WikiLeaks latest cables show Russians loved Joni Mitchell

WikiLeaks has released the the "Kissinger Cables," a collection of over 1.7 million pieces of diplomatic communications totally over 1 billion words, send in 1973-1976, when Henry Kissinger served as Secretary of State and the Cold War was in its d?tente phase. With a cache this massive (and thus far, not that shocking), what you find all depends on what you're searching for ? like, say, the Russian?predilection?for soft rock. To put the size of this leak in perspective, it's roughly five times the size of the Cablegate, the original WikiLeaks dump published incrementally from 2010-2011. (The last major release by the organization was last summer, regarding Syria.) And this time, instead of a pre-screening by selected media outlets (that didn't always go over so well), Julian Assange and Co. have?created a searchable database, to save your eyeballs from all those words at once. And it also means what you find in there depends on what you're looking for, even though WikiLeaks promises "significant revelations about US involvements with fascist dictatorships, particularly in Latin America, under Franco's Spain (including about the Spanish royal family) and in Greece under the regime of the Colonels."

RELATED: 5 Things We Learn From the Latest Julian Assange Interview

For example, plug in "NODIS" (no distribution) or "ONLY" (eyes only) and you'll get get more classified materials than you could ever ask for (13,245 for NODIS; 9,895 for ONLY), some more historically relevant than others ? like this document from Ho Chi Minh city, detailing the tenuous ceasefire situation in the region:?

RELATED: Details Emerge of America's Secret Oil War with Russia

It's pieces like that, which you look at and weave together with history (war restarting in 1974, and over 25,000 South Vietnamese dying in battle during 1973), that make these cables fascinating. But again, it all depends what you're searching for, and there will be discoveries new and weird. Plug in "Joni Mitchell," for example, and you'll find communications between the U.S. embassy in?Moscow and the State Department, asking for more Mitchell and Don McLean in their lives ? and to a lesser extent Neil Young ? because, well, that's the Russians wanted in January 1975:?

RELATED: WikiLeaks Says It Dumped the Media, Not the Other Way Around

"Soul" music, not so much:?

Which is kind of fun, right? Unlike Cablegate, these documents are more of a threat to FOIA fanatics than they are to American diplomacy. Assange and his friends will be having a press conference today, announcing plans to work with the Associated Press and The Nation along with other international publications, to help give you a digestible version of this massive cache. None of the group's former media partners made the list of new ones that will be "reporting this week" ? but then again?Der Spiegel probably wasn't that into Neil Young either.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wikileaks-kissinger-cables-reveal-much-russians-loved-joni-124735948.html

mets shades of grey pittsburgh penguins record store day jennie garth space needle nashville predators

Early-backer GameStick consoles delayed to June, dev units now shipping

Fancied PlayJams' GameStick Android gaming console enough to back it on Kickstarter earlier this year? The good news is that Dev units have been shipping to the roughly 600 who signed up, with the remaining ones set to head out within a week. The bad news? The early-backer versions are now set to arrive at doorsteps in late June instead of April because of high-demand, according to PlayJam. As its latest Kickstarter update details, the units will need stronger tooling than the silicon-based molds of the dev units to ensure that "tens of thousands" of them can be successfully made. Additionally, this will apparently force the company to ship these larger factory yields via sea transport rather than air, which also slows things down.

A case of success causing slowdowns it seems. Hopefully not much longer than these new estimates, too -- while this breakout underdog is set to hit retailers like GameStop, that other Android-based console, OUYA, is already shipping out to backers -- and its retail units are planned in June. You'll find the full update from PlayJam at the source link.

Filed under: Gaming

Comments

Source: PlayJam (Kickstarter)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Q9oLt2oojPA/

zimmerman charged bonobos charles manson al sharpton actuary elon musk fox mole

Unmanned Navy planes near big milestones in May

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland (Reuters) - The Navy plans to carry out the first catapult takeoff of its new X-47B unmanned plane from an aircraft carrier next month and other shipboard tests despite mandatory budget cuts this year, according to the admiral who runs the programs.

