'Iron Man,' 'Star Trek' dominate the big game's movie trailers, with Dwayne Johnson joining in to rock out as usual.
By Josh Wigler
"Iron Man 3"
Photo: Marvel
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1701287/super-bowl-best-commercials.jhtml
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Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak gestures during a meeting at the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak gestures during a meeting at the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Ehud Barak, Defence Minister of Israel, left, gestures next to Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Security Conference, during a meeting at the Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday afternoon with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, center, arrives for a meeting of the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak gestures during a meeting at the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The 49th Munich Security Conference started Friday until Sunday with experts from 90 delegations. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
MUNICH (AP) ? Israel's defense minister strongly signaled Sunday that his country was behind an airstrike in Syria last week, telling a high profile security conference that Israeli threats to take pre-emptive action against its enemies are not empty. "We mean it," Ehud Barak declared.
Israel has not officially confirmed its planes attacked a site near Damascus, targeting ground-to-air missiles apparently heading for Lebanon, but its intentions have been beyond dispute. During the 22 months of civil war in Syria, Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed concern that high-end weapons could fall into the hands of enemy Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militants.
For years, Israel has been charging that Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iran have been arming Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006.
U.S. officials say the target was a convoy of sophisticated Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. Deployed in Lebanon, they could have limited Israel's ability to gather intelligence on its enemies from the air.
Over the weekend, Syrian TV broadcast video of the Wednesday attack site for the first time, showing destroyed vehicles and a damaged building identified as a scientific research center. The U.S. officials said the airstrike hit both the building and the convoy.
Turkey, which seeks the ouster of Assad and supports the opposition that is fighting against his regime, harshly criticized Israel regarding the airstrike in Syria. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that Israel engaged in "state terror" and he suggested that its allies have nurtured wrongdoing on the part of the Jewish state.
"Those who have from the very beginning looked in the wrong direction and who have nourished and raised Israel like a spoiled child should always expect such things from Israel," Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News quoted Erdogan as saying.
Erdogan, who also criticized Iran for supporting Syria, is a frequent critic of Israel, a former ally of Turkey. Relations hit a low in 2010 when Israeli troops raided a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship, and nine activists on board were killed. Both sides accused each other of initiating the violence.
In his comments Sunday in Munich, Barak came close to confirming that his country was behind the airstrike.
"I cannot add anything to what you have read in the newspapers about what happened in Syria several days ago," Barak told the gathering of top diplomats and defense officials from around the world.
Then he went on to say, "I keep telling frankly that we said ? and that's proof when we said something we mean it ? we say that we don't think it should be allowed to bring advanced weapons systems into Lebanon." He spoke in heavily accented English.
In Syria, Assad said during a meeting with a top Iranian official that his country would confront any aggression, his first comment on the airstrike.
"Syria, with the awareness of its people, the might of its army and its adherence to the path of resistance, is able to face the current challenges and confront any aggression that might target the Syrian people," Assad was quoted as saying by the state news agency SANA.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Saeed Jalili, the head of Iran's National Security Council. Iran is Syria's closest regional ally. Jalili, on a three-day visit to Syria, has pledged Tehran's continued support for Assad's regime.
Jalili, who also serves as his country's top nuclear negotiator, condemned the Israeli raid, stressing that it has proven the "aggressive nature of Israel and its threat of the region's security and stability."
The chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that Tehran also hopes Syria will strike back against Israel.
Syrian opposition leaders and rebels have criticized Assad for not responding to the airstrike, calling it proof of his weakness and acquiescence to the Jewish state.
The Syrian defense minister, Gen. Fahd Jassem al-Freij, said Israel attacked the center because rebels were unable to capture it. Al-Freij called the rebels Israel's "tools." He told the state TV, "The heroic Syrian Arab Army, that proved to the world that it is a strong army and a trained army, will not be defeated."
Ahmad Ramadan, an opposition leader, said Syria's claim that the rebels are cooperating with Israel "is an attempt by the regime to cover its weakness in defending the country against foreign aggression." He spoke by telephone from Turkey.
While Israel has remained officially silent on the airstrike, there seemed little doubt that Israel carried it out, especially given the confirmation from the U.S., its close ally.
Israel has a powerful air force equipped with U.S.-made warplanes and has a history of carrying out air raids on hostile territory. In recent years, Israel has been blamed for an air raid in Syria in 2007 that apparently struck an unfinished nuclear reactor and an arms convoy in Sudan believed to be delivering weapons to Hamas.
Israel has not confirmed either raid, but military officials routinely talk about a "policy of prevention" meant to disrupt the flow of arms to its enemies.
In the days preceding the airstrike, the Israeli warnings were heightened. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a series of dire comments about the threat posed by Syria's weapons.
