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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/nBylKkwzHmw/story01.htm
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Penultimate talks iPad stylus [Macworld 2012]
Rene and I are at Macworld 2012 and had the pleasure of talking to Penultimate developer Ben Zotto. You, the iMore nation, asked us to ask Ben his thoughts on styli for the iPad, so we did! Check out the video above for Ben's insights on the personal decision of choosing an iPad.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Mars Rover Opportunity Turns 8
I think it is great that the device was design to last max a year or two, and lasted 8, but on the flipside, this means they aren't really good engineers.
First of all it was engineered to guarantee to work for 3 months which was the allotted project objectives. Based on the budget and capability, this is what NASA had designed the rovers to do. Surviving for years is a bonus.
Just because they erred on the side of a good result doesn't mean the estimates are better. It means their methodology is HEAVILY padded, or if we assume +/-400~800%, they were just lucky that it didn't swing the other way. Given Phobos-Grunt, perhaps space engineering margin of error really is +/-400~800%. Although I suspect huge margins of error were thrown about in NASA>
Of course they padded their estimates and erred on the side of caution. 1) There is no way to retrieve or repair this rover. 2) NASA knew about the sticky dust from previous missions, but they didn't have omnipotence when it comes to the Mars climate. They didn't know that windstorms were capable of cleaning said dust. So you would have rather just wing it and not pad their estimates. So when the rover failed, they can tell NASA "oh well, try again in two years."
If that's the case, huge design buffers, that means they don't understand the underlying physics/materials engineer, and had to heavily overdesign, which means there is a far more efficient design out there.
I don't think you understand that there are different goals in engineering. One goal may be efficiency. The goal in this case was absolute reliability despite any unknowns the rovers may have experienced on Mars.
I'm not knocking NASA engineers, I'm just exploring how to shave down this margin so that they can make more efficient designs at lower cost that behave as expected.
Again efficiency is not as much a priority as reliability in these cases.
Building something that behaves as expected is far, far, FAR more important than building something that blows away expectations by orders of magnitude. The former is good engineering, the latter is waste, or worse, dumb luck!
The engineers never worked on the expectation that you ascribe. People outside of NASA have placed it on them. For them, the mission was successful when the rovers completed their objectives after 3 months. All these years afterwards are bonus.
Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/faYZ7wTveBs/mars-rover-opportunity-turns-8
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Robert Hegyes, played Epstein on 'Kotter,' dies (AP)
METUCHEN, N.J. ? The actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970s TV show "Welcome Back Kotter" has died.
The Flynn & Son Funeral Home in Fords, N.J., says it was informed of Robert Hegyes' death Thursday by the actor's family. He was 60.
A spokesman at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., told the Star-Ledger newspaper that Hegyes, of Metuchen, arrived at the hospital in the morning in full cardiac arrest and died.
Hegyes was appearing on Broadway in 1975 when he auditioned for "Kotter," a TV series about a teacher who returns to the inner-city school of his youth to teach a group of remedial students. They included the character Vinnie Barbarino, played by John Travolta.
Hegyes appeared on many other TV series, including "Cagney & Lacey."
Romney responds to Gingrich immigration shot (AP)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. ? Notable moments from the GOP presidential debate Thursday night in Jacksonville, Fla., just days before the state's Jan. 31 primary:
___
IMMIGRATION FIGHT
Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney had their sharpest exchange when Gingrich said Romney was the most anti-immigrant candidate in the GOP field. Romney responded indignantly, reminding Gingrich that Romney's father, George, was born in Mexico.
"The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive," Romney fired at Gingrich. "Don't use a term like that. You can say we disagree on certain policies, but to say that enforcing the U.S. law to protect our borders, to welcome people here legally, to expand legal immigration, as I have proved, that that's somehow anti anti-immigrant is simply the kind of over-the-top rhetoric that has characterized American politics too long."
Romney also asked Gingrich for an apology for an ad Gingrich recently pulled from airwaves that attacked Romney on immigration policy. Gingrich didn't offer one.
___
MOON SHOTS
Gingrich's proposal for a permanent American colony on the moon was mocked by Romney, who said Gingrich is developing a pattern of pandering to local voters.
"If I had a business executive come to me and say I want to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, `You're fired,'" said Romney, a former businessman.
He then noted Gingrich's calls for a new interstate highway in South Carolina, a new VA hospital in northern New Hampshire, and widening the port of Jacksonville to accommodate the larger ships that will soon be able to transit the Panama Canal. Romney said promises like that were what had caused a massive budget deficit in the first place.
Gingrich defended himself saying he'd find plenty of things to cut and shouldn't be mocked for setting priorities.
"You don't just have to be cheap everywhere. You can actually have priorities to get things done," he said.
___
MEDICAL RECORDS
The oldest candidate in the race, 76-year-old Rep. Ron Paul, said he'd be happy to share his medical records with the public if he were the nominee. Then he one-upped his fellow candidates by challenging them to a 25-mile bike ride.
He had no takers.
All of the candidates said they'd release their medical records for scrutiny. Paul, who would be the oldest president ever elected, said his records are short, about a page long.
Gingrich vouched for his competitor's fitness. "I'm confident that Dr. Paul is quite ready to serve if he's elected. Watching him campaign, he's in great shape," he said with a laugh.
___
FIRST LADY CHATTER
Asked what their wives would bring to the position of first lady, the candidates were happy to gush about their better halves.
Paul, married for 54 years, says he's got an anniversary coming up next week. He also plugged his wife's work as an author ? of "The Ron Paul Cookbook."
Romney praised his wife for battling multiple sclerosis and breast cancer.
"She is a real champion and a fighter," he said.
Gingrich said he's met each of the candidates' wives and said they'd all be "terrific first ladies." He says his wife, Callista, would bring a tremendous artistic focus and would be a strong advocate for music and music education.
