Call for Papers for Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division

Call for Papers for Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division

Practical Academic Librarianship (PAL) is a peer-reviewed, open access journal for all academic librarians and information professionals serving academic departments or affiliated institutions including centers, institutes, specialized collections, and special units within or related toacademic units. Well-written manuscripts that are of interest to these communities will be considered, including: implementation of new initiatives and best practices; original and significant research findings with practical applications; analysis of issues and trends; descriptive narratives of successful and unsuccessful ventures; and examination of the role of libraries in meeting specialized client needs.

PAL publishes items as soon as they are ready by adding articles to the "current" volume's Table of Contents. The journal publishes two issues a year. The first issue runs January 1 - June 30 and the second issue runs July 1 - December 31. Our current issues can be accessed at https://journals.tdl.org/pal/index

The Journal publishes two categories of works:

· Peer reviewed research papers (original research): not more than 25 single-spaced pages

· Think pieces (intended to spur discussion, not blind peer-reviewed): 3-15 single-spaced pages

Authors need to register at https://journals.tdl.org/pal/user/register with the journal prior to submitting, or if already registered can simply log in (https://journals.tdl.org/index/login) and begin the 5 step process.
Warmest regards,
Leslie
Leslie J. Reynolds

Associate Professor
Interim Associate Dean for User Services
Founding Editor, Practical Academic Librarianship: The International Journal of the SLA Academic Division

Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
Leslie.reynolds@tamu.edu
979-458-0138

http://library.tamu.edu/
http://journals.tdl.org/pal

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History Files: Lost City of the Maya

Nothing is as romantic as the idea of the lost city. Sometimes this staple of film and authors like Burroughs and Haggard actually comes true, though without the native kings and princesses. A hundred buildings and a pyramid have been found so far in the jungle covering Holtun ("Head of Stone"), a Mayan citadel that has adventurous archeologists reaching for their fedoras.

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Lexi-Comp Purchased by Wolters Kluwer Health

Not sure what this means for Lexi-Comp.  I haven't had time to run down a comment from my contacts there yet.  My gut tells me it should be business as usual.  I'll let you know when I find out.

 

Acquisition Strengthens Wolters Kluwer Health's Leading Position in the Clinical Solutions Space

PHILADELPHIA, April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for professionals, students and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health and pharmacy, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Lexi-Comp, Inc., a leading global provider of drug information and clinical content for pharmacists and clinicians. The acquisition is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions Wolters Kluwer Health has made in its Clinical Solutions business as part of the company's strong focus on serving the point-of-care segment.

"Wolters Kluwer Health has focused heavily on building a robust suite of clinical decision support solutions for point-of-care use by healthcare professionals, and our acquisition of Lexi-Comp is very much aligned with this strategy," said Arvind Subramanian, President & CEO, Wolters Kluwer Health Clinical Solutions. "Like Wolters Kluwer Health's Clinical Solutions businesses, Lexi-Comp is a leader in providing quality drug information and clinical content designed to help pharmacists and other healthcare professionals make informed and efficient clinical judgments and decisions to improve the quality of care they can provide for their patients. With this acquisition, over 500,000 pharmacists and clinicians in 149 countries will have access to Wolters Kluwer Health Clinical Solutions offerings. Following completion of the acquisition, our combined businesses will be well-positioned to provide a robust portfolio of clinical decision support solutions for professional customers across the healthcare continuum."

Lexi-Comp provides drug information and medical reference content to more than 1,500 hospitals internationally, and publishes drug monographs covering more than 1,700 products.   Lexi-Comp's clinical information is available to pharmacists and other healthcare professionals online and on a variety of popular mobile devices, as well as through integrated health information systems. To support and supplement effective clinician-patient interactions, Lexi-Comp also provides patient medication leaflets in 19 languages. The company is headquartered near Cleveland, Ohio and has approximately 150 employees.

The two companies have a long-standing relationship through Wolters Kluwer Health's UpToDate business. UpToDate offers an electronic clinical information resource via the internet and mobile devices, with one of the world's largest online clinical information communities including more than 4,400 expert clinicians who function as authors, editors and peer reviewers and over 400,000 users who provide questions and feedback.  UpToDate covers more than 8,500 topics in 17 medical specialty areas, with integrated Lexi-Comp drug information and clinical content offered through the UpToDate platform.


