Axe Super Bowl Commercial 2013: Astronaut Wins Apollo Ad With Unlikely Beach Visit (VIDEO)

This isn't just any day at the beach.

In this AXE Apollo Super Bowl ad, watch as a dramatically trite hot-lifeguard-saves-beautiful-girl-from-shark narrative gets turned on its head when an astronaut shows up on the scene.

Mixed reviews for this ad abounded on Twitter:

What did you think of it?

CLICK HERE to see the rest of the 2013 Super Bowl commercials as well as all of the best, worst and most unforgettable from the past.

As the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens battled for the right to lift the Lombardi Trophy, Super Bowl advertisers competed for another prize: your attention. Each time that CBS cut away from Super Bowl XLVII to pay the bills (or because the lights went out), another group of blockbuster commercials and movie trailers were unveiled (although many had been teased). At your Super Bowl party, were people paying closer attention during the game or the commercial breaks?

While memorable Super Bowl commercials like Apple's '1984' and Snickers' spot that featured Betty White will be remembered so many more are soon forgotten or, even worse, ridiculed as super fails. Will this ad make this year's best list? Is it controversial? Or, even worse, destined to be forgotten?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/axe-super-bowl-commercial-astronaut_n_2613424.html

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UK Ministry of Defence puts Black Hornet spy copter in Afghani skies

It's been a few years since news of Prox Dynamics' Black Hornet mini-copter has swung our way. But now it appears the wee reconnaissance drones have moved out of the prototype phase and into the war zone. As part of the British government's £20 million contract with the Norway-based outfit and defense contractor Marlborough Communications, 160 of these camera-equipped spy copters have been commissioned, with a portion of those units employed by troops stationed in Afghanistan. That might seem like a huge sum to pay for a fleet of remote-controllable war toys, but these 4 x 1-inch copters do present a definite advantage: they can deliver full video and stills, ably maneuver in high winds and help navigate troops past "insurgent firing points" and open terrain. All of which has the Ministry of Defence quite pleased, even prompting one Minister to call the fleet of Black Hornets a "key component" of the MoD's current budget. That's not surprising really, considering the governmental arm's plans to pump nearly £20 billion into the development of similar tech for its ISS (Information Systems and Services) and ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) programs. So, as of today, we have mini copters with cameras. But, tomorrow always brings the promise of lasers...

Comments

Via: Associated Press

Source: Ministry of Defence

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/nDCRCcM8i6E/

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Beer will help power Alaska brewery

In this photo taken Jan 23, 2013, in Juneau, Alaska, Brandon Smith, the Alaskan Brewing Co.'s brewing operations and engineering manager, speaks to reporters about the company's new boiler system. The brewery has installed a unique boiler system that burns the company's spent grain the accumulated waste from the brewing process into steam which powers the majority of the plant's operations. (AP Photo/Joshua Berlinger)

In this photo taken Jan 23, 2013, in Juneau, Alaska, Brandon Smith, the Alaskan Brewing Co.'s brewing operations and engineering manager, speaks to reporters about the company's new boiler system. The brewery has installed a unique boiler system that burns the company's spent grain the accumulated waste from the brewing process into steam which powers the majority of the plant's operations. (AP Photo/Joshua Berlinger)

In this photo taken Jan 23, 2013, in Juneau, Alaska, is the outside of the Alaskan Brewing Co. The brewery has installed a unique boiler system that burns the company's dried, spent grain or waste accumulated by the brewing process into steam which powers the majority of the plant's operations. (AP Photo/Joshua Berlinger)

In this photo taken Jan 23, 2013, in Juneau, Alaska, are six-packs of beer displayed at the Alaskan Brewing Co. The brewery has installed a unique boiler system that burns the company's spent grain the accumulated waste from the brewing process into steam which powers the majority of the plant's operations. (AP Photo/Joshua Berlinger)

In this photo taken Jan 23, 2013, in Juneau, Alaska, steam billows from boilers at the Alaskan Brewing Co. The brewery has installed a unique boiler system that burns the company's spent grain the accumulated waste from the brewing process into steam which powers the majority of the brewery's operations. (AP Photo/Joshua Berlinger)

This photo taken Jan 23, 2013, in Juneau, Alaska, shows the bottling line inside the Alaskan Brewing Co. The brewery has installed a unique boiler system that burns the company's dried, spent grain or waste accumulated by the brewing process into steam which powers the majority of the plant's operations. (AP Photo/Joshua Berlinger)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) ? The Alaskan Brewing Co. is going green, but instead of looking to solar and wind energy, it has turned to a very familiar source: beer.

