Google releases new Photosphere tutorial video

Googler chimes in in our forums with tips to improve your Photo Spheres.

We're slowly seeing more and more emphasis being put on Photo Spheres, and Google is offering a few tips with a new tutorial video. Between software improvements for taking Photo Spheres in Android 4.3 and new ways to upload and share them on Google Maps, you want to be able to take the best 360-degree views possible. The main tips may seem counterintuitive, but Google seems to have worked out a system here:

• Hold the phone close to your body
• Keep the phone in portrait orientation
• Make full rotations holding the phone at each angle until a full 360 is achieved

ThatAdamGuy, a Googler working on Photo Sphere has also chimed in in our forums to offer a few tips, mirroring many of the things pointed out in the video. He says that Google is working to create more documentation for Photo Spheres, which should help users get a better hold on the technique for creating great images. 

If you're interested in working on your Photo Sphere skills or have a question about the topic, hit up the forums below to join in on the discussion.

More: Photo Sphere tips from the AC forums

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/87xrAVzictI/story01.htm

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Indexes edge up as Fed slowdown fears ebb

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks are ending slightly higher after a report of tepid U.S. economic growth raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue its stimulus program.

The government lowered its estimate for growth in the first three months of the year to 2.4 percent from 2.5 percent.

Stocks slid last week on concerns that the Fed might slow its bond purchases.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21 points to 15,324 Thursday, or 0.1 percent. The Dow was up 95 points in the afternoon, then faded in the last hour.

The Standard & Poor?s 500 rose six to 1,654, or 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq rose 23 points to 3,491.

Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.

Source: http://feeds.salon.com/salon/index

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Dell's potential savior, a $100 Android computer the size of a USB stick, now sh...

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shockproof tragicomic: The Staycation in Park Royal Penang ...

28 July 2013 233 views No Comment

The Staycation in Park Royal Penang

When you mentioned Park Royal Penang in Batu Ferringhi, many will tell you stories on the history of the hotel. While many locals still live in the past, the hotel has move on. In fact, the hotel has gone through a revamp with a huge renovation on their hotel rooms. The legacy remains with new directions.

Penang has changed for good in the past few years. More places for good food and more hotels are opening on the island. To drive from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, it should take less than five hours drive (without speeding) with leisure speed and it will take an hour for a plane ride. We chose to drive because we wanted to travel freely on the island.

It didn?t take us long to reach Park Royal Hotel. Even though the exterior looks the same but the interior is a world of its own. I always feel that hotel services in Malaysia fares poorer compare to our neighbours but in Park Royal Penang they proved me wrong. Doormen and front desk staffs were helpful and friendly.

We got ourselves a beautiful seaview room. I love how the newly renovated hotel rooms. It looks like new!

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The swimming pools in Park Royal Penang must be mentioned. They have two swimming pools, one for the adults and one for the children.

If you are bringing your kids for a staycation in Park Royal, they will love the children?s pool. It is like mini water theme park but it is always advisable parents or guardians should be around when the kids are playing in the pool

If you are a beach person, just walk a few steps and you will be greeted by the beautiful Batu Ferrighi white sandy beach. Facing the Strait of Malacca, there are varieties of sports activities available.

Having a brisk walk or even a jog at this beautiful beach during morning or evening is relaxing. Usually the sea water here is not that rough so swimming in the sea is consider safe. Jelly fish attacks are rare in Penang.

If you don?t want to soak into the sea water, you can always sun bathing at the benches available exclusive for hotel guests.

Breakfast in Parkroyal Penang was not disappointing as well. I thought it will be the same old typical ?Malaysia hotel breakfast? and I was wrong. They have local Penang food like char kuey teow and nasi lemak for breakfast.

I stayed two nights in Parkroyal Penang and it was blissful. Due to Rachel?s pregnancy, we stayed in the hotel most of the time and we didn?t even make time for the Batu Ferringhi night market. Please don?t be fooled by the exterior and the history of the hotel as the rooms were renovated and rejuvenated. If you are planning to visit Penang for a staycation, ParkRoyal Penang Batu Ferringhi is an option for you.

Park Royal Penang ?Address:

Batu Ferringhi Beach, 11100 Batu Ferringhi, Penang, Malaysia

Phone: +60 4-881 1133

Website: http://www.parkroyalhotels.com/en/hotels/malaysia/penang/parkroyal/location/index.html

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Popularity: 1% [?]

Source: http://www.placesandfoods.com/2013/07/the-staycation-in-park-royal-penang.html

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Classified ad site Backpage in crosshairs over child sex ads?

sex-crimes

Suzanne Choney NBC News

12 hours ago

Getty Images

Backpage.com has become the Craigslist of prostitution ads in recent years since that free site stopped running the ads in 2010.

Search for "Backpage.com" on the FBI's main website and up pops eight whole pages of press releases and public announcements naming the classified advertising site as a tool for sex criminals, particularly those selling children, sex and prostitution. And in fact, Backpage was named as one of the sources law enforcement used to help gather evidence needed to coordinate a 70-city raid last weekend that resulted in the rescue of 105 teenagers and the arrest of 159 pimps.

"The fact that they were able to rescue that many children and arrest that many pimps is fantastic," Liz McDougall, counsel for Backpage told NBC News Monday. "We are glad to be a partner with and support law enforcement to make these arrests, and make them in time to rescue these children."

A partner with law enforcement? While Backpage may be the current Craigslist for prostitution ads in the United States, McDougall says the site gladly cooperates with police when they want information about those who place the ads, including the IP, or Internet protocol, address from where the ads originated.