The acquisition of Lexi-Comp will enable Wolters Kluwer Health to further strengthen its leading position in the clinical decision support and point-of-care information segments and to provide customers with even more robust drug information and clinical content offerings for both hospital pharmacies and overall hospital enterprises. It will also enable pharmacist, physician and nurse customers to use an extended suite of mobile capabilities and online platforms, making access to critical medical information more convenient than ever before.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. For more information on Wolters Kluwer Health, visitwww.wolterskluwerhealth.com. For more information on Lexi-Comp, visit www.lexi.com.

About Wolters Kluwer Health

Wolters Kluwer Health (Philadelphia, PA) is a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Serving more than 150 countries and territories worldwide, Wolters Kluwer Health's customers include professionals, institutions and students in medicine, nursing, allied health and pharmacy. Major brands include traditional publishers of medical and drug reference tools, journals and textbooks, such as Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; and electronic information providers, such as Ovid®, UpToDate®, Medi-Span®, Facts & Comparisons®, Pharmacy OneSource® and ProVation® Medical.

Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company. Wolters Kluwer has 2010 annual revenues of euro 3.6 billion ($4.7 billion), employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 40 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect", "should", "could", "shall", "will" and similar expressions. Wolters Kluwer cautions that such forward-looking statements are qualified by certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from what is contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors which could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, general economic conditions; conditions in the markets in which Wolters Kluwer is engaged; behavior of customers, suppliers, and competitors; technological developments; the implementation and execution of new ICT systems or outsourcing; and legal, tax, and regulatory rules affecting Wolters Kluwer's businesses, as well as risks related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestments. In addition, financial risks such as currency movements, interest rate fluctuations, liquidity, and credit risks could influence future results. The foregoing list of factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Wolters Kluwer disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Health

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Special edition Ubuntu Pentest Edition

Here some Poctures Ubuntu Pentest Edition  

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[tuto] How to add firmware bundle to pwnage tool

 IN our Tutorial you need

pwnage 

pwnage tool4.1.3 

DOWNLOAD IT FROM HERE

 And you need

iphone 3gs bundle 

Download it from here

 FIrst open a new file and name it : pwnage

and put the version  Pwnage tool on it

AFter that Extract the file pwnage

to show up this window :

 enter intoـ: pwnage tool 

from this icon

we choose the same icon and click on  show pockage contents

then click on : contents

we choose : resources

then : firmware bundles

نcompy this file  iphone 2.1_4.2.1_8c148a bundle

and paste it on here

 

Congratilations

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HBO Go now available for iOS, brings over 1,400 shows with it

HBO has finally released their much-awaited HBO Go iOS app for iPhone and iPad devices. The app gives HBO subscribers free access to over 1,400 shows in addition to many sports event and full-length films. What’s great is that the app offers up all of HBO’s quality programming — True Blood, The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boardwalk Empire, and more — and the app streams over 3G in addition to Wi-Fi. It’s available now in the App Store if you want to get your Nucky Thompson on.

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NASA Hosts Science Update About Gravity Probe B Mission

Trent J. Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington                                        

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 4, to discuss the science results and legacy of the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission. The event will be in the NASA Headquarters Webb auditorium at 300 E Street SW in Washington.

GP-B is a NASA physics mission designed to measure two key predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. Einstein predicted that space and time are distorted by the presence of massive objects.

The experiment used four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure the geodetic effect, which is the warping of space and time by a celestial body like Earth, and frame-dragging, which is the amount a spinning object like Earth pulls space and time with it as it rotates.

Media may attend the event, join by phone or ask questions from participating NASA centers. To RSVP or obtain dial-in information, media must contact Trent Perrotto at trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov with their name, media affiliation and telephone number by 5 p.m. on May 3. NASA Television and the agency's website will broadcast the event live.

The news conference panelists are:

-- Bill Danchi, senior astrophysicist and program scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington

-- Francis Everitt, principal investigator on Gravity Probe B Mission, Stanford University,

-- Rex Geveden, president Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., Huntsville, Ala.

-- Colleen Hartman, senior advisor, NASA Headquarters and research professor, George Washington University

-- Clifford Will, professor of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For more information about Gravity Probe B, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gpb and http://einstein.stanford.edu/.

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Roosevelt Sailors Teach STEM Students

By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Cory C. Asato, USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Sailors hosted fifth-grade students from Campostella Elementary for a tour of the ship's Light Industrial Facility (LIFAC) in Newport News, Va., April 27.

