Skyrim fans release all in-game books for Kindle, Nook and iOS (Digital Trends)

Ever since Bethesda Softworks released?Skyrim on November 11, the folks over at Capane have been collecting the in-game books that are available to read within Skyrim and converting them into formats that can be downloaded onto e-readers and tablets. Within the files for the game, the books are all in plain text rather than encoded files. The people at Capane saved each book into a?separate document, added headings as well as a table of contents. These files were saved in both?.epub and MOBI formats. The?.epub files are used within the Nook as well as the iPad and the MOBI format is used within the Amazon Kindle. Capane has made these files available to download for anyone that?s legally?purchased?a copy of the game.

In order to supplement the game, Skyrim fans over at GameBanshee have released a complete, annotated map of Skyrim available to download for free. Anyone seeking help finding a location in Skyrim can reference the high-resolution PNG version of the map or download the 9-page PDF version of the map to print out a poster-sized version of the map for printing. The map is broken into 96 grid squares which can be combined with the key on the Web version to quickly find a specific location via the alphebetical listings of the various landmarks, shipwrecks, villages, ruins, caves, farms, stables, statues and major cities around Skyrim.?

YouTube users have been flooding the social video site with tons of Skyrim videos from methods to exploit shop owners through theft by slipping a bucket over the head of the NPC to videos about the various ways to die within Skyrim. A popular video posted by YouTube user HunterNormandy details 100 ways to die within the Skyrim universe and has racked up over 250,000 views in the past ten days.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

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Amazon debuts Kindle e-book library borrowing service

E-book readers chew through more books, still enjoy paper copies

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111126/tc_digitaltrends/skyrimfansreleaseallingamebooksforkindlenookandios

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Social Proof Is The New Marketing

As I?ve written about before, we?re in an amazing period of the consumer Internet. ?Despite a shaky economy, many web companies are in hypergrowth.? This is reminiscent of the five-year period over a decade ago when companies like Amazon, Netscape, eBay, Yahoo, Google and PayPal were built. One challenge, which isn?t new, is the battle for consumer attention. ?If you?re looking to grow your user base, is there a best way to cost-effectively attract valuable users? ?I?m increasingly convinced the best way is by harnessing a concept called social proof, a relatively untapped gold mine in the age of the social web. What is social proof? ?Put simply, it?s the positive influence created when someone finds out that others are doing something.? It?s also known as informational social influence.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QWdHG0STWJ4/

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David Wild: "Basketball Jones": A Playlist For The NBA Playing Ball

I woke up this morning early to get ready to take my son to play in the third round of a tennis tournament, thinking that would be the big sports story of the day for us. Here's a playlist for everybody out there with a "Baketball Jones." As always, please take your shots below.

BASKETBALL JONES - Cheech & Chong
PLAY THE GAME - Queen
IT'S NO GAME (PART ONE) - David Bowie
SHOOTING HOOPS - G. Love & Special Sauce
BASKEBALL - Kurtis Blow
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY - The Spinners
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY - Joe South
HE GOT GAME - Public Enemy
TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE - Denice Williams and Johnny Mathis
TOO LATE - Shoes
LEARNING THE GAME - Buddy Holly
HEAD GAMES - Foreigner
BLAME GAME - Kanye West featuring John Legend
GAME STAYS THE SAME - Richard X. Heyman
THE GAME OF LOVE - Santana featuring Michelle Branch
BLUES RUNS THE GAME - Simon & Garfunkel
STILL IN THE GAME - Stevie Winwood
PLAY THIS GAME - Utopia
IT'S ALL IN THE GAME - Van Morrison

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Follow David Wild on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Wildaboutmusic

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wild/basketball-jones-a-playli_b_1113989.html

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Mali: German killed; Dutch, SAfrican, Swede seized (AP)

BAMAKO, Mali ? Gunmen killed a German man in Mali's most famous city of Timbuktu and seized three men from the Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden, officials and witnesses said, as officials on Saturday ordered a plane to evacuate foreigners from the tourist destination.

The Dutch and Swedish governments confirmed Saturday that their citizens had been taken. A fellow traveler said the other man seized was South African and said she met the German man.

Tour guide Ali Maiga was with the tourists during Friday's attack at a Timbuktu restaurant and gave the same list of nationalities. A witness and an official said gunmen burst into the restaurant, grabbed four tourists dining there and executed one when he refused to climb into their truck.

Officials on Saturday evacuated foreigners from Timbuktu to the capital, said a man who owns a hotel in Bamako where the tourists previously stayed. He asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ward Bezemer confirmed that one Dutch man was among those kidnapped.

"In the interests of the people involved, we never comment on these cases," Bezemer told The Associated Press.

The kidnapping comes ahead of an official visit by Mali's president to the Netherlands next week.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Saturday confirmed on Twitter that one of those kidnapped was Swedish. He did not mention the nationalities of the others.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement that the killed foreigner is "with a high probability a German national" and updated its Mali travel advisory to mention the killing.

South African foreign affairs department spokesman Clayson Monyela said Saturday his government was trying to confirm whether one of those kidnapped was South African.

Canadian tourist Julie-Ann Leblond said she met a group consisting of a South African, a Swede and a Dutch couple in Mali. She said they invited her to join them as they headed to Timbuktu, but she took ill on Wednesday and had to stay behind.

"I was supposed to go there with them," Leblond, a 25-year-old resident of Quebec City, told the Associated Press by phone from Bamako. "I was never so happy to get a cold."

She did not provide the names of the travelers and said the German was traveling separately. She said the group of four met on the road as they were traveling from Europe to Africa.

"They're incredible people, so peaceful, so nice," she said. "That kind of thing cannot just happen to those kind of people. It's crazy."

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, also condemned the attack in a statement and said "these incidents show the need to continue and intensify the efforts against insecurity in the Sahel," the desert region stretching from Mauritania to Chad.

"Through its Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel, the EU is committed to help the Sahel countries in this endeavor," the statement said.

Also Saturday, France's Foreign Ministry expanded the zone that it "strongly advises" French travelers to avoid traveling in Mali, moving the line southward from the Sahel region.

Until a few years ago, Timbuktu was one of the most visited destinations in Africa, but it is now one of the many former tourist hotspots in Mali that have been deemed too dangerous to visit by foreign embassies because of kidnappings by the local chapter of al-Qaida.

Friday's incident comes after two French citizens were grabbed in the middle of the night from their hotel in the Malian town of Hombori on Thursday. French judicial officials have opened a preliminary investigation into their kidnappings.

