Monday, May 7, 2012

Santorum backs Mourdock in Indiana senate race

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Sunday, May 6, 2012

Google, an underdog in Asia, lays plans for Taiwan data center

Taiwan gets Internet traffic easily from the United States. I sits at the ends of undersea cables that extend directly from North America before branching off to other parts of Asia.

Google dominates Internet search engines by such a wide margin in the United States that it?s a verb as well as the corporate name of its Silicon Valley-based creator.

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But in China, Google vies with the local, government-approved search engine Baidu ? which means 100 degrees ? and lags South Korea?s local brand Naver. It competes head on against fellow American company Yahoo for searches in Taiwan, splitting traffic roughly 50-50. Yahoo has also held a historic grip on Japan.

So this week, the 14-year-old Google announced that by the end of next year, it would open a data center in Taiwan to improve search speeds and reliability around the region.

Google has already started building data centers in Hong Kong and Singapore. But the larger one in Taiwan comes with government incentives and will boast a specific geographic advantage. That is, Taiwan gets Net traffic easily from the United States, home to Google and the source of numerous Internet search results, as it sits at the ends of undersea cables that extend directly here from North America before branching off to other parts of Asia.

Google will spend a combined $700 million on the three centers, which generally house computers and storage systems that help speed connections and keep them secure.

?More new Internet users are coming online everyday here in Asia than anywhere else in the world,? Google?s Asia Pacific President Daniel Alegre said at a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday at the coastal facility in Taiwan. ?That is why we are building data centers in Asia ??to ensure that our users here have the fastest, most reliable access possible to all of our services, so they can continue putting them to work.?

Google?s Taiwan data center will speed up searches particularly in China, which is just 160 kilometers (100 miles) away but has sought to censor Web searches. Baidu now controls about 75 percent of the searches in China.

?That?s a key, to serve China,? says Marvin Ma, software and services analyst with the market research firm IDC in Taipei. ?China will notice a clear improvement. And this way Google can avoid the censorship problem.?

In 2010, Google shut down its locally based Chinese search engine after a dispute with the communist government over censorship and cyber-attacks, a row that prompted harsh words from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Google won?t give market shares for Asia or estimate the overall number of users in the region. In South Korea, Naver still handles about two-thirds of the Internet searches, analysts estimate. But two years ago, Google and Yahoo signed a search-engine technology deal that has muffled the rivalry in Japan.

Google is also catching up in Taiwan as the ever popular Yahoo retrenches, with reports of layoffs in the pipeline, says Jamie Lin, founding partner with Taipei-based tech investor appWorks Ventures. ?If they don?t make any mistakes, Google is going to be the dominant player in a couple of years,? he says.

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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Are educators showing a 'positive bias' to minority students?

ScienceDaily (May 4, 2012) ? Remember that teacher you grumbled about back in your school days, the really tough one who made you work so hard, insisted you could do better, and made you sweat for your A's? The one you didn't appreciate until after you graduated and realized how much you had learned?

Minority students in the U.S. might have fewer of those teachers, at least compared to white students, and as a result they might be at a significant learning disadvantage.

A major study, led by Rutgers-Newark psychology professor Kent D. Harber, indicates that public school teachers under-challenge minority students by providing them more positive feedback than they give to white students, for work of equal merit. The study, which is currently available online in the Journal of Educational Psychology (JEP), involved 113 white middle school and high school teachers in two public school districts located in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area, one middle class and white, and the other more working class and racially mixed.

Teachers read and commented on a poorly written essay which they believed was composed by a student in a writing class. Some teachers thought the student was black, some thought the student was Latino, and some thought that the student was white. Teachers believed that their feedback would be sent directly to the student, in order to see how the student would benefit from their comments and advice.

In fact, there was no actual student, and the poorly written essay was developed by Harber and his team. The real purpose was to see how teachers would respond to subpar work due to the race of the student who composed it. As Harber and his team predicted, the teachers displayed a "positive feedback bias," providing more praise and less criticism if they thought the essay was written by a minority student than by a white student.

An important aspect of the positive bias was that it depended on how much social support teachers received from their fellow teachers and administrators -- but only if the student was black. In This case, teachers lacking social support showed the positive bias, while those who enjoyed support did not show the bias. Teachers who thought the student was Latino showed the bias, regardless of their school-based social support.

