Sony's new DualShock 4 controller official: all-new design, touchpad, share button and more

We had a hint or two about its imminent arrival, but Sony's now made its next-generation DualShock 4 controller official at tonight's PlayStation 4 event in NYC. The company's Lead System Architect Mark Cerny took to the stage to reveal the all-new companion, which has been redesigned and now features a more rounded form factor as well as what appears to be a slightly rubberized grip with "enhanced rumble capabilities." There's also a touchpad now (clearly taking a cue from the Vita), a headphone jack, the long-rumored share button, a light bar that, according to Cerny, will be utilized as a "more friendly way to identify players" and a stereo camera which is used to track the 3D position of the Move-compatible controller.

Not surprisingly, Sony's touting the addition of the "Share" button as one of the biggest features of the DualShock 4, allowing players to easily send tidbits like video clips and screenshots to places such as Ustream, Facebook and, naturally, the firm's own PlayStation Network. That's all we know thus far, but we''re sure to hear more about the DualShock 4 in the coming future -- for now, head on past the break and enjoy the gallery from Sony's presentation.

Check out our liveblog of Sony's event to get the latest news as it happens!

Gallery: PS4 Controller

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/playstation-4-dualshock-controller/

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Why Smartphone, Laptop, and Airplane Batteries Explode

Lighter, less expensive and more energy dense than other secondary battery technologies, lithium-ion has become the dominant form of rechargeable battery today. It powers everything from mobile phones and laptops to cars and commercial jets. But there is one little problem—these batteries don't just short circuit, they explode into flames. Here's what goes on inside a lithium cell before it goes boom. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/PlDvbWTVi3Q/why-smartphone-laptop-and-airplane-batteries-explode

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Robin Roberts returns to 'Good Morning America'

Robin Roberts returned to the "Good Morning America" anchor desk this morning, five months to the day since she underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat myelodysplastic syndrome or MDS, a rare blood disorder.

"I keep pinching myself and I realize that this is real.? This is really happening," Roberts, 52, said. "Faith, family and friends have brought me to this moment and I am so full of gratitude."

Click HERE to read a personal note from Robin.

"There?s so many people that I want to thank throughout the morning, my doctors and nurses and family and colleagues and people who have sat in this chair and those who have blazed the trail before me," Roberts said.

"As my mother said, ?We all have something,'" she said.? "Everyone?s story has purpose and meaning and value and I share this morning, this day of celebration, with everyone."

Roberts' return to the show's Times Square studio alongside her co-anchors George Stephanopoulos, Josh Elliott, Lara Spencer and Sam Champion, was a moment she had visualized during her recovery.

"It's something like this," she told them in a candid conversation.? "Looking into Sam's blue eyes. ...I love how we're sitting, how we would be sitting. ...But I know when I sit back down, right in this chair, and I look over and I see you and I see you and I see you and I see you, it's gonna be, all is right in the world. And it's gonna seem like no time has passed at all."

READ MORE: Robin Roberts Says She's Feeling Stronger Every Day

The official announcement of Roberts' return was made Feb. 6 after her most recent test showed no signs of abnormalities and she received the all-clear from her doctors.? Roberts then did a series of "dry runs" at the "GMA" studio in Times Square to start acclimating herself again to the anchor chair, testing the studio lights on her sensitive skin and eyes, and adjusting to those early morning wake-up calls.

Earlier this month, Roberts traveled to her home state of Louisiana with "GMA" co-anchors Josh Elliott and Sam Champion to see family and friends and enjoy some Super Bowl festivities. The milestone visit started with a warm welcome by students from her alma mater, Southeastern Louisiana University, and was an important part in her emotional recovery, she explained in a Facebook post.

Watch "20/20" this Friday at 10 p.m., ET for a behind-the-scenes look at Robin's journey.

Another of Roberts' recovery milestones was reached when George Stephanopoulos announced last Thursday on "GMA" that Roberts would appear on the red carpet at this Sunday's Oscar ceremony.? It was at the Oscars one year ago that Roberts has said she started feeling badly and one of her recovery goals was to be back in time for this year's ceremony.

