Twitter Now Lets Any Follower Send You Direct Messages If You Want

Twitter is changing the way direct messages work. In the past, Twitter required two people to follow each other for direct messages to be exchanged in either direction; now, users have the option to change settings so that any of their followers can send them a direct message, without having to follow them back.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/HRQIr8lcb0c/twitter-now-lets-any-follower-send-you-direct-messages-1445494857
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Parks open, workers back in office after shutdown

Yosemite Park Ranger Ron Morton takes a payment from a visitor at the front gate after the reopening of Yosemite National Park, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013. The park reopened Wednesday night with the end of the 16-day partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

Yosemite Park Ranger Ron Morton takes a payment from a visitor at the front gate after the reopening of Yosemite National Park, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013. The park reopened Wednesday night with the end of the 16-day partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

Visitors at Tunnel View, like Kaori Nishimura and Eriko Kuboi, from Japan, pose in front of Half Dome, center facing, during the reopening of Yosemite National Park, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013. Tunnel View is a scenic vista which shows off El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall. The park reopened Wednesday night with the end of the 16-day partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

People form a tour group at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013. Barriers went down at federal memorials, National Park Service sites, as well as the Smithsonian Institution's network of popular museums and thousands of furloughed federal workers returned to work across the country Thursday after 16 days off the job due to the partial government shutdown. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Farmer Kevin Scott unloads a truckload of soybeans Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013, on his land near Valley Springs, S.D. He said most farmers are more focused on harvesting than the government reopening but they are concerned Congress hasn’t passed a new farm bill. (AP Photo/Carson Walker)

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, center, greets federal employees at the entrance to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as he they return to the White House in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013. Lawmakers Wednesday voted to avoid a financial default and reopen the government after a 16-day partial shutdown. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

From the Liberty Bell to Alcatraz, federal landmarks and offices reopened Thursday. Furloughed employees were relieved to get back to work — even if faced with email backlogs — but many worried about another such disruption in a matter of months.

"We'd hate to have to live through this all over again," Richard Marcus, a 29-year employee of the National Archives in Washington, said after the government shutdown finally ended.

Nationwide, from big-city office buildings to wilderness outposts, innumerable federal services and operations shifted back into gear after 16 days.

The U.S. Forest Service started lifting a logging ban on national forests. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services restarted the computerized system used to verify the legal status of workers. Boat trips resumed to Alcatraz, the former federal prison in San Francisco Bay, with 1,600 tickets snapped up by tourists in the first hour of business.

In Alaska, federal officials rushed to get the red king crab fishing season underway. The opening had been delayed because furloughed workers were not around to issue crab-quota permits.

National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said all 401 national park units — from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California to Acadia National Park in Maine — were reopening Thursday.

More than 20,000 National Park Service employees had been among the 800,000 federal workers sent home at the peak of the shutdown.

Visitors from around the world flocked to Yosemite National Park to see such famous sites as El Capitan and Half Dome after weeks of closure brought local economies to a near standstill.

At Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, employees were busy with reopening chores. They returned just in time to begin closing the parks up again for the winter in a couple of weeks.

At Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, one couple's long wait to see the Liberty Bell and other attractions finally drew to a close.

Karen and Richard Dodds of Oklahoma City were on a quest to see every national park in the U.S. They arrived in Philadelphia about three weeks ago in their motor home, visiting Valley Forge just before the shutdown. They stayed on in the area, awaiting a settlement.

"They didn't solve anything by this," Katie Dodds said of the temporary agreement in Congress that funds the government only through Jan. 15 and gives it the borrowing authority it needs only through Feb. 7. "The worst part is they'll do it again in January and February."

Among the many sites reopening in Washington were the Smithsonian Institution's museums and the World War II memorial on the National Mall, which had been the scene of protests over the shutdown.

Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said the museum complex lost about $2.8 million in revenue during the shutdown.

The National Zoo was set to reopen Friday, though its popular panda cam went live Thursday morning, giving fans a view of a cub wriggling about as its mother, Mei Xiang, tucked her paws under her chin and watched.

Federal workers who were furloughed or worked without pay during the shutdown will get back pay in their next paychecks, which for most employees come Oct. 29.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez greeted returning workers with a sympathetic email.

"Unfortunately, as President Obama correctly noted, you are occasionally called on to perform your remarkably important work in a climate that too often treats federal employees and contractors as a punching bag," Perez said.

The Defense Department called back about 7,000 furloughed civilians. In an open letter to the workforce, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the department still faces budget uncertainty as Congress struggles to pass a 2014 spending bill and deal with automatic budget cuts. Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale said the department lost at least $600 million worth of productivity during the four days that civilians were furloughed.

The National Institutes of Health warned university scientists not to expect a quick resumption of research dollars.

At the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md., email servers were slowly grinding back into gear.

Fire protection engineer Dan Madrzykowski had been in the office for about half an hour and about 800 emails had popped into his inbox. And that represented less than a week of the shutdown. Still, Madrzykowski said he was pleased to be back.

"Nothing good was coming from keeping the government closed," he said.

Patrice Roberts, who works for Homeland Security, said she wasn't prepared for the emotional lows of the past 16 days.

"It's just frustrating having that kind of control over your life and just having it taken away from me," said Roberts, who is expecting another shutdown in January. "I'll be better prepared next time."

In Pottsville, Pa., several people waited outside the Social Security office ahead of its 9 a.m. opening. James Ulrich, an unemployed 19-year-old, needed a replacement for his lost Social Security card to apply for jobs. He was told a replacement card would take two weeks to arrive.

"I don't have a really good outlook on the government," he said.

In Cincinnati, Renee Yankey, a government alcohol and tobacco tax specialist, was sleep-deprived after staying up late to watch news of the shutdown-ending deal, but otherwise glad to be back at work with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

"I can tell that the alcohol industry missed us," Yankey said. "The first thing I hear is 'I'm so glad I got a person on the phone!'"

In North Little Rock, Ark, Simeon Yates was glad to return to work as an auditor for the Arkansas National Guard.

"It's definitely a relief financially ... knowing that we'll be able to provide for our families again," said Yates, whose wife stays home with their four young children.

