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Saturday, March 9, 2013

Facebook tries to stay hip with jazzier News Feed

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Thursday, March 7, 2013. Zuckerberg on Thursday unveiled a new look for the social network's News Feed, the place where its 1 billion users congregate to see what's happening with their friends, family and favorite businesses.(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) ? Facebook doesn't want to be dismissed as an Internet has-been before its social network even enters its adolescence.

In an effort to remain hip, it is infusing the focal point of its website with a more dynamic look and additional controls designed to empower its 1 billion users to sort streams of photos and other material into more organized sections that appeal to their personal interests.

The changes unveiled Thursday are an attempt to address complaints that Facebook's hub ? the News Feed ? is degenerating into a jumble of monotonous musings and disjointed pictures. This has come as users' social circles have widened from a few dozen people to an unwieldy assortment of friends, family, businesses, celebrities, co-workers and fleeting acquaintances.

That evolution requires a more nuanced approach than the computer-generated algorithms that Facebook has been relying on to pick out the most relevant content to display in each user's News Feed. The growing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers equipped with high-quality cameras also is turning the News Feed into a more visual gallery, another shift that Facebook is tackling by carving out more space to display photos and video.

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg hopes the makeover turns the News Feed into something like a newspaper tailored to fit the particular interests of each user on every visit to the website.

"This gives people more power to dig deeper into the topics they care about," Zuckerberg said while discussing the makeover at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters.

By keeping Facebook relevant, Zuckerberg hopes to avoid the fate of his company's social networking forerunners, Friendster and MySpace. Those once-trendy sites quickly flamed out, largely because they didn't say attuned to the changing interest of fickle audience. Making that mistake is even more costly in an age of increasingly short attention spans and technological tools that make it easy to find some other diversion with a quick click of the computer mouse or the swipe of a finger on a smartphone.

"They needed to freshen things up," said Brian Blau, research director of consumer technologies for Gartner Inc. "This should bring a lot of cooler things" into the News Feed.

Although Zuckerberg didn't say it, the overhaul also appears to be aimed at carving out more space to show larger and more compelling ads within the News Feed as Facebook seeks to boost its revenue and stock price.

Previous tweaks to the News Feed have triggered howls of protest among Facebook's users. Hoping to minimize the grousing this time around, Facebook intends to roll out the changes in phases. It will probably be at least six months before everyone who accesses Facebook on a personal computer sees the revamped News Feed, the company said. New mobile applications featuring the changes should be released within that time frame too.

The transition is likely to be completed before Facebook celebrates its 10th birthday next February.

The facelift is likely to be more jarring for those who only visit Facebook on a PC because it incorporates some features already deployed in the social network's mobile applications for smartphones and tablet computers.

The new features will enable users to choose to see streams of content that may feature nothing but photos or posts from their closest friends, family members or favorite businesses. Or they can just peruse content about music, or sports, as if they were grabbing a section of a newspaper. Other newspaper-like changes will include lists of events that users' social circles have flagged for the upcoming weekend and other summaries meant to resemble a table of contents.

Facebook still intends to rely on algorithms to select some material to feature on the main part of the News Feed, much like newspaper editors determine what goes on the front page.

The additional space being devoted to photos and video is an acknowledgement how dramatically the composition of Facebook's content has changed during the past 16 months. About 50 percent of the posts on News Feed now include a photo or video now, up from 25 percent in November 2011, according to Facebook's data.

Bigger pictures also will give advertisers a larger canvass to make their marketing pitches. Facebook is hoping marketers will seize the opportunity to develop more creative ways to entice and intrigue customers so advertising can become a more acceptable fixture on the social network.

More than anything else, the changes are meant to make Facebook a more fun place to hang out.

"This is all about keeping people engaged," Blau said.

Although Facebook's website remains one of the Internet's top destinations, there have been early signs that the social network is losing some of its pizazz, particularly among younger Web surfers who are starting to spend more time on other fraternizing hubs such as Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram, a photo-sharing site that Facebook bought for $521 million last summer.

A phenomenon, known as "Facebook Fatigue," was recently documented in a report from Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project. The study found that about 61 percent of Facebook users had taken a hiatus for reasons that range from boredom to too much irrelevant information to Lent.

That's a worrisome trend for Facebook because the company needs to ensure that its audience keeps coming back so it can learn more about their interests and, ultimately, sell more of the advertising that brings in most of the company's revenue.

