Did the Galaxy S III just pop up on Samsung's support site?

GT-i9300
Seriously, we can't caveat this one enough -- there is no way of knowing if this is in fact the Galaxy S III or, if it is, when it might come to market -- but, it looks like Samsung's "next big smartphone" just made a cameo on the company's support pages. Listed as the GT-i9300, the mystery device reared its head over at the Global Download Center of the United Arab Emerites site. If Sammy is to keep with its naming scheme i93XX would be a flagship device -- the i90XX line was the Galaxy S, i91XX represents the S2 series, while the i9250 and i9220 are the Nexus and Note respectively. As we warned before though, this could be some mid-range device and Samsung could be changing its naming conventions. Or, perhaps, its yet another variation of an existing model. Still, we'll take this as a good sign that Seoul squad has something interesting brewing.

Did the Galaxy S III just pop up on Samsung's support site? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/27/did-the-galaxy-s-iii-just-pop-up-on-samsungs-support-site/

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Global Demographics ? An Important Multi-Year Investment Theme ...

With much fanfare, estimates of the earth?s population recently surpassed 7 billion people. Population growth rates have been staggering for decades, for a number of reasons. The straightforward explanation is that global birth rates have remained high while there has been tremendous improvement in child mortality rates and life expectancy. Sewer system implementation in the 1800s helped separate waste from drinking water and cut down on the spread of cholera and typhus. Later medical advances in the form of a smallpox vaccine and Penicillin, coupled with DDT control for Malaria, helped more people live longer. As people lived longer, more reached childbearing age and had children themselves. Back in the 18th century, replacement fertility was up to six children. In order to keep population stable, women needed to have six children because most of those children never made it to adulthood. Today, the replacement ratio is 2.1 births per mother in developed markets. Population growth exploded when the birthrate remained much higher than 2.1 in tandem with improved child mortality metrics and longer life expectancy.

Before the period of high population growth ends, it is likely that the global population will swell to 9 billion people by 2045. The driver of this continued population growth is the high birthrates in many relatively poor parts of the world such as Africa, the Middle East, Central America, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Earth?s human population was very stable until the 1600s. The planet reached one billion people sometime around 1800. It took about 130 years to double the population to two billion, and just 44 years to double again to four billion. At present, each year the population is growing about 80 million.

While demographic trends are well understood and change glacially, there are some important investment implications. One of the most profound is that the global economy will be impacted from new nations and emerging economies that are not well understood. Regions of the world with very large populations and emerging economic development are not well covered within the media nor are they well researched by investors. Look how disproportionate the news coverage has been on Greece, a nation of 11 million people. Ponder how often Greece has been in the news relative to nations like Nigeria or Bangladesh which are both over 13x larger. Much of the divergence in news coverage has to do with differences in economic influence. Many small population developed market nations have disproportionately strong economies and much greater global economic influence. Differences in economic sphere of influence have existed through history but the emergence of billions of people from poverty to a new class of lower income consumers is a profound shift. The demand implications for food, energy, and basic consumer goods are sweeping. While many of these themes are known, what may be underestimated is how they are set to become increasingly important. As developed market economies like Greece continue to stagnate, or even shrink, there are large population blocks from growing economies which are catching up to developed markets in terms of importance. This dynamic can easily be underappreciated by only focusing on financial market news coverage from New York, London, and Tokyo.

The investment implications are numerous:

  • Companies which are scalable to serve the global population will be increasingly better positioned. Each year, a greater proportion of global GDP growth will shift from the US, Europe, and Japan to newer regions with large and growing populations (exception China).
  • Companies which provide products and services utilized by the poor and lower classes will be well positioned for growth.
  • The opportunities will be vast within both local emerging market corporate sectors and for developed market multi-nationals.
  • Companies with a geographically scalable business model that can grow profits while investing less capital will outperform.
  • There will be a myriad of opportunities related to under-researched growth themes and valuation inefficiencies for lesser known regions.

