LA Sheriff: Natalie Wood death probe 'ongoing'

By Tim Kenneally, TheWrap.com

Nearly nine months after re-opening the investigation into the death of actress Natalie Wood, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is still looking into the case, the Sheriff's department said Friday night, noting that their investigation is "open and ongoing."?

"We have received many calls from the news media today asking about the status of the Natalie Wood death investigation case," the Sheriff's Department said. "It remains an open and ongoing investigation. There are no further details."

TMZ reported on Friday that the Los Angeles County Coroner had filed papers in late June to change the cause of Wood's death from "accidental" to "undetermined," and that detectives from the Sheriff's Department visited family members on Friday, telling them that bruises on Wood's body were inconsistent with death by drowning. According to the family members, detectives could not say for certain whether Woods' drowning resulted from an accident or foul play.

A spokesman for the coroner's department confirmed to TheWrap that Wood's case is on "security hold," and that the coroner's office is cooperating with law enforcement.

"The case is currently on security hold at the request of the Sheriff's Dept. It is an open investigation and we are cooperating fully with the Sheriff's Department," the spokesman said. "This Department is making no comments at this time."

Wood drowned near Catalina Island in Southern California on November 29, 1981 at the age of 43. She had been vacationing with her husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken, her co-star in the film "Brainstorm," which was in production at the time.

Her drowning was reportedly preceded by a drunken argument between Wagner and Walken. It has been theorized that Wood was either trying to leave the Splendour, the yacht that the trio was staying on, or may have been trying to secure a rubber dinghy that had been banging against the hull of the boat when she drowned.

The coroner's department determined that Wood had consumed numerous glasses of wine before her death.

The Sheriff's Department reopened the investigation in November, shortly before the 30th anniversary of Wood's death, in part because of increased media interest in the case. CBS' "48 Hours" was preparing to air a segment on her death. Yacht captain Dennis Davern, who had earlier co-authored a book questioning the account of Wood's death, had also begun making the interview rounds.

Though a Sheriff's Department spokesman said that Davern's book, "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour" did not "have an impact in the decision" to reopen the case, Davern claimed in an interview with NBC's "Today" that Wagner was responsible for Wood's death. Davern's account of the night of her drowning has been hazy, however, and he has admitted to drinking heavily that night.?

More in TODAY entertainment:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/08/12627576-la-sheriff-natalie-wood-death-investigation-is-still-ongoing?lite

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Are They Good or Bad? - Computers and Technology - Rubin ...

Explaining ?Cookies? (the non caloric ones that reside in your computer!)

You can?t talk about all those nasty ?things? that can ?attack? your computer while you are surfing the Internet, like viruses or spyware, without talking about ?Cookies?. But what are they and are they really bad for my computer?

Ok, first let?s define the term, and then we?ll explain the good and the bad about it.

Cookie(s):

A small data (text and numbers) file (piece of information) created by a Web server (large computer that stores web sites) that is stored on your computer either temporarily for that session only (the time that you spend on a web site) or permanently on the hard disk (persistent cookie). Cookies provide a way for the Web site that you visit and go back to visit again, to identify users and keep track of their preferences. Amazon and Barnes and Noble online are very creative in the use of their cookies that get generated when you visit.

Here?s an example from my computer from visiting the Disney.com website:

CP null*disneyworld.disney.go.com/1088 1761935360 30785590 403215680 29726670*

Notice that the only thing in that string of text and numbers that you can recognize is the name of the website. The rest of the information is simply a set of numbers that only a computer can understand.

Why are cookies important to you? Well, you would not be able to browse through the Web as you are currently used to if you had cookies restricted on your computer.

The Good ?Cookies? (non calorie type)

Cookies are commonly used to ?maintain the state? (the current or last-known status) of the session (time that you spend on a site) as a user browses around on the site. For example, if you filled out a form and decided to leave that for a moment to view another page, when you come back to that form, the information that you already filled in would still be there. Without cookies, the site would not know who you were.

On the 2 web sites that I mentioned, Amazon and Barnes and Noble, they both use a combination of cookies and online database to recognize you when you return to the site as well as ?remember? your earlier choices and from those choices recommend possible book or music choices for you on your current visit.

Imagine, if you will, walking into a local Barnes and Noble store where a clerk immediately recognizes you, walks up to you as she calls you by name and walks you over to your own table of books and music. You see that they have put all of your favorite kinds of books and musicians

on the table, both new and old works, all laid out for your quick viewing pleasure!

And, on the next table, is a sign saying ?Other people who bought these items also purchased these items? so that you may find interesting items that you may never have seen but might find interesting. Wouldn?t that make shopping a great experience?

Well, that is exactly what it is like to shop online with a sophisticated shopping web site like Barnes and Noble and Amazon! And it?s only because of cookies remembering who you are that allows this type of service to occur.

The Bad Side of Cookies

Actually, as you have just seen, cookies on your computer are not a bad thing; it?s just that the information that they contain can be quite enticing to unscrupulous people. Quite a bit of personal data may reside in the cookie files in your computer, such as ID and Password information. As a result, this storehouse of private information is sometimes the object of attack, which is what happens with some types of spyware.

The default (Default refers to a value automatically assigned to a computer program or device), settings in your Web browser typically allow ?first-party? cookies that do not contain any personal information, but not ?third-party? cookies.

First-party cookies are ones that are created by the Web site you are visiting. Third-party cookies are created by a Web site other than the one you are currently visiting; for example, by a third-party advertiser on that site (pop-up or banner). The purpose of such cookies is usually to track your surfing habits, which is why third-party cookies are considered an invasion of privacy and riskier than first-party cookies. In some instances cookies are used to consolidate and track user behavior across different sites, which provide marketers with private information about you without your knowledge. These are what are referred to as Tracking Cookies.

Aha, now we?re getting somewhere!

Because, a Tracking Cookie is a somewhat new term for a cookie that has been design by the above mentioned ?unscrupulous? people that do business on the Web. It is part of the unfortunate phenomenon known as Spyware! But, that?s a topic for another whole article!

Written by Debbi Baird, Co Owner, PC For SeniorsAuthor of many technical articles in ?plain English? for the ?Older Generation? and Trainer / Tutor / Consultant in the Palm Beach, Florida area.Go to http://www.pcforseniors.com to find more information on computers andthe Internet in the ?How Do I ?? section of the web site! Also, check out theHot Sites! Listing for links to great places to go online for Seniors!

Source: http://www.mwstm.com/2012/07/06/Computer-Cookies-Are-They-Good-or-Bad/

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Source: http://rubinaguilar.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/are-they-good-or-bad-computers-and-technology.html

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Expert furniture restoration chicago Tips That Will Help You With Your

Expert furniture restoration chicago Tips That Will Help You With Your Home Improvement Endevours

Home improvement can be tricky at times, but is well worth it. You not only create a better home for yourself on the inside, but improve the look on the outside, to impress your neighbors. Home improvements also, make you feel good that you have done your best to create a beautiful home for you and your family.

Home improvement should never be done alone. It helps to pass the time when you have someone working with you, but it is also very important for security reasons. Be sure to bring a friend or trusted family member along for each step of the project to make sure you don?t hurt yourself.

Use semi-gloss paint on trim or moldings and high humidity areas. Semi-gloss paint looks fantastic on trim and moldings, as it really draws attention to the detail. It can also be used on bathroom and kitchen walls, as it is very resistant to humidity, and withstand stains. Be careful to only use gloss paint on a really smooth surface, as imperfections will be highly visible. That being said, it is the easiest of all paint finishes to clean.

When it comes to home improvement, be sure to promote the leaks at your house to the top of your priority list. This is important because leaks can be either dangerous, detrimental to the structure of your house, or to your pocketbook. Check all water pipes and fixtures for leaks on a regular basis. Install a CO2 detector in your house for gas leaks.

Everyone has heard the saying roofing manhattan ?plant a tree for your tomorrow.? Well, you can also plant a tree in order to increase the value of the property of your home. It has been estimated that each tree planted that grows to full size increases your property value by 1000 dollars.

Having extra bathrooms in your home is invaluable to the homeowners, but it also increases the value of your home. If you have the means, then adding a bathroom would be a good long-term investment. Just be sure to stick to the theme that your house already has, and keep it in the same time period as the rest of your home.

Ask to see your contractor?s insurance certificate to ensure he is insured, then call his insurance company to find out what he?s actually covered for. There are minimums set out by law which his coverage will need to adhere to, so find out what they are in your state and make sure he meets them.

If you are re-painting a small space, such as an undersized bedroom or living room, make use of light colors. Lighter colors on the walls will reflect more light, making the room feel brighter and larger. Also, consider using two shades of the same color in stripes, which can make the room feel longer or taller.

To make wallpaper removal easier fill a spray bottle halfway with white vinegar then fill to the top with water. Score the paper and spritz the vinegar mixture over the paper, saturating it and letting it soak for five minutes or so. Use a putty knife to lift a corner and enjoy easier removal without chemicals.

When working on household plumbing Replacement Windows New York projects it?s always a good idea to shut off the water. Shutting off the water will prevent any potential pipe damage during repair process. It will also prevent water from flooding into your home and causing costly water damage that can be a burden to repair.

When it comes to home improvement, be sure to consider the best option for exterior lighting. This is important mainly for energy consumption, as motion detectors will ensure that light is provided in the specific areas only when absolutely needed. Otherwise, leaving a light on overnight will add up over the course of a year.

The land surrounding a house should slope away from it to encourage water not to accumulate at the bases of walls. Water flowing towards a house?s walls is easily the most serious possible drainage problem. Such water build-up can cause rapid and severe damage to walls and foundations. This can turn a minor drainage defect into a serious structural threat.

Add a bit more swing to your home run swings when playing baseball, by putting a little uppercut into them. When it?s a higher pitch, add a bit of a slight uppercut to your swing to really send that ball flying. That kind of swing relies more on powerful hip and midsection muscles to be successful, so you also get a great workout.

If you take on a home improvement project or ten, you?ll marvel at how comfortable your home feels every time you come home from work. There is a great feeling in knowing that you personally did something to improve your family?s living environment.

Source: http://billbeaslyhomes.com/189/expert-furniture-restoration-chicago-tips-that-will-help-you-with-your-home-improvement-endevours/

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Secure Virtual Desktop

When you're connected to free Wi-Fi in a dubious Internet caf?, it's probably not the best time to log in to your bank or download documents from work. Sometimes, though, you just don't have access to a connection with better security. If you really need to transmit sensitive communications over an untrusted network, OPSWAT's free Secure Virtual Desktop can help.

Secure Virtual Desktop requires no installation, so you can use it even when logged in with a non-Administrator account. You simply download the app and launch it. After an optional check for active malware, it switches into a secure version of the Windows desktop. Your regular desktop is still present; you can even switch back and forth.

When you're using the secure desktop, the only browser permitted is Internet Explorer, and it always runs in InPrivate browsing mode. Anything you save locally while using the secure desktop will vanish when the session ends. PrintScreen and printing in general isn't allowed. It also blocks access to network and removable drives. Apps running on the main desktop can't interact with secured apps. It even prevents copy/paste between the secure desktop and the regular desktop.

It's easy to see when you're in secure mode. The desktop background changes, all desktop icons vanish, and a small floating window with a shield icon indicates that you're in secure mode. Clicking a button in that floating window lets you switch back and forth between regular and secure desktops.

While Secure Private Desktop is not itself a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tool, OPSWAT promotes it as enhancing VPN security. During a secure session, your IP address is masked. I found that IP geolocation placed my test system in Georgia when it's really in California. That means Google and other sites that gather information associated with your IP address will be fooled.

Active Malware Check
I tried launching Secure Virtual Desktop on the twelve malware-infested test systems that I use for antivirus testing, to test the effectiveness of its pre-launch scan for active malware. It found some, but not all, of the active threats on half the systems, and warned that my secure session might conceivably be compromised. It erroneously reported no malware on three of the test systems, and failed to run properly on the other three. That quick scan for active malware is a nice idea, but it clearly doesn't actually detect all threats.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/RKFIBj0jxzI/0,2817,2406766,00.asp

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Hotel Internet Marketing India- Promoting and Building Brand

To distinguish between an ordinary hotel and an extraordinary hotel is vital for any hotel owner. Few effective hotel marketing tips from marketing experts need to be followed that really works for creating successful hotel business. Top of the line services help in boosting hospitality business within minimum time. Proper marketing skills and strategies need to be incorporated to attract new customers and increase the sales graph. Strategically choosing the result-oriented professional services and the right method & approach for marketing is the primary essential for promoting the hotel business. Besides the marketing experts, hospitality consultants assist in implementing effective business strategies for brand promotion and gaining a reputed base of clients.

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Innovative means are adopted by hoteliers for online hotel marketing that keep them ahead in the race.

A website with rich and detailed information about services and offers get effective and attractive web presence. Therefore, Hotel Internet Marketing India is the first step for reaching a wider audience. To stand out from the competition, online hotel marketing requires website optimization with SEO services, web promotions with PPC campaigns and most importantly online booking engines. Spreading reach in the market requires a multichannel marketing medium including social media, mobile campaigning as well as SEM promotional.

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With smarter customers, smarter marketing techniques are required. These should be successful in persuading customers to opt for a certain facility of hotel.

Promotions, last-minute deals and photos have a strong impact on the visitor that beholds them. Information and things appealing emotions make for a perfect marketing strategy. Giving clients what they want marks the success of the marketing campaign. This kind of persuasion is an integral part of marketing strategy in travel and leisure business.

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Hotel Internet Marketing India is gaining strong foothold as every user has a smartphone and can access information anytime and anywhere. The mobile options can be taken up for the promotion at a large scale. Other forums for generating revenues include social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter that are used as promotional devices. The viewer base is expanded at a large extent through such social media channels. Besides, the hotel company can team up with experienced marketing firms for running successful online hotel marketing. The experts provide valuable information and marketing tips that prove beneficial in enhancing the customer base. Understanding and meeting the needs of customers without any hassles is the main objective of hotel business and to fulfill this it becomes necessary to search for reliable marketing firm.

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Hotel marketing services demand dynamism on the part of companies therefore, it must be ensured that the internet marketing firm is a reliable one. Such firms can be chosen after analyzing their expertise and proven track record. Hotel marketing services can be availed at affordable prices without wasting quality time, money and effort.

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Source: http://internet-marketing.ezinemark.com/hotel-internet-marketing-india-promoting-and-building-brand-7d37875f73bc.html

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Seabirds study shows plastic pollution reaching surprising levels off coast of Pacific Northwest

ScienceDaily (July 4, 2012) ? Plastic pollution off the northwest coast of North America is reaching the level of the notoriously polluted North Sea, according to a new study led by a researcher at the University of British Columbia.

The study, published online in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, examined stomach contents of beached northern fulmars on the coasts of British Columbia, Canada, and the states of Washington and Oregon, U.S.A.

"Like the canary in the coal mine, northern fulmars are sentinels of plastic pollution in our oceans," says Stephanie Avery-Gomm, the study's lead author and a graduate student in UBC's Department of Zoology. "Their stomach content provides a 'snapshot' sample of plastic pollution from a large area of the northern Pacific Ocean."

Northern fulmars forage exclusively at sea and retain ingested plastics for a long period of time, making them ideal indicators for marine littering. Analysis of beached fulmars has been used to monitor plastic pollution in the North Sea since the 1980s. The latest findings, when compared to previous similar studies, indicate a substantial increase in plastic pollution over the past four decades.

The research group performed necropsies on 67 beached northern fulmars and found that 92.5 per cent had plastics -- such as twine, Styrofoam and candy wrappers -- in their stomach. An average of 36.8 pieces per bird were found. The average total weight of plastic was 0.385 grams per bird. One bird was found with 454 pieces of plastic in its stomach.

"The average adult northern fulmar weighs five pounds, or 2.25 kilograms," says Avery-Gomm. "While 0.385 grams in a bird may seem inconsequential to us, it's the equivalent of about five per cent of their body mass. It would be like a human carrying 50 grams of plastic in our stomach -- about the weight of 10 quarters."

"Despite the close proximity of the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch,' an area of concentrated plastic pollution in the middle of the North Pacific gyre, plastic pollution has not been considered an issue of concern off our coast," says Avery-Gomm, "But we've found similar amounts and incident rates of plastic in beached northern fulmars here as those in the North Sea. This indicates it is an issue which warrants further study."

The researchers propose annual monitoring of trends in plastic pollution and the effectiveness of marine waste reduction strategies.

"Beached bird surveys are providing important clues about causes and patterns of sea bird mortality from oil spill impacts, fisheries by-catch and now plastic ingestion," says co-author Karen Barry with Bird Studies Canada, a not-for profit organization that helped facilitate the study.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of British Columbia, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Stephanie Avery-Gomm, Patrick D. O?Hara, Lydia Kleine, Victoria Bowes, Laurie K. Wilson, Karen L. Barry. Northern fulmars as biological monitors of trends of plastic pollution in the eastern North Pacific. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.04.017

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/~3/iVq4dE-xfZQ/120704124321.htm

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TELUS lists the HTC One X as 'coming soon'

HTC One X

Typically in Canada when a device launches, it launches across multiple carriers due to the fact all major players are now running GSM. In some instances though, there is an exclusive offer made for a period of time and such is the case with the HTC One X and Rogers. Rogers was the first carrier is Canada to launch the device but that exclusivity looks to be dropping off soon as TELUS has now posted the HTC One X under their "coming soon" category. No actual release dates or pricing have been outlined as of yet but surely pricing will be on par with that of Rogers and rumors suggest a release could happen as early as July 6th. We'll let you all know when we see it go live on the TELUS site.

Source: TELUS via: Mobile Syrup

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/a_j37OMbjkE/story01.htm

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CERN physicists to make 'God particle' announcement Wednesday ( video)

CERN researchers say that they have all but proven the existence of the elusive Higgs boson, the so-called God particle that is thought to impart the property of mass to matter.?

By John Heilprin,?Associated Press / July 2, 2012

In this 2011 photo, a physicist explains the ATLAS experiment on a board at the European Center for Nuclear Research, CERN, outside Geneva, Switzerland. Scientists at CERN plan to make an announcement on Wednesday about their hunt for the elusive sub-atomic particle.

Anja Niedringhaus/AP/File

Enlarge

Scientists working at the world's biggest atom smasher plan to announce Wednesday that they have gathered enough evidence to show that the long-sought "God particle" answering fundamental questions about the universe almost certainly does exist.

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' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "off"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // --> Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln describes the nature of the Higgs boson. Several large experimental groups are hot on the trail of this elusive subatomic particle which is thought to explain the origins of particle mass

But after decades of work and billions of dollars spent, researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, say they aren't quite ready to say they've "discovered" the particle.

Instead, experts familiar with the research at CERN's vast complex on the Swiss-French border say that the massive data they have obtained will essentially show the footprint of the key particle known as the?Higgs?boson ? all but proving it exists ? but doesn't allow them to say it has actually been glimpsed.

It appears to be a fine distinction. Senior CERN scientists say that the two independent teams of physicists who plan to present their work at CERN's vast complex on the Swiss-French border on July 4 are about as close as you can get to a discovery without actually calling it one.

"I agree that any reasonable outside observer would say, 'It looks like a discovery,'" British theoretical physicist John Ellis, a professor at King's College London who has worked at CERN since the 1970s, told The Associated Press. "We've discovered something which is consistent with being a?Higgs."

CERN's atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to help them understand suspected phenomena such as dark matter, antimatter and ultimately the creation of the universe billions of years ago, which many theorize occurred as a massive explosion known as the Big Bang.

For particle physicists, finding the?Higgs?boson is a key to confirming the standard model of physics that explains what gives mass to matter and, by extension, how the universe was formed.

Rob Roser, who leads the search for the?Higgs?boson at the Fermilab in Chicago, says "particle physicists have a very high standard for what it takes to be a discovery" and thinks it is a hair's breadth away.

Rosen compared the results scientists are preparing to announce Wednesday to finding the fossilized imprint of a dinosaur: "You see the footprints and the shadow of the object, but you don't actually see it."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/f2nrTH-UtAs/CERN-physicists-to-make-God-particle-announcement-Wednesday-video

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Soyuz spacecraft lands safely in Kazakhstan

AAA??Jul. 1, 2012?6:25 AM ET
Soyuz spacecraft lands safely in Kazakhstan
By PETER LEONARD?THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES?By PETER LEONARD

Russian space agency rescue team carry U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, center, shortly after the landing of the Russian Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule at the south-east of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 1, 2012. The Soyuz capsule, which carried two astronauts and Russian cosmonaut safely returned to Earth on Sunday after a half-year stint on the international space station, with a landing on the Kazakh steppe. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, pool)

Russian space agency rescue team carry U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, center, shortly after the landing of the Russian Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule at the south-east of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 1, 2012. The Soyuz capsule, which carried two astronauts and Russian cosmonaut safely returned to Earth on Sunday after a half-year stint on the international space station, with a landing on the Kazakh steppe. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, pool)

Support and medical personnel carry Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia, foreground, and Flight Engineers Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency, center, and Don Pettit of NASA, background, to the medical tent shortly after they landed in their Soyuz TMA-03M capsule in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, July 1, 2012. Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers returned from more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 30 and 31 crews. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)

A Russian Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule lands about 150 kms south-east of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 1, 2012. The Soyuz capsule, which carried U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and Netherlands' astronaut Andre Kuipers safely returned to Earth on Sunday after a half-year stint on the international space station, with a landing on the Kazakh steppe. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, pool)

A Russian Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule lands about 150 kms south-east of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 1, 2012. The Soyuz capsule, which carried U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and Netherlands' astronaut Andre Kuipers safely returned to Earth on Sunday after a half-year stint on the international space station, with a landing on the Kazakh steppe. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, pool)

A Russian Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule lands about 150 kms south-east of the Kazakh town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Sunday, July 1, 2012. The Soyuz capsule, which carried U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and Netherlands' astronaut Andre Kuipers safely returned to Earth on Sunday after a half-year stint on the international space station, with a landing on the Kazakh steppe. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, pool)

(AP) ? A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man multinational crew touched down safely Sunday on the southern steppes of Kazakhstan, bringing an end to their 193-day mission to the International Space Station.

Around a dozen recovery helicopters zeroed into the vast uncultivated land mass, where NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, Russia's Oleg Kononenko and Dutchman Andre Kuipers landed in the Russian-made capsule.

Russian space officials quickly surrounded the craft, which performed a perfect upright textbook landing, and erected ladders to begin the process of pulling out the astronauts.

The voyage from the space station started 3 -1/2 hours earlier, when it undocked and began a slow, gentle drift away. It made a perfect landing in the still and summery weather at 2:14 pm local time (08:17 GMT), right on schedule.

Commenting on the landing, NASA TV reporter Rob Navias described it as "a bullseye."

Kononenko was the first to be extracted from the descent module. He looked pale and tired, but medical staff announced him healthy. Pettit, second out of the module, was heard to say: "It's good to be home."

The three men were hoisted into recliners and posed for photos for a number of minutes before being carried into a tent for further checks.

Writing on his NASA blog on the eve of his departure from the space station, Petit write: "I only hope that my small efforts here, perhaps adding one grain of sand to the beach of knowledge, will help enable a generation of people in the future to call space 'home.'"

Petit and his colleagues were part of the team that handled the arrival to the space station last month of the privately owned SpaceX Dragon capsule. That became the first private delivery to the International Space Station.

The retirement of the U.S. shuttle fleet has left Russia's venerable Soyuz spacecraft as the only means to deliver crews to the orbiting laboratory.

Russians Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin and U.S. astronaut Joseph Acaba are expected to remain onboard the orbiting space station for a further three months.

They will be joined later this month by NASA astronaut Suni Williams, Russia's Yury Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide, who are set to take off on a Soyuz spaceship from the Baikonur cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan.

Associated PressNews Topics: Space launch industry, Space industry, Science, Spacecraft, Space technology, Aerospace technology, Industrial technology, Technology, Aerospace and defense, Industrial products and services, Industries, Business, Manned spacecraft

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-07-01-Space%20Station/id-601168dbafca46c6835d93cec4912ed9

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Utilities rely on out-of-state workers after storm

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) ? A fleet of 20 electrical utility trucks, with cranes capable of hoisting a line worker 55 feet above the ground, commandeered the parking lot behind a Hampton Inn in the northern Virginia exurbs of Washington early Tuesday morning.

The sight was familiar in the days following a violent thunderstorm with near-hurricane-force winds that knocked out power to millions of people in the Mid-Atlantic region. But residents and hotel guests might have been surprised by the company name on the trucks ? Gulf Power, as in the Gulf of Mexico ? and the Florida license plates.

On Saturday morning, the day after the storm, Pensacola-based Gulf Power rounded up more than five-dozen employees and told them to pack for up to 2 weeks on the road. It took 2 full days for the convoy of trucks to make the nearly 1,000-mile trek to Leesburg, a town about 40 miles west of the nation's capital that's surrounded by wineries and horse farms.

"It's long and grinding. That's probably the worst part of the whole thing, is trying to get here," said lineman Kirk Allen, 51, who's worked for Gulf Power for 23 years.

Utilities routinely rely on a network of out-of-state workers to pitch in during major outages. Of the 5,400 workers restoring power to Dominion customers in Virginia, 1,800 were from out of state ? including crews from as far away as Iowa, Texas and Ontario, Canada. Baltimore Gas & Electric, which serves central Maryland, had 1,300 out-of-state workers supplementing its own 2,000 crew members, and Pepco, which serves Washington and suburban Maryland, had 700 out-of-state workers among its 3,000 field personnel. All three utilities brought in workers from Canada.

Utilities would not disclose how much they are paying for out-of-state workers, but Richmond-based Dominion says they are covering all the expenses associated with bringing crews to the region and reimbursing their employers for the workers' wages and overtime.

Without the assistance from other utilities, restoring power to everyone "would take weeks and weeks, rather than just days and days," said Ed Orenduff, 64, a retired Dominion employee who was called in on a contract basis to coordinate the out-of-state crews.

As he spoke, another supervisor was calling area restaurants and asking whether they could accommodate up to 75 hungry workers. Orenduff advised him not to make a reservation earlier than 8 p.m.

"We need to work 'em till dark," he said.

That's exactly what the out-of-state crews expect. Their 16-hour days follow a familiar routine: a wake-up call at dawn, breakfast and lunch on the road and a sit-down dinner. They collapse in their hotel beds and do it all over again.

"When you get in the bed, you go straight to sleep," Allen said. "The first few days, it's not that bad. You've got a whole lot of adrenaline."

Allen said he's had tougher assignments than working in the Washington area amid sweltering July heat. He cringed at the memory of an ice storm in Mississippi in 2002 that had him on the road for 18 days.

"That was worse. Real slow, real cold," Allen said.

John Parker, 55, a 29-year Gulf Power employee who was supervising a team of workers from the Panama City, Fla., area, said that when out-of-state assignments pop up, there are always more volunteers than available spots. He tries to distribute the work evenly, and workers can usually count on a couple of road trips a year. The overtime pay is nice, but not enough to radically alter anyone's lifestyle, he said.

Allen said he didn't take the out-of-state assignments for the money.

"It's more the satisfaction of getting people's lights back on. Not everybody can do it," he said as his colleagues worked to fix a snapped power line. "These guys working for Dominion right now, they're tired."

As if on cue, a local resident drove by in a pickup truck, lowered his window and yelled, "We appreciate it!"

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Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at http://twitter.com/APBenNuckols.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-03-Summer%20Storms-Power%20Crews/id-cdd679c8998f4b7eb21a05c5bc77dfc3

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