Al Qaeda moves in: Could North Africa explode?

On the Radar

While John Kerry is making Syria the focus of his first international trip, the newly-minted secretary of state has likely already discovered that Syria is only one among many volatile situations around the world. From the ?genocidal type? war in Syria to the growing presence of al Qaeda affiliates in Northern Africa, former Gen. James Cartwright tells On the Radar he?s concerned about the growing number of potentially volatile regions around the world.

?They're spreading rather than consolidating,? the retired general says of the dangerous areas around the world, known as hotspots. ?Africa is probably the biggest one that we are?are seeing in the media right now with the Mali challenge, but that's not limited to Mali.?

The growing threat of Africa can be traced in large part to the expansion of al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups such as al Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM)?the group behind the recent hostage situation at a natural gas facility in Algeria. Cartwright says the threat posed by offspring al Qaeda groups in Africa shouldn?t be underestimated.

?It's got the same potential to be as violent, certainly, as what we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan, with even less governance than what they had in Afghanistan and Iraq,? says Cartwright of North Africa.

As for the Middle East, Gen. Cartwright warns that the continued civil war in Syria, which he describes as ?genocidal type activity,? poses a long-term strategic threat to the security of the region.

?The longer this goes on, the less likely, or the longer it's going to take to recover from it. And that's probably more worrisome than anything else,? says Cartwright. ?You're going to have a Syria which sits in a very strategic position basically in a condition of disruption for tens of years.?

To hear more about the greatest threats Gen. Cartwright identifies to international security, including how soon he thinks Iran could have a nuclear weapon, check out this week?s On the Radar.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/most-dangerous-places-world-121444548.html

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The Ego! Smartmouse Combines Hardware Authentication With A Mouse That Doubles As A Motion Controller

A new Kickstarter project called the Ego! Smartmouse blends together some recent trends in computing, including hardware identity authentication and 3D motion control to come up with a unique input device that wears many hats. The Ego! is a mouse in the traditional sense, allowing you to control your desktop or laptop computer, and it also has on-board file storage, can work as an authentication device for various services, and features built-in acceleration and motion detection to work like a Wiimote for controlling games.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dn6ngiAAszA/

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Obama warns spending cuts could idle shipbuilder

President Barack Obama addresses the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama addresses the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, accompanied by fellow members of the House GOP leadership, responds to President Barack Obama's remarks to the nation's governors earlier today about how to fend off the impending automatic budget cuts, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is arguing that looming government-wide spending cuts could idle military resources like naval aircraft carriers, while Republicans are criticizing the president for taking his arguments outside Washington instead of staying to work out a plan before Friday's deadline.

The president planned to appear Tuesday at Virginia's largest industrial employer, Newport News Shipbuilding, which would be affected by cuts to naval spending. Obama warned Monday that if the so-called sequester goes into effect later this week, the company's "workers will sit idle when they should be repairing ships, and a carrier sits idle when it should be deploying to the Persian Gulf."

Obama urged Congress to compromise to avoid the cuts, but there has been no indication the White House and congressional Republicans are actively negotiating a deal. The last known conversation between Obama and GOP leaders was last week, and there have been no in-person meetings between the parties this year.

Obama wants the replace the sequester with a package of targeted cuts and tax increases, while Republican leaders insist the savings should come from reduced spending alone.

Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Republican Conference, criticized Obama for traveling to southern Virginia rather than up the street to Capitol Hill to come up with a solution.

"We need the president to stop campaigning for higher taxes, come back here to Washington, D.C., and lead," McMorris Rodgers said during a press conference Monday with GOP leaders.

The sequester was designed as an unpalatable fallback, meant to take effect only if a congressional super-committee failed to come up with at least $1 trillion in savings from benefit programs.

The White House has warned the $85 billion in cuts could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. The cuts would slash domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers.

The cuts also would impact Newport News Shipbuilding, which builds and maintains the nation's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers as well as other warships. The Navy has already delayed a long-planned overhaul of the USS Abraham Lincoln at the shipyard as a result of the budget uncertainty, and other plans call for delaying the construction of other ships.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., offered a potential way out of the stalemate Monday by indicating he was open to raising tax revenue if Obama offered to overhaul big-ticket entitlement programs. Many Republicans say they are done raising revenue after letting taxes on top earners increase in December.

"I'll raise revenue. Will you reform entitlements?" Graham said in a challenge to the president on CNN. "And both together, we'll set aside sequestration in a way that won't disrupt the economy and hurt the Defense Department."

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Brock Vergakis in Norfolk, Va., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-26-Budget%20Battle/id-8a8bba3c264d4aba92afbeabf5e77a0c

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Remains of the Day: Zendesk Hacked; Some Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest Users Affected

Zendesk gets hacked, Chrome gets an update, and iOS developers get more tools for Google Maps integration.

• We've Been Hacked Zendesk, a company that provides software for outsourcing customer service functions, announced today that it had been hacked. Three companies that use Zendesk's services?Wired reports that they are Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr?have had the email addresses and subject lines of messages sent to their customer support services exposed. While this isn't the most sensitive information, all three companies have reached out to users who may have been affected, urging them to review any correspondence sent to customer support. Zendesk has stated that they have since identified and patched the vulnerability. [Zendesk]
• Bringing Voice Recognition to the Web Google released the latest Chrome Stable build today, which includes will allow developers to include speech recognition in their web apps. Today's release also disables silent extension installs for Windows Chrome users, ensuring that users authorize every extension that's installed. [Google Chrome Blog]
• Google Maps SDK for iOS 1.1 Gains Support for Ground Overlays, Keys Now Open to All Developers The Google Maps Source Development Kit for iOS was updated today, adding more controls for gestures and overlays that developers can use. Hopefully, this means we'll see more Google Maps integration in iOS 6 apps. [The Next Web]

Photo by photastic (Shutterstock), a2bb5s (Shutterstock), and Feng Yu (Shutterstock).

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/excerpts/~3/Lf6e8A_2wRM/remains-of-the-day-zendesk-hacked-some-twitter-tumblr-and-pinterest-users-affected

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"Twitter" Has Changed a Lot Since the 1700s

Nowadays, we use words like "twitter" all the time to talk about our everyday social meda-ing. In the 1800s, they said "twitter" too, but it meant something a little different. So did "pin." The times, they have a-changed. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NrM1-v2Ef3I/twitter-has-changed-a-lot-since-the-1700s

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Pistorius Steroids Defense? Lawyers May Pursue 'Roid Rage' Based Insanity Defense

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Ever since 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius's girlfriend was shot dead in his Pretoria home last week, South African papers have printed lurid details of the killing which, if true, pose major challenges to the Paralympic star's defence team, experts say.

