RSS, autocomplete URLs hit new Android Firefox beta

Mozilla debuted a new Firefox for Android 23 beta (download) on Thursday that brought with it a flatter but more Web-friendly version of the familiar browser logo.
The new logo has been designed, wrote Sean Martell, Mozilla's lead visual designer, with "SVG compatibility and color consistency" in mind. It doesn't ditch detail just for the sake of it, he said in his blog post about the change, but actually adds more detail in some areas.
One major detail he pointed out that has changed is the fox's arm. It now comes from its shoulder, instead of the middle of its chest like a disjointed orange tongue.
The new Firefox for Android beta doesn't change its look at all but does come with some new features designed to make it easier to use the mobile Web.
The updated location bar now automatically hides when not in use, to free up precious mobile screen real estate. To make it reappear, swipe down from the top of the screen. The bar, which Mozilla refers to as the "Awesome Bar," includes domain autocomplete for finishing URLs for you as you type. The company says that its the only mobile browser on the market with that feature.
The mobile browser now supports adding RSS feeds directly to My Yahoo or Google Reader, although that's going to have to change soon as Google Reader is shutting down July 1. You can add a feed to your RSS reader by long-pressing on the location bar when visiting a site.
Firefox for desktops' Switch to Tab feature is now available in the beta, too, so you don't have to open duplicate tabs to get to one that's already open. You can also change the default search engine provider in the mobile browser by going to the add-ons manager and long-pressing on an installed search engine.

SOURCE : http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57591452-92/rss-autocomplete-urls-hit-new-android-firefox-beta/

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Yahoo to Retire AltaVista Search Engine and Other Services on July 8

Yahoo announced its plan of closing the AltaVista search engine on July 8 which is part of the series of closure scheduled this year.

Yahoo decided to close of its less successful products, services, tools, and APIs beginning July in order to finance the new services that the company is developing. Jay Rossiter, senior vice president of platforms for Yahoo! Inc., announced on a blog post.

AltaVista was one of the most successful search engines during its time before Google joined the game. In 1997, it was said that AltaVista gave Yahoo business revenue of $50 million. It was first shut down in 2011 and revived in 2012. However, Yahoo decided to finally surrender and give AltaVista a rest after almost 15 years in service.n

Well, AltaVista is not alone in this retirement. In fact, three other services were retired ahead such as the Yahoo! Axis and Yahoo! BrowserPlus plug-ins and the Citizen Sports portal which served less than three years in Yahoo.

Yahoo! Axis was a browser developed for iOS devices which made its debut on May 23, 2012. It also serves as desktop extension for other services such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Apple Safari.

Another service to retire earlier than AltaVista was Yahoo! WebPlayer which allows users to upload videos and audios and play it as well. It will go dark on June 30 which will then be followed by Yahoo! RSS Alerts feed on July 1.

These tools were actually embedded on AltaVista’s search engine so it is pretty normal that AltaVista will soon be shut down as it loses all its components. AltaVista is quite similar to Google but these tools embedded on its software made it look very Yahoo.

Altavista is not alone on its closure date because Yahoo! Neighbors will also retire the same day. Other scheduled closures are Yahoo! India OMG! on July 25, Yahoo! Downloads on July 31, and Yahoo! Local API and the Yahoo! Term Extraction API on September 28.

SOURCE : http://www.hngn.com/articles/6567/20130629/yahoo-retire-altavista-search-engine-services-july-8.htm

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If a Google Employee Dies, Spouse Gets Half Pay for 10 Years

It's been long reported that Google treats its employees well, from offering them free food and fitness classes to laundry service and car washes. But according to a recent report, Google recently rolled out death benefits to employees, including a generous offer to pay the spouse or partner of a deceased staffer half of their salary for a decade.
The news of these death benefits — which was first reported by Forbes — also comes with "no tenure requirement," but it covers only U.S. employees right now. It was put into place earlier this year.
Mashable confirmed with a Google spokesperson that the benefits don't just stop at salary. The surviving spouse or partner of a deceased employee will also acquire vested stock benefits, and children will receive $1,000 a month until the age of 19. The timeline can be extended if the child is in school full time.
SEE ALSO: 6 Companies With Awesome Employee Perks Google said it is taking this approach because it is the right thing to do, ensuring that each employee's family is taken care of if an unforeseeable event were to occur — even if there is no direct benefit to the business.
Although it might attract more candidates to apply for a position, Google said that is not the reason why it implemented the benefits — more potential hires would just be a side effect.

SOURCE : http://mashable.com/2012/08/09/google-employee-death-benefits/

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ORSI: How same-sex marriage won

Until the first part of the past century, all mainline churches frowned on contraception. In 1930, however, the Lambeth Conference, a decennial assembly convened by the Anglican Church, broke with the long-held Christian prohibition. Other religious denominations quickly followed suit. This relaxation of the moral code opened the way for the destruction of marriage as it was traditionally understood.

Christians have always recognized children as one of the main purposes, or at least properties, belonging exclusively to marriage. The Bible, in the Book of Genesis, commands men and women to be fruitful and multiply. However, in every society regardless of religious belief, marriage was determined to be based on the natural law. It was the means for the continuation of the human species and ordained for the good of the state. Furthermore, the complementarity of husband and wife was always recognized as beneficial to raising healthy children. Marriage, therefore, existed for the common good, not just for the couple.