Neither kidnapping has yet been claimed by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, whose members have kidnapped and ransomed more than 50 Europeans and Canadians since 2003.

If Friday's kidnapping is by AQIM, it will mark the first time they have taken a hostage inside of Timbuktu's city limits. Thursday's kidnapping would be another first ? the first hostage taking south of the Niger River.

The group's footprint has grown dramatically since 2006, when the Algerian-led cell first joined al-Qaida. Security experts estimate the group has been able to raise around $130 million from ransom payments alone.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague, writer Juergen Baetz contributed from Berlin, writer David Stringer contributed from London and writers Anita Powell and Donna Bryson contributed from Johannesburg.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_af/af_mali_kidnapping

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Settlement in Hulk Hogan divorce case in Fla. (AP)

CLEARWATER, Fla. ? Court records show a financial settlement has been agreed upon between wrestler Terry Bollea ? better known as Hulk Hogan ? and his ex-wife.

The St. Petersburg Times (http://bit.ly/vGbAkV) reports Linda Bollea received a little more than 70 percent of the couple's liquid assets in their divorce settlement.

He agreed to give his ex-wife 40 percent ownership in his various companies and pay her an additional $3 million property settlement. Linda Bollea filed for divorce in 2009.

The settlement was confidential but came to light this week after it was attached to a new motion filed in court records.

The paper reports Linda Bollea received $7.44 million of the couple's $10.41 million that was held in bank and investment accounts. Terry Bollea will not pay his ex-wife alimony.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_en_mo/us_hulk_hogan_divorce

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Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

Biographer Robert K. Massie gives us a Catherine the Great who is ever interesting and intelligent ? but not necessarily admirable.

Robert K. Massie, whose "Peter the Great" won a Pulitzer Prize 30 years ago, is about as comfortable a biographer as I know.

Skip to next paragraph

He never seems flustered or tied down to academic details. He?s got his sympathies in place and a story to tell. His simple and straightforward thesis? ?[Catherine] and Peter the Great tower in ability and achievement over the other fourteen tsars and empresses of the 300-year Romanov dynasty.? Elizabeth I of England, meanwhile, was ?the only woman to equal [Catherine] on a European throne.?

While Massie is smitten with Catherine (1729-1796), who ?beneath her title and her diamonds ... was only a little German girl brought to Russia for the sole purpose of providing the son of the house with an heir,? the reader, sympathetic or not with some of the grown-up empress?s pragmatic inaction and actions, will always be fascinated. That she wrested the crown of all Russia from her husband, Peter III, and with the help of her lover placed it on her own head, and then tried to keep it from her son?s head and place it on her grandson?s, is forgivable ? or at least, understandable ? in the context of the Sopranos-style skullduggery and double-crosses and murders that characterize royal history.

Maybe all idealized politicians, from Peter the Great to Lincoln to Lenin to Obama, disappoint when we realize that they?re playing the dirty game of politics. And then we humbly resign ourselves to witnessing the exciting and fateful contests.

Massie is so familiar with the figures of the Russian court that he (and consequently we) never feel lost. Among the personalities he presents, the Empress Elizabeth, Peter the Great?s daughter, is especially engaging. She had been placed on the throne through a coup that imprisoned the ?rightful? tsar, the infant Ivan VI, and for the next 20 years indulged herself in privilege, a couple of wars, and fitful slackness (she habitually put off governmental business). She proved a positively queenly ruler, but was childless, so she coerced one of Peter?s grandsons, Peter III, to leave his beloved German state of Holstein and come to Russia and marry and impregnate the German princess Sophia (renamed Catherine by Elizabeth). Contrary to the amusing and kitschy Josef von Sternberg movie of Catherine?s life, "The Scarlett Empress," starring Marlene Dietrich, Peter III was not a half-wit. Peculiar, yes, but he had plenty of marbles and being Lutheran and culturally German, his distaste for Russian customs and religion are understandable.

From girlhood to power-player, Catherine is ever interesting and intelligent; she?s usually likable though not necessarily admirable. The basis of the first half of Massie?s biography is Catherine?s own memoir. She wrote lucidly and remarkably candidly about her miserable life as the wife of Peter III, who it seems never once slept with her: ?Never did two minds resemble each other less. We had nothing in common in our tastes or ways of thinking.... I was constantly left to myself and suspicions surrounded me on all sides.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/KsDE8uE7MP4/Catherine-the-Great-Portrait-of-a-Woman

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South Africa's Tutu blasts secrets bill (AP)

JOHANNESBURG ? Anti-apartheid veteran Desmond Tutu made a last-minute appeal to lawmakers to reject a bill they are to vote on Tuesday, which he calls an "insulting" attempt to roll back democracy in South Africa.

The African National Congress, which holds a majority of parliament's seats, sponsored the bill defining state secrets and making it illegal to divulge them. Parliament is expected to pass the bill.

Critics donned black and staged protests at the ANC's downtown Johannesburg headquarters during morning rush hour Tuesday, saying the bill is open to abuse because officials can broadly interpret its "national interest" justification for keeping information secret.

Activists fear the adoption of the bill in a country known for one of the continent's freest and most open constitutions could influence other governments in the region. They are preparing to challenge the measure if it becomes law before the Constitutional Court, the country's highest court.

In a statement late Monday, Tutu said it is "insulting to all South Africans to be asked to stomach legislation that could be used to outlaw whistle-blowing and investigative journalism ... and that makes the state answerable only to the state."

Tutu won a Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to white rule. In more recent years, he has been a sharp critic of ANC moves he sees as undermining rule of law and weakening South Africa's fledgling democracy.

The ANC said South Africa needs to update apartheid-era secrets legislation. The party bristles at suggestions from critics that its proposal would take the country back to the days when white racist officials banned newspapers and punished whistle blowers to stifle criticism.

Prominent ANC members also have opposed the bill, among them a former state security minister. The office of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first post-apartheid president, also has expressed reservations about the bill. Newspaper editors, prominent writers led by Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, church groups, freedom of expression lobbyists, business leaders and others have lobbied against it.

The ANC bill says "information that is accessible to all is the basis of a transparent, open and democratic society," but says secrecy is sometimes necessary to "save lives, to enhance and to protect the freedom and security of persons, to bring criminals to justice, to protect the national security and to engage in effective government and diplomacy."

