Muscle powers spearing mantis shrimp attacks

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2012) ? A hungry mantis shrimp may be the last thing that a passing fish sees before it is snatched from the water by the predator. Maya deVries from the University of California, Berkeley, says 'Spearer mantis shrimps stay in their sandy burrows and they wait for a fast-moving prey item to come by, but then they come out of nowhere and grab the prey with their long skinny appendages.' However, little was know about how these vicious predators unleash their lightning-fast attacks.

According to deVries, the spearing shrimp are closely related to smasher mantis shrimps, which pulverise the shells of crustaceans and molluscs with a single explosive blow from their mighty claws. Having decided to find out how the crustaceans unleash their deadly assaults, deVries says, 'We thought that the spearers would be just as fast -- if not faster -- than the smashers because they have a smaller time window in which to capture their prey.' deVries and her colleagues publish their discovery that Lysiosquillina maculata spearer mantis shrimps power their mighty spears with muscle alone while smaller Alachosquilla vicina spearer mantis shrimps use a more conventional catapult mechanism in The Journal of Experimental Biology.

Working with her PhD advisor, Sheila Patek, deVries took a short trip along the corridor to Roy Caldwell's lab to film some of his L. maculata mantis shrimps. Coaxing the nocturnal lobster-sized crustaceans to assault frozen prawns, deVries recalls that the animals were reluctant to attack; 'They probably didn't like the bright lights', she says. However, when the duo analysed the speed of the strikes, they were surprised that the spearer's harpoon speed was much slower than that of their smashing cousin's. Explaining that smashers can unleash strikes at speeds ranging from 10 to 23m/s, the duo were taken aback that L. maculata could only muster 2 m/s.

Smasher mantis shrimp store catapult energy in skeletal springs that they unleash during a deadly assault; therefore deVries analysed the trajectories of several L. maculata claws in action, and realised that the hefty crustaceans were not using the same mechanism. 'The spear has all the same components [as the smashers]', explains deVries, but she adds that the shape of some of the structures are subtly different and the spring did not deform to store energy prior to an attack -- possibly because it is too stiff -- preventing L. maculata from firing a ballistic attack. 'If the L. maculata movement is similar to other ambush predators that have muscle-driven strikes, it is possible that these guys are creating strikes with muscle movement', says deVries.

Next, deVries and Patek tested the reactions of another, smaller mantis shrimp, Alachosquilla vicina, to find out whether all spearing mantis shrimps have opted for muscle-powered strikes. Elizabeth Murphy filmed the animals snapping up brine shrimp however, it was obvious that the diminutive crustaceans were using a spring-loaded catapult to spear their nimble prey. The team could clearly see energy-storing deformations in the spring structure before the mantis shrimp unfurled their deadly assaults at 6m/s.

But the team were still puzzled by L. maculata's sluggish performance. Maybe the lab-based animals had become too unfit to produce explosive attacks? Traveling to Australia to film L. maculata hunting in the wild, the team were relieved to see that the animals' reactions were well within the range of speeds that they had measured in the lab. Adult L. maculata use muscle-powered attacks all the time.

Having confirmed that it is possible for the large shrimp to produce lightening-fast strikes without using a spring mechanism, deVries says 'We're trying to get more L. maculata in the lab to look at the complete size range in one species to see how the strike scales and to find out if there is a size threshold above which you can't have a spring-loaded strike anymore.'

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Journal of Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. The original article was written by Kathryn Knight.

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. deVries, M. S., Murphy, E. A. K. and Patek, S. N. Strike mechanics of an ambush predator: the spearing mantis shrimp. J. Exp. Biol, 215, 4374-4384; 2012 (in press)

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Ntjz9YXkrGw/121122095431.htm

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Director Peter Ramsey Talks Rise of the Guardians

With Rise of the Guardians opening this week, I recently got to see the finished film at DreamWorks Animation and it?s really well done.? Not only is the animation great to look at, it?s got a strong story that?s character driven and it doesn?t rely on stupid jokes.? In addition, unlike most superhero films that spend half the time introducing characters by explaining their origin and showing off their powers, what?s fantastic about Rise of the Guardians is we join almost everyone in the middle of the story.? If you?re not familiar with the story, it? revolves around the rebellious Jack Frost (Chris Pine) teaming up with other mythical figures North aka Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), E. Aster Bunnyman aka Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth aka The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), and the Sandman to battle the evil Pitch (Jude Law).? Here?s my video blog review and all our previous coverage.

To help promote the film, last week I got on the phone with?Rise of the Guardians?director?Peter Ramsey.? We talked about how they didn?t tell a typical origin story, the tone, how many times he re-storyboard the film and whether there were any dramatic changes along the way, the test screening process, collaborating with Roger Deakins, other DreamWorks Animation projects like How to Train Your Dragon 2,?Kung Fu Panda 3, Trolls?(which he said is ?kind of partially based on a Terry Pratchett novel?) and more.? In addition, Ramsey got his start as a storyboard artist working for David Fincher on Fight Club and Steven Spielberg on A.I., so we talked about those projects and a few others.? Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Collider: One of the things I think you did great in this is that we sort of jump in without wasting a lot of time explaining who these characters and the origins; we?re joining everyone sort of mid-adventure.? Talk a little bit about whose decision that was to not do an origin story, and was it something that you guys debated?