Many global multinationals are aware of the above dynamics and have invested in counties like Nigeria, Philippines, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. The businesses are small but growing rapidly. Paying close attention to the composition of international revenues and listening to management discussion of opportunities will provide clues with regard to which companies are well positioned. Learning to identify the winners will become increasingly lucrative and an advanced skill set in this area will provide enduring investment advantages.

Tags: 2.1 births, 7 billion, bangladesh, birth rate, child mortality, demograhphic trends, demographics, earth, egypt, fertility, global, india, investment implications, investment theme, life expectancy, medicine, multi-year, nigeria, Philippines, population, replacement ratio, seven billion, Turkey, vietnam

Source: http://crackerjackfinance.com/2012/01/global-demographics-%E2%80%93-an-important-multi-year-investment-theme/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=global-demographics-%25e2%2580%2593-an-important-multi-year-investment-theme

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Studies: Avastin may fight early breast cancers

This undated photo provided by Genentech Inc. on Jan. 31, 2011 shows a vial of the drug Avastin. Surprising results from two new studies may reopen the debate about the value of Avastin for breast cancer. The drug helped make tumors disappear when given with chemotherapy before surgery to certain women with early-stage disease, doctors found. The FDA recently revoked Avastin's approval for advanced breast cancer, but the studies suggest it might help others whose cancer has not widely spread. (AP Photo/Genentech Inc., File)

This undated photo provided by Genentech Inc. on Jan. 31, 2011 shows a vial of the drug Avastin. Surprising results from two new studies may reopen the debate about the value of Avastin for breast cancer. The drug helped make tumors disappear when given with chemotherapy before surgery to certain women with early-stage disease, doctors found. The FDA recently revoked Avastin's approval for advanced breast cancer, but the studies suggest it might help others whose cancer has not widely spread. (AP Photo/Genentech Inc., File)

Surprising results from two new studies may reopen debate about the value of Avastin for breast cancer. The drug helped make tumors disappear in certain women with early-stage disease, researchers found.

Avastin recently lost approval for treating advanced breast cancer, but the new studies suggest it might help women whose disease has not spread so widely. These were the first big tests of the drug for early breast cancer, and doctors were cautiously excited that it showed potential to help.

In one study, just over one third of women given Avastin plus chemotherapy for a few months before surgery had no sign of cancer in their breasts when doctors went to operate, versus 28 percent of women given chemo alone. In the other study, more than 18 percent on Avastin plus chemo had no cancer in their breasts or lymph nodes at surgery versus 15 percent of those on chemo alone.

A big caveat, though: The true test is whether Avastin improves survival, and it's too soon to know that ? both studies are still tracking the women's health. The drug also has serious side effects.

"I don't think it's clear yet whether this is going to be a winner," Dr. Harry Bear of Virginia Commonwealth University said of Avastin. But he added, "I don't think we're done with it."

Bear led one study, in the United States. Dr. Gunter von Minckwitz of the University of Frankfurt led the other in Germany. Results are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Avastin (uh-VAS'-tihn) is still on the market for some colon, lung, kidney and brain tumors. In 2008, it won conditional U.S. approval for advanced breast cancer because it seemed to slow the disease. Further research showed it didn't meaningfully extend life and could cause heart problems, bleeding and other problems. The government revoked its approval for breast cancer in November.

Now doctors can prescribe Avastin for breast cancer but insurers may not pay. Treatment can cost $10,000 a month. The drug is made by California-based Genentech, part of the Swiss company Roche. It is still approved for treating advanced breast cancer in Europe and Japan.

The new studies tested it in a relatively novel way ? before surgery. This is sometimes done to shrink tumors that seem inoperable, or to enable women to have just a lump removed instead of the whole breast.

The women in the studies had tumors that were large enough to warrant treatment besides surgery. Their cancers were not the type that can be treated by Herceptin, another widely used drug.

In the U.S. study, 1,200 women were given chemo or chemo plus infusions of Avastin. By the time of their surgery, no cancer could be found in the breasts of more than 34 percent of those given Avastin versus 28 percent of the others. (Surgeons still have to operate because they don't know the tumor is gone until they check tissue samples.)

