Jan. 30, 2013 ? Comet explosions did not end the prehistoric human culture, known as Clovis, in North America 13,000 years ago, according to research published in the journal Geophysical Monograph Series.
Researchers from Royal Holloway university, together with Sandia National Laboratories and 13 other universities across the United States and Europe, have found evidence which rebuts the belief that a large impact or airburst caused a significant and abrupt change to Earth's climate and terminated the Clovis culture. They argue that other explanations must be found for the apparent disappearance.
Clovis is the name archaeologists have given to the earliest well-established human culture in the North American continent. It is named after the town in New Mexico, where distinct stone tools were found in the 1920s and 1930s.
Researchers argue that no appropriately sized impact craters from that time period have been discovered, and no shocked material or any other features of impact have been found in sediments. They also found that samples presented in support of the impact hypothesis were contaminated with modern material and that no physics model can support the theory.
"The theory has reached zombie status," said Professor Andrew Scott from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway. "Whenever we are able to show flaws and think it is dead, it reappears with new, equally unsatisfactory, arguments.
"Hopefully new versions of the theory will be more carefully examined before they are published," he concluded.
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This Saturday, Frankie Edgar, the one-time UFC lightweight champion, will try to win the belt at featherweight from champion Jose Aldo at UFC 156. We want to know who you think will win this and the other main card bouts.
Here's the drill: Pick a fight from the main card.
Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar - for featherweight title Rashad Evans vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Silva Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia Joseph Benavidez vs. Ian McCall
Then go to Cagewriter's Facebook page, like it and tell who you think will win and why. Selected picks will run here on Friday morning. Doesn't that sound like fun?
In response, Mr Vannier, said: "I truly defended, as I always have done, the public interest."
He claimed he was only seeking to reduce ticket prices and transport costs.
The court case is the latest round in an ongoing battle between Mr Vannier and his chief rival, Patrick Gaulois ? Mont Saint Michel's mayor from 2001 to 2008.
Between them, the pair own or have a hand in more than 40 hotels, restaurants or shops in and around the site. Mr Vannier runs the
famous M?re Poulard restaurants, now a multinational food brand. Along with a handful of other families, the pair had shared the economic spoils of this hugely popular tourist attraction for decades.
The "shuttle scandal", as the French have dubbed the row, has shattered their truce however.
It was sparked by a 185 million-euro project to flush away 106 million cubic feet of silt and sand to restore Mont Saint Michel to a true island.
In the 8th century the mount was surrounded by water three miles out to sea in the bay where Normandy and Brittany meet. Over hundreds of years however, it gradually became beached on sand deposits.
A partly EU-funded project is under way using a new dam at the mouth of the river Couesnon, two miles from the mount to gradually remove the silt and sand between the Mont and the "continent".
As part of the project, the car and coach parks on salt flats at the foot of the Mont, were demolished, a bridge built, and a new car park set up further inland. The new shuttle service has been in operation since last April.
Mr Gaulois filed a legal complaint over the shuttle service last February, leading to prosecutors to press criminal charges.
Speaking before the trial, he said: "I don't want the Mont to become an amusement park ... with Poulard (Mr Vallini's flagship brand) everywhere."
Mr Vannier's lawyer argued that he had only acted "in the name of love for the Mont".
Sam Houston State tests prison education programsPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beth Kuhles kuhles@shsu.edu 936-294-4425 Sam Houston State University
HUNTSVILLE, TX (1/30/13 )-- More than 63,000 offenders in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice participated in educational programs offered by the Windham School District during the 2011-2012 fiscal year, which have been found to decrease recidivism rates, increase employment opportunities, and result in higher wages and higher levels of educational achievement among participants, a study at Sam Houston State University found.
Faculty from the College of Criminal Justice and Correctional Management Institute of Texas at SHSU evaluated the effectiveness of education and vocational programs offered by the school district on offender outcomes. Some of the programs included were the Adult Basic Education Program, which includes literacy training and GED preparation; the Post Secondary Education Program, which provides continuing education in vocational and academic settings; Career and Technical Education, which integrates career path planning and technology training to prepare offenders for the workforce; and the Cognitive Intervention Program, which addresses thinking patterns and is designed to improve behavior.
The study was based on offenders released from TDCJ facilities in Fiscal Year 2009, whose activities were followed through 2012. In FY2009, there were 72,218 offenders released from state prisons, with 51,058 or 70 percent who participated in educational programs offered by the Windham School District. Offenders who participated in adult basic education classes achieved "significantly higher" reading, math and language scores than non-program participants, and those advancements, particularly in reading, resulted in much lower re-incarceration rates among offenders, the study found. The study compared recidivism rates among first time offenders with person, property, drug and other crimes with offenders who did not participate in the Windham programs.
In addition to education and recidivism, offenders who participated in Windham educational programs generally had higher earnings than those who did not. Participants in the vocational certification programs and cognitive intervention program earned "significantly higher" wages after their release from prison, with an average of $3,010.59 and $3,180.81 earned respectively each quarter. This compared to $2,843.65 and $2,795.39 earned quarterly by those who did not take part in Windham educational offerings.
The study, entitled "Evaluation of the Windham School District Correctional Education Program," was a collaborate effort between Sam Houston State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The report is expected to be presented to various members of the Texas State Legislature.
In addition to the evaluation of the effectiveness of programs, the report also highlighted some of the district achievements in the 2010-11 academic year, during which nearly 74,500 offenders participated in correctional education programs. Among those were 35,000 offenders who participated in literacy programs, more than 1,300 who were in special education, and nearly 1,000 who enrolled in ESL classes. As a result, 5,169 GED certificates were issued to program participants, with 85 percent of those who took the test passed it. In addition, more than 8,000 offenders participated in post-secondary education efforts, earning 447 Associate's degrees, 31 Bachelor's degrees and nine Master's degrees.
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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.
Sam Houston State tests prison education programsPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beth Kuhles kuhles@shsu.edu 936-294-4425 Sam Houston State University
HUNTSVILLE, TX (1/30/13 )-- More than 63,000 offenders in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice participated in educational programs offered by the Windham School District during the 2011-2012 fiscal year, which have been found to decrease recidivism rates, increase employment opportunities, and result in higher wages and higher levels of educational achievement among participants, a study at Sam Houston State University found.