While the bill makes it a crime to divulge state secrets, it also makes it a crime for an official to withhold information to conceal wrongdoing or incompetence, or merely to avoid embarrassment.

In June, the ANC backed down on some of its original proposals, removing mandatory prison sentences for possessing and publishing secrets ? though reporters and others could still be jailed for publishing information that officials want kept secret. The ANC also agreed to limit the power to classify secrets to state security agencies, and proposed that an independent official review appeals of state security rulings on classified information.

While those amendments were welcomed, critics want more concessions, including a provision allowing those who break the law to avoid going to jail if they could argue they acted in the public interest.

At times, the rhetoric on both sides of the debate appears to have less to do with the merits of the bill than a distrust of government on one side, and distrust of the media on the other.

In a speech to parliament last week, State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele even raised the possibility that demonstrators who have held peaceful marches to rally opposition to the bill were somehow being used by South Africa's enemies.

The secrets bill is separate from another ANC proposal that has raised concerns ? the possible creation of a tribunal that could discipline journalists, with powers to punish that have not yet been spelled out.

Relations between the ANC and the media long have been tense. Last week one of the country's most prominent newspapers, the Mail & Guardian, said it had been unable to publish details about corruption allegations against Mac Maharaj, a longtime ANC leader who recently took on the job of presidential spokesman, because of threats of criminal prosecution. Maharaj later announced he was asking police to investigate whether the paper and its journalists had broken the law in their reporting.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_re_af/af_south_africa_secrets_bill

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Galaxy Nexus coming to Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada December 8th, pre-orders begin today

Time to start whoopin' and hollerin', Canada -- not only do you have a date with the Galaxy Nexus on December 8th, you can begin pre-ordering it on Bell and Virgin Mobile today. Getting your phone ordered early ensures that you can have the $160 handset (after a three-year commitment, of course) shipped out "as soon as it's available," but it doesn't necessarily guarantee your brand new treasure will show up on launch day. Bell's got a promo going on that we don't recall having seen before: a Twitter line-up. The idea is to sign up on the site on December 1st between 10am and 11am (EST), claim a spot in the virtual line and you'll be given a message to send on Twitter. Then, return to the site once an hour until 10pm and tweet out the latest message. If you remain in the top 100 when all is said and done, your Galaxy Nexus will be guaranteed to arrive on the 8th. 'Course, given the amount of interest circulating around the phone, it's probably best if you're on the site ready to get your Tweet at 9:59am. Check out the press release for the deets.

Continue reading Galaxy Nexus coming to Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada December 8th, pre-orders begin today

Galaxy Nexus coming to Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada December 8th, pre-orders begin today originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/galaxy-nexus-coming-to-bell-and-virgin-mobile-canada-december-8t/

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In NH, Obama to push for payroll tax cut extension (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Targeting Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, President Barack Obama is heading to New Hampshire, a political battleground, to begin a year-end push to extend payroll tax cuts.

During a speech Tuesday at a Manchester high school, the president was to argue that a failure to extend the tax breaks would hurt middle-class families already struggling amid a shaky economy, effectively daring congressional Republicans to block the extension and thus increase taxes.

"If we don't act, taxes will go up for every single American, starting next year. And I'm not about to let that happen," Obama said Monday, previewing the message he was expected to deliver.

But if Republicans are in Obama's sights, he's firmly in theirs, too.

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is airing his first TV ads in the Granite State, and they are sharply critical of Obama's economic record. He also ran ads in New Hampshire newspapers that say to Obama, "I will be blunt. Your policies have failed."

The president's trip follows the collapse of the special congressional deficit-reduction supercommittee, which failed to reach a deal on $1.2 trillion in cuts. Democrats had hoped to tuck the payroll tax extension, as well as a renewal of jobless benefits for the unemployed, into a supercommittee agreement.

With that option seemingly off the table, the White House plans to make a full-court press for a separate measure to extend the payroll tax cuts before they expire at the end of the year ? and set up Republicans as the scapegoat if that doesn't happen.

The White House says a middle-class family making $50,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $1,000 if the payroll tax cuts are not extended.

Republicans aren't wholly opposed to the extension. In fact, party members sent the White House a letter in September stating that extension of the payroll tax cut is one element of Obama's $447 billion jobs bill where the two sides may be able to find common ground.

Some Republicans worry that the tax cut extension would undermine the solvency of Social Security, and others are opposed to any effort to pay for the renewal by taxing the wealthiest Americans.

Last year's cut in the 6.2 percent payroll tax, which raises money for Social Security, was accomplished with borrowed money. The White House has been vague on exactly how it wants to see another round of cuts paid for; spokesman Jay Carney on Monday said only that the money should come from "asking millionaires and billionaires to pay a little bit extra."

A senior administration official said the president would not insist on the cuts being paid for immediately. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal administration strategy.

The 2 percent payroll tax cut expiring in December gave 121 million families a tax cut averaging $934 last year at a total cost of about $120 billion, according to the Tax Policy Center. Economists say allowing the cuts to expire would harm an economy already hobbled by 9 percent unemployment.

Obama wants to cut the payroll tax by another percentage point for workers, at a total cost of $179 billion, and cut the employer share of the tax in half as well for most companies, which carries a $69 billion price tag.

The issue could appeal to independent voters in low-tax New Hampshire, the presidential swing state Obama won in 2008. With Republican candidates blanketing the state with an anti-Obama message ahead of the Jan. 10 primary, the president and his surrogates, including Vice President Joe Biden, are seeking to steal some of the spotlight for their economic message.

It's been nearly two years since Obama visited New Hampshire. And on Tuesday, he'll find a state that has shifted distinctly to the right since his 2008 victory. Recent polls indicate that, if an election between the two of them were held today, Obama would lose by roughly 10 percentage points to Romney.

Romney's print ads, in the form of an open letter, say the evidence on Obama's economic stewardship is "unequivocal" ? his policies have "fallen short even by the standards your own administration set for itself."

"Far from bringing the crisis to an end, (they) have actively hindered economic recovery," the ad says.

___

Associated Press writer Steve Peoples in Manchester, N.H., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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New culprit found in Lou Gehrig's disease

ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2011) ? Following a major Northwestern Medicine breakthrough that identified a common converging point for all forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and Lou Gehrig's disease), a new finding from the same scientists further broadens the understanding of why cells in the brain and spinal cord degenerate in the fatal disease.

