The U.S. Defense Department recently announced it will begin opening its communications networks by next February to mobile phones and tablet computers from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG)
The move may pose a threat to BlackBerry (BBRY)?s dominance at the Pentagon, which has more than 450,000 of the company?s devices. BlackBerry has lost market share to competitors and seeks to make a comeback with its new BlackBerry 10 phone. The device will go on sale in the U.S. next month.
The Pentagon said it wants employees to have the flexibility to use commercial products on its systems, including its classified network for the first time. It plans to create a military mobile applications store and hire a contractor to build a system that may eventually handle as many as 8 million devices.
?This is not simply about embracing the newest technology ?- it is about keeping the department?s workforce relevant in an era when information accessibility and cybersecurity play a critical role in mission success,? Teri Takai, the department?s chief information officer, said in a statement.
Shares of Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry fell 19 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close at $13.06.
Positive Feedback
Following the BlackBerry 10?s international release, the company has received ?outstanding feedback? from customers, David Smith, the company?s executive vice president of mobile computing, said in an e-mail.
Government workers can use BlackBerry?s new technology to keep ?sensitive information secure without compromising a great user experience,? Smith said.
Spokesmen for Cupertino, California-based Apple and Mountain View, California-based Google didn?t respond to e-mails and phone messages requesting comment.
The Pentagon has more than 600,000 mobile devices, including 470,000 BlackBerrys, 41,000 Apple products and 8,700 platforms running Google?s Android operating system, according to the statement. Many of the Apple and Android products aren?t connected to Defense Department networks except for testing.
The department uses two communications networks to exchange data such as e-mails and documents ? one for unclassified information and another for classified material. Most of the BlackBerrys work only on the unclassified network, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Damien Pickart, a spokesman at the Pentagon, said in a telephone interview.
Classified Communications
That will change with the new mobile architecture, which ?permits the use of commercial products for classified communications for the first time,? the department said in a statement.
The Air Force last year awarded a $9.36 million contract to buy as many as 18,000 Apple iPad 2s to replace the bags of paper manuals and charts carried by pilots and navigators.
While the military has relied on BlackBerrys, it has been testing the Apple and Google Android devices.
?We?re device-agnostic,? Air Force Major General Robert Wheeler said today during a press conference at the Pentagon. ?What we?re looking for is to have a family of devices? approved for use by personnel ranging from junior enlisted members to senior officials, he said.
For now, the networks will remain closed to wireless devices owned by military personnel, according to the Defense Department.
?Compelling Benefits?
The recent bring-your-own-device trend in the civilian workplace ?presents many compelling benefits,? though existing Pentagon policies and security vulnerabilities ?prevent the adoption of devices that are unapproved and procured outside of official government acquisition,? Takai said in an attachment to a memo dated Feb. 15 and released today.
The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to select a company or group of firms by early summer to develop the architecture to manage mobile devices and distribute software applications, according to John Hickey, mobility program manager at the agency.
More than 40 companies, including Falls Church, Virginia- based General Dynamics Corp. (GD), have expressed interest in the agency?s notice about the competition. The agency has also been in talks with carriers such as Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), Hickey said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Saudi Arabia for talks with Saudi and Gulf Arab officials expected to focus on the crisis in Syria and fears about Iran's nuclear program.
Kerry was meeting in Riyadh Monday with the foreign ministers of Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman as well as the Saudi crown prince and foreign minister. Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf states are believed to be involved in shipping weapons to Syrian rebels, who have yet to receive lethal aid from the West. They share deep U.S. concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and increasing assertiveness in the region.
In Riyadh, Kerry will also be meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is visiting the Saudi capital. Kerry's working lunch with Abbas comes just two weeks before he will accompany President Barack Obama to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan to explore ways of restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Kerry is in Saudi Arabia as part of his nine-nation maiden overseas trip as secretary of state. He travels next to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar before returning to Washington Wednesday.
Charlie Sheen may not seem like a person to give someone good advice, but that actor is reaching out to Lindsay Lohan and hopes to “save” the troubled actress. The “Anger Management” star thinks he can help mentor Lindsay, revealing he has a “kinship” with her. Charlie Sheen feels Lohan needs help as she gets ...
Big cats in the wild conserve their energy for hunting by sleeping for much of the day. You?ve probably noticed that your domestic cat also enjoys frequent naps. Unfortunately, chronic inactivity can lead to weight gain. Stave off boredom and help your pet stay healthy by providing plenty of toys.
Wand Toys
Many pets enjoy wand toys, which often take the form of a fishing pole device with a toy dangling on a string. You can flick the toy around the floor for your cat or prop it up so that the toy dangles in the air at all times. A variation on the wand toy is the laser toy; shine the laser on the floor and move it quickly to encourage your cat to run after it. However, be very careful to never shine the laser into your pet?s eyes.
