Vikes?take punter; Kluwe welcomes competition

AP

Another NFL Draft is in the books, 254 new players with a chance to create a professional future, and 32 teams delighted for the moment with the work they?ve done.

And while there were an abundance of storylines, one thing that stood out about the 2013 NFL Draft was the remarkable restraint many teams showed.

There wasn?t an Andrew Luck or a Cam Newton ? or perhaps even a Ryan Mallett ??in this draft.

But even with the extreme financial penalty for missing on a first-round passer gone, teams didn?t line up to take the chance on a potential franchise quarterback as they have in the past.?Only three quarterbacks were chosen in the first three rounds, the fewest since 2000 (the fabled Chad Pennington-Giovanni Carmazzi-Chris Redman draft).

The Bills fooled us all by taking E.J. Manuel in the first round, and even the Jets withstood the temptation to win the back pages by taking Geno Smith in the second. When Mike Glennon was the only third-rounder, it left names such as Matt Barkley and Ryan Nassib for the fourth, where the Eagles and Giants bought low.

Some of the best quarterback business was done by teams that didn?t take one.

The Jaguars might be more needy at the position than any team in the league, with Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne competing. But as bad as that might be, there?s no guarantee any of this year?s candidates are better. So since new general manager David Caldwell didn?t see value, he withstood temptation and restocked a bad team with many other parts they needed ? most of them with speed.

But it wasn?t just at the quarterback position where the smart teams held fast.

After an unprecedented run on left tackles (three of the top four picks), teams with needs there started drafting guards and right tackles and defensive tackles instead of reaching. It would have been easy for the Chargers to move up for one of the top blind-side protectors, but by letting the board come to them, they found a solid starting right tackle in D.J. Fluker. Likewise, Arizona added a guard in Jonathan Cooper who could turn out to be the best value in the draft, and the Titans made Chris Johnson a better running back by drafting guard Chance Warmack (and center Brian Schwenke) to go with big-ticket free agent Andy Levitre.

And not to beat up on Manti Te?o any more than has already happened, the teams that needed him and didn?t draft him deserved notice as well.

The Vikings had a pair of late firsts, and used them on value picks Sharrif Floyd and Xavier Rhodes, both of whom figured to go sooner. Then they made a move for a third first-rounder, not for Te?o, but to take a receiver in Cordarrelle Patterson who has some Randy Moss-ish tendencies. The Bears also skipped an obvious need for a middle linebacker, and took a versatile but raw offensive lineman with good genes (Kyle Long).

The two Super Bowl teams (and two that should push them) exemplified the patience of the weekend as well.

The 49ers stockpiled picks, and used one on running back Marcus Lattimore, who might not play a down for them this year. The Ravens might have had interest in Te?o as well, but took their safety first (Matt Elam) before filling in at linebacker later (Arthur Brown).

The Packers added two running backs in Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin who could make a good team better, and the Seahawks used the benefit of a roster with few holes to take some chances on players with question marks, from running back Christine Michael to defensive tackle Jesse Williams.

Not every team has such luxuries. But the best things might come to the ones that were able and willing to wait this weekend.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/27/chris-kluwe-looking-forward-to-vikings-punter-competition/related/

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Analysis: North Korea's epic drama - stage now set for next act

By David Chance and Paul Eckert

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If North Korea's bellicose rhetoric threatening the United States and South Korea with nuclear war was aimed at dragging Washington to the negotiating table, it has likely failed.

Pyongyang may once again feel it needs to up the ante.

Two months of shrill threats following the North's nuclear test in February appeared at times to drag the Korean peninsula close to war as its young leader celebrated a year in power with a fusillade of verbal aggression that has now died down.

North Korea has made it clear it will not talk unless its right to a nuclear deterrent - its "treasured sword" - is recognized by the United States, while Washington insists any talks would be conditional on denuclearization.

That may lead to Pyongyang staging a new long-range rocket launch - which critics say is designed to prove missile technology - or a fourth nuclear test, or a small-scale military confrontation with South Korea in a bid to force talks and perhaps split Seoul from Washington.

"The difference in positions between the United States and North Korea is greater than ever," said Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's former national security advisor who left office in February and took part in framing U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear test that month.

Chun took part in meetings with North Korean negotiators as part of "six-party talks", a series that ran from 2003 among the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia that were aimed at stemming the North's progress towards a nuclear bomb. He participated in talks in 2006 and in 2008, the last round.

The North has said it wants the United States to sign a formal peace treaty formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War, an end to U.N. sanctions and a pledge from Washington and Seoul not to attack it, as well as nuclear recognition.

"It has become much more difficult to seek common ground and find the right conditions for talks," said Chun, referring to the preconditions set out by Pyongyang.

North Korea has a long history of spurning engagement and trust-building measures. During the six-party talks, it agreed to abandon all of its nuclear weapons programs in 2005, only to stage nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 as well as this year.

As recently as last year, it said it would allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, not launch any long-range rockets and go back to talks in exchange for U.S. food aid.

Just a few weeks later as Kim Jong-un formally took power, it undertook another rocket launch, scuppering the deal.

The lack of trust and verification means that once bitten, President Barack Obama is unlikely to fall for a second North Korean ploy, especially after crude propaganda films depicted the United States in flames from a North Korean attack.

"Because it is North Korea, the decision goes all the way to the Oval Office and I just don't see President Obama wanting to make any investment in this," said Victor Cha, formerly President George W. Bush's top advisor on North Korean affairs.

CHINA CARD?

Beijing is North Korea's one ally and could provide a route back into talks, although it too has expressed its frustration with the North's young leader.

When Kim Jong-un took office, there were hopes he would break with his father's push for nuclear weapons and embark on Chinese-style economic reforms.

But a year later, the young leader has still not paid a visit to Beijing. And instead of reforming, he has spent the past year purging the military and shuffling his close advisors. He has now staged two long-range rocket launches and one nuclear test.

"China is not very happy with Kim Jong-un for creating trouble," a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

"Kim Jong-un has been testing his control over the military through mobilization, but he overdid it."

Despite Beijing's displeasure, the young Kim may feel he has little more to lose.

Most analysts say that despite agreeing to sanctions on North Korea after February's nuclear test, Beijing will not economically strangle a client state that provides a buffer between it and U.S. forces stationed in South Korea.

