Metal ions regulate terpenoid metabolism in insects

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Max Planck scientists in Jena, Germany, have discovered an unusual regulation of enzymes that catalyze chain elongation in an important secondary metabolism, the terpenoid pathway. In the horseradish leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae a single enzyme can trigger the production of two completely different substances depending on whether it is regulated by cobalt, manganese or magnesium ions: iridoids, which are defensive substances the larvae use to repel predators, or juvenile hormones, which control insect's development. Insects unlike plants do not have a large arsenal of the proteins called isoprenyl diphosphate synthases. Therefore they may have developed another efficient option to channel metabolites into the different directions of terpenoid metabolism by using metal ions for control.

Natural products: 40,000 terpenes

Apart from the primary metabolism which produces substances that ensure the survival of the cells, there are additional biosynthetic pathways in all organisms. Their products may be less important for a single cell, but they can nevertheless be essential for the whole organism. These pathways are summarized as secondary metabolism. One of them is the terpenoid pathway: with more than 40,000 different known structures it generates one of the largest classes of natural products. Terpenoid molecules have diverse functions and can act as components in molecular signaling pathways, as toxins, fragrances or hormones.

The basic unit of all terpenes is a simple molecule containing five carbon atoms that can be joined to chains of different length. There are monoterpenes (C10 units, 2 x C5), sesquiterpenes (C15, 3 x C5), and even polymers, such as natural rubber, which comprises several hundred C5 units. Special enzymes mediate chain elongation. These enzymes have attracted the curiosity of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, and the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry in Halle. They studied mechanistic alternatives of how chain elongation is regulated.

Metal ions instead of specialized enzymes

Enzymes involved in chain elongation belong to the group of isoprenyl diphosphate synthases. Such an enzyme was isolated from larvae of the horseradish leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae. It raised the interest of Antje Burse, project group leader in the Department of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

Experiments with larvae in which the enzyme encoding gene was silenced showed that the protein was involved in the formation of the C10 monoterpene chrysomelidial that larvae produce to defend themselves against predators. The larvae accumulate this monoterpene in special glands and release it as a defensive secretion when they are attacked by their enemies, such as ants.

However, surprising results emerged after comprehensive biochemical characterization of the enzyme. "After we had conducted an in vitro analysis of the protein, including measurements of product formation in the presence of different metal ions as co-factors, we were surprised to discover that only geranyl diphosphate (C10), a precursor for the defensive substance chrysomelidial, was produced after addition of cobalt and manganese ions. On the other hand, adding magnesium ions resulted in the formation of farnesyl diphosphate (C15), a potential precursor for juvenile hormones, which is 5 carbon atoms longer," says the scientist. All three metals were found in larval tissue, leading to the assumption that enzyme catalysis is directed by the different metal co-factors in the larvae, whichever is predominant in amount: Towards toxin or hormone ? physiologically a major difference.

Sequence comparisons cannot replace a thorough biochemical analysis

How the different metal ions modify the product range of the enzyme is still unclear. It is very likely that the varying atomic radii of the metal ions involved in the catalysis effect changes in the spatial structure of the enzyme, which prevent or allow the admission of a third C5 unit and hence result in the production of C10 or C15 molecules.

"Our experiments provide two important findings," says Wilhelm Boland, director at the Max Planck Institute. "First, the directing influence of metal ions on the product formation of isoprenyl diphosphate synthases is a novel "control element" in the regulation of the terpene metabolism which should be included in future experimental settings. And secondly: The diversity of terpenoid molecules cannot be attributed solely to the broad substrate specificity of some enzymes in the last steps of the metabolic pathway, but is in fact already inherent in early biosynthetic steps." Nature continues to provide interesting answers to the question how organisms manage to produce tens of thousands of different secondary metabolites.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

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Journal Reference:

1. S. Frick, R. Nagel, A. Schmidt, R. R. Bodemann, P. Rahfeld, G. Pauls, W. Brandt, J. Gershenzon, W. Boland, A. Burse. Metal ions control product specificity of isoprenyl diphosphate synthases in the insect terpenoid pathway. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221489110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ZoYNlp3uNmI/130228103440.htm

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Action video games boost reading skills, study suggests

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Much to the chagrin of parents who think their kids should spend less time playing video games and more time studying, time spent playing action video games can actually make dyslexic children read better. In fact, 12 hours of video game play did more for reading skills than is normally achieved with a year of spontaneous reading development or demanding traditional reading treatments.

The evidence, appearing in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on February 28, follows from earlier work by the same team linking dyslexia to early problems with visual attention rather than language skills.

"Action video games enhance many aspects of visual attention, mainly improving the extraction of information from the environment," said Andrea Facoetti of the University of Padua and the Scientific Institute Medea of Bosisio Parini in Italy. "Dyslexic children learned to orient and focus their attention more efficiently to extract the relevant information of a written word more rapidly."

The findings come as further support for the notion that visual attention deficits are at the root of dyslexia, a condition that makes reading extremely difficult for one out of every ten children, Facoetti added. He emphasized that there is, as of now, no approved treatment for dyslexia that includes video games.

Facoetti's team, including Sandro Franceschini, Simone Gori, Milena Ruffino, Simona Viola, and Massimo Molteni, tested the reading, phonological, and attentional skills of two groups of children with dyslexia before and after they played action or non-action video games for nine 80-minute sessions. The action video gamers were able to read faster without losing accuracy. They also showed gains in other tests of attention.

"These results are very important in order to understand the brain mechanisms underlying dyslexia, but they don't put us in a position to recommend playing video games without any control or supervision," Facoetti said.

Still, there is great hope for early interventions that could be applied in low-resource settings. "Our study paves the way for new remediation programs, based on scientific results, that can reduce the dyslexia symptoms and even prevent dyslexia when applied to children at risk for dyslexia before they learn to read."

