মঙ্গলবার, ২৯ জানুয়ারী, ২০১৩

As Android rises, Asia's trend-setters feel iPhone fatigue

23 hrs.

SINGAPORE?? Apple's iconic iPhone is losing some of its luster among Asia's well-heeled consumers in Singapore and Hong Kong, a victim of changing mobile habits and its own runaway success.

Driven by a combination of iPhone fatigue, a desire to be different and a plethora of competing devices, users are turning to other brands, notably those from Samsung Electronics, eating into Apple's market share.

In Singapore, Apple's products were so dominant in 2010 that more devices here ran its iOS operating system per capita than anywhere else in the world.

But StatCounter, which measures traffic collected across a network of 3 million websites, calculates that Apple's share of mobile devices in Singapore ? iPad and iPhone ? declined sharply last year. From a peak of 72 percent in January 2012, its share fell to 50 percent this month, while Android devices now account for 43 percent of the market, up from 20 percent in the same month last year.

In Hong Kong, devices running Apple's iOS now account for about 30 percent of the total, down from about 45 percent a year ago. Android accounts for nearly two-thirds.

"Apple is still viewed as a prestigious brand, but there are just so many other cool smartphones out there now that the competition is just much stiffer," said Tom Clayton, chief executive of Singapore-based Bubble Motion, which develops a popular regional social media app called Bubbly.

Leading indicators
Where Hong Kong and Singapore lead, other key markets across fast-growing Asia usually follow.

"Singapore and Hong Kong tend to be, from an electronics perspective, leading indicators on what is going to be hot in Western Europe and North America, as well as what is going to take off in the region," said Jim Wagstaff, who runs a Singapore-based company called Jam Factory?that's developing mobile apps for enterprises.

Southeast Asia is adopting smartphones fast ? consumers spent 78 percent more on smartphones in the 12 months up to September 2012 than they did the year before, according to research company GfK.

Android rising
Anecdotal evidence of iPhone fatigue isn't hard to find: Where a year ago iPhones swamped other devices on the subways of Hong Kong and Singapore, they are now outnumbered by Samsung and HTC smartphones.

While this is partly explained by the proliferation of Android devices, from the cheap to the fancy, there are other signs that Apple has lost followers.

Singapore entrepreneur Aileen Sim recently launched an app for splitting bills called BillPin, settling on an iOS version because that was the dominant platform in the three countries she was targeting ? Singapore, India and the United States.

"But what surprised us was how strong the call for Android was when we launched our app," she said.

Indeed, 70 percent of their target users ? 20-something college students and fresh graduates ? said they were either already on Android or planned to switch over.

"Android is becoming really hard to ignore, around the region and in the U.S. for sure, but surprisingly even in Singapore," she said. "Even my younger early-20s cousins are mostly on Android now."

BillPin launched an Android version this month.

Standing out from the crowd
Napoleon Biggs, chief strategy officer at Gravitas Group, a Hong Kong-based mobile marketing company, said that while Apple and the iPhone remained premium brands there, Samsung's promotional efforts were playing to an increasingly receptive audience.

For some, it is a matter of wanting to stand out from the iPhone-carrying crowd. Others find the higher-powered, bigger-screened Android devices better suited to their changing habits ? watching video, writing Chinese characters ? while the cost of switching devices is lower than they expected, given that most popular social and gaming apps are available for both platforms.

"Hong Kong is a very fickle place," Biggs said.

Janet Chan, a 25-year-old Hong Kong advertising executive, has an iPhone 5, ?but its fast-draining battery and the appeal of a bigger screen for watching movies is prodding her to switch to a Samsung Galaxy Note II.

"After Steve Jobs died, it seems the element of surprise in product launches isn't that great anymore," she said.

Shifting trends
To be sure, there are still plenty of people buying Apple devices. Stores selling their products in places such as Indonesia were full over the Christmas holidays, and the company's new official store in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay has queues snaking out of the door most days.

But the iPhone's drop in popularity in trendy Hong Kong and Singapore is mirrored in the upmarket malls of the region.

"IPhones are like Louis Vuitton handbags," said marketing manager Narisara Konglua in Bangkok, who uses a Galaxy SIII. "It's become so commonplace to see people with iPads and iPhones so you lose your cool edge having one."