"I don't think it had turned into a crisis, but Facebook was probably seeing some internal data that was telling them they needed to do something," said Greg Sterling, a senior analyst for Opus Research.

Facebook has been struggling to find the right balance between keeping its fun-loving audience happy and selling enough ads to please investors who want the company to accelerate its revenue growth.

Wall Street seems to think the redesigned News Feed might be a step in the right direction. Facebook's stock gained $1.13, or 4.1 percent, to close Thursday at $28.58. The shares still remain 25 percent below the $38 that they fetched in Facebook's initial public offering last May.

The mobile-friendly redesign of News Feed underscores the company's intensifying focus on smartphones and tablet computers as more of its users rely on those devices to interact on the social network.

About 23 percent, or $306 million, of Facebook's advertising revenue came from the mobile market during the final three months of last year. Zuckerberg thinks more than half of Facebook's revenue will be coming more mobile devices within the next few years ? a goal that should be easier to reach if the redesigned News Feed turns out to be as compelling as he envisions.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-08-Facebook-Remixed%20News%20Feed/id-fd44081bb9264d3093b4612eb9fc0378

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Military takes over from police in Egyptian city

An Egyptian army soldier helps another soldier with a mask as troops take control of the state security building after several days of clashes between protesters and riot police in Port Said, Egypt, Friday, March 8, 2013. With the country in chaos from weeks of protests against the Islamist president, the police have now joined the fray, launching their own protests. Some security forces in Port Said have refused to leave their barracks to move against protesters in the street amid clashes raging for days. Others have refused orders to deploy to Port Said from elsewhere to help in the fight. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian protesters chant angry slogans during a demonstration after the noon prayer in Port Said, Egypt, Friday, March 8, 2013. With the country in chaos from weeks of protests against the Islamist president, the police have now joined the fray, launching their own protests. Some security forces in Port Said have refused to leave their barracks to move against protesters in the street amid clashes raging for days. Others have refused orders to deploy to Port Said from elsewhere to help in the fight. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptians clean up the streets from stones as the army takes over control of the state security building after several days of clashes between protesters and riot police in Port Said, Egypt, Friday, March 8, 2013. With the country in chaos from weeks of protests against the Islamist president, the police have now joined the fray, launching their own protests. Some security forces in Port Said have refused to leave their barracks to move against protesters in the street amid clashes raging for days. Others have refused orders to deploy to Port Said from elsewhere to help in the fight. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptians clean up the streets as the Egyptian army takes control of the state security building after several days of clashes between protesters and riot police in Port Said, Egypt, Friday, March 8, 2013. With the country in chaos from weeks of protests against the Islamist president, the police have now joined the fray, launching their own protests. Some security forces in Port Said have refused to leave their barracks to move against protesters in the street amid clashes raging for days. Others have refused orders to deploy to Port Said from elsewhere to help in the fight. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Egyptian army soldiers stand guard as they take control of the state security building after several days of clashes between protesters and riot police in Port Said, Egypt, Friday, March 8, 2013. With the country in chaos from weeks of protests against the Islamist president, the police have now joined the fray, launching their own protests. Some security forces in Port Said have refused to leave their barracks to move against protesters in the street amid clashes raging for days. Others have refused orders to deploy to Port Said from elsewhere to help in the fight. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) ? Egypt's police forces withdrew from the streets of the restive Egyptian city of Port Said on the Suez Canal and the military took over main security duties Friday, trying to calm a wave of protests and deadly clashes that turned into virtual revolt against the government.

Port Said has been the center of the heaviest violence in the unrest that has engulfed multiple cities in Egypt since late January and has raised questions over the control of the government of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

The military's move to replace the police in the city aimed to calm tempers since the police have been the focus of residents' outrage because of the killings of dozens of protesters in January, which many blamed on police use of excessive force.

But many expect new violence Saturday, when a court is to announce verdicts in a trial that has been an explosive element in Egypt's already polarized politics. The court is to issue judgments and sentences against some 50 defendants accused of involvement in a deadly soccer riot in Port Said in February 2012. Whatever the court rules, it is likely to anger parties on either side of the case in Cairo and Port Said.

In late January, the issuing of death penalties against 21 other defendants in the case, mostly Port Said residents, touched off the uprising in the city.

For the past week, protesters have been battling with police in the city, mainly around the city's main government complex, which includes the provincial government building and the main police headquarters. At least eight people have been killed in the fighting, including three policemen.

On Friday, the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police, said its forces turned over responsibility for ensuring security in Port Said to the armed forces "to alleviate tension."