Less than three months ago, Northwestern research found that the crucial recycling system for cells in the brain and spinal cord was broken in people with ALS. And one mutated gene had a key role. Like a loafing worker, it wasn't doing its job to recycle damaged cells.

Now, scientists have discovered a second faulty gene -- a new loafing worker -- in the same recycling pathway. The finding is reported in Archives of Neurology.

"Now that we have two bad players, it shines more light on this broken pathway," said senior author Teepu Siddique, M.D., the Les Turner ALS Foundation/Herbert C. Wenske Professor of the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern's Feinberg School and a neurologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "This gives us a clear target to develop drug therapies to try to fix this problem. It strengthens our belief that this broken system is at the heart of ALS."

The new "bad player" is called sequestosome1. The previously identified mutated gene is ubiquilin2. Because these two genes aren't doing their jobs to recycle damaged proteins, those proteins -- as well as sequestosome1 and ubiquilin2 -- accumulate abnormally in the motor neurons in the spinal cord and cortical and hippocampal neurons in the brain. The protein accumulations resemble twisted skeins of yarn -- characteristic of ALS -- and cause the degeneration of the neurons.

In the new study, sequestosome1 genetic mutations were identified in 546 ALS patients; 340 with an inherited form of the disease, called familial, and 206 with a non-inherited form of the disease, called sporadic.

About 90 percent of ALS is sporadic and 10 percent is familial. To date, mutations in about 10 genes, several of which were discovered at Northwestern, including SOD1 and ALSIN, account for about 30 percent of classic familial ALS, noted Faisal Fecto, M.D., study lead author and a PhD candidate in neuroscience at Feinberg.

ALS affects an estimated 350,000 people worldwide, including children and adults, with about 50 percent of people dying within three years of its onset. In the motor disease, people progressively lose muscle strength until they become paralyzed and can no longer move, speak, swallow and breathe. ALS/dementia targets the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, affecting patients' judgment, the ability to understand language and to perform basic tasks like planning what to wear or organizing their day.

The discovery of the breakdown in protein recycling may also have a wider role in other neurodegenerative diseases, particularly the dementias. These include Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia as well as Parkinson's disease, all of which are characterized by aggregations of proteins, Siddique said. The removal of damaged or misfolded proteins is critical for optimal cell functioning, he noted.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Les Turner ALS Foundation, the Herbert and Florence C. Wenske Foundation and other sources.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Northwestern University. The original article was written by Marla Paul.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. F. Fecto, J. Yan, S. P. Vemula, E. Liu, Y. Yang, W. Chen, J. G. Zheng, Y. Shi, N. Siddique, H. Arrat, S. Donkervoort, S. Ajroud-Driss, R. L. Sufit, S. L. Heller, H.-X. Deng, T. Siddique. SQSTM1 Mutations in Familial and Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Archives of Neurology, 2011; 68 (11): 1440 DOI: 10.1001/archneurol.2011.250

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111121194039.htm

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Bat plant could give some cancers a devil of a time

Public release date: 22-Nov-2011
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Contact: Elizabeth Allen
allenea@uthscsa.edu
210-450-2020
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Tacca chantrieri yields potent compounds with cancer-fighting potential

In a new study published this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have pinpointed the cancer-fighting potential in the bat plant, or Tacca chantrieri.

Susan Mooberry, Ph.D., leader of the Experimental Development Therapeutics Program at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center and a professor of pharmacology at the UT Health Science Center, has been working to isolate substances in the plant, looking for a plant-derived cancer drug with the potential of Taxol.

Taxol, the first microtubule stabilizer derived from the Yew family, has been an effective chemotherapy drug, but patients eventually develop problems with resistance over time and toxicity at higher doses. Researchers have long been seeking alternatives.

"We've been working with these for years with some good results, but never with the potency of Taxol," said Dr. Mooberry, lead author of the study. "Now we have that potency, and we also show for the first time the taccalonolides' cellular binding site."

Microtubules are structures in the cells that act as conveyer belts. They help maintain cell shape and help guide chromosones in cell division to ensure that every new cell, including every new cancer cell, gets a full complement of genetic material. When microtubules are stabilized -- essentially held still so they can't do their jobs -- this disrupts numerous cellular processes, and the cell can die.

The taccalonolides stabilize microtubules in cancer cells, but they do not attack healthy cells, Dr. Mooberry said. "We've run normal prostate cells and normal breast cells through these tests, and they don't die. The taccalonolides selectively kill cancer cells."

Until now, how they did this was unknown. The isolation of these highly potent taccalonolides for the first time by Dr. Mooberry's team shows how they interact directly with microtubules.

###

For current news from the UT Health Science Center, please visit our news release website or follow us on Twitter @uthscsa.

The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit http://www.ctrc.net.

---

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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: 22-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elizabeth Allen
allenea@uthscsa.edu
210-450-2020
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Tacca chantrieri yields potent compounds with cancer-fighting potential

In a new study published this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have pinpointed the cancer-fighting potential in the bat plant, or Tacca chantrieri.

Susan Mooberry, Ph.D., leader of the Experimental Development Therapeutics Program at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center and a professor of pharmacology at the UT Health Science Center, has been working to isolate substances in the plant, looking for a plant-derived cancer drug with the potential of Taxol.

Taxol, the first microtubule stabilizer derived from the Yew family, has been an effective chemotherapy drug, but patients eventually develop problems with resistance over time and toxicity at higher doses. Researchers have long been seeking alternatives.

"We've been working with these for years with some good results, but never with the potency of Taxol," said Dr. Mooberry, lead author of the study. "Now we have that potency, and we also show for the first time the taccalonolides' cellular binding site."

Microtubules are structures in the cells that act as conveyer belts. They help maintain cell shape and help guide chromosones in cell division to ensure that every new cell, including every new cancer cell, gets a full complement of genetic material. When microtubules are stabilized -- essentially held still so they can't do their jobs -- this disrupts numerous cellular processes, and the cell can die.

The taccalonolides stabilize microtubules in cancer cells, but they do not attack healthy cells, Dr. Mooberry said. "We've run normal prostate cells and normal breast cells through these tests, and they don't die. The taccalonolides selectively kill cancer cells."

Until now, how they did this was unknown. The isolation of these highly potent taccalonolides for the first time by Dr. Mooberry's team shows how they interact directly with microtubules.

###

For current news from the UT Health Science Center, please visit our news release website or follow us on Twitter @uthscsa.

The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit http://www.ctrc.net.

