Samsung launches two dual-sim Galaxy Y phones for carrier cheaters

Samsung is rolling out a pair of dual-SIM blowers for everyone who wants to keep their working and private lives separate, or take advantage of constantly changing carrier deals. The Galaxy Y Duos packs a 3.14-inch QVGA (243 x 320) touchscreen, HSDPA modem, three megapixel camera, microSD storage that's expandable up to 32GB and an 832MHz processor that runs TouchWiz flavored Gingerbread. The Galaxy Y Pro Duos' only difference is its smaller 2.6-inch LQVGA TFT screen, to make space for the physical keyboard below. Both models will be available from January in Europe, Russia, Latin America, Asia, Africa and China and while there's no word on pricing, the specs suggest it won't be high. Head on past the break for the deep dish (or as some squares like to call it, "press release").

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MJMcGuire: Blake Griffin? The guy from the Kia commercials? Pretty good. #nba

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Gillmor Gang Live 12.16.11 (TCTV)

The Gillmor Gang ? Robert Scoble, Kevin Marks, John Taschek, and Steve Gillmor ? are recording live today at 1pm PT. Recording concluded.

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TV channel squeeze proposed to pay for tax cuts (AP)

NEW YORK ? Call it the Great Channel Squeeze.

Congress is considering letting cellphone companies pay television stations to give up their frequencies so they can be put to better use for wireless broadband.

The idea is to squeeze over-the-air television, which has few viewers, into a smaller slice of the airwaves. The government would be the broker in the deal and would use some proceeds to fund tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

In years to come, you might see Channel 17 cease to broadcast and Channel 49 take its place, for instance. The empty slot at Channel 49 would then become available for a range of wireless services. That could mean faster downloads for smartphones and tablet computers.

Although vast swaths of broadcast spectrum were freed when television signals converted from analog to digital in 2009, much of that has already been claimed. Technology companies have been clamoring for even more airwaves to satisfy growing consumer appetite for movies, books and websites on mobile devices.

The Federal Communications Commission sees more spectrum as a way to extend high-speed Internet access to places where phone and cable TV companies don't have enough customers to offer landline broadband connections.

"Unless we free up new spectrum for mobile broadband, the looming spectrum crunch risks throttling our mobile economy and frustrating mobile consumers," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement this week.

In a sense, this proposal is a reflection of the times. In the U.S., there are more wireless devices in use than there are people. Meanwhile, various studies show that fewer than 10 percent of households get their TV signals over the air ? the rest have cable or satellite service.

The FCC's national broadband plan envisions freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next 10 years. As much as a quarter of that could come from television.

But many things need to happen first.

For starters, Congress needs to give the FCC authority to do this.

The House included that authority in a bill it passed Tuesday to extend Social Security payroll tax reductions and unemployment coverage. Congress estimates that $16.5 billion could be generated over 10 years by auctioning the broadcast channels and another slice now used for public safety. But President Barack Obama opposes the bill for reasons unrelated to spectrum, and the Senate is working on its own version of the package.

Once the FCC gets authority, it needs to find broadcasters willing to cede their frequencies. Station owners would share in auction proceeds if they turn in their broadcasting licenses and either cease operations or become cable-only channels. They would be compensated to build new towers and make other adjustments if they need to switch frequencies. Congressional revenue estimates already factor that in.

The National Association of Broadcasters isn't sure how many stations would go along.

"Local TV stations are doing pretty well in terms of advertising sales," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said. "It would surprise me if there would be the sort of stampede to go out of business."

That said, the NAB supports the proposal as long as stations aren't forced or pressured to give up their frequencies. If stations must move, the NAB wants to make sure they aren't the ones paying for it and won't face more interference or any reduction in how far their signals go. Wharton says the House bill includes good protections for broadcasters, but a similar measure in the Senate does not.

Television stations once had Channels 2 to 83, except for 37, which is used for astronomy. Channels 70 to 83, mostly used to retransmit signals from other channels, disappeared in the 1980s and have been reassigned to other uses. Stations gave up Channels 52 to 69 in 2009 as part of a transition to digital broadcasts, and much of that has already been reassigned.