Roberts will also share her personal journey on a special edition of "20/20" on Friday, Feb. 22 at 10 p.m., ET. The hour will offer a candid behind-the-scenes look at Roberts' experience and those who have drawn hope and courage from her example.

CLICK HERE to Follow Robin's Journey

Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/robin-roberts-returns-to-good-morning-america-193910119.html

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Grand Rapids Football Player Heading to Northwood University!

A Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills High School Player is heading for college football. Quinton Pulley signed with Northwood University for this coming fall. Pulley was a three year starter for the Ottawa Hills High School Bengals?Football team, and a First Team All Conference in 2012, leading the team with 90 tackles as a middle line backer.

Pulley said he started playing football in the second grade, and didn't even know if he would play at all coming into his freshman year at Ottawa Hills. He said among his best memories are the playoffs that first year with Ottawa Hills. Coach Chuck Ruffin says he first heard about Pulley when he coached his older brother Chris in football. He said Quinton Pulley made his job easy, and in his 20 years of coaching, he was one of the best leaders he had seen, Ge added?that he is respected by the other players, and that?Pulley would tell the other players every day how much he loved them.?Coach Ruffin emphasized that Pulley has earned his scholarship at Northwood, and done everything he needed to do from high school until now to get it.

Both Coach Ruffin and Grand Rapids City High School Principal Michael Pascoe?praised Pulley's mother LaTonya?for?all her?support behind the scenes, including running the booster club. She added that she spent?eight years out in the rain and the cold at every game. According to her son, that was with?a bullhorn. She said she knows her son will take advantage of everything offered to him in athletics and academics. ??Principal Pascoe added that he has seen Pulley overcome challenges athletically and intellectually, and after also teaching his older brother, he knows they are a family of great leaders with a caring, loving, and supportive mother.

Regarding his choice of Northwood, Quinton Pulley said he wants to go into business, and Northwood is a strong school for that. He also said he has talked with the other Northwood Football players and they want to work together to turn around the football program there.

Pulley suggests his fellow students "Never give up on what you really want to do."

Check out the GRPS video of Pulley's signing ceremony.

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Source: http://grcentral.wzzm13.com/news/hs-sports/77222-grand-rapids-football-player-heading-northwood-university

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How to Escape Your Cellphone Contract for Cheap

A customer looking to get out of his cellphone calling plan early often faces hefty termination fees. These fees exist as a sort of hedge for the carriers: They slash the up-front cost of phones to get you into a long-term contract, and punish you for breaking that contract. For those looking to get out of their contract, however, it is possible to eliminate or at least reduce those fees.

If They Change Your Terms, You Can Escape

From time to time, cellular carriers make changes to their cellphone calling plans. Each time they make a "material change" to a contract, customers are allowed to break the contract within 30 days. Examples of material changes include changes to the rates themselves, the addition of maintenance or service fees, or changes in the way a discount is applied to the account.

Users who are thinking about canceling an account should be sure to read up on news about their current carrier and read their monthly phone bills carefully. Carriers are required to announce these changes to affected customers, and usually do so on the monthly statements customers receive. Once the carrier announces such a change, contact customer service and request they terminate the contract.

Trade Your Mobile Plan

If a customer wants to get out of his current contract, chances are he's not alone. Several services exist for the sole purpose of connecting like-minded customers so they can come up with solutions that work for both parties. These swaps are fairly common and do not violate the contract's terms of service, since the other party is agreeing to fulfill the terms of the contract.

Services such as Cellswapper.com and TradeMyCellular.com allow members to post the terms of their contract (number of lines, plan and phone details, and monthly cost) and essentially trade contracts with other customers looking for shorter-term contracts on that customer's network. For example, if a customer has one year left on a Verizon contract and is looking to go to AT&T for six months to see if that carrier is better, the service will pair the customer up with an AT&T customer looking for a short-term Verizon contract. The service arranges everything for both parties. The customer simply sends his phone to the other person, pays the transfer fee to the site making the trade, and goes on his merry way with a new, (hopefully) improved service.