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/uoth-bpc112211.php

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Death toll in Sydney nursing home fire climbs to 7 (AP)

SYDNEY ? An 82-year-old man has died from injuries suffered when a Sydney nursing home erupted in flames, raising the death toll from the fire to seven.

Around 10 more residents remained in hospitals Monday. They were suffering burns and smoke inhalation from Friday's fire, which authorities allege was set by a nurse who worked at the facility.

Police said in a statement that the latest fatality Caesar Galea died in a hospital Monday morning.

Nurse Roger Dean has been charged with multiple counts of murder.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oceania/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_nursing_home

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Lorri L. Jean: Turning 40 Never Felt So Good... or Did So Much Good!

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's 40th Anniversary Gala & Auction, a star-studded celebration hosted by Leslie Jordan at the Westin Bonaventure on November 12, helped raise more than $680,000 for our many services to build the health, advocate for the rights and enrich the lives of LGBT people. Surrounded by more than 1,200 donors and supporters -- and even one of the pioneers who helped found the center -- I was awed by this incredible community and everything we have accomplished together.

Our theme for this year's gala was "40 Years of Family." There are a lot of ways to define family, but one of my favorites is this: people with common goals and values who share a lifelong commitment to one another. That certainly describes the center, just as it does this year's honorees and those who presented the awards to them:

* Proud fathers of adorable twins Harper and Gideon, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka have put a new public face on families with same-sex parents. They have given generously to support our LifeWorks program, to which so many young LGBT people turn for support. We were proud to have Jane Lynch honor the handsome and talented couple with our Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award. I was touched by Neil's observation that the center is helping to create a world where, for same-sex couples, "being married and being a parent doesn't have to be about making a statement, and it can be just about living our lives."

* Chaz Bono has been a dedicated activist in our community since his "first coming out" in the '90s. Since his more recent coming out as a transgender man, he has become an even greater trailblazer. By bravely and publicly sharing the journey of his transition, and his family's journey, he has set a courageous example that is helping transgender youth and their families around the world. David Arquette, who reflected upon the struggles his transgender sister, Alexis, faced in order to feel "comfortable in her own skin," was proud to present Chaz with our Board of Directors Award. (Chaz visited the center for a tour he week before the event; I was proud to share with him how much the center has expanded our services for the transgender community since he last walked through the doors.)

* We're grateful to count Jane and her wife, Dr. Lara Embry, as part of the center family. Jane did the California AIDS Ride (a precursor to our present-day AIDS/LifeCycle) back in the '90s, and Lara rode with us from San Francisco to Los Angeles for the first time this year. Though Jane's star has risen stratospherically (and deservedly!), she hasn't forgotten us; she continues to serve on our board of directors and to be there when we need her.

The evening included many poignant moments: Surprising our longest-tenured woman board member, LuAnn Boylan with an award honoring her astounding 19 years of service to the center; board member Peter Paige's heartfelt remembrances of turning to the center as a youth in need of support; Clinton Leupp recalling the early years of the AIDS epidemic and the anger that led him to create his alter ego, the drag star Miss Coco Peru, followed by a powerful rendition of "Those Were the Days"; and so many others. Plus, Leslie Jordan provided countless laughs as the emcee of the evening -- perhaps most memorably in his Madonna-esque cone breasts.

It was a night that made me exceptionally proud, not only of what the center is today but also that we are part of such an incredible tradition of activism. We've been calling it "40 Years of Family" because the center formally incorporated in 1971 -- but in fact our roots reach all the way back to 1969. Our co-founders took action within months of the Stonewall riots; first was Morris Kight providing information and referrals and then Don Kilhefner creating a "Gay Survival Committee" for those in desperate need.

Another co-founder, Jon Platania, opened several "Liberation Houses" to provide housing and employment services for homeless LGBT youth and adults -- the first such residential programs in the world. And social worker June Herrle became the architect of the center's focus on social services. And always, fighting for our rights as a key part of the center's mission.

Over the decades, we have held true to their vision of building a stronger and healthier LGBT community, taking care of our own and fighting for the equal place in society that we deserve.
Now a resident of Berkeley, Jon recently came down to visit; he toured all of our facilities to see first-hand how the founders' vision has been realized and built-upon. How very appropriate that on this special anniversary, Jon could reconnect with the center and even join us to celebrate our family at the gala. We stand proudly on his and all of our founders' shoulders.
Thanks to Jon and the other founders, the cnter has mattered to people who count on us. For more than 40 years, the center has been like family to countless members of our community.

We have been there for people at their times of greatest sadness and happiness, in their times of greatest need and generosity -- just like a family is supposed to be. I can't even count the numbers of people who have told me that they found their "family of choice" through their involvement with the center.

Moreover, the center has become a beacon of hope to LGBT people all over the world. We represent what any community of people can do when they set their minds to it. What was begun by a handful of volunteers with $35 in the bank has become a life-changing, life-saving institution that is making a difference to thousands of people every week and inspiring many more around the globe.

I wish, after 40 years, we could say our work is done. But we know that isn't true. We still don't have equality under the law. All too often the rights we do have, and sometimes our very humanity, are under attack.

So, as long as we are treated as second-class citizens, as long as HIV and AIDS continue to be on the rise in our community, as long as LGBT seniors needing outside care feel forced back into the closet, as long as misguided parents kick their LGBT kids out, as long as any LGBT person feels ashamed simply because of their gender identity or who they love, the center will be here. We must be here. And when you think about what we've accomplished in the first 40 years ... just imagine the progress that the next 40 will bring.

MORE SLIDESHOWS NEXT?> ??|?? <?PREV

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorri-l-jean/la-gay-lesbian-center_b_1101729.html

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Analysis: Obama gambles on Myanmar reforms (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama is gambling that the United States can nudge Myanmar further toward true political reform, a bet that could bring major diplomatic and economic benefits for both countries after more than 50 years of estrangement.

Obama's announcement that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Myanmar early next month marks a new stage of engagement with the country's new civilian government, which has enacted a series of reforms since it took over from the military after an election last year.

For the United States, rapprochement with Myanmar could eventually open a promising untapped market at the heart of the world's most economically vibrant region and counterbalance China, which has long been Myanmar's most important political and economic partner.

For Myanmar's civilian leaders the U.S. decision may mean the start of a broader political rehabilitation that could see economic sanctions eased or removed and the impoverished country begin to catch up with its booming neighbors.

But for both, it is a gamble that U.S. pressure and Myanmar's internal reforms will succeed in rolling back decades of entrenched military power and deliver real results rather than a fig-leaf for continued authoritarian control.

