China's state TV expanding, but fetters remain

In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 photo, a man talks on his mobile phone outside a construction site near the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters building in Beijing, China. CCTV is gearing up to supersize its global footprint this year in pursuit of swaying a foreign audience to China's views and confronting what Beijing considers the Western media's innate anti-China bias. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 photo, a man talks on his mobile phone outside a construction site near the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters building in Beijing, China. CCTV is gearing up to supersize its global footprint this year in pursuit of swaying a foreign audience to China's views and confronting what Beijing considers the Western media's innate anti-China bias. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 photo, the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters building, center, is seen through a tinted glass window at Beijing's Central Business District, China. CCTV is gearing up to supersize its global footprint this year in pursuit of swaying a foreign audience to China's views and confronting what Beijing considers the Western media's innate anti-China bias. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

In this Monday, Jan. 31, 2012 photo, a logo of China Central Television (CCTV) is projected on an outdoor electronic screen before a CCTV news program is broadcasted outside a shopping mall at Beijing's Central Business District, China. CCTV is gearing up to supersize its global footprint this year in pursuit of swaying a foreign audience to China's views and confronting what Beijing considers the Western media's innate anti-China bias. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

BEIJING (AP) ? The killing of a South Korean coast guard officer by a Chinese fisherman should have been tailor-made for China's CCTV News as it embarks on an ambitious plan to become a global network with assertive international coverage.

Instead, according to CCTV employees, the story languished for hours as editors awaited political guidance from above, while would-be competitors such as Qatar's Al-Jazeera reported extensively on December's attack.

In charting its growth, CCTV is closely studying other models, especially Al-Jazeera, which rolled out a global English language 24-hour news network five years ago and quickly made a name for itself.

Qatar's government bankrolled the station as part of its ambitions to parley its massive energy wealth into international influence, much as China is seeking global media stature behooving its booming economy, which now ranks second largest in the world behind the U.S.

But while Al-Jazeera's access and deep knowledge of the Middle East ? and a hands-off approach by its masters ? have been its greatest assets, state-run CCTV's emphatic allegiance to the authoritarian communist state and the party seem to be its biggest liability.

This greatly challenges CCTV's credibility and agenda to influence and channel global public opinion, said David Bandurski, editor of the China Media Project website at the University of Hong Kong.

"The role of the media as defined by the (Communist) Party is to serve the party's interests," Bandurski said.

A longtime CCTV program producer who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the topic said virtually everything in the news report is decided based on political considerations. The issues are discussed at meetings, but the decision always lies with the top bosses while the journalists have no say in the outcome, she said.

Still, CCTV is gearing up to supersize its global footprint this year in pursuit of swaying a foreign audience to China's views and confronting what Beijing considers the Western media's inate anti-China bias.

The network is opening studios in Washington and Nairobi, Kenya, each employing as many as 200 staffers. Worldwide, it will increase numbers of foreign correspondents from 66 to 80 by the end of 2012, with more to come, according to people familiar with the plans.

In Africa, CCTV has linked up with major satellite TV operator MIH Group and plans to operate upward of a dozen offices, according to Martyn J. Davies, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa who has discussed the expansion with CCTV officials.

"China is a major player in Africa but its media has been very low key," said Davies, who in 2004 helped set up Africa's first Beijing-sponsored Confucius Institute for Chinese language studies.

Yin Fan, spokeswoman for CCTV's international department, said the station was withholding comment until a formal launch of the expanded service. Individual employees said they had been told not to speak to the media about the expansion plans.

Many of the reporters, cameramen and technical staff are being lured from other news organizations with high salaries and attractive perks. One freelance reporter in east Africa said CCTV recruited him aggressively and agreed to almost doubled his fee from $350 to $600 dollars per report. It also offered him the chance to present his reports in front of the camera instead of passing the footage to others. The reporter asked not to be identified by name.

Veteran U.S. foreign correspondent Jim Laurie, hired to help in Washington, said on his website he was looking for experienced news professionals and that plans call for the U.S. operation to produce four hours of programming daily by June. Laurie declined to comment for this article.

At a time when budgets are tightening in news rooms, China's government appears willing to pour billions of dollars into expanding its international media footprint. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper has reported the total budget to be as high as 45 billion yuan ($7.1 billion), although no official announcement has been made.

Expansion plans found support after 2008, a year in which China's image was walloped by protests among Tibetans and chaotic scenes accompanying the Beijing Olympic Torch on its journey around the globe, said Zhong Xin, a professor of mass media at Beijing's elite Renmin University.

Many Chinese opinion makers also felt let down by Olympics coverage that praised China's organization but also spotlighted political repression and stifling security, Zhong said.

CCTV was already broadening its overseas offerings to include programing in Russian, Arabic, Spanish and French, along with Chinese and English, claiming to reach 219 million households in 156 countries and regions. Programming is distributed on cable and satellite carriers in the U.S. as well as over the Internet. The Associated Press distributes a selection of CCTV news content to broadcast subscribers and also provides content and other services to the Chinese state broadcaster.

Many of the biggest stories emerging from China in 2011 are off-limits, including arrests of lawyers and dissidents and the detention of internationally famed artist Ai Weiwei. Reports on the much-criticized response to a deadly high-speed rail crash hewed to the official line, while unflattering stories such as December's stabbing in the Yellow Sea that sparked anti-Chinese protests in Seoul can be downplayed or ignored entirely.

Still, even that marks an improvement from years past, says Renmin University's Zhong.

"CCTV is basically trying to follow the model of CNN and BBC in delivering balanced information and reporting swiftly and from all angles," she said. "We've seen major changes in the reports over the past few years, both in their content and the way they're presented."

Slick production values have been embraced, along with varied reports on sports, the economy, travel and culture.

Notwithstanding the cosmetic changes, the fact is that CCTV is controlled by the state.

Its head is appointed by the party and the latest pick, longtime Communist Party newspaper editor Hu Zhanfan, seems intent to cement its control. Shortly before his appointment in November, Hu upbraided journalists who placed the truth above loyalty to the party, saying news must always reflect "our party and country's political stance."

"It takes a lot more than very smart looking programs to overcome perceptions about China and the Chinese government," said Anne-Marie Brady, who teaches at New Zealand's University of Canterbury.

