Scientists discover water ice on Mercury: Ice and organic material may have been carried to the planet by passing comets

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet in our solar system, revolves around the sun in a mere 88 days, making a tight orbit that keeps the planet incredibly toasty. Surface temperatures on Mercury can reach a blistering 800 degrees Fahrenheit -- hot enough to liquefy lead.

Now researchers from NASA, MIT, the University of California at Los Angeles and elsewhere have discovered evidence that the scorching planet may harbor pockets of water ice, along with organic material, in several permanently shadowed craters near Mercury's north pole.

The surprising discovery suggests to scientists that both ice and organic material, such as carbon, may have been deposited on Mercury's surface by impacts from comets or asteroids. Over time, this volatile material could then have migrated to the planet's poles.

"We thought the most exciting finding could be that this really was water ice," says Maria Zuber, the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, and a member of the research team. "But the identification of darker, insulating material that may indicate complex organics makes the story even more thrilling."

Zuber and her colleagues published their results this week in the journal Science.

Mounting evidence for ice

The possibility that water ice might exist on Mercury is not new: In the 1990s, radar observations detected bright regions near Mercury's poles that scientists believed could be signs of either water ice or a rough planetary surface. However, the evidence was inconclusive for either scenario.

To get a clearer picture of Mercury's polar regions, Zuber and her colleagues analyzed observations taken by NASA's MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) mission, a probe that has been orbiting the planet and mapping its topography since April 2011.

Mapping the planet's surface is a challenging task, as the craft must weather the sun's intense radiation, which can "play havoc with electronics," Zuber says. What's more, the probe moves from pole to pole in an elliptical orbit, making for an extremely tricky mapping mission, both dynamically and thermally. Despite these challenges, MESSENGER's onboard laser altimeter has amassed more than 10 laser pulses that have been used to map topography and measure the near-infrared reflectance of the surface.

Last year, researchers analyzed the probe's topographic observations and created a high-resolution map of Mercury; they then overlaid previous radar observations. They found that the bright regions detected in radar lined up with permanently shadowed craters at the planet's north pole -- regions that never see the sun, and which are potentially ideal places for ice to survive. This finding was one more piece of evidence that Mercury might harbor water ice.

Revealing shadows

In this latest analysis of MESSENGER's observations, scientists believe they have found conclusive evidence for water ice on Mercury, although the data was at first puzzling.

The team found that the probe's reflectance measurements, taken via laser altimetry, matched up well with previously mapped radar-bright regions in Mercury's high northern latitudes. Two craters in particular were bright, both in radar and at laser wavelengths, indicating the possible presence of reflective ice. However, just south of these craters, others appeared dark with laser altimetry, but bright in radar.

The observations "threw us off track for a long time," Zuber says, until another team member, David Paige of UCLA, developed a thermal model of the planet. Using MESSENGER observations of Mercury's topography, reflectance and rotational characteristics, the model simulated the sun's illumination of the planet, enabling precise determination of Mercury's temperature at and below the surface.

Results indicated that the unusually bright deposits corresponded to regions where water ice was stable at the surface; in dark regions, ice was stable within a meter of the surface. The dark insulating material is consistent with complex organics that would already be dark but may have been darkened further by the intense radiation at Mercury's surface.

In addition, MESSENGER's neutron spectrometer detected elemental hydrogen in the vicinity of Mercury's north pole. The combination of the compositional, spectral and geometric observations and the thermal models provided a strong, self-consistent explanation for the unusual radar backscatter observations.

Paul Lucey, a professor of geophysics and planetology at the University of Hawaii, points out that MESSENGER has also revealed a number of regions where surfaces were much darker than in previous radar measurements. Lucey interprets these results as possible evidence of receding ice on Mercury's surface.

"This suggests that in the past, ice was more extensive on Mercury, and retreated to its current state," says Lucey, who was not involved in the research. "Even Mercury experiences global warming."

MESSENGER will continue to orbit Mercury, and Zuber says future data may reveal information beyond the planet's surface. "There are still some really good questions to answer about the interior," Zuber says. "I'll tell you, we're not done."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The original article was written by Jennifer Chu.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal References:

1. David A. Paige, Matthew A. Siegler, John K. Harmon, Gregory A. Neumann, Erwan M. Mazarico, David E. Smith, Maria T. Zuber, Ellen Harju, Mona L. Delitsky, and Sean C. Solomon. Thermal Stability of Volatiles in the North Polar Region of Mercury. Science, 29 November 2012 DOI: 10.1126/science.1231106
2. Gregory A. Neumann, John F. Cavanaugh, Xiaoli Sun, Erwan M. Mazarico, David E. Smith, Maria T. Zuber, Dandan Mao, David A. Paige, Sean C. Solomon, Carolyn M. Ernst, and Olivier S. Barnouin. Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles. Science, 29 November 2012 DOI: 10.1126/science.1229764

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/dIp6jTJsncs/121129151336.htm

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Apple's Quietly Huge iTunes Business Gets A Massive Redesign ...

Because Apple is a $500 billion company generating $100 billion a year thanks mostly to iPhones and iPads, it's easy to forget that iTunes is itself a huge business ? set to generate revenues around $15 billion next year.

Revenues like that are bigger than Yahoo and Facebook's revenues combined.

So it's worth paying attention to iTunes, especially when Apple releases an entirely new version of it, like it did yesterday.

Yesterday, the world's most influential Apple blogger, John Gruber, took a long look at the update.

Here's a bullet-point version of what he had to say:

• On the missing sidebar: "iTunes 11 is in many ways a redefinition of what it means to be a modern Mac app.?There?s an iOS-inspired emphasis on putting less stuff in your face at the same time."
• On his favorite new element, "Expanded View": "In a graphical list of albums or movies or shows, you click one and it opens in a subview right there under the album/movie/show. Instead of going to a new view, you stay where you are. No way to get confused about where you are, more of a sense of direct manipulation."
• On another good feature, "Up Next": "This is pretty much how I always wanted the old Party Shuffle feature to work ? show me what?s coming up, and let me add whatever strikes me to the top of the queue."
• On the new MiniPlayer: "Their goal with the redesigned MiniPlayer was to allow you to do almost everything you?d want music-playback-wise without leaving the MiniPlayer mode. I think they got pretty close."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-quietly-huge-itunes-business-gets-a-massive-redesign-and-its-the-real-deal-2012-11

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Google launches VetNet, uses Google+ to link veterans with civilian jobs (video)

As eager as Google has been to help veterans find work in the civilian world, most of its work has been parallel to what's already going on. It's hoping to use its social networking skills from Google+ as the linchpin for a larger effort. Enter VetNet: the portal aggregates job-finding resources from Hire Heroes USA, Hiring Our Heroes and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, using Google+ pages for program tracks that cover job hunting basics, career networking and entrepreneurial courses. Former soldiers will logically need to sign in, but they'll get access to video discussions through Hangouts, a Google Calendar for events and, naturally, a place to connect with fellow vets. The VetNet hub is already live; if transitioning to work outside the armed forces feels like too much of a solitary pursuit so far, the service could be a prime opportunity.