In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, an assistant manager at Coca Cola's local venture, Gatot Hadipratomo, agrees. The iPhone "used to be a cool gadget, but now more and more people use it," Hadipratomo said.

There is another influence at play: hip Korea. Korean pop music, movies and TV are hugely popular around the region, and Samsung is riding that wave. And while the impact is more visible in Hong Kong and Singapore, it also translates directly to places like Thailand.

"Thais are not very brand-loyal," says Akkaradert Bumrungmuang, 24, a student at Mahidol University in Bangkok. "That's why whatever is hot or the in-thing to have is adopted quickly here. We follow Korea, so whatever is fashionable in Korea will be a big hit."

This report was written by Jeremy Wagstaff in Singapore, with additional reporting by Lee Chyen Yee in Hong Kong, Khettiya Jittapong and Amy Sawitta Lefevre in Bangkok, and Andjarsari Paramaditha in Jakarta.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/android-rises-asias-trend-setters-show-signs-iphone-fatigue-1C8137474

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Exposure For Your Self-Published Book ? Writing and Illustrating

Gain Exposure For Your Self-Published Book!

21stSelfPub-800px-300x86

You?ve put countless hours into writing your book and perfecting it for publication. You did your homework, and found the right self-publisher for you. Now, give your book the exposure and accolades it deserves ? enter the Writer?s Digest 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards!

You could win:

?Up to $3000 in cash
?National exposure for your work
?The attention of prospective editors and publishers
?A paid trip to the Writer?s Digest Conference in New York City!

Early Bird Deadline: April 1, 2013

Enter Now!

How to enter: register and pay online or download a printable entry form. (Early Bird Entry fees are $100 for the first entry, and $75 for each additional entry.)

Enter your book into one or more of these categories:
?Mainstream/Literary Fiction
?Genre Fiction
?Nonfiction
?Inspirational (Spiritual, New Age)
?Life Stories (Biographies, Autobiographies, Family Histories, Memoirs)
?Children?s/Picture books
?Middle-Grade/Young Adult books
?Reference Books (Directories, Encyclopedias, Guide Books)
?Poetry

Read the rules and get the details: Writer?s Digest Self-Published Awards

One Grand Prize Winner will receive:

  • $3,000 cash and a trip to the Writer?s Digest Conference in New York City
  • A priceless endorsement for their book from the Writer?s Digest Editors?10 copies of their book for submission to major publishing review houses
  • A one-year membership for Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), the largest not-for-profit trade association representing more than 3,000 independent book publishers, courtesy of Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC
  • Guaranteed acceptance in a special sales catalog and national representation through 1,800 salespeople who sell to non-bookstore markets
  • A one-year membership to Author-U
  • A copy of Show Me About Book Publishing and consultation with Book Shepherd Judith Briles (valued at $500)
  • A guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review

Nine First-Place Winners will receive:

  • $1,000 cash and promotion in Writer?s Digest
  • A one-year membership to Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN)
  • A guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review
  • A one-year membership to Book Central Station where you can find lists of suppliers rated by previous clients, provided by Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC
  • An ebook titled Beyond the Bookstore by Brian Jud (with CD).

All Grand Prize and First Place winners will:

  • Be featured on the Writer?s Digest website
  • Receive a copy of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 4th Edition by Tom and Marilyn Ross
  • $100 worth of Writer?s Digest Books

Honorable Mention Winners will receive $50 worth of Writer?s Digest Books and be promoted on www.writersdigest.com.

All other entrants will receive a brief commentary from the judges along with a link to the entrant?s website (only if the URL is accurate) on writersdigest.com.

THE RULES:

1. The competition is open to all English-language self-published books for which the authors have paid the full cost of publication, or the cost of printing has been paid for by a grant or as part of a prize.

2. You may register and pay online for faster service.

3. Entrants must send a printed and bound book. Entries will be evaluated on content, writing quality and overall quality of production and appearance. No handwritten books are accepted.

4. All books published or revised and reprinted between 2008 and 2013 are eligible. (Writer?s Digest may demand proof of eligibility of semifinalists.)

5. All books not registered online must be accompanied by an Official Entry Form. Photocopies of the Official Entry Form are acceptable. You may enter more than one book and/or more than one category; however, you must include a separate book, entry form and the additional fee for each entry.

