Dozens killed as Egypt unrest worsens

Egyptian soldiers fired on hundreds of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Mursi before dawn Monday as they were praying outside the facility where he was believed to be detained, dozens of witnesses said. Egypt’s military said armed assailants fired on the soldiers first.

Separately, former finance minister Samir Radwan has emerged as the favourite to become Egypt's interim prime minister, senior political sources said on Monday, as the military-backed transitional administration seeks a way out of political deadlock.Radwan said he had not yet been approached. Interim head of state Adli Mansour has been trying since last week to form a temporary government that can guide the country towards fresh elections at a time of iPhone headset.

In Monday's clash in Cairo, at least 51 civilians were killed, all or most of them shot, and more than 300 wounded, doctors and health officials said.Security officials said one police officer died as well.The shooting was the single deadliest episode of violence since the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s longtime autocratic leader.

It immediately escalated the nearly week-old confrontation between the generals who forced out Mursi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, and Mursi’s Islamist supporters in the streets.In an early sign that the mass shooting had undercut important support for the military’s ouster of Mursi, Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the country’s top Muslim cleric, threatened to go into seclusion until the violence ended.

The grand imam, who participated in talks on a post-Mursi transitional government, said in a statement broadcast on Egyptian state television: "I might be forced to enter into a retreat in my home until everyone takes responsibility for protecting the sanctity of blood and preventing the country from a civil war."The military said its soldiers had fired in response to an attack by gunmen from a "terrorist group" who had attempted to storm the facility, according to Ahram Online, the website of Egypt’s leading newspaper.

Dozens of Islamists who had gathered in vigil for Mursi denied there was any provocation for the attack. Two bystanders who had supported Mursi’s ouster also said that the demonstrators were unarmed and ran in terror as the attack began.Bullet holes in cars, lampposts and corrugated metal barriers indicated that gunfire was coming from the top of a nearby building where the sandbag barriers around makeshift gun emplacements were visible. Bullet casings on the ground and collected by Islamist demonstrators bore the stamp of the Egyptian army.

But Egyptian state television showed film of a pro-Mursi protester firing what appeared to be a homemade handgun at advancing soldiers from behind a corner about 250 yards away. The footage was in daylight, hours after the initial attack began.Another video broadcast on state television, also in daylight and so hours after the attack had begun, showed a masked man among the pro-Mursi demonstrators.

The protesters, witnesses and video footage all appeared to portray the pro-Mursi demonstrators as attempting to fight back against the soldiers by throwing rocks.Early in the morning, Egyptian state media sent out a news alert saying that an army lieutenant had been killed and 200 "armed individuals" were captured, then hours later reported that there were also dozens of civilian casualties.

There were pools of blood on the pavement. Some of the blood and bullet holes were hundreds of yards from the walls of the facility’s guard house, suggesting that the soldiers continued firing as the demonstrators fled.The officer was hiding in a car in the parking lot of a building in a side street that the Mursi supporters were using for shelter. Video footage taken from a window above showed gunfire from the advancing soldiers hitting the car.

El-Sheikh, who signed a petition and joined protests for Mursi’s ouster, said he and others carried the officer’s body out of his car. "He did not have a head any more," he said.The Nasr City hospital, a few minutes’ drive from the scene of the shooting, began receiving hundreds of victims around 4 a.m. and at least 40 were dead, according to Bassem al-Sayed, a surgeon. The doctor said all the victims he saw were men with gunshot wounds.

The emergency wards and the intensive care unit were full of patients and distraught relatives. Near the emergency room, two dozen men lined up to donate blood.The survivors, who were shot in the head, chest or arms, or who had been hit in the face by birdshot pellets, all told roughly the same story. They were attacked without warning with tear gas and gunfire near the end of morning prayers.

Some said soldiers and police officers attacked from opposite sides. Others said that because of the dark, they were not sure which security branch their attackers belonged to."We were praying," said Mahmoud Gomaa Ahmed, 33, who was wounded in the chest. "Before the prayer, nothing had happened at all," he said, responding to accusations by military officials that a group of "terrorists" had attacked the Republican Guard officers’ club.

The killings came a day after the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies vowed to broaden their protests against the president’s ouster and U.S. diplomats sought to persuade the Islamist group to accept his overthrow, its officials said. But the killings Monday seemed certain to inject perilous new factors into the country’s fragile political calculus.

Continuing a push for accommodation that began before the removal of Mursi last week, the U.S. diplomats contacted Brotherhood leaders to try to persuade them to re-enter the political process, an Islamist briefed on one of the conversations said on Sunday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Although by morning some people carried sticks or makeshift clubs, all said that the demonstrators were unarmed. El-Sheikh and another neighbor who opposed Mursi and supported his ouster said the ear cap."Our only weapons were bottles of water and prayer rugs," said Gamal Ali, 37, a teacher.

Even as both sides continued their street demonstrations on Sunday, Egypt’s new leaders continued their effort to form an interim government. Squabbles about a choice for prime minister spilled out into the open on Saturday, exposing splits among the country’s newly ascendant political forces.

The military said its soldiers had fired in response to an attack by gunmen from a "terrorist group" who had attempted to storm the facility, according to Ahram Online, the website of Egypt’s leading newspaper.Dozens of Islamists who had gathered in vigil for Mursi denied there was any provocation for the attack. Two bystanders who had supported Mursi’s ouster also said that the demonstrators were unarmed and ran in terror as the attack began.

Bullet holes in cars, lampposts and corrugated metal barriers indicated that gunfire was coming from the top of a nearby building where the sandbag barriers around makeshift gun emplacements were visible. Bullet casings on the ground and collected by Islamist demonstrators bore the stamp of the Egyptian army.

But Egyptian state television showed film of a pro-Mursi protester firing what appeared to be a homemade handgun at advancing soldiers from behind a corner about 250 yards away. The footage was in daylight, hours after the initial attack began.

Why Mombasa Is Tourist Magnet and Kampala Is Not

At a risk of sounding like one given to resurrecting tried and tired clichés, I will say this: culture is everything.And also culture shapes our perception and informs our investment decisions. A child, who is brought up in a culture and tradition of not respecting other people's property, would not have manners to return a dropped wallet to the rightful owner.

For such a person, stealing is a cultural issue. It is done with pride and ease to the gratification of his peers. Moral decadence becomes a way of life.Therefore, I am often not surprised when street urchins gorge out our side mirrors. That is the life they have known.When some of the victims of the Namungoona inferno chose to steal fuel other than deter the thieves from someone else's property, for me it clearly illustrated that stealing had become a cultural matter that brought a lot of pride to some families in Uganda.

President Museveni also once intimated to the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, that Uganda is full of iPhone headset. Last week, I was in Kenya's coastal area. While in Mombasa, I had a cultural shock which made me change my perception about some parts of Kenya. It also gave me a clue as to why Mombasa is more attractive to tourists than other areas of Kenya.

Granted, Mombasa has some of the best beaches and a well-developed hotel industry. But that is not the reason in my view why tourists flock there. It is culture. The Mombasa people abhor thieves.While in Nairobi one is worried about being attacked on the street with knife wielders, losing the wallet or having your drink spiced with drugs, especially if you patronise dingy bars, in Mombasa when your wallet drops and it has the identification papers, it will be returned to the owner with all its contents intact.

Why? The reasons are partly linked to the puritan culture of Muslims. Muslims are not raised to own wealth fraudulently. That is mali ya haramu or biashara ya haramu (forbidden wealth or forbidden business).

They believe that one must work for his wealth and in doing so he must not infringe on the rights of others. In fact, those who possess wealth are urged to lend money interest-free (bila riba) to their brethren, and when the borrowers prosper, then they are supposed to pass on the profits to the needy so as to uplift their lives as well.

Filming the Ballarat edition of the show commenced yesterday at Craig’s Hotel, where preliminary takes of the contestants entering the hotel could be seen by pedestrians.Curious passers-by stopped to take photos and catch a clear view of the remaining contestants, some taking to Twitter to spoil the surprise.

MasterChef Australia executive producer Margie Bashfield said the rich history of Ballarat was in line with the theme of the episode’s challenge.“When Masterchef moved from Sydney to Melbourne one of the things we wanted to do – which we weren’t able to do in Sydney – was get out of the city and into the regional areas of the state,” Ms Bashfield said.

“The beauty of being based in Melbourne is that there are numerous incredible regional areas all about an hour from our base at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.“I had heard Craig’s Hotel being spoken about on Melbourne radio and thought we needed to check it out. “We came up and looked at a couple of locations and Craig’s Hotel was perfect. “It had all the necessary requirements for filming and it is a magnificent building with its own great history.”

