Ice Cream Sandwich build (4.0.4) leaked for the Nexus S 4G, looks to be release quality

An internal testing Ice Cream Sandwich ROM for the Samsung Nexus S 4G has been leaked out of Sprint, containing a new software modem, bootloader, and a 4.0.4 build.  Some are reporting this is the final version and we'll soon see an OTA for the NS4G, but that's speculation at this point.  We do know that this seems to run smoothly, with everything working including the Wimax radio.  It's build number IMM26, with a final kernel build and the ROM is signed with release keys which makes it pretty likely.

Of course the OTA for the Nexus S 4G can't come soon enough for many users, who have seen the 3G version of the Nexus S and the Motorola Xoom get their ICS builds pushed to them.  We have to remember that Sprint not only has more network testing involved in their version, but the addition of Google Voice integration and Google Wallet means their release cycle will be longer.  I'll go out on a limb and say Nexus S 4G users will see ICS released long before any other handset gets it, even if it's not imminent.  We've seen extremely stable builds of Android 4.0 for the NS4G for a while now, and you know the developers already have their hands dirty (trust me, they are all over it) using tonight's leaked files to make things even better.  If you're not the type who follows the manufacturers update path, hit your favorite ROM developer in a day or two.

If you're not the waiting type, visit the links below and try it on for size.  Heed the warnings, and if you hit any snags visit the forums and holler!

Source: XDA-Developers; via Android Central forums

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Jd1bNzxJWJw/story01.htm

wolf creek arizona diamondbacks arizona diamondbacks alex rodriguez alicia witt alicia witt nobel peace prize

Carpooling Parents Less Vigilant About Booster Seats (LiveScience.com)

While the majority of parents report using booster seats for their 4- to 8-year-old children, booster seat use among children who carpool is inconsistent, a new study suggests.

In a national survey, University of Michigan researchers asked 681 parents about their use of booster seats. Of those, 64 percent reported carpooling with children.

Of the carpooling parents, "we found that they were using booster seats less often for their own children, and they were also less likely to ask another parent to use a booster seat for their child," said study co-author Dr. Michelle Macy, a lecturer in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Michigan.

Parents said they used a booster seat 76 percent of the time when driving their own children in the family car. But of these, only half said their child always uses a booster seat when riding with friends who do not use booster seats.

Further, one in five parents doesn't always ask other parents to use a booster seat for their child, the study showed.

The study is published online today (Jan. 30) in the journal Pediatrics.

States without booster seat laws

Most states have laws requiring booster seats for children, but in the three states without those laws ? Arizona, Florida and South Dakota ? reported use of booster seats was lower, especially as children got older, the researchers found. While 79 percent of parents reported using booster seats for 7- to 8-year olds in states with applicable laws, only 37 percent in states without corresponding laws reported doing so.

For carpooling parents, more than 90 percent reported using booster seats in states with child-restraint laws, while fewer than 50 percent reported using the seats in states without the laws.

National guidelines suggest using booster seats for children under 4 feet 9 inches tall, the height of an average 11-year-old, Macy said. No states specify height as the basis of their laws, she said.

One of the best ways to reduce injuries to children involved in traffic accidents is to make state laws consistent with these national height guidelines, Macy said. "Most of the state laws are set [so parents] use a booster seat until the child is eight," she said. ??

The researchers gathered their data from 12 questions about booster-seat use and carpooling inserted into the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, an ongoing study at the University of Michigan.

Booster seat hassle

For car poolers, one problem is the hassle involved with moving a booster seat from one car to another. Researchers could work with safety-seat or automobile manufacturers "to see if they can come up with some options that would be more portable for families," Macy said.

The study does a good job investigating an important issue, said Dr. Mark Zonfrillo, leader of Child Passenger Safety Research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"It was interesting to see that, although overall use in the family car was high, the rates for car pooling were lower," Zonfrillosaid.

Both Zonfrillo and Macy said a strength of the study was its national sample of parents, but that self-reporting on surveys can sometimes be inaccurate. "We have no real way to verify if the parents do what they say they're doing," Macy said. "They might report ? more safety-seat use than they actually do."

Healthcare workers need to help parents recognize the importance of booster seats for their children's safety, Macy said.

"We've come a long way, and the injuries and deaths have really gone down," Macy said. "[Parents] should really consider the importance of being consistent with the way they're approaching safety with their kids, and not let [booster seats] become a point of conversation or compromise."