Rick Santorum says his wife is "my hero" because she gave up a successful career to help raise their seven children.
___
MOM IN THE HOUSE
Santorum got a big applause line when he introduced his mom, 93-year-old Catherine Santorum. During the debate's introductions Santorum said he was glad to have his mother at the debate. And, it turns out, she can help turn out the vote for her son ? she is a north Florida resident. When she stood up to be recognized, the debate hall gave her loud applause.
___
NO LOVE FOR TSA
Even before the debate started a rowdy, Paul-supporting crowd at the University of North Florida debate site shouted jeers toward the Transportation Security Administration. The anti-TSA chants came days after Paul's son, GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, was stopped by security at the Nashville airport when a scanner set off an alarm and Paul declined to allow a security officer to pat him down.
Police escorted Paul away, but allowed him to board a later flight.
Ron Paul has already used his son's experience to promote his "Plan to Restore America," which would cut $1 trillion of federal spending in a year and eliminate the TSA. He has said the incident reflects that the "police state in this country is growing out of control."
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Coastal storms have long-reaching effects, study says
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? Coastal storms are known to cause serious damage along the shoreline, but they also cause significant disruption of the deep-sea ecosystem as well, according to a study of extreme coastal storms in the Western Mediterranean published in the Jan. 25 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.
The researchers, led by Anna Sanchez-Vidal of the University of Barcelona in Spain, identified a storm in Dec. 2008 as the most extreme storm in the area over the last 25 years, and found that it resulted in major redistribution of marine organic carbon associated with clay particles from shallow to deep water. This injection of carbon helps support life in the deeper water and boosts carbon sequestration, the authors write.
Despite the importance of such events for deep-sea ecosystems, however, the severe damage to coastal environments must also be taken into account, and both of these factors must be considered when considering how human-induced climate change might alter the overall ocean ecosystem.
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Journal Reference:
- Anna Sanchez-Vidal, Miquel Canals, Antoni M. Calafat, Galderic Lastras, Rut Pedrosa-P?mies, Melisa Men?ndez, Ra?l Medina, Joan B. Company, Bernat Hereu, Javier Romero, Teresa Alcoverro. Impacts on the Deep-Sea Ecosystem by a Severe Coastal Storm. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (1): e30395 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030395
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/O1f1MChn9sc/120125172315.htm
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Two more Tibetans killed by Chinese forces after protests: group (Reuters)
BEIJING (Reuters) ? Two Tibetans in China's southwestern Sichuan province were killed when security forces fired on demonstrators, a Tibetan advocacy group said, upping the death toll in several clashes over government controls to four since Monday.
The violence is likely to add to rising tensions in the rebellious Tibetan highlands of Sichuan that border Tibet, where security forces have struggled to maintain control over heavily Buddhist communities.
At least two people were shot dead and many were wounded during protests in Seda County on Tuesday, the London-based Free Tibet group said late the same day.
"Locals describe the town as being under curfew: they have been told not to leave their homes and they are now afraid that if they do they will be shot," the group said in a statement.
Calls to the county government and public security bureau, about 680 km (423 miles) west of Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, were not answered.
But on Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency confirmed the clashes in Seda, saying police were forced to open fire killing one "rioter" when protesters attacked a police station with gasoline bottles, knives and stones.
"Police were forced to use force after efforts involving persuasion and non-lethal weapon defense failed to disperse the mob," Xinhua said, adding that 14 police officers were injured and 13 people were arrested.
The news agency earlier confirmed a separate clash on Monday in Luhuo township, called Drango or Draggo by Tibetans, in the western highlands of Sichuan near Tibet. It said one protester was killed and five police officers were hurt.
Free Tibet in a separate statement late on Tuesday said it had confirmed that at least two Tibetans had been killed in Monday's incident in Luhuo and that it had the names of 36 people wounded in the clash.
The group, which campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, also said that troops fired teargas in a third location in Sichuan -- Meruma township, Aba County, called Ngaba County by Tibetans -- after people protested.
Security forces have been on edge after 16 incidents of Tibetans setting themselves on fire over the past year in response to resentment of Beijing's controls on religion.
Most of the incidents occurred in Sichuan. Some of the protesters have called for the return of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader revered by many Tibetans.
Other advocacy groups and a resident in a village near Luhuo reached by Reuters had slightly varying accounts of the incidents, which are difficult to verify because the government restricts travel to Tibet and parts of Sichuan.
The Tibetan government in exile in India said on its website five people had been shot dead in the two incidents.
ON THE DIPLOMATIC BACKBURNER
The clashes come at an awkward time for China as Vice President Xi Jinping -- expected to replace President Hu Jintao in a leadership handover late this year -- prepares for a visit to Washington in February.
U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Maria Otero said in a statement the United States was "gravely concerned" about the reports of violence.
"The U.S. government repeatedly has urged the Chinese government to address the counterproductive policies in Tibetan areas that have created tensions and that threaten the distinct religious, cultural and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people," Otero said.
Analysts, however, say the government's policies leave little hope of easing tension, and China's economic influence has put other countries' efforts to broach human rights -- including those of the United States -- on the backburner.
"What dominates the U.S.-China relationship has more to do with trade and economics than human rights and Tibet," Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, said.
"We have to consider that even though these policies are failing to win over Tibetans to the Chinese state, they are very effective in cementing China's control," Bequelin said. "It seems the leadership has made the calculation that it can rule without the consent of Tibetans."
China has ruled what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region since Communist troops marched in in 1950. It rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
China's Foreign Ministry has branded the self-immolators "terrorists" and has said the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns a supporter of violent separatism, should take the blame.
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Max Duncan in Beijing, Farah Master in Hong Kong, and Madhukar Abhishek in Dharamsala, India; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tax returns, business dealings fuel Fla. campaign (AP)
TAMPA, Fla. ? Mitt Romney's tax returns and Newt Gingrich's business dealings are likely to remain at center stage of the increasingly contentious Republican presidential primary campaign in Florida.