Rear Admiral Mathias Winter, program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons, said Northrop Grumman Corp's X-47B program and other unmanned aircraft programs should survive the fiscal 2013 budget cuts largely intact because they are still early in development.

But the Navy may buy fewer unmanned planes and helicopters in coming years unless Congress reverses budget cuts required over the next decade, Winter said in a recent interview at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland.

The Pentagon is already implementing $487 billion in cuts from planned spending levels over the next decade, but under a 2010 law, must cut spending by an additional $500 billion.

Top Navy leaders have identified unmanned systems, including aircraft, ground vehicles and undersea vehicles, as their No. 1 priority, and several unmanned U.S. Navy airplanes are nearing key milestones next month. Those include the first catapult takeoff from a Navy aircraft carrier, the first landing on a carrier and the first flight of a new high-altitude spy plane.

Executives at Northrop, Boeing Co and other weapons makers are waiting anxiously to see how their programs fare in President Barack Obama's fiscal 2014 budget proposal as well as the planning for fiscal 2015 that is just getting started now.

Winter said military commanders continued to demand unmanned planes for use on Navy ships since they can stay airborne longer, are able to fly at night and cost far less to operate.

"We're not doing unmanned aviation just because there's nothing else to do. There are true capability gaps that have been identified by our warfighter," Winter said, noting that the Navy was heavily focused on making the new systems affordable.

"We will continue to see unmanned systems - not unbridled growth with multiple options, but deliberate, sustained support for operating these systems in our maritime environment," he said, noting that unmanned planes would reduce the cost of protecting aircraft carriers, other ships and their crews.

TRITON'S FIRST FLIGHT SLATED FOR MAY

Winter said lower operating costs were a key selling point for continued work on unmanned systems, but industry investment and foreign military sales could also help in leaner times.

Winter is meeting with a senior Australian naval official this week to discuss the sale of the MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude unmanned spy plane that is also built by Northrop. He said other countries have also expressed interest in smaller unmanned planes built by Boeing for use in maritime environments.

Triton, which is similar to the Global Hawk plane Northrop builds for the Air Force, is scheduled to have its first flight in May, with officials aiming to declare the system ready for combat in 2017. The demonstrator aircraft built for that program logged its 10,000th flight hour last week, with 96 percent of those hours in operational use, Winter said.

He said the Navy was focused on a few key programs: the X-47B, which will be followed by a competition for an unmanned carrier-based plane in 2014; the MQ-4C Triton; the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, and RQ-21A, a smaller unmanned surveillance plane being developed by Boeing for the Marine Corps.

Across-the-board budget cuts that went into effect on March 1 will reduce funding for all U.S. Navy programs by an estimated 7 percent to 9 percent in fiscal 2013, including unmanned aircraft.

But Winter said he had enough in his budget to do shipboard tests with the X-47B on the USS George H.W. Bush in Norfolk, Virginia, in May - including the first-ever catapult launch - and possibly a landing using the plane's tailhook. Other work on the program, however, might have to be delayed.

The Navy plans to ferry the X-47B to Norfolk on a barge in mid-May, where it will be hoisted on board for some taxiing maneuvers and a catapult shot off the ship, according to Winter.

That test will be followed by several days of "touch and go" landings without the plane's tailhook. On the fourth or fifth day, if conditions are right, he said it would land on the carrier using its integrated tailhook.

NAVY LAUDS INVESTMENT IN NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Winter said it was important to complete development of the unmanned systems and ensure that they could be produced, but the Navy could always increase order quantities if a crisis emerged.

The four companies already doing preliminary work on an unmanned carrier-launched airborne surveillance and strike system, or UCLASS, had invested hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to ensure that program - one of few new aircraft development programs - survived leaner government budgets, he said.

