A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the north coast of Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake struck at a depth of 125.5 miles and was centered 137 km north of Lae, Papua New Guinea's second-largest city,
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was expected.
Papua New Guinea is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and suffers many earthquakes but often avoids major damage and casualties because most of its people live in light and flexible housing.
However, more than 2,000 people were killed in 1998 when a 7.0 magnitude quake struck off Papua New Guinea's north coast, causing a tsunami that smashed into isolated villages.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Tupac Shakur on stage at Coachella as a hologram
Tupac Shakur was resurrected at the Coachella Music Festival in California.
The late rapper, slain in a hail of bullets in 1996, seemingly returned to life Sunday night to perform alongside fellow hip-hop icons Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.
While the shirtless Tupac, dressed in jeans and Timberland boots, might have looked real to the 100,000 stunned music fans, it was actually a hologram.
Dre, who also produced the performance, tapped a company called AV Concepts to pull off the concert stunt, which is estimated to have cost nearly $400,000.
But first he sought — and got — permission from Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, who watched the performance live on the Internet,
The performance had fans abuzz.
“It was eerily realistic,” says Jessie Goldberg, a 25-year-old New Yorker who works for GoTryItOn.com, a photo fashion site, who was at the concert.
“The screens had Tupac performing, which made you think it was an old performance. But then you actually saw the hologram on stage with Snoop, who was performing with him.”
On Twitter, one fan wrote: “Was completely freaked out by the Tupac hologram and I’m fairly certain I was one of five people out of 100,000 not on drugs.”
The faux Tupac, whose murder at age 25 remains unsolved, performed two of his hits, “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.”
He even addressed the crowd.
“What the f— is up, Coachella?” the rapper asked upon taking the stage.
Having previously created concert holograms for Janet Jackson, Celine Dion and the Black Eyed Peas, AV Concepts took Dr. Dre’s visualization of Tupac and made it a reality.
“Dre’s company produced the content with their partners and we consulted with them on how to create it for this technology,” says Nick Smith, president and original founder of AV Concepts.
“It’s basically an old theatrical trick that utilizes a glass-like surface made out of a Mylar material. Think of it as a large giant plastic sheet that has to be stretched out the length of the stage.”
Unbeknownst to audience members, the 30-foot-by-13-foot screen descended to the stage mere seconds before Snoop’s set. A high-definition 3-D holographic projection system then simultaneously blasted three stacked 54,000-lumen images of Tupac on the see-through screen. (For reference, a 75-watt incandescent light bulb emits 1,100 lumens.)
The late rapper, slain in a hail of bullets in 1996, seemingly returned to life Sunday night to perform alongside fellow hip-hop icons Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.
While the shirtless Tupac, dressed in jeans and Timberland boots, might have looked real to the 100,000 stunned music fans, it was actually a hologram.
Dre, who also produced the performance, tapped a company called AV Concepts to pull off the concert stunt, which is estimated to have cost nearly $400,000.
But first he sought — and got — permission from Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, who watched the performance live on the Internet,
The performance had fans abuzz.
“It was eerily realistic,” says Jessie Goldberg, a 25-year-old New Yorker who works for GoTryItOn.com, a photo fashion site, who was at the concert.
“The screens had Tupac performing, which made you think it was an old performance. But then you actually saw the hologram on stage with Snoop, who was performing with him.”
On Twitter, one fan wrote: “Was completely freaked out by the Tupac hologram and I’m fairly certain I was one of five people out of 100,000 not on drugs.”
The faux Tupac, whose murder at age 25 remains unsolved, performed two of his hits, “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.”
He even addressed the crowd.
“What the f— is up, Coachella?” the rapper asked upon taking the stage.
Having previously created concert holograms for Janet Jackson, Celine Dion and the Black Eyed Peas, AV Concepts took Dr. Dre’s visualization of Tupac and made it a reality.
“Dre’s company produced the content with their partners and we consulted with them on how to create it for this technology,” says Nick Smith, president and original founder of AV Concepts.
“It’s basically an old theatrical trick that utilizes a glass-like surface made out of a Mylar material. Think of it as a large giant plastic sheet that has to be stretched out the length of the stage.”
Unbeknownst to audience members, the 30-foot-by-13-foot screen descended to the stage mere seconds before Snoop’s set. A high-definition 3-D holographic projection system then simultaneously blasted three stacked 54,000-lumen images of Tupac on the see-through screen. (For reference, a 75-watt incandescent light bulb emits 1,100 lumens.)
Easy Website Promotion: IRS gives taxpayers more time to file, not to pay ...
Easy Website Promotion: IRS gives taxpayers more time to file, not to pay ...:
Not going to make this year's deadline for filing your federal tax return? No need to panic just yet.
Uncle Sam will grant you a six-month extension to file your tax forms, as long as you make the request by midnight Tuesday.
Filing for an extension doesn't spare you from having to pay your tax bill by the deadline, however. And failing to do so means you'll incur interest charges and fees on top of what you owe.
The Internal Revenue Service accepts extension requests three ways: By mail, via tax-preparation software, or online via the IRS website, www.irs.gov.
To request the extension, you must fill out IRS Form 4868, which is available on the IRS website, through most tax preparation software, as well as in public libraries and post offices.
