Scott beats Cabrera in a playoff at Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) ? Adam Scott finished the job this time, and put an end to more than a half-century of Australian misery at the Masters.

With the two biggest putts of his career, Scott holed a 20-footer for birdie on the 18th hole of regulation that put him into a playoff with Angel Cabrera, and then won his first major championship Sunday with a 12-footer for birdie on the second extra hole.

"We like to think we're the best at everything. Golf is a big sport at home, and this is the one thing in golf we hadn't been able to achieve," Scott said. "It's amazing that it's my destiny to be the first Australian to win. It's incredible."

Scott leaned back and thrust his arms in the air after the putt dropped on the 10th hole, a celebration for all of Australia and personal redemption for himself.

It was only last summer when Scott threw away the British Open by making bogey on his last four holes to lose by one shot to Ernie Els. The 32-year-old handled that crushing defeat with dignity and pledged to finish stronger given another chance. "Next time ? I'm sure there will be a next time ? I can do a better job of it," he said that day.

Scott was close to perfect, and he had to be with Cabrera delivering some brilliance of his own.

Moments after Scott made his 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 3-under 69 to take a one-shot lead ? "C'mon, Aussie!" he screamed ? Cabrera answered with an approach that plopped down 3 feet from the cup, one of the greatest shots under the circumstances. That gave him an easy birdie and a 2-under 70. They finished at 9-under 279.

They both chipped close for par on the 18th in the first playoff hole, and Cabrera's 15-foot birdie putt on the 10th grazed the right side of the cup.

With his long putter anchored against his chest, Scott's putt was true all the way. The Masters had been the only major that never had a champion use a long putter. Scott's win means four of the last six major champions used a putter pressed against their belly or chest, a stroke that might be banned in 2016.

What mattered more to Scott was that the Masters had been the only major an Australian had never won. He was among dozens of golfers who routinely rose in the early hours of Monday morning for the telecast, only to watch a horror show. The leading character was Greg Norman, who had four good chances to win, none better than when he blew a six-shot lead on the last day to Nick Faldo in 1996.

There was Jim Ferrier in 1952 and Bruce Crampton 20 years later. Scott and Jason Day tied for second just two years ago. Norman, though, was the face of Aussie failures at the Masters, and Scott paid him tribute in Butler Cabin before he slipped on that beautiful green jacket.

"Australian is a proud sporting nation, and this is one notch in the belt we never got," Scott said. "It's amazing that it came down to me today. But there's one guy who inspired a nation of golfers, and that's Greg Norman. He's been incredible to me and all the great golfers. Part of this belongs to him."

Scott was just as gracious in victory as he was last summer at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. He and Cabrera flashed a thumbs-up to each other after their shots into the 10th hole in the playoff, and they walked off the 10th green with their arms around each other when it was over.

"Such is golf," Cabrera said. "Adam is a good winner."

It was a riveting conclusion to a week filled with some awkward moments. There was the one-shot penalty called against 14-year-old Guan Tianlang that nearly kept the Chinese teen from becoming the youngest player to make the cut. There was the illegal drop by Tiger Woods, who was given a two-shot penalty over questions and confusion about why he was not disqualified for signing an incorrect card.

And at the end, there was shot-making at its finest.

Scott didn't make a bogey after the first hole, and he really didn't miss a shot the rest of the day on a rainy Sunday at Augusta. He just couldn't get a putt to fall until it really mattered. Then, he made two of them.

Day closed with a 70, his second close call at the Masters in three years. This one hurt far more because he had a two-shot lead when he stepped to the 16th tee.

He ran off three bold birdies down the stretch ? getting up-and-down from the back bunker on the 13th, a 10-foot putt on the 14th, and capitalizing on a break at No. 15 when his drive ricocheted out of the trees into the fairways, allowing him to reach the green in two.

His lead vanished just as quickly, however. Day chose to hit putter from behind the 16th green, came up 5 feet short and missed the par putt. He hit into a bunker on the 17th for another bogey.

"I think the pressure got to me a little bit," Day said.

The tournament unfolded behind him, and it turned out to be quite a show.

Scott hit the ball beautifully the entire day and watched one putt after another turn away from the hole. But he also received perhaps the biggest break of the tournament when his shot into the par-5 13th spun back off the green and was headed down the slope into the tributary of Rae's Creek when it suddenly stopped, a blessing from a day spent in the rain. He got up-and-down for birdie, and he two-putted for birdie on the 15th.

