.?
Alan Cox Automotive is not only a repair shop, they offer routine scheduled maintenance packages and have a great tire center. Call them today to schedule an appointment.
Source: http://www.alancoxautomotive.com/atlanta-car-service-blog/alan-cox-aaa-approved/
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Insurance is expensive, unfamiliar to disaster-hit Chinese
In the U.S., Americans rely on insurance to protect against disasters. In China, families rely on themselves. CNBC Asia's Eunice Yoon has more from Beijing.
By Adrienne Mong, NBC News
Imagine a day-long storm with torrential rains and high winds pounding your home. By the time it blows over, you have lost everything you own. And you have no insurance.
This was the scenario in July for residents of Fangshan, a district 50 miles from the center of China's capital Beijing.?
Some 18 inches of rainfall dumped on Fangshan, causing a normally dry river to overflow and flood the surrounding homes. Half of the 77 people killed as a result of the storm were in Fangshan ? as were half of the estimated 57,000 people forced to evacuate their homes.
Liu Su Xia, a spirited 60-year-old grandmother, was in her house when the water rushed into the single-story courtyard building.?
"I was terrified," she said. "The water was this red color and went everywhere."?
She grabbed a ladder and clambered up to the second floor window of her neighbor's house to watch. As soon as the water receded, she climbed back down and began cleaning what she could.?
When her 63-year-old husband Xin Zhong Qi returned from the city center, where he was working on a construction site, they toiled together all night and into the next day to salvage what they could.
"There was nothing worth saving," Xin said. "We had to throw everything away."
As for compensation, "the government still hasn't come forward with a plan," Xin said.
'I can only rely on myself'
The flooding in Fangshan highlighted the Chinese state's weaknesses and faults ? and also underscored how much ordinary Chinese still have to rely on themselves. In the United States, families rely on homeowners' insurance to protect them against damage from disasters such as Superstorm Sandy, which hit the Northeast in November. But in China, many ordinary people remain unaware of and often unable to buy insurance.?
Read more China coverage on NBC's Behind The Wall
Damage from the flooding across Beijing cost $1.6 billion, according to municipal officials. Authorities have supplied temporary housing in Fangshan and announced plans to help create new permanent housing on safer ground.
But there was plenty of popular outrage over the authorities' handling of the disaster, especially the official casualty count, which many believed to be too low. Then there was criticism over the existing emergency response system, deemed too slow and inefficient. Finally, the destruction of so many homes raised concerns that existing buildings in Fangshan were built on unsafe grounds.
After Hong Kong weathers typhoon, anger roils over Beijing flooding deaths
Xin and Liu have not availed themselves of the temporary housing; it wasn't clear whether they were eligible or whether they did not seek out the option.
Miguel Toran / CNBC Asia
Friends help Xin Zhong Qi repair his home after it was damaged by flooding.
"I can only rely on myself," said Xin. "At least 90 percent of the time, you have to rely on yourself."
When asked whether they had ever heard of homeowners' insurance, Liu cackled.
"Aiya! We?re peasants! Who has that kind of money?"
Xin also admitted he doesn't quite understand what it is.?
An opportunity?
He's probably not the only one. The concept of homeowners' insurance is still new in China. It was barely two decades ago that private home ownership was re-introduced across cities, when the Communist Party gave millions of state workers the opportunity to buy their government-supplied homes at bargain basement rates.
"With around 250 million households entering the middle class in China over the next five or 10 years, that's a great opportunity for insurance products to reach even deeper in the Chinese population," said Joe Ngai, managing partner at McKinsey & Co.'s Hong Kong office.
Hong Kong offers insight into storm prep
In fact, McKinsey believes China will be the second largest insurance market in the world after the U.S. in 2020.
"We would think about insurance if it was offered to us," said Yu Shuang, another Fangshan resident whose home was badly damaged by the flood. Yu and her husband used their savings to repair their house and to replace their furniture and car. "But we're not sure whether we would want to look at what the government might offer or buy our own."
