Project Description: I'm an internet marketer that needs assistance with a key marketing task. I need you to promote some links online through unique blog posts. I am just starting out and will pay a solid performer for results. I'm looking for someone who can wow me.
What I'm looking for: 1. A superstar. I don't care that we won't meet. You need to be a creative, self-motivated person with bullet proof integrity. 2. Be creative. Come up with your own ideas, figure things out. I want you to come up with multiple angles for where you will post my links. 3. Keep detailed records. I will pay you for verified posts. Not copy pasta or rehashed posts. The more you send me the more you make.
These don't have to be long posts, but they must be on websites that have related content and context. If you can figure out a way to write them into some great blog, do it. I'm looking for 500-700 words per post.
The more traffic I get from your posts, the more money I will pay you on top of the per post cost. I will send you details after we have come to an agreement.
Propose to me how much you would like per post. I'd also like a time frame per post. If you can crank out a lot of these, and they are good we will be very happy. I've added an attachment with a sample of the links that should be promoted. Check them out and send me a sample post, I'll pay you for it once it's posted.
My key markets are USA, Canada, United Kingdom and English speaking Asian websites.
Hundreds rally outside the Supreme Court March 27. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
A majority of Supreme Court justices expressed concern Wednesday about a federal law that excludes same-sex couples from marriage.
On the second day of arguments over the legality of gay marriage, the probing questions from both wings of the court suggest the so-called Defense of Marriage Act could be struck down. Such a decision would be a major victory for the gay rights movement, just a day after it appeared unlikely the court would decide the Proposition 8 California case in a way that settles the question of whether same-sex couples can wed.
In Wednesday's arguments, the court's conservative leaning justices asked pointed questions about whether DOMA, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, intrudes into states' traditional right to regulate marriage. The more liberal justices seemed amenable to the argument that DOMA discriminates against gay people and was passed with the clear intention of excluding an unpopular group.
DOMA prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages even in the nine states (and the District of Columbia) that allow them. Justices could strike down the law in a narrow way that would force the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages only in states where it's already allowed, or in a broader way that would make dozens of state gay marriage bans legally vulnerable. Such a broad ruling from the court is considered much less likely.
The Justice Department would typically defend a federal law being challenged in the Supreme Court, but the Obama administration has declined to defend DOMA in court because it believes it is unconstitutional. Paul Clement, an attorney chosen by members of the House of Representatives who support DOMA, defended it instead.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative-leaning swing vote who has written two landmark opinions affirming gay rights, seemed unconvinced by the argument advanced by Clement that DOMA defines marriage as only between opposite-sex individuals to avoid confusion. Clement said that the federal government has an interest in "uniformity," and had passed the law to avoid having to treat same-sex couples differently based on whether they live in states that allow gay marriage or not.
Kennedy pointed out that DOMA excludes married same-sex couples in more than 1,100 federal statutes and laws, which has a substantial impact on the "day to day life" of those couples and their children. He said the law does not provide uniformity because it affects "only one aspect of marriage."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said excluding married gay couples from sick leave, tax benefits, Social Security survivor benefits, and hundreds of other federal benefits and obligations relegates same-sex couples to a "skim milk marriage" that is substantially worse than what heterosexual couples are allowed.
Justice Elena Kagan suggested that the law was not passed for uniformity's sake, but to discriminate. She read aloud from the House report on the law when it passed 17 years ago saying it expressed "moral disapproval of homosexuality."
Chief Justice John Roberts objected to the argument that Congress passed DOMA based on a dislike or hatred for gays and lesbians. He asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, representing the Obama administration, whether he believed the 84 senators who voted for it at the time were all motivated by animus. Verrilli said the lawmakers could have voted for DOMA due to a "lack of careful reflection," but that the law discriminates no matter why it was passed.
Roberts also objected to Attorney Roberta Kaplan's characterization of gay people as a disadvantaged minority group lacking political power.
"As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your case," Roberts said.
But Roberts did seem concerned by the federalist argument. He, Kennedy and Justice Samuel Alito posed tough questions about whether the federal government was overreaching with the statute. Kennedy said DOMA did not seem to recognize states's "historical" responsibility for marriage and suggested that the central question of the case is whether the federal government has the authority to regulate marriage.
Both attorneys arguing to strike down DOMA refused to make a federalist argument against the law, however?instead insisting it was a discrimination case.
Before even getting to the merits of the case, the justices spent nearly an hour grappling with whether they should decide it at all because of procedural issues.They appointed Harvard professor Vicki Jackson to make the case that House Republicans do not have the legal right, or standing, to appeal the lower court's decision.
Several justices were also critical of the Obama administration's decision to stop defending the law in court while still enforcing it. Roberts appeared to have serious doubts about the case's procedural issues, repeatedly saying that it is "unprecedented" for the U.S. government to appeal a case while disagreeing with a lower court's ruling.
The two gay marriage cases before the court this term have been dogged by procedural concerns, as both were left orphaned by public officials who no longer wanted to defend them.
On Tuesday, Kennedy wondered whether the court should have agreed to hear the Proposition 8 case at all. Other justices suggested they were skeptical that supporters of Proposition 8 had standing to appeal the case once California officials decided to drop it.
It's possible that neither case could end with a decision. In DOMA, that means the lower court's decision would stand and DOMA would be illegal in the Third Circuit. The plaintiff, Edith Windsor, would be repaid the $360,000 she had to pay in estate taxes when her wife died because the government didn't recognize her marriage in New York, where gay marriage is legal. In the Proposition 8 case, gay marriage would most likely become legal in California if the justices throw it out on standing or do not reach a majority.
A group from Alabama prays in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, before the court's hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay ... more? A group from Alabama prays in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, before the court's hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay marriage case, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) less?
