Hollis $1 Million Gift to Support Student Scholarships, Athletics and the Arts
www.msuspartans.com
Michigan State University has announced a million gift from Mark and Nancy Hollis to support an academic scholarship endowment, improvements to Spartan Stadium and arts programming at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum and the Wharton Center for Performing Arts.
Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman in New York in June.
By Bruna Nessif, E! Online
Anne Hathaway's big day was Saturday. The "Dark Knight Rises" star wed?fiance Adam Shulman in a private ceremony in the scenic redwood-studded coastal enclave of Big Sur, Calif., E! News has confirmed. As we previously reported, Hathaway was swathed in a gown specially designed by her friend Valentino Garavani.
The 29-year-old Oscar-nominated star found her Mr. Right, fellow actor Shulman, not long after discovering she had devoted years of her love life to Mr. Oh-So-Wrong. So in honor of their nuptials, let's take a look back at how the newlyweds' love affair began...
Five things you need to know about Anne Hathaway's hubby
January 2009: The public first caught wind of this new couple when Hathaway was spotted with Shulman at the opening gala of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where Hathaway picked up the Desert Palm Achievement Award for "Rachel Getting Married." PDA was kept to a minimum, but there was a quick lip-lock (many more to follow in the coming years).
May 2010: Anne and Adam stayed off the radar for a bit, that is, until Shulman was spotted jacking some mural art from a Manhattan construction site. Don't worry, he returned it (after paparazzi got pictures of him taking it).
August 2011: Seriously, though, where was Adam Shulman hiding? Apparently, he was a little camera shy. "He's in there hanging out with my friends," Hathaway told us during the One Day premiere?in New York City. Hey, more spotlight for his leading lady.
Anne Hathaway ties the knot with Adam in Big Sur
Nov. 28, 2011: And all of a sudden -- bam! -- this duo is engaged! Well, maybe not exactly "all of a sudden," since it had been three years, but we were happily surprised, nonetheless. Hathaway's rep confirmed the engagement to E! News, but the actress kept proposal details under wraps. Shucks!
Nov. 30, 2011: The ring! Anne showed off the unique creation made especially for her by Shulman and Kwiat jewelers. "We were honored to have the opportunity to work with Adam. He had a strong vision for what he wanted to present to Anne and we worked with him to make a custom design," a rep for the company told E! News.
December 2011: Speculation as to when the big ceremony would go down started swirling and leaned toward October 2012. Her rep denied such claims, but it clearly wasn't too far off.
Les Misrables' release date changed to Christmas
July 2012-September 2012: Remember how we said that these lovebirds kept their public displays of affection to a minimum in the beginning? Well, it seemed like all that changed once that diamond was on Anne's finger, because it became PDA all day, everyday, anywhere, any time. But it was super sweet.
Sept. 20, 2012: Most of the wedding plans have been kept hush-hush, except for one (pretty important) detail: the designer of Anne's wedding dress. And that just so happens to be Valentino Garavani. During the New York City Ballet's fall gala, the fashion icon told E! News he "did the dress" for Anne's nuptials. "She's a very good friend of mine," Valentino gushed. Like family? "Oh, yes. She's like my daughter!"
Sept. 29, 2012: The couple swap vows in Big Sur, Calif.
Let's take a stroll down memory lane with these newlyweds!
AAA??Sep. 29, 2012?10:46 PM ET China expels Bo Xilai from its top legislature AP
FILE - In this March 9, 2012 file photo, Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai reacts during a plenary session of the National People's Congress held in Beijing, China. China's tumultuous, bizarre year in politics appears headed for a home stretch, with leading members of the ruling Communist Party convening to finalize a list of new leaders and decide the fate of a disgraced colleague. Disgraced Politburo member Bo has been the focal point of much of the tumult, which has featured a murder, corruption, two high-profile trials and a deadly car crash, all of which exposed bare-knuckled infighting among a leadership that prefers secrecy. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
FILE - In this March 9, 2012 file photo, Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai reacts during a plenary session of the National People's Congress held in Beijing, China. China's tumultuous, bizarre year in politics appears headed for a home stretch, with leading members of the ruling Communist Party convening to finalize a list of new leaders and decide the fate of a disgraced colleague. Disgraced Politburo member Bo has been the focal point of much of the tumult, which has featured a murder, corruption, two high-profile trials and a deadly car crash, all of which exposed bare-knuckled infighting among a leadership that prefers secrecy. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
FILE - In this May 4, 2012 file photo, Chinese President Hu Jintao, front, and Vice President Xi Jinping, back, arrive at a conference to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Communist Youth League at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. The scandal surrounding disgraced politician Bo Xilai had loomed over the party for a half-year, triggering infighting and complicating preparations for the fall leadership congress at which President Hu Jintao will step down as party boss in favor of Vice President Xi Jinping. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan, File)
FILE - In this March 11, 2012 file photo, then-Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai puts on his glasses during a plenary session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Disgraced Chinese politician Bo was expelled from the ruling Communist Party on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012, and will face corruption and other criminal charges, the latest step in a scandal that has overshadowed a political transition now set to take place in early November. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping addresses the opening ceremony of the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit and Forum on China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in Nanning, capital of southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Xie Huanchi) NO SALES
BEIJING (AP) ? China has expelled disgraced politician Bo Xilai from the country's top legislature, paving the way for criminal proceedings against him.