The German study involved 1,900 women including some with larger tumors. It used a stricter definition of cancer-free at surgery: no sign of disease in the breast or lymph nodes rather than just the breast. No cancer was seen in 18 percent of women on Avastin versus 15 percent of those given only chemo. Different chemo drugs were used ? a factor that might change Avastin's effectiveness.

The U.S. study was paid for by the National Cancer Institute with some support from drug companies. The German study was sponsored by drug companies. Some researchers consult for Genentech or other makers of cancer drugs.

If even one of these studies shows a survival advantage for Avastin "that would be a game changer" although side effects remain a concern, said Dr. Gary Lyman. He is a Duke University researcher who was on the federal advisory panel that recommended revoking Avastin's approval.

However, von Minckwitz said side effects are more justifiable in early breast cancer patients because "the intention is cure" rather than in late-stage disease where cure isn't usually possible.

Of the more than 200,000 women in the U.S. diagnosed each year with breast cancer, about 30,000 are like those in the new studies, Lyman estimated.

But the studies' impact could be far greater: The participants' tissue samples are being analyzed for genes and biomarkers to predict which women are most likely to respond to Avastin. That could lead to a relook of using the drug for certain women with advanced disease, too.

Three other studies are under way testing Avastin in early breast cancer; one is expected to have results by the end of this year, said Dr. Sandra Horning, global development chief of cancer drugs for Roche and Genentech. The company does not plan to seek any change in Avastin's use until more results are available, she said.

___

Online:

Studies: http://www.nejm.org

Avastin: http://www.avastin.com

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-25-Breast%20Cancer-Avastin/id-9bb18c67d4884c8fb25ddbf2407e6172

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Government opens case against accused swindler Stanford (Reuters)

HOUSTON (Reuters) ? Texas financier Allen Stanford used lies and bribes to steal the hard-earned savings of his customers, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The former billionaire is accused of selling certificates of deposit from his bank in Antigua and using the money to finance his lifestyle, in one of the biggest white collar cases since Bernard Madoff.

"He told them lie, after lie, after lie," prosecutor Gregg Costa told the jury at the start of Stanford's trial on criminal fraud charges in federal court in Houston.

Stanford, 61, dressed in a grey suit and white shirt, pleaded not guilty to a 14-count indictment. "I plead not guilty to every count," the former billionaire said in an emphatic voice.

He rocked in his chair, listening intently as Costa laid out the government's case of a sprawling $7 billion Ponzi scheme originating with Stanford International Bank in Antigua. Stanford used it as "his own private piggy bank," Costa said.

"Really, that is the perfect name for the bank, because the bank was there to enrich Mr. Stanford."

Stanford spent millions of dollars of investor funds on his hobby of cricket, his private airplanes and a company that was formed to take care of his yacht, the Sea Eagle, Costa said.

He bribed his accountant and a regulator in Antigua in an effort to keep U.S. authorities at bay, Costa said.

Robert Scardino, one of Stanford's lawyers, told the jury that the Texas native was an astute businessman whose business was ruined when the government seized it in 2009.

"Stanford was kind of an absentee CEO, a visionary," Scardino told jurors.

He argued that every dime investors put into CDs issued from the Antigua bank was repaid over the course of 22 years.

"He paid every penny that was promised," Scardino said. "Never once failed, no evidence of a fraud."

Stanford's businesses and investments were all legitimate until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges in February 2009 and seized all of Stanford's assets, Scardino said.

Witnesses for the prosecution include former employees, financial advisers who allegedly peddled certificates of deposit for the bank and Stanford's former chief financial officer, James Davis, who is the only co-defendant who has pleaded guilty to the scheme.

Stanford will take the stand to answer any questions the prosecution has and talk about his charitable works on Antigua, Scardino said.

The defense may also call accountants and other financial experts who can attest to the accuracy of the bank's documents, Scardino said.

