Asia stocks modestly higher; Nikkei, yen slip

BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets were mostly higher Friday as momentum carried over from yet another record high on Wall Street.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed at a record Thursday, driven by more encouraging data on the U.S. economic recovery. The government said the economy grew at an annual rate of 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter, slightly better than previous estimates. The revision reflected stronger business investment and export sales.

South Korea's Kospi rose 0.7 percent to 2,006.41. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 2,244.79. Taiwan's TAIEX also advanced. Markets in Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore for holidays.

In Japan, however, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped marginally to 12,331.44 as the yen leveled off against the dollar and the government released figures for February showing the country's jobless rate edging up while industrial production fell slightly.

Newly appointed central bank governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, has pledged to work with the government to end decades of growth-inhibiting deflation. His outspoken calls for action have raised hopes for results ? but analysts said they may also have created unrealistic expectations for a turnaround.

"Unfortunately, the markets' expectations of the new Governor are so high that they will be almost impossible to meet, let alone beat," said analysts at Capital Economics in a market commentary.

In Europe on Thursday, markets responded positively to the calm reopening of Cyprus's banks. Banks in the Mediterranean island nation were shut for nearly two weeks as the government negotiated a rescue loan from international lenders to prevent the financial system from collapsing. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares, Germany's DAX and France's CAC-40 all closed higher Thursday.

Italy's political uncertainty will also remain in the spotlight. Following inconclusive elections around a month ago, the country is still without a government, and that's raised concerns over its future economic path. Italy is the third-largest economy of the 17 countries that use the euro.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed at a record Thursday, surpassing its previous record close of 1,565.15 set in October 2007. The Dow, which surpassed its previous all-time high at the start of the month, also rose.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.4 percent to close at 14,578.54. The S&P 500 advanced 0.4 percent to close at 1,569.19. The Nasdaq composite index added 0.3 percent to 3,267.52. U.S. stock markets will be shut for the Good Friday holiday. Thursday was the last trading day of the first quarter.

The New York Mercantile Exchange, where benchmark oil is traded, was closed for the Good Friday holiday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2827 from $1.2822 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 94.07 yen from 94.13 yen.

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-modestly-higher-nikkei-yen-slip-034304357--finance.html

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Better-educated parents feed children fewer fats and less sugar

Mar. 27, 2013 ? The level of education of parents has an influence on the frequency with which their children eat foods linked to obesity. The children of parents with low and medium levels of education eat fewer vegetables and fruit and more processed products and sweet drinks.

An international group of experts from eight European countries have analysed the relation between parents' levels of education and the frequency with which their children eat food linked to overweight.

The Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants (IDEFICS) study includes data from 14,426 children aged between two and nine from eight European countries: Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Hungary, Germany and Spain.

The results published in the journal Public Health Nutrition confirm that parents with a lower level of education feed their children food rich in sugars and fats more often than those parents with a higher level of education, who feed their children more products of a higher nutritional quality, including vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice and wholemeal bread.

"The greatest differences among families with different levels of education are observed in the consumption of fruit, vegetables and sweet drinks," explains Juan Miguel Fern?ndez Alvira, the author of the work and researcher from the University of Zaragoza to SINC.

For the authors, this implies a greater risk of developing overweight and obesity in children from less advantaged socio-cultural groups. "The programmes for the prevention of childhood obesity through the promotion of healthy eating habits should specifically tackle less advantaged social and economic groups, in order to minimise inequalities in health," concludes Fern?ndez Alvira.

Childhood nutrition

Childhood, from two to fourteen years old, is a growth period during which the requirements for energy and nutrients increase. Nevertheless, the World Health Organisation warns of the importance of monitoring the diet of the youngest members of society, as almost 40 million children under the age of five suffered from overweight in 2010.

In fact, recommendations for children over two do not differ greatly from those for adults. Their diet should include cereals, fruit, vegetables, dairy products, lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs and nuts.

Dieticians and nutritionists recommend that parents offer children a wide variety of foods and avoid using food as a method to award or punish behaviour. Experts believe that this age group can decide how much to eat, provided the food is always healthy and nutritious.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Plataforma SINC, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Juan Miguel Fern?ndez-Alvira, Theodora Mouratidou, Karin Bammann, Antje Hebestreit, Gianvincenzo Barba, Sabina Sieri, Lucia Reisch, Gabriele Eiben, Charalampos Hadjigeorgiou, Eva Kovacs, Inge Huybrechts, Luis A Moreno. Parental education and frequency of food consumption in European children: the IDEFICS study. Public Health Nutrition, 2012; 16 (03): 487 DOI: 10.1017/S136898001200290X

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/iB5hZbA7BQU/130327092742.htm

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James Golding: Cycling survivor | Health & Fitness | Cycling Weekly

James Golding, 32

James Golding, 32, is an enviably fit, strong and competent cyclist. He's planning on breaking two world records by bike and is in the form of his life.

It's hard to believe that just four years ago James was in a coma,?clinging to life?after contracting?cancer - and after being given a five per chance of survival. James recovered from?the big C?but there's more, a lot more, to his long and?at times?traumatic return to good health and amazing fitness. Cycling has played a central role in his miraculous and inspiring return from not one but two near-death experiences.

Forgiving fate "Some people tell me I'm the unluckiest man alive," says James, "but I think I'm the luckiest. If I hadn't been through what I have, I wouldn't be where I am today.

"I used to ride mountain bikes, cross-country and downhill, but when I was 18 I smashed my shoulder up, and at that point I stopped riding bikes altogether. I couldn't ride the way I was used to, so I had a bit of a strop, got rid of all my kit and went into estate agency."

"I got back on a bike when I was 27," he continues. "I had a go on a road bike a couple of times but I really wanted to get back into mountain biking, so I bought a Specialized Enduro S-Works, rode a few times in Wales and then got diagnosed with cancer."

Niggling pain
James's problems started with a painful back, which he put down to the fact he'd moved from a desk job to working in property maintenance. When he went to see his chiropractor, alarm bells started ringing.

"He said, ?There's nothing wrong with your back. In fact, you're probably in the best ever shape I've seen you. I want you to go to your doctor now'," recounts James.

"The GP basically looked me up and down and said ?There's nothing wrong with you.' He said it was muscle pain and gave me painkillers, sleeping tablets and told me there was nothing to worry about," he continues.

