No they are meaning they will not change the kernel in a very long time and I really think wp8 will be upgradable to wp9 because they are using the same kernel and every else is the same
The Supreme Court upheld President Obama's health care law today, ruling that the government may impose tax penalties on those who do not have health insurance. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was the swing vote in a 5-4 decision.
Employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees must offer "affordable" health insurance of minimum value to full-time employees and their dependents or pay penalties. The cost of such coverage or the penalties could threaten the slim profit margin on which most restaurants operate.
"Today's ruling by the Supreme Court is troubling for restaurant operators and business owners across the country," said Dawn Sweeney, President and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. "We encourage Congress to continue efforts to repeal the law, since the Court's decision leaves the employer requirements in place, provisions which impact restaurant operators' ability to grow and create jobs."
Upcoming "The Supreme Court's Decision on Health Care Law Webinar": The National Restaurant Association will hold a?member-exclusive webinar June 29, 10 a.m. EDT, to summarize and explain the high court's key findings upholding most provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition, the NRA's labor and workforce division will host a second webinar to discuss the ruling's practical implications and what means for restaurateurs nationwide.?
Virgin and London underground are continuing their roll out of speedy free Wi-Fi, flicking the switch on 32 additional stations across the capital. Considering it?s faster than your average home broadband connection, and free, maybe it?s time to take your downloads underground.
Transport for London has released a handy tube Wi-Fi map for you to work out where the best spot is for your underground wardriving efforts. There are currently 38 stations online, with another 46 waiting to get switched on later this summer.
Now if they could figure out how to get Wi-Fi in every tube train as well as station, and roll out that air conditioning TfL?s been promising for years, we?ll finally have a modern underground worth shouting about, maybe. [TfL via Zdnet]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a federal law that makes it a crime to lie about receiving a military medal, ruling it violated constitutional free-speech rights.
By a 6-3 vote, in a case about how far the government may go to prosecute false claims about military honors, the high court handed a setback to the Obama administration over the "Stolen Valor Act" that Congress adopted in 2006.
"The nation well knows that one of the costs of the First Amendment is that it protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the court's main opinion, speaking for himself and three other justices.
While statements by a California man falsely claiming he had received the congressional Medal of Honor were "contemptible," Kennedy said the right to make those statements was protected by the constitutional guarantee of free speech and expression.
The ruling rejected the administration's argument that the military medal law was constitutional and that the government has a strong interest in protecting the integrity of awards to war heroes.
Opponents said the law swept too broadly, suppressed speech and covered innocent bragging, satire and even false statements that cause no harm such as those at issue in the case by a serial liar who held local political office in California.
The military medal law targeted people who falsely claimed, verbally or in writing, that they had received such an award. Violators could have faced up to six months in prison, or up to one year for elite awards, including the Medal of Honor.
The ruling was a victory for Xavier Alvarez, who was elected to a California water board in Pomona and at a 2007 board meeting had introduced himself as a retired Marine who won the country's highest military decoration.
Alvarez never received Medal of Honor and never served in the military. The FBI got a recording of the meeting and Alvarez became one of the first people prosecuted under the law.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and perform more than 400 hours of community service at a veterans' hospital.
UPHOLDS U.S. APPEALS COURT
Alvarez then challenged the law on free-speech grounds and a U.S. appeals court ruled in his favor.
U.S. appeals court judges who struck down the law said that if lying about a medal can be classified a crime, so can lying about one's age or finances on Facebook or falsely telling one's mother one does not smoke, drink, speed or have sex.
The Supreme Court upheld the appeals court's decision.
Justice Samuel Alito, in a dissent joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, wrote that the law was narrow and adopted to address an important problem.
"Congress was entitled to conclude that falsely claiming to have won the Medal of Honor is qualitatively different from even the most prestigious civilian awards and that the misappropriation of that honor warrants criminal sanction," he said.
Only 45 cases have been brought by federal prosecutors in the first five years the medal law has been in effect, an attorney for Alvarez has said.
A number of veterans groups and 20 states supported the government in the case, while the American Civil Liberties Union and a wide-range of free-speech advocacy groups backed Alvarez in his challenge to the law.
Legislation already has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to amend the law to make it a crime to lie about military medals only if there was intent to profit.
The Supreme Court case is United States v. Xavier Alvarez, No. 11-210.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Jackie Frank; Editing by Will Dunham)
I was recently asked to write an article on "giving" and realized in a nano second that this is a sensitive subject for me. I've been accused of giving too much, bending over backwards, giving more than I receive. Sometimes, my giving is caregiving and co-dependent.
As I considered my relationship with giving, I realized the issue is not with giving too much but with receiving too little, a common problem in our society. It's more difficult simply because of cultural conditioning. Giving is modeled by our parents, taught in church or synagogue. It's an especially familiar role for women who are conditioned to be caregivers. Giving is generally viewed as honorable and praiseworthy. Even the Bible says, "It is better to give than receive." (Acts 20:35) No wonder many of us feel better about ourselves when we give. No wonder we have enormous confusion in this area.