And, guess what? Those kids will also be having fun.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Journal Reference:

1. Sandro Franceschini, Simone Gori, Milena Ruffino, Simona Viola, Massimo Molteni, Andrea Facoetti. Action Video Games Make Dyslexic Children Read Better. Current Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.01.044

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/v58p555cvgM/130228124132.htm

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Harry Styles: Hit in Crotch by Flying Shoe!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/harry-styles-hit-in-crotch-by-flying-shoe/

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Teaching a Love of Reading: Top Education Issues for this Year

A column in the Huffington Post?here?describes what the columnist thinks will be the top ten education issues this year. ?The focuses on the usual suspects: ?testing, guns, funding, common core, tech, inequality . . .? Okay, yes.? These are all important issues.? But the column doesn't focus on the most important one of all:? developing a love of reading in students. Avid readers read better, write better, concentrate better, think more clearly, and have wider frames of reference that make all learning easier.? They are also more gentle kids, since their wide reading has exposed them to hundreds of narrators who describe to them how other people are feeling, and what other people are thinking.? In my 37 years of teaching high school English, it was my avid readers who went on to top colleges, and into very competitive professions.? And you know what?? They hated, and avoided at all costs, the kind of exercises being pushed to "teach" the common core standards.

Source: http://teachloveofreading.blogspot.com/2013/02/top-education-issues-for-this-year.html

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Squeaky Toys With Mute Buttons Will Save Dog Owners' Sanity

There's something about squeaky toys that dogs just can't get enough of. Maybe it's a deep down carnal desire of wanting to hear their prey scream, or maybe to their ears the high-pitched squeal is like a siren's song. But what's for certain is that it can often be incredibly annoying to humans, so to solve that problem the geniuses at Kong added a mute button to their toys. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Xd0ZNJzXHLg/squeaky-toys-with-mute-buttons-will-save-dog-owners-sanity

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Iranian-American poet visits UWF | The Voyager

Posted on 26 February 2013.

Two distinct cultures were fused together last Wednesday in a public reading of poetry by Roger Sedarat as a part of the first Visiting Writers event presented by the Department of English and World Languages.

Roger Sedarat is an Iranian-American poet and translator. His translations have appeared in such publications as ?World Literature Today? and the ?Drunken Boat.?

Roger Sedarat

Sedarat merges traditional Persian verse with post-modern American poetic tradition to create a style of poetry that reflects his own unique heritage. Sedarat often incorporates political themes in his poetry that confronts the oppressive government of Iran.

Jonathan Fink, associate professor and director of creative writing, introduced Sedarat to a full room of students in the Argonaut Athletic Club on Feb. 20.

?One of the great pleasures of Roger Sedarat?s poetry resides in Roger?s ability to combine political and social indictment with the ambiguity and complexity of personal experience,? Fink said. ?Roger?s work goes beyond the familiar role of the poet that is witnessed and instead investigates the paradoxical powers and inadequacies of both social justice and language itself.?

Sedarat, an associate professor in the Master of Fine Arts program at Queens College, City University of New York, is the author of two poetry collections, ?Dear Regime: Letters to the Islamic Republic,? which was published in 2007 and received the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize, and ?Ghazal Games,? published in 2011. Sedarat is currently translating a collection of poems by the 14th century Persian poet, Hafez.

During the poetry reading, Sedarat read excerpts from his collections. The excerpts included ?Unknown Aboth,? profound letters addressing the politics of Iran and erotic expressions of love and hysterical poems that mocked the invention of Facebook and a Persian rendition of the nursery rhyme ?This Little Piggy,? instead called ?This Little Hagi.?

Sedarat also shared personal stories related to his poetry and engaged the audience in a poetry game that taught them how to write a ghazal. A ghazal is a traditional Persian form of poetry that is composed of five to fifteen couplets that are the same length but can contain different themes and emotions.

Sedarat told the audience that imitation works best when developing their own personal writing style.

?The best teacher for you is the books you are going to read and rhetorical models of the masters,? he said.

After the poetry reading, Sedarat answered questions from students in the audience about everything from the craft of literary translation to the difference between writing free verse poetry and poetry that follows a form.

Fink said that he met Sedarat years ago while attending the Breadloaf Writer?s Conference, a prestigious writing workshop held in Middlebury, Vt.

Fink also said that the Visiting Writers series encourages students to become familiar with the work of current writers.

?A lot of times students will have the misconception that no one who writes poetry is still alive,? he said. ?So I think it?s great that you can have writers who are currently practicing and are relevant at what they?re doing, and they can answer a lot of the questions from a practical perspective that students are working with themselves.?

Fink said that he invited Sedarat because he admired his talent as a writer and translator.

?When you work as a translator, you?re not just creating your own work, but you?re acknowledging the previous work that came before you and helping to carry that material to a new audience.?

Christy Slack, a senior English major, said that she attended the event because she is interested in the art of translation and can relate to Sedarat.

?I just love listening to creative writers,? she said. ?I read their work. It?s definitely different to listen to them read their own work because it flows differently from when I read it. Also, he definitely had a different appeal to me from the other creative writers that we?ve invited, especially since he has dual citizenship, and I have dual citizenship in Japan.?

The next writer in the Visiting Writers series will be United States Poet Laureate Natasha Trethaway, who will speak at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition March 28 at 6 p.m.

Morgan Smith
Staff Writer

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Source: http://www.thevoyager.net/2013/02/iranian-american-poet-visits-uwf/

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2,000 pound turtle could be extinct within 20 years

Feb. 26, 2013 ? An international team led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has documented a 78 percent decline in the number of nests of the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) at the turtle's last stronghold in the Pacific Ocean.

The study, published online February 26in the Ecological Society of America's scientific online journal Ecosphere, reveals leatherback nests at Jamursba Medi Beach in Papua Barat, Indonesia -- which accounts for 75 percent of the total leatherback nesting in the western Pacific -- have fallen from a peak of 14,455 in 1984 to a low of 1,532 in 2011. Less than 500 leatherbacks now nest at this site annually.