Faculty from the College of Criminal Justice and Correctional Management Institute of Texas at SHSU evaluated the effectiveness of education and vocational programs offered by the school district on offender outcomes. Some of the programs included were the Adult Basic Education Program, which includes literacy training and GED preparation; the Post Secondary Education Program, which provides continuing education in vocational and academic settings; Career and Technical Education, which integrates career path planning and technology training to prepare offenders for the workforce; and the Cognitive Intervention Program, which addresses thinking patterns and is designed to improve behavior.
The study was based on offenders released from TDCJ facilities in Fiscal Year 2009, whose activities were followed through 2012. In FY2009, there were 72,218 offenders released from state prisons, with 51,058 or 70 percent who participated in educational programs offered by the Windham School District. Offenders who participated in adult basic education classes achieved "significantly higher" reading, math and language scores than non-program participants, and those advancements, particularly in reading, resulted in much lower re-incarceration rates among offenders, the study found. The study compared recidivism rates among first time offenders with person, property, drug and other crimes with offenders who did not participate in the Windham programs.
In addition to education and recidivism, offenders who participated in Windham educational programs generally had higher earnings than those who did not. Participants in the vocational certification programs and cognitive intervention program earned "significantly higher" wages after their release from prison, with an average of $3,010.59 and $3,180.81 earned respectively each quarter. This compared to $2,843.65 and $2,795.39 earned quarterly by those who did not take part in Windham educational offerings.
The study, entitled "Evaluation of the Windham School District Correctional Education Program," was a collaborate effort between Sam Houston State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The report is expected to be presented to various members of the Texas State Legislature.
In addition to the evaluation of the effectiveness of programs, the report also highlighted some of the district achievements in the 2010-11 academic year, during which nearly 74,500 offenders participated in correctional education programs. Among those were 35,000 offenders who participated in literacy programs, more than 1,300 who were in special education, and nearly 1,000 who enrolled in ESL classes. As a result, 5,169 GED certificates were issued to program participants, with 85 percent of those who took the test passed it. In addition, more than 8,000 offenders participated in post-secondary education efforts, earning 447 Associate's degrees, 31 Bachelor's degrees and nine Master's degrees.
###
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?
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.
Update: The Nexus 4 is back on sale through Google Play in France too, with a 2-3 week shipping period.
Brits, here's your first chance of the year to get hold of a Nexus 4 at the crazy-low Google Play Store price. As before, prices are £239 for 8GB, £279 for 16GB. Phones ordered today are scheduled to ship within 1-2 weeks.
And if you're in the U.S., the phone still appears to be on sale, so the link above are valid for you, too. If you're seeing the Nexus 4 for sale on any other regions' Google Play Stores, be sure to hit the comments and let us know!
TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will recall 1.1 million cars globally for two separate defects, including 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles in the United States to fix airbags that could be deployed inadvertently, the automaker said on Wednesday.
It is the third Toyota recall since October to involve more than a million cars, and it comes as the company tries to recover from a damaged reputation following a series of recalls between 2009 and 2011 that were related to unintended acceleration problems.
An IC chip in the airbag control unit can malfunction when it receives electrical interference from other parts in the car, causing the airbags to deploy when it is not necessary, Toyota spokesman Naoto Fuse said.
Toyota is also recalling certain Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles in Japan, Canada, and Mexico.
The problem has caused minor injuries such as abrasions in 18 cases that have been reported, he said. Two accidents have been reported by customers outside Japan, although Toyota has not been able to confirm them, he said.
Toyota will add an electrical signal filter to the airbag control module to the recalled vehicles -- repairs expected to take an hour to hour-and-a-half, he said.
The spokesman declined to disclose the costs involved.
LIMITED FINANCIAL IMPACT
TRW Automotive Holding Corp has manufactured the airbag control unit in the vehicles, although the problematic chip is supplied by another company, an employee at TRW's Toyota office told Reuters.
He declined to say where TRW buys the chips from.
The financial impact from the airbag recall is likely to be limited, possibly costing Toyota about 5 billion yen ($55 million), said Koichi Sugimoto, a senior analyst at BNP Paribas in Tokyo.
Toyota may ask suppliers to compensate, he added.
"While this cannot be ignored, this amount is not going to dent Toyota's operations and share prices are unlikely to be impacted much," he said.
Separately, Toyota will also recall 385,000 Lexus IS and its series, including 270,000 Lexus IS vehicles in the United States over wiper problems, Toyota spokesman Fuse said.
The wiper arm nut of the front wiper in these vehicles may not be tight enough and the wiper may not work under certain weather occasions, including in snow.
Toyota will exchange the nut in repairs that will take about 30 minutes, Fuse said.
Toyota has been showing signs of recovery from the recall crisis and won back the crown as the world's top selling automaker in 2012 from General Motors.
In an effort to move past its safety crisis, Toyota proposed last month and got approval from a judge to spend $1.1 billion to settle one of the biggest U.S. auto class-action lawsuits over claims that millions of its vehicles accelerated unintentionally.
Toyota has not admitted fault in proposing the settlement.
As automakers including Toyota increasingly use shared parts for various models, the number of recalled vehicles have tended to balloon.
In October, the automaker also recalled 7.4 million vehicles globally to fix malfunctioning power window switches, and in November it recalled 2.8 million vehicles for a steering glitch.
Toyota is set to announce its October-December earnings results on February 5.
(Additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Ken Wills)
"Walking Dead" showrunner Glen Mazzara is leaving the hit AMC drama behind after this season, but not without spilling a few secrets -- or at least, sharing some previously unseen concept art.
Also read:?'Walking Dead' Season 3.5 Preview: War With the Governor (Video)
Mazzara tweeted more than a dozen images Monday, including 11 pictures of original art illustrating the prison, Woodbury and the Governor's living quarters.
Mazzara is leaving after the second half of this season, which returns Sunday, Feb. 10. "Walking Dead" executive producer Scott Gimple has been tapped as his replacement.
