What Causes Convergence Insufficiency? Its Symptoms And ...

Convergence insufficiency is a problem of near vision. In this disorder, a person finds difficulty in seeing, reading nearby objects. In normal circumstances the eyes turn inwards when you focus your sight on nearby objects. This means they converge. But in convergence insufficiency, the affected person is not able to move his eyes inwards to focus on nearby objects.

The disorder is often detected in early childhood and adolescence age. Often convergence disability is misdiagnosed and parents and teachers consider it as a learning problem in children, instead a disorder related to eye.

Convergence insufficiency can be corrected appropriately with eye lenses and certain passive and active exercises. Eye surgery is rarely required.

Symptoms Of Convergence Insufficiency

A person suffering from convergence insufficiency may experience following symptoms especially while he is doing close work. For example while reading, writing, doing computer work or desk work etc.

• The eyes become tired and sore easily.
• Off and on headache, especially while reading or focusing on near objects for a long time.
• Complaint of blurred vision or double vision.
• Due to difficulty in focusing, the child is unable to concentrate.
• Patient finds difficulty in reading. He may complain of words floating or swimming on the book. He may also lose his track while reading.
• Patient feels sleepy while doing close work. It is due to strain on his eyes.
• He often closes one eye or squints. The person does so while reading to prevent double vision or blurred vision.
• He frequently tilts his head and has poor posture while doing work which requires near vision.

Lack of sleep, anxiety and working for long hours with objects placed nearby may exaggerate the symptoms.

Person suffering from convergence insufficiency finds difficulty in playing sports; he may find difficulty in judging nearby objects while driving etc.

Causes Of Convergence Insufficiency

The exact cause of conversion insufficiency is not known, however the reason behind it is misalignment of eyes. It is probably caused due to improper stimulation of eye muscles by the nerves. There is defect in electrical impulse and the eyes do not focus on a nearby object.

Injury to head is another probable cause for convergence insufficiency. Head injuries can cause immense damage to the brain and the nerves arising from brain.

A lesion in brain may be responsible for it. It can be a growth arising in the brain. This tumor can be cancerous or non cancerous. These benign or cancerous growths causes pressure on brain and interrupt proper functioning of neurological pathway.

Diagnosis Of Convergence Insufficiency

• Often the condition is missed or remains undetected by parents and teachers. In most people suffering from convergence insufficiency may have 20-20 vision. It is difficult to detect the condition while performing routine examination.
• Proper medical history is valuable in diagnosing this eye problem. Person may have complaint of blurred vision, headache, and worsening eyestrain even if the person reads for a short period of time.
• NPC is near point convergence test that may detect the disorder. In this simple test the examiner holds a small object such as a pencil in front of the patient. The physician moves it closer to the patient till the patient complains of double vision.
• In positive fusion vergence the patient is made to look at the eye chart through a prism lens. The doctor will know when the patient will have double vision.

Source: http://www.tandurust.com/eye-health/convergence-insufficiency-symptoms.html

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88% Beyond The Hills

All Critics (64) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (8)

The film offers rewards for the patient viewer as it examines conflicting visions of love played out in a remote faith-based community.

An austere but subtly textured retelling of a 2005 news story in which a young woman died during an exorcism.

Fascinating [and] anguishing ...

Cristian Mungiu's "Beyond the Hills" moves so effortlessly through the gnarly intersection of love, loss, God and godlessness that you barely notice how much he's doing, and with such effortless grace.

Of all the movies culminating in a rite of exorcism, Romanian writer-director Cristian Mungiu's remarkable "Beyond the Hills" stands alone.

One of the year's most powerful films.

Such is the rigorous and high-minded nature of Romanian cinema that even a real-life exorcism story can inspire something loftier than a horror movie.

Heartbreak at a Romanian convent

...Cristian Mungiu has taken a real life event...to consider deeply human philosophies such as freedom vs. discipline, love vs. security, the choices facing those without financial recourse and the hypocrisies of organized religions.

I found it riveting to watch and fascinating to think about afterwards.

An undeniably tough watch.

Stark, deadpan, and darkly dry.

With this viscerally involving drama, acclaimed Romanian filmmaker Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) tells another strikingly original story of women caught between old and new world beliefs.

Mungiu is not preaching - he is telling us what can happen when people are trapped within their own emotions and circumstances. Remarkable.

Mungiu's human comedy leaves off where it begins (spoiler alert): out in the middle of nowhere, no direction home.

...if Beyond the Hills is an exorcism movie, the scariest thing about it is that there isn't a demon to be found.

The film's final shot goes straight to the story's heart and the spectator's. Amazing grace. Now at last we know what those words mean.

...quiet, but also quietly devastating, with detours down the roads of intolerance, mercilessness, cold rejection of outsiders' experiences, mystical and subjective interpretation of "signs," overt woman-on-woman misogyny and brutally strict penance...

A slowly, quietly riveting passion play for a nation grappling with secularism and modernity.