"This is the most important progress we have seen since the military took over and destroyed what should have been the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia," said David Steinberg, a Myanmar expert at Georgetown University.

"There has been some real effort at reform by the government, and the U.S. should do everything it can to increase the probability that it will continue."

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Obama signed off on the trip after speaking with veteran Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who told him she favored more U.S. engagement and a Clinton visit.

Suu Kyi, in a further vote of confidence in the reform process, said she supported her National League for Democracy taking part upcoming by-elections -- a step which could see the party start to emerge as a real opposition in parliament.

Aung Din, a former political prisoner who now heads the U.S. Campaign for Burma advocacy group, said he welcomed Clinton's trip but worried that the reforms announced thus far were fragile and incomplete.

"I hope that the regime will take this seriously and respond positively by releasing all the remaining political prisoners," he told Reuters. "There is some risk that they may not continue to change."

Obama and Clinton have emphasized that Myanmar's leaders -- who this week won their bid to chair the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014 -- must do more to reform, release more political prisoners and end long-running conflicts in ethnic-minority areas.

Clinton said she would use her visit on December 1 to press home these points.

"One of the reasons that I'm going is to test what the true intentions are and whether there is a commitment to both economic and political reform," she told CNN.

"STAMP OF APPROVAL"

But analysts said Clinton's trip underscored Washington's belief that Myanmar was finally shaking off domination by the military, which took power in a 1962 coup and killed thousands in a crackdown in 1988.

"This is designed to give a very clear stamp of approval," said Priscilla Clapp, a retired diplomat who served as chief of the U.S. mission in Myanmar from 1999 to 2002 and is now a senior advisor at the Asia Society.

"All of the things we have been asking for the last 20 years are now suddenly happening, and the United States had to find a way to respond. They can't remove the sanctions right away, so this was one way to do it."

The Obama administration began cautiously opening to Myanmar in 2009, and the drive has gained steam in recent months as the military-backed civilian government freed a first batch of political prisoners and took other reform steps.

The United States has had broad economic sanctions on Myanmar since 1988, and the European Union, Australia and Canada have also imposed sanctions in an effort to put pressure on the ruling junta.

While U.S. officials say lesser bans such as travel limits on officials are being relaxed, movement on major U.S. economic sanctions would require action by Congress where many lawmakers remain skeptical about the country's leadership.

Ernest Bower, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former head of the US-ASEAN Business Council, said many U.S. businesses hoped the door may open to the country, which has a population of about 54 million and rich resources including natural gas, minerals and timber.

"This is an incredible opportunity. You just don't find an Asian economy that has been untouched by the developed countries for the last 40 years," Bower said.

RED TAPE

Even if sanctions are eased quickly -- an unlikely prospect -- analysts say it would take time for foreign businesses to move in, citing Myanmar's extensive red tape and lack of treaties on investment or trade protection.

While businesses may have to wait for any payoff, the diplomatic benefits are clear as long as the reform process continues.

For Obama, Myanmar may represent the best hope for success in his policy of engagement with traditional U.S. foes, which has hit a brick wall with Iran, North Korea and Syria.

Strengthening ties with Myanmar also plays into the broader U.S. strategy of countering China's rising influence. Myanmar in September scrapped plans for a huge dam built and financed by Chinese firms, and Washington is eager to see it move further out of Beijing's orbit.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111118/ts_nm/us_usa_myanmar

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Greek debt swap to cut 2012 deficit to 5.4 percent of GDP (Reuters)

ATHENS (Reuters) ? Greece's government forecasts a budget deficit of 5.4 percent of GDP next year, provided a planned debt swap to reduce the country's debt maintenance costs goes ahead, according to a final budget plan submitted to parliament on Friday.

Excluding the effects of the debt swap, also known as the "PSI," the budget predicts that Greece's fiscal gap will be 6.7 percent of gross domestic product next year, down from 9.0 percent in 2011.

Under the debt swap plan, Greece said in the budget it expected to issue new bonds with a nominal value of 70 billion euros ($94.60 billion) and to pay private bondholders an additional 30 billion euros in cash.

Parliamentary debate on the budget plan is set to begin at committee level next week and it will then be approved in a plenary session by December 8-9. ($1 = 0.740 Euros)

(Reporting by Harry Papachristou)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111118/ts_nm/us_greece

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Newspaper owners team up in deal-finding venture (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? A group of newspaper publishers and other media companies are teaming up to sell more advertising aimed at people looking for online deals.

Eight companies formed a joint venture that has acquired Find n Save, a search engine focused on discount offers made by merchants in cities across the U.S. The venture acquired Find n Save as part of its purchase of Travidia, an online shopping service. Financial terms of that deal weren't disclosed in Thursday's announcement.

The joint venture's initial owners include: Advance Digital, part of Advance Publications Inc., whose newspapers include The Plain Dealer in Cleveland; A.H. Belo Corp., owner of The Dallas Morning News; Cox Media Group, owner of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and more than 100 radio and TV stations; and Gannett Co.; owner of USA Today and more than 80 other newspapers as well as more than 20 TV stations.

Discussions are being held with other media companies interested in joining the venture.

Find n Save is tapping into the coupon craze that helped turn Groupon's daily-deal service into a hot commodity. Although it's still losing money, Groupon Inc. is growing so fast that the 3-year-old company already has a $15 billion market value.

Unlike search engines such as Google, Find n Save specializes in showcasing discounts offered by advertisers within local markets. A consumer can type, say, "burrito" into a search field, and receive a list of nearby Mexican restaurants and the deals they're offering.

The search engine makes money from the advertisers in its database. Other ads can be placed by companies looking to connect with people whose search engine requests have signaled their interest in certain products and services.

The participating newspapers will share in the revenue and contribute daily deals covering their markets to Find n Save's index.

Find n Save currently tracks local deals in 19 of the top 50 U.S. markets. The joint venture plans to add 21 more top markets to the list during the next month. By the end of 2013, the joint venture expects more than 400 newspapers to be affiliated with Find n Save.

Newspapers have been mining the Internet for more revenue to offset a steep decline in print advertising that has triggered bankruptcies and massive cutbacks during the past three years. The drop has been driven by the Internet's appeal to advertisers looking for less expensive ? and in some cases, more effective ? alternatives to print advertising.

The joint venture overseeing Find n Save will be run by acting CEO Christopher Trippe, who helped newspapers put together a partnership with Yahoo Inc. that began five years ago.

