ISTANBUL (AP) — Police in southeastern Turkey fired tear gas at a crowd of demonstrators who were protesting the construction of a wall between Turkey and Syria.
The mayor of the border town of Nusaybin started a hunger strike Thursday in an effort to stop the development. Her actions prompted support from hundreds of locals who gathered at the site to protest the wall between Nusaybin and Qamishli in northern Syria.
Riot police intervened with tear gas to disperse the crowd. They also sprayed pressurized water into Syria to disperse children who threw objects across the border.
Turkey's interior minister has said the structure is intended to protect citizens because of mines in the area.
The border area is heavily populated by Kurds, many with families on both sides of the frontier.
Android KitKat was just announced yesterday, and both carriers and manufacturers are already promising to roll it out as soon as possible. You don't have to sit around and wait though, you can get some of KitKat's newest and best features for the phone you already have, right now. Here's how.
FILE - This Sept. 10, 2013 file photo shows actor Ewan McGregor at the press conference for "August: Osage County" at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto. McGregor will make his Broadway debut next year in a revival of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing.” Roundabout Theatre Company said Thursday McGregor will play the unhappily married Henry in the play under the direction of Sam Gold. Previews begin next October at the American Airlines Theatre. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - This Sept. 10, 2013 file photo shows actor Ewan McGregor at the press conference for "August: Osage County" at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto. McGregor will make his Broadway debut next year in a revival of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing.” Roundabout Theatre Company said Thursday McGregor will play the unhappily married Henry in the play under the direction of Sam Gold. Previews begin next October at the American Airlines Theatre. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — "Star Wars" and "Trainspotting" star Ewan McGregor will make his Broadway debut next year in a revival of Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing."
Roundabout Theatre Company said Thursday that McGregor will play the unhappily married Henry in the play under the direction of Sam Gold. Previews begin next October at the American Airlines Theatre.
McGregor was last seen on the stage in 2008 in London starring as Iago (ee-AY'-goh) opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor's (CHOO'-ih-tel EHJ'-ee-oh-fohrz) Othello at the Donmar Warehouse. He also starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of "Guys and Dolls" at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.
McGregor will be seen next in John Wells' film adaptation of Tracy Letts' Pulitzer- and Tony-winning play "August: Osage County" opposite Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
The world’s first billionaire and by some measures the richest person in history, John D. Rockefeller, was once asked how much money was enough. He replied, “Just a little bit more.” Today’s most ambitious and innovative hundred-millionaires must know the feeling: You may be unimaginably rich to most, but hitting the billion-dollar mark—as Ev Williams will thanks to the Twitter IPO, and as Michael Kors likely has with the recent surge of his company stock—is an abracadabra moment. Over the next three weeks, Slate will pinpoint the places and industries where the next greatest entrepreneurs are most likely to cross that 10-figure benchmark in the near future.
Slate’s Moneybox columnist Matthew Yglesias begins by pondering why Sweden, bastion of Scandinavian socialism, outranks the United States, champion of no-holds-barred capitalism, in billionaires per capita. Future Tense lead blogger Will Oremus will profile Lyndon Rive, co-founder and CEO of pioneering clean-energy firm SolarCity. (Wildly successful entrepreneurship may run in Rive’s blood: His cousin is Tesla’s Elon Musk.) Brian Palmer, Slate’s resident Explainer, will consider whether or not the ability to manipulate humans’ gut flora—to make people thinner or healthier or able to digest wheat gluten—might mint a billionaire or two. Elsewhere we’ll explore industries from nanotechnology to geoengineering to fashion and—at the risk of getting ahead of ourselves—speculate on when we might ever see the world’s first trillionaire.
John D. Rockefeller also once said, “The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.” That may be sound investment advice, but rest assured that this series will be light on graphic violence.
We may compare Panasonic to the character of Michael Myers way too often, but this Halloween the analogy is particularly relevant given news the company is officially killing plasma TV production. Manufacturing of plasma panels will end in December this year, earlier than the most recent rumor ...
UTSA researchers develop prototype football kicking simulator
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: KC Gonzalez kc.gonzalez@utsa.edu 210-458-7555 University of Texas at San Antonio
National Science Foundation-funded project aids football kickers through virtual training system
In football, kicking is a fundamental and vital part of the game. The few points a kicker scores can make a critical difference in the outcome of a game. To help improve a football kicker's performance, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) mechanical and bioengineering professor Yusheng Feng and seven students have developed the prototype components for a football kicking simulator designed to be a real-time training tool.
Sponsored by the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT) with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Football Kicking Simulation & Human Performance Assessment is a virtual training system that uses real-time wireless feedback and computer sensing to measure football kicking mechanics data. It gives a kicker the ability to practice either on or off the field and receive the same kind of attention to detail he would experience at a training camp. Moreover, the quantitative data collected from the football dynamics and kicker's body motion can not only be used to predict the accuracy of a kick, but also give feedback to maximize the kicking power while mitigating the risk of injury.
