Benaroya Research Institute announces $4.4 million grant for type 1 diabetes

Public release date: 14-Feb-2013
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Contact: Kay Branz
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6503
Immune Tolerance Network

Benaroya Research Institute establishes the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research with biosamples from thousands of participants

(Seattle, Feb.14, 2013) In a major effort to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research, the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) established the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center with a $4.4 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center led by Carla Greenbaum, MD, Director of the Diabetes Research Program at BRI, will coordinate clinical study proposals and sample requests including protocol design, sample procurement and distribution.

Dr. Greenbaum serves on the Joint Steering Committee for the T1D Exchange which offers a comprehensive view of type 1 diabetes including clinical and academic research, real-world data, clinically-annotated biosamples, and patient insights. The T1D Exchange consists of a Clinic Network with access to more than 100,000 patients, a Clinic Registry with over 26,000 well-characterized patients, the online community Glu, and the Biorepository whose goal it is to distribute, share and exchange meaningful data and biosamples to drive collaboration and disseminate knowledge across the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community.

"We are thrilled to see the establishment of the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center as a key factor in advancing the mission of T1D Exchange to speed better treatments, therapies and research. Giving biological samples is one way people touched by type 1 diabetes are empowered to contribute to improved outcomes on the path to a cure. We have a strong, productive working relationship with Dr. Carla Greenbaum and her team at the Benaroya Research Institute and are eager to see this collaboration yield data that will be impactful to the type 1 diabetes community," shared Dana Ball, CEO and Cofounder of the T1D Exchange.

BRI was selected to receive this grant to establish the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center by the Helmsley Charitable Trust because of the organization's reputation in autoimmune diseases research with a focus in type 1 diabetes and biobanking. Under the direction of Dr. Greenbaum, BRI has created one of the world's most robust biobanks for the study of autoimmune disorders dating back to the year 2000. BRI actively maintains biobanks for eleven different autoimmune diseases. BRI also maintains a registry of healthy people for comparison purposes.

"BRI has a long track record of developing and maintaining biobanks which have led directly to the advancement of understanding autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. We are excited to be in on the ground floor of an initiative that will have enormous impact on the type 1 diabetes community by helping to facilitate research with a large numbers of participants. This work will accelerate our understanding, hopefully leading to a cure for this disease," notes Dr. Greenbaum.

"We are pleased to support this important initiative, which is in keeping with our strategy of filling gaps and creating tools that help the entire T1D community," said David Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

###

About Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), founded in 1956, is an international leader in immune system and autoimmune disease research, translating discoveries to real-life applications. Autoimmune diseases happen when the immune system, designed to protect the body, attacks it instead. BRI is one of the few research institutes in the world dedicated to discovering causes and cures to eliminate autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and many others.

BRI serves as a worldwide leader in research to prevent, treat and cure type 1 diabetes through its Diabetes Research Program, where scientists have accounted for some of the substantial discoveries in the field. The cornerstone of diabetes research at BRI is multidisciplinary research centered on the patient -- translating basic science discoveries to advance new approaches to disease prediction, intervention and therapy. BRI is the Pacific Northwest Clinical Center for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, the JDRF Center for Translational Research and the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center.

About The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting effective nonprofits in a variety of selected areas. Since 2008, when the Trust began its active grant-making, it has committed more than $800 million to a wide range of charitable organizations. Through the Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes Program, the Trust is one of the largest private funders of T1D-related research, treatment and support programs. For more information, please visit www.helmsleytrust.org.

About the T1D Exchange

T1D Exchange, a not-for-profit organization, is a dynamic, multi-purpose, real-world patient data platform designed to accelerate all aspects of drug and device development. T1D Exchange has established a unique model to speed better treatments, therapies and research for type 1 diabetes (T1D). The Exchange consists of an integrated Clinic Network of 65+ clinics across the U.S., a Biorepository, and Glu, an online community with mobile capabilities for people touched by type 1 diabetes. The T1D Exchange fosters faster and more fluid information transfer and sharing among diabetes patients, physicians, researchers, and pharma, medical device, education, and outreach organizations.

