Optimism growing on deal to avoid federal shutdown (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The endgame at hand, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders expressed optimism Thursday at prospects for swift compromise to extend Social Security tax cuts, keep long-term jobless benefits flowing and avoid a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday.

A third year-end bill, setting new rules for the handling of terror suspects in U.S. custody, was cleared for final passage.

"Right now, Congress needs to make sure that 160 million working Americans don't see their taxes go up on Jan. 1," said President Barack Obama, referring to the tax cut extension at the core of the jobs program he outlined in a nationally televised speech three months ago.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, the most powerful Republican in an era of divided government, agreed. "We can extend payroll tax relief for American workers, help create new jobs and keep the government running. And frankly, we can do it in a bipartisan way," he said.

The long-moribund job market, too, appeared to be on the mend. Government figures showed 366,000 applications for unemployment benefits were filed last week, the lowest number since the near-collapse of the financial system in 2008 and the brutal recession that followed.

In the Capitol, the previous day's bristling rhetoric and partisan jabs all but vanished.

Republicans agreed to consider changes to a $1 trillion spending bill compromise that they and at least one Democrat said had been wrapped up days ago. The White House said it wanted adjustments.

There were separate negotiations on legislation to extend the Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Democrats abandoned their demand for a surtax on million-dollar incomes that they wanted to include in the measure, removing a provision that Republicans strongly opposed.

"We hope that we can come up with something that would get us out of here at a reasonable time in the next few days," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

At a news conference, Boehner minimized the concession, noting that Democrats lacked the votes to impose the surtax a year ago when they commanded 60 votes in the Senate. Even so, he said, "there was some movement yesterday from the White House and Democrat leaders" toward a compromise.

Boehner also left open the possibility of a compromise on another key sticking point ? a House-passed provision that all but requires construction of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Construction "will put 20,000 people to work immediately And there are about 115,000 other jobs directly related to it," he said. Yet he skipped an opportunity to say construction of the project was a non-negotiable condition as talks on the payroll tax cut bill proceed.

Obama has threatened to veto the House-passed bill, in part citing the requirement for the pipeline. The project has been studied for more than three years, but the president recently announced he would put off a decision until after the 2012 elections.

Without an extension of the payroll tax cut, 160 million Americans will have smaller take home pay beginning on Jan. 1, a fact that the president and leaders of both parties stressed as they looked for compromise.

Obama asked Congress to extend and also to expand the payroll tax cut that took effect last Jan. 1 and is due to expire at the end of the year. The House-passed bill renews the current reduction for one year, and it was unclear whether a final compromise would go any further.

The president also wants to leave in place a system that provides aid for up to 99 weeks for the long-term unemployed. The House-passed measure reduces the total by 20 weeks, a step that the administration says would cut off 3.3 million individuals and that Democrats are hoping to soften if not reverse.

Also part of the negotiations was an attempt to head off a threatened 27 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients, an item added in the House to appeal to conservatives unhappy at extending the payroll tax cuts.

Reid indicated that a number of expiring tax breaks were on the table, as well, a list that included a provision that benefits commuters who use mass transit.

In a bow to deficit-conscious conservatives in the House, Obama and leaders in both parties have agreed to offset the cost of the measure to avoid raising deficits.

The White House and Democrats wanted to use the surtax on million-dollar income to finance most of the bill. But with that off the table, they were required to look elsewhere in talks with Republicans.

The House-passed measure relied on a pay freeze and increased pension contributions for federal workers, as well as higher Medicare premiums for seniors with incomes over $80,000, beginning in 2017. The bill would also would raise a fee that is charged to banks whose mortgages are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and cancel more than $40 billion from the year-old health care bill that is Obama's signature domestic achievement.

At about $1 trillion, the year-end spending measure would lock in cuts that Republicans extracted from Democrats in negotiations conducted months ago against the deadline of a previous government shutdown threat.

This time, the two sides reached an agreement days ago, according to Republicans and at least one Democrat, well ahead of the Friday midnight deadline. Somewhat belatedly, the White House and Reid insisted otherwise, and Republicans accused them of reneging on the deal to gain leverage in negotiations on the payroll tax bill.

In response to the Democrats, House Republicans threatened on Wednesday to repackage the measure and pass it. The leadership held the threat in abeyance while compromise negotiations took place.

The separate defense bill covered military personnel, weapons systems, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and more at a cost of $662 billion, $27 billion below Obama's request.