No police were in sight in the streets or around the complex, and riot police had withdrawn to barracks on the city's edge. Instead, army tanks, armored vehicles and troops deployed around the government complex, the main city prison, the courthouse and other main institutions.

Gen. Ahmed Mahmoud Wasfi, commander of the 2nd Field Army, addressed protesters outside the main police headquarters, where the bottom floors were gutted by fire during the clashes the past week. He called on residents to call off a wave of strikes and civil disobedience that has shut down much of the work in the city the past three weeks.

"I want people to come see Port Said," Wasfi said. "I want Port Said to be like a beautiful bride. No shops close, weddings back, normal work back, so people know what Port Said really is."

Someone in the crowd shouted, "What about the martyrs?" ? a sign of the continuing demand that police be punished for the protesters killed in the clashes. Wasfi said any demands "related to the martyrs" be sent to him.

Port Said residents largely trust the military more than the long-hated police forces, especially after troops at one point in the past week's turmoil seemed to side with protesters, shooting over the heads of police in an attempt to stop the security forces from firing. But the army presence is no guarantee of calm in the city.

Hundreds marched through the city on Friday in a funeral procession for one of two protesters shot to death in fighting with police the night before, one of whom had been shot in the head.

Other parts of the country have also been shaken by protests and clashes the past two months, particularly Cairo and cities in the Nile Delta. On Friday, protesters and police fought on a main thoroughfare along the Nile River.

The unrest has strained the security forces and police. In a rare show of discontent, multiple protests by police have broken out around the country. The protesting policemen say the security forces have been dragged into the political fight between the protesters and Morsi and accuse the president and his Muslim Brotherhood of using the police.

In some cases, police have shut down their stations in strikes the past week. Police on Friday protested in front of the Interior Ministry demanding the minister be removed.

Many of the protests have been by the riot police, known as Central Security, who form the main shock troops against street protesters. Riot police in Port Said burned five vehicles in their barracks earlier this week in a protest.

The top commander of Central Security was sacked Thursday night, the ministry announced.

Fears are high over the prospect of new violence over Saturday's verdicts in the soccer riot trial.

The case goes back to a riot that broke out in February 2012 at Port Said's stadium between fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club and those of the local Al-Masry team. More than 70 people were killed, almost all of them Al-Ahly fans. More than 70 people have been on trial, most of them Port Said residents, but also including nine security officials.

When the first round of verdicts was announced on Jan. 28, with death sentences against 21 defendants, Port Said residents were furious, calling the trial a sham. They accuse authorities of issuing the verdicts to appease a club of diehard Al-Ahly fans, known as Ultras, who have carried out their own wave of protests in Cairo demanding justice for their dead fans.

The verdicts sparked an uprising in Port Said, and police responded with a heavy crackdown that left more than 40 protesters dead. Since then the city has been in a near constant state of unrest.

Whatever way the verdicts go on Saturday, one side or another ? or both ? are likely to be outraged and take to the streets. And if any of the police officials are convicted or receive heavy sentences, it is likely to further stoke discontent among the security forces.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-08-Egypt/id-b6a937b32f004a618dfa687707a46e4b

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Home Joys: Giveaway - My Memories Digital Scrapbooking

Sometimes I need to admit that the realities of life mean that I need to give up things that I once enjoyed.?

Once upon a time I spent hours every winter scrapbooking photos. I loved looking through the photos from the past year, reliving memories, and creating scrapbooks to preserve those memories. By committing some time to the project each winter, I was able to stay "caught up."?

But somehow, with four children, homeschooling, and everything else that life brings, scrapbooking has been abandoned.

A few years ago, I realized that if I ever was going to complete another scrapbook page, I had to learn to streamline the process. Digital scrapbooking seemed to be a good option. No more shopping for the perfect embellishments. No more covering the dining room table with photos, paper, and stickers. No more waiting to develop photos. No more spending hours just sorting through the box of scrapbooking supplies for something that I know is there somewhere.

This winter, My Memories asked if I wanted to review their digital scrapbook software. It was a fun opportunity.

I should make it clear that I am computer challenged. I'm grateful for a techy husband who can help me get out of my computer jams. Any digital scrapbooking program was going to have to be rather simple to use for me to like it.?

And I was pleased with My Memories Suite scrapbook program. After the first panicked ("How do I do this?")? I watched some of My Memories tutorials which quickly made me think? "I can do this!"

The scrapbook software includes lots of album and page templates with many more kits available for purchase. Or you can design your own page templates.?