Thane Wibbels, Ph.D., a professor of reproductive biology at UAB and member of a research team that includes scientists from State University of Papua (UNIPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia, says the largest marine turtle in the world could soon vanish.

"If the decline continues, within 20 years it will be difficult if not impossible for the leatherback to avoid extinction," said Wibbels, who has studied marine turtles since 1980. "That means the number of turtles would be so low that the species could not make a comeback.

"The leatherback is one of the most intriguing animals in nature, and we are watching it head towards extinction in front of our eyes," added Wibbels.

Leatherback turtles can grow to six feet long and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds. They are able to dive to depths of nearly 4,000 feet and can make trans-Pacific migrations from Indonesia to the U.S. Pacific coast and back again.

While it is hard to imagine that a turtle so large and so durable can be on the verge of extinction, Ricardo Tapilatu, the research team's lead scientist who is a Ph.D. student and Fulbright Scholar in the UAB Department of Biology, points to the leatherback's trans-Pacific migration, where they face the prevalent danger of being caught and killed in fisheries.

"They can migrate more than 7,000 miles and travel through the territory of at least 20 countries, so this is a complex international problem," Tapilatu said. "It is extremely difficult to comprehensively enforce fishing regulations throughout the Pacific."

The team, along with paper co-author Peter Dutton, Ph.D., discovered thousands of nests laid during the boreal winter just a few kilometers away from the known nesting sites, but their excitement was short-lived.

"We were optimistic for this population when year round nesting was discovered in Wermon Beach, but we now have found out that nesting on that beach appears to be declining at a similar rate as Jamursba Medi," said Dutton, head of the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center's Marine Turtle Genetics Program.

The study has used year-round surveys of leatherback turtle nesting areas since 2005, and it is the most extensive research on the species to date. The team identified four major problems facing leatherback turtles: nesting beach predators, such as pigs and dogs that were introduced to the island and eat the turtle eggs; rising sand temperatures that can kill the eggs or prevent the production of male hatchlings; the danger of being caught by fisheries during migrations; and harvesting of adults and eggs for food by islanders.

Tapilatu, a native of western Papua, Indonesia, has studied leatherback turtles and worked on their conservation since 2004. His efforts have been recognized by NOAA, and he will head the leatherback conservation program in Indonesia once he earns his doctorate from UAB and returns to Papua.

He has worked to educate locals and limit the harvesting of adults and eggs. His primary focus today is protecting the nesting females, eggs and hatchlings. A leatherback lays up to 10 nests each season, more than any other turtle species. Tapilatu is designing ways to optimize egg survival and hatchling production by limiting their exposure to predators and heat through an extensive beach management program.

"If we relocate the nests from the warmest portion of the beach to our egg hatcheries, and build shades for nests in other warm areas, then we will increase hatching success to 80 percent or more," said Tapilatu.

"The international effort has attempted to develop a science-based nesting beach management plan by evaluating and addressing the factors that affect hatching success such as high sand temperatures, erosion, feral pig predation and relocating nests to maximize hatchling output," said Manjula Tiwari, a researcher at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif.

Wibbels, who is also the Ph.D. advisor for Tapilatu, says that optimizing hatchling production is a key component to leatherback survival, especially considering the limited number of hatchlings who survive to adulthood.

"Only one hatchling out of 1,000 makes it to adulthood, so taking out an adult makes a significant difference on the population," Wibbels said. "It is essentially the same as killing 1,000 hatchlings."

The research team believes that beach management will help to decrease the annual decline in the number of leatherback nests, but protection of the leatherbacks in waters throughout the Pacific is a prerequisite for their survival and recovery. Despite their prediction for leatherback extinction, the scientists are hopeful this species could begin rebounding over the next 20 years if effective management strategies are implemented.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alabama at Birmingham. The original article was written by Kevin Storr.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Ricardo F. Tapilatu, Peter H. Dutton, Manjula Tiwari, Thane Wibbels, Hadi V. Ferdinandus, William G. Iwanggin, Barakhiel H. Nugroho. Long-term decline of the western Pacific leatherback,Dermochelys coriacea: a globally important sea turtle population. Ecosphere, 2013; 4 (2): art25 DOI: 10.1890/ES12-00348.1

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/-2zDZ55IC1Y/130226141233.htm

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On sequester, Boehner tells Senate to get "off their ass" (cbsnews)

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Video: Gates, Zuckerberg urge kids to code

NEW YORK (AP) ? Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter creator Jack Dorsey are among the tech luminaries promoting the teaching and learning of computer coding in schools.

A new video released online Tuesday is from Code.org, a nonprofit foundation created to increase computer programming education. Titled "What most schools don't teach," the video begins with Zuckerberg, Gates and other tech icons recalling the time they got their start in coding. For some, that was in sixth grade. For others, such as Ruchi Sanghvi, Facebook's first female engineer, that happened in college.

It's not just tech leaders promoting programming in the video. Chris Bosh, of the Miami Heat basketball team, says about coding: "I know it can be intimidating, a lot of things are intimidating, but, you know, what isn't?"

___

Online:

The video: http://bit.ly/ZGiDeP

The nonprofit: http://www.code.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-26-Computer%20Coding-Tech%20Leaders/id-dd4b1a091b444f37b0c483a1501bc0c9

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Lindsay Lohan Signs Up For Anger Management ... as Charlie Sheen Love Interest!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/lindsay-lohan-signs-on-for-anger-management-as-charlie-sheen-lov/

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Karolina Kurkova Dishes Married Life, Motherhood, & Naomi Feud ...

? Project Runway Elimination: Matthew Talks Country Crash & Burn | Home | The Bachelor Spoilers: Who Turns Down Sean Lowe?s Fantasy Suite Invitation? ?

