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Thursday, 9 August 2012
US Applications for Unemployment Aid Fall by 6,000
US Applications for Unemployment Aid Fall by 6,000: US jobless claims fall by 6,000 to 361,000, signaling modest improvement in the job market
Source:Google Reader
Source:Google Reader
The Spotify Effect Shows Up: Streaming Music Boosts Warner's Bottom Line
The Spotify Effect Shows Up: Streaming Music Boosts Warner's Bottom Line:
Streaming services like Spotify and Pandora have made a lot of noise. Now they’re actually generating money for the music labels, too.
Warner Music Group says streaming services contributed 25 percent of the digital revenue that its “recorded music” group saw last quarter. That works out to be about $54 million, or about 8 percent of Warner’s total revenue for the period.
What’s more encouraging for Warner — and presumably, the rest of the big labels — is that streaming revenue is growing quickly but doesn’t seem to be cutting into traditional digital sales from outlets like iTunes.*
Just as encouraging: Warner says that after you net out the effect of currency fluctuations, the increase in digital sales was bigger than the decrease in physical sales. That’s the goal the industry has been aiming for since the late 1990s.
*Warner defines “streaming” revenue as money it gets from subscription services like Spotify and Rhapsody, along with Web radio revenue from the likes of Pandora, Sirius and Clear Channel. It doesn’t include the new cloud/locker services from Apple and Amazon.
Source:Google Reader
Streaming services like Spotify and Pandora have made a lot of noise. Now they’re actually generating money for the music labels, too.Warner Music Group says streaming services contributed 25 percent of the digital revenue that its “recorded music” group saw last quarter. That works out to be about $54 million, or about 8 percent of Warner’s total revenue for the period.
What’s more encouraging for Warner — and presumably, the rest of the big labels — is that streaming revenue is growing quickly but doesn’t seem to be cutting into traditional digital sales from outlets like iTunes.*
Just as encouraging: Warner says that after you net out the effect of currency fluctuations, the increase in digital sales was bigger than the decrease in physical sales. That’s the goal the industry has been aiming for since the late 1990s.
*Warner defines “streaming” revenue as money it gets from subscription services like Spotify and Rhapsody, along with Web radio revenue from the likes of Pandora, Sirius and Clear Channel. It doesn’t include the new cloud/locker services from Apple and Amazon.
Source:Google Reader
Brain Scans Show Teen Drinking Impairs Brain Efficiency
Brain Scans Show Teen Drinking Impairs Brain Efficiency:
New research suggests brains scans can identify patterns of brain activity that may predict if a teen will develop into a problem drinker.
The study also confirms that heavy drinking affects a teenagers’ developing brain.
Using special MRI scans, researchers looked at forty 12- to 16-year-olds who had not started drinking yet, then followed them for about three years and scanned them again.
Researchers discovered that half of the teens started to drink alcohol fairly heavily during this interval.
Investigators also found that kids who had initially showed less activation in certain brain areas were at greater risk for becoming heavy drinkers in the next three years.
However, once the teens started drinking, their brain activity looked like the heavy drinkers’ in the other studies — that is, their brains showed more activity as they tried to perform memory tests.
“That’s the opposite of what you’d expect, because their brains should be getting more efficient as they get older,” said lead researcher Lindsay M. Squeglia, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego.
Researchers say an operational definition of heavy drinking typically included episodes of having four or more drinks on an occasion for females and five or more drinks for males.
The findings add to evidence that heavy drinking has consequences for teenagers’ developing brains. But they also add a new layer: There may be brain activity patterns that predict which kids are at increased risk for heavy drinking.
“It’s interesting because it suggests there might be some pre-existing vulnerability,” Squeglia said.
Researchers say they are not advocating for teens to receive MRIs to determine their risk of excessive alcohol consumption. But the findings do give clues into the biological origins of kids’ problem drinking.
Experts say the findings suggest that heavy drinking may affect young people’s brains right at the time when they need to be working efficiently.
“You’re learning to drive, you’re getting ready for college. This is a really important time of your life for cognitive development,” Squeglia said.
She noted that all of the study participants were healthy, well-functioning kids. It’s possible that teens with certain disorders — like depression or ADHD — might show greater effects from heavy drinking.
Source: Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
Source:Google Reader
New research suggests brains scans can identify patterns of brain activity that may predict if a teen will develop into a problem drinker.The study also confirms that heavy drinking affects a teenagers’ developing brain.
Using special MRI scans, researchers looked at forty 12- to 16-year-olds who had not started drinking yet, then followed them for about three years and scanned them again.
Researchers discovered that half of the teens started to drink alcohol fairly heavily during this interval.
Investigators also found that kids who had initially showed less activation in certain brain areas were at greater risk for becoming heavy drinkers in the next three years.
