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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Project SHIELD at GDC 2013
Still waiting on retail availability info
We already got some playtime with NVIDIA's Project SHIELD at PAX East, but it was great to sneak in a few more rounds at GDC 2013. As a more industry-focused event, obviously NVIDIA was busy at GDC getting devs on board with Tegra optimizations through sessions, but there were also plenty of Project SHIELD demo units kicking around, giving everyone a chance to try out the system first-hand.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/E-dJyg7NlFQ/story01.htm
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Saturday, March 30, 2013
There Is Outrage - but Tea Party Hispanics Silent Over Racial Slur
Analysis by Jim Avila, ABC News Senior National Correspondent:
Pressure is intense, the outrage factor high after Rep. Don Young's racial slur overnight on public radio in his home state of Alaska.
Young called migrant workers on his childhood farm "wetbacks" during the interview.
"I used to own - my father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," said Young, 79. "You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now."
don young The reaction was so swift and white hot that Young issued two statements in one day. First, in what many felt was far from an apology, he said he meant "no disrespect," never using the words "sorry" or "apology."
Only after a full day of getting beaten up by his own party did the congressman make a mea culpa.
"I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska," he said. "There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I'm sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform."
The GOP, criticized during the last election cycle for being slow to react to perceived insults against women, and now trying to rebuild a relationship with Hispanic voters, quickly jumped all over Young before his apology today.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, "Don Young's comments were offensive and have no place in our party or in our nation's discourse. He should apologize immediately."
RELATED: Republicans Blast Don Young, Demand an Apology
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, added, "There is no excuse for ignorance" and said that Young, a congressman of 30 years, should "know terms like 'wetback' have never been acceptable.
"Migrant workers come to America looking for opportunity and a way to provide a better life for their families," Cornyn said in a paper statement. "They do not come to this country to hear ethnic slurs and derogatory language from elected officials. The comments used by Rep. Young do nothing to elevate our party, political discourse or the millions who come here looking for economic opportunity."
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, harshly criticized Young.
"Congressman Young's remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds," Boehner said. "I don't care why he said it - there's no excuse and it warrants an immediate apology."
RELATED: Rep. Don Young Apologizes for 'Wetbacks' Comment
GOP strategist Danny Diaz told ABC News Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny today that Republicans learned their lesson last year.
"The comment was insulting, and I think people see that and they're rightfully offended by it," Diaz said. "What's happened in the past in our political discourse is Republicans haven't been as quick as they need to be to denounce comments such as these. It's left a really bad impression on people."
But here is what is still missing even now: GOP Hispanic Republican comment, especially from the Tea Party wing of the GOP.
Sen. Marco Rubio's office told ABC News that the Cuban immigrant from Florida, who some see as the Republicans' best hope of repairing Latino disfavor with the party, is observing the Good Friday holiday and will not comment today. The staffer referred ABC News to party leadership statements from Boehner.
But Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Raul Labrador from Idaho did not answer repeated emails or phone calls on the issue.
And as rapidly as things unfold in today's political world, Rep. Young actually issued a full apology before the Tea Party Hispanics had a chance to call for one. Some say that it was smart not to get involved. Others are wondering where their outrage was.
ABC News' Serena Marshall contributed to this report.
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Finals Preview? Heat visit Spurs on Sunday
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade looks up at a scoreboard after he was called for a foul on Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago on Wednesday, March 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade looks up at a scoreboard after he was called for a foul on Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago on Wednesday, March 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) goes to the basket in front of New Orleans Hornets forward Al-Farouq Aminu (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Friday, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan reacts after he was fouled while shooting against the Denver Nuggets during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 100-99. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich signals to his team during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in San Antonio. The Spurs won 100-99. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
By the time the Miami Heat get on their plane to come home late Sunday night, they could have a stranglehold on the race to finish with the NBA's best record.
All they have to do is win at San Antonio. That, of course, is no easy task.
The Heat (57-15) take a two-game lead in the NBA standings over the Spurs (55-17) into their matchup on Sunday. A win would essentially provide Miami a four-game cushion with nine remaining, given that the Heat also would control any potential head-to-head tiebreaker with San Antonio.
If the Heat lose, the race for home-court advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs could turn into a frantic, down-to-the-wire deal.
"It's always good to play the best, to play against the best," LeBron James said. "It'll be an opportunity for us. We just want to get better, man. The game Sunday doesn't define our season or how we go from there. We just want to continue to move forward and get better throughout the rest of the season."
Miami has won 28 of its last 29 games overall, getting back on the winning track at New Orleans on Friday, two days after Chicago snapped a 27-game Heat winning streak. But San Antonio has won 28 of its last 30 games at home, and facing the Spurs on the road is traditionally a painful expedition for many members of the Heat ? as it tends to be for everyone else in the NBA.
Dwyane Wade is 1-4 at San Antonio, sitting out three other Heat losses there during his career. Chris Bosh is 1-7. James is 3-7. Shane Battier ? a longtime player in the Western Conference ? has enjoyed eight wins from the visitors' side when facing the Spurs, and also been on the losing end 16 times there.
"It's obviously a very, very, very good team," Wade said. "Very tough place to play, so I think our mentality and how we approach the game is going to be important. You just try to go out there and compete, as we do every night, try to get a great road win. It's not going to be easy but that's kind of what we enjoy."
The only other meeting between the clubs this season was Nov. 29 in Miami, a strange game in that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich ? citing a desire to rest his best players at the end of a long road trip ? sent Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Danny Green home before the game.
With guys like Patty Mills, Nando De Colo and Matt Bonner filling out the starting lineup ? they've combined to make four other starts this season ? the Spurs almost beat the Heat anyway, leading by five with 2:13 left before getting outscored 12-2 in a wild Miami finish that gave the Heat a 105-100 win.