NSF-supported Stampede opens the gates of advanced computation to thousands of research teamsPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lisa-Joy Zgorski lisajoy@nsf.gov 703-292-8311 National Science Foundation
Stampede empowers researchers to tackle diverse science and engineering challenges
A National Science Foundation-supported, world-class supercomputer called Stampede--which has already enabled research teams to predict where and when earthquakes may strike, how much sea levels could rise and how fast brain tumors grow--was officially dedicated today.
The ceremony, held at the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and attended by corporate, government, and university leaders, formally introduced Stampede to the open science community.
Stampede is a cornerstone of NSF's investment in an integrated advanced cyberinfrastructure, which empowers America's scientists and engineers to interactively share advanced computational resources, data and expertise in order to further research across scientific disciplines. Stampede is now the most powerful and capable of the 16 high-performance computing, visualization and data analysis resources within the NSF Extreme Digital (XD) environment.
"Cyberinfrastructure has increasingly become a critical component of the science and engineering enterprise and is essential to accelerating the pace of discovery and innovation in all fields of inquiry," said Farnam Jahanian, head of NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
"Stampede is an important part of NSF's portfolio for advanced computing infrastructure enabling cutting-edge foundational research for computational and data-intensive science and engineering. Society's ability to address today's global challenges depends on advancing cyberinfrastructure."
Joining Jahanian in dedicating Stampede were UT Austin President Bill Powers, Dell Enterprise Solutions President Marius Haas, Intel Vice President Diane Bryant, U.S. House Science Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, and TACC Director Jay Boisseau, who is also the leader of the Stampede project.
Stampede expands the variety of data-intensive, computationally-challenging science and engineering applications that can be used with current national resources. It accommodates large-scale simulations that produce more accurate results.
Stampede's performance derives from two complementary processor technologies: First, a massive Dell cluster with Intel Xeon E5 processors provides a peak of 2.2 petaflops of computing power (this system has already been deployed and is fully subscribed for the next three months).
Second, Stampede adds new, innovative technologies: highly parallel Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors are currently being evaluated and are expected to contribute to a combined peak performance of 10 petaflops for the integrated system. Stampede is the largest installation of Intel's new Xeon Phi coprocessors.
"We at NSF are gratified to fund such a powerful combination of systems and services. The technological capacity is important; but even more important is that the scientific community--those on the frontlines of cutting edge, multidisciplinary research to address society's greatest challenges-have the resources necessary to push the frontiers of science and engineering," said NSF Program Director Irene Qualters.
Researchers from any U.S. open science institution can apply to use Stampede. The system annually will support more than a thousand projects in computational and data-driven science and engineering from across the United States. Its design efficiently supports a large, diverse workload accommodating the needs of large- and small-scale simulations, visualizations and new forms of data-intensive science.
"Stampede has been designed to support a large, diverse research community. We are as excited about Stampede's comprehensive capabilities and its high usability as we are of its tremendous performance," said TACC Director Jay Boisseau. "Stampede will lead the way to major advances in all fields of science and engineering. It's an honor to be at this intersection of advanced computing technologies and world-class science, and we thank NSF, Dell, and Intel for their roles in helping TACC design, deploy, and operate Stampede."
Stampede is one of two NSF-supported, supercomputing systems formally declared available for use this week. The other, Blue Waters, will be dedicated tomorrow at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. These two significant projects, now entering full deployment, are part of NSF's comprehensive strategy for advanced computing infrastructure to facilitate transformative foundational research in computational and data-intensive science and engineering across all disciplines.
What follows are a few examples of the exciting and promising early research on Stampede:
Seismic Hazard Mapping--Researchers from the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) are using Stampede to predict the frequency of damaging earthquakes in California for the latest Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERT3). "We do a lot of HPC calculations, but it's rare that any of them have this level of potential impact," said SCEC's Thomas Jordan. UCERT3 forecasts the probability of all earthquakes throughout a region and over a specified time span for incorporation into the U.S. Geological Survey's National Seismic Hazard Maps, which are used to set building codes and insurance rates.
Ice Sheet Modeling to Study Climate Change--The melting of the ice sheets of Antarctica has the potential to raise sea levels significantly. In fact, if all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). Omar Ghattas and his team at the UT Austin are using Stampede to better understand and represent the flow of ice from Antarctica using numerical models.
Improving the Imaging Quality of Brain Tumors--Surgeons want to know how aggressive a tumor is, and the degree of tissue infiltration surrounding the tumor, to be able to plan for surgery, radiotherapy and other treatment options. George Biros at UT Austin is using Stampede to improve the quality of brain tumor imaging so surgeons can make better-informed decisions about treatment options.
Carbon Dioxide Capture and Conversion--The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Alexie Kolpak is using Stampede to design a new class of nanomaterials and to observe how they perform in real world applications, including solving energy problems.
###
-NSF-
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NSF-supported Stampede opens the gates of advanced computation to thousands of research teamsPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lisa-Joy Zgorski lisajoy@nsf.gov 703-292-8311 National Science Foundation
Stampede empowers researchers to tackle diverse science and engineering challenges
A National Science Foundation-supported, world-class supercomputer called Stampede--which has already enabled research teams to predict where and when earthquakes may strike, how much sea levels could rise and how fast brain tumors grow--was officially dedicated today.
The ceremony, held at the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and attended by corporate, government, and university leaders, formally introduced Stampede to the open science community.
Stampede is a cornerstone of NSF's investment in an integrated advanced cyberinfrastructure, which empowers America's scientists and engineers to interactively share advanced computational resources, data and expertise in order to further research across scientific disciplines. Stampede is now the most powerful and capable of the 16 high-performance computing, visualization and data analysis resources within the NSF Extreme Digital (XD) environment.
