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Sunday, June 30, 2013
Beak-to-Brain Nerve May Help Birds Navigate
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
98% A Hijacking
All Critics (58) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (1)
To refuse to call A Hijacking a thriller is not to say it isn't thrilling, in a dryly cerebral way.
It's the second feature from the young writer-director Tobias Lindholm, and it showcases his gift for tightly focused stories told without an ounce of fat.
Lindholm doesn't present the film as a procedural for hostage negotiations because he knows too well that there are too many movable parts, too many things that can go wrong.
Methodical and tense ... has the feel of something based on real-life events ... boils down to an arresting portrait of two men, with different backgrounds and abilities, doing everything they can not to break.
We're impatient for action, any kind of action - but preferably the sort that involves a team of Navy SEALs, maybe led by Dwayne Johnson. Instead, we get something like a merger meeting.
Hand-held camerawork, so often a confounded nuisance, here makes the conditions on board the Rozen feel nauseatingly urgent.
A Hijacking delivers all the thrills the title suggests, but in none of the places you'd expect them.
The danger never reaches the level of chaos, but the subtext and metaphor in the slow-moving humanistic commentary on the motivations and byproducts of capitalism make for an intriguing film.
A smart movie derived out of the small moments that collectively comprise the hostage experience, rather than grandiose gestures.
Lindholm's you-are-there docudrama works as a tense thriller, but themes of negotiation and the ability to empathize provide a rich subtext.
...slow, mostly talk, but tense and realistic...
The level of suspense in this riveting Danish thriller doesn't build in sweeping melodramatic fashion, but rather at a low-key simmer that emphasizes authentic character dynamics.
A Hijacking accomplishes a tricky task, generating tension through talk rather than action.
This absorbing chronicle of a hijacking in the Indian Ocean has the strengths of the best procedural dramas -- it assumes a distanced and objective tone and packs an emotional wallop.
Moment by moment we find ourselves wondering what will happen next...
Auteur Tobias Lindholm does a striking job in grabbing your attention and running with it as he succinctly tells the story of "A Hijacking."
A Hijacking is an absorbing, highly moving film that's lingered heavily on the mind for a couple of days now.
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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_hijacking/
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News Summary: Gas pipeline to go through Greece
GASSING UP: A new pipeline to bring gas to Europe from the Caspian Sea will go through Greece and then undersea to Italy.
PIPE DREAMS: BP, the main developer of the huge Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea, said the project was awarded to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. The other contender, the Nabucco West, would have run across Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.
GETTING AROUND RUSSIA: The EU and the U.S. support building connections to Azerbaijan's gas as a way to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/news-summary-gas-pipeline-greece-150613268.html
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Meteor shockwave circled globe twice
27 June 2013
Last updated at 21:29 ET
Archive: The BBC's Daniel Sandford reports on the "ball of fire" in February
The shock wave from an asteroid that burned up over Russia in February was so powerful that it travelled twice around the globe, scientists say.
They used a system of sensors set up to detect evidence of nuclear tests and said it was the most powerful event ever recorded by the network.
More than 1,000 people were injured when a 17m, 10,000-tonne space rock burned up above Chelyabinsk.
The study appears in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The researchers studied data from the International Monitoring System (IMS) network operated by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO).
The detection stations look out for ultra-low frequency acoustic waves, known as infrasound, that could come from nuclear test explosions. But the system can also detect large blasts from other sources, such as the Chelyabinsk fireball.
Alexis Le Pichon, from the Atomic Energy Commission in France and colleagues report that the explosive energy of the impact was equivalent to 460 kilotonnes of TNT. This makes it the most energetic event reported since the 1908 Tunguska meteor in Siberia.
Irons in the fireMeanwhile, another team of scientists has published a study focusing on the Tunguska event.
The 1908 fireball, the biggest space impact of modern times, was probably caused by an iron-rich meteorite, a study in the journal Planetary and Space Science has confirmed.
The Tunguska air blast is estimated to have been equivalent to three to five megatonnes of TNT, hundreds of times more energetic than the Hiroshima explosion, and it flattened trees across 2,000 sq km of forest.
Victor Kvasnytsya, from Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences, and colleagues studied microscopic samples of mineral debris from the blast area that have been trapped in peat.
In their paper, they describe the mineralogy of samples recovered from the peat in the 1970s and 80s. High-resolution imaging and spectroscopy identified carbon minerals such as diamond, lonsdaleite and graphite.
Lonsdaleite in particular is found in carbon-rich material subjected to a shock wave, and is typically formed in meteorite impacts.
The lonsdaleite fragments contain smaller inclusions of iron sulphides and iron-nickel alloys, troilite and taenite, which are also characteristic meteorite minerals.
The iron to nickel ratio and the precise combinations of minerals assembled in these small fragments all point to a meteorite source, and are nearly identical to similar minerals found in the Canyon Diablo meteor that impacted Barringer Crater (Meteor Crater) in Arizona.
The findings would appear to rule out a theory that the Tunguska airburst was caused by a large fragment of Comet Encke. This comet is responsible for a meteor shower called the Beta Taurids, which cascade into Earth's atmosphere in late June and July - the time of the Tunguska event.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23066055#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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3rd man arrested in case involving ex-NFL player
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) ? A man arrested in Connecticut in connection with the murder case against former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was being sent to Massachusetts on Friday, and investigators said a third suspect was arrested in south Florida.
Massachusetts State Police said local officers in Miramar, Fla., captured Ernest Wallace early Friday afternoon, hours after a Connecticut judge ordered Carlos Ortiz turned over to Massachusetts authorities.
New Britain State's attorney said investigators arrested the 27-year-old Ortiz in Bristol on Wednesday as part of the inquiry into the slaying of Boston semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.
Hernandez is charged with murder in the slaying of Lloyd near Hernandez's home in North Attleborough, Mass. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
Ortiz was charged in Connecticut as a fugitive from justice. His public defender, Alfonzo Sirica, declined to comment about the case.
