Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Senate Intelligence Committee drops bin Laden film probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One day after "Zero Dark Thirty" failed to win major awards at the Oscars, a congressional aide said on Monday the Senate Intelligence Committee has closed its inquiry into the filmmakers' contacts with the Central Intelligence Agency.

The intelligence committee gathered more information from the CIA and will not take further action, according to the aide, who requested anonymity.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed the film in the United States, had no immediate comment. But attacks by Washington politicians may have damaged its prospects at the Academy Awards. "Zero Dark Thirty" was nominated for a best picture award, which it did not win. Also, in what industry watchers considered a snub, director Kathryn Bigelow did not receive a best director nomination.

The Senate committee launched its review of the film, a dramatization of how the U.S. government located and killed Osama bin Laden, after its chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, expressed outrage over scenes that implied that "enhanced interrogations" of CIA detainees produced an breakthrough that helped lead to the al Qaeda leader.

In December, as "Zero Dark Thirty" was about to premiere nationwide, Feinstein joined fellow Democrat Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator John McCain in condemning "particularly graphic scenes of CIA officers torturing detainees" in the film.

A source familiar with contacts between the filmmakers and intelligence officials said the CIA did not tell the filmmakers "enhanced interrogations" led to bin Laden. Instead, the agency helped develop characters in the film, said the source.

The political fallout prompted Bigelow to write in an op-ed piece: "Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could delve into the thorny subjects of our time."

The government cooperated as much, if not more, on "Argo," the film about the 1979-81 hostage crisis in Iran that won the best picture Oscar. Actor-director Ben Affleck and his team were allowed to film scenes in the lobby of the CIA building in Langley, Virginia; the "Zero Dark Thirty" crew did no such filming.

(The story corrects paragraph 2 and 3 to fix who committee got intelligence from and that Sony is distributor not producer of film)

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball. Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-intelligence-committee-drops-bin-laden-film-probe-032120783.html

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Kevin Michael Connolly, Legless Man, Surfs In 'Armed & Ready,' Debuting Feb. 26 On Travel Channel (VIDEO)

Like many people into extreme sports, Kevin Michael Connolly enjoys taking chances with his life.

However, two things separate him from the usual extreme sportsman: Legs. He was born without them.

Despite that, Connolly's parents refused to coddle him. He grew up floating on rivers and climbing mountain in his home state of Montana, preferring to use a skateboard instead of a wheelchair.

The 27-year-old started skiing when he was 10 and was good enough to win a silver medal in the 2007 X Games using a special "monoski," according to ABC News.

Connolly followed that up with a bronze medal in 2010 and now he is tackling other physical challenges on a new Travel Channel series, "Armed & Ready," debuting Feb. 26. On the show he'll be surfing, cliff diving and even jousting.

"Jousting was the most challenging for me," Connolly told The Huffington Post. "What's the first thing you do? Straddle the horse. Falling off the horse while being hit by a lance was my biggest fear."

Another challenge was cliff diving, because the most important thing when diving off a cliff is to push the body away from the cliff as far as possible, something most people do with their legs.

"I have to push myself off with my arms and then, in a split-second, put my arms in front to prevent my head from crashing in the water from 45 feet up in the air," he said.

KEVIN MICHAEL CONNOLLY: ARMED & READY (Story continues below)

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    Kevin Michael Connolly, 27, is a photographer and filmmaker who was born with no legs.

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    Despite having no legs, Connolly grew up climbing mountains and even won a silver medal for skiing in the 2007 X Games.

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    Now Connolly is the star of "Armed & Ready," a Travel Channel series where he takes on challenges daunting for anyone -- such as jousting.

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    His favorite challenge was a parabolic flight with NASA that broke zero gravity. Connolly brought his his skateboard so he could do more spins than Tony Hawk.

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    Connolly's situation often requires last minute adaptations in order for him to complete a challenge.

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    Connolly is a filmmaker and photographer whose most famous work is the <em>The Rolling Exhibition,</em> an art exhibit of over 33,000 photos documenting the stares and reactions he got from other people around the world.

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    Connolly has been skateboarding since 2005 and prefers it to riding around in a wheelchair.

  • Kevin Michael Connolly: Armed & Ready

    Although the fact that Connolly has no legs is crucial to the show, he doesn't make a big deal about it, preferring to "show, not tell."

  • Kevin Michael Connolly

    Connolly has filmed six episodes of the show and hopes other limbless people who want to attempt extreme stunts <a href="http://kevinmichaelconnolly.com/">contact him at his website </a> for information on the adaptive devices that made some of his challenges possible.


In order for Connolly to attempt some stunts, such as jousting or wakeboarding, he and the people around him have to create adaptive devices. For instance, in one of the episodes, he wakeboards using a standard board modified with, among other things, a turkey roasting pan.

He hopes that what he learned while creating these athletic adaptions on the fly will help others in similar predicaments.

"I hope we get a ton of viewers," Connolly admitted. "But, especially, certain viewers who could use this knowledge."

Connolly first came to the attention of Travel Channel executives because of an earlier project, The Rolling Exhibition, an art exhibit of more than 33,000 photos documenting the stares and reactions he got from other people around the world, and his memoir, "Double Take."

However, Connolly, who has been approached for other shows before didn't want the show to totally focus on the fact that he doesn't have legs.

"I believe you should show, not tell," Connolly said. "By undertaking these extreme sports and constructing the special equipment, it adds an element of challenge and danger that people can see."

Connolly got to embark on some exclusive challenges that may not be available to most people, limbs or no limbs.