"Cyberinfrastructure has increasingly become a critical component of the science and engineering enterprise and is essential to accelerating the pace of discovery and innovation in all fields of inquiry," said Farnam Jahanian, head of NSF's Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
"Stampede is an important part of NSF's portfolio for advanced computing infrastructure enabling cutting-edge foundational research for computational and data-intensive science and engineering. Society's ability to address today's global challenges depends on advancing cyberinfrastructure."
Joining Jahanian in dedicating Stampede were UT Austin President Bill Powers, Dell Enterprise Solutions President Marius Haas, Intel Vice President Diane Bryant, U.S. House Science Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, and TACC Director Jay Boisseau, who is also the leader of the Stampede project.
Stampede expands the variety of data-intensive, computationally-challenging science and engineering applications that can be used with current national resources. It accommodates large-scale simulations that produce more accurate results.
Stampede's performance derives from two complementary processor technologies: First, a massive Dell cluster with Intel Xeon E5 processors provides a peak of 2.2 petaflops of computing power (this system has already been deployed and is fully subscribed for the next three months).
Second, Stampede adds new, innovative technologies: highly parallel Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors are currently being evaluated and are expected to contribute to a combined peak performance of 10 petaflops for the integrated system. Stampede is the largest installation of Intel's new Xeon Phi coprocessors.
"We at NSF are gratified to fund such a powerful combination of systems and services. The technological capacity is important; but even more important is that the scientific community--those on the frontlines of cutting edge, multidisciplinary research to address society's greatest challenges-have the resources necessary to push the frontiers of science and engineering," said NSF Program Director Irene Qualters.
Researchers from any U.S. open science institution can apply to use Stampede. The system annually will support more than a thousand projects in computational and data-driven science and engineering from across the United States. Its design efficiently supports a large, diverse workload accommodating the needs of large- and small-scale simulations, visualizations and new forms of data-intensive science.
"Stampede has been designed to support a large, diverse research community. We are as excited about Stampede's comprehensive capabilities and its high usability as we are of its tremendous performance," said TACC Director Jay Boisseau. "Stampede will lead the way to major advances in all fields of science and engineering. It's an honor to be at this intersection of advanced computing technologies and world-class science, and we thank NSF, Dell, and Intel for their roles in helping TACC design, deploy, and operate Stampede."
Stampede is one of two NSF-supported, supercomputing systems formally declared available for use this week. The other, Blue Waters, will be dedicated tomorrow at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. These two significant projects, now entering full deployment, are part of NSF's comprehensive strategy for advanced computing infrastructure to facilitate transformative foundational research in computational and data-intensive science and engineering across all disciplines.
What follows are a few examples of the exciting and promising early research on Stampede:
Seismic Hazard Mapping--Researchers from the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) are using Stampede to predict the frequency of damaging earthquakes in California for the latest Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERT3). "We do a lot of HPC calculations, but it's rare that any of them have this level of potential impact," said SCEC's Thomas Jordan. UCERT3 forecasts the probability of all earthquakes throughout a region and over a specified time span for incorporation into the U.S. Geological Survey's National Seismic Hazard Maps, which are used to set building codes and insurance rates.
Ice Sheet Modeling to Study Climate Change--The melting of the ice sheets of Antarctica has the potential to raise sea levels significantly. In fact, if all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). Omar Ghattas and his team at the UT Austin are using Stampede to better understand and represent the flow of ice from Antarctica using numerical models.
Improving the Imaging Quality of Brain Tumors--Surgeons want to know how aggressive a tumor is, and the degree of tissue infiltration surrounding the tumor, to be able to plan for surgery, radiotherapy and other treatment options. George Biros at UT Austin is using Stampede to improve the quality of brain tumor imaging so surgeons can make better-informed decisions about treatment options.
Carbon Dioxide Capture and Conversion--The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Alexie Kolpak is using Stampede to design a new class of nanomaterials and to observe how they perform in real world applications, including solving energy problems.
###
-NSF-
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Is it "the biggest cyberattack in history"? Or just routine flak that network-security providers face all the time?
News websites across the Western world proclaimed Internet Armageddon today (March 27), largely due to a New York Times story detailing a "squabble" between the spam-fighting vigilantes at Spamhaus and the dodgy Dutch Web-hosting company Cyberbunker.
"Fight Jams Internet," the Times headline said. "Global Internet slows," the BBC proclaimed in the wake of the Times' story. Both websites alleged that Netflix streaming was slowing down as a result.
The reality is less exciting, though still serious. The Internet disruptions, which were centered in Western Europe, appear to be largely over, and were largely unnoticed even when occurring.
But, if anything, the incident may prompt a fix for a basic security flaw in the Domain Name System that serves as one of the underpinnings of the Internet.
"Despite the work that has gone into making the Internet extremely resilient, these attacks underscore the fact that there are still some aspects of it that are relatively fragile," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at San Francisco-based network-security provider nCircle.
Too much information
Cyberbunker appears to be behind a massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that first tried to first take down Spamhaus, then Spamhaus' network-reliability provider CloudFlare, and finally this past Saturday (March 23) hit CloudFlare's own bandwidth providers in Europe.
Boston-based Akamai Networks told the Times, and Spamhaus told the BBC, that the last round of attacks peaked at 300 gigabits per second, possibly the largest amount of bandwidth ever recorded during a DDoS attack.
According to a CloudFlare blog posting, the attack was launched on March 18 and immediately involved a tactic called DNS amplification, in which unprotected Domain Name System (DNS) servers are used to flood targeted servers with huge amounts of useless information, tying up bandwidth and processing time.
The attacks increased in volume during the week, finally peaking on Saturday when, according to CloudFlare, half of the infrastructure on the London Internet Exchange, an Internet node connecting several large-scale networks, was tied up by the attack. (CloudFlare is based in Palo Alto, Calif., but runs a global network.)
