“Teleportation is the transfer of matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them, similar to the concept apport, an earlier word used in the context of spiritualism.” The concept of moving throughout the world freely without actually having to “physically” travel is the Holy Grail for many. Being able to explore a physical space that is thousands of miles away without having to deal with the rigors of travel seems like something out of a science fiction novel. With Street View, Google has brought us as close as we could possibly get to teleportation – without the actual physical matter transference, of course. The project started as research at Stanford and then hopped into Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page’s car. Snapping photos of every nook and cranny of the planet so that people could travel the world from the comfort of their own homes or mobile devices is the hallmark of Google’s approach to the world around it and the evolution of technology. I spent the day with the founding members of the Street View team to learn about how it went from a gimmick in someone’s mind to a utility that we use without thinking, and in some cases, wouldn’t want to live without. Starting out as a camera strapped to Page’s car, Street View technology has been added to vans, cars, tripods, backpacks, bikes and even a snow mobile. It has become the eyes of all of Google’s vision for how we view the world after launching on May 25, 2007. While the product has had its fair share of controversy, Google has forged ahead. Going somewhere before you actually get there It was a Frankenstein-looking car. Before I spoke with Luc Vincent, engineering director, and Daniel Filip, engineering manager, at Google Maps, I had done quite a bit of research into the history of the Google Maps product as a whole. What I didn’t know is how “pie in the sky” the concept of Street View actually was, which is an easy misconception to have once a technology has become so ubiquitous. Vincent told me a bit about the first concept of Street View, which was hatched at Google based on some experiments being done at Stanford, led by Marc Levoy. Levoy and one of his students had come up with a way to shoot video and paste it together into
The law firm of Morris, Hall & Kinghorn, P.L.L.C (MHK), the largest estate planning law firm in Arizona, has named Katherine A. O?Connell as the new managing partner effective January 1, 2013.
O?Connell?s new role will require her to balance the heavy demands of her professional life with the needs of her growing family. She is the mother of a toddler, is expecting her second child in August, and her husband is also a practicing attorney in the Phoenix area. According to O?Connell, ?I?m living the challenges of a working mother, and I hope to bring my experience to help make MHK as family friendly as possible.? O?Connell is eager to add her unique perspective to a profession that has traditionally been dominated by males.
O?Connell is succeeding Dan Morris who has been the firm?s managing partner for over 20? years. Morris has been instrumental in leading and growing the firm, which currently has 10 offices across Arizona and New Mexico. ?It has been my honor to establish and work in such a wonderful law firm as this, helping people daily and looking out for their and their family?s best interests now and in the future? states Morris.
O?Connell, who has been an attorney since 2006, was named managing partner in January of 2013.? She has attorney accreditation through the US Department of Veteran?s Affairs, which enables her to help clients to qualify, apply and receive benefits for their service in our country?s armed forces. She is also a proud member of the Central Arizona Estate Planning Council. ?She enjoys helping individuals plan for their own future, as well as the futures of their loved ones. O?Connell states, ?It is my honor and privilege to serve this prestigious firm as managing partner.? ?As a partner at MHK, O?Connell focuses on estate planning, life care planning and veteran?s benefits, and now also oversees the daily operations and actively engages in efforts to continually improve the firm.
MHK devotes its practice to estate planning matters and has helped thousands of families meet their long-term estate and financial goals. The firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA). ?AAEPA is an organization serving the needs of legal professionals concentrating on estate planning. Through the AAEPA?s comprehensive training, educational programs, and state-of-the-art estate planning techniques, the academy fosters excellence among its members and helps them deliver the highest possible estate planning services to their clients.
This blog should be used for informational purposes only.? It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice.? If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney in your community who can assess the specifics of your situation.
Tagged: Albuquerque, Arizona, Arrowhead, Assets, Attorney, Cave Creek, Death, Deceased, Estate Plan, Estate Planning, Family, Flagstaff, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Goodyear, Las Cruces, Law, Law firm, Lawyer, Legal, Loved one, Mesa, New Mexico, Phoenix, Prescott, Probate, Protection, Santa Fe, Scottsdale, Sedona, Services, Sonoita, Tempe, Tucson
Contact: Lisa Merkl lkmerkl@uh.edu 713-743-8192 University of Houston
Geologic Problem Solving with Microfossils III held at UH Mar. 10-13
HOUSTON, March 6, 2013 More than 200 delegates from around the world will assemble at the University of Houston (UH) next week to share research and discoveries about oil and the environment at an international conference on the economic and environmental use of fossils.