Celebrity judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan will be in town today for filming.With clear, free eyes Bloodsworth has since campaigned against capital punishment and is now head of advocacy for Witness to Innocence, a coalition of exonerated death-row inmates who campaign against capital punishment.

Bloodsworth's most recent success was his leading role in the movement to end the death penalty in Maryland, the state that once tried to kill him. Governor Martin O'Malley signed the law abolishing that state's death penalty on May 2 this year.

Bloodsworth's ordeal began in 1984 when a neighbour saw on TV an identikit sketch of the suspect in the particularly savage rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl near Baltimore. The neighbour thought it looked like Bloodsworth and called the police.

Another eyewitness later incorrectly placed him with the victim. Despite his clean criminal record he was soon convicted and sentenced to death.''I was accused of the most brutal murder in Maryland history,'' Bloodsworth, now 52, told an audience during the Maryland campaign earlier this year. ''It took the jury 2? hours to send me to the gas chamber.''While on death row he read about a conviction secured by the use of DNA, a science the public had barely heard of in the early 1990s, and with the help of his lawyers and supporters he had his case thrown out.

The Puerto Rican-born fruit picker was convicted of murdering a beauty school owner in 1983 largely on the evidence of two suspect witnesses, one of whom was a paid informant who negotiated a deal in exchange for his testimony.

Melendez was on death row for 16 years before a defence lawyer found transcripts - not presented to the jury - of another man, Vernon James, confessing to the crime.Other defence lawyers soon found another 20 witnesses who heard James, who has since died, either discussing or confessing to the custom keychain, reported The Florida Bar News in 2009.

In December 2001, an appeals court judge granted a new trial and criticised the prosecutor for withholding evidence from the defence and jury about James' incriminating statements.Were the Timely Justice Act in place earlier, ''I would be dead today,'' Melendez says.About three years ago, Melendez was attending an anti-capital punishment conference in Pennsylvania when he locked eyes with the man who was to have executed him, Ron McAndrew, the former warden of Florida State Prison.

That’s Why They Call it Hardware

Tony Fadell, father of the iPod, was right. “There is a reason they call it hardware—it is hard,” he said at the LeWeb conference in Paris last year. But that hasn’t stopped many tech entrepreneurs from eschewing software for physical products.

What is behind the renaissance in hardware? According to entrepreneurs, a number of things have coincided to lower the barriers for hardware startups and speed up development: the growth of the silicone bracelet, the rise of 3-D printing and, to a lesser extent, the impact of new funding models.

In much the same way that mobile devices have disrupted the desktop, they have liberated hardware products from having their own interfaces, allowing companies to create devices that can communicate with a smartphone. Shamus Husheer is chief executive officer of Cambridge Temperature Concepts Limited, which offers a service to help women detect the moment of ovulation. The company was founded in 2006, before the smartphone revolution. “We had to build a hand-held wireless device. But for unregulated sectors it is just obvious that you use a smartphone. The speed of development is blinding and the quality of interface is so far beyond anything you could hope to produce yourself.”

The smartphone also hints at one of the big changes in what someone somewhere has almost certainly christened “hardware 2.0″: while they are physical products, their real value lies in the software that drives them and the data they produce, rather than the device itself. The “quantified self” movement—the idea that people record every aspect of their lives from how long they sleep to how many steps they take—has driven a whole new category of health-data related devices.

The other big technology enabler is the availability of 3-D printers. These devices work a bit like a bubble-jet printer, but instead of squirting drops of ink on paper from a printer head, they exude plastic, building up a 3-D object a layer at a time and allowing highly accurate prototypes to be made in well under an hour. “I don’t know how many iterations we made of our card reader but 3-D printing was essential for us,” said Jacob De Geer, CEO of Stockholm-based iZettle AB, which allows retailers to take card payments either through a device plugged into a smartphone, or a stand-alone CHIP and PIN reader. “In just a couple of minutes we can have a new version just to look at a new surface texture, or changing the roundness of a corner.”

The role of crowdfunding site Kickstarter, which lets the public buy products before they have been built, has had some impact on the growing popularity of hardware. Sweden’s Memoto AB—which is making a miniature camera worn on the lapel that takes a picture every 30 seconds—received $550,189 on Kickstarter last year, after asking for $50,000. However, the company’s CEO Martin K?llstr?m said its importance should not be overestimated.”It is a very good channel for getting information from the market about how it will receive your product but it doesn’t solve all the problems. You need to have a finished prototype before you can launch your campaign. That means you need to already have the funding to build a prototype before you can use Kickstarter.”

But what do the investors make of this hardware renaissance? Unfortunately, not a lot. [Mike Volpi], a partner at London venture capital firm Index Ventures, which has a number of hardware investments, said most hardware startups just don’t have a compelling business case. The conditions for success, he said, are rare. “While it is trendy to do hardware at the moment, we are not super positive on the category.”

Mr. Volpi was skeptical about Kickstarter’s significance. “The problem is none of the success stories are at a scale I would feel good about. A couple of million in orders is really nothing in the custom keychain. You really need to think in the tens of millions.”

He said there were three things Index looked for in a hardware product. “The first is it must be more than just a connected device. There have been a lot of things that just connect to your phone. That is not very exciting. It is easy to copy and commoditize. We look for things that may be embodied in hardware, but have a very significant software component.

“The second thing we look for is that it is not a single unit, but a system of some kind. The business model that follows from that is that the more of them you buy, the better off the system is. We are looking for a platform, not a one-off buy.”

“The last thing we look for is some kind of cloud-based service that sits behind it. The way we think of it is that the hardware is our monetization method—where you get the charge, but a lot of the virtues of the product actually come from the software.”

So why focus on hardware at all? For many the hardness of hardware is a reward in itself. Mr. K?llstr?m said “the main attraction comes from the uniqueness you get from creating a physical device. In software now there is very little innovation.” This point is echoed by Jon Bradford, CEO of Springboard, the U.K.’s first program dedicated to helping hardware startups grow their business. “The smartest people in the room are trying to create something different—and hardware represents the manifestation of that.”

Smart ID plan for Suvarnabhumi

Thai citizens represent no more than 5% of all international travellers passing through the airport. They would still need passports once they left the country and critics will say it could cause confusion. Some travellers may assume they will not need a passport at all.

The proposal is on the luggage tag, but far from finalised. The airport has installed automatic passport checkpoints for Thai citizens, a system that is now working efficiently. There was a long learning curve and a reluctance to use the unmanned gates, but the immigration bureau hired personnel to assist passengers.

The TrustPoint 3-factor biometric reader is a flexible solution, offering a variety of security options including biometric, PIN and optional PKI challenge-response authentication for increasing or decreasing the assurance level of site security, depending on the user’s requirements. It is the only solution of its kind that is Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) compatible, using a design that is made to authenticate Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentials and mitigate electronic cloning.

“The coupling of AccessNsite with the innovative technology behind Bridgepoint’s TrustPoint 3-factor biometric reader will provide a high assurance, biometrically authenticated security system,” said Rick Foster, director of marketing and sales for Quintron’s Security Systems Division.

AccessNsite is a Java-based application that is built on a modular, object-oriented design, providing unlimited system scalability, flexibility and reliability. The software supports real-time credential evaluation at initial enrollment and full-time authentication via TrustPoint 3-factor biometric readers and compatible control panels that are installed at one location or many sites worldwide. This leverages Quintron’s enroll local-access global advanced data sharing capabilities between globally distributed systems and sites.

According to Tom Corder, president and CEO of Bridgepoint Systems, the collaboration with Quintron will facilitate efficient enrollment by taking advantage of AccessNsite’s open architecture to offer an intuitive, user-friendly application. “In designing our product with the latest PKI standards in mind,” said Corder, “we created an authentication mechanism that is not only impenetrable, but easy to administer and manage. We are pleased to unveil this latest innovation in smart card reader technology, offering the highest level of security and access control.”

Foster also pointed out that “the 3-factor Bridgepoint reader makes it possible for security personnel across town, across the country or across the globe to deny access -- one badge, one face, one fingerprint at a time.” By coupling the AccessNsite system with Bridgepoint’s cryptographic PKI challenge-response technology, he added, the TrustPoint 3-factor biometric reader offers efficient data entry as well as image and signature capture from any location in real-time.

When a user enters his or her PIN, the solution performs a “one-to-one” match between the biometric template stored on a PIV credential and the “live-scan” of a user’s finger. When the sensor is ready for a scan, it lights up with a bright red glow and the LCD display then guides the user through the authentication process. The reader can also be configured to work automatically or manually with the PKI challenge-response in the ON or OFF mode. This feature allows the customer to use the reader with PACS in security levels I and II, and later implement higher security including levels III and IV.