Pass it on: While many parents are using booster seats for their 4- to 8-year olds, fewer parents use the seats in carpooling situations. Parents should insist that children use the seats in the family car and in other people's vehicles.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily on Twitter @MyHealth_MHND. Find us on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120130/sc_livescience/carpoolingparentslessvigilantaboutboosterseats

vaclav havel vaclav havel kim jong ii dead snapdragon snapdragon kim jong ill dead wedding crashers

Syrian troops push back in fight on Damascus edges

Syrian army defectors distribute bread for children, in the Rastan area in Homs province, central Syria, on Monday Jan. 30, 2012. Syrian forces heavily shelled the restive city of Homs on Monday, and troops pushed back dissident troops from some suburbs on the outskirts of Damascus in an offensive trying to regain control of the capital's eastern doorstep, activists said.(AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors distribute bread for children, in the Rastan area in Homs province, central Syria, on Monday Jan. 30, 2012. Syrian forces heavily shelled the restive city of Homs on Monday, and troops pushed back dissident troops from some suburbs on the outskirts of Damascus in an offensive trying to regain control of the capital's eastern doorstep, activists said.(AP Photo)

Anti-Syrian regime protesters, hold up a Syrian army defector as they chant slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assad during an evening protest, in the Rastan area in Homs province, central Syria, on Monday Jan. 30, 2012. Syrian forces heavily shelled the restive city of Homs on Monday, and troops pushed back dissident troops from some suburbs on the outskirts of Damascus in an offensive trying to regain control of the capital's eastern doorstep, activists said.(AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors distribute bread for children, in the Rastan area in Homs province, central Syria, on Monday Jan. 30, 2012. Syrian forces heavily shelled the restive city of Homs on Monday, and troops pushed back dissident troops from some suburbs on the outskirts of Damascus in an offensive trying to regain control of the capital's eastern doorstep, activists said.(AP Photo)

A Syrian forces tank moving along a road during clashes with the Syrian army defectors, in the Rastan area in Homs province, central Syria, on Monday Jan. 30, 2012. Syrian forces heavily shelled the restive city of Homs on Monday, and troops pushed back dissident troops from some suburbs on the outskirts of Damascus in an offensive trying to regain control of the capital's eastern doorstep, activists said. (AP Photo)

Anti-Syrian regime protesters raise up their hands as they chant slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assad during an evening protest, in the Rastan area in Homs province, central Syria, on Monday Jan. 30, 2012. Syrian forces heavily shelled the restive city of Homs on Monday, and troops pushed back dissident troops from some suburbs on the outskirts of Damascus in an offensive trying to regain control of the capital's eastern doorstep, activists said.(AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian forces pushed dissident troops back from the edge of Damascus in heavy fighting Monday, escalating efforts to take back control of the capital's eastern doorstep ahead of key U.N. talks over a draft resolution demanding that President Bashar Assad step aside.

Gunfire and the boom of shelling rang out in several suburbs on Damascus' outskirts that have come under the domination of anti-regime fighters. Gunmen ? apparently army defectors ? were shown firing back in amateur videos posted online by activists. In one video, a government tank on the snow-dusted mountain plateau towering over the capital fired at one of the suburbs below.

As the bloodshed increased, with activists reporting more than 40 civilians killed Monday, Western and Arab countries stepped up pressure on Assad's ally Russia to overcome its opposition to the resolution.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the British and French foreign ministers were heading to New York to push for backing of the measure during talks Tuesday at the United Nations.

"The status quo is unsustainable," Clinton said, saying the Assad regime was preventing a peaceful transition and warning that the resulting instability could "spill over throughout the region."

The draft resolution demands that Assad halt the crackdown and implement an Arab peace plan that calls for him to hand over power to his vice president and allow creation of a unity government to pave the way for elections.

If Assad fails to comply within 15 days, the council would consider "further measures," a reference to a possible move to impose economic or other sanctions.

Moscow, which in October vetoed the first council attempt to condemn Syria's crackdown, has shown little sign of budging in its opposition. It warns that the new measure could open the door to eventual military intervention, the way an Arab-backed U.N. resolution led to NATO airstrikes in Libya.

A French official said the draft U.N. resolution has a "comfortable majority" of support from 10 of the Security Council's 15 members, meaning Russia or China would have to use its veto power to stop it. The official said Russia had agreed to negotiate on the draft, but it was not yet clear if it would be willing to back it if changes were made.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with department rules.