Peter Ramsey: Yeah, you know, it?s interesting the Bill Joyce books that he?s written to this point are all kind of origin stories of the main guardians.? So, we knew that this story was going to be about the first time that they all get together, or the most important time they all get together, and there was also going to be this guy who was going to be our gateway character, who was Jack Frost.? Once we made the decision to say, ?O.K.? this is Jack?s story, you know, we?re going to experience all these other guys through him and with him.? Then you know it was kind of like well, then we don?t really- we don?t have the time and frankly there?s no way we could do justice to any of the other guys if we went into all their origins.? It would just be impossible.? So we opted for this, you know, it?s more of a Star Wars kind of structure where you are dropped into the middle of this larger conflict and you?re following this one, you know, this one kind of reluctant hero through as he interacts with these guys.? And they all- all the other characters end up having a reason to be in the movie because of the way they interact with Jack.? That turned out to be the most efficient way for us to service them all and still tell the story.

One of the other things I really like about the film is that there?s no like fart jokes, there?s no stupid jokes.? It?s a serious, but still a really fun movie and I really do think kids are going to love it.? Can you sort of talk about that tone, and also just no trying to go for the lowest common denominator, if you will?

Ramsey: I was initially really skeptical of the idea when I first heard it, and I was just imagining you know, ?oh God it?s just going to be an excuse to have these guys on Cheetos bags and Coke,? you know, whatever. I was afraid of that very thing that you know, it?s another one of those, ?Oh you?re taking my childhood and then you?re stamping all over it for a quick buck.? And regardless of whether or not these things get marketed to death, and I know they will, but I really felt?and surprisingly the studio and everybody else agreed with me?that yeah we didn?t want to do a parody or satire, or we didn?t want it to be super topical; we didn?t want Twitter jokes and all that stuff because we wanted it to be timeless.

The thing that really drew me to the project was the idea that when you?re a kid you actually do believe in these guys.? It?s not even like Luke Skywalker or Batman, Santa Claus is a real person who puts something under your tree that you wrote him a letter and ask him for. So the emotional connection you have, I think, is so strong and so deep and stays with you way longer than you think it actually does, that was the really intriguing thing to me.? Everything about the movie we kind of built on top of that this idea that they?re real and were not going to screw around with that and not take it seriously because many people do.? That was our guiding light.

Often on animated projects, because you guys are doing this for years, you know you?ll come up with your thing, you?ll story board it, you?ll realize the sequence doesn?t work and you?ll redo it. I?m just curious how many times did you re-storyboard the film and were there any dramatic changes along the way?

Ramsey: In answer to the question how many times- dozens of times, dozens and dozens and dozens.? We?ll go through version after version after version of scenes.? We?ll throw things that will come back six, eight months later, a year later.? We?ll revert to an earlier version we?ve done, we?ll cannibalize something from an earlier version of the scene.? So they get worked over time after time.? We?re basically screening versions of the movie every few months, and that in front of an audience of people, so they kind of get raked over the coals again and again.? What was the second part of the question one more time?

I was curious if anything dramatically changed along the production process.

Ramsey: Yeah, yeah.? We had been working on it for probably about eight months, and with a pretty different structure, a different way of bringing Pitch into the story and stuff like that, and we were feeling like ?Ah, you know it?s not really working, we need to do a big re-think.? We were getting started on that and it was right around the time that Guillermo signed on as an executive producer, because we showed him what we had and he agreed with us that, ?Yeah, you know, there?s a lot of different things we can do to get into this movie in a different way.? So the first thing we really did with Guillermo when he came on board was to work on a big restructure of the movie to kind of energize the villain story line in a different way.? So that was the single biggest change.? And then once we did that we didn?t have a lot of huge changes because we worked that until we were on pretty solid ground.?

Can you talk about what you learned in the first test screening and what possibly changed as a result of it? Or what you worked on as a result of it?

Ramsey: Right, well there?s different ones, there?s our internal test screenings when we?re showing things to you know Katzenberg and development people with the studio and stuff like that, and we?ll get all their notes you know they?ll give us their notes, and we?ll realize for ourselves parts of the movie that just aren?t working or we?re there yet.? But if we?re talking about audience previews, the first audience preview we showed, I think we showed and we had basically 3/4 of the movie done.? So we showed them stuff that still had unlit animation, big chunks of storyboards, stuff like that, still some scratched voices and whatnot.?

I think the biggest things we took away from that were that?I think our ending mutated a little bit in that the amount that the kids participated in was a little heavier in our earlier versions versus what we ended up with, which was more of a?people really wanted to see The Guardians kind of kick a little more butt, you know? So we ended up beefing that up a little it.? But I think that was probably the most substantial change we made, and honestly it?s someplace we were going to anyway.? It was just, you know, with these screenings a lot of times you can never get everything done you want to do in a particular iteration.? So you always end up lagging behind a little.? But that was the biggest change I can remember.

I know Roger Deakins is someone who is working with DreamWorks to help with lighting and stuff like that. Were you able to collaborate at all with Roger on this project, and what did you bring to the table if you did?