Romney predicted during a sometimes heated debate that his 2010 tax returns and an early report on his taxes for last year will generate chatter but not any surprises.
"You'll see my income, how much taxes I've paid, how much I've paid to charity," he said on the debate stage Monday night. "Will it be an article? Yeah. But is it entirely legal and fair? Absolutely. I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes."
Romney earned $21.7 million income in 2010, most of it from his investments, according to records his campaign released within hours of the debate's conclusion. He donated a combined $3 million to charitable causes and the Mormon Church and paid about $3 million in federal income taxes for an effective tax rate of about 14 percent, the records showed.
For 2011, he'll pay about $3.2 million with an effective tax rate of about 15.4 percent, the campaign said.
The tax records may silence Gingrich and others who argued that Republican voters should know the details of Romney's wealth before they select their presidential nominee and not after, as Romney had wanted. But a new line of criticism rising from the records was expected to be leveled at the former front-runner, who keeps some of his personal fortune in investments in the Cayman Islands, where many international investors shelter their income from American taxes.
In Monday's debate, Gingrich faced harsh questions about his own financial dealings. While comfortable as the aggressor in previous encounters with Romney and their rivals, he found himself battered by Romney's criticism as the pair clashed repeatedly in sometimes personal terms.
"You've been walking around the state saying things that are untrue," Gingrich told Romney.
After Gingrich's overwhelming victory in South Carolina last Saturday, Romney can ill afford to lose Florida's Jan. 31 primary, and he showcased a new aggression from the opening moments in the debate. He said Gingrich had "resigned in disgrace" from Congress after four years as speaker and then had spent the next 15 years "working as an influence peddler."
In particular, he referred to the contract Gingrich's consulting firm had with Freddie Mac, a government-backed mortgage giant that Romney said "did a lot of bad for a lot of people and you were working there."
Romney also said Gingrich had lobbied lawmakers to approve legislation creating a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare.
"I have never, ever gone and done any lobbying," Gingrich retorted emphatically, adding that his firm had hired an expert to explain to employees "the bright line between what you can do as a citizen and what you do as a lobbyist."
Romney counterpunched, referring to the $300,000 that Gingrich's consulting firm received in 2006 from Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage giant.
And when Gingrich sought to turn the tables by inquiring about the private equity firm that Romney founded, the former Massachusetts governor replied: "We didn't do any work with the government. ... I wasn't a lobbyist."
Romney will briefly turn his attention Tuesday morning to President Barack Obama, offering a "pre-buttal" to the president's State of the Union address before shifting to Gingrich's work for the federal mortgage giant at a campaign event focused on Florida's housing problems.
Gingrich has a busy day on the campaign trail planned as well, with rallies set for St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Naples.
Rep. Ron Paul, who's bypassing Florida in favor of smaller, less expensive states, returned to Texas after Monday's debate. But Rick Santorum will appeal to the tea party to help revive his candidacy, appearing at two tea party events.
Santorum and Paul were reduced to supporting roles Monday night. Santorum jumped at the chance to criticize both Romney and Gingrich for having supported the big federal bailouts of Wall Street in 2008. He also said both men had abandoned conservative principles by supporting elements of "cap and trade" legislation to curb pollution emissions from industrial sites.
"When push came to shove, they were pushed," he said.
Paul sidestepped when moderator Brian Williams of NBC asked if he would run as a third-party candidate in the fall if he doesn't win the nomination. "I have no intention," he said, but he didn't rule it out.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Searching for Roleplay Partners
LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO DO THE IDEAS RIGHT NOW!
Pairings for non fandoms
VampirexVampire (No sparkling allowed)
VampirexWerewolf
VampirexVampire Hunter
WerewolfxWerewolf
Angelxhuman
AngelxFallen Angel
AngelxAngel
Fallen AngelxFallen Angel
TeacherxStudent
MagexMage
WarriorxMage
WarriorxWarrior
PrincessxServant
PrincexServant
and it kind of just goes on from there, any ideas you have, I will take into concideration.
Preferences
- Post a minimum of THREE PARAGRAPHS, I understand about writer?s block and can tolerate posts that aren?t as long, but even when our characters are interacting there are more things to say than just what their response is, like thought and things the character notices. I don?t want three sentences spaced out as paragraphs either, I don?t count those as paragraphs. The more I get the more I feel like I need to give back, and if I can?t give you back the same amount of paragraphs, I will as close as I can. Don't say you can give me three paragraphs and that be your maximum, I don't like getting into a roleplay giving someone a lot of hard work and getting three lines back that are just spaced out, those aren't paragraphs those are glorified sentences.
- I am fine with blood and gore but I don?t go into detail about sex, and I won?t do that, not saying that it can't happen between our characters, I just don't want details.
- I don?t want any love at first sight kind of things going on, there are times where characters already know each other and have hidden crushes, but I would like to bring out the hidden crush thing, instead of within the first few posts they?ve already decided to date.
- Put the word "Banana" at the end of your reply (either PM or thread) so I know you've read this.
- If you have any ideas for the role-play or you want to say ?Hey, how about we do this?? I?m not going to tell you it?s a bad idea, I might even add on to that idea, or we can work something out, I want this to be fun for both of us.
- I am excited to start any role-plays so if you are interested please either PM me or post in the thread and I?ll get back to you as soon as I see that you?ve replied.
- I am still a student, so there are times where I won?t be able to respond, and there are times I won?t be able to get to my computer, and I know you?re going to have times like that too, so we?ll both have to be patient, even if it is an exciting part in our role-play, but please if you are going to be gone for an extended time tell me and I'll do the same for you.
- In your reply to this thread, please say if you have any questions and where you would like to role-play this (PMs, threads or email. I?m fine with any of them.)