Check out Mazzara's tweets and images:
"Concept art for Woodbury"
"Original boiler room. We needed more nooks & crannies, places for walkers to hide":
"Cafeteria":
"Governor's apt.":
"More prison concept art":
"Original concept art for the prison":
Related Wrap Stories
Tags: AMC, concept art, glenn mazzara, images, pics, pictures, prison, Television, the governor, The Walking Dead, twitter, woodbury
Four departments demand to solve the bankrupt retired medical insurance problems of personnel of state-owned enterprise properly Beijing, August 5 (Xinhua) ' Reporter Du Yu) The reporter learns from the social security department of human resources on the 5th, social security department of human resources, " notice on solving medical treatment such as the retired personnel of state-owned enterprise of the closure and bankruptcy and ensuring relevant problems properly " that the Ministry of Finance, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Ministry of Supervision jointly send out is pointed out, the bankrupt retired personnel of state-owned enterprise participate in the urban worker's basic medical insurance in accordance with the law to the place, state revenue according to " Reward and mend combining " The principle offers the subsidy lump-sumly.
" notice " requires, while implementing the closure and bankruptcy in enterprises, should be according to the relevant regulation of " enterprise's bankruptcy law ", repay retired personnel, effect an insurance necessary expense through the intersection of enterprise and bankrupt property. Enterprise's bankrupt property is not enough to repay, can through list in bankrupt land of property sell income and finance subsidize and the intersection of Medical Benefits Funds and balance adjust, raise funds, solve through many channels. Help and support that provincial government should offer to difficult city, county. The local governments at all levels arrange and is used for helping to solve and close the subsidy fund that the retired personnel of bankrupt enterprise effected an insurance, can divide and put in place every year. In the future, all parts want, carry out " the the intersection of enterprise and bankruptcy law " laws and regulations strictly, solve, close the intersection of bankrupt enterprise and retired personnel, effect an insurance necessary fund properly, the state revenue no longer subsidizes. All parts want, transfer local policy the intersection of closure and bankruptcy and the intersection of state-owned enterprise and retired personnel and effect an insurance, raise central authorities and central authorities fund include in the urban worker's basic medical insurance of possession The system is managed in unison, does not get single management, closed operation.With the enhancement of health consciousness, people pay more and more attention to with the life closely bound up health problem, such as the food security, medical treatment is ensured, medical information,etc., healthy life should be from understanding information begins!More excellent health information please enter:News channel |
We?re blown away to see our final packaging/signage design for MonoSystems in Lowe?s Home Improvement Centers in North Carolina. One of the only direct-to-consumer producers of wire management systems in the business, we?re glad to see our work placed in such a well respected store. We?re looking forward to producing future materials for MonoSystems and helping them grow as a market leader!
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez takes batting practice before Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers, in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez takes batting practice before Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers, in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez prepares to hit in the sixth inning during Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Major League Baseball said it is "extremely disappointed" about new allegations of performance-enhancing drug use against Alex Rodriguez and other players contained in a newspaper report.
The Miami New Times, a popular alternative weekly, said in a story Tuesday that it had obtained files through an employee at a recently closed clinic in south Florida that show Rodriguez purchased HGH and other substances.
"We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances. ... Through our Department of Investigations, we have been actively involved in the issues in South Florida," MLB's statement said.
Rodriguez, the New York Yankees slugger currently recovering from hip surgery, has admitted using steroids from 2001-03 but insisted he stopped after that.
"We fully support the Commissioner's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. This matter is now in the hands of the Commissioner's Office," the Yankees said in a statement. "We will have no further comment until that investigation has concluded."
Other players named by the New Times as appearing in the records at Biogenesis include Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon and Nelson Cruz. Cabrera, the All-Star game MVP for the San Francisco Giants last season, was suspended 50 games in August for failing a drug test. The outfielder has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent.
Colon, a pitcher for the Oakland A's, was also suspended 50 games in August.
Gonzalez, who went 21-8 for the Washington Nationals last season, and Cruz, who hit 24 home runs for the Texas Rangers, had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
The Rangers said in a statement that after being contacted by the New Times late last week, they notified Major League Baseball. The club said it had no further comment.
Gonzalez posted on his Twitter feed: "I've never used performance enhancing drugs of any kind and I never will, I've never met or spoken with tony Bosch or used any substance."
The report said that the notes of clinic chief Anthony Bosch list the players' names and the substances they received, including human growth hormone and steroids. Several unidentified employees and clients confirmed to the publication that the clinic distributed the substances, the paper said. The employees said that Bosch bragged of supplying drugs to professional athletes but they never saw the sports stars in the office.
Any player found by MLB to use banned, performance-enhancing substances, is subject to suspension.
NEW YORK (AP) ? Alex Rodriguez denied a newspaper report that accused him of buying human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing substances from a Miami-area clinic.
The Miami New Times, an alternative weekly, reported Tuesday that it obtained records detailing purchases by Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz and Yasmani Grandal from a clinic called Biogenesis, run by Anthony Bosch. The paper also posted copies of what it said were Bosch's handwritten records, obtained through a former Biogenesis employee.
Rodriguez admitted four years ago that he used PEDs from 2001-03. Cabrera, Colon and Grandal were suspended for 50 games each last year by MLB following tests for elevated testosterone.
"We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances," MLB said in a statement. "Only law enforcement officials have the capacity to reach those outside the game who are involved in the distribution of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. ... We are in the midst of an active investigation and are gathering and reviewing information."
A baseball official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements, said Monday that MLB did not have any documentation regarding the allegations. If MLB does obtain evidence, the players could be subject to discipline. First offenses result in a 50-game suspension and second infractions in 100-game penalties. A third violation results in a lifetime ban.
Rodriguez is sidelined for at least the first half of the season after hip surgery Jan. 16. A 50-game suspension would cost him $7.65 million of his $28 million salary.
"The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true," Rodriguez said in a statement issued by a publicist. "He was not Mr. Bosch's patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story ? at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez ? are not legitimate."
Jay Reisinger, a lawyer who has presented Rodriguez in recent years, said the three-time AL MVP had retained Roy Black, an attorney from Rodriguez's hometown of Miami. Black's clients have included Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith.
