Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Foundation funding means good news for basic science

Foundation funding means good news for basic science [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 30-Jul-2013
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Contact: Genny Biggs
genny.biggs@moore.org
Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to provide $90 million over 5 years to boost discovery of emergent phenomena in quantum materials

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced good news for science today: more than $90 million for basic research, specifically in the field of condensed matter physics. The Moore Foundation's new Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) initiative will focus this budget over a five-year period to explore the exotic and unexpected properties of a broad class of systems termed quantum materials.

At a time when many scientific organizations are challenged by shrinking budgets, EPiQS champions the importance of basic science. Scientific research shapes the way we live, the way we see the world and the way we interact with it. The leaps in knowledge that it engenders enrich our lives intellectually, and they can have practical, and often unanticipated, applications. Much of the technology we depend on, from our cell phones to MRIs, is based on discoveries made well before their applications were conceived.

"At Moore we have a passion and a drive to turn bold thinking into new discoveries," explained Science Chief Program Officer Vicki Chandler. "With a belief in the inherent value of basic research, we seek opportunities to promote exploration at the very frontiers of science, to ask and answer new questions and propel the natural sciences forward."

"In condensed matter physics, quantum materialsthe materials and engineered structures in which interactions between the constituent particles show strong quantum-mechanical effectspresent largely uncharted ground for study and immense opportunity for discovery," said program director Cyndi Atherton, who will be leading the new initiative.

Within quantum materials, the intricate ways in which large assemblies of electrons synchronize their motion produce fascinating emergent phenomena, such as high-temperature superconductivity and the occurrence of "particles" with fractional charge. These phenomena have often eluded prediction, although properties of the individual particles that constitute these materials are well understood. In the same way, knowing the properties of a water molecule or a sand particle doesn't allow for predictions about the ripples that emanate from a drop of water, or the dunes that arise from aggregated pieces of sand.

Now, with recent innovations in nanotechnology and quantum control of matterand advances in theoryfresh opportunities have arisen for examining emergent properties of quantum materials in new ways, enabling scientists to ask more profound questions and paving the way to potentially world-changing technological applications. But at the same time, the reorienting of large industrial research labs that had provided top scientists with the resources and freedom to pursue discovery-driven research has left a large funding gap. The Moore Foundation is targeting its funding with an integrated research program that will include experiment, materials synthesis and theory.

"It's great news for science," said Steve McCormick, Moore Foundation president. "At a time when basic research needs support from the philanthropic community more than ever, this new research initiative will yield the kind of high-impact discoveries that may ultimately result in applications with far-reaching societal benefits and impact on our daily lives that we can't even imagine today."

EPiQS seeks to advance our understanding of complex quantum systems and fuel new discoveries through conceptual breakthroughs and innovations. Specifically, the initiative will support:

  • Top experimentalists and centers for theory to enable current and emerging leaders in experiment and theory to maximize their creativity
  • Materials synthesis to bolster the artistry of creating new or better quantum materials while improving career paths for materials synthesis scientists
  • Instrumentation acquisition and development to advance laboratory capabilities at leading institutions
  • High-risk projects to enable timely responses to new discoveries and rapid development of new concepts
  • Community building activities that create and sustain a vibrant research network to promote exchange of ideas and materials.

"New fascinating phenomena have emerged from complex electronic materials every few years, and some of them become valuable technologically," said Marc Kastner, a science advisory board member for the Moore Foundation and Donner Professor of Science and Dean of the School of Science at MIT. "However, they come from very long-range basic research, which is increasingly difficult for industry or even government agencies to support adequately. It is wonderful that the foundation has the vision to step in to make a difference."

###

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation believes in bold ideas that create enduring impact in the areas of science, environmental conservation and patient care. Intel co-founder Gordon and his wife Betty established the foundation to create positive change around the world and at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Science looks for opportunities to transformor even createentire fields by investing in early-stage research, emerging fields and top research scientists. Our environmental conservation efforts promote sustainability, protect critical ecological systems and align conservation needs with human development. Patient care focuses on eliminating preventable harms and unnecessary healthcare costs through meaningful engagement of patients and their families in a supportive, redesigned healthcare system. Visit us at Moore.org or follow @MooreScientific.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Foundation funding means good news for basic science [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 30-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Genny Biggs
genny.biggs@moore.org
Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to provide $90 million over 5 years to boost discovery of emergent phenomena in quantum materials

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced good news for science today: more than $90 million for basic research, specifically in the field of condensed matter physics. The Moore Foundation's new Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) initiative will focus this budget over a five-year period to explore the exotic and unexpected properties of a broad class of systems termed quantum materials.

At a time when many scientific organizations are challenged by shrinking budgets, EPiQS champions the importance of basic science. Scientific research shapes the way we live, the way we see the world and the way we interact with it. The leaps in knowledge that it engenders enrich our lives intellectually, and they can have practical, and often unanticipated, applications. Much of the technology we depend on, from our cell phones to MRIs, is based on discoveries made well before their applications were conceived.

"At Moore we have a passion and a drive to turn bold thinking into new discoveries," explained Science Chief Program Officer Vicki Chandler. "With a belief in the inherent value of basic research, we seek opportunities to promote exploration at the very frontiers of science, to ask and answer new questions and propel the natural sciences forward."

"In condensed matter physics, quantum materialsthe materials and engineered structures in which interactions between the constituent particles show strong quantum-mechanical effectspresent largely uncharted ground for study and immense opportunity for discovery," said program director Cyndi Atherton, who will be leading the new initiative.

