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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Instant View - UK service sector grows unexpectedly in January

LONDON (Reuters) - Business in Britain's dominant service sector returned to growth in January and optimism among companies jumped, a survey showed on Tuesday, reducing the chances of another recession.

ECONOMISTS' COMMENTS

ROB WOOD, BERENBERG BANK

"Risk of triple-dip recession receded substantially as (the survey reading) comfortably beat expectations. To be fair, a surge in the PMI was needed if the UK was going to avoid slipping back into recession. So it's surged from a three-and-a-half-year low to a level that a little bit below its average from the past 15 months, and over that period the UK hasn't grown at all.

"So, good news. It's great that it surged from 48.9, which would have signalled significant contraction. What it does is really confirm the UK is moving sideways rather than moving back or moving forwards decisively."

HOWARD ARCHER, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT

"With the improved services sector survey coming on top of the BRC reporting surprisingly decent retail sales in January, it appears that the negative impact of the snow on the economy was limited and it is seeing modest underlying growth at the start of the first quarter. The risk of a triple-dip recession appears to have receded - temporarily at least."

"It is not just the fact that services activity was reported to have grown at the fastest rate for four months in January that was encouraging but also the generally improved tone of the survey. Incoming new business picked up which is supportive to further services growth in the near term at least. Further encouraging news saw service companies' expectations improve to an eight-month high in January while employment in the sector rose at the fastest rate since last July.

"However, there was not such good news on the inflation front for the Bank of England as prices charged by services companies rose to a 19-month high in January, although the increase was still modest. Input prices also rose at an increased rate."

PETER DIXON, COMMERZBANK

"We always suspected that the dip in December PMI was a bit of a blip, a one off, and that some sort of recovery was always on the cards. In that sense, I am not terribly surprised that the number has jumped.

"In conjunction with the decent manufacturing number which came out on Friday, the overall picture for the UK at least in the month of January looks rather brighter than had been the case, at least four weeks previously. So yes, there is a little bit more optimism around.

"I wonder if it's also a reflection of what's happening in the euro zone because the general sense is that some of the worst of the euro zone crisis is perceived to be behind us.

"The forecast (for the UK economy) is that we will start to see a bit more sustained growth over the course of 2013. We are certainly hoping this would be the first step along that road. But obviously there will be wobbles along the way."

JAMES KNIGHTLEY, ING

"The UK services PMI has bounced back into growth territory, dampening fears over an unprecedented triple-dip recession being called ... With the manufacturing index also in expansion territory, despite bad weather having provided some disruption, it looks more likely that the UK will post a modestly positive GDP reading for Q1 2013. Nonetheless, the data is volatile and confidence is fragile. While there is little prospect of any monetary policy change this week from the Bank of England, heightened euro zone worries and possible spending sequestration in the US could prompt a deterioration in the UK's growth prospects. As a result we still feel there will be more stimulus to come from the BoE."

VICTORIA CLARKE, INVESTEC

"It's something of a relief after December's contractionary reading. It looks now like December was much of a blip and coupled with the manufacturing PMI that we've have already, it does suggest the UK economy has started growing again in January which is certainly good news for all those fearing a triple-dip recession in the UK.

"I think it will give (the Monetary Policy Committee) enough reassurance to sit tight on policy. Had it been a very weak reading again then they may have had a more serious debate about whether to ease policy this time around. But this suggests that the December reading was a blip and again suggests that whilst Q4 GDP was weak, that is going to be reversed in Q1 with some growth seen."

CHRIS WILLIAMSON, MARKIT:

"A huge sigh of relief accompanies these numbers, as a return to growth of the service sector in January greatly reduces the likelihood of the UK falling back into a 'triple-dip' recession.

"Although construction remains a worry and continues to contract, the PMIs collectively point to the UK growing marginally again in January.

"Stronger growth would inevitably have been recorded had the country not suffered the heavy snowfall, suggesting the underlying trend is even stronger than these numbers indicate.

"The (service) sector looks to be on a renewed upswing which should help the economy grow again in the first quarter."

(Reporting by Olesya Dmitracova, Li-mei Hoang and Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/instant-view-uk-sector-grows-unexpectedly-january-094427731--business.html

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Dell's Officially a Private Company. What Now?

