The latest numbers in the battle for smartphone supremacy show that Apple?s share of the pie has increased in the U.S., but it is still being out-paced by Android-making rivals.
According to market analysis firm comScore, South Korean-based Samsung remains the top OEM (original equipment manufacturer) in the U.S. smartphone market, with 25.6 percent of all smartphone subscribers. Coming in at No. 4 is Apple with its iPhone, with 11.2 percent of subscribers, as TechCrunch reports. Samsung took the crown of worldwide top smartphone OEM by revenue in the third quarter of 2011, and has held the position ever since.
While Apple remains second place to Samsung in the U.S., there are some telling caveats to comScore?s numbers. For one, Samsung?s share of the market in the three months ending in November 2011 was only 0.3 percentage points. Meanwhile, Apple increased its chunk of the U.S. market by a decent margin by comparison, going from 9.8 percent to 11.2 percent. It?s not a massive increase, but it is notable.
ComScore?s numbers also notably leave out the holiday season, which has been a substantial one for both Apple?s iOS platform and for Google?s Android operating system. Flurry Analytics noted that on Christmas Day alone, 6.8 million new mobile devices were activated on both platforms, and Google?s Andy Rubin announced on Twitter that over the Christmas weekend, 3.7 million Android devices were activated. We don?t know just how many devices Apple activated (or how many of those were iPhones), so it?s too early to be sure if the holidays will have an effect on the market share slider, but it?s definitely possible.
Coming in with the No. 2 smartphone OEM slot was LG, which lost 0.5 percentage points of market share to fall from 21 percent of subscribers to 20.5. After that was Motorola with 13.7 percent of subscribers. It fell 0.3 percentage points from August, when it held 14 percent.
Obviously, the Android mobile operating system continues to reign supreme in the U.S., with Google?s mobile platform taking 47 percent of the mobile market, but both Android and iOS increased their dominance of the mobile operating system market at the expense of rivals. Android increased to 46.9 percent of mobile devices, from 43.8 percent in August, while iOS rose from 27.3 percent to 28.7 percent. Meanwhile, every other player in the mobile operating system game losing ground. Blackberry maker, No. 3 Research In Motion, saw its share drop from 19.7 percent in August to 16.6 percent in November; Microsoft?s Windows Phone fell from 5.7 percent to 5.2 percent; and Nokia?s slowly dying Symbian went from 1.8 percent to 1.5 percent.
Apple saw some growth in the last few months, and that?s mostly without the aid of the holidays or the iPhone 4S. When numbers roll around for the final quarter of 2011, they might show a clearer picture of what gains Apple is making with its popular devices, but it doesn?t seem like it?ll be able to take down its biggest rivals anytime soon, regardless.
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) ? Argentina enacted a law on Wednesday providing a wide definition of terrorism that critics fear will allow the state to jail people for up to 15 years for activities as diverse as marching in protests or pulling money out of banks.
The law, approved by Congress last week, seeks to punish anyone who "terrorizes" the population, leaving the definition of the term open.
The government of recently re-elected President Cristina Fernandez says the measure is needed to meet anti-money-laundering standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force, a multinational policy-making body.
Argentine anti-money-laundering chief Jose Sbatella said recently the measure sought to prevent "any group of economically powerful people from working in concert to wipe out the country's reserves or from terrorizing the population in a way that it induces them to withdraw all their deposits."
Legal experts in Argentina says the law's language leaves the definition of terrorism so open that local courts are sure to strike it down.
"The problem is in the ambiguity," constitutional lawyer Felix Lon told Reuters.
"It could refer to social protests or a headline published by a newspaper," he added. "A run on the banks could be considered terrorism."
Earlier this year, the government slapped controls on foreign currency purchases, widely seen as an effort to stem capital outflows.
Analysts criticized the measure as counter-productive, since it made many depositors nervous and thus more likely to seek safety in U.S. dollars.
In another policy widely criticized as heavy-handed, economists who publish inflation data at odds with the government's widely discredited monthly consumer price figures are fined by the Fernandez administration.
The president won re-election in October, promising to deepen the unorthodox policies that have made her popular among recipients of generous welfare spending. But business leaders complain about state intervention in the economy.
(Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Peter Cooney)
The Northwestern Wildcats have waited nearly 63 years to break their bowl drought. They will likely have to wait a little bit longer.
As inspiring as their late-season climb was, they were dealt a tough card with this Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas matchup with Texas A&M. Not that NU's susceptible defense would have fared much better against Houston's red-hot offense in the TicketCity Bowl, but the Cats could be in for a very tough time against a talented Aggies attack.
Just like NU supposedly didn't finish 6-6, Texas A&M could have finished with a far better record than 6-6. Five of its losses were by a touchdown or less, and five of its losses came against ranked teams. While NU was losing to teams like Army and Illinois, Texas A&M was losing to slightly more impressive teams like Arkansas and Oklahoma State. The point is the Aggies are an intimidating team, a far better one than their record suggests.
Texas A&M's Achilles' heel isn't necessarily on the field. The Aggies fired coach Mike Sherman following their loss to the Longhorns. They subsequently hired Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, a truly great grab; the only problem is he doesn't start until next year. The Aggies are now in the awkward position of having defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter at the helm for just one game: the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. While hiring Sumlin may have been a great move for the future, the distractions can't help as the Aggies prepare for their bowl game. Sherman was apparently well liked in the clubhouse, and now his team must prepare for its crowning game without him.
