Rousing revival of Wagner's early `Rienzi' (AP)

NEW YORK ? One of his most popular works during the composer's lifetime, Wagner's early opera "Rienzi" still has the power to ignite strong feelings today.

The epic-length account of a 14th-century tribune who seeks to return Rome to its former glory was also a favorite of Adolf Hitler's, who saw the hero as an embodiment of his own mad dreams of power.

So it was with some embarrassment that one of Germany's leading opera companies, Deutsche Oper Berlin, discovered recently that it had scheduled a performance of the work for April 20, the date celebrated by the Nazis as Hitler's birthday. In response to complaints from company members, the date has now been shifted.

There was no such controversy surrounding the presentation of "Rienzi" in concert Sunday afternoon at Avery Fisher Hall by the Opera Orchestra of New York, conducted by the group's founder, Eve Queler.

But even in a flawed performance, "Rienzi" sets the pulse racing, and it was easy to see why it might foster grandiose thoughts. The score ? which looks back to Bellini and ahead to later Wagner ? is filled with rousing marches, romantic melodies, elaborate choruses for men, women and children, and extended fanfares for the brass.

By far the best singing was offered by Geraldine Chauvet, a French mezzo-soprano who was making her U.S. debut as the young nobleman Adriano. This "trousers" role ? a throwback to a tradition Wagner would never use again ? contains some stirring music as Adriano wrestles with the conflict between loyalty to his family and love for Rienzi's sister, Irene. Chauvet made the most of her opportunities, displaying warm, passionate tone, supple phrasing and ease in handling the many passages that took her to the top of the mezzo range.

As Irene, Portuguese soprano Elisabete Matos fearlessly unfurled high notes up to C-sharp. British tenor Ian Storey struggled in the daunting role of Rienzi, a pronounced wobble marring much of his delivery. He made it through his big aria, "Allmacht'ger Vater" ("Almighty Father"), but only barely.

The orchestra, supplemented by an offstage band, played with enthusiasm if not always precision. There were terrific contributions from members of the New York Choral Society and children from Vox Nova of the Special Music School.

"Rienzi," ? which ran six hours at its 1842 premiere and 3 1/2 hours in the abridged version used Sunday ? has long been a favorite of Queler's, who presented it twice in the early 1980s and again in 1992. Her conducting may have been a bit too four-square to bring out all the opera's sweep and power, but her advocacy of this neglected work is commendable.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_en_mu/us_opera_review_rienzi

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Twitter CEO says blocking policy over-distilled (AP)

DANA POINT, Calif. ? Twitter CEO Dick Costolo sought to calm the global outrage over the company's new country-by-country censorship policy on Monday, complaining in part that the issue is being treated with the same kind of shorthand that has made Twitter popular.

Speaking at the All Things D conference, Costolo repeated the company's justification for the policy change it announced last week: By taking down tweets only in the country where Twitter believes they may have violated local laws, it is making sure the maximum 140-character-long messages are still available to the rest of the world.

Twitter's reasoning has been mostly lost in a barrage of comments ? many from Twitter users themselves ? that the company is caving into attacks on free speech, especially in countries with repressive regimes.

"It's a super complex issue," Costolo said. "When the news came out, people tried to distill it down to, `What did they just say?' It's easy to distill it down to `Twitter is endorsing XYZ.'"

"It takes a while for the scholars and the people who study these matters to weigh in and start to say, `Wait, this is actually a thoughtful and honest approach to doing this and it's in fact being done in a way that's forward-looking.' So we wait for that to happen," he added.

The complaint about knee-jerk responses to complex issues is somewhat ironic given that the company's meteoric growth has been fueled often by buzz-worthy but flippant comments.

Costolo also emphasized that if Twitter reacts to take-down requests, it will make public the reasons a tweet is being removed. The company already has 45 people who respond to such requests, including those from copyright holders of music or movies in the United States.

He said the policy wouldn't affect its stance toward China or Iran, where the service is already blocked completely.

"I don't think the current environment in China is one in which we think we could operate," he said.

Costolo spoke just days before Facebook is expected to file the paperwork necessary for an initial public offering of stock, a move that is likely to make initial investors and employees in the company rich.

San Francisco-based Twitter also faces the same securities regulations that are forcing Facebook to go public ? a rule that says companies with more than $10 million in assets and more than 500 shareholders of a certain class of stock must disclose their financial results and other details.

Twitter, which was founded in 2006, will bump up against the rule "at some point," Costolo said. But he added he would rather spend time building value at the company than dealing with such issues.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_hi_te/us_twitter_censorship

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Simp Phony For The Devil (Balloon Juice)

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Myanmar's Suu Kyi calls for changes to constitution (Reuters)

DAWEI, Myanmar (Reuters) ? Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Sunday for changes to the military-drafted constitution, on her first political trip since ending a boycott of the country's political system last year and announcing plans to run for parliament.

Thousands of supporters lined the roads, many shouting "Long live mother Suu," as her motorcade wound through the rural coastal region of Dawei, about 615 km (380 miles) south of her home city, Yangon, the main business centre.

The trip, only her fourth outside Yangon since her release from years of house arrest in November 2010, demonstrates the growing prominence of the Nobel Peace laureate as the Southeast Asian state emerges from half a century of isolation.

"There are certain laws which are obstacles to the freedom of the people and we will strive to abolish these laws within the framework of the parliament," Suu Kyi said to cheers from supporters, after meeting officials of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in Dawei.

The NLD, though well known in the country, has limited political experience. It won an election by a landslide in 1990, a year after Suu Kyi began a lengthy period of incarceration, but the then rulers ignored the result and detained many party members and supporters.

The NLD boycotted the next election, held in 2010 and won by a military-backed party after opposition complaints of rigging.

Her address on Sunday offered the most extensive detail yet of the policies she would bring to parliament.

She said she wants to revise a 2008 army-drafted constitution that gives the military wide-ranging powers, including the ability to appoint key cabinet members, take control of the country in a state of emergency and occupy a quarter of the seats in parliament.

"We need to amend certain parts of the constitution," she said, adding the international community was poised to help Myanmar "once we are on an irreversible road to democracy."

Although campaigning for the April 1 by-elections has not formally begun, her speeches in villages and cities near Dawei on Sunday had the unmistakable feel of a campaign. Many cheering supporters waved red-and-white party flags. Some wore "Suu Kyi" t-shirts. Others painted their faces in her party's colors.

Suu Kyi said the elections must be "free and fair," and that any government that lies must be removed.

"Will never cheat the people. If we cannot do, we will tell you frankly that we cannot do. And if we can do it, we will do it," she at Maungmagan beach near Dawei. "For the NLD to do its duty, please vote for the NLD."

"GREAT TRANSFORMATION"

She also addressed Myanmar's long history of ethnic conflicts, particularly fighting that has raged since June between government soldiers and ethnic Kachins. Rebellions have simmered in other regions since independence from Britain in 1948.

"Diversity is not something to be afraid of, it can be enjoyed," Suu Kyi said. "If there is a person who remains without independence, it means the entire country lacks independence."

One diplomat in the crowd praised Sunday's speeches as her best yet. "She's becoming more and more explicitly political and talking about the importance of policies," he said.

