pigged incontrovertibly: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Thursday Traveler: Mark Hodson ? A Dangerous Business Travel Blog

Every Thursday, A Dangerous Business will be shining the spotlight on a world nomad, travel blogger, armchair adventurer, or just someone really cool in the travel world. This week, the traveler?is Mark Hodson. Mark has been a travel journalist since the mid 1990s. He spent 12 years working full-time for The Sunday Times in London, and is now editor and co-founder of the travel inspiration websites, 101 Holidays and 101 Honeymoons. He also runs Travel SEO, which offers online marketing services to travel companies.

1. How do you define the word ?traveler,? and why would you consider yourself one?

I?m not crazy about the word when people use it as a snobbish attempt to differentiate themselves from ?tourists?. We are all tourists, only some are more enlightened than others. I?ve met guests at five-star hotels who threw themselves into the experience of travel and engaged with local people, and I?ve met long-stay backpackers who were so jaded and cynical and wrapped up in their bubble that it was painful to watch. We should all aim to travel well, regardless of how long we stay or how much we spend on our accommodation.

2. What has been your favorite travel experience thus far?

There have been quite a few so it?s hard to pick one. I once travelled with a friend to a village in the Thar Desert of Northern India near the border with Pakistan and we hired a couple of camels and drivers and spent four days wandering across the dunes, sleeping under the stars. It wasn?t very comfortable but the memories will last a while.

3. How about your proudest travel moment?

After the Asian tsunami, I was the first travel journalist to file reports from the Maldives, Thailand and Sri Lanka (for The Sunday Times in London). What I found was ? in many cases ? contrary to the information being spread by the mass media: the Maldives, for example, were hardly damaged at all, structurally, but the mass cancellation of bookings was rapidly causing unemployment and great hardship for local people. By reporting the situation as I saw it, I was able to play a part in encouraging tourists to continue to visit the islands when their money was needed most.

4. Have you had any travel mishaps or bad experiences? If so, have these influenced how you view the place where they happened? Would you go back?

Quite a few. I think you need to work out whether the bad experience was the ?fault? of the place, or down to a freak event or possibly a disconnect between your expectations and reality. Personally, I would like to say that I see good in everywhere I go, but that?s not true. Some places are irredeemably awful. Managua was one for me.

5. Name one thing you can?t travel without.

Ear plugs.

6. Name one thing you wish you COULD travel without.

Impatience.

7. What do you think has been the biggest thing you?ve learned while traveling (about yourself, a destination, a culture, travel itself)?

It?s not true that people are the same wherever you go. In some places people really are nicer than in others.

8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I love London but it would benefit from better weather and closer proximity to the sea, beaches and hills, so I?d go for San Francisco, Cape Town, Melbourne or Rio de Janeiro.

9. Name one place you?d like to see or one experience you?d like to have before you die.

Antarctica.

10. If there was one thing you wish somebody would have told you before you started traveling, what would it be?

Pack less.

Follow Mark on Twitter: @101Holidays

Are you a travel blogger who has something to say on these topics? Do you know of somebody really interesting in the travel universe that you?d like to see interviewed? Speak up! The Thursday Traveler needs some interview subjects.

13 corpses found in Syria amid massacre fallout

In this image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Tuesday, May 29, 2012, purports to show 13 blindfolded and handcuffed bodies on the ground in Deir el-Zour, Syria. U.N. observers have discovered 13 bound corpses in eastern Syria, many of them apparently shot execution-style, the monitoring mission said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

BEIRUT (AP) ? Thirteen bound corpses, many apparently shot execution-style, have been discovered in eastern Syria just days after the massacre of more than 100 people provoked international outrage and the coordinated expulsion of Syrian diplomats from world capitals.

The latest killings happened in Deir el-Zour province, where the bodies were found late Tuesday blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs, U.N. observers said Wednesday. A statement by the U.N. mission said some appeared to have been shot in the head at close range.

A video posted online by activists showed the men lying face down, pools of dried blood under their heads.

The head of the U.N. observer team, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, said he was "deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act."

The fresh killings underline violence that seems to be spiraling out of control as the uprising against President Bashar Assad that began in March 2011 has morphed into an armed insurgency. Activists say as many as 13,000 people have been killed since the revolt began.

In the wake of last weekend's massacre in Houla, in which nearly half of the 108 dead were children, the United States and Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats in protest ? a move Syria's state-run media denounced Wednesday as "unprecedented hysteria."

The massacre drew continued harsh criticism Wednesday, even from Syria's closest ally Iran, with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying that anyone responsible for the killings should be punished. "I'm not excluding anyone from this responsibility," Ahmadinejad told France 24 TV station.

U.N. investigators and survivors have blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla, a collection of poor farming villages in central Homs province, saying men in civilian clothes gunned down people in the streets and stabbed women and children in their homes. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists."

Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday but it was not clear if the findings would be made public. The U.N.'s top human rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre.

Meanwhile, violence continued unabated. Syrian forces bombarded rebel-held areas and clashed with army defectors in Homs province, killing at least eight people, activists said.