February 24, 2013 10:00 AM by Donna W. Martin

The Face coach, Karolina Kurkova recently flew all the way from Milan, Italy to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno where she had a lot to say about married life, motherhood, and last but not least, the infamous Naomi feud that sparked when Karolina eliminated one of Naomi?s team members, Aleksandra Dubrovskaya. Keep reading for more details.

According to NBC, Karolina gushed about her husband saying, ?He is amazing.? And even though he?s a former Marine who fought in Desert Storm, she?s more of the Marine around the house. ?He?s not so organized,? she said. ?I?m more the Marine in the family than he is?when you think of Marines, you think of the movies.? She explained, ?I thought I was going to wake up, the bed?s going to be all tucked in and perfect, my shoes will be all polished?No, I?m the Marine and keep the family organized. He?s more last minute,? she said. But any time she needs him or there?s something to do for the family, ?he comes through.? And when it comes to their sex life, she admits she?s the one that takes charge, ?I?m like we?re doing it now. Let?s go! Come on, come on baby,? she quipped.

Karolina also talked about her three-year-old son, Tobin. ?He?s got a lot of personality,? she said. ?He?s not shy and he calls himself a rock star. His favorite thing is the Gangnam Style song ? he plays it all the time, super loud.? But he can?t quite pronounce Gangnam Style so he calls it ?como estas.? She explained, ?He goes around the playground with my iPhone?really loud and he goes to all the kids [jamming out and saying] como estas, como estas.? And while his singing is super cute, Karolina said his Gangnam Style dance is even cuter. Instead of looking like the horse, his dance looks ?like an elephant. It?s so cute. He?s amazing.?

Then Karolina talked about Oxygen?s new show, The Face. And when Leno asked if she thought Naomi was ?high strung? Karolina said, ?We are definitely very passionate coaches. And being a mom to a three-year-old prepared me for a lot of things.?

On the show?s premiere, Team Karolina won the campaign challenge, which meant Naomi and Coco had to choose one of their models to put up for elimination. And when Karolina chose to eliminate Naomi?s model, Aleksandra Dubrovskaya, she didn?t take the news too well. ?I am disappointed in your choice, Karolina,? she said. ?It?s game on from now on!?

What do you think of what Karolina had to say about her feud with Naomi? Do you think she meant to imply that Naomi acts like a three-year-old? And do you think we will see the claws come out even more as the season progresses? Post a comment and let us know.

Want more? Follow our tweets on Twitter and like us on Facebook!. Click here for more information about The Face. For other great reality TV news, please feel free to check out SirLinksAlot: Reality TV.

Photo Credit: NBC

Topics: Oxygen Reality TV Shows, The Face |

? Project Runway Elimination: Matthew Talks Country Crash & Burn | Home | The Bachelor Spoilers: Who Turns Down Sean Lowe?s Fantasy Suite Invitation? ?

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Source: http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/2013/02/24/karolina-kurkova-dishes-married-life-motherhood-naomi-feud/

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Seth MacFarlane Jokes About Chris Brown Beating: Fair or Foul?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/seth-macfarlane-jokes-about-chris-brown-beating-fair-or-foul/

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Skeptical Syrian opposition to attend Rome talks

BERLIN (AP) ? Skeptical Syrian opposition leaders agreed Monday to attend an international conference in Rome after first threatening to boycott the session that was to be the centerpiece of Secretary of State John Kerry's his first overseas mission in his new job.

Opposition leaders had protested what they see as inaction by other nations in the face of violence from Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Kerry not only made a public plea at a joint news conference Monday with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, he also called Moaz Khatib, leader of the Syrian Opposition Council, "to encourage him to come to Rome," a senior U.S. official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, described the conversation as "good" but declined to offer more detail.

Spokesman Walid al-Bunni said the council had decided to send a delegation to Rome after all.

Al-Bunni told Al-Arabiya TV the decision was made based on guarantees al-Khatib heard from western diplomats that the conference would be different and that the opposition would receive real commitments this time. "We will go and we will see if the promises are different this time," he said.

After speaking with Khatib, Kerry flew to Berlin from London, the first stop of his first trip as secretary of state ? a hectic nine-country dash through Europe and the Middle East.

Kerry had also dispatched his top Syrian envoy to Cairo in hopes of convincing opposition leaders that their participation is critical to addressing questions from potential donors and securing additional aid from the United States and Europe.

"We are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind, wondering where the support is, if it is coming," Kerry told reporters in London after meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron and Hague. "We are not going to let the Syrian opposition not have its ability to have its voice properly heard in this process."

For his part, Hague said the violence in Syria, especially recent scud missile attacks on the city of Aleppo, was unacceptable and that the west's current position could not be sustained while an "appalling injustice" is being done to Syrian citizens.

"In the face of such murder and threat of instability, our policy cannot stay static as the weeks go by," Hague told reporters, standing beside Kerry. "We must significantly increase support for the Syrian opposition. We are preparing to do just that."

Kerry agreed.

"We are not coming to Rome simply to talk, we are coming to Rome to talk about next steps," Kerry said, adding that he was sympathetic to opposition complaints that they were not getting the support they need to defend themselves against the Assad regime or oust him from power.

"I am very sensitive to that frustration," recalling that as a U.S. senator he was one of several who pushed the administration to consider military aid to the Syrian opposition.

"But I am the new secretary of state ... and the president of the United States has sent me here and sent me to this series of meetings and in Rome because he is concerned about the course of events.

"This moment is ripe for us to be considering what more we can do," he said, adding that if the opposition wants results, "join us" in Rome.

Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday the Assad regime was ready to hold talks with opposition leaders, the first time that a high-ranking Syrian official has stated publicly that the government would meet with the opposition. Al-Moallem made his comments after meeting in Moscow with Russian officials.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Moallem's remarks appeared positive but expressed caution about the seriousness of the offer.

"I don't know their motivations, other than to say they continue to rain down horrific attacks on their own people," Ventrell told reporters. "So that speaks pretty loudly and clearly."

