Ubisoft: 'PC DRM is a success'

Ubisoft claims to have seen a marked reduction in piracy as a result of its new DRM system.

Ubisoft has labelled its controversial DRM strategy, which sees many PC games requiring a constant online connection, as a success despite negative reaction from gamers.

Speaking to PC Gamer, a Ubisoft spokesperson said that the publisher had seen a drop in piracy as a result of using the new DRM strategy.

'[There's been] a clear reduction in piracy of our titles which required a persistent online connection, and from that point of view the requirement is a success.'

Despite the supposed success of the system, however, Ubisoft has also told VG247 that the delayed PC version of From Dust will not

Canada disqualified from 4x100 medley relay at world swimming championships

An illegal kick cost Canada a top-six finish in the women's 4x100-metre relay at the world swimming championships Saturday.

The United States, led by Rebecca Soni, won gold in a time of three minutes 52.36 seconds, not far off the world mark of 3:52.19 that China set in Rome in 2009 before high-tech bodysuits were banned.

The Chinese finished second in 3:55.61, while Australia took bronze in 3:57.13.

The Canadians initially thought they had tied Britain for sixth, but officials ruled Calgary's Jillian Tyler performed a double fly kick off the wall during the breaststroke leg of the race. Swimmers

“Deep changes since 2006” should pave the way for Venezuela’s return to CAN

Cavecol CEO Luis Alberto Russián wants Venezuela back in the fold Zoom Image

“The importance and contribution of the Venezuelan economy goes without questioning and so does the fact that it can play a leading role in the process of revamping and refurbishing the Andean community”, said Cavecol CEO Luis Alberto Russián, who underlined that conditions since the decision to leave CAN was taken in 2006, “have changed dramatically”

Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez was hopeful that on leaving CAN

Cyprus move for Sansara

ENGLAND Under-19 international left-back Netan Nico Sansara has joined Cypriot club PAEEK, becoming the first-ever British Asian footballer to play in the Cypriot League.
A strong and pacy left-back who can also play in the centre of defence, Sansara has built a reputation as one of the most highly-rated British Asian players. Born in Walsall, England, Sansara's grandfather was born in India, making Sansara eligible to represent India at international level.
Sansara began his career representing his hometown club, Walsall, for whom he made 40 appearances in League One. During this time, his performances culminated in him representing England at Under-18 and Under-19 level, making his debut against Holland at Yeovil Town's Huish Park.
After leaving Walsall, Sansara spent some time in Scotland with

US judge throws out lawsuit challenging government funding of stem cell research

A federal judge is throwing out a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's funding of embryonic stem cell research.

The lawsuit claimed the research violated a 1996 law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo. The Obama administration allows research on embryos that were culled long ago through private funding.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, chief of the federal court in Washington, last year said the lawsuit was likely to succeed and issued an injunction to block the research while the case continued. But the appeals court overturned his injunction and said the case was likely to fail.

Carpaccio of vegetables and ham

Thinly sliced vegetables combined with ham or smoked salmon make a fabulous main course presented on a plate just like a beef carpaccio. Add a great bread and some artisan butter or excellent extra virgin olive oil and the meal is complete. If you can find them, long French radishes are superb in this.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Ready In: 25 minutes

Ingredients Basil Dressing

2 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup basil leaves

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Salad Plate

2 yellow summer squash

1 green zucchini

1 bunch radishes

Salt and

Rupe’s Hacks Dodge Flak

Illustration by Jesse Lenz

There is an Australian legend about the young Rupert Murdoch, his local newspaper, and a politician who displeased him. "Whaddaya want?" Rupert asked him. "A bouquet of roses every day, or a bucket of shit every day?" Apocryphal or not, the story was called to mind by his cheerful admission to the parliamentary committee investigating what now appears to be the systemic and illegal pattern of phone hacking at Murdoch's now shuttered News of the World. At the hearing, Murdoch noted that British Prime Minister David Cameron had invited him to Downing Street to thank him for his papers' propaganda bouquets at the last election. The gratitude was clandestine—Cameron arranged for him to enter through the back door, so the public would not know how politicians repaid their debts to media moguls.

Kowtowing to Rupert has been the political norm on three continents, but most excruciatingly in Britain. His tabloids are believed to be capable of delivering the working-class vote more effectively than trade unions are. It has taken a massive fit of moral outrage at the obscene actions of News Corp. contractors to bring Murdoch to some form of accountability. So there he was, with son James, eating slices of humble pie before a parliamentary committee.