DNS servers are essentially the phone books of the Internet. Every Internet-connected device, from your computer to your smartphone, uses them to match a website address that humans use, such as "www.technewsdaily.com," with an Internet Protocol address that computers and routers use, such as "207.86.128.60."
DNS servers are essential, yet many remain "open," which means they will accept lookup requests from anyone, not just their specified clients.
Attackers make lookup requests using the IP addresses of their targets, then request tons of information, which ends up flooding the targeted servers with huge amounts of DNS information.
[5 (Probably) American Cyberweapons]
Did two wrongs make a bigger wrong?
Spamhaus, a group of related companies based in London and Geneva, was started in 1998 to track and combat email spam and spammers. It maintains a blacklist of Web-hosting companies known to host spammers, and a whitelist of known "clean" Web hosts.
Both lists are used by Internet service providers around the world, and Spamhaus is partly responsible for the huge drop in email spam in recent years.
Some Web-hosting companies have complained they've been unfairly placed on the Spamhaus blacklist. Spammers have launched DDoS attacks against Spamhaus' website and servers. (There's even a "Stophaus" website based in Russia and dedicated to combating what it calls Spamhaus' "underhanded extortion tactics.")
It appears Cyberbunker has both complained and attacked.
Cyberbunker bases its operations in a decommissioned NATO bunker, built to withstand a nuclear war, in the southern Netherlands. The company was founded in 1998 by a group of hackers who proclaimed the "Republic of Cyberbunker," a sovereign state "surrounded by the Netherlands on all borders."
The company pledges not to ask questions about what its clients are up to.
"In most cases we have no idea as to who or where our customers actually are," the Cyberbunker site proclaims. "Customers are allowed to host any content they like, except child porn and anything related to terrorism. Everything else is fine."
Such a policy has attracted some unsavory clients, including the file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, and, according to Spamhaus, the cybercrime gang known as the Russian Business Network. Cyberbunker also claims to have been raided by a Dutch police SWAT team, which apparently found nothing incriminating on the premises.
It was Cyberbunker's alleged hosting of spammers that caused Spamhaus to place both Cyberbunker and its ISP on the Spamhaus blacklist in the fall of 2011.
As a result, Cyberbunker's ISP dropped it as a client, but both the ISP and Cyberbunker posted long manifestos about why Spamhaus was evil.
The issue seems to have lain dormant until March 18, when a false Anonymous campaign called "Operation Stophaus" was proclaimed on the online bulletin board Pastebin.
It listed a litany of complaints against the "tax-circumventing self-declared Internet terrorists" of Spamhaus, then added a variant of the Anonymous "We Are Legion" tagline.
That posting may have been cover for the DDoS attacks that began the same day. In a statement to the New York Times, Sven Olaf Kamphuis, who claimed to speak for Cyberbunker, and whose Google+ page gives his residence as "Republic Cyberbunker," affirmed that the Dutch hosting company was behind the attacks.
"Nobody ever deputized Spamhaus to determine what goes and does not go on the Internet," Kamphuis told the newspaper. "They worked themselves into that position by pretending to fight spam."
It's hard to see how such an attack can be legally justified. The Netherlands has famously lax laws governing the Internet and other digital communications, but odds are Cyberbunker will be facing another SWAT raid very soon.
Fixing a hole
For his blog posting, CloudFlare's Matthew Prince used the headline "The DDoS That Almost Broke the Internet." That's not entirely accurate, since the problems were rather localized.
However, the attack may prompt an overhaul of the DNS system. Prince and others have been vocal about the need to lock down most or all DNS servers so they no longer respond to lookup requests from anyone.
That move would go against the model of openness and accessibility that's guided the Internet for 40 years. The idea has always been that any Internet-connected device can reach any other using any path, and open DNS servers are essential to that model.
But the problem of DNS-amplified attacks has been growing exponentially in just the past few months.
The ongoing attacks against U.S. bank websites which began last September use the tactic, and have reached 100 Gbps at times.
If this week's unrelated attacks truly did hit 300 Gbps, the end to the open-DNS server model may be inevitable.
This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow Paul Wagenseil?@snd_wagenseil. Follow us?@TechNewsDaily,?Facebook?or?Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A Hindu devotee, face smeared with colored powder, leaves the Banke Bihari temple during Holi celebrations in Vrindavan, India, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors that also ... more?A Hindu devotee, face smeared with colored powder, leaves the Banke Bihari temple during Holi celebrations in Vrindavan, India, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors that also marks the advent of spring, is being celebrated across the country Wednesday. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) less?
(NaturalNews) Oligosaccharides from apples killed up to 46 percent of human colon cancer cells in vitro, and outperformed the most commonly used chemo drug by a wide margin at every dose level tested. And unlike toxic chemo drugs, oligosaccharides are natural, health-promoting compounds widely present in fruits and vegetables.Colon cancer is currently the second leading cause of cancer-related death for women worldwide, and the third leading cause for men. The standard-of-care chemo drug used for colon cancer has seen limited success, and can have serious side effects such as coronary spasm, neurotoxicity, anemia, and immunosuppression. Researchers focused on apples as a natural means for treating and preventing colon cancer because they are the most widely consumed fruit in many countries, and have already demonstrated activity against breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, and colon cancer. Apple oligosaccharides were used in this study because their anti-cancer properties have been established in previous studies, and they can be cheaply derived from apple pomace - a widely available waste product left over from the apple juice processing industry.University researchers in Xi'an, China isolated polysaccharides (pectin and other fibers) from apple pomace and treated them with natural pectinase to break down their molecules into smaller oligosaccharides (which have only three to ten sugar units per molecule). The oligosaccharides were then added to cultured human HT29 colon cancer cells at various concentrations, and compared with the most commonly used chemo drug for colon cancer.