If the Assad regime is serious, he said, it should inform the U.N. peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi of its readiness for talks. Ventrell said the Assad regime hasn't yet done that.

Obama administration officials have debated whether the U.S. should arm the rebels, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey having said they urged such a course of action. The White House has been unwilling to do so for fears the weapons could end up in the wrong hands. Currently, the U.S. provides only non-lethal support and humanitarian aid.

The United Nations says at least 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's 2-year civil war, which began as an uprising against Assad's regime.

Kerry said the Syrian people "deserve better" than the violence currently gripping their country as he stood alongside Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague.

___

Associated Press writers Cassandra Vinograd in London and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/skeptical-syrian-opposition-attend-rome-talks-204353433.html

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Indie Spirit Awards: Kerry Washington

Presenter Kerry Washington never disappoints with her penchant for bold styling, and this green floral-embossed Giambattista Valli sheath at the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards is no exception to the rule. The Django Unchained and Scandal actress let the girlie, albeit vibrant, ensemble take centre stage, only accessorising with a gold watch, a cream-coloured woven clutch, and matching beaded floral pumps. With so much pattern play at hand, Washington kept her hair down and casual with minimal makeup. Are you a fan?

Source: http://www.fabsugar.com.au/2013-Independent-Spirit-Awards-Style-Kerry-Washington-28272225

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Regulators examine if big banks evade payday loan laws: NYT

(Reuters) - Federal and state regulators are examining whether some of the largest U.S. banks are helping Internet-based lenders evade state laws that cap interest rates on payday loans, The New York Times said on Sunday.

Citing several people with direct knowledge of the matter, the newspaper said the FDIC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C. are examining the role of banks in online payday loans.

It also said Benjamin Lawsky, who heads New York State's Department of Financial Services, is investigating how banks enable online lenders to make high-rate loans to residents of New York, where interest rates are capped at 25 percent.

Payday loans, typically a few hundred dollars in size, enable cash-strapped borrowers to obtain quick funds to tide them over until their next paychecks.

But the loans can carry effective annual interest rates that reach well into three digits. Some consumer advocates consider the loans a means to take advantage of financially desperate Americans, who nonetheless shell out $7.4 billion a year for them according to a February 20 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The newspaper did not identify the banks being examined.

But it said that while large banks such as Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co do not make the actual loans, they do let lenders that do to withdraw payments from customers' accounts, even if customers have already begged them to stop.

According to the newspaper, 15 U.S. states ban payday loans, but lenders are setting up online operations in places such as Belize, Malta and the West Indies to more easily evade the caps.

Representatives of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo, the four largest U.S. banks, had no immediate comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The FDIC, the CFPB and Lawsky's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The newspaper said a Bank of America spokeswoman said that bank has always honored requests to stop automatic withdrawals, a JPMorgan spokeswoman said that bank is working to resolve open cases, and Wells Fargo declined to comment.

"YOU NEVER CATCH UP"

According to the Pew study, Americans on average pay $520 in finance charges for payday loans that average just $375.

Many of these borrowers find the process a never-ending cycle that leaves them in the same financial binds where they started, according to the study.

Fifty-eight percent of borrowers reported persistent problems paying their bills, and 41 percent found they needed help to repay the loans - such as by borrowing from friends or family, selling personal possessions, or taking out other loans.

Moreover, 27 percent of payday loan borrowers said the loans caused them to overdraw their checking accounts - enabling banks to charge fees for those overdrafts.

"It seems like you never catch up, and it, it's just check-to-check, and something breaks down, and the house needs work, kids have school, just never catch up," a storefront borrower in Chicago was quoted in the report as saying.

The borrower was then asked how long this had gone on. The response: "Twenty years."

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/regulators-examine-big-banks-evade-payday-loan-laws-190733173--finance.html

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Pluto moon vote helps the case for Vulcan

M. Showalter / NASA / ESA

An image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, surrounded by four smaller moons. P4 and P5 will be getting new names. One of them might be called Vulcan.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The organizer of a contest to name Pluto's two tiniest moons can't guarantee that either one of them will be called "Vulcan" ??but if the name nominated by the original captain on the "Star Trek" TV show retains its lead in the voting, planetary scientist Mark Showalter promises to argue the best case he can.

"My starting position is that we should work with the names that received the most votes," Showalter told NBC News on Friday.

The "Pluto Rocks" voting is due to conclude at noon ET Monday, to be followed by a 1 p.m. Google+ Hangout sponsored by the SETI Institute, the place where Showalter works. Right now, Vulcan holds a commanding lead with about 140,000 of the 370,000 votes cast. But even if Vulcan holds onto that edge, don't expect Showalter to declare immediately that Vulcan is the choice.

"There will not be an announcement on Monday," he said.

---

For one thing, it's not totally up to Showalter to make the nomination. He's just one of the leading scientists on the discovery teams for P4 and P5, the two moons that were found in 2011 and 2012. All the members from each of the teams will have to agree on the names to be submitted to the International Astronomical Union for approval. Even then, the IAU could voice concerns about the names they submit, leading to alternate suggestions. Showalter said he's actually seen that happen in the case of the Uranian moon that ended up being called Cupid.

Kirk ... takes ... command
Vulcan wasn't on Showalter's initial list of prospects, but he added it to the ballot at the urging of William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original "Star Trek" series in the late 1960s. Shatner favored the name because it was the fictional home planet of Kirk's pointy-eared science officer, Mr. Spock. "Let's hope the IAU thinks Vulcan is a good name," Shatner wrote in a tweet to his 1.35 million Twitter followers.

Showalter said Shatner's endorsement definitely skewed the results. "Early on, it's pretty clear there were some Trek fans who seem to have resorted to augmented voting technologies," Showalter said. But he's convinced that the groundswell of support for Vulcan is genuine, and he said he's "come up with a pretty good case" for using the name.

"I want people to feel that their vote counted," Showalter said.

