Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita - Don't Worry, You Can Yell At Your PS4 If You Want To

Source       - http://www.forbes.com/
By             - Paul Tassi
Category   - Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita
Posted By  - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Hampton Hotels Santa Clarita

Microsoft MSFT -0.45%‘s big job over the next few months is going to be convincing players that the added functionality of the Xbox One is worth $100 more up front than the PS4. The bulk of that price and feature differential is for the Kinect, and so far, Microsoft is proving me wrong by not offering a Kinect-less bundle for $100 less, which would level the playing field between the two consoles once and for all.

People often forget that Sony SNE -1.09% does have a device that’s similar to the Kinect, the PlayStation Eye Camera. It too can peer into your living room and track you as you wave your limbs around. Now, they’re taking things a step further and giving the Eye camera one more power to compete with Kinect: voice-control. A Sony rep confirmed as much to Polygon:

“Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm that PlayStation Camera allows for voice recognition and we will look forward to sharing more details in the lead up to the launch of PlayStation 4 on November 29.”

To remind everyone, the PlayStation Eye camera is NOT packaged with the PlayStation 4, and costs $59 extra. And for as much hate as the Kinect gets, the Eye is empirically just not as advanced as a motion control system. Voice control could influence a few enthusiasts to pick up the device however, and not feel like they’re missing out on a feature the One has that the PS4 doesn’t.

Voice control has yet to really explode across any technology sector however, gaming included. Yes, you can yell at Siri to direct you to the nearest fast food joint. Yes, you can yell at your car to play a song over your iPhone wirelessly. And yes, you can yell at your Xbox to make your squadmates find cover in Mass Effect. But for the most part, voice control still faces a number of issues and is hardly the mainstream. Perhaps that will change and Sony wants to be on board, but I have a hunch this isn’t going to be a must-have feature for a while.

Microsoft is, however, investing a lot into the “coolness factor” of being able to say things like “Xbox On!” and “Xbox TV!” instead of say, hitting a button on your controller or TV remote. Indeed there may be some vague sense of Star Trek about it, but until it becomes more convenient to actually speak these commands instead of hitting that one button (which works every time), it’s not really going to catch on.

It’s not necessarily a bad idea for Sony to add something like this, but I’m not sure how many PS4 owners will be adopting the new Eye camera for their system. I’ve seen very little from the system that uses the Eye that actually looks worthwhile, and voice commands, unless they’re absolutely flawless, don’t seem like they’ll be the tipping point that will inspire a purchase.

Update: I am indeed aware that the EyeToy existed before the Kinect, though in this case, it is a well-known Kinect feature being emulated. Though I am not accusing Sony of “copycatting” when they’re simply trying to compete with their rival, a logical decision and natural progression of the technology.

Hotels In Northern California - Study Shows Men Just As Likely To Be Depressed As Women

Source        - http://www.latimes.com/
By              - Melissa Healy
Category    - Hotels In Northern California
Posted By  - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotels In Northern California

Depression can look very different in men and women. And many of its hallmarks — rage, risk-taking, substance abuse and even workaholism — can hide in plain sight.

Now researchers say that when these symptoms are factored into a diagnosis, the long-standing disparity between depression rates in men and women disappears.

That conclusion overturns long-accepted statistics indicating that, over their lifetimes, women are 70% more likely to have major depression than men. In fact, when its symptoms are properly recognized in men, major depression may be even more common in men than in women, according to a study published Wednesday by the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The findings help unravel a mystery that has long puzzled mental health authorities: If men are so much less likely than women to be depressed, why are they four times more likely to commit suicide?

"When it comes to depression in men, to some extent we have blinders on," said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, a psychiatrist who studies depression at UCLA. "We have not been asking about and taking into account a range of symptoms that may be gender-specific."

Health policy researchers from the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University set out to test the feasibility of two new checklists that might diagnose depression in men as well as women with greater accuracy.

In addition to familiar depression symptoms such as sadness, difficulty sleeping, feelings of guilt or worthlessness and loss of interest in pleasurable activities, the researchers expanded the list to include anger attacks, aggression or irritability, substance abuse, risk-taking behavior and hyperactivity. They devised two scales — one designed to be gender-neutral and one tuned toward the way the disease manifests itself in men.

The researchers tested these diagnostic criteria in a group of nearly 5,700 American adults who had been interviewed as part of a long-term study of mental health organized by researchers at Harvard Medical School; 41% of the participants were men.