No quotes approved yet for Beyond The Hills. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beyond_the_hills_2012/

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Justin Bieber Investigated For Assaulting Neighbor (VIDEO)

Justin Bieber Investigated For Assaulting Neighbor (VIDEO)

Justin Bieber just returned to the United States from his tour, but is already pissing off his neighbors. The 19-year-old singer is being investigated for battery following an altercation on his property in California, when he threatened to kill his neighbor and spit in his face! A neighbor told Sheriff’s deputies the teen singer was ...

Justin Bieber Investigated For Assaulting Neighbor (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/justin-bieber-investigated-for-neighbor-squabble/

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Super Mario Spacetime Organ lets you remix the plumber's world

The game may be pushing 30, but we get the sneaking feeling that the world has only scratched the surface of the original Super Mario Bros' gameplay potential. Chris Novello certainly offers a fairly compelling case for this, in the form of the Super Mario Spacetime organ, a strange and wonderful concoction that utilizes a homebrewed Illucia patchbay and the lovely Madrona Soundplane music controller, which let him play the Mushroom Kingdom like a musical instrument. Watch the video below as he manipulates the RAM to make Mario fly and jumps through the "Super Mario time machine" on the Soundplane's x-axis. It's not the most musical thing in the world, and certainly not for those who are sensitive to flickering chaos, but it does put those old Game Genies to shame. It also serves as a pretty novel use for a couple of rubber band balls.

Filed under: Gaming, Alt, Nintendo

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92% The Gatekeepers

All Critics (71) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (6)

The film and its talking head participants paint the picture in both broad strokes and fine detail.

Whatever one's political stripe regarding Israel, it's hard to dispute the impressions and perspective of the film's six eyewitnesses.

The level of candor here may not satisfy hard-liners of either stripe, but it can help viewers begin to formulate new questions about the philosophical, strategic and moral challenges of conflict, in particular "wars on terror."

Ultimately the movie feels evasive, and its flashy, digitally animated re-creations of military surveillance footage unpleasantly evoke the Call of Duty video games.

It offers startlingly honest insight into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from some of those who called the shots.

As a political testament, the result is revealing and important.

Moreh employs a direct interviewing style, reminiscent of Errol Morris' work, to get the men to talk about their days leading Shin Bet.

Moreh gets some startling confessions and insights from each man but also misses the opportunity to truly challenge his subjects on their regard for democracy, basic human rights and their own accountability.

Director Dror Moreh doesn't rest on his scoop

A powerful look inside the Israeli defense establishment

A deadly serious and detailed examination of and meditation upon the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Gatekeepers makes no attempt to find a silver lining.

The rule of surveillance is to keep quiet and let others do the talking. The Oscar-nominated documentary The Gatekeepers flips the script, to astonishing effect, giving voice to the retired directors of Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency.

An up-close and personal look at the psychology of war -- their war and, by extension, all war.

A riveting firsthand account of how legitimate security concerns can lead to policies considered extreme and even immoral by the people administering them.

Extraordinary...not only an engrossing first-hand account of Israel's Palestinian policies over time, but one that may have lessons to teach both Israeli leaders and other nations confronting those they identify as terrorists.

Unprecedented and deeply unsettling, it offers little hope for a lasting peace in that war-torn region.

For its candor and impact, deserves to be seen and discussed.

An often remarkable Israeli documentary about Shin Bet, the country's internal security agency.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_gatekeepers_2012/

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Large robotic jellyfish could one day patrol oceans

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have unveiled a life-like, autonomous robotic jellyfish the size and weight of a grown man, 5 foot 7 inches in length and weighing 170 pounds.

The prototype robot, nicknamed Cyro, is a larger model of a robotic jellyfish the same team -- headed by Shashank Priya of Blacksburg, Va., and professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech -- unveiled in 2012. The earlier robot, dubbed RoboJelly, is roughly the size of a man's hand, and typical of jellyfish found along beaches.

"A larger vehicle will allow for more payload, longer duration and longer range of operation," said Alex Villanueva of St-Jacques, New-Brunswick, Canada, and a doctoral student in mechanical engineering working under Priya. "Biological and engineering results show that larger vehicles have a lower cost of transport, which is a metric used to determine how much energy is spent for traveling."

Both robots are part of a multi-university, nationwide $5 million project funded by U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research. The goal is to place self-powering, autonomous machines in waters for the purposes of surveillance and monitoring the environment, in addition to other uses such as studying aquatic life, mapping ocean floors, and monitoring ocean currents.

Jellyfish are attractive candidates to mimic because of their ability to consume little energy owing to a lower metabolic rate than other marine species. Additionally, they appear in wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors, allowing for several designs. They also inhabit every major oceanic area of the world and are capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures in both fresh and salt waters. Most species are found in shallow coastal waters, but some have been found in depths 7,000 meters below sea level.

Partner universities in the project are Providence College in Rhode Island, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Stanford University. Priya's team is building the jellyfish body models, integrating fluid mechanics and developing control systems.

Cyro is modeled and named after the jellyfish cyanea capillata, Latin for Llion's Manemain jellyfishJellyfish, with "Cyro" derived from "cyanea" and "robot." As with its predecessor, this robot is in the prototype stage, years away from use in waters. A new prototype model already is under construction at Virginia Tech's Durham Hall, where Priya's Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems is based.