Bridgepoint, a pioneer in the physical access field, was the first U.S. company to develop smart card readers for use by the Department of Defense in a physical access system. It was also the first to integrate the Department of Defense’s CAC with biometrics in a real world deployment and the first to install an interoperable personal identification reader in a government, multi-tenant facility. Some of the nation’s largest government contractors and systems integrators use the company’s technology.

I think it’s getting there. I would not say it’s ready yet. And that’s really for two reasons: Atlanta and the South in general is a particularly car-centric culture. Now, one of the interesting things about bike sharing is that it’s been proven in other places that just putting the program out there is an effective tool of education and cultural change. If you sort of throw it at people, they’ll say, “Oh, there are just bicycles everywhere, I have to respect them as a driver.”

The bigger issue is making sure the proper infrastructure is there, and there is some work to be done, but there’s also been a lot of positive development. Josh Mello over at the City of Atlanta has been awesome since he joined that organization. The city just approved $2.5 million for bike infrastructure funding, new lanes. The BeltLine is a custom keychain. So it’s happening.

I’ll be the first to tell you there are pros and cons to each solution, and what we’re doing is not perfect yet. It was a little surprising to see the focus on convenience. I think some of that came from the fact that they looked at smart-bike systems almost a year before the final results came out, and the technology was at a much earlier stage.

[With ViaCycle] you can still put a kiosk in high-traffic areas. We’ve gone out and designed that. At the risk of oversimplifying, it’s basically an iPad on a stand with a credit card reader. You can put it anywhere, that way if you have a station Downtown or in a place with a lot of tourists, they have access to all that same functionality.

But I agree with you. Mobile is where the world is going, and while the need for a physical presence in advertising is still very strong, there’s no reason you need things controlled by heavy, standalone, stationary equipment.

Absolutely. When we started the project I’d say half the people we talked to would shake their head at us and go, “Bike sharing, what’s that?” Now almost three years later, people know what it is and they know the value it can have, and for us it would mean so much. We want to make Alanta a better place. It’s what gave us our start, and it would be really awesome to see that come full circle in moving toward a more connected city.

Something that’s been really interesting to watch has been the rise of collaborative consumption startups. Broadly you can apply that label to Airbnb (a website for travelers seeking non-hotel accommodations), which is probably the largest and best known. Companies like Uber doing shared ride services. The founders are based out of Atlanta of a California company called InstantCab doing the same thing—sort of disrupting the taxi industry. There’s a company called Scoot doing electric scooter sharing.

Live Local Live Small

The Marketplace Fairness Act cleared a major hurdle last week when it passed the Senate 69-27. Introduced by Senator Mike Enzi, in NC both of our senators, Richard Burr and Kay Hagen, voted in favor of the iPhone headset. I don’t know which I was more surprised by: the measure passing the Senate or that both senators approved a bill that would positively impact their constituency, thereby demonstrating bi-partisan support for a measure that the White House is behind.

The Marketplace Fairness Act is the latest attempt to get online retailers to pay sales tax. The discussion has been around since 1992—at that time the Internet was just staring to come into common use. Of course, it was not the widespread and successful seat of commerce that it is today. An attempt to pass a similar bill was made in 2011.

It may come as a surprise to many consumers to discover they actually are responsible to pay the sales tax on purchases they make over the Internet or from mail-order companies, that is if the company doesn’t collect and remit it themselves.

Who actually does that? There must be someone out there, because there are people who make voluntary contributions to pay down the national debt! But let us agree that the voluntary sales tax payers are few and far between.

The sales-tax argument has been framed as targeting online retailers and causing havoc in the commerce system. Honestly, that is misleading. What it’s really about is the long-term defunding of local and state infrastructure. Forty-five states currently have sales tax; however, Delaware, New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana and Alaska do not.

In North Carolina those monies are remitted to the area they are collected: county, city, and part is retained by the state. This is why our library and other county agencies were lobbying so hard a few years ago for the quarter of a cent sales-tax increase. Yet ,the librarians’ and public school teachers’ love of Amazon continues to baffle me. With their jobs dependent upon local tax dollars, it’s perplexing to see them show love for a company that actively attempts to undermine the very thing necessary to pay them. OK, it’s beyond confusing.

It’s also another blind spot for the middle-class about the realities of poverty. Online shopping is an exclusive experience. In order to partake in this opportunity to avoid sales tax, one must have a credit or debit card of some sort. They also must have access to the Internet. It would probably shock many members of the middle-class to know how difficult both can be to attain. For a brief insight into the marketing demographics of the lower-income strata of America, I recommend spending an afternoon watching non-cable, non-satellite broadcast television. The commercials shock. The sheer number aimed at pre-loaded plastic payment methods that can be charged at corner-type stores is surprising. It also an interesting indication of what the struggles to get a credit card can look like to many people.

Opponents of the measure claim it would be prohibitive to collect and remit sales tax to the various states, each acquiring a different amount. The measure is not aimed at small eBay sellers that operate out of their rec rooms. Companies and sellers not making $1 million dollars a year in out-of-state online sales are exempt from the legislation. There are already large online retailers collecting and remitting sales tax; Target comes to custom keychain.

This legislation actually offers a business opportunity to market this software to the newly compliant companies. In addition the bill calls for states to make free software available to companies in order to comply with the proposed sales-tax provisions.

There is a fascinating project (OK, fascinating to geeky people like me), called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. It was put together by the National Governors Association. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance reported in January that D.C. and 44 states had signed on to the project, including North Carolina. We do currently have a rubric that requires online retailers with a physical presence in North Carolina to collect sales tax.

Supporters of the measure claim it would be a big step toward a level playing field for brick-and-mortar retailers, which are at a disadvantage because they collect sales tax; therefore, consumers already pay more money up front. This seems strange to me since shipping is usually more than the sales tax. Going beyond a level playing field, what it would do is make business.

According to the complaint filed on Tuesday, Kira Trevino complained about her marriage to friends and family in the weeks prior to her death and explained that she was contemplating divorce. In fact, on Jan. 31, she, her husband and the roommate, who occupied the basement of the home, gave notice that they intended to move by April 1.

Investigators say Kira Trevino was looking at an apartment for herself, was staying with friends houses and did not include her husband in social and family events. Her friends told police she was trying to get away from her husband, but said Jeffery Trevino "didn't get it" and kept trying to find ways to stay together.

Jeffery Trevino met his wife at the Mall of America on Thursday Feb. 21 after she got off work, and the two had dinner and went bowling at the mall. Surveillance video shows the two left the mall together, with Jeffery Trevino wearing an Arkansas Razorbacks sweatshirt. That was the last time Kira Trevino was seen alive.

Friends of Jeffery Trevino told investigators he often complained about his relationship with his wife and had no plans to move aver April 1 because he hoped the two would reconcile; however, one friend told investigators Jeffery Trevino grew increasingly suspicious and began checking up on her before she was killed, describing him as stressed and consumed with what she was doing.

That friend told police Jeffery Trevino would drive by the gym his wife used to see if her car was there and poured over Kira Trevino's credit card statements. In doing so, he learned she had gone to a bar instead of where she told her husband she would be, according to the friend.

According to police, Jeffery Trevino said his wife left the morning of Feb. 22 between 8:30 and 9 a.m. to go to the gym in New Brighton, go tanning in Roseville and make a deposit at the bank before interviewing potential employees at work. When asked where he was during that time, Jeffery Trevino explained he was home all day until he left to pick up his daughter in the afternoon.

The amended charges also show that Jeffery Trevino called his wife's mother, Marcie Steger, on the same day, beginning the conversation by asking her, "Are you sitting down?"

Steger also called police, and uniformed officers who responded to her call arrived at the home while police investigators were there speaking with Jeffery Trevino. Those officers observed he was upset more police had arrived.

As officers were leaving, Trevino asked what he was supposed to do with his wife's belongings. Investigators found the question odd since Kira Trevino had been missing just over 48 hours and the couple was not expected to vacate until April 1. Prosecutors believe the question suggests Jeffery Trevino did not expect his wife to return.

Gift ideas for Mother's Day

Come spring, shoppers often ask, "What gift should I get Mom for Mother's Day?" How do people transform the sentiments they have for their mother into gifts that represent love and devotion? Buying a Mother's Day gift is no easy task, especially for those who wait until the last minute to do their shopping.

Beginning early can ease the pressure of Mother's Day shopping. Research gift options at least a month prior so that you can read reviews on luggage tag and services to guarantee quality. You also want to make sure the gift will arrive on time if you will be ordering your gift online. Here are other ways to shop in a smart manner.