Israel considers any transfer of these advanced weapons to be unacceptable "game changers" that would change the balance of power in the region.
Israel has grown increasingly jittery as the Arab Spring has swept through the Middle East, bringing with it a rise of hostile Islamist elements. While Assad is a bitter enemy, Israel's northern front with Syria has remained quiet for most of the past 40 years.
If Assad is toppled, the threat of al-Qaida forces operating along Israel's frontier with Syria would pose a new and unpredictable threat. Israel has been racing to reinforce its fences along its northern frontiers with Lebanon and Syria.
In addition, Israel fears that its archenemy Iran, the close ally of Syria and Hezbollah, is moving closer to developing a nuclear weapon.
Israeli leaders have vowed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms, making veiled threats to use force if international diplomacy and sanctions fail.
Israeli defense officials tried to play down Barak's comments, saying that he was voicing a general policy that Israel is ready to defend its interests and not discussing a specific incident. They also noted that he was not speaking in his native Hebrew.
Even so, it seemed that Barak, a former prime minister, military chief of staff and regular participant on the world stage, was sending a message that Israel's warnings are not hollow and that further military action should not be ruled out.
"There is a real danger now that seriously problematic weapons will reach Hezbollah, and Israel is trying to prevent this," said Reuven Pedatzur, a defense analyst at Tel Aviv University. He said the threat has reached the point "where weapons are actually being loaded on trucks and sent on their way. That is new."
Pedatzur said the decision by Syria to try to move weapons to Lebanon could indicate that Assad's days are numbered. Assad may fear that he won't be able to secure the weapons for much longer, or may be under pressure from Iran to transfer the arms to Hezbollah before he is toppled.
Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in mid-2006 that ended in a stalemate, and Israeli military planners believe it is just a matter of time before another war breaks out.
Israel says Hezbollah has already restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, and that obtaining chemical weapons or the advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles would severely hinder Israel's ability to operate in Lebanon.
In Beirut, the Lebanese military issued a statement saying that six Israeli warplanes flew over different areas of the country on Sunday.
____
Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, and Christopher Torchia in Istanbul contributed.
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As is so often the case in life, the little things can make a big difference. I was worried that our little Valentines Day contest -- we're giving away a pair of Nexus 7s and Nexus 4s -- would come off as too cheesy. Sappy, even for me, a guy who grew up believing John Cusack's "Better Off Dead" was actually a preferred way for high school to pan out. (Sadly, I played trombone instead of the sax -- not quite the same romantic effect there. And no bitchin' Camero, but my sun-faded 1985 BMW 325e with no air conditioning, speedometer and, occasionally, brakes, at least sounded cool on paper.)
But it's working. At the time of this writing, there are some 28 pages of entries. Somewhere around 600 pictures posted of all kinds of happy couples as I sit here Sunday morning finishing this column. Pictures of boys and girls. Boys and boys. Girls and girls. Dogs. Cats. Even saw someone with someone in a cow suit or something. (I don't judge.) In a job like this, it's both a blessing and a curse to not actually have to interact with people all the time. But every single time -- from the occasional reader meet-up (and we really need to do more of those) to events like Google I/O and CES -- getting to meet even just one of our reader is energizing in a way that's tough to describe.
So thank you for that. Each and every one of you. I can't wait to pack up the hardware and get it off to a couple happy couples. But we've got another couple weeks -- and hopefully many more inspiring pictures -- to go.
And now, a few more thoughts to keep things going ...
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/fmm-e2yc-Ug/story01.htm
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PITTSBURGH (AP) ? The oil and gas industry is trying to ease environmental concerns by developing nontoxic fluids for the drilling process known as fracking, but it's not clear whether the new product will be widely embraced by drilling companies.
Houston-based energy giant Halliburton Inc. has developed a product called CleanStim, which uses only food-industry ingredients. Other companies have developed nontoxic fluids as well.
"Halliburton is in the business to provide solutions to our customers," said production manager Nicholas Gardiner. "Those solutions have to include ways to reduce the safety or environmental concerns that the public might have."
Environmental groups say they welcome the development but still have questions.
The chemicals in fracking fluids aren't the only environmental concern, said George Jugovic, president of PennFuture. He said there is also concern about the large volumes of naturally occurring but exceptionally salty wastewater and air pollution.
It's premature to say whether it will ever be feasible to have fluids for fracking that are totally nontoxic, said Scott Anderson, a senior adviser for the Environmental Defense Fund.
"But we are encouraged to some extent by recent industry efforts to at least reduce the toxicity," Anderson said.
Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, has made it possible to tap into energy reserves across the nation but also has raised concerns about pollution, since large volumes of water, along with sand and hazardous chemicals, are injected deep into the ground to free the oil and gas from rock.