Continue reading Google launches VetNet, uses Google+ to link veterans with civilian jobs (video)

Filed under: Internet

Comments

Via: Google Official Blog

Source: VetNet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/29/google-launches-vetnet-uses-google-to-link-veterans-with-jobs/

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Boss Gives the 'Cold Shoulder:' Merely a Dis? - Business ...

Does it seem like courts keep telling us we have to monitor all juvenile behavior in the workplace? Do we need to hire ?conduct cops? for our hallways? A court ruling last week smacked some sense into the laws and said ?no? ? not all bad-boss behavior is automatically ?discrimination.? Is this an early holiday gift to employers?

Case in Point: Josalynn Brown and Carolyn Wilson, who are African-American, worked as nurses at a suburban Chicago hospital. They joined 10 other nurses in complaining to HR that Filipino nurses were receiving better assignments and training than black nurses. Hospital officials investigated, but couldn?t corroborate the claims.

Eventually, Brown and Wilson requested and were granted a transfer to another hospital owned by the parent company. But the complaints didn?t stop. Brown and Wilson voiced several protests to HR, including that their new supervisors were giving them the ?cold shoulder? treatment and had engaged in mild name-calling, referring to one of the nurses as a ?cry baby? and a ?spoiled child.?

Brown and Wilson again asked to be switched to another location. This time, the request was denied. They sued the hospital for race discrimination and retaliation.

The verdict: Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against employees based on their race with respect to their ?compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment.? But receiving the ?cold shoulder? from a boss and mild name-calling does not rise to the level of actionable discrimination, the court said.

?The fact that someone disagrees with you (or declines to take your advice) does not, without more, suggest that they discriminated against you,? the court ruled. ?Title VII protects against discrimination, not ?personal animosity or juvenile behavior.' Personality conflicts at work that generate antipathy and ?snubbing by supervisors and co-workers' are not actionable under Title VII.? (Brown v. Advocate S. Suburban Hosp., 7th Cir., 11/21/12)

3 Lessons Learned ? Without Going to Court

1. Investigate immediately. The court noted that the hospital responded to the nurses race and retaliation discrimination complaints right away with an investigation. HR tried to connect the dots to see if the new supervisor?s conduct was motivated by the nurses? previous discrimination complaints. However, the supervisors had no knowledge of the nurses? previous complaints at the prior location, so no racial motivation could be shown.

2. Prohibit name calling as a whole. Even though all name-calling behavior may not be illegal (the court noted the name-calling in this case made no references to race), it may create an unpleasant culture to work in. Even though the court said Title VII doesn?t protect ?personal animosity or juvenile behavior,? name-calling can still cost big bucks to defend.

3. Make your harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention policy stricter than the law. The prohibited conduct listed in your Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation Prevention Policy should be stricter than what the law will allow in order to curtail these kinds of lawsuits. That being said, remember to include language like, ?A violation of this policy does not necessarily amount to a violation of the law.? This will go far in showing that just because your culture will not tolerate certain behaviors it does not make engaging in them illegal in the eyes of the law.

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Discovery's Revision3 extends partnership with Fishbowl Media, invests development money

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Revision3, the Discovery-owned online video network, has forged a new partnership with Fishbowl Worldwide Media to distribute and sell advertising for its pets-focused YouTube programming, as well as to fund development of new shows.

The new deal also constitutes a first-look deal, giving Revision3 (and its parent company, which owns TV network Animal Planet) first dibs on all co-developed shows.

Fishbowl Worldwide Media, a studio run by "America's Funniest Home Videos" creator Vin Di Bona and industry veteran Bruce Gersh, already held a deal with Revision3 for its "Cute Win Fail" show, which boasts more than 250,000 subscribers. Now Revision3 will distribute and sell ads for Petsami, Fishbowl's pets-focused channel, which has about 30,000 subscribers.

"We launched Petsami in January as a self-funded pets and animal channel and we spent the year growing an audience around clips - short and fun and funny and snackable," David Beebe, Vice President and General Manager of Fishbowl's digital studio, Told TheWrap. "We started talking to Revision3 about how to expand the audience. With Revision3, there's a lot of opportunity in merchandise and a lot of ideas about how to take the brand beyond and turn it into a franchise."

While Petsami has a small subscriber count, its weekly views are quite high, according to Ryan Vance, Revision3's SVP of programming. It has amassed more than 27 million views since its launch, reflecting that while the channel hasn't convinced viewers to subscribe, many videos have gone viral.

Petsami is bolstered by Fishbowl's massive library of user-generated content, which stems from two decades of submissions to Di Bona's "America's Funniest Home Videos."

YouTube has been investing more in premium content, funding channels that are offering alternatives to the user-generated content that first made the platform famous.

Fishbowl launched this channel without any of YouTube's financial support, but Beebe argued that there is still plenty of space for UGC on the portal.

Fishbowl, armed with development money from Revision3 and a first-look deal, will work with its partner to diversify its line of shows.

"They haven't hit with weekly regular shows with talent that the audience connects with enough to subscribe and watch on a regular basis," Vance told TheWrap. "They have a unique library of all those years of clips from Vin Di Bona Productions' history. Part of what we'll do is help them figure out what are weekly and regular types shows that will get more of a subscriber base growing."

If the show pleases Revision3 enough, it could also find its way on television. Discovery acquired Revision3 in May to help bring the company's digital experts under its TV-focused corporate umbrella. Revision3 can help cross-promote on YouTube and on Discovery, giving more scale to the channel.

"We've had a lot of conversations with Revision3 about how we work with Discovery and Animal Planet to take some of that content and potentially move it to the Animal Planet world," Beebe said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/discoverys-revision3-extends-partnership-fishbowl-media-invests-development-234126231.html

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Adapting fish defenses to block human infections: Antimicrobial peptide of fish gills inspire clean surfaces

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? An undergraduate research team analyzes peptides from fish gills to engineer antimicrobial surfaces for food preparation and medical devices.

Living in an environment teaming with bacteria and fungi, fish have evolved powerful defenses against waterborne pathogens, including antimicrobial peptides located in their gills. Undergraduate researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are studying the biology and the mechanics of one of those peptides with the hope they can use that knowledge to create engineered surfaces that kill bacteria responsible for foodborne illnesses and hospital-acquired infections.

The research team, led by Terri Camesano, professor of chemical engineering, reports its latest findings in the paper "Creating Antibacterial Surfaces with the Peptide Chrysophsin-1," published online in October by the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

"Fish have a wonderful solution for blocking bacterial and fungal infections," Camesano said. "In this study, we are working to better understand the biochemical mechanics of that process."

As fish filter water through their gills to extract oxygen, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), including Chrysosphin-1, trap and kill pathogens before they can invade the fish's bloodstream. Scientists in many laboratories around the world are actively exploring the potential use of these molecules to prevent human infections. In the current study, the WPI team attached AMPs to silicon and gold surfaces using two different approaches and measured the bound peptides' ability to kill the bacterial pathogen E. coli.

