It's been eight years and nine days since Microsoft showed the world the Xbox 360 on May 12th, 2005. Today, we see what's next. The Xbox One.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Greying China taps rural elderly to care for those even older
By Li Hui and Maxim Duncan
QIANTUN, China (Reuters) - Two years short of 70, Zhang Guosheng spends his days caring for an 81-year-old fellow villager - washing his clothes, bringing meals to his bed, and keeping him company - a routine he'll keep up until he himself needs the type of care he is now giving.
"Living here is better than staying at home alone. We help each other and have a common language," said the spritely Zhang, an enthusiastic dancer. "We are very happy here."
With younger villagers who would traditionally have looked after their parents and grandparents flocking to the booming cities to seek work as part of Beijing's urbanization drive, Qiantun village in northern China's Hebei province has had to pioneer a new model - the old looking after the even older.
Surrounded by green wheat fields that stretch across a flat plain, Qiantun is unremarkable among countless rural Chinese communities, but its old-age care model is now a prototype cited by central government as a solution to the daunting challenge of caring for a vast and rapidly greying rural population.
One of every four Chinese will be older than 60 by 2030, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Massive rural-to-urban migration will further strain the rural areas' ability to provide care for the elderly, as personal savings and family support remain the primary pillars of old-age care.
"Migrants to urban areas are mainly young adults, leaving mostly the elderly in villages with children," said Wang Dewen, an expert with the World Bank's Beijing office. "The formal eldercare system in rural areas is very weak, and basically a blank spot in many places."
As a result, the gap between the number of elderly in rural and urban areas is expected to balloon over the next 15 years, to 11 percentage points from today's 1.24 percentage points, the ministry projects.
The costs of caring for China's rapidly expanding elderly population are likely to be too heavy a burden for the government, forcing Beijing to find cost-effective and creative ways to provide care in myriad localities. The self-help model practiced among the 1,500 residents of Qiantun offers a cheaper and streamlined alternative to a state-run system.
More than 95 percent of China's rural elderly still adhere to the traditional practice of seeking old-age care within their families, Wang said. But families are no longer able to cope, with youth and even middle-aged people heading to cities to find work, leaving the elderly behind to fend for themselves.
THE "LIGHT" OF FEIXIANG
In their search for affordable eldercare models, Beijing's leaders have turned their attention 450 km (280 miles) to the south in Hebei's Feixiang county, where Qiantun lies. The practice of old people taking care of each other posed a simple and attractive solution.
Labeled "mutual assist eldercare", the Feixiang model is set to be expanded to the rest of rural China, with 3 billion yuan ($490 million) set aside by the central government to get it started over the coming three years.
"The light of Feixiang will shine across China," Li Liguo, minister of civil affairs, declared enthusiastically during a trip to Feixiang in 2011. "Feixiang has set an example for the whole country."
But not everyone is as optimistic about the model.
"As people get older, they don't tend to get healthier. So if you have somebody in their sixties caring for somebody in their nineties, are they going to be able, and trained and strong enough themselves to care for somebody who has chronic conditions?" said Tony Buccheri, a manager with Right at Home International, a U.S.-based senior home care provider that offers services in China through a partner.
Buccheri's concern echoes that of Cai Qingyang, pioneer of the model and Qiantun's village chief.
"Old people with critical illnesses need more than the very basic care provided here, and we will have to think of other ways to care for them," said the 61 year-old former soldier Cai, watching several old villagers dancing in the yard.
"But this really is the only feasible way given the local elder care situation. The village and the government simply can't afford proper institutional care for every aged rural resident," Cai added.
In 2008, Cai sought to do something about the lack of care for rural elderly left behind as young adults sought better paying work in cities. He turned an abandoned brick house into an old-age home, where 25 elderly villagers moved into 11 rooms, keeping each other company, sharing meals, as well as farming and doing housework.
His innovation has thrived under state support and more than a dozen other provinces have replicated the model.
OLD BEFORE RICH
What separates China's ageing pattern from that in other Asian societies such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore is that the country is still relatively poor on a per capita basis. The phrase "getting old before rich" reflects the fact that even though China's economic growth remains robust, its demographics work against it.
