FIU to take over underwater lab in Keys




















The last underwater research lab in the world, an 81-ton yellow pressurized steel tube anchored 60 feet down next to a Key Largo reef, won’t be scuttled after all.

Florida International University announced Tuesday that it will take over operation of Aquarius, an aging but unique underwater facility the federal government had considered putting on the chopping block because of budget cuts.

“For our students and our marine sciences program, Aquarius offers fantastic new possibilities and is a natural fit for the work we are doing in the Florida Keys and throughout the world,’’ said Mike Heithaus, executive director of FIU’s school of environment, arts and society.





Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which owns the lab, had called for ending Aquarius’ operation, even though it cost a relatively paltry $1.2 million to $3 million a year to run.

But after backlash from scientists and a campaign led by South Florida political leaders — including Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart — NOAA awarded FIU a $600,000 six-month grant to cover basic maintenance of the facility, which boasts six bunks, a bathroom, galley, science lab and “wet porch” allowing divers easy entry and exit.

Ultimately, the Obama administration agreed the lab was a valuable asset that couldn’t simply be left to rust. Removing it could run up to an estimated $5 million, said FIU biology professor Jim Fourqurean, who will take over direction of Aquarius.

“This is a big, expensive piece of hardware on the bottom of the ocean,’’ he said. “You just can’t leave it there.’’

To continue its operation, however, FIU plans to develop a new business plan for the lab that will rely on financial support from other government agencies, private industry and groups and other universities, Fourqurean said.

Aquarius, the last of more than 60 underwater habitats once in operation around the world, allows scientists to literally immerse themselves for hours, days or weeks in a coral reef community without having to worry about repeatedly surfacing for air or decompressing from long dives. The facility, previously managed by the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, has hosted 117 research missions and also served filmmakers, Navy divers and 40 NASA astronauts who trained for the working conditions of space stations and zero gravity.

Fourqurean said the lab offers a perfect platform for students, faculty and outside researchers to study many of the problems plaguing South Florida’s water, from climate change to pollution and over-fishing.

It also will raise FIU’s profile in the Florida Keys, said Fourqurean, who is director of FIU’s new marine education and research initiative for the Keys. The school will close Aquarius’ current land base, hidden in a neighborhood, and intends to open a new more visible office along the main highway, he said.

“This fits the strategic vision of FIU growing into the Florida Keys,’’ Fourqurean said.





Read More..

New photos of BlackBerry X10 with QWERTY keyboard leak







New images of Research In Motion’s (RIMM) first BlackBerry 10-powered smartphone equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard have leaked ahead of the handset’s unveiling later this month. BlackBerry blog BlackBerry Empire on Monday evening published a pair of photos showing the face of the upcoming N-series smartphone along with the home screen and the app launcher.


[More from BGR: HTC One SV review]






As revealed by earlier images of the phone, the device closely resembles RIM’s previous-generation BlackBerry Bold 9900 from the front, sporting a slim flat design with a touchscreen situated above the famous four-row BlackBerry keyboard.


[More from BGR: Extensive BlackBerry Z10 demo video posted by German website [video]]


RIM will unveil the new handset, thought to be launching as the “BlackBerry X10,” during a press conference on January 30th where BGR will be reporting live. RIM’s first full touch BlackBerry 10 phone, the “BlackBerry Z10,” will also be unveiled at the event.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: New photos of BlackBerry X10 with QWERTY keyboard leak
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/new-photos-of-blackberry-x10-with-qwerty-keyboard-leak/
Link To Post : New photos of BlackBerry X10 with QWERTY keyboard leak
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Megan Fox Apologizes for Lindsay Lohan Comments

In the process of explaining her reason for removing a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her forearm to Esquire magazine, cover girl Megan Fox unleashed what appeared to be a harsh criticism of actress Lindsay Lohan. In light of all the attention Fox's words have garnered, the star has taken to Facebook in an attempt to clarify her comments. 

Pics: New Mom Megan Fox's Sexiest Shoot Yet

"In the newly released article that I did for Esquire, there is a reference that is made to Lindsay Lohan that I would like to clarify before it snowballs into something silly," began Fox in an open letter posted to her personal page.

"The journalist and I were discussing why I was removing my Marilyn Monroe tattoo, especially since, in his opinion, Marilyn was such a powerful and iconic figure for women. I attempted to draw parallels between Lindsay and Marilyn in order to illustrate my point that while Marilyn may be an icon now, sadly she was not respected and taken seriously while she was still living.