"The social implications of these results are important; many minority students might not be getting input from instructors that stimulates intellectual growth and fosters achievement," notes Harber. "Some education scholars believe that minorities under-perform because they are insufficiently challenged -- the 'bigotry of lowered expectations,' in popular parlance," he explains. "The JEP study indicates one important way that this insufficient challenge might occur: in positively biased feedback," according to Harber.

Harber believes that the positive feedback bias might help explain the stubborn academic performance gap between minority students and white students, an enduring social problem that threatens to "reverse social successes won through legislation, jurisprudence, and changing cultural attitudes" toward minorities. Previous attempts to address the performance gap have, correctly, examined inequalities in school funding, racism, and distrust of academia in some minority communities, notes the report.

The current study suggests that the performance gap might also be due to a cause that has received relatively little attention: the nature of instructional feedback from white teachers to minority students.

Harber believes the study's findings have implications not only for educational systems in the U.S. but also for businesses and in fact any organization where performance appraisals and feedback are crucial tools for training and development.

The study builds on and expands Harber's previous demonstrations of the positive feedback bias, involving college students in 1998 and in 2004, and teacher trainees in 2010. His partners on this latest study are: Jamie L. Gorman and Frank P. Gengaro, Rutgers University, Newark; Samantha Butisingh and William Tsang, Rutgers University, New Brunswick; and Rebecca Ouellette, Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Harber and his team believe their findings could have broad implications for teachers, parents and students, and business leaders. He is available to explain in detail how the research was conducted, who was involved, the analysis and outcomes.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rutgers University. The original article was written by Carla Capizzi.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Kent D. Harber, Jamie L. Gorman, Frank P. Gengaro, Samantha Butisingh, William Tsang, Rebecca Ouellette. Students' Race and Teachers' Social Support Affect the Positive Feedback Bias in Public Schools.. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2012; DOI: 10.1037/a0028110

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Court rejects appeal in wife's attempt to poison mistress

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Chris Harrison Previews The Bachelorette, Six Dudes to Watch


The news of Chris Harrison separating from his wife of 18 years took many by surprise yesterday, but the venerable TV personality will still be back in his familiar role as The Bachelorette host and pimp on May 14.

In a recent article for EW, he previewed six guys to watch this season.

Will any of these fellas end up in the final four, or beyond? See The Bachelorette spoilers we've compiled so far for more on that. Then read the primer on a half dozen fellas who undoubtedly will be major players this summer ...

Kalon McMahon Photo

Kalon McMahon, 27: This "luxury-brand consultant" is, Harrison says, "cocky, brash, and arrogant" and arrives on the first night in a rented helicopter.

"He makes a huge first impression, but the big story is, will it fade quickly?" Sounds that way ... considering his equipment wasn't that remarkable.

"I don't know where that helicopter came from, but it was pretty unimpressive," Harrison says. "It would be like showing up in a Prius instead of a limo."

Jef Holm Picture

Jef Holm, 27: "He's not your typical 6'4" ripped bachelor. He's an average-looking guy who will stun Emily with his personality and charm," says Harrison.

"Women are more apt to give a guy with humor and charisma a chance than a guy will."

Harrison says he was also impressed that Holm ditched the limo for a skateboard on the first night. "It was like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future!"

Doug Clerget Photo

Doug Clerget, 33: Single mom Emily, meet single dad Doug!

"They get along fantastically and share this bond from the moment they started talking about kids," says Harrison. "And he's great-looking. Muscles on top of muscles. He's someone America will fall in love with."

So what's the catch? "It's a sweet relationship, but can they get beyond that? Is there more to him than his 11-year-old son?" Obviously.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. Picture

Arie Luyendyk Jr., 30: He's a race car driver, and the son of a world-renowned race car driver. Seems a bit much given Emily Maynard's past, no?

"It's not like after [her fiance Ricky Hendrick] died she never went to the track. The racing world is still a big part of her life," Harrison weighs in.

"And Arie is an IndyCar driver, not NASCAR." That's totally fine then.

