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May 21, 2013 ? Imagine a pharmaceutical prevention, treatment or even cure for Alzheimer's disease.
It is almost impossible to overstate how monumental a development that would be and how it would answer the prayers of millions.
Though science isn't there yet, a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience spearheaded by USC Davis School of Gerontology researchers offers a tantalizing glimpse of potential solutions.
"Our data suggests the possibility of drugs that can prevent and treat Alzheimer's," said lead author, professor and lab principal Christian Pike of USC Davis. "It's just mouse data but extremely encouraging mouse data."
The team studied the effects of a class of drugs called TSPO ligands on male mice that were genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease, known as 3xTg-AD mice. Because a key mechanism of TSPO ligands is to increase production of steroid hormones, it was important to ensure that the mice had low levels of testosterone and related hormones before treatment. Younger mice were castrated while, in older mice, the decrease occurred as a normal consequence of aging.
"We looked at the effects of TSPO ligands in young adult mice when pathology was at an early stage and in aged mice when pathology was quite severe," Pike said. "TSPO ligands reduced measures of pathology and improved behavior at both ages."
The most surprising finding for Pike and his team was the effect of TSPO ligands in the aged mice. Four treatments -- one per week over four weeks -- in aged 3xTg-AD mice resulted in significant lowering of Alzheimer's-related pathology and improvements in memory behavior. This finding suggested the possibility that TSPO ligands can reverse components of Alzheimer's and thus have the potential to be useful in treatment.
For humans, these findings may indeed be quite significant.
"TSPO ligands are currently used in humans in certain types of neuroimaging. Newer TSPO ligands are at the clinical trials stage of development for treatment of anxiety and other conditions," Pike said. "There is a strong possibility that TSPO ligands similar to the ones used in our study could be evaluated for therapeutic efficacy in Alzheimer's patients within the next few years."
In light of the findings, the team will next focus on understanding how TSPO ligands reduce Alzheimer's pathology. Building on the established knowledge that TSPO ligands can act protectively by reducing inflammation, shielding nerve cells from injury and increasing the production of neuroactive hormones in the brain, the team will study which of these actions is the most significant in fighting Alzheimer's so it can develop newer TSPO ligands accordingly.
While Pike and his team acknowledged that the findings represent an exciting possibility, the researchers also stressed that it is by no means a given.
"From the optimistic perspective, our data provide very promising findings with tangible potential benefits for both the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's," Pike said. "On the pessimistic side, research scientists have developed many interventions that cured Alzheimer's in mice but have failed to show significant benefits in humans. A critical direction we are currently pursuing is successfully translating these findings into humans."
Co-authors of the study were Anna Barron (former USC Davis postdoctoral student and Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan); Luis Garcia Segura (Instituto Cajal, Spain); Donatella Caruso and Roberto Melcangi (Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Centre of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Milan); and Anusha Jayaraman and Joo Lee (USC Davis).
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health in support of the USC Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, directed by Helena Chui, professor of neurology and gerontology at USC.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/4qlBDWU1pHs/130521153940.htm
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Public release date: 21-May-2013
Share ] Contact: Ian Hall
Hall@cardiff.ac.uk
44-292-087-5612
Cardiff University
Rapid climate change during the Middle Stone Age, between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the Middle Stone Age, sparked surges in cultural innovation in early modern human populations, according to new research.
The research, published this month in Nature Communications, was conducted by a team of scientists from Cardiff University's School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Barcelona.
The scientists studied a marine sediment core off the coast of South Africa and reconstructed terrestrial climate variability over the last 100,000 years.
Dr Martin Ziegler, Cardiff University School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, said: "We found that South Africa experienced rapid climate transitions toward wetter conditions at times when the Northern Hemisphere experienced extremely cold conditions."
These large Northern Hemisphere cooling events have previously been linked to a change in the Atlantic Ocean circulation that led to a reduced transport of warm water to the high latitudes in the North. In response to this Northern Hemisphere cooling, large parts of the sub-Saharan Africa experienced very dry conditions.
"Our new data however, contrasts with sub-Saharan Africa and demonstrates that the South African climate responded in the opposite direction, with increasing rainfall, that can be associated with a globally occurring southward shift of the tropical monsoon belt."
Linking climate change with human evolution
Professor Ian Hall, Cardiff University School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, said: "When the timing of these rapidly occurring wet pulses was compared with the archaeological datasets, we found remarkable coincidences.
"The occurrence of several major Middle Stone Age industries fell tightly together with the onset of periods with increased rainfall."
"Similarly, the disappearance of the industries appears to coincide with the transition to drier climatic conditions."
Professor Chris Stringer of London's Natural History Museum commented "The correspondence between climatic ameliorations and cultural innovations supports the view that population growth fuelled cultural changes, through increased human interactions."
The South African archaeological record is so important because it shows some of the oldest evidence for modern behavior in early humans. This includes the use of symbols, which has been linked to the development of complex language, and personal adornments made of seashells.
"The quality of the southern African data allowed us to make these correlations between climate and behavioural change, but it will require comparable data from other areas before we can say whether this region was uniquely important in the development of modern human culture" added Professor Stringer.
The new study presents the most convincing evidence so far that abrupt climate change was instrumental in this development.
###
The research was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and is part of the international Gateways training network, funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 21-May-2013 Share ] Contact: Ian Hall
Hall@cardiff.ac.uk
44-292-087-5612
Cardiff University
Rapid climate change during the Middle Stone Age, between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the Middle Stone Age, sparked surges in cultural innovation in early modern human populations, according to new research.
The research, published this month in Nature Communications, was conducted by a team of scientists from Cardiff University's School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Barcelona.
The scientists studied a marine sediment core off the coast of South Africa and reconstructed terrestrial climate variability over the last 100,000 years.
Dr Martin Ziegler, Cardiff University School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, said: "We found that South Africa experienced rapid climate transitions toward wetter conditions at times when the Northern Hemisphere experienced extremely cold conditions."