Ramsey: Yeah, yeah we were.? Roger worked with us quite a bit and it was, talk about a dream come true, man.? He?s an absolute genius.? We were going for a pretty sophisticated, ?real? look with our lighting, and Roger, you know, he was able to help us really ground it.? And we had good guys, you know, our head of visual effects David Prescott had a team of lighters that were really already kind of pushing the boundaries as far as the look went for our movie. Roger would just come in with these additional insights and real just?he?s a master of color and how to use contrast, all the counter-intuitive visual tricks that you?d use to get a different effect on this stuff, and he loves it.? He?s an absolute workaholic who, I think, he really loves the idea of lighting in animation because in a way you can almost do anything, you know? You have freedom to kind of tweak and to explore possibilities that you don?t have when you?re limited with the light that you have on the set.? So I was kind of amazed by how much he was really into it.? God he brought things like, just subtle things sometimes, you know, like enhance the light a little brighter, tweak the depth of field here.? Yeah, I was just sorry that he had to leave part way through to work on Skyfall.? So we didn?t have him every single minute of every single day, but he brought so much to the look and feel of the movie.

I?m just curious about the collaboration with him a little bit more, is it something where he comes in and looks at something for two or three hours? Was it one of these things that he?s in a lot, was he looking at it every few months?

Ramsey: No, when he was available to us he was actually in a lot. I know our initial, our color keys and our references he did a lot of the selecting of photographic reference for, you know- ?The dream set could have this kind of feel.? And he?d have a photo reference that he dug up of lava, or fire-dancers, or whatever photo reference he would find.? He was digging up images and throwing ideas at us for how we might want to treat something for colors.? So all that went into our plan of how we were going to light these, each individual set and each individual sequence.? When he was away on the road he would check in online with stills from what the lighting guys were doing and he?d give his notes.? He?d give note on sequences that were, you know, animated sequences that were being lit so we?d send him a little QuickTime file and he?d give us his notes and say like, ?You know, I think we could use a little more bounce light here.? Over all I think the sequence is playing a little flat.? I think we could saturate this a little more and up the contrast here.? The left side of Jack?s face here could use some fill.? I mean really detailed, like real DP notes.? So it was- his involvement was pretty intensive, it was great.

Was there ever a moment where you were like, ?Roger, you?re wrong.? Or was it always like, ?Roger, sounds good.??

Ramsey: Yeah, you know what there were some times where I was like, ?Ehhh?? Once in a blue moon there was something.? But a lot of times I would think that, and then I would see where he was really going and be like, ?Oh, no I?m wrong.? You?re a genius.? It was honestly mostly that.? He was also, you know, we had a great back and forth.? I would tell him what I was looking for and I?d sometimes I?d, you know, I got my courage up and I?d go, ?What if we added a little more fill here?? and he?d kind of stroke his chin, ?Yeah, yeah, I could see that.? I could see that.? And then he?d go, ?what about if we did this?? and then he?d take my idea and make it 500% better with like, a flick of his wrist.? It was a dream; it was just an absolute dream.? Especially those little moments when I?d be looking at something and id be thinking in my head, ?I bet if we made that part of the frame a little more contrast-y, that other thing would pop.? And then he?d go, ?Yeah, why don?t we make that a little contrast-y.? and then you know, like one tear would trickle down my face, ?You?re my hero, you?re my god.?

Yeah, I can only imagine.

Ramsey: Yeah, man, it?s a dream, I got to tell you.

His cinematography is just ludicrous.? You have a history of being a storyboard artist and you?ve worked on a lot of movies.? I definitely want to ask you about two specific ones.? Back in, I guess it was ?98 into ?99, you worked on Being John Malkovich and Fight Club, so you worked with Spike Jonze and David Fincher.

Ramsey: Spike Jonze, yeah, and David Fincher back to back.

Yeah, totally.? What was the collaboration like? What was it like doing storyboard artist stuff? Was it something where you?re doing it and then you would presenting it to the director? Can you talk about what that environment is like and working on those two projects?

Ramsey: Yeah, you know, both of those guys and both of those projects were both pretty intensive, hands on working with David and Spike.? Actually I think David recommended me to Spike is what happened.? But, with David on Fight Club he had seen samples of my work so he knew I could kind of deliver the image quality that he liked.? But basically we sat next to each other on Fight Club and he would scribble out little thumb nails, and I was there kind of doing my slightly more refined scribble as my notes as he was going.? And we kind of blocked it all that way for the first 2/3 of my work on that film, and then by that time he kind of knew me and he began to trust me more.? And he would say like, ?You know what? ?come up with some stuff for this stuff that takes place at the airport, we need some stuff for jets.? It was almost like I became his little second unit story board director.? So he?d let me kind of run wild and come up with stuff and he?d give the thumbs up or thumbs down.? But it was a very, really close, really close working hands on.?

I also did Panic Room with Fincher, and by the time we did that he trusted me enough that he?d say, ?Okay here, take this scene and come up with some stuff.? Just make sure, I want to hit this, that and the other thing, but you know see what you come up with.? And he?d let me kind of run, and once again it was like, ?Oh yeah, this really works, but for his change this close up to this, and why don?t we combine these two shots.? And that kind of thing.? It really, with any storyboard artist and any director I think it kind of depends on the relationship you have with the director and how much trust they have with you.

