Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/334092415?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Startup wants to give you a better night's sleep
Gadgets surround us throughout our waking hours, and now they're coming to our sleep.
Through devices worn on the wrist or under a pillow, several companies offer services that track how you sleep and -- if the marketing is to be believed -- analyze the data to help you get a better night's rest.
On Thursday at the Demo conference in Silicon Valley, a new hopeful will present its sleep analysis system and launch a Kickstarter appeal to get it funded.
The device, called Bed Scales, consists of four to six sensors that sit under the legs of a bed and collect data on the sleeper's movements during the night. By sensing the amount of movement, the system can estimate the user's sleep cycle and, hopefully, wake them during a period of light sleep when they are more likely to feel refreshed rather than groggy. It also measures your weight change while you're sleeping.
"It's unobtrusive and there's nothing to wear," said Ralph Pethica, one of the people behind the product.
But the technology comes with a drawback: The sleep analysis doesn't work as well when there are two people in the bed.
The area of sleep monitoring is getting crowded as device makers and app developers turn their attention to the field. Both the Fitbit One and Jawbone Up can track the hours you sleep as well as activities like walking. The downside is they'll need to be worn at night, which some people might find uncomfortable.
Competing with the devices are a handful of apps like Sleep Cycle. They typically involve placing the phone close to a pillow so that the motion sensor in the handset can measure movement during the night. Like with Bed Scales, the movement can help determine the user's sleep status.
Bed Scales comes from the same team that produced Genetrainer, a service that provides a customized fitness program based on the results of a personal DNA test.
Genetrainer accepts results from two popular DNA analysis services, 23andMe and Family Tree DNA, to attempt to determine how each user will respond to different types of exercise. It then produces a customized workout plan based on those results.
As for using DNA to help people get better sleep, Pethica didn't rule that out for the future but said it's not something that can be done now.
"We're in very early days on [DNA analysis]," he said.
Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Martyn on Twitter at @martyn_williams. Martyn's e-mail address is martyn_williams@idg.com
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service , IDG News Service 
Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service.
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013
'Sons of Anarchy' Actor Allegedly Bails on $56 Bar Tab
'Sons of Anarchy' Actor
Allegedly Bails on
$56 Bar Tab
Exclusive
Hollywood ain't as glamorous as it's cracked up to be -- at least for low-level actors -- just take this guy from "Sons of Anarchy" and a bunch of other shows ... who allegedly couldn't pay a $56 bar tab.
Sources tell us, 43-year-old Paul Vasquez got drunk at a dive bar in San Jose last night, and tried to bail on the bill. Cops were called to the scene, where Paul was detained, and we're told his dad had to come pay for him.
Paul was eventually released, but there's a lesson here ...
Paul has had small roles on two episodes of "Sons of Anarchy." He's appeared on "Justified," "CSI:NY," "Kingshighway," "How I Met Your Mother," "ER," and much more ... going all the way back to his first acting gig in 1987.
The pay scale for the Screen Actors' Guild is nothing to thumb your nose at either -- someone like Vasquez could stand to earn anywhere from several hundreds of dollars per day to several thousand -- but clearly, steady work is hard to come by.
So what's the lesson? Think twice before you move to Hollywood, kids. Not everyone's Tom Cruise.
Calls to Paul's rep weren't returned.
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Vote for your Japanese GP driver of the weekend | 2013 Japanese Grand Prix
Which F1 driver was the best performer during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend?
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most during the last race weekend.
Japanese Grand Prix driver-by-driver
Red Bull
Mark Webber – Webber hasn’t always been close enough to Vettel this year to take advantage when his team mate has a problem but he was at Suzuka and pushed his team mate hard for the victory. Said he was “surprised” to be switched to a three-stop strategy[1] but was able to use his superior speed in the final stint to pass Grosjean. Had he done so more quickly he could have gone after his team mate.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso – Held his hands up after being beaten by Massa in qualifying and admitted he hadn’t been quick enough[2]. His race pace was better but he spent the first stint stuck behind Massa. He took advantage of traffic in the second stint to get past Massa, then later demoted Hulkenberg when the Sauber driver’s tyres began to drop off. That gave him fourth place, and he felt no more was possible under the circumstances[3].
