Jupiter's 'Trojans' on an atomic scale

Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
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Contact: Florian Aigner
mail@florianaigner.at
43-158-801-41027
Vienna University of Technology

The planet Jupiter keeps asteroids on stable orbits -- and in a similar way, electrons can be stabilized in their orbit around the atomic nucleus; calculations carried out at the Vienna University of Technology have now been verified in an experiment

This release is available in German.

Planets can orbit a star for billions of years. Electrons circling the atomic nucleus are often visualized as tiny planets. But due to quantum effects, the behavior of atoms usually differs significantly from planetary systems. Austrian and US-American scientists have now succeeded in keeping electrons on planet-like orbits for a long time. This was done using an idea from astronomy: Jupiter stabilizes the orbits of asteroids (the so called "Trojans"), and in a very similar way, the orbits of electrons around the nucleus can be stabilized using an electromagnetic field. The results of this experiment have now been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Giant Atoms

They are probably the largest atoms on earth: "The diameter of the electronic orbits is several hundredths of a millimeter an enormous distance on an atomic scale", says Shuhei Yoshida (Vienna UT). The atoms are even larger than erythrocytes. Yoshida made the calculations at Vienna University of Technology, the experiment was carried out at Rice University in Houston (Texas).

The Electron is not a Planet

The idea that atoms are similar to planetary systems dates back to Niels Bohr: he came up with the first atomic model, in which electrons circle the nucleus in well-defined orbits. This view, however, is now seen to be outdated. In quantum physics, the electron is described as a quantum wave, or a "probability cloud", that surrounds the atomic nucleus. The location of an electron in the ground state (the lowest possible energy level) is not well defined. Relative to the nucleus, it is situated in all possible directions at the same time. Asking about its "real position" or its orbit just does not make sense. Only if the electron is transferred into a state of higher energy, it can be manipulated in such a way that it moves along orbit-like paths.

Jupiter's trick Used for the Atom

Unlike planets, electrons will not keep moving in such an orbit for ever. "Without additional stabilization, the electron-wave would become delocalized after a few cycles", says Professor Joachim Burgdrfer, head of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Vienna UT. A simple idea on how to stabilize orbits has been known in astronomy for a long time: the gravity of Jupiter, the heaviest planet in our solar system, stabilizes the orbits of the "Trojans" thousands of small asteroids. They aggregate around so-called "Lagrange points" on Jupiter's orbital path. Staying close to these Lagrange points, the asteroids circle the sun together with the planet with exactly the same orbital velocity, so that the asteroids never collide with Jupiter.

In the experiment, the stabilizing influence of Jupiter's gravity is substituted by a cleverly designed electromagnetic field. The field oscillates precisely with the frequency corresponding to the orbital period of the electron around the nucleus. It sets the pace for the electron, and that way the electron-wave is kept at a specific point for a long time much like a large number of asteroids, staying close to Jupiter's Lagrange points on their orbit around the sun. Quantum physics even allows manipulations which are impossible in a planetary system: using the electromagnetic field, the electron can by shifted into a different orbit as if the orbit of Jupiter and its asteroids was suddenly shifted to the orbit of Saturn.

Big and Small

The physicists succeeded in creating an atomic miniature version of a solar system and preparing atoms which are remarkably close to the historic Bohr model. In future, the researchers want to prepare atoms in which several electrons move on planetary orbits at the same time. Using such atoms, it should be possible to investigate in greater detail how the quantum-world of tiny objects corresponds to the classical world as we perceive it.

###

Picture download: http://www.tuwien.ac.at/dle/pr/aktuelles/downloads/2012/trojaner

Original publication: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.043001

Further information:

Prof. Shuhei Yoshida
Institute for Theoretical Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Wien
+43-1-58801-13611
shuhei.yoshida@tuwien.ac.at

Prof. Joachim Burgdrfer
Institute for Theoretical Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Wien
+43-1-58801-13610
burg@concord.itp.tuwien.ac.at

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Florian Aigner
mail@florianaigner.at
43-158-801-41027
Vienna University of Technology

The planet Jupiter keeps asteroids on stable orbits -- and in a similar way, electrons can be stabilized in their orbit around the atomic nucleus; calculations carried out at the Vienna University of Technology have now been verified in an experiment

This release is available in German.

Planets can orbit a star for billions of years. Electrons circling the atomic nucleus are often visualized as tiny planets. But due to quantum effects, the behavior of atoms usually differs significantly from planetary systems. Austrian and US-American scientists have now succeeded in keeping electrons on planet-like orbits for a long time. This was done using an idea from astronomy: Jupiter stabilizes the orbits of asteroids (the so called "Trojans"), and in a very similar way, the orbits of electrons around the nucleus can be stabilized using an electromagnetic field. The results of this experiment have now been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Giant Atoms

They are probably the largest atoms on earth: "The diameter of the electronic orbits is several hundredths of a millimeter an enormous distance on an atomic scale", says Shuhei Yoshida (Vienna UT). The atoms are even larger than erythrocytes. Yoshida made the calculations at Vienna University of Technology, the experiment was carried out at Rice University in Houston (Texas).