However, once the teens started drinking, their brain activity looked like the heavy drinkers’ in the other studies — that is, their brains showed more activity as they tried to perform memory tests.
“That’s the opposite of what you’d expect, because their brains should be getting more efficient as they get older,” said lead researcher Lindsay M. Squeglia, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego.
Researchers say an operational definition of heavy drinking typically included episodes of having four or more drinks on an occasion for females and five or more drinks for males.
The findings add to evidence that heavy drinking has consequences for teenagers’ developing brains. But they also add a new layer: There may be brain activity patterns that predict which kids are at increased risk for heavy drinking.
“It’s interesting because it suggests there might be some pre-existing vulnerability,” Squeglia said.
Researchers say they are not advocating for teens to receive MRIs to determine their risk of excessive alcohol consumption. But the findings do give clues into the biological origins of kids’ problem drinking.
Experts say the findings suggest that heavy drinking may affect young people’s brains right at the time when they need to be working efficiently.
“You’re learning to drive, you’re getting ready for college. This is a really important time of your life for cognitive development,” Squeglia said.
She noted that all of the study participants were healthy, well-functioning kids. It’s possible that teens with certain disorders — like depression or ADHD — might show greater effects from heavy drinking.
Source: Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
Source:Google Reader
Congress Still Raising Concerns About ICANN's New gTLD Program
Congress Still Raising Concerns About ICANN's New gTLD Program:
Juliana Gruenwald reporting in the NationalJournal: "Nearly six months after the program was launched, key members of Congress are still raising concerns about a plan to introduce hundreds of new Internet addresses into the domain name systems, saying they want fresh assurances that the new strings will not harm trademark holders and that the public has adequate opportunity to comment. The latest salvo came on Tuesday from the top leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees..."
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More under: ICANN, Top-Level Domains
Source:Google Reader
Juliana Gruenwald reporting in the NationalJournal: "Nearly six months after the program was launched, key members of Congress are still raising concerns about a plan to introduce hundreds of new Internet addresses into the domain name systems, saying they want fresh assurances that the new strings will not harm trademark holders and that the public has adequate opportunity to comment. The latest salvo came on Tuesday from the top leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees..."
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More under: ICANN, Top-Level Domains
Source:Google Reader
Researchers Detail Faster Methods to Defeat Botnets Like Conficker and Kraken
Researchers Detail Faster Methods to Defeat Botnets Like Conficker and Kraken:
Michael Cooney reporting in NetworkWorld: "Security researchers this week will detail a prototype system they say can better detect so-called Domain Name Generation- (DGA) based botnets such as Conficker and Kraken without the usual labor- and time-intensive reverse-engineering required to find and defeat such malware. The detection system, called Pleiades, monitors traffic below the local DNS server and analyzes streams of unsuccessful DNS resolutions..."
Related Links:
Prototype system goes after DNS-based botnets NetworkWorld
From Throw-Away Traffic to Bots: Detecting the Rise of DGA-Based Malware USENIX
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More under: Cyberattack, DNS, Malware, Security
Source:Google Reader
Michael Cooney reporting in NetworkWorld: "Security researchers this week will detail a prototype system they say can better detect so-called Domain Name Generation- (DGA) based botnets such as Conficker and Kraken without the usual labor- and time-intensive reverse-engineering required to find and defeat such malware. The detection system, called Pleiades, monitors traffic below the local DNS server and analyzes streams of unsuccessful DNS resolutions..."
Related Links:
Prototype system goes after DNS-based botnets NetworkWorld
From Throw-Away Traffic to Bots: Detecting the Rise of DGA-Based Malware USENIX
Follow CircleID on Twitter
More under: Cyberattack, DNS, Malware, Security
Source:Google Reader
Google Tests Showing Gmail Messages in Search Results
Google Tests Showing Gmail Messages in Search Results: Google is experimenting with a feature that shows users' emails in personal search results.
Source:Google Reader
Source:Google Reader
Eight Windows 8 Tablets to Watch
Eight Windows 8 Tablets to Watch: Lenovo's ThinkPad Tablet 2 and these seven other devices are worth a look when they hit the market.
Source:Google Reader
Source:Google Reader
Google Takes Aim at Siri with Voice Search on iOS App
Google Takes Aim at Siri with Voice Search on iOS App: Google's feature will debut as an enhancement in the Google Search app for iPhones and iPads, meaning it will be available to more users than Siri.
Source:Google Reader
Source:Google Reader
How low can you go? Stanford experts weigh in on the tone of 2012 presidential race
How low can you go? Stanford experts weigh in on the tone of 2012 presidential race: You think the presidential campaign is down and dirty? It could be worse, and has been, Stanford professors say.
Source:Google Reader
Source:Google Reader
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