Within quantum materials, the intricate ways in which large assemblies of electrons synchronize their motion produce fascinating emergent phenomena, such as high-temperature superconductivity and the occurrence of "particles" with fractional charge. These phenomena have often eluded prediction, although properties of the individual particles that constitute these materials are well understood. In the same way, knowing the properties of a water molecule or a sand particle doesn't allow for predictions about the ripples that emanate from a drop of water, or the dunes that arise from aggregated pieces of sand.

Now, with recent innovations in nanotechnology and quantum control of matterand advances in theoryfresh opportunities have arisen for examining emergent properties of quantum materials in new ways, enabling scientists to ask more profound questions and paving the way to potentially world-changing technological applications. But at the same time, the reorienting of large industrial research labs that had provided top scientists with the resources and freedom to pursue discovery-driven research has left a large funding gap. The Moore Foundation is targeting its funding with an integrated research program that will include experiment, materials synthesis and theory.

"It's great news for science," said Steve McCormick, Moore Foundation president. "At a time when basic research needs support from the philanthropic community more than ever, this new research initiative will yield the kind of high-impact discoveries that may ultimately result in applications with far-reaching societal benefits and impact on our daily lives that we can't even imagine today."

EPiQS seeks to advance our understanding of complex quantum systems and fuel new discoveries through conceptual breakthroughs and innovations. Specifically, the initiative will support:

  • Top experimentalists and centers for theory to enable current and emerging leaders in experiment and theory to maximize their creativity
  • Materials synthesis to bolster the artistry of creating new or better quantum materials while improving career paths for materials synthesis scientists
  • Instrumentation acquisition and development to advance laboratory capabilities at leading institutions
  • High-risk projects to enable timely responses to new discoveries and rapid development of new concepts
  • Community building activities that create and sustain a vibrant research network to promote exchange of ideas and materials.

"New fascinating phenomena have emerged from complex electronic materials every few years, and some of them become valuable technologically," said Marc Kastner, a science advisory board member for the Moore Foundation and Donner Professor of Science and Dean of the School of Science at MIT. "However, they come from very long-range basic research, which is increasingly difficult for industry or even government agencies to support adequately. It is wonderful that the foundation has the vision to step in to make a difference."

###

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation believes in bold ideas that create enduring impact in the areas of science, environmental conservation and patient care. Intel co-founder Gordon and his wife Betty established the foundation to create positive change around the world and at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Science looks for opportunities to transformor even createentire fields by investing in early-stage research, emerging fields and top research scientists. Our environmental conservation efforts promote sustainability, protect critical ecological systems and align conservation needs with human development. Patient care focuses on eliminating preventable harms and unnecessary healthcare costs through meaningful engagement of patients and their families in a supportive, redesigned healthcare system. Visit us at Moore.org or follow @MooreScientific.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/gbm-ffm072813.php

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Lea Michele breaks silence after Monteith death

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Lea Michele is breaking her silence online after her "Glee" co-star and real-life boyfriend Cory Monteith died of an overdose earlier this month.

The actress posted a photo of her and Monteith on Twitter on Monday, along with a message thanking her followers for "helping me through this time with your enormous love & support."

"Cory will forever be in my heart," Michele wrote.

Monteith was found dead July 13 in Vancouver, British Columbia. An autopsy revealed the 31-year-old actor died of an overdose of heroin and alcohol.

He and Michele played an on-again, off-again couple in the popular Fox series and were an off-screen couple for about a year.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lea-michele-breaks-silence-monteith-death-182054217.html

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B-Mets to give away bobblehead of Union-Endicott's Jim Johnson

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

Source: http://www.stargazette.com/article/20130729/SPORTS/307290057/1119/

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Grants, scholarships key to paying for college

Washington ? Grants and scholarships are taking a leading role in paying college bills, surpassing the traditional role parents long have played in helping foot the bills, according to a report from loan giant Sallie Mae.

Since the recession, more college-bound students have eliminated schools from their searches based on costs and have relied less on their parents once they get to campus, said the report released Tuesday. Worries such as tuition increases and job losses seem to have faded as the economy has improved, yet parents and students still make decisions on schools, majors and work schedules based on the price tag.

"We have moved into a post-recession reality in how people pay for college," said Sarah Ducich, Sallie Mae?s senior vice president for public policy.

College spending per student was about $21,000 during 2012, down from a peak of $24,000 in 2010, according to the Sallie Mae-Ipsos Public Affairs report.

The annual survey of student financial aid found students earned about $6,300 in grants and scholarships to pay for college costs, taking the top spots from parents.


Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/56631213-79/college-parents-grants-report.html.csp

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This Life-Size Statue of Liberty Replica Shows Her Pre-Patina Shine

This Life-Size Statue of Liberty Replica Shows Her Pre-Patina Shine

The last time France saw the Statue of Liberty, the copper sculpture was in pieces, being shipped to New York for permanent installation. But this summer in Paris, Vietnamese artist Danh Vo has installed his recreation of the iconic monument in 30 copper fragments, each an exact replica of the original?right down to her open book.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-life-size-statue-of-liberty-replica-shows-her-pre-934351990

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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Free Software Foundation drives fundraising effort for 'fully free' Replicant Android fork

Free Software Foundation drives fundraising effort for 'fully free' Replicant Android fork

Android variants come in various guises, some liberating, some a bit cheeky, and others, entirely free. Free, as in free to you, and free from any kind of licensing issues -- and Replicant is one such example. The project has been around since 2010, but a new fundraising initiative by the Free Software Foundation promises to give it a vital boost. The key difference with Replicant and many other Android spin-offs is that it doesn't rely on proprietary software for it to play nice with vendor hardware. While most of Android is free, it's at this hardware interface level that things get a bit more complex. The FSF hopes that by driving investment towards Replicant more hardware can be supported, in turn opening the OS up to even more users. Sound like something you can get behind? Head over to the source and show your support.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: Boing Boing

Source: Free Software Foundation

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/O-3HmzpKME0/

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Movie review: 'The To Do List' just lumbers, with little laughs | The ...