- If there is anything else you want to know please feel free to ask me, I don?t bite.
- I will do multiples of any roleplay or do multiple roleplays with one person and I am willing to give any other ideas a shot too.
- I will roleplay as female or male
Pairings for non fandoms
VampirexVampire (No sparkling allowed)
VampirexWerewolf
VampirexVampire Hunter
WerewolfxWerewolf
Angelxhuman
AngelxFallen Angel
AngelxAngel
Fallen AngelxFallen Angel
TeacherxStudent
MagexMage
WarriorxMage
WarriorxWarrior
PrincessxServant
PrincexServant
and it kind of just goes on from there, any ideas you have, I will take into concideration.
Fandoms
Ouran Highschool Hostclub (I really want to do one of these, but please be alright with a MxM pairing for this)
Inuyasha
Summer Wars
Full Metal Alchemist
Gentleman's Alliance Cross
Trigun
Fushigi Yugi
Alice in Wonderland
Final Fantasy VII or X (Only ones I have completed so far)
Batman (based on comics, video games, or animated series)
Ideas
(of course these will need work but they are just ideas that pop into my head and make a good roleplay. This will be edited as the ideas come to me.)
- A highly recognized school for magic students (could be changed to just about any other kind of supernatural creature or whatever) is abusing its power by using the graduating students as slaves. One clueless student, ends up stumbling upon a rebellion that was controlled by many students, some in their graduating year and some under classmen and one unknown teacher. The student ends up getting involved and falls in love with one of the graduating and mentoring students.
- A questionable illness going around in both the demon and angel dementions, it basically makes Angels evil and Demons good of course there can be more effects on the demons and angels other than that. Our story would start with a young human meeting a demon (most humans can't even see demons or angels), this demon had come down with this illness while trying to look for a cure. He forgets that he is there for finding a cure for this illness and decides that he would fallow around this human, since this human must be special. They go on to her teenage years were she starts to fight demons and angels, with this demon by her side.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/Wvmt02pkL2k/viewtopic.php
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Is Heidi Klum about to divorce Seal?
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images
Heidi Klum and Seal at the Emmys in September 2011.
By Us Weekly
Could the supermodel be back on the market?
According to a report on TMZ, Heidi Klum has plans to file for divorce from her husband of six years, Seal, as early as next week in the L.A. Country Superior Court.
PHOTOS: The most buzzed-about celebrity divorces
"Heidi will cite 'irreconcilable differences' as the cause for the divorce," TMZ adds, citing a source close to the situation.
If it's true, the news will come as a shock to her fans. The 38-year-old supermodel and the "Kiss from a Rose" crooner, 48, just renewed their vows last May in a private and intimate ceremony, which took place in Palm Beach, Fla.
PHOTOS: Heidi Klum's craziest Halloween costumes
Their three biological children, Henry, 6, Johan, 5, and Lou, 2, and Klum's 7-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, Leni, were at their parents' side.
"He's the most charming, loving, fun, gentlemanly, inspirational man I could have wished for," Klum told Good Housekeeping in their May issue, which hit stands around her and Seal's anniversary. "He always makes me feel I'm the only woman in the world."
PHOTOS: Hollywood's ugliest divorces
Last Sunday, Klum hit the 2012 Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills solo.
If the news is true, would you be shocked? Tell us on Facebook.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
States are all over the map on health overhaul (AP)
A list of states and their uninsured population, grouped according to the progress they have made in establishing health insurance exchanges, a linchpin for expanding coverage under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.
ADOPTED A PLAN
State Uninsured Population (Est.)
California 7,471,382
Colorado 817,264
Connecticut 390,862
Washington, D.C. 65,253
Hawaii 102,115
Maryland 734,044
Massachusetts 214,894
Nevada 555,193
Oregon 677,599
Rhode Island 121,675
Utah 424,220
Vermont 61,152
Washington 812,012
West Virginia 265,677
SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS
State Uninsured Population (Est.)
Alabama 696,118
Arizona 1,305,846
Delaware 114,609
Illinois 1,794,685
Indiana 855,635
Iowa 291,718
Maine 146,161
Michigan 1,336,484
Minnesota 453,310
Mississippi 529,703
Nebraska 225,830
New Jersey 1,333,880
New Mexico 506,466
New York 2,780,202
North Carolina 1,583,235
Pennsylvania 1,319,094
Virginia 1,023,247
OUTLOOK UNCLEAR
State Uninsured Population (Est.)
Alaska 128,074
Georgia 1,992,002
Idaho 239,073
Kansas 361,310
Kentucky 726,674
Missouri 780,077
Montana 178,785
North Dakota 74,092
Ohio 1,578,061
Oklahoma 596,817
South Carolina 753,650
South Dakota 108,011
Tennessee 981,670
Texas 6,654,183
Wisconsin 562,376
Wyoming 83,587
NO SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS
State Uninsured Population (Est.)
Arkansas 545,192
Florida 3,951,924
Louisiana 810,894
New Hampshire 136,023
___
Sources: Associated Press, Urban Institute
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At NY civil trial, Mets hope to shed Madoff taint (AP)
NEW YORK ? With spring training just weeks away, nobody's working harder to prepare for the New York Mets' future than their lawyers.
A March trial may decide how much the team owners' disastrous investment in the fraudulent business of imprisoned financier Bernard Madoff will cost the club.
"It's going to garner tons of attention and comes at a horrible time for the Mets. It's not a great way to start the season," said Neal H. Levin, who heads the fraud team at the Chicago law firm Freeborn & Peters and is not involved in the case.
A court-appointed trustee is trying to recover money for investors in the massive Ponzi scheme in which 4,900 investors were told their $20 billion investment had grown to $68 billion by November 2008. But when investigators finally reached him, only a few hundred million dollars actually remained in Madoff's accounts. Madoff admitted the fraud and is serving a 150-year sentence.
