Google honors Cesar Chavez on Easter

http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/31/google-honors-cesar-chavez-on-easter/#ixzz2P7z4yOvK

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On Easter Sunday, Google is honoring the birthday of the late labor organizer Cesar Chavez by placing a Chavez portrait within the middle “o” of the Google logo that appears on the homepage of the popular search engine.

While Google frequently decorates its logo to celebrate various holidays and special events, it is unclear why the company chose specifically to honor Chavez’s birthday, instead of Easter Sunday.
Chavez co-founded the organization now known as the United Farm Workers union (UFW). He became an iconic figure in the labor movement, with his stature only increasing since his death in 1993.

President Barack Obama released a statement in 2011 proclaiming March 31 “Cesar Chavez Day,” declaring, “I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and educational programs to honor Cesar Chavez’s enduring legacy.”

Google CEO Eric Schmidt was an informal adviser to both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns, a member of the Obama White House transition team in 2009 and a onetime prospect for an Obama Cabinet post during the president’s second term.

As The Daily Caller has reported, Schmidt is also a steadfast climate-change activist, and has advocated for the complete termination of the oil, natural gas, and coal industries, and predicted that Washington, D.C. will soon be completely underwater due to climate change.

(RELATED: Schmidt’s influence in the Obama White House)

Conservatives on Twitter have reacted angrily to Google’s Chavez tribute.

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Bitcoin surpasses 20 countries in value

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/03/29/digital-currency-bitcoin-surpasses-20-national-currencies-in-value/

By Maxim Lott

Published March 29, 2013

FoxNews.com

More than $1 billion dollars worth of a digital currency known as "bitcoins" now circulate on the web – an amount that exceeds the value of the entire currency stock of small countries like Liberia (which uses “Liberian dollars”), Bhutan (which uses the “Ngultrum”), and 18 other countries.
So what is a “bitcoin,” and why would anyone use it?

Unlike traditional currency, bitcoins are not issued by a government or even a private company. Instead, the currency is run by computer code that distributes new bitcoins at a set rate to people who devote web servers to keep the code running. The bitcoins are then bought and sold for regular U.S. dollars online.

'They buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin.'

- Tony Gallippi, the CEO “BitPay.com,

Bitcoin is in high demand right now -- each bitcoin currently sells for more than $90 U.S. dollars -- which bitcoin insiders say is because of world events that have shaken confidence in government-issued currencies.

“Because of what's going on in Cyprus and Europe, people are trying to pull their money out of banks there,” Tony Gallippi, the CEO “BitPay.com,” which enables businesses to easily accept bitcoins as payment, told FoxNews.com.

In Cyprus, the government is considering taking a percentage of all citizens’ bank accounts to solve its fiscal woes. That has led Cypriots -- and other Europeans worried about the same thing happening to them -- to take their money out of banks.
“So they buy gold, they put it under the mattress, or they buy bitcoin,” Gallippi said.
Bitcoin demand has also increased, Gallippi says, because last week U.S. regulators issued the first official guidelines for private digital currencies. Prior to the regulations, the legal status of the currencies was in doubt.

“Now people can see that it's not illegal, that it's not banned,” Gallippi said.
Bitcoin is controversial because the currency can be exchanged anonymously online -- it is in a sense the digital equivalent of using hard cash -- and so some have criticized it for facilitating online drug markets. On the site known as "the Silk Road," for instance, users pay bitcoins for illegal drugs and other forbidden items.

Bitcoin Targeted by Cyberattack

Just as Bitcoin explodes beyond the $1 billion mark thanks to Europe’s debt crisis, the emerging virtual currency was dealt a setback this week after a key exchange was hit by a powerful cyber attack that caused delays.
Read more at Fox Business.

In a 2011 letter to the Attorney General, Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) argued for strict enforcement.

“After purchasing bitcoins through an exchange, a user can create an account on Silk Road and start purchasing illegal drugs from individuals around the world and have them delivered to their homes within days,” the Senators wrote. “We urge you to take immediate action and shut down the Silk Road network.”

But the Silk Road is still running, and a recent study estimates that $23 million dollars of illicit items are sold for bitcoins on the site every year.

The regulatory guidelines issued last week by the government agency known as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), however, will not stop that.

The regulations say that digital currencies like bitcoin are to be treated essentially as foreign currencies. Companies that exchange digital bitcoins for real money will have to comply with the same regulations as traditional currency exchangers -- namely, they must verify the identity of anyone exchanging money for bitcoins and report large transactions to the government.
Using bitcoins to purchase goods, however, is specifically exempted.