China's official Xinhua News Agency says the Standing Committee of Chongqing's Municipal People's Congress has decided to remove Bo from his post as deputy to the 11th National People's Congress.
Delegates to that body have immunity from arrest and prosecution.
Bo's removal is largely a formality after he was ousted from the Communist Party on Friday, accused of crimes including taking bribes and abusing his power.
Bo's fall from grace has been spectacular. He had been a prime candidate for a top post in China's leadership until a scandal broke involving his wife's murder of a British businessman.
Associated Press People, Places and Companies: China
U.S. banks have been buffeted by more than a week of powerful cyberattacks, but the mystery surrounding their perpetrators lingers.
One expert said Friday that he was suspicious of claims of responsibility purportedly made by Islamists angry at an anti-Muslim movie made in the United States, explaining that the widely-circulated Internet postings might have been an attempt to deflect attention from the true culprit.
"In the intelligence world, we call that a 'false flag,'" said Mike Smith, whose Web security company Akamai has helped analyze some of the attacks.
The postings, published to the Web earlier this month, suggested that an obscure Islamist group had taken revenge on American financial institutions for the "Innocence of Muslims," a low-budget U.S. film that ridiculed Muhammad, revered by Muslims as the last of God's prophets.
Since then at least half a dozen banks ? including the Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup ? have witnessed traffic surges and disruptions. Not all have confirmed they were the victims of an online onslaught, but such surges are a hallmark of denial-of-service attacks, which work by drowning target websites with streams of junk data.
Such attacks are fairly common and generally don't compromise sensitive data or do any lasting damage. Still, they can be a huge headache for companies that rely on their websites to interact with customers.
Most say the recent spate of attacks has been unusually powerful. PNC bank, which was hit on Thursday, has never seen such a strong surge in traffic, spokesman Fred Solomon said in a telephone interview. Smith said he estimated the flow of data at 60 to 65 gigabits per second.
Smith said the profile and power of the attack made it an unlikely fit for the religious youth that the Internet postings called upon to join in the anti-U.S. campaign. He explained that politically-motivated hackers ? often called hacktivists ? usually flood the Web with appeals for support and post links to software that can turn followers' personal computers into crude cyberweapons.
Twitter and online chat rooms then explode with activity, as casual supporters pile in to coordinate attacks.
"You're not seeing that with this particular set of attacks," Smith said. "At the same time ... the attack traffic is fairly homogeneous. It's not this wide cornucopia of attacks that's coming at you that you see with a hacktivist attack."
So who is behind the campaign?
Cybercriminals often use denial-of-service attacks to shake down smaller websites, but major U.S. banks make unlikely targets for a protection racket.
Could a state actor be at play? U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, without offering any proof, said he believed the assaults were carried out by Iran in retaliation for tightened economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.
Smith demurred when asked who could be behind the campaign, although he said there were "only a handful of groups out there that have the technical ability or incentive" to carry it out.
In any case, the online attacks appeared to be easing. Solomon, the PNC bank spokesman, said while traffic remained heavy Friday the flow was gradually returning to normal.
Doug Johnson, with the American Bankers Association, echoed that assessment.
LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Arsenal said it would stick to its policy of living within its means after the sale of star players Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri helped the English Premier League soccer club to more than double pretax profit.
The results are a double-edged sword for a club run on a prudent financial basis but whose fans are frustrated by the departure of top players and the lack of a trophy win since 2005.
Arsenal, which last won the Premier League title in 2004, has been overtaken by free-spending teams like Premier League champion Manchester City, bankrolled by cash from Abu Dhabi.
Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said Arsenal was strongly placed to succeed in the long term as clubs are forced to implement rules from European soccer's governing body to rein in losses.
"We can and we will forge our own path to success and avoid the many examples of clubs across Europe struggling for their very survival after chasing the dream and spending beyond their means," Gazidis said.
"Football is moving powerfully in our direction."
Majority owned by American Stan Kroenke, Arsenal remains one of the top teams in the Premier League and has qualified for the European Champions' League for 15 seasons in a row.
However, fans of the north London club were angry when striker Robin van Persie joined rival Manchester United last month for a reported 24 million pounds.
The club reported pre-tax profit of 36.6 million pounds in the year to May 31, up from 14.8 million the previous year. Profit from player trading was 26 million pounds after Fabregas went to Barcelona and Nasri joined Manchester City.
POWER STRUGGLE
Billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov, whose Red and White Securities vehicle owns just under 30 percent of the club, has criticised the board for selling leading players.