"My favorite challenge was taking a parabolic flight with NASA," Connolly said. "We broke zero gravity and I brought my skateboard so I could do more spins than Tony Hawk."

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/kevin-michael-connelly-armed--ready_n_2756918.html

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Sony Xperia Z rolling out to 60 countries worldwide this week

Sony Xperia Z review

If you've been salivating at the thought that Sony's latest flagship would eventually arrive on your turf, then Kaz Hirai just threw a teasing softball into your field of view. At Sony's Mobile World Congress press conference, the company chief said that the Xperia Z would soon be arriving in 60 countries across five continents this week. Of course, without any PowerPoint slides showing which locations it'll land in, it's a little tough to confirm or deny where in the world it'll arrive, but at least you can start badgering your local store, right?

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/xperia-z-60-country-rollout/

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

The Weekly Good: Embrace Wants To Give All Infants An Equal Chance For A Healthy Life

weekly-good4Disruption comes in all shapes and sizes, and benefits people of all shapes and sizes. When you think about global entrepreneurs solving hard problems, you might not think about creating hardware products that aim to save the lives of premature babies.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5jBOdEOgqUQ/

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Congressmen from South Texas seek owed water from Mexico



CATEGORIES:

Relief, Response & Restrictions
Water Supply & Quality

AFFECTED AREAS:

Brewster County, TX
Alpine, TX
Cameron County, TX
Brownsville, TX
Hidalgo County, TX
Mercedes, TX
Webb County, TX
Laredo, TX

2/14/2013 - ?

Four congressmen from South Texas sent a letter on Feb. 14 to Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexico?s ambassador to the United States, and Edward Drusina, commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission urging them to assist with getting Mexico to deliver the water it owes, according to the 1944 Guadalupe Treaty. Leaders of several border communities reported that drought and the depleted Rio Grande River were not providing enough water for municipal and agricultural use. Brownsville Herald (Texas), Feb. 14, 2013

Sources


Source: http://moderator.droughtreporter.unl.edu/RSSfeed/ImpactView/28147

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Italians vote in parliamentary elections

A nuns casts her ballot in a polling station in downtown Rome, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A nuns casts her ballot in a polling station in downtown Rome, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A nun votes in a polling station in downtown Rome, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A nun exits a booth as she votes in a polling station in downtown Rome, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Nuns vote in a polling station in downtown Rome, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A man arrives to vote in a polling station in downtown Rome, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

(AP) ? Will Italy stay the course with painful economic reform? Or fall back into the old habit of profligacy and inertia? These are the stakes as Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies.

Fellow EU countries and investors are watching closely, as the decisions that Italy makes over the next several months promise to have a profound impact on whether Europe can decisively put out the flames of its financial crisis. Greece's troubles in recent years were enough to spark a series of market panics. With an economy almost 10 times the size of Greece's, Italy is simply too big a country for Europe, and the world, to see fail.

Leading the electoral pack is Pier Luigi Bersani, a former communist who has shown a pragmatic streak in supporting tough economic reforms spearheaded by incumbent Mario Monti. On Bersani's heels is Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul seeking an unlikely political comeback after being forced from the premiership by Italy's debt crisis. Monti, while widely credited with saving Italy from financial ruin, is trailing badly as he pays the price for the suffering caused by austerity measures.

Then there's the wild card: comic-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, whose protest movement against the entrenched political class has been drawing tens of thousands to rallies in piazzas across Italy. If his self-styled political "tsunami" sweeps into Parliament with a big chunk of seats, Italy could be in store for a prolonged period of political confusion that would spook the markets.

While a man of the left, Bersani has shown himself to have a surprising amount in common with the center-right Monti ? and the two have hinted at the possibility of teaming up in a coalition. Bersani was Monti's most loyal backer in Parliament during the respected economist's tenure at the head of a technocratic government. And in ministerial posts in previous center-left governments, Bersani fought hard to free up such areas of the economy as energy, insurance and banking services.

But it's uncertain that Monti will be able muster the votes needed to give Bersani's Democratic Party a stable majority in both houses of Parliament.

"Forming a government with a stable parliamentary alliance may prove tricky after elections," said Eoin Ryan, an analyst with IHS Global Insight. "A surge in support for anti-austerity parties is raising chances of an indecisive election result and post-vote political instability."

Another factor is turnout. Usually some 80 percent of the 50 million eligible voters go to the polls but experts are predicting many will stay away in anger, hurting mainstream parties.

When Berlusconi stepped down in November 2011, newspapers were writing his political obituary. At 76, blamed for mismanaging the economy and disgraced by criminal allegations of sex with an underage prostitute, the billionaire media baron appeared finished as a political force.

But Berlusconi has proven time and again ? over 20 years at the center of Italian politics ? that he should never be counted out.

The campaign strategy that has allowed him to become a contender in these elections is a simple one: please the masses by throwing around cash.

Berlusconi has promised to give back an unpopular property tax imposed by Monti as part of austerity measures. Even his purchase of start striker Mario Balotelli for his AC Milan soccer team was widely seen as a ploy to buy votes. Berlusconi has also appealed to Italy's right-wing by praising Italy's former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini during a ceremony commemorating Holocaust victims.

The most recent polls show Bersani in the lead with 33 percent of the vote, against 28 percent for Berlusconi's coalition with the populist Northern League. Grillo's 5 Star movement was in a surprise third place, with 17 percent support, while Monti's centrist coalition was notching 13 percent. The COESIS poll of 6,212 respondents had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percent.