Cabrera wasn't so fortunate. Playing in the group behind, his approach hit the bank and tumbled down into the water, leading to a bogey that cost him the lead. Cabrera answered with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th, however, that gave him a share of the lead.

And then came a one-two punch of birdies. For the fans who endured a soggy final round, this made up for it.

Two players. Two clutch birdies. Two different celebrations.

Scott screamed at the top of his lungs, "C'mon, Aussie!" and clapped hands forcefully with caddie Steve Williams when his 20-foot birdie putt curled around the left side of the cup ? just like Phil Mickelson's winning putt in 2004 ? and dropped in the back.

Scott was in the scoring room when he looked up and saw Cabrera chase after his approach, pumping his fist when his 7-iron plopped down 3 feet from the cup for a birdie. Cabrera affectionately hugged his son and caddie, Angel Jr., as they walked off the green toward the scoring room.

"It was a split second I thought I'd won," Scott said. "That was the putt we've seen so many guys make to win, and what I thought is it's time for me to step up and see how much I want this. To make a couple putts to win the Masters is just an amazing feeling."

For Woods, it was another one that got away.

Not even that two-shot penalty on Friday ? the product of a wedge that hit the flag and caromed back into the water ? would have mattered. Woods figured he would need a round of 65 to win, and he made two bogeys before his first birdie. Even a mild charge on the back nine wasn't going to help him, and he closed with a 70 to tie for fourth with Marc Leishman (72).

"I played well," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I didn't make enough putts."

He now has gone eight years without winning the Masters, and he has been stuck on 14 majors since the 2008 U.S. Open. Woods is 0-for-15 in the majors since then, a drought Jack Nicklaus never endured until he was 44.

Brandt Snedeker, tied with Cabrera for the lead going into the final round, closed with a 75 and finished five shots behind.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scott-beats-cabrera-playoff-augusta-234627039--golf.html

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Can human genes be patented? Utah firm at US court

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court seemed worried Monday about the idea of companies patenting genes that can be found inside the human body, as it heard arguments in a case that could profoundly reshape U.S. medical research and the fight against diseases like breast and ovarian cancer.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been awarding patents on human genes for almost 30 years, but opponents of Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics Inc.'s patents on two genes linked to increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer say patent protection should not be given to something that can be found inside the human body.

"Finding a new use for a product of nature, if you don't change the product of nature, is not patentable. If I find a new way of taking gold and making earrings out of it, that doesn't entitle me to a patent on gold. If I find a new way of using lead, it doesn't entitle me to a patent on lead," lawyer Christopher Hansen said.

Allowing companies like Myriad to patent human genes or parts of human genes will slow down or cripple lifesaving medical research like in the battle against breast cancer, he said.

But companies have billions of dollars of investment and years of research on the line, with Myriad arguing that without the ability to recoup their investment through the profits that patents bring, breakthrough scientific discoveries needed to combat all kind of medical maladies wouldn't happen.

That concerned several justices. "Why shouldn't we worry that Myriad or companies like it will just say, 'Well, you know, we're not going to do this work anymore?'" Justice Elena Kagan said.

Hansen said that a company could get recognition for its work and that money for research would always be available, a statement that Justice Anthony Kennedy said wasn't sufficient. "I don't think we can decide the case on, 'Don't worry about investment. It'll come,'" Kennedy said.

The Supreme Court has already said that abstract ideas, natural phenomena and laws of nature cannot be given a patent, which gives an inventor the right to prevent others from making, using or selling a novel device, process or application.

Myriad has used its patents to develop its BRACAnalysis test looks for mutations on the breast cancer predisposition gene, or BRCA. Those mutations are associated with much greater risks of breast and ovarian cancer.

Women with a faulty gene have a three to seven times greater risk of developing breast cancer and a higher risk of ovarian cancer. Men can also carry a BRCA mutation, raising their risk of prostate, pancreatic and other types of cancer. The mutations are most common in people of eastern European Jewish descent.

Myriad sells the only BRCA gene test.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups challenged Myriad's patents, arguing that genes couldn't be patented, and in March 2010 a New York district court agreed. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now twice ruled that genes can be patented. In Myriad's case, it's because the isolated DNA has a "markedly different chemical structure" from DNA within the body.

But the ACLU is arguing that isolating the DNA molecules doesn't stop them from being DNA molecules, which they say aren't patentable.