6. We accept check, money order or credit card payment for the required judging fee. The early bird entry fees are $100 for the first entry, $75 for each additional entry must accompany submissions. For books submitted after the April 1 early bird deadline, the fees are $110 for the first entry, $85 for each additional entry. Payment must accompany submissions.

7. All early bird entries must be postmarked no later than April 1, 2013. Entries submitted for the regular deadline must be postmarked by May 1, 2013. All winners will be notified by October 14, 2013. If you wish to receive confirmation that your entry was received before the deadline, we recommend using certified mail or some other tracking method to send your entry.

8. Judges reserve the right to withhold prizes in any category. Judges reserve the right to re-categorize entries.

9. Books which have previously won awards from Writers Digest are not eligible.

10. Employees of F+W Media, Inc. and Book Marketing Works, LLC and their immediate families are not eligible. Books published by Abbott Press are not eligible to participate.

11. Writer?s Digest is not responsible for the loss, damage or return of any books submitted to the competition.

Talk soon,

Kathy

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Source: http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/exposure-for-your-self-published-book/

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সোমবার, ২৮ জানুয়ারী, ২০১৩

$32 To Add Internet To Your Dumb TV Is Your Deal of the Day

You've probably got a TV languishing unused somewhere in your home. Or you've got a beautiful modern dumb TV and no easy way to stream Netflix on it. Either way, it's hard to find a less expensive way to add internet to your TV than this D-Link MovieNite Plus streaming box. Sure, it doesn't have a plethora of streaming options like the Roku 2 XS or the simplicity of the Apple TV, but at $50 less than the heavy hitters, it doesn't have to. It will serve Netflix, Pandora, and YouTube in 1080p with aplomb. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/HRvVMAVqq6w/32-to-add-internet-to-your-dumb-tv-is-your-deal-of-the-day

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Olympic Torch lights up Sligos Peace Mini Olympics : Sligo Sport ...

An Olympic torch was the highlight of Sligo?s Mini Olympics last week (4th ?Dec) when 100 primary school pupils took part in non-competitive games organized by Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership. The Sligo Mini Olympics are designed to increase awareness and understanding of cultural diversity and encourage inclusive celebration among young people.

sligo-mini-olympics-low-res-3011

The Sligo Mini Olympics are funded by the PEACE III Programme through the European Union?s European Regional Development Fund managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by Sligo County Council on behalf of Sligo Peace and Reconciliation Partnership Committee. They were organized by Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership, which is part of the Urban Peace Collective, a project of the PEACE III programme.

The Olympic torch was brought to Sligo by the Irish Sports Council Sports Partnership Officer Michelle Harte, who was a special guest at the event.

Five primary schools, Our Lady of Mercy P.S, St Edward?s N.S, St Brendan?s N.S, St John?s School and Sligo School Project took part in the Mini Olympics. Children at each school received coaching sessions in preparation for the event. Each school represented a country at the Mini Olympics and developed its own flags and banners for the event.

The young athletes took part in hurdles, speed bounce, javelin, hammer, long jump and rebounder relays in mixed teams with pupils from other schools, without the focus of competition.

?Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership were delighted to have Michelle Harte from the Irish Sports Council as our special guest. The Olympic Games are the world?s greatest multi-cultural sporting spectacle and are a means to inspire, stimulate and promote positive messages and good practice through sport,? said Diane Middleton of Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership.For further information on this initiative please contact Diane Middleton, Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership on 071-9161511 or email diane@sligosportandrecreation.ie.

sligo-mini-olympics-low-res-2979

Source: http://www.sligosportandrecreation.ie/2013/01/olympic-torch-lights-up-sligos-peace-mini-olympics/

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Source: http://gavin9505.typepad.com/blog/2013/01/olympic-torch-lights-up-sligos-peace-mini-olympics-sligo-sport.html

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Celestial Hunters

Celestial Hunters

The Sun and Moon clan have been fighting for centuries, until they decide to make an arranged marriage between a Sun lion and a Moon tiger.

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Celestial Hunters?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Celestial Hunters"

You may edit this first post as you see fit.

User avatar
BlueWind_22
Member for 2 years



May I play the Prophecy Lioness of the Sun Clan?

Excuse spelling... trying to type with ice cream in my hand. XD

"She offered herself to the big, bad wolf and didn't scream when he took the first bite."