My husband wanted me to make an album with the photos from our house addition we built in 2011. He wanted just a simple un-cluttered layout with only a few accents. We designed a simple page, then were able to multiply that page as many times as needed, just adding in different photos and journaling. We were able to make an eighteen page album about our home addition project simply and quickly. The pages weren't award winning or anything, but I was thrilled to have chronicled the project in a way that delighted Ed.?

One of the things I really liked about My Memories Suite scrapbook software? is that all the pages of the album I was working on show up on the bottom of my screen. I could easily jump between pages, or even change the order of the pages in the album.

Oooaahhgagagirl

I'm looking forward to using some of the templates and embellishments to make pages for my childrens' long abandoned albums. (Should I admit that my almost four year old does not yet have a baby album?) With all the page elements put together for me, I think the project will come together quickly.?

Now for the Giveaway - My Memories will share their scrapbook software with one of you! Free! Just go to My Memories and take a look around. Choose your favorite digital pack or kit and then come back here, leave a comment, and tell us which was your favorite. Your comment will enter you into the giveaway.?

Remember to leave an email address? so I can contact you if you win!?

The giveaway will be open for one week. Winner chosen by Random.org.

Source: http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2013/03/giveaway-my-memories-digital.html

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Sotheby's Hong Kong Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Spring Sales 2013 will be held 8 April

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=61109

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The Motherhood Divide | MyInnerB

Welp, its almost time for me to take my buns back to work ? in exactly one week to be exact.

I promise four months didn?t go by this fast when I was pregnant and waiting on him to get here.

Oh how time flies....

As the countdown has begun, the last couple weeks have been fairly emotional for me.? I really love being at home with both of my children.? The ability to see my daughter off to and from school and being the main person in my sons life in these formative times really brings me joy.

My daughter is fast approaching those pre-teen years (unbelievable but true) and I can say that by being at home I feel way more connected.? There is still work and progress to made on our mother daughter relationship, but I feel like being here does make a difference for her.? Her days prior to me being home were?rushed and hurried by default because that is the way my schedule was.? Waking up early and really having to make an effort to pack it all into the day.? Now that I am home, she gets way more rest, has the ability to take her time getting ready for school and she gets to come straight home as opposed to the detour to a childcare center or provider to fill the gap between the time school lets out and the time it takes for?one of us?to make it to pick her up after battling traffic and a long work day.

The baby has the opportunity to be at home with one of?his parents?and we get the benefit of not having to worry about him or missing his many ?firsts? to come.? I am able to nurse him on demand and further that connection as opposed to hooking up to a machine and having it extract his meals for someone else to give him throughout the day.

In these times, a double income home is almost required, but the dichotomy between motherhood and career is a struggle for many women.? How do we provide our children with the best lives ? not material things, but the best lives and still have a fulfilling sense of identity outside of mother and wife.??Many feel the need to work in order to provide the needs of?our children,?but?still want to be there for them at all times without worrying about the number of sick days remaining?and if someone will be sitting in our seats because we have little ones that NEED us.

I totally envy those individuals that are able to maintain and balance a career, especially if it is one they love, and the ability to be home with their family; be it that they work alternate schedules with their spouse to ensure that one person is always there, or because they are self employed and have the luxury of taking their child along with them or only leaving them for short periods throughout the day.

This is not a post saying that I want to quit but I can?t.??I know that if I truly wanted to stay home, my husband would stand by that decision 100 percent; heck truth be told I know that he?would even prefer it that way.? But I actually WANT to work ? to have the adult interaction, the earning power, put my degree?s I worked so hard for to use.? The part that I struggle with is that I have to leave my family for 50+ hours per week to do it, when you factor in commuting.

So today as we are starting our ?trial run? of our new routine I am in a emotionally sensitive state;?one that feels new and scary and overwhelming.? I?ve done this before, and while it?s different, like all other things with this new child experience, I feel like this is my very first time.? I know that we will all adjust and lord willing be fine, but the newness of it all has my mind going ziggity boo.? A part of me is excited to get out and back to? what I knew as normal ? adult interaction, alone time, structure; the other part wants to stay put and continue being home and available to my hubby and kids.

One thing I know for sure is the Lord has kept me and my family this far, this will be no different, but I am just not ready to leave home.

Pray for me yall!