For every concentration tested, the oligosaccharides outperformed the chemo drug at inducing programmed cell death (apoptosis). For example, at just 0.9 micrograms per mL (about 0.9 PPM), oligosaccharides killed 17.6 percent of the colon cancer cells after 36 hours, while the chemo drug killed only 10.9 percent (at a higher concentration of 1.3 micrograms per mL). More importantly, because the apple oligosaccharides are non-toxic to healthy cells, they can be used at higher concentrations than possible with the chemo drug. At 9.0 PPM, the oligosaccharides killed 46 percent of the colon cancer cells (the chemo drug was not tested at this level).
Oligosaccharides have been gaining increasing attention recently as general health-promoting functional foods, and are probably used to enrich several foods you already eat (i.e. as fructo-oligosaccharides). They have been found in studies to promote healthy intestinal flora, control blood sugar, and modulate the immune system. Oligosaccharides occur naturally in many plants (fruits, vegetables and algae) as well as in honey and milk. They can also be formed by breaking down the fruit's more complex carbohydrates (i.e. pectin) by pectolytic enzymes, as was done by the researchers in this study. To some extent, this reaction may also occur when eating the raw fruit, since apples naturally contain about 1.5 percent pectin as well as the pectinase enzyme. However, it should be noted that most commercially processed apple juice contains virtually no pectin or active enzymes, and also contains only about 10 percent of the health-giving polyphenols compared to raw apples. As usual, eating raw and fresh is far healthier than consuming the processed version.
This new study adds further evidence to the health-promoting effects of apples and the potent anti-cancer effects of their oligosaccharides, even at low concentrations. The fact that these oligosaccharides can be derived from a widely available waste product of the apple juice industry (about four million tons of pomace are produced annually) offers promise for a low-cost natural medicine in the future.
About the author: Ethan Evers is author of the award-winning medical thriller "The Eden Prescription," in which cutting-edge researchers perfect an effective, all-natural treatment for cancer, only to be hunted down by pharmaceutical interests which will stop at nothing to protect their $80 billion cancer drug cash machine. The Eden Prescription is based on the latest science and draws on real historical events stretching back to the beginning of the "War on Cancer." Ethan has a PhD in Applied Science.
The Eden Prescription is available on amazon: www.amazon.com/Eden-Prescription-cancer-what-think/dp/1439276552/ Follow Ethan on Facebook for the latest breakthroughs and news on natural medicine for cancer: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Eden-Prescription/130965870291786 For more information: www.edenprescription.com
Developers who spend time to make apps that look great on a tablet get a shout-out from Google on a new page at the Google Play site.
Google has put up a page at Google Play that focuses on apps designed with a tablet in mind. Android doesn't require applications to be specifically written for Android, instead opting to allow developers to use UI elements like fragments to better utilize screen real estate on any device. But the truth of the matter is, most app developers aren't doing it. Hopefully, a chance to get featured by Google will jump start a bit more development in this area.
We're not saying it's easy to make one app work across all devices, because it's not. Google provides a good toolbox for it, and they have outreach programs for developers, but it still takes time and work to make you app look great on both a phone and a tablet. While Android is the market leader for smart phones, their tablet sales fall to a distant third behind Apple and Amazon. It makes sense for developers to focus on an app designed to look great on a smaller screen before he or she starts worrying about tablet-sized screens and the new challenges they bring.
Anyhoo, it's nice to see Google give props to a handful (there's 116 apps featured) of applications that are awesome on your tablet, and we hope this list grows and grows. To check them out for yourself, just follow the link below.
Ferrofluids are liquids that become super magnetized when they're in contact with a magnetic field. Ferrocious is a ferrofluid sculpture that uses the hyper-magnetic material respond to sound, like a high-tech musical lava lamp. More »
It sure does make for annoying headlines; but 'nanotechnology' is sort of a concept that is doomed by nature to be spread vacuously thin across all sorts of things, both incremental advances and more remarkable stuff.
There probably a material in existence whose bulk properties don't derive from its structure at a fine scale, so the entire history of fields like metallurgy is 'nanotechnology' in a weak sense. On the other hand, though, most of that history, even to the present for economically viable bulk production, is largely messing around with heating and cooling parameters, and throwing various trace impurities into the mix, and then hoping really hard that the right nanoscale structures self-assemble.
The real problem is deciding where to draw the line between 'yeah, it's "nanotech" in the vacuous sense that all materials engineering is' and 'actually "nanotech" in some sense that makes it worthy of the title'...
Chris Brown wants to say goodbye to the past. Stopping by "On Air With Ryan Seacrest," ?the "Look At Me Now" crooner talked candidly about the current status of his relationship with Rihanna, whether they've been able to move on after he assaulted her four years ago, and his own view of his bad behavior.
When asked by Ryan Seacrest whether he ever thought Ri-Ri would forgive him the way that she did, the 23-year-old Brown admitted he "didn't know," but he's been making amends for the incident ever since.
"I just tried my best to be the best man I could be over the years and just show her how remorseful and sorry I was for the incident and that time was probably the worst part of my life and being that she has and she's a wonderful person I'm eternally grateful and thankful," the entertainer told the American Idol host on his radio show.?
Jennifer Lopez and Chris Brown get together in the studio
As for how they're getting on now, Breezy added: "It's still like we're kids. I try not to be too grown and be like, 'Lets have candlelight dinner every night.' I try to make sure everything is fun. It has to be fun and it has to be genuine."
The singer also acknowledged the challenge he continues to face in winning fans back that abandoned him after his domestic violence rap.
"People are entitled to their opinions. I can't go around blaming. It's all about my responsibility and me growing up as a man," he said. "So I think now that I'm becoming older, and trying to mature in this life under the public eye at all times, I have to focus on doing the right thing and being more of a humble individual."