James's chiropractor was shocked that no blood tests or checks had been performed, so he sent the GP a letter. On James's return, the GP told him he hadn't received a letter (despite its having been acknowledged by the surgery) and sent him away again.

Finding a lump
"I found a lump on one of the ?fellas' as I call them. This [was] after another three weeks of being curled up in the foetal position at night in absolute agony," continues James.

"I went to see a different doctor at the same practice about the lump, and he referred me to a specialist. I went to the local hospital and had blood [tests] done. I got a call in the afternoon and my immediate thought was, ?Brilliant, finally something's happening, things are really moving'.
"They told me I wouldn't have an appointment for eight weeks. I told my mum about it and she was hopping mad. She got in touch with the secretary and said I was in agony and asked what was going on, and her response was "Well, if he's that bad, take him to A&E".

And that was precisely what James's mother ended up doing. "The next night I was talking to mum on the phone, and on this occasion the pain was really bad. I said, ?If it gets worse in the next hour, you need to take me to A&E'." Forty minutes later, he was on his way to Coventry hospital. "They registered me and took me in within five minutes. They took one look at me and realised I couldn't be faking the pain I was in."

Following initial tests, James was told that doctors suspected he had testicular cancer and, if so, they would operate straight away.

"The next day, they said, ?It's not testicular but we have found an 11.5cm abnormal mass wedged between your spine, kidney and bowel. We're not sure what that is but we believe it's cancer.'
Chemo onslaught

"My first lot of chemo was pretty savage. I was constantly being sick and my weight started dropping. All of a sudden, I became very bad, just before Christmas 2008. I'd gone neutropenic - where your white blood cell count is so low that you can't combat any infection. I was kept in quarantine over Christmas."

James had been a fit, 14st man when he went into hospital but by ?new year he was unable to walk or move from his bed. The doctors were increasingly concerned but couldn't work out what was wrong.

What happened?
"I remember not being allowed to have my chemo; I remember going through some scans; I remember having a Burger King; and I don't remember anything after that until I woke up in intensive care two-and-a- half weeks later."

"What I'm told happened is that... my vitals plummeted and the surgeons [agreed], ?It's now or never'. They've admitted that, if it hadn't been for my age, they would have [only] made me comfortable... My surgeon said he had to do everything that he physically could [to remove the tumour].

"There was no way I was meant to survive that surgery. Nobody in the hospital would tell my mum that I'd be OK. Even now, [the surgeon] says I was never [expected] to survive it.

"Six surgeons went to work on me for four hours at midnight on a Friday night. I [cardiac] arrested during anaesthetic. They opened me up and found that the tube they had put in to feed me had actually eroded through the back of my bowel, so all of the food they were pumping in was actually being pumped into me. I'd got septicemia and peritonitis.

"They brought my bowel out on to the surface and put lots of drainage tubes into me. They couldn't repair the bowel at the time so they brought it out on a looped bar so it couldn't go back in and they stitched me back up."

On the brink
"I woke up not remembering the fact I'd been ill. I was starting to go cuckoo. There are no windows in intensive care; there's no time reference, so I stopped sleeping, ?I could only see as far as my eyes would move, as I couldn't move ?my head. I weighed about six ?stone by now.

"When I moved to a high-dependency ward, I had this belief that I was all right. I thought I could walk, that I could go home with my dad. In reality, I couldn't move my head from the pillow but I was highly hallucinating, mainly because of the drugs and lack of sleep. "We still didn't know whether I was going to survive but I needed some daylight; I needed a routine, so they moved me.

Round the World Record Breakers

Nick
Sanders set the original record in 1984, riding 13,000 miles around the
Northern Hemisphere in 78 days. In 2003, Guinness changed the rules,
which invalidated Sanders's record. The most recent
circumnavigation by a male was by Thomas Gro?erichter, finished on
December 31, 2012. He completed the ride in 105 days, one hour and 44
minutes. His supported ride was the first under Guinness's new rules.
Subject to Guinness confirmation, Gro?erichter is the new record holder.

"Eventually I was allowed to start eating but only mashed potato and high-calorie shakes. I always pushed the boundary a little more than I should have done. I would eat things I wasn't allowed.
"I refused the feed tube this time, and the nutritionist said, ?We have real concerns that you're not going to gain any weight. We don't think that you can physically eat enough.' So I said, ?Let's see about this, then!'

"I was eating everything. Mum was coming in to see me with two bags of shopping and I'd eat the lot! My friend would come and visit with a Chinese. This is all on a ward that's not meant to have any food brought in or warmed up, but I had the nurses heating it all for me in the staff kitchen. I had pizzas bought in for me, McDonald's, Burger King, you name it. I was putting the weight on and I was winning."

Going home
"They said, ?Providing you can walk to the bathroom, you can go home at Easter.' As far as I was concerned, I was going home before Easter, so as soon as I came out of intensive care, my goal was getting from the bed to the bathroom. The toilet was only five metres away.

"Getting from that bed to where I am now took one step at a time, and it started with wiggling my toes. Next I'd lift my head off the pillow, then using the bed to sit me up, we'd let the bed fall back and see how long I could sit up on my own for. Then one night I moved one of my legs.

"I managed to get home four days before Easter. I set myself daily goals like walking to the town to buy a Cornish pasty. Slowly but surely I started to improve. On the July 23, 2009, I went into see one of my surgeons. He came out into the waiting room, looked around all the patients and when I stood up he said, ?Oh my God, I didn't recognise you - you look so well!' He told me my cancer was getting smaller. As far as they were concerned, this was kind of my all-clear day."

Being Brave - You can do it!

James Golding's advice
If you want to enter an event, enter an event - then you have to do it! Enter a manageable distance at first and work up.

The only time you're failing is when you stop trying. If you can't finish an event, there's no shame. Good sportives are so well organised now that you're not going to be left alone if you start to struggle. There will be marshals and other people to help you.

When I first got back on a road bike, I was aiming to do a lap of my local streets and I was ready for bed. I did it again a couple of weeks later and it got a bit easier. Then I worked up to 10 miles.
I rode to a friend's house who lived 10 miles away, had a coffee and cake and then tried to ride back. You know that if you can't get home, you're at a safe place to be picked up. I think you've got to keep pushing your boundaries, but be realistic.