“A user who obtains convertible virtual currency and uses it to purchase real or virtual goods or services is not… under FinCEN’s regulations,” the guidance reads.

Some bitcoin defenders say the use of bitcoins to buy illegal items shouldn’t obscure the legal uses.
“With any technology… Criminals are going to use it for something, and regular people are going to use it for something,” Gallippi said. “You can't ban cell phones just because criminals are using them to do drug deals. You can't ban e-mail just because people are using them to do phishing scams in Nigeria. You have to start just prosecuting people who are committing crimes -- you can't just completely wipe out the new technology.”

Gallippi says one reason to use bitcoins for legal transactions is a lower risk of identity theft.
“If you are buying something online and you have the choice of paying with a credit card or bitcoins – think about what you have to do to use a credit card. You have to fill out this whole long form, name, address, account number, sometimes more... coincidentally, that’s all the info a thief would need to steal to pretend to be you.”

Between that, bitcoin’s anonymity, and worries about conventional currency, bitcoin demand is as high as ever, according to Alan Safahi, who runs “Zip Zap” – a company that facilitates cash deposits at stores like CVS and Wal-Mart for transfer to a site that can convert the money to bitcoins.
“We’re processing millions of dollars a month. We’ve seen tremendous surge in activity,” he said.
Contact the author at maxim.lott@foxnews.com.

Mexican Vigilantes Oppose Cartels

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2300381/Vigilantes-seize-town-Mexico-shoot-tourists-commander-killed.html#ixzz2OsWoT5SX

Thousands of armed vigilantes takeover Mexican town, arrest police and shoot at tourists after 'commander' is killed and dumped in the street

• 'Community police' arrest former director of security in Tierra Colorado
• They allege he took part in killing of their leader, 28, for criminal cartel
• State prosecutors agree to investigate official's links to organised crime
• Vigilantes have been stopping traffic at checkpoints and searching homes
• Tourist injured after vigilantes opened fire because he failed to stop his car
• Takeover comes amid growing 'self defence' movement against cartels

Thousands of armed vigilantes have taken over a town in Mexico and arrested police officers after their 'commander' was killed and dumped in the street.

The self described 'community police' and arrested 12 officers and the town's former director of public security, who they accuse of taking part in the killing of Guadalupe Quinones Carbajal, 28, on behalf of a local organised crime group.

The 1,500-strong force has also set up improvised checkpoints on the major road running through Tierra Colorado, which connects the capital Mexico City to Acapulco, a coastal city popular with tourists less than 40 miles away. 

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Takeover: A group of around 1,500 armed vigilantes have seized control of Tierra Colorado in Mexico this week

Checkpoints: The 'community police' have been stopping traffic on a main road to the capital Mexico City

A tourist heading to the beach with relatives for the Easter weekend was injured on Tuesday after the vigilantes opened fire on his car because he refused to stop at a roadblock.

The takeover comes amid a growing movement of 'self defence' groups in the region, which claim to be fighting against drug cartels.

The town is home to around 20,000 people and at least 2,000 civilians are thought to have fled.

The Tierra Colorado vigilantes have also been searching people's homes and are reported to have seized drugs from some properties.

Growing movement: The group is one of many 'self-defence' forces which claim to be fighting organised crime

Major route: Tierra Colorada is in the southern state of Guerrero on the way from Mexico City to Acapulco

 

Thousands of armed vigilantes take over Mexican town

The arrested former security official and police officers have been handed over to state prosecutors, who agreed to investigate their alleged links to organised crime.
Many of the vigilantes are carrying high-powered assault rifles, which may have been seized from the former security director's car.

The group's 'commander' Carbajal's body had been found dumped in the street in a nearby town on Monday.

The force's spokesman, Bruno Placido Valerio, said: 'We have besieged the municipality, because here criminals operate with impunity in broad daylight, in view of municipal authorities. 

Holiday destination: Tierra Colorado is on a major road to Acapulco, a city popular with tourists 35 miles away

'Self-defence': Armed residents take part in the March for Justice in Ayutla de los Libres earlier this month

'We have detained the director of public security because he is involved with criminals and he knows who killed our commander.'

One of those arrested by the group was Juan R. Escudero,police chief of the municipality.

Self-appointed protection: Hundreds of members of a 'community police force' march through Ayutla de los Libres this month

The vigilantes are part of regional umbrella group Union of Peoples and Organizations of Guerrero State.