(Reporting by Anna Driver; Editing by Eddie Evans, Bernard Orr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/us_nm/us_stanford_sec

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Morgan Stanley Reports International Gaming Technology FY1Q ...

In a research report released today, Morgan Stanley said International Gaming Technology's (NYSE: IGT) F1Q revenue and EPS results were significantly below consensus estimates.

According to Morgan Stanley, ?EPS of $0.17 missed our estimate by $0.04 and consensus by $0.05. It is important to note that the opaque ?non-box? product sales segment drove $0.03 of the EPS miss, indicating that core operating results, while still light, were relatively resilient. That said, we expect the stock to react negatively to the release and potentially test recent lows in the $14 range.?

International Gaming Technology is currently trading at $15.95.

(c) 2011 Benzinga.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published in its entirety or redistributed without the approval of Benzinga.

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Source: http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/12/01/2284352/morgan-stanley-reports-international-gaming-technology-f

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Oscar prospects span the century as noms near (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. ? Prospective Academy Awards nominees have pretty much every decade of the last century covered, from the World War I epic "War Horse" through modern times with the family drama "The Descendants."

In between at Tuesday morning's nominations are such contenders as the 1920s and `30s tales "The Artist" and "Hugo," the 1950s movie-making story "My Week with Marilyn," the 1960s Deep South drama "The Help," the 1970s Cold War thriller "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and the Margaret Thatcher chronicle "The Iron Lady," spanning decades from her youth in World War II through her 1980s and `90s career as Britain's prime minister.

The Oscar nominations will be announced by Jennifer Lawrence at a 10-minute, predawn ceremony at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The best-picture prize on Oscar night could become a tussle between the top films at the Golden Globes: best drama recipient "The Descendants," starring George Clooney as a Hawaii father trying to keep his family together after a boating accident puts his wife in a coma; and best musical or comedy winner "The Artist," with Jean Dujardin as a silent-movie star whose career crumbles as talking pictures take over.

Clooney and Dujardin, who won the lead-actor Globes in their respective categories, are likely best-actor nominees at the Oscars.

Another performer with strong prospects is Globe dramatic actress winner Meryl Streep as Thatcher in "The Iron Lady." Two-time Oscar winner Streep would pad her record as the most-nominated actress, raising her total to 17 nominations, five more than Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson, who are tied for second-place.

Also in the running: Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer as Mississippi maids in "The Help"; Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe and Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier in "My Week with Marilyn"; Leonardo DiCaprio as FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover in "J. Edgar"; Glenn Close as a woman masquerading as a male butler in "Albert Nobbs"; Brad Pitt as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane in "Moneyball"; and Michael Fassbender as a sex addict in "Shame."

Winners of the 84th annual Oscars will be announced at a Feb. 26 ceremony aired live on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, with Billy Crystal returning as host for the first time in eight years.

The most-beloved Oscar host of the last two decades, Crystal agreed to lead the show for the ninth time after Eddie Murphy bowed out in support of his pal, filmmaker Brett Ratner, who quit as Oscar producer amid the uproar over a gay slur he uttered in front of an audience at a screening of his and Murphy's comedy "Tower Heist."

Crystal's return could bump up the TV ratings for the show, which have been on a general decline over the last couple of decades.

What usually results in big TV ratings, though, is a blockbuster such as eventual Oscar champs "Titanic" or "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in the thick of the best-picture contest. More fans tune in because they have a stake in the outcome.

But there are no colossal films such as that in the mix this time. "The Help" and best-picture longshot "Bridesmaids" are solid hits, both taking in about $170 million domestically, while "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is closing on the $100 million mark. So far, other best-picture prospects are well under that level, ranging from $75 million for "Moneyball" to $12 million for "The Artist."

___

David Germain reported from Park City, Utah.

___

Online:

http://www.oscars.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_en_mo/us_oscar_nominations

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Russian Mars Probe Crash Sets Off Confusion, Conspiracy Theories (SPACE.com)

When an ill-fated Russian Mars probe fell to Earth over the weekend, the spacecraft's untimely demise set off a flurry of conflicting media reports and conspiracy theories.