Justices attempted to break the argument down to an everyday level by discussing things like chocolate chip cookies, baseball bats and Amazonian jungle plants in attempts to understand the complicated issues. For example, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said if a new way was found to extract the ingredients of a cookie, a company still wouldn't be able to patent flour, eggs or salt.

"I can't imagine getting a patent simply on the basic items of salt, flour and eggs, simply because I've created a new use or a new product from those ingredients," she said.

Myriad lawyer Gregory A. Castanias argued that justices could think about their invention like a baseball bat. "A baseball bat doesn't exist until it's isolated from a tree. But that's still the product of human invention to decide where to begin the bat and where to end the bat," he said.

But that didn't work for Chief Justice John Roberts.

"The baseball bat is quite different. You don't look at a tree and say, well, I've cut the branch here and cut it here and all of a sudden I've got a baseball bat. You have to invent it, if you will," Roberts said. "You don't have to invent the particular segment of the strand. You just have to cut it off."

The court will rule before the end of the summer.

The case is 12-398, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc.

.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-15-Supreme%20Court-Patenting%20Genes-Utah/id-f1c2fef833af41c0a1862d83713f5c7b

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IMF recognizes Somali government, offers economic advice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund officially recognized the Somali government on Friday, ending a 22-year hiatus and allowing the Fund to provide economic policy advice to Somalia.

The move opens the way for donors and other development banks to resume relations with Somalia, whose economy is in tatters after more than two decades of conflict.

Donors are expected to meet officials from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund during meetings of world finance leaders in Washington next week.

"The decision is consistent with broad international support and recognition of the federal government," the IMF said in a statement. The IMF said, however, that it will not be able to approve lending to Somalia until the government clears $352 million in debt it owes to the IMF.

The United States has said it will work with the World Bank and the IMF to help Somalia clear the debt. The country also owes the World Bank about $250 million, which is preventing the institution from providing development aid to the government.

Major Western donors, including the United States, Britain and countries in Europe, have slowly been re-engaging with the Mogadishu government since the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last year. It was the first vote of its kind since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

In subsequent years, al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents seized control of large swathes of the south and central parts of the country. An African Union force has had some success in driving the insurgents out of the capital.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/imf-recognizes-somali-government-offer-economic-advice-082509415--finance.html

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Wearable tech: How three designers weave technology into fashion

Tap your jacket to start the beat; swipe to change it; raise your arm to raise the tempo ?? that?s how music is made on the Machina Midi Controller Jacket. That?s right, it?s making music with your body.

Machina?s (pronounced Ma-chee-na) MJv1.0 is the first product to come out of the Mexico City-based design group. The jacket allows the wearer to control music with their bodies. Fueled by a Kickstarter that raised more than $77,000, Machina has set out to build wearable technology, or what it calls: ?the wearable machine.?

?We?re a brand targeted to hackers and geeks,? says Daniel Fernandez de Cordova, a member of Machina.

Machina was formed roughly 15 months ago. Antonio Machina, the group?s fashion designer and creative director, wanted to make and wear more mechanical clothing. It was this desire for clothing that was more practical, more personal, and more unique that led Machina to their philosophy of the wearable machine.

The MJv1.0 comes with four flexible sensors that allow the jacket to detect finger position, an accelerometer?to detect arm movement, a joystick, and four buttons on the side. The idea behind the MJv1.0 is that all of the sensors ? and really the jacket itself ? can be configured to work for any purpose. This means that the wearer can use the jacket to control a computer, PC programs, or gadgets.

?Most of us are firm believers in free software, and DIY, and care deeply about political issues and (h)ac(k)tivism,? Machina's website says.

True to its style, Machina has a T-shirt that was made with photoluminscent ink. The T-shirt features anonymous heads whose brains glow in the dark, or as Machina put it, ?The brains light up the darkness of ignorance.? They also worked on different jackets at the same time as the MJv1.0. Their Kickstarter gifts included a hoodie made from silver cotton, designed to protect the wearer from electromagnetism.

?We want to be the first massive wearable-tech brand that makes wearable technology that?s modifiable and is conscience about technology,? says Mr. Fernandez de Cordova. Machina prints a series of T-shirts that advocates free information and free software. Some of the T-shirts, for example, call for the end of SOPA and CISPA, two bills that have come under fire from Internet advocates for handing over too much power to copyright holders and the US government.

?We need to fight for freedom of information, source code, and the right-to-privacy,? says Fernandez de Cordova.

