A leaked BlackBerry roadmap, first uncovered by TechnoBuffalo, suggests the Canadian company is gearing up to launch a new tablet, and two "phablet" devices within the next year.?
According to the roadmap, BlackBerry will release a tablet, dubbed the B10, around Q3 of this year. Before Q1 2014, it looks like BlackBerry will introduce a phablet device. And by Q2 2014, we may see a new tablet-like device with a QWERTY keyboard.
The roadmap also depicts the already-released BlackBerry Z10, and the forthcoming Q10 with a QWERTY keyboard ? both devices sport the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.?
BlackBerry made its first attempt at a tablet device with the launch of the 7-inch PlayBook tablet in 2011. Despite it being one of the most-hyped consumer gadgets at the time, it ended up not doing well, as it lacked a lot of basic functions like email and calendar when it first shipped. BlackBerry eventually added that functionality, but by then, it was too late.?
Head on over to TechnoBuffalo to take a look at the leaked roadmap.
Miami-Dade Police are investigating after a 4-year-old girl died after she was shot inside a car Saturday night.
The shooting happened just after 6 p.m. in the 12000 block of Northwest 20th Avenue, as the girl was sitting in a parked Mercedes Benz with several other small children, police said.
Somehow the girl, later identified as Rahquel Carr, was shot in her upper body. Carr was taken to Ryder Trauma Center where she later died, police said.
Related: 3-Year-Old Girl Pulled From Pool at Miami Home, Rushed to Hospital
Police said it's unclear if one of the other children in the car was responsible for the shooting. An adult was nearby when the shooting happened, police said.
Under Florida law, a firearm must be securely encased when in a vehicle. It is unclear where the firearm was located at the time of the shooting.
"We will be looking at who this firearm belonged to, were the firearm was in the vehicle at the time, along with who was present when the gun was fired," said Miami-Dade Police spokesman Det. Roy Rutland.
Related: Miami Beach Holds First Ever Gun Buyback
No arrests have been made. Children were witnesses to the shooting and Miami-Dade Police will be forced to interview them, as well as many family members, Rutland said.
"There's a lot of speculation right now as to who had that firearm at the time, but we're not in the business of speculating, we're in the business of facts," Rutland said.
Distraught family members and friends arrived to the home Saturday night to give them support.
"Someone called my daughter, and told her she got shot," said Sonia Wheelers, who said she is like a grandmother to the child. "It's horrible, it's sad."
The shooting is still being investigated and the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department will be conducting an autopsy on the child, police said.
Record Wall Street boosts sentiment, U.S. holds key in Q2
TOKYO (Reuters) - Whether the world's largest economy can sustain momentum will be a primary focus for investors for the next three months after a general recovery trend in the United States helped risk sentiment for broad markets in the first quarter of 2013. Asian shares edged higher and the euro steadied on Friday after banks in Cyprus reopened to relative calm. Overall trade was subdued, with many Asian markets, including Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, closed on Friday for Easter holidays.
Banks lift TSX on Cyprus calm; index up for quarter
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index powered ahead in a late surge on Thursday, led by strength in financial and industrial shares, on relief that banks in Cyprus reopened relatively smoothly following a bailout deal. The market received further support from BlackBerry after the smartphone maker reported a surprise quarterly profit.
More trouble for Cohen's SAC Capital as Steinberg indicted in NY
(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged Michael Steinberg, a veteran portfolio manager at Steven A. Cohen's hedge fund, with insider trading in two technology stocks, the most senior SAC Capital Advisors' employee to be indicted in the government's long-running probe. FBI agents arrested Steinberg at his Park Avenue home in New York City at around 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT). Steinberg, wearing a blue sweater, pleaded "not guilty" to charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities when he appeared at a late morning arraignment.
Loeb's Third Point outperforms hedge fund rivals again
BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb outperformed his rivals again in the first quarter with returns that kept pace with the stock market's recent rally, a person familiar with Loeb's returns said. The New York-based manager told investors late on Thursday that his flagship Third Point Offshore Fund rose 2.8 percent in March while the Third Point Ultra fund, the leveraged version of the Offshore fund, gained 4.2 percent.
Cyprus says threat contained, no plan to leave euro
NICOSIA (Reuters) - The president of Cyprus said on Friday the risk of bankruptcy had been contained and the country had no intention of leaving the euro, in a speech laden with criticism of Europe's currency union for "experimenting" with the island's fate. Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades spoke a day after banks reopened following an almost two-week shutdown imposed as the country raced to clinch a rescue package from the European Union.
Quarter of U.S. firms in China face data theft: business lobby
BEIJING (Reuters) - A quarter of firms that are members of a leading U.S. business lobby in China have been victims of data theft, a report by the group said on Friday, amid growing vitriol between Beijing and Washington over the threat of cyber attacks. Twenty-six percent of members who responded to an annual survey said their proprietary data or trade secrets had been compromised or stolen from their China operations, the American Chamber of Commerce in China report said.
Exclusive: Indonesia's CT Corp proposes all-cash deal for Bakrie's media unit
TANJUNG BENOA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's fifth-richest man has proposed to buy a controlling stake in PT Visi Media Asia, valued at up to $1.8 billion, in an all-cash deal that would give him the lion's share of the TV advertising market in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Chairul Tanjung, the billionaire founder and chairman of CT Corp, a conglomerate with banking and media interests, told Reuters that his company wanted to buy the stake in the media unit of Indonesia's powerful Bakrie family without any partners.
Deutsche Bank probe finds incomplete data given to prosecutors: magazine
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - An internal investigation at Deutsche Bank has found that incomplete data related to a carbon tax fraud probe were handed over to prosecutors, German magazine Der Spiegel said on Friday. The probe is one of several legal headaches with which Germany's biggest lender is grappling.
Sony, Olympus delay medical venture as regulatory approval on hold
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp and Olympus Corp have again delayed the start of a joint venture to develop medical equipment because they have yet to gain approval from some regulators. "The examination by the relevant authority is taking longer than expected," the two companies said in a statement. They did not set a new date for operations to start.