Also Friday, Massachusetts authorities said officers had recovered a car linked to Wallace.
Authorities revealed Thursday night that they were seeking Wallace, who they said should be considered armed and dangerous, on a charge of acting as an accessory after Lloyd's murder.
Police arrested Hernandez on Wednesday at his Massachusetts mansion and charged the 23-year-old with orchestrating Lloyd's execution-style shooting, allegedly because the victim had talked to the wrong people at a nightclub.
A judge denied Hernandez' bail appeal Thursday in a Massachusetts courtroom, where a prosecutor said a Hummer belonging to Hernandez turned up an ammunition clip matching the caliber of casings found at the scene of Lloyd's killing.
Hernandez's lawyer argued his client is not a risk to flee and the case against him is circumstantial.
On June 16, the night before the slaying, a prosecutor said, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends and asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut.
A few minutes later, he texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, the prosecutor said. Authorities say the three picked up Lloyd at around 2:30 a.m. June 17, drove him to an industrial park near Hernandez's home and shot him five times. They have not said who fired the shots.
Meanwhile, Lloyd's relatives were preparing for his funeral in Boston on Saturday. A relative said the service will be at Church of the Holy Spirit in the city's Mattapan section.
At Ortiz's court hearing in Bristol on Friday, there was no mention of any other allegations against him, no reference to Hernandez and no discussion of Lloyd's homicide. It remained unclear if Ortiz was one of the two friends whom authorities say were with Hernandez when Lloyd was shot to death.
A friend and a relative of Ortiz said outside the courthouse that they were surprised by his arrest. They said Ortiz is the devoted father of two girls and a boy, all under the age of 9. Ortiz was unemployed recently, but previously worked a long time at a Savers clothing store, they said.
They also said they couldn't believe Ortiz could be part of a murder.
"He's not that type of person. He has a good heart," said friend Milton Montesdeoca, 24, of Bristol, who added he didn't know Hernandez and never heard Ortiz talk about the football star.
The Patriots, who cut Hernandez following his arrest, drafted him in 2010 and signed him last summer to a five-year contract worth $40 million.
He could face life in prison if convicted.
___
Associated Press writers Michelle R. Smith in Fall River, Mass., and Bridget Murphy in Boston contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3rd-man-arrested-case-involving-ex-nfl-player-182953489.html
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Friday, June 28, 2013
Adapting To Different Golf Courses | Content for Reprint
Word Count: 587 Date:
Even Tiger selects exactly which courses he chooses to play at, veering towards the ones where he has played his best, has good memories from and has enjoyed the most.? Different courses do inevitably provide their own unique challenges, some that suit our nature and others that do not.
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Playing any different course can pose a challenge to many people.? We are all, to a lesser or greater degree, creatures of habit.? It is more comfortable and therefore easier to play courses that we know.??
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Think about driving your car for a moment.? When you first started to drive you had to think about absolutely everything and your knuckles were probably white upon the wheels due to tension.? These days it is totally different.? You barely have to think at all and your hands are nice and relaxed.? You probably drive one-handed most of the time!? But, if you happen to go abroad and have to drive a stick shift car on the wrong side of the road, you probably feel a little different, a little less comfortable?
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Playing golf at a new course certainly makes you think more.? As you employ your conscious thinking brain more you can interfere with the smooth and automatic processing of your subconscious mind.?? This is why it is doubly or triply important to have a robust pre-shot routine that is absolutely set in stone.?
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With this mental skill firmly packed together with your clubs into your golf bag, you are set to play your best possible golf.? You assess each shot option using your conscious thinking mind.? Once you have reached your shot decision and have firmly committed to it, then, and only then, you pull out your pre-shot routine and switch over to your subconscious mind.?? This is what allows you to play your shot smoothly in a state of relaxed and confident awareness.
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If you fail to take your pre-shot routine with you to a new course you will end up trying to make a shot with a myriad of conscious thoughts still competing for each other in your conscious mind and your desired shot is unlikely to be released.? Lets face it, this indecision and lack of commitment happens for all of us from time to time at our home course.? But on a course that you know well, you are more likely to fall back upon a well-rehearsed shot simply by default.? On a new course, there is no such comfortable default tucked up your sleeve and that you can even semi-rely upon!
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When assessing the importance of your pre-shot routine, think of it like a shot in itself.? You might have 36 putts, 18 tee shots, 10 chips, etc.? You have to employ your pre-shot routine for every single shot to be able to get the best out of it.? So never, ever, under-estimate it?s importance.? As the great golf teacher Jim Flick is quoted as saying, ?Golf is 90% mental, and the other 10% is too?.
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Roseanna Leaton, golf addict and specialist in golf hypnosis mp3s and author of the GolferWithin golf mind training system.
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P.S.? Discover how to focus your golf mind and play winning golf through mental golf training.? Check out my website now.
If you are an avid golfer, then you have probably heard of St. George, Utah. It's one of the premier places to play these days, or even retire in style.
There are many formats that have become popular for golf tournaments. In this article we go over the most popular formats.
Now here's a golf tip that has been asked a lot on the golf message boards and golf blogs.How do you hit a hybrid golf club?The hybrid or utility golf club has been a big hit in the golf community for
In opening any busines there are many things that you need to think through prior to opening your doors. Here are a few that you need to think about before you open a driving range.
Learning how to hit the driver can be a significant challenge. Discover some useful golf driving tips to help you learn how to become a better golfer.
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
Nvidia's Project Shield Release Gets Pushed Back To July Due To ?Mechanical Issue?
The Nvidia Project Shield, a handheld gaming device from the graphics card-maker that was set to debut Thursday, will be delayed until July, the company revealed today. In a statement provided to TechCrunch, Nvidia explained that it had to delay the release after discovering a mechanical issue tied to a piece supplied by a third-party company. The full statement is below.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WoinvugZ1hQ/
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Across U.S., Supreme Court gay rights ruling celebrated
By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) - With cheers, tears and kisses, gays and lesbians across the United States celebrated Wednesday's historic Supreme Court decision in support of same-sex marriage, which provided cause for joy after years of protest.