Suu Kyi and her allies are contesting 48 seats in various legislatures including the 440-seat lower house in by-elections that could give political credibility to Myanmar and help advance the end of Western sanctions.

Business executives, mostly from Asia, have swarmed into Yangon in recent weeks to hunt for investment opportunities in one of the last frontier markets in Asia, after European Union and U.S. officials said that sanctions could be lifted if voters were able to vote freely in April's elections.

Myanmar is also at the centre of a struggle for strategic influence as the United States sees a chance to expand its ties there and balance China's fast-growing economic and political sway in the region.

The visit to Dawei gave rural voters a rare glimpse of 66-year-old Suu Kyi, a symbol of defiance whose past trips outside Yangon were met with suspicion and violence by the former junta, which handed power to a nominally civilian parliament in March.

Since then, the government has embarked on a dramatic reform drive, freeing hundreds of political prisoners, loosening media controls, calling for peace with ethnic insurgents and openly engaging with Suu Kyi and other opposition figures.

Those and other changes make this trip vastly different from a July 5 visit to Bagan north of Yangon, where she was trailed by undercover police and kept a low profile, fearful of a repeat of an attack on her motorcade in 2003 in which 70 supporters were killed.

Many Burmese speculate that a senior government role, possibly even a cabinet post, awaits Suu Kyi, the daughter of assassinated independence hero General Aung San.

But to get there, much work lies ahead.

Her party has limited resources. Its headquarters are cramped and crumbling. Its senior ranks are filled with ageing activists. And there are questions over how much influence it can wield in a year-old parliament stacked with military appointees and former generals.

Her supporters, however, say her presence would bring a powerful pro-democracy voice to a chamber where many members remain reluctant to speak their mind.

"She will be able to do more inside the parliament than if she remained on the outside. There are some crucial things to do urgently concerning ethnic issues and political changes," said Ko Htin Kyaw, a dissident who was arrested in 2007 and freed in an amnesty this month.

(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/wl_nm/us_myanmar_suukyi

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Chip Ganassi Racing leads Rolex 24 at Daytona (AP)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ? Chip Ganassi Racing was back out front of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the defending race winners clinging to the lead Sunday morning in the twice-around-the-clock endurance race.

Joey Hand put the No. 01 BMW Riley out front when Michael Shank Racing had an extended pit stop with about six hours remaining. IndyCar driver Justin Wilson had opened up a nearly full lap lead over the Ganassi team during a triple driving stint, but MSR appeared to change its brakes when Wilson came in for the driver change.

Hand then moved out front before he was replaced by defending Grand-Am champion Scott Pruett. The team is made up of Grand-Am champions Pruett and Memo Rojas, Hand and IndyCar driver Graham Rahal.

The team won last year's race, but appears to be at a horsepower disadvantage this season to the Fords and Chevrolets. MSR's No. 60 is a Ford Riley.

"We're definitely pushing for sure. We don't have quite the straightline speed that those other guys have," Hand said. "But we still have a shot at this thing."

The second Ganassi entry was four laps off the pace with NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya behind the wheel. The car was strong during the night but went six laps down when the shifter broke while IndyCar's Scott Dixon was driving.

That entry is somewhat of the "star car" with NASCAR drivers Montoya and Jamie McMurray, and IndyCar champions Dixon and Dario Franchitti. That group finished second to its Ganassi teammates last season.

Only two Daytona Prototypes were on the lead lap, and the championship-contending SunTrust Racing was knocked out of the race during the first hour on Saturday.

Max Angelelli took the No. 10 Chevrolet to the garage with an engine issue 25 minutes into the race. The team sent the car back out after a few minutes, but moments later Angelelli was back in the garage for good in the 50th running of the prestigious sports car event.

"We've never had an engine problem in all the time we've run the Chevrolet engine program, so this is the first time," team owner Wayne Taylor said. "There was truly nothing we were worried about. In fact, this is probably the one 24 Hour I think we all felt ? the only thing we were worried about was traffic, and we didn't have any issues. Really caught us by surprise."

The engines are made by NASCAR's Earnhardt Childress Racing organization. Taylor said the problem was in the valve train, and was "catastrophic."

Angelelli and Wayne Taylor won the Grand-Am championship in 2005, and have finished second in the standings the last two seasons to Pruett and Rojas. The SunTrust team also won the 24-hour race in 2005.

X-Games star Travis Pastrana made his debut in this race with the AF Waltrip team. He's driving with Michael Waltrip Racing owners Waltrip and Rob Kauffman, and Rui Aguas in a Ferrari in the Grand Touring class.

He called driving the Ferrari something that should be on everyone's "bucket list" and said he was thrilled to have been added to the team last month.

"Most of the experience that I have is actually in the four-wheel-drive cars," said Pastrana, who will race a limited schedule for Waltrip this season in the second-tier Nationwide Series.

"So getting the opportunity to come out here in rear-wheel-drive car I think is very helpful, especially for when NASCAR hits the road courses."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ra_su/car_grand_am_daytona24

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Learning without remembering: Brain lab goes to school

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Danny Boyle offers sneak peek at opening ceremony

In this image made available by LOCOG shows Oscar winning director Danny Boyle as he visits Colegrave Primary School, Newham London a school selected to audition for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. Boyle offered a sneak peek Friday of his vision for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, revealing that he would ring a massive bell to start the festivities and include a segment on one of Britain's most maligned institutions, the National Health Service. (AP Photo/ Dave Poultney/LOCOG)

In this image made available by LOCOG shows Oscar winning director Danny Boyle as he visits Colegrave Primary School, Newham London a school selected to audition for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. Boyle offered a sneak peek Friday of his vision for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, revealing that he would ring a massive bell to start the festivities and include a segment on one of Britain's most maligned institutions, the National Health Service. (AP Photo/ Dave Poultney/LOCOG)

In this image made available by LOCOG shows Oscar winning director Danny Boyle visits Colegrave Primary School, Newham London a school selected to audition for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, Friday Jan. 27, 2012. Boyle offered a sneak peek Friday of his vision for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, revealing that he would ring a massive bell to start the festivities and include a segment on one of Britain's most maligned institutions, the National Health Service. (AP Photo/ Dave Poultney/LOCOG)

LONDON (AP) ? Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle offered a sneak peek Friday of his vision for the 2012 London Olympics: A massive bell that will ring in the opening ceremony along with a segment on one of Britain's most maligned institutions, the National Health Service.

His comments were unusual, as details about Olympic ceremonies are typically closely guarded secrets. But Boyle seemed almost giddy as he offered two small hints during a news conference to mark the six month-anniversary to the July 27 opening of the games.

His attitude was a cross between 'I have a secret' and 'you will love it!'

"It's an enormous bloody thing," he said to chuckles at 3 Mills Studio, where the production is being shaped.

Boyle said he was fully aware of the pressures to produce the first Summer Games ceremony since Beijing enchanted the world in 2008. And while he had praise for other spectacles, he offered a clue to the feeling he hopes to invoke in London by citing the 2000 ceremony at the Sydney games, calling that "the people's games."