Initial reports of the shooting in the early hours of Thursday suggested Pistorius, 26, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, may have mistaken law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp for an intruder.

A statement released by his family dismissed the charge of murder laid on Friday in "the strongest terms". His bail hearing resumes in a Pretoria magistrate's court on Tuesday.

Within hours of the shooting, police confirmed that Steenkamp had been killed by more than one gunshot, that Pistorius was the only suspect, that neighbours had heard earlier disturbances, that there were no signs of a break-in and that a 9mm pistol had been recovered from the two-storey home.

Since then, police have released no more details.

The same cannot be said of the South African media, part of a global publicity machine that built up Pistorius into the ultimate sporting tale of triumph over adversity - a man who rose to the pinnacle of world athletics, racing at the Olympics despite having no lower legs.

Some of the most widely reported local media allegations are that Steenkamp was in the bathroom when she was shot, was hit by four rounds - in the head, hand, hip and chest - and that shots were fired through the bathroom door.

In addition, leading Sunday newspaper City Press said investigators had found a blood-stained cricket bat in Pistorius' bedroom. The paper said police had not yet worked out whose blood it was, but said Steenkamp's head was "crushed".

The newspaper also alleged that Steenkamp, who will be buried on Tuesday, had slept in the same bed as Pistorius that night - Valentine's Day eve - and that her iPad was on the bedroom floor along with an overnight bag.

The ENCA television channel said CCTV footage from the gated community showed Steenkamp arriving at the complex shortly after 6 p.m. on the previous evening.

Police have declined to comment on any of the reports, saying official details will only emerge in court.

However, the allegations - if true - undermine the legal argument of self-defence, as well as the suggestion that Pistorius was taken by surprise by a would-be stranger in his house in the middle of the night.

"If what the media says is in fact the truth, I cannot see that any defence based on self-defence can, by any stretch of the imagination, succeed," said Eddie Classen, a partner at BDK Attorneys, one of South Africa's biggest criminal defence firms.

"ROID RAGE"?

Under the white-minority rule that ended in 1994, South Africa had relatively lax curbs on the use of lethal force, not only in self-defence but also in making arrests. Put bluntly, if the only way to stop a fleeing robber was to shoot him, you could.

However, the laws were tightened up after the end of apartheid when the "right to life" became enshrined in the new constitution of Nelson Mandela's "Rainbow Nation", making it permissible to use lethal force only when your life is directly threatened.

Furthermore, when the immediate threat is gone - a shot intruder, say, goes down with a bullet in the leg - the self-defence argument ends.

"The law says that you have to stop the moment that you have repelled an attack, so normally one shot will suffice," said Steven Tuson, a professor of criminal law at Johannesburg's Wits University.

If Pistorius's lawyers choose to avoid the self-defence avenue, another option may be to argue temporary insanity based on chemical stimulants, a defence irreverently referred to in sports-mad South Africa as "roid rage", short for 'steroid'.

This is why Pistorius was taken for blood tests immediately after the shooting, Tuson said, "to exclude that defence". Classen also said the "roid rage" defence could only succeed in "extraordinary circumstances".

One other possible avenue is for Pistorius to argue "putative self-defence" - that he thought he was being attacked even if he wasn't. Even then, Classen said the content of the media reports, if true, curtailed his chances of success.

"The facts of the matter - and I caution again because I am only reading them from the media - suggest something totally different," he said. (Reporting by Ed Cropley; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/18/pistorius-steroids-defense-roid-rage-insanity_n_2712883.html

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See how Sony revolutionized portable gaming with the PSP and the PS Vita

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England coach Stuart Lancaster hopeful Ben Morgan can still feature in Six Nations

Crocked: Morgan limped off against Scotland (Picture: Getty)

Head coach Stuart Lancaster is confident England number eight Ben Morgan?will still be able to play a role in this year?s Six Nations campaign.

The Gloucester back-row was forced off with an ankle problem in the?opening-day victory over Scotland at Twickenham and Lancaster has?pencilled?him to return against Italy?on March 10.

The 23-year-old has joined fly-half Freddie Burns on the sidelines, with his Gloucester team-mate receiving treatment for a knee problem.

?Morgan and Burns are making slow progress,? Lancaster admitted.??Freddie is further down the line, but they won?t play [against France] this weekend so it will be another week or so.

?Ben will be fine. It?s an ankle injury similar to the one Manu Tuilagi had. Manu was out for four or five weeks and Ben will be about the same. He wants to get himself right so he can push for selection against Italy.?

Centre Jonathan Joseph has been ruled out for two weeks with a toe injury, but full-back Ben Foden has made good progress in his battle with ankle damage and will play for Northampton against Bath on Saturday.

Wary of France: England coach Lancaster (Picture PA)

Fly-half Toby Flood and flanker James Haskell missed training on Monday because of a tight calf and flu respectively.

England will look to maintain their 100 per cent record and?stay on course for the Grand Slam?as they face France at Twickenam on Saturday.

Phillipe Saint Andre?s side have suffered back-to-back defeats to Italy and Wales but Lancaster is wary of a Les Bleus backlash.

?If you look at their performances in the autumn, the three wins over Samoa, Argentina and Australia show they are not a bad side,? he said.

?They beat Australia 33-6 and Australia then beat us. While we?ll take something out of their first two Six Nations games, we?ll also take something out of those autumn internationals and make sure we?re ready for them.?