To the trustee, Irving Picard, the Mets owners were winners in Madoff's multi-decade fiasco, pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars in fictitious profits.
Picard has demanded more than $1 billion for investors, saying Mets co-owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz either knew or should have known Madoff was up to no good. The two men have steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, saying they were victims themselves.
After the lawsuit was filed, the Mets announced they were considering selling up to 25 percent of the franchise because of "uncertainty" caused by the lawsuit. Now, the need for such a sizable infusion of cash might be diminishing. The Mets have shrunk their payroll and the legal prospects seem to have improved, as two decisions by the presiding judge may have limited the chances that Madoff's downfall will doom the team's finances.
In the first, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff limited what the team's owners might have to pay to other Madoff investors to $386 million. He also made it possible the payout won't top more than $83.3 million, saying that the potential penalty would be limited to that amount unless Picard can prove at the trial that the Mets owners "willfully blinded" themselves to Madoff's fraud.
In a second ruling Tuesday, Rakoff blocked Picard from appealing the earlier ruling until after the trial, despite claims that the judge's reasoning will affect the calculation for the entire recovery effort, possibly costing jilted Madoff investors billions of dollars.
The Mets declined to comment Friday about the coming trial. A spokeswoman for Picard said his lawyers also would not comment because the litigation was ongoing.
This week, lawyers will submit written arguments to Rakoff on their pretrial requests. Rulings will define the perimeters of the trial, set to start March 19, and perhaps clear the way for former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo to step to the plate in his role as mediator to try to broker a settlement.
The likelihood of a deal seemed to diminish, though, when Picard and his lawyers concluded that Rakoff's reasoning might be applied to other cases, costing billions of dollars for investors.
So far, about $325 million has been distributed to the holders of 1,230 investor accounts, in addition to $798 million disbursed as a result of an industry fund that reimburses victims of fraud up to $500,000. Agreements so far resulted in the recovery of about $8.6 billion and the recoveries exceed prior restitution efforts related to Ponzi schemes in both dollar value and percentage of stolen funds recovered, Picard's office reported. Legal appeals were delaying disbursement of the rest of the money to investors.
Levin said there is a trend in courts that could work against the Mets, with the legal term "willful blindness" being loosely defined as having a level of knowledge that exists somewhere between actual knowledge and something that should have been known.
"As a baseball fan, I'm disappointed that one of baseball's prize franchises is under such a cloud," said Robert Berliner, an attorney who runs the Berliner Group mediation service in Chicago and is not involved in the case. "The Wilpons dealt with their childhood friend and he turned out to be a crook. It's hard for me to see that that makes them accessories."
He said it was too early to rule out a settlement.
"After the narrowing of the issues by the judge, I thought they ought to be in a position to settle it. I was a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet," he added. "There are a lot of cases that settle on the courthouse steps on the day of trial and this could be one of them."
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Photon 4G owners wanted -- Motorola is looking for software testers
Motorola has made an official request for "Pre-release software testers" of an unknown update for the Motorola Photon 4G. This is standard practice for Motorola, who likes to slowly roll out their final builds to a select few in what they call a "soak test". This gives Motorola (and the carriers) a bigger set of eyeballs looking for any potential bugs that limited internal testing just didn't find.
In the past we've seen soak tests for updates both big and small, so there's no knowing exactly what this one is going to be. We can't see the future, but I don't think this one will be Ice Cream Sandwich. But any update is good news as long as it makes things better. Motorola needs a thousand testers, and I think you guys are up to the challenge -- hit the source link and sign up!
Source: Motorola. Thanks, Deaofly!
| |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/36Wzgh1cn7U/story01.htm
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iHeadCase: iPhone Case with Built-in Storage for Earbuds
This is another Kickstarter project.? The iHeadCase is available in either a plastic shell case or a faux leather case for iPhone 4/4S.? The Hardshell version is made of polycarbonate and is available in piano black, and some other colors that will be selected later.? This case can also be used as a stand.? The [...]
Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/21/iheadcase-iphone-case-with-built-in-storage-for-earbuds/
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Newt Gingrich has momentum as South Carolina goes to the polls
Polls show the South Carolina primary Saturday is now Newt Gingrich's to lose after Mitt Romney stumbled this week. But Romney still is favored to win Florida's primary and the nomination.
What a difference a week can make!
Skip to next paragraphWhen he got up Monday morning, Mitt Romney had a comfortable 23-point Gallup poll advantage over GOP presidential rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum in national tracking polls.
By the end of the week, and as South Carolinians went to the polls in the first southern primary election, that margin had been cut by more than half to 10 points. Worse yet, some South Carolina polls had Romney dropping behind Gingrich ? 26-32 percent in the latest Clemson University Palmetto Poll.
RECOMMENDED: Newt Gingrich: 8 of the GOP idea man's more unusual ideas
What happened?
? Rick Perry dropped out and endorsed Gingrich ? not only shifting at least some primary votes to the former House speaker but reducing the number of candidates among whom the more conservative vote likely would have been split to Romney?s advantage.
? On Monday and Thursday, Gingrich performed solidly in debates, winning standing ovations while Romney stumbled over questions about his wealth and the amount of income taxes he pays. Gingrich even turned what could have been an ?open marriage? blow to his already-questionable marital history into a well-received blast at the ?destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media.?
? It turned out that Santorum, not Romney, had won the most votes in the Iowa caucuses. In the overall scheme of things, it wasn?t a big deal. But it was a distraction that helped deflate Romney?s supposed front-runner status.
?Clearly things are collapsing? for Romney, Gallup?s Editor-in-chief Frank Newport told MSNBC.
?The margin for Romney has evaporated this week, and we believe that Gingrich will win the South Carolina primary,? says Clemson University political scientist Dave Woodard.?