Get Your New Carrier to Pay the Early Termination Fee

In some instances, carriers will offer to pay all or a portion of its own early termination fee if the customer agrees to sign a new contract with them. Sprint offered this to consumers about a year ago, but these deals are more likely to be found at smaller carriers, as well as at MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) such as Boost, Virgin, or Simple Mobile. Ting, an MVNO that uses the Sprint network, has reserved $100,000 to pay off the early termination fee of any customer who moves his number to Ting during the month of February. These promotions happen fairly frequently on the smaller carriers looking to build their mobile subscribers, so keep on the lookout for announcements.

Prove That Your Service Stinks

It used to be that if customers experienced poor service at their home or workplace, they could easily get out of their contracts without fees. Recently, however, carriers have reworked their contracts to make this tactic much more difficult to execute. Customers must now keep track of dropped calls and their locations and file multiple formal complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, and other consumer-watchdog organizations before contacting a carrier.

With the rise in popularity of social networking, however, consumers have a new, loud voice to lodge complaints against a carrier. A customer with a large Twitter following has a particularly good chance of getting a carrier to take him seriously.

Just Pay the Fee and Sell Your Phone

Sometimes it just costs less in the long run to pay the early termination fee. And carriers now offer a sliding scale for ETFs: Instead of charging users an exorbitant fee no matter how much time is left on the contract, they will take into account the amount of time remaining on the contract and the type of phone, and might reduce the fee accordingly. Services such as MyRatePlan and even the carrier's own website will provide the exact amount of an early termination fee based on your contract end date.

Once the customer decides to pay the fee, he is left with the phone itself. To try to offset the cost of the fees, many people try to sell their old phones on services such as Swappa or eBay. Others take the phone along with them to a new carrier. Just be sure to find out which carriers the phone is compatible with before making a move.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/tips/how-to-escape-your-cellphone-contract-for-cheap-15124938?src=rss

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Apple employees attacked by hackers, infected with malware

Rosa Golijan , NBC News ? ? ? 14 hrs.

A statement issued by Apple on Tuesday reveals that "a limited number" of computers within the Cupertino-based company were infected by malware as part of an attack by hackers.

"The malware was employed in an attack against Apple and other companies, and was spread through a website for software developers," the statement explains. "We identified a small number of systems within Apple that were infected and isolated them from our network. There is no evidence that any data left Apple. We are working closely with law enforcement to find the source of the malware."

The malware took advantage of a vulnerability in the Java plug-in for browsers. Ironically enough, since OS X Lion, Macs have been shipping without Java installed (and OS X disables Java if it is unused for 35 days).

"To protect Mac users that have installed Java," read Apple's statement," we are releasing an updated Java malware removal tool that will check Mac systems and remove this malware if found."

Apple's description of the security breach echoes that of Facebook, which revealed on Friday that that several employee computers were infected with malware thanks to a similar-sounding Java exploit.

Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/apple-employees-attacked-hackers-infected-malware-1C8415368

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Exposure to air pollution is associated with increased deaths after heart attacks

Feb. 20, 2013 ? Air pollution contributes to an increased number of deaths among patients who have been admitted to hospital with heart attacks, according to a study published online February 20 in the European Heart Journal [1].

The largest study yet to investigate the links between fine air-borne particulate matter (PM) and patient survival after hospital admission for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) found death rates increased with increased exposure to PM2.5 -- tiny particles that measure 2.5 micrometers (?m) in diameter or less, approximately 30 times smaller than a human hair [2]. The amount of PM in the air is measured as micrograms per cubic meter of air (?g/m3). The main sources of PM2.5 in the UK are emissions from road traffic and industry, including power generation.

Dr Cathryn Tonne, lecturer in environmental epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (London, UK) said: "We found that for every 10?g/m3 increase in PM2.5 there was a 20% increase in the death rate. For example, over one year of follow-up after patients had been admitted to hospital with ACS, there would be 20% more deaths among patients exposed to PM2.5 levels of 20 ?g/m3, compared to patients exposed to PM2.5 levels of 10?g/m3."