This film publicity image released by CBS Films shows Aubrey Plaza portraying Brandy Klark in a scene from "The To Do List." (AP Photo/CBS Films, Sam Urdank)

Watching the teen romp "The To Do List" feels much like that less-than-ideal first time having sex ? awkward, sometimes painful and only fun for a split second.

Brandy ("Parks & Recreation?s" Aubrey Plaza) is a straitlaced, straight-A high-school virgin in 1993 Boise who decides to make a to-do list of every sex act imaginable as preparation to bed the hottest guy at the public pool where she works.

?

Hhj

?The To Do List?

Opens Friday, July 26, at theaters everywhere; rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic dialogue, drug and alcohol use, and language - all involving teens; 104 minutes.

What starts out as a promising gender reversal on ?80s teen comedies ? imagine the ones with John Cusack ? eventually turns into an overly raunchy "Porky?s" for a modern generation. Even the most progressive moviegoers will wince with disapproval at Brandy?s casual sexcapades, and the laughs quickly begin to subside as we wallow in a clumsy, voyeuristic journey with Brandy getting her rocks off.

For some reason, first-time feature writer/director Maggie Carey didn?t get to the most important item on her to-do list: "Make a funny movie."

movies@sltrib.com; www.sltrib.com/entertainment


Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/56627063-223/list-brandy-movie-sex.html.csp

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Raytheon ordered to stop work on U.S. Navy jammer contract

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy has told Raytheon Co to stop work on a next-generation electronic jamming system contract the company won on July 8, after BAE Systems Plc formally protested the contract award.

Raytheon Chief Executive William Swanson, disclosing the stop-work order on Thursday, told analysts his company was "very comfortable" about its prospects for holding onto the contract.

He said Navy acquisition officials were very thorough in deciding contract awards and generally prevailed in any protest actions.

"And this is not a competition that happened overnight," Swanson said. "We feel very comfortable in their selection. Of course, we're biased, but we feel comfortable."

BAE last week filed a formal protest against the Navy's decision to award Raytheon a $279 million contract for the next-generation electronic jamming system, a deal that analysts say could be worth billions of dollars in coming years.

The system will be used on EA-18G Growler aircraft, an electronic warfare version of the F/A-18 fighter.

BAE spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said BAE decided to lodge a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office because it had "concerns with the Navy's evaluation of our offering." He did not elaborate.

Navy spokeswoman Captain Cate Mueller confirmed the Navy issued a stop-work order on the contract on July 18, as required when a protest has been filed, but declined comment on BAE's claims.

"Until the GAO determines the merits of the protest, which typically occurs within 100 days of a filing, we won't have further comment regarding it," Mueller said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by John Wallace and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/raytheon-ordered-stop-u-navy-jammer-contract-203728799.html

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Cook States that iOS in the Car is "Very Important" to Apple

Cook States that iOS in the Car is "Very Important" to Apple

Published on 07-23-2013 09:44 PM

During the Q&A portion of today?s third quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about iOS in the Car, which was a highlight of the company?s keynote presentation at WWDC. As a response to the question, Cook said that it was an important ?part of the ecosystem,? categorizing it with the App Store, iTunes, messaging and Siri. According to Cook:

"Having something in the automobile is very important. It?s something people want." He went on to say that Apple could "do it in a unique way better than anyone else," and that it was a "key focus" for the company. The iOS in the Car feature is designed to provide enhanced iOS integration in automobiles, offering hands-free controls that allow drivers to access maps, get directions, and control music by displaying content in the navigation screen of the car. The description of the feature mentions the following: iOS in the Car seamlessly integrates your iOS device ? and the iOS experience ? with your in-dash system. If your vehicle is equipped with iOS in the Car, you can connect your iPhone 5 and interact with it using the car?s built-in display and controls or Siri Eyes Free. Now you can easily and safely make phone calls, access your music, send and receive messages, get directions, and more. It?s all designed to let iPhone focus on what you need, so you can focus on the road. As of right now, the feature is expected to be integrated into a number of new cars in 2014, from manufacturers like Acura, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Opel and Volvo. According to settings hidden within iOS 7, iOS in the car may potentially work over AirPlay in addition to USB. The feature is said to be officially unveiled later this year alongside the release of iOS 7.

Are any of you looking forward to the feature?

Source: Apple via MacRumors

Source: http://feeds.modmyi.com/~r/home_all/~3/j1s8nA9atkE/11608-cook-states-ios-car-very-important-apple.html

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At least 35 dead, scores injured, as train derails in Spain

Lavandeira Jr / EPA

Scores are killed and injured in a train derailment in NW Spain.

By Becky Bratu and Alastair Jamieson, NBC News

At least 77 people were killed and up to 145 injured when a high-speed train crashed in northwest Spain on Wednesday, triggering an investigation into reports that it was going too fast on a tight curve.

Images from the scene showed bodies covered in blankets and towels lying next to toppled and crushed carriages as a plume of smoke billowed from the wreckage near Santiago de Compostela. Rescuers worked to pull survivors out of broken windows.

