Social media spreads and splinters Brazil protests

Social media

Caroline Stauffer Reuters

June 22, 2013 at 2:17 PM ET

UESLEI MARCELINO / REUTERS

A demonstrator holds a sign next to street structures set on fire during a protest against the Confederations Cup and President Dilma Rousseff's government, in front of the National Congress in Brasilia June 20, 2013.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's biggest protests in decades are a confusing, conflicting mix of people and messages. Blame Facebook.

Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter enabled mass protests of the sort that have not happened in Latin America's biggest country in more than two decades.

As a result of the speed, efficiency and anonymity of online activism, though, an amorphous, unwieldy movement has emerged that is beyond the control of any of those who first began pushing for change.

"Social media has helped us organize without having leaders," said Victor Damaso, 22, demonstrating on Sao Paulo's main Paulista Avenue on Thursday night. "Our ideas, our demands are discussed on Facebook. There are no meetings, no rules."

The demonstrations have been mostly peaceful, but as more than a million Brazilians took to the streets on Thursday, vandals and looters cast a violent pall over some of the protests. Police and security forces have responded with teargas, rubber bullets and pepper spray.

Facebook pages set up for logistical coordination and Twitter hash tags have cropped up for protests in hundreds of cities across Brazil. Rival groups appear to be vying for control of one of the most-viewed organizing pages on Facebook and an associated Twitter feed.

"Any movement risks attracting unaffiliated groups and individuals," said Angela Alonso, a sociologist at the University of Sao Paulo. "It's a price of growth. In this case there is no centralized leadership, administration is more difficult and it is even becoming uncontrollable."

The Free Fare movement, a group of 40 activists who marched for - and got - lower transportation rates, said on Friday it was suspending any further marches for now because of mounting tension and violence.

Sparked by Free Fare's protests, the nationwide call for reform quickly evolved into what is now known online as Anonymous Brazil.

The group appears to use encrypted Web browsers that make it difficult to identify page administrators and has adopted the Guy Fawkes mask, the symbol for the global cyber group of hackers known as Anonymous, as its mascot, although it is not clear if the two have a formal link.

While that opens the door to all sorts of fringe groups, the people at the core of the protests generally share a commitment to better public services. Their rallying cries, found on Twitter and Facebook and on traditional signs at the protests, range from ending political corruption to lambasting more than $12 billion being poured into soccer stadiums and other preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

The demonstrators, mostly educated, middle class and under age 30, want nothing to do with established groups that were behind the causes of their parents' generation.

Online organizing
Unlike Brazil's movement for redemocratization in the 1970s and 1980s and protests for the impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello in the early 1990s, today's demonstrations have no clear leadership or political affinity.

"The recent protests are not partisan, and they do not have centralized leadership," said Alonso, the sociologist. "This has to do with new technologies that allow for organization without centralization, and also with the fact that the activists are from a new generation that is no longer guided by ideals like socialism, and doesn't want state power."

Indeed, Brazil's protests do not target any specific leader or political party. That makes them different from the Arab Spring, a series of uprisings against autocratic leaders in the past few years, or even this year's demonstrations in Turkey against the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

While some of the Arab governments blocked access to the Internet to disrupt the planning of protests, Brazil's intelligence agency, Abin, has beefed up efforts to monitor calls for demonstrations online and on popular smart phone chat tool WhatsApp.

President Dilma Rousseff, a leftist guerrilla in the 1970s, has praised the protests as democratic.

Anonymous Brazil's Facebook page, which has nearly 1 million followers, briefly disappeared from the Web on Friday. The group later said via Facebook that its Twitter account had been "robbed" by one of its own members, generating conflicts on its linked Facebook platform.

The group says competing Twitter accounts like @AnonymousBr4sil and #AnonymousFuel are run by "usurpers."

Of the 53.5 million Brazilians online, almost a third of the population, 86 percent use some kind of micro blog or social media tool, according to polling firm Ibope.