In the first method, the AMPs were absorbed directly onto gold and silicon crystals, forming a single layer of molecules with the AMPs lying flat on the surface. In the second method, the tips of the AMPs were attached to the surfaces with a glue-like substance so that the peptides rose vertically, like blades of grass extending up from the ground. Surfaces with both AMP configurations were cultured with E. coli cells. The results showed that when the AMPs were lying flat they killed 34 percent of the bacteria in the culture, but when they were standing up vertically they killed 82 percent.

"The hypothesis is that when peptides are attached vertically to the surfaces, they are better able to move and bend so they take on a shape that is more effective in binding to and disrupting the E.coli cells," Camesano said.

In addition to gathering data about the antibacterial efficacy of the attached AMPs, the WPI research team developed a technique for monitoring, in real time, the attachment of AMPs to surfaces. Using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), the team measured the quantity of AMPs that successfully attached to the surfaces in the horizontal and vertical orientations and the density of the AMP layers, along with other properties.

"This was a powerful process, to be able to essentially watch the binding process as it happened," Camesano said. "It is a technique that we will continue to apply in further studies."

Camesano said gold and silicon surfaces were selected for the current study because their chemical properties are well-suited for AMP binding. In ongoing work, Camesano's laboratory will continue to characterize the mechanics of AMP binding for optimal antimicrobial activity and test other materials, including titanium, stainless steel, and plastics, that would have greater utility in food preparation and healthcare.

"What is also notable about this study is that it is the work of undergraduates," Camesano said. "They've done excellent work here that will inform future graduate studies in our lab."

The WPI undergraduates who co-authored the AMP paper are Ivan Ivanov '12 (chemical engineering), Alec Morrison '12 (biochemistry), and Jesse Cobb '12 (chemical engineering). Co-author Catherine Fahey, a student at George Washington University, worked on the study during at a summer project at WPI. Their work was sponsored in large part by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Ivan E. Ivanov, Alec E. Morrison, Jesse E. Cobb, Catherine A. Fahey, Terri A. Camesano. Creating Antibacterial Surfaces with the Peptide Chrysophsin-1. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2012; 4 (11): 5891 DOI: 10.1021/am301530a

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/ITvzRKpKZoc/121129143502.htm

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Chris Brown Announces Album ?X? While On Twitter Timeout

(Photo Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Chris Brown deleted his Twitter account but he has not broken up with social media altogether. He?s taken his party to Instagram, where he offered a sketch and a new album title that is presumably in the works.

On Tuesday (November 27) Brown posted a image of himself sketching a picture that shows sharp fangs (or spikes) atop the head of a cartoon character and a stamp of an ?X? prominently placed at the center of the page. [See the image here]?

?New album coming soon! ?X? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? he wrote in the caption to the picture.

Brown, who?deleted his twitter account?earlier this week after a crude back-and-forth with a comedian, has continued to express himself on Instagram. Before he posted the ?New album? message, he posted a picture of Tupac holding up his middle finger.?

His caption:??That awkward moment when the only person u can relate to in the world is dead.?

Fortune,?Brown?s last album, hit stands in June of 2012. If X?becomes his next official release, it will be the singer?s sixth studio album.?

--E. Parker, CBS Local

Source: http://mix1041.cbslocal.com/2012/11/28/chris-brown-announces-album-x-while-on-twitter-timeout/

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Two winners in record Powerball jackpot

Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $587 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.

Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not announce which town until later this morning.

Arizona lottery officials said they had no information on that state's winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day.

The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6.

The jackpot swelled to $587.5 million, according to Lottery official Sue Dooley. The two winners will split the jackpot each getting $293.75 million. The cash payout is $192.5 million each.

An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, according to Powerball's website.

"There were 58 winners of $1 million and there were eight winners of $2 million. So a total of $74 million," said Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

This is the 27th win for Missouri, ranking it second in the nation for lottery winners after Indiana, which has 38 wins. Arizona has had 10 Powerball jackpot wins in its history.

Players bought tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute up until an hour before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET, according to lottery officials.

The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.

"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."

That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.

The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers. As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.

"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."

The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."

About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one. Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning this Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.

Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.

Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.

"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."

The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.

Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.

When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."

So, did he buy two tickets this time?

"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.

In case you were wondering, this Saturday's Powerball jackpot is starting at $40 million.

ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

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Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/winning-powerball-tickets-jackpot-sold-ariz-mo-065718021--abc-news-topstories.html

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Google Play store now accepting pre-orders for books, bibliophiles rejoice

Google's been kicking around the idea of pre-orders in its Play Store for a while, and now we know exactly how that'll pan out. You can now indulge in some pre-launch book ordering on the website as well as on Android devices -- the goodies are listed under the "New and Coming Soon" section. Take the plunge, and the dough will disappear from your account the moment the title's out, landing instantly in your online library and apps. Weirdly, however, if there's a change to the pricing or the release date, the order is cancelled, forcing you to virtually flash the plastic once more. Mountain View's been right on top of the game when it comes to releasing updates, enhancements and bug fixes around its ecosystem, mostly anyway -- and the latest addition might just tickle book shoppers more than some other ways we know of.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Google

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Via: PhoneArena

Source: Google Play

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0saQxuSgsaA/

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Conn college presidents get $25G perk

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? At three of the four Connecticut State University campuses, the president receives an extra $25,000 each year to spend without having to provide any documentation, according to university documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The fourth president receives $35,000 a year for her housing costs in lieu of the "unvouchered accommodation accounts," according to human resources policies that spell out all the compensation and benefits for the four presidents.

The policies, obtained by the AP through public records requests, provide a host of other benefits to the presidents, including state-owned cars, paid sabbatical leaves, special payments based on years of service and bonuses linked to job evaluations. Those perks are in addition to their $290,000-plus salaries, paid vacation and sick days and other benefits.

University presidents across the country receive similar compensation benefits, but some Connecticut lawmakers are questioning whether taxpayer money should be used for such perks with the state facing a $365 million deficit this fiscal year and projected $1 billion deficits in each of the next four years.

"We're in a tough place, because if you look at the bottom line we can't afford it," said Canton state Rep. Timothy LeGeyt, the ranking Republican on the legislature's higher education committee. "I think that their compensation packages are very full. On the flip side, we want to be competitive. These people come here and say they want to be compensated fairly."

The four presidents receive the extra cash in installments in every one of their paychecks through the year, a university system spokeswoman said.

LeGeyt said he wasn't aware the presidents received the money until being told by the AP.

LeGeyt and West Hartford Democratic state Sen. Beth Bye, co-chairwoman of the higher education committee, were among several lawmakers last month who criticized a $25,000 unvouchered account given annually to Robert Kennedy, the former president of the state Board of Regents for Higher Education, which oversees the state university system. Kennedy resigned Oct. 12 after acknowledging he gave $250,000 in unauthorized pay raises to staff members, and he later returned the $25,000 unvouchered account cash.

Lawmakers said the payment was excessive and lacked accountability.

