Asia stocks fall as US economic growth falls short (AP)

BANGKOK ? Asian stock markets fell Monday, with slower-than-expected growth in the U.S. and uncertainty about a tentative deal to resolve Greece's debt crisis weighing on investor sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6 percent to 8,785.22. South Korea's Kospi was 1.2 percent lower at 1,940.82 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.5 percent to 20,401.32. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4 percent at 4,272.40.

Benchmarks in Singapore and the Philippines also fell. Shares in mainland China were mixed after being closed for a week for Chinese New Year holidays. Taiwan and New Zealand rose.

European leaders were to meet later Monday in Brussels to discuss austerity and belt-tightening measures as well as a tentative deal reached Saturday between Greece and its private investors that could avert a disastrous Greek default on its debt.

If the deal holds and works, it will help prevent a potential shock to the world banking system. But it doesn't resolve the weakening economic conditions in Greece and other European nations as they rein in spending to get their debts under control.

Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne said that "the Greece debt issues will remain a source of uncertainty and might dampen the risk mood ahead of the EU summit today."

Under the agreement, investors holding 206 billion euros ($272 billion) in Greek bonds would exchange them for bonds with half the face value. The replacement bonds would have a longer maturity and pay a lower interest rate.

The deal would reduce Greece's annual interest expense from about 10 billion euros to about 4 billion euros. When the bonds mature, Greece would have to pay its bondholders only 103 billion euro.

It is unclear how investors who buy and sell the bonds of other debt-burdened countries, such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, will react. If they drive up borrowing costs for those countries, the debt crisis could get worse.

Private investors hold two-thirds of Greece's debt, which is equal to an unsustainable 160 percent of its annual economic output. By restructuring the debt, Greece hopes to make it a more manageable 120 percent by decade's end.

On Wall Street, stocks mostly fell Friday after the government said the U.S. economy grew more slowly than expected in the last three months of 2011.

Economic growth for October through December came in at an annual rate of 2.8 percent. That was the fastest of 2011 but lower than the 3 percent that economists were looking for.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6 percent to 12,660.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,316.33. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.4 percent to 2,816.55.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was down 36 cents to $99.20 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 14 cents to end at $99.56 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3180 from $1.3208 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose slightly to 76.74 yen from 76.72 yen.

(This version CORRECTS Updates paragraph 2, corrects Hang Seng figure.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_as/world_markets

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The Science and Technology of Gaming Continues to Evolve ? Blog ...

? ?I predict a sell out of this gaming technology book within hours of store openings,? said Tricia Valerie, when asked about Tepler Atwill?s recent new book