Do some sleuthing. Play detective and take inventory of what Mom likes to do the most. If you ask your mother what she wants, she will likely brush off the question and tell you nothing. It is up to you to do the investigative work. Pay attention to conversations and see if there is anything she mentions wanting to try or something around the house that may need updating. Practical gifts are less likely to end up unopened in the basement or attic.

Check expiration dates. Gift certificates and cards for particular stores or services are popular come Mother's Day. But it is essential to check expiration dates on the certificates or find gifts, as there is a good chance Mom will put off pampering herself and you would not want the gift to expire before she has a chance to use it. In compliance with the law, chain restaurant gift cards don't expire for at least five years from purchase. Those might be your safest bet.

Verify a business. Although Mom may love a cute boutique that just opened, verify the business before buying a gift card from it. An unpredictable economy has made it even harder for new businesses to succeed, and you don't Mom to be stuck with a worthless gift card should the new business not thrive. If she really likes a particular new business, take her on a shopping spree at the store instead.

Skip the chocolate overload. Flowers and chocolates are traditional Mother's Day gifts. However, calorie-conscious women may not want to be faced with the temptation of a warehouse-sized box of chocolate treats. If Mom truly loves chocolate, treat her to a gourmet piece or two, but don't make that your main gift.

Avoid "final sale" items. It can be tempting to peruse the deep-discount rack at Mom's favorite store when retailers cut prices on items in anticipation of a new season. However, these sales may come with restrictions on returns or exchanges. Unless you know Mom will like what you pick out, avoid the "final sale" racks in favor of items that can be returned or exchanged.

Ask for a price match. In an effort to keep a loyal customer base, many stores will price match against competitors' ads. Therefore, if you feel more comfortable at a certain store, print out the advertised price and bring it to your favorite store. There's a good chance they will give you the item for the same price. This works particularly well for tech gifts that typically go on sale in the days leading up to a holiday or special event.

Joseph Park was the last gasp for the TNA locker room. After the Aces & Eights chased James Storm and the Bad Influence pair of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian from the ring - where they had again failed to sway AJ Styles to their side - Park tried to make a stand against the club and ended up being stretchered out for his valor.

Bully Ray made it clear that he still wanted to talk to Hulk Hogan. The Immortal one looked concerned about a face-to-face, but an offered bargain from Matt Morgan and the pleading of his daughter Brooke weren't enough to sway him.

In the Knockouts division, champion Velvet Sky retained her title in a match against Mickie James, but may have injured her knee in the process. Newcomer Taryn Terrell continued to rise up the rankings with a victory over former champ Tara.

Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez were able to successfully defend their tag team championship due to Daniels and Kazarian's second failed intervention of the evening. A pitch to Bobby Roode to reunite Fourtune went unanswered but overheard by Roode's Dirty Heels partner Austin Aries, and an attempt to assist the It Factor in the Heels match to unseat the Tex-Mexicans backfired.

Finally, Hogan's solo stand against Bully Ray looked to be his last one. He was able to fight off the TNA champ, but the champion's brothers outnumbered him. The lights went out and came back, the familiar calling card of The Icon, Sting. There were tense moments between the two legends. They cleared the ring of Aces & Eights, but left no clue if their alliance was to be an ongoing concern or a one-shot deal.

 Take it from a Western PA native, everybody loves a hometown boy, but we're talking about an Olympic freakin' hero. The Indiana crowd will roar when Kurt's music hits, and holding him off until the second show was one of the few smart decisions TNA made last week. The Pittsburgher will keep the crowd amped up into the later hours of the taping. And while it's probably not something that his doctors approve of, he's still good for an above average match every time he goes out there. He may keeps working with the inexperienced members of the heel faction, but I'm kind of hoping for Anderson. The two have great custom keychain, and the asshole seems re-charged since getting his kutte.

Chris Sabin. I've never been a huge fan of the guy without his Motor City Machine Guns partner, but it's pretty damn impressive that he's back. The X-Division has been coasting on the triple threat gimmick without any real stories behind the matches. It'll be nice to see the fresh match-ups that the returning Sabin makes possible, and a good old-fashioned "I'm coming for my belt" story between he and Kenny King would seem refreshing amidst all the alliances and factions surrounding the other two men's title scenes.

The Forgotten Genius of Moms Mabley

When people are asked to list the legends of comedy, the same names tend to come up: Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Redd Foxx, Bill Cosby, and so on. Every so often a female comic gets mentioned—Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller. One person who doesn’t get talked about nearly enough by comedy lovers and contemporary comedians alike is Moms Mabley. In her directorial debut, I Got Somethin’ to Tell You, part of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Whoopi Goldberg tries to correct this, profiling the beloved comedienne who made a name for herself in an old house dress, floppy hat, and iPhone headset.

First, a short primer on Moms. Born Loretta Mary Aiken, she was a pioneer in her field—a black woman who pushed the boundaries of taste, politics, and race as far back as the 1920s, while performing on the Chitlin’ Circuit. Very little is known about Moms Mabley’s life off the stage—even her birth year is disputed—but it’s widely known that she was a lesbian who also went by the name “Mister Moms.” (In the film, a holiday card is shown with an image of Moms dressed in men’s attire.) She earned respect from her (mostly male) peers and from audiences with her ribald humor about her (apparently fictional) love for younger men, her admittedly frumpy appearance, and smart—but somehow never bitter—takes on racism. Her career extended well into the ’70s, leaving behind a legacy of over 20 albums, and memorable appearances on many of the popular variety and talk shows of the day, including Ed Sullivan and The Smothers Brothers.

Yet since her death, Moms—a woman who, at the peak of her national fame, performed at the White House—has been all but forgotten. At a talkback following a screening of I Got Somethin’ to Tell You, Goldberg expressed her initial disbelief at learning that for decades Moms was the only woman doing what Diller, Rivers, and others would become famous for years later. “How come I didn’t know this?” she wondered at the time, adding last night, “Why is there no Moms Mabley Award for comedy?”

It’s a good question, especially considering all of the comedians, male and female, Moms influenced. (The likely and perhaps unsurprising answer is that comedy is still largely dominated and curated by men and by a very small group of women, most of whom are white.) Kathy Griffin, whom Goldberg interviewed, talks about watching Moms perform on The Ed Sullivan Show when she was a kid, and how her costume reminded her of her own mother. Eddie Murphy notes that the Grandma character in The Nutty Professor (played by Murphy himself) is a direct tribute to Moms. Arsenio Hall recalls sneaking a listen to the comedienne’s risqué albums during his childhood when his parents weren’t home.

Goldberg herself has a very personal connection to Moms: Early on in her career, Goldberg portrayed the comedienne in a one-woman show. Part of the reason she admires the legend, Goldberg explained last night, was because Moms wasn’t afraid to look or talk in a way that women weren’t normally expected to. “It took a long time for people to get used to the way I look,” Goldberg said of her own persona. “But now, lots of people look like me.”

Before seeing this film, I had heard of Moms, but had never actually heard Moms—and there is plenty to be heard in I Got Somethin’ to Tell You. Because there isn’t much to say about her personal life, the film focuses on her material, showcasing footage and fun cartoons for routines that Goldberg could only find the audio of. The material speaks for itself: Moms’ sense of humor and perspective feels as fresh and funny as it must have then. (The audience I saw the film with laughed heartily throughout.) HBO has acquired the documentary, and it will air on the network later this year.

Towards the end of the discussion, Goldberg said she hopes her next project will be a 10-part documentary chronicling black entertainment from the mid-1800s to the present. I Got Somethin’ to Tell You is just the “tip of the iceberg,” she said. It’s an ambitious project, to be sure, but if she’s able to pull it off, she’ll be doing a great service for the history and memory of black contributions to American culture, so many of which have been lost or forgotten.

The PDS-ST420-VP is easily small and light enough to fit in a laptop bag or briefcase, at 1.6 by 10.6 by 2.6 inches (HWD) and just over 1 pound 1 ounce complete with batteries. As is typical for the breed, there's almost nothing to set up. Just insert the four supplied AA batteries and plug in a microSD or microSDHC card. Note that VuPoint Solutions doesn't include a memory card, however, so if you don't have extras around, be sure to order one with the scanner. The microSD card slot supports cards with up to 32GB memory.

You don't have to install the software, but you can if you want to. VuPoint Solutions supplies three programs and a fully automated installation routine that will let you install any or all of them.

The choices are Abbyy FineReader 9.0 Sprint for optical character recognition (OCR), as the only applications program, plus an Evernote connector for sharing files on Evernote, and a Direct Scan utility. The utility lets you scan documents directly to computer files over a USB connection as an alternative to saving them to a memory card and then copying them to your computer later. In my tests, it worked as promised, with no difference in speed compared with scanning to a memory card.

