Like a smoke with your coffee? Not near a Starbuck's anymore

NEW YORK (AP) ? Starbucks customers will soon have to stamp out their cigarettes before approaching the cafes.

The Seattle-based chain says it will start banning smoking within 25 feet of its stores, beginning Saturday, where permitted by its leases.

Starbucks spokeswoman Jaime Lynn Riley says the intent is to expand the indoor no-smoking policy to the outdoor seating areas.

"If there were any concerns, we would hope to resolve it amicably." Riley said, referring to a customer who might be smoking within the restricted area.

The rule will apply to the 7,000 cafes owned and operated by Starbucks Corp., regardless of whether they have outdoor seating areas.

The policy shouldn't cause a big difference in many areas that already ban smoking within a certain distance of a business entrance.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/starbucks-ban-smoking-within-25-feet-cafes-150455171.html

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Spring Camp Day 3?A Bridge Too Far

Today we went on a hike. A few of us barely made it home in one piece. The Gadget Lab crew reports from Wired Spring Camp.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/dHqW7gJaU6U/

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Photo Editing Platform Aviary, Now With 50M Monthly Active Users, Goes Global With New Japan Office

Aviary, the photo editing platform that has become a developer darling through its straightforward ability to integrate into iOS, Android, Windows Phone and HTML5 apps, has crossed a major milestone -- and is aiming for even more growth. Today the company is announcing that more than 50 million people used Aviary in the past month, giving it an effective monthly active user (MAU) base of 50 million across its own app as well as in the implementations of Aviary partners such as Flickr. Aviary is also gearing up for its first international presence, with an office in Japan slated to open next month.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/IZjaxXvOoB0/

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'Spellbound' star reflects on a Spelling Bee life

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Of the 85 kids who have won the National Spelling Bee, only one became an instant movie star.

For the millions who watched back in 1999, her face is frozen in time. She'll always be the 14-year-old girl from Tampa, Fla., with the glasses and dark shoulder-length hair, her arms raised while leaping for joy.

But that was a half-life ago for Nupur Lala. Like all bee winners, she's since had to deal with the perks, drawbacks and stereotypes that come with the title ? all magnified because she won the same year the competition was featured in an Oscar-nominated documentary that was released three years later.

She became a role model for those who realized it's OK to be nerdy. She became a trend-setter, starting a run in which 10 of 14 national bee winners have been Indian-American, including the last five.

Today, she's 28 and finishing up a master's degree in cancer biology with plans to enroll in the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, having changed course from a career plan that had her researching memory and the brain for three years at MIT. She now aspires to be a physician scientist.

"My intellectual inspirations are so meandering. I blame that on the Spelling Bee sometimes," Lala said with a laugh. "There are so many interesting things in the dictionary to study."

Lala will be watching this week when the 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee takes place near the nation's capital ? her friends tease that her life "shuts down" during the bee ? but she'll see a spectacle that's changed much since she graced the stage. The finals are now broadcast in prime time. A vocabulary test is being added this year for the first time. And the bee's popularity has skyrocketed, in part because of Lala and the other spellers featured in the documentary "Spellbound," a film that made smart people cool long before "The Big Bang Theory."

"I'm amazed at the sea change," Lala said in a telephone interview. "Because when I was a speller, that was one thing you totally hid. I remember like not even wanting to tell people what I was doing over the weekend when I was competing in the regional spelling bee. It was that big of a liability. And now I see that, yeah, people want to be nerds. I think that's great."

Lala is the first to say that winning the national bee has been an overwhelming positive in her life, even if does get tiresome to have people repeatedly asking her to spell her winning word ? "logorrhea" ? or to realize that her reputation can unfairly put her on a pedestal in an academic setting.

"I've had people say 'I expect more of you because I've seen what you are capable of,'" Lala said. "And that's a huge honor ? and also very daunting."

Then there's another set of emotions she feels every year when her name is mentioned by the Indian-Americans youngsters who now dominate the national bee. All of the recent winners, to some degree, have cited Lala as an inspiration.

"It's absolutely overwhelming," she said. "And I think especially as I've grown older and seeing how much I've wanted to emulate people in my life. Yeah, it's very humbling every time I hear that. It feels like a lot of responsibility, to be perfectly honest. You become very conscious of that."

There have also been a disproportionate number of recent winners interested in the brain and medicine, including several who said they wanted to grow up to be neurosurgeons. Lala pursued an undergraduate degree in brain, behavior and cognitive sciences at the University of Michigan, in part because of her experiences from the bee.

"Why do I remember certain words and not others? Why isn't my memory so good for everything else?" she said. "That question sort of drew me into research."

At least much of the terminology was familiar. After studying all those big words for the bee, a standard vocabulary test is a breeze.

"I remember taking the GRE years ago," she said, "and how I had such an edge over other competitors because I basically studied the vocabulary component for the Spelling Bee."

National Spelling Bee champions are a small and tight-knit group ? Lala keeps tabs with many of her fellow winners ? and she marvels that she had the nerve to pull off her win all those years ago. She turned down a chance to be featured on an MTV reality show that wanted to follow her through college; she wasn't comfortable with the idea and didn't feel she was crazy enough to be interesting.

Besides, there is life beyond the bee ? and the public perception of what a bee winner should be ? and that's where Lala prefers to keep her focus, at least during the 51 weeks a year when she's not glued to the television to see another successor crowned. Like Lala, this week's champion will have a winning moment etched in America's collective conscious and immortalized on the Internet, lasting long after he or she has grown up to pursue an impressive degree or career.

"It's something that you fight quite a bit," Lala said. "Especially now that I feel like I'm on a career path, it's becoming a little bit easier. ... People always thought of me as this nerdy, excitable, just-an-awkward kid. Now they can see me as somebody beyond that, I hope."

___

Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spellbound-star-reflects-spelling-bee-life-131213228.html

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OPPO launching the Find 5 in Europe from Monday May 27

11am CEST sees the Find 5 officially arrive in Europe with the launch of the new OPPO Style Europe store

The OPPO Find 5 is an intriguing device, and as we found out in our full review, much better than some may give it credit for. One major sticking point since the device first launched has been availability, particularly in Europe. If you really wanted one, getting one into Europe hasn't been a very cost effective exercise. 

That all changes as of Monday May 27, as at 11am CEST/10am BST the OPPO Style Europe store launches, and the Find 5 becomes available to purchase. Pricing will start at €399/£341 with free shipping promised anywhere within Europe. Not a bad price point to hit given some of the hardware specs, though the software may not be to everyone's tastes. In any case, if you've been gazing at the Find 5 from afar, hit up OPPO Style Europe to bag yourselves one.

