Nothing In Your Pocket Will Damage This Spinning Flash Drive

Flash drives are so cheap and ubiquitous that you probably have them stashed everywhere, even on your keychain. And to ensure that all the jostling against your keys, coins, and whatever else is in your pockets doesn't kill the drive, SanDisk has equipped its latest Cruzer with a spinning shield.

Available in capacities from four to thirty-two gigs, the durable Orbit drives top out at around $40 so they're not terribly expensive. It probably means they're not terribly fast either, but survival is the name of the game here, slow and steady. The Cruzer Orbit also comes packed with a host of encryption software that you'll probably immediately obliterate during a format, but it's nice to know it's there. [SanDisk via 7Gadgets]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/nothing-in-your-pocket-will-damage-this-spinning-flash-485851531

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House forwards a hike in minimum wage, unpaid leave, 40-hour work weeks for all (Star Tribune)

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Visitors and residents: Students' attitudes to academic use of social media

Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Alan Cann
alan.cann@leicester.ac.uk
01-162-522-954
University of Leicester

A University of Leicester-led study shows students display 'Visitor' and 'Resident' characteristics when using social media for learning

University of Leicester-led research has shown that university students behave very differently when using social media as part of their academic learning.

Some students happily use social networking to share information about their course with their peers, in a similar way to how they might talk to friends on Facebook.

Others are much more targeted in their use of online tools and will only log on to get the information they need, when they need it.

Visitors and Residents: mapping student attitudes to academic use of social networks, published in the journal Learning, Media and Technology, was conducted by Fiona Wright, a graduate of the University's School of Biosciences.

For the study, all 257 undergraduate students in the University's School of Biological Sciences were asked to use the social media site Google+ as part of a key IT and numeracy skills module.

The students were able to discuss parts of the module on the site.

At the end of the term, the students had contributed thousands of posts and hundreds of thousands of words to Google+.

The researchers analysed these contributions, along with students' responses to a questionnaire about how they found the module.

They analysed the contribution to find out what users were talking about, and who was talking to whom. They also analysed the results from the questionnaire to find out why users communicated as they did.

They found that there were significant differences between students' use of social media and individual participants displayed "Visitor" and "Resident" characteristics.

The Visitors and Residents model for online engagement was put forward by University of Oxford researchers David White and Dr Alison Le Cornu in 2011.

In this model, "Visitors" use the internet in functional terms as a tool, while "Residents" see the Internet as a social space.

The University of Leicester-led study suggests the Visitors and Residents model is valid and is the first study to suggest this using statistical methods.

Fiona Wright conducted the study as part of her final year project of her Biological Science degree.

She said: "In order to know how to effectively teach using social media one needs to understand the student's motivation to use it. Such paradigms, if proven correct, help educators to approach this problem, increasing student engagement with tasks.

"Students of today often spend a large amount of their free time using social media, so if this tool could be used effectively for academic purposes it would be a great resource for teachers in higher education."

The paper was co-written with Dr Alan Cann, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biology who leads the IT and Numeracy Skills for Biologists module.

Dr Alan Cann said: "Although social media forms a prominent part of most student's lives and is increasingly becoming part of academic environments, there has been little work investigating how students use and respond to social networks for formal academic purposes (as opposed to informal use).

"This is some of the first evidence which validates the Visitors and Residents model, and so it gives important insights into students reactions to social tools as part of a working environment.

"Although the Visitor and Resident labels only represent the extremes of a continuum of behaviour, this study has produced statistical evidence that Residents report online tools to be more useful academically than Visitors do.

###

The full paper can be found at: http://scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/visitors-and-residents-mapping-student.html

The paper was also co-written with University of Oxford researcher David White and Tony Hirst, a Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Systems at The Open University.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Alan Cann
alan.cann@leicester.ac.uk
01-162-522-954
University of Leicester

A University of Leicester-led study shows students display 'Visitor' and 'Resident' characteristics when using social media for learning

University of Leicester-led research has shown that university students behave very differently when using social media as part of their academic learning.

Some students happily use social networking to share information about their course with their peers, in a similar way to how they might talk to friends on Facebook.

Others are much more targeted in their use of online tools and will only log on to get the information they need, when they need it.

Visitors and Residents: mapping student attitudes to academic use of social networks, published in the journal Learning, Media and Technology, was conducted by Fiona Wright, a graduate of the University's School of Biosciences.

For the study, all 257 undergraduate students in the University's School of Biological Sciences were asked to use the social media site Google+ as part of a key IT and numeracy skills module.

The students were able to discuss parts of the module on the site.

At the end of the term, the students had contributed thousands of posts and hundreds of thousands of words to Google+.

The researchers analysed these contributions, along with students' responses to a questionnaire about how they found the module.

They analysed the contribution to find out what users were talking about, and who was talking to whom. They also analysed the results from the questionnaire to find out why users communicated as they did.

They found that there were significant differences between students' use of social media and individual participants displayed "Visitor" and "Resident" characteristics.

The Visitors and Residents model for online engagement was put forward by University of Oxford researchers David White and Dr Alison Le Cornu in 2011.

In this model, "Visitors" use the internet in functional terms as a tool, while "Residents" see the Internet as a social space.

The University of Leicester-led study suggests the Visitors and Residents model is valid and is the first study to suggest this using statistical methods.

Fiona Wright conducted the study as part of her final year project of her Biological Science degree.

She said: "In order to know how to effectively teach using social media one needs to understand the student's motivation to use it. Such paradigms, if proven correct, help educators to approach this problem, increasing student engagement with tasks.

"Students of today often spend a large amount of their free time using social media, so if this tool could be used effectively for academic purposes it would be a great resource for teachers in higher education."

The paper was co-written with Dr Alan Cann, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biology who leads the IT and Numeracy Skills for Biologists module.

Dr Alan Cann said: "Although social media forms a prominent part of most student's lives and is increasingly becoming part of academic environments, there has been little work investigating how students use and respond to social networks for formal academic purposes (as opposed to informal use).

