Driver dies in 24 Hours of Le Mans race

Allan Simonsen's death after a spinout cast a pall over the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The race still had more than 23? hours to go, but there was no call to stop it on Saturday after the first driver fatality in 16 years.

Simonsen's partner Carina, the mother to their daughter born last year, made sure of that.

It was her "specific request" that Simonsen's team, Aston Martin Racing, continue the world's most renowned endurance race in honor of the Dane.

Just 10 minutes into the race, Simonsen spun and skidded into the barrier at the Tertre Rouge corner where cars typically reach speeds of up to 105 mph. The 34-year-old Simonsen was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries, race organizers said.

The violence of the impact showed as a tire from Simonsen's car rolled on the track while a door hung wide open. The race was held up for nearly an hour to repair the guard rail.

"Tragically, and despite the best efforts of the emergency services in attendance, Allan's injuries proved fatal," Aston Martin said in a statement.

Simonsen's death marked the first driver fatality since 1997 when Sebastien Enjolras was killed in pre-qualifying. The last driver fatality during the race was Jo Gartner in 1986.

Simonsen was participating for the seventh time at the endurance race, which is won by the team that completes the most laps in 24 hours with up to three drivers alternating. He finished second in the GT2 class at Le Mans three years ago. He clocked the fastest time in qualifying on Thursday in the GTE-Am class.

Jean Todt, the FIA president, and Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest which organizes the race, paid tribute to Simonsen.

"Allan was an extremely talented and experienced sportscar driver who had raced in every corner of the world and was highly respected by his peers and his team," they said in a joint statement. "For many in endurance racing, Allan was above all a good friend who displayed his passion for racing on and off the track. His loss will be felt by the FIA, the ACO and the greater motorsport family."

Simonsen and Danish co-drivers Kristian Poulsen and Christoffer Nygaard were leading the GTE-Am class in the world endurance championship after topping their category at Silverstone in April and finishing second in Spa-Francorchamps last month.

"Aston Martin Racing will not make any further comment until the precise circumstances of the accident have been determined," Simonsen's team said.

Toyota Racing team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita expressed his condolences, along with drivers from around the world.

Formula One driver Jenson Button tweeted: "Allan Simonsen RIP. Such a tragic loss. A true fighter & a true racer. Safety is something we need 2 improve on in Motorsport."

IndyCar Series leader Helio Castroneves tweeted: "Very sad to know about the fatal accident of Allan Simonsen on Le Mans today. Praying for him and (his) family."

Another IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan tweeted: "Such a tragic news on the passing of @AllanSimonsen. Sad day in motorsports again. Thoughts and prayers are with his family."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/driver-dies-24-hours-le-mans-race-163235405.html

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FOR KIDS: Cool Jobs ? Moved by life

Biologically inspired robots travel ? naturally

By Sharon Oosthoek

Web edition: June 21, 2013

Enlarge

Do the locomotion

A robot built to mimic the movements of a shark relative, the cownose ray, takes a dip.

Credit: Norm Shafer

Meet three researchers who study animal locomotion. Each of the critters they work with has perfected a style of movement over millions of years. Their moves have inspired these engineers to build robots that can do important and useful jobs ? ones that people can?t do. Known as biomimicry,?it's the design of new technologies based on nature.

Visit the new?Science News for Kids?website and read the full story:??Cool Jobs ? Moved by life

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/351179/title/FOR_KIDS_Cool_Jobs__Moved_by_life

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House votes due on crop subsidies, food stamps

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House is expected to vote Thursday on cuts to government farm subsidies and food stamps as lawmakers move toward passage of a five-year, half trillion-dollar farm bill.

Republican leaders have said they want to finish voting on the bill Thursday. Supporters have been working this week to shore up support for the measure as members of both parties have signaled opposition to the legislation's $2 billion annual cut in food stamps.