___

Associated Press news assistant Yu Bing contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-31-AS-China-TV-to-the-World/id-95c4b71f98374b6a8d63883f402c4051

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African Union fails to elect new commission head (AP)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia ? An African Union official says African leaders gathered in Ethiopia have failed to elect a new chairman of the AU Commission.

An AU official said Monday that Gabon's Jean Ping, who was running for a second term as chairman, did not reach the required two-thirds majority to win another term. The official spoke on condition he was not identified because the voting results had not yet been made public.

Ping's main challenger ? Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, a former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma ? withdrew from the election after losing three rounds.

The AU Commission's deputy chair, Erastus Mwencha, will take over from Ping until the next AU summit in about six months, when African leaders will vote again.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_af/af_african_union

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Jury finds Afghan family guilty in honor killings

Mohammad Shafia, centre, Tooba Yahya, right, and Hamed Shafia, left, arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia, centre, Tooba Yahya, right, and Hamed Shafia, left, arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia, center, Tooba Yahya, right, and Hamed Shafia, left, arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Tooba Yahya is led away from the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, after being found guilty of first degree murder. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia, front,Tooba Yahya, center and Hamed Shafia arrive at the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ont., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder of Mohammad Shafia's three daughters and childless first wife. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

Mohammad Shafia reacts as he his led away from the Frontenac County courthouse in Kingston, Ont., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, after being found guilty of first degree murder of his three daughters and childless first wife. A jury took 15 hours to find Shafia, 58, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case so shocking it has riveted Canadians from coast to coast. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

KINGSTON, Ontario (AP) ? A jury on Sunday found three members of an Afghan family guilty of killing three teenage sisters and another woman in what the judge described as "cold-blooded, shameful murders" resulting from a "twisted concept of honor," ending a case that shocked and riveted Canadians.

Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly killed the three teenage sisters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and using the Internet.

The jury took 15 hours to find Mohammad Shafia, 58; his wife Tooba Yahya, 42; and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

After the verdict was read, the three defendants again declared their innocence in the killings of sisters Zainab, 19, Sahar 17, and Geeti, 13, as well as Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's childless first wife in a polygamous marriage.

Their bodies were found June 30, 2009, in a car submerged in a canal in Kingston, Ontario, where the family had stopped for the night on their way home to Montreal from Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The prosecution alleged it was a case of premeditated murder, staged to look like an accident after it was carried out. Prosecutors said the defendants drowned their victims elsewhere on the site, placed their bodies in the car and pushed it into the canal.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Robert Maranger said the evidence clearly supported the conviction.

"It is difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable, more honorless crime," Maranger said. "The apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your completely twisted concept of honor ... that has absolutely no place in any civilized society."

In a statement following the verdict, Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson called honor killings a practice that is "barbaric and unacceptable in Canada."

Defense lawyers said the deaths were accidental. They said the Nissan car accidentally plunged into the canal after the eldest daughter, Zainab, took it for a joy ride with her sisters and her father's first wife. Hamed said he watched the accident, although he didn't call police from the scene.

After the jury returned the verdicts, Mohammad Shafia, speaking through a translator, said, "We are not criminal, we are not murderer, we didn't commit the murder and this is unjust."

His weeping wife, Tooba, also declared the verdict unjust, saying, "I am not a murderer, and I am a mother, a mother."

Their son, Hamed, speaking in English said, "I did not drown my sisters anywhere."

Hamed's lawyer, Patrick McCann, said he was disappointed with the verdict, but said his client will appeal and he believes the other two defendants will as well.

But prosecutor Gerard Laarhuis welcomed the verdict.

"This jury found that four strong, vivacious and freedom-loving women were murdered by their own family in the most troubling of circumstances," Laarhuis said outside court.

"This verdict sends a very clear message about our Canadian values and the core principles in a free and democratic society that all Canadians enjoy and even visitors to Canada enjoy," he said to cheers of approval from onlookers.

The family had left Afghanistan in 1992 and lived in Pakistan, Australia and Dubai before settling in Canada in 2007. Shafia, a wealthy businessman, married Yahya because his first wife could not have children.

Shafia's first wife was living with him and his second wife. The polygamous relationship, if revealed, could have resulted in their deportation.

The prosecution painted a picture of a household controlled by a domineering Shafia, with Hamed keeping his sisters in line and doling out discipline when his father was away on frequent business trips to Dubai.

The months leading up to the deaths were not happy ones in the Shafia household, according to evidence presented at trial. Zainab, the oldest daughter, was forbidden to attend school for a year because she had a young Pakistani-Canadian boyfriend, and she fled to a shelter, terrified of her father, the court was told.

The prosecution said her parents found condoms in Sahar's room as well as photos of her wearing short skirts and hugging her Christian boyfriend, a relationship she had kept secret. Geeti was becoming almost impossible to control: skipping school, failing classes, being sent home for wearing revealing clothes and stealing, while declaring to authority figures that she wanted to be placed in foster care, according to the prosecution.

Shafia's first wife wrote in a diary that her husband beat her and "made life a torture," while his second wife called her a servant.

The prosecution presented wire taps and mobile phone records from the Shafia family in court to support their honor killing allegation. The wiretaps, which capture Shafia spewing vitriol about his dead daughters, calling them treacherous and whores and invoking the devil to defecate on their graves, were a focal point of the trial.

"There can be no betrayal, no treachery, no violation more than this," Shafia said on one recording. "Even if they hoist me up onto the gallows ... nothing is more dear to me than my honor."

Defense lawyers argued that at no point in the intercepts do the accused say they drowned the victims.

Shafia's lawyer, Peter Kemp, said after the verdicts that he believes the comments his client made on the wiretaps may have weighed more heavily on the jury's minds than the physical evidence in the case.

"He wasn't convicted for what he did," Kemp said. "He was convicted for what he said."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-CN-Canada-Honor-Killing/id-68aad2c2f7dc45ea84364cfc8cbba084

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Stewart J. Lawrence: Post-Florida, Expect a Nasty Dogfight for the GOP Nomination

Look at the latest GOP polls coming out of Florida. It appears that Mitt Romney is slowly pulling away from Newt Gingrich, opening up a 9-point lead in the most recent poll, with just four days left before next Tuesday's critical, winner-take-all primary.

