You might not have noticed, but in the last two weeks Google has fixed the thing you hate most about Android.
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Thursday, May 30, 2013
Assad reported to confirm Russian missile shipment
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday was quoted as saying his regime has received from Russia a first shipment of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles ? game-changing weapons that are bound to further raise regional tension, particularly with Israel whose defense chief has called them a threat.
In a new setback to international efforts to end Syria's civil war, the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group announced that it would not participate in U.N.-sponsored peace talks that were to have been launched in Geneva.
The decision could torpedo the only peace plan the international community has been able to rally behind, although prospects for its success appeared doubtful from the start.
Assad made the comments about the arrival of the long-range S-300 air defense missiles in an interview with Lebanon's Hezbollah-owned TV station Al-Manar, to be aired later Thursday. The station sent the remarks to journalists in a text message ahead of the broadcast and confirmed them in a phone call.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said they have no evidence the missiles were delivered
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov again this week that the U.S. is concerned about Moscow's continued financial and military support for the Assad regime
Two Jordan-based Western diplomats said some missiles arrived in Syria this week. The diplomats, who insisted on anonymity because identifying them could impede their intelligence gathering, said it would take between five to 10 days to make the systems operational.
The U.S. and Israel had both urged Russia to cancel the missile deal, but Moscow said it would honor its planned weapons sales to Syria. Assad was quoted as telling Al-Manar that "Russia is committed to implementing these contracts."
The S-300s would bolster Syria's air defense, including against possible attacks from Israel, which earlier this month launched two airstrikes on suspected weapons shipments near the Syrian capital Damascus.
The air defense system could also make it harder for the international community to enforce a no-fly zone to assist the Syrian rebels fighting Assad ? something it did in the 2011 civil war in Libya.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that every option in Syria is on the table, including a no-fly zone.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said the latest comments about a no-fly zone raise doubt about the sincerity of U.S. support for launching Syria peace talks.
In a statement, the ministry cautioned the U.S. against a "bellicose agenda in Syria."
The developments raise fears of an arms race ? in Syria and in the wider Middle East. Earlier this week, the European Union lifted an arms embargo, paving way for member states to send weapons to rebels.
There was no official comment from Israel. Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said earlier this week that Russia's plan to supply Syria with the weapons was a threat and signaled that Israel was prepared to use force to stop the delivery.
Israel's airstrikes this month are believed to have destroyed weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group that supports Assad, along with Iran and Russia. It is not clear whether Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace in these attacks.
If Syria indeed received the first S-300s, the Israeli air force's ability to strike in Syria could be limited. The S-300s have a range of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) and can track and strike multiple targets at once.
Syria already possesses Russian-made air defenses.
Syria did not respond to Israel's recent strikes. However, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Wednesday that Damascus "will retaliate immediately" if Israel strikes Syrian soil again. It was not clear if there was a link between al-Moallem's remark and the Russian shipment.
In Thursday's interview, Assad said that "Syria has received the first shipment of Russian anti-aircraft S-300 rockets," according to Al-Manar. It also quoted him as saying that "All our agreements with Russia will be implemented and parts of them have already been implemented."
Meanwhile, the main political opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said Thursday it would not attend the Geneva talks, linking the decision to the battle for the strategic western Syrian town of Qusair.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah is heavily involved in the 12-day-old push to drive rebels from the town. Coalition officials claimed Thursday that hundreds of peopled wounded in the fighting were trapped in the town.
"The talk about the international conference and a political solution to the situation in Syria has no meaning in light of the massacres that are taking place," coalition spokesman Khalid Saleh told reporters in Istanbul, where the opposition has been holding week-long deliberations on a strategy for the Geneva talks.
He said the group will not support any international peace efforts in light of the "invasion" of Syria by Iran and Hezbollah.
The opposition's announcement came just a day after al-Moallem said the government would attend the planned peace conference in Geneva but laid out terms that made it difficult for the opposition to accept.
Al-Moallem said Assad will remain president at least until elections in 2014 and might seek another term, and that any deal reached in such talks would have to be put to a referendum.
Psaki, the State Department spokesman, said she hoped it was not the coalition's final word on the Geneva conference.
She said Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, is in Istanbul trying to help the opposition sort through its internal problems. Once members have decided on issues such as expanded membership and leadership, the U.S. hopes they will recommit to peace talks, Psaki said.
Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, accused the coalition of trying to set pre-conditions, by demanding that Assad's departure from office must be the focus of any peace talks. He called such a demand "unrealistic."
He urged the U.S. and Europe to "restrain those who are encouraging such unacceptable and aggressive approaches on the part of the National Coalition."
If the diplomatic option is now off the table, following the opposition's decision, the West, including the U.S., will have to come up with a new approach. President Barack Obama could face renewed pressure to help the rebels militarily.
The U.S. had hoped a dialogue between representatives of the regime and the opposition could set a timetable for Assad's removal, said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center. "That policy is now in tatters," he said.
Meanwhile, fighting continued Thursday in Qusair, and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition group, said regime forces now control most of the town.
Both sides value Qusair, which lies along a land corridor linking two of Assad's strongholds, the capital Damascus and an area along the Mediterranean coast. For the rebels, holding the town means protecting their supply line to Lebanon, just 10 kilometers (six miles) away.
More than 70,000 people have been killed in the 26-month-old Syrian conflict that has had increasingly sectarian overtones. Members of Syria's Sunni Muslim majority dominate the rebel ranks and Assad's regime is mostly made up of Alawites, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam.
___
Associated Press writer Bradley S. Klapper in Washington contributed reporting.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/assad-reported-confirm-russian-missile-shipment-180922075.html
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Democrats choose European Union over Great Britain.
And the Democrats don?t even have the common decency to do it in public.
The Obama administration has warned British officials that if the UK leaves Europe it will exclude itself from a US-EU trade and investment partnership potentially worth hundreds of billions of pounds a year, and that it was very unlikely that Washington would make a separate deal with Britain.
The warning comes in the wake of David Cameron?s visit to Washington, which was primarily intended as a joint promotion of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with Barack Obama, which the prime minister said could bring ?10bn a year to the UK alone, but which was overshadowed by a cabinet rebellion back in London.
Or the basic bravery. Of course, saying in public (i.e., using your name) that you prefer to work with the French or ? God help us, the Belgians* ? instead of the British when it comes to trade deals, to the point where you?d discriminate against the latter, is a pretty good way to end a political career in this country. Which doesn?t make the cowardice any better; merely more explicable.