"It was hard to explain to the kids," Yates added. "They enjoyed having me home, but when we were just having hot dogs a lot and pancakes ... you know, being small, they didn't necessarily understand that."

____

Associated Press writers Matthew Barakat in Reston, Va.; Ben Nuckols in Springfield, Va.; Dan Sewell in Cincinnati; Michael Rubinkam in Pottsville, Pa.; Jeannie Nuss in North Little Rock, Ark.; Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia; Rachel D'Oro in Anchorage, Alaska; and Jessica Gresko and Sam Hananel in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-17-Shutdown-Government%20Reopens/id-8471c28c58b64201aaae6f9dbfb65ffc
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With Shutdown Over, The Race To Feed Low-Income Seniors Is On

Meal deliveries to some low-income seniors stopped during the shutdown, and distributors are now racing to get meals out.

iStockphoto.com

Meal deliveries to some low-income seniors stopped during the shutdown, and distributors are now racing to get meals out.

iStockphoto.com

The USDA is back to funding its meals program for low-income seniors. That's good news for those who depend on the weekly food deliveries, which stopped during the government shutdown.

Across Michigan, tens of thousands of seniors turn to dozens of agencies for assistance. In Grand Rapids, where we first reported on the program freeze, a local agency is playing catch-up, relying on volunteers to fill the void.

The race to feed low-income seniors is on. In a warehouse half the size of a football field, more than a dozen volunteers form an assembly line, filling boxes with government surplus food.

They're surrounded by stacks of cereal, canned veggies, soup and dried milk from the USDA's Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

"I'm hoping we can get 3-, 400 boxes packed today," says Stacie Nobles, a volunteer from Feed America.

It's a lofty goal, but she's confident it will get done. She's disturbed by the idea the food here has been sitting the past two weeks, not getting to the stomachs of vulnerable seniors.

"You know, that's our grandparents. What do you do? You go hungry. And how long do you go? Two weeks is a long time," Nobles says.

Kent County's Community Action Agency is pushing to make sure its weekly deliveries go out on Friday. Nobles says 600 boxes are ready to go — but there are 1,500 low-income seniors to serve.

"We've got to try to get everything in by the end of the month now," says Ron Cusin, who runs the warehouse and makes deliveries.

He says those 60 or older with an annual income under $15,000 qualify.

"They'll be very happy to see me, I'll tell you that much," Cusin says. He says he'll be happy to see them, too.

Across the country, in warehouses like this one, the scene is being repeated as volunteers quickly try to put food back on the plates of the elderly poor who rely on them.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/17/236368853/with-shutdown-over-the-race-to-feed-low-income-seniors-is-on?ft=1&f=1053
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More Angst For College Applicants: A Glitchy Common App

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Applying to college is stressful at the best of times. But technical flaws in the online Common Application, used by hundreds of colleges, have sparked panic among some high school seniors. With deadlines approaching, some schools are making backup plans — like a return to mail or even faxed applications.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NprProgramsATC/~3/yBixzHzX-Lw/more-angst-for-college-applicants-a-glitchy-common-app
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How to Start a Billion-Dollar Empire With a Laptop

Alexis Ohanian graduating from the University of Virginia in 2005.

Photo courtesy of Alexis Ohanian

The skills needed to be successful today are rapidly evolving, which is why education has never been more important—especially for those in the technology industry, where I'm lucky enough to work. Companies (at least the kind ambitious people want to work for) no longer look for someone to come in from 9 to 5 and uphold the status quo. They want resourceful and innovative employees who work hard and get their jobs done regardless of the circumstances.

To baby boomers, these trends are scary, eating away at the foundation of a steady job and life that they helped instill. But we millennials welcome these new paradigms because they instantly show who is resourceful and who isn't—who will go the extra mile and who will coast to the finish. For the people with the skills to succeed, life is good.

Unfortunately, college alone can’t give those skills, and the economy isn’t helping, as promising yet under- or unemployed young adults with six-figure student loan burdens can attest. Meanwhile, people like Bruce Nussbaum, a professor at Parsons and the author of Creative Intelligence, say that America is experiencing an innovation crisis. Meanwhile, higher education is under fire for its narrow focus on rankings and its insane cost.

So how can we nurture creative thought in a productive way?

Peter Thiel, the billionaire PayPal founder, thinks the answer is paying students to skip college altogether. He set up the Thiel Fellowship, which awards $100,000 each to 20 people under 20 to pursue their dreams. There are two problems with Thiel's education solution. First, the Thiel Fellowship isn't scalable. Helping 20 kids a year is great, but more than 21 million students enroll in college each year, so the Thiel Fellowship is only helping less than 0.00000095 percent of students. The second problem is that giving a select number of students the option of going to college or getting $100,000 to work on a business creates a false and harmful dichotomy.

The best way to incubate innovation and entrepreneurship is found at the intersection of college and supplemental education. If you sample where today's resourceful elite—the tech titans starting billion-dollar empires with laptops—got their skills, it's almost always a combination of college and supplemental education, like learning how to code with Codeacademy and taking practical classes at places like General Assembly. (Disclosure: I'm an investor in both companies.) The most promising businesses are either building programs for their employees or encouraging them to take supplemental courses to continue learning. These programs, especially in software development, don't offer accreditation—they offer the skills to make careers.

But this doesn’t mean skipping out on traditional higher education. Although no college is perfect, professors and fellow students teach you really important skills. These crucial four years can go a long way toward turning shy and inexperienced freshmen into well-rounded, connected, and inspired graduates.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/10/alexis_ohanian_reddit_co_founder_on_solving_america_s_innovation_crisis.html
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Sony Alpha 3000

Have you grown out of your point-and-shoot, but can't spend a fortune on an interchangeable lens camera? Sony's Alpha 3000 ($399.99 direct with 18-55m lens) is the least expensive mirrorless camera you can buy. Sony made some compromises to deliver the 20-megapixel APS-C model at this price point, but image quality isn't one of them. We're impressed with the quality of its images, and the fact that it includes an eye-level electronic viewfinder at this price. On the other hand, the low-resolution rear LCD and limited burst-shooting capability are a bit of a letdown. If you have a bit more money to spend, consider a more refined mirrorless camera like our Editors' Choice, the Samsung NX300 or Sony's own NEX-6. But if you're on a tight budget and want the the ability to change lenses along with the image quality that a big image sensor delivers, the Alpha 3000 is worth a serious look.