By separating life-giving and lovemaking through contraception, marriage became more focused on the couple’s happiness. The traditional understanding of marriage waned regarding the procreation of children and self-sacrifice on the part of the couple for them. In fact, children became not only unimportant for marriage, but they became important only if having them made the parties to the marriage happy. This effectively made children a commodity. Finally, marriage lent itself to rationalizing divorce on the grounds of one or both partners being unhappy, even if their separation proved detrimental to their children.

The elimination of children as one of the purposes of marriage cleared the path for sterile, homosexual marriage. After all, don’t homosexuals have a right to be happy, too? Shouldn’t same-sex couples have the right to adopt children if it adds to their bliss? Homosexual relationships as such have now become accepted as part of a new code of sexual ethics accepted by many churches. This is evident in churches that have devised rituals to bless same-sex unions.

Since many churches no longer have a strong theology of marriage, the courts have filled the vacuum. Judges are now the main arbiters of what constitutes a marriage and the privileges accorded to married couples, irrespective of a couple’s sex. Their decisions are based on positive rights derived from egalitarian principles that they claim are embedded in the Constitution. Indicative of this, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote in the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling Wednesday in United States v. Windsor, in which it struck down a provision of the 17-year old Defense of Marriage Act: “DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment.” This is another nail in the coffin of traditional understanding of marriage between one man and one woman.

Justice Kennedy further stated, “The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the state, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity.”

These words are extremely dangerous for those churches that maintain a traditional understanding of marriage. Justice Antonin Scalia points out in his dissent: “By formally declaring anyone opposed to same-sex marriage as an enemy of human decency, the majority arms well every challenger to a state law restricting a marriage to its traditional definition.”

For those religious traditions that oppose same-sex marriage, Justice Scalia’s jeremiad deserves special note. A word to the wise is sufficient.

Michael P. Orsi is chaplain and research fellow in law and religion at Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Fla.

SOURCE : http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/28/how-same-sex-marriage-won/

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NASA telescope to probe long-standing solar mystery

(Reuters) - A small NASA telescope was launched into orbit on Thursday on a mission to determine how the sun heats its atmosphere to millions of degrees, sending off rivers of particles that define the boundaries of the solar system.

The study is far from academic. Solar activity directly impacts Earth's climate and the space environment beyond the planet's atmosphere. Solar storms can knock out power grids, disrupt radio signals and interfere with communications, navigation and other satellites in orbit.

 

"We live in a very complex society and the sun has a role to play in it," said physicist Alan Title, with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, which designed and built the telescope.

Scientists have been trying to unravel the mechanisms that drive the sun for decades but one fundamental mystery endures: How it manages to release energy from its relatively cool, 10,000 degree Fahrenheit (5,500 degree Celsius) surface into an atmosphere that can reach up to 5 million degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 million Celsius).

At its core, the sun is essentially a giant fusion engine that melds hydrogen atoms into helium. As expected, temperatures cool as energy travels outward through the layers. But then in the lower atmosphere, known as the chromosphere, temperatures heat up again.

Pictures and data relayed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, telescope may finally provide some answers about how that happens.

The 4-foot (1.2-meter) long, 450-pound (204-kg) observatory will be watching the sun from a vantage point about 400 miles above Earth. It is designed to capture detailed images of light moving from the sun's surface, known as the photosphere, into the chromosphere. Temperatures peak in the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona.

All that energy fuels a continuous release of charged particles from the sun into what is known as the solar wind, a pressure bubble that fills and defines the boundaries of the solar system.

"Every time we look at the sun in more detail, it opens up a new window for us," said Jeffrey Newmark, IRIS program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The telescope was launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp Pegasus rocket at 10:27 p.m. EDT Thursday (0227 GMT Friday). Pegasus is an air-launched system that is carried aloft by a modified L-1011 aircraft that took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California about 57 minutes before launch.

The rocket was released from beneath the belly of the plane at an altitude of about 39,000 feet before it ignited to carry the telescope into orbit.

IRIS, which cost about $145 million including the launch service, is designed to last for two years.

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Google Is Developing Android Game Console

Google Inc. GOOG +0.39% is developing a videogame console and wristwatch powered by its Android operating system, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Internet company seeks to spread the software beyond smartphones and tablets.

With the game machine and digital watch, Google is hoping to combat similar devices that Apple Inc. AAPL -1.08% may release in the future, according to the people.

Google is also preparing to release a second version of an Android-powered media-streaming device, called Nexus Q, that was unveiled last year but not sold to the public, these people said.

The Internet giant hopes to design and market the devices itself and release at least one of them this fall, they added.

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.

The hardware plans are the latest sign of Google's determination to build on the success of Android, the software it launched in 2008 that powered 75% of all smartphones and 57% of tablets shipped globally in the first quarter, according to the research firm IDC.

Games that run on Android software have proved particularly popular, and they are growing more quickly than games made for the big-name consoles supplied by Microsoft Corp., MSFT +0.79%Sony Corp. 6758.TO +2.26% and Nintendo Co. 7974.OK +6.38% The appeal of such games has prompted the development of new devices aimed specifically for Android by other hardware companies.