?This is the biggest story of my career,? said Wetzstein Bonello, a reporter for ?The Globe?, a state wide newspaper with the best circulation rates, ?I?m getting calls from gaming technology industry executives, investors, and general employees all asking about what is going on, and if they can provide information for the news agency. Of course, they want their names mentioned so that a little publicity is given to their particular gaming technology company, but it does save me from hunting these people down and taking interviews.? Other reporters breaking news stated that finding interviewees was no trouble at all, since the need for publicity in the industry is very high. Cobo Kostick Corp, which is based down town, also released plans to expand its building into the old Wiren Straight Mercantile Shop, which has been vacant for about a year now. Said CIO Ferranti Mancusi, ?The recent news in the gaming technology industry means big things for us, including the need to expand our physical building and operations. We?ll be able to hire an additional, and much needed, 100 new employees who will help push our efforts forward. This is going to be great!? Reaction from the market regarding the news in the gaming technology sector was positive overall. Stock from key companies, such as Brzezinski Miltner Corp., Steffanie Preisach and Partners, and Danna Yochum LLC all saw dramatic increases in share value. Each of these companies uses important gaming technology technology in its general operations, and the news of advancements has spurned more venture capitalists to invest and make some quick cash. ?This is a huge opportunity for everyone,? said Dabney Canute, a day trader at the Polo Bring INC firm, which also manages a series of hedge funds in the gaming technology sector. ?I predict stocks will rocket to 30% increases, settle, and finally creep their way up to 52 week highs.? Investors won?t be the only ones reaping a profit from these latest developments. The research and development company Letty Mazon INC, which did most of the work on creating this new technology, will get a huge payoff as it auctions its products off to gaming technology industry heavy weights. Patrina Welty, President of Letty Mazon INC, had this to say: ?To keep things fair for all parties, we?re going to begin a general auction for our new products within 30 days. Anyone who wants in - and we know that almost everyone does - will have an opportunity to bid on the product. First dibs go to the top 3 companies, who will enjoy a 90 period free of competition from other gaming technology entities. Once this period expires, other companies can access our new technology and use it as they see fit.? Reporters were scurying around to every gaming technology industry exec they could find to get the scoop on the lastest developments. Mailander Lundvall, who writes for economics publication ?The Stanford Bramblett Journal? was busy waiting for an exclusive talk with COO Rosenwinkel Eisbach of the Macpherson Gearin and Sons company. Macpherson Gearin, who has been the most outspoken and technology savvy gaming technology industry exec, plans a vast period of ramping up company operations, hiring, and investment. Other reporters also learned of plans to acquire another gaming technology related out-of-state company, alhtough this tip came from an anonymous source who did not wish to face charges of insider trading. In addition, there was speculation that increased trade in the gaming technology sector would create a larger market in the USA, and keep dollars within the country. Reporter Karin Cutrona was researching this angle, and believes that the recent news means more money for USA based gaming technology companies and their subsidiaries. Said Karin Cutrona, ?For the past five years, there has been a noticable trade imbalance between the USA and other nations working within the gaming technology market, particularly in operations and human capital. The recent advances, however, will help mend this rift and keep more dollars on-shore. I expect to see demand for labor increase in the long run, with additional long run profits for strong gaming technology USA companies that move forward.? Although the gaming technology news was received well by most, their was some concern at the local 359 labor union. Many organized labor groups become weary with new technological advances, since this tends to spell the end for human labor, especially in the gaming technology market. ?Our fingers are crossed that corporate execs will honor all current contracts and not fire anyone,? said Union leader Hutchin Stong, ?and if all contracts are solid, we?re willing to negotiate with management at an appropriate time in the future to make sure our interests are being satisfied.? The union has been apart of the gaming technology sector for some fifteen years, and commands strong loyalty and respect from its members. Cornelia Blome, a wire reporter, was pleased to announce the recent news in the gaming technology industry. ?I?m pleased to report that technological advances by Libutti Saraiva INC have created a much higher degree of efficieny in operations. This means big profits for most gaming technology related companies and their subsidiaries? Libutti Saraiva continued with a complete analysis, including some raw data that was mind blowing: ?Output of gaming technology related products will nearly double, overhead will decrease by 1/3, and employee salaries will increase by 15%.?

?Posted on: Monday, January 30, 2012 at 12:07 am
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Source: http://www.persmaitb.com/2012/01/30/when-the-news-about-gaming-technology-broke-yesterday-stocks-bumped-up-a-bit-said-soder-wolinski-cfo-of-gagnier-fitzgibbon-ltd.php

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Designers of Exotic Materials Learn New Tricks from Animals (preview)

Feature Articles | More Science See Inside

Chemist Joanna Aizenberg mines the deep sea and the forest wetlands for nature's design secrets and uses them to fashion new materials that may change the world

By Gareth Cook ?| January 26, 2012?|

Image: Photograph by Jared Leeds

In Brief

• Who: Joanna Aizenberg
• Vocation|Avocation: Runs a biomimetics lab
• Where: Harvard University
• Research Focus: Takes inspiration from nature for designing new types of materials.
• Big Picture: ?What we do, then, is study interesting biological systems, but with the eyes of a physical scientist.?

Among the first things you notice when you step into the corner office of Harvard University professor Joanna Aizenberg are the playthings. Behind her desk sit a sand dollar, an azure butterfly mounted in a box, a plastic stand with long fibers that erupt in color when a switch is pulled, and haphazard rows of toys. Especially numerous are the Rubik?s cubes?the classic three-by-three, of course, but also ones with four, five, six and even seven mini cubes along each edge. An eight-year-old would be in heaven.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=ea503c3e455461bac8b6b4dc299e8470

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HBT: Tigers don't care how much Fielder's paid

Given all of the bad uniform choices the White Sox made over the years, when I heard that they?d be doing throwback uniforms in 2012 my heart skipped a beat. ?But it turns out that they?re going with a conservative and even tasteful choice:

I always liked those. Probably because I have a framed copy of this hanging on the wall of my lair here:

Nice going, Sox. Beats so many of the other options you could have gone with.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/26/the-white-sox-will-wear-throwback-uniforms-this-year/related/

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No energy industry backing for the word 'fracking' (AP)

NEW YORK ? A different kind of F-word is stirring a linguistic and political debate as controversial as what it defines.

