AP Photos: Cities go dark for 'Earth Hour'

It's something of a voluntary rolling blackout: Communities around the globe are going dark for an hour on Saturday evening as part of an initiative called "Earth Hour," to raise awareness of climate change.

In more than 7,000 cities and towns across the planet, millions of residents are turning off their lights for an hour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time to show their environmental concern.

Here are some photos of "Earth Hour" observances.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-cities-dark-earth-hour-202919283.html

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AT&T to launch Digital Life in 15 markets, hopes to enter home automation field

AT&T is finally set to launch its Digital Life home automation service, and it's ready to do so in a big way. Initially planned for just eight markets, the telephony giant has expanded its coverage to 15 starting this spring, with the hope of 50 by the end of the year. Essentially a way to monitor your home, Digital Life packages may include live video, the ability to remotely toggle the light on and off, change the thermostat, unlock the door and more. Customers are able to set up programs and alerts via smartphone or tablet applications or the web. AT&T should bring some heavy clout to the home automation party, though it won't be the first big-name communications company to do so. For more information on Digital Life and what it offers, have a peek at the source below.

Filed under: Household, AT&T

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Source: AT&T

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/23/atandt-digital-life-fifteen-markets/

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Troubled Calif. nuke plant seeks restart in summer

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? As part of an effort to convince federal regulators that a nuclear reactor is safe to restart, the operator of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in California has disclosed it might push for a rewrite of the facility's operating rules.

Southern California Edison disclosed Friday it hopes the move could open the way for the Unit 2 reactor to be back in service by summer, when power demand typically soars in the region.

San Onofre has been shut down since January 2012, after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of unusual damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water.

Edison has been trying since October to convince the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it's safe to run Unit 2 at no more than 70 percent power. Company engineers believe the reduced level will limit vibration and friction that can cause excessive wear to tubing.

The tentative proposal amounts to Edison's third attempt to answer a thorny question raised by the NRC: Is the plant that hasn't produced electricity in more than a year capable of running at full power?

In earlier filings, Edison argued that its 70 percent restart target was, in effect, full power. It later submitted another analysis showing the reactor could run at 100 percent power, but the research found the risk of a tube break could reach unacceptable levels after 11 months.

The new proposal could essentially eliminate the debate over the full power threshold.

It calls for capping the plant's power output at 70 percent in the plant's technical operating rules, rather than the now-required 100 percent. It also argues that running the reactor at 70 percent capacity would pose no significant safety risk.

The proposal, known as a license amendment, came as a surprise since Edison has long argued such a revision was unnecessary to restart the plant.

If approved by federal regulators, the move could offer a potentially quicker way to a restart.

"We want to do every responsible thing we can do to get Unit 2 up and running safely before the summer heat hits our region," SCE President Ron Litzinger said in a statement.

Anti-nuclear activists who have opposed the restart accused Edison of trying to circumvent a thorough NRC review of machinery with a history of trouble.

According to Edison documents, members of the public can request a hearing on the amendment, but if NRC staff finds there is no significant hazard, the hearing can be held after the amendment is approved.

"Edison is more focused on making profits than it is in assuring the safety of millions of Southern Californians living near these reactors," Damon Moglen of the advocacy group Friends of the Earth said in a statement.

Daniel Hirsch, a lecturer on nuclear policy at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a critic of the nuclear power industry, said Edison was trying to delay a substantive review until "long after it has already restarted."

"If it is subsequently determined it wasn't safe to do so, it would be way too late," Hirsch said in a statement.

NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said the agency had not received the proposal from Edison.

The problems at San Onofre focus on its steam generators, which were installed in a $670 million overhaul in 2009 and 2010.

Last year, federal regulators blamed heavy tube wear in the generators on a botched computer analysis that they said misjudged how water and steam would flow in the reactors, along with manufacturing problems.

The generators, which resemble massive steel fire hydrants, control heat in the reactors and operate somewhat like a car radiator. At San Onofre, each one stands 65 feet high and weighs 1.3 million pounds, with 9,727 U-shaped tubes inside that are each 0.75 inch in diameter.

Overall, NRC records show investigators found wear from friction and vibration in 15,000 places, in varying degrees, in 3,401 tubes inside the plant's four generators, two in each reactor.