The "Slumdog Millionaire" director outlined his vision of the ceremony with the theme "Isles of Wonder," a nod to the British Isles.

He has ordered up a 27-ton bell to ring in the games, playing on a custom from the time of William Shakespeare, when a theatrical performance was started with a proper clang.

The bell, which was cast Friday by a foundry in operation for centuries ? will be inscribed with a line from Act 3, Scene 2 of "The Tempest," in which Caliban says "Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises."

"We want people to be able to hear those noises," Boyle said.

And then there's that segment involving the health service ? not a typical subject for a sports ceremony. Boyle described the British system, which offers universal health care to all, as "something unique about our country." Organizers have recruited real nurses and other medical workers to take part in the segment.

Boyle's films and plays have both tremendous energy and visual flair. Though he's had success in fusing cultural influences, the creation of a spectacle that appeals to an audience in the billions around the world is a daunting challenge.

He seems to be having fun with it, though.

Boyle bounced up from his chair at the presentation, and introduced a "behind the scenes" film about the ceremony that featured shots of trapeze artists and dancers, seamstresses sewing costumes and an improbable immense clear ball in which a person appeared to be rolling.

____

AP Sports Writer Stephen Wilson contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-27-London%202012-Olympics/id-a5936173327743ca838d9dcaadc84372

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Bridge Bank Launches Renewable Energy Project Finance Group

Bridge Capital Holdings announced the launch of its Energy and Infrastructure Group (EIG), which will offer specialized financing for clients with proven sustainable alternative energy projects located in the United States. EIG will operate from the bank?s Silicon Valley headquarters.

?Bridge Bank was founded to serve all sectors of Silicon Valley and the broader technology business community, which is continuously being reshaped by new innovation,? said Daniel P. Myers, president and CEO of Bridge Bank. ?The creation of our new Energy and Infrastructure Group is reinforcement of the bank?s commitment to serving the changing needs of businesses and support the nation?s goal of greater energy independence with economically sound alternative energy ventures.?

Many clean-tech supply chain and development companies, in addition to contractors and other small- to mid-sized firms that are focused on renewable energy projects, remain largely underserved by financial institutions and other debt providers. Bridge Bank expects to be a provider in specialized debt financing required by developers and solar companies, and to be a valuable advisor to the firms seeking entry into this emerging market.

The new Energy and Infrastructure Group will be led by Scott Reising, senior vice president at Bridge Bank. Reising, who joined the bank in August 2011, has an extensive background in energy project design, development, implementation, and finance, and has been involved in over $20 billion of structured finance transactions in various sectors, including solar, wind, bio-fuels and hydro-power. Reising has also been involved in large infrastructure projects for local governments, and most recently worked for several major European banks in New York City.

?Well-established developers working on large scale projects have many choices for financing, but for developers who are working on smaller projects in the one to five megawatt range, there are very few options,? said Reising. ?We are providing the kind of advisory services and structuring expertise that is typically found only at the larger multi-national banks. For clients, especially those new to this market, Bridge Bank offers a unique and extraordinary value.? EIG will lend to companies with projects in the installation phase, and provide liquidity options for government incentives in addition to permanent phase financing.

Over the past five years, Bridge Bank has built a presence in the alternative energy sector. Nearly $85 million in loans and credit commitments has been extended by the bank to firms engaging in renewable energy and solar projects. Dan Pistone, senior vice president and manager of the bank?s Technology Banking Group added, ?We believe that the segment EIG will serve represents a $5 billion market, with annual growth projected at about 20%. If the federal government intensifies its effort to reach energy independence, those numbers are likely to increase substantially.?

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Source: http://www.monitordaily.com/bridge-bank-launches-renewable-energy-project-finance-group/

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Republicans woo Hispanic voters (Star Tribune)

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Are tablet ergonomics a pain in the neck? (Digital Trends)

Now that tablet devices like the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and Amazon Kindle Fire are becoming commonplace in everyday society, researchers have started examining some of the possible ergonomic impacts of these devices. After all, almost every other technological gizmo and device that has become ubiquitous in society seems to have an impact on our bodies, from desktop computer users suffering carpal tunnel syndrome and circulation problems to gamers and ?Generation Text? experiencing thumb and wrist injuries. Before then, centuries of people wore down their bodies on telephone and telegraph gear, industrial machinery, looms, and countless other devices. Why should tablets be any different?

According to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, they aren?t. A new study (PDF) published this month in Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation is among the first to look at the possible ergonomic impacts of tablet use, and there?s good news and bad news. The good news is that tablet users seem to shift position and move around more than folks locked in to traditional desktop and notebook computers. The bad news is that most common ways of holding and using tablets seem to put considerable strain on users neck muscles ? especially compared to typical desktop computing setups.

What did the Harvard team find, and what can tablet users do to protect themselves?

Tableta rasa

The Harvard study is among the first to look at the ergonomics of using a tablet, and its scope is necessarily limited: It only examines the effects of tablet use on the head, neck, and shoulders while seated in a relatively deep lounge-style chair, with a slightly reclined back and no arm rests. A myriad of other parts of the body (like the hands, arms, and the back) weren?t considered, nor were a number of other postures and ways people use tablets, such as standing, walking, lying flat, perched on a stool, crammed into an airplane or bus seat, and many more.

To look at the effects of tablet use, researchers wired up subjects with a infrared three-dimensional motion analysis system (think of it as something akin to the motion capture systems used in movies), and asked subjects to perform a range of tasks with tablets in four different positions:

• Lap Hand: User holds the tablet in their lap without a case, supported (or not) by their hand
• Lap Case: Tablet sits on the lap with its case set to its lowest angle
• Lap Table:?Tablet rests on a table with its case set to its lowest angle
• Table-Movie:?Tablet rests on a table with its case set to its highest angle (for media viewing)

The researchers came up with four basic tasks?Internet browsing and reading, playing a game (solitaire), composing short replies to email messages, and watching short videos. Not all tasks were performed in all positions. The video-watching task, for instance, was exclusive to the Table-Movie position. Subjects didn?t watch videos in the other positions, nor did they have to surf the Web, play a game, or write email in the Table-Movie position.

So what tablets were used? The researchers picked two: an Apple iPad 2 with a Smart Case running iOS 4.3 and a Motorola Xoom tablet with Motorola?s Portfolio Case running Android 3.0.

The tilt angles offered by the cases are quite a bit different: the iPad Smart Cover can handle tilt angles of 15? and 74?, while the Motorola Portfolio case does angles of 45? and 63?. As we?ll see, that might make a big difference.

Flex Time

Overall, the researchers found that subjects came closest to generally-accepted neutral ranges of head and neck flexion in the Table-Movie posture, with the neck being well within neutral values and the head falling just inside it. However, for the three other postures, subjects? head and neck flexion fell some 15 to 25 degrees outside the neutral range. Users tend to hold their heads out and look downward when using a tablet on their laps or on a tabletop. That, in turn, puts stress on the neck muscles, far more strain than someone using a traditional computer, who can maintain a more-or-less neutral position where the weight of their head is supported by the bones of the neck and spine, rather than muscles.