South Korea's new President Park Geun-hye will meet Obama in Washington on May 7, providing the North with something it could use as another leverage point for a missile launch, nuclear test or other show of military strength.

North Korea carried out its February nuclear test just as Park was about to take office and as new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took up his post. The test also came at around the time of leadership transitions in Tokyo and Beijing.

"The reason things calmed down over the past 10 days or so ... was not bluster fatigue setting in, or not deciding strategically to tone things down now after having been on the rampage for so long, but more to catch their adversaries off their guard," said Sung-Yoon Lee, Professor of Korean Studies at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in the United States.

(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim in BEIJING; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-north-koreas-epic-drama-stage-now-set-060320353.html

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NY suspects asked for hard drives to hold evidence

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- The government's evidence in a political corruption case ? audio and video recordings, text messages, emails and more ? is so voluminous that each of the six defendants is being asked to provide a 150-gigabyte hard drive to hold it.

The hard drives will be used to share the evidence with defense lawyers, federal prosecutor Alvin Bragg said in court Tuesday.

He spoke during a scheduling conference after the defendants, including state Sen. Malcolm Smith, pleaded not guilty at their arraignment. They're accused of bribery schemes, including a plan to buy Smith the Republican line on New York City's mayoral ballot.

None of the defendants spoke at either court session; their pleas were entered through their lawyers. Judge Kenneth Karas gave the lawyers until July 19 to study the evidence and consider any motions they might want to make. He allowed the defendants to remain free on bail.

The complaint and indictment make clear that much of the evidence will come from recordings made by an undercover FBI agent and a cooperating witness.

Between 150 and 200 hours of video would fit on 150 gigabytes of storage space.

Smith is accused of scheming with New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran, a Republican, to bribe county Republican leaders for the GOP line on this year's mayoral ballot.

Because he is a Democrat, Smith would have needed three leaders' permission.

The indictment said two Republican Party leaders, Joseph Savino of the Bronx, and Vincent Tabone of Queens, accepted tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for their agreement.

Halloran is also accused of agreeing to steer City Council funds to a company in exchange for more bribes.

The indictment quotes him as saying, "That's politics; it's all about how much. Not about whether or will, it's about how much, and that's our politicians in New York, they're all like that."

In a separate bribery scheme, Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret are accused of taking money and property to approve a real estate project.

Each defendant could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said more than $100,000 changed hands.

The bribery and extortion charges produced hand-wringing in the city and in Albany, where Smith was removed from his most influential post. And they came amid a growing perception that corruption is a serious problem in New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced several anti-corruption proposals and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who announced the charges three weeks ago, said Monday that he has met with the FBI "to discuss expanding our corruption efforts."

"It seems that a culture of corruption has developed and grown, just like barnacles on a boat bottom," Bharara said. "And just as with barnacles on a boat bottom, when a growth is permitted to spread and grow unchecked, it unsurprisingly takes an unrelenting, collective effort to clean up."

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that 48 percent of New Yorkers see corruption as "very serious," the highest share since the poll began asking the question in 2003. And a Siena College poll released Monday showed 81 percent of New York voters expect more corruption arrests.

Neither the undercover agent nor the witness is identified by name in the indictment, but the witness has been widely reported to be Moses Stern, a Rockland County real estate developer. Prosecutors acknowledge that the witness pleaded guilty to unspecified federal charges last month, hoping to win leniency at sentencing.

Desmaret's attorney, Kenneth Gribetz, said Monday he is eager to see the details of that plea bargain.

___

Associated Press writer Michael Gormley in Albany contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-suspects-asked-hard-drives-125511230.html

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Congress has questions for the FBI (CNN)

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The Hen House Primitive Quilt and Craft Supplies - Peas In A Pod

It's finals week.? But it's still busy!

Yesterday, I did not get a blog post in, becasue I went to Lansing for the day and taught a workshop at our state autism conference.? I think it went okay.

On the way home, I was thirsty.? I decided to pull off the freeway at a McDonald's to get a Diet Coke.? (Don't you love McDonald's all-sizes-of-sodas-are-$1 deal?!? I do.)? As I was pulling into the town at which I exited the freeway, I saw a sign that said I was in the town of Charlotte, MI.

"Oh, my gosh!" I thought.? "I have always wanted to come to Charlotte, because there is a quilt store here all my primitive friends rave about!? I wonder if I have time to sneak in a quick trip?"? I looked at my clock.? It was only 4:15 pm.? "I can do it," I thought.? I figured I could make a stop and still be home around 6:00 or 6:15 pm.

So, I got out my smart phone, googled the address, plugged it into my GPS, and off I went, Diet Coke in hand!? I was only 5 min away!? Woo Hoo!

The shop is called The Hen House, and you may have noticed it was recently featured in the Quilt Sampler as a destination quilt shop.

I drove down one if the main streets in town and was rewarded by this sight!? And tons of on-street parking available right in front of the shop.? I love that!

Here is a closer look at the window display.? I was so happy.? Nothing tops off a long day of work (I was so tired from just having done a 3-hour presentation for about 160 people!) than enjoying a little fabric and quilting.

The window display also promised some nice English paper piecing projects inside!? (You can see it was actually sunny here yesterday, too!? It was a beautiful day.? When I stopped in the shop, it was 64 degrees and sunny.? I really needed that.? Back to clouds and rain today, though.)

When you enter the shop, you are greeted by displays of antiques and wool work projects.? There is a beautiful wool wall, with all sorts of wonderful wools.? Also, there is a nice selection of Valdani threads and other things you might need for your wool work.

There is also a nice selection of civil war fabrics.? If you love Jo Morton, working small,? "dark and dirty" fabrics, and the primitive style, this shop is for you.? It is full of inspiration and fun stuff.

I always joke that I'm a "bipolar quilter."? Someday I'll do a blog post on that.? I like the bright moderns, but I also love the Civil War style.? And though I haven't dared to try it yet, I really, really love the miniature quilts.? This shop is so full of eye candy and inspiration for projects.? Look at this display of miniature quilts.? I think the patterns are Jo Morton, if I'm not mistaken.? I think they are just wonderful.

The owner, Nancy, was there and we struck up a conversation.? She was working on a gorgeous English paper piecing project, and I complimented her on it.? The pieces she was working with were pretty small.? She said, "If you think this is small, you should see what Elise is working on.? It's tiny."? I saw this project over on the table and asked if that was it.? Oh, my goodness!? Isn't it amazing?!? Maybe you can get a sense of the scale of this project as you see it's laying on an open magazine.