"We hope to improve on this robot and reduce power consumption and improve swimming performance as well as better mimic the morphology of the natural jellyfish," Villanueva said, adding that the project also allows researchers such as himself to better understand aquatic creatures live. "Our hopes for Cyro's future is that it will help understand how the propulsion mechanism of such animal scales with size."

A stark difference exists between the larger and smaller robots. Cyro is powered by a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery, whereas the smaller models were tethered, Priya said. Experiments have also been conducted on powering jellyfish with hydrogen but there is still much research to be done in that area.

In both cases, the jellyfish must operate on their own for months or longer at a time as engineers likely won't be able to capture and repair the robots, or replace power sources. "Cyro showed its ability to swim autonomously while maintaining a similar physical appearance and kinematics as the natural species," Priya said, adding that the robot is simultaneously able to collect, store, analyze, and communicate sensory data. This autonomous operation in shallow water conditions is already a big step towards demonstrating the use of these creatures."

How does the robot swim? Its body consists of a rigid support structure with direct current electric motors which control the mechanical arms that are used in conjunction with an artificial mesoglea, or jelly-based pulp of the fish's body, creating hydrodynamic movement.

With no central nervous system, jellyfish instead use a diffused nerve net to control movement and can complete complex functions. A parallel study on a bio-inspired control system is in progress which will eventually replace the current simplified controller. As with the smaller models, Cyro's skin is composed of a thick layer of silicone, squishy in one's hand. It mimics the sleek jellyfish skin and is placed over a bowl-shaped device containing the electronic guts of the robot. When moving, the skin floats and moves with the robot, looking weirdly alive.

"It has been a great experience to finally realize the biomimetic and bio-inspired robotic vehicles," Priya said. "Nature has too many secrets and we were able to find some of them but many still remain. We hope to find a mechanism to continue on this journey and resolve the remaining puzzles."

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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/kLqBg1DBw1g/130328124807.htm

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Amazon intros X-Ray for TV, helps you remember those 'Game of Thrones' actors

Amazon's continuing the steady X-Ray takeover of media today by extending the feature to its TV selection. The latest implementation of the concept, which has already made its way to the company's e-book offerings, offers up similar functionality to its movie counterpart, harnessing IMDB data to offer up contextual information on actors. The feature's available as of today for "most popular TV shows" on the company's Instant Video offering (some of which are also a part of its Prime video selection). And it's a solid list, too, including: Justified, Downton Abbey, The West Wing, Sons of Anarchy, Falling Skies, American Horror Story, Grey's Anatomy, Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Lost, Glee, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. More info on the feature can be found below.

Filed under: Amazon

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/T_yE1CABcgY/

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Circles mysteriously form on NY pond -- but alien theory's on thin ice

Peggy Gervase

Circles that suddenly appeared on this pond have tongues wagging in upstate New York.

By Marc Lallanilla
LiveScience

In the small town of Eden, N.Y., the recent appearance of mysterious circles in a frozen pond has residents baffled.

Last Friday, during an early spring snowstorm, Eden resident Peggy Gervase was looking at the pond near her home when she noticed an unusual pattern in the snow covering the water's surface: large circles that resembled giant polka dots.

"I've never seen this before in our pond," Gervase told local TV station WGRZ. "It's eerie in a way, but cool in a way."

After Gervase posted a photograph of the pond circles to the station's Facebook page, respondents offered a number of explanations for the strange circles, including elephant footprints, fish flatulence and aliens.

---

Though aliens sometimes get the blame for crop circles?and other unusual phenomenon, with no real evidence, Gervase isn't buying it. "I'm not that far gone yet," she told WGRZ.

There are more rational explanations: Natural springs often feed ponds with slightly warmer water than the water freezing at the pond's surface during cold weather. As the warmer spring water rises, it would melt the snow and ice on the pond's surface.

Additionally, decaying vegetation on the bottom of the pond could release gases that slowly rise to the surface, creating the polka-dot effect.

Intriguing circular formations are known to occur throughout the natural world during seasonal freeze and thaw cycles.

In areas of permafrost (like the northern Canadian tundra), the expansion of ice beneath the soil surface ? a process called frost heaving?? creates raised landforms called lithalsas. Lithalsas often form circular or ring-shaped patterns on the surface.

Frost heaving also creates a related landform called a pingo. Over many years, pingos can grow into small, circular hills: The tallest known pingo is the Kadleroshilik Pingo in Alaska, which reaches 178 feet (54 meters) in height.

Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?and Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a0fb91d/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174883250Ecircles0Emysteriously0Eform0Eon0Eny0Epond0Ebut0Ealien0Etheorys0Eon0Ethin0Eice0Dlite/story01.htm

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88% Beyond The Hills

All Critics (64) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (8)

The film offers rewards for the patient viewer as it examines conflicting visions of love played out in a remote faith-based community.

An austere but subtly textured retelling of a 2005 news story in which a young woman died during an exorcism.

Fascinating [and] anguishing ...

