President Barack Obama made a surprise Christmas visit to a Marine base in Hawaii on Saturday to thank the troops for their service, including being away from their families during the holidays. (Dec. 26)
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JERUSALEM – Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants Sunday along the Gaza-Israel border, where a sudden surge in violence has weakened an unofficial truce in place since Israel’s bruising 2009 war there. The Israeli military said it launched an airstrike after spotting two men trying to plant an explosive device along the frontier, where soldiers patrol. The Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its members died in a clash with Israeli ground troops. There was no way to immediately reconcile the two accounts. The border area has been calm for the most part since Israel invaded Gaza in December 2008 to try to stop years of Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel,…
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(CNN) — A series of aftershocks hit near Christchurch, New Zealand, on Sunday morning, leaving cracks in buildings and sending stocked items falling off shelves in stores and malls. The aftershocks stemmed from a…
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Storm damages Caesarea pier but brings about discovery of weaponry from mandate period. ‘I know Israelis: eventually someone will touch, and will cause disastrous blast,’ says diver who found them
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A tsunami kills more than 200-thousand people is Southeast Asia; Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey is found beaten to death; Winston Churchill addresses joint session of Congress; Presidents Truman and Ford die. (Dec. 26)
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Image: eflon, flickr “Sustainability is made of little changes to our lifestyle that don’t cost us anything and can save the planet,” said Stefania Prestigiacomo, Italian Environmental Minister, as she confirmed that a ban on non-biodegradable, single-use plastic bags will take effect on 1 January 2011, for all of Italy. The plastics industry protests that the rules are not clear, that the abrupt transition will have negative repercussions on consumers, and that Italy has no reason to take the initiative as there is no ban at the European level. But their argum… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …WikiLeaks Panama: Wiretap Allegations Denied By Panama President Ricardo Martinelli
December 26, 2010 No Comment
PANAMA CITY — Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli on Saturday denied information from a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable suggesting he asked the United States to help install phone taps on his political opponents, but he acknowledged a request for help against criminals and organized crime figures. A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from Aug. 22, 2009 quotes then-U.S. ambassador Barbara Stephenson as saying the newly elected conservative president asked for help with wiretaps soon after he took office on July 1. “He clearly made no distinction between legitimate security targets and political…
Continue reading …Ed Schultz Stumbles Into Candor, Reveals Actual Reason for Lack of GOP guests
December 26, 2010 No Comment
Ed Schultz, liberal radio host and MSNBC action hero, has a pronounced aversion to Republicans/conservatives/right wingers coming on his cable show. Why? Depends on when Schultz explains the reason. Here he was on his radio show this past Monday ( audio ) — read more
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Netanyahu’s plan consists of leasing four to six mid-sized planes, as ‘manufacturing them would take too long’
Continue reading …Stereoscopic copy-paste finally brings that clone tool into the third dimension (video)
December 26, 2010 No Comment
With the right software anybody can be photo editing guru, eliminating redeye, removing unsightly blemishes, and maybe adding an image of Godzilla lurking in the background just for fun. However, if you’ve been unlucky enough to try to do the same in 3D you know just how distinctly unsatisfying that experience can be. Maybe not for long. Thanks to NewScientist we just caught a glimpse of an October presentation made by Swiss engineers Joren van Baar and Wan-Yen Lo called “Stereoscopic 3D Copy & Paste.” It is, basically, exactly what it sounds like, tools that let you define various objects and planes on a stereoscopic image, similar to how you might grab a shape with the magic wand tool, and then duplicate it and move that shape around on both parts of the 3D photo. The software handles re-creating shadows, automatically tackling occlusion too, and while the results aren’t perfect, particularly if you’re trying to change perspective or partially occlude an object behind something that’s transparent, it certainly trumps trying to do it by hand. Check out the video below and take a moment to be thankful that you didn’t have to buy gifts for all those kids above. Continue reading Stereoscopic copy-paste finally brings that clone tool into the third dimension (video) Stereoscopic copy-paste finally brings that clone tool into the third dimension (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Dec 2010 08:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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