"This is some of the first evidence which validates the Visitors and Residents model, and so it gives important insights into students reactions to social tools as part of a working environment.

"Although the Visitor and Resident labels only represent the extremes of a continuum of behaviour, this study has produced statistical evidence that Residents report online tools to be more useful academically than Visitors do.

###

The full paper can be found at: http://scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/visitors-and-residents-mapping-student.html

The paper was also co-written with University of Oxford researcher David White and Tony Hirst, a Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Systems at The Open University.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/uol-var042913.php

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Police say 4 people stabbed at Albuquerque church

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? Police say a 24-year-old man stabbed four people at a Catholic church in Albuquerque as a Sunday mass was nearing its end.

Police spokesman Robert Gibbs says Lawrence Capener jumped over several pews at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church around noon Sunday and walked up to the choir area where he began his attack.

The injuries to the four church-goers weren't life-threatening. All four were being treated at hospitals.

An off-duty police officer and others at the church subdued Capener and held him down until police arrived.

Some of those who were stabbed were members of the choir.

Gibbs says Capener is now being interviewed by police and is expected to face felony charges.

It's not yet known whether Capener has an attorney.

Gibbs says investigators don't yet know the motive for the stabbings, whether Capener had ties to the victims or whether he regularly attended the church.

The stabbings occurred as the choir had just begun its closing hymns.

Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan released a statement saying he was saddened by the attack.

"I pray for all who have been harmed, their families, the parishioners and that nothing like this will ever happen again," Sheehan said.

The church didn't immediately return calls seeking comment on Sunday afternoon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-4-people-stabbed-albuquerque-church-224409447.html

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Researchers Put Sense of Touch in Reach for Robots

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A group of roboticists has developed a robot arm that moves and finds objects by touch, a vital ability if robots are ever to begin to undertake tasks in human environments.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/science/researchers-put-sense-of-touch-in-reach-for-robots.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Bombing shifts Mass. Senate race before primaries (The Arizona Republic)

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Embraer earnings down on falling regional jet production

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA will likely report slightly weaker earnings on Monday as rising labor costs and slower production of its commercial jets underscored ongoing challenges, despite recent government support.

Embraer is expected to post an 11 percent decline in first-quarter earnings from a year ago to $58 million, according to the average estimate of five analysts in a Reuters survey.

Deliveries of Embraer regional jets that seat less than 120 passengers, its biggest source of revenue, fell in the quarter to the lowest in at least five years after poor demand withered its order backlog.

Slowing assembly lines and uncertainty about upcoming orders have led to sharp swings in Embraer's stock price, which touched a five-year high this month, bolstered by hopes of new demand from major U.S. airlines.

The day-to-day volatility of Sao-Paulo listed shares rose in the past two weeks to the highest in a year and a half.

Embraer's earnings have benefited from tax breaks and a weaker local currency - two results of government policy supporting manufacturers and exporters - but the cost of production in Brazil continues to weigh on profitability.

A collective bargaining agreement signed in December pushed up payroll costs by at least 6 percent in the quarter, according to Bradesco analysts led by Edigimar Maximiliano Jr.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of operating profit known as EBITDA, is expected to fall 9 percent from a year earlier to $135 million.

Several analysts forecast improving earnings over the course of the year, as deliveries recover from the seasonal weakness of the first quarter.

(Reporting by Brad Haynes and Roberta Vilas Boas. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/embraer-earnings-down-falling-regional-jet-production-181107551.html

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Justin Bieber Slams 'Rumors' After Swedish Tour Bus Bust

'Some of the rumors about me ... where do people get this stuff,' Bieber tweets.
By Gil Kaufman, with additional reporting by Jocelyn Vena

Justin Bieber
Photo: Europa Press

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706330/justin-bieber-rumors-marijuana-tour-bus-sweden.jhtml

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Mindscapes: The woman who was dropped into her body

Mindscapes is our new column on brain science with a difference: we meet people who live with the world's most mysterious neurological conditions

Name: Louise Airey
Condition: Depersonalisation disorder

"I feel like I have been dropped into my body. I know this is my voice and these are my memories, but they don't feel like they belong to me."

It happened out of the blue. Louise Airey was 8?years old, off sick from school, when suddenly she felt like she had been dropped into her own body. "It's just so difficult to verbalise what this feels like," she says. "All of a sudden you're hyper aware, and everything else in the world seems unreal, like a movie."

She panicked, but told no one. The feeling soon passed but returned several times until, at the age of 19, a migraine triggered a sensation of being disconnected from the world that was to last 18 months. When she was in her 30s she was diagnosed with depersonalisation disorder ? an altered sense of self with all-encompassing feelings of not occupying your own body, and detachment from your thoughts and actions. It has come and gone throughout her life, but since a traumatic pregnancy 20 months ago, these feelings have remained constant.

"Other people seem like robots," Airey says. "It's like I'm watching a film, like I'm on my own in the centre of everything and nothing else is real. I'll be speaking to my children and I'll catch my voice talking and it seems really alien and foreign. It makes you feel very separated and lonely from everything, like you're the only person that is real."

Not so rare

Depersonalisation disorder is not as rare as you might think, says Anthony David at King's College London and the Maudsley Hospital: it may affect almost 1 per cent of the British population (Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, DOI: 10.1007/s00127-010-0327-7). We've all probably experienced mild versions of it at some point, in the unreal, spaced-out feeling you might get while severely jet-lagged or hung-over, for example. Now neuroscientists are beginning to uncover what goes wrong in those who persistently feel unreal. Their findings could tell us something about how we all form a sense of self, and potentially, bring a treatment for those who have the disorder.

The sense of self has much to do with our awareness of our physicality and how we interact with the outside world. The brain integrates all the information coming in from the external world and from internal sensations and forms a default setting of "this is me here and now", says Nick Medford, who studies depersonalisation at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK. "If that setting changes somehow, then you feel 'not right', in a way that might be very hard to put into words."