Cristian Mungiu's "Beyond the Hills" moves so effortlessly through the gnarly intersection of love, loss, God and godlessness that you barely notice how much he's doing, and with such effortless grace.

Of all the movies culminating in a rite of exorcism, Romanian writer-director Cristian Mungiu's remarkable "Beyond the Hills" stands alone.

One of the year's most powerful films.

Such is the rigorous and high-minded nature of Romanian cinema that even a real-life exorcism story can inspire something loftier than a horror movie.

Heartbreak at a Romanian convent

...Cristian Mungiu has taken a real life event...to consider deeply human philosophies such as freedom vs. discipline, love vs. security, the choices facing those without financial recourse and the hypocrisies of organized religions.

I found it riveting to watch and fascinating to think about afterwards.

An undeniably tough watch.

Stark, deadpan, and darkly dry.

With this viscerally involving drama, acclaimed Romanian filmmaker Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) tells another strikingly original story of women caught between old and new world beliefs.

Mungiu is not preaching - he is telling us what can happen when people are trapped within their own emotions and circumstances. Remarkable.

Mungiu's human comedy leaves off where it begins (spoiler alert): out in the middle of nowhere, no direction home.

...if Beyond the Hills is an exorcism movie, the scariest thing about it is that there isn't a demon to be found.

The film's final shot goes straight to the story's heart and the spectator's. Amazing grace. Now at last we know what those words mean.

...quiet, but also quietly devastating, with detours down the roads of intolerance, mercilessness, cold rejection of outsiders' experiences, mystical and subjective interpretation of "signs," overt woman-on-woman misogyny and brutally strict penance...

A slowly, quietly riveting passion play for a nation grappling with secularism and modernity.

No quotes approved yet for Beyond The Hills. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beyond_the_hills_2012/

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Teens' struggles with peers forecast long-term adult relationships

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Teenagers' struggles to connect with their peers in the early adolescent years while not getting swept along by negative peer influences predict their capacity to form strong friendships and avoid serious problems even ten years later. Those are the conclusions of a new longitudinal study by researchers at the University of Virginia that appears in the journal Child Development.

"Overall, we found that teens face a high-wire act with their peers," explains Joseph P. Allen, Hugh P. Kelly Distinguished Professor at the University of Virginia, who led the study. "They need to establish strong, positive connections with them while at the same time establishing independence in resisting deviant peer influences. Those who don't manage this have significant problems as much as a decade later."

Researchers followed about 150 teens over a 10-year period (starting at age 13 and continuing to 23) to learn about the long-term effects of their peer struggles early in adolescence. They gathered information from multiple sources -- the teens themselves, their parents and peers, and by observing teens' later interactions with romantic partners. The teens comprised a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse group.

Teens who had trouble connecting well with their peers in early adolescence had difficulty establishing close friendships in young adulthood. Teens who didn't connect well at 13 also had more difficulty managing disagreements in romantic relationships as adults.

Teens who had trouble establishing some autonomy and independence with peers (especially with respect to minor forms of deviance such as shoplifting and vandalism) were found to be at higher risk for problems with alcohol and substance use, and for illegal behavior, almost a decade later.

Conversely, teens who were seen as desirable companions -- those deemed empathetic, able to see things from different perspectives and control their impulses, and having a good sense of humor -- were more likely to have positive relationships in young adulthood.

Teens who were able to establish some autonomy vis a vis peers' influences were more likely to avoid problematic behavior in young adulthood, with teens who showed they were able to think for themselves in the face of negative peer influences using less alcohol as early adults and having fewer problems with alcohol and substance abuse as young adults. But teens who were seen as desirable companions were more likely to have higher levels of alcohol use in early adulthood and future problems associated with alcohol and substance use.

"The findings make it clear that establishing social competence in adolescence and early adulthood is not a straightforward process, but involves negotiating challenging and at times conflicting goals between peer acceptance and autonomy with regard to negative peer influences," Allen notes.

"Teaching teens how to stand up for themselves in ways that preserve and deepen relationships -- to become their own persons while still connecting to others -- is a core task of social development that parents, teachers, and others can all work to promote," adds Allen.

Teens who managed both of these goals simultaneously -- connecting with peers while retaining their autonomy -- were rated by their parents as being most competent overall by age 23. "There is a positive pathway through the peer jungle of early adolescence," says Allen, "but it is a tricky one for many teens to find and traverse."

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Journal Reference:

1. Joseph P. Allen, Joanna Chango, David Szwedo. The Adolescent Relational Dialectic and the Peer Roots of Adult Social Functioning. Child Development, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12106

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Senate Democrats unveil budget blueprint

President Barack Obama turns to reporters as he leaves Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 13, 2103, after his closed-door meeting with House Speaker John Boehner and Republican lawmakers to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama turns to reporters as he leaves Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 13, 2103, after his closed-door meeting with House Speaker John Boehner and Republican lawmakers to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, pauses as he comments to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 13, 2013, following a closed-door meeting with President Barack Obama and House Republicans to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)\

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, accompanied by House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and Republican Conference Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., comments to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 13, 2013, following a closed-door meeting with President Barack Obama and House Republicans to discuss the budget. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Democrats unveiled a largely stand-pat budget Wednesday that calls for $1 trillion in new tax revenues over the coming decade but actually increases spending, while protecting the party's domestic policy priorities and adding $4 trillion more to the national debt than a slashing alternative from House Republicans.