That?s the prediction from two other prominent sources.
Nate Silver, who writes the closely-watched FiveThirtyEight blog at the New York Times now gives Gingrich a 64 percent chance of winning South Carolina (compared to just 36 percent chance for Romney). The prediction market Intrade (which can change moment-to-moment) says Gingrich has an 86 percent chance of winning the first southern primary.
"If we get every conservative to decide Newt Gingrich is the right person to stop a Massachusetts moderate, we will win by a surprising margin, and that's going to set the stage for us winning the nomination," Gingrich said as he campaigned Friday.
For their part, Romney and his aides have spent the hours since Thursday night?s debate scrambling to lower expectations.
"I expect that Newt will win some primaries and contests and I expect I will as well," Romney said on the Laura Ingraham radio show Friday. "I'm not expecting to win them all."
But if Romney can recover from this predicted upset (or if he can surprise the pundits and pollsters and win by a slim margin Saturday), he still has a good chance of winning the nomination.
Intrade says he has a 63 percent chance of taking the next big primary ? Florida ? and a 70 percent chance of being nominated (compared to just 26 percent for Gingrich). Nate Silver gives Romney a whopping 93 percent chance of winning the Sunshine State.
In all of the polls tracked by Real Clear Politics, Romney wins the Republican nomination by an average of 11 percentage points. In all of the general election surveys pitting each of the GOP candidates against Barack Obama, Romney comes much closer than Gingrich, Santorum, or Ron Paul to defeating the incumbent president?? the clearest gauge of his electability.
?I think anything is possible,? says Gallup?s Frank Newport. ?It wouldn?t be out of the realm of possibility if Romney recovers. We?ll wait and see.?
RECOMMENDED: Newt Gingrich: 8 of the GOP idea man's more unusual ideas
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REL, Inc. teams with NYU-Poly to create lightweight, ultra durable automotive brake rotor
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 19-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Kathleen Hamilton
hamilton@poly.edu
718-260-3792
Polytechnic Institute of New York University
REL, Inc. teams with NYU-Poly to create lightweight, ultra durable automotive brake rotor
Researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) and Michigan-based REL, Inc., are creating a next-generation aluminum composite brake rotor potentially weighing 60 percent less than today's cast iron rotors with triple the life expectancy.
Due to expense, today's composite brakes have been reserved for motorcycles, race cars and high-performance sports cars, but this new, fiber reinforced, metal matrix composite (MMC) brake rotor aims at the mass market. It will be easier to manufacture, and the fiber reinforcements will provide longer life span.
The researchers also estimate that their composite rotor will shave approximately 30 pounds from a mid-size sedan a significant advantage in an industry facing fleet a fuel economy requirement of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
REL, Inc., a developer of MMC transportation and aerospace components, received a $150,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the initial product design, material and manufacturing process. The company tapped the expertise of NYU-Poly Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Nikhil Gupta and his Composites Materials and Mechanics Lab to develop the technology for automotive application. The collaboration will result in a prototype, first-of-its-kind rotor that may revolutionize a market valued at $10 billion annually.
Manufacturers have long sought to improve the durability and performance of automotive brakes, which are subject to tremendous temperature and pressure changes.
Gupta and REL are developing a one-piece brake rotor uniquely tailored to meet the extreme and variable temperature and loading conditions. Most of today's brake rotors are made of cast iron, which offers strength but at a cost of weight. Iron also doesn't adapt well to the demands placed on different sections of the rotor. A brake rotor has three functional zones, each of which requires a material with distinct strain and thermal properties to function optimally. Temperature and pressure changes across the rotor surface are a major cause of wear, warp and brake failure.
The team will replace the traditional rotor material with a high-temperature aluminum alloy reinforced with functionally graded ceramic particles and fibers to create a lightweight but extremely durable material that can be customized to best serve each section of the rotor.
"These functionally graded materials allow us to create the optimal composition for each part of the rotor," Gupta explained. "The hybrid material allows us to provide reinforcement where additional strength is needed, increase high-temperature performance, and minimize stress at the interfaces between the zones. Together, this should boost rotor life significantly, reducing warranty and replacement costs, and the weight savings will improve the vehicle's fuel efficiency."
"As auto companies strive to meet increasingly high efficiency and low emissions targets, there's a tremendous business opportunity in creating novel lightweight components which reduce overall vehicle weight and increase vehicle performance", said Adam Loukus, vice president of REL, Inc. "Professor Gupta is highly regarded in MMC research and analysis, and his expertise backed by the resources of NYU-Poly is an ideal complement to our goals for this exciting project."
"This is a valuable opportunity for our students to gain real-world business experience," Gupta added. "Working closely with the REL team, they will understand the demands of the automotive component development process."
In addition to the automotive market, the composite rotors may benefit military fleets, where up-armored vehicles operate at weights well above their design capacity. While the development of lightweight armor remains a long-term goal for the military, any weight savings on the vehicles themselves will immediately improve fleet efficiency, which can be critical to mission success where fuel delivery is difficult.
Gupta and the team at REL expect to complete a functional rotor prototype within 12 months.
###
About Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and research, and is rooted in a 158-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship: i2e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation's second-oldest private engineering school. In addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it also offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. Globally, NYU-Poly has programs in Israel, China and is an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. For more information, visit http://www.poly.edu.
About REL, Inc.
REL of Calumet, Michigan, specializes in designing and building Custom Automated Equipment and manufacturing Advanced Lightweight Composite Materials. REL has developed and deployed new and innovative MMC products in motorcycle braking applications, lightweight survivability materials and high temperature insulation materials. REL's vertically integrated approach to manufacturing MMCs has made composites more cost effective and thereby is expanding the use of MMC materials in targeted markets. For more information, visit http://www.relinc.net.