Pollster Renato Mannheimer said among his biggest clients heading into the elections were foreign banks seeking to gauge whether to hold or sell Italian bonds.

"They are worried mostly about the return of Berlusconi," Mannheimer said.

Uncertainty over the outcome of the vote has pushed the Milan stock exchange down in the days running up to the vote and bumped up borrowing costs, as investors express concern that Italy may back down from a reform course to pull the country out of recession.

Mannheimer said many undecided voters ? who comprise around one-third of the total electorate ? identify with the center-right, and that may help Berlusconi. He said that the undecided vote may also tilt heavily toward Grillo's protest movement.

The professorial Monti looked uncomfortable at first as a candidate but has recently warmed to the role. Like the others, he has not shied away from name calling, warning that Berlusconi is a "charlatan" and saying his return would be "horrific."

Bond analyst Nicholas Spiro said the election "will deliver the most important verdict on the eurozone's three-year-old austerity focused policies."

But he is betting on a period of political instability after the vote.

"An upset victory by Mr. Berlusconi may be markets' nightmare scenario," he said, "but the prospects for a stable and harmonious Bersani-Monti coalition government ? still the mostly likely outcome in our view ? are bleak."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-24-Italy-Elections/id-1a18be077e3243508d9504be8d6e23a0

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LB Te'o tackles questions on hoax at NFL Combine

CBS Eye iconEyeOn

Football

By Will Brinson | Senior Blogger

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's hard to resist cracking jokes at the expense of Manti Te'o, but it's even harder not to be impressed with the job he did handling the biggest crowd in combine history when he stepped to the podium on Saturday.

The full details of Te'o's story are already out there. He didn't have to navigate any tricky storylines. All he had to do was be honest and boring for about 15 minutes and then get the hell out of Dodge. He managed to do just that and helped push his narrative back onto the football field.

"The incident, I said all I needed to say about that," Te'o said. "How I'm handling it going forward is focusing on the moment, focusing on football and the combine. Not everyone gets the opportunity to be here."

A ride to the 2013 NFL Combine isn't free for Te'o. It involves a barrage of questions from various NFL teams interested in his services. There are a whopping 20 teams, Te'o confirmed Saturday, that will be speaking with him.

He's talked to the Texans and the Packers and said there are 18 more to go, all of whom will be inquiring about his Catfishing incident.

"Quite a few teams asked me about it," Te'o said. "Some go to certain lengths. Some just ask me, give me a brief overview of it."

But did anyone not ask about the Lennay Kekua story?

"No," Te'o said after laughing at that, though. "They all asked me about it. Just tell me the facts. They want to hear it from me. Just tell them basically what happened."

That's all he can do and that's all he did Saturday. How would he describe the media scene for his press conference?

"This is crazy."

Would he do things differently if he could go back in time?

"Obviously."

Is he dating anyone in real life right now?

Yes, that was an actual question. And, no, Te'o isn't involved with anyone in the mortal realm at this point in his life. How could he be? Te'o's life is a zoo at this point, with him noting several difficult incidents involving the scrutiny of his situation.

"The toughest moment was a phone call I got from my sister when she told me they had to sneak my own family in their home," Te'o said. "That had to be the hardest part."

Ugh. Te'o said he still gets double takes when he's walking around the grocery store but he's gotten past being embarrassed publicly about the incident and said he "wouldn't be standing here" if he was still embarrassed.

He claimed to learn valuable lessons -- "keep your circle small," find out "who is in your corner and who is not" -- and hopes for the biggest payoff of them all by nailing the press conference Saturday.

"Hopefully after this I answered the things I have to answer and we can move on with football."

Tags: Te'o,Manti, 2013 NFL Combine, NFL Combine, Will Brinson, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, NFL

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cbssportsline/nfl_news/~3/7fI8G1vfqC0/manti-teo-wins-back-support-during-2013-nfl-combine-press-conference

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Study Shows iPhone More Reliable Than Samsung Smartphones

A new report from product Q & A site FixYa found that the iPhone was more reliable than smartphones made by Motorola, Samsung and Nokia.

The study looked at data from 722,558 problem reports?

Read the original here: Study Shows iPhone More Reliable Than Samsung Smartphones

This entry was posted in Mashable.com and tagged apple, ceo, continue, entire, reliable, report, reporter, samsung, scored, times by Admin. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://applenewsgator.com/2013/02/23/study-shows-iphone-more-reliable-than-samsung-smartphones/

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Iran Advances Nuclear Program Ahead of Talks

Talks between global powers and Iran over its nuclear development program are scheduled to take place in one week, and according to Reuters. Russia anticipates progress.

However, the AFP is reporting that Israel and the United Nations have said Iran is "closer than ever" to being able to build a nuclear bomb.

The following is a closer look at the political situation regarding Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear program.

* Russia, Britain, China, France, Germany, and the United States will discuss Iran's nuclear program in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Tuesday. According to Reuters, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was sounding a hopeful note on Thursday, saying that "the group of six has carried out meaningful preparatory work for the round in Almaty," referring to the six nations.

* However, another report from Reuters on Thursday indicated that a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggested Iran had begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant near Natanz.

* If successful, it would be seen as a provocative move by the U.S., State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Thursday. White House spokesman Jay Carney noted that if talks failed, Iran would face further actions taken against it by the international community.