You might think that means that Romney is also leading Gingrich nationally. You'd be wrong. Gingrich, while slipping in Florida, is actually pulling ahead of Romney. The two latest national polls have Gingrich leading by 8-9 points, a slight increase over the smaller Gingrich lead from last week.

Since state and national polling has been conducted concurrently, the difference in the results can't be attributed to a time lag. What we're seeing, instead, are sharply divergent trends at the two levels.

Why? The explanation is fairly simple. Florida, far from being a bellwether state, has unique voter demographics. And by adapting his strategy to account for these demographics, Romney has managed to gain support in Florida that he's failed to win nationally.

Which voter demographics are proving most decisive in Florida? They include:

Women. In South Carolina, where Gingrich won a commanding 12-point victory, he surprised many observers by carrying both the male and female vote. But in Florida, Romney leads Gingrich by as much as 16 points among women, according to the latest Rasmussen poll.

Latinos. Not a significant factor in South Carolina, an estimated 11-12 percent of the GOP electorate in Florida is comprised of Latinos, mostly Cuban-Americans. Romney holds a 4-3 lead over Gingrich, according to the latest Insider Advantage poll. In other GOP primary states, the Latino share of the electorate will be smaller, and with greater concerns over U.S. immigration policy, could be far more favorable to Gingrich.

Absentee/Early Voters. Florida permits early voting, and some 10 percent of the electorate has already cast their vote. Voting began before the South Carolina primary, when Romney had a 30-point lead over Gingrich in Florida. Absentee balloting -- some if it from military voters -- also favors Romney.

Interestingly, the Romney-Gingrich gender gap isn't among the women many observers might expect: evangelicals. Gingrich still has a strong lead over Romney with this critical voting bloc. However, Gingrich's problem is that its share of the Florida vote is much smaller than it was in South Carolina -- and in many other GOP contests.

Gingrich, it seems, is losing relatively moderate GOP women, not conservative ones. That could be an important factor in the general election, where independent female voters may not take to Gingrich, either. But post-Florida, how badly Romney might hurt Gingrich with women in states with large numbers of evangelical voters is still unclear.

The big question coming out of Florida will be perception. If Gingrich loses, he will face renewed calls from the GOP establishment to withdraw from the race. And Romney, with his huge war chest, will continue to outspend Gingrich in future primaries. That could also give Romney a chance to slowly chip away at Gingrich's widening national lead.

But that lead is suggestive of just how much discontent with Romney remains among GOP voters, especially as the former Massachusetts governor continues to pivot to the center. In the South Gingrich has a huge polling lead over Romney, and that's not likely to change, no matter what
Romney does.

Another sign of GOP disaffection with Romney is the continuing rise of Rick Santorum. His percentage of the GOP vote nationally recently jumped to a record 18 percent, just 10 points behind Romney, in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll.

Santorum and Gingrich are going after the same evangelical voters, leaving Romney with virtually no support among this critical voting bloc. Were the cash-poor Santorum to drop out at some point, the bulk of his support would likely switch to Gingrich, giving the former House speaker a huge new source of backing nationally -- and in other primary states where evangelicals dominate the GOP electorate.

In short, Romney better enjoy what appears to be a likely victory in Florida while he can. Because it may end up bouncing about as far as Gingrich's South Carolina win did -- not very far.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stewart-j-lawrence/florida-primary-gop-nomination_b_1237226.html

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Rosie O???Donnell and Fiancée are Trying for a Baby (omg!)

On Friday?s episode of her OWN talk show, Rosie O?Donnell sat down with Dr. Mehmet Oz and revealed that she and her fianc?e, New York headhunter Michelle Rounds, are trying to have children.

Rosie O'Donnell: Engaged!?

"She's trying to get pregnant," O'Donnell told Oz on The Rosie Show.

Previously O'Donnell was married to Kelli Carpenter from 2004 to 2007. The former couple has four children, Blake, Parker, Chelsea and Vivienne.

O'Donnell confirmed her engagement on December 5, 2011 by announcing the happy news to her studio audience during a commercial break from The Rosie Show.

O'Donnell's interview with Dr. Oz airs next Thursday on OWN.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_rosie_o_donnell_fianc_e_trying_baby021300593/44334196/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/rosie-o-donnell-fianc-e-trying-baby-021300593.html

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Notion in Motion: Wireless Sensors Monitor Brain Waves on the Fly

"TIP OF THE ICEBERG": NeuroSky, Inc.'s brain-computer interface shown here just scratches the surface of what is possible thanks to advances in mobile electroencephalographic brain-wave detection technology, says University of California, San Diego's Scott Makeig. Image: Courtesy of Neurosky, Inc.

A fighter pilot heads back to base after a long mission, feeling spent. A warning light flashes on the control panel. Has she noticed? If so, is she focused enough to fix the problem?

Thanks to current advances in electroencephalographic (EEG) brain-wave detection technology, military commanders may not have to guess the answers to these questions much longer. They could soon be monitoring her mental state via helmet sensors, looking for signs she is concentrating on her flying and reacting to the warning light.

This is possible because of two key advances made EEG technology wireless and mobile, says Scott Makeig, director of the University of California, San Diego's Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience (SCCN) in La Jolla, Calif. EEG used to require users to sit motionless, weighted down by heavy wires. Movement interfered with the signals, so that even an eyebrow twitch could garble the brain impulses.

Modern technology lightened the load and wirelessly linked the sensors and the computers that collect the data. In addition, Makeig and others developed better algorithms?in particular, independent component analysis. By reading signals from several electrodes, they can infer where, within the skull, a particular impulse originated. This is akin to listening to a single speaker's voice in a crowded room. In so doing, they are also able to filter out movements?not just eyebrow twitches, but also the muscle flexing needed to walk, talk or fly a plane.

EEG's most public face may be two Star Wars?inspired toys, Mattel's Mindflex and Uncle Milton's Force Trainer. Introduced in 2009, they let wannabe Jedi knights practice telekinesis while wearing an EEG headset. But these toys are just the "tip of the iceberg," says Makeig, whose work includes mental concentration monitoring. "Did you push the red button and then say, 'Oops!' to yourself? It would be useful in many situations?including military?for the system to be aware of that."

