Source : http://www.engadget.com/
Monday, June 17, 2013
AT&T's Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 arrives June 21st for $399, $199 with phone
Spurs one win from NBA triumph
Spurs star guard Tony Parker showed no signs of the hamstring injury which hampered him during Game Four, scoring 26 points to delight the AT & T Center crowd.
"It was a physical game. Great game. I was just trying to pace myself better, if I can say that, during the game," the Frenchman told reporters.
"Or else I'd be out of gas like I did in Game Four, where in the second half I didn't have enough juice and my hamstring was kind of fatigued. In this game I was trying to take my time and it helped."
Argentine Manu Ginobili turned in his finest performance of the series so far, adding 24 points and 10 assists.
The Spurs opened up a 20-point lead in the third quarter, with the crowd showing their appreciation with chants of "Ma-nu" as Gregg Popovich's team closed on a first NBA title since 2007.
"I was having a tough time scoring, and I needed to feel like the game was coming to me, and I was being able to attack the rim, get to the free-throw line, and make a couple of shots," said Ginobli.
"So it felt great when I heard that. To feel that I really helped the team to get that 20-point lead, it was a much-needed moment in the series. So I'm glad to see it happen."
For the Heat, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade both scored 25 points as Miami continued a run which has seen the 2012 champions alternate between wins and losses over its last 12 playoff games.
Tuesday's Game Six will see the series return to Miami's American Airlines Arena, which will also stage Game Seven if it is required.
Source : http://edition.cnn.com/
Stuart Hall: Attorney General Reviews Sentence
The 83-year-old former It's A Knockout presenter was jailed earlier after admitting indecent assaults on 13 girls.
The attacks spanned three decades and involved children aged as young as nine.
A "small number" of complaints have been made about the sentence, prompting an investigation by the Attorney General's Office which has the power to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.
A lawyer representing some of Hall's victims said they felt "vindicated" after the sentencing.
A worker from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) - who gave Hall a good character reference during the trial - has since stepped down.
Harrowing details of the sex abuse suffered by his victims were described at Preston Crown Court.
The prosecution told how a 13-year-old victim was assaulted after they had played tennis, when he is said to have told her: "Sometimes thank you was not enough in words."
He told a 10-year-old girl to cuddle him "like she would one of her teddies" after he had given her steak and champagne, the court heard.
A 15-year-old girl was abused in Hall's dressing room at the BBC, prosecutors said.
A 13-year-old was assaulted while she was drunk and unwell at a family party and described the attack as a "frenzied maul".
He preyed on a nine-year-old girl while she was in bed.
Another victim, who was 17 at the time, was attacked while dressed as a cheerleader for the filming of It's A Knockout.
Hall was told by Judge Anthony Russell during sentencing that those who had admired him in his career now know there is a "darker side" to him.
He was given sentences ranging from three months to 15 months, all to run concurrently. Judge Russell said Hall would have received 20 months after a trial but he reduced the sentence to reflect his guilty pleas.
He said there was a degree of planning and premeditation in some of the assaults and he criticised Hall's initial "brazen" attitude when charged.
The judge said: "Several of these cases reveal an abuse of power by you because your status gave you an influence and standing which you abused."
He added: "The repeated sexual abuse of young children, too young to consent and in no position to resist your advances, even if the individual acts are relatively mild, is a serious crime and it must be made clear to anyone tempted to take advantage of young children and other vulnerable victims that they face condemnation and punishment."
Hall was branded a child abuse "predator" by prosecutors.
He initially told police his victims were lying as part of a "vendetta" against people in the public eye.
When arrested last December over three claims of indecent assault, he described the allegations as "nonsense".
He told an officer one of the complainants was "a complete and utter liar".
Hall, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, went on to issue an impassioned on-camera denial of any wrongdoing, describing the allegations against him as "cruel".
Judge Russell condemned Hall for choosing not to maintain a "dignified silence" and said that he added to the suffering of his victims by adopting that stance.
"It is clear from the victim statements that I have seen that your brazen attitude when first charged, and the public protests of your innocence, have added to the distress of some if not all of your victims," he said.
Later, he would admit 14 indecent assaults on 13 girls between 1967 and 1987.