Ginobili played just under three minutes in Friday night's win over the Los Angeles Clippers because of a hamstring issue, and Popovich indicated he probably won't be ready to face the Heat.
"I don't think he can play," Popovich said.
The Spurs have won six of their last seven games. Of those six wins, only one came by double figures, an 11-point victory over Golden State. The average margin of the other five wins in that span, over Dallas, Cleveland, Utah, Denver and Clippers was 3.4 points, and the only loss was a one-pointer at Houston.
"It's great challenges, good preparation for us for the playoffs," Parker said. "Denver is a great team, Clippers a great team and now we've got Miami. They're the best in the league. They went on the unbelievable run and it's going to be another great game."
This game could have been one of the most-watched among regular-season games in years if Miami had not lost in Chicago on Wednesday. Had the Heat won there and won in New Orleans, as they did on Friday, they would have been going for their 30th straight win on this trip to San Antonio in what will be touted either way as a potential NBA Finals preview.
"I just want you to know the Heat are going to be just fine," said President Barack Obama, a noted Bulls fan during a stop in Miami on Friday. "They're going to be OK. They are playing basketball the right way."
The Heat streak is gone, but standings-wise, it's still a big deal.
"Very good team, obviously the defending champs," Duncan said. "I think they won 62 in a row or something like that. It'll be a great game. I know our crowd will be excited and we'll be excited to continue our homestand."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has said everyone on his roster should be considered day-to-day for the remainder of the regular season. This is when teams like to ensure that players get some rest wherever they can.
And the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference is already clinched, meaning all that's really left on the Heat to-do list before the opening round of the playoffs is finish atop the NBA's regular-season standings.
"The mindset will be, first and foremost, playing our game and making sure that we establish our identity," Spoelstra said. "That's the whole thing with us. When we do that and play the way we're capable, results take care of themselves.
"We don't want to get caught up in too much of the results. We have a big goal in mind. That's the No. 1 goal and that's the only goal we've talked about."
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Pilot ejected when small airplane dives near Chattanooga; search under way
By Gil Aegerter, Staff Writer, NBC News
A student pilot was ejected from a small aircraft above an area east of Chattanooga, Tenn., in a freak accident Friday evening, and authorities were searching for him.
The accident occurred when the owner of the Zodiac 601XL plane was taking lessons from an instructor, NBC station WRCB of Nashville reported, citing police. A malfunction caused the plane to nose dive and the canopy flew open -- and neither man was wearing a seat belt, WRCB reported.
The accident occurred at about 2,500 feet,?the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.?
The instructor was able to land the aircraft back at Collegedale Municipal Airport, operations manager Chris Hancock confirmed to NBC News. He directed further questions to a Collegedale police spokesman who could not immediately be reached.
A ground search was under way in Bradley County, WRCB said. The Times Free Press said the owner-pilot had a cell phone with him and rescuers were pinging it in an attempt to find him.
Neither of the men was identified publicly by authorities.
WRCB said the plane had been owned by a man killed in a December crash and then was sold to the current owner, described as an experienced pilot who wanted more training in the Zodiac.
The Zodiac 601XL is a single-engine kit aircraft offered for home builders. Its two seats are side by side under a large domed, canopy.
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New fossil species from a fish-eat-fish world when limbed animals evolved
Thursday, March 28, 2013
"We call it a 'fish-eat-fish world,' an ecosystem where you really needed to escape predation," said Dr. Ted Daeschler, describing life in the Devonian period in what is now far-northern Canada.
This was the environment where the famous fossil fish species Tiktaalik roseae lived 375 million years ago. This lobe-finned fish, co-discovered by Daeschler, an associate professor at Drexel University in the Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, and associate curator and vice president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, and his colleagues Dr. Neil Shubin and Dr. Farish A. Jenkins, Jr., was first described in Nature in 2006.This species received scientific and popular acclaim for providing some of the clearest evidence of the evolutionary transition from lobe-finned fish to limbed animals, or tetrapods.
Daeschler and his colleagues from the Tiktaalik research, including Academy research associate Dr. Jason Downs, have now described another new lobe-finned fish species from the same time and place in the Canadian Arctic. They describe the new species, Holoptychius bergmanni, in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
"We're fleshing out our knowledge of the community of vertebrates that lived at this important location," said Downs, who was lead author of the paper. He said describing species from this important time and place will help the scientific community understand the transition from finned vertebrates to limbed vertebrates that occurred in this ecosystem.
"It was a tough world back there in the Devonian. There were a lot of big predatory fish with big teeth and heavy armor of interlocking scales on their bodies," said Daeschler.
Daeschler said Holoptychius and Tiktaalik were both large predatory fishes adapted to life in stream environments. The two species may have competed with one another for similar prey, although it is possible they specialized in slightly different niches; Tiktaalik's tetrapod-like skeletal features made it especially well suited to living in the shallowest waters.
The fossil specimens of Holoptychis bergmanni that researchers used to characterize this new species come from multiple individuals and include lower jaws with teeth, skull pieces including the skull roof and braincase, and parts of the shoulder girdles. The complete fish would have been 2 to 3 feet long when it was alive.
"The three-dimensional preservation of this material is spectacular," Daeschler said. "For something as old as this, we'll really be able to collect some good information about the anatomy of these animals."
The research on Holoptychius bergmanni was led by Downs, a former post-doctoral fellow working with Daeschler who also teaches at Swarthmore College. Other co-authors of the paper with Downs and Daeschler are Dr. Neil Shubin of the University of Chicago, and the late Dr. Farish Jenkins, Jr. of Harvard University, who passed away in 2012.
