With over 3 million warm business opportunities updated daily, SaleSpider is the perfect place for SMB?s to grow their income.
Toronto, ON (PRWEB) March 31, 2013
On March 26th 2013, SaleSpider.com announces that the number of opportunities on the site has reached an all time high. The site now has over 3 million opportunities listed including fresh Jobs, leads, and budgeted deals. SaleSpider members have the ability to find and post jobs, post their products, find new business opportunities, and network with other business owners across the world. For SaleSpider users, this means more chances to grow their businesses, careers, and income.
As the largest SMB social network in North America, SaleSpider.com continues to help its members make more money. With over 3 million warm business opportunities updated daily, SaleSpider is the perfect place for SMB?s to grow their income. SaleSpider connects small businesses with big opportunities.
For years, SaleSpider has been known as a powerful marketing tool for individuals and businesses. By reaching 3 million opportunities, SaleSpider will be an even more complete one-stop-shop for the SMB community and its members.
About SaleSpider
SaleSpider.com is managed by SaleSpider Media. SaleSpider Media has multiple digital and mobile publications and applications and reaches millions of business owners and consumers every month. SaleSpider Media?s digital publications have deep and broad audience reach in multiple high demand consumer and business segments.
Clients leverage the publications reach to reach their target prospects for both lead generation and branding. SaleSpider.com offers display advertising, digital search and data retargeting, email marketing, and integrated marketing programs and has best in class metrics.
To learn more about SaleSpider Media, please see SaleSpiderMedia.com or SaleSpider.com.
"); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['togglesource'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['toolbar'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['button'] = new Template("
"); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['menu_item'] = new Template("
#{title}
"); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['togglesource'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['emoticons_showall'] = new Template(""); ipb.editor_values.get('templates')['emoticon_wrapper'] = new Template("
Emoticons
"); // Add smilies into the mix ipb.editor_values.set( 'show_emoticon_link', false ); ipb.editor_values.set( 'bbcodes', $H({"snapback":{"id":"1","title":"Post Snap Back","desc":"This tag displays a little linked image which links back to a post - used when quoting posts from the board. Opens in same window by default.","tag":"snapback","useoption":"0","example":"[snapback]100[/snapback]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"topic":{"id":"5","title":"Topic Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a topic","tag":"topic","useoption":"1","example":"[topic=1]Click me![/topic]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the topic ID","menu_content_text":"Enter the title for this link","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"post":{"id":"6","title":"Post Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a post.","tag":"post","useoption":"1","example":"[post=1]Click me![/post]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the Post ID","menu_content_text":"Enter the title for this link","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"spoiler":{"id":"7","title":"Spoiler","desc":"Spoiler tag","tag":"spoiler","useoption":"0","example":"[spoiler]Some hidden text[/spoiler]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"Enter the text to be masked","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"acronym":{"id":"8","title":"Acronym","desc":"Allows you to make an acronym that will display a description when moused over","tag":"acronym","useoption":"1","example":"[acronym='Laugh Out Loud']lol[/acronym]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the description for this acronym (EG: Laugh Out Loud)","menu_content_text":"Enter the acronym (EG: lol)","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"hr":{"id":"12","title":"Horizontal Rule","desc":"Adds a horizontal rule to separate text","tag":"hr","useoption":"0","example":"[hr]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"1","optional_option":"0","image":""},"php":{"id":"14","title":"PHP Code","desc":"Allows you to enter PHP code into a formatted/highlighted syntax box","tag":"php","useoption":"0","example":"[php]$variable = true;\n\nprint_r($variable);[/php]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"html":{"id":"15","title":"HTML Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted HTML code","tag":"html","useoption":"0","example":"[html]\n \n[/html]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"sql":{"id":"16","title":"SQL Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted SQL code","tag":"sql","useoption":"0","example":"[sql]SELECT p.*, t.* FROM posts p LEFT JOIN topics t ON t.tid=p.topic_id WHERE t.tid=7[/sql]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"xml":{"id":"17","title":"XML Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted XML code","tag":"xml","useoption":"0","example":"[xml]\n \n Test\n \n[/xml]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"member":{"id":"31","title":"Member","desc":"Given a member name, a link is automatically generated to the member's profile","tag":"member","useoption":"1","example":"[member=skyhawk133] runs this site.","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Input Username of Member","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"1","optional_option":"0","image":"memberbbcode.png"},"extract":{"id":"33","title":"Extract Blog Entry","desc":"This will allow users to define an extract for an entry. Only this piece of the entry will be displayed on the main blog page and will show up in the RSS feed.","tag":"extract","useoption":"0","example":"[extract]This is an example![/extract]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"blog":{"id":"34","title":"Blog Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a blog.","tag":"blog","useoption":"1","example":"[blog=100]Click me![/blog]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"entry":{"id":"35","title":"Blog Entry Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a blog entry.","tag":"entry","useoption":"1","example":"[entry=100]Click me![/entry]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"twitter":{"id":"36","title":"Twitter","desc":"A tag to link to a user's twitter account","tag":"twitter","useoption":"0","example":"[twitter]userName[/twitter]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":"twitter.png"},"inline":{"id":"37","title":"Inline Code","desc":"Formats code inline instead of in a seperate code box. ","tag":"inline","useoption":"0","example":"[inline]style=\"font-size: 12px;\"[/inline]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"il":{"id":"38","title":"Abbreviated Inline (IL)","desc":"Abbreviated version of the [inline] tag. ","tag":"il","useoption":"0","example":"[il]Code Here[/il]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":"il2.png"},"code":{"id":"41","title":"Code","desc":"Allows you to enter general code","tag":"code","useoption":"1","example":"[code]$text = 'Some long code here';[/code]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"1","image":""}}) ); ipb.vars['emoticon_url'] = "http://cdn.dreamincode.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/default"; //Search Setup ipb.vars['search_type'] = 'forum'; ipb.vars['search_type_id'] = 67; ipb.vars['search_type_2'] = 'topic'; ipb.vars['search_type_id_2'] = 317229; //]]>
A Crittercam attached to a Humboldt squid captured some amazing footage, as this screengrab shows.
