Symantec updates its Counterclank malware claims

Symantec has "adjusted" its statement to Computer World that as many as 5 million Android users may be affected by the latest bit of malware, coming to the conclusion that the applications in question are simply using an aggressive ad network SDK.  This mirrors the statement issued by Lookout, as well as our own.  (And as well as Computer World's Android Power faction.)

After initially telling users that the "malicious code" found in 13 Android Market applications was malware and capable of data theft and other nefarious activity, Symantec now says the apps in question are more akin to Windows adware and not inherently malicious.  

In other words, it's crapware.  This we can all agree with.  The apps in question use an advertisement SDK that allows things none of us likes -- it can add bookmarks, change your homepage, add shortcuts to the home screen and the like.  We've all installed some free Windows program from the web, and had it install (or try to install) browser toolbars, add shortcuts to the home screen for more spammy programs.  We all hated it then, and we hate it now.  What we hate even more is when a company that claims to be acting in the interest of our security jumps the gun and labels these types of programs the same way it would label a bot or trojan.  

We're mostly informed users here, and quickly realize the difference.  But how many of those who stumbled across websites parroting Symantec's cries of five million infected are as Android savvy as we are?  There's a good chance that it's not that many.  Instead those readers were left confused and concerned that they had been "hacked."

We hope that the rest of the web that followed along will update their stories with today's news. And more important -- we hope that app developers stay far away from this sort of thing. Lord knows we're going to stay away from them if they don't.

Source: Symantec

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/tGBOueIYUQE/story01.htm

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If It Looks Like a Compliment, and Sounds Like a Compliment...Is It Really a Compliment?

Two weeks ago I was at Science Online 2012, the annual conference for science bloggers and writers in Raleigh, NC. While there, I attended the session on Blogging Science While Female (a more detailed summary of the session can be found here).

At the session, many of the women in the room expressed discouragement at how many comments they have received that, while seemingly complimentary, somehow still felt wrong. These comments may have focused on a blog author?s appearance rather than her post?s content, or called attention to the relative lack of women in science as if this should somehow make the addressed female scientist feel good about herself rather than marginalized. Even though these remarks can sometimes feel good to hear ? and no one is denying that this type of comment can feel good, especially in the right context ? they can also cause a feeling of unease, particularly when one is in the position of trying to draw attention towards her work rather than towards personal qualities like her gender or her appearance.

This isn?t just limited to Internet commenting, either. There are plenty of seemingly positive portrayals of women that nonetheless perpetuate harmful stereotypes, such as the omnipresent depiction of the ?how-does-she-do-it-all? housewife. Although a woman might feel complimented by this stereotype and the way in which it paints women as the kind of people who can ?magically? get so much done, it is also quite possible for a woman to feel like this stereotype creates an unfair standard of comparison, or, alternatively, like it depicts women as weak, frazzled creatures who should be receiving more help from men in order to manage their lives without suffering a nervous breakdown. In social psychology, we refer to this phenomenon as benevolent sexism. Although it is tempting to brush this experience off as an overreaction to compliments or a misunderstanding of the communicator?s benign intent, benevolent sexism is a phenomenon that is both real and insidiously dangerous.

What Is Benevolent Sexism?

In 1996, Peter Glick and Susan Fiske wrote a paper on the concept of ambivalent sexism, noting that despite common beliefs, there are actually two different kinds of sexist attitudes and behavior. Hostile sexism is what most people think of when they picture ?sexism? ? angry, explicitly negative attitudes towards women. However, the authors note, there is also something called benevolent sexism:

We define benevolent sexism as a set of interrelated attitudes toward women that are sexist in terms of viewing women stereotypically and in restricted roles but that are subjectively positive in feeling tone (for the perceiver) and also tend to elicit behaviors typically categorized as prosocial (e.g., helping) or intimacy-seeking (e.g., self-disclosure) (Glick & Fiske, 1996, p. 491).

[Benevolent sexism is] a subjectively positive orientation of protection, idealization, and affection directed toward women that, like hostile sexism, serves to justify women?s subordinate status to men (Glick et al., 2000, p. 763).

Essentially, there?s now a formal name for all of those comments and stereotypes that can somehow feel both nice and wrong at the same time, such as the belief that women are ?delicate flowers? that need to be protected by men, or the notion that women have the special gift of being ?more kind and caring? than their male counterparts. And yes, it might sound complimentary, but it still counts as sexism.

Why is Benevolent Sexism a problem?

Admittedly, this research begs an obvious question. If benevolently sexist comments seem like nothing more than compliments, why are they problematic? Is it really ?sexism? if the content of the statements appears to be positive towards women?

Well, for one thing, benevolently sexist statements often depict women as weak, sensitive creatures that need to be ?protected.? While this may seem positive to some, for others ? especially women in male-dominated fields, or those who simply want to be seen as strong ? it creates a damaging stereotype. Second of all, by depicting women as homogenously different from men in any way not directly related to chromosomes or genitalia, benevolently sexist statements sometimes justify a climate where opportunities can be withheld from women because they are somehow ?different.??Indeed, as Glick and Fiske themselves note in their seminal paper:

We do not consider benevolent sexism a good thing, for despite the positive feelings it may indicate for the perceiver, its underpinnings lie in traditional stereotyping and masculine dominance (e.g., the man as the provider and woman as his dependent), and its consequences are often damaging. Benevolent sexism is not necessarily experienced as benevolent by the recipient. For example, a man?s comment to a female coworker on how ?cute? she looks, however well-intentioned, may undermine her feelings of being taken seriously as a professional (Glick & Fiske, 1996, p. 491-492).

In a later paper by Glick and Fiske, they examined levels of hostile and benevolent sexism across 15,000 men and women in 19 different countries. First of all, they found that hostile and benevolent sexism tend to correlate highly across nations. It is not the case that people who endorse hostile sexism don?t tend to endorse benevolent sexism, whereas those who are benevolently sexist look nothing like the hostilely sexist people. On the contrary, those who endorsed benevolent sexism were also very likely to hold explicit, hostile attitudes towards women (although one does not necessarily have to endorse these hostile attitudes in order to engage in benevolent sexism).

