[OOC] Live fast, die young

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Not a fan of zombie RPs in general but it must be said that in a genre of endless rehashing, this story is a breath of fresh originality. Good luck with the RP. If it doesn't work write the thing up as a screenplay, the idea is infinitely better and more creative than any zombie movie I have seen ever.

Scumbag_Brain

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Name that District contest winner: ?Goofy kicking Donald Duck? (Washington Post)

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Critic?s Notebook: All-Star Lineup: Major League Baseball?s All-Cameo Team

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.nytimes.com --- Friday, December 23, 2011
As the offseason trudges on, one fan?s thoughts turn to scripted television appearances by Baseball players, from Nolan Ryan to Ken Griffey Jr. ...

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/arts/television/all-star-lineup-major-league-baseballs-all-cameo-team.html

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Bonus Afternoon Links (Theagitator)

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus Review

Just about a month after the international Galaxy Nexus was released, Verizon got it?s first Nexus device packed to the brim with LTE goodness. To go along with that added network speed, the Verizon Galaxy Nexus picked up a few holiday pounds as well. They managed to squeeze a slightly bigger battery than it?s European kin. Along with being Verizon?s first Nexus device, the Galaxy Nexus also brings Ice Cream Sandwich. Ice Cream Sandwich is Google?s latest OS, and is now the single OS across both phones and tablets. I?ve been using the Galaxy Nexus for about a week, so let?s get into my thoughts on this device.

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Hardware

The first thing you are going to notice when you pick up the Galaxy Nexus is that lovely screen. Samsung has brought a 4.65 inch HD Super Amoled Display (1280 x 720)to the table. You?ll find it underneath the contour display first seen on the Nexus S. Notably missing from the back of the device is the Google name. In it?s place you?ll find both the Verizon logo with their LTE logo. While this is unusual for the Nexus line, I?m willing to deal with it. It is on the back where I can easily ignore it. On the back you?ll notice a 5MP Camera with flash. It can shoot video up to 1080p and has zero shutter lag. Under the textured battery cover you?ll find the 1850 mAh battery and a Verizon Micro-Sim to access those 4G speeds. No Micro-SD slot is available, but the phone comes with 32GB of storage. Inside the device is powered by a dual-core TI-OMAP 1.2 GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. The top of the device is empty, the left has a volume rocker, and the right has a power button as well as three charing pins. The bottom is where you?ll find both your micro-usb port and headphone jack. The battery pulls double duty here as it also contains all the necessary NFC technology. Google Wallet isn?t supported, mainly because Verizon has their own wireless payment technology coming down the pipes. (Don?t worry, the homebrew community has righted this wrong and Google Wallet is now installable via a downloadable APK.) Back on the front you?ll notice an ear piece, (These things do make calls you know) a 1.3MP front facing camera, and that?s about it. The rest is just smooth glass. All button functionality is left to the display to keep it that way. You may notice a multi-colored ?notification LED at the bottom of the phone.

While the housing of the device is plastic, the textured back keeps the device from feeling cheap. Besides, all you?ll be able to see is the massive screen. Even though you get a large display, it feels smaller because of minimal bezel. At first I thought the lack of hardware buttons would turn me off on this device, but they are absolutely wonderful. They can be there when you need them, and get out of the way when you don?t. While it is still needed for legacy support, a lot of apps no longer have use for the menu key. When it isn?t needed you will not even see it as an option. No longer will you need to dig for hidden options under that key. This of course will keep getting better as more and more apps move their settings into their app interface, where it should be. Another thing I love is the zero shutter lag camera. Being able to take multiple pictures faster than I ever have gives me more chances of getting the shot that I want. Mind you that the camera is not the highest quality we have seen from even Samsung themselves, it does produce pretty good shots outside, in good light. Things start to get a little grainy when we go indoor and start reducing the lighting conditions. For some this might be a deciding factor, but those quick shots are now tough to go back from for me.

Software

This is the first device to ship out of the box with Google?s latest operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich. On top of that, Nexus devices lack all the device manufacturers? customization that populate all the other devices come with. This is definitely a big draw, and helps updates to be a lot more speedy. I?m not an Android expert who knows all the differences that Google has baked into this latest version, but I can say without a doubt it is the smoothest interaction I?ve had with Android to date.

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Multi-tasking

The Nexus has a button dedicated to multi-tasking. Hitting it will reveal all of your opened apps in a vertical, scrollable column on the right side of your screen. Killing an app is as easy as swiping it to the right, off the screen. This is a big improvement from the limited list view used in previous versions, and a lot easier than the multi-tasking found in iOS. Multi-tasking works from any app, so getting around is that much easier.