In particular, the prototype provides quantifiable measures to improve a football kicker's consistency and reliability by:
Predicting the football's trajectory, incorporating real life factors such as drag, lift and wind factor
Sensing the pressure of the planted foot and angle of contact
Capturing the body motion of legs and joints through high speed cameras and video tracking
Displaying a realistic stadium environment by providing 3D visualization and surrounding sound
Providing dynamic and kinesiological analyses and simulations for coaches and players to design player-specific training programs
UTSA mechanical engineering undergraduate students Alyssa Schaefbauer, Cole Meyers, Jacob Kantor and Michael Lasch, kinesiology undergraduate student Ekow Acquaah, along with electrical and computer engineering graduate student Aaron Stout and computer science graduate student Ehren Biglari, have been developing and testing the virtual training system under the mentorship of Feng since February 2012.
"What sets our product apart from other kicking simulations is that we are using computer sensing and mathematical models to predict the football trajectory along with various training tools. It was designed specifically to be used for training rather than a form of entertainment, and it will be affordable," said Schaefbauer, the student team leader.
The group has been working with UTSA Football place-kicker Sean Ianno and assistant coach Perry Eliano to test the simulator and make necessary adjustments for ideal training. In order to consider the human factors in training and coaching, they are also incorporating feedback from faculty members in the UTSA Department of Health and Kinesiology.
"The simulator is an awesome idea. Although it is not a finished product yet, it has the potential to be on the cutting edge of technology and quite possibly could revolutionize how kickers train," said Ianno.
"The kicking simulator is an incredible project and something I believe can be very beneficial not only for our kickers, but for kickers across the country," stated Eliano. "I'm really humbled and thankful that the College of Engineering and their students who worked their tails off on this project chose us to be a part of it."
The research team has published two papers that were presented at the International Workshop on Computer Science in Sports and the Society for Modeling and Simulation International conference this summer.
"The football kicking simulator is a perfect example of how engineering and science can make improvements beyond the scientific arena, such as football, that are of interest to the greater community," said Feng. "It has been exciting to see these students develop into fine researchers who are determined to make a difference in society."
The research team has filed a patent application for the technology through the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation and the team hopes to make the simulator commercially available for coaches and football teams to use as a training tool.
###
Established in August 2009 as a result of a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction is a computation and visualization center that integrates high-performance computing into its activities which include imaging, visualization, modeling and simulation to help faculty and student researchers investigate structural reliability, particle flow, nanotechnology, biomechanics, computational neuroscience and cancer treatment simulation.
The SiViRT Center aims to shape UTSA's research environment by creating and supporting first-hand collaborative research and design experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students year-round. It is an interdisciplinary research center where students can apply their knowledge through teamwork. Learn more about the SiViRT Center at http://www.sivirt.utsa.edu.
For further information regarding the licensing of this or any UTSA technology, contact the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation at oci@utsa.edu or call (210) 458-6963.
Connect online with UTSA at http://www.utsa.edu, http://www.facebook.com/utsa, http://www.twitter.com/utsa or http://www.youtube.com/utsa.
About UTSA
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is an emerging Tier One research institution specializing in health, energy, security, sustainability, and human and social development. With nearly 29,000 students, it is the largest university in the San Antonio metropolitan region. UTSA advances knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. The university embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property for Texas, the nation and the world.
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UTSA researchers develop prototype football kicking simulator
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: KC Gonzalez kc.gonzalez@utsa.edu 210-458-7555 University of Texas at San Antonio
National Science Foundation-funded project aids football kickers through virtual training system
In football, kicking is a fundamental and vital part of the game. The few points a kicker scores can make a critical difference in the outcome of a game. To help improve a football kicker's performance, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) mechanical and bioengineering professor Yusheng Feng and seven students have developed the prototype components for a football kicking simulator designed to be a real-time training tool.
Sponsored by the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction (SiViRT) with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Football Kicking Simulation & Human Performance Assessment is a virtual training system that uses real-time wireless feedback and computer sensing to measure football kicking mechanics data. It gives a kicker the ability to practice either on or off the field and receive the same kind of attention to detail he would experience at a training camp. Moreover, the quantitative data collected from the football dynamics and kicker's body motion can not only be used to predict the accuracy of a kick, but also give feedback to maximize the kicking power while mitigating the risk of injury.
In particular, the prototype provides quantifiable measures to improve a football kicker's consistency and reliability by:
Predicting the football's trajectory, incorporating real life factors such as drag, lift and wind factor
Sensing the pressure of the planted foot and angle of contact
Capturing the body motion of legs and joints through high speed cameras and video tracking
Displaying a realistic stadium environment by providing 3D visualization and surrounding sound
Providing dynamic and kinesiological analyses and simulations for coaches and players to design player-specific training programs
UTSA mechanical engineering undergraduate students Alyssa Schaefbauer, Cole Meyers, Jacob Kantor and Michael Lasch, kinesiology undergraduate student Ekow Acquaah, along with electrical and computer engineering graduate student Aaron Stout and computer science graduate student Ehren Biglari, have been developing and testing the virtual training system under the mentorship of Feng since February 2012.