Despite the loss of Van Persie, Arsenal has made a promising start to the season and are in fifth place in the 20-team Premier League.
Revenue from core football activities rose to 235 million pounds. This compares with the 320 million pound revenues reported earlier this month by Manchester United, which has mined its powerful global brand to boost its coffers.
Gazidis said Arsenal would look for a significant increase in revenue from the renewal of its shirt and kit partnerships after the 2013-14 season.
Nike is the current kit supplier while the club has the name of airline Emirates on its shirts.
Manchester United signed a $559 million deal in August with General Motors to have the Chevrolet brand on its shirts for seven years from 2014.
AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) ? Cycling's governing body is losing patience with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency over delays in turning over evidence in the Lance Armstrong case.
Cycling federation UCI complained Thursday about USADA's "shifting deadline" in providing the files that led it to wipe out Armstrong's seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life.
USADA said Wednesday it would send its "reasoned decision" to the UCI by Oct. 15. The files had previously been expected to be turned over by the end of September.
"The UCI had no reason to assume that a full case file did not exist but USADA's continued failure to produce the decision is now a cause for concern," UCI President Pat McQuaid said in a statement. "It is over a month since USADA sanctioned Lance Armstrong. We thought that USADA were better prepared before initiating these proceedings."
USADA chief executive Travis Tygart questioned the UCI's motives.
"It is not surprising that UCI would send a press release out attempting to undermine and question the substance of our case," Tygart said in an email to The Associated Press. "It is also troubling that they would claim to have had no contact with us, which is inaccurate."
Tygart added that "the questions contained in their publicly released statement today will be answered."
In August, Armstrong decided not to contest USADA's allegations that he took performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France from 1999-2005. A day later, USADA erased his Tour titles and imposed a lifetime ban. Armstrong, who has always denied doping and points to hundreds of tests that he has passed, has claimed Tygart has a vendetta against him.
The UCI has yet to ratify USADA's decision to strip Armstrong, saying it needs to see evidence first. The World Anti-Doping Agency is also waiting to receive the files.
The UCI questioned why USADA didn't spend time during the Tour de France, Olympics and Road World Championships to prepare its case "rather than to make announcements."
"It is at very least unusual that USADA would still be gathering evidence against a person after it has found that person guilty," the UCI statement said. "The UCI assumes that the reasons for any difficulty in putting the evidence together will be explained in USADA's decision."
ASUS has been dancing around a bit on the final release date of its big updates for the Transformer TF201 (Prime) and TF700 (Infinity), but now we've got a complete changelog for the updates. Users will be happy to see their devices updated to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, meaning Project Butter and all of the small visual tweaks are coming. Additionally, there are a few other bugfixes and usability improvements:
Default enable System Bar Lock
Add Multiple Photo Selection feature
Support Connect Dock (Accessory)
Remove Adobe Flash support
Remove Wi-Fi Direct function support
Remove Press Reader
ASUS says that the OTAs will start rolling out tomorrow for the TF201, and Friday for the TF700. Be sure to let us know in the comments if your device has received the OTA.
Source: ASUS; Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Has New Haven, Conn., actually figured out how to reform public schools?
Photo by iStockphoto.
As the recent Chicago teacher strike demonstrated, public school systems are phenomenally difficult institutions to change. The array of competing forces?unions, politicians, parents, principals, charter schools, state and national bureaucrats?gums up many reform efforts and frustrates all but the most persistent reformers. But what?s happening in the historically troubled New Haven, Conn., public school system suggests there may be ways around this, ways that all sides can support.
?In 2009, New Haven?s school district and teachers? union signed a groundbreaking contract for the 21,000-student system. The four-year deal included a small annual pay hike?and allowed the district to give merit bonuses, close failing schools, and evaluate teachers based in part on student performance. The contract?s reform-minded provisions brought praise to a struggling urban district, from admirers including Obama?s Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, and New York Times columnists David Brooks and Nicholas Kristof. Three years later, there are signs that cultural change is coming, too, in fits and starts. It?s especially evident in the district?s unusual effort to groom future leaders by handing them over to a local charter network that it used to view as an upstart threat.
A little history so you can see how big a change this represents: In 1998, a group led by two Yale Law students, Dacia Toll, who?d previously worked as a student teacher in New Haven, and Stefan Pryor, who?d been a policy adviser for the city?s mayor, John DeStefano, opened Amistad Academy, a charter school. (Pryor is now the state commissioner of education for Connecticut.) Amistad soon posted test scores for its students that far outstripped New Haven?s. Charters like this one are often accused of creaming students off the top, but the Amistad kids were chosen by lottery and resembled New Haven?s student population demographically: heavily low income and almost entirely African-American and Hispanic.