The House-passed bill would allocate some of what's left from the digital transition to build a broadband network for public safety. It would also auction off spectrum that police, firefighters and emergency workers now use for voice communications.

Depending on how many stations want to participate, Channels 31 to 51, excluding 37, could be freed up under the proposed program.

The changes could ultimately take several years and won't be easy. The NAB says nearly 40 percent of the nation's 1,735 full-powered stations now use one of the 20 channels targeted. Broadcasters would have to upgrade equipment, and viewers using antennas would have to find the station's new home.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_tv_channel_squeeze

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Indonesia Beheadings To Be Investigated

JAKARTA, Indonesia ? Indonesia's president has ordered an investigation into the videotaped beheadings of two men ? allegedly by security forces hired to secure the borders of a palm oil plantation.

Six suspects ? five plantation workers and a farmer ? already have been arrested for their alleged role in the deaths, national police spokesman Col. Boy Raffli Amar said Friday. Eight other suspects are at large.

Indonesia is one of the world's largest producers of palm oil ? used to make everything from lipstick to biscuits to biofuel ? and the rapid expansion of plantations across the sprawling archipelagic nation of 240 million has led to many violent disputes with local communities.

Land is often forcibly seized ? also by timber, pulp and paper companies ? without any offers of compensation. But the allegations by farmers from South Sumatra province, if confirmed, would be by far the most shocking so far.

A dozen men, accompanied by a retired general, traveled to the capital, Jakarta, earlier this week to present their case before Parliament's human rights commission.

They told its members at least 30 farmers have been killed by security forces and men hired by a palm oil company in Mesuji district since 2009 ? two of them beheaded in April.

They presented two video clips as evidence, though one appears to be unrelated to the dispute.

In the first, a decapitated corpse is shown hanging from an electricity pole in Mesuji, according to witnesses. Then it jumps to another headless body on the ground, masked men, some toting assault rifles, milling about in the background.

Next, two bloody heads are shown on the roof of a truck, also in Mesuji.

The other clip appears to unrelated, however, possibly from the separatist insurgency in southern Thailand, judging from the dialect and words of the assailant.

It shows a man dressed in camouflage standing in the woods, an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, holding onto a freshly severed head by the hair. "Fathoni Darussalam," he says triumphantly, using the cry of Pattani separatists in southern Thailand. "Freedom! Freedom!"

Ifdhal Kasim, who heads the National Commission on Human Rights, condemned the killings.

But the details, he said, remain very murky.

There appear to have been several, separate deadly clashes in the last year between farmers and three palm oil companies in Mesuji ? which straddles South Sumatra and Lampung provinces.

As concession sizes grew, he added, thousands of people were driven from their homes.

Facing protests, one of the companies formed an integrated security team, consisting of civilian guards, members of an elite police unit and military troops to protect their plantation, he said.

"It's not clear who was behind the beheadings or the other killings," he said. "But if there's even a hint that security forces were involved, they should be investigated first."

Farmers also appeared to have killed at least five plantation workers and security guards in retaliation for the beheadings, he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, meanwhile, said he was shocked by the claims.

He immediately sent a task force made up of officials from the Ministry of Security and the national police to investigate, according to his spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha.

___

Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/indonesia-beheadings-investigated_n_1153020.html

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Wall Street falls as Europe anxiety lingers (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday with traders focused on a sliding euro and rising Italian bond yields as market anxiety over Europe persisted.

Italy paid a euro-era record high yield of 6.47 percent to sell five-year notes in its first auction of longer-term debt since the European Union moved toward greater fiscal integration.

U.S. stocks have been weighed down this week in part on fears an agreement at last week's EU summit did not go far enough to resolve the two-year-old debt crisis.

The S&P energy sector (.GSPE) fell 1.8 percent as U.S. crude oil prices dropped 3.1 percent. Commodity-related shares were further pressured by a strengthening U.S. dollar.