Crowds turned out in gay capitals such as West Hollywood in California, San Francisco, South Miami Beach in Florida and the New York gay bar called the Stonewall Inn, seen as the birthplace of the gay rights movement.
"It's so wonderful being down here celebrating and not protesting for a change," Roger Silva, 69, said outside the Stonewall, grateful that a New York law allowed him to marry his partner of 11 years in April. "I never thought this would be possible in New York, much less the country."
In a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court forced the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages in states where it is legal and in a separate ruling it cleared the way for same-sex marriages in California.
Stonewall has become synonymous with gay rights since a police raid there on June 28, 1969, triggered a spontaneous and violent demonstration that popularized the slogan "Out of the closet and into the streets."
A jubilant crowd of several hundred gathered on Wednesday afternoon, many carrying U.S. flags and the rainbow flags that have been adopted by the movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality.
At least one man had mixed emotions.
"There's a bit of wistfulness - if I was younger, at the bottom rung, to enjoy all those benefits. But yes it is a great day," said Bruce Ward, 55, a writer.
In San Francisco, where an outspoken movement carried the flag for gay rights after Stonewall, about 100 clergy members from all faiths celebrated the two Supreme Court decisions outside Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill.
Across town in The Castro, a neighborhood at the center of gay life in the city, more than 2,000 people gathered in the street, many waving rainbow flags and equal signs. Dance music blared from loudspeakers and children bounced on the shoulders of their parents.
Down the California coast in West Hollywood, more than 1,000 attended a rally in which same-sex couples brought their children, joining young celebrants including a woman in a rainbow-colored ballet tutu and at least two in rainbow bikinis.
"It means that my daughters are never going to have to explain that their family is second-class," said Jason Howe, who arrived with his married partner Adrian Perez and their twin daughters, Olivia and Clara.
Added Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., who runs a popular celebrity blog under the assumed name Perez Hilton: "Today means that we have successfully educated America."
In South Beach, hundreds gathered at the LGBT visitors' center to celebrate and to declare that more work was left to be done, particularly in Florida, where a 2008 constitutional amendment outlawed same-sex marriages.
Amid hugs, kisses and congratulations, some people wished each other "Happy Pride Day" and "Happy Gay Day."
"We have waited a long time for this ... We really cannot overstate how big a step forward this is," said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of Equality Florida.
Others engaged in legal discussions about the Supreme Court decision and the Florida law, with the common refrain that "we still have a long way to go."
Jack Tufano, 40, an architect, said he felt "relief" when the decision was announced "because my husband and I have been waiting" to get his U.S. citizenship. The two got married last year in New York.
"First thing we're going to do tomorrow is call the lawyer to get started," he said.
(Reporting by Edith Honan in New York; Zachary Fagenson in South Beach, Florida; Dana Feldman in West Hollywood, California; and Noah Berger and Ronnie Cohen in San Francisco; Editing by Dina Kyriakidou, Stacey Joyce and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/across-u-supreme-court-gay-rights-ruling-celebrated-010245268.html
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Study details cancer-promoting mechanisms of overlooked components in secondhand smoke
June 25, 2013 ? Tobacco smoke, diesel exhaust and oil combustion carry polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- PAHs that are known to cause cancer. But of these PAHs, the obviously dangerous high-molecular-weight PAHs like benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) have received the vast majority of research attention. Their low-molecular-weight cousins have been largely overlooked, in part because studies have shown that these compounds alone aren't very successful at mutating genes in cancer-causing ways.
A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the journal PLoS One explores two of these low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs -- 1-methylanthracene (1-MeA) and 2-methylanthracene (2-MeA) -- and shows that while they don't necessarily cause cancer, 1-MeA promotes conditions that will likely allow cancer to grow.
"There's a big distinction between initiating cancer and promoting it," says Alison Bauer, PhD, CU Cancer Center investigator and assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health. Her study showed that in a mouse cell model using a progenitor cell of lung cancer, the LMW 1-MeA promoted inflammation and increased mitogenic pathways, both of which are linked to tumor promotion. 2-MeA, while nearly structurally identical, did not.
"These LMW PAHs have been considered less of a concern," Bauer says, "but we're finding evidence that's not the case. They're not likely initiating the cancer, but it looks as if they could promote it."
Among other effects, Bauer and colleagues found that 1-MeA disrupts communication between cells, affecting the "gap junctions" across which adjoining cells pass information. 1-MeA also upregulates the gene COX2, which has been shown in other studies to create an over-aggressive inflammatory response -- and this inflammation in turn can promote tumor growth.
"There are many different PAHs in secondhand smoke," Bauer says. "Some are obviously dangerous like BaP, which directly mutates genes. Others, like 1-MeA, we known very little about. Think about all these PAHs like chess pieces -- first you have to know how each piece moves and then you can start looking at how they all work together."
Bauer points to these PAH mixtures as the next step in research. Eventually, knowing the effects of these mixtures could help evaluate the risks of different combustion products. The work could also lead to new therapy targets if, perhaps, some of the changes promoted by these LMW PAHs prove preventable or reversible by medicines.
"With smoking rates decreasing, we think this problem is going away, but high levels of secondhand smoke still exist in the U.S., for example in some apartment buildings," Bauer says. "And around the world, in China, Russia, Poland and many other countries, secondhand smoke is still a major issue. Knowing the effects of these LMW PAHs like 1-MeA could help us prevent or treat cancers associated with them."
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/k-LDtzBAM60/130625150940.htm
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Taliban militants storm Afghan government compound
Afghan soldiers stand guard as smoke rises from the gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
Afghan soldiers stand guard as smoke rises from the gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
Afghan policemen stand guard near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013 following an attack. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
Afghan national security arrive near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside the presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security force members investigate nearby the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Kabul palace attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan national security arrive near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside the presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP photo/Rahmat Gul)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Taliban militants stormed the presidential compound Tuesday after bluffing their way past two checkpoints, triggering a gunbattle that left eight attackers and three guards dead and sent journalists attending an official event scrambling for cover, officials and witnesses said.