Power firm CEZ files complaint with EU against Bulgaria
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech power producer CEZ filed a complaint with the European Commission against Bulgaria on Friday for the government's moves to take away the company's license in the Balkan country. CEZ has had a rough ride in Bulgaria since public protests against high electricity prices led to the fall of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov in February, and authorities have struck out against CEZ and other power firms.
From left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., address the media during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
From left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., address the media during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tour the Nogales port of entry during their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, speaks to the media as, from second left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., listen in during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo. second right, speaks, as, from left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., listen during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., makes a point as he is joined by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Michael Bennett, D-CO, during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. A group of influential U.S. senators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) ? A bipartisan group of senators crafting a sweeping immigration bill vowed Wednesday that they would be ready to unveil it when Congress reconvenes in less than two weeks after getting a firsthand look at a crucial component of their legislation: security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The four senators ? Republicans John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrats Chuck Schumer of New York and Michael Bennet of Colorado ? are members of the so-called Gang of Eight, which is close to finalizing a bill aimed at securing the border and putting 11 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship
The lawmakers' reassurance that their work would be complete by the week of April 8 came after a public feud erupted between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO over a low-skilled worker provision in the bill ? a spat that remained alive Friday as Congress began a two-week recess. But Flake noted Wednesday that negotiations over the worker program had resumed; an AFL-CIO negotiator also confirmed the talks were back on.
During the tour, the senators saw border agents apprehend a woman who had climbed an 18-foot-tall bollard fence.
"You can read and you can study and you can talk but until you see things it doesn't become reality," said Schumer, who toured the border for the first time. "I'll be able to explain this to my colleagues. Many of my colleagues say, 'Why do we need to do anything more on the border?' and we do. We should do more."
President Barack Obama has urged Congress to pass immigration reform this year. While ceding the details of the negotiations to Congress thus far, the president has stepped to the forefront of the debate this week to prod lawmakers to finish work on the bill.
Border security also is critical to McCain, and other Republicans, who contend that some areas along the border are far from secure.
The senators' tour Wednesday ? by both ground and air ? allowed them to review manned and unmanned drones and different types of fences. They also watched as vehicles going to and from Mexico were scrutinized by border agents at the checkpoint in Nogales.
"In so many ways, whatever your views are on immigration, Arizona is ground zero," Schumer said. "What I learned today is we have adequate manpower, but not adequate technology."
With top Republicans and Democrats focused on the issue, immigration reform faces its best odds in years. The proposed legislation will likely install new criteria for border security, allow more high- and low-skilled workers to come to the U.S. and hold businesses to tougher standards on verifying their workers are in the country legally.
The bill is expected to be lengthy and cover numerous issues, including limiting family-based immigration to put a greater emphasis on skills and employment ties instead. McCain and Schumer promised the overhaul would pay for itself, while cautioning that their proposed border security package would be costly.
"Nobody is going to be totally happy with this legislation, no one will be because we have to make compromises," McCain said.
Bennet said the Gang of Eight has agreed to put border security before a path to citizenship, but are opposed to double-sided fences along the length of the U.S.-Mexico border. Some lawmakers in Arizona want more border fences.
"There is not one simple solution to the issue of border security," Bennet said. "This isn't as simple as someone on the East Coast saying 'We need a fence everywhere or we don't.'"
The senators stressed only comprehensive immigration reform, not piecemeal solutions, had any hope of passing both chambers of Congress.
"We are not going to slice it up," McCain said.
The legislation was initially promised in March. Immigration proponents have said the group needs to introduce legislation soon, while some Republican lawmakers complain the process has moved too quickly.
If passed, the legislation could usher in the most sweeping changes in immigration law in nearly 30 years.
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Cristina Silva can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/cristymsilva
The man jailed in the Aurora, Colo., movie theater massacre is willing to plead guilty to avoid being executed, according to a court motion filed on Wednesday.
The offer from James Holmes, who is charged with shooting 70 moviegoers last July, killing 12, would mean his spending life in prison without parole.
News of the offer comes five days before prosecutors were scheduled to announce whether they will seek the death penalty in the case.
"The prosecution at this time has not accepted that offer because it may choose to pursue the death penalty. Consequently, it appears the only impediment to a resolution of this case would be if the prosecution chooses to seek the death penalty," defense attorneys wrote in the motion, which was published online by the Denver Post. "If the prosecution elects not to pursue the death penalty, it is Mr. Holmes' position that this case could be resolved April 1."
?Yes!? shooting victim Marcus Weaver shouted when Yahoo News told him of Holmes' offer.
Weaver's right shoulder was peppered with gunshot pellets when the heavily armed assailant burst in and opened fire during a midnight showing of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises." Rebecca Wingo, one of his best friends, died in the attack.
"Admitting to what he did is doing us all a favor," Weaver said on Wednesday. "Without a long, drawn-out trial, then we can move forward. As a community, it would bring about more healing."
According to the motion, defense attorneys made the plea offer prior to the suspect's arraignment earlier this month. If prosecutors reject the offer, "counsel will vigorously present and argue any and all appropriate defenses at a trial or sentencing proceeding, as necessary," Holmes' lawyers wrote.
During Holmes' arraignment on March 12, his lead attorney, Daniel King, told Judge William Sylvester that the suspect wasn't prepared to enter a plea because the defense wasn't sure if the prosecution planned to seek the death penalty. Knowing that could alter Holmes' plea and significantly alter how the defense moves forward, King explained.
The judge then entered a plea of not guilty on Holmes' behalf and noted that the defense would have the opportunity to change its plea at a later date.
The prosecution has repeatedly sought input from victims and victims' families on major decisions. Weaver said late on Wednesday that he had not yet heard from the district attorney's office, but he predicted they would be calling soon.
"I'll tell them to take the deal," Weaver told Yahoo News.
Yahoo staff writer Tim Skillern contributed to this story from Denver.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia is scrapping the panel that sets its interbank lending rates after an exodus of banks from the panel, the first major market to dismantle the tarnished structure in the wake of the Libor rate-rigging scandal.