Secondly, they discovered that benevolent sexism was a significant predictor of nationwide gender inequality, independent of the effects of hostile sexism. Specifically, in countries where the men were more likely to endorse benevolent sexism, there were also significantly lower female participation rates in politics and the economy, and men generally had longer life expectancies, higher literacy rates, more years of education, and higher purchasing power than women. The warm, fuzzy feelings surrounding benevolently sexist statements come at a cost, and that cost is often actual, objective gender equality.

The Insidious Nature of Benevolent Sexism

A recent paper by Julia Becker and Stephen Wright details even more of the insidious ways that benevolent sexism might be harmful for both women and social activism. In a series of experiments, women were exposed to statements that either illustrated hostile sexism (e.g. ?Women are too easily offended?) or benevolent sexism (e.g. ?Women have a way of caring that men are not capable of in the same way.?) The results are quite discouraging; when the women read statements illustrating benevolent sexism, they were less willing to engage in anti-sexist collective action, such as signing a petition, participating in a rally, or generally ?acting against sexism.? Not only that, but this effect was partially mediated by the fact that women who were exposed to benevolent sexism were more likely to think that there are many advantages to being a woman and were also more likely to engage in system justification, a process by which people justify the status quo and believe that there are no longer problems facing disadvantaged groups (such as women) in modern day society. Furthermore, women who were exposed to hostile sexism actually displayed the opposite effect ? they were more likely to intend to engage in collective action, and more willing to fight against sexism in their everyday lives.

How might this play out in a day-to-day context? Imagine that there?s an anti-woman policy being brought to a vote, such as a regulation that would make it easier for local businesses to fire pregnant women once they find out that they are expecting. If you are collecting signatures for a petition or trying to gather women to protest this policy and those women were recently exposed to a group of men making comments about the policy in question, it would be significantly easier to gain their support and vote down the policy if the men were commenting that pregnant women should be fired because they were dumb for getting pregnant in the first place. However, if they instead happened to mention that women are much more compassionate than men and make better stay-at-home parents as a result, these remarks might actually lead these women to be less likely to fight an objectively sexist policy.

?I Mean, Is Sexism Really Still A Problem In 2012??

It sometimes seems like every day, we hear people claiming that sexism, racism, or other forms of discrimination that seem to be outdated are ?no longer really a problem.? Some people legitimately believe this to be true, while others (particularly women and racial minorities) find it ridiculous that others could be so blind to the problems that still exist. So why does this disparity exist? Why is it so difficult for so many people to see that sexism and racism are still alive and thriving?

Maybe the answer lies right here, on the benevolent side of prejudice. While ?old fashioned? forms of discrimination may have died down quite a bit (after all, it really isn?t quite as socially acceptable in most areas of the world to be as explicitly sexist and/or racist as people have been in the past), more ?benevolent? forms of discrimination still very much exist, and they have their own sneaky ways of suppressing equality. Unaffected bystanders (or perpetrators) may construe benevolently sexist sentiments as harmless or even beneficial; in fact, as demonstrated by Becker and Wright, targets may even feel better about themselves after exposure to benevolently sexist statements. This could be, in some ways, even worse than explicit, hostile discrimination; because it hides under the guise of compliments, it?s easy to use benevolent sexism to demotivate people against collective action or convince people that there is no longer a need to fight for equality.

However, to those people who still may be tempted to argue that benevolent sexism is nothing more than an overreaction to well-intentioned compliments, let me pose this question: What happens when there is a predominant stereotype saying that women are better stay-at-home parents than men because they are inherently more caring, maternal, and compassionate? It seems nice enough, but how does this ideology affect the woman who wants to continue to work full time after having her first child and faces judgment from her colleagues who accuse her of neglecting her child? How does it affect the man who wants to stay at home with his newborn baby, only to discover that his company doesn?t offer paternity leave because they assume that women are the better candidates to be staying at home?

At the end of the day, ?good intent? is not a panacea. Benevolent sexism may very well seem like harmless flattery to many (or most) people, but that doesn?t mean it isn?t insidiously dangerous, with far-reaching consequences for men and women alike.

Citations:

Becker, J., & Wright, S. (2011). Yet another dark side of chivalry: Benevolent sexism undermines and hostile sexism motivates collective action for social change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101 (1), 62-77 DOI: 10.1037/a0022615

Glick, P., & Fiske, S. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70 (3), 491-512 DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.70.3.491

Glick, P., Fiske, S., Mladinic, A., Saiz, J., Abrams, D., Masser, B., Adetoun, B., Osagie, J., Akande, A., Alao, A., Annetje, B., Willemsen, T., Chipeta, K., Dardenne, B., Dijksterhuis, A., Wigboldus, D., Eckes, T., Six-Materna, I., Exp?sito, F., Moya, M., Foddy, M., Kim, H., Lameiras, M., Sotelo, M., Mucchi-Faina, A., Romani, M., Sakalli, N., Udegbe, B., Yamamoto, M., Ui, M., Ferreira, M., & L?pez, W. (2000). Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79 (5), 763-775 DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.79.5.763

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=822c4d30f751df4dec8ceac5ef310e8c

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Landowners fight eminent domain in Pa. gas field (AP)

LAPORTE, Pa. ? When federal regulators approved a 39-mile natural gas pipeline through northern Pennsylvania's pristine Endless Mountains, they cited the operator's assurances that it would make sparing use of eminent domain as it negotiated with more than 150 property owners along the pipeline's route.

Yet a few days after winning approval for its $250 million MARC 1 pipeline in the heart of the giant Marcellus Shale gas field, the company began condemnation proceedings against nearly half of the landowners ? undercutting part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval rationale and angering landowners.

Some of the landowners are now fighting the company in court, complaining that Central New York Oil and Gas Company LLC steamrolled them by refusing to negotiate in good faith on monetary compensation and the pipeline's location. Their attorneys say CNYOG has skirted Pennsylvania's eminent domain rules.

The company, a subsidiary of Inergy LP of Kansas City, Mo., insists it's trying to reach a "fair settlement" with all property owners and wants to be a good neighbor.