The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria ordered top Syrian diplomats to leave on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Turkey, Syria's neighbor and a former close ally, joined the coordinated diplomatic action, saying it ordered the Syrian charge d'affaires and other diplomats at the Syrian Embassy in Ankara to leave the country within 72 hours. The consulate in Istanbul will remain open for consular duties only.

Among the most outspoken critics of the Assad regime, Turkey closed its embassy in Damascus in March and withdrew the ambassador. Its consulate in Aleppo remains open, but the Foreign Ministry said it reduced the number of its personnel there on Wednesday.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said new unspecified sanctions might be imposed against Syria in the coming days. The world "cannot remain silent in the face of such a situation," he said.

Japan also ordered the Syrian ambassador in Tokyo to leave the country because of concerns about violence against civilians. Japan's foreign minister, Koichiro Genba, said his country was not, however, breaking off diplomatic ties with Syria.

The Obama administration added new sanctions on a Syrian bank Wednesday as a top White House official said the U.S. wants to economically throttle Assad's regime and cut off salaries of pro-government thugs blamed for the grisly massacre in Houla.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the Syria International Islamic Bank has been acting as a front for other Syrian financial institutions seeking to circumvent sanctions. The new penalties will prohibit the bank from engaging in transactions in the U.S. and will freeze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction.

"We are strangling the regime economically," White House deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough said.

The international community has been grappling with ways to quell the deadly violence and spur a political transition. The U.S. and Western countries are loathe to use military intervention similar to last year's campaign in Libya to oust Moammar Gadhafi, fearing a backlash.

The White House said this week that such an assault risks leading to "greater chaos, greater carnage."

But for now, Syria can still count on the support of its allies China and Russia, which on Wednesday criticized the diplomatic moves.

"The banishment of Syrian ambassadors from the capitals of leading Western states seems to us to be a counterproductive step," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. He said the move closes "important channels" to influence Syria.

U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan met with Assad on Tuesday in Damascus to try to salvage what was left of his peace plan, which since being brokered six weeks ago has failed to stop any of the violence on the ground.

Tensions have escalated as more information emerges about the May 25 killings in Houla.

The U.N.'s human rights office said most of the victims were shot execution-style at close range, with fewer than 20 people cut down by regime shelling.

The U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors Wednesday to hear briefings from Annan's deputy Jean-Marie Guehenno and U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice warned that a failure of Annan's peace plan could create a spreading conflict that creates "a major crisis" not only in Syria but also region-wide.

"And members of this council and members of the international community are left with the option only of considering whether they are prepared to take actions outside of the Annan plan and the authority of this council," she told reporters.

___

Associated Press writers Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara, Turkey, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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How to Find the Domain Name for Your Business

Giving your site a name adds something special. It makes the web site yours in a unique way. Names are an individual thing and you probably already have a name in your mind, or have spent hours thinking of a meaningful name that is ideal for your niche. The chance of that name becoming available is slim. Frustration starts when you understand that every domain name you want for your website has already been being used by someone else. But with a little creative thinking you can still find a name you like for your website within the .com world.

Your Website Business Name Should be Detailed

Most people have read all about keywords and how important they're. With that in mind you may be bent on using a key word or two in your name. For example, if you are doing a website for your own Bed and Breakfast - having "Springfield Bed & Breakfast" for the domain name would make sense if you resided in Springfield. By adding a descriptive word for example urban, historic, uptown, lakeside, evergreen or classic for your keyword Springfield gives you a better chance of getting a domain name and adds a uniqueness to your company.

More Brainstorming for Your Domain Name

If, however, you want a name for your web-site that's special to you, for instance, your own personal name for the dog walking business. Then adding the town or neighborhood to some name will help people find you. For example "Dog Walking Molly" becomes "Oakwoods Dog Walking Molly" which provides you with another keyword and a better chance of locating the name available.

Although, short names are easy for individuals to remember, and a good idea, finding one that's available is not easy. Experiment with the name you would like by adding another short word. If you were hoping to mention your website about Frogs "Frog World" try including Zone, Life or Club to the end. Other good words to increase your chosen name are Edge, Buzz or World. Adding a word before your chosen name, might help, Cool, Hot, Crazy, Hip, All, Just or About are some short words that might help if you add a couple of to the front of your chosen name. For instance "Cool Frog World" or "Crazy Cool Frog World" might be available.

Starting up a website for an existing business may produce a problem. Often your business name will not be accessible in a .com domain. Try adding your town or location to your existing name. Your store name "Classic Style" could have a domain name called "Queen St Classic Style" or "Parkside Classic Style" which will help when local clients are searching for you. Even adding "s" or "ing" to one of your words may help you find a domain name similar to your existing business name.

Think outside the box and experiment with words and sounds, you may be surprised at what domains are still waiting to be discovered in the actual .com world..

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FGS Conference News Blog: Exhibit Hall: Houstory Publishing

Dan Hiestand, a 2012 conference vendor, shared this about his company that will be in the Exhibit Hall this year.

