Life sentence in Ariz attack that wounded Giffords

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, partially blind, her right arm paralyzed and limp, came face to face Thursday with the man who tried to kill her last year, standing beside her husband as he spoke of her struggles to recover from being shot in the head.

"Her life has been forever changed. Plans she had for our family and her career have been immeasurably altered," said astronaut Mark Kelly, both he and his wife staring at the shooter inside a packed courtroom. "Every day is a continuous struggle to do those things she once was so good at."

Jared Lee Loughner, 24, was then ordered to serve seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years in federal prison for the January 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Giffords, outside a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz.

Loughner pleaded guilty under an agreement that guarantees he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. He avoids a federal death sentence, and local prosecutors said Thursday they would not seek state charges.

One by one, survivors of the attack at a Giffords political event approached the courtroom podium to address Loughner, each turning toward him where he sat stoic and emotionless at a table with his attorneys.

"You took away my life, my love and my reason for living," said Mavanell Stoddard, who was shot three times and cradled her dying husband in her arms as he lay bleeding on the sidewalk after shielding her from the spray of bullets.

Susan Hileman, who was shot, spoke to him, at times visibly shaking.

"We've been told about your demons, about the illness that skewed your thinking," she said. "Your parents, your schools, your community, they all failed you.

"It's all true," Hileman said. "It's not enough."

"You pointed a weapon and shot me three times," she said, staring directly at Loughner. He looked back at her. "And now I will walk out of this courtroom and into the rest of my life and I won't think of you again."

Loughner's parents sat nearby, his mother sobbing.

Some victims, including Giffords, welcomed the plea deal as a way to move on. It spared them and their families from having to go through a potentially lengthy and traumatic trial and locks up the defendant for life.

Giffords didn't speak, but stood by Kelly and kissed her husband when he was done. He grabbed her hand and they walked away, her limping.

Earlier, Loughner told Burns that he would not speak at the hearing.

Both sides reached the deal after a judge declared that Loughner was able to understand the charges against him. After the shooting, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and underwent forcible psychotropic drug treatments.

Christina Pietz, the court-appointed psychologist who treated Loughner, had warned that although Loughner was competent to plead guilty, he remained severely mentally ill and his condition could deteriorate under the stress of a trial.

When Loughner first arrived at a Missouri prison facility for treatment, he was convinced Giffords was dead, even though he was shown a video of the shooting. He eventually realized she was alive after he was forcibly medicated.

Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall said she reached out to family members, victims and survivors and decided against filing charges and seeking the death penalty.

It's unclear where Loughner will be sent to serve his federal sentence. He could return to a prison medical facility like the one in Springfield, Mo., where he's been treated for more than a year. Or he could end up in a prison such as the federal lockup in Florence, Colo., which houses some of the country's most notorious criminals, including Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/life-sentence-ariz-attack-wounded-giffords-191558574.html

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7-1 Bears will topple 7-1 Texans

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The lead is back to five.

Last week, we disagreed on one game:? Eagles at Saints.? I took the home team, MDS took the road team.? And I ended up 10-4 for the week to MDS?s 9-5.

This week, we disagree on twice as many games as last week.? Which sounds better than two.

For the year, I?m 83-49, and MDS is 78-54.? Yep, that?s a five-game lead.? Which definitely sounds better than two.

Colts at Jaguars

MDS?s take: The 5-3 Colts have an easy enough schedule the rest of the way that if they just win the games they should win, they?ll finish the season with a winning record. One of the games they should win is this one, and I think they will.

MDS?s pick: Colts 20, Jaguars 17.

Florio?s take:? The last time the Colts visited Jacksonville, a win by the home team ensured that Andrew Luck would head to Indy.? The Colts return as a playoff contender, intent on avenging a September home loss to the Jaguars.

Florio?s pick:? Colts 27, Jaguar 20.

Raiders at Ravens

MDS?s take: For a 6-2 team, the Ravens have a lot of question marks, especially on their aged and injured defense. But the Raiders have even more problems on defense, and I like Baltimore to win a high-scoring game.

MDS?s pick: Ravens 35, Raiders 31.

Florio?s take:? The Raiders aren?t as bad as you?d think, and the Ravens aren?t as good.? Look for Baltimore?s decimated run defense to thrive against Oakland?s decimated running game, and for the Ravens to do enough to fend off the Steelers as a pair of games against Pittsburgh loom on the schedule.

Florio?s pick:? Ravens 31, Raiders 14.

Broncos at Panthers

MDS?s take: Broncos coach John Fox will win back at his old stomping grounds in Carolina, where Peyton Manning will pick apart the Panthers? defense while Von Miller will make Cam Newton?s life miserable.

MDS?s pick: Broncos 28, Panthers 14.