But a new effort by the National Association of Attorneys General wants to change federal law so that Internet service providers and websites like Backpage could be prosecuted by state and local governments for promoting prostitution and child sex trafficking, simply by running such ads.

It's a double-edged sword, some might say: Shutting down online ad venues for criminals and sexual traffickers seems like a good "nowhere to run" idea, but law enforcement looks to such sites to find information about the criminals they're chasing. And some argue that if you shut down one such "offending" site, another pops up anyway. Besides, there's a bigger issue at the heart of this: The same laws that protect the unsavory ads online also protect most Internet providers from liabilities of all kinds.

Backpage is specifically named in a letter from the attorneys' general group, sent last week to members of Congress, seeking an amendment to the Communications Decency Act of 1996:

Every day, children in the United States are sold for sex. In instance after instance, State and local authorities discover that the vehicles for advertising the victims of the child sex trade to the world are online classified ad services, such as Backpage.com. The involvement of these advertising companies is not incidental ? these companies have constructed their business models around income gained from participants in the sex trade.

Federal enforcement by itself has "proven insufficient to stem the growth of Internet-facilitated child trafficking," says the group, with the letter signed by 49 state and territorial attorneys general. "Those on the front lines of the battle against the sexual exploitation of children ? state and local law enforcement ? must be granted the authority to investigate and prosecute those who facilitate these horrible crimes."

It's an effort applauded by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which works with law enforcement on sex trafficking cases.

"Classified-ad websites have made child sex trafficking an easy and profitable business enterprise for pimps," said John Ryan, the center's CEO, in a recent statement. "NCMEC urges all policymakers to explore every avenue available to bring to justice those who profit from the sexual exploitation of children."

Perhaps you're wondering why so many name Backpage and not Craigslist. In 2010, Craigslist, under pressure from more than a dozen individual states' attorney generals, voluntarily banned ads for adult services from the site. When that happened, much of the business moved to Backpage.com. (Village Voice Media, which owns the Village Voice, among other publications, also owned Backpage.com until last fall, when it became a separate company.)

Whether or not Backpage follows suit and ditches adult services, experts argue that the law itself should not be changed in order to make this happen.

Mark Rasch, former head of the Department of Justice's Computer Crimes Unit, and now an independent consultant, told NBC News he is against the proposed change, which would restrict free speech, now a key protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. He also says it's the "wrong way" to go after those in the child sex trade.

"Sex traffickers use the Internet to sell their wares, use the telephone lines to communicate with customers, use the banking and credit card system to obtain payment for sex services, use highways and local roads to transport minors for sex, use cars and other vehicles for the same purpose," he wrote in a recent blog post. "They use the same infrastructure established to sell toothpaste to sell illicit sex with minors. They need to be arrested and prosecuted for these crimes."

But third parties that might be accused of making those crimes possible ? whether it's ISPs or gas stations ? shouldn't be held criminally liable "for their own participation," he argues. An amendment to the law like this one means that "EBay could be held liable if someone purchased a knife online and then used that knife to kill someone, if a state passed a law making the advertisement of knives that are used for such purposes a crime."

Matthew Zimmerman, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties organization, told NBC News that with the "proliferation of user-generated speech online over the past decade," the proposed amendment would be "extraordinarily harmful."

The EFF successfully defended both Backpage and the non-profit Internet Archive in a suit against the state of Washington, which in 2012 passed a law that essentially made it a crime to "knowingly" publish or display any ad for a commercial sex act, including the depiction of a minor. The EFF said that the new state law considered both sites publishers, contrary to the provisions of the Communications Decency Act. A federal court agreed, and blocked the law.

Zimmerman says it's not only "lawful speech" that would be hurt by letting states prosecute service providers and websites. "This could also lead to the loss of critical tools that law enforcement could use to investigate these and other crimes," he told NBC News.

McDougall of Backpage agrees. The arrests over the weekend are "something that wouldn't be possible if you didn't have a domestic, cooperative website involved," she said. "That's why it's important to not drive this content to offshore websites, which won't cooperate and don't have to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement. It would make law enforcement's job exponentially more difficult."

Still, there are many who'd argue that giving child traffickers one less avenue would be a win for the good guys. It's not known yet what, if any, action Congress will take on changing the Communications Decency Act. The issue is sure to be debated in the months to come.

Check out Technology and TODAY Tech on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2f50eec7/sc/23/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cclassified0Ead0Esite0Ebackpage0Ecrosshairs0Eover0Echild0Esex0Eads0E6C10A789250A/story01.htm

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Mummified Inca child sacrifice gives up her secrets

Sitting cross-legged, a Mona Lisa half-smile playing on her lips, the Llullaillaco Maiden looks at peace. When she was unearthed in 1999, the lump of coca in her teeth and her icy mountaintop tomb were the only clues that she was part of an Inca child sacrifice ritual 500 years ago.

Now the latest studies of her perfectly preserved body offer an unprecedented glimpse into her life in the months leading up to her death ? possibly from hypothermia ? and raise questions about the extent to which she was aware of, and accepted, the fate that had been mapped out for her.

The frozen body of the 13-year-old Maiden was entombed in a small chamber 1.5 metres underground near the summit of Volc?n Llullaillaco in Argentina, together with the bodies of two 4 or 5-year-olds. With the blood still visible in their hearts and their lungs inflated, the three are probably the best-preserved mummies anywhere in the world, says Andrew Wilson at the University of Bradford in the UK. "They look very recognisable as individuals, which adds to the poignancy of their story."

The children were the centrepiece of an elaborate capacocha ritual ? the Inca practice of child sacrifice used to mark important events in the emperor's life. What we know about the ritual comes from 17th-century Spanish accounts, but they reveal little from the children's perspective. The mummies, in particular that of the Maiden, help fill that gap.