Also between Panic Room and Fight Club, you did Cast Away, A.I., you a whole bunch of things, I?m just curious with these big directors how much are they using the storyboard in the final shot? How much is it being figured out on set? I?m just curious about that dynamic.

Ramsey: It depends.? Curiously on both of those films, A.I. and Cast Away, the bulk of the work that I did was stuff that the second unit shot.? And on both of those movies it was like, almost shot for shot what I ended up doing.? Because someone like Spielberg, you know, he?s going to do his?he gets on the set he doesn?t want anybody telling him what he?s going to do.? But they want something clear and concise when other people are shooting their second unit stuff.? So those sequences I did for both of those movies, I was actually kind of shocked when O saw them on screen because they were so close to what I?d come up with.? And I had a brief conversation with Spielberg on the A.I. stuff I did for him.? And there actually was one sequence on A.I.? that, just like Fincher, I sat next to Spielberg and he drew it out for me and gave me his little thumbnail scribbles which I still have someplace.

I definitely want to ask a broad question about DreamWorks Animation.? When I talked to Del Toro earlier he mentioned you know he?s been working on Kung Fu Panda 3 and the sequel to Puss in Boots.? I imagine being in the heart of what?s going on, you?ve seen some of the other stuff that?s coming up.? What are you excited for that they?re working on right now?

Ramsey: I got to see one of the early, early cuts of How to Train your Dragon 2.

Yeah, that?s something I?m tremendously looking forward to.

Ramsey: That?s going to be magnificent.? I think people are going to be absolutely blown away by just the scope of it and the tone and the nature of the story.? It?s going to knock people out.? And then there?s super fun stuff, there?s a project Me and My Shadow that I think is going to be really fun, it kind of combines 3D and 2D.? I haven?t seen much, I haven?t seen anything really on Kung Fu Panda 3, they?re so early, early days but I?m hoping that?s going to be really cool and really fun.? I love those movies.? And I?m trying to think of what else.? There?s an interesting project called, right now it?s called Trolls, and it?s kind of partially based on a Terry Pratchett novel.? Anand Tucker, another live action director is directing.? That?s another one that seems like it?s going to be really interesting and really different for the studio.? There?s some cool stuff going on there.

I definitely want to do a follow up on How to Train your Dragon because I loved the first one, and I think that the cinematography in it- I believe that?s the first one that Roger Deakins helped out on.

Ramsey: Yeah, it is, and I?m sure on this one they?re going to push it way further because it?s pretty magnificent looking.

I guess I just wanted to know how you think it compares to the first one in terms of tone and scope.

Ramsey: From what I?ve seen like much, much more massive it?s like, it?s an unfolding epic and it gets really big. In terms of tone, there?s a more serious undertone and family drama in this one and it?s definitely an evolution of all the characters.

For all our Rise of the Guardians coverage click here.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926313/news/1926313/

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Famed Hacker Guilty of 'Stealing' iPad User Data

NEWARK, N.J. ? Infamous hacker Andrew Auernheimer, aka "Weev", was convicted of conspiracy to access a protected computer without authorization, a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), as well as fraud in connection with personal information, in United States Third Circuit Court today (Nov. 20).

Auernheimer vowed to appeal the verdict "as far as possible" and said the jury's decision was largely a byproduct of computer illiteracy among the general population.

"Hey epals don't worry!" Auernheimer wrote on his Twitter feed following the verdict. "We went in knowing there would be a guilty here. I'm appealing of course."

Before the verdict, Auernheimer was in good spirits.

"See you in 10," he joked in the courthouse elevator on his way to lunch, referring not to minutes but to the to the number of years he could be behind bars if convicted.

A decade is a long time to have hanging over your head. Still, the 27-year-old laughed with friends over a prosciutto-and-mozzarella-topped salad at a pizzeria adjacent to the courthouse. Auernheimer said he has a gluten allergy.

After lunch, Auernheimer, who is forbidden from using computer but is allowed to use mobile devices with Internet connectivity, repeatedly checked his Twitter feed to gauge reactions from friends and supporters.

After the verdict, Auernheimer's mood seemed to mellow, but his eyes remained firmly fixed to his tablet.

Auernheimer, who usually sports a large bushy beard, might have been almost unrecognizable to his fans today. He appeared in court clean-shaven in a suit and tie.

Only his well-worn dark brown corduroy Jan-Sport backpack hinted at the anti-establishment and chaotic ideals stored behind his black thick-rimmed glasses.

[Hacker Faces Prison for Not Hacking iPad]

Anatomy of a hack that wasn't

In early June 2010, Auernheimer's friend Daniel Spitler "spoofed" the cellular IDs of 3G-data-enabled iPad ICC-IDs in order to see email addresses linked to the IDs, a security flaw made possible by a feature AT&T set up as a convenience to early adopters of 3G iPads.

Spitler realized that each iPad was encoding its own cellular ID number, or integrated circuit card (ICC) ID, in the URL, or Web address, that it used to access the AT&T website. He then found that subtly altering the cellular ID numbers in the URL would generate different email addresses on the AT&T site.

Intrigued, he wrote a computer script that ran through possible iterations of the cellular ID number, called it the "Account Slurper" and used it to harvest 114,000 email addresses posted on the AT&T site.