Sony and Microsoft have recently unveiled new versions of their PlayStation and Xbox game consoles, which are expected to go on sale later this year. Together with Nintendo, sales of the games for these devices accounted for most of the $24.9 billion spent world-wide last year on console games, according to market researcher PwC.

The people briefed on the matter said Google is reacting in part to expectations that rival Apple will launch a videogame console as part of its next Apple TV product release.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Google has also been watching the efforts of Ouya Inc., a startup that this week began selling a $99 Android-based console and game controller, one of these people said.

The company's hardware efforts come as it wraps up development on the next version of Android, which is expected to be released in the fall. Among other things, the software will be better tailored to the lower-cost smartphones prevalent in developing countries with the aim of firming up Android's market-share globally, said some of the people familiar with the matter.

Google, through its Android unit and Google X hardware lab, is seeking to build devices separately from the company's Motorola MSI +0.61% hardware division. The handset maker was acquired last year and is currently focused on launching an Android-based smartphone called the Moto X, these people said.

Meanwhile, Google has been developing low-cost Android smartphones of its own with an eye toward offering them in developing markets, other people familiar with the matter have said, including in markets where Google plans to fund or help create next-generation wireless networks.

With the next release of Android this fall, Google is also moving more aggressively to use the software in additional kinds of devices, including laptops and appliances such as refrigerators.

Personal-computer makers including Hewlett Packard Co. HPQ +3.17% are already working on Android-powered laptops running the next version of the software, an effort that is separate from already launched Android tablets that can physically connect to a keyboard, according to people familiar with the matter. Android laptops would thus compete with those powered by Microsoft's Windows software. An H-P spokeswoman declined to comment.

Android is offered free to makers of devices like smartphones and tablets, withSamsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE 0.00% the biggest of Google's hardware partners. The hardware helps Google generate revenue from services like Google Search and YouTube.

Last fall Google said it was on track to generate $8 billion annually in gross revenue from mobile devices, though some analysts say the majority of Google's net mobile revenue comes from Web search and YouTube used on Apple devices.

As part of the release of the next Android version—known internally as "K release" and referred to by industry observers as "Key Lime Pie"—Google will give manufacturers such as Samsung greater freedom to use Android in devices other than smartphones and tablets, such as appliances and wearable devices, said people familiar with the matter.

Manufacturers that build devices using the official version of Android—which comes with Google's Web services preinstalled—weren't previously allowed by Google to use the Android name to promote devices other than smartphones and tablets. Over time, Google has changed its "compatibility" restrictions to allow for more device types.

Samsung has said it's working on an Android-based watch with smartphone-like capabilities. Wearable computing is a hot area of development for startups and technology giants. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Apple was developing a watch-like device with smartphone features.

Google's planned watch is expected to connect to a person's smartphone via Bluetooth technology, said people familiar with the matter. The Business Insider blog said in January that Google was "actively exploring the idea" of making such a watch.

Some industry observers say Google, Samsung and other technology companies are motivated in part by a desire not to let Apple build a big lead in a newer product category, as it did after launching the iPhone and iPad.

For its part, Google is also trying to popularize a new category of wearable devices. Its most serious effort is Google Glass, a device worn on the face with a computer screen above one eye. It delivers information from the person's smartphone, which is connected to Glass via Bluetooth technology. The device, made by the Google X unit, is expected to go on sale to the public next year.

Google has hit some bumps on the road to becoming a legitimate hardware manufacturer and consumer-electronics brand like Apple.

The first version of its spherically shaped Nexus Q home-entertainment device—the first-ever consumer device designed and marketed by Google—was unveiled last year, but its sale to the public was canceled amid criticism that its $299 price tag was too high. The next version of the Android-based device, which is supposed to help Google sell more music and movies through Google Play, will be much less expensive, said the people familiar with the matter.

According to Google, the majority of Android devices currently being used rely on a version of the software released in 2011 that has fewer capabilities than newer releases. Some industry experts say that the most recent versions of Android are better for higher-end devices than lower-end or older ones that had, for instance, 512 megabytes of memory.

The coming version of Android is supposed to remedy the issue, said people familiar with the matter, and also help mobile app developers focus on optimizing their apps for fewer versions of the software.

Google's head of Android, Sundar Pichai, in May said more than 900 million devices powered by Android had been activated worldwide, up from 400 million a year ago and 100 million two years ago.

Jen-Hsun Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia Corp., NVDA -0.92% which makes microchips for devices powered by Android, said in a recent interview that over time there would be three billion people who use Android devices, and that one million programmers globally are already using the software to build applications or devices. He said Android is poised to disrupt the videogame and consumer-electronics industry; computer systems in cars; as well as personal computing, such as desktop computers. He declined to discuss any unreleased products.

SOURCE : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689204578571992848684764.html?mod=wsj_streaming_stream

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Ancient horse bone yields oldest DNA sequence

  The study massively extends the time period for which DNA can be used to reveal ancient biological secrets 

 

A fragment of a fossilised bone thought to be more than 700,000 years old has yielded the genome of an ancient relative of modern-day horses.