Xin, however, remained skeptical.
"We're old. We don't have that many years left. Why bother [buying insurance]? And we don't have any money," he said. "Anyway, this was a once in a lifetime event. One big flood in 60 years."
More world stories from NBC News:
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The decline of nations | PandoDaily
On December 18, 2012
Over the past 35 years, globalization has become an accepted and irreversible economic reality. While most of the debates have centered around the pain of transferring manufacturing jobs overseas versus the benefits of cheaper goods, the effects of globalization on the health of nations are rarely considered.
Viewed strictly from the standpoint of expanding the overall economic pie, economists are in near universal agreement that globalization produces a net positive. But as companies increasingly operate with an eye toward leveraging markets and labor on an international scale, the shift toward a global focus has resulted in the declining importance and economic security of individual countries.
At its core, globalization is really a matter of access; access to new sources of labor and access to foreign markets. The two primary drivers of access are capital mobility and technological reach. Capital mobility can best be understood as the ability to build a factory wherever the labor or tax environment is most advantageous. For example, Nike can build a shoe factory anywhere they can get the best deal on labor assuming the other logistical factors don?t outweigh the benefits. Technological reach is most easily described as using the internet to access labor and markets that would otherwise be inaccessible. Those whose work or products can be delivered via the internet can access workers and reach customers all over the world.
The success of those who benefit from these two forces of globalization, whether we?re talking about a multinational Fortune 100 company or a small online company using offshore developers and selling a Web service worldwide, is not tied to the well being of any individual nation.
GE can build and sell products in any country, regardless of what happens to the United States. The same applies to Volkswagen and Germany, Shell and the Netherlands, and any other large multinational corporation. These companies will survive no matter what happens to their home countries. Since internet companies are largely served from the cloud and can be run from anywhere there is a serviceable connection, here too we see that Web companies selling to global markets have limited reliance on the health of their respective national economy.
If you?re a member of either of these two groups, the future looks great. You?re a global player, the world is your oyster, and regardless of what happens in your home country, it isn?t likely to have a catastrophic impact on your success.?But therein lies the problem.
Since global players are not beholden to any one nation, they have little incentive to engage in matters of national well being. For example, when Vivek Wadhwa warns us that America is losing its competitive advantage because of anti-immigration brain drain, why would a global player really care? Their factories and development centers are worldwide. If you?re French and your workers go on strike, why bother with them? Fire all the French workers and get new ones in Bangladesh. If you?re a Japanese car company and a tsunami swamps Japan, no matter, there?s plenty of opportunity to sell cars in emerging markets. In the most extreme cases, such as Wall Street, global players can actually profit from national decline through arbitrage and short selling.
As global players disassociate themselves from individual countries, it results in a bifurcated global economy made up of a global class that is able to leverage international labor and markets, and national classes who are more reliant on the well being of their respective nation. Countries are left to compete for relevance in an economic world that has no respect for national borders. In this scenario, nations have two choices both of which lead to their eventual ruin.
The first option is to hold the line on taxes and regulations and watch their global players depart (or obfuscate profits) for countries offering a more favorable environment. The second option is to offer incentives to keep global players within their tax base. However, this ultimately produces a race to the bottom, as nations bend over backwards to the demands of global players who have no reason to be loyal to any individual country. Either way, nations are faced with eventual decline.
The optimistic might point to the decline of nations as a sign that we are moving toward a single borderless planet and a world of plenty. While I don?t disagree that the overall economic pie will increase, I suspect the disassociation of the global class from the health of nations will contribute to greater instability for those unable to directly leverage the benefits of the global economy.
The decline of nations will be replaced by a purely economic world order dominated by multinational corporations and, to a lesser degree, those who have leveraged technology to access the fruits of globalization. In this world, the global class will hardly blink when nations fail, while the national classes, who are more closely tied to their local and national economies, will face greater uncertainty.