After what seemed like ages of hints and feints, Dell has finally, officially gone private. It's now in the hands of its founder, Michael Dell, with a financial assist from private equity firm Silver Lake and PC enthusiast Microsoft. Will it be enough to make the company—and more specifically, its products—relevant again? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/66qnpp3MyRI/dells-officially-a-private-company-what-now

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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Justin Bieber Raps About Penises, Pellegrino

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Monday, February 4, 2013

Ala. town mourns for bus driver amid standoff

In this undated photo released by the Dale County Board of Education, bus driver Charles Albert Poland, Jr., is shown. A standoff in rural Alabama went into a second full day Thursday as police surrounded an underground bunker where a retired truck driver was holding a 5-year-old hostage he grabbed off a school bus after shooting Poland, the driver dead. Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect the 21 students aboard the bus. (AP Photo/ Dale County Board of Education)

People pay their respects to Charles Albert "Chuck" Poland, the 66 year old bus driver who gave his life to save the children on his bus, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 in Slocumb, Ala. As the police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury, Poland, the beloved bus driver who was shot to death trying to protect children on his bus when the episode began days earlier (AP Photo/AL.com, Joe Songer) MAGS OUT

Law enforcement personnel wait outside the funeral home as people pay their respects to Charles Albert "Chuck" Poland, the 66 year old bus driver who gave his life to save the children on his bus, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013 in Slocumb, Ala. As the police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury, Poland, the beloved bus driver who was shot to death trying to protect children on his bus when the episode began days earlier (AP Photo/AL.com, Joe Songer) MAGS OUT

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) ? The Alabama bus driver slain at the beginning of a multi-day hostage drama was known for his acts of kindness, from fixing someone's tractor to tilling the garden of a neighbor who had a heart attack.

Charles Albert Poland, Jr., was mourned by hundreds who gathered at a funeral home not far from the underground bunker where police say an Alabama man was still holding a 5-year-old boy early Sunday. Friends remembered Poland as a humble hero who gave his life to protect the children on the bus ? and someone who went out of his way to help neighbors.

"You don't owe me anything," Poland, of Newton, once told a recipient of his good deed. "You're my neighbor."

The 66-year-old Poland was driving a school bus carrying 21 children last Tuesday when an armed man boarded the bus and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. Poland tried to block his way, so the gunman shot him several times and abducted a 5-year-old boy ? who police say remains in an underground bunker with the suspect, identified as 65-year-old Jim Lee Dykes.

William Lisenby, a school bus driver who also taught Sunday School with Poland, was flanked by other area bus drivers as he arrived at Saturday night's viewing. Lisenby spoke in Biblical terms when referring to Poland, whose funeral is Sunday afternoon.

"If you'll notice the similarities there, of what Chuck did was the same thing that Jesus Christ did. These children, even though they were not Chuck's, he laid down his life to defend those children. My hat's off to him for that," he said.

Dykes is a Vietnam-era veteran described by some neighbors as a menacing figure with anti-government views. Neighbors said Dykes built the bunker on his rural property, and police have been communicating with Dykes through a ventilation pipe into the bunker.

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson told reporters Saturday that Dykes has told them he has blankets and an electric heater in the bunker. Authorities have been conferring in a nearby church.

Olson also said Dykes has allowed police to deliver coloring books, medication and toys for the boy.

"I want to thank him for taking care of our boy," Olson said. "That's very important."

The shooting and abduction took place in Midland City, a small town near Dothan, Ala., in the state's southeastern corner.

Newton is about three miles away, a small hamlet with fewer than 2,000 residents. It sits amid cotton farms and rolling hills sprinkled with red earth; most of the residents commute to Dothan or to a nearby Army post. And many knew Poland.

"He's probably the nicest guy you'll ever meet," said Lonnie Daniels, the 69-year-old owner of the NAPA Auto Parts store, one of three establishments in town that was open Saturday.

Daniels said Poland had been married to his wife for 43 years. Poland was from Idaho, but his wife was from Newton. The couple lived there for decades in a small mobile home, and Poland enjoyed gardening and clearing brush from his property.

"I knew that he was always there if I needed," said Daniels, adding that Poland was an excellent mechanic with an array of tools that he lent to people in town.

Skipper said Poland and his wife would often sit on their porch, drinking coffee, praying and reading the Bible.

"They loved to be together," Skipper said.

On Saturday morning, Poland's wife wasn't home. A rack of worn trucker's caps sat on hooks on the porch, and two freshly baked pies were laid atop a cooler.

The victim's son, Aaron Poland, told NBC News that he wasn't surprised by his father's final act, trying to protect a bus full of kids.

"He considered them his children," Poland said, choking back tears. "And I know that's the reason why my dad took those shots, for his children, just like he would do for me and my sister."

As Newton grieves, residents are praying for the safe return of the boy being held hostage.

