bebomai: February 2013

Friday, February 22, 2013

NFL exec: HGH testing resolution needed

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? NFL senior vice president Adolpho Birch says the league and players association need to reach agreement soon on HGH testing.

The NFL and the union agreed in principle to HGH testing when a new 10-year labor agreement was reached in August 2011. But protocols must be approved by both sides and the players have questioned the science in the testing procedures, stalling implementation.

Speaking at the scouting combine Thursday, Birch says the NFL has full confidence in the test and "should have been a year into this by now." He calls the delays "a disservice to all of us."

On Tuesday, the union said in a conference call it favors HGH testing, but only with a strong appeal process. Otherwise, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said, "it's just a nonstarter."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-21-FBN-Combine-HGH-Testing/id-b79b8a9351e94493af5bc37271237e7b

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Television section

For the week of Jan. 21-27

1. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 16.07 million.

2. "American Idol" (Thursday), Fox, 15.65 million.

3. "NCIS," CBS, 12.86 million.

4. Pro Football: Pro Bowl, NBC, 12.16 million.

5. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 11.93 million.

6. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 11.84 million.

7. "60 Minutes," CBS, 11.65 million.

8. "2 Broke Girls," CBS, 11.56 million.

9. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 11.49 million.

10. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 11.46 million.

Source: http://www.today.com/id/3032450/ns/today-entertainment/

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Love it or hate it? ?Kissing Statue? returns to San Diego

The statue version of that iconic World War II kiss now has a permanent home in San Diego. While it is the epitome of romance for some, many are complaining about its size. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

By A. Pawlowski, TODAY contributor

Some see it as the perfect military tribute, others dismiss it as kitschy, and many just want to smooch in its shadow. Love it or hate it, the ?Kissing Statue? is back at the Port of San Diego.

The 25-foot installation ? officially known as ?Unconditional Surrender? ? recreates the famous embrace between a sailor and a nurse celebrating the end of World War II in New York?s Times Square in 1945.

?It?s the right sculpture for the right place in San Diego,? said Scott McGaugh, a spokesman for the USS?Midway Museum, which launched a successful campaign to "save the kiss.?

?It has become a major tourist destination along downtown?s water front.?

San Diego got its first glimpse of the exhibit in 2007 when The Sculpture Foundation loaned it to the city and the port added it to its Greatest Generation Walk, home to a number of memorials. The temporary foam and urethane prototype was removed last year when it began ?looking awfully worn,? McGaugh said. A plan was soon hatched to bring it back as a permanent bronze sculpture, but not without controversy.

The USS?Midway Museum was given three months to raise $1 million to pay for the replacement. It reached that goal in eight weeks, with donations ranging from $20 to $100,000, McGaugh said.

?San Diego quickly voted with its money to make it permanent,? he pointed out.

Lenny Ignelzi / AP

Finishing touches are made to the new kissing sailor statue on the embarcadero adjacent the USS Midway museum in San Diego. The statue, which was modeled after the renowned photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt taken at the end of World War II, replaces a similar version that was moved out of San Diego last year.

But the port?s Public Art Committee voted against accepting the replacement, with critics noting that it ?was not artistically or (a)esthetically pleasing,? The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. When the port approved the permanent statue anyway, citing its popularity among residents and visitors, two committee members resigned in protest.

That sentiment seemed far away on Saturday when hundreds of people attended the unveiling of the bronze sculpture.

?We are in San Diego, we have the greatest number of veterans and active duty of any community in the nation,? said San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, according to NBC affiliate KNTV. ?This belongs here.?

Meanwhile, supporters dismissed questions about the exhibit?s artistic value.

?Art lovers don?t love it but the people love it and that?s what counts,? Bill Craddock, a member of San Diego?s chapter of Pearl Harbor Survivors, told KNTV.

Nine couples who got married during World War II renewed their vows during the ceremony, which left many spectators in tears as they watched the men and women in their late 80s and early 90s pledging their love to each other, McGaugh said.

The exhibit has become a favorite photo op in San Diego, with visitors of all ages, from teenagers to grandparents, eager to recreate the kiss, he added.