The Kremlin said Monday it was trying to put together negotiations in Moscow between Damascus and the opposition. It said Assad's government has agreed to participate; the opposition has in the past rejected any negotiations unless violence stops.

Western countries cited the past week's escalation in fighting to pressure Moscow.

"Russia can no longer explain blocking the U.N. and providing cover for the regime's brutal repression," a spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said, on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy.

The United Nations estimated several weeks ago that more than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on the uprising against Assad's rule, which began in March. It has been unable to update the figure, and more than 200 people have been killed in the past five days alone, according to activists' reports.

Pro-Assad forces have fought for three days to take back a string of suburbs on the eastern approach to Damascus, mostly poorer, Sunni-majority communities. In past weeks, army defectors ? masked men in military attire wielding assault rifles ? set up checkpoints in the communities, defending protesters and virtually seizing control.

Late Sunday, government troops retook two of the districts closest to Damascus, Ein Tarma and Kfar Batna, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based head of the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, which tracks violence through contacts on the ground.

On Monday, the regime forces were trying to retake the next suburbs out, pounding neighborhoods with shelling and heavy machine guns in the districts of Saqba, Arbeen and Hamouriya, he said.

At least five civilians were killed in the fighting near Damascus, according to the Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees.

Regime forces also heavily shelled buildings and battled dissidents in the central city of Homs, one of the main hot spots of the uprising, activists said.

The Observatory reported 28 killed in the city Monday. The Local Coordination Committees put the number at 27.

The reports could not be independently confirmed. Syrian authorities keep tight control on the media and have banned many foreign journalists from entering the country.

The Syrian Interior Ministry, in charge of security forces, said Monday that its three-day operation in the suburbs aimed to track down "terrorist groups" that have "committed atrocities" and vowed to continue until they were wiped out. Damascus had remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities have slipped into chaos since the uprising began.

Regime forces, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, heavily outgun and outnumber the defectors, organized into a force known as the Free Syrian Army. However, the military can't cover everywhere at once, and when it puts down the dissidents in one location, they arise in another. The dissidents' true numbers are unknown.

The result has been a dramatic militarization of a crisis that began with peaceful protests demanding the ouster of the Assad family and its regime. The army defectors began by protecting protesters, but over the weeks they have gone more on the offensive.

The dissidents have seemed increasingly confident in hit-and-run attacks.

On Monday, they freed five imprisoned comrades in an assault on a military base in the northeastern province of Idlib, the Observatory and Local Coordination Committees reported. Other defectors attacked a large military checkpoint outside Hama, destroying several transport trucks and claiming to kill a number of troops, the two groups said.

Six government soldiers were killed in an ambush on their vehicles in the southern region of Daraa, the state news agency SANA reported. The Observatory reported two other soldiers and 10 defectors killed in fighting elsewhere.

Attackers also blew up a gas pipeline near the border with Lebanon, SANA reported, the latest in numerous attacks on Syria's oil and gas infrastructure.

Because of the upsurge in violence, the Arab League halted a month-old observer mission, which had already come under heavy criticism for failing to stop the crackdown. The League turned to the U.N. Security Council to throw its weight behind its peace plan, which Damascus has rejected.

The move resembles the turn of events before last year's NATO air campaign in Libya, when Western countries waited for Arab League support before winning U.N. cover for intervention.

But so far, there has been little appetite for a similar campaign in Syria. There is no clear-cut geographical divide between the regime and its opponents as there was in Libya, and the opposition is even more divided and unknown than it was in the North African nation. Syria is intertwined in alliances with Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups, and borders Israel ? making the fallout from military action more unpredictable.

___

AP correspondents Bradley Klapper in Washington and Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-30-ML-Syria/id-87cc83bf8cfa435fa822be132fdd4b53

dishnetwork bill monroe nike pro combat nike pro combat gardasil gardasil usnews

Soldiers, rebels killed in battle for Damascus suburbs

The crisis in Syria takes a dramatic turn for the worse. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

By Associated Press

In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops stormed rebellious areas near the capital Sunday, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The widescale offensive near the capital suggested the regime is worried that military defectors could close in on Damascus, which has remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities descended into chaos after the uprising began in March.

The rising bloodshed added urgency to Arab and Western diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month conflict.

The violence has gradually approached the capital. In the past two weeks, army dissidents have become more visible, seizing several suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus and setting up checkpoints where masked men wearing military attire and wielding assault rifles stop motorists and protect anti-regime protests.