Yet, as important as coaching stability is, what I'm worried about is NU's stability on the field. With senior cornerback Jordan Mabin out with a shoulder injury, the Cats will have to rely on Jeravin Matthews and Daniel Jones to keep one of the most talented passing offenses in the country in line. That's right, they will rely on a special teams player who was frequently picked on by opposing defenses and a redshirt freshman making only his second start to keep heavyweights like Ryan Tannehill and Ryan Swopes off the scoreboard. Tannehill finished the 2011 season with 3,415 passing yards and 28 touchdowns through the air, while Swopes piled on 1,102 receiving yards. Six-foot, four-inch wide receiver Jeff Fuller added 709 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions. Presumably, safety Brian Peters, at six-foot, four-inches himself, could match up with Fuller, but then who matches up with Swopes? And let's not forget that Peters' companion across the playing field, Ibraheim Campbell, struggled for much of the season. As good as he's looked in recent games, he cannot necessarily be trusted to hold a player like Swopes down. Campbell may have made the All-Big Ten freshman team according to Yahoo! Sports, but that doesn't necessarily make him an All-Big Ten quality safety.
No doubt NU will be able to score. The question is whether the Cats will be able to stop the Aggies. If the game turns into a shootout, the advantage has to go to Texas A&M. NU hasn't had much luck in offensive shootouts this season, dropping high-scoring games to Michigan and Iowa. Five of the Cats' six wins came when they held their opponents to 25 points or less. The one offensive shootout they won in 2011 was a 59-38 win over the Hoosiers, and we can all agree that Texas A&M is far better than an Indiana squad that finished 1-11. And if it were to turn into a close game, my money is on Randy Bullock to knock home the game-winning field goal. He won the Lou Groza Award as the best kicker in the country so he's certainly capable of winning a game against Northwestern.
It's sad to say, but if my instincts are correct, the Wildcats will begin 2012 in much the same way they've began every season for the past several decades: trying to break their endless bowl drought. And they'll no longer have Dan Persa to make it rain.
This article is the 13th of our 15-part Road to Meineke series. We will be posting an article every night, except for Christmas Eve and Christmas, to help prepare you for Northwestern's matchup with Texas A&M in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. Join us again Thursday night as football beat writer Josh Walfish argues the Wildcats' case in Saturday's matchup.
Infrared light is not heat. I don't know where people got this idea. It is light. When it is absorbed, it may cause certain molecules to gain heat energy, but it is still light. This is a device which absorbs or scatters when you shine light on one side of it, and transmits when you shine light on the other side of it. I assume when heat energy is generated within the device, it diffuses isotropically from the point of matter-light interaction throughout the material until a definite temperature is reached, as thermodynamics predicts. If you believe that materials with different absorption cross sections at different spatial orientations allow you to violate the second law of thermodynamics, then you hardly need to construct something so elaborate: a board painted two different colors on either side should suffice. Lasers themselves, whose cavities emit a lot more in one direction than in the other (and which generate a good deal of heat in their lasing medium in a largely homogeneous fashion, but let's not get bogged down in reality) should constitute a huge violation. You should let everyone in the physics community know, as this seems like a fairly large oversight in our model of reality/sarcasm
If you're going to go around with a name like physburn, please ensure you understand what you're talking about
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ? The new commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison is seeking to impose significant changes to communications allowed between lawyers and prisoners facing war- crimes charges at the U.S. base in Cuba, The Associated Press has learned.
The proposed changes, contained in a 27-page draft order, have sparked a backlash from the Pentagon-appointed attorneys representing the five Guantanamo prisoners charged in the Sept. 11 attacks. They say the new rules would violate attorney-client privilege and legal ethics and deprive the prisoners of their constitutional right to counsel.
The order is still in draft form and has not yet been signed by the commander, a detention center spokeswoman, Navy Cmdr. Tamsen Reese, said Tuesday. She said the commander was not immediately available for an interview.
Lawyers for the Sept. 11 prisoners received the draft order from the commander, Navy rear Adm. David Woods, on Dec. 22 and were told to sign an agreement to abide by the rules within 48 hours.
Instead, they sent a written response contending that requiring them to abide by such rules in order to see their clients was illegal.
"This requirement, as a precursor to engaging in client communications, interferes with the attorney-client relationship, compels counsel to violate ethical obligations, and therefore renders it impossible for counsel to effectively represent our clients," they wrote, appealing for more time to review the proposed order.
The memo was signed by at least one member of each legal team representing the five prisoners, according to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the document had not been publicly released.
The five prisoners accused of helping to organize the Sept. 11 case are expected to be arraigned at the base in 2012 in what would be the most high-profile U.S. war crimes tribunal since the World War II era. The five, including the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are facing charges that include murder and could be sentenced to death if convicted.
The Sept. 11 trial has been delayed for years by legal challenges and a dispute between members of Congress and the White House over whether it should be held in a civilian court on the U.S. mainland or in a tribunal at Guantanamo. A dispute over communications rules between prisoners and their lawyers could add another delay.
The most significant disagreement is over the handling of legal communications, which are typically sent by courier from the defense lawyers, who are based in the Washington area, and the prisoners at the base on the southeastern corner of Cuba.
Under the new rules, a "privilege team," which would include Department of Defense and law enforcement officials, would conduct a security review of all communications to the prisoners, according to the memo. The lawyers say such a review is unnecessary, since they all have security clearances and know not to release classified information, and also overly intrusive.
They say it would be impossible for Woods to ensure that these officials do not share this information with the prosecution or others because the members of the team wouldn't be under his command.
The chief defense counsel of the military tribunals, Marine Corps. Col. Jeffrey Colwell, said he shares the concerns of the attorneys in the Sept. 11 case. He also objects to a provision in the new rules that would allow detainees to receive only letters from their lawyers and not any supporting documents such as legal motions or articles about their case.
"The government's interpretation is very restrictive," Colwell said.
Woods can change the rules because he has authority over the detention center, where the U.S. now holds 171 prisoners. The government has said that 30-60 of the prisoners could be charged before military tribunals and the new rules would only cover communications between those prisoners and their lawyers. A separate set of rules covers the rest.