The Juneau-based beer maker has installed a unique boiler system in order to cut its fuel costs. It purchased a $1.8 million furnace that burns the company's spent grain ? the waste accumulated from the brewing process ? into steam which powers the majority of the brewery's operations.

Company officials now joke they are now serving "beer-powered beer."

What to do with spent grain was seemingly solved decades ago by breweries operating in the Lower 48. Most send the used grain, a good source of protein, to nearby farms and ranches to be used as animal feed.

But there are only 37 farms in southeast Alaska and 680 in the entire state as of 2011, and the problem of what to do with the excess spent grain ? made up of the residual malt and barley ? became more problematic after the brewery expanded in 1995.

The Alaskan Brewing Co. had to resort to shipping its spent grain to buyers in the Lower 48. Shipping costs for Juneau businesses are especially high because there are no roads leading in or out of the city; everything has to be flown or shipped in. However, the grain is a relatively wet byproduct of the brewing process, so it needs to be dried before it is shipped -- another heat intensive and expensive process.

"We had to be a little more innovative just so that we could do what we love to do, but do it where we're located," Alaskan Brewing co-founder Geoff Larson said.

But the company was barely turning a profit by selling its spent grain. Alaskan Brewery gets $60 for every ton of it sent to farms in the Lower 48, but it costs them $30 to ship each ton.

So four years ago, officials at the Alaskan Brewing Co. started looking at whether it could use spent grain as an in-house, renewable energy source and reduce costs at the same time.

While breweries around the world use spent grain as a co-fuel in energy recovery systems, "nobody was burning spent grain as a sole fuel source for an energy recovery system, for a steam boiler," says Brandon Smith, the company's brewing operations and engineering manager.

It contracted with a North Dakota company to build the special boiler system after the project was awarded nearly $500,000 in a grant from the federal Rural Energy for America Program.

The craft brewery is expecting big savings once the system is fully operational in about a month's time. Smith estimates that the spent grain steam boiler will offset the company's yearly energy costs by 70 percent, which amounts to about $450,000 a year.

Alaskan Brewing Co. makes about 150,000 barrels of beer a year. The beer is distributed in 14 states after recent entries into the Texas, Wisconsin and Minnesota markets. It brews several varieties of beer, but is best-known for its Alaskan Amber, an alt-style beer. The company is also known for its distinctive beer labels, including featuring a polar bear on its Alaskan White Belgian-style ale.

When asked which beer's spent grain burns the best Smith joked "we're still trying to figure that out. We have our suspicions."

Smith said he hasn't been contacted by other breweries regarding implementing the project, but "absolutely" believes the system could be applied at other, bigger breweries that dry their spent grain.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, has been repurposing its spent grain for the past century, selling it to local farmers.

Mike Beck, director of utilities support at Anheuser-Busch InBev, told The Associated Press in an email that spent grains are not currently a viable energy source for its breweries. However, Beck noted that the company regularly investigates new technologies to see if they could be applicable to its operations.

Anheuser-Busch InBev does employ bio-energy recovery systems, which turn wastewater into biogas, in most of its U.S. breweries. That provides up to 9 percent of the fuel needed in its boilers, he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-02-04-Beer-Powered%20Beer/id-3949b00ddce64d79999e4d3a79e9650b

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Photoshop Retouching - Are You Seeking The Right Service ...

The ability to hid the flaws and retains the photo quality with help of highly skilled expert is essential part of Photoshop retouching. Many service providers bank on this feature to satisfy their clients on a daily basis.
Author: Atiqur Sumon

Photoshop retouching service firm is the creative hub to make outstanding photos. Several clients need this basic device to make better use of the images of their online products. The moment a photo is taken by the client it might be in need of a little dab to make it look authentic. These services enhance the digital photo pixel by pixel.