Kennedy's contract allowed for the unvouchered account to be used at his "sole discretion" for activities related to the Board of Regents, including fundraising and community outreach, The Hartford Courant reported last month.

The policies on the state university presidents' unvouchered account money don't include any restrictions. The policies only say the money is to be used at the sole discretion of the presidents. A president who takes a housing allowance instead isn't eligible for the unvouchered account.

The $25,000 payments are given to Central Connecticut State University President John Miller, Eastern Connecticut State University President Elsa Nunez and Western Connecticut State University President James Schmotter. Southern Connecticut State University President Mary Papazian gets a $35,000 housing allowance instead, according to university system records.

Spokesmen at all four campuses referred questions about the money to the Board of Regents.

A Board of Regents spokeswoman issued a statement saying a new administration committee formed during the Kennedy pay-raise controversy already was reviewing the compensation of the presidents and other board employees.

"Reviewing presidential compensation packages as a whole, including accommodation accounts, is a critical undertaking, understanding that we must be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, while at the same time, attract top-notch presidents to lead our institutions and further the success of our students," the statement said.

Such perks have become common among university presidents across the country, said James Finkelstein, a public policy professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., who has been studying the contracts of 100 university presidents nationwide.

"What has happened in the last 10 to 20 years is that presidential contracts have become more complicated," Finkelstein said. "And they're more and more resembling the kinds of employment agreements that you'd expect to see in the private sector."

University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst's compensation package includes a $500,000 salary, a state-owned car, a driver, an on-campus house, staff and expenses for the house, a $125,000 bonus for completing five years of service and $50,000 a year in deferred compensation. UConn is not part of the state university system and is governed by its own board of trustees.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's chief of staff, Mark Ojakian, said the governor has no authority over state university compensation decisions. He said state universities and colleges are forced to compete with others across the country that offer perks such as homes, cars, expense

Source: http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/connecticut/conn-college-presidents-get-25g-perk

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Active video games discouraged by child fitness experts | Shane ...

At Camp Shane weight loss camp for kids, we believe that regular exercise is extremely important and beneficial for long-term health and well-being. ?Are active video games ? like those that combine consoles with wands on Nintendo?s Wii and the Kinect device for Xbox ? a viable alternative for physical activity? New research from Canada now suggests that on-screen exertions are not intense or long-lasting enough for many of children of today?s generation who are at risk of becoming overweight or obese.

Physical activity experts at Healthy Kids Canada (an organization committed to engaging the nation?s children and youth in physical activity) reviewed more than 1,300 published papers on video games. They concluded that active video games (or ?exergames?) offer little help to get children to become more physically active.

The research suggested that active video games get heart rates up somewhat, but not strongly or long enough to get the full 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity children need each day, said Dr. Mark Tremblay, the group?s chief scientific officer and director of the healthy active living and obesity research group at the Children?s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa.

While active video games can help break up sedentary time like sitting on the couch watching TV, they?re just not as valuable as playing sports or physical games like tag.??It may actually be pulling a person inside away from doing, for example, real tennis or real golf?or real hockey to do it in an artificial setting, inside, away from the sun, breathing indoor air, interacting artificially with people,? Tremblay said.

Instead of spending holiday gift funds on video games, Active Healthy Kids Canada suggests buying more traditional tools for activity, like skipping ropes, balls, ice skates and other sporting equipment.

The recommended 60 minutes of physical activity is the equivalent of about 12,000 steps, said Michelle Brownrigg, a director of physical activity at the University of Toronto?s faculty of kinesiology and physical education.

Collecting steps in the real world

Brownrigg recently evaluated a different kind of active video game. More than 250 children aged 10 and 11 across Canada tested a pedometer-powered game in the spring. Each child created an avatar, but to advance in the virtual world, the child had to rack up physical steps in the real world.

When the study started, 46 of 125 girls who participated fell into the ?least active? category, getting less than 7,000 steps a day. Over the study period, 32 of those 46 girls (69%), moved up at least one category, Brownrigg said.

Inactive girls are often the group hardest to engage in physical activity, she said. ?Some of the research findings showed that girls talked about it more with their friends, they encouraged their friends to participate, so they created a bit of a social structure around it in a way that the boys didn?t,? Brownrigg said, adding that the lead character in the game was a female role model, which might have helped, too.

Step counts for the 128 boys increased overall as well during game play, but not among the least active boys, she found. Gulnaz Shaikan, 11, enjoyed collecting steps and points to dress up her avatar and travel in the virtual world. ?Sometimes we even have competitions between our friends [to see] who can get more steps and who can get to a higher goal,? Gulnaz said.

Once the experiment ended, the children kept the pedometers but no longer had access to the game. At that point, they took fewer steps than when the study began.??I think we have to be coming at this from a bunch of different directions because behavior change doesn?t happen with just one,? Brownrigg said.

Rather, experts stressed the need for kids to be active outside, in school, and at home.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/11/23/video-games-active.html

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2012 at 11:08 am by The Shane Nutrition Staff and is filed under Fitness, Healthy Lifestyles, Parenting, Weight Loss Camps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.campshane.com/blog/index.php/weight-loss-campsactive-video-games-discouraged-by-child-fitness-experts/

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Former Sheboygan Mayor's sex assault trial delayed

SHEBOYGAN?Former Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan?s trial has been delayed.

It was supposed to start Tuesday, but according to court records it has been delayed until February 19.

Ryan was charged in April after a woman accused him of groping her at a bar in Elkhart Lake last summer.

Ryan pleaded not guilty to two counts of fourth degree sex assault in May.

He lost his recall election in February.

Source: http://www.cbs58.com/news/local-news/Former-Sheboygan-Mayors-sex-assault-trial-delayed-181018271.html

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Differences Between Online Auctions and In-Person Auctions

By Craig Merwood

If you are new to auctions you may well be wondering what the differences between online auctions and in-person auctions are. Of course the most obvious difference is one is on the internet and one is live near you. There are a number of other factors that make them different as well.

First, for an in-person auction, you must find a location near you that hosts such an event. In-person auctions can be hard to find and oftentimes, you must be willing to drive some distance to attend. Online auctions are at your finger tips on the nearest computer or even your personal mobile device. Yes, many auctions can even be seen on your mobile phone wherever you are, making them very convenient. In-person auctions are also only open at set times, whereas online auctions are often going 24 hours a day.

Another major difference is the amount of available items at the auctions. Pickings may be slim if you are after the newest Samsung product or Android phone at an in-person auction. For most in-person auctions, however, you can arrive early and look over the lots that are to be auctioned off that day. This allows you to really see what you will be bidding on, and to give it a thorough inspection. Online auctions are usually endless when it comes to the amount of items you can find, you will often find multiples of items so you can compare and find the one you want to bid on. Online, you cannot physically inspect the item, but you are often provided with multiple photographs of all angles of the item. Most sellers will also often allow returns if an item is not as described in the listing.