Houstory Publishing: A window to the past, a gift to the future

Do you love your house? How do you plan on sharing all the stories that make your house a ?home?? How will you ensure your legacy is safely protected and accessible ? and not lost on an eventually obsolete hard drive or buried in the pages of a Web site?

A first-time participant at the FGS Conference, Houstory? Publishing is the creator of the Home History Book? archival journal series, a new, refreshingly simple product line designed to help record, preserve and share a home?s unique past as well as its present stories. A Home History Book (www.homehistorybook.com), which one might think of as akin to a ?baby book for a home,? is created and maintained by current homeowners. However, unlike a family?s personal scrapbook and photo albums, it is meant to stay with the home to be enjoyed by all who live there, now and in the future.

The company will be offering its ?Deluxe? book at a $100 discount during the FGS conference.

Believing that every house has a story, Houstory Publishing has designed its, beautiful heirloom-quality Home History Book (HHB) to serve two important functions:

First, it helps homeowners record their own stories ? their ?living history? ? which includes noting changes to the home?s physical structure, as well as documenting their own family?s time in the house. It is this personal history ? the stories of a family?s everyday life and/or significant events that occur while living in the home ? that give the property its unique character and feel. Unfortunately, such stories often go undocumented or, where they are recorded, they depart with the family when they leave the home. A Home History Book, as it is passed from one homeowner to the next, ensures that legacy lives on.

Second, the book provides homeowners who wish to document the history of their home an attractive, personalized and lasting way to record and share their findings with others. Much like discovering a time capsule filled with photos and precious hand-written letters, a Home History Book brings history alive and makes it accessible ? in full ?living? texture ? unlike ever-changing, ?flashier? mediums such as software or online media.

People already love their homes, and a Home History Book is a way to share that love and legacy now ? and into the future.

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Texas GOP Senate Primary Heads for Runoff (WSJ)

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Pasta with Cilantro-Peanut Pesto | Our Best Bites

This might be my new favorite pasta dish. ?If you?re a fan of our Thai Peanut Noodles, you?ll probably love this one too. ?It?s pretty quick and easy to put together, so it makes a great meatless main dish, or a side dish (try it with our Thai Beef Skewers) or you could toss in some grilled chicken or steak for a one-dish dinner. ?The profile is bright and fresh and perfectly summery. ?While a traditional pesto starts out with loads of fresh basil- this version uses cilantro instead. ?Don?t bother picking the leaves off the stems; cilantro stems are tender and flavorful, so chop them up with the leaves.

Then we add tons of flavor: sesame oil, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, soy sauce and fresh ginger. ?Instead of pine nuts in an Italian pesto, we?re tossing peanuts in this one.

Pop everything except for the soy sauce in a food processor

And process it until it looks like a pesto, fairly smooth but with pieces of cilantro and peanuts still. ?Add in a little soy sauce at the end.

That?s it folks. ?Toss that pesto with hot pasta; sprinkle it with a little chopped peanuts and cilantro and you?re good to go. ?I like a little fresh squeeze of lime juice too. ?The pesto itself it super yummy over grilled steak too.

?The flavors are so fantastic; it?s like you can taste every little ingredient in there; the sweetness of the sugar and ginger, a hint of spice from the pepper flakes, the roasted crunch of the peanuts and a little freshness and tang from the lime juice and cilantro. ?Try it; you?ll love it!

PS- One tip I have is to serve it immediately. ?As with many pasta dishes, the longer it sits, the pasta absorbs the sauce and the flavors mellow. ?Leftovers still taste great, but the fresher the better.

Pasta with Cilantro-Peanut Pesto
Recipe slightly adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Ingredients?
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
1 clove garlic, smashed, peeled, and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
zest and juice from one lime (about 2 tsp zest and 2 Tbs juice)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts (plus more for serving, if desired)
2-3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
3/4 pound (12 oz) linguine or spaghetti, cooked according to box instructions

Instructions
In a food processor, combine cilantro (save a bit of cilantro for garnish), garlic, ginger, vegetable and sesame oils, red pepper flakes, lime zest and juice, brown sugar, and peanuts (basically everything except soy sauce). ?Pulse until a coarse paste forms. ?Season with soy sauce and pulse to combine. ?In a large bowl, toss pesto with hot pasta. ?Roughly chop additional peanuts and sprinkle over pasta along with extra cilantro leaves and lime wedges if desired. ? Serve immediately. ?(If you?re prepping and not quite ready to eat yet, ?I recommend waiting to toss with pasta until right before serving for the best flavor.) ?Serves 4 main dish or 6-8 small sides.

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VPN Apps: A Simple Mobile Security Solution | TechSling Weblog

By 2014, mobile Internet will take over desktop Internet usage. More people on the mobile web means increased concerns about identity theft, online security, and data security. Fortunately, there?s a mobile solution that exists ass this tech boom continues to explode: a VPN app.

There are tons of security and anti-virus apps out there, but a VPN app provides secure and anonymous web browsing and access to blocked websites in addition to the security protection. It?s online security as your browse the web, not after-the-fact when you download something or scan your device. A VPN app also assigns your device a new IP address, hiding your real one from tracking cookies and hackers.

