Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/screaming-arm-wrestling-girl-intense-kind-of-scary/
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Friday, May 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Older is wiser: Study shows software developers' skills improve over time
Apr. 29, 2013 ? There is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren't able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new study from North Carolina State University indicates that the knowledge and skills of programmers actually improve over time -- and that older programmers know as much (or more) than their younger peers when it comes to recent software platforms.
"We wanted to explore these perceptions of veteran programmers as being out of step with emerging technologies and see if we could determine whether older programmers are actually keeping up with changes in the field," says Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. "And we found that, in some cases, veteran programmers even have a slight edge."
The researchers looked at the profiles of more than 80,000 programmers on a site called StackOverflow, which is an online community that allows users to ask and answer programming questions. The site also allows users to rate the usefulness of other users' questions and answers. Users who are rated as asking good questions and providing good answers receive points that are reflected in their "reputation score." The higher an individual's reputation score, the more likely it is that the user has a robust understanding of programming issues.
For the first part of the study, the researchers compared the age of users with their reputation scores. They found that an individual's reputation increases with age, at least into a user's 40s. There wasn't enough data to draw meaningful conclusions for older programmers.
The researchers then looked at the number of different subjects that users asked and answered questions about, which reflects the breadth of their programming interests. The researchers found that there is a sharp decline in the number of subjects users weighed in on between the ages of 15 and 30 -- but that the range of subjects increased steadily through the programmers' 30s and into their early 50s.
Finally, the researchers evaluated the knowledge of older programmers (ages 37 and older) compared to younger programmers (younger than 37) in regard to relatively recent technologies -- meaning technologies that have been around for less than 10 years.
For two smartphone operating systems, iOS and Windows Phone 7, the veteran programmers had a significant edge in knowledge over their younger counterparts. For every other technology, from Django to Silverlight, there was no statistically significant difference between older and younger programmers.
"The data doesn't support the bias against older programmers -- if anything, just the opposite," Murphy-Hill says.
The paper, "Is Programming Knowledge Related To Age?," will be presented May 18 at the 10th Working Conference on Mining Software Repositories, sponsored by IEEE and ACM in San Francisco, Calif. Lead author of the paper is Patrick Morrison, a Ph.D. student at NC State.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/x83r5bdODrA/130429114826.htm
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Switzerland shuts the door on EU migrants: A new 'us vs. them' in Europe?
News that Switzerland is capping residence permits for Western Europeans reached the Monitor's Europe bureau chief as she was having her own intolerable immigration experience.
A cafe is seen in Zurich is seen in this photo taken April 18.
Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters/File
EnlargeThe anti-immigration class across Europe has found many new adherents as of late, especially in the most economically devastated countries, like Greece and Italy. But now these Europeans might themselves become the unwelcome migrants, at least in Switzerland.
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Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.
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As I happened to be standing in the most intolerable immigration line that I've ever faced ? more on that later ? I read on my Twitter account that the Swiss government on Wednesday announced a new policy to cap residence permits for all of Western Europe. Switzerland, which is not part of the EU but joined the Schengen bloc that allows freedom of movement of people across European borders, says that it is being overwhelmed by arrivals from across the continent, to the tune of 80,000 people each year.
So it is invoking a ?safeguard clause? it negotiated during the 1999 Schengen treaty talk, which it already implemented for eight Central and Eastern European states. Now, as of May 1, residence permits for the citizens of 17 older EU states, from Germany to Spain, will be capped at 53,700 for a year.
According to the EU Observer, the Swiss said that the million-plus EU residents who live in the country have "had a positive impact ? in particular in terms of consumer spending and on the construction industry," but that restrictions are ?needed to make immigration more acceptable to society.?
The move drew immediate criticism from Brussels. ''The measures disregard the great benefits that the free movement of persons brings to the citizens of both Switzerland and the EU,? Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, said in a statement.
Is this a new manifestation of intolerance in Europe? The levels of resentment continent-wide against the migrants from Africa and the Middle East are already clearly documented, but in the midst of crisis, is Europe even excluding Europe? And what does that mean for identity and equality moving forward?
The possibility of a new, intra-European divide struck a chord for me, as I experienced my own "us vs. them" moment in France today.
Well, more than a moment. Eight hours, in fact.
That's how long I waited in a Paris prefecture along with Moroccans, Romanians, Malians, Senegalese, Tunisians, and Peruvians ? most of us, like me, there only to get information about what we needed to have with us, only to return and stand in line again.
