Mandela daughter named ambassador to Argentina

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mandela-daughter-named-ambassador-argentina-170051565.html

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Equity Weakness Ahead as Fiscal Union 'Riot' Continues

US News

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Equity Weakness Ahead as Fiscal Union 'Riot' Continues

CNBC.com | July 04, 2012 | 09:47 AM EDT

Market participants will continue to "riot" to get policy makers to integrate fiscal policy across the euro zone and help restore consumers' confidence in the banking system, creating weakness in stock markets, Nancy Curtin, Chief Investment Officer of Close Brothers Asset Management told CNBC on Wednesday.

"There?s a lot of clarity in terms of what people are looking for in Europe, debt monetization, a fiscal political union (...). We believe they?re going to carry on to riot until they get it and that creates equity weakness ahead," Curtin said.

?You can?t get economic growth when the credit mechanism is broken,? Curtin said.

As lending growth in Europe and the UK has turned negative, and the three elements of bank lending - or the 3 Cs: confidence, clarity of regulation, and capital - got a bit more "hazy" due to the libor fixing scandal, "confidence in the bank lending system needs to be restored," Curtin noted.

"It's the conundrum of markets: is the economic slowdown which we?re clearly seeing a function of fiscal austerity, the excess (...) of leverage that still needs to be worked off, the non-function of the credit mechanism and how much confidence is linked to the missteps or inability of policy makers to lead Europe out of the crisis. We have the fiscal cliff ahead in the US and the slowness of the Chinese officals to pursue fiscal and monetary policy,? she said.

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Show Entire Article

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/48069649?__source=RSS*tag*&par=RSS

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Konichiwa! (HEYO!)

So this is my first time here. I am happy to learn how this place works and get going on some rp, if anyone has ideas look me up! I do not feel like taking us to much space here just wanted to say hey and get meh name out there. PM me if you like info is on my profile. HOPE TO RP WITH YOU SOON!

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Give all you have to each fight your are in. For whether you win or loose it matters the cause in which you pledge your blade to and those who have shelter behind your shield.

I do not own this series of game nor the movie. I did not make this it was found at:
http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... =ascending

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/LILVov5rdZ0/viewtopic.php

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4 aid workers taken in Kenya rescued by militia

Released aid workers Horat Sadosay, 38, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, left, Glenn Costes of the Philippines, 40, center, Steven Dennis of Canada, 37, above-center, and Astrid Sehl of Norway, 33, center-right, arrive back by Kenyan military helicopter at Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya Monday, July 2, 2012. A pro-government Somali militia group said Monday that it rescued the four aid workers kidnapped by gunmen from a refugee camp in Kenya last week. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

Released aid workers Horat Sadosay, 38, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, left, Glenn Costes of the Philippines, 40, center, Steven Dennis of Canada, 37, above-center, and Astrid Sehl of Norway, 33, center-right, arrive back by Kenyan military helicopter at Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya Monday, July 2, 2012. A pro-government Somali militia group said Monday that it rescued the four aid workers kidnapped by gunmen from a refugee camp in Kenya last week. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

This undated photograph made available by the Norwegian Refugee Council shows Norwegian Astrid Sehl, who was freed Monday July 2, 2012, along with three other hostages after their abduction Friday June 29, 2012 in northern Kenya. A pro-government Somali militia group said Monday that it rescued four aid workers kidnapped by gunmen from a refugee camp in Kenya last week. The four rescued workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council were flown to Nairobi, Kenya on Monday afternoon. (AP Photo/Norwegian Refugee Council via NTB Scanpix Norway)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Four aid workers kidnapped at gunpoint from Kenya's largest refugee camp arrived back in Kenya's capital aboard a military helicopter on Monday after a pro-government Somali militia group rescued the four inside Somalia.

The four workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council smiled and waved after landing in Nairobi.

"We are happy. We are back. We are alive and we are happy this has ended," said Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai, one of the four workers.

Elisabeth Rasmusson, the aid group's secretary general, told a news conference in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, that she was relieved the four had been released. "What we know right now is that they have been released and are in good condition."

Abdinasir Serar, a representative with the Ras Kamboni militia in Somalia, said his group heard of Friday's kidnapping in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp and pursued the kidnappers. Ras Kamboni fighters caught up with the kidnappers Monday morning about 60 kilometers (35 miles) inside Somalia.