There are probably several ways that change can occur, but Medford's work is looking at on the emotional detachment characteristic of depersonalisation. In people who have the disorder, areas of the brain that are key to emotion are much less active than normal. These people also show unusual autonomic physical responses to external stimuli, such as evocative images (Emotion Review, DOI: 10.1177/1754073911430135).

David and his colleagues are also looking at why people with depersonalisation disorder report emotional "numbing" ? the feeling that the world is somehow alien. They have found that some areas in the brain's frontal lobes, which help keep emotions in check, are overactive, or too controlling.

Living the scream

One symptom related to this skewed brain activity is the sensation of all sounds competing against each other to be heard. It's like living inside Edvard Munch's painting The Scream, Airey says, which some critics have suggested is about depersonalisation. "The person and the landscape are screaming, you can't get any peace."

Another area of the brain that appears to be less responsive in depersonalisation is the anterior insula, responsible for integrating physical and emotional sensations. This might explain why sufferers don't feel in touch with the world, Medford says.

It's not only the outside world that seems strange, says Airey. The disorder makes it almost impossible for her to relate to herself. "Everything that you're familiar with yourself ? your thoughts, your memories ? become alien," she says. "Memories of things you've done don't feel like they belong to you; it robs you of your past. I know rationally that they're my thoughts, my voice, my memories, but they're all wrong ? that why it's so frightening. It takes away the core of who you are."

Airey says she would investigate any potential treatment. There is an epilepsy drug, Lamotrigine, that has shown some promise when combined with an antidepressant in trials. Transcranial magnetic stimulation ? in which an electromagnet stimulates or suppresses neuronal activity ? is also being explored by David's team to retrain the depersonalised brain.

"Rationally knowing that I'm real, that these memories are real, that my voice is my own, but not feeling like they all belong to me is somehow worse than being away with fairies," Airey says. "It's like I'm a sane person gone mad."

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Europe Set to Vote on Pesticide Ban to Save Honeybees

A proposed ban of pesticides called neonicotinoids is gathering scientific support as some experts are calling for more field studies. The goal is to reverse massive honeybee hive die-offs, which also afflict U.S. farming

By Daniel Cressey and Nature magazine

Image: Flickr/Karunakar Rayker

Across the globe, hives of honeybees are dying off in a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder. Among the proposed culprits are pesticides called neonicotinoids, which are supposed to be less harmful to beneficial insects and mammals than the previous generation of chemicals.

Debate over neonicotinoids has become fierce. Conservation groups and politicians in the United Kingdom and Europe have called for a ban on their use, but agricultural organizations have said that farmers will face hardship if that happens. Next Monday, European governments will take a crucial vote on whether to severely restrict or ban three neonicotinoids.

Scientists, meanwhile, are vigorously debating whether the studies on neonicotinoids and the health of honeybees and bumblebees, mostly conducted in laboratory settings, accurately reflect what is happening to bees in the field.

Neonicotinoids, which poison insects by binding to receptors in their nervous systems, have been in use since the late 1990s. They are applied to crop seeds such as maize (corn) and soya beans, and permeate the plants, protecting them from insect pests. But a growing body of research suggests that sublethal exposure to the pesticides in nectar and pollen may be harming bees too ? by disrupting their ability to gather pollen, return to their hives and reproduce (see ?The buzz over bee health?).

In January, the European Food Safety Authority in Parma, Italy, Europe?s food-chain risk-assessment body, concluded that three commonly used neonicotinoids ? clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam ? should not be used where they might end up in crops that attract bees, such as oilseed rape and maize. The European Commission then proposed a two-year ban on the use of these chemicals in such crops. That proposal failed to gain sufficient support last month in a vote by European Union member states, but on 29?April, ministers will vote again.

Some scientists say that there is insufficient evidence to implicate these compounds. Ecotoxicologist James Cresswell, who studies pollination at the University of Exeter, UK, says that ?one can still equivocate over the evidence? because many of the lab studies that have shown harm may have fed bees unrealistically high doses of neonicotinoids. The problem, he adds, is that data are lacking on what doses bees actually encounter in the field. ?Everyone is focused on hazard,? he says. ?We know there is hazard there. But risk is a product of hazard and exposure.?

However, David Goulson, a bee researcher at the University of Sussex, UK, thinks that most of the major studies have used realistic doses. ?I couldn?t say I am certain these impacts really occur in the field, but it seems to me very likely that they do,? he says.

Even if neonicotinoids are not directly responsible for colony collapse disorder, they could play a part by making bees more susceptible to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the parasitic fungus Nosema apis, both prime suspects, adds Christian Krupke, an entomologist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He says that, on the basis of current evidence, neonicotinoid use should be restricted immediately as a precaution.

One of the few studies to be conducted in the field served only to stoke the controversy after its release in March. Conducted by an agency within the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), it exposed 20?bumblebee colonies at three sites to crops grown from untreated, clothianidin-treated or imidacloprid-treated seeds. It found ?no clear consistent relationships? between pesticide levels and harm to the insects.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2925c415b4e32fc7109c781578b62652

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Israel: OK to check emails of foreigners at border

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's attorney general on Wednesday upheld a practice to allow security personnel to read people's email accounts when they arrive at the airport, arguing it prevents militants from entering the country.

The ruling followed an outcry last year when some people trying to enter Israel were ordered to open their emails after hours of interrogation at Israel's Ben-Gurion airport. In one instance, three Palestinian-American women were forbidden from entering after email checks were conducted.

Critics say it primarily targets Muslims and Arabs and appears to be aimed at keeping out visitors who have histories of pro-Palestinian activism, citing a history of such people being turned away from Israel's border crossings.

Security personnel may ask visitors to open their email accounts for inspection if they are perceived as being suspicious, wrote Nadim Aboud of Israel's attorney general office. In a response to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, he said potential entrants may refuse to allow their emails to be checked, but that would be a factor in deciding whether a person would be allowed to enter the country.