Source: http://metro.co.uk/2013/02/18/england-coach-stuart-lancaster-hopeful-ben-morgan-can-still-feature-in-six-nations-3494933/

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Eat To Compete: Winter Chopped Salad

Eat To Compete: Winter Chopped Salad Saturday, February 09, 2013??9:53:43 AM PT This article first ran in the '09, '10 winter but a good recipe never gets old. - Recipe & Photos by Casey Weaver - Winter is one of the best times of the year for leafy green vegetables, root vegetables, and one of my favorite fruits; apples. Throw all these things together and you have yourself a very healthy, seasonal salad. By mixing in a salad here and there, come early spring you will be down to fighting weight and ready to roll. And maybe you?ll fit back into the Levi?s (or those R&R jeans you splurged on, depending on your style) you were wearing before the Holidays. Ingredients Salad 2 cups (about) escarole, chopped 2 cups (about) frisee, chopped 1 large Granny Smith apple, shredded 1 large carrot, shredded 3 green onion, sliced ? inch 2 radishes, shredded ? fennel bulb, diced ? cup roasted pecans, coarsely chopped 1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled 1 lb (about) boneless, skinless chicken breast Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste 1 T olive oil (for cooking) Dressing 1/4 cup light mayonnaise 2 T cranberry juice juice of one Meyer lemon 1 T olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced 1 t Dijon mustard salt and pepper to taste Cook the Chicken Breast Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy, oven safe, skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and season liberally with salt, pepper, and paprika. Cook about four minutes then flip and cook an additional four to five minutes. Transfer to the preheated oven and cook for about ten minutes, until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside. Prepare the Salad Rinse the escarole and frisee well. Chop about two cups to your desired consistency (be careful not chop too fine or you may end up with a bunch of mush). Place the chopped lettuce in your salad bowl. Shredding the apple, carrot, and radish is made infinitely easier with the proper attachment and a food processor. Though if you like to work for your food, or know where to find some cheap labor, a good old-fashioned cheese grater works just the same. You can also dice the three, though diced chunks of raw carrot and radish might provide a bit too much bite in your salad. Whatever you decide, add the carrot, apple, and radish to the salad. Dicing the fennel is easy. Just make some horizontal cuts all the way across the bulb, then turn and slice lengthwise about a quarter of an inch apart. The bulb will naturally cut into nice little cubes, similar to an onion. Add the remaining ingredients to your salad bowl. Cut the cooked chicken into ? inch cubes and add it, too. For the Dressing Combine all ingredients and whisk well. I recommend letting each person dress their own salad to avoid any issues. In my experience, an over (or sometimes under) dressed salad can make for some pretty unhappy cyclists. - Eat Well. Race Hard. About The Author: Casey grew up in the kitchen inspired by his mom and grandmother, who ran the catering and cooking instruction company, Cooking in the Canyon, in Brentwood, Ca. He has worked as a private chef and currently works with the catering company Gourmet Solutions. He received his undergraduate degree in Communication Studies from UCLA, currently races for the NOW-MS elite amateur team, and coaches endurance athletes with Velo-Fit, llc. ? Contact Casey at Casey.b.Weaver@gmail.com. ? Gotta comment? Let us know - Manager@pezcyclingnews.com

Eat To Compete: Winter Chopped Salad Saturday, February 09, 2013??9:53:43 AM PT Shop PEZ: Ciclismo PEZ Retro Wool Jerseys! Saturday, February 09, 2013??5:55:29 AM PT Nick Nuyens Gets PEZ?d! Friday, February 08, 2013??2:55:06 AM PT PEZ Talk: Zach Kovalcik Thursday, February 07, 2013??8:36:02 AM PT EuroTrash Thursday! Thursday, February 07, 2013??2:09:26 AM PT VeloVie?s Vitesse 400 Frameset: The WINNER IS? Wednesday, February 06, 2013??4:55:40 PM PT

Source: http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=11177

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Feynlabs ? Using the Raspberry Pi to teach Computer Science

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This will be a long three part blog about how we are using the Raspberry Pi in the Feynlabs program as a way to introduce Computer science to kids

The Raspberry Pi is a platform ? and as it?s creators have always indicated ? it is the community which will drive it?s direction and evolution. Feynlabs is using the Raspberry Pi to teach the concepts of programming languages to kids and in doing so, creating a new way in which deep principles of Computer Science can be introduced to kids.

Feynlabs is the first initiative to teach the concepts of programming languages to kids? (as opposed to a specific programming language). By abstracting the common elements of programming languages, our aim is to rapidly learn any programming language

To get a background of my thinking, you should have a look at these three articles on which I will build upon

1)?Five Principles to Radically Transform How We Teach Computer Programming ? part One

2)?Five Principles to Radically Transform How We Teach Computer Programming ? part Two

3)?How will next generation computing labs in schools look like?

As you can imagine, to achieve our goals of teaching the Concepts of Programming Languages to kids ? we have to explore deep into Computer Science.

So, in this set of three articles, I will cover

a)????? An outline of Computer Science for kids

b)????? Our approach to teach computer science by abstracting the concepts of programming languages

c)?????? How we are using the Raspberry Pi in our work to teach the Concepts of Programming Languages

Some more introductory notes:

a)????? feynlabs is addressing a unique (not yet addressed) problem ? which I can encapsulate as ?How do we take learners from 0 to 60 fast?? i.e. accelerate the computer science learning stage so that they don?t get bogged down and can quickly see the ?vista? so to speak i.e. the big picture vision?. From a learning standpoint this would be a success because once the participant can see the big picture, they can add their own unique contribution/imagination to learning

b)????? From our early trials, we can say that teaching ?concepts of programming languages? to kids is a unique experience because you have to start with the abstract (which can be more complex in some ways) ? and then move to the concrete and finally move back to the abstract again i.e. move back to concepts. Specifically, our current approach is to start with the concepts (including the question of what is a ?concept?) ? then address the concrete implementation using Raspberry Pi and Python. This allows us to explore many aspects of Computer Science through Pi-face, Pygames etc.

c)?????? Finally, we move back to the abstract domain by looking at a classification of programming languages and specific implementations in other languages such as Processing, C, Java Script and others.

d)????? This approach allows us to do some unique things such as co-relate programming to concrete examples, take a systems led approach etc.

Thus, Feynlabs is creating a set of unique techniques to teach computer science to kids based on

a)????? Teaching the concepts of Programming Languages to kids and

b)????? Using the Raspberry Pi and other devices to introduce the ideas we are developing so that the participants understand Computer Science

c)?????? We will evolve these techniques through the trails we are working with in the community

In this sense, our work through Feynlabs is far more complex than merely teaching programming.

So, in this context, what is computer science?