Here, I pulled a penny out of my purse and laid it on the project so you caould get a better sense of scale.? This is absolutely wonderful!? How fun would this project be?!

I could have stayed in this shop for hours just poking around.? There were so many neat antiques, finished quilts, and little stuff to play with.? There were English paper piecing projects, velvets, fun threads, notions, wool, fabric, punchneedle projects, wool rug projects, etc.? The store is small, but it's one of those shops that just has the most interesting stuff everywhere you turn and the nicest people working there.? I had fun talking to Nancy and Elise.? What a pleasure to just hang out with them.

While I was there, I reminded Nancy that I had seen her at a trunk show in Battle Creek once.? I told her how I really wanted to learn to hook wool rugs ('cause you all know I need another hobby and more stuff to do!).? I have had a hard time being able to come to one of her classes when they are offered, due to my schedule.? Nancy said I could call her and just come up for a day, and she'd teach me.? So, I picked up this small wool rug project and am going to make an appointment with her sometime in the next few weeks (now that school is out and Sweet Pea is still in school for a while) to learn.? I am really excited.? How nice is that of her to let me come and learn from her on her time?

This is a wonderful shop.? I highly recommend it if you are in the area.? If you like brights and modern, you won't find it here.? Come here if you are looking for the primitive style, Jo Morton style, wool work, and miniature quilts.? You'll find a ton of fun stuff to capture your attention.? And you can't imagine a nicer shop owner and staff.

I felt bad after I left, because I realized I didn't even make it into the back room, which I think is the classroom.? I was on The Hen House Facebook page this morning and saw photos of the back room.? It even had basket weaving materials in it.? There were Facebook posts of the "Crankers" group--a group that does all their sewing on hand crank sewing machines.? (Wouldn't I love to have one of those machines?!)? I believe Nancy has lots of different sewing groups you can get involved in.? Check out their Facebook page for lots of fun photos.

You can shop on-line at The Hen House website.? In addition, there is also a gallery of projects, a class list, etc. on the website.

Sue, if you haven't been to this shop before, you would love it.?

Everytime I think I'm kind of "over" the primitive stuff, I realize I'm not really.? This shop could so easily suck me back in!? I'll keep you posted on my wool rug working!

Hope you enjoyed the review.? I tell you, it just made my day to add a little fabric love to it, especially because I got absolutely NO sewing done this weekend.? I spent a better part of Sunday in my office, preparing for my presentation.? So, it was nice to sneak in a little fiber and fabric inspiration.? Thank you Nancy and Elise for being the highlight of my day!

Until next time,

Source: http://peasinapod.typepad.com/peas-in-a-pod/2013/04/the-hen-house-primitive-quilt-and-craft-supplies.html

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Satellite Imagery Company Skybox Teams Up With MapBox For Analysis And Annotation Of Data

Google isn’t the only company working on mapping out the entire world with satellite imagery and detailed information about every nook and cranny in the universe. Two companies are teaming up to create publishable information on your site or news article using detailed satellite imagery and advanced publishing tools. Skybox, a company that has raised $91 million?to launch its own satellites into outer space to capture detailed imagery of our streets and buildings, is working with MapBox, an OpenStreetMap contributor, on some pretty sweet analysis and publishing tools. Two Skybox satellites will be launched this summer, so the tools are coming at the perfect time. One of the examples of analyzing all of the images that Skybox captures, is a “change detection” system that focuses on one area and builds a playlist of photos that you can go through to detect changes in the area. Why would something like this be useful? Well, say you’re a company that has a fleet of ships and wants to know when they dock and leave. This tool could help track that: Additionally, MapBox provides tools that allow anyone to annotate imagery. In the example above, you could easily add notes to each coming and going ship that you’ve detected, with important context that will help you go back in time to make sense of all of the imagery you’ve collected: When I spoke with MapBox’s founder, Eric Gundersen, about the project, he pointed out that what you can do with maps is very limited right now, which is what makes this partnership important: You can’t annotate images, you can’t zoom in, can’t interact on your tablet. This is our first experiment of “how do you package up information along with data,” that would usually be a PDF. As Gundersen pointed out, the information that the tools above allow you to surface and track would normally be passed around in a huge Word document or PDF, which is a pretty rough and manual process for people who?are analyzing thousands of images a day. MapBox, which is fully bootstrapped, is working on some other really neat tools on their own, which should be available in the coming weeks. Think Google Map Maker, but easier to use and more available to the community that is already participating on the OpenStreetMap project. [Disclosure: CrunchFund is an investor in Skybox, but had nothing to do with this post]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/RLXimV1WoM8/

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Grape intake may protect against metabolic syndrome-related organ damage

Apr. 22, 2013 ? Consuming grapes may help protect against organ damage associated with the progression of metabolic syndrome, according to research presented Monday at the Experimental Biology conference in Boston. Natural components found in grapes, known as polyphenols, are thought to be responsible for these beneficial effects.

The study, led by investigator E. Mitchell Seymour, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan Health System, studied the effects of a high fat, American-style diet both with added grapes and without grapes (the control diet) on the heart, liver, kidneys, and fat tissue in obesity-prone rats. The grapes -- a blend of red, green and black varieties -- were provided as a freeze-dried grape powder and integrated into the animals' diets for 90 days.

Specifically, the results showed that three months of a grape-enriched diet significantly reduced inflammatory markers throughout the body, but most significantly in the liver and in abdominal fat tissue. Consuming grapes also reduced liver, kidney and abdominal fat weight, compared with those consuming the control diet. Additionally, grape intake increased markers of antioxidant defense, particularly in the liver and kidneys.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together -- increased blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist or low HDL (the good cholesterol) and increased blood triglycerides -- significantly increasing the risk for heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. Intake of fruits and vegetables is thought to reduce these risks, and grapes have shown benefits in multiple studies. Metabolic syndrome is a major public health concern, and is on the rise in the U.S.

"Our study suggests that a grape-enriched diet may play a critical role in protecting against metabolic syndrome and the toll it takes on the body and its organs," said Seymour. "Both inflammation and oxidative stress play a role in cardiovascular disease progression and organ dysfunction in Type 2 diabetes. Grape intake impacted both of these components in several tissues which is a very promising finding."