Florio?s take:? John Fox returns to Charlotte with a quarterback far better than any he ever had when he coached the Panthers.? Against a team with plenty of guys Fox knows very well.? The Carolina winning streak ends at one.

Florio?s pick:? Broncos 30, Panthers 20.

Giants at Bengals

MDS?s take: I could pick this game with confidence if I knew which Giants team was going to show up. Will it be the team that showed up for 60 minutes and pounded the 49ers, or the team that sleepwalked through long stretches of close wins against the Redskins and Cowboys, and a close loss to the Steelers? Given the way the Giants have played the last three weeks I?m tempted to go with the upset, but the Bengals? defense has been so bad this season that Eli Manning simply has to have a good game.

MDS?s pick: Giants 29, Bengals 25.

Florio?s take:? The Bengals are in a free fall, and the Giants are caught in the early stages of their annual midseason swoon.? I?ve got more faith in the Giants getting it done, especially since Eli Manning will surely have the benefit of some insights from his big brother, who won four days ago in Cincinnati.

Florio?s pick:? Giants 31, Bengals 20.

Titans at Dolphins

MDS?s take: The Dolphins missed a golden opportunity to establish themselves as the AFC wild-card frontrunners on Sunday against the Colts, but I still like the way this team is playing, especially on defense. The Titans got a tongue-lashing from their owner after another bad loss on Sunday against the Bears, but that won?t be enough to shake them out of their doldrums.

MDS?s pick: Dolphins 35, Titans 17.

Florio?s take:? Jake Locker returns, his left shoulder coincidentally healing at the time Matt Hasselbeck lost his hot hand.? Locker will learn what everyone else has learned this year.? The Miami defense is pretty good.

Florio?s pick:? Dolphins 17, Titans 13.

Lions at Vikings

MDS?s take: When these teams met in Week Four in Detroit, the Vikings were bolstered by two kick return touchdowns and won 20-13. But the Lions have shored up their special teams problems, Vikings kickoff returner Percy Harvin is hurt, and the Lions should earn their first NFC North victory of the season in the rematch in Minnesota.

MDS?s pick: Lions 23, Vikings 10.

Florio?s take:? With a brutal post-bye schedule, this game could determine whether the Vikings will finish 6-10 or 5-11.? I?ll pick the Vikings now, primarily because it?s the last time I?ll pick them all season.

Florio?s pick:? Vikings 23, Lions 20.

Bills at Patriots

MDS?s take: In another rematch of a Week Four meeting, the Bills? defense is in big trouble.? It probably won?t get quite as ugly for Buffalo as it did in the Patriots? 52-28 win in September, but the Patriots will put plenty of points on the board.

MDS?s pick: Patriots 38, Bills 20.

Florio?s take:? The Pats scored 45 points against the Rams in 60 minutes, and 45 against the Bills in 25.? New England needs to keep its foot on the gas in order to get ready for some tough challenges that are waiting in the postseason.

Florio?s pick:? Patriots 38, Bills 21.

Falcons at Saints

MDS?s take: The Saints have won three out of four, and a win here would signal that New Orleans really has turned its season around. Unfortunately, there are just too many holes on the Saints? defense for New Orleans to stop a Falcons team that can attack with Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez, Michael Turner and Jacquizz Rodgers. This Falcons team just has too many weapons.

MDS?s pick: Falcons 27, Saints 21.

Florio?s take:? Halfway to an unblemished regular season, the Falcons simply don?t have the feel of a 16-0 team.? With four games against the Saints and Bucs over the balance of the year, the Falcons most likely won?t be.? It starts now, with the Saints staking their claim for a wild-card berth by hanging loss No. 1 on Atlanta.

Florio?s pick:? Saints 28, Falcons 27.

Chargers at Buccaneers

MDS?s take: With running back Doug Martin and a solid front seven on defense, the Bucs are becoming exactly the kind of team Greg Schiano wanted to build: A team that wins by running and stopping the run. Tampa Bay will do it again against a Chargers team that has yet to beat a good opponent all season.

MDS?s pick: Buccaneers 16, Chargers 14.

Florio?s take:? By playing last Thursday, the Chargers had some extra time to figure out how to stop the Muscle Hamster.? It won?t be enough.

Florio?s pick:? Buccaneers 27, Chargers 21.

Jets at Seahawks

MDS?s take: Seattle is a tough team to play for anyone, but I see Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and his receiving corps having a particularly tough game against a good Seahawks secondary. Rex Ryan will have a good game plan to contain Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, but the Seahawks? defense will lead the way to a low-scoring win.

MDS?s pick: Seahawks 12, Jets 7.

Florio?s take:? The Pete Carroll-Mark Sanchez reunion provides a great story line.? But the bottom line is that it?s foolish to pick against the Seahawks at home.