* The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office commented on the development on Thursday. Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said that the timing of the actions by Iran "immediately before the IAEA Board of Governors meeting and before E3+3 talks with Iran in Almaty, Kazakstan, next week -- concerns and disappoints us. We trust that Iran will come to talks in Almaty willing to negotiate meaningfully, and we urge Iran to respect all relevant resolutions and cooperate fully with the IAEA."

* As reported by AFP, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had said that "preventing nuclear arms from Iran will be the first topic Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss with U.S. President Barack Obama."

* A separate report from Reuters said that Nigeria had discovered a "terrorist cell" operating in the country with the intention of attacking American and Israeli targets in the country. The group was said to have been trained by Iran.

* Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar said that there was "conclusive evidence" that Abdullahi Mustapha Berende and two Nigerians arrested with him were working with Iranian sponsors to gather intelligence and plan attacks, according to Reuters.

Shawn Humphrey is a former contributor to The Flint Journal and an amateur Africanist, focusing his personal studies on human rights and political issues on the continent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-advances-nuclear-program-ahead-talks-174400646.html

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The Definitive Pittsburgh Steelers Guide to the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine

Though the Steelers are likely set at the safety position in terms of starters in 2013, with Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark reprising their roles, that doesn't mean they're set when it comes to depth.

Both Will Allen and Ryan Mundy are unrestricted free agents and represent the best of their safety depth?okay, "best" might be a stretch when it comes to Mundy?which will require the team to make an addition at the position in the draft.

What the Steelers need is someone who can contribute in nickel and dime situations right away (as well as on special teams) but who could blossom into a starter to replace Clark and/or Polamalu in as little as a year's time.

Luckily for the Steelers, this year's safety class is deep and talented, so they won't need to spend their first round pick on someone who can provide them with that kind of profile.

One option is Jonathan Cyprien from Florida International. As a small-school prospect, Cyprien has the opportunity to increase his draft stock while getting some close attention by scouts from around the league.

Cyprien should already be on the Steelers' radar, however, based on his Senior Bowl performance, which featured both hard-hitting,?run-stopping plays and solid coverage skills.

Cyprien's stock could rise enough that he could become a second-round pick for the right team, and the Steelers could certainly make that move; however, he could end up being a high-value third- or fourth-round selection as well.

The combine will give the Steelers a close enough look at Cyprien to help figure out just what he'd be worth for them.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1539950-the-definitive-pittsburgh-steelers-guide-to-the-2013-nfl-scouting-combine

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Sony PS4?? Neden G?stermedi?

Oyun d?nyas?n? olduk?a ?a??rtan bir etkinli?e imza atan Sony, PlayStation 4 i?in ger?ekle?tirdi?i etkinlikte yeni nesil konsolunu fiziksel olarak g?stermemeyi tercih etmi?ti. Neden b?yle bir karar al?nd???n? merak eden bir dolu soruya kar?? Sony sonunda cevap verme gereklili?i duymu? durumda.

Polygon ve Kotaku adl? sitelere verilen ayr? ayr? deme?lerde Sony Computer Entertainment?ta Worldwide Studios ba?kanl??? g?revini y?r?ten Shuei Yoshida konuya a??kl?k getirdi. Sony?nin konsolu daha sonraki bir tarihte g?stermeyi istedi?i ve bu sebeple d?nk? etkinlikte konsolun sunulmad???n?n alt?n? ?izen Yoshida, ?irketin halen Haziran ay?ndaki E3?te bu g?sterimi yap?p yapmamakta da karars?z oldu?unu ekliyor. ?Konsolun sadece bir kutu? oldu?unu belirten y?netici DualShock 4?? g?stermenin payla? tu?u dolay?s?yla daha ?nemli oldu?unu ve ?konsolun sadece konsol? oldu?unu a??kl?yor.

Yoshida?n?n a??klamalar?ndan DualShock?un g?sterilmek zorunda kal?nd??? sonucu da ??k?yor. Bunun sebebi ise kendisinin sahnede demo oyunlar?n? oynayacak ki?ilerin kontrol?r? g?stermemesinin tuhaf olaca??n? s?ylemesi. Ek olarak y?netici, bir ?eyleri daha sonras? i?in yeni tutmak istediklerini yoksa insanlar?n s?k?labilece?ini s?zlerine ekliyor.

2013??n Noel d?nemi i?in randevu verilen PlayStation 4 i?in net bir tarih yok ancak genel gidi?ata bak?ld???nda konsol bu d?nem gelmeden aylar ?nce tan?t?lacakt?r diyebiliriz.

Source: http://www.techno-labs.com/1/39011/1/Sony_PS4%E2%80%99u_Neden_Gostermedi.html

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How human language could have evolved from birdsong

Friday, February 22, 2013

"The sounds uttered by birds offer in several respects the nearest analogy to language," Charles Darwin wrote in "The Descent of Man" (1871), while contemplating how humans learned to speak. Language, he speculated, might have had its origins in singing, which "might have given rise to words expressive of various complex emotions."

Now researchers from MIT, along with a scholar from the University of Tokyo, say that Darwin was on the right path. The balance of evidence, they believe, suggests that human language is a grafting of two communication forms found elsewhere in the animal kingdom: first, the elaborate songs of birds, and second, the more utilitarian, information-bearing types of expression seen in a diversity of other animals.

"It's this adventitious combination that triggered human language," says Shigeru Miyagawa, a professor of linguistics in MIT's Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, and co-author of a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

The idea builds upon Miyagawa's conclusion, detailed in his previous work, that there are two "layers" in all human languages: an "expression" layer, which involves the changeable organization of sentences, and a "lexical" layer, which relates to the core content of a sentence. His conclusion is based on earlier work by linguists including Noam Chomsky, Kenneth Hale and Samuel Jay Keyser.