I've always been a giver, a doer and caretaker. It's easy for me to listen, to advise and to guide. One day, my rabbi friend asked me to practice listening as my weekly assignment so I could be a good giver. "What," I cocked my head in confusion, declaring, "I am a good listener. I help people all the time." And he replied, "This week, listen consciously."
Throughout the week, on many occasions, friends and clients would ask for help, advice or just a good listening ear. My readiness to help would cause me to lean into them and offer my opinion or observation. But then, I remembered my assignment and watched as my body language changed. To listen and to help consciously, I had to lean back -- taking in more than I was giving. To truly help and give counsel, I had to take a step back to receive the information and the totality of the person before me. Only then could I truly give what was needed in the moment. I had an "Aha!" experience and realized that to give, I must become present in the moment, take a new stance, create more space, receive, and then, in true service to the other, I can give.
Author and spiritual teacher Shakti Gawain said, "Receiving and giving are opposite energies that are inextricably linked together in the natural flow of life, like inhaling and exhaling. If one aspect of that cycle doesn't function, the entire cycle ceases to function and the life force cannot move freely." It is all about a balance between giving and receiving. As Walt Whitman said, "When I give, I give to myself."
It is great to give, and it can feel like an elixir. We give of ourselves, we give gifts, we give advice and we give our love. It is easy to address giving. The real opportunity is to feel into receiving. From there, we can truly understand Maya Angelou's statement, "I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver." Yay, to conscious giving and receiving -- a great GPS for the Soul!
For more by Liz Sterling, M.A., click here.
For more on emotional intelligence, click here.
?
Follow Liz Sterling, M.A. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lizsterling
LONDON (Reuters) - By rejecting Glencore's coveted acquisition of miner Xstrata, Qatar could also put paid to the reputation of Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of the commodities trader, as consummate dealmaker.
Those who have worked with him on takeovers - and against him defending the companies he targeted - say Glasenberg's self-belief is second to none. That, plus unbending determination, means he normally gets his way.
But this time he appears to have been wrong-footed, thinking the support of major Xstrata shareholder Qatar Holdings was in the bag.
"Did Glencore misread the Qataris? Absolutely," said one banker familiar with the mining sector, but not involved in the deal. "Qatar does not like the limelight, so they must feel pretty strongly to end up going public."
Apparently undeterred by the rejection, Glasenberg showed little relish for compromise, letting it be known he would not overpay.
Glencore's position had not changed, a person familiar with the matter said, and the company would rather walk away than offer more. Bankers said such talk was a standard M&A tactic and to be expected of any company in such negotiations.
It is not only Glasenberg's track record that is under the microscope following Qatar Holdings' surprise demand for better terms for the takeover. The bankers advising him may also have been caught napping.
The stakes are high for all involved, with banking teams working on the deal standing to lose out on a pay day worth up to $130 million if the $26 billion deal collapses. Xstrata was due to pay up to $80 million to its financial advisers, while Glencore may have to shell out up to $50 million.
With fee income in retreat after a 25 percent fall in worldwide M&A volumes in the first half of the year, such pay days are more important than ever for bankers struggling to bring in revenue for their increasingly cost-conscious employers.
The combination of Glencore and Xstrata would rank as the biggest-ever done deal in a sector littered with the skeletons of failed deals. These include the $144.5 billion hostile bid for Rio Tinto by BHP Billiton in 2008, and BHP Billiton's more recent $39.7 billion offer for Canada's Potash .
Glasenberg is not the only executive to have been exposed by the failure to get "Glenstrata" blessed by shareholders.
His opposite number at Xstrata, CEO Mick Davis, was not listening to the mood music over executive pay when he secured himself a $45 million three-year retention package to seal the miner's deal with Glencore. The mining group was forced to convert it to an all-share, performance-related package after an embarrassing shareholder outcry.
Qatar Holdings, which has remained silent for months as it built up the second-largest stake in miner Xstrata - about 11 percent - pushed the deal to the brink on Tuesday, demanding better terms before it would support the deal.
The wealth fund is part of a new breed of investors in the mining sector, focused on creating long-term value and acting on motivations that are sometimes at odds with a more numerous body of investors looking at a shorter timeframe.
Despite the apparent blow to Glasenberg's plans, hedge fund managers said it was too soon to say he had been outwitted by the Qataris.
"Glasenberg is always the smartest man in the room and always one step ahead of everyone. We don't know what is going on behind closed doors," a hedge fund manager who owns Xstrata stock said.
"Hedge funds always think they are smarter than the chief executive, but not when it comes to Ivan," he added.
A second hedge fund manager said Glasenberg would do whatever was in the best interests of Glencore, whether that was to stump up more or let the deal die.
"He is one of the most capitalist individuals I have ever seen. He will change what he needs to change to get the best outcome," the second hedge fund manager said.
BANKING ON A DEAL
The deal was already proving difficult for bankers before the Qatari move. They are facing lower fees due to the unique role of former Citigroup grandee turned independent go-between Michael Klein.
It was Klein's ability to get Glasenberg and arch-rival Mick Davis to agree on a valuation that put the deal on the table. Klein is expected to earn between $10 million and $15 million for his work and could be called upon to help smooth out the latest wrinkle, sources said.
Klein's slice of the fees will mean less for Citigroup, Morgan Stanley , Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas, Glencore's advisers.