Australia instead plans to base its reference rates on actual market transactions, in line with recommendations earlier this month by a group of global central bankers, and could set the pace for moves in other markets.
Regulators are seeking to reform rate-setting practices after Barclays Plc, UBS AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc were hit with fines totaling billions of dollars for rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate, known as Libor.
The Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA), which administers Australia's bank bill swap (BBSW) reference rate, said it planned to bypass the panel and derive the rates directly from brokers and electronic markets.
"An advantage of this enhancement is that it will remove the need for a BBSW Panel, which will eliminate the associated compliance and ancillary costs which otherwise exist for panelist banks," the association said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
"This change is subject to technical requirements being satisfied, but it is hoped that this solution will be achievable within a period of months."
Banks around the world are reviewing their involvement in interest rate-setting panels in the aftermath of the Libor scandal, which was sparked by findings on manipulation of rates used to price home loans, credit cards and other financial products worth trillions of dollars.
While British regulators have stopped rate fixings on some less-used currencies and tenors, this would mark the first time the panel for a market's main interbank lending benchmark has been disbanded.
MORE TRANSPARENT?
AFMA said HSBC and Citibank were pulling out of the BBSW panel, joining the departures of JP Morgan Chase & Co and UBS announced earlier this year.
JP Morgan, Citi and HSBC are also withdrawing from the panel on the New Zealand equivalent, the head of the New Zealand Financial Markets Association, Paul Atmore, said.
Atmore told Reuters that the association was reviewing its rate setting process, which uses bank contributions based on trades made in a daily two-minute trading window and would look at pricing rates directly from the market.
Australia's BBSW rates had been viewed as a more transparent model than the widely used Libor for setting interbank rates.
While banks submit self-determined estimates of their borrowing and lending costs to calculate Libor, the BBSW rates, with tenors ranging from one to six months, are based on where the paper is actually trading in the market.
Submissions to the BBSW process report the prevailing prices for a single type of clearly defined and homogeneously traded paper from Australia's four "prime banks" - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group , Westpac Banking Corp , National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The Bank for International Settlements this month called for greater use of actual transaction data to produce a range of reference interest rates for different purposes.
While scrapping the Australia panel will link reference rates more directly to actual market rates, some market participants voiced concern that they could still be manipulated by banks entering the cash market with big orders before the fix.
UBS's withdrawal from the BBSW panel follows the publication of a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission report into its manipulation of Libor and the Japanese yen equivalent.
The CFTC findings also noted evidence of attempted manipulation by UBS traders in the BBSW, among other rates.
According to developer DataViz, Documents To Go was the first native office suite for Android; now on its third iteration the app offers support for creating and editing multiple file formats, including DOC, DOCX, XLS, PPT, PPTX, and PDF documents, and some surprisingly powerful editing tools. On paper, Documents To Go sounds like a valuable mobile office companion; however, it's held back by outdated UI design and a lack of basic features all of which makes the $14.95 price tag seem steep.
Designed As a Sidekick Though DataViz markets Documents To Go as a mobile office solution, it's not really designed to be an all-in-one document creation and editing tool. While it can create new documents from scratch, it feels more like a companion app to edit documents received over email or from a cloud service. Considering that it's meant to sync with their desktop document management software, this interpretation is probably close to home.
To my mind, a design focused on mobile editing is a strength. Too many office apps, such as Polaris Office, seem to be designed for document creation more than editing. While Polaris Office looks great, it ?had no revision control and could not view MS Word's "Track Changes." Also, although Polaris Office allows you to read comments (and only with difficulty) you can't use it to create new ones.
Documents To Go, on the other hand, can view changes made to the document in but it cannot record the new changes you make to the document. You also cannot accept or reject changes, but at least you can see them by tapping Menu, View, and then Show Changes. Comments are visible by default, and new comments can be easily added to a document by highlighting a section and tapping Menu, Insert, and then Comment.
The app also has a powerful Find and Replace tool that is easily accessible.
Using Documents To Go While Documents To Go seems to have a clear understanding of its niche, it does not fill it gracefully. Polaris Office blew me away with its large, consistent menus and its slick interface. Documents To Go uses a series of nested menus, which are frequently divorced from context and difficult to find. The website boasts that it is compatible with Honeycomb devices (ca. mid-2011), and the design philosophy is about as old. The app's main page has large buttons to access recent files, locally stored files, files you've marked with a star, and files synced to the device from Documents To Go's desktop application. There's also the option to log into Google Drive, which it still calls Google Docs, but the app does not support any other cloud storage services.
The button to create a new document is easily overlooked in the bottom left-hand corner. New documents, and other options, are accessible from a ribbon of buttons throughout the app.
When creating a spreadsheet, I easily accessed the collection of 111 mathematical functions. However, adding individual cells to the equation was difficult, as I had to manually type in each cell location instead of simply tapping on the cell. I was also unable to find any means to change the default type of information displayed in a column?such as currency, or date. The app seems to assume that you're not going to be creating a spreadsheet from scratch, but manipulating an existing one. The edit-over-creation philosophy reached its apex when I tried to create a new PowerPoint presentation. In Documents To Go, the default view for slideshows is an entirely text-based "overview" mode and is the only view that allows you to make any changes to the presentation. When viewing slides, tapping to make changes simply returns you to the overview screen.
It is an entirely text-only experience, and comes with no formatted templates. It does, however, allow for bulleted lists.
While you can add new slides, they can only contain text. If you open an existing slideshow in Documents To Go, you can view the images, but can only edit the text. There is no presentation mode, unlike Polaris Office which was quite robust in this area. Despite the focus on editing, you cannot view comments made to PowerPoint documents in Word.
In Need of an Overhaul One hopes that developer DataViz will revise their languishing office offering. The potential is there, but it's buried behind an outdated, unintuitive design and a lack of support for cloud storage and basic office features.
To its credit, Documents To Go seems to understand that its primary function is to edit documents received while "on the go," as it were. While reviewing Polaris Office, I was annoyed at the apparent focus on document creation among mobile office apps. To my mind, receiving a document to edit is far more likely (and enjoyable) than trying to write one from scratch on a phone. With a significant update, this app could shine as an on-the-go editor, but its relatively high price, poor UI, and spotty feature support hold it back.