The return policy can be another big difference between online and in-person auctions. Most in person auctions are ?as is?, meaning if you bid and win, there are no returns. Online auctions vary with this rule, sometimes based on seller and sometimes based on which online auctions sites you are using. Returns up to 30 days after the item is received is a common practice.

At live auctions you will also have an auctioneer who will ask for bids, see a person signal and will continue until there are no further interested parties. This is typically a very fast process. Online there is usually no auctioneer, just a timer that slowly counts down. At penny auctions, for instance, as the timer gets close to the end people will place a bid at the last second, and often this will extend the time for another minute or less allowing others to place a final bid.

These are some of the big difference between the two options. The best way to see which is right for you is to try them out for yourself.

These are some of the big difference between the two options. The best way to see which is right for you is to try them out for yourself! http://pennydealsdaily.com

Source: http://ninjaseomethods.com/differences-between-online-auctions-and-in-person-auctions/

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In Nature, Fatal Attractions Can Be Part of Life

Tristan Scott

An Antarctic fur seal trying to mate with a king penguin.

One day during field observations last year at Marion Island, a remote nature preserve in the southern Indian Ocean, something bizarre caught Tristan Scott?s eye: on a rocky beach, a sleek young male Antarctic fur seal was trying to mate with a king penguin.

The fur seals normally hunt penguins and eat them. But this seal was wrestling with the bird, chasing as it repeatedly tried to escape.

Baffled at first, Mr. Scott, a wildlife researcher, realized that the seal ?was trying to court the penguin as if it were a female seal.?

When that failed, he ?tore the bird to shreds and ate it,? Mr. Scott recalled.

Disturbing as it may sound, such wayward mating behavior is not unheard-of. An earlier episode of seal-on-penguin sexual violence, also at Marion Island, was reported in 2008 by Nico de Bruyn and colleagues at the University of Pretoria, in South Africa, where Mr. Scott is a graduate student.

The phenomenon is called misdirected mating, and it extends to other marine mammals. Wildlife experts say sea lions and sea otters have occasionally been seen forcing themselves on other types of seals and killing them.

Indeed, some researchers say misdirected mating is not abnormal. ?These things happen in wildlife,? said Heather Harris, a veterinarian who has studied sea otters in Monterey Bay. ?We think that it is within the spectrum of possible normal behavior.?

And Axel Hochkirch, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Trier in Germany, called the behavior ?simply a bad mistake,? and added, ?nature is not perfect.?

Nor is such mating limited to marine mammals. Insects, spiders, worms, frogs, birds and fish do it, too, Dr. Hochkirch said. The behavior is a form of so-called reproductive interference, in which an animal?s mate-recognition radar is imperfect; the encounters do not necessarily end fatally.

Some couplings between closely related species result in familiar hybrids, like the mule. But when mixed matings result in no viable offspring, scientists say, the behavior is difficult to understand from the standpoint of evolution.

Why, for example, would a fur seal try to mate not just with a different species but with an entirely different class of animal?

Dr. de Bruyn speculated that the episodes started out as normal penguin hunting but that ?wires somehow got crossed? and set off a sexual response.

Both incidents happened near the end of the seal breeding season ? a time when males experience ?huge testosterone boosts? but when mating opportunities are monopolized by a few dominant males, leaving lower-ranking males with no outlet for their sexual excitement. As a result, the researchers say, the two frustrated male fur seals may have turned on the penguins.

Dr. de Bruyn pointed out that sexual aggression was common within many marine mammal species; for instance, male fur seals often bite females on the neck during mating. Sexual conflict occurs to varying degrees across the animal kingdom, and in extreme cases, males? coercive behavior may spill over to forcing themselves on other species, said Janet Mann, a Georgetown University field biologist.

Another example comes from Monterey Bay, where the local news media give expansive coverage to stranded California sea otter pups rehabilitated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. One graduate of that program had an infamous reputation: Morgan, who was rescued as a pup in 1995, released and then recaptured in 2001 after being spotted forcibly copulating with Pacific harbor seal pups, five of which did not survive.

Observers documented 19 cases of attacks on harbor seals by Morgan and at least two other male otters, mostly in the Elkhorn Slough area 30 miles south of Santa Cruz. The aggressors were ?harassing, dragging, guarding and copulating with harbor seals? for up to a week after the pups were killed, according to an analysis published in 2010.

That study, conducted at the California Department of Fish and Game in Santa Cruz, was led by Dr. Harris, the sea-otter vet, who was then a research assistant; Melissa Miller, a veterinary pathologist; and Stori Oates, a biologist at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Their autopsies of seal corpses found bite marks and lacerations on the nose and face, along with tearing consistent with sexual trauma.

Diagnostic tests found nothing awry in Morgan, who thereafter lived at the Fish and Game wildlife facility; he participated in research conducted by the University of California?s Long Marine Laboratory until he died of old age last March, at 17. (Biologists remember him fondly: Mike Murray, a veterinarian at the Monterey aquarium, said that during 11 years in captivity, Morgan taught scientists a tremendous amount about ?what makes sea otters tick.?)

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/science/in-nature-fatal-attractions-can-be-part-of-life.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Beauty and Fitness Guru Leslie Kenton Launches the All New Cura ...

Leslie Kenton announces the birth of her new online weight control, health and personal metamorphosis programme, Cura Romana. There are lots of reasons why this is something to pay particular attention to. When Leslie Kenton reveals that her new Cura Romana is the fruits of 40 years of information, research, experience and experience in weightloss, health and life-transformation by giving a program available across the world it is time to sit up straight and take notice.

Through her career in health and beauty, Leslie has heard women and men everywhere whinge that when they shed the pounds, they put it all back on again. Prize-winning writer, broadcaster and lecturer, Leslie is well known in the English-speaking world for her cutting edge, straightforward, in-depth teaching and reporting. Published by Random House UK, she's the writer of more than thirty-five top selling books on health. Beauty and spirituality. Her work is regularly interpreted into other languages. She has made revolutionary TV programs on health, aging and personal expansion. Leslie conceived and created the international Origins range for cosmetic giant Estee Lauder.

She has been an expert to the European Parliament for The Green Party, is trained in Chinese Medicine, nourishment, homeopathy and bioenergetics, and was the 1st Chairperson of the Natural Medicine Society in England. Actually, her reputation for mixing natural health with cutting edge science makes her one of the most highly respected and listened to experts at the field of health and beauty internationally. Four years back Leslie started to mentor males and females through a program which she was convinced could create lasting weight loss.

This is the way Leslie goes about things-she begins with cutting-edge science, does the research then works alongside real people. She revealed that the programme did indeed deliver on its guarantees. She also discovered that it gives back to those taking part a renewed sense of themselves, improved psychological clearness, focus, better emotional balance and an increased capacity for joy. Word soon got out, and Leslie found herself deluged with requests for info concerning how to do the programme.

Four years on, Leslie Kenton's Cura Romana, the first day-by-day steered, online program for health and weight control, psychological clearness. As Leslie asserts : ?If somebody mentioned that you could become lean for life, radiantly healthy and protected from early aging, you would potentially assume they were making it up. Science has already begun to demonstrate that this is so. And, now, thanks to Cura Romana this is no longer a secret available only to a select few.?. There are two parts to Leslie Kenton's Cura Romana, a rapid weight loss custom followed by a unique period of Consolidation.