Woods has not said publicly why he has proposed the new rules. In his draft order, he says the new rules he has proposed are motivated by his responsibility for "maintaining safety and security, as well as good order and discipline," at the prison.
This is not the first attempt by Woods, who took command Aug. 24, to tighten security at the prison.
In October, the admiral ordered a search of prisoner's cells and the plastic bins where they are allowed to keep personal papers such as mail from their lawyers or family mail sent to them through the Red Cross.
Navy Cmdr. Thomas Welsh, the senior legal official at the detention center, testified at a hearing in November that the inspections were intended to make sure prisoners did not improperly mix personal and legal mail, which are supposed to be kept in separate bins, and to make sure they didn't have any "incendiary" magazines or material that could pose a security threat.
The defense team for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the Guantanamo prisoner charged with orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, faced a similar set of restrictions in November. A lawyer for al-Nashiri said they would also violate the attorney-client privilege and asked the military judge in that case to intervene. The judge directed prison staff to not read attorney letters to clients, but came before last week's broader order from Woods.
There is no judge yet in the Sept. 11 case and so those attorneys cannot yet ask a court to intervene.
Rick Kammen, a civilian attorney for al-Nashiri, said that his defense team also has concerns about the proposed new rules but has not yet decided how to respond. He said the new changes underscore the argument among many that the cases should be tried in the established civilian federal courts rather than military tribunals, where the rules have evolved in recent years.
"The rules keep changing. The landscape keeps changing daily," Kammen said.
SANTIAGO, Chile ? Chile's Supreme Court has ordered a newspaper to pay $125,000 to 13 people who suffered burns while trying out a published recipe for churros, a popular Latin American snack of dough fried in hot oil.
The publisher of La Tercera must pay individual damages to 11 women and two men ranging from as little as $279 to $48,000 for one woman whose burns were particularly severe.
The high court's ruling was announced Monday, seven years after the readers burned themselves while trying out the recipe.
Judges determined that the newspaper failed to fully test it before publication, and that if readers followed the recipe exactly, the churros had a good chance of exploding once the oil reached the suggested temperature. Grupo Copesa, which publishes the paper, said it will abide by the ruling.
Days after the recipe was published in the paper's "Woman" magazine in 2004, hospitals around the country began treating women for burns suffered when the dough boiling in oil suddenly shot out of kitchen pots.
[brightcove video="1347944471001 " /] Reddit user SelfProdigy has declared Dec. 29 Dump GoDaddy Day, following the domain registrar's short-lived public support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Although GoDaddy has announced that it no longer supports SOPA, the site is still facing the backlash from its initial position.
[More from Mashable: iTunes 12 Days of Christmas App Offers Free iPad Downloads [VIDEO]]
SEE ALSO: Stop Online Piracy Act: What You Need to Know [INFOGRAPHIC]
Despite the public reversal in a press release, Dump GoDaddy Day is quickly spreading among the Reddit community.
[More from Mashable: TwitWipe Gives You a Fresh Start by Deleting All Your Tweets [VIDEO]]
The domain registrar reportedly lost 20,000 accounts in a single day following the SOPA outcry, but only time will tell how many accounts they will lose.
Few people like being asked to take on extra tasks at work. But one L.A. weatherman used his live TV platform to complain about the request and then storm off the set.
Video featuring KTLA?meteorologist Henry DiCarlo angrily reacting on Dec. 22's newscast has become a viral hit. In the clip, which we found at Deadline.com, DiCarlo begins by conducting an?interview about the?Toys for Tots?program at L.A.'s Union Station. (The interview is cut out of the clip.)
Then he's apparently told via his earpiece that there's no longer time for him to give the weather report, and the viewers heard this live: "I?m in the communications business, and it seems like there?s so little communication," he says.?"When you send a weatherman out to do the weather but you?re also sending him to do a story, you might want to give him a little extra time. But that?s just me. Anyway. Sorry we don?t have time for weather, folks, I?m just doing what I?m told, and that was to do an interview, so I?ll tell you what. We?ll have somebody else handle weather. We?ll send it back to you in the studio.? Then he's briefly seen walking out of the shot.
Anchors back in the studio react in true "Oh no he di'int!" form, with?anchor Chris?Schauble?saying "Did Henry DiCarlo just have a fit on live TV?" and following it up with "Maybe we'll give him a little cheese to go with that whine out there."
The L.A. Times later followed up on the incident, noting that DiCarlo apologized the next morning on the station's newscast."It doesn't matter what the circumstances were ? it wasn't a pretty sight for me to act like that, and I get that," DiCarlo said. "But personally, you guys have seen much worse from me, so I didn't think I was that bad."
The newscast also let Roxanne, the producer who was speaking to DiCarlo through his earpiece, have her say. "He was supposed to do the weather first, then ... he was supposed to get into the segment," she said.?"I might have been yelling a little loud in his ear to get to the weather."
Both DiCarlo and the producer laughed about the incident. "Just for the record, I love Roxanne, I love everybody on the morning show,"?the meteorologist?said. DiCarlo went on to joke that he hadn't had breakfast or enough coffee.
Comments on the L.A. Times post were split between support for DiCarlo ("Who hasn't wanted to say things like that when they feel rushed by a boss?") and those mocking him ("Prima donna weatherman is kind of an oxymoron.")
Business Insider pointed out another awkward clip featuring DiCarlo the next day. The station has a running joke about an intern, Irene, bringing coffee to the anchors, but DiCarlo asked her for a neck massage on-air?as well.
Also, it's Los Angeles. The rest of the nation can give you their weather forecast without any meteorological training whatsoever. Nicer than what the rest of us are putting up with.
HowardForums is a discussion board dedicated to mobile phones with over 1,000,000 members and growing!
For your convenience HowardForums is divided into 7 main sections; marketplace, phone manufacturers, carriers, smartphones/PDAs, general phone discussion, buy sell trade and general discussions. Just scroll down to see them!