Campostella is a Norfolk, Va., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) school, and the tour provided the Sailors an opportunity to show the students how they use technology to do their jobs. The tour consisted of demonstrations related to Campostella's STEM program.

Twenty-four Sailors from TR's Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Department were on hand to explain the technical and scientific correlation of each piece of equipment they use and how they use it to sandblast water-tight doors, engrave signs, build wooden plaques and boxes, and rework motors for shipboard fire main and salt water pumps.

"School, at times, can be abstract," said Kristal Moses, Campostella fifth-grade teacher. "Having the children come in to experience the STEM fields applied first hand can put them into the frame of mind to grasp a concept they normally only see in a text book, equation or someone just talks about."

One of the nine "stations" on the tour featured welding. Each child donned protective gear that allowed them to safely see the bright arcs that weld two heavy-duty pieces of metal together.

"The welding portion of the tour definitely kept everyone engaged since we had to try on the equipment and actually use it to view the demonstration," said Moses. "Such an opportunity helps our students to use their five senses to experience processes which they are not normally familiar with."

The students also wore protective gear to view the Sailors welding up close, according to Lt. Richard Martinez, officer in charge of LIFAC.

"We ceased production for the day to ensure the safety of everyone visiting, since LIFAC is an industrial environment," said Martinez. "TR's Safety Department visited our facility to give insight on eliminating dangers that could occur during the visit. Everyone was issued PPE to use."

Martinez said the opportunity TR afforded Campostella to come to LIFAC benefited both the students and his Sailors.

"Our Sailors strived to show how the different STEM fields are applied to the machines they use and services they provide by LIFAC Sailors while accomplishing their jobs," said Martinez. "It was also a great opportunity to have my hardworking Sailors set a positive example and mentor these students to tie up the 'loose ends' of hands on learning."

The Sailors drove home the point that the water tight doors close extremely tight and are ultimately designed to keep a ship from sinking. Parent chaperones who visited the facility along with the children appreciated the effort TR invested in Campostella's students.

"Opportunities such as this help our children to realize other options for a career," said Delvon Mack, a parent chaperone with Campostella. "The Sailors were able to break down Navy terminology and relate it to changing oil, which the children could grasp."

In accordance with the school's wishes, LIFAC Sailors taught the students 10 technological words relating to the STEM fields to include hydraulic, calibration and water tight. Before leaving the facility, every visitor received a commemorative piece of wood shaped in the likeness of TR's flight deck that was stained and engraved with the school's name and the TR emblem.

Campostella Elementary is part of many community relations projects TR and its Sailors participate in on a regular basis in the Hampton Roads area to manifest the Navy's motto "A Global Force for Good."

Theodore Roosevelt is currently undergoing its scheduled mid-life Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries. During the 39-month maintenance period, TR's fuel will be replenished and significant upgrades will be made to the ship's combat and communication systems to extend the ship's service life for 25 or more years. All Nimitz-class aircraft carriers go through RCOH near the mid-point of their 50-year life cycle.

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NASA's Swift And Hubble Probe Asteroid Collision Debris

Trent J. Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington

 

Lynn Chandler

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

 

WASHINGTON -- Late last year, astronomers noticed an asteroid named Scheila had unexpectedly brightened, and it was sporting short-lived plumes. Data from NASA's Swift satellite and Hubble Space Telescope showed these changes likely occurred after Scheila was struck by a much smaller asteroid.

"Collisions between asteroids create rock fragments, from fine dust to huge boulders, that impact planets and their moons," said Dennis Bodewits, an astronomer at the University of Maryland in College Park and lead author of the Swift study. "Yet this is the first time we've been able to catch one just weeks after the smash-up, long before the evidence fades away."

Asteroids are rocky fragments thought to be debris from the formation and evolution of the solar system approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Millions of them orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt. Scheila is approximately 70 miles across and orbits the sun every five years.

"The Hubble data are most simply explained by the impact, at 11,000 mph, of a previously unknown asteroid about 100 feet in diameter," said Hubble team leader David Jewitt at the University of California in Los Angeles. Hubble did not see any discrete collision fragments, unlike its 2009 observations of P/2010 A2, the first identified asteroid collision.

The studies will appear in the May 20 edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters and are available online.

Astronomers have known for decades that comets contain icy material that erupts when warmed by the sun. They regarded asteroids as inactive rocks whose destinies, surfaces, shapes and sizes were determined by mutual impacts. However, this simple picture has grown more complex over the past few years.