I got to know my fellow immigrants well as we stood outside. Some around me had been in this line before, but were told they were missing a translation, a photocopy, or any of myriad document requirements that are not posted in their totality anywhere on the Internet ? or even on the wall of the prefecture where we line up ? but rather seem to be, at least from my informal surveys today, requested at the whim of whichever officer is behind the desk. One woman was told to bring back her CV.
Some of my linemates felt the French immigration officials were being deliberately obstructionist.
?They don?t want us to get the carte de sejour,? said the Malian, referring to the permission that allows foreigners to reside in France (and, with it, the right to tap into the country?s amazing social security system).
?They do everything they can to hold us back,? said the Romanian, who was on her third trip here ? and the third day lost on her job as a cleaning woman. Today, she was told that the pay stub she brought didn?t have the minimum number of hours on it, so she needed to bring in another stub. Another lost day of productivity for this poor woman.
Regardless of the motivations, one can see the "us vs. them" motif very clearly at the prefecture. On the one side, masses desperate to get in, and feeling unwelcome all the while. And on the other side of the glass wall, a society wanting to protect a social system that is replicated in few other places in the world.
By the end of the day in the unforgiving sun, some people were clearly losing their cool, me among them. (I, an American, was more indignant about the inefficiency than most, which makes me wonder if that?s a nationality trait, but that's a subject for another time.)
?But this can?t be!? I kept saying. ?How can people waste an entire day in a line ? and for nothing! Just to come back and stand in the line again??
?Welcome to France,? said the Malian, smiling.
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S&P 500 reaches new high, led by tech
NEW YORK (AP) ? Technology companies led the stock market higher Monday, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index above the all-time closing high it reached earlier this month.
A pair of strong economic reports also encouraged investors. Wages and spending rose in the U.S. last month, and pending home sales hit their highest level in three years.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, the S&P 500 index was up 12 points at 1,594, a gain of 0.7 percent. That put the index above the record closing high of 1,593.36 it reached on April 11.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96 points to 14,808, a gain of 0.7 percent. Microsoft and IBM were among the Dow's best performers, rising 2 percent each.
Concerns about weak business spending and slower overseas sales have cast a shadow over big tech firms, said Marty Leclerc, the managing partner of Barrack Yard Advisors, an investment firm in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Revenue misses from IBM and other big tech companies have highlighted the industry's vulnerability to the world economy. But Leclerc thinks tech companies with steady revenue and plenty of cash look appealing over the long term.
Information technology stocks rose the most of the 10 industry groups in the S&P Monday, up 1.5 percent. It's the only group that remains lower over the past year, down 2 percent, versus the S&P 500's gain of 14 percent.
The Nasdaq composite rose 32 points at 3,311, a rise of 1 percent. Apple, the biggest stock in the index, rose 3.5 percent to $431.95.
The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes reached the highest level since April 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors. Back then, a tax credit for buying houses had lifted sales. Americans' spending and income both edged up last month, the government reported Monday.
Moody's and Standard & Poor's parent company McGraw-Hill surged following news that the ratings agencies settled lawsuits dating back to the financial crisis that accused them of concealing risky investments. McGraw-Hill gained 6 percent to $54.80, while Moody's jumped 10 percent to $61.02, the biggest gain in the S&P 500.
Manufacturer Eaton Corp. rose 5 percent to $61.31 after reporting that its quarterly net income jumped, beating Wall Street's estimates. The results were helped by its acquisition of Cooper Industries, an electrical equipment supplier.
In the market for government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.66 percent, close to its low for the year. That's down from 1.67 percent late Friday.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-500-reaches-high-led-tech-173611735.html
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
?Spring Training? Is an Experiment in Full-Body Art | Triangle Arts ...
PlayMakers Repertory Company and Carolina Performing Arts are presenting the world premiere of ?Spring Training,? written and performed by Universes, on April 24-28 in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre
Coming-of-age stories or the ?bildungsroman? are known for being brutally honest and intense. PlayMakers Repertory Company?s second stage series production of Spring Training is as honest and intense as a fan of the genre might expect, but it is not without its flaws.
The show features four artists presenting song and movement, interspersed with telling dramatic monologues that focus on what it means to be a minority in America, both in the changing currents of the past and in today?s not-so-different-as-one-might-expect world. ?The monologues are centered upon hispanic Ricky, young and innocent Trevor, Miss Geneva Maybell Martin, and a young hispanic girl who has lost her mother to murder. All of these characters, as the story shows, have been through life at its hardest and have lived to tell about it. While the monologues are filled with beautiful imagery?think a brown paper bag communion?poetic language, and hauntingly detailed place settings, the presentation itself falls disappointingly short.