The plan by Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., blends about $1 trillion in modest cuts to health care providers, the Pentagon, domestic agencies and interest payments on the debt with an equal amount in new revenue claimed by closing tax breaks.

But because Democrats want to restore $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts over the same period ? cuts imposed by Washington's failure to strike a broader budget pact ? Murray's blueprint increases spending slightly when compared with current policies.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, House Budget Committee Republicans barreled ahead with an entirely opposite approach that whacks spending by $4.6 trillion over the coming decade, promises sweeping cuts to Medicaid and domestic agencies while setting a path to balancing the government's books within 10 years.

The House panel approved the plan, by Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., late Wednesday by a 22-17 party-line vote. Murray's plan was set to be approved by the Democratic-led Senate panel on Thursday. Both measures face floor debates next week.

Even as Democrats controlling the Senate and the strongly conservative House moved in divergent directions, President Barack Obama again traveled to the Capitol to open a dialogue with lawmakers. Wednesday's meeting was with House Republicans, who welcomed the gesture even as they noted that deep divisions remain.

"We've got a big difference between us," said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. "He supports higher tax revenues."

But Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said Obama told Republicans that he also supports a revised inflation adjustment called "chained CPI" that would curb cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits and increase tax revenue through slower indexing of income tax brackets. He also supports "means testing" for Medicare benefits that would require higher-income beneficiaries to pay more for their health care.

Cole said Obama told them everyone needs to honestly confront the political barriers to reining in popular benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security. "He said, 'Your people don't want entitlement reform either. Go home and poll them.'"

The White House praised the Senate plan.

"The Senate Democratic budget is a concrete plan that will grow our economy and shrink our deficits in a balanced way, consistent with the president's belief that our economy grows best from the middle out, not the top down," White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement late Wednesday.

The debate in the Senate Budget Committee was the first time since 2009 that Democrats in charge of the Senate have advanced a budget blueprint, which opened to predictably poor reviews from the panel's Republicans, who said it's heavy on tax increases and light on cuts to rapidly growing benefit and safety net programs.

"Is it really possible that after four years, the majority has failed to identify any reforms? That all we have is just a tax-and-spend budget that makes no alteration to our dangerous debt course?" said the top Budget Committee Republican, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama. "Does the majority believe the government is perfect and requires no reform?"

At issue is the arcane and partisan congressional budget process, which involves a unique, non-binding measure called a budget resolution. When the process works as designed ? which is rarely ? budget resolutions have the potential to stake out parameters for follow-up legislation specifying spending and rewriting the complex U.S. tax code.

This year, it's taken as a given that the tea party-driven House and Democratic-led Senate won't be able to resolve their differences absent an agreement driven by the president. Obama has had two failed rounds of talks with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and now seems to be looking to the Senate as a potential partner with which to spark a potential breakthrough.

In that context, the rival Murray and Ryan budget plans don't seem to offer a path forward. Even a cursory look at them reveals gaping differences.

Ryan's plan promises to cut the deficit from $845 billion this year to $528 billion in the 2014 budget year that starts in October. The deficit would drop to $125 billion in 2015 and hover pretty much near balance for several years before registering a $7 billion surplus in 2023.

Murray's plan, by contrast, promises a $693 billion deficit in 2014, dropping to the $400 billion range for the middle years of the decade. While large, such deficits would hover just above 2 percent of gross domestic product, a level that many analysts see as economically sustainable.

Democrats warn that the slashing cuts proposed by Ryan would impose austerity that would slam the economy into a tailspin; Republicans counter that reducing the drag that spiraling debt is placing on future generations is critical to long-term economic growth.

Ryan's plan embraces tough new spending levels required under the unpopular, across-the-board spending cuts known as a sequester that began to take effect this month. But in order to protect the Pentagon, Republicans cut even more deeply into the day-to-day operating budgets of domestic agencies next year, slashing them from the $506 billion projected under the 2011 debt and budget pact to $414 billion ? an unprecedented 18 percent cut.

Over 10 years, Republicans propose cuts to non-defense agency budgets $895 billion below those envisioned less than two years ago.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., responsible for implementing those cuts, is declining comment. The proposed spending cuts, if not changed, are likely to hamstring efforts later this year to advance the annual spending bills for domestic agencies.

Murray's budget, meanwhile, not only preserves the spending "caps" set in the hard-fought 2011 deal but proposes $100 billion in stimulus spending for road and bridge construction, repairing schools, and worker training.

Ryan revives his controversial plan that, starting in 2024 for workers born in 1959 or after, would replace traditional Medicare with a voucher-like government subsidy for people to buy health insurance on the open market. Murray proposes modest cuts to Medicare providers.

Ryan proposes slashing the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled by more than $700 billion over 10 years, while Murray would trim it by a negligible $10 billion. Ryan promises to eliminate $1.8 trillion in subsidies in the president's health care law; Murray doesn't touch them.