The initial publicity around his arrest led to other women coming forward, including a woman who said she had been raped by Hall in the 1970s when she was 22.
The rape charge was denied by Hall and has been left on file.
Hall's defence barrister Crispin Aylett told the court his offences were at the "less serious end of the scale".
He said Hall's life was "unblemished" in the years since the offences, and statements were submitted about Hall's charity work.
Mr Aylett, explaining his client's TV work, said he had "brought laughter to millions" and that if he were jailed, he might die in prison.
Mr Aylett criticised some media reports about the case since Hall pleaded guilty and asked the judge to carry out the sentencing with a degree of proportion.
He said his client had been arrested "as a consequence" of the investigations into Jimmy Savile, "who used young girls on a scale that is simply staggering".
Hall - who also faces civil claims from some of his victims - showed no emotion as he was led from the dock to begin his sentence.
Alan Collins, from law firm Pannone, which is representing some of the victims who attended court today - said the sentence sent out "a strong and uncompromising message that abusers will not escape justice".
Commenting on behalf of his clients, he added: "I have spoken to a number of them already and they all feel vindicated that their allegations of abuse have been proven by Hall's admission of guilt.
"He had previously denied allegations and accused his victims of lying. This was hurtful, distressing and insulting for them.
"We should remember that the youngest of this man's victims was just nine-years-old and a custodial sentence is no more than he deserves."
Hall has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and as "a wealthy man", said the judge, was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £11,522.
Following sentencing the BBC said in a statement: "The BBC is appalled that some of Stuart Hall's crimes took place in connection with his work at the BBC and offer an unreserved apology to the people he abused."
Labour confirmed that Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry had written to Dominic Grieve urging him to refer the sentences to the Court of Appeal because "it is unduly lenient".
Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour party, tweeted: "18 yrs offending & Stuart hall gets less than 18 months. Unduly Lenient Sentence. Attorney General must refer sentence to Court of Appeal."
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the child protection charity NSPCC, said: "Hall will be free within months, but the trauma he caused his victims will stay with them a lot longer - possibly for the rest of their lives. He has shown total disregard for their feelings, even arrogantly branding them liars.
"Whilst it's commendable that this case was pursued even after such a long passage of time, the end result is not a great day for justice or for the victims."
Detective Superintendent Neil Esseen of Lancashire Police's major investigation team praised the victims for coming forward to report the abuse.
Source : http://news.sky.com/
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Swiss scientists create catbot
Someone call MIT's researchers and tell them their terrifying cheetah robot has a long-lost teensy sibling in Switzerland. Developed in the laboratories of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the "cheetah-cub robot" is a four-legged metallic critter modeled after a house cat. The scientists focused on designing legs that can move like our feline friends', paying particular attention to their stability while moving on uneven surfaces. While it has a long way to go before it becomes a graceful daredevil, it's a fast little bugger that can run seven times its body length in one second. The researchers hope their creation gives rise to more robots for exploration and search-and-rescue missions in the future -- a far more noble goal than some cat-owners' dream to have their pets' pictures land on the front page of Reddit.A robot that runs like a cat
Thanks to its legs, whose design faithfully reproduces feline morphology, EPFL's four-legged "cheetah-cub robot" has the same advantages as its model: it is small, light and fast. Still in its experimental stage, the robot will serve as a platform for research in locomotion and biomechanics.
Even though it doesn't have a head, you can still tell what kind of animal it is: the robot is definitely modeled upon a cat. Developed by EPFL's Biorobotics Laboratory (Biorob), the "cheetah-cub robot," a small-size quadruped prototype robot, is described in an article appearing today in the International Journal of Robotics Research. The purpose of the platform is to encourage research in biomechanics; its particularity is the design of its legs, which make it very fast and stable. Robots developed from this concept could eventually be used in search and rescue missions or for exploration.
This robot is the fastest in its category, namely in normalized speed for small quadruped robots under 30Kg. During tests, it demonstrated its ability to run nearly seven times its body length in one second. Although not as agile as a real cat, it still has excellent auto-stabilization characteristics when running at full speed or over a course that included disturbances such as small steps. In addition, the robot is extremely light, compact, and robust and can be easily assembled from materials that are inexpensive and readily available.