Design and Features
Most entry-level mirrorless cameras are designed to resemble beefed-up compact cameras. The Alpha 3000 takes the opposite approach, looking more like a scaled-down SLR. This is the same aesthetic that Panasonic chose for its G and GH bodies, including the top-end GH3. The A3000 measures 2.3 by 4 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighs in at 9.9 ounces with no lens attached. Adding the kit lens increases the depth by about two inches and ups the total weight to just over a pound. Compare this to Sony's smallest interchangeable lens camera, the NEX-3N, which measures 2.3 by 4.4 by 1.4 inches and weighs 9.5 ounces; its collapsible kit lens increases the depth to about 2.8 inches and the weight to 13.6 ounces.

The SLR body style means that the camera has a deep, comfortable handgrip that's absent from many mirrorless cameras. There's some sacrifice in compactness here, but it's a worthy trade-off, especially when you pair the camera with a telezoom like the 55-210mm E-mount lens. A pop-up flash is built into the body, as is an eye-level EVF, and there's a multi-function hot shoe so that you can attach an external flash or another accessory as needed.

The control layout is a little sparse when compared to an SLR, but is on par with other E-mount bodies. Up top you'll find the Finder/LCD button (there's no eye sensor, so you have to toggle between the two manually), a mode dial, the image playback button, and a power switch that surrounds the shutter release. On the rear there's the movie button, two programmable function buttons, and a control wheel that doubles a four-way joystick with a center select button. By default the bottom button is set to bring up an in-camera guide that explains some photographic concepts and provides shooting tips. If you're comfortable behind the lens you'll want to reprogram this to activate a feature you'll use more often, like Sony's Auto Object Framing, which works to improve the composition of images, or the Clear Image Zoom function, which can effectively double the reach of your lens.

The tile-based menu system is familiar to experienced NEX shooters, but if you're moving up from a compact camera it will take getting used to. When you enter the main menu you'll be greeted by five icons: Camera, Image Size, Brightness/Color, Playback, and Setup. There are a ton of features that can be customized, but menu organization is sometimes unintuitive. For example, you'll need to go into Image Size to control the direction in which you move the camera to grab a panoramic photo; but make sure you're in Panorama mode, or that option will be grayed out.

The 3-inch rear LCD boasts a wide 16:9 ratio, just like the displays on other Sony mirrorless cameras like the NEX-5T. But it only packs a 230k-dot resolution, and looks noticeably pixelated. It can't match the 460k-dot display that Olympus packs into its entry-level PEN Mini E-PM2, and it doesn't incorporate the touch control that both the E-PM2 and NEX-5T offer.

The 0.5-inch, 768k-dot EVF is the best one you'll find in a $400 mirrorless camera, but that's because it's the only EVF you'll find in a $400 mirrorless camera. Compared with other offerings it's not very sharp, and gives you a bit of a tunnel vision effect when peering into it. There's a diopter, so you can tune it to match your eyesight, and it will get the job done when it's too bright to use the rear LCD for image framing.

The Alpha 3000 does support peaking as a manual focus aid; that system outlines in-focus parts of an image in red, yellow, or white to make manual focus quicker and more precise. But if you're serious about using the EVF, you'll be better suited with one that is a bit sharper—especially if you plan on using third-party manual focus lenses. The NEX-6 has a built-in OLED EVF, and the Panasonic G6 has an LCD EVF. You buy an add-on EVF for the Sony NEX-5T, and all Olympus PEN models support the VF-4. Since the Alpha 3000 is a budget-priced camera, it's not surprising that its EVF isn't top-quality.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/s160ezJ-Ivk/0,2817,2425433,00.asp
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NY attorney general names new investor-protection chief

By Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Wednesday named a new chief for his office's Investor Protection Bureau, which is probing abuses by Wall Street banks in the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.

Chad Johnson, 46, a veteran securities lawyer who joined the attorney general's office last year, replaces Marc Minor, who resigned after holding the position from March 2011 through August.

In recent weeks, Johnson has represented the New York attorney general in negotiations with JPMorgan Chase & Co over government mortgage probes, according to a person familiar with those negotiations who is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The discussions also include the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Housing and Urban Development.

New York's participation stems from Schneiderman's appointment as co-chair of a working group formed by President Barack Obama in January 2012 to investigate misconduct in mortgage securities that contributed to the financial crisis.

Schneiderman brought the 11working group's first lawsuit last October, suing JPMorgan in state court over alleged improper sales of pools of home loans by Bear Stearns in 2006 and 2007.

His Investor Protection Bureau brought a similar lawsuit against Credit Suisse Group AG in November.

In an interview on Wednesday, Johnson declined to comment on the negotiations with JPMorgan.

He said the bureau was continuing to probe the early release of market-moving information. The investigation, which he has been overseeing, includes Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters, and other companies.

"The bureau has a broad mission to look out for the interests of investors," Johnson said. "The attorney general has made clear that, among other things, he is focused on the fact that some companies are involved in the early release of market moving information to a select few."

Schneiderman has said the practice gave an unfair advantage to high-speed traders who execute huge volumes of trades.

While the probe continues, Thomson Reuters has agreed to stop giving high-frequency traders a two-second jump on University of Michigan consumer data. The company has said it believes the practice was legal and it did nothing wrong.

Johnson said the investigation also includes "efforts to gain early access to analysts' sentiments."

Johnson joined the New York attorney general's office last year as a senior trial counsel and later became a deputy attorney general. He graduated from Harvard Law School and the University of Michigan.

Until 2012, he was a partner at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman, where he represented both institutional investors and individual shareholders in securities fraud and corporate governance litigation.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Eddie Evans and Richard Chang)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-attorney-general-names-investor-protection-chief-212110298--sector.html
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Special prosecutor sought in Mo. sex assault case

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A northwest Missouri prosecutor said Wednesday that he's asking for a special prosecutor to look at the case of a 14-year-old girl who says she was plied with alcohol and raped by a 17-year-old acquaintance.

