Push for Pluto mission stamp gains ground

NASA / SWRI / Durda

Artist Dan Durda's concept for a U.S. postage stamp honoring the New Horizons mission to Pluto.

By Robert Z. Pearlman
Space.com

The grassroots mission to land a Pluto-bound planetary probe on a postage stamp has caught the attention of postal authorities, the team that organized the campaign announced on Monday.

"Recently, we were issued a letter from the (United States Postal Service) USPS informing us that the New Horizons mission stamp proposal?will be submitted for review and consideration before their Advisory Committee!" wrote Con Tsang, a research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, in an e-mail addressed to supporters and posted on the NASA mission's Facebook page. "We have cleared the first hurdle!"

Last February, Tsang began a petition on the Change.org website urging the USPS and its Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to honor the first mission to Pluto with its own postage stamp. Backed by the New Horizon's flight team, including the mission's principal investigator Alan Stern, the petition collected more than 12,000 signatures by the time the effort ended on March 13, 2012.

The campaign's conclusion was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the announcement of Pluto's discovery by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft was launched on Jan. 19, 2006 on a mission to flyby Pluto and its moons in July 2015. Seven years into the journey, the probe is now more than halfway between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune.

As it turns out, the two and a half years that remain before New Horizons makes its closest approach to Pluto may be just enough time for the stamp advisory committee to make its decision. [New Horizons' Pluto Mission Explained (Video)]

"This entire process can take up to 3 years," Tsang wrote about the stamp selection timeline. "So we will most likely not know if a stamp is approved until around the time when New Horizons reaches Pluto in 2015."

The Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee has overseen the choice of themes for U.S. postage stamps since 1967. The three year process is designed to give enough time for the committee to consider the proposal, as well as the design and production of the stamp should the subject be selected.

Over the past four decades, the committee has chosen to recognize the nation's space program on more than three dozen stamps. One of those stamps, issued in 1991, had a depiction of Pluto with the words "Not Yet Explored." An example of that stamp is flying aboard New Horizons.

Most recently, the USPS honored NASA's MESSENGER mission to the planet Mercury as part of a pair of stamps that also recognized the first American astronaut to fly in space, Alan Shepard.

The New Horizons' petition asked the advisory committee to consider a stamp for the mission not just to honor the first Pluto flyby, but also the first exploration of the Kuiper Belt, the first exploration of an ice dwarf planet, and the farthest object ever explored in space.

Follow collectSpace on Facebook and Twitter @collectSpace?and editor Robert Pearlman @robertpearlman. Copyright 2012?collectSpace.com. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2013 Space.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17122069-push-for-pluto-mission-postage-stamp-gains-ground?lite

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Japan tries make it 3 WBC titles in a row

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2010, file photo, then-Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre walks up the steps after a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles. Torre is returning to the top step of the dugout to manage the Americans at the World Baseball Clasic. Team USA have yet to even reach the championship game of this hugely popular international event played every three years. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2010, file photo, then-Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre walks up the steps after a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles. Torre is returning to the top step of the dugout to manage the Americans at the World Baseball Clasic. Team USA have yet to even reach the championship game of this hugely popular international event played every three years. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2012, file photo, San Francisco Giants' Ryan Vogelsong, bottom, looks down at the baseball after giving up a three-run triple to Arizona Diamondbacks' Patrick Corbin as Giants' Pablo Sandoval looks on in the fourth inning during a baseball game in Phoenix. Vogelsong has a little running joke that he is going to plunk Sandoval in the World Baseball Classic to keep the Panda from a three-homer game like the one he produced in Game 1 of the World Series last fall. Sandoval plans to play nice once he pulls on the Venezuela uniform. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2013 file photo, Japan's Ryoji Aikawa, left, is welcomed by manager Koji Yamamoto, right, and coach Osamu Higashio, second from right, after hitting a come-from-behind three-run homer against Australia in the eighth inning of their exhibition baseball game at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, western Japan. The team to beat in the third World Baseball Classic is two-time winner Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) ? They'll play in the Far East and the Far West ? and in the Caribbean, too. Wherever they are, Miguel Cabrera and R.A. Dickey and dozens of All-Stars in the World Baseball Classic know the team to beat: two-time WBC winner Japan.

The Japanese are hoping to defend their title in the third edition of baseball's global tournament, having topped Cuba in the inaugural Classic in 2006 and South Korea three years later.

To do it, Japan ? with a roster that doesn't include a single player from Major League Baseball ? will have to win two rounds at home and then the semifinals and final at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

In their way will be an American team led by Dickey, Ryan Braun and Joe Mauer, trying to make up for a couple of underwhelming WBC showings ? and featuring Joe Torre's return to the top step of the dugout.

Team USA has plenty of motivation. The Americans didn't get out of the second round in 2006, then lost in the semifinals to Japan three years later.

"We'll probably be disappointed if we don't make it to San Francisco," said Giants right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, slated to be the No. 2 starter in the U.S. rotation. "First and foremost, we're focused on getting there."

Japan's pro teams are known for their rigorous spring training regimen, which typically begins a couple of weeks before the major league clubs and feature all-day workouts with just a short break to eat.

"It's such a dedicated group of players. I go back to going over to Japan as a member of the Mets back in 74 and just noticing and at that time I didn't think necessarily that the Japanese could play at our level, maybe stature-wise," Torre said. "Even though their game was clean and disciplined, it just didn't look like they were as good as we were. That's certainly has changed."

Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez will play alongside San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval and Triple Crown winner Cabrera for Venezuela. The World Series champion Giants have had to plan carefully this spring to get through the Cactus League with much of their roster headed to the WBC ? Marco Scutaro on Venezuela, Angel Pagan and Andres Torres on Puerto Rico, Vogelsong and reliever Jeremy Affeldt on the U.S. team, closer Sergio Romo pitching for Mexico.

"It's my first time representing and I'm really looking forward to doing it," Pagan said. "The first two Classics I couldn't do it because I was either trying to make a team or I was trying to be the everyday player. It fills my heart to go out there and play in front of my countrymen and in front of my family. I did it when I played in New York and Puerto Rico but it's not the same when you're wearing the P.R. jersey."

And CarGo sure is confident in Venezuela's chances.

"I don't think we need practice ? Venezuela doesn't need practice," he said. "Japan, they train together for a long time and get prepared for that. We don't really get prepared for that ... put the uniform on, let's play."

In all, 45 big league all-stars, including seven MVPs, were on the final WBC rosters.

Many MLB players are torn between playing for their country or playing for the club that signs their paycheck ? especially those who might be on the bubble of making a major league roster or earning a starting job.

Gonzalez said the Venezuelans feel tremendous pressure to take part in the Classic, yet he understands why Seattle ace Felix Hernandez has passed after signing a $175 million, seven-year contract earlier this month that made him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball.

"You have to represent your team," Gonzalez said. "You see all the news about King Felix not playing for Venezuela and the whole country changes, they get upset that you're not going to play for your country. They think it's all about the money but, you know what, we've been working since we were 16 years old and we came from Venezuela to represent. ... I think made the right choice."

The inaugural 2006 Classic featured a pool-play format, while 2009 was double-elimination ? and this one will be a combination of both. The first round will be pool play, with the top two teams advancing. The second round is double-elimination, and the top two teams from each group will reach the semifinals.

The Americans will play their round-robin games at the Arizona Diamondbacks' Chase Field in Phoenix. The other first-round groups will play in: Fukuoka, Japan; Taichung, Taiwan; and, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

"The guys who have played this before were excited to get back to it," Torre said. "I think it's still something to get a little used to. Let's admit it, you play the USA team, MLB, even though there are a number of MLB players obviously playing for other countries, it's like putting on your Sunday best, you know, We're excited because we have a chance to beat them at their own game' so to speak."

Semifinals will be played March 17-18, with the championship March 19 in the Giants' waterfront ballpark.

That's where Sandoval cleared the fences three times in a Game 1 World Series win against the Tigers.

The guy known as Kung Fu Panda hopes to find his groove again for his country. If he does, and his nation wins it all, Sandoval will be World Series, Venezuelan and WBC titles to his credit.

"I'm trying to get the Triple Crown," Sandoval said.

___

WATCH FOR:

? Animated crowds with a different flavor than the regular MLB fans. Expect musical instruments, patriotic chants, face paint and flags. More than 1.5 million fans have attended games in first two WBC tournaments.

? This year's 16-team field was drawn from the top 12 nations in the last WBC, plus four others who qualified in a tournament last year. The WBC winner will be named "world champion" for the first time.

? Americans on a mission: Team USA failed to reach the championship game of the first two Classics.

? Players will be subject to drug testing by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

? San Juan will host games for the third time at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, to be played March 7-10.

? Sparkling new Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the shared spring venue of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, will be on display for the world to see. The ballpark hosts Pool D games between the U.S., Italy, Mexico and qualifier Canada.

___

AP Sports Writer Bob Baum contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-28-BBI-World-Baseball-Classic/id-e083bb75839a4830b8a6a47a9cfe18df

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Video: Will the sequester meeting be too late?

>>> the white house confirms president obama invited congressional leaders for a meeting on the sequester hours after the cuts are set to take effect. senate majority leader harry reid and mitch mcconnell at the meeting. it comes as the new " wall street journal " poll shows public patience wearing really thin as the fifth budget showdown in two years is about to come to a side. 51% said these clashes make them less confident. 16% said the negotiations make them more confident about the economy and after four months about the direction of the country, they have 59% say the country is on the wrong track. just 32% say it's headed in the right direction. the polls show the president's campaign against the sequester is working. 52% call sequestration a bad idea. just 21% say it's a good idea. the american public doesn't like the idea of doing nothing either. 53% say they would like congress to move forward with a plan the same amount or more cuts. joining me live is congressman adam smith . the democrat on the house armed services committee . thank you so much for joining me. there was a laundry list of number there is and the bottom line is people are sick and tired of being sick and tired of what we are watching in washington. there is a meeting be, but after the sequester.

>> i think they are right. we need to make a decision. we need a long-term plan to balance the budget. we don't have to balance the budget in ten years, but we have to get the deficit under control and talk about the choices involved. we have to raise taxes and make reductions in mandatory spending . this is the deal that has been hanging out for two years. it is tough and there no easy answers women got elected to lead and we need to make the decision because the impact on the economy right now, we need it without sequestration. the impact is devastating and sequestering makes it worse.

>> when you have 51% less confident at a time when there was a report this week home sales are up over 7%. people are feeling better and going out to look for jobs and here we are again with this man-made problem on facing this economy at this fragile time.

