Drum rolls as iconic Dior meets the avant-garde

What do you get when you mix iconic French couture with an edgy avant-garde designer? With days to go until Raf Simons' debut couture collection at Dior on Monday, the fashion pack is bubbling with impatience to find out.

It took the French house more than a year to find the right fit for its top design job, after it ousted John Galliano in disgrace in March last year over a drunken, racist outburst in a bar that turned the Briton into a fashion pariah overnight.

That was long enough for the memory of the scandal to fade, and for months of speculation linking many of the top names in the industry to the job, held in the interim by Galliano's right-hand man Bill Gaytten.

But when Dior finally settled, in April, on the 44-year-old Belgian Simons from the house of German designer Jil Sander, the industry could barely contain its delight.

"It's a match made in heaven that you never imagined would ever be consummated," Tim Blanks of US website Style.com told AFP at this week's Paris menswear shows.

"It's going to be a beautiful baby!" enthused the fashion commentator, who has closely followed Simons' career over the years. "This is a genuine synthesis of past and future."

For the past year Gaytten has kept the Dior ateliers ticking over -- and sales buoyant -- with a string of polished collections built on trademark Dior codes like the 1950s nipped-waist suit, houndstooth and flamboyant red.

But fashion-lovers were left hungering for something more than competence at the brand's helm.

That something is what they hope Simons can deliver on Monday, the first of three days of haute couture shows set to cast a spell over the French capital city with their heady mix of craft and luxury.

"He's a rare bird," Blanks said of the designer, who is known for working pure, clean lines with a wry, playful touch.

"He really is consistently one of the most provocative and fascinating designers that we have -- provocative not in a way that he shocks you, but a way that he makes you question things."

How much liberty is Simons likely to take with the venerable house, crown jewel of the luxury empire of LVMH owner Bernard Arnault?

"I feel that he has a natural restraint, and a natural respect in the way he approaches things," said Blanks.

Simons' last three collections for Jil Sander -- dubbed his couture trilogy -- were "like an amazing audition tape for a job in haute couture," Blanks said, based entirely around the hushed world of mid-20th-century couture.

"He's riveted by codes, codes of youth culture, codes of any kind of closed world where people operate to their own set of rules and create their own universe out of their passions and obsessions."

"Raf is obsessed too, so he understands obsession."

Simons headlined day one of the Paris menswear shows Wednesday, sending out an urbane, playful look that showed a lot of leg, before knuckling down to prepare for his Dior debut.

The Belgian made his name in menswear, as did his contemporary Hedi Slimane, the cult designer returning to fashion this year at the helm of Yves Saint Laurent, where he will show his first catwalk collection in October.

"These appointments, it's a new world for fashion," said Blanks. "The pendulum has swung towards designers whose basis is in the codes of menswear" -- which, he noted, is a deeply codified discipline, as is couture.

"There's ways of doing things -- it's not just 'It feels good, do it'."

Catering to a core client base of no more than 200 women worldwide, haute couture is a protected appellation in France, awarded based on strict criteria like the amount of work carried out by hand and in-house, and the share of pieces made-to-measure.

Two dozen houses including Chanel, Dior, Gaultier and Givenchy will send out their one-off creations -- whose artistry is matched only by their astronomical price tags -- over three days of exclusive shows from Monday to Weddesday.

The Pact (2012)

The Pact is a 2012 horror film written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy and starring Caity Lotz and Casper van Dien. The film was made following the success of McCarthy's short film of the same name which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The films follows Annie, whose mother has recently passed away, as she tries to discover what caused her sister, Nicole, and her cousin, Liz, to disappear. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January, opening to generally favourable reviews. The film was released in the USA on June 6, 2012 in select cinemas and 8 June, 2012 in the UK and Ireland.

Synopsis: After their mother passes away, sisters Nicole and Annie reluctantly return to their childhood home to pay their last respects. While staying overnight in the house, the sisters sense a mysterious presence in their midst: noises startling them in the night, objects moving about, a fallen picture of an unknown woman posed next to their mother. Annie begins experiencing a series of intense and disturbing dreams - visions that lead her to uncover something terrible about her mother's past that is finally revealing itself.

Valencia Tourism Benefits from New Cruise Ships Terminals

Valencia, Spain is becoming one of the top tourist spots in the Mediterranean due to the developing port for cruise ships. The city will be one of the main stop overs for tourists, especially those in a Spain’s east coast cruise, since new terminals will be in place this year for several large ships to dock all in one time.

As a result of the development, five shipping companies will make Valencia the starting port for their east coast cruise this 2012. MSC Cruises, Pullmantur, Royal Caribbean, and MSC Orchestra will be sailing every Tuesday from June to October in Valencia for a week’s trip to Ibiza, Naples and Villefranche. The Adventure of the Seas from Royal Caribbean, on the other hand, will be sailing every Sunday from June until September to Civitavecchia, Corsica and Malaga.

In addition, several tours have day stay programs in Valencia. Famous routes among Germans are those that pass through western Mediterranean. More than half of the visitors or tourists, specifically fifty-six (56) percent, are foreigners. A quarter of which are Germans, which is due to Aida Vita passing the area alone at the end of June for four times.

