There was no question that Oklahoma City was the superior team in the first-round sweep against defending champion Dallas. After the first game of the Western Conference semifinals, the Los Angeles Lakers appear to be no match.
The Thunder’s 119-90 pasting Monday night served notice that the nine-day layoff wasn’t an issue. Rust didn’t set. Rhythm didn’t dissipate. Oklahoma City was ready, and the Lakers felt that wrath.
“We play good basketball,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “Like I told the guys, it’s one game. It’s the first team to four that wins this series. Regardless if we won by one or 20, it doesn’t have any impact on Wednesday night with the same energy. We know that the Lakers are going to play much better.”
One game hardly makes a series, and both the Thunder and Lakers are well aware of that fact. Los Angeles only
The seventh season of NBC's proclaimed "biggest talent show on earth" began with some pretty impressive but puzzling shots of Nick Cannon yelling atop a desert mesa, then watching a random man get shot out of a cannon. There's an opportunity for a pun, but we won't go there.
Then cue the news and talk show clips announcing Howard Sternas the new judge, and some comments from fellow judges Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandell (Howard and Howie … this could get confusing) about how Stern is the best person to fill David Hasselhoff's empty judge's chair. It's clear the producers are making this season -- or at least this episode -- all about Stern.
Upon taking his new judge's chair, Howard makes a wisecrack about how the NBC execs that hired must be out of their minds. "They should be fired immediately," he said. Then the auditions begin.
L.A. Auditions
The long line of talents (and schlubs) begins in L.A. with a magician named Jackson. Howard is excited because apparently,
NEW YORK (AP) — Britney Spears and Demi Lovato are joining the judging panel on "The X Factor" this fall, part of Fox's effort to boost its underperforming music competition shows.
The network's executives, in presenting next season's schedule to advertisers on Monday, also promised changes for "American Idol." While "Idol" remains Fox's centerpiece, as it has been for the past decade, it has lost a quarter of its audience this year.
Fox is adding two new comedies and a drama in the fall, pumping new life into "Glee" by moving it to a new night with guest stars Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica Parker and touting a midseason drama starring Kevin Bacon as "the new '24.'"
The Spears announcement overshadowed the others. Despite weeks of rumors, it wasn't official until she strode onto New York's Beacon Theater stage wearing a white minidress, accompanied
Since Apple announced the dates for this year's WWDC, there has been speculation whether the notoriously-secretive company would be introducing any new products at the event. Apple's annual developers conference covers both iOS and OS X, which suggests either new laptops or the next iPhone. Of course, it's possible that just like last year, there won't be any hardware announcements at the event.
However, there are reasons for us to be optimistic. Recent rumors indicate that new MacBooks are imminent and given how prescient such rumors can be nowadays--the ones about the latest iPad were mostly accurate--we are reasonably confident that Apple's notebook refresh will be coming next month. Here's what you can probably expect from the new MacBooks.
A thinner design
According to Bloomberg, the new MacBooks will feature a slimmer chassis powered by Intel's latest third-generation Core-i processors, codenamed Ivy Bridge.
The choice of processors is a no-brainer. PC laptops with quad-core versions of these Ivy Bridge processors are already in the market--you can find our regularly updated list here--and with Intel holding back on the dual-core and ultra-low-power models till June, it only makes sense that the new MacBooks will feature these chips. If you need more persuading, there are some screenshots from Geekbench, though note that these could still be fake.
With Ivy Bridge processors and its chipsets featuring native USB 3.0 support, the USB 2.0 ports on MacBooks will probably get the upgrade. Despite the fact that its Thunderbolt technology hasn't been widely adopted, Apple is likely to keep faith with Thunderbolt. However,the thinner chassis could lead to the removal of the Ethernet port, which if you remember, is available on the Air only via an adapter.
Apple last revamped the design of the MacBook Pro in 2008 and since then, it has been frequently imitated (though often, unsuccesfully) by others. With the increased competition posed by sleekUltrabooks, especially the mainstream 14-inch and larger models that are most similar to MacBook Pros, the time is ripe for change.
To achieve this thinner design, it is speculated that Apple will ditch the optical drive on the MacBook Pro. It's a logical move, particularly as Apple has championed its online store in favor of physical media. The company doesn't even ship Blu-ray drives with its laptops and there's no native support in the operating system.
Of course, removing the optical drive would blur the lines further between the 13.3-inch MacBook Air and the equivalent MacBook Pro, which brings us to the next rumor tidbit.
Nvidia graphics
The next MacBook Pro will come with the latest Nvidia discrete graphics. If both The Verge and ABC News are to be believed, this is not just a rumor, it's a fact. Instead, the uncertainty is about the specific Nvidia graphics chip, with the GeForce GT 650M identified as a possible candidate.
Using this chip would mean that the MacBook Pro would perform similarly to the HP Pavilion dv6, which comes with a quad-core Ivy Bridge processor and identical GT 650M graphics. We're pretty confident that you'll be able to play some of the latest games on this configuration at medium settings. It would also be perfect for Blizzard's latest blockbuster, Diablo 3, which incidentally is available natively on OS X.