That kind of "mental gas gauge" is just one of many projects Makeig is running at the SCCN, which is part of U.C. San Diego's Institute for Neural Computation (INC). He also combines mobile EEG with motion-capture technology, suiting volunteers in EEG caps and LED-speckled spandex suits so he can follow their movements with cameras in a converted basement classroom. For the first time, researchers like Makeig can examine the thoughts that lead to movement, in both healthy people and participants with conditions such as autism. Makeig calls the system Mobile Brain/Body Imaging, or MoBI. It allows him to study actions "at the speed of thought itself," he says.

EEG does not directly read thoughts. Instead, it picks up on the electrical fields generated by nerves, which communicate via electricity. The EEG sensors?from the one on the Star Wars games to the 256 in Makeig's MoBI?are like microphones listening to those microvolt-strength neural signals, says Tansy Brook, head of communications for NeuroSky Brain?Computer Interface Technology in San Jose, Calif., makers of the chip in the Star Wars toys and many other research, educational and entertainment products.

For one project, Makeig is collaborating with neuroscientists Marissa Westerfield and Jeanne Townsend*, U.C. San Diego researchers studying movement behavior in teenagers with autism. They put the teens, wearing the EEG sensors and LEDs, in Makeig's special classroom. Then, they project a spaceship on the walls. The kids have to chase the spaceship as it darts from one point to another. Although the results are not yet in, Westerfield suspects that people with autism, compared with those who are non-autistic, will take longer to process where the spaceship has gone and readjust their movements toward it. "If we had a better idea of the underlying deficits?then we could possibly design better interventions," such as targeted physical therapy for the movement problems autistic people have, Westerfield says.

Neuroscientists and psychologists have been using EEG to eavesdrop on brain waves since 1926, and doctors employ it to study sleep patterns and observe epileptic seizures. During most of that time, subjects had to sit in an electrically shielded booth, "like a big refrigerator," says John Foxe, a neuroscientist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He calls Makeig's MoBI "technical wizardry" that will enable scientists "to watch the brain and how it works in much more realistic settings."

Wireless EEG has already had an impact on gaming. San Francisco?based Emotiv has since 2009 sold its EPOC EEG headset, which uses electrical signals to determine a player's emotional state?excitement, frustration and boredom each create a different pattern. Gamers using Emotiv's technology can also create mental "spells" to lift or push virtual objects, says Geoff Mackellar, CEO of Emotiv?s research unit based in Sydney, Australia. The EPOC is also regularly used in research labs and may have medical applications in the future, Mackellar adds.

Wireless EEG technology provides signals as clear as the wired version, Makeig says, and at about 3.5 kilograms his machinery is "luggable." (Emotiv's and NeuroSky's headsets, which use fewer electrodes, are lighter.) "Of course, we're not starting with ballet dancers doing The Rite of Spring," he admits, but the team has succeeded with joggers on a treadmill. One challenge they would still like to overcome is to remove the sticky, conductive gel that goes under each electrode. It can certainly be done?Emotiv's electrodes use only saltwater and NeuroSky's are dry.

Tzyy-Ping Jung, associate director of the SCCN, predicts the group will make a dry, 64-electrode system within a couple of years. He and Makeig envision the headset will help paralyzed people interact with the world, warn migraine sufferers of an impending headache, and adjust computerized learning to match a student's personal pace, among other potential applications.

"It's certainly something that everyone can have at home," Emotiv's Mackellar says.

*Correction (1/27/12): This sentence was edited after posting. It originally referred to Jeanne Townsend as Jean Thompson.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=60da3ae60f492ca5c90e0ebaa19105e9

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Heigl would love to return to 'Grey's Anatomy' (AP)

NEW YORK ? Katherine Heigl wants to set the record straight: She loved the six seasons she played Dr. Izzie Stevens on "Grey's Anatomy" and would gladly return to the ABC medical drama.

"I would be thrilled if they asked. I think it would be just so wonderful to have the opportunity to just sort of round out the character, have a few episodes to just discover where she went, what she's doing now and (have) one more loving, romantic scene with Alex (played by Justin Chambers)," the 33-year-old actress said in an interview Wednesday.

Although it was rumored that Heigl left the show on bad terms, she said it was because she wanted to focus on her daughter, Naleigh.

"That was a really, really difficult decision," she said. "You know, you are always going to grapple with something like that because it was a great experience and I didn't really want to go. But I felt ... like I need to make her and my husband and our life together as a family my priority."

Heigl has been busy promoting her latest comedy, "One for the Money," with 3-year-old Naleigh joining her on the talk-show circuit. (Heigl is one of the movie's executive producers.)

The film, in theaters Friday, is based on the first book in the popular Stephanie Plum mystery series by Janet Evanovich.

Heigl stars as Plum, a New Jersey lingerie saleswoman-turned-bounty hunter charged with bringing in her high school flame.

AP: Why do you want to set the record straight about "Grey's Anatomy"?

Heigl: I feel like it was a very innocent question asked last week, and my first instinct and innocent answer was, `Oh yeah, I'd love to go back if they wanted me to.' And it's turned into this story! ... I wouldn't want anyone to feel misled or feel confused by my answer and I just want everyone to know, `Hey I love that show and I love that character just as much as you do.'

AP: Since leaving the show, you've starred in several romantic comedies. Are you worried about being typecast?

Heigl: They tend to be the movies I watch when I'm home and hanging out and want to relax. I want to watch Kate Hudson, I want to watch Reese Witherspoon, I want to watch all those great movies that make you feel good. So I loved being a part of them and I didn't mind being typecast, but any time you start to wander outside the box a little bit people start to get confused. ... This one is an interesting one because it wasn't a conscious decision not to do romantic comedy. ... The book explores so many different themes that in order to honor it properly and do right by it we couldn't just turn it into a romantic comedy.

AP: You're in a scene where you're naked and handcuffed to a shower-curtain rod. Was that scary to shoot?

Heigl: It was really nerve-racking and I'll tell you what ... seeing it on a very, very, very big screen at the premiere, it was a very different experience. I was like, man that was embarrassing. It's a lot of me.

AP: Did you have to mentally prepare for those scenes?

Heigl: We spent a lot of time joking around and being silly about it because it is so absurd and there are things you can do to sort of cover the most private bits, I guess, but they almost look worse ? the pasties look even more bizarre than if I had just gone for it.

AP: How has motherhood affected your career?