The wide array of tour programs can help tourists experience the beauty of Valencia. To experience Valencia on land, some of the activities visitors should try are the Turia river bed bicycle tour, visiting the sight of the modern buildings in the City of Arts and Sciences for breathtaking futuristic shots, or taking the Albufera nature reserve tour. There are a lot of activities that can be done. Tourists will have fun alongside learning about the culture and traditions of the place.

Tourists who would like to explore Valencia in daytime would find it perfectly accessible and inexpensive with the Valencia cruise card which costs only ten Euros. With the card, exclusive discounts at museums, shops, restaurants, and other tourist facilities, direct transfers by the Turismo Valencia shuttle bus from the port to the city, and journeys through bus, metro and tram journeys can be availed to name a few perks. The card can be purchased by tourists at the port’s information center.

Michael Jordan's Youngest Son 'Marcus Jordan' Arrested

Ever since Michael Jordan retired (the first time), his legacy has been taking some shots. First there was his comeback attempt with the Washington Wizards, then a divorce from his wife, gambling allegations, and his unsuccessful tenure as head of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Now Michael Jordan is taking some surprising hits from an unlikely source -- his son.

Michael Jordan's son, Marcus Jordan, was arrested after allegedly getting into a drunken altercation with several women and then police, Reuters reports.

Like his famous father, Marcus Jordan is also a basketball player. Unlike his father, Marcus Jordan will probably have to find an alternative career besides basketball after he graduates from the University of Central Florida, as he isn't that good.

Perhaps living under his father's shadow became too much for Marcus Jordan this past weekend. Or maybe Jordan was just acting like any other 21-year-old when he got drunk and aggressive outside an Omaha, Neb., hotel.

Police were called to the scene about 2 a.m. to subdue Jordan during an argument with two women. When police stepped in, Jordan was described as "very animated, intoxicated and uncooperative." It took multiple officers to control and handcuff Jordan, Reuters reports.

As a result, Jordan was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing justice. These are likely criminal misdemeanor charges and Jordan could face jail time. However, if Jordan has a clear record, he'll likely be able to work out a plea deal in which he gets probation instead of prison.

Michael Jordan's son, Marcus Jordan, was arrested after an allegedly drunken argument outside a hotel. Living under the spotlight may have been too much for the younger Jordan. Or Marcus Jordan may have just gotten into typical trouble for a 21-year-old and only made the news because of his famous father.

Enshadowed (Nevermore, #2) by Kelly Creagh

Varen Nethers is trapped in a perilous dream world -- a treacherous and desolate realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. Isobel Lanley, plagued by strange visions and haunted by the nightmares of Varen's creation, is the only one who can save him.
Isobel knows that her only hope lies within a Baltimore cemetery. There, in the early morning hours of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, a mysterious stranger known as the "Poe Toaster" will make his annual homage at the legendary poet's grave.
Only the Poe Toaster holds the key to the way between worlds. But even greater dangers lie ahead for Isobel. An ancient evil, draped in veils of white, is watching, challenging her for Varen's affections. When Isobel finally finds Varen, he is no longer the quiet and brooding boy who once captivated her, but a dark force, powerful and malevolent.

Student Loan Interest Rate Fix Adds Changes In Pell Grants, Other Federal College Aid

The interest rate on federally subsidized student loans will remain at a discounted 3.4 percent, but fewer people will be able to use them.

Last week, Congress reached an agreement on keeping the interest rate for new subsidized Stafford Loans at 3.4 percent, instead of 6.8 percent, passing a one-year extension on the current discounted rate.

President Obama made a big push in the spring and summer to keep the interest rate from doubling. In his 10-year budget request, the president had originally only requested a one-year extension on the lower rate, which carried a $6 billion price tag. To pay for it, Congress made a few changes to federal student aid.

Students enrolling in college for the first time after July 1, 2012 must have a high school diploma or GED to be eligible for federal student aid. Graduate and professional students are no longer able to obtain subsidized federal student loans; they will only be able to get unsubsidized federal loans.

There are also changes to the grace period -- the 6 months after graduating college before a student must begin repayment of their student loans. According to the Project on Student Debt:

New subsidized Stafford loans issued in 2012-13 will accrue interest during the six-month "grace period" after students leave school. This will also be the case for loans issued in 2013-14. However, the federal government will continue to cover the grace-period interest for all subsidized Stafford loans issued before July 1, 2012, and the grace-period subsidy is scheduled to go back into effect for loans issued on or after July 1, 2014.

Pell grants will still have a maximum grant award of $5,550, but students will only be able to use them for 12 semesters instead of 18 semesters. This change is effective to all students, including those close to graduating.

There could be more changes for Pell grants ahead too, as the Ed Money Watch blog notes:
Temporary funding for the Pell Grant program runs out next year and the maximum grant is scheduled to drop by about half in 2014. But $6 billion – the same amount the president convinced Congress to spend on the interest rate extension – would stop that from happening. Why weren’t student aid advocates up in arms that the president challenged Congress to find $6 billion for the interest rate fix over Pell Grants? Even the Washington Post said that the president had his priorities wrong.

Original source here

Restaurant owners to review school meals

Two founders of a restaurant chain have been asked to carry out a review of school food in England.

Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent run the London-based Leon chain, which markets itself as offering healthy fast food.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has invited them to look at nutrition in schools and see how it can be improved.

But TV chef Jamie Oliver, who has long campaigned for better school meals, hit out at the announcement, saying it was "not the time for more costly reports".'Radical' recommendations

Visiting a primary school in Hackney, London on Wednesday, Mr Gove said the review would take the reforms instigated by Jamie Oliver's campaign to "the next level".

He also countered previous criticism by the celebrity chef about the quality of food in academies, which are not under local-authority control, insisting there was "no evidence" that their food was any worse than in state schools.

Mr Dimbleby and Mr Vincent, whose food business is based in London and south-east England, will visit schools, talk to experts and study research for their review.

Mr Gove has said the action plan they come up with can be "radical". They will report back to him in 2013.

Mr Dimbleby, co-founder of Leon, said: "Jamie Oliver shone a light and made people see how bad things were. It's a lot better on average than it was, but it's still not good enough in a lot of schools."
Delays


In a statement, Mr Oliver said: "Now is not the time for more costly reports. Now is the time for action and that doesn't seem to be what we get from Mr Gove when it comes to school food and food education.

"This just delays action for another year or more.

"I'm fairly confident that the gentlemen from Leon will end up pushing
for the same things that I, and many others, have been pushing for years, but the question is, will Mr Gove listen?

"Will this be just another report by good people which is destined to be ignored? I hope not, but I fear it will."

In April, Mr Oliver said he was "totally mystified" that academies were allowed to determine what food should be on offer, while state schools had to follow strict rules.

He accused Mr Gove of endangering pupils' nutrition.

The TV chef had led a campaign to improve school meals, and this led to new, tougher regulations being brought in covering the nutritional standards of school meals.

Standards

In 2008, nutrient standards came into force for lunches in primary schools and the following year for secondary schools.

According to the School Food Trust, take up of school lunches is 38% in secondary school and 44% in primary.

The trust says 98% of schools were offering veg and salad four-to-five days a week and 96% offered fruit.

But it says that half of secondary schools offer pizzas and starchy food cooked in oil on most days.

"Our research has already highlighted areas where there's a clear need for further improving and building on the achievements of the last seven years," said the trust's chief executive, Judy Hargadon.

Original source here

Top universities warned over 'slow' admissions progress

Leading universities are failing to recruit enough teenagers from poor families, the official regulator warns today, despite spending hundreds of millions of pounds attempting to boost access to courses.

The number of disadvantaged students admitted to sought-after institutions remained flat last year, it was claimed.

The Office for Fair Access said attempts to attract more applicants had been too “slow” and all institutions would be expected to set more ambitious targets for 2012/13.

It emerged that fewer students from disadvantaged backgrounds were admitted to England’s 33 leading universities last year with some form of financial support.

But more undergraduates claimed a full bursary, figures show, suggesting that a far larger share of available cash is being concentrated on the very poorest students at the expense of partial subsides handed to those from lower middle-class households.

Figures also showed that the amount of financial help being invested in deprived students increased across the English higher education system from £403.7m in 2009/10 to £424.2m last year.

Sir Martin Harris, outgoing director of OFFA, said universities were “making good progress in attracting and retaining under-represented students", but added: “However, as previous research by OFFA has already shown, progress is slow at the most selective universities despite significant investment and efforts on their part.”

Currently, all universities are expected to set targets designed to increase applications among students from state schools, poor homes, disabled candidates and those from postcodes with a poor record of university entry.

Next year, targets must be applied to actual admissions.

The Russell Group, which represents 24 leading universities in England, including Oxford, Cambridge and University College London, condemned the move.

Wendy Piatt, director-general, said: “Universities themselves do not have the power to solve the root causes of the under-representation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds: under-achievement at school and poor advice on the best choices of A-level subjects and university degree course.

“So it is hard for universities to make rapid progress on achieving demanding and really quite specific targets which relate to much broader and complex socio-economic problems.”

Data published by OFFA showed how much money each university invested in so-called access measures – and the number of students claiming a full or partial bursary.

It emerged that more money was invested by the 33 mainstream English members of the Russell Group and 1994 Group, which represents smaller research institutions such as Lancaster, Bath and Royal Holloway.

Some 23 institutions increased the number of students admitted with a full bursary, while numbers dropped at a further 10.

However, fewer students were admitted with some form of support – covering full and partial bursaries. Figures suggest the total number of bursary holders dropped at 24 universities and increased at just nine.

Just 19.5 per cent of students at Durham claimed a bursary, followed by 25 per cent at Cambridge and 25.7 per cent at Imperial. Some 28.6 per cent of Oxford students were eligible for some form of support, while the largest number was at East London University, where 82 per cent of undergraduates were bursary holders.

Original source here

MCO Foundation re-launches Young Artists Development Program

The MCO Foundation, established in 1985 to promote classical and cultural arts, relaunches the Young Artists Development Program to provide young artists the experience through performance opportunities, endorsement, and exposure to a wider public.

The program has been offering master classes, free of charge to teachers and students with hopes that it provides learning opportunities, wisdom, and pointers from master artists and to enable young artists to hone their craft; and for music lovers to have a better understanding on music.