"It was going so quickly. ... It seems that on a curve the train started to twist, and the wagons piled up one on top of the other," passenger Ricardo Montesco told Cadena Ser radio station, according to Reuters.

El Pais newspaper cited sources close to the investigation saying the driver stated immediately after the crash that he had been traveling at 118 mph on the curve, which had a speed limit of 49 mph.

Trapped in his wrecked cab, he reportedly told supervisors over the radio: ?"We're human! We're human," according to El Pais. "I hope there are no fatalities because they will fall on my conscience,"?he said, according to the newspaper?s source. NBC News was unable to immediately confirm the report.

There are reports of as many as 100 people wounded and doezens dead in a train derailment in northwestern Spain. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

All of the bodies had been removed from the wreckage by Thursday morning, with hospitals treating 145 injured according to a 9:43 a.m. (3:43 a.m. ET) update via state broadcaster RTVE. Three of the wounded were still unidentified.

Local residents lined up to donate blood.

"The scene is shocking, it's Dante-esque," the head of Spain's Galicia region, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, said in a radio interview, according to Reuters.

A woman told RTVE that she had still been unable to locate a relative, who had been a passsenger on the train, despite calling local hospitals for more than? 12 hours.

?We don?t know where our brother is,? she said. ?I spent the night calling all the hospitals in Galicia, all the numbers they?ve given us. And nobody tells us anything, absolutely nobody.?

The crash, which happened at 8:41 p.m. local time (2:41 p.m. ET) Wednesday, was Europe?s deadliest mainline train accident in more than 25 years.

It also cast a shadow of tragedy over the entire Galicia region, which had been due to celebrate a public holiday Thursday.

Santiago de Compostela had been preparing for the festival of Saint James, when thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world pack the streets. It is likely the train was packed full with people traveling for the holiday.

Officials said all of the celebrations, including a traditional High Mass at the city?s centuries-old cathedral, were canceled.

Xoan Rey / EPA

A group of volunteers waiting to give blood to help those injured in the train accident close to Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Wednesday.

"In the face of a tragedy such as just happened in Santiago de Compostela on the eve of its big day, I can only express my deepest sympathy as a Spaniard and a Galician," Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a statement ahead of a visit to the crash site.

The eight-car Alvia express train was carrying 218 passengers from the capital, Madrid, to the city of Ferrol when it derailed about two miles short of Santiago de Compostela station, national train operator Renfe said in a statement.

Spain?s rail network is one of the most modern and successful in Europe, following decades of public investment in high-speed connections between key cities.

Transport expert and author Christian Wolmar said it was not clear if high-tech safety systems, which override inputs by the driver, would have been in use at the time.

?On high speed lines, the European Train Control System should automatically correct the speed of the train, but this accident may have happened on a stretch of line which is not designated as high-speed,? he said.

Reuters reported that the mayor of Santiago Angel Curras told Cadena Ser radio: "It seems the speed of the train was likely not the right one."

Rail workers? union SEMAF expressed ?support for the comrade who has been implicated in this accident? as well as ?condolences? to the victims, according to RTVE.

The crash is Spain?s biggest disaster since the 2004 terror attack at Madrid?s Atocha station that left 191 dead.

In November 2000, 155 people were killed when a fire in a tunnel engulfed a funicular train packed with skiers in Austria.

In Montenegro, up to 46 people were killed and nearly 200 injured in 2006 when a packed train derailed and plunged into a ravine outside the capital, Podgorica.

NBC News' Brinley Bruton and Jason Cumming and?Reuters contributed to this report.?

This story was originally published on

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663309/s/2f1e7c08/sc/11/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A70C240C196619440Eat0Eleast0E350Edead0Escores0Einjured0Eas0Etrain0Ederails0Ein0Espain0Dlite/story01.htm

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Legitimate Defense in Criminal Law | Grupo Legal Advice

Legitimate Defense in Criminal LawSelf-defense is regulated in Article 20.4 CP. It is based on the basic idea that the right does not have to endure unjust actions. Self-defense has a dual foundation:

- Single Appearance. Protection principle. It is based on the individual need to protect against unfair attacks.

- Appearance supraindividual. Maintenance of the legal order. It is represented by the need to defend the legal order and the general law.

The condition of the legitimacy of the defense is the need to defend. In principle it is not necessary that there proportionality. There should be no proportion between the damage and avoiding.

Requirements Of Self Defense.

The factual situation of self-defense is the existence of unlawful violence. Unlawful violence is the threat of legal real danger comes from human behavior. If not human, no budget for self-defense. This human behavior can be active or omissive, willful or reckless.

Aggression must be typical and unlawful, threatening the individual legal right. The groups do not allow self-defense. Although it has limitations, self-defense to be liable.

The attack, in addition to typical and unlawful, must be:

- Current. That is to occur imminently, when it is occurring or the duration of the attack.

- Real. Imagine that the person who is the victim of an assault.

To assess the reality of today and we went to the criterion aggression of the impartial spectator. Simply rational belief that this aggression will occur to estimate self-defense.

The defense must be necessary:

- Need abstractly. That the given situation requires the use of defense to protect property. The defense is necessary when imminent, contemporary aggression exists and where the only way to repel aggression.

- Need specific. It requires the kind and extent of the medium used is that requiring that situation. The need rational means employed proportionality is linked to both the kind and the extent of the medium and not between the harm caused and avoided. Evils are not weighted, but the intensity. It determines if the medium is rational and if necessary to the specific case according to whether the subject?s action was what would have prevented the attack causing the least damage to the environment that has been used. You have to see if the subject available and used various means less damage that could cause. It is the principle of least harmfulness.