The 7-ton bronze statue, designed by artist Seward Johnson, was created in New Jersey and transported to San Diego on a flatbed truck. A similar installation is on display in Sarasota, Fla., but San Diego?s sculpture is the only version on the West Coast, McGaugh said.

?We see it as a memorial, as a tribute, as a testament to those who serve our country in uniform,? he noted. ?We left the discussion of what is good art to others.?

Source: http://todaytravel.today.com/_news/2013/02/21/17034265-love-it-or-hate-it-kissing-statue-returns-to-san-diego-ignites-debate?lite

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

NCAA files suit against PA over bill to keep PSU fine in state

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett speaks at a news conference in State College

Reuters

Taking a break from the Miami mess, now is a good a time as any to remind everyone that the NCAA is still battling the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over Penn State?s $60 million fine.

As you may recall from last month, Pennsylvania lawmakers pushed to keep PSU?s fine, which came as part of the NCAA?s sanctions against the program following the Jerry Sandusky scandal, spent within state borders.

On Wednesday, the NCAA filed suit directed at Gov. Tom Corbett (pictured)?and all PA lawmakers backing the bill. The suit claims keeping the proceeds in-state ?would violate the U.S. Constitution? [and] disrupt interstate commerce.?

John Infante of the Bylaw Blog?has a good recap of why the NCAA is pursuing this route.

This suit is separate from the NCAA?s battle with Corbett to overturn all the sanctions that were levied against Penn State last year. The NCAA filed that motion earlier this month.

(Hat tip: citizensvoice.com)?

Source: http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/20/ncaa-files-suit-against-pa-over-attempt-to-keep-psu-fine-in-state/

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Consumers Clobbered by Sky-High Gas Prices in February

Despite chillier weather outdoors, gas prices are heating up across the country, rising sooner and faster than in previous years, and causing consumers some serious sticker shock at the pump.

Prices have risen every day for more than a month now, with the current national average around $3.77 a gallon, according to AAA Fuel Gauge, 46 cents higher than it was just a month ago and jumping almost 16 cents in a week.

[READ: U.S. Energy Policy Lagging Practice]

But while consumers might be puzzled about the unexpected price spike, experts are feeling a bit of deja vu. In the past gas prices have fallen in February as demand abates and drivers travel less, but that wasn't the case last February, when the same type of run-up in prices happened sending gas soaring to almost $3.60 a gallon.

Some of the recent spikes are due to the warmer-than-usual winter weather in parts of the country, which has helped keep demand--and prices--more elevated. Still, experts say a pre-spring price spike could become an unwelcome tradition among motorists thanks to a slew of other fundamental factors changing the oil and gas landscape.

The most obvious culprit is higher crude oil prices, the largest cost input when it comes to producing gasoline. Oil sells for about $96 a barrel right now, but experts say that figure could jump closer to $100 in coming weeks as concerns about future supply constraints thanks to heightened demand and decreased output from oil-producing countries push up the price of oil, directly impacting the cost of refining oil into petroleum products such as gasoline.

[OBAMA: More Drilling to Fund Clean Energy]

"Saudi Arabia and OPEC reduced their output by a million barrels last month, that's a big amount of oil," says Chris Faulkner, CEO of Dallas-based Breitling Oil and Gas. "They saw that the United States and other countries are producing more oil now, so they pushed down their output--that causes fear that there will be supply issues of gasoline going into what are normally big months kicking off the summer driving season."

Another reason for the increase in prices has to do with the blends of gasoline required by environmental regulations, which differ from state to state. Beyond requirements for winter and summer blends, many states have additional fuel blend requirements designed to limit emissions and pollution. For example, California has a different fuel blend than say New York, and the Northeast has a different blend from Chicago. That means if there's a shortage in California, refiners in the Northeast can't sell their excess to ease prices in California.

"There are 15 blended boutique gasoline products in this country," Faulkner says. "The EPA should dictate a standard for the winter and a standard for the summer. This is the most antiquated policy around environmental issues. Why does one country need 15 types of gasoline? It makes no sense."

Right now, refineries are in the process of switching from producing winter blends of fuel to summer blends of fuel, a transition that requires time and maintenance, and limits output pushing prices upward. Supply also becomes scarcer as refineries try to sell off the remainder of their winter blend stock before beginning to produce the summer blend, required to be in use by May 1.