Aboud said the checks were justified because there was an increasing risk of foreigners being involved in militant activity. He said security services could not properly investigate the backgrounds of some potential entrants without the additional check.

A Justice Ministry official said the search was conducted only in "extraordinary cases." He spoke anonymously in line with ministry policy.

The attorney general's office wrote the letter in response to a request for clarification by ACRI after incidents were reported last year, said attorney Lila Margalit of the organization. She said Aboud's response effectively legalized the checks, which could now be challenged only in court.

"It was a concern because of the level of invasion inherent in (checking) a personal email account," Margalit said. "It constitutes a violation of privacy."

She said inside Israel, police could search a person's computer data only with court approval, even if there was a criminal investigation underway.

Israeli officials tend to conduct exhaustive checks on foreigners entering the country, or passing through border crossings they control, if they are deemed suspicious.

It particularly affects people who hope to travel to Palestinian areas of the West Bank. The Palestinians a measure of self-government in the West Bank, a territory east of the Jewish state; but Israel controls entry into those areas.

Such visitors frequently complain that they risk not being allowed into the country if they announce they will visit areas under Palestinian Authority control; but risk being accused of lying if they omit that information to security investigators.

There are no statistics on how many people are refused entry into Israel or through border crossings that Israel controls.

One aspect of the issue is that most people entering Israel obtain visas at the airport or other border crossings. Unlike many countries, Israel does not require people to obtain visas from their embassies in advance of their trips, eliminating possible screening before visitors arrive in Israel.

In contrast, Israelis themselves are required to obtain visas far in advance before visiting many countries. Even the U.S. requires an exhaustive interview process at its embassy in Tel Aviv, and it does not grant visas to all who apply. Iranian-born Israelis, for example, are often refused visas.

The practice of email checks appears to be a step beyond what some Western countries allow, while others permit similar measures.

Germany does not allow such searches. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has seized computers and other electronic devices from people arriving in the United States to search them.

In a narrow ruling last month, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that while Customs and Border Protection officers can do "a quick look" at a laptop computer or other equipment, reasonable suspicion is required for a more in-depth forensic exam of electronics. It was not immediately clear if that included email.

___

AP writers Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington and Robert Reid in Berlin contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-ok-check-emails-foreigners-border-170015531.html

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Cowboys Stadium gets 1st playoff championship game

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2011, file photo, fans cheer as the St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys play in an NFL football game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press that Arlington, Texas, has beaten out Tampa, Fla., in the bidding to be the site of the first title game in the new playoff system. The game will be Jan. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2011, file photo, fans cheer as the St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys play in an NFL football game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press that Arlington, Texas, has beaten out Tampa, Fla., in the bidding to be the site of the first title game in the new playoff system. The game will be Jan. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2009, file photo, the Dallas Cowboys new football stadium Cowboys Stadium is shown in Arlington, Texas. A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press that Arlington, Texas, has beaten out Tampa, Fla., in the bidding to be the site of the first title game in the new playoff system. The game will be Jan. 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam, File)

Bill Hancock, executive director of the Bowl Championship Series, introduces the new name - College Football Playoffs - and competition framework of what will replace the BCS in 2014 at a meeting of the football conference commissioners in Pasadena, Calif., Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Bill Hancock, executive director of the Bowl Championship Series, introduces the new name - College Football Playoffs - and competition framework of what will replace the BCS in 2014 at a meeting of the football conference commissioners in Pasadena, Calif., Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Bill Hancock, right, executive director of the Bowl Championship Series, introduces the new name - College Football Playoffs - and competition framework of what will replace the BCS in 2014 at a meeting of the football conference commissioners in Pasadena, Calif., Tuesday, April 23, 2013. He is joined onstage by, from left, commissioners Mike Slive of the Southeastern Conference, Britton Banowsky of Conference USA, Bob Bowlsby of the Big 12, and Larry Scott of the Pac-12. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? The grandest stage in sports was too much for the guys who are putting together the College Football Playoff to pass up.

The BCS conference commissioners announced Wednesday that Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, edged Tampa, Fla., in the bidding to be the site of the first championship game in the new playoff system.

"The stadium itself was the biggest determiner," BCS executive director Bill Hancock said about the $1.2 billion dollar, 100,000-plus seat home of the NFL's Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl. "It's still THE stadium with a capital 'T.'"

The College Football Championship Game will be held Jan. 12, 2015.

"We couldn't be more excited about bringing college football's biggest game to Cowboys Stadium," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. "Rest assured, we all pledge to do everything we can to make sure this game exceeds everyone's highest expectations."

The final three sites for the semifinal rotation also were announced during the second of three days of meetings at a resort hotel a few miles from the Rose Bowl. And Cowboys Stadium came up a winner again. The Cotton Bowl will be part of the six-bowl rotation, along with the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego also bid for a spot in the semifinal rotation, but couldn't pull the upset.

The Rose, Orange and Sugar bowls are already part of the semifinal rotation. The Rose and Sugar will host the first semifinals Jan. 1, 2015,

The next season, the Cotton and Orange bowls will host the semifinals on New Year's Eve. The semis will be played in the Fiesta and Chick-fil-A bowls after the 2016 season.

In the years those games do not host a national semifinal, they will stage a major, BCS-type bowl game played on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. That means two days of huge college football triple-headers.

For the Cotton Bowl and its organizers, landing a spot in the rotation and the first title game is the culmination of a long slow return to prominence for a game with a rich history.

The game dates to 1937 and has hosted some of the most memorable matchups in college football, including Notre Dame's stirring comeback victory led by Joe Montana against Houston in the 1979 game.

But when the Bowl Championship Series was implemented in 1998, the Cotton Bowl was left out and lost much of its luster. Organizers for years tried to break into the BCS, but couldn't overcome the limitations of their antiquated namesake stadium in Dallas.