Regulators contend that overall, water and air pollution problems are rare, but environmental groups and some scientists say there hasn't been enough research on those issues. The industry and many federal and state officials say the practice is safe when done properly, but faulty wells and accidents have caused problems.
Halliburton says CleanStim will provide "an extra margin of safety to people, animals and the environment in the unlikely occurrence of an incident" at a drilling site.
Gardiner said Halliburton has developed a chemistry-scoring system for the fluids, with lower scores being better. CleanStim has a zero score, he said, and is "relatively more expensive" than many traditional fracking fluids.
Both Jugovic and Anderson noted that one of the most highly publicized concerns about toxic fracking fluids hasn't really been an issue: the suggestion that they might migrate from thousands of feet underground, up to drinking water aquifers.
"Most people agree there are no confirmed cases so far" of fracking chemicals migrating up to drinking water, Anderson said. But he added that simple spills of fluid on the surface can cause problems.
"The most likely of exposure is not from the fracking itself. It is from spills before the fracking fluid is injected," Anderson said.
There also may be technical and cost issues that limit the acceptance of products such as CleanStim. There is tremendous variation in the type of shale rock in different parts of the country. For example, drillers use different fluids even within the same state, and the specific mix can play a large role in determining how productive a well is.
Gardiner wouldn't say how widely used CleanStim is. "The customers who do use it certainly like the material," he added.
Terry Engelder, a geologist at Penn State University, said he visited a well in that state last year that used just water, sand and three additives in the fracking fluid.
But Engelder added that "green" and "toxic" can be "soft words without real meaning." He noted that consumers, businesses and farms use vast quantities of chemicals that can contribute to pollution, from cleaners and soaps to fertilizers and pesticides. Yet all those compounds are routinely flushed down the drain, ending up in nearby rivers and streams.
"Eventually industry would like to end up with a mix of just water, sand, and food-grade additives," Engelder said of fracking. "Companies are learning to deal with fewer and fewer additives."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/energy-industry-develops-nontoxic-fracking-fluids-171713821.html
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Mobile advertising should be a bonanza, similar to online advertising a decade ago. However, it has been a bit slow off the ground, and its growth trajectory is not clear cut.
In a recent report?from?BI?Intelligence?on the mobile advertising ecosystem,?we?explain the complexities and fractures, and examine the central and dynamic roles played by mobile ad networks, demand side platforms, mobile ad exchanges, real-time bidding, agencies, brands, and new companies hoping to upend the traditional banner ad.
Access The Full Report And Data By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>
Here's an overview of some major players in the mobile advertising ecosystem:
In full,?the?report:
To access BI Intelligence's full reports on The Mobile Advertising Ecosystem, sign up for a free trial subscription here.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/bii-report-here-are-the-major-players-in-mobile-advertising-2013-1
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BOSTON (AP) ? Former Sen. Scott Brown said Friday he would not run in a special Senate election in Massachusetts, dealing a setback to Republican hopes of winning the seat being vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry.
Brown, who electrified his party with an upset win in a 2010 special election but lost his re-election bid in November, ended weeks of intense speculation about his future with a written statement announcing his decision.
"I was not at all certain that a third Senate campaign in less than four years, and the prospect of returning to a Congress even more partisan than the one I left, was really the best way for me to continue in public service at this time," he said. "And I know it's not the only way for me to advance the ideals and causes that matter most to me."
GOP officials in Washington and Massachusetts widely considered Brown the strongest possible Republican candidate in a state that traditionally favors Democrats.
With Brown out of the running, potential Republican candidates include former Gov. William Weld, former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, state Rep. Daniel Winslow and former state Sen. Richard Tisei.
Brown won the special election for longtime Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat following his death, but lost a bruising re-election battle last year to Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Republican remained popular among Massachusetts voters, still had a statewide political organization and demonstrated an ability to raise tens of millions in campaign donations.
Democrats already have two congressmen in the race to replace Kerry, who resigned his seat and was sworn in Friday as secretary of state: U.S. Reps. Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch will face off in an April 30 primary.
Brown said his instinct was to run: "Over these past few weeks I have given serious thought about the possibility of running again, as events have created another vacancy requiring another special election," he said. "I have received a lot of encouragement from friends and supporters to become a candidate, and my competitive instincts were leading in the same direction."
Party leaders remained optimistic that they could still win the special election.
Kirsten Hughes, the newly-elected chair of the Massachusetts GOP said in a statement there were "many potential candidates" who were weighing their options now that Brown was out of the picture. She did not mention any names.
Hughes also alluded to Brown's upset win in 2010.
"We shocked the world in 2010, and united, we can do it again," she said.
Rob Collins, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said it was time for the party to move forward after Brown's announcement. He predicted a nasty Democratic primary between Lynch and Markey and said the GOP was intent on defeating "whichever career politician limps through."