The main controversy revolved around a provision to require military custody for foreign terrorist suspects linked to al-Qaida or its affiliates and involved in plotting or attacking the United States. Under a change made to gain Obama's backing, the legislation would permit the FBI to arrest and interrogate foreign terror suspects, as is now the case.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Andrew Taylor contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_rdp

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NASA's RXTE detects 'heartbeat' of smallest black hole candidate

Friday, December 16, 2011

An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The evidence comes from a specific type of X-ray pattern, nicknamed a "heartbeat" because of its resemblance to an electrocardiogram. The pattern until now has been recorded in only one other black hole system.

Named IGR J17091-3624 after the astronomical coordinates of its sky position, the binary system combines a normal star with a black hole that may weigh less than three times the sun's mass. That is near the theoretical mass boundary where black holes become possible.

Gas from the normal star streams toward the black hole and forms a disk around it. Friction within the disk heats the gas to millions of degrees, which is hot enough to emit X-rays. Cyclical variations in the intensity of the X-rays observed reflect processes taking place within the gas disk. Scientists think that the most rapid changes occur near the black hole's event horizon, the point beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.

Astronomers first became aware of the binary system during an outburst in 2003. Archival data from various space missions show it becomes active every few years. Its most recent outburst started in February and is ongoing. The system is located in the direction of the constellation Scorpius, but its distance is not well established. It could be as close as 16,000 light-years or more than 65,000 light-years away.

The record-holder for wide-ranging X-ray variability is another black hole binary system named GRS 1915+105. This system is unique in displaying more than a dozen highly structured patterns, typically lasting between seconds and hours.

"We think that most of these patterns represent cycles of accumulation and ejection in an unstable disk, and we now see seven of them in IGR J17091," said Tomaso Belloni at Brera Observatory in Merate, Italy. "Identifying these signatures in a second black hole system is very exciting."

In GRS 1915, strong magnetic fields near the black hole's event horizon eject some of the gas into dual, oppositely directed jets that blast outward at about 98 percent the speed of light. The peak of its heartbeat emission corresponds to the emergence of the jet.

Changes in the X-ray spectrum observed by RXTE during each beat reveal that the innermost region of the disk emits enough radiation to push back the gas, creating a strong outward wind that stops the inward flow, briefly starving the black hole and shutting down the jet. This corresponds to the faintest emission. Eventually, the inner disk gets so bright and hot it essentially disintegrates and plunges toward the black hole, re-establishing the jet and beginning the cycle anew. This entire process happens in as little as 40 seconds.

While there is no direct evidence IGR J17091 possesses a particle jet, its heartbeat signature suggests that similar processes are at work. Researchers say that this system's heartbeat emission can be 20 times fainter than GRS 1915 and can cycle some eight times faster, in as little as five seconds.

Astronomers estimate that GRS 1915 is about 14 times the sun's mass, placing it among the most-massive-known black holes that have formed because of the collapse of a single star. The research team analyzed six months of RXTE observations to compare the two systems, concluding that IGR J17091 must possess a minuscule black hole.

"Just as the heart rate of a mouse is faster than an elephant's, the heartbeat signals from these black holes scale according to their masses," said Diego Altamirano, an astrophysicist at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands and lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Nov. 4 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The researchers say this analysis is just the start of a larger program to compare both of these black holes in detail using data from RXTE, NASA's Swift satellite and the European XMM-Newton observatory.

"Until this study, GRS 1915 was essentially a one-off, and there's only so much we can understand from a single example," said Tod Strohmayer, the project scientist for RXTE at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Now, with a second system exhibiting similar types of variability, we really can begin to test how well we understand what happens at the brink of a black hole."

Launched in late 1995, RXTE is second only to Hubble as the longest serving of NASA's operating astrophysics missions. RXTE provides a unique observing window into the extreme environments of neutron stars and black holes.

###

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center: http://www.nasa.gov/goddard

Thanks to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116101/NASA_s_RXTE_detects__heartbeat__of_smallest_black_hole_candidate

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Heat give coach Spoelstra new contract (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The Miami Heat have rewarded coach Erik Spoelstra with a contract extension, team president Pat Riley said Friday.

Spoelstra, Riley's hand-picked successor in 2008, coached the LeBron James-led Heat to the NBA Finals last season where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

"We have one of the great young coaches in the league," Riley told a news conference. "We wanted to extend him and keep him in the family and not have someone steal him away from us."

