UN: More than 100 killed in Darfur tribal conflict

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) ? The U.N. and African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan says more than 100 people have been killed and other 70,000 displaced from their homes because of recent tribal warfare in Darfur.

The United Nation-African Union Mission in Darfur says in a report issued Thursday that the deaths and displacement resulted from clashes between the Abbala and Beni Hussein tribes in Jabel Amir, the site of gold mines in North Darfur state in western Sudan.

Darfur has been in turmoil since 2003, when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination. Rights groups charge the regime retaliated by unleashing Arab militias on civilians.

The U.N. estimates that 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced in the long-running conflict.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-more-100-killed-darfur-tribal-conflict-213101306.html

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Amanda Bynes' Cheek Piercing Is a Painful Reminder of Her ...

I'm just going to come right out and say it -- Amanda Bynes' new facial piercing is freaky. She tweeted a picture of it this week, and it makes me wince just to look at it.

Maybe it's some sort of a fake or something for a movie deal (fingers crossed), but if she really put a hole in her face then, first -- ouch! And second -- why?

Tattoos, body piercings, shaved heads, what have you, I typically figure to each his or her own when it comes to personal expression (and silently pray my children NEVER consider any of them). But this -- for her -- feels like yet another cry for help.

Bynes has been on what seems to be such a self-destructive and bizarre course for so long now, so I suppose it's not surprising. It seemingly started back in 2010 when she announced she was done with acting forever. She was 23, so it seemed just a smidgen premature, but she reportedly did it because no one wanted to work with her and her freaky ways.

Then there was a series of driving disasters last year -- from TWO cases of driving on a suspended license to DUI, to so many hit-and-runs we lost count. There were also reports of her locking herself in a bathroom in New York and going crazy talking to herself in a gym and getting thrown out. And on and on, with no reports that she got any kind of help of support that she seemingly needed.

So in the scheme of things, a facial piercing probably isn't all that crazy I suppose, and at least it's not putting anyone else in danger. But still it seems almost her saddest move of them all. It's pretty hard to ignore.

I know there are plenty of proponents of facial piercings, and that's fine. But in Amanda's case, it just seems like another sad cry for help and NOT just a fashion accessory.

What do you think of Amanda Bynes' facial piercing?

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Image via Twitter

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Source: http://thestir.cafemom.com/beauty_style/149733/amanda_bynes_cheek_piercing_is

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How to easily, automatically take multiple, multi-language screenshots for App Store submissions

With Apple's recent freeze on App Store screenshot updates, developers now have to make sure they have usable artwork ready and set when they hit the submit button. No more week(s)-long review cycle and vague plans to fix it later. That can add to the stress of a launch or update, especially if multiple language versions are needed for multiple, regional App Stores. Daniel Jalkut of Mars Edit fame, however, has shared some tips on Bitsplitting that could save developers a lot of time and frustration.

Last night, at our local Boston CocoaHeads meeting, I learned about a well-timed solution for this problem. Kent Sutherland, the programmer for Flexibits, showed off how he uses an automated screenshot-capture procedure to tame the task of generating Fantastical?s many screenshots, in many languages.

Clever stuff.

Source: Bitsplitting via The Loop

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/718ol5khhXA/story01.htm

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What's Facebook's secret? Company tells all today

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Facebook's mystery "press event" on Tuesday could reveal a more robust search feature that would intensify the competition between the social networking giant and its rival Google Inc.

Facebook is holding the event at 10 a.m. (1 p.m. EST) at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters. The company has not said what it plans to announce. Last week, it invited bloggers and journalists to "come see what we're building."

The company probably won't be showing off a new office building ?unless it decided to make its invitation very literal.

It's also unlikely to be unveiling a much-rumored "Facebook phone" ?unless CEO Mark Zuckerberg has changed his mind recently. Last fall, as he'd done on numerous occasions, he publicly shot down speculation that Facebook was building its own smartphone.

"It is so clearly the wrong strategy for us," Zuckerberg said at a September technology conference in his first public interview after Facebook's May initial public offering. "It doesn't move the needle for us."

As far as search goes, users would likely welcome a better way to sift through Facebook for people, businesses, events and everything else available on the vast online network.

The company, whose much-ballyhooed initial public offering turned out to be a disappointment, may also talk about new advertising features. Facebook has been especially focused on building up is mobile advertising business, since most of its users access Facebook through smartphones and tablets.

Research firm eMarketer estimates that Facebook, the No. 2 company in the U.S. mobile advertising market, had an 8.8 percent share last year ?up from zero in 2011. That compared with No. 1 Google's 56.6 percent. This year, Facebook is expected to grow its share to 12.2 percent, while remaining far behind Google.

Facebook, which has been calling itself a "mobile-first" company, has been growing thanks to increased use of its mobile apps, improving ad quality and its emerging advertising network, called Facebook Exchange, said Baird analyst Colin Sebastian in a recent note to investors.

"Our field checks suggest that the recently launched Facebook Exchange is helping advertisers target consumers more effectively," he said.

Sebastian thinks that over time, Facebook will make more money from mobile ads, helped by its increasing experience in the space, as well as its "ever-increasing user profile data."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/whats-facebooks-secret-company-tells-today-050416184--finance.html

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Pill-sized scanner images gullet

13 January 2013 Last updated at 13:25 ET

Doctors have made a pill-sized device that can take detailed microscopic images of inside the gullet.