Timeline in hair

"She has fantastically tightly braided hair, which effectively acts as a timeline stretching back almost two years before her death," says Wilson. With colleagues, he has analysed how chemical traces in the hair differ from root to tip. The results show the Maiden experienced important dietary changes in those final two years.

Around 12 months before her death, for instance, the Maiden's diet changed markedly from simple to much richer food ? perhaps indicating the moment that she was plucked from humble surroundings and elevated to a higher status as someone chosen for sacrifice.

The chemical markers also show she consumed large quantities of alcohol and coca ? from which cocaine is extracted ? in the final months of her life. Her coca use peaked when she had six months to live, possibly coinciding with a hair-cutting ritual she underwent at the time. The final six weeks of her life, meanwhile, were marked by her consuming more alcohol than usual. This was not seen in the two younger children sacrificed alongside her, who almost certainly both played some subordinate "attendant" role in the capacocha ritual.

This difference intrigued Wilson and his colleagues, who speculate that it may reflect a greater need to sedate the Maiden as the capacocha ritual approached.

Coping mechanism

It's certainly a possibility, says John Verano at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. "We can only hypothesise, but being older, she might have had more of an idea of what was going on around her," he says. And although she may have considered her imminent death an honour ? as we know the Inca were encouraged to do ? it may equally have caused her anxiety. "Was she nervous and using drink as a way to deal with it?" asks Verano.

However, Verano points out that the Maiden's increased intake of alcohol may simply reflect her involvement in more rituals before the capacocha ? maize beer being an important component of Inca ceremonies.

Charles Stanish at the University of California, Los Angeles, offers another interpretation: rather than the alcohol and drugs being used to sedate the Maiden to make it easier for her carers to manipulate her, they might have been for her benefit ? to numb her to her fate. "Some would say that within this cultural context, this was a humane action," he says.

There may be a way to throw more light on the issue, says Verano. Hair also contains the stress hormone cortisol, so it should hold clues to the Maiden's stress levels. "If [cortisol] also increased towards the end of her life, that would certainly be interesting," he says.

Journal reference: PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1305117110

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Lithia Beats Q2 Earnings Estimates

Lithia Motors Inc. (LAD) posted a 41.9% increase in adjusted earnings per share to $1.05 in the second quarter of 2013 compared with 74 cents earned in the corresponding quarter last year. Reported earnings also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13 cents. Net income jumped 40.9% to $27.4 million from $19.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenues for the quarter increased 22.6% to $1.0 billion from $822.3 million in the year-ago quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $986.0 million. The improvement in revenues was driven by better performance across all the segments, with finance and insurance business, and new vehicle and used vehicle sales being the bright spots. Recent acquisition and same store sales had favorable impacts on the company?s revenues.

Revenues from new vehicle sales improved 24.9% to $569.5 million in the quarter. New vehicle retail sales increased 21.8% to 17,024 units. Revenues per vehicle increased 2.5% to $33,452. On a same-store basis, revenues from new vehicle sales went up 18.9% to $541.7 million.

Revenues from used vehicle retail climbed 24.7% to $258.5 million in the quarter. Revenues from used vehicle wholesale went up 7.4% to $37.7 million. Used vehicle retail sales improved 21.3% to 14,074 units with revenues per vehicle increasing 2.8% to $18,365. Same-store revenues from used vehicle retail sales went up 18.7% to $246.0 million and used vehicle wholesale sales gained 1.6% to $35.6 million.

Revenues from service body and parts went up 10.5% to $94.5 million. Meanwhile, the company?s finance and insurance business witnessed a 25.9% rise in revenues to $34.2 million. Revenues from Fleet and other went up 25.3% to $14.2 million.

Gross profit increased 19.2% to $159.8 million from $134.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating income improved 23.7% to $45.7 million from $36.9 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Financial Details

Lithia Motors had cash and cash equivalents of $20.3 million as of Jun 30, 2013, down from $42.8 million as of Dec 31, 2012. Total debt was $301.0 million as of Jun 30, 2013 compared with $295.1 million as of Dec 31, 2012.

In the first half of 2013, the company had an operating cash flow of $24.4 million compared with a cash outflow of $152.0 million in the corresponding period of 2012.

New Store information

In Jun 2013, Lithia purchased BMW, Honda and Volkswagen stores in Salem, Ore. These stores are expected to generate $110 million additional revenues annually. The company also opened a MINI store in Anchorage, Alaska in Apr, 2013, which will yield annualized revenues of $13 million.

Outlook

Lithia Motors expects earnings in the range of $1.06 to $1.08 per share for the third quarter of 2013 and $3.80 to $3.85 for full year 2013. The company expects revenues between $3.9 billion and $4.0 billion for 2013, with a 17% increase in new vehicle same-store sales and a 16.5% rise in used vehicle same-store sales.

Same-store sales from service body and parts are expected to improve 7%. The company also expects capital expenditures of $55.0 million and a tax rate of 39.5% for 2013.

Our Take

Lithia Motors is the ninth largest automotive retailer in the U.S. With 91 stores in 11 states, the company provides 27 new vehicle brands along with all brands of used vehicle. Currently, it retains a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

AutoNation Inc. (AN), another prominent automotive retailer in the U.S, posted a 10.6% rise in earnings per share to 73 cents in the second quarter. However, earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.

Revenues increased 13.4% to $4.43 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.35 billion. The revenue growth was attributable to strong performance in all business sectors along with higher revenues from retailed used vehicle and Finance and Insurance businesses.

Some other stocks that are performing well in the industry where Lithia Motors operates include Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (ABG) and Group 1 Automotive Inc. (GPI). Asbury Automotive carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while Group 1 is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.