We suspect that the discrete graphics option will not be available for the MacBook Air. This would provide a crucial distinction between the two series and ensure that the more portable Air would have good battery life. Besides, Intel's latest HD Graphics 4000 isn't too shabby and it's probably capable enough for less graphically intensive games.
Retina Display
It seems inevitable after the latest iPad that Apple would have to increase the screen resolution on its laptops to match the Retina Display on its tablet. We have been hearing that MacBooks would be getting an ultra-high resolution display since last year, but the 2,880 x 1,800-pixel screen that has been reported seems a bit far-fetched.
The latest rumors haven't exactly stated any specific screen resolution, but we feel that anything less than 1,920 x 1,080 pixels would be disappointing. After all, even Asus' upcoming Ultrabooks will have full-HD displays.
To add to the chorus of rumors surrounding this high-resolution display, users testing the developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion, the next version of Apple's operating system, have reported finding high-resolution icons and other graphics resources designed for a Retina-class display.
OS X Mountain LionHowever, the main task of a graphics chip is to drive the laptop display and if the rumors are to be believed, it's going to be some screen. In short, a Retina-class display.
Given the need for Retina-class graphics assets, we believe that Mountain Lion will be ready in time for the new MacBooks. WWDC is after all a developers conference, so it's likely that the next version of OS X would be a key highlight. Apple previously launched OS X Lion together with the current MacBook Air, so it's reasonable to assume that the company will once again bundle the new OS with the refreshed MacBooks. This would help drive sales of the new notebooks.
To sleep: perchance to sleepwalk, ah, that is not unusual after all, finds a study Monday in Neurology.
About 30% of adults in the USA have experienced nighttime wanderings, and those with sleep apnea or psychiatric disorders such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder are at higher risk, finds the study of 19,136 Americans ages 18 and older. Antidepressants, sleeping pills and certain other medications can increase the risk, but they appear to bring on events in people with a history of sleepwalking.
"I would like to correct the impression that sleepwalking is rare," says study author Maurice Ohayon, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center. "This is a huge number of people."
Participants were asked in phone surveys about their sleep habits, general health, medications and mental disorders. People who wandered at night at least once during the year were more likely to have a family history of sleepwalking — and often tread on quality sleep for household members. Ohayon says that's how most know of their somnambulism. "Their partners will wake up in the morning and tell them about it. It can be very disruptive to others, while the person walking at night can be quite unaware."
Ohayon says this is the first study to look at how many people sleepwalk, how often, and why. Men and women are just as likely to do it. Other findings:
•30% of all respondents have sleepwalked.
•3.6% of those sleepwalked at least once in the past year.
•2.6% had between one and 12 episodes in the past year.
•1% had two or more episodes in a month.
"I think this study shows we don't recognize nighttime wandering as often as we should," says neurologist Jan Brandes of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. "We need to encourage people to keep track of their sleep and tell their physician if they do."
She adds that no studies have determined longtime health implications of sleepwalking, "but most of us would say going to bed at 10 and waking up at 6 — rather than roaming the house — would be the ideal."
People with depression were 3.5 times more likely to sleepwalk; those with obsessive-compulsive disorder were four times more likely to do so.
Bottom line, Ohayon says: It needs to be identified and treated because of the risk of injury, the importance of a good night's sleep and disruption to others. "You can't have anyone, especially older people, wandering around because they could fall and hurt themselves," he says.
It sounds like a routine event for NASA: At 4:55 a.m. on Saturday, a rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and carry cargo — but no people — to the International Space Station.
But if all goes as planned, that morning will mark something transformative for the space industry: a victory for capitalism in what has been for decades a government-run enterprise. The capsule, built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation — SpaceX, for short — would be the first commercial spacecraft to make it to the space station, and many observers view its launching as the starting gun in an entrepreneurial race to turn space travel into a profit-making business in which NASA is not
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Monday as investors dealt with the one-two punch of worsening political upheaval in the euro zone and the possibility that China's economy may be softening more than previously thought.
The S&P 500 finished lower for the fourth day of five to close at its lowest level since February, adding fuel to worries of a coming market correction.
Economically sensitive shares, including banks and energy companies, paced the decline. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYS:XOM -News) lost 1.2 percent to $82.12. The NYSEArca oil index (PSE:^XOI - News) fell 1.8 percent.
State television in Greece reported the president of the fiscally beleaguered country will continue talks on forming a coalition government, although Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos said on
Evan Turner made the go-ahead layup with 40.4 seconds left and Philadelphia held off Boston the rest of the way with six straight free throws as the 76ers evened the second-round Eastern Conference series with an 82-81 victory Monday night.
Turner finished with 10 points, including his layup that put the Sixers up 76-75. He added two free throws with 12 seconds to go.
Jrue Holiday scored 18 points and Andre Iguodala added 13 points, seven
Unlike the Clippers, the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs made short work of their first-round playoff opponent, sweeping the Utah Jazz in business-like fashion to stretch their current winning streak to 14 games.
But Sunday, Spurs standout guard Tony Parker was quick to acknowledge that the Clippers and Jazz are “two different teams” that “you can’t even compare.”