The dispute could foreshadow eminent domain battles to come as more pipelines are approved and built to carry shale gas to market in states like Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.

The company promotes the MARC 1 pipeline as key infrastructure in developing the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation underneath Pennsylvania and surrounding states that experts believe holds the nation's largest reservoir of gas. The MARC 1, a high-pressure steel pipeline 30 inches in diameter, will connect to major interstate pipelines and the company's own natural gas storage facility in southern New York state.

CNYOG hopes to start construction soon and finish by July, but it awaits permits from Pennsylvania environmental regulators and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

It also needs to answer the legal challenge from residents.

Many of the complaining landowners say they favor natural gas drilling and some have leased land to gas drillers. What rankles them is that FERC has invested CNYOG with the power of eminent domain, taking away their bargaining power.

"Once the government becomes involved, this is what happens. Because you lose that leverage," said Amy Gardner, who, with her husband, faces condemnation of part of their 175-acre parcel in Sullivan County.

The Gardners say CNYOG offered less than a third of the amount that another pipeline company had previously paid them to install a gathering line on their land. The difference? Gathering lines ? smaller pipelines that take gas from the wellhead to a transmission line or processing facility ? are not regulated by the federal government and companies that operate them don't have condemnation power.

Amy Gardner said a company representative who made them the lowball offer told them to "take it or leave it."

"There's no negotiating with this company. They come and they tell you what they're going to do. They're telling you what they're going to pay. And they're counting on the government to enforce it," Gardner said in a recent interview at the Sullivan County Courthouse, where a judge has scheduled a mid-February hearing on the landowners' concerns.

Amounts offered by CNYOG range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the amount of property taken. Court papers filed by CNYOG in late December say it valued damages at 37 condemned properties in Sullivan County at $310,900.

The pipeline has been controversial since it was first proposed two years ago.

FERC, which considers all applications for new interstate pipelines, received 22,000 comments on the MARC 1 project, with many expressing concern about environmental and safety impacts. The Environmental Protection Agency also worried about potential damage to the forest ecosystem, noting the pipeline will cross dozens of pristine waterways in an area popular with hikers, hunters and fishermen.

FERC ultimately determined the pipeline would not significantly impact the environment and allowed it to proceed.

The commission was also supposed to consider whether there would be an "unneeded exercise" of eminent domain ? the often-contentious legal process by which the government, or a party such as a public utility, takes private property for public benefit.

Indeed, the commission said last year its approval relied on the company's assertion that it was acquiring land "through negotiated agreements with landowners, thus minimizing the need" to condemn people's land.

In reality, the company had prepared condemnation papers for dozens of properties even before winning commission approval on Nov. 14. Within a few days, it began eminent domain proceedings against 74 of 152 property owners along the pipeline's route through the mountains of Bradford, Lycoming and Sullivan counties.

Deborah Goldberg, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, said the large number of condemnations suggests that CNYOG "never made a serious effort to get negotiated agreements with the landowners that the landowners thought were fair." Earthjustice has intervened in the case and is challenging the pipeline's approval.

While most of the landowners receiving condemnation papers have since settled ? the company says private agreement has been reached with more than 80 percent of the landowners ? Goldberg suggested the pace of settlements has quickened because condemnation takes leverage away from the property owner.

The company insists it has met its obligation to negotiate. Its attorney, Michael Wright, said there were several "meet-in-the-middle cases" involving compromise.

"It's not like we were sitting silently until the FERC order and rushed to the courthouse," said Wright, who is based in Vestal, N.Y. "To say we did not attempt to negotiate in good faith is incorrect."

Wright acknowledged, however, that CNYOG told landowners that if they challenged the company in court, forcing it to incur legal expenses, then any deal on the table would be withdrawn.

Some landowners aren't interested in the money. They're more concerned about the pipeline's route.

CNYOG told Bob Swartz that it plans to cut a 50-foot-wide, 400-foot-long gash through an ancient stand of trees across the front of his property. When Swartz proposed an alternate route through an open field that would preserve his trees and views, the company said it wasn't interested and offered instead to pay him for the wood.

"That's not negotiation. It was their way or no way, and `we'll see you in court.' It's the little guys against Goliath," said Swartz, who has challenged the company in court.

Another landowner, Lisa Richlin, has appealed to federal regulators to force CNYOG to abandon plans for an access road along her property. Richlin said the road is at the bottom of a long hill and around a sharp bend where there have been many accidents, at least one of them fatal.

When Richlin pressed the company to use an alternate route a short distance away, she said, the company told her that would result in a six-month delay.

"I want them to go elsewhere. I don't want somebody to die because of stupidity," she said.

In a statement, the company said it has accommodated dozens of landowner requests for route changes, but can't do more because of "environmental, cultural and biological restrictions as well as other land use constraints."

Some landowners who didn't bother fighting the pipeline say the company still managed to leave a bad taste.

Linda Gavitt of Sonestown said she signed with CNYOG because she didn't feel it was worth it to hire a lawyer to fight for more money. Even as she signed the paperwork, she got a hint of the company's negotiating stance.

"They said that other people were holding out because they wanted more money," Gavitt recalled. "They said, `We're not paying more money because this is a federal line that's going to go through no matter what, and $2 a foot is what we pay.'"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_re_us/us_gas_drilling_eminent_domain

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Romney has 20 point lead in new Florida poll (Washington Bureau)

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"Beasts," "The Surrogate" aim for post-Sundance success (Reuters)

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) ? Dramas "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "The Surrogate" won big at the Sundance Film Festival over the weekend, giving the event a burst of energy after early movies with grim sagas and star names failed to impress critics.

"Beasts of the Southern Wild," a poetic, mystical tale of the bond between a father and daughter, set in impoverished Louisiana with a cast of non-actors, won the jury prize for best U.S. drama and another for its cinematography.

"The Surrogate" claimed the audience award for U.S. drama with its witty and inspirational look at a man's quest to lose his virginity while confined to an iron lung, and it could prove to be the bigger winner at box offices when it reaches cinemas.