Work on the X-47B demonstrator plane would help reduce risk and lower costs on the successor UCLASS program, he added.

Meanwhile, Winter said the Navy is working on its acquisition plan and hopes to issue a request for proposals (RFP) in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which begins on October 1, followed by a contract award in the fourth quarter.

"It's an exciting time," he said. "These are things that have never been done before."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa, editing by G Crosse)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/unmanned-navy-planes-near-big-milestones-may-184012814--finance.html

world peace world peace lakers colorectal cancer metta kashi neil diamond orange crush

Calif. governor looks to China for investments

This page is a 403, forbidden page Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination, try visiting the AP home page or look through a list of AP's online services.

?

? ? ? Copyright ? 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Contact

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_CHINA?SITE=CODUR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Rex Ryan tattoo Alaska earthquake green bay packers nfl schedule houston texans houston texans aaron rodgers

Stroke victim Sen. Kirk says Obama's brain study offers hope

Mark Kirk (center) returns to the Senate after his stroke. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, who last year suffered a severe stroke but has since returned to the Senate, says he supports President Barack Obama's new proposal to invest federal dollars to study the human brain.

"Having suffered an ischemic stroke, I understand the importance of investing in science and technology to better understand our brain's circuitry and neurological interactions," Kirk told Yahoo News. "The new BRAIN initiative, which includes fostering partnerships with private institutions, will help bring us closer to learning more about mapping the most powerful, innovative tool in our bodies. After meeting with the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke [NINDS], I hope the research from the BRAIN initiative will continue to help doctors and scientists better understand strokes, their effects, and long-term health impacts."

Obama on Tuesday unveiled the initiative, which will devote $100 million toward research on the brain in hopes of providing new insights into diseases and ideally leading to new cures and methods of treatment. The proposal will be a part of the president's budget proposal, to be released later this month.

"There's this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked," Obama had said when he announced the program. "And the BRAIN initiative will change that."

In late January 2012, Kirk underwent neurosurgery after the stroke. After less than a year of treatment, the senator was able to climb the 45 steps of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to re-enter the chamber for the first new legislative session in early January.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/stroke-victim-sen-mark-kirk-praises-obama-brain-151959908--politics.html

phillies Pizza Lemon bryce harper dodgers game of thrones Kevin Ware

XYZbot's Fritz offers a cheaper robot head, free trips to the uncanny valley (video)

It's been relatively easy to get your hands on an expressive robot face... if you're rich or a scientist, that is. XYZbot would like to give the rest of us a shot by crowdfunding Fritz, an Arduino-powered robot head. The build-it-yourself (and eerily human-proportioned) construction can react to pre-programmed actions, text-to-speech conversion or live control, ranging from basics like the eyes and jaw to the eyelids, eyebrows, lips and neck of an Advanced Fritz. Windows users should have relatively simple control through an app if they just want to play, but where Fritz may shine is its open source nature: the code and hardware schematics will be available for extending support, changing the look or building a larger robot where Fritz is just one part. The $125 minimum pledge required to set aside a Fritz ($199 for an Advanced Fritz) isn't trivial, but it could be a relative bargain if XYZbot makes its $25,000 goal -- and one of the quickest routes to not-quite-lifelike robotics outside of a research grant.

Filed under: Peripherals, Robots

Comments

Source: Kickstarter

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/02/xyzbot-fritz-offers-cheaper-robotic-face-simulation/

Michelle Obama Oscars Wissam Al Mana seth macfarlane oscar winners anne hathaway Castel Gandolfo Silver Linings Playbook

Feds: Man stole US cancer data to study in China

MILWAUKEE (AP) ? When three vials of a possible cancer-fighting compound disappeared recently from a professor's desk at the Medical College of Wisconsin, suspicion quickly fell on a research assistant who had been working in the scientist's lab.

Security video showed Hua Jun Zhao, who studied in China and whose wife lives there, was the only person who entered the professor's office that day. Investigators later found research results from another professor on Zhao's computer.