An example of a great VPN app to consider is OCShield?s Datagard, which is available on the Android platform. Windows Phone and IOS-compatible apps are in the works. What makes this app particularly good is that it won?t slow down your device, increase your data consumption (or the cost), or put a strain on your battery life, all plusses for security apps as a whole.

A VPN app is also a better choice for mobile security than other apps because it is much more comprehensive. A VPN blocks against spyware, malware, and viruses, while preventing you from going to spammy or phishing websites. It?s very much an all-in-one security solution: route your entire web browsing through a third-party whose sole purpose is to protect your and your data. Not bad for a small monthly fee. It?s certainly much easier and cheaper than dealing with a stolen identity or weird credit card charges or a messed up mobile device.

In the future, online security and mobile security could become the same thing, with so many people suing the mobile Internet. But, for now mobile security is something all by itself and one of the best ways to have that security against any and all threats is with a VPN app. It?s better than having multiple security apps that could be a burden to your device, or dealing with a problem like malware or a malicious website because you don?t have the right security measures in place.

**Sign-up To Our Newsletter And Get A FREE eBook worth $14.99**

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Sports (Basketball/Soccer/Tennis) | Sports, Health, Fitness and ...

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Hey Guys!

Let me first introduce myself. My name is Jay and have lived in China for 4.5 yrs already. Most of it has been in Beijing. After being relocated this year to Shenzhen, within the last 2 months I find myself not knowing anyone at all except for few coworkers. So wanting to know some new people, especially by means of sports.

I was wondering if anyone here has a weekly pick up game of soccer or basketball. I play both sports, but more frequently basketball. ?

I haven't touched a soccer ball in several years, but the enjoyment of playing it is always a great feeling, and used to play Fwd position in intramural leagues..before life set in

Basketball wise I play the PG spot and use to play in Beijing Basketball summer leagues 2007-2009.

Tennis is another sport I play and brought both my racquets to Shenzhen, but it's jsut collecting dust. ?Singles or doubles, I don't care love playing tennis.

Flag football(american football) is there such a group in SZ?

Anyways if you are a casual runner and live near Lianhua Park, you can often find me jogging their on the weekends, or on top of ??? @ Civic Center when I'm not having to work overtime.

Trying to stay fit because too much Chinese white wine, cold weather, and food has degraded my metabolism in Beijing all these years.

Anybody interested just contact me, as I would love to meet some new people, play some sports and go drink after it.?

E-mail: kenyon.jay@gmail.com

Weixin: JayK007

QQ:?1059165837

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US grants experimental permit to Virgin Galactic

MOJAVE, California (AP) ? Virgin Galactic says it expects to make rocket-powered test flights of its passenger spaceship later this year.

The company said Wednesday its spaceship builder partner has been granted an experimental permit from the Federal Aviation Administration ? a move that will allow it to proceed with powered flights.

No timetable has been set for the first launches carrying paying customers, but that'll come after the test program is complete. More than 500 people including actor Ashton Kutcher have signed up with Virgin Galactic for a chance to experience weightlessness during suborbital flights.

Virgin Galactic and Mojave, California-based Scaled Composites have been glide-testing their six-passenger vehicle SpaceShipTwo, which is air-launched from a twin-fuselage carrier airplane.

Work is under way to integrate the rocket motor into SpaceShipTwo.

Associated Press

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Homemade acne face mask - Health and Fitness

The Real Deal So after debunking some of the myths related to the causes of acne, one is surely left to ponder, what causes acne? 2. Avocado paste, made with the help of water, consists of a natural remedy for homemade acne face mask getting rid of acne. The link between diet and acne works through mechanisms that either create or aggravate hormonal imbalances. However, the back is not always accessible and that is where most of acne the sweat trickles through. Avoid consumption of iodine- rich foods including iodized salt, cheese, liver, kelp products, crabs and other shellfish. Acne is a result of the hormones action on the skin? s oil glands ( the sebaceous gland) which leads to homemade clogged pores and outbreak of lesions like pimples, blemishes or acne. No one can ? catch? acne; it is non- communicable. After more blood flows to the box, more toxins are eliminated more rapidly. The balance of zinc and copper in the body plays a major role in the general condition of the organs and especially the skin. We are not here for concerned with quality, but only with waste elimination. 9. Macules or ? pseudo- scars? are flat, red or reddish acne spots that are the final stage of most inflamed acne new treatments for acne lesions. Intake of caffeine. Please if you are serious about getting rid of your lamictal acne you must take a minute and learn more about acne free in 3 days. Above the counter creams are often caustic and hugely harsh towards the skin face color which may possibly irritate the acne and can result in early strains. You may be focusing on keeping your face and neck clean at all times, so be forwarned: Your face and skin shouldn? t be the only ones regularly kept clean and moisturized. Through a long and tedious process of trial and error and lots of experimentation over the last seven years, Mike has come up with a system that has been clinically researched and is on hundred percent guaranteed to you rid you of acne forever. Natural products can improve the performance of acne treatment of sensitive skin enormously. Acne Hormone ? Puberty Teens are more likely to suffer from breakouts because they usually have relatively large amounts of androgen present in their bodies. Intake more and more quantity of water. The extermination of bacteria prevents any further breakout of acne on the skin. Lesions of this degree should never be squeezed or popped as doing so can result in extensive scarring and severe skin trauma. Every time I drink a beer or two I get breakouts the next morning. Acne prevention ? Three simple tips Tips to prevent acne for life You managed to get rid of your pimples. How Can I Reduce new My Chances of Getting Body Acne? lemon juice is also considered to be effective in reducing acne homemade acne face mask scars. Herbal acne remedies Apart from the above- mentioned acne remedies, there are also alternative treatments you could potentially resort to. These are the most fundamental motives for discovering the best approach. Bronner? s Tea Tree Oil Liquid Soap. It keeps the hormone levels in order and sweat mask helps in cleaning up the pores. How You Can Combat Your Acne treatments Today As a teenager having acne is just part of growing up.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. Doctors can now get a peek behind the eardrum to better diagnose and treat chronic ear infections, thanks to a new medical imaging device invented by University of Illinois researchers. The device could usher in a new suite of non-invasive, 3-D diagnostic imaging tools for primary-care physicians.