Widgets

Widgets have been moved from the home screen menu, to the app drawer. I like this move to having everything in one spot. They are also easily resizable.

Software Keyboard

Like previous versions, the software keyboard can be used in either portrait or landscape orientation. I find landscape a little too large for good typing. I must say the size of this screen allows for a lot more content to be visible when the portrait keyboard is in use, compared to other devices. I?m still waiting for Swype to be updated to be compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich. The Swype developers say that Google made a change in how Android reports screen size. This makes sense since Ice Cream Sandwich works on both phones and tablets. The stock keyboard works well enough for me, and there are plenty of keyboards available in the Market once they are Ice Cream Sandwich compatible.

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Network Speed

This handset is equipped with Verizon?s 4G LTE network. When you have it available, this is a huge improvement in speeds over 3G. However, the fact that 4G is a battery drain has not been unfounded yet. This maybe the reason every other major device OS has yet to implement LTE into their devices. If you find yourself not going to be able to top off your device, it might be best to disable the LTE network. This will help immensely with battery use. When on the 4G network I averaged between 5-7 mb/s down, and 2-5 up. (Pensacola, Florida)Of course those in other 4G areas have speeds much higher than this.

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Battery Life

Like I stated earlier about network speed. Right now LTE and battery life don?t mix. If the rest of this handset appeals to you, you have to have a strategy to get through the day. With 4G turned off I was easily able to make it through my 7-3 job. With 4G on I was looking for a charger around 1. The power control widget is already in place for a reason. You need to use it. This makes it super easy to toggle WiFi, Bluetooth, location services, account syncing and screen brightness. You?ll want to at least have a charger in your car. Extreme users will want to look into either the slightly extended battery, or an extra battery. For my money, I?d buy the extra battery and charger. You won?t need to switch doors that way. This is mainly because the extended battery is only 2100 mAh, or a 14% increase in capacity. A second factory battery will double your battery life, except for reboot time. Your opinion could be different of course. Remember as more accessories come out that the NFC chip for the Nexus is located in the battery, so third-party batteries would likely be without that circuitry. Without NFC, mobile payments through Google Wallet will not work, nor will Android Beam, or any other NFC based application that might hit the market.

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Camera

The main camera comes in at 5MP, and is capable of shooting in 1080p with continuos ?auto-focus. It also features ?Zero Shutter Lag? which, just as the name implies, allows you to fire off shots just about as fast as you can hit the button. The shots come out generally well, but low light conditions are not as good as we have seen on other top end handsets.

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Conclusion

If you are an Android fan on Verizon, this handset should definitely be on your list of phones to check out. Packing LTE and a 4.65 inch?HD Super Amoled Display into a single device is a big ?factor. Add in that this is a Google device that will have huge developer support going forward for all your hacking needs, and you get a pretty convincing message. A Nexus device is always first in line for updates, and free from all the skins that lay on top of Android. While the camera isn?t the highest quality, the zero shutter lag is definitely a thing of beauty. I definitely want both quality and speed in my next device. Ice Cream Sandwich is the smoothest Android experience to date. As with previous versions, the beauty of Android is the ability to replace almost any piece of the user experience, making a device that is truly yours.

Source: http://hottipscentral.com/verizon-galaxy-nexus-review/

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Untethered jailbreak on iOS 5.0.1 shown off

pod2g has shown off an iOS 5.0.1 untethered jailbreak running on an iPhone 4.

Here is a new video demo of the current status of the 5.0.1 jailbreak running on an iPhone 4. This is meant to reassure people that were thinking it only works on

...

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White House: Unemployment Insurance Must Be Extended To Help ...

As the deadline to approve the payroll tax cut extension looms 10 days away, White House officials are speaking out to urge Republicans in the House of Representatives to approve the measure that only days ago was hailed as a bipartisan compromise when it passed in the Senate. However, the White House says Republicans have now changed their tune.

National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling spoke to reporters on a conference call today on why the White House feels it is so urgent that this extension passes, highlighting the importance of continuing the unemployment insurance benefits.

"This is critical to millions of working families and it is critical to our economy and job growth as well," he explained. "To understand how important it is for the House of Representatives to immediately agree to the bipartisan Senate compromise, one should know that by the week ending January 14, 697,000 Americans who are unemployed and still out pounding the pavement looking for work to support heir families will be abruptly cut off of unemployment insurance and lose their benefits... By the week ending March 3, 2.66 million Americans out pounding the pavement out looking for work will see their unemployment benefits cuff by no fault of their own."