The short version of what?s happening, by the way, is that the USA and the EU are preparing to try to work out a mutual trade deal; only, there are a steadily-growing number of people in the UK who have come to decide that being linked to the EU is like being shackled to the galley just after it?s been holed beneath the waterline. They want out, in other words; and as the movement that has resulted is threatening to eat into the current ruling coalition?s control of the government, there are Tories in England that are now seriously talking about having a referendum on this entire EU thing. The Obama administration is responding to this by not-subtly-at-all pointing out that they want to make a deal with the EU, not a deal with the EU & the UK. As threats go, this is of course pointless; as the Guardian itself notes, trying to push a trade treaty through Congress is not an automatic exercise. Trying to push a trade treaty will be seen as attempting to punish Great Britain will be entertaining, in a very Platonic Ideal of Dark Humor sort of way**.
Anyway? Barack Obama just doesn?t like the United Kingdom, huh? ? Because I?ve never seen a President so visibly offended at the idea that they have to play nice with the Brits. Heck, I?ve never seen a President that needed to be told that they have to play nice with a crucial ally; most of ?em had the mother-wit to figure it out on their own. And, by the way? If the Democrats don?t like being lumped in like this with the President, they have an excellent opportunity here to correct matters.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
Via Hot Air Headlines.
*I stopped caring what a jumped-up Brussels bureaucrat has to say to me about human rights violations ? or anything else, really ? on or about the time that I got fully caught up on the history of the Belgian Congo. Give me a call when they dig up Emperor Leopold?s corpse and burn it at the stake, and he should consider himself lucky at suffering such a fate, the creature.
**Note that I make no observations about the trade deal itself; I have no idea what is in it, it could be marvelous and wonderful and spontaneously generate kittens every thirty seconds. I do, however, know who my country?s friends are. Some of them belong to the European Union. The people who run the EU? ?Not so much.
Source: http://www.redstate.com/2013/05/28/democrats-choose-european-union-over-great-britain/
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Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Re-creating the original colors of treasured ivory carvings from the ancient past
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Public release date: 29-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society
The fabled ivory carvings from the ancient Phoenician city of Arslan Tash literally meaning "Stone Lion" may appear a dull monochrome in museums today, but they glittered with brilliant blue, red, gold and other colors 2,800 years ago, a new study has confirmed after decades of speculation. It appears in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.
Ina Reiche and colleagues explain that these carvings are rare, housed in museums like the Louvre, and art experts regard them as the most beautiful ivory carvings of the era. Experts long believed that the lion heads, amulets and other objects were brightly colored, rather than the bland beiges and whites that remain today. But until recently, there was no adequate way to test the ivories for traces of pigment without damaging these priceless objects.
The scientists describe how a non-destructive testing technology brought to life traces of red, blue and other pigments and gold gilding allowing re-creation of the long-vanished colors that decorated the original ivories. In addition to contributing to a new understanding of the Phoenician carvings, the technology could be used to glimpse the original paintings on other objects, the authors note. Those include the Elgin Marbles, the classical Greek marble sculptures that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis in Athens.
###
The authors acknowledge funding from a doctoral grant from the Universit Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC).
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 29-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society
The fabled ivory carvings from the ancient Phoenician city of Arslan Tash literally meaning "Stone Lion" may appear a dull monochrome in museums today, but they glittered with brilliant blue, red, gold and other colors 2,800 years ago, a new study has confirmed after decades of speculation. It appears in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.
Ina Reiche and colleagues explain that these carvings are rare, housed in museums like the Louvre, and art experts regard them as the most beautiful ivory carvings of the era. Experts long believed that the lion heads, amulets and other objects were brightly colored, rather than the bland beiges and whites that remain today. But until recently, there was no adequate way to test the ivories for traces of pigment without damaging these priceless objects.
The scientists describe how a non-destructive testing technology brought to life traces of red, blue and other pigments and gold gilding allowing re-creation of the long-vanished colors that decorated the original ivories. In addition to contributing to a new understanding of the Phoenician carvings, the technology could be used to glimpse the original paintings on other objects, the authors note. Those include the Elgin Marbles, the classical Greek marble sculptures that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis in Athens.
###
The authors acknowledge funding from a doctoral grant from the Universit Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC).
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Follow us: Twitter Facebook
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/acs-rto052913.php
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TechCrunch In The Balkans
Are you in Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, or Slovenia? Have I got a treat for you. In an effort to spread the good word about TC in the rest of Europe, I will be rolling through Sofia, Belgrade, Zagreb, and Ljubljana at the beginning of July for a series of informal meet-ups. If you’re in those cities, I want you to attend! Assisting in the planning is Netokracija?/?Netocratic, the “TechCrunch of Southeast Europe.” They will provide us with locations and more specific timing but as it stands we expect to have some free beer, lots of sunshine, and a great chance to talk about your startup in an informal setting. We’ll also be scouting for Disrupt entrants for Disrupt Berlin in October. These will be informal meetups where I’ll talk a little bit about TechCrunch and getting the attention of media outside your own country and we can talk startups, entrepreneurship, and funding all night long. To RSVP for Sofia on July 1 click here.?Co-hosted by ?Netokracija / Netocratic & Eleven To RSVP for Belgrade on July 2 click here.?Hosted by?Netokracija?/?Netocratic. To RSVP for Zagreb on July 3 click here.?Hosted by?Netokracija?/?Netocratic. To RSVP for Ljubljana on July 5 click here.?Hosted by Netokracija / Netocratic. Interested in sponsoring the event? Please contact organizer Ivan Brezak Brkan, head of MemeMedia, directly. We’ll have much more information soon, but until then RSVP and get your product ready for our Southeast Euro Trip! Special thanks to our main sponsor, the .me domain.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Da3PK2iaYMk/
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Mataerial 3D printer escapes the tyranny of layers, changes colors on the fly (video)
Anyone who has used conventional 3D printers knows that they work by stacking layer on layer, limiting just what they can create and where. Mataerial's upcoming printer doesn't abide by those petty rules. Its robotic arm draws instantly solid 3D curves rather than 2D slices, shedding the need for direct support or even a horizontal surface. It's also not bound by traditional approaches to color. As Mataerial injects dye at the last moment, it can switch hues mid-stream and introduce subtle gradients. We've reached out for launch and pricing details, but it's reasonable to presume that such advanced control won't come cheap -- we'd look to the 3Doodler for more affordable in-air artistry.
Filed under: Peripherals
Source: Mataerial
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/hYS4CwU0FK4/
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'Voice' singer wants to be Bond Girl for Levine
TV
2 hours ago
When Adam Levine told Amber Carrington she?d be singing the James Bond theme ?Skyfall? on Monday night?s ?The Voice,? she feared that she was done for.
?When Adam gave me that song I was kind of mad at him,? the Texas-born country artist told TODAY.com, ?because it's Adele. (I was like) 'Do you not want me to succeed at all or something???