All of the perfomers are on-book, a fact that could be understood and even overlooked if it didn?t cause noticeable stumbling and cast-confusion throughout. Furthermore, the performance?s symoblic moments, which have the potential to be poignant, would have hit harder if they weren?t so hammered in towards the end.
All of this is not to say, however, that the production doesn?t have merit. One gets the feeling that with a little more effort, the performers could have delivered a powerful message about the current state of our country, its educational system, and how we deal with one another in general. Speaking more positively, however, the artists do incorporate their entire bodies into the production. Clapping hands turn into the baking of goods that one character references, and seamless transitions abound throughout. Though beautifully written, Universes? Spring Training has a way to go before it can have the impact on viewers that the writing demands.
PlayMakers Repertory Company presents SPRING TRAINING, a world premiere by Universes at 7:30 p.m. April 27 and 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 28 in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art, 120 Country Club Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514, on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.
TICKETS: $15-$40 ($10 UNC students and $12 other students).
BOX OFFICE: 919-962-PLAY or http://www.playmakersrep.org/tickets/.
GROUP RATES (10+ tickets): 919-843-2311, gerdts@email.unc.edu, or http://www.playmakersrep.org/tickets/groupsales.aspx.
SHOW: http://www.playmakersrep.org/springtraining.
VIDEO PREVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aZWKbKXhZoo.
NEWS RELEASE: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5979/66/.
PRESENTERS:
PlayMakers Repertory Company: http://www.playmakersrep.org/.
Carolina Performing Arts: https://www.carolinaperformingarts.org/.
BLOG (PlayMakersPage to Stage): http://playmakersrep.blogspot.com/.
VENUE: http://www.playmakersrep.org/aboutus/kenan.
DIRECTIONS: http://www.playmakersrep.org/visitorinfo.
PARKING: http://playmakersrep.org/visitorinfo/currentparking.
OTHER LINKS:
Spring Training (play): http://www.universesonstage.com/page11/page49/index.html (official web page).
Universes (poet-performers): http://www.universesonstage.com/ (official website) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universes_%28poetic_theatre_ensemble%29 (Wikipedia).
Chay Yew (director): http://www.victorygardens.org/about/chayyewbio.php (Victory Gardens Theater bio) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chay_Yew (Wikipedia).
?The Rite of Spring at 100? https://www.theriteofspringat100.org/ (official website).
Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2013/04/spring-training-is-an-experiment-in-full-body-art/
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Boston victims face huge bills; donations pour in
Cost of amputating a leg? At least $20,000. Cost of an artificial leg? More than $50,000 for the most high-tech models. Cost of an amputee's rehab? Often tens of thousands of dollars more.
These are just a fraction of the medical expenses victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will face.
The mammoth price tag is probably not what patients are focusing on as they begin the long healing process. But friends and strangers are already setting up fundraisers and online crowd-funding sites, and a huge Boston city fund has already collected more than $23 million in individual and corporate donations.
No one knows yet if those donations ? plus health insurance, hospital charity funds and other sources ? will be enough to cover the bills. Few will even hazard a guess as to what the total medical bill will be for a tragedy that killed three people and wounded more than 260. At least 15 people lost limbs, and other wounds include head injuries and tissue torn apart by shrapnel.
Health insurance, as practically anyone who has ever gotten hurt or sick knows, does not always cover all costs. In the case of artificial limbs, for example, some insurance companies pay for a basic model but not a computerized one with sophisticated, lifelike joints.
Rose Bissonnette, founder of the New England Amputee Association, said that the moment she heard about the bombings, she knew immediately that her organization's services would be needed. The advocacy group helps amputees navigate things such as insurance coverage for artificial limbs.
Bissonnette shared one group member's struggle to get coverage for artificial arms as an example of the red tape some bombing victims could face. The woman "got a call from the insurance company and the person on the other end said, 'How long are you going to need the prosthetic hands?'" Bissonnette recalled.
Bissonnette herself was in a horrific car crash 16 years ago that left her with injuries similar to those facing the Boston victims. Her mangled lower left leg had to be amputated and her right ankle was partially severed. Her five-month hospital stay cost more than $250,000. Health insurance covered all her treatment, rehab and her prosthesis.
Health economist Ted Miller noted that treating just one traumatic brain injury can cost millions of dollars, and at least one survivor has that kind of injury. He also pointed out that the medical costs will include treating anxiety and post-traumatic stress ? "an issue for a whole lot more people than just people who suffered physical injuries," he said.
Adding to the tragedy's toll will be lost wages for those unable to work, including two Massachusetts brothers who each lost a leg, Miller said. They had been roofers but may have to find a new line of work.