Here, I am building upon some excellent work in a paper called Computer Science: A curriculum for schools by the Computing at School Working Group endorsed by BCS, Microsoft, Google and Intellect ? March 2012. You can read the full paper ? Computer Science: A curriculum for schools

I will summarise the key ideas in this paper which we will build upon in the next two parts of this set of articles (emphasis mine)

• Computer Science is the study of principles and practices that underpin an understanding and modelling of computation, and of their application in the development of computer systems. At its heart lies the notion of computational thinking: a mode of thought that goes well beyond software and hardware, and that provides a framework within which to reason about systems and problems. This mode of thinking is supported and complemented by a substantial body of theoretical and practical knowledge, and by a set of powerful techniques for analysing, modelling and solving problems.
• Computer Science is deeply concerned with how computers and computer systems work, and how they are designed and programmed.
• Pupils studying computing gain insight into computational systems of all kinds, whether or not they include computers.
• Computational thinking influences fields such as biology, chemistry, linguistics, psychology, economics and statistics.
• It allows us to solve problems, design systems and understand the power and limits of human and machine intelligence.
• Computer Science is a practical subject, where invention and resourcefulness are encouraged.
• Computer Science is a discipline. To do this, education aspires primarily to teach disciplines with long-term value, rather than skills with short-term usefulness, although the latter are certainly useful. A ?discipline? is characterised by: A body of knowledge, A set of techniques and methods, A way of thinking and working, Longevity:, Independence from specific technologies especially those that have a short shelf-life.
• Computer Science is a quintessential STEM discipline, sharing attributes with Engineering, Mathematics, Science, and Technology: ?It has its own theoretical foundations and mathematical underpinnings, and involves the application of logic and reasoning. It embraces a scientific approach to measurement and experiment. It involves the design, construction, and testing of purposeful artefacts. It requires understanding, appreciation, and application of a wide range of technologies.
• Computer Science provides pupils with insights into other STEM disciplines, and with skills and knowledge that can be applied to the solution of problems in those disciplines. Although they are invisible and intangible, software systems are among the largest and most complex artefacts ever created by human beings. The marriage between software and hardware that is necessary to realize computer-based systems increases the level of complexity, and the complex web of inter-relationships between different systems increases it yet further. Understanding this complexity and bringing it under control is the central challenge of our discipline.
• In a world where computer-based systems have become all pervasive, those individuals and societies that are best equipped to meet this challenge will have a competitive edge.
• Computer Science and Information Technology are complementary, but they are not the same. Computer Science and Information Technology are complementary subjects. Computer Science teaches a pupil how to be an effective author of computational tools (i.e. software), while IT teaches how to be a thoughtful user of those tools. This neat juxtaposition is only part of the truth, because it focuses too narrowly on computers as a technology, and computing is much broader than that. As Dijkstra famously remarked, ?Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes
• We want our children to understand and play an active role in the digital world that surrounds them, not to be passive consumers of an opaque and mysterious technology. A sound understanding of computing concepts will help them see how to get the best from the systems they use, and how to solve problems when things go wrong. Moreover, citizens able to think in computational terms would be able to understand and rationally argue about issues involving computation, such as software patents, identity theft, genetic engineering, electronic voting systems for elections, and so on. In a world suffused by computation, every school-leaver should have an understanding of computing.
• A number of key concepts arise repeatedly in computing. They are grouped here under Languages, machines, and computation, Data and representation, Communication and coordination, Abstraction and design. It would not be sensible to teach these concepts as discrete topics in their own right. Rather, they constitute unifying themes that can be used as a way to understand and organise computing knowledge, and are more easily recognised by pupils after they have encountered several concrete examples of the concept in action.
• Much of the power of computers comes from their ability to store and manipulate very large quantities of data. The way in which this data is stored and manipulated can make enormous differences to the speed, robustness, and security of a computer system. This area of computing includes: How data is represented using bit patterns: including numbers, text, music, pictures. How data is stored and transmitted, including: redundancy, error checking, error correction; data compression and information theory; and encryption. How data is organised, for example, in data structures or in databases. How digital data is used to represent analogue measures, such as temperature, light intensity and sound. How analogue measures are converted to digital values and vice versa and how digital computers may be used to control other devices.
• Computers are communication devices. They enable human-to-human communication by way of machine-to-machine communication: a mobile phone computes in order to help us communicate. The design and implementation of these communications systems is a recurrent theme in computing:
• Abstraction is the main mechanism used to deal with complexity and enabling computerisation. Abstraction is both presenting a simplified version through information hiding and making an analysis to identify the essence or essential features. ?The process of categorisation or classification that breaks down a complex system into a systematic analysis or representation.
• Computer systems have a profound impact on the society we live in, and computational thinking offers a new ?lens? through which to look at ourselves and our world. The themes here are very open-ended, taking the form of questions that a thoughtful person might debate, rather than answers that a clever person might know. Intelligence and consciousness. The natural world. DNA encodes the sequence of amino acids that make up proteins. Creativity and intellectual property. Games, music, movies, gallery installations and performing arts are all transformed by computing and online experiences would not be possible without it. Should artistic ways of working be integrated with computational thinking?
• A key challenge in computational thinking is the scale and complexity of the systems we study or build. The main technique used to manage this complexity is abstraction5. The process of abstraction takes many specific forms, such as modelling, decomposing, and generalising. In each case, complexity is dealt with by hiding complicated details behind a simple abstraction, or model, of the situation. Modelling, Decomposing Generalising and classifying
• Computer Science is more than programming, but programming is an absolutely central process for Computer Science. In an educational context, programming encourages creativity, logical thought, precision and problem-solving, and helps foster the personal, learning and thinking skills required in the modern school curriculum. Every pupil should have repeated opportunities to design, write, run, and debug, executable programs. The ability to understand and explain a program is much more important than the ability to produce working but incomprehensible code.
• Depending on level, pupils should be able to: Design and write programs that include Sequencing: doing one step after another, o Selection (if-then-else): doing either one thing or another, Repetition (Iterative loops or recursion), Language constructs that support abstraction: wrapping up a computation in a named abstraction, so that it can be re-used. (The most common form of abstraction is the notion of a ?procedure? or ?function? with parameters.), Some form of interaction with the program?s environment, such as input/output, or event-based programming.

In the next two parts of this article, I will discuss

• Our approach to teach computer science by abstracting the concepts of programming languages
• ?How we are using the Raspberry Pi in our work to teach the Concepts of Programming Languages

comments and feedback welcome at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com?

Image source: Raspberry Pi foundation

Source: http://www.opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2013/02/feynlabs-using-the-raspberry-pi-to-teach-computer-science.html

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Solar industry grapples with hazardous wastes

Chart shows the amount of waste generated from solar companies in California that was shipped to other states for disposal.

Chart shows the amount of waste generated from solar companies in California that was shipped to other states for disposal.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Homeowners on the hunt for sparkling solar panels are lured by ads filled with images of pristine landscapes and bright sunshine, and words about the technology's benefits for the environment ? and the wallet.

What customers may not know is that there's a dirtier side.

While solar is a far less polluting energy source than coal or natural gas, many panel makers are nevertheless grappling with a hazardous waste problem.