The film, based on the life of poet and journalist Mark O'Brien, fetched what may be the highest selling price at the festival by the time all the deal-making ends -- a reported $6 million from Fox Searchlight, the studio behind current Oscar hopeful "The Descendants."

"Surrogate" stars Helen Hunt as an oft-naked sex therapist, John Hawkes as O'Brien and William H. Macy as a priest, and together they picked up a special Sundance jury prize for ensemble acting.

Director and writer Ben Lewin said after a screening on Saturday that he tried to capture O'Brien's "self-deprecating humor and view of life as the absurd." Upon accepting his trophy at the award ceremony, he quoted a line from his script: "Love is a journey, that's it."

Another festival favorite, the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man," tells a miraculous tale of a quest to find an obscure 1970s Detroit folk singer known as Rodriguez who was rumored to have shot himself on stage. It picked up the audience award for world documentary and also won a special jury prize.

Malik Bendjelloul, making his directing debut, said his film began as a 6-minute TV story but ended up taking five years to turn into a feature film. It's a touching portrait of a modest, inspirational singer who failed to make it in the United States and quit singing before learning he was a huge hit in South Africa.

Other fiction films that impressed the crowds at Sundance included "Smashed," a refreshing comedy drama on alcoholism that picked up a special jury prize, and prison tale "Middle of Nowhere," for which Ava DuVernay won the directing prize.

SEARCHING FOR HITS

Festival winners and movies that premiere at Sundance, which has debuted hits in past years such as "Little Miss Sunshine" and "An Inconvenient Truth," often go on to become some of the most talked-about films for fans of independent cinema.

But this year's festival got off to a slow start, marked by what Robert Redford, whose Sundance Institute for independent filmmaking backs the event, characterized as films that reflected the "dark and grim" times Americans are facing.

Some winners did serve that theme, including documentary winner "The House I Live In" by Eugene Jarecki. It made a case that America's decades-long "war on drugs" had failed and mostly resulted in huge prison populations and hurt poor communities.

"The war on drugs is a terrible scar on America," Jarecki said at Saturday's awards ceremony, citing the large number of unfair drug penalties affecting minorities, as well as police and judges. He called it "tragically immoral and so heartbreakingly wrong and misguided."

"The Invisible War," which tells of previously unknown incidents of rape and sexual assault in the U.S. military, won the U.S. documentary audience award. Director Kirby Dick dedicated it to those in the military who speak out in hope that "this epidemic finally stops."

Among world cinema, Chile's "Violeta Went To Heaven," based on the life of Chilean folk singer Violeta Parra's journey from a poor upbringing to hero, won the jury prize for best drama.

The world fiction audience award went to Kashmiri tale "Valley Of Saints," and "The Law In These Parts," which looks at the system of law administered by Israel on Palestinians, was the jury's pick for best world documentary.

Other world cinema premieres that impressed outside the competition included "Shadow Dancer," British filmmaker James Marsh's look at a mother who's deeply entrenched in the IRA and forced to become an informant.

SHOWBIZ AT SUNDANCE

While Sundance has attracted more foreign films in recent years, its main focus remains its role as the premiere event for U.S. independent films and as a marketplace for buyers and sellers.

This year, while business was brisk, buyers were more cautious after several higher-profile movies from 2011 failed to perform as expected at the box office.

Festival films did not fetch the high dollar figures, and there were fewer deals compared with last year's robust marketplace. But, as in year's past, some deals won't materialize until after the festival's end on Sunday.

A flurry of deals did get done over the closing weekend, with Hollywood showbiz website Deadline reporting that rights to Stephen Frears' "Lay The Favorite" were bought by Weinstein Co. for about $2 million.

But many of the widely hyped films going into the festival, including Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer" and closing film "The Words," starring Bradley Cooper, were panned by critics.

Others, such as "Arbitrage," starring Richard Gere as billionaire hedge fund magnate whose world falls apart, and "Red Lights," with Robert De Niro playing a blind psychic, received mixed reviews but still found buyers thanks to their star appeal.

(Reporting By Christine Kearney; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Sheri Linden)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/film_nm/us_sundance_close

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S&P 500 Week in Review: Netflix Draws Investing Demand, E-Trade ...

By Scott Gillette

January 29 2012 Email This

Scottrade: $7 Online Trades. Real-Time Stock Quotes

Monday

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was hit hard pre-market by Wedbush?s lack of confidence. Wedbush believes that Q1 earnings will be poor, and 2012 consensus estimates ill drop a buck a share. Piper Jaffray, for what it?s worth, is optimistic about Netflix, as they think the customer base will stabilize and ultimately grow again.

Don?t Miss: Netflix?s Streaming Service Comes Up Short for Movie Buffs.

Halliburton?s?(NYSE:HAL) results came in this morning, and although EPS and revenues beat estimates, the higher expectations of the market were not met. Interesting tidbit: unconventional oil drilling has twice as much activity as unconventional gas drilling.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN): The entire pharmaceutical sector is being downgraded, and Amgen is no exception. Its stock has been downgraded to underweight by JP Morgan.

Earnings Report: PetMed Express Inc. Earnings: Shrinking Margins for Fifth Consecutive Quarter, Net Income Falls.

Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD): The performance of this stock has been remarkable: up 69% year to date, the stock jumped by 8% before coming down close to where it started at the beginning of trading. Some believe Sears is now in a classic short squeeze.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE:SWN) popped along with other natural gas producers because the spike of prices and Chesapeake?s planned cuts in production.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK): After sinking overnight to $2.20, natural gas futures jumped 6.4% in a matter of minutes. Apparently there were too many short-sellers in the natural gas market, and the market has taken care of them for the time being.

Tuesday

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Source: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/sp-500-week-in-review-netflix-draws-investing-demand-e-trade-under-pressure.html/

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Marshall's 4 TD catches lift AFC in Pro Bowl (AP)

HONOLULU ? Brandon Marshall isn't taking time in the islands to relish his record-breaking Pro Bowl performance. He's ready to get back to work.

The Miami Dolphins wide receiver caught six passes for 176 yards and a Pro Bowl-record four touchdowns, and the AFC used a second-half surge to beat the NFC 59-41 Sunday.