"There are no sacred cows," Murray said. "We put everything we can on the table, but we do it in a responsible way that preserves, protects and strengthens the programs like Medicare and Medicaid that the American people strongly support."

___

Associated Press writer Charles Babington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-13-Budget%20Battle/id-ba8e3e97ce9f4009aec1c843f3b7dfde

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Veronica Mars movie looks for crowdfunding, would have digital copies near release (video)

There's been no shortage of movie projects that lean on crowdfunding to get production underway. Producing a movie based on a major TV series like Veronica Mars, however? That's fresh. Creator Rob Thomas has obtained support from Warner Bros. and lead actress Kristen Bell for a Kickstarter funding drive that, if it hits its $2 million goal, will shoot a full-length Veronica Mars feature this summer with a premiere around early 2014. Pledge makers would be rewarded with anything from a copy of the script through to a speaking role in the title. To us, the real highlight is the planned release strategy -- like an increasing number of movies, we'd be watching digital copies "within a few days" of the opening, rather than months. While Thomas and crew can't declare the fundraiser over until April 12th, it's advancing quickly enough that the focus is less on whether or not the project will go forward and more on its chances at becoming an internet-backed blockbuster.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Alt

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Source: Kickstarter

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

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Alleged Google Now for iOS video leaks on YouTube, is promptly pulled

iOS fans jealous of Jelly Bean's creepy Google Now might finally have something to get excited about. An October update to the Google Search app finally delivered an updated voice recognition experience to Apple's platform, but sadly alerts and contextual cards of data were nowhere to be seen. Of course, Mountain View has never been one to keep its wares to a single platform, and many expect that it's only a matter of time before Now makes its proper debut on iOS. Those that like to dip their toes in both ponds might be interested in a video brought to our attention by a tipster earlier today.

The clip, embedded after the break, is allegedly a low resolution version of a promotional video for Google Now on iPhone and iPad. The video has since been pulled from YouTube and appears to feature the same voice actress as the original Now announcement (which you'll also find after the break for comparison). Supposedly, Now will be accessible in an upcoming iOS app update simply by swiping up from the main screen. Of course, there's always the chance that is an impressive fake or even a canceled project that's only being leaked now. We've reached out to Google for comment, but even if the search giant remains silent, we're confident the truth will be known soon enough.

[Thanks, Jason]

Filed under: Software, Mobile, Apple, Google

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/fT1ew_vJAgU/

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Why Walking Throughout the Day Is Just as Important as Exercise

We're well aware that sitting all day is damaging your body in countless ways, but counteracting that isn't just about exercising. As the Wall Street Journal points out, it's also about getting up and walking more.

The focus for most health departments has been to push people to get about 30 minutes of exercise a day, but exercise alone isn't enough if you spend the rest of your day sitting around:

A study that followed more than 240,000 adults over 8? years found that watching a large amount of television was associated with a higher risk of death, including from cardiovascular disease?even for participants who reported seven or more hours a week of moderate-to-vigorous exercise...

"Our results suggest that exercise alone may not be enough to eliminate risks associated with too much sitting," says Charles Matthews, lead author of the study and an investigator with the National Institutes of Health.

The reason is pretty simple, all the movement you do throughout the day, from getting up to grab a glass of water to doing the dishes, burns calories and increase metabolism. Even if you're exercising daily, sitting all day counteracts that. The best thing you can do? Walk more. The goal is to hit about 10,000 steps a day (which is the equivalent of about four miles. We typically average around 5,000 steps a day). You can track your steps with fitness tracking gear, a cheap pedometer, or even a free app like Moves for iPhone or Accupedo for Android.

Since you may need to essentially double the amount of steps you take a day, you might have to get creative with how you spend your day. We've heard plenty of tricks to do this before, like walking up the stairs instead of taking an elevator (walking up 10 stairs is the equivalent of taking 38 steps on the ground), parking further away in the parking lot, and getting up throughout the day to walk around the office. But if you still want to sit around and watch TV, the Wall Street Journal has a simple fix with surprising results:

Dr. Bassett says a doctoral student in his department conducted a study in which 58 people watching 90 minutes of television marched in place in front of the TV during commercial breaks. "They increased their steps by about 3,000 per day just by doing this during commercials," says Dr. Bassett. "That's equivalent to about 30 minutes of walking."

That's a pretty big boost to your step count, and it doesn't really require that much effort on your part (although you may annoy anyone watching TV with you).

Hard Math: Adding Up Just How Little We Actually Move | The Wall Street Journal

Photo by DieselDemon.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/eMxUzEJCepk/why-walking-throughout-the-day-is-just-as-important-as-exercise

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Olivia Wilde: I Can't Wait for Kids!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/olivia-wilde-i-cant-wait-for-kids/

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Sofia Vergara Dons Machine Gun Bra in Explosive Machete Kills Poster

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No Firefox web browser for iPhone or iPad unless Apple relaxes its rules

Mozilla has no plans to bring its Firefox browser to the iPhone or iPad in the future and it is putting the blame firmly at Apple?s door. Mozilla vice president Jay Sullivan was speaking at the mobile browser wars panel at SXSW Interactive. According to CNET:

The sticking point for Mozilla is not being able to carry over its sophisticated rendering and javascript engines to iOS. Essentially, the organization doesn't feel like it can build the browser it wants to for Apple's platform, Sullivan told CNET.