Media Contacts:

Benaroya Research Institute
Kay Branz
BRI Director of Communications
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6903

---

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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: 14-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kay Branz
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6503
Immune Tolerance Network

Benaroya Research Institute establishes the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research with biosamples from thousands of participants

(Seattle, Feb.14, 2013) In a major effort to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research, the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) established the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center with a $4.4 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center led by Carla Greenbaum, MD, Director of the Diabetes Research Program at BRI, will coordinate clinical study proposals and sample requests including protocol design, sample procurement and distribution.

Dr. Greenbaum serves on the Joint Steering Committee for the T1D Exchange which offers a comprehensive view of type 1 diabetes including clinical and academic research, real-world data, clinically-annotated biosamples, and patient insights. The T1D Exchange consists of a Clinic Network with access to more than 100,000 patients, a Clinic Registry with over 26,000 well-characterized patients, the online community Glu, and the Biorepository whose goal it is to distribute, share and exchange meaningful data and biosamples to drive collaboration and disseminate knowledge across the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community.

"We are thrilled to see the establishment of the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center as a key factor in advancing the mission of T1D Exchange to speed better treatments, therapies and research. Giving biological samples is one way people touched by type 1 diabetes are empowered to contribute to improved outcomes on the path to a cure. We have a strong, productive working relationship with Dr. Carla Greenbaum and her team at the Benaroya Research Institute and are eager to see this collaboration yield data that will be impactful to the type 1 diabetes community," shared Dana Ball, CEO and Cofounder of the T1D Exchange.

BRI was selected to receive this grant to establish the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center by the Helmsley Charitable Trust because of the organization's reputation in autoimmune diseases research with a focus in type 1 diabetes and biobanking. Under the direction of Dr. Greenbaum, BRI has created one of the world's most robust biobanks for the study of autoimmune disorders dating back to the year 2000. BRI actively maintains biobanks for eleven different autoimmune diseases. BRI also maintains a registry of healthy people for comparison purposes.

"BRI has a long track record of developing and maintaining biobanks which have led directly to the advancement of understanding autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. We are excited to be in on the ground floor of an initiative that will have enormous impact on the type 1 diabetes community by helping to facilitate research with a large numbers of participants. This work will accelerate our understanding, hopefully leading to a cure for this disease," notes Dr. Greenbaum.

"We are pleased to support this important initiative, which is in keeping with our strategy of filling gaps and creating tools that help the entire T1D community," said David Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

###

About Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), founded in 1956, is an international leader in immune system and autoimmune disease research, translating discoveries to real-life applications. Autoimmune diseases happen when the immune system, designed to protect the body, attacks it instead. BRI is one of the few research institutes in the world dedicated to discovering causes and cures to eliminate autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and many others.

BRI serves as a worldwide leader in research to prevent, treat and cure type 1 diabetes through its Diabetes Research Program, where scientists have accounted for some of the substantial discoveries in the field. The cornerstone of diabetes research at BRI is multidisciplinary research centered on the patient -- translating basic science discoveries to advance new approaches to disease prediction, intervention and therapy. BRI is the Pacific Northwest Clinical Center for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, the JDRF Center for Translational Research and the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center.

About The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting effective nonprofits in a variety of selected areas. Since 2008, when the Trust began its active grant-making, it has committed more than $800 million to a wide range of charitable organizations. Through the Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes Program, the Trust is one of the largest private funders of T1D-related research, treatment and support programs. For more information, please visit www.helmsleytrust.org.

About the T1D Exchange

T1D Exchange, a not-for-profit organization, is a dynamic, multi-purpose, real-world patient data platform designed to accelerate all aspects of drug and device development. T1D Exchange has established a unique model to speed better treatments, therapies and research for type 1 diabetes (T1D). The Exchange consists of an integrated Clinic Network of 65+ clinics across the U.S., a Biorepository, and Glu, an online community with mobile capabilities for people touched by type 1 diabetes. The T1D Exchange fosters faster and more fluid information transfer and sharing among diabetes patients, physicians, researchers, and pharma, medical device, education, and outreach organizations.