Scanning with the PDS-ST420-VP is also easy, and typical for the category. Straightforward commands on the scanner's front-panel menus let you choose between color and black and white modes; JPG or image PDF format; and 300 pixels per inch (ppi), which is the scanner's optical resolution according to VuPoint Solutions, and 600 or 900 ppi interpolated resolution.

The default when you turn the scanner on is color, JPG, and 300 ppi. To scan, you turn the power on, make any changes you want in the settings, and insert a page into the scanner's front slot. Wait a second or two, and the scanner will sense the page, grab it, and ear cap.

Timing for manual-feed scanners isn't very meaningful, since you can spend more time manually feeding the pages than waiting for the actual scan. But it's worth noting that the PDS-ST420-VP is relatively fast. Using color mode and JPG format, I timed it at 8 to 10 seconds for the actual scan of a document page, with the same speed regardless of resolution.

Massively's Darkfall launch week diary

See, I'm one of those sandbox carebears who could not care less about PvP. I'll attempt to defend myself if attacked, and I'll add another body to the zerg if I'm in a clan or whatever, but I don't seek out conflict with other players. I mention this because that attitude obviously informs everything I write about Darkfall, which, at its core, is a great custom keychain fantasy murder simulator.

Yes, the game has crafting, harvesting, player housing, and better PvE than it's given credit for, but on some level all of this stuff exists to power the FFA PvP meatgrinder that in turn attempts to satiate the bloodlust of Aventurine's target demographic.

I'm going to attempt to use the rest of this week's Darkfall Unholy Wars launch diary series to explain why a player like yours truly loves a game like this. I don't know if I'll manage it because on paper it doesn't make a lot of sense.

Anyway, let me backtrack on something I said yesterday. Aventurine hasn't completely blown up Darkfall after all. My first hour or two with the title was full of WTF-is-this moments, mostly due to the UI and the skill/prowess system. And the racial avatar regression remains a bit off-putting. Once I got acclimated and got out into the world, however, I realized that in a lot of the respects that matter, this is the same old Darkfall.

Let's talk first about the presentation. Darkfall Unholy Wars won't be winning any visual awards, and yet I find myself deeply satisfied to be back in Agon and filling up my screenshot folder with reckless abandon. Objectively, the new game is a marginal improvement over the old game in terms of aesthetics. The water effects seem spiffier, for example, and there's a bit more detail on the avatars.

Subjectively the world feels very much the same, which is fantastic. Agon still reminds me of a graphically updated Morrowind mod: It's got that 2002 vibe about it, and the animations are flat-out terrible. That said, there is a lot of hand-crafted detail, and for lack of a better word, atmosphere. Atmosphere and its cousin immersion are hard things to define, but I know them when I see them, and I see them in DFUW just as I saw them in classic Darkfall.

Agon is vast and largely seamless, and the game's limited quick travel and realistic movement speeds accentuate the sense of an actual world as opposed to a series of quest hubs. The terrain and topography varies greatly as you travel around the continent, and the day/night cycle is something all MMOs should have by default. Night in Darkfall is actually dark, and given that it's a challenge to spot players and some mobs in the daytime if they don't wish to be seen, Agon after dark is a thrillseeker's dream.

The only real negative in terms of presentation comes courtesy of the new GUI. While Darkfall's interface is much improved over its predecessor's, my enthusiasm is dampened by a chat box implementation that is, at best, inept. It functions, but it also lacks most of the niceties that made their way into MMO chat systems around the turn of the century.

In terms of my itinerary for day two, I logged around four hours, during which I completed a bunch of newbie feats. These feats are basically quest/achievement hybrids, and the first few you encounter do a passable if somewhat uneven job of introducing you to the game's major systems. I also did a bunch of harvesting, crafted some items, and farmed many a mob spawn for gold and items. These were all well off the beaten path, of course, as my objective was to both avoid random PvP and scratch my exploration itch.

In terms of mechanics, DFUW's PvP -- and really combat in general -- feels very similar to the original game mechanics even with the presence of the new skill and ability wheels I mentioned yesterday. Once you've wrapped your brain and your muscle memory around the ALT-RMB or ALT-LMB actuators, your survivability will increase enormously. It never feels easy, though, and that's by design. Darkfall's combat has always been a challenging mixture of RPG stats and action dexterity that rewards mechanical knowledge, situational awareness, and smart tactics moreso than most other MMORPGs.

If you're a curious carebear like me, or you're a hunter-killer salivating at the prospect of my kind running around your playground, it's worth taking note of the game's new safe zone mechanics. They seem to be tied to major cities, and your presence in them is denoted by a green shield below and to the right of your minimap. Exiting the safe area gives you a warning that you'll be attackable in short order, and the icon changes to a white sword on a red background two seconds after you cross the invisible line. Re-entering the protected area isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card either, as you'll have a 20-second cooldown period after re-entering during which you're still fair game.

Anyhow, apart from my harvesting and wholesale goblin slaughter, I spent most of day two wandering the wild. Agon is an explorer's paradise, and to be honest I'm already toying with the idea of staying on after this week's launch coverage is done because I never get tired of living a fantasy nomad's life. There's something relaxing and almost therapeutic about stockpiling resources and occasionally venturing back into town to craft, salvage, or deposit my stuff and sell some of the bounty.

And Darkfall's FFA stylings occasionally make pedestrian MMO tasks like going to the bank or calling to a bind point into a white-knuckle process. While my gameplay tendencies likely bore the bejesus out of most of the people reading this article, the fact that Darkfall supports them along with the more common FFA PvP lifestyle is a feather in Aventurine's ear cap.

Phillip’s original plan was to vote off either Reynold — a strong threat in every physical challenge — or Malcolm. Reynold foiled that plan by winning a demanding immunity challenge.

This one called for speed and endurance, with players diving off platforms, racing along an underwater rope and climbing back up on platforms to transfer hoops from one post to another. Phillip, to Probst’s astonishment, pulled himself out of the challenge. He had been spooked by a water incident as a child, he claimed, although the way he had dogged it at some earlier challenges one had to wonder if he just felt untouchable.

With their necks on the line, Reynold and Malcolm gave it their all and finished one-two in the competition.

Malcolm, however, still had one big card left to play in this game — his immunity idol. With some panic setting in before tribal council, a scramble was on to see if there was another one hidden around somewhere in some rock. There was, and who lucks into it but Malcolm — right in front of Andrea and Dawn.

SRU now knows Malcolm has an idol, but Phillip councils the others to stick to the new plan — four votes Malcolm, three to Eddie — to chip away at the dudes.

The castaways head to tribal council. Reynold is safe, he has immunity. Malcolm is safe, he has immunity. Then Malcolm reveals he has a second idol and gives it to Eddie. Checkmate!

Heads explode. Audibles are called. The remaining Favourites scramble to huddle up.

Then Malcolm flat out announces: the Three Amigos are taking out Phillip. “It’s just not fun anymore,” Malcolm says of Phillip’s annoying Stealth banter. “Phillip is the fun sponge — he sucks it all out of the group.”

Consumers Energy to begin installing 'smart' meters

The installation of digital “smart” meters affecting approximately 43,800 homes and small businesses in Allegan and Ottawa counties is scheduled to begin later this month, a Consumers Energy spokesperson told The Sentinel on custom keychain.

The “smart” devices  are supposed to be more efficient, help consumers optimize their electrical usage, expedite service teams to specific areas after power outages resulting from storms and eliminate the need for manual meter reading.

“This is smart-phone technology,” said Dennis McKee, Consumers Energy communications director for Smart Energy. “We live in the information age, and this is attractive to most of our customers. A lot of folks like new technology, but what they’re concerned about it is privacy. Our meters do not store any personal data.”

Opponents of smart meters suggest privacy, security and health issues aren’t being fully explored and utilities are passing on the hidden costs of these devices  to the public.

“I tell them, ‘You’re not losing control of your energy use,’ ” McKee said of skeptics of the new technology. “We’re not part of some conspiracy to control people’s use of energy through government agencies. That’s ridiculous. It’s just not the case. As these become more commonplace, I’m sure those fears are going to be allayed.”

“It isn’t going to reduce costs for the individual. These ‘smart’ meters are costing millions and millions of dollars and Consumers is passing along these costs to users in the form of rate increases,” said Chiodo, 68, a Park Township Trustee and president of Ottawa County Patriots that advocates on behalf of Tea Party issues.

He said just 1.27 percent of customers surveyed have objected to the installation of smart meters, which began in Muskegon County last summer. Almost 60,000 homes have been equipped with “smart" meters and Consumers Energy plans to install 1.8 million devices around the state through the end of 2019.