These large Northern Hemisphere cooling events have previously been linked to a change in the Atlantic Ocean circulation that led to a reduced transport of warm water to the high latitudes in the North. In response to this Northern Hemisphere cooling, large parts of the sub-Saharan Africa experienced very dry conditions.
"Our new data however, contrasts with sub-Saharan Africa and demonstrates that the South African climate responded in the opposite direction, with increasing rainfall, that can be associated with a globally occurring southward shift of the tropical monsoon belt."
Linking climate change with human evolution
Professor Ian Hall, Cardiff University School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, said: "When the timing of these rapidly occurring wet pulses was compared with the archaeological datasets, we found remarkable coincidences.
"The occurrence of several major Middle Stone Age industries fell tightly together with the onset of periods with increased rainfall."
"Similarly, the disappearance of the industries appears to coincide with the transition to drier climatic conditions."
Professor Chris Stringer of London's Natural History Museum commented "The correspondence between climatic ameliorations and cultural innovations supports the view that population growth fuelled cultural changes, through increased human interactions."
The South African archaeological record is so important because it shows some of the oldest evidence for modern behavior in early humans. This includes the use of symbols, which has been linked to the development of complex language, and personal adornments made of seashells.
"The quality of the southern African data allowed us to make these correlations between climate and behavioural change, but it will require comparable data from other areas before we can say whether this region was uniquely important in the development of modern human culture" added Professor Stringer.
The new study presents the most convincing evidence so far that abrupt climate change was instrumental in this development.
###
The research was supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and is part of the international Gateways training network, funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/cu-ooh052013.php
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REUTERS/Stephen Chernin
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Yahoo just announced that it has acquired New York startup Tumblr for $1.1 billion.
Addressing concerns from Tumblr users that Yahoo will ruin the blog network, the press release says the companies promise "not to screw it up."
"Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators."?
This is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's first big acquisition since joining the company last July.
Here is her canned quote on the deal:
"Tumblr is redefining creative expression online. On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn't be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn't be more complementary. Yahoo is the Internet's original media network. Tumblr is the Internet's fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands - established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday."
"I've long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of the creator. That's why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I've ever met. He's also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I've ever worked with. David's respect for Tumblr's community of creators is awesome. I'm absolutely delighted to have him join our team."
Here is Tumblr CEO David Karp's quote:
"Our team isn't changing. Our roadmap isn't changing. And our mission - to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve - certainly isn't changing. But we're elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from."
Here is our analysis:?Why Yahoo's $1.1 Billion Tumblr Buy Is A Great Idea
Here is the release:
Yahoo! Inc.?and Tumblr announced today that they have reached a definitive agreement for Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr.
Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.
With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of the fastest-growing media networks in the world. Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent on site each month. On mobile, more than half of Tumblr's users are using the mobile app and do an average of 7 sessions per day. Its tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network. The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! is expected to grow Yahoo!'s audience by 50 percent to more than a billion monthly visitors, and to grow traffic by approximately 20 percent.
The deal offers unique opportunities for both companies. Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!'s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they'll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!'s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience.
Total consideration is approximately $1.1 billion, substantially all of which is payable in cash.
"Tumblr is redefining creative expression online," said Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. "On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn't be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn't be more complementary. Yahoo is the Internet's original media network. Tumblr is the Internet's fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands - established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday."
"I've long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of the creator. That's why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I've ever met. He's also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I've ever worked with," continued Mayer. "David's respect for Tumblr's community of creators is awesome. I'm absolutely delighted to have him join our team."
David Karp, CEO of Tumblr, addressed the Tumblr community, "Our team isn't changing. Our roadmap isn't changing. And our mission - to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve - certainly isn't changing. But we're elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from."
The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second half of the year.
Conference Call
Yahoo! will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time today to discuss this announcement. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed through the company's Investor Relations website at http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/events.cfm?CalendarID=8. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/yahoo-announces-11-billion-tumblr-buy-2013-5
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Unfortunately, even if you are successful building this kind of lightweight website you?ll fail, because there is a hidden trap.
A text based Internet like in the western or eastern world would work very well, because of 99% literacy rate. People can read and write. In Africa, there is no such thing. In many countries the illiterates made the majority of the population. They don?t know how write and read. A text based website is of no use for them.
There is an additional group of people who are literate or semi-literate but don?t like to write or read. Like Steve Jobs said it ?People don?t read anymore?, and when it comes to Africa the situation is even worse. My estimate is that these 2 groups of illiterates and people who don?t read would amount to 70% of Africa population.
That?s the trap. To reach a profitable audience in Africa you need to use voice and video. Voice and video are the only certain ways to reach people in Africa. But, because of low bandwidth and expensive Internet access, you can?t use them. On the other hand if you build a text based solution, your audience is very limited (to city hipsters, African diaspora).
There is no audience for online business in Africa. The very people who will make you millionaire are not online.
Many African Internet entrepreneurs discover this sad truth only after spending lots of money and time building their online solutions.
There are numerous possible solutions to that trap, and it?s possible to work around them. Additionally, we have to keep in mind that even a widespread, free, and unlimited access to Internet is not a solution, because it won?t solve the illiteracy.
There is big market for literacy neutral platforms where people can communicate with each other using online images, icons, illustrations and voices, contrary to text-based social networks like Facebook or Twitter.
Entrepreneurs who will take on this challenge and execute it well will be rewarded with a highly scalable profitable business. As an example, my grandfather would listen to a voice commercial, and call me to go to the market to check out the product. It won?t happen with a text ad or a display copy!
European culture is based on the written word, while African culture is more oral and visual. African entrepreneurs who will avoid importing blindly European model to Africa, but leverage their unique knowledge of the African market will be rewarded with much more profitable business. Investing in voice and image enabled search are one of the several ways to go.
?