Honoring a Modern Arctic Explorer and Supporter of Science
The researchers named the new fossil fish species Holoptychius bergmanni in honor of the late Martin Bergmann, former director of the Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP), Natural Resources Canada, the organization that provided logistical support during the team's Arctic research expeditions spanning more than a decade. Bergmann was killed in a plane crash in 2011 shortly after the team's most recent field season in Nunavut.
"We decided to choose Martin Bergmann to honor him, not ever having met him, but with the understanding that his work with PCSP made great strides in opening the Arctic to researchers," said Downs. "It's an invaluable project happening in the Canadian Arctic that's enabling this type of work to happen."
Bergmann's organization assisted the research team with many aspects of expedition logistics including difficult flight operations to carry supplies and research personnel to remote research sites on Ellesemere Island. Daeschler described the pilots as capable of landing a Twin Otter aircraft almost anywhere, as long as the ground was solid ? a condition they tested by briefly touching down the airplane and circling back to see if the tires left a deep mark in the mud.
Daeschler and colleagues intend to return to Ellesemere Island for another field expedition in the summer of 2013 to search for fossils in older rocks at a more northerly field site than the one where they discovered T. roseae and H. bergmanni.
A Deeper Look at the Devonian
Daeschler and a different co-author described another new species of Devonian fish in addition to H. bergmanni, in the same issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences. More information about this new placoderm from Pennsylvania is available at http://newsblog.drexel.edu/2013/03/27/dusting-for-prints-from-a-fossil-fish-to-understand-evolutionary-change/.
###
Drexel University: http://www.Drexel.edu/
Thanks to Drexel University for this article.
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Friday, March 29, 2013
Cops: Patient claims he was raped by female nurse in Philadelphia hospital
By Lauren DiSanto, NBC10.com
A patient at Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, has claimed he was raped by a female nurse during his stay.
Police told NBC10's Nefertiti Jaquez they were investigating the claims.
According to the police report, the 65-year-old man was staying at the hospital after a motorcycle accident.
The alleged sexual assault happened on February 27 at 3:30 a.m. inside a hospital bathroom.
The man said a nurse in her 20s entered his room and offered him to take a bath, according to the police report, which then details the graphic nature of the attack.
Read more from NBC10.com
A Temple University spokesperson released this statement to NBC10's Jaquez: "When we were made aware of the allegation, we promptly investigated the matter and found no basis to support the claim. We are cooperating fully with the Police."
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Taylor Swift to guest star on Fox's 'New Girl'
NEW YORK (AP) ? A new girl is coming to Fox's "New Girl" and her name is Taylor Swift.
A representative for the Grammy-winning singer said Thursday that Swift will appear on the May 14 season finale of the hit show. No other details were provided.
"New Girl" stars actress-singer Zooey Deschanel as the awkward, but bubbly Jessica Day, who lives with three male roommates.
Swift appeared in the 2010 romantic comedy "Valentine's Day" and guest starred on "CSI" in 2009. The 23-year-old launched her "Red" world tour this month.
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Online:
http://taylorswift.com/
http://www.fox.com/new-girl/
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taylor-swift-guest-star-foxs-girl-190147183.html
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Rep. Lewis: ?DOMA was wrong 17 years ago. It is wrong today?
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
Do I have to be religious to be spiritual? | who is the God of heaven ...
Recession may be true for much of the Western world, but there are some economic growth areas. One of these is the new spiritual self-help industry said to be a commercial filling of the gap left by the decline of Christianity. These days you can pay for any amount of books, courses, residential retreats, audio tapes, videos and conferences, all offering to guide you along a journey beyond yourself, by freeing your soul embracing who you really are, awakening to your life?s purpose, and finding the fulfilment of your dreams.
If Christianity in Britain these days is a dead duck, can this new industry replace it? Can spiritual self-help really help you find a sense of meaning and purpose not to mention personal well-being and development? Is it no longer necessary to believe in a supernatural reality or a transcendent divine being in order for you to find patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, and a concern for others? Do you no longer have to be religious to be spiritual?
Reasons for decline of Western religion
In my view, Christianity, as a religious culture, is in its death throes because it hasn?t always been fostering the spiritual life. Too often it has had a limited understanding of the deeper meaning of the Bible and taking it as literally true regardless of scientific and historical research. Too often Christians have been seen to be hypocritically failing to abide by their own professed standards of charity and family values. Too often have those who believe in a God of love, clung to the notion of an eternal punishment of those who fail to do or believe the right things. Too often Christians have worshipped an immoral god who required the suffering and death of Christ.
We need something much better than this, but is the new spiritual self-help industry the answer?
Belonging
One of the characteristics of the new ethos is the principle that different valid spiritual paths exist. This is an emphasis on finding one?s own individual way to spirituality. If there is no longer one absolute truth then what is true for me may not be true for you and so what is right for me to do may not be right for you. My point is that adopting different spiritual practices, picking and mixing different beliefs, pursuing different life styles, and travelling to meet up with others for brief encounters, all adds up to ?bowling alone?, doing your own thing.
Yet having a sense of belonging to a family and community with shared values and beliefs helps a person to experience companionship and acceptance. You feel as if you are a part of something bigger and more important than yourself.
And so I would ask whether an individual self-help spirituality can provide that same vital sense of belonging?
Ethical challenge
The religious attitude is that only through learning to forget oneself can one find oneself ? only by focusing on the needs of others can you find a new you ? a more tolerant, generous and kindly you. Thus there is a strong ethical dimension to religion; a focus on duty and obligation, doing what is right, and resisting temptation to do what is wrong. Loving your neighbour as yourself and the ten commandments come to mind ? do not steal, murder, commit adultery etc. According to the Bible, Christ challenged us to take up our cross and follow him.