"Both women were gifted actresses, whose natural talent was lost amongst the chaos and incessant media scrutiny surrounding their lifestyles and their difficulties adhering to studio schedules etc.

"I intended for this to be a factual comparison of two women with similar experiences in Hollywood. Unfortunately it turned into me offering up what is really much more of an uneducated opinion. It was most definitely not my intention to criticize or degrade Lindsay.

"I would never want her to feel bullied, as she does not deserve that. I was not always speaking eloquently during this interview and this miscommunication is my fault."

Related: How Megan Fox Lost All That Baby Weight

Fox's original quote to Esquire reads as follows:

"I started reading about [Marilyn] and realized that her life was incredibly difficult. It's like when you visualize something for your future. I didn't want to visualize something so negative.

"She was sort of like Lindsay [Lohan]. She was an actress who wasn't reliable, who almost wasn't insurable. ... She had all of the potential in the world, and it was squandered. I'm not interested in following in those footsteps."

Read More..

Defer madness: 3-year wait for Morgan Stanley cash bonuses








Wall Street’s high-rollers are facing a cash crunch.

Morgan Stanley is deferring cash bonuses for its top executives for three years as new regulations and stricter capital requirements force banks to slash staff and pay.

The belt-tightening moves come as other banks, including UK-based Barclays, are planning to cut bonuses and trim staff in the coming weeks, The Post has learned.

Banks like Morgan Stanley also are facing heightened pressure by regulators including the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to defer more cash bonuses in an effort to tamp down the sort of perverse incentives that many believe led to the financial meltdown.





AP



President and CEO of Morgan Stanley James P. Gorman.





Bankers this year are widely bracing for smaller bonuses, including cuts of as much as 30 percent in some areas.

Morgan Stanley, which is gearing up to lay off 1,600 of its investment bankers, would defer cash bonuses for all employees earnings more than $350,000 — or those due a bonus of at least $50,000. Lower-paid employees would not have their bonuses deferred.

The high-pay group would get 25 percent of their cash payout in May and then in equal payouts in three successive Decembers, a person familiar with the situation said.

Bankers’ stock awards would vest over three years, starting next January.

Last year, Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman limited bonuses to $125,000 and set the cash-deferral bonus payments to those receiving salaries of $250,000 or more.

“Some execs cried poverty,” hence the increase, according to one person familiar with the situation.

Gorman, who has hitched the company’s success to its 17,000-strong wealth managers, has been thinning its ranks in its volatile investment banking platform.

Activist investor Dan Loeb of Third Point Capital has taken a stake in the company and has been pushing it to lower compensation costs.

Morgan Stanley bankers are due to learn the size of their bonuses on Thursday — a day ahead of the release of the bank’s fourth-quarter results on Jan. 18.

Many of Morgan Stanley’s compensation changes have been aimed at limiting costs and have targeted cutting the fat at its highest levels.

The bank is expected to promote the lowest number of managing directors it has since 2009.

“Morgan Stanley is trying to use all the tricks in its playbook to shrink their size,” said Wall Street recruiter Michael Karp.

A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Barclays is said to be pushing to limit the number of senior managers it elevates as it also moves to trim its ranks.

Under new CEO Anthony Jenkins, Barclays has been aiming to restructure the big international bank, which was whacked by the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, scandal.

That regulatory dust-up forced former CEO Bob Diamond and other top officials to step down.

Jenkins is slated to announce changes at the bank when it releases its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 12.

mark.decambre@nypost.com










Read More..

Miami Dolphins bill would bring state money to aging stadiums




















A bill drafted by the Miami Dolphins would give Florida sports teams $3 million a year in state money to improve older stadiums, provided the owner pays for at least half the cost of a major renovation.

Under the law, the stadium would need to be 20 years old and the team willing to put in at least $125 million for a $250 million renovation. That’s less than the $400 million redo of Sun Life Stadium that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross proposed this week, which he hopes will win state approval thanks to his offer to fund at least $200 million of the effort to modernize the 1987 facility.

Miami-Dade and Florida would fund the rest through a mix of county hotel taxes and state general funds set aside for stadiums. Sun Life currently receives $2 million a year through the program, and the Dolphins want to create a new category that would give them an additional $3 million.





While the Miami Marlins and Miami Heat both play in stadiums subsidized by county hotel taxes, the Dolphins receive no local dollars. The bill would change that by allowing Miami-Dade to increase the tax charged at mainland hotels to 7 percent from 6 percent, and eliminate the current rule that limits the money to publicly owned stadiums. Sun Life Stadium, in Miami Gardens, is privately owned but sits on county land.