Contract details were not announced.

Spoelstra, 41, has compiled a 148-98 record in three seasons as Miami's coach. He led the Heat to the Eastern Conference championship and a 58-24 regular-season record in their first season with James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade playing together.

"He is somebody who is very innovative, he's not afraid to take some risks," Riley said. "It's paramount for him to develop a relationship, a real relationship, with his key guys, and he does that extremely well."

(Reporting By Gene Cherry in Salvo North Carolina; Editing by Steve Ginsburg)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/sp_nm/us_nba_heat_spoelstra

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Qualcomm's Gobi 3000 finds a home in HP laptops, delivers standard agnostic DataPass

Qualcomm's Gobi 3000 is already a big hit around these parts for its dual-mode CDMA and GSM radios, which makes staying connected much easier for serious globe trotters. Its no surprise then that HP chose that particular chip for its DataPass-enabled laptops which offer pay-as-you-go mobile broadband. For those that only need occasional access to 3G on the go or who cant stay in one country for more than a few weeks at a time DataPass and the flexible Gobi radio are a perfect match. Check out the PR after the break for a bit more of Qualcomm's gloating.

Continue reading Qualcomm's Gobi 3000 finds a home in HP laptops, delivers standard agnostic DataPass

Qualcomm's Gobi 3000 finds a home in HP laptops, delivers standard agnostic DataPass originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Lost One

Author's Note: This here was the first novel I ever wrote. It's completed and someone was nice enough to edit for me. I really would like some feedback. The beginning is always the hardest for me so I hope it grabs your interest enough to keep reading. This first chapter is my shortest one and I'll let ya'll know when there is a long chapter okay? Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I.

Chosen Path

There was a world that existed in a galaxy that thrived and coexisted with magic. It was called Serenai. It was lush with plants and filled with animals. A large number of majestic and mystical creatures roamed in this blissful utopia. Among the most treasured were the unicorns, they were guardians of every living thing. Everything was peaceful and just, and evil was not known there, until an evil force entered the galaxy and destroyed everything in its path. The world itself also became a victim to this force; therefore, the once peaceful and beautiful planet turned into a dangerous and barren wasteland. The wise and kind wizard, Drackor, who helped protect the land, managed to preserve a little bit of the world's beauty and saved most of the creatures. Unfortunately, he was not able to protect the unicorns, but the unicorns' fate was not all lost.

The rulers of the unicorns managed to save their only daughter's soul. Her name was Pristine. When the king and queen learned of their beloved daughter's death, they decided to use the legendary Crystal of Life in order to preserve Pristine's soul. However, in doing so their lives would be lost forever. Ignoring the risk, they used all their power to make sure that Pristine's soul was sent to the future where she would be reborn. They succeeded at the price of their own lives. But something else happened. During the process, Pristine's soul separated into two parts. One was her unicorn soul, and the other was her human soul. When both of Pristine's souls were reborn, it had been ten years since what came to be known as the Invasion. The human Pristine, having no memory of her identity or her past life, was born to a poor yet loving family. Evil had spread throughout the galaxy like a disease, but there was still good in different places.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so this story began in the year 1100, eighteen years after Pristine's reincarnation. Unlike her days as a unicorn when she was a care-free, spirited, and graceful young woman, Pristine was now melancholy, quiet, and withdrawn. She knew that she was different and felt that something was missing from her life. She only had one friend, a little girl named Kyra. The eight year-old was the complete opposite of Pristine. Where Pristine was shy, Kyra was outgoing. Pristine's figure was willowy and seemed fragile. Kyra's figure was slender and athletic. Pristine trusted her instincts whereas Kyra trusted her mind. Pristine was pale completed and her platinum blonde hair was nearly white. The only color on her face was her piercing, celestial blue eyes. Kyra held more color to her face with her peachy skin and pink cheeks. Her hair was dirty blonde and her eyes were hazel. Despite their differences, they both went together like two peas in a pod. They also knew of the evils around them, but never imagined how drastically it would turn their lives up-side down.

The day started out as any regular day. Chores had to be done, kids were playing, and everything else went on as usual. Pristine was outside near a stream washing her clothing. The clothes everyone wore very worn and old. The village depended on crops people grew, but even the crops weren't many because of the poor soil quality. Some of the people left the village to the closest town for work, which was a mining town. As Pristine did her chores, she heard laugher and sighed. The laughter was coming from a group of teenage boys who took pleasure out of teasing her. She was silently grateful that most of them would be leaving soon.