This work extends and reinforces the findings of Seymour's previously published research which demonstrated that a grape-enriched diet reduced risk factors for heart disease and diabetes in obesity-prone rats.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan Health System.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/HgWpkzXg2C4/130422111242.htm

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Colorectal cancer / caregiver | Cancer Survivors Network

Hi everyone,

?

I have been reading a lot here and would very much like to post here now myself.

?

my boyfriend has colorectal cancer stage IV with mets to the liver at initial diagnosis. In the course of his treatments, the mets on the liver shrunk and he has had numerous (difficult) surgeries to remove them and also ablation for little lesions that reappeared. He has kept working full-time all along and has been incredibly strong, Never burdening me with anything. I was always full of hope after a lot of initial thinking about it and the situation before we decided on having a relationship, Did my best to find out about nutrition, treatments ?Now we just found out that there are a few small mets in the lung, both lobes. His doctors want to resect them as soon as possible. We will see what happens.?

?

Thank you for "listening" and all the best for you!

?

Source: http://csn.cancer.org/node/257968

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Immigration senators: Boston no excuse to nix bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two senators who helped write bipartisan immigration legislation say the Boston Marathon bombings should expedite an overhaul of the current system.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Sunday that the bombings that left three dead "should urge us to act quicker, not slower when it comes to getting the 11 million identified," referring to the estimated number of immigrants living in the country illegally. Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York added "keeping the status quo is not a very good argument, given what happened" in Boston.

Schumer says critics are using the bombings to oppose a proposal they disliked from the start. He says that if they have suggestions to make the proposal better, they should speak up.

They spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-senators-boston-no-excuse-nix-bill-152511683--finance.html

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Experimental therapy saves child born 'without bones'

Apr. 22, 2013 ? Four years ago, Janelly Martinez-Amador was confined to a bed, unable to move even an arm or lift her head. At age 3, the fragile toddler had the gross motor skills of a newborn and a ventilator kept her alive.

She was born with thin, fragile bones, and by 3, she had no visible bones on X-rays. Initially, doctors weren't sure she would survive her first birthday. In May, Janelly will turn 7, and is developing bone with the help of an experimental drug therapy and her care team at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Janelly has a rare genetic disorder called hypophosphatasia (HPP), a metabolic disease that affects the development of bone and teeth. An enzyme deficiency causes the bones to become soft because they can't absorb important minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, increasing the risks for pain, broken bones and bone deterioration.

"Imagine your child laying all the time in bed, not being able to lift herself, not being able to move herself, making sure she is not falling or tripping on things," her father, Salvadore Martinez, said through a Spanish interpreter.

"The treatment has worked very well but it has been a compilation of doctors, nurses, assistants ? everyone that has been a part of her care that has helped her make a meaningful recovery."

HPP affects about one in 100,000 babies born in the United States. While there are varying degrees of severity, the most severe forms of HPP occur before birth and early infancy. More than half of babies born with the disease don't survive beyond their first birthday. Janelly has the more severe form of the disease, which was diagnosed when she was 3 months old after failing to grow and gain weight. Doctors initially thought she might have cancer. With a thorough blood analysis at Children's Hospital, they diagnosed her with HPP.

"If you saw her in 2009 and see her now, it's not the same Janelly," said her mother, Janet Amador. "She used a ventilator, an oxygen mask -- many machines to help her breathe."

Janelly is one of 11 children, age 3 years and younger, to participate in a clinical trial to receive an enzyme-replacement drug therapy, asfotase alfa, for the life-threatening form of HPP. She had the worst case of the group.

Michael Whyte, M.D., the lead investigator of the study, which published results in March, 2012, in the New England Journal of Medicine, visited Janelly and her family at Children's Hospital last week. It was the first time he had met the family and her physician, Jill Simmons, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist at Vanderbilt.

"It's wonderful that you had the faith that a treatment might come along. For many years, it seemed there was nothing that was very helpful for this disorder," said Whyte, medical-science director of the Center for Metabolic Bone Disease and Molecular Research at Shriner Hospitals for Children in St. Louis.

"We were fearful that her bone disease was so terribly severe that it might not work. But by looking at the X-rays and hearing about her visits, we were thrilled to hear about her progress."

About eight months into the treatment, Janelly's parents felt her fingers -- which had been completely soft and boneless -- and they could feel traces of developing bone. Her head also began to develop bone. At 18 months into therapy, X-rays showed, for the first time, the visible development of her rib cage.

Janelly now sits in a wheelchair. Recently, dressed in her Easter best and bright pink bows, she was able to turn her head to gaze at a room of onlookers.

She smiled and waved her hand excitedly, a feat she never would have accomplished before the drug therapy. She is also able to attend school at Harris-Hillman Special Education School, not far from Children's Hospital.

This spring, doctors hope to be able to remove her tracheostomy tube, which has prevented her from speaking. Her developmental and cognitive abilities will be tested in July. Improvement continues each day, each week for Janelly.

"This is why we get into medicine in the first place: to truly make a difference in the life of a child," said Simmons, her physician. "My goodness, to go from no bones to bones. That's the most impressive thing I have seen as a physician. It's incredible."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/iOUoTh1m38E/130422111107.htm

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The Internet Marketing Tactics You Didn't Know About - Maynas Eric

Web marketing is essential when developing your business. It simply can?t be avoided. Internet marketing may be all that stands between a stagnant business and a flourishing one. The following tips will help you market your business successfully on the Internet.

Online advertising is a great way to get attention and draw people to your site. This may be a big investment, but it can make a great big difference. Make certain to chose the site your ad will be seen on wisely; it should be very popular and a great place to showcase your business.

Make sure you have a good way to keep site statistics. These statistics should include things like, referrals, refunds, sales and website traffic as well as any other stats that may prove helpful. Using good accounting skills to assemble statistics enables you to see your business in full, and identify both what is working and what may need tweaking in your marketing plan.

TIP! Create an eye-catching ?Link to Us? clickable button for your site to encourage your visitors to link back to your website. People that think alike will click it and your site will be linked to theirs, this will guarantee that your link will be visible to them.

Emails are vital to effective Internet promotion. Your ideas should be well guarded. Free webmail services should be avoided, because they delete outdated messages; it is essential that you always have access to your past emails. Pay for reputable companies to archive and maintain this sensitive information.

Placing wording in advertisements that assures people of instant gratification is helpful for just about any service or product Place the emphasis on the speed and alacrity with which customers will receive their order. This can help download times, have a good time with checkout, and confirm your orders.