The Electron is not a Planet

The idea that atoms are similar to planetary systems dates back to Niels Bohr: he came up with the first atomic model, in which electrons circle the nucleus in well-defined orbits. This view, however, is now seen to be outdated. In quantum physics, the electron is described as a quantum wave, or a "probability cloud", that surrounds the atomic nucleus. The location of an electron in the ground state (the lowest possible energy level) is not well defined. Relative to the nucleus, it is situated in all possible directions at the same time. Asking about its "real position" or its orbit just does not make sense. Only if the electron is transferred into a state of higher energy, it can be manipulated in such a way that it moves along orbit-like paths.

Jupiter's trick Used for the Atom

Unlike planets, electrons will not keep moving in such an orbit for ever. "Without additional stabilization, the electron-wave would become delocalized after a few cycles", says Professor Joachim Burgdrfer, head of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Vienna UT. A simple idea on how to stabilize orbits has been known in astronomy for a long time: the gravity of Jupiter, the heaviest planet in our solar system, stabilizes the orbits of the "Trojans" thousands of small asteroids. They aggregate around so-called "Lagrange points" on Jupiter's orbital path. Staying close to these Lagrange points, the asteroids circle the sun together with the planet with exactly the same orbital velocity, so that the asteroids never collide with Jupiter.

In the experiment, the stabilizing influence of Jupiter's gravity is substituted by a cleverly designed electromagnetic field. The field oscillates precisely with the frequency corresponding to the orbital period of the electron around the nucleus. It sets the pace for the electron, and that way the electron-wave is kept at a specific point for a long time much like a large number of asteroids, staying close to Jupiter's Lagrange points on their orbit around the sun. Quantum physics even allows manipulations which are impossible in a planetary system: using the electromagnetic field, the electron can by shifted into a different orbit as if the orbit of Jupiter and its asteroids was suddenly shifted to the orbit of Saturn.

Big and Small

The physicists succeeded in creating an atomic miniature version of a solar system and preparing atoms which are remarkably close to the historic Bohr model. In future, the researchers want to prepare atoms in which several electrons move on planetary orbits at the same time. Using such atoms, it should be possible to investigate in greater detail how the quantum-world of tiny objects corresponds to the classical world as we perceive it.

###

Picture download: http://www.tuwien.ac.at/dle/pr/aktuelles/downloads/2012/trojaner

Original publication: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.043001

Further information:

Prof. Shuhei Yoshida
Institute for Theoretical Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Wien
+43-1-58801-13611
shuhei.yoshida@tuwien.ac.at

Prof. Joachim Burgdrfer
Institute for Theoretical Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Wien
+43-1-58801-13610
burg@concord.itp.tuwien.ac.at

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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/2012-01/vuot-jo012512.php

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The Amazing Special Effects of Boardwalk Empire Are What Make the Show Beautiful [Video]

I watch Boardwalk Empire but it's not a good show. It's only fake good. It wears the clothes, has the style and carries the swagger of a good show but it doesn't hold a candle to the old HBO greats. But you know what is great about Boardwalk Empire? The special effects. I had no idea. Watch the magic. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NX4JXwTwvGc/the-amazing-special-effects-of-boardwalk-empire-are-what-make-the-show-beautiful

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EU formally adopts Iran oil embargo

British Foreign Minister William Hague waits for the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

British Foreign Minister William Hague waits for the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton speak with journalists prior to a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Italian Foreign Minister Guilio Terzi di Sant'Agata speaks with the media prior to a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

British Foreign Minister William Hague, left, speaks with Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn during a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to agree to new economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

British Foreign Minister William Hague, right, speaks with Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg during a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. EU foreign ministers are set to impose an embargo on Iranian oil to pressure the country to resume talks on its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

BRUSSELS (AP) ? The European Union formally adopted an oil embargo Monday against Iran and a freeze of the assets of the country's central bank, part of sanctions meant to pressure the country to resume talks on its nuclear program.

Diplomats said the measures, which were adopted in Brussels by the EU's 27 foreign ministers, include an immediate embargo on new contracts for crude oil and petroleum products, while existing contracts will be allowed to run until July.

EU diplomats are calling the measure part of a twin track approach toward Iran: increase sanctions to discourage what they suspect is Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons but emphasize at the same time the international community's willingness to talk. Iran says its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called the embargo part of "an unprecedented set of sanctions."

"I think this shows the resolve of the European Union on this issue," Hague said.

The EU also agreed to freeze the assets of the Iranian central bank. Together, the two measures are intended not only to pressure Iran to agree to talks but also to choke of funding for its nuclear activities.

In October, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton sent a letter to Saeed Jalili, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, saying her goal was a negotiated solution that "restores international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program."

She says she has not yet received a reply.

In advance of Monday's decision, negotiators worked hard to try to ensure that the embargo would punish only Iran ? and not EU member Greece, which is in dire financial trouble and relies heavily on low-priced Iranian oil.