It is important to distinguish two aspects of defense need:

- If lacking in the abstract need not be the complete defense or incomplete, because it lacks an essential element of the cause of justification.

- If you lack specific need not be the complete defense but if you could apply the incomplete. When necessary, there is an excess intensive. They could have implemented another best means or with less intensity. It is distinguished from excess extensive, ie, is revenge. There is no defense action.

Lack Of Provocation Enough For Part Of Ombudsman.

It occurs when there is no defending that led to another. A strict interpretation of it can lead to absurd results. For provocative behavior is meant to produce a mental disorder in the aggressor. The Criminal Code speaks of sufficient provocation. Only when aggression is the normal reaction to that provocation will plead self-defense.

The Supreme Court denies self-defense in cases of quarrel mutually accepted because the contestants are raised each other. Have exceptions when:

- The fight is not accepted.

- It intervenes to make peace.

Other Limitations Of Law Of Defense.

- When there are formal requirements but lack the foundation, the doctrine says that in the absence of the foundation there can be no self-defense.

- Missing the need for defense. When it exceeds assaulted defense continues when no longer needed. Is revenge.

- Supraindividual limitations, for example, attacks us guilty. They do not question the legal system so that in these cases should be avoided confrontation.

- Also excluded self-defense in cases of close personal relationships.

- There is no self-defense when the attack takes place at the low value goods attacked to defend themselves is not entitled to a defense if the offender seriously injured. There would be no self-defense because it reaffirms the law but there is a remarkable disproportion between the attack and the damage caused by the action of defense. In these cases we must act with a simple revulsion at acting improperly.

It can act in self-defense to defend their own property or third parties. The requirements are the same in both cases.

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Source: http://www.cpgrupolegal.com/374/legitimate-defense-in-criminal-law.html

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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Over 60 percent of all devices talk to Google every day: Study

Google

12 hours ago

df study

Deepfield

More than 3 in 5 Internet-connected devices sent data to Google every day on average.

It's no secret that Google casts quite a shadow on the Internet, but the numbers from a new study may surprise even the most bullish of analysts. In North America, not only does 25 percent of all traffic goes through the search giant, but three fifths of all Internet-connected devices in North America touch base with Google every single day, says new research.

The most interesting number in the report from Deepfield, an Internet tracking firm, is the touching-base one: on average about 62 percent of all connected devices ? be they smartphones, game consoles, or desktop computers ? sent traffic to Google servers at some point during every day, arguably upwards of a billion devices. It may only be a quick search, a YouTube video, or even a link going through Google's link shortener service (goo.gl), or it could be more, like spending the day on Google Docs.

As for total traffic, even at 25 percent Google is actually still behind Netflix during peak hours (the video network accounts for about a third of traffic at those times, according to Sandvine). But what's impressive here is Google's growth. Deepfield notes that in 2010, the last time the firm conducted a traffic survey of this scope, Google only made up 6 percent of traffic.

Are that many more people Googling things? Perhaps not, writes Deepfield's Craig Labovitz:

By far the most striking change in Google?s Internet presence has come with the deployment of thousands of Google servers in Internet providers around the world. With little press coverage or fanfare, Google has deployed (Google Global Cache) servers in the majority of U.S. Internet providers.

So although Google has unquestionably grown larger, some of the increase in traffic is tied more to infrastructure changes than increased popularity ? while Netflix's numbers and growth are more easily explained: More people are watching more movies and TV online.

Information on how the study was conducted can be found at the Deepfield blog post.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2f11a7bf/sc/4/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cover0E60A0Epercent0Eall0Edevices0Etalk0Egoogle0Eevery0Eday0Estudy0E6C10A722283/story01.htm

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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

?2.8million golden goodbyes for London 2012 Olympics bosses

?2.8million golden goodbyes for London 2012 bosses
Sporting success: London Olympics bosses received ?2.8million in pay-offs, it has emerged (Picture: Bruce Adams)

London Olympics bosses received ?2.8million in pay-offs despite knowing their jobs would end after the 2012 Games.

All 144 people who left the Olympic Delivery Authority last year received redundancy pay as the agency is being wound down.

Four executives received ?261,000 in exit payments after leaving within months of the closing ceremony last summer.

In response to questions about the use of public money for the redundancy pay-outs, the ODA said the payments were necessary as senior staff had given up secure long-term jobs elsewhere to organise London 2012.

Chief executive Dennis Hone was paid ?80,000 plus ?373,000 for his pension, when he was made redundant in March, the agency?s financial figures show.

The annual reports and accounts note that Mr Hone was entitled to receive statutory redundancy pay and a terminal bonus equivalent to 60 per cent of his salary as part of his employment rights.

It said: ?The remuneration committee decided to award a terminal bonus of 49 per cent of his salary and to defer 50 per cent of the bonus until the successful completion of the sale of East Village to QDD.?

Mr Hone was hired shortly after his redundancy as chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation.

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03:  An ariel view of the Olympic Stadium on Day 7 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Park on August 3, 2012 in London, England.  (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell-Pool/Getty Images)
Lasting legacy: The Olympic Stadium (Picture: Getty)

The ODA?s director of transport, Hugh Sumner, received ?73,000 in exit payments, while director of venues and infrastructure Simon Wright was paid ?72,000.