Source: http://www.siliconafrica.com/the-trap-that-kill-african-internet-entrepreneurs/
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May 18, 2013 ? Research shows that the earlier the age at which youth take their first alcoholic drink, the greater the risk of developing alcohol problems. Thus, age at first drink (AFD) is generally considered a powerful predictor of progression to alcohol-related harm. A new study shows that individuals who have their first drink during puberty subsequently have higher drinking levels than do individuals with a post-pubertal drinking onset.
Results will be published in the October 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Most teenagers have their first alcoholic drink during puberty, however, most research on the risks of early-onset alcohol use up to now has not focused on the pubertal stage during which the first alcoholic drink is consumed," said Miriam Schneider, leader of the Research Group Developmental Neuropsychopharmacology at the Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, as well as corresponding author for the study. "Common thinking in alcohol research was that the earlier adolescents begin, the more deleterious become their drinking habits. However, a closer look at the statistics revealed a peak risk of alcohol use disorders for those beginning at 12 to 14 years of age, while even earlier beginners seemed to have a slightly lower risk. Since timing of puberty is not a simple function of chronological age, and also greatly differs between the sexes, the pubertal phase at first drink may therefore represent a stronger and better indicator for subsequent alcohol-related problems than simply the age."
"Usually this type of research has to be done retrospectively, and those studies are not very reliable," added Rainer Spanagel, head of the Institute of Psychopharmacology at the University of Heidelberg. "Prospective longitudinal studies like the one here ? are able to provide reliable conclusions on such a clinically and highly relevant research question. Alternatively, animal studies can be very informative -- and which the researchers have also provided."
"Adolescents have their first drink at very different ages," explained Schneider. "It would be unethical to make adolescents have their first drink in the course of a study, so this variable requires a longitudinal epidemiological study or experimental animal research to assess drinking behavior. Also, the determination of the pubertal stage at AFD is not trivial; even our study had to rely on estimations. Third, it takes longitudinal studies to assess drinking data in early adulthood. Fourth, both drinking behavior and pubertal development can be traced back to common factors such as psychosocial adversity. Finally, while puberty and adolescence are overlapping time periods, with puberty being a part of adolescence, the terms cannot be used interchangeably. 'Puberty' refers to the time period during which sexual maturity is achieved. 'Adolescence' refers to the gradual period of behavioral and cognitive transition from childhood to adulthood, where adult behavioral abilities are acquired, and the boundaries of this period are not precisely defined. Girls complete puberty much earlier than boys, indicating a difference in timing of neurodevelopmental processes."
Schneider and her colleagues determined pubertal age at first drink in 283 young adults (152 females, 131 males) that were part of a larger epidemiological study. In addition, the participants' drinking behavior -- number of drinking days, amount of alcohol consumed, and hazardous drinking -- was assessed at ages 19, 22, and 23 years via interviews and questionnaires. Furthermore, a rodent study concurrently examined the effects of mid-puberty or adult alcohol exposure on voluntary alcohol consumption in later life by 20 male Wistar rats.
"Both studies revealed that those individuals that initiated alcohol consumption during puberty tended to drink more and also more frequently than those starting after puberty," said Schneider.
"In other words," said Spanagel, "this study indicates that the period of puberty might serve as a risk window for AFD. Results also show a higher Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score later in life in those individuals who had their AFD in puberty. A higher AUDIT score is indicative of a high likelihood of hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption. This information is of great relevance for intervention programs. Even more interesting, neither pre-pubertal nor post-pubertal periods seem to serve as risk-time windows. Therefore, intervention programs should be directed selectively towards young people in puberty."
Both Schneider and Spanagel noted the influence of a high degree of brain development that occurs during puberty.
"Numerous neurodevelopmental alterations are taking place during puberty, such as maturational processes in cortical and limbic regions, which are characterized by both progressive and regressive changes such as myelination and synaptic pruning," said Schneider. "Typically, an overproduction of axons and synapses can be found during early puberty, followed by rapid pruning during later puberty, indicating that connections and communication between subcortical and cortical regions are in a highly transitional state during this period."
"Puberty is a phase in which the brain reward system undergoes major functional changes," said Spanagel. "For example, the endocannabinoid and dopamine systems are at their peak and these major neurobiological changes are reflected on the behavioral level; reward sensitivity is highest during puberty. Therefore, during puberty the brain is in a highly vulnerable state for any kind of reward, and drug rewards in particular. This high vulnerability might also affect reward seeking, or in this particular case, alcohol seeking and drinking behavior later in life."
"In summary," said Schneider, "puberty is a very critical developmental period due to ongoing neurodevelopmental processes in the brain. It is exactly during puberty that substances like drugs of abuse -- alcohol, cannabis, etc. -- may induce the most destructive and also persistent effects on the still developing brain, which may in some cases even result in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia or addictive disorders. Prevention work therefore needs to increase awareness of specific risks and vulnerability related to puberty."
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/UJdq6_mf21M/130518153740.htm
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DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) ? Witnesses described a frantic scene and close calls after an elderly driver plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a small Virginia mountain town's parade. Investigators were looking into whether the motorist had suffered a medical emergency before the accident.
About 50 to 60 people suffered injuries ranging from critical to superficial, but no fatalities were reported. Three of the worst injured were flown by helicopter to area hospitals. Their conditions weren't immediately available.
Another 12 to 15 victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance and the rest were treated at the scene, where some paramedics and other first-responders were participating in the parade.
It happened around 2:10 p.m. during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.
Damascus Police Chief Bill Nunley didn't release the driver's name or age but said he was participating in the parade and he had traversed the Appalachian Trail in the past. Several witnesses described him as an elderly man.
Nunley said the man's 1997 Cadillac was one of the last vehicles in the parade and the driver might have suffered an unspecified medical problem when his car accelerated to about 25 mph and struck the crowd on a two-lane bridge along the town's main road. The driver was among those taken to hospitals.
"It is under investigation and charges may be placed," Nunley said.
Rudolph "Chip" Cenci, 64, of Minoa, N.Y., told The News-Item newspaper in Shamokin, Pa., that he heard people yelling "get out of the way" and turned around to find the car was about to hit him. He jumped onto the hood and held onto the gap at the base of the windshield near the wipers. He said the driver had a blank stare on his face.