Generally speaking, using a tablet on a tabletop (the Table-Case posture) rather than a lap resulted in a lower cranio-cervical angle ? meaning their heads tended to be more aligned vertically with their spines.

However, there were significant variations between the iPad and its Smart Cover and the Motorola Xoom and its Portfolio Case, and they don?t bode that well for iPad users. Angles of neck and head flexion were significant higher for the iPad 2 with Smart Cover in both the Lap-Case and Table-Case postures when compared with the Xoom and its case. Presumably, the Smart Cover?s lower angle (25? compared with 45?) meant users held their heads and necks at at more of an angle. Similarly, the researchers found iPad users had a significantly lower gaze angle in the Lap-Case and Table-Case postures. Researchers also found that iPad users put the iPad significantly lower and closer to them than they put the Xoom in the Lap-Case and Table-Case postures ? again, probably influenced by the Smart Case?s flatter orientation. Researchers found that subjects consistently positioned the Xoom so their viewing angle of the tablet was nearly perpendicular for all four postures, meaning their view of the tablet?s screen was more-or-less flat. However, in the Lap-Case and Table-Case postures, iPad users tended to have a more oblique view of the screen.

Just in case

Although the study only examines a few ergonomic factors associated with tablet use, one result that jumps out is that cases make a big difference if you?re going to use a tablet on a table or on your lap. Although Apple?s Smart Cover offers two significantly different viewing angles, its shallow 25? tilt intended for typing seems to make users more prone to hunching over their tablet, putting strain on their neck. (That?s not to knock Apple?s Smart Cover exclusively; the same thing likely applies to other tablet cases that offer shallow use angles.) However, that doesn?t necessarily mean a steep tilt is better. It doesn?t take much more than a glance at someone using a tablet at a 45? angle on a tabletop to realize trying to use an onscreen keyboard at such a tilt is difficult? and likely hard on the wrists over time.

Another interesting finding is that the only posture in the study where subjects exhibited neutral values for their neck and head angles was the highly-angled, passive Table-Movie posture. Put another way, the least stressful way to interact with a tablet is not to interact with it at all: Just prop it up and look at it.

Safe tableting

As more people rely on tablets for everyday communications and tasks ? and are using them to replace things like netbooks, notebooks, and even traditional desktop computers ? they?re spending more and more time with the devices, increasing their risk of stress and injury from prolonged use. So, the best advice for using a tablet over the long term likely derives from all the ergonomics lessons we?ve learned from PCs, gaming, and other tasks:

• Try to keep your upper body posture neutral and well supported. Keep your neck straight, your shoulders relaxed, and your arms positioned near your sides.
• Part of the ?tablet hunch? comes from placing them them well below the field of vision when we?re in a neutral posture. If you?re using a tablet for a long time, consider adjusting your seating or the position of the tablet so it?s at or just below your field of vision when you hold your head and back at a neutral angle. That may mean positioning the tablet well above a table or desk surface, just like many people do with notebooks (with or without desktop docking stations).
• It may look silly, but for long periods of use, using a separate keyboard rather than on on-screen keyboard is probably a good idea to help maintain good ergonomics. You don?t have to take it with you everywhere you go like some 21st century version of a pocket protector, but if you find yourself doing long writing or messaging sessions on a tablet, a keyboard might be a good idea.
• Move around. Tablets are inherently portable devices, and people take them everywhere they go, so that means tablet users are more likely to shift position, get up, walk around, and change their posture than a typical desktop PC user who might stay in a chair for hours at a time. Whether using a desktop, notebook, gaming console, or tablet, frequent breaks to stretch, move around, and get blood flowing are critical. Use it or lose it.

What?s next

Reports have the Harvard team next looking to examine the effects of tablet use on the arms and wrists, which could be even more interesting. And, just in case folks were wondering, the study was partially funded by Microsoft, which is looking to make a big splash in the tablet market with Windows 8 later this year. (Although two Microsoft researchers helped design the study, they didn?t participate in data collection or analysis.)

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Mayor blasted for 'taco' comment amid bias probe (AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. ? In a world of polished politicians, East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr.'s tendency to speak his mind without hesitation or much self-censorship has earned him loyal friends and vehement foes over the decades in his suburban Connecticut hometown.

But now, it's also earned him a place in the national spotlight as the mayor who, after four of his police officers were arrested Tuesday for alleged anti-Latino bias, said he "might have tacos" as a way of doing something for those minorities.

Maturo has since apologized for the remark, which he made during a taped interview at his office with a New York television station and which spread through cyberspace at blistering speed.

It came in response to a reporter's question about the FBI's arrest of the four officers in this shoreline town, which has been under federal scrutiny since the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights probe in 2009 that found a pattern of discrimination and biased policing.

The town's Democratic Party is now demanding the resignation of Maturo, a Republican, and he's fielded criticism from Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy and other state and local officials.

The video of Maturo's comments quickly spread on Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and on media outlet sites late Tuesday and throughout Wednesday. They also prompted Connecticut's largest paper, The Hartford Courant, to call for his resignation in an editorial that declared: "The Mayor is an Idiot."

Those who've known Maturo say he's not an idiot or a bigot, but that if the taco comment was meant to be a joke, it was clearly a misstep they think he genuinely regrets.

"He's a very regular sort of person, very generous, very loyal, and I know he cares very deeply about all of the people that the represents," said Christopher Healy, a former Connecticut state Republican party chairman.

"This is not at all to underestimate how serious these words were and how hurtful they were to many people, but I do know he takes his job seriously and cares deeply about the community," Healy said.

But Marcia Chacon, a store owner in East Haven, said she and other Latinos took offense at the mayor's "taco" comment.

"This is an insult against us," Chacon said. "I thought `Wow, here we are in East Haven, and this is the person who is supposed to help us.'"

Maturo asked East Haven residents in a written apology Wednesday to "have faith in me" and the town as it faces the discrimination allegations, in which the four officers are accused of engaging in patterns of harassment and intimidation against Latinos, who make up 10 percent of the approximately 28,000 people in the blue-collar town.

Maturo, 60, is an East Haven native through and through. He attended local schools and colleges, became an electrician and electrical inspector, and served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War before returning to his hometown to become a firefighter.

A back injury forced him to leave that job, but he'd developed a bug for politics and served as a legislative clerk for Republicans in the Connecticut General Assembly and won a spot on East Haven's town council in 1993.

He became mayor in 1997 and was re-elected every two years until Democrat April Capone defeated him by 25 votes in 2007.

When he defeated Capone by 34 votes to reclaim the seat last fall, he reinstated the police chief she had suspended amid the federal discrimination probe, and he rebuffed the bias allegations with strong words of support for East Haven's officers.

This week's "taco" quip wasn't the first time that Maturo's tendency to speak and act without much self-censoring has landed him in trouble, though previous scrapes usually only made local headlines.

In 2004, for instance, the mayor ? known by friends to be particularly handy ? became concerned that one of the town grates was an immediate hazard, so he hopped down into a sewer hole and removed it himself.

He also installed corner edges in his office and helped a worker install light switches in the library, earning a grievance against him from union members who said he was usurping their work with his impromptu repairs.