[Illustration by Hallie Bateman]
Francisco Dao
Francisco Dao is the founder of?50Kings, a private community for technology and media innovators. He is a former leadership columnist for Inc.com, a lifelong entrepreneur, author and former stand-up comic.?He writes a weekly column every Tuesday for PandoDaily.Source: http://pandodaily.com/2012/12/18/the-decline-of-nations/
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Monday, December 17, 2012
Video: Parents mourn students? ?lost innocence?
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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50215180/
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Twitter Starts Rolling Out Option To Download Your Twitter Archive: Request Every Tweet You?ve Ever Made In One File (Updated)
It looks like Twitter has started rolling out the option to let users download all their tweets -- with some Twitter users reporting they are seeing an option to 'request your archive' appearing in their settings. The option apparently allows users to request a file containing every tweet they've every made. Twitter previously promised to add this option before the end of the year.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/yftws1F-LX4/
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Sunday, December 16, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Fiscal cliff: Obama, Boehner speak frankly
As the battle over the United States' 'fiscal cliff' continues, President Obama and Representative Boehner spoke directly at the White House on Thursday.?
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, left, arrives at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama, in Washington, on Thursday. With time growing short, President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner set face-to-face negotiations for late Thursday.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
EnlargeFace to face with time running short, President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner negotiated at the White House on Thursday night in what aides called "frank" talks aimed at breaking a stubborn deadlock and steering the nation away from an economy-threatening "fiscal?cliff."
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There was no sign of movement, as evidence mounted that the White House was moving away from politically difficult cuts like increasing the Medicare eligibility age. But some Republicans, especially in the Senate, advocated yielding to Obama on tax rates on the wealthy but continuing the battle on other fronts.
An increasing number of Senate Republicans have been pressing to yield on the question of allowing top tax rates to increase on income over $250,000 for couples, while extending Bush-era tax cuts for everyone else. That reflects increasing resignation within the GOP that Obama is going to prevail on the rate issue since the alternative is to allow taxes on all workers to go way up when Bush-era tax cuts expire on Dec. 31.
"I think it's time to end the debate on rates," Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said. "It's exactly what both parties are for. We're for extending the middle-class rates. We can debate the upper-end rates and what they are when we get into tax reform."
"He's got a full house and we're trying to draw an inside straight," Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said. When it was observed that making a straight would still be a losing hand, Isakson said: "Yeah, I know."
No details were released about the Obama-Boehner meeting, though the use of the word "frank" by both sides to describe the talks suggested the president and the speaker stuck hard to their opposing positions.
The meeting came shortly after Obama suggested that the sluggish pace of deficit-cutting talks between the administration and congressional Republicans was a result of a "contentious caucus" of GOP lawmakers who were making it difficult for Boehner to negotiate.
Boehner saw it differently. He said earlier in the day: "Unfortunately, the White House is so unserious about cutting spending that it appears willing to slow-walk any agreement and walk our economy right up to the fiscal?cliff."
Boehner remains caught between a tea party faction and more pragmatic Republicans advising a tactical retreat. He dodged two questions on whether he would consider a legislative minuet that would allow for Obama's proposal on higher tax rates for upper earners to proceed despite GOP opposition to the idea. Such an approach was employed by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., when funding military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan when Democrats controlled Congress but President George W. Bush occupied the White House.
Thursday night's meeting was the two men's second face-to-face encounter in five days as they seek to find an agreement that avoids major tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to kick in in January. Also attending were Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Obama's chief congressional lobbyist, Rob Nabors.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/_OndQr6CAG4/Fiscal-cliff-Obama-Boehner-speak-frankly
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It's Taylor Swift's Birthday! What Should Harry Styles Buy Her?
From chocolates to jewelry, fans give Haylor some gift-giving advice.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Emilee Lindner
Taylor Swift and Harry Styles
Photo: Splash News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698881/taylor-swift-harry-styles-birthday.jhtml
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Senate moves bill covering fertility care for vets
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wounded veterans and their spouses who want to have children could get the government to pay for treatments such as in vitro fertilization under legislation beginning to move through Congress in the waning days of the session.