User avatar
bandgeek
Member for 1 years


Sure, just send in her and I'll take a look at your character...

User avatar
BlueWind_22
Member for 2 years


All done. :3 I hope you like her.

User avatar
bandgeek
Member for 1 years



Post a reply

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North Korean leader indicates plan to conduct nuclear test

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened top security and foreign affairs officials and ordered them to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," state media said Sunday, indicating that he plans to push forward with a threat to explode a nuclear device in defiance of the United Nations.

The meeting of top officials led by Kim makes clear that he backs Pyongyang's defiant stance in protest of U.N. Security Council punishment for a December rocket launch. The dispatch in the official Korean Central News Agency did not say when the meeting took place.

Last week, the Security Council condemned North Korea's Dec. 12 launch of a long-range rocket as a violation of a ban against nuclear and missile activity. The council, including North Korea ally China, punished Pyongyang with more sanctions and ordered the regime to refrain from a nuclear test ? or face "significant action."

North Korea responded by rejecting the resolution and maintaining its right to launch a satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful civilian space program.

It also warned that it would keep developing rockets and testing nuclear devices to counter what it sees as U.S. hostility. A rare statement was issued Thursday by the powerful National Defense Commission, the top governing body led by Kim.

Kim's order for strong action and the recent series of strong statements indicate he intends to conduct a nuclear test in the near future to show "he is a young yet powerful leader both domestically and internationally," said Chin Hee-gwan, a North Korea expert at South Korea's Inje University.

North Korea cites a U.S. military threat in the region as a key reason behind its drive to build nuclear weapons. The two countries fought on opposite sides of the Korean War, which ended after three years in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The U.S.-led U.N. Command mans the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, and Washington stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect its ally.

North Korea is estimated to have enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to American nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, who visited the country's nuclear complex northwest of Pyongyang in November 2010.

However, it is not known whether North Korean scientists have found a way to build nuclear warheads small enough to mount on a long-range missile.

Experts say regular tests are needed to perfect the technique, and another atomic test could take the country closer to its goal of building a warhead that can be mounted on a missile designed to strike the United States. North Korea has carried out two nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009.

South Korean defense officials say North Korea is technically ready to conduct a nuclear test in a matter of days.

Satellite photos taken Wednesday show that over the past month, roads have been kept clear of snow and that North Koreans may have been sealing the tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device would be detonated.

Analysis of the images of the Punggye-ri site was provided Friday to The Associated Press by 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Kim could order a nuclear test ahead of the Feb. 16th birthday of his late father and former leader Kim Jong Il to "create a festive mood," Chin predicted. Kim Jong Il died at age 69 in December 2011.

The U.S., South Korea and other countries have warned North Korea not to go ahead with a nuclear test, saying that would only deepen the country's international isolation.

After meeting with Chinese officials Friday, U.S. envoy for North Korea Glyn Davies said a nuclear test would set back efforts to restart regional talks on the North's nuclear disarmament.

North Korea has accused the U.S. and South Korea of leading the push for the U.N. Security Council resolution.

Sunday's KCNA dispatch said the U.N. punishment indicates U.S. hostility toward North Korea has reached its highest point. North Korea also warned South Korea on Friday of "strong physical countermeasures" if Seoul takes part in the U.N. sanctions.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/north-korean-leader-vows-strong-action-18325875

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Labor rights groups seek action after Bangladesh factory blaze

DHAKA (Reuters) - International labor rights groups called on Sunday for global clothing retailers to ensure adequate safety measures for garment workers in Bangladesh after a blaze killed seven employees at a small factory.

Saturday's fire gutted Smart Exports Garment Ltd, just two months after Bangladesh's worst ever factory blaze killed 112 workers and injured 150 at Tazreen Fashions Ltd, a multi-storey garment workshop in Dhaka's Ashulia suburb.

In a joint statement issued after the latest blaze, three organizations asked retailers and brands to sign a fire safety agreement with Bangladesh.

"After more than two decades of the apparel industry knowing about the risks to these workers, nothing substantial has changed," the Executive Director of the International Labor Rights Forum, Judy Gearhart, said in the statement.

"Brands still keep their audit results secret. They still walk away when it suits them and trade unions are still marginalized, weakening workers' ability to speak up when they are at risk," she added.