DeStefano has been in office for nearly 20 years, along with school superintendent Reginald Mayo, and for much of that time, the New Haven schools has suffered from nepotism and low achievement and graduation rates. In 2003, Toll formed an umbrella organization, Achievement First, and opened a second school in New Haven. A couple of years later, DeStefano and Mayo felt attacked by a friend of Toll?s, former Rhodes Scholar Alex Johnston, who?d launched a pro-reform group called Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, or ConnCAN, with a board that included heavy hitters like Yale President Richard Levin. The mayor and superintendent accused ConnCAN of denigrating the New Haven schools. Toll expanded her charter efforts elsewhere, in Brooklyn, Hartford, and Bridgeport. Achievement First now runs 22 schools with 7,000 students; only five are in New Haven.
But a funny thing happened on the way to explaining away Achievement First?s success. Mayor DeStefano forced his way onto AF?s board (via a Connecticut law to requiring the charter to appoint a city official), and then as he sat through meetings, he found himself thinking that he had something to learn. ?He sat and listened for a year, and then he and the superintendent started asking, ?What do we need to do differently?? ? assistant superintendent Garth Harries says. DeStefano began declaring that school reform would be his legacy. He and Mayo called in David Cicarella, the president of the New Haven teachers? union. ?Pre-reform, I?d almost never talked to the mayor,? Cicarella says. ?Now he was saying, ?What?s your input? What do you think?? ?
The union and the district together hammered out a method for evaluating teachers based in part on state test scores and in part on factors like classroom management, use of data, and parent outreach. The goal was to help as many teachers as possible improve?and to drum out the ones who wouldn?t. Over the next two years, 70 teachers failed to lift themselves out of the bottom of the pack, and the union went along with removing them. The terminations were only about 4 percent of the total workforce of about 1,700 but far more than in previous years, and they sent an unmistakable signal. ?The people who were let go had been fairly evaluated by a system we helped to create and shown no improvement,? Cicarella says. ?I don?t see how we can defend that. Frankly, we shouldn?t.?
Connecticut students in the fourth through eighth grades take a state test every year, and in New Haven, their scores rose a bit in 2011. So did the graduation rate and the number of ninth through 11th graders who are on track to graduate. Other news is mixed: Yale University and a local foundation started awarding scholarships to in-state public schools for New Haven high-school graduates with a B average and good attendance. Among the first group of 115 freshmen, only 62 percent made it to sophomore year. This fall, the principal of one of the city?s high schools is embroiled in a cheating scandal.
DeStefano and Mayo get credit, though, for some adventurous hires. They brought in Harries, a former McKinsey consultant who came to New Haven in 2009 from New York, where he worked on special education reform for former schools chancellor Joel Klein. The district also tapped Gemma Joseph Lumpkin for the new position of executive manager of leadership development: She grew up in New Haven, had consulted for the district on using data collection to strengthen student performance, and had worked on a National Science Foundation initiative for urban schools. And DeStefano mended fences with Alex Johnston, appointing him to the school board.
By: Aaron Morrison | September, 2012 | 18 views | No Comments | Posted in: Classroom Resources, Technology in the Classroom
Most educators view games as a way to incentivize students for good behavior, or to play during excess time in the class. However, using video games for learning purposes has caught fire in the classroom, and I don?t see it burning out anytime soon! In fact, MindShift just posted a video this week about How Games Are Being Used for Learning that I highly recommend checking out. Not convinced? Head on over to Mashable for another article about Why Education Needs to Get Its Game On.
The great thing about this educational tool is that you get to test it out yourself before using it with your students! Sounds like fun to me. So, here are four online games you can play?I mean, test out?before implementing them for learning:
FunBrain: More than 100 fun, interactive educational games and more! These games focus on developing skills in math, reading, and literacy. Ages preschool through 8th grade.
Arcademic Skill Builder: Teach basic math, language arts, vocabulary, and thinking skills with these games!
MineCraft: This game is a neat educational tool! You can find an example of how it is used in the classroom HERE.
Math Moves U: These video games could make practicing math habitual, which is not easy to do!
Lastly, Free Technology for Teachers has an article that provides some tips for success and lessons learned concerning educational gaming. It has some great insight: Video Games in Teaching.
What do you think, do online video games belong in the classroom?
UK carrier O2 is taking a pretty bold step: an as-yet-unannounced new HTC handset that it's selling will come without a charger in the box. O2 claims it's an attempt to be more environmentally friendly, but maybe it's just the future. More »
Language use is simpler than previously thought, finds Cornell studyPublic release date: 25-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Syl Kacapyr vpk6@cornell.edu 607-255-7701 Cornell University
ITHACA, N.Y. For more than 50 years, language scientists have assumed that sentence structure is fundamentally hierarchical, made up of small parts in turn made of smaller parts, like Russian nesting dolls. But a new Cornell University study suggests language use is simpler than they had thought.
Co-author Morten Christiansen, Cornell professor of psychology and co-director of the Cornell Cognitive Science Program, and his colleagues say that language is actually based on simpler sequential structures, like clusters of beads on a string.