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis also weighed in on why she thought the Republicans withdrew of support for a measure their leader had just approved, saying, "The Tea party is throwing the Senate bipartisan compromise over the side of the boat" to the detriment of American workers.

Consumerist asked how extending unemployment benefits will help job growth, as the White House Council of Economic Advisers says failure to pass the extension will harm that job creation.

"What the congressional budget office and other economists understand is that nobody lives check-to-check more than a family who is struggling through unemployment, and so that unemployment check is used right away for for the basic necessities of life ?food, rent, clothing, healthcare," says Sperling. "So it not only is a lifeline to the families that are still struggling to find jobs, it is money that goes into the economy right away, every dollar virtually, and that leads to more demand, for services, more customers and more small business shops, and ultimately that leads to more growth and more hiring when you're still trying to get your economy back to full strength.

Adds Solis, "Each additional dollar that is extended through unemployment insurance benefits, it generates two additional dollars." She points to last January's growth in the job market as a result of extending the payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits in December 2010.

"As a result of those measures we know that it works as a stimulant to help stir and motivate the economy," she explains. "They do spend that money, they need it now, because they continue to be attached to the job market, they spend that money to put gas in the car and go find jobs."

Source: http://consumerist.com/2011/12/white-house-unemployment-insurance-must-be-extended-to-help-spur-job-creation.html

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Breastfeeding saved babies in 19th century Montreal

ScienceDaily (Dec. 20, 2011) ? Breastfeeding increased infant survival rates in 19^th -Century Montreal in two major ways, according to research from Concordia University and McGill University. Mother's milk protected vulnerable infants from food and water contaminated by fecal bacteria, while breastfeeding postponed the arrival of more siblings and that improved the health of mothers as well as their subsequent children.

Published in the journal Population Studies, using data gathered from Montreal's civil burial records and the 1881 Census, the study examined how poverty, poor sanitation, disease and various cultural factors affected death rates among newborns and children.

"Infant feeding practices, such as how long to breastfeed, at what age to introduce food supplements and in what season to wean, all influenced infant survival and all were subject to cultural tradition," says first author Patricia Thornton, a professor in the Concordia University Department of Geography, Planning and Environment.

Cultural groups that stopped breastfeeding earlier and especially before the summer when rising temperatures, dry weather and falling water table made contamination worst, were also more likely to have their next child more rapidly and less likely to limit their family size. This caused both the mother's and her next child's health to suffer.

"Poverty, high population density, room crowding and contagious diseases all affected death rates among children, yet these effects were nuanced by cultural identity," says co-author Sherry Olson, a professor in the McGill University Department of Geography.

The cultural factor

Studying 19^th - Century health in Montreal was compelling for Thornton and Olson, since the city featured three well defined cultural groups: French Canadians, Irish Catholics and Protestants from Great Britain and Ireland. Each group had their own residential and occupational profile.

"Cultural factors eclipsed economic status as factors that influenced infant death rates," says Thornton. "Even though most French and Irish Catholics lived in similar working class conditions, the positive effects of later marriage and longer breastfeeding among Irish Catholics protected their infants and children, while French Canadians' infants were negatively impacted by early weaning."

According to the study, French Canadian women were weaning earlier, having more children and waiting less time between babies. What's more, French Canadian infants who survived their first year were more likely to suffer from bouts of intestinal diarrhea that could render them more vulnerable to common childhood illnesses.

Poverty and disease

Economic status, environmental conditions and neighbourhood characteristics all had an impact on newborns' and children's health and lifespan. High population density and crowded conditions helped the spread of contagious diseases and along with the presence of horses, and their impact on sanitation, all played a role in health.

"While French Canadian children bore a disproportionate share of urban deaths," says Thornton, "those who reached the age of 10 were as likely to survive as others and much more likely to survive than Irish Catholic men."

Why Montreal? "

The exceptional quality of records in Montreal provides a rare opportunity to study a North American metropolis in 1881, and to demonstrate the effects of poverty on infant and child mortality, as well as mortality over a lifetime," says Olson, noting, Montreal is one of few industrial cities where high-quality registration permits the examination of mortality with respect to a wide range of social and environmental factors.

"In the city of Montreal in 1881, the presence of three cultural communities from different economic backgrounds makes it possible to observe the way social settings affected survival over a lifetime," says Thornton.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Concordia University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Hedge-Fund Titans Reportedly Received Inside Political Tips During Health Care Overhaul Debate

New York:

I'm surprised this Wall Street Journal story, detailing how hedge funds manage to obtain profitable inside information, hasn?t gotten more attention today. The whole story seems pretty explosive.