>>>> Continue reading Jame Golding's story on page two >>>>

This article was first published in the April issue of Cycling Active.?You can also read our magazines on Zinio, Google Play, Nook or download from the Apple store and also through Kindle Fire.

Source: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/healthandfitness/537623/james-golding-cycling-survivor.html

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US swipes at China for hacking allegations

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. has taken its first real swipe at China following accusations that the Beijing government is behind a widespread and systemic hacking campaign targeting U.S. businesses.

Buried in a spending bill signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday is a provision that effectively bars much of the federal government from buying information technology made by companies linked to the Chinese government.

It's unclear what impact the legislation will have, or whether it will turn out to be a symbolic gesture. The provision only affects certain non-defense government agency budgets between now and Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends. It also allows for exceptions if an agency head determines that buying the technology is "in the national interest of the United States."

Still, the rule could upset U.S. allies whose businesses rely on Chinese manufacturers for parts and pave the way for broader, more permanent changes in how the U.S. government buys technology.

"This is a change of direction," said Stuart Baker, a former senior official at the Homeland Security Department now with the legal firm Steptoe and Johnson in Washington. "My guess is we're going to keep going in this direction for a while."

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he supports the restriction and doesn't think it would be too cumbersome for federal agencies. The Defense and Energy departments already are mindful of how its networks are built.

"Anything we can do to call awareness to the fact that we're continuing to be cyberattacked, we're continuing to lose jobs, and that billions of dollars in American money is being stolen," Ruppersberger said in an interview Wednesday.

In March, the U.S. computer security firm Mandiant released details on what it said was an aggressive hacking campaign on American businesses by a Chinese military unit. Since then, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has used high-level meetings with Beijing officials to press the matter. Beijing has denied the allegations.

Congressional leaders have promised to push comprehensive legislation that would make it easier for industry to share threat data with the government. But those efforts have been bogged down amid concerns that too much of U.S. citizens' private information could end up in the hands of the federal government.

As Congress and privacy advocates debate a way ahead, lawmakers tucked "section 516" into the latest budget resolution, which enables the government to pay for day-to day operations for the rest of the fiscal year. The provision specifically prohibits the Commerce and Justice departments, NASA and the National Science Foundation from buying an information technology system that is "produced, manufactured or assembled" by any entity that is "owned, operated or subsidized" by the People's Republic of China.

The agencies can only acquire the technology if, in consulting with the FBI, they determine that there is no risk of "cyberespionage or sabotage associated with the acquisition of the system," according to the legislation.

The move might sound like a no-brainer. If U.S. industry and intelligence officials are right, and China is stealing America's corporate secrets at a breathtaking pace, why reward Beijing with lucrative U.S. contracts? Furthermore, why install technical equipment that could potentially give China a secret backdoor into federal systems?

Last fall, Ruppersberger and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., released a report urging U.S. companies and government agencies to drop any business with Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies Ltd. and ZTE Corp. because of the security risks they pose.

"Any bug, beacon or backdoor put into our critical systems could allow for a catastrophic and devastating domino effect of failures throughout our networks," Rogers said in a statement accompanying the report.

But a blanket prohibition on technology linked to the Chinese government may be easier said than done. Information systems are often a complicated assembly of parts manufactured by different companies around the globe. And investigating where each part came from, and if that part is made by a company that could have ties to the Chinese government could be difficult.

Huawei, the third-largest maker of smartphones, says it is owned by its employees and rejects claims that it is controlled by the communist government or China's military.

Depending on how the Obama administration interprets the law, Baker said it also could cause problems for the U.S. with the World Trade Organization, whose members include U.S. allies like Germany and Britain that might rely on Chinese technology to build computers or handsets.

But in the end, Baker says it could make the U.S. government safer and wiser.

"We do have to worry about buying equipment from companies that may not have our best interests at heart," he said.

___

Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-27-US-China%20Hacking/id-a1e6cd24aef54fdeadbf7a74fb273cf5

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Streaking Penguins winning with defense

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Look out, the NHL's highest scoring team is learning to play defense too.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have ripped off 13 straight wins, the second longest streak in franchise history. While they're getting the typical production from star center Sidney Crosby, the Penguins are developing into one of the league's top defensive teams.

Pittsburgh has allowed just nine goals in its last nine games, the lowest total in the NHL over that stretch. Defensesman Brooks Orpik says the team just got tired of trying to win every game in a shootout and knew it needed to tighten things up if it wanted to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup.

The Penguins will try to make it 14 in a row Thursday when they host Winnipeg.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/streaking-penguins-winning-defense-180357151--nhl.html

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Earn to Die: All the zombie mauling fun you could ask for

Who doesn't love killing a few dozen zombies while driving to survive the apocalypse? No one, that's who. Earn to Die helps get you your daily zombie-killing fix, and it does so with quality gameplay and graphics. Initially an extremely popular iOS title with millions of installs and plenty of time in the top charts, Earn to Die has come to the Play Store in all its glory. Nothing was lost on the way over either, and the game plays just as great on Android.

The developer has also made the game free for the first lengthy level, and the full-priced version is extremely cheap to boot. Hang with us after the break to learn a little more about Earn to Die, a fun side-scrolling zombie apocalypse game.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/wqLBvfNxQ3g/story01.htm

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A Hot Topic: Climate Change Coming To Classrooms

For the first time, new federal science standards recommend teaching K-12 students about climate change.

iStockphoto.com

For the first time, new federal science standards recommend teaching K-12 students about climate change.

iStockphoto.com

By the time today's K-12 students grow up, the challenges posed by climate change are expected to be severe and sweeping. Now, for the first time, new federal science standards due out this month will recommend that U.S. public school students learn about this climatic shift taking place.

Mark McCaffrey of the National Center for Science Education says the lessons will fill a big gap.

"Only 1 in 5 [students] feel like they've got a good handle on climate change from what they've learned in school," he says, adding that surveys show two-thirds of students say they're not learning much at all about it. "So the state of climate change education in the U.S. is abysmal."

We all learn the water cycle. But how many can draw a picture of the carbon cycle? It would include plants taking in carbon to grow, then dying, and eventually turning into fossil fuels like coal and oil, which then put carbon back into the atmosphere when burned.

Even when this is taught, McCaffrey says, climate is often sidelined. Why take Earth science, when what you need to get into college is biology and chemistry? A recent report on climate literacy recommends sweeping changes to address such issues.