Rodriguez spent years denying he used PEDs before Sports Illustrated reported in February 2009 that he tested positive for two steroids in MLB's anonymous survey while with the Texas Rangers in 2003. Two days later, he admitted in an ESPN interview that he used PEDs over a three-year period. He has denied using PEDs after 2003.
If the new allegations were true, the Yankees would face high hurdles to get out of the final five years of Rodriguez's contract, which call for him to receive $114 million. Because management and the players' union have a joint drug agreement, an arbitrator could determine that any action taken by the team amounted to multiple punishments for the same offense.
The Yankees said "this matter is now in the hands of the commissioner's office" and said they will not comment further until MLB's investigation ends.
Gonzalez posted on his Twitter feed: "I've never used performance enhancing drugs of any kind and I never will, I've never met or spoken with tony Bosch or used any substance provided by him. anything said to the contrary is a lie."
Colon was not issuing a statement, agent Adam Katz said through spokeswoman Lisa Cohen. Sam and Seth Levinson, the agents for Cabrera and Cruz, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Cruz and Gonzalez had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Cruz's team, the Texas Rangers, said it notified MLB last week after being contacted by the New Times.
The New Times report said it obtained notes by Bosch listing the players' names and the substances they received. Several unidentified employees and clients confirmed to the publication that the clinic distributed the substances, the paper said. The employees said that Bosch bragged of supplying drugs to professional athletes but they never saw the sports stars in the office.
Rodriguez appears 16 times in the documents it received, the paper said, either as "Alex Rodriguez," ''Alex Rod" or the nickname "Cacique," a pre-Columbian Caribbean chief. The paper said the records list that Rodriguez paid for HGH; testosterone cream; IGF-1, a substance banned by baseball that stimulates insulin production; and GHRP, which releases growth hormones.
Rodriguez's cousin, Yuri Sucart, also is listed as having purchased HGH. Sucart was banned from the Yankees clubhouse, charter flights, bus and other team-related activities by MLB in 2009 after Rodriguez said Sucart obtained and injected PEDs for him.
Also listed among the records, according to the New Times, are tennis player Wayne Odesnik, Cuban boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa and Jimmy Goins, the strength and conditioning coach of the University of Miami baseball team.
Mia Ro, a spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in Miami, said she could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation in Bosch or the clinic.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to assign significantly more personnel in coming years to counter increasing threats against U.S. government computer networks and conduct offensive operations against foreign foes, a U.S. defense official said on Sunday.
The plan, which would increase both military and civilian staffing at U.S. Cyber Command, comes as the Pentagon moves toward elevating the new command and putting it on the same level as the major combatant commands.
The official said no formal decisions had been made on the expanding staffing levels or changing Cyber Command into a "unified" command like U.S. Strategic Command, which currently oversees cyber command and the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal.
Any changes to the combatant command structure would be made based on strategic and operational needs, and take into account the need for efficient use of taxpayer dollars, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Pentagon was working closely with U.S. Cyber Command and the major military commands to develop "the optimum force structure for successfully operating in cyberspace," the official said.
The Washington Post, quoting senior defense officials, reported late Sunday that the Pentagon had decided to expand Cyber Command's current staffing level of 900 to 4,900 in coming years.
The official confirmed that Cyber Command planned to expand its force significantly, but said the specific numbers cited by the Post were "pre-decisional."
The newspaper said senior Pentagon officials had agreed to increase the force late last year amid a string of attacks, including one that wiped out more than 30,000 computers at a Saudi Arabian state oil company. it said
The plan calls for creating three types of force under the Cyber Command, said the defense official.
"National mission forces," would protect computer systems that undergird electrical grids and other kinds of infrastructure. "Combat mission forces," would help commanders abroad execute attacks or other offensive operations, while "cyber protection forces," would focus on protecting the Defense Department's own systems.
Details were still being worked out, the official said.
(Reporting by Sarah Lynch and Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
It's not every day your class gets a visit from a tech bigwig like Eric Schmidt. Google's executive chairman paid a visit to a UK school, alongside Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton. The duo were there to talk code, an appearance that coincided with the announcement that a grant from Google Giving will be bringing 15,000 Raspberry Pi Model Bs to kids in that country. The companies will be working alongside six educational partners to decide precisely whose hands those little computers will end up in. More info on the program can be found in the source link.
BEIRUT (AP) ? The bodies of at least 65 men, many of them with their hands bound behind their back, were found on the muddy banks of a small river Tuesday in the northern city of Aleppo, activists said.
The bodies, almost all of men in their 20s and 30s, were discovered in the contested neighborhood of Bustan al-Qasr, the director of the Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman said. Intense clashes between rebels and government troops have raged in the district since opposition forces launched an offensive on Aleppo in July.
Abdul-Rahman said it was not clear who was behind the killings, when they occurred or who the dead are.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, put the number of bodies found at 80 and blamed government forces for the killing.
There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities on the bodies discovered Tuesday.
Since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, there have been several cases of alleged mass killings. The rebels and the government routinely blame each other for the deaths.
An amateur video posted online showed dozens of bodies placed in rows on the ground and wrapped in blue blankets. A crowd of men, many of them covering their nose with a scarf, walk among the bodies, apparently trying to identify them.
A voice in the background says "number them," while another says "pray for them."
At one point, a man stops at a body and breaks down into tears, shouting: "he's my brother."
The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting on the events depicted.
The violence came as President Barack Obama authorized an additional $155 million in humanitarian aid for the Syrian people Tuesday, as his administration grapples for a way to stem the violence without direct U.S. military involvement.
Obama announced the additional funding Tuesday in a video directed at the Syrian people.
"The relief we send doesn't say 'Made in America,' but make no mistake ? our aid reflects the commitment of the American people," Obama said in the video, which was posted on the White House website.
The fresh funding brings the total U.S. humanitarian aid to Syria over two years to $365 million, according to the White House. Officials said the money was being used to immunize one million Syrian children, purchase winter supplies for a half million people, and to help alleviate food shortages.