Many survivors will also need help with expenses beyond immediate health care, including things like modifying cars for those who lost limbs or remodeling homes to accommodate wheelchairs.
Many survivors live in Massachusetts, a state that requires residents to have health insurance, "which should cover most of their required treatment," said Amie Breton, spokeswoman for Massachusetts' consumer affairs office. "The total cost of that treatment is impossible to calculate at this early stage."
Amputees may face the steepest costs, and artificial legs are the costliest. They range from about $7,200 for a basic below-the-knee model to as much as $90,000 for a high-tech microprocessor-controlled full leg, said Dr. Terrence Sheehan, chief medical officer for Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital in Rockville, Md., and medical director of the Amputee Coalition, a national advocacy group.
Legs need to be replaced every few years, or more often for very active users or those who gain or lose weight. Limb sockets need to be replaced even more often and also cost thousands of dollars each, Sheehan said.
Massachusetts is among about 20 states that require health insurers to pay for prosthetic limbs, but many plans don't cover 100 percent of those costs, Sheehan said. "Most are skimpy beyond basic prosthetics and they have not caught up with current available technology," he said.
"The insurer will use terminology such as 'not medically necessary'" to deny computerized feet or knees that can often make the patient better able to function and more comfortable and safe, Sheehan said.
Some insurers may be willing to make exceptions for the Boston blast survivors.
"We will work to ensure that financial issues/hardship will not pose a barrier to the care that affected members' need," said Sharon Torgerson, spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, one of the state's largest health insurers.
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, another big insurer, is changing its policy and will pay for some of the more expensive bionic limbs when there is a demonstrated need, said Dr. Michael Sherman, chief medical officer. He said that 15 blast survivors admitted to hospitals are Harvard Pilgrim customers and that the insurance company is discussing "whether we might absorb some of the copays and deductibles."
"This is a terrorist act, and our only thought here is about providing support," he said.
The 26 hospitals that have treated bombing victims have charity funds that will cover some of the costs, said Tim Gens, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. Some injured residents may be eligible for Massachusetts' public health funds for the uninsured or underinsured. People with huge medical bills they can't afford are eligible, regardless of income.
Gens said hospitals are still focused on treating survivors, not on costs.
"It's an extraordinary shock to so many individuals. The hospitals are working very hard to make sure that each family gets the support they need. Billing is not an issue they're addressing right now," Gens said.
At Massachusetts General Hospital, where 31 victims have gotten treatment, chief financial officer Sally Mason Boemer said bills "create a lot of stress. Our assumption is there will be sources we can tap through fundraising." Boemer added: "Now is not the time to add additional stress to patients."
Bombings survivor Heather Abbott said Thursday she has already gotten offers of help to pay for an artificial leg. The 38-year-old Newport, R.I., woman was waiting in line to get into a crowded bar when the bombs went off.
"I felt like my foot was on fire. I knew I couldn't stand up," she recalled from her hospital bed. Surgeons amputated her left leg below the knee.
A big chunk of charity money for survivors will come from One Fund Boston, established by Boston's mayor and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
The fund has gotten more than $20 million in donations. Determining who gets what is still being worked out, but victims' insurance status and place of residence won't be a factor, said Kenneth Feinberg, the fund administrator. He oversaw the 9/11 compensation fund during its first three years, distributing more than $7 billion to 5,300 families and victims.
Grass-roots fundraising efforts include online funds set up by friends and relatives of the victims.
Those victims include Roseann Sdoia, a Boston woman who was near the marathon finish line when the blasts occurred. Sdoia was hit by shrapnel, fire and a tree that became a projectile and injured her left leg, the funding site says. Her right leg had to be amputated above the knee. After several operations, Sdoia has started rehab.
"She is a fighter and her attitude is phenomenal," said her friend and former sorority sister, Christine Hart, who set up the site. More than $270,000 has been raised for Sdoia so far, money that may help pay for an artificial leg, transportation to and from rehab, and modifications to her car or home, Hart said.
The donations will help make sure "that finances are not part of the burden" she has to bear, Hart said.
Other funds have been set up in communities like Stoneham, a Boston suburb that counts at least five current or former residents among the victims. A Stoneham Strong fundraising event is set for Friday evening, with participants asked to circle the high school track to show support for the marathon victims. Hundreds are expected, said organizer Shelly MacNeill.
"The outpouring has been unbelievable," she said.
___
AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson contributed to this report.
___
Donations: http://www.onefundboston.org; http://www.gofundme.com/BelieveinBoston
____
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-victims-face-huge-bills-donations-pour-174957328.html
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