Dell Levis Fireman Ed Allegiant Air Melissa Rycroft mega millions Cyber Monday Deals 2012
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Real-Money Gaming Platform Betable Signs Canada's Frima Studio ...
Betable, a gaming platform that enables developers to use real money instead of virtual currencies, just signed one of Canada?s largest independent developers Frima Studio.
Frima, which has about 350 people and is based in Quebec, is opening up a real-money gaming division called 3OAK. Instead of going their own way with acquiring gambling licenses in different countries, Frima said they chose Betable to fast-track the process. Betable is a real-money gaming platform that already has a gambling license in the U.K., so that third-party developers can incorporate real bets in their games without having to go through the legal hassle of getting their own permits.
?They?ve already secured legality, which is a blessing to us,? said Mikael Lefebvre, who is a director of Frima?s 3OAK studios. ?It makes our life much easier.?
This is a big year for Betable as the company is trying to get ahead of a wave of developers moving into social casino style games like slots and Slingo. At the same time, a difficult economic recovery has made more domestic states at least consider loosening online gambling regulations to improve their finances.
Zynga recently made its first moves toward enabling real-money gaming by applying for ?preliminary finding of suitability? from the Nevada Gaming Control Board and partnering with bwin.party to offer real-money bets in the U.K.
While Betable hasn?t said how many games or developers it has signed or how many players it reaches so far, the company has disclosed partnerships with developers like Big Fish Games, Digital Chocolate, SGN, Slingo and Mandala. Big Fish, in particular, is a noteworthy client because their game Big Fish Casino is consistently one of the top 20 grossing iPhone games in the U.S.
Betable?s belief is that the casual gaming market is going to change over the next 18-24 months as some developers choose to pick up real-money betting and suddenly acquire a host of new ?whales? or lucrative players. Those developers will suddenly be able to spend more on marketing, boosting costs for other similar game makers.
At the same time, real-money gaming creates its own unique set of challenges. Managing a game economy with real money is different from one with virtual currencies, where the developer needs to tweak currency sources and sinks properly to avoid inflation or deflation. Betable also says that it legally needs to manage the direct relationship with a game?s real-money players.
The company recently raised a round of funding from investors including Greylock, CrunchFund, Yuri Milner?s Start Fund, Founders Fund, True Ventures, Path co-founder Dave Morin, former Wikia CEO Gil Penchina, Delicious? Josh Schachter, StockTwits? Howard Lindzon and LOLApps former CEO Arjun Sethi. It also poached a few people from Zynga?s ranks including the former vice president of mobile Ya-Bing Chu and the guy behind Zynga?s bwin.party deal, former Zynga vice president of business development Jonathan Flesher.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/04/real-money-gaming-platform-betable-signs-canadas-frima-studio/
bubba masters winner instagram facebook mike wallace mike wallace chicago cubs split pea soup recipe
Caught in the act: Researchers capture key moments in cell death
Feb. 2, 2013 ? Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have for the first time visualised the molecular changes in a critical cell death protein that force cells to die.
The finding provides important insights into how cell death occurs, and could lead to new classes of medicines that control whether diseased cells live or die.
Cell death, called apoptosis, is important for controlling the number of cells in the body. Defects in cell death have been linked to the development of diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative conditions. Insufficient cell death can cause cancer by allowing cells to become immortal while excessive cell death of neurons may be a cause of neurodegenerative conditions.
Dr Peter Czabotar, Professor Peter Colman and colleagues in the institute's Structural Biology division, together with Dr Dana Westphal from the institute's Molecular Genetics of Cancer division, made the discovery which is published in the latest edition of the journal Cell.
Dr Czabotar said activation of the protein Bax had long been known to be an important event leading to apoptosis, but until now it was not known how this activation occurred. "One of the key steps in cell death is that holes are punched into a membrane in the cell, the mitochondrial membrane," Dr Czabotar said. "Once this happens the cell is going to go on and die. Bax is responsible for punching the holes in the mitochondrial membrane and visualising its activation brings us a step closer to understanding the mechanics of cell death."
Using the Australian Synchrotron, Dr Czabotar and colleagues were able to obtain detailed three-dimensional images of Bax changing shape as it moved from its inactive to active form. The active form ruptures mitochondrial membranes, removing the cell's energy supply and causing cell death.
"By using the powerful X-ray beams created by the synchrotron, we obtained structures of Bax that were really exciting," Dr Czabotar said. "Bax is activated when small protein fragments called BH3-peptides bind to it. We saw that these peptides open up the Bax molecule like a key unlocking a padlock. This unlocked form of Bax can bind to another Bax molecule, which can then form larger Bax complexes that can go on to break up membranes in the cell.
"As well as explaining the detail of how cell death occurs, our research could provide clues about how to design potential new therapeutic agents that target Bax," Dr Czabotar said. "Now that we can see how Bax changes its shape to move from the inactive to the active form, it may be possible to block Bax activation, to prevent cell death in conditions such as neurodegenerative disorders, where illness is caused by excessive cell death. Similarly, agents that drive Bax into its active form could force immortal cells such as cancer cells to die, providing the basis for a potential new class of anti-cancer agents."