Source: OPPO Style Europe

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/7yMMXgwStOA/story01.htm

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Syria's war can't drift into holy war

With Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters now officially involved in the Syrian war, the conflict becomes even more a religious and regional clash of Sunnis against Shiites. The prospect of Syria becoming a proxy 'holy war,' mainly between Iran and Saudi Arabia, adds urgency to calls for peace talks.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board / May 27, 2013

A flag with an icon of Imam Ali, the most important imam for Muslim Shiites and a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, is seen in front of a balcony where a rocket struck a building in Beirut, Lebanon May 26. Rockets slammed into two Beirut neighborhoods that are strongholds of the Shiite Hezbollah group to retaliate against it sending fighters to assist President Bashar Assad in Syria.

AP Photo

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Any hope that Syria?s civil war could be contained within that country ended over the weekend. The major military force in neighboring Lebanon, Hezbollah, officially declared it had joined the fight. In fact, its declared entry triggered violent sectarian clashes within Lebanon.

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The question now is whether the Syria conflict, which began with peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011, could erupt into a religious war between branches of Islam, pitting forces backed by Shiite Iran, such as Hezbollah, against militias backed by Sunni-run states like Saudi Arabia or even Turkey.

The prospect of a ?holy war? in the Middle East adds urgency to joint calls by Russia and the United States for an international conference on Syria. The risks of an intra-Muslim conflict engulfing the region are too great to ignore this plea for peace. One need only look at the ongoing violence in post-Hussein Iraq to see how intractable a Sunni-Shiite conflict over Syria might be.

While the Syria war had already attracted foreign Sunni jihadists and special Iranian forces on either side, Hezbollah?s entry brings heightened concern. Its leader, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, says his Shiite forces are in Syria to kill ?takfiris,? or Islamists who urge Sunni Muslims to kill anyone they consider an infidel. He also wants to defend a key corridor across Syria long used to ship Iranian military equipment to Hezbollah (?Party of God?).

A pure war over religious doctrine is rare in history, and that may hold true in this case. Much of the struggle in Syria is a geopolitical contest between Iran and Saudi Arabia for influence in the region. This competition began after the Iranian revolution in 1979 and accelerated in 2003 when Iraq shifted from being led by a Sunni-led regime to one that is Shiite-dominated and Iran-leaning.

Sunni-led Turkey, too, has increasingly thrown its weight behind the Sunni-led Gulf states, especially in its agreement to host a NATO early- warning antimissile system aimed at Iran. Turkey also opposes the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose minority Alawite community is a branch of Shiism.

In most Middle East struggles, a religious conflict often emerges because rulers tend not to trust people who practice a differing branch of Islam. At times like this, Muslims must remember the religious values they share and their common hope for peace rather than killing each other in the name of Sunni or Shiite interpretations of Islam. The Arab Spring was, in part, based on a hope for tolerant, diverse, and democratic societies that respect religious differences.

That spirit of the Arab Spring still exists within the political opposition to the Assad regime, even though jihadist fighters dominate most of the antiregime battles within Syria. Within Lebanon, too, many people oppose Hezbollah?s move into Syria, preferring to avoid the sectarian strife that ripped their country apart from 1975 to 1990. Hezbollah may pretend that its combat role in Syria is really a struggle against Israel, but few people will buy that.

As more outside forces intervene in Syria, the more the war becomes a ?clash within a civilization,? or intra-Muslim struggle. But as more countries recognize this dangerous course, the more they must back talks to end it. Holy wars are never holy.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/oxRw_vKTUv0/Syria-s-war-can-t-drift-into-holy-war

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Border entry fee study sparks northern opposition

SEATTLE (AP) ? By Michael Hill's estimation, 90 percent of the people pumping gas at his station just south of the U.S.-Canada border in Washington state are Canadians.

Gas north of the 49th parallel, he said, is about $1.30 per gallon more expensive than in the United States. But that's not the only product that Canadians seek in visits to Washington state: Beer, wine and milk are significantly cheaper (beer and wine alone are roughly half the price in the U.S.).

Add a strong Canadian dollar and the result is a key element of the economy in the towns of Whatcom County. For example, the town of Blaine, population just shy of 5,000, generates over $225,000 from a penny per gallon gas tax, which is about 30 percent of its street maintenance budget.

That's why Hill and others are troubled by the notion of charging a fee to enter the U.S. by land. Last month, in its 2014 fiscal year budget proposal, the Department of Homeland Security requested permission to study a fee at the nation's land border crossings.

"It's a deterrent," said Hill, whose station is fully stocked with wine and has a reader board that says "Thank you Canadians."

"They should be doing anything they can to get them down here to buy more," he added.

That lone request sparked wide opposition among members of Congress from northern states, who vowed to stop it. A fee, they say, would hurt communities on the border that rely on people, goods and money moving between the U.S. and Canada.

"The imposition of such a toll would act as a barrier to the greater economic integration that we seek, and is the absolute last thing we should be doing to grow our economy," stated a letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano earlier this month signed by 18 Republican and Democratic House lawmakers.

Democrat U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont is sponsoring an amendment to the immigration reform bill that bars Homeland Security from conducting the study. The senator has also promised to stop any funding for the study. In the House, Democrat Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state introduced a bill to stop the creation of a fee.

This week an amendment by Democrat Rep. Bill Owens of New York to stop the study was introduced to the House to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill.

Lawmakers and people from the southern border, though, did not show such strong opposition, highlighting a north-south divide on how to pay for border infrastructure.

Democrat Congressman Ruben E. Hinojosa, who represents a district in Texas that includes McAllen and its nearby border region, said fees would be good if the revenue stream is used to improve infrastructure.

"I would support crossing fees only if the funds garnered would be used to upgrade our facilities, provide better equipment for our agents, or used for the hiring of more agents at our border crossings," Hinojosa said.

Currently it costs nothing to enter the country by land. Air and sea crossings already have a fee of under $2, which are included in ticket prices.

The proposal would mean creating a pilot program that tests all the steps needed to create a fee collection ? short of actually collecting money. The proposed fee would offset costs of providing border screening and infrastructure. Customs and Border Protection did not specify the cost of the study.

The quick response from northern states lawmakers bolsters the thought that the study won't happen this fiscal year, said Ken Oplinger, president of the Bellingham/Whatcom County Chamber of Commerce in Washington state.

But he thinks that due to the expensive border security measures that have been implemented since Sept. 11, the idea could make a comeback in the future unless other sources of funding not reliant on a border fee appear.

One of busiest northern border crossings ? the Peace Arch ? is located in Whatcom County. It connects Washington state with British Columbia. In places, the border is just farmland, with no wall or fence and grazing cows. About 12,000 people cross the border there every day, according to CBP figures.