Deutsche Bank , JP Morgan , Goldman Sachs , Nomura and Barclays , advisers for Xstrata, will also receive a smaller proportion because of Klein's intervention.
London's "mining king", Ian Hannam, the veteran rainmaker who resigned from JP Morgan last month to fight a 450,000-pound fine imposed by British regulators for passing on inside information, is also involved in the transaction, and teams at Citigroup and Morgan Stanley include veteran UK advisers David Wormsley and Simon Robey, among the biggest names in corporate finance in the City of London.
With stakes so high, all will be banking on Glasenberg showing his usual ability for getting the deal done.
"Is he the smartest man in the room? Let's see where the deal goes," the second hedge fund manager said.
(Additional reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Alexander Smith and Will Waterman)
[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]
[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]
Serena Williams of the United States reacts during a first round women's singles match against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Serena Williams of the United States reacts during a first round women's singles match against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Serena Williams of the United States returns a shot to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic during a first round women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reacts during a first round women's singles match against Akgul Amanmurad of Uzbekistan at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reacts after defeating Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan in a first round women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Serena Williams of the United States reacts during a first round women's singles match against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, England, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) ? On one point Tuesday at Wimbledon, Serena Williams dumped a forehand into the net and dropped to a knee, her jaw clenched as she let out a shriek.
On another, she pushed a backhand into the net while her feet gave way, yet again leaving her awkwardly splayed on the grass at Court 2, the same place where her sister Venus lost a day earlier.
By the end, the younger Williams was screaming after nearly every point, good or bad ? and, well, there were plenty of both. Her harder-than-the-score-looked 6-2, 6-4 victory over the 62nd-ranked Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic in the first round at the All England Club wasn't exactly perfect or pretty.
"Definitely a little relief," the sixth-seeded Williams said. "I was letting out a lot of cries. I was happy to get through that."
Yes, Williams got the job done, something she couldn't say the last time she was at a major championship. Last month at the French Open, the 30-year-old American tossed away a big lead ? nine times, she was two points from victory ? and lost to a woman ranked 111th, the only first-round exit of Williams' career in 48 Grand Slam tournaments.
"I learned that you got to ... keep going," Williams said about that stunning defeat. "I was really disappointed. Obviously, I was extremely disappointed. But as Kelly Clarkson says, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'"
In part because of a series of health scares that sidelined her for about 10 months, Williams has gone two years since the most recent of her 13 major titles, including four at Wimbledon. And even though she bowed out quickly in Paris, Williams is a popular pick to do well this fortnight.
"For me, when I'm playing a match," Williams said, "I either win it or lose it."
She'll want to play better than she did against Zahlavova Strycova, who is 0-21 against top-10 opponents, 13-27 in Grand Slam matches, and never has made it past the third round at any major.
Some other top players were sluggish at the start against unheralded foes Tuesday, when action was cut short in the evening because of rain.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal, for instance, trailed 4-0 against 80th-ranked Thomas Bellucci of Brazil before turning it around and winning 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-3.
"Fantastic for me," Nadal said, "but I have to improve a lot for the next round."
Defending women's champion Petra Kvitova fell behind 3-0 and 4-1 but eventually used a seven-game run to take control and beat 96th-ranked Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-4. The match was halted by a 30-minute rain delay in the second set; when they returned, Kvitova needed all of three minutes to wrap things up.
"In the beginning," Kvitova acknowledged, "I think I was nervous."
Twelve singles matches were suspended in progress and four were postponed altogether. Among those that began but didn't finish, 2003 U.S. Open champion and three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick led British wild-card entry Jamie Baker by a set and a break; French Open finalist Sara Errani was a point from beating U.S. qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe; and 21st-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada was a game from eliminating Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, leading by two sets and 5-4 in the third.
Winners included 10th-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States, playing his first match since having a medical procedure on his heart a month ago. The 30-year-old Fish hit 24 aces and defeated Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo of Spain 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (1), then didn't attend a postmatch news conference; a tour spokesman said Fish wasn't feeling well, but didn't elaborate.
All three Australian men in action Tuesday exited, meaning none reached the second round at the All England Club for the first time since 1938. No. 20 Bernard Tomic, a quarterfinalist at 18 years old in 2011, was knocked out by David Goffin, the Belgian wild-card recipient who took a set off Roger Federer in the fourth round of the French Open; 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt lost to No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; and Matthew Ebden was beaten by Benoit Paire of France.
"The boys didn't have the best day," said Hewitt, who used to be ranked No. 1 but has dealt with a series of injuries, is now 202nd, and needed a wild card to get into the field.
He hadn't bowed out in the first round at Wimbledon since 2003. Williams never has. Never lost before the third round, actually, and now is 13-0 in openers at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
Last year, Williams questioned why tournament organizers assigned her and her sister to play on Court 2 rather than the larger and more prestigious Centre Court or Court 1. They have, after all, won a total of nine singles championships at Wimbledon and faced each other in four of those finals.
Given that Venus lost in straight sets on Court 2 on Monday, and Serena went through a workout to win there on Tuesday, the issue came up.