Read the whole story: New York

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/21/hedge-fund-political-tips_n_1162140.html

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Experts stumped by ancient Jerusalem markings

In this photo taken on Dec. 1, 2011, Israel's Antiquities Authority archeologist Eli Shukron sweeps marks carved in the bedrock in an archeological excavation in the city of David near Jerusalem's Old City. The mysterious stone carvings made thousands of years ago and recently uncovered in an excavation underneath Jerusalem have archaeologists stumped. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In this photo taken on Dec. 1, 2011, Israel's Antiquities Authority archeologist Eli Shukron sweeps marks carved in the bedrock in an archeological excavation in the city of David near Jerusalem's Old City. The mysterious stone carvings made thousands of years ago and recently uncovered in an excavation underneath Jerusalem have archaeologists stumped. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

This photo taken on Dec. 1, 2011, shows a view of the excavation site known as the City of David, bottom, with the background of the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan near Jerusalem's Old City. Mysterious stone carvings made thousands of years ago and recently uncovered in the excavation of the city of David have archaeologists stumped. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In this photo taken on Dec. 1, 2011, marks carved in the bedrock over 2,800 years ago, are seen in an archeological excavation in the city of David near Jerusalem's Old City. The mysterious stone carvings made thousands of years ago and recently uncovered in an excavation underneath Jerusalem have archaeologists stumped. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Mysterious stone carvings made thousands of years ago and recently uncovered in an excavation underneath Jerusalem have archaeologists stumped.

Israeli diggers who uncovered a complex of rooms carved into the bedrock in the oldest section of the city recently found the markings: Three "V'' shapes cut next to each other into the limestone floor of one of the rooms, about 2 inches (5 centimeters) deep and 20 inches (50 centimeters) long. There were no finds to offer any clues pointing to the identity of who made them or what purpose they served.

The archaeologists in charge of the dig know so little that they have been unable even to posit a theory about their nature, said Eli Shukron, one of the two directors of the dig.

"The markings are very strange, and very intriguing. I've never seen anything like them," Shukron said.

The shapes were found in a dig known as the City of David, a politically sensitive excavation conducted by Israeli government archaeologists and funded by a nationalist Jewish group under the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem. The rooms were unearthed as part of the excavation of fortifications around the ancient city's only natural water source, the Gihon spring.

It is possible, the dig's archaeologists say, that when the markings were made at least 2,800 years ago the shapes might have accommodated some kind of wooden structure that stood inside them, or they might have served some other purpose on their own. They might have had a ritual function or one that was entirely mundane. Archaeologists faced by a curious artifact can usually at least venture a guess about its nature, but in this case no one, including outside experts consulted by Shukron and the dig's co-director, archaeologists with decades of experience between them, has any idea.

There appears to be at least one other ancient marking of the same type at the site. A century-old map of an expedition led by the British explorer Montague Parker, who searched for the lost treasures of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem between 1909 and 1911, includes the shape of a "V'' drawn in an underground channel not far away. Modern archaeologists haven't excavated that area yet.

Ceramic shards found in the rooms indicate they were last used around 800 B.C., with Jerusalem under the rule of Judean kings, the dig's archaeologists say. At around that time, the rooms appear to have been filled with rubble to support the construction of a defensive wall.

It is unclear, however, whether they were built in the time of those kings or centuries earlier by the Canaanite residents who predated them.

The purpose of the complex is part of the riddle. The straight lines of its walls and level floors are evidence of careful engineering, and it was located close to the most important site in the city, the spring, suggesting it might have had an important function.

A unique find in a room beside the one with the markings ? a stone like a modern grave marker, which was left upright when the room was filled in ? might offer a clue. Such stones were used in the ancient Middle East as a focal point for ritual or a memorial for dead ancestors, the archaeologists say, and it is likely a remnant of the pagan religions which the city's Israelite prophets tried to eradicate. It is the first such stone to be found intact in Jerusalem excavations.

But the ritual stone does not necessarily mean the whole complex was a temple. It might simply have marked a corner devoted to religious practice in a building whose purpose was commonplace.

With the experts unable to come up with a theory about the markings, the City of David dig posted a photo on its Facebook page and solicited suggestions. The results ranged from the thought-provoking ? "a system for wood panels that held some other item," or molds into which molten metal would could have been poured ? to the fanciful: ancient Hebrew or Egyptian characters, or a "symbol for water, particularly as it was near a spring."

The City of David dig, where the carvings were found, is the most high-profile and politically contentious excavation in the Holy Land. Named for the biblical monarch thought to have ruled from the spot 3,000 years ago, the dig is located in what today is east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967. Palestinians claim that part of the city as the capital of a future state.