Many Republicans say the cut is not enough; the food stamp program has doubled in cost over the last five years to almost $80 billion a year and now helps to feed 1 in 7 Americans. Liberals oppose any reductions in food stamps, contending that the House plan could remove as many as 2 million needy recipients from the rolls.

The chamber rejected an attempt by Democrats Wednesday to eliminate the $2 billion in cuts and instead slash subsidy payments to farmers. Republican attempts to impose new work requirements on the program and make the cuts even deeper are expected Thursday, along with other amendments that would overhaul sugar and dairy subsidies and cut farm subsidies.

The outcome of those votes could affect the vote on final passage of the bill, which is expected to come Thursday.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., sped the chamber through consideration of almost all of lawmakers' 103 amendments to the legislation Wednesday night. The House at one point adopted 38 amendments at once in a single vote.

He also won some early tests Thursday, narrowly defeating an amendment by Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., to cut crop insurance subsidies and persuading Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, to withdraw an amendment that would have reduced food stamp benefits if the House doesn't pass a farm bill.

Both amendments could have threatened passage of the bill.

The House bill, which would cut around $4 billion a year in overall spending on farm and nutrition programs, expands crop insurance programs and creates a new kind of crop insurance that kicks in before farmers' paid policies do.

But Kind and other Democrats say the bill should cut more from farm subsidies like crop insurance and less from food stamps.

Opposition to farm subsidies has been growing among Republicans, some of whom voted for the Kind amendment. The amendment to cut the crop insurance subsidies was almost adopted before a handful of Republicans changed their vote. The final tally was 217-208.

Other votes could be similarly close Thursday. Conservatives have proposed the amendments that would reduce sugar supports and overhaul the dairy subsidies, both of which could turn lawmakers from certain regions of the country against the bill if they are passed.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said he will vote for the bill but has taken the unusual step of openly lobbying colleagues to support the amendment overhauling dairy programs.

"After serving on the House Agriculture Committee for 16 years, and representing a number of farmers and ranchers in Ohio, I can tell you: our Soviet-style dairy programs are in dire need of reform," Boehner wrote in a letter sent Thursday morning to his colleagues.

Boehner has said he has concerns about the overall legislation but wants to get the farm bill to House and Senate negotiators for a potential deal. Aside from his concerns on the dairy program, he said the change in policy is better than doing nothing.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., says the bill is necessary to avoid farm crises and that it has some of the biggest reforms in decades. It would eliminate $5 billion a year in direct payments, subsidies that are paid to farmers whether they grow crops or not. The measure would also expand crop insurance and make it easier for rice and peanut farmers to collect subsidies.

Lucas and Republican leaders have worked behind the scenes to prevent most major challenges to the expanded subsidies on the House floor in an effort to smooth the bill's passage.

The Senate passed its version of the farm bill last week, with about $2.4 billion a year in overall cuts and a $400 million annual decrease in food stamps ? one-fifth of the House bill's food stamp cuts.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/house-votes-due-crop-subsidies-131619941.html

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Euro zone business slump eases but second quarter contraction likely: PMI

By Jonathan Cable

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro zone's private sector slump has eased more than expected this month, business surveys showed on Thursday, but a continued slide in new orders suggested a full recovery is still some way off.

The data will come as good news for the European Central Bank as the decline eased across the 17-nation bloc.

Markit's Flash Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index, which makes up around 85 percent of the final reading and is seen as a reliable economic growth indicator for the bloc, rose to 48.9 in June from May's 47.7.

That was its highest since March 2012, and beat forecasts in a Reuters poll of 23 economists for a more modest upturn to 48.1, but the index has been below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for all apart from one of the last 22 months.

"The most encouraging picture is outside of France and Germany where the rest of the region is seeing the weakest rate of decline for two years - and it is only a modest decline," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

"At this rate we should see stabilization in the third quarter and growth appearing in the fourth. It's corresponding with the view of policymakers of the second half of the year looking much better," Williamson said.

The euro zone has been in recession for a year and a half and Markit said the latest PMI data suggested the economy would contract 0.2 percent in the current quarter.

That compares to a flat outlook in a Reuters poll published last week.

In a sign that there would be a wait before any recovery took hold, new orders fell for the 23rd month, although the subindex rose to 47.4 from 46.8.

"It's suggesting that things are moving in the right direction but it's not going to happen fast. It's still a weak picture," Williamson said.

The ECB has come under growing pressure to take more action to help bring a quicker end to the bloc's longest recession, but economists polled by Reuters last month did not predict any easing of policy in coming months.

"Euro area policymakers will no doubt be encouraged by these improving indicators, suggesting the ECB will see no need for any further action in the near term," Williamson said.

A PMI covering services firms, which make up the bulk of the bloc's economy, jumped to 48.6 last month from 47.2, its highest reading since January but its 17th straight month below 50.

Still, that was above even the most optimistic of forecasts in a Reuters poll and smashed the median expectation for a rise to 47.5. The survey also showed firms were increasingly optimistic about the year ahead.

The flash manufacturing PMI nudged up to 48.7 from 48.3, just pipping forecasts for a reading of 48.6. However, as in every month for the last two years, some of that activity was generated by running down backlogs of work.

An earlier flash composite PMI from Germany rose to a four-month high of 50.9 but in France, the index held stubbornly below the 50 mark for the 16th month at 46.8, albeit a solid improvement on May's 44.6.

(Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/euro-zone-business-slump-eases-second-quarter-contraction-080142292.html

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Jezebel On Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture and Accessorizing With Black People | Gawker Getting Sued by

Jezebel On Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture and Accessorizing With Black People | Gawker Getting Sued by American Express Led Me Out of the Ruins of My Life | io9 12 Most Unfaithful Movie Versions of Science Fiction and Fantasy Books | Gizmodo The Mac Pro Recaptures the Spirit of Classic Workstations of Yore

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Kytwmbe7TmA/jezebel-on-miley-cyrus-ratchet-culture-and-accessorizi-523277420

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Stanford's Cookie Clearinghouse adds another layer of security to web browsers

People are becoming more vigilant when it comes to online privacy, so Stanford University's new initiative couldn't have come at a better time. The project, called Cookie Clearinghouse, will curate catalogues of websites whose cookies browsers should or shouldn't allow. As designed, it works along with a Safari-like patch Mozilla is testing for Firefox that allows cookies from sites you've visited but blocks third-party cookies from sites you haven't. Theoretically, that'll prevent advertisers or other entities from tracking you around the web, but the method isn't foolproof -- having a centralized list will prevent your browser from saving the cookies of an ad or a spam website you've accidentally clicked on.

To establish which sites are kosher and which aren't, the folks at Stanford are slated to meet up with an advisory board. It will be comprised of privacy researchers, law pundits, small business experts, as well as reps from Mozilla and Opera. Unlike Do Not Track -- another Stanford initiative from which this one later evolved -- advertisers don't have to opt in for inclusion on either list. It's just up to developers (other than Mozilla) to integrate this more thorough solution into their browsers' privacy options.

[Image credit: Brian Richardson]

Filed under: Misc, Internet

Comments

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Brendan Eich, Stanford

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/21/stanford-mozilla-cookie-clearinghouse/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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30 Days In, Bitcoin Angel Group BitAngels Doubles Network To 120, Puts First $100K Into Seasteading Venture, Blueseed

As has been written ad nauseam, we've seen a lot of activity in the wild and wacky world of cryptocurrency of late, thanks primarily to the tech industry's new obsession with Bitcoin. Depending on whom you ask, digital currency like Bitcoin will either be worth nothing in 10 years, or its value will make Warren Buffet weep. It's a polarizing topic at its very essence, but one thing is for sure: So far, venture capitalists are loving this emerging market,?and startups are beginning to follow suit.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/xI1o3vw78CE/

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