Partnering with different-minded people can be mutually beneficial to both parties. This way, you can get discounts for your customers and offer discounts to your partner?s customers.

TIP! Before considering search engine rankings or things of that nature, you must build a website that people will want to visit. This will be the first, and one of the most important, steps for anyone building a web business.

You might want to offer a subscription service that customers can use when purchasing items on your site. You can give them the option of automatically receiving a set amount of product every week or month at a deeply discounted per item rate.

As you begin your online marketing, you must also consider advertising. Advertising is usually a wise investment as it can draw consumer interest your company would not receive otherwise. Doing so can bring in business that is difficult to find in other ways.

One way to ensure visitors click on ads is to create clickable images that will take visitors to a description page of your product. Try creating an advertisement that blends seamlessly with the text of an article, so that it appears to be a continuation of the content. It doesn?t look like an advertisement.

TIP! Believe it or not, everything you need for a successful internet marketing career is already at your disposal. Expensive tools of the trade that promise you can get rich quick are not what will prove important.

Blog several times a week to enhance your internet marketing attempt. A blog gives you another way to communicate with your customer base. Blogging adds more content to your website, which can give you a larger presence on the internet. This frequently translates into more traffic to your site.

You need to make your site stand out from the competition. There are a ton of sites online, and yours needs to be noticeable if you want a share of the traffic. One way to begin distinguishing your website from others is to emphasize a service you offer that no one else does.

Be sure to provide a customer feedback section, which you can manage carefully. With honest feedback, you can improve your product offerings. In addition, potential customers can buy with confidence after reading reviews written by others who have already purchased the items and have provided their opinions.

TIP! Use a lot of promos on your check out page. You could give a choice of three different half-price items.

Hard work beats luck any day of the week. Working hard creates its own luck, and it is common to all successful internet marketing ventures. Every large corporate company has had to put in huge amounts of time, money and effort in order to build a profitable global business; luck will have played only a very small part in their success. Does the Coca Cola Company owe it?s success to good luck? They did not. They had a well-oiled marketing machine.

If you are offering certain claims about your product, they must be true. Offer concrete evidence; create videos of yourself demonstrating your products or the skills necessary to providing the services you offer for instance. Always try and use the products you sell so that you know what you?re talking about.

For the most part, affiliate marketing is very similar to other forms of marketing except for the manner of delivering information. One example is search engines might stop using title tags in their algorithms. If this happens, it will benefit you to put a lot of effort into something else, like a video marketing campaign that will reach a large viral audience.

TIP! Connect with a reputable charity. Find a charity that interests your audience and give a portion of your profits to it.

The use of tools that can make your text stand out are very important when you are setting up the content of your site. Make the text more visible with bold or italics. In this way, you can influence your customers? reception of a message and clarify the central points.

Put your site in a format that is more user friendly. The format can make your site visible and helpful to visitors most interested in what it offers.

When shipping an order to a customer, be sure to include some type of free gift or sample, relative to the item sold. A coupon is a great way to get some repeat business.

TIP! If you website is static and rarely ever changes, perhaps you should consider including a blog on your site. To keep your rankings up with search engines continually add fresh content.

The internet is an effective free resource to help evaluate your market approach since you may not be able to afford a marketing consultant. Check out online communities for business owners, start following marketing blogs, download free e-books, and check out free seminars.

Affiliate marketing isn?t just a luxury now, it?s a necessity. If you are conducting business online, it?s something you can?t ignore. If you keep the tips you?ve just read in mind when you lay out your business?s Website marketing strategy, you?ll significantly improve its effectiveness.

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Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/the-internet-marketing-tactics-you-didnt-know-about

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'Man of Steel' trailer shows a very different Superman

'Man of Steel' stars Henry Cavill as the titular superhero. 'Man of Steel' is scheduled to hit theaters June 14.

By Kofi Outlaw,?Screen Rant / April 17, 2013

'Man of Steel' stars Henry Cavill as Superman.

Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

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It?s been a long wait, to get a peek under Man of?Steel?s cape. Born from a tightly-guarded storyline crafted by Dark Knight Trilogy architects Christopher and Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer -?and crafted by the hand of visionary director Zack Snyder (300), the Superman reboot has been considered to either be the best of both?worlds (in terms of filmmaking), or an experiment that could blow up in DC Comics and Warner Bros.? faces.

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Teaser trailers have revealed that this modernized interpretation of the Superman origin and mythos will include some deep, probing questions about what it is to live as a god-like orphan on an alien world; however, we?ve seen little to no?action from this Superhero blockbuster. Today?s Man of Steel trailer is here to put that complaint to rest, for good.

It?s hard to see the footage here and not give Snyder props; more so than his predecessors ? like Richard Donner and Bryan Singer ? Snyder has captured the aesthetic and concept of super powers in action, according to ?realistic? standards. That is to say: the actual physics of Superman?s powers is something we can definitely feel ? which is going to make for an awesome experience in the theater. Blockbuster superhero flick, indeed.

Kofi Outlaw blogs at Screen Rant.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of music, film, and television bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by The Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own and they are responsible for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/xTB__KZqtZs/Man-of-Steel-trailer-shows-a-very-different-Superman

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Researchers discover biomarker for devastating intestinal disease found in early preterm infants

Researchers discover biomarker for devastating intestinal disease found in early preterm infants

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Researchers have discovered a biomarker that may help prevent a devastating intestinal disease that occurs in one of every 10 early preterm infants.

The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study may help prevent necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a condition primarily seen in preemies in which bowel tissue dies. The death rate approaches 30 percent. Survivors are at risk for short-bowel syndrome (caused by surgical removal of the small intestine) and neurodevelopmental disability.

The study is published in the journal Microbiome.

The research, led by Ardythe Morrow, PhD, shows that NEC is preceded by two distinct microbial imbalances in the digestive tract, suggesting that these imbalances "may provide highly predictive biomarkers of NEC," she says.

"Using a combination of early microbial factors, we obtained a predictive value for NEC exceeding 80 percent," says Dr. Morrow. "This requires validation in larger studies, but the findings are striking."

Dr. Morrow's main analysis looked at stool and urine samples collected from 32 infants prior to the onset of disease. The infants were born at less than 29 weeks gestational age.