Political Pressure

On top of this, there's the political battle over how climate change is taught. Last month, Colorado became the 18th state in recent years ? including seven this year ? to consider an "Academic Freedom Act."

"The bill will go toward creating an atmosphere of open inquiry," Joshua Youngkin of the Discovery Institute told state lawmakers. The institute is the same group that's long questioned evolution and the way it's taught. Now it has crafted suggested legislation that also targets global warming, although Youngkin testified that the aim is not to ban teaching about climate change.

"It just gives teachers a simple right," he told lawmakers, "to know that they can teach both sides of a controversy objectively, and in a scientific manner, in order to induce critical thinking in their student body."

But critics point out there is no controversy within science: Climate change is happening, and it's largely driven by humans. So far, only Tennessee and Louisiana have passed legislation meant to protect teachers who question this.

Still, educators say the politicization of climate change has led many teachers to avoid the topic altogether. Or, they say some do teach it as a controversy, showing Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth one day, and the British documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle the next. The end result for students? Confusion.

The new science guidelines could provoke more push back.

"To the extent that these standards do paint a picture that I think runs counter to the scientific evidence, we're going to make sure that we point that out," says James Taylor, a senior fellow with the Heartland Institute. The free-market think tank is working on its own curriculum questioning humans' role in global warming.

Raising Difficult Issues

The new science standards are voluntary, but 26 states helped develop them, and about 40 say they're likely to adopt them.

"There was never a debate about whether climate change would be in there," says Heidi Schweingruber of the National Research Council, which created the framework for the standards. "It is a fundamental part of science, and so that's what our work is based on, the scientific consensus."

Schweingruber says a lot of thought did go into how to deliver what can be crushingly depressing information, without freaking kids out. For instance, while students will learn that humans cause global warming, they'll also be taught what kinds of actions can have a positive impact in helping to reduce it.

McCaffrey, of the National Center for Science Education, says many teachers will need training themselves on climate science. He'd also like to see them prepared for the pressures that come with teaching it.

"We've heard stories of students who learn about climate change," he says. "Then they go home and tell their parents, and everybody's upset because the parents are driving their kids to the soccer game, and the kids are feeling guilty about being in the car and contributing to this global problem."

McCaffrey says this raises all kinds of psychological and social issues that are difficult to grapple with, yet essential for this generation of students to take on.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/03/27/174141194/a-hot-topic-climate-change-coming-to-classrooms?ft=1&f=1007

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Competition brings out autism?s social side

New game shows kids can appreciate what other people think and believe

By Bruce Bower

Web edition: March 27, 2013

Children with autism may understand more about how other people think than they?re usually given credit for. The trick to exposing this awareness, a new study finds, is to motivate these youngsters to show what they know.

In a lab game that requires a child to compete with two adults for a prize, many kids with autism demonstrate insight into how other people?s thoughts shape their behavior, say psychologist Candida Peterson of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and her colleagues. The finding suggests that previous research testing this ability, called theory of mind, ?underestimates how well youngsters with autism can interpret other people?s actions, Peterson?s team reports March 19 in Developmental Science.

Studies published since 1985 have found that most high-functioning individuals with autism ? those who have serious social and language problems but average or better IQs ? fail a standard theory of mind test at least through adolescence. Kids without autism usually pass the test by age 5.

In the standard test, called the Sally-Anne test, children watch an experimenter play with a doll named Sally, who has a covered basket, and a doll named Anne, who has a box. Sally puts a marble in her basket and leaves. Anne moves Sally?s marble to the box. Kids with autism usually indicate that, when Sally returns, she will look for her marble in the box, failing to recognize that Sally falsely believes the marble remains in her basket.

Socially aloof children with autism may have no incentive to think about what Sally believes just because an experimenter asks them to do so, Peterson says.

The new lab game gives children an incentive to think about others? thoughts. A child first picks a desired prize from several choices. Two adults, Dot and Midge, then enter the room and talk about wanting the same prize. The child and an experimenter hide the prize in one of three boxes as the women watch. Dot then leaves the room. Midge and the child watch the experimenter move the prize to another box. Midge departs and returns with Dot. The child then picks Dot or Midge to open a box first. If the adult opens an empty container, the child can retrieve the toy.

On two trials, 17 of 23 high-functioning kids with autism, ages 7 to 13, gave Dot the first shot both times, thereby earning themselves a prize. So did 20 of 26 typically developing 4?- to 5-year-olds. That figure fell to 13 of 24 typically developing youngsters who had just turned 4 and to four of 23 typically developing 3 year olds.

Despite the success of children with autism at exploiting Dot?s false belief, it?s easier to deploy knowledge about others? minds in a game with clear rules than in real-world encounters. Making small talk effectively, appreciating ironic and sarcastic asides and tracking what a peer knows during a conversation can challenge even socially adept adults, Peterson says.

As individuals with autism get older, they tend to become better at sensing others? mental states, says anthropologist and autism researcher Richard Grinker of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Sally-Anne test treats this ability as either present or absent.

?Theory of mind evidence is not used in diagnosing autism, because the research hasn?t developed enough yet,? Grinker says.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349229/title/Competition_brings_out_autisms_social_side

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Astronomers discover new kind of supernova

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Supernovae were always thought to occur in two main varieties. But a team of astronomers including Carnegie's Wendy Freedman, Mark Phillips and Eric Persson is reporting the discovery of a new type of supernova called Type Iax. This research has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal and is available online.

Previously, supernovae were divided into either core-collapse or Type Ia categories. Core-collapse supernovae are the explosion of a star about 10 to 100 times as massive as our sun. Type Ia supernovae are the complete disruption of a tiny white dwarf.

This new type, Iax, is fainter and less energetic than Type Ia. Although both types come from exploding white dwarfs, Type Iax supernovas may not completely destroy the white dwarf.

"A Type Iax supernova is essentially a mini supernova," says lead author Ryan Foley, Clay Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). "It's the runt of the supernova litter."

The research team--which also included Max Stritzinger, formerly of Carnegie--identified 25 examples of the new type of supernova. None of them appeared in elliptical galaxies, which are filled with old stars. This suggests that Type Iax supernovas come from young star systems.

Based on a variety of observational data, the team concluded that a Type Iax supernova comes from a binary star system containing a white dwarf and a companion star that has lost its outer hydrogen, leaving it helium dominated. The white dwarf collects helium from the normal star.