Prey Toys
Some cats prefer toys that mimic prey, such as mice and birds. Prey toys often squeak or squawk, which can entice the pet to play with them. Experiment with different prey toys to determine your cat?s preferences. You might also need to experiment with various materials, such as fabric, faux fur, and leather.
Treat Toys
Treat toys are a great way to encourage your pet to play even when you?re not home. Treat toys are typically hollow balls, inside which you can place your cat?s favorite treats. Your cat will be encouraged to bat the toy around to try to get at the treats inside. You could also try catnip toys. Some prey toys have catnip stuffed inside, or you could fill a treat toy with loose catnip.
Homemade Toys
Some cats may shun fancy store-bought toys, but love to play with everyday household objects. Cats often enjoy climbing in and out of empty boxes and large paper bags. However, never allow your cat to play with a plastic bag, since there is a risk of suffocation. Some pets also enjoy chasing after balls made of crinkled paper.
At Paws, Whiskers & Wags in Atlanta, we understand that your beloved cat is part of your family. When it?s time to say goodbye, honor your pet with a memorial. Contact us at (678) 500-8004 to learn more about our compassionate memorials and crematory services.
Mar. 4, 2013 ? University of Chicago physicists have succeeding in creating a vortex knot -- a feat akin to tying a smoke ring into a knot. Linked and knotted vortex loops have existed in theory for more than a century, but creating them in the laboratory had previously eluded scientists.
Vortex knots should, in principle, be persistent, stable phenomena. "The unexpected thing is that they're not," said Dustin Kleckner, a postdoctoral scientist at UChicago's James Franck Institute. "They seem to break up in a particular way. They stretch themselves, which is a weird behavior."
This behavior culminates in what the UChicago researchers call "reconnection events." In these events, the loops elongate, begin to circulate in opposite directions, move toward each other and collide (the reconnection). Parts of the vortices then annihilate other parts, changing their configuration from linked or knotted into one that is unlinked or unknotted.
Kleckner and William Irvine, assistant professor in physics, report their findings on the creation and dynamics of vortex rings in Nature Physics, published online on March 3. Their work relates to deep questions in a variety of physics subfields, including turbulence, plasma physics, ordinary fluids and the more exotic superfluids. Knotted structures are thought to occur in all these phenomena but are difficult or impossible to observe.
"We look at plasma physics and turbulence every day in the sun," Irvine said, yet such phenomena pose longstanding, unsolved scientific puzzles. But knots may offer a means of untangling the complicated behavior of the electrically charged gas in plasma flows, for example, and for understanding the energy transport of complex flows in regular fluids and superfluids.
Conservation of quantities like energy and momentum are among the most important principles in physics. In many systems, the degree of "knottedness" can be represented as a precise physical quantity that also is conjectured to be conserved. "If confirmed, this would deepen our understanding of the dynamics and connections between many disparate physical fields," Irvine said. "We don't know if its true or not, but I think we can finally test this in experiment. There's actually around 50 years of theory on this subject with no clean experiments."
Colliding smoke rings
Irvine became interested in knot physics as a postdoctoral scientist at New York University after watching a smoke-ring demonstration in Washington Square Park. He wondered if he could get colliding smoke rings to become tangled. After unsuccessfully trying to make them himself he learned that others had tried before and failed.
"At some point the enthusiasm wanes and you worry about whether there's a very good reason why nobody has ever done this," Irvine said. "But sometimes going into a new field with a little naivete can be helpful."
Seeing a video of dolphins blowing air-core vortex rings convinced Irvine of the feasibility of the feat. He tried again, with Kleckner's assistance, soon upon arrival at Chicago. "Before we built the lab we had this little prep room, and we started with a little water tank," Irvine said. They tried to generate rings that would collide and then connect with each other, but the effort "failed catastrophically," Irvine said.
The duo overcame their experimental difficulties by designing and fabricating various hydrofoils (wings used in water) on a 3-D printer. They tried approximately 30 different shapes before they successfully created the desired vortices. When accelerated in a water tank at more than 100 g, hydrofoils leave behind bubble-traced vortex loops, whose dynamics the researchers recorded with a high-speed camera.
"The bubbles are a great trick because they allow you to see the core of the vortex very clearly," Irvine said.
The collaborative intellectual spirit and shared resources of the James Franck Institute also proved critical. "We wouldn't have succeeded without this sort of atmosphere," he said.
Lord Kelvin's knots
The roots of Irvine's work date back to the days of Lord Kelvin, more than a century ago. Kelvin had seen a demonstration of a vortex ring by physicist Peter Tait, and was fascinated by their elegance and stability.