"The community is real concerned," said Fred McNab, mayor of Pinckard, Ala. "You can tell by the food that's been carried over there to the church. It's just devastating. We want it to come to a resolution. We want to save that little child."

Police have used the pipe for communication and to deliver the boy medication for his emotional disorders. State Rep. Steve Clouse, who visited the boy's mother, said the boy has Asperger's syndrome ? a mild form of autism ? and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

But police have not revealed how often they are in touch or what the conversations have been about.

Local officials who have spoken to police or the boy's family have described a small room with food, electricity and a TV.

Sheriff Olson would not say Saturday whether Dykes has made any demands. Olson added that he is limited in the details he can release.

Dykes had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges he shot at his neighbors in a dispute last month over a speed bump.

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington; Tamara Lush and Phillip Rawls in Midland City; Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala., and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-03-School%20Bus%20Driver%20Shot/id-89d841e7b612435ab47736fdb848f9cb

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Into the quantum Internet at the speed of light

Feb. 4, 2013 ? Not only do optical fibers transmit information every day around the world at the speed of light, but they can also be harnessed for the transport of quantum information. In the current issue of Nature Photonics, a research team of Innsbruck physicists led by Rainer Blatt and Tracy Northup report how they have directly transferred the quantum information stored in an atom onto a particle of light. Such information could then be sent over optical fiber to a distant atom.

Thanks to the strange laws of quantum mechanics, quantum computers would be able to carry out certain computational tasks much faster than conventional computers. Among the most promising technologies for the construction of a quantum computer are systems of single atoms, confined in so-called ion traps and manipulated with lasers. In the laboratory, these systems have already been used to test key building blocks of a future quantum computer. "Currently, we can carry out successful quantum computations with atoms," explain Andreas Stute and Bernardo Casabone, both PhD students at the University of Innsbruck's Institute for Experimental Physics. "But we are still missing viable interfaces with which quantum information can be transferred over optical channels from one computer to another."

What makes the construction of these interfaces especially challenging is that the laws of quantum mechanics don't allow quantum information to be simply copied. Instead, a future quantum internet -- that is, a network of quantum computers linked by optical channels -- would have to transfer quantum information onto individual particles of light, known as photons. These photons would then be transported over an optical-fiber link to a distant computing site. Now, for the first time, quantum information has been directly transferred from an atom in an ion trap onto a single photon. The work is reported in the current issue of Nature Photonics by a research team led by Tracy Northup and Rainer Blatt.

Quantum networkers

The University of Innsbruck physicists first trap a single calcium ion in an ion trap and position it between two highly reflective mirrors. "We use a laser to write the desired quantum information onto the electronic states of the atom," explains Stute. "The atom is then excited with a second laser, and as a result, it emits a photon. At this moment, we write the atom's quantum information onto the polarization state of the photon, thus mapping it onto the light particle." The photon is stored between the mirrors until it eventually flies out through one mirror, which is less reflective than the other. "The two mirrors steer the photon in a specific direction, effectively guiding it into an optical fiber," says Casabone. The quantum information stored in the photon could thus be conveyed over the optical fiber to a distant quantum computer, where the same technique could be applied in reverse to write it back onto an atom.

Support for this research was provided by the Austrian Science Funds and by the European Union.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Innsbruck.

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

Journal Reference:

A. Stute, B. Casabone, B. Brandst?tter, K. Friebe, T. E. Northup, R. Blatt. Quantum-state transfer from an ion to a photon. Nature Photonics, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NPHOTON.2012.358

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/upzW0IicBvI/130204094602.htm

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Real Racing 3 shows off its unique Time Shifted Multiplayer gaming feature

Firemonkeys, the development team behind the Real Racing franchise have just updated fans with another of their Developer Diaries. The third Developer Diary takes a detailed look at Time Shifted Multiplayer gaming which is a unique feature of this particular game. Not only can you see it in action, you also get a nice feel for how impressive this title is going to be when it finally arrives.

The Firemonkeys discuss a revolutionary new way to play with friends using Time Shifted Multiplayer technology in the third developer diary for Real Racing 3.

With Real Racing 3's Time Shifted Multiplayer (TSM) you can race anyone, anytime, even if they're offline! Every single career event is filled with the fully interactive AI controlled time shift doubles of your Game Center or Facebook friends, as well as other players from around the world.

The last we heard, Real Racing 3 was due to hit the App Store sometime in February. If that is still the case we won?t have to wait much longer to get our hands on it. I am sure you will agree Real Racing 3 looks like becoming the best racing game for iPhone and iPad. I can?t wait to get hold of it.

Source: YouTube