Researchers aren't sure what triggers a Type Iax. It's possible that the outer helium layer ignites first, sending a shock wave into the white dwarf. Alternatively, the white dwarf might ignite first due to the influence of the overlying helium shell.

Either way, it appears that in many cases the white dwarf survives the explosion, unlike in a Type Ia supernova where the white dwarf is completely destroyed.

The team calculates that Type Iax supernovae are about a third as common as Type Ia supernovae. The reason so few have been detected is that the faintest are only one-hundredth as bright as a Type Ia supernova.

"The closer we look, the more ways we find for stars to explode," Phillips said.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope could discover thousands of Type Iax supernovas over its lifetime.

###

Carnegie Institution: http://www.ciw.edu

Thanks to Carnegie Institution for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127478/Astronomers_discover_new_kind_of_supernova

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'Five Easy Pieces' actress Karen Black is crowdfunding her cancer treatment

By Tim Kenneally

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Actress Karen Black, whose credits include "Five Easy Pieces," "Easy Rider" and "Airport 1975," is reaching out over the internet to seek money for medical treatment, after battling cancer on and off for more than two years.

Black has launched a crowd-funding campaign on the website GoFundMe.com, in hopes of undergoing a two-month treatment as part of a clinical treatment in Europe.

Black's husband, Stephen Eckelberry, explains on the campaign's web page that Black, 73, was first diagnosed with ampullary cancer in November 2010, After an operation to remove a third of her pancreas and extensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Black was declared clear of the disease in July 2011, but in June 2012 the cancer came back, spreading to her lungs and lower back.

According to Eckleberry, Black currently weighs just 96 pounds - down from 156 before she was diagnosed with cancer.

Eckleberry says Black is currently living on "a modest pension," and that the couple has used up most of their savings on treatment for Black.

"We have nothing left," Eckleberry wrote on the campaign page. "And the European treatment is not covered by insurance."

As of this writing the campaign, which was launched March 14, has raised $9,241 from 150 donors, out of a $17,000 goal.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-easy-pieces-actress-karen-black-crowdfunding-her-014832757.html

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Seeking A Social Life - Darpan Magazine

By nature, human beings are social creatures. We join groups, crave acceptance, share our opinions and make time to mingle. Online is no different and, for many, just as daunting to develop a social life behind the screen as it is to choose who to chat to at the next networking event. Social media is no longer a term reserved for high-tech companies. It?s the way the world interacts online through platforms built to exchange user-generated content and with over two billion active internet users world wide, it?s the way individuals, consumers and businesses are developing their brands.

Actions used on social media sites have become common terms in everyday lingo as ?tweeting, following and unfriending? are widely understood verbs across continents and for those both young and old. With benefits on both a personal level as well as for organizations, social networking can no longer be ignored.

?Social media has completely changed the way businesses operate,? says Alicia Quan, founder and director of Social Media Communications for Capital Q Creative. 80% of companies intend to incorporate social media into their customer service strategies in 2013. And for good reason. According to Nielsen, the global leader in information and measurement, Internet users continue to spend more time on social media sites than any other type of site. While it may be hard to determine what social strategies will be a benefit as an individual or an organization, understanding what tools can be used and how to use them is the first step to building an online presence.

Facebook

As the most visited website on the world wide web, beating out search engine giant Google, Facebook has quickly become the most popular social networking site for Internet users of all ages. Facebook has grown to include over 1 billion active users who sign on to their personal profile page and interact with friends, colleagues and businesses through the exchange of messages, posting of photos and sharing of links.

Facebook has facilitated the ease in which individuals can stay in touch no matter where in the world they may be, proving distance doesn?t mean relationships have to suffer. Users have found long-lost relatives, connected with high school sweethearts and made friends out of acquaintances.

Facebook?s popularity has also been a blessing for businesses, whom have jumped on the online bandwagon. Driving heavy amounts of traffic to one?s website, a Facebook Page allows an organization to post photos, encourage ?sharing? or ?liking? of their content and interact with their consumers in a noticeable way. Through consistent marketing material and engaging consumers, Facebook has given companies a way to stand out while simultaneously allowing supporters to be actively involved.

Twitter

Coming in second in terms of public popularity, Twitter challenges users to express themselves in 140 characters or less ? meaning short sentences are shared with a user?s followers in the hopes of interacting with like-minded individuals, promoting a product, reaching out to celebrities or simply sharing your everyday musings online. Twitter is instant, quick and uncomplicated communication.

You might be thinking, so why would I join Twitter? I?ve got nothing to say. Twitter isn?t just about what you have to say; with over 500 million registered users, there are more than enough people talking. Twitter is a source of news, jokes and casual conversation topics for some silent participants while just as many support companies in the hopes of catching a coupon or voicing a concern.

Twitter has become a customer service centre and businesses are expected to react and respond to the many comments and complaints posted daily by consumers. ?Both positive and negative, customer feedback in general is going straight to these brands and giving them instant and more frequent marketing research,? Quan says. Active participation on Twitter, if done correctly, allows a brand to remain in front of its customers and promote a positive presence in the online communities where their consumers congregate.

YouTube

Creating overnight sensations of Internet superstars and spreading smiles with cute cats and laughing babies, YouTube has successfully attracted over 800 million unique users a month to its video sharing site. Users are able to upload, view, share and comment on video content made up of TV clips, music videos, video blogging and amateur creations. It is the best platform for building a brand through video blogs, tutorials and product promotion that encourages interaction through likes, comments and the ability to easily share visual content.

LinkedIn

If creating contacts and exploring opportunities are the basis of networking in the professional sense, then it?s no surprise that a site dedicated to such a thing thrives on the Internet. LinkedIn is a social networking site used to manage, build and engage a professional network. Over 200 million users are able to post their skills, search for jobs and maintain a list of connections. Forbes has called LinkedIn ?the most advantageous social networking tool available to job seekers and business professionals today.?

?

Conclusion

The number of sites dedicated to social media continues to grow daily. With users populating Pinterest, GooglePlus, StumbleUpon and Instagram among others, on an hourly basis, finding the right place to promote yourself can certainly be a challenge. ?If you stay true to who you are and what your target audience wants to see, you?re on the right track,? Quan advises.

Understanding what social media sites do and how you can use them to stay connected is essential to leveraging your online presence. Whether you?re looking to find friends, stalk a celebrity or become the next Justin Bieber, there?s a social networking site that is right for you.