Speaking to reporters after the team’s practice, Parker and his teammates could finally discuss the next opponent following the Clippers' 82-72 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 7 on Sunday, and many echoed common concern about the Clippers' array of good shooters.
“They’re more like transition, fastbreak, lobs; it’s very different than Utah,” Parker said. “Utah, everything
Gov. Jerry Brown proposed significant cuts to state courts and state worker pay - including reducing state employees' work week to four days - to help close a $15.7 billion gap between revenues and expenses for California's fiscal year that begins July 1.
In announcing his revised budget proposal, which he called both "difficult" and "real, increased austerity," the governor also pressed his case for voters to approve a tax initiative that he is pushing in the November election.
The governor's plan already counts the revenue the tax initiative would bring in - and if voters reject the taxes, then even deeper cuts would be required, Brown said. Those would include mid-year cuts to public schools, community colleges and the University of
Necrotizing fasciitis after zip line accident attacks Ga. woman
5/14/2012
Whether she was hiking in the woods, growing organic vegetables or working on her master's degree in psychology, Aimee Copeland embraced her passions with determination and a constant smile that made friends wonder if she ever had bad days.
Now the 24-year-old Georgia graduate student is fighting to survive a flesh-eating bacterial infection that forced doctors to amputate most of her left leg. They warned she would likely lose her other foot and both hands.
Copeland contracted the rare infection, called necrotizing fasciitis, within a few days after suffering a deep cut May 1 when she fell from a broken zip line in an outdoor excursion.
Her parents and sister remain at her side after a week at an Augusta hospital, while friends 200 miles away at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton are holding vigils and organizing blood drives while praying for Copeland to recover.
"When she put her mind to a project, there was no letting go. She was relentless until it was completed," said Richard LaFleur, a fellow graduate student who enlisted Copeland to help recruit for the psychology department.
LONDON (MarketWatch)—Gold futures, which saw modest losses during Asian trading hours, accelerated declines during European electronic trading Monday, as a push to the safety of the U.S. dollar weighed on demand for metals.
Gold for June delivery (GCM2) dropped $12.90, or 0.8%, to $1,570.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The soft start to the trading week came after the metal settled at its lowest level this year on Friday, as political turmoil in Europe prompted investors to flock to the U.S. dollar over other asset classes.
Talks between potential coalition partners collapsed in Greece on Sunday, raising the likelihood of fresh elections and stirring fears about the future of the euro zone. Greece's political turmoil.
Against the backdrop of European uncertainty, the dollar continued its climb higher on Monday, with the ICE dollar index (IFUS:DX-Y.NYB), which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six other currencies, at 80.463, from 80.250 in late North American trading Friday.
A stronger greenback adds further pressure to dollar-priced commodities such as gold, as it drives up to cost of the metal for holders of other currencies.
The market brushed aside weekend news that the People’s Bank of China will lower the ratio of reserves banks must set aside as deposits at the central bank by a half percentage point. The move was came recent data showing a slowdown for the nation, which is a big user of natural resources.
The broader metals complex tracked gold lower, with copper the leading decliner. July copper (HGN2) fell 7 cents, or 2%, to $3.58 a pound.
Silver for July delivery (SIN2) declined 41 cents, or 1.4%, to$28.49 an ounce.
Platinum for July delivery (PLN2) dropped $14.50, or 1%, to $1,456.90 an ounce, while June palladium (PAM2) eased $7.40, or 1.2%, to $596.00 an ounce.
The Heat won Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, but if they lose Chris Bosh for an extended period of time, they're in big trouble.
- It's easy to bag on Chris Boshthese days. The Miami Heat forward has gone from being one of the NBA's top power forwards to a much lesser player whose star shines much dimmer than superstar teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. He's lost touches and confidence since leaving Toronto, and due to his slender frame and the Heat's lack of bodies up front, he's been forced into a power role that doesn't really suit his game.
All this said, he's still an incredibly important part of the Heat's core. If he's lost for any significant amount of time due to an abdominal injury suffered in the first half of the Heat's 95-86 win over theIndiana Pacers on Sunday, the Heat are in big trouble. Maybe they can get by the Pacers -- emphasis on the maybe there -- but they need Bosh in the lineup if they want to fulfill their title dreams.
Sunday's result provides a little hope, but Heat fans shouldn't make too much out of the game. The Heat won, but they needed a superhuman effort from James and Wade to make it happen. James and Wade outscored Indiana by themselves in the second half, turning the screws up a notch like the great players they are. When combined with Miami's pressure defense -- which, to be fair, they may still be able to rely upon in this series against the Pacers' erratic guards -- it was enough to get the win. But it's also not fair
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The pre-game scoreboard presentation at Madison Square Garden is full of highlights from the Rangers’ 86 seasons, including reminders of the team’s 1994 Stanley Cup victory as well as a exhortation from former general manager/coach Emile Francis to keep this playoff drive alive.
So these top-seeded Rangers know they are only halfway toward their ultimate goal as they host the sixth-seeded Devils Monday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference final.
"It’s a surreal thought that we’re in close position to create some really great memories in New York hockey," Rangers left