"What we're suggesting is that the language system deals with words by grouping them into little clumps that are then associated with meaning," he said.
Sentences are made up of such word clumps, or "constructions," that are understood when arranged in a particular order. For example, the word sequence "bread and butter" might be represented as a construction, whereas the reverse sequence of words "butter and bread" would likely not.
The sequence concept has simplicity on its side; language is naturally sequential, given the temporal cues that help us understand and be understood as we use language. Moreover, the hierarchy concept doesn't take into account the many other cues that help convey meaning, such as the setting and knowing what was said before and the speaker's intention.
The researchers drew on evidence in language-related fields from psycholinguistics to cognitive neuroscience. For example, research in evolutionary biology indicates that humans acquired language (and animals did not) because we have evolved abilities in a number of areas, such as being able to correctly guess others' intentions and learn a large number of sounds that we then relate to meaning to create words. In contrast, the hierarchy concept suggests humans have language thanks only to highly specialized "hardware" in the brain, which neuroscientists have yet to find.
Research in cognitive neuroscience shows that the same set of brain regions seem to be involved in both sequential learning and language, suggesting that language is processed sequentially. And several recent psycholinguistic studies have shown that how well adults and children perform on a sequence learning task strongly predicts how well they can process the deluge of words that come at us in rapid succession when we're listening to someone speak. "The better you are at dealing with sequences, the easier it is for you to comprehend language," Christiansen said.
The study by Christiansen and his colleagues has important implications for several language-related fields. From an evolutionary perspective, it could help close what has been seen as a large gap between the communications systems of humans and other nonhuman primates. "This research allows us a better understanding of our place in nature, in that we can tie our language ability, our communication abilities, more closely to what we can see in other species. It could have a big impact in terms of allowing us to think in more humble terms about the origin of language in humans," Christiansen said.
The research could also affect natural language processing, the area of computer science that deals with human language, by encouraging scholars to focus on sequential structure when trying to create humanlike speech and other types of language processing, Christiansen said. He pointed out that machines already successfully perform such tasks as translation and speech recognition thanks to algorithms based on sequential structures.
###
The study, "How hierarchical is language use?" was published Sept. 12 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (http://bit.ly/RUGa7E). The research was funded by the European Union, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the Binational Science Foundation.
Contact Syl Kacapyr for information about Cornell's TV and radio studios.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Language use is simpler than previously thought, finds Cornell studyPublic release date: 25-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Syl Kacapyr vpk6@cornell.edu 607-255-7701 Cornell University
ITHACA, N.Y. For more than 50 years, language scientists have assumed that sentence structure is fundamentally hierarchical, made up of small parts in turn made of smaller parts, like Russian nesting dolls. But a new Cornell University study suggests language use is simpler than they had thought.
Co-author Morten Christiansen, Cornell professor of psychology and co-director of the Cornell Cognitive Science Program, and his colleagues say that language is actually based on simpler sequential structures, like clusters of beads on a string.
"What we're suggesting is that the language system deals with words by grouping them into little clumps that are then associated with meaning," he said.
Sentences are made up of such word clumps, or "constructions," that are understood when arranged in a particular order. For example, the word sequence "bread and butter" might be represented as a construction, whereas the reverse sequence of words "butter and bread" would likely not.
The sequence concept has simplicity on its side; language is naturally sequential, given the temporal cues that help us understand and be understood as we use language. Moreover, the hierarchy concept doesn't take into account the many other cues that help convey meaning, such as the setting and knowing what was said before and the speaker's intention.
The researchers drew on evidence in language-related fields from psycholinguistics to cognitive neuroscience. For example, research in evolutionary biology indicates that humans acquired language (and animals did not) because we have evolved abilities in a number of areas, such as being able to correctly guess others' intentions and learn a large number of sounds that we then relate to meaning to create words. In contrast, the hierarchy concept suggests humans have language thanks only to highly specialized "hardware" in the brain, which neuroscientists have yet to find.
Research in cognitive neuroscience shows that the same set of brain regions seem to be involved in both sequential learning and language, suggesting that language is processed sequentially. And several recent psycholinguistic studies have shown that how well adults and children perform on a sequence learning task strongly predicts how well they can process the deluge of words that come at us in rapid succession when we're listening to someone speak. "The better you are at dealing with sequences, the easier it is for you to comprehend language," Christiansen said.
The study by Christiansen and his colleagues has important implications for several language-related fields. From an evolutionary perspective, it could help close what has been seen as a large gap between the communications systems of humans and other nonhuman primates. "This research allows us a better understanding of our place in nature, in that we can tie our language ability, our communication abilities, more closely to what we can see in other species. It could have a big impact in terms of allowing us to think in more humble terms about the origin of language in humans," Christiansen said.