Categories: 2013, Family & Community, Features, LifeStyle, March - April 2013, Online Articles, The Magazine

Read More About: Chating, facebook, Facebook and Instagram, Friends, instagram, LinkedIn, Messaging, Networking, online community, social media, Social network, twitter, youtube.
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Source: http://www.darpanmagazine.com/2013/03/seeking-a-social-life/

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MI5 spy chief to step down

By Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) - The MI5 spy chief, who oversaw a safe Olympics and helped transform the Security Service's counter-terrorism operations in the wake of the 2005 London bombings, will step down next month.

Sir Jonathan Evans, appointed director general of the domestic intelligence service less than two years after the July 7 bombings, presided over an expansion anti-terrorism operations. There were no major attacks on his five-year watch.

"He has experienced the service evolving over the years and as director general has led the service through particularly challenging times of change and unrest, including the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings," said Theresa May, the home secretary.

"I would like to pay tribute to Sir Jonathan for the 33 years he has dedicated to the service," May told parliament.

A successor was not announced though local media have reported one of Evans's deputies who commands counter-terrorism operations could be appointed. MI5 chiefs, who were not publicly named until the 1990s, typically serve for about 5 years.

His successor's first big test is likely to be the Group of Eight meeting due to be held in Northern Ireland in June. An earlier G8 summit, held in Scotland in 2005, was overshadowed by the July 7 bombings on the London transport system.

Separately on Monday, a militant nationalist group in Northern Ireland said the hotel where G8 leaders are due to meet was the intended target of a bomb intercepted by Northern Irish police and defused last weekend.

The successor will also have to grapple with cost-cutting and public complacency about the threat from militants who security officials say have hatched at least one major plot a year since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

THREATS

Evans, who joined MI5 - also known as the Security Service - in 1980 after graduating from Bristol University with a degree in classics, appeared in public only about once a year for a carefully worded speech about the threats to the realm.

At the service, Evans initially focused on the threat from Northern Irish militants in the 1980s. He was charged with directing international counter-terrorism operations just 10 days before the September 11 attacks.

He warned last year that al Qaeda militants were using the countries which toppled their leaders in the Arab Spring protests as bases to train radical Western youths for potential attacks on Britain.

British officials say one of the biggest threats is likely to come from a domestic cell of militants who have received training or support from al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia or Yemen.

"In back rooms and in cars and on the streets of this country there is no shortage of individuals talking about wanting to mount terrorist attacks here," Evans said in June. "It is essential that we maintain pressure on al Qaeda."

Evans warned against complacency, quipping that when intelligence folk smell roses they look for the funeral.

MI5 employs about 3,800 people - up from 1,800 at the time of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York.

Given the formidable task of helping secure the 2012 Olympics, the first Games hosted by a prominent partner in the U.S.-led coalition formed after the September 11 attacks, Evans helped keep the Games safe with a light touch.

"His tireless work helped ensure the delivery of a safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games last year. I commend and thank him for his invaluable contribution to public safety and national security," May said.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-mi5-spy-chief-step-down-next-month-174957791.html

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Marines release names of 3 killed in Quantico shooting

By Becky Bratu and Matthew DeLuca, NBC News

The Marine Corps Saturday released the names of the three Marines who died in a shooting Thursday night at a base in Quantico, Va.

"We send our prayers and condolences to the families, fellow Marines and friends of the Marines who were lost in this tragic incident," Col. David W. Maxwell, base commander, said in a statement. "Our priority is to take care of and support all of those who are affected by this loss."

A relationship dispute is believed to have been the cause of the shooting. Military officials said Friday that a Marine, identified on Saturday as Sgt. Eusebrio Lopez, opened fire on two of his comrades before shooting himself.

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Lopez, 25, of Pacifica, Calif., was a tactics instructor at the school. He joined the Marine Corps in May 2006 and was promoted to his current rank in July 2011. Lopez had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lance Cpl. Sara Castromata, 19, of Oakley, Calif., served as a warehouse clerk. She joined the Marine Corps in December 2011, and was promoted to her current rank in February 2013.

Cpl. Jacob Wooley, 23, of Guntown, Miss., was a field radio operator. He joined the Marine Corps in February 2010 and was promoted to his current rank in July 2012. Wooley was ?loud and hilarious,? according to a classmate, and had thought about becoming a preacher, The Washington Post reported.

?All the young people loved him and thought of him as a fine person. I guess he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, is what it sounds like," his great-aunt, Jean Luker, told the Post.

The names of the victims were withheld for 24 hours following the notification of the last next of kin. The last relative was notified before 10 p.m. on Friday, base spokesman Lt. Agustin Solivan told NBC News in an email on Saturday.

The incident remains under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Military police and Prince William County, Va., sheriffs responded at about 10:30 p.m. local time on Thursday after reports that shots had been fired, Maxwell said at a press conference on Friday.

Responders found one victim dead on the scene, a Marine official said on Friday. Two more bodies were later found when authorities entered the barracks.

?This is a truly tragic loss again for the Marine Corps, which has had a number of tragic losses in the last couple of weeks,? Maxwell said.

A message on the base?s Facebook page cautioned residents to stay inside their homes with their doors locked as the situation developed on Thursday evening. An emergency alert system was also used to notify base personnel.

The base returned to normal operations at 2:30 a.m., Maxwell said on Friday.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/29eac999/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C230C174338650Emarines0Erelease0Enames0Eof0E30Ekilled0Ein0Equantico0Eshooting0Dlite/story01.htm

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Sen. Portman's gay son writes column about coming out to his dad

Jay LaPrete / AP

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wearing the red jersey, riding in Columbus with his son Will in August 2012. Rob Portman said his views on gay marriage began changing in 2011 when Will, then a freshman at Yale University, told his parents he was gay.

By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

The gay son of the first Republican senator to announce his support for same-sex marriage says he?s ?pretty psyched? about his father?s decision and hopes his story will inspire people who are afraid to come out.

Will Portman, the son of Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, wrote in a column for his college newspaper Monday that he came out to his parents in a letter that he wrote in a campus library and sent to them by overnight mail.

?They called as soon as they got the letter,? Will Portman wrote in the Yale Daily News. ?They were surprised to learn I was gay, and full of questions, but absolutely rock-solid supportive.?