The venture's other partners include Hearst Corp., whose newspapers include the San Francisco Chronicle and 14 other dailies; MediaNews Group, owner of the San Jose Mercury News, The Denver Post and more than 50 other newspapers; McClatchy Co., owner of The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee, The Miami Herald and 28 other dailies; and The Washington Post Co., publisher of the largest newspaper in the nation's capital.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111117/ap_on_hi_te/us_newspapers_shopping_search_engine

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NASA Probe Beams Home Best Moon Map Ever (SPACE.com)

Scientists have stitched together the highest-resolution topographic map of the moon ever created, using observations made by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft.

The new lunar map covers 98.2 percent of the moon and depicts the natural satellite's surface and features at a pixel scale of about 330 feet (100 meters). A global view of Earth's nearest neighbor at such high resolution had never existed before, scientists said.

"Our new topographic view of the moon provides the dataset that lunar scientists have waited for since the Apollo era," said Mark Robinson of Arizona State University, principal investigator of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), in a statement Thursday (Nov. 17).

"We can now determine slopes of all major geologic terrains on the moon at 100-meter scale, determine how the crust has deformed, better understand impact crater mechanics, investigate the nature of volcanic features and better plan future robotic and human missions to the moon," Robinson added.

The new map was created using thousands of pictures acquired by the Wide Angle Camera, part of the LROC imaging system. The Wide Angle Camera maps nearly the entire moon every month from LRO's average altitude of 30 miles (50 kilometers), building up a record of how the lunar surface looks under varying lighting conditions.

NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009 on a $504 million mission to map the moon in unprecedented detail. The spacecraft is about the size of a Mini Cooper car and carries seven instruments to study the lunar surface.

In addition to its mapping role, the spacecraft has also spotted several historic artifacts of moon exploration, including NASA's Apollo landers and the boot prints left behind by moon-walking astronauts during the six manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972.

The new moon map from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter doesn?t cover 100 percent of the moon because persistent shadows prevent the camera from snapping good photos near the north and south poles. However, another instrument aboard LRO, the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, can map out polar terrain, so the "holes at the poles" may soon be filled in. [Photos: Our Changing Moon]

But even with the small polar blank spots, the new map is still plenty exciting, researchers said.

"I could not be more pleased with the quality of the map ? it?s phenomenal!" Robinson said. "The richness of detail should inspire lunar geologists around the world for years to come."

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111118/sc_space/nasaprobebeamshomebestmoonmapever

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Former sore 'Loser' finds redemption

Trae Patton / NBC

The "Loser" hopefuls had to participate in a pentathlon.

By Ree Hines

First ?The Biggest Loser? teams were grouped by generations. Then they each were made of up of trios representing each age group. Nine weeks into the competition, the Battle of the Ages has taken another twist as each of the contestants is now a team of one.

Longtime ?Loser? fans know that means it?s time for the solo game and the return of the dreaded yellow line ? the low weight-loss marker that leaves two players at the mercy of their fellow contenders. To kick off the shake-up this season, the contestants participated in a pentathlon that guaranteed the first-place finisher immunity and the last-place finisher a one-pound penalty.

The challenge started out easy. For the first event, the rules were simple: The ?Loser? hopefuls only had to list their competition in order of who most deserved to the title of ?The Biggest Loser.? They could use whatever standards they wanted, and that?s where the game got interesting.

The more ?deserving? the player, the more points they?d receive at the end of the five-leg event. Some contestants, namely Antone and Ramon, went with strategy ? listing the weakest competitors as the most worthy. Some, like Vinny, voted with their hearts and stacked pals at the top of the list. And then there was Sunny, who for some reason decided the best bet was to just put down everyone?s names alphabetically ? a move that put powerhouse Antone on top of her list. Also a move she likely regretted when the game was over.

Why? Because after the four other events, which ranged from basic nutrition trivia to a one-mile sprint with gold-medal speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, Sunny held the top spot on the pentathlon leaderboard. But when the results of the worthy winners lists were factored in, Antone beat her ? by one point. Had she put his name anywhere but the top of her list, she would have at least tied for the win.

Ah, well, there are worse things than not winning immunity, such as walking away with a one-pound disadvantage ? otherwise known as Bonnie?s fate.

Bonnie, whose constant complaining when she was on trainer Anna Kournikova?s team made her stand out as this season?s sore ?Loser,? has shown an improved attitude over the last couple of weeks. Despite the bad luck on Tuesday night?s show, her attitude continued to improve and she even displayed a previously hidden generous nature.

When Bonnie fell below the yellow line alongside her former fellow teammate Becky, she asked to be voted out of the competition so that Becky, one of three teachers in the game, could continue.

??I just want to tell you from square one, I have dreamt that one day, someone who teaches our kids would win this ?Biggest Loser,?? Bonnie said with tears in her eyes. ?So that is why I?m telling you guys, I am ready to take on the next chapter of my life. That?s my decision, and I?m standing by it. I do not want Becky to go home.?

Everyone respected her wishes.

Were you surprised to see Bonnie volunteer to leave the game when she landed below the yellow line? Did her recent attitude about-face change your opinion of her? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/15/8825204-former-sore-loser-finds-redemption-before-elimination

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Dr. Nalini Chilkov: Are You Tired and Wired? (Huffington post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/162881529?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Box office: "Breaking Dawn" on track for $140 million opening (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Sensing that end is nigh for their favorite vampire romance franchise, members of Team Edward and Team Jacob will flock to the movie theaters this weekend to see "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1."

But will tween ticket-buyers turn out in enough force to propel the Summit sequel to record numbers?

It's unlikely, but even if the sequel falls short of those lofty marks, it still stands to sink its teeth into an awful lot of green. The first installment in the two-part finale is on pace to bank $140 million this weekend in 4,061 theaters.

Also opening wide this weekend: Warner Bros.' animated sequel "Happy Feet Two"; Fox Searchlight Oscar hopeful "The Descendants," meanwhile, will expand to 27 theaters Friday from the five it opened up with Wednesday.

"Breaking Dawn's" projections fall short of the $169 million all-time record set by "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" last summer, but should be roughly in line with the franchise's highest grossing opener, the $140 million posted by 2009's "New Moon."

The studio is feeling more conservative, projecting an opening weekend on the order of $125 million.

Summit did not release the number of theaters that plan to host midnight screenings, but studio executives told TheWrap that the movie may be a 12 a.m. record breaker.