Based on an analysis of animal communication, and using Miyagawa's framework, the authors say that birdsong closely resembles the expression layer of human sentences ? whereas the communicative waggles of bees, or the short, audible messages of primates, are more like the lexical layer. At some point, between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago, humans may have merged these two types of expression into a uniquely sophisticated form of language.

"There were these two pre-existing systems," Miyagawa says, "like apples and oranges that just happened to be put together."

These kinds of adaptations of existing structures are common in natural history, notes Robert Berwick, a professor of computational linguistics at MIT who is also an author of the paper.

"When something new evolves, it is often built out of old parts," Berwick says. "We see this over and over again in evolution. Old structures can change just a little bit, and acquire radically new functions."

A new chapter in the songbook

The new paper, "The Emergence of Hierarchical Structure in Human Language," was co-written by Miyagawa, Berwick and Kazuo Okanoya, a biopsychologist at the University of Tokyo who is an expert on animal communication.

To consider the difference between the expression layer and the lexical layer, take a simple sentence: "Todd saw a condor." We can easily create variations of this, such as, "When did Todd see a condor?" This rearranging of elements takes place in the expression layer and allows us to add complexity and ask questions. But the lexical layer remains the same, since it involves the same core elements: the subject, "Todd," the verb, "to see," and the object, "condor."

Birdsong lacks a lexical structure. Instead, birds sing learned melodies with what Berwick calls a "holistic" structure; the entire song has one meaning, whether about mating, territory or other things. The Bengalese finch, as the authors note, can loop back to parts of previous melodies, allowing for greater variation and communication of more things; a nightingale may be able to recite from 100 to 200 different melodies.

By contrast, other types of animals have bare-bones modes of expression without the same melodic capacity. Bees communicate visually, using precise waggles to indicate sources of foods to their peers; other primates can make a range of sounds, comprising warnings about predators and other messages.

Humans, according to Miyagawa, Berwick and Okanoya, fruitfully combined these systems. We can communicate essential information, like bees or primates ? but like birds, we also have a melodic capacity and an ability to recombine parts of our uttered language. For this reason, our finite vocabularies can generate a seemingly infinite string of words. Indeed, the researchers suggest that humans first had the ability to sing, as Darwin conjectured, and then managed to integrate specific lexical elements into those songs.

"It's not a very long step to say that what got joined together was the ability to construct these complex patterns, like a song, but with words," Berwick says.

As they note in the paper, some of the "striking parallels" between language acquisition in birds and humans include the phase of life when each is best at picking up languages, and the part of the brain used for language. Another similarity, Berwick notes, relates to an insight of celebrated MIT professor emeritus of linguistics Morris Halle, who, as Berwick puts it, observed that "all human languages have a finite number of stress patterns, a certain number of beat patterns. Well, in birdsong, there is also this limited number of beat patterns."

Birds, bees ? and dolphins?

The researchers acknowledge that further empirical studies on the subject would be desirable.

"It's just a hypothesis," Berwick says. "But it's a way to make explicit what Darwin was talking about very vaguely, because we know more about language now."

Miyagawa, for his part, asserts it is a viable idea in part because it could be subject to more scrutiny, as the communication patterns of other species are examined in further detail. "If this is right, then human language has a precursor in nature, in evolution, that we can actually test today," he says, adding that bees, birds and other primates could all be sources of further research insight.

MIT-based research in linguistics has largely been characterized by the search for universal aspects of all human languages. With this paper, Miyagawa, Berwick and Okanoya hope to spur others to think of the universality of language in evolutionary terms. It is not just a random cultural construct, they say, but based in part on capacities humans share with other species. At the same time, Miyagawa notes, human language is unique, in that two independent systems in nature merged, in our species, to allow us to generate unbounded linguistic possibilities, albeit within a constrained system.

"Human language is not just freeform, but it is rule-based," Miyagawa says. "If we are right, human language has a very heavy constraint on what it can and cannot do, based on its antecedents in nature."

###

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice

Thanks to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126974/How_human_language_could_have_evolved_from_birdsong

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

American CEO blasts French workers

PARIS (Reuters) - The CEO of a U.S. tire maker has delivered a crushing summary of how some outsiders view France's work ethic in a letter saying he would have to be stupid to take over a factory whose staff only put in three hours work a day.

Titan International's Maurice Taylor, nicknamed "The Grizz" for his negotiating style, told the left-wing French industry minister in a letter published by media on Wednesday that he had no interest in rescuing a plant set for closure.

"The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three," Taylor wrote on February 8 in the letter in English to the minister, Arnaud Montebourg.

"I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!" Taylor added in the letter, which was posted by business daily Les Echos on its website and which the ministry confirmed was genuine.

"Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one Euro per hour wage and ship all the tires France needs," he said. "You can keep the so-called workers."

Socialist President Francois Hollande might take some comfort in Taylor's view of his own country's business policies: "The U.S. government is not much better than the French," he said, referring to a dispute over Chinese exports.

Montebourg's office said the letter was an authentic response to Paris consulting Titan as a possible buyer of U.S. group Goodyear's Amiens Nord factory in northern France.

The minister refrained from an immediate reply: ""Don't worry, there will be a response," Montebourg told reporters on Wednesday after meeting Hollande. "It's better written down."

Union leaders were less cautious. CGT official Mickael Wamen said Taylor belonged more "in an asylum" than the boardroom of a multinational company.