Be blessed,

Source: http://pinklilliesandbg.com/the-motherhood-divide/

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Galaxy S IV specs reportedly confirmed in new benchmarks

Samsung Galaxy S IV Event

While we still have a couple of weeks to go before Samsung (005930) reveals its next big thing, we can take comfort from knowing that the specs for the upcoming Galaxy S IV will be top-notch. Android developer Faryaab Sheikh has posted a picture of an AnTuTu benchmark on his Twitter account showing that the Galaxy S IV will feature an?Exynos 5410 quad-core 1.8GHz processor, a 5-inch full-HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. These specs mirror earlier rumors we?ve heard about the Galaxy S IV?s specifications, so they don?t exactly come as a surprise. All the same, it?s nice to know that when the device is unveiled later this month it will be packed with some of the best hardware on the market right now.

[More from BGR: The Boy Genius Report: Sonos? PLAYBAR takes over the living room]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/galaxy-iv-specs-reportedly-confirmed-benchmarks-151030889.html

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Human-made material pushes the bounds of superconductivity

Mar. 3, 2013 ? A multi-university team of researchers has artificially engineered a unique multilayer material that could lead to breakthroughs in both superconductivity research and in real-world applications.

The researchers can tailor the material, which seamlessly alternates between metal and oxide layers, to achieve extraordinary superconducting properties -- in particular, the ability to transport much more electrical current than non-engineered materials.

The team includes experts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Florida State University and the University of Michigan. Led by Chang-Beom Eom, the Harvey D. Spangler Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering and physics at UW-Madison, the group described its breakthrough March 3, 2013, in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Materials.

Superconductors, which presently operate only under extremely cold conditions, transport energy very efficiently. With the ability to transport large electrical currents and produce high magnetic fields, they power such existing technologies as magnetic resonance imaging and Maglev trains, among others. They hold great potential for emerging applications in electronic devices, transportation, and power transmission, generation and storage.

Carefully layered superconducting materials are increasingly important in highly sophisticated applications. For example, a superconducting quantum interference device, or SQUID, used to measure subtle magnetic fields in magnetoencephalography scans of the brain, is based on a three-layer material.

However, one challenge in the quest to understand and leverage superconductivity is developing materials that work at room temperature. Currently, even unconventional high-temperature superconductors operate below -369 degrees Fahrenheit.

An unconventional high-temperature superconductor, the researchers' iron-based "pnictide" material is promising in part because its effective operating temperature is higher than that of conventional superconducting materials such as niobium, lead or mercury.

The research team engineered and measured the properties of superlattices of pnictide superconductors. A superlattice is the complex, regularly repeating geometric arrangement of atoms -- its crystal structure -- in layers of two or more materials. Pnictide superconductors include compounds made from any of five elements in the nitrogen family of the periodic table.

The researchers' new material is composed of 24 layers that alternate between the pnictide superconductor and a layer of the oxide strontium titanate. Creating such systems is difficult, especially when the arrangement of atoms, and chemical compatibility, of each material is very different.

Yet, layer after layer, the researchers maintained an atomically sharp interface -- the region where materials meet. Each atom in each layer is precisely placed, spaced and arranged in a regularly repeating crystal structure.

The new material also has improved current-carrying capabilities. As they grew the superlattice, the researchers also added a tiny bit of oxygen to intentionally insert defects every few nanometers in the material. These defects act as pinning centers to immobilize tiny magnetic vortices that, as they grow in strength in large magnetic fields, can limit current flow through the superconductor. "If the vortices move around freely, the energy dissipates, and the superconductor is no longer lossless," says Eom. "We have engineered both vertical and planar pinning centers, because vortices created by magnetic fields can be in many different orientations."

Eom sees possibilities for researchers to expand upon his team's success in engineering human-made superconducting structures. "There's a need to engineer superlattices for understanding fundamental superconductivity, for potential use in high-field and electronic devices, and to achieve extraordinary properties in the system," says Eom. "And, there is indication that interfaces can be a new area of discovery in high-temperature superconductors. This material offers those possibilities."

Funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences, National Science Foundation, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research supported the researchers' work. Eom's collaborators include Eric Hellstrom's and David Larbalestier's group at Florida State University; and Xiaoqing Pan's group at the University of Michigan.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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

Journal Reference:

S. Lee, C. Tarantini, P. Gao, J. Jiang, J. D. Weiss, F. Kametani, C. M. Folkman, Y. Zhang, X. Q. Pan, E. E. Hellstrom, D. C. Larbalestier, C. B. Eom. Artificially engineered superlattices of pnictide superconductors. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3575

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/YnuQYS5s1Dg/130303154859.htm

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