The word is "fracking" ? as in hydraulic fracturing, a technique long used by the oil and gas industry to free oil and gas from rock.

It's not in the dictionary, the industry hates it, and President Barack Obama didn't use it in his State of the Union speech ? even as he praised federal subsidies for it.

The word sounds nasty, and environmental advocates have been able to use it to generate opposition ? and revulsion ? to what they say is a nasty process that threatens water supplies.

"It obviously calls to mind other less socially polite terms, and folks have been able to take advantage of that," said Kate Sinding, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council who works on drilling issues.

One of the chants at an anti-drilling rally in Albany earlier this month was "No fracking way!"

Industry executives argue that the word is deliberately misspelled by environmental activists and that it has become a slur that should not be used by media outlets that strive for objectivity.

"It's a co-opted word and a co-opted spelling used to make it look as offensive as people can try to make it look," said Michael Kehs, vice president for Strategic Affairs at Chesapeake Energy, the nation's second-largest natural gas producer.

To the surviving humans of the sci-fi TV series "Battlestar Galactica," it has nothing to do with oil and gas. It is used as a substitute for the very down-to-Earth curse word.

Michael Weiss, a professor of linguistics at Cornell University, says the word originated as simple industry jargon, but has taken on a negative meaning over time ? much like the word "silly" once meant "holy."

But "frack" also happens to sound like "smack" and "whack," with more violent connotations.

"When you hear the word `fracking,' what lights up your brain is the profanity," says Deborah Mitchell, who teaches marketing at the University of Wisconsin's School of Business. "Negative things come to mind."

Obama did not use the word in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, when he said his administration will help ensure natural gas will be developed safely, suggesting it would support 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.

In hydraulic fracturing, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped into wells to break up underground rock formations and create escape routes for the oil and gas. In recent years, the industry has learned to combine the practice with the ability to drill horizontally into beds of shale, layers of fine-grained rock that in some cases have trapped ancient organic matter that has cooked into oil and gas.

By doing so, drillers have unlocked natural gas deposits across the East, South and Midwest that are large enough to supply the U.S. for decades. Natural gas prices have dipped to decade-low levels, reducing customer bills and prompting manufacturers who depend on the fuel to expand operations in the U.S.

Environmentalists worry that the fluid could leak into water supplies from cracked casings in wells. They are also concerned that wastewater from the process could contaminate water supplies if not properly treated or disposed of. And they worry the method allows too much methane, the main component of natural gas and an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas, to escape.

Some want to ban the practice altogether, while others want tighter regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the issue and may propose federal regulations. The industry prefers that states regulate the process.

Some states have banned it. A New York proposal to lift its ban drew about 40,000 public comments ? an unprecedented total ? inspired in part by slogans such as "Don't Frack With New York."

The drilling industry has generally spelled the word without a "K," using terms like "frac job" or "frac fluid."

Energy historian Daniel Yergin spells it "fraccing" in his book, "The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World." The glossary maintained by the oilfield services company Schlumberger includes only "frac" and "hydraulic fracturing."

The spelling of "fracking" began appearing in the media and in oil and gas company materials long before the process became controversial. It first was used in an Associated Press story in 1981. That same year, an oil and gas company called Velvet Exploration, based in British Columbia, issued a press release that detailed its plans to complete "fracking" a well.

The word was used in trade journals throughout the 1980s. In 1990, Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher announced U.S. oil engineers would travel to the Soviet Union to share drilling technology, including fracking.

The word does not appear in The Associated Press Stylebook, a guide for news organizations. David Minthorn, deputy standards editor at the AP, says there are tentative plans to include an entry in the 2012 edition.

He said the current standard is to avoid using the word except in direct quotes, and to instead use "hydraulic fracturing."

That won't stop activists ? sometimes called "fracktivists" ? from repeating the word as often as possible.

"It was created by the industry, and the industry is going to have to live with it," says the NRDC's Sinding.

Dave McCurdy, CEO of the American Gas Association, agrees, much to his dismay: "It's Madison Avenue hell," he says.