Spitler passed the harvested emails on to Auernheimer, who was already notorious for being an Internet "troll" and in 2008 had been profiled by the New York Times before his real name was publicly known.

Auernheimer unsuccessfully tried to shop the emails to major media outlets before handing the data to the gossip blog Gawker. By the time Gawker published the story on June 9, 2010, the flaw had been patched.

The list of harvested emails was never publicly released, and it did not lead to any identity thefts.

Both Auernheimer and Spitler were charged in January 2011, but within a few months Spitler took a plea deal and agreed to testify against Auernheimer.

Auernheimer's indictment says that Spitler "attacked" and "gained unauthorized access to" AT&T's servers to steal email addresses.

In fact, the data would have been publicly available to anyone who entered the correct URL into a Web browser. Spitler's script simply ran through the possible set of URLs.

The indictment also accuses Auernheimer of planning to profit from the theft of the emails, citing Internet relay chats among his fellow hackers that sound more like workplace banter than a nefarious conspiracy.

"If we can get a big dataset we could direct market iPad accessories," Auernheimer allegedly wrote.

On the Internet, 25 years is forever

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 predates the World Wide Web and makes it illegal to "access a computer without authorization or exceed authorized access from [a] protected computer."

Since the Web's development in 1991, both legal and technology experts have asserted that the law's language is so vague and overly broad that it has no real meaning.

In previous cases, three U.S. circuit courts accepted broad interpretations of the law, but two others said the law needed to be tailored.

The inconsistent rulings on the CFAA from various circuit courts indicates that the law is too hazy and that an overarching precedent may need to be set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Everybody here accesses a protected computer by the definition of the law," Auernheimer said while the jury was still deliberating. "The 'protected computer' is any network computer. You access a protected computer every day.

"Have you ever received permission from Google to go to Google? No. Nobody has ... Every computer with an Internet connection ... that's a pretty broad scope of protected computers."

Being a jerk isn't a crime

In closing arguments, Auernheimer's defense attorney, Tor Ekeland, said his client's biggest offense was akin to a game of "ding-dong ditch."

"Annoying?" Ekeland asked the jury. Yes. But criminal? Hardly.

Ekeland described Auernheimer as "hyperbolic" and a "blowhard" but made it very clear that he was anything but a criminal.

The prosecutor rebuffed that assertion and said Auernheimer "stole by deception" when he and Spitler spoofed the iPad ICC IDs in order to retrieve their corresponding email addresses.

Ekeland pointed out though, that the ICC codes, unique identifying numbers found on the SIM cards inside cellular-enabled iPads, are not security mechanisms the same way a computer password or PIN are.

He argued that ICCs are simply used for identification purposes ? the equivalent of a serial number on a dishwasher, Ekeland said.

Again, the prosecution differed, pointing to the fact that ICC IDs are longer than Social Security numbers. The prosecutor accused Auernheimer of "impersonating" an iPad in order to gain access to AT&T's servers.

Killing the messenger?

The prosecution's argument ultimately convinced the jury, but Auernheimer still thought it was absurd.

"Adding one to a number cannot be impersonation," Auernheimer countered outside of the courtroom. "That's a ridiculous argument. That's like page numbers in a book."

Even top AT&T security personnel said the incident wasn't a big deal, according to an email which the defense presented as evidence.?

"R. David Halsey from AT&T used the words, 'There was no security bypass,'" Auernheimer reiterated. "It can't be clearer than that. The definition of 'unauthorized access' has to include the bypass of security measures."?

It was the government, not AT&T, that pressed charges, Auernheimer said.

For giving the press email addresses that his friend collected on the Web, Auernheimer could go to jail for a longer than some violent convicts.

"Don't be dumb and try to fight things and make things better here like I did," he said.

Had he been acquitted, Auernheimer said he would have liked to visit family abroad and "probably not come back for a while."

"They love to kill messengers in this country," he said. "This has been a very hazardous place to hold an unpopular political opinion for four decades now really, and it ain't getting any better."

This story was provided by?TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/famed-hacker-guilty-stealing-ipad-user-data-015224407.html

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France to answer ratings downgrade with reforms

PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Tuesday it would respond to a Moody's credit downgrade by pushing on with reforms, complaining that the ratings agency had overlooked steps already taken to revamp the euro zone's second-largest economy.

France lost its prized triple-A badge from the Standard & Poor's agency in January, so Monday's move by Moody's was not surprising. But it underlined doubts about Socialist President Francois Hollande's ability to fix France's public finances.

The downgrade also highlighted the divergence with the top-rated regional powerhouse Germany whose finance minister called it a "small warning" to its most important euro zone partner.

Hollande said after the cut: "We must take note, stick to our economic policies, keep on track and understand that we have every interest in improving public finances."

Moody's said it would assess the triple-A ratings of the euro zone's EFSF and ESM bailout funds in light of its one-notch cut of France to Aa1 with a negative outlook.

However, its France downgrade did not appear to affect the perceived status of French bonds which, along with German debt, are seen as a safe haven from the crisis in southern Europe.

The benchmark French 10-year government bond yield - which has been trading at historic lows and offering Hollande crucial access to cheap borrowing - was little changed at 2.15 percent versus 2.08 percent before the downgrade.