The bill pits enthusiasm for one of Florida’s most popular sports teams against a lean budget climate and lingering backlash against the 2009 deal that had Miami and Miami-Dade borrow about $485 million to build a new ballpark for the Marlins. Ross also must navigate a Republican-led Legislature that has twice rebuffed his requests for public dollars.

“I would be surprised if that bill even got a hearing in committee,” said Mike Fasano, a Republican representative from the Tampa area and a critic of tax-funded sports deals. “I’m a big Dolphin fan, and have been for years. But with all due respect, we’ve got people who are struggling throughout this state right now . .. The last thing we should be doing is giving a professional sports team or facility additional tax dollars.”

While the bill would open up the $3 million subsidy to other the teams, the Dolphins see it as unlikely that another owner would be willing to put up as much money for renovations as Ross, a billionaire real estate developer.

If the bill were enacted today, any stadium opened before 1993 would be eligible for the money, provided it could show the proposed renovation would generate an additional $3 million in sales taxes.

Ross and his backers are pitching the renovation as a boon to tourism, with Sun Life a magnet for the Super Bowl, national college football games and other major events. The National Football League is considering South Florida and San Francisco for the 2016 Super Bowl, and the Dolphins say approval of renovation funding is crucial to winning the bid.

Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, who sponsored the Senate bill, said the funding makes sense because when Sun Life hosts a Super Bowl, the entire state benefits from both tourism dollars and publicity.

“It’s a small price to pay for economic development, and for all the shine we get from major sporting events,” said Braynon, whose district includes Sun Life. Rep. Eduardo “Eddy” Gonzalez, R-Hialeah, is the sponsor on the House side.





Read More..

Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez: I’m running for mayor




















It’s official: Miami City Commissioner Francis Suarez is running for mayor.

The 35-year-old son of former Mayor Xavier Suarez will make the formal announcement Tuesday at a press conference at his Coral Gate home.

Suarez’s candidacy has long been the subject of speculation around City Hall. The chatter intensified late last week, when campaign finance reports showed that in the last three months of 2012 he raised $460,000 through his “political communications organization.”





Suarez, in an interview Monday with The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, outlined his vision for the city. It includes replenishing rainy-day funds, promoting small business, beefing up the police department and making the mayor a player on the national stage.

“It starts with having a stable government that is forward-thinking and innovative,” he said.

Despite having flush campaign coffers and key allies, Suarez faces a tough road to the Nov. 5 election. Incumbent Mayor Tomás Regalado has already launched his bid for reelection, and observers say his popularity remains high among likely voters.

“It is going to be a competitive race,” said Barry University political science professor Sean Foreman.

Suarez, a real estate attorney, first ran for the City Commission in 2009. He was elected to represent District 4, which includes Flagami and stretches to the city’s western edge, and was previously held by Regalado.

Early on, Suarez and Regalado often appeared in public together. The mayor asked Suarez to serve as City Commission chairman in late 2011.

But the relationship soured last summer, when Suarez grew increasingly critical of Regalado’s administration. He voiced concerns about the high turnover among top staffers and questioned the finance department’s ability to balance the $500 million budget on time.

Suarez said those frustrations prompted his decision to run for mayor.

“I fundamentally believe that the administration is not being run professionally,” he said. “I have concerns about what will happen if nothing is done about it.”

Suarez said he has already proven his leadership abilities. He points to a pair of controversial motions he made, both of which passed the commission: one to cut employee salaries and another to fire then-Police Chief Miguel Exposito, who was feuding with the mayor at the time.

“I’ve taken the lead on very difficult positions,” he said.

During his three years in office, Suarez has had mixed results passing policy. In 2011, he championed changes to the city zoning code that made it easier to build affordable housing. But his biggest legislative push to date — an effort to create a strong-mayor form of government — failed to find support.

Suarez said he has a couple of new proposals to pitch, including a measure that would reduce permit fees for home repairs that cost less than $2,500. He also said he has ideas for using technology to make city departments run more smoothly.

If campaign contributions are any indication, Suarez will have the support of key business leaders, including Jackson Health System CEO and former city manager Carlos A. Migoya and former Mayor Manny Diaz.

Regalado, who has raised about $160,000 for his campaign and enjoys popularity in neighborhoods like Little Havana and Flagami, said he welcomed the competition.





Read More..