Things turned for the Cotton Bowl when it moved out of the old stadium at the fairgrounds in 2010 and into Cowboys Stadium.

When the conference commissioners announced last year that the BCS would be abandoned for a four-team playoff starting in 2014, with the championship game bid out like a Super Bowl, it was all but assumed the Cotton Bowl would be part of the new system and that Cowboys Stadium would be a strong candidate to eventually host a championship game.

They didn't have to wait long to accomplish both goals.

"The Cotton Bowl did it right," Hancock said. "Kept the Cotton Bowl a terrific event, bided their time and now they're back among the top group."

Tampa made a strong push for the first championship game to be played at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Buccaneers and the Outback Bowl. But Jones' football palace was too much to overcome.

"They were very close. Tampa won a lot of hearts and minds of the commissioners," Hancock said.

Raymond James' capacity is listed at 65,857, but seated about 71,000 for the Super Bowl. Hancock said neither bidder guaranteed a specific amount of revenue.

"Obviously, with 20,000 more tickets certainly there are better revenue opportunities," Hancock said.

As for filling out the rest of the rotation, the sites that got the nod were no surprise.

The Fiesta Bowl has been part of the Bowl Championship Series from the start, though its place among the elite bowls was threatened when the Arizona Republic reported in December 2009 allegations of a political-contribution scheme being run by game organizers. It also was revealed the bowl officials were misusing funds.

The scandal was an embarrassment to the BCS and the conferences that run it, but the Fiesta Bowl overhauled its front office and implemented reforms that allowed the game to stay in the good graces of the commissioners.

"This is a confirmation that that's all in the rearview mirror," Fiesta Bowl executive director Robert Shelton said.

In the heart of both the SEC and Atlantic Coast Conference, Atlanta gives the College Football Playoff a second game in the East, joining the Orange Bowl in Miami.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl, formerly the Peach Bowl, has been played in the Georgia Dome since 1992.

"For 16 years, we've made this our goal," said Gary Stokan, president of the Chick-fil-A bowl.

A new domed stadium is in the works for Atlanta and the Chick-fil-A bowl will move into that when it opens in 2017.

The new postseason system was named the College Football Playoff by the conference commissioners Tuesday, the first of three days of meetings at a resort hotel a few miles from the Rose Bowl.

Now that the sites are locked in, the only major remaining issue to tackle for the commissioners is the composition and structure of the selection committee, which will pick the teams that play for the national championship.

That won't be finalized at these meetings, but it's on the agenda and they would like to leave California with a framework in place.

___

Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-24-BCS%20Changes/id-5633838c140143928cea2934a0fe4e66

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Immigrant tuition debate challenges Arizona policy

PHOENIX (AP) -- Efforts to allow immigrants without legal status to pay lower tuition rates have pitted Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne against higher education leaders.

The Maricopa County Community College District decided Tuesday to uphold a new policy allowing young immigrants participating in the Obama administration's deferred deportation program to pay in-state tuition rates despite warnings from Horne that it violates state law.

"Our position is the same, and that is that we are obeying the law," district spokesman Tom Gariepy said in a phone interview. "We feel pretty confident that our interpretation of the law is correct."

A spokeswoman for Horne said Wednesday he has not made a decision to legally challenge the district's policy at this time, but could move forward as soon as Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Board of Regents has directed its legal staff to find a way to lower tuition rates for these students without violating state law. A proposal is expected in June. The regents have not reached out to Horne's office for legal guidelines, spokeswoman Sarah Harper said.

"They would definitely be making sure that any options would be within the perimeters of the law," Harper said.

Under state law, immigrants without lawful status do not qualify for public benefits, including in-state tuition rates. But the law doesn't define what constitutes a legal resident.

Gov. Jan Brewer has said youth in the Obama administration program do not have lawful status. Immigrants protected under the new Obama policy must be younger than 30 and must have come to the U.S. before they turned 16. Roughly 80,000 immigrants in Arizona are eligible, according to state estimates.

The Maricopa County Community College District adopted its reduced tuition program in September. Gariepy would not say whether the school is prepared to defend its policy in court.

"We would cross that bridge when we come to it," he said.

At least 13 states allow immigrants who have lived in the country for many years without legal status to pay in-state tuition.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigrant-tuition-debate-challenges-arizona-205213902.html

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Challenge Winner: Mount Your Camera Almost Anywhere With a Magnet

In this week's MacGyver Challenge, we asked you to hack something using old computer parts. We received some great entries, but the winning hack shows us a great way to mount your camera almost anywhere for that perfect shot.

Check out the description of the winning entry below and read about some of our other favorite entries.

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Winner: Mount Your Camera Almost Anywhere Using a Hard Drive Magnet

Not always able to find the perfect spot for a tripod or minipod, Alex421 had a clever idea. Using a rare-earth magnet from an old hard disk drive (the mechanical kind, not an SSD) and the top of a minipod, he created a magnetic mount that lets him place his camera almost anywhere. He discovered that there are an amazingly large number of metal things sticking out of the ground and buildings all over most cities, offering him a nearby base for his camera wherever he happens to be.

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Honorable Mentions

We got a lot of great entries and we'd be remiss if we didn't share some of our favorites. Here are some of the entries that really impressed us.

Make a Magnetic Smartphone Dock

John wanted a clean way to mount his smartphone in his car?one that didn't involve suction cups, specialized cases and mounts, or blocking his air vents. He settled on using the rare earth magnets from old hard drives, since they are super strong. First, he placed two of the magnets together (matching polarities) to make a very strong magnet. John removed the bezel from his dashboard, secured the double magnet to the back of that with superglue and duct tape, and replaced the bezel.

For the phone, he duct taped the magnet to the inside back of his phone case (a very slim model). It took a little experimenting to find the right place for the magnet on the case. John wanted it to hold the phone in the vertical position and not rotate on hard turns. Finally, he ran a power cable from the back of the head unit (in-dash stereo) under the dash.