Eleven of the 32 went on to develop NEC. In all of these cases, NEC was preceded by a dominance of certain types of bacteria in the intestinal tract ? either firmicutes in the first week of life or proteobacteria in the second week. Dominance of proteobacteria also occurred in half of those who did not develop NEC.

The team of investigators led by Dr. Morrow also identified a potential simple urine analysis that could help detect the bacterial dominance that occurs in advance of NEC. The research team will attempt to validate its findings in a national study and is studying approaches to prevent the occurrence of NEC in preterm infants.

###

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org

Thanks to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127748/Researchers_discover_biomarker_for_devastating_intestinal_disease_found_in_early_preterm_infants

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NASA's Wind mission encounters 'SLAMS' waves

Apr. 16, 2013 ? As Earth moves around the sun, it travels surrounded by a giant bubble created by its own magnetic fields, called the magnetosphere. As the magnetosphere plows through space, it sets up a standing bow wave or bow shock, much like that in front of a moving ship. Just in front of this bow wave lies a complex, turbulent system called the foreshock. Conditions in the foreshock change in response to solar particles streaming in from the sun, moving magnetic fields and a host of waves, some fast, some slow, sweeping through the region.

To tease out what happens at that boundary of the magnetosphere and to better understand how radiation and energy from the sun can cross it and move closer to Earth, NASA launches spacecraft into this region to observe the changing conditions. From 1998 to 2002, NASA's Wind spacecraft traveled through this foreshock region in front of Earth 17 times, providing new information about the physics there.

"I stumbled on some cool squiggles in the data," says Lynn Wilson, who is deputy project scientist for Wind at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "They turned out to be a special kind of magnetic pulsations called short large amplitude magnetic structures, which we call SLAMS for short."

SLAMS are waves with a single, large peak, a little like giant rogue waves that can develop in the deep ocean. By studying the region around the SLAMS and how they propagate, the Wind data showed SLAMS may provide an improved explanation for what accelerates narrow jets of charged particles back out into space, away from Earth. Tracking how any phenomenon catalyzes the movement of other particles is one of the crucial needs for modeling this region. In this case, understanding just how a wave can help initiate a fast-moving beam might also help explain what causes incredibly powerful rays that travel from other solar systems across interstellar space toward Earth. Wilson and his colleagues published a paper on these results in the Journal of Geophysical Research online on March 6, 2013.

The material pervading this area of space -- indeed all outer space -- is known as plasma. Plasma is much like a gas, but each particle is electrically charged so movement is governed as much by the laws of electromagnetics as it is by the fundamental laws of gravity and motion we more regularly experience on Earth.

"One of the unique things about space weather is how little things can have big effects," says David Sibeck, a space scientist at Goddard who is a co-author on the paper. "An event might seem small and just generate local turbulence, but it can have profound effects downstream. The front of the magnetosphere is right in the line between sun and Earth, so it's a crucial place to understand which small things can lead to big results."

Since the 1970s, researchers have known that particles seem to be reflecting off the magnetosphere, creating intense particle jets called field aligned ion beams, but it's not been clear how. Now, the Wind data helps provide a more detailed snapshot of how they form, as it travels through a slew of SLAMS and the ion beams.

The scientists' job was to map where these events happen in space and time and to try to determine which events initiate which. Wilson says that the solar wind constantly moves toward Earth's bow shock and then reflects off it.

"These structures get excited upstream and they start to grow and steepen, kind of like a water wave," says Wilson. "But instead of breaking and tumbling over, they stand up, getting bigger and faster." He says that the SLAMS attempt to move against the gale of solar wind streaming toward them, but ultimately get pushed back, creating a new messy boundary in front of the magnetosphere. "And then they effectively create their own new bow shock," says Wilson.

Without the SLAMS, one would expect incoming particles from the solar wind to skip and slide along the outside of the bow shock, the way flowing water in a river might move around a large rock. But the SLAMS create a kind of magnetic mirror, causing the solar particles to reflect, attenuating them into one of these field-aligned ion beams, shooting out along magnetic fields back out and away from Earth.

Wind data does not inherently show which of these things create the other, it simply shows the presence of both. However, the ion beams were not seen in the space between the front of the true bow shock and the SLAMS -- only streaming away from the SLAMS out toward space. The beams also only appeared after the SLAMS had a chance to fully form. This strengthened the conclusion that the SLAMS themselves lead to the beams, acting as a magnetic mirror to reflect the particles outward.

The more we know about what happens in the frothy, turbulent area in front of Earth, the more we know about how the solar wind and other material bursting off the sun may be able to penetrate into near Earth-space.

"What happens to Earth's magnetic field depends on what's happening here at the front of the bow shock," says Sibeck. "And what's happening there is dramatic. It's going to affect how much energy moves into the magnetosphere. Once inside the magnetosphere, it can create powerful solar storms and impact communications and GPS satellites that we depend on daily."

The observations also have implications beyond protecting Earth. By sending spacecraft to observe plasma here, scientists can take advantage of the only area of the universe where we can study such plasma movement directly -- and thus apply the research to information about stars across the galaxy as well. For example, astrophysicists would like to better understand what causes cosmic ray acceleration -- particles that are generally much faster than the field aligned ion beams, but accelerated in similar manners, says Wilson. One theory is that a magnetic mirror of some kind causes the particles to bounce back and forth and gain more speed and energy as the mirrors move closer together. Near the front of the magnetosphere, the SLAMS might be doing just that.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/22Syc0JxItc/130416180034.htm

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Teaching You The Fundamentals Of Video Game Cheat Codes

Games are a popular form of entertainment these days. It?s hard to find a house today that doesn?t have at least one video game console. Even if you do own a console, this doesn?t mean you don?t need a bit of guidance. You?ll find that you get a lot more out of the gaming experience if you make use of handy tips like the ones presented below.

Check out online video game review forums before purchasing video games. These forums are an excellent source of information. Forums offer reviews from real players, and don?t contain biased information. These honest opinions that can help your decisions.

TIP! You don?t need to only play games on a system build for them, you may already be able to play them if you?re accessing them from an Internet enabled device. Most games that release on consoles will offer releases on the computer as well.

Because some games can be frustrating, it?s a good idea to take a break when it stops being fun. Often, you will not be at the top of your game, as you may want to choose another time to try to beat it. The objective of any game is having fun, so remember to relax!