Specifically examining microfossils, which are invisible to the naked eye, the scientists who participate in this quadrennial gathering represent leaders in various branches of stratigraphy, the branch of geology that studies rock layers in the Earth's crust. Notable presenters will include the authors of the last decade of geologic time scales, which are a system of chronological measurements that relate stratigraphy to time. These time scales are used by geologists, paleontologists and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred throughout Earth's history.
The conference, Geologic Problem Solving with Microfossils III, will be held at UH March 10-13. Kicking off the activities will be poster sessions at the Hilton UH Sunday and Monday evening, with oral presentations taking place Monday through noon Wednesday in room 100 of the Science and Engineering Classroom building.
"We will have some of the world leaders in research on global time scales presenting at this conference. They are the keepers of the keys to time for the fossil record over the course of the last 550 million years in sedimentary rocks," said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of Professional Geoscience Programs at UH in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. "They also are keeping track of available age data back into the Precambrian age, extending as far back in time as 4.5 billion years ago. The work of hundreds of scientists from all over the world entails integrating data generated from the Earth, Moon, Mars and Venus."
The various presentations lined up will show how microfossils are used to understand environmental conditions, such as global warming and cooling, from prehistoric times to the present. Talks also will cover how microfossils are used to age-date rocks, as well as provide clues to finding oil and gas resources not only in conventional sand and limestone, but also unconventional shale plays.
In addition to discussions of practical applications in oil and gas exploration and production, Van Nieuwenhuise says basic science about stratigraphy and environmental monitoring will be showcased. Since microfossils are found in abundance in oil and gas well samples, scientists can then link the environmental signals of similar living microscopic organisms, flora and fauna in a region, also called microbiota, to understand the fossil and rock record.
"This has led to the use of these organisms as environmental monitors for various forms of pollution," he said. "Once researchers determine the baseline abundances and distributions of microbiota in a given habitat, we can then determine if pollutants have disrupted their habitat and populations. Some microbiota develop deformities related to pollutant influences and other environmental stresses."
Intended to reflect today's broadening application of micropaleontology, presentations will include talks on the microfossil record of major oceanic events, microfossils and unconventional resources, reconstructing past environments using microfossils, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography related to sea-level change, and new technologies and techniques in microfossil studies.
Sponsored by the North American Micropaleontology Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology, this conference broadly focuses on the use of microfossils for solving geological problems. Initiated in 2005 and held every four years, this event has been well received and growing in attendance. Attendees of past meetings have said the open problem-solving theme of the conference and the broad participation of specialists from varied disciplines creates a rich environment for collaboration and sharing of ideas and knowledge.
###
For more information on the conference, visit http://www.sepm.org/nams/m3.htm.
For a list of presentations, visit http://www.sepm.org/nams/M3OralProg.pdf.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country. For more information about UH, visit the university's newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.
About the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
The UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, with 187 ranked faculty and more than 5,000 students, offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in the natural sciences, computational sciences and mathematics. Faculty members in the departments of biology and biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, mathematics and physics conduct internationally recognized research in collaboration with industry, Texas Medical Center institutions, NASA and others worldwide.
To receive UH science news via e-mail, sign up for UH-SciNews at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/mailing-lists/sciencelistserv/index.php.
For more information about UH, visit the university's newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.
For additional news alerts about UH, follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UHNewsEvents and Twitter at http://twitter.com/UH_News.
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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.
Contact: Lisa Merkl lkmerkl@uh.edu 713-743-8192 University of Houston
Geologic Problem Solving with Microfossils III held at UH Mar. 10-13
HOUSTON, March 6, 2013 More than 200 delegates from around the world will assemble at the University of Houston (UH) next week to share research and discoveries about oil and the environment at an international conference on the economic and environmental use of fossils.
Specifically examining microfossils, which are invisible to the naked eye, the scientists who participate in this quadrennial gathering represent leaders in various branches of stratigraphy, the branch of geology that studies rock layers in the Earth's crust. Notable presenters will include the authors of the last decade of geologic time scales, which are a system of chronological measurements that relate stratigraphy to time. These time scales are used by geologists, paleontologists and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred throughout Earth's history.