Copper fell for a third straight session, while gold hit a two-month low and the euro dipped below what some view as a psychological barrier of $1.30.

"It's clear at this point the EU has not done enough, the market doesn't feel it's done enough," said Doreen Mogavero, chief executive of Mogavero, Lee & Co from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

"There is this negative feeling about where the economy is going into the next year," Mogavero said.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) lost 64.45 points, or 0.54 percent, to 11,890.49. The S&P 500 (.INX) dropped 8.71 points, or 0.71 percent, to 1,217.02. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) fell 23.50 points, or 0.91 percent, to 2,555.77.

Investors were also disappointed the U.S. Federal Reserve gave no hints after its Tuesday meeting about new stimulus measures to offset the effects of the European crisis.

Even if a majority of economists polled by Reuters expect no further action from the Fed to boost the economy in the short term, a separate survey showed most primary dealers see the central bank enacting some type of stimulus.

First Solar Inc (FSLR.O) shares fell almost 21 percent to $33.75 after it joined a list of companies including Intel Corp (INTC.O) Dupont and Co (DD.N) and Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.N) that have revised their outlooks lower.

The euro slid to an 11-month low against the dollar as investors speculated the ratings of more euro zone countries may be downgraded in the near term, given that a quick solution to the crisis remains elusive.

An index of home builder stocks (.DJUSHB) dropped 1.3 percent after the National Association of Realtors said data on sales of previously owned homes will be revised downward because of double counting.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111214/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Britney Spears engaged to marry Jason Trawick (omg!)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Britney Spears is ready to walk down the aisle for the third time. The 30-year-old pop star has agreed to marry her longtime boyfriend and former agent Jason Trawick.

Trawick announced Friday on "Access Hollywood" that he and Spears are engaged. The two have been dating since 2009.

Spears hinted at the big news with a tweet Friday morning that read, "OMG. Last night Jason surprised me with the one gift I've been waiting for. Can't wait to show you! SO SO SO excited!!!!"

Spears was previously married to Kevin Federline, with whom she has two sons: 6-year-old Sean Preston and 5-year-old Jayden James. The couple divorced in 2006. Spears also briefly wed childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004, but the marriage was annulled after 55 hours.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_britney_spears_engaged_marry_jason_trawick195858440/43930163/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/britney-spears-engaged-marry-jason-trawick-195858440.html

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Tenn. Guard anti-suicide app could help soldiers nationwide (Reuters)

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) ? The Tennessee National Guard has launched a pilot program that will allow potentially suicidal troops to use a new smart phone application to immediately connect them to help.

The "Guard Your Buddy" app was spearheaded by Clark Flatt, president and CEO of the Jason Foundation, which he launched in October 1997 after his son, Jason, 16, took his life July 16 of that year.

Major General Terry "Max" Haston, who approached Flatt about the app, said the idea is pretty simple.

"We hope soldiers will download this smart phone application and pass it on to their fellow troops to ensure they have someone to talk to in times of trouble," Haston said.

"It's difficult to predict if or when a member of our guard family will face suicidal thoughts, but we want them to be able to get help if they need it."

Flatt said suicides in the National Guard "have gone up 450 percent since 2004," a number that includes at least six members of the state National Guard.

And the problem isn't just in Tennessee, which is why Haston and Flatt hope to spread the app nationwide sooner rather than later.

Numbers provided by Master Sergeant Marshall Bradshaw of the Arlington, Virginia-based National Guard Bureau's suicide prevention program show 362 National Guard members nationwide have been confirmed as suicide victims since 2007. Another 23 cases are still under investigation, he said.

Flatt said that after being approached by the general he wasn't sure his foundation, built around the idea of preventing tragedies like that which happened to his own high school son, was the right venue.

Haston convinced him the Jason Foundation's goal of addressing youth suicide very much applies to the National Guard.

"A lot of the people we're talking about as having these issues are young guardsmen, 18-24 years old," Flatt said, noting that encompasses the college age group his foundation serves. "We found a lot of problems were relationships and finance," that left unaddressed could lead to thoughts of suicide.