One of the great features of Android is the ability to change launchers, and within that category the ability to go completely off the rails with customization -- Lightning Launcher is one of those options. It's going to take some work, but the incredible set of controls and changes you can make with this launcher may be worth it if you're motivated. Best of all, it's free as well.
Stick around with us after the break and see how far the customization can go with Lightning Launcher -- users looking for a basic launcher with a few extra perks need not apply.
A CMS, or Content Management System, is a type of program usually built with PHP that is meant to help manage your content. This system allows you to easily publish, edit and modify posts much more easily than with a static HTML page.
Getting a CMS onto my site must be complicated, right? Nope. If you have the standard cPanel, all you need to do is find a program called: Softaculous,? Fantastico de Luxe,? or QuickInstall. Then, simply just follow the directions. It takes around 1-3 minutes before your site is ready.
Most people associated CMSs with blogs because the vast majority of blogs are made with them, but the truth is that a CMS can be used to build business websites, online stores and many other types of websites.
Aside from making it easier to publish and manage content, a CMS will often dynamically create new pages for you, along with a custom navigation schema that will evolve and grow as you post more content.
CMS Vs. HTML Only Site
Creating a blog site with only HTML pages is definitely outdated strategy. If you want to manage content with only HTML,? you need to do a lot of work. First of all, you need to add HTML tags around your entire post for paragraphs, subheaders, bolding and anything else.
You then need to create a new HTML pages in your server by making a new HTML file. The file needs to connect to your CSS document for the proper design, and you then need to ensure that you manually update your navigation so that people can reach the new page with ease.
Another thing you have to consider, is if you wanted to update your header or footer using HTML. You would have to go to every single page on your site to update them. With Content Management Systems, you can update the header or footer once in the admin panel and you?re done.
A CMS does most of this work for you. If you?re just a blogger, all you need to do is write in the CMS?s administrative panel or paste a document from Word, publish the post all everything else is automatic. Not only that, but you can easily go back and edit or update a post without having to change the original HTML file.
Another additional benefit is that most CMSs have additional programs and widgets that can be added to them. This allows you to customize and modify your website until it is perfect. This can often be done with HTML pages, but it takes much more work.
Basically, a CMS allows people with only knowledge of Microsoft Office to get their thoughts on the internet.
Types of CMSs
There are dozens of great CMSs, but there are four that I consider the best. They are: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and CMSMS.
WordPress is by far the best for blogs and anyone that wants to just quickly build a website in a few minutes. Reviewpon is actually built on a WordPress, pretty impressive, hug? Installing and using WordPress is easy. While it doesn?t have quite as much power as Joomla and Drupal, it has a ton of plug-ins and it?s best for people that aren?t technically inclined.
Joomla and Drupal have their differences, but they are both made to give you a fully customizable experience. These CMSs are best for larger and more complex websites because you are given much more control. At the same time, this comes at a price. Both of these systems are harder to use than WordPress, so you will need to know some coding to bring out their full power.
Lastly is CMS Made Simple or CMSMS. This is an unobtrusive CMS that you can easily add into your existing website. This isn?t quite as powerful as the other systems, but it?s not meant to be. It?s meant for website developers that need a CMS, but not one that will take over the entire website. This is typically used for smaller projects where content will occasionally be updated and published.
The marriage of social networking and television is nothing new, but Myriad recently launched Social TV, a white label solution which allows TV service providers to roll out their own custom social networking platform on your cable box. It complements services like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ by offering a more contextual way for viewers to interact with their friends while watching TV. Social TV provides an integrated HTML5 experience that's consistent across both television and companion devices (phones and tablets). Viewers can chose between receiving alerts on their TVs, mobile devices or both and can create show- or series-specific virtual communities that automatically expire when the program ends. The system is even mindful of time zones and time-shifts messages to prevent spoilers. More after the break.
Huge and widespread volcanic eruptions triggered the end-Triassic extinctionPublic release date: 22-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sarah McDonnell s_mcd@mit.edu 617-253-8923 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- More than 200 million years ago, a massive extinction decimated 76 percent of marine and terrestrial species, marking the end of the Triassic period and the onset of the Jurassic. This devastating event cleared the way for dinosaurs to dominate Earth for the next 135 million years, taking over ecological niches formerly occupied by other marine and terrestrial species.
It's not entirely clear what caused the end-Triassic extinction, although most scientists agree on a likely scenario: Over a relatively short period of time, massive volcanic eruptions from a large region known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) spewed forth huge amounts of lava and gas, including carbon dioxide, sulfur and methane. This sudden release of gases into the atmosphere may have created intense global warming and acidification of the oceans that ultimately killed off thousands of plant and animal species.
Now researchers at MIT, Columbia University and elsewhere have determined that these eruptions occurred precisely when the extinction began, providing strong evidence that volcanic activity did indeed trigger the end-Triassic extinction. Their results are published in the journal Science.
The team determined the age of basaltic lavas and other features found along the East Coast of the United States, as well as in Morocco now-disparate regions that, 200 million years ago, were part of the supercontinent Pangaea. The rift that ultimately separated these landmasses was also the site of CAMP's volcanic activity. Today, the geology of both regions includes igneous rocks from the CAMP eruptions as well as sedimentary rocks that accumulated in an enormous lake; the researchers used a combination of techniques to date the rocks and to pinpoint CAMP's beginning and duration.
From its measurements, the team reconstructed the region's volcanic activity 201 million years ago, discovering that the eruption of magma along with carbon dioxide, sulfur and methane occurred in repeated bursts over a period of 40,000 years, a relatively short span in geologic time.
"This extinction happened at a geological instant in time," says Sam Bowring, the Robert R. Shrock Professor of Geology in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. "There's no question the extinction occurred at the same time as the first eruption."