Media Contacts:

Benaroya Research Institute
Kay Branz
BRI Director of Communications
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6903

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/itn-bri021313.php

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Ride-hailing apps offer new way to get around town

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou smiles as she drives in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou smiles as she drives in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou uses her phone to accept a ride from a passenger in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 17, 2013 photo, a Lyft car drives crosses Market Street in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou drives in San Francisco, Friday. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou waits in her car after dropping off a passenger as a taxi cab passes her in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? When Hesky Kutscher needed to get across town, he didn't call a taxi. He tapped a smartphone app called Lyft, which allows users to request car rides.

Minutes later, a black hatchback with a big fluffy, pink mustache on its grille pulled up. Kutscher hopped in the front seat and gave the driver a fist bump. Then they cruised over the hilly streets of San Francisco, chatting like neighbors until he was dropped off near Union Square.

Kutscher, who runs a medical data firm, said ride-hailing apps like Lyft ? with its whimsical mustaches ? are more convenient than cabs: "I need to get from A to B. They do it well, they do it for a good price, and the drivers are friendly."

Fed up with traditional taxis, more city dwellers are using their smartphones to request rides using GPS-enabled mobile apps that let riders and drivers find each other in real time. Ride-summoning services such as Uber, SideCar and Lyft are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities.

Uber allows passengers to use their smartphones to summon luxury town cars and other vehicles driven by professional drivers. Customer credit cards are charged fares based on time and distance.

Lyft and SideCar describe themselves as community "ridesharing platforms" that connect riders and drivers, who use their own vehicles. After each ride, passengers are asked for a voluntary donation based on what others paid for similar trips. The companies take a 20 percent cut.

"We started Lyft to create a system for matching up people who need a ride with people who can offer a ride," said Logan Green, co-founder of San Francisco-based Zimride, which operates Lyft.

But taxi operators say the new ride services are little more than illegal cabs that don't have permits, pay city fees or follow regulations. The upstarts are also steering business away from cab drivers, making it harder to earn a living.

"It makes for an uneven playing field," said Barry Korengold, who heads the San Francisco Cab Drivers Association. "We're not trying to stifle technology. We're saying do it in the legal way."

Uber, which launched in 2010 and offers ride services in 18 cities, has been sued by San Francisco cab drivers and Chicago car-service companies alleging unfair business. The San Francisco-based company has also run into trouble with regulators in New York, Vancouver, Boston and Washington, D.C.

The California Public Utilities Commission last year issued cease-and-desist orders and $20,000 fines to Lyft, Sidecar and Uber for operating illegally. The agency says they are "charter-party carriers of passengers" that need permits certifying their drivers are properly screened, licensed and insured.

In December, the commission agreed to evaluate the safety of the Internet-based ride services and plans to draft new rules to regulate them over the next several months. Last week, the agency reached agreements with Lyft and Uber that allows them to operate legally until the new rules are written. It's in discussions with SideCar over its operations.

"We're not trying to put them out of business, but they cannot avoid the basics of public safety," said Frank Lindh, the commission's general counsel.

Lyft and SideCar say they're not charter-party carriers, but ridesharing platforms. They say they shouldn't be regulated like taxis or limos because rides are prearranged, payments are voluntary and the firms don't own the vehicles or employ the drivers.

"Existing regulations have not caught up with the technology," said Sunil Paul, CEO of SideCar, which launched a year ago in San Francisco and is preparing to expand to 15 other cities. "This is a new medium, and a new medium needs a new set of rules."

Lyft and Sidecar say they have measures to ensure passenger safety. They interview drivers, check driving records, conduct criminal background checks and inspect vehicles. Drivers use their own insurance, but both companies provide additional coverage up to $1 million.

Other cities and states are also figuring out how to regulate the new transportation apps. The International Association of Transportation Regulators is working on guidelines for regulations that, if adopted, could restrict the upstarts.

Internet-based ride-hailing apps should be regulated, but regulators must be careful not to quash innovation in a transportation sector, said Daniel Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis.