Note to Editors:
To download an image, visit http://research.poly.edu/~resourcespace/?c=510&k=0da2e1409d
Contacts:
Kathleen Hamilton, NYU-Poly
718-260-3792 office
347-843-9782 mobile
hamilton@poly.edu
David Bekkala, REL, Inc.
906-337-3018 office
david@relinc.net
Joshua Chamot, NSF
703-292-7730
jchamot@nsf.gov
[ | 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.
Public release date: 19-Jan-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Kathleen Hamilton
hamilton@poly.edu
718-260-3792
Polytechnic Institute of New York University
REL, Inc. teams with NYU-Poly to create lightweight, ultra durable automotive brake rotor
Researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) and Michigan-based REL, Inc., are creating a next-generation aluminum composite brake rotor potentially weighing 60 percent less than today's cast iron rotors with triple the life expectancy.
Due to expense, today's composite brakes have been reserved for motorcycles, race cars and high-performance sports cars, but this new, fiber reinforced, metal matrix composite (MMC) brake rotor aims at the mass market. It will be easier to manufacture, and the fiber reinforcements will provide longer life span.
The researchers also estimate that their composite rotor will shave approximately 30 pounds from a mid-size sedan a significant advantage in an industry facing fleet a fuel economy requirement of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
REL, Inc., a developer of MMC transportation and aerospace components, received a $150,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the initial product design, material and manufacturing process. The company tapped the expertise of NYU-Poly Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Nikhil Gupta and his Composites Materials and Mechanics Lab to develop the technology for automotive application. The collaboration will result in a prototype, first-of-its-kind rotor that may revolutionize a market valued at $10 billion annually.
Manufacturers have long sought to improve the durability and performance of automotive brakes, which are subject to tremendous temperature and pressure changes.
Gupta and REL are developing a one-piece brake rotor uniquely tailored to meet the extreme and variable temperature and loading conditions. Most of today's brake rotors are made of cast iron, which offers strength but at a cost of weight. Iron also doesn't adapt well to the demands placed on different sections of the rotor. A brake rotor has three functional zones, each of which requires a material with distinct strain and thermal properties to function optimally. Temperature and pressure changes across the rotor surface are a major cause of wear, warp and brake failure.
The team will replace the traditional rotor material with a high-temperature aluminum alloy reinforced with functionally graded ceramic particles and fibers to create a lightweight but extremely durable material that can be customized to best serve each section of the rotor.
"These functionally graded materials allow us to create the optimal composition for each part of the rotor," Gupta explained. "The hybrid material allows us to provide reinforcement where additional strength is needed, increase high-temperature performance, and minimize stress at the interfaces between the zones. Together, this should boost rotor life significantly, reducing warranty and replacement costs, and the weight savings will improve the vehicle's fuel efficiency."
"As auto companies strive to meet increasingly high efficiency and low emissions targets, there's a tremendous business opportunity in creating novel lightweight components which reduce overall vehicle weight and increase vehicle performance", said Adam Loukus, vice president of REL, Inc. "Professor Gupta is highly regarded in MMC research and analysis, and his expertise backed by the resources of NYU-Poly is an ideal complement to our goals for this exciting project."
"This is a valuable opportunity for our students to gain real-world business experience," Gupta added. "Working closely with the REL team, they will understand the demands of the automotive component development process."
In addition to the automotive market, the composite rotors may benefit military fleets, where up-armored vehicles operate at weights well above their design capacity. While the development of lightweight armor remains a long-term goal for the military, any weight savings on the vehicles themselves will immediately improve fleet efficiency, which can be critical to mission success where fuel delivery is difficult.
Gupta and the team at REL expect to complete a functional rotor prototype within 12 months.
###
About Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and research, and is rooted in a 158-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship: i2e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation's second-oldest private engineering school. In addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it also offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. Globally, NYU-Poly has programs in Israel, China and is an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. For more information, visit http://www.poly.edu.
About REL, Inc.
REL of Calumet, Michigan, specializes in designing and building Custom Automated Equipment and manufacturing Advanced Lightweight Composite Materials. REL has developed and deployed new and innovative MMC products in motorcycle braking applications, lightweight survivability materials and high temperature insulation materials. REL's vertically integrated approach to manufacturing MMCs has made composites more cost effective and thereby is expanding the use of MMC materials in targeted markets. For more information, visit http://www.relinc.net.
Note to Editors:
To download an image, visit http://research.poly.edu/~resourcespace/?c=510&k=0da2e1409d
Contacts:
Kathleen Hamilton, NYU-Poly
718-260-3792 office
347-843-9782 mobile
hamilton@poly.edu
David Bekkala, REL, Inc.
906-337-3018 office
david@relinc.net
Joshua Chamot, NSF
703-292-7730
jchamot@nsf.gov
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/pion-rit011912.php
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Will Katherine Heigl Return to 'Grey's?' (omg!)
Katherine Heigl's history with Grey's Anatomy is a rocky one -- and one that there's really no need to rehash since the drama was splashed everywhere back in 2009.
So it might surprise you to hear that the actress is actually hoping to come back before the ABC medical drama ends its run!
Katherine Heigl Hates Balls
"I've told them I want to [come back]," Katherine tells E! "I really, really, really want to see where [Izzie] is. I just want to know what happened to her and where she went and what she's doing now. My idea is that she actually like figures it out, and finds some success and does really well in a different hospital. She was always floundering you know, and so she was always one step behind the eight ball and I want to see that girl take some power back."
Which Grey's Star is Pregnant Now?
But even Katherine acknowledges that this might not come to pass. "Being a showrunner and being a writer of a TV series like that is so complicated that I mean [creator Shonda Rhimes has] got how many characters are there now? There's a lot and so she's balancing about 40 different storylines, so I don't know if it fits in to their sort of vision for this season or next or however many seasons it goes."