Massachusetts Democratic leaders expressed confidence they would keep Kerry's former seat.
Markey and Lynch both issued statements Friday saying they understood and respected Brown's reasons for not getting into the race.
Weld recently returned to Massachusetts to join a Boston law firm and had said he would consider a run for the Senate if Brown did not. Weld did not return a call seeking comment on Friday.
A message was also left with Healey, who served as lieutenant governor from 2003-2007 under then-Gov. Mitt Romney and lost the governor's race to Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick in 2006.
Winslow, a former judge and chief legal counsel in Romney's administration, said in a statement that he would reflect over the weekend on whether to run, weighing family considerations and "whether there is room in the national Republican Party for a member who is both fiscally prudent and socially tolerant."
Tisei ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House last year against Democratic Rep. John Tierney. He said Friday he was surprised by Brown's decision and would discuss his options with family, friends and supporters in the coming days.
Candidates will have a tight window ? about four weeks ? to gather the required 10,000 signatures to get their names on the primary election ballot.
The general election is scheduled for June 25.
The winner of the special election would have to face voters again in November 2014, when Kerry's six-year term would have expired.
Patrick this week named William "Mo" Cowan, a former top aide, to fill Kerry's seat on an interim basis until the election.
___
Associated Press reporter Steve LeBlanc contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scott-brown-says-wont-seek-kerrys-senate-seat-204543141--election.html
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FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2009 file photo, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sullivan is retiring after 30 years on the job the Secret Service announced Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2009 file photo, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sullivan is retiring after 30 years on the job the Secret Service announced Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan announced his retirement Friday, bringing to a close a turbulent period for the law enforcement agency that included a South American prostitution scandal and a pair of White House gate-crashers.
In nearly seven years as director, Sullivan had to answer serious questions from lawmakers on two occasions about his employees' actions on the job and off.
Last May, in testimony before Congress, Sullivan apologized for the conduct of Secret Service employees caught in a prostitution scandal in Colombia. Thirteen agents and officers were implicated after an agent argued with a prostitute over payment in a hotel hallway in Cartagena, Colombia.
The employees were in the Caribbean resort city in advance of President Barack Obama's arrival for a South American summit in April. After a night of heavy partying in some of Cartagena's bars and clubs, the employees brought women, including prostitutes, back to their hotel. Eight of those Secret Service employees were forced out of the agency, three were cleared of serious misconduct and at least two were fighting to get their jobs back.
The incident prompted Sullivan to issue a new code of conduct that barred employees from drinking within 10 hours of the start of a shift and from bringing foreigners to their hotel rooms
In 2009, Sullivan had to answer questions about how a pair of aspiring socialites talked their way into a state dinner at the White House. That the pair made it into the highly secured event was not only a violation of protocol but raised questions about how easily an unauthorized person could gain close access to the president and vice president.
"In this case, I fully acknowledge the proper procedures were not followed and human error occurred in the execution of our duties," Sullivan told lawmakers after the incident.
Sullivan struck a similar tone in May when he apologized to lawmakers for the behavior of the Secret Service employees in Colombia, insisting that the incident was not indicative of a larger culture problem at the agency.
Sullivan's retirement is effective Feb. 22. His replacement has not been announced.
In an internal message Sullivan sent to employees Friday, he said he was "extremely proud to have had the opportunity to work with the men and women of the Secret Service and represent an agency so deserving of its reputation as one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the world."
Sullivan joined the Secret Service in 1983 after three years as a special agent in the Inspector General's Office at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was appointed director in 2006.
Despite the scandals and questions from lawmakers, he maintained support from Obama, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and numerous lawmakers.
"I want to thank Mark Sullivan for nearly 30 years of service to our nation at the United States Secret Service, a tenure that saw the agency protect five first families including my own," Obama said in a statement. "And since 2006, as director, Mark has led the agency with incredible dedication and integrity."
Napolitano thanked Sullivan for his service. "His commitment to keeping our country and its top officials safe is unparalleled and his devotion to the mission of the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security has been unwavering," she said in a statement.
In three decades with the Secret Service, Sullivan's career took him to Detroit, Columbus, Ohio, and ultimately Washington, where he served on the security detail for President George H.W. Bush.
Sullivan, who is from a large Irish Catholic family, has been married to his wife, Laurie, for more than 20 years, and they have three daughters. He loves hockey and played in an adult league until a few years ago.
"If you were casting someone for the role of director of the Secret Service, he looks the part," Sullivan's former boss in the service's Detroit division, James Huse, told the AP last year. "He's a tall, handsome Irishman, with grey hair and the demeanor of a born leader."
___
Associated Press reporters Eileen Sullivan and Josh Lederman contributed to this report.
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Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap
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