>> we're need to stop lurching from crisis to crisis. i thought it was bad from the beginning. it was only done because the republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling. the mandatory cuts that are damaging our economy when we can least afford it and shut off the sequester and move forward with funding the government appropriately and making the long-term decisions needed.

>> doesn't look like we will shut it out. friday you have this meeting after the deadline. what needs to be the first thing you believe the president should put on the table?

>> here's the two-steps. get the big deal on taxes and mandatory spending . if you can't get that, let's stop sequester and torturing the portion of the budget thinking that will force us to act on the bigger budget deal. obviously that is not working. let's get a deal on spending. i introduced a bill today that would get rid of sequester and lock in place further cuts in spending and over the course of the next ten years in a lot less, about a third of what's done. get the portion fixed and let's start passing appropriations bills. let's stop lurching from crisis to crisis. if you can't get the big deal , that's unfortunate, but don't torture the economy while we are waiting.

>> congressman, thank you so much for joining us. i appreciate it. we will see what happens as some movement is

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/50976779/

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Pope, in final message, says he's a simple pilgrim

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) ? Benedict XVI greeted the faithful for the last time as pope on Thursday, telling tearful well-wishers that he is beginning the final stage of his life as "simply a pilgrim," hours before he becomes the first pontiff in 600 years to resign.

The pope's journey into retirement began with an emotion-drenched sendoff from the Vatican, with Swiss Guards in full regalia standing in attention and prelates kneeling to kiss the papal ring ? Benedict's closest aide weeping by his side.

Bells tolled as the pope left the Vatican by helicopter and circled St. Peter's Square, where banners reading "Thank You" were held up skyward for him to see. The bells tolled anew as he arrived in Castel Gandolfo, whose central piazza was jammed with people eager to catch the last glimpse of Benedict as pope.

His arms raised, the aging Benedict appeared at the balcony of the palazzo where he will spend the first few months of his retirement. The crowds cheering wildly, he said he was happy to be "surrounded by the beauty of creation" on this unique day.

As of 8 p.m., he said to applause, he would no longer be pope.

"I am simply a pilgrim beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on this Earth," Benedict said, as well-wishers wiped tears from their eyes.

Benedict, 85, reached out to the wider world electronically, sending a final tweet from his Twitter account, (at)Pontifex, shortly before his departure from the Vatican: "Thank you for your love and support. May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."

The day began with Benedict's final audience with his cardinals, where he pledged his "unconditional reverence and obedience" to his successor, a poignant and powerful message to close out his eight-year pontificate.

In an unexpected address inside the Vatican's frescoed Clementine Hall, the pope appeared to be trying to defuse concerns about his future role and the possible conflicts arising from the peculiar situation of having both a reigning pope and a retired one.

Benedict also gave a final set of instructions to the "princes" of the church who will elect his successor, urging them to be united as they huddle to choose the 266th leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

"May the College of Cardinals work like an orchestra, where diversity ? an expression of the universal church ? always works toward a higher and harmonious agreement," he said.

It was seen as a clear reference to the deep internal divisions that have come to the fore in recent months following the leaks of sensitive Vatican documents that exposed power struggles and allegations of corruption inside the Vatican.

The audience inside the Apostolic Palace was as unique as Benedict's decision to quit, with the pope, wearing his crimson velvet cape and using a cane, bidding farewell to his closest advisers and the cardinals themselves bowing to kiss his fisherman's ring for the last time.

Some seemed to choke up at that moment, and a few lingered on to chat with the pope for as long as they could. But the scene seemed otherwise almost normal, with cardinals chatting on the sidelines waiting their turn to say goodbye.

Benedict said he would pray for the cardinals in coming days as they discuss the issues facing the church, the qualities needed in a new pope, and as they prepare to enter into the secret conclave to elect him.

"Among you is also the future pope, whom I today promise my unconditional reverence and obedience," Benedict told the cardinals.

Benedict's decision to live at the Vatican in retirement, be called "emeritus pope" and "Your Holiness" and wear the white cassock associated with the papacy has deepened concerns about the shadow he might cast over the next papacy.

But Benedict has tried to address those worries over the past two weeks, saying that once retired he would be "hidden from the world" and living a life of prayer.

In his final speech in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, he said he wasn't returning to private life exactly, but rather to a new form of service to the church through prayer.

And on Thursday he went even further with his own public pledge of obedience to the new pontiff.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope's pledge was in keeping with this effort to "explain how he intends to live this unprecedented situation of an emeritus pope."

"He has no intention of interfering in the position or the decisions or the activity of his successor," Lombardi said. "But as every member of the church, he says fully that he recognizes the authority of the supreme pastor of the church who will be elected to succeed him."

The issue of papal obedience is important for Benedict. In his last legal document, he made new provisions for cardinals to make a formal, public pledge of obedience to the new pope at his installation Mass, in addition to the private one they traditionally make inside the Sistine Chapel immediately after he is elected.

Benedict's resignation will be a moment of quiet theater.

At 8 p.m. sharp, the Swiss Guards standing at attention at Castel Gandolfo will go into the palazzo and shut the doors behind them and go off duty, their service protecting the head of the Catholic Church over ? for now.

Lombardi said the guards would change into civilian clothes and return to the Vatican barracks Thursday night. They will continue to guard the entrances of Vatican City and the pope's palace, "even if he's not there," said Cpl. Urs Breitenmoser, a Swiss Guard spokesman.

And on Monday, the cardinals are expected to begin meeting to set the date for the conclave.