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Petrochemicals - Brazil, Mexico - CFE starts grid construction for Ethylene XXI
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Mexico's state power company CFE has begun construction of the electricity network that will supply the Ethylene XXI petrochemical project in Veracruz state.
The polyethylene (PE) complex could be the single largest consumer of electricity in the country, with demand expected to reach 135MW/y, news service El Golfo reported.
Work to be carried out this year involves the installation of transmission lines, according to V?ctor Andrade L?pez, secretary general of national electrical workers union Suterm.
Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem (NYSE: BAK) has a 65% stake in the US$4bn project, with the remainder held by Mexico's Idesa.
When complete, Ethylene XXI will produce 1.05Mt/y of PE, 750,000t/y of high-density PE and 300,000t/y of low-density PE.
Why settle for this one story when you can access all our news? Sign up here for your free 15-day trial.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Romney's rivals challenge his electability
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) ? Mitt Romney's Republican rivals are intensifying their efforts to erode if not eliminate his standing as the man most likely to defeat President Barack Obama this fall, often stressing their own prospects over his in the final few days before South Carolina's potentially decisive weekend primary.
The stepped-up challenge to Romney's electability, in paid television advertising, campaign appearances and the first of two pre-primary debates, appears aimed at one of his principal strengths in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries. Voters in both contests said they prized a candidate's ability to beat Obama over a candidate's conservative credentials, a preference that helped the former Massachusetts governor to his pair of victories.
After spending days challenging Romney's record as a businessman, Newt Gingrich unveiled a television commercial on Tuesday that starts with an announcer saying only the former House speaker can defeat Obama.
The ad makes no mention of Romney, instead showing Gingrich drawing cheers from the audience at Monday's debate in Myrtle Beach when he said, "More people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president American history."
Gingrich also drew sustained applause from businessmen and businesswomen after a speech late Tuesday that made only passing reference to Romney, and none at all to his other rivals. Instead, he outlined his own proposals for lower taxes, less regulation and expanded domestic energy production.
"I believe I am the only candidate in this race who understands the scale of change necessary to get this country working again," Gingrich said. He predicted that if he wins the state's primary, the nomination would follow, adding, "We will run a campaign of paychecks vs. food stamps and we will beat Obama virtually everywhere in this country."
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are also hoping to change the perception of voters in the first-in-the-South primary state, sometimes by planting seeds of doubt, at other points sketching dismaying bleak prospects for the party if Romney is atop the ticket this fall.
"As Republicans, we cannot fire our nominee in September," Perry said to Romney from across the debate stage on Monday. "We need to know now. So I hope you'll put your tax records out there this week so the people of South Carolina can take a look and decide if, you know, we got a flawed candidate or not."
Santorum, campaigning in Lexington, S.C., on Tuesday, said Romney is a candidate in the mold of Bob Dole and John McCain, GOP nominees who led the party to defeat in 1996 and 2008. "He's never run as a conservative in a general election," he said.
By contrast, Santorum said he had won a pair of elections to the House from a Democratic district in Pennsylvania, then carried the state in successive Senate campaigns, including in 2000, when George W. Bush lost the state.
The former senator also sought to ease concerns about the double-digit defeat he suffered in 2006.
"I led the ticket even though I lost by a lot," he said, noting that five GOP congressmen lost that year in the state, including two who were under federal investigation.
The increased concentration on electability comes in the wake of polls with Iowa caucus-goers and New Hampshire primary voters, who said the ability to defeat Obama mattered more than a candidate's stands on conservative credentials, moral character or experience.
In Iowa, 31 percent of caucus-goers interviewed for The Associated Press and the television networks said a candidate's ability to defeat Obama mattered most. Romney won the backing of nearly half of them, far outdistancing the rest of the field.
Another 25 percent of caucus-goers interviewed said they cared most about a candidate who was a true conservative. Romney drew the support of a mere 1 percent of them. Among the 24 percent who cited strong moral character, his share was 11 percent.
The findings were roughly similar in New Hampshire, where Romney's margin of victory was larger than the slender eight-vote spread he won over Santorum in Iowa.
Thirty-five percent of New Hampshire voters cited an ability to defeat Obama as the most important factor in deciding which candidate to support, and Romney drew the backing of 63 percent of them.
Among the 13 percent who said they wanted most of all a candidate who was a true conservative, Romney was favored by only 13 percent; among the 22 percent who said strong moral character mattered most, the former Massachusetts governor got 26 percent.
The conclusion, according to a strategist for one of Romney's rivals, is that "a candidate has to show that he can defeat Obama before any of the ideological differences (among Republicans) can come into play. ... Voters don't want to vote for someone they think has no chance against Obama." The strategist declined to be identified by name, citing internal campaign strategy.
In the days since New Hampshire, the change in tone has seemed to accelerate. The five remaining rivals converge Thursday in Charleston for the final debate before Saturday's primary. No Republican since 1980 has won the party's presidential nomination without first capturing the South Carolina primary.
It is unclear if the emphasis on electability has had any impact on Romney's lead in the polls in South Carolina.
But the Romney campaign has responded to Gingrich in the past 24 hours with a new Web video and a telephone conference call to reporters. Both featured former Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri, who was in the House when Gingrich served as speaker of the House. "If we nominate him, he's going to be an unreliable candidate like he was an unreliable leader in the 1990s," he said.
Romney, back in the state a Wednesday after a fundraising trip to New York, slapped at Gingrich's claims as well
"He'd been in Congress two years when Ronald Reagan came to office," he said during an appearance at Wofford College in Spartanburg. Gingrich taking credit for jobs created during Reagan's administration "is like Al Gore taking credit for the Internet."
That was a retort to Gingrich's claim that he played a key role in two conservative revolutions, one led by Reagan in 1980, and the other that he led as speaker after Republicans took control of the House in 1994 after 40 years in the minority.
___
Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.
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