The U.S. has long called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power and says the fall of his regime is inevitable. In addition to the humanitarian aid, the White House has also ratcheted up economic sanctions on Assad's regime and recognized the rebel-led Syrian Opposition Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Also, EU humanitarian aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said the EU committed another 100 million euros ($134 million) in help, bringing the overall EU total so far to 360 million euros.
Earlier in the day, Syrian rebels stormed a government intelligence complex in the oil-rich east of the country, freeing at least 11 people held in a prison at the facility, activists said.
After five days of heavy clashes around the intelligence compound in the city of Deir el-Zour, rebels finally overran the complex early Tuesday, the Observatory said. It was not immediately clear whether those freed from the compound's prison Tuesday were fighters or activists.
The activists said the compound was run by the Political Security Department, one of Syria's four most powerful intelligence agencies.
Amateur videos showed rebels raising an Islamic flag on top of the three-story building as fighters carted away rifles and boxes of ammunition.
Deir el-Zour has been the scene of heavy fighting since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. The province, which goes by the same name as the city, is located along Syria's border with Iraq and includes several oil installations that the rebels have repeatedly targeted.
The aid group Doctors Without Borders said last month that government forces are shelling and bombing Deir el-Zour almost daily. It said tens of thousands of Syrians, many of them wounded, remain trapped in the city.
Also Tuesday, regime warplanes also carried several airstrikes on rebel positions in restive towns and villages around Damascus, including eastern Ghouta and Yalda, the Observatory said. The group relies on reports from activists on the ground.
After capturing several major army bases and government outposts, the rebels control large swathes of land in northeastern Syria. Assad's troops, however, continue to hold a tight grip on the capital after nearly two years of conflict.
The areas on the capital's doorstep have been rebel strongholds since early on in the revolt. In recent months, the rebels have used them as a base from which they have been trying to push into central Damascus, the seat of Assad's power.
Police said they had not yet been in contact with Chris Brown.
By Marian Smith, Staff Writer, NBC News
Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown is being investigated following an alleged fight over a parking space in West Hollywood, police said early Monday.
Authorities responded to a call of a fight involving six males in Santa Monica Boulevard, the LA County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
"Deputies talked to witnesses who stated that Chris Brown and the victim were involved in an altercation over a parking space," the statement added. "The altercation allegedly led to Chris Brown punching the victim."
Brown had already left when officers arrived, police said.
Police said they had not yet been in contact with Brown. No arrests have been made.
PHILADELPHIA ? Enrollment officials at Bucknell University, a selective liberal arts school in central Pennsylvania, inflated students' average SAT scores over the past several years, the school's president said.
Mean SAT results for incoming freshmen were overstated by an average of 16 points between 2006 and 2012, according to President John Bravman. The motive behind the misrepresentation is unclear, he said, though college entrance exam scores often figure into national rankings.
"These numerical omissions, as relatively small as they were, violated the trust of every student, faculty member, staff member and Bucknellian they reached," he wrote Friday in a letter to the university community.
Bravman, who took office in 2010, attributed the inaccurate figures to officials who no longer work at Bucknell. The discrepancies were uncovered by a new enrollment administrator who noticed the next admissions class had average scores about 20 points lower than its predecessor.
An inquiry revealed that the scores of 13 to 47 students were omitted from the SAT calculation in each of the past seven years. That resulted in reported averages 7 to 25 points higher than they actually were, the president said.
The university did not disclose its actual or inflated mean scores. But Bucknell's website, which Bravman said is now accurate, cites incoming scores for current freshmen as ranging between 1,200 and 1,390 out of a possible 1,600.
The school also underreported its average ACT score by one point during the same period, Bravman noted.
U.S. News & World Report placed Bucknell 32nd among national liberal arts colleges for 2013, while giving it top 10 rankings for its undergraduate engineering programs.
U.S. News drops a college from its rankings if falsified data improved that school's position, according to its website. The school is restored "when it has provided assurances that the data it is providing are accurate," the site says.
Bucknell has given U.S. News corrected data, Bravman said.
In the past year, four other colleges have acknowledged misreporting data to U.S. News, including Claremont McKenna, George Washington, Emory and Tulane's business school.
Bucknell enrolls about 3,600 students on its campus in Lewisburg, about 115 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
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Follow Kathy Matheson at http://www.twittter.com/kmatheson
By Janice WoodAssociate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on January 27, 2013
New research has found that qigong, an ancient Chinese mind-body practice, has been found to reduce depression and improve the quality of life in women undergoing radiation for breast cancer.
The study examined qigong in patients receiving radiation therapy and included a follow-up period to assess its benefits over time, according to researchers.
?We were [...] particularly interested to see if qigong would benefit patients experiencing depressive symptoms at the start of treatment,? said Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., a professor in the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center?s Departments of General Oncology and Behavioral Science.
?It is important for cancer patients to manage stress because it can have a profoundly negative effect on biological systems and inflammatory profiles.?
For the study, Cohen and his colleagues recruited 96 women with stage 1-3 breast cancer from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center in Shanghai, China.
About half of the women ? 49 ? were randomly assigned to a qigong group consisting of five 40-minute classes each week during their five-to-six week course of radiation therapy. The remaining 47 women comprised a control group receiving standard care.
The program incorporated a modified version of Chinese medical qigong, which consisted of synchronizing one?s breath with various exercises, the researchers explained.
Participants in both groups completed assessments at the beginning, middle and end of radiation therapy and then one and three months later. Different aspects of quality of life were measured, including depressive symptoms, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and overall quality of life.
According to the researchers, patients in the qigong group reported a steady decline in depressive symptom scores beginning at the end of radiation therapy, with a mean score of 12.3, through the three month post-radiation follow-up with a score of 9.5. No changes were noted in the control group over time, the study found.
The study also found that qigong was especially helpful for women reporting high baseline depressive symptoms, Cohen said.
?We examined women?s depressive symptoms at the start of the study to see if women with higher levels would benefit more,? he said.
?In fact, women with low levels of depressive symptoms at the start of radiotherapy had good quality of life throughout treatment and three months later regardless of whether they were in the qigong or control group. However, women with high depressive symptoms in the control group reported the worst levels of depressive symptoms, fatigue, and overall quality of life that were significantly improved for the women in the qigong group.?