When Ryan wondered what lesson he learned from that tough time, Brown replied, "that you can lose it all."
Watch Chris Brown's lawyer addresses probation hearing
"And I'm not just saying fame or stardom because that's not what it's about. I'm talking about dignity (and) integrity. You know, you lose yourself in a way."
While he admitted he learned -- and is still learning -- from his mistakes, the R&B star was quick not to blame the beatdown on his relative youth (he was still a teenager at the time it happened).
"I think for me that at age 18, 19, I was capable of writing and producing songs, so I'm also capable of making the right choices," noted Brown. "Being at that young age, I can tell you I was arrogant and definitely hotheaded. Everybody has a temper, but for me it was not knowing how to control it when I thought I had the world in my hands."
Chris Brown's valet fight: Insider the dispute over $10 parking fee
The "F.A.M.E." artist also elaborated on the altercation he got into with a valet the other day over a $10 parking fee, saying that he had given the valet a $100 and the man came back and demanded more money.
Chris said next time: "I've got to just shut up and be like, 'Security go get the keys!' I'll be by the car."
On the business side of things, Brown -- who appeared on the show to promote his new single, "Fine China," which drops in April -- also revealed he's currently working on a collaboration with Jennifer Lopez, whom he hopes to feature on his new album.
To hear the singer's full interview with Seacrest, click here.
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel has fully reopened the Gaza border crossings that were closed following militant rocket fire during President Barack Obama's visit to the region last week.
The rockets fired into a southern Israeli city had caused damage but no injuries. The attack prompted Israel to close its only border crossing for commercial goods with the coastal territory and to restrict its only civilian crossing to humanitarian cases only. It also limited the stretch of the sea where Gaza fishermen were allowed to fish.
The Israeli military said Thursday it has reopened the commercial crossing and is now allowing Palestinians with entry permits to cross into Israel through the civilian crossing. It says the fishing restrictions were still in place.
Israel has imposed restrictions on Gaza for breaches of a November truce.
The Epic 4G Touch is getting its Jelly Bean today, courtesy of Sprint. Don't bother looking in system settings for a notification, as this one is only available through Kies due to its large size. Sprint is not listing any specific changes on its update page, but this update to build GB27 should bring with it the usual Jelly Bean goodies like Google Now and Project Butter.
Hit the forums for more discussion about what's new and improved, or for help updating using the Kies method.
Source: Sprint; Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
According to General Manager Peter Mansourian, the facility combines both the flexibility of apartment living with the amenities of an adjacent five-star hotel, offering a cost effective package for visitors and residents alike.
"Both business and leisure travelers are increasingly expecting more from their accommodation, and the full refurbishment of our apartments will give us a competitive advantage in the market," he said, pointing out the options included 81 one-bedroom, 37 two-bedroom and 20 studio apartments.
In addition, new food and beverage attractions at the Grand Millennium Dubai will be highlighted on the hotel's stand at ATM as the property widens its culinary reach with "EXIT36" Arabic restaurant the hotel's latest addition.
Outside catering for corporate and private functions is also one of the services that the Grand Millennium Dubai is expanding on "With more hotels opening up in Dubai, we ensure that we constantly strive to deliver best practice which is reflected in every aspect of our operation" said Mr. Mansourian.
Located just off the Sheikh Zayed Road, the Grand Millennium is conveniently accessible from the Mall of the Emirates and the Ibn Battuta Mall, as well as within easy reach of the city's prime business and leisure attraction including the beach and golf courses. The 343-room five star hotel features a range of award-winning restaurants and bars, a beautiful rooftop pool, superb spa and health club with nine-treatment rooms, state-of-the-art meeting rooms, a magnificent ballroom and exceptional banquet facilities.
NVIDIA has a long history of pairing up with game developers to make games that look great on devices running its chipsets, and there's no better way to show it off than with an RPG. Ravensword: Shadowlands is a follow-up to the original Ravensword: The Fallen King, and surely doesn't disappoint in the gameplay or graphics departments.
Hang around with us after the break to learn a little more about Ravensword: Shadowlands, the latest RPG (Role Playing Game) to hit TegraZone.
Ted Danson's daughter Kate will star as a lawyer on an April 3 episode, the actress said. According to one report, Ted Danson's daughter will encounter the 'CSI' team after the group finds a serial killer.
By Molly Driscoll,?Staff Writer / March 25, 2013
Ted Danson (l.)'s daughter Kate (r.) will appear in an April episode of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.'
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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Ted Danson?s daughter Kate will appear on an episode of her father?s show ?CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,? this April.
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According to Kate Danson, she plays a lawyer who goes up against the CSI team when they?ve made a misstep. A Hollywood Gossip report stated that the incident occurs after a body is found in a rainforest and the team goes to a serial killer?s hideout.
?I was really fortunate to get to work with him on CSI,? she told WENN,??It was so much fun. We never worked together like that. We did a short film together but nothing professional until now, so it was really great going head to head with him? I come pretty hard at my dad and dig into him, which was a lot of fun to play.?
Her episode will air April 3, the actress said.
?I'm hoping it will be a recurring character,? she said.
As previously reported, ?CSI? was recently renewed by its network, CBS, for another season and Danson is signed on for another two years.?
Kate Danson is credited as appearing in the 1989 movie ?Cousins,? which starred her father as a wedding guest named Larry and for which Kate Danson is cryptically credited as ?Wedding Killer Listener.? The actress has also guested on shows such as the 2008 TV series ?Raising the Bar? and the show ?The Protector? as well as the 2010 short film ?The Dinner Party.? She appeared with her stepmother, actress Mary Steenburgen, in a 2011 comedy short titled ?Keepin? It Real Estate? and stars in a short film titled ?Three Forms of Insomnia.?