(Additional reporting by Silvio Cascione; Editing by Paulo Prada and Mohammad Zargham)

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2da7054c/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Csocial0Emedia0Espreads0Esplinters0Ebrazil0Eprotests0E6C10A4180A84/story01.htm

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This Walking Lego Steampunk Ship is Terrifying!

As far as post-apocalyptic, steampunk-themed trading ships go, this MOC build is pretty impressive. Jason Allemann's landship, Amagosa, is based on the "Strandbeest," a badass kinetic sculpture created by Theo Jansen. It's mesmerizing to watch this Lego machine in action, but the tarantula-esque movements of the walker sorta freak me out (in the sense that I'm reminded of the giant mechanical spider from that terrible film, Wild Wild West).

This remote-controlled build is powered by the Lego Power Functions system (including an IR receiver, battery box and two M-size motors), and Lego Technic elements for the frame, legs and crankship. Instructions for how to build the walking frame are available here. Pro-Tip: If you build one, wait 'til your girlfriend's asleep, then freak her out by having it crawl around the bed. [Flickr]

You're reading Leg Godt, the blog with the latest Lego news and the most awesome models on the web. Follow us on Twitter.

Source: http://lego.gizmodo.com/this-walking-lego-steampunk-ship-is-terrifying-543090728

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Americans' vitamin D levels are highest in August, lowest in February, study shows

June 22, 2013 ? UC Irvine and Mayo Clinic researchers have found that vitamin D levels in the U.S. population peak in August and bottom out in February. The essential vitamin -- necessary for healthy bones -- is produced in the skin upon exposure to ultraviolet B rays from the sun.

Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium and can protect against osteoporosis. It's also thought to play a role in seasonal illnesses, such as the flu. Low levels of vitamin D are believed to impair "innate immunity" i.e., the body's first line of defense against pathogens. To further study this link, good estimates of the cyclicality of the vitamin are necessary. Solar exposure -- a timely topic since June 21 marks the first day of summer -- is the most important way people acquire vitamin D. But certain foods, including egg yolks and oil-rich fish like mackerel, salmon, sardines and herring contain the nutrient. In addition, milk and cereal are often enriched with vitamin D.

"Even with food fortification, vitamin D levels in the population show a high level of seasonality due to the influence of sunlight," said Amy Kasahara, a UC Irvine graduate student in public health and first author on the paper, which appears in the journal PLOS ONE.

"The exact biochemical pathways from UVB rays to vitamin D were discovered in the 1970s," she said. "In this study, we have shown that vitamin D levels lag the solar cycle, peaking in August and troughing in February."

The correlation between the seasons and vitamin D has been known for some time. "What we have been able to do is put a lot more precision on the estimates of vitamin D seasonality," said Andrew Noymer, associate professor of public health and senior author of the article.

"Our analysis, combined with other data, will help contribute to understanding the role of vitamin D in all seasonal diseases, where the simple winter/spring/summer/fall categories are not sufficient."

Researchers measured the level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in 3.4 million blood samples collected weekly in the U.S. between July 2006 and December 2011.

The study looked at population averages, so people shouldn't make assumptions about their own levels of vitamin D based on the calendar. Healthcare providers can perform individual blood tests to measure vitamin D directly, and supplements are available for those who cannot or do not receive enough exposure to sunlight.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/M6AgS9aaSR0/130622154600.htm

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What Temperature Should You Keep Your Refrigerator Set At?

Is your milk getting frosty? Are your eggs spoiling quickly? Your refrigerator probably isn't set right, and your food items may not be where they should be in your fridge. The kitchen fanatics at Stack Exchange offer a couple tips on ensuring your perishables don't perish.

For a refrigerator, if it's cooler, items like milk and meat last a bit longer. However if I set it close to freezing then some items start showing frost on them. What temperature should I set my refrigerator to for best overall results?

See the original question.