DERISION

Taylor's comments are the latest blow to France's image after verbal attacks last year by Montebourg on firms seeking to shut ailing industrial sites prompted international mockery.

Combined with concerned over plans for a 75 percent "millionaires tax", Montebourg's antics drove London Mayor Boris Johnson to remark to an international business audience that it seemed France was being run by left-wing revolutionaries.

Montebourg has also lashed out at cheap imports of manufactured goods from low-wage countries like China and last year told the boss of Indian steelmaker ArcelorMittal he was unwelcome in a spat over a shuttered plant in France.

Despite having per-head productivity levels that rank among the best in Europe, economists blame France's rigid hiring and firing laws for a long industrial decline that has dented exports. Many also fault the country's 35-hour work week.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co's Amiens Nord plant employs 1,250 workers, who have been battling demands that they work more shifts or accept layoffs. The government said in January that the site faced imminent closure.

Talks with Titan over a possible purchase of the plant's farm tire section fell through last September after a failure to reach a deal with the CGT union on voluntary redundancies.

Titan did not return calls on Monday evening for comment, but the company's website says that Wall Street analysts have dubbed Taylor "The Grizz" for his tough negotiating style.

His letter to Montebourg accuses the French government of "doing nothing" in the face of Chinese competition.

"Sir, your letter states that you want Titan to start a discussion. How stupid do you think we are?" he wrote. "Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government."

(Additional reporting by Christian Plumb and Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/keep-called-workers-u-boss-tells-france-132358961--finance.html

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NASA regains space station contact after outage

FILE - This Thursday, May 24, 2012 image made from video provided by NASA-TV shows the International Space Station taken from the thermal imaging camera aboard the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft as it approaches the station. NASA says the International Space Station has lost contact with NASA controllers in Houston Tuesday morning, Feb. 19, 2013. Officials say the six crew members and station are fine and they expect to fix the problem soon. NASA said something went wrong during a computer software update on the station. (AP Photo/NASA)

FILE - This Thursday, May 24, 2012 image made from video provided by NASA-TV shows the International Space Station taken from the thermal imaging camera aboard the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft as it approaches the station. NASA says the International Space Station has lost contact with NASA controllers in Houston Tuesday morning, Feb. 19, 2013. Officials say the six crew members and station are fine and they expect to fix the problem soon. NASA said something went wrong during a computer software update on the station. (AP Photo/NASA)

(AP) ? The International Space Station regained contact with NASA controllers in Houston after nearly three hours of accidental quiet, the space agency says.

Officials say the six crew members and station are fine and had no problem during the brief outage.

NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said something went wrong around 9:45 a.m. EST Tuesday during a computer software update on the station. The outpost abruptly lost all communication, voice and command from Houston.

Communication was restored less than three hours later, Byerly said

"We've got our command and control back," he said.

Station commander Kevin Ford was able to briefly radio Moscow while the station was flying over Russia.

Normally, NASA communicates with and sends commands to the station from Houston, via three communications satellites that transmit voice, video and data. Such interruptions have happened a few times in the past, the space agency said.

If there is no crisis going on, losing communication with the ground "is not a terrible thing," said former astronaut Jerry Linenger, who was on the Russian space station Mir during a dangerous fire in 1997. "You feel pretty confident up there that you can handle it. You're flying the spacecraft."

Not only should this boost the confidence of the station crew, it's good training for any eventual mission to Mars because there will be times when communications is down or difficult during the much farther voyage, Linenger said.

In the past few weeks the space station had been purposely simulating communications delays and downtimes to see how activity could work for a future Mars mission, Byerly said. This was not part of those tests, but may prove useful, he said.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-02-19-Space%20Station/id-598b17197774430b9ad4f4af6e0c2f2f

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

EU privacy regulators take aim at Google privacy policy

European data watchdogs said on Monday they plan to take action against Google by this summer for its privacy policy, which allows the search engine to pool user data from across all its services ranging from YouTube to Gmail.

The move is the latest in a skirmish between the Web giant and Europe's data protection regulators who view the privacy rules put in place in March by Google as "high risk," although have stopped short of declaring them illegal.

Regulators view the bundling of data on users as potentially constituting a high risk to individuals' privacy.

Google last year consolidated 60 privacy policies into one, combining data collected on individual users across its services, including YouTube, Gmail and social network Google+. Users cannot opt out.

In October, Europe's 27 data regulators gave Google four months to change its approach, listing 12 "practical recommendations" for it to bring its privacy policy into line.

On Monday the French privacy regulator, which last year led an initial inquiry into the tech giant's new policy, said it would set up a further inquiry because Google had not yet addressed their concerns.

"Google did not provide any precise and effective answers," the French regulator CNIL said.

"In this context, the EU data protection authorities are committed to act and continue their investigations. Therefore, they propose to set up a working group, led by the CNIL, in order to coordinate their reaction, which should take place before summer."

Google said it did respond to CNIL on Jan. 8 by listing steps already taken to address their concerns.

"We have engaged fully with CNIL throughout the process and will continue to do so," Al Verney, a spokesperson said.

He added that the privacy policy did respect European law.

The pooling of anonymous user data across Google services, is a big advantage when selling online ads.

Google and other large internet groups such as Facebook provide free services to consumers and earn money from selling ads that they say are more closely targeted than traditional TV or radio campaigns.