Only registered members may post questions, contact other members or search our database of over 8 million posts. Why don't you join us today!
If you have time check out our sister site: Niknon.com - a forum about Digital Photography.
This easy-to-use module allows you to report back your Virtuemart transactions to Google Analytics!
Module features:
- tracking of the pages of the ordering process (from cart to checkout goal page)
- selection of arbitrary page names for the setup of Google Analytics Goals and Funnels
- automatic handling of all checkout goal pages provided by Virtuemart
- handling of any number of individual checkout goal pages of other payment modules
- tracking of your orders for Google Analytics E-Commerce
- tracking of products (incl. child products)
- tracking of user IDs
- advanced parameters for distinguisthing between up to 5 checkout goal pages at Google Analytics
- tracking of all (non-Virtuemart) pages of your site
- report of anonymized ip adresses of your visitors (optional)
- asynchronous data transfer (recommended by Google)
Supported languages: german, english
System requirements: Joomla! 1.5, Virtuemart 1.1
The Twitterverse has reached out to those spending today alone by creating an online community using the hashtag #xmasathome, aimed at connecting people for whom Christmas can be tough.
The idea came out of a Twitter discussion on Thursday night, after a woman who had been trying to conceive for years tweeted that she found Christmas very difficult because it was a time for family and children.
Monash University sociologist and prolific tweeter Samantha Thomas said this led to a discussion about how Christmas was a lonely time for many people.
"More and more people joined in talking about their experiences ? one lady talked about about having to adopt out her child shortly before Christmas and how difficult that time was for her every year," Dr Thomas said.
"It was surprising how many young people were spending Christmas by themselves ? I guess you think most people who are alone at Christmas are elderly."
The discussion between Dr Thomas, Melbourne communications consultant Stephanie Philbrick, and a prolific tweeter known only as @prestontowers, led to the idea of linking people through the hashtag xmasathome.
Mr Towers had created the hashtag at #nyeathome the previous year, after finding himself in Melbourne on New Year's Eve without a party invitation.
"I remembered vividly the acute pain of being alone at NYE as a young, socially awkward adult who hadn't been invited to any parties and watching a Pee Wee Herman movie," @prestontowers wrote on his blog.
"So, I had an idea and an iPad and thought of tweeting what we were up to, what we were drinking, what we were watching ... Basically it turned into a giant NYE party without the troubles inherent with getting places and getting home whilst drunk."
Within hours of Thursday night's brainstorm, #xmasathome was trending in Australia and the UK.
"I was in tears on Thursday night when it took off on Twitter, I was so moved and touched," Ms Philbrick said. "On Twitter, no one is ever alone."
Tweets posted on #xmasathome include everything from links to a homesick Kermit singing A Christmas Wish with John Denver, bad jokes and a tip for those experiencing holiday blues from Bob Dylan.
"We even have seen a number of people through #xmasathome saying we have a spare seat at the table, anyone who is alone can come to our house," Dr Thomas said.
"One of the things we are always told about is how the internet is breaking down social ties and connectivity, but we are actually seeing how positive it can be."
So from all of us working on Christmas day @theage, merry Christmas to those celebrating #xmasathome.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA has reduced suspensions for the Lakers' Andrew Bynum and the Pistons' Charlie Villanueva by one game because of the shortened season.
The league on Friday trimmed one game off the five-game ban Bynum was given for knocking the Mavericks' J.J. Barea to the court in the second round of last season's playoffs. The center will now miss the first four games and be eligible to return Dec. 31 against Denver.
Villanueva was originally suspended five games for instigating an altercation with Cleveland's Ryan Hollins and attempting to escalate it by entering the Cavaliers' locker room. He served a game of it last season and will have to miss the first three of this season, and is also eligible to play to New Year's Eve against Indiana.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
With a practice scheduled for this morning in preparation for Thursday's Champs Sports Bowl, Florida State's football players and coaches didn't have the luxury of spending Christmas at home with family and friends.
Well, most of them didn't.
A handful of Florida State players from Central Florida admitted they were ecstatic when they learned they would be spending the holidays in Orlando.
Junior linebacker Vince Williams, who grew up in nearby Davenport, said the only better destination would have been a BCS bowl. But once that was out of the question, Williams said he started rooting openly for the Champs ? even when the more prestigious Chick-fil-A Bowl was still in play.
If Virginia Tech had defeated Clemson in the ACC Championship game, there was a chance FSU could have been sent to Atlanta for the second consecutive year.
"I was like, 'Man, I hope Clemson kills Virginia Tech. I do not want to be in Atlanta,'?" Williams said, laughing. "It's cold up there."
Of course, the Chick-fil-A Bowl is played indoors at the Georgia Dome, but Williams had bad memories of practicing in the elements.
"I'm like, 'I want to go home and see my family and play in this warm weather,'?" Williams said. "When we were in Atlanta last year, it was snowing at practice. I'm a Florida boy. I don't even like snow. I was like, 'I don't want to do that no more.' It's like Miami or bust, now."
Williams got his wish, of course. Clemson beat Virginia Tech, and the Seminoles got shipped to Orlando, where the temperatures will be in the 70s this week.
Florida State's players reported to the Orlando Hilton for a team meeting Saturday, and they will practice today, Monday and Tuesday to simulate their normal Tuesday-through-Thursday game preparation.
Because Orlando is centrally located for most of Florida State's players, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher allowed them to make their own travel arrangements.
"We've got so many guys (from Florida), it's easier," Fisher said. "If we were (in a bowl game) farther off, I like going as a team."
That suited many of the Seminoles, such as Tampa's Christian Green, just fine.
"That's definitely good ? spend time with some of my family and stuff like that," said Green, a redshirt freshman receiver. "And some of my family will be able to come to the game. That's always good, to be close to home."