The foreign ministers agreed to a review of the effects of the sanctions, to be completed by May 1, a diplomat said. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the subject before the official announcement. They agreed in principle to make up the costs Greece incurs as a result of the embargo.

"It is important to know what will happen to individual countries as a consequence of the sanctions," Ashton said before the meeting.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exile group opposed to the country's clerical regime, welcomed the new sanctions and called for their implementation without delay.

"For over two decades, the Iranian Resistance has called for comprehensive oil and financial sanctions against the religious and terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran," Maryam Rajavi, the organization's president-elect, said in a statement.

The council, founded in 1981, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, but not by the European Union.

"While the clerical regime is all out to obtain nuclear weapons, a five-month delay in putting these sanctions in full force provides a significant amount of time for this regime to implement its ominous plots," Rajavi said.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said it was critical that action be taken.

"This is not a question of security in the region," he said. "It is a question of security in the world."

____

Raf Casert contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-23-EU-EU-Iran/id-f027439f019b4a6083f29bc9d7b5113f

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Sundance Today: Snow, Snow And More Snow

Snow. I hate snow.
Perhaps hate is a strong word, but make no mistake, the blizzard like conditions that have afflicted Park City in the past two days have made the Sundance Film Festival an unwieldy beast to tame. Bus operations have been wrecked. Traveling on foot without boots has become damn near impossible ? a [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/22/sundance-today-snow-snow-and-more-snow/

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Arab states set to keep monitors in Syria (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Arab states, divided over how to handle the crisis in Syria, are likely to extend a peace mission there which critics say is handing President Bashar al-Assad more time to kill opponents of his rule.

Arab foreign ministers were gathering in Cairo on Sunday to debate the findings of the month-long monitoring mission, whose mandate expired on Thursday, and must decide whether to extend, withdraw or strengthen it.

Some want to crank up pressure on Assad to end a 10-month-old crackdown on a popular revolt in which, according to the United Nations, more than 5,000 people have died.

Others worry that weakening Assad could tip Syria, with its potent mix of religious and ethnic allegiances, into a deeper conflict that would destabilize the entire region, and some may fear the threat from their own populations if he were toppled.

The head of the monitoring effort, Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, was in the Egyptian capital to present his report to ministers, who were due to meet after a gathering of the Arab League's Syria committee.

Hundreds of people have been killed during the monitoring mission, sent to assess Syria's implementation of the Arab plan, which was originally agreed in early November.

Syrian opposition activists said Assad's forces killed 35 civilians on Saturday and 30 unidentified corpses were found at a hospital in Idlib. The state news agency SANA said bombs killed at least 14 prisoners and two security personnel in a security vehicle in Idlib province.

STRONGER MISSION?

Maintaining the 165 monitors, and perhaps giving them a broader remit, could give Arab states more time to find a way out of the crisis.

The Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, citing an unnamed source, said Dabi planned to tell ministers that the Syrian government had not done enough to respect the peace protocol and to request that the mission be extended.

The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, met several Arab officials on Saturday and a source close to the League said the ministers could decide both to extend the mission and to offer it additional support in the form of U.N. or military experts.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia, regional rivals of Syria and its ally Iran, are impatient for decisive action against Assad and Qatar has suggested sending Arab troops to Syria.

The League is due to discuss the suggestion but military action against Assad would need unanimous backing and several countries still believe in a negotiated solution, League sources say. Some of Assad's opponents say they gave up hope of help from Arab governments long ago.

On Saturday, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) formally asked the Arab League to refer the Syrian crisis to the United Nations Security Council.

"We think that when the Arab League refers the case to the United Nations and to the Security Council the situation will change," SNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani said in Cairo.

But the Security Council is also split on how to address the crisis, with Western powers demanding tougher sanctions and a weapons embargo but Assad's ally Russia preferring to leave the Arabs to negotiate a peaceful outcome.

Suggestions to send in U.N. experts to support the Arab observers made little headway at the last meeting earlier this month and Damascus has said it would accept an extension of the observer mission but not an expansion in its scope.

Syria, keen to avoid tougher foreign action, has tried to show it is complying with the Arab peace plan, which demanded a halt to killings, a military pullout from the streets, the release of detainees, access for the monitors and the media, and a political dialogue with opposition groups.

This month the Syrian authorities have freed hundreds of detainees, announced an amnesty, struck a ceasefire deal with armed rebels in one town, allowed the Arab observers into some troublespots and admitted some foreign journalists.

Assad also promised political reforms, while vowing iron-fisted treatment of the "terrorists" trying to topple him.

SNC chief Burhan Ghalioun told reporters that the observers were not properly equipped to give a fair assessment of Syria's compliance with the Arab peace plan and his group would reject any findings that fell short of the Syrian people's aspirations.

(Reporting by Ayman Samir, Yasmine Saleh and Lin Noueihed; editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/wl_nm/us_syria

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Islamists secure top spot in new Egypt parliament (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? The Muslim Brotherhood won by far the biggest share of seats allocated to party lists in Egypt's first freely-elected parliament in decades, final results confirmed, giving it a major role in drafting the country's new constitution.