The paper's co-authors are Terrence Blackburn (who led the project as part of his PhD research) and Noah McLean of MIT; Paul Olsen and Dennis Kent of Columbia; John Puffer of Rutgers University; Greg McHone, an independent researcher from New Brunswick; E. Troy Rasbury of Stony Brook University; and Mohammed Et-Touhami of the Universit Mohammed Premier Oujda in Morocco.
More than a coincidence
The end-Triassic extinction is one of five major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years of Earth's history. For several of these events, scientists have noted that large igneous provinces, which provide evidence of widespread volcanic activity, arose at about the same time. But, as Bowring points out, "Just because they happen to approximately coincide doesn't mean there's cause and effect." For example, while massive lava flows overlapped with the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, scientists have linked that extinction to an asteroid collision.
"If you really want to make the case that an eruption caused an extinction, you have to be able to show at the highest possible precision that the eruption of the basalt and the extinction occurred at exactly the same time," Bowring says.
In the case of the end-Triassic, Bowring says researchers have dated volcanic activity to right around the time fossils disappear from the geologic record, providing evidence that CAMP may have triggered the extinction. But these estimates have a margin of error of 1 million to 2 million years. "A million years is forever when you're trying to make that link," Bowring says.
For example, it's thought that CAMP emitted a total of more than 2 million cubic kilometers of lava. If that amount of lava were spewed over a period of 1 million to 2 million years, it wouldn't have nearly the impact it would if it were emitted over tens of thousands of years. "The timescale over which the eruption occurred has a big effect," Bowring says.
Tilting toward extinction
To determine how long the volcanic eruptions lasted, the group combined two dating techniques: astrochronology and geochronology. The former is a technique that links sedimentary layers in rocks to changes in the tilt of the Earth: For decades, scientists have observed that the Earth's orientation changes in regular cycles as a result of gravitational forces exerted by neighboring planets. For example, the Earth's axis tilts at regular cycles, returning to its original tilt every 26,000 years. Such orbital variations change the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, which in turn has an effect on the planet's climate, known as Milankovich cycles. The result of the climatic change can be preserved in the cyclicity of sediments deposited in the Earth's crust.
Scientists can determine a rock's age by first identifying cyclical variations in deposition of sediments in quiet bodies of water, such as deep oceans or large lakes. A cycle of sediment corresponds with a cycle of the Earth's tilt, established as a known period of years. By seeing where a rock lies in those sedimentary layers, scientists can get a good idea of how old it is. To get precise estimates, scientists have developed mathematical models to determine the Earth's tilt over millions of years.
Bowring says the technique is good for directly dating rocks up to 35 million years old, but beyond that, it's unclear how reliable the technique can be. His team used astrochronology to estimate the age of the sedimentary rocks and then tested those estimates against high-precision dates from 200-million-year-old rocks in North America and Morocco.
The researchers broke rock samples apart to isolate tiny crystals known as zircons, which they then analyzed to determine the ratio of uranium to lead. The painstaking technique enabled the team to date the rocks to within approximately 30,000 years an incredibly precise measurement in geologic terms.
Taken together, the geochronology and astrochronology techniques gave the team precise estimates for the onset of volcanism 200 million years ago, and revealed three bursts of magmatic activity over 40,000 years an exceptionally short period of time during which massive amounts of carbon dioxide and other gas emissions may have drastically altered Earth's climate, killing off thousands of plant and animal species.
While the team's evidence is the strongest thus far to link volcanic activity with the end-Triassic extinction, Bowring says more work can be done.
"The CAMP province extends from Nova Scotia all the way down to Brazil and West Africa," Bowring says. "I'm dying to know whether those are exactly the same age or not. We don't know."
###
This research was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Written By Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office
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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.
Huge and widespread volcanic eruptions triggered the end-Triassic extinctionPublic release date: 22-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sarah McDonnell s_mcd@mit.edu 617-253-8923 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- More than 200 million years ago, a massive extinction decimated 76 percent of marine and terrestrial species, marking the end of the Triassic period and the onset of the Jurassic. This devastating event cleared the way for dinosaurs to dominate Earth for the next 135 million years, taking over ecological niches formerly occupied by other marine and terrestrial species.
It's not entirely clear what caused the end-Triassic extinction, although most scientists agree on a likely scenario: Over a relatively short period of time, massive volcanic eruptions from a large region known as the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) spewed forth huge amounts of lava and gas, including carbon dioxide, sulfur and methane. This sudden release of gases into the atmosphere may have created intense global warming and acidification of the oceans that ultimately killed off thousands of plant and animal species.
Now researchers at MIT, Columbia University and elsewhere have determined that these eruptions occurred precisely when the extinction began, providing strong evidence that volcanic activity did indeed trigger the end-Triassic extinction. Their results are published in the journal Science.
The team determined the age of basaltic lavas and other features found along the East Coast of the United States, as well as in Morocco now-disparate regions that, 200 million years ago, were part of the supercontinent Pangaea. The rift that ultimately separated these landmasses was also the site of CAMP's volcanic activity. Today, the geology of both regions includes igneous rocks from the CAMP eruptions as well as sedimentary rocks that accumulated in an enormous lake; the researchers used a combination of techniques to date the rocks and to pinpoint CAMP's beginning and duration.
From its measurements, the team reconstructed the region's volcanic activity 201 million years ago, discovering that the eruption of magma along with carbon dioxide, sulfur and methane occurred in repeated bursts over a period of 40,000 years, a relatively short span in geologic time.
"This extinction happened at a geological instant in time," says Sam Bowring, the Robert R. Shrock Professor of Geology in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. "There's no question the extinction occurred at the same time as the first eruption."
The paper's co-authors are Terrence Blackburn (who led the project as part of his PhD research) and Noah McLean of MIT; Paul Olsen and Dennis Kent of Columbia; John Puffer of Rutgers University; Greg McHone, an independent researcher from New Brunswick; E. Troy Rasbury of Stony Brook University; and Mohammed Et-Touhami of the Universit Mohammed Premier Oujda in Morocco.