Most teens when they turn sixteen made the decision to stay or leave. Pristine had decided to stay. Had she been a normal teenage girl, she would have been married by now but there never been anyone who touched her heart that way and she felt she shouldn't try to love someone when she held no love for herself. Besides, most guys who saw her thought her to be too sickly because of her pale appearance. Pristine was glad her awkward teenage years were over though. After washing the clothes, Pristine place the wet clothes in a basket before taking it to a clothes line to be dried. As she was about to grab a shirt, she was grabbed by the wrist and hauled up. She turned to see the leader of that group of teenage boys, Hunter. Even though he was sixteen, he towered over her at five feet and ten inches and was muscular. Pristine feared him the most because she always felt he had anger issues.

"Hey Whitie, are you going to miss me when I am gone?" Hunter said as his menacing brown eyes glowed.

Pristine remained silent and averted eye contact. Whitie was the 'nickname' the boys called her.

"Look at me when I am talking to you!" Hunter shouted, using his other hand to force her face towards him.

Pristine still glanced the other way.

"Looks like she being stubborn again boss." laughed another voice.

"You're right Saul. You know I think it's about time we go somewhere and teach her some obedience." Hunter agreed.

Pristine shivered in fear. She wished her parents and the other adults would come back but they were out in the field gathering crops. Her mind was diverted when she was suddenly let go. She saw Hunter and doubled over as well as some of his friends.

"Take that!" a voice shouted as a young girl kicked another guy in his vulnerable area.

It turned out to be Kyra. She had come outside from cleaning her house to hear Hunter. She reacted without thinking and after she was done, she grabbed Pristine's hand and pulled her towards a nearby wooded area. Pristine was too surprised to say anything. They ran for a bit before stopping to catch their breath.

"Are you okay Pristine?" Kyra asked.

Pristine nodded.

"Sorry Kyra." she replied as she breathed out.

"It's not your fault they're creeps. I'll be happy when Hunter leaves."

"Me too. Kyra, I don't want to go back yet. I know I need to finish my chores, but . . ."

"It's okay Pristine. We'll walk for a bit."

As the girls walked they looked at their surroundings. They hardly ever saw anything green or alive. It seemed that evil sucked up all that was living. Even during spring and summer hardly anything bloomed. Winter would be approaching soon. Pristine and Kyra knew such places of life existed on Serenai. Every now and then a merchant would stop by and let the children and anyone else look at the books he brought and sometimes talked about the places he been to. Time slipped by and before either of the girls knew it, nearly an hour passed. As the two walked along, Pristine stopped and felt something was wrong. Kyra noticed Pristine's hesitation and looked to see fear in her eyes.

"What's wrong Pristine?" Kyra asked.

"Oh, I just had this terrible instinct that something is going to happen. Let's go back."

When they reached the village, everything laid in ruins. No one was in sight.

"Oh no! Tell me this is only a dream!" Kyra gasped as she trembled in horror.

Next to her, Pristine dropped to her knees. Evil permeated from everywhere and Pristine found herself short of breath. Seeing her friend's reaction, Kyra knelt down next to her hugged her.

"Who would do such a thing?" Pristine gasped suddenly, feeling numb all over.

While she felt so many emotions within her, she couldn't bring herself to cry. It was like a part of her was missing something. She was very frustrated that she could never express her feelings. It was often why many people misunderstood her. Even her parents, who were wonderful, couldn't quite understand why she never expressed herself. Because of this, Pristine never felt connected to this place; maybe that's why she could not grieve now. Pristine was still lost in thought when a large number of soldiers surrounded them. They looked like living nightmares in black armor. They also smelled of dead and rot.

"Who are these guys?" shrieked Kyra as she and Pristine huddled closer together.

"The men who obviously destroyed our village."

"Somebody help us! Please!"

All of the sudden, a bright light appeared, and just like that, all of the villains vanished! Pristine and Kyra covered their eyes when the light appeared. They opened them and the first thing they saw was an old man standing by a burned down hut. He had long white hair and beard. His different colored eyes were green and blue. Both Pristine and Kyra imagined he was a wizard because of the style of dress he wore and the staff he held. Both girls gazed in amazement. His garments were crimson red and had gold trimmings, he also carried a dagger at his side. Pristine was the first to recover from her shock.