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) also signed the statement.

Another rights group, the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights (ILGHR), said on its website it had gained access to the gutted factory and found seven women workers had been crushed to death as employees tried to escape the fire.

Firefighters and police said the cause of the latest blaze was not yet known. Survivors said it could have been caused by an electrical short circuit at the factory on the upper floor of a two-storey building in the crowded Mohammadpur area.

Kalpona Akter, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity told Reuters that two garment factories had subcontracted orders to the factory's owner, Smart Export Garments Ltd.

She said the company was not a member of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association and had no license from fire prevention or labor bodies.

An official report into the Tazreen blaze in November concluded it was the result of both sabotage and negligence.

Bangladesh has about 4,500 garment factories and is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China. Clothing makes up 80 percent of its $24 billion annual exports.

(Reporting By Serajul Quadir; Writing by Anis Ahmed; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/labor-rights-groups-seek-action-bangladesh-factory-blaze-141132841.html

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Dozens reported killed in Venezuela prison riot

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? A bloody riot erupted in a Venezuelan prison when National Guard troops clashed with armed inmates, and Venezuelan media reported that dozens were killed.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro called the violence tragic early Saturday on television and said the authorities had launched an investigation. He and other officials did not give a death toll from the riot Friday at Uribana prison in the central Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto.

The newspaper Ultimas Noticias reported on its website that 54 people were killed. The television channel Globovision reported at least 50 killed and about 90 injured. Both cited Ruy Medina, the director of Central Hospital in the city.

Humberto Prado, an activist who leads the watchdog group Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, said in a statement that inmates' relatives and media accounts put the toll at 54 killed and 88 injured.

Relatives wept outside the prison during the violence, and cried outside the morgue Saturday as they waited to identify bodies.

Penitentiary Service Minister Iris Varela said Friday that the riot broke out when groups of inmates attacked National Guard troops who were attempting to carry out an inspection.

Varela said the violence had affected a number of prisoners and officials, but said the authorities would hold off until control had been re-established at the prison to confirm the toll. She said the government decided to send troops to search the prison after receiving reports of clashes between groups of inmates during the past two days.

The death toll provided by Medina rose late Friday after he had initially reported four killed and dozens injured. Ultimas Noticias reported that the victims included a Protestant pastor and a member of the National Guard, as well as inmates.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles condemned the government's handling of the country's overcrowded and violent prisons.

"Our country's prisons are an example of the incapacity of this government and its leaders. They never solved the problem," Capriles said on his Twitter account. "How many more deaths do there have to be in the prisons for the government to acknowledge its failure and make changes?"

Prado noted in his group's statement, which was posted on Globovision's website Saturday, that in 2007 the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights had ordered the Venezuelan government to seize weapons that inmates had in their possession at Uribana prison and to take measures to avoid deaths in the facility.

The observatory called for the government to release a list with the names of the dead and wounded, as well as details about weapons seized in the search. It also said the government should adequately train security forces to "effectively guarantee the right to life and avoid the disproportionate use of force."

The group says Uribana prison was built to hold up to 850 inmates but currently has about 1,400.

It was the latest in a series of bloody riots in the country's prisons. In April and May, a prison uprising in La Planta prison in Caracas blocked authorities from going inside for nearly three weeks. One prisoner was killed and five people were wounded, including two National Guard soldiers and three inmates.

Two months later, another riot broke out at a prison in Merida, and the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory reported 30 killed.

In August, 25 people were killed and 43 wounded when two groups of inmates fought a gunbattle inside Yare I prison south of Caracas.

In recent years, violence has worsened inside Venezuela's severely overcrowded prisons, where inmates often freely obtain weapons and drugs with the help of corrupt guards.

Venezuela currently has 33 prisons built to hold about 12,000 inmates, but officials have said the prisons' population is about 47,000.

Maduro said early Saturday that Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega Diaz and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello were leading the investigation into the newest riot.

"The prisons have to be governed by law," Maduro said.

Chavez's government has previous pledged improvements to the prison system, but opponents and activists say the government hasn't made progress.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dozens-reported-killed-venezuela-prison-riot-171656137.html

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Bigfoot in Oregon? New Sasquatch "Sightings," Rumors Emerge

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/bigfoot-in-oregon-new-sasquatch-sightings-rumors-emerge/

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Cities affect temperatures for thousands of miles

Jan. 27, 2013 ? Even if you live more than 1,000 miles from the nearest large city, it could be affecting your weather.