"I bet you that man never realized someone was on his hood," Cenci said.
Cenci said he had a bump on his knee but was otherwise OK. He added that his wife, Susan, 63, narrowly missed being hit.
Amanda Puckett, who was watching the parade with her children, ran to the car, where she and others lifted the car off those pinned underneath.
"Everybody just threw our hands up on the car and we just lifted the car up," she said.
Keith Neumann, a hiker from South Carolina, said he was part of the group that scrambled around the car. They pushed the car backward to free a woman trapped underneath and lifted it off the ground to make sure no one else was trapped.
"There's no single heroes. We're talking about a group effort of everybody jumping in," he said.
Nunley cited quick action by police, firefighters, paramedics and hikers to tend to the victims, including a volunteer firefighter who dove into the car to turn off the ignition. The firefighter, whose name wasn't released, suffered minor injuries.
Mayor Jack McCrady had encouraged people to attend the festival on Sunday, its final day.
"In 27 years of this, we've never had anything of this magnitude, and is it our job to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said.
McCrady said a donation fund was being set up to assist the injured, some of whom don't have medical insurance.
"We want to make sure they don't suffer any greater loss than they already have," he said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/medical-emergency-eyed-va-parade-crash-071219786.html
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FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) ? Two commuter trains serving New York City collided in Connecticut during Friday's evening rush hour, sending 60 people to the hospital, including five with critical injuries, Gov. Dannel Malloy said.
About 250 people were on board the Metro-North trains when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Station to New Haven derailed about 6:10 p.m. just outside Bridgeport, MTA and Bridgeport officials said.
The train was hit by a train heading west from New Haven to Grand Central on an adjacent track, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. Some cars on the second train also derailed as a result of the collision.
Lola Oliver, 49, of Bridgeport, was on one of the trains when she suddenly found herself in mid-air.
"Finally I came to a stop on one of the seats. And I just gripped it because I felt the train sliding. It happened so fast I had no idea what was going on. All I know is we crashed," she told The Associated Press in a hospital interview.
Investigators Friday night did not know what caused the first train to derail. Malloy said there was no reason to believe it was anything other than an accident.
"We're most concerned about the injured and ultimately reopening the system," Malloy said from the scene about three hours after the crash.
The governor said that most people were not seriously hurt. Among those critically injured, he said, one's injuries were "very critical."
The Metro-North Railroad, a commuter line serving the northern suburbs, described it as a "major derailment." Photos showed a train car askew on the rails, with its end smashed up and brushing against another train. Amtrak suspended service indefinitely between New York and Boston.
Malloy said there was extensive damage to the train cars and the track, and it could take until Monday for normal service to be restored. He said the accident will have a "big impact on the Northeast Corridor."
The area where the accident happened was already down to two tracks because of repair work, Malloy said. Crews have been working for a long time on the electric lines above the tracks, the power source for the trains. He said Connecticut has an old system and no other alternate tracks.
By late evening, Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said everybody who needed treatment had been attended to, and authorities were beginning to turn their attention to investigating the cause.
"Everybody seemed pretty calm," he said. "Everybody was thankful they didn't get seriously hurt. They were anxious to get home to their families."
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines ? the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven ? run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/conn-commuter-trains-collide-60-hospitals-015217741.html
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CAIRO (AP) ? Suspected militants in Egypt's Sinai abducted seven security personnel as they headed to Cairo for holidays early Thursday, security officials said. It was the first such kidnapping of security forces in the lawless peninsula.
The officials said masked gunmen ambushed two taxis at gunpoint outside the city of el-Arish, the capital of North Sinai governorate, fleeing with five policemen and one border guard captive. None of those abducted were in uniform, officials said.
Four of the policemen work in the Rafah border terminal leading to the Gaza Strip, and one was in a riot police unit deployed in Sinai. The border guard was a member of the military. The taxi drivers reported that a seventh member of the security forces was also kidnapped, but authorities said they are still trying to identify him.
Security in the Sinai has deteriorated sharply in the two years since the overthrow of longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak, as it has elsewhere across the country A surge in crime as well as clashes between Islamist backers of President Mohammed Morsi and his opponents have combined with economic woes to feed the sense of insecurity.
A new poll released by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Projects said only 30 percent of Egyptians polled see the country on the right track, compared to 53 percent surveyed in 2012, and 65 percent in 2011.
"Today's level of satisfaction is comparable to the level observed in spring 2010," almost a year before the uprising, the Center's report said.
In the poll, 44 percent of Egyptians surveyed say law and order in the country was getting worse. Conducted in March, the poll describes a divided nation, with 53 percent viewing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi favorably, and only 46 percent expressing confidence that upcoming elections would be fair.
Morsi's opponents are planning rallies Friday in which they demand that he step down and that early presidential elections be held.
The poll surveyed 1,000 Egyptians with a 4.3 percent margin of error.
The abduction in the Sinai is the latest incident to highlight the rise of Islamist militant groups there. Along with Bedouin tribal gangs involved in smuggling and other criminal activity, they have taken advantage of the security vacuum there to step up attacks on police stations, security convoys and other targets.
Security officials say Thursday's kidnapping was carried out by militant groups known to the authorities who are hiding in North Sinai's rugged mountains. Two officials said the kidnapping came after the mother of an imprisoned militant claimed that her son was tortured in detention, causing his eyesight to fail. The imprisoned militant is sentenced to death for attacking a police station in the early days after Mubarak's ouster.
The officials said authorities were sending the family to visit their son in prison again and provide him with necessary medical attention in a bid to defuse anger over his treatment, and secure the safety of the captive security personnel.
They said contact was established with the kidnappers, adding that representatives of the presidency and the military are reaching out to militants and mediators to secure the hostages' release. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the new instructions with the media. Egypt's state news agency MENA reported that negotiations with the kidnappers were underway through mediators, but also didn't elaborate.