World renowned cellist Li Qin Wei (considered to be the next YoYo Ma) and pianist Carmencita Sipin Aspiras have, likewise, shared their knowledge and talents.

With theme “Three prodigies now, tomorrow’s music Masters”, this year’s Young Artists’ Series 2012 roster includes:

• Violinist Christian Tan, to perform on July 12, at the Filipinas Heritage Library. Tan is a consistent NAMCYA winner, the youngest musician to be invited to participate in the Asian Youth Orchestra’s 17-city Asian tour and was single-handedly awarded with the Artistic Director Achievement Award by the founder and the music director of the orchestra Richard Pontzious. He is currently under the tutelage of violinist Gina Medina and a member of Manila Symphony Orchestra.

• Soprano Elainne Vibal, to perform on July 19, is a prize winner in the 2009 Jovita Fuentes Vocal Competition, and a student of soprano Camille Lopez Molina. She had just finished a series of performances as Maria Clara in the Dulaang UP Production of De Leon’s “Noli Me Tangere” and as chorus member in MusicArtes’ production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”.

• Flutist John Raymond Sarreal, to perform on July 26, recently received his Bachelor of Music at the University of the Philippine under the tutelage of Prof. Enrique Barcelo; and as well as under Antonio Maigue, Thomas Perrzoli, Bernard Goldberg and Hiroshi Matsushima. He also passed the Rome Music Festival Auditions to be part of the Rome Music Festival Orchestra.

Other special performances include: “Hommages: A Tribute to violinist Donnie Fernandez” on July 5, at the University of Makati, which will be opened to the public for free. With an exceptional talent, Donnie entered the prestigious Julliard School of Music at the age of nine, had an active performance career; and was the concert master of the US Army Orchestra at the time of her passing last year. This tribute will feature the children of Donnie Fernandez who are keeping their mother’s memory alive through music – Catherine F. Belleza, violinist; Isabel F. Belleza, flutist/pianist; Therese F. Bonoan, cellist; with collaborating artists Robert P. Alcala, pianist; Mo. Ruggiero Barbieri, conductor; and the Makati String Ensemble.

“Trio” (The Best of Chamber Music) will be held on July 20 at the Filipinas Heritage Library will feature three of the country’s finest artists today headed by pianist Mary Anne Espina (2008 Aliw Awardee), violinist Gina Medina (Concert Master of Manila Symphony Orchestra) and cellist Wilfredo Pasamba (considered one the finest Filipino cellists).

Tickets to the performances of Christian Tan, Elainne Vibal, and John Raymond Sarreal are at R500; and “Trio” tickets at R800 with discounts offered to students, faculty and senior citizens. For inquiries, call the MCOF Secretariat at 750-0768, 0920-9540053, Filipinas Heritage Library at 892-1801 or visit Ticketworld at 891-9999. This series is made possible through the additional support from National Commission for the Culture and the Arts, Alveo Land, City of Makati and the Friends of the Cultural Concerns of the Philippines.

Original source here

Joe Biden To Teachers: Mitt Romney Thinks You're Selfish

Vice President Joe Biden thinks that teachers face a "fullblown assault" thanks to people like Mitt Romney.

"I can't think of a candidate for president who's ever made such a direct assault on such an honorable profession," Biden said at the National Education Association's annual convention, in front of thousands of teachers in Washington, D.C. Tuesday morning.

Romney and Republicans, Biden asserted, want to increase the influence of private schools "and strip you of your voice because he doesn't think you know much about education, and he characterizes you as not caring about the students but caring about yourselves."

Biden made these points in a speech he called an "honest-to-God" conversation about the differences between Romney and President Barack Obama on education, but some teachers say those differences are less pronounced than Biden's rhetoric would make it seem.

"He talked the talk but they don't walk the walk," Laura González, a teacher in Windsor, Calif., told The Huffington Post. "He says all these nice things about how Democrats support teachers and Republicans don't, but in the end, I don't feel a lot of support from the president or Democrats." She referred to an emphasis on high-stakes tests and Obama's support of an underperforming Rhode Island high school firing all of its teachers.

Mary Cathryn Ricker, a Minnesota teacher, said she was touched by Biden's speech, but also had mixed feelings. "His sincerity came across to me," she said. "But he didn't talk about what that sincerity would look like in policy going forward." Ricker said she thinks the administration should do a better job including teachers in policy planning. For example, the administration is now pushing a plan to pay teachers more to stay in hard-to-staff schools. "It's insulting having to think that I have to be bribed to teach," she said.

The convention felt a bit like an Obama rally, with NEA president Dennis Van Roekel constantly firing up the crowd about the election and a "NEA Educators for Obama" banner hanging in the hallway. In fact, the NEA invited Obama, but Biden and his wife, Jill, a community college English teacher, came instead. "I took it as a slight, and a lot of teachers did as well," González said.

Despite the overall showing of support, the NEA, the nation's largest teachers union, has had a rocky relationship with the Obama administration and the Democratic party in general these last few years. Many Democrats have departed from a pro-union stance and share views with some Republicans on education, favoring a standards-based approach that measures teachers' performance in accordance with students' test scores.