Felipe Massa – Would Massa “drive for himself”, as he told Brazilian media after being dropped by Ferrari, or would he “definitely help” his team mate[4] as Luca di Montezemolo insisted? That was answered in the first stint when Massa repeatedly ignored Ferrari’s instructions to let Alonso through, delivered through the radio code “Multifunction strategy A”. Hulkenberg took advantage of the situation to jump both Ferraris, then Alonso finally found a way past his team mate, after which Massa picked up a penalty for speeding in the pits and fell to tenth.
McLaren
Jenson Button – Set the same time to within a tenth of a second on three separate occasions in qualifying and felt he’d wrung all there was from the MP4-28. Driving to the grid he chose to reduce the front wing angle on the car but quickly regretted the decision, suffering understeer which wasn’t cured until the last stint. Held off Massa for ninth.
Sergio Perez – Crashed at Spoon during second practice, which he said was his mistake as he’d touched the artificial grass on entry to the corner. Narrowly missed Q3 but started well, only to lose time when Rosberg came out of the pits immediately in front of him. Like Button he had a slow pit stop as well. His left-rear tyre was punctured in slight contact with Rosberg, which killed his chances of scoring points.
Lotus
Romain Grosjean – Surely his best F1 performance to date with a solid qualifying effort followed by an outrageous start from which he emerged as an unlikely threat to Red Bull. Led comfortably for almost half of the race and did well to hold off Webber as long as he did before taking another podium finish.
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg – An unsafe release from the pits dropped him back into the pack where he ended up scrapping with Perez. Like his team mate in Korea he spent the latter part of the race stuck behind a Sauber, Gutierrez limiting him to eighth.
Lewis Hamilton – The merest touch of his right-rear tyre against Vettel’s front wing was enough to give him a puncture as he dived between the Red Bulls off the line. From looking likely to take second at the start he was soon out of the race.
Sauber
Esteban Gutierrez – Points looked unlikely when he lined up 14th on the grid but a superb start, gaining five places, brought him into contention. Gave away a position to Raikkonen though it was one he was always going to struggle to keep.
Force India
Paul di Resta – Ended his strong of retirements and took 11th, unable to resist Button in the latter part of the race. Still he was happy with the improved balance of the Force India.
Adrian Sutil – A crash in final practice forced him to change his gearbox, and after failing to escape Q1 he started last. Up to 16th by lap one, he gained two more places by the end of the race despite being passed by both Toro Rossos in one lap later on.
Williams
Pastor Maldonado – Went off twice in practice, but the first spin in Q1 was due to a wheel which hadn’t been attached properly and fell off[5]. The stand-out moment of Maldonado’s race was his desperate lunge down the inside of Bottas on his final lap, signalling his eagerness not to finish behind his team mate.
Valtteri Bottas – Impressively out-qualified Maldonado on his first race at a real drivers’ circuit. But his tyres went off badly in the final stint, losing four places in the last three laps.
Toro Rosso
Daniel Ricciardo – Tried to make an alternative strategy work, starting on the hard tyres. But he became the latest driver to be penalised for completing a pass by going off the track on the outside of the corner, which he was deeply unimpressed with[7]. His drive-through penalty confined him to 13th place.
Caterham
Charles Pic – Already carrying a ten-place penalty into the race weekend, Pic committed much the same infraction he had in Korea – passing a red light without stopping – and earned an unprecedented drive-through penalty which was declared before the race had begun[8]. Despite that he was quick enough to beat the sole surviving Marussia home.
Giedo van der Garde – Collided with Bianchi at the start, putting both out. “I was squeezed between both the Marussia cars and had nowhere to go,” he said. “I lost my front wing in contact with Bianchi and then the car went straight off and into the wall.”
Marussia
Jules Bianchi – Hit the barrier at Degner 2 in first practice when his arm got caught against the side of the cockpit. Unfortunately that ruled him out of second practice as well[9]. Beaten in a straight fight by his team mate in qualifying for the first time, he was taken out on lap one of the race. “As I turned into the first corner on the opening lap, van der Garde hit my rear wing which pushed me off track and into the gravel.” A wasted weekend in which he completed just 32 laps, most of which in Saturday’s hour of practice.
Max Chilton – Out-qualified Bianchi on merit for the first time the year. But despite Pic having a drive-through penalty he was caught and passed by the Marussia seven laps from home after his tyres began to go off.
Qualifying and race results summary
Review the race data
Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job this weekend?
Cast your vote below and explain your choice in the comments.
Who was the best driver of the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix weekend?