State records obtained by The Associated Press show that 17 companies with 44 manufacturing facilities in California produced 46.5 million pounds of hazardous waste from 2007 through the first half of 2011.

Roughly 97 percent of it was taken to in-state waste facilities, but more than 1.4 million pounds was transported out of state, as far away as Rhode Island.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-10-US-Solar-Panels-Hazardous-Waste/id-a9c31c15e2d043f1a46c098c5acd0889

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Rationally Speaking, We Are All Apocalyptic Now, By Robert Jensen ...

Reposted from TRUTHOUT (http://e360 NULL.yale NULL.edu/content/feature NULL.msp?id=2616)

We are all apocalyptic now, or at least we should be, if we are rational.

Because ?apocalyptic? is typically associated with religious fanaticism and death cults ? things that rational people tend not to take literally or seriously ? this claim requires some explanation.

First, a definition: The term is most commonly used in reference to the Book of Revelation, also known as The Apocalypse of John, the final book of the Christian New Testament. The two terms are synonymous in their original meaning ? ?revelation? from Latin and ?apocalypse? from Greek, both mean a lifting of the veil, a disclosure of something that had been hidden.

Second, the formulation ?we are all (fill in the blank) now? has long been a way to assert that certain ideas have become the norm: ?We are all Keynesians now,? said Milton Friedman in 1965, for instance, or to express solidarity: ?We are all New Yorkers now,? said many non-New Yorkers after 9/11.

Rather than claiming divine inspiration, we can come to greater clarity about the desperate state of the ecosphere and its human inhabitants through evidence and reason. It is time for a calm, measured apocalypticism that recognizes that the ecosphere sets norms, which we have ignored for too long, and that we need to develop a new sense of solidarity among humans and with the larger living world.

So, speaking apocalyptically need not leave us stuck in a corner with the folks predicting lakes of fire, rivers of blood or bodies lifted up to the heavens. Instead, it can focus our attention on ecological realities and on the unjust and unsustainable human systems that have brought us to this point.

This ?revelation? is simple: We?ve built a world based on the assumption that we will have endless energy to subsidize endless economic expansion, which was supposed to magically produce justice. That world is over, both in reality and in dreams. Either we begin to build a different world, or there will be no world capable of sustaining a large-scale human presence.

If that?s not clear: When we take seriously what physics, chemistry and biology tell us about the health of the living world on which we depend, we all should be thinking apocalyptically. Look at any crucial measure of the ecosphere ? groundwater depletion; topsoil loss; chemical contamination; increased toxicity in our own bodies; the number and size of ?dead zones? in the oceans, accelerating extinction of species and reduction of biodiversity; and the ultimate game-changer of climate disruption ? and ask a simple question: Where we are heading? Scientists these days are talking about tipping points and planetary boundaries, about how human activity is pushing the planet beyond its limits.

If we look honestly at the state of the world, it is difficult not to conclude that we are in end times of sorts ? not the end of the physical world, but the end of the First-World way of living and the end of the systems on which that life is based.

I know that invoking the terms ?apocalypse? and ?end times? triggers many people?s experiences with arrogant religious people who preach about deliverance fantasies. My message is not about a rapture that can be predicted, but about ruptures in the ecological and social fabrics that are underway and accelerating.

No matter how carefully I craft these statements ? no matter how often I deny a claim to special gifts of prognostication, no matter now clearly I reject supernatural explanations or solutions ? many people refuse to take this analysis seriously. Some people joke about ?Mr. Doom and Gloom.? Others suggest that such talk is no different than conspiracy theorists? ramblings about how international bankers, secret cells of communists, or crypto-fascists are using the United Nations to create a one-world government.

Even the most measured and careful talk of the coming dramatic change in the place of humans on Earth leads to accusations that one is unnecessarily alarmist, probably paranoid and certainly irrelevant in serious discussions about social and ecological issues. In the United States, people expect talk of the future to be upbeat, based on those assumptions of endless expansion and perpetual progress, or at least maintenance of our ?way of life.? Even those who realize the danger of such fanciful thinking are hesitant to speak too bluntly, out of fear of seeming crazy.

A calm apocalypticism is not crazy, but rather can help us confront honestly the crises of our time and strategize constructively about possible responses. We can struggle to understand ? to the best of our ability, without succumbing to magical thinking ? the state of the ecosphere and the impediments to sensible action in our societies.

This struggle to understand led me to write a?short polemic (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/gp/product/148195847X/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER),?We Are All Apocalyptic Now: On the Responsibilities of Teaching, Preaching, Reporting, Writing, and Speaking Out. The book?s message is simple: The big systems that structure our world, especially capitalism and the extractive economy, are incompatible with social justice and ecological sustainability. Those who have opportunities to write and speak out have a responsibility to articulate the radical analysis necessary to understand the problems and begin to identify solutions.

To think apocalyptically is not to give up on ourselves, but only to give up on the arrogant stories ? religious and secular ? that we modern humans have been telling about ourselves. Our hope for a decent future ? indeed, any hope for even the idea of a future ? depends on our ability to tell stories not of how humans have ruled the world, but how we can live in the world.

We are all apocalyptic now, whether we like it or not.

Source: http://carolynbaker.net/2013/02/08/rationally-speaking-we-are-all-apocalyptic-now-by-robert-jensen/

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Sooty ships may be geoengineering by accident

GEOENGINEERING is being tested - albeit inadvertently - in the north Pacific. Soot from oil-burning ships is dumping about 1000 tonnes of soluble iron per year across 6 million square kilometres of ocean, new research has revealed.

Fertilising the world's oceans with iron has been controversially proposed as a way of sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to curb global warming. Some geoengineers claim releasing iron into the sea will stimulate plankton blooms, which absorb carbon, but ocean processes are complex and difficult to monitor in tests.

"Experiments suggest you change the population of algae, causing a shift from fish-dominated to jellyfish-dominated ecosystems," says Alex Baker of the University of East Anglia, UK. Such concerns led the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to impose a moratorium on geoengineering experiments in 2010.

The annual ship deposition is much larger, if less concentrated, than the iron released in field tests carried out before the moratorium was in place. Yet because ship emissions are not intended to alter ocean chemistry, they do not violate the moratorium, says Jim Thomas of the ETC Group, a think tank that consults for the CBD. "If you intentionally drove oil-burning ships back and forth as a geoengineering experiment, that would contravene it."