"Moody's raised concerns about France's capacity to reform and so it is up to us to show that this time we are going to carry out reforms," Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, leading a government offensive to play down the move, told journalists.

"The rating change does not call into question either the economic fundamentals of our country, the efforts undertaken by the government or our creditworthiness."

The government is planning the toughest belt-tightening effort in 30 years in 2013 but must also try and halt a growth slow-down that has seen unemployment surge to 13-year highs.

Moody's said it kept a negative outlook on France due to structural challenges and a "sustained loss of competitiveness" in the country, where business leaders blame high labor charges for dragging down exports. It also cited "sizable exposures" of its banks to weak, southern euro zone countries.

"The first driver ... is the risk to economic growth, and therefore to the government's finances, posed by the country's persistent structural economic challenges," Moody's said.

The downgrade initially nudged the euro 0.30 percent lower to 1.2770 against the dollar late on Monday but the currency recovered some ground to trade at 1.2805 at 1730 GMT on Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank economist Gilles Moec said the fact the downgrade was largely priced in did not take the pressure off Hollande to show he will pursue more reforms, with an overhaul of rigid hiring and firing rules seen as the most pressing.

"Public opinion in France - as well as the market ultimately - will expect a reaction from the executive," Moec said. "The market ... is giving France the benefit of the doubt, but a further clarification of the policy stance is becoming urgent."

NEGATIVE OUTLOOK

Moody's said it could cut France again if efforts to free up the rigid labor market and overhaul an economy where public spending accounts for 57 percent of output ran into trouble.

"We would downgrade the rating further in the event of an additional material deterioration in France's economic prospects or in a scenario in which there were difficulties in implementing the announced reforms," Moody's lead France analyst Dietmar Hornung told Reuters.

He said more big shocks from the euro zone debt crisis would also exert downward pressure on the rating.

The downgrade follows concerns raised by the IMF that France could be left behind as Italy and Spain reform at a faster pace.

"The government has sent positive signals on public finance commitments and competitiveness. However, more is required," said Societe Generale's Michel Martinez, who like many analysts sees French growth falling short of 2013 budget estimates.

But analysts see French bonds remaining resilient for now.

"The French debt market is highly liquid and remains a favored venue for international investors, particularly in a world where 'double-A' is becoming the norm among Western states," Barclays France director Franklin Pichard said.

Yet with Germany one of the few major economies to retain a triple-A rating, the move is likely to reinforce Berlin's role as the capital calling the shots in the 17-country euro zone.

Michael Grosse-Broemer, parliamentary whip of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party, told Reuters the downgrade gave fresh impulse to France to fulfill its reforms.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the move was a warning for everyone in Europe to meet their responsibilities.

With France's 2-trillion-euro economy teetering on the brink of recession, Hollande surprised many this month by granting 20 billion euros in annual tax relief to companies, equivalent to a 6 percent cut in labor costs, to spur competitiveness.

The government also plans 30 billion euros in budget savings next year to trim its deficit and has promised reforms next year to add flexibility to rigid labor laws.

"Certain criticisms are too strong or are too late. I would have preferred that the bold and unprecedented decisions on the crisis were better received," Moscovici said of Moody's.

He said it was unfair to flag concerns over French banks as they have cut exposure to troubled euro states such as Greece.

"I don't expect (the downgrade) to have an immediate knock-on impact today on access to and cost of funding," said Espirito Santo analyst Andrew Lim of any impact on the banking sector.

But he said France's exposure to Spain, Italy and peripheral Europe should be kept in mind.

As far as government borrowing goes, France has completed its issuance for 2012. Demand is strong from foreign buyers, who hold 55 percent of its long-term bonds, but the downgrade could be a trigger to bet on yields rising next year.

"Our view is the market is teeing itself up to short France in 2013. It's the trade everyone wants to get into," said Lyn Graham-Taylor at Rabobank in London.

(Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson, Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier and Andreas Rinke; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/moodys-strips-france-aaa-rating-one-notch-cut-003140288--business.html

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Local SEO Guide: 15 Marketing Techniques to Promote Your ...

Launching a business online can be quite intimidating to any small business owner. Fortunately, any business can benefit from search engine optimization (SEO), which can make a small investment go a long way, as well as making sure that local buyers find their websites. Therefore, local SEO is an obvious choice to promote and market your business on the Web. The following blog post provides 15(!) low-cost marketing techniques to help drive traffic and sales to your website.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is a specialist technique that aims at getting your business name and website in front of people that are physically located near it. Search engines are the modern-day yellow pages, and your potential customers are looking to find you where you and your products and services are located.

Why is local SEO important?

According to 2009 Marketingcharts.com report titled ?Great Divide? Separates Small Biz, Online Consumers,??82 percent of local consumers use search engines to find local businesses. Furthermore, more than half (57 percent) use Yellow Pages directories with 49 percent?using local directories. Local consumers are going online to find local businesses. It is important to be?visible?in order to acquire new or existing business.

15 Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business

1. Submit Your Website to Search Engines

The first thing you will need to do when launching a website is submit the site to search engines; Google and Bing are the major search engines to focus on. Out of the 15 techniques, this will be the easiest but one of the most important.