[ALSO: Energy Sec. Chu: More Electric Vehicles, Less U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil]

"Refineries are really between a rock and a hard place," says Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com. "They're trying to reduce their inventory of winter blend gasoline so they can move into the period of annual maintenance when consumer demand is relatively weak."

All these bottlenecks causing price increases at the pump are worsened by a weak U.S. dollar that leaves consumers with less purchasing power and the fact that the recent end of the payroll holiday amounts to a pay cut for 160 million Americans, Laskoski adds.

How much more can gas prices climb from here? It's anyone's guess, but $4-a-gallon gas by April shouldn't be ruled out of the picture, experts say. Projections made by GasBuddy, a online gas-price comparison site, put peak spring prices at between $3.80 and $3.95 a gallon, a forecast Laskoski now calls "conservative."

"We can certainly foresee $4 per gallon gas," Laskoski says. "We can't rule that out."

Faulkner agrees: "Gas prices will continue to rise--we will test the $4 mark or even go above. California has already seen gas prices above $5 a gallon."

[PHOTOS: Oscars Through the Years]

But as much as $4 a gallon sound scary to consumers now, the norms are changing Breitling says. Back when Barack Obama was elected in 2008, gas was around $1.89 a gallon and when it began to rise, some said the nation would see a dramatic shift in driving habits with more people riding bikes or using public transit. That hasn't really been the case, after 10 years of higher gas prices, which have made consumers increasingly numb to sky-high gas prices.

"$4 [a gallon gas] used to be freak-out time," Faulkner says. "Now it's close to that and folks are saying, 'Well, I guess that's just the new norm.' As a nation we've almost become numb to these kinds of numbers."

More News:

--Is China Big Coal's Cash Cow? Maybe Not

--Newman: The Upside to the Sequester

--Obama Turns to Local TV to Talk Budget Cuts

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/consumers-clobbered-sky-high-gas-prices-february-195047791.html

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Importing purchased videos from Google play into doubletwist

Hello,

Unfortunately, all movies purchased/rented from Google Play have Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection, which limits playback to "authorized" devices only.

The doubleTwist app is not able to bypass this protection so can not play or sync these protected files.

Thanks,
Henry

Source: http://support.doubletwist.com/doubletwist/topics/importing_purchased_videos_from_google_play_into_doubletwist

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Firm defiant over advertising signs - Stuff

Watchdog ruling to be challenged

AL WILLIAMS

A Timaru business will challenge a ruling that deems its advertising campaign offensive.

Independent Forklifts has earned a slap on the wrist from the Advertising Standards Authority for using a "sexualised and objectified" woman in scanty clothing on its vans.

The campaign features different women with a forklift in the background. The text reads: "You know you're not the first ... But does that really matter? Used Forklifts."

A complaint was upheld on the grounds the ad was offensive, saying it used inappropriate sexual appeal.

General manager Merv Dore disagrees and says he will appeal the decision.

"There is so much of that sort of thing around; we feel a bit victimised really."

He said the campaign had been running for three years without complaint.

"Half of our vans have got some sort of image on them; this is the first complaint in three years."

He said the imagery was acceptable, considering All Black Dan Carter appeared in his underwear in a Jockey campaign.

"The forklift industry is a male-dominated industry and an equal opportunity industry."

He said each van cost $1500 to signwrite and the signage would not be removed. ASA decisions are not legally enforceable. The self-governing agency can only ask that advertisements be withdrawn. Requests are usually complied with.

Two of the vans with the disputed theme operate out of Timaru, three out of Christchurch and one out of Nelson.

The complaint, by M Robertson, said it was "just offensive to see that women's bodies are used to sell a service that clearly targets men".

"It becomes a sort of attention-seeking behaviour that is in many ways detrimental to how all women are viewed," the authority was told.

The watchdog also said as the advert was on a vehicle, it would be highly visible to the general public, including children, rather than just its presumed target market of adult men. The Jockey ads were different as the product being sold was underwear.

The Advertising Code states products cannot be promoted through the use of exploitative or degrading sexual images, especially if the product is completely unrelated to such images.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Comments

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/8327372/Firm-defiant-over-advertising-signs

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