In urban anonymous life, it is only seldom that you are stimulated to pull together with other people, like helping the neighbours during local shortages or contributing time towards a well publicised social project.? However, spending regular time within a community means often being confronted by the needs of others.
One can ask whether the new non-religious angle on spiritual life ? with its individualised approach to personal improvement ? can fill the gap left religion when it comes to this test of social conscience without the context of religious community to provide a shared social consciousness of charitable action? Is meditation, spiritual counselling and personal reflection sufficient for spiritual growth without encouragement for altruistic action provided by social acceptance of the principles behind ethical conduct expressed in sacred writing?
My conclusion
The spiritual self-help industry has a lot to offer. But I feel something more is needed.? By itself inner psychological examination can just end in self-indulgent contemplation of your navel. In other words you can?t develop spiritually in isolation. Don?t you also? need shared social norms to support ethical learning? It is not easy to respond to the challenge of other people and their needs. When religion works well it is when for example a religious group regularly prays together genuinely seeking help to grapple with the real challenges of community.
I would suggest you also need a clearer sense of your destiny beyond the brief physical life of the body. When things gets really tough, don?t you need something in which to put your hope, a higher power that can deliver you from what is bad in your life and provide you with the transforming gift of new character?
Three centuries ago, Emanuel Swedenborg?s expressed his notion of a New Church using Christian language. But the essence of his insight is that he clearly foretold that the age of religious dogmatic culture would pass away and a new religious spirit would replace the old religion: not a new organisation but a new state of human society able to recognise what is genuinely deeply true. His idea was that this developing inner state of humanity would enable each of us to experience and understand our true relationship with the divine ?Christ within?.
Copyright 2013 Stephen Russell-Lacy
Source: http://trudon22.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/do-i-have-to-be-religious-to-be-spiritual/
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
CHART OF THE DAY: Mobile Gaming - Business Insider
This chart comes from Business Insider Intelligence, a new research and and analysis service focused on the mobile and Internet industries. Sign up for a free trial here.
Game developers are increasingly turning to smartphones and tablets for their next project.
A survey of 2,500 developers from the organizers?of the recent?Game Developers Conference?found that 58 percent were planning their next project for mobile devices. Approximately 38 percent of those surveyed said their last project was on mobile.
Over 50 percent of those surveyed said they were independent developers, indicating that their could be some bias towards mobile in the survey, since mobile games are cheaper to develop than budget-busting console games.?
Mobile gaming isn't going to knock out more immersive and graphics-driven desktop and console gaming any time soon. Hand-held consoles, however, are directly threatened by the increasingly sophisticated crop of iOS and Android games and will see less and less developer interest.
Mobile games have been the primary beneficiary of the app store era. No wonder, given they are the largest time bucket on both smartphones and tablets.?A BII analysis found that 70 percent of the top 200 grossing apps on the iOS App Store were games (the proportion was 75 percent on Google Play).
Among developers working on mobile, 90 percent planned working on iOS, 75 percent on Android, and only 15 percent on Windows Phone.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-mobile-gaming-2013-3
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Chris Brown Admits He Messed Up: Do You Forgive Him?
Chris Brown has made amends with Rihanna following his 2009 assault on the pop star, and now he's trying to rehab his image with the rest of the world. The couple has been very much on-again over the past six months and Brown, 23, is finally talking about the violent incident that has defined him since he was 19.
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Magnetic fingerprints of interface defects in silicon solar cells detected
Mar. 27, 2013 ? Using a highly sensitive method of measurement, HZB physicists have managed to localize defects in amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Now, for the first time ever, using computer simulations at Paderborn University, the scientists were able to determine the defects' exact locations and assign them to certain structures within the interface between the amorphous and crystalline phases.
In theory, silicon-based solar cells are capable of converting up to 30 percent of sunlight to electricity -- although, in reality, the different kinds of loss mechanisms ensure that even under ideal lab conditions it does not exceed 25 %. Advanced heterojunction cells shall affront this problem: On top of the wafer's surface, at temperatures below 200 ?C, a layer of 10 nanometer disordered (amorphous) silicon is deposited. This thin film is managing to saturate to a large extent the interface defects and to conduct charge carriers out of the cell. Heterojunction solar cells have already high efficiency factors up to 24,7 % -- even in industrial scale. However, scientists had until now only a rough understanding of the processes at the remaining interface defects.
Now, physicists at HZB's Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics have figured out a rather clever way for detecting the remaining defects and characterizing their electronic structure. "If electrons get deposited on these defects, we are able to use their spin, that is, their small magnetic moment, as a probe to study them," Dr. Alexander Schnegg explains. With the help of EDMR, electrically detected magnetic resonance, an ultrasensitive method of measurement, they were able to determine the local defects' structure by detecting their magnetic fingerprint in the photo current of the solar cell under a magnetic field and microwave radiation.
Theoretical physicists of Paderborn University could compare these results with quantum chemical computer simulations, thus obtaining information about the defects' positions within the layers and the processes they are involved to decrease the cells' efficiency. "We basically found two distinct families of defects," says Dr. Uwe Gerstmann from Paderborn University, who collaborates with the HZB Team in a program sponsored by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG priority program 1601). "Whereas in the first one, the defects are rather weakly localized within the amorphous layer, a second family of defects is found directly at the interface, but in the crystalline silicon."