Their presence so close to the capital is astonishing in tightly controlled Syria and suggests the Assad regime may either be losing control or setting up a trap for the fighters before going on the offensive.

Residents of Damascus reported hearing clashes in the nearby suburbs, particularly at night, shattering the city's calm.

"The current battles taking place in and around Damascus may not yet lead to the unraveling of the regime, but the illusion of normalcy that the Assads have sought hard to maintain in the capital since the beginning of the revolution has surely unraveled," said Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based Syrian dissident.

"Once illusions unravel, reality soon follows," he wrote in his blog Sunday.

Related: Arab League halts observer mission due to violence

Soldiers riding some 50 tanks and dozens of armored vehicles stormed a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus known as al-Ghouta Sunday, a predominantly Sunni Muslim agricultural area where large anti-regime protests have been held.

Some of the fighting on Sunday was less than three miles (four kilometers) from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital.

"There are heavy clashes going on in all of the Damascus suburbs," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who relies on a network of activists on the ground. "Troops were able to enter some areas but are still facing stiff resistance in others."

The fighting using mortars and machine guns sent entire families fleeing, some of them on foot carrying bags of belongings, to the capital.

"The shelling and bullets have not stopped since yesterday," said a man who left his home in Ein Tarma with his family Sunday. "It's terrifying, there's no electricity or water, it's a real war," he said by telephone on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals.

The uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms.

In a bid to stamp out resistance in the capital's outskirts, the military has responded with a withering assault on a string of suburbs, leading to a spike in violence that has killed at least 150 people since Thursday.

The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of violence.

The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus' rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters Sunday in Egypt that contacts were under way with China and Russia.

"I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution," he told reporters before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.

The two will seek U.N. support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria's crisis. The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.

Because of the escalating violence, the Arab League on Saturday halted the work of its observer mission in Syria at least until the League's council can meet. Arab foreign ministers were to meet Sunday in Cairo to discuss the Syrian crisis in light of the suspension of the observers' work and Damascus' refusal to agree to the transition timetable, the League said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "concerned" about the League's decision to suspend its monitoring mission and called on Assad to "immediately stop the bloodshed." He spoke Sunday at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

While the international community scrambles to find a resolution to the crisis, the violence on the ground in Syria has continued unabated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians were killed Sunday in Syria, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. Twenty-six soldiers and nine defectors were also killed, it said. The soldiers were killed in ambushes that targeted military vehicles near the capital and in the northern province of Idlib.

The Local Coordination Committees' activist network said 50 people were killed Sunday, including 13 who were killed in the suburbs of the capital and two defectors. That count excluded soldiers killed Sunday.

The differing counts could not be reconciled, and the reports could not be independently confirmed. Syrian authorities keep tight control on the media and have banned many foreign journalists from entering the country.

Syria's state-run news agency said "terrorists" detonated a roadside bomb by remote control near a bus carrying soldiers in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya, killing six soldiers and wounding six others. Among those killed in the attack some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the capital were two first lieutenants, SANA said.

In Irbil, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq, about 200 members of Syria's Kurdish parties were holding two days of meetings to explore ways of supporting efforts to topple Assad.

Abdul-Baqi Youssef, a member of the Syrian Kurdish Union Party, said representatives of 11 Kurdish parties formed the Syrian Kurdish National Council that will coordinate anti-government activities with Syria's opposition.

Kurds make up 15 percent of Syria's 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/29/10262653-soldiers-rebels-killed-in-fight-to-control-damascus-suburbs

gloria cain kandi burruss occupy portland occupy portland the hunger games neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson

Santorum Cancels Sunday Events (TIME)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192811116?client_source=feed&format=rss

exotic animals exotic animals scott hall lra lra collegeboard heart attack grill

Man stuck in mud for 3 days, is rescued

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.?? A homeless man who was stuck in thick mud near the Rio Grande river in Albuquerque for three days was rescued Saturday after some high school students on a field trip heard him yelling for help, authorities said.

1. 1. C'mon ? what's not to like?

      Hoof it over to Facebook to join the weird news herd.

However, the man's newfound freedom wasn't going to last. Police said he was wanted on a felony warrant, and they planned to arrest him after he was treated at a local hospital.

A group of La Cueva High School students and their biology teacher heard the man yelling Saturday morning from a marshy wetlands area in the Oxbow Open Space Preserve, the Albuquerque Fire Department and police officials said.

The students were in the area ? about two miles north of Interstate 40 in Albuquerque ? doing a school project. They called authorities and told them that the man said he'd been stuck in the river for three days and could not move, according to a police report.