The Union is made up of residents in Tierra Colorado, as well as neighbouring towns such as Ayutla de los Libres, Teconoapa and San Marcos.

The growing vigilante movement in southern and western Mexico has seen masked groups manning checkpoints and searching vehicles for weapons.

They have also been searching for those named on a hand-written list of people suspected of crimes including theft and extortion.

In February, a pair of tourists from Mexico City were wounded on their way to the beach when they were shot at after refusing to stop at one of the roadblocks.

The vigilantes claim they are fighting violence, kidnap and extortion by drug cartels - but there are fears that the groups are violating human rights of those they detain and cooperating with criminals.

The state itself is home to some of the poorest rural communities in the country and last year had Mexico's highest murder rate -with 90 per cent of crimes reported as going unsolved or not even investigated.

It has been the scene of bloody fighting between rival drugs gangs bidding for control of the lucrative smuggling routes around the Pacific coast.

Taking up arms: Vigilantes wearing balaclavas man a roadblock in Ayutla earlier this year

Justice: Kidnapping suspects are escorted by an armed vigilante group in Ayutla in January

More than 70,000 are estimated to have died in drug-related violence across Mexico in the past six years.

Tourism remains an important part of the state's economy, with the coastal city's of Acapulco, Taxco and Zihuatanejo dubbed the 'Triangle of Sun'.

In January, hundreds of armed vigilantes made a series of arrests and imposed curfews in Ayutla de los Libres and Teconoap.

They also manned checkpoints and claimed they had arrested at least 30 suspected criminals.

One of the masked vigilantes said: 'They kill, extort, rape. You do know if they are drugs dealers, thugs, who want to grab everything.

'We want to return peace and tranquility to the entire population. Only the people can restore order.'

Dangerous: The army patrols streets in Guerrero, where drugs gangs battle for control of smuggling routes

BRICS Bank

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100596232

Watch Out, World Bank: Here Comes the BRICS Bank

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 Published: Wednesday, 27 Mar 2013 | 9:48 AM ET

By: AP with Reuters

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Alexander Joe | AFP | Getty Images

BRICS leaders (From L) India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Jacob Zuma, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

Leaders of the five BRICS nations plan to create a development bank in a direct challenge to the World Bank that they accuse of Western bias.

The bank would use $50 billion of seed capital shared equally between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa but would undoubtedly be dominated by China. It would be the first institution of the informal forum started in 2009 amid the economic meltdown to chart a new and more equitable world economic order.

At a summit meeting on Wednesday in Durban, South Africa, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave support for the bank but cautioned it "must work on market principles."

India's trade minister said BRICS will "have a defining influence on the global order of this century."

The five countries represent a fifth of global GDP and share high growth and geopolitical importance in their separate regions, but have struggled to find common ground that would convert their economic weight into joint political clout.

The two biggest economies of the group, China and Brazil, marked their determination to make changes in the world's trade and financial architecture by signing a three-year currency swap agreement covering up to $30 billion a year in bilateral trade.

Brazilian officials said the aim was to ensure their fast-growing commercial ties would not suffer if a new banking crisis caused dollar trade finance to dry up.

"Our interest is not to establish new relations with China, but to expand relations to be used in the case of turbulence in financial markets," Brazilian Central Bank Governor Alexandre Tombini told reporters after the signing.

Brazil's mineral resources and farm products have helped fuel China's industrial growth and feed its people while bringing prosperity to the Latin American giant.

Bilateral trade totaled around $75 billion last year, with Brazil selling iron ore, soy products and crude oil, and buying Chinese machinery, electronics and manufactured goods.
Brazilian officials have said they hope to have the trade and currency deal operating in the second half of 2013.

"If there were shocks to the global financial market, with credit running short, we'd have credit from our biggest international partner, so there would be no interruption of trade," said Economy Minister Guido Mantega.

At the Durban summit, the group's fifth since 2009, the BRICS leaders were also expected to endorse plans to create a joint foreign exchange reserves pool.
The proposed development bank and reserves pool reflect frustration among emerging nations at having to rely on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which some see as reflecting the interests of rich nations.

The reserves pool of central bank money would be available to emerging economies facing balance of payments difficulties or could be tapped to stabilize economies during crises, according to documents obtained by Reuters outlining it.

Officials had said BRICS states aimed to inject an initial $50 billion into a new infrastructure bank, but there was disagreement over whether each should contribute $10 billion or if contributions should vary by the size of their economies.

China's economy is about 20 times the size of South Africa's and four times as big as Russia's or India's.