Banned under former leader Hosni Mubarak and his predecessors, the Brotherhood has emerged as the winner from his overthrow. Islamists of various stripes have taken about two thirds of seats in the assembly, broadly in line with their own forecasts.

The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has promised all Egyptians will have a voice in the new parliament, but Islamists are now set to wield major influence over a new constitution to be drafted by a 100-strong body parliament will help pick.

Under a complex electoral system, two thirds or 332 of the seats in lower house are decided by proportional representation on closed party lists. The other third are contested by individual candidates.

According to final results of the staggered election issued by the High Elections Committee on Saturday, the Brotherhood's electoral alliance took a 38 percent share of the seats allocated to lists.

The hardline Islamist Al-Nour Party won 29 percent of list seats. The liberal New Wafd and Egyptian Bloc coalition came third and fourth respectively.

The Revolution Continues coalition, dominated by youth groups at the forefront of the protests that toppled Mubarak, attracted less than a million votes and took just seven of the 498 seats up for grabs in the lower house.

The elections committee did not give results for individual seats, but the FJP's alliance said on Saturday it now expected to take more than 47 percent of all seats in the lower house.

RECONCILIATORY

Having secured the biggest bloc, the FJP named Saad al-Katatni, a leading Brotherhood official who sat in the old parliament as an independent, as speaker of the assembly.

While the strong Islamist performance has alarmed liberal Egyptians and Western governments who had close ties to Mubarak, it is unclear if rival Islamists will team up in the assembly.

The FJP expressed its "confidence that Katatni will be at the same distance from all representatives, either those of the FJP or other parties."

This would "uphold the principle of democracy and consolidate the rules of political participation," the party said in a statement.

The rise of the Islamists in Egypt's first election since Mubarak's overthrow in February last year marks a monumental shift from the past when parliament was a compliant body stuffed with members of his National Democratic Party and the Muslim Brotherhood was officially banned but tolerated.

The arrival of a new generation of politicians with a genuine popular mandate suggests parliament will seek to temper the power of the ruling military council, which has pledged to step aside at the end of June.

Katatni, who sat on the Brotherhood's policy committee, told Reuters the new assembly would be "reconciliatory."

"The priorities are meeting the demands of the revolution, including the rights of the injured and those killed in the uprising," he said.

(Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/wl_nm/us_egypt_elections_results

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Search resumes for missing on capsized Italy liner (Reuters)

GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) ? Search crews blasted holes into the wrecked Italian liner on Thursday to allow divers to continue a search for bodies, with time running out before the weather turns and salvage crews need to start pumping out the fuel tanks.

Six days after the 114,500 tonne Costa Concordia capsized off the Tuscan coast, hopes of finding anyone alive on the partially submerged hulk have all but disappeared and the cold waters around the ship have become noticeably rougher.

One of the specialist diving crews said on Thursday the available window could be as small as 12-24 hours although the chief spokesman of the rescue services denied that any deadline had been set and said the situation was still evolving.

"The ship is a labyrinth. It's gigantic and it's lying on its side in the water. It's a miracle that so many survived," said Modesto Dilda, head of one of the diving teams.

Eleven people are known to have died out of more than 4,200 passengers and crew aboard when the ship struck a rock just meters from the shoreline, tearing a large gash in the side of the hull. As many as 24 are still unaccounted for. Two French passengers were identified among the dead on Thursday.

The ship's captain Francesco Schettino has been placed under house arrest, accused of causing the accident by sailing too close to the rocky shore and then abandoning ship before the evacuation was complete.

The ship's operators Costa Cruises, have suspended him and said they considered themselves "the damaged party" in the accident, which industry experts say could turn out to be the biggest maritime insurance claim in history.

On Thursday, SkyTG24 broadcast a tape of what was described as a conversation between coastguard officials and the bridge of the Concordia which appeared to show ship's officers telling authorities they had suffered only a blackout more than 30 minutes after the impact.

Italian media also devoted considerable attention to a female Moldovan crew member who was on board but not on duty. Several reports said she had been seen on the bridge with Schettino.

"Mystery over the girl," was one headline, carried on the website of the Corriere della Sera. It said her presence on the bridge was "inexplicable."

"Was she a guest of the captain? And why was she not registered? Was she working without a contract?"

In an interview with a Moldovan television station, the woman, 25 year-old Domnica Cemortan, recounted how she had survived the ordeal by thinking of her daughter and praised Schettino's "extraordinary" handling of the situation.

"Many of my colleagues have the right to be angry, because now they have no work, they have to go home, they have children, debts to pay, all sorts of problems," she told JurnalTV.

"Yet we all support the captain, because he has done something extraordinary: he has saved the lives of over three thousand people."

In a statement, Costa said she had embarked normally on January 13 in Civitavecchia and was properly registered.

SEARCH RESUMES

After interrupting the search on Wednesday when rescuers feared the vast liner was shifting on its resting place, crews resumed their search at first light on Thursday. They expect to blast three holes in the hull at about 20 meters depth.

