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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Lightning Looks Beautifully Terrifying At 11,000 Frames Per Second

There's a reason "lightning" is so often a modifier for fast; you can barely see it even if you're staring at the right place at the right time. But if you're looking at the right place at the right time with a camera that can capture 11,000 frames per second, you're going to see an incredible show.

This awesome footage was part of National Geographic?s Naked Science ? Lightning Chasers back in 2011, but it's as relevant?and crazy to watch?as it's ever been. And as far as we can tell, it's still the most detailed footage of a lightning strike ever.

Scored with some knowledge-dropping by lightning physicist Vladislav Mazur and meteorologist Tom Warner, this clip is one righteous primer on a beautiful and dangerous natural phenomenon. [Petapixel]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/lightning-looks-beautifully-terrifying-at-11-000-frames-502271934

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Schweitzer courts unions as he considers 2014

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) ? Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer told a gathering of union leaders Friday that he has not decided on a possible run for U.S. Senate in 2014, but indicated he would need their support if he does.

The two-term governor is considering a bid to replace fellow Democrat U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, who is stepping down after six terms.

Addressing the Montana AFL-CIO annual convention in Billings, Schweitzer said he has been receiving lots of calls from people urging him to run. He said it would be a family decision involving his wife, Nancy, and their three children.

"But if we decide to do this...we need to do it together," he said at the end of a wide-ranging speech that touched on his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the high costs of health care, and the need for organized labor to stand up against corporate interests.

"If we don't stand together, they'll pick us off one by one," he said. "We've got dirty, dark money flowing around. The most powerful are getting their way. They have the money and they're going to spend that money."

Schweitzer was endorsed by the AFL-CIO during his last run, in 2008, when union leaders cited his support for worker health insurance and retirement benefits and a higher minimum wage. He was also endorsed by the labor group in 2004.

But the former governor in recent months found himself at odds with the United Steelworkers union over an attempt by Schweitzer and a New York hedge fund attempt to oust the board at Stillwater Mining, Co. for alleged mismanagement.

Stillwater's unionized mine workers backed the incumbent directors, and shareholders in a May 2 vote ended up splitting control by awarding four seats to Schweitzer and his allies and four to the incumbents.

Montana AFL-CIO executive secretary Al Ekblad declined to address the issue directly Friday, but made clear that Schweitzer's standing with organized labor remains secure.

"We support our friends," Ekblad said, later adding, "I don't think there's any question that you would put Brian Schweitzer on the list of friends of labor."

Representatives of the steelworkers' union said they had lined up behind the company's management and against Schweitzer's side because of worries that safety improvements and other changes made at the mine in recent years could have been lost under a new board. They said they had no quarrel with Schweitzer himself.

Scott McGinnis, president of the Steelworkers' local chapter at Stillwater, said he'll support Schweitzer if he runs.

Schweitzer told The Associated Press that he bears no hard feelings over the dispute.

"There's no friction at all. None whatsoever. Those folks that draw paychecks with Stillwater felt the obligation to stand with the people writing the checks. Now I'm one of the guys writing the checks," he said.

Schweitzer was among a parade of Montana elected officials ? most of them Democrats ? speaking at the annual three day gathering of the state labor federation, which boasts 44,000 members from more than 100 different labor organizations. Also speaking were U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, Gov. Steve Bullock, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch and Attorney General Tim Fox, a Republican.

State Auditor Monica Lindeen was scheduled to speak Saturday. Lindeen has said she, too, would consider running for Baucus' seat, but only if Schweitzer decides not to.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/schweitzer-courts-unions-considers-2014-022751291.html

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Chrysler recalls almost 470,000 Jeep SUVs

FILE - In this Thursday, June 16, 2005 file photo, the 2006 Jeep Commander sits on display at Chelsea Proving Grounds in Chelsea, Mich. Chrysler is recalling 469,000 Jeep SUVs worldwide because they can shift into neutral without warning, the company announced Saturday, May 11, 2013. The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Grand Cherokees and 2006 to 2010 Commanders. (AP Photo/Jerry S. Mendoza, File)

FILE - In this March 7, 2010 file photo, 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokees sit at a Chrysler Jeep dealership in Centennial, Colo. Chrysler is recalling 469,000 Jeep SUVs worldwide because they can shift into neutral without warning, the company announced Saturday, May 11, 2013. The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Grand Cherokees and 2006 to 2010 Commanders. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

DETROIT (AP) ? Chrysler is recalling 469,000 Jeep SUVs worldwide because they can shift into neutral without warning on startup.

The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Grand Cherokees and 2006 to 2010 Commanders.

U.S. safety regulators say cracks in a circuit board can cause a faulty signal as the SUVs are being started. If the vehicles shift into neutral they can roll away.

Chrysler says the problem has caused 26 crashes and two injuries.

Chrysler will notify owners and dealers will update software to take care of the problem. Chrysler found cracks in a circuit board that turns the four-wheel-drive system on and off.

Repairs will be made at no cost to owners.

The recall covers 295,000 vehicles in the U.S., 28,500 in Canada, and 4,200 in Mexico. The remaining 141,000 are outside North America.