- Sebastian Vettel (24%)
- Mark Webber (3%)
- Fernando Alonso (2%)
- Felipe Massa (0%)
- Jenson Button (0%)
- Sergio Perez (0%)
- Kimi Raikkonen (1%)
- Romain Grosjean (58%)
- Nico Rosberg (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (1%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (4%)
- Esteban Gutierrez (6%)
- Paul di Resta (0%)
- Adrian Sutil (0%)
- Pastor Maldonado (0%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Jean-Eric Vergne (0%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (0%)
- Charles Pic (0%)
- Giedo van der Garde (0%)
- Jules Bianchi (0%)
- Max Chilton (1%)
Total Voters: 573
An F1 Fanatic account is required in order to vote. If you do not have one, register an account here[10] or read more about registering here[11].
2013 Japanese Grand Prix
Browse all 2013 Japanese Grand Prix articles[12]
Images © Red Bull/Getty, Lotus/LAT, Sauber
References
- ^ 2013 Japanese GP tyre strategies and pit stops (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ “I’m not doing good enough”, admits Alonso (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Red Bull “untouchable” – Alonso (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Massa ‘will definitely help Alonso’ in championship (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Williams fined £50,000 after Maldonado loses wheel (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Stuck brakes caused Vergne’s qualifying fire (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Ricciardo disputes reason for drive-through penalty (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Pic given drive-through penalty for race (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Bianchi to miss second practice after crash (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ register an account here (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ read more about registering here (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
- ^ Browse all 2013 Japanese Grand Prix articles (www.f1fanatic.co.uk)
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Google Glass: Yes, it's that bad
Credit: Reuters/Stephen Lam
I've wanted a Google Glass since Commander Sisko had one on "Star Trek Deep Space 9." I ignored the warning that only the Vorta could wear them without getting a terrible headache. I thought: It's like having your own private wearable big-screen TV! But hey, I was like 14 or 15 when that show started. (I mention this only to make my editor feel old.)
At an illustrious event entitled "Glass Durham," which took place at Bay 7 in the historic American Tobacco campus, I was cured of this childhood fantasy. Or at least, this incarnation of it.
[ Also on InfoWorld: Robert X. Cringely presents as evidence yet another reason to hate Google Glass. | Stay up on the latest developer news with InfoWorld's Developer World newsletter. ]
Terminally hip
Google is trying to market something that makes you look like a dork as fashionable. Of course, I am no fashion diva. My wife once said that clothes make a statement about you. When I asked what my clothes say, she replied, "That you like zombies and the beach."
Anyway, I stood in line with a bunch of people who looked like the fools who stand in line for the latest iPhone. The Glass logo suggested an electronic indie rock hipster fair flash mob could break out at any moment. Each youth waited faithfully for a chance to look like a model in some futuristic Aryan dystopia.
Google flew in a few Californians and temp-hired a bunch of recent UNC grads to pretend to have worn Glass for months. A good portion of the demo was "well, this is pre-recorded because we're having Internet problems," which pointed to a major problem with the device: It requires your phone to provide the Internet or reliable Wi-Fi.
When can I actually get one?
I asked a few basic questions about Glass: When will it be available to developers outside of San Francisco, where they hold the Google.io event? The marketoid told me that it isn't just San Francisco, it's also New York and Los Angeles as well! No idea when it would be available to other developers.
This presents a potential problem for Google. Google.io is a marketing event. You need to distribute more units to more developers than will come to your conference in order to launch with enough applications to prevent the thing from flopping. (Ask HP how WebOS went.)
For consumers, the device will be available "sometime in 2014." So these Glass events are mainly about building demand.
I also asked about battery life. The marketoid said about a day of normal use.
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'Master Chef' contestant commits suicide
TV
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/masterchef-runner-joshua-marks-commits-suicide-26-8C11391273
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14 hours ago
Greg Gayne / Fox file
Joshua Marks, a former contestant on "MasterChef," committed suicide on Friday.
Joshua Marks, the 7-foot-2-inch runner-up on the Fox cooking show "MasterChef," committed suicide on Friday in Chicago, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed to TODAY.
The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.
Marks has been battling mental-health issues recently, and in late summer was taken to a Chicago-area medical facility after being arrested and charged with aggravated battery against a police officer. His lawyer told CNN that during that altercation, Marks "suffered serious facial wounds from a self-inflicted gunshot."