This predates all previous ancient DNA sequences by more than 500,000 years.
The study in the journal Nature was made possible because the bone was found preserved in Canadian permafrost following the animal's demise.
The study also suggested that the ancestor of all equines existed around four million years ago.
A remnant of the long bone of an ancient horse was recovered from the Thistle Creek site, located in the west-central Yukon Territory of Canada.
Palaeontologists estimated that the horse had last roamed the region sometime between a half to three-quarters of a million years ago.
An initial analysis of the bone showed that despite previous periods of thawing during inter-glacial warm periods, it still harboured biological materials - connective tissue and blood-clotting proteins - that are normally absent from this type of ancient material.
DNA puzzle And this finding was significant as study co-author of the paper, Dr Ludovic Orlando from the University of Copenhagen, explained to the BBC World Service programme Science in Action.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

You would be amazed how much material of this kind is actually out there... museums are full of fossil material from all over the planet”

Keith Dobney University of Aberdeen

"We were really excited because it meant that the preservation was really good," he told the BBC.

"So at that stage we thought, let's try a DNA extraction to see how much of the genome we could characterise."
The multi-national team of researchers pulverised a fragment of the bone to recover its DNA, then subjected it to high-throughput, next-generation gene sequencing to unravel the blueprint of this antediluvian mount.
The first approach they tried resulted in relatively poor yields of horse-derived sequences, so they turned to a technology that could directly analyse single molecules of DNA.
This proved far more successful - but they still had an abundance of data to plough through.
Using high-powered computers and an existing horse genome sequence as a reference, the scientists sifted through the 12 billion sequencing reads to distinguish between DNA motifs belonging to the ancient horse and those from contaminating organisms, such as bacteria accumulated from the environment.

Przewalski's horse, once extinct in the wild, is viewed as the only remaining truly wild horse

From the resulting equine DNA fragments, they reconstructed a draft of its genome. Although the derived sequence data only covered around 70% of the entire genome, this was sufficient foundation for some revealing analyses.
The tell-tale presence of Y chromosome markers showed that the Thistle Creek bone had belonged to a male.
But the DNA also enabled them to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the larger Equus genus, which includes modern-day horses and zebras.
To do this, the scientists also determined the DNA sequence of a donkey, an ancient pre-domestication horse dating back around 43,000 years, five modern horses and a Przewalski's horse, which possibly represents the last surviving truly wild horse population.
Family trees, based on similarity of the DNA sequences, revealed the relationships between these equine stable-mates and their longer evolutionary history.
Heirs and grazes The Thistle Creek genome was reassuringly ancestral to the modern horses - positioned as it was at the base of the tree.
Geological dating evidence meant that the researchers could calibrate the rate of evolution in the different branches, and from this look back into the depths of the tree to approximate the age of the Equus genus ancestor - the forerunner to the donkey, zebra and horse.

DNA was extracted from pieces of the ancient bone

The results suggested it grazed the grasslands between 4 and 4.5 million years ago - twice as long ago as most previous estimates.
Through surveying sequence diversity in a larger number of domestic and Przewalki's horse samples- by looking in the genes for what are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs - past population sizes could be modelled.
Over the last two million years horses had experienced significant population expansions and collapses associated with climatic changes, and one collapse coincided with the date when the Thistle Creek and modern horses diverged.
The location of the genetic differences between the ancient and modern horses also provided tantalising clues into some of the possible consequences of these genetic differences, as Dr Orlando explained to the BBC.
"Once you have the genome, one thing you can do is to actually look at different genes that we know today are important for different traits.
"What we've learned for example the alleles that prime to the racing performance in domestics were not present at that time, for example."
Commenting on the wider implications of the study, co-author Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen said: "Pushing back the time barrier is important because it has implications for our evolutionary understanding of anything from hominins to other animals, because we can look further back in time than people have done previously."
Palaeoecologist Keith Dobney from the University of Aberdeen echoed the sentiment.

Continue reading the main story

How does DNA testing work?
Is DNA the 'smartest' molecule in existence?

"There were many things we said wouldn't be possible in ancient DNA [studies] not that long ago, until next generation sequencing came along and all of a sudden everything has changed, and I mean everything," he said.

Modern sequencing approaches and better fossil specimens will allow scientists to gaze further and further back into the mists of ancient evolution, and Prof Dobney said that procuring samples for future studies should not be a problem.
"You would be amazed how much material of this kind is actually out there.
"Museums are full of fossil material from all over the planet, caves are fantastic stable environments for preservation and some of the best preserved DNA has come out of cave deposits," he said.
But would we recognise the Equus ancestor as a horse?
"Even if you look at the Przewalski horse, which has a divergence time of only about 50,000 years ago... and compare it to the domestic horse, you can already see differences," observed Prof Willerslev.
"I would definitely say it would not look like a horse as we know it… but we would expect it to be a one-toed horse."

Ludovic Orlando was speaking to the BBC World Service programme Science in Action, which will air first 18:32 GMT on Thursday 27 June, and will be available on iPlayer and as a downloadable podcast.

SOURCE : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23060993

 

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Gay Marriage Rulings May Change LGBT Geography

Will LGBT Americans move to states that extend federal benefits?