The research could also affect natural language processing, the area of computer science that deals with human language, by encouraging scholars to focus on sequential structure when trying to create humanlike speech and other types of language processing, Christiansen said. He pointed out that machines already successfully perform such tasks as translation and speech recognition thanks to algorithms based on sequential structures.
###
The study, "How hierarchical is language use?" was published Sept. 12 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (http://bit.ly/RUGa7E). The research was funded by the European Union, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and the Binational Science Foundation.
Contact Syl Kacapyr for information about Cornell's TV and radio studios.
[ | 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.
I am looking for someone to help me create a strategic business plan/budget for a new cafe business I am planning to open. I am looking for someone to help me put together all my start-up costs, expected fixed expenses for the first year of business, variable costs analysis, and anything else that is of relevance into a strategy plan that basically shows my break-even point, my target sales number for each month of the year. I am hoping this can be done in excel and is easy for me to modify myself, but also I am looking for someone that I can consult to from time to time to help me re-evaluate my performance. In terms of budget for this project, I am not willing to pay a hefty price for this project, I am testing the waters to see what kind of response I get. I am hoping the person who sees this project sees it as a way for them to benefit in the long run as I am willing to come back to this person more often if this person shows me great knowledge and advise. $100.00 is the max I am willing to pay. If you think your work and friendship is worth more, prove it to me. Thank you and happy bidding
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Automobile insurance coverage extends far beyond vehicle protection for just your car. In addition to providing you with protection, it also provides protection for other drivers. Be sure that your policy covers all of your needs. The following tips will maximize your auto insurance experience.
When purchasing auto insurance, it is important that you look into several different companies. This is the only way for you to determine who is offering the best value for the best plan.
During the first two months of coverage, insurance companies can end your coverage without telling you why. Your insurance agent will look at your driving record to ensure you do not pose a liability. If your policy is terminated, it can result in higher premiums for a number of years.
Pay attention to the insured driver on your policy. Often times, what can happen is this; a person will allow someone else to drive their car. If an accident occurs, the insurance company won?t pay the claim. You might have to get an addition to your coverage to allow for this.
Save money by raising your deductibles. This strategy carries some risks, but as long as you?re willing to set aside money each month to cover the cost of your deductible in case of an accident, it can be an excellent way to cut costs. If your deductible is low, your insurance premiums will be as well.
Learn about the range of coverages before you choose auto insurance. There are tons of factors that influence the final cost of your insurance plan. Liability and bodily injury insurance will cover legal costs, but you will need death and injury coverage if your car hits someone.
If you can pay your annual car insurance premium all at once, do so instead of paying monthly. Your insurance agency adds monthly fees to your bill, usually around $5 every month. This small amount has the potential to add up very quickly. These payment can also turn into a burden, in addition to your other monthly expenses. Pay off your car insurance in as few payments as possible to avoid incurring unnecessary fees.
When it comes to teenagers and cars, you are going to be best off by letting them share a car that you already own as opposed to buying them their own cars when it comes to insurance rates. Instead, have your teen share a car with other family members. This will make insurance considerably cheaper. If your teenager is on honor roll, it might be good enough for a discount.
If you don?t have collision coverage and get into an accident in which you are determined to be at fault, you?ll have to pay any repair bill in full. Be sure that you can afford to pay for an expensive repair in full before dropping collision coverage.
Make sure you know what coverage types are important when choosing auto insurance. While many insurance options are available, some do not make sense. You may want to fork over a little extra for collision coverage if you are accident prone.
If you are thinking about switching auto insurance companies, do not cancel your first insurance policy until you know for sure that you have another one. You should not be without auto insurance even for a short time, since accidents can and do happen at any time.
Get a listing of discounts from your insurance agent. Take note of ones you qualify for, and try to get those discounts. This will save you the most amount of money possible.
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Three political essays by one of the greatest British statesmen of the last 250 years have been discovered by a historian at Queen Mary, University of London.
The new finds constitute the earliest political writings by Edmund Burke (1729-97), dating from around 1757, when he was 27-years-old, a period often described as the 'missing years' of his biography.
Professor Richard Bourke, from the School of History at Queen Mary, came across the early essays among a series of notebooks belonging to William Burke, a close friend and distant relation of parliamentarian, Edmund.
"No new essays by Edmund Burke have been found since the 1930s, so these chance survivals are significant; offering a glimpse of the means by which a gifted orator grew into a respected political sage," says Professor Bourke, who found the collection of works during the course of his research in the Sheffield Archives.
The newly attributed manuscripts are significant as they hint at the philosophical thinking and intellectual themes that influenced Burke's subsequent 30-year parliamentary career. The discovery features in the September 2012 edition of The Historical Journal*
Professor Bourke adds: "It has always been known that in the middle of the 1750s Burke applied himself to the study of philosophy and history as he pursued a literary career in London. It now emerges that he deliberately sought to deepen his understanding of the contemporary political world through the philosophical lens developed by his forefathers from the age of Enlightenment."