In a new study that shows the extent to which human activities are influencing the atmosphere, scientists have concluded that the heat generated by everyday activities in metropolitan areas alters the character of the jet stream and other major atmospheric systems. This affects temperatures across thousands of miles, significantly warming some areas and cooling others, according to the study this week in Nature Climate Change.

The extra "waste heat" generated from buildings, cars, and other sources in major Northern Hemisphere urban areas causes winter warming across large areas of northern North America and northern Asia. Temperatures in some remote areas increase by as much as 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the research by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; University of California, San Diego; Florida State University; and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

At the same time, the changes to atmospheric circulation caused by the waste heat cool areas of Europe by as much as 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F), with much of the temperature decrease occurring in the fall.

The net effect on global mean temperatures is nearly negligible -- an average increase worldwide of just 0.01 degrees C (about 0.02 degrees F). This is because the total human-produced waste heat is only about 0.3 percent of the heat transported across higher latitudes by atmospheric and oceanic circulations.

However, the noticeable impact on regional temperatures may explain why some regions are experiencing more winter warming than projected by climate computer models, the researchers conclude. They suggest that models be adjusted to take the influence of waste heat into account.

"The burning of fossil fuel not only emits greenhouse gases but also directly affects temperatures because of heat that escapes from sources like buildings and cars," says NCAR scientist Aixue Hu, a co-author of the study. "Although much of this waste heat is concentrated in large cities, it can change atmospheric patterns in a way that raises or lowers temperatures across considerable distances."

Distinct from urban heat island effect

The researchers stressed that the effect of waste heat is distinct from the so-called urban heat island effect. Such islands are mainly a function of the heat collected and re-radiated by pavement, buildings, and other urban features, whereas the new study examines the heat produced directly through transportation, heating and cooling units, and other activities.

The study, "Energy consumption and the unexplained winter warming over northern Asia and North America," appeared online January 27. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor, as well as the Department of Energy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Hu, along with lead author Guang Zhang of Scripps and Ming Cai of Florida State University, analyzed the energy consumption -- from heating buildings to powering vehicles -- that generates waste heat release. The world's total energy consumption in 2006 was equivalent to a constant-use rate of 16 terawatts (1 terawatt, or TW, equals 1 trillion watts). Of that, an average rate of 6.7 TW was consumed in 86 metropolitan areas in the Northern Hemisphere.

Using a computer model of the atmosphere, the authors found that the influence of this waste heat can widen the jet stream.

"What we found is that energy use from multiple urban areas collectively can warm the atmosphere remotely, thousands of miles away from the energy consumption regions," Zhang says. "This is accomplished through atmospheric circulation change."

The release of waste heat is different from energy that is naturally distributed in the atmosphere, the researchers noted. The largest source of heat, solar energy, warms Earth's surface and atmospheric circulations redistribute that energy from one region to another. Human energy consumption distributes energy that had lain dormant and sequestered for millions of years, mostly in the form of oil or coal.

Though the amount of human-generated energy is a small portion of that transported by nature, it is highly concentrated in urban areas. In the Northern Hemisphere, many of those urban areas lie directly under major atmospheric troughs and jet streams.

"The world's most populated and energy-intensive metropolitan areas are along the east and west coasts of the North American and Eurasian continents, underneath the most prominent atmospheric circulation troughs and ridges," Cai says. "The release of this concentrated waste energy causes the noticeable interruption to the normal atmospheric circulation systems above, leading to remote surface temperature changes far away from the regions where waste heat is generated."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Guang J. Zhang, Ming Cai, Aixue Hu. Energy consumption and the unexplained winter warming over northern Asia and North America. Nature Climate Change, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1803

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/18ztHxt5eMM/130127134210.htm

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The dung beetle as celestial navigator

Only humans, birds, and seals are known to navigate using stars. But the dung beetle does use the Milky Way to chart its path, say scientists.