Those in the emerging middle class have more options among at-home care providers, and public as well as private senior homes, and are more likely to find them affordable.
The rural elderly have fewer resources and fewer choices, while youth migration patterns unstitch the traditional family safety net. And despite years of efforts by China's leaders, the income gap between urban and rural residents has increased. A report published by the World Bank last year noted that rural elderly have "remained consistently poorer than the urban elderly over time".
Nor is that likely to change. Two-thirds of elderly Chinese currently live in rural areas, and although migration patterns cloud demographic estimates, many demographers believe the majority of China's elderly will remain in the countryside.
To meet the challenge, says the World Bank's Wang, China must make its urbanization an equalizer of basic social services for urban and rural residents. To do that, he adds, it must reform the household registration system that ties social services to people's registered home, to facilitate family migration to cities and receive care there.
But in the short term, rural areas such as Qiantun, which has three times as many elderly residents as young adults, can only make do with the resources they have. The government provides 600 yuan ($97.68) a year in subsidies for each of the 30 elderly Qiantun villagers at the centre. Their average age is 75.
By contrast, offering professional care at an old-age care institution would cost a minimum of ten times as much, 6,000 yuan a year, according to government estimates, offset by a mere 120 yuan annual subsidy from the government.
At the Qiantun villager centre, "old" Zhang, as he is known, talks about the future as he brings a bowl of dumplings and medicine to the bedside of his charge, bedridden by a broken thigh bone.
"He can't move around now, I help him," said a still spry Zhang. "When I can't move, someone will also care for me."
($1 = 6.1428 Chinese yuan)
(Editing by Ben Blanchard and Ian Geoghegan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greying-china-taps-rural-elderly-care-those-even-041855642.html
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Russia's Karjakin wins Norway chess tournament
STAVANGER, Norway (AP) ? Russia's Sergey Karjakin won the ?100,000 ($130,000) Norway chess championship on Saturday after drawing against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
Karjakin needed only a draw against Topalov to take the top prize after the world No. 1 player Magnus Carlsen failed to win against Levon Aronian from Armenia, ranked No. 2.
Karjakin led the nine-day tournament from the beginning, winning his first four games and starting the day on 5.5 points, half a point ahead of Carlsen. He took over five hours to secure the draw.
Playing white, Karjakin handed an early initiative to his opponent with a passive bishop move to e3, giving Topalov hope of a first victory in this tournament.
"I got into a bad position, but I knew if I could get a draw I was in with a good chance of winning," Karjakin said. "O.K. I didn't play very well here today, but I thought that I would still have huge chances for first place."
There had been high hopes for Carlsen, playing on home ground, but the 22-year-old Norwegian said he had not played his best chess since the event began here on May 7.
"I think my play was a little off. In general, the positions I got from white openings weren't that bad. I just made some mistakes later on," Calsen said. "Karjakin deserves to win."
Carlsen faces India's five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand in November in the holder's home town of Chennai.
The pair met earlier in the tournament, neither securing a victory which would have handed one of them the psychological advantage going into the final few months of their preparation.
The Norway tournament attracted eight of the world's top 10 players.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russias-karjakin-wins-norway-chess-tournament-185426958.html
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Ex-Pa. officer once hailed as hero faces charges
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A former Philadelphia police officer once hailed as a hero and given a seat next to the first lady at a speech by President Obama has been arrested and charged with rape and other crimes.
Authorities allege that former officer Richard DeCoatsworth left a party with two females early Thursday and took them to another location, where they allege that he produced a handgun and "forced the two females to engage in the use of narcotics and sexual acts."
A police spokeswoman said the two called police after he left, and 27-year-old DeCoatsworth was charged with rape, sexual assault, terroristic threats and related offenses.
DeCoatsworth was hailed as a hero after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop in September 2007 but still managed to chase after his attacker, who was later sentenced to 36 to 72 years in prison.