Yet she had nothing to worry about. Amber?s performance of the Academy Award-winning title track from Daniel Craig?s latest 007 outing won her unanimous praise from the coaches. She also got to show off a Bond Girl-worthy look, slinking across the stage in a bejeweled black dress. It was no surprise that ?Voice? producers chose Amber to fill the show?s coveted closing spot.
How did Amber turn her initial concerns into such a strong finished product? She credited the ?Voice? choreographers with helping her get into character. ?They're like 'Listen, you have to get in the (right) mode (for the song), like a James Bond girl. We need to give you a name, like an alter-ego,?? she recalled.
?They were like, 'Your new name is Diamond,? and I was like, 'I can own this.' When I went up there (Monday night), I was Diamond.?
The name choice ended up being unintentionally amusing, as four of Amber?s fellow artists -- including her teammates Sarah Simmons and Judith Hill -- performed Rihanna?s ?Diamonds? earlier in the evening. That led to some playful confusion.
?Everybody kept talking about ?Diamonds,?? Amber quipped, ?and I was like, ?What? Are you talking about me??"
Amber?s performance marked the first time a ?Voice? artist has performed a song written specifically for a feature film. The fact that she did well by one of the best-loved Bond themes is even more impressive considering that she wasn't even a fan of the film franchise.
?I haven't seen the movie. I'm aware of Adele's version of the song because I've heard it, but I haven't seen any James Bond movie in my life,? she admitted. ?But I'll go watch them now.?
She could even consider it research. During last week?s show, Amber?s coach confessed that he?s always wanted to be a secret agent. So would she be open to being Adam Levine?s Bond Girl?
?I would love that!? she enthused.
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Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: The Character of L.A.'s New Mayor, Eric Garcetti
Eric Garcetti has just been elected one of Los Angeles' youngest mayors ever. Eric was a Rhodes scholar in Oxford from about 1993 to 1995. We were close friends and he was a regular at my Oxford University L'Chaim Society. One unforgettable incident defined his character for me in a moment of terrible tragedy for one of our students.
One day in the late afternoon in 1995, I received a phone call from a student who was one of my wife and my closest friends and the president of our student organization. She was crying bitterly. Her name was Jordana and she was almost incoherent with grief. Jordana, who has given me her permission to use her name, was studying in Oxford far away from her home in Canada. She had just received a phone call that her beloved father, with whom she was very close, had died in a terrible accident. She pleaded with me to come around to help her in this moment of agony and incomprehensible pain. I reached her family and we all decided the best thing would be for her to return home as soon as possible. I told them I would drive her to the airport in London.
There was one problem. That night I had already invited Eric over to our home for a private dinner with me and my wife. Given that this was before most students had cell phones, the only effective way of communicating with the students was through the University's painfully slow 'pigeon post' system. I could not tell Eric in time that the dinner was being canceled.
I drove to Jordana's college where some of her friends were already helping her pack her things. I attempted to comfort her in the tragic news and then brought everything to the car for the trip to the airport. We drove straight to our home where my wife could speak to her and where she could eat something quickly prior to the long night ahead of her. As we walked into the house, there was Eric, smiling and looking happy to be at our home for dinner. He had no idea of the night's events. I quickly introduced him to Jordana. Her eyes were red and she was pale from grief. I said to Eric, "This is Jordana and I'm so sorry that we have to cancel dinner tonight. You see, she has just learned that her father passed away just hours ago." Moments like this are what show the true character of an individual. Here was Eric, a young, popular Rhodes scholar at Oxford who had simply come to have dinner at his Rabbi's home. Now, he was being confronted with a total stranger's grief and tragedy. How would he react?
And here was an interaction that has lingered in my mind and that I will never forget. Eric looked right at Jordana and, in the softest gentlest words, said to her, "I am so sorry for your pain. I'm heartbroken to hear the news. Please tell me if there is anything I can do." His face was contorted in agony. He spent the next few minutes speaking with her. It was not what he said but the way he said it. He spoke with extreme empathy and understanding. It is quite remarkable that nearly 20 years later I can remember the scene so vividly. What I saw was genuine human compassion for the plight of a complete stranger. I remember thinking to myself that here was a young man with a soft and special heart, that he had the ability to connect genuinely and compassionately with those who were suffering.
Jordana reciprocated the effort. Amid mind-altering loss, she kept her composure and apologized to Eric for having to cancel his dinner. She thanked him for his sympathy and did everything in her power to interact with him on a human level amid her shattered heart. She told him she looked forward to getting to know him better when she returned and under better circumstances. It was a herculean effort at composure.
Eric refused to leave the home until Jordana and I departed. He waited around, told me how he of course understood the need to postpone our dinner, and kept on emphasizing that he wanted to help in any way that he could. About 20 minutes later we departed for London.
Interestingly, over the years to come, whenever I visited Jordana and her husband she would inquire how Eric was doing, so deeply had she been touched by his caring at that moment. Conversely, Eric regularly asks me about Jordana's welfare. I'm not sure they ever met again but for me, as a witness to a brief exchange between two people in a moment of extreme crisis, it was a demonstration of Eric's desire to always be there for those who are suffering.
Indeed, Eric's caring for those who are struggling would become his defining political legacy as a Los Angeles council member and as President of the Council.
In Oxford, our organization specialized in hosting world personalities lecturing on values-based issues. A few months after this painful story, Eric was instrumental in helping me host his father, Los Angeles DA Gil Garcetti, to lecture to our students. Gil was all over the news at the time, having been involved in the high profile cases of O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson and others. I remember witnessing just how close Eric was to his father and the special bond they shared. It was something that I was reminded of recently, when I was invited to the birthday party of a Garcetti family member, seeing the deference and respect Eric accords his parents and the loving bond with his wife Amy, whom I also knew at Oxford. Gil is now an accomplished photographer and the son he mentored has grown to become L.A.'s first Jewish mayor.
Shmuley Boteach, "America's Rabbi" whom The Washington Post calls "the most famous Rabbi in America," has just published his newest best-seller, "The Fed-up Man of Faith: Challenging God in the Face of Tragedy and Suffering." Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.
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Follow Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RabbiShmuley
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/eric-garcetti_b_3342182.html
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Monday, May 27, 2013
Shader Running Really Slowly For Some Reason? - C And C++ ...