A meeting of like minds at the Combined Logistics Networks annual meeting in Bangkok from May 25-30, 2010, aims to be a good start to rebounding quickly from the impacts of the Global Financial Crisis.
Please kindly subscribe as gctl8.com member for ONLY US$120 per year. You can enjoy :
SPECIAL 10% DISCOUNT ON ALL ADVERTISEMENTS AT GCTL8.COM & INSIGHTS MAGAZINE (Please quote your subscriber's name when placing an Advertisement to obtain the discount)
FULL ACCESS TO: Our archives daily news articles
Special Report articles (articles prepared in run-up to launch of Insights Magazine)
Back issues of Insights Magazine (as only two months current issues are FREE for a one month period from date of publication)
Contact details of Cargo Leads/Agencies wanted etc
Details of job applicants at Classified Ads etc
Monthly container throughput figures at Hong Kong port
Monthly air cargo throughput figures at Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals, Asia Airfreight Terminals and Shanghai Pudong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd
New Jersey Nets' Brook Lopez (11) tries to pass around New York Knicks' Josh Harrellson (55) during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, in New York. The Knicks won 88-82. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
New Jersey Nets' Brook Lopez (11) tries to pass around New York Knicks' Josh Harrellson (55) during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, in New York. The Knicks won 88-82. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
New York Knicks' Iman Shumpert (21) goes for a layup around New Jersey Nets' Brook Lopez (11) during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) ? With the prospect of a trade for Dwight Howard fading and the season opener less than a week away, New Jersey Nets coach Avery Johnson was getting a feel for his team.
That all changed Thursday when center Brook Lopez broke his right foot, an injury that left Johnson shaking his head and considering his options.
Lopez, the Nets' leading scorer, had surgery Friday for a nondisplaced fracture. He was hurt in a preseason game against the Knicks on Wednesday and will be sidelined at least six weeks and probably more.
In the meantime, general manager Billy King acquired former All-Star center Mehmet Okur from Utah for a second-round draft pick, signed free agent guard DeShawn Stevenson and waived forward Ime Udoka.
With the additions of Okur and Stevenson, the Nets have hit the salary cap, so their revamped team is set.
It has one star, point guard Deron Williams, and a lot of new faces ? Okur, Stevenson, free agent forwards Shawne Williams and Sheldon Williams, rookies Marshon Brooks and forward Jordan Williams and holdovers Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Damion James and Kris Humphries.
"Every day is a new day I tell our players," Johnson said Friday. "When you get up in the morning you think about being a difference maker. You think about positive energy. Everybody is undefeated now."
The Nets (24-58) probably aren't going to stay that way long. They open on Monday at Washington and play 10 of their first 14 games on the road. The home opener is Tuesday against Atlanta.
"There is no surrender in how we react as coaches, how we approach practice," Johnson said. "It's not necessarily the situation we diagrammed going in, so we adjust. So if plan A doesn't work, you have to go to plan B and C and that's what we are doing."
The big question is Okur, who is to practice with the team Saturday.
"We needed another guy to fill in, but he's just not filling in," Johnson said. "He's a veteran player. He's had a solid career so far. He knows how to play and how to pass. He's still shooting the ball pretty good."
Okur played in 13 games last season while recovering from Achilles and back injuries. The 32-year-old Turk has averaged 13.7 points and 7.1 rebounds in 617 career games with Detroit and Utah.
Deron Williams played with Okur in Utah, and the two spoke Thursday.
"He was shocked a little bit at first, probably my reaction, but he's warming up to it and excited coming over, excited to play with me again," Deron Williams said. "I'll try to make the transition as easy as possible."
Deron Williams said the Nets would not have to revamp their offense because Lopez played more on the outside than in the paint.
"It's our team," Deron Williams said. "Whether I am comfortable or not, it's our team. We've got good guys, guys who know how to play basketball and make plays. That's all we need as long as our defense is locked in. Guys can hit shots, hit big shots, and I think we do. I like we added DeShawne. He can hit shots but he also brings that toughness and can guard people."
Johnson also is comfortable with his team, for now.
"I know they will play hard," Johnson said. "When you have a team with Deron Williams as the point guard he will do a good job of quarterbacking the team."
King expects Lopez to play in a game in six to eight weeks.
Dr. Martin O'Malley, a foot specialist, and team orthopedist Dr. Riley Williams III inserted a screw into the fifth metatarsal of Lopez's foot at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. O'Malley said rehabilitation will start in two weeks.
Lopez averaged 20.4 points and 6.0 rebounds in 82 games last season.
"We go to him a lot late in games and stuff," Humphries said. "We won't have that. We'll probably have to play at a little different pace and be sharper with the shooting and be more up and down and precise in executing on the break. Depending on who plays his minutes, we'll be more of an up-tempo team."
Stevenson averaged 5.3 points and 1.2 assists in helping the Mavericks win their first title last season. He was used mostly in a defensive role and can score more if needed.
"It probably will be tough coming from the team where I came from, but at the same time it's a challenge," Stevenson said after his first practice with the Nets. "We were challenged to win a championship and this is a different type of challenge."
POSTED: 4:56 pm EST December 23, 2011 UPDATED: 5:00 pm EST December 23, 2011
Pro Golfer Donates $10,000 To Boy With Cancer
?
Professional golfer Robert Allenby donates $10,000 to a 10-year-old boy battling pancreatic cancer.
Comments The views expressed are not those of WPBF.com, WPBF or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our Terms of Use.
Reclaiming the land after a forest firePublic release date: 22-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: George Hunka ghunka@aftau.org 212-742-9070 American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University researchers use organic polymer to protect scorched soil from erosion
Wildfires cause tragic losses to life, property, and the environment. But even after the fire rages, the damage is far from done. Without vegetation, bare, burnt soil lies vulnerable to erosion, which can impede efforts towards natural forest regeneration.