Dr Tonne and her colleague Paul Wilkinson, professor of environmental epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, estimate that death rates would be reduced by 12% among ACS patients if they were exposed to naturally occurring PM2.5 rather than the higher levels they were actually exposed to [3]. This translates to 4,783 deaths occurring earlier than they should do, due to exposure to PM2.5 from human-made sources.

The researchers linked records of 154,204 patients who survived hospital admission for ACS in England and Wales between 2004-2007 with modelled average air pollution concentrations for 2004-2010. The patients were followed up until the end of the study in April 2010 or their death, whichever occurred earlier. During the average follow-up time of 3.7 years, there were 39,863 deaths. The researchers adjusted their results to take account of the patients' sex, age, medical history, treatments and drugs, whether or not they smoked, socioeconomic factors such as income, education and employment, and where they lived.

The air pollution modelling of average exposures for different regions of the country showed the highest average exposures to PM2.5 and other air pollutants in London (an average of 14.1 ?g/m3), while the North East of England had the lowest exposure (an average of 8.4 ?g/m3). However, people's individual exposure to PM2.5 varied widely within each region.

Evidence has been growing that exposure to air pollution is associated with the development of heart disease, but, so far, few studies have investigated its effect on survival after heart attacks (myocardial infarction) and the findings have been inconsistent. In addition, it is known that patients from poorer backgrounds often live in more deprived areas with higher levels of air pollution and that they tend to do less well after a diagnosis of heart problems than patients of a higher socioeconomic status. "This raises the possibility that exposure to air pollution may explain, in part, the differences in prognosis among heart attack patients from different backgrounds," said Dr Tonne.

"Our findings confirm an association between PM2.5 and increased rates of death in survivors of ACS. Our findings also show that PM2.5 exposure contributes only a small amount to differences in survival after ACS among people living in areas with different socioeconomic conditions after accounting for factors such as smoking and diabetes.

"The implication is that while reducing levels of PM2.5 will lead to increased life-expectancy and is an important public health priority, it isn't likely to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in prognosis very much. There are likely to be many other factors that are more important than PM2.5 exposure in explaining socioeconomic inequalities in prognosis, and this requires further investigation."

The study's strength was its size and amount of detailed data available about the patients. A limitation was that the researchers lacked specific causes of death and so were unable to discover how many were heart-related, although they suspect the majority were. Exposure to air pollution was based on where the patients lived and did not take account of amounts of time spent travelling or away from home.

In an accompanying editorial [4], Professor Pier Mannucci, Scientific Director of the IRCCS Ca' Granda Maggiore Policlinico Hospital Foundation in Milan (Italy), writes: "The most important message is that reduction in the amount of pollutants in metropolitan areas does indeed decrease cardiovascular mortality within a time interval as short as a few years?"

He adds that the "huge toll of deaths?worldwide owing to air pollution could be substantially reduced -- by approximately one million annually from the current estimate of 1.34 million -- if the WHO [World Health Organization] recommendations pertaining to the limits of PM2.5 concentrations were implemented. The responsibility for controlling air pollution rests on national governments of the planet?."

In the meantime, individual clinicians should "make patients aware of the existence of this risk, and encourage them to be cognizant of the media alerts on air quality in their living areas." Finally, he calls on the European Society of Cardiology to develop scientific statements on air pollution and cardiovascular disease in order to make governments, clinicians and the public more aware of the problem.

[1] "Long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with survival following acute coronary syndrome," by Cathryn Tonne and Paul Wilkinson. European Heart Journal.?

[2] A micrometer is one-millionth of a meter.

[3] If all human generated PM2.5 in the UK were removed, the natural level would be 4 ?g/m3 from natural sources such as dust and sea salt.

[4] "Airborne pollution and cardiovascular disease: burden and causes of an epidemic," by P.M. Mannucci. European Heart Journal.?

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

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

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Journal References:

1. Cathryn Tonne and Paul Wilkinson. Long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with survival following acute coronary syndrome. European Heart Journal, 2013 DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehs480
2. P.M. Mannucci. Airborne pollution and cardiovascular disease: burden and causes of an epidemic. European Heart Journal, 2013 DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/eht045

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/top_news/~3/roYv4MepgFc/130219201519.htm

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