But last summer, the NEA became the first large union to endorse Obama for reelection. And over the same period of time, a wave of teacher layoffs decimated the NEA's ranks. When faced with the choice between Obama and Romney, who advocates for using No Child Left Behind money for private-school vouchers and is against spending money to put fired teachers back in schools, the union backed Obama enthusiastically.

"There's a pretty uniform view held by Mr. Romney and the Republicans," Biden said. "They criticize you and they blame you, they make you the fall guy, they should be thinking of ways to make your jobs easier not more difficult. Instead they hector and they lecture and they blame you and they call you selfish."

Biden said his father used to tell him, "don't tell me what you value, show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value." He chided Romney for his support of Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget, which cuts funding for preschools, funding for about 30,000 education jobs and Pell Grants. Biden described Romney's "magical mystical tour" in Philadelphia, where he said class size doesn't matter, and quoted Romney's website, where Romney asserts that teachers are against parental choice. "Your cause in life is preventing children from having a real chance? Is he serious?" Biden told the teachers. "He is though. I believe he believes what he says."

"Light a fire under these guys and tell them we will not settle on education," Biden said at the end of his speech. The crowd chanted "four more years," and an elderly teacher gave Biden a hug.

Original source here

World’s Thinnest Transparent Display Is Made Of Soap Bubble

Researchers from Japan and US have produced a soap bubble-like display that is remarkably thin and it projects either 3D or flat images by tweaking the properties of a film.

With soap as a core ingredient in its mixture, the membrane surface lets light pass through it and reflects a range of vibrant and vivid colors of projected images without a threat of getting burst like a regular soap bubble.

It uses the Ultrasonic sound waves to play the trick for you, making images look either smooth or rough. The duo from University of Tsukuba (Dr Ochiai and Keisuke Toyoshima) and Alexis Oyama from Carnegie Mellon University believe it is the thinnest transparent display that is known to a man as of this moment.

With the combination of membrane as thin as of this display and Ultrasound waves researchers controlled its surface and transparency level. By stacking several bubbles together a holographic projection can be achieve, on the top of 3D effect.

It can be an interesting investment for Museums and Magicians.

Robotic Minion Gives You A Kickstart With Your DIY Projects

For those dreamers who might have inspirations from Small Soldiers or Transformers to have their own robots one day but they are at their wit’s end how to do it after all. This is where Dustin and David Andrews’ rugged Robotic Minion comes in.

It is a starter kit, compatible with Arduino, that helps you to perfect your coding in building the projects like remote controlled robots and LEDs, and other projects such as RFID which are sensor based.

The software integrated in the kit guides you towards a concrete action plan and enables you to make your dreams true by giving them a practical shape. The vintage looking kit is built from 16×2 LCD screen rotary encoder, power LED, power regulator, USB port and so on.

This prototype requires almost $4000 on Kickstarter to have been commercialized. You can pledge $1 but in order to a piece of Robotic Minion for you DIY projects $55 is a must deal.

Physicists Nearer to a Key Clue to Universe

U.S. scientists released fresh data bolstering the case for the existence of the Higgs boson, a long-sought particle crucial to scientists' current understanding of how the universe is built.

The data, from the U.S. Department of Energy's Tevatron collider near Chicago, isn't enough on its own to confirm the existence of the Higgs particle. However, experimental results to be announced by European physicists on Wednesday will provide a stronger signal of where the Higgs is likely to be hiding.

Proof that the particle exists would help explain a big puzzle: why some objects in the universe—such as the quark, a constituent of protons—have mass, while other objects—such as photons, the constituent of light—possess only energy.

By extension, its discovery would help explain the presence of stars, planets and humans, and thus rank as one of the biggest coups for modern-day physics.

The officials at the European particle-physics laboratory CERN, meanwhile, are tight-lipped. "Whatever is announced on Wednesday will be interesting," said James Gillies, spokesman for the European lab. As to whether or not it might confirm the discovery of Higgs, "it's nature who will decide, not us," he added.

Because nobody knows what the mass of a Higgs boson might be, the particle must be hunted indirectly, typically in giant machines that propel particles to near-light speed, then smash them together and generate an array of other subatomic particles.

The search for Higgs got its biggest boost in December when researchers at the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, near Geneva, Switzerland, said that data from two independent experiments had narrowed the range of the would-be particle's likely mass to between 124 and 126 gigaelectronvolts, or GeV. Those experiments were overseen by CERN.

Refined data from the LHC collisions, released in March, put the range between 122.5 and 127.5 GeV. And on Monday, data from the Tevatron collider indicated that the Higgs—if it exists—is consistent with a mass of 125 GeV.

"We have enough to get me excited that I'd be willing to bet your house it's real but not enough to bet my house," said particle physicist Rob Roser of Fermilab, which oversees the Tevatron collider.

Based on two experiments, the Fermilab team found that there is only a one-in-550 chance that the signal was a statistical fluke. That is why physicists are eagerly awaiting the CERN announcement Wednesday. This time, CERN will base its findings on roughly twice the amount of data available in December.

AndyVision, Send Your Resume To Orridge

AndyVision, a new robot, has recently been outed by the center of Intel Science and Technology in Embedded Computing at Carnegie Mellon University.