Benedict's decision has been met for the most part with praise and understanding. Cardinals, Vatican officials and ordinary Catholics have rallied around him in acknowledgment of his frail state and the church's need for a strong leader.

But Sydney Cardinal George Pell has caused a stir by openly saying the resignation has been "slightly destabilizing" for the church.

In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp., Pell noted that Benedict himself had acknowledged the shift in tradition; Benedict said Wednesday that he appreciated his decision was not only serious but "a novelty" for the church.

Pell also said the church was in sore need of a strong manager ? comments echoed by several cardinals who have noted the 30-year reign of two popes who paid scant attention to the internal governance of the church.

The Vatican tried to downplay Pell's comments, saying it wouldn't respond to individual cardinals and urging the media not to take advantage of churchmen who, it said, aren't necessarily media savvy.

___

Winfield reported from Vatican City.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-final-message-says-hes-simple-pilgrim-165621318.html

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Pinterest For Products Wanelo Raises At North Of $100M

You wouldn't think that a Pinterest where you can buy stuff?would be one of the hottest Series A deals of the quarter, but it was. Wanelo, a site that allows you to bookmark items that you like, and, this is crucial, allows you to buy those items via direct links from the site, has been the prettiest girl at the party for the past month or two, while it completes its raise.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dPAlA5bLcAc/

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Source: http://www.poetaday.com/how-to-reach-millions-of-people-with-your-product-or-services/

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Reversing trend, world music revenue inches upward

LONDON (AP) ? More than a decade after online file swapping tipped the music industry into turmoil, record executives may finally be getting a sliver of good news.

Industry revenue is up. A measly 0.3 percent, but it's still up.

"For the global music business, it is hard to remember a year that has begun with such a palpable buzz in the air," said Frances Moore, whose International Federation of the Phonographic Industry put together the figures released Tuesday.

"These are hard-won successes for an industry that has innovated, battled and transformed itself over a decade," she said in a statement. "They show the music industry has adapted to the Internet world."

That adaptation has been a long time coming. Online song sharing popularized by services such as Napster at the turn of the millennium seriously destabilized the industry, which reacted with a barrage of lawsuits and lobbying. But the war on piracy failed to stem the tide of free music, and by the time executives finally began making legal music available through download services such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes, the industry was in a free fall.

Since its 1999 peak, the global music industry's revenues have crashed more than 40 percent. Tuesday's figures, which show a rise in global revenue from $16.4 billion in 2011 to $16.5 billion in 2012, are the first hint of growth in more than a decade.

Mark Mulligan, of U.K.-based MIDiA consulting, warned that Tuesday's figures did not mean the industry had put its misery years behind it.

"We're probably near the bottom," he said, "but it's so marginal we could easily have another year or two where it could get worse."

The physical music market continues to contract, losing another $500 million in revenue between 2011 and 2012, according to Tuesday's IFPI figures. The industry group has placed its bets on downloads, streaming, and subscription services to make up for lost ground, but there's still a long way to go.

Downloads and streaming audio now account for most of the music sold in the United States and Scandinavia, but physical music ? everything from vinyl records to DVDs ? still accounts for the majority of industry revenue worldwide.

Mulligan said he believed some of the lost revenue may never be recovered, with many casual users who used to buy the odd CD turning to free services such as YouTube, television music channels, or Internet radio instead.

"This is a case of managed decline," he said, predicting "a sustainable but smaller market built around more engaged music fans."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reversing-trend-world-music-revenue-inches-upward-130158433.html

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Pentagon F-35 program chief lashes Lockheed, Pratt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon program chief for the F-35 warplane slammed the main contractors on the program, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney, on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government and failing to see the long-term benefits of the project.

U.S. Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan made the comments during a visit to Australia, where he has sought to convince lawmakers and generals to stick to a plan to buy 100 of the jets, an exercise complicated by the second grounding of the plane this year and looming U.S. defense cuts.

Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp , is sole supplier of engines to the $396 billion F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin provides the body of the radar-evading jet, the most expensive combat aircraft in history.

"What I see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney doing today is behaving as if they are getting ready to sell me the very last F-35 and the very last engine and are trying to squeeze every nickel out of that last F-35 and that last engine," Bogdan told reporters at the Australian International Airshow in southern Victoria state.

"I want them both to start behaving like they want to be around for 40 years," he added. "I want them to take on some of the risk of this program, I want them to invest in cost reductions, I want them to do the things that will build a better relationship. I'm not getting all that love yet."

Lockheed Martin said it was "singularly focused" on properly executing its contracts to develop, produce and sustain the new warplane, and insisted it was on track to finish development by 2017.

"We do this in partnership with Lieutenant General Bogdan and the entire JSF Program Office and strive daily to drive costs out of the program," said spokesman Michael Rein.

He said the company had reduced costs by 50 percent since the first production airplanes were built, and remained confident that the sixth and seventh production deals, currently under negotiation, would result in further savings.

Pratt & Whitney had no immediate comment.

Bogdan caused a stir shortly after joining the F-35 program last August when he described the relationship between the government and Lockheed Martin as the worst he'd ever seen. There had been little improvement since then, he said.

"Are they getting better? A little bit," he said. "Are they getting better at a rate I want to see them getting better? No, not yet."

If the project stays on track, Pratt & Whitney will eventually provide 4,000 engines and Lockheed Martin 3,000 planes.