The research team, led by University of Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor Stephen Boppart, will publish their advance in the online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of May 28.

Ear infections are the most common conditions that pediatricians treat. Chronic ear infections can damage hearing and often require surgery to place drainage tubes in the eardrum, and problems can persist into adulthood.

Studies have found that patients who suffer from chronic ear infections may have a film of bacteria or other microorganisms that builds up behind the eardrum, very similar to dental plaque on unbrushed teeth. Finding and monitoring these so-called biofilms are important for successfully identifying and treating chronic ear infections.

"We know that antibiotics don't always work well if you have a biofilm, because the bacteria protect themselves and become resistant," Boppart said. "In the presence of a chronic ear infection that has a biofilm, the bacteria may not respond to the usual antibiotics, and you need to stop them. But without being able to detect the biofilm, we have no idea whether or not it's responding to treatment."

However, middle-ear biofilms are difficult to diagnose. A doctor looking through a standard otoscope sees only the eardrum's surface, not the bacteria-seeded biofilm lurking behind it
waiting to bloom into infection. Invasive tests can provide evidence of a biofilm, but are unpleasant for the patient and cannot be used routinely.
The new device is an application of a technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging system devised by Boppart's group. It uses beams of light to collect high-resolution, three-dimensional tissue images, scanning through the eardrum to the biofilm behind it much like ultrasound imaging, but using light.

"We send the light into the ear canal, and it scatters and reflects from the tympanic membrane and the biofilm behind it," said graduate student Cac Nguyen, the lead author of the paper. "We measure the reflection, and with the reference light we can get the structure in depth."

The single scan is performed in a fraction of a second speed is a necessity for treating squirming tots and images a few millimeters deep behind the eardrum. Thus, doctors can see not only the presence of a biofilm, but also how thick it is and its position against the eardrum.

The paper marks the first demonstration of using the ear OCT device to detect biofilms in human patients. To test their device, the researchers worked with clinicians at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill., to scan patients with diagnosed chronic ear infections, as well as patients with normal ears. The device identified biofilms in all patients with chronic infections, while none of the normal ears showed evidence of biofilms.

"I think this is now a technology that allows physicians to monitor chronic ear infection, and examine better ways to treat the disease," said Boppart, who is also affiliated with the departments of bioengineering and internal medicine, the Institute for Genomic Biology, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I. "We can use different antibiotics and see how the biofilm responds."

Next, the researchers plan to investigate different ear pathology, particularly comparing acute and chronic infections, and will examine the relationship between biofilms and hearing loss. They hope that improved diagnostics will lead to better treatment and referral practices.

The researchers hope to make their device currently a hand-held prototype even more compact, easy to use, and low-cost. The device company Welch Allyn, based in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., is a collaborator on the project, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Boppart's group and its collaborators also will work to apply OCT imaging to other areas commonly examined by primary-care physicians. The ear-imaging device is the first in a suite of OCT-based imaging tools that the group plans to develop. Doctors could change the tip of the new OCT device, for example, to look at the eyes, mouth, nose, or skin.

"All the sites that a primary-care physician would look at, we can now look at with this more advanced imaging, " Boppart said. "With OCT, we are bringing to the primary-care clinic high-resolution 3-D digital imaging and being able to look at many different tissue structures in real-time, non-invasively and in depth."

"As medicine gets more high-tech, we want to give the front-line doctor the best technology to detect disease early," Boppart said.

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Nowhere to hide: New device sees bacteria behind the eardrum Public release date: 29-May-2012
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Contact: Liz Ahlberg
eahlberg@illinois.edu
217-244-1073
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

CHAMPAIGN, lll. Doctors can now get a peek behind the eardrum to better diagnose and treat chronic ear infections, thanks to a new medical imaging device invented by University of Illinois researchers. The device could usher in a new suite of non-invasive, 3-D diagnostic imaging tools for primary-care physicians.