As the benefits of qigong were largely observed after treatment concluded, researchers suggest qigong may prevent a delayed symptom burden or expedite the recovery process, especially for women with elevated depressive symptoms at the start of radiation therapy. Cohen notes the delayed effect could be explained by the cumulative nature of the treatments, as the benefits often take time to be realized.
According to the researchers, the findings support other previously reported trials examining the benefits of qigong, but are too preliminary to offer clinical recommendations.
They note that additional research is needed to understand the possible biological mechanisms involved and further explore the use of qigong in ethnically diverse populations with different forms of cancer.
The study was published in the journal Cancer.
Source: University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
APA Reference Wood, J. (2013). Qigong Improves Quality of Life for Breast Cancer Patients. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 29, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/27/qigong-improves-quality-of-life-for-breast-cancer-patients/50826.html
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Jan. 25, 2013 ? Simon Fraser University earth scientist Diana Allen, a co-author on a new paper about climate changes' impacts on the world's ground water, says climate change may be exacerbating many countries' experience of water stress.
"Increasing food requirements to feed our current world's growing population and prolonged droughts in many regions of the world are already increasing dependence on groundwater for agriculture," says Allen. "Climate-change-related stresses on fresh surface water, such as glacier-fed rivers, will likely exacerbate that situation.
"Add to that our mismanagement and inadequate monitoring of groundwater usage and we may see significant groundwater depletion and contamination that will seriously compromise much of the world's agriculturally-grown food supply."
In Ground Water and Climate Change, Allen and several other international scientists explain how several human-driven factors, if not rectified, will combine with climate change to significantly reduce useable groundwater availability for agriculture globally.
The paper was published in late 2012 in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The authors note that inadequate groundwater supply records and mathematical models for predicting climate change and associated sea-level-rise make it impossible to forecast groundwater's long-range fate globally.
"Over-pumping of groundwater for irrigation is mining dry the world's ancient Pleistocene-age, ice-sheet-fed aquifers and, ironically, at the same time increasing sea-level rise, which we haven't factored into current estimations of the rise," says Allen. "Groundwater pumping reduces the amount of stored water deep underground and redirects it to the more active hydrologic system at the land-surface. There, it evaporates into the atmosphere, and ultimately falls as precipitation into the ocean."
Current research estimates oceans will rise by about a metre globally by the end of the century due to climate change. But that estimation doesn't factor in another half-a-centimetre-a-year rise, says this study, expected due to groundwater recycling back into the ocean globally.
Increasing climate-change-induced storm surges will also flood coastal areas, threatening the quality of groundwater supplies and compromising their usability.
This is the second study that Allen and her colleagues have produced to assist the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in assessing the impact of climate change on the world's groundwater supply.
The IPCC, established by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Meteorological Organization in 1988, periodically reviews the latest research on climate change and assesses its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts.
This study is one of several guiding the IPCC's formulation of upcoming reports, the first being about the physical science behind climate change, due Sept. 2013.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Simon Fraser University.
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Journal Reference:
Richard G. Taylor, Bridget Scanlon, Petra D?ll, Matt Rodell, Rens van Beek, Yoshihide Wada, Laurent Longuevergne, Marc Leblanc, James S. Famiglietti, Mike Edmunds, Leonard Konikow, Timothy R. Green, Jianyao Chen, Makoto Taniguchi, Marc F. P. Bierkens, Alan MacDonald, Ying Fan, Reed M. Maxwell, Yossi Yechieli, Jason J. Gurdak, Diana M. Allen, Mohammad Shamsudduha, Kevin Hiscock, Pat J.-F. Yeh, Ian Holman, Holger Treidel. Ground water and climate change. Nature Climate Change, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1744
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Looks like Yakko, Wakko, et al. have been overlooked for yet another executive level position at their namesake corporation. Instead, Time Warner has opted to promote Kevin Tsujihara to CEO at Warner Bros. Tsujihara, who will be replacing Barry Meyer, has been at the company since 1994. Since 2005, he's served as the president of the company's Home Entertainment Group. The transition will occur in March, leaving Meyer in the chairman role at least through the end of the year. Tsujihara, who also sits on the MPAA's board of directors, "currently oversees the company's home video, digital distribution, video games, anti-piracy and emerging technology operations," according to a press release issued by Time Warner.
Show full PR text
Time Warner Announces Kevin Tsujihara to Become CEO of Warner Bros.
Time Warner Inc. TWX -0.37% Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes and Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer today announced that Kevin Tsujihara will become the next Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros. Entertainment. Mr. Tsujihara will become CEO beginning March 1, 2013, succeeding Mr. Meyer, who will remain as Chairman through 2013.
In making the announcement Mr. Bewkes said, "Kevin is one of the most effective and respected executives within Time Warner, and the right leader to ensure Warner Bros.' preeminence into the future. He brings the perfect combination of strategic thinking, financial discipline, digital vision, and management style to build on Warner Bros.' track record of success under Barry Meyer."
Mr. Meyer added, "In working with Kevin for nearly 20 years, I've come to know and value a talented executive with a passion for this company and its people. He has skillfully guided one of the most complex businesses at Warner Bros. during a time of transition in the home entertainment sector, and has a deep appreciation and respect for the films and TV shows we create. Kevin has a rare combination of extraordinary business acumen and a love for the art of storytelling, and I'm confident he will be a great leader for Warner Bros."
Over the next several months, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Tsujihara will work together with other members of Warner Bros. senior executive team, including Warner Bros. Television President Bruce Rosenblum and Warner Bros. Pictures President Jeff Robinov, to ensure an orderly transition.
As President of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group since 2005, Mr. Tsujihara currently oversees the company's home video, digital distribution, videogames, anti-piracy, and emerging technology operations.
Mr. Tsujihara said, "It is an honor to have the opportunity to lead this storied business. We're at a pivotal moment in the histories of Hollywood and entertainment: technology is changing the canvas we use to create theatrical releases; home entertainment is rapidly evolving; and the definition of television now includes viewing across a wide range of devices and services. But in my mind one thing remains clear and constant: Warner Bros.' unmatched ability to tell stories that inspire, educate, and entertain global audiences. We are extremely fortunate to have strong relationships with some of the industry's most gifted talent and together we will continue to use those relationships, our scale, and our passion to build on Warner Bros. great legacy."