SUBSTANCE-ABUSE ISSUES

Tennessee National Guard Command Sergeant Major Terry Scott works in family support at the Nashville headquarters. Among his concerns are substance-abuse issues, which he says often are contributing factors to suicide.

The Guard Your Buddy app draws raves.

"I think it's going to assist us in a great way. We have a lot of young soldiers in the 17-25 range and that's where our highest rate of suicide is," Scott said, praising the app as a way to reach out to them. "Being an electronic device, it is what they are in tune with."

That high-tech tool provides soldiers the immediacy that could save a life, said Flatt.

"What we came up with is a Guard Your Buddy app for your smart phone and a mobile web site that contains all the links, the places somebody can go as to how to help a friend, talk to a friend," he said.

The smart phone has a "Talk Now" button that instantly connects soldiers to "a master's-level clinician or above who can connect you to life services."

"You don't talk to an operator," said Flatt. "The confidentiality is very high."

He said that program was the work of a team, including his foundation, the guard and E4, a Dallas-based national employee assistance company that provides the clinicians pro bono for the pilot program.

The app is based around a simple fact of life in the guard. "They have a battle buddy code of honor: Take care of your buddy," said Flatt. "If you see your buddy and there are some warning signs, then use this app and get help."

Flatt said the general has made a directive that beginning January 1, all Tennessee National Guardsmen must have a card with the web site and app information on it "as part of their uniform," meaning they must have it in their possession whenever they are on duty.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam participated in this week's unveiling of the app.

"Soldiers serving in our war against terror have faced long deployments away from their families while enduring tragic combat events," said Haslam. "It is important to find ways to help today's troops and the Guard Your Buddy app will give them access to round-the-clock resources."

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/us_nm/us_suicide_soldiers

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Italian government approves new measures (AP)

ROME ? Premier Mario Monti said Sunday that his government of technocrats has approved a package of austerity and growth measures to "reawaken" the Italian economy and help save the euro common currency from collapse.

The measures include immediate cuts to the costs of maintaining Italy's bulky political class as well as significant measures to fight tax evasion, Monti told a news conference following a three-hour Cabinet meeting.

As part of the political cost cuts, Monti said he would forego his salary as premiere.

The package also includes measures to spur growth and competition, while aiming to stamp out rampant nepotism.

"We gave a lot of weight to fairness, we had to distribute some of the sacrifices but we took a lot of care to distribute them in a fair way," Monti said.

Monti will outline the measures on Monday to Parliament, which must approve them.

The premier spent the weekend briefing political parties, unions, business groups, consumer lobbies and others.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_financial_crisis

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Fastest-rotating massive star ever recorded

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2011) ? An international team of scientists has found the fastest-rotating massive star ever recorded. The star spins around its axis at the speed of 600 kilometers per second at the equator, a rotational velocity so high that the star is nearly tearing apart due to centrifugal forces.

This confirms a prediction put forward by astrophysicist Matteo Cantiello, a postdoctoral fellow with UC Santa Barbara's Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, who contributed to the discovery published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The observations were made at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, as part of a survey of the heaviest and brightest stars in a region called the Tarantula Nebula. The Tarantula Nebula is a region of star formation located in a neighboring galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 light years from Earth. The reported star, VFTS 102, is extremely hot and luminous, shining about 100,000 times more brightly than the sun. According to the research team, this star had a violent past and was ejected from a double star system by its exploding companion star.

Cantiello and collaborators explained that stars could reach such rapid rotation via a "cosmic dance" with another star so close that gravity strips gas from its surface. "This gas falls onto the companion star, increasing the mass and spinning it up," said Cantiello. "Similar to a tennis ball spinning fast after being hit by a glancing blow, a star rotates quickly after being hit off-center by the in-falling gas."

Cantiello previously predicted the possibility of observing this type of star. He reported this theoretical finding with Sung-Chul Yoon, Norbert Langer, and Mario Livio in a paper published in 2007 in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters. This theoretical investigation of stars in binary systems predicted extreme rotational velocities after mass accretion. The observed rotational velocity for the star agrees with this prediction.