Example
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Emoticons
"); // Add smilies into the mix ipb.editor_values.set( 'show_emoticon_link', false ); ipb.editor_values.set( 'bbcodes', $H({"snapback":{"id":"1","title":"Post Snap Back","desc":"This tag displays a little linked image which links back to a post - used when quoting posts from the board. Opens in same window by default.","tag":"snapback","useoption":"0","example":"[snapback]100[/snapback]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"topic":{"id":"5","title":"Topic Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a topic","tag":"topic","useoption":"1","example":"[topic=1]Click me![/topic]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the topic ID","menu_content_text":"Enter the title for this link","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"post":{"id":"6","title":"Post Link","desc":"This tag provides an easy way to link to a post.","tag":"post","useoption":"1","example":"[post=1]Click me![/post]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the Post ID","menu_content_text":"Enter the title for this link","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"spoiler":{"id":"7","title":"Spoiler","desc":"Spoiler tag","tag":"spoiler","useoption":"0","example":"[spoiler]Some hidden text[/spoiler]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"Enter the text to be masked","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"acronym":{"id":"8","title":"Acronym","desc":"Allows you to make an acronym that will display a description when moused over","tag":"acronym","useoption":"1","example":"[acronym='Laugh Out Loud']lol[/acronym]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"Enter the description for this acronym (EG: Laugh Out Loud)","menu_content_text":"Enter the acronym (EG: lol)","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"hr":{"id":"12","title":"Horizontal Rule","desc":"Adds a horizontal rule to separate text","tag":"hr","useoption":"0","example":"[hr]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"1","optional_option":"0","image":""},"php":{"id":"14","title":"PHP Code","desc":"Allows you to enter PHP code into a formatted/highlighted syntax box","tag":"php","useoption":"0","example":"[php]$variable = true;\n\nprint_r($variable);[/php]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"html":{"id":"15","title":"HTML Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted HTML code","tag":"html","useoption":"0","example":"[html]\n \n[/html]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"sql":{"id":"16","title":"SQL Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted SQL code","tag":"sql","useoption":"0","example":"[sql]SELECT p.*, t.* FROM posts p LEFT JOIN topics t ON t.tid=p.topic_id WHERE t.tid=7[/sql]","switch_option":"0","menu_option_text":"","menu_content_text":"","single_tag":"0","optional_option":"0","image":""},"xml":{"id":"17","title":"XML Code","desc":"Allows you to enter formatted/syntax-highlighted XML code","tag":"xml","useoption":"0","example":"[xml] 3 Replies - 0 Views - Last Post: 4 minutes ago Rate Topic: 
#1 zehawk ?
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Posted Today, 07:03 PM
Ok, I know how much people hate these questions, the whole "Shader runs slow" or "Code runs slow.." But I seriously do not know what to say about this. I'm making point lighting with, well, multiple lights that will blend. I have no trouble uploading the data, and it draws, at about 70 fps. Here's the code that runs, but if you follow the logic, you will see that only the last light is drawn whereas the other lights are drawn over. I know why, it makes sense, but anything i try to include the other lights causes the fps to go below 20 fps. Keep in mind, this is for a game. Here it is:Vertex Shader:
void main() { gl_TexCoord[0] = gl_MultiTexCoord0; gl_FrontColor = gl_Color; // Set the position of the current vertex gl_Position = gl_ModelViewProjectionMatrix * gl_Vertex; }
Fragment Shader where only one light is drawn:
void light(const float loc, const float redDiff, const float greenDiff, const float blueDiff, const float redDist, const float greenDist, const float blueDist) { //the size of the light const float lightSize = loc; //the color of the fragment lowp vec4 value = {0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0}; float locX; float locY; //this is actually the distance x and y components locX = loc - gl_FragCoord.x; locY = loc - gl_FragCoord.y; //the value of a^2 + b^2. value.r = (locX * locX) + (locY * locY); //the hypotenuse of the triangle value.r = sqrt(value.r); float distance = value.r; //then the light value, depending on how big the distance away from the light it is float lightRed = (lightSize - abs(distance * redDist)) / lightSize; float lightGreen = (lightSize - abs(distance * greenDist)) / lightSize; float lightBlue = (lightSize - abs(distance * blueDist)) / lightSize; red = ((lightRed) * redDiff); green = ((lightGreen) * greenDiff); blue = (lightBlue) * blueDiff; } void main() { //how many lights there are, currently 64. i can change that, but this isn't where the problem lies for(int i = 0; i < 64; i++) { light(i * 16, 1, 0.5, 0.0, 1, 1.125, 0.0); } gl_FragColor = vec4(red, green, blue, 1) * texture2D(color_texture, gl_TexCoord[0].st); }
The above code runs at about 70 fps, which is fine. But only one light is drawn.
Now, any attempts at adding more lights drops the fps badly, to about 20. The lights all blend well, but 20 fps is bad. A few things i tried was if gates, to see if the new light is brighter than the old value, and if so, the color changes to the new light value. I also tried to find the difference between the new and old, and add it if its positive, but so far that hasn't worked either. So, if anyone could point in the right direction how i can allow blending while keeping 70 fps, that would be appreciated.
Also, something weird is, take:
red = ((lightRed) * redDiff); green = ((lightGreen) * greenDiff); blue = (lightBlue) * blueDiff;
And make it this:
red += ((lightRed) * redDiff); green += ((lightGreen) * greenDiff); blue += (lightBlue) * blueDiff;
and frameRate drops considerably. That makes no sense why it does that, and it doesn't draw the lights either.
However, if only the blue is changed from = to +=, then no frame drop occurs. What could be going on? Anyone know?
Is This A Good Question/Topic? 0
Replies To: Shader Running really slowly for some reason?
#2 ButchDean ?
Reputation: 879
- Posts: 3,355
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Re: Shader Running really slowly for some reason?
Posted Today, 07:29 PM
Before I put any thought into this are you running the shader routines in debug or release mode?
#3 zehawk ?
Reputation: 3
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Re: Shader Running really slowly for some reason?
Posted Today, 07:47 PM
I'm just loading the shaders into the program normally, not using a debugger. How would i know the difference? I'm new to glsl, sorry...
#4 ButchDean ?
Reputation: 879
- Posts: 3,355
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Re: Shader Running really slowly for some reason?
Posted 4 minutes ago
It would depend on what you are debugging. It's a very long story.If you knew how to used the tools of your chosen IDE and a shader debugging tool you would most likely nail the bottleneck.
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Source: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/321873-shader-running-really-slowly-for-some-reason/
Medical pot laws & treats may send more kids to ER
CHICAGO (AP) ? Increased use of medical marijuana may lead to more young children getting sick from accidentally eating food made with the drug, a Colorado study suggests.
Medical marijuana items include yummy-looking gummy candies, cookies and other treats that may entice young children. Fourteen children were treated at Colorado Children's Hospital in the two years after a 2009 federal policy change led to a surge in medical marijuana use, the study found. That's when federal authorities said they would not prosecute legal users.