The results of the analysis were striking.

When assessed using the "gender inclusive depression scale" that included widely recognized depressive symptoms such as sadness and hopelessness as well as symptoms commonly seen in men, 30.6% of men and 33.3% of women were found to have experienced a depressive episode at some point in their lives. In research terms, that gap between men and women was so narrow it may have been a statistical fluke.

And when the subjects were evaluated with the "male symptoms scale," 26.3% of men and 21.9% of women were said to have experienced a major depressive episode in their lifetimes. That difference was large enough that it could not be due to chance, the researchers reported.

"Everything we think we know about depression is a reflection of how we defined it to begin with," Leuchter said.

That bias, he added, may have fostered the perception that depression is predominantly a "woman's disease" — and that men don't need treatment for emotional suffering.

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychiatry, portrayed depression as rage turned inward. But for many men today, depression's rage appears not so much directed at oneself as it is spat outward — at spouses, co-workers and friends.

While women may not feel shame in acknowledging their sadness and sagging self-esteem, mental health experts find that depressed men often respond to such feelings with actions that look like their opposite: They bluster and bully. They throw themselves into harm's way. They numb themselves with sex, drugs and endless workdays.

If the emotional pain of many men is to be understood for what it is, depression's definition should be expanded to include these "externalizing" symptoms — the opposite of "internalizing" symptoms that have long defined depression, some mental health professionals argue.

"These findings could lead to important changes in the way depression is conceptualized and measured," the study authors concluded.

If psychiatrists update their official diagnostic criteria to reflect these gender differences, that would be only a first step, Leuchter said.

Doctors, including primary care physicians who now diagnose most depression, would have to be educated to look for an expanded set of symptoms, he said. Researchers would not only need to understand how seemingly separate diseases such as substance abuse and depression relate to each other, they would also need to assess whether the treatments currently available — antidepressants and talk therapy — would help men with these symptoms, he said.

For men as well as women, the checklists now in wide use to diagnose depression may fail to capture the experience and language of the emotional distress they feel, said study leader Lisa Martin, a health policy studies professor at the University of Michigan.

Attractions In Santa Clarita - Scientists Raise Mini Human Brain In a Petri Dish

Source        - http://news.cnet.com/
By              - Dara Kerr
Category     - Attractions In Santa Clarita
Posted By   - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Attractions In Santa Clarita

Petri dishes have hosted all sorts of experiments, like cultivating mold or creating amoeba breeding grounds. But now, truly futuristic events are happening in these circular glass plates -- most notably, growing a brain.

That's right, scientists are now raising brains in petri dishes.

According to a study in the science journal Nature, biologists at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna have grown a human brain using stem cells. This brain isn't full-grown; instead, it is small 3D sections of tissue that apparently resemble the brain of a 9-week-old fetus. It is about 3 to 4 millimeters in size.

Despite not being fully developed, this brain model still has distinct regions of the brain, like the dorsal cortex, ventral forebrain, and an immature retina.

"The parts are correctly organized, but not put together," said study coordinator Juergen Knoblich, according to Popular Science. Knoblich describes it as "a car where you have an engine, you have the wheels -- but the engine is on the roof... that car would never drive, but you could still take that car and analyze how an engine works."

The goal of these scientists is to be able to use lab-grown brains to study illnesses, like schizophrenia and autism. Apparently, animal brains are too dissimilar from human brains for conclusive studies on many types of neurological diseases.

Scientists have created other body parts, like livers and heart tissue, but these organs are nowhere near as intricate as a brain. According to Popular Science, the 3D brain model created by the Viennese researchers is the most complex in vitro creation of tissue to date.

Hotel In California - Japan To Launch Internet ‘Fasting Camps’ For Half a Million Web-Addicted Students

Source       - http://www.foxnews.com/
By              - Trevor Mogg
Category    - Hotel In California
Posted By  - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Hotel In California

Do you spend way too much time online? Do you logon first thing when you wake up? Take your smartphone to the bathroom to check your messages? Surf the Web while you’re driving? Go online when you should be working? Check Twitter and Facebook last thing at night? Sweat when you get separated from your smartphone? Retch when your Internet connection drops? What? You do? Jeez, sounds like you have a real problem there, although you’re not the only one.

According to the Japanese government, more than half a million of the nation’s children aged between 12 and 18 are addicted to the Internet and in need of help.