The well-planned daylight assault in a highly fortified zone of the capital was a bold challenge to Kabul's authority just a week after the Taliban opened a political office in Qatar as the Islamic militant movement said it was willing to begin a U.S.-led peace process.
NATO also formally handed over security for the entirety of the country to Afghan forces just last week. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said it was standing by if needed during the skirmish, Afghan authorities did not call them in for help and thwarted the attack on their own.
The gunbattle started around 6:30 a.m. near the east gate leading to the palace next to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the former Ariana Hotel, which former U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed is used by the CIA. One carload of Taliban fighters dressed in military-style camouflage uniforms emerged from their black Land Cruiser and started shooting, after another got stuck between two checkpoints and detonated their explosives-laden vehicle.
The Taliban said all eight of its fighters died in the attack, while the Interior Ministry said three security guards were killed and another wounded.
The attack was a bitter reminder of the ability of the Taliban to penetrate the heart of the capital, showing their strength in the fight against President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government.
Though the Taliban have indicated they are willing to open peace talks, they have not renounced violence and attacks have continued across Afghanistan.
The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces and access is heavily restricted. Some Kabul residents initially thought the gunfire was a coup attempt because the idea of a Taliban attack within the security zone seemed so unlikely.
The attackers were stopped in Ariana Square, at least 500 meters (yards) and several checkpoints away from the palace itself. Karzai was reportedly in the palace at the time.
A group of journalists, including from The Associated Press, waiting to enter the palace grounds for a news event on Afghan youth witnessed the start of the attack and took cover behind a religious shrine, pulling a boy off the street who had been caught in the open on his way to school.
Karzai had been expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the Taliban.
The Taliban have refused to negotiate with Karzai's government in the past, saying the U.S. holds effective control in Afghanistan, but the Americans are hoping to pave the way for talks between the two sides. Long-stalled negotiations have taken on urgency with Afghan presidential elections and the withdrawal of most U.S. and other foreign combat troops looming in 2014.
The Americans announced last week that they would begin formal talks with the Taliban in the Qatari capital of Doha, which would be followed by talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
Kabul police chief Gen. Mohamad Ayub Salangi said the gunmen jumped out of their SUV and opened fire after the second vehicle was stopped by security forces while trying to use fake documents to get through a checkpoint. The second vehicle's car bomb then exploded.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying in an emailed statement that "eight of our suicide bombers were able to reach the most secure area of Kabul," identifying them by name and saying they were carrying hand grenades, a machine gun and rocket-propelled grenades.
"The brave mujahedeen, with special tactics and help from inside, were able to reach their target with their weapons and cars," he said. He said their targets were the CIA building, the palace and the Defense Ministry and claimed "a number of foreign invaders were killed and wounded in the attack."
Smoke could be seen coming from the area of the hotel, but there was no immediate indication any of the buildings were hit in the attack and Afghanistan's Kabul division army commander Gen. Kadam Shah Shahim said he knew of no deaths among security forces or civilians.
The NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan instituted a camp lockdown during the incident.
U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham urged an end to the violence.
"All of the attackers were killed, without success in achieving their goals ? This again demonstrates the futility of the Taliban's efforts to use violence and terror to achieve their aims," he said in a statement. "We again call on the Taliban to come to the table to talk to the Afghanistan government about peace and reconciliation."
The U.S. Embassy cancelled all consular appointments and advised American citizens in Kabul to stay indoors.
Also early Tuesday, in the southern province of Kandahar, a minibus hit a bomb buried in the road, killing 11 members of a groom's family on their way to an engagement party, said Kandahar governor's spokesman Ahmad Jawed Faisal. Faisal said the dead included eight women, two children and a man, and two other men were also wounded.
In Oruzgan, the province north of Kandahar, provincial governor's spokesman Abdullah Hemat said Tuesday that six Afghan national police were killed the day before when their patrol was attacked with a roadside bomb.
And a NATO convoy was hit with a roadside bomb in the province Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, destroying a vehicle but the coalition said there were no casualties.
_____
Associated Press Amir Shah contributed to this report.
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Sunday, June 16, 2013
Attacks in Pakistan's southwest kills 22
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) ? Pakistani forces stormed a hospital that had been taken over by gunmen Saturday in a restive southwestern province, freeing hostages and ending a five-hour standoff that capped a series of attacks that killed 22 people.
The violence emphasized the challenges that new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will have in bringing calm to Baluchistan, a region beset by a separatist movement, Taliban militants and violent sectarian groups. Police said six attackers were also killed in the fighting.
The Baluch have long been alienated by what they see as exploitation by the central government of the oil, natural gas and valuable minerals in the extremely poor and underdeveloped province. The area has also been plagued by horrific attacks by Islamic militants on minority Shiite Muslims, and Afghan Taliban fighters use the territory's empty, arid landscape as a refuge.
The deadliest attack Saturday took place in the provincial capital of Quetta and appeared to target minority Shiites. A blast ripped through a bus carrying female university students, killing at least 14 people, said the head of police operations, Fayaz Sumbal.
The victims and bodies were rushed to a nearby hospital. As relatives, rescuers and government officials crowded into the building, a suicide attacker detonated explosives in the corridor leading to the emergency room, Sumbal said.
Other attackers then began firing at the crowd, prompting dozens to hide inside the hospital while others fled into the parking lot.
Soldiers and police commandos rushed to the scene and penned the attackers off into a wing of the hospital, Sumbal said.
An Associated Press reporter nearby heard intermittent gunfire as troops took up positions around the building. As fighting continued into the evening, another loud explosion later determined to be one of the attackers blowing himself up shook the hospital. Inside, patients, visitors and staff hiding behind locked doors spoke of the firefight.