The star is unusual not only because it rotates so fast, but also because it is moving away from its neighboring stars at a velocity of about 70,000 miles per hour, or 30 kilometers per second. "Having been part of a binary system could explain this space oddity," said Cantiello. "It has been known for over 40 years that a star in a massive binary system can be shot away from its surroundings when the companion ends its life in a spectacular explosion called a supernova. In our theoretical calculations we noticed that the 'spun-up' star would also be moving from its surroundings at a high rate. It is very exciting to find a star that matches both of these predictions."

The star is located close to a pulsar and a supernova remnant, which may be left over from the companion star that once spun-up the observed star. If confirmed, this would provide additional support for the theoretical explanation put forward by Cantiello and collaborators in 2007.

Cantiello said that this star may produce dramatic fireworks as it dies. Such a rapidly rotating, massive star is believed to be the progenitor of some of the brightest explosions in the universe: gamma-ray bursts. These occur when the star's fast rotation produces powerful jets of light and matter.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Santa Barbara.

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Journal Reference:

1. P. L. Dufton, P. R. Dunstall, C. J. Evans, I. Brott, M. Cantiello, A. de Koter, S. E. de Mink, M. Fraser, V. H?nault-Brunet, I. D. Howarth, N. Langer, D. J. Lennon, N. Markova, H. Sana, W. D. Taylor. The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: The fastest rotating O-type star and shortest period LMC pulsar -- remnants of a supernova disrupted binary? The Astrophysical Journal, 2011; 743 (1): L22 DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/743/1/L22

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205170055.htm

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In or out? Cain to say whether he'll stay in race (tbo)

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Canada, U.S. primed for sledge hockey final

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You can lead a penguin to water, but can you make him swim?

When it comes to water, penguins aren't naturals.

"Some of them are terrified," says Bethany Wlaz, a keeper at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

So each time African penguins are born into the zoo's breeding program for the endangered birds, someone like Wlaz becomes their swimming coach. But first comes the introduction to being wet.

Soft as a cotton ball and about the size of a roasted chicken, Male One ? hatched on Oct. 12 ? is lowered into a stainless steel sink by Wlaz and Betty Dipple, another animal keeper.

"Araaah," the bird protests, as a stream of lukewarm water washes over its head and flippers. "Araaah."

Back and belly, tail feathers and webbed feet, nothing escapes the faucet. Five minutes later, the penguin's first bath is in the can.

While Male One is being dried and wrapped in a fluffy towel, Male Two ? four days younger ? gets the same treatment and emits a similar donkey-like bray. Puffs of gray down float in the air.

"They're getting the full salon service," Wlaz says.

Doting on African penguins has been a Maryland Zoo specialty for more than three decades. With 55 to 65 birds living at the moat-enclosed area known as Rock Island, the zoo has one of the largest breeding colonies in the country. Another major colony is at the New England Aquarium in Boston.

The work is of global importance because African penguins, found only along the southern shore and islands of Africa, are teetering on the edge of extinction. Their numbers have declined from as many as 4 million in the early 1900s to 60,000 in 2010, according to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. Fewer than half of them are estimated to be breeding pairs.

African penguin eggs were targeted up until the 1960s by people who considered them a delicacy and scooped them up by the millions. The penguins' habitat has been destroyed by commerce and oil spills, and overfishing and climate change have depleted their food, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

The Assn. of Zoos and Aquariums has developed a species survival plan to map out breeding to ensure a strong genetic pool while scientists and conservation groups try to stabilize the population. The Maryland Zoo keeps breeding pairs on hand and distributes other penguins to zoos for display or breeding.

The parents of Male One and Male Two ? proper names are coming, zoo officials promise ? came to Baltimore a year ago. The father hailed from Tampa and the mother from Memphis. They quickly became a family of four, with the newborns spending three weeks with their parents before keepers took over the domestic duties.

"It's hard to have an entirely bad day when you're around penguins," Dipple says as she slides a chunk of squid into the gaping black beak of Male One.