The bank would support financing needs in emerging and developing nations for roads, ports, power and rail services.

The BRICS leaders were also due to discuss economic ties with Africa, at a time when many on the continent are seeking more balance and a different focus in trade and investment, especially from China. (Read More: China's New President Offers Africa 'No Strings' Aid)

New Chinese President Xi Jinping is attending on his first visit as head of state to Africa. In Tanzania on Monday, Xi told Africans he wanted a relationship of equals that would help the continent develop, responding to concerns that Beijing is only interested in its raw materials.

3D Doodler - 3D printing pen

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1351910088/3doodler-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen

Physicists say they have found a Higgs boson

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130314/DA50T1382.html

By JOHN HEILPRIN

(AP) This 2011 image provided by CERN, shows a real CMS proton-proton collision in which four... Full Image

GENEVA (AP) - The search is all but over for a subatomic particle that is a crucial building block of the universe.

Physicists announced Thursday they believe they have discovered the subatomic particle predicted nearly a half-century ago, which will go a long way toward explaining what gives electrons and all matter in the universe size and shape.

The elusive particle, called a Higgs boson, was predicted in 1964 to help fill in our understanding of the creation of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. The particle was named for Peter Higgs, one of the physicists who proposed its existence, but it later became popularly known as the "God particle."

The discovery would be a strong contender for the Nobel Prize. Last July, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, announced finding a particle they described as Higgs-like, but they stopped short of saying conclusively that it was the same particle or was some version of it.
Scientists have now finished going through the entire set of data.

"The preliminary results with the full 2012 data set are magnificent and to me it is clear that we are dealing with a Higgs boson, though we still have a long way to go to know what kind of Higgs boson it is," said Joe Incandela, a physicist who heads one of the two main teams at CERN, each involving several thousand scientists.

Whether or not it is a Higgs boson is demonstrated by how it interacts with other particles and its quantum properties, CERN said in the statement. After checking, scientists said the data "strongly indicates that it is a Higgs boson."

The results were announced in a statement by the Geneva-based CERN and released at a physics conference in the Italian Alps.

CERN's atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider that lies beneath the Swiss-French border, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to investigate how the universe came to be the way it is.

The particle's existence helps confirm the theory that objects gain their size and shape when particles interact in an energy field with a key particle, the Higgs boson. The more they attract, so the theory goes, the bigger their mass will be. 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5goYepWgGtk18irueFkOuKQbSCSHQ?docId=c175dd89b655432bbb9b9f44eb5e5544 

By FRANK JORDANS and JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — Scientists working at the world's biggest atom smasher near Geneva have announced they are confident that the new subatomic particle discovered last summer is a version of the long-sought Higgs boson. The particle bears key attributes of the so-called "God particle" that was theorized nearly a half-century ago as fundamental to the creation of the universe. It took thousands of scientists from around the world to hunt the particle in the atom-smasher operated by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GOD PARTICLE?
Everything is made of atoms, inside of which are electrons, protons and neutrons. And those, in turn, are made of quarks and other subatomic particles. Scientists have wondered how these tiny building blocks of the universe acquire mass. Without mass, the particles wouldn't hold together — and there would be no matter.

One theory proposed by British physicist Peter Higgs and teams in Belgium and the United States nearly a half-century ago is that a new particle must be creating a "sticky" energy field that acts as a drag on other particles. The atom-smashing experiments have now confirmed that this particle exists in a form that is similar to — but perhaps not exactly like — what was proposed.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
The Higgs is part of many theoretical equations underpinning scientists' understanding of how the world came into being. If the particle didn't exist, then those theories would have needed to be fundamentally overhauled. The fact that it does exist, in some form, means scientists have been on the right track with their theories. So far the measurements seem to line up with was expected under the so-called Standard Model of particle physics. This is disappointing for scientists who were hoping to see new discoveries including a theory known as "super-symmetry" where particles don't just come in pairs — think matter and anti-matter — but quadruplets, all with slightly different characteristics.

HOW MUCH DID IT COST?
CERN's atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, which forms a 17-mile (27-kilometer) tunnel beneath the Swiss-French border, cost some $10 billion to build and run. This includes the salaries of thousands of scientists and support staff around the world who collaborated on the two experiments that independently pursued the Higgs.