People can buy the MJv1.0 jacket at the "early-bird" price of $285 from Shopstarter.org. According to Fernandez de Cordova, the jacket will retail for $400 in stores. Machina makes each jacket by hand, which elevates the price. Despite its many components, the MJv1.0 is washable. You charge the jacket through a USB port.

Machina?s MJv1.0 is set to ship in November.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/DF9_gOf8e1M/Wearable-tech-How-three-designers-weave-technology-into-fashion

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[PICS] Cute Celebrity Pets: Ian Somerhalder's Cat, Kristen Stewart's ...

Instagram, Twitter, FameFlynet, Nina Dobrev/WhoSay

Browse our gallery of cute celeb pics & vote for your favorite(s)!

You know what they say: Behind every cute celebrity, there?s an even cuter pet! (OK, fine, they don?t say that. But after looking through this gallery, you?ll think they should!)?HollywoodLife.com?rounded up our 10 favorite celebrity pets ? trust us, narrowing it down was no easy task ? and we want to know which one you think is the cutest!

Delightful Dogs

Let?s start with the dogs on the list, more specifically?Robert Pattinson?and?Kristen Stewart?s dog?Bear, whom the?Twilight?stars adopted from a high-kill shelter in New Orleans. We don?t get to see him quite as often as?Selena Gomez?s dog?Baylor, who?s become a veritable Instagram star, or?Joe Jonas? dog?Lola, who clearly enjoys making ridiculous faces just as much as her owner.?Miley Cyrus? dog?Bean?may be the youngest dog on our list, but its bite and?bark are both pretty adorable.

Cuddly Cats

Cats are generally selfish and awful, but somehow celebrity cats just seem more lovable. We obviously have to start with?Taylor Swift?s kitty?Meredith, who was recently voted the Best Thing in Pop Culture by E! Online.?Ian Somerhalder?s cat?Moke?also got attention recently after a midnight trip to the emergency room, accompanied by?Nina Dobrev, who also has an adorable cat named?Lynx. And yes, we decided to include?Kim Kardashian?s cat?Mercy, even though she?s dead. (Come on, angel kitties count, too!)

Miscellaneous Must-Sees

Because he?s just that unique ? slash irresponsible ? with his pets,?Justin Bieber?gets an entire section all to himself. He first made animal headlines with?Pac, the tiny hamster he gave away to a fan, followed by?OG Malley, the illegal monkey he received as a 19th birthday present. Pac ended up dying, and OG ended up being taken away, but we can?t stop looking at their pictures.

So,?HollywoodLifers, which celebrity pet(s) get(s) your vote(s)?

Source: http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/04/13/cutest-celebrity-pets-ian-somerhalder-kristen-stewart-pics/

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Officer accused of having Trayvon Martin target

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) ? A police officer accused of bringing targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a gun range has been fired.

Port Canaveral Interim Chief Executive Officer John Walsh told WFTV on Saturday (http://bit.ly/175m2lH ) that Sgt. Ron King was leading a target practice with two other Port Canaveral police officers and a civilian port employee when he pulled out the targets April 4. Walsh says King asked the group if they wanted to use the targets and they said no, telling King to put them back into his patrol car.

Port Canaveral is about 50 miles southeast of Sanford, where the 17-year-old Martin was killed in 2012 by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense. His trial is set for June.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officer-accused-having-trayvon-martin-target-005138774.html

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US team using Twitter, Facebook to fight militants

This image downloaded from the internet on Thursday, April 11, 2013 shows the Facebook page of the U.S. Digital Outreach Team, a group operating within the U.S. Department of State. A 50-member group of U.S. government workers comprised of Americans and foreign nationals called the Digital Outreach Team is countering extremist propaganda on sites like Twitter and Facebook, with the top official on the team, Alberto Fernandez, saying the goal is to contest space that had previously been ceded to extremists. Page title in arabic reads "US Digital Outreach Team - US Department of State". (AP Photo/U.S. Digital Outreach Team)

This image downloaded from the internet on Thursday, April 11, 2013 shows the Facebook page of the U.S. Digital Outreach Team, a group operating within the U.S. Department of State. A 50-member group of U.S. government workers comprised of Americans and foreign nationals called the Digital Outreach Team is countering extremist propaganda on sites like Twitter and Facebook, with the top official on the team, Alberto Fernandez, saying the goal is to contest space that had previously been ceded to extremists. Page title in arabic reads "US Digital Outreach Team - US Department of State". (AP Photo/U.S. Digital Outreach Team)