The Pentagon plans to buy 2,443 of the warplanes in the coming decades, although many analysts believe U.S. budget constraints and deficits will reduce that number.

Australia, a close American ally, is considering doubling its fleet of 24 Boeing Co F/A-18 Super Hornets amid delays and setbacks in the F-35 project. That means Canberra could buy far fewer F-35s than initially planned.

LEAKS

Bogdan was also critical of what he suggested were leaks from Pratt & Whitney's camp about the engine issue, which led the Pentagon to suspend F-35 flights last Friday.

Two sources told Reuters that Pratt & Whitney is 99 percent sure the fan blade problem that grounded the jets was not caused by high-cycle fatigue, which could force a costly design change, and the aircraft could be flying again within the week.

"Until all those tests are done and I see the results, I don't know what's going on," Bogdan said. "However ... my gut would tell me it's on the spectrum of the minor side - 99 percent is bold, flying next week is bold."

Bogdan also gave the example of taking six months to close a deal with Pratt & Whitney for engines on its fifth bloc of jets, shortly after General Electric Co had been dropped as a second supplier of engines for the program, leaving Pratt & Whitney as sole supplier for the next 40 years.

"Now, you would think a company like Pratt & Whitney that was just given the greatest Christmas gift you could ever, ever get for a company would act a little differently," Bogdan said.

Bogdan is flying back to the United States this weekend, just in time to hear about the future of U.S. military budgets, which are slated to be cut by nearly $500 billion over the next decade, an amount which could double unless Congress acts in the next week to avert spending reductions known as "sequestration".

Bogdan said he was confident the F-35 program would remain on track and on budget if he was given the discretion to deal with any cuts.

The risk is that money is cut from the $6 billion set aside for the development program by the end of October next year.

"I need every penny of that $6 billion to get over the finish line," Bogdan said. "If they take money out of development something's going to have to give. I'm either going to have to push the program out or I'm going to have to shed capability."

Budget cuts aside, Bogdan said he was confident of bringing the cost of each plane down to around $90 million by 2013, compared to around $120 million now.

Budget cuts have already forced Italy to scale back its F-35 orders, and Turkey has delayed its purchases by two years. Orders from Japan and Israel have buoyed the project, and additional Israeli orders are expected in 2013.

Lockheed is building three different models of the F-35 for the U.S. military and eight countries that helped pay for its development: Britain, Canada, Italy, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia and Norway.

(Reporting by Jane Wardell in Avalon, Australia; additional reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Dean Yates and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-f-35-program-chief-lashes-lockheed-pratt-000325443--finance.html

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How A Teacher Turned To Technology To Solve A Thorny Problem And Raised $100K

The clincher, the thing that made Quick Key go viral, was a poorly-lit video of an excitable guy holding his iPhone up to a Scantron page, one of those test pages you used to fill out in school. He thumbs through page after page, making comments on students' performance as the app scans the page and instantly reports a grade. The video was amazingly compelling. The creator, Walter O. Duncan IV, can barely contain his excitement. His app looked great, it worked seamlessly, and the video struck a nerve with students and teachers, pocketing 260,000 views on YouTube and popping up on the front page of Reddit.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QvwDY5L8wJM/

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Democrats nominate Robin Kelly in Illinois special election (Washington Post)

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Happy, snappy tweets gain the most Twitter followers

Want to be popular on Twitter? There are plenty of people who claim they can help, but their tips rarely work and many of them are scammers. Now scientists have joined in, boiling down half a million tweets to a few simple rules for gaining a following.

C.J. Hutto (@cjhutto on Twitter) and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta examined the content and retweeting fate of tweets sent by 500 non-celebrities over a 15-month period. They looked for 2800 terms that convey positive and negative emotions, including slang and swear words, a set of emoticons and common acronyms, like LOL.

By giving each term a score on a sliding scale of positivity they were able to assess whether Twitter users who used each term gained or lost followers. The keys to success, they found, were to tweet positive messages, write clearly and retweet interesting titbits of news.

People who tweeted mostly about themselves didn't fare so well. "Twitter is used quite heavily as a news medium," Hutto says. "My weak connections on Twitter care less about what I had for breakfast than they do about this neat bit of news I discovered."

Know your audience

Previous studies had suggested that following "important" people like celebrities and getting them to follow you back, alongside the frequency and timing of tweets were key factors in upping your number of followers. But the team's study suggests it's what's in your tweets, rather than who you follow, that has the biggest impact on the size of your Twitter audience.

How engaged people are with their followers also matters. "Twitter users who engage with their existing followers via mentions, replies and favouriting had positive follower growth, while users who mostly broadcast to no one in particular had dramatically suppressed growth rates," says Hutto.

Readability was also key. The team constructed a "Tweet Reading Difficulty Index" to measure how understandable the tweets were. Those whose tweets scored higher on the index had more followers.

"When deciding whether or not to follow a virtual stranger, we found Twitter users seek out well-written over poorly written content," says Hutto. "People rely on linguistic cues like spelling and vocabulary to compensate for the lack of traditional contextual cues available in face-to-face settings."

The researchers will present their findings at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Paris, France, in April.

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What is a Telephone System ,The Different Types ... - Communications

By Steven P. Garrison

What is a telephone system? If you do not know much about telephone systems, you may not have the right phone system for your company. A phone system is one of the things that any successful company, company or firm must have to conduct business effectively. The different types of phone systems that are commonly used are: PBX systems, Key systems, KSU less systems, Key and PBX system hybrids. As well as being cost-effective, these are also trusty.