Avoid the Danger Zone: Answered by daniel

In order to keep food out of the Danger Zone, your fridge must be set between 32-40? F (0-4 degrees Celsius). Your freezer must be below 32? F (0? Celsius). I keep mine as cold as it will go. Keep your freezer efficient by half-filling it with bottles of water.

Fridge Safety, Elaborated: Answered by hobodave

Daniel is spot-on with his answer. I'll elaborate on it a bit here. As indicated by his bottled water in the freezer trick, a full freezer is a happy freezer. The same applies to the refrigerator too. While I wouldn't put random bottles of water throughout my refrigerator, it's important to know that the fuller your refrigerator is, the more it holds its temperature when opening/closing, and the less energy you'll use.

However, you don't want to jam pack it so full that there isn't any airflow around your stuff, because this can hamper the cooling efficiency as well. The ideal refrigerator temperature is 35? F (1.6? C). You're not hugging the danger zone like you would be at 40? F (4.4? C), and you're distancing yourself sufficiently from 32? F (0? C) that you don't freeze half the stuff in your refrigerator. That said, the temperature within your fridge can vary rather significantly with normal usage. The coldest parts of your refrigerator are the back, and the bottom. The back because the cooling element is there, and the bottom because warm air rises. If items you don't want frosty are getting frosty, then move them away from the back of the fridge.

I would avoid putting items in the door of your fridge that are particularly sensitive to spoilage. The items in the door of your fridge can easily get as high as 59 F (15 C), and do so often. Putting milk and eggs in your door will significantly decrease their shelf life. Butter is OK in the little covered section in the door, because the door actually helps keep it's temperature a little better. You also generally don't want rock solid frozen butter.So, put your meats on the bottom shelf in the back, your condiments (mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc.) in the door, and put everything else where it fits.

Disagree with the answers above? Find more answers or leave your own at the original post. See more questions like this at Seasoned Advice, the cooking site at Stack Exchange. And of course, feel free to ask a question yourself.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/FBjRXZL3tRI/what-temperature-should-you-keep-your-refrigerator-set-533534221

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FIFA reconsiders 3D World Cup 2014 coverage after ESPN 3D shutdown

ESPN 3D launched in 2010 with coverage of 25 FIFA World Cup matches, but word that the channel will be mothballed has the international football association reviewing whether it will use the tech in 2014. An Associated Press report quotes FIFA director of television Niclas Ericson saying that there is interest from several broadcasters in a 3D presentation, but the cost is currently under review. While FIFA focuses on its standard HD broadcasts, it's also thinking over offering 4K Ultra HD coverage, which is currently being tested during Confederations Cup matches. The Hollywood Reporter points out that while Sony has backed off some of the sponsorships that pushed early 3D productions, it's providing some of the equipment for UHDTV tests like its F55 4K camera. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is already in line for a 4K soccer broadcast in 2014, we'll see if it's put to use alongside new goal-line technology.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Source: Associated Press

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/23/fifa-reconsiders-3d-world-cup-2014-coverage-after-espn-3d-shutdo/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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JJ Keith: When Parenthood Makes You Want to Scream

When out and about with my kids, people sometimes tell me, "Cherish them while they're little," or "You'll look back on this time fondly." Half of the time I think, Of course! My precious love dumplings are going to grow up so much faster than I can imagine and someday I will desperately miss this time of being so wholly symbiotic with these spoils of love. And the rest of the time, I want to snarl, "If you want something to cherish, then why don't you get over here and wipe a butt, pal." Even on the calmest day of parenting my two complicated, unpredictable and baffling children, my feelings are contradictory: I don't want to ever be away from my kids, except for all the times that I desperately want to be away from my kids. And, actually, I can feel both things simultaneously.

I first realized the intensity of that duality one day a few years back, when, with the jolliest of intentions, I packed my then 2-year-old daughter and my 6-month-old son into the car and set off for a nearby kid's museum. It was a sunny day, warm enough for my toddler to gambol around in the museum's artificial creek and for my baby to get in some primo kid watching. But then, like so many of my best laid plans, it went awry... and quickly.