Oplinger has two main concerns. The lesser is people who will refuse to pay the toll and thus stop visiting Whatcom County all together. His greater worry, however, would be any increase to the wait time at the border. He said border traffic has just fully rebounded to pre-Sept. 11 volumes, adding that on summer weekends the wait to enter the U.S. can be as high as two hours. He fears that adding some sort of mechanism to collect the toll would mean more waiting time.

Border fees, albeit local ones, already exist on the southern border. In Texas, local municipalities charge fees to use bridges that connect Mexico and the U.S.

For Kenn Morris, president of marketing research firm Crossborder Group Inc. in San Diego, the future of the border is in public-private partnerships, unless the government acts to improve ports of entry. For example, a private company operates and builds a port of entry, booths and roads, and charges a fee to recoup investments.

"I think that it's inevitable that more border regions use those tools and those who don't want to use it that's they're choice, but they shouldn't take the ability for other regions to at least look at that option," he said. "For those regions that want the ability to charge a fee, we need good analyses to create good policy."

Citing a 2009 University of Texas study, Morris said tolls at the border don't affect traffic flow negatively, but provide a source of revenue to build more border infrastructure.

At the nation's busiest border entry at San Ysidro in California, 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians go north from Mexico every day. For the past few years, Congress has sent chunks of money to improve the infrastructure. In his last budget, President Barack Obama asked for $226 million to continue the improvements.

In the meantime, people face hours of waiting every day.

"People are tired of waiting," Morris said.

____

Manuel Valdes can be reached at http://twitter.com/ByManuelValdes

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-27-Border%20Crossing%20Fee/id-fca9734617a64c369e872c55b01a7014

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Ancient cave art unearthed in Mexico

Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History

Researchers think this rock art was created by pre-Hispanic groups in Mexico's northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

By Megan Gannon, LiveScience

In the mountains of northeastern Mexico, archaeologists have unearthed thousands of ancient paintings on the walls of caves and ravines from a time before Spanish rule.

The rock art offers rare evidence from native cultures living in the area around the Sierra de San Carlos, a mountain range in Mexico's state of Tamaulipas, researchers say.

Almost 5,000 of these paintings were found across 11 different sites in the region, the researchers said. Created with red, yellow, black and white pigments, the images show animals from deer to lizards to centipedes, as well as people. Depictions of tents, hunting, fishing and possibly astronomical charts also offer a glimpse into the life of this mysterious culture.

The findings document the presence of pre-Hispanic groups, "where before it was said that there was nothing, when in fact it was inhabited by one or more cultures," archaeologist Gustavo Ramirez, of the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History, said in a statement.

The ancient people who once inhabited the mountains of Tamaulipas left very little behind for modern archaeologists to pore over. There is little known of their languages, rituals and customs, besides references to them by conquistadors and friars who colonized and Christianized the region.

Another archaeologist, Martha Garcia Sanchez, said these people were able to resist Spanish rule by living in the mountains, "where they had water, plants and animals to feed themselves."

The rock art was rediscovered in 2006, and archaeologists first started studying the site two years ago. Researchers have not yet been able to precisely date the paintings but further testing on samples of the pigments could reveal the age of the rock art.

"We have not found any ancient objects linked to the context, and because the paintings are on ravine walls and in the rainy season the sediments are washed away, all we have is gravel," said Ramirez.

The findings were presented during the Second Conference of Archaeological History in Mexico City.

Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Finally, A Wrinkle Reducer That Is Also The Embodiment Of Evil

Our superficial, beauty-obsessed culture is pretty scary. People starve themselves or have serious surgeries so they can look a certain way. But for better or worse (definitely worse) we're all pretty used to hearing about those beauty interventions. Which is why it's unusual to see a new wrinkle-reducer and immediately want to shit your pants or run away. Or both. But behold.

The Facewaver Exercise Mask uses stretching and tightening action for "kneading out wrinkles, lines and sag." The site recommends you use it for five minutes a day to get younger-looking skin. The problem is that during those five minutes you will send anyone you encounter into cardiac arrest as a result of their general shock and terror. Or you yourself will be killed because people will assume that you are a zombie. And frankly, if you choose to wear this they won't be totally wrong.

Some products from the Japan Trend Shop can be very soothing, but this just isn't one of them. It's scary enough to see someone wearing one of those green face masks before bed or even just using a Shake Weight. When will the madness end? [Japan Trend Shop]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/finally-a-wrinkle-reducer-that-is-also-the-embodiment-509920767

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Cannes to close with a nail-biter ending

CANNES, France (AP) ? Steven Spielberg will close out the 66th Cannes Film Festival with a nail-biter of a finale.

The festival's top award, the prestigious Palme d'Or, will be handed out to one of 20 films in competition Sunday night in Cannes. Unlike in recent years, there's no obvious frontrunner for the Palme. Spielberg is presiding over the nine-member jury that will choose the winner of one of cinema's highest honors.

Critical polls have ranked Abdellatif Kechiche's lesbian coming-of-age tale "Blue is the Warmest Color" the highest. Prognosticators have also predicted Asghar Farhadi's domestic drama "The Past" will take the Palme. And others believe it will go to the Coen brothers' 1960s folk tale, "Inside Llewyn Davis." (The Coens won the Palme in 1991 for "Barton Fink.")

Other films are in the mix, too, including Paolo Sorrentino's rollicking Roman party "The Great Beauty," James Gray's 1920s Ellis Island melodrama "The Immigrant," and Kore-eda Hirokazu's switched-at-birth drama "Like Father, Like Son."

But it will ultimately come down to what Spielberg and his jury ? which includes Nicole Kidman and Ang Lee ? think was the top film at Cannes.

Last year, Michael Haneke's "Amour" was the far-and-away favorite, and went on to win best foreign language film at the Oscars and earn the rare best picture nomination for a non-English film. In 2011, Terrence Malick's cosmic rumination "The Tree of Life" won the Palme d'Or.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cannes-close-nail-biter-ending-133057201.html

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Glass Nest lets users control their homes from their heads

Those who already own Google Glass are more likely than most to embrace new technologies like Nest's thermostat, so it only makes sense that an especially eager adopter would find a way to combine the two. That would be James Rundquist and his new Glass Nest app: Glass owners now just have to announce that they're coming home (or heading out) to make their Nest units change the climate. More exacting homeowners can fine-tune the temperature, too. While the utility is both unofficial and quite limited at this stage, Rundquist has posted source code that lets anyone expand on the project. If you're in the rare position of owning both gadgets, we'd suggest giving Glass Nest and its code at least a cursory look.