In an effort to deal with the issue, the Education Ministry said from next year it’ll offer addicted students the chance to attend so-called Internet ‘fasting camps’, a disconnected world free from computers, smartphones, tablets, and any other Net-connecting devices.

Are your hands getting clammy at the mere thought of such a place?

518,000 addicted students
A Daily Yomiuri report Tuesday said that around 518,000 students in Japan are addicted to the Web. The discovery was first reported earlier this month after the publication of research results by the Health Ministry.

The ministry said there was evidence that the addiction was having a negative impact on not only their performance at school but also their health, with sleep and nutritional disorders, as well as depression, reported. Even deep vein thrombosis gets a mention.

While centers for Internet addiction already exist in many countries, Japan, one of the most connected nations on the planet, currently has few places specializing in treatment for those considered to be Web addicts.

Reconnecting
The government intends to use existing facilities such as youth outdoor learning centers for its Internet fasting camps, a place where, over a number of days, students will be slowly and gently encouraged to reconnect with the real world.

Special counseling sessions will be offered by trained psychologists, and lectures about outdoor activities without a smartphone will be given by experts.

Last month, DT’s Jam Kotenko investigated the subject of Net addiction in a piece which included a look at Digital Detox, a personal wellness retreat organization in Ukiah, California, where participants have to hand over their gadgets and gizmos in exchange for a week in the wilderness.

Vacations In Santa Clarita - 70% Of Americans Have High-Speed Internet: Study

Source         - http://news.yahoo.com/
By               - Press Release
Category      - Vacations In Santa Clarita
Posted By   - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Vacations In Santa Clarita

The percentage of Americans with high-speed Internet connections at home has reached 70 percent, while just three percent still use dial-up to go online, a study showed Monday.

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project said the percentage of high-speed users represented a small but statistically significant rise from the 66 percent of adults who said they had home broadband in April 2012.

The percentage using dial-up as of May 2013 has held steady at three percent for the past two years, Pew found, but is down sharply from a peak of 41 percent in 2001.

Overall, 85 percent of Americans use the Internet, the report said. Of those who lack a high-speed connection at home, 10 percent have smartphones that can access the Web.

As previous research has found, those with the highest rates of home broadband use continue to be college graduates, adults under age 50, and adults living in households earning at least $50,000 per year. Whites and adults living in urban or suburban areas also had above-average rates.

"We've consistently found that age, education, and household income are among the strongest factors associated with home broadband adoption," said Kathryn Zickuhr, research associate for Pew and lead author of the report.

"Many dial-up users cite cost and access as the main reasons they don't have broadband, but for adults who don't use the Internet at all, a lack of interest is often the main issue."

The survey notes that more than half of all American adults own a smartphone, but it did not determine whether this constitutes "broadband" speed.

"Broadband users can consume and create many types of content in ways that dial-up users cannot, and our research has long shown major differences in these two groups' online behavior," said Pew's Aaron Smith, a co-author of the report.

"Smartphones may offer an additional avenue for Internet access that surpasses the dial-up experience in many ways, but those who rely on them for home Internet use may face limitations that are not shared by those with traditional broadband connections."

Meeting Space Santa Clarita - Could A Spray Of Perfume Replace Your Morning Coffee?

Source           - http://www.thegloss.com/
By                 - Jamie Peck
Category       - Meeting Space Santa Clarita
Posted By     - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

 

Meeting Space Santa Clarita

Do you love how coffee makes you feel but hate having to ingest it though your mouth? Is all that cumbersome sipping and tasting distracting you from your very important work? No, me neither. But that didn’t stop one college dropout from inventing a caffeine spray that goes on like perfume.

Using the funds given to him by billionaire libertarian Peter Thiel‘s $100,000 fellowship—a grant program for college dropouts who just cannot wait to solve “the world’s hardest problems”—Harvard dropout Ben Yu created “Sprayable Energy,” a caffeine spray that you apply topically. Just spritz it on your neck a few times, and bam! All of the energy with none of the laborious swallowing. The website touts that it is highly portable, and at $15 for about forty doses, it’s definitely cheaper than coffee. It purports to eliminate “the jitters.” And because it doesn’t actually go in your mouth, there’s no way that pesky FDA can slow its progress to you, the consumer. Hooray!

It has no odor as of yet, so it’s not technically a perfume, but why not combine two products into one? You could even make it smell like coffee for an added burst of synesthesia. And why stop there? I look forward to the day when I can apply my morning coffee, bagel, newspaper and cat calls in one handy spray that smells like the subway to boot.