As soon as we got there, we made a beeline for the toddler play room, where, not five minutes into our visit, my daughter pushed a newly walking baby down, and it was not an accident. Trying to be a good parent, I knelt down to her level with my baby in the sling and cooly said, "No. You cannot push babies. No pushing." Totally in control, I removed her from that part of the museum and took a snack break so she could reconnect with her inner honey bear.

We moved on to wading in the creek, but as soon as we got to its cement banks, my baby began crying with DEFCON 1 intensity. Before having kids, I didn't understand how deeply affecting a baby's cry is, how completely it frazzles a parent's brain. When one of my babies is crying, I can't deal with my keys not fitting easily in a lock, my misplaced water bottle or a sticky stroller brake -- and I sure as shit can't deal with a misbehaving toddler. Their cries have an almost magical ability to empty my brain of any thought other than them, which I suppose is the point of a baby's cry.

As my son continued to wail, I checked his diaper (clean and dry), offered him a pacifier (he spat it out), felt his forehead (cool), burped him (no burps) and even made that shushing white noise sound that the Happiest Baby on the Block guy does (no dice). Meanwhile, my toddler was yanking on my pant leg and whining because she wanted me to take her clothes off so she could play naked -- something that would surely result in us getting 86'd from the kids' museum, which would not be a memory that I cherished.

We were already struggling, but then my toddler saw an older boy throwing rocks in the water and copied him with her inferior aim, nearly hitting a little girl. The look of horror on the mother of the girl's face was quite justified. I knelt down to my toddler with my screaming baby still on my hip and firmly said, "No. No throwing rocks. See that girl? You could hit her and it would hurt. Don't throw rocks." My daughter screeched, pulled away and hurled rocks in every direction like a maniac. Clutching my wailing baby in one arm, I caught my toddler by the shoulder. I pried the rocks out of her meaty little fist and went in an inch from her face and seethed, "We're leaving since you can't play nicely." I fastened my still-screaming baby in the stroller and stuffed the tantruming toddler into the sling, even though my toddler belonged in the stroller and my baby in the sling. (All I could think was CRYING.) Steering the stroller with one hand, I got my two sobbing children out of the museum and back to the car. It was an epic three-way meltdown; certainly one of the less pleasant hours of my life.

I wasn't always chill when I only had one kid, but that first year with two was brutal. It was nearly impossible to stay on top of my daughter while also taking care of her baby brother.

On the way home, my toddler was so contrite that I felt like a mean old bully for not giving her another warning before bailing. She repeated, "No throw rocks. Sorry. No throw." But my baby had no such regrets (by virtue of being a baby), and wailed during the entire drive home. I reached back to offer pacifiers and bottles. I patted his head, shushed and cooed, but he wouldn't let up. And so, three blocks from home, as I was stuck trying to make an unprotected left at a dysfunctional Los Angeles intersection, as one kid sob-chanted her apology, as the other one wailed for reasons I just couldn't figure out, I screamed. I screamed like the banshees of yore, screamed like a lady who might need to reconsider the importance of "fun outings" with her toddler and baby. It was a scream that demarcated "losing it" from "lost it." When I finally stopped to take a breath, I heard that my scream had, of course, frightened the kids, resulting in more screaming (which I deserved).

I once wrote something about how annoying it is when people without kids judge parents. A friend rightfully pointed out that no, everyone can have opinions about parenting because we have all been parented, even if we haven't become parents ourselves. This is true, but after deliberating for a few years, I've decided that much walking of many (mountainous) miles must be done before one can say to a parent with certainty, "I would never do that." For one thing, I was sure that I would never go to Crocs's website for any purpose other than to mock the "shoes," but damn, dude, one day they were having a hell of a sale, I got free shipping and those plastic monstrosities are perfect for little kids. The crow, I am eating it and not just because of aesthetically bankrupt footwear choices.