"Excuse me sir, but who are you?" she finally asked.

The elderly man walked forward and smiled before saying, "Greetings, young ones. I am Drackor."

"The legendary Drackor? One of the most powerful wizards! The one who was able to place three protective barriers on our world?!" asked Kyra.

Who had not heard of Drackor? He was considered a legend in Serenai. It was said he was there when the world was created. He was the great teacher and confidant to the unicorns. Whenever there was a wedding or important event, Drackor was always there. But since the Invasion, not many saw him for the evil forces always searched for him. Drackor laughed after Kyra's response.

"Indeed I am he." he replied.

"Drackor? Do you know what happened to our parents and the other villagers?" asked Kyra.

"Don't worry Kyra and Pristine. I took them to safety."

The girls sighed before Kyra said, "Wait a minute! How do you know our names?"

"I have been watching this place and many others over the years. I know everything that goes around here and everywhere else."

That was partly true. He also made a vow to always watch over Pristine and he meant to keep it. As he kept glancing at Pristine, he saw a totally different Pristine from the one he once knew. He had seen she lived a hard life. He wished he could have helped her, but he knew he couldn't for he simply wasn't allowed to by the gods that governed this galaxy. He had been tempted to ask, but once an order was given he had to obey it. He was very relieved he could help her now.

"Excuse me, Drackor, but what do we do now?" asked Kyra, jilting Drackor out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I am sorry. I have an assignment for you two. I want you to find the lost unicorn princess."

"But weren't all the unicorns killed during the Invasion?"

"Don't you remember Kyra? The last time the merchant came through he said that not all the unicorns died. Somehow, the princess of the unicorns survived thanks to her parents. He said that her soul was preserved and she was born in this time." pointed out Pristine.

This was the first time she spoken since the conversation began. She had been a little intimidated by the wise sage. She felt power radiating from him. But she sensed his goodness and felt that she could trust him. Pristine had a way of knowing who to trust and who not to.

She turned to Drackor and asked, "Drackor, why do you want us to find the lost princess?"

"Because it is your destiny to find her."

"Well . . ."

"We'll do it!" interrupted Kyra.

Pristine looked at Kyra and saw the eagerness in her eyes. Kyra had always wanted to go on an adventure and this certainly would be one. Pristine took a deep breath. Deep down inside, she knew that she must do this.

"All right." Pristine nodded.

"Uh, Drackor? How do we begin?" asked Kyra.

"First, you two must go to the Kingdom of Grom."

"But, but, Drackor, Grom is many weeks away from here. It's impossible to reach it. We have to cross an ocean."

"Kyra is right sir. It would be considered treacherous to travel right now with winter almost here." Pristine added.

"Nothing is impossible!" shouted Drackor as he raised his staff.

There was a crack of thunder and the three of them vanished in a cloud of smoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing they knew, they were someplace else. They stood on a hillside overlooking a valley. Patches of green mixed with dull brown to signify the changing of seasons. In the distance, Pristine and Kyra saw a castle surrounded by houses.

"Wow! Where are we?" gasped Kyra.

"We are in the Kingdom of Grom." replied Drackor.

"It is beautiful." said Pristine.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Kyra.

"Follow this road we are on," indicated Drackor, "Then head for Grom Castle. The king there is good and will help you get started on your journey."

"Drackor, how do we get into the palace? Surely there will be guards there."

"When you reach the gate, just tell the guards there that I sent you to see the king."

"But sir, surely you know that the guards are not going to believe that a couple of commoners were sent by a wizard. They're going to want proof." pointed out Pristine.

"Hmm, you do have a point there."

He made a red sash appear in his hand.

"Here, take my sash as proof."

"Thank-you." replied Pristine as she took it.

"The sash also holds my emblem on it. Now, all you two need is . . ." said Drackor before waving his hand.

There on the road appeared two horses. One was white, and the other was golden brown.

"Oh! They're beautiful!" Kyra replied, amazed.

"Thank you for everything Drackor." thanked Pristine as she got on the white horse.

Both of them knew how to ride horses because their village used to be known for their horse farms, but since the Invasion, things went into decline.

"My pleasure, Pristine."

"Man, it's been a while since I rode a horse." commented Kyra.

Unfortunately, when she got on the horse, she was facing the back! It was pretty obvious that she hadn't been on a horse in some time.