Filed under: Household, Wearables, Google

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Via: Slashgear, SelfScreens

Source: Glass Nest, GitHub

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/25/glass-nest-lets-users-control-homes-from-their-heads/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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AT&T adding iPhone, 4G LTE / HSPA+ support to GoPhone starting tomorrow

AT&T's official GoPhone prepaid policy has always officially prevented network data access for iPhones (and other 4G devices except for BlackBerry), but a tipster reports that will change tomorrow. The new policy adds 4G HSPA+ and LTE support as well as Visual Voicemail access to the GoPhone package, with customers able to bring their own device or buy a new one at off-contract unsubsidized prices. According to the details, existing customers with iPhones will be automatically updated with network access on June 21st, however they'll be able to call in and make the switch manually before that. The new features work on the $65, $50 and $25 monthly plans, however the two lower priced options will require data packages to work. You can get a peek at the leaked terms after the break, although we'd wait for an official announcement before picking up your 4G-capable handset and requesting service.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, AT&T

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

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A&E Cancels Intervention: Sorry, Amanda Bynes

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West Canada boys close in on another C-2 track championship

?

The meet isn?t over yet, but the West Canada Valley boys track and field team has all but wrapped up the Section III Class C-2 title for the third straight year and fifth time in six seasons.

Stormy weather Wednesday night at Morrisville-Eaton High School forced the postponement of the pole vault, triple jump and high jump until Thursday ? those events will be completed at 3 p.m. in Sauquoit, prior to the start of the C-1/C-2 girls championships at Sauquoit Valley High School.

With several top competitors still in those three events, West Canada coach Chad Malmberg was confident his Indians were on their way to another C-2 title.

West Canada Valley?s Jack Minasi (22-1?) and Riley Synenki (20-1?) placed 1-2 in the long jump and the Indians also got first-place finishes from Brandon Miner in the 400-meter dash (52.83) and Tyler Wright in the 3,200-meter run (10:39.75).

Dolgeville sprinter Devin Coonradt won both the 100 and 200 and also was a member of the winning 400-meter relay team (46.20), and Waterville?s 1,600 relay team won in 3:36.85.

IN CLASS C-1, Westmoreland?s Tim Harrison won the 100 in 11.70, Herkimer won the 1,600-meter relay in 3:37.45, Herkimer?s Demetrius Brown won the 110 hurdles in 16.86, teammate Malik Briggs won the high jump, Little Falls discus thrower Bruce Robinson won at 141-8, Herkimer?s Zack Meszler won the 200, and Ben Delaney of Little Falls won the pentathlon. Also, Devan Peebles of South Lewis won the 400 hurdles, and Westmoreland?s team of Tyler Deveans, Devin Tophoven, Robert Heitzmann and Tim Harrison won the 400 relay.

?

Boys Track & Field

Section III Class C-2

100: 1. Devin Coonradt (Dolg) 11.89, 2. Jack Minasi (WCV) 12.07, Treyten Borden (WCV) 12.23, 6. Dakota Miller (ME) 12.40. 200: 1. Devin Coonradt (Dolg) 24.35, 2. Treyten Borden (WCV) 24.69, 4. Ernest Hackney (ME) 25.22, 5. Brandon Azzarito (WCV) 25.93. 400: 1. Brandon Miner (WCV) 52.83, 2. Anthony Rice (Wat) 53.14, 3. Ernest Hackney (ME) 53.91, 4. Richy Wagner (WCV) 54.09, 5. Chris Hunt (Dolg) 55.03, 6. Morgan LeBlanc (ME) 55.14. 800: 1. Seth Baker (Weed), 3. Jacob Murray (Wat) 2:12.99, 4. Adam Congdon (WCV) 2:15.62, 5. Johnny Szczesniak (WCV) 2:15.76. 1600: 1. Seth Baker (Weed) 4:48.94, 3. Tyler Wright (WCV) 4:58.26, 6. Will Lawrence (WCV) 5:19.74. 3200: 1. Tyler Wright (WCV) 10:39.75.

3000 steeplechase: 1. Seth Baker (Weed) 10:41.0, 2. Tyler Wright (WCV) 10:59.1, 4. Johnny Szczesniak (WCV) 11:56.9. 110 hurdles: 1. Seth Brambaugh (PB) 16.16, 3. Chase Roesler (WCV) 17.17, 4. Matthew Carney (WCV) 17.77, 6. Alajandro Fuentes-Lamb (ME) 18.27. 400 hurdles: 1. Austin McDeid (Weed) 59.65, 2. Anthony Minasi (WCV) 1:03.36, 3. James Doolittle (Dolg) 1:03.51.

400 relay: 1. Dolgeville (Ben Nastovski, Kent Vedder, Devin Coonradt, Devin Bullock) 46.20, 2. Waterville 46.93, 3. Morrisville-Eaton 47.27, 6. West Canada 50.43. 1600 relay: 1. Waterville (Anthony Rice, Luke Barnes, Noah Barnes, Jacob Murray) 3:36.85, 3. West Canada Valley 3:39.88, 4. Dolgeville 3:41.90, 5. Morrisville-Eaton 3:48.24. 3200 relay: 1. Weedsport 9:42.18.

Long jump: 1. Jack Minasi (WCV) 22-1?, 2. Riley Synenki (WCV) 20-1?, 3. Luke Barnes (Wat) 20-0?, 4. Devin Bullock (Dolg) 19-8?, 5. Anthony Minasi (WCV) 19-3?, 6. Brad Smalley (ME) 18-11. Discus: 1. Nick Stornelli (PB) 136-8, 2. Greg Elliott (Wat) 126-10, 5. John Joslin (WCV) 109-7, 6. Richard Rinaldi (Moh) 109-0. Shot put: 1. Nick Stornelli (PB) 43-4?, 3. Riley Synenki (WCV) 39-9?, 4. Wyatt Morris (ME) 39-8?, 5. Sean Sowich (WCV) 39-3. Pentathlon: 1. Jacob Lamphere (Weed) 1977, 2. Robert Brunelle (Dolg) 1800, 3. Garrhett Davis (WCV) 6.

Postponed: Pole vault, triple jump, high jump until 3 p.m. Thursday at Sauquoit Valley.

?