During certain parts of their orbits, some objects, once categorized as asteroids, clearly develop comet-like features that can last for many months. Others display much shorter outbursts. Icy materials may be exposed occasionally, either by internal geological processes or by an external one, such as an impact.

On Dec. 11, 2010, images from the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, a project of NASA's Near Earth Object Observations Program, revealed Scheila to be twice as bright as expected and immersed in a faint comet-like glow. Looking through the survey's archived images, astronomers inferred the outburst began between Nov. 11 and Dec. 3.

Three days after the outburst was announced, Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) captured multiple images and a spectrum of the asteroid. Ultraviolet sunlight breaks up the gas molecules surrounding comets; water, for example, is transformed into hydroxyl and hydrogen. But none of the emissions most commonly identified in comets, such as hydroxyl or cyanogen, show up in the UVOT spectrum. The absence of gas around Scheila led the Swift team to reject scenarios where exposed ice accounted for the activity.

Images show the asteroid was flanked in the north by a bright dust plume and in the south by a fainter one. The dual plumes formed as small dust particles excavated by the impact were pushed away from the asteroid by sunlight. Hubble observed the asteroid's fading dust cloud on Dec. 27, 2010, and Jan. 4, 2011.

The two teams found the observations were best explained by a collision with a small asteroid impacting Scheila's surface at an angle of less than 30 degrees, leaving a crater 1,000 feet across. Laboratory experiments show a more direct strike probably wouldn't have produced two distinct dust plumes. The researchers estimated the crash ejected more than 660,000 tons of dust -- equivalent to nearly twice the mass of the Empire State Building.

"The dust cloud around Scheila could be 10,000 times as massive as the one ejected from comet 9P/Tempel 1 during NASA's UMD-led Deep Impact mission," said co-author Michael Kelley, also at the University of Maryland. "Collisions allow us to peek inside comets and asteroids. Ejecta kicked up by Deep Impact contained lots of ice, and the absence of ice in Scheila's interior shows that it's entirely unlike comets."

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages Hubble and Swift. Hubble was built and is operated in partnership with the European Space Agency. Science operations for both missions include contributions from many national and international partners. For more information, video and images associated with this release, visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/asteroid-collision.html.

- end -

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RSS Retract Now Targeted for 11:45 p.m. EDT

Teams at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A now expect to begin moving the rotating service structure away from space shuttle Endeavour at 11:45 p.m. EDT, which still would support a launch attempt tomorrow at 3:47 p.m. EDT. Preparations to move the RSS will begin immediately following the end of the Phase II lightning warning, which is expect to be lifted at approximately 10:15 p.m.

Preliminary data indicates no lightning strikes within half a mile of the pad and no obvious damage to the pad or spacecraft.

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Drivers || Xp.Vista || PC.Laptop | 770Mb

Drivers || Xp.Vista || PC.Laptop | 770Mb

This collection contains software drivers for over 400,000 hardware components from brands such as Dell, HP, Compaq, IBM, Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, as well as hardware component manufacturers Intel, 3Com, VIA, nVidia, ATI, SoundMAX, and many more

first winzip the file and go set...
Update Driver

size : 700 Mg




Download

CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part1.rar

CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part2.rar

CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part3.rar

CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part4.rar

CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part5.rar

other link to download from

http://rapidshare.com/files/357250840/CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/357260686/CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/357267832/CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/357274574/CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/357275224/CD.Drivers.YOUCEF02.part5.rar

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Bridgespan launches website for givers | Philanthropy Journal

Bridgespan launches website for givers | Philanthropy Journal: "To equip donors with the tools and information they need to be smart and impactful givers, Bridgespan Group has launched GiveSmart.org, an online resource for philanthropic giving."

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(tuto) how to download IPSW

Those who want to download the IPSW and finds it difficult to find a download link

I offer you today a new program from the regular hustle IPSWDOWNLOADER purely on the links

Just enter it and choose what you want to download ... It is compatible in both Windows and MacOSX

As well as all devices supported by Apple ....     

 ipswDownloader     download it from here :       Here       Here       program requires :     Net FX 4.0.      
     Here     supported devices :   iPhone 2G/3G/3Gs/4 [GSM/CDMA]0   iPod Touch 1G/2G/3G/4G   iPad 1/2 [GSM/CDMA/WIFI/3G]0   Apple TV2      

follow the instruction :

open the program

then choose the  Device

this the devices

after choosing the device choose wich version you want to download

for exmpl :

4.3.2/8H7 to i4 GSM

 after that save it whereever you want


IPSW أو iOS

for exmple : desktop

after that it start Download ...

done


thnx

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Posts might get erratic

For the next three days, I'm at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference: A truly great experience!