The research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council, the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, Cancer Council Victoria, the German Research Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (US) and the Victorian Government.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Peter?E. Czabotar, Dana Westphal, Grant Dewson, Stephen Ma, Colin Hockings, W.?Douglas Fairlie, Erinna?F. Lee, Shenggen Yao, Adeline?Y. Robin, Brian?J. Smith, David?C.S. Huang, Ruth?M. Kluck, Jerry?M. Adams, Peter?M. Colman. Bax Crystal Structures Reveal How BH3 Domains Activate Bax and Nucleate Its Oligomerization to Induce Apoptosis. Cell, 2013; 152 (3): 519 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.12.031
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/IHLdgIdih0Q/130203085132.htm
frozen four joe avezzano kanye west theraflu joey votto the masters live mega millions winner holy thursday
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Residents Urged to Watch Pets During Coyote Mating Season | NBC ...
Getty Images
Officials urge residents to keep a close eye on their pets during coyote mating season.
Coyotes Smash Door Chasing Dog
Roger Nelson was able to get his dogs back inside the house but the coyotes kept attacking. Emily Florez reports.
More Photos and VideosNorthern Illinois residents may witness an increase in coyote sightings over the next few months.
The village of Wheaton issued an alert this week warning residents of an influx of coyotes during their mating season, which can last through April.
The alert encouraged residents, especially pet owners, to eliminate outdoor food sources such as accessible garbage or pet food because coyotes are creatures of habit and will return to areas where they are successful.
Although pets are not a main part of a coyote's diet, pet owners should keep a watchful eye on their animals as coyotes will often go for easy prey, the alert said.
Coyotes tend to feed during daytime hours in the winter months since they often struggle to find an adequate food source, according to Naperville Animal Control.
Those who see a coyote should attempt a "hazing" technique , which includes making loud noises or threatening gestures, the alert said.
The alert comes after a number of recent coyote attacks on dogs in the Chicago area.
Coyote sightings should be reported to town officials to help alert residents and prevent future attacks.
Get the latest headlines sent to your inbox!
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Coyote-Sightings-189569491.html
walmart black friday walmart black friday Target Black Friday PacSun apple store bestbuy bestbuy
Berlusconi offers big tax cuts in "last great battle"
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi announced his "last great electoral and political battle" on Sunday with a sweeping promise to cut taxes and the cost of government if his center-right wins elections this month.
In a passionate and much anticipated speech to supporters in Milan, the city where he built his fortune, he said only his center-right could lift Italy out of the dark fog of recession and re-establish trust between government and citizens.
His political opponents were quick to deride him. Caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti said Berlusconi "has never kept any of his promises" and one center-left parliamentarian called the speech "a laundry list of stupidities".
The centerpiece of Berlusconi's fiery speech was the unveiling of what he had billed beforehand as a "shock proposal" - a promise to reimburse Italian families for a much-hated tax on their primary residences.
That tax, known as IMU, was imposed last year by Monti's technocrat government to help with Italy's financial crisis, after it had been abolished in 2008 by Berlusconi.
The master communicator peppered his speech with repetitions of the words "tax" "taxpayer" and "tax man" along with references to "the anxiety of families".
He said he would scrap the tax at the first cabinet meeting and refund payments already made.
He also promised that a center-right government would eliminate a regional tax on businesses over the course of five years, would not increase VAT and would not impose a so-called "wealth tax" on higher earners.
"I have nothing to ask for myself," said Berlusconi, 76, one of Italy's richest men. "I want to fight one last great electoral and political battle."
He took simultaneous swipes at both Monti's centrist coalition and the center-left, saying: "I want to help Italy get out of this dark atmosphere that the technical tax men have put it, and in which the tax men of the left will leave it mired."
RECESSION
Italy is mired in recession. Last month the central bank forecast that GDP will fall by 1.0 percent this year rather than the previously forecast 0.2 percent. Unemployment is seen climbing from 8.4 percent in 2011 to 12 percent by 2014.
One candidate running for Monti's centrist group called the speech tantamount to "vote buying", and Rosy Bindi, president of the center-left Democratic Party, slammed it as "dangerous electoral propaganda".
Berlusconi said revenue to cover the elimination of the real estate tax on primary residences would come in part from striking a deal with Switzerland to tax financial activities there by Italian citizens.
He also promised a number of measures to cut the cost of government, to halve the number of parliamentarians, to cut government waste, and to eliminate public financing of political parties.
Most opinion polls indicate that the center-left coalition, headed by Democratic Party secretary Pier Luigi Bersani, will win the February 24-25 election.
But the gap between the center-left and the center-right has been narrowing steadily since Berlusconi returned to active politics. On Sunday even La Repubblica, a left-leaning paper, ran an editorial called "If Berlusconi's horse win the race".
Berlusconi told cheering supporters: "We think we are close to an historic result. Simply put, we are sure we are going to win."