It's the consolidation part of the program that makes Cura Romana's gifts last. Into it has gone 25 years of listening to and working with folks in workshops and lectures around the world to make a program that works for all. Consolidation supplies the tools, methodologies, information and inspiration critical to remain slim, healthy, and protect from early ageing.

And looks to be the key to the long-term psychological, emotional and non secular benefits the programme brings. Leslie claims : ?On Cura Romana you get step-by-step assistance to move outside the agony of past screw ups, frustrations and self-criticism towards a lean, healthful body, high level well-being and a capability to live life from the center of your unique being.?. Leslie describes Cura Romana with the phrase ?Change Your Body and Transfigure Your Life.? Concentrate. This should be you.

Source: http://supadiet.com/2012/11/beauty-and-fitness-guru-leslie-kenton-launches-the-all-new-cura-romana-unique-online-program-for-top-level-health-weight-loss-and-life-renewal/

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Strategy An Effective Home Improvement Project Using These ...

For any basic, natural strategy to fill out scuff marks with your hardwood floors, massage a sheet of (shelled) walnut in the scrapes. Bits of flesh from the nut will fill in the damaged spots, whilst the oils from the nut will assist you to hydrate and safeguard gouged regions, finally camouflaging flaws.

Are you presently fed up with linoleum and carpet? Maybe it can be time to put in all those hardwood floors you are aware may last a very long time and accentuate your own home.best product to clean hardwood floors are classy and elegant, and they are very easy to sustain. Wonderful hard wood floor coverings shines and talks volume about the need for your property.

Though hardwood floors are preferred for that first floor, make an effort to add rug towards the next surface spaces. This will make it more comfortable with moving out of bed, as carpeting is deluxe and cozy for toes. Also, make sure you opt for a carpet with top grade high quality.

For the basic, organic method to fill in marks within your hardwood flooring, rub some (shelled) walnut in to the scuff marks. Pieces of flesh from your nut will complete the broken areas, as the oils from the nut will help to hydrate and protect gouged areas, ultimately camouflaging flaws.

In case you have hardwood flooring, you could possibly notice that overtime they get scratched. Repairing these marks is not really that hard to do. You have got to sand the floor, and spot or close it. Obtaining out these scratches can certainly make your flooring surfaces appear like new once again, and will give your property that new flooring appearance.

Have you been sick and tired of linoleum and carpeting? Probably it is actually time to put in all those hardwood floors you are aware can last a very long time and enhance your own home. Hardwood floors are stylish and tasteful, and are generally very easy to maintain. Great hardwood floor coverings shines and echoes volume about value of your property.

In case you have hardwood floors, you could realize that overtime they get damaged. Repairing these scuff marks is not that difficult to do. You will have to beach sand a floor, and mark or seal it. Obtaining out these scrapes can make your flooring surfaces appear like new yet again, and can give your property that new ground appearance.

When you have hardwood flooring, you could notice that overtime they get scraped. Mending these scrapes is not really that hard to do. You will have to sand a floor, and mark or seal it. Obtaining out these scrapes will make your floors appear to be new once more, and may give your house that new flooring look.

When relocating any sort of furniture via your residence, it?s crucial that you shield your surfaces. A lot of people with hardwood floors will certainly make sure to shield them, nevertheless, you must also guard carpet. Most carpeting can easily tear if you?re hauling hefty items throughout the surface area.

These represent the stuff to think about when you want to deal with your first, or perhaps your following home improvement task. You don?t really need to be an authority to be aware what you are carrying out. You need to simply use a simple understanding of the do?s and also the don?ts which happens to be everything we have tried to teach you on this page.

Source: http://ghfn.ca/strategy-an-effective-home-improvement-project-using-these-suggestions/

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Video: First Read Minute

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/49981067/

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Interview: Berit Ellingsen and the Weird - Weird Fiction Review

Berit Ellingsen is a?Korean-Norwegian writer who lives in Norway and writes in English. Her stories combine the realistic and the imaginary, prose and poetry, and are inspired by, among others, science, history, philosophy, music and film. Berit?s fiction has appeared or will appear in literary journals such as Unstuck, SmokeLong Quarterly, elimae, Metazen and decomP magazinE. She?s also had haiku poems and creative non-fiction work published, as well as popular science articles in Norwegian. Berit was a?semi-finalist in the Rose Metal Press Chapbook Competition in 2011 and two of her stories received an honorable mention by Ellen Datlow for Best Horror of the Year vol. 4. In September 2011 Berit?s novel, The Empty City, a?story about silence, was released, and in February 2012 Turtleneck Press published Berit?s chapbook What Girls Really Think. Berit?s collection of short stories, Beneath the Liquid Skin, was published by firthFORTH Books in November 2012. You can find her online at her personal website.

I recently interviewed Ellingsen via email about her writing, weird and unclassifiable literature, and the link between science and fabulism, among other things.

Weirdfictionreview.com: What kinds of stories did you read growing up? Do you remember reading anything especially unusual, weird, or out of the ordinary?

Berit Ellingsen: The first book I?can remember reading with a?passion was Cosmos, Carl Sagan?s popular science book about the universe. I?didn?t understand all of it, but I?loved it.

Later on I?enjoyed Swedish-speaking Finnish writer Irmelin Sandman Lilius?s Sola Trilogy, Ursula LeGuin?s Earthsea series, the books by Norwegian fabulists Tore Hansen, Jon Bing and Tor-?ge Bringsv?rd, Ray Bradbury?s Martian Chronicles and short story collections, and Edgar Allan Poe?s work, as well as Norwegian, Danish and German folk tales and the Norse sagas and mythology. Living in Scandinavia, you don?t get away from?those.

As a?science student I?read a?variety of literature and genres, such as the plays by classical Norwegian writers Henrik Ibsen and Alexander Kielland, Dostoevsky?s Crime and Punishment, William Burroughs?s Naked Lunch, J.G. Ballard?s Crash, Clive Barker?s Books of Blood, Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler?s crime stories, P.G. Wodehouse?s 20^th century farces, the French SF comics by Moebius, Enki Bilal, Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres, and classical haiku by Matsuo Basho and Kobayashi Issa.

WFR.com: Which writers or stories have been most influential to you, as a?writer?

Ellingsen: Most recently, Italo Calvino?s Invisible Cities. I?remembered the end passage from my teen years, but didn?t know which book it was from, so it was fantastic to find it again and finally read the entire book. The same with J.K. Huysman?s decadent and surreal novel Against Nature, and Jorge Luis Borges?s ?The Aleph,? which felt like stories I?should have read a?long time ago, but didn?t know?about.

Ursula LeGuin?s Orsinian Tales, a?collection of short stories set in a?fictional Eastern European country, has also been a?large influence. The same goes for Irmelin Sandman Lilius?s Sola Trilogy, which also mixes realism with fabulist elements.