The research team, led by University of Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor Stephen Boppart, will publish their advance in the online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of May 28.

Ear infections are the most common conditions that pediatricians treat. Chronic ear infections can damage hearing and often require surgery to place drainage tubes in the eardrum, and problems can persist into adulthood.

Studies have found that patients who suffer from chronic ear infections may have a film of bacteria or other microorganisms that builds up behind the eardrum, very similar to dental plaque on unbrushed teeth. Finding and monitoring these so-called biofilms are important for successfully identifying and treating chronic ear infections.

"We know that antibiotics don't always work well if you have a biofilm, because the bacteria protect themselves and become resistant," Boppart said. "In the presence of a chronic ear infection that has a biofilm, the bacteria may not respond to the usual antibiotics, and you need to stop them. But without being able to detect the biofilm, we have no idea whether or not it's responding to treatment."

However, middle-ear biofilms are difficult to diagnose. A doctor looking through a standard otoscope sees only the eardrum's surface, not the bacteria-seeded biofilm lurking behind it
waiting to bloom into infection. Invasive tests can provide evidence of a biofilm, but are unpleasant for the patient and cannot be used routinely.
The new device is an application of a technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive imaging system devised by Boppart's group. It uses beams of light to collect high-resolution, three-dimensional tissue images, scanning through the eardrum to the biofilm behind it much like ultrasound imaging, but using light.

"We send the light into the ear canal, and it scatters and reflects from the tympanic membrane and the biofilm behind it," said graduate student Cac Nguyen, the lead author of the paper. "We measure the reflection, and with the reference light we can get the structure in depth."

The single scan is performed in a fraction of a second speed is a necessity for treating squirming tots and images a few millimeters deep behind the eardrum. Thus, doctors can see not only the presence of a biofilm, but also how thick it is and its position against the eardrum.

The paper marks the first demonstration of using the ear OCT device to detect biofilms in human patients. To test their device, the researchers worked with clinicians at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Ill., to scan patients with diagnosed chronic ear infections, as well as patients with normal ears. The device identified biofilms in all patients with chronic infections, while none of the normal ears showed evidence of biofilms.

"I think this is now a technology that allows physicians to monitor chronic ear infection, and examine better ways to treat the disease," said Boppart, who is also affiliated with the departments of bioengineering and internal medicine, the Institute for Genomic Biology, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I. "We can use different antibiotics and see how the biofilm responds."

Next, the researchers plan to investigate different ear pathology, particularly comparing acute and chronic infections, and will examine the relationship between biofilms and hearing loss. They hope that improved diagnostics will lead to better treatment and referral practices.

The researchers hope to make their device currently a hand-held prototype even more compact, easy to use, and low-cost. The device company Welch Allyn, based in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., is a collaborator on the project, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Boppart's group and its collaborators also will work to apply OCT imaging to other areas commonly examined by primary-care physicians. The ear-imaging device is the first in a suite of OCT-based imaging tools that the group plans to develop. Doctors could change the tip of the new OCT device, for example, to look at the eyes, mouth, nose, or skin.

"All the sites that a primary-care physician would look at, we can now look at with this more advanced imaging, " Boppart said. "With OCT, we are bringing to the primary-care clinic high-resolution 3-D digital imaging and being able to look at many different tissue structures in real-time, non-invasively and in depth."

"As medicine gets more high-tech, we want to give the front-line doctor the best technology to detect disease early," Boppart said.

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How Can Computer Forensics Aid in Crime Scene Investigation ...

With the explosion of technology in everyday life, computer forensics is more important today than it has ever been. Uses for computer forensics can range from monitoring employees? computer activities to testing Internet security to tracking down hackers and spammers. One of the most exciting places to use an education in computer forensics, however, is crime scene investigation. Like everyone else, criminals store plenty of personal data on their computers. Law enforcement officers have found that they can recover this data through computer forensics and use it as evidence during criminal trials. Computer forensic investigators can not only find information buried on a personal computer, but also on PDAs, cell phones, CDs and jump drives.

One famous example of computer forensics used in crime was the case of the BTK murderer. When police received a letter on a floppy disc from a man calling himself the BTK serial killer in 2004, they used computer forensics to find out that the author was a man named Dennis linked to a Lutheran church. The discovery eventually led to the arrest and conviction of Dennis Rader, who confessed to 10 murders between 1974 and 1991 around Wichita, Kansas. Today?s computer forensics investigators are so advanced that they can recover information from a deleted file or even a reformatted hard drive. Computers store information in so many places that it is impossible for a criminal to find and delete everything. For example, simply opening a Microsoft Word document creates 15 temporary files. Sometimes forensic investigators have to dig through thousands of files to find evidence, but if it?s ever been a computer, they are usually able to track it down. Because the court testimonies of computer forensics experts are often vital in prosecuting a case, training in crime scene computer forensics should include both law and technical computer education. It should also include an internship and training on industry equipment to provide real-life experience that law enforcement agencies are looking for. This article is presented by IADT ? Chicago. Contact us today if you?re interested in developing marketable knowledge and career-relevant skills with an industry-current degree program from IADT ? Chicago. IADT ? Chicago does not guarantee employment or salary. All trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Justin Bieber Kicks It Old-School For 'Die In Your Arms'