An ODA spokesman said London 2012 had been a ?unique and challenging project and a great British success story?.

He said: ?We needed to recruit and pay for the best talent from the private and public sectors, requiring people in many cases to give up secure long-term jobs elsewhere, with no certainty of the project?s success or getting a?job after the Games.

?The exit payments for staff other than Dennis Hone comprise only ? and are limited to ? statutory redundancy pay, any leave they were unable to take before their employment ended, and, where appropriate, payment in lieu of notice.

?Like other staff, Dennis Hone received performance-related pay, but this was far from guaranteed and was measured against tough performance criteria.?

A spokesman added that the staff were employed on permanent contracts because it was not known for how long after the Games their services would be needed ? and so a fixed-term contract could not be issued.

The ODA will be wound up in 2014.

On Friday, a report for the UK Trade and Investment department suggested the Olympics resulted in a ?9.9billion boost for the economy.

Source: http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/22/2-8million-golden-goodbyes-for-london-2012-olympics-bosses-3893310/

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Sunday, July 21, 2013

The Daily Roundup for 07.19.2013

DNP The Daily RoundUp

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/19/the-daily-roundup-for-07-19-2013/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

NYT: An unstoppable climb in CEO pay

ceos

7 hours ago

Lawrence J. Ellison of Oracle, top left, ($96.2 million total compensation), Marissa Mayer of Yahoo ($36.6 million total compensation), Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation ($8.1 million base salary), Leslie Moonves of CBS ($32 million cash compensation).

Clockwise from top left: Stephen Lam/Reuters; Mario Tama/Getty Images; Josh Reynolds/Associated Press; Lucas Jackson/Reuters / New York Times

Lawrence J. Ellison of Oracle, top left, ($96.2 million total compensation), Marissa Mayer of Yahoo ($36.6 million total compensation), Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation ($8.1 million base salary), Leslie Moonves of CBS ($32 million cash compensation).

When we made our annual foray into the executive pay gold mine in April, chief executives? earnings for 2012 showed what appeared to be muted growth on the year. The $14 million in median overall compensation received by the top 100 C.E.O.?s was just a 2.8 percent increase over 2011, the figures showed.

Well, what a difference a few months and a larger pool of C.E.O.?s make. According to an updated analysis, the top 200 chief executives at public companies with at least $1 billion in revenue actually got a big raise last year, over all. The research, conducted for Sunday Business by Equilar Inc., the executive compensation analysis firm, found that the median 2012 pay package came in at $15.1 million ? a leap of 16 percent from 2011.

So much for the idea that shareholders were finally getting through to corporate boards on the topic of reining in pay.

At least the stock market returns generated by these companies last year exceeded the pay increases awarded to their chiefs. Still, at 19 percent in 2012, that median return was only three percentage points higher than the pay raise.

In other words, it?s still good to be king.

Because the data shows only chief executives? pay, it does not reveal how good it still is to be a prince. Brian Foley, an independent compensation consultant in White Plains, pointed out that the 2012 compensation of the No. 2 executives at some of these companies would have vaulted them to the top ranks on the C.E.O. roster.

?The interesting thing is that there are people at these companies that make as much or more than other C.E.O.?s,? Mr. Foley said. ?I?m sure it?s a case of ?Look at what the C.E.O. has; I want more of that.? ?

Lawrence J. Ellison, founder and C.E.O. of Oracle, the software company, is a familiar face on the pay charts, and is ranked No. 1 this year. And had his two top lieutenants been included, they, too, would have landed among the top five on the list. Safra A. Catz, Oracle?s chief financial officer and co-president, and Mark V. Hurd, also a co-president, each received packages worth $52 million in 2012. (Mr. Hurd, you might remember, received severance of more than $12.2 million when he left Hewlett-Packard in 2010.)

As usual, cash pay for many of the managers pales next to the value of the stock and option grants they received. Median cash compensation was $5.3 million last year, while stock and option grants came in at $9 million.

Stock grants are clearly where the action is, and their value can really add up. Equilar?s analysis calculates the median value of stock holdings of these top C.E.O.?s at $51 million.

The trouble is, stock grants, which are supposed to create an incentive to improve a company?s performance, are also where pay excesses and disconnects arise, compensation consultants say. How these boards measure corporate performance can create pay problems by failing to align long-term incentives with shareholders? interests.

This is a significant lapse, given how hefty the incentive awards of stock or options can be. Performance shares generally comprise at least 50 percent of a typical chief executive?s long-term incentive award, consultants say.

The median of combined stock and option awards last year for the 200 C.E.O.?s on the list was 60 percent of pay. But individual cases can be far larger. Mr. Ellison received $90.7 million in options in 2012, or 94 percent of his nearly $96.2 million in total pay. Over all, Mr. Ellison?s compensation was up 24 percent from last year; his shareholders? returns, meanwhile, were negative 22 percent in the company?s fiscal year, which ended in May.

Mr. Ellison was hardly alone in receiving boatloads of stock in 2012. Among the five top C.E.O.?s receiving compensation packages that were at least double those of last year, stock and option awards ? which can vest over several years ? provided the major kick.

Those executives included Robert A. Kotick of Activision Blizzard, the software publishing company; James Q. Crowe of Level 3 Communications, the communications network company; and Mark G. Parker of Nike. Mr. Kotick received stock awards worth almost $56 million, or 86 percent of his total. Of Mr. Crowe?s $40.7 million in pay, stock and option grants amounted to $37 million, or 91 percent of the total. At Nike, Mr. Parker?s stock and option awards were 77 percent of his $35.2 million in compensation.

