Verizon releases substantial Galaxy Note II update, improves Multi Window support

Alongside a bump up to Android 4.1.2, Verizon's Galaxy Note II update (which is apparently rolling out now) adds plenty of improvements and features. As well as fixing several bugs with its calendar and email apps, the refresh adds Multi Window support to some key players, including Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Kindle and Google Maps -- a feature that was there from the start on the global model. There's also a new notification panel editing menu within settings and Samsung's Smart Switch app to speed up migrating content from your old device to another, although whether you'd need that when you're updating your own Note II is a good question.

Another bullet-point caught our attention too. Tucked away at the end of the change log issued by Verizon is, would you believe it, the removal of one of its preloaded apps. Shopping app Zappos gets dropped during the update.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon

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Source: Verizon

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Sigma DP3 Merrill

The DP3 Merrill ($999 direct) is the most recent entry into the Sigma's DP family of compact cameras. It has the longest lens of the bunch, a short-telephoto design with macro focusing capability, but uses the same 46-megapixel Foveon X3 image sensor as the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill. The APS-C sensor is as big as you'd find in an SLR, but its design requires you to use Sigma's software for Raw processing. It's not a camera for everyone, but if you're willing to put the time in you'll end up wtih impressively sharp photos. Our Editors' Choice for prime-lens compact cameras is still the Ricoh GR, but the GR sports a wide-angle lens that sees the world in a different way than the DP3's narrow 75mm-equivalent lens.

Foveon Image Sensor, Design, and Features
The Foveon X3 image sensor that is at the heart of the DP3 is a design unique to Sigma. It uses three layers to record information,?each one sensitive to a different color channel. Traditional digital cameras use a single-layer sensor with a Bayer overlay, which has grids of red, blue, and green pixels to create a color image. Each layer of the DP3's sensor boasts a 15.4-megapixel resolution?because of this, Sigma advertises it as a 46-megapixel camera, even though the resulting, printable images are limited to 15.4 megapixels in size.

The sensor design omits the low-pass filter, which is a trend on higher-end cameras. But because of its design, which by its nature omits the Bayer color-array filter, there's no danger of moir? entering into your shots. The downside to the unique design is that there's no support for the Raw format in Lightroom or similar software programs?you'll have to use Sigma's Raw software to process photos. The software leaves a lot to be desired, but you can use it as a basic converter to convert the Raw imaes into TIFF format, which can then be imported into Lightroom or the workflow application of your choice.

In terms of design, the DP3 is essentially a brick with a lens, measuring 2.6 by 4.8 by 3.2 inches, and weighing in at 14.1 ounces. Its body is the same size as the DP1 and DP2 in terms of height and width, but it's got the biggest lens of the three. The size isn't out of line with the?Leica X2 (2.7 by 4.9 by 2 inches), but that camera's 36mm-equivalent lens doesn't jut out nearly as far. The DP3 doesn't support an EVF, but you can slide a fixed optical finder into its hot shoe; you'll have to trust its autofocus system, but our tests showed that to be accurate, albeit slow.

The lens is a 50mm focal length, which translates into 75mm in terms of full-frame photography. It has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and can focus as close as 8.9 inches. That's not close enough for the 1:2 magnification that is typical for dedicated macro lenses in this focal range, but it does get you 1:3 magnification, which is quite impressive for a compact camera with a big image sensor. Some shooters may feel limited by the narrow field of view, especially since you can't change the lens. Foveon fans can choose from the DP1 or DP2, both of which feature a wider lens, and enthusiasts with big camera budgets can take a look at the full-frame Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1; it's got a faster, wider 35mm f/2 lens, but costs nearly three times as much as the DP3.

The DP3 is only available in one color, a pleasantly minimal flat black finish. Buttons are labeled in white?for shooting functions?and red?for playback functions. On top you'll find the power button, Mode button, a control wheel, and the shutter. The rear houses the Auto Exposure lock, a four-way controller with a center select button (the up direction lets you select the focus mode, the bottom the focus point), an image playback button, a button to control the amount of information shown on the rear display, the menu button, and the QS button.

The QS (Quick Set) button grants access to seven quick shooting controls. Press it once and you can adjust the ISO, exposure compensation, drive mode, and image format settings. Press it a second time and the menu switches to white balance, image compression, color balance, and image format (in the same place as the first menu) settings. It's a well-designed interface, and lets you adjust settings without diving into the menu system.