Fire crews and preserve officers responded and found a "male subject stuck on a reed island about a hundred yards from the west bank of the river," the report said.

Crews deployed an air boat and used a pulley system to lift the man from the mud and water, and up a hill.

Police later identified the man as Clayton Senn, a transient who'd been living near the river.

Authorities said they discovered a warrant for Senn's arrest on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony. Senn was taken to an Albuquerque hospital for treatment and was to be booked on the warrant upon his release, police said.

Details on Senn's condition were not immediately available.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46176341/ns/us_news-weird_news/

ny knicks sound of music ihop green bean casserole the temptations prime rib recipe norad santa tracker

A flaky winter in Yosemite

Reporting from Yosemite National Park -- Winter in the high country is usually a season of icy quiet. Birds leave, bears hibernate, and only a few hardy people on skis or snowshoes pass through en route to snow-covered granite domes.

But Christmas and New Year's Day came and went, then Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, and still only auburn pine needles covered the ground. Chattering squirrels, normally tucked away in their winter nests, perched on top of "Snow Play Area" signs, with no snow in sight.

Until a series of late January storms dropped more than 2 feet of snow ? still far below the norm ? many wondered if it was going to be the year the snows never came.

In this spine-country of grandeur and extremes, where people often mark time by natural events such as "the year of the big flood," this is the year of the weird winter.

At Crane Flat Gas Station and Market, a final stopping point to the Yosemite-area back country, cashier Candy Moody watched customers come in wearing baseball caps instead of ski hats.

"You start wondering: OK, so is it never going to snow or are we going to get hit and hit hard?" she said on a mid-January day. "The whole year has been strange. No bears in the spring, and this place is usually crawling with bears.? Everything was turned upside down."

Even for a La Ni?a year, this is an exceptionally dry season ? the driest California has seen in more than 30 years. But while climate models predict that the Sierra snowpack will shrink in coming decades, those familiar with California's weather history caution that in the short term, anomaly is the norm here.

"California is pretty much the most volatile place in the contiguous United States," said Dan Cayan, a research meteorologist who heads the California Climate Change Center. "We've always seen huge variations in weather from year to year and decade to decade," he said.

California 120 at Tioga Pass, about 10,000 feet high , offered rare unobstructed winter passage to the top of California until Jan. 17, the latest recorded date it's been open since record keeping began in 1933. People flocked to ice skate on Tenaya Lake, which usually would be buried beneath snow. The lake gave off deep, booming sounds as the ice expanded in the sun.

"One family had a five-on-five hockey game on the ice. A bride walked out on the lake ? a beautiful wedding dress on the frozen ice in the sun ? everyone was rushing to take advantage of these probably once-in-a-lifetime opportunities," said John DeGrazio, owner of Yexplore, a guide service. "I climbed Half Dome twice, ice-skated in short-sleeves. I was on top of Mt. Whitney on New Year's Day."

But by January, "fun, fun, fun" had turned to uneasiness, DeGrazio said. "People would start out talking about the next adventure, but it would turn into 'When is the snow coming? What if the snow doesn't come?' "

In the famed Yosemite Valley below, the only destination for the vast majority of tourists, the snow-less season created unusual sights well into January. All the roads were open. The only area closed was Badger Pass Ski Area. Staff at the hotels scrambled to set up rock climbing walls and archery practice to entertain would-be skiers. The bicycle rental stand was doing business. There were even mule rides.

Locals taking advantage of the mild weather and open roads helped make up for others postponing their trips ? but ski tourism is a much bigger business than fair-weather tourism.

Jordan Creamer, a bartender and waiter at Tenaya Lodge, saw 200 guests cancel their reservations in one day.

On the other hand, because business at the lodge was slow, Creamer, 27, had Christmas off for the first time in his adult life, so his family, including his brother, Dodgers pitcher Ted Lilly, came to his house for the holiday.

At the park's south entrance, rangers Donna Dozier and Corey Kniss grew weary, week after week, of the question "Where's the snow?" Dozier bought a can of artificial snow and sprayed the windows of their stand so they could point to something white. In the window, in the fake dusting, she wrote, "Let It Snow."

When the storms did come, lasting Thursday to Monday, they dropped mostly rain at the lower elevations.

It took a heavy toll. Because there had been no previous rain, dry ground was swept away. Gusting winds wreaked havoc. On Saturday, a branch fell from a huge tree, killing a 27-year-old ranger who was asleep in his tent cabin.

