Author Archives: Guest Post

U.S. Online Holiday Spending Surpasses $17.5 Billion for First 35 Days of the November-December Shopping Season, up 12 Percent vs. Last Year

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2010TechnologyAmazon, analysis, Comscore, cyber monday, e-commerce, gian fulgoni, holiday season, online spending, retail e-commerce spending, walmart

*More than 50 Percent of All E-Commerce Transactions for the First Five Weeks of the Holiday Season Have Included Free Shipping*

RESTON, VA, December 8, 2010 – comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, more than $17.5 billion has been spent online, marking a 12-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw four individual days eclipse $800 million in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.028 billion. Tuesday, November 30 reached $911 million, making it the third heaviest online spending day on record, with Wednesday ($868 million) and Thursday ($850 million) also reaching high levels, although growth rates for the season subsided in the latter half of the week and through the weekend. (more…)

‘Social Relationships in Animals Have a Genetic Basis’

By Guest PostDecember 8, 20102 commentsScienceamanda lea, animals, colorado, daniel t blumstein, female marmots, genetic, genetic component, genetic variation, human behavior, interactions, marmots, non-human population, rocky mountains, social behavior, social network trait, squirrels, tolerate aggression

The ability to tolerate aggression is partly genetic, UCLA life scientists report in the first study to demonstrate a genetic component to a social network trait in a non-human population.

“The ability to tolerate aggression is passed on across generations; there is genetic variation in the ability to tolerate aggression,” said the study co-author Daniel T. Blumstein, professor and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.

Blumstein, a leader in the field of applying social network statistics to animals, and his colleagues studied four groups of yellow-bellied marmots, which are related to squirrels, over six years in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Each group included 15 to 30 marmots. (more…)

Fireworks Produce High Levels of Toxic Particles

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2010Environment1 micrometer, aluminum, amusement park, arrhythmia, audrey smargiassi, bacteria, cardiovascular diseases, chlorine, composition, concentration, contaminants, downtown, emitted gases, every summer, explosions, fireworks, gas, health problems, heart attacks, heart troubles, international fireworks competition, ischemia, la ronde, manganese, marc averette, miami, micrometers, particles, potassium, respiratory problems, smoke, spectacular, titanium, toxic particles

Fireworks. Downtown Miami on July 4, 2007. Image credit: Marc Averette. Source: Wikipedia

Fireworks can be spectacular. However, the gas and smoke produced by the colorful explosions carry extremely high levels of toxic particles, according to a study by Audrey Smargiassi, a professor at the Université de Montreal Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.

Smargiassi conducted one of the first studies examining the composition of the emitted gases and the concentration of the particles. In addition, her study is unique as she collected her data below the fireworks display where spectators usually stand. Previous studies usually collected data from nearby rooftops.

The study was conducted in 2007 during nine separate shows presented at La Ronde amusement park where 5.7 million spectators attend an international fireworks competition every summer. (more…)

Every Website Can Now Be a Bookstore

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2010TechnologyAmazon, bloggers, chrome browser, chrome os devices, chrome os notebook, google chrome, kindle books, kindle content, kindle for the web, russ grandinetti, web browsers

*Kindle for the Web enables customers to read full text of Kindle books in their web browser – no download or installation required*

*Websites are invited to participate in decentralized e-book sales*

*Kindle for the Web is Chrome OS launch partner*

SEATTLE, Dec 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Two months ago, Amazon launched Kindle for the Web, making it possible to read free first chapters of Kindle books through web browsers. Today, Amazon announced that Kindle for the Web will expand to enable anyone with access to a web browser to buy and read full Kindle books – no download or installation required. For the first time ever, bookstores, other retailers, authors, bloggers and other website owners will be able to offer Kindle books from their own sites, let their readers start enjoying the full text of these books instantly, and earn referral fees through the Amazon Associates Program for sales made through their sites. Website owners can embed the Kindle for the Web widget in a matter of seconds and start offering Kindle books. The update to Kindle for the Web was demonstrated on-stage at a Google Chrome event today and will support Chrome OS devices, including the new Chrome OS Notebook, as well as the Chrome browser and other web browsers. (more…)

