Students Hack The Kinect To Allow Blind To Navigate

The Kinecthesia is a Kinect wired to a set of motors that allows the blind to navigate a room or open space, relying on feedback through the motors to assess objects in their path. The project, created by University of Pennsylvania students Eric Berdinis and Jeff Kiske, is worn like a belt and can sense objects in 3D space.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Z0n-xC0sTeE/

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Jennifer Lopez, 42, Hangs With Her New Man Casper Smart, 24 (omg!)

Jennifer Lopez, 42, Hangs With Her New Man Casper Smart, 24

Jennifer Lopez is mixing business with pleasure!

Over the weekend, a source confirmed to Us Weekly that the newly single star, 42, has been romantically involved with backup dancer Casper Smart, 24, for a few weeks. (The Insider broke the news of the new romance on Saturday.)

PHOTOS: Jennifer's romantic history -- and how it affected her style

TMZ has the first photo of the unexpected twosome together, posing semi-affectionately backstage following Lopez's July 19 performance in the Republic of Crimea in Ukraine. (Smart and a crew of dancers help Lopez entertain the guests of a lavish wedding within days of her announced split from hubby Marc Anthony.)

Smart also shared the stage with the superstar during a May 5 American Idol performance in L.A.

PHOTOS: Jennifer's adorable twins Max and Emme

Lopez's new guy has also performed with Beyonce (at the 2010 Grammy Awards) and even the late Michael Jackson (on his "This Is It" tour). The 5'8" hunk has also appeared in such films as Honey 2 and Step-Up 3D.

An insider adds that, for now at least, it's "nothing serious" for the pair, who were seen together in NYC last week.

PHOTOS: Jennifer and Marc Anthony, the way they were

Of course, Smart isn't the American Idol judge's first dancer beau: She and Cris Judd, a dancer on her "Love Don't Cost a Thing" video, were married for less than a year from 2001 to 2002.

PHOTOS: Who's the sexiest Jennifer in Hollywood?

After a big romance and canceled engagement to Ben Affleck, she married crooner Anthony, 43, in mid-2004. The exes share twins Emme and Max, 3.

Tell Us: Do they look like a cute couple?

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Jennifer Lopez, 42, Hangs With Her New Man Casper Smart, 24

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_jennifer_lopez42_hangs_her_man_casper_smart_193523448/43599406/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/jennifer-lopez-42-hangs-her-man-casper-smart-193523448.html

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These Aren't the Droids You're Looking For. They're Lamps. [Desired]

These Droid lamps, designed by the Jangir Maddadi Design Bureau didn't arrive at their name by accident. Their looks takes inspiration from robots. Yep, boxy, metallic, blippy, bleepy robots. And maybe Star Wars. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/jQPcQ2NmrPo/

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Bahrain: Alleged terror cell had high Iran links (AP)

MANAMA, Bahrain ? An alleged Iranian-linked terror cell had contact with the Tehran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and planned attacks against high profile sites, including Saudi Embassy and a Gulf causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, authorities in Bahrain claimed Sunday.

The allegations from Bahrain's public prosecutor seek to strengthen charges of ties between the suspected underground group and Iran. Bahrain's Sunni leaders have accused Iran of encouraging Shiite-led protests that erupted in February on the island kingdom.

The report in the Bahrain News Agency, however, gave no further information on the suspects or other details to back up the allegations.

The accusations of links to the Revolutionary Guard ? which is closely tied to Iran's ruling clerics ? draws parallels with U.S. claims that an elite unit of the Guard was involved in a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Iran has denied the American charges.

Bahrain's majority Shiites insist they have no political links to Shiite power Iran. Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and its Gulf allies claim that Iran seeks to gain another foothold in the Arab world through unrest in the tiny strategic nation, which hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

A Saudi-led Gulf military force was dispatched to Bahrain in March to aid the Sunni leadership.

More than 35 people have been killed since street clashes began nearly nine months ago. Protesters say they are seeking greater rights and an end to the Sunni dynasty's hold on top political decisions. Bahrain's rulers have offered some compromises, such as expanding the powers of parliament, but not enough to satisfy the opposition.

Authorities have sentenced dozens of people for anti-state crimes like trying to overthrow the ruling system. The case of the alleged terror cell is the first time officials are trying to prove a direct link to Iran and plans to carry out attacks. The suspected targets included Bahrain's Interior Ministry.