Lela McArthur and Stephanie Figarelle said "I do" atop the Empire State Building in 2012, becoming one of the first same-sex couples to get married at the New York landmark.
Is the geography of LGBT America poised for a shakeup?
The U.S. Supreme Court took two big steps toward bolstering gay marriage on Wednesday, overturning the Defense of Marriage Act—paving the way for federal marriage benefits for gay couples—and reintroducing gay marriage in California, the most populous state.
The rulings may wind up influencing where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people live and work in the United States.
There are approximately 650,000 same-sex couples living in shared households in the United States, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law that focuses on sexual orientation, gender identity, law, and policy. Prior to Wednesday's ruling, 22 percent of those couples lived in states where gay couples could legally marry.
With the addition of California, 30 percent of Americans now live in states with legalized gay marriage, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest gay rights group.
Married same-sex couples who live in states where marriage is legally recognized will immediately receive some federal benefits.
What remains unknown, however, is how the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages in states where the marriage of same-sex couples is not legal. And that X factor could impact LGBT demographics.
"If the federal government says we're going to recognize marriages but only in states where marriage is already legally recognized, that could create economic incentives that could substantially motivate couples to move," said Gary Gates, a UCLA scholar who conducted the first significant research study of gay and lesbian demographics using U.S. census data.
There are currently 12 states in the U.S. (plus the District of Columbia) where marriage among same-sex couples is legally recognized. Seven additional states provide domestic partnerships or civil unions for couples.
In all 19 of those states, same-sex couples have state-law protections that are not available in states where marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships are off the books or are officially prohibited, including by state constitutional amendments in many places.
Wednesday's ruling extends federal benefits to gay couples who are married—but not to gay couples in civil unions or domestic partnerships. That means couples in states like New Jersey and Illinois will not receive the federal benefits bestowed on married couples in Massachusetts and Maryland.
"Today's ruling that the federal government will recognize the lawful marriages of same-sex couples will have the effect of making civil unions and domestic partnerships vastly more unequal to marriages," said David Codell, legal director of the Williams Institute.
Reasons for Movement
How the federal government will treat lawfully married same-sex couples living in states that don't recognize marriage is now a question for the Obama administration.
A difference in federal protections might sway gay couples' decisions on where to live.
"There will really be a two-tiered system in place if same-sex couples in the states where marriage is recognized get a set of federal benefits that couples would not get in other states," Gates said.
There has been limited evidence that LGBT mobility patterns are affected by the desire to move to more LGBT-friendly areas.
What we do know is based on data from Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage. According to 2005-2007 data from the American Community Survey, same-sex couples were about twice as likely to move to Massachusetts as different-sex couples.
But those data are based on a tiny number of couples (less than 500), and without surveying the couples themselves, it's impossible to say what factors influenced their decision to move.
Why Couples Move
Outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, hundreds of gay marriage supporters stood outside as the decision was announced. Some said that marriage laws do have an impact on deciding where they live, while others played down such an effect.
"If the option existed between a state that had marriage equality and a state that didn't, I would obviously move to the state that has it," said Abbe Klezer, a law student in West Virginia. "But I'm happy in West Virginia and I think it's getting better."
UCLA's Gates says that the vast majority of people in the U.S. stay put unless they have economic reasons to move. Wednesday's ruling increases economic incentives for gay couples in states where gay marriage is legal.
Benefits that gay married couples will now receive include Social Security survivor benefits and a federal estate tax break. If one spouse sells land to another, the capital gains tax will not apply. And same-sex married couples will now be eligible to receive COBRA benefits.
"There was a sense after Iowa passed marriage, that Iowa was going to be the San Francisco of the Midwest, as if all LGBT people in the Midwest have the ability to just pick up and move," he said, referring to Iowa's legalization of gay unions in 2009. "That didn't happen."
Instead, he said, the nation's LGBT population has become more evenly distributed. A study released last February showed that most states have LGBT populations that are close to the nationwide numbers. The study also found that states with higher LGBT populations tend to have stricter anti-discrimination laws based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
After Wednesday's high court decisions, states that have civil unions and domestic partnerships might think about converting those to marriage, said Gates, so gay couples can receive federal benefits.
"In the past, the difference between civil unions and marriage was about status and dignity," said Gates. "Now, if marriages are recognized by the federal government, we're talking about a difference in federal protection."
The ruling may have more implications for young people, said Alison Delpercio, who works at the HRC.
She pointed to a survey of young people conducted by the HRC, which asked, among other things, whether LGBT teenagers thought they could eventually be happy.
Eighty-three percent said yes. But if told they would be consigned to saying in their current town or city, the figure dropped to 49 percent.
That was true for Kyser Pogue, who was standing outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning. He made his way from northern Florida to Washington, D.C., in 1996 to attend Howard University. He never left.
"The first reason I came to Washington, D.C., was because I was attending school here," he said. "But in the back of my mind, I was thinking, 'Yes! This is a place where I can be myself.'"