The announcement from Nodaway County prosecutor Robert Rice came amid increased scrutiny in recent days over how he handled the case.

Melinda Coleman, the mother of 14-year-old Daisy Coleman, claims justice was denied when Rice dropped felony charges against the 17-year-old boy in March 2012, two months after Coleman found her daughter passed out on the family's front porch in below-freezing temperatures. The mother also has said the family had to move from the small town of Maryville because of harassment over the allegations.

The county sheriff and Rice have insisted their investigation collapsed after the Colemans became uncooperative with investigators and refused to answer questions. Coleman says she and her daughter did cooperate and that investigators didn't do enough to push the case forward.

Rice stood behind his earlier statements at a news conference Wednesday but said he was asking a court to appoint a special prosecutor because of publicity surrounding the case and recent media stories questioning the integrity of the justice system in the county. Rice said the special prosecutor will investigate and decide whether charges will be refiled.

The incident happened in January 2012, after Daisy and a 13-year-old friend left the Colemans' house in the middle of the night to meet some boys.

Daisy's 13-year-old friend also said she was forced to have sex with a 15-year-old. The 15-year-old was charged in the juvenile system.

Charges against a 17-year-old who allegedly videotaped the incident involving Daisy on a cellphone were also dropped in March 2012.

Daisy said the boys gave her alcohol and she doesn't remember much of what happened next. The boys said the sex was consensual.

Rice has said there wasn't enough evidence to pursue the charges because the accusers had stopped cooperating and asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Rice said Wednesday that he had been concerned about the Colemans' decision and so he had asked that they assert their Fifth Amendment right under oath in a deposition. He said he couldn't release the deposition because it's a closed record.

Asked to speculate on the accusers' reasoning, Rice said, "I can't go into their minds. I don't know. I can tell you this: We were very careful, very deliberate to make sure that they recorded that there was no misunderstanding, that they understood that at that time when they invoked their Fifth Amendment right that by doing so was going to force the dismissal of the case, that they understood that."

Melinda Coleman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment after Rice's announcement. But in an interview with The Associated Press earlier in the day, Coleman insisted she would help investigators in any way she could, even if the case never made it to trial.

"I think just having it looked at fairly and having other people know how much we were bullied goes a long way. Even if that's all that ever comes out of it," she said. "That may be enough to move on and have some peace and some security."

The Associated Press does not generally name victims of sexual assault but is naming Daisy Coleman because she and her mother have been granting public interviews about the case. The AP is not naming the boys because there are no longer active charges against them.

Robert Sundell, who represented the teen accused of assaulting Daisy, was out of the office Wednesday and didn't immediately return phone message left before and after the news conference.

In a statement Tuesday, Sundell said his former client cooperated with the investigation and freely admitted to the sexual encounter. He said that while many may find his former client's behavior "reprehensible," the legal issue was whether a crime was committed.

The case has drawn international attention to Maryville and city officials said they've had to increase police patrols because of threats made against residents and the city in general.

However, Coleman said harassment her family faced in the town was from just a few residents, mainly friends and family members of the boys accused. She said that otherwise, she liked the town.

The mother of the boy accused of assaulting Daisy pleaded with people to stop making threats against people who are from Maryville, telling reporters that some people no longer feel safe going to work or school.

The case has drawn comparisons to one in Steubenville, Ohio, where two 17-year-old high school football players were convicted of raping a West Virginia girl after an alcohol-fueled party in 2012. The case was furiously debated online and led to allegations of a cover-up to protect the city's celebrated football team.

Before Rice's announcement Wednesday, pressure had been building on Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to intervene. Koster's office has said it had no authority under state law to reopen the investigation on its own.

Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones, a Republican who had called on the Democratic attorney general to step in, said the decision to seek a special prosecutor is good progress.

"However we get to the point of examining this matter more closely is really irrelevant to me," said Jones. "The point is there seemed to be too many questions out there about this case for it to just be suddenly closed."

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-16-Missouri-Teen%20Sex%20Assault/id-39d619d89fcc4ac0a3c2d3257f50010b
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Bill to spare U.S. economy from debt crisis also delivers favors

By Patricia Zengerle and David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The last-minute bill to avert a potentially catastrophic U.S. default and reopen the government came in at a relatively skimpy 35 pages, but lawmakers still managed to pack in some special favors.

Such stop-gap funding measures often include so-called "anomalies" to address special needs that would otherwise be handled in normal spending bills.

This time, they range from flood relief to funds to speed claims for veterans benefits to money for a dam project.

The Senate and House of Representatives passed the legislation late on Wednesday, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Within its few pages, the measure contains $450 million for Colorado flood relief and more than $600 million for fire management and fire suppression, after devastating blazes in California and other states.

It also includes $2.455 billion to help the Veterans Administration deal with a huge claims backlog that has angered and frustrated former soldiers, many of whom have been waiting years for health coverage and other benefits.

Further, the plan includes a $1.2 billion authorization increase - to $2.918 billion - for a dam project that is partly in Kentucky. Some conservative groups blasted Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, who helped reach the deal, for supporting a project in his own state.

The project has been under construction for more than 20 years and is far over budget. It originally was supposed to cost $775 million. However, the funding was approved by the White House, not McConnell, and the project is in Illinois as well as Kentucky.

The legislation also includes a $174,000 payment to Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, the widow of New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died in June.

Lautenberg was a respected New Jersey Democrat. He was a multi-millionaire, but Senate traditions honor late senators with a cash payment to their survivors.

And it extends an authority for the Department of Defense to continue to support African forces pursuing Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army.

Kony, indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, waged a brutal fight against the government in northern Uganda for nearly two decades before fleeing with his fighters into the jungles of central Africa around 2005.

The measure has several provisions to ensure that furloughed federal workers receive pay they missed during the 16-day shutdown. And it provides $9.248 billion for the operations of the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent budget cuts from disrupting the work of air traffic controllers and safety inspectors.

Also notable is what the 35 pages do not include.

Congress likely was wise to spell out that its members will not see any pay increase as a result of the deal. The bill states that members will not receive any cost of living adjustments during the fiscal year 2014 that began on October 1.