Mr. Tsujihara joined Warner Bros. in 1994 as Director, Special Projects, Finance to assist in the management of the company's interest in Six Flags. Across his nearly two decades with the company he has served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Business Development & Strategy, Warner Bros. Entertainment and, Executive Vice President, New Media, responsible for the oversight of all Warner Bros.' new media endeavors.
Mr. Tsujihara received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and his MBA from Stanford University. He sits on the Board of Directors for the MPAA, City Year Los Angeles, an education focused, nonprofit organization, the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, Kabam, the Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation, and the Entertainment Software Association.
About Time Warner Inc.
Time Warner Inc., a global leader in media and entertainment with businesses in television networks, film and TV entertainment and publishing, uses its industry-leading operating scale and brands to create, package and deliver high-quality content worldwide through multiple distribution outlets.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hackers sympathetic to the late computer prodigy Aaron Swartz claimed on Saturday to have infiltrated the website of the U.S. Justice Department's Sentencing Commission, and said they planned to release government data.
The Sentencing Commission site, www.ussc.gov , was shut down early Saturday.
Identifying themselves as Anonymous, a loosely organized group of unknown provenance associated with a range of recent online actions, the hackers voiced outrage over Swartz' suicide on January 11.
In a video posted online, the hackers criticized the government's prosecution of Swartz, who had been facing trial on charges that he used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's computer networks to steal more than 4 million articles from JSTOR, an online archive and journal distribution service.
Swartz had faced a maximum sentence of 31 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million.
The FBI is investigating the attack, according to Richard McFeely, of the bureau's Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch.
"We were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as a criminal investigation," McFeely said in an emailed statement. "We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person's or government agency's network."
(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Vicki Allen)
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) ? The dramatic film "Fruitvale" and the documentary "Blood Brother" won over audiences and Sundance Film Festival judges.
Both American films won audience awards and grand jury prizes Saturday at the Sundance Awards.
"Fruitvale" is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, who was 22 years old when he was shot and killed in a public transit station in Oakland, Calif. First-time filmmaker Ryan Coogler wrote and directed the dramatic narrative.
"This project was about humanity, about human beings and how we treat each other; how we treat the people that we love the most, and how we treat the people that we don't know," the 26-year-old said as he accepted the final prize of the night. "To get this award means that it had a profound impact on the audience that saw it, on the people that were responsible for picking it up. And this goes back to my home, to the Bay Area, where Oscar Grant lived, breathed, slept, loved, fought, had fun, and survived for 22 years."
Fox Searchlight founder and Sundance juror Tom Rothman said "Fruitvale" was recognized for "its skillful realization, its devastating emotional impact and its moral and social urgency ? and for anyone out there who thinks for one second that movies don't matter and can't make a difference in the world.
"This will not be the last time you guys walk to a podium," he added.
Coogler said he felt personally connected to the story because he's from Oakland and was born the same year as the subject of his film.
"So I'm the same age, same demographic. So when I saw the footage, initially I was heartbroken, frustrated, and the biggest thing was that Oscar looked like us, you know what I mean?" he said. "He looked like any one of my friends ? could have been me, could have been them, and these situations happen again and again."
The U.S. documentary winner, "Blood Brother" follows a young American, Rocky Braat, who moved to India to work with orphans infected with HIV.
"This means so much to so many kids," director Steve Hoover said as he accepted the award.
Other dramatic winners at the ceremony hosted by actor-director Joseph Gordon-Levitt included Lake Bell, who accepted the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for her directorial debut, "In A World," and Jill Soloway, who won the directing award for her feature debut, "Afternoon Delight."
Soloway thanked Bell and the other "lady directors" making their debuts at the festival.
"I feel like we all crossed the street together holding hands," she said. "We're all out there together exposing ourselves and I love being here with you guys."
Cinematographer Bradford Young was recognized for his work in two dramatic films, "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" and "Mother of George."
Documentary winners included Zachary Heinzerling for directing "Cutie and the Boxer" and Matthew Hamachek for editing "Gideon's Army."
The Cambodian film "A River Changes Course" won the grand jury prize for international documentary, and a narrative film from South Korea, "Jiseul," claimed the grand jury prize for dramatic world cinema.
Having a film at Sundance serves as a stamp of approval, Coogler said.
"Audiences trust this film festival more than any other festival in the country," he said, "and they know if a film plays here, it's a film that should be seen."
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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .
A few days ago, a new proposal was put forward in the HTML Working Group (HTML WG) by Microsoft, Netflix, and Google to take DRM in HTML5 to the next stage of standardization at W3C. This triggered another uproar about the morality and ethics behind DRM and building it into the Web. There are good arguments about morality/ethics on both sides of the debate but ultimately, the HTML WG will decide whether or not to pursue the specification based on technical merit. I am a member of the HTML WG. I was also the founder of a start-up that focused on building a legal, peer-to-peer, content distribution network for music and movies. It employed DRM much like the current DRM in HTML5 proposal. During the course of 8 years of technical development, we had talks with many of the major record labels. I have first-hand knowledge of the problem, and building a technical solution to address the problem.
TL;DR: The Encrypted Media Extensions (DRM in HTML5) specification does not solve the problem the authors are attempting to solve, which is the protection of content from opportunistic or professional piracy. The HTML WG should not publish First Public Working Drafts that do not effectively address the primary goal of a specification.
The Problem
The fundamental problem that the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) specification is attempting to solve is to find a way to reduce piracy (since eliminating piracy on the Web is an impossible problem to solve). This is a noble goal as there are many content creators and publishers that are directly impacted by piracy. These are not faceless corporations, they are people with families that depend on the income from their creations. It is with this thought in mind that I reviewed the specification on a technical basis to determine if it would lead to a reduction in piracy.