Of course this should come as no great surprise to iOS users; the browser debate has been rumbling on for a long time. The App Store already offers a lot of different web browsers which include the likes of Google Chrome, Dolphin Browser and more.

The fact that none of these alternative browsers can be set as the default browser is hindering enough. When you also factor in the lack of access to the Safari exclusive Nitro JavaScript engine; which considerably speeds up the browsing experience, you can see why it is not an attractive platform for third party browsers.

Nitro gets its speed by using a just-in-time compiler that can execute code faster, but at the expense of security. Given the amount of security exploits that target web content, Apple only uses it in aspects of iOS it can be completely responsible for securing, namely Safari and in web.app (web apps clipped to the Home screen). Third party apps are restricted to UIWebView, which uses the older, more secure yet slower JavaScript engine. That means all alternate browsers can really offer are different interfaces and add-on services, like Chrome does with tabs and sync.

Now that Mozilla is making their own mobile operating system, however, perhaps they can lead by example and show how alternate browsers can run with their own HTML and JavaScript engines, unrestricted, and in a completely secure manner.

Source: CNET

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/6W0ANgReu0Q/story01.htm

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Good Reads: Saving the Amazon, Kenya?s ?Iron Lady?, drones, Depardieu the Russian

In efforts to reduce deforestation levels in the Amazon region, Brazil is at the forefront of an experimental climate-change prevention strategy known as ?reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation,? or REDD.

In Foreign Affairs, Jeff Tollefson describes the REDD system, which places monetary value on the amount of carbon dioxide that can be stored in trees. Wealthy nations or corporations pay countries to protect their rain forests, and thus offset carbon emissions.

Through its Amazon Fund, Brazil received funding from Norway starting in 2010. Spending almost $152 million, Brazil executed projects that paid landowners to preserve forests and educated farmers and ranchers on sustainable practices. The result: Brazil has seen a plunging rate of deforestation, registering record lows from 2009 to 2012.

Despite the remaining challenges for implementing a universal plan, Mr. Tollefson writes, ?at a time when expectations for progress on climate change are falling, Brazil has given the world a glimmer of hope. In many ways, the hard work is just beginning, but the results so far more than justify continuing the experiment.?

KENYA'S 'IRON LADY'

During the run-up to Kenya?s March 4 presidential election, the media focused on the two front-runners, Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta. But among the six other candidates, there is one to keep watching: Martha Karua, Kenya?s own ?Iron Lady.?

A profile by Al Jazeera details Ms. Karua?s rise in national politics, from a magistrate to a member of parliament and minister for justice under President Mwai Kibaki. She was the only woman to run in this year?s election, during which she pledged to create a universal health-care system and increase Internet access to 50 percent of Kenyans within five years.

?Her manifesto, perhaps reflecting her legal background, emphasises ?a new spirit of constitutionalism?, prioritising the fight against corruption and respect for national diversity,? Al Jazeera writes.

RECOMMENDED: Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.

Her outspoken condemnation of her fellow candidates, particularly those implicated in stoking the postelection violence in 2007, best explains her Iron Lady nickname. She accuses Mr. Odinga of ethnic cleansing, and Mr. Kenyatta is facing charges of crimes against humanity from the International Criminal Court.

She said he should be cleared of those charges before he can be elected president.

?How do you seek votes, yet grave accusations of causing death, arson and mass displacements are on your head?? she told reporters. ?If your cow?s leg is broken, do you strap a plough on it and head to the farm ? or do you first get it treated and allow it time to heal??

FUTURE OF DRONES

Drones have drastically changed the strategy of modern warfare, playing an effective, albeit controversial, role in the US fight against Al Qaeda. The government and private companies are now looking homeward for the next development in drone technology. Potential uses include crop dusting, traffic control, border patrol, and weather forecasting, reports John Horgan in National Geographic. But even with these benefits, people are worried about potential breaches in privacy ? and the possibility for errors.

As new, more sophisticated drones take to the skies in the United States, and in other countries where drones are manufactured (such as China, Israel, and Iran), Mr. Horgan says that limiting risk is crucial.

?The invention that escapes our control, proliferating whether or not it benefits humanity, has been a persistent fear of the industrial age ? with good reason,? Horgan writes. ?Nuclear weapons are too easy an example; consider what cars have done to our landscape over the past century, and it?s fair to wonder who?s in the driver?s seat, them or us."

DEPARDIEU AND INCOME INEQUALITY

As G?rard Depardieu takes up residency in his newly adopted countries (Belgium and Russia), Lauren Collins in The New Yorker explains why the French have dismissed the once beloved actor.

Mr. Depardieu famously renounced his French citizenship after the government promised to impose a new supertax on the wealthy ? 75 percent on incomes greater than 1 million euros. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called Depardieu?s move ?pathetic.?