The future of the heavily damaged Unit 3 reactor, where the radiation leak occurred after a tube break last year, is not clear. Edison has said that because of manufacturing differences, Unit 2's generators did not suffer the extent of deep tube wear witnessed in its sister.

Cracked and corroded generator tubing has vexed the nation's nuclear industry for years.

Decaying generator tubes helped push San Onofre's Unit 1 reactor into retirement in 1992, even though it was designed to run until 2004. The following year, the Trojan nuclear plant, near Portland, Ore., was shuttered because of microscopic cracks in steam generator tubes, cutting years off its expected lifespan.

San Onofre is owned by SCE, San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-23-Nuclear%20Plant%20Problems/id-885885a8a02848b8988059161682d948

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what is the process of buying a forclosure ... - Zillow Real Estate ...

I would suggest finding a Buyer Agent to represent you in the Home Buying process.? (If the home is in NH, I am happy to help).? If in MA, please give me a call and I can recommend an Agent.

You need to be preapproved but many foreclosures are cash sale depends on their condition but you can find some gems out there and still finance.

Once you find a home, an offer is submitted, the Bank takes approx a week to return their response on a Foreclosure, (negotiations), offer acceptance, ensure Title is clear,?you could and should have?an inspection but the bank may not pay for repairs (depends on severity of repair need usually), Appraisal, maybe more negotiations, close.? There are other pieces that go with the home buying but this would be it in a nut shell.

If you need assistance, I am happy to help.

Melani Taillon
Better Homes and Gardens/The Masiello Group
[contact information deleted by Zillow moderator. Please see our Good Neighbor policy for posting guidelines]

Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/what-is-the-process-of-buying-a-forclosure-property/484399/

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Olympus Has Fallen Movie Review

Olympus Has Fallen, the latest from Training Day director Antoine Fuqua, is unflinching, unsettling, and a solid action film. Gerard Butler stars as Mike Banning, a former aide and good friend to President Asher (Aaron Eckhart). Their relationship has been strained since an accident that claimed the first lady's life resulted in Mike's transfer to another department. Yet when the White House is the subject of a brutal attack from an extreme North Korean political group, it's Mike who braves snipers and infiltrates the capitol building in an effort to save the president and his young son. Mike's plentiful hero stunts aside, it's the way Fuqua orchestrates the complex coup that makes the movie feel uncomfortably real.

The film primarily takes place in three places: the bunker where the president is being held, the halls of the White House where the returned hero Mike is roaming, and the off-site safe room where the acting president (Morgan Freeman) and his staff (including Angela Bassett) are grasping the reality that the president's blood will be on their hands if they don't negotiate with the terrorists. It's a clever separation, and the isolation of the three units creates even more tension. To see what else I liked about Olympus Has Fallen, just read more.

After an eye-popping attack sequence, the president and his staff are captured by hundreds of skilled terrorists. It's a menacing and unsettling scenario, especially because it only takes the terrorists 15 minutes to execute a full-scale takeover of the White House. The action doesn't stop after "Olympus has fallen" (code for "The White House has been taken") is uttered; it continues steadily throughout, keeping the audience on its toes. At the heart of it is Butler, representing the red, white, and blue like a true patriot by gliding through secret passages, disarming faceless gunman, and saving the day with impressive determination. Eckhart makes for a solid president, devoted to his only child yet imprisoned with no way of communicating with his son (who has eluded the terrorists and is hiding somewhere within the walls of the White House) or his team.

Fuqua succeeds in creating an intensely packed action film with Olympus Has Fallen. With Butler on hero duty and a bevy of explosions and unfriendly fire, this is good, old-fashioned action done right.

Source: http://www.buzzsugar.com/Olympus-Has-Fallen-Movie-Review-28729503

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Want to Spy on Somebody? It's Easier Than Ever

There are many smart phone apps for functions such as covert audio and phone call recordings, covert photo and video recordings, sending messages that self-destruct, and for GPS location tracking.

Now, all of these products and services surely raise legal and ethical concerns. It mostly hinges on how you use them. Legitimate reasons include monitoring your children's online behavior to protect their safety, monitoring employee behavior while on the job, and in the case of the keystroke loggers, making sure no one is using your computer while you're away.