"Pretty cheesy," he said at the time of the grievance, though they've since made peace.

Whether Maturo can make peace soon with Latino residents upset by his "taco" comment remains to be seen.

Messages left for several of his political allies at the state and local levels were not immediately returned Wednesday, and East Haven's Republican Party chairman was mulling whether he intended to comment publicly.

In addition to issuing his written apology, Maturo talked Wednesday with hosts of a local radio show on which he frequently appears. Otherwise, he has said he would no longer publicly discuss the quip, which he called a "dumb, off the cuff, stupid comment" as he grew increasingly tired Tuesday after 14 interviews.

"In all that time, I made one mistake ? and it's gone viral," he told the hosts of WPLR's "Chaz & AJ in the Morning" show.

It came after WPIX-TV reporter Mario Diaz asked Maturo during an interview Tuesday, "What are you doing for the Latino community today?"

Maturo's response: "I might have tacos when I go home; I'm not quite sure yet."

Diaz then said, "You realize that's not really the comment to say right now, you `might have tacos tonight'?"

Maturo, who is of Italian heritage, then said he might have spaghetti or any other kind of ethnic food, growing increasingly angry as he told Diaz to "go for it, take your best shot" to make the "taco" comment seem to imply something he did not intend.

Others said it was hard to interpret the comment as anything but a stereotypical jab.

"It goes to the root of the racial profiling allegations here in East Haven," said city Democratic Town Committee Chairman Gene Ruocco. "Everyone knows the seriousness of this matter and for him, as the leader of our community, to say something so utterly insensitive is a complete disgrace. He should be ashamed of himself."

___

Associated Press reporter Michael Melia also contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_re_us/us_police_discrimination_mayor

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Drug May Slow Early Prostate Cancer: Study (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that Avodart, a drug used to treat an enlarged prostate gland, may help slow the progression of early stage prostate cancer, reducing the need for aggressive treatment in some men.

Prostate cancer can grow and spread slowly, which is why some men are urged to engage in so-called watchful waiting when the cancer is first diagnosed. Avodart (dutasteride) may help such men feel comfortable with surveillance as opposed to radical treatment, the researchers noted.

"The concept of active surveillance is gaining traction in most parts of the world," said study author Dr. Neil E. Fleshner, head of the division of urology at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Still, some men are uncomfortable with doing nothing in the face of a cancer diagnosis, he said. "By using this drug, we can improve the proportion of men who remain committed to the surveillance."

The findings are published online Jan. 25 in The Lancet.

According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, one out of every six men in the United States will develop prostate cancer in his lifetime. But because many of those cancers are low-grade, most will die of something else.

Avodart belongs to a class of drugs called 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. These drugs work by interfering with the effects of certain male hormones on the prostate. In the three-year study, prostate cancer progressed in 38 percent of 144 men with early prostate cancer who were treated with Avodart and 48 percent of the 145 men who received a placebo.

Men seem less anxious about the cancer diagnosis when they are doing something more proactive, Fleshner said. "The drug augments active surveillance and avoids most of the side effects associated with surgery and radiation," he said. Prostate removal surgery and/or radiation can lead to impotence and incontinence, he said.

The medication does have side effects, however, including reversible breast enlargement and tenderness and some sexual dysfunction.

"We know that we are over-treating prostate cancer," said Dr. Louis Potters, chairman of radiation medicine at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Manhasset, N.Y.

"In the U.S., patients have a tendency to hear the word 'cancer,' and want to treat it right away," he said. "In these men with early prostate cancer, we can now say, 'Let's put you on this medication, and see what happens over the next couple of months.'"

However, some experts have concerns about 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning that men who take these drugs to treat enlarged prostate glands may be at increased risk for high-grade prostate cancer.

Dr. Ryan Terlecki, an assistant professor of urology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., said this may dampen enthusiasm for use of the drug to treat cancer.

"The overall role that these medications will play for urologists will decrease," Terlecki said. Doctors will likely begin looking toward noninvasive and/or non-medical treatments such as the use of thermal heat to cope with some of the symptoms of prostate conditions, he added.

More information

Learn more about prostate cancer at the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120124/hl_hsn/drugmayslowearlyprostatecancerstudy

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Julian Assange says he's launching TV talk show (AP)

LONDON ? You've read his leaks. Now watch his show.

Cyber-transparency activist Julian Assange says he's launching a career in television, hosting what he's billing as a new brand of talk show built around the theme of "the world tomorrow."

The show's guests haven't been disclosed, but Assange has promised to give viewers more of what he's been supplying for years: Controversy.

The WikiLeaks secret-spilling site said in a statement released late Monday that "iconoclasts, visionaries and power insiders" would be brought in so that Assange could challenge them on their vision of world affairs and "their ideas on how to secure a brighter future."

The world of television talk shows is a new one for the 40-year-old Australian, whose group has orchestrated the biggest mass-disclosures of secret documents in U.S. history. But the statement argued that Assange was uniquely qualified for the role given his past as "a pioneer for a more just world and a victim of political repression."

Ellis Cashmore, an expert on celebrity culture at England's Staffordshire University, wasn't so sure.

"Assange has got a good, deep voice and agreeable Aussie accent, but he's a slow, deliberate talker and not especially televisual," Cashmore said in an email. "To be true to his image, he would have to make his proposed show subversive; and that might not appeal to many would-be guests."

WikiLeaks said that the show would begin airing in mid-March, although how the show will be produced and who will carry it are open questions.

It's not even clear Assange will be free to host the show. He's currently fighting extradition to Sweden, where he's wanted over sex crimes allegations, and U.S. officials are still weighing possible charges linked to his attention-grabbing leaks.

In its statement WikiLeaks referred queries about the series to the hitherto obscure Quick Roll Productions, whose website carried no indication of where the group was based or who was managing it. An online records search indicated that Quick Roll's site was created about two weeks ago.

Neither Quick Roll nor WikiLeaks returned emails seeking further details on their project.

___

Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://twitter.com/razhael

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_hi_te/eu_wikileaks_the_show

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GOP race turns to new terrain in Florida

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, greets supporters at a campaign rally in Coral Springs, Fla. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, greets supporters at a campaign rally in Coral Springs, Fla. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)

Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, is joined by wife Ann, following his speech during the South Carolina Primary night rally Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is greeted by supporters after Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Now it's Florida's turn.

And Republican presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have just 10 days to navigate a state unlike any they've competed in so far. Florida is six times larger than New Hampshire, has almost five times more Hispanics than Iowa, and, with numerous media markets, is much more expensive for candidates than South Carolina. That's where Gingrich trounced Romney on Saturday night, suddenly scrambling the GOP presidential race ahead of Florida's Jan. 31 primary.

"It's been fascinating spectator sport so far," Beth Schiller, 48, said inside Buddy Brew Coffee shop the next morning. "But it's coming here now. They're all coming."

Indeed, the remaining candidates in a shrunken field ? Romney, Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul ? planned to be in the state Monday for the first of two presidential debates this week.

All eyes were certain to be on what's essentially a two-man race.