The IAU's guidelines for Pluto's moons stipulate that they should be named after Greek or Roman gods who have some connection to the mythological underworld. Those guidelines worked for Pluto's three other moons, Charon (ferryman of the dead), Nix (goddess of darkness) and Hydra (a many-headed monster).

Vulcan has a family relationship to the underworld, in that he was Pluto's nephew. And in his capacity as the god of fire, Vulcan tended to hang out in the depths beneath Mount Etna and other volcanoes, rather than on the heights of Mount Olympus. That may not be Hell, exactly, but it's certainly the underworld.

Showalter admitted that it might be tricky to have the god of fire associated with one of the coldest places in the solar system. "It may well be there's a consensus that it's a great name, but not a great name for a moon of Pluto," he said. Also, the name Vulcan has been associated with a hypothetical planet that was thought to circle the sun within Mercury's orbit. The 19th-century French astronomer who discovered Neptune, Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, spent fruitless years looking for it. Pluto's moon is in an entirely different place, but Showalter sees that as a potential plus.

"Maybe we'd be doing Le Verrier a favor by saying that when he was looking for the ninth planet inside Mercury's orbit, he was looking in the wrong direction," Showalter joked.

Some have said the name Vulcan should be reserved for a planet beyond our own solar system. In response, Showalter points out that there's no IAU procedure for giving names to extrasolar planets (beyond generic designations such as?Kepler-37b or Gliese 163c). That situation may change if planet-naming ventures such as Uwingu take hold. But in the meantime, Showalter feels that Vulcan should at least be given a fair shot at solar system fame.

Another moon to name
So it's virtually a sure thing that Showalter will try making the case for Vulcan. But what about the other Plutonian moon?

Right now, Cerberus is hanging onto the No. 2 spot in the voting, and unless Styx or some other name comes from behind in the next few days, Showalter will argue the case for Cerberus as well. That name fits perfectly with the mythological underworld theme, because Cerberus was the three-headed hound that guarded the gates of the underworld.

One drawback is that there's already an asteroid named Cerberus, and the IAU doesn't want newly named celestial bodies to be confused with previously named objects. Showalter said there are at least two ways around that issue: One is to argue that the asteroid and the moon wouldn't be confused. The precedent for this is Io, a mythological name that refers to a Jovian moon as well as an asteroid. Another way out is to change the spelling slightly ? say, to the Greek name Kerberos. One precedent for this is the Plutonian moon Nix, which uses an alternate spelling to avoid confusion with the asteroid Nyx. (By the way, there's already an asteroid named Vulcano, but that name is considered different enough from Vulcan,)

Opening the moon-naming process up to a vote has been a lot of work, even if it's a non-binding vote, and Showalter said he doubts that he'll do it again. But he's gratified by the response: The contest?attracted hundreds of thousands of votes from scores of countries around the world, generated more than 30,000 write-in suggestions for names, and gave Pluto fans and "Star Trek" fans lots to think about.

What would Spock think about all this? Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played the alien on the original "Star Trek" show, said via Twitter that "'Vulcan' is the logical choice."?I can imagine Spock saying that, but I can also imagine him uttering just one word. ...

Spock said, "Fascinating," a lot! Here are the times he said it. Enjoy!

More about Pluto and its moons:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17060016-star-trek-boost-helps-pluto-moons-discoverer-make-his-case-for-vulcan?lite

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Sony's PS4 future lies in the cloud

Friday, February 22, 2013 - 9:47pm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- ? The new Sony PlayStation 4 is a beast of a gaming console, but its most amazing feature has nothing to do with with raw power.

That shows just how much Sony's priorities have changed over the past seven years since the PlayStation 3 was released.

Oh, sure, Sony talked about its eight-core AMD Jaguar CPU, PC-style graphics processor, and eight gigabytes of RAM during the new console's unveiling on Wednesday. The company had developers talk about how many more polygons they can now cram into character models. And Sony showed off eye candy in the form of new games like "Killzone: Shadow Fall" and "Infamous: Second Son."

Yes, Sony is still interested in hardcore gaming.

But what Sony really gushed about during its PS4 event had nothing to do with pixels. More than anything else, Sony's presenters were at their giddiest when they discussed streaming content and the cloud.

The PlayStation 4 features built-in support for users to stream select PS4 games to their handheld PS Vitas. That effectively gives the Vita more power than its diminutive form factor could house on its own.

Another fun feature for fans of retro games: The PS4 will also be able to stream legacy PlayStation titles from a remote server. No downloading and no legacy hardware required. That's a big deal for people who have an extensive library of PS3 games but don't want to keep around multiple video game consoles.

Sony's ambitious vision is to make every single existing PlayStaion game -- all the way back to the original PlayStation -- available via the cloud

To facilitate this, Sony acquired a company in 2012 called Gaikai, which specializes in deploying cloud infrastructure to support online gaming. Sony's announcement put Gaikai boss David Perry front and center during the big reveal to talk about the company's new plans.

Still think this is just a casual area of interest for Sony? It may be life or death.

Sony is very conscious of the fact that it has lost mind share and market share to smartphone and tablet makers. Games available on your iPhone and Android are very close to what's available on the PS Vita, and mobile gaming has been gradually nibbling away at console sales over the past couple years.

Yet what phones and tablets can't offer is a console-like experience with the top-of-the-line games that come out exclusively for the PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo Wii. It's a rare case when we can play the same game in multiple settings.

That's what Sony is hoping to accomplish with its new cloud offering.

With games that can span more than a hundred hours of playing time, having them no longer tethered to a single device is a tantalizing idea. It may not be cutting edge in the traditional sense, but it very well might be the future of gaming.

Sony's not the only console maker thinking about this.

Nintendo gave the Wii U the ability to stream games to its controller. And Nvidia is building out its GRID cloud gaming solution, which will allow users to play the same game on a phone, tablet, computer, or television.

But Sony could really differentiate itself by going all-in with the cloud, leveraging online gaming to make the PlayStation something bigger than just a console. Simply making a self-contained gaming machine isn't enough anymore.