This was the ultimate insult for a man who came from a poor background and built his wealth through acting and entrepreneurial ventures. He?s leaving France, he said in a letter to Mr. Ayrault, ?because you believe success, creation, talent, anything different, to be grounds for sanction.?

But 60 percent of his former countrymen support the supertax, drawing ?on the republican ideal of taxation as an institution that would foster social cohesion,?writes Ms. Collins. Taxes on the rich are seen as a way to prevent income disparities.

?There?s a very egalitarian idea of what society should be, whatever hypocrisy it entails,? Christine Ockrent, a veteran journalist, told Collins. ?It dates back to the French Revolution, which, by the way, was a very bourgeois revolution. The myth of equality is something which strangles any discussion about income.?

RECOMMENDED: Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.

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The Chromebook Pixel review

The Pixel takes cloud computing to the next level — but the price should make you think twice before buying

Meet the Pixel. It's beautiful, powerful, filled with the tools the next-generation of the web will need, but it "just" runs Chrome OS. That's the general consensus of everyone with a platform to speak their mind about Google's newest Chromebook, and for the most part it rings true.

It's a beautiful machine. Quite frankly, it's surprising to see Google deliver something this well built and designed, because we're used to more budget-friendly gear from our Mountain View friends. But you need to understand -- this isn't your typical laptop. It's something completely different for most of us. For some, it's going to be the perfect portable computer, but for others it's going to leave you wanting more than Chrome OS can deliver.

It also checks in at $1,300 ($1,450 for the LTE version), so it's something you're not likely to buy on an impulse. That's what tech-reviews are for.

Read on and see the good, the bad, and the ugly that goes with owning a Chromebook Pixel.

Join the discussion in the Chromebook Pixel Forums

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Disney's 'Oz' bewitches box office with $80M debut

This film image released by Disney Enterprises shows James Franco, as Oz, left, and the character Finley, voiced by Zach Braff, are shown in a scene from "Oz the Great and Powerful." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises)

This film image released by Disney Enterprises shows James Franco, as Oz, left, and the character Finley, voiced by Zach Braff, are shown in a scene from "Oz the Great and Powerful." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises)

This film image released by Disney Enterprises shows the character China Girl, voiced by Joey King, left, and James Franco, as Oz, in a scene from "Oz the Great and Powerful." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises)

This film image released by Disney Enterprises shows James Franco, left, and Michelle Williams in a scene from "Oz the Great and Powerful." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises, Merie Weismiller Wallace)

This film image released by Disney Enterprises shows a scene from "Oz the Great and Powerful." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Oz the Great and the Powerful" clicked with moviegoers.

Disney's 3-D prequel to the classic L. Frank Baum tale "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" debuted in first place and earned $80.3 million at the weekend box office in the U.S. and Canada and $69.9 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Oz" tells the origin of James Franco as the wizard with Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz as the trio of witches he encounters after crashing in the mystical realm of Oz.

The updated take on "Oz," which was directed by original "Spider-Man" trilogy mastermind Sam Raimi, was a gamble that looks like it will pay off for the Walt Disney Co. The film reportedly cost $200 million and opened a week after "Jack the Giant Slayer," another big-budget 3-D extravaganza that reimagines a classic tale, flopped in its opening weekend, debuting with $28 million at the box office.

"Oz" was also golden overseas. The film conjured up $69.9 million from 46 foreign markets, including Russia and the United Kingdom. "Oz" could follow in the footsteps of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," another costly 3-D film, which opened on the same weekend in 2010 and went on to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

"'Oz' is the shot in the arm that the industry needed," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "We had six consecutive weekends where the box office was down. As a result, we're at a 12-and-a-half percent deficit year-to-date on box office revenues versus last year. Not a lot of movies have worked. There have been several underperformers."

In its second weekend, "Jack" stomped out second place behind "Oz" with $10 million, dropping 62 percent since its opening weekend. It earned just $4.9 million overseas. "Jack," based on the Jack and the Beanstalk fable, was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Nicholas Hoult and Ewan McGregor.

The only other new release this weekend, the FilmDistrict revenge drama "Dead Man Down" starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace, opened in fourth place with $5.3 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $80.3 million. ($69.9 million international.)

2. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $10 million. ($4.9 million international.)

3. "Identity Thief," $6.3 million.

4. "Dead Man Down," $5.3 million.

5. "Snitch," $5.1 million. ($4.7 million international.)

6. "21 & Over," $5 million.

7. "Safe Haven," $3.8 million.

8. "Silver Linings Playbook," $3.7 million. ($6 million international.)

9. "Escape from Planet Earth," $3.2 million.

10. "The Last Exorcism Part II," $3.1 million.

___

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $69.9 million.

2. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $11.2 million.

3. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $9.1 million.

4. "Mama," $6.3 million.

5 (tie). "Beautiful Creatures," $5.8 million.

5 (tie). "Les Miserables," $5.8 million.

6. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6 million.

7. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $4.9 million.

8. "New World," $4.8 million.

9. "Snitch," $4.7 million.

10. "Boule et Bill," $4.1 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-10-Box%20Office/id-a7ffe881557e45268d8e15198ef6beba

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