The main customers who require the service are the advertisements agency, e-commerce websites, matrimonial services, and model agencies. A photographer takes a photo considering the elements involving in the theme. The photographer has the ability to adjust the frame for the subject, vary the light exposure and aperture timing etc. but these effects can be made even better by a graphic designer by Photoshop retouching in many different ways.

These tricky and tedious jobs require proper tips and technique. That it may be essential to use the software and its associated tools by an expert who knows how to maximize its potential. Photoshop retouching can be done with numerous editing software of different flat-forms to produce high quality photo with elegance. Hence it is not worth considering doing the job by oneself. Mastering each tool and software may take ages to understand.

The client and the photo retouching service personnel so called the graphic designer sync with the client to fabricate the striking photos. Graphic designer tries to manipulate the photo details to achieve the believable realistic characteristic of the subject.

Once the clients? upload/send the photos to the service provider they start working on the job immediately. First the photos are checked for their resolution and for their quality of picture received. Then the basic photo conversion is made to suit for the right software. Un-even color patches on the subject are balanced out. Minor flaws in the photo are lessened, wrinkle and red eye reduction are done, and teeth whitening are done to increase the smile, smoothing of the skin is made to make the subject look younger and make-up touches are added to the photos.

The editors provide compelling images with high detailing of good quality photos at an affordable price with fast delivery time. Each of the photos after getting retouched undergoes a serious of quality check by an expert. Rest is assured that the photo will leave long lasting memories on the viewer.

After all, the idea of Photoshop retouching thrives on upon the experience of editors and clients? retention ability. Some firms provide the faster and good quality services. They have started taking orders from off shore clients along with modest affordable rates. The different mode payment options are made available to please the clients.

These services have online connectivity too. They have support services to cater the needs of the clients. It works successfully as we notice that more firms have come up in recent years. This is due to the increased usage of the digital photography. Adding to this the social networking space has tremendously increased the demand for the services.

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www.clippingpathindia.com/photoshop-retouching.html
www.clippingpathspecialist.com/photograph-retouching.html
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Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-atiqur-sumon-33499.html

Source: http://www.1888articles.com/photoshop-retouching-are-you-seeking-the-right-service-provider-0186448.html

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PFT: AP?wins Offensive Player of Year? |? Watt on 'D'

AP

As the 49ers and Ravens had their final Super Bowl practices on Saturday at the Superdome, both Harbaugh brothers allowed players and coaches to bring their friends and families along, on the theory that the most important thing at this late point is to keep the players loose for the game.

?Get a stretch, get the blood moving a little bit,? 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh told pool reporter Matt Maiocco of the purpose of his team?s final practice. ?And get some new blood going. Then, afterward, enjoy it with your family. Get some pictures and make it possible for everybody to come down to the Super Bowl field.?

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said family is important to him and important to his team.

?It?s the kind of foundation of everything we do,? Harbaugh told pool reporter Brian Allee-Walsh. ?That has been the whole story line of the whole week. In a sense that?s how we did it growing up, when we were kids. We grew up around dad?s teams. Most of the time in the NFL it?s not that way. Most of the time there is the separation of families and it?s considered to be a distraction. I just think the opposite. For me, it?s a distraction when people are more worried about their families not being allowed to be a part of it. When the families are included, the kids get to the know the players, and I think guys have a better sense of well being. I think this is a good example of it right here.?

Both Harbaughs said their teams practiced well in New Orleans this week.

?The word I would use is effective,? John Harbaugh said. ?We have been very effective. We?ve gotten everything we?ve needed to get done, that?s the No. 1 thing.?

Jim Harbaugh said his team?s Super Bowl week practices reflected the same focus they?ve shown all year.

?I feel good,? Harbaugh said. ?The preparation has been outstanding, very focused. The players care about winning. They care about this team, and that?s complimentary to the players and the way their focus has been. And that?s not something that?s been just this week. That wasn?t just created this week. That?s been all season and the offseason. It speaks very highly of the players.?