An MP for the Whig Party from 1766 to 1794, Burke is a "great and controversial political icon", having enjoyed cult status in both the history of conservatism and the history of liberalism. Unlike almost every other parliamentary speaker from the age of Fox and Pitt, Burke's speeches are still read today, while memorable quotes such as "the age of chivalry is dead" are forever ingrained into English language. One reason for his enduring appeal is that he managed to combine outstanding eloquence with potent political insight. The essays that Bourke identified concern the nature of political parties, the role of citizen armies in the modern states, and the constitutional relationship between Britain and Ireland.
These serious themes were much-debated in British politics in the second half of the 18th century, and formed the political backdrop to Burke's long and illustrious career in the House of Commons.
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Queen Mary, University of London: http://www.qmul.ac.uk
Thanks to Queen Mary, University of London for this article.
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Posted by Carey Suante in Business, Feature, Outsourcing, Productivity
Looking for an affordable yet professional transcription services? Check out our Transcription Services!You may also want to subscribe to my RSS feed for outsourcing tips and how transcription can help you professional and personally. Thanks for visiting!
What services do you outsource to improve your business or personal life?
Everyone outsources to others ? knowingly or unknowingly. It is impossible to live life without outsourcing.
Outsourcing has always been in existence in one form or another throughout human history. It may take the form of delegation, specialization, etc.
No man is self-sufficient. We depend on others for services and products that we are not good at producing or simply cannot produce. We also outsource producing things and services that are not economical or not of the best quality to produce by ourselves.
Outsourcing makes you:
more productive
gives you quality products or services
saves cost/money
save time
Below are some products and services I outsource to maintain my productivity and keep my sanity.
Workflow tool
For an online transcription services provider it?s vital to have an online workflow management tool. Since there are no WordPress plugins to help me with this, I turn to Scribemanager for this solution. They?ve been very responsive and caring. And their cost being minimal it?s quite a useful tool. Besides transcription customers find it easy and intuitive to use and upload their audios tool. What more can I ask for?
Dropbox
Dropbox is my favorite backup and file-sharing solution. I?ve referred so many people to this service that I now have more than 20 GB storage capacity absolutely free. Awesome. I use it to back up my more important documents, favorite photos, ebooks, songs, etc. In business, I use it to share folders with transcribers and clients to drop their recordings.
Domain
This is a given. As an online transcription provider I cannot do without a website. Hence, the need to buy a domain name. I bought most of my domains from GoDaddy. Absolute must!
Webhosting
Webhosting is another service most people outsource. I got mine outsourced to a professional webhosting service dedicated to WordPress hosting. WPWebhost has a very responsive customer care team. They?ve been really useful when setting up new blogs. As a technically challenged person they helped me set up my first blog and held my hand until I was confident enough on my own. This is extremely useful for a blogging newbie with dreams of running a successful business online.
WordPress Themes
As with all other online businesses, the looks of your website is the face of your company. Hence, it?s vital to have a professionally built website if you can afford. For others, you can purchase themes that make your website professional and customize it to your heart?s content. ?I?m using Elegant themes on this website. You get 76 WordPress themes for $39 only!
Even though I consider myself an expert in transcription there are things I need to outsource in order to successfully run by online transcription business.
It?s true that there may be free options to choose from, however they are not always the best option. As a business this website has to be professional and functional. It has to be attractive and intuitive enough for potential customers to easily navigate through it.
I also outsource to do much more than any others. I believe in doing more and better than the competition. So, in areas where I?m not an expert I?m ready to pay and have been paying for some services for the long-term.
Outsourcing also allows me to focus on the core business ? transcribing excellent transcripts. I simply cannot compromise on that. Without serving excellent transcripts I have no business being in transcription business.
And then, there are some tasks I simply cannot do or have any interest in doing them. I outsource such tasks to deliver quality service.
Outsourcing, to me, is just another word for delegation. Mastering the art of delegating and therefore, outsourcing is a must and vital skill to be successful in life as much as it is in business.
About the author?? Carey Suante is a writer and entrepreneur. He founded?TranscriptionPRO Services?after years of experience in blogging and internet marketing. ?Contact him ?for a?no-obligation Transcription Quotation?today for all your typing and transcription requirements.
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WAINWRIGHT, Alaska ? It was the down slope of August, and in the icy winds and freezing rain that masquerade as summer on the Arctic coast, Shell Alaska had to move its community barbecue indoors to the school gym.
Billed as the oil company's thank-you to the I?upiat Eskimo village that is about to become a base for offshore drilling operations, the event featured free hamburgers, beans and something rarely seen up in the Far North ? plates heaped with fresh watermelon, oranges and bananas. Shell Alaska Vice President Peter E. Slaiby was in the middle of the room, raffling off jackets emblazoned with the Shell logo.
"Lord Jesus, thank you for this food," said a woman who stood up to bless the gathering. "We thank you for Shell and its employees. We thank you for their safe journey here."