A couple of warnings, though, if you want to try this one at home. While the magnets don't seem to interfere with his signals, they do prevent the compass from working properly. Also, if you have a phone with NFC, the magnets would likely interfere with that signal. And, you'll probably want to keep your phone away from credit cards?or any cards with a mag stripe.

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Reorient Your Toilet Paper Holder

Shaun and his wife could never agree on which way the toilet paper should go on the holder (one's an over; one's an under). Seeking a lasting peace, Shaun decided the only solution was to reorient the toilet paper holder altogether. Their's was a simple arm-style holder with a free end, so it was easy to rotate it 90 degrees to point up. The only problem was that without a proper base, the toilet paper leaned awkwardly when in place. Shaun's solution? He fixed the platter from an old hard drive onto the arm to serve as a stable base for the toilet paper. It (and presumably the marriage) has worked perfectly ever since.

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Make a Clock From an Old Hard Drive

Amitai makes clocks out of old hard drives. He pretty much fully dissembles the drive to build in the clock mechanism, but part of the charm is that he also tries to waste as little of the actual drive as possible. The results are beautiful. He's put together a step-by-step guide on imgur and he also sells his own clocks on Etsy.

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Special Mention?BioShock Diorama

While it didn't really qualify as a hack, there is no way we were going to let this challenge go by without giving a shout out to RedSuspense. He sent us this picture of a wonderful BioShock-inspired diorama titled Rapture's Playground. As you can see, it's built using some heavily modded detritus from an old PC. Nice work!

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A big thanks to everyone who took the time to send us entries! Be sure to check back every week for a new challenge.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/-WhlZcRztEI/challenge-winner-mount-your-camera-almost-anywhere-wit-478369180

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Unique New Maid Right Franchise Kicks Off Launch ? Successful ...

The new Maid Right Franchise is the first residential cleaning brand available for Master as well as Unit franchisees. Growth of Maid Right will be built based on the Master/Unit business model used by sister company Jan-Pro, who has built over 10,000 Franchisees globally.

Alpharetta, GA (PRWEB) April 23, 2013 - Premium Franchise Brands LLC, a holding company of Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc. (Jan-Pro), and Maid Right Franchising LLC, announced today the official launch of their new Maid Right Professional Grade Home Cleaning Franchise.

A unique concept within the residential cleaning franchise arena, the Maid Right Home Cleaning Franchise is the first and only residential cleaning franchise in America with the Master/Unit business model concept. This is the franchise concept wherein a Master Franchise controls a defined territory, and builds by adding Unit Franchisees within that territory. The two-tiered concept has been proven successful with sister company, Jan-Pro, who using it, has built an organization with over 10,000 franchisees globally.

The new Maid Right franchise gains much through the relationship with sister company Jan-Pro, namely the power of the Jan-Pro brand, a proven playbook for success, as well as world class support and experience with cleaning and franchising from an established company of 20+ years.

?We feel that the launch of Maid Right will be one of the most energetic growth opportunities of any franchise in years,? said Danessa Itaya, Vice President Maid Right. ?Many cleaning industry sources have told us that the Master/Unit concept is needed in residential cleaning. Maid Right is providing just that.?

As part of the Maid Right team, Itaya brings a wealth of residential cleaning experience, with over 18 years in the residential cleaning industry, over 10 years in multi-brand franchising, and has an extensive background in systems and new franchise development. Having a complete franchise development team for the new Maid Right franchise is an approach that Premium Franchise Brands feels will super charge the launch.

?The time is right for the Maid Right franchise concept,? said Rich Kissane, President & CEO of Premium Franchise Brands. ?There is a need for a new and different approach in residential cleaning, one that finally addresses the issues of high customer turnover and the quality of service offered.?

Today, the home cleaning industry has an average customer retention time of only about 6 months. One reason for this short time period is that in many cases, the homeowner does not get the quality of service they were expecting, as hourly paid cleaning crews come and go. Maid Right is out to change this industry standard and is committed to long term customer retention and high quality service.

Longer customer retention will come for Maid Right, due to the fact that the Unit Franchisees will be owners and more invested in establishing trust with customers. Innovative products and services will be provided to help franchisees in this area, like EnviroShield, the unique branded system that delivers 100% disinfection coverage.

?By having Unit franchise owners do the cleaning, they are definitely more invested in the residential customer, and are committed to providing the best in professional service,? continued Itaya. ?The result is a win/win situation for all involved, and long-lasting customer relationships.?

Both Master and Unit owners will have strong support in helping develop their business, through the company?s MaidView Software System and Processes. Master Franchisees will have thorough support, which will include ongoing advanced training, a service center, a business coach, webinars, hotline, regional meetings, call center, SEO, and more.

Premium Franchise Brands is currently in the stage of interviewing Master Franchise interested parties. Inquiries should contact Brad Smith at brad.smith@premiumfranchisebrands.com.

About Premium Franchise Brands

Premium Franchise Brands LLC is a franchise development company, representing Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc, and Maid Right Franchising LLC. Jan-Pro was founded in 1991 by Jacques Lapointe in Providence, Rhode Island, with a desire to offer the highest quality cleaning techniques and systems available. Currently, the Jan-Pro team is comprised of business leaders with experience from around the world, as well as seasoned cleaning industry executives. Today, the international company structure is comprised of over 10,000 Master and Unit franchisees. Jan-Pro regularly receives inquiries and accolades nationally as well as internationally. Maid Right Professional Grade Home Cleaning is a franchise, focused on strong customer retention, and is currently being initially launched domestically in America.

To learn more about Maid Right visit http://www.maidright.com

SOURCE: Premium Franchise Brands

Media Contact:

Mike Dektas
(513) 234-0560
brad(dot)smith(at)premiumfranchisebrands(dot)com

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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20130423_unique_new_maid_right_franchise_kicks_off_launch_n.html

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Chipmaker LSI's quarterly revenue beats estimates

(Reuters) - Chipmaker LSI Corp reported quarterly results above analysts' estimates and forecast current-quarter revenue largely above expectations at a time when weak PC sales and a slow economy have created uncertainty about demand for storage controllers.