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 11, 2011 file photo, American-born Islamist militant Omar Hammami, 27, also known as Abu Mansur al-Amriki, addresses a press conference of the militant group al-Shabab at a farm in southern Mogadishu's Afgoye district in Somalia. A 50-member group of U.S. government workers comprised of Americans and foreign nationals called the Digital Outreach Team is countering extremist propaganda on sites like Twitter and Facebook, with the top official on the team, Alberto Fernandez, saying the goal is to contest space that had previously been ceded to extremists. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 11, 2011 file photo, American-born Islamist militant Omar Hammami, 27, also known as Abu Mansur al-Amriki, right, and deputy leader of al-Shabab Sheik Mukhtar Abu Mansur Robow, left, sit under a banner which reads "Allah is Great" during a news conference of the militant group at a farm in southern Mogadishu's Afgoye district in Somalia. A 50-member group of U.S. government workers comprised of Americans and foreign nationals called the Digital Outreach Team is countering extremist propaganda on sites like Twitter and Facebook, with the top official on the team, Alberto Fernandez, saying the goal is to contest space that had previously been ceded to extremists. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? The U.S. official who oversees American efforts to counter al-Qaida and other militants in the online battlefield keeps a quote on his desk from a "Most Wanted" jihadi from America's South. The Alabama native wrote that "the war of narratives has become even more important than the war of navies, napalm and knives."

"I keep that on my desk because that is true," Alberto Fernandez, the top official at the State Department's Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, told The Associated Press. "It doesn't mean I think he's a great thinker or anything. I just thought that was right."

The wanted fighter behind the quote is Omar Hammami, who joined the Somali militant group al-Shabab about seven years ago and is a prolific user of Twitter, where he nostalgically posts about America ? like the U.S. children's television show Reading Rainbow or his grandmother's cooking ? as well as analyses of al-Shabab's battlefield strategy.

Fernandez' Digital Outreach Team has had online exchanges with Hammami in Arabic, though Fernandez says that while Hammami is engaging, silly and flippant in English, his Arabic is "staged and formal, as if someone is doing it for him."

One example of that flippancy: After the U.S. recently announced a $5 million reward for Hammami he responded on Twitter: "As I'm a bit low on cash, how much is my left leg going for?"

Hammami, Fernandez says, has responded to the U.S. online efforts "in superficial ways ... he hasn't engaged in a substantive way."

"We are focused on specifics on al-Qaida/al-Shabab actions in Somalia, their violence and brutality against the Somali people, the disconnect between their words and their actions," Fernandez said in a telephone interview from Washington. "A week ago they beheaded an 80-year-old Somali imam for disagreeing with them."

The Digital Outreach Team tweets, posts updates on Facebook and uploads video to YouTube in Arabic, Punjabi, Somali and Urdu. The 50-member team is comprised of Americans and foreign nationals who are native speakers of the four languages. The unit had more than 7,000 what it terms "engagements" ? postings, updates or uploads in 2012, its second full year in operation.

For example, on Wednesday the Digital Outreach Team said on its Arabic Facebook page that Jabhat al-Nusra, one of the most powerful Islamic militant groups fighting alongside Syrian rebels against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is not in Syria "to support the revolution and the Syrian people, but to impose al-Qaida's political agenda."

Foreign fighters once mostly confined their online conversations to militant chat rooms and forums, but they have been migrating to more public Internet platforms in recent years, Fernandez said.

"The goal is to contest space that had previously been ceded to extremists, to confront them, to expose the bankruptcy and contradictions, the incoherence of al-Qaida, their friends and allies," said the Arabic-speaking Fernandez. "Previously they could monopolize, they could post their lies and no one was there to challenge them. And now we're there to challenge them on whatever platform they're at."

Terrorism expert J.M. Berger said Fernandez's group faces challenges.

Tens of thousands of social media users with an interest in violent ideologies can be identified, Berger, who published a paper last month about countering violent extremism on social networks for the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, told AP in an email. But it's "very difficult to figure out which users are worth watching. For students of extremist movements and those working to counter violent extremism online, deciphering the signal amid the noise can prove incredibly daunting."

Berger said he has a high opinion of the work of Fernandez' team, which is working in an online environment that is both new to the government and fraught with pitfalls.

"There's a massive amount of work needed to develop the expertise to back such efforts up. Because it's Twitter, you don't think of it as requiring a lot of knowledge to wade on in, but these guys need all kinds of linguistic, regional and subject matter expertise," Berger said.

The Digital Outreach Team briefs Congress, think tanks and "others in government," Fernandez said.