The senator once opposed gay marriage but announced March 14 that he supported it, saying that his son was entitled to the same happiness that he and his wife share.

?I?m proud of my dad, not necessarily because of where he is now on marriage equality (although I?m pretty psyched about that), but because he?s been thoughtful and open-minded in how he?s approached the issue, and because he?s shown that he?s willing to take a political risk in order to take a principled stand,? Will Portman wrote.

He wrote that he had had an understanding that Rob Portman was his father first and his senator second. He said they eventually began discussions about policy issues surrounding gay marriage.

The Supreme Court hears two landmark gay-marriage cases this week. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri on Sunday became the latest Democratic senator to support gay marriage.

?Good people disagree with me," McCaskill wrote on her Tumblr page. ?On the other hand, my children have a hard time understanding why this is even controversial. I think history will agree with my children.?

Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee last year, considered Rob Portman as a running mate. Will Portman wrote that his father told the campaign he had a gay son, and that the family had decided they would be open about it on the campaign trail.

Will Portman wrote that he was relieved when his father wasn?t picked. He also defended his father against criticism that he waited two years after his son came out to support gay marriage.

?Part of the reason for that is that it took time for him to think through the issue more deeply after the impetus of my coming out,? he wrote. ?But another factor was my reluctance to make my personal life public.?

His advice for anyone afraid to come out, or worried that there is something wrong with them: ?I?ve been there. If you?re there now, please know that things really do get better, and they will for you too.?

Related:

GOP?s Portman announces support for same-sex marriage

GOP sea change on gay rights?

Same-sex marriage?s big day in court: What?s at stake?

This story was originally published on Mon Mar 25, 2013 12:37 PM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/29f8ff8e/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C250C174572140Esen0Eportmans0Egay0Eson0Ewrites0Ecolumn0Eabout0Ecoming0Eout0Eto0Ehis0Edad0Dlite/story01.htm

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Beyond the Grave, Onto the Smartphone

A cemetery in Shenyang, the capital of China's Liaoning Province, will become, for lack of a better term, interactive. With mobile devices, people will be able to scan a quick response code on graves of people whose relatives have requested the feature. Scanning this code will allow visitors to learn about the person's life; they can also access a Web page where relatives and friends can upload photos or video.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/29f98446/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C776230Bhtml/story01.htm

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In Search for New Pope, Vatican Embraced Twitter, Facebook & Google

The Vatican reinstated their use of Twitter to announce that the new pope had been chosen, so seemingly social media is going to continue through Pope Francis' reign (although at the moment he doesn't have a personal account; at least not yet).and more?? ?

Read more at Search Engine Watch.

Source: http://www.twytter.net/blog/in-search-for-new-pope-vatican-embraced-twitter-facebook-google/

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2003 Ford Focus exterior door handle broken

Randomly one day I went to my car and the door handle was very loose. It just wiggles around and stays open when I pull it out. I finally got in there today to take it all apart after getting my new door handle I received in the mail but it appears it is not the door handle that is broken because the new one does the same thing.

After playing with it for a while, I realized that the bar didn't seem to be attached to the handle in any way so I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to work at all. I then came on here to do some investigating. The bar works fine when I pull it down manually.

After reading through some more threads I decided to check around the bottom of the door for broken parts and I found this: I'm not 100% it's related but since nothing else is broken on that door, I'm assuming it is but I have no idea how to reattach it.

Any ideas?

Source: http://autoforums.carjunky.com/Automotive_Repair_C1/General_Discussions_F5/2003_Ford_Focus_exterior_door_handle_broken_P139853/

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Page Not Found - Yahoo!

Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo!, try visiting the Yahoo! homepage or look through a list of Yahoo!'s online services.

Please try Yahoo Help Central if you need more assistance.

Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/weightloss

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PFT: Browns talked to agents of Ellerbe, Kruger

Getty Images

Vikings receiver Percy Harvin reportedly wants out of Minnesota.? He also reportedly wants to be paid like Lions receiver Calvin Johnson.

But Harvin is overlooking one important reality.? He?ll have to find a team that wants him, and a team that will pay him what he wants.

As one NFL front-office source explains it, Harvin and his agent forget that a large portion of the league had him off of their draft boards in 2009, due to his reputation for being a pain in the posterior.

In Minnesota, the Vikings have done a nice job of keeping Harvin from being too much of a problem, at least publicly.? Under former coach Brad Childress, then-defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier often was the peacekeeper.? Now that Harvin and Frazier reportedly had a ?heated exchange? that preceded Harvin?s placement on injured reserve, Harvin may be out of allies in Minnesota.

That doesn?t mean he?ll have friends elsewhere.? Especially if he gets the kind of money he wants.? If/when (if) he cashes in, Harvin will be largely untouchable, free to do what he wants, how he wants, when he wants.

Even though there are plenty of desperate coaches and General Managers in the NFL, there?s a difference between desperation and stupidity.? For Harvin, the key word could be delusion.

If there?s no team who will both trade for him and pay him, he?ll continue to be the property of the Vikings.? And the manner in which he handles himself during the final year of his contract will go a long way toward shaping the extent to which other teams will, or won?t, be interested in him once he hits the open market.

And if he decides to hold out, the Vikings can fine him hundreds of thousands of dollars and, if he doesn?t show up by Week 10, squat on his rights through 2014.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/10/browns-have-talked-to-agents-for-dannell-ellerbe-paul-kruger/related/

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Strategies On How To Effectively Fight Cancer | Cancer Health

Cancer is quite possibly, one of the scariest medical conditions a person can have. If you want to stop cancer, or if you already have cancer, you should arm yourself with some knowledge to help you live a happier life. You will learn some tips here for handling cancer with less turmoil and stress.

Being physically active can help your appearance and weight, along with also reducing your chances of getting cancer. Your heart rate rises during physical activities and your body starts to sweat. This will allow your body to cleanse itself and lowers the chance of you contracting cancer.

Most fresh fruits and veggies bought from the store may have contamination. Often times, they are sprayed with poisons to prevent bacteria, fungus and bug from destroying them. Prior to consumptions, wash them with a mild soap to remove these pesticides or buy foods that have had minimal exposure to pesticides.

Try full disclosure when it comes time to telling your loved ones about your prognosis. Deciding to go it alone will only lead to a sense of isolation; during this time, these feelings should be avoided at all costs. Keeping the lines of communication open is essential to taking full advantage of your social support system.