The new study, by Akinori Ito of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, is the first to quantify how shipping deposits iron in parts of the ocean normally deficient in it. Earlier models had assumed that only 1 to 2 per cent of the iron contained in aerosols, including shipping emissions, is soluble in seawater, so the remaining 98 to 99 percent would sink to the bottom without affecting ocean life. But Ito found that up to 80 per cent of the iron in shipping soot is soluble (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, doi.org/kdj). As this soot rapidly falls to the sea surface, it is likely to be fertilising the oceans.

In the high-latitude north Pacific - a region that is naturally iron-poor and therefore likely to be most affected by human deposits - ship emissions now account for 70 per cent of soluble iron from human activity, with the burning of biomass and coal accounting for the rest. Shipping's share will rise as traffic continues to grow and regulations restrict coal and biomass emissions.

Can we learn anything from this unintentional experiment? Baker thinks not. "The process isn't scientifically useful," he says, because the uncontrolled nature of the iron makes it difficult to draw meaningful comparisons.

The depositions are unlikely to be harmful at current levels, he says, but "given the uncertainties, I just don't know how much these iron emissions would have to increase before there was demonstrable harm to an ecosystem, or benefit in terms of carbon uptake, for that matter".

This article appeared in print under the headline "Ships inadvertently fertilise the oceans"

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OUYA promises quick game approval process, reviews start by the end of February

OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman's promising a quick, simple approval process for games on her company's upcoming Android-powered game console, the OUYA. She told us in an interview this week:

"It's similar to mobile: they'll submit their games, and we'll review for intellectual property infringement, and malware, and excessive pornography. But ultimately it's a quick review and you're in the storefront in one capacity or another."

That's not the only mobile model OUYA's following; Urhman already said the OUYA hardware will iterate on an annual basis, similar to the mobile market.

Despite the console's impending March launch to Kickstarter supporters, OUYA's yet to begin reviewing games for its storefront. "We literally just opened the ability for developers to upload their games into the store," Uhrman explained. The review process isn't too far off, however -- she's predicting a "middle-to-end of this month" timeframe. "We're building that right now," she said, when asked who's staffing that approvals process. "We are a start-up like any other start-up, it's just-in-time business."

The first consumer-ready OUYA consoles are planned for a March launch, with availability at retail to follow in June. The $99 console made a big splash on Kickstarter, eventually raising over $8.5 million when the original goal was a meager $950K.

Filed under: Gaming, HD

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Kg4cEvXexDg/

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HBT: Hernandez, M's on verge of $175M extension

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that?Felix Hernandez and the Mariners have agreed to a seven-year, $175 million contract extension. ?The contract will make him the highest paid pitcher in baseball history, both in overall contract and in average annual value.

The Mariners will tear up his current deal, which was to pay him $19.5 million this year, and replace it with the new one. It will pay him, on average,?$25 million a year through 2019. It?s not known yet if the contract amount increases over time or if it?s a flat $25 million a year.

Hernandez is 98-76 with a 3.22 ERA and 1,487 strikeouts and 480 walks in 1620.1 innings across eight seasons. ?But of course, he still doesn?t turn 27 until April. ?This deal, therefore, only take him into his age 34 season. ?If he holds up physically, he may get another?sizable?deal before he?s through.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/07/felix-hernandez-mariners-on-verge-of-a-175-million-contract-extension/related/

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Marco Rubio Time Magazine Cover Sparks Reaction From GOP Senator

Addressing The Republican National Convention

Florida Senator Marco Rubio addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

At The Republican National Convention

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is surrounded by reporters during a tour of the convention floor at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Playful On A Romney Bus Tour

IN FLIGHT, FL - AUGUST 13: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) pretends to throw an orange as Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney looks on aboard his campaign plane on August 13, 2012 en route to Miami, Florida. Mitt Romney continues his multi state bus tour after announcing Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as his running mate. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

At The Elton John AIDS Foundation and UNAIDS Breakfast

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 24: (L-R) U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe, and Sir Elton John meet after The Elton John AIDS Foundation and UNAIDS breakfast at the Russell Senate Office Building on July 24, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Elton John AIDS Foundation)

Campaigning For Mitt Romney

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., signs a Romney sign for a supporter at a rally for presidential candidate Mitt Romney at C.C. Ronnow Elementary School in Las Vegas Saturday, July 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, John Locher) LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT

With Mel Martinez At NALEO Conference

Former Sen. Mel Martinez, left, R-Fla., greets Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., after he introduced him at the NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials) conference, Friday, June 22, 2012, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

At The XIX International AIDS Conference

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a session entitled: 'The U.S. Congress and the Global AIDS Epidemic" Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

At the Council on Foreign Relations

US Senator Marco Rubio, R-FL, speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations May 31, 2012 in New York. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/GettyImages)

Addressing the Latino Coalition's Small Business Summit Luncheon

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 23: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to the Latino Coalition's annual economic summitt on May 23, 2012 in Washington, DC. Rubio spoke after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney addressed the same group. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Unveiling the bipartisan Startup Act 2.0

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 22: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (C) speaks during news conference with America Online co-founder and member of the President's Council on Jobs & Competitiveness Steve Case (L) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) at the U.S. Capitol May 22, 2012 in Washington, DC. Cas and the senators held a press conference to unveil the bipartisan Startup Act 2.0. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Questioned by Marvin Kalb

WASHINGTON - APRIL 25: Brookings guest scholar Marvin Kalb (L) questions Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) after an address on American foreign policy at the Brookings Institution on April 25, 2012 in Washington, DC. Rubio is widely considered to be a possible running mate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

Campaigning with Mitt Romney

ASTON, PA - APRIL 23: Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) arrives before a town hall during a campaign stop with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (L) at Mustang Expediting April 23, 2012 in Aston, Pennsylvania. Romney continues his campaign as the presumptive GOP candidate the day before the Pennsylvania primary. (Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)

Activists Protest Rubio's Support Of "Stand Your Ground" Law

MIAMI, FL - APRIL 09: Caterina De Quesada and other supporters of Trayvon Martin gather for a rally in front of Florida Senator Marco Rubio's (R-FL) office to ask him to retract his support for Florida's so called 'Stand Your Ground' gun law following the Trayvon Martin killing on April 9, 2012 in Miami, Florida. Martin was killed by George Michael Zimmerman on February 26th while Zimmerman was on neighborhood watch patrol in the gated community of The Retreat at Twin Lakes, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Protesting Rubio's policies on immigration