(Reporting by Claire Davenport; editing by Leila Abboud and Keiron Henderson)

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/eu-privacy-regulators-take-aim-google-privacy-policy-1C8415363

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Dragon Tennis Nets Hill County Classic Title | MySouthlakeNews

Monday, February 18, 2013 By CISD Staff

The Carroll Dragon tennis team won the Hill Country Classic over the weekend in Mason, Texas. Many of the top teams across the state battled the cold temperatures during the two-day tournament. The Dragons finished with 166 p0ints and three-time defending Class 3A state champ Abliene Wylie was second with 148. This marked the first time the Dragons have won this prestigious tournament.

Visit the Carroll Dragon tennis team?s Facebook page for more coverage.

Source: http://www.mysouthlakenews.com/2013/02/sports/dragon-tennis-nets-hill-county-classic-title

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Monday, February 18, 2013

Guest Post: Currency Wars Are Trade Wars | Zero Hedge

Submitted by John Aziz of Azizonomics blog,

Paul Krugman is all for currency wars, but not trade wars:

First of all, what people think they know about past currency wars isn?t actually true. Everyone uses some combination phrase like ?protectionism and competitive devaluation? to describe the supposed vicious circle of the 1930s, but as?Barry Eichengreen?has pointed out many times, these really don?t go together. If country A and country B engage in a tit-for-tat of tariffs, the end result is restricted trade; if they each try to push their currency down, the end result is at worst to leave everyone back where they started.

?

And in reality the stuff that?s now being called ?currency wars? is almost surely a net plus for the world economy. In the 1930s this was because countries threw off their golden fetters ? they left the gold standard and this freed them to pursue expansionary monetary policies. Today that?s not the issue; but what Japan, the US, and the UK are doing is in fact trying to pursue expansionary monetary policy, with currency depreciation as a byproduct.

There is a serious intellectual error here, typical of much of the recent discussion of this issue. A currency war is?by definition?a low-level form of a trade war because currencies are internationally traded commodities. The intent (and there is much circumstantial evidence to suggest that Japan at least is acting with mercantilist intent, but that is another story for another day) is not relevant ? currency depreciation is currency depreciation and still has the same effects on creditors and trade partners, whatever the claimed intent.

Krugman cites Barry Eichengreen as evidence that competitive devaluation does not necessarily mean a trade war, but Eichengreen?does not address the issue of a trade war directly, much less denying the possibility of one. ?Indeed, while broadly supportive of competitive devaluation?Eichengreen notes that the process was ?disorderly and disruptive?.

And the risks of disorder and disruption are still very real today.

As Mark Thoma noted in 2010:

While the?positive effects?a currency war produced in the 1930s are unlikely to reappear,?there is a chance of large negative effects such as a simultaneous trade war or the?breakdown?of the international monetary system, so let?s hope a currency war can be avoided.

The mechanism here is very simple. Some countries ? those with a lower domestic rate of inflation, like Japan ? have a natural advantage in a currency war against countries with a higher domestic rate of inflation like Brazil and China. If one side runs out of leverage to debase their currency because of heightened domestic inflation, their next recourse is to resort to direction trade measures like quotas and tariffs.

And actually, the United States and China in particular have been engaging in a low-level trade and currency war for a long time.

As I noted last year:

China?and?Russia?and?Brazil?have all recently expressed deep unease at America?s can-kicking and money-printing mentality. This is partly because American money printing has exported inflation to the world, as a result of the dollar?s role as the global reserve currency, and partly because these states already own a lot of American debt, and do not want to be paid off in hugely-debased money.

Since I made that statement, there has been a great lot of debasement without any great spiral of damaging trade measures. But with the world locked into ever greater monetary and trade interdependency, and with fiery trade rhetoric continuing to spew forth from the BRIC nations, who by-and-large seem to continue to believe that American money-printing is damaging their interests?? ? who in the past two years have put together a new global reserve currency framework ? it would be deeply complacent to believe that the risks of a severe trade war have gone away.

(Unfortunately,?Krugman and Eichengreen both seem to discount the reality that?Okun?s law has broken down, and that?monetary expansion today is?supporting crony industries, and?exacerbating income inequality, but those are another story for another day)

Your rating: None Average: 4.4 (8 votes)

Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-16/guest-post-currency-wars-are-trade-wars

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White House seeks 'balanced way' to budget fix

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The new White House chief of staff says President Barack Obama is concerned about the effect the automatic budget cuts scheduled for next month will have on America's middle class.

Denis McDonough tells ABC's "This Week" that the economy has been getting stronger over the past few months. He cites improvements in housing, the stock market and consumer confidence.

He says the cuts will affect education, mental health services and food safety.

McDonough tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that Obama "is doing everything he can to not let this happen."

He says the White House will push for what he calls a reasonable amount of spending cuts coupled with additional tax revenue.

Republicans oppose any tax increases, but the White House will insist on cutting federal red ink "in a balanced way."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-17-Budget%20Fight/id-1e7dfb66f8bc4fdd927b9898062adae2

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Promising new approach to preventing progression of breast cancer

Feb. 15, 2013 ? Doctors currently struggle to determine whether a breast tumor is likely to shift into an aggressive, life-threatening mode -- an issue with profound implications for treatment. Now a group from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified a mechanism through which mitochondria, the powerhouses of a cell, control tumor aggressiveness. Based on their findings, the team developed a simple treatment that inhibits cancer progression and prolongs life when tested in mice.

The research team, which describes its results February 15, 2013, in an article published online ahead of print by The Journal of Clinical Investigation, hopes to proceed quickly to human clinical trials to test this new approach using drugs already in use for other conditions.

Looking at Clues

The TSRI laboratory of Associate Professor Brunhilde H. Felding studies cancer, especially the mechanisms that control metastasis, the spread of cancer from its primary site to distant organs in the body.

Past research suggested that mutations affecting mitochondria, which are key to energy production in cells, strongly influence whether a tumor becomes aggressive. But the mechanism was not clear.

"We decided to investigate a specific protein complex, called mitochondrial complex I, that critically determines the energy output of cellular respiration," said the study's first author, Antonio F. Santidrian, a research associate in Felding's laboratory. To do this, the group teamed up with Akemi and Takao Yagi at TSRI, who are leading experts in complex I research. Using unique reagents from the Yagi group, the Felding team discovered that the balance of key metabolic cofactors processed by complex I -- specifically, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and NADH, the form it takes after accepting a key electron in the energy production cycle -- was disturbed in aggressive breast cancer cells.

Exciting Results

To find out if the balance of NAD+ and NADH was critical for tumor cell behavior, the team proceeded to insert a yeast gene into cancer cells that caused a shift toward more NAD+. To the scientists' amazement, this shift caused the tumor cells to become less aggressive.

"It was a really happy moment for me," said Santidrian. But the more exciting moments, he said, were yet to come.

To confirm and extend the initial findings, the team altered genes tied to NAD+ production. The resulting shift again showed that higher NADH levels meant more aggressive tumors, while increased NAD+ had the opposite effect.

The next logical step was to find a simple way to enhance the critical NAD+ level therapeutically. So the team explored what would happen if mice with breast cancer were fed water spiked with nicotinamide, a precursor for NAD+ production. The scientists found cancer development was dramatically slowed down, and the mice lived longer

"In animal models at various stages, we see that we can actually prevent progression of the disease," said Felding.

Next Steps

Now the group is working toward human trials to learn whether nicotinamide or other NAD+ precursors will have similarly impressive results in humans. Since NAD+ precursors are already used for other purposes, such as controlling cholesterol levels, achieving approval for human clinical trials should be simpler than is normally the case.

"It is not a totally new treatment that would need to be tested for toxicity and side effects like a new drug," said Felding. "And we already know the precursors can be easily ingested."

If manipulating the NAD+/NADH ratio in humans has the same effect as in mice, the results could be profound. Such treatment could benefit people at risk of developing aggressive breast cancer, offer complimentary treatment to chemo and radiation therapy to avoid disease recurrence, and maybe even provide a preventive treatment for women with a family history of breast cancer.

This research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01CA112287, R01CA170737, R01CA170140, UL1RR025774 and R01DK053244), the US Department of Defense (W81XWH-08-0468), the California Breast Cancer Research Program (17NB-0058, 16IB-0052, 12NB-0176 and 13NB-0180), and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, as well as a donation from Las Patronas.

In addition to Santidrian and Felding, authors of the paper, titled, "Mitochondrial Complex I activity and NAD+/NADH balance regulate breast cancer progression," were Akemi Matsuno-Yagi, Melissa Ritland, Byoung B. Seo, Sarah E. LeBoeuf, Laurie Gay, and Takao Yagi, all from TSRI.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/6Ru7iB7qvtA/130217083951.htm

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File:First London bus route 191 Enfield July 2010.jpg

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BMW recalls nearly 570,000 cars to fix cables

FILE - This undated photo provided by BMW AG shows the 2009 BMW 3-Series sedan. BMW is recalling almost 570,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada because a battery cable connector can fail and cause the engines to stall. The recall affects popular 3-Series sedans, wagons, convertibles and coupes from the 2007 through 2011 model years. Also included are 1-Series coupes and convertibles from 2008 through 2012, and the Z4 sports car from 2009 through 2011. (AP Photo/BMW)

FILE - This undated photo provided by BMW AG shows the 2009 BMW 3-Series sedan. BMW is recalling almost 570,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada because a battery cable connector can fail and cause the engines to stall. The recall affects popular 3-Series sedans, wagons, convertibles and coupes from the 2007 through 2011 model years. Also included are 1-Series coupes and convertibles from 2008 through 2012, and the Z4 sports car from 2009 through 2011. (AP Photo/BMW)

(AP) ? BMW is recalling almost 570,000 cars in the U.S. and Canada because a battery cable connector can fail and cause the engines to stall.

The recall affects popular 3-Series sedans, wagons, convertibles and coupes from the 2007 through 2011 model years. Also included are 1-Series coupes and convertibles from 2008 through 2012, and the Z4 sports car from 2009 through 2011.

The cable connectors and a fuse box terminal in the cars can degrade over time, and that can break the electrical connection between the trunk-mounted battery and the fuse box at the front. If that happens, the cars could lose electrical power, causing the engines to stall unexpectedly, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents posted on its website Saturday.

The company says in documents sent to NHTSA that the problem stems from movement between the battery cable and the fuse box.

BMW says it knows of one minor collision in Canada due to the problem, but no injuries.

The German automaker says dealers will replace the battery cable connector and secure it for free. It will start notifying owners in March.

The 3-Series is BMW's most popular car in the U.S., dominating the small luxury car market. The company sold nearly 100,000 of them in the U.S. last year.

The recall affects more than 504,000 cars in the U.S. and another 65,000 in Canada.

BMW, Toyota and other automakers have experienced large recalls in recent years because they use common parts on multiple models in order to save money.

Owners can call BMW with questions at (800) 525-7417.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-16-US-BMW-Recall/id-f2c05d4604944462856646a040a9e08b

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