By Megan Gannon LiveScience
To see firsthand how an elusive species of jumbo squid lives, scientists have strapped video cameras to the carnivorous sea creature in the eastern Pacific.
The footage has helped reveal some remarkable secrets of the Humboldt squid: They are capable of amazing bursts of speed, up to nearly 45 mph (72 km/h); they "talk" to each other by changing their body color; and they hunt in big synchronized groups.
Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) ? which can grow to more than 6 feet (2 meters) in length and 100 pounds (45 kilograms) in weight ? have razor-sharp beaks and toothed suckers. Mass strandings?of the species and reports of aggression toward humans have spooked beachgoers for decades, but the jumbo squid are not man-eaters ? they usually feed on small fish and plankton that are no more than a few inches in length, though they sometimes cannibalize each other.
For all the squid's captivating features, scientists still have many questions about the species' behavior, so biologists at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station turned to the National Geographic Society's Crittercam, which has been used to study animals ranging from penguins to hyenas. [Image Gallery: Humboldt Squid Stranding]
Attaching a quart-sized device with a camera and sensors to a squid presents some technical problems. The trick is to find a big enough squid and fix the Crittercam onto a child's bathing suit so that it can be slipped over the creature's fins like a spandex sleeve, Stanford biologist William Gilly explained in a video.
The resulting video footage?and data from echo-sounding studies showed that Humboldt squid can jet-propel themselves at speeds comparable to the fastest ocean fish. They hunt in tightly coordinated groups, a behavior that's usually associated with fish rather than invertebrates (animals without a backbone) like squid, the researchers found. And smaller squid tend keep their distance from the bigger ones, likely to avoid being cannibalized.
Jumbo squid are known to have pigmented cells, called chromatophores, which allow them to change color in response to neural impulses. The cameras allowed the researchers to watch the squid flashing like a strobe light in their natural habitat. Gilly said the only time the squid seem to make these red-and-white color signals is when they encounter another individual of their species.
"We don't know exactly what those discussions mean," Gilly said in a video from Stanford. For now, interpreting those interactions is like trying to decipher what two people are saying to each other just by watching their mouths move, he added.
Humboldt squid live in the eastern Pacific Ocean from the tip of South America up to Mexico, but have been moving farther north in recent years. Scientists believe the species might be migrating up the coast as warming oceans are creating larger low-oxygen zones deep below the surface, environments where the squid live.
Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+. Follow us?@OAPlanet, Facebook?or Google+.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For $700,000, how much house can you get? We asked our friends at Realtor.com to pull out some of the best homes for sale right now for $700,000. You might be surprised at what's out there: Some great deals can be had, but in markets that have been heating up, the money buys you a little less than it used to. Click through the gallery below to see what $700,000 buys you.
More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.
Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.
The Minister of Community and Cultural Development Wayne Scott said he would like to commend the Bermuda CARIFTA team and officials as they head to the 2013 Lime CARIFTA Games in the Bahamas and the CARFITA Swimming Championships in Kingston, Jamaica from March 30 ? April 2nd.
?Bermuda?s athletes performed wonderfully at the 2012 CARIFTA Games in front of the home crowd but I am hoping our team will rekindle that spirit in the Bahamas and Jamaica and reach new heights of success,? Minister Scott said.
He added: ?We have assembled a super team of young men and women who are more than capable of rising to the occasion and demonstrating once again Bermuda has what it takes to be an exceptional leader in sports.?
Minister Scott and Director of Youth Sport & Recreation Mr. Norbert Simons will be attending the CARIFTA Games in the Bahamas for the track and field events and the Swimming Championships in Jamaica. They will be among our local supporters cheering on the Bermuda team as they contend to be among the medal winners.
(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators denied approval to A.P. Pharma Inc's drug for treating chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and asked for additional analysis of existing late-stage data on the drug.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also asked for a study that can test the usability of the drug's syringe system.
The agency had earlier rejected the approval of the drug, APF530, in March 2010, citing concerns about its two-syringe administration system and deficiencies in the company's contract manufacturing facilities.
A.P. Pharma resubmitted its application in September last year after switching to a single-syringe system and conducting additional metabolism studies as required by the FDA.
(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)
Mike Merrill is running his life like a business, literally. He has 320 shareholders who each have a stake in making his personal decisions for him, like whether he should go on a diet and if they approve of his girlfriend. He joins the TODAY team to talk about his experience.
By Amy Langfield, TODAY contributor
Five years ago, Mike Merrill decided to take stock of his life by letting others actually buy stock in his life.
?I am a publicly traded person.?So I sell shares of myself, and then allow my shareholders to guide me in my life decisions,? Merrill told TODAY.