The prototype is specially designed by the Priya Narasimhan’s group to walk through and roll around the floors of the retail stores and help keep the records updated of in-stock and out-stock products. The system has greatly helped the retailers in keeping their stores up-to-date as per customers’ demand, and also has saved their money.

With the help of a floor plan based on the 2D and 3D images of the products, Kinect sensor, algorithms, objects’ color and shape it identifies the products. The output is displayed on the iPads of the workers and on the map that shows the detailed info about the in-store products for customers’ convenience.

It is currently serving at CMU campus store and is hoped to make its way out to other stores next year.

Can this robot be a challenge for in-field workers of companies like Orridge in UK? Tell me your thoughts folks in the comments.

Source:http://www.etechmag.com/2012/07/01/andyvision-send-resume-orridge.html

Headline July 5th, 2012 / The 'Hero-Picasso' of South America!

"The 'Hero-Picasso' of South America!"

The initial public reaction in America ranged from muted to hostile. Lionel Shriver dubbed them 'a ghastly mistake,' then ''Abu Ghraib'' has at last put him on terms with the critical community historically resistant to his work.

Now his figures, though in his case firmly sized up rather than teetering on ruin, are compared favourably to Bacon's, while others have likened the impact of his Abu Ghraib paintings, --now in the hands of the University of Southern California at Berkley following the artists donation of the entire collection -''I don't believe in making money from the suffering of these people''- to that of his hero Picasso's ''Guernica'' -itself an assault on our indifference to modern warfare's savagery towards collateral targets. 

This icon -Fernando Botero- has proved has provoked critics with his huge and hugely popular- Pieces for six decades. But now, with appreciation replacing approbrium following the Colombian's Abu Ghraib series, and then it dawned on the world to reconsider his XXXL artwork.

So the beauty and grace now is, to review and make amends for the enduring controversy and delight in his endearing canvases and his own equally colourful life. Exactly how threatening he became to the dead conscience of the world, became apparent only a couple of years ago when the artist unveiled a series of paintings depicting the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, inspired by Seymore Hersh's account of the scandal in the New Yorker. 

First exhibited at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome in 2005 and later at the Marlborough Gallery New York, the series caused a furore, a great and unending furore, not just being the first significant artistic response to the Bush Administration's conduct of the war in Iraq, and that too by a Colombian living in the land of the ''surrender monkey'' at that, but for showing the victims not as the heavy pixielated. 

Semi emaciated individuals of the news bulletin, but as beautiful ''Homo Boteros'', their fleshy faces transfigured into vehicles of pain rather than plenty, and whose frames express the volubility of life- and by extension implicate those who wish to diminish it. 

And Botero remembers, ''when I read Hersh's article, I was very angry but it took four, five, six months before i decided I'd do something. Then I started reading other articles, did some drawings and thats how I got to do something like 80 paintings''. 

What strikes the viewer, after their corpulence, is that none of the subjects in the 50 paintings so far exhibited new representations of the ''trophy shots'' that formed the basis of original outcry and subsequent trials. Said Boteros, '' for me it would limit my imagination I would feel trapped in that reality. 

I prefer to create reality that doesn't exist.'' And as with some of his earlier work that commented on state approved violence in his native Colombia and its pathetic serial inflicter of pain by excluding all but the canine culprits of Abu Ghraib, Botero chooses to humanise the victims rather than simply demonise their tormentors! 

So with thanks to !WOW! For this painful but brilliant research, Good Night And God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - The Voice Of The Voiceless

China's 3G subscribers on rapid rise

BEIJING - The number of people subscribing to third-generation (3G) mobile phone services in China leapt 38.25 million in the first five months of 2012, according to new figures.

A statement posted on the website of the Ministry of Industry (MIIT) and Information Technology on Monday showed that China added 54.47 million mobile phone users from January to May.

Main business revenues for China's telecommunication industry jumped 9.7 percent year on year January-May to reach 428.07 billion yuan (67.95 billion U.S. dollars), the MIIT said.

Revenues for mobile communications saw an increase of 12.3 percent year on year to 311.35 billion yuan, accounting for 72.73 percent of the telecommunication industry's main business revenues, it added.

Radical Windows Phone 8 Curved Keyboard Would Be A Blessing For Your Thumbs

Accurately typing on your smartphone with but one hand can require the dexterity, flexibility, and finger strength of a world-class thumb wrestler. There is even a term for the aches and pains that can be caused from too much one-handed mobile typing: smartphone thumb.

What if your smartphone could meet you half-way? A recent photograph posted to Windows Phone blog wmpoweruser shows a keyboard concept for Windows Phone that could, if accurate, lessen the difficulty of typing one-handed on your smartphone by curving or rotating the keyboard to meet your thumb. The number of work days you miss due to chronic smartphone thumb could decrease dramatically.

Gayle and Afridi international icons for SLPL

Pakistani allrounder Shahid Afridi and West Indies opener Chris Gayle have been named the two international iconic players for the inaugural Sri Lanka Twenty20 premier league (SLPL), Sri Lanka Cricket said.

The August 10-31 tournament will also feature Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene and former skippers Kumar Sangakkara and Tilakaratne Dilshan among the star-studded line-up, the governing body said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hard-hitting Gayle, will represent the Uva Province, while Afridi will play for Nagenahira, SLC said.