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan; Editing by Karey Van Hall and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bill-spare-u-economy-debt-crisis-delivers-favors-021147869--business.html
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American wallets tighten up in government shutdown

By Ben Klayman and James B. Kelleher

DETROIT/CHICAGO (Reuters) - A deal over the U.S. budget crisis and government shutdown cannot come soon enough for many companies.

American consumers have put away their wallets, at least temporarily, avoiding purchases of big-ticket items like cars and recreational vehicles while Republican and Democratic Party lawmakers argue over fiscal policy.

"We're hearing so much more about the government shutdown now and it's not just a sentiment of being fed up, fear is really starting to set in," said Tammy Darvish, vice president of DARCARS Automotive Group, a family-run company that owns 21 auto dealerships in the greater Washington area.

Vehicle sales at the company are down as much as 15 percent so far this month compared with a 12 percent increase through the first nine months, she said. Consumers are also putting off non-critical car repairs in the service departments.

"We're sort of 'crises-ed' out," Darvish said. "Every time you turn around we're meeting another budget cutoff, but this time it's gone on a lot longer and people are very, very spooked."

On Wednesday, there was hope of a last-ditch agreement in the U.S. Senate to avoid a historic lapse in the government's borrowing authority and reopen partially shuttered federal agencies that have sidelined hundreds of thousands of workers for the past two weeks. It remained to be seen, however, whether both the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives could pass the deal before Thursday's deadline.

In Greenfield, Indiana, the owner of Mt. Comfort RV sounded a similar refrain to Darvish in Washington.

"When they announced the shutdown, it was almost like someone turned a switch off," said Ken Eckstein, who sells everything from $5,000 folding campers to $500,000 motor homes. "All of a sudden instead of talking to 10 people a day, we're talking to two."

Up to two weeks ago, Eckstein said his business was having its best sales year since 2006. He said other RV dealers have noticed a similar dropoff, but he acknowledged he was not sure if the budget impasse was the only reason.

"Is it gas prices? Is it interest rates? Is it phases of the moon?" he asked. "There are still people coming through the door, but on a nice, 80 degree day in October there should have been more."

The fears and drain on consumer confidence brought on by the stalemate in Washington are not hitting every corner of retail, however.

Toy demand heading into the holiday season is very strong at Mattel Inc, the world's largest toy company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc's Warren Buffett said he has not seen a drop off in consumer confidence at its home furnishing and jewelry retailers.

"If this goes past tomorrow, we will see," Buffett told CNBC. "It won't cause me to change what I do in life, but we will definitely see something."

Even that "something" may prove to be short lived. After shares of appliance maker Whirlpool Corp took a hit early this week over fears of softening demand in September, Longbow Research analyst David MacGregor said the decline looked temporary.

"The good news is that we know from historical experience that consumer confidence typically recovers very quickly once the perceived threat has passed," MacGregor said.

A spokeswoman for Whirlpool declined to comment on Wednesday.

PULL BACK IN POWER TOOLS, HOUSING

It was not just big-ticket items that remained in dealerships and stores over the past few weeks. Power tool maker Stanley Black & Decker Inc on Wednesday cut its 2013 profit forecast partly because of the U.S. government spending cuts and shutdown. It also blamed slower-than-expected margin expansion in its security business.

The National Retail Federation said similar comments will be heard over and over across the country because of the legislative impasse in Washington. The trade group, in a letter to congressional leaders, pointed to a Gallup poll showing consumer confidence now measures at the same low levels as during the recession that began in 2008.

In addition to hurting consumer confidence, the shutdown has had a more immediate impact on retailers, said NRF President Matthew Shay, citing a lack of economic data to concerns over processing of imported merchandise.

On Wednesday, the NRF said that on average 29 percent of consumers it polled believed the political gridlock over the U.S. budget would affect their holiday spending plans. In addition, eight of every 10 surveyed said they plan to spend less this year.

The housing market, another strong leg in the U.S. economic recovery, also appears to have taken a hit from the shutdown.

The National Association of Home Builders said on Wednesday that U.S. homebuilder sentiment slipped slightly in October on the policy gridlock and higher labor costs, while the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage applications for purchases dipped in the most recent week.

At Harley-Davidson Illinois, however, which operates four motorcycle dealerships around Chicago, bike shoppers did not appear to be unnerved.

"All four of the dealers have sales goals that were set before the shutdown," general manager Carole Ferguson said. "Some of us are right on target with those goals and a couple are a little off. But no one is reporting a drastic drop."

Ferguson said it was impossible to say whether or not sales would have been better without the fiscal deadlock.

"Talk to me in another week. Who knows. If the government's saved at the 11th hour, maybe sales will skyrocket."

(Additional reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in New York; Editing by Edward Tobin and Grant McCool)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/american-wallets-tighten-government-shutdown-181754543--sector.html
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Primary fault (Unqualified Offerings)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/334131647?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Markets cling to belief in US debt deal

LONDON (AP) — Financial markets clung to the hope that the U.S. will avoid a default, even though a deadline to raise the country's debt ceiling is just hours away.

Though stocks edged lower Wednesday in Europe, they rose on Wall Street — which recovered from the previous day's losses, when investors were spooked by a series of dramatic twists. Republicans in the House of Representatives abandoned a vote to temporarily increase the debt ceiling and Fitch warned that it could strip the U.S. of its triple-A rating even if a deal is cobbled together in time.

Unless Congress acts by Thursday, the government will lose its ability to borrow and will be required to meet its obligations by relying on cash in hand and incoming tax receipts. That could mean the U.S. is unable to repay holders of Treasury bills that mature in coming days, or that it could miss interest payments on longer-dated Treasurys, and would be in default on its debt.

Investors have been remarkably sanguine in recent days as they seem to expect a deal will eventually be agreed between Republicans in Congress and the White House.

"The financial markets continue to buy into claims on Capitol Hill that a deal on the debt ceiling will be done before tomorrow's deadline," said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Alpari.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.2 percent at 6,536.14 while Germany's DAX fell 0.1 percent to 8,799.99. The CAC-40 in France was 0.6 percent lower at 4,228.62.