He started a company that allows the public to make his major life decisions, including who to date, his exercise program and whether to get a vasectomy. (A majority of shareholders voted no on the delicate surgery.)
The company, KmikeyM, comes from his full name,?Kenneth Michael Merrill.
He has a logo, a theme song and 320 shareholders who can buy and trade shares in him on a private market he set up online.
Currently he?s going for about $12.80 per share, down from his all-time high of $20 in June.
Claire Evans, one of Merrill?s friends, is a stockholder. "Every major thing that he goes through, every fork in the road, I am invested in and participate in," she said.
What investors are really buying is his future value, the right to weigh in on professional projects and the personal decisions that impact them.
?Anything that I would normally ask my friends about, I've decided those are the things that I'm going ask my shareholders about," Merrill said. They let him wear Brooks Brothers. They told him to switch parties and register as a Republican. And they are letting him date his current girlfriend ? but only after he wrote a report on the first date and submitted it to shareholders as an action item.
?So we would go on a date, he would write a report about it and that would go out to shareholders,? Marijke Dixon confirmed. She is now a shareholder, too. They?ve been together six months and their relationship contract is up for renewal soon.
Merrill told his story to The Atlantic magazine, which said he was putting the ?I? in IPO.
Asked on?TODAY if it?s all for real, Merrill said yes. ?It?s all legitimate. ?Ive been doing it for five years.?
And even if the shareholders vote for something nutty, Merrill says he?s game, and will not reject their wishes. ?If I did do that, I imagine my stock would plummet."
Former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia working with Jets starter-for-now Mark Sanchez seems like a legitimate opportunity for a man well-versed in the West Coast Offense to share his wisdom.
Throw in JaMarcus Russell, and it sounds like a punch line that?s looking for a joke.
But Garcia said he was impressed with the work Sanchez was doing, as he gets used to the changes new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg is bringing to the Jets.
?He?s doing an excellent job ? the progress Mark has made over the past three weeks is definitely very positive,? Garcia told Jim Corbett of USA Today. ?It shows Mark is committed to bettering himself and getting himself more mentally prepared.
?
?The most important thing for Mark is to take that tough season last year as a learning experience from the standpoint of how he can get better and give his team the best chance to win. That has to be done in terms of being confident in his ability to run this system and speak the language correctly. So now when he takes the field in OTAs, he?ll be in that much more comfortable of a place.?
Garcia?s a good tutor for the system, and he threw for career-best numbers under Mornhinweg?s tutelage in San Francisco in 2000.
?Marty and I communicated a few weeks ago [about] what he?d like to introduce to Mark,? Garcia said. ?Mark is definitely getting more comfortable speaking the West Coast terminology. He had a brief glimpse of the West Coast system at USC.
?The toughest thing is this will be Mark?s third offensive coordinator in six seasons. The guy has had to learn a new system just about every other year. From a consistency standpoint, that just doesn?t translate to success in the NFL. You really need to be secure in what you?re doing mentally in order to compete at the highest level.?
Speaking of which, Garcia said Russell?s trying to get in shape for a pro day in a month or so, hoping to get another chance.
?Granted his back is against the wall,? Garcia said of the former first-overall pick. ?This is a situation where if he doesn?t do it now, it may never happen. But if you look at where he was two months ago to where he is today, he?s come a long way in demanding more out of himself than he ever did.?
If he had done that the first time through, he might not be a reclamation case.
The GameStick is the second of two Kickstarter-backed Android-powered game consoles announced in the past 12 months, and its arguably the less visible of the two (the other being OUYA, of course). It's a bit different than the OUYA as well, in terms of both form factor and specs: the GameStick is roughly the size of a USB thumb drive and runs a dual-core Amlogic processor, rather than the Tegra 3 found in the OUYA. Similar to the OUYA, the GameStick also comes with a proprietary wireless controller -- the standard four button layout, two analog sticks, two shoulder buttons, and a d-pad make up its inputs -- though the GameStick's controller is actually the bulk of the hardware. The GameStick itself actually nestles into the back of the controller, making the whole bundle rather portable.
But perhaps you already know all of this? We have been hearing about the GameStick for some time now. Should that be the case, you'll wanna know how the thing actually feels, and we can deliver that just beyond the break, as we've just put GameStick and its controller through the paces.
FILE - This undated file image provided by Yellowstone National Park, Mont., shows a gray wolf in the wild. Western environmental groups say they're alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in areas where the animals no longer exist. (AP Photo/National Park Service, MacNeil Lyons, File)
FILE - This undated file image provided by Yellowstone National Park, Mont., shows a gray wolf in the wild. Western environmental groups say they're alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in areas where the animals no longer exist. (AP Photo/National Park Service, MacNeil Lyons, File)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) ? Western environmental groups say they're alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in vast areas where the animals no longer exist.
The groups say ending federal protections would keep wolves from expanding their range back into states that could support them, including Colorado and California.
"As a matter of principle, I just think it's wrong," said Jay Tutchton, a Colorado lawyer with the group WildEarth Guardians.
Tutchton's group has sued over recent action to end federal protections for wolves in Wyoming. Wolves in most of the "Cowboy State" are classified as unprotected predators and scores have been killed since federal protections ended last fall.
"The Endangered Species Act was designed to protect species, including in places where they no longer reside," Tutchton said. "You were supposed to try to recover them, not throw in the towel."