"I can't even talk about it. I'm over it," Williams said, raising her left palm. "I just can't talk about that right now. I'm not in the mood."
___
Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
The affirmations a person uses depend on many factors. What is the person trying to accomplish? Where is he or she now in relation to that goal or dream? What is their belief factor? Is he or she aspiring to something big or just looking for incremental improvement?
One of the biggest knocks critics have against affirmations is that they encourage unrealistic thinking.
It is ridiculous, they say, to encourage a sixth grader who can barely play ?Hot Crossed Buns? on the saxophone to use an affirmation like, ?I am a world-class saxophone player?. That?s just delusional, they argue, to have a child believing something so out of touch with reality.
I absolutely agree!
?What,? you say, ?I thought you were in the business of promoting affirmations and encouraging others to follow their dreams?? I am. And, I still agree with those critics. Oh, I believe emphatically that affirmations are for everyone, but I do not believe every affirmation is for every person.
Yes. The critics are correct. This affirmation is completely unrealistic for any sixth grader who believes it is unrealistic.
They are also correct that a smart sixth grader is probably going to doubt the affirmation at some point. Sooner or later the sixth grader using this affirmation may have the thought, ?I can?t even play ?Hot Crossed Buns?. I?m not a world class saxophone player.?
These two pieces of information do not match up. The sixth grader, like most human beings, will search for a way to make the ideas congruent. When this happens it is decision time for the sixth grader and his or her dream of being a world-class saxophonist. Whether they know it or not the critics are citing and the sixth grader is experiencing a well-known psychological phenomenon called cognitive dissonance.
This theory states that when we hold two incongruent pieces of knowledge in our minds there is a very strong psychological impulse to bring the two conflicting thoughts into agreement. The idea being that our sixth grader cannot hold the thought, ?I can?t even play ?Hot Crossed Buns?,? in his or her mind while at the same time holding the idea, ?I am a world class saxophone player.?
The classic example is the mother on the news who cannot reconcile the baby she brought into the world with the possibility that he may have committed a crime. So, she believes in his innocence even against overwhelming evidence.
Now, here is where the critics? logic fails. They assume, I suppose, that the only option for this newly self-aware sixth grader is to stop using this unrealistic affirmation and stop pursuing such lofty and unrealistic dreams. Basically, ?Give it up, kid, there?s no chance.?
The cognitive dissonance theorists tell us that there are actually three options (besides ?getting real?) open to resolve this dilemma.
Change beliefs ? the sixth grader can change one or both beliefs to be more in line. ?I know I?m not a world-class saxophonist right now, but I can be someday.? He or she admits the first fact and changes the condition for the second to bring them into congruence.
Cashing in on today?s hot real estate market is smart and can net investors huge amounts of money but unless a sustainable model is being built the money won?t keep flowing?
If your investment strategy isn?t sustainable cash flow could eventually stall. Do you really have a large enough nest egg to support your debt, live on and realize all of your goals without another dime coming in?
4 Ways to Assess the Sustainability of Your Investment Strategy:
1. Is it Scalable?
Is your real estate investment strategy and business model scalable? Can it be grown to invest in or flip more homes without falling apart or become too problematic? Real estate investing must be treated like a business and in any business you are either growing or fading. Do you have systems and a structure which will allow you to easily and profitably do more volume and take on more staff? What if the market gets really ugly, can it be scaled back without going bankrupt? If you have resigned to being a solo investor can you really keep up with the workload for the long term, especially if you try to do more or is it wiser to bring in help and start building a real business now?
2. Are Your Profit Margins Big Enough?
One fatal mistake real estate investors make when the going is good is taking on too much debt and overhead. This applies to both in and outside of their investment businesses. Not only can this be unsustainable if income dips or stalls but it can mean financial ruin for decades, along with a whole world of painful side effects.
Before you take on more debt and liabilities make sure you have the reserves to support it as well as a viable exit strategy which works in the worst case scenario. Leverage can be very advantageous for pole vaulting your income and wealth to the next level, just make sure your pole is solid.
Investors also need to make sure profit margins are substantial enough to be able to withstand slimmer times or face being choked out of business. For example if REO prices keep climber faster than retail home prices can you keep making money with your current model? What about as inflation continues to inflate the cost or labor and doing business? Give yourself more room than you need.
3. Will it Work in Changing Markets?
The conditions may currently be fantastic for investing in real estate, regardless of whether you are focusing on buy and hold or flipping houses but what happens when things change? Everything is constantly influx. Mortgage rates can?t stay this low forever and nor can home prices. There is money to be made in all markets but will your real estate investing strategy work as things change?
4. Will Your Reputation Fuel a Sustainable Business?
Are you really focusing on building a reputation and brand which will yield repeat business and referrals or sacrificing it in exchange for the next few pennies?