Russia's Phobos-Grunt space probe suffered a debilitating malfunction shortly after its November 2011 launch, which stranded it in low-Earth orbit for more than two months before it succumbed to gravitational forces and plummeted through the atmosphere on Jan. 15.

The $165 million spacecraft reportedly broke apart over the Pacific Ocean, but inconsistent reports soon surfaced, which sparked different theories about where the probe had landed, and what had caused it to malfunction in the first place.

The Russian Federal Space Agency is notorious for closely controlling any information released, but part of the issue is the tricky nature of calculating re-entry predictions for dead satellites and other pieces of orbital debris.

"Predicting an impact point is problematic because it involves fundamental factors that cannot be noted in advance and cannot be measured in real time, such as atmospheric density," space consultant James Oberg, a former NASA space shuttle mission control engineer, told SPACE.com. "These can only be averaged or guessed, sometimes even after re-entry. These known unknowns are more than enough to throw off any kind of prediction by thousands of kilometers." [Photos: Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mission to Mars Moon]

A curious case

Still, the Phobos-Grunt saga was shrouded in mystery long before it crashed back to Earth. The cause of the spacecraft's malfunction has not yet been determined, and claims ranging from accidental radar interference to outright sabotage have been reported by Russian news outlets.?

Russian space officials suggested that strong emissions from an American radar station on an island in the Pacific Ocean could have accidentally interfered with Phobos-Grunt, reported the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

But, these claims were later dismissed by a Russian scientist who was involved with the development of Phobos-Grunt. Alexander Zakharov, a scientist at the Russian Academy of Science Space Research Institute, told Ria Novosti that the radar theory is "far-fetched," and suggested instead that issues with the spacecraft itself were likely to blame.

American experts were also quick to write off the idea that a U.S. radar station could have been the source of the spacecraft's demise ? accidental or otherwise.

"I do not see any evidence that supports the suggestion that the United States somehow played a role in the failure of Phobos-Grunt," Brian Weeden, an orbital debris expert at the Secure World Foundation in Washington, D.C., told SPACE.com in an email. "I have examined the claims made about the U.S. tracking radar on the South Pacific potentially interfering with Phobos-Grunt and they are without any credibility whatsoever."

Following Phobos-Grunt's fall from space, the Russian Federal Space Agency released an official statement confirming that the spacecraft had landed in the Pacific Ocean. But, the agency admitted this impact zone was based on orbital predictions, and they lacked tracking or visual data.

This fueled speculation that the spacecraft had overshot its predicted landing zone and broke apart elsewhere along its orbital track, such as over Argentina or Brazil. [6 Biggest Spacecraft to Fall Uncontrolled From Space]

"You're never quite sure," said Emmet Fletcher, Space Surveillance and Tracking Manager at the European Space Agency (ESA). "Eyewitness accounts are good, so if someone sees it coming in and takes a picture, that can tell you about where it lands. But, if you're fortunate and it lands in the ocean, which is where we like things to go, there shouldn't be anyone there. So, if something lands in the South Pacific, you won't have anyone there to observe it."

Tracking a falling spacecraft

Fletcher is part of ESA's Space Situational Awareness team which monitors space junk and operates a network of tracking stations. Fletcher could not comment specifically on Phobos-Grunt, but he has worked on coordinated international efforts to deal with spacecraft and orbital debris that has re-entered the atmosphere.

"It's all a learning experience," Fletcher said. "There are lessons learned and conclusions about what we can do better. A lot of work is being done to standardize data."

Right now, different agencies and organizations have different methods for calculating re-entry predictions. This has advantages and disadvantages, Fletcher said, but ultimately, a more standardized approach could help foster more efficient cooperation between entities.

But the story of Phobos-Grunt doesn't end there.

In a recent development, the U.S. military appeared to have removed links to Phobos-Grunt tracking data on a public website that ordinarily details such events.

Information about the doomed Russian probe's re-entry was removed from Space Track, a website operated by U.S. Strategic Command. The military also did not publish any confirmation of the probe's fall, which breaks with standard protocol.