Read the Full Research Report on LAD

Read the Full Research Report on AN

Read the Full Research Report on GPI

Read the Full Research Report on ABG

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lithia-beats-q2-earnings-estimates-131043447.html

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24 hour Mortgages Without having any Credit Checks Acquire the ...

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Commercial Spaceflight Conference Launches in California Thursday

SAN FRANCISCO - Legions of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are gathering in Silicon Valley this week to discuss the rise and impact of the commercial space industry.

The Space Frontier Foundation's annual NewSpace conference runs from Thursday through Saturday (July 25-27) in San Jose, Calif. Among the many speakers are NASA deputy chief Lori Garver, Commercial Spaceflight Federation president Michael Lopez-Alegria and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).

"The three-day event will focus on the current, near-term, and future potential and challenges of the emerging commercial space industry," Space Frontier Foundation officials wrote on the NewSpace 2013 website.

"People from throughout the space, advocacy and technology industries to those in startups, government and media bring their ideas for opening the high frontier, making this conference a hotbed of innovation and partnership," they added.

Panels at NewSpace 2013, which is being held at the DoubleTree Inn in San Jose, will address a variety of topics, including the commercial research potential of the International Space Station; the challenges and promise of space mining; new technologies that could aid space exploration and settlement; and the current legal landscape of space-resource utilization.

Such discussions are becoming more and more timely, as the commercial space sector has been gathering momentum over the last few years. Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace, for example, may begin launching paying customers to suborbital space within the next year or so.

Further, two separate companies ? Deep Space Industries and the billionaire-backed Planetary Resources ? recently announced their ambitions to mine water and precious metals from near-Earth asteroids. And a handful of other firms, such as Moon Express and the Shackleton Energy Company, aim to extract resources from the moon.

Those who can't make it to San Jose can still watch the sessions, which will be streamed live via Spacevidcast.com. If possible, SPACE.com will carry ?For more information, visit the NewSpace 2013 website: http://newspace.spacefrontier.org/

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall?and?Google+.?Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook?or Google+. Originally published on?SPACE.com.

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/commercial-spaceflight-conference-launches-california-thursday-120141435.html

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Shifting patterns of temperature volatility in the climate system

[unable to retrieve full-text content]In recent decades there has been increased variability in yearly temperature records for large parts of Europe and North America, according to a new study.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/kzjS-1WjVZA/130724134252.htm

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NFL training camps 2013: Top stories heading into workouts

It's football season.?

NFL training camps?will be in full swing by this weekend. Veterans report today for 12 NFL teams, with another 14 teams reporting on Thursday. Fans can check out the official schedule to see when their team begins workouts.

One of the most exciting battles to be watched will be the one for the quarterback position on the Philadelphia Eagles, which is being contested by three players. Michael Vick, Nick Foles, and rookie Matt Barkley all have realistic shots of becoming the starting QB.

NJ.com wrote about the Eagles' predicament:

The Eagles have two quarterbacks who could be considered the "future" but want to play now, and one quarterback who is trying to revive his career. Not exactly an ideal situation...

Conventional thinking is Vick was brought back to start. Why else would the organization bother to work out a new deal and hand him $3.5 million?

Trouble is there is very little conventional about [Chip] Kelly and the way he does things. Right now, he's not tipping his hand in any of the three directions.

NJ.com also fleshed out the pros and cons of each QB winning the job.

? The New York Jets will also have to make a decision at QB. The Jets just signed second-round draft pick Geno Smith, who will compete with last year's starting QB Mark Sanchez.

Smith thinks he has a "good shot" at earning the starting position over Sanchez.

There is also lots of talk about recoveries and injuries, and how they will affect teams' rosters going into the start of the season:

? Washington Redskins' QB?Robert Griffin III has been cleared for practice after sufficiently recovering from his ACL tear last January.

? Running back Trent Richardson will be a "full-go" for the start of Browns' training camp. Browns Offensive Coordinator Norv Turner thinks that Richardson stacks up with Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson, two other running backs he has coached.

? The New England Patriots placed tight end Rob Gronkowski on the physically unable to perform list. If Gronkowski does not come off the PUP list before August 31, he will be forced to miss the first 6 games of the season.

Many are discussing the Patriots' chances after a brutal offseason. Some think that the Pats will suffer from the loss of Aaron Hernandez, whom the Patriots released following his arrest in a homicide related case.

Others think that the Patriots will succeed in spite of this setback. Analyst Greg A. Bedard argues that Bill Belichick thrives in situations like this one. Belichick is set to address the media later today, but it is unclear as to whether he will speak about Hernandez or the murder investigation. Tom Brady said that he has "moved on" from the situation, and will focus solely on winning games.?

Dolphins' receiver Mike Wallace says not to count them out as long as they have Belichick and Brady.

Brady said that the Patriots'?success will be decided by their mental toughness.

? The Detroit Lions are another team whose chances of success this season are being discussed. Last year, they went 4-12 after making the postseason in 2011.

Grantland.com's Bill Barnwel thinks the Lions are likely to rebound this year if their top players stay healthy.

QB Matt Stafford is confident in the Lions' prospects for this season. In fact, he expects that they will contend in the postseason.

? Teams are also refining the actual logistics of their training camps.

The Cleveland Browns have moved their practices to the afternoon, with teaching and film study coming in the mornings. Before 2011, all teams conducted two practices each day. Since then, however, teams have tried to figure out when it's best to hold the one practice. Coach Rob Chudzinkski thinks it will be hot but not excessively so when the team begins their practices at 4 p.m.

The Eagles changed the location of their training camp from Lehigh University to their own complex.