Florio?s pick:? Seahawks 21, Jets 13.

Cowboys at Eagles

MDS?s take: Until Monday night, I was still a believer in the Eagles? ability to turn their season around. But Philly?s offensive line looked terrible, the defense looked like it has taken a step backward with the departure of coordinator Juan Castillo, and the Eagles look like they?re ready to pack it in for the season. The Cowboys may still make a run at the playoffs, but the Eagles are done.

MDS?s pick: Cowboys 24, Eagles 14.

Florio?s take:? It?s a early playoff game between two teams that are destined to miss the playoffs.? In the past two weeks, the Cowboys gave the Falcons a much better game in Atlanta than the Eagles gave the Falcons at home.

Florio?s pick:? Cowboys 24, Eagles 21.

Rams at 49ers

MDS?s take: The 49ers? defense has had a few letdowns, but when they?re on their game it?s just about impossible to score on them. And they?ll be on their game against a mediocre Rams offense.

MDS?s pick: 49ers 20, Rams 3.

Florio?s take:? Lost in the success of the Falcons and the Bears, the resurgence of the Packers, and the collapse of the Eagles, the Niners are ready to remind everyone that they may be the best team in the conference.

Florio?s pick:? 49ers 27, Rams 9.

Texans at Bears

MDS?s take: In the best game of the week, the Bears? opportunistic defense will try to force turnovers against a Texans offense whose quarterback, Matt Schaub, has only four turnovers all season. I like the Bears to get the best of it.

MDS?s pick: Bears 17, Texans 10.

Florio?s take:? The Texans haven?t been stepping up in high-profile games, which doesn?t bode well for the playoffs.

Florio?s pick:? Bears 19, Texans 13.

Chiefs at Steelers

MDS?s take: The Steelers are on a three-game winning streak and the Chiefs are in a tailspin. The Monday night game will be over by halftime, and millions of Americans will go to bed early.

MDS?s pick: Steelers 34, Chiefs 9.

Florio?s take:? Todd Haley gets a crack at the Chiefs.? But the Chiefs also get a crack at Todd Haley.? If this one were being played in Kansas City, I?d take the upset.? But it?s hard to imagine a one-win team toppling the Steelers in their own building.

Florio?s pick:? Steelers 24, Chiefs 16.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/08/pfts-week-ten-picks/related/

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Data storage: How magnetic recording heats up

ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2012) ? Characterization of the thermal processes involved in heat-assisted magnetic recording paves the way for commercial devices.

Most electronic data is stored on magnetic hard drives that spin at many thousands of revolutions per minute. To keep pace with ever-growing storage demand, however, achieving greater storage capacities by simply increasing the size of disks is infeasible. The required spinning speed would put immense physical strain on the components, particularly on the writing 'head' -- a small needle-like object used to write data at particular points on the disk.

An alternative technology, heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), is now a significant step closer to commercial realization, thanks to the efforts of Baoxi Xu and his co-workers at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute, Singapore1. In a system using HAMR, laser light is emitted from a diode on the write head to locally heat the disk during data writing. This technique has the potential to increase a standard disk's recording density by as much as two orders of magnitude. However, the additional heat can cause components such as the write head to destabilize and fall out of alignment.

By studying the temperature increase of the head, the thermal effects on the disk and the thermal response of the lubricant in HAMR, Xu and his co-workers discovered how to maximize the recording density of the medium. They began by establishing the three major heat sources present in the device: the laser diode, the optical transducer, which concentrates the incident light into a nanometer-sized spot, and the write pole, which performs the physical recording.

They found that the temperature of the transducer depends on both its size and distance from the write pole -- both of which can be easily controlled in a commercial device. They also found that the temperature rise in the HAMR head does not significantly inhibit the performance of the laser diode, which is important.

Xu and his team's results showed that the recording density of the medium can be maximized by reducing the number of layers through which the heat energy must pass before it can dissipate. This will be of prime importance for achieving the required high-density data storage goals of commercial devices. This study therefore represents an important breakthrough in our understanding of HAMR, and will be essential in bringing this technology closer to commercial fruition.

"Our work indicates the seriousness of the problems in the HAMR head, which gives a reference for HAMR design, and also provides a direction for improving thermal structures for high-density HAMR recording," Xu says.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), via ResearchSEA.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. B. X. Xu, Z. J. Liu, R. Ji, Y. T. Toh, J. F. Hu, J. M. Li, J. Zhang, K. D. Ye, C. W. Chia. Thermal issues and their effects on heat-assisted magnetic recording system (invited). Journal of Applied Physics, 2012; 111 (7): 07B701 DOI: 10.1063/1.3671421

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/qtsUUiHhedw/121108140853.htm

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