Tip: There are local search engines that can be of more benefit such as Yandex (for Russians), Baidu (for Chinese), and Kvasir (for Norwegians).

2. Make Your Website Easy to Use

Before marketing your website through various online channels, make sure that your meta data is accurate and follows the Google Webmaster guidelines. On-site optimization includes page titles and meta descriptions. Page titles should include your business name and one or two keywords that you want Web visitors to find you with. Avoid using too many keywords and make the titles and descriptions appear natural.

Tip: Search for competitors in your area to see keywords they are using to attract Web traffic.

3. Implement Google Analytics

Web host providers will often try and bundle analytics and data packages, but the best, free analytics tool on the Web is Google Analytics. It takes less than two minutes to sign up and implement the code, and you can start collecting Web traffic data immediately. Data includes number of Web visitors, how long they browse your site, where the visitors are located, and how they arrived at your site. This is great data for promoting your business and the most effective channel (and geographic location).

Tip: Once your account starts collecting Web traffic data, map out goals on your website and begin tracking. Goals could be submitting a form or signing up to a newsletter.

4. Add Your Business to Google+ Local

Adding your business to Google+ Local is the next most important technique to implement. More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, and adding your website and business information to the Google local business directory can help. It?s free and simple. Also, you can manage your listing information including business description, product/service details, photos, videos, and offers.

Tip:?Make sure your Google listing has a 100 percent score; most local business don?t reach 100 percent.?

5. Create Social Network Business Profiles

If you are moving your business online, a great way to spread the word about your website launch is through social networks. Sign up to the business pages of Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Foursquare to promote your business to your friends and network. Make sure you claim your business URL. For example,?facebook.com/mylocalbuisnes.

Not only is this at no cost, but you will also get trustworthy links from these profiles. The more trustworthy links you get to your website, the higher you will appear on Google.

Tip: Get your family, and friends to become the first to ?like? or ?follow? your business, and stay away from buying friends from third-parties. Build your social media presence naturally.

6. Launch an Online Marketing Campaign

The only activity on this list that has a cost is Google AdWords. Google AdWords allows you to select keywords, write for online marketing ads, and attract visitors to your website based on what customers search for. Each time your ad is clicked, you will pay Google (you set the highest amount before your campaign goes live). If no one clicks your ad, you don?t need to pay.

Launching a Google AdWords campaign does not have to be costly. In fact, you can start with $15 per week, giving you a chance to decide on whether bookings increase. A benefit of using Google AdWords is that you can be very targeted to where your ads show, whether it be state or town.

Tip: When you create your campaign, make sure you use Ad Extensions that include local information, phone number, and Google + page.

7. Get Listed in Local Directories and Local Listings

Get listed in local directories and increase the number of trusted inbound links to your website. Most directories are free and by adding your business, you will see an increase in Web visits from potential customers. (According to Mashable, positive yelp ratings can boost a restaurant?s nightly reservations by 19 percent.)

Within two days of adding a small business to local directories, Web traffic from mobile grew from 0 percent to 18 percent of total traffic, and 30 percent of total traffic was referral.

Although claiming business citations is listed at number seven on this list, BrightLocal ran a survey in 2011 that found the top five most important local search ranking factors.

(Full report can be found here.)

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Tip: To find out where your competitor gets links from, visit opensiteexplorer.org and click on the ?linking domains? tab.

8. Get Involved in Your Community

This continues to bring home to Google the relevance of your business to a specific area, especially if you?re able to include links to your website (be very careful not to spam social communities, though).

If there are local forums in your field, then it?s a great idea to get your business actively participating in them. By creating a profile and adding value to the forums, this continues to add relevance of your business to Google.

Tip: Try not to spam the forums or websites with links to your online business as this will only get you banned.

9. Optimize Mobile SEO and Its Accessibility

The smartphone is the new yellow pages and mobile search, as a percentage of total Web traffic increases each month. In fact, experts predict that mobile usage will overtake desktop usage by 2014. Local business thrive on mobile searches as conversion rates searching on local terms tend to be higher. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile and is easy to use. If your website appears cluttered and loads slow to a searcher, they will most likely move on to your competitor.

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Tip: Visit your website on your smartphone and find three ways to improve the experience.

10. Add Social-sharing Buttons

In the footer of your website, make sure you add a link your Google+ Local page along with other social sharing buttons.

Tip: Make sure your email address and phone number is listed on each and every page of your footer.

11. Implement Webmaster Tools

Using webmaster tools in both Google and Bing helps you identify issues with your website. By fixing these issues, you will ensure that both search engines have no issues crawling (finding) your website when a local search is made.

Implementing both tools is relatively straight forward, and your web developer should be able to support you with this.

Tip: When adding your website to Bing Webmaster tools, you will receive $50 in market funds (US only).

12. Upload Pictures

The local directory sites like to provide users with pictures of your business. To help ensure that your business gets the best exposure, upload your own pictures. They don?t need to be of a professional quality but they will represent your business, so make sure they are decent.

Tip: Save your photo with a filename that includes your business name and a keyword.

13. Ask for Reviews

Most local sites and directories allow customers reviews. Other than Yelp, most are supportive in requesting reviews. Customer reviews, whether good or bad, make your business more credible to future customers.