The next day, a rock slide took out a section of a main highway into the park.

California 120, the route that most Bay Area residents use to get to Yosemite, is closed indefinitely.

There is snow. Badger Pass Ski Area, which does not make its own snow, was expected to open Thursday. But even though Yosemite is known to have big March snowstorms (last year, on March 20, the last day of winter, a storm dumped three feet of snow, closing all highway entrances and prompting an evacuation) total snowfall is likely to be far less normal.

This week at the south entrance, there was rain, sun and brief periods of big, feathery snowflakes, leaving only a light dusting of white on the landscape.

Dozier added one more word to her "Let It Snow" message: "more."

diana.marcum@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/dNLAMg9E3RI/la-me-tioga-pass-20120127,0,7688362.story

shakespeare bipolar symptoms qi osama bin laden osama bin laden main main

African American Mother Starts Own Business After Getting Laid Off ...

Meet Valerie Coleman: For more than a decade Valerie Coleman earned an attractive salary working at one of Ohio?s prominent companies. She?d seen the highs of the automobile industry until the 2007 recession hit. The final blow was a hard one, but Valerie was ready. Find out how she became the bestselling author of Blended Families An Anthology and The Forbidden Secrets of the Goody Box.? Keep reading to learn why Valerie Coleman is on a mission to restore stepfamilies, empower women and equip writers to greater success. This expert problem solver uses personal experiences and proven techniques to re-engineer lives.

MN:???? You worked at Delphi, a leading automotive supplier, for several years. What role did you fill at Delphi?

VC:????? I was a senior industrial engineer responsible for implementing cost-savings initiatives relative to manpower, machine processes and material delivery. I saved the company millions of dollars by implementing systems that got the job done faster, easier and cheaper without compromising quality or safety.

MN:???? Was it your intention to remain at Delphi until you retired? If so, what was your vision for your business career at the time?

VC:????? Yes, I fully expected to serve the company for thirty-plus years and then retire. However, a few years before the facility closed, it became apparent that retirement was no longer an option. Decreased sales, layoffs and downsizings were the hand-writing-on-the-wall indicators that a change was soon to come.

MN:???? Valerie, you experienced an event millions lived through after the recession of 2007 reared its head: you were laid off. How did you manage this career shift?

VC:????? As was the case for most of the salaried co-workers, I was severed from the company with no opportunity for future employment versus laid off. The hourly associates had a layoff option to return to active status if the industry became viable again.

People offered condolences for the ?loss? of my job. I replied, ?I didn?t lose my job. I know where it is, Mexico.? I had a plan to transition my problem-solving expertise to help restore stepfamilies, empower women and equip writers. With that in mind, I positioned myself as an expert, developed relationships and launched my crusade.

Since 1995, I have been a math adjunct at Sinclair Community College, so I increased my class load and joined the roster at Central State University and Strayer University to offset the earnings deficit.

MN:???? How soon after you were severed from Delphi did you found Pen of the Writer?

VC:????? Because I acknowledged the inevitable, I started the ground work for Pen of the Writer several years before the plant closed. In 2004, I hosted the first Pen to Paper Literary Symposium, and by 2006 I published Blended Families An Anthology.

MN:???? What is the mission of Pen of the Writer, and how do you keep the conferences related to the company viable in today?s changing virtual and brick-and-mortar literary markets?

VC:????? Pen of the Writer?s mission is to take writers from pen to paper to published by helping experts master self-publishing to make money. To keep my literary conferences relevant, I include topics like e-books, social networking and Internet marketing. I am also conducting webinars and will launch a publishing blog and e-course soon.

Source: http://madamenoire.com/130681/meet-valerie-coleman-from-the-automotive-industry-to-the-publishing-industry/

hocus pocus hocus pocus bj penn roasted pumpkin seeds roasted pumpkin seeds pumpkin seed recipe mark madoff

Tom Hooper Ends Engagement To Pregnant Fiance Tara Subkoff

Tom Hooper Ends Engagement To Pregnant Fiance Tara Subkoff

Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper is a single guy again after breaking off his engagement to fashion designer Tara Subkoff. Hooper, 39, ended their relationship last [...]

Tom Hooper Ends Engagement To Pregnant Fiance Tara Subkoff Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stupidcelebrities/~3/wjcuSC1OUQo/

alec baldwin kicked off plane mumia mumia uss arizona memorial uss arizona memorial d day fun.