The Fish and Wildlife Service could announce as soon as this spring whether it will propose a blanket delisting of wolves in most of the lower 48 states. Wolves in the Northern Rockies and around the Great Lakes, where reintroduced populations are well-established, are already off the Endangered Species List.
Chris Tollefson, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, DC, said Tuesday that the agency hasn't made any decision yet whether it will propose the blanket delisting. An agency report last year proposed dropping wolves from the endangered list in most areas where they're known not to live.
Even if the Fish and Wildlife Service ends federal protections, Tollefson said states would be free to cultivate their own wolf populations. "It's fair to say that there wouldn't be a prohibition, it would simply be left to the states to determine how to manage wolves in their boundaries," he said.
Tollefson said his agency regards the wolf recovery efforts in the Great Lakes states and Northern Rockies as enormous successes.
"Our view, and that of the biological community is that those populations are thriving and no longer require the protections of the Endangered Species Act," Tollefson said. "Obviously, we'll be discussing other areas as we move forward on that."
The prospect of the national delisting has prompted members of Congress on both sides of the issue to lobby the Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe.
Seventy-two members of Congress, most of them Republicans, signed the most recent letter to Ashe on Friday urging him to go through with the delisting. Another group of scores of congressmen wrote to Ashe earlier this month urging him to reject the delisting idea.
"Unmanaged wolves are devastating to livestock and indigenous wildlife," the members of Congress, led by Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and others, wrote to Ashe last week. "Currently state wildlife officials have their hands tied any time wolves are involved."
Lummis said Tuesday that the letter was intended to celebrate the successful recovery of wolves.
"I know some will wring their hands over a delisting, but for the life of me I don't understand why they don't throw a party instead," Lummis stated. "In most suitable habitat, and in states that strongly objected to their presence initially, the wolf is here to stay. For some that is a bitter pill to swallow, for others it's not enough, but the bottom line is there are wolves where there once were none, and everyone but the most litigious among us seem ready to move on."
Bob Brister, wildlife campaign coordinator for the Utah Environmental Congress in Salt Lake City, has been campaigning to restore wolves to Utah, where he said they were extirpated in the 1930s.
Brister said the effect of delisting wolves in Utah and elsewhere where they currently don't exist would be to preclude their ultimate recovery back into their historic range. He noted that wolves are hunted heavily in the Wyoming, Utah and Montana and that states can't be counted on to provide the protections new populations would need to survive.
"It's especially dire here in Utah, because we depend on wolves migrating from Wyoming and Idaho to restore wolves here in Utah," Brister said. "And when they're being hunted so intensely in Wyoming and Idaho, it greatly decreases the possibility of wolves migrating into Utah."
Erik Molvar executive director of the Bioldiversity Conservation Alliance in Laramie, Wyo., also noted that Wyoming, Idaho and Montana allow substantial wolf hunting. He said delisting wolves across the rest of the Lower 48, "would seem to be a very unwise move, given the tenuous status of wolf populations in this area."
Molvar, whose group also is challenging the recent delisting of wolves in Wyoming, said it's clear there are other areas of the West that could support wolf populations.
"It certainly is true that there are places in Colorado, particularly Rocky Mountain National Park, where elk are so overpopulated that they're becoming a nuisance, that wolves are one of the few options to restore the natural balance," Molvar said.
Tutchton said his group and others are likely to fight the sweeping delisting effort.
"I'm very sure that if wolves were delisted in Colorado, we would want to sue. If wolves get delisted in Oklahoma, I don't know. That might be a different question," Tutchton said. "There are some places where wolves would be quite viable."
We can?t imagine that combining urinals, video games, and beer-drinking could be a cause for concern.
I?ve made no secret of my love for the Philadelphia Phillies organization, but I?m not exactly thrilled with the announcement that one of the team?s minor league affiliates has decided to become a guinea pig for a video game system that uses one?s urine stream as a game controller.
The folks at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA, where the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs play, have announced the park will be what it claims is the world?s first sports venue to feature the interactive gaming consoles in all of the park?s men?s rooms starting this season.
?These games are sure to make a huge splash,? said the team?s General Manager, who we are going to assume doesn?t have to share a lavatory with possibly intoxicated fans who may have trouble hitting the mark when they?re not trying to control a video game with their urine.
In a release, the team describes the pee-to-play process:
When a user approaches the urinal, the video console flips into gaming mode, using patented technology that detects both his presence and stream. Algorithms then allow the user to engage with the screen by aiming in different directions to test their agility and knowledge. The games are 100% intuitive and custom-built to provide a unique user interface along with an easy and seamless experience.
It will take an average of 55 seconds to complete a game, which ? while we haven?t timed anyone ? seems a bit longer than most men need to relieve themselves.
And because everyone will be curious who the most accurate urinary gamer is, Coca-Cola Park will be displaying high scores in real time around the stadium. Something to make the family proud!
The games are being sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Health Network, which apparently thinks this will help educate men about prostate health.
?Baseball fans know all about RBI, ERA and OBP,? said an actual doctor who apparently thinks this is a good idea. ?But when it comes to their own PSA (prostate-specific antigen), many men don?t have a clue. We see this game as a fun and unique opportunity to remind men about the importance of prostate health.?
We see this as a way to guarantee that fights break out in the bathroom when someone gets a little too into a game and pees all over his neighbor?s foot. We?re sure the clean-up staff at Coca-Cola Park is also thrilled at the notion.