In a statement, Morsi pledged to continue efforts to secure the release of the captives, calling for the "protection of the lives" of both the "abducted and the kidnappers." He said that the solutions to Sinai's problems should not be through "abductions and terrorizing citizens."
Local tribes accuse the central government of discrimination, neglect, and police brutality. Tribal Bedouins have briefly kidnapped foreigners to use them as bargaining chips with authorities, urging them to release imprisoned relatives.
The security officials said forces in the Sinai were on high alert, particularly along the border with the Gaza Strip. Movement was restricted for the multinational forces stationed in Sinai since the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel was signed in 1979, the officials added.
Egypt's military has carried out sweeps in the peninsula since a militant attack against its troops that left 16 soldiers killed in August 2012. It was the most brazen militant assault on Egyptian troops in modern history. Still, the attackers have not been apprehended or publicly identified.
The volatile northern Sinai borders Hamas-ruled Gaza as well as Israel. Weapons flowed into the peninsula from Libya to the area, adding to the security challenge.
Morsi had pledged to restore security to the peninsula. Officials from the presidency at one point negotiated with locals to ease off on the crackdown and the pursuit of fugitives. In exchange, locals were to refrain from attacks on authorities or cross-border raids on Israel.
The U.S. has repeatedly discussed the situation in Sinai with Egyptian authorities and offered security and border control advice.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Hesham Kandil was quoted by MENA as saying that investigation into the killing of the 16 soldiers is still ongoing. "Egypt is cooperating fully with neighboring countries to combat terrorism," he said.
_______
Associated Press Writer Ashraf Sweilam contributed to this report from southern Sinai.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/7-egyptian-security-personnel-abducted-sinai-142304724.html
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Being thorough as we are wont to do here at WTLC, let's take a look at some alternate covers.
This week's issue of Sports Illustrated highlights the pitching of New York Met Matt Harvey in what I'm sure is a lovely article by Tom Verducci. I'm a Cubs fan myself, so I hate baseball with the blazing passion of one million dying suns. If I think about it for more than a few minutes I start to think about the 2003 NLCS and then I speak in nothing but 1990's Ice Cube lyrics for the rest of the day. But good for Matt Harvey, I'm sure his family is proud of him. Be that as it may, it's not even June yet and we're seeing baseball on the cover. Not acceptable. Being thorough as we are wont to do here at WTLC, let's take a look at some alternate covers.
Alternate #1: Schadenfreude as inspired by Francisco Goya. If you can't win, then everyone else gets eaten.
Alternate #2: Kevin Durant's brave fight to end dolphin rabies.
Alternate #3: Le Morte d'Pizza Rolls
Alternate #4: Serge Ibaka on dealing with loss after finishing season 3 of Parks and Recreation on Netflix. Bye-bye Li'l Sebastian. You're 5000 candles in the wind.
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Source: http://www.welcometoloudcity.com/2013/5/17/4339864/this-week-in-alternate-sports-illustrated-covers
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Today at Google I/O the company held a session entitled "Voiding your Warranty" where employees demonstrated how to root Google Glass and install Ubuntu on it. What you're seeing above is a screenshot from a laptop running a terminal window on top and showing the screencast output from Glass on the bottom -- here running the standard Android launcher instead of the familiar cards interface. The steps involve pushing some APKs (Launcher, Settings and Notepad) to the device using adb, then pairing Glass with a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. After this, it's possible to unlock the bootloader with fastboot and flash a new boot image to gain root access. From there you have full access to Glass -- just like that! Running Ubuntu requires a couple more apps to be installed, namely Android Terminal Emulator and Complete Linux Installer. The latter lets you download and boot your favorite linux distro (Ubuntu, in this case). You're then able to use SSH or VNC to access Ubuntu running right on Glass. We captured a few screenshots of the process in our gallery. Follow the links below for more info -- just be careful not to brick your Glass okay?
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile, Google
Source: Google I/O 2013
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/aHxmS_0PPrw/
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Senate Republicans on Thursday eased their opposition to the nomination of Gina McCarthy, President Obama?s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency--although her confirmation by the full Senate is not yet assured.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved McCarthy?s nomination on a party-line vote, after committee Republicans last week boycotted appearing at the same vote, protesting that McCarthy had not provided satisfactory answers to the more than 1,000 questions submitted to her--nor had she satisfactorily answered a series of ?transparency requests? about the workings of the environmental agency. Democrats have called the number of questions submitted to the nominee ?unprecedented.?
But on Thursday morning, Sen. David Vitter, La., the ranking Republican on the Environment Committee, sent a letter to McCarthy and EPA acting administrator Bob Perciasepe, signaling that both sides may be backing down, as the president?s nominee continues to respond to questions and Republicans conclude their boycott.
?Thank you for the letter of yesterday committing to significant steps forward with regard to all five of the transparency requests of the Senate EPW Committee Republicans,? Vitter wrote to the EPA.
?Because these steps forward are significant, we want to thank you and acknowledge progress, including by moving forward with the committee mark-up of Gina?s nomination,? Vitter wrote.
?Because these steps forward are limited and do not include everything required under the law, we want to request additional progress as outlined below. Should major additional progress be made in all of the five categories over the next two weeks, I will strongly support handling the McCarthy nomination on the Senate floor without a cloture vote or any 60 vote threshold. Should all of our requests in the five categories be granted, I will support the McCarthy nomination.?
But Sen. Barbara Boxer, the committee?s chairwoman, slammed Vitter for the delay. ?I?ve never seen a nomination handled like this. I?m stunned at this. It?s holding a nominee hostage. ? I just can?t celebrate a partisan vote.?
McCarthy, who is currently the top EPA official charged with writing clean air and climate change regulations, is the latest in a string of Obama Cabinet nominees to face Republican pushback to her appointment. The EPA in particular has come under intense GOP attack--Obama has indicated that in his second term, the environmental agency will be at the forefront of his controversial climate change agenda, charged with rolling out major new regulations on the nation?s coal-fired power plants.