"What sets our product apart from other kicking simulations is that we are using computer sensing and mathematical models to predict the football trajectory along with various training tools. It was designed specifically to be used for training rather than a form of entertainment, and it will be affordable," said Schaefbauer, the student team leader.
The group has been working with UTSA Football place-kicker Sean Ianno and assistant coach Perry Eliano to test the simulator and make necessary adjustments for ideal training. In order to consider the human factors in training and coaching, they are also incorporating feedback from faculty members in the UTSA Department of Health and Kinesiology.
"The simulator is an awesome idea. Although it is not a finished product yet, it has the potential to be on the cutting edge of technology and quite possibly could revolutionize how kickers train," said Ianno.
"The kicking simulator is an incredible project and something I believe can be very beneficial not only for our kickers, but for kickers across the country," stated Eliano. "I'm really humbled and thankful that the College of Engineering and their students who worked their tails off on this project chose us to be a part of it."
The research team has published two papers that were presented at the International Workshop on Computer Science in Sports and the Society for Modeling and Simulation International conference this summer.
"The football kicking simulator is a perfect example of how engineering and science can make improvements beyond the scientific arena, such as football, that are of interest to the greater community," said Feng. "It has been exciting to see these students develop into fine researchers who are determined to make a difference in society."
The research team has filed a patent application for the technology through the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation and the team hopes to make the simulator commercially available for coaches and football teams to use as a training tool.
###
Established in August 2009 as a result of a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the UTSA Center for Simulation, Visualization and Real-Time Prediction is a computation and visualization center that integrates high-performance computing into its activities which include imaging, visualization, modeling and simulation to help faculty and student researchers investigate structural reliability, particle flow, nanotechnology, biomechanics, computational neuroscience and cancer treatment simulation.
The SiViRT Center aims to shape UTSA's research environment by creating and supporting first-hand collaborative research and design experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students year-round. It is an interdisciplinary research center where students can apply their knowledge through teamwork. Learn more about the SiViRT Center at http://www.sivirt.utsa.edu.
For further information regarding the licensing of this or any UTSA technology, contact the UTSA Office of Commercialization and Innovation at oci@utsa.edu or call (210) 458-6963.
Connect online with UTSA at http://www.utsa.edu, http://www.facebook.com/utsa, http://www.twitter.com/utsa or http://www.youtube.com/utsa.
About UTSA
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is an emerging Tier One research institution specializing in health, energy, security, sustainability, and human and social development. With nearly 29,000 students, it is the largest university in the San Antonio metropolitan region. UTSA advances knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. The university embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property for Texas, the nation and the world.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The cell phone wars are heating up, thanks to a new offer from AT&T and Samsung. The deal: Buy a qualifying Samsung phone and sign up for a new contract from AT&T, and the network will give you a free Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 as a bonus.
There are more than a few little details to consider should you find this deal enticing. The biggest is that you'll have to add that Galaxy Tab 3 to your new AT&T Mobile Share data plan at a price of $10 a month extra. You'll have to commit for the standard two years, or sign up for AT&T Next, an installment plan which provides you with yearly device upgrades to your phone without additional expense. Trade-ins on your current handset are also available if you upgrade to the Next plan.
The list of supported phones eligible for the free tablet offer includes the Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Active, Galaxy Note 3, and Galaxy Note 3. Better get in on the deal quickly: The program is set to end on January 9, 2014.
The move is the latest in an effort from AT&T to maintain its competitiveness in the mobile phone market with archrival Verizon Wireless. In recent months AT&T has seen its market share slip, from 28.5 percent of the market in summer 2012 to 21.7 percent at the end of August 2013. Meanwhile Verizon has surged from a 30.2 percent share to a whopping 37.1 percent over the same time frame.
In addition to experimenting with device add-ons like this, AT&T has been finalizing the rollout of its 4G LTE footprint nationally. Most recently it added 4G coverage to six small markets, including Redding, Calif. and Watertown-Fort Atkinson, Wisc. The company's full coverage map now spans 447 markets and offers service to 250 million people, with a full 300 million consumers planned to be encompassed by AT&T's 4G service by the end of 2014.
On the other side of the fence, Verizon has been focused primarily on enhancing its 4G performance, most recently showcasing an 80Mbps download speed over the new spectrum it recently acquired. While AT&T has been wearing the speed crown for at least the last year, that title could soon be changing hands if -- and when -- Verizon's zippy performance upgrades are rolled out commercially and on a national scale.
[ This sponsored article was written by IDG Creative Lab, a partner of PCWorld. ]
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We may compare Panasonic to the character of Michael Myers way too often, but this Halloween the analogy is particularly relevant given news the company is officially killing plasma TV production. Manufacturing of plasma panels will end in December this year, earlier than the most recent rumor ...
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