WHAT IF ANY PRACTICAL RESULTS MIGHT COME FROM THE SEARCH?
None directly. But the massive scientific effort that led up to the discovery paid off in other ways, including the creation of the World Wide Web. CERN scientists developed it to make it easier to exchange information among each other. The vast computing power needed to crunch all of the data produced by the atom smasher also boosted the development of distributed — or cloud — computing, that is now entering mainstream services. Advances in solar energy capture, medical imaging and proton therapy — used in the fight against cancer — also resulted from the work of particle physicists at CERN and elsewhere.

WHAT COMES NEXT
It remains an open question, CERN says, whether this is exactly the Higgs boson of the Standard Model of particle physics, or possibly the lightest of several bosons predicted in some theories that go beyond the Standard Model. Finding the answer to this question will take time, as scientists keep probing the new particle until they fully understand how it works. And in doing so, they hope to understand the 96 percent of the universe that remains hidden from view. This may result in the discovery of new particles and even unknown forces of nature.

Jordans reported from Berlin.

Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Strontium 90: Police Academy (Pre-Police, 1977)

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strontium_90:_Police_Academy

Kim Jong-un's Funds Found in China

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/03/11/2013031101105.html

Kim Jong-un's Slush Funds Found

South Korean and U.S. authorities have found dozens of accounts presumed to belong to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in several banks in Shanghai and other parts of China. They contain hundreds of millions of dollars.

Yet for some reason the accounts were excluded from financial sanctions under the new UN Security Council Resolution 2098, which was adopted last Thursday, posing questions over the effectiveness of the measures.

A government source here said an investigation that lasted for several years led South Korea and the U.S. to the accounts. "We have located the names of the account holders and account numbers, some of them set up in the days of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il," the source added.

South Korean and U.S. officials urged China to include the accounts in the latest sanctions against North Korea, but Beijing apparently refused. "Following North Korea's third nuclear test, China has demonstrated willingness to take part in sanctions against the North," the government source said. "But Beijing is reluctant to touch North Korea's real Achilles heel."

The South Korean government believes freezing the bank accounts would have a stronger impact than freezing Kim Jong-il's accounts held at Macau's Banco Delta Asia some years ago because they hold much more money.

In 2005, the U.S. froze US$25 million Kim Jong-il had deposited in some 50 accounts at BDA. North Korea hit back by boycotting the six-party nuclear talks, launching a long-range missile and conducting its first nuclear test in 2006.

The latest UN sanctions in response to North Korea's third nuclear test require banks in member countries to halt financial services for the North involving funds that could be used to develop nuclear weapons or missiles. The sanctions also prohibit North Korean banks from engaging in new financial activities in UN member nations and vice versa.

Google Plus + Google Glass = Google Puss

As in,  "Say, what's with the Google Puss?" if someone approaches me wearing them without asking whether I mind.

Another thought is to develop a GPS-based facial avatar app, possibly combined with wearable sensors to detect not only the orientation of the head but also the body ala Kinect. In this way, we could apply settings to our social networks that allow only those we know to "see" our faces when wearing Google Glasses, else they get only a view of whatever virtual mask or costume we adorn.

Seattle dive bar becomes first to ban Google Glass

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57573387-93/seattle-dive-bar-becomes-first-to-ban-google-glass/

Owner says "it's because it's kind of a private place that people go." Will other businesses follow?

by Casey Newton

The 5 Point's Glass ban logo.

(Credit: StopTheCyborgs) 

 

Google Glass won't be available to consumers for months, but there's at least one Seattle bar where the eyewear will not be welcome.

The 5 Point, a self-described dive bar in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, posted a notice to its Facebook page this week telling Glass Explorers looking to grab a pint that they will need to remove their $1,500 spectacles. The story was noted today on GeekWire.

"For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses," the post reads. "And ass kickings will be encouraged for violators."

"I'm a thought leader," deadpanned Dave Meinert, the bar's owner, in an interview on Seattle's KIRO-FM. "First you have to understand the culture of the 5 Point, which is a sometimes seedy, maybe notorious place. People want to go there and be not known...and definitely don't want to be secretly filmed or videotaped and immediately put on the Internet."
Meinert admitted he was having a bit of fun: "Part of this is a joke, to be funny on Facebook, and get reaction."
 
"But part of it's serious," he continued, "because we don't let people film other people or take photos unwanted of people in the bar, because it is kind of a private place that people go." (To listen to the complete interview with Meinert, click here.)

Seattle is a famously tech-savvy town, of course, and the 5 Point sits close to a new Amazon campus. But it's that same tech savvy that's leading business owners like Meinert to consider the implications of having customers with face-mounted cameras, snapping pictures of a diverse and sometimes intoxicated clientele.