Bieber pays homage to Motown soul with new Believe single.
By Jocelyn Vena

<a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/bieber_justin/artist.jhtml">Justin Bieber</a>'s new single "Die in Your Arms" is full of funky beats, Motown harmonies and good old-fashioned romantic longing. In the song, produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Bieber just wants to make the apple of his eye believe he loves her so much that he'd rather die in her arms than be away from her for too long.<div class="player-placeholder right" title="Justin Bieber Strives For Perfection" id="vid:765701.id:1684329" width="415" height="255"></div>The song's vintage swing, finger snaps and melodies certainly recall the heyday of feel-good R&B from the 1960s, which is mirrored in the song's sentiment. On the chorus, Bieber sings, "Honestly, the truth is, if I could just die in your arms/ I wouldn't mind/ 'Cause every time you touch me/ I just die in your arms/ It feels so right/ So baby, baby, baby, please don't stop girl."In keeping with the song's vintage feel, at one point, he breaks from singing to say, "Oh, baby, I know loving you ain't easy, but it sure is worth a try.""Die" is the follow-up to the more pop-'n'-b-leaning <a href="/news/articles/1684454/justin-bieber-boyfriend-mature-video.jhtml">"Boyfriend,"</a> which he dropped back in March. Last week he dropped a <a href="http://rapfix.mtv.com/2012/05/25/justin-bieber-mac-miller-2-chainz-and-asher-roth-for-boyfriend-remix/">remix to the song</a>, featuring 2 Chainz, Mac Miller and Asher Roth, which certainly ups the song's hip-hop ante quite a bit. "And we can be like Selena and Biebs/ Wild and free, a couple disobedient teens/ Sneaking out to meet like two o' clock in the eve/ Paparazzi ain't a problem, we just hide on the beach," Roth spits on the track.Bieber is currently abroad promoting his June 19 album release, <a href="/news/articles/1685471/justin-bieber-believe-track-list.jhtml">Believe</a>, amid allegations he got into a <a href="/news/articles/1685942/justin-bieber-paparazzo-criminal-battery.jhtml">scuffle with a paparazzo</a> over the weekend while out in Los Angeles with girlfriend Selena Gomez."i hope when you guys hear #BELIEVE you finally understand how i feel about you. I appreciate and love you. this is about us. thank you," he <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/justinbieber" target="_blank">tweeted</a> over the weekend about the album release, shortly after news broke of the fray with the photographer.<div class="player-placeholder right" title="Justin Bieber Talks Working With Kanye West" id="vid:765692.id:1684329" width="415" height="255"></div>

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Brent crude rises above $107; Greece, Iran eyed

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The Value of a Good Exercise Program at Any Toronto Gym ...

gym photo The Value of a Good Exercise Program at Any Toronto Gym

Find a gymnasium in Toronto might be the first thing you are able to do to change into a more healthy person. You probably already know how essential is bodily health to take care of their health. I can teach you extra in regards to the importance of fine nutrition and the worth of exercise in any fitness center Toronto. Most facilities supply completely different approaches to physical fitness to meet the needs of various customers.

Benefits of bodily fitness

Meals choices make large headlines these days. Press seems to debate the obesity epidemic and the implications of overweight virtually constantly. What?s misplaced within the debate is the importance of exercise in weight. Many researchers acknowledge that vitamin content material of their weight-reduction plan, often has little affect on their precise weight and physical strength. They attributed the weight problems epidemic within the drastic discount in the quantity of train folks get.

Utilizing your body is a basic part of retaining your weight down. Common train also helps maintain your organs functioning properly. Proper functioning of the body may also help stop many ailments that have grow to be extra frequent among individuals in society today. Analysis shows that sitting for long durations of time is bad for your health. Going to the gym in Toronto and see how they can help forestall these health problems.

Group and particular person programs

Every room in Toronto will announce particular person fitness programs and group. Every sort of program is one thing that appeals to different people. Each style also offers with numerous concentrations of activities to enhance their health and hold you motivated.

? Group Exercise Program

These packages are extremely popular as a result of it helps people stay motivated. In addition they add an thrilling side of the social program of exercises. Group Gymnastics is a fun and wholesome strategy to meet new people and socialize. These applications give attention to several types of workouts that completely different people need to maintain or improve their physical fitness. Some gyms supply their members to work with dedicated cardio classes while different classes embody constructing extra muscle and weight lifting. They often add spice things Latin dance or yoga to their choices as well.

? Particular person exercise program

When you?re not as snug with the thought of exercising with others, ensure that any game will provide more alternatives to enhance the health of all. Not everyone needs to work on your fitness objectives with a lot of people around. If you wish to work alone, but they are also concerned about staying motivated, contemplate hiring a private coach within the fitness center that can assist you keep focused in your exercise goals.