Danson joined ?CSI? in 2011 and stars as D.B. Russell, a night shift supervisor. The actor was nominated for and won multiple awards for his role as bar owner Sam Malone on the TV series ?Cheers? and for his guest turn on the FX series ?Damages,? respectively.
Subtlety can't always avert controversy. That leaked build of Windows Blue is a case in point: it suggests a relatively incremental update to Windows 8, yet some of its revelations are already causing quite a stir. Neowin now reports that Internet Explorer 11, as contained within the leaked build, identifies itself to host websites as "Mozilla... like Gecko." Confusing, right? Perhaps, but it's not really as underhand as it sounds, as you can see from the full line of code in the picture above.
The program still identifies itself (in brackets) as IE 11, but it forgoes Microsoft's older identifier ("MSIE") and simply describes itself as being a browser that renders HTML in a similar way to Firefox's Gecko layout engine. Neowin speculates that the reason for this could be to start afresh: by confusing host websites with a new identifier, IE 11 might avoid having legacy CSS code thrown at it, dating back to the bad old days when web designers had to give Internet Explorer special treatment. It's also been suggested that this could cause problems for business apps that genuinely rely on legacy CSS code -- although it's worth remembering that we're not looking at a final release here, and none of us (ahem) are even meant to be using it.
Google has removed several ad-blocking apps from Google Play this afternoon, and sent letters to the developers explaining that they were breaking one of the rules. Section 4.4 of the Play store developer distribution agreement says:
You agree that you will not engage in any activity with the Market, including the development or distribution of Products, that interferes with, disrupts, damages, or accesses in an unauthorized manner the devices, servers, networks, or other properties or services of any third party including, but not limited to, Android users, Google or any mobile network operator. You may not use customer information obtained from the Market to sell or distribute Products outside of the Market.
While technically these apps do interfere with the normal way other apps operate, we all know that Google makes money from ads. At some level that has to come into play, and it's no surprise that Google would want ad-blocking software to disappear from their official marketplace. It sucks, but it is their store to run how they please, and whether it be Nazi themes or ad blockers, if they don't like it they are allowed to remove it.
But we don't have to stop using them. A big draw of Android is the ability to sideload apps without rooting or any fancy trickery. Hopefully, the affected developers will find somewhere safe and trustworthy to host their apps for download, and things can continue just like they are now. The full text of the letter sent to developers is after the break.
Mar. 12, 2013 ? An analysis of data from the Framingham Offspring Study -- a long-term study that follows children of participants in the original Framingham Heart Study -- may have answered a question that has troubled individuals considering stopping smoking: do the health effects of any weight gained after quitting outweigh the known cardiovascular benefits of smoking cessation? The report in the March 13 issue of JAMA concludes that the benefits of stopping smoking far exceed any weight-gain associated risk.
"Among people without diabetes, those who stopped smoking had a 50 percent reduction in the risk for heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death, and accounting for any weight increase didn't change that risk reduction," says James Meigs, MD, MPH, of the General Medicine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) senior author of the JAMA report. "In patients with diabetes -- among whom weight gain is a particular concern -- we saw the same pattern of a large risk reduction regardless of weight gained."
No study has previously investigated whether smoking-cessation-associated weight gain increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. One did look at the effects on risk factors such as blood pressure and lipid levels, but none have analyzed the actual occurence of cardiovascular events. Participants in the Framingham Offspring Study, which began in 1971, have a comprehensive medical exam and history taken every four to six years. The current investigation analyzed data from participant visits conducted from the mid 1980s into the mid-2000s, which covering the third to eighth visits for the overall study. The number of participants at each exam cycle ranged from almost 2,400 to about 3,250, totalling 11,148 individual person-exams.
Based on information gathered at each exam, participants were categorized as never smokers, current smokers, recent quitters -- who had stopped smoking since their last exam -- and long-term quitters. At the third study visit, 31 percent of participants were current smokers, and by the eighth visit only 13 percent continued to smoke. A general trend toward weight gain was seen across all study participants. Smokers, never smokers, and long-term quitters gained an average of 1 to 2 pounds between study visits, while recent quitters had gained an average of 5 to 10 pounds since their previous visit. But no matter how much weight they gained, the risk of cardiovascular events in the six years after quitting dropped in half for participants without diabetes. A similar drop in the incidence of cardiovascular events was seen in participants with diabetes, but it did not reach statistical significance, probably because less than 15 percent of the overall group was know to have diabetes.
"We now can say without question that stopping smoking has a very positive effect on cardiovascular risk for patients with and without diabetes, even if they experience the moderate weight gain seen in this study, which matches post-cessation weight increase reported in other studies," says Meigs, an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts General Hospital.
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Journal Reference:
Carole Clair et al. Association of Smoking Cessation and Weight Change With Cardiovascular Disease Among Adults With and Without Diabetes. JAMA, 2013 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2013.1644
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
The NFL's free agent frenzy began Tuesday, with Mike Wallace, Paul Kruger and Dannell Ellerbe among the big names to switch teams for big paychecks.
Several other stars, including Nnamdi Asomugha, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Antoine Winfield, are looking for jobs after they were cut in cost-saving moves on a busy opening day of free agency.
The Baltimore Ravens are paying the price for winning a Super Bowl. The NFL champions lost two key components of their defense in Kruger and Ellerbe. On Monday, they traded star receiver Anquan Boldin, a key to their title run, to San Francisco ? the team the Ravens beat 34-31 to win the championship.
Kruger went north to division rival Cleveland for a five-year, $40 million deal, while Ellerbe headed south to Miami for $35 million over five years. Wallace, a former Steelers star receiver, joined Ellerbe in choosing the Dolphins.
"He has a unique skill set which we believe will be a welcome addition to our offense," general manager Jeff Ireland said of Wallace in a statement.