After a crushing South Carolina defeat, Romney no longer faces the prospect of wrapping up the nomination quickly and now is forced to regroup. He has spent months planning for the Florida campaign, essentially building a firewall in the state. He has the largest organization of any candidate. And he and his allies combined have had the TV airwaves all to themselves for weeks, already spending roughly $6 million combined. The former Massachusetts governor's areas of strength in the diverse state may be with the transplanted Northeasterners and snowbirds along the Gold Coast.

But now there are doubts about whether he can knit together the broad cross-section of Republican voters he'd need to win in this state, much less the nomination.

"I'm looking forward to a long campaign," Romney said on "Fox News Sunday," an acknowledgment that he wouldn't sew up the nomination with a Florida victory as aides once had hoped.

Gingrich, for his part, will work to keep his momentum going despite continued division among tea party and religious activists who, to a certain degree, continue to divide their support between him and Santorum. The state's conservative panhandle may be fertile ground for the former Georgia lawmaker who talks of his Southern roots often. His team also is working hard to court evangelicals, who vote in droves in the state's GOP primaries and who tend to look skeptically on Romney.

He dramatically trails Romney in fundraising and organization in the state, underscored by his launching of an online "money bomb" Saturday night to try to raise $1 million to help fund his efforts in Florida.

"My job in Florida is to convince people that I am the one candidate who can clearly defeat Obama in a series of debates and the one candidate who has big enough solutions that they would really get America back on track," Gingrich told CNN's "State of the Union."

His South Carolina victory is certain to change the dynamics in a state where Romney has led in polls for weeks.

"People want to get behind a winner," said Tom Gaitens, co-founder of the Tampa Tea Party and state director for the conservative organization FreedomWorks. "People will be drawn to Newt like a magnet."

Florida's size and diversity creates challenges for all the candidates. And the issues may be far different than those in the previous states.

There are 10 distinct media markets in Florida, which helps explain the tremendous cost of running a statewide campaign here.

And the voters are anything but homogenous.

Northern Florida along the panhandle is as close to the South as the state offers. It's the least populated and considered the most culturally conservative. Southeastern Florida, including the Miami area, is traditionally not as conservative as the rest of the state, offering a large Latino population and many Northeastern transplants and Jewish voters. The bulk of the state's Republicans, including a significant collection of evangelicals, live along central Florida's Interstate 4 corridor, including Tampa and Orlando.

Exit polling from the 2008 GOP primary shows that approximately 39 percent of voters identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians. That's a significant voting bloc Gingrich has been targeting. He won evangelicals soundly in South Carolina, where they constituted roughly 65 percent of the electorate.

Hispanics are also key.

Romney is already on television running an advertisement in Spanish. Gingrich plans to do the same. The Gingrich team is based in the Miami area, the epicenter of the state's considerable Cuban population. Cubans make up roughly a third of the state's Hispanic population and figure to play prominently.

Romney's team is based in Tampa, and it has spent weeks working to woo the 200,000 people who already have cast ballots through absentee and early voting.

Like everywhere else, the economy is certain to dominate the race in Florida. The unemployment rate here is 10 percent, much higher than the national 8.5 percent jobless figure. And more than 2 percent of all Florida housing units were involved in foreclosure last year, according to the RealtyTrac foreclosure listing service. Florida also is third in the number of homes with "upside down" mortgages, at 44 percent of all mortgaged properties, according to the CoreLogic real estate data firm.

But other topics also will dominate.

Florida is a retirement mecca, so expect discussion about Social Security. It's also home to a number of environmentalists working to protect the coastline and fight drilling, so those topics are all but certain to be touched on. And with a heavy influx of Hispanics, immigration is certain to be raised.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-22-GOP%20Campaign-Florida's%20Turn/id-d50956d6d09e4f479637d05692211fda

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Video: Prince William to join Kate on vacation

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Cooley leads Irish to upset over No. 1 Syracuse

Notre Dame students rush the court following their 67-58 victory over Syracuse of an NCAA college basketball game Syracuse, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Notre Dame students rush the court following their 67-58 victory over Syracuse of an NCAA college basketball game Syracuse, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant throws the ball into the stands as fans rush the court following Notre Dame's 67-58 victory over Syracuse in an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton celebrates following their 67-58 victory over Syracuse in an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday Jan. 21, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine (11) drives the lane as Notre Dame guard Eric Atkins pursues during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Syracuse forward CJ Fair (5)drives the lane between Notre Dame forward Scott Martin and Pat Connaughton during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) ? Mike Brey's viewing selection for his players the night before meeting top-ranked Syracuse was an easy choice. The Notre Dame coach showed a video of former Irish teams upsetting No. 1 teams over the years.

Brey and the current group of Irish now have their own spot in that collection.

Jack Cooley had 17 points and 10 rebounds against a Syracuse team missing its shot-blocking, rebounding center Fab Melo and the Irish surprised the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Orange 67-58 on Saturday night.

Fans stormed the court after the Irish's rousing victory, hoisting players on their shoulders in a wild scene at the Purcell Pavilion. It was the eighth time Notre Dame has beaten a No. 1 team ? that ties for fourth-most all-time, with North Carolina having the most with 12.

"Notre Dame has an unbelievable history against No. 1 teams," Irish forward Scott Martin said. "We saw a little video to just kind of pump us up a little bit."

Cooley was certainly inspired.

Without Melo in the middle, Notre Dame's 6-foot-9, 248-pound center was a major force as the Irish won the rebound battle 38-25.

"I can't even describe this right now. They were 20-0. I can't put it to words how amazing this is," Cooley said. "We came out with energy. This was a great opportunity and we didn't want to squander it."

Melo had started all 20 of the Orange's first games, was their leading rebounder with 5.7 a game, averaged 7.2 points and three blocks. School officials gave no explanation why the talented center did not make the trip. He will also miss Monday's game against Cincinnati.

"We had all week to prepare for Melo (not playing). We didn't know for sure (he would not play), but we were prepared for it," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said, without elaborating on the reasons.

"I don't know how he affected the game because he wasn't here."

Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine said Melo was definitely missed but his absence was no excuse for such a weak offensive performance in their lowest scoring game of the season.

"Fab is the key to our defense. He's an anchor. It wasn't that, though. Our offense wasn't going today," Jardine said. "Fab only averaged six points for us. That's not too much points."

James Southerland scored 15 points for Syracuse, which shot just 34 percent and was 7-for-23 on 3-pointers. Martin added 13 for Notre Dame, which hit 50 percent of its field-goal attempts.

Southerland's 3-pointer with 53.9 seconds left brought the Orange to within 62-56 before the Irish held on as Jerian Grant sank four free throws in the final 32 seconds.

It was the first time the Irish have beaten a top-ranked team since 1987 when they defeated North Carolina, also in South Bend. One of the Irish's most dramatic victories over a No. 1 came in 1974, when they stopped UCLA's 88-game winning streak by 71-70, also on the Irish's homecourt.

Hence the video selection from Brey.

"I just wanted them to see the history of our place against No. 1s," Brey said. "I mean, we were channeling all week as much as possible. In the midst of the videos, I had our guys doing good things and making big plays. It was only about five minutes, but it was really well done and we watched it last night in the team meeting.