Using a private trainer

Gym of your selection in all probability affords a non-public place where you can work with a health expert. Your personal coach can present essential signals concerning the kinds of exercises that will profit the most. She or he will help you stay motivated and on monitor to realize their health goals.

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Cambridge Consultants Completes Iridium Radio

Cambridge Consultants completes new trials on Iridium-based global push-to-talk radio system; Successful trials of new components of US Department of Defense Distributed Tactical Communications System.

Cambridge Consultants, a?technology design and development firm, today announced it successfully completed initial trials with Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) of new key components of the world?s largest push-to-talk (PTT) radio system ? the US Department of Defense (DoD) Distributed Tactical Communications System (DTCS). DTCS enables soldiers in isolated areas to communicate without the need for ground infrastructure ? and in locations where they often can?t pick up a geostationary satellite?s signal unless they move to higher ground.

The ?netted? group call communication system ? involving listeners in designated user ?nets? ? provides over-the-horizon, beyond line-of-sight tactical networks. Soldiers in remote combat zones or disaster areas are able to use lightweight handheld PTT radios to exchange mission-critical data with command centres across the globe, at the touch of a button.

Cambridge Consultants is delivering key new technology elements for DTCS. Ongoing development is extending existing capabilities to allow voice and data to be transmitted and received from any location worldwide, for unrivalled tactical and operational use. Using its unique knowledge of the Iridium system, as well as commercial PTT services, Cambridge Consultants has developed radio transceiver electronics for DTCS handheld radios, as well as gateway infrastructure to support the DTCS service. Both of these elements are critical to the success of the system, with the gateway element ultimately targeting a ?five nines? (99.999%) reliability rating, to ensure that soldiers have service when they need it most.

The new technology developed by Cambridge Consultants includes advanced software radio functionality that will provide multiple receiver capability and rapid synchronisation to Iridium satellites to enhance PTT connection speed and call quality. In addition, new encrypted bearer channels support encrypted communication within groups.
?
Richard Traherne, head of the wireless division at Cambridge Consultants, said: ?We have been working with Iridium since 2003 as its design partner, and are excited to be extending our long-term relationship on this groundbreaking project. With one of the largest independent teams of wireless product developers in the world, we combine in-depth experience of mainstream communications with our unique Iridium system knowledge, to develop compelling products for Iridium?s clients. We look forward to supporting Iridium and its client ? the US DoD ? in launching the largest global PTT network.?

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tropical Storm Beryl could snarl holiday traffic

AAA??May. 28, 2012?9:11 AM ET
Tropical Storm Beryl could snarl holiday traffic
By RUSS BYNUMBy RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press?

In an image provided by the National Oceanic and Geographic Authority, shows s GOES satellite image of Tropical Storm Beryl as it makes landfall in Florida early Sunday May 28, 2011. The storm made landfall in northeastern Florida, bringing drenching rains and driving winds to the southeastern U.S. coast, forecasters said. (AP Photo/NOAA)

Memorial Day vacationers pack Wrightsville Beach coastline as red flags fly above their life guard stands warning swimmers of dangerous conditions and rip currents due to sub-tropical storm Beryl that is moving up the Eastern coast Sunday May 27, 2012, in Wilmington, N.C. (AP Photo/The Star-News, Jeff Janowski)

Joel Izaguirre, left, and Dorian Hernandez of Dunn ride some heavy surf at Carolina Beach, N.C. Saturday, May 26, 2012. Strong rip currents created dangerous swimming conditions and prompted Carolina Beach Ocean Rescue to close the beach to swimming and not allow people in past their knees. (AP Photo/The Star-News,Matt Born )

Artist Jason Wright grabs his tent as winds proceeding Tropical Storm Beryl started to whip through 5 Points lifting the tents of the vendors, Saturday, May 26, 2012 in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Bruce Lipsky)

Carolina Beach Ocean Rescue squad leader Evan Anderson places a sign in the sand closing the beach to swimming Saturday, May 26, 2012 at Carolina Beach, N.C. Strong rip currents created dangerous swimming conditions and prompted Carolina Beach Ocean Rescue to close the beach to swimming and not allow people in past their knees. (AP Photo/The Star-News,Matt Born )

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) ? Drenching rains from Tropical Storm Beryl are bringing a soggy Memorial Day to the southeastern U.S. coast, though one Georgia official says he expects the rainfall to be largely beneficial.

Ray Parker is the emergency management chief for McIntosh County on the Georgia coast. He said Monday that the 1 to 2 inches of rain that fell in his area overnight had been absorbed like it "fell on an empty sponge."

Parker says his county south of Savannah saw minimal damage as Beryl came ashore in northern Florida early Monday. Most came from scattered power outages caused by falling tree limbs. He says two homes had trees fall on them.

Beryl was forecast to weaken as it hovered near the Georgia-Florida line.

Associated PressNews Topics: Storms, Tropical storms, Weather, Memorial Day, Traffic, General news, Tropical cyclones, Natural disasters, Accidents and disasters, Holidays, Occasions, Lifestyle, Transportation

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