"Everybody is trying to take shelter ? in the corners, behind the steel cupboards and tables," Hidayatullah Khan, who had been visiting a niece wounded in the earlier bus bombing, told the AP by telephone.
A high-ranking government official who had been visiting wounded in the hospital died in the blast, as did two nurses, said Sumbal.
Another four soldiers from the country's Frontier Corps also died, said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. But it was not clear whether they were killed in the explosion or in the ensuing operation to clear the building. He said at least 35 people trapped inside the building were freed.
Six of the attackers died during the siege ? four killed by security forces and two others who blew themselves up, Sumbal said, adding that thirty people were wounded from their gunfire.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group of radical Sunni Muslims, who revile Shiites as heretics, claimed responsibility for the attack on the school bus and the hospital. The group said one of their female suicide bombers blew up the bus because it was carrying Shiites, although officials said the bus was also carrying students from other religious and ethnic groups.
The group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks against Shiites, including a bombing in Quetta in January that killed 86 people.
Earlier Saturday, militants destroyed a house once lived in by Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who led the country to independence in 1947. The attack has huge significance in a country where Jinnah is so revered he's referred to as Quaid-e-Azam or the "great leader."
Attackers on motorcycles planted bombs at the 19th century residence in the mountain resort town of Ziarat, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Quetta. Three of the bombs exploded and ignited a fire that destroyed the building, said senior police officer Asghar Ali Yousufzai.
The attackers also shot dead a police guard outside the residency, which had been turned into a museum.
Authorities said they were investigating reports that a Baluch Liberation Army flag had been hoisted at the residence. The militant group is one of the various factions fighting for independence from Pakistan.
"It's a symbolic attack on the idea of Pakistan," said Raza Rumi, director of the Islamabad-based Jinnah Institute.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks in a statement, saying "no cause can justify such violence."
Saturday's violence serves as a huge challenge for Sharif and for the new chief minister of Baluchistan, Abdul Maalik Baloch.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is linked to al-Qaida and has been declared a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S., yet it operates with relative ease in Pakistan's populous Punjab province. The new Pakistani prime minister has been accused of being soft on militants using the province that his party has ruled for the last five years as a base.
Baloch's party was one of many that boycotted the 2008 provincial elections, but he and others decided to take part in the May 11 vote in an attempt to win change through the ballot box instead of through the violence favored by the separatists.
Ethnic Baluch separatists sought to derail the vote with a campaign of violence targeting their fellow Baluch, who the separatists view as traitors for taking part in the vote.
Many of the Baluch also view Pakistani security forces with deep distrust as a result of a repressive campaign against separatists by paramilitary soldiers and intelligence agents.
__
Santana reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/attacks-pakistans-southwest-kills-22-204341659.html
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Saturday, June 15, 2013
Airbus A350 makes maiden test flight
14 June 2013
Last updated at 05:41 ET
The Airbus A350 takes off on its maiden flight
The newest aircraft from European planemaker Airbus has taken off on its maiden test flight.
The Airbus A350 is designed to be more fuel-efficient, and a direct competitor to US rival Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
It is seen as vital to the future of Airbus, which competes with Boeing to supply the majority of the world's airlines with new planes.
It took off from Blagnac airstrip in the French city of Toulouse, where the A350 is assembled, on Friday morning.
The plane will take a short trip to carry out tests, and then land back at Toulouse again.
Boeing's Dreamliner has proved popular since its first flight in 2009, despite recently being grounded by regulators over safety fears relating to its batteries.
Major milestoneAirlines are being squeezed by high fuel costs and falling passenger numbers, and are looking for more fuel-efficient aircraft.
Airbus claims the A350, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, will use about 25% less fuel than previous generation wide-bodied aircraft.
Like the Dreamliner, the A350 is made largely of advanced materials, particularly carbon composites, in order to save weight.
Dave Harvey takes a look at how the plane was built
Airbus has already taken more than 600 orders for the new plane, whereas there have been 890 Dreamliner orders so far.
The company hopes to start delivering the first A350s to customers by the end of 2014.
Analysts say a successful test flight would be a major milestone for Airbus in the A350 project, with major aircraft manufacturing projects frequently beset by delays.
"All recent programmes before it, both by Airbus, Boeing and others, have had reasonably horrendous technical problems and delays," said Nick Cunningham, an aviation analyst at the London-based Agency Partners, speaking to French agency AFP.
"So every time you hit a milestone (such as a test flight), it's good news because it means that you've missed an opportunity to have another big delay."
The plane's wings were designed at an Airbus facility in Filton near Bristol, and are manufactured at Broughton in Wales.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22899952#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Defying gov't, Turkish protesters to stay in park
People light candles for the victims of the protests at Taksim square, in Istanbul, early Saturday, June 15, 2013. Protesters were holding debates in several locations in Gezi Park to discuss the results of a meeting their representatives had with the prime minister and whether his proposal was enough for them to end their occupation of the park. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
People light candles for the victims of the protests at Taksim square, in Istanbul, early Saturday, June 15, 2013. Protesters were holding debates in several locations in Gezi Park to discuss the results of a meeting their representatives had with the prime minister and whether his proposal was enough for them to end their occupation of the park. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
People light candles for the victims of the protests at Taksim square, in Istanbul, early Saturday, June 15, 2013. Protesters were holding debates in several locations in Gezi Park to discuss the results of a meeting their representatives had with the prime minister and whether his proposal was enough for them to end their occupation of the park.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
People light candles for the victims of the protests at Taksim square, in Istanbul, early Saturday, June 15, 2013. Protesters were holding debates in several locations in Gezi Park to discuss the results of a meeting their representatives had with the prime minister and whether his proposal was enough for them to end their occupation of the park.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A cat passes by sleeping protesters at the Gezi Park of the Taksim Square in Istanbul early Saturday, June 15, 2013. Protesters held on Friday debates in several locations in Gezi Park to discuss the results of a meeting their representatives had with the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and whether his proposal was enough for them to end their occupation of the park. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
ISTANBUL (AP) ? A Turkish activist says protesters have agreed to press on with their 2-week-long sit-in at a cherished Istanbul park, despite government appeals and warnings for the standoff with authorities to end.