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta/+1-404-827-WIRE(9473)
? & ? 2013 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
?

Source: http://www.ketknbc.com/news/sonys-ps4-future-lies-in-the-cloud

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Aspiring rapper among dead after Vegas Strip shooting

In a scene witnesses describe as looking like a Hollywood set, a confrontation between a group of men escalated into a shooting, multiple vehicle pileup, and an exploding taxicab. The incident left three people dead. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

The driver of a Maserati that was shot up early Thursday morning on Las Vegas? famed Strip, causing the vehicle to crash into a taxi cab and leading to a deadly explosion, was a 27-year-old aspiring rapper, according to his family.

Three people were killed and at least six injured as a result of the 4:30 a.m. shooting and subsequent car crashes in a section of the Strip that includes Caesars Palace, Bally?s, and the Bellagio.?

The shooting came after the occupants of a Range Rover and the Maserati got into an altercation in the valet area of the Aria hotel and casino, according to Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie.

?We have numerous witnesses to this,? Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said. ?But what is the genesis of this? We don?t know yet.?

A major manhunt is under way for the occupants of the Range Rover.

Kenny ?Clutch? Cherry of Oakland, Calif. was at the wheel of the Maserati, his father told NBCBayArea.com on Thursday, when a black Range Rover with tinted windows and black rims pulled up and allegedly opened fire near a stoplight in the pre-dawn hours.

A passenger was injured by the gunfire and Cherry was killed, causing the car to spin out of control. The careening silver Maserati smashed into a taxi cab, trapping the passenger and driver and causing the cab to burst into flames; both occupants were killed, police said. Then, the Maserati smashed into three other cars before coming to a stop.?

The Maserati driver was a Chico State dropout who had gone to Las Vegas to pursue a rap career, father Kenneth Cherry, Sr., told NBCBayArea.com. He had filmed a music video on the Strip featuring his Maserati just months before. Cherry left behind three children, including a toddler and 2-month-old baby girl.

?I heard there was some sort of disagreement and the guys pulled to the side of him, and rolled their window down, and he rolled his window down,? Cherry said. ?They just started shooting. My son for the record did not have any guns in his car. There was no gun battle. Nothing like that.?

Attorney Vicki Greco told Reuters she had represented the deceased Cherry in a civil case and a few traffic issues.

In Las Vegas, visitors and law enforcement reacted with shock to the violent spectacle. The Strip has seen other recent incidents of violence, including a man who fired a gun inside the Circus Circus casino on New Year?s Eve and a parking garage shooting on Feb. 6.

?We get stabbings and gang violence,? Mark Thompson, a visitor from Manchester, England, told The Associated Press, ?but this is like something out of a movie. Like ?Die Hard? or something.?

Officers are searching for the Range Rover with paper dealership plates and its male African-American occupants, police said. They are combing through surveillance tape for clues.

?Finding those involved is a top priority for my agency and law enforcement here in southern Nevada,? Sheriff Douglas Gillespie of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told NBC affiliate KSNV.

Others spoke of the inconveniences caused as police tape continued to rope off popular sections of the neon-lit thoroughfare throughout the day Thursday, about a block away from where the unsolved shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur took place in 1996.

?You come to Vegas and you want to come walk the streets of the Strip and now you can?t,? visitor Judge Chavez from Albuquerque, New Mexico told KSNV. ?You want to go to the Paris, and you want to go to whatever casino, and all of a sudden you can?t go there.?

Related:

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17056170-aspiring-rapper-among-the-dead-after-explosive-vegas-strip-shooting?lite

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How use WPI to install IIS7/PHP/MySQL on windows 7?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://forums.iis.net/p/1195962/2043571.aspx/1?How+use+WPI+to+install+IIS7+PHP+MySQL+on+windows+7+

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Kristen Stweart & Robert Pattinson To Split After DVD Release

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are rumored to be dunzo. Honestly I was surprised they ever got back together. But now, shady business is happening. Apparently the two have been over for? awhile, but are going to announce the split after the DVD release of Breaking Dawn? Part 2. As if anyone cares?? I don’t see how it would affect DVD sales, if anything it may increase them when the fans realize RPatz is single and ready to mingle!People may even be excited that he decided to move on and take a stand against his cheating ex.   But the fact that I read that they would call it quits after the DVD release, way back before it was even released in theaters.   [Blind Gossip] Everyone is so excited that these two lovebirds are back together! Sorry, but that kind of naivete is going to come back to bite you on the butt. Why? Because their reunion is both fake and temporary. We told you before that they their original coupling took place in a publicist?s office. They became good friends, but nothing more. If they look like they are in love, it is only because they are actors. [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/uTUcRuWs0NE/

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Christian Louboutin amp a Bond Girl in India to Talk Design

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Man sought in attempted kidnap of 2 Calif. girls

WHITTIER, Calif. (AP) ? An 11-year-old girl walking alone near a Southern California park was grabbed by a man and shoved into the back seat of a car where a sobbing 7-year-old was already being held, investigators said Friday.

The young girls were apparently the target of the same man prowling Whittier neighborhood parks for young victims earlier this month.

The older girl, accosted Thursday afternoon, managed to get out of the car and free the 7-year-old and both girls ran in different directions to escape the suspect, Officer Brad White said.

The 11-year-old ran from Founders Park and called police when she got home. The identity and whereabouts of the younger girl are unknown.

"We have not received any information on the 7-year-old," White said, adding there are no reports of missing children in the suburb 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

The girls do not know each other and the 11-year-old wasn't hurt.

Extra police were on duty Friday in the hunt for the suspect in a red convertible with a tan top. He was described as a 25- to 35-year-old, Hispanic, about 6 feet tall with a medium to heavy build. School superintendents have also been alerted.

The 11-year-old girl said he had short black hair with three dots tattooed on his left hand.