Now Assaf Inbar, a graduate student at Tel Aviv University's Porter School of Environmental Studies, together with his supervisors Prof. Marcelo Sternberg of the Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants, Dr.Meni Ben-Hur of the Volcani Center and Dr. Marcos Lado of the University of La Corua, Spain, have studied a new soil protection procedure that may significantly reduce erosion in areas ravaged by forest fires. Working with an organic polymer originally used in agriculture, Inbar and his supervisors have tested their method in the lab and also in Birya forest in Israel, large parts of which have been burnt by fire.
Protecting the soil from erosion, says Inbar, is vital for the quick restoration of the vegetation. And this method can be cheaper than current solutions, such as creating log barriers or mulching, a process in which the ground is covered with woody chips or straw.
The research was presented at the Israel Society of Ecology & Environmental Sciences Annual Conference in 2010 and at a COSTEuropean Cooperation in Science and Technology Conference in 2009.
Holding on to the soil
Following a wildfire, soil often erodes because vegetation is burnt and the soil remains bare. Deprived of the protection from the elements that vegetation provides, soil can't absorb intense rains, causing run-off. "If water cannot penetrate the soil, it flows on top taking the soil with it," says Inbar. The danger is especially great in forests with steep slopes and shallow soil. Once significant amounts of soil wash away, it is difficult to reforest the area.
The researchers turned to the anionic polymer Polyacrylamide (PAM), widely used in agriculture to prevent soil erosion. They tested the polymer on samples of burnt soils both in the lab, using a rainfall simulator, and out in the field under natural rainfall, using run-off plots in an area of Birya Forest that had been exposed to a moderate wildfire. The run-off plots were placed on a 40-degree slope and outfitted with a funnel at the bottom to collect run-off and sediments, measured after every rainstorm.
In both simulated and natural rainstorms, the burnt soils remained much more stable with the addition of the PAM than without, reports Inbar. With the addition of the polymer, applied in granules of about 110 pounds every 2.5 acres, soil erosion was reduced by 50 percent.
Helping the forest to bloom again
At just under $1.50 dollars per pound, PAM granules can be an affordable alternative to mulching, which sometimes requires application by helicopter, and to log barriers, which requires the effort of many workers and heavy machinery. What's more, the non-toxic PAM is safe for existing vegetation.
The researchers have tested the soil's ability to nurture vegetation with the addition of the polymer, and saw encouraging results. They used wheat as a model for annual plants that sprout during the rainy season in areas that had been affected by fire. The polymer had no negative impact on the growth of the wheat, concludes Inbar, who says the researchers' next step is to test different soils, the interaction between the polymer and ash, and the effectiveness of this treatment in larger areas.
###
American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Reclaiming the land after a forest firePublic release date: 22-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: George Hunka ghunka@aftau.org 212-742-9070 American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University researchers use organic polymer to protect scorched soil from erosion
Wildfires cause tragic losses to life, property, and the environment. But even after the fire rages, the damage is far from done. Without vegetation, bare, burnt soil lies vulnerable to erosion, which can impede efforts towards natural forest regeneration.
Now Assaf Inbar, a graduate student at Tel Aviv University's Porter School of Environmental Studies, together with his supervisors Prof. Marcelo Sternberg of the Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants, Dr.Meni Ben-Hur of the Volcani Center and Dr. Marcos Lado of the University of La Corua, Spain, have studied a new soil protection procedure that may significantly reduce erosion in areas ravaged by forest fires. Working with an organic polymer originally used in agriculture, Inbar and his supervisors have tested their method in the lab and also in Birya forest in Israel, large parts of which have been burnt by fire.
Protecting the soil from erosion, says Inbar, is vital for the quick restoration of the vegetation. And this method can be cheaper than current solutions, such as creating log barriers or mulching, a process in which the ground is covered with woody chips or straw.
The research was presented at the Israel Society of Ecology & Environmental Sciences Annual Conference in 2010 and at a COSTEuropean Cooperation in Science and Technology Conference in 2009.
Holding on to the soil
Following a wildfire, soil often erodes because vegetation is burnt and the soil remains bare. Deprived of the protection from the elements that vegetation provides, soil can't absorb intense rains, causing run-off. "If water cannot penetrate the soil, it flows on top taking the soil with it," says Inbar. The danger is especially great in forests with steep slopes and shallow soil. Once significant amounts of soil wash away, it is difficult to reforest the area.
The researchers turned to the anionic polymer Polyacrylamide (PAM), widely used in agriculture to prevent soil erosion. They tested the polymer on samples of burnt soils both in the lab, using a rainfall simulator, and out in the field under natural rainfall, using run-off plots in an area of Birya Forest that had been exposed to a moderate wildfire. The run-off plots were placed on a 40-degree slope and outfitted with a funnel at the bottom to collect run-off and sediments, measured after every rainstorm.
In both simulated and natural rainstorms, the burnt soils remained much more stable with the addition of the PAM than without, reports Inbar. With the addition of the polymer, applied in granules of about 110 pounds every 2.5 acres, soil erosion was reduced by 50 percent.
Helping the forest to bloom again
At just under $1.50 dollars per pound, PAM granules can be an affordable alternative to mulching, which sometimes requires application by helicopter, and to log barriers, which requires the effort of many workers and heavy machinery. What's more, the non-toxic PAM is safe for existing vegetation.
The researchers have tested the soil's ability to nurture vegetation with the addition of the polymer, and saw encouraging results. They used wheat as a model for annual plants that sprout during the rainy season in areas that had been affected by fire. The polymer had no negative impact on the growth of the wheat, concludes Inbar, who says the researchers' next step is to test different soils, the interaction between the polymer and ash, and the effectiveness of this treatment in larger areas.