Section III Class C-1

LJ: 1. Ryan O?Mara (Tully), 20-5.5. 2. Malik Briggs (Herk), 18-10. 3. Devin Williams (Westmo), 18-9.5. 5. Nic Spina (FS), 18-3. SP: Tom McGretrick (C-M), 49-0.25. 2. Austin Mills (Herk), 47-4.75. 3. Terance Oldfield (Herk), 44-7. 4. Bruce Robinson (LF), 43-4. 5. Jordan Montgomery (SV), 42-5.25. 6. Tyler Taverne (Westmo), 40-4.25. 3,000 steeplechase: 1. Evan Knapp (Tully), 10:23.8. 2. Nick Spina (SV), 10:39.3. 400: 1. Alize Jarrett (BR), 51.21. 2. Kyle Jones (SV), 51.59. 3. Eric Johnston (Herk), 52.30. 5. Cole Blocher (SV), 52.89. 100: 1. Tim Harrison (Westmo), 11.70. 2. Zack Meszler (Herk), 11.74. 4. Kyle Jones (SV), 12.09. 6. Jacob Miller (Coop), 12.22. 1,600: 1. Alex Hall (BR), 4:35.90. 2. Joe Harmon (Coop), 4:38.91. 4. Nick Spina (SV), 4:42.95. 5. Benjamin McCarthy (Herk), 4:46.84. 6. Eric Gleba (SV), 4:49.24. 1,600 relay: 1. Herkimer (Zack Meszler, Malik Briggs, Demetrius Brown, Eric Johnston), 3:37.45. 2. Sauquoit Valley, 3:40.67. 3. Little Falls, 3:45.60. 5. South Lewis, 3:50.53. 110 hurdles: 1. Demetrius Brown (Herk), 16.86. 2. Mclane Tyoe (Herk), 17.48. 4. Devan Peebles (SL), 18.13. 5. Max Bonderoff (Coop), 18.35. 6. Dustin Mierek (SV), 18.62. Discus: Bruce Robinson (LF), 141-8. 2. Terance Oldfield (Herk), 131-5. 3. Jordan Montgomery (SV), 123-7. 45. Gabe Dorie (MM), 114-4. 200: 1. Zack Meszler (Herk), 23.43. 3. Kyle Jones (SV), 24.10. 4. Eric Johnston (Herkimer), 24.20. 5. Tim Harrison (Westmo), 24.23. 6 Cole Blocher (SV), 24.26. 800: 1. Jason Naughton (On), 2:05.11. 3. Eric Gleba (SV), 2:08.48. 4. Joe Harmon (Coop), 2:13.61. 6. Erik Harris (Westmo), 2:15.46. 3,200 relay: 1. Onondaga, 8:50.62. 3. South Lewis, 9:30.7. 5. Cooperstown, 9:28.71. 6. Sauquoit Valley, 9:302.0. 400 hurdles: 1. Devan Peebles (SL), 1:00.7. 2. Mclane Tyoe (Herk), 1:01.57. 6. Demetrius Brown (Herk), 1:04.06. 400 relay: 1. Westmoreland (Tyler Deveans, Devin Tophoven, Robert Heitzmann, Tim Harrison), 45.69. 2. Herkimer, 46.21. 4. South Lewis, 48.47. 6. Cooperstown, 49.35. HJ: 1. Malike Briggs (Herk), 5-10. 3. Nate Hudson (MM), 5-6. 5. Tyler Taverne (Westmo), 5-2. 6. Michael McLane (SL), 5-0. Pentathlon: 1. Ben Delaney (LF), 2,569. 2. Gran Pick (Westmo), 1,879. 4. Jeff Mundrick (SV), 1,846. 5. Colin Acker (Herk),k 1,801. 6. Joe Maugeri (MM), 1,766. 3,200: 1. Evan Knapp (Tully), 10:38.13. 2. Jimi Scrafford (Coop), 10:39.35. 6. Dylan Durgan (SL), 11:04.01. PV: Postponed. TJ: Postponed.

?

Source: http://www.uticaod.com/sports/x863230905/West-Canada-boys-close-in-on-another-C-2-track-championship?rssfeed=true

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'Sons Of Anarchy' Casts Star Of 'The Shield'

EW.com:

Another butt-kicker from "The Shield" is coming to Charming.

EW has learned exclusively that the Emmy-nominated CCH Pounder will join FX?s "Sons of Anarchy" for a multi-episode arc. She will play Tyne Patterson, a San Joaquin County District Attorney who runs head first into the area?s violent biker ways.

Read the whole story at EW.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/sons-of-anarchy-casts-sta_n_3329487.html

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Coded goal: RG3 still aiming for Redskins' opener

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) ? Robert Griffin III's rehab started with a "cry festival." Then came a special new passcode for his cellphone and a chance to hash things out with coach Mike Shanahan.

There's also been a Twitter rant about political correctness, some flak about all the wedding gifts he's received and, most recently, a suggestion from his father that the Washington Redskins should pass the ball more.

On Thursday, the road back included running some drills at an offseason practice. Wearing a helmet but no jersey and sporting a large brace on his reconstructed right knee, Griffin did some handoffs and throws with other teammates recovering from injuries. It's the latest step toward his goal of playing in the season opener in September.

"As soon as I woke up out of the surgery, I put the date of the first game in my phone," Griffin said. "It was the passcode of my phone for a month. ... That's always been the goal, but I'm not going to risk my career to play in one game. Yeah, I'm definitely all-in on for Week 1, but I'm also all-in for my career as well."

It was Griffin's first Redskins Park news conference of the offseason, an occasion that attracted an extraordinary media hoard to a routine May workout and showed again just how important the health of Griffin's knee ? and everything else about him, for that matter ? has become in the nation's capital.

Start with the tears. When Griffin went under the knife on Jan. 9 ? three days after he was injured in the playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks ? he didn't know whether his ACL needed repair. When he awoke and realized that it had, he immediately went back to sleep because he couldn't deal with the news.

"It's one of the things I get emotional about because it was tough at that time," Griffin said. "Yeah, I cried. Real men cry. It's doesn't matter. And I moved on. As soon as we finished our little cry festival, I put the date of the first week in my phone."

In addition to the physical rehab, there also needed to be a meeting of the minds with Shanahan, who was widely criticized for leaving Griffin in the Seahawks game too long after it became clear the quarterback was injured.

"We hashed everything out. We talked, and we're moving forward from it," Griffin said.

Griffin didn't go into specifics, instead stressing the need for everyone to be on the same page. Shanahan said the conversation was part of an overall review of the season.

"You talk about things that you could have done differently," the coach said. "Things that went poorly during the season, things that went well."

Griffin struck the same tone when asked about whether there should be changes to the offense, perhaps to take away some of his designed runs. He missed all or part of four games because of injuries last season, and his father told The Washington Post this week: "I want him throwing that football, a lot."

"I told him 'thank you' because that's what he's supposed to say as my father," Griffin said. "Yeah, he doesn't want to see me running out there; he wants to see me throwing the ball. He's the one that trained me. He knows what he can do. Coach knows what I can do."

Griffin also said he could make better decisions on the field to stay healthy.

"The one thing everyone gets fired up about is that they say I need to change the way I play," he said. "And my view on that is: I can't change my mindset, but I can be smarter about what I do out there. I've got a year of experience, which some might not think that's a lot, but a year of experience in the NFL is big for anyone. I know what I have to do and then what I don't have to do, so it's about limiting those hits, making sure that I'm staying out there for my teammates."