It is hoped the US technology could become an easier way of screening people for a condition called Barrett's oesophagus, which can lead to cancer.

Unlike current imaging techniques, the device can be used while the patient is conscious and takes only a few minutes.

The device has been tested in a small number of patients so far, Nature Medicine reports.

Although researchers at Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston say the device has potentially wide application, it could be particularly useful for Barrett's oesophagus where many people do not realise they have it, but there is no easy way to screen for it.

In those with the condition, the cells in the lower gullet become abnormal due to chronic acid reflux, which puts them at a higher risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus.

Doctors can screen those at risk using an endoscope - a flexible tube containing a tiny video camera - but this is unpleasant and usually has to be done under sedation.

Tiny capsule

The new device is contained in a capsule about the size of a multivitamin pill connected by a thin wire.

Within the capsule is a rapidly rotating laser tip which emits infrared light that is then reflected back from the lining of the oesophagus.

The image doctors see on the screen is a 3D landscape showing far more microscopic detail than can be seen with endoscopy.

When the patient swallows the capsule it is carried down the oesophagus in the same way any piece of food would be then once it reaches the stomach it can be pulled back out using the wire.

Images are taken the whole time the device is moving up and down the gullet and the whole process takes a matter of minutes.

Testing the equipment in six patients known to have Barrett's oesophagus and seven healthy volunteers, the researchers said the images clearly showed the cellular changes that occur in those with the condition.

'Best pictures'

Prof Gary Tearney, one of the research collaborators, said the technology is cheaper than endoscopy and avoids the need for sedation, specialised equipment or special training.

And the microscopic detail shown in the images means a biopsy can be avoided.

"The images produced have been some of the best we have seen of the oesophagus," says Prof Tearne, a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School.

"We originally were concerned that we might miss a lot of data because of the small size of the capsule, but we were surprised to find that, once the pill has been swallowed, it is firmly 'grasped' by the oesophagus, allowing complete microscopic imaging of the entire wall."

Prof Tearney added that the device could help doctors work out who is at risk and detect cancers at potentially more treatable stage.

Prof Rebecca Fitzgerald, a specialist on Barrett's oesophagus at the Cambridge Cancer Centre, said: "It is elegant technology. The downside is that you will have to endoscope anyone with suspected Barrett's as you will have no way of sampling and detecting dysplasia [abnormalities] with this technology."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20983324#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Live Giant Squid Filmed In Deep Ocean

Landmark achievement reveals clues to mollusc's behavior. Image: Tsunemi Kubodera

Ocean explorers have finally achieved one of their most alluring but elusive goals: video footage of the legendary giant squid (Architeuthis dux) in its natural deep-sea habitat. Scientists say that the spectacular film, captured during an expedition off Japan?s Ogasawara archipelago, answers enduring questions about the enigmatic invertebrate.

The 6-week mission was funded by the Japan Broadcasting Commission (NHK) and the US Discovery Channel, and took place in July. It is only now being discussed publicly, as the two companies prepare to broadcast documentaries that include the footage later this month.

The squid was first glimpsed using a specialized camera system, called Medusa, which the team deployed from a ship and left suspended about 700 meters down in the water. Later, researchers came face-to-face with one while in a submersible. ?It was so beautiful that I have no words to explain it,? says zoologist Tsunemi Kubodera of Japan?s National Museum of Nature and Science, who was in the submersible.

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The camera system was developed by Edith Widder, a deep-sea explorer and founder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Fort Pierce, Florida. She thinks that the key to its success was a focus on the squid?s sense of sight. To avoid bright lights that might scare the squid away, the system uses a low-light camera with a dim red light, because few deep-sea animals see light with such a long wavelength.

Alluring success
In hopes of drawing the animals in, Widder used a different sort of light. Although very little sunlight penetrates to the deep sea, many deep dwellers produce a bioluminescent light. Past research by Widder suggests that the bioluminescence can act as a sort of burglar alarm, among other functions. The idea is that the bioluminescence produced by some prey when they are attacked may serve to attract larger predators ? such a giant squid ? that will then eat the attacker.

Widder and her colleagues therefore fitted Medusa with an electronic device that mimicked the bioluminescence that jellyfish produce when attacked to serve as a lure. It worked: Medusa first encountered a squid during its second deployment, igniting jubilation on the ship. ?I just was blown away,? says Widder,? I couldn?t have been happier.?

Medusa ended up encountering a squid five times, culminating with a full view of one apparently attacking the camera system in a manner consistent with the alarm hypothesis. The squid was about 4 meters long, although giant squid can grow as large as 10 meters or more.

During a dive about a week after the first Medusa success in their Triton submersible, Kubodera and pilot Jim Harris had a face-to-face encounter. Once they had taken enough low-light footage, they turned on the sub?s bright main lights, expecting to spook the squid. Instead, the animal continued to feed on bait tied to the sub. For 18 mesmerizing minutes the pair watched as the huge animal?s skin?shifted between unexpected gold and silver metallic hues.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1a763bf1b28d0cf107906d55835e68b0

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Chavez state "favorable," infection controlled: government

Jennifer Lawrence prompted a host of Tweets after stepping on stage to accept her Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for "Silver Linings Playbook," and quipping, "I beat Meryl." But, her comment was not a dig at Streep, who had also been up for the award.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chavez-state-favorable-infection-controlled-government-012547629.html

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