Now the practices are over, and the game is just a day away.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/02/adrian-peterson-named-offensive-player-of-the-year/related/

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Schneier on Security: Power and the Internet

A blog covering security and security technology.

? "People, Process, and Technology" | Main | The Eavesdropping System in Your Computer ?

Power and the Internet

All disruptive technologies upset traditional power balances, and the Internet is no exception. The standard story is that it empowers the powerless, but that's only half the story. The Internet empowers everyone. Powerful institutions might be slow to make use of that new power, but since they are powerful, they can use it more effectively. Governments and corporations have woken up to the fact that not only can they use the Internet, they can control it for their interests. Unless we start deliberately debating the future we want to live in, and information technology in enabling that world, we will end up with an Internet that benefits existing power structures and not society in general.

We've all lived through the Internet's disruptive history. Entire industries, like travel agencies and video rental stores, disappeared. Traditional publishing -- books, newspapers, encyclopedias, music -- lost power, while Amazon and others gained. Advertising-based companies like Google and Facebook gained a lot of power. Microsoft lost power (as hard as that is to believe).

The Internet changed political power as well. Some governments lost power as citizens organized online. Political movements became easier, helping to topple governments. The Obama campaign made revolutionary use of the Internet, both in 2008 and 2012.

And the Internet changed social power, as we collected hundreds of "friends" on Facebook, tweeted our way to fame, and found communities for the most obscure hobbies and interests. And some crimes became easier: impersonation fraud became identity theft, copyright violation became file sharing, and accessing censored materials -- political, sexual, cultural -- became trivially easy.

Now powerful interests are looking to deliberately steer this influence to their advantage. Some corporations are creating Internet environments that maximize their profitability: Facebook and Google, among many others. Some industries are lobbying for laws that make their particular business models more profitable: telecom carriers want to be able to discriminate between different types of Internet traffic, entertainment companies want to crack down on file sharing, advertisers want unfettered access to data about our habits and preferences.

On the government side, more countries censor the Internet -- and do so more effectively -- than ever before. Police forces around the world are using Internet data for surveillance, with less judicial oversight and sometimes in advance of any crime. Militaries are fomenting a cyberwar arms race. Internet surveillance -- both governmental and commercial -- is on the rise, not just in totalitarian states but in Western democracies as well. Both companies and governments rely more on propaganda to create false impressions of public opinion.

In 1996, cyber-libertarian John Perry Barlow issued his "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace." He told governments: "You have no moral right to rule us, nor do you possess any methods of enforcement that we have true reason to fear." It was a utopian ideal, and many of us believed him. We believed that the Internet generation, those quick to embrace the social changes this new technology brought, would swiftly outmaneuver the more ponderous institutions of the previous era.

Reality turned out to be much more complicated. What we forgot is that technology magnifies power in both directions. When the powerless found the Internet, suddenly they had power. But while the unorganized and nimble were the first to make use of the new technologies, eventually the powerful behemoths woke up to the potential -- and they have more power to magnify. And not only does the Internet change power balances, but the powerful can also change the Internet. Does anyone else remember how incompetent the FBI was at investigating Internet crimes in the early 1990s? Or how Internet users ran rings around China's censors and Middle Eastern secret police? Or how digital cash was going to make government currencies obsolete, and Internet organizing was going to make political parties obsolete? Now all that feels like ancient history.

It's not all one-sided. The masses can occasionally organize around a specific issue -- SOPA/PIPA, the Arab Spring, and so on -- and can block some actions by the powerful. But it doesn't last. The unorganized go back to being unorganized, and powerful interests take back the reins.

Debates over the future of the Internet are morally and politically complex. How do we balance personal privacy against what law enforcement needs to prevent copyright violations? Or child pornography? Is it acceptable to be judged by invisible computer algorithms when being served search results? When being served news articles? When being selected for additional scrutiny by airport security? Do we have a right to correct data about us? To delete it? Do we want computer systems that forget things after some number of years? These are complicated issues that require meaningful debate, international cooperation, and iterative solutions. Does anyone believe we're up to the task?