DeCoatsworth was invited by Vice President Joe Biden to attend the president's televised February 2009 address to Congress and sat with first lady Michelle Obama. He said he didn't know why he had been singled out, but being in the presence of the nation's leaders was an honor "that I will keep with me for the rest of my life."
WCAU-TV, which first reported his arrest, said DeCoatsworth retired from the department on disability in December 2011.
Police said no other information on the alleged attack would be released Saturday to protect the victims and the integrity of the ongoing investigation. Authorities declined to say give even general locations for the party and alleged crime scene and also wouldn't say when DeCoatsworth was arrested.
A listed number for DeCoatsworth has been disconnected and it was unclear whether he had an attorney.
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a Philadelphia Daily News columnist in February of last year that he believed he had made a mistake in granting the former officer's request to go back to work too soon after he was shot.
"God bless him for still wanting to get out there and do police work, but did I act in his best interest? In hindsight, I would say probably not," Ramsey told columnist Sty Bykofsky.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-pa-officer-once-hailed-hero-faces-charges-181200222.html
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Saturday, May 18, 2013
NM mom: I followed instincts in chasing abductor
Melissa Torrez, 27, holds her 4-year-old daughter in her apartment in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday, May 17, 2013. Torrez chased down a man for miles and ran into his car Wednesday, May 15, after he abducted her daughter. She told The Associated Press her ?mother's instincts? kicked in when she launched her chase. Police later arrested 31-year-old David Hernandez and charged him with kidnapping and child abuse. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)
Melissa Torrez, 27, holds her 4-year-old daughter in her apartment in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday, May 17, 2013. Torrez chased down a man for miles and ran into his car Wednesday, May 15, after he abducted her daughter. She told The Associated Press her ?mother's instincts? kicked in when she launched her chase. Police later arrested 31-year-old David Hernandez and charged him with kidnapping and child abuse. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)
This undated photo provided by the Albuquerque police department shows David Hernandez, 31, who was arrested Thursday, May 16, 2013 on kidnapping charges. Police say a mother whose 4-year-old daughter was being abducted from an Albuquerque, N.M. apartment complex chased Hernandez on Wednesday and crashed her vehicle into his car, triggering a manhunt. The 4-year-old was found later, uninjured, police said. (AP Photo/Courtesy Albuquerque Police Department)
Melissa Torrez, 27, holds her 4-year-old daughter in her apartment in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday, May 17, 2013. Torrez chased down a man for miles and ran into his car Wednesday, May 15, after he abducted her daughter. She told The Associated Press her ?mother's instincts? kicked in when she launched her chase. Police later arrested 31-year-old David Hernandez and charged him with kidnapping and child abuse. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)
This undated photo provided by the Albuquerque police department shows David Hernandez, 31, who was arrested Thursday, May 16, 2013 on kidnapping charges. Police say a mother whose 4-year-old daughter was being abducted from an Albuquerque, N.M. apartment complex chased Hernandez on Wednesday and crashed her vehicle into his car, triggering a manhunt. The 4-year-old was found later, uninjured, police said. (AP Photo/Courtesy Albuquerque Police Department)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? Melissa Torrez didn't even think when teenagers in her apartment complex said a man had just grabbed her 4-year-old girl and drove away.
She jumped in her car and began chasing the brown Buick through traffic, zigzagging on Interstate 40 at high speeds and staying with the car even as it bluffed trying to exit in an attempt to lose her.
Many called Torrez a hero after her story came out Wednesday. But Torrez said Friday that she was just a mother following her instincts.
"My mind went black. I grabbed my keys," said the 27-year-old mother of three. "I just got in my car and I ... went looking for her."
Torrez said she remained only focused on getting her daughter back and quickly drove around the complex as teenagers chased the suspected abductor, later identified by police as 31-year-old David Hernandez. The teenagers pointed out his whereabouts, she said.
Torrez said she eventually found a man in a brown Buick who led her on a high-speed chase throughout Albuquerque.
"I felt like I was flying ... as if I didn't have my soul or something," she said.
The frantic mom was able to corner the man in the Buick at an apartment complex with no exit. She said as she drove toward his vehicle, she lost control of her car and struck his car.