By Joseph Castro,?LiveScience.com / January 25, 2013

Dung beetles have been shown to use the Milky Way to navigate.Researchers have known for several years that the inch-long insects use the sun or moon as fixed points to ensure they keep rolling dung balls in a straight line - the quickest way of getting away from other beetles at the dung heap. Pictured here, a South African dung beetle.

REUTERS/Marcus Byrne/University of the Witwatersrand

Enlarge

Despite having tiny brains, dung beetles are surprisingly decent navigators, able to follow straight paths as they roll poo balls they've collected away from a dung source. But it seems the insects' abilities are more remarkable than previously believed. Like ancient seafarers, dung beetles can navigate using the starry sky and the glow from the Milky Way, new research shows.

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"This is the first time where we see animals using the Milky Way for orientation," said lead researcher Marie Dacke, a biologist at Lund University in Sweden. "It's also the first time we see that insects can use the stars."

After locating a fresh pile of feces, dung beetles will often collect and roll away a large piece of spherical dung. Last year, Dacke and her colleagues discovered the beetles climb on their dung balls and dance around in circles before taking off. This dance is not one of joy, however; the insects are checking out the sky to get their bearings.

"The dorsal (upper) parts of the dung beetles' eyes are specialized to be able to analyze the direction of light polarization ? the direction that light vibrates in," Dacke told LiveScience. So when a beetle looks up, it's taking in the sun, the moon and the pattern of ambient polarized light. These celestial cues help the beetle avoid accidentally circling back to the poo pile, where other beetles may try to steal its food, Dacke said. [Photos of Dung Beetles Dancing on Poop Balls]

In addition to these cues, Dacke and her team wondered if dung beetles can use stars for navigation, just as birds, seals and humans do. After all, they reasoned, dung beetles can somehow keep straight on clear, moonless nights.

To find out, the researchers timed how long dung beetles of the species Scarabaeus satyrus took to cross a circular arena with high walls blocking views of treetops and other landmarks. They tested the insects in South Africa under a moonlit sky, a moonless sky and an overcast sky. In some trials, the beetles were fitted with cardboard caps, which kept their eyes to the ground. Overall, the beetles had a difficult time traveling straight and took significantly longer to cross the arena if caps or clouds obstructed their view of the sky.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/_kLAbUmFlvs/The-dung-beetle-as-celestial-navigator

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Diet for hiatal with the right diet:Health and Fitness

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    Algeria admits mistakes in international hostage standoff

    DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? Algeria's foreign minister acknowledged that security forces made mistakes in a hostage crisis at a Saharan gas plant in which dozens of foreign workers were killed during Algerian military strikes.

    Mourad Medelci also conceded that Algeria will need international help to fight terrorism. Algeria's decision to refuse foreign offers of aid in handling the crisis, and to send the military to fire on vehicles full of hostages, drew widespread international criticism.

    "We are in the process of assessing our mistakes," Medelci told The Associated Press in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday.

    He did not, however, identify any mistake or address specific criticism of the chaotic and bloody operation. But overall, he suggested that the Algerian government did the right thing.

    "In that assessment we are leaning more towards establishing that the operation was a success," he said.

    The Jan. 16 attack, which an al-Qaida-affiliated organization has claimed responsibility for, sent scores of foreign energy workers fleeing across the desert for their lives. A four-day siege by Algerian forces on the complex left at least 37 hostages and 29 militants dead. Some of the fatalities were badly burned, making it difficult to identify them.

    The minister said Algeria is likely to reinforce security measures at sites where multinationals operate in the oil- and gas-rich country. But he insisted that foreign workers in Algeria "will continue to work in Algeria and that is the best way to answer the terrorists."

    He defended the government's decision to attack instead of negotiating, pointing to its years of experience dealing with Islamist extremist violence.

    "Faced with such an attitude (of terrorism), it's not just words that solve the problem. It's action," he said.

    But he admitted that Algeria can't face international terrorism alone.

    "It absolutely needs support," he said.

    He argued that Algeria wasn't the target of the attack. Instead, he said, the terrorists were targeting investors and the foreigners who work for them.

    An international group of militants led by a Mali-based warlord staged the attack. The extremists demanded an end to the French-led military operation in neighboring Mali, where al-Qaida-linked groups have seized and expanded control over the past year.

    ___

    AP correspondent Angela Charlton contributed from Davos.

    Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-algeria-admits-mistakes-standoff-090850588--finance.html

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