News Update Place

One of the most annoying things companies do is when they add features without warning.

Myspace ‘profiles’ are now showing an additional component/section(?) called ‘Video Space’ (located below the ‘Who I’d like to meet’ component and above the ‘Top Friends’ area) that just popped up by default across the network, if the users had uploaded any videos.

Until now, about the closest thing to this was that myspace would just ‘insert’ video clips right into your profile into the ‘about me’ section when you clicked a text link below a video you were watching. (kinda cavemanish imo) This is a much stronger move in that they are starting to catch up from where they WERE this summer (completely down for days) to actually leveraging a massive untapped resource (other people’s content) in order not to fall in the shadow of the big acquisition that just happened.

Most of us would have been thrilled to learn this was in the works, but I’m mildly annoyed to learn that the videos I’ve uploaded are all of a sudden appearing in my profile. I’ve already inserted them in my About Me section, to get around the fact that the site didn’t allow this in the first place, and now I have to go back and fix it.

[tags]Myspace, videos, video, profile[/tags]
[flickrs]Myspace, videos, video, profile[/flickrs]
[dels]Myspace, videos, video, profile[/dels]

NEW YORK (AP) — More than nine out of 10 Americans, men and women alike, have had premarital sex, according to a new study. The high rates extend even to women born in the 1940s, challenging perceptions that people were more chaste in the past.

“This is reality-check research,” said the study’s author, Lawrence Finer. “Premarital sex is normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades.”

Finer is a research director at the Guttmacher Institute, a private New York-based think tank that studies sexual and reproductive issues and which disagrees with government-funded programs that rely primarily on abstinence-only teachings. The study, released Tuesday, appears in the new issue of Public Health Reports.

The study, examining how sexual behavior before marriage has changed over time, was based on interviews conducted with more than 38,000 people — about 33,000 of them women — in 1982, 1988, 1995 and 2002 for the federal National Survey of Family Growth. According to Finer’s analysis, 99 percent of the respondents had had sex by age 44, and 95 percent had done so before marriage.

Even among a subgroup of those who abstained from sex until at least age 20, four-fifths had had premarital sex by age 44, the study found.

Finer said the likelihood of Americans having sex before marriage has remained stable since the 1950s, though people now wait longer to get married and thus are sexually active as singles for extensive periods.

The study found women virtually as likely as men to engage in premarital sex, even those born decades ago. Among women born between 1950 and 1978, at least 91 percent had had premarital sex by age 30, he said, while among those born in the 1940s, 88 percent had done so by age 44.

“The data clearly show that the majority of older teens and adults have already had sex before marriage, which calls into question the federal government’s funding of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs for 12- to 29-year-olds,” Finer said.

Under the Bush administration, such programs have received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

“It would be more effective,” Finer said, “to provide young people with the skills and information they need to be safe once they become sexually active — which nearly everyone eventually will.”

Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, defended the abstinence-only approach for teenagers.

“One of its values is to help young people delay the onset of sexual activity,” he said. “The longer one delays, the fewer lifetime sex partners they have, and the less the risk of contracting sexually transmitted disease.”

He insisted there was no federal mission against premarital sex among adults.

“Absolutely not,” Horn said. “The Bush administration does not believe the government should be regulating or stigmatizing the behavior of adults.”

Horn said he found the high percentages of premarital sex cited in the study to be plausible, and expressed hope that society would not look askance at the small minority that chooses to remain abstinent before marriage.

However, Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, a conservative group which strongly supports abstinence-only education, said she was skeptical of the findings.

“Any time I see numbers that high, I’m a little suspicious,” she said. “The numbers are too pat.”

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — U.S.-led forces captured a senior al Qaeda leader who was responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths and housed foreign fighters who carried out suicide bombings, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

The leader, who was not identified, was arrested in a raid in Mosul on December 14, the military said in a statement.

“The terrorist leader was attempting to flee from the location when Coalition Forces chased him across a street and detained him,” the statement said.