An expected worsening of weather conditions in the next few days has added extra pressure on the diving teams to complete their search of the vessel.

Nothing was found in the morning during a search of the fourth deck, around an evacuation assembly point where seven of the bodies found so far were located but rescue workers continued operations after blasting new a way into the vessel.

"It's important to continue our search. Family members find it important to have the body of the loved one they've lost because it gives them closure. We understand this," said Dilda.

Relatives of some of the French missing arrived on Thursday accompanied by consular officials but did not speak to reporters. One of the group appeared so upset that she had to be supported and helped into a church.

As hopes of finding survivors fade, attention has increasingly shifted to the threat of an environmental disaster in one of Europe's largest natural marine parks.

The ship is holding more than 2,300 tonnes of diesel and lubricating oil, and salvage crews are already preparing to begin pumping the fuel out of the wreck, a process that is expected to take at least two weeks.

Environment Minister Corrado Clini has warned there was a risk that with sea conditions expected to worsen, the ship could slip down 50 to 90 meters from the rock shelf it is resting on, further damaging the vessel.

He said ship operator Costa Cruises had been instructed to ensure steps are taken to limit the damage if the ship's fuel tanks rupture, including putting in place some 1,000 meters of pollution barriers.

LITTLE HOPE

The judge who placed Schettino under house arrest said he had shown "incredible carelessness" and "a total inability to manage the successive phases of the emergency," only sounding the alarm 30 to 40 minutes after the initial impact.

He had abandoned the ship and remained on shore in a state of "complete inertia" for more than an hour, "watching the ship sink," according to the ruling.

"No serious attempt was made by the captain to return even close to the ship in the immediate aftermath of abandoning the Costa Concordia."

According to Schettino's lawyer, the captain has admitted bringing the ship too close to shore but he denies bearing sole responsibility for the accident and says other factors may have played a role.

The ship foundered after striking a rock as dinner was being served on Friday night. The owners say the captain swung inshore to "take a bow" to the islanders, who included a retired Italian admiral. Investigators say it was within 150 meters of shore.

Most of the passengers and crew survived despite hours of chaos and confusion after the collision. The alarm was raised not by an SOS from the ship but mobile phone calls from passengers on board to Italian police on the mainland.

(Additional reporting by Radu Marinas in Bucharest, Silvia Ognibene in Grosseto; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/wl_nm/us_italy_ship

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Neural network gets an idea of number without counting

AN ARTIFICIAL brain has taught itself to estimate the number of objects in an image without actually counting them, emulating abilities displayed by some animals including lions and fish, as well as humans.

Because the model was not preprogrammed with numerical capabilities, the feat suggests that this skill emerges due to general learning processes rather than number-specific mechanisms. "It answers the question of how numerosity emerges without teaching anything about numbers in the first place," says Marco Zorzi at the University of Padua in Italy, who led the work.

The finding may also help us to understand dyscalculia - where people find it nearly impossible to acquire basic number and arithmetic skills - and enhance robotics and computer vision.

The skill in question is known as approximate number sense. A simple test of ANS involves looking at two groups of dots on a page and intuitively knowing which has more dots, even though you have not counted them. Fish use ANS to pick the larger, and therefore safer, shoal to swim in.

To investigate ANS, Zorzi and colleague Ivilin Stoianov used a computerised neural network that responds to images and generates new "fantasy" ones based on rules that it deduces from the original images. The software models a retina-like layer of neurons that fire in response to the raw pixels, plus two deeper layers that do more sophisticated processing based on signals from layers above.

The pair fed the network 51,800 images, each containing up to 32 rectangles of varying sizes. In response to each image, the program strengthened or weakened connections between neurons so that its image generation model was refined by the pattern it had just "seen". Zorzi likens it to "learning how to visualise what it has just experienced".

Infants demonstrate ANS without being taught, so the network was not preprogrammed with the concept of "amount". But when Zorzi and Stoianov looked at the network's behaviour, they discovered a subset of neurons in the deepest layer that fired more often as the number of objects in the image decreased. This suggested that the network had learned to estimate the number of objects in each image as part of its rules for generating images. This behaviour was independent of the total surface area of the objects, emphasising that the neurons were detecting number.

What's more, these firing patterns followed the trend shown by neurons inside the parietal cortex of monkeys. This region is involved in knowledge of numbers, suggesting that the model might reflect how real brains work.

To see if these patterns could give rise to ANS, the pair created a second program and fed it the firing patterns of the number-detecting neurons in the first program. They also fed it information on whether the number of objects associated with each firing pattern was bigger or smaller than a reference number. Trained in this way, the model could estimate whether a fresh image contained more or fewer than a given number of objects (Nature Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1038/nn.2996).

Brian Butterworth, who studies mathematical cognition at University College London, says the work breaks new ground. "It gives an explanation for how we estimate number when we can't count."