At least shareholders of Level 3 and Nike made money on their stocks in fiscal 2012 ? a gain of 36 percent at Level 3 and 30 percent at Nike. Activision?s holders weren?t so fortunate: their company?s shares lost 12 percent.

Cassandra Bujarski, an Activision spokeswoman, said Mr. Kotick?s equity award of $56 million was part of a new five-year employment contract he signed in March 2012, after two decades as chief executive. The award vests over five years, and half is performance-based, she said.

BOARDS typically assess an enterprise?s performance not only internally against what occurred in previous years, but also externally, against a peer group of companies.

Far too often, though, measures used by company boards to evaluate performance are focused on short-term results. They often miss a crucial element that determines long-term success: the ability to innovate.

?We need compensation that is aligned to long-term value drivers, like innovation,? said Mark Van Clieaf, a managing director at MVC Associates International, an organization consulting firm. ?Yet at probably 70 to 80 percent of companies, there are no metrics for measuring the impact of new products or services that were launched.?

Companies that don?t weigh innovation in deciding pay, he added, are essentially rewarding the status quo and failing to reward moves to keep a company strong in the long term, including farsighted efforts to invest in research.

There are several ways to gauge a company?s commitment to innovation. One is to look at research and development expenses as a share of revenue. Another is to look at return on invested capital, indicating how well a company uses its money to generate profits. This figure should always exceed the company?s percentage cost of capital.

Mr. Van Clieaf argues that boards should assess these factors when designing pay-for-performance packages. Otherwise, executives could be rewarded for destroying shareholder value.

Among the few companies to include an executive pay performance measure based on innovation is 3M, Mr. Van Clieaf said. Its ?New Product Vitality Index? measures the percentage of the company?s total sales from products introduced in the last five years. ?They recognize that to have sustainable growth and value, they must continue to be an innovation company,? he said.

In an analysis for Sunday Business, MVC Associates International compared financial statements and executive pay at three tech companies: Google, Qualcomm and Xerox.

Using data from Morningstar, Mr. Van Clieaf?s firm analyzed each company?s research and development costs, return on invested capital and stock performance over the last five years. He and his colleagues also calculated each company?s economic profit, which is after-tax income excluding acquisitions or divestitures that year, minus a charge for the capital used to generate that income. Then they compared these figures with the pay dispensed to the five executives at each company who were the highest paid over the period.

The differences were striking. Not surprisingly, spending on research and development over the last five years was high at both Google (averaging 13 percent of revenue) and Qualcomm (22 percent). Sizable returns on invested capital were a result at both companies: Google averaged 18 percent a year while Qualcomm averaged 16 percent.

At Xerox, it was another story. Research and development costs averaged 4 percent, while return on invested capital was 2.5 percent. Given that the typical cost of capital for a tech company is at least 8 percent, these figures would suggest that Xerox is earning less than its capital costs.

The economic profits at the three companies were also disparate. While all three generated net income over the last five years, a different picture emerged when MVC adjusted those earnings for the amount of all capital necessary to run the business.

While economic profits at Qualcomm and Google were around 70 percent of reported earnings over the period, economic profits at Xerox were negative.

Finally, MVC tallied the executive pay at these companies. Compensation for top executives was certainly larger at Google ($462 million) and Qualcomm ($280 million). But when judged as a percentage of the company?s economic profit over the five years, the pay amounted to 1.6 percent at Google and 2.3 percent at Qualcomm.

In Mr. Van Clieaf?s view, those two companies? executives earned their pay. In Xerox?s case, the company paid its top managers $165.7 million over five years, even though its economic profits amounted to a negative $1.65 billion.

?Corporate boards, pay advisers and proxy governance firms need to rethink how they assess what executives are doing,? he added. ?And it?s time for long-horizon investors to demand performance metrics and long-term inventive pay alignment.?

Karen Arena, a Xerox spokeswoman, declined to comment on Mr. Van Clieaf?s findings. But she said 96.4 percent of investor shares voted at the latest annual meeting were in favor of its executive compensation program.

Another problem with performance stock grants, pay consultants say, is that an award?s size is typically decided at the start of a year, well before shareholder returns for that or future years can be measured. Because most stock or option grants are expressed as a multiple of an executive?s salary, a falling share price during the year means that a larger amount of stock will be handed over when the award is made. In other words, the loss of value is compensated for with a gain in the amount of stock granted. For many shareholders, stuck with the reality of a declining share price, that may seem unfair.

To eliminate this problem, James F. Reda, an independent compensation consultant in New York whose firm is a unit of Gallagher Benefit Services, suggests that company boards allocate awards at or near to the end of the year so that total shareholder returns can be assessed more easily.

?Why just give stock away to senior executives and hope for future performance?? Mr. Reda asked in an interview. ?It?s better to adjust the pay based on performance the C.E.O.?s are actually delivering to shareholders. This is also a good way to put the brakes on C.E.O. pay.?

He has pitched this idea to various boards. ?A lot of directors say, ?That makes perfect sense; why don?t we take a look at it,?? he said.

In an article this year in the Journal of Compensation and Benefits, Mr. Reda and two colleagues studied pay at 334 large companies and found that more than two-thirds made stock grants in the first two months of their fiscal year. That leaves 10 months before shareholder returns can be analyzed.

Looking at shareholder return rankings of 173 companies in 2011, Mr. Reda found that the median change in a company?s ranking from February to December was 25 percentage points. By contrast, the median change in ranking from November to December at these companies was 7 percentage points.