The video below details how this how thing is supposed to work:
27 March 2013Last updated at 09:03 ETBy Dave LeeTechnology reporter, BBC News
The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones explains why the attack is like a "motorway jam", alongside expert David Emm from Kaspersky Lab
The internet around the world has been slowed down in what security experts are describing as the biggest cyber-attack of its kind in history.
A row between a spam-fighting group and hosting firm has sparked retaliation attacks affecting the wider internet.
It is having an impact on popular services like Netflix - and experts worry it could escalate to affect banking and email systems.
Five national cyber-police-forces are investigating the attacks.
Spamhaus, a group based in both London and Geneva, is a non-profit organisation which aims to help email providers filter out spam and other unwanted content.
To do this, the group maintains a number of blocklists - a database of servers known to be being used for malicious purposes.
Recently, Spamhaus blocked servers maintained by Cyberbunker, a Dutch web host which states it will host anything with the exception of child pornography or terrorism-related material.
Sven Olaf Kamphuis, who claims to be a spokesman for Cyberbunker, said, in a message, that Spamhaus was abusing its position, and should not be allowed to decide "what goes and does not go on the internet".
Spamhaus has alleged that Cyberbunker, in cooperation with "criminal gangs" from Eastern Europe and Russia, is behind the attack.
Cyberbunker has not responded to the BBC's request for comment.
'Immense job'
Steve Linford, chief executive for Spamhaus, told the BBC the scale of the attack was unprecedented.
"We've been under this cyber-attack for well over a week.
Continue reading the main story
'Decapitating the internet'
Writing exactly one year ago for the BBC, Prof Alan Woodward predicted the inherent weaknesses in the web's domain name system.
He wrote: "It is essentially the phone book for the internet. If you could prevent access to the phone book then you would effectively render the web useless."
Read Prof Woodward's full article
"But we're up - they haven't been able to knock us down. Our engineers are doing an immense job in keeping it up - this sort of attack would take down pretty much anything else."
Mr Linford told the BBC that the attack was being investigated by five different national cyber-police-forces around the world.
He claimed he was unable to disclose more details because the forces were concerned that they too may suffer attacks on their own infrastructure.
The attackers have used a tactic known as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), which floods the intended target with large amounts of traffic in an attempt to render it unreachable.
In this case, Spamhaus's Domain Name System (DNS) servers were targeted - the infrastructure that joins domain names, such as bbc.co.uk, the website's numerical internet protocol address.
Mr Linford said the attack's power would be strong enough to take down government internet infrastructure.
"If you aimed this at Downing Street they would be down instantly," he said. "They would be completely off the internet."
He added: "These attacks are peaking at 300 gb/s (gigabits per second).
"Normally when there are attacks against major banks, we're talking about 50 gb/s."
Clogged-up motorway
The knock-on effect is hurting internet services globally, said Prof Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey.
"If you imagine it as a motorway, attacks try and put enough traffic on there to clog up the on and off ramps," he told the BBC.
"With this attack, there's so much traffic it's clogging up the motorway itself."
Arbor Networks, a firm which specialises in protecting against DDoS attacks, also said it was the biggest such attack they had seen.
"The largest DDoS attack that we have witnessed prior to this was in 2010, which was 100 gb/s. Obviously the jump from 100 to 300 is pretty massive," said Dan Holden, the company's director of security research.
"There's certainly possibility for some collateral damage to other services along the way, depending on what that infrastructure looks like."
Spamhaus said it was able to cope as it has highly distributed infrastructure in a number of countries.
The group is supported by many of the world's largest internet companies who rely on it to filter unwanted material.
Mr Linford told the BBC that several companies, such as Google, had made their resources available to help "absorb all of this traffic".
The attacks typically happened in intermittent bursts of high activity.
"They are targeting every part of the internet infrastructure that they feel can be brought down," Mr Linford said.
"Spamhaus has more than 80 servers around the world. We've built the biggest DNS server around."
NEW YORK (AP) ? A tenor from New Orleans has won the prestigious Beverly Sills Award that signals a star in the works.
Bryan Hymel (EE'-mehl) accepted the $50,000 prize Monday at the Metropolitan Opera.
The 33-year-old Hymel made his debut there in December. He jumped in to take over the daunting lead role in Berlioz's "The Trojans" from another singer.
The Sills award honoring the late American artist goes annually to a vocalist from 25 to 40 who has appeared in a featured role at the Met.
Hymel's powerful but lyrical voice already has triumphed at London's Covent Garden. His other major venues have included the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra.
He'll sing Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" at the Met next season.
He trained at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts.
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? It's not the kind of performance that will win her another Academy Award, but Tilda Swinton certainly has them buzzing at the Museum of Modern Art.
But keep it down, please. She's trying to sleep.
The "Moonrise Kingdom star has been engaging in a different kind of performance art. She's presenting a one-person piece called "The Maybe," in which she lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The first performance was over the weekend, and the museum won't say if there's a schedule for when exactly it will come back for six other performances.
On Monday, the display drew a line of spectators that wound through a whole second-floor gallery into a museum hallway.
Erwin Aschenbrenner, a bemused German tourist, said it "just what you'd expect to see at MoMA."
The actress "is so pale and not moving in there that she looks like she's dead," said Robbie von Kampen, 20, a philosophy major at Bard College, north of New York City.