Hammami says he is unimpressed with Fernandez's team.

He regularly chats online with a group of American terrorism experts and, in a tweet last month, said: "so far the digital outreach is quite lame. I think being in arabic hides that fact from you guys."

Hammami's online exchanges are so colloquial and so infused with Americana that many in the counter-terror field have formed a type of digital bond with Hammami. Fernandez even says: "I feel pity for him."

"I feel like he's one of those young men whose life has been ruined by getting into crimes or drugs and it turns out to be far different than he expected and they can't get out," Fernandez said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-12-US-Digital%20Battlefield/id-aa74abe37ff54b24ad5c2b413f63285c

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Brits Shocked at Easy Availability of Knives (Powerlineblog)

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Rest easy, Spain: Your money's safe in a mattress safe

With a debt crisis still stalking Europe, a Spanish entrepreneur has a new idea to protect your euros: a mattress with a safe inside.

By Whitney Eulich,?Staff writer / March 27, 2013

Two men walk in the business district in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday.

Paul White/AP

Enlarge

Europeans have tossed and turned at night since the continent's sovereign debt crisis began three years ago. Right now it?s the Cypriots, surprised earlier this month by an announcement that some personal bank accounts could be taxed in order to raise the needed contribution for a bailout.

Skip to next paragraph Whitney Eulich

Latin America Editor

Whitney Eulich is the Monitor's Latin America editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine. She also curates the Latin America Monitor Blog.

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The creator of My Mattress Safe explains his unusual product

But Greeks, Irish, and Spaniards know the drill all too well themselves. Spanish bank deposits, for instance, dropped by 4.7 percent between June and July 2012, as faith in the country?s banking system plummeted.

In banks, it?s safe to say, many Europeans do not trust.

So what better way to slip soundly into sleep each night than knowing the precise status of one?s life savings? That?s the idea behind the simple and inventive Caja MiColch?n, or My Mattress Safe, a bed manufactured in northwestern Spain that is?outfitted with a safety deposit box.?

Francisco ?Paco? Santos worked in the mattress business for 14 years before losing his job in 2009. Unemployed, he tapped a dormant entrepreneurial spirit, designing this mattress that stands out from the rest.

My Mattress Safe was released by Mr. Santos' company Descanso Santos Sue?os (DESS) three weeks ago, in step with the Cyprus banking saga. It sells for about $1,120.?

Set to upbeat, jazzy music, one promotional video on the company?s website shows the ins and outs of production. The mattress is made with ?the best materials? and implanted at the foot of the bed is a digital-entry safety box (there's no mention of whether or not it?s fireproof).

In the video, Mr. Santos parodies a bank commercial, calling My Mattress Safe a ?financial institution? with a new, imaginative take on saving. Not to fear, he says ? this approach to savings doesn?t come with the threat of bankruptcy, mergers, or market fluctuations.

That could be a powerful selling point, with the safety of bank deposits high on the mind in Europe once again this month. According to The Christian Science Monitor, the European Union ?raised serious doubts about its promise to guarantee citizens? savings ? a vital pillar of any financial sector that underpins savers? trust ? when it went along with a plan to levy small Cypriot depositors.?

DESS hasn?t released sales figures, but the company said they?ve exceeded expectations. And despite the initial double take, there may be a larger audience for a Mattress Safe than one might expect.

In Argentina, for example, many keep their US dollars (a popular currency because of high rates of inflation) out of Argentine banks after ?harsh lessons? learned from past economic crises. The Monitor met one Argentine last summer who keeps his dollars in a safety deposit box.

?I know that the dollars in my box are actually there,? says Francisco, an IT worker in Buenos Aires.??If you have a bank account in dollars your money doesn?t exist ? it?s just virtual money."

The My Mattress Safe tagline feeds into this mentality: ?Your money, very close to you.?

For customers looking for assurance that their money isn't going anywhere with the Caja MiColch?n, there?s a calculator on the website where customers can work out their savings over time. Enter the deposit amount, the number of months of planned investment, and voila:?The same number of euros deposited in a My Mattress Safe is at the investor?s disposal a month, year, or decade later. (?What you deposit is what you have. So easy, so simple,? reads the website.)

"History repeats itself,? Santos told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

?Older generations thought the safest place to keep their money was under the mattress. Now we?re proposing the same thing as we've seen people's uneasiness about the current situation. I'm not going to deny that the idea is a little crazy, but we believe that people with this mattress not only will sleep well, but also will be more relaxed because their savings are safe."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/VWpUbFeHFnI/Rest-easy-Spain-Your-money-s-safe-in-a-mattress-safe

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Was Chilean poet Neruda murdered?