Sperling believes technology can reduce congestion, pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions by making transportation more efficient and convenient, allowing more people to live without personal cars.

"This is the first wave of what we hope will be a whole series of innovative companies and technologies that will transform transportation as we know it," Sperling said.

Lyft launched in San Francisco in June and began offering rides in Los Angeles on Thursday. It's cultivated a playful image with its pink mustaches and fist-bump ice-breakers. Users sign up with their Facebook accounts.

To maintain safety and quality, both Lyft and SideCar ask passengers and drivers to rate each other after each ride. Too many low ratings, and they're booted from the network.

Both services have attracted a diverse group of drivers. Lyft drivers include PhD students who need a break from writing dissertations, preschool teachers looking for adult conversation and artists seeking to earn extra money, said Green.

San Francisco State University student Shelby Stone, 23, drives her black Volkswagen Rabbit for Lyft four or five days a week to help pay car expenses and other bills.

"I have a blast with Lyft," Stone said after dropping off passenger Kutscher by Union Square. "All day long I'm meeting new people and getting to know the city of San Francisco."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-04-Ride-Hailing%20Apps/id-d893894f889c4ba184f19a42d7af69f3

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Video: Mike Lupica talks impact of Super Bowl blackout

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50692125/

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Kate Upton Mercedes Commercial: Super Bowl Ad Features Model, Willem Dafoe (VIDEO)

Kate Upton? Check. Willem Dafoe? Present. Usher? Dancing.

Outlandish, but sparkling with celebrities, this star-studded Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl commercial features the beautiful Upton, the R&B dancing extraordinaire Usher and a smooth-talking devil by Dafoe.

CLICK HERE to see the rest of the 2013 Super Bowl commercials as well as all of the best, worst and most unforgettable from the past.

As the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens battled for the right to lift the Lombardi Trophy, Super Bowl advertisers competed for another prize: your attention. Each time that CBS cut away from Super Bowl XLVII to pay the bills (or because the lights went out), another group of blockbuster commercials and movie trailers were unveiled (although many had been teased). At your Super Bowl party, were people paying closer attention during the game or the commercial breaks?

While memorable Super Bowl commercials like Apple's '1984' and Snickers' spot that featured Betty White will be remembered so many more are soon forgotten or, even worse, ridiculed as super fails. Will this ad make this year's best list? Is it controversial? Or, even worse, destined to be forgotten?

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/kate-upton-super-bowl-commercial-mercedes_n_2613646.html

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Video of police beating roils Egypt

A man who was beaten and dragged naked across the ground during a demonstration on Friday now is blaming Egyptian riot police, reversing an earlier statement in which he blamed demonstrators.?

By Reuters / February 3, 2013

A man who was beaten and dragged naked across the ground during a demonstration on Friday told the public prosecution that Egyptian riot police were responsible for the incident, reversing an earlier statement in which he blamed demonstrators.

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A video of Hamada Saber, 48, being beaten with truncheons by helmeted police has infuriated the opposition, which accuses President Mohamed Morsi of ordering a harsh crackdown on protests two years after the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Mr. Morsi's government has announced an investigation into the incident, which came at the end of eight days of violent protests that saw nearly 60 people killed, the deadliest unrest of his seven months in office.

The state news agency MENA said late on Sunday that Mr. Saber "had amended his earlier testimony during the investigation, in which he had exonerated the police."

State television had aired overnight a recording of Saber, lying on bed in the police hospital, giving his account of the incident, in which he blamed protesters for stripping and robbing him.

Footage shows police beating

However, the widely seen footage clearly showed police beating him with truncheons and dragging him naked across a road.

Saber said he had seen a crowd running and then felt himself shot in the leg.

"I fell over, I failed to stand up again, then they surrounded me in a circle and attacked me," he said. The interviewer asked if he was referring to the demonstrators, and he answered: "Yes I am. They took my clothes off, maybe they were looking for money in my pockets. Then someone among them shouted: 'He is not a soldier. He is not a soldier, he is an old man and you are going to kill him.'