SOURCE : http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130626-doma-gay-marriage-supreme-court-unconstitutional-proposition-8/

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Johnny Depp: Why I Travel With My Captain Jack Sparrow Costume

Disney Enterprises

We've heard about Johnny Depp visiting children's hospitals dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, but who knew he actually has the Pirates of the Caribbean costume with him at all times?
"Sometimes you go to kiddie hospitals and things like that," the actor explained while promoting his latest flick, The Lone Ranger (in theaters on July 3). "I'll just sneak in and go and surprise a bunch of kiddies through the different wards…It basically turns into a two-, three-hour improvisation and it's really fun. So I travel with Captain Jack."
Too sweet.
It doesn't sound like Depp will be popping into hospitals as Tonto from The Lone Ranger. He does, however, have the bird that Tonto wears on his head at his home in Los Angeles.
VIDEO: Check out Johnny, Armie Hammer and more at The Lone Ranger premiere
"That bird going through customs is going to be weird, isn't it?" Depp said with a laugh, adding, "I'll just put a handle on top of it and it will be a handbag."
As for when we'll be seeing the fifth Pirates movie, producer Jerry Bruckheimer said codirectors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg arrived in Hollywood last week.
"They're in full form preparing the picture," said Bruckheimer, who also produced The Lone Ranger. "We hope to start at the end of the year, the beginning of next year."

SOURCE : http://www.eonline.com/news/433160/johnny-depp-why-i-travel-with-my-captain-jack-sparrow-costume?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

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Lady Gaga Named 'Most Powerful Musician' By Forbes

Beyoncé & Madonna also feature in the list! Find out more here...

09:03, Thursday, 27 June 2013

Lady Gaga has beaten Beyoncé to top this year's Most Powerful Musicians list complied by Forbes.

 

The list is based on earnings, social media and press mentions and despite cutting her Born This Way Ball tour short due to a hip injury, Lady G still managed to pocket over $168 million.

 

 

She is also one of the most followed people on Twitter with over 38.5million fans, while on Facebook, Gaga has more than 57.9million likes. 

 

Beyoncé finished at No.2 on the list after earning over $2million for every Mrs Carter Show tour date, with her Pepsi and H&M sponsorship deals contributing to her wealth.

 

 

Queen of Pop Madonna was in third place - thanks to her MDNA Tour making over $305million - with Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi completing the top five.

 

Justin Bieber and Katy Perry also feature on the list, with Coldplay being the only British musicians to appear in the top ten. 

 

 

In Forbes' overall Power Celebrities list, Oprah Winfrey regained the top spot after raking in a cool £50.5 million last year to contribute to her £1.75billion wealth. 

 

Despite her huge success, Adele fell out of the Forbes 100 list, with a spokesperson for the magazine explaining: "Adele didn’t tour. Tours are now the main source of income for musicians."

 

SOURCE : http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/lady-gaga/384983-lady-gaga-forbes-most-powerful-musician-list-beyonce-oprah

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Justin Bieber Sued by Paparazzo Over Parking Lot Confrontation in Front of Selena Gomez

Justin Bieber has been sued for assault and battery by a paparazzo who alleges that the singer "physically attacked" him in a parking lot in May 2012.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in L.A. Superior Court and obtained by E! News, Jose Osmin Hernandez Duran claims that he was among a group of paparazzi lawfully trying to snap Bieber and his then-girlfriend Selena Gomez in the parking lot of The Commons shopping center in Calabasas, Calif., when the confrontation occurred.
WATCH: Bieber's never-before-seen "trainwreck" SNL sketch
The suit alleges that Bieber was having trouble maneuvering his Mercedes Sprinter van out of a parking space and had yelled, "F--k off! Get out of my way!" at those gathered around to watch him, when, "a few seconds later," he leaped out of the van, sprinted toward Duran and "delievered a martial-arts type kick" to the plaintiff's lower-left rib cage.
View the lawsuit
Bieber then punched Duran "hard" on the right side of his face, the complaint states, and pushed him back against a parked car, while Duran was saying, "'Justin, you don't have to do this,'" and holding up his hand in "a submissive gesture."
The suit further states that Gomez got out of the van and told her then-boyfriend, "'Justin, stop! They're taking your picture!'" and an unidentified woman who had been watching the altercation unfold also encouraged Bieber to stop.
PHOTOS: First look at Selena Gomez and her baby sister

They got back in the van and sped off, Duran's suit continues, but returned to the lot a few minutes later to look for Gomez's cell phone.
The plaintiff claims in the suit that Gomez then said to him, '"I'm sorry, I don't know why he did that.'"
The incident was investigated by authorities but the L.A. County District Attorney's Office ultimately opted not to press charges against Bieber.
When reached for comment on the suit, Bieber's attorney Howard Weitzman responded, "Seriously?"
WATCH: Johnny Depp reveals that daughter Lily Rose has moved on from Justin Bieber
An eyewitness told E! News at the time that Bieber and Gomez were swarmed by paparazzi and the singer was "simply trying to move their vehicle out of its parking space, but couldn't."
He did get out of the car and there was an altercation, during which Bieber "fell on his face and lost his shoe," the witness said. (Duran alleges in his suit that the force of the kick to his ribs caused Bieber to fall down.)
In addition to assault and battery, Duran is alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. He is asking for unspecified monetary damages.
Bieber has mainly kept today's Twitter activity confined to excitement for his show tonight in San Jose, Calif. Just after midnight, however, the 19-year-old heartthrob happened to tweet, "A lot of things have been said but I do this for you! #mybeliebers," but make of that what you will.