Felipe Matos(C), a college student from Miami, Florida along with other protesters denounces Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a possible vice presidential candidate running with Mitt Romney, outside the US Capitol building in Washington, DC on March 1, 2012, for Rubio's policies that they say are too tough on immigrants. As Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney secured his lead this week with primary wins in Michigan and Arizona, Rubio is emerging as his most likely vice presidential candidate. Rubio, (R-FL) supports laws that would crack down on illegal immigration. AFP PHOTO/TOM RAMSTACK (Photo credit should read Tom Ramstack/AFP/Getty Images)

Senate GOP And Democrats Discuss Supreme Court Oral Arguments On Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 27: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (L) and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi participate in a news conference about the Supreme Court's second day of hearings on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act March 27, 2012 in Washington, DC. Bondi and 25 other attorneys general brought the case before the Supreme Court. Both Republicans and Democrats paid close attention to the questions and statements by Justice Anthony Kennedy during the court proceedings. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

On the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 28: Senate Foreign Relations Committee members Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. James Risch (R-ID) talk while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the committee about the department's FY2013 international affairs budget February 28, 2012 in Washington, DC. Clinton faced questions ranging from the cost of embassies in Iraq and the Middle East to the START Treaty with Russia. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

At CPAC 2012

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 09: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) delivers a speech titled, 'Is America Still an Exceptional Nation?' during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) February 9, 2012 in Washington, DC. Thousands of conservative activists are expected to attend the annual gathering in the nation's capital. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Being greeted at the 2012 Latino Coalition annual economic summit

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. is greeted at the Latino Coalition annual economic summit, Wednesday, May 23, 2012, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

With David Rivera, Republican candidate for Congress

FILE - In this Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, left, talks to reporters as David Rivera, Republican candidate for Congress, right, looks on in Miami. Rubio's relationship with fellow freshman lawmaker Rivera, now facing a federal probe into tax evasion, and a credit card controversy surfaced during his 2010 Senate campaign and didn't have much effect. But that doesn't mean the country as a whole would overlook such eyebrow-raising issues, if Rubio were to show interest in the No. 2 slot on the presidential ticket this year. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

Ceremonial Swearing-In Held For New Congress Members

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 5: Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) waits with his mother-in-law Maria Elena Fleites (L), son Anthony (2L), daughter Amanda (2R) and son Domonick (R) for the Senate Subway after a ceremonial swearing-in in the Old Senate Chamber of Capitol Hill January 5, 2011 in Washington, DC. Returning Senators and freshman were sworn in today as the 112th Congress began its session after the 2010 midterm elections. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

At news conference with Senators Lieberman and McCain on Syria

WASHINGTON - MAY 11: U.S. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (L) listens to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) (R) speak during a news conference about the crisis in Syria May 11, 2011 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Lieberman and Rubio will introduce a resolution to calling on the U.S. government to have a tougher stance in the crisis in Syria. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Republican Senators Introduce FY2012 Budget Proposal

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 10: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (2nd L) answers reporters' questions during a news conference to introduce a balanced budget proposal with (L-R) Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Jim DeMint (R_SC), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), and nd Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) at the U.S. Capitol May 10, 2011 in Washington, DC. Toomey said the proposal will balance the federal budget by 2020. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/marco-rubio-time_n_2637926.html

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A son of Africa returns long-lost treasures

Courtesy of William Holland

Cameroonians marvel over an 18th-century slave shackle that was brought to Africa for a "history lesson" by African-American businessman William Holland, at far left.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

Decades after they were taken away, African ceremonial masks have been returned to the communities that venerated them, thanks to an African-American family researcher who bought them through eBay.

Georgia businessman William Holland, who has been tracing his roots in West Africa for more than a decade, carried the three masks back with him last month during his latest trek to Cameroon. That's not all he was carrying: Holland also brought relics from the mid-18th century ? the time?when his ancestor was taken from Cameroon, loaded onto a ship, brought to Virginia and sold into slavery.

The masks made a big impression on the hundreds of Cameroonians who gathered for Holland's show-and-tell session. But the slave chains made an even bigger impression.

"When we brought the shackles out, that's when they were about to cry," he said. "They were shocked to see an authentic item that brought so much pain along with it."

---

Holland's frequent trips to Cameroon's Oku and Nso regions have been a learning experience for him as well as for his long-lost cousins. It took years for Holland to narrow down his approximate place of origin, based on DNA tests as well as a study of American and African pedigrees. Along the way, Holland found out that one of his ancestors was a slave who was pressed into service in the Confederate Army, and that more distant ancestors were members of royal families in Cameroon.

During the buildup to his latest trip, Holland combed through online auction sales, looking for artifacts that could help bridge the gap between the African and American history of his family. He worked with Cameroonian contacts to identify two elephant masks that were associated with the Nso people's secret rituals, plus a wooden mask with a human visage that was used by Oku families during funerals.

The masks were sold out of Africa in the 1970s or 1980s under murky circumstances, and eventually ended up in private hands. "It's almost the same thing as the slave trade," Holland observed. "Outsiders go to a middleman and ask them to get something or someone for them. 'I'm giving you guns, I'm giving you cowrie shells, I'm giving you iron bars. Bring me the people to fill this ship, and I'll give you this.' That's what it reminded me of."

Holland spent hundreds of dollars of his own money to buy the masks, as well as other items such as throwing knives, the wrist and ankle shackles and a "monkey wrench quilt"?? a type of quilt that slaves used to signal each other that it was time to wrap up their tools and get ready for an escape. Then he headed for the Cameroonian towns of Kumbo, Bamenda and Oku.

Courtesy of William Holland

The Fon of Nso, leader of one of Cameroon's tribal groups, looks on as his aides examine a Cameroonian throwing knife that was purchased on eBay. Some of the aides are looking at a photo of a statue of Ngonnso that was taken from Cameroon to Berlin before 1910. Cameroonian authorities are seeking the statue's return.

Courtesy of William Holland

William Holland, left, gets his picture taken with Cameroonian Prime Minister Philemon Yunji Yang and Emmanuel Motika, a physics teacher from the Cameroonian town of Bamenda who is an extremely distant relative of Holland.

"It's more than just bringing things back," he explained. "It's a history lesson about those who were taken away during the slave trade. The Cameroonians didn't receive this information in school."

Holland's trip caused a sensation in Cameroon: More than 1,000 townspeople turned out to see the American who was bringing their treasures back. In Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, Holland met the prime minister. Journalists clamored for interviews. "It was crazy," Holland said. "It was a media circus."