Marshall, who had a game filled with highlight-reel grabs, was selected the game's MVP, and his name now will join the likes of Walter Payton and Jerry Rice on the banners at Aloha Stadium.

"You know what? I wanted it," he said. "It's a Pro Bowl. Some guys are playing 100 (percent), some guys are playing 90, some guys aren't playing at all, but it means a lot to be up in the rafters with some of these guys."

Marshall hopes some of the Pro Bowl magic will carry over to next season, where the Dolphins will be under new coach Joe Philbin, Green Bay's offensive coordinator for the past five years.

"Hopefully down in Miami we can get some things turned around," Marshall said. "We have some special things to do, and we will do some special things down in South Beach."

Marshall had changed his flight to leave Honolulu on Sunday night, so he could meet Philbin on Monday. "I know he's going to do a great job," he said.

The 59 points by the AFC set a Pro Bowl mark, and the 100 points scored by the teams combined was the second highest, a touchdown shy of the 107 scored in 2004.

While everyone was playing at half-speed and ready to extend their Hawaiian vacations, Marshall played with urgency.

"You never know when you're going to be back," Marshall said, "and I wanted to go all out today because it could be my last Pro Bowl."

He hauled in a deflected, go-ahead 47-yard TD pass from Andy Dalton, while on his back, to give the AFC a 38-35 lead late in the third quarter. It was Marshall's third TD catch of the game, tying Jimmy Smith's Pro Bowl record set in 2004.

"It was the most unathletic highlight I ever had," he said. "Andy put it up there for me to make a play. I saw the ball, got nervous, fell, saw the ball, kicked it up and it just fell in my hands."

Marshall, making his third Pro Bowl appearance, then nabbed a 3-yard TD pass from Dalton that gave the AFC a 52-35 lead with 8:25 left.

Hawaii has been kind to Marshall, who also won MVP honors at Aloha Stadium in his final game at Central Florida in the 2005 Hawaii Bowl, where he caught 11 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns.

Marshall noted he had six TDs this season, but four this game.

"It says a lot when you're playing with these type of quarterbacks," Marshall said. "They just put it in the right place and I just made the play. Hats off to those guys throwing me the ball."

The game featured rookie quarterbacks Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals, who replaced Super Bowl quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Brady and played the entire second half. Their selection made this Pro Bowl the first to feature two rookie signal callers.

While Dalton looked composed, Newton played horribly ? struggling to move the ball, stay in the pocket and find his targets, which drew some boos from the sun-splashed, sellout crowd of 48,423.

"No excuses," Newton said. "When you hang the ball up there, against these kind of players, that's what you get," Newton said. "It's the good and the bad of playing in a Pro Bowl. I learned a lot."

Newton finished 9 of 27 for 186 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Eric Weddle picked off Newton twice. Dalton, meanwhile, was 7 of 9 for 99 yards and two TDs.

For the NFC, Aaron Rodgers was 13 of 17 for 141 yards and two TDs. But he was watching late in the game as Newton struggled.

"It's tough to be the last guy in, when it's the fourth quarter and money becomes an issue," he said. "Guys are playing a little bit harder. They come at you."

The NFC had three players with 100-yard yard receiving: Tony Gonzalez (seven for 114), Larry Fitzgerald (6 for 111) and Steve Smith (5 for 118).

Rodgers and Fitzgerald connected for a pair of scores on back-to-back plays to put the NFC up 14-0 early in the game.

After stopping the AFC on fourth down at midfield, Rodgers drove the NFC down the field and threw a 10-yard TD toss to Fitzgerald. Six seconds later, Rodgers aired a 44-yard rainbow in the end zone to Fitzgerald for another score after the NFC got the ball back with a surprise onside kick.

The reception was Fitzgerald's sixth career TD catch in the Pro Bowl, tying Gonzalez's record. He would break the record with the game's last touchdown, on a 36-yard pass from Newton.

The AFC came right back and tied it up on two deep TD passes on the right side by Ben Roethlisberger. He threw a 34-yarder to rookie A.J. Green, and then connected with Marshall on a 74-yarder.

Each AFC player earned a record $50,000 for the win, while the NFC players received $25,000.

While the players hope to return to Hawaii next year, it's still unknown where the 2013 Pro Bowl will be played. Sunday's game marked the final one under contract between the NFL and Hawaii.

"As someone who played in the Pro Bowl when it was in a different city, I can tell you that it's not a real comparison," Rodgers said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_pro_bowl_folo

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Oakland police arresting about 100 protesters

Police move in on Occupy Oakland protesters on Oak Street and 12th Street as tear gas gets blown back on them in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An unlawful assembly was declared as occupiers planned to take over an undisclosed building. (AP Photo/The Tribune, Bay Area News Group) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Police move in on Occupy Oakland protesters on Oak Street and 12th Street as tear gas gets blown back on them in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An unlawful assembly was declared as occupiers planned to take over an undisclosed building. (AP Photo/The Tribune, Bay Area News Group) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Oakland police deploy smoke and tear gas to stop protesters with the Occupy Oakland as they march through the streets of downtown Oakland, Calif., Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. With plans to take over a vacant building, Occupy Oakland spokesman Leo Ritz-Barr said the action "signals a new direction for the Occupy movement: putting vacant buildings at the service of the community." (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Macor) NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG & CHRONICLE; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

Occupy Oakland protesters march down Broadway in Oakland, Calif. on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012. An unlawful assembly was declared as occupiers planned to take over an undisclosed building. (AP Photo/The Tribune, Bay Area News Group, Jane Tyska) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Protesters break down fences in front of the Kaiser Convention Center, as protesters with Occupy Oakland march through the streets of downtown Oakland, Calif., Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. With plans to take over a vacant building, Occupy Oakland spokesman Leo Ritz-Barr said the action "signals a new direction for the Occupy movement: putting vacant buildings at the service of the community." (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Macor) NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG & CHRONICLE; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

Protesters break down fences in front of the Kaiser Convention Center, as protesters with Occupy Oakland march through the streets of downtown Oakland, Calif., Saturday Jan. 28, 2012. With plans to take over a vacant building, Occupy Oakland spokesman Leo Ritz-Barr said the action "signals a new direction for the Occupy movement: putting vacant buildings at the service of the community." (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Michael Macor) NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG & CHRONICLE; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? Oakland officials say police are in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse.