Pristine giggled and said, "Oh, Kyra! When you get on a horse, you're supposed to put your right leg on the right side of the horse, not the left."

Realizing what she did wrong, Kyra quickly dismounted and got on correctly.

"Sorry about that." she apologized.

"Are you two ready?" Drackor asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be." said Pristine.

"Then go and good luck to the both of you."

As the two friends rode off, Drackor quietly said to himself, "May the spirits of this world protect you on your quest . . . Princess."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N:So what do you think? Please give me your input.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/T427SN5H-SA/viewtopic.php

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Jason Aldean parties hard with 6 wins at ACAs

In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Carrie Underwood walks the red carpet at the American Country Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Glenn Pinkerton)

In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Carrie Underwood walks the red carpet at the American Country Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Glenn Pinkerton)

In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Scotty McCreery arrives at the American Country Awards Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Glenn Pinkerton)

In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, the Pistol Annies, from left, Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Pressley and Miranda Lambert walk the red carpet at the American Country Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Glenn Pinkerton)

In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, The Band Perry, from left, Neil Perry, Kimberly Perry and Reid Perry walk the red carpet at the American Country Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Glenn Pinkerton)

The American Country Awards were Jason Aldean's kinda party. Country music's newest superstar won six awards Monday in Las Vegas, including the night's top honors artist of the year and record of the year for "My Kinda Party."

It's true, 2010 has been a non-stop party for Aldean. More than a million fans turned out for his arena tour, his platinum album has spawned four hits so far and the awards are starting to pile up after years of being ignored.

"This is getting a little ridiculous now," Aldean said on his second visit to the stage. "I don't know what else to say. It's been a crazy year."

Carrie Underwood's fans came through for her again at the fan-voted awards a year after she was the top winner on the inaugural show with six trophies. She picked up three awards this year, including female artist of the year and female single of the year for "Mama's Song."

"You guys vote like crazy," Underwood said during her second trip to the stage.

As expected, the show's focus was mostly on country music's emerging stars. Thompson Square also won three trophies ? blue Fender Telecasters with an embossed silhouette of the U.S. The husband-and-wife duo of Shawna and Kiefer Thompson rode their breakthrough single "Are You Going to Kiss Me Or Not?" to group single, new artist single and new artist video of the year awards.

"This is the first time we've won anything, so be patient," Kiefer Thompson joked.

Chris Young won two awards, breakthrough artist and single of the year for "Voices," ''American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery was named new artist of the year and Lady Antebellum won a second straight group of the year.

Along with the night's top two honors, Aldean also was named touring artist of the year and won male single of the year for "My Kinda Party" and vocal collaboration single of the year for "Don't You Wanna Stay" with Kelly Clarkson.

Alabama won a Greatest Hits Award and Toby Keith was named artist of the decade as the most-played country star on radio over the past 10 years.

Blake Shelton won video of the year for "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking." He dedicated the win to his father, Dick, who is in the hospital with pneumonia. He then appeared to tear up at the end of his performance of "God Gave Me You."

"I want to say 'hi' to my dad back home," Shelton said. "He's been having a pretty rough couple of weeks. I know he's watching back at home and I love you, dad, and want to dedicate this to you."

___

Online:

http://www.theacas.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-06-US-Music-American-Country-Awards/id-c4c85602a6424fd282f6cba4c9890056

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Video game players advancing genetic research

Public release date: 6-Dec-2011
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Contact: Katherine Gombay
katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca
514-398-2189
McGill University

Users of game designed by McGill researchers contributing to analysis of DNA sequences

Thousands of video game players have helped significantly advance our understanding of the genetic basis of diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer over the past year. They are the users of a web-based video game developed by Dr. Jrme Waldispuhl of the McGill School of Computer Science and collaborator Mathieu Blanchette. Phylo is designed to allow casual game players to contribute to scientific research by arranging multiple sequences of coloured blocks that represent human DNA. By looking at the similarities and differences between these DNA sequences, scientists are able to gain new insight into a variety of genetically-based diseases.

The researchers are releasing the results computed from the solutions collected over the last year today, together with an improved version of Phylo for tablets.

Over the past year, Phylo's 17,000 registered users have been able to simply play the game for fun or choose to help decode a particular genetic disease. "A lot of people said they enjoyed playing a game which could help to trace the origin of a specific disease like epilepsy," said Waldispuhl. "There's a lot of excitement in the idea of playing a game and contributing to science at the same time," Blanchette agreed. "It's guilt-free playing; now you can tell yourself it's not just wasted time."