The conference, Geologic Problem Solving with Microfossils III, will be held at UH March 10-13. Kicking off the activities will be poster sessions at the Hilton UH Sunday and Monday evening, with oral presentations taking place Monday through noon Wednesday in room 100 of the Science and Engineering Classroom building.
"We will have some of the world leaders in research on global time scales presenting at this conference. They are the keepers of the keys to time for the fossil record over the course of the last 550 million years in sedimentary rocks," said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of Professional Geoscience Programs at UH in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. "They also are keeping track of available age data back into the Precambrian age, extending as far back in time as 4.5 billion years ago. The work of hundreds of scientists from all over the world entails integrating data generated from the Earth, Moon, Mars and Venus."
The various presentations lined up will show how microfossils are used to understand environmental conditions, such as global warming and cooling, from prehistoric times to the present. Talks also will cover how microfossils are used to age-date rocks, as well as provide clues to finding oil and gas resources not only in conventional sand and limestone, but also unconventional shale plays.
In addition to discussions of practical applications in oil and gas exploration and production, Van Nieuwenhuise says basic science about stratigraphy and environmental monitoring will be showcased. Since microfossils are found in abundance in oil and gas well samples, scientists can then link the environmental signals of similar living microscopic organisms, flora and fauna in a region, also called microbiota, to understand the fossil and rock record.
"This has led to the use of these organisms as environmental monitors for various forms of pollution," he said. "Once researchers determine the baseline abundances and distributions of microbiota in a given habitat, we can then determine if pollutants have disrupted their habitat and populations. Some microbiota develop deformities related to pollutant influences and other environmental stresses."
Intended to reflect today's broadening application of micropaleontology, presentations will include talks on the microfossil record of major oceanic events, microfossils and unconventional resources, reconstructing past environments using microfossils, paleoclimatology and paleoceanography related to sea-level change, and new technologies and techniques in microfossil studies.
Sponsored by the North American Micropaleontology Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology, this conference broadly focuses on the use of microfossils for solving geological problems. Initiated in 2005 and held every four years, this event has been well received and growing in attendance. Attendees of past meetings have said the open problem-solving theme of the conference and the broad participation of specialists from varied disciplines creates a rich environment for collaboration and sharing of ideas and knowledge.
###
For more information on the conference, visit http://www.sepm.org/nams/m3.htm.
For a list of presentations, visit http://www.sepm.org/nams/M3OralProg.pdf.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country. For more information about UH, visit the university's newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.
About the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
The UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, with 187 ranked faculty and more than 5,000 students, offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in the natural sciences, computational sciences and mathematics. Faculty members in the departments of biology and biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, mathematics and physics conduct internationally recognized research in collaboration with industry, Texas Medical Center institutions, NASA and others worldwide.
To receive UH science news via e-mail, sign up for UH-SciNews at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/mailing-lists/sciencelistserv/index.php.
For more information about UH, visit the university's newsroom at http://www.uh.edu/news-events/.
For additional news alerts about UH, follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/UHNewsEvents and Twitter at http://twitter.com/UH_News.
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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.
The social masses have spoken and Google's listened. Starting today, the search giant's beefing up Google+ profile pages with additional features based on overwhelming feedback to give users more editing control, a flashier presentation and a clearer social outpost. Now, individual profile "cover photos" will display at up to 2120px by 1192px and rollout into full widescreen (16:9) view when selected. The 'About' section is also seeing a minor revamp, getting a Now-like makeover that breaks down categorical user info into cards for easier modification. And to service the critic deep within us all, Google's adding in a 'Local review' tab alongside those for photos, videos and +1's so your network of friends can make trusted dinner reservations. These changes are set to take effect "gradually," so don't waste your time mashing that refresh button. Or do, if you're the impatient type.
Before last month's meteor strike, Chelyabinsk was best known for a 1957 nuclear waste disaster.? Now officials there are trying to turn the meteor into a tourist attraction.
By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / March 5, 2013
A local resident shows a fragment thought to be part of a meteorite collected in a snow covered field last month outside the city of Chelyabinsk. Regional officials are currently weighing plans to capitalize on their meteor-related fame, including developing a meteor theme park or water park.
Andrei Romanov/Reuters
Enlarge
When life hands you lemons, according to the proverbial saying, make lemonade.
Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir
Correspondent
Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
That message has been received by some residents of Chelyabinsk, an industrial city in the Ural Mountains that's famous for just two things ? both of which were horrifying near-miss catastrophes of potentially biblical proportions.