Heigl: My career had been my primary focus for a very long time and that's a very self-absorbed path. It's all about me. It's all about what I want. It's all about what I need. ... And having Naleigh in my life has put that all into a perspective that's much more peaceful and much more profound. I feel very blessed, very grateful to have it because I feel like I can breathe. ... When Naleigh is in a room, whatever that special and unique thing that child has puts me in a frame of mind and a place where I like myself better.

___

Online:

http://www.oneforthemoneyfilm.com

http://www.kheigl.com/

___

Nicole Evatt covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_en_mo/us_film_q_a_katherine_heigl

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Video: SEALs rescue American held captive

Surprising 30 percent rise in home births

??A small, but growing trend of women in the US are choosing home births, a new government report finds. These mostly over 35, non-Hispanic white women are "consciously rejecting the system" of hospital deliveries, says the researcher.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46138690#46138690

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Sensor sensibility: Better protection for concrete coastal structures

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? Innovative sensors have been developed that will dramatically improve the ability to spot early warning signs of corrosion in concrete.

More resilient and much longer lasting than traditional corrosion sensors they will make monitoring the safety of structures such as bridges and vital coastal defences much more effective.

The carbon steel bars used to reinforce submerged concrete in tidal zone areas are at particular risk of corrosion caused by wet conditions (see note below).

The breakthrough has been made by researchers based at City University London and Queen's University Belfast following several research projects funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Because the sensors can withstand long-term placement within concrete -- unlike any equivalent sensors currently available -- they can constantly monitor conditions, enabling a warning to be sent when conditions for corrosion threshold have been crossed.

Thanks to an internet connection, the notification can be sent in the form of an email or text to the structure's maintenance team.

A trio of novel, robust probes is at the heart of the team's work: one that monitors temperature, one for humidity while the other senses chloride and pH levels. Changes in these factors indicate the onset of the potentially destructive corrosion. Within the probes are advanced optical sensors specifically designed and built for this project in City's laboratories. These have been patented for potential commercial exploitation.

Tong Sun, Professor of Sensor Engineering at City and Principal Investigator on the project says: "Key to this successful prototype is our monitoring the variation of the sensor signals of a sample as an indicator of corrosion levels. This means we can use optical sensors made of polymer, which is much more resistant to the high alkaline environments of these structures than sensors currently on the market."

Traditional optical corrosion sensors have only a limited lifetime, usually of several weeks, because of the corrosive alkaline levels within concrete. The new sensors are expected to last for several years, with proper protection, even where pH levels are higher than 12. For comparison, domestic bleach has a pH value of between 12 and 13.

"Our design means several probes can be installed semi-permanently in a structure and then connected to a computer data logger, which will constantly collect readings. This can be left until the readings indicate conditions have changed enough to warrant a full investigation. Remedial work will be simpler, cheaper and more effective at this stage, rather than waiting until there is visible damage, such as parts of the concrete coming away," said Professor Sun.

Notes

The four-year project 'Corrosion Monitoring Systems for Structures in Extreme Marine Environments', began on 31 March 2006 and concluded on 30 March 2010. It received EPSRC funding of ?243,145 to City University London and ?244,788 to Queen's University Belfast.

The success of the sensor development and its potential value to industry means the research team were also awarded a follow on grant by the EPSRC (?110,125 to City and ?65,318 to Queen's University Belfast) to explore the commercial potential of these sensors. This project will see further improvement on the sensor design, especially chloride sensors and their subsequent testing of the probes which will then be put forward for the patent update before being made available for next-stage commercial exploitation.

The integrity of marine structures can face serious risks from a combination of chemical, biological and physical actions presented by the sea. The cost to the owners in the event of a failure can amount to millions of pounds annually for repair, replacement and for removing any sections that have fallen into surrounding water.

In structures such as bridges it is the steel rebar embedded in the concrete that is at risk of corrosion: most at risk are the tidal and splash zones which experience continual wetting and drying.

Seawater contains a cocktail of dissolved inorganic material of which the chloride ion plays a major role in the corrosion of marine structures. This applies to the air above water as well as in the splash zone and below the surface.

The sensors within the temperature and humidity probe utilise the fibre Bragg grating. A fibre Bragg grating is a type of reflector made of a length of optical fibre that only reflects specific wavelengths of light while transmitting all others. This is created, usually by ultraviolet laser treatment, which alters the fibre core's refractive index. A pair of gratings, with one being coated with a polymer layer, was used to separate the temperature and humidity parameters.

Due to the commercial sensitivity of the design, details of the sensors inside the chloride / pH probe are not being disclosed. But it can be revealed that it is capable of measuring free chloride concentrations as low as 20 millimoles per litre (a mole is a unit measuring the concentration of a substance by counting the number of atoms or molecules in it).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125113141.htm

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Indians manager: Carmona important to rotation (AP)

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic ? Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta says the pitcher known as Fausto Carmona is an important part of the rotation and the team is doing what it can to speed up his arrival.

Acta told The Associated Press late Monday that the team is making the necessary moves to get Carmona to the United States for the coming season but also will be prepared to go without him.

Says Acta: "It doesn't matter that he was a little inconsistent last year. Fausto is an important part of our rotation."

Carmona is accused of using a false identity to play baseball in the U.S. and faces a judicial process in the Dominican Republic. He was released from jail on Friday.

Carmona's real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia. He's 31, three years older than he had claimed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) ? The Cleveland Indians manager says the pitcher known as Fausto Carmona won't be making it to spring training.

Indians manager Manny Acta told The Associated Press late Monday that the team is trying to speed up Carmona's arrival.

Carmona is accused of using a false identity to play baseball in the U.S. and faces a judicial process in the Dominican Republic. He was released from jail on Friday.

Carmona's real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia. He's 31, three years older than he had claimed.

Acta says it's likely Kevin Slowey may replace Carmona, who won 13 games in 2010 and went 7-15 last season.

(This version CORRECTS the first paragraph, headlines to delete reference to spring training because of translation error. Acta says team working to get Carmona to States for coming season.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_indians_carmona

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Just Show Me: How to change the theme on your Xbox 360 (Yahoo! News)

Welcome to?Just Show Me on?Tecca TV, where we show you tips and tricks for getting the most out of the?gadgets in your life. In today's episode we'll show you how to change the theme?on your?Xbox 360.

The dashboard on your Xbox 360 can be customized to display different background, themes, etc. Personalize your Xbox 360 to reflect who you are!