Another point to recommend it? “No Bad Taste. Tasteless and odorless. No need to assault your tastebuds every time you want energy.” Because who actually likes the taste of coffee, anyway? Oh right, almost everyone. Well, maybe he’ll use some of those fat stacks for some mind blowing marketing strategy that will convince you otherwise.

Accommodation In Santa Clarita - Are Young Drivers Unsafe In Their Older Cars

Source        - http://www.theautochannel.com/
By               - Press Release
Category     - Accommodation In Santa Clarita
Posted By   - Hampton Inn Santa Clarita

Accommodation In Santa Clarita

Getting behind the wheel of your first car is a memorable event, especially for younger people. Yet inexperience brings higher risk, so new teen drivers need all the safety advantages they can get, and the latest poll from PEMCO Insurance shows that newly licensed teens often drive older vehicles short of safety features that lessen injuries in a crash.

PEMCO set out to explore the premise that when teens get their first car, those vehicles often tend to be older models, which are more affordable, and smaller models, which get better mileage and cost less to fuel. That's a concern because older cars lack safety improvements, and the laws of physics prove that smaller cars suffer most when they collide with larger vehicles.

According to the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll, about one-third of respondents under age 55 said their first car was more than 10 years old when they became drivers. Respondents of all ages in Portland, Ore., and Western Washington said their first cars were about 8 years old, and Eastern Washington drivers reported an average first-car age of nine years.

About two-thirds of respondents in Washington and Portland report that their parents owned the first car they drove and more than half said their parents paid for the insurance on their teens' first car.

"While older cars are often more affordable for parents and teens, our poll confirms the trend we suspected – parents opt for older and sometimes smaller cars for their teens when a newer car would be a safer option," said PEMCO spokesperson Jon Osterberg.

The poll shows that just 4 percent of drivers between 35 and 54 said their first car included a safety feature critical by today's standards – driver-side front airbags. Airbags didn't become standard in a majority of new models until 1994, according to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) data.

Baby-boomer drivers were more likely to say their first cars were newer – more than half of those 55 and older said their first car was less than 10 years old, and almost one in three said their first car was less than 5 years old, the poll revealed.

However, those drivers may also remember that their first car lacked important safety features for their passengers. While front-seat lap and shoulder belts became a federal standard in 1968, backseat lap and shoulder seatbelts weren't standard in vehicles until 1990. According to PEMCO's poll, 36 percent of drivers 55 and older said their first car had lap seatbelts without shoulder harnesses, and very few – just 3 percent – said their first car offered shoulder harnesses in addition to lap belts.

While there's no doubt automakers have made significant advances in safety over the decades, chances are even a 10-year-old vehicle today would lack newer recommended safety features such as electronic stability control and driver head-protecting side airbags.

In 2003, less than 25 percent of vehicles offered side airbags as a standard feature, and electronic stability control wasn't available in more than 60 percent of vehicle models, according to data from IIHS.

Beyond a vehicle's age, the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) reports that the size of car driven by teens is one of the most significant contributors to their likelihood to crash, when compared to the auto-accident rates of older drivers.

The HLDI study indicates that while small cars tend to be popular among teen drivers, they're also more dangerous than larger vehicles because a shorter wheelbase can be less forgiving with driving mistakes. Still, nearly 30 percent of teens in the U.S. drive one of the three types of vehicles – small two-door cars, and mini and small four-door cars – that have the highest claim frequency among all drivers, according to HLDI.

HLDI's report also shows that teens are two times more likely to crash a small car than their adult counterparts.

According to the PEMCO poll, the most popular first cars among Washington and Portland drivers have been American made, with more than half of the poll's 55-and-older drivers saying they drove a Ford or Chevrolet as their first vehicle as a teen.

"Among those who told us the make of their first car, Chevys were far and away the most common," Osterberg said. "About a third of those who recalled the make of their first car drove a Chevy, with Impalas and Bel Airs – combined – taking the top spot."

But through the years, Toyotas and Hondas have increased in popularity among younger drivers at the expense of Chevrolet, in particular. About 17 percent of drivers under 35 said they drove a Toyota and another 13 percent said their first car was a Honda, while about 10 percent of those younger drivers opted for a Chevrolet.

"There are many resources for teens and parents to help you choose a first car that's safe, reliable, and affordable," Osterberg added. "Websites that compare crash-test results and safety ratings across makes and models are often a great place to start. Check out IIHS's crash-test results or 5-Star Safety Ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."