Wall Street opened higher, with the Dow up 1.2 percent at 15,351 and the broader S&P 500 advancing the same rate to 1,718.

The Senate now appears to have retaken the initiative in trying to forge a deal. The expectation in the markets is the Senate will agree on a deal and send it to the House, where Republicans will have to make a decision that could seriously impact both their political futures as well as the wider economy.

Analysts said trading through the day could be choppy and nervous, especially if a deal is not forthcoming. In Europe, that could mean some volatility towards the end of the session.

"Providing there are no further developments by then, an aggressive sell in late afternoon trading could well take place," said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent to close at 14,467.14 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.5 percent to 23,228.33. China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.8 percent to 2,193.07. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1 percent to 5,262.91.

The mood outside stock markets was fairly cautious, too. Among currencies, the euro was flat at $1.3523 while the dollar rose 0.7 percent to 98.83 yen. In the oil markets, a barrel of benchmark New York crude was up 60 cents at $101.81 a barrel.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/markets-cling-belief-us-debt-deal-102057741--finance.html
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U.S. Default Would Have Adverse Effect On Europe's Recovery

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

 

The possibility of an American default on its debt is huge news across the continent. Europe is barely emerging from its own debt crisis. Europe's recovery rests on demand for its exports and the U.S. is by far the European Union's largest export market.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/16/235201880/a-view-from-europe?ft=1&f=1004
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Janet Yellen & the Keynesian Comeback

The nomination of Janet Yellen to become head of the Federal Reserve System has set off a flurry of media stories. Since she will be the first woman to occupy that position, we can only hope that this will not mean that any criticism of what she does will be attributed to sex bias or to a "war on women."

The Federal Reserve has become such a major player in the American economy that it needs far more scrutiny and criticism than it has received, regardless of who heads it.

Ms. Yellen, a former professor of economics at Berkeley, has openly proclaimed her views on economic policy, and those views deserve very careful scrutiny. She asks: "Will capitalist economies operate at full employment in the absence of routine intervention?" And she answers: "Certainly not."

Janet Yellen represents the Keynesian economics that once dominated economic theory and policy like a national religion -- until it encountered two things: Milton Friedman and the stagflation of the 1970s.

At the height of the Keynesian influence, it was widely believed that government policy-makers could choose a judicious trade-off between the inflation rate and the rate of unemployment. This trade-off was called the Phillips Curve, in honor of an economist at the London School of Economics.

Professor Milton Friedman of the University of Chicago attacked the Phillips Curve, both theoretically and empirically. When Professor Friedman received the Nobel Prize in economics -- the first of many to go to Chicago economists, who were the primary critics of Keynesian economics -- it seemed as if the idea of a trade-off between the inflation rate and the unemployment rate might be laid to rest.

The ultimate discrediting of this Phillips Curve theory was the rising inflation and unemployment, at the same time in the 1970s, in what came to be called "stagflation" -- a combination of rising inflation and a stagnant economy with high unemployment.

Nevertheless, the Keynesian economists have staged a political comeback during the Obama administration. Janet Yellen's nomination to head the Federal Reserve is the crowning example of that comeback.

Ms. Yellen asks: "Do policy-makers have the knowledge and ability to improve macroeconomic outcomes rather than making matters worse?" And she answers: "Yes."

The former economics professor is certainly asking the right questions -- and giving the wrong answers.

Her first question, whether free market economies can achieve full employment without government intervention, is a purely factual question that can be answered from history. For the first 150 years of the United States, there was no policy of federal intervention when the economy turned down.

No depression during all that time was as catastrophic as the Great Depression of the 1930s, when both the Federal Reserve System and Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt intervened in the economy on a massive and unprecedented scale.

Despite the myth that it was the stock market crash of 1929 that caused the double-digit unemployment of the 1930s, unemployment never reached double digits in any of the 12 months that followed the 1929 stock market crash.

Unemployment peaked at 9 percent in December 1929 and was back down to 6.3 percent by June 1930, when the first major federal intervention took place under Herbert Hoover. The unemployment decline then reversed, rising to hit double digits six months later. As Hoover and then FDR continued to intervene, double-digit unemployment persisted throughout the remainder of the 1930s.

Conversely, when President Warren G. Harding faced an annual unemployment rate of 11.7 percent in 1921, he did absolutely nothing, except for cutting government spending.

Keynesian economists would say that this was exactly the wrong thing to do. History, however, says that unemployment the following year went down to 6.7 percent -- and, in the year after that, 2.4 percent.

Under Calvin Coolidge, the ultimate in non-interventionist government, the annual unemployment rate got down to 1.8 percent. How does the track record of Keynesian intervention compare to that? 

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/10/15/a_return_to_keynes_120332.html
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This week in Molecular Biology and Evolution

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
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Contact: Joe Caspermeyer
MBEpress@gmail.com
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Molecular Biology and Evolution (Oxford University Press)

Out of Eurasia, a great primate evolutionary bottleneck?

On the road to our modern human lineage, scientists speculate there were many twist and turns, evolutionary dead ends, and population bottlenecks along the way. But how large were population sizes of common ancestors of the great apes and humans, and does the genetic analysis support the prevailing views of a great bottleneck in primate evolution?

Using inferred evolutionary rates of more than 1400 genes and ancestral generation times, Professor Carlos Schrago and colleagues trace population histories backwards across evolutionary time to estimate population sizes for common ancestors. Their results show that the population sizes of lineages leading to human and chimpanzees dramatically shrunk over evolutionary time, from approximately 1,200,000 in number to 30,000.

This population reduction coincides with bio-geographical data that suggests a great ape ancestral migration event from Eurasia to Africa during the late Miocene period, from approximately 12 to 5.5 million years ago, with a five-fold reduction in effective population size between the ancestor of the Eurasian and African great apes and the ancestor of African great apes alone, suggesting that the Homininae diversified after a dispersal event from an Eurasian ancestor.

###

The article appears in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.

http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/10/11/molbev.mst191.abstract

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

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
[


| E-mail



| Share

]

Contact: Joe Caspermeyer
MBEpress@gmail.com
480-258-8972
Molecular Biology and Evolution (Oxford University Press)

Out of Eurasia, a great primate evolutionary bottleneck?