"This was at the time when nobody knew what atoms were and the aether was still in fashion," Irvine said. In Kelvin's day, physicists theorized that the universe was filled with a substance known as aether, which transmitted light waves across the vacuum of space much like air transmits sound through the atmosphere. Kelvin thus proposed that atoms were vortex rings and knots in the aether, where the different types of knots formed the building blocks for the periodic table of elements.
The idea that atoms were simply knots tied in the aether eventually failed. But it failed in such an interesting way, Irvine said, that it gave birth to the fruitful study of knotted systems in mathematics and physics.
In future research, Irvine and Kleckner hope to perform some of their experiments at larger scale to investigate whether size would lend greater stability to vortex rings. They also are investigating the fine scale features of the vortices and whether "knottedness" is, or can be, conserved in fine-scale twisting of the vortex loops. "This is not something we presently know," Kleckner said.
Funding: A.P. Sloan Foundation, Packard Foundation and National Science Foundation.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Chicago. The original article was written by Steve Koppes.
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'Free play' is vital to children's healthy development, says Boston College psychologist Public release date: 4-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rosanne Pellegrini rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu Boston College
Free to learn, new book by Peter Gray
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (March 4, 2013) The importance of playcrucial for children's healthy psychological development and ability to thrive in lifeis woefully underestimated by parents and educators, according to Peter Gray, a Boston College developmental psychologist and author of the new book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life (Basic Books, March 2013: www.FreeToLearnBook.com).
"Playing with other children, away from adults, is how children learn to make their own decisions, control their emotions and impulses, see from others' perspectives, negotiate differences with others, and make friends," says Gray, an expert on the evolution of play and its vital role in child development. "In short, play is how children learn to take control of their lives."
All children are born with an innate curiosity, playfulness, sociability and deep desire to learn, but at some point after they enter school, what was once fun and engaging begins to feel forced, he explains. And, anxiety and stress levels among youths are at an all-time high: they are bogged down with homework, over-scheduled with extracurricular activities, deprived of free play, and faced with the pressures of getting into a top college.
"How did we come to the conclusion that the best way to educate students is to force them into a setting where they are bored, unhappy and anxious?" Gray asks. "Our compulsory education system features forced lessons, standardized tests, and seems specially designed to crush a child's innate and biological drives for learning." The traditional "coercive" school model, he adds, was originally developed to indoctrinate, not to promote intellectual growth.
Free to Learn outlines the difference between structured play (Little League) and free play (a pickup game of baseball) and emphasizes the need for the latter in society worldwide.
Among reasons he outlines for the disappearance of free, unstructured play: a decline in families knowing their neighbors and a rise in parents' fearing dangers to children who are not under adult supervision, which Gray says comes partly from exaggerated media reports; increased time in school, at homework and in adult-directed activities outside of school; and most significantly, a rise in the societal attitude that childhood is a time for rsum building and that free play is wasted time.
He presents scientific evidence that self-directed learning and free play permit children to realize their optimum abilities to learn, grow, and develop naturally and positively. Gray also shows how the hunter-gatherer waywhere children spend their days in mixed-age groups, engaging in self-directed play and explorationleads to the development of socially, intellectually, and emotionally healthy adults.
His book offers the less examined path, according to its publisher, "and perhaps the key to repairing our broken education systemreturning joy, fun, and excitement to learning and education through the power of play and self-directed learning and exploration."
But schools, Gray notes, aren't only to blame for the decline in playdue to parental fears, outdoor play has declined significantly in recent decades. He cites a direct correlation between the decline of play and the rise in emotional and social disorders among young people, and outlines what parents and communities can do to promote and reinstitute play in children's lives.
"I present compelling evidence that over the past 50 yearsas children's opportunities for free play and exploration have declinedthere has been a dramatic rise in anxiety, depression, and suicide in young people, who have not had the opportunity that free play provides to find meaning and joy in life."
Free to Learnwhich suggests that it's time to stop asking what's wrong with our children, and start asking what's wrong with the systemhas earned acclaim from prominent psychologists, anthropologist and evolutionary biologists.
"Peter Gray is one of the world's experts on the evolution of childhood play, and applies his encyclopedic knowledge of psychology, and his humane voice, to the pressing issue of educational reform," according to Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology and author of How the Mind Works.
Boston College Professor Peter Gray
A professor of psychology at BC for more than 40 years, in 2002 Gray retired from his position as full professor and assumed that of research professor. He is the author of Psychology, a widely-used psychology textbook, has published numerous scholarly articles on the role of play in education, and writes a blog, "Freedom to Learn," for Psychology Today magazine.
Initially motivated by his son's struggles in a structured school environment, Gray altered his professional focus to study education from a biological perspective. He frequently speaks on play and education at national conferences and university colloquia.