The 3-inch rear display packs a 920k-dot resolution. It's sharp and gives you a good idea about the quality of the images you are capturing. The display is just as sharp as the 1.2-million-dot display on the Ricoh GR, but it's not as bright; that camera has an extra layer of white pixels that make it possible to view on even the brightest days.

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Genetic factor predicts success of weight-loss surgery

May 2, 2013 ? More than one-third of adults in the United States are obese, and some of these individuals undergo gastric bypass surgery to shed the extra pounds. A genome-wide association study published by Cell Press May 2nd in The American Journal of Human Genetics reveals that the amount of weight loss after this surgery can be predicted in part by a DNA sequence variation found on chromosome 15. The findings explain why the success of gastric bypass surgery varies so widely and could help clinicians identify those who would benefit the most from this type of surgery.

"Surgery is the most effective therapy for severe obesity, but these procedures are invasive, and not all patients get the same degree of benefit," says senior study author Lee Kaplan of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "If we can identify those patients who are likely to lose more weight after surgery from those who do less well, we could help steer patients towards the therapy that best suits them."

Individuals who undergo gastric bypass surgery lose on average about 35%-40% of their initial weight and keep most of this weight off. But the amount of weight lost by different patients varies by a factor of four, and it is not understood what causes this wide difference in response.

To identify specific genetic factors that might play a role, Kaplan and his team examined the genomes of more than 1,000 individuals undergoing gastric bypass surgery. They found that individuals with two copies of a specific variant on chromosome 15 lost on average about 39% of their body weight, whereas those without a copy of this variant lost less than 30% of their body weight. Moreover, the activity of the gene located closest to this variant also predicted weight loss.

"This is the first instance where a genome-wide search has identified genetic predictors of weight loss after gastric bypass surgery," Kaplan says. "Since the genes identified in this report have not previously been known to be involved with body-weight regulation and obesity, their identification may suggest new approaches that could be used to develop novel therapies for obesity, diabetes, and related metabolic disorders."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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. Ida?J. Hatoum, Danielle?M. Greenawalt, Chris Cotsapas, Mark?J. Daly, Marc?L. Reitman, Lee?M. Kaplan. Weight Loss after Gastric Bypass Is Associated with a Variant at 15q26.1. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 2013; 92 (5): 827 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.04.009

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/top_science/~3/IH9LVRLWwU4/130502131857.htm

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2 pounds of loose skin removed from fat Oregon dog

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ? Obie the formerly obese dachshund is recovering after surgery at an Oregon veterinary clinic that removed 2 1/2 pounds of loose skin.

Owner Nora Vanatta told KGW (http://bit.ly/YdQvgy ) the surgery this week at the Emergency Veterinary Clinic of Tualatin went well.

The loose skin was dragging after the dog lost 40 pounds in eight months on a diet. Obie had weighed 77 pounds. He was down to 37 before the surgery. He now weighs about 35 pounds and Vanatta wants him to lose about 5 more.

Obie fans have been following his weight loss on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BiggestLoserDoxieEdition .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-05-02-US-ODD-Fat-Dog/id-2d47b662bd7c4ca888e0e0c10aec8bba

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Bangladesh building collapse toll rises to 430

Relatives of victims from the garment factory building collapse grieve at a morgue on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh where a building housing garment factories that collapsed last week in the country's worst industrial disaster, left at least 402 people dead and injured 2,500. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

Relatives of victims from the garment factory building collapse grieve at a morgue on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh where a building housing garment factories that collapsed last week in the country's worst industrial disaster, left at least 402 people dead and injured 2,500. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

A man pours earth onto a grave where an unclaimed body of the garment factory building was buried on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Several hundred people attended a mass funeral in a Dhaka suburb for 18 unidentified workers who died in the building collapse last week last week in the country's worst industrial disaster, killing at least 402 people and injuring 2,500. The bodies, rotting in the spring heat, were brought to the graveyard on the back of a flatbed truck.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Relatives of victims from the garment factory building collapse grieve at a morgue on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh where a building housing garment factories that collapsed last week in the country's worst industrial disaster, left at least 402 people dead and injured 2,500. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

A woman weeps as she watches unclaimed bodies brought to a cemetery from the garment factory building collapse in preparation for a mass burial on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Several hundred people attended a mass funeral in a Dhaka suburb for 18 unidentified workers who died in the building collapse last week last week in the country's worst industrial disaster, killing at least 402 people and injuring 2,500. The bodies, rotting in the spring heat, were brought to the graveyard on the back of a flatbed truck. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

Relatives of victims from the garment factory building collapse grieve at a morgue on Wednesday May 1, 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh where a building housing garment factories that collapsed last week in the country's worst industrial disaster, left at least 402 people dead and injured 2,500. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? Rescuers found more bodies in the concrete debris of a collapsed garment factory building Thursday and authorities say it may take another five days to clear the rubble.

In addition to the 430 confirmed dead, police report that 149 people are still missing in what has become the worst disaster for Bangladesh's $20 billion-a-year garment industry.

Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hassan Suhrawardy, the commander of the area's army garrison supervising the rescue work, dismissed reports that up to 1,000 people were missing and accusations from some relatives that authorities are hiding the bodies to keep the death toll low.

"Don't listen to such rumors," he told reporters.

A mass Muslim funeral was held Wednesday for 34 victims whose bodies were too battered or decomposed to be identified. Cemetery workers have dug several long rows of graves where scores more unidentified bodies are expected to be buried in the coming days.

Suhrawardy said Thursday that 20 bodies were recovered overnight, bringing the death toll to 430. Rescue workers believe more bodies are buried on the building's ground level, and were using cranes and cutting machines to clear tons of rubble.

Five garment factories occupied upper floors of the eight-story Rana Plaza building that collapsed April 24, a day after huge cracks appeared in the building and police ordered an evacuation. The owner of the building is accused of telling tenants it was safe despite the order.

The disaster and a garment factory fire five months earlier that killed 112 people highlight the unsafe conditions plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which supplies many global retailers.

Mohammed Sohel Rana is under arrest and expected to be charged with negligence, illegal construction and forcing workers to join work, which is punishable by a maximum of seven years in jail. Authorities have not said if more serious crimes will be added.

The Bangladesh High Court has ordered the government to confiscate Rana's property and freeze the assets of the owners of the factories in Rana Plaza so the money can be used to pay the salaries of their workers.

Rana had permission to build five stories but added three more illegally. After the cracks appeared, a bank and some shops refused to open but factory managers told their workers to go back in. Hours later the building came down in a heap of concrete.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-02-Bangladesh-Building%20Collapse/id-0cc3e75c1de948f8955c3b2e5a62ec0f

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US Christian gets 15 years' hard labor in North Korea for 'hostile acts'

Yonhap / Reuters

Kenneth Bae, seen in an undated video still, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea on Thursday.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

An American tour operator has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for alleged ?hostile acts? against the repressive regime, according to its official state news agency.

Kenneth Bae, who is in his mid-40s and lives in Washington state, has been described by friends as a devout Christian who took tourists on trips to North Korea, The Associated Press reported.

He was detained in November, but it has remained unclear what crime he was alleged to have committed.

State news agency KCNA?s brief report was headlined ?American Citizen Punished in DPRK,? meaning Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It referred to Bae using a Korean version of his name, Pae Jun Ho.

?A trial of Pae Jun Ho, an American citizen, took place held at the Supreme Court of the DPRK on April 30. He was arrested while committing hostile acts against the DPRK after entering Rason City as a tourist on Nov. 3 last year,? it said.

?The Supreme Court sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for this crime,? it added.

At least three other Americans detained in recent years also have been devout Christians, the AP said. While North Korea's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, in practice only sanctioned services are tolerated by the regime.

Washington state Rep. Cindy Ryu told The Herald newspaper in December that Bae might have been doing missionary work in North Korea. "Many of us are third- and fourth-generation Christians and many of our pastors are originally from North Korea," Ryu said. "We want to visit our home country, but in North Korea you cannot say you are a missionary."

There have also been reports that Bae took photographs of hungry orphans.?

Dennis Kwon, a friend of Bae's since they attended the University of Oregon in Eugene together, told the Oregonian newspaper on Tuesday that Bae had lately been based in the Chinese city of Dalian.

Kwon added Bae went to North Korea to feed orphans and may have taken photographs of them begging for food. ?He probably couldn?t walk away from what he saw.? But he added that Bae was ?such a warm-hearted person, I can?t imagine him breaking the law."

As chief Asia photographer for the Associated Press, David Guttenfelder has had unprecedented access to communist North Korea. Here's a rare look at daily life in the secretive country.

North Korean officials may have considered the pictures to be ?anti-North Korean propaganda,? South Korea-based human rights activist Do Hee-youn?told the Christian Post?in December.

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the U.S. was calling on North Korea ?to release Kenneth Bae immediately on humanitarian grounds.?

Swedish diplomats in North Korea, who act for the U.S. in issues involving American citizens in North Korea, visited Bae on April 26, Ventrell said, adding he had no further information.

