Lumio desk lamp takes light reading literally (video)

With the future of reading heading squarely in the direction of electronic devices, what to do with the old timey book form? Build a lamp, of course. During a recent visit to the City by the Bay, we popped into the TechShop hackerspace and were introduced to Max Gunawan, the designer behind Lumio (not to be confused with a certain smartphone line of similar name). The product, developed in that very space, offers up a cool take on the desktop lamp, fitting it into a wooden, old timey-looking book form. Open it up and the pages fan out into what looks like a paper lantern.

It's an LED light powered by a lithium ion battery that'll give you around eight hours on a charge. Due to the foldable nature of the Lumio, the device is portable and can be opened into a number of configurations, to suit your needs. Gunawan is a couple of days away from launching a Kickstarter page for the project, in hopes of getting together $60,000. Interested funders will be able to pick one up for around $95 -- wait for it to come to market, and that price will jump to around $125 or $135.

After the break, check out a video of Gunawan giving us the lowdown on Lumio.

Gallery: Lumio desk lamp takes light reading a bit too seriously

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Source: Hello Lumio

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/09/lumio-desk-lamp/

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What Are Dogs Saying When They Bark? [Excerpt]

In this excerpt from a new book, two canine intelligence researchers explain how dogs use barks to communicate

By Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods

Image: Dutton, a Member of Penguin Group

Excerpt from The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think, by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods. Published by Dutton, a Member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. ? 2013 Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods. Excerpted with permission from the publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Mystique is a dog who lives at Lola ya Bonobo, [the wildlife sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo] where Vanessa and I study bonobos. During the day, she is sweet and demure, but at night she becomes a different animal. She guards our house, barking ferociously every time someone comes within earshot. Usually in Congo, a little extra security is appreciated. The only problem is that our house is on the main trail where the night staff walk back and forth after dark. Mystique dutifully barks at all passersby whether she has known them for a day or all her life. Eventually, we just learned to sleep through it. But if there was really a cause for concern, like a strange man with a gun, I wonder if Mystique would bark in a way that would alert me that there was something dangerous and different about the person approaching the house.

Dog vocalizations may not sound very sophisticated. Raymond Coppinger pointed out that most dog vocalizations consist of barking, and that barking seems to occur indiscriminately. Coppinger reported on a dog whose duty was to guard free- ranging livestock. The dog barked continuously for seven hours, even though no other dogs were within miles. If barking is communicative, dogs would not bark when no one could hear them. It seemed to Coppinger that the dog was simply relieving some inner state of arousal. The arousal model is that dogs do not have much control over their barking. They are not taking into account their audience, and their barks carry little information other than the emotional state of the barking dog.

Perhaps barking is another by-product of domestication. Unlike dogs, wolves rarely bark. Barks make up as little as 3 percent of wolf vocalizations. Meanwhile, the experimental foxes in Russia [that have been bred to be docile] bark when they see people, while the control foxes do not. Frequent barking when aroused is probably another consequence of selecting against aggression.

However, more recent research indicates that there might be more to barking than we first thought. Dogs have fairly plastic vocal cords, or a ?modifiable vocal tract.? Dogs might be able to subtly alter their voices to produce a wide variety of different sounds that could have different meanings. Dogs might even be altering their voices in ways that are clear to other dogs but not to humans. When scientists have taken spectrograms, or pictures, of dog barks, it turns out that not all barks are the same?even from the same dog. Depending on the context, a dog?s barks can vary in timing, pitch, and amplitude. Perhaps they have different meanings.

I know two Australian dogs, Chocolate and Cina, who love to play fetch on the beach. Each throw sends them plunging through the waves, racing for that magic orb of rubber. When Chocolate retrieves the ball, inevitably Cina wrestles the ball from Chocolate?s mouth, even while Chocolate growls loudly. The girls also eat together, but when Cina tries the same trick with Chocolate?s food, the result is very different. A quiet growl from Chocolate warns Cina away.

It is difficult to see how Cina knows when it is okay to take something from Chocolate?s mouth, since both growls are made when Chocolate is aggravated and unwilling to share. If anything, Chocolate?s growl seems louder and scarier when she is playing than when she is eating.