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When the world's coolest job goes away

Several articles out this week on the NASA astronauts wondering what's ahead, as they potentially face several years of ISS-only missions, where they will be carried up by Russian rockets. As astronaut Stan Love puts it: "For me, the sense of disappointment is that launching people into space becomes something we used to do."
COMMENT: NASA had this problem before the Shuttle, as some astros left the program or worked their way into unrelated jobs, and the corps lost a lot of experience that way. NASA needs to do everything it can to keep its astronauts together and sharp. THat includes not only ISS missions, but maybe some cooperative ventures with the private-spaceship companies as well.

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Forget iPhone 4 and 5. What about iPhone 6?!

(CNN) -- If you're a mainstream Apple fan, you probably got all hot and bothered on Thursday when an e-mail hit your inbox saying the "amazing iPhone 4" is now available in white. Previously the phone only came in black, and tech blogs have been drooling over the possibility of this white whale of a phone for months.
But the real Apple nerds are so over that now.
Even rumors about the yet-to-be-announced-and-possibly-non-existent iPhone 5 are growing passé.
The new topic du second: the "iPhone 6."
Seriously, people? A new version of the iPhone 4 just came out. People have been talking about the iPhone 5 for -- well, pretty much since right after the iPhone 4 debuted in June 2010. And now, even before the release of the iPhone 5, which is rumored to come out in September, the techies are fixated on the next-next version.
This might seem ludicrous, but maybe it's normal in the hyper-drive world of tech news. So we'll go with it. Here's a look at what the plugged-in bloggers are saying about the iPhone 6 (to repeat: not the iPhone 5, but the one after that).
The name: Everyone seems to be calling Apple's next-next smartphone the iPhone 6, but it's unclear whether that really will be the name. Apple hasn't gone chronologically in the past. The iPhone 4 seemed to be more of a hint that Apple wished the phone worked on a 4G network than the model number. After the original iPhone came the iPhone 3G (which works on AT&T's 3G network) and then the iPhone 3GS (the "S" supposedly stands for "speed," since that phone was faster). The fact that there never was an "iPhone 2" kind of discounts this look-at-the-numberline approach.
The release date: 2012 seems logical. As The Atlantic writes in another rumor round-up post, "that makes sense as it fits with the smartphone's history; since it debuted in 2007, a new model has come out every year."
The screen: The Japanese publication Nikkan started the iPhone 6 rumor mill with a post saying Sharp will produce a new kind of screen for the phone.
Thinner and lighter: Some smartphones -- particularly Android phones -- are getting bigger, since big screens are better for watching video.
Apple's iPhone 6 is rumored to continue to get thinner and lighter.
Here's what Apple Insider has to say on the subject: "The liquid crystal display on the anticipated 'iPhone 6' is said to feature 'low-temperature poly-silicon' technology, a next-generation display format that allows for thinner and lighter screens that consume less power than traditional LCD screens."
The Register says this screen tech could end up in tablets, too.

What do you want to see in the iPhone 5/6? Do you want to start speculating about an iPhone 7? You can tell us in the comments now. Or, if you want to digest this whole situation for a few months and get back to us, that's absolutely OK, too.

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A bunch of Blackberry Games : 48 games

A bunch of Blackberry  Games : 48 games  enjoy it

DOWNLOAD FROM HERE

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Is the system will be launched BlackBerry 7 during the BlackBerry World next week?

Says CrackBerry that through a number of sources that the next week and during the BlackBerry World will be launching a number of phones BlackBerry like new Bold Touch and Monaco, which will carry the new version 6.1 which will be known as BlackBerry 7 and there is substantial risk that the current phones that carry system BB6 will not get An update to the seventh edition of the BlackBerry may cause the new features here that would bring, the next version, which rely on the technical specifications of the phone such as NFC. Generally the information is uncertain.

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Sprint to Sell Motorola Xoom May 8th

I've had the Motorola Xoom for about a month now.  I got it as soon as it was available from Amazon.  It's a really great piece of hardware.  Now comes word that my hometown company Sprint will start selling the Wifi version on May 8th.