"The soldiers ran towards me. I was afraid of them, but they were saying, 'We will not beat you'. I swear to God this is what happened. I kept on running. They said again: 'Do not be afraid.' I kept running away and they said, 'We are exhausted because of you'."

Egypt's?prosecutors' office earlier released a statement saying Saber denied that police had hit him. That statement was received angrily by the opposition which suspected the authorities of intimidating him to exonerate the police.

"That a citizen be dragged in a public space is a crime against humanity. That he be forced to amend his testimony before the Public Prosecution is tyranny. It has dire consequences for justice," Nasser Amin, a prominent lawyer and campaigner for judicial independence said on Twitter.

The prosecutor heading the Heliopolis district in which the case is being investigated ordered that Saleh be moved to a public hospital instead of the police hospital in which he is currently being treated, MENA said.

* Writing by Peter Graff and Shaimaa Fayed; Editing by Stephen Powell.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ATO-QgACf3o/Video-of-police-beating-roils-Egypt

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Authorities mum about talks with alleged abductor in Alabama

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) ? As a police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker entered its fifth day, authorities were saying little except that their talks with the 65-year-old loner were continuing through a ventilation pipe.

Negotiators were still trying late Friday to persuade Jimmy Lee Dykes to surrender. Police have said they believe the Vietnam-era veteran fatally shot a school bus driver on Tuesday, and then abducted the boy from the bus and disappeared into the home-made bunker.

While police were mostly staying mum about the delicate negotiations, it fell to neighbors to fill in the blanks about Dykes, described by some as a menacing figure who held anti-government views.

One of Dykes' next-door neighbors said the suspect spent two or three months constructing the bunker, digging several feet into the ground and then building a structure of lumber and plywood, which he covered with sand and dirt.

Neighbor Michael Creel said Dykes put the plastic pipe underground from the bunker to the end of his driveway so he could hear if anyone drove up to his gate. When Dykes finished the shelter a year or so ago, he invited Creel to see it ? and he did.

"He was bragging about it. He said, 'Come check it out," Creel said.

He said he believes Dykes' goal with the standoff is to publicize his political beliefs.

"I believe he wants to rant and rave about politics and government," Creel said. "He's very concerned about his property. He doesn't want his stuff messed with."

Police have used a ventilation pipe to the bunker to talk to the man and deliver the boy medication for his emotional disorders, but they have not revealed how often they are in touch or what the conversations have been about. Authorities waited until Friday to confirm the suspect's identity.

While much of what is going on inside the bunker remains a mystery, local officials who have spoken to police or the boy's family have described a small room with food, electricity and a TV. And while the boy has his medication, an official also said he has been crying for his parents.

Meanwhile, Midland City residents held out hope that the standoff would end safely and mourned for the slain bus driver and his family. Candlelight vigils have been held nightly at a gazebo in front of City Hall. Residents prayed, sang songs such as "Amazing Grace" and nailed homemade wooden crosses on the gazebo's railings alongside signs that read: "We are praying for you."

"We're doing any little thing that helps show support for him," said 15-year-old Taylor Edwards said.

Former hostage negotiators said authorities must be cautious and patient as long as they are confident that the boy is unharmed. Ex-FBI hostage negotiator Clint Van Zandt advised against any drastic measures such as cutting the electricity or putting sleeping gas inside the bunker because it could agitate Dykes.

The negotiator should try to ease Dykes' anxieties over what will happen when the standoff ends, and refer to both the boy and Dykes by their first names, he said.

"I want to give him a reason to come out," Van Zandt said,

Police seemed to be following that pattern. At a brief news conference to release a photo of Dykes, they brushed off any questions about possible charges.

"It's way too early for that," said Kevin Cook, a spokesman for the Alabama state troopers.

Police have described the bunker as about 4 feet underground, with about 6-by-8 feet of floor space and the PVC pipe that negotiators were speaking through.

State Rep. Steve Clouse, who represents the Midland City area, said he visited the boy's mother and she is "hanging on by a thread." Clouse said the mother told him that the boy has Asperger's syndrome as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

Dr. Nadine Kaslow, a family therapist and psychiatry professor at Emory University in Atlanta, said the boy's emotional troubles might make things even more difficult for him.