"It is awesome that the players have said that they wanted to see me in some of them. ... This is a great memory for them. This is the kind of thing that will be talked about at the reunions when they come back in 10 years."

Boeheim was denied his 877th career victory, which would have put him in sole possession of fourth place among Division I men's coaches.

Notre Dame led in the first half by as many as 18 and was up 35-23 at the half, shooting 54.4 percent and holding the Orange to 2.6 (8-for-18). Syracuse was only 4-of-13 from the 3-point line and was beaten on the boards 20-13 as Notre Dame seemed to be half-step quicker.

"We knew that. It's been like that all year for us. We're the No. 1 team in the country and we're going to get everybody's best shots," Jardine said. "We knew Notre Dame was going to come out and make some shots. ... We didn't bounce back fast enough, and that's why we lost."

Syracuse got off to a better second-half start and whittled the lead to eight less than three minutes in. But Martin hit another 3-pointer for the Irish as the shot clock was winding down and Cooley ? benefiting from Melo's absence ? bulled his way in for a layup to restore the lead to 12. Cooley then dropped in two free throws and Martin again sank a 3-pointer and the Irish were rolling with a 17-point lead.

The Orange then went on a 9-2 run and Kris Joseph's 3-pointer made it a 10-point game with 7:43 to go. Syracuse again cut it to eight before Cooley roared down the court for a dunk with just over five minutes left.

Triche's three-point play with 2:24 left cut it to seven as the Orange made a final run.

Pat Connaughton, inserted into the Irish starting lineup, had a pair of 3s in the early going and Notre Dame bolted to an 11-2 lead.

Notre Dame kept up the long-range accuracy, making four of its first six attempts. And when Eric Atkins grabbed a rebound and went the length of the floor for a layup, the Irish were up 21-10 as the fans at Purcell Pavilion went wild.

And without Melo in the middle, the Irish were all over the boards with an early 13-4 advantage.

Atkins picked up his third foul with 9:04 left, but Jerian Grant's 3-pointer gave the Irish a two-touchdown lead at 28-14.

The Orange missed 14 of their first 19 field-goal attempts and nothing was falling. Tom Knight's left-handed shot in the lane doubled the score, putting the Irish up 32-16.

Alex Dragicevich's 3-pointer as the shot clock was running down put the Irish up 35-18 with 1:12 left in the half. Dion Waiters then responded with a pair of quick 3-pointers to get the Orange to within 12 at the end of a frustrating first half.

The 23 points represented the Orange's lowest-scoring half of the season.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-T25-Syracuse-Notre%20Dame/id-7cae47a1ad6e4ce899e71707dbae21c7

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Florida next stop in now-scrambled Republican race (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. ? A suddenly scrambled Republican presidential contest shifts to Florida after Newt Gingrich stopped Mitt Romney's sprint to the GOP nomination with a convincing victory in South Carolina.

The air of inevitability that surrounded Romney's candidacy is gone, at least for now. His rivals, led by Gingrich, have until Florida's Jan. 31 contest to prove South Carolina was no fluke.

Larger, more diverse and more expensive, Florida brings new challenges to Gingrich, who again must overcome financial and organizational disadvantages as he did in South Carolina, whose primary he won Saturday.

"We don't have the kind of money at least one of the candidates has. But we do have ideas. And we do have people," Gingrich, the former House speaker, told cheering supporters after his victory. "And we proved here in South Carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money. And with your help, we're going to prove it again in Florida."

Romney struck a defiant tone before his own backers gathered at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds, saying: "I will compete in every single state." He wasted no time jabbing at Gingrich, saying: "Our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never run a business and never led a state."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, third in South Carolina, pledged to compete in Florida and beyond. His presence in the race ensures at least some division among Florida's tea party activists and evangelicals, a division that could ultimately help Romney help erase any questions about his candidacy.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul likely will not be a factor in Florida. He already had said he was bypassing the state in favor of smaller subsequent contests.

As the first Southern primary, South Carolina has been a proving ground for Republican presidential hopefuls in recent years. Since Ronald Reagan in 1980, every Republican contender who won the primary has gone on to capture the party's nomination.

Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Santorum was winning 17 percent, Paul 13 percent.

But political momentum was the real prize with the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama still in its early stages.

Already, Romney and a group that supports him were on the air in Florida with a significant television ad campaign, more than $7 million combined to date.

Gingrich readily conceded that he trails in money, and even before appearing for his victory speech he tweeted supporters thanking them and appealing for a flood of donations for the Jan 31 primary. "Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida. Join our Moneybomb and donate now," said his Internet message.

Aides to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had once dared hope that Florida would seal his nomination ? if South Carolina didn't first. But that strategy appeared to vanish along with the once-formidable lead he held in pre-primary polls.

Romney swept into South Carolina as the favorite after being pronounced the winner of the lead-off Iowa caucuses, then cruising to victory in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.

But in the sometimes-surreal week that followed, he was stripped of his Iowa triumph ? GOP officials there now say Santorum narrowly won ? while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman dropped out and endorsed Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry quit and backed Gingrich.

Romney responded awkwardly to questions about releasing his income tax returns, and about his investments in the Cayman Islands. Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, benefited from two well-received debate performances while grappling with allegations by an ex-wife that he had once asked her for an open marriage so he could keep his mistress.

By primary eve, Romney was speculating openly about a lengthy battle for the nomination rather than the quick knockout that had seemed within his grasp only days earlier.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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Teen ends globe-circling voyage in St. Maarten

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker throws a rope as she docks her boat in Simpson Bay Marina in St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker throws a rope as she docks her boat in Simpson Bay Marina in St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, center, hugs her sister Kim Dekker, right, and mother Babs Muller after arriving to Simpson Bay, St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, center left, is hugged by her father Dick Dekker, right, sister Kim Dekker, center right, and mother Babs Muller, left, after arriving to Simpson Bay, St. Maarten, Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Dekker ended a yearlong voyage aboard her sailboat named "Guppy" that made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, although Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the voyage, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts. (AP Photo/Stephan Kogelman)

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) ? Laura Dekker set a steady foot aboard a dock in St. Maarten on Saturday, ending a yearlong voyage aboard a sailboat named "Guppy" that apparently made her the youngest person ever to sail alone around the globe, though her trip was interrupted at several points.

Dozens of people jumped and cheered as Dekker waved, wept and then walked across the dock accompanied by her mother, father, sister and grandparents, who had greeted her at sea earlier.

Dekker arrived in St. Maarten after struggling against high seas and heavy winds on a final, 41-day leg from Cape Town, South Africa.

"There were moments where I was like, 'What the hell am I doing out here?,' but I never wanted to stop," she told reporters. "It's a dream, and I wanted to do it."

Dekker claims she is the youngest sailor to complete a round-the-world voyage, but Guinness World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council did not verify the claim, saying they no longer recognize records for youngest sailors to discourage dangerous attempts.

Dutch authorities tried to block Dekker's trip, arguing she was too young to risk her life, while school officials complained she should be in a classroom.