Arduino hack gives a second screen to Android phones, isn't very useful (video)

Who knows why tech tinkerers do what they do. We're just happy to see those idle hands try the untested. Like this latest Arduino hack from modder Michael of Nootropic Design, who's seen fit to rig a 16 x 32 LED matrix up to an Android phone for use as a secondary display. The outputted video, downscaled via OpenCV software to an appropriate resolution and 12-bit color, is admittedly unimpressive, as it chugs along at a paltry four frames per second. But that's not the point of this can-do experiment -- it's all about the possibilities, however blurry and pointless they may be (although, we're sure Barbara Walters would beg to differ). Ready to see this modjob in motion? Then head on past the break for a brief video demo.

Continue reading Arduino hack gives a second screen to Android phones, isn't very useful (video)

Arduino hack gives a second screen to Android phones, isn't very useful (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack A Day  |  Nootropic Design  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/5_iT3MkAV2g/

mls superdraft school cancellations bald barbie friends with kids peoples choice awards andy cohen andy cohen

Romney Paid 13.9% (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190700786?client_source=feed&format=rss

diners drive ins and dives lebron james engaged hangover cure auld lang syne leap year end of the world 2012 pink martini

Video: Metadynamics technique offers insight into mineral growth and dissolution

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

By using a novel technique to better understand mineral growth and dissolution, researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving predictions of mineral reactions and laying the groundwork for applications ranging from keeping oil pipes clear to sequestering radium.

The mineral barite was examined to understand mineral growth and dissolution generally, but also because it is the dominant scale-forming mineral that precipitates in oil pipelines and reservoirs in the North Sea. Oil companies use a variety of compounds to inhibit scale formation, but a better understanding of how barite grows could enable them to be designed more efficiently.

Additionally, barium can trap radium in its crystal structure, so it has the potential to contain the radioactive material.

In a paper featured on this month's cover of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the ORNL-led team studied barite growth and dissolution using metadynamics, a critical technique that allows researchers to study much slower reactions than what is normally possible.

"When a mineral is growing or dissolving, you have a hard time sorting out which are the important reactions and how they occur because there are many things that could be happening on the surface," said Andrew Stack, ORNL geochemist and lead author on the paper. "We can't determine which of many possible reactions are controlling the rate of growth."

To overcome this hurdle, ORNL Chemical Sciences Division's Stack started with molecular dynamics, which can simulate energies and structures at the atomic level. To model a mineral surface accurately, the researchers need to simulate thousands of atoms. To directly measure a slow reaction with this many atoms during mineral growth or dissolution might take years of supercomputer time. Metadynamics, which builds on molecular dynamics, is a technique to "push" reactions forward so researchers can observe them and measure how fast they are proceeding in a relatively short amount of computer time.

With the help of metadynamics, the team determined that there are multiple intermediate reactions that take place when a barium ion attaches or detaches at the mineral surface, which contradicts the previous assumption that attachment and detachment occurred all in a single reaction.

"Without metadynamics, we would never have been able to see these intermediates nor determine which ones are limiting the overall reaction rate," Stack said.

To run computer simulations of mineral growth, researchers used the Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator, a molecular dynamics code developed by Sandia National Laboratories. Co-authors on the paper are the Curtin University (Australia) Nanochemistry Research Institute's Paolo Raiteri and Julian Gale.

###

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory: http://www.ornl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory for this article.

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

This press release has been viewed 18 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116982/Video__Metadynamics_technique_offers_insight_into_mineral_growth_and_dissolution

nfl mock draft 2012 adam lambert incendiary floyd mayweather kate upton winter solstice r. kelly

Rep. Giffords to resign and focus on recovery, setting up wide-open race for Ariz. seat (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190271423?client_source=feed&format=rss

halloween movies halloween movies new york snow new york snow braxton miller braxton miller noreaster

Scrambled GOP race heads to Florida (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. ? A suddenly scrambled Republican presidential contest now shifts to Florida, a day after Newt Gingrich stopped Mitt Romney's sprint to the GOP nomination by scoring a convincing victory in South Carolina.

The air of inevitability that surrounded Romney's candidacy just days ago is gone, at least for now. And his rivals, led by Gingrich, have 10 days before Florida's Jan. 31 contest to prove South Carolina was no fluke.

Florida, being much larger, more diverse, and more expensive, brings new challenges to Gingrich, who again must overcome financial and organizational disadvantages as he did Saturday.