Experiments have now shown that dogs use different barks and growls to communicate different things. In one experiment, researchers recorded a ?food growl? where a dog was growling over food, and a ?stranger growl? where a dog was growling at the approach of a stranger. The researchers played these different growls to a dog who was approaching a juicy bone. The dogs were more hesitant to approach if they heard the food growl rather than the stranger growl.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=4bc36a725d938a03568c52cabd8b25d4

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Lawmakers divided on Postal Service plan (Washington Post)

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Magnitude 6.2 aftershock strikes near Solomon Islands: USGS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An earthquake with a preliminary 6.2 magnitude struck near the Solomon Islands on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, the latest in a series of aftershocks following a major tremor that sparked a tsunami which killed at least five people.

The latest quake was measured 10 km (6 miles) deep, 362 km east southeast of Kira Kira, near the epicentre of the 8.0 magnitude quake that hit on Wednesday.

There was no immediate tsunami warning or word of any further damage in the remote region. Houses were destroyed and an airport damaged by floodwaters in the Lata region on Wednesday after a series of tidal surges.

(Reporting by Lincoln Feast; Editing by John Mair)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/magnitude-6-2-aftershock-strikes-near-solomon-islands-022852869.html

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Ferry with up to 100 aboard capsizes in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? At least two people died and dozens were rescued after a passenger ferry collided with another ship and capsized Friday on a river in central Bangladesh, dumping as many as 100 people into the water, officials and witnesses said.

Police said the ferry went down on the River Meghna in Munshiganj district, 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital, Dhaka. By Friday evening, rescuers had recovered the bodies of a child and a woman.

There was confusion over the number of passengers on board the ferry at the time of the accident. Relatives and neighbors at the scene said some people were missing, but authorities would not provide an official list of those who were unaccounted for.

Khokon Mollik said he had yet to locate neighbors who were on the ferry, including 17 members of a family who were traveling to a funeral.

"We have found none of them yet," Mollik said.

A 12-year-old passenger, Omar Faruk, said he couldn't find his mother.

Shamsuddoha Khandaker, chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), said they were trying to locate the sunken ferry, the ML Sarash.

The private television station Channel-I said local villagers rescued more than 40 people after the accident, and that several other people swam to shore.

The station put the number of passengers at more than 100, though a local police official said it was about 80. Badiuzzaman Badal, president of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport and Passenger Service, said the ferry was carrying just over 50 passengers.

Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, a delta nation of 153 million people, and it is frequently unclear how many people are aboard the often overcrowded vessels.

The ML Sarash was on a local run from Narayanganj city to Matlab in the south when it went down.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ferry-100-aboard-capsizes-bangladesh-074508266.html

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Ross Asset Management Collapse May Hit Apartment... | Stuff.co.nz

The collapse of Ross Asset Management, which snared more than 900 investors in a suspected Ponzi scheme, looks to have spilled over into Wellington's high-end apartment sector.

Three independent sources have told The Dominion Post at least 10 people who put down deposits for properties on yet-to-be built developments will be unable to proceed to settlement because they have been financially wiped out by RAM.

Two highly placed sources within Wellington's property sector have separately reported people losing deposits, but the sources declined to go on the record.

And John Fisk, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, who was appointed as the receiver of RAM, said he had heard similar stories on a second-hand basis, but had not had cause to follow them up.

It comes as a double blow to RAM investors as they are likely to lose their deposits too.

And, should property values fall before the development is complete, they could be liable for the shortfall between the final resale price and its original cost.

High-end apartments in the city sell for $2 million to $5m, and developers typically ask for a 10 per cent deposit when buying off the plan.

Property developer Willis Bond & Co managing director Mark McGuinness said he was aware of two RAM investors who put down deposits at the firm's Clyde Quay Wharf development.

However, McGuinness stressed that it had not affected their ability to settle on his development, situated in Oriental Bay. So far the firm has sold 66 properties on the 76-apartment development, with construction already well under way.

RAM, owned and managed by David Ross, was put into receivership late last year after investors were unable to access their funds.

A PwC investigation into the fund, which Ross claimed was worth $450m just before the collapse, found about $10m in assets to back it.

While Willis Bond & Co has said its Clyde Quay was not affected by the RAM case, it is unclear who the other firms are.