By Rodrigo Garrido

ISLA NEGRA, Chile (Reuters) - The body of Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, dead nearly four decades, was exhumed on Monday after his former driver said the poet was poisoned under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.

Neruda, famed for his passionate love poems and staunch communist views, is presumed to have died from prostate cancer on September 23, 1973.

But Manuel Araya, who was Neruda's chauffer during the ailing writer's last few months, says agents of the dictatorship took advantage of his illness to inject poison into his stomach while he was bedridden at the Santa Maria clinic in Santiago.

"We're hoping for a positive result because Neruda was assassinated. Pinochet made an error when he ordered Neruda be killed," said Araya. Results are expected in coming months.

Neruda was a supporter of socialist President Salvador Allende, who was toppled in a military coup on September 11, 1973, nearly two weeks before the poet's death at age 69. Around 3,000 people are thought to have been killed by the brutal 17-year-long dictatorship that ensued.

Neruda was buried in his coastal home of Isla Negra beside his third wife, Matilde Urrutia.

His remains will be brought to Santiago for analysis. Some samples could be sent to laboratories abroad.

Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto, better known by his pen name Pablo Neruda, was a larger-than-life fixture in Chile's literary and political scene.

While best known for his collection "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair," published in 1924, Neruda was also an important political activist during a turbulent time in Chile.

He organized a ship to bring about 2,000 Spanish refugees fleeing the civil war there to Chile in 1939, campaigned for Allende and was ambassador to France during the socialist's presidency.

The Andean country's intelligentsia frequently congregated in Isla Negra, as well as in his Santiago home "La Chascona" - so named for his then-mistress Urrutia's messy red hair - and La Sebastiana, his ship-themed home in the port town of Valparaiso.

Democratically elected Allende committed suicide in the presidential palace as it was under attack by the military, experts confirmed last year, amid accusations he had been murdered during the coup.

Chilean courts are also investigating the death of ex-President Eduardo Frei Montalva, who is presumed to have died in 1982 of an infection after a hernia operation. Some say he was poisoned by Pinochet's agents.

(Reporting By Rodrigo Garrido; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chilean-poet-nerudas-body-exhumed-murder-probe-141159039.html

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Are You a Good Fit for a Home Based Business? - Canadian ...

You have to have key characteristics to succeed in a home based business.

No one dreams of working for a large corporation for their entire lives, only to retire with a tiny pension (if any) and little to no additional benefits. If you ask most people, they all have a secret dream to own their own business. Luckily, there are as many potential businesses as there are budding entrepreneurs. Of those potential businesses, there is an increasing number of home based businesses. Of course, before you choose a home based business, you need to be sure you are a good fit. Below are some key characteristics to consider.

Getting Things Done in a Home Based Business Requires Self-Motivation

There are many differences between working for yourself in a home based business and succeeding in a corporate role. For instance, in the corporate daily grind, you have colleagues to push you, whether a supervisor, team leader, crew leader or the CEO. With a home business, you must be your own motivating force.? There will be no one sitting in the office next door to tell you what needs to be done, no one to prioritize your day and no one to make sure you are productive. You will have to do this yourself. While self-motivation is can be acquired over time, you may not want to test this personality trait for the first time in your own business.

Managing Distractions is a Necessity When Working From Home

Everyone dreams of being able to work from home. The thought of waking up in the morning, turning on the coffee pot and starting work in your home office or your living room in your pajamas is pretty appealing. However, you?ll need to ensure you can minimize and avoid distractions. You?ll find there are many things competing for your attention, if you allow them ? from the kids returning home from school, to the television, Facebook, email, chores and even family members calling to ask you for a favor. It?s critical to manage these distractions, otherwise they will steal time away from running your business and making money.

Being Technology Savvy Will Definitely Help With Your Home Office

Technology has become a critical component of every business and a home based business is no exception. Of course the level of technology sophistication will vary depending on your business type, but you require a PC or Mac, combination printer and scanner, high-speed Internet connection, Wi-Fi network, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software for running the business, along with email, software for tracking and managing clients, knowledge of Internet marketing and accounting software. Let?s just say chances are you will have to become technology savvy.