This is a drastic change from the past, when the Eagles were living in dorm rooms away from their loved ones for somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-6 weeks. They were eating, sleeping and training on visiting turf. And maybe worst of all for their bodies and morale, they were sleeping on small, uncomfortable beds not meant to withstand 6-foot-6, 300-plus pounds of hurting grown men.

There is a downside to allowing players to be so close to home. Some coaches believe isolating players improves unity, increases team building, and eliminates everyday distractions. Kelly, however, has made it clear that one of his top priorities is to optimize physical performance. Included in that is having a good night sleep.

The Eagles aren't the first team to hold training camp at their own facility. Nineteen teams will practice this summer at their team headquarters.

Source: http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-sports/2013/07/nfl_training_camp_2013_top_sto.html

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Home prices heat up in California

The California housing market has gone from bust to boom, and Sacramento leads the nation in home value growth.

But the capital city is not the only one registering big gains, and many market experts are saying that now is the best time to purchase a home.

Realtor Doug Eatough of ZipRealty has been busy showing off a Carmichael home in a market that?s become red hot.

"Sacramento got hit really badly in this recession and is coming back rather quickly," Eatough told KCRA 3. "I?ve seen a huge increase in median prices."

In fact, the Sacramento metropolitan area leads the nation in home value gains over the past 12 months, up nearly 30 percent in the latest Zillow report, but even higher in the newest survey from ZipRealty, which shows a 42 percent gain.

The new median price is now $235,000 in Sacramento, where the percentage gain is greater than the Bay Area, which registered a 38 percent rise, with median home values now at $620,000.

Home values are up 34 percent in the city of Modesto, with a median home price of $165,500, while home values in the city of Stockton rose 31 percent, with a median price of $160,000.

And in West Sacramento, new homes under construction at Ironworks are in high demand.

"The activity is frenetic," said Marty Atkinson, the community sales manager for Ironworks.

Atkinson told KCRA 3 that all 42 remaining units will be sold out by September, at prices $50,000 higher than last year.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kcra/local/~3/2yLNPfGW2XU/index.html

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Nielsen's top programs for July 15-21

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for July 15-21. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.

1. "America's Got Talent" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), NBC, 11.18 million.

2. "Under the Dome," CBS, 11.13 million.

3. Baseball: All-Star Game, Fox, 10.96 million.

4. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 10.06 million.

5. "NCIS," CBS, 8.76 million.

6. Movie: "Teen Beach Movie," Disney, 8.39 million.

7. "60 Minutes," CBS, 7.79 million.

8. "America's Got Talent" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 7.65 million.

9. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 7.23 million.

10. "Big Brother 15" (Sunday), CBS, 6.91 million.

11. "Big Brother 15" (Thursday), CBS, 6.7 million.

12. "Home Run Derby," ESPN, 6.65 million.

13. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 6.63 million.

14. "Big Brother 15" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.44 million.

15. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 6.17 million.

16. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 6.16 million.

17. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 6.09 million.

18. "Master Chef" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), Fox, 5.69 million.

19. "Amores Verdaderos" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), Univision, 5.43 million.

20. "Amores Verdaderos" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), Univision, 5.31 million.

___

ABC, The Disney Channel and ESPN are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is a unit of News Corp.; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-07-23-Nielsens-List/id-05d1c75dfbdc440ca21868875e78fe7c

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While You Were Watching a Baby, 500 Inmates Escaped Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison

In the United Kingdom and around the world, lots of people spent Monday waiting for a royal baby to show up. Eventually, the baby was born, and it was a boy, and it was all totally great. But here's something many people may have missed: In Iraq, hundreds of Qaida militants escaped from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in a raid that began Sunday night.

The raid, possibly driven by al-Qaida, lasted until Monday morning and resulted in the deaths of 10 policemen and four militants. A senior member of the security and defense committee in Iraq's parliament told Reuters?Monday afternoon, "The number of escaped inmates has reached 500, most of them were convicted senior members of al-Qaeda and had received death sentences."

The prison raid comes after a weekend that saw a wave of car-bomb attacks?in Shiite areas of Baghdad that killed at least 46 people inside and outside of the city. Also this weekend, a local Sunni militia leader was killed just outside the capital. Since July 10, according to the Associated Press, more than 250 people have been killed in increased sectarian violence. By Iraq Body Count's estimate, around 600 people have been killed in militant attacks in July alone. Sunday night's prison raid increases fears that sectarian violence in Iraq is returning to near-civil-war levels.

So, again, royal baby, totally cool stuff. But, oh my, is the the world still a scary place.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/while-were-watching-baby-500-inmates-escaped-iraqs-170642990.html

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Microsoft Windows 8 Has No Time To Waste

10 Hidden Benefits of Windows 8.1

(click image for larger view) On Thursday, Microsoft announced earnings that missed Wall Street estimates by the largest margin in a decade. Windows 8 and Microsoft's Surface tablet headlined the disappointing earnings, which prompted CFO Amy Hood to remark, "We have to do better."

Indeed, Microsoft needs to do better and customers need to see the evidence sooner than later.

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Hood said the process will take time, but with Windows 8, the company might not be in position to be patient. If the company's recently announced restructuring doesn't start paying off within the next several months, the obstacles standing between CEO Steve Ballmer and his "one Microsoft" vision will only grow taller, and in some cases, become insurmountable.

Ballmer wants Microsoft to be more collaborative, and to produce products that enhance one another. This kind of cross-divisional cooperation is something with which the company has so far had mixed success.