I?ve also recently read short stories by many contemporary writers (some of them do not write weird fiction), such as Kathy Fish, Paul Jessup, Kristine Ong Muslim, Tania Hershman, Jeff VanderMeer, Matthew Salesses, Ethel Rohan, Jennifer DuBois, Paul Griner, and Aliette de Bodard, as well as essays by the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, and they have been influential as?well.

WFR.com: What about some of these stories or writers do you find so influential or inspirational to you? Why do they impact you?

Ellingsen: What I?think all these writers have in common is the ability to make accurate and relevant observations about our world and the way we live and act, and to communicate this in eloquent ways, via both the content and form of their stories. By doing so they also question our ways of living and I?find that important and a?source for?hope.

WFR.com: What do you want to see more of, in regards to literature and?art?

Ellingsen: I?would like to see a?higher degree of freedom from commercial constraints and the current expectations of entertainment value and value-for-money for literature and all art?forms.

Every genre has its conventions and expectations to theme, length, characterization, setting and so on, and if the artist strays too far away from it, it doesn?t belong to that genre any longer and can?t be marketed as such. These conventions and rules tend to make things repetitive, simple, and easily digested, and well suited for consumption. But the question is, do we really want more of the same, or something new or more complex that may surprise, challenge, change us, or show the world in a?different light?

Therefore, I?d like to see more experimentation, more playfulness, more hybrid forms, more questioning of the conventions and traditions of genres and art forms, and by extension, questioning our current ways of life and civilization, which aren?t working that well anymore.

Weird, surrealist, experimental, and cross-genre literature?s willingness to consider the unusual and the unexpected and to try new avenues is probably why it has a?special place in my?heart.

WFR.com: There?s definitely an element of playfulness and experimentation in your writing, especially formal experimentation, that?s present in many of the stories in Beneath the Liquid Skin, like ?A Catalog of Planets,? which is essentially what the title would indicate, and ?Still Life in Hypnos, which takes the form of a?series of time-lapse photographs. What do you consider as successful or failed experiments in your own writing?

Ellingsen: I?really enjoy playing with forms and styles, and as with any experimentation there are failed attempts, where I?can?t express what I?want to, or can?t shape or edit the story into what I?envisioned it to be like, or work I?lose interest in before it?s finished, or pieces that lose interest in me before they are finished, stories that just don?t?work.

I have gone back to a?few of them after a?while and then they have transformed into something else and unexpected, which is great fun, or become what I?hoped, but it?s rare. I?do think of these stories as maybe meant just for me, and for testing the waters, and that?s all?right.

A successful experiment is like a?puzzle: all (or most) of the pieces will be there and just need to be assembled and polished, and comes to life like a?little Frankenstein creation, almost all by itself.

WFR.com: What kind of impact does science have on your writing overall? You?ve mentioned your affection for literature like Cosmos, as well as your experience as a?science student. How does this admiration for science and scientific literature impact, or possibly conflict with, your affection for fabulist or surrealist literature?

Ellingsen: One might think there would be a?conflict there, but I?suspect my liking for science expresses itself more as a?desire for even fabulist literature to have a?clear connection to the world and be somewhat analytical as well as imaginative, instead of dismissing the imaginary outright.

The background in science is probably also why I?like describing the landscape and ecology of a?setting, and how the people there sustain themselves. It also makes me enjoy satirizing systems of hierarchy or taxonomy, as in ?The Tale That Wrote Itself? (one of the stories in Beneath the Liquid Skin) .

The science background may also make me more open to experimentation and playing with form and content, but as words and images, rather than in?a?lab.

WFR.com: What inspires you the most in your writing? Where do you most frequently find catalysts for your stories?

Ellingsen: What I?find most inspiring in writing is the writing process itself, when the story almost seems to write itself, when you find ways to express what you want, both linguistically and plot-wise, in exactly the tone and style you wish, and seeing the story take shape from tentative tries and sketches to the finished version.

I find the catalysts for stories in everything from phrases, ideas, questions, memories, dreams, indignation, science, philosophy, paintings, photography, film, music, games, design, to other people?s literary work. It can be everything from a?great phrase, to an interesting character, to certain colors or a?tone of?light.

For example, a?recent shot from one of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky?s movies, which are known for slow panning into or out of scenes, and a?masterful cinematography of water, made me realize that his films have influenced my writing a?lot. It?s a?while since I?watched them, so I?didn?t realize how much of an influence they?are.

A montage of images from Stalker:

The last scene of Nostalghia, which is a?classical Tarkovsky shot:

WFR.com: How about your story ?The White,? which we?ve reprinted elsewhere on this site? What inspired you to write that story in particular? Please walk us through the process of the story from inception to completion, if you?like.

Ellingsen: ?The White? was written for literary magazine The Medulla Review?s call for ?lucid fiction?. They wanted fiction that experimented with and presented new ways of regarding the world, the self and how we tell stories, point of views, characterization etc. I?therefore wanted to write a?first contact story, since extraterrestrials might have a?very different view of themselves, their minds and bodies and where they belong, than we?do.

One of the most challenging and alien settings on Earth is Antarctica. I?had read blog posts and descriptions from scientists that spent the winter in bases in the Antarctic and it sounded like being on another planet, so that became the setting for the?story.

In my work I?ve also interviewed scientists who have, like Professor Johansen in the story, what they themselves describe as ?polar sickness?. They?ve been to the Arctic or the Antarctic and constantly want to go back. I?ve been to the Arctic myself, it?s a?fantastically beautiful place despite the harsh conditions, and I?can really understand why some people are eager to live there. All of that made up the inspiration for ?The White? and found its way into the?story.

I also wanted the reader to be a?part of the narrative and have a?sense that it?s about them, or a?different part of them, and therefore wrote it in second person present tense. The text itself was straightforward to write and revisions consisted mostly of polishing the dialogue and do line editing.

WFR.com: In addition to your short story collections, you also have a?novel that was published last year, The Empty City. How does your novel fit into your overall body of work, in terms of the themes you choose to explore and the style you develop? What lessons did you learn from writing your novel that you can now apply to your short fiction? And what might readers of weird fiction find really fascinating about your?novel?

Ellingsen: The Empty City shares some of the themes of ?The White,? but takes place in an everyday setting rather than the Antarctic. The novel is written as a?series of vignettes, each ranging from a?few hundred to several thousand words?long.

During the course of the story, the protagonist starts questioning the objectivity of the individual experience, the accuracy of personal memory, and in particular the continuity of the personality. It seemed pertinent to make the form of the narrative reflect this as well, and writing the novel as separate but interconnected vignettes therefore seemed to be the best?form.

I learned a?lot about developing a?story, both the short form and longer structures, as well as revising, and working with an editor, something I?hadn?t done before. Maybe the biggest lesson was the freedom to choose approaches and themes that were previously new to?me.

The Empty City is about encountering the strange and the unexpected, but also about turning inward and finding what?s there. It uses some science fiction and fantasy imagery to explore the protagonist?s past and present.