"They have less way to make sense of things," she said of children with Asperger's and ADHD.

The normally quiet red-clay road leading to the bunker was busy Friday with more than a dozen police cars and trucks, a fire truck, a helicopter, officers from multiple agencies and news media near Midland City. The town, population 2,300, is about 100 miles southeast of Montgomery.

Police vehicles have come and gone for hours from the command post, a small church nearby.

Neighbors said Dykes was easily angered and once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm.

He was in the Navy from 1964 to 1969, serving some time in Japan, according to military records.

Authorities said Dykes boarded a stopped school bus filled with 21 children on Tuesday afternoon and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When the driver tried to block his way, the gunman shot him several times and took the 5-year-old boy.

The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by local residents as a hero who gave his life to protect the pupils on his bus.

Dykes had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges he shot at his neighbors in a dispute last month over a speed bump. Neighbor Claudia Davis said he yelled and fired shots at her and her family over damage Dykes claimed their pickup truck did to a makeshift speed bump in the dirt road. No one was hurt.

Creel said his father and Dykes are friends. Creel said that after Dykes' arrest, Dykes wrote a 2- to 3-page letter that at least in part addressed the menacing case.

Michael Creel said he hasn't seen the letter but that his father, Greg Creel, has. Dykes reportedly told the elder Creel he had sent the letter to the local media, politicians and Alabama's governor.

Police on Friday took a copy of the letter from the Creels' home, according to Michael Creel. Reached for comment, Greg Creel confirmed the existence of the letter but declined further comment and said he was cooperating with police.

A neighbor directly across the street, Brock Parrish, said Dykes usually wore overalls and glasses and his posture was hunched-over. He said Dykes usually drove a run-down "creeper" van with some of the windows covered in aluminum foil.

Parrish often saw him digging in his yard, as if he were preparing to lay down a driveway or building foundation. He lived in a small camping trailer and patrolled his lawn at night, walking from corner to corner with a flashlight and a long gun. Authorities have not disclosed what firearms Dykes might have in his possession.

___

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington; Phillip Rawls in Midland City; Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala., and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/authorities-mum-talks-alleged-abductor-081655942.html

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Super Bowl 2013 ? ? How To Watch The Super Bowl Online ...

For the past several years there wasn?t really an easy way to watch the Super Bowl online. It was possible to do, of course, but required third party software applications and a little bit of knowledge of the Internet?s ?seamy underbelly?. Often it required heading to dodgy sites with countless pop up ads, spotty video quality and the ever present risk of spyware and viruses. As odd as it may seem it was actually easier to bet on the Super Bowl online than to actually watch the game.

Now Super Bowl viewers in the United States are in luck. The CBS TV network is televising this year?s game and they?re well aware that the audience for online coverage of the game is growing exponentially. They?ve offered the March Madness college basketball tournament online for several years now and this year they?ll broadcast Super Bowl XLVII in its entirety as well as all of the pregame, postgame and halftime coverage. And unlike some networks who have required silly registration or other eligibility requirements for their online video coverage of major sporting events CBS?to their credit?is making it very easy.

CBS will stream everything at their main website and at CBSSports.com. They also broadcast several web-only preview shows in the days before the game. The NFL is also offering their own streaming platform at their website (NFL.com) though they?re requiring registration and a small fee.

The growth of online video viewing of major sporting events is staggering and showing no signs of reversing itself. Tablet ownership doubled in 2012 and now some tech industry surveys indicate that over 36% of all Super Bowl viewers plan to use a ?secondary device? other than a TV set to watch all or part of the game. CBS no doubt sees the writing on the wall and is hoping to get on top of these trends and leverage them for their benefit instead of getting steamrolled and made irrelevant by them. Unlike some sports properties?notably NBC?s ham handed online coverage of the London Summer Olympics?CBS isn?t putting their head in the sand and pretending that the Internet and the trends it has helped shaped are just going to go away.

Source: http://maboot.com/super-bowl-2013-how-to-watch-the-super-bowl-online/

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