It's safe to assume the 5 Point won't be the last establishment to tell customers to leave Glass at the door.

Update: A Google spokesperson responds: "It is still very early days for Glass, and we expect that as with other new technologies, such as cell phones, behaviors and social norms will develop over time."

(via GeekWire)
Illustration via Stop the Cyborgs. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Nanoparticles loaded with bee venom kill HIV

 http://www.rdmag.com/news/2013/03/nanoparticles-loaded-bee-venom-kill-hiv

Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown. The finding is an important step toward developing a vaginal gel that may prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

“Our hope is that in places where HIV is running rampant, people could use this gel as a preventive measure to stop the initial infection,” says Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD, a research instructor in medicine.

The study appears in the current issue of Antiviral Therapy.

Bee venom contains a potent toxin called melittin that can poke holes in the protective envelope that surrounds HIV, and other viruses. Large amounts of free melittin can cause a lot of damage. Indeed, in addition to anti-viral therapy, the paper’s senior author, Samuel A. Wickline, MD, the J. Russell Hornsby Professor of Biomedical Sciences, has shown melittin-loaded nanoparticles to be effective in killing tumor cells.

The new study shows that melittin loaded onto these nanoparticles does not harm normal cells. That’s because Hood added protective bumpers to the nanoparticle surface. When the nanoparticles come into contact with normal cells, which are much larger in size, the particles simply bounce off. HIV, on the other hand, is even smaller than the nanoparticle, so HIV fits between the bumpers and makes contact with the surface of the nanoparticle, where the bee toxin awaits.

“Melittin on the nanoparticles fuses with the viral envelope,” Hood says. “The melittin forms little pore-like attack complexes and ruptures the envelope, stripping it off the virus.”

According to Hood, an advantage of this approach is that the nanoparticle attacks an essential part of the virus’ structure. In contrast, most anti-HIV drugs inhibit the virus’s ability to replicate. But this anti-replication strategy does nothing to stop initial infection, and some strains of the virus have found ways around these drugs and reproduce anyway.

“We are attacking an inherent physical property of HIV,” Hood says. “Theoretically, there isn’t any way for the virus to adapt to that. The virus has to have a protective coat, a double-layered membrane that covers the virus.”

Beyond prevention in the form of a vaginal gel, Hood also sees potential for using nanoparticles with melittin as therapy for existing HIV infections, especially those that are drug-resistant. The nanoparticles could be injected intravenously and, in theory, would be able to clear HIV from the blood stream.

“The basic particle that we are using in these experiments was developed many years ago as an artificial blood product,” Hood says. “It didn’t work very well for delivering oxygen, but it circulates safely in the body and gives us a nice platform that we can adapt to fight different kinds of infections.”

Since melittin attacks double-layered membranes indiscriminately, this concept is not limited to HIV. Many viruses, including hepatitis B and C, rely on the same kind of protective envelope and would be vulnerable to melittin-loaded nanoparticles.

While this particular paper does not address contraception, Hood says the gel easily could be adapted to target sperm as well as HIV. But in some cases people may only want the HIV protection.

“We also are looking at this for couples where only one of the partners has HIV, and they want to have a baby,” Hood says. “These particles by themselves are actually very safe for sperm, for the same reason they are safe for vaginal cells.”

While this work was done in cells in a laboratory environment, Hood and his colleagues say the nanoparticles are easy to manufacture in large enough quantities to supply them for future clinical trials.

Cytolytic nanoparticles attenuate HIV-1 infectivity

Source: Washington University in St. Louis

Mobile Design - Facebook Redesign strategy - Mobile Apps: Trouble with 'Responsive Design'

Facebook redesign for mobile - strategy
https://www.facebook.com/about/newsfeed



From slashdot:

"The company is redesigning its desktop user interface in a way which 'standardizes the feed across mobile devices and desktop computers, is designed to keep users active and interacting as well as appeal to advertisers.' According to the article, 'Greater emphasis is given to images — which are now much larger. Photos now make up nearly 50% of news feed stories and are now front and center. If you see shades of Instagram — or Google+ — in the new feed, you aren't alone. We see them too. Facebook says it is following trends on where design is headed and it is clear that trend includes big photos and a clean, navigable design."

--

http://www.afr.com/p/technology/facebook_unveils_mobile_first_newsfeed_2r7kg0AoXm1OU7fuqNGnxO

Facebook introduced a visually richer, mobile device-oriented “newsfeed” on Thursday, in the most significant changes to date for the social network’s most recognisable feature.