When going outdoors in the sunshine, it?s advised to cover your skin with sunscreen or clothing to lessen the risk of acquiring skin cancer. Skin cancer can quickly contaminate other organs within the body, and this cancer is caused by the UV rays of the sun. If your skin is fair, use waterproof sunscreen with a high index of at least SPF 30.

Hearing the word, cancer, can cause a veil of fear to fall over anyone. Remember everything you learned from this article and you?ll be far better equipped to deal with your cancer or somebody else?s, instead of panicking or feeling depressed about it.

Source: http://cancer-health.org/strategies-on-how-to-effectively-fight-cancer/

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Pay hikes recommended for Minn. government leaders (Star Tribune)

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When tip jars turn to DipJars, do workers benefit?

Reuters ? ? ? 10 min.

Latte buyers in select New York City venues may have noticed an addition to coffee shop counters lately: DipJar, a tip jar that takes plastic.

With a quick dip of their credit cards into the sleek machine, grateful customers are able to leave a pre-set tip (generally $1) for baristas. An old-fashioned cash-register chime alerts them that the transaction has gone through, but there is no receipt. Counter workers later divvy up the proceeds, which right now are not subject to a processing fee.

DipJar, located in six stores, is just one high-tech innovation seeking to make up for declining gratuities as people pay for small purchases with credit or debit cards. More than 30 percent of debit card receipts were for less than $10 in 2011, with the median amount of all debit transactions just $19, according to the ATM/debit network PULSE. Losing out, however, are workers, whose pay is directly impacted as fewer customers leave behind loose change as tips.

"Tip jars once upon a time could mean $2 or $3 more in hourly wages," says Richard Seltzer, author of the 2010 book 'Gratuity.' "That's a significant pay cut for the person behind the counter."

It is not just a simple bonus baristas are losing out on. "Employers have come to depend on wages being paid out of the tip pool," says Shannon Liss-Riordan, a Boston-based attorney who has represented workers in tipping cases for a decade. "Workers depend on tips to pay for things like rent, tuition- it's real money for them."

After years of seeing tipping decline, Oren's Daily Roast, a coffeehouse chain, agreed to test-pilot DipJar at two of its New York locations last year. "Credit cards aren't just reserved for special purchases any more. I saw one woman charge 45 cents," says Gabe Smentek, director of operations at Oren's. "But less cash means less tipping, and that affects workers' morale."

In October, Starbucks said that from next summer it would start letting customers who pay via mobile devices add a digital tip through Square, the San Francisco-based mobile payments system started by Twitter chairman Jack Dorsey.

Ziptip, a nascent startup based in Boston and Florida, is also experimenting in this space. Tippers use the Ziptip smartphone app to scan unique QR codes, those funky-looking square barcodes, assigned to tip recipients and transmit their gratuities through PayPal.

"The money goes directly into the recipient's account to be used that day," says Lois Hamblet, Ziptip's CEO. "And you can tip anyone you feel who deserves it, from a barista to a hotel doorman to your yoga teacher." Ziptip service is available in 20 countries so far.

How much to tip?
As tips drop, Liss-Riordan would like to see employers to make up the difference with higher wages. She is realistic, however, and would at least prefer that customers be given credit card slips to sign. "More often than not, most will leave a little something," Liss-Riordan says.

The rule of thumb, among baristas at least, is $1 per drink for counter service. Beyond anecdotal evidence, little research on gratuities has been done in this area, experts say.

New York City taxicabs offer one prime example. When cab drivers starting accepting credit cards in 2007, riders were given the option for tips of 20 percent, 25 percent or 30 percent. Tips more than doubled in the first two years. Over time, though, fares increased and riders began to ignore the tip options, and tips as a percentage of fares have fallen back closer to pre-plastic levels, according to the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission.

Perhaps the closest comparison is to waiters and bartenders, for whom patrons are now accustomed to adding 15 to 20 percent onto their credit card receipts, and as much as 25 percent in pricey cities like New York, according to Cornell University's Michael Lynn, who studies tipping.

The analogy isn't a great one, however. Restaurant workers typically earn what's known as a "server's wage," the federal tip minimum wage of $2.13 per hour since 1991, with the expectation that they'll earn the rest of their hourly wages in tips. Even with tips, however, the median wage for restaurant workers is $8.90 per hour, slightly below the poverty level for a family of three, according to the advocacy group ROC United. Plus, compensation rarely includes health insurance or retirement plans.

What most restaurant-goers don't realize is that when they tip on plastic, management will often deduct a portion, usually for processing fees, before distributing the money to servers on a weekly or monthly basis. State law in New York and several other states prohibits management from taking any part of tips for any reason.

Baristas, on the other hand, don't work for tips. By law they make at least minimum wage. At major coffee houses like Starbucks, they may also qualify for health benefits.

Smentek estimates that at the busiest Oren's stores in New York, cash and credit card tips add up to an extra $10 to $25 per employee's shift.

Technology, of course, isn't always a solution. When Swork Coffee in Los Angeles recently swapped paper receipts for an iPad checkout system at its three locations, tips dropped more than 25 percent overnight, says owner Patricia Neale. Neale laments that her baristas, who make between $9 and $12 per hour, could once count on $50 in tips per shift, but now sometimes make less than $5.

Neale says she has also had to raise prices for customers to cover credit card processing fees. She estimates she rings in $30,000 in sales each month, and pays $1,500 in credit card processing fees.

DipJar plans to expand rapidly across the United States and abroad over the next year. For its 10-device pilot project in six locations, the company is covering all the debit and credit card fees. Co-founder Ryder Kessler says going forward the company hopes to ensure that at least 80 percent of each tip goes to workers. "Fees are a reality," Kessler says. "But we're negotiating with banks and credit card companies to keep them as low as possible."

Using Ziptip, tippers pay an extra 1 percent of the tip, which goes to Ziptip, and tip recipients pay any associated PayPal fees.

At Oren's, Smentek notes, many customers still seem wary of DipJar, which doesn't produce a receipt or email confirmation. Baristas receive $5 to $10 from the electronic jars every couple of weeks. It's not as much, but as cash tips dwindle, Smentek adds, "every little bit extra helps."

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/when-tip-jars-turn-dipjars-do-workers-benefit-1C8801476

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