For firms and firms that have 10 workers or less, the KSU less system would be perfect. This is due to the fact that this system is limited to 10 extensions. So if a business requires a phone system that may be expanded, has a lot of features and can accommodate more than 10 employees, this isn't the most appropriate choice. They should go for other phone systems like the PBX system.

If you are still asking what is telephone system and its different sorts, continue reading on. The KSU system is another kind of a business telephone system that's more cost-effective than the Key or PBX systems. It is simply installed and works efficiently. This offers portability. For bigger firms, a PBX system may accommodate more than 40 extensions, so this is suited for corporations having more than 40 staff.

During the past, business phone systems could be really high-priced. But in today's world the costs have been reduced dramatically, making telephone systems affordable for little and medium sized firms. The systems have been reconfigured into a compact size so they would fit even a small space in an office. They have leading edge features as well , even more than this of the KSU systems.

A business telephone system provides large and small businesses alike with more efficient communication, and gives the impression of a professional look. For more information about what is the best telephone system, you might want to ask a professional like Level One Communications. Contact them today!

About the Author:

We sell, install and provide support for FortiVoice, including the FortiVoice FVC-100 Phone Systems, FortiVoice FortiFone FON-550i Phones and FortiVoice FortiCare Accessories. We offer free shipping and have a 30 Day Return Policy on systems.

Source: http://onlinescommunication.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-is-telephone-system-different.html

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Nokia Lumia 520 tries to arrive at FCC incognito, given away by codename

Nokia just tried to hustle a certain RM-914 model through the FCC, but thanks to an earlier glance at the Fed's Indonesian counterpart POSTEL, we know we're actually looking at the Lumia 520. As the Finnish outfit just announced, that model represents the new low-end of its Windows Phone 8 line, though it's decently spec'd with a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 4-inch 800 x 480 IPS display and 1,430mAh battery. While eschewing LTE, the device will pack various WCDMA and HSPA+ frequencies for 3G, though in this case, we're not looking at WCDMA 900 / 2100 bands, meaning it's indeed a US model. Its next stop ought to be store shelves later this quarter -- followed by your pocket, if the $183 or so WP8 handset rings your bell.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Source: FCC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/26/nokia-lumia-520-FCC-RM-914/

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Apple agrees to settle lawsuit over in-app purchases made by children

Looks like Apple's set to put an end to the 2011 in-app purchase class action lawsuit filed on behalf of those whose children were spending a Smurphy amount of their money without account holder permission. According to the settlement, Apple could wind up giving a $5 gift certificate to upwards of 23 million customers. In matters where purchases total $30 or more, cash refunds may be awarded. The suit claims that Apple "failed to adequately disclose" the presence of in-app purchases in titles targeted at children, an issue Apple has since address by requiring passwords to be entered when making in-app purchases.

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Via: The New York Times

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/QTCyFKPJ348/

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DHS releasing illegal immigrants before sequester

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A week before mandatory budget cuts go into effect across the government, the Department of Homeland Security has started releasing illegal immigrants being held in immigration jails across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday.

Gillian Christensen, an ICE spokeswoman, said ICE has reviewed "several hundred cases" of immigrants being held in jails around the country and released them in the last week. They have been "placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release," she said.

Christensen said the agency's "priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety." She did not say how released immigrants were selected or what jails they were released from.

Tuesday's announcement of jail releases is the first tangible impact of the looming budget cuts for DHS.

The Obama administration has been issuing dire warnings about the impact of the sequestration and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters at the White House Monday that across-the-board cuts would impact the department's core operations, including border security and airport screening operations.

She also warned that DHS might not be able to afford to keep the 34,000 immigration jail beds mandated by Congress. On average last week, there were 30,773 people being held in ICE jails.

"I don't think we can maintain the same level of security at all places around the country with sequester as without sequester," said Napolitano, adding that the impact would be "'like a rolling ball. It will keep growing."

According to the National Immigration Forum, it costs the government about $164 a day to keep an illegal immigrant facing deportation jailed. In a report on immigration detention costs last year the advocacy group said costs for supervised release can range from about 30 cents to $14 a day.

Republicans lawmakers decried the releases Tuesday.

"It's abhorrent that President (Barack) Obama is releasing criminals into our communities to promote his political agenda on sequestration," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte. "By releasing criminal immigrants onto the streets, the Administration is needlessly endangering American lives. It also undermines our efforts to come together with the Administration and reform our nation's immigration laws."

The administration asked for about $1.96 billion for immigration jail operations in the last budget. It amounts to about $5.4 million a day, according to the National Immigration Forum's report.

Christensen said Tuesday that released immigrants will still face deportation proceedings.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-26-Immigrants%20Released/id-5915cbe492844c5c98c58fb82ecb48bb

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US New-Home Sales Jump to Highest Since July ... - AOL Real Estate

By

The Associated Press | Posted Feb 26th 2013 12:30PM
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. U.S. new-home sales jumped in January from the previous month to the highest level since July 2008, a sign that the housing recovery is accelerating. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that new-home sales rose nearly 16 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000. The percentage increase was the largest in nearly 20 years. And December's sales were revised higher to 378,000 from 369,000.

Steady job creation and near-record-low mortgage rates are spurring more Americans to buy houses. At the same time, the number of previously occupied homes for sale is at a 13-year low. That shortage creates more demand for new homes. Builders began construction on the most homes in four years last year. Though new homes represent less than 20 percent of the housing sales market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to data from the National Association of Homebuilders.