Even if McCarthy?s nomination makes it to the Senate floor, Missouri Republican Roy Blunt has placed a procedural hold on McCarthy?s nomination, saying he?ll block her confirmation until he receives an update on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to repair a levee on the Mississippi River system.
Despite opposition by Republicans--and some Democrats--to the prospect of EPA climate change regulations, many Republicans, and even top officials in coal and polluting industries, say they like McCarthy personally and have praised her for a pragmatic approach to crafting environmental regulations.
McCarthy has a bipartisan background--she served as a top environmental aide to Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts and played a key role in helping him develop a state climate change plan. She also served as head of Connecticut?s environment department under Republican governor Jodi Rell.
Vitter and other Republicans signaled that their opposition has not been to McCarthy, or even about the expected climate change regulations. Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker said, ?It seems that we ought to be all smiles on the committee today. A path forward has been agreed to to move the nomination to the next step, and we should be celebrating that.? Wicker pointed out that Republican questions have not focused on the controversial climate change regulations or on McCarthy herself. ?Our questions have focused on transparency only.?
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-committee-approves-mccarthy-nomination-epa-along-party-123849210.html
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Although capture technologies show promise, pulling CO2 out of the air is unlikely to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations soon
AIR CAPTURE: Could this plastic embedded with resin help draw down atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide? Image: ? David Biello
Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...
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Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have touched 400 parts per million for the first time in at least 800,000 years. The jagged saw-toothed line of the Keelings' father-and-son measurements climbed above that milestone briefly this month before the budding growth of the Northern Hemisphere's spring began sucking CO2 back out of the sky. But human greenhouse gas pollution looks set to continue to rise?and photosynthetic plants on land or at sea can only do so much. As greenhouse gas levels increase further, could machines help wash the skies of the excess CO2?
On an early spring day touched with the promise of warmth plus the threat of rain, I headed up to Columbia University's Mudd Building and the lab of physicist Klaus Lackner, formerly of Los Alamos National Laboratory. His hearty chuckle belies his formal German diction and physicist's habit of obfuscating with numbers. Girding myself for potentially indecipherable jokes, I'm here to see Lackner?s potentially world-saving technology: a plastic resin that can capture carbon dioxide directly from the air.
The resin rests outside a clear greenhouse bearing basil plants, bamboo, a houseplant and cucumbers that glow an eerie purple-red under ultraviolet light. The plants' leaves rustle in the breeze from a Dyson bladeless fan. Next to the big tank, a computer monitor charts CO2 levels and a tube on one side separates the environment within the greenhouse from the outside world. With the UV light on, the plants are busily sucking in CO2 to make leaves, roots and vegetables. "The cucumber got fat on the CO2," Lackner notes and chuckles.
A pale beige polypropylene plastic embedded with 25-micrometer particles of the resin is inserted into the tube in the form of a long-haired shag carpet sample and, almost immediately, CO2 levels inside the greenhouse begin a steady march downward as the resin binds CO2 to form bicarbonate, a kind of salt produced. This type of salt, more familiar perhaps as baking soda when there's a sodium atom involved, holds the CO2. The resin sucks in CO2 even more powerfully than the plants do, as a function of the relative humidity of the material. That makes the process reversible; just add water to get the CO2 back out again.
This is no joke. A polycarbonate plastic bottle used to store some of the resin ended up scarified. "They broke the plastic," Lacker says of his lab co-conspirators, showing me the streaked, cloudy, hard plastic bottle. The resin pulled CO2 out of the polycarbonate in its vigorous quest for chemical equilibrium.
Lackner calculates that more than 700 kilograms of CO2 passes through an opening the size of the door to this lab over a 24-hour period when the wind is up, courtesy of another Dyson or just a windy building top. That's how much a sheet of this material might pull from the air. Or it could be refashioned into a brushlike or folded checker configuration, exposing more of the resin.
Of course, 700 kilograms of CO2 only equals the breath of 13 people for one day and night. There would need to be a lot of these resin machines to make a significant impact on pulling this trace greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere to lower atmospheric concentrations; Lackner estimates 10 million such artificial ?trees? would be required to drop atmospheric concentrations by 0.5 ppm per year. Each machine would require roughly 1.1 megajoule of electricity for pumping and compressing per kilogram of CO2 captured. That's not to mention all the water required to wet the filters (and evaporate) in order to get the CO2 back out again so the resin can be re-used to capture yet more CO2. The compressed and captured CO2 can then either be used for industrial purposes, like enhanced oil recovery to improve the economics of all this, or buried deep beneath the surface of the planet. In other words, a vast industrial infrastructure of air-capture machines would be required to remedy the effects of our vast, industrial infrastructure for fossil fuels.
Just how the resin operates is the focus of the other experiment in this lab. Hidden inside a Styrofoam cooler?with a dark blue Columbia necktie as de facto latch?the resin is exposed to water and CO2 and precisely weighed while temperature is kept constant. The idea is to keep CO2 steady at 400 ppm with no temperature variation and then change the conditions to determine how well the resin works.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d080231298fba4f6f0e099b509529ef6
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Source: http://informallearning.org/Blog/2013/05/15/ca-bath-and-shower-contractors-company-90303-3/
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Facebook is hoping to give developers a better way to get discovered and improve Graph Search. So today it announced it's finished rolling out "Sections" for Timeline that show what apps you use, which people now add 200 million items to daily. New features coming alongside the rollout include the ability for users to rate different types of media and for developers to track traffic from Sections.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vC9i8zUrnmM/
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A Vietnamese man uses a laptop to go online by a 3G device inserted into a USB pot at a cafe in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on Wednesday, May 14, 2013. Close to a third of Vietnam?s 90 million people are online and men and women browsing phones and tablets are ubiquitous in the cafes of its towns and cities. The country?s potential for growth, young population and good Internet infrastructure have made it an attractive destination for regional and international investors and startups in content provision, e-payment and other services. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen).