The dig is funded by Elad, an organization affiliated with the Israeli settlement movement. The group also moves Jewish families into the neighborhood and elsewhere in east Jerusalem in an attempt to render impossible any division of the city in a future peace deal.

Palestinians and some Israeli archaeologists have criticized the dig for what they say is an excessive focus on Jewish remains. The dig's archaeologists, who work under the auspices of the government's Israel Antiquities Authority, deny that charge.

______

Follow Matti Friedman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mattifriedman

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-07-ML-Israel-Archaeological-Mystery/id-56d7c93e66bc4baf869c4ad0f1adf9de

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Fire injures monk, destroys Colo. Buddhist temple (AP)

WESTMINSTER, Colo. ? A fire in the Denver suburb of Westminster has injured a monk and destroyed the Lao Buddhist Temple.

Westminster Fire Department spokeswoman Diana Allen said the cause is under investigation but that there is no reason to believe it was intentionally set. The fire was reported about 6 a.m. Monday.

Allen says the monk suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation, but his injuries are not life-threatening.

Temple secretary Sy Pong identified the monk as Ounkham Veunnasack (AHN'-kam VEN'-nah-sak). Pong says four to six monks lived at the temple.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111205/ap_on_re_us/us_temple_fire

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Video: Maria's Market Insight

CNBC's Maria Bartiromo discusses the day's top business and financial stories, and looks ahead to tomorrow's Closing Bell.

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Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

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Brink Is Your Reason-To-Stay-Indoors-This-Weekend Deal of the Day [Dealzmodo]

To be honest, I know nothing about Brink. Our friends at Kotaku says its a class-based FPS. I know FPS. I like FPS. I also like KFC. And UFC. And NBA, NFL, MLB. NBC and ABC are cool too. IBM and AMD, totally fine. CIA, FBI, NSA, sweet. LAX, JFK, SFO, dope. Oh! And USA. That's the best. Second best is probably XXX. To be honest, the only three letter acronym I don't like is KKK. But OMG, BBQ? LOL. WTF. They're all so perfect. Great flow to every one of them. So any time I can add more three letter acronyms into my life, I'm down with that. Plus, Brink is my second favorite four letter word right now: FREE throughout weekend. If you want to buy Brink, it's only $5. That sounds like a steal to me, even if I have no idea what this game is about. FTW -CC More »

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San Gabriel Valley still feeling effects of windstorm

Los Angeles County's most potent windstorm in recent years continued to dole out complications Saturday, depriving about 80,000 homes and businesses of power for a third day and sapping pre-holiday spirit in some foothill communities.

Nearly 74,000 Southern California Edison customers remained without power Saturday in about a dozen San Gabriel Valley communities, including Pasadena, Temple City, San Marino and Arcadia. Utility workers handed out flashlights, ice and bottled water to affected residents.

The storm ? a meteorological mutation of typical Santa Ana winds ? blasted the region with cold northerly winds instead of warm seasonal gusts, and it bowled over myriad trees and snapped power lines. At the wind event's peak, more than 400,000 customers throughout Los Angeles County lost power, about 235,000 of them in San Gabriel Valley cities.

Photos: Santa Ana winds

At night, large stretches of normally bustling commercial thoroughfares like Valley Boulevard were dim as cars crawled past dark traffic signals and closed gas stations, supermarkets and restaurants.

"This is probably the most severe windstorm event in terms of impact on the power grid in the last decade," said Gil Alexander, a Southern California Edison spokesman. "Looking at our history, this is one of the more significant ones."

Alexander said the utility hoped to return power to most homes by the end of Sunday, but he said crews were having problems reaching affected neighborhoods because of downed trees. Although the windstorm had moved away, he said it was possible that traditional Santa Ana winds could swoop in and aggravate the situation.

"We still see the potential for some ongoing wind damage," Alexander said. "We have more than 500 personnel involved in assessing the damage and working around the clock, so we're hopeful that most of our customers will have power restored by the end of the weekend."

Joe Ramallo, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said service had been restored by Saturday evening to nearly all of its more than 200,000 customers who lost power because of the storm. But, he said, an additional 5,000 customers in San Pedro lost power Saturday. He said he was not sure whether that outage was related to weather.

Stuart Seto, a weather specialist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said there were some robust gusts Saturday, including winds clocked at nearly 50 mph in the Newhall Pass and in the mid-60s in the mountains.