Waldispuhl and his students came up with the idea of using a video game to solve the problem of DNA multiple sequence alignment because it is a task that is difficult for computers to do well. "There are some calculations that the human brain does more efficiently than any computer can. Recognizing and sorting visual patterns fall in that category," explained Waldispuhl. "Computers are best at handling large amounts of messy data, but where we require high accuracy, we need humans. In this case, the genomes we're analyzing have already been pre-aligned by computers, but there are parts of it that are misaligned. Our goal is to identify these parts and transform the task of aligning them into a puzzle people will want to sort out."

So far, it has been working very well. Since the game was launched in November 2010, the researchers have received more than 350,000 solutions to alignment sequence problems. "Phylo has contributed to improving our understanding of the regulation of 521 genes involved in a variety of diseases. It also confirms that difficult computational problems can be embedded in a casual game that can easily be played by people without any scientific training," Waldispuhl said. "What we're doing here is different from classical citizen science approaches. We aren't substituting humans for computers or asking them to compete with the machines. They are working together. It's a synergy of humans and machines that helps to solve one of the most fundamental biological problems."

With the new games and platforms, the researchers are hoping to encourage even more gamers to join the fun and contribute to a better understanding of genetically-based diseases at the same time.

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For more information:

Phylo a game which enables you to sort genetic code: http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/beta/
http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/mobile

McGill's School of Computer Science: http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/

Computational Structural Biology Group: http://csb.cs.mcgill.ca/

McGill Centre for Bioinformatics: http://www.mcgill.ca/mcb/

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Public release date: 6-Dec-2011
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Contact: Katherine Gombay
katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca
514-398-2189
McGill University

Users of game designed by McGill researchers contributing to analysis of DNA sequences

Thousands of video game players have helped significantly advance our understanding of the genetic basis of diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer over the past year. They are the users of a web-based video game developed by Dr. Jrme Waldispuhl of the McGill School of Computer Science and collaborator Mathieu Blanchette. Phylo is designed to allow casual game players to contribute to scientific research by arranging multiple sequences of coloured blocks that represent human DNA. By looking at the similarities and differences between these DNA sequences, scientists are able to gain new insight into a variety of genetically-based diseases.

The researchers are releasing the results computed from the solutions collected over the last year today, together with an improved version of Phylo for tablets.

Over the past year, Phylo's 17,000 registered users have been able to simply play the game for fun or choose to help decode a particular genetic disease. "A lot of people said they enjoyed playing a game which could help to trace the origin of a specific disease like epilepsy," said Waldispuhl. "There's a lot of excitement in the idea of playing a game and contributing to science at the same time," Blanchette agreed. "It's guilt-free playing; now you can tell yourself it's not just wasted time."

Waldispuhl and his students came up with the idea of using a video game to solve the problem of DNA multiple sequence alignment because it is a task that is difficult for computers to do well. "There are some calculations that the human brain does more efficiently than any computer can. Recognizing and sorting visual patterns fall in that category," explained Waldispuhl. "Computers are best at handling large amounts of messy data, but where we require high accuracy, we need humans. In this case, the genomes we're analyzing have already been pre-aligned by computers, but there are parts of it that are misaligned. Our goal is to identify these parts and transform the task of aligning them into a puzzle people will want to sort out."

So far, it has been working very well. Since the game was launched in November 2010, the researchers have received more than 350,000 solutions to alignment sequence problems. "Phylo has contributed to improving our understanding of the regulation of 521 genes involved in a variety of diseases. It also confirms that difficult computational problems can be embedded in a casual game that can easily be played by people without any scientific training," Waldispuhl said. "What we're doing here is different from classical citizen science approaches. We aren't substituting humans for computers or asking them to compete with the machines. They are working together. It's a synergy of humans and machines that helps to solve one of the most fundamental biological problems."

With the new games and platforms, the researchers are hoping to encourage even more gamers to join the fun and contribute to a better understanding of genetically-based diseases at the same time.

###

For more information:

Phylo a game which enables you to sort genetic code: http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/beta/
http://phylo.cs.mcgill.ca/mobile

McGill's School of Computer Science: http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/

Computational Structural Biology Group: http://csb.cs.mcgill.ca/

McGill Centre for Bioinformatics: http://www.mcgill.ca/mcb/

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/mu-vgp120611.php

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