[ Need Windows 8 apps? Read 8 Free, Must-Have Windows 8 Apps. ]

Azure and Office 365 have reinforced one another, for instance, but Microsoft has struggled to use Office to promote Windows 8. The company has declined to release Office for the iPad in an attempt to make Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets more attractive, but so far, only niche users have embraced the Modern UI. Apple, meanwhile, continues to sell millions of iPads.

In a Friday blog post, Forrest analyst J.P. Gownder noted that if only 10% of iPad users are willing to pay $100 for Office, Microsoft would book $1.4 billion in revenue, more than enough to wipe away the massive Surface write-down that the company reported on Thursday. As the unsold Surface inventory attests, Microsoft seems to have overestimated consumer demand for tablets that run Office.

Perhaps once Windows 8.1 hits, that demand will solidify, but in the meantime, Microsoft's strategy is not working.

Microsoft is committed to the Modern UI as the core of its future, so it's not surprising the company is willing to take short-term losses in the pursuit of long-term gains. But there's always a tipping point. Microsoft isn't there yet, but if Windows 8 doesn't start performing, especially with consumers, Ballmer will be forced to compromise his plan.

Microsoft is not on the brink of disaster. The company continues to own the enterprise market, and several of its fledgling projects should prolong that dominance for years to come. The reorg could potentially help these newer projects along.

Bing has lost billions, for instance, but its potential as a development platform is fascinating and far-reaching. Ballmer talks about Windows apps that understand a user's context and needs, and with Bing's intelligence and Internet-spanning reach riding along Azure's backbone, developers might be able to create this vision.

Though this sounds great, certain portions of the market, namely consumers, aren't going to wait around for Microsoft's next-gen apps to materialize. If Microsoft finally has a compelling mass market product by the fall, that will be one thing. But if the company is 12 or 18 months away from being truly competitive, that's another story. Microsoft is already playing from behind, and at some point, the deficit will become almost impossible to surmount, barring a genuinely disruptive new product or a major misstep from Apple or Google.

Following Thursday's earnings report, Microsoft value shed $32 billion. The 11% decline represents the biggest single-day sell-off of Microsoft stock in more than a decade. Steve Ballmer is accustomed to stockholders treating him like a punching bag, of course. But what if Windows 8 is still in disarray after the holiday season? What if businesses that use Windows XP users don't accelerate their migrations? What if most of these businesses stick with Windows 7, leaving Microsoft without a strong presence in the enterprise tablet market?

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/software/windows8/microsoft-windows-8-has-no-time-to-waste/240158680?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Social_Business

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'The Conjuring' scares up $41.5M to top box office

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Moviegoers were ready for a fright this weekend, sending "The Conjuring" into first place at the box office, while "R.I.P.D." became the summer's latest big-budget action film to bite the dust.

"The Conjuring," a haunted-house thriller from Warner Bros., debuted with $41.5 million in North American ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Starring Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor, Patrick Wilson and Ron Livingston, "The Conjuring" unseated two-week box-office champ "Despicable Me 2," which dropped to second place with $25 million.

"The Conjuring" was among four new releases tempting moviegoers this weekend. The newest animated offering, Fox's "Turbo," opened with $21.5 million, good for third place. Fox's head of domestic distribution, Chris Aronson, characterized the opening as "a very promising start," noting that the film won't open in Europe until the fall.

But Universal's big-budget crime caper "R.I.P.D." opened with a disappointing $12.76 million. The film reportedly cost more than $130 million to make, compared to only about $19.5 million for "The Conjuring."

Starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds, "R.I.P.D" joins the year's other mega-budget summer flops, including "Pacific Rim," ''White House Down," ''After Earth" and "The Lone Ranger."

Overall box office totals are up, though, said Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"Despite the fact there have been some high-profile, high-budget flops, the summer to date is up 12 percent from last year," he said. "For mid-July, to have a modestly budgeted horror film top the weekend tells you how important it is for audiences to have options."

The Adam Sandler-produced Sony comedy "Grown Ups 2," starring Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Salma Hayek, held onto fourth place in its second week of release, earning $20 million.

Summit Entertainment's "Red 2," which stars Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren as retired CIA operatives, debuted in fifth with $18.5 million.

"The Conjuring" was originally set for release in the winter, but audience tests proved so positive that the studio moved the film to the heat of summer movie season.

"It was really a bold choice, no question about it," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of theatrical distribution. "With three other movies against us this week with high price tags and high expectations associated with them, this result is even more impressive."

Still, there was no chance for this weekend's movies to match box-office totals for the same weekend last summer, when "The Dark Knight Rises" opened with $161 million domestically.

___

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.

1. "The Conjuring," $41.5 million.

2. "Despicable Me 2," $25 million ($35.4 million international).

3. "Turbo," $21.5 million ($22.6 million international).

4. "Grown Ups 2," $20 million.

5. "Red 2," $18.5 million ($7.6 million international).

6. "Pacific Rim," $15.95 million ($34.8 million international).

7. "R.I.P.D.," $12.76 million ($6.8 million).

8. "The Heat," $9.3 million.

9. "World War Z," $5.2 million ($12 million international).

10. "Monsters University," $5 million ($20.7 million international).

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Despicable Me 2," $35.4 million.

2. "Pacific Rim," $34.8 million.

3. "Turbo," $22.6 million.

4. "Monsters University," $20.7 million.

5. "The Lone Ranger," $12.3 million.

6. "World War Z," $12 million.

7. "After Earth," $8.3 million.

8. "Now You See Me," $7.9 million.

9. "Red 2," $7.6 million.

10. "R.I.P.D.," $6.8 million.