"We don't have the kind of money at least one of the candidates has. But we do have ideas. And we do have people," Gingrich, the former House speaker, told cheering supporters Saturday night. "And we proved here in South Carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money. And with your help, we're going to prove it again in Florida."

Romney struck a defiant tone before his own backers gathered at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds, saying: "I will compete in every single state." And wasted no time jabbing at Gingrich, saying: "Our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never led a state."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, having finished third in South Carolina, vowed to compete in Florida and beyond. His presence in the race ensures at least some division among Florida's tea party activists and evangelicals, a division that could ultimately help Romney help erase any questions about his candidacy by scoring a victory of his own a week from Tuesday.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul likely will not be a factor in Florida, having declared that he's bypassing the expensive state in favor of smaller subsequent contests.

As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.

Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Santorum was winning 17 percent, Paul 13 percent.

But political momentum was the real prize with the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama still in its early stages.

Already, Romney and a group that supports him were on the air in Florida with a significant television ad campaign, more than $7 million combined to date.

Gingrich readily conceded that he trails in money, and even before appearing for his victory speech he tweeted supporters thanking them and appealing for a flood of donations for the Jan 31 primary. "Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now," said his Internet message.

Aides to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had once dared hope that Florida would seal his nomination ? if South Carolina didn't first ? but that strategy appeared to vanish along with the once-formidable lead he held in pre-primary polls.

Romney swept into South Carolina 11 days ago as the favorite after being pronounced the winner of the lead-off Iowa caucuses, then cruising to victory in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.

But in the sometimes-surreal week that followed, he was stripped of his Iowa triumph ? GOP officials there now say Santorum narrowly won ? while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman dropped out and endorsed Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry quit and backed Gingrich.

Romney responded awkwardly to questions about releasing his income tax returns, and about his investments in the Cayman Islands. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, benefited from two well-received debate performances while grappling with allegations by an ex-wife that he had once asked her for an open marriage so he could keep his mistress.

By primary eve, Romney was speculating openly about a lengthy battle for the nomination rather than the quick knockout that had seemed within his grasp only days earlier.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

barnaby giuliana rancic giuliana rancic the cabin in the woods the cabin in the woods trace adkins the darkest hour

Rap group 2 Live Crew to reunite, tour this summer (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? The rap group that created controversy in the early 1990s with songs like "Me So Horny" is reuniting and hitting the road.

Luther Campbell said Saturday that 2 Live Crew is back together and will tour this summer.

The rapper and producer made the announcement at the Sundance Film Festival, where he is promoting his appearance in the short film "The Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke."

The 51-year-old entertainer describes the offbeat film as "an art piece" that he did to help young filmmakers who were inspired by his hip-hop work. But his mind was on getting back with the old crew.

"I just can't wait to just start practicing," he said. "That's going to be a blast."

So will they be "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" (the title of the group's 1989 album that a judge deemed obscene, a ruling later overturned by the United States Court of Appeals)?

Not really, Campbell said.

"We're going to perform the songs and everybody's going to be excited," he said. "Some of the older people of our generation will be able to tell their kids, `You're staying home tonight, we're going to see 2 Live Crew and shake our booty!'"

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.

___

Online:

http://www.sundance.org/festival/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_en_mu/us_film_sundance2_live_crew

pumpkin seeds mark herzlich malawi malawi angela davis angela davis zombie apocalypse

U.S. aircraft carrier enters Gulf without incident (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A U.S. aircraft carrier sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Gulf without incident on Sunday, a day after Iran backed away from an earlier threat to take action if an American carrier returned to the strategic waterway.

The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln completed a "regular and routine" passage through the strait, a critical gateway for the region's oil exports, "as previously scheduled and without incident," said Lieutenant Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

(Reporting By David Alexander; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/wl_nm/us_iran_usa_carrier

mukesh ambani bob harper aapl x factor judges x factor judges raiders news raiders news

Apple iBooks 2 textbook hands-on (video)

We just got our first opportunity to get our hands on one of Apple's new interactive textbooks and we have to say, they're as good as they looked during the live event. We tried a few titles, ranging from steady textbooks to more exotic stuffs, but by far the best is the selection from E.O. Wilson called Life on Earth. Join us for full details and video demonstration of the future of learning after the break.

Gallery: Apple iBooks 2 demo in NYC - 01.19.2012

Continue reading Apple iBooks 2 textbook hands-on (video)

Apple iBooks 2 textbook hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_s4Nz5Ryt9g/

lymphoma cancer glenn beck cacao cacao spartacus blood and sand starz kiwi