For the first time ever the scientists have succeeded at directly detecting and characterizing processes with atomic resolution that compromise these solar cells' high efficiency. The cells were manufactured and measured at the HZB; the numerical methods were developed at Paderborn University. "We can now apply these findings to other types of solar cells in order to optimize them further and to decrease production costs," says Schnegg.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- B. M. George, J. Behrends, A. Schnegg, T. F. Schulze, M. Fehr, L. Korte, B. Rech, K. Lips, M. Rohrm?ller, E. Rauls, W. G. Schmidt, U. Gerstmann. Atomic Structure of Interface States in Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells. Physical Review Letters, 2013; 110 (13) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.136803
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.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Real Estate Council announces City Council endorsements | City ...
The Real Estate Council has issued its endorsements for the coming City Council races.
In the hotly contested District 13 race, Jennifer Staubach Gates got the nod over Leland Burk.
And in the race for the District 14 seat, Bobby Abtahi can add to council to his impressive list of endorsements, including former council members and ?Car-Free? Patrick Kennedy among others.
The council also picked Delia Jasso over Scott Griggs in the District 1 race ? the only race where two incumbents face each other.
?We were encouraged to see such a strong pool of candidates running for Dallas City Council and Dallas ISD school board,? said Linda McMahon, president and CEO of The Real Estate Council. ?It takes a selfless and courageous person to decide to run for any public office, and we applaud each of the candidates for their passion and commitment to improving our city.?
Here is the complete City Council endorsement list.
District 1: Delia Jasso (i)
District 2: Adam Medrano
District 3: Vonciel Hill (i)
District 5: Rickey Callahan
District 6: Monica Alonzo (i)
District 7: Carolyn Davis (i)
District 8: Tennell Atkins (i)
District 11: Lee Kleinman
District 13: Jennifer Staubach Gates
District 14: Bobby Abtahi
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China's first lady sparks frenzy over local label
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his wife Peng Liyuan wave upon their arrival to the government airport Vnukovo II, outside Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 22, 2013. Russia is Xi Jinping's first foreign destination as China's president. Xi's talks with Putin on Friday are set to focus on oil and gas as China seeks to secure new energy resources to fuel its growing economy. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his wife Peng Liyuan wave upon their arrival to the government airport Vnukovo II, outside Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 22, 2013. Russia is Xi Jinping's first foreign destination as China's president. Xi's talks with Putin on Friday are set to focus on oil and gas as China seeks to secure new energy resources to fuel its growing economy. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his wife Peng Liyuan wave upon their arrival to the government airport Vnukovo II, outside Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 22, 2013. Russia is Xi Jinping's first foreign destination as China's president. Xi's talks with Putin on Friday are set to focus on oil and gas as China seeks to secure new energy resources to fuel its growing economy. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Chinese President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan smiles after arriving at the government airport Vnukovo II, outside Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 22, 2013. Russia is Xi Jinping's first foreign destination as China's president. Xi's talks with Putin on Friday are set to focus on oil and gas as China seeks to secure new energy resources to fuel its growing economy. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
FILE - In this March 22, 2013 file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan smiles after arriving at the government airport Vnukovo II, outside Moscow, Russia. New Chinese first lady Peng is emerging as Chinese diplomacy's latest star. A well-known performer on state television, the glamorous Peng was featured prominently on Sunday's state media coverage of President Xi Jinping's activities in Russia. The visit is Xi's first since assuming the presidency earlier this month. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
Chinese First Lady, Madame Peng Liyuan, left,, waves as she is accompanied by Tanzanian First Lady, Salma Kikwete, right, at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Sunday March 24, 2013. Liyuan is accompanying her husband, Chinese President in his first African tour since he became president of the second largest economy in the world. (AP Photo/ Khalfan Said)
BEIJING (AP) ? New Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan's choice of attire has sparked a flurry of excitement over an independent homegrown label, an unusual phenomenon in a country where political figures are more frumpy than fashionable and wives usually shy away from the spotlight.
Images of Peng, 50, stepping off a plane arm-in-arm with her husband President Xi Jinping in Moscow on Friday have circulated widely on the Chinese Internet, prompting praise of her style as understated and sophisticated.
Eagle-eyed fashion-savvy bloggers identified the leather handbag she carried and smart, double-breasted black trench coat she wore as items designed by Guangzhou-based label Exception. The brand has been described as one of China's leading independent labels whose simple but unique designs stand out in an industry dominated by Western copycats.
"First ladies are ambassadors of the culture and the design and of the soft power of a country. I'm glad that she chose to wear Chinese and take up that role of spokesperson for Chinese design here," said Hong Huang, publisher of the fashion magazine iLook and one of the most popular microbloggers in China.
Hong said it was too early to tell if Peng's high-profile public appearance signaled that she would be playing a more significant role in Chinese politics than her predecessors, who ? unlike many of their Western counterparts ? have been largely unseen. "It's good that finally China has a very pretty, very beautiful first lady and she can hopefully speak up for a lot more and complement whatever Xi wants to say, in a way, like all first ladies do."
Online retailers have sought to associate their products with what news portals are terming the "Peng Liyuan style," with searches for those key words resulting in lists of handbags and trench coats, many of which did not even resemble the items she wore. Heavy online traffic to Exception's website has caused it to crash since Friday, with it loading only sporadically on Monday.
The impact Peng, a celebrated performer on state television, is having on fashion bears some similarity to trends sparked by Britain's duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton, who helped bring Brazilian-born designer Issa to the world's attention before her marriage to Prince William. American first lady Michelle Obama has also lent cachet to designer Jason Wu by wearing a gown he custom-made to last month's inauguration.
For its part, Exception appears to be gauging its next move. Chinese politics is a traditionally secretive world and the company risks sparking a backlash by associating itself too publicly with the wife of the head of state.