The chicks weigh 4.9 pounds and 3.8 pounds. When fully grown right around Christmas, they'll be 23 to 25 inches tall, will weigh about 8 pounds and will be fully decked out in black-and-white plumage.

Once Male One and Male Two get the hang of being wet, the keepers will fill a small pool halfway with water and shoo the birds in. This march of the penguins will happen three times a day, every day, until the lessons take.

"For each bird, it will click at a different point," Wlaz said. "Some we'll put in and they'll take to it. Some will run and jump out like it's molten lava. One day they realize that it's the coolest thing in the world and they start diving and swimming, and then it's pretty much impossible to get them out."

Soon, they may have siblings. The parents have produced another clutch, and four other penguin pairs are expected to breed this season.

That's a lot of swimming lessons.

candy.thomson@baltsun.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/JYL5NeNZF5k/la-na-penguin-chicks-20111204,0,4883065.story

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It's mutual: Vikings, McNabb agree to part ways

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2011, file photo, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb reacts on the sideline after being sacked for a safety during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago. McNabb was not at practice for the Vikings during the portion that is open to the media on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, amid reports that the veteran quarterback has been waived. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2011, file photo, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb reacts on the sideline after being sacked for a safety during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago. McNabb was not at practice for the Vikings during the portion that is open to the media on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, amid reports that the veteran quarterback has been waived. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2011, file photo, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago. McNabb was not at practice for the Vikings during the portion that is open to the media on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, amid reports that the veteran quarterback has been waived. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2011, file photo, Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier, right, stands on the sidelines with quarterback Donovan McNabb (5) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago. McNabb was not at practice for the Vikings during the portion that is open to the media on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, amid reports that the veteran quarterback has been waived. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) ? Donovan McNabb is available again. The Minnesota Vikings waived the 13-year veteran quarterback on Thursday, giving him the opportunity to sign with another team for the stretch run in a parting coach Leslie Frazier described as mutual.

Frazier pushed for the Vikings to trade a sixth-round draft pick this summer to the Washington Redskins in exchange for McNabb. He wanted stability he believed McNabb would bring to the offense after the NFL lockout kept rookie Christian Ponder from practicing with the team or working with his coaches until training camp.

Frazier and McNabb met in 1999, when the defensive backs coach and the first-round draft pick spent their first year with the Philadelphia Eagles. Friendly to the end, Frazier wished McNabb well and said part of the reason for the move was for the player's sake.

"This was the best decision for both parties," Frazier said. "He was a great player and has been a great player for our league for a long, long time. Have a lot of affection and love for Donovan."

McNabb went 1-5 as a starter, threw for only four touchdowns and completed just five passes of 25-plus yards. Frazier said he didn't regret the trade given the situation the Vikings were in this summer, and said he believes McNabb can still play in the NFL but stopped short of saying he can be an effective starter.

"I'm not certain about that. ... A lot depends on the team he goes to, if he goes to another team," Frazier said.

McNabb was benched in favor of Ponder in the fourth quarter of Minnesota's game at Chicago on Oct. 16 and hasn't played since. Frazier said he was a help to Ponder and Joe Webb in their learning process and described as "awesome" his attitude over the last few weeks.

"He's been a true pro in every sense of the word," Frazier said. "He's a class guy. Always has been, and he's done a good job in spite of the fact he wasn't our starting quarterback."

Improving the teacher-student ratio at the game's most complex position is what Frazier pointed to when asked how the move benefited the Vikings. It essentially means offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and quarterbacks Craig Johnson will have more opportunity to work with Ponder and Webb, who is in his second year. Frazier said he wasn't sure how the open roster spot would be filled, whether with another quarterback or a player at another position.

McNabb was in the locker room, seen rather innocuously asking running back Adrian Peterson to autograph a jersey. But he was gone by the time practice began and unavailable for comment.

The question now is whether he'll catch on elsewhere or call it quits with six Pro Bowl selections and currently the third-best interception percentage of all time. Injuries have felled several quarterbacks around the league over the last month, and the Bears ? McNabb's hometown team ? are one team with an opening as Jay Cutler recovers from a broken thumb.