They say the city should start cashing in on its most recent brush-with-disaster, a huge meteor strike that might easily have obliterated much of western Siberia, as a motif for theme parks and other tourist attractions that could pull the region out of obscurity.
"Space sent us a gift and we need to make use of it," Natalya Gritsay, head of the regional tourism department, told journalists.
"We need our own Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty," she added.
Chelyabinsk's first unwanted claim to fame was a nuclear disaster at the nearby Chelyabinsk-40 atomic reprocessing plant in 1957, in which almost 100 tons of high-level radioactive waste erupted into the atmosphere. That accident was eventually contained and then kept strictly secret by Soviet authorities for over 30 years.
The second was last month's ten-ton meteorite that slammed into the atmosphere and exploded in a series of fireballs almost directly above the city, injuring over 1,200 people but killing no one.
That event was filmed from almost every possible angle by hundreds of CCTV and dashboard cameras, and the videos transmitted around the world almost instantaneously via YouTube and other social media.
It spawned vast amounts of commentary, even some brilliant satire and, of course, plenty of wild conspiracy theories.
But it also, finally, put Chelyabinsk on the map. And many local citizens want it to stay there.
Reached by phone in Chelyabinsk Tuesday, Ms. Gritsay said there was no fully worked-out plan yet. But ideas include developing a tourist zone around Lake Chebarkul, where the biggest meteor fragments came down, along with a diving center where tourists could try their hand at searching the lake bottom for pieces of space rock.
"These ideas need investment," she said. "Right now we have plans organize a festival of fireworks near the lake," to commemorate the event.
Local media have reported scores of other suggestions, including one local official's scheme to build a "Meteor Disneyland," with full special effects so that tourists could relive the experience. Other ideas are a "cosmic water park" near Lake Chebarkul, and a giant, pyramid-shaped flaming monument on the lake's surface to mark the spot where the largest fragment hit.
"It's a good idea; it will help them develop their local brand," says Valery Markin, a regional expert at the official Institute of Sociology in Moscow.
"But it's not just about tourism. A big meteor strike is a very rare event, and this one hit at Lake Chebarkul, a traditional recreation zone for the population of Chelyabinsk.... People are already saying that some superior force saved them from total destruction. In earlier times, people might have designated this a 'sacred place,'" he says.
When someone commits a crime in Chicago, everybody pays -- literally:
Taxpayers have shelled out an estimated $5.3 billion in the past decade just to incarcerate Chicago citizens who have been convicted of felony offenses, a vast majority of which are non-violent crimes, a new analysis by NBC 5 Investigates and The Chicago Reporter reveals.
The investigation also reveals that a disproportionate amount of that money goes to incarcerate Chicagoans who hail from a small fraction of the city?s blocks. These are frequently people who repeatedly cycle in and out of prison, and who -- because they are convicted felons -- have few options to find legitimate work when they return to their already-depressed neighborhoods.
Faced with this staggering cost of repeatedly incarcerating a relatively small number of the city?s residents, a growing number of experts are now pushing for a different way to spend -- and possibly save -- some of this money.
Take the Austin neighborhood, on Chicago?s far west side. This once-middle-class community is now one of the most impoverished and crime-ridden areas of the city.? Yet it?s also one of the priciest: The Chicago Reporter / NBC 5 analysis found that taxpayers spent an estimated $644 million to house convicted criminals, just from Austin, in prison since 2000.? That?s 11 percent of prison money, spent on a neighborhood that makes up just 3.5 percent of the city?s population.
"Every time the police looked at you wrong -- penitentiary, penitentiary, penitentiary,"?says Michael Flowers, a resident of Austin who has gone to prison seven times in the past ten years.?
See more investigative reports from NBCChicago.com?
Like other ex-cons, Flowers says whatever job training and education he received in prison simply wasn?t enough to make a difference when he got out. Many of the storefronts lining Austin?s streets are boarded up and the surviving businesses aren?t necessarily clamoring to hire convicted felons.?
As a result, these ex-cons often see a life of crime as the only real way to make any money.
"These guys are going to come back to the neighborhood,"?said Angela Caputo, who spearheaded the NBC 5 / Chicago Reporter?s block-by-block analysis of prison costs in Chicago. "They don?t want to spend their whole lives looking over their shoulders, but there?s really nothing for them to do."