But the media magnate, who stepped down in November 2011 when Monti's technocrat government was installed to lead Italy away from a full-blown economic crisis, will not be prime minister again if the center-right wins.
That job will go to Angelino Alfano, secretary of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party (PDL).
Berlusconi had said earlier that he would be the economy minister in a center-right government. In his speech on Sunday, he said he would be both economy minister and industry minister.
"That is, if Angelino Alfano reconfirms his trust in me," joked Berlusconi, who has been the voice and face of the center-right campaign, often leaving Alfano in his shadow.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berlusconi-major-speech-promises-sweeping-tax-cuts-131437426--business.html
jon bon jovi Kliff Kingsbury Amish Mafia Dave Grohl 121212 Cal State Fullerton Pacific Rim
?This Will Be Fun?
Illustration by Mike Norton
In the fall of 2003, James Lasdun was teaching writing at a New York City school he calls Morgan College when he met a student he calls Nasreen. She was in her 30s and she seemed reserved?shy or aloof, Lasdun thought. The work she presented for discussion (excerpts from a historical novel based on her family?s experience of the Iranian Revolution) swiftly established her as the star of his class. ?Her language was clear and vigorous,? Lasdun recalls, ?with a distinct fiery expressiveness.??
Give Me Everything You Have, Lasdun?s new memoir, describes how Nasreen became his Internet stalker. At the height of her harassment, she was writing him dozens of daily emails, defaming him online (in his Amazon reviews, his Wikipedia entry, the comment sections of his articles), and sending off denouncements to his colleagues and employers. She is a tireless, mysterious bearer of ill will. She is a nightmare-scenario case study in exactly how easy it can be to ?ruin? someone online, or at least to bother him very, very much, to the point where he begins to feel like he?s the one going crazy.
The story begins with an unexpected request for a favor. Two years after their class, Nasreen emails: She wants help with her book. Lasdun, no longer teaching, hesitates. But she?s persistent, flattering, and after all, a talented writer. They fall into a regular correspondence. He?s mostly terse but still helpful, putting her in touch with his agent and agreeing to read her work. She sends him chatty messages full of creative musings and daily gripes and links and Photoshopped self-portraits, but probably, he figures, this is just how younger people use the Internet. What a fun new friend he?s found, a sympathetic fellow writer, and one with an excitingly novel background ??most of my friends are middle-aged Western men like myself,? he notes. However: ?At a certain point,? he writes, ?I realized I was being flirted with.??
The ominous precision of the book?s early pages is riveting. Lasdun?s description of email?s slippery nuances will engross anyone who has ever changed ?Hey!? to ?hey?? to ?HEY:? to ?Dear James.? With its unexpected courtliness, its unspoken rules and parameters, its strategic sense of tone, and its endless archives, email affords plenty of opportunity for close-reading daily life. Lasdun is a skilled and sensitive critic of the accidental epistolary novel we?re all writing all the time.
Happily married, he does his best to discourage Nasreen?s overtures while still serving as a friendly mentor. (Her manuscript impresses him: It features, he notes, an ?interestingly unbalanced heroine.?) At times, early on, Lasdun?s equilibrium may startle the reader. ?Nasreen?s insistent, unstoppably amorous communications, often a dozen or more a day now, had begun to feel oppressive,? he writes at one point. He responds to fewer and fewer of these emails. She, meanwhile, begins copying him on messages concerning a discrimination suit she?s filing at her office job, messages in which ?sex, gender, race, money, and Middle Eastern politics mingle? with a taste for ?exhibitionistic boisterousness.??
?This will be fun,? Nasreen writes to her lawyer. ?Let?s call it legal performance art.??
The discrepancy between this emerging character and the quiet student he remembers distresses Lasdun. Had he misjudged her? Had he lazily imagined ?the corniest archetype of demure Middle Eastern womanhood as concocted in the Western male psyche?? If he had, what would it mean for his abilities as a writer and observer of other humans? Or was she herself somehow changing? He stops responding altogether, and then things get bad.
?You had no integrity with me and you?re using a God given talent to say nothing,? she writes, in her first ?unequivocally hostile? missive. ?I don?t want to hear about your family because your kids have a future of being thought of as Nazi Germans.?
In quick succession follow more hostile messages, mapping out the main themes of the harassment to come: spasms of anti-Semitism (?Do you have to be the stereotype of a Jew, James??), accusations of artistic fraud (?You steal. You steal. You steal?), accusations of sexual impropriety (?Morgan College, your brothel?), and demands (?I want your apartment ? give me your fucking keys?).
?I think this is called verbal terrorism,? Nasreen eventually writes.?
?Though I didn?t quite know it yet,? Lasdun says, ?I had entered the realm of stricken enchantment in which technology and psychology overlap, where the magical thinking of the primitive mind, with its susceptibility to spells, curses, witchcraft of every kind, converges with the paranoias peculiar to our own age.?
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=aea6e8638a8bde3669ef1f6da2bdec00
Isaac path Tropical Storm Isaac path Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Isaac Path Isaac Hurricane earthquake san diego Hurricane Isaac
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)