Some of the more conservative among the Communist Party might frown upon the commercialization of the first lady's image or criticize such attention as being reflective of an excessively materialistic society.
Exception was founded in the mid-nineties by a couple who shared a love of design and the rock band The Ramones, according to Hong. Chief executive Mao Jihong, one of the co-founders, could not be reached on his cellphone. The label has expanded to become a high-end brand with nearly 100 stores and retail counters in China.
Company spokeswoman Tan Yijia, reached in the company's Guangzhou headquarters, said she could not immediately confirm that the pieces Peng wore on the trip were made by the label. The city's quality supervision bureau, however, said on its official microblog site that it has confirmed that Peng's outfit was made by Exception.
Despite Exception's public silence, commentators in China's fashion world are celebrating the attention on the label and, more significantly, the rise of the profile of a popular first lady.
"It's the first time that China's first lady appears like a modern woman. I think she dressed very well, with taste and confidence," said Zhang Yu, editor of China's Vogue magazine. "After so many years, we finally have a first lady who can represent us so appropriately. I think it is a landmark event."
___
Associated Press researcher Flora Ji contributed to this report.
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Nike's Tiger Woods ad draws critics
Nike is causing a social media storm with its latest online ad, seen here, showing a picture of Tiger Woods overlaid with a quote from him, ?Winning takes care of everything.? Woods has used the phrase with reporters since at least 2009 when they ask him about rankings. The ad, posted on Facebook and Twitter, is supposed to allude to the fact that the golfer recovered from career stumbles to regain his world No. 1 ranking on Monday, which he lost in October 2010. But some say it's inappropriate in light of Woods' past marital woes. (AP Photo/Nike)
Nike is causing a social media storm with its latest online ad, seen here, showing a picture of Tiger Woods overlaid with a quote from him, ?Winning takes care of everything.? Woods has used the phrase with reporters since at least 2009 when they ask him about rankings. The ad, posted on Facebook and Twitter, is supposed to allude to the fact that the golfer recovered from career stumbles to regain his world No. 1 ranking on Monday, which he lost in October 2010. But some say it's inappropriate in light of Woods' past marital woes. (AP Photo/Nike)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Maybe winning doesn't take care of everything.
Nike is causing a social media storm with its latest online ad showing a picture of Tiger Woods overlaid with a quote from him, "Winning takes care of everything."
The ad, posted on Facebook and Twitter, is supposed to allude to the fact that the golfer recovered from career stumbles to regain his world No. 1 ranking on Monday, which he lost in October 2010. But some say it's inappropriate in light of Woods' past marital woes. It's the latest controversy from the athletic giant who has recently had to cut ties with biker Lance Armstrong and runner Oscar Pistorius due to separate scandals.
Woods has long used the phrase ? at least since 2009 ? whenever reporters ask him about his or other golfers' rankings.
The ad has garnered more than 8,000 likes and 2,000 shares on Facebook, as well as hundreds of comments, many congratulating Woods on the ranking, but others commenting that the ad sends the wrong message out in light of Woods' past problems. His 5-year marriage to Elin Nordegren collapsed in 2010 after multiple affairs came to light.
Others responded on Twitter. Annie Kessler, 25, in Columbus, Ohio, tweeted that the ad was a "poor choice" for Nike. She said in an interview that she felt compelled to tweet because even though she understands why Nike would want to promote Woods, the phrase itself is inappropriate because of Woods' past infidelity.
Nike spokeswoman Beth Gast said that the ad references Wood's refrain that he competes to win.
"When asked about his goals such as getting back to number one, he has said consistently winning is the way to get there," she said in an email response to a query. "The statement references that sentiment and is a salute to his athletic performance."
Allen Adamson, managing director of branding firm Landor Associates in New York, said the ad signals that Nike believes it is time Woods ? who in addition to his new No. 1 ranking is now in a much-touted relationship with Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn ? is back in the spotlight.
"They're looking at this and saying, 'Time has passed, he's winning again, it's time to turn up the volume on our association,' " he said. "But it's risky when you associate with a celebrity only based on winning or losing. Consumers care about how you play the game: both the actual game and the game of life."
Marketing consultant Laura Ries was more positive on the move.
"The reality is what he said is true," Ries said. "Whether or not they should have said it in an ad is another story."
The ad comes after Nike has had to sever ties with two other high-profile athletes. It dropped Armstrong in October, before Armstrong himself came clean in January, citing insurmountable evidence that he participated in doping and misled the company about those activities for more than a decade. And in February it suspended its contract with Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee runner from South Africa charged with premeditated murder in the Valentine's Day killing of his girlfriend.
Nike never cut ties with Woods when his scandal broke in 2010, and even tried to help resuscitate his image with a black-and-white ad four months later featuring a voice-over by his late father.
___
Online:
http://on.fb.me/X91rwF
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2013 Steelers 101 ? NFL Mock Draft ? First Round (Update 3)
Every offseason, fans create mock drafts to try to predict who their favorite team will select. After a busy week of NFL Free Agency, it has come time again to update Round One.Read the full original article?
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Source: http://mvn.com/2013/03/24/2013-steelers-101-nfl-mock-draft-first-round-update-3/
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Monday, March 25, 2013
Paint-on plastic electronics: Aligning polymers for high performance
Mar. 24, 2013 ? Semiconducting polymers are an unruly bunch, but University of Michigan engineers have developed a new method for getting them in line that could pave the way for cheaper, greener, "paint-on" plastic electronics.
"This is for the first time a thin-layer, conducting, highly aligned film for high-performance, paintable, directly writeable plastic electronics," said Jinsang Kim, U-M professor of materials science and engineering, who led the research published in Nature Materials.