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US Internet piracy case brings New Zealand arrests

Megaupload.com employees Bram van der Kolk, also known as Bramos, left, Finn Batato,second from left, Mathias Ortmann and founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.com Kim Dotcom (also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor), right, appear in North Shore District Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. The four appeared in court in relation to arrests made to Megaupload.com, which is linked to a U.S. investigation into international copyright infringement and money laundering. (AP Photo/Greg Bowker, New Zealand Herald) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT

Megaupload.com employees Bram van der Kolk, also known as Bramos, left, Finn Batato,second from left, Mathias Ortmann and founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.com Kim Dotcom (also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor), right, appear in North Shore District Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. The four appeared in court in relation to arrests made to Megaupload.com, which is linked to a U.S. investigation into international copyright infringement and money laundering. (AP Photo/Greg Bowker, New Zealand Herald) NEW ZEALAND OUT, AUSTRALIA OUT

This undated image obtained by The Associated Press shows the homepage of the website Megaupload.com. Federal prosecutors in Virginia have shut down one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, and charged its founder and others with violating piracy laws. (AP Photo)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

____

Matthew Barakat reported from McLean, Virginia.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-20-Internet-Piracy-Indictment/id-8bffdc71b52a40fab1ac9723869de3d8

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Another anti-government protest in Romania

Anti-government protesters march in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, in a rally called by opposition groups. Police on Sunday clashed with a small contingent of around 1,000 protesters in the capital, after four days of demonstrations against austerity measures turned violent. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

Anti-government protesters march in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, in a rally called by opposition groups. Police on Sunday clashed with a small contingent of around 1,000 protesters in the capital, after four days of demonstrations against austerity measures turned violent. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

Anti-government protesters shout slogans in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Some thousands joined an opposition called anti-government protest. Police on Sunday clashed with a small contingent of around 1,000 protesters in the capital, after four days of demonstrations against austerity measures turned violent. (AP Photo/Octav Ganea)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ? Thousands of Romanians, including teenage students who cut class, marched through their capital on Thursday to demand the resignation of their government for imposing harsh austerity measures in order to receive international loans for the nation's battered economy.

It was one of the largest protests in recent times in Bucharest and came after a week of sometimes violent anti-government demonstrations.

As the march reached University Square, protesters blocked traffic and shouted what has become a trademark slogan aimed at President Traian Basescu: "Get out, you miserable dog."

The square ? a focal point of recent protests ? is historically significant for Romanians because it was a centerpiece of the 1989 anti-communist revolution that led to Romania's birth of democracy.

On Thursday, some protesters pretended to hang Basescu and his close political ally, Tourism and Regional Development Minister Elena Udrea, by stringing their dummies to gallows set up in the square.

"Resign!" and "Down with Basescu!" other protesters screamed.

Some 14-year-old students at a school located along the route of the march abandoned class to join the demonstration. "To prison with you!" the students yelled at their president.

Police said 7,000 attended the rally, while organizers claimed the crowd was far larger.

In 2009, Romania took a two-year euro20 billion ($27.5 billion) loan from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the World Bank as its economy shrank by 7.1 percent. It imposed harsh austerity measures under the agreement, reducing public wages by 25 percent and increasing taxes. Anger has mounted over the wage cuts, slashed benefits, higher taxes and widespread corruption.

On Thursday, Basescu made his first public appearance since the protests began a week ago in an address to ambassadors in Bucharest. He spoke about Iran, the Middle East, domestic reforms and the "Arab Spring," but did not touch on the demonstrations or the anger over the state of Romania's economy.

During the Bucharest rally, one protester who only identified himself as Tudor, a 43-year-old locksmith said: "We want decent salaries and pensions. We want change ? from the top to the bottom."

Another protester, a 55-year-old nurse named Lorelei said, "We wouldn't have needed to have austerity measures if our governments hadn't stolen so much and bled us dry." She said she has attended all this week's anti-government rallies.

Three opposition parties organized Thursday's march, with protesters arriving in the capital from all over the country. Opposition leaders and Romanian personalities addressed the crowd before the march.

___

Alison Mutler reported from Bucharest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-19-EU-Romania-Protests/id-9f18ea277591400ea3896c3d19bbaadf

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Analysis: Rescue fund downgrade raises pressure on euro zone (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Political resistance is clashing with financial imperatives as the euro zone tries to strengthen its capacity to rescue debt-stricken member states after Europe's temporary bailout fund lost its top-notch credit rating.

Standard & Poor's downgrading of the European Financial Stability Facility to AA+ on Monday raised pressure on the 17-member currency area to end disputes holding up the launch of a permanent rescue fund, and to let both run alongside each other with full lending power from July.

The move cast doubt on whether the permanent 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism will win a top S&P rating. The ESM will have a stronger structure than the EFSF, but both funds have the same shareholders - euro zone governments - nine of which were downgraded last week. France and Austria both lost their triple-A ratings.

EU paymaster Germany has rejected raising its contribution to either fund, which would require parliamentary approval. The Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg, which along with Berlin kept their triple-A status, also ruled out putting up more money.

EU officials insisted the S&P action would have little or no impact on the fund's capacity, since the two other major credit watchdogs, Moody's and Fitch, still rate the EFSF as triple-A.