Zhao has been charged in a federal complaint with economic espionage, accused by prosecutors stealing academic research to pass off as his own in China. Prosecutors said he hoped to study the compound and other materials at Zhejiang University, one of several Chinese schools that have been troubled by plagiarism, fraud and academic misconduct.

Zhao, 42, worked on a team led by professor Marshall Anderson, who is researching whether the compound can help kill cancer cells without damaging healthy ones, school spokeswoman Maureen Mack said. The compound is still being studied in a lab and has not yet advanced to clinical testing, she said.

The stolen vials of the C-25 powder are worth $8,000, the complaint said. Leonard Peace, an FBI spokesman in Milwaukee, said he couldn't comment beyond what was in the complaint, except to confirm the vials had not been recovered.

Anderson noticed the vials missing on Feb. 22. School security video showed Zhao was the only person who entered Anderson's office that day. Federal investigators questioned him about the vials on Feb. 27, but Zhao claimed he did not understand their questions, the complaint said. The school immediately placed him on administrative leave.

Zhao's co-workers told the FBI that Zhao spoke excellent English and he had lived in the U.S. for many years. Mack declined to say how long Zhao worked at the school and would not provide details of his immigration status, referring questions to the FBI.

Zhao was arrested March 29 and charged with economic espionage, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. A judge on Monday ordered him held at Milwaukee County Jail until trial. No trial date has been set but a preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 11.

Zhao's public defender, Juval Scott, said it was too early to comment on the case.

"Right now I know that a talented professional has been accused of a serious crime," she said in an email, "and our office looks forward to rolling up our sleeves and working on his behalf."

Zhao traveled to China in December. Since his return in mid-February, he has claimed on his resume that he's an assistant professor at Zhejiang University, the complaint said. Zhejiang University has had previous problems with theft. He Haibo, an associate professor in its College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, was fired in 2009 after it was discovered he had published papers with data stolen from a professor when he was a doctoral student at another Chinese university.

Academic plagiarism and fraud has been a problem in China, where some say professors are given an incentive to cheat because they're often evaluated on the number, rather than the quality, of papers published.

Mark Frankel, director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's scientific responsibility, human rights and law program, said American universities are vulnerable to theft because there is a culture of openness. Scientists often share research in an effort to verify and reproduce each other's discoveries, he said, adding that the risk also has become greater since the 1980s as universities partner with companies on work that they plan to patent and market.

"As we begin to see that science (and) the knowledge that it creates can be translated into value, this whole notion of theft ... began to populate the university environment," Frankel said.

He recalled a flurry of thefts in the late 1990s and early 2000s but said he believes computer hacking, and data theft related to that, have become a greater problem in recent years.

Zhao allowed the medical college to copy files from his personal laptop, a thumb drive and an external hard drive after he was placed on administrative leave. Investigators found 384 files related to Anderson's research, as well as research results from another professor from the school's cancer department.

Among the files was a grant application to a Chinese foundation that Zhao wrote in Mandarin. In the application he said he discovered the C-25 compound and that he was seeking funding to continue his research in China. Anderson told investigators the application was a verbatim translation of a grant application he himself had written several years earlier in English.

School security staff told FBI agents that on the day of his suspension Zhao also accessed school computers remotely and deleted files related to the C-25 research. The college was able to recover the files. Zhao denied accessing the server or deleting files and said he didn't understand the FBI agents' questions.

Federal authorities subsequently searched Zhao's home and found a receipt for shipment of a package to Zhao's wife along with two airline tickets from Chicago to China leaving Tuesday, as well as an application to the National Natural Science Foundation of China for research funding for C-25.

___

Associated Press writer Didi Tang in Beijing contributed to this report.

___

Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-man-stole-us-cancer-data-study-china-211724877.html

Turkey Cooking Times Butterball mashed potatoes Apple Black Friday how to cook a turkey emma stone Frys