Jon Mark, owner of the SpyTec store in New York, which sells some of the smart phone and computer monitoring devices, said, "Our products are like anything else ? a car or a steak knife. You can use a car to go from one place to the other, or feloniously. Our stuff you can use for good, important purposes, or you can use it to be ? almost criminal."

SpyTec is a 10-year-old midtown shop that does about three- quarters of its business online. It typically sells nanny cams to parents, and granny cams to monitor eldercare-givers, as well as supplying customers with spousal fidelity concerns, private investigators and police detectives. In more recent years, Mark has seen a shift toward the digital spying methods, which he says is still a growing segment of his business but makes up about 25 percent of it now. He notes he doesn't sell any voice recording devices since covertly recording audio is illegal in most states.

He said the biggest sellers are the smartphone devices, "since most people seem to use them as their main avenue of communication these days."

(Read more: US to Let Spy Agencies Scour Americans' Finances)

For those not inclined to conduct their own investigations of communications and activities that are presumed private, many people offer worlds of information while using the Internet to anyone who cares to look. Shellee Hale, private investigator and president of Camandago, offers "Internet Investigations" as well as email tracing and investigation of the subject's Internet footprint.

"We have the World Wide Web and the invisible web: things that are behind firewalls, password protected," Hale said. "How do you get to that without just doing Google?"

"It used to be that 60 to 80 percent of web material was not being crawled by spiders [for indexing in Google's search results]. There are techniques you can use if you're a [webpage] owner to not have it crawl certain pages. There's also techniques you can use to search those pages." Hale cites Webferret, Websleuth, Centerfuge, Infomine and the Wayback Machine, programs and sites available to anyone, as her investigative tools.

"As a private person, the access to data is often so great you don't need to pull a private investigator, you can do it yourself if you get a little education and do research around it."

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100583418

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Biogen wins EU backing for big new MS drug hope

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON, March 22 - European regulators have recommended approval of two new multiple sclerosis pills from Biogen Idec and Sanofi, both of which are expected to become major sellers.

Friday's decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was particularly significant for Biogen, since the U.S. biotech company is still awaiting a verdict on Tecfidera, or BG-12, in the United States.

Biogen's Tecfidera is one of the most highly anticipated new drug approvals for the pharmaceuticals industry in 2013, with analysts predicting billions of dollars a year in sales.

It will compete in the oral MS drug market against Novartis's existing Gilenya and Aubagio, but many investors already see it as best in class.

"We believe Tecfidera will raise expectations for what people living with MS can achieve with their therapy," Biogen CEO George Scangos said in a statement welcoming the news.

Oral drugs are changing the MS market dramatically, by offering patients a highly effective alternative to traditional injections, which can be painful and may cause flu-like symptoms.

Tecfidera and Sanofi's Aubagio were both endorsed for treating relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), though the EMA decision still needs to be finalized before the drugs can be launched.

Aubagio was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the same use in September, while an FDA decision on the Biogen product is due by March 28.

Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst with ISI Group, said the European decision on Tecfidera was reassuring since the EMA only flagged up two safety issues.

The agency's press release merely highlighted as side effects flushing, or redness of the skin, and gastrointestinal events, such as diarrhea and nausea.

FOUR-IN-ONE HIV TABLET

The London-based agency also gave a green light to Gilead Sciences's four-drug combination pill to treat HIV/AIDS, called Stribild, and recommended wider use of Bayer and Johnson & Johnson's anti-clotting drug Xarelto for treating acute coronary syndromes.

The flurry of positive recommendations for new medicines, each of which analysts believe will become multibillion-dollar-a-year sellers, underscores a recent pick-up in research productivity by the pharmaceutical industry.

Sales of the Biogen MS drug are expected to reach $3.0 billion a year by 2017, outstripping revenues by the same time of $2.5 billion for Gilenya and $1.1 billion for Aubagio, according to consensus forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters Pharma.

Tecfidera will add an important new leg to Biogen's multiple sclerosis business, which already includes the injectable drugs Avonex and Tysabri.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals also won a recommendation for its drug Iclusig for chronic myeloid leukemia, while Baxter International and Halozyme Therapeutics secured EMA backing for HyQvia as a treatment for immunodeficiencies.

Recommendations for marketing approval by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, are normally endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months.

(Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-agency-backs-ms-drugs-biogen-sanofi-122529290--finance.html

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