"As long as it is only one rating agency there is no need to do anything really," EFSF chief Klaus Regling told reporters during a trip to Singapore to meet investors.

"You had the same situation when S&P downgraded the U.S.. The others did not follow. There was no market impact."

To boost their firepower in case Spain or Italy need financing programs like Greece, Ireland and Portugal, euro zone leaders pushed forward the launch of the ESM by one year to July 2012. They agreed to let it run in parallel with the EFSF for one year rather than immediately replacing it.

They also said they would review in March the limit on lending by both the EFSF and ESM, which had been set at 500 billion euros, signaling they may raise this combined ceiling.

ESM VOTING DISPUTE

But there are political obstacles to finishing work on the ESM, including strong Finnish opposition to efforts by euro zone leaders Germany and France to take ESM decisions by qualified majority vote rather than unanimity to prevent small states blocking urgent action.

Since the idea was announced in December there has been no progress in resolving the dispute with Finland, where the government would need the backing of two-thirds of parliament to accept the change - a majority it does not have.

"There is hope, but others have to understand Finland's problems and give in a little," one euro zone official involved in talks between Helsinki and euro zone capitals said.

The EFSF relies on guarantees from euro zone governments to borrow cheaply and lend the money on to countries cut off from the markets to give them time to reform.

Its maximum lending capacity, based on the guarantees, is 440 billion euros, assuming bonds issued by the EFSF have the highest credit rating.

Credit Suisse analysts said the demotion of France and Austria meant the fund's effective AAA lending capacity was now just 110 billion euros, compared to 183 billion euros before the downgrade.

With the EFSF's firepower diminished, fellow leaders are more likely to overcome German objections and remove the combined lending limit, officials suggest.

"We will see pressure towards that, rather than some new steps inside the EFSF," the euro zone official said. "It would be easier politically to do this, than to say 'we will need more guarantees from the remaining AAAs and others'."

MARKET PRESSURE SEEN KEY

But another euro zone source said Germany was unlikely to budge unless there was strong market pressure in March.

"All will depend on how the markets are moving. If there is no sense of drama, I really doubt that the cap will be removed, particularly because of one very important country (Germany). If there is drama on the markets, this might change."

Euro zone politicians believe the ESM will be a stronger institution than the EFSF, because it will have paid-in capital of 80 billion euros and 620 billion euros of callable capital, making it more like a bank and less dependent on ratings.

But callable capital also depends on the creditworthiness of those that are meant to supply it on demand, and Royal Bank of Scotland said in a research note the ESM may need double the initially foreseen callable capital to secure a AAA rating.

"If the ESM wants to maintain its AAA rating and its lending capacity at 500 billion euros, then subscribed capital would need to be increased to 1.28 trillion euros (from 700 billion currently). This would lead to doubling in callable capital for all member countries," the bank said.

Officials said there has been no discussion so far of increasing the amounts of paid-in or callable capital.

German leaders say the EFSF's current resources have not been exhausted, and apart from a planned second bailout package for Greece, which is within its means, no further financial rescues are expected.

In contrast to U.S. and British officials, who argue that the euro zone urgently needs a bigger headline number to prevent market contagion, Berlin contends that increasing the rescue funds would be seen as a sign of panic, or encourage Italy and Spain to let up on painful economic reforms.

"There is no sense of panic or drama," the euro zone official said.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Paul Taylor and Stephen Nisbet)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/bs_nm/us_eurozone_fund

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AMD's Ultrabook competitor to focus on price, undercut Intel

When AMD showed off its upcoming Trinity APUs at CES the company was pretty light on the details. We're still stuck holding our breath for specs, but DigiTimes is reporting some alleged info on pricing. According to the report, AMD's "Ultrathin" laptops will hit shelves priced between $100 and $200 less than comparably-equipped Intel machines. Of course, the folks from Sunnyvale have traditionally hit Chipzilla on pricing rather than performance (except during a brief period in the aughts when Intel got lost in the Netburst woods), so dirt-cheap AMD "Ultrabooks" wouldn't come as much of a surprise. Then again, pressure on both the laptop and tablet front could cause the Santa Clara crew to reevaluate its pricing strategy leaving its competition to either further cut profit margins or find a new angle of attack.

AMD's Ultrabook competitor to focus on price, undercut Intel originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  DigiTimes  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/17/amds-ultrabook-competitor-to-focus-on-price-undercut-intel/

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If doughnuts could talk they'd tell you to take the elevator instead of the stairs

Public release date: 17-Jan-2012
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Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals

Humanizing a brand can influence consumer behavior in a healthy or unhealthy directiondepending on how they envision the brand, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"This research suggests that people's behavior will be influenced by the brands they have been asked to think about," write authors Pankaj Aggarwal (University of Toronto) and Ann L. McGill (University of Chicago).

The authors conducted three laboratory studies where they asked half of the participants to imagine well-known brands as coming to life as a person (anthropomorphizing). Other participants were not instructed to think about brands in human terms. Anthropomorphizing participants considered some brands to be partners (working along with the consumers to achieve benefits) and others to be servants (the brand did work on behalf of the consumer).