Study cases were mostly mild, but parents should know about potential risks and keep the products out of reach, said lead author Dr. George Sam Wang, an emergency room physician at the hospital. stare
Unusual drowsiness and unsteady walking were among the symptoms. One child, a 5-year-old boy, had trouble breathing. Eight children were hospitalized, two in the intensive care unit, though all recovered within a few days, Wang said. By contrast, in four years preceding the policy change, the Denver-area hospital had no such cases.
Some children came in laughing, glassy-eyed or "acting a little goofy and 'off,'" Wang said. Many had eaten medical marijuana food items, although nonmedical marijuana was involved in at least three cases. The children were younger than 12 and included an 8-month-old boy.
The study was released Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.
Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., allow medical marijuana, though it remains illegal under federal law. Colorado's law dates to 2000 but the study notes that use there soared after the 2009 policy change on prosecution. Last year, Colorado and Washington state legalized adult possession of small amounts of nonmedical marijuana.
Some states, including Colorado, allow medical marijuana use by sick kids, with parents' supervision.
In a journal editorial, two Seattle poisoning specialists say that at least seven more states are considering legalizing medical marijuana and that laws that expand marijuana use likely will lead to more children sickened.
___
Online:
JAMA Pediatrics: http://www.jamapeds.com
Medical marijuana: http://tinyurl.com/o2cu3be
___
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/medical-pot-laws-treats-may-send-more-kids-202405747.html
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Sunday, May 26, 2013
Four-star general in eye of U.S. cyber storm
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Depending on your point of view, U.S. General Keith Alexander is either an Army four-star trying to stave off a cyber Pearl Harbor attack, or an overreaching spy chief who wants to eavesdrop on the private emails of every American.
Alexander, 61, has headed the National Security Agency since 2005, making him the longest-serving chief in the history of an intelligence unit so secretive that it was dubbed "No Such Agency." Alexander also runs U.S. Cyber Command, which he helped to create in 2010 to oversee the country's offensive and defensive operations in cyberspace.
The dual role means Alexander has more knowledge about cyber threats than any other U.S. official, since the NSA already protects the most sensitive U.S. data, extracts intelligence from foreign networks and uses wiretaps to track suspected terrorists. But it also puts the general at the center of an intense debate over how much power the government should have to spy on private citizens in the name of protecting national security.
"He's lasted as long as he has because he's focused and he's persistent. I've never heard him yell," said retired four-star general Michael Hayden, who was Alexander's predecessor at the NSA. "He doesn't spread himself too thin. He decides what's important and puts his personal energy into those things."
Raised near Syracuse, New York, Alexander graduated from West Point, the Army's elite training academy, in 1974. He had planned to serve in the military for just five years but got hooked on the work when he served in Germany as an intelligence officer, monitoring what he once described as "sensitive issues on the border of East Germany and Czechoslovakia."
After Germany, Alexander held a series of increasingly senior intelligence jobs and spent the first Gulf War as a senior Army intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia. Over the years, he also earned four master's degrees, in electronic warfare, physics, business and national security studies.
In 2005, after two years as the Army's top intelligence officer, Alexander replaced Hayden at the helm of the NSA, where he continued to run a warrantless surveillance program initiated after the September 11, 2001, hijacking attacks.
The program, which bypassed a federal court that authorizes domestic wiretapping, was first revealed late in 2005, sparking lawsuits, congressional hearings, leak investigations and a furor that still dogs the agency - and Alexander.
Against this backdrop, his push to expand the NSA's role in domestic cybersecurity has drawn criticism from privacy advocates, and sometimes put Alexander at odds with the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, according to current and former officials.
Alexander had wanted the NSA to control a government security program to aid non-military companies against cyber threats, but others at DHS insisted on civilian control of the project, and they ultimately prevailed, the officials said.
Jane Holl Lute, who stepped down this month as the No. 2 at DHS, said she has had intense conversations with Alexander about the roles of their two agencies in improving cyber security. She declined to detail any differences of opinion, but said they were all judgment calls and she respected the general.
"He pushed up his hill, and I pushed up mine, and what we came to was essentially two sides of the same hill," Lute said.
"We didn't always call balls and strikes the same way. That does not mean he wasn't trying to get it right," she said. "I would challenge anyone who would question his integrity."
HEADING FOR RETIREMENT
Alexander, who told Reuters he plans to retire in the first half of 2014, has presided over one of the busiest times in the NSA's 61-year history, from tracking the cellphone calls that helped pinpoint Osama bin Laden to drawing national attention to cybersecurity. He played a key role in shaping a series of recent cyber policy orders from the Obama administration.
More controversial has been the NSA's construction of a $1.2 billion data center in Utah, which has fanned concerns about the agency's expansive eavesdropping capabilities.
NSA whistleblower William Binney, a former senior crypto-mathematician, last year accused the agency of building the Utah facility to collect data on virtually every American, including private emails, cellphone calls and Google searches.
Alexander told the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit that such claims about the Utah project are completely false. He rattled off a long list of agencies that oversee the NSA's work, including the Justice Department, White House and Congress. "Either all of them are complicit in us doing this or the allegations are absolute baloney. It's the latter," he said.
He told Reuters the center was built in Utah instead of Maryland, where the NSA is based, to take advantage of cheaper electricity. "I'm not a brain surgeon," he said. "But you can try to put power where it's expensive, Maryland, or you can put it (where there is) really cheap power."
According to Alexander, the NSA has its hands full keeping tabs on potential terrorists, and does not have the bandwidth to read the 420 billion emails generated by Americans each day - even though some foreign governments were trying to do that.
"The great irony is we're the only ones not spying on the American people," he quipped.
Alexander has tried to make the NSA appear more transparent, crisscrossing the country to talk about cyber issues. He likes to pepper his speeches with jokes, once blaming his late arrival at a Washington event on a "distributed denial of service" hacking attack on city street lights.
A gadget lover, Alexander is known to roll up his sleeves to become versant with the latest security technologies. On one flight, he and his aide-de-camp learned "BackTrack," a Linux-based product that helps people test their network security. Aides say the general often scores over 1 million points on the "Bejeweled Blitz" online puzzle game.
Alexander's biggest strength is his ability to reach out to a wide range of audiences, said Shawn Henry, former FBI executive assistant director. He cites a speech Alexander gave at the Defcon hackers conference last year, an appearance that would have been unheard of a few years ago.
"Here's a guy who is seen as a symbol of oppressive government ... and he stands up in front of a thousand people, many of whom probably have hacked networks over the years," said Henry, recalling that Alexander had ditched his decorated uniform for jeans and a black T-shirt. "He is just trying to connect, talking about coordination, collaboration."