A Vietnamese man uses a laptop to go online by a 3G device inserted into a USB pot at a cafe in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on Wednesday, May 14, 2013. Close to a third of Vietnam?s 90 million people are online and men and women browsing phones and tablets are ubiquitous in the cafes of its towns and cities. The country?s potential for growth, young population and good Internet infrastructure have made it an attractive destination for regional and international investors and startups in content provision, e-payment and other services. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen).
A Russian expert walks at the reception of a new launched Russian- Vietnamese web company which is developing its search engine, Coc Coc to compete with Google for the local marrket in Ha Noi, Viet Nam on Wednesday, May 14, 2013. The company has so far spent $10 million, hired 300 staff _ included 30 foreigners, mostly Russians and according to founders, its investors have $100 million over the next five years to try and get a chunk of the 97 percent of Vietnamese web surfers who currently use Google to switch. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen).
Staff work at a newly launched Russian- Vietnamese web company which is developing its search engine, Coc Coc to compete with Google for the local market in Ha Noi, Viet NamWednesday, May 14, 2013. The company has so far spent $10 million, hired 300 staff _ included 30 foreigners, mostly Russians and according to founders, its investors have $100 million over the next five years to try and get a chunk of the 97 percent of Vietnamese web surfers who currently use Google to switch. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen).
Staff work at a newly launched Russian- Vietnamese web company which is developing its search engine, Coc Coc to compete with Google for the local market in Ha Noi, Viet NamWednesday, May 14, 2013. The company has so far spent $10 million, hired 300 staff _ included 30 foreigners, mostly Russians and according to founders, its investors have $100 million over the next five years to try and get a chunk of the 97 percent of Vietnamese web surfers who currently use Google to switch. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen).
The interface of Coc Coc, the search engine of a new launched Russian- Vietnamese web company which is developing its Coc Coc to compete with Google for the local marrket in Ha Noi, Viet Nam Wednesday, May 14, 2013. The company has so far spent $10 million, hired 300 staff _ included 30 foreigners, mostly Russians and according to founders, its investors have $100 million over the next five years to try and get a chunk of the 97 percent of Vietnamese web surfers who currently use Google to switch. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen).
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ? Vietnam's booming Internet scene is littered with failed startups that tried to take on Google and other entrenched U.S web companies. That's not deterring a newly launched Russian-Vietnamese outfit which believes it can unseat the American search engine in this fast-growing Asian market and also contend with a jittery, authoritarian government seeking to clamp down on freedom of expression online.
Like Google rivals elsewhere, Coc Coc, or "Knock Knock" in English, believes the ubiquitous search engine doesn't get the nuances of the local language. It says its algorithms make for a better, quicker search in Vietnamese, while its local knowledge means the information served will be more relevant ? and hence more valuable.
Coc Coc also flags another possible vulnerability: Google has no office or staff in Vietnam. The company, whose code of conduct includes the phrase "Don't be evil", is concerned about the liability it faces over content hosted on its servers and having to cooperate with censorship requests by Vietnam's authoritarian, one-party government.
Unlike other past hopefuls, Coc Coc is not short of cash.
The company has so far spent $10 million, hired 300 staff ? including 30 foreigners, mostly Russians ? and spread itself out over four floors of a downtown office block in the Vietnamese capital. According to Coc Coc's founders, its investors have $100 million over the next five years to try and get a chunk of the 97 percent of Vietnamese web surfers who currently use Google to switch. They declined to name the investors.
"When I came here, I had some understanding why Vietnam was a good market to beat Google," said Mikhail Kostin, the company's chief search expert and like others in Coc Coc, a veteran at Russia's largest Internet company, Mail.Ru. "But after living here for one year, I understand the language and market much more deeply. I'm sure it's right."
Close to a third of Vietnam's 90 million people are online and men and women browsing phones and tablets are a common sight in the cafes of its towns and cities. The country's potential for growth, its young population and good Internet infrastructure have made it an attractive destination for regional and international investors and startups in online content, e-payment and other services.
Companies, however, have to factor in legal and political uncertainties. Shaken by an explosion in online dissent, the government is drafting laws that would tighten freedom of expression on the Internet and possibly force companies such as Google to keep their servers inside the country. It routinely blocks and filters sensitive sites, sentences bloggers to long jail terms and is alleged to be involved in hacking attacks on websites critical of the ruling party.
Patrick Sharbaugh, a lecturer in Asian Internet studies at RMIT International University Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, wondered whether Coc Coc might be more willing to censor search results on behalf of the government, something Chinese search engine Baidu does for Beijing. While not as close as they once were, Russia and Vietnam have a special relationship because of their shared ideological history.
"If a player like Coc Coc came in, or Baidu, and said 'hey were are perfectly happy to filter whatever you want us to filter' and in return they would get preferential treatment from the government, that could put Google in very tough spot," he said.
But there is so far no sign that Coc Coc is prepared to play the role of Hanoi's favorite Internet son. Test searches for politically sensitive terms such as Viet Tan, the overseas pro-democracy group that Hanoi regards as terroristic, were comparable with Google's and didn't hint at censorship.
In a statement, Google said it welcomed the competition Coc Coc represented and it hoped to bring more products and services to Vietnam in the future. It said that for the moment it had nothing to announce regarding the opening of an office in the country. Separately, it announced last week that it was launching AdSense, its popular advertising network, in Vietnam.
Google and Baidu were fighting over the search market in China until 2010, when Google shifted its search engine to Hong Kong after a reputation-bruising dispute with Beijing over censorship. Baidu is now the dominant search engine in China. Baidu has a language laboratory in Singapore and is believed to be looking to expand into other Asia markets, but it is not involved in the search market in Vietnam. Anti-Beijing sentiment has left Chinese web companies facing consumer boycotts in Vietnam that make it hard to launch products.
The parents of one of Coc Coc's three cofounders, Nguyen Duc Ngoc, lived in Russia when he was growing up, and like the other two Vietnamese founders he studied in Moscow. The company's ethos reflects both countries, and in its relaxed office space something of the California-style tech startup: cutoff jeans, laptops on laps, fish tanks, and as per Vietnamese culture, shoes off before you go in.