Police Sgt. Christopher Bolton says the arrests come after Occupy Oakland protesters marched through downtown Oakland a little before 8 p.m. Saturday, with some of the protesters entering a YMCA building in the city's downtown.

The arrests Saturday night come after 19 people were arrested in Occupy Oakland protests during the day.

Police used tear gas and "flash" grenades on the group Saturday afternoon after some demonstrators threw rocks and other objects at them and tore down fencing.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-28-Occupy%20Oakland/id-c85beb94ef674eb889dd6dc0ae41c2f9

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Troopers: At least 9 dead in wrecks on I-75 in Fla (AP)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? Authorities say at least nine people died in a series of crashes apparently caused by heavy smoke and fog overnight on Interstate 75 in north Florida.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan says the pileups happened around 3:45 a.m. Sunday on both sides of I-75 south of Gainesville. All lanes of the interstate are still closed.

He says several people were also injured and taken to Gainesville hospitals. Their conditions were unclear.

Riordan says FHP had closed the highway briefly overnight because of the mixture of smoke and fog in the Paynes Prairie area. It was reopened shortly before the crashes occurred.

The crashes involved four to five large commercial vehicles and at least six passenger vehicles.

Riordan says U.S. 441 is also closed and traffic is being diverted onto U.S. 301 and State Road 27.

___

Information from: The Gainesville Sun, http://www.gainesvillesun.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_deadly_interstate_crash

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Who Knew Sesame Street Was the Place to See Such Smut? [Image Cache]

Mild and graphic violence? Nudity? RAPE? Looks like Sesame Street is suffering from a bit of urban blight. [Reddit via Buzzfeed] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/dRBuKwJC8Vo/who-knew-sesame-street-was-the-place-to-see-such-smut

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Meet 'Rosie' and 'Ken': 2 chimps, many experiments

By Lisa Myers and Diane Beasley
Rock Center

Rosie and Ken are 30-year-old chimpanzees who've never known a day of freedom. They were born in research labs and have spent almost their entire lives being experimented on by scientists in search of cures for human diseases.

These two chimpanzees have been infected with viruses, darted, and sedated more than 100 times, and put through dozens of sometimes painful procedures. For years, Rosie repeatedly was given a drug that caused her seizures.

Today, these aging chimps are?living in large enclosures called primadomes at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, available to be used for still more experiments. When Rosie and Ken and a dozen other chimps were shipped to the lab, in 2010, after a 10-year hiatus from invasive testing, it provoked a public outcry.

Chimpanzee 'Ken' in his enclosure.

We met Rosie and Ken not long ago, when,?after months of negotiation, Texas Biomed gave NBC News unprecedented access to the highly secretive world of primate research.

Dr. Robert Lanford, who has experimented on chimps for 27 years, said he wants the public to see what it's like at his research lab today. "The American people has had the wrong opinion that these animals are in little bitty cages in a dark room with no windows," he said. "I want them to see who we are and how we take care of the animals and why we're doing it."

Dr. John VandeBerg, director of the primate research center, says chimpanzees here are treated "with the utmost of reverence," and have a "high quality of life."

But that quality of life is a matter of intense debate and part of the emotional argument over whether experimenting on chimps is morally and scientifically justified to save human lives. Also at issue: When is enough enough? When do chimps who've given much in the name of science get to retire to the relative freedom of a sanctuary?

---

One reason chimpanzee research is so controversial? is that these amazing creatures share 98 percent?of our DNA and have many human traits, including emotions ranging from joy to sadness and fear.

"Remember we're talking about our closest living relatives with brains so sophisticated that they can do a lot of? problems on a computer with a touchpad, faster than secondary school students. That's how bright they are," said famed anthropologist and primatologist Jane Goodall in an interview with NBC News.?

Anthropologist and primatologist Jane Goodall.

Dr. Goodall has worked tirelessly for decades to improve the lives of lab chimps and to persuade scientists and the government that this research should be banned.

"All invasive research is torture," Goodall says. "And it's not just the procedures. It's the imprisonment. It's being kept in a small space with no choice. You just are there. You're powerless."

Over the four days our team spent at Texas Biomed, our cameras were required to shoot from a "safe zone," since many of the chimps, like Ken and Rosie, are infected with viruses such as Hepatitis C and HIV. So to get close-ups of the chimps, we built special equipment to attach small cameras to the cages. At first, the chimps tried to remove them?? and then, were fascinated by seeing their own reflections in the camera lens.

We saw three different types of housing where the chimps live, enrichment which involves activities to keep them engaged, and their interaction with behaviorists. We observed how the chimpanzees are trained to voluntarily present their own body parts to receive shots.? We also were allowed to watch one of Lanford's experiments in which a chimp who'd been infected with the Hepatitis C virus was sedated and then bled. Lanford has been working to find a vaccine for over a decade.

Testing on chimps has saved lives in the past: it helped produce the Hepatitis B vaccine which is now given to children at birth.

But scientists disagree about whether chimps are needed to find a cure for Hepatitis C. Lanford says testing on chimps will save human lives. Chimps are crucial, he says, because they're the only animals that can be infected with the virus. Unlike humans, they don't develop liver disease.

Scientists here also argue that they provide a quality of life for chimpanzees which is just as good as a sanctuary, and that instead of being retired, chimps like Rosie and Ken should live out their?days in the labs, in case they are needed for research in the future.

"I think of the chimpanzees in the same way that I think of a library. There are many books in the library that will never be used this year or next year," VandeBerg says. "Many of them might never be used again. But we don't know which ones will be needed tomorrow, next year or the year after."

Goodall says that's a terrible idea. "Most of them are just stockpiled. Most of them are not being used. They're just there in case maybe one day we might want to use them again," she said. "I definitely think at a certain point, they deserve to be freed from this kind of life of servitude."