Semiconductors are the key ingredient for computer processors, solar cells and LED displays, but they are expensive. Inorganic semiconductors like silicon require high temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and costly vacuum systems for processing into electronics, but organic and plastic semiconductors can be prepared on a basic lab bench.
The trouble is that charge carriers, like electrons, can't move through plastics nearly as easily as they can move through inorganic semiconductors, Kim said. Part of the reason for this is because each semiconducting polymer molecule is like a short wire, and these wires are randomly arranged.
"Charge mobility along the polymer chains is much faster than between the polymers," Kim said.
To take advantage of the good conduction along the polymers, research groups have been trying to align them into a charge-carrying freeway, but it's a bit like trying to arrange nanoscopic linguine.
Kim's group approached the problem by making smarter semiconducting polymers. They wanted a liquid polymer solution they could brush over a surface, and the molecules would automatically align with one another in the direction of the stroke, assembling into high-performance semiconducting thin-layer films.
First, they designed the polymers to be slippery -- ordinary polymers glom together like flat noodles left in the fridge, Kim said. By choosing polymers with a natural twist, the team kept them from sticking to one another in the solution. But in order to align during the brushstroke, the polymers needed to subtly attract one another. Flat surfaces would do that, so the team designed their polymer to untwist as the solvent dried up.
They stopped the unaligned polymers from forming large chunks by adding flexible arms that extended off to the sides of the flat, wire-like polymer. These arms prevented too much close contact among the polymers while the bulkiness of the arms kept them from snagging on one another. Polymers with these properties will line up in the direction of an applied force, such as the tug of a paintbrush.
"It's a big breakthrough," Kim said. "We established a complete molecular design principle of semiconducting polymers with directed alignment capability."
And it works. The team made molecules that matched their design and built a device for spreading the polymer solution over surfaces such as glass or a flexible plastic film. The force from the silicon blade, moving at a constant speed across the liquid polymer, was enough to align the molecules.
The team then built the semiconducting film into a simple transistor, a version of the electronic components that make up computer processors. The device demonstrated the importance of the polymer alignment by showing that charge carriers moved 1,000 times faster in the direction parallel to the silicon blade's brushstroke than they did when crossing the direction of the stroke.
"By combining the established molecular design principle with a polymer that has a very good intrinsic charge carrier mobility, we believe it will make a huge difference in organic electronics," he said. "We are currently developing a versatile fabrication method in order to realize high-performance and paintable plastic electronics in various length scales from nanometers to meters."
Kim believes that the technique will work equally well with atomic-scale pen nibs or large trowel-like applicators for making electronics of all sizes such as LED displays or light-absorbing coatings for solar cells.
The paper is titled "A molecular design principle of lyotropic liquid-crystalline conjugated polymers with directed alignment capability for plastic electronics."
The work is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Two authors of the paper were partly supported by National Science Foundation and WCU program of National Research Foundation of Korea. The university is pursuing patent protection for the intellectual property and is seeking commercialization partners to help bring the technology to market.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan, via Newswise.
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Journal Reference:
- Bong-Gi Kim, Eun Jeong Jeong, Jong Won Chung, Sungbaek Seo, Bonwon Koo, Jinsang Kim. A molecular design principle of lyotropic liquid-crystalline conjugated polymers with directed alignment capability for plastic electronics. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3595
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.
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Kerry warns Iraq on Iran flights to Syria
BAGHDAD (AP) ? The U.S. has made clear that Iraq shouldn't allow Iran to use its airspace to ship weapons and fighters to Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Sunday during an unannounced trip to Baghdad.
Following private discussions with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Kerry said the two had a "very spirited discussion" on the subject of Iranian overflights. The U.S. believes the Iranian shipments are aiding Syrian President Bashar Assad and undermining Western-backed opposition groups.
"I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down ... anything that supports President Assad is problematic," Kerry said.
Kerry also said that U.S. lawmakers and the American people are "increasingly watching what Iraq is doing and wondering how it is a partner."
In the absence of a complete ban on flights, the U.S. would at least like the planes to land and be inspected in Iraq to ensure that they are carrying humanitarian supplies. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton secured a pledge from Iraq to inspect the flights last year, but since then only two aircraft have been checked by Iraqi authorities, according to U.S. officials.
The overflights have long been a source of contention between the U.S. and Iraq and Kerry will tell the Iraqis that allowing them to continue will make the situation in Syria worse and ultimately threaten Iraq's stability.
One senior U.S. official said the sheer number of overflights, which occur "close to daily," along with shipments trucked to Syria from Iran through Iraq, was inconsistent with claims they are only carrying humanitarian supplies. The official said it was in Iraq's interest to prevent the situation in Syria from deteriorating further, particularly as there are fears that al-Qaida-linked extremists may gain a foothold in the country as the Assad regime falters.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to publicly preview Kerry's meetings, said there are clear links between al-Qaida linked extremists operating in Syria and militants who are also carrying out terrorist attacks in Iraqi territory with increasing regularity.
A group of fighters in Syria known as Jabhat al-Nusra, a powerful offshoot of al-Qaida in Iraq that the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization, has claimed responsibility for most of the deadliest suicide bombings against regime and military facilities and, as a result, has gained popularity among some rebels.
Kerry will tell al-Maliki, a Shiite with close ties to Iran, that Iraq cannot be part of the political discussion about Syria's future until it clamps down on the Iranian shipments, the senior official said.
As Iraq approaches provincial elections next month, Kerry will also stress the importance of ensuring that all elements of society feel enfranchised, the official said. A recent decision to delay the polls in Anbar and Nineveh provinces is a "serious setback" to Iraq's democratic institutions and should be revisited, the official said.