Ras Kamboni's leader, Ahmed Madobe, said his men killed one of the kidnappers but that the other three escaped. The rescue happened in the village of Alu Gulay.

The four rescued workers were taken to the Somali town of Dhobley and were then flown to Nairobi. Ras Kamboni works alongside Somali government and Kenyan military forces. Kenya sent troops to Somalia last October to hunt al-Shabab militants.

Four gunmen attacked a two-vehicle convoy from the Norwegian Refugee Council on Friday, killing one Kenyan driver and wounding two other Kenyans. The gunmen took one of the two vehicles and the four workers. The group later abandoned the vehicle and began walking toward the Somali border.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said the four released hostages were: Astrid Sehl of Norway, 33; Glenn Costes of Philippines, 40; Steven Dennis of Canada, 37; and Canadian citizen Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai, 38, who is of Pakistani origin.

Rasmusson was present during Friday's attack but was not harmed or taken. She said Friday that the attack happened on a main road toward the city of Dadaab in "what is recognized as the safe part of the camp."

A Kenyan police commander said the aid group originally arranged to have armed security travel with it but that the group canceled the security arrangements at the last minute.

After an attack on a Doctors Without Borders convoy last year in which two Spanish women were abducted, some aid groups began using security escorts in Dadaab, a series of sprawling camps connected by sandy roads.

___

Associated Press reporter Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia, Khaled Kazziha in Nairobi and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-02-AF-Kenya-Aid-Ambush/id-146929c4944643af9058ca373c2593cb

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Feathered saurians: Downy dinosaur discovered

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) ? The new fossil find from the chalk beds of the Franconian Jura evokes associations with a pet cemetery, for the young predatory dinosaur reveals clear traces of fluffy plumage. It also poses an intriguing question: Were all dinosaurs dressed in down?

The fossil of the fledgling saurian, probably newly hatched when it met its end, is remarkable in many ways. First of all, juveniles are extremely rare in the dinosaur fossil record, so every new discovery provides insights into dinosaur nurseries. Moreover, this specimen is perhaps the best-preserved predatory dinosaur that has yet been found in Europe. And Sciurimimus albersdoerferi, which lived during the Jurassic Period some 150 million years ago, displays one very striking feature -- its whole body must have been covered with a thick plumage of feathers.

All the feathered dinosaurs so far described belonged to the lineage that gave rise to modern birds. "However, Sciurumimus belongs to a much older branch of the family tree of predatory dinosaurs," says LMU paleontologist Dr. Oliver Rauhut, who is also affiliated with the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology, and led the investigation into the structure and affinities of the sensational new find. "Its plumage may be telling us that all predatory dinosaurs had feathers."

Were all dinos decked out with feathers?

Several fossil finds have revealed that the pterosaurs -- which were capable of flight and are the closest relatives of the dinosaurs -- bore hair-like plumage on their bodies. Their fluffy coats resemble the downy feathers that can be recognized in the new fossil. This observation is very significant, as it suggests to the researchers that not just the pterosaurs and the predatory dinosaurs, but all dinosaurs may have had feathers. "If that is the case, we must abandon all our notions about giant reptiles encased in tough scales," Rauhut says.

As the German-American research team led by Rauhut has been able to show, the new specimen represents a young megalosaur. The genus name Sciurumimus means "squirrel-like" and refers to the animal's bushy tail, while the species designation albersdoerferi honors the private collector who made the fossil available for scientific study. "When the skeleton was irradiated with UV light, we were able to discern fragments of the skin and the plumage as fluorescent spots and filaments," says co-author Dr. Helmut Tischlinger.

Cute little dino kids The juvenile Sciurumimus tells us even more. For instance, as in the case of other dinosaurs, its eyes were proportionately much larger than those of adult animals. In other words, young dinosaurs conformed to the "babyface" model. Secondly, it has long been suspected that not just the form of a dinosaur's face, but also its whole mode of life, was subject to change during lifetime. "And indeed, this individual has a very different set of teeth from those found in adult megalosaurs," says Rauhut. "That enables us to conclude that their diets also changed as they got older."