Related:

Demolition Project Lawsuit by Reserve Township

Demolition Project Lawsuit by Reserve Township Share

(Courtesy Photo)

July 22, 2011

 

On Wednesday, a Beaver County contractor was sued by the Reserve Township, under the accusation that they failed to properly remove the substance properly during the operation of a former demolition project.

 

Hopewell-based Belich General Contracting, the former contractor, was hired last year to demolish a building located on Mountain Troy Road. According to sources, the demolish crew did not properly notify the proper not only government agencies that are necessary when dealing with asbestos, but also private parties necessary, that the building that was being demolished

Latam regional integration is “too slow” given the challenges says UN expert

Osvaldo Rosales admits isolated integration efforts but they are insufficient Zoom Image

Osvaldo Rosales, director for International Trade and Integration with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua.

“Considering the reality of the global economy, the integration process in Latin America and the Caribbean is becoming more and more urgent, and we would like to see that steps taken are faster,” Rosales said.

“There are minor

Bridge reconstruction sparks human rights issue

The reconstruction of a key route in Belgrade has unexpectedly become something far different.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 22/07/11

More than 150,000 vehicles cross the Gazela Bridge a day. [File]

The Gazela Bridge, part of the European Corridor 10, is one of the major thoroughfares in Belgrade. It was built 40 years ago and has not been rebuilt or reinforced since.

As more than 150,000 vehicles cross it every day, some experts have warned that without reconstruction, the bridge could collapse.

The city administration took a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the reconstruction of the route, which many consider to be the

Out of Struggle, Nationhood

David Azia / AP

"When you cry, we cry; when you bleed, we bleed," announced Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, president of the world's newest nation, on the occasion of its independence in early July. These soothing words—directed at a long-suffering people—befit the gentle, quiet warrior who has patiently overseen the long-contested emergence of the Republic of South Sudan as the world's 193rd country.

Sudan has experienced devastating conflict since it gained independence from Britain in 1956. (Some would date the conflict to several centuries earlier, beginning with Arab slave raids in the heart of present-day South Sudan.) From the perspective of most Southern Sudanese, nationalization merely replaced an external colonizer with an internal oppressor: successive regimes in Khartoum marginalized the South. The schism led to two civil wars, killing millions of Sudanese (mostly Southerners) through violence and starvation or

Research confirms it: Men and women can't agree on movies

He wants a car chase and she wants a happy ending.

He wants violence and gore and she wants a song and dance number.

Discounting every girl who's ever relished a Tarantino flick and every man who's shed a tear into his popcorn, a survey of 2,000 adults has reaffirmed the sexual battleground of couples' movie watching.

Source: The Globe and Mail

United Football League will delay season because of financial woes

The United Football League will push back the start of its third season because of ongoing financial problems.

A league official requesting anonymity said Tuesday the season would begin in mid-September instead of mid-August.

Commissioner Michael Huyghue has scheduled an afternoon teleconference with reporters.

Huyghue has said league investors have lost more than $45-million and that each team had about $1-million in unpaid bills at the end of the 2010 season.

The second-tier UFL has franchises in Hartford, Conn.; Norfolk, Va.; Las Vegas and Sacramento as well as Omaha.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Roma community segregation still plaguing Romania

Local authorities in a northern Romanian city refuse to yield to protests over a concrete wall that will isolate the local Roma community.

By Paul Ciocoiu for Southeast European Times in Bucharest – 18/07/11

Children play in front of an apartment block where a concrete wall will be erected between a Roma neighbourhood and the main road in Baia Mare. [Reuters]

A round table meeting in Baia Mare, a city in northwestern Romania, brought no alternative to a controversial local project that will see two blocks of flats, mainly inhabited by the Roma, encircled by a concrete wall. Local authorities pledge to go ahead with the plan.

Mayor Catalin Chereches sparked reactions a few weeks ago when he announced the

Uruguay: “The spoiler beat the favourite”

Zoom Image

Messi inconsolable crying in the field after the game Zoom Image

Muslera, the uruguayan goalkeeper...a heroe Zoom Image

Tevez, on as a late substitute, saw Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera save the third Argentinian attempt as the

NATO soldier killed by gunman in Afghan army uniform

A man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot and killed a NATO service member Saturday in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The shooting was part of a spate of weekend attacks that killed at least nine people, including two other foreign troops.

The uniformed gunman escaped after killing the NATO trooper, and it was not known if he was a member of the Afghan army or a militant in disguise. A manhunt, led by members of the Afghan national security forces, was under way, NATO said.

Afghan defense officials could not immediately be reached for immediate comment.