LSI said revenue fell 9 percent to $569 million in the first quarter, but this beat the average analyst estimate of $555.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income slid to $18 million, or 3 cents per share, from $75 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 17 cents per share, above the average estimate of 12 cents.

LSI gets about a third of its revenue from selling chips used in hard drives, and Seagate Technology Plc accounted for about 31 percent of its revenue last year.

But hard drive sales have been hit as consumers buy fewer personal computers and increasingly shift to smartphones.

Technology tracking firm International Data Corp said earlier this month that PC sales fell 14 percent in the first three months of the year, the biggest decline in two decades of keeping records.

LSI also makes chips for solid state, or flash, drives and networking and enterprise servers.

LSI forecast current-quarter revenue in the range of $560 million to $600 million.

The company also said expects adjusted earnings per share of between 10 cents and 16 cents in the second quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings per share of 13 cents on revenue of $581.5 million.

LSI shares were trading at $6.47 in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after closing at $6.35 on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chipmaker-lsi-reports-9-percent-fall-revenue-202405379--finance.html

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Superintendent Voss: Evolution or Revolution?

Yesterday after school we had the staff roll out of the new Mac books for our high school staff. With this activity, we moved one step closer to the student roll out of the 1-1 project for students in grades 9-12 in January. As the faculty was opening up their computers and going through the steps of setting up their computers with network access, email, and other personal preferences I was impressed with how 'high tech' we had become. Mr. Lewis and Mr. Murray have provided key leadership in the process and demonstrated with ease some of the features of the new technology, including the servers that have been purchased to manage the devices (with the click of a mouse), the monitoring capabilities, and the abilities they had to install software remotely. All the while, Mr. Dieken was lobbying me for the next piece of software or hardware that would improve the ability of the teachers to flip instruction and ultimately have positive effects on the students' learning experience. I was impressed.

This really got me to thinking about how far we have come in education. I thought about how much has changed in just these last three years, and then I got to thinking about how much has changed since my career began. Then that morphed into what I can remember from my own school experience. Where we are now compared to where we were when I was a student is pretty mind boggling!

So, I had to begin by relying on memories that were some 30 plus years ago. It is a little fuzzy but I think the year was around 1981, which would have put me in about 4th grade. Our school had just made an investment in our very first computer. It was an early Apple model and was located in the school library. I really can't remember what it was used for, but do remember that as students we were able to use it on a limited basis. For what I can't even remember. Around the same time, the public library also got a computer. We could reserve time on the computer in half hour increments, and I can remember playing very rudimentary and archaic versions of 'video games'. Most of them consisted of responding to a line of text with a another line of text. Graphics didn't really exist yet, and if they did they were rudimentary. Our current students would find those early computers quite humorous, and in fact probably wouldn't even consider them computers at all. Basically, the computers we had access to in 1981 were more novelty than anything.

By the time I got to high school in 1986, you would think that computers had proliferated the environment. That was certainly not the case. In fact, I learned how to keyboard in high school on an electric typewriter. It kind of looked like this (same color and everything):

Yeah, that was quite the experience. A whole room of students learning to load the paper into the machine and type like crazy; click, click, click, click, DING! click, click, click, click, click DING!

If I remember correctly, our high school got it's first computer lab sometime before I graduated. Since this was well before the time where schools employed technology coordinators or computer teachers, much of what was occurring was experimental, 'flying by the seat of our pants' type of instruction. There may have been some rudimentary computer programming classes, but they weren't something that interested me all that much so can't really remember a lot about it.?

The early 1990s the world really began to change for me when I went to college. At my college, typewriters were finally replaced with computer labs. This is still before the time of Internet so we didn't know that we were on the precipice of a huge change. I remember how excited I was to be able to type and not have to worry about changing paper and the margins getting messed up. Oh, and no more changing the ribbons in the typewriters! Huge advances in technology for the college student of my day. Never mind that the printing quality was horrible and it took a very long time to print out a paper, but hey we were really moving forward! Around my junior year a buddy was able to buy a computer so my days of using the computer lab were in the rear view mirror. I remember staying up late during finals week to type up a final paper, save it to a floppy disc and then run it over to the computer lab for printing. By the time I graduated from college in 1995, computers were becoming more and more mainstream. The Internet was still pretty new, and email was used primarily people with a higher pay grade than me.?

I entered the world of work in 1995 and was one of the lucky ones to have a teaching job lined up by the time I graduated. In that first job, we had a computer on a cart that was shared with all the teachers in my hallway. There were a total of 6 of us in that wing with one computer. To me it wasn't that big of a deal because I didn't have a lot of use for a computer at that point. The school had a computer lab that had recently been installed but the school wasn't wired for the Internet. I do remember that the school board was having discussions about that, but it wouldn't come before I left for greener pastures.

That was in 1998. In my new position I had my very own computer, and every teacher in the school had their very own email account! This is when communication between parents and teachers really started to take off. I can remember getting a few emails a day and thinking this was a pretty efficient way of communicating with people. The Internet was starting to hit its stride too, I can remember some of the very early iterations of websites--which was well before the time of web video, flash, and E-Commerce was pretty new.

My first assignment in school administration was in 2004, and I was assigned my first laptop computer. Wireless technology was just becoming popular (and more predictable), so that was a huge step forward. We didn't have a wireless network in the school, so I was tethered to a network cable for a couple of years before getting a small wireless router set up in the outer office. I can remember how convenient it was to be able to work in my office and then pack up to go home and be able to continue my work seamlessly. The board also thought it was important to have a cellphone, so I had one of those too. Again, I thought that was pretty cool, but it was before Smart phones became popular. I could text, but it was very cumbersome. At the time it sure didn't seem to be that cumbersome. Toward the end of my tenure wireless technology really started to stabilize so one of my final projects before leaving was to have the wireless network installed.?