With massage and daily exercise provide the actual fitness; massage therapies are the better way for relaxing the whole body spa massage, with the use of different massage therapies we solve the particular part of body, different health care center suggest a special packages, you know now a days this massage therapies are the special use for body treatments which is provide a relax in the sense of healthy use of this service, daily use of massage is not necessary for our skin, mostly this massage treatment is use for beautifully make a skin popular and new techniques are performed well service for us the use of natural oil and proper schedule of time make a healthy benefit for people. Just use this for skin treatment:
The massage treatment is more popular when you, think about this package use on travel time, when you go to the spa use the various type of services for your body such as a massage you will be take any service which is select from the defining packages that it will not be necessarily use the famous package use those packages for which is that you will receive many hotel services issue a different gift voucher on a special day or any special event. The massage center decided the services for according the time table of service which is mainly effect on body for a long time will work hard to iron out your tension by rubbing deep into the tissue to get rid of aches, pains, and stress. This means massaging the feet, back, and face as well.
The spa massage is becoming ever increasingly popular for those who need to have a place to go to get rid of their stress. This means that when they do go home they are relaxed .In fact; you may find that this sort of a gift will be appreciated more than something that may end up in the back of the closet. While you are at it, don?t forget to schedule a massage for yourself. Benefit of massage: For healthy beauty skins most of the people solve the many skin related problems health treatment relaxed with this treatments and spa can even benefit him health for a long time.
The most important benefit of this treatments are the properly way of blood circulation. It also helps in improve the skin muscles by use of facial massage and making the complexion of skins uses this for youthful fitness and glowing skins. This is also the strategies for leading to effective weight loss problem for related to weight. Provide the skin care related problems, stress and smoothly work on your tired muscles. Spas treatment and massage are getting extensively popular these days this is provide the services for a wide range of health treatments and beauty treatments there. Hot stone massage bvi is the great feature for solve the problem related to back pain related, which means health through water. With this treatments maintaining health by use the massage therapies and in this we use with natural oil which is improve our skin just mix the hot stone treatment.
Regular maintenance of a swimming pool is imperative to ensure that it can be used throughout the year. Whilst cleaning is the starting point of all pool maintenance, the procedures differ throughout the year.
?
Spring ? one of the most important times of the year for pool maintenance is spring. The weather is getting warmer and the pool is beginning to be used occasionally. Throughout spring, a full and intense cleaning should be carried out, including vacuuming the floor and thoroughly washing the tiles with the appropriate pieces of equipment.
?
In addition, spring should also be the time when the chemical level of the water is started to be checked regularly, with any chemicals required being added to make the water as clean and as safe as possible.
?
Summer ? the busiest time for swimming pools is without doubt the summer period.
The weather is warm, the days are long and it makes a welcome break from the hustle or bustle of everyday life to relax in the pool water.
?
As the majority of initial maintenance should have been carried out in spring, maintaining a pool throughout the summer is a relatively easy process. Each morning and night any unwanted objects, such as insects or foliage, should be removed from the water and the chemical levels should be checked regularly, adding the appropriate chemicals to ensure that the water remains at an acceptable pH level.
?
It has to be noted that as a pool may be subject to heavy usage, additional cleaning may be required depending on the amount of usage it receives.
?
Autumn ? Pool usage generally begins to tailor off throughout autumn, although regular use is still apparent, particularly in early autumn.
Similar to summer, autumn maintenance should involve the regular checking and maintaining of chemical levels within the water, as well as daily removal of foliage and insects.
?
As autumn is the time of year when the trees begin to lose their leaves, it is often worthwhile to invest in a skimmer or net, which can be used to remove large amounts of unwanted items from the top of the pool in an easy fashion. However, if it is situated in an area surrounded by trees and other greenery, owners may look at purchasing a cover to place over the area when not in use.
?
Winter ? due to the cold weather, unless a pool is heated and indoors, it will very rarely be used on a regular basis, if at all, during winter. Whilst it may be the easiest time of year overall for maintenance as the pool will not be in use, preparing it for winter can be very labor intensive.
?
Firstly, the water should be drained to under the stated skimmer or relevant line, which ensures no water is constantly entering the filter and other pieces of equipment unnecessarily. Once this has been carried out, the pool should be cleaned thoroughly ? including the equipment, such as the filter ? followed by ?shocking? the water (a process by which the water is cleaned intensely) and finally covering the area with a sturdy, high quality cover.
?
Each pool varies depending on how and when it was built, so whilst the above provides a standard maintenance procedure, each and every pool may require greater or reduced maintenance.
Climate change and the South Asian summer monsoonPublic release date: 24-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gisela Speidel gspeidel@hawaii.edu 808-956-9252 University of Hawaii ? SOEST
The vagaries of South Asian summer monsoon rainfall impact the lives of more than one billion people. A review in Nature Climate Change (June 24 online issue) of over 100 recent research articles concludes that with continuing rise in CO2 and global warming, the region can expect generally more rainfall, due to the expected increase in atmospheric moisture, as well as more variability in rainfall.
In spite of the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration of about 70 parts per million by volume and in global temperatures of about 0.50C over the last 6 decades, the All India Rainfall index does not yet show the expected increase in rainfall. The reviewers Andrew Turner from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and H. Annamalai from the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa give several reasons for why the region's observed rainfall has not yet increased, among them are inconsistent rainfall observations, decadal variability of the monsoon, the effects of aerosols resulting from industrialization, and land-use changes.
Regional projections for devastating droughts and floods--which are most meaningful for residents living in South Asia-- are still beyond the reach of current climate models, according to the reviewers' detailed analyses of the present state of research. The authors conclude that in order to make regional projections that can help in disaster mitigation and in adapting to climate change, the following is needed: establishing more consistent rainfall datasets by expanding observations to include, for example, agricultural yield; a better grasp of the complicated thermodynamics over the monsoon region and of the interactions among monsoon rainfall, land-use, aerosols, CO2, and other conditions; and an evaluation in coupled circulation models (which allow feedbacks among variables) of those processes that have been shown in simpler models to affect the monsoon and rainfall.
###
[ | 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.
Climate change and the South Asian summer monsoonPublic release date: 24-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gisela Speidel gspeidel@hawaii.edu 808-956-9252 University of Hawaii ? SOEST
The vagaries of South Asian summer monsoon rainfall impact the lives of more than one billion people. A review in Nature Climate Change (June 24 online issue) of over 100 recent research articles concludes that with continuing rise in CO2 and global warming, the region can expect generally more rainfall, due to the expected increase in atmospheric moisture, as well as more variability in rainfall.
In spite of the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration of about 70 parts per million by volume and in global temperatures of about 0.50C over the last 6 decades, the All India Rainfall index does not yet show the expected increase in rainfall. The reviewers Andrew Turner from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and H. Annamalai from the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa give several reasons for why the region's observed rainfall has not yet increased, among them are inconsistent rainfall observations, decadal variability of the monsoon, the effects of aerosols resulting from industrialization, and land-use changes.
Regional projections for devastating droughts and floods--which are most meaningful for residents living in South Asia-- are still beyond the reach of current climate models, according to the reviewers' detailed analyses of the present state of research. The authors conclude that in order to make regional projections that can help in disaster mitigation and in adapting to climate change, the following is needed: establishing more consistent rainfall datasets by expanding observations to include, for example, agricultural yield; a better grasp of the complicated thermodynamics over the monsoon region and of the interactions among monsoon rainfall, land-use, aerosols, CO2, and other conditions; and an evaluation in coupled circulation models (which allow feedbacks among variables) of those processes that have been shown in simpler models to affect the monsoon and rainfall.
###
[ | 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.
Posted by john on Jun 23, 2012 in Daily Thoughts | 3 comments
With all the work that goes into a garage sale, you might as well bring in as much revenue as possible. That is why you should operate your garage sale like it?s a business. My recent garage sale generated more than $ 1,600 in sales.
Here are some guidelines and tips:
Besides all the items from your household you want to sell, embellish your selection with items you purchase elsewhere, just like any other retail business. For example, I bought 200 paperback books at an estate sale for ten cents each and offered them for sale at my garage sale for fifty cents each. The bigger selection I offer, the longer buyers will browse for something they like.
Bring in items from the family business. Maybe your family is in the construction industry, for example. Are there unused items leftover in the construction office, or jobsite? These might sell quickly to a do-it-yourselfer. I sell items on eBay. The items that do not sell end up on the shelves of my garage sale.
Make your garage sale an inviting atmosphere. Lots of lighting. A fan if it is hot. A radio or TV on. Pricing signs posted on the walls or tables.
Bottled water. Garage sales are usually held in hot weather. How about selling bottled water in an ice cooler? At my recent garage sale I bought three 24-bottle cases for $ 10 ($ 0.14 per bottle) and sold eight bottles for one dollar each. I could have done a better job of merchandising the bottled water than leaving it in a closed cooler. I had signs posted, but should have put the bottles in an open bin with ice to suggest their sale.
Advertise? advertise? advertise. First, online. You can place a free posting on craigslist or ebayclassifieds and go into lots of detail about what you are offering.
Use the local newspaper, the daily newspaper if possible. A 3-day listing of 7 lines in the Garage Sale section cost me $ 42.48. Avoid general phrases, like, ?Something for everyone.? Instead, promote your best products with phrases like: ?Baby clothes;? ?Hand Tools;? ?Xbox Games;? or ?Vintage Vinyl Records.?
I put up 26 garage sale yard signs in a 5-mile radius of my home. The idea is to capture as many passersby as possible. I placed signs at every main intersection. You can buy pre-made signs. The office supply shop near me sells four for $ 20. Or you can make your own, like I do. All year I am looking for abandoned real estate signs, political signs, and other yard and roadside signs. For a backing I use standard construction paper 22 inches x 28 inches in fluorescent colors. Two pieces will fit nicely over a standard yard sign frame. Staple them together along the edges. For the print, I use a contrasting fluorescent color of 8.5 x 11 paper. Using the same combination on all your signs lets drivers more easily follow the route to your garage sale. Use as few words as possible. Print them as big as possible on the computer, using Microsoft Word or the equivalent. The letters on my signs are 4.5 inches high. Simply highlight a word or letter, hold down the CTRL key, and touch the right bracket key ?]? till the letter or word gets as big as you want it. The idea is to allow drivers to quickly read your sign as they pass by.
After your garage sale is over for the day, drive around and inspect your signs. I found one sign had been relocated so the arrow pointed the wrong direction. Two other signs were stolen.
Set your hours to match the retail world. It does not have to be 24 hours, but my hours are 8 am to 6 pm.