When we finally got home from the museum that day, when we'd all stopped crying, I busted out our dirty, misshapen kiddie pool and let my toddler romp around in a few inches of water. She was naked as a cherub and shrieking with delight. I dipped my toes in as my baby nursed. The three of us shared a pouch of pureed mangos. We chatted about pee-pee, potties and bunnies. My baby licked my neck like a kitten (he still does that now as a 2-year-old -- it's one of his quirks).

Sometimes, the most pleasant things come after the least pleasant things, like all the bad feelings get used up and all that's left is not necessarily joy, but at least contentment. However we came by it, that afternoon was sunny, we were together and I cherish it.

A version of this appeared on JJ Keith's blog.

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Follow JJ Keith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jj_keith

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jj-keith/when-parenthood-makes-you_b_3322774.html

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Exit Interviews Can Provide Helpful Insights for a Business - Garth ...

An employee gives notice and an interview is scheduled on the last day on the job. Just what has been accomplished? Nothing. But it doesn?t have to be that way.

?As we enter 2013, some workers may be seeking greener pastures. But before they do, will the typical exit interview process uncover what employers really need to know? ?

Exit interviews are usually scheduled on the person?s last day on the job and often don?t elicit the real reason for the departure.

Standard forms are completed, and everyone moves on. But just what has been accomplished? Probably not much!

Consider these 5 simple tips on how companies can successfully complete an exit interview:

1.) Time it right.? If your company?s policy is to conduct the exit interview in advance of the departure, interview the staff member on his or her last week, when he or she may feel more comfortable speaking freely.

Another option is to conduct the interview post departure; this may allow for more candid ? and constructive ? answers about your company. Before an employee?s final day, ask if you can contact him or her for a phone interview at a later date. Make sure to schedule enough time to ask all of your questions and thoroughly discuss the employee?s answers.

2.)? Encourage participation. As you kick off the interview, remind departing employees that the comments they provide can help to make a meaningful difference at the company, especially for their soon-to-be former colleagues. This may help them feel more willing to share their feedback.

For those reluctant to participate in an exit interview, you might offer the alternative of completing a questionnaire. Follow up with the individual who?s leaving after reviewing the document to clarify any comments or concerns.

Keep in mind that it?s best to conduct exit interviews with those who have voluntarily given notice. People you?ve let go may be candid, but their comments may be more negative than constructive.

3.) Choose the interviewer wisely. Managers should never conduct exit interviews with their direct reports. If supervisors are the reason for leaving, it may be very awkward for employees to admit it to them.

Pick a neutral person in the company ? perhaps an HR representative ? to conduct the meeting. As you?ll want to find out the real problems so changes can be effectively implemented. Avoid a team approach to exit interviews ? having more than one manager meet with the person who quit will make the process very intimidating.

?4.) Don?t be predictable. To get to the heart of why that person is leaving, you need to be a little creative ? ask a variety of questions that zero in on the specifics.Ffor example, ?What circumstances prompted you to start looking for another job?? ?What advice would you give to the person filling your role here??, Or ?Do you think management adequately recognizes employee contributions? If not, how do you think recognition could be improved??

Be careful to avoid questions beginning with ?who? ? if you try to get the person to name names, it may seem more like a witch-hunt than a meaningful discussion. Listening is also key ? the person conducting the interview should make sure not to argue or get defensive, as talks will quickly lose all value and purpose.

5.) Take action. If you file away the comments made by the exit interviewees, there?s no point in putting time into the process. This feedback should be reviewed by managers and given thoughtful consideration.

You may notice a pattern with comments from multiple people who have left the company in recent months ? taking action and making the necessary corrections is ideal, to prevent issues with morale and retention.

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Source: http://pinellasbeaches.patch.com/groups/garth-camaras-blog/p/bp--exit-interviews-can-provide-helpful-insights-for-a-business

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