###
Media contact to arrange an interview with BC Professor Peter Gray:
Dori Gelb, associate publicist
Basic Books (a member of the Perseus Books Group)
212-340-8136 dori.gelb@perseusbooks.com
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
'Free play' is vital to children's healthy development, says Boston College psychologist Public release date: 4-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rosanne Pellegrini rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu Boston College
Free to learn, new book by Peter Gray
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (March 4, 2013) The importance of playcrucial for children's healthy psychological development and ability to thrive in lifeis woefully underestimated by parents and educators, according to Peter Gray, a Boston College developmental psychologist and author of the new book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life (Basic Books, March 2013: www.FreeToLearnBook.com).
"Playing with other children, away from adults, is how children learn to make their own decisions, control their emotions and impulses, see from others' perspectives, negotiate differences with others, and make friends," says Gray, an expert on the evolution of play and its vital role in child development. "In short, play is how children learn to take control of their lives."
All children are born with an innate curiosity, playfulness, sociability and deep desire to learn, but at some point after they enter school, what was once fun and engaging begins to feel forced, he explains. And, anxiety and stress levels among youths are at an all-time high: they are bogged down with homework, over-scheduled with extracurricular activities, deprived of free play, and faced with the pressures of getting into a top college.
"How did we come to the conclusion that the best way to educate students is to force them into a setting where they are bored, unhappy and anxious?" Gray asks. "Our compulsory education system features forced lessons, standardized tests, and seems specially designed to crush a child's innate and biological drives for learning." The traditional "coercive" school model, he adds, was originally developed to indoctrinate, not to promote intellectual growth.
Free to Learn outlines the difference between structured play (Little League) and free play (a pickup game of baseball) and emphasizes the need for the latter in society worldwide.
Among reasons he outlines for the disappearance of free, unstructured play: a decline in families knowing their neighbors and a rise in parents' fearing dangers to children who are not under adult supervision, which Gray says comes partly from exaggerated media reports; increased time in school, at homework and in adult-directed activities outside of school; and most significantly, a rise in the societal attitude that childhood is a time for rsum building and that free play is wasted time.
He presents scientific evidence that self-directed learning and free play permit children to realize their optimum abilities to learn, grow, and develop naturally and positively. Gray also shows how the hunter-gatherer waywhere children spend their days in mixed-age groups, engaging in self-directed play and explorationleads to the development of socially, intellectually, and emotionally healthy adults.
His book offers the less examined path, according to its publisher, "and perhaps the key to repairing our broken education systemreturning joy, fun, and excitement to learning and education through the power of play and self-directed learning and exploration."
But schools, Gray notes, aren't only to blame for the decline in playdue to parental fears, outdoor play has declined significantly in recent decades. He cites a direct correlation between the decline of play and the rise in emotional and social disorders among young people, and outlines what parents and communities can do to promote and reinstitute play in children's lives.
"I present compelling evidence that over the past 50 yearsas children's opportunities for free play and exploration have declinedthere has been a dramatic rise in anxiety, depression, and suicide in young people, who have not had the opportunity that free play provides to find meaning and joy in life."
Free to Learnwhich suggests that it's time to stop asking what's wrong with our children, and start asking what's wrong with the systemhas earned acclaim from prominent psychologists, anthropologist and evolutionary biologists.
"Peter Gray is one of the world's experts on the evolution of childhood play, and applies his encyclopedic knowledge of psychology, and his humane voice, to the pressing issue of educational reform," according to Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology and author of How the Mind Works.
Boston College Professor Peter Gray
A professor of psychology at BC for more than 40 years, in 2002 Gray retired from his position as full professor and assumed that of research professor. He is the author of Psychology, a widely-used psychology textbook, has published numerous scholarly articles on the role of play in education, and writes a blog, "Freedom to Learn," for Psychology Today magazine.
Initially motivated by his son's struggles in a structured school environment, Gray altered his professional focus to study education from a biological perspective. He frequently speaks on play and education at national conferences and university colloquia.
###
Media contact to arrange an interview with BC Professor Peter Gray:
Dori Gelb, associate publicist
Basic Books (a member of the Perseus Books Group)
212-340-8136 dori.gelb@perseusbooks.com
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
Charlie Sheen may not seem like a person to give someone good advice, but that actor is reaching out to Lindsay Lohan and hopes to “save” the troubled actress. The “Anger Management” star thinks he can help mentor Lindsay, revealing he has a “kinship” with her. Charlie Sheen feels Lohan needs help as she gets ...![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_siM32WVCkTKQUxMy4KUFNn_A08EooIivkDnx4PnJBd4oO3m0y9H8ANrQs2bW7btDbOhFCabo_fgI9PxDvnipgVFwa4SN4llTDjiOJUwd0=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 4-Mar-2013
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