It said the suspect served as al Qaeda’s military chief in Mosul in 2005, and then took up the same job in western Baghdad.

“During that time, he coordinated car vehicle-borne improvised explosives device attacks and kidnap for ransom operations in Baghdad,” the military said. It cited reports that said he organized an attempt to shoot down a U.S. military helicopter in May this year.

“After a few months he fled Baghdad due to Coalition Forces closing in on him,” the statement said.

The military said the capture would lead them closer to Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who took over as leader of al Qaedda in Iraq after his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in June.

Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi government’s national security adviser, said this month that 60 percent of al Qaeda in Iraq’s leadership has now been captured or killed.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — The White House is considering an expansion of the U.S. Army and Marines for “the long struggle against radicals and extremists,” President Bush said during a Wednesday news conference.

Bush would not elaborate on where that struggle would take place, only that he wanted to ensure that the U.S. military “stays in the fight for a long period of time.”

“I’m not predicting any particular theater, but I am predicting that it’s going to take a while for the ideology of liberty to finally triumph over the ideology of hate,” he said. (Watch why Bush believes “we’re going to win” Video)

The president has asked new Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who visited military commanders in Iraq on Wednesday, to report back on how to expand the military.

“We can be smarter about how we deploy our manpower and resources. We can ask more of our Iraqi partners, and we will,” Bush said. “I believe that we’re going to win. I believe that. And by the way, if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t have our troops there.”

Bush said that if the Iraqis “stand up, step up and lead,” then the U.S. military can help them achieve victory there.

“It’s their responsibility to govern their country. It’s their responsibility to do the hard work necessary to secure Baghdad. And we want to help them.”

The president also acknowledged that the securing of Iraq is made more difficult by the insurgent and sectarian violence there, but he insisted that the United States would not be pushed out of the region.

“I want the enemy to understand that this is a tough task, but they can’t run us out of the Middle East — that they can’t intimidate America,” he said. “They think they can. They think it’s just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves, abandons the people of Iraq, for example. And that’s not going to happen.” (Watch why Bush believes a larger Army is in order Video)

Bush rejected the idea that expanding the size of the military would contradict former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s calls for “a lighter, agile Army,” saying that he was more concerned about “increasing end strength” for the Army and Marines.

Asked if he would overrule his own military commanders if they opposed a plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, Bush called the question a “dangerous hypothetical.”

“Let me wait and gather all the recommendations from Bob Gates, from our military, from diplomats on the ground interested in the Iraqis’ point of view and then I’ll report back to you as to whether or not I support a surge or not.”

Bush said he understands that the American people are troubled by the violence, but he emphasized that victory is still achievable in Iraq.

“I also don’t believe most Americans want us just to get out now,” he said. “A lot of Americans understand the consequences of retreat. Retreat would embolden radicals. It would hurt the credibility of the United States.” (Watch how not even children can escape the violence in Iraq Video)

However, the president said, he will not propose sending more troops to Iraq without a clear purpose.

“There’s got to be a specific mission that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops before, you know, I agree on that strategy,” he said.

Bush’s remarks came as he appeared to say for the first time that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq, adopting the view of Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Bush told The Washington Post in Wednesday’s editions, “I think an interesting construct that Gen. Pace uses is, ‘We’re not winning, we’re not losing.’ ”

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Tony Snow said increasing troop levels was an option under consideration, but that the president had made no concrete decisions on changing his Iraq policy. (Watch how increasing troop levels must involve more than “thickening the mix” Video)

Snow also downplayed the notion that Bush was at loggerheads with the Joint Chiefs over the proposal to increase troops. According to some accounts, the White House is pushing the idea of a surge in troops and the Joint Chiefs oppose it.

“I think people are trying to create a fight between the president and the Joint Chiefs when one does not exist,” Snow said at a White House briefing. “What I’m saying is this budding narrative of the president locking horns with the Joint Chiefs is totally inaccurate.”