Sri Lanka Cricket has secured bids in excess of 30 million dollars (on average $4.3 million per team) from Indian companies to host its maiden T20, despite the BCCI's reluctance to allow Indian players to participate.


Each team can have six foreign players in their squad but with a provision that only four can be fielded in a playing XI.

Ferrer, Tsonga, Serena cruise to quarter-finals

David Ferrer set up a quarter-final clash with British number one Andy Murray with a convincing straight sets win over Juan Martin del Potro.


Andy Murray booked his place in a fifth straight Wimbledon quarter-final with victory over Marin Cilic in a match heavily disrupted by rain on Court One. Murray won 7-5 6-2 6-3.


Ferrer completed the 6-3 6-2 6-3 victory over an out-of-sorts Del Potro in one hour and 58 minutes to reach the last eight for the first time.

The Spaniard will be joined by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Mardy Fish in four sets.

The fifth seed will meet Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last eight.

Serena Williams beat defending champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
While rain fell at SW19, the American sixth seed produced a series of punishing winners to defeat the Czech 6-3 7-5 under the Centre Court roof.

The four-time champion will play Victoria Azarenka next after the second seed beat Tamira Paszek 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Andre Villas-Boas named Tottenham boss

Former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has been appointed the new head coach of Tottenham Hotspur, three weeks after Harry Redknapp was sacked.

Villas-Boas, 34, returns to football on a three-year contract four months after his dismissal at Chelsea.
"For me, this is one of the most exciting coaching positions in the Premier League," said Villas-Boas.

"This is a squad any coach would love to work with. Together I believe we can bring success in the seasons ahead."


Despite winning the Portuguese domestic double and the Europa League at Porto in 2010-11, Villas-Boas was sacked by Chelsea less than 12 months into a three-year contract in March.

In the wake of Redknapp's dismissal, former France coach Laurent Blanc, Wigan's Roberto Martinez, Fabio Capello and former Tottenham striker Jurgen Klinsmann were linked with the post before the ex-Porto boss emerged as Spurs' preferred candidate.

"He has an outstanding reputation for his technical knowledge of the game and for creating well-organised teams capable of playing football in an attractive and attacking style," Spurs chairman Daniel Levy told the club's official website.

"Andre shares our long-term ambitions and ethos of developing players and nurturing young talent, and he will be able to do so now at a new world-class training centre."

Get tomorrow's 'vintage' today at Chanel couture

By Saeeda Zaib
Trends Correspondent, SAM Daily Times

Bohemian belles in feathers and sparkling faux-tweed glided past the white wicker tables of an old world spa as Chanel put its own spin on the vintage craze at the Paris haute couture shows on Tuesday.

Chanel's designer Karl Lagerfeld took over a disused wing of Paris' Grand Palais exhibition hall -- his venue of choice -- with a decor of black-and-white sketched doors and a giant fresco meant to suggest a genteel thermal resort.

British style icon Alexa Chung and top model Laetitia Casta were among the famous faces at the early morning show, with the US director Sofia Coppola and the actress Diane Kruger due at a second seating.

Bejewelled crochet snoods on their hair, Chanel's women stepped out in daysuits of glittering faux tweed -- virtuoso creations each some 3,000 hours in the making, crafted from wool, tulle and pearls.

With elongated silhouettes, skirts cut "a hand above the knee" and slender dresses slashed open or cut low at the back, Lagerfeld dubbed the look "New Vintage" in a nod to the fashionista appetite for collector Chanel.

"My own suits from 30 years ago, you can buy them like vintage now," the German designer told reporters after the show, white hair in his trademark ponytail, black suit and shades, and clutching his iPhone in one hand.

"'New Vintage' is a proposition for something that could last -- at least I hope so," he said. "This is the same attitude, the same spirit, the same name, same concept -- but something for our time."

"Vintage -- but it's not vintage yet. You can have it before it's vintage!" quipped the spirited designer. "Plus, 'New Vintage' has a nice ring to it!"

So tomorrow's collector, Tuesday's show suggested, would pair his Chanel suits and gowns with glittery silver tights, metal-tipped heels, leather-like sheaths covering the wrist and cupping the hand by way of gloves.

For the day, Lagerfeld played with shades of grey lifted by touches of pink "but never 'shocking', I leave that to other houses".

Come cocktail time, his palette turned darker, introducing glossy blacks and flashes of mat silver, like on a metallic-looking gown with fuchsia pink highlights at the neck, waist and hem.

Wispy ostrich feathers adorned a sheer white blouse, tucked into wide-leg white pants, the feather embroidery repeated on a full length cape over a black-and-white dress.

The skill of Chanel's craft ateliers was on ample display in feather-light pastel evening gowns, embroidered with fluttering feathers, cupped flowers or in one case dozens of little rabbit-tail pom-poms.

And for the finale, the bride -- as per the couture custom -- stepped out in a fully feathered gown, a pale pink bow at the back of its sweeping skirts, and a ruff of feathers softly framing her face.

So how long before the new collection can be stamped as vintage, with the prestige and premium that applies? Ten years?

"In fashion the future is six months," Lagerfeld mused.

He also let slip a few comments on the debut collection of Dior's new designer Raf Simons on Monday, which itself mined a retro seam inspired by the "architecture" of Christian Dior's iconic 1950s silhouettes.