"It is very unusual for Whittier," White said. "We're taking it very seriously. We are following any leads we have."

The same man approached three teenage girls earlier this month, authorities said.

Just before noon on Feb. 5, a man matching the same description and driving a red convertible pulled up to a 17-year-old girl walking near Broadway Park and asked her if she wanted a ride.

"After the victim told him no, he proceeded to stop the car and open the door," Lt. Kent Miller said in a statement. "The female fled and called the police."

About five hours later, a witness called police and said two teenage girls near Central Park were arguing with a man who had ordered them into his red convertible, White said.

The suspect drove away and the girls left on foot.

White said the witness didn't know the teen girls, and they didn't call police.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-sought-attempted-kidnap-2-calif-girls-172852105.html

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Private US firms take major role vs. cyberattacks

WASHINGTON (AP) ? When Kevin Mandia, a retired military cybercrime investigator, decided to expose China as a primary threat to U.S. computer networks, he didn't have to consult with American diplomats in Beijing or declassify tactics to safely reveal government secrets.

He pulled together a 76-page report based on seven years of his company's work and produced the most detailed public account yet of how, he says, the Chinese government has been rummaging through the networks of major U.S. companies.

It wasn't news to Mandia's commercial competitors, or the federal government, that systematic attacks could be traced back to a nondescript office building outside Shanghai that he believes was run by the Chinese army. What was remarkable was that the extraordinary details ? code names of hackers, one's affection for Harry Potter and how they stole sensitive trade secrets and passwords ? came from a private security company without the official backing of the U.S. military or intelligence agencies that are responsible for protecting the nation from a cyberattack.

The report, embraced by stakeholders in both government and industry, represented a notable alignment of interests in Washington: The Obama administration has pressed for new evidence of Chinese hacking that it can leverage in diplomatic talks ? without revealing secrets about its own hacking investigations ? and Mandiant makes headlines with its sensational revelations.

The report also shows the balance of power in America's cyberwar has shifted into the hands of the $30 billion-a-year computer security industry.

"We probably kicked the hornet's nest," Mandia, 42, said in an interview at the Alexandria, Va., headquarters of Mandiant. But "tolerance is just dwindling. People are tired of the status quo of being hacked with impunity, where there's no risk or repercussion."

China has disputed Mandiant's allegations.

Mandiant, which took in some $100 million in business last year ? up 60 percent from the year before ? is part of a lucrative and exploding market that goes beyond antivirus software and firewalls. These "digital forensics" outfits can tell a business whether its systems have been breached and ? if the company pays extra ? who attacked it.

Mandiant's staff is stocked with retired intelligence and law enforcement agents who specialize in computer forensics and promise their clients confidentiality and control over the investigation. In turn, they get unfettered access to the crime scene and resources to fix the problem (Mandiant won't say exactly how much it charges, but it's estimated to average around $400 an hour).

The growing reliance on contractors like Mandiant has been compared to that enjoyed by the military and State Department contractor formerly known as Blackwater, which provided physical security to diplomats and other VIPs during the Iraq war. Officials inside and outside government say that's not a bad thing; contractors can often act more quickly than the government and without as much red tape. There are also serious privacy concerns: Most U.S. citizens don't want the government to access their bank accounts, for example, even if China is attacking their bank.

"The government doesn't have the capacity," said Shawn Henry, a former FBI executive assistant director who works for a Mandiant competitor, CrowdStrike. "There are a lot of people working hard. But the structures aren't there."

Michael DuBose, another former senior Justice Department official who works at a different Mandiant competitor, Kroll Advisory Solutions, added: "I think there's a recognition that the government can't stand at the entry point of the Internet to the United States and shield it from all bad things coming in."

Since Mandiant released its report this week, government officials and lawmakers have publicly embraced its findings. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, hailed Mandiant for exposing China as a problem. She called its report "sobering" and said she hoped it would spur an international agreement to protect companies from cyber-espionage.

"It's a forcing function in the private sector, and frankly ... it's a forcing function with the government," said retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, the former director of the CIA and the National Security Agency who now works for the Chertoff Group, a security consulting firm.

Mandiant's report raises questions, too, about the extent to which private companies are in control of defending the nation's most crucial networks, like power companies and water treatment plants. Another question is what rules of engagement private companies might rely on. When does a company strike back?

Mandia and his competitors said they are beholden to U.S. and international laws, which prohibit the type of intrusive acts they accuse China of taking. Mandia also says his clients aren't interested in starting a cyberwar with foreign hackers, in part because they are so vulnerable.

"The only time (hacking back) would really work is if we got all the bad guys out of our networks in the first place," he said. "Then you can start playing that game."

Still, publishing the hacking report was itself an offensive shot across China's bow.

Mandia said he started his company in 2004 after years in the private sector because there was no company focused on investigating intrusions. With a master's degree in forensic science from George Washington University, he became Mandiant's sole employee and, two years later, got a cash infusion from a college friend. Now, he oversees some 330 employees and the field is growing rapidly. He says he used to see maybe three major incidents a month when he started his business; now he estimates there can be anywhere from 30 to 100 incidents a month.

Mandia is hardly alone. A former co-worker, Stuart McClure, recently started his own company, called Cylance. He received $15 million in venture capital funds for his business, which he says is distinctive because of its focus on prevention. McClure said in general he sees the future of cyberdefense residing in the private sector, with its deeper pockets and less red tape.

"With a commercial entity, you can get more creative," McClure said.

As for any problems they might cause in diplomatic or security circles for the federal government, Mandia and his competitors say that's not really on their radar, although he's hiring attorneys to help him monitor changing U.S. policies and regulations. But as a tech guy, he says he's focused on stopping intrusions.

"We're security guys," Mandia said. "We're not diplomats."

___

Online:

Mandiant: http://www.mandiant.com

The report: http://intelreport.mandiant.com/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/private-us-firms-major-role-vs-cyberattacks-130657582--finance.html

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