Take a look at these other episodes of Just Show Me that'll help you use your Xbox 360 to its full potential:

For even more episodes of Just Show Me,?subscribe to Tecca TV's YouTube channel and?check out all our Just Show Me episodes. If you have any topics you'd like to see us cover, just drop us a line in the comments.

This article originally appeared on Tecca

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120124/tc_yblog_technews/just-show-me-how-to-change-the-theme-on-your-xbox-360

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Seal, Heidi Klum announce separation (AP)

NEW YORK ? Seal and Heidi Klum have announced that their storybook marriage is coming to the end of the runway.

In a statement Sunday night, the power couple announced their separation after rumors swirled over the weekend that a divorce was imminent.

"While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul searching we have decided to separate," the joint statement read. "We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart. This is an amicable process and protecting the well-being of our children remains our top priority, especially during this time of transition. We thank our family, friends, and fans for their kind words of support. And for our children's sake, we appreciate you respecting our privacy."

The couple married in 2005 and has four children together, including the supermodel's daughter from a previous relationship.

They were one of Hollywood's most high-profile couples, and seemed to have the relationship everyone should envy. They two starred together in the music video "Secret," they renewed their wedding vows each anniversary, boasted of their love in the media, and threw Halloween bashes together where they dressed in outrageous outfits, most recently last year in New York City, where the two engaged in their typical public display of affection for the cameras.

In an interview with The Associated Press in 2007, the "Kiss from A Rose" singer described his wife, who has a tattoo of his name on her arm, as his best friend.

"It is really important that we have that understanding because apart from anything else it is really healthy," he said of the "Project Runway" host. "People often talk about the most important thing in a relationship. They say it is really important that you are turned on by your partner and you love each other, which is all really true.I often think that the most important thing or certainly up there with love is respect."

TMZ first reported on Saturday that the two planned to divorce this week.

His announcement comes as he releases his new album, "Soul 2," on Tuesday, which has songs like "Love T.K.O," "Let's Stay Together" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

___

AP Entertainment Writer Alicia Quarles contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_en_tv/us_people_seal_heidi_klum

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UN: 120,000 S.Sudanese affected by ethnic violence (AP)

JUBA, South Sudan ? More than 120,000 people need humanitarian aid because of a wave of ethnic clashes in a remote and volatile region of South Sudan, the United Nations said Friday, underscoring the challenges the world's newest nation faces six months after independence.

The government of Sudan also reported clashes in a state bordering the new nation.

The battles in Jonglei state are straining international relief efforts, said Lise Grande, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan. The U.N. mission originally projected that the same number of people displaced in South Sudan in 2011 ? 350,000 ? would be displaced in 2012.

"We are two weeks into the year and there have already been 120,000 impacted," said Grande.

The U.N. earlier this month estimated that 60,000 people had been affected by clashes between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities. The Lou Nuer sent a column of at least 6,000 warriors to attack the Murle in late December and early January, sending tens of thousands of people fleeing into the countryside. The Murle have since carried out revenge attacks.

No reliable death toll has yet been established in the series of attacks. Government officials have estimated that over 160 have been killed in Murle revenge attacks. A county commissioner initially estimated more than 3,000 had been killed in the Lou Nuer attacks on Pibor, but the central government has cast doubt on that figure.

The U.N. is also trying to establish the number of dead. But more than two weeks after the end of the Pibor attacks, Grande said they have not come to any conclusions.

"Like everyone else we are waiting to see what is confirmed," said Grande.

U.N. officials in South Sudan are calling humanitarian operations in Jonglei state the most expensive and complex since the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended more than 20 years of civil war between Sudan and South Sudan. South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July.

While U.N. humanitarian operations have reached communities in Pibor County, the displaced in Uror, Akobo and Duk counties must wait until the U.N. completes its humanitarian assessments.

Jonglei state is roughly the size of England but there are few roads and the majority of food aid must be flown in by helicopter. The instability in the state has led Russia to threaten to withdraw four helicopters it has provided to the U.N. mission.

South Sudan has deployed 3,000 security forces to the state to try and quell the waves of violence. The Sudan Council of Churches, which has been heavily involved in peace efforts, called the deployment "too little, too late."

Sudan's military said on its website Friday that seven opposition fighters from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North ? the military movement in Sudan that aligns itself with South Sudan ? were killed in clashes with Sudanese soldiers in the country's Blue Nile State, which borders South Sudan.

The clashes took place near the border with South Sudan earlier this week, military spokesman Sawarme Khalid Saad was quoted as saying.

Six soldiers were wounded in the clashes, which resulted in the military driving the rebels out of the area, Saad said. Late last year, the U.N. refugee agency said some 1,200 people were arriving daily from Sudan's Blue Nile State to South Sudan, and that around 350,000 people have moved from Sudan to South Sudan since independence in July.

The Sudanese government also denounced U.S. efforts to distribute humanitarian aid in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states because it excluded the participation of national humanitarian organizations. This could result in aid falling into the hands of opposition fighters, Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Suleiman Abdul Rahman Suleiman said.

He was quoted in the state-run SUNA news agency Friday calling on the U.S. to explain its motives for delivering humanitarian aid without the Sudanese government's participation in areas where the SPLM is active.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_af/af_south_sudan_violence

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Google shares slide but analysts stay upbeat (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Shares of Google Inc fell 8 percent after the Internet giant posted a rare quarterly earnings miss and said money paid by marketers for its search ads decreased for the first time in two years.

The search giant underperformed on both revenue and earnings, despite record U.S. online commerce during the holiday season, prompting several brokerages to cut their price targets on the stock.

Google shares were down $50.77 at $588.80 in late morning trade on Friday on the Nasdaq. They had touched a low of $584.81. It was the stock's biggest percentage fall in 9 months.

About 5.2 million shares changes hands by 1120 ET, more than their daily average volume.

The broader Nasdaq composite index was down 0.25 percent.

Google executives blamed the decline in search ad rates on forex fluctuations and ad format changes but analysts wondered whether mobile advertising -- which has lower rates -- played a more important role than the company admitted.

The fall in cost per click (CPC) had led to a barrage of questions from analysts during the post-earnings conference call on Thursday.