Research shows that having at least five reviews in Google+ Local is the magic number where the reviews may start to help with rankings. However, since the recent Google Places move to Google+ Local, reviewers are required to have a? Google+ account.

Tip: Use your website, invoices, thank you pages, and email communication to ask your customers to review your business.?

14. Launch a Blog

Write about your industry, your talent, your services, and promote it in all channels. Blogging not only helps increase awareness of your business, but it also improves your writing. You will learn more within your field (become an expert!), and it is a great way to acquire new links to your website.

Tip: Link your Facebook page and blog by adding the RSS reader application in Facebook, making sure that your blog posts will show up on your Facebook page each time a new post is published.

15. Be Consistent

Each time you add your website and business information to a local directory, social network, or forum, make sure you be consistent with your business name, address, telephone number, email address, website link, and business description.

Tip:?Create a file that you can use to copy and paste the information from to make sure all listings are the same.

Local SEO is Essential to Your Business

Small businesses cannot afford to spend a great deal of money for online marketing, but using the marketing techniques above will help lower the cost and support the launch of your local business online. Local listings and SEO have always been important for small business online marketing efforts, but now they?re even more essential.

Photo credit: Local SEO ? courtesy?? senoldo ? Fotolia.com

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SearchEngineJournal/~3/nS9rVEAJ2LE/

Source: http://emarketingwall.com/local-seo-guide-15-marketing-techniques-to-promote-your-business-online

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Soul Space: Home Decorating Tips To Create A More Nourishing Environment

If home is where the heart is, where does the soul live?

Xorin Balbes, author of SoulSpace: Transform Your Home, Transform Your Life -- Creating a Home That Is Free of Clutter, Full of Beauty, and Inspired by You says, there are ways to make our homes more enriching environments for our inner selves.

Creating a soul space calls for a process of ridding negatively-charged items and clearing out clutter. "Our interior design reflects the interior design of our souls," Balbles told The Huffington Post.

The process can be an emotional one. We ascribe meaning to the objects we keep around, and letting go of certain memories can be painful. On the flip side, there are items we should surround ourselves with for inspiration. While material things don't define who we are, they can, as Balbles put it, "support our spiritual evolution."

So, why make a soul space at home? "There are so many distractions today," Balbes says. "We live in a world that is moving pretty quicky, we?re at the mercy and whim of our jobs and our families." And while there's a lot we can't control, Balbles points to our homes as the environment that we do have authority over. "Our homes can nurture and take care of us in ways we never knew possible."

Click through the slideshow below to see seven of Balbes's tips for making your home into a soul space.

• Start With One Room

  The prospect of making your home into a soul space may seem daunting, but it?s best to take on one room at a time. It's important not to overwhelm yourself, Balbes points out: "The energy you put into the process is the energy that will end up in the room."

• Tackle The Bedroom

  Not sure where to start? Balbes says the bedroom is your best bet, since it's likely the most intimate space in your home. ?The bedroom is already a restoral place, so it?s innately nourishing, feeding you in a way,? he says.

• Assess Your Objects In A Non-Judgmental Way

  Here's where the real work begins: In assessing what you want to keep and what you want to let go of, it's important to be gentle with yourself. "Once you observe what you're living with, you'll have to make choices," Balbes says. Ask yourself if you want to be living with a particular item that carries a certain energy -- perhaps one of loss or sadness. How does each item make you feel? If it is not an emotion or vibe you want to permeate your everyday life, this should help you determine what stays and what goes.

• Get Rid Of Bad Or No-Energy Items

  When creating your <em>soul space</em>, begin with the intention of surrounding yourself in an environment where you'll thrive. The goal is to get rid of anything that you no longer connect with on a positive level. Balbes says you might be holding on to certain items with unrealistic expectations or dreams that no longer apply. We sometimes keep objects around as a way to "mourn the fantasy of what you once thought your life was going to be." Finally giving up these objects will help you move forward.

• Take A Breather

  Remind yourself that creating this positive environment doesn't have to be done in a day (or a week, or a month). ?Do your soul space at your soul's pace," Balbes says. Again, it's important to take your time and <em>enjoy</em> what you're doing so there's good energy that sticks to the room.

• Move Onto The Kitchen

  After creating the energy you want in your bedroom, Balbes says the kitchen is the next spot. ?The kitchen feeds your consciousness on every level,? he says. ?Assess how you are living, what you are eating. Is the food supporting you in a profound way?" Ridding the excess in the kitchen -- that includes appliances you don't use, shelf-stable food you know you'll never touch -- will reset your kitchen as a place of "clean nourishment."

• Soul Up Your Office Space

  You might not be able to choose your office space, but it's still an environment you have control over. Start with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jim-taylor/declutter_b_1748165.html">decluttering</a> -- sort the papers, throw away the nonsense and dust off the desk. As for the actual work you do in your office, Balbes recommends one thing in particular: unitasking. "We're used to surrounding ourselves with lots of stuff," he says. "If you're able to put things away and bring out just one thing to work on, you'll be a lot less distracted and a lot more efficient."

• How To Decorate A Bedroom

For more inspiration, click here.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/19/soul-space-home-decorating_n_2130469.html

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