Tayfun Kahraman made the comment to The Associated Press on Saturday after a series of discussions among protesters in Gezi Park to decide on their next move.
He was one of two activists in Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest movements, who had met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a day earlier.
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Pure Emergence: Tom Beddard?s Amazing Fractal Architecture
Though we have previously covered the amazing fractal creations of Tom Beddard, we thought it would be worth revisiting his work to find some examples of his architectural explorations. As we?ve discussed many times, parametric modeling is becoming more popular in the architecture world, thanks largely to Patrik Schumacher of Zaha Hadid Architects. While many amazing projects have resulted from the meeting between programming and building, parametricism becomes more awe-inspiring and, paradoxically, more rigorous when it is freed from the constraints of human inhabitation.
Beddard?s work definitely moves beyond the realistic to a realm of pure mathematical intricacy. Yet, something ties these images back to architecture, making them recognizable as potential buildings or cities. Of course, much of the magic lies at Beddard?s adept rendering skills, which make the images pop with shadows and subtle tone. This gray zone between realism and abstraction seems to be a theme of the work. As Beddard writes:
I have a fascination with the aesthetics of detail and complexity that is the result of simple mathematical or algorithmic processes. For me the creative process is writing my own software and scripts to explore the resulting output in an interactive manner. The best outcomes are often the least expected!
See more images at Architizer. Some of the scripts used to generate these images are available on Beddard?s website.
Source: http://architizer.kinja.com/pure-emergence-tom-beddard-s-amazing-fractal-architect-513432428
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Liposuctioned Fat Reveals Valuable Stem Cells
Stem cells in the fat of adults were discovered serendipitously and appear to have similar potential to their embryonic kin. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Stem cells are prized for their ability to give rise to a variety of specialized cell types, including heart, liver, nerve and bone. Unfortunately, it?s the stem cells from embryos that have shown the biggest potential, for generating both a range of tissues and a ton of controversy.
Now, researchers have discovered a new type of stem cell, present in adults, that appears to have similar potential to its embryonic kin. Best of all, it comes from a source a lot of us would be happy to give away: body fat. That?s according to a study in the journal PLoS ONE. [Saleh Heneidi et al, Awakened by Cellular Stress: Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Population of Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived from Human Adipose Tissue]
These fat-based stem cells were discovered by accident. Researchers were trying to grow cells from material collected by liposuction. But when a piece of lab equipment failed, the cells in their sample died?except for these unusually hearty stem cells.
They can apparently withstand all sorts of harsh conditions, like nutrient or oxygen deprivation and attack by digestive enzymes. In fact, stress may even activate these cells, which would make them excellent candidates for repairing diseased or damaged tissues.
More studies are needed to explore these cells? potential. Which means researchers could be looking for a big fat donation.
?Karen Hopkin
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=liposuctioned-fat-reveals-valuable-13-06-14
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Friday, June 14, 2013
Mystery of X-ray light from black holes solved
June 14, 2013 ? It is a mystery that has stymied astrophysicists for decades: how do black holes produce so many high-power X-rays?
In a new study, astrophysicists from The Johns Hopkins University, NASA and the Rochester Institute of Technology conducted research that bridges the gap between theory and observation by demonstrating that gas spiraling toward a black hole inevitably results in X-ray emissions.
The paper states that as gas spirals toward a black hole through a formation called an accretion disk, it heats up to roughly 10 million degrees Celsius. The temperature in the main body of the disk is roughly 2,000 times hotter than the sun and emits low-energy or "soft" X-rays. However, observations also detect "hard" X-rays which produce up to 100 times higher energy levels.
Julian Krolik, professor of physics and astronomy in the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, and his fellow scientists used a combination of supercomputer simulations and traditional hand-written calculations to uncover their findings. Supported by 40 years of theoretical progress, the team showed for the first time that high-energy light emission is not only possible, but is an inevitable outcome of gas being drawn into a black hole.
"Black holes are truly exotic, with extraordinarily high temperatures, incredibly rapid motions and gravity exhibiting the full weirdness of general relativity," Krolik said. "But our calculations show we can understand a lot about them using only standard physics principles."
The team's work was recently published in the print edition of Astrophysical Journal. His collaborators on the study include Jeremy Schnittman, a research astrophysicist from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Scott Noble, an associate research scientist from the Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation at RIT. Schnittman was lead author.
As the quality and quantity of the high-energy light observations improved over the years, evidence mounted showing that photons must be created in a hot, tenuous region called the corona. This corona, boiling violently above the comparatively cool disk, is similar to the corona surrounding the sun, which is responsible for much of the ultra-violet and X-ray luminosity seen in the solar spectrum.
While the team's study of black holes and high-energy light confirms a widely-held belief, the role of advancing modern technology should not be overlooked. A grant from the National Science Foundation enabled the team to access Ranger, a supercomputing system at the Texas Advanced Computing Center located at the University of Texas in Austin. Ranger worked over the course of about 27 days, over 600 hours, to solve the equations.
Noble developed the computer simulation solving all of the equations governing the complex motion of inflowing gas and its associated magnetic fields near an accreting black hole. The rising temperature, density and speed of the inflowing gas dramatically amplify magnetic fields threading through the disk, which then exert additional influence on the gas.
The result is a turbulent froth orbiting the black hole at speeds approaching the speed of light. The calculations simultaneously tracked the fluid, electrical and magnetic properties of the gas while also taking into account Einstein's theory of relativity.
"In some ways, we had to wait for technology to catch up with us," Krolik said. "It's the numerical simulations going on at this level of quality and resolution that make the results credible."
The scientists are all familiar with each other as their paths have all crossed with Krolik during graduate school at Johns Hopkins. Schnittman was previously a postdoctoral fellow mentored by Krolik from 2007 to 2010 while Noble was an assistant research scientist and instructor also under Krolik from 2006 to 2009.