SOURCE : http://www.eonline.com/news/434167/justin-bieber-sued-by-paparazzo-over-parking-lot-confrontation-in-front-of-selena-gomez?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

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Brazil Reaches Confederations Cup Final

Paulinho scored on a header from Neymar’s corner kick in the 86th minute, and host Brazil beat Uruguay, 2-1, to reach the Confederations Cup final as anti-government protesters and the police clashed near Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte. Brazil will play in Sunday’s title game against the winner of Thursday’s Spain-Italy semifinal.

■ Striker Harry Kane scored a second-half equalizer to earn England a 1-1 tie against Chile in the Under-20 World Cup in Istanbul.

■ Carlos Tevez completed his move to Juventus in Italy’s Serie A after four controversy-filled years at Manchester City. A statement said he had signed a three-year deal. (REUTERS) 

SOURCE : http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/sports/soccer/brazil-reaches-confederations-cup-final.html?_r=0

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See, how Google is supporting same-sex marriage

READ MORE US gay laws|same-sex marriage|LGBT|Google|Gay Google employees

The US Supreme Court struck down a federal provision, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied same-sex legally married couples from receiving benefits.

WASHINGTON: Search engine Google is celebrating the pride month with its search box going all colorful when keywords like 'Gay pride' 'Stonewall' or 'Gay' related to today's ruling by the US court about the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) are typed.

The US Supreme Court struck down a federal provision, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied same-sex legally married couples from receiving benefits.

According to ABC News, Google had rolled out this feature a month back but many users are discovering it only now due to the ruling about Proposition 8 and DOMA.

Google has supported marriage equality and gay rights, and in order to support the court ruling, Google employees at its San Francisco office had a cake made to look like the HRC symbol with two set of gay couples sitting on top.

Gay Google employees or Gayglers, as they are called, have also convened before this year's Pride festivities to plan for Google's marketing activities surrounding the big LGBT events.

Earlier this month a lesbian couple got married through Google's chat service -- Google Hangout, the report added. 

SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/computing/See-how-Google-is-supporting-same-sex-marriage/articleshow/20794741.cms

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Cambodian Tailorbird: New Bird Species Discovered On Phnom Penh Construction Site [PHOTOS]

Photo: WCS A team of scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups have discovered a new species of bird with distinct plumage and a loud call living in a capital city of 1.5 million people.

Photo: WCS A team of scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups have discovered a new species of bird with distinct plumage and a loud call living in a capital city of 1.5 million people.

A tiny bird has been discovered in plain sight – on a Cambodian construction sight. The Cambodian Tailorbird (Orthotomus chaktomuk) is a bird species previously unknown to science that was discovered while making routine checks for avian flu.
A team of scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society, BirdLife International, and other groups, have outlined the details of the discovery in the Oriental Bird Club journal, Forktail. The first sighting of the Cambodian Tailorbird dates back to 2009 where birdwatchers noticed the grey and reddish bird and mistakenly believed it belonged to an existing species.
It was only three years later, when a bird was found in a partially flooded construction site in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, that scientists began to take a closer look.
"The modern discovery of an undescribed bird species within the limits of a large populous city -- not to mention 30 minutes from my home -- is extraordinary," said Stephen Mahood of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), who was part of the team that investigated the new species, said in a statement.
Between June 2012 and April 2013 more sightings were reported, specimens were examined and scientists concluded that the birds had “significant morphological differences from its close relatives” marking it as a new species.
The bird described by the WCS as a "wren-sized small gray bird with rufous cap and black throat" has also been spotted on the floodplain scrubs outside of Phnom Penh. Authors of the study attribute the newfound discovery to a half century of human conflict in the area that prevented birdwatchers from exploring Indochina.
Another reason could be the familiarity birdwatchers had with the ecosystem where the bird was found.
"This habitat is of little interest to birdwatchers and ornithologists because the other species that it supports are some of the most widespread and abundant birds in tropical South-East Asia," the publication said.
Authors of the study said the Cambodian Tailorbird, one of two species found exclusively in Cambodia, may be threatened with extinction. They recommend classifying the species a "Near Threatened" under the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources)  Red List that determines the risks of extinction for a variety of plant and animal species.

SOURCE : http://www.ibtimes.com/cambodian-tailorbird-new-bird-species-discovered-phnom-penh-construction-site-photos-1323583

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Google, Yahoo and Bing warned by FTC over advert labelling

US search engines, including Google and Yahoo, have been warned by the FTC to clearly label paid-for search results. Photograph: Alamy