It’ll be installing meters in Ottawa County south of the Grand River and the northern portion of Allegan County before the end of April or early May. Some meters already have been installed in parts of Ottawa County north of the Grand River.

The installation process will interrupt service for about 3 minutes, but Consumers Energy notifies residents and small-business owners 30 days in advance of the procedure and sends a reminder notice 14 days prior to showing up, he said.

He has met with 138 different groups, including 90 last year alone, to help dispel myths about public health concerns and privacy issues resulting from the new devices.

He also pointed out Consumers Energy took no stimulus money from governmental agencies to implement its program. It is installing encoded and encrypted meters that are more “passive” than other utilities since they transmit usage data once each day to cellular towers and keep no credit card or personal information.

“We are convinced these are perfectly safe devices,” McKee said. “This is the device that is going to help us save money. We believe these ‘smart’ meters are going to help keep our rates from rising as fast as they would without installing them.”

DTE Energy has been criticized for accepting subsidies to install its “smart” meters in the Detroit area, Chiodo said. Twenty-four municipalities or groups in Michigan have passed resolutions or moratoriums on ‘smart’ meters until they’re investigated ear cap, he added.

With a population of 24 million, the Republic of Ghana is experiencing rapid expansion of cross-border travel. Recognizing the need to improve the security and efficiency of its existing procedures, the country’s immigration service has turned to Gemalto to deliver the benefits of a country-wide electronic border management system based on biometric authentication.

Gemalto acts as prime contractor and will take responsibility for integrating the advanced visa and border management solution, including change management, transitional training and maintenance services. The company will deploy border management systems at Ghana’s main ports of arrival and will implement a fully computerized system for visa and permit applications processing and issuing, with the collaboration of Avalon Biometrics. The project also covers the set up of an online portal service for visa application, and the implementation of electronic gates at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport, for rapid, convenient and automated border control of arrivals and departures.

This mission-critical solution will streamline processes, reinforce national security and provide the GIS with enhanced border information and intelligence. Aided by biometric data, the authorities will be able to account accurately for everyone entering and leaving the country. The system will also improve the traveling experience, delivering faster and significantly more convenient border control procedures for visitors.

“To maintain Ghana’s economic development, we need an immigration system that can meet the challenges of rapid growth in international travel,” said Commissioner of Police Dr. Peter A. Wiredu, Director of Ghana Immigration Service. “Gemalto contributed to over 80 successful government programs worldwide and has all the required project management skills, reputation and expertise to deliver the country’s new IT infrastructure”.

“This advanced electronic identity management system is fundamental to the whole eGhana project,” said Ari Bouzbib, Senior Vice President for Government Programs at Gemalto. “It will put the country’s border control processes on par with the latest, cutting-edge practices worldwide. In addition to helping to transform Ghana, it can serve as a template for modernization across many other countries in Africa.”

Citygate certification simple for developers

Fully understanding the principles of the Green Star tool and applying them carefully at the pre-planning stage of the development has meant that the team have achieved a highly productive outcome in a record time, says NZGBC Chief Executive Alex Cutler.

“The building is a best practice result that will deliver an efficient, healthy and productive work environment – something that tenants are increasingly focussed on,” says Ms Cutler.

“Third party confirmation with the Green Star rating allows tenants to place trust in the building, aligning their procurement decisions with organisational values.”

McConnell Property’s Aidan Donnelly says everything about the 5300sq metre Grade A building has been constructed with a mind to providing an efficient, light-infused workspace for up to 400 workers – “a beautiful, functional building that explicitly addresses the corner location and one that is future-proofed so we can respond to our customers’ changing needs,” he says.

The six level building will have four levels of office space and ground floor retail, opening out into 738m squared of landscaped open space, with art displays and cafe seating on the paved courtyard planned for the new public area.

The building, due for completion in early July 2013, features extensive use of low E double glazed glass with high U-value and shading co-efficients, thermo mass insulated panels and a fresh air VRV heat recovery system that enables smart temperature control and allows energy to be transferred within the building. Some of its other green features include a Building Management System, energy efficient lighting systems, recycling facilities, and bicycle parking.

It is expected the design of the building will lead to a reduction of energy usage of about 5-10% annually – a cost saving to tenants that is expected to be significant over time.

Mr Donnelly says despite extensive pre-planning, he was still pleasantly surprised that the building achieved its four-star rating with a minimum of fuss, and believes that the rating will become an increasingly important tool as the property and construction industry moves to keep up with new codes and regulations around building green.

“We wanted certification because it provides certainty to the occupiers at Citygate and they can take comfort that McConnell Property has delivered on what we said we would in terms of the building’s design and sensitivity to the location. As a result I think Citygate will prove to be more flexible and adaptable to change and more productive for these businesses.

In a hydrology class last fall, University of Delaware students saw firsthand the lasting impact of storm runoff: deep gullies carved into the ground by rainfall over several decades. These gullies start at drainpipes that open into the woods near Laird Campus, and during storms they collect water and flush sediment into White Clay Creek.

Luc Claessens, assistant professor of geography in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment who studies human effects on watersheds, used the field trip to connect classroom material with real-world experiences. Now he is working with UD staff and students to develop a comprehensive plan that would improve stormwater drainage at the site, supported by a UD Sustainability Fund grant.

“What we’ll do is come up with a design for green infrastructure for this part of campus,” Claessens said. “It is a unique setting for all participants to learn about the challenges and opportunities of reducing environmental impacts.”

Nature’s stormwater management system is to absorb rain into the ground, but roads, parking lots and other hard surfaces cover up this environmental sponge. Construction is currently regulated by the state to reduce flow and pollutants, although prior to 1990, common practice was to direct runoff into wooded areas — which is what largely caused the gullies near Laird Campus.

During rainstorms, the sediment-laden runoff sweeps right under the scenic Pomeroy Trail and creates mocha-colored plumes of sediment into the White Clay Creek, which is a National Wild and Scenic River. Claessens collected water samples during Hurricane Sandy that showed high levels of sediment, which can pose problems for aquatic life and make drinking water taken from the creek more expensive to clean.

Claessens is collaborating with Gerald Kauffman, director of UD’s Water Resources Agency, to create hydrologic and hydraulic engineering designs for the project. Other UD resources include Environmental Health and Safety and Facilities for assistance with outreach and landscape aspects.

Several students are also involved. Last fall Claessens advised a UD student team entry for the EPA Campus RainWorks Challenge to design a preliminary green infrastructure plan for the Christiana Towers area. The interdisciplinary team included graduate students in geography (Asia Dowtin), water science and policy (Matt Bachman and Kate Miller) and energy and environmental policy (Craig Dsouza).

This spring Claessens and Kauffman are advising an interdisciplinary team of five UD-WATER undergraduate interns on this project, including majors in environmental science (Megan Mauger), environmental studies (Devika Banerjee), environmental engineering (Kate Aulenbach and Virginia Thornton) and biological sciences (Megan Shaffer). The interns are funded by the Delaware Water Resources Center, which is directed by Tom Sims in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. A recent addition to the team is Alex Soroka, an incoming graduate student in water science and policy who works with Claessens.

Lineup at the border is going to get worse with cutbacks

There are few things in life I detest as much as lineups. When I see one, I make an instant calculation: How badly do I need whatever it is I’ll be standing in line for and how much of my life am I going to waste in the process. Unless it’s life-saving ear cap I’m in search of, I usually bolt.

In some cases, however, I haven’t had a choice. One of our sons attended university in Washington state. That meant that for five years, I had to travel back and forth, picking him up and dropping him off. As often as I could, I arranged the trips so I could avoid the horrendous lineups at the Peace Arch border crossing, one of the most notorious in the country for waiting times. If that meant leaving at 5 a.m., so be it.

One time, when I had no option about when we left, we got snarled in a three-hour jam-up at Peace Arch. It was a Saturday morning, the worst time to go. As I sat there stewing, I’d watch the odd car drive down the near-vacant Nexus line, and I’d curse myself. For years, I had been saying our family needed to get Nexus cards, especially given how often we travelled to the U.S. Finally, in my son’s last year at school, we went through the interviews and got our golden tickets to border freedom. And as happy as I was at the time, I couldn’t help thinking how stupid I’d been to wait until my son was almost finished school before getting it.

I was reminded of my idiocy recently as I read stories about the chaos anticipated at Canada-U.S. border crossings this summer. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has already begun cutting employee hours and is expected to furlough 5,000 staff next month, all because Congress and U.S. President Barack Obama couldn’t reach an agreement to cut federal spending. This triggered automatic spending cuts.

Officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are already predicting waits up to 50 per cent longer at major airports and at some of the busiest land crossings. Think about that: A three-hour lineup at Peace Arch is now, quite possibly, going to be a five- or six-hour lineup. I can’t imagine there are people desperate enough to want to do that. But I suppose the lure of a bargain will make people do just about anything.

If you’re thinking about applying for a Nexus card as you read this, well, there are problems there as well. A process that can now take several months is expected to take even longer because staff cuts will reach into that area of border services as well. So it’s unlikely to help you before the end of the summer.

Beyond the life-wasting factor associated with long border lineups, there are real implications for trade. Canada does about $500-billion in trade annually with the U.S. and a lot of it flows through the borders. In 2010, it was calculated that nearly 29,000 trucks crossed the Canada-U.S. border daily. Canadians take more than 39 million trips to the U.S. every year, while Americans return the favour more than 20 million times.

Recently, I moved back to use my rural abode set on 500 acres as a home office after two years of sharing a factory space with my manufacturer and inventor partner. It was getting too busy, noisy and dusty there.

But handy. Because since the industrial estate was only about 30 minutes from the nearest regional city, we had a landline, ADSL and 50 GB of internet data access a month for a reasonable rate.

Being assured that the new wireless modems would enable me to work from the home office – another 30 minutes further away – I took the plunge. There is no ADSL available; no NBN (and no word available about when), so wireless is the only option.

I am now paying twice the dollars for less than half the data allowance. I started on 8 GB and used it up within two weeks because I had underestimated completely how much info is sent via video, and how many different sites to which I upload stuff to keep my social media happening. I’ve never really had to add it all up before.

The modem is tucked into the corner bedroom nearest this spot and in theory should beam its five bars into the rest of the space so all my devices can connect. And usually it does.

But it feels like there is just not enough wireless to go round, despite the fact that my nearest neighbours are three kilometres away.

Yes, this is a rant and, yes, I am feeling very frustrated. But at the same time, this article is a word of warning to the wise; those who would love to enact a sea or tree change and are quietly confident that the internet network of Australia will support them in this endeavour.

The 4.99in Super AMOLED display is gorgeous. It has a Full HD, 1,920x1,080 resolution with a high pixel density of 441ppi. While that's certainly impressive, the HTC One has the same resolution but a smaller screen, so a higher pixel density of 468ppi and the Sony Xperia Z has the same size screen and resolution, so has a matching 441ppi. What's important is that on all three phones everything looks pin-sharp and there's no danger of spotting individual pixels.

It’s worth noting that you can't directly compare the Galaxy S4 to LCD-based Full HD handsets, such as the HTC One. This is because Samsung continues to use a Super AMOLED display with a PenTile pixel arrangement. Simply put, this means there are only two coloured sub-pixels per pixel instead of three. The reduced colour resolution is made up for by the excellent contrast and blacks that AMOLED provides (as well as lower power usage), but it’s a matter of taste which screen type you prefer. When we saw the phone we found its screen bright and colourful, but we'll save a full opinion for when we can do a proper side-by-side comparison.

As expected, the screen can be operated just by hovering your finger over it, giving rise to two new features. Air View lets you hover over content, such as an email or photo, to preview it without having to open it. Air Gesture lets you change tracks, scroll through a web page or answer a call with a wave of your hand. We haven't had chance to try the system out yet, but this should make fine-control of the touchscreen operating system that little bit easier.

The curse of contactless technology

I’m often teased for my failure to join the 21st century (or even the 20th for that matter) but I recently received my first iPhone headset cash card and it quite simply made me sad.

We already live in a world where there’s no need to leave your home to buy food, clothes, books, music, or, well, anything really. Social media saves us from the horror of actually being in the same room as our friends and internet dating means we don’t even need to go to a public place to find a mate (more on this in the future). And when we do bother to leave the house we don’t need to ask strangers for directions to our destination because we’ve got a smart phone with GPS.

And now we have contactless payment. Because on those rare times people do venture out to our ailing high street heaven forbid they actually touch anything.

Now don’t get me wrong, I realise contactless payment is not about the spread of germs or removal of human contact, it’s about keeping us safe from identity theft and card cloning, but I can’t help but feel like it’s just the next step towards a world of physical isolation, not unlike that portrayed in Demolition Man. (Surely no one can forget Sylvester Stallone being handed a towel and offered virtual sex by Sandra Bullock?)

In fact, such physical isolation is not uncommon in dystopian stories of technologically advanced societies (1984, Equilibrium, even the cute WALL-E). Sure, they’re works of fiction, but no matter how much the bottom line is at stake there’s no denying the argument that we strive for better technology in a bid to improve our lives and search for new ways to protect us from the dangers of living – dangers that in many ways make our lives fuller, more enjoyable experiences.

Instead we have the potential to get up in the morning, fire up the computer (still in pyjamas) for a spot of remote work – only speaking to the boss through a web chat or e-mail, none of that telephone malarkey. When it’s time for a break we might leave the computer for a cup of tea, but we’re soon back there to order our food shopping delivery, or choose some new pyjamas from a clothes shop’s website – while listening to our downloaded music.

Then we could jump in our cars to pick up a drive thru meal, paying with good old contactless technology and eating in our cars, before heading home for a quick spot of liking and poking on social media. If we’re feeling really adventurous we might move to the sofa to watch a film while playing with our new tablet – how about checking the app to see what constellations are overhead?

Yes, I’m pleased with many of the advances the modern world has brought us (running water and electricity are pretty great) and I’m probably sounding a little extreme, but sometimes I can’t help but think it would be nice to turn out the lights, walk outside and see the stars.

Not too long ago, a renegade Aussie (via New Zealand) director named Andrew Dominik made a film that was inexplicably inspired, yet dull, when he cast Brad Pitt as Jesse James in the horribly titled The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It was “an authentic western” — complete with rotting teeth and wet boots — and in some ways, Dominik takes another kick at that can with Killing Them Softly, another story set on a rather different frontier. Set in post-diluvial Louisiana, Pitt reappears in the form of a modern outlaw — a hitman — sent to rub out Ray Liotta’s character after a card game goes bad. The whole vengeance, gangland thing feels a little tuckered, but thanks to Dominik’s ability to capture vast chunks of the American ethos through his lens, the movie is an emotionally bleak but artistically rewarding success. James Gandolfini offers a courageous performance as a tough guy slowly rotting on the inside and brings depth to what could have been a cardboard character. Special features include DVD, Blu-ray combo pack.

Sex, intrigue, plagues — it’s all here, and it’s all true, though it wasn’t until the last decade that historians began to celebrate the bizarre story of Johann Friedrich Struensee, an 18th century physician who eventually usurped the Danish throne and instituted several progressive policies before being punished by a vengeful church and court. Enlisted to help King Christian overcome his bouts of psychosis, Struensee (played elegantly by Mads Mikkelsen) becomes the king’s friend and confidante. He also becomes the queen’s manly lover, which complicates all of his good intentions. Expertly crafted in every sense, this Danish nominee for best foreign film contains all the elements of a classic Shakespearean drama — only communicated through believably human characters with a contemporary touch. Struensee’s democratic accomplishments predated the French Revolution, all of which makes this factual story even more riveting than it is since it reminds us how far we’ve come as a species, and a civilization, in a relatively short time. Special features include widescreen, subtitles and more.

Save cash at store with coupons

We often see stories on TV of how people are able to buy lots of groceries for a very small price, and we wonder how they do it. It is all through the use of coupons, using store ads and time planning.

In 1888, Asa Candler, a selfmade businessman, used paper tickets for free glasses of Coke to help sell his new product. These tickets were distributed through magazines and direct mailing. He offered pharmacists who were reluctant to sell the drink the first barrel of syrup free. When customers came into the pharmacies with coupons, pharmacists were quick to restock the product.

In 1909, C.W. Post distributed 1-cent coupons to help market his Grape Nuts cereal and other products. During the Great Depression, the use of coupons became widespread, and in 1940, big chain grocery stores attracted new customers with coupons.

Here are 10 steps to get you started couponing and saving money: 1. Gather the necessary items to begin the project. Find a basket or plastic file box to store and carry your supplies. You can also use a coupon organizer, a 5-by-8 index card file box with dividers, or a three-ring binder with insert sheets. Locate a comfortable table and chair for your workspace. Other things you need include sharp scissors and pencils or pens.

Purchase the Sunday newspaper. If you have family or friends who get the newspaper regularly, you might want to ask them for their coupon inserts if they don’t use them.

High-ranking officials from the Gulf countries’ ministries of health began their three-day conference earlier this week in Kuwait. The conference is the first in the region to discuss linking screening programs for expatriates electronically and establishing an appropriate mechanism for the application of smart cards and integrated electronic links between GCC countries.