Alessandro Goulart Photo

Alessandro Goulart, 30: The first words out of this Brazilian hunk's mouth are "Nice to meet you, gorgeous" ... in Portuguese! Cue the swooning.

"He's this Latin heartthrob who very easily works his charms on Emily," says Harrison of Alessandro. As for what he does for work down in Brazil?

"He's a grain merchant," says Chris. "I guess that means he merchants the grain."

Ryan Bowers Photo

Ryan Bowers, 31: This season's sensitive former pro athlete owns a gym but also mentors young children in Augusta, Ga. His romantic (and cheesy) side scores points with Emily yet makes him a target among the guys.

"The first night he gave Emily a note saying 'You are beautiful' on the back, so while he was reading it to her she could see that," says Chris. "He's that guy."

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Samsung Game Hub, Video Hub hands-on (video)

Image

Sad that Samsung's rumored S-Cloud didn't appear on the scene? Well the arrival of the company's new Video, Game and Music hubs might heal the wounds. Rather than a unified service, the Galaxy S III will have access to three separate stores that will offer an alternative to Google Play. We spent a few minutes having a play, and you can see what it's like after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Game Hub, Video Hub hands-on (video)

Samsung Game Hub, Video Hub hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, May 4, 2012

EPA official resigns over 'crucify' flap

Al Amerdariz, the top EPA official for Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, has drawn fire for referring to Roman?crucifixions?in saying he'd make examples of environmental offenders.

The Obama administration's top environmental official in the oil-rich South Central region has resigned after Republicans targeted him over remarks made two years ago when he used the word "crucify" to describe how he would go after companies violating environmental laws.

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In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson sent Sunday, Al Armendariz says he regrets his words and stresses that they do not reflect his work as administrator of the five-state region including Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The environmental engineer apologized last week for his remarks. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, told The Associated Press that Armendariz has since received death threats. His resignation was effective Monday. Sam Coleman, a career official who led the agency's response to Hurricane Katrina and served as Armendariz' deputy, took over as acting regional administrator.

QUIZ:?How much do you know about Earth Day?

"I have come to the conclusion that my continued service will distract you and the agency from its important work," Armendariz wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the AP.

Republicans in Congress had called for Armendariz' firing after Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe highlighted the May 2010 speech last week as proof of what he refers to as EPA's assault on energy, particularly the technique of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

President Barack Obama appointed Armendariz in November 2009 at the urging of Texas-based environmental groups.

The agency, perhaps more than any other, has found itself in the GOP's crosshairs. Republicans ? including presidential contender Mitt Romney, who has called for Jackson herself to be fired ? have blamed the agency for high gasoline prices and clamping down on American energy.

Armendariz, who was based in Texas, frequently found himself at odds with the state government and the oil and gas industry, which are often aligned.

The scientist and environmental activist had long been frustrated by the government's inability to clean up Texas' notoriously polluted air, and he had testified on behalf of activist groups about just how badly the EPA and state environmental agencies had botched things.

Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, said "the only people who will celebrate his resignation are the polluters who continue to foul Texas air and the politicians who serve those special interests."

Several disputed contamination cases in Texas in which Armendariz was involved helped stoke environmental concerns over fracking, a technique in which oil and gas producers inject water, chemicals and sand underground at high pressures to fracture rock so gas can come out.

In one case, the EPA issued an emergency order in 2010 accusing Range Resources of contaminating an aquifer west of Fort Worth and giving it 48 hours to provide clean drinking water to residents. Armendariz said he went around the state because it wasn't responding quickly enough. The order later was withdrawn after a state court ruled evidence that fracking had caused the contamination had been falsified.

"He was flat wrong," wrote more than two dozen lawmakers in a letter to Jackson sent Friday, calling for Armendariz' firing.

Armendariz' speech was made in Dish, a small town northwest of Dallas, where testing has shown some groundwater contamination and elevated toxic air pollution after operators began fracking.

Referring to how the Romans once conquered villages in the Mediterranean, Armendariz said, "...they'd find the first five guys they saw and they'd crucify them."

"And so you make examples out of people who are in this case not complying with the law," he said. "Find people who are not complying with the law and you hit them as hard as you can and make examples of them."

QUIZ:?How much do you know about Earth Day?

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