Pick your own days. Standard garage sale days are Thursday, Friday and Saturday. My recent sale started on Tuesday and ended on Saturday. Next time I might try Monday through Wednesday. That way, you do not have any competition.
Make a daily deposit. Just like your local retailer, you should drop money in the ATM at the end of every day. This gives you the structure to know what your sales were and to appreciate the hard work it took to get them.
Consider the upcoming holiday. I didn?t plan it, but having my sale the week leading into Father?s Day helped me generate additional sales.
Take enough money out of the bank to provide all the change you need. Consider the worst-case scenario, when a customer presents you with a fifty or one hundred dollar bill, or even a twenty. My change bank was $ 170:20 dollars in quarters/50 dollars, in singles/40 dollars, in fives/60 dollars in tens. At the end of the sale the $ 170 goes back into the bank.
This sale I set up bargain bins containing items priced at $ 0.25, $ 0.50, $ 1.00, and $ 2.00. I also had two free bins, one for books. Garage sale buyers like to rummage for bargains.
I used two old bed sheets to cover up the wall behind the workbench that is full of tools. Otherwise I would have spent lots of time explaining the tools were not for sale.
Sweep the floor and driveway. Empty the trash. Keep the place clean for your customers.
If you plan on holding garage sales every summer, consider buying retail display racks. I bought two for $ 75 each from a video store liquidating its stock. Note the photo of it holding paperback books.
?Are there any other garage sales in the area?? Many of your customers ask that. Clip out the garage sale section of the newspaper and post it on the wall for your customers to review.
Security. Best to have one other family member on hand. Do not leave doors to your house unlocked. Do not allow anyone into your house to use the bathroom. Watch for a large group of people coming in and creating confusion. Call the police if necessary. Set up a cashier station and stand at it when customers are shopping. Pay attention. Do not use your garage sale as a social gathering with neighbors; you won?t be paying attention to your customers.
Finally, keep notes of what sold well and what did not for your next garage sale. Make special note of items shoppers asked for, like coins or jewelry, or hand tools. You may want to add some for your next sale. Keep track of your sales and expenses.
Therefore operating your garage sale like it is a family business will definitely reward your hard work.
Environmental groups are urging Los Angeles lawmakers to fight the proposed expansion of a strip mine near Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park that for years has helped power Southern California.
The City Council is considering a resolution opposing the expansion of the Coal Hollow Mine onto federal lands. The mine produces coal for Utah's Intermountain Power Plant, which in turn provides the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power with more than a quarter of its electricity.
The company that owns the 635-acre mine wants to expand its operations more than fivefold to meet ongoing demand. But Bryce Canyon officials oppose the plan and have challenged the methodology used in a draft environmental impact study. The study determined that the mine expansion would diminish air quality and hurt the region's tourism industry, but it recommended allowing the expansion in part because a larger mine would bring employment and tax revenue to the region.
The Sierra Club and other groups staged a City Hall rally to call for the passage of the resolution Friday morning, but the council continued the item until next week. Councilman Paul Koretz, who opposes the mine expansion, said DWP officials had expressed concern about that resolution and a related one that would lend city support to Environmental Protection Agency enforcement of clean-air standards.
Despite pledges by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to wean Los Angeles off coal entirely by 2020, the DWP still gets more of its power from coal than from any other source. Developing renewable and natural gas alternatives to completely replace coal would require big rate increases, DWP officials say. An added obstacle is the agency's contract with the Utah plant, which requires L.A. to buy power until 2027.
DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said the agency supports the clean-air standards, so long as they are implemented on a reasonable time frame, and that the Coal Hollow Mine expansion is being vetted by federal regulators.
Ramallo said the DWP is "100% committed" to eliminating coal and complying with other environmental mandates, including increasing its renewable energy levels to 33% by 2020, reducing CO2 emissions and eliminating the use of ocean water to cool three coastal power plants. But in this period of transition, he said, "we must be careful to ensure realistic compliance deadlines, understand the technical and operational risks, and not to do anything that will affect our ability to reliably provide power or lead to unnecessarily high costs for our customers."
23 June 2012Last updated at 03:52 ETBy Roland PeaseBBC Radio Science Unit
Alan Turing, the British mathematical genius and codebreaker born 100 years ago on 23 June, may not have committed suicide, as is widely believed.
At a conference in Oxford on Saturday, Turing expert Prof Jack Copeland will question the evidence that was presented at the 1954 inquest.
He believes the evidence would not today be accepted as sufficient to establish a suicide verdict.
Indeed, he argues, Turing's death may equally probably have been an accident.
What is well known and accepted is that Alan Turing died of cyanide poisoning.
His housekeeper famously found the 41-year-old mathematician dead in his bed, with a half-eaten apple on his bedside table.
It is widely said that Turing had been haunted by the story of the poisoned apple in the fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and had resorted to the same desperate measure to end the persecution he was suffering as a result of his homosexuality.
But according to Prof Copeland, it was Turing's habit to take an apple at bedtime, and that it was quite usual for him not to finish it; the half-eaten remains found near his body cannot be seen as an indication of a deliberate act.
Indeed, the police never tested the apple for the presence of cyanide.