DUAL HATS
Alexander has asked the Pentagon to give Cyber Command the same elevated status as other major military commands, but it is not yet clear if that request will be granted.
Ira Winkler, president of the Information Systems Security Association, said Alexander's leadership of both NSA and Cyber Command is an advantage but also a complication.
"He's stuck in a bad position. He basically has to defend U.S. cyberspace which requires securing commercial websites and infrastructure, but no one wants him to have access to those networks, since he's also in charge of NSA," Winkler said.
Alexander said he feels strongly that whoever succeeds him should continue to wear the two hats, but not everyone agrees.
"How much can you consolidate before it gets so huge that one person can't manage it," said Harry Raduege, a retired Air Force general and former director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, which oversees military IT systems. "It's an awful lot for somebody at the top of those organizations to deal with."
Still, Raduege, now with the consulting firm Deloitte, said he expects the Pentagon to elevate Cyber Command to a full unified command before the general's retirement next year.
"There's no one in a better position to know the depth, magnitude and broad-based nature of today's increasing and evolving cyber threats," said Raduege. "When Keith Alexander talks about cyber attacks, we should all listen."
(Additional reporting by Joe Menn in San Francisco, and Warren Strobel and Peter Apps in Washington; Editing by Tiffany Wu, Tim Dobbyn and Mohammad Zargham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/four-star-general-eye-u-cyber-storm-124341707.html
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Suicide bomber dies in blast in Afghan capital
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? A would-be suicide bomber died when his explosives-rigged vest went off prematurely in Afghanistan's capital on Saturday morning, police said. The apparent failed attack came a day after a major Taliban assault on an international compound in Kabul left 10 people dead including the six attackers.
Another blast in the country's east killed 12 people at a mosque during evening prayers late Friday. Authorities in Ghazni province say explosives transported by suspected Taliban fighters accidentally detonated while they were stopped at a mosque.
In Kabul, a man wearing an explosives-filled vest died when the vest went off as he left a home in the capital's southeast, police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanekzai said. No one else was killed or wounded, but the accidental detonation may have averted another attack in the city, which has seen two deadly suicide attacks in just over a week.
On Friday afternoon, a suicide car bomber kicked off an assault targeting a guest house for aid workers with the International Organization for Migration.
Kabul police on Saturday raised the siege death toll from two to four, including a 6-year-old child, two compound guards and one policeman. All six of the attackers were killed, one in the bomb and five more in an hours-long shootout with police in the upscale neighborhood that is home to the United Nations' office as well as the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force and a hospital run by the National Directorate for Security.
Four IOM workers were wounded including an Italian woman badly burned by a grenade, the aid group said.
The siege came eight days after another suicide car bomb hit a U.S. military convoy, killing two U.S. soldiers, four American contractors and nine Afghan bystanders.
Protecting major population centers like Kabul is one of the most visible tests for Afghan security forces' ability to keep security now that international combat forces are pulling back ahead of the 2014 withdrawal.
Most of the U.S.-led military coalition will leave by the end of next year, more than a dozen years after launching the war to topple the Taliban regime over its sheltering of al-Qaida's leadership.
In the eastern province of Ghazni, another explosion at a local mosque killed four civilians and eight militants during Friday night prayers, local official Qasim Desewal said Saturday
He said that the Taliban had apparently stopped at the mosque in Andar district while traveling and the explosives they were carrying went off while they were inside.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-bomber-dies-blast-afghan-capital-095107752.html
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LG Envoy II (U.S. Cellular)
It may seem like everyone out there wants the latest and greatest in feature-packed, giant-screen smartphones, but there's still a bunch of people that just need to make a call from time to time. And for that reason, companies like LG keep making flip phones like the Envoy II?not that there's anything wrong with that. We like a good simple cell phone ourselves, like our Editors' Choice, the Samsung Jitterbug Plus. Unfortunately, while the $69.99 LG Envoy II for U.S. Cellular may be simple, it isn't very good. It's less of a classic flip phone than it is simply stuck in the past.
Design and Call Quality
Design-wise, the Envoy II is your standard flip phone. It measures 3.9 by 2.0 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.7 ounces. The whole thing is made of matte black plastic with a lightly textured strip that runs across the middle. All external controls are on the left, including a covered, non-standard headphone jack, a volume rocker, and the power port.
There's a 1-inch monochrome LCD on the outside of the phone. It shows you the time, date, network, reception, ringer, and battery life. The phone opens smoothly, though the hinge feels flimsy, like you can break it off if you push too hard. Inside is a 2.2-inch display with just 176-by-144-pixel resolution. It looks terrible. Everything is blurry, like you're wearing someone else's glasses, and viewing angles are poor. You can control the size and style of the text, but it still looks small even on the largest setting. Thankfully, the phone has text-to-speech conversion, so you can have it read incoming messages aloud.
The lower half of the phone is home to your number keys, as well as a rather busy control pad. There's a standard five-button navigation pad, which is flanked by an additional seven function keys. That's a lot of buttons, but none of them are the keys to send or end a call?those are a little further down with the number keys. So what controls do you get? There are two function keys in either corner that correspond to commands on screen. There's also a button for the camera, speakerphone, alarm, text-to-speech, and voice commands. That's about three buttons too many. Some of those controls would've been better off left to the Settings menu.
The keys themselves are decent. They're dimly backlit, with decent separation and good travel. Of course, even the best number pad isn't ideal for texting, so if that's what you're after, you're better off with a keyboarded phone like the Samsung Freeform 4.
In New York City where I did my testing, U.S. Cellular phones use Sprint's network.?The Envoy II is a 2G device with no Wi-Fi. Reception was decent and voice quality is solid. Voices sound very good in the phone's earpiece; there's some light fuzz, but you need to turn the volume all the way up to hear it. Calls made with the phone are also solid, though voices were a little muted from aggressive noise cancellation. There's some side tone in the earpiece, which helps prevent you from talking too loudly. The speakerphone sounds okay, but is not loud enough to hear outside. And calls sounded good over a Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset, though the voice command system was rather fussy; it worked properly less than half the times I tried. Battery life was average at 6 hours and 14 minutes of talk time.
Apps, Multimedia, and Conclusions
You don't get much in the way of apps. The main menu has 12 icons you can choose from, which range from the phone book and text messages to the Settings menu and Uno. Most of the apps can be found under the Tools menu. You get a calculator, calendar, stopwatch, tip calculator, unit converter, and world clock. There's also a programmable menu called My Menu, but since it's buried under Tools, it isn't terribly convenient to use.
There's an app store from U.S. Cellular, as well as a place to buy new ring tones. You can also browse the Web, via the Myriad 6.2-powered Web browser, which reads WAP sites. But between the WAP browser, the slow data speeds, and the poor display, this isn't a good phone for getting online.