Running a Home Based Business Requires a Determination to Succeed

Running a home based business can be rewarding, but there is a defining point in nearly every business requiring the determination to succeed to get through the tough times. For example, distractions, lack of motivation, client problems, technology issues, tax challenges, cash flow issues and more, can combine to create a frustrating situation from time to time. Determination and dedication is required to get through these less than ideal times. Building a profitable home based business is certainly possible, but it doesn?t come without effort.? So if you?re more interested in ?easy money,? this isn?t the option for you.

Having Organizational Capabilities Will Help Increase Efficiency

If you examine other successful home based business owners, you?ll find they all have one thing in common ? the ability to stay organized. As a business owner, you?ll have to keep track of an immense amount of information, from client invoices to tax data to work orders and many other pieces of information. You will have to be organized from day one.

Operating a home based business can be very rewarding, with the right opportunity and the right skill set. First ensure you?re a good fit before you embark on your new career and you will increase your chances of success, while enjoying the rewards of business ownership.

About the Author, CFO Team

The Canadian Franchise Opportunities team is a dedicated group whose primary purpose is to help inform those exploring franchising as a potential business model. We believe that through education we can help prospective franchisees make better decisions when evaluating, selecting and buying a franchise.

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Source: http://www.cafranchiseopportunities.com/home-based-business/

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It's Not Just You, Twitter's Latest Android Update Doesn't Let You Access Your Profile Or DMs On The ?Me? Tab

Twitter rolled out sweeping updates to all of its mobile properties this week, mostly to support the new Twitter Cards, but unfortunately, those who are using the service on Android aren?t so happy.

The app has always been a bit buggy on the Android platform, but the issues that are being reported are more than just a little problematic. Users have experienced not being able to open the ?Me? tab which allows you to access your DMs and switch accounts, important parts of the service. I?ve experienced this bug from the second that the update was released, and I?ve heard that Twitter is working on the issue. It?s not affecting all devices, but this tweet search shows it as being pretty widespread.

You?re presented with a blank screen and a small spinner, with no information or message that says that the service is having any problems. At first, I thought that I just had a poor connection, but after using the app with WiFi turned on, it became clear that this was a big ol? bug:

Since Twitter has been streamlining all of its apps, and site, it?s a glaring issue when one of the four tabs don?t work.

While no timeframe is being offered, and Twitter hasn?t made an official statement on the issue, it?s safe to say that the beautiful redesign that the Android app received is overshadowed by these issues. If you?re having the same issue, you might have to revert to using the mobile version of the site, as I?ve done. Or, you could search for yourself and get to your profile that way.

The nice part about Google Play is that as soon as Twitter updates the app with a new build, it will go live for everyone to grab without any submission process like Apple?s.

Hurry up, Twitter, people are cheesed off about not being able to get their DMs from cute girls and stuff.

[Photo credit: Flickr]

Created in 2006, Twitter is a global real-time communications platform with 400 million monthly visitors to twitter.com, more than 200 million monthly active users around the world. We see a billion tweets every 2.5 days on every conceivable topic. World leaders, major athletes, star performers, news organizations and entertainment outlets are among the millions of active Twitter accounts through which users can truly get the pulse of the planet.

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/06/its-not-just-you-twitters-latest-android-update-doesnt-let-you-access-your-profile-or-dms/

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Report: Apple Is Close to Signing Two Major Music Labels for Its Upcoming Music Streaming Service

CNET is reporting that Apple is very close to signing deals with both Warner Music and Universal Music Group for its upcoming music streaming service. Apple still would have to sign a deal with Sony but snagging two major music labels makes Apple's streaming service that much more ready for launch. Supposedly, Apple wants to launch its "iRadio" service during summer of this year. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/c_4K-befA5U/report-apple-is-close-to-signing-two-major-music-labels-for-its-upcoming-music-streaming-service

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Heitkamp, Donnelly now support gay marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two freshman Democratic senators, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, have joined the growing chorus of lawmakers who say they support gay marriage.

In separate statements issued minutes apart, the two senators say their views on the issue have evolved. Donnelly says he reconsidered his opinion after recent Supreme Court arguments and public discussion on the issue.

Heitkamp says she now believes the federal government shouldn't discriminate against "people who want to make lifelong, loving commitments to each other

Donnelly and Heitkamp are the latest Democratic senators to support for gay marriage. That leaves only four Senate Democrats who have not endorsed gay marriage. Republican Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rob Portman of Ohio have also said they support gay marriage.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-05-Senate-Gay%20Marriage%201st%20Ld/id-a8cb0fa3373f4a66975be20b52d86460

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