After thinking about Kellogg's or Krispy Kreme, participants were asked to do a second study where they were asked about day-to-day judgments. They were asked if they would take the stairs (healthy behavior) or the elevator (less healthy behavior) in their building. "Those who had earlier been thinking about a humanized Kellogg were more likely to take the stairs, consistent with the Kellogg's image, but those thinking about Krispy Kreme were more likely to take the elevator, consistent with the Krispy Kreme image, provided they liked the brand," the authors write.

For a "servant brand" (like Volvo, known for safety), people behaved in opposite ways from the brand's image. "People who thought about the humanized Volvo took on more risk [in gambling], accepting less and less advantageous gambles, behavior that is the opposite of the brand reputation."

"Whether or not people's behavior was affected by the brand depended on how they had been asked to envision the brand, specifically, as coming to life as a person or not," the authors write. "Then whether they acted like the brand's image or the opposite depended on whether the brand seemed to play a role more like a partner in their lives or a servant to them, and whether they liked it or not."

###

Pankaj Aggarwal and Ann L. McGill. "When Brands Seem Human, Do Humans Act Like Brands? Automatic Behavioral Priming Effects of Brand Anthropomorphism." Journal of Consumer Research: August 2012 (published online November 11, 2011).

---

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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: 17-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals

Humanizing a brand can influence consumer behavior in a healthy or unhealthy directiondepending on how they envision the brand, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"This research suggests that people's behavior will be influenced by the brands they have been asked to think about," write authors Pankaj Aggarwal (University of Toronto) and Ann L. McGill (University of Chicago).

The authors conducted three laboratory studies where they asked half of the participants to imagine well-known brands as coming to life as a person (anthropomorphizing). Other participants were not instructed to think about brands in human terms. Anthropomorphizing participants considered some brands to be partners (working along with the consumers to achieve benefits) and others to be servants (the brand did work on behalf of the consumer).

After thinking about Kellogg's or Krispy Kreme, participants were asked to do a second study where they were asked about day-to-day judgments. They were asked if they would take the stairs (healthy behavior) or the elevator (less healthy behavior) in their building. "Those who had earlier been thinking about a humanized Kellogg were more likely to take the stairs, consistent with the Kellogg's image, but those thinking about Krispy Kreme were more likely to take the elevator, consistent with the Krispy Kreme image, provided they liked the brand," the authors write.

For a "servant brand" (like Volvo, known for safety), people behaved in opposite ways from the brand's image. "People who thought about the humanized Volvo took on more risk [in gambling], accepting less and less advantageous gambles, behavior that is the opposite of the brand reputation."

"Whether or not people's behavior was affected by the brand depended on how they had been asked to envision the brand, specifically, as coming to life as a person or not," the authors write. "Then whether they acted like the brand's image or the opposite depended on whether the brand seemed to play a role more like a partner in their lives or a servant to them, and whether they liked it or not."

###

Pankaj Aggarwal and Ann L. McGill. "When Brands Seem Human, Do Humans Act Like Brands? Automatic Behavioral Priming Effects of Brand Anthropomorphism." Journal of Consumer Research: August 2012 (published online November 11, 2011).

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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/2012-01/uocp-idc011712.php

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The Engadget Show returns Friday, January 20th!

Sleep? Ha! We may have spent the past 10 days or so rocking the Las Vegas Convention Center, but that doesn't mean it's time to rest on our over overtired laurels. Nope, we're back this Friday with the first Engadget Show of 2012, and it's going to be a fun one -- we'll be taking a look at the biggest gadgets, interviews and stories to come out of this year's CES and offering up all sorts of surprises.

Best of all, if you're in New York City, you can be a part of the live show -- just fire off an email to engadgetshow [at] engadget.com.

Here are the deets:
o. The event is all ages.
o. We'll open doors and begin seating at 5:15pm on January 20th, and the taping begins at 6:00PM. We'll be closing the doors at 5:50PM.
o. Winners must confirm and print tickets 24 hours before taping begins or risk forfeiting their seat.
o. Please bring a photo ID with you to the taping.
o. The show length is around an hour.

If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

The Engadget Show returns Friday, January 20th! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/17/the-engadget-show-returns-friday-january-20th/

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Why investing is important to us? | Total Quality Business Management

January 15th, 2012 by admin Leave a reply ?

All those forward-thinking and modern life must have been having a good plan and?little by little he has begun to set aside income to begin investing. To start?investing, we do not need to directly start from the bulk. We can start investing?from a small amount of money we have. Because investment equals savings, therefore?we must control ourselves to restrain consumption for all the needs of the less?important.

Learn to invest serves to help us control of all worldly desires. If we have?become accustomed to invest from now, then in old age we are still going to live a?decent and happy. Investment is basically a very good and interesting to try, but?we really should be more careful and scrupulous in spending money.

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Source: http://www.sonikempire.com/investing-important.html

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