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/conjuring-scares-41-5m-top-box-office-164007427.html

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3D Printers Might Get Way Cheaper After 2014

The 3D printing "revolution" isn't just being held up by the state of the technology. It's also being held up by the sheer cost of a 3D printer. But in February 2014, some key patents will expire, leaving an opening for competitors come in with cheaper alternatives.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/XLg5gE4-xY8/3d-printers-might-get-way-cheaper-after-2014-869678785

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Sex offender caught after sexually assaulting a woman in church

Sex offender arrested. This morning at approximately 9:30 a.m., the suspect was sitting behind the 25- year- old female victim during church services in the 400 block of Yale Av N. The row that the victim was in stood up and when they did the suspect reached over and lifted the victim?s skirt to look underneath.

The victim did not know what had happened. However, several of the victim?s relatives saw this and immediately escorted the suspect out through the front of the church. Before the relatives could return to the church, the suspect slipped back into the church through a side door.

The suspect went over and immediately sat next to the victim and once again lifted up her skirt but this time he sexually assaulted the woman. The victim was able to get away from the suspect and the victim?s male relatives returned to the suspect and this time held him for police.

Officers responded and the suspect told the officers that he has mental health problems and is taking medications for such. During the course of the investigation the officers learned that the suspect is a registered sex offender.

The 37-year-old suspect was booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Rape.

Source: http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2013/07/21/sex-offender-caught-after-sexually-assaulting-a-woman-in-church/

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Timeout for a golf trip to Deerhurst Resort in Ontario

It had already been one of "those" weeks when I headed for Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka, Ont. for a perfectly timed getaway.

A combination of work hassles and a frantic home life had me frazzled and a quick mid-week timeout was just what the doctor ordered.

As the highway lanes became fewer heading north, so too did my worries. By the time I stepped out of the car after the drive to Deerhurst Resort, I took a deep breath of the fresh air and exhaled, ready to relax.

I checked in -- my room was in the main building -- and immediately flung open the patio doors to the two terraces, enjoying the clean, crisp air as I changed into my golf attire to hit the course.

Source: http://www.lfpress.com/2013/07/18/timeout-for-a-golf-trip-to-deerhurst-resort-in-ontario

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Follow your labels: Starbucks coffee farmers who never heard of Starbucks

Despite the siren logo on their property, some Colombian coffee farmers receive no benefit from Starbucks' sustainability program.

By Kelsey Timmerman,?Contributor / July 21, 2013

The author found Starbucks plaques like this one on farmhouses in the Nari?o area. This story is part of the cover story project on the global food and clothing chain in The Christian Science MonitorWeekly issue of July 22, 2013.

Kelsey Timmerman

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EL TABL?N DE GOMEZ, Colombia

"How far do we go for a better cup of Colombian coffee?" Starbucks asks on its website. "Six thousand feet ? straight up. Sounds extreme, we know. But high atop the majestic Andes, in a rugged landscape of simmering volcanoes, is where the finest coffee beans in Colombia like to grow."

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Why It Matters

Kelsey Timmerman?has made it his business to follow the labels on his food and clothing straight to their source ? the people who sew his family?s clothes and grow the food on his kitchen table. This cover project is adapted from his books ? ?Where Am I Wearing?? and ?Where Am I Eating? ? for which he traveled the globe to tell the stories of the food and clothing economies ? including human rights, rural poverty, the loss of cultural diversity and biodiversity, climate change, and fair trade ? through the lives of the workers he met along the way.

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Not only did I want to drink this coffee after reading that narrative, I wanted to visit. I wanted to meet the people who grow my coffee. So in the spring of 2012, I contacted the Starbucks public relations and customer service departments repeatedly, telling them I was working on a book about the global food economy and asking them to point me in the right direction. I finally received an answer from a customer service agent: "Unfortunately, the information you are requesting is proprietary."

So I went to Colombia and found the farmers on my own. Starbucks was right; it was extreme. High atop the majestic Andes in a rugged landscape of simmering volcanoes, I straddled a coffee tree as if it were a fireman's pole and hung on for dear life. The shivering trunk was the only thing keeping me from falling thousands of feet down the volcanic slope.

Meanwhile, Felipe Ordonez, a Colombian coffee farmer who tends 4,000 trees near the village of El Tabl?n de Gomez stood in the loose volcanic soil as if he were watching grass grow, probably questioning his decision to hire me as a coffee worker for the day.

When Starbucks wouldn't help me, I had acted on the only information I had to go on ? the Starbucks 2011 C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity) Practices report in Nari?o, Colombia. C.A.F.E. Practices is what Starbucks points to when customers ask why it doesn't buy more Fair Trade coffee. In 2010, the company reported that 8 percent of its coffee was Fair Trade Certified. A certification is granted by third-party certifiers such as Fair Trade USA or Fairtrade International based on several principles: a set minimum price, a fair-trade premium that goes directly back to the producers, supply-chain transparency, and specific environmental and social standards. It is Starbucks's own set standards, but the company doesn't set minimum prices, or pay farmers anything resembling a "fair trade premium." The company launched its C.A.F.E. Practices in 2003, and by 2010 it said it was purchasing 86 percent of its coffee from certified farms.

The Starbucks report says there are 22,000 farms in Nari?o participating in its program. Yet when I first asked around, no one had heard of Starbucks or recognized its siren logo. Then I caught a glimpse of the faded siren atop a white plaque high on the side of a home here. "C.A.F.E. Practices" was printed below the logo.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/O2GdCyb9zYw/Follow-your-labels-Starbucks-coffee-farmers-who-never-heard-of-Starbucks

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Pikmin 3 is off to a great start in Japan!