This handling of the data seemed unusual, said Weeden, a former U.S. Air Force officer, who once also directed the Joint Space Operations Center's orbital analyst training program.

"[T]he final re-entry prediction data is still missing from the U.S. military's website where they normally publish the information," Weeden said. "I do not really have any idea why they would withhold this information for Phobos-Grunt. They have published the full re-entry prediction data on three other space objects so far this year, and they are continuing to publish re-entry predictions as normal for the next object, Cosmos 2176, which is a Russian Kompass-2 satellite that is due to re-enter in the next several days. "

Falling spacecraft and human error

But Friday evening (Jan. 20), a spokesperson from U.S. Strategic Command told SPACE.com that data was not, in fact, removed from the Space Track website. Rather, a human error had accidentally misfiled the information.

"All actions taken during the Phobos-Grunt re-entry were designed to improve international data sharing on this event," Julie Ziegenhorn, Deputy Chief of Public Affairs at U.S. Strategic Command, said in an email statement. "Unfortunately, shortly after the re-entry event, there was human error that led to all Phobos-Grunt entries on spacetrack.org being misfiled into the year 2011 data, which made it difficult for customers to access the information. Shortly after the error was discovered, the information was re-posted to the site and is accessible at this time."

Still, experts are hoping that more precise information about Phobos-Grunt's impact zone will be released, but it's unclear which agencies will make their reports available to the public. ESA plans to release a final report on Phobos-Grunt, but officials are currently still waiting for "additional data from non-ESA sources," agency spokesperson Andreas Schepers said in an email.

The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft was designed to collect soil samples from the Mars moon Phobos and return them to Earth in 2014. The botched mission is one of several space failures that plagued the Russian Federal Space Agency over the past year.

"It was one of the boldest cavalry charges, and they said it was a cavalry charge to restore Russia's honor in space," Oberg said. "But, cavalry charges can also wind up disastrously, so the use of that metaphor was particularly apt."

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120122/sc_space/russianmarsprobecrashsetsoffconfusionconspiracytheories

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Paul Yeager: 2011: Second Coolest Year of Past 11

The official climate report has been issued by NOAA, and while 2011 was warmer than average globally, the year was the second coolest year of the relatively young 21st century.

In a separate release, NOAA updated the number of record-breaking billion-dollar-plus weather disasters from 12 to 14.

Two separate La Nina events -- one lingering through spring and a second beginning in the fall -- helped to keep global temperatures cooler than it would otherwise have been, according to NOAA scientists. Global temperatures were 1.0 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average, making 2011 the 11th warmest year since records began (1880).

In the United States, 2011 was the 23rd warmest year on record, with near-normal precipitation. The precipitation stats are a little misleading since that represents an average of the two extremes of record-breaking precipitation in some areas from the Midwest and Northeast and record-breaking drought in parts of the South. This is something I talked about recently (Record-Breaking Warmth, Precipitation, and Drought Highlight 2011 Weather Extremes)

La Nina is a cooling of sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that tends to have an overall cooling effect on global temperatures and influence global weather patterns.

2012-01-22-significant_weather_2011.gif

The weather patterns have included a plethora of dramatic weather events in recent months, and additional information has prompted NOAA to add two weather disasters to the already record-breaking number of 12 for the 2011 calendar year. The newly included disasters include the flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee in the Northeastern U.S. and parts of the mid-Atlantic region.

Lee followed closely on the hills of the devastating Hurricane Irene in early September.

Also added to the list was an outbreak of damaging thunderstorms and tornadoes in the Rockies and Midwest in July.

I expected that the number of billion-dollar weather disasters would be increased to 14, but I thought that it would have included the record-breaking October snowstorm in the Northeast and northern mid-Atlantic region. That storm has not -- at least as of yet -- been added to this official list.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-yeager/globe-not-as-warm-as-rece_b_1222199.html

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HBT: Pineda-Montero trade held up by issues

The Yankees and Mariners agreed last Friday to a trade sending catcher Jesus Montero and right-hander Hector Noesi to Seattle for right-handers Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. But that deal has not been completely finalized, and might not be made officially?official?for another couple days.