In addition to al-Maliki, Kerry saw Iraqi parliament speaker parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, whose faction is at odds with Maliki's Shiia. Kerry also spoke by phone with Massoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdish Regional Government based in Irbil to encourage the Kurds not go ahead with unilateral actions - especially involving oil, like a pipeline deal with Turkey.
He will stress the "importance of maintaining the unity of Iraq," say that "separate efforts undercut the unity of the country" and that "the Kurdish republic cannot survive financially without the support of Baghdad," the official said.
Kerry's arrival came just three days after the anniversary of the U.S.-led war that began on March 20, 2003, with an airstrike on Dora Farms in southern Baghdad in a failed attempt to kill Hussein.
The invasion and toppling of Hussein sparked years of bloodshed as Sunni and Shiite militants battled U.S. forces and each other, leaving nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqis dead.
Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shiite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007. But insurgents are still able to stage high-profile attacks, and sectarian and ethnic rivalries remain threats to the country's long-term stability.
Earlier this week, an al-Qaida in Iraq front group claimed responsibility nearly 20 attacks that killed 65 people across the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Islamic State of Iraq said it unleashed the car bombs and other explosions to avenge the executions and "massacres" of convicted Sunni inmates held in Iraqi prisons. Its claim came on the 10th anniversary of the start of the war, although it made no reference to the significance of the date.
Kerry arrived in Baghdad from Amman, where he had been accompanying President Barack Obama on his tour of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. His visit to Iraq is the first by a U.S. secretary of state since Clinton went in April 2009. During Obama's first term, the Iraq portfolio was largely delegated to Vice President Joe Biden.
Since Clinton's trip, the American diplomatic presence in Iraq has shrunk dramatically, most significantly since U.S. ended military operations in late 2011, according to officials. A year ago, there were 16,000 State Department employees and contractors in the country. As of Kerry's visit, that number had declined to 10,500 and it will drop to 5,100 by the end of 2013, officials said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-warns-iraq-iran-flights-syria-132200384--politics.html
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Leaked Windows Blue build 9364 reveals multiple Live Tile sizes, same-width side-by-side apps
Want to get a first-hand look at Microsoft's updated OS? You might be able to download the unreleased Windows Blue operating system on your own machine. Leaked build 9364 hit file sharing sites earlier today -- according to Neowin, the 32-bit edition is available for download as a 2.63GB ISO, and likely hit the web from a Microsoft partner in France. Notable adjustments include larger and smaller Live Tiles, enabling a bit more Start screen customization, along with an updated side-by-side app view, which boosts multitasking efficiency by displaying two applications with matching width. Other additions include a Play option under the Devices panel, a screenshot button on the Share sidebar, and Internet Explorer 11, which comes packaged with the new OS. Windows Blue build 9364 appears to be an unauthorized leak, but even if you have any reservations about installing it on your own machine, you'll surely be able to check out plenty of eye candy from other users over the hours and days to come. In the meantime, hit up the source links for a few more screenshots.
[Thanks, Jim]
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Y3gil7kCzqU/
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China's Premier Li meets the press ? but no unscripted questions, thank you
China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang addressed the foreign and domestic press for the first time today in an event carried live on national TV.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang gives a press conference on Sunday.
Andy Wong/AP
EnlargeChina is unlike any other country in the world when it comes to press conferences: You generally learn more from the questions that are asked than from the answers that officials give.
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Peter Ford is The Christian Science Monitor?s Beijing Bureau Chief. He covers news and features throughout China and also makes reporting trips to Japan and the Korean peninsula.
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That rule of thumb proved valid again Sunday as new Prime Minister Li Keqiang met the press for the first time. He seemed confident and relaxed, but like his predecessors, he answered only questions that journalists had submitted in advance, and that his press office had approved.
At Chinese press conferences you learn which topics the government thinks are important and what message it wants to transmit to the citizenry from the questions that the authorities allow. But you don?t get much fresh information from the answers.
Mr. Li?s responses were, for the most part, pretty bland. We did not learn much that we had not already known before we filed into the elaborately decorated ballroom in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square for the premier?s annual press conference carried live on national TV.
But a softball question from People's Daily, the official organ of the ruling Communist party, ("What are the government?s goals and the top priorities on its agenda?") allowed Li to stress his intention of raising incomes and strengthening the social security net ? a major worry for many Chinese ? and of making China a fairer country.
That will have gone down well with the hundreds of millions of citizens who have learned from experience that you don?t get far in this country without the right connections.
The Chinese state radio correspondent tossed him a question about the government?s plans to combat official corruption, another huge gripe among ordinary Chinese, which gave the new prime minister a chance to pledge his ?unshakeable resolve? to root out dishonesty in government.
Overseas reporters had a chance to put their questions, too ? an American was permitted a carefully worded query about US-China relations, including a reference to US allegations that the Chinese government is behind a lot of cyber-espionage; a Frenchman was allowed to ask about the foul air we have been breathing in Beijing for the past 10 weeks; a Russian asked about the future of Sino-Russian relations.
None of them elicited anything that could be mistaken for news, however. He batted away the question of hacking with the standard line that China too is a victim of hackers, and complained ? with a smile ? that he detected ?a presumption of guilt? in the reporter?s question that he did not accept.
The authorities were especially nervous on Sunday about what foreign reporters might ask because the press conference was being broadcast live on television, and they did not want any embarrassments.
Having attended six of these annual charades, and knowing how they work, it still astonishes me that the leader of a country such as China, which aspires to a serious place at the top table of world affairs, does not dare to take unscripted questions from journalists. Li talked a lot about reform this morning; he could do worse than start with the way the government relates to the local and foreign press.?
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