Whether a chimp gets to retire is entirely up to the labs and the government. There is no ethical standard or uniform criteria.

According to Goodall, "the tragedy is that some of the chimps in the labs know nothing else. They have never tasted any kind of freedom in their lives. Freedom to choose, freedom to go where they want."

To see what life looks like for lab chimps lucky enough to be deemed no longer needed for research, we spent two days at the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Shreveport, Louisiana. It's aptly known as "Chimp Haven."

In the back woods of Louisiana, for the first time in most of their lives, the chimps can walk on grass, swing in the trees ... and forage in the forest.

Dr. Linda Brent founded Chimp Haven, after spending 16 years as a behaviorist at Texas Biomed. "Everything we do here, from the way the facility was built to the things we give to the chimpanzees and the way we manage the facility, every decision we make is for the welfare of the chimpanzees," she says.??

Editor's Note: Lisa Myers' full report airs Monday, Jan. 30 at 10pm/9c on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.?

Source: http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10251519-a-question-of-freedom-for-chimpanzees-who-spend-lives-in-research-labs

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How to Get to the Seafloor Without Holding Your Breath [Design]

Before we had ALVIN—or proper submarines for that matter—the best way to get to the seafloor was by using a diving bell. Originally made from recycled church bells, these diving apparatuses protected their passengers from the murky depths in a bubble of air. Our friends at Oobject have assembled nine of the best. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JYrbLGiprig/

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South Korea's Live Park uses RFID and Kinect to bring your Holodeck fantasies one step nearer

All those long, long drives to Florida in the family station wagon seemed worth it at the time, but now that we've found out that those lucky South Koreans have another crazy theme-park, we might just change our minds. Located near Seoul, Live Park uses 3D video, holograms and augmented reality, interacting with RFID wrist bands and Kinect sensors to stitch together a continuous immersive story. You (and your avatar!) have 65 attractions, over seven themed zones, and the world's biggest interactive 360 degree stereoscopic theater to wave, jump and shout your way through. Two years and $13 million in the making, Live Park's creator d'strict is now looking to license the concept out internationally, with locations in China and Singapore already earmarked. We're not sure we could handle that long of a family drive just yet, but with a Hollywood entertainment "powerhouse" reportedly nibbling, maybe we won't have to.

Continue reading South Korea's Live Park uses RFID and Kinect to bring your Holodeck fantasies one step nearer

South Korea's Live Park uses RFID and Kinect to bring your Holodeck fantasies one step nearer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ubergizmo  |  Live Park  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/27/south-koreas-live-park-uses-rfid-and-kinect-to-bring-your-holod/

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Celebrity Divorces: Which Was the Most Shocking of the Past Year?

There have been so many shocking celebrity divorces lately, even by Hollywood standards. Not just breakups, but actual marriages crumbling before our eyes.

Some did surprise us more than others, but we can honestly say we didn't see any of these divorce filings - all from the last 12 months alone! - coming at all.

Which of these splits shocked you the most? Vote in our poll below ...

10. Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard. The New Girl star and the Death Cab For Cutie member certainly seemed like a perfect match. Apparently not.

9. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. Okay, not all that surprising for myriad reasons we have been over ad nauseam on THG. But 72 days?! Idiots.

8. Tareq and Michaele Salahi. Like Kim and Kris, nothing about these two truly shocks us. Except her running off with Journey guitarist Neal Schon.

7. Leah Messer and Corey Simms. The stars of Teen Mom 2 seem so happy ... on the episodes that are still airing now! Well, not last night's. Still!

6. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore. Seemed an odd fit at the start, but their split came totally out of left field. Now she's taking nitrous hits. Nitrous.

5. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. Apparently not the marrying type.

4. Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz. Remember them? We forgot too.

3. Katy Perry and Russell Brand. They're polar opposites, but were so crazy about each other and we thought it was just crazy enough to last forever.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. The heiress to the Kennedy political dynasty and the Governator seemed as rock solid as they come.

1. Heidi Klum and Seal. Still fresh, but as stunning as any other celeb divorce we can remember based on the couple's perpetual displays of love.

Which celebrity divorce filing shocked you most?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/celebrity-divorces-which-was-the-most-shocking-of-the-past-year/

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Hugh Jackman Throws Snowballs with His Daughter!

Sarah Jessica Parker braves the cold weather with her son! Plus, see more photos of celebs spending time with their loved ones!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/star-snapshots-celebrity-kids-and-family-photos/1-b-84707?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Astar-snapshots-celebrity-kids-and-family-photos-84707

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Time Warner leads funding for second social TV company (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc is leading a $12 million round of funding into a start-up company that analyzes tweets and Facebook posts as people watch their favorite TV programs.

Social TV analytics company Bluefin Labs is also backed in its second round of funding by another new investor, SoftBank Capital, as well as existing backers Redpoint Ventures and Lerer Ventures.

Time Warner, whose networks include Turner, CNN and HBO, has previously backed GetGlue, a social entertainment company that allows U.S. TV viewers to "check-in" when they are watching their favorite shows.

Time Warner investments executive Rachel Lam said the latest investment in Bluefin showed that the company sees engaging and understanding TV viewers as important to its future as more viewers share their opinions and experiences about TV through social media.

"For Time Warner it's pretty important to understand where the social data might take us and how it impacts television programming as well as the advertising," said Lam, who will join Bluefin's board.

Boston-based Bluefin launched its flagship analytics service Bluefin Signals last July for clients to analyze and organize social media conversations about U.S. national television.

The company said clients use the social data about TV shows and commercials to help make buying and selling decisions. Bluefin's clients include TV networks, marketers and agencies including CBS Corp, Discovery Communications Turner Networks, Starcom MediaVest, MediaCom and MTV.

To date it has collected data from more than 11,000 shows and analyzes more than 5 billion pieces of social media commentary every month.

Bluefin Chief Executive Deb Roy said his company will focus on expanding its sales efforts to get the service to more clients who want to better understand the viewers as consumers of programming as well as advertising.

"You can use understanding of social media to better optimize your advertising to consumers," Roy said.