Apple shares fall on reports of cuts to iPhone parts orders






(Reuters) – Shares in Apple Inc dipped below $ 500 for the first time in almost one year after reports it is slashing orders for screens and other components from its Asian supplier as intensifying competition erodes demand for its latest iPhone.


Japan‘s Nikkei reported on Monday that the world’s largest technology corporation began sharply reducing buying of liquid crystal displays about a month ago from suppliers like Japan Display Inc and Sharp Corp.






Sharp’s stock dipped as much as 7 percent in early trading on Tuesday and shares in South Korean Apple suppliers such as LG Display also fell.


“We can’t comment on individual clients,” said Miyuki Nakayama, a spokeswoman for Sharp, which builds iPhone 5 screens at its Kameyama plant in central Japan. Japan Display, a state-run business formed from the small LCD units of Sony Corp, Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd also declined to discuss its orders.


The Nikkei report, later matched by the Wall Street Journal, comes as hard-charging rivals like Samsung Electronics, which makes phones based on Google Inc’s popular Android software, continue to expand market share globally.


Apple stock slid more than 4 percent to an intraday low of $ 498.51 — a level not seen since February 16, 2012 — before bouncing back to trade just above $ 500 at midday. The news also hurt shares of suppliers such as Cirrus Logic Inc, which dived 9 percent.


Some analysts argued that Apple and its manufacturing partners had struggled with quality issues that might have curtailed production times.


Dogged by low production yields, Sharp last year fell behind schedule for iPhone 5 screen shipments in the run-up to the phone’s launch in September. Sharp has yet to acknowledge that Apple is a customer.


“Our checks with supply chain contacts close to the situation identified a very different cause: a slower ramp in the manufacturing of iPhones and iPads (reflecting some quality control issues) and insufficient production lines,” said JoAnne Feeney of Longbow Research.


“Rather than ordering more components and having inventory build up further, Apple put component suppliers on notice to hold off, for the time being, on further shipments until it expanded its production lines – which it plans to complete by the end of the quarter.”


By some estimates, the holiday quarter may have been the worst for U.S. retailers since the 2008 financial crisis, with sales growth far below expectations. Other data yields a more mixed picture of holiday season demand.


Apple was not immediately available for comment. No one at Sharp was immediately available to comment on Monday – a national holiday in Japan – and parts suppliers to Apple in Taiwan declined to comment.


CUTBACKS


Apple has asked Japan Display, Sharp and LG Display Co Ltd to roughly halve supplies of LCD panels from an initial plan for about 65 million screens in January-March, the Nikkei cited people familiar with the situation as saying.


Japan Display’s plant in southwest Japan, where Apple has invested heavily, is expected to temporarily reduce output by up to 80 percent from October-December levels, the Nikkei reported, while Sharp’s dedicated facility for iPhone 5 LCDs will trim production in January-February by about 40 percent.


The move, if confirmed, would tally with analysts saying that sales of the new iPhone 5, which was released in September, have not been as strong as anticipated.


Apple has lost ground gradually to South Korean rival Samsung, as well as smaller, fast-growing rivals such as China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp.


Samsung overtook Apple in 2012 to become the world’s biggest seller of smartphones, helped in part by the popularity of its Galaxy Note II phone-cum-tablet and a vastly wider range of low- to high-end devices that appeal to a broad swath of consumers. Apple rolled out a single new smartphone last year.


Jefferies analyst Peter Misek trimmed his iPhone shipment estimates for the January-March quarter on December 14, saying that the technology company had started cutting orders to suppliers to balance excess inventory.


Apple also cut its orders for memory chips for its new iPhone from its main supplier and competitor Samsung, Reuters reported in September, quoting sources with direct knowledge of the matter.


The company has been cutting back its orders from Samsung as it seeks to diversify its memory chip supply lines.


Samsung said on Monday that global sales of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones had topped 100 million since the first model was launched in May 2010. The Galaxy S3, launched last May, sold more than 40 million in seven months.


The Galaxy S IV is expected within months and may sport an unbreakable screen, full high-definition quality resolution of 440 pixels per inch, and a more powerful processor.


It’s expected to increase its smartphone sales by more than a third this year and widen its lead over Apple, according to researcher Strategy Analytics. It forecast Samsung will sell 290 million smartphones in 2013 versus iPhone sales of 180 million.


Kim Sung-in, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities in Seoul, sees Samsung shipping 320 million smartphones this year and doubling sales of its tablets to 32 million.