The young Sciurumimus, with its slender, pointed teeth probably preyed on insects and small animals. Fully grown megalosaurs, on the other hand, often exceeded 6 m in length and may have weighed more than a ton, and could give other large dinosaurs a good run for their money. That may also be true of the new species. "We know that dinosaurs were able to grow at terrific rates; diminutive hatchlings could reach adult lengths of several meters," Rauhut points out. "And even if they might have looked fluffy, they were certainly among the top predators in the food chain."

The study was financially supported by the Volkswagen Foundation and the American Museum of Natural History.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t M?nchen.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. O. W. M. Rauhut, C. Foth, H. Tischlinger, M. A. Norell. Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1203238109

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/vW-dIoQVQdw/120703134104.htm

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Chinese hackers use India?s own thumb drives against them

Hackers manage to steal data from computers not even connected to the internet

In a move straight out of a spy novel, Chinese hackers used some serious technical trickery to steal information from India's Navy regarding a new nuclear submarine. The Indian Express reports that India's Eastern Naval Command was the target of a Chinese-made computer bug that was able to infiltrate computers that weren't even connected to the internet.

Here's how it worked: The malicious program was initially planted on internet-connected computers in and around India's Naval base and laid dormant until a portable USB drive was plugged in to the machine. Once the flash drive was present, the bug made its home on the tiny device and waited until it is plugged in elsewhere. The virus?then searched for keywords ? in this case, information on a new nuclear submarine being tested in India ? and copied as much as it could.

Indian Naval officers made the mistake of taking thumb drives they had used on a web-connected machine and plugged them in to computers that contained sensitive data on the new sub. India's Navy uses computers with no internet connection to store this important data, but that didn't stop the virus from completing its task.

Once the nefarious program had the information it needed, it again waited until it was plugged in to an internet-connected computer. Once a healthy connection was found, the software immediately relayed the data back to its creators in China. Naval officials aren't detailing exactly how much information was leaked, but as this is India's very first foray into the nuclear-powered submarine arena, any and all data is considered to be top secret.

[via Ars Technica]

This article was written by Mike Wehner and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/chinese-hackers-india-own-thumb-drives-against-them-213952900.html

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Iraq June monthly toll one of highest since U.S. exit

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-june-monthly-toll-one-highest-since-u-151817233.html

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Dell Acquires Quest Software For $2.4 Billion

dellAnother major acquisition for Dell this morning. The company announced it's buying enterprise management software maker Quest Software for $2.4 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Dell will pay $28.00 per share, which beat out Insight Venture Partners' bid of $25.75 per share. Quest's assets, including its access management software, performance monitoring solutions, Windows Server management solutions, database?management, and more, will now serve to strengthen Dell's recently formed Software Group.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/aDGoZV8D568/

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Virtual plant planning, retrofitting and maintenance

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dipl.-Phys. Sabine Szyler
sabine.szyler@iff.fraunhofer.de
49-391-409-0121
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

With over 110 000 employees, BASF is the world's largest chemical company. At its headquarters in Ludwigshafen, the company runs over 160 production facilities, two steam crackers, two gas and steam turbine power plants and one sewage treatment plant. Virtual technologies are helping make information and data on every plant on the premises available digitally to planning engineers, process engineers, assembly coordinators, safety experts and asset managers. A virtual copy of a plant displays every possible view, whether in graphics or figures, in drawings or simulations. This expedites and improves the planning and implementation of new plants or additions and retrofits.

Design reviews are an integral part of the planning process a virtual model for design reviews realistically reproduces every component with the information related to it. The spatial representation makes hidden components or components aligned behind one another easily viewable. "We reviewed the design of a process plant retrofit together with BASF experts," reports Sabine Szyler, virtual reality specialist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF. "The space in the plant can be determined far more easily. What sounds so obvious is really a giant leap in perception."

360 degree projection virtually identical to the original

The design was reviewed in the Elbe Dom of the Fraunhofer IFF's Virtual Development and Training Centre VDTC in Magdeburg. "After all, the six-meter high, 360 degree projection surface projects a level of a plant, which is virtually identical to the original. This gives viewers the sensation of standing directly in the plant," explains the researcher. The three-dimensional data from BASF's planning tools, including the meta data of the plant's individual components, were exported into the Fraunhofer IFF-researchers' special virtual reality software the Virtual Development and Training-Platform. This enabled plant operators, plant planners and their colleagues, such as piping contractors, equipment and instrument engineers, steel building contractors or safety supervisors, to view details of the plant faithfully reproduced at full scale in the virtual model and clarify many questions such as whether all of the operating elements are easily accessible or all the safety valves are easily operated during an inspection "we are so impressed by the design review with virtual reality that we have set up two VR stations in Ludwigshafen. That enables our planning teams there to review designs of other plants any time," says Axel Franke, Senior Engineering Manager at BASF.