More than a coincidence
The end-Triassic extinction is one of five major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years of Earth's history. For several of these events, scientists have noted that large igneous provinces, which provide evidence of widespread volcanic activity, arose at about the same time. But, as Bowring points out, "Just because they happen to approximately coincide doesn't mean there's cause and effect." For example, while massive lava flows overlapped with the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, scientists have linked that extinction to an asteroid collision.
"If you really want to make the case that an eruption caused an extinction, you have to be able to show at the highest possible precision that the eruption of the basalt and the extinction occurred at exactly the same time," Bowring says.
In the case of the end-Triassic, Bowring says researchers have dated volcanic activity to right around the time fossils disappear from the geologic record, providing evidence that CAMP may have triggered the extinction. But these estimates have a margin of error of 1 million to 2 million years. "A million years is forever when you're trying to make that link," Bowring says.
For example, it's thought that CAMP emitted a total of more than 2 million cubic kilometers of lava. If that amount of lava were spewed over a period of 1 million to 2 million years, it wouldn't have nearly the impact it would if it were emitted over tens of thousands of years. "The timescale over which the eruption occurred has a big effect," Bowring says.
Tilting toward extinction
To determine how long the volcanic eruptions lasted, the group combined two dating techniques: astrochronology and geochronology. The former is a technique that links sedimentary layers in rocks to changes in the tilt of the Earth: For decades, scientists have observed that the Earth's orientation changes in regular cycles as a result of gravitational forces exerted by neighboring planets. For example, the Earth's axis tilts at regular cycles, returning to its original tilt every 26,000 years. Such orbital variations change the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, which in turn has an effect on the planet's climate, known as Milankovich cycles. The result of the climatic change can be preserved in the cyclicity of sediments deposited in the Earth's crust.
Scientists can determine a rock's age by first identifying cyclical variations in deposition of sediments in quiet bodies of water, such as deep oceans or large lakes. A cycle of sediment corresponds with a cycle of the Earth's tilt, established as a known period of years. By seeing where a rock lies in those sedimentary layers, scientists can get a good idea of how old it is. To get precise estimates, scientists have developed mathematical models to determine the Earth's tilt over millions of years.
Bowring says the technique is good for directly dating rocks up to 35 million years old, but beyond that, it's unclear how reliable the technique can be. His team used astrochronology to estimate the age of the sedimentary rocks and then tested those estimates against high-precision dates from 200-million-year-old rocks in North America and Morocco.
The researchers broke rock samples apart to isolate tiny crystals known as zircons, which they then analyzed to determine the ratio of uranium to lead. The painstaking technique enabled the team to date the rocks to within approximately 30,000 years an incredibly precise measurement in geologic terms.
Taken together, the geochronology and astrochronology techniques gave the team precise estimates for the onset of volcanism 200 million years ago, and revealed three bursts of magmatic activity over 40,000 years an exceptionally short period of time during which massive amounts of carbon dioxide and other gas emissions may have drastically altered Earth's climate, killing off thousands of plant and animal species.
While the team's evidence is the strongest thus far to link volcanic activity with the end-Triassic extinction, Bowring says more work can be done.
"The CAMP province extends from Nova Scotia all the way down to Brazil and West Africa," Bowring says. "I'm dying to know whether those are exactly the same age or not. We don't know."
###
This research was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Written By Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office
[ | 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.
The CDC describes asthma as simply a disease involving inflammation of the airways and lungs. People suffering from asthma have constant inflammation of the airways and lungs, causing numerous breathing issues, which can lead to other serious problems, including obesity. For many asthma sufferers, physical activity can cause an onset of asthma attacks. This type of asthma is called exercise-induced asthma, or EIA. EIA is a particularly dangerous form of asthma because it causes many sufferers to avoid exercising, leading to obesity. Obese asthma sufferers have a much more difficult time managing their asthma and breathing in general than those leading a healthy lifestyle. In a research study preformed by Neuroscientists at the National Institute of Aging in Boston, a group of obese asthmatics were put on a strict diet eight-week diet plan inducing 8% initial body weight loss. Each patient experienced a noticeable improvement in asthma symptoms. The study suggests that the connection between weight loss and asthma lies in the inflammation of the lungs. Weight loss helps reduce inflammation and stress on the lungs, in turn reducing asthmatic flare-ups. Though physical activity can sometimes induce asthma attacks, it is extremely important that asthmatics stay active to help manage and reduce flare-ups and symptoms. The American Council on Exercise has preformed research suggesting asthmatics that participate in a regular exercising routine promotes higher tolerance, reduced stress, regular sleep patterns, higher energy levels and reduced asthmatic attacks. It is especially important for those suffering from asthma to maintain a healthy lifestyle and weight. Losing weight and leading a healthy, active life decreases the tendencies for asthma flare-ups. To avoid asthma issues related to exercising, it is always important to check with a doctor before starting a new exercise regiment. Doctors and medical weight loss specialists can be can be especially helpful with suggesting customized and beneficial weight loss routines that will not cause breathing issues. Medical weight loss specialists and doctors can provide patients with healthy exercising routines that work best with their body and will not induce physical stress. Medical weight loss professionals can provide additional custom assistance in diet plans and medications in balance with exercise plans. For added protection against flare-ups, Doctors can also provide patients with inhalers. These inhalers are very beneficial in preventing breathing issues when administered 10 to 15 minutes before physical activity. It is also important for asthmatics to remember to ease into new exercise regiments, and to warm up properly before exercising. Though many asthmatics may fear asthmatic attacks, it is clear that a healthy, safe exercise routine can provide asthmatics with a natural and beneficial way to manage life with asthma.
Neville Street is the Administrative Director for Rodriquez MD, a bilingual medical practice in Lawrenceville, GA that provides health care to infants, children, adolescents and adults. Gwinnett doctors Deborah and Veronica Rodriguez are sisters with a combined 27 years of experience. The doctors are Board Certified in Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and both Gwinnett physicians have extensive experience working in private practice.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's cut the sovereign long-term foreign currency credit rating on Cyprus deeper into junk status on Thursday, lowering the rating to CCC from CCC-plus as the country struggles with a banking crisis.