The public prosecutor's office also claimed the alleged terror group had links with anti-government figures in exile, including Ali Mushaima, whose father Hassan has been sentenced to life in prison on charges of links to the protests and violence.

The report Sunday said the five suspects have been ordered held in custody for 60 days while investigations continue.

Authorities on Saturday said four suspects were arrested in nearby Qatar. The fifth was detained in Bahrain.

The accusations come before next week's schedule release of an independent investigation into reported abuses by security forces and others during the height of the clashes.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111113/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain

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Arab League votes to suspend Syria over killings (AP)

CAIRO ? In a surprisingly sharp move, the Arab League voted Saturday to suspend Syria over the country's bloody crackdown on an eight-month uprising and stepped up calls on the army to stop killing civilians.

The decision was a humiliating blow to a regime that prides itself as a bastion of Arab nationalism, but it was unlikely to immediately end a wave of violence that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 3,500 people since mid-March.

"Syria is a dear country for all of us and it pains us to make this decision," Qatar's Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim told reporters. "We hope there will be a brave move from Syria to stop the violence and begin a real dialogue toward real reform."

In Damascus, pro-regime demonstrators threw eggs and tomatoes at the Qatari Embassy to protest the vote.

The 22-member Arab League will monitor the situation and revisit the decision in a meeting Wednesday in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, bin Jassim said, a move that appeared to give Syrian President Bashar Assad time to avert the suspension.

But Syria has been unwilling to heed previous calls to end the violence. Saturday's vote came after Damascus failed to carry out a Nov. 2 peace deal brokered by the Arab League that called on Syria to halt the attacks and pull tanks out of cities.

More than 250 Syrian civilians have been killed so far this month, including 12 on Saturday in attacks in the restive city of Homs, the Damascus suburbs and elsewhere, according to activist groups.

President Barack Obama praised the Arab League, highlighting what he called the group's leadership in seeking to end attacks on peaceful protesters. "These significant steps expose the increasing diplomatic isolation of a regime that has systematically violated human rights and repressed peaceful protests," he said in a statement.

Arab League diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, said that if Syria does not adhere to its demands, the organization will work to unify the disparate Syrian opposition into a coalition similar to that of Libya's National Transitional Council. A next step would be to recognize the opposition as the sole representative of the Syrian people in a move that would symbolically isolate Assad's regime even further.

In his statement, bin Jassim called on all factions to meet later this week to unify their message as a step toward dialogue with the Syrian government, but many within the opposition refuse to negotiate with the regime.

Still, there is little to stop Assad now from calling upon the scorched-earth tactics that have kept his family in power for more than four decades. A longtime pariah, Syria grew accustomed to shrugging off the world's reproach long before the regime started shooting unarmed protesters eight months ago.

An international military intervention has been all but ruled out, given the quagmire in Libya and the lack of any strong opposition leader in Syria to rally behind. International sanctions, some of which target Assad personally, have failed to persuade him to ease his crackdown.

Syria also retains the iron support of Shiite Muslim-led Iran, which wants to keep Damascus in its fold in a mostly Sunni Muslim region dominated by Arab suspicions of Tehran's aims. Should Assad's regime fall, it could rob Iran of a loyal Arab partner.

The vote was a strong message from Syria's Arab neighbors and showed growing impatience with Damascus.

Neil Sammonds, a Syria researcher for Amnesty International, said the unified Arab showing will put more pressure on the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions despite objections by Syrian allies Russia and China. Only Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against the Arab League suspension of Syria, with Iraq abstaining.

"This will help put the diplomatic pressure on the Security Council to act, to show Russia and China that they are out of step with the region and the rest of world," Sammonds said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said international pressure would continue to build "until the brutal Assad regime heeds the calls of its own people and the world community."

Saer el-Nashif, who was among the Syrian opposition leaders meeting with Arab League diplomats in Cairo several times in recent weeks, praised Saturday's vote and said he hopes it leads to a Security Council decision.

Arab nations are also eager to avoid seeing another leader toppled violently, as happened to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured and killed last month. An Arab League decision had paved the way for the U.N.-mandated no-fly zone and NATO airstrikes that eventually brought down Gadhafi, but bin Jassim stressed international intervention was not on the agenda in Syria.

"None of us is talking about this kind of decision," he said.

Syria, which blames the bloodshed on extremists acting out a foreign agenda to destabilize the regime, slammed Saturday's vote as "illegal" under Arab League charter rules.

Its Arab League envoy, Youssef Ahmed, said Damascus was calling on the "armed opposition abroad to lay down arms, surrender, stop the violence and accept a national dialogue."

Diplomats who attended the meeting said the Syrian ambassador accused the Qatari foreign minister of carrying out a U.S. agenda, and the Qatari official replied that the league was doing this for the good of the Syrian people.

The bloodshed has spiked dramatically in recent weeks amid signs that more protesters are taking up arms to protect themselves, changing the face of what has been a largely peaceful movement. Many fear the change plays directly into the hands of the regime by giving the military a pretext to crack down with increasing force.

Despite growing international isolation, Assad appears to have a firm grip on power.

Assad and his father, who ruled Syria before him, stacked key security and military posts with members of their minority Alawite sect, ensuring loyalty by melding the fate of the army and the regime. As a result, the army leadership will likely protect the regime at all costs, for fear it will be persecuted if the country's Sunni majority gains the upper hand. Most of the army defectors so far appear to be lower-level Sunni conscripts.

The government has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground. Key sources of information are amateur videos posted online and details gathered by witnesses and activist groups who then contact the media, often at great personal risk.

___

Associated Press writer Hadeel al-Shalchi contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111113/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Gas leak kills 20 in latest China mine accident

Hundreds of rescuers took turns descending into an illegally operated coal mine Thursday to search for 23 Chinese miners trapped by a gas leak that killed 20 others, in the country's second deadly mining accident in less than a week.

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Coal dust forced out of the mine by the powerful leak blanketed the ground 30 feet (10 meters) around the pit, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

It said the private Sizhuang Coal Mine in Qujing city in Yunnan, southwest China, was operating illegally because its license was revoked a year ago.

Ventilation machines were pumping methane gas out of the shaft to enable rescuers and firefighters to enter. About 300 medical workers were at the scene, Xinhua said.

Dust-covered firefighters coming out of the shaft described descending underground and finding only the 20 bodies, Xinhua said.

An initial investigation found that the gas leak occurred Thursday morning at one platform inside the shaft, and the gas spread to another platform, trapping 43 miners working in the two areas, Xinhua reported.

The accident came less than a week after eight miners died and 52 were rescued from a mine in Henan province after a cave-in. The rescue was the biggest in the country since April 2010, when 115 miners were pulled out alive after being trapped for eight days in a mine in northern China.

China's coal mines are the deadliest in the world, although their safety record has improved in recent years as smaller, illegal mines have been closed. Annual fatalities are now about one-third of the high of nearly 7,000 in 2002.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45234484/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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PSU trustees fire Paterno, Spanier

Penn State coach Joe Paterno watches his football team practice, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, in State College, Pa. Paterno, who preached success with honor for half a century but whose legend was shattered by a child sex abuse scandal, said Wednesday that he will retire at the end of this season. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Penn State coach Joe Paterno watches his football team practice, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, in State College, Pa. Paterno, who preached success with honor for half a century but whose legend was shattered by a child sex abuse scandal, said Wednesday that he will retire at the end of this season. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, right, watches the beginning of NCAA college football practice as Sam Ficken kicks in State College, Pa., Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. Paterno said earlier Wednesday he will retire at the end of this season. (AP Photo/The Patriot-News, Joe Hermitt)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, right, and assistant coach Mike McQueary watch a kick at the beginning of practice, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, in State College, Pa. Paterno said earlier Wednesday he will retire at the end of this season. (AP Photo/The Patriot-News, Joe Hermitt)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno sits in a cart at the beginning of practice at the fields behind the Lasch Football Building on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, in State College, Pa. Paterno said earlier Wednesday he will retire at the end of this season. At right is Tommy Venturino, director of football operations. (AP Photo/The Patriot-News, Joe Hermitt)

Penn State coach Joe Paterno looks on during football practice, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, in State College, Pa. Paterno, who preached success with honor for half a century but whose legend was shattered by a child sex abuse scandal, said Wednesday that he will retire at the end of this season. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Joe Paterno was fired by the Penn State board of trustees Wednesday night despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended, brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach.

Penn State President Graham Spanier was also ousted.

"I am disappointed with the board of trustees' decision, but I have to accept it," the 84-year-old Paterno said in a statement. "A tragedy occurred, and we all have to have patience to let the legal process proceed."

Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football history, learned of the board's decision at the end of a day that began with his decision to finish out his 46th season and leave.

It was not to be.

The dismissal prompted thousands of students to gather about two blocks from the campus, many chanting, "We want Joe! We want Joe!" Witnesses said some rocks and bottles were thrown, a lamppost was toppled and a news van was knocked over, its windows kicked out. About 100 police wearing helmets and carrying batons were on hand. There were no reports of arrests.

"The university is much larger than its athletic teams," board vice chair John Surma said during a packed news conference.

Paterno and Spanier were informed by telephone of the unanimous decisions to remove them.

"We were unable to find a way to do that in person without causing further distraction," Surma said.

Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will serve as interim coach while Rodney Erickson will be the interim school president. The university scheduled a news conference with Bradley for Thursday morning.

"The Penn State board of trustees tonight decided it is in the best interest of the university to have a change in leadership to deal with the difficult issues that we are facing," Surma said.

"The past several days have been absolutely terrible for the entire Penn State community. But the outrage that we feel is nothing compared to the physical and psychological suffering that allegedly took place."

Asked what Paterno did wrong, Surma said: "I can't characterize that. We thought because of the difficulties that have engulfed our university, it was necessary to make changes."

Speaking outside his home, Paterno said: "Right now, I'm not the coach. And I've got to get used to that. After 61 years, I've got to get used to it. I appreciate it. Let me think it through."

His wife, Sue, was teary-eyed as she blew kisses to about 100 students on the lawn. "You're all so sweet. And I guess we have to go beat Nebraska without being there. We love you all. Go Penn State," she said.

Paterno said in a statement earlier Wednesday that he was "absolutely devastated" by the abuse case, in which his former assistant and onetime heir apparent, Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years, with some of the alleged assaults taking place at the Penn State football complex.

"This is a tragedy," Paterno said. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

Paterno has come under harsh criticism ? including from within the community known as Happy Valley ? for not taking more action in 2002 after then-graduate assistant and current assistant coach Mike McQueary came to him and reported seeing Sandusky in the Penn State showers with a young boy. Paterno notified the athletic director, Tim Curley, and a vice president, Gary Schultz.

Paterno is not a target of the criminal investigation, although Curley and Schultz have been charged with failing to report the incident to the authorities.

The firings came three days before Penn State hosts Nebraska in its final home game of the season, a day usually set aside to honor seniors on the team.

The ouster of the man affectionately known as "JoePa" brings to an end one of the most storied coaching careers ? not just in college football but in all of sports. Paterno has 409 victories ? a record for major college football ? won two national titles and guided five teams to unbeaten, untied seasons. He reached 300 wins faster than any other coach.

Penn State is 8-1 this year, with its only loss to powerhouse Alabama. The Nittany Lions are No. 12 in The Associated Press poll.

After 19th-ranked Nebraska, Penn State plays at Ohio State and at No. 16 Wisconsin, both Big Ten rivals. It has a chance to play in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 3 in Indianapolis, with a Rose Bowl bid on the line.

The board had already said it would appoint a committee to investigate the "circumstances" that resulted in the indictment of Sandusky, and of Curley and Schultz.

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Education said it has launched an investigation into whether Penn State failed to report incidents of sexual abuse on campus, as required by federal law.

Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in June 1999, maintained his innocence through his lawyer. Curley has taken a leave of absence and Schultz has decided to step down. They also say they are innocent.

The committee will be appointed Friday at the board's regular meeting, which Gov. Tom Corbett said he plans to attend, and will examine "what failures occurred and who is responsible and what measures are necessary to ensure" similar mistakes aren't made in the future.

Surma said McQueary would retain his job for now.

Sandusky founded The Second Mile charity in 1977, working with at-risk youths. It now raises and spends several million dollars each year for its programs. Paterno is listed on The Second Mile's website as a member of its honorary board of directors, a group that includes business executives, golfing great Arnold Palmer and several NFL Hall of Famers and coaches, including retired Pittsburgh Steelers stars Jack Ham and Franco Harris.

"I am disappointed with the board of trustees' decision, but I have to accept it," Paterno said in a statement. "A tragedy occurred, and we all have to have patience to let the legal process proceed."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-10-FBC-Penn-State-Abuse/id-75e129f5e6474a49a06f25fd2bcf1799

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A life full of passion that led to two Nobel prizes

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