After about a month, I'm still struggling on iPad vs. Xoom.  The main winning point for me right now is the number of Apps the iPad has access to.  While Android continues to gain ground, the apps still don't seem as robust.  However, the hardware for the Xoom is amazing.  Also the integration of the OS is impressive.  While it doesn't truly multitask, it does a better job of bringing everything together than iOS at this point in time.  It's especially nice if you happen to be using gmail, Google calendar, etc as all of that is available almost the moment you enter your username & password.

So, I still can't declare a definite winner between my iPad ver 1.0 & the Xoom.  They are both great devices, but both hold some advantages over the other.

Here is the press release from Sprint:

First Tablet Built on Android 3.0, Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi, Available with Sprint on May 8 for $599.99

First device to feature Android software built specifically for use on a tablet,
delivers a powerful multi-tasking experience, making it easy and fast to surf the Web, watch videos and play games with a PC-like experience

As the first device to feature Android™ 3.0 (Honeycomb), as well as a 10.1-inch widescreen HD display and 1GHz dual-core processor, Motorola XOOM™ Wi-Fi will be available from Sprint beginning on Sunday, May 8, for $599.99. Android 3.0 is the version of Android designed specifically for tablets and features innovations in widgets, multi-tasking, Web browsing, notifications and customization.

With a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 10.1-inch widescreen HD display, Motorola XOOM delivers exceptionally fast Web browsing performance and supports a Beta of Adobe® Flash® Player 10.2, downloadable from Android Market™, enabling the delivery of Flash-based Web content, including videos, casual games and rich internet applications.

Motorola XOOM also features two cameras, a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera with flash that can capture HD video and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for Google Talk™ with video chat. Motorola XOOM can also display content on any HDMI®-equipped HDTV (HDMI cable sold separately).

With its large touchscreen display, Motorola XOOM makes it easy to stay connected from anywhere using personal and Exchange corporate email. It also offers access to more than 3 million Google eBooks and apps from Android Market, making it an ideal e-reader.

Motorola XOOM also features the latest Google™ Mobile services including, Google Maps™ 5.0 with 3D interaction.

Additional key features include:
Android Market for access to more than 150,000 useful applications, widgets and games available for download to customize the experience
Google mobile services such as Google Search™, Gmail™, Google Maps™ with Navigation, Google Calendar, Voice Actions, and YouTube™
Corporate email (Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®), personal (POP & IMAP) email and instant messaging
Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR
Integrated GPS
1GB internal RAM memory and 32GB onboard user memory
Dimensions: 9.8 inches x 6.6 inches x 0.5 inches (249.1mm x 167.8mm x 12.7mm)
Weight: 25.74 ounces (730 grams)
3250 mAh Lithium-ion battery

Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi will be available through Sprint Direct Ship sales channels, including Sprint Stores, Web sales (www.sprint.com), Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) and Sprint Business Sales, beginning on Sunday, May 8, for $599.99.

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Digi-Key supports Parallax's new semiconductor division

THIEF RIVER FALLS & ROCKLIN, USA Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corp., announced the availability of electronic components from Parallax Semiconductor.

Parallax's new semiconductor division was created to provide support for OEMs with volume commercial applications using the company’s ICs. Initially the company’s chips, such as the innovative Propeller multicore MCU, were primarily used in their own products. Now the company is taking their IC strategy to the next level in response to growing interest from commercial OEMs.

“We believe the engineering community will be pleased with this new addition to Parallax’s product line,” said Mark Zack, vice president of semiconductor product. “Digi-Key supports this expansion from hobbyist focus to full OEM design and production supply chain focus.”

“As our chip sales to outside customers grow, we understand they benefit from our ability to tailor a technology and business relationship that uniquely meets their needs. We want to make it easy for commercial customers to exploit the advantages our chips have to offer. Parallax Semiconductor gives us an organization designed from the ground up to do just that,” said Ken Gracey, Parallax's vice president.

The new division offers custom design services and turnkey product design and manufacturing, allowing OEMs to speed time to market and to reduce development costs.

Parallax Semiconductor’s products are available for purchase now on Digi-Key’s global websites.

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Weather Delays RSS Retract

Launch team members are closely monitoring weather conditions at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. There are no obvious indications of any damage at this time as thunderstorms pass through the area. Engineers will do a thorough evaluation of data after the storm passes to confirm there were no issues.