###
American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
BUDAPEST (Reuters) ? A Hungarian software company unveiled what it said was the world's first bronze statue of Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs on Wednesday, calling him one of the greatest personalities of the modern age.
Jobs died on October 5 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56.
The bronze work by sculptor Erno Toth stands in the Budapest campus of architectural software maker Graphisoft.
"He was one of the greatest (personalities) in our era, that's what we wanted to express with this sculpture here," Graphisoft Chairman Gabor Bojar told Reuters.
Bojar said Jobs gave cash and computers to Graphisoft, helping it to become a global leader in architecture software from humble roots as a tiny firm in the 1980s in then-communist Hungary.
"In some ways, Apple was a religion," Bojar said at the unveiling ceremony, comparing the experts from Cupertino-based Apple who helped educate Graphisoft's engineers to evangelists.
Steve Jobs represented a technological revolution which can be compared only to the discovery of writing, Bojar said.
"We have felt his spirit every day and now it is embodied," he said. "We hope that we can deserve with our entrepreneurial culture in Hungary what this sculpture expresses as a message."
(Reporting by Sandor Peto, editing by Paul Casciato)
LONDON (Reuters) ? Women with breast implants made by a now defunct French company have no reason to have them removed but should seek medical advice if they believe they have ruptured, British health officials said Wednesday.
French officials have said they will decide soon whether to offer surgery to remove the Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) implants from up to 30,000 women in France if research finds that the silicone they are made of might cause cancer.
Up to 300,000 PIP implants, which are used in cosmetic surgery to enhance breast size or replace lost breast tissue, were sold worldwide before PIP went into administration last year and use of the implants was halted.
In France, eight cases of cancer have appeared in women with PIP breast implants, sparking a health scare and prompting an inquiry by the country's National Cancer Institute (NCI).
But Britain's drugs watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there was "insufficient evidence to indicate any association with cancer" .
"There is currently no evidence to support routine removal of PIP or any other type of silicone gel breast implants," a spokeswoman said.
The MHRA, a government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are safe, said it was aware of reports in France that a woman who had PIP breast implants recently died from anaplastic large cell lymphoma, or ALCL -- a rare form of cancer which affects cells from the immune system.
It said however that its own tests in 2010 on PIP silicone gel breast implants found no evidence of the potential to cause cancer or chemical toxicity of the filler material inside them.
"The MHRA's current advice continues to be that women who have questions about their breasts or think their implants may have ruptured, should seek clinical advice from their implanting surgeon," the agency said.
French health authorities suspended PIP's marketing and sales of silicone gel breast implants in 2010 after an inspection of the company's manufacturing plant found that most implants made since 2001 were filled with an unauthorized silicone gel and not the originally approved material. The company is no longer trading.
The British Association for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) said it too had not yet seen evidence demonstrating health problems may have been caused by PIP breast implants, but would "fully assess any that becomes available."
France's health minister Nora Berra said Tuesday the ministry would make a decision this Friday on what to do next, once it has the conclusions of its NCI inquiry.
If a link is established, French social security will pay for all women with the implants to have them removed, she said.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Steve Addison)
CHICAGO ? Reigning MVP Derrick Rose has agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Chicago Bulls worth approximately $94 million, a person familiar with the situation said.
The Chicago Tribune, citing sources, first reported the deal.
The person spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the deal had not been finalized. The extension will start in the 2012-13 season, when Rose is eligible to make about $16 million.
The deal is hardly a surprise given all Rose has accomplished. The Chicago product went from Rookie of the Year to All-Star to MVP in his first three seasons, becoming the youngest player to win that award. About the only thing he doesn't have is a championship ring, and that's something he hopes to change in his fourth season.
The Bulls came close last season, winning a league-high 62 games and advancing all the way to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the Miami Heat.
Now, they're looking for more.
Rose has repeatedly pointed the finger at himself for the Bulls coming up short against the Heat in the playoffs. He worked on his inside game in the offseason after expanding his shooting range in previous years, but it's hard to imagine him accomplishing much more than he did last season.
Rose delivered one of the best seasons by a point guard. He also joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls players to win the MVP award.
The South Side product established himself as one of the league's best players, averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists while leading Chicago to its best season since the championship era with Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
For Rose, the contract extension is just another milestone in a rapid rise from the city's rough Englewood neighborhood to a starring role with his hometown team.
He helped Simeon Career Academy become the first Chicago Public League team to win back-to-back state championships, then led Memphis to the NCAA championship game before the Bulls drafted him with the No. 1 pick in 2008 after defying long odds to win the lottery.
It took Broncos coach John Fox a while to warm up to the unique skills of Tim Tebow.? Even though Fox apparently has decided to ignore the niceties of the traditional quarterback position and to embrace the fact that Tebow is leading his team to victory after victory in 2011, Fox isn?t ready to anoint Tebow as the team?s quarterback for 2012.
?We get that question a lot, whether it?s John Elway or myself,? Fox told Jim Rome on Friday.? ?We?re both his biggest fans.? I mean, we love him.? How would you not at 7-1?? I think right now, all our focus is, let?s get this season done.
?We love him, he?s great, we?re pulling for him, and you know, we?ll make those decisions when this season is over and not worry about next season at this point.?
That?s fine, but what does the guy need to do to show that he?s the team?s quarterback of the future?? Plenty of quarterbacks with far lower winning percentages than Tebow have locked down the year-in, year-out starting jobs with their teams.
So why not Tebow?? As quarterbacks go, the Broncos could do a hell of a lot worse, and plenty of teams would surely pounce on the opportunity to make the until-further-notice starter a guy who has won games, elevated his team, generated unprecedented excitement among the fan base, and provided an anti-Hurd role model to the youth of America.
Maybe Fox is worried that it?s all a fluke.? Or maybe he?s concerned that Tebow won?t play as well without the added motivation of constantly having to prove himself.? Regardless, Tebow provides a solid foundation around which to build the team for the next decade.