The market needs to shift expectations to paid click growth and lower its estimates for CPC, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

Google's heavy investments in mobile and social network initiatives -- to stave off competition from rivals Apple Inc and Facebook -- and its planned $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings have also raised investors' concerns.

Larry Page, who took over as CEO in April, said in July that the company was moving to put "more wood behind fewer arrows."

Analysts said the company has seen growth in display advertising, its Android mobile platform and Google+.

Google+ -- its recently-launched social network -- has 90 million users now, up from 40 million three months ago.

SOLID CORE

Wall Street analysts called the selloff an overreaction; Barclays said it presents a buying opportunity.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Goldman Sachs titled its research note on Google.

The company's core results were solid as paid click growth accelerated by more than a third, margins improved, and display and mobile businesses performed well, analysts said.

The acceleration in paid clicks suggests that underlying demand for Google ads is quite healthy across devices, JP Morgan said, adding Google is best-positioned for the shift to new media.

Goldman Sachs analysts said, "We expect the growth in mobile to be 146 percent in 2012 and represent 15 percent of gross sales as we exit fourth-quarter of 2012."

The company still has strong earnings power that will reappear during 2012, Canaccord Genuity said, reiterating its "buy" rating.

Barclays, Baird, Jefferies and JP Morgan also maintained their top ratings on the stock.

(Reporting by Aditi Sharma and Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Tenzin Pema, Don Sebastian, Unnikrishnan Nair)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wr_nm/us_google_research

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France eyes early withdrawal after Afghan attack

PARIS ?? France suspended military operations in Afghanistan Friday after the killing of four more French soldiers, President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

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Addressing French diplomats after an Afghan security source said four soldiers had been killed and 17 wounded by an Afghan soldier in the Taghab valley of eastern Kapisa province, Sarkozy confirmed that the dead were French.

Sarkozy said France may accelerate its planned troop withdrawal if the security situation does not improve.

"I have decided to send the defense minister and the head of the armed forces to Afghanistan and until then all training operations and combat help from French forces are suspended," said Sarkozy. "If the security conditions are not clearly established then the question of an early return of French forces from Afghanistan will arise."

The attack is among the most deadly for French forces in the 10 years they have been serving in the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan.

Afghan security forces or insurgents dressed in their uniforms have attacked and killed international troops or civilian trainers more than a dozen times in the past two years, according to an Associated Press count.

"It's unacceptable that our soldiers are killed by our allies. It's a difficult decision to make," Sarkozy said of the suspension of French operations.

It appeared to be the second time in a month that an Afghan soldier has attacked French forces. On Dec. 29, a soldier in the Afghan National Army opened fire and killed two members of the 2nd regiment of the Foreign Legion. French forces fired back and killed the assailant.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings Jr., a spokesman for the coalition, said Friday that cases where Afghan soldiers have wounded or killed coalition forces are isolated cases and do not occur on a routine basis. "We train and are partnered with Afghan personnel every day and we are not seeing any issues or concerns with our relationships," he said.

More than 2,500 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan since the NATO-led war began in 2001. The latest killings take the French toll to 82.

Meanwhile, six U.S. Marines died late Thursday when a helicopter crashed in Helmand province.

It was the deadliest crash in Afghanistan since August, when 30 American troops died after a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down in Wardak province.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46069137/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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PHOTO: Lauren Scruggs Out for First Time Since Accident

Lauren Scruggs has made her first public appearance since losing her left hand and left eye in a horrific plane propeller accident six weeks ago. The 23-year-old model and fashion blogger was photographed laughing and joking around with her family on Tuesday outside the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas, Texas.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/lauren-scruggs-out-first-time-plane-propeller-accident/1-a-420414?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Alauren-scruggs-out-first-time-plane-propeller-accident-420414

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Fatal shooting in hotel hosting US women

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) ? Police say a man was shot and killed at the hotel hosting the U.S. women's soccer team during the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Police were called to the Sheraton Wall Centre at about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday and found the body of a man dead from apparent gunshot wounds in a restaurant at the hotel.

U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman Neil Buethe said the American delegation was safe and that none of its members witnessed the shooting.

Goalie Hope Solo did tweet about it: "Saved by our instant yoga session. Was about to walk to starbucks when all hell broke loose in the lobby of our hotel! Life is precious..."

Police had not identified the victim and had no information on a suspect.

The U.S. team begins play against the Dominican Republic on Friday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-18-OLY-SOC-Vancouver-Shooting/id-3280de30efed4c1ab71f09546e0edf47

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Chef Paula Deen hid diabetes, pushed high-fat food

FILE- This undated file photo courtesy of Food Network shows celebrity chef Paula Deen. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. While Deen has cut out glass after glass of sweet tea and taken up treadmill walking off camera, she plans few changes on the air. (AP Photo/Food Network, File)

FILE- This undated file photo courtesy of Food Network shows celebrity chef Paula Deen. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. While Deen has cut out glass after glass of sweet tea and taken up treadmill walking off camera, she plans few changes on the air. (AP Photo/Food Network, File)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, celebrity chef Paula Deen poses for a portrait in New York. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri)

FILE- This Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 file photo shows celebrity chef Paula Deen as she waits to make an appearance on the Today Show in Miami Beach, Fla. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter, file)

FILE- This Thursday, July 27, 2006 file photo shows Paula Deen, center, and her sons Jamie, right, and Bobby, rear, as they tape her show in Savannah, Ga. Paula Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. While Deen has cut out glass after glass of sweet tea and taken up treadmill walking off camera, she plans few changes on her three Food Network shows. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton, File)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, celebrity chef Paula Deen poses for a portrait in New York. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Paula Deen, the Southern belle of butter and heavy cream, makes no apologies for waiting three years to disclose she has diabetes while continuing to dish up deep-fried cheesecake and other high-calorie, high-fat recipes on TV.

She said she isn't changing the comfort cooking that made her a star, though it isn't clear how much of it she'll continue to eat while she promotes health-conscious recipes along with a diabetes drug she's endorsing for a Danish company.

"I've always said, 'Practice moderation, y'all.' I'll probably say that a little louder now," Deen said Tuesday after revealing her diagnosis on NBC's "Today" show. "You can have diabetes and have a piece of cake. You cannot have diabetes and eat a whole cake."