By voice vote, the Senate passed a bill Thursday to update the Veterans Affairs Department's medical coverage for one of the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: trauma to a soldier's reproductive organs.
Nearly 2,000 service members suffered such wounds between 2003 and 2011. But when wounded veterans went to the VA for medical help in starting a family, they were told the VA doesn't provide that kind of care.
A similar bill is pending in the House. Supporters said the Senate's action increases its chances of becoming law before Congress adjourns.
The chief sponsor, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she has heard from veterans whose marriages have dissolved because of the stress of infertility, in combination with the stresses of readjusting to civilian life after severe injury.
"Any service member who sustains this type of serious injury deserves so much more," she said.
With both chambers deadlocked on budget issues, even Murray was surprised the bill didn't raise a single objection in the Senate. Any objection would have quashed it for the year.
As Murray spoke, Tracy Keil of Parker, Colo., watched from the gallery. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Matt Keil, was paralyzed from the chest down after he was shot in the neck in Iraq. The Keils were able to afford the nearly $32,000 it cost for in vitro fertilization and now have 2-year-old twins, Matthew and Faith. But knowing that many families cannot afford that on their own, the Keils have been lobbying Congress to expand the VA's coverage.
"It made us feel like we were back on track, that our marriage was where we wanted it to be and that our family was where we wanted it to be," she said of having children. "Even though we had the injury disrupt the timeline of our expectations, it's everything we've always dreamed of and it makes Matt feel whole again."
"We wake up to the joys of our kids every day and I can't picture my life without them now," Matt Keil added in a telephone interview.
The legislation is estimated to cost $568 million over five years, to be covered through savings from scaling down military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Rep. Jeff Miller, the Republican chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, said he's anxious to pass the bill this Congress, but he has concerns that the legislation would take money away from troops still fighting in Afghanistan to pay for the new benefit, .
Matt McAlvanah, a spokesman for Murray, said any notion that the funding for fertility treatments would impact troops in the field is false.
Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., is spearheading efforts in the House to get the legislation passed.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-moves-bill-covering-fertility-142322708.html
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Friday, December 14, 2012
Tadpoles sent to help restore toad species
Thousands of tadpoles are on a journey from Cleveland to Puerto Rico as part of an effort to save their critically endangered species.
The traveling tadpoles are Puerto Rican crested toads, and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is part of the Species Survival Plan that works to breed the toads and release them back to the wild. The plan is managed by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
"The Puerto Rican crested toad Species Survival Plan has been very successful," said Lynn Koscielny, the associate curator of animals at the zoo. "Field researchers in Puerto Rico have observed toads with transponders that were released into the wild returning to the protected ponds to reproduce."
The Puerto Rican crested toad is the only native toad on the island and it is threatened by habitat loss and competition from alien invasive species that have been introduced to the island, such as the cane toad.
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Science news from NBCNews.com
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Ancient copy of Ten Commandments goes digital
The Cambridge Digital Library has just made available thousands of pages from fragile religious manuscripts for Internet users' perusal, including a 2,000-year-old copy of the Ten Commandments, known as the "Nash Papyrus."
- Solving a 100-year-old scientific hoax
- Alan Alda and kids ask: 'What is time?'
- First cheesemakers date back 7,500 years
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Ancient copy of Ten Commandments goes digital
The zoo already sent a group of toads to Puerto Rico in 2010, according to a zoo release, but the current group of 4,500 tadpoles is much larger.
The tadpoles will be sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Caribbean Refuge in San Juan and then taken to one of three potential release sites along the southern coast of Puerto Rico, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States.
The zoo has to breed the toads under conditions that mimic those they would have in their native environment.
"This involves cooling the toads down to 66 degrees (Fahrenheit ?19 degrees Celsius) and then placing them in a rain chamber tank that simulates the rainy season in the toads' native Puerto Rico," the release said. "A sound recording of the male crested toad?s mating call adds to the simulated environment."
Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
? 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50200907/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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