The changes to the newsfeed, whose look and feel has remained largely unchanged since its inception, include a division into several sections, with separate areas for photographs and music. They will begin rolling out in limited fashion from Thursday.

The overhaul, which standardises the feed across mobile devices and desktop computers, is designed to keep users active and interacting as well as appeal to advertisers, as Facebook battles Google for Internet market share.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg had singled out the feature as in need of a makeover as recently as January, when the company introduced “graph search” to address inadequacies in allowing users to trawl for information across the world’s largest social network.

Facebook’s newsfeed, an ever-changing stream of photos, videos and comments uploaded from friends, is the first page most users see upon logging in. It is one of three “pillars” of the service, along with search and user profiles.

The last major update to the feature occurred in September 2011. Since then, the company has incorporated ads directly into the feed and has shifted its focus to creating “mobile-first experiences,” because more people now access the social network from smartphones and desktops than from desktop computers.

The addition of advertising, however, prompted complaints from users who preferred an unblemished stream of personally relevant comments, underscoring the difficulty in balancing advertiser-friendly formats - such as larger images - with keeping its 1 billion-plus members engaged.

Facebook versus Google

The world’s largest social network is moving to regain Wall Street’s confidence after a botched IPO last year, addressing concerns about its long-term prospects - many of which centre on an industry-wide shift toward the use of mobile devices.

Facebook shares, which are still more than a quarter off their IPO price of $US38, were up 2 per cent at $US27.99 on Thursday afternoon on the Nasdaq.

Facebook and Google, which both got their start on desktop computers, are now managing a transition of their products onto smartphones and tablets, which typically yield less revenue than on PCs.

The two internet mainstays are also waging a war for revenue in mobile advertising - a market that is still small compared with the traditional desktop but that is growing exponentially.

In terms of overall mobile advertising, Google commanded a 53.5 per cent share in 2012, aided by its dominance in search-based ads. Facebook had just 8.4 per cent, a distant runner-up, according to estimates from research house eMarketer.

But in terms of mobile display ad sales, Facebook narrowly edges out its rival with 18.4 per cent of the market versus Google’s 17 per cent, the research outfit estimated.

Reuters

  
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http://mashable.com/2013/03/07/new-facebook-news-feed/

Christina Warren1 day ago

Facebook announced Thursday it is giving its venerable news feed a new look and feel.
The new news feed represents the first major overhaul of Facebook's core service since the launch of Facebook Timeline at the end of 2011.
"The news feed is one of the most important things we've built," Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the press event. Likening news feed to "the most personalized newspaper," Zuckerberg added that "the stories around you deserve to be displayed with more than just text."
"How we're all sharing is changing and the news feed needs to evolve with those changes. This is the evolving face of news feed."
The new news feed features three major components:

• Bigger Images
• Multiple Feeds
• Mobile Consistency

A New Focus on Imagery

The new look is a radical departure from the Facebook of old. It's mobile-inspired and consistent across devices.

When it comes to the feed itself, the focus on stories is now much more visual. Greater emphasis is given to images — which are now much larger. Photos now make up nearly 50% of news feed stories and are now front and center.

If you see shades of Instagram — or Google+ — in the new feed, you aren't alone. We see them too. Facebook says it is following trends on where design is headed and it is clear that trend includes big photos and a clean, navigable design.

More Feeds, More Control

As for the "feeds" aspect of news feed, users now have access to more types of feeds and have more control over how those feeds are displayed.

Users can subscribe to different types of feeds, including feeds from all friends, close friends, music, photos, games and those who a user "follows."

And, for those of us who hate how Facebook sorts news feed content, a chronological view is now available.

It's not clear how these new feeds will affect promoted stories and content or the longer-lasting impact it may have on brands and pages.

Mobile Consistency

The new news feed design was inspired by mobile. It takes significant cues from the Facebook mobile apps for phones and tablets, adding a new side navigation bar and more white space.

Understanding that more users are accessing Facebook from mobile than ever, Facebook is focused on making the overall experience more consistent, regardless of platform.

The new feed will start rolling out today on web.

Let us know your thoughts on the changes in the comments.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/11/18/mobile-apps-the-trouble-with-using-responsive-design/

Mobile Apps: The Trouble With Using 'Responsive Design'

Eric Savitz, Forbes Staff

 

Guest post written by Carin van Vuuren
Carin van Vuuren is chief marketing officer at Usablenet.