Amazon Web Services Achieves Level 1 Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2010TechnologyAmazon, amazon web services, aws, aws pci-compliant technology, cloud, credit card, data security standard, dss, fisma, iso 27001, level 1, merchants, payment card industry, pci, pci compliance, pci dss, qsa, qualified security assessor, regulatory compliance, sas 70 Type II, steve schmidt, validated level 1 service provider status

*Merchants, enterprises, and service providers can now implement a cardholder environment on AWS that complies with PCI Data Security Standard*

SEATTLE, Dec 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon Web Services LLC (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., today announced it has achieved Level 1 compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). Merchants and other service providers can now run their applications on AWS PCI-compliant technology infrastructure to store, process and transmit credit card information in the cloud. Customers can use AWS cloud infrastructure, which has been validated at the highest level (Level 1) of PCI compliance, to build their cardholder environment and achieve PCI certification for their applications. To learn more about AWS security certifications and other AWS security practices, visit https://aws.amazon.com/security/. (more…)

Why Married Men Tend to Behave Better

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2010Cultureaggressive behavior, alexandra burt, antisocial, antisocial behavior, brian hicks, genetically informative, marriage, married twin, matrimony, men, researchers, s alexandra burt, social bonding, unmarried twin

S. Alexandra Burt, associate professor of psychology and behavioral geneticist. Image credit: Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers have long argued that marriage generally reduces illegal and aggressive behaviors in men. It remained unclear, however, if that association was a function of matrimony itself or whether less “antisocial” men were simply more likely to get married.

The answer, according to a new study led by a Michigan State University behavior geneticist, appears to be both.

In the December issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, S. Alexandra Burt and colleagues found that less antisocial men were more likely to get married. Once they were wed, however, the marriage itself appeared to further inhibit antisocial behavior.

“Our results indicate that the reduced rate of antisocial behavior in married men is more complicated than we previously thought,” said Burt, associate professor of psychology. “Marriage is generally good for men, at least in terms of reducing antisocial behavior, but the data also indicate that it’s not random who enters into the state of marriage.” (more…)

‘Undersea Methane Could be Contributor to Increased Ocean Acidity’

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2010Environmentacidity, algae, bacteria, bottom of the ocean, carbon dioxide, chris osburn, CO2, cold seeps, degradation, dissolved organic carbon, doc, fluids, marine science, methane, methane-derived doc, microbial processing, ocean, ocean acidification, oceanic microorganisms, pacific ocean, phytoplankton, seawater, sediments, undersea, undersea ecosystems

A North Carolina State University researcher is part of a team which has found that methane from “cold seeps” – undersea areas where fluids bubble up through sediments at the bottom of the ocean – could be contributing to the oceans’ increasing acidity and stressing already delicate undersea ecosystems.

Oceanic microorganisms and bacteria survive by consuming dissolved organic carbon, or DOC. A byproduct of this consumption is CO2 – carbon dioxide – which, in large enough concentrations, makes seawater more acidic. (more…)

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Teens Singled Out for Punishment

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2010Culture, Generaladd health, adult convictions, arrests, bisexual, courts, gay, hannah brueckner, juvenile convictions, kathryn himmelstein, lesbian, lgb adolescents, lgb youth, misbehaviors, new york city, police, same sex, school authorities, school expulsions, sexual orientation, types of punishment, yale university

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are about 40 percent more likely than other teens to be punished by school authorities, police and the courts, according to a study by Yale University researchers. Published in the January 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics, the study is the first to document excessive punishment of LGB youth nationwide.

“We found that virtually all types of punishment—including school expulsions, arrests, juvenile convictions, adult convictions and especially police stops—were more frequently meted out to LGB youth,” said lead author Kathryn Himmelstein, who initiated the study while she was a Yale undergraduate. The research was supervised by Hannah Brueckner, professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course at Yale. (more…)