If the Broncos won?t realize that, some other team will.
Earlier this month, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he was casually watching television when a strange scene came on the news. There were lots of his fellow citizens in the streets, and many of them had something long and white pinned to their chests. "It's impolite to say it, but I'll be honest," Putin recalled on Thursday, during a live call-in show with the Russian public. "I decided it was propaganda against AIDS, that these were, pardon me, dangling contraceptives." In fact, what was hanging from people's clothing was a white ribbon, the symbol of what is being called the "snowy revolution" against Putin's rule. But in his version of events, he hadn't heard about it. "I didn't really get it," Putin said. In particular, he didn't get why people had unrolled the condom before pinning it to their chests. "But on the whole, my first thought was that this is good, that people are fighting for a healthy lifestyle." Then Putin looked around at the studio audience, expecting someone to laugh.
Nobody did. "Some people were outright offended, others thought it was in very bad taste," says Nikolai Zlobin, a political analyst who was sitting in the studio with Putin. In the Russian language, the word gandon (condom) is an especially crass and juvenile insult, most often heard among boys too young to know the intricacies of contraception. But as far as anyone could tell, this was Putin's message to the people watching at home -- in particular, to the thousands of citizens who have donned white ribbons in the past week as a sign of solidarity and protest. As many of them quickly pointed out on Twitter, Putin seemed to be telling the ranks of his opponents that they are all a bunch of dangling condoms. (PHOTOS: Vladimir Putin: Action Figure)
That became more and more clear as the nearly five-hour call-in show progressed. Putin was hit with one question after another about the parliamentary elections held on Dec. 4, which his political party is accused of rigging, and about the subsequent wave of demonstrations, which have been the largest ever against Putin's rule. At one point, about an hour into the show, the moderator actually apologized for the mass of questions on this one topic. "I'm not doing it on purpose," he said, "there are just a whole lot of them." To which Putin responded, "I'm sick of your elections already, but alright."
As also became clear through the course of his performance, Putin seems to have made two basic calculations in the wake of this month's unrest. He has figured that the best way for him to get re-elected for a third term as president next year is to pick a fight with Washington, which he did with no holds barred. (Senator John McCain got the worst of it. "Mr. McCain famously fought in Vietnam," Putin said. "I think he has enough civilian blood on his hands.") This is a predictable ploy in Russian politics, where Cold War prejudices still shape the views of many voters. According to the most recent survey by the Levada Center, 73% of respondents said last year that the U.S. is "an aggressor trying to take control of all the countries of the world." That is the constituency Putin targeted on Thursday when he said, "America does not need allies, it needs vassals." (PHOTOS: Protests and Counterprotests in Russia)
His other calculation had to do with the size of the demographic now turning against him -- the young, urban middle-class voters, who have packed demonstrations this month across the country. Judging by Putin's statements during the call-in show, they are not a large enough segment of society to deserve much more than his contempt, which he served up abundantly. At one point, he claimed that one of the slogans shouted from the stage during the Dec. 10 protest in Moscow -- the biggest so far, with up to 50,000 people in attendance -- was "Sheep, forward!" Not only was this patently false, but it amounted to another insult: The word sheep in Russian is roughly equivalent to jackass.
For Russia's scattered opposition groups, all of these slights felt like a blessing in disguise. "Now all we have to do to get people out on the streets is remind them of Putin's insults," said Ilya Ponomaryov, the parliamentary deputy who has been organizing the biggest demonstrations in Moscow. As Ponomaryov also pointed out, Putin did offer the opposition a few olive branches, although one had to search for them between the lines. For one thing, Putin said he would consider gradually allowing Russians to elect their own governors. The Kremlin has appointed them since 2004. He also said he would allow more political parties to participate in elections, and most surprisingly, he would consider freeing one of his enemies, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the oil mogul who was imprisoned in 2004 after challenging Putin in politics. "He can't admit these are concessions, because that would be like admitting defeat," said Ponomaryov. "But there is no other way to understand them." (See "Occupy the Kremlin: Russia's Election Lets Loose Public Rage.")
As for the main demand of the opposition -- the annulment of this month's allegedly rigged parliamentary elections -- Putin showed no sign of budging. "For me, it is clear that the attacks against these elections, which have already taken place, are secondary," Putin said. "The primary goal is the next election, the election of the President of the Russian Federation." Those will take place in less than three months, on March 4, when Putin will need to extend his mandate for another six years. His only goal between now and then will be to win those elections at any price, "to win them in the first round of voting with a clear sense of legitimacy and without any ballot-box stuffing," said Zlobin, the political analyst. To that end, he proposed during the call-in show to install web cameras in all of the polling stations. "Let the country watch!" he declared. But that alone won't save his approval ratings, which dropped to a historical low of 44% last weekend, according to the state-run pollster FOM. On Dec. 24, the opposition plans to hold another wave of rallies around the country, demanding a new parliamentary vote. While Putin addressed the nation on Thursday, another 3,000 people said on Facebook that they would attend the protest in Moscow. The total now, thanks partly to Putin's condom joke, is 23,000 people.
See "Crackdown or Negotiation? Russian Protests Pose a Dilemma for Putin."
Read about Russia's billionaire rescuer, Mikhail Prokhorov.
Economy: External debt stays manageable -- BSP ow.ly/8d6HG 
Bworldonlinecom 
The latest numbers in the battle for smartphone supremacy show that Apple?s share of the pie has increased in the U.S., but it is still being out-paced by Android-making rivals.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vhnyMu1cAhcS2p0h29yR6wVgORwK67xX2mBbPEbspjY_Gcrmw2YswKKCvoXTrC-dUrIJzeQDAApz6Lh_0JRZmWuCy7022k-cVe_XdQtMQ=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 22-Dec-2011
Share ] 