"I wasn't trying to hit it because I thought my daughter was inside," Torrez said.
Torrez said the man got out of the car and raised his hands but took off running when police arrived. She then ran toward the car to search for her daughter but the vehicle was empty. An empty infant car seat was the only thing left.
According to a police report, Hernandez pushed the 4-year-old out of the car at the Saint Anthony's Plaza Apartment complex shortly after the abduction "presumably once he noticed Torrez had been notified and was following him."
Authorities said the child was uninjured.
Torrez said she found out that her daughter was safe when neighbors called her.
Police arrested Hernandez the next day following a massive manhunt that involved Homeland Security Investigations and the newly created multiagency called Sexual Predator and Exploitation Enforcement Detail, or SPEED, a task force aimed at finding missing and abducted children.
Hernandez was charged with kidnapping and child abuse. He told reporters Thursday he was innocent.
It was unclear if he had an attorney.
Police were also investigating a possible connection to the abduction and sexual assault of a 6-year-old from the same apartment complex last week. The suspect in that case was described as a male in a silver or gray vehicle.
Torrez said the ordeal has left her on edge. "I'm overprotective, but I'm even more overprotective now," she said. "That's my baby."
___
Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontreras.
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Google Glass rooted and hacked to run Ubuntu live at Google I/O
Today at Google I/O the company held a session entitled "Voiding your Warranty" where employees demonstrated how to root Google Glass and install Ubuntu on it. What you're seeing above is a screenshot from a laptop running a terminal window on top and showing the screencast output from Glass on the bottom -- here running the standard Android launcher instead of the familiar cards interface. The steps involve pushing some APKs (Launcher, Settings and Notepad) to the device using adb, then pairing Glass with a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad. After this, it's possible to unlock the bootloader with fastboot and flash a new boot image to gain root access. From there you have full access to Glass -- just like that! Running Ubuntu requires a couple more apps to be installed, namely Android Terminal Emulator and Complete Linux Installer. The latter lets you download and boot your favorite linux distro (Ubuntu, in this case). You're then able to use SSH or VNC to access Ubuntu running right on Glass. We captured a few screenshots of the process in our gallery. Follow the links below for more info -- just be careful not to brick your Glass okay?
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile, Google
Source: Google I/O 2013
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/aHxmS_0PPrw/
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Friday, May 17, 2013
Shug McGaughey expecting Orb to continue winning streak ... - Bettor
Shug McGaughey expecting Orb to continue winning streak ? Horseracing news
Shug McGaughey is hopeful that Orb will be able to continue his winning streak by claiming the Preakness Stakes (Grade 1) at Pimlico in the United States of America. The race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18, 2013.
At the moment, the young challenger has been given the best odds by different betting sites, which shows that he is definitely going to attract a lot of bets from the punters. However, he has not been rated as the outright favourite to succeed, which has disappointed his team to some extent.
Despite that, McGaughey is staying optimistic about the race and said, ?Obviously if I was going to pick the post, I wouldn't have picked post one. But with only nine horses in there and with a rider like Joel [Rosario], he's going to figure out what to do. He'll have him in the right spot. I'm looking forward to Saturday afternoon.?
Orb started off his career in January this year and proved to be dominant in his first ever outing. He continued delivering good results over the next few months and is currently unbeaten with four race victories to his name.
Although the young stallion has got off to a great start to his career, it will be extremely difficult for him to maintain a 100 percent winning percentage. If he manages to do so, he will be rated right up there with the likes of Frankel and Black Caviar, who remained unbeaten in their respective careers before retiring to stud.
However, the three-year-old colt will have to battle hard in the upcoming event, which has attracted some fierce competitors.
This is not a worry for McGaughey though, as he stated, ?The one post here is different than the one post at Churchill Downs. It's not going to be a concern. We've got an even-money shot in the Preakness. What more could I ask for??
The real challenge for Orb will be to weather the storm from Departing, who is quite a talented stallion and has been performing well too. Therefore, the competition will be an interesting one and the punters will have to place their bets carefully.
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