On the road to our modern human lineage, scientists speculate there were many twist and turns, evolutionary dead ends, and population bottlenecks along the way. But how large were population sizes of common ancestors of the great apes and humans, and does the genetic analysis support the prevailing views of a great bottleneck in primate evolution?

Using inferred evolutionary rates of more than 1400 genes and ancestral generation times, Professor Carlos Schrago and colleagues trace population histories backwards across evolutionary time to estimate population sizes for common ancestors. Their results show that the population sizes of lineages leading to human and chimpanzees dramatically shrunk over evolutionary time, from approximately 1,200,000 in number to 30,000.

This population reduction coincides with bio-geographical data that suggests a great ape ancestral migration event from Eurasia to Africa during the late Miocene period, from approximately 12 to 5.5 million years ago, with a five-fold reduction in effective population size between the ancestor of the Eurasian and African great apes and the ancestor of African great apes alone, suggesting that the Homininae diversified after a dispersal event from an Eurasian ancestor.

###

The article appears in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.

http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/10/11/molbev.mst191.abstract

---

[


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]

 

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/mbae-twi101513.php
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CineAsia to Honor Intercontinental Group Holdings Limited’s Terry Lai and Rigo Jesu

Intercontinental Group Holdings Limited's Honorary Group chairman Terry Lai and adviser Rigo Jesu will be honored with the CineAsia lifetime achievement award in distribution at this year's convention.

The duo will be recognized at a Dec. 12 awards ceremony set to take place at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

"It is with great pleasure that we are able to honor Terry Lai and Rigo Jesu with the CineAsia 2013 lifetime achievement award in distribution," said Robert H. Sunshine, co-managing director of the annual convention. "Both Terry and Rigo have a long and acclaimed history that makes them a 'tour de force' in distribution, production, content creation, video, gaming and live performances."

Lai established Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) Limitedin 1969 to produce and export Chinese films around the world. This success led to the establishment of Intercontinental Group Holdings Limited in 1996, which today is an organization more than 400 employees with a turnover in the HK$600 million range. Its businesses include film and video distribution, cinema operations, advertising and promotion services, video games distribution, e-commerce and character products merchandising.

Rigo began his career in entertainment at Capital Artists Limited, where he was promoted to the position of acting general manager in 1973. In 1980, he formed his own company, Jesu International Entertainment Limited, and later joined Intercontinental Film Distributors (H.K.) Limited, focusing mainly on the sourcing of foreign films and introducing them into Hong Kong. In 1985, he shuttered his business to focus on the growth and development of IFDL and its parent, Intercontinental Group Holdings Limited, as managing director. From 2005-11, he served as co-CEO of Intercontinental Group before shifting into the role of adviser.

CineAsia 2013 will take place from Dec. 10-12 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It will feature screenings of upcoming Hollywood films, sponsored events, timely and informative seminars,and the CineAsia Trade Show.

CineAsia is produced by Prometheus Global Media, owner of The Hollywood Reporter.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/business/~3/uizC6PT9-wc/story01.htm
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Hackers use botnet to scrape Google for vulnerable sites

Some 35,000 sites that use vBulletin, a popular website forum package, were hacked recently by taking advantage of the presence of files left over from the program's installation process, according to security researcher Brian Krebs.

The hack by itself is fairly standard, but the way in which it was carried out shows how search engines like Google can unwittingly become a party to such hacking.

Krebs' findings were unearthed in conjunction with work done by security research firm Imperva, members of which believe the hacks are being executed by way of a botnet. The botnet not only injects the malicious code into the target sites, but also scrapes Google in a massively parallel fashion looking for vBulletin-powered sites that might make good targets.

Why scrape Google in parallel? As a workaround for Google's defense mechanisms against automated searches.

Such defenses work well against a single user scraping Google, since after a certain number of such searches from a single host, the user is presented with a CAPTCHA. This typically stops most bot-driven scrapes. But if a great many such searches are performed in parallel, it doesn't matter if each one of them eventually runs afoul of a CAPTCHA. Together, in parallel, they can still scrape far more than any one system alone can. (Krebs did not describe the size of the botnet used, however.)

The hacks themselves, of which Krebs has identified two, are fortunately rather easy to detect. One involves adding surreptitious admin accounts to the vulnerable vBulletin installations. The other hack, "apparently used in a mass website defacement campaign," adds an admin account named "Th3H4ck".

Now the good news: The very thing that made it possible to find those vulnerable vBulletin sites -- a properly crafted Google search -- can also be used to identify any existing hacked vBulletin installs. If you see a site you know on that list, tell the administrator. There's a good chance he doesn't know he's been hacked.

Scanning for vulnerabilities with Google isn't by itself new; Bruce Schneier pointed out in 2008 how this process was not only possible but could be automated. But deploying such Google scanning via a botnet for the sake of seeking out vulnerable sites in a massive parallel operation is a relatively new wrinkle -- at least until Google finds a way to block such things en masse without impacting regular search services.

Krebs points out it's difficult to place the blame exclusively on vBulletin. The makers of the software point out that its installation instructions ask that users remove the "/install" and "/core/install" directories after setting up the program.

In that sense, this issue is akin to the ways ColdFusion projects have been plagued by break-ins -- in part because many outfits are running older, unpatched versions of the software, but mainly because many firms don't follow Adobe's own instructions for hardening ColdFusion setups.

The oft-targeted WordPress has the same issue: It's easy to set up, but securing it requires that the end-user take a number of steps that often aren't followed.

This story, "Hackers use botnet to scrape Google for vulnerable sites," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/hacking/hackers-use-botnet-scrape-google-vulnerable-sites-228799?source=rss_infoworld_blogs
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Coca-Cola's profit rises despite sluggish growth

NEW YORK (AP) — Coca-Cola reported a higher quarterly profit as the world's biggest beverage maker managed to sell more of its drinks despite choppy economic conditions.

The maker of Sprite, Powerade and Vitaminwater said global sales volume edged up 2 percent for its third quarter, helped by its performance in countries such as China, India and Russia.