Pierre Limn, a real estate agent at Tommy's in Wellington, said it was almost an "inevitability" that the high-end side of the market would be affected by the RAM collapse. "If I was a developer, I certainly wouldn't be broadcasting the fact I have a property where people were unable to settle," he said.

A sharp rise in buyers unable to pay settlements could also potentially affect developers' funding lines.

Property lawyer Fintan Devine said banks often premised their loans on specific criteria, particularly among less established operators, and indications of settlement problems would raise concerns.

"The banks are quite cautious with lending to developers," Devine said.

However, Wellington's high-end apartment market is starting to pick up momentum in the wake of the global financial crisis.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/8270746/Ross-saga-may-hit-apartment-sales

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Bulgaria links Hezbollah to attack on Israelis

FILE - In this Thursday, July 19, 2012 file photo, a damaged bus is transported out of Burgas airport, Bulgaria, a day after a deadly suicide attack on a bus full of Israeli vacationers. Lebanon?s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/ Impact Press Group, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, July 19, 2012 file photo, a damaged bus is transported out of Burgas airport, Bulgaria, a day after a deadly suicide attack on a bus full of Israeli vacationers. Lebanon?s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/ Impact Press Group, File)

FILE - In this Friday, July 20, 2012 file photo, family and friends attend the funeral of Itzik Kolengi, 28, who was killed and his wife injured in a suicide bombing in Bulgaria Wednesday in Petah Tikva, Israel. Lebanon?s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/Dan Balilty, File)

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, right, speaks during briefing, as Bulgarian President Plevneliev, left, talks to Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov, after Consultative Council meeting on National Security at the Bulgarian President's office in Sofia, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Bulgarian officials say a Canadian and an Australian are suspects in a deadly bomb attack they say is linked to Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsevtnov says two of the suspects in the attack that killed five Israeli tourists last July had entered the country with an Australian and a Canadian passport. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev speaks during briefing after Consultative Council meeting on National Security at the Bulgarian President's office in Sofia, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Bulgarian officials say a Canadian and an Australian are suspects in a deadly bomb attack they say is linked to Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsevtnov says two of the suspects in the attack that killed five Israeli tourists last July had entered the country with an Australian and a Canadian passport. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

FILE - In this November 12, 2010 file photo, Hezbollah fighters hold their party flags, as they parade during the opening of new cemetery for colleagues who died in fighting against Israel, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanon?s prime minister has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Bulgarian authorities over a bomb attack linked to Hezbollah that killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian driver, in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013. Prime Minister Najib Mikati whose Cabinet is dominated by members of the Shiite Muslim group and its allies also says he condemns and rejects any attack that targets an Arab or foreign country.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) ? Hezbollah was behind a bus attack that killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year, investigators said Tuesday, describing a sophisticated bombing carried out by a terrorist cell that included Canadian and Australian citizens.

The announcement brought renewed pressure on the European Union from the U.S., Israel and Canada to designate the group a terrorist organization and to crack down on its fundraising operations across Europe. The EU, which regards Hezbollah as a legitimate political organization, has resisted such a move.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said two of the suspects in the July 2012 attack had been living in Lebanon for years ? one with a Canadian passport and the other with an Australian one. He said investigators had traced their activities back to their home countries.

"We have well-grounded reasons to suggest that the two were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah," Tsvetanov said.

A third suspect entered Bulgaria with them on June 28, he said, without giving details.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the attack and said his country would cooperate fully.

Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group and political party in Lebanon that emerged in response to Israel's 1982 invasion, has been linked to attacks and kidnappings on Israeli and Jewish interests around the world.

The group has denied involvement in the Bulgaria bombing, and Hezbollah officials in Beirut declined comment Tuesday.

The bomb exploded as the Israeli tourists were on their way from the airport to their hotel in the Black Sea resort of Burgas. The blast also killed a Bulgarian bus driver and the suspected bomber, a tall and lanky pale-skinned man wearing a baseball cap and dressed like a tourist.

Although it was initially believed to be a suicide bombing, Europol Director Rob Wainwright told The Associated Press that investigators now believe the bomber never intended to die. He said a Europol expert who analyzed a fragment of a circuit board determined that the bomb was detonated remotely. He said investigators were still looking into who detonated it and how one of the suspected bombers was killed.