Bush said in the Post interview that he plans to expand the overall size of the U.S. military and is considering a short-term surge in troops in Iraq.

Bush has said he will reveal a new strategy for Iraq next month after considering the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and consulting with Pentagon officials and others.

The president delivered his remarks as Gates arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit to meet with military leaders and other officials.

Gates met Wednesday with Gens. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, and George Casey, the top general in Iraq.

The defense chief was scheduled to meet Thursday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

As he headed for Iraq, Gates said the trip’s purpose was to “go out, listen to the commanders, talk to the Iraqis and see what I can learn. … I expect to learn a lot.”

NASA’s planned moon base announced last week could pave the way for deeper space exploration to Mars, but one of the biggest beneficiaries may be the terrestrial energy industry.

Nestled among the agency’s 200-point mission goals is a proposal to mine the moon for fuel used in fusion reactors — futuristic power plants that have been demonstrated in proof-of-concept but are likely decades away from commercial deployment.

Helium-3 is considered a safe, environmentally friendly fuel candidate for these generators, and while it is scarce on Earth it is plentiful on the moon.

As a result, scientists have begun to consider the practicality of mining lunar Helium-3 as a replacement for fossil fuels.

“After four-and-half-billion years, there should be large amounts of helium-3 on the moon,” said Gerald Kulcinski, a professor who leads the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Last year NASA administrator Mike Griffin named Kulcinski to lead a number of committees reporting to NASA’s influential NASA Advisory Council, its preeminent civilian leadership arm.

The Council is chaired by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Hagan “Jack” Schmitt, a leading proponent of mining the moon for helium 3.

Schmitt, who holds the distance record for driving a NASA rover on the moon (22 miles through the Taurus-Littrow valley), is also a former U.S. senator (R-New Mexico).

The Council was restructured last year with a new mission: implementing President Bush’s “Vision for Space Exploration,” which targets Mars as its ultimate destination. Other prominent members of the Council include ex-astronaut Neil Armstrong.

Schmitt and Kulcinski are longtime friends and academic partners, and are known as helium-3 fusion’s biggest promoters.

At the Fusion Technology Institute, Kulcinski’s team has produced small-scale helium-3 fusion reactions in the basketball-sized fusion device. The reactor produced one milliwatt of power on a continuous basis.

While still theoretical, nuclear fusion is touted as a safer, more sustainable way to generate nuclear energy: Fusion plants produce much less radioactive waste, especially if powered by helium-3. But experts say commercial-sized fusion reactors are at least 50 years away.

The isotope is extremely rare on Earth but abundant on the moon. Some experts estimate there a millions of tons in lunar soil — and that a single Space-Shuttle load would power the entire United States for a year.

NASA plans to have a permanent moon base by 2024, but America is not the only nation with plans for a moon base. China, India, the European Space Agency, and at least one Russian corporation, Energia, have visions of building manned lunar bases post-2020.

Mining the moon for helium-3 has been discussed widely in space circles and international space conferences. Both China and Russia have stated their nations’ interest in helium-3.

“We will provide the most reliable report on helium-3 to mankind,” Ouyang Ziyuan, the chief scientist of China’s lunar program, told a Chinese newspaper. “Whoever first conquers the moon will benefit first.”

Steven Grossberg, who sells video games online from his home in Wellington, Fla., recently sent an enticing offer to 20,000 customers: $10 off any purchase over $30 using a new payment service, Google Checkout. Traffic on his site more than tripled, and best of all, he said, Google picked up the tab for the promotion.

“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “I’m selling the product. Google is getting tons of customers to sign up for Checkout. Customers are happy because they are getting a monster deal.”

Google Steps More Boldly Into PayPal’s Territory

d and image placement: a policy clarification

From the Adsense Blog:

http://adsense.blogspot.com/2006/12/ad-and-image-placement-policy.html

The post goes on to give visual examples of “prohibited” image placement.