The increase in home building has helped boost construction hiring. The industry has gained 98,000 jobs since September, the best stretch since the spring of 2006. Still, the increases in new-home sales are coming from depressed levels. Sales plummeted to a record low in 2011. And sales are still well below the 700,000 annual level that economists consider healthy.

See also: Home Won't Sell? Offer a Pizza With the Purchase
4 Current Myths About the Real Estate Market

More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
See celebrity real estate.

Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.

Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/26/new-home-sales-janurary/

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New look at high-temperature superconductors

Feb. 25, 2013 ? While the phenomenon of superconductivity -- in which some materials lose all resistance to electric currents at extremely low temperatures -- has been known for more than a century, the temperature at which it occurs has remained too low for any practical applications. The discovery of "high-temperature" superconductors in the 1980s -- materials that could lose resistance at temperatures of up to negative 140 degrees Celsius -- led to speculation that a surge of new discoveries might quickly lead to room-temperature superconductors. Despite intense research, these materials have remained poorly understood.

There is still no agreement on a single theory to account for high-temperature superconductivity. Recently, however, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a new way to study fluctuating charge-density waves, which are the basis for one of the leading theories. The researchers say this could open the door to a better understanding of high-temperature superconductivity, and perhaps prompt new discoveries of higher-temperature superconductors.

The findings were published this week in the journal Nature Materials by assistant professor of physics Nuh Gedik; graduate student Fahad Mahmood; Darius Torchinsky, a former MIT postdoc who is now at the California Institute of Technology; and two researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Explaining the basis for high-temperature superconductivity remains "the hardest problem in condensed-matter physics," Gedik says. But one way of getting a handle on this exotic state of matter is to study what happens to these materials near their "transition temperature," the point below which they become superconductors.

Previous experiments have shown that above the transition temperature, there is a peculiar state where, Gedik says, "the material starts to behave very weirdly": Its electrons act in unusual ways, which some physicists believe is caused by a phenomenon called charge-density waves. While the electron density in most conductors is uniform, Gedik explains, in materials with charge-density waves the density is distributed in a sinusoidal pattern, somewhat like ripples on a pond. But so far, such charge-density waves have only been detected in high-temperature superconductors under special circumstances, such as a particular level of doping (the introduction of atoms of another element onto its surface).

Some researchers have proposed that these waves are elusive in high-temperature superconductors because they fluctuate very rapidly, at speeds measured in picoseconds (trillionths of a second). "You can't see it with conventional techniques," Gedik says.

That's where Gedik's new approach comes in: His team has spent years perfecting methods for studying the movement of electrons by zapping them with laser pulses lasting just a few femtoseconds (or quadrillionths of a second), and then detecting the results with a separate laser beam.

Using that method, the researchers have now detected these fluctuating waves. To do this, they have selectively generated and observed two different collective motions of electrons in these waves: variation in amplitude (the magnitude of modulation of the waves) and in phase (the position of the troughs and peaks of the waves). These measurements show that charge density waves are fluctuating at an interval of only about 2 picoseconds.

"It's not surprising that static techniques didn't see them," Gedik says, but "this settles the question: The fluctuating charge-density waves do exist" -- at least in one of the cuprate compounds, the first high-temperature superconducting materials discovered in the 1980s.

Another question: What role, if any, do these charge-density waves play in superconductivity? "Are they helping, or are they interfering?" Gedik asks. To answer this question, the researchers studied the same material, with optimal doping, in which the superconducting transition temperature is maximized. "We see no evidence of charge-density waves in this sample," Gedik says. This suggests that charge-density waves are probably competing with superconductivity.

In addition, it remains to be seen whether the same phenomenon will be observed in other high-temperature superconducting materials. The new technique should make it possible to find out.

In any case, detecting these fluctuations could help in understanding high-temperature superconductors, Gedik says -- which, in turn, could "help in finding other [superconducting materials] that actually work at room temperature." That elusive goal could enable significant new applications, such as electric transmission lines that eliminate the losses that now waste as much as 30 percent of all electricity produced.

David Hsieh, an assistant professor of physics at Caltech, says the phenomena detected by this research "are known to be very difficult to detect," so this work "is a great technical achievement and a high-quality piece of research." By showing for the first time that the fluctuating charge-density waves seem to compete with superconductivity, he says, "It provides the insight that finding a way to suppress this fluctuating charge-density wave order may simultaneously increase" the temperature limits of superconductivity.

The work, which also included researchers Anthony Bollinger and Ivan Bozovic of Brookhaven National Laboratory, was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Journal Reference:

1. Darius H. Torchinsky, Fahad Mahmood, Anthony T. Bollinger, Ivan Bo?ovi?, Nuh Gedik. Fluctuating charge-density waves in a cuprate superconductor. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3571

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/x7qwWGOeVnU/130225102555.htm

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Sony Xperia Z rolling out to 60 countries worldwide this week

If you've been salivating at the thought that Sony's latest flagship would eventually arrive on your turf, then Kaz Hirai just threw a teasing softball into your field of view. At Sony's Mobile World Congress press conference, the company chief said that the Xperia Z would soon be arriving in 60 countries across five continents this week. Of course, without any PowerPoint slides showing which locations it'll land in, it's a little tough to confirm or deny where in the world it'll arrive, but at least you can start badgering your local store, right?

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/W1JXu4jQoMU/

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ASUS PadFone Infinity announced: 5-inch, 1080p display, Snapdragon 600 CPU and full HD tablet display (hands-on)

You may have heard a new PadFone was on the way -- it's not like ASUS has been dropping obvious hints or anything. In any case, surprise! ASUS just unveiled a new model, the PadFone Infinity. Like other PadFones, this is a handset that slips into a tablet-like dock, allowing you to make use of a bigger screen. This time, though, it ships with Android 4.2, and the display has grown from 4.7 inches to 5. The resolution is now 1080p (up from 720p), which comes out to 441 pixels per inch. Additionally, the tablet's 10.1-inch screen has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200, up from 1,280 x 800 in the last-gen model. It's plenty bright, too, at 400 nits, but that's a slight step down from the last-gen model, which lit up to 500 nits.

What's more, the phone's gotten an upgrade on the inside: it now packs a quad-core, 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 chip with an Adreno 320 GPU, some of the freshest components Qualcomm has to offer at the moment. Also on-board, you get 2GB of RAM to help boost performance, with your choice of either 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage. As far as connectivity, you're looking at EDGE, GPRS, GSM, WCDMA, LTE and DC-HSPA+, along with all the usual radios: WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, A-GPS and even GLONASS. According to an ASUS rep, the device uses a nano-SIM rather than micro-SIM. Around back, ASUS has added a 13-megapixel autofocusing camera with an LED flash, five-element, f/2.0 lens and burst shooting at eight fps. There's a front camera too, capped at 2MP, in case you want to do the occasional video chat. Meanwhile, a slightly bigger 2,400mAh battery promises up to 19 hours of 3G talk time, and up to 40 with the dock attached.

Like every other PadFone that's been released, this won't be available in the US, but the phone-and-dock combo will cost £799 / €999 when it goes on sale in Europe this April. The phone is also headed to Asia, though we don't have any more details. You'll also have your choice of colors, we hear: gray, gold and hot pink, if that's what you're into. Check out our hands-on gallery for a closer look.

Update: Hands-on photos and videos now added. You're welcome.

Gallery: ASUS PadFone Infinity hands-on

Gallery: ASUS PadFone Infinity

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, ASUS

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/eq_SZQW1QhY/

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Nokia Siemens Networks aims for No.2 slot in U.S. market

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Nokia-Siemens Networks is mounting an expansion drive in North America where the world's third-largest telecom equipment maker believes a spate of deal-making among mobile carriers will play out in its favor.

Chief Executive Rajeev Suri said deals by Japan's Softbank to buy 70 percent of Sprint Nextel Corp for $20 billion, and Deutsche Telekom's purchase of MetroPCS was an opportunity for NSN to grab new U.S. business.

"It's a long game. We have gotten from number 5 to number 3 in past few years, and now we will go target number 2," Suri said in an interview at Mobile World Congress.

NSN may soon see its ownership change because a 6-year old shareholder pact between partners Nokia and Siemens expires on April 1.

The German group is eager to exit but Nokia's priority is its handset business so it is unlikely to buy out Siemens.

Suri said it was not likely that Siemens and Nokia would reach a decision on the shareholder pact at its expiry date, but said the issue had no impact on the business.

"You have to ask them what they want to do," he said.

Nokia and Siemens declined to comment.

RECOVERY MODE

The company is much healthier than it was a year ago after a restructuring which included a cull of staff from 75,000 to 58,000 and sale of non-core assets. Operating and gross margins rose last year, and NSN actually contributed to co-parent Nokia's cash flow instead of being a drain.

In the U.S. market, Suri said Softbank's arrival could work to NSN's advantage because NSN could capitalize on its strong supplier relationship with Softbank in Japan to win more contracts at Sprint and Clearwire, which Sprint is in the process of buying.

When operators merge, they often rationalize their network gear suppliers so as to cut costs, putting contracts in play.

At T-Mobile, NSN and Ericsson are the primary suppliers of mobile gear, while at MetroPCS it's Ericsson and Samsung.

"I think they will consolidate suppliers," said Suri, opening up an opportunity for NSN to displace Samsung.

GLOBAL TOP THREE

The group's renewed vigor in the United States - sales in North America rose 20 percent last year to 1.294 billion euros - could increase pressure on loss-making Alcatel-Lucent, the second-biggest network gear supplier in the U.S. market after Ericsson.

Suri is confident that NSN can cope with the fierce competition and stagnant spending by global telecom operators.

"I still believe the global market only has room for three long-term profitable companies that can thrive over the next few years," he said.

Few dispute that Ericsson and China's Huawei will be the top two, with NSN and Alcatel-Lucent vying for the third spot.

Suri said there might not be enough M&A to reduce the number of players and that some might just limp along not making money but still staying in the business.

"The strong are getting stronger and the weak are getting weaker," he said.

"Just look at LTE (4G) contracts being awarded in India, Russia, Japan, and elsewhere: the same players win."

Market research Dell'Oro said Ericsson earned $761.30 million in LTE radio access revenue in the fourth quarter, while NSN got $451.40 million. Huawei's share stood at $428.80 million, Alcatel-Lucent's $295.90 million, and Samsung's $132.10 million.

(Additional reporting by Arno Scheutze, Jens Hack, Ritsuko Ando. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nokia-siemens-networks-aims-no-2-slot-u-182009953--finance.html

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