You pretty much know the story from that point forward. Printing is becoming less frequent. In a couple of minutes I will click 'publish' and this will go out to you on the Internet. Some of you will get this as an email, others may see it on my blog, and others will get it from our school website. There is even a population that will read it in the newspaper. In 1990, that probably would have been quite a feet to circulate this publication through so many venues. Now, in 2013 once I publish it goes out simultaneously to all the aforementioned media, and is available worldwide.

I still have a computer on my desk and a laptop to lug back and forth between office and home, but I wonder how much longer that will be the case. These days I am able to answer email and respond to questions with my Smart phone. I can search the Internet, call up a document from my computer, or respond to a Tweet from a student all from the same device.

The 1-1 project launch for students is just a few months away. I have likened the decision to implement this initiative into our district as the most important decision we will make for this generation of students. Others have compared to being as revolutionary to schools as the chalkboard once was. As quickly as things are moving these days, I wonder if in ten years we will look back on this time with a slight smile and shake of the head and think, "I can't believe how far we have come since the 1-1 project was such a big deal."

Source: http://superintendentvoss.blogspot.com/2013/04/evolution-or-revolution.html

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Republicans rap consumer agency's data collection

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Republicans are criticizing federal regulators' efforts to track the credit card, mortgage and spending habits of millions of consumers by collecting anonymous data about them.

Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho says the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be watching out for consumers ? not watching them. Agency head Richard Cordray told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that his bureau is using the data to understand the financial marketplace and to help consumers ? not violate their privacy.

Republicans have questioned the legitimacy of Cordray's recess appointment by President Barack Obama. The new financial protection bureau was created in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Republicans generally opposed the agency's creation and contend it has too much power.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-23-Senate-Cordray/id-5f53266a9829454981fd3868f0bae6d9

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Robert Redford's new leading lady: America's Got Talent star Jackie ...

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This film image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Robert Redford, left, and Jackie Evancho in a scene from The Company You Keep. Acting newcomer Jackie Evancho impressed the Out of Africa heartthrob.

Photograph by: Doane Gregory , THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO ? Robert Redford has co-starred with some of the biggest legends of the silver screen: Meryl Streep! Glenn Close! Jane Fonda!

But it?s acting newcomer Jackie Evancho who recently impressed the ?Out of Africa? heartthrob.

?It was just pure joy,? Redford says of working with the singing prodigy on his new film ?The Company You Keep.?

The film sees Redford juggle directing duties and a starring turn as Jim Grant, a small-town lawyer and single father whose world is shattered when a young journalist (Shia LaBeouf) discovers his past as a 1970s radical wanted by the law.

The finding sends Grant on the run in search of his ex-lover Mimi (Julie Christie) who holds the key to the long-ago crime and still holds fast to her antiwar convictions.

While many actors would clamour to work with Redford ? who won an Oscar for his 1980 directorial debut, ?Ordinary People? ? Christie needed some cajoling.

Redford, 76, said he understood her reluctance, noting he repeatedly turned down the 1973 weeper ?The Way We Were? because he didn?t want to be a ?a Ken doll to Barbra Streisand.?

Said the actor: ?That resistance, dragging you into something you know you want to do and have to do but you fight it is kind of a weird thing that I understand, so therefore I endured (her resistance). She made it really rough.?

Ultimately, Christie agreed to join a blue-chip cast that also includes Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick, Susan Sarandon, Chris Cooper and Nick Nolte.

Still, as the cameras were nearly ready to roll on ?The Company You Keep,? one piece of the ensemble remained missing.

Redford ? whose last directorial effort was the 2010 period piece ?The Conspirator? ? struggled mightily to find a suitable actress to play his daughter.

?I have a big thing about child actors, and that is I have an aversion to child actors who ?act? as opposed to child actors who can be natural, who can be real,? a rumpled-looking Redford said during a Sunday morning interview at last September?s Toronto International Film Festival.

?Scarlett Johansson was a kid when we did ?The Horse Whisperer? and I was very concerned if a child looked like they were acting it would be like fingernails on a blackboard.?

Redford said he had to cast the new film on a very tight budget and that deadlines were looming as his search for a young co-star continued.

He interviewed various child actors (?mostly their mothers, who seemed to be auditioning for something themselves,? he said with a laugh) but was unable to find someone who could improvise with him.

?I felt that since this character had to be nine or 10 years old, there had to be a sense of play that had to be really real and my guess was that it would be achieved by improvising,? he said.

Particularly dejected about the process one night, he headed back to his hotel in Vancouver, where ?The Company You Keep? was shot.

?So I?m depressed and I go back to my room and I do something I don?t usually do and that?s surf.

?I?m sitting there all depressed, just drinking and surfing and drinking,? he said with a laugh.

?And suddenly I?m skipping across these channels and there?s this angelic face, this golden-haired angelic face ... singing. And there?s a close-up and I think: ?Who is that?? and she was singing Puccini?s opera.?

That girl was Evancho, whose soaring voice wowed TV audiences on ?America?s Got Talent? and caught the ear of uber-producer David Foster. She?s since released a hit Christmas CD, done PBS specials and performed for Oprah Winfrey and U.S. President Barack Obama.

But could she act? It didn?t initially appear so, said Redford.

After seeing her on TV, he sent out the word that he?d like to get an audition tape of the singing sensation.

?(The tape) was horrible because she didn?t know what was going on and I said: ?I don?t care and, my gut says (to cast her). So I cast her,?? Redford recalled.

Days later, the pint-sized prodigy was on a movie set trading improvised lines with a screen icon.

And Redford loved every minute of it.

?She was not affected, she played with me, I would kid around, she?d kid around with me,? he said. ?To me, that?s an incredible story how that happened.?

?The Company You Keep? opens Friday in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

? Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

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Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Robert+Redford+leading+lady+America+Talent/8281507/story.html

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