Strong Santa Ana winds are expected to ramp up again Monday through Tuesday, though Seto said they were not predicted to be quite as forceful as the previous gusts. They are expected to come from the northeast, meaning they would sweep through San Fernando Valley communities and the Cajon and Newhall passes and spare the San Gabriel Valley from the most powerful gusts, which could top 60 mph.

"They'll still feel the gusty winds, but they won't feel them like before," Seto said of the already hard-hit communities. "When the winds were more northerly, they were coming right at them."

In towns such as Arcadia and South Pasadena, city crews worked to clear major streets of trees and other debris. City officials reminded motorists to treat blacked-out traffic signals like four-way stop signs. Some streets remained closed, as did the L.A. County Arboretum and several parks and libraries.

In Temple City, where about 75% of the town's roughly 10,000 homes had been without power, the situation has steadily improved, said Steven Masura, the city's community development director. About 3,700 homes were still without power early Saturday afternoon. Masura said he was hopeful that by Monday all would get electricity back.

Friday night, the city's big commercial corridor at Las Tunas Drive and Rosemead Boulevard was up and running after losing power during the storm.

"We're hoping that by late Sunday we'll be 99% up, but we don't know for sure," Masura said.

The windstorm created an uptick in patients at local hospitals. The emergency room at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena saw a 5% increase in patients Wednesday night through Friday night over the usual 170 patients it sees each day.

Several were injured in car accidents due to debris-strewn streets and nonworking traffic signals, said Dr. Robert Goldweber, assistant director of the hospital's emergency department. Emergency room staff also saw many elderly people who'd fallen in the dark. Some patients' oxygen generators failed.

"People needed oxygen and their oxygen generators went out. They didn't have the equipment they needed," Goldweber said.

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/UIhy9szgNR4/la-me-wind-follow-20111204,0,2987057.story

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Iranian diplomats leave UK after expulsion (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran prepared a high-profile welcome for its diplomats expelled Friday from London in retaliation for attacks on British compounds in Tehran that Western leaders claim were sanctioned by Tehran's ruling elite.

The official reception planned for the roughly two dozen diplomats and their families ? including a rare invitation to foreign media to cover the airport event ? apparently was designed to send a message that Iran will not seek quick measures to heal the most serious diplomatic fallout with the West since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy after the Islamic Revolution.

Germany, France and the Netherlands have recalled their ambassadors, and Italy and Spain summoned Iranian envoys to condemn Tuesday's storming of the British Embassy and residential complex.

Britain withdrew its diplomatic staff and their families, shuttered its ransacked embassy and ordered the Iranian diplomats expelled by Friday afternoon.

The larger blow may be to Iran's relations with the West and others. The diplomatic freeze from Europe, including key trading partner Germany, further isolates Iran just weeks after a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency that alleged Iran was making strides toward mastering critical elements for atomic weapons.

Iran claims its nuclear program only seeks reactors for power and research. But the current breakdown in relations with the West could embolden hard-liners who want a tougher stance against the International Atomic Energy Agency, which they accuse of being manipulated by the U.S. and allies.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran will certainly "retaliate" for the British expulsions.

The British Foreign Office said "all diplomatic staff of the Iranian Embassy in London took off from Heathrow airport" on Friday afternoon. They were to be welcomed back by a group of Iranians early Saturday at the Tehran airport, Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

The offer for foreign media to cover their arrival stands in sharp counterpoint to an order Thursday banning non-Iranian outlets from reporting on rallies in front of the now-vacant British diplomatic sites in the capital without specific permission.

Britain's ambassador to Iran, Dominick Chilcott ? now back in Britain ? offered new details about the attacks, saying the experience had been "frightening."

"We had no idea how it was going to end," he said, describing how the mob trashed rooms, damaged furniture, scrawled graffiti and tore up a portrait of Queen Victoria, as staff took shelter in a secure area of the embassy.

"It felt like very spiteful, mindless vandalism, but it wasn't quite mindless," Chilcott said. "They removed anything that was electronic ? mobile telephones, personal computers ? anything that might give information about who you were talking to or what you were doing."

He said seven staff at a separate residential compound that was also attacked were seized and "quite roughly handled" by the invaders.

Hard-liners in Iran have said the attack was an outpouring of the wrath of the Iranian people who believe Britain is a hostile country seeking to damage and weaken the Islamic Republic. Mohammad Mohammadian, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praised the attackers, saying they had targeted the "epicenter of sedition."

Iranian government officials, meanwhile, said the storming of the embassy by angry protesters was unexpected and Iranian police intervened to protect the British diplomats and get the attackers out of the buildings.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has led the accusations that the rioters had a green light from Iranian authorities, including the powerful Revolutionary Guard. On Thursday, he said the attacks were "clearly premeditated" by high-ranking officials.