Health activists and one fellow chef called her a hypocrite for promoting an unhealthy diet along with a drug to treat its likely effects. Deen added her support of the Novo Nordisk company to a collection of lucrative endorsements that include Smithfield ham and Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

Deen, who will turn 65 on Thursday, said she kept her diagnosis private as she and her family figured out what to do, presumably about her health and a career built solidly on Southern cooking. Among her recipes: deep-fried cheesecake covered in chocolate and powdered sugar, and a quiche that calls for a pound of bacon.

"I really sat on this information for a few years because I said, 'Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do about this? Is my life fixing to change? Am I no longer going to like my life?" she asked. "I had to have time to adjust and soak it all in and get up all the information that I could."

While Deen, who lives in Savannah, Ga., has cut out the sweet tea she routinely drank straight through to bedtime and taken up treadmill walking, she plans few changes on the air.

Government doctors say that being overweight (as Deen is), over 45 (as Deen is) and inactive (as Deen was) increase the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Growth of the disease in the U.S. has been closely tied to escalating obesity rates. Roughly 23 million Americans are believed to have the most common Type 2 diabetes; patients' bodies either do not produce enough insulin or do not use it efficiently, allowing excess sugar, or glucose, to accumulate in the blood.

Deen is the pitch person for Novo Nordisk's new online program, Diabetes in a New Light, which offers tips on food preparation, stress management and working with doctors on treatment. She has contributed diabetes-friendly recipes to the website and takes the company's drug Victoza, a once-daily noninsulin injection that had global sales of $734 million in the first nine months of 2011.

A recipe for Lady and Sons Lasagna, on her diabetes-conscious site, uses extra-lean ground beef and cans of unsalted tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, for a dish estimated at 260 calories a serving. Turn to Deen's collection of recipes on The Food Network's site and find Grandmother Paul's fried chicken, with Crisco shortening for frying, or baked French Toast casserole, with two cups of half-and-half and a half-pound of butter. No calorie counts are estimated.

The Novo Nordisk site links to promotional materials for the drug Victoza. Company spokeswoman Ambre Morley and Deen declined to disclose how much she is being paid.

Deen said she had no help or advice to offer the public when she was first diagnosed, but feels she's making a contribution now.

None of that matters much to outspoken chef Anthony Bourdain, who has never been a Deen fan. He told Eater.com of her diabetes announcement: "When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you've been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you've got Type 2 diabetes ... it's in bad taste if nothing else."

In Yuba, Wis., Judd Dvorak watches Deen cook on TV all the time with his wife. He thinks Bourdain has the right idea. Dvorak said it's wrong for Deen to accept money to become a paid spokeswoman for a diabetes drug after espousing a cooking style that helps lead to diabetes.

"It would be like someone who goes on TV and brags about how wonderful it is to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day and then when he or she gets lung cancer becomes a paid spokesperson for nicotine patches," Dvorak said. "I feel it is in very poor taste and if she chose to become an unpaid spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association, that would be a better way for her to make a difference and help fight this horrible disease."

Deen also smokes, but she considers her heavy-handed food only one piece of the diabetes puzzle, with genetics, lifestyle, stress, age and race. She said she would never advocate smoking and her diabetes is "well under control."

While making changes in her personal life, she doesn't think her TV shows ? there are three ? will look much different. She spends about 30 days a year taping, "so I'm not cooking and eating that way every day."

That's something the public doesn't necessarily know. The food, Deen said, isn't really to blame.

"I am who I am," she said. "I think the South gets a bad rap sometimes, saying our food is very unhealthy, but frankly I don't think that's the case. I think it's like any other food, whether it be Italian, French, Cajun. They all can be very high in calories and that's where we have to practice portion control and moderation."

Morley said the company didn't know Deen had diabetes when it approached her about promoting the new health initiative.

"We really just wanted to ask her, 'Hey, Paula, do you think we could challenge you to change up some of your recipes and make them diabetes-friendly," Morley said. "And her reply was, 'How did you guys know I had diabetes?'"

It was a surprise to the Food Network as well. Network officials found out only last week, said spokesman Jesse Derris.

"As part of the Food Network's family, our only concern is for Paula's health. We will continue to support her as she confronts this new challenge, taking her lead on what future episodes will offer her fans," he said.

Some health experts question the delay between the time Deen was diagnosed with diabetes and her move three years later to promote a healthier way of cooking and living.

"A more responsible approach would have been that once she was diagnosed with diabetes to really emphasize to her viewers the importance of eating a healthy diet," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

____

Contributing to this report were Nicole Evatt in New York and AP Business Writer Linda A. Johnson in Trenton, N.J.

___

Online:

Paula Deen's Food Network page: ?http://bit.ly/pGT9n

Paula Deen's diabetes-friendly recipes: ? http://www.diabetesinanewlight.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-17-Paula%20Deen-Diabetes/id-2a0a2948307249aca110e56ae427cf2d

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Bitly Rolls Out New Enterprise Dashboard, Providing Better Access To The Real-Time Social Web

Popular link-shortening service?Bit.ly?is today announcing the launch of Bitly Enterprise 2.0, a new version of its enterprise-friendly dashboard. The Bitly Enterprise platform, which helps businesses with multiple social media accounts monitor the impacts of their content's distribution, will now include the first production release of the company's brand-new search technology, allowing customers to track content around any subject or phrase across the entire social web - not just Twitter and Facebook. This technology is providing access to a new view of the web. The web is no longer just a list of linked pages, but a web of fresh, social and viral content that's weighted and ranked in real-time, and, in many cases, before Google applies its own PageRank to it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/rPN9QGru7Ho/

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API Management Service Apigee Acquires Mobile Data Platform Usergrid

Apigee, a provider of API management products and services, which we've referred to in the past as a "Google Analytics for APIs" has acquired the mobile cloud platform Usergrid. For those unfamiliar, Usergrid helps to make mobile app development easier by providing the APIs needed to manage data, users and events. The company provides these kind of core APIs for the backend so mobile developers can speed their time to market.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Z5zk8qWht2U/

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Ignore Your Annoying Facebook Buddies Without Unfriending Them [How To]

We all have the friend or family member that's awesome in the real world, but on Facebook will. Not. Shut. Up. We get it, you love Ron Paul. Here's a simple way to extract them from your feed without having to unfriend them. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/K1D5AtlpsnE/ignore-your-annoying-facebook-buddies-without-unfriending-them

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