The work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grants AST-0507455, AST- 0908336 and AST-1028087.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/8roMrCg3YXQ/130614140504.htm
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Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Flowering at the right age: Alpine rock cress uses a ribonucleic acid to measure its age and tell when it's the right time to flower
June 10, 2013 ? Perennial plants flower only when they have reached a certain age and been subjected to the cold. These two circumstances prevent the plant from starting to flower during winter. George Coupland and his fellow scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne have now discovered that the Alpine rock cress determines its age based on the quantity of a short ribonucleic acid.
Perennial plants carefully balance periods of growth and flowering to ensure that they can live for many years. They do not flower when they are still too young and small or produce flowers on all their side shoots. Also, they do not flower out of season and they continue to grow after flowering. In temperate regions they do not produce flowers during winter but only after exposure to a long cold period. This dependency on a cold stimulus is called vernalisation. George Coupland, Sara Bergonzi, Maria Albani and other scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research have now identified the molecular signals used by the perennial Alpine rock cress (Arabis alpina) to register its ageand to realise that it has been exposed to vernalisation. Only when the right age has been reached and the chill has had its effect can flowers begin to form.
The Alpine rock cress measures its age based on the concentration of a short ribonucleic acid known as miR156. A purely regulatory nucleic acid, miR156 works like an hourglass. Just as the sand trickles through an hourglass and indicates the amount of time elapsed, so the concentration of ribonucleic acid in the Alpine rock cress decreases from week to week enabling the plant to measure its age. When the ribonucleic acid reaches its lowest level, the plant is old enough for flowers to form when it is also exposed to vernalisation.
"Under normal conditions, this point is reached five to six weeks after germination," says George Coupland. "We can alter the time of flowering and the effect of vernalisation simply by manipulating the miR156 concentration." If the Alpine rock cress produces a particularly large amount of miR156 as a result of a genetic trick, it does not flower at the usual time. The surplus of miR156 caused by this over production acts as a brake on a group of proteins which induce flower formation. If the genetic trick makes the plant produce less miR156 than usual, flower formation happens sooner: the Alpine rock cress is sensitive to vernalisation a mere three weeks after germination. Consequently, the ribonucleic acid is the most important timing mechanism for flower formation in the Alpine rock cress. Only when it has reached its lowest point can vernalisation take effect and cause flowers to form.
In the closely related model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, an annual, the effect of the ribonucleic acid is less pronounced. If the weather conditions are very good, it also flowers in the presence of a fairly large quantity of miR156. Only when the weather is poor for an extended period does it rely on its age and put flower formation off until the ribonucleic acid concentration has reached its lowest level. "This ensures that Arabidopsis even flowers in a grey and cold summer," explains Coupland. As an annual, the plant is compelled to accelerate its life cycle and to achieve flowering age as quickly as possible and thereby form seeds. The concentration of miR156 is simply overridden in favourable weather conditions. Perennial plants, by contrast, are governed strictly by age and vernalisation.
The reason why not all side shoots of the Alpine rock cress flower at once is also explained by miR156. These shoots form one after the other and are therefore not all the same age as the main shoot which flowers first. The miR156 concentration needs to decline in each side shoot individually for it to be sensitive to vernalisation and form a flower. These different ages within the plant are what make some shoot axes flower each year and others only flower the following season, after the winter.
So how does the Alpine rock cress respond to vernalisation?
This was another issue Coupland and his fellow scientists studied. They were able to demonstrate that this occurs independently of miR156. The effect of the cold stimulus causes another protein which acts as a brake on flower formation to disappear during winter. This protein has the somewhat cryptic name PEP1. It blocks an important flowering gene. The gene can only be read when PEP1 has disappeared in the winter chill.
And what is the practical benefit of this research?
"It enables us to manipulate the concentration of miR156 to make plants flower when they are younger. This could make them quicker to breed," says Coupland. "For instance when cultivating new varieties of cabbage, such as cauliflower, white cabbage or curly kale. All of these members of the cabbage family also go through a long phase of juvenility and this can greatly delay experiments needed to breed new varieties."
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Scientists discover a little astronaut within all of us
Phosphorus, a key ingredient in all living things, travelled to Earth via meteors, a new study has found.
A meteor streaks across the sky over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013. Scientists believe that phosphorus ? a key ingredient for living things ? traveled to Earth via space rocks.
Nasha gazeta/www.ng.kz/AP
EnlargeFor those of us nursing dreams of space travel, some good news: an otherworldly substance in our bodies has toured the universe on our behalf, zipping billions of miles through space before settling on Earth.
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Scientists found that the meteors pummeling our planet in its first two eons carried an unexpected gift: phosphorus, a key ingredient in the formation of all known life.
In an examination of samples from Australia, Zimbabwe, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Florida, scientists from the University of Florida and the University of Washington found phosphite only in the oldest samples, in materials from the early Archean period ? about 3.5 billion years ago ? in Australia.
The new research, published in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brings a potential close to a chapter in the mystery of life on Earth: how Earth's earliest life forms, which evolved from RNA alone before the modern DNA-RNA protein developed, synthesized phosphorous.
In its modern form, phosphorous is insoluble and unreactive ??a poor building material. But the latest research suggests that the phosphorous that arrived on ancient Earth via space rocks was a reactive form.
This space version, an iron?nickel phosphide mineral called schreibersite, is soluble and would have become reactive when dissolved in water. It also would have seeped through Earth's nascent oceans, becoming abundant enough to give Earth a decent go at producing life. Scientists have so far not found any homegrown?sources that would have been plentiful enough to do so.
?The importance of this finding is that it provides the missing ingredient in the origin-of-life recipe: a form of phosphorus that can be readily incorporated into essential biological molecules like nucleic acids and cell-membrane lipids,? said Roger Buick, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences, in a press release.
The new finding is also bad news for those hoping to witness a replay of the beginnings of life on Earth. ?Because the conditions in which life developed here billions of years ago no longer exist, the chances that new life forms will again spring from inorganic compounds is nil, at least outside of a laboratory.?