The demonstrations had been organized by hard-line groups on university campuses and Islamic seminaries and included denunciations of the latest sanctions on Iran over its nuclear efforts. Such major anti-Western rallies are rarely allowed to occur without official approval and often include state-backed forces including a paramilitary group known as the Basij, which is part of the vast security network controlled by the Revolutionary Guard.

Images broadcast around the world showed demonstrators tearing down Union Jack flags, brandishing a looted picture of Queen Elizabeth II and tossing out looted documents.

The deepening tensions with Britain and others may also trigger further rifts within Iran.

For months, Iran's ruling system has ordered arrests and intimidation against political allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has sharply fallen from favor after challenging decisions by the head of the theocracy, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad has remained silent since the attacks, but his supporters have raised questions about whether Iran's interests are served by a diplomatic battle with the West.

___

Associated Press writers David Stringer, Jill Lawless and Cassandra Vinograd in London contributed to this report. Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_britain

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NFL Star Rolando McClain: Happiest Arrest Pic Ever!

NFL star Rolando McClain was charged with four crimes Thursday following a dustup in his hometown, but it's a photo of him being taken into custody that is truly noteworthy.

Visiting his hometown of Decatur, Ala., the Oakland Raiders linebacker got popped after police say he held a gun to another man's head then fired it beside his ear.

Looks like somebody had a good laugh about it at least ...

Police said the victim suffered injuries to his head and face during a fight with another man (who was also arrested) and that he begged McClain not to shoot him.

The former Alabama star obliged and fired it inches from his head instead.

McClain was charged with third-degree assault, menacing, reckless endangerment, and discharging a firearm within city limits ... while in town for his grandpa's funeral.

All things that make a man smile ear-to-ear apparently.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/nfl-star-rolando-mcclain-happiest-arrest-pic-ever/

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Iran diplomats return from UK to heroes' welcome (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) -Iranian diplomats expelled from Britain after radical youths stormed the British embassy in Tehran arrived home on Saturday to supporters bearing flowers and chanting "Death to England."

"Spy embassy closed for good," read one of the many placards carried by the crowd of some 100 men and women, most of whom appeared to be members of the hardline Basij militia, congregated at Imam Khomeini Airport.

Britain evacuated all diplomatic staff and closed its embassy in Tehran after it was stormed and ransacked on Tuesday. France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands withdrew their ambassadors from Tehran in protest.

With swift condemnation from around the world, the embassy storming risks further isolating Iran which is already under several rounds of sanctions over the nuclear program that many countries fear is aimed at developing atomic bombs, a charge Tehran denies.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has yet to comment on the incident, an indication, some analysts say, that it was organized by rival hardliners within the faction-riven establishment.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has expressed regret over the embassy invasion, which it said was a spontaneous overflowing of anger during a student protest. Britain says there must have been at least tacit approval by the ruling establishment.

Speaking to reporters at the airport, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast warned Britain's European Union partners not to allow the diplomatic row to worsen their own ties with the Islamic Republic.

"The British government is trying to extend to other European countries the problem between the two of us, but of course we have told European countries not to subject their ties with us with the kind of problems that existed between Iran and Britain," he was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

(Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/wl_nm/us_iran_britain_embassy

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S.Africa: 1st class graduates from Winfrey school (AP)

HENLEY-ON-KLIP, South Africa ? Mpumi Nobiva was raised by her grandmother in a neighborhood beset by poverty and crime after her mother died of AIDS. Now one of the first to graduate from Oprah Winfrey's school, she is headed to college in North Carolina.

Winfrey spent $40 million to give her girls a campus with computer and science labs, a library and a wellness center. None paid tuition. The students are high-achievers, often from communities where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

And as the South African school year nears its end, all 72 members of the school's first graduating class have been accepted to universities in South Africa or the United States. More than a dozen have received full scholarships.

Winfrey told her students that when you teach a girl, you teach a nation.

"The first class, my class, will prove that," said Nobiva, 18, who will study visual and performing arts at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Winfrey will be at the school for graduation ceremonies in January, school officials said Wednesday as students gathered to reflect on their experiences over the last five years.

The school has drawn sometimes harsh attention because of the celebrity who founded it, and also because of early problems.

Students have been accused of being spoiled. Allegations that a woman employed to care for the girls in their dormitory had instead abused teens were the subject of headlines around the world. The woman was acquitted last year.

Earlier this year, a newborn born to a student at the school was found dead, again drawing international attention.

"Yes, we've had bad coverage," Nobiva said. "But it has certainly made us stronger."