It could easily surpass the $43.5 million benchmark set by "Deathly Hallows Part 2" in late night showings.

If Twi-hards are particularly eager to catch the latest entry in the vampire romance saga -- a gorier and sexier affair that includes a trip to the altar, a deflowering and a grisly demon child birth -- it may shatter the single day record of $92 million set by the bespectacled wizard.

"Those midnight showings are where they always excel, so they're almost certain to get the single day gross record," a rival studio executive told TheWrap. "The question is can they sustain it? Do they get all those girls out and then fall off a cliff."

Making those heady numbers all the loftier, Summit produced the tentpole film at a relatively modest budget.

After tax rebates, "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" cost the studio $110 million, much of it in cast salaries.

As TheWrap reported exclusively last spring, a prospectus given to potential investors revealed that "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" cost $127.5 million. According to those documents, Summit had only has $38.4 million at risk thanks to foreign pre-sales.

The bad news is that "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" will likely suck the blood out of the rest of the box office.

Box office watchers predict that "Happy Feet Two" will fall short of the $41.5 million opening enjoyed by the first film.

The dancing penguins sequel is predicted to rack up $30 million over the weekend in 3,606 locations, 2,800 of which are 3D compatible. The Warner Brothers film cost $140 million to produce.

Also feeling the "Twilight" burn will be last weekend's box office champion, "The Immortals." Relativity's sword and sandals epic should see its numbers fall over 50 percent to $17 million, if predictions prove right.

In addition to Arctic creatures and vampires, a decidedly human drama will enter the marketplace. Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants" opened Wednesday in five New York and Los Angeles theaters. It will expand to 11 markets, including Boston, San Francisco and Dallas, over the weekend, bringing its theater count to 27.

The critically adored film should rack up around $30,000. Starring George Clooney, the comedy-drama centers on a man trying to reconnect with his daughters while his wife lies in a coma. It marks writer and director Alexander Payne's first film behind the camera since 2004's "Sideways."

"It's a good story that people can really identify with and the performances are outstanding," Sheila DeLoach, Fox Searchlight's executive VP of distribution, told TheWrap. "We're really thrilled to see the reviews come in. That is a big plus to the film and helps its box office."

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111117/film_nm/us_boxoffice

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Woods-Stricker not a done deal

Tiger Woods of the U.S. team eyes his ball after a tee shot during a practice round prior to the start of the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Melbourne Golf Course in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Tiger Woods of the U.S. team eyes his ball after a tee shot during a practice round prior to the start of the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Melbourne Golf Course in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Tiger Woods, left, Fred Couples, center, and Phil Mickelson from the U.S. team smile during a photo shoot prior to the start of the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Melbourne Golf Course, in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Phil Mickelson, left, of the U.S. team talks to his caddie on the 4th tee during a practice round prior to the start of the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Melbourne Golf Course, in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011.( AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Bubba Watson of the U.S. team hits an approach shot during a practice round prior to the start of the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Melbourne Golf Course, in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011.( AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

South Africa's Ernie Els, left, and Charl Schwartzel, right, from the International team on the 5th tee during a practice round prior to the start of the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Melbourne Golf Course in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, unbeatable in the last Presidents Cup, might not be playing together for every match at Royal Melbourne.

Woods said Tuesday he liked what he saw in the practice round from Stricker, who has not competed since Sept. 25 at the Tour Championship because of a neck injury affecting the strength in his left arm.

"Hopefully, we'll get put out there together," Woods said. "I know that we feel very comfortable with one another and we were talking about it today. There's a certain comfort level about each other's games."

He added, however, that the pairings for the week have not been decided.

"A lot of pairings have not been set in stone," Woods said.

About 15 feet away on a different podium, Dustin Johnson said he would not be playing with Phil Mickelson as they did at the Ryder Cup last year in Wales because "we do better playing against each other."

That was a reference to the money games they play at the majors and other big events, always against each other. Johnson and Mickelson lost both their Ryder Cup matches, neither one reaching the 17th hole.

Asked about playing with Woods, Johnson said, "That's a possibility."

"I don't know if we're supposed to be saying who we are playing with yet," he said. "Obviously, me and Tiger will be a great team if we do play together."

Ultimately, it's up to U.S. captain Fred Couples.

Woods has had 17 partners in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup over the years, but he has played only with Stricker the last two cups. They have lost only one match, last year at Wales.

While it might seem as though it took a long time for Woods to find the right partner in these competitions, it appears that Johnson is the one who isn't an easy fit.

Stricker, meanwhile, could easily partner with someone like Hunter Mahan. If that's the case, it likely would be in foursomes, which could still leave intact the formidable Woods-Stricker tandem for fourballs.

It was Geoff Ogilvy who said two years ago about that partnership, "You've gone guy who hits every fairway and makes every putt, and his partner is Tiger Woods."

Woods only faced two questions about possibly playing Adam Scott, giving him a reunion with caddie Steve Williams two weeks after his racial comment while being roasted at a caddies award dinner.

"It's already done," Woods said about the ongoing saga. "I addressed it last week and I said life goes forward, not backward."

And there was only one mention of him being a captain's pick, despite not having won in two years.

"I'm just grateful to be honest the team," Woods said. "Fred could have picked anybody, and I'm thankful that he had faith in me to be a part of the team and wanted me to be a part of the team. A lot of the players wanted me on the team, as well. So that part definitely did feel good."

It helps that Woods is coming off a third-place finish in the Australian Open last week, his best outcome of a short year because of injuries. He was within one shot of the lead twice on the back nine, and wound up two shots behind Greg Chalmers.

Couples went out of his way not to single out Woods when he speaking out his 12-member team, though it was hard to ignore him.

"For Tiger, he's always got the 'X' on his back and everyone watches how he does," Couples said.

He said he had dinner with Woods on Saturday night, after Woods fell six shots behind with a 75 in the third round, and that Woods all but promised he would have a better final round. He closed with a 67.

"He had a great round, and he's pretty confident," Couples said.

Couples will not announce his pairings until the opening ceremony on Wednesday. Johnson didn't sound as though he would be complaining to have Woods at his side.

"Anybody that plays with Tiger is going to be pretty good," Johnson said. "He's playing well right now, hitting the ball great and driving it pretty straight. That's kind of what you have to do out here."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-15-GLF-Presidents-Cup/id-716554fb1b784c24b61c7715f12bfb58

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