The company says in documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Administration that it began looking into the problem after a customer complained that an SUV rolled away in January of 2012 after being started remotely.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-11-US-Chrysler-Recall/id-9755aeedd4f5419e940364f5de86ee0e

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How do you get $45 million from ATMs? Cyberthieves did it in 12 hours.

Most of a New York City 'casher' crew is under arrest, suspected of stealing $2.8 million from ATMs as part of a global cyberscheme that netted $45 million from tampered debit card accounts.

By Mark Clayton,?Staff writer / May 10, 2013

A person inserts a debit card into an ATM machine in Pittsburgh, in January. A gang of cyber-criminals stole $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking their way into a database of prepaid debit cards and then draining cash machines around the globe, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Gene J. Puskar/AP

Enlarge

In two digital bank heists that took a total of just 12 hours to pull off, cyberthieves working with ?casher? crews around the world were able to withdraw $45 million dollars in cash from ATM machines in 26 countries.

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The new-era cyberheists were plotted over months by hacker masterminds who stealthily infiltrated the computer networks of two credit card processors responsible for pre-paid debit card transactions ? one in India and one in the United States, according to a federal indictment unsealed late Thursday by authorities in New York.

The document details a scheme in which the hackers ? who were not named in the document ? first gained internal access to a critical banking computer system. Then, they raised the balances and maximum withdrawal amounts on a handful of debit card accounts they controlled in what the indictment terms an ?unlimited operation.? Those account numbers and access data were then transmitted to accomplices worldwide ready to use them at ATM machines, the indictment said.

The ?cashers? took the data that was sent to them and then encoded it onto the magnetic stripes of gift cards. With the faked cards, the cashers made more than 40,000 withdrawals averaging more than $1,100 each.

Among the casher teams was a single team of eight New York City men, alleged to have withdrawn $400,000 in the first attack in 750 fraudulent transactions at 140 ATM machines in New York.

That Dec. 22, 2012 attack took just two hours and 25 minutes. But it was only the warm-up to a much larger global attack on Feb. 20, where the same New York casher group scooped up another $2.4 million from 3,000 ATM machines. That attack lasted from 3 p.m. on Feb. 19 to 1:26 a.m. the next morning, according to the indictment.

Seven of the eight New York men are under arrest. But the eighth member and purported leader of the gang ? Alberto Yusi Lajud-Pe?a, also known as ?Prime? and ?Albertico? ? was murdered in the Dominican Republic late last month, not long after fleeing the country, according to authorities who announced the arrests Thursday.

?The defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a massive 21st century bank heist that reached across the Internet and stretched around the globe,? said Loretta Lynch, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement. ?In the place of guns and masks, this cybercrime organization used laptops and the Internet.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/iu6BmU4CGg4/How-do-you-get-45-million-from-ATMs-Cyberthieves-did-it-in-12-hours

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Long Beach Pride Founders Marilyn Barlow, Bob Crow, and Judith Doyle Honored by Mayor

2013-05-10??? By? Editor?

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On Friday, May 3rd, the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride & The Center Long Beach hosted the 3rd Annual Evening with Mayor Bob Foster in Celebration of the 30th Annual Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival. At the event, Long Beach Mayor, Bob Foster recognized the founders of Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride by presenting them with the key to the City. The founders are Marilyn Barlow, Bob Crow, and Judith Doyle.

The ?Key to the City? is bestowed upon distinguished persons and honored guests of the City of Long Beach. The practice of presenting a key to an individual may be traced back to medieval times, when admission into a city was hampered by many legal restrictions, as well as by walls and locked gates. The key symbolized free entry. In Long Beach, the act of giving the Key of the City is symbolic, since the city has no gates to unlock.

The presentation honors outstanding civic contributions of the recipients. ?The founders have gone against enormous oppositions, homophobia, and sacrifice but it did not deter these three leaders. It is with great honor that I recognize the achievements of these extraordinary trail blazers,? said Mayor Bob Foster. ?These core individuals are true pioneers that have paved the way for younger generations and it is because of them that we can be proud of the diversity and inclusiveness of our community.?

In 1983 the founders of Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride (LBLGP) Marilyn Barlow, Bob Crow, and Judith Doyle set out on a quest to make a political stand for equality and change. For the Gay community of Long Beach their mission was to break the shackles of oppression of homophobia in the community and the general population. ?It is a true tribute to be recognized by Mayor Foster. After all the trails and tribulations, this is a great honor and it shows that our City is on the forefront of equality?, said Founder Bob Crow.