(Reporting by Tokyo bureau, Avik Das and Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore, Clare Jim in Taipei and Tim Kelly in Tokyo; Editing by Supriya Kurane, Andrew Hay and Alex Richardson)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Apple shares fall on reports of cuts to iPhone parts orders
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/apple-shares-fall-on-reports-of-cuts-to-iphone-parts-orders/
Link To Post : Apple shares fall on reports of cuts to iPhone parts orders
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Nicki Minaj Cannot Trust Herself on American Idol

On tomorrow's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, American Idol judge Nicki Minaj confesses that she's worried about looking like 'a crazy psycho again' on the popular singing competition.

"I am not really a crazy psycho you guys," Nicki says, referring to the infamous web video that showed the singer/rapper launching into a tirade during Idol auditions. "No, I am serious. I am really not."

Nicki calls the outburst a defense mechanism, explaining that she began to suspect that fellow judge Mariah Carey was displeased with her being on the panel.

VIDEO: Nicki Minaj on Idol Drama: There is No Feud!

With the incident still fresh in her mind, Nicki admits that she is "not looking forward to live shows" because she "cannot trust [herself]."

"Just, like, if there's a slick comment being made..." Nicki says before catching herself. "I just want it to go well. It's about the contestants."

Watch the entire interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday, January 15. Check your local listings.

Read More..

Liu’s top aide a tax cheat: IRS








The top campaign adviser to city Comptroller John Liu is a tax deadbeat, the federal government claims.

The IRS has filed a lien against Chung Seto, claiming she owes $103,872 in back taxes, records show.

The feds had previously slapped Seto with $175,000 in liens.

Seto declined to comment.

The timing could not be worse for Liu, who is running for mayor. His ex-treasurer, Jia “Jenny” Hou, and fund-raiser, Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, face trial next month on charges they schemed to funnel illegal contributions into Liu’s campaign war chest.











Read More..

.CO sets sights on changing ‘the fabric of the Internet’




















For the millions of people who equate the Web with .com, . CO Internet is out to change that mindset.

The Miami company that manages and markets the .co domain is already making impressive gains — more than 1.4 million in 200 countries have hung their businesses, blogs, personal projects or dreams on a .co virtual shingle. Still, that’s just a tiny fraction of industry titan VeriSign’s 105 million .com registrants.

“We want to change the fabric of the Internet,” Juan Diego Calle, founder and CEO of .CO Internet, said during an interview in .CO’s Brickell office. “We can only make that happen not by changing what happened in the last 25 years of the Web, which is owned by .com. We want to change the next 25.”





About 2½ years after the launch of .CO Internet, .co — the country code of Colombia — continues to be one of the fastest-growing Internet domains in the world and grew by 24 percent in 2012. .CO Internet is profitable and is projecting to bring in more than $25 million in revenues this year, the company said. The early success of .CO Internet, with operations in Miami and Colombia, is powered by passion and perseverance.

Calle moved to Miami from Colombia at age 15 with his family. He started several businesses, including one he sold in 2005 providing seed capital for what would come next. “I can’t say I ever sat still.” When he learned Colombia would be commercializing the country's .co domain extension in late 2006, he said it hit him like a lightning bolt.

With the right strategy and by “marketing the hell out of it,” the entrepreneur believed .co could solve a huge problem in the market — vanishing Internet domain names. If you’ve tried to nab a new .com address lately, you can relate — it’s difficult to find one that hasn’t been snatched up.

Calle thought that by appealing to the hearts and minds of the entrepreneur, .co could go where .info, .biz, .net or .me had never gone before. But first he needed the right team.

One of this first stops: The Big Apple, to visit Nicolai Bezsonoff, who had been an advisor and shareholder in Calle’s TeRespondo.com, a sort of Ask Jeeves for the Latin American market that was sold to Yahoo in 2005. At the time, Bezsonoff was the director of technology and operations at Citigroup.

“We went out for coffee, he started pitching me on a napkin. I said ‘really dude you want me to leave a big job at Citigroup for this?’ ” said Bezsonoff. “But he kept showing me the numbers … Later, that napkin was on my desk and it was one of those boring days and I kept looking at it and thought maybe I should.” He would become .CO’s chief operating officer.

Lori Anne Wardi, a lawyer and serial entrepreneur who was working at a venture capital firm at the time, became vice president in charge of brand strategy, business development and global communications. “She’s the heart and soul of the company,” said Calle. Eduardo Santoyo, based in Bogota, would become corporate vice president over policy and be the liaison with the Colombian government. “Some would say it was overkill talent but I needed the best. ... When you have a big dream, you have to think big and hire the right people,” Calle said.





Read More..