"When you have a guy who has been this successful in this league, he has an idea how he wants his career to continue or not to continue. That played a role in making that decision," Frazier said.

The two spoke Wednesday about the situation, but Frazier declined to characterize the discussion as McNabb requesting his release. He said McNabb didn't mention retirement or signing with another team when they talked.

"We both agreed that this was probably going to be the best thing to do," Frazier said.

McNabb enjoyed an 11-year run as the starter in Philadelphia, going to the Super Bowl with the Eagles after the 2004 season and becoming a regular fixture in the playoffs. Only Aaron Rodgers and Neil O'Donnell have a better career ratio of interceptions to pass attempts. But after he was traded by his long-time team, McNabb had a rough year with the Redskins. He got benched there, too.

The ability to avoid turnovers turned out to be part of the problem with the Vikings. He was reluctant to throw deep, and the offense lacked life and rhythm while he was in there. Playing it safe didn't wind up helping them.

"You guys watched our games that he started," Frazier said. "There were a lot of factors contributing to our not winning ballgames. As I mentioned when I made the change, it wasn't all about Donovan. That's been proven along the way. There are a lot of other areas on our team that need to be going in the right direction in order for us to have success."

___

AP Sports Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-01-FBN-Vikings-McNabb/id-5cb68198a4344243a64535967a11372f

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Violent video games alter brain function in young men

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) ? Sustained changes in the region of the brain associated with cognitive function and emotional control were found in young adult men after one week of playing violent video games, according to study results presented by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

This is the first time the IU researchers, who have studied the effects of media violence for more than a decade, have conducted an experimental study that showed a direct relationship between playing violent video games over an extended period of time and a subsequent change in brain regions associated with cognitive function and emotional control.

The controversy over whether or not violent video games are potentially harmful to players has been debated for many years, even making it as far as the Supreme Court in 2010. There has been little scientific evidence demonstrating that the games have a prolonged negative neurological effect.

"For the first time, we have found that a sample of randomly assigned young adults showed less activation in certain frontal brain regions following a week of playing violent video games at home," said Yang Wang, M.D., assistant research professor in the IU Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. "The affected brain regions are important for controlling emotion and aggressive behavior."

For the study, 28 healthy adult males, age 18 to 29, with low past exposure to violent video games were randomly assigned to two groups of 14. Members of the first group were instructed to play a shooting video game for 10 hours at home for one week and refrain from playing the following week. The second group did not play a video game at all during the two-week period.

Each of the 28 men underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis at the beginning of the study, with follow-up exams at one and two weeks. During fMRI, the participants completed an emotional interference task, pressing buttons according to the color of visually presented words. Words indicating violent actions were interspersed among nonviolent action words. In addition, the participants completed a cognitive inhibition counting task.

The results showed that after one week of violent game play, the video game group members showed less activation in the left inferior frontal lobe during the emotional Stroop task and less activation in the anterior cingulate cortex during the counting Stroop task, compared to their baseline results and the results of the control group after one week. After the video game group refrained from game play for an additional week, the changes to the executive regions of the brain returned closer to the control group. Stroop task tests an individual's ability to control cognitive flexibility and attention.

"These findings indicate that violent video game play has a long-term effect on brain functioning," Dr. Wang said. "These effects may translate into behavioral changes over longer periods of game play."

Dr. Wang said that another important point of the study was that the young men were supplied with laptop computers and played at home in their "natural environment." Some of the previous research was done with players participating in a lab setting.

Coauthors are Tom Hummer, Ph.D., IU assistant research professor of psychiatry; William Kronenberger, Ph.D., associate professor of clinical psychology in the IU Department of Psychiatry; Kristine Mosier, D.M.D., Ph.D., IU associate professor of radiology; and Vincent P. Mathews, M.D., IU professor of neuroradiology. Drs. Wang, Hummer and Mosier are members of the IU Center for Neuroimaging.

The research is supported by the Center for Successful Parenting.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130095251.htm

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