(Reporting By Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/media_nm/us_timewarner_bluefin

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Thunderstorms pound Texas; tornado hits Austin (Reuters)

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) ? A tornado hit Austin, Texas, and thunderstorms pounded San Antonio, Dallas and Houston on Wednesday, bringing the parched Lone Star State drenching rains and destructive winds that knocked out power, flooded streets and kept emergency workers busy rescuing drivers stranded in high water.

The tornado touched down early Wednesday in northeast Austin, tearing across U.S. 290 and into a subdivision, damaging homes along a road called Happy Trail, according to the National Weather Service.

Springlike moisture from the Gulf of Mexico dropped the heaviest rainfall - 6-8 inches - on an area east of Austin and San Antonio and extending south into Houston, it added.

"That's very unusual for this time of year," NWS meteorologist Mark Wiley said. "It was just so much rain in such a short period of time. In so many areas, the ground is still fairly dry, but it was just so fast that it didn't have anywhere to go, especially in the urban areas."

There were no reports of injuries.

By Wednesday afternoon, the storms were pushing into Louisiana and were expected to head into Mississippi and Alabama on Thursday, the NWS said.

In Bastrop, an area east of Austin heavily damaged by Labor Day weekend wildfires, schools canceled classes on Wednesday. In Pflugerville, north of Austin, school buses were delayed Wednesday morning because the school district's bus barn was damaged overnight, the district website said. And the Houston Independent School District canceled after-school activities.

Wind toppled an 18-wheeler in on IH-45 in Madison County, between Dallas and Houston, officials said. More than 30 flights were canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Wednesday morning.

In San Antonio, lightning hit an apartment complex on the city's north side as storms blew through, sparking a fire that forced people into the driving rain and destroyed four apartments, officials said.

Between Austin and Houston, in Brenham, high winds twisted trees and tore the roofs off a couple of buildings in the downtown area, said Ricky Boeker, fire chief and emergency management coordinator.

"It sounded like the world was coming apart -- I'm not going to lie," Boeker told Reuters.

The severe weather in Texas follows damaging storms and tornadoes that swept through Arkansas and Alabama earlier in the week.

In Texas, "while most of the region is still in the grips of a severe drought and very much needs the rain, too much rain too quickly can do more harm than good," AccuWeather.com meteorologist Mark Miller said in a Wednesday report. "Still, the rain will go a long way in helping to reduce the severity of the drought in exceptionally dry locations."

Last year was the driest year on record in Texas and the second-hottest, according to the NWS.

CPS Energy, the South Texas electric utility, reported more than 30,000 customers without power as wind snapped electric power lines and knocked out traffic signals during the morning rush hour in San Antonio. In Austin, some 5,000 customers of Austin Energy lost power, the company said. As many as 5,000 homes and businesses in the Dallas area also lost power, according to Oncor Delivery.

As San Antonio resident Johnny Grant surveyed damage to homes in his northwest San Antonio neighborhood on Wednesday, he said of the storm: "It sounded like a freight train to me. It was something terrible."

(Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth, Lauren Keiper, Deborah Quinn Hensel and Marice Richter. Editing by Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/us_nm/us_weather

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Stem Cell Study May Show Advance

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A treatment for eye diseases derived from human embryonic stem cells might have improved the vision of two patients, bolstering the beleaguered field, researchers reported.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=a6fb96e0efb415a9c2f1dc26465ea137

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Tornadoes possible in southern U.S. as snow threatens (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Severe storms were expected to spread across several southeastern U.S. states on Sunday into Monday with tornadoes, highwinds and large hail possible, weather forecasters said.

A second stormfront expected to hit California late Sunday night will bring significant snowfall to the mountain regions, according to the National Weather Service, before rolling into the southern United States later in the week.

The potential for severe storms stretched from the Gulf of Mexico in Mississippi to southern Indiana and Ohio, according to AccuWeather.com meteorologist Bill Deger.

"Some of the thunderstorms are even expected to spawn tornadoes, making for an especially dangerous situation given the veil of night," Deger said.

In Alabama, residents were bracing for storms that could hit after dark on Sunday or overnight with a strong cold front from the west combining with warm moist air flowing up from the Gulf of Mexico, said Mary Keiser, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama.

"The best dynamics for this are going to be across the northwest part of the state and lesser so as you move to the southeast part of the state," Keiser said of the forecast for severe weather to strike in Alabama.

The weather service said thunderstorms could bring wind gusts up to 80 mph, tornadoes or gulf ball-sized hail in Mississippi. Farther west, the weather service warned of a high fire danger in Texas with wind gusts of up to 50 mph.

Weather.com said the greatest tornado threat appeared to be in eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, northern Louisiana and northern Mississippi.

Parts of central and southern California were under a winter weather warning as a storm system was expected to sweep into the area late Sunday into Monday morning, with the weather service predicting 6 to 12 inches of snow.

The Sierras and the Rockies may accumulate as much as 3 feet of snow, the weather service said, and driving in mountain passes will be "very hazardous" due to low visibility, gusting winds and heavy snowfall.

In Reno, Nevada, meanwhile, snowfall provided welcome relief to firefighters who were monitoring remaining hotspots from a blaze that raged near the outskirts of the city beginning Thursday, destroying 30 houses and prompting thousands of people to flee their homes.

"As long as we keep on getting snow instead of rain, it looks like we'll be okay, at least for the next couple of days," said Mark Regan, spokesman for the Sierra Fire Protection District.

Rain had threatened the area with flash flooding on Friday night. Emergency responders had the blaze 100 percent contained as of Saturday, and all residents have been allowed to return to their homes, Regan said.

In the upper Midwest, freezing drizzle was expected to make roads and sidewalks slippery from southeastern Minnesota into Wisconsin, changing to snow later Sunday, the weather service said. Up to 4 inches of snow was expected farther north in southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota.

In the northeast United States, a fast-moving storm from central Pennsylvania eastward dropped up to a foot of snow in parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts on Saturday.

(Reporting By David Bailey and Mary Slosson; Editing by Tim Gaynor)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/ts_nm/us_weather

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