Copy online video tutorials precisely. Try to mimic the player?s every move, because one small deviation could be what is keeping you from succeeding. Use a zoom feature to get a closer look on a full screen, because the tiniest detail can make a crucial difference.

TIP! If you are a parent, you may want to set up a special room or basement for your children to play video games. Video game playing can get quite hectic and loud, depending on the type of game.

A lot of modern gamers have to decide which platform they want to do their gaming on. Some consoles own the rights to certain titles. Many video games, however, release on a variety of platforms. You can find some games easier to play on specific types of hardware, so buy your equipment carefully.

Playing online can be lots of fun. By playing characters that other people command, you can better come up with excellent strategies that are effective across many different titles and platforms. You can play RPGs or regular titles at various websites. By winning online, you should be able to win anywhere and anytime.

TIP! Should you get your gaming system repaired or replace it? Upgrades are typically a better choice. Repairs could be higher than purchasing a whole new system.

Thanks to these tips, you should never have to play like a novice again. This article should help guide you in the complex video-gaming world. If you?re an experienced player, these tips can better your game more.

Source: http://www.minbaitak.com/teaching-you-the-fundamentals-of-video-game-cheat-codes

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Chat Heads Coming To iOS Facebook App Via Update Pushing Out Anytime Now

Chat Heads, the Facebook Home chat feature, will be coming to the iOS Facebook app this week, and is probably getting pushed to the store now, Facebook's Home team said today on stage at the AllThingsD Dive Into Mobile Event. The Chat Heads implementation in the Facebook iOS app will have to live exclusively within the app itself, because of limitations placed on how developers can access iOS itself.

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

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Daniel Vahab: Online Petition Against Disney's Sexist Avengers T-Shirts Gets Nearly 6,000 Signatures

A recent Change.org online petition to get the Disney Store to "stop selling sexist Avengers T-shirts" has received nearly 6,000 signatures. The goal, as of this writing, is to receive an additional 1,617 signatures. The petition will send a letter signed by its many signatures to the Disney Store executives.

The superhero t-shirts in question include one for boys that reads, "Be a Hero," and one for girls that reads, "I Need a Hero," the juxtaposition of which has recently led many to criticize them as spreading a message that girls can't be heroes themselves; that hero roles are for men only and girls need to be saved by male heroes.

As the petition states,

We believe that women can be heroes too, and as one of the most recognizable children's brands in the world, it's especially important that Disney takes responsibility for the messages they deliver to our youngest and most vulnerable.

Said one signer of the petition:

My daughter LOVES superheroes, in particular she loves the Avengers. She doesn't need a superhero... What she needs is for corporations to stop telling her that because of her gender she couldn't possibly BE the superhero herself. Please think through the messages you send to our daughters.

Much to the maker of the shirts surprise, women are heroes just as much as men. Consider just a few prominent examples in U.S. history: civil rights activist Rosa Parks, whose act of refusing to give up her seat to a white person sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott; Harriet Tubman, whose Underground Railroad operation helped countless slaves escape to freedom; Susan B. Anthony, whose efforts helped secure women's right to vote; Molly Pitcher, who risked her life to bring water to soldiers in the Revolutionary War; and the unnamed and named women soldiers who pretended to be men so that they, too, could fight in battle for their country; and so many others.

And the irony here as one blogger pointed out, is that the Avengers are coed heroes. According to Marvel's website, the Wasp female, yes female, superhero character's powers include expanding or shrinking in size exponentially, as well as flying with wings and the ability to "fire blasts of energy."

Not needing a hero herself, Marvel's website notes a heroic defeat in which Wasp alone defeats the Magician character. The Magician character, by the way, was male.

And disregarding the discriminatory factor of it, one wonders whether it is even age-appropriate to have a shirt that reads, "I Need a Hero," catered toward little girls. Because the implication could also relate to a higher maturity level as many hero fairy tales relate to the girl finding her prince, her lover-savior. Does a young girl really comprehend that or should she have to comprehend that?

Were all those involved in the making and promotion of the t-shirts just that ignorant to have missed the sexist implications? Did they think there wouldn't be backlash?

Imagine this: Do you think the CEO of Disney, who walked into a Disney Store with his daughter, would buy a shirt for her that reads "Be a Hero" or "I Need a Hero" if he wanted her to be a future leader?

They say money talks. But, so does bad press and enough ticked-off customers. So, by refusing to purchase said t-shirts and getting the word out, Disney, you better recognize -- we will not tolerate sexist t-shirts.

Indeed, perhaps Disney should make a series of t-shirts on famous women heroes in history, like those mentioned above. Or, better yet, develop a whole set of new women superheroes from them. Certainly they deserve that status.

?

Follow Daniel Vahab on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DanielVahab

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-vahab/online-petition-against-disneys-sexist-avenegers-t-shirt_b_3081976.html

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Texas Governor Perry calls for tax cuts for business (reuters)

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Moss' five RBIs prime A's to win over Angels

By JOE RESNICK

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 2:32 a.m. ET April 11, 2013

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Hitting hasn't exactly been a science for Brandon Moss, whose bat has become one of the Oakland Athletics' most dangerous weapons since he returned to the American League last season.

Moss tied a career high with five RBIs, including his second homer in two games, and the A's extended their winning streak to seven games with an 11-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.

The seven-year veteran first baseman's other five-RBI game was on Sept. 29 against Seattle, when he hit a game-ending, three-run homer in the 10th inning to give Oakland a 7-4 victory. It came during a season-ending six-game winning streak that propelled the A's to their first AL West title since 2006.

"Obviously, I've hit some balls well," said Moss, who came within a double of the cycle. "But no matter what it might look like, I've just had some hits that have found holes and broken bats and roll-overs that have gone through. Sometimes baseball's like that. There are times where I've felt like I couldn't get out, and then end up going 0 for 10. Then sometimes I have no idea where to even stand in the box, and end up getting a few hits. So you've just got to go up there and battle, and that's all I'm doing right now."

Tommy Milone (2-0) threw 106 pitches over five innings, allowing four runs, seven hits and three walks while striking out five.

Joe Blanton (0-2) was charged with six runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings and did not record a strikeout in his second outing with his new club. The 32-year-old right-hander had made 118 consecutive starts with at least one strikeout since May 31, 2008, when he pitched six innings for the Athletics without one in an 8-4 loss at Texas.