According to the Chicago Tribune's July report, the troubled chef felt that he had been "possessed by 'MasterChef' judge Gordon Ramsay who turned him into God."
Marks, who had bipolar disorder, had worked with the Make A Sound Project, a non-profit group that seeks to use music to raise awareness of issues related to suicide.
On Saturday, Gordon Ramsay tweeted condolences. "Just heard the devastating news about Josh Marks," Ramsay wrote. "My thoughts are with his family & friends at this tragic time."
The "MasterChef" official website and Facebook page also remembered the contestant friends dubbed the "gentle giant," posting, "All of us at MasterChef, Shine America, One Potato, Two Potato and FOX are incredibly saddened by the news of Josh Marks' passing. He was a wonderful person and an incredible talent. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Marks came in second on the third season of "MasterChef" in 2012, losing to Christina Ha, the first-ever blind contestant.
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/masterchef-runner-joshua-marks-commits-suicide-26-8C11391273
Related Topics: tony romo Agents of SHIELD emily blunt Juan Pablo Lee Westwood
Why Is Miley Cyrus’ Tongue White?
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Clear Channel
Miley Cyrus’ tongue has appeared on stages, magazine covers, social media feeds, and red carpets. It has even inspired a dialogue between Atlantic Wire writers on its symbolic import (“embarrassing unsexy sign of a girl who is trying too hard” or “brilliant sendup of prepackaged coy femininity that is genius in its grossness?”). As a cultural touchstone, this band of flesh waggles with enough conflicting meanings and interpretations to make a grad student in anthropology salivate—but before we even start that conversation, can we just confirm that Miley’s not dying of rabies?
Her tongue looks white. Like, dusted with inclement weather. Like she was just licking the inside of a goose feather pillow. And while, yes, we know, the world does not need another post about Miley Cyrus, our previous posts have led us to feel genuine concern for her. Dentists who blog have also expressed misgivings. Is there a chance Miley might actually have some kind of health problem?
“There are a few things that would cause me concern if she walked into my office.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, white tongue is usually “the result of inflammation of the finger-like projections (papillae) on the surface of your tongue. The appearance of a white coating is caused by debris, bacteria, and dead cells getting lodged between the inflamed papillae.”
Luckily, though, the inflammation that leads to white tongue is often “harmless and temporary.” Typical causes include (per the Mayo Clinic) dehydration, dry mouth, excessive alcohol use, fever, and smoking. But there are scarier culprits too. Leukoplakia is a condition that “causes cells in the mouth to grow excessively” and “can develop when your tongue has been irritated,” especially by “tobacco products.” The complaint may be precancerous. Another possible cause is oral thrush, which sounds like an exotic bird but is actually a yeast infection, one that occasionally results from taking steroids or antibiotics. Oral lichen planus, an autoimmune disorder, can sometimes turn the tongue white, as can syphilis.
So what should Miley do? The best person for her to consult is her dentist, who will be able to diagnose her condition and determine whether it’s harmless. I was unable to reach Miley’s dentist (or her agent or manager), but I did manage to float her case by Robert Mantoni, a DDS in the Washington, D.C., area. After poring over some Internet images, Mantoni concluded: “In many of these pictures, the tongue looks normal: pink, moist and healthy. But there are a few that would cause me some concern if she walked into my office. Looking at the white color on the top of the tongue, and knowing her wild lifestyle, I would start thinking alcohol, drugs, or maybe bulimia, since all those things can compromise the immune system and inflame the papillae. Alcohol in particular is such an irritant to the mouth.”
How would he treat it? “Well, the first thing is not to freak out. I’ve seen this many times, much worse, and it’s usually very, very benign. You can get it to resolve with warm salt water rinses and sometimes peroxide cleanses. Or you might just need to switch toothpastes to something blander. I’d recommend she buy a tongue scraper or gently brush her tongue as well. In short, eliminate potential causes and practice more aggressive hygiene. And then come back in two weeks to make sure everything’s cleared up.” (Other dentists agree that she could pay a little more attention to her oral health.)
Sure, but what if it hasn’t cleared up? “That’s when we request a biopsy. I’d be very surprised if that were necessary, though. White anywhere else in the mouth or even on the sides of the tongue would concern me. Not white on top.”
Phew. Good news, Miley. You can go back to “experimenting with the shape of pop stardom” now. Your tongue is probably fine.
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/10/why_is_miley_cyrus_tongue_white_dentists_advise.html
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