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/Nintendojo/posts/708263879191067

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Military sexual assault survivors face broken VA treatment system

U.S. soldiers from the NATO-led coalition force relax beside a basketball court as night falls at the Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, June 29, 2007. (Photo by Finbarr O?Reilly/Reuters)

Former Navy Petty Officer Third Class Brian Lewis had a clear answer when asked what he thought about the current Veterans? Health Administration system for treating survivors of military sexual trauma: ?I cannot in good conscience recommend VA to a survivor of military sexual assault at this time,? he told the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Lewis and veterans of all branches of the United States military described to the committee Friday their nightmarish experiences of trying to get treatment for military sexual trauma, and while government representatives agreed changes need to be made, progress is likely to be slow.

After months of contentious debate over how to change the way the military handled the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault in the ranks, the three women and one man who spoke Friday morning detailed yet another obstacle course of bureaucratic quagmires, inadequate resources, and insensitive and inadequately trained health care providers. As Victoria Sanders, an Army veteran and registered nurse who was raped 38 years ago at age 20, VA treatment for her assault-related PTSD led to being ?re-traumatized on many occasions.? The other survivors echoed this sentiment during the course of the hearing, which saw testimony from?from survivors, representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department, and from VA facility doctors.

All four witnesses testified that they had difficulty finding adequate and compassionate health care, and that their interactions with VA employees supposedly dedicated to coordinating services for sexual assault victims were sporadic at best. Tara Johnson, a Marine Corps veteran who was raped twice during her time in the military, testified that when she finally tried to get treatment, she faced a more than four-month waiting list to get into an inpatient program. The VA drew harsh criticism earlier this year over its months-long backlog of veterans claims.

Related: When will it stop? Sexual assault claims pile up in military

Lewis, the former Navy petty officer who has become one of the most prominent voices for male survivors of military sexual trauma, was blunt in his assessment of VA health care services. The VA, he said, ?fundamentally fails male survivors of military sexual trauma every day.? Of the 24 inpatient treatment facilities run by the Veterans Health Administration, only 12 are for survivors of military sexual trauma, and only one of those accepts male patients into its co-ed program. Lewis also testified that treatment for military sexual assault is often administered through women?s health clinics within the VHA. This ?reinforces the concept that the VA sees [military sexual assault] as a women?s issue,? Lewis said, and does not account for the fact that the majority of victims, 14,000 of the estimated 26,000 last year alone, are men.

Representatives from VA health facilities said new practices are in the works that ?should remedy? some of the issues brought up during the hearing. Rajiv Jain, a VHA official, responded directly to criticisms and suggestions put forward by Johnson and the other survivors. When asked by California Democrat Julia Brownley how to improve screening procedures to increase reporting, something Johnson singled out as a systemic flaw that kept her from reporting her assaults for years, Jain said the VA would, ?look at our procedures for screening to see if there is a way that we could offer another chance to have the screening done in a simpler way.?

Doctors testified that for the survivors who report assault to their health care providers, seek treatment and enter programs, outcomes are often good. Dr. Jonathan Farrell-Higgins, who heads a stress disorder treatment program in Eastern Kansas, said that he would rate his program?s ?customer service? as excellent and that patients there have expressed satisfaction.

Members of both parties pressed VA and DOD representatives spoke for information and explanations that none of the witnesses seemed to have readily available. Michael Shepherd, a physician in the VA inspector general?s office, was unable to answer a question from Rep. Benishek about the number of beds available in inpatient military sexual trauma treatment facilities. Agency witnesses testified that there were new initiatives being implemented and recommendations under review, but Indiana Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski was not satisfied by the remarks prepared by the doctors and officials. ?We have thousands of people falling through the cracks,? Walorski said at one point, and ?we can?t even get answer to the committee? on what policies are being implemented to better serve veterans in need of help.

Related: Senate set for battle over military sexual assault

Both the House and Senate have taken up multiple bills designed to increase the reporting of incidents of sexual assault and to improve the toxic culture that is responsible for the thousands of instances of unwanted sexual contact last year. Last month the House passed a bill that would strengthen whistleblower protections for individuals who report sexual assault, and New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand continues to fight for her bill, the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would remove sexual assault prosecutions from the chain of command.

Advocates for military sexual assault survivors support an overhaul of the system to make it easier for veterans with PTSD to receive treatment and reduce the burden of proof so many survivors must meet before seeing their cases handled seriously. ?Due to the massive underreporting of military sexual assault, the abysmal prosecution rates, and the frequent mishandling of investigations, service members suffering from MST are often left with little tangible proof of their attacks,? Miranda Petersen, policy director of Protect Our Defenders, told MSNBC. ?There is no reason the burden of proof for PTSD should be greater simply because an individual was the victim of sexual violence.?

California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, who introduced a House bill similar to Gillibrand?s, asked four survivors at Friday?s hearing how many of them supported removing prosecution from the chain of command, all four immediately raised their hands.

Related: Sexual assault epidemic exposes shortfalls in military proposals

Source: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/07/19/military-sexual-assault-survivors-face-broken-va-treatment-system/

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San Jose State University suspends Udacity online course trials

San Jose State University's online education pilot held the promise of real course credit without the hassles of attending class in person. It hasn't worked that way in practice, however, and both SJSU as well as its partner Udacity have suspended their plans for fall courses. Quite simply, there have been too many flunkies so far -- while 83 percent of students completed their sessions this spring, no more than 44 percent of any given class earned a passing grade. SJSU and Udacity will use the break to learn what went wrong and retool the program, although it's not clear just when (or if) internet-based classes will resume. Online education is far from finished when similar for-credit trials have yet to begin; for now, though, SJSU students will have to drag themselves to the lecture hall.

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Source: LA Times

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/19/san-jose-state-university-suspends-udacity-online-course-trials/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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