According to FOX Sports? Jon Paul Morosi, Montero is waiting for a visa issue to be resolved in his native Venezuela and hasn?t be able to travel to the United States to take his required physical with the Mariners. On top of that, an ice storm blew threw Seattle on Thursday, cancelling most flights.

Both teams will have to remain patient as Montero?s travel issues are cleared up and the airport conditions in the Great Northwest improve. We?d expect a resolution and official announcement by early next week.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/20/montero-pineda-trade-being-held-up-by-visa-weather-issues/related/

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Road rage at driverless cars? It's possible

Paul Sakuma / AP

Stanford graduate student Mick Kritayakirana shows the computer system inside a driverless car on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, Calif.

By John Roach

The road to a future where we jump in our cars, enter a destination, and leave the driving to the car could be filled with rage, according to an expert on driverless car technology.

For starters, driverless cars will likely be programmed to obey all traffic laws. They won't speed and will always come to a complete stop at stop signs, for example.

Throw just a few of those law-abiding robots on roads clogged with 250 million human-controlled cars, and there's bound to be some shaken fists, or worse.

"Let's face it, ? [we] don?t always follow exactly the traffic rules," Sven Beiker, the executive director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford University in California, told me Friday.?

"An autonomous car would probably need to because there's a company putting code into a system and that obviously then becomes a legal action."

20-year vision?
The road rage-at-the-robot scenario came up as we discussed the evolution of driverless car technology and how we might eventually realize the dream of texting while the robot does the driving.

It'll likely remain a dream, Beiker said, for the foreseeable future.

Some experts in the field, he noted, call it a 20-year vision. "Quite frankly, if someone says 20 years, that's basically telling you we don't really know," he said.

But, driver-assisted technologies such as cars that can park themselves, maintain a safe distance from other cars on the road, and have other crash-avoidance technologies are increasingly available on cars today.

All of these technologies, Beiker said, still require drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road. But those aids are becoming more common, and not just in luxury models.

"These things are definitely happening, and basically you can expect something new every year in that regard," he noted.

Technological, legal, cultural hurdles
When the field will reach the point where we can relinquish control of the car will depend, in part, on further technological developments, a new set of laws?? and a cultural shift.

From the technological standpoint, cars can and do drive themselves today (see the Google Street View cars, for example). So, in a sense, we are technologically there.

But a future of roads full of driverless cars would be enhanced by the development and deployment of a wireless communication system that lets the robots anywhere on the road talk to each other.

Such a system, for example, would let cars know if the car in front of it was planning to turn left or right, as well as provide points of traffic congestion that alert robot drivers to alternate routes.

Think of such a system as a radio traffic report on steroids.

Roads full of autonomous vehicles all talking to each other could be much safer than they are today, Beiker noted. After all, human error contributes to 95 percent of all accidents.?

But, "no technology is 100 percent safe," he said.

When a wreck happens, who gets the blame? That's unclear today. Stanford's automotive center has a legal fellow, Bryant Walker Smith, on staff precisely to help answer these types of questions.

It'll probably shake out one of two ways: Either the car owner and/or passenger will be legally responsible just as drivers are today for most accidents, or the manufacturer will be.

But until such laws are written ? and the some are in the works, such as in Nevada where?a law has been passed to make?driverless cars?legal ? it's unlikely that autonomous cars will rule the roads.

And then there's the question of how to deploy the robots once we're technologically and legally ready. Perhaps at first autonomous cars will be restricted to one lane of travel on certain roads, such HOV lanes.

"But mixing the conventional vehicle and the autonomous vehicles?" Beiker said. "That's quite a challenge."

More on driverless car technology:


John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Ten years of war have given robot developers a chance to refine and improve their bots. Now the robots are finding all sorts of new jobs on the homefront.

Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10201865-road-rage-at-driverless-cars-its-possible

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