But after about seven hours a day of the shuteye pose on a white mattress in the glass box ? with only a carafe of water and a glass to get her through ? Swinton can stretch and walk off into the Manhattan night. But only when spectators leave.
So what's the point?
"This makes me think about myself, looking at her," said Quinn Moreland, 20, also a Bard student, majoring in art history.
"You don't usually get to stare at somebody like this; it makes me self-conscious," she explained.
Mar. 25, 2013 ? In a breakthrough that could one day yield important clues about the nature of matter itself, a team of Harvard scientists have succeeding in measuring the magnetic charge of single particles of matter and antimatter more accurately than ever before.
As described in a March 25 paper in Physical Review Letters, the ATRAP team, led by Gerald Gabrielse, the George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics, and including post-doctoral fellows Stephan Ettenauer and Eric Tardiff and graduate students Jack DiSciacca, Mason Marshall, Kathryn Marable and Rita Kalra was able to capture individual protons and antiprotons in a "trap" created by electric and magnetic fields. By precisely measuring the oscillations of each particle, the team was able to measure the magnetism of a proton more than 1,000 times more accurately than an antiproton had been measured before. Similar tests with antiprotons produced a 680-fold increase in accuracy in the size of the magnet in an antiproton.
"That is a spectacular jump in precision for any fundamental quality," Gabrielse said, of the antiproton measurements. "That's a leap that we don't often see in physics, at least not in a single step."
Such measurements, Gabrielse said, could one day help scientists answer a question that seems more suited for the philosophy classroom than the physics lab -- why are we here?
"One of the great mysteries in physics is why our universe is made of matter," he said. "According to our theories, the same amount of matter and antimatter was produced during the Big Bang. When matter and antimatter meet, they are annihilated. As the universe cools down, the big mystery is: Why didn't all the matter find the antimatter and annihilate all of both? There's a lot of matter and no antimatter left, and we don't know why."
Making precise measurements of protons and antiprotons, Gabrielse explained, could begin to answer those questions by potentially shedding new light on whether the CPT (Charge conjugation, Parity transformation, Time reversal) theorem is correct. An outgrowth of the standard model of particle physics, CPT states that the protons and antiprotons should be virtually identical -- with the same magnitude of charge and mass -- yet should have opposite charges.
Though earlier experiments, which measured the charge-to-mass ratio of protons and antiprotons, verified the predictions of CPT, Gabrielse said further investigation is needed because the standard model does not account for all forces, such as gravity, in the universe.
"What we wanted to do with these experiments was to say, 'Let's take a simple system -- a single proton and a single antiproton -- and let's compare their predicted relationships, and see if our predictions are correct," Gabrielse said. "Ultimately, whatever we learn might give us some insight into how to explain this mystery."
While researchers were able to capture and measure protons with relative ease, antiprotons are only produced by high-energy collisions that take place at the extensive tunnels of the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Gabrielse said, leaving researchers facing a difficult choice.
"Last year, we published a report showing that we could measure a proton much more accurately than ever before," Gabrielese said. "Once we had done that, however, we had to make a decision -- did we want to take the risk of moving our people and our entire apparatus -- crates and crates of electronics and a very delicate trap apparatus -- to CERN and try to do the same thing with antiprotons? Antiprotons would only be available till mid-December and then not again for a year and a half.
"We decided to give it a shot, and by George, we pulled it off," he continued. "Ultimately, we argued that we should attempt it, because even if we failed, that failure would teach us something." In what Gabrielse described as a "gutsy" choice, graduate student Jack DiSciacca agreed to use this attempt to conclude his thesis research, and new graduate students Marshall and Marable signed on to help.
Though their results still fit within the predictions made by the standard model, Gabrielse said being able to more accurately measure the characteristics of both matter and antimatter may yet help shed new light on how the universe works.
"What's also very exciting about this breakthrough is that it now prepares us to continue down this road," he said. "I'm confident that, given this start, we're going to be able to increase the accuracy of these measurements by another factor of 1,000, or even 10,000."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
J. DiSciacca, M. Marshall, K. Marable, G. Gabrielse, S. Ettenauer, E. Tardiff, R. Kalra, D. W. Fitzakerley, M. C. George, E. A. Hessels, C. H. Storry, M. Weel, D. Grzonka, W. Oelert, and T. Sefzick. One-particle measurement of the antiproton magnetic moment. Physical Review Letters, March 25, 2013
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.
In the first days of spring, people across the Midwest are digging out of a major snowstorm that barreled across the country, dropping over a foot of snow on St. Louis. Today more snow is expected up and down the East Coast. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.
By Alastair Jamieson and Erin McClam, NBC News
It?s the winter that wouldn?t die.
Five days into spring, a winter storm raked the Midwest and Northeast on Monday, turning commutes messy and threatening to dump up to 4 inches of snow around Philadelphia and Washington.
The good news: Temperatures hovering at or just above freezing should hold accumulations down.
?The roads are in pretty good shape this morning because, after all, it is March,? Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel said from Frederick, Md.
More coverage from weather.com
During the morning drive, the storm was dropping snow across a curlicue swath of the country, from the Mid-Atlantic coast back through the southern Great Lakes and down into the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky and Tennessee.
In New York and parts of New Jersey, a winter weather advisory was in effect starting at 6 a.m. EDT. Snow and rain showers were expected to continue through late afternoon and wind down by early evening.