Source: http://www.everythinglongbeach.com/long-beach-pride-founders-marilyn-barlow-bob-crow-and-judith-doyle-honored-by-mayor/

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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Sony back in black on cheap yen, healthier sales

Customers visit a corner of Sony's Bravia flat-panel TVs at a Tokyo electronics store in Tokyo, Thursday, May 9, 2013. Sony Corp. is back in the black for the fiscal fourth quarter, recording a 93.9 billion yen ($948 million) profit, with big help from a weaker yen that boosts overseas earnings. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Shoppers look at a Sony's product at a electronics store in Tokyo,Thursday, May 9, 2013. Sony Corp. is back in the black for the fiscal fourth quarter, recording a 93.9 billion yen ($948 million) profit, with big help from a weaker yen that boosts overseas earnings. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Shoppers look at an electronics store in Tokyo,Thursday, May 9, 2013. Sony Corp. is back in the black for the fiscal fourth quarter, recording a 93.9 billion yen ($948 million) profit, with big help from a weaker yen that boosts overseas earnings. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

A customer visits a Tokyo electronics store to check out Sony's Bravia 4K flat-panel TVs in Tokyo, Thursday, May 9, 2013. Sony Corp. is back in the black for the fiscal fourth quarter, recording a 93.9 billion yen ($948 million) profit, with big help from a weaker yen that boosts overseas earnings. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO (AP) ? Sony Corp. is back in the black for its fiscal fourth quarter, recording a 93.9 billion yen ($948 million) profit, with big help from a weaker yen that boosts overseas earnings.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment company also dragged itself back to profit for the fiscal year ended March 31, following four straight years of red ink.

It reported Thursday annual earnings of 43 billion yen ($434 million), a reversal from a loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) the previous year ? the worst in the company's nearly seven-decade history.

Tokyo-based Sony expects the recovery to continue, and projected a 50 billion yen ($505 million) profit for the fiscal year through March 2014, up 16 percent.

A weak yen helps Japanese exporters, and the dollar has gained 20 percent against the yen in recent months.

The favorable exchange rate is expected to continue in the coming months because of the policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office last year.

Sony had sunk to a 255.2 billion yen loss for the January-March period in 2012, slammed by its money-losing TV business and competition from rivals Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

Sales for the January-March period rose 8 percent to 1.7 trillion yen ($17 billion), mainly from a favorable currency rate.

Sony's annual earnings were better than its own forecast for a 40 billion yen ($404 million) profit, and that of analysts surveyed by FactSet at about 33 billion yen ($333 million).

In an effort to achieve a turnaround, Sony has been shedding jobs and selling assets and parts of businesses in recent years.

The brand has lost much of its glamour as the maker of the Walkman portable music player, a pioneering product, as well as the PlayStation video-game console, once a must-have for holiday shopping.

Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato said that despite the return to profitability, the company's electronics sector, including camcorders and digital cameras, was struggling compared to its entertainment projects.

"We must answer to the challenge of making our electronics business profitable, no matter what," he said.

The recent weaker yen, which will make Sony products cheaper abroad, was almost certain to work as a big plus, and Kato welcomed it.

Sony gained 182 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in its sales and operating revenue for the January-March quarter due to favorable exchange rates. The company reiterated that it will turn its TV business profitable by the fiscal year ending March 2014. That business has bled money for nine straight years.

Sony said it is beefing up its TV lineup, including models with 4K liquid crystal displays, which deliver even better image quality than current LCD TVs.

Sony said games sales will be boosted significantly with the planned introduction of the PlayStation 4 this fiscal year.

Sony is also doing better in its mobile-phone business with its Xperia Z, which went on sale earlier this year. Sony had fallen far behind rivals like Samsung and Apple in smartphones.

Sony sold its U.S. headquarters building on New York's Madison Avenue in January, as well as other buildings in Tokyo. It sold stocks in Japanese game maker DeNA.

It also ended its liquid-crystal display venture with rival Samsung, while inking a new capital alliance with Japanese electronics and camera maker Olympus Corp. to strengthen its medical equipment business.

Still, some analysts say catching up and selling assets isn't enough, and Sony needs to come up with a more unique product.

For the fiscal year just ended, Sony has continued to lag in its device, digital camera and game sectors. But it scored better sales and income in Sony Pictures Entertainment, with the success of "Skyfall" and "The Amazing Spider-Man."

Sales and income were flat in its music business. Best-selling titles included One Direction's "Take Me Home" and Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience."

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-05-09-Japan-Earns-Sony/id-76288778726e4f09b12c86e0858fb0ae

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IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups in 2012 election

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

Organizations were singled out because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

"That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That's not how we go about selecting cases for further review," Lerner said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association.

"The IRS would like to apologize for that," she added.

Lerner said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias. After her talk, she told The AP that no high level IRS officials knew about the practice. She did not say when they found out.

Many conservative groups complained during the election that they were being harassed by the IRS. They accused the agency of frustrating their attempts to become tax exempt by sending them lengthy, intrusive questionnaires.

The forms, which the groups made available at the time, sought information about group members' political activities, including details of their postings on social networking websites and about family members.

Certain tax-exempt charitable groups can conduct political activities but it cannot be their primary activity.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress in March 2012 that the IRS was not targeting groups based on their political views.

"There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people" who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman told a House Ways and Means subcommittee.

Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush. His 6-year term ended in November. President Barack Obama has yet to nominate a successor. The agency is now being run by acting Commissioner Steven Miller.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irs-apologizes-targeting-conservative-groups-144349480.html

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