Winfrey, who has visited her school often, has instilled a sense of purpose. On Wednesday, Nobiva's classmates ? aspiring doctors, accountants, engineers and lawyers ? spoke of their plans to serve their communities.

"You can imagine the impact of girls with that insight going out into the universe," Nobiva said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_en_tv/af_south_africa_winfrey_s_girls

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Why a Facebook phone is doomed to be the next Zune (Digital Trends)

In the list of bad ideas, the rumored ?Facebook phone? (which will apparently be built by HTC and may fork the Android code base) is arguably one of the worst ideas since? well, the Zune. Let?s explore that today by looking at some of Microsoft?s own missteps with the ill-fated PMP, and where Facebook and HTC seem to be repeating them.

Zune

To recap the history of the Zune, Microsoft made three massively strategic mistakes over the last three decades. The first mistake Microsoft made was to build the Zune MP3 player. The company started off in media players by helping create the ?Plays for Sure? platform with hardware partners like SanDisk and Samsung. One of the things partners are often afraid of in this situation is the platform creator becoming too powerful and effectively replacing them altogether, which is effectively what Microsoft did by creating the Zune MP3 player. In effect, (though I doubt it thought this through at the time), Microsoft could have helped lay the groundwork for Android. The other two similar mistakes were the original Xbox and the Kin phone, in my opinion.

You never want to put yourself at odds with your key revenue source and sow seeds of distrust, but the Zune did that with partners. It was also a colossal failure at the same time, which upset retailers and made them lose their trust in Microsoft.

How did Microsoft arrive at the decision to make the Zune? By looking out at the ?Plays for Sure? partners and concluding they were all idiots because not a single one had come up with anything as popular as the Apple iPod. Yet the Zune failed massively, suggesting a good chunk of the reason for that was not (as Microsoft assumed) the partners? fault, but Microsoft?s own lack of resources to the effort.

Arguably, the Zune is one of the most expensive failures that Microsoft has ever had, all because it betrayed its partners and then under-resourced the effort. What a waste.

Facebook Phone

Facebook isn?t in Microsoft?s business, so its mistake isn?t identical, but it?s also massively counter-strategic (in this case more for HTC than for Facebook). You see, HTC is on the other side of the Zune problem. Just as Microsoft lost trust from its hardware partners, an OEM like HTC stepping out against their software partner should have the same kind of collateral damage.

In this case, HTC has strong relationships with both Google for Android and Microsoft for Windows Phone 7. One of the key standout features for Windows Phone 7 is social networking and in particular, Facebook integration (Facebook and Microsoft are partnered). Google, on the other hand, is at war with Facebook with Google+, and monetizes Android after-the-fact with services like Google+. On paper, Android?s connection to Google services is what makes it works. (I could argue that economically this actually doesn?t work, because by competing with Apple and Microsoft, Google lost more than they gained? but we?ll save that for another time.)

So, HTC taking Android and possibly forking it (effectively denying Google at least some of the revenue and breaking the hard connection to Google+) would really upset Google. Meanwhile, taking Android to build a Facebook phone rather than a Windows Phone 7 would really upset Microsoft. In effect, both Microsoft and Google could put HTC in the doghouse at once, making the other phone makers really happy. Samsung, the company that has never met an OS it didn?t like, is thinking of doing one of these as well, which should alone, be a red flag for everyone else.

Then we look at Facebook. Is it really going to be able to promote a piece of hardware? Does it really want to go to war with Apple and every other device manufacturer? Right now Apple, Microsoft and others spend lots of time on Facebook, but they aren?t likely to continue if they view Facebook as a potential competitor.

Facebook should be focused on building the best Facebook app for every major platform. Going into competition with these platforms and phone providers could alone turn them into the next Netscape. This may partially explain why Microsoft is thinking of building its own social network all of a sudden.

Opportunity cost and collateral damage

What the hell goes through executives? minds when they make mistakes like the Zune, Kin, and this foolish Facebook phone?

They?re dreaming of the upside of being the next Apple, without considering the collateral damage and opportunity cost that is more likely to make them the next Netscape. The reason for this is that they apparently are hardwired to fail. This post suggests that decisions like this come out of a need to assure status at all costs. Sounds whacked, until you read the post. But for me, I think a Facebook phone is just plain stupid.

?

Guest contributor Rob Enderle is the founder and principal analyst for the Enderle Group, and one of the most frequently quoted tech pundits in the world. Opinion pieces denote the opinions of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of Digital Trends.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111126/tc_digitaltrends/whyafacebookphoneisdoomedtobethenextzune

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