Bulgarian investigators found no links to Iran, which Israel had accused of playing a role in the attack.

The findings increased pressure on Europe to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the investigation "further corroboration of what we have already known, that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons are orchestrating a worldwide campaign of terror that is spanning countries and continents."

"We hope the Europeans learn the proper conclusions from this about the true character of Hezbollah," Netanyahu said.

The Obama administration called on Europe to take "proactive action" to disrupt Hezbollah.

In strongly worded statements, Secretary of State John Kerry and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said the Europeans, along with other countries that have balked at imposing sanctions on Hezbollah, must act to prevent additional attacks.

"We strongly urge other governments around the world ? and particularly our partners in Europe ? to take immediate action to crack down on Hezbollah," Kerry said. "We need to send an unequivocal message to this terrorist group that it can no longer engage in despicable actions with impunity."

Brennan, who is President Barack Obama's nominee to run the Central Intelligence Agency, said the Bulgarian investigation "exposes Hezbollah for what it is: a terrorist group that is willing to recklessly attack innocent men, women, and children, and that poses a real and growing threat not only to Europe, but to the rest of the world."

U.S. officials also repeated the long-standing U.S. position that Washington wants the EU to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird echoed that call.

"We urge the European Union and all partners who have not already done so to list Hezbollah as a terrorist entity and prosecute terrorist acts committed by this inhumane organization to the fullest possible extent," he said.

France and Germany, wary of coming under pressure to condemn the group, had urged investigators not to publicly name Hezbollah in the bombing, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union's top foreign policy and security official, said the EU would have to assess the implications of the investigation carefully.

Any decision on adding Hezbollah to the EU list of terrorist organizations would require a unanimous decision by the foreign ministers of all 27 EU countries, whose next scheduled meeting is Feb. 18. Under EU law, to declare a group a terrorist organization there must be proof that those who control it are terrorists, not just that its members were involved in a terror plot. The designation would also require the EU to freeze Hezbollah's assets in Europe and to work to choke off further funds reaching the group.

Wainwright ? whose organization helps coordinate national police across the EU, including in Bulgaria ? said that counterfeit U.S. driver's licenses found near the bombing scene were made in Lebanon. Tsvetanov said the fake licenses were from Michigan.

Wainwright said Bulgarian authorities found no direct links to Iran or to any al-Qaida-affiliated terror group.

"The Bulgarian authorities are making quite a strong assumption that this is the work of Hezbollah," Wainwright said. "From what I've seen of the case ? from the very strong, obvious links to Lebanon, from the modus operandi of the terrorist attack and from other intelligence that we see ? I think that is a reasonable assumption."

Despite its formidable weapons arsenal and political clout in Lebanon, Hezbollah's credibility and maneuvering space has been reduced in recent years, largely because of the war in neighboring Syria but also because of unprecedented challenges at home.

Hezbollah still suffers from the fallout of a monthlong 2006 war with Israel, in which it was blamed by many in the country for provoking an unnecessary conflict by kidnapping soldiers from the border area.

Since then, the group has come under increasing pressure at home to disarm, leading to sectarian tensions between Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah supporters and Sunni supporters from the opposing camp that have often spilled into deadly street fighting.

More recently, Hezbollah's support for the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad has proved costly to its reputation, and last week Israeli warplanes bombed what was believed to be a shipment of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles headed to Hezbollah.

New troubles for Hezbollah could also add to Iran's international isolation. The Iranian regime is already under international sanctions for its suspect nuclear program, and has seen its position weaken due to its close ties with the Syrian regime. Its association with Hezbollah will likely further hurt Iran's international image.

Wainwright warned the attack is an indication of a real threat to Israelis and Jews in Europe.

"I don't want to exaggerate the scale of that threat, but I think law enforcement authorities ? government authorities ? should take notice of this incident and prepare for the possibility at least of similar attacks in Europe," he said.

___

Dodds reported from London. Associated Press writers Matt Lee in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam in Beirut, Don Melvin in Brussels and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-05-Bulgaria-Israelis%20Attacked/id-95630eff9e6841abb97368c98fda665f

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