Multimedia support is pretty much out. There is no music or video playback. Even if there were, the phone has a skimpy 121.5MB of free storage, no microSD card slot, and a non-standard 2.5mm headphone jack. So you probably don't have compatible headphones, and there's little room to store anything except photos.
Speaking of photos, the LG Envoy II has a 1.3-megapixel camera. Pictures taken with the phone aren't terrible for what they are?the camera actually does a decent job with color?but there is virtually no detail. There's also no good way to transfer photos off the phone. You have to send them as a picture message or use Bluetooth.
The LG Envoy II uses the classic flip phone design, but it's far from a classic. On U.S. Cellular, you're better off with the Samsung Chrono 2. It has a similar design, but it costs less and you can use it as a music player. There's also the Kyocera DuraPro, which is also a flip phone, but with a much bigger, rugged design. It has a better camera than the Envoy II, as well as a much sharper screen. If you prefer to text, you should check out Samsung Freeform 4, which has a BlackBerry-style keyboard and better multimedia support than the Envoy II. There's also the LG Freedom. We haven't reviewed it yet, but it combines a touch-screen display with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Our Editors' Choice for simple phones remains with the Samsung Jitterbug Plus. It's extremely easy to use, and has free 24-hour operator assistance, though you'll need service through GreatCall to get it.?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/fxLQA0-JIWA/0,2817,2419275,00.asp
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Saturday, May 25, 2013
Obama's drone rules provide limits, ambiguity
FILE - In this May 23, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama talks about national security, at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington. The president left plenty of ambiguity in new policy guidelines that he says will restrict how and when the U.S. can launch targeted drone strikes, leaving himself vast power over how and when the weapons can be deployed. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - In this May 23, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama talks about national security, at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington. The president left plenty of ambiguity in new policy guidelines that he says will restrict how and when the U.S. can launch targeted drone strikes, leaving himself vast power over how and when the weapons can be deployed. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
In this Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 file photo, Pakistani tribal villagers hold a rally to condemn U. S. drone attacks on their villages in border areas along the Afghanistan border, in Islamabad, Pakistan. President Barack Obama?s decision announced Thursday, May 23, 2013, to impose more restrictive rules governing U.S. drone strikes and his prediction that they will be used less could pave the way for better relations with key ally Pakistan as a new government takes power. Obama fell short of Pakistani demands to announce an end to the attacks altogether in a landmark speech, but his comments were seen as addressing some of the country?s main concerns over the CIA program. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File)
President Barack Obama walks away from the podium after speaking at the commencement for the United States Naval Academy graduation ceremony in Annapolis, Md., Friday, May 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama left plenty of ambiguity in new policy guidelines that he says will restrict how and when the U.S. can launch targeted drone strikes, leaving himself significant power over how and when the weapons can be deployed.
National security experts say it's imperative to leave some room in the guidelines, given the evolving fight against terrorism. But civil rights advocates argue too little has been revealed about the program to ensure its legality, even as the president takes steps to remove some of the secrecy.
"Obama said that there would be more limits on targeted killings, a step in the right direction," said Kenneth Roth, executive director at Human Rights Watch. "But a mere promise that the US will work within established guidelines that remain secret provides little confidence that the U.S. is complying with international law."
An unclassified version of the newly established drone guidelines was made public Thursday in conjunction with Obama's wide-ranging address on U.S. counterterrorism policies. Congress' Intelligence committees and the Capitol Hill leadership have been briefed on the more detailed, classified policies, but because those documents are secret, there's no way to know how much more clarity they provide.
The president has already been using some of the guidelines to determine when to launch drone strikes, administration officials said. Codifying the strictest standards, they argue, will ultimately reduce the number of approved attacks.
Among the newly public rules is a preference for capturing suspects instead of killing them, which gives the U.S. an opportunity to gather intelligence and disrupt terrorist plots. The guidelines also state that a target must pose a continuing and imminent threat to the U.S.
However, the public guidelines don't spell out how the U.S. determines whether capture is feasible, nor does it define what constitutes an imminent threat.
Former State Department official James Andrew Lewis said Obama must retain some flexibility, given the fluid threats facing the U.S.
"The use of force and engagement of force always require a degree of discretion," said Lewis, now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "We don't want to change that."
The guidelines also mandate that the U.S. have "near certainty" that no civilians will be killed in a strike. Civilian deaths, particularly in Pakistan, have angered local populations and contributed to a rise in anti-American sentiments in the volatile region.
Shahzad Akbar, a Pakistani lawyer who has filed many court cases on behalf of drone victims' families, said that while he appreciated Obama's concern about civilian casualties, he wasn't confident the new guidelines would change U.S. actions.
"The problem remains the same because there is no transparency and accountability for the CIA because it will remain inside the system and not be visible to outsiders," he said.
Obama, in his most expansive discussion of the drone program, said in his speech Thursday to the National Defense University that he is haunted by the unintentional deaths. But he argued that targeted strikes result in fewer civilian deaths than indiscriminate bombing campaigns.
"By narrowly targeting our action against those who want to kill us, and not the people they hide among, we are choosing the course of action least likely to result in the loss of innocent life," Obama said.
Administration officials said the new guidelines are applicable regardless of whether the target is a foreigner or U.S. citizen.
Polling suggests the American people broadly support the use of drones to target suspected terrorists in foreign countries, though support drops somewhat if the suspect is a U.S. citizen. A Gallup poll in March found 65 percent of Americans favor using drone strikes in other countries against suspected terrorists, while only 41 percent favored the use of drone strikes overseas against U.S. citizens who are suspected terrorists.
Despite the public support, Obama has come under increased pressure from an unusual coalition of members of Congress of both parties who have pressed for greater transparency and oversight of the drone program.
Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who serves on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said he would review the guidelines to ensure they keep "with our values as a nation" but indicated lawmakers may ask for additional overtures.
"I commend the president for his effort to define the boundaries of U.S. counterterrorism operations and for stating a commitment to increased accountability," Udall said. "While this is helpful and important, more needs to be done."
Relevant congressional committees are already notified when drone strikes occur. But it's unclear how the administration, under Obama's new transparency pledge, will handle public notifications, particularly when Americans are killed.
The public only knew about the deaths of three Americans by drone strikes through media reports and the fourth when Attorney General Eric Holder disclosed it in a letter to Congress on the eve of the speech.
Under current policy, the official U.S. figures of number of strikes and estimated deaths remain classified.
According to the New America Foundation which maintains a database of the strikes, the CIA and the military have carried out an estimated 416 drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, resulting in 3,364 estimated deaths, including militants and civilians. The Associated Press also has reported a drone strike in Somalia in 2012 that killed one.