"There were a couple of situations where I tried to put guys away," Blanton said. "I mean, I generally don't try to strike guys out. I try to make the defense work for me. But with (John) Jaso up in the third with a runner at third and two strikes on him, I'm trying to put him away right there. But I ended up hanging a slider instead of throwing a quality pitch."

The A's were the only major league team Blanton had never faced. He made his first 118 career starts with them between 2005 and 2008, winning a career-high 16 games in 2007.

Moss hit a two-run triple in the third, then extended Oakland's lead to 5-2 in the fifth with a two-out solo homer to right-center. It was the fourth allowed by Blanton, who gave up three in his season debut at Cincinnati after allowing a combined 29 home runs last season with the Phillies and Dodgers.

"I faced him a little bit back when he was with Boston, and I actually played with him for about a month in Philly," Blanton said. "He swings aggressive. He really attacks the ball and doesn't get cheated. So with guys like that, you've really got to move the ball in, move back and forth, keep him off balance and don't mix your speeds."

Moss, who had career highs last season with 21 homers and 52 RBIs in just 84 games, got his fourth RBI on a bases-loaded walk during a five-run sixth. He capped his big night with a broken-bat single in the seventh after Angels third baseman Alberto Callaspo dropped a two-out popup by Yoenis Cespedes, allowing Coco Crisp to advance from first to third.

The Angels cut Oakland's margin to 5-4 in the fifth with a two-run single by Howie Kendrick after Milone struck out sluggers Josh Hamilton and Mark Trumbo.

"It is important to get those shutdown innings, especially after we score. But the goal as a starter is just to keep the team in the game," Milone said. "Obviously, I don't want to go out there and give up four runs every outing. But when we're scoring a lot of runs like that, it makes it a little easier to throw the ball over the plate. And with the stuff I had tonight, I felt like I was able to keep battling."

The A's grabbed a 4-1 lead with three runs in the third after Eric Sogard led off with a single to right and continued to second on Hamilton's error. Jaso, who hit a go-ahead, three-run homer as a pinch-hitter in Oakland's series-opening 9-5 win on Tuesday night, singled home Sogard with the go-ahead run and Moss' triple delivered two more.

"I felt good coming in, but mechanically I just got a little bit off," Blanton said. "My changeup is usually my go-to pitch, and tonight I was leaving it up in the zone and lost control of it a little bit. I couldn't find it the whole game and I just tried to battle through it."

The Angels got a run back in the bottom half when Albert Pujols singled, Hamilton doubled him to third and Trumbo followed with a run-scoring groundout.

Crisp opened the game with a single, stole second and scored on Jed Lowrie's groundout. The Angels tied it in the bottom half on Hamilton's sacrifice fly, which came after a single by Callaspo and a double by Pujols. The three-time NL MVP hit another double in the fifth for his 1,000th extra-base hit and finished the night 4 for 4.

This is only the second time in 22 years that the A's have won their first five road games. They also did it in 2008.

NOTES: Oakland 2B Scott Sizemore has re-torn the ACL in his left knee and is out for the rest of the season after missing last year rehabbing from surgery on it. The injury occurred on Tuesday when he went out to short right field on bloop single by Mike Trout that fell between him and Chris Young. "Unbelievable," manager Bob Melvin said. "It's just awful. He's one of those guys you really pull for, because he's such a good guy and cares so much and wants to win. He's coming off two difficult surgeries in the last several years, and to have a third one is devastating. We're thinking about him, but I can't imagine what's going through his mind right now." ... Angels SS Erick Aybar was out of the lineup with a bruised left heel that forced him out of Tuesday's game. ... Crisp's home run streak ended at four games, two shy of the A's record set by Frank Thomas in 2006.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Insult, then injury

CSN: After their decade-long sellout streak ended, the Red Sox's?three-year run of mediocrity continued thanks to an Orioles rally.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51501734/ns/sports-baseball/

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Wikipedia can help give news junkies their fix

WITHIN minutes of Michael Jackson's death in June 2009, Wikipedia's editors were updating his page. The hive of activity, as editors changed tenses, timings and circumstances of the pop star's demise, caused server load "spikes" on Wikipedia's network. Such spikes could alert us to breaking news.

That's according to Ed Summers at the US Library of Congress in Washington DC and Tom Steiner at Google in Hamburg, Germany, who believe that the rapid creation of Wikipedia content is a good way to determine newsworthiness. They have written software called Wikipedia Live Monitor that scans edits and seeks out any particularly frenzied editing sessions. It then runs a "plausibility check" on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter to see if that issue is really in the news.

The software lets users determine the amount of activity needed to denote breaking news by setting the number of seconds between edits and the number of concurrent editors bashing their keyboards. Try the demo at bit.ly/wikimonitor.

Steiner predicts it will be good at pinpointing sudden unexpected events, although whether it would work better than Twitter is debatable. The software will be presented at the World Wide Web conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next month.

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Activision gives $2 million to 'Call of Duty' charity for veterans

Yannick LeJacq , NBC News contributor ? ? ? 7 min.

"Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard has donated $2 million to Call of Duty Endowment (CODE), a charitable organization the video game industry giant founded in 2009 "to help soldiers transition to civilian careers after their military service," according to the nonprofit's mission statement.

The $2 million from Activision comes on top of an additional $1.7 million that was raised by selling limited edition dog tags for an additional $4.99 during the holiday release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2" last year.

Activision said that the bulk of the new funds will be used by CODE to support local veterans' charities nationwide that focus specifically on providing employment to former members of the U.S. military.

"We are committed to our veterans," Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement. "They put their lives on the line for our freedom and security. They all have unique experiences, skills, and capabilities that should be highly desirable to any employer."

Being a private foundation tied directly to Activision as its parent company, CODE acts as a sort of intermediary to provide funding to different veterans services organizations across the United States. The organization's advisory board is largely made up of high level executives from its gaming counterpart who weigh in on how the funds will be apportioned in line with CODE's founding mission, which focuses solely on veteran employment rather than other social services such as treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.

Since it was founded on Veterans Day 2009, CODE has helped 1,046 veterans secure jobs, according to a grant recipient report from 2012. It has given out nearly $2.8 million spread across 14 different organizations, providing more than 10,000 veterans with employment assistance in the process.

Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email atylejacq@gmail.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a8f28ad/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cingame0Cactivision0Egives0E20Emillion0Ecall0Eduty0Echarity0Eveterans0E1C9282628/story01.htm

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