Wainwright, a town of 550 people on barren bluffs of tundra 700 miles northwest of Anchorage, seems an unlikely venue for an oil boom. But the discovery of a massive undersea pool of oil just offshore in the Chukchi Sea has, for many, turned caribou dreams into lucrative oil services contracts that will create thousands of jobs across the North Slope.
These days in Wainwright ? a collection of makeshift wooden houses, dry-docked whaling boats, churlish dogs on short chains, and snowmobiles in varying stages of repair ? people are building new homes and reporting for new jobs as oil spill response workers. Hardly anyone looks twice at a new Hummer parked in front of the village market.
Yet some see the coming bonanza as a threat to a culture that has coexisted precariously with the ice for thousands of years.
"We just need to stop them, but we can't," said Sandra Peetook, who manages the small and now bustling hotel in town. "They're not worried about our land or how we get our food or how we feed our people. They are just worried about what they are going to drill out of the oceans."
Shell has spent $4.5 billion amassing an armada of drill ships and response vessels, and this month it began preliminary drilling in the Chukchi. A two-story workers camp on one of Wainwright's muddy streets houses the oil company crews; a communications center with VHF radios and satellite phones coordinates boats and helicopters plying the coast; dump trucks rumble constantly toward the edge of town, where ConocoPhillips is helping put in sites for a helipad and anotherworkers camp.
Just southeast of town, the villager-owned Olgoonik Corp. plans to convert an abandoned U.S. military radar station into an onshore base for future oil operations.
"It's creating opportunities. It's put some people to work here already. Imagine what happens when they start pulling up all that oil they're talking about discovering," said John Hopson Jr., a whaling captain who also runs Wainwright's public works department. "They're going to go get it. But we have to work to make sure the benefits flow through here, too."
Over the last three decades, the onshore fields of Prudhoe Bay have put millions of dollars of dividends in villagers' pockets and built schools, clinics and offices. Yet unless new revenue-sharing legislation is passed, production offshore will bring nativesfar fewer rewards ? most money from the outer continental shelf goes to the federal government ? even though operations there are seen as riskier to the ocean and the wildlife that is essential to human survival on this forlorn coast.
The Eskimosfear that a disaster like the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexicocould wipe out what remains of a fragile civilization that has lived with its face to the Chukchi Sea for generations. Spring and sometimes fall bring the hunt for the bowhead whale, beluga and walrus. Summer is for caribou and bearded seals. In early winter villagers plumb holes through the ice for rainbow smelt.
Althoughfederal officials have promised thatthe chance of a big oil spill is remote, many here are skeptical. Villagers also worry that the flood of strangers into Wainwright could prove more toxic than the hydrocarbons under the sea.
"The people who've attended the meetings have asked, 'What's going to be the benefit to us? What about our schools, what about housing?' There is no answer. They just come here and they give us food and think that's going to suffice," said fourth-grade teacher Edna Ahmaogak, who was sitting in a class full of students on the afternoon of the barbecue as hubbub from the Shell festivities filtered down the hall.
"Are we going to have helicopters overhead, scaring away our herds? If there's an oil spill, what about our whales, what about our bearded seals? Are they going to give us those?" Ahmaogak asked. "Or are they going to give us cold sandwiches?"
Shell, keenly aware of the need to share the bounty, is awarding many of its construction and oil services contracts to native corporations such as Olgoonik, signing agreements so far with 26 indigenous-owned companies. At Shell's camp in Wainwright, many of the oil spill response workers who go out daily on practice runs are from Wainwright and nearby Barrow.
"We do it because we will not be successful in Alaska if the communities we work in are not," Slaiby said. A veteran of drilling operations in Brazil, Syria, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, Slaiby has become a ubiquitous presence at community meetings across the North Slope, with his jeans, khaki shirts and willingness to partake of the cold melange of raw whale skin and blubber known as muktuk.
Slaiby has deployed his considerable resources ? patience, teams of skilled corporate lawyers and a willingness to spend millions of dollars on new technology and environmental mitigation ? against conservationists bent on protecting one of the last untouched seas on Earth and Eskimo villagers fearful of losing their seagoing livelihood. For Slaiby, it's been worth it because of what Shell executives often refer to as "the prize": an undersea oil formation 70 miles off the Chukchi coast known as the Burger prospect ? potentially so rich it could rank as one of the top 10 oil fields ever discovered in America.
"We are really appreciative of all the goodwill and progress we've made this year in Wainwright," Slaiby said as he rose to speak at the barbecue. He pointed out that most of the Shell workers stationed in town so far were not drillers but biologists, commissioned under a $5-million-a-year Shell-funded research program to document the fish, mammals and birds whose life cycles are now as interesting to Shell as to those who live here.
"We're taking the time to understand what's happening around here," Slaiby said, "and I think we'll have something here that's sustainable."
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Has New Haven, Conn., actually figured out how to reform public schools?
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Public release date: 25-Sep-2012
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