In other words, companies making grants in the last month of a fiscal year can be much more confident about their shareholder return position than companies granting early in that year.

Some companies have already started shifting their stock award timing to the end of the year. Mr. Reda identified energy companies, such as Anadarko Petroleum, Exxon Mobil and Valero Energy, among those making late-year grant decisions. Others include Coca-Cola Enterprises, Federated Investors and Stanley Black & Decker, as well as St. Jude Medical, a medical devices company, and Ecolab, a maker of cleaning and maintenance products.

Obviously, the pace of change in corporate pay practices has been glacial, even as the growth in pay has exploded. Dysfunctional performance metrics are a root cause, experts say.

?How much of the pay is driven by right time, right place, and how much is driven by truly sustained, multiyear performance that?s still in place ?X? years out?? Mr. Foley said. ?What I would like to see is not just performance criteria that are robust and meaningful but also awards that are at risk for a meaningful period of time.?

Not in our lifetimes, but in our children?s, perhaps?

Copyright ? 2013 The New York Times

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2e01a2b7/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cnyt0Eunstoppable0Eclimb0Eceo0Epay0E6C10A497315/story01.htm

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Monday, July 1, 2013

Gay marriage opponents ask court to intervene

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? A wave of weddings were performed in San Francisco City Hall on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic decisions to restore same-sex marriages to California, as defeated backers of the state's gay marriage ban filed a last-ditch effort to halt the ceremonies.

Less than 24 hours after California started issuing marriage licenses to same gender couples, lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom filed an emergency petition to the high court Saturday asking it to halt the weddings on the grounds that its decision was not yet legally final. They claimed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted prematurely and unfairly on Friday when it allowed gay marriage to resume by lifting a hold that had been placed on same sex unions.

The motion was filed as dozens of couples in jeans, shorts, white dresses and the occasional military uniform filled City Hall to obtain marriage licenses. On Friday, 81 same sex couples received marriage licenses.

Although a few clerk's offices around the state stayed open late on Friday, San Francisco, which is holding its annual gay pride celebration this weekend, was the only jurisdiction to hold weekend hours so that same sex couples could take advantage of their newly restored right, Clerk Karen Hong said.

A sign posted on the door of the office where a long line of couples waited to fill out applications listed the price for a license, a ceremony or both above the words "Equality=Priceless."

"We really wanted to make this happen," Hong said, adding that her whole staff and a group of volunteers came into work without having to be asked. "It's spontaneous, which is great in its own way."

The timing couldn't have been better for California National Guard Capt. Michael Potoczniak, 38, and his partner of 10 years, Todd Saunders, 47, of El Cerrito.

Potoczniak, who joined the Guard after the military's ban on openly gay service was repealed almost two years ago, was scheduled to fly out Sunday night for a month of basic training in Texas.

"I woke up this morning, shook him awake and said, 'Let's go,'" said Potoczniak, who chose to get married in his Army uniform. "It's something that people need to see because everyone is so used to uniforms at military weddings."

Also waiting to wed Saturday were Scott Kehoe, 34, and his fiance, Aurelien Bricker, 24. After finding out on Facebook that the city was issuing same sex marriage licenses Friday, the San Francisco couple rushed out to Tiffany's to buy wedding rings.

"We were afraid of further legal challenges in the state," Kehoe said.

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Proposition 8's backers lacked standing to defend the 2008 law because California's governor and attorney general have declined to defend the ban.

Then on Friday, the 9th Circuit appeared to have removed the last obstacle to making same sex matrimony legal again in California when it removed its hold on a lower court's 2010 order directing state officials to stop enforcing the ban.

Within hours, same sex couples were seeking marriage licenses. The two couples who sued to overturn Proposition 8 were wed in San Francisco and Los Angeles Friday.

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Austin Nimocks said on Saturday that the high court's consideration of the case isn't done because his clients still have 22 days to ask the justices to reconsider Wednesday's 5-4 decision.

Under Supreme Court rules, the losing side in a legal dispute has 25 days to request a rehearing. While such requests are almost never granted, the high court said that it wouldn't finalize its judgment in the case at least until after that waiting period elapsed.

The San Francisco-based appeals court had said when it imposed the stay that it would remain in place until the Supreme Court issued its final disposition, according to Nimocks.

"Everyone on all sides of the marriage debate should agree that the legal process must be followed," he said. "On Friday, the 9th Circuit acted contrary to its own order without explanation."

Many legal experts who had anticipated such a last-ditch effort by gay marriage opponents said it was unlikely to succeed because the 9th Circuit has independent authority over its own orders ? in this case, its 2010 stay.

While the ban's backers can still ask the Supreme Court for a rehearing, the 25-day waiting period is not binding on lower federal courts, Vikram Amar, a constitutional law professor with the University of California, Davis law school, said.

"As a matter of practice, most lower federal courts wait to act," Amar said. "But there is nothing that limits them from acting sooner. It was within the 9th Circuit's power to do what it did."

The city, home to both a federal trial court that struck down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional and the 9th Circuit, has been the epicenter of the state's gay marriage movement since then-Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered his administration in February 2004 to issue licenses to gay couples in defiance of state law.

A little more than four years later, the California Supreme Court, which is also based in San Francisco, struck down the state's one-man, one-woman marriage laws.

City Hall was the scene of many more marriages in the 4 1/2 months before a coalition of religious conservative groups successfully campaigned for the November 2008 passage of Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to outlaw same sex marriages.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-marriage-opponents-ask-court-intervene-210730914.html

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