In Philadelphia, rain during the morning commute was expected to change to a wintry mix that will last for most of the day. Untreated roads could turn slippery, said Brittney Shipp, a meteorologist for NBC affiliate WCAU.
Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images
A woman removes snow from her driveway Monday in Silver Spring, Md. A messy Monday is in store for millions along the East Coast.
Inside the Washington Beltway, forecasters called for a mix of rain and snow, with accumulations of less than an inch. North and west of the capital, 2 to 4 inches of snow was expected ? and perhaps as much as 8 inches west of Interstate 81.
Over the weekend, the same storm system pounded parts of the Rocky Mountains east to the Ohio Valley. Denver got almost a foot of snow, and Goodland, Kan., reported 15 inches.
On Friday, a qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup outside Denver was played in near-blizzard conditions ? so much snow that officials had to bring in a yellow-and-purple soccer ball.
The United States beat Costa Rica 1-0, and Costa Rica has asked the governing body of soccer to order a replay.
A storm system blanketed the Midwest in snow, while thunderstorms and wind gusts slammed the South, NBC's Janel Klein reports.
This story was originally published on Mon Mar 25, 2013 5:02 AM EDT
This week in celebrity real estate, J.P. Morgan Chase paid $950,000 for R. Kelly?s Illinois foreclosed mansion, actor Ryan Phillippe finally sold his Zen-inspired home and Camille Grammer threw her Malibu estate back on the market.
Report: R. Kelly loses mansion to foreclosure R&B star R. Kelly?s real estate saga is finally over. J.P. Morgan Chase paid $950,000 for Kelly?s 22,000-square-foot Illinois mansion at an auction on March 18, according to Chicago Real Estate Daily.
The singer-songwriter-producer, whose legal name is Robert S. Kelly, was hit with a $2.9 million foreclosure suit in July 2011 because he had stopped making payments on the Olympia Fields, Ill. home. But after trying to force a loan modification when the home?s appraised value dropped from $5.2 million to $3.8 million in the span of a year, Kelly threw in the towel.
The home, only 30 miles from Kelly?s Chicago hometown, had been listed as a short sale ? first for $1.595 million and most recently for $995,000 ? since 2011. From a jungle-themed swimming pool to a home theater and large, gated driveway, the estate has several celeb-worthy amenities.
Walking away may have been the smartest choice for the artist, who has faced financial difficulties for a few years. As of last summer, Kelly reportedly owed more than $5 million in unpaid taxes, according to documents held by the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. He paid $2.8 million back in 2008 ? the same year he beat a child pornography case ? and more than $1 million in 2011, but still owes a hefty sum.
Ryan Phillippe sells Hollywood home Ryan Phillippe?s Hollywood Hills estate may promote a peaceful Zen-inspired escape, but the actor has had to face the realities of real estate head-on. After divorcing ?Cruel Intentions? co-star Reese Witherspoon, Phillippe listed his 7,477-square-foot home for $7.45 million in December 2010. However with a steady decline in home prices and a strong recession taking its toll in 2011, the actor learned it wasn?t the best time to sell and removed the listing.
Last summer, the home hit the market again, this time with a $6.995 million price tag. A little over eight months later, Phillippe?s home has sold for $6 million.
The home was built in 1998 and called ?Rising Zen? due to its combination of Asian and modern architecture. The landscaping also adds to the home?s tranquil feel with green foliage creeping up the sides and extending into the foyer. Inside, a sleek modern design provides updated amenities, while ornate accessories add hints of cultural flair.
While the home?s design style is tasteful and subdued, over-the-top amenities have celebrity status written all over them. Highlights include a two-story gym directly off the master suite, a bar surrounded by an in-home aquarium, a koi pond and media room. Not to mention the home has a private ?eco-friendly? pool with sweeping views of downtown L.A.
Camille Grammer?s Malibu Mansion Back on the Market Not only has Camille Grammer walked away from ?The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,? but the ex-wife of actor Kelsey Grammer is also trying to cut her Malibu ties. The former couple?s mansion is back on the market for $14.995 million, significantly less than its original asking price of $17.5 million last summer.
Meanwhile, the Grammers? longtime Beverly Hills residence recently received a price cut, now wearing an identical price tag of $14.995 million.
Located at 3250 Serra Road, Malibu, Calif. 90265, the Malibu retreat has been owned by the ?Frasier? and Bravo-TV stars since 1998, when they purchased the 4.75-acre property for $4.5 million. While their one-time primary residence in Beverly Hills is luxurious in its own right, the Malibu home is all about location, situated on the prestigious Serra Road hillside.
The grounds play up the location with towering trees, flowering gardens, a private pool, barn and guest house draped over the property. Inside, large french doors open to an outdoor dining area with panoramic views.
Related content from Zillow:
Tim Geithner?s Escape From DC Now Includes Home for Sale
Big Move: Chelsea Clinton & Husband Buying NYC Condo
NASCAR Driver Kurt Busch Lists Virginia Beach Condo
Facebook is slowly beefing up the capabilities of its Messenger app as it moves to combat the rise of free messaging apps like Whatsapp, Viber and Line. Today it's taking another baby step by expanding VoIP calling to U.K. users of its iOS app, following its initial test of the feature in Canada in January, which was soon followed by a U.S. rollout.
This post is part of the Global Mom Relay. Every time you share this blog, $5 will go to women and girls around the world. Scroll to the bottom to find out more.