While the rehab is tough, Griffin said it's easier to endure because he also had an ACL injury while playing in college at Baylor. There were times during Thursday's practice when he seemed to be favoring the knee, but he was able to run and plant as he ran drills with what he called the "all-world uncleared team" that included fellow rehabbers Pierre Garcon and Fred Davis.

"As long as you can get a little bit of work in, you still feel like you're part of the team ? even though we're separated from the team," Griffin said.

Griffin said the next two phases in his comeback are "explosive sprinting" and "cutting," both of which he hopes to accomplish in the next month or so. The Redskins keep saying he's "ahead of schedule," but it's too early to gauge how much he'll be able to practice when training camp begins in late July.

"I really don't know what 'ahead of schedule' means, except for the doctors, they keep saying he's ahead of schedule," Shanahan said. "We want to be patient with it."

Griffin's good-natured demeanor was a contrast to his sharp words in a pair of recent Twitter rants. Last month he tweeted that Americans "are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness" and this week hit back at criticism he received for posting a photo of a pile of wedding presents sent to him by fans.

"It's really been crazy," Griffin said Thursday. "You really can't do anything or say anything without it being blown out of proportion. When it comes to the political correctness tweet ... the only thing I will say about that is there's a difference between political correctness, common sense and being offensive."

Griffin, who is getting married in July, then thanked the fans for the gifts that started pouring in after his wedding registry was made public.

"I didn't ask you guys to do that," he said, addressing the fans. "The media made that public, and you guys decided to get me gifts out of the generosity of your heart. ... Anything else that came after that, criticism and stuff like that, you've just got to move on and not worry about it."

___

Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/coded-goal-rg3-still-aiming-redskins-opener-175434770.html

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OECD educationtoday: Earmarking Justice

by Justine Doody
Freelance Journalist and Editor,?SGI News

In his State of the Union address on 12 February 2013, US President Barack Obama proposed a new initiative to improve access to high-quality early childhood education. The action is much needed: according to OECD figures from 2010, only 51 per cent of US children were enrolled in pre-primary education at age three, rising to 69 per cent at age four.

By comparison, in New Zealand, which became in 1986 the second country in the world to have its ministry of education take responsibility for early childhood education, 95 per cent of children in 2012 had been through an early childhood education programme before starting school at five years old.

Early childhood education is linked to improved prospects for future learning and employment. And, as the new Intergenerational Justice Index (IJI) study from the Bertelsmann Foundation's Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) project shows, it can help to level the playing field in terms of allocating resources fairly between older and younger generations.

As demographic changes lead to ageing populations in many OECD countries, the increased weight of older people in voting systems means they have more power than ever before to direct policy preferences. So, more than ever, it is important that countries take steps to ensure their policies provide future generations with at least the same chances that their parents and grandparents had.

Estonia Ranks Top, the United States Bottom

To find out which countries best provide for younger and future generations, SGI's Intergenerational Justice Index (IJI) measured OECD countries on several indicators: ecological footprint, child poverty, public debt per child and spending bias towards older generations.

The best performing country, SGI found, was Estonia, while New Zealand achieved a creditable fourth place. The United States ranked bottom of all the 29 countries studied, followed by Japan and Italy. If these countries do not change their current policy directions, their young people will grow up facing burdens of injustice, in terms of public debt, ecological degradation, and social immobility, that will be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.

IJI offers policy recommendations that could help to shift the balance and help countries to improve their levels of intergenerational justice. The study suggests intergenerational earmarking as a way to rebalance public spending towards the young. Revenues raised in addressing one form of intergenerational justice, for example, environmental taxes, could be used to mitigate other areas of injustice, for instance by offering child tax credits or family allowances.

Proxy Votes for Children Could Foster Intergenerational Justice

Another interesting, albeit potentially controversial, recommendation is the introduction of proxy voting for children. Parents would be given the right to vote on behalf of their children, with a child's vote equalling one-half of an adult vote. In this way, children would be given a voice in politics, and parents would be rewarded for their societal contribution.

High-quality early childhood education is especially important. Research has found that children who participate in early childhood programmes are more likely to graduate from high school, hold down jobs, and earn more money. They are less likely to find themselves on state welfare or to go to prison.

The experience of high-quality early childhood education particularly benefits children from disadvantaged backgrounds, which means that providing early childhood programmes could work as a corrective social justice measure as well as an intergenerational rebalancing.

In New Zealand, beginning in 2007, three-year-olds were offered two free years of pre-school. Children attend programmes for 20 hours a week, 48 weeks of the year. The government hopes that by 2016, 98 per cent of children will receive early childhood education.

But despite this excellent record, there are concerns about the programme's future. Education unions complain that funding cuts are affecting the quality of early childhood education. Recently, the word 'free' was removed from the government strategy; now, almost half of early childhood education providers, hit by increasing costs and lower subsidies, are asking for extra fees from parents. Shifting costs onto parents could limit the availability of high-quality education for disadvantaged families.

Prospects for the US Seem Bleak

The US government says that in the United States, only 3 in 10 four-year-olds have access to high-quality early childhood education programmes. Socio-economically disadvantaged children are least likely to be in early childhood education programmes: just 59 per cent of the poorest US children are in pre-kindergarten, as compared to 90 per cent of children from wealthier homes. The president's programme is to implement free access to high-quality pre-school for all four-year-olds from families at or below 200 per cent of the poverty line.

To receive federal funding, states would have to meet strict requirements. All teachers must have a bachelor?s degree and be given access to on-going professional development. Teachers? salaries should be comparable to those for teachers in higher levels of the education system. Class sizes should remain small and activities should cover the entire school day. Curricula should measure up to state standards and programmes must be continuously evaluated. As it stands, few states would be able to meet these strict standards and qualify for federal money.

However, it is unclear how the US programme would be financed. The president?s 2014 budget proposal includes a plan to pay for universal preschool by increasing taxes on cigarettes, which could have positive public health outcomes as well as providing a revenue stream for the programme. But even if the tax succeeded in getting past the vested interests that would oppose it, such ?sin taxes? have diminishing returns over time, raising questions about future funding.

Any new federal funding is supposed to be matched by state funding. But because of budget constraints, many states have already cut funding for their existing early childhood education programmes, casting doubt on their willingness to provide more dollars for a new federal initiative.

And the larger, on-going struggle between those who wish to cut government spending in the name of austerity and those who favour Keynesian expansion seems to be resolving itself in favour of the budget-cutters.

So, even in the face of the overwhelming evidence that early childhood education has economic benefits that go beyond the moral claims of social and intergenerational justice, the future of the US initiative is uncertain. Absent new will to act from both sides of the US political divide, the prospects for the United States improving its dismal rating on intergenerational justice seem bleak.