Ameer Sibai, member of the executive board of GCC health ministers, told Arab News by the phone that the conference is focused on linking health-related data electronically among the member states of the GCC.
The e-linkage aims to protect GCC citizens from disease and the spread of infections, as well as to ensure that expatriates are medically fit for the work they are recruited for and do not suffer unnecessary psychological, physical or financial burden due to medical condition. In addition, the new system aims to guarantee that the recruited foreigners are free from contagious diseases.

During the meeting, officials discussed means of developing an automated system for health information and applying the latest systems and capabilities in the field of e-health. The conference agenda also included deliberations regarding electronically linking health facilities in the region, which would entail storing data and medical records and archiving X-rays.

Qais Al-Duwairi, assistant undersecretary of public health affairs at the Ministry of Health in Kuwait, was quoted by the Kuwait state news agency (KUNA) as saying that the percentage of unhealthy expats who entered the GCC countries has decreased to 5 percent as a result of activating the e-linking system in manpower exporting countries. He noted that iris scanning and fingerprints are to be added to the screening system to prevent expats from conning officials and changing their personal data and information.

Al-Duwairi indicated that health officials worked out the details of implementing a smart card system for GCC citizens and residents, which would contain their personal health information and would simultaneously function as an e-medical file that physicians in any member state can refer to in order to understand the history of the patient’s health condition.

Ever hear of Anki? It’s an open-source flash card program brilliantly designed to automate the Ebbinghaus method of memory retention. Via a free online service called AnkiWeb, users can download any number of digital card decks from a vast database to memorize whatever their heart desires.

Languages, guitar chords, the periodic table of elements, there’s over 5000 decks available with hundreds of cards in each. I, for one, started taking up world geography. To show off my progress: Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro, Tbilisi the capital of Georgia, Nicosia of Cyprus (knew this before reading about the banking crisis), Yerevan of Armenia, Astana of Kazakhstan, and so on; didn’t Google anything at all here, and I’m admittedly a clueless American. All it took was ~25 minutes a day with Anki for two weeks.

The program works by introducing 20 new cards per session, and reviews cards from previous sessions with a frequency based on how confident you feel with your learning when tested. So for example, say I draw Cardiff and instantly remember it’s the capital of Wales:  after clicking “show” to reveal the correct answer, I choose “Easy (4 Days)” from the available options. The card is done for the day, and since I was so confident with it, I won’t have to see the card again for a full four days. If I, perchance, on the next draw mistake Mozambique for Madagascar, I can choose “Again (1 min)” to force a steady repetition and facilitate memorization, until I get it right.

All I can say is install this program on your smartphone right now if you’re a student, especially one taking college-level science. The savings on flashcards alone are well worth the five minutes it takes to download and set up the software. If you’re not in school, Anki is still extremely useful and enriching. Expand your vocabulary, fix your French pronunciation, learn the major themes of famous classical compositions… most importantly, use your brain!

For reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, AnkiMobile for iOS costs a whopping $25 while AnkiDroid is completely free to download. You can sync up your account on AnkiWeb between all your devices, so no matter where you are Anki knows what cards you’re using. The program also makes a slew of graphs and charts to mark your progress, so you can show off your mastery of those 500 new Arabic phrases or whatever with fancy data.

Recipe collection takes on a life of its own

That wouldn’t be too strange, but most of us keep right on cutting out recipes even though we have at least five recipes for every type of dish imaginable, including tuna casserole which most of us loathe. Even if we live alone and only cook for one we continue to iPhone headset.

I’m not sure why the sight of a recipe so stirs us to keep collecting. Why the sight of yet another recipe for “easy” lasagna so excites us.

And since in my case, I’ve been snipping away for quite a long time, I’ve got a huge collection. They’re in my recipe drawers. They are all flung in there without rhyme or reason. So when I’m looking for the recipe for zucchini bread, I have to sort through 30-plus years of clippings to find it.

Oh, I started off neatly. I had a little recipe index card box. All the recipes were on neat little cards. That lasted a few years.

Then I started cramming the clippings into the index card box. After a time, I couldn’t cram anymore in. Then I shoved all the recipes into a small drawer. The collection outgrew that. Now the recipes are in two big drawers, but they’re full.

I tried to organize during the big blizzard of ‘82. I purchased photo albums with plastic pages and put the recipes in those. I labeled the pages with separate headings for meat, poultry, fish, etc. But my undoing was that I didn’t have enough albums for all the micellaneous items like pickles and mock Twinkies. So as my collection grew I resorted to tossing the recipes into the drawers.

And the worst part is, most of these recipes I’ve never bothered to cook. I have high hopes as I flip through magazines, clipping away, and thinking “Ah, roast pork with apple dumplings would make a great dinner.” But I always find I’m fresh out of pork and apples. So another recipe gets filed in the drawer.

I think I know why I still clip recipes. It’s become habit I can’t resist like shopping at a shoe store when they’re having a half-price sale, though I know I should stay home because I really don’t need any more shoes.

One thing that’s comforting about this habit is the thought that after I’m gone, if somebody goes through my recipe drawers, that person will be bound to utter in reverent tones, “This one must have been some cook!”

 Beneficiaries of Vajpayee Arogyasri scheme in Karnataka, living in places close to the State’s borders, can now get medical attention at all networked hospitals in the city nearest to them even if they are in other States, said N. Ramesh, Regional Consultant, Mysore Division, Vajpayee Arogya Sri, Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust, Government of Karnataka.

He was speaking to The Hindu at a camp held to get more people registered for the scheme, organised by Father Muller Hospital and K. S. Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA) in Government Wenlock Hospital on Tuesday. The hospitals oganising the camp are part of the networked hospitals offering the scheme, said Dr. Saroja, Resident Medical Officer (RMO), Wenlock Hospital.

Dr. Ramesh said the change, effective from the current year, meant that beneficiaries from Bellary can go to Hyderabad and Kurnool, beneficiaries from Belgaum can go to Miraj and Sholapur, and beneficiaries from Raichur can go to Mehboobnagar and Hyderabad.

 Sharif from Adyar, who brought his father for treatment, said there was “no problem” and Zameela from Irathottigram, said she had got her BPL card. Kusum, an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker, was one of at least five ASHA workers who were there to help their patients get registered for the scheme. Three more hospitals in the city have been inspected to see if they could be brought under the scheme. Some of the listed hospitals in Mangalore are: K.S. Hegde Hospital (KSHEMA), Father Muller Hospital, A.J. Hospital, KMC. Of 132 networked hospitals in the State, more than 70 are in Bangalore. From April, 447 hospitals (from 402) in the state will be networked for the scheme, he said.

The camp registered 144 people, of whom 40 were taken for treatment in networked hospitals. The rest did not have health problems covered under the scheme, said Dr. Ramesh.

Narayan, a resident of Derebail, looked crestfallen at the camp. He said the people at the counter had told him the BPL card was essential and he did not have the card. “I am single. I was told single persons cannot get a BPL card. What am I to do? Will I be left to die?” He said he lived in his brother’s house as he did not own a house and the brother did not belong to the BPL category.

There’s no escaping it, the Medion Erazer X7819, like most gaming laptops, isn’t just a brick, it’s the entire 6ft wall. At a 17-inch screen size, it was always going to take up desk space but once you open the thing up, it rather feels like you’ve stepped into a time warp and leapt back to the very first days of mobile computing when the term “portable machine” described a laptop that you could just about lift up.

Sure, you can rest the Medion Erazer X7819 on your thighs; hell, you can put it in your bag and carry it around with you if you want but, unless you’re heading off to a LAN party somewhere or simply moving to another room in your house, you probably wouldn’t want to. This is 3.8kg of super-mean gaming machine and, though technically a laptop, expect it to live out the majority of its existence atop your luggage tag.

Nonetheless, there’s something satisfying about the design of the Medion Erazer X7819. It’s big, it’s black, it’s got a mock brushed-metal - but actually just nicely made plastic – finish but, despite being the physical antithesis to, say, Bang & Olufsen or Apple, it’s actually very pleasant. This is machine for fragging your friends and tea-bagging n00bs and there’s no subtleties necessary.

The blue LED streaks on the outside of the lid and the three to highlight the trackpad and stereo speakers, once you open it, are further evidence to fact. As it goes, Medion could have gone a lot further with the gaudiness and we’d probably have enjoyed. It’s certainly not the light show that you get with other big brand gaming PCs, such as Dell’s Alienware range, and it’s a pity that you can’t control the colour or the brightness of the LEDs but the money has been spent wisely here and, frankly, industrial design doesn’t win you PvP deathmatches.