A retrofit plant performs differently than before and, in the worst case, incorrect operation could bring all plant operation to a complete standstill. Continuous safety training is therefore a top priority in chemical plant engineering. A virtual interactive learning environment is already being used for training in Ludwigshafen. Fraunhofer experts designed a scenario for the retrofit of a nitric acid plant, which enabled the team of operators to inspect and get acquainted with the plant already before its commissioning. The Fraunhofer experts set up a mobile VR training station directly in the control room. The training module presents the complete 3-D model of the plant. All of the meta data such as serial numbers, temperatures, pressures and media as well as training materials can be viewed. Workers were able to familiarize themselves with its new operation, identify new access points and learn new safety regulations.

The experts from BASF and the Fraunhofer IFF concur that plant engineers will be unable to operate internationally in the future without virtual technologies. BASF is working on intensifying its use of virtual technologies in the future in order to maintain its leadership among chemical plant operators. The Fraunhofer IFF will continue providing conceptual support.

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dipl.-Phys. Sabine Szyler
sabine.szyler@iff.fraunhofer.de
49-391-409-0121
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

With over 110 000 employees, BASF is the world's largest chemical company. At its headquarters in Ludwigshafen, the company runs over 160 production facilities, two steam crackers, two gas and steam turbine power plants and one sewage treatment plant. Virtual technologies are helping make information and data on every plant on the premises available digitally to planning engineers, process engineers, assembly coordinators, safety experts and asset managers. A virtual copy of a plant displays every possible view, whether in graphics or figures, in drawings or simulations. This expedites and improves the planning and implementation of new plants or additions and retrofits.

Design reviews are an integral part of the planning process a virtual model for design reviews realistically reproduces every component with the information related to it. The spatial representation makes hidden components or components aligned behind one another easily viewable. "We reviewed the design of a process plant retrofit together with BASF experts," reports Sabine Szyler, virtual reality specialist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF. "The space in the plant can be determined far more easily. What sounds so obvious is really a giant leap in perception."

360 degree projection virtually identical to the original

The design was reviewed in the Elbe Dom of the Fraunhofer IFF's Virtual Development and Training Centre VDTC in Magdeburg. "After all, the six-meter high, 360 degree projection surface projects a level of a plant, which is virtually identical to the original. This gives viewers the sensation of standing directly in the plant," explains the researcher. The three-dimensional data from BASF's planning tools, including the meta data of the plant's individual components, were exported into the Fraunhofer IFF-researchers' special virtual reality software the Virtual Development and Training-Platform. This enabled plant operators, plant planners and their colleagues, such as piping contractors, equipment and instrument engineers, steel building contractors or safety supervisors, to view details of the plant faithfully reproduced at full scale in the virtual model and clarify many questions such as whether all of the operating elements are easily accessible or all the safety valves are easily operated during an inspection "we are so impressed by the design review with virtual reality that we have set up two VR stations in Ludwigshafen. That enables our planning teams there to review designs of other plants any time," says Axel Franke, Senior Engineering Manager at BASF.

A retrofit plant performs differently than before and, in the worst case, incorrect operation could bring all plant operation to a complete standstill. Continuous safety training is therefore a top priority in chemical plant engineering. A virtual interactive learning environment is already being used for training in Ludwigshafen. Fraunhofer experts designed a scenario for the retrofit of a nitric acid plant, which enabled the team of operators to inspect and get acquainted with the plant already before its commissioning. The Fraunhofer experts set up a mobile VR training station directly in the control room. The training module presents the complete 3-D model of the plant. All of the meta data such as serial numbers, temperatures, pressures and media as well as training materials can be viewed. Workers were able to familiarize themselves with its new operation, identify new access points and learn new safety regulations.

The experts from BASF and the Fraunhofer IFF concur that plant engineers will be unable to operate internationally in the future without virtual technologies. BASF is working on intensifying its use of virtual technologies in the future in order to maintain its leadership among chemical plant operators. The Fraunhofer IFF will continue providing conceptual support.

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/f-vpp070212.php

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