Baltimore did sign free agent defensive end Chris Canty, who spent the previous four seasons with the New York Giants.
The 49ers didn't go untouched, either. After giving up a sixth-round draft pick for Boldin, they saw tight end Delanie Walker leave for Tennessee.
San Francisco also confirmed the trade of backup quarterback Alex Smith to Kansas City, a deal that was known for weeks. The 49ers will receive the Chiefs' second-round pick, 34th overall, in this year's draft and a conditional pick in next year's draft.
The 32-year-old Boldin expressed surprise that he was traded.
"I thought this was the last stop of my career but regardless of the circumstances I came here to win a Championship ... and in February we came home Champions," he said on Twitter.
Ellerbe also tweeted as he moved on to the Dolphins.
"Just wanna take time to THANK GOD for being in this position I'm in! Before I make da BIGGEST DECISION in my life I just wanna thank him!!!" Ellerbe said.
Kruger led the Ravens with nine sacks and added 2? in the playoffs and two in the Super Bowl. But he was too expensive for Baltimore to keep.
Wallace will give Miami the speedy receiver it has sought after getting just three touchdown catches from its wideouts last season. The Dolphins also re-signed free safety Chris Clemons to a one-year deal.
Denver ensured that Peyton Manning will be the Broncos' quarterback through at least 2014.
The four-time MVP's contract called for a guaranteed salary of $20 million in 2013 and 2014 if he was on the Denver roster Tuesday. The final two years of his contract are worth $19 million each, but are not guaranteed.
Coming off multiple neck operations, Manning threw for 4,659 yards and 37 touchdowns last season and was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He turns 37 on March 24.
Kansas City was busy finding support for Smith on both sides of the ball. The Chiefs agreed to a four-year, $16 million deal with tight end Anthony Fasano, a three-year, $12.6 million contract with defensive tackle Mike DeVito, and a three-year deal with Saints backup quarterback Chase Daniel.
Fitzpatrick, the Bills' starting quarterback, was released 1? years after getting a six-year, $59 million contract extension. Fitzpatrick struggled after signing the new deal, and the Bills went 6-10 in 2011 and in 2012.
Philadelphia released Asomugha, who two years ago got a five-year, $60 million contract with $24 million guaranteed when he left Oakland as a free agent. Asomugha was a flop in Philly, often victimized in single coverage.
Asomugha was scheduled to make $15 million next season, with $4 million guaranteed.
Earlier, Tony Gonzalez changed his mind and decided to return to the Falcons.
The NFL's career leader among tight ends with 1,242 receptions and 103 touchdowns said he was 95 percent certain he would retire after 2012, but the other 5 percent won out.
Hours before free agency began Tuesday, Gonzalez tweeted:
"The lure of being on such a great team and organization, along with unbelievable fan support was too good to pass up."
The Falcons also agreed to a six-year contract with left tackle Sam Baker, bringing back another key player on a team that came up just short of the Super Bowl.
Defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, both implicated in the Saints' bounty scandal, agreed to restructure their contracts to remain with New Orleans.
The 31-year-old Smith and 30-year-old Vilma, both veteran defensive captains, would have taken up about $23 million combined in salary cap space without the redone deals.
Minnesota finalized the trade of receiver Percy Harvin to Seattle, released 14-year veteran cornerback Winfield and re-signed right tackle Phil Loadholt. The Seahawks are sending their first-round and seventh-round draft picks this year plus their third-round selection in 2014 to the Vikings for Harvin.
Also Tuesday:
?Houston cut receiver Kevin Walter, who was due to make $2 million in salary. Walter never became the threat opposite Andre Johnson that the team hoped for. He caught 41 passes for 518 yards and two touchdowns in 2012. The Texans then lost tight end James Casey to Philadelphia.
?Tennessee agreed to terms with Buffalo guard Andy Levitre and Walker. Levitre, one of the top offensive linemen on the market, got a six-year deal worth nearly $47 million. He will replace Steve Hutchinson, who announced his retirement earlier Tuesday. Walker will help replace Jared Cook, whom the Titans declined to tag as a franchise player because he wants to be paid more like a receiver. Cook signed a five-year deal with St. Louis.
The Titans waived safety Jordan Babineaux and guard Mitch Petrus.
?Pittsburgh re-signed linebacker Larry Foote and wide receiver Plaxico Burress, and tendered offers to four restricted free agents: receiver Emmanuel Sanders, running backs Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman, all of whom could be starters in 2013, and nose tackle Steve McLendon.
?Denver agreed to terms with guard Louis Vasquez, late of San Diego. According to STATS, he has allowed just 11 sacks and had one penalty during his time with the Chargers.
?Tight end Martellus Bennett agreed to a four-year contract with the Bears, leaving the Giants after one season. Defensive tackle Henry Melton signed his franchise tag tender at $8.45 million, and the Bears agreed to a five-year contract with New Orleans Saints Pro Bowl left tackle Jermon Bushrod.
?Cincinnati re-signed defensive ends Robert Geathers and Wallace Gilberry.
?Carolina cut linebacker James Anderson, a seven-year veteran who set a franchise record in 2011 with 174 tackles.
?San Diego released 11-year veteran tight end Randy McMichael and signed kicker Nick Novak to a four-year contract. The Chargers also agreed to terms with tight end John Phillips and tackle King Dunlap.
?The New York Jets cut nose tackle Sione Po'uha and restructured the contracts of receiver Santonio Holmes and cornerback Antonio Cromartie.
? The Oakland Raiders cut ties with two former first-round picks by releasing starting receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and defensive back Michael Huff. The Raiders also cut defensive end Dave Tollefson and re-signed cornerback Phillip Adams to a one-year deal before the start of the league year.
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Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
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