The chiefs of the Nso and Oku peoples, who are known as "fons," joined up to give Holland a title that combines two honored names: "Shufaay," a title that is typically given to the Nso noble next in line to the king; and "Bailack," which recognizes Holland's connection to a patriarch who came to Oku from Nso centuries ago. "No Nso son or daughter is allowed to shake hands with a Shufaay again, if they are not of the same status," Holland said. "This goes back to the ancient way of doing things."?

All the attention was great ??but for Holland, the most important result of the trip was the restoration of pieces of African history to their rightful places. Authorities in Kumbo are building a cultural museum that will eventually house the elephant masks and other Nso artifacts. And family members in the Oku region now have the funerary mask they were missing when their loved ones passed away.

The Fon of Oku drew a lesson from Holland's round of eBay diplomacy?? a lesson that's particularly timely for the month of February, recognized in the United States as Black History Month. "He was telling people not to sell these precious things from our society," Holland recalled. "This is wrong. No matter how much money they offer, do not sell."

Holland is already planning his next trip, to the Cameroonian city of Buea in May. He'll be taking over some new history lessons to his ancestral homeland, but he's also hoping to bring back some business: Holland is planning to start up a travel business to put other African-Americans in touch with their roots, and the Africa Travel Association's annual congress in Buea seems like the perfect place for networking.

"I guess you'd call it 'historical tourism,'" Holland said. "Cameroon is really an untapped market for that."

Previous chapters in the African saga:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/08/16900779-a-son-of-africa-returns-long-lost-tribal-treasures-to-the-land-of-his-ancestors?lite

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Mikey's Board ? How This Carpet Cleaner Won a Marketing Award

Rob Anspach, owner of?Premiere Carpet Cleaners?in Lancaster, PA, was recently honored by the Business & Entrepreneurs Network for a direct mail marketing campaign that he personally created. ServiceMonster caught up with Rob to find out how he achieved his marketing success, and to see if he had any marketing advice for other carpet cleaners.

1. What are the ?Marketer of the Year Awards?? Are they regional, local, national? Who is eligible?

The ?Marketer of the Year Awards? are held to honor those individuals who excelled in business as a direct result of the marketing they?ve designed and implemented. These particular awards were held in West Chester PA (a suburb of Philadelphia) through The Business and Entrepreneurs Network. The awards were broken down into 3 categories: ?Rookie of the Year,? ?That #1 Thing,? and ?Marketer of the Year.? I was selected as the ?That #1 Thing? winner.

2. Why did you win this award? The?Cleanfax??and?Business & Entrepreneurs Network?articles about your win?say it was for a direct mail letter written in a ?conversational? style, but could you give us more details?

The letter I created was in effect a ?reactivation? letter, designed to bring back clients who hadn?t used our service in over 4 years. It was written to build trust and not to be a typical sales letter. It was more of a conversation between me and the reader, which made it personal and believable.

3. What was the response to your sales letter like?

Unbelievable! You see, I only mailed the letter to around 200 people that hadn?t used our services in over 4 years. These were clients who had spent some money with us in the past, but for some reason or another hadn?t called in a while.

The letters cost less than $200 to print & mail. Within 48 hours of mailing the letter, we booked 3 jobs totaling over $1700, and throughout the month the calls kept coming in. Within 30 days, that letter produced a 32 to 1 ROI (Return on Investment.)

4. What percentage of your marketing is direct (snail mail, BNI meetings, phone calls) vs. indirect (phone book ads, radio ads, or online (social media, websites, etc.))? Which types of marketing have worked best for your business?

I eliminated all phone book ads about seven years ago and haven?t done radio in over a decade. 80% of new and repeat business is generated through direct mail (newsletters, postcards, reminders, reactivation letters & thank you?s) and the other 20% is generated online through our website and social media.

5. Do you use ServiceMonster?s?FMS or DIY marketing programs?to send any of your direct mail?

I have been using FMS through ServiceMonster for many years (I believe since its inception), but I also do follow up?s and sequence mailings to keep people in the loop and the phone ringing.

One of Rob?s recent ads.

6. If you had one piece of advice for other carpet cleaners, what would it be?

Raise your prices. If the majority of people who call you say the reason they call is that your prices are great?it?s a good indicator your prices are too low.

7.?Premiere Carpet Cleaners?has been in business for 18 years. How has your marketing strategy evolved over time?

When I first started in business, I had no clue how to market and relied on others to design ads and marketing materials. And for three years all I did was give money away to ad reps who designed ads that never compelled anyone (well, except those without money) to call me. So, I took matters into my own hands and started creating my own ads.

Back then I did a lot of Clipper Magazine and newspapers coupons, which generated good responses, but as I got more focused on the types of clientele I wanted to serve, my marketing took a shift. You see, I realized my service wasn?t designed for everybody, and as much I wanted to help, there were certain customers that didn?t make a good fit. Instead of blasting my ads out to everyone, I focused on getting my message directly to a precise customer that valued my services and was willing to pay my prices.

8. You also do marketing consulting and write marketing articles. Where can people access your marketing advice? Do you write for any industry publications?

I?ve written many articles for Cleanfax Magazine and have been working with Bruce DeLoatch on co-editing The Monitor, a publication of the Society for Cleaning & Restoration Technicians (SCRT). On occasion I have been known to pop in and teach social media marketing at Jeff Cross? Totally Booked University. My next class will take place on March 7 at Jon-Don in Langhorne, PA.

If you?d like to know more about me or how to kick your marketing into high gear you can visit me at?www.robanspach.com.

9. Could you tell us more about your carpet cleaning business?

I started?Premiere Carpet Cleaners?in 1995 thinking I could win the world (at least my little part of it) over with cheaper prices and fast service. After 6 months, I realized very quickly that offering cheap service was making me broke. The moment I started raising prices was the day I actually felt I was in business to make money.

I added a janitorial service to our services in 1996 and a flooring store in 1997. The flooring store was a complete flop and cost me more money than I liked to admit, but it taught me a valuable lesson. If you try to be everything to everyone, you won?t be good at anything. So by focusing on our core services (carpet, area rug, upholstery & mattress cleaning) we are able to make money and keep our clients happy.

10. Anything you?d like to add?

Test everything! Look at what others are doing in their marketing (not just cleaners), look at the plumbers, the lawyers, the realtors . . . look at everything then use it for your marketing. Test it! Don?t be afraid to make a mistake?that?s how you?ll learn to be a better marketer.

(This interview was previously published on the ServiceMonster blog. To learn more about ServiceMonster?s field service software and marketing programs, please visit principalfocus.com.)

Source: http://mikeysboard.com/2013/02/08/how-this-carpet-cleaner-won-a-marketing-award/

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