Dekker said she was born to parents living on a boat near the coast of New Zealand and said she first sailed solo at 6 years old. At 10, she said, she began dreaming about crossing the globe. She celebrated her 16th birthday during the trip, eating doughnuts for breakfast after spending time at port with her father and friends the night before in Darwin, Australia.

The teenager covered more than 27,000 nautical miles on a trip with stops that sound like a skim through a travel magazine: the Canary Islands, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Bora Bora, Australia, South Africa and now, St. Maarten, from which she set out on Jan. 20, 2011.

"Her story is just amazing," said one of Dekker's fans, 10-year-old Jody Bell of Connecticut. "I can't imagine someone her age going out on sea all by herself."

Bell was in St. Maarten on a work trip with her mother, Deena Merlen, an attorney in Manhattan, who wanted to see Dekker complete her journey. The two wore T-shirts that read: "Guppy rocks my world."

"My daughter and I have been following Laura's story, and we think it's amazing and inspiring," Merlen said.

Unlike other young sailors who recently crossed the globe, Dekker repeatedly anchored at ports along the way to sleep, study and repair her 38-foot (11.5-meter) sailboat.

During her trip, she went surfing, scuba diving, cliff diving and discovered a new hobby: playing the flute, which she said in her weblog was easier to play than a guitar in bad weather.

Dekker also complained about custom clearings, boat inspections, ripped sails, heavy squalls, a wet and salty bed, a near-collision with two cargo ships and the presence of some persistent stowaways: cockroaches.

"I became good friends with my boat," she said. "I learned a lot about myself."

Highlights of her trip include 47 days of sailing the Indian Ocean, which left her with unsteady legs when she docked in Durban, South Africa, where she walked up and down the pier several times for practice.

While in South Africa, she also saw her first whale.

"It dove right in front of my boat and got all this water on my boat, and that wasn't really nice," she said.

Dekker launched her trip two months after Abby Sunderland, a 16-year-old U.S. sailor, was rescued in the middle of the Indian Ocean during a similar attempt. Jessica Watson of Australia completed a 210-day solo voyage at age 16, a few months older than Dekker.

Dekker had said she planned to move to New Zealand after her voyage, but she said Saturday that she wants to finish school first. If she goes to New Zealand, she said, she'd like to sail there.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-21-CB-St-Maarten-Young-Sailor/id-4acc7940e3ab406d8ddb4debf48cd550

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US Internet piracy case brings New Zealand arrests (AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? With 150 million registered users, about 50 million hits daily and endorsements from music superstars, Megaupload.com was among the world's biggest file-sharing sites. Big enough, according to a U.S. indictment, that it earned founder Kim Dotcom $42 million last year alone.

The movie industry howled that the site was making money off pirated material. Though the company is based in Hong Kong and Dotcom was living in New Zealand, some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Virginia, and that was enough for U.S. prosecutors to act.

The site was shut down Thursday, and Dotcom and three Megaupload employees were arrested in New Zealand on U.S. accusations that they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content, costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue.

New Zealand Police also seized guns, artwork, more than $8 million in cash and luxury cars valued at nearly $5 million after serving 10 search warrants at several businesses and homes around the city of Auckland.

News of the shutdown seemed to bring retaliation from hackers who claimed credit for attacking the Justice Department's website. Federal officials confirmed it was down for hours Thursday evening and that the disruption was being "treated as a malicious act."

A loose affiliation of hackers known as "Anonymous" claimed credit for the attack. Also hacked was the site for the Motion Picture Association of America.

On Friday, New Zealand's Fairfax Media reported that the four defendants stood together in an Auckland courtroom in the first step of extradition proceedings that could last a year or more.

Dotcom's lawyer raised objections to a media request to take photographs and video, but then Dotcom spoke out from the dock, saying he didn't mind photos or video "because we have nothing to hide." The judge granted the media access, and ruled that the four would remain in custody until a second hearing Monday.

Dotcom, Megaupload's former CEO and current chief innovation officer, is a resident of Hong Kong and New Zealand and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany who had his name legally changed. The 37-year-old was previously known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor.

Two other German citizens and one Dutch citizen also were arrested and three other defendants ? another German, a Slovakian and an Estonian ? remain at large.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that the arrests set "a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?"

The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to make it easier for authorities to go after sites with pirated material, especially those with overseas headquarters and servers.

Before Megaupload was taken down, the company posted a statement saying allegations that it facilitated massive breaches of copyright laws were "grotesquely overblown."

"The fact is that the vast majority of Mega's Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch," the statement said.

Several sister sites were also shut down, including one dedicated to sharing pornography files.

The $8 million in cash seized had been invested in various New Zealand financial institutions, and has been placed in a trust pending the outcome of the cases.

Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said the seized cars include a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe worth more than $400,000. Two short-barreled shotguns and a number of valuable artworks were also confiscated, he added.

According to the indictment, Megaupload was estimated at one point to be the 13th most frequently visited website on the Internet. Current estimates by companies that monitor Web traffic place it in the top 100.

Megaupload is considered a "cyberlocker," in which users can upload and transfer files that are too large to send by email. Such sites can have perfectly legitimate uses. But the Motion Picture Association of America, which has campaigned for a crackdown on piracy, estimated that the vast majority of content being shared on Megaupload was in violation of copyright laws.

The website allowed users to download some content for free, but made money by charging subscriptions to people who wanted access to faster download speeds or extra content. The website also sold advertising.

Megaupload was unique not only because of its massive size and the volume of downloaded content, but also because it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy. Before the website was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.

The company listed Swizz Beatz, a musician who married Keys in 2010, as its CEO. He was not named in the indictment and declined to comment through a representative.

The five-count indictment, which alleges copyright infringement as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering, described a site designed specifically to reward users who uploaded pirated content for sharing, and turned a blind eye to requests from copyright holders to remove copyright-protected files.

For instance, users received cash bonuses if they uploaded content popular enough to generate massive numbers of downloads, according to the indictment. Such content was almost always copyright protected, the indictment said.

The Justice Department said it was illegal for anyone to download pirated content, but their investigation focused on the leaders of the company, not end users who may have downloaded a few movies for personal viewing.

A lawyer who represented the company in a lawsuit last year declined to comment Thursday. Efforts to reach an attorney representing Dotcom were unsuccessful.

Although Megaupload is based in Hong Kong, the size of its operation in the southern Chinese city was unclear. The administrative contact listed in its domain registration, Bonnie Lam, did not respond immediately for a request for comment sent to a fax number and email address listed.

The indictment was returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, which claimed jurisdiction in part because some of the alleged pirated materials were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Virginia. Prosecutors there have pursued multiple piracy investigations.

The Justice Department also was investigating the "significant increase in activity" that disrupted its website. It said in a statement that it was working to "investigate the origins of this activity, which is being treated as a malicious act until we can fully identify the root cause."

The site appeared to be working again late Thursday. A spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America said in an emailed statement that the group's site also had been hacked, but it too appeared to be working later in the evening.

"The motion picture and television industry has always been a strong supporter of free speech," the spokesman said. "We strongly condemn any attempts to silence any groups or individuals."

____

Matthew Barakat reported from McLean, Virginia.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/digitalmusic/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_bi_ge/internet_piracy_indictment

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