Still, the company conceded that it was facing an economic slowdown in many parts of the world including Mexico, where the government is also considering a tax on sugary soft drinks.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO Muhtar Kent pushed back at the suggestion that the company's days of growth were coming to an end. He noted that the company is emphasizing affordability and smaller packages to "keep the drinkers base growing" in developing markets.

That strategy is critical for "when economies also start turning up and when disposable incomes start heading north," he said.

Kent also shot down the prospect of the tax in Mexico, saying that such measures don't work and that he didn't want to discuss the matter any further because "the discussions under progress."

"We've made our case to the government," he said. The company stood by its goal to double system-wide sales by 2020, from 2009.

Back in the U.S., where soda has been under fire as well for fueling obesity rates, the Atlanta-based company rolled out smaller cans and bottles of soda that are more profitable and better suit the reduced portions people are seeking. Coca-Cola is also focusing on other drinks, such as flavored water, as Americans continue to cut back on soda.

In North America, for instance, soda volume was flat for the period, following a 4 percent decline in the previous quarter and flat growth a year ago. But uncarbonated drinks such as tea, juice and bottled water rose 5 percent. That lifted overall volume for the region by 2 percent.

Meanwhile, soda sales are faring much better in developing markets. The company said its namesake brand saw volume growth of 22 percent in India. In China, soda volume rose 8 percent.

The company blamed volatile economic conditions for more disappointing results in other parts of the world. In Europe, volume fell 1 percent. Coca-Cola also cited hurricanes for a 2 percent volume decline in Mexico.

For the quarter, the company said it earned $2.45 billion, or 54 cents per share, up from $2.31 billion, or 50 cents per share, a year ago.

Not including one-time items, earnings per share were 53 cents, which was in line with Wall Street expectations.

Revenue fell 3 percent to $12.03, hurt by structural changes and unfavorable currency exchange rates. Analysts had expected $12.05 billion, according to FactSet.

The results for the quarter were boosted by a gain related to a bottling transaction in Brazil.

Shares of Coca-Cola Co. rose 1.6 percent at $38.51. Over the past year, the stock is down almost 1 percent.

____

Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/coca-colas-profit-rises-despite-sluggish-growth-151621605--finance.html
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The New And The Next: Six-Second Comedy And A Spin On News

The online magazine Ozy covers people, places and trends on the horizon. Co-founder Carlos Watson joins All Things Considered regularly to share the site's latest discoveries.

This week, he tells NPR's Arun Rath about a YouTube sensation in Urugauy, a six-second comedian and the young woman who gained a following with her explicit declaration of love for science.

The New And The Next

• 
  
  
  

  Uruguay's News Sensation

  
  
  

  
  

  "Agustin Ferrando kind of got depressed with a lot of the news he saw and thought that little moments in life were just as interesting. So he created an incredibly popular YouTube channel — north of a million hits in a country that only has 3 million people. ...

  
  

  "He's saying, 'If I tell the little individual stories of what you had for dinner, what happened at this schoolhouse — even though that's not classic big news — that's the stuff of real life.' "

  
  

  Read 'In Uruguay, Everything Happens, Every Week' On Ozy.com

  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  The Next Comedy Forum: Vine

  
  
  

  
  

  "Will Sasso, who's been a comedian who's bounced around for years, has finally found his platform in Vine. Vine only gives you six seconds to make some magical video.

  
  

  "And what Will Sasso figured out is that he could either try and tell you stories, or he could do funny impersonations."

  
  

  Read 'The Vine Mastery of Will Sasso' On Ozy.com

  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  The Woman Who (Really) Loves Science

  
  

  
  
  
  Courtesy of Elise Andrew
  
  

  Courtesy of Elise Andrew

  
  

  
  

  
  

  "[Elise Andrew], who was originally from Britain, was living in Canada at university ... and just suddenly posted science articles that she liked. ... She put a very colorful headline: 'I F - - - ing Love Science.' ...

  
  

  "But people didn't know that a 24-year-old young woman was the person behind this incredibly popular site. When she revealed herself, she got a bunch of negative comments. But Rather than shrink from it, she leaned into it in the best sense and started essentially posting the worst quote of the day."

  
  

  Read 'Elise Andrew F - - - ing Loves Science' On Ozy.com

  
  

  
  
  
  

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/12/232292356/the-new-and-the-next-six-second-comedy-and-a-spin-on-news?ft=1&f=1007
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'Free Birds' Stars Talk Turkeys, Animation and Favorite Thanksgiving Dishes

Getty Images

From left: Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler and Owen Wilson

Reel FX Creative Studios and Relativity rolled out the fall-festive beige carpet for guests such as Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson at the Free Birds world premiere at the Westwood Village Theatre. The 3D film is Reel FX Creative Studios' first animation feature film.   

The film, directed by Jimmy Hayward follows two, time-traveling turkeys Jake (Harrelson) and Reggie (Wilson) as they try to change Thanksgiving’s main course. Harrelson's character is an overzealous turkey where Wilson's is a scrawny, outcast on the farm. Said Wilson: "It's a kind of mismatch buddy comedy with turkeys."

VIDEO: 'Free Birds' Trailer: Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson Are Time-Traveling Turkeys

Amy Poehler (who plays Jenny), Wilson’s love interest brought the laughs to the flick and the carpet. “I just have them wheel me in on a bed,” she said about the ease of doing an animation film versus getting into hair and makeup for a live action movie. “I just never open my eyes and deliver my lines from under the covers, it’s amazing.”

The film also stars animation veteran and Breaking Bad fanatic, Carlos Alazraqui who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in a spot-on Jesse Pinkman impression about his favorite Thanksgiving dish. “It used to be turkey, but I dig stuffing and cranberry sauce.” Wilson and Harrelson agreed that both dishes are favorites during the holiday, while George Takei (who plays the egg shaped time machine, S.T.E.V.E.) admitted: “We may really be having pizza for Thanksgiving dinner. ”    

The family film was followed by an afterparty with candy buffets, arcade games and a super slide for all the kids in attendance, along with grilled cheese treats from The Melt.

Free Birds, which also stars Danny Carrey, Josh Lawson, Kaitlyn Maher, and Lesley Nicol, opens in theaters Nov. 1.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/THRComicCon/~3/dX8JtCspMns/story01.htm
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