Faithful reproduction
The machine's strengths all reside in the design of its legs. The researchers developed a new model with this robot, one that is based on the meticulous observation and faithful reproduction of the feline leg. The number of segments – three on each leg – and their proportions are the same as they are on a cat. Springs are used to reproduce tendons, and actuators – small motors that convert energy into movement – are used to replace the muscles.
"This morphology gives the robot the mechanical properties from which cats benefit, that's to say a marked running ability and elasticity in the right spots, to ensure stability," explains Alexander Sprowitz, a Biorob scientist. "The robot is thus naturally more autonomous."
Sized for a search
According to Biorob director Auke Ijspeert, this invention is the logical follow-up of research the lab has done into locomotion that included a salamander robot and a lamprey robot. "It's still in the experimental stages, but the long-term goal of the cheetah-cub robot is to be able to develop fast, agile, ground-hugging machines for use in exploration, for example for search and rescue in natural disaster situations. Studying and using the principles of the animal kingdom to develop new solutions for use in robots is the essence of our research."
Source : http://www.engadget.com/
Mourinho brands Chelsea striker Torres ‘so-so’
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has described striker Fernando Torres as “so-so” and says he has not lived up to his potential at Stamford Bridge.
The Spain international joined the Blues from Liverpool in 2011 for £50 million but has come under intense criticism during his time in London after failing to replicate his best form for the west Londoners.
Mourinho says people expect more from Torres because of the reputation he built for himself while at Anfield, scoring 65 goals in 102 games, but says perspective is needed.
“Torres so far is so-so,” Mourinho is quoted in the Mirror. “Somebody could expect more because of his potential, because of what he did before. But not so bad as people sometimes try to say.
“There is a balance. Normally, the tendency is to say it was a big mistake. It was a big mistake because it didn’t work.”
The former Real Madrid coach also insisted that owner Roman Abramovich never involved himself in the running of the team during Mourinho’s first spell with the club.
“Never, never during my time did the owner interfere in the basic things of the manager – training sessions, team selection, the profile of player I want to bring, " he added.
“Do you want to know the truth about [Andriy] Shevchenko? I hope the board is not upset with me. We wanted to buy Samuel Eto’o, he was our target. We wanted Eto’o and the owner was more than ready to do everything to bring Eto’o here.
“He was the player I wanted. Why? Because Eto’o was the only player I could play with Didier Drogba, changing the system for two strikers.
“But he was also ready to play with Drogba with the system we had at the time, with three attacking players with Eto’o coming from the sides. I did the same with him at Inter Milan. We wanted Eto’o and the boss did everything to bring Eto’o and Peter Kenyon did everything.
“In the end, Barcelona said, ‘We don’t sell, forget it, forget it. Not any price’. The owner did everything to get him, but it was not possible.
“After that, we went to other options and got to Shevchenko. I was happy with him.
“Even with the top dogs – when you buy for £30m, £40m, £50m, or £60m – sometimes it doesn’t work. It doesn’t mean you or the club made a big mistake. It just doesn’t work.”
Source : http://www.goal.com/
Supermoon will be big, bright, and full on June 23
And, this year's supermoon is quickly upon us. It will be shinning its light next weekend on June 23. On that day, the moon will appear bigger and brighter, and be closer to Earth than it's been all year -- a total of 221,824 miles away, which is roughly 30,000 miles closer than when it's at its farthest.
Despite supermoon apocalypse scenarios running amuck, NASA scientists haven't found any direct correlation between natural disasters on Earth and the close proximity of the moon.
During a supermoon, the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned -- with the Earth in between. Gravitational forces exerted on the Earth by the moon and sun are what cause our planet's ocean tides to rise and fall, which is most likely why alarmists believe there's a connection between supermoons and calamity.
However, according to NASA, high-tide during a supermoon is just a couple of inches more than what it is during a normal moon.
Supermoons, or perigee full moons, appear bigger than usual because they are so close to the Earth. There have been other supermoons in 2013, but none of those happened during a full moon -- like there will be on June 23.
According to science news site EarthSky, a full moon will not be as close to the Earth again until August 2014.
Source : http://news.cnet.com/