The Federal Trade Commission has written to search engines operating in the US warning them to "clearly and prominently" distinguish advertising from "natural" search results, saying that over the past decade it has seen companies beginning to mix the two.
The letter (PDF) has been sent to the three largest US search engines – Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing - and also to AOL, Blekko, DuckDuckGo and 17 other specialist search engines for shopping, travel, and local business which display adverts to users.
The FTC, set up to protect US consumers' interests, does not name any search engine company in particular as having breached its rules. But it warns the companies that "consumers ordinarily expect that natural search results are included and ranked based on relevance to a search query, not based on payment from a third party. Including or ranking a search result in whole or in part based on payment is a form of advertising. To avoid the potential for deception, consumers should be able to easily distinguish a natural search result from advertising that a search engine delivers."
It says in the past year, the tendency for search engines to put adverts immediately above "natural" results – as Google and others do – has led more than half of users not to recognise them as adverts. In a survey, nearly half of searchers said the background shading for adverts was white – exactly the opposite of the correct answer, where paid ads above "natural" results are distinguished on almost all search engines by having a non-white background shading. Paid adverts on the right of natural search results have a white background on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
The FTC also says that general search engines which offer specialised services such as news, images, local business or shopping where companies pay to appear should make it clear that they are effectively advertising – and that failing to label them as such would constitute "deceptive practice".
According to the research company eMarketer, Google is the US's most-used search engine, and raked in 73.8% of the $17.3bn (£11.3bn) that was spent on search advertising in 2012 – leaving just $4.5bn for rivals, most of which would have been taken by Yahoo and Bing.
Last year, Google shifted its Shopping search so that it only includes paid listings. The Shopping listings are presented on a panel with a white background – the same as "natural" search results – and with grey text saying "sponsored" at the top right. Above that is a light-shaded panel with a paid ad.
Google said in a statement to the Reuters news agency that clear labelling and disclosure of paid search were important and "we've always strived to do that as our products have evolved."
The FTC in January completed a two-year examination of Google's behaviour in the presentation of search results to see whether it was unfairly favouring its own products such as Maps, YouTube and Shopping. It decided there was no basis to act.

SOURCE : http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/26/google-yahoo-bing-ftc-advert-labelling

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Lines Began Overnight for Same-Sex Marriage Rulings

For more than two weeks, gay rights advocates have stood at the steps of the United States Supreme Court waiting to hear decisions from the justices about two cases that will affect millions of gays and lesbians across the nation. With each day that passed without a ruling, they left disappointed.

But Wednesday marks the last day the court will convene for this term, and decisions are expected to be handed down for both the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, which denies federal benefits to gay and lesbian married couples, and Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in California.

Dozens of people made their way to the court building on Tuesday night, beginning around 7:30 p.m., to sit in line in order to be admitted inside on Wednesday morning to hear the decisions. The early crowd seemed to be predominantly gay rights activists.

By 7 a.m. the line stretched down the front steps and wrapped around the corner. People stood up to start walking into the building at about 7:15 a.m., and court officials started handing out tickets to enter.

Coffee cups and candy wrappers lined the sidewalk and a few sleepy college-aged boys brushed their teeth in the street. “You only can sleep on the cement and witness history once,” said Joanne Joseph, a law student at Cornell who is studying religious freedom.

In the early morning, the scene in front of the court was relatively tame compared with the throngs outside the hearings that took place in March, but bigger crowds were expected. News media crews clogged the sidewalk in front of the building.

Maureen Mentrek and Karna Adam, both sophomores at Dartmouth, said they came to the court last night at 9:30 p.m. to get in line. They said they slept for about an hour, with pillows and sleeping bags on the sidewalk.

“It’s a huge landmark case and to actually be able to see it and to see these people in line so passionate about it is really great,” Mr. Adam said. “It is a changing time for us and these cases are like the civil rights cases used to be for past generations.”

Jared Millrad, a lawyer who lives in Washington, arrived at the court at about 11 p.m. Tuesday night. He said he came to hear the decisions because DOMA personally affects him. He and his boyfriend got engaged last month in New York and hope to be married within a year.

“I came for those who couldn’t be here whether living or dead, including those heroes of mine in the LGBT community,” Mr. Millrad said.

The court will begin handing down decisions at 10 a.m.

SOURCE : http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/us/politics/supreme-court-scene-gay-marriage.html?_r=0 

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Kanye West Talks Kim, Sex Tapes & 'Being God'

Kanye West has opened up about "true love" Kim Kardashian in a honest interview with W magazine.

 

The Black Skinhead rapper - who recently welcomed his first child, North, with Kimmy - hit back at critics who have slammed the socialite's lifestyle choices after it was claimed Yeezy was styling her.

 

West told the publication: “Nobody can tell my girl what to do. She just needed to be given some platforms of information to work from.

 

 

"For her to take that risk in front of the world, it just shows you how much she loves me.”

 

When asked about his guest appearance on Kim's reality TV show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Yeezy explained: "Oh, that’s just all for love. It’s simply that.

 

“At a certain point, or always, love is more important than any branding, or any set of cool people, or attempting to impress anyone."

 

He added: "Because true love is just the way you feel. Thoughts and feelings can disagree sometimes.”

 

 

Kanye also addressed rumours of a supposed sex tape he made before hooking up with Kim, telling the mag he almost released his own copy of the footage.

 

The 36-year old said: "For the most part, I’d rather people have one of those home videos than some of the paparazzi photos that get published. At least I recorded the sh*t myself.

 

"That tape couldn’t have hurt me in any way if it came out - it could only have helped.”

 

As for his new album Yeezus, Kanye also spoke about Daft Punk collaboration I Am A God, where he says: "I made that song because I am a god. I don’t think there’s more explanation.”

 

West went on to tease that people shouldn't always take him seriously, adding that he could be “completely f***ing with you, and the world, the entire time.”

 

CHECK OUT MORE SNAPS OF KIMYE HERE!
SEE 101 OF KANYE’S MOST FAMOUS LOOKS HERE!!! 

SOURCE : http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/kanye-west/384859-kim-kardashian-kanye-west-sex-tape-yeezus-love-w-mag

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