We're not, and that's the worry. Because if we're not trying to understand how to shape the Internet so that its good effects outweigh the bad, powerful interests will do all the shaping. The Internet's design isn't fixed by natural laws. Its history is a fortuitous accident: an initial lack of commercial interests, governmental benign neglect, military requirements for survivability and resilience, and the natural inclination of computer engineers to build open systems that work simply and easily. This mix of forces that created yesterday's Internet will not be trusted to create tomorrow's. Battles over the future of the Internet are going on right now: in legislatures around the world, in international organizations like the International Telecommunications Union and the World Trade Organization, and in Internet standards bodies. The Internet is what we make it, and is constantly being recreated by organizations, companies, and countries with specific interests and agendas. Either we fight for a seat at the table, or the future of the Internet becomes something that is done to us.

This essay appeared as a response to Edge's annual question, "What *Should* We Be Worried About?"

Posted on January 31, 2013 at 7:09 AM ? 23 Comments

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Schneier.com is a personal website. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of BT.

Source: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/01/power_and_the_i.html

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New Geology study raises questions about long-held theories of human evolution

Friday, February 1, 2013

What came first: the bipedal human ancestor or the grassland encroaching on the forest?

A new analysis of the past 12 million years' of vegetation change in the cradle of humanity is challenging long-held beliefs about the world in which our ancestors took shape ? and, by extension, the impact it had on them.

The research combines sediment core studies of the waxy molecules from plant leaves with pollen analysis, yielding data of unprecedented scope and detail on what types of vegetation dominated the landscape surrounding the African Rift Valley (including present-day Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia), where early hominin fossils trace the history of human evolution.

"It is the combination of evidence both molecular and pollen evidence that allows us to say just how long we've seen Serengeti-type open grasslands," said Sarah J. Feakins, assistant professor of Earth sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study, which was published online in Geology on Jan. 17.

Feakins worked with USC graduate student Hannah M. Liddy, USC undergraduate student Alexa Sieracki, Naomi E. Levin of Johns Hopkins University, Timothy I. Eglinton of the Eidgen?ssische Technische Hochschule and Raymonde Bonnefille of the Universit? d'Aix-Marseille.

The role that the environment played in the evolution of hominins?the tribe of human and ape ancestors whose family tree split from the ancestors of chimpanzees and bonobos about 6 million years ago?has been the subject of a century-long debate.

Among other things, one theory dating back to 1925 posits that early human ancestors developed bipedalism as a response to savannas encroaching on shrinking forests in northeast Africa. With fewer trees to swing from, human ancestors began walking to get around.

While the shift to bipedalism appears to have occurred somewhere between 6 and 4 million years ago, Feakins' study finds that thick rainforests had already disappeared by that point?replaced by grasslands and seasonally dry forests some time before 12 million years ago.

In addition, the tropical C4-type grasses and shrubs of the modern African savannah began to dominate the landscape earlier than thought, replacing C3-type grasses that were better suited to a wetter environment. (The classification of C4 versus C3 refers to the manner of photosynthesis each type of plant utilizes.)

While earlier studies on vegetation change through this period relied on the analysis of individual sites throughout the Rift Valley?offering narrow snapshots?Feakins took a look at the whole picture by using a sediment core taken in the Gulf of Aden, where winds funnel and deposit sediment from the entire region. She then cross-referenced her findings with Levin who compiled data from ancient soil samples collected throughout eastern Africa.

"The combination of marine and terrestrial data enable us to link the environmental record at specific fossil sites to regional ecological and climate change," Levin said.

In addition to informing scientists about the environment that our ancestors took shape in, Feakins' study provides insights into the landscape that herbivores (horses, hippos and antelopes) grazed, as well as how plants across the landscape reacted to periods of global and regional environmental change.

"The types of grasses appear to be sensitive to global carbon dioxide levels," said Liddy, who is currently working to refine the data pertaining to the Pliocene, to provide an even clearer picture of a period that experienced similar atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to present day. "There might be lessons in here for the future viability of our C4-grain crops," says Feakins.

###

University of Southern California: http://www.usc.edu

Thanks to University of Southern California for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126575/New_Geology_study_raises_questions_about_long_held_theories_of_human_evolution

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