A?Facebook page?has been set up titled ?Remember Ken Bae, Detained in North Korea.?

North Korea defector Kwon Hyo-jin, who spent time in one of the North?s notorious slave labor camps, told Reuters that Bae would probably be sent to a correctional facility that only houses foreigners and had been set up as a model for international human rights groups.?

Kwon said that in the camp where he was detained for seven years before fleeing to South Korea the prisoners were worked to death and often survived only by eating rats and snakes.

"If an American served jail together with North Korean inmates, which won't happen, he could tell them about capitalism or economic developments. That would be the biggest mistake for North Korea," Kwon told Reuters.

In 2009, American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to "hard labor" for trespassing and unspecified hostile acts after being arrested near the border with China and held for four months, according to the AP.

They were freed later that year after former President Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang to negotiate their release in a visit that then-leader Kim Jong Il treated as a diplomatic coup, the news agency said.

Including Ling and Lee, Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009, the AP reported. The others eventually were deported or released.

Ahn Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies think tank in South Korea, told the AP that the North was ?using Bae as bait? to get another visit by a leading U.S. political figure.

?An American bigwig visiting Pyongyang would also burnish Kim Jong Un's leadership profile," Ahn added.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

North Korea: Detained American tourist has 'admitted his crime'

Detained American, Internet freedom on agenda as Google boss visits North Korea

More North Korea coverage from NBC News

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TSX drops hard as commodity prices fall

By John Tilak

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday, hurt by sluggish economic data from China that yanked commodity prices lower and by weak earnings reports from some of the country's biggest companies.

Growth in the manufacturing sector in China, a big consumer of commodities from Canada, slowed unexpectedly in April as new export orders fell, raising fresh doubts about the strength of that economy after a disappointing first quarter.

The market also reacted nervously to the U.S. Federal Reserve's move to keep buying $85 billion in bonds each month to keep interest rates low and spur growth.

Offsetting some of the weakness was a gain in shares of coffee-shop chain Tim Hortons Inc after an activist shareholder called for changes in the way the company is run, and a rise in grocery-chain Loblaw Cos Ltd's stock after the company reported first-quarter results.

The Toronto index, which recorded its second-biggest percentage jump of the year thus far on Tuesday, gave up most of those gains on Wednesday and slipped back into negative territory for the year.

"The Fed statement was fairly ambiguous for most investors," said Youssef Zohny, portfolio manager at Stenner Investment Partners, a unit of Richardson GMP. "It seems like investors are pretty disappointed."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> closed down 135.21 points, or 1.09 percent, at 12,321.29. The TSX index is badly lagging the U.S. S&P 500 <.spx> index, which is up about 12 percent on the year.

"The TSX has some catching up to do with the global markets," Zohny said. "There could be relative outperformance if we see some stability in commodities and the economic data."

Eight of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red on Wednesday, with the materials sector, which includes mining stocks, declining 2 percent.

Cameco Corp gave back 0.5 percent after the uranium producer siad its profit plunged 93 percent in the first quarter as uranium sales fell and prices were weaker.

Miner Yamana Gold Inc fell 6.5 percent to C$11.66 after it reported a 40 percent drop in first-quarter profit late on Tuesday, hurt by lower gold prices and higher costs.

"Their results were lousy," John Ing, president of Maison Placements Canada, said of Yamana's first-quarter performance. "Higher costs were definitely a factor, but they were disappointing."

Ing said the lower bullion price was hurting gold miners, which have lost about 35 percent of their market value since the start of the year. The price of bullion fell more than 1 percent on Wednesday, hit by holidays in China and parts of Europe, which slowed gold buying.

Energy shares gave back 2 percent as oil prices slipped. Among them, Suncor Energy Inc shed 2.7 percent and played the biggest role of any single stock in leading the index lower.

Talisman Energy Inc's shares fell 4.8 percent after the oil and gas company posted a quarterly loss as the sale of some North Sea assets hurt production.

Financials, the index's weightiest sector, declined 0.5 percent.

Tim Hortons is facing pressure from a U.S. hedge fund to boost returns aggressively through debt-funded share buybacks and a scaling back of U.S. expansion plans, according to documents seen by Reuters and two sources familiar with the matter.

Shares of Loblaw jumped 4.7 percent to C$44.75 after it reported a 40 percent increase in first-quarter profit and said it plans to compete an initial public offering of its real estate investment trust in early to mid-July.

($1=$1.01 Canadian)

(Editing by Nick Zieminski; and Peter Galloway)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tsx-may-open-slightly-lower-ahead-fed-eye-123929032.html

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