Links
Find out more on?OECD work on Early Childhood Education and Care
Education at a Glance 2012
Starting Strong; Starting Strong II; Starting Strong III
Doing Better for Families
Photo credit: Bulb idea with human hand?/ Shutterstock

Source: http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.com/2013/05/earmarking-justice.html

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94-year-old woman lost home for second time in tornado, helped neighbors survive in shelter

Nancy Davis, a 94-year-old resident of Moore, Oklahoma, lost her house during Monday's tornado. It was the second time a tornado had destroyed her home, CBS News reports.

In 1999, Davis lost another home to another massive tornado that killed 36 people. Following that deadly twister, Davis rebuilt her home on the same land, according to CBS News. Fortunately, she also built a small storm shelter.

During Monday's storm, Davis helped several neighbors, including a pregnant woman and a two-year-old boy, by letting them stay in her 5-by-7-foot shelter as the tornado raged.

Speaking with CBS News, Davis said the storm was incredibly loud. "We couldn't hear ourselves it was so loud," she told CBS News. "It was like the world was falling on us completely. I never heard of such terrible, terrible noises, it was horrible."

The shelter proved invaluable, but Davis now finds herself without a home for the second time. Speaking to CBS News, Davis said, "What am I going to do? Am I going to go in a rest home? I don't need to rest."

The National Weather Service said the tornado was a rare top-of-the-scale EF-5 twister, with winds of at least 200 mph. It was on the ground for a total of 40 minutes. At least 24 were killed, including 9 children.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/94-old-woman-lost-home-second-time-tornado-220550175.html

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Memorial Day In D.C.: A Look At Celebrations Around The District Throughout The Years (PHOTOS)

For many, Memorial Day is a three-day weekend that serves as the ceremonial start to summer. Many D.C. area residents flock to the beaches in Delaware and Maryland to spend some lazy time in the sun.

But the history of Memorial Day in D.C. goes much further back than your annual beach house rental tradition. It reaches back as far as 1868, when General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic declared May 30 of that year to be "Decoration Day," for, in his words, "the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion."

That first Decoration Day the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers were covered with flowers at Arlington National Cemetery. Notable American politicians, like Congressman and future President James A. Garfield, gave speeches to a large crowd at the cemetery amphitheater.

We've put together a slideshow of the history of Memorial Day in D.C., dating back to that first "Decoration Day" -- story continues below:

• Celebration of the first official Decoration Day at Arlington Cemetery -- By J. F. Jarvis, May 30, 1868

  Stereograph shows President Ulysses Grant and General John Logan seated at flag-draped reviewing stand. At the time Grant was only a presidential candidate. On the back of the photograph, it is written that future President, and, at the time, Congressman James A. Garfield was also in attendance. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day.

• President Woodrow Wilson speaks at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day -- by Harris & Ewing, May 1917

• President Calvin Coolidge at Decoration Day ceremonies, Arlington -- May 30, 1925

• Massachussetts senator pays tribute to America's war dead at Arlington National Cemetery -- by Harris & Ewing, May 30, 1938

  Sen. David I. Walsh of Massachusetts delivering the principal address to the thousands gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to honor America's war dead.

• Greenbelt, Md. Town Manager Roy Braden gives Memorial Day speech -- By Marjory Collins, May 1942

  On the platform with Braden are members of the town womens' club.

• Washington, D.C. Memorial Day parade -- by Royden Dixon, May 1942

  Parade marching down Constitution Avenue.

• President Franklin Roosevelt reviewing the Memorial Day parade, Washington D.C. -- by Royden Dixon, May 1942

• Flower vendors at the gate of the Congressional Cemetery on Memorial Day -- by Joseph A. Horne, May 1943

  The Congressional Cemetery in Southeast D.C. was established in 1807 and is the only "cemetery of national memory" founded before the Civil War. Over 65,000 people are buried there.

• Spectators in the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery -- by Esther Bubley, May 1943

  Apparently Memorial Day in 1943 was a wet one as onlookers opened their umbrellas to avoid being pelted by rain.

• Memorial Day, Vietnam memorial, Washington, D.C. -- by Carol M. Highsmith, May 29, 2006

• President Bill Clinton at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery -- May 29, 2000

  U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) prays after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, 29 May, 2000, during Memorial Day celebrations. During his Memorial Day speech, President Clinton announced new talks with North Korea to search for US soldier missing in action during the Korean War.

• President Barack Obama at Arlington National Cemetery Amphiteater -- May 28, 2012

  President Barack Obama, right, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, center, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, stand during the singing of the National Anthem at the Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Memorial Day" became the common name of the holiday in 1882, but was only officially designated in 1967. By 1971, Memorial Day was moved from May 30 to the last Monday in the month of May.

Since that first holiday, Memorial Day celebrations in the District have evolved: a full parade marches down Constitution Avenue, Rolling Thunder motorcyclists drive through the city as atribute to American war heroes and the National Memorial Day Concert by the National Symphony Orchestra on the Capitol West lawn are marked changes.

And don't forget to check out our guide to Memorial Day events going on around D.C. this year and our guide to the best Memorial Day food around the District.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  A Marine salutes as motorcycles drive past during the annual Rolling Thunder parade ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  People watch as motorcyclists ride down Constitution Avenue during Rolling Thunder May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. The 25th annual Rolling Thunder rumbled into town to show support for veterans past and present, those who have fallen in war and those who are missing in action. It's expected nearly one million riders will be here through Memorial Day.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  Motorcycles drive from the Memorial Bridge during the annual Rolling Thunder parade ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  People watch as motorcyclists ride down Constitution Avenue during Rolling Thunder 2012 May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. The 25th annual Rolling Thunder rumbled into town to show support for veterans past and present, those who have fallen in war and those who are missing in action. It's expected nearly one million riders will be here through Memorial Day.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  People watch as motorcyclists ride down Constitution Avenue during Rolling Thunder May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. The 25th annual Rolling Thunder rumbled into town to show support for veterans past and present, those who have fallen in war and those who are missing in action. It's expected nearly one million riders will be here through Memorial Day.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  People watch as motorcyclists ride down Constitution Avenue during Rolling Thunder May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. The 25th annual Rolling Thunder rumbled into town to show support for veterans past and present, those who have fallen in war and those who are missing in action. It's expected nearly one million riders will be here through Memorial Day.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  A motorcyclists rides past the US Capitol during Rolling Thunder 2012 on May 27, 2012, in Washington, DC. On the 25th anniversary of the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, motorcyclists and others participated in the annual event riding from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Memorial to pay homage to the US military fallen and those who served.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  Donna Street holds up inflatable soldiers while watching Rolling Thunder ride into the city May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. On the 25th anniversary of the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, motorcyclists and others participated in the annual event riding from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Memorial to pay homage to the US military fallen and those who served.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  Motorcyclists ride down Constitution Avenue during the Rolling Thunder 2012 May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. On the 25th anniversary of the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, motorcyclists and others participated in the annual event riding from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Memorial to pay homage to the US military fallen and those who served.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  Audience members bow their heads in prayer during the annual Rolling Thunder event on the National Mall ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, D.C., Sunday, May 27, 2012.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  A motorcyclist rides past the National Archives during the Rolling Thunder 2012 May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. On the 25th anniversary of the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, motorcyclists and others participated in the annual event riding from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Memorial to pay homage to the US military fallen and those who served.