Cairn van Vuuren

If you’ve recently chatted with your Web development team, you may have heard about responsive design. A growing trend for today’s businesses, publishers and developers, responsive design is an approach to Web development that many brands are considering to optimize their online content for multiple devices with varying screen sizes across the traditional Web, tablets, smartphones and beyond.

Like any philosophy, responsive design is a choice, and a tempting one at that. Many pro-responsive developers affectionately term RD “one-Web,” which emphasizes the single set of code a responsive site is based on. This design principle utilizes coding language that responds to the device being used – whether an Android smartphone or an iPad – in order to display content relative to the size and orientation of its screen.

Amid an overwhelming amount of mobile options and solutions, it’s easy to see why responsive design’s singular code seems like an alluring universal panacea for mobile optimization. However, while responsive design aims to scale web content fluidly across multiple devices with different screen sizes, it may not represent the best option for organizations aiming to deliver unique and innovative experiences to customers.

A good example of this dilemma can be found in LinkedIn’s recent approach to developing its iPad app. According to Kirin Prasad, LinkedIn’s head of mobile development, responsive design doesn’t work for complicated sites like the LinkedIn iPad app, 95% of which was developed with HTML5 to target a specific set of user tasks. This approach allows LinkedIn to create different experiences on different devices based on use case and context. For the majority of sites that require an interactive experience like LinkedIn’s, responsive design limits the different designs necessary to deliver functionality for each use case.

So when is responsive design an appropriate solution?

When the only changing factor in the Web experience is the user’s device, responsive design is a useful solution. It works very well for content sites like magazines and newspapers, because content is simply being reformatted. If you’re accessing a publication’s website on a smartphone, for example, you still want to read the news, just smaller parts of it.

People magazine recently adopted responsive design to great effect in order to scale traditional Web content across screens. This works well for magazines and other content publishers, as users are coming to consume content, not necessarily to interact or search for certain answers.

At the device level, responsive design works best if the page contains the type of text and image-based content often found on publisher sites. However, content delivery on responsive sites has the potential to deter users. For instance, if you’re trying to deliver complex functionality built with CSS, JavaScript, Ajax, and other heavy Web development technologies, pages will be heavy and the experience will be dramatically slower on a smartphone or tablet. Time lost equals users lost, as page load times have a direct impact on your ability to deliver users a positive experience.
Beyond device-specific content display, the two other pieces to consider when designing your mobile strategy are use case and context, two realms in which responsive design does not contribute meaningfully.

Use case covers the driving reasons behind a user’s foray onto your mobile site – what the user is looking to do and how it can be accomplished on your site. Take an airline website, for example. When a user visits an airline’s site from their smartphone, they typically want to be able to do a few very specific things like check their flight status, check-in for a flight, or access local information related to their destination. The user expects a completely different experience from when they access the airline site from a computer, which more easily facilitates detailed flight searches.

On the other hand, the mobile user’s goals are often context-driven. In “The Future of Mobile eBusiness is Context,” Forrester analyst Julie A. Ask defines “mobile context” as “the sum total of what your customer has told you and is experiencing at his moment of engagement.” Because user experience and context are the new benchmarks of a mature mobile strategy, they should drive the decisions you make when designing your mobile experience.

Responsive design implicitly suggests that mobile is a subset of the traditional Web, but it is clear that people use mobile for a very different end. Consider what a user is searching for when accessing a mobile site. The user does not wish to browse on the same site that is available on desktop PC, but expects a different experience for different end goals – an experience that is fast, convenient, relevant and contextual.

Many banks have done a great job of optimizing the mobile experience to help users accomplish specific goals. This is why responsive design does not work across the board – it is not able to deliver the individual experiences, like the ability to deposit a check by snapping a picture, required by mobile banking customers. The limitations of responsive design in adapting for use case and context means that it is more hindrance than help in mobilizing distinct, device-specific experiences that impart user value, such as more complicated web applications.

The future of digital business depends primarily on mastering the mobile channel. Mobile’s mushrooming numbers are due to the convenience of remote access and a new reliance upon the delivery of information when and where little to none was previously available. When developing your approach to engaging customers via mobile, it is key to ensure your strategy accounts for the rising expectations your customers have for this important channel.

Once you understand the kind of mobile experience you want to create, you can decide whether adopting a responsive design philosophy can deliver upon these expectations and goals. While responsive design can help you achieve a certain measure of consistency across channels, the real prize lies with the ability to create unique experiences. A broader multi-screen approach designed dynamically by channel will enable the sort of customer experiences that yield higher engagement and contribute to overall success.