The European Union gave Cyprus until Monday to raise the billions of euros it needs to secure an international bailout or face a collapse of its financial system that could push it out of the euro currency bloc.
A bailout deal brokered between Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the EU last weekend in Brussels was unanimously rejected by the Mediterranean island nation's parliament. The deal would have imposed a tax on Cypriot deposit accounts to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) that the EU required in return for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout.
"We believe that in the absence of a credible alternative source of capital and fiscal financing, the risk of a disorderly credit event is rising," S&P said in its statement.
Jeroen Dijsselblem, the head of the Eurogroup, which comprises the finance ministers of countries whose currency is the euro, on Thursday urged Cyprus to present a new proposal on the bailout.
The Cypriot government proposed to parliament on Thursday the creation of a "solidarity fund" based on revenues from hydrocarbon exploitation, bonds and other assets to help it raise the billions of euros needed to clinch an EU bailout.
"We expect that over the next few days Cyprus and the Eurogroup or other partners could reach an alternative agreement," S&P said before warning that there is the risk of renewed capital flight that would create the need for implementing capital controls.
Cyprus is currently rated Caa3 with a negative outlook by Moody's Investors Service and B by Fitch Ratings, also with a negative outlook. S&P also has a negative outlook on its new rating.
The European Central Bank has provided a liquidity lifeline, allowing Cyprus' banks to operate. However, that lifeline known as Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA), will be cut on Monday if no new deal is in place.
If the ELA is cut and the Cypriot banks are unable to operate, large deposits could be wiped out. One senior EU official told Reuters this would probably force the country to abandon the euro.
(Reporting by Daniel Bases, Luciana Lopez and Pam Niimi; Editing by G Crosse and James Dalgleish)
Some sea snakes have heads that look comically small compared with the rest of their body. New research shows these shrunken heads evolved quite rapidly, allowing the snakes to hunt eels hiding in tight spaces.
If you only looked at the genes of the blue-banded sea snake and the slender-necked sea snake, the two species would seem nearly identical. But the close cousins, which are found in waters around Southeast Asia and Australia, have quite different physical looks, researchers say.
"The slender-necked sea snake is half the size, and has a much smaller head, than the blue-banded sea snake," study researcher Mike Lee, from the South Australian Museum, said in a statement. "This suggested they separated very recently from a common ancestral species and had rapidly evolved their different appearances."
The researchers believe some sea snakes developed shrunken heads to be more effective eaters since these species poke their heads into narrow eel burrows to look for food, whereas their big-headed cousins feast on crevice-sheltering eels and gobies.
"One way this could have happened is if the ancestral species was large-headed, and a population rapidly evolved small heads to probe eel burrows ? and subsequently stopped interbreeding with the large-headed forms," Lee added.
Both the blue-banded sea snake and the slender-necked sea snake belong to the genus Hydrophis. With more than 30 species, this group is by far the most diverse group in the Hydrophiinae subfamily and it has a lot of tiny-headed members. In fact, microcephaly (the condition of having a small head) has evolved at least eight separate times in Hydrophis during their relatively rapid diversification over the past 3.5 million years, researchers say.
Meanwhile, no other genus in the sea snake family (not Aipysurusnor Ephalophis nor Hydrelaps) has snakes that have evolved shrunken heads. What's more, these groups tend to be much less diverse, each represented by a half-dozen species at best.
"Rapid evolution of head size variation is therefore a likely contributing factor in the explosive speciation in Hydrophis group sea snakes," the researchers wrote in an article published this week in the journal Molecular Ecology.
Follow Megan Gannon @meganigannon. Followus @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it is forming a special panel to investigate whether Alaska Rep. Don Young failed to report gifts on his annual disclosure forms, misused campaign funds and lied to federal officials. The committee also announced a separate special panel will examine whether New Jersey Rep. Rob Andrews broke House rules by using campaign funds for personal travel.
The allegations against Young, a Republican who has served in the House since 1973, focus on his expenses and travel costs for trips that were already the subject of an ethics investigation. The investigative subcommittee will look at whether he, or persons acting on his behalf, obtained or received improper gifts, misused official resources or campaign funds for personal use or failed to report gifts on required disclosure statements.
The committee said in a statement that it will investigate the allegations after a referral from the Department of Justice. The department had previously investigated allegations Young accepted gifts in exchange for political patronage.
Michael Anderson, a spokesman for Young, said Young would cooperate with the investigation.
"Congressman Young has cooperated with the committee and will continue to do so," he said.
The allegations against Andrews involve whether the Democrat improperly used campaign funds for personal trips, including a wedding in Scotland and numerous trips to California with his daughter, who has a fledgling career as a singer and actress. The case was referred to the House Ethics Committee by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics.
A report the OCE, released in August of last year, said Andrews' trip to Edinburgh, Scotland -- including four business class tickets for himself and his family -- was either paid for or later reimbursed by Andrews' campaign accounts.
Andrews said he expected the investigation to clear him.
"As I have previously stated, this continuing review by the House Ethics Committee will establish and confirm that I have always followed all the rules and met all the standards of the House," Andrews said.
Andrews said he will "eagerly provide" all the information requested by the committee.
The panel investigating Andrews will be led by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. The panel investigating Young will be led by Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. The committee said in its statement announcing the panels that the investigative subcommittees will determine whether the lawmakers violated the House's Code of Official Conduct.
The committee, in its statement, also makes clear that the establishment of the subcommittee does not indicate that any violation had occurred.
Selena Gomez is loving the single life, and it's loving her right back. During a Monday night appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman, Gomez, 20, was radiant, confident -- and even made a joke at the expense of her ex, Justin Bieber. Watch the clip below!
Well, this took long enough, don'tcha think? Ever since the original Jawbone Up fitness tracker came out, we've been saying it needs an Android app so you can use it with more than just an iDevice. Heck, even when the redesigned second-gen version went on sale last year, it was still for iOS only. Finally, though, that Android app is here, and it's ready to download in the Google Play store.