• Rolling Thunder 2012

  People watch as motorcycles pass during the Rolling Thunder 2012 May 27, 2012, in Washington, D.C. On the 25th anniversary of the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, motorcyclists and others participated in the annual event riding from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Memorial to pay homage to the US military fallen and those who served.

• Memorial Day 2012

  A bouquet of flowers in a can wrapped in a photo is seen as visitors pause along the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, Monday, May 28, 2012, on Memorial Day in Washington.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Vietnam War Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day

• Memorial Day 2012

  Vietnam veteran Verlin Maglitz of Jacksonville, Ill., takes a rubbing of those he fought with in Vietnam during his visit to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Maglitz was in the Army and served in Vietnam as part of the 101st Airborne Division and plans to take rubbings of approximately 45 of his friends.

• Memorial Day 2012

  Richard Evans of the American Legion Post 24 places a wreath at a memorial to the nurses who served in Vietnam May 28, 2012 at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. People around the United States celebrate Memorial Day to honor veterans and those members of the US military who have fallen in past and present wars.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Army 1st Infantry Monument, located off 17th Street NW and State Place, on Memorial Day.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Army 1st Infantry Monument, located off 17th Street NW and State Place, on Memorial Day.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Army 1st Infantry Monument, located off 17th Street NW and State Place, on Memorial Day.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Army 2nd Infantry Monument, located off Constitution Avenue NW near the Ellipse.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Army 2nd Infantry Monument, located off Constitution Avenue NW near the Ellipse.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Army 2nd Infantry Monument, located off Constitution Avenue NW near the Ellipse.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The National World War II Memorial on Memorial Day

• Memorial Day 2012

  The National World Ward II Memorial on Memorial Day.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The National World War II Memorial on Memorial Day

• Memorial Day 2012

  The National World War II Memorial On Memorial Day

• Memorial Day 2012

  The District of Columbia War Memorial on Memorial Day

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Korean War Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Korean War Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day.

• Memorial Day 2012

  The Korean War Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/memorial-day-in-dc_n_3321066.html

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Advance in nanotech gene sequencing technique

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The allure of personalized medicine has made new, more efficient ways of sequencing genes a top research priority. One promising technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are threaded through a nanoscopic hole.

Now, a team led by University of Pennsylvania physicists has used solid-state nanopores to differentiate single-stranded DNA molecules containing sequences of a single repeating base.

The study was led by Marija Drndi?, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences, along with graduate students Kimberly Venta and Matthew Puster and post-doctoral researchers Gabriel Shemer, Julio A. Rodriguez-Manzo and Adrian Balan. They collaborated with assistant professor Jacob K. Rosenstein of Brown University and professor Kenneth L. Shepard of Columbia University.

Their results were published in the journal ACS Nano.

In this technique, known as DNA translocation measurements, strands of DNA in a salt solution are driven through an opening in a membrane by an applied electric field. As each base of the strand passes through the pore, it blocks some ions from passing through at the same time; amplifiers attached to the nanopore chip can register the resulting drop in electrical current. Because each base has a different size, researchers hope to use this data to infer the order of the bases as the strand passes through. The differences in base sizes are so small, however, that the proportions of both the nanopores and membranes need to be close those of the DNA strands themselves ? a major challenge.

The nanopore devices closest to being a commercially viable option for sequencing are made out of protein pores and lipid bilayers. Such protein pores have desirable proportions, but the lipid bilayer membranes in which they are inserted are akin to a film of soap, which leaves much to be desired in terms of durability and robustness.

Solid-state nanopore devices, which are made of thin solid-state membranes, offer advantages over their biological counterparts ? they can be more easily shipped and integrated with other electronics ? but the basic demonstrations of proof-of-principle sensitivity to different DNA bases have been slower.

"While biological nanopores have shown the ability to resolve single nucleotides, solid-state alternatives have lagged due to two challenges of actually manufacturing the right-sized pores and achieving high-signal, low-noise and high-bandwidth measurements," Drndi? said. "We're attacking those two challenges here."

Because the mechanism by which the nanopore differentiate between one type of base and another is by the amount of the pore's aperture that is blocked, the smaller a pore's diameter, the more accurate it is. For the nanopore to be effective at determining a sequence of bases, its diameter must approach the diameter of the DNA and its thickness must approach that of the space between one base and the next, or about 0.3 nanometers.

To get solid-state nanopores and membranes in these tiny proportions, researchers, including Drndi?'s group, are investigating cutting-edge materials, such as graphene. A single layer of carbon atoms in a hexagonal lattice, graphene membranes can be made a little as about 0.5 nanometers thick but have their own disadvantages to be addressed. For example, the material itself is hydrophobic, making it more difficult to pass strands of DNA through them.

In this experiment, Drndi? and her colleagues worked with a different material ? silicon nitride ? rather than attempting to craft single-atom-thick graphene membranes for nanopores. Treated silicon nitride is hydrophilic and has readily allowed DNA translocations, as measured by many other researchers during the last decade. And while their membrane is thicker, about 5 nanometers, silicon nitride pores can also approach graphene in terms of thinness due to the way they are manufactured.

"The way we make the nanopores in silicon nitride makes them taper off, so that the effective thickness is about a third of the rest of the membrane," Drndi? said.

Drndi? and her colleagues tested their silicon nitride nanopore on homopolymers, or single strands of DNA with sequences that consist of only one base repeated several times. The researchers were able to make distinct measurements for three of the four bases: adenine, cytosine and thymine. They did not attempt to measure guanine as homopolymers made with that base bind back on themselves, making it more difficult to pass them through the nanopores.

"We show that these small pores are sensitive to the base content," Drndi? said, "and we saw these results in pores with diameters between 1 and 2 nanometers, which is actually encouraging because it suggests some manufacturing variability may be okay."

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University of Pennsylvania: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews

Thanks to University of Pennsylvania for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128328/Advance_in_nanotech_gene_sequencing_technique

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