Teams now are targeting 10 - 10:30 p.m. EDT to begin moving the rotating service structure away from space shuttle Endeavour, weather permitting.

If no issues are found during the data review, launch still will be on track for tomorrow at 3:47 p.m.

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Storm Possiblity Delays RSS Retract

In anticipation of a storm that is predicted to pass over NASA Kennedy Space Center this evening, technicians at Launch Pad 39A will delay the opening of the rotating service structure (RSS) away from space shuttle Endeavour until approximately 8:30 p.m. EDT. Teams currently have begun support work that normally occurs following the RSS move, which allows the countdown to continue as planned to support Friday's 3:47 p.m. launch.

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Building the Future With LEGO and NASA

NASA Associate Administrator for Education and astronaut Leland Melvin, center, blasts off a rocket for young participants at a 'Build the Future' event sponsored by LEGO at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex, Wednesday, April 27, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Image Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers

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Launch Preparations on Track; RSS Rollback Scheduled for Tonight

Preparations for space shuttle Endeavour's launch are continuing as planned at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. STS-134 Commander Mark Kelly and his crew also are continuing their prelaunch activities. Liftoff to the International Space Station is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. EDT Friday.

The weather forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time, according to Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters. The only concerns for launch may be the crosswinds at the Shuttle Landing Facility and a low cloud ceiling associated with a front moving into Central Florida.

The rotating service structure (RSS) is scheduled to be retracted at 7 p.m. today but may be delayed because of possible storm activity over the center. Teams will have about a four-hour leeway for the storms to clear out with no affect on Friday morning's external tank fueling, now planned for 6:22 a.m.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the process of performing an aerial survey of yesterday's brush fire, which was southeast of the Turn Basin and about three miles from the launch pad. The brush fire now is fully contained, and the plan is to burn off the remaining fuel within the fire area to help eliminate any smoke on launch day.

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NASA's Swift And Hubble Probe Asteroid Collision Debris

Trent J. Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington

 

Lynn Chandler

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

 

WASHINGTON -- Late last year, astronomers noticed an asteroid named Scheila had unexpectedly brightened, and it was sporting short-lived plumes. Data from NASA's Swift satellite and Hubble Space Telescope showed these changes likely occurred after Scheila was struck by a much smaller asteroid.

"Collisions between asteroids create rock fragments, from fine dust to huge boulders, that impact planets and their moons," said Dennis Bodewits, an astronomer at the University of Maryland in College Park and lead author of the Swift study. "Yet this is the first time we've been able to catch one just weeks after the smash-up, long before the evidence fades away."

Asteroids are rocky fragments thought to be debris from the formation and evolution of the solar system approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Millions of them orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt. Scheila is approximately 70 miles across and orbits the sun every five years.

"The Hubble data are most simply explained by the impact, at 11,000 mph, of a previously unknown asteroid about 100 feet in diameter," said Hubble team leader David Jewitt at the University of California in Los Angeles. Hubble did not see any discrete collision fragments, unlike its 2009 observations of P/2010 A2, the first identified asteroid collision.

The studies will appear in the May 20 edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters and are available online.

Astronomers have known for decades that comets contain icy material that erupts when warmed by the sun. They regarded asteroids as inactive rocks whose destinies, surfaces, shapes and sizes were determined by mutual impacts. However, this simple picture has grown more complex over the past few years.

During certain parts of their orbits, some objects, once categorized as asteroids, clearly develop comet-like features that can last for many months. Others display much shorter outbursts. Icy materials may be exposed occasionally, either by internal geological processes or by an external one, such as an impact.

On Dec. 11, 2010, images from the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, a project of NASA's Near Earth Object Observations Program, revealed Scheila to be twice as bright as expected and immersed in a faint comet-like glow. Looking through the survey's archived images, astronomers inferred the outburst began between Nov. 11 and Dec. 3.

Three days after the outburst was announced, Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) captured multiple images and a spectrum of the asteroid. Ultraviolet sunlight breaks up the gas molecules surrounding comets; water, for example, is transformed into hydroxyl and hydrogen. But none of the emissions most commonly identified in comets, such as hydroxyl or cyanogen, show up in the UVOT spectrum. The absence of gas around Scheila led the Swift team to reject scenarios where exposed ice accounted for the activity.