Like the iOS version it's free, and can be used to log daily meals, as well as view pretty charts illustrating your various sleep and activity patterns. You'll also notice some strong similarities in the UI, though the iOS version has a few features the Android software doesn't have yet, such as the ability to share things on Twitter and Facebook. The band, too, is the same as ever, which means you can use it with a mix of iOS and Android devices, if you so choose. Finally, there's one last (very big) group of people who will be getting to try the Up for the first time: the wristband is now for sale in Europe, with Asia, Australia and the Middle East to follow next month.
Millions of dollars over many decades have been spent on one thing: convincing the public that insurance companies have your best interests at heart. Whether we are talking about the Geico Gecko, the Peanuts cartoons, the ?Good Hands People,? or any of the many others, it is clear that these companies are working overtime to secure their reputation in the community. After all, when bad things happen, it is the insurance company that steps in and makes everything ok. Right? Well, actually?no.
Insurance companies, like most other companies, are motivated by profit. In other words, their one goal, above all else, is to make money. The less money they spend, the more money they make. If you are insured, and suffer a loss that is covered by your policy, your insurance company is obligated to pay you. They do not, however, have to make it easy. Whether you are dealing with your own company or the company that represents the person responsible for your loss, there are many strategies that these companies use to either deny a claim outright or minimize the amount they are required to pay.
Something else to consider is how interest works when discussing insurance company money. For every dollar that an insurance company does not pay out, interest is earned on that money. So, even a minor delay in paying your claim can mean a significant amount of money to your insurance company. Such a delay may mean nothing to a big corporation, but to you following an accident, it can mean the world. Would a company that is looking out for your interests put you through this? No.
Books can, and have, been written discussing the ways in which insurance companies take advantage of even their own customers. When you are in an accident that is someone else?s fault and they are covered by insurance, you are up against a giant corporation with thousands of employees, hundreds of attorneys, and a virtually unlimited budget. All determined to keep you from getting what you deserve.
Insurance companies are not your friend. Remember this, and you will be well ahead of the game the next time you have to deal with such a formidable adversary.
AAA??Mar. 18, 2013?2:46 PM ET FBI focusing on recovery in '90 Mass. art heist AP
FILE - In this Thursday, March 11, 2010 file photo, empty frames from which thieves took "Storm on the Sea of Galilee," left background, by Rembrandt and "The Concert," right foreground, by Vermeer, remain on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The paintings are among 13 works stolen by burglars from the museum in the early hours of March 18, 1990. The FBI said Monday, March 18, 2013, it believes it knows the identities of the thieves who stole the art. Richard DesLauriers, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston, says the thieves belong to a criminal organization based in New England the mid-Atlantic states. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, March 11, 2010 file photo, empty frames from which thieves took "Storm on the Sea of Galilee," left background, by Rembrandt and "The Concert," right foreground, by Vermeer, remain on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The paintings are among 13 works stolen by burglars from the museum in the early hours of March 18, 1990. The FBI said Monday, March 18, 2013, it believes it knows the identities of the thieves who stole the art. Richard DesLauriers, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston, says the thieves belong to a criminal organization based in New England the mid-Atlantic states. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)
FILE - In this March 21, 1990 file photo, a security guard stands outside the Dutch Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, where robbers stole more than a dozen works of art by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, Manet and others, in an early morning robbery March 18, 1990. The FBI said Monday, March 18, 2013, it believes it knows the identities of the thieves who stole the art. Richard DesLauriers, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston, says the thieves belong to a criminal organization based in New England the mid-Atlantic states. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, March 11, 2010 file photo, a plaque marks the empty frame from which thieves cut Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee," which remains on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It is one of 13 works stolen by burglars from the museum in the early hours of March 18, 1990.The FBI said Monday, March 18, 2013, it believes it knows the identities of the thieves who stole the art. Richard DesLauriers, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston, says the thieves belong to a criminal organization based in New England the mid-Atlantic states. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)
FILE - This undated file photograph released by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum shows the painting "Chez Tortoni," by Manet, one of more than a dozen works of art stolen in the early hours of March 18, 1990. The FBI said Monday, March 18, 2013, it believes they know the identities of the thieves, belonging to a criminal organization based in New England the mid-Atlantic states. (AP Photo/Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, File) NO SALES
FILE - This undated file photograph released by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum shows the painting "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee," by Rembrandt, one of more than a dozen works of art stolen by burglars in the early hours of March 18, 1990. The FBI said Monday, March 18, 2013, it believes it knows the identities of the thieves who stole the art. Richard DesLauriers, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston, says the thieves belong to a criminal organization based in New England the mid-Atlantic states. (AP Photo/Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, File) NO SALES
BOSTON (AP) ? The FBI believes it knows the identities of the thieves who stole art valued at up to $500 million from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum more than two decades ago.
Richard DesLauriers, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston, says the thieves belong to a criminal organization based in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. He says authorities believe the art was taken to Connecticut and the Philadelphia region in the years after the theft, and offered for sale in Philadelphia about a decade ago.
The FBI has a new website aimed at getting help cracking the case at www.FBI.gov/gardner . In a video, DesLauriers says the statute of limitations has passed for the crime of art theft and authorities are focused on recovering the art.
He calls the heist one of the largest art thefts in U.S. history.
The theft happened when two people posing as police officers fooled security guards into believing they were there for a legitimate reason before locking the guards in the museum's basement and making off with the stolen objects, FBI Special Agent Geoff Kelly says in another of the website's videos.
He says the FBI has tracked leads into Europe and Asia during a more than two-decade investigation into the crime on March 18, 1990.
Kelly says authorities realize that, after so many years, the art could be in the hands of people who had nothing to do with the crime and may not even know the objects were stolen.
Among the art stolen was Vermeer's "The Concert," one of only 36 paintings by the artist that are in existence, and two Rembrandt oil paintings, including the artist's only known seascape.
The thieves also made off with a number of Degas sketches.
There's a $5 million reward in the case.
Associated Press People, Places and Companies: Boston
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The CDC describes asthma as simply a disease involving inflammation of the airways and lungs. People suffering from asthma have constant inflammation of the airways and lungs, causing numerous breathing issues, which can lead to other serious problems, including obesity.