Insurgents have

Syrians stage largest protests since uprising began; 14 killed

Syrian security forces killed at least 14 protesters Friday as hundreds of thousands flooded the streets nationwide in the largest anti-government demonstrations since the uprising began more than four months ago, witnesses and activists said.

In a significant show of the uprising's strength, thousands of protesters turned out in the capital, Damascus – the seat of the regime's power – which has been relatively quiet so far.

The crowds also took to the streets in areas where the government crackdown has been most intense, a sign that President Bashar Assad's forces cannot smother the increasingly defiant uprising.

The protests stretched from Damascus and its suburbs to Hasakeh and Idlib provinces in the north, Daraa in the south and Latakia on the

The Civil War and Malaria

Image: Scientific American

Supplemental Material Overview 100 Years Ago: Cancer's Roots Overview Scent of a Human

EDITOR’S NOTE:
We now know that a single-celled sporozoan of the Plasmodium genus causes malaria. It was discovered to be a parasite in 1880, by Alphonse Laveran, a French army surgeon in Algeria, and its transmission by the mosquito was first demonstrated in 1897 by Ronald Ross, a British officer in the Indian Medical Service. As you read this article you sense the struggle to understand the parts of the puzzle of this disease (and other diseases transmitted also by mosquitoes and bad hygiene). With our hindsight from 2011 we can quickly grasp that it is the terrain most favorable to mosquitoes that tends to be the most prone to malaria.

THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN’S ADVICE TO OUR SOLDIERS--MALARIA AND ITS REMEDIES
It is difficult for us to realize the fact, but we all know that any soldier is in five times more danger of dying from malarious disease than of being

Two schools under one roof

Double schools represents ethnic segregation by another name in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By Bedrana Kaletovic for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo – 13/07/11

A school in Stolac. [Bedrana Kaletovic/SETimes]

Doris Dragic and Doris Raguz, both 16, attend high school in the town of Stolac in southern Herzegovina. Ironically, the two teenagers attend classes in the same building but they go to different schools.

Dragic studies in a school under the BiH school programme, while her namesake opted to attend a school under the educational programme of neighbouring Croatia. The latter conducts classes in, and studies about, the Croatian language and history.

Such "double schools" are an educational phenomenon that came about as a result

Primary pupils win trip to Parliament

CHILDREN from Whitecrest Primary School in Great Barr are celebrating after winning a trip to Parliament in a debating competition.

Teams of two from 12 schools across Sandwell debated climate change in the Children’s Parliament event at Sandwell Council House, Oldbury.

And Whitecrest's Sara Ali and Ethan Stanley, both aged 10, were judged the winners.

They were presented with certificates by Sandwell Mayor, Cllr Joyce Underhill.

They also received special permits for a class visit to the Palace of Westminster, arranged by West Bromwich West MP Adrian Bailey.

Youngster Sara Ali said: "We talked about greenhouse gases and the effect they're having on the climate. It's a very important subject."

Ethan added: "I was nervous at first but it was

Brazil's President Vows To End Poverty For Millions

In recent years, Brazil has flexed its economic muscles and gotten the world's attention. But Brazil has also turned heads by reducing poverty for tens of millions of people. Now the country's new president is on a crusade to eliminate extreme poverty. Much of the government's efforts are centered in the country's far northeast. It is a traditionally poor area, but also a region with China-like economic growth.

Source: NPR : National Public Radio

GOP Relents Over Debt Talks

After weeks of fruitless talks, House Speaker John Boehner has thrown in the towel in the contentious fight over the federal deficit and the nation's debt limit. In a statement issued last night, Boehner said he would back down from Republican demands for $4 trillion dollars in cuts to reduce the nation's deficit in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Guest host Linda Wertheimer talks to NPR's Mara Liasson about the weekend effort to reach an agreement and the problems it will cause in both parties.

Source: NPR : National Public Radio

South Sudan Celebrates Its Nationhood

The Republic of South Sudan is now officially the world's newest nation. South Sudan waged a long and brutal war against the North, and in January the people voted to break away. On Saturday, Africa's 54th nation threw itself a birthday party, and NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton talks with host Scott Simon from the capital city in Juba.

Source: NPR : National Public Radio

Readers Respond to "Ruled By the Body"--and More...

March/April 2011 Image:

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
In the article on physical ailments influencing the brain, “Ruled by the Body,” Erich Kasten listed a number of medical conditions that can masquerade as mental disorders. To that list, I would add celiac disease, in which an intolerance to the gluten found in wheat and other grains causes an autoimmune reaction in the gut that prevents the absorption of crucial vitamins and minerals. The resulting malnutrition can cause fatigue, muddled thinking, anxiety and depression, along with many digestive symptoms. Although this condition has become more widely known in the U.S. during the past couple of years, it is not commonly tested for—yet its effects can be mentally and physically debilitating.
Victoria Treder
Chiefland, Fla.