"They need to see other options," said David Olson, a professor of criminal justice at Loyola University in Chicago. "But they also need to be provided with the skills and the tools in order to achieve those options."
Olson said that over the past 30 years, too much money has been spent incarcerating the (often non-violent) criminals from neighborhoods like Austin.? A smarter use of that money, he says, would be to give these convicted felons a new direction when they get out of prison.?
"They?ll continue cycling in and out of these correctional facilities, usually until either they age out of their criminal activity, or when the types of services that they really need are provided to them,"?he said.
That?s where people like Pastor Reginald Bachus have begun to step in. Bachus, whose Friendship Baptist Church is located in the midst of Austin?s crime-riddled neighborhood, decided if regular businesses wouldn?t hire ex-cons and felons, he would.?
Bachus formed the Friendship Community Development Corporation, which pays some of Austin?s ex-cons to maintain 28 bank-owned homes in the neighborhood that are currently going through foreclosure.
That means someone like Darnell Horton, an Austin resident who served 21 years behind bars on four convictions, can now receive a weekly paycheck. He spends his days shoveling snow around the bank-owned homes with his friend, Bruno Carter, a fellow Austin ex-con who also works for Pastor Bachus? corporation.?
"It keeps me motivated to get up in the morning and do an honest day?s pay and take care of my family,"?said Carter.
"They show up every day, on time, and get the job done,"?said Pastor Bachus. "We?ve had no complaints. There are a lot of good people out there who are willing to do [this kind of work] -- if they have the opportunity.?
The same goes for Flowers, who now lives in transitional housing in Austin, and who says he?s done with his previous life of "penitentiary, penitentiary, penitentiary."?
Flowers hopes to convince local banks, along with city officials, to hire ex-cons to not just maintain Austin?s foreclosed homes, but to actually rehabilitate them. To many, that?s a much smarter way to spend Chicago taxpayers? money.
For more information on the NBC5/Chicago Reporter investigation, read Angela Caputo's "Cell Blocks" story, as well as her story on the financial effects of Illinois' newly enhanced drug laws, in the March/April issue of The Chicago Reporter.
NBC5Investigates and The Chicago Reporter team up occasionally to bring you investigative stories about poverty and race in the Chicago area.? To find more Chicago Reporter stories, visit their website.
“Teleportation is the transfer of matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them, similar to the concept apport, an earlier word used in the context of spiritualism.” The concept of moving throughout the world freely without actually having to “physically” travel is the Holy Grail for many. Being able to explore a physical space that is thousands of miles away without having to deal with the rigors of travel seems like something out of a science fiction novel. With Street View, Google has brought us as close as we could possibly get to teleportation – without the actual physical matter transference, of course. The project started as research at Stanford and then hopped into Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page’s car. Snapping photos of every nook and cranny of the planet so that people could travel the world from the comfort of their own homes or mobile devices is the hallmark of Google’s approach to the world around it and the evolution of technology. I spent the day with the founding members of the Street View team to learn about how it went from a gimmick in someone’s mind to a utility that we use without thinking, and in some cases, wouldn’t want to live without. Starting out as a camera strapped to Page’s car, Street View technology has been added to vans, cars, tripods, backpacks, bikes and even a snow mobile. It has become the eyes of all of Google’s vision for how we view the world after launching on May 25, 2007. While the product has had its fair share of controversy, Google has forged ahead. Going somewhere before you actually get there It was a Frankenstein-looking car. Before I spoke with Luc Vincent, engineering director, and Daniel Filip, engineering manager, at Google Maps, I had done quite a bit of research into the history of the Google Maps product as a whole. What I didn’t know is how “pie in the sky” the concept of Street View actually was, which is an easy misconception to have once a technology has become so ubiquitous. Vincent told me a bit about the first concept of Street View, which was hatched at Google based on some experiments being done at Stanford, led by Marc Levoy. Levoy and one of his students had come up with a way to shoot video and paste it together into
The law firm of Morris, Hall & Kinghorn, P.L.L.C (MHK), the largest estate planning law firm in Arizona, has named Katherine A. O?Connell as the new managing partner effective January 1, 2013.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sNkVZguCayhvwNwuQRDRBiFUQ4qn4hkE1FVlrFUmo36JFbL7EtSZXhRRLi7DP754B81UpXASvZ7Rja7ETsOdT1iEo74zo7RYO9XLbFvcA=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 6-Mar-2013
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