___

Jonathan Fahey can be reached at http://twitter.com/JonathanFahey.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fracking

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Romney and Gingrich Discuss the Space Program at Tampa Debate (ContributorNetwork)

During the Republican presidential candidate debate that took place Monday in Tampa, Fla., Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were asked questions on space policy, according to Space Politics. The answers the two gave were illuminating.

Romney and Gingrich had clashed before on space, when during a previous debate Romney had ridiculed an idea the latter had championed for lunar mining colonies. Gingrich defended the idea at the debate and later during a meeting with the Orlando Sentinel editorial board. But in Tampa, both suggested a change in the current way NASA does business.

What was Romney's proposal?

Romney suggested going back to the drawing board, seeming to suggest another presidential commission, similar to the Augustine Committee, to determine a new mission for NASA that would excite young people, would have commercial potential and would employ people and technology in Florida's space coast. Romney also suggested NASA (or perhaps he meant the mission to be conducted by NASA) be partly funded by the private sector. The mission itself would be a collaborative effort between NASA, the commercial sector, the military, and academia.

What did Gingrich have to say?

In perhaps a preview of his planned space vision speech, Gingrich concentrated on a series of prize competitions, similar to the Ansari X Prize and the Google Lunar X Prize, as a means to open up space. Gingrich also took his now familiar swipe at NASA bureaucracy, but suggested such a program would be of benefit to Florida's space coast.

What are some of the open questions about the proposals?

Romney did not open his mind about what he thought NASA's mission should be. He did not give an answer about why the U.S. should have a space program, what its purpose should be or an argument for paying for it. His proposal was to, in effect, study a question that has already been studied in the late 1960s with the proposals of the Space Task Group, the 1980s with the National Commission on Space, the 1990s with the first Augustine Committee, and the current era with the second Augustine Committee.

Gingrich was effusive about building space stations and a lunar settlement and going to Mars. He did not cover some of the practical questions surrounding his space prize approach, especially its practicality, political and otherwise. Would Congress actually transform NASA from a cutting edge space exploration agency to a paymaster for prize competitions? Would Congress actually leave billions, perhaps tens of billions of dollars in escrow accounts for years until the prizes were judged to have been won? How would private groups raise the vast sums necessary to go back to the moon or voyage to Mars? Perhaps these are questions that will be answered in his speech on Wednesday.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker . He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120124/sc_ac/10877071_romney_and_gingrich_discuss_the_space_program_at_tampa_debate

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New Hampshire GOP Debate Gives Candidates Chance to Clarify Positions (ContributorNetwork)

Pollsters are divided over which candidate emerged as the victor of Saturday's New Hampshire GOP Debate. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman effectively used the debate format to reach conservative Republican voters.

Here are some remarkable position-clarifying quotes from the candidates during last night's debate:

Racial Allegations

Paul has been criticized for racial remarks written in a series of newsletters produced more than 20 years ago. He has steadfastly maintained over the years that he did not write the articles but accepts responsibility for them since they were published under his name. Saturday night, International Business Times reported Paul answered the allegations again by saying "Well, it's been explained many times, and everything's written 20 years ago, approximately, that I did not write ?one of my heroes is Martin Luther King because he practiced the libertarian principle of peaceful resistance and peaceful civil disobedience. ? I'm the only one up here and the only one in the Democratic Party that understands true racism in this country is in the judicial system. And it has to do with enforcing the drug laws."

Military Service

The Washington Post reported that Paul has criticized former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for his lack of military service during the Vietnam War. Gingrich responded during the debate claiming he was not drafted because he was married with a child. Paul's follow up response: "When I was drafted, I was married and had two kids, and I went."

Country First

Romney has questioned Huntsman's service as ambassador to China during the Obama administration. The Beast reported Huntsman used Saturday's debate to respond to that criticism: "I was criticized last night by Gov. Romney for putting my country first ? he criticized me?for serving my country in China. Yes, under a Democrat. Like my two sons are doing in the United States Navy. They're not asking what political affiliation the president is. I want to be very clear with the people here in New Hampshire and this country: I will always put my country first."

Dan McGinnis is a freelance writer, published author and former newspaper publisher. He has been a candidate, campaign manager and press secretary for state and local political campaigns for more than 30 years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120109/pl_ac/10808281_new_hampshire_gop_debate_gives_candidates_chance_to_clarify_positions

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