The think tank compiles its numbers by combining reports in major news media that rely on local officials and eyewitness accounts.
Strikes in Pakistan spiked in 2010 under Obama to 122, but the number has dropped to 12 so far this year. Strikes were originally carried out with permission of the Pakistani government of Pervez Musharraf, though subsequent Pakistani governments have demanded strikes cease.
The CIA and the military have carried out some 69 strikes in Yemen, with the Yemeni government's permission.
___
Associated Press writer Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad contributed to this report.
___
Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
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Indy 500 could be better than 2012's epic race
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? They raced 1-2-3 in line, trading the lead a whopping 15 times over the final, frantic 75 laps. All three drivers had a last-lap plan in mind when they zipped past the white flag, and it was Takuma Sato who acted first with a bold move for the win.
Sato pulled out of line, dipped inside of Dario Franchitti and tried to pounce as they headed into the first turn. Scott Dixon watched and waited from third, figuring he was now in position to slingshot past both for the victory.
Instead, Sato and Franchitti nearly touched. Sato spun out and into the wall and Franchitti zipped to his third victory in one of the most dramatic Indianapolis 500 finishes in memory. Some even argued it was one of the greatest Indy 500s ever.
It sure won't be easy to top on Sunday.
"I got a lot of comments from drivers in NASCAR and Formula One saying it was the best 500 they'd ever seen," Franchitti said. "But I think this year will also be a very, close exciting race."
The bar was certainly raised at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year with 34 lead changes, passing throughout the field, Franchitti rallying from the back to win and three close friends of the late Dan Wheldon sweeping the podium. So perfect it could have been a Hollywood movie script.
But the IndyCar Series has given every indication this season that Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway could be another thriller.
The series is off to a terrific start this year with three winners in the first four races, and for the first time since 1991 none of the winners drive for the mighty Penske Racing or Chip Ganassi Racing teams. Instead, it's been three wins for resurgent Andretti Autosport and one for A.J. Foyt Racing, which celebrated Sato becoming the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar race.
So steady this season, Sato goes into Sunday as the series points leader. And, he'll start from the sixth row ? right next to Franchitti and Dixon.
Sato, who calls last year's race "an unforgettable day," has the chance to give Foyt his first Indy 500 victory since Kenny Brack in 1999. Sato's win at Long Beach last month was the first for the Foyt organization since 2002.
"We're here for it. We are here aiming to win the 500, so there is no reason why we cannot," Sato said. "Winning, I was so close last year. Knowing that now, how to get there, what you need there, so it's been a tremendous experience last year to hopefully I can translate it to... this year's performance."
The field is stacked, though, and has a pair of drivers trying to join the exclusive club of four-time winners. Franchitti and Helio Castroneves are each vying to join Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears as the only four-time winners of the Indy 500, a feat that's not been done since Mears' 1991 victory.
"What an incredible opportunity for the fans to have not only one, but two guys trying to make history," Castroneves said. "Forget about the names, forget about who it is. But imagine people who didn't even see the last time when the guy won four times."
They've got five Andretti Autosport cars standing in their way and two of them start from the front row.
Carlos Munoz, a 21-year-old Colombian making his IndyCar debut, will start second alongside Marco Andretti, who is once again considered a favorite but must overcome a curse that has limited his famous family to one win ? Mario Andretti in 1969 ? in 80 starts.
Andretti feels far more comfortable about his chances this year than he did last season, when he called the race "mine to lose." Graham Rahal, the other half of the closest rivalry in the mild-mannered series, doesn't consider his nemesis the favorite.
"Do I think it's Marco's race? No. Marco hasn't led in the pack all week," Rahal said. "He just sits in the back and runs a big lap time and pits."
Instead, Rahal thinks everybody is overlooking AJ Allmendinger, who will make his Indianapolis 500 debut seven years after he left open-wheel racing for NASCAR. A failed drug test cost him his NASCAR ride last summer with Roger Penske, but the team owner has given him a second chance with this IndyCar opportunity.
Allmendinger has been fast at Indy ? so good that struggling teammate Will Power used his setup in qualifying. Power said Allmendinger has the best car in traffic of all three Penske entries. Named after Foyt, his father's favorite driver, Allmendinger could complete his comeback Sunday.
"AJ Allmendinger is a very good race driver. He's had quite a bit of experience," said Foyt. "I met his daddy the other day, I said, 'Why did you handicap that kid putting A.J. on him?'"
Allmendinger is one of 11 American drivers in the field of 33 ? there are also a record-tying four women ? and leading the red, white and blue charge is local boy Ed Carpenter, the only owner-driver in the field.
Carpenter, the stepson of IndyCar Series founder Tony George, is a graduate of Butler and a die-hard Indiana Pacers fan and the surprise pole-winner for the Indy 500. He is noted for his skills racing on an oval, and he's twice beaten Franchitti in wheel-to-wheel races to the finish line. But now he'll be leading the field to the green flag of his hometown race with all of Indiana watching.
"I don't feel the pressure," he said. "As far as the local fan base and support, it's fun. I don't think that translates into pressure."
Carpenter is powered by Chevrolet, which for the second year in a row dominated all the preparations for the Indy 500 and swept the first 10 spots in qualifying. But Honda showed more life in Friday's final practice, when it had six drivers in the top 10 of the speed chart. If that sounds familiar, it should ? last year, Chevrolet dominated leading into the Indy 500 but Franchitti won in a Honda.
"We have seen this movie before ? this is the same story of last year, and Honda had the advantage on race day," said James Hinchcliffe, who goes into the race with two wins this season for Andretti.
And race day is the only day that matters, according to Ganassi, who publicly called out Honda during the season-opening weekend at St. Pete when he questioned the manufacturer's desire to win. Ganassi went so far as to claim the only thing Honda wants to do is "sit around and hold hands and sing Kumbaya. I want to win."
Ganassi wasn't panicked Friday about Honda's performance so far at Indy, and said Sunday will be the "tale of the tape."
"I'd like to think we gave them a little bit of a spark there that started a bit of a fire, and that fire burns today very hot," Ganassi said. "I'm happy with how they responded, but this is in response . this is a long, not a one-race or one-day commitment we're looking for a response to, it's a season-long slog. A marathon we're involved in throughout the season. I'm sure they're up to the task."
So he'll wait and see if this year's running of "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing" can live up to last year.
"Last year is going to be tough to top, but what we've seen in practice so far indicates we are going to see a really similar race," Hinchcliffe said. "And I don't think fans are ever going to get tired of that kind of action."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indy-500-could-better-2012s-epic-race-143020458.html
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