I’ve been seeing this a lot lately as I’ve been browsing the web. I wonder if they’ll start sending out warnings?

Donald Trump announced today Miss USA, Tara Conner, will keep the crown. Personal problems and reports of partying tarnished Conner’s reputation and nearly cost her the title.

Trump, along with NBC owns the pageant organization that produces the Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA contests.

Michelle Franzen has the story from New York. Miss USA Tara Conner arrived at Trump Tower in New York City to officially hear Donald Trump say she is still Miss USA. “Tara is a good person, Tara has tried hard, Tara deserves a second chance,” said Trump.

Trump, the owner of the pageant organization that oversees the contest, along with NBC, said Conner has some behavioral issues and made some bad mistakes, but she is a good role model. “It truly takes someone with a wonderful heart,a heart of gold,” said Miss USA Tara Conner.

Conner said she was grateful to be able to keep the crown. “I’ve had a very big blessing bestowed upon me and you’ll never know how much I owe Trump for saving me on this one,” said Conner.

In the past few weeks, Conner has come under fire for excessive partying in bars and other conduct considered inappropriate by pageant organizers.

The Kentucky native turned 21 on Monday and was crowned Miss USA in April. Conner is not the first pageant winner to tarnish the tiara. Vanessa Williams, 1984’s Miss America, stepped down after nude photos of her surfaced.

Now, after getting a second chance, Conner, said she realizes she is a role model and promised her party days are over. Michelle Franzen, NBC News, New York. Conner will be entering rehab and has four months as Miss USA left before she passes the crown and title onto the next winner.

The Pentagon says injuries and deaths among U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq rose 32% during the period from mid-August to mid-October over the previous three months. Both the average number of attacks each week and the average number of people killed or wounded in those attacks were at their highest levels since the United States handed over power to the Iraqi government in June 2004.

The rise of ethnic and sectarian militias and other armed groups drove the increased violence, the Pentagon report says. The militia led by anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has replaced al-Qaeda as the biggest security threat in Iraq, it says. Death squads are continuing to target civilians, sometimes with help from the Iraqi security forces.

The Pentagon says the situation in Iraq is “far more complex than the term ‘civil war’ implies.”

“However, conditions that could lead to civil war do exist, especially in and around Baghdad,” and the Iraqi people are fearful of civil war, the report says.

Robert Gates was sworn in as Defense secretary Monday, replacing Donald Rumsfeld, who had often bristled at the suggestion that Iraq might be sliding into civil war. Gates has been less upbeat, telling senators earlier this month he believed the United States was neither winning nor losing in Iraq. Gates said he’d visit Iraq soon.

About 322,000 Iraqi soldiers, police and other security forces have been trained and equipped, the report says, though the number actually working is probably much lower. One major problem, the report says, is that many Iraqi security officers do not report for duty. About 20,000 Iraqi soldiers have been killed or otherwise left the military since 2003, the report says.

Still, the Pentagon says it plans to continue handing over control of security to Iraqi forces and step up its efforts to train and advise the Iraqis. As the Iraqi forces become more capable and security improves, the report says, “coalition forces will move out of the cities, reduce the number of bases from which they operate and conduct fewer visible missions.”

Iraq’s economy continues to struggle, the report says. Inflation from October 2005 to October 2006 was 54%, unemployment remained high, and the country averaged only 11 hours of electricity per day. Organized crime and drug smuggling also are rising, the report says.

Also Monday:

•The Iraqi Red Crescent shut its Baghdad operations a day after gunmen seized 30 of the aid group’s workers and volunteers. Sixteen guards, drivers and other workers, along with two visitors and three guards from the neighboring Dutch Embassy, were released after several hours, the Red Crescent said.

•A car bomb near a vegetable market killed five people and wounded at least 19 in a Sunni area of Sadiya, police said. Late Monday, police said they had found 44 bodies throughout the capital.

•The U.S. military announced the deaths of three more Americans, raising to 60 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq this month.

Contributing: The Associated Press

By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY