Denon AVR-1613

Even just a few years ago, many home theater receivers required optional iPod docks that were clumsy to set up and featured primitive on-screen user interfaces. The Denon AVR-1613 ($399.99 direct) has baked-in iPod and AirPlay capability, and sits squarely in the mainstream end of Denon's lineup. It's a solid receiver and a good buy as an up-to-date centerpiece to a home theater system, even though it clearly shows signs of its 1990s-era roots.

Design, Inputs, and Features
Measuring 5.9 by 17.1 by 13.0 inches (HWD), the The AVR-1613 weighs just over 18 pounds. A front-panel USB input makes it easy to pop in a thumb drive, or access the stored contents on an iOS device while charging it simultaneously. The power cord is hardwired, which is unfortunate if it fails down the road, but it's not a big issue for a lower-priced receiver. In standby mode, Denon claims the AVR-1613 draws just one tenth of a watt.

There are five HDMI inputs?one more than the Yamaha RX-V473 ($449.99, 3.5 stars)?including a convenient port on the front, which is great for plugging in a smartphone, tablet, or laptop computer. All of the HDMI inputs support video switching, so you won't have to use two remote controls to watch different sources. There are no component or S-video inputs and outputs, though. All you get besides HDMI are two sets of composite inputs and one set of outputs, although at this point that's less of a problem than it would have been, say, two years ago. If you need these connectors, the RX-V473 is a better choice.?

AirPlay support is a recent addition. It lets you stream music over the air wirelessly from an iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV, or even a computer running iTunes. Unfortunately, the AVR-1613 itself does not integrate Wi-Fi. To use AirPlay, you need to connect the receiver to your home network via a wired Ethernet connection. Pandora and Sirius XM streaming, as well as access to Denon's own radio site, which delivers more than 12,000 Internet radio stations, are all onboard.

The AVR-1613 is also DNLA 1.5 certified, but there's no HD Radio or even AM tuner?your only terrestrial option is FM stereo. I would have liked to see stereo Bluetooth support, especially now that Android handsets dominate smartphone sales by a significant margin. On the plus side, you'll still get better sound quality via the phone's headphone output?using an inexpensive Y-cable available at Radio Shack, as the AVR-1613 lacks a front-mounted stereo mini-jack.

The included remote control is much simpler than the one Yamaha bundles with the RX-V473. Unfortunately, it was rather stubborn in my tests. Sometimes the AVR-1613 just didn't respond to my commands, as if it were stuck thinking about the last thing I asked for.?In addition to the remote, the receiver comes with an Audyssey setup microphone for speaker calibration, a Getting Started guide, and an owner's manual in PDF format on a CD. Denon also, inexplicably, throws in a copy of Nero 9 Essentials.

Setup, Calibration, and Amplification
To get started, you'll need an HDMI cable, a set of passive speakers (either stereo or 5.1), and a TV, which you'll need for setting up the receiver and accessing the iPod interface as well as for watching movies.

On first bootup, the AVR-1613 will walk you through an on-screen setup wizard using the remote control. It asks whether you have a center channel, surround speakers, or a subwoofer. Then it offers to measure the acoustics of your room using the included microphone and a series of sound tests. You plug the setup microphone into the Setup Mic port on the front panel. From there, the system walks you through setting up your input devices (such as a Blu-ray player or Xbox 360), and then prompts you to connect to a wired network.

As a proper home theater receiver, the AVR-1613 includes five discrete channels of amplification, with each outputting 75 watts at 0.08 percent THD. Audiophiles still prefer separate preamps and amplifiers, but Denon receivers have always acquitted themselves well in terms of sound quality.

Fortunately, the Denon AVR-1613 simply sounds great?anyone concerned about the actual output will be more than pleased with this receiver. I tested the AVR-1613 with a set of Energy Take Classic 5.1 ($399, 4 stars) speakers, which includes five two-way satellites and a 200-watt, 8-inch powered subwoofer. Through the satellites, I heard clean, powerful sound at full tilt, with smooth, transparent highs and a clearly defined, three-dimensional image. The Take Classic 5.1 satellites offer 89 dB sensitivity, which isn't the most efficient design out there. But even so, the AVR-1613 had no trouble driving these to ear-splitting volumes.

To test the Denon AVR-1613's home theater prowess, I ran scenes from the the 2010 DTS Demonstration Blu-Ray Disc through the receiver, a Samsung BD-D5500 ($159.99, 3.5 stars) Blu-ray player, a Sony Bravia KDL-46EX620 ($809.99, 3.5 stars), and?the Energy Take Classic 5.1 speakers. Generally speaking, the Denon handled the job with aplomb; it sounded slightly warmer than the Yamaha RX-V473, with less treble emphasis and a slightly more full-bodied lower midrange. Even so, voices, arrow shots, and horse gallops sounded clear and distinct in Robin Hood (the 2010 film with Russell Crowe), and the Take Classic 5.1 had no problem rendering many sound sources simultaneously throughout the image. With the DTS-encoded Despicable Me, the AVR-1613 clearly separtated the rocket ship engines and low rumble while in flight, and put up clear dialog throughout.

iPod Playback and UI Issues
The AVR-1613's digital music chops need work. I plugged my iPhone into the front-mounted USB port and switched the Denon's source to iPod/USB. (Unfortunately, it doesn't work with iPads in this mode.) You can play stored iPod music two ways: In Remote Mode, which lets you control playback directly from the iPod, and Browse Mode, which puts up track and artist info on the screen, and lets you select it using the Denon's remote control. I tested the iPod playback with two devices: the aforementioned iPhone, and a 4th-generation iPod nano. Both worked, although the AVR-1613 was temperamental. Sometimes it played music back fine; other times, it remained stuck at the beginning of the song.

A firmware update became available toward the end of the review period, which promised to take 21 minutes to install. Excited by the prospect of eliminating the bugs, I installed it?only to see that the on-screen menu text, already buggy, pixelated, and slightly wobbly, became downright unreadable on the music playback screen. Everything looked doubled; rebooting the monitor and the receiver didn't help. Worse, iPod playback was buggier than before. Once, it started a song at full blast, threatening to deafen me and blow out the speaker system. It wouldn't respond to the volume dial, and wouldn't even shut off with the power switch; I had to hold it down for five seconds to get the receiver to power down. (Next up would have been pulling the plug.) It didn't do this again, but the intermittent playback issues continued.

AirPlay and Conclusions
On the plus side, AirPlay connectivity worked great. Once I configured the unit over wired Ethernet, I had no problem streaming music from various AirPlay-compatible devices to the AVR-1613. The receiver displays album art on screen whenever available, which is something the Yamaha RX-V473 doesn't do. Pandora playback also worked well; I logged in with my account, started several of my stations, and listened to uninterrupted streaming Internet radio.

I also tested Denon's free iOS remote control app, which works with the AVR-1613 and other networked receivers from the company. It does the job, but it has a very confusing UI?it took plenty of tapping and head-scratching to figure out where everything was. Yamaha's free iOS app is much more thoughtfully designed, although actual functionality differences between the two are less than they appear once you figure out where Denon hid the source select, DSP modes, and other playback and setup controls.

All told, the Denon AVR-1613 makes a solid centerpiece to a proper home theater system in 2012. But thanks to its lack of Wi-Fi and its rudimentary display graphics, there's a bit of a disconnect between 1980s and 1990s-style home theater components, and the complex, fragmented world that is music listening today. So while the AVR-1613 could use more refinement, it's impressively well specified otherwise, and should let you do just about anything you'd want with a home theater setup today.

More Audio Reviews:
??? Yamaha RX-V473
??? Denon AVR-1613
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?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/OcYoSDYgnPo/0,2817,2404690,00.asp

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mjmbecky: I especially need to chill, as my good college friend is coming for the weekend. Heading to the US Women's soccer game tomorrow! #ChillNow

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SC regulators delay Duke Energy-Progress Energy deal

The $26 billion Duke Energy-Progress Energy merger will not happen Sunday, as the companies hoped. The S.C. Public Service Commission has decided to hold a special meeting on Monday to act on the part of the merger it must approve.

The companies have said from the outset that South Carolina has no statutory authority to accept or reject the merger. But the state must approve a proposal that the power plants of Duke Energy Carolinas and Progress Energy Carolinas will operate as a single fleet.

The S.C. commission has questioned the power companies' reading of their authority. But if the companies are right, then they could go ahead and close the deal Sunday. But Progress spokesman Mike Hughes says the companies have no intention of doing so.

"Assuming a favorable vote by the commission, we plan to close the merger Monday afternoon," he says.

Public notice

The companies had hoped to close the deal before the end of last year. That fell through when federal regulators raised objections. Those were finally resolved just three weeks ago.

The clerk of the S.C. commission posted notice today that the board would meet at 11:30 a.m. Monday at its office in Columbia to discuss the companies' proposal to jointly operate their two utility fleets. The commission was under no obligation to act before the power companies' July 1 target date for closing the deal.

The N.C. Utilities Commission approved the merger earlier today.

Delaying the deal by one day is not a major issue for the companies. But they had hoped to be able to merge at the start of the third quarter for accounting reasons. It would simply be easier for earnings reports to have the two companies combined as the quarter started July 1.

John Downey covers the energy industry and public companies for the Charlotte Business Journal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_28/~3/69riulUG0Yk/sc-regulators-delay-duke-energy.html

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British court blocks sex criminal's removal to US

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-court-blocks-sex-criminals-removal-us-130252367.html

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High court upholds Obama health law by 5-4 vote

Supporters of President Barack Obama's health care law celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012, after the court's ruling. AP Photo/David Goldman)

Supporters of President Barack Obama's health care law celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012, after the court's ruling. AP Photo/David Goldman)

FILE - This Oct. 8, 2010 file photo shows the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court at the Supreme Court in Washington. Seated from left are Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, and Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Standing, from left are Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito Jr., and Elena Kagan. The Supreme Court on Thursday, June 28, 2012, upheld the individual insurance requirement at the heart of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Claire McAndrew of Washington, left, and Donny Kirsch of Washington, celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012, after the courts's ruling on health care. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

William Temple, of Brunswick, Ga., waits outside the Supreme Court a landmark decision on health care on Thursday, June 28, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The front of the U.S. Supreme Court is seen on the eve of Thursday's expected ruling on whether or not the Affordable Care Act passes the test of constitutionality Wednesday, June 27, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld virtually all of President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul, including the hotly debated core requirement that nearly every American have health insurance.

The 5-4 decision meant the huge overhaul, still taking effect, could proceed and pick up momentum over the next several years, affecting the way that countless Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care.

The ruling hands Obama a campaign-season victory in rejecting arguments that Congress went too far in approving the plan. However, Republicans quickly indicated they will try to use the decision to rally their supporters against what they call "Obamacare," arguing that the ruling characterized the penalty against people who refuse to get insurance as a tax.

Obama declared, "Whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over this country." GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney renewed his criticism of the overhaul, calling it "bad law" and promising to work to repeal it if elected in November.

Breaking with the court's other conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts announced the judgment that allows the law to go forward with its aim of covering more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Roberts explained at length the court's view of the mandate as a valid exercise of Congress' authority to "lay and collect taxes." The administration estimates that roughly 4 million people will pay the penalty rather than buy insurance.

Even though Congress called it a penalty, not a tax, Roberts said, "The payment is collected solely by the IRS through the normal means of taxation."

Roberts also made plain the court's rejection of the administration's claim that Congress had the power under the Constitution's commerce clause to put the mandate in place. The power to regulate interstate commerce power, he said, "does not authorize the mandate. "

Stocks of hospital companies rose after the decision was announced, while shares of insurers fell sharply. Shares of drugmakers and device makers fell slightly.

The justices rejected two of the administration's three arguments in support of the insurance requirement. But the court said the mandate can be construed as a tax. "Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness," Roberts said.

The court found problems with the law's expansion of Medicaid, but even there said the expansion could proceed as long as the federal government does not threaten to withhold states' entire Medicaid allotment if they don't take part in the law's extension.

The court's four liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, joined Roberts in the outcome.

Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Kennedy summarized the dissent in court. "In our view, the act before us is invalid in its entirety," he said.

The dissenters said in a joint statement that the law "exceeds federal power both in mandating the purchase of health insurance and in denying non-consenting states all Medicaid funding."

In all, the justices spelled out their views in six opinions totaling 187 pages. Roberts, Kennedy and Ginsburg spent 51 minutes summarizing their views in the packed courtroom.

The legislation passed Congress in early 2010 after a monumental struggle in which all Republicans voted against it. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Thursday the House will vote the week of July 9 on whether to repeal the law, though such efforts have virtually no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the health care law makes it harder for small businesses to hire workers. "Today's ruling underscores the urgency of repealing this harmful law in its entirety," he said.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., heaped praise on the court's decision, and the 2010 law, in a Senate speech. "Passing the Affordable Care Act was the greatest single step in generations toward ensuring access to affordable, quality health care for every American, regardless of where they live or how much money they make," he said.

After the ruling, Republican campaign strategists said Romney will use it to continue campaigning against "Obamacare" and attacking the president's signature health care program as a tax increase.

"Obama might have his law, but the GOP has a cause," said veteran campaign adviser Terry Holt. "This promises to galvanize Republican support around a repeal of what could well be called the largest tax increase in American history."

Democrats said Romney, who backed an individual health insurance mandate when he was Massachusetts governor, will have a hard time exploiting the ruling.

"Mitt Romney is the intellectual godfather of Obamacare," said Democratic consultant Jim Manley. "The bigger issue is the rising cost of health care, and this bill is designed to deal with it."

More than eight in 10 Americans already have health insurance. But for most of the 50 million who are uninsured, the ruling offers the promise of guaranteed coverage at affordable prices. Lower-income and many middle-class families will be eligible for subsidies to help pay premiums starting in 2014.

There's also an added safety net for all Americans, insured and uninsured. Starting in 2014, insurance companies will not be able to deny coverage for medical treatment, nor can they charge more to people with health problems. Those protections, now standard in most big employer plans, will be available to all, including people who get laid off, or leave a corporate job to launch their own small business.

Seniors also benefit from the law through better Medicare coverage for those with high prescription costs, and no copayments for preventive care. But hospitals, nursing homes, and many other service providers may struggle once the Medicare cuts used to finance the law really start to bite.

Illegal immigrants are not entitled to the new insurance coverage under the law, and will remain one of the biggest groups uninsured.

Obama's law is by no means the last word on health care. Experts expect costs to keep rising, meaning that lawmakers will have to revisit the issue perhaps as early as next year, when federal budget woes will force them to confront painful options for Medicare and Medicaid, the giant federal programs that cover seniors, the disabled, and low-income people.

The health care overhaul focus will now quickly shift from Washington to state capitals. Only 14 states, plus Washington, D.C., have adopted plans to set up the new health insurance markets called for under the law. Called exchanges, the new markets are supposed to be up and running on Jan. 1, 2014. People buying coverage individually, as well as small businesses, will be able to shop for private coverage from a range of competing insurers.

Most Republican-led states, including large ones such as Texas and Florida, have been counting on the law to be overturned and have failed to do the considerable spade work needed to set up exchanges. There's a real question about whether they can meet the deadline, and if they don't, Washington will step in and run their exchanges for them.

In contrast to the states, health insurance companies, major employers, and big hospital systems are among the best prepared. Many of the changes called for in the law were already being demanded by employers trying to get better value for their private health insurance dollars.

"The main driver here is financial," said Dr. Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, which has pioneered some of the changes. "The factors driving health care reform are not new, and they are not going to go away."

The Medicaid expansion would cover an estimated 17 million people who earn too much to qualify for assistance but not enough to afford insurance. The federal and state governments share the cost, and Washington regularly imposes conditions on the states in exchange for money.

Roberts said Congress' ability to impose those conditions has its limits. "In this case, the financial 'inducement' Congress has chosen is much more than 'relatively mild encouragement' ? it is a gun to the head," he said.

The law says the Health and Human Services Department can withhold a state's entire Medicaid allotment if the state doesn't comply with the health care law's Medicaid provisions.

Even while ruling out that level of coercion, however, Roberts said nothing prevents the federal government from offering money to accomplish the expansion and withholding that money from states that don't meet certain conditions.

"What Congress is not free to do is to penalize states that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding," he said.

Ginsburg said the court should have upheld the entire law as written without forcing any changes in the Medicaid provision. She said Congress' constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce supports the individual mandate. She warned that the legal reasoning, even though the law was upheld, could cause trouble in future cases.

"So in the end, the Affordable Health Care Act survives largely unscathed. But the court's commerce clause and spending clause jurisprudence has been set awry. My expectation is that the setbacks will be temporary blips, not permanent obstructions," Ginsburg said in a statement she, too, read from the bench.

In the courtroom Thursday were retired Justice John Paul Stevens and the wives of Roberts, Alito, Breyer, Kennedy and Thomas.

.__

Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Charles Babington, Jessica Gresko, Jesse J. Holland and David Espo contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/healthcare

Visit AP's Google Plus page at 4 p.m. EDT for a Google Hangout video chat where AP reporters will be discussing the impact of today's ruling and taking your questions: ?http://apne.ws/LgPvzL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-06-28-Supreme%20Court-Health%20Care/id-6d6655b585514b1495973c53a7aebaef

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Reflections on the Natural Gas Revolution That's Already Begun

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Why Google+ Trumps Facebook for Online Invitations

Amid all the excitement of Google's I/O event this week ? the Nexus 7 tablet, the Nexus Q entertainment device, people jumping out of planes ? it was easy to miss the addition of an "Events" feature to the company's foundering Google Plus (Google+) social network.

But unlike with Facebook, Events doesn't require people to be on?Google+. All they need is an email address. And if the host or guests use Google's much more popular network, Gmail, Events works especially smoothly.

Facebook Events is now the default way to send invites. But many people are paying less attention to every Facebook alert, including invites. And to invite a friend to your event, they have to first be on Facebook and also be your friend. If you often glance at your friends list and say "who is that guy?" you may not want to add yet more people in order to just send an invite. [How to Stop Facebook Apps from Sharing Your Info]

You can select email addresses from your Gmail contacts or just type an address in to create a record.
CREDIT: Sean Captain

Google+ Events takes its basic design from Facebook, so the process is familiar. But Facebook no longer allows you to add email addresses of people who you aren't already Facebook friends with or who aren't on the network. Google+ does, and if you have Gmail, you can pull the addresses right from your Contacts list.

If the guests use the online Google Calendar, the invite automatically appears as an entry. (With Facebook, you have to download and a open a clunky calendar file, or just type the event on your calendar.)

In fact, it's more useful to think of the feature, not as Google+ Events, but as Gmail Events.

Setup

Events starts by offering a seemingly endless choice of themes ? photos or illustrations of cocktail glasses, people dancing, popcorn and many others that appear as banners across the top of the invitation. You can also upload your own image, but it has to at least 940 pixels wide, and it will get cropped to a stubby 280 pixels tall. Most photos won't work or won't be worth the trouble of resizing.?The rest is very familiar. Fill in the day and time (annoyingly using the 24-hour military-style clock) and pick a location using?Google Maps.?

Then type in a note or other details and invite guests. If they are on Google+, thier ID will appear. But don't worry about them never logging into the actual network. They will get an alert in Gmail, too. And if they aren't in the Google universe, just select from your contcts or manually type in thier email address. They will get the same email message, with a button that they can click on to access the event page and RSVP.

Google+ Events allow you to create attractive invites that integrate with your Gmail contacts and Google calendar.
CREDIT: Sean Captain

?

As with Facebook, you can see a listing of who has been invited, who has accepted and who has declined. Anyone can post comments to the event, and you can send updates to guests.

Google+ Events has several innovative features that go beyond Facebook, however. The best is Party Mode, which allows people to upload and view photos of the event in real-time and see in an album afterward. But this requires people to be active Google+ users, with the smartphone app. So it probably won't work for most people.

If you and your friends are drifting away from Facebook, or you don't want to add yet more acquaintances to your "Friends" list, Google's new Events feature is a handy alternative for getting folks together.

Source: http://www.technewsdaily.com/4481-google-trumps-facebook-online-invitations.html

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Android 4.1 Jelly Bean review: a look at what's changed in Google's mobile OS

Google's next iteration of Android wasn't quite the full-point release jump that many of you were perhaps anticipating. Rather than using Google I/O 2012 as the launching pad for Android 5.0, we're being formally introduced to v4.1 -- a mere 0.1 ahead of where Ice Cream Sandwich placed us around six months ago. Aside from grabbing a name change, the minor numerical bump also provides Jelly Bean the opportunity to usher in a few new features for Nexus owners to enjoy.

If you missed yesterday's keynote, Google revealed that Android 4.1 would arrive on Nexus devices in "mid-July," but there's no clear word on when partner companies will begin pushing it to their products. Moreover, pundits are quick to point out the legions of Android products that still haven't made the leap to 4.0, leaving us to wonder if those Froyo and Gingerbread laggards will simply take the fast track to 4.1 now that it's (almost) available. Care to see if the latest and greatest will live up to your expectations once it lands in a few weeks? Head on past the break as we discuss some of the larger changes that Jelly Bean has to offer.

Gallery: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) homescreen gallery

Continue reading Android 4.1 Jelly Bean review: a look at what's changed in Google's mobile OS

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Obama's deportation stay late for some immigrants

In this photo taken June 15, 2012, Yannick Grijalba, 18, from Guatemala, poses for pictures during an interview with The Associated Press in Guatemala City. Grijalba was deported from the US on Wednesday, June 13. President Barack Obama announced last week his decision to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants under 30 with high school degrees and no criminal history a chance to stay and work in the country. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this photo taken June 15, 2012, Yannick Grijalba, 18, from Guatemala, poses for pictures during an interview with The Associated Press in Guatemala City. Grijalba was deported from the US on Wednesday, June 13. President Barack Obama announced last week his decision to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants under 30 with high school degrees and no criminal history a chance to stay and work in the country. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this photo taken June 15, 2012, Yannick Grijalba, 18, from Guatemala, poses for pictures during an interview with The Associated Press in Guatemala City. Grijalba was deported from the US on Wednesday, June 13. President Barack Obama announced last week his decision to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants under 30 with high school degrees and no criminal history a chance to stay and work in the country. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Nahuel Tedesco poses for pictures during an interview with The Associated Press in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Tedesco was deported from the US in May, 2010. President Barack Obama announced last week his decision to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants under 30 with high school degrees and no criminal history a chance to stay and work in the country. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia)

Nahuel Tedesco poses for pictures during an interview with The Associated Press in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, June 16, 2012. Tedesco was deported from the US in May, 2010. President Barack Obama announced last week his decision to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants under 30 with high school degrees and no criminal history a chance to stay and work in the country. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia)

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) ? Marlon Roberto Cortes was stocking shelves in the frozen food section of a suburban Boston supermarket when he was summoned to the back office.

An immigration officer was waiting for him and asked to see his ID, which he didn't have. The 20-year-old Honduran was told there was an order to deport him, and agents handcuffed and hauled him to a holding center. He was sent back to his native country in March without being able to say goodbye to his family.

Cortes missed by three months President Barack Obama's decision last week to allow hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants no older than 30 with high school degrees and no criminal history a chance to stay and work in the country. The president has said that as many as 800,000 young illegal immigrants living in the U.S. could benefit from the change.

From Guatemala to Argentina, recently deported young people who had dreamed of becoming U.S. citizens reacted to Friday's announcement with a mix of frustration and sadness, but also relief that siblings left behind might now be able to stay without fear of deportation.

"I am a person who studied and I wish I could aspire to far greater things," said Cortes. "I'm sad."

"The country in which I could have had the chance to get ahead is the United States," he added. "I did everything I had to do to get that and I don't understand why they wouldn't let me ... I feel more American than Honduran."

Yannick Grijalba, an 18-year-old Guatemalan with fluent English who was deported on Wednesday after living 11 years in Northern California, was equally frustrated.

"When I was watching the news today and heard, I just couldn't believe it," he said last week in Guatemala City. "I had to turn the TV off."

It's unclear how many deported immigrants just missed their chance like Cortes because there are no statistics that classify them by age or education. The United States deported 390,000 people in 2010, the last recorded year. But one can spot the young and recently deported on Latin America's streets, where they sometimes fumble with their Spanish and have trouble fitting in.

To Cortes, it was like being thrown a life preserver too late and he says his future looks bleak.

On his first day back in Tegucigalpa, the young man with braces and hair gelled straight back had to wake up before 5 a.m. to work with his grandparents selling baleadas, wheat tortillas stuffed with beans and meat, outside a hospital.

He said he has been stopped a couple of times by men on the streets of Honduras, which has a gang problem and among the world's highest homicide rates. "I don't even know the words, the rules and the signals they make," he said. "I am afraid to be on the streets alone. And if someone says I am a gringo, it is very dangerous for me because they will think I have money and will assault me."

Cortes noted that he graduated from a Chelsea, Massachusetts high school and would have met all the criteria of the new U.S. policy, which says that the immigrant must have been brought to the U.S. before they turned 16, be no older than 30 and have been in the country for at least five continuous years.

Now back in Honduras, Cortes calls his mother's cellphone every week or so to talk with her and her younger sister in the U.S, and tries to keep in touch with them and others on Facebook.

"I keep up with all of my high school friends through Facebook," said Cortes. "We miss each other very much. I don't know if we are ever going to see each other again."

In Grijalba's case, his family flew from Guatemala to New York City with tourist visas in 2000.

The family later moved to Fairfield, California where Grijalba became an honor-roll student and competed on the wrestling team at a local high school. Halfway through his junior year, he got into a fist fight with a boy from school over a girl. It led to an assault charge in juvenile court.

Maibe Casalins, a Miami-based immigration attorney, said that someone like Grijalba could still qualify because juvenile records are not considered a criminal conviction under immigration laws. U.S. immigration courts give wide leeway to prosecutors and agents in determining whether an individual has the right to stay.

Grijalba kept on studying at the juvenile detention center and was hoping to graduate so he could go to a community college and earn a degree as a mechanic. Like some of the other deported young Latin Americans, Grijalba believes that the chance for a good education is among the most important things he has lost.

"I would then get a job, save and go on to a university and study architecture," Grijalba said of his earlier plans.

Instead, immigration officers deported him weeks before he finished his classes.

Jobless and with no money, Grijalba is now back in Guatemala City, a place he barely recognizes, living downtown with an aunt, two uncles and a cousin.

"Everything is just really different here," he said. "My uncle took me around the city and everything here looks rundown with cracks on the walls and the dogs are so skinny."

"There are also guards with shotguns everywhere," he added. "Yesterday I had to go get Guatemalan documents, there were even guys with shotguns there. You just don't see that in a DMV in California," said Grijalba, referring to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Grijalba was noticeably awkward in what is now a foreign country for him from the moment he stepped off the plane at a Guatemalan Air Force base. As the other deportees scrambled off the aircraft, Grijalba had the measured saunter of a high school kid in his baggy pants and Air Jordans as pre-recorded marimba music blasted from airport speakers. Foreign Ministry officials then gave him and the other deportees their first meal back home: a bread roll and a paste of refried black beans, along with a juice box and a speech about how they will always be welcome in their native Guatemala.

Grijalba said he can't pursue a college degree in the country of his birth because he needs to work. His best bet, he said, is to apply for a job at a call center because English is his main language.

In Argentina, 22-year-old Nahuel Tedesco wishes Obama's decision would have come two years ago when he was studying in Florida.

His family came to the United States after Argentina defaulted on its debt and its currency devaluated in late 2001 and early 2002. The economic crisis caused a spike in violent crime and Tedesco's father lost his job with postal service, so the family decided it was time to leave.

They settled in Miami, where his father and his brother worked in construction and restaurants, and his mother earned money as a nanny. Nahuel was 12.

"It was a great time. Those were the best years of my life," Tedesco said.

His other family members were all deported back to Argentina in 2009. Enrolled at Miami Dade College, Tedesco chose to stay and continue with his classes.

But months later, Tedesco received a notice from immigration officials ordering him to appear in court for deportation proceedings. He was only able to extend his stay a couple of weeks longer to complete his degree in computer software engineering before leaving the country in May 2010.

"I would have liked for things to have turned out differently, for the benefits to have been implemented earlier," he said.

Back in Buenos Aires, Tedesco said it was difficult to adapt to a place where he hadn't lived since he was 12. He worked at a call center where he was eventually laid off after it closed. "It took me several months to realize what was going on," he said.

Like Tedesco and other recently deported immigrants who spent much of their childhood in the United States, Stephany Ramirez also sought work at a call center because of her English skills.

Although she had lived in San Diego since the sixth grade, Ramirez voluntarily returned to Mexico last year and settled in Tijuana to earn some money. She said she was tired of living with the fear of deportation and didn't qualify for financial aid to pay for tuition at an American college.

Still, she'd hoped to return to San Diego later to rejoin her family and continue her education. "It's extremely hard to be here by myself," Ramirez said.

If Ramirez had stayed north of the border she could have benefited from the new rules, but because she wasn't in the United States when Obama made the announcement on Friday she no longer qualifies.

"It would have been a lot easier to continue my studies and be with my family," she said.

A disappointed Ramirez however said she was happy that her younger sister, 18-year-old Montserrat Ramirez, stayed in San Diego and may benefit from the new policy.

"I am happy there is some hope for her," she said.

In Honduras, Cortes said he was confused when he heard the news last week about the new U.S. policy. He initially thought he could go back to the U.S. and apply, but was then told that was not the case.

His sadness was tempered, however, by relief that his younger sister and others could benefit from the new policy.

"They don't have to go through the ordeal I have," he said. "It could have saved me."

____

Associated Press writers Alberto Arce reported from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Adriana Gomez Licon from Mexico City. AP writer Romina Ruiz-Goiriena contributed to this report from Guatemala City.

___

Adriana Gomez Licon is on Twitter?http://twitter.com/agomezlicon

Associated Press

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Polish police on high alert for hooligan violence

A Polish fan cheers before the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Czech Republic and Poland in Wroclaw, Poland, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A Polish fan cheers before the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Czech Republic and Poland in Wroclaw, Poland, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Polish fans cheer beforehe Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Czech Republic and Poland in Wroclaw, Poland, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A Polish fan dances before the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Czech Republic and Poland in Wroclaw, Poland, Saturday, June 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) ? Dozens of Polish police wearing full riot gear kept a close watch on Russian soccer fans heading to their country's European Championship game against Greece on Saturday.

Around 20,000 Russians were expected to attend the match in Warsaw, and authorities have been worried about the potential for more trouble after disturbances between Polish and Russian hooligans on Tuesday led to a few dozen injuries and more than 200 arrests.

Before Saturday's match, UEFA President Michel Platini called on fans to behave with "dignity and respect," and at Wroclaw where Poland was playing the Czech Republic at the same time.

"I appeal therefore to all fans that are going to Warsaw or Wroclaw tonight as we prepare for the deciding matches in Group A to conduct themselves with dignity and respect, and to behave themselves this evening at the stadiums and in the cities," Platini said in a statement issued by UEFA.

As the game in Warsaw approached, thousands of Russians poured across a bridge to the National Stadium. There were no immediate reports of violence, and the atmosphere appeared to be calm and good-natured. Noisy groups of fans, some wrapped in Russian flags, chanted "We have come to win" and "Russia can only win." One Russian had a photo taken with a riot officer and shook his hand.

Russian fans also waved to Polish supporters going in the opposite direction to a fan zone in downtown Warsaw, in contrast to tensions and scattered outbreaks of violence Tuesday. Earlier Saturday, reports from border crossings said fewer Russian fans were coming than expected and that the mood was friendly.

Tuesday's fighting came as thousands of Russians marched over the bridge to the stadium for the highly charged Poland-Russia game that later ended in a 1-1 tie. It came on the Russia Day holiday and the Russians marched in a group, waving flags and nationalist symbols. The mass expression of Russian patriotism in Warsaw's capital was provocative to some Poles, who still deeply resent Moscow's imposition of communism here during the Cold War.

One of the worst cases of violence involved police firing rubber bullets and tear gas at young Polish men who attacked them with stones and bottles. Another scuffle near the stadium was apparently started by Russians.

Associated Press

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Germans regret increasing number of finalists

Associated Press Sports

updated 8:33 a.m. ET June 5, 2012

GDANSK, Poland (AP) -The president of the German football federation says he is not happy about the expanded format of the next European Championship, which will have 24 teams instead of 16.

Wolfgang Niersbach says the DFB has "mixed feelings" about increasing the number of participants and adds that the 16-team format is "ideal."

Niersbach says the nations that failed to qualify put "enormous pressure" to expand the tournament.

The championship in Poland and Ukraine will be the last to have 16 teams.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Gasification may convert mesquite and juniper wood to a usable bioenergy

Public release date: 5-Jun-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Jim Ansley
jansley@ag.tamu.edu
940-552-9941
Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

VERNON Biomass gasification is being considered as a possible technology for converting at least 10 million acres of Texas brush into biofuel, according to Dr. Jim Ansley, Texas AgriLife Research rangeland ecologist in Vernon.

A study using an adiabatic bed gasifier to convert mesquite and redberry juniper species found in the Southern Great Plains into usable bioenergy gases was conducted by Ansley and Dr. Kalyan Annamalai, Paul Pepper Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Coal and Biomass Energy Laboratory, Texas Engineering Experiment Station at Texas A&M University in College Station.

The team also included graduate students Wei Chen, Dustin Eseltine and Siva Thanapal in College Station, and Dr. Mustafa Mirik, AgriLife Research associate scientist at Vernon.

The first published paper on this study, which appeared at www.elsevier.com/locate/energywith Chen as lead author, determined the heating value of mesquite and juniper, as well as the effects of wood chip particle size and moisture content on gas composition and yields, Ansley said.

The study found some of the basic thermal properties of these solid fuels, including chemical composition and heat values, and various heating factors affected syngas yields, he said. Syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide, ethane and hydrogen, can be used as a substitute for natural gas. A solid by-product of the conversion process, tar, may also be used for fuel or other chemical products.

With limitations for growing bioenergy crops on land normally used for growing food, Ansley is looking to the vast supply of unwanted woody plants on rangelands as a possible energy source. The down side would be increased transportation costs, because of the trees' lower biomass density. One option might be to develop small-scale, localized gasification facilities to convert the trees into usable bioenergy.

"Right now, they are perceived as noxious plants that are detrimental to rangeland ecosystems," he said. "Their removal and use as a bioenergy feedstock would improve ecosystem quality as well as services from these lands, such as increased income from livestock grazing."

With no available data regarding gasification of mesquite and juniper, Ansley said his team's objective was to determine the heating value of the two woods and obtain gasification performance data.

Mesquite and juniper can achieve standing biomass of 20 dry tons per acre, he said. Moisture content of these species is much lower than other woody feedstocks and this contributes to greater heating value and lower costs for drying the feedstock.

Mesquite and juniper samples were harvested from native rangeland areas near Vernon. The trees were multi-trunked, 10-12 feet tall with diameters ranging from 2-8 inches. Tree ring counts indicated that above-ground portions of these trees were 15-35 years old.

Basal stems and branches were passed through a wood chipper, he said. The chipped material was then passed through a motorized sieve system to separate into different particle sizes. Wood chips were then stored in cellulose bags and transferred to College Station for gasification trials.

The team's article is the first to report the heating content and syngases derived from these woods, as well as some potential yields and composition from gasification, Ansley said.

The heating value of redberry juniper wood was slightly higher than mesquite 8,849 Btu per pound compared to 8,653 Btu per pound, Ansley said. Both values are equivalent to medium grade subbituminous coal.

He said mesquite and juniper woods are better quality fuel than cattle manure biomass which has lower heating value, 5,520 Btu per pound, and much higher ash content, 14-45 percent compared to 1-2 percent in the wood.

The power plants typically prefer low nitrogen fuels so the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-regulated pollutant nitrogen oxides can be minimized. As opposed to coal, mesquite and juniper contain very low amounts of nitrogen, about one-third to one-half of coal. Nitrogen content was slightly higher in mesquite than juniper, because mesquite is a legume that fixes its own nitrogen, Ansley said.

Wood chips of different sizes were combusted within a steel column that produced a range of temperatures from 400-2000 degrees. This caused various stages of wood decomposition and syngas yield, he said.

Syngas yield was comprised of nitrogen gas, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen gas, oxygen, methane and ethane. Percentage gas composition varied between the wood types, but juniper had a slightly higher percentage of carbon monoxide and methane, while mesquite had higher percentages of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and ethane.

The heating value of syngases produced from these woods was slightly higher in juniper than mesquite, 1,482 Btu per pound compared to 1,275 Btu per pound, Ansley said. When nitrogen was removed from the gasifier, the heating value of syngases from both wood types more than doubled to about 3,575 Btu per pound and 3,261 Btu per pound for juniper and mesquite, respectively.

Compared to pure methane, which served as a surrogate for natural gas, syngases from these woods reached almost 100-150 Btu per standard cubic foot, which is about 10-15 percent of the heating value of methane, he said. When nitrogen was removed, syngas heating value increased to 27 percent and 25.8 percent of methane heating value for juniper and mesquite, respectively.

Both wood types generated high-quality gas, but the juniper gas quality was slightly better than mesquite primarily due to lower nitrogen content and higher heating value, Ansley said.

###

---

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?

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

Public release date: 5-Jun-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Jim Ansley
jansley@ag.tamu.edu
940-552-9941
Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

VERNON Biomass gasification is being considered as a possible technology for converting at least 10 million acres of Texas brush into biofuel, according to Dr. Jim Ansley, Texas AgriLife Research rangeland ecologist in Vernon.

A study using an adiabatic bed gasifier to convert mesquite and redberry juniper species found in the Southern Great Plains into usable bioenergy gases was conducted by Ansley and Dr. Kalyan Annamalai, Paul Pepper Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Coal and Biomass Energy Laboratory, Texas Engineering Experiment Station at Texas A&M University in College Station.

The team also included graduate students Wei Chen, Dustin Eseltine and Siva Thanapal in College Station, and Dr. Mustafa Mirik, AgriLife Research associate scientist at Vernon.

The first published paper on this study, which appeared at www.elsevier.com/locate/energywith Chen as lead author, determined the heating value of mesquite and juniper, as well as the effects of wood chip particle size and moisture content on gas composition and yields, Ansley said.

The study found some of the basic thermal properties of these solid fuels, including chemical composition and heat values, and various heating factors affected syngas yields, he said. Syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide, ethane and hydrogen, can be used as a substitute for natural gas. A solid by-product of the conversion process, tar, may also be used for fuel or other chemical products.

With limitations for growing bioenergy crops on land normally used for growing food, Ansley is looking to the vast supply of unwanted woody plants on rangelands as a possible energy source. The down side would be increased transportation costs, because of the trees' lower biomass density. One option might be to develop small-scale, localized gasification facilities to convert the trees into usable bioenergy.

"Right now, they are perceived as noxious plants that are detrimental to rangeland ecosystems," he said. "Their removal and use as a bioenergy feedstock would improve ecosystem quality as well as services from these lands, such as increased income from livestock grazing."

With no available data regarding gasification of mesquite and juniper, Ansley said his team's objective was to determine the heating value of the two woods and obtain gasification performance data.

Mesquite and juniper can achieve standing biomass of 20 dry tons per acre, he said. Moisture content of these species is much lower than other woody feedstocks and this contributes to greater heating value and lower costs for drying the feedstock.

Mesquite and juniper samples were harvested from native rangeland areas near Vernon. The trees were multi-trunked, 10-12 feet tall with diameters ranging from 2-8 inches. Tree ring counts indicated that above-ground portions of these trees were 15-35 years old.

Basal stems and branches were passed through a wood chipper, he said. The chipped material was then passed through a motorized sieve system to separate into different particle sizes. Wood chips were then stored in cellulose bags and transferred to College Station for gasification trials.

The team's article is the first to report the heating content and syngases derived from these woods, as well as some potential yields and composition from gasification, Ansley said.

The heating value of redberry juniper wood was slightly higher than mesquite 8,849 Btu per pound compared to 8,653 Btu per pound, Ansley said. Both values are equivalent to medium grade subbituminous coal.

He said mesquite and juniper woods are better quality fuel than cattle manure biomass which has lower heating value, 5,520 Btu per pound, and much higher ash content, 14-45 percent compared to 1-2 percent in the wood.

The power plants typically prefer low nitrogen fuels so the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-regulated pollutant nitrogen oxides can be minimized. As opposed to coal, mesquite and juniper contain very low amounts of nitrogen, about one-third to one-half of coal. Nitrogen content was slightly higher in mesquite than juniper, because mesquite is a legume that fixes its own nitrogen, Ansley said.

Wood chips of different sizes were combusted within a steel column that produced a range of temperatures from 400-2000 degrees. This caused various stages of wood decomposition and syngas yield, he said.

Syngas yield was comprised of nitrogen gas, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen gas, oxygen, methane and ethane. Percentage gas composition varied between the wood types, but juniper had a slightly higher percentage of carbon monoxide and methane, while mesquite had higher percentages of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and ethane.

The heating value of syngases produced from these woods was slightly higher in juniper than mesquite, 1,482 Btu per pound compared to 1,275 Btu per pound, Ansley said. When nitrogen was removed from the gasifier, the heating value of syngases from both wood types more than doubled to about 3,575 Btu per pound and 3,261 Btu per pound for juniper and mesquite, respectively.

Compared to pure methane, which served as a surrogate for natural gas, syngases from these woods reached almost 100-150 Btu per standard cubic foot, which is about 10-15 percent of the heating value of methane, he said. When nitrogen was removed, syngas heating value increased to 27 percent and 25.8 percent of methane heating value for juniper and mesquite, respectively.

Both wood types generated high-quality gas, but the juniper gas quality was slightly better than mesquite primarily due to lower nitrogen content and higher heating value, Ansley said.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

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Internet Marketing 101: The Numerous Types of SEO Companies

Online marketing is one of the easiest ways to get paying customers to think of your product. Because of this, more companies are resorting to web marketing to be more zealous. This creates a saturated online atmosphere, which is why online marketing can be very dog-eat-dog.

The Dark Side guarantees power, hence the clich? about the right path not being the easy way. When you come over to the Dark Side of internet marketing, there is the probability of you having more customers and more website traffic. In spite of this, wisdom?besides a lifetime of Hollywood movies?should tell you that nobody who ever enters the Dark Side triumphs.

Just look at what happened to Emperor Palpatine. To remain the upright path and get paying customers the right way, you should know the difference between the good and the bad in regards to online marketing and its most effective tool, search engine optimization.

This is very good both for novices and also for SEO consultants that might have wandered off a bit to the Dark Side. There are three types of SEO: white hat, black hat, and the bad.

Companies should ideally use the services of white hat SEO providers because, as the name proposes, these professionals use honorable strategies and procedures to ensure your website gets to the pinnacle and continues to be there. Think about it as that well-dressed and respectable family guy who watches out for the happiness of others. Wouldn't you want to hire an individual like that?

A black hat SEO, on the other hand, is the white hat SEO's evil brother with the oily hair and pointed beard. In regards to food, a black hat SEO can be contrasted to unhealthy fast food?it tastes good at first, but it ultimately results in a lot of problems. These guys would use a lot of tricks like hidden texts or links, as opposed to a white hat SEO company Utah businesses hire which plays by search engine regulations.

A bad Search Engine Optimization company is the runt of the litter-- small, mousy, and promises a lot of big things but never really delivers. These guys reel you in with too-good-to-be-true offers and leave you hanging by a thread after you pay. On the other hand, white hat Utah search engine optimization companies won't promise you the sun and moon but will perform reasonable steps to sustain outstanding page rankings.

Internet marketing is an effective instrument, and you need a trusted Utah search engine optimization company to wield it. For more information and facts, visit TypesofSEO.com or LetsTalkSEO.com/Apply-Types-SEO-Services.

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