Moreover, Prof Copeland emphasises, a coroner these days would demand evidence of pre-meditation before announcing a verdict of suicide, yet nothing in the accounts of Turing's last days suggest he was in anything but a cheerful mood.
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
We have... been recreating the narrative of Turing's life, and we have recreated him as an unhappy young man who committed suicide. But the evidence is not there?
End QuoteProf Jack CopelandUniversity of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
He had left a note on his office desk, as was his practice, the previous Friday to remind himself of the tasks to be done on his return after the Bank Holiday weekend.
Nevertheless, at the inquest, the coroner, Mr JAK Ferns declared: "In a man of his type, one never knows what his mental processes are going to do next." What he meant by "of this type" is unclear.
The motive for suicide is easy to imagine. In 1952, after he had reported a petty burglary, Turing found himself being investigated for "acts of gross indecency" after he revealed he had had a male lover in his house.
Faced with the prospect of imprisonment, and perhaps with it the loss of the mathematics post he held at Manchester University, which gave him access to one of the world's only computers, Turing accepted the alternative of "chemical castration" - hormone treatment that was supposed to suppress his sexual urges.
It is often repeated that the chemicals caused him to grow breasts, though Turing is only known to have mentioned this once.
The authorities' continuing interest in Turing became apparent in 1953 when a gay Norwegian acquaintance, Kjell, announced by postcard his intention to visit him at his Wilmslow home, but mysteriously never arrived.
Turing told a friend, by way of explanation: "At one stage, the police over the north of England were out searching for him."
With six decades of hindsight, these oppressive attentions, the nation's failure to appreciate his wartime contributions, his apparent sidelining at the Manchester computer department, have led to a tragic picture of Turing being hounded during his last years, and suicide being a natural outcome.
But Prof Copeland argues that on the contrary, Turing's career was at an intellectual high, and that he had borne his treatment "with good humour".
Of the Kjell affair, Turing had written that "for sheer incident, it rivalled the Arnold [gross-indecency] story"; and immediately after his conviction had told a friend: "The day of the trial was by no means disagreeable.
"Whilst in custody with the other criminals, I had a very agreeable sense of irresponsibility, rather like being back at school."
On the face of it, these are not the expressions of someone ground down by adversity.
A centenary celebration at Cambridge University considers Turing's legacy
What is more, Turing had tolerated the year-long hormone treatment and the terms of his probation ("my shining virtue was terrific") with amused fortitude, and another year had since passed seemingly without incident.
In statements to the coroner, friends had attested to his good humour in the days before his death.
His neighbour described him throwing "such a jolly [tea] party" for her and her son four days before he died.
His close friend Robin Gandy, who had stayed with him the weekend before, said that Turing "seemed, if anything, happier than usual".
Yet the coroner recorded a verdict of suicide "while the balance of his mind was disturbed".
Prof Copeland believes the alternative explanation made at the time by Turing's mother is equally likely.
Turing had cyanide in his house for chemical experiments he conducted in his tiny spare room - the nightmare room he had dubbed it.
He had been electrolysing solutions of the poison, and electroplating spoons with gold, a process that requires potassium cyanide. Although famed for his cerebral powers, Turing had also always shown an experimental bent, and these activities were not unusual for him.
But Turing was careless, Prof Copeland argues.
The electrolysis experiment was wired into the ceiling light socket.
On another occasion, an experiment had resulted in severe electric shocks.
And he was known for tasting chemicals to identify them.
Perhaps he had accidentally put his apple into a puddle of cyanide.
Or perhaps, more likely, he had accidentally inhaled cyanide vapours from the bubbling liquid.
Prof Copeland notes that the nightmare room had a "strong smell" of cyanide after Turing's death; that inhalation leads to a slower death than ingestion; and that the distribution of the poison in Turing's organs was more consistent with inhalation than with ingestion.
In his authoritative biography, Andrew Hodges suggests that the experiment was a ruse to disguise suicide, a scenario Turing had apparently mentioned to a friend in the past.
But Jack Copeland argues the evidence should be taken at face value - that an accidental death is certainly consistent with all the currently known circumstances.
The problem, he complains, is that the investigation was conducted so poorly that even murder cannot be ruled out. An "open verdict", recognising this degree of ignorance, would be his preferred position.
None of this excuses the treatment of Turing during his final years, says Prof Copeland.
"Turing was hounded," he told the BBC, adding: "Yet he remained cheerful and humorous."
"The thing is to tell the truth in so far as we know it, and not to speculate.
"In a way we have in modern times been recreating the narrative of Turing's life, and we have recreated him as an unhappy young man who committed suicide. But the evidence is not there.
"The exact circumstances of Turing's death will probably always be unclear," Prof Copeland concludes.
"Perhaps we should just shrug our shoulders, and focus on Turing's life and extraordinary work."
Roland Pease has produced two episodes of Discovery on the BBC World Service devoted to Turing. In the first, he follows the events leading up to Turing's design for a fully programmable computer (Ace) at the National Physical Laboratory. In the second episode, to be broadcast on Monday, he explores the life and legacy of Turing. Both programmes are presented by Standup Mathematician Matt Parker.
Rory Cellan-Jones visits the exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Alan Turing.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 24-Jun-2012
Share ] 