WFR.com: Do you have any other projects that you?re currently working on?

Ellingsen: I?m working on a?novella which mixes existential themes with imaginary elements. Among other things, it?s about how the past is a?very fluid narrative that tends to change according to our present, even without any conscious lying or glossing over. But when we know this is the case, what is really true and objective? The first draft of the story is almost done, and I?hope I?will like it well enough to start editing, which for me is a?long process. I?m also usually working on a?short story or two, of flash fiction length and longer.

WFR.com: Finally, what?s the weirdest piece of fiction, story or novel, ?that you?ve ever read??Why?

Ellingsen: Comte de Lautreamont/Isidore Ducasse?s long and surreal prose poem Les Chants des Maldoror was an eye? and mind-opener when I?read it a?few years ago. I?loved the non-linearity of it, the lack of a?solid plot or storyline, a?central character who is willful and unusual, the dark and sometimes disturbing descriptions, the striding poetry and play with words and images, and the unapologetic and uncensored voice of the writer.

It?s one of the most unsettling and weird pieces of fiction I?have read so far. It felt like what I?imagine taking a?peek into insanity would be like, but with a?high degree of expression and accuracy and control of language. The author died at a?young age, it would have been very interesting to have seen what he would have written, had he?lived.

Source: http://weirdfictionreview.com/2012/11/interview-berit-ellingsen-and-the-weird/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=interview-berit-ellingsen-and-the-weird

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HealthWatch: Cal Athlete's Cancer Battle Inspires Cross-Country Run

Kelcey Harrison and Jill Costello on their way to a birthday party during the summer of 2008. (Kelcey Harrison)

BERKELEY (CBS 5) ? A Bay Area athlete?s battle with lung cancer has inspired a unique journey to raise awareness and funds to combat the disease.

Nearly 57,000 people in California will die from cancer this year ? about one in four will be killed by lung cancer, more than breast prostate and colon cancers combined.

In 2010, one of those victims was Jill Costello, a recent Cal grad who had been named Pac-10 athlete of the year while leading the varsity 8 crew boat to second place at nationals. During that senior year, the 21-year-old coxswain was battling stage-4 non-small cell adenocarcinoma, the type of lung cancer usually found in non-smokers, and the most common form found in women.

?She wasn?t going to let it beat her down. She would go from chemo to practice in the rain,? said Jill?s dad, Jim Costello.

That effort pushed her teammates to dig deeper.

?When she says to the team, ?you need to be a little tougher here,? you know, for it to be coming from her, who is battling for her life, quite literally, it really had a profound effect,? said Berkeley Women?s Rowing Coach Dave O?Neill.

Jill earned a 4.0 GPA in her senior year, and graduated with pride, wearing her Pac-10 medal and a blond wig. She died five weeks later in June of 2010, at 22-years-old.

Now her journey is inspiring her childhood friend as she goes the extra mile searching for a cure.

Kelcey Harrison, a soccer player and Harvard graduate, is running from New York to San Francisco to raise money for and awareness about the need for lung cancer research.

Harrison?s Great Lung Run began in Times Square this summer, and requires about 30 miles a day on the run. Eight million people are following the journey, which is set conclude with a crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge this Saturday, December 1st. The date happens to be Jill?s 25th birthday.

Some eight million people are tracking Kelcey Harrison?s journey. It?s a legacy Jill?s parents are proud of.

?She?s like this little pebble thrown in a pond, but these ripples are just growing?and I think that they will eventually accomplish her mission. I think there will be a cure,? said Mary Costello.

Click here to follow The Great Lung Run, or donate to the cause through via Jill?s Legacy.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/11/27/healthwatch-cal-athletes-cancer-battle-inspires-cross-country-run/

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Red Letter Edition - Weekdays! 11/26 by TRI Communications | Blog ...

On his show, Comedian Rodney Perry covers arts and entertainment, everything from comedy and politics to music and acting, with his signature comedic slant.

MashUp Radio is a 30-minute podcast that discusses the fusion of technology, life, culture and science. Host Peter Biddle, engineer and executive for Intel?s Atom Software, dishes up a thought-provoking discussion.

Joy Keys provides her listeners with insight to improve their lives mentally, physically, monetarily and emotionally. Past guests on the show have included Meshell Nedegeocello, Blair Underwood, in addition to an impressive list of CEOs, humanitarians and authors.

Host Barry Moltz gets small businesses unstuck. He has founded and run small businesses with a great deal of success and failure for more than 15 years. This is a business radio show where he shares all the craziness of small business. It?s that craziness that actually makes it exciting, interesting and totally unpredictable.

The Bottom Line Sports Show is hosted by former NBA stars Penny Hardaway, Charles Oakley, Mateen Cleaves. Tune in to get the inside scoop on what's happening in sports today.

Deepak Chopra Radio provides an online forum for compelling and thought provoking conversations on success, love, sexuality and relationships, well-being and spirituality.

Hits Radio covers basketball, sports culture and entertainment with past guests including Jason Kidd, Robin Lundberg and Chris Herren.

Listeners get an earful on The Halli Casser-Jayne Show, Talk Radio for Fine Minds. Whether it?s the current political cocktail or the latest must-read award-winning book, Halli tackles all topics and likes to stir ? and sometimes shakes ? things up.

Award-winning World Footprints is a leading voice in socially responsible travel and lifestyle. Hosts Ian & Tonya celebrate culture and heritage and bring a unique voice to the world of travel.

Football Reporters Online is a group of veteran football experts in the fields of coaching, scouting, talent evaluation, and writing/broadcasting/media placement. Combined, the group brings well over 100 years of expertise in sports.

Host John Martin interviews the nation's leading entrepreneurs and small biz experts to educate small business owners on how to be successful. Past guests have included Emeril Lagasse and Guy Kawasaki.

The Movie Geeks share their passion for the art through interviews with the stars of and creative minds behind your favorite flicks and pay tribute to big-screen legends. From James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola to Ellen Burstyn and Robert Duvall, The Geeks have got'em all.

Sylvia Global presents global conversations pertaining to women, wealth, business, faith and philanthropy. Sylvia has interviewed an eclectic mix from CEOs and musicians to fashion designers and philanthropists including Randolph Duke and Ne-Yo.

Seasoned entertainment reporter Robin Milling gets up close and personal with the world's most compelling celebs. From Michael Douglas to Katie Holmes to Kevin Kline to Ashley Judd to America Ferrera, she sits down in person each week with each and every A-lister.

Mr. Media host Bob Andelman goes one-on-one with the hottest, most influential minds from the worlds of film, TV, music, comedy, journalism and literature. That means A-listers like Kirk Douglas, Christian Slater, Kathy Ireland, Rick Fox, Chris Hansen and Jackie Collins.

Paula Begoun, best-selling author of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, separates fact from fiction on achieving a radiant, youthful complexion at any age. She?s regularly joined by health and beauty experts who offer the latest on keeping your skin in tip-top shape.

Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tri-communications/2012/11/26/red-letter-edition--weekdays

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