Today's Global Mom Relay post comes to you from around the world. Members of India's Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), an organization of low-income self-employed women workers led by Reema Nanavaty, and Anna Ingwe who manages a clean cookstoves implementation project in Kenya. Their voices are joined together to support clean cooking initiatives to change lives through greener energy solutions and help women become more self-reliant. (Image: Anna Ingwe, left. Reema Nanavat, right)
"My cookstove is my pride and has provided me with respect" -- Shardaben from Manpura village, India.
Reema, what does SEWA do and why are clean cooking initiatives so important?
Reema Nanavaty: SEWA's members are women who earn a living through their own labor or small businesses, do not get regular salaried employment with welfare benefits and are the unprotected labor force of India.
For over 40 years, SEWA has been working with its rural members to help them improve their livelihood through various initiatives in technical training, micro-credit, market linkages and natural resource management, across a number of trades. Today, SEWA has a membership of 1.73 million women across 12 states, mostly from rural India.
We learnt that members' livelihoods are closely linked to sources and uses of energy for cooking. Most use a three-stone cook stove. The fuel is generally wood supplemented with cow dung, leaves and paper, and the fire is usually started with a cup of kerosene. An average household will use about 10 kg of wood every day for cooking. The woman of the house forages for that cooking fuel. The wood is usually plucked off the trees, causing new cuts/scrapes/scratches every day, as well as deforestation; the women have to walk five kilometers (3.1 miles) once every two days, carrying 20 kilograms (44lbs) of fuel every time. Further, because it burns the fuel inefficiently, cooking this way generates toxic smoke in large quantities, causing indoor air pollution and leading to health problems like early cataracts, respiratory disease and 1 million deaths every year in India. The three-stone cook stove is used by two thirds of India's households.
Photo credit: Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
We wanted to provide our members with efficient cook stoves that use less wood, emit no smoke and take less time to cook.
However, most of our women members are below poverty line with average incomes of approx. U.S. $40 per month, and cannot afford to buy an efficient cook stove (costing U.S. $55). So we created "Hariyali" - which means enabling Livelihoods using Green Energy. Project Hariyali has raised US $ 4.5 million in loans to fund the purchase of clean cook stoves to then resell to our members. 200,000 Improved Cook Stoves have been distributed to SEWA members who then repay us in installments.
What have been some of the reactions of your members to changing the way they cook?
"As poor people we cannot afford improved cook stoves ... it is a luxury for us, but SEWA provided me the opportunity to access a clean and efficient cook stove on installments. I am the first one in my village to buy it, and because it emits no smoke, my family will not fall ill as often and we will save money on medicine. When I was 8 years old, I had to start helping my mother in collecting fuel and in cooking and had to drop out from school; but this stove cooks so fast that I can manage everything alone and do not need my daughter's help - she is able to study and will have a life better than I. My neighbors and fellow village residents have started looking at me with respect - my cookstove is my pride and has provided me with respect!" -- Shardaben from Manpura village of Anand district
"I always dreamed of having LPG gas in my kitchen, but could not afford it. However, now we have an 'improved' cook stove that performs similar to 'LPG gas', at an affordable installment. I am very happy with this efficient cookstove because it emits no smoke, we use less fuel, and it cooks our food fast so we can spend our free time with our families and on our livelihood. And it is so safe that even children can use it without getting burns like I have got from the old (3 stone) cook stove." -- Manjulaben form Kaiyal village of Mehsana
"My zilla (district) has very few trees, so we have to purchase fuel. As a poor person I was spending up to a third of my income on purchase of cooking fuel. This strained my ability to provide our basic necessities. Now we have efficient cook stove that saves money on fuel, and I can now give two full meals to my family and send my children to school. I wish everyone should be able to buy this stove and improve their lives." -- Kamlaben from Rasnol village of Anand district
Anna, how has becoming a mother changed your outlook on your work providing access to improved cookstoves?
Anna Ingwe: EnDev Kenya supports access to modern cooking energy by promoting the sustainable production, marketing, installation and use of improved cooking stoves. These stoves can save 40-60 percent of firewood compared with traditional three-stone-fires.
This picture is taken in a village around Lake Turkana, in Kenya. Can you imagine how a mother in this village manages to make a meal for her family? It can take 8-10 hours for a return trip to go collect firewood. We can make a fundamental difference in her life if she can access a clean cook stove.
I never knew how much a mother means to her family until I had my own daughter Lisa. She has taught me that motherhood goes beyond the call of duty. She has taught me to love, to care, to be patience, to be selfless. I see that everyday of the lives of the thousands of mothers I work with in Kenya, as we work together to give families meaningful and healthy solutions.
Each time you share this Global Mom Relay piece on Facebook, Twitter, or Email, or donate $5 or more through clicking on the above graphic, a $5 donation (up to $62,500 per week or $125,000 every two weeks) will be donated by Johnson & Johnson and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Girl Up. Join us by sharing it forward and unlock the potential for women and children around the globe. For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org/globalmomrelay. The United Nations Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, BabyCenter, The Huffington Post, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created the Global Mom Relay, a first-of-its-kind virtual relay with a goal of improving the lives of women and children around the globe.
Facebook is slowly beefing up the capabilities of its Messenger app as it moves to combat the rise of free messaging apps like Whatsapp, Viber and Line. Today it's taking another baby step by expanding VoIP calling to U.K. users of its iOS app, following its initial test of the feature in Canada in January, which was soon followed by a U.S. rollout.