While the look "could have done with incubating a little longer," Lagerfeld said Simons was, in his view, the best candidate for the top design job, where he succeeded the disgraced John Galliano.

"There is simply no one else out there," he said. "So it's a good thing."

Catering to no more than 200 of the world's richest women, haute couture is a protected appellation in France, awarded based on strict criteria such as the amount of work carried out by hand and in-house.

Two dozen houses have been sending out one-off creations over three days of exclusive shows, with Givenchy coming later Tuesday and Jean-Paul Gaultier and Valentino the headline events on Wednesday.

Finals football spurs Twitter record

Twitter says its users fired off more than 15,000 tweets per second when Spain scored its fourth goal in the European Championship final, setting a sports-related record on the social networking site.

The surge in tweets came just weeks before the Olympic Games in London are expected to spur more record-setting activity on social networking sites - from tweets to postings of photos and other user-generated material.

Twitter said it registered a total of 16.5 million tweets worldwide during the soccer match Sunday in Kiev, where Spain defeated Italy 4-0.

It said total global traffic on its platform peaked at 15,358 tweets per second as Spain scored its fourth goal, a record for a sporting event.

"Commentators, fans and athletes around the world supported their teams in song, in face paint and in tweets" throughout the Euro 2012, Twitter said in a blog.

As fans increasingly use social media to connect during major sports competitions, new "tweet per second" records are constantly being set.

Twitter registered a peak of 12,233 tweets per second during the final three minutes of the Super Bowl in February.

An earlier record was set during the final match of the 2011 Women's World Cup, a match in Germany that saw 7196 tweets per second, including 13 from President Barack Obama. In that game, Japan's team defeated the U.S. on penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw.

Among those who tweeted Sunday was Pele, the retired Brazilian star. He congratulated Spain and said he was looking forward to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Cesium found in Fukushima children

Radioactive cesium has been found in more than 140 Fukushima children in Japan. More than two thousand children from the nuclear-disaster hit region were tested by a Japanese Isotope research institute.

The average amount of cesium in the 141 samples was 2.2 becquerels per kilogram, but three cases had over 10 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, Kyodo News reported.

An average of about 64 becquerels of radioactive potassium, which is found naturally in the environment, was also found in the those who tested positive for cesium.

"The level of cesium is lower than that of potassium, and it definitely has no effect on the human body," said Hideaki Karaki, honorary professor of food safety at the University of Tokyo. "But we still need to know how cesium entered the infants' bodies."


Their report came as the government decided to restart a nuclear reactor at the Ohi power plant on the western coast on Sunday, to counter potential power shortage problems. There have been wide-spread protests, drawing more than 150, 000 demonstrators since Friday.

This was the first reactor to resume operations since Japan gradually shut down all its nuclear reactors following the tsunami-triggered nuclear crisis last March.

Mysteries lay beneath the soil

By Saimah Hanif

Correspondent, SAM Daily Times

Unearthed tomb from Western Zhou  With the excavation of the recently unearthed tomb from China's ancient Western Zhou dynasty, it's been around ten days since a villager in Shaanxi Province discovered the tomb during the construction of his house. Among the big finds were a set of delicate bronze ware. Those are now on their way to the lab for analysis.  

The excavation is now in its most important phase. Experts are collecting the artifacts, hoping to examine them further back at the lab. But before they can start digging, they had to scan and map the entire site.

Liu Junshe, Captain of Baoji Excavation Team, said, "There are two ways of mapping, which we carried out at the same time. One is three-dimensional scanning, the other is hand drawing."

Professionals from the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute arrived at the scene on Sunday and immediately began a comprehensive scan of every artifact in the tomb. Modern technology allows them to create graphs in intricate detail with only a slight margin of error. It was all mapped out within two days.

The team is trying their best that original order is preserved, helping further study. However, it is definitely not an easy task to move these weapons and instruments of war, as they are encased in a thick layer of burial earth.

Song Junrong, Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute, said, "First, we cover the relics with plastic wrapping and clear the earth on the surface. Then we reduce the covered earth into dust and press it solid."

Then with the help of gypsum and linen, the artifacts are fixed tight and moved to the lab. Archaeologists also have their eye out for colorful fragments. Compared to bronze ware, these unusual and fragile pieces need even more care and intensive analysis.

Liu Junshe, captain of Baoji Excavation Team, said, "In the beginning, we thought it might be mural paintings. But after further study we reached another conclusion. It’s possible that paints were applied to a thin wood board, and then painted over with black and red."

The fragments are just one of three mysteries that are yet to be unraveled in the three-thousand-year-old tomb. Though smaller than other tombs found from the same period, this one discovered in Shaanxi's Baoji city has attracted a lot of interest for its unique features when it comes to location and decoration.

Liu Junshe also said, "In the previous tombs, artifacts used to be kept at the end of the second floor or the base floor. However in this one, all the bronze wares are kept in a niche at the side. We haven't seen anything like this before."

There is also fierce speculation over who the tomb belonged to. The numerous wine vessels found at the scene have led some experts to suggest it might have belonged to an alcoholic nobleman. There is also evidence to suggest that he might not have been related to the king of Western Zhou.