Images show the asteroid was flanked in the north by a bright dust plume and in the south by a fainter one. The dual plumes formed as small dust particles excavated by the impact were pushed away from the asteroid by sunlight. Hubble observed the asteroid's fading dust cloud on Dec. 27, 2010, and Jan. 4, 2011.

The two teams found the observations were best explained by a collision with a small asteroid impacting Scheila's surface at an angle of less than 30 degrees, leaving a crater 1,000 feet across. Laboratory experiments show a more direct strike probably wouldn't have produced two distinct dust plumes. The researchers estimated the crash ejected more than 660,000 tons of dust -- equivalent to nearly twice the mass of the Empire State Building.

"The dust cloud around Scheila could be 10,000 times as massive as the one ejected from comet 9P/Tempel 1 during NASA's UMD-led Deep Impact mission," said co-author Michael Kelley, also at the University of Maryland. "Collisions allow us to peek inside comets and asteroids. Ejecta kicked up by Deep Impact contained lots of ice, and the absence of ice in Scheila's interior shows that it's entirely unlike comets."

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages Hubble and Swift. Hubble was built and is operated in partnership with the European Space Agency. Science operations for both missions include contributions from many national and international partners. For more information, video and images associated with this release, visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/asteroid-collision.html.

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Countdown To Endeavour: Brush Fire at Kennedy Space Center

By Carla Voorhees

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Wednesday was a busy day. The day started with issuing the Ice Team Forecast update and the L-2 Day launch forecast. Then I briefed weather at the L-2 day Shuttle Mission Management Team (MMT) meeting. Following the MMT meeting, it was off to the press site for a press conference with Mike Moses, the Launch Integration Manager, and Mike Leinbach, the Launch Director. I am always surprised I get invited to this press briefing, but since weather causes approximately 50% of launch scrubs, NASA public affairs asks me to brief the weather and be available for any questions.

After the press briefing Wednesday, I saw this fire at Kennedy Space Center about 3 nautical miles from the Shuttle launch pad. When fires like this occur, the 45th Weather Squadron gets calls from Kennedy Space Center personnel for current and forecast weather information, particularly wind speed and direction, so actions can be taken to protect personnel and resources. Also, cumulus clouds formed above the fire which had our launch team thinking about our smoke plume rule in the lightning launch commit criteria.  On launch day, if a cumulus cloud formed from a fire and moved into the path of the launch, weather would be RED for the Smoke Plume rule until 60 minutes after the cloud detached from the smoke plume. As you can imagine, sometimes it can be difficult to tell when a cumulus cloud detaches from the smoke plume, and unless we are clearly convinced a lightning launch commit criteria (PDF) is not violated, weather is RED for launch.

A Solid Rocket Booster Recovery operation in process

Thursday, we meet with the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) recovery team to give them a weather outlook before they depart. It takes the ships, the Freedom Star and Liberty Star, about 24 hours to reach the SRB Recovery area. Weather is going to be a bit rough for their trip Thursday as a cold front moves through, but nothing that would prevent them from getting to the area on time. On launch day, winds will be from the north in the SRB recovery area, and seas 5 to 6 feet—not a smooth day, but well within their weather constraints.

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NASA Hosts Science Update About Gravity Probe B Mission

Trent J. Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington                                        

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 4, to discuss the science results and legacy of the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission. The event will be in the NASA Headquarters Webb auditorium at 300 E Street SW in Washington.

GP-B is a NASA physics mission designed to measure two key predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. Einstein predicted that space and time are distorted by the presence of massive objects.

The experiment used four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure the geodetic effect, which is the warping of space and time by a celestial body like Earth, and frame-dragging, which is the amount a spinning object like Earth pulls space and time with it as it rotates.

Media may attend the event, join by phone or ask questions from participating NASA centers. To RSVP or obtain dial-in information, media must contact Trent Perrotto at trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov with their name, media affiliation and telephone number by 5 p.m. on May 3. NASA Television and the agency's website will broadcast the event live.

The news conference panelists are:

-- Bill Danchi, senior astrophysicist and program scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington

-- Francis Everitt, principal investigator on Gravity Probe B Mission, Stanford University,

-- Rex Geveden, president Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., Huntsville, Ala.

-- Colleen Hartman, senior advisor, NASA Headquarters and research professor, George Washington University

-- Clifford Will, professor of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For more information about Gravity Probe B, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/gpb and http://einstein.stanford.edu/.

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