TRAUMA MIMICS ADHD …
I read with interest Katherine Sharpe’s brief article,

Kosovo seeks to identify, reclaim property

According to the Kosovo Privatisation Agency, well over 150 assets are at stake in the region.

By Muharrem Nitaj and Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 07/07/11

A new inter-ministerial group aims to identify Kosovo state properties outside the country. [Reuters]

An inter-ministerial group of the Foreign Ministry is working to identify Kosovo state properties abroad, with an eye to eventually exercising rights to them.

It's a two-way street, however, director for International Economic Co-operation in the Kosovo Foreign Ministry Agron Maloku tells SETimes. "We are seeking a list [of properties] from the Kosovo Privatisation Agency responsible for property issues, and are

Moldova looking to boost nuclear detection capabilities at border

Days after Moldova arrests six for allegedly attempting to smuggle nuclear material, law enforcement tells its side of the story and works to beef up detection capabilities.

By Alina Radu for Southeast European Times in Chisinau -- 06/07/11

Moldova is stressing detection and interdiction following two incidents of uranium smuggling. [Reuters]

Last week Moldovian authorities arrested six smugglers who were reportedly involved in selling Uranium 235, which can be used in nuclear weapons. The second case of uranium smuggling in less than a year has prompted authorities to look for more nuclear detection equipment to secure the uncontrolled border

Politicians set up with work experience placements at small businesses

MPs across the UK will get a greater insight into the realities of running a small business this summer thanks to new Business Buddy scheme.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is inviting every MP, MSP and AM in Britain to take part in the scheme, which will see politicians carry out work experience placements at local companies.

Business Buddy will allow provide first hand experience of the problems facing smaller businesses in the politicians' constituencies, with MPs rolling their sleeves up and 'mucking in' with whatever tasks are necessary during their time with the firm.

Almost 100 MPs have

Baidu partners with Microsoft to power English search

Baidu Inc. BIDU-Q, which has three-quarters of China’s search market, signed a deal with Microsoft Corp. MSFT-Q to offer English-language search to Baidu users using Bing, as it eyes an overseas expansion. Meanwhile, Microsoft aims to increase its presence in the world’s largest Internet market.

Baidu dominates China’s search-engine market after Google Inc. GOOG-Q pulled out last year following a high-profile fallout with Beijing over censorship.

The partnership will allow English-language input into Baidu’s search box to automatically activate Bing, whose search results will be delivered to Baidu’s web pages, Baidu said

What happens in the brain when we experience a panic attack?

What happens in the brain when we experience a panic attack?
—Davide Razzoli, Italy

Paul Li, a lecturer of cog­nitive science at the University of California, Berke­ley, explains: Before going onstage to give a presentation, you notice your breathing becomes heavy, your hands tremble and you feel faint. Though frightening, these symptoms are not life-threatening; rather they are indicative of a panic attack.

We know a fair amount about the physiology of a panic attack, but we have only recently started to understand how it affects our brain chemistry. Panic attacks are episodes of intense fear or apprehension. Sufferers often report thinking that they might be dying, choking or going crazy. They

Venezuela’ top general says Chavez is ‘recovering satisfactorily’ and ‘soon’ will be back

General Henry Rangel Silva: “the country is calm” Zoom Image

General Henry Rangel Silva in an interview with state TV that Chavez continued to run Venezuela's government via instructions from Cuba, where he is being treated.

Venezuela's army chief said there is no threat to the nation's constitutional order as President Hugo Chavez's revelation of cancer surgery shakes the political system he has dominated since 1999.

“We have seen our Comandante thinner than usual but still standing. The truth

Islamic banking offers a different model

Although they command only 5% of the market share in Turkey, "participation banks" see room for growth.

By Henry Shapiro for Southeast European Times in Istanbul – 01/07/11

The Istanbul Stock Exchange opened an index on Sharia compliant banks and companies this year. [Reuters]

Earlier this year, the Istanbul Stock Exchange launched an index of Sharia compliant banks and companies. Since then, the emergence of "Islamic banking" -- also known as "participation banking" -- has garnered considerable media attention.

It has been widely reported that these banks do not charge interest, or "riba", because it is forbidden according to Islamic law. The actual mechanisms by which the banks operate, however, and the ways