Google dominates search across the globe, but there are a handful of markets in eastern Europe and Asia where it trails local companies, such as Yandex in Russia, Baidu in China and Naver in South Korea. In most cases, the local companies were entrenched before Google entered. Capturing existing market share from the American giant is a far more difficult task.
"I'm skeptical they can do it, but they are spending a ridiculous amount of money," said Minh Do, an editor at Tech Asia, an online publication that reports on the tech industry. "Vietnam as a country is a pretty hard place to do business unless you are here. There are a few things that Google can't keep up on."
Coc Coc's hopes lie in the distinctiveness of Vietnamese, which it believes Google doesn't do such a good job with because it hasn't invested in understanding its grammar and syntax. Search engines that can recognize nuanced and complex sentences can deliver better and potentially more valuable search results.
Coc Coc believes its large office means it is better placed for marketing, cutting deals with content providers and making its search results more localized. Its camera crews are already filming and photographing streets and logging shops, cafes and businesses ? data that will makes search results far richer. Google can't deploy its 'street view' vehicles in the country as it has done elsewhere in Asia.
"Google is a foreign company, and they are not here," said Ngoc. "We can serve the interests of the local market better."
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CAPTION INFORMATION : General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson holds a press conference at the GM Warren Tech Center in Warren, Mich., on May 13, 2013. Akerson, GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott and Michigan Govenor Rick Snyder were at the press conference concerning GM information technology (Daniel Mears / The Detroit News) (AP Photo/Detroit News, Daniel Mears) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT
CAPTION INFORMATION : General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson holds a press conference at the GM Warren Tech Center in Warren, Mich., on May 13, 2013. Akerson, GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott and Michigan Govenor Rick Snyder were at the press conference concerning GM information technology (Daniel Mears / The Detroit News) (AP Photo/Detroit News, Daniel Mears) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder speaks at press conference at the GM Warren Tech Center in Warren, Mich.,on Monday, May 13, 2013, with illustration of future IT building. (Daniel Mears / The Detroit News) (AP Photo/Detroit News, Daniel Mears) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT
WARREN, Mich. (AP) ? General Motors Co. says a new supercomputing data center and a fledgling shift to bring software development in-house should help it limit the size of future safety recalls.
The Detroit automaker, which formally opened the giant data storage center in suburban Warren, Mich., on Monday, said the changes are examples of how it is moving faster to cut costs and serve its customers better by bringing more computer technology inside the company.
In the past, GM's regional operations tracked problems by themselves, sometimes without communicating with other regions, even though many of its cars are now sold worldwide. Engineers in one region would check a problem part, but it wasn't studied worldwide, at least not at the early stages.
Now, with new software developed by GM's so-called innovation centers and the data storage, problems are spotted quickly when they crop up across the globe, and they're assigned to the right engineer who can work with parts makers to fix the problem faster, said Randy Mott, the company's chief information officer.
"You'd hope that if there is a problem with a set of components, that you understand which components were potentially susceptible and you would expect your recalls to be smaller," Mott said. "You identify it earlier and you certainly limit it to only the ones affected by whatever the problem was."
GM, which typically sells more than 9 million vehicles worldwide each year, makes cars and trucks in 30 different countries. Many of its parts are common worldwide, so if there is a recall, it can be large and costly. When problems are spotted and fixed early, the size and cost can be held down, Mott said.
GM also said Monday that it will build a duplicate data storage center about 40 miles from Warren at its proving grounds in Milford, Mich. During the next two years, the company will close 23 data centers worldwide and consolidate them into the two new facilities. GM says data centers at Google and Facebook were benchmarked to draw up plans for the state-of-the art facilities. The Warren Center cost $130 million to build, while the Milford center will cost $100 million. GM will spend another $158 million on each center for equipment.
It's all part of a push led by CEO and Chairman Dan Akerson, a former telecommunications executive, who believes it's important for companies to have their own information technology rather than outsource it to other companies. GM had outsourced 85 percent of its software development and computer technology.
By consolidating the data centers and hiring about 9,000 people to staff four U.S. "innovation centers," the company hopes to bring 90 percent of the work in-house within five years, Mott said. Competitors, GM said, already have about 30 percent of their information technology work in-house.
GM, which began the data consolidation in the fall of 2011 and the software efforts last summer, isn't sure how far it has moved toward the 90 percent goal although it has hired 64 percent of the people needed to do it. GM already has added or moved 5,500 people into information technology at centers in Warren; Austin, Texas; Roswell, Ga.; and Chandler, Ariz. The centers all are near colleges that emphasize information technology, GM says.
GM, Akerson said, now has the ability to watch its factories for production and parts supply problems, and perform more accurate virtual crash tests, saving costs and speeding new products to market. In the past, when most computer technology was outsourced, GM couldn't even monitor its own network of computers, he said.
"The responsiveness wasn't there," he said of the outside vendors. "There isn't a company on a global competitive basis that isn't good at I.T., that doesn't control its destiny by virtue of better information in every aspect of the business."
GM also can use high-powered computers to analyze data across the globe to discover sales trends and potential new markets for its vehicles. The company said new crash-test simulations that were made possible by the data centers are cutting down on the number of physical crash tests that are needed. That saves the company roughly $350,000 per test, GM said.
Even though GM is taking on the added capital investment and personnel costs, Mott said it will save money by eliminating the cost of paying outside computer technology vendors.
Bringing computer functions into the company can make it more agile, but there are risks as well, including hiring and keeping people who have many job choices, said Bryan Britz, a vice president with Gartner Inc., a firm that advises companies on information technology issues.
Most companies that outsource computer functions continue to do so and don't try to build them from inside, he said. But he also said GM is large enough to build and maintain a talent pool.
"It really does come down to execution," he said. "That has proven to be, for a lot of organizations, a barrier too big."
GM also needs to make sure that it uses the remaining outsourced work to bring innovation from outside, he said.
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