Review Notes for Encrypted Media Extensions (EME)
Introduction
The EME specification does not specify a DRM scheme in the specification, rather it explains the architecture for a DRM plug-in mechanism. This will lead to plug-in proliferation on the Web. Plugins are something that are detrimental to inter-operability because it is inevitable that the DRM plugin vendors will not be able to support all platforms at all times. So, some people will be able to view content, others will not.
A simple example of the problem is Silverlight by Microsoft. Take a look at the Plugin details for Silverlight, specifically, click on the ?System Requirements? tab. Silverlight is Microsoft?s creation. Microsoft is a HUGE corporation with very deep pockets. They can and have thrown a great deal of money at solving very hard problems. Even Microsoft does not support their flagship plugin on Internet Explorer 8 on older versions of their operating system and the latest version of Chrome on certain versions of Windows and Mac. If Microsoft can?t make their flagship Web plugin work across all major Operating Systems today, what chance does a much smaller DRM plugin company have?
The purpose of a standard is to increase inter-operability across all platforms. It has been demonstrated that plug-ins, on the whole, harm inter-operability in the long run. The one shining exception is Flash, but we should not mistake an exception for the rule. Also note that Flash is backed by Adobe, a gigantic multi-national corporation with very deep pockets.
1.1 Goals
The goals section does not state the actual purpose of the specification. It states meta-purposes like: ?Support a range of content security models, including software and hardware-based models? and ?Support a wide range of use cases.?. While those are sub-goals, the primary goal isn?t stated once in the Goals section. The only rational primary goal is to reduce the amount of opportunistic piracy on the Web. Links to piracy data collected over the last decade could help make the case that this is worth doing.
1.2.1. Content Decryption Module (CDM)
When we were working on our DRM system, we took almost exactly the same approach that the EME specification does. We had a plug-in system that allowed different DRM modules to be plugged into the system. We assumed that each DRM scheme had a shelf-life of about 2-3 months before it was defeated, so our system would rotate the DRM modules every 3 months. We had plans to create genetic algorithms that would encrypt and watermark data into the file stream and mutate the encryption mechanism every couple of months to keep the pirates busy. It was a very complicated system to keep working because one slip up in the DRM module meant that people couldn?t view the content they had purchased. We did get the system working in the end, but it was a nightmare to make sure that the DRM modules to decrypt the information were rotated often enough to be effective while ensuring that they worked across all platforms.
Having first-hand knowledge of how such a system works, it?s a pretty terrible idea for the Web because it takes a great deal of competence and coordination to pull something like this off. I would expect the larger Content Protection companies to not have an issue with this. The smaller Content Protection companies, however, will inevitably have issues with ensuring that their DRM modules work across all platforms.
The bulk of the specification
The bulk of the specification is what you would expect from a system like this, so I won?t go into the gory details. There were two major technical concerns I had while reading through the implementation notes.
The first is that key retrieval is handled by JavaScript code, which means that anybody using a browser could copy the key data. This means that if a key is sent in the clear, the likelihood that the DRM system could be compromised goes up considerably because the person that is pirating the content knows the details necessary to store and decrypt the content.
If the goal is to reduce opportunistic piracy, all keys should be encrypted so that snooping by the browser doesn?t result in the system being compromised. Otherwise, all you would need to do is install a plugin that shares all clear-text keys with something like Mega. Pirates could use those keys to then decrypt byte-streams that do not mutate between downloads. To my knowledge, most DRM?ed media delivery does not encrypt content on a per-download basis. So, the spec needs to make it very clear that opaque keys MUST be used when delivering media keys.
One of the DRM systems we built, which became the primary way we did things, would actually re-encrypt the byte stream for every download. So even if a key was compromised, you couldn?t use the key to decrypt any other downloads. This was massively computationally expensive, but since we were running a peer-to-peer network, the processing was pushed out to the people downloading stuff in the network and not our servers. Sharing of keys was not possible in our DRM system, so we could send the decryption keys in the clear. I doubt many of the Content Protection Networks will take this approach as it would massively spike the cost of delivering content.
6. Simple Decryption
The ?org.w3.clearkey? Key System indicates a plain-text clear (unencrypted) key will be used to decrypt the source. No additional client-side content protection is required.
Wow, what a fantastically bad idea.
This sends the decryption key in the clear. This key can be captured by any Web browser plugin. That plugin can then share the decryption key and the byte stream with the world.
It duplicates the purpose of Transport Layer Security (TLS).
It doesn?t protect anything while adding a very complex way of shipping an encrypted byte stream from a Web server to a Web browser.
So. Bad. Seriously, there is nothing secure about this mechanism. It should be removed from the specification.
9.1. Use Cases: ?user is not an adversary?
This is not a technical issue, but I thought it would be important to point it out. This ?user is not an adversary? text can be found in the first question about use cases. It insinuates that people that listen to radio and watch movies online are potential adversaries. As a business owner, I think that?s a terrible way to frame your customers.
Thinking of the people that are using the technology that you?re specifying as ?adversaries? is also largely wrong. 99.999% of people using DRM-based systems to view content are doing it legally. The folks that are pirating content are not sitting down and viewing the DRM stream, they have acquired a non-DRM stream from somewhere else, like Mega or The Pirate Bay, and are watching that. This language is unnecessary and should be removed from the specification.
Conclusion
There are some fairly large security issues with the text of the current specification. Those can be fixed.
The real goal of this specification is to create a framework that will reduce content piracy. The specification has not put forward any mechanism that demonstrates that it would achieve this goal.
Here?s the problem with EME ? it?s easy to defeat. In the very worst case, there exist piracy rigs that allow you to point an HD video camera at a HD television and record the video and audio without any sort of DRM. That?s the DRM-free copy that will end up on Mega or the Pirate Bay. In practice, no DRM system has survived for more than a couple of years.
Content creators, if your content is popular, EME will not protect your content against a content pirate. Content publishers, your popular intellectual property will be no safer wrapped in anything that this specification can provide.
The proposal does not achieve the goal of the specification, it is not ready for First Public Working Draft publication via the HTML Working Group.
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Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
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New research has found that qigong, an ancient Chinese mind-body practice, has been found to reduce depression and improve the quality of life in women undergoing radiation for breast cancer.