?Phosphorus chemistry on the early Earth was substantially different billions of years ago than it is today,? said Matthew Pasek, the lead author on the article and an assistant professor of geology at the University of South Florida, in a press release.
Too bad, for anyone anticipating the next round of dinosaurs.
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Monday, June 10, 2013
Facebook update for BlackBerry 10 brings photo album controls
BlackBerry 10 users haven't had much control over their Facebook photo uploads -- a big problem when they're trying to organize their pictures later on. Thankfully, they can be a little more restrained as of the Facebook 10.2 update. The revision lets socialites both create albums on-device and upload directly to particular albums. After the fact, they can tag existing shots and toggle just which images they see. If you're the sort whose Q10 or Z10 doubles as a primary camera, you'll want to grab the update at the source link.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry, Facebook
Via: Inside BlackBerry
Source: BlackBerry World
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/DeK0K7_DR78/
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Saturday, June 8, 2013
The Red Flags Of Modern Gaming - Game Informer
Over the past few years, the number of gaming options on social networks and mobile devices has exploded, dwarfing those of current-gen consoles. With this endless new variety comes a shift in monetization methods, from traditional one-time purchases to freemium games and microtransactions.
While there are plenty of quality mobile and free-to-play titles on the market, some developers place a higher importance on maximizing revenue than delivering a good game experience. Console and PC gamers routinely take developers and publishers to task for any moneymaking ploy that interferes with gameplay, but what if the free game you just downloaded is your first introduction to the medium?
The following is a list of eight red flags of modern gaming. While these warning signs are not a guarantee that you're about to get fleeced, if you recognize more than one of these characteristics, you should think critically about how much time and money you're willing to spend on the game.
Console and PC gamers should also take note: Many of these aspects have already started to invade our favorite platforms, and will continue playing a larger role in our gaming experiences as next-gen systems embrace alternate monetization models.
Your Progress is Time-Gated
For many free-to-play games, "time is money" is more than a
maxim ? it's a core design principle. Whether you're waiting to harvest a crop
in a simulation game, revive a party member in an RPG, or play another round in
a match-three game, some developers introduce arbitrary time barriers in hopes
that you'll pay money to bypass them. Sure, you could wait 15 hours for the next floor in
your digital high-rise to be completed ? but why not throw down a couple of nickels and dimes for instant gratification? While patient gamers may not mind the
inconvenience, there's no good design reason for regulating the player's
enjoyment in this way.
You Need Friends to Be Competitive
Playing games with friends is great, but some free-to-play
titles approach multiplayer with the elegance of a chain letter. Haranguing
friends to join your digital mafia family/magic guild/etc. isn't just annoying ? it's the video game equivalent of a Ponzi
scheme. Signing up friends should
never be a core gameplay mechanic or a requirement for success. If every user
review for the game you're considering ends with "Hey add me plz:
Gamedood666," you're probably better off finding something else to play.
The Game Has More Than One Currency
Lots of
developers blur the line of microtransactions by selling players a virtual
currency that can also be earned by just playing the game. The balancing of
this economy determines its fairness to the player, but if the game has more
than one currency, watch out. Oftentimes, developers lock the most desirable
items and upgrades behind a second currency, which is a lot harder ? or sometimes impossible ? to earn
through gameplay. If the alternate currency
is some combination of the developer's name and "bucks" or "coins," there's a
good chance you'll be pressured to pay up the more you play.
The In-Game Shop is Its Own Separate Entity
Another
indicator of how a game handles microtransactions is the pervasiveness of the in-game shop. Is it accessed solely when purchasing new items inside of the game, or
is it featured in a prominent spot on the main menu screen before you even
begin playing? The more the virtual store stands as its own separate entity,
the greater the chance that trading real money for digital goods is a
considerable, if not vital, component of the game.
One-Use Items Cost Real Money
We don't fault a developer for giving players the option to
quickly unlock a new weapon/character/card pack/etc. with real money, but
selling one-use items is a sign that they don't just want you to pay for the
game ? they want you to keep paying for the game. If a game sells one-use
items, keep an eye out for difficulty spikes; a developer that's unscrupulous
enough to sell temporary boosts for real money is also likely willing to
balance the game in a way that requires buying said improvements.
The Game Rewards You For Promoting It
Free-to-play developers rely mainly on word of mouth to lift their games above the sea of other mobile offerings. While we don't mind when a games asks if we'd like to write a user review or "Like" it on Facebook, offering in-game incentives for such endorsements is a shady practice. These virtual quid pro quos are easily ignored, but unless you're working in the marketing department, it's not your job to advertise for the developer. Plying compliant players with virtual items or currency only muddies the reception of the game ? was its popularity earned or paid for?
Help Costs Money
Many developers rely on
microtransactions to make a profit, but what if your game
doesn't contain peripheral elements that can be sold piecemeal? We've noticed a
disturbing new trend in puzzle games: Developers charging money to provide players with hints. This practice
contradicts good game design; the more confusing
or vague a given puzzle is, the more money a developer can potentially make
from it. To capitalize on your orchestrated confusion even further, some games
don't give you the option to skip troublesome puzzles. If a game ever leaves you with no recourse
other than to pay money for being stumped, just stop playing. In-game help
isn't something that should be ransomed.
The Game is on a Top Grossing List
No shortage of manipulative games exists on the mobile
market, a problem for which both Apple and Google are partly to blame. One of
the main ways the App Store and Google Play direct players toward content is
with a list of the Top Grossing Games on their respective platforms. This
ranking isn't based on user reviews or number of downloads, but rather how much
money a game makes via its price and in-game purchases. While good games periodically make the list, the titles
at the top of the ranking tend to be the ones that most aggressively exploit the above techniques to make money,
regardless of how it affects gameplay.
This article originally appeared in issue 241 of Game Informer.
Source: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/06/07/the-red-flags-of-modern-gaming.aspx
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