If you opt to mail in the form it has to be postmarked by Tuesday to be considered on time. Forms filed online on the IRS website or by using tax software can be sent in as late as 11:59 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. One bonus of filing online is the IRS will confirm receipt of the request form right away.
If accepted, the extension request will give you until Oct. 16 to file a complete tax return. But that doesn't buy you more time to pay any taxes you may owe.
The IRS requires taxpayers to pay up by Tuesday's deadline, or face a host of penalties.
If you file your tax return on time or get an extension, but fail to pay, the IRS will charge you interest on unpaid taxes. That rate currently works out to about 3.25 percent and is compounded daily.
The IRS also will charge you a late payment penalty of one-half of 1 percent of any tax not paid by April 17. That translates to a $25 penalty if you owe $5,000. It is charged each month or part of a month the tax goes unpaid, up to 25 percent, or $1,250 on that $5,000.
That interest rate can jump to 1 percent, however, if the tax bill hasn't been paid within 10 days after the IRS issues a notice of intent to levy. But if you work out a payment plan with the IRS, it will reduce the rate to one-quarter of 1 percent.
The last thing you want to do is miss the tax filing deadline and not ask for an extension. That triggers a penalty of 5 percent of the tax owed for each month the tax return is late, for up to five months.
It's best not to try to calculate what you might owe in penalties and interest, the IRS will send a bill if you underpay.
What about filers who haven't sorted out their tax return yet and don't know how much they owe?
"They can send a payment to the IRS based on what they believe will be their tax debt, and once they have the extra six months, they can square everything away," said Annabel Marquez, a spokeswoman for IRS.
If your earnings were roughly the same in 2011 as in 2010, the easiest way to estimate what you owe is to add in slightly more than you owed last year. If you overpay, you'll get a refund after you file your return. If you underpay, you'll have to pay a penalty and interest on the difference.
The IRS accepts payments by check, online or by phone using a credit or debit card. More details on making payments are available on the IRS website.
Not going to make this year's deadline for filing your federal tax return? No need to panic just yet.
Uncle Sam will grant you a six-month extension to file your tax forms, as long as you make the request by midnight Tuesday.
Filing for an extension doesn't spare you from having to pay your tax bill by the deadline, however. And failing to do so means you'll incur interest charges and fees on top of what you owe.
The Internal Revenue Service accepts extension requests three ways: By mail, via tax-preparation software, or online via the IRS website, www.irs.gov.
To request the extension, you must fill out IRS Form 4868, which is available on the IRS website, through most tax preparation software, as well as in public libraries and post offices.
If you opt to mail in the form it has to be postmarked by Tuesday to be considered on time. Forms filed online on the IRS website or by using tax software can be sent in as late as 11:59 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. One bonus of filing online is the IRS will confirm receipt of the request form right away.
If accepted, the extension request will give you until Oct. 16 to file a complete tax return. But that doesn't buy you more time to pay any taxes you may owe.
The IRS requires taxpayers to pay up by Tuesday's deadline, or face a host of penalties.
If you file your tax return on time or get an extension, but fail to pay, the IRS will charge you interest on unpaid taxes. That rate currently works out to about 3.25 percent and is compounded daily.
The IRS also will charge you a late payment penalty of one-half of 1 percent of any tax not paid by April 17. That translates to a $25 penalty if you owe $5,000. It is charged each month or part of a month the tax goes unpaid, up to 25 percent, or $1,250 on that $5,000.
That interest rate can jump to 1 percent, however, if the tax bill hasn't been paid within 10 days after the IRS issues a notice of intent to levy. But if you work out a payment plan with the IRS, it will reduce the rate to one-quarter of 1 percent.
The last thing you want to do is miss the tax filing deadline and not ask for an extension. That triggers a penalty of 5 percent of the tax owed for each month the tax return is late, for up to five months.
It's best not to try to calculate what you might owe in penalties and interest, the IRS will send a bill if you underpay.
What about filers who haven't sorted out their tax return yet and don't know how much they owe?
"They can send a payment to the IRS based on what they believe will be their tax debt, and once they have the extra six months, they can square everything away," said Annabel Marquez, a spokeswoman for IRS.
If your earnings were roughly the same in 2011 as in 2010, the easiest way to estimate what you owe is to add in slightly more than you owed last year. If you overpay, you'll get a refund after you file your return. If you underpay, you'll have to pay a penalty and interest on the difference.
The IRS accepts payments by check, online or by phone using a credit or debit card. More details on making payments are available on the IRS website.
Monday, 16 April 2012
Latest Solar Flare Activity: Latest solar flare report April 16 2012
Latest Solar Flare Activity: Latest solar flare report April 16 2012: Latest Solar Flare Report April 16 2012 The returning region off the northeast limb looks to be providing us with some Solar Fireworks. Sunspot 1455 which is turning closer to the western limb with every passing hour, did form some new spots on Sunday. This region may produce C-Class flares. Sunspot cluster 1459 in the southeast quadrant covers a large area but has yet to produce a noteworthy flare. There will remain a small risk for an M-Class event.
Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity
SDF Number 107 Issued at 2200Z on 16 Apr 2012
IA. Analysis of Solar Active Regions and Activity from 15/2100Z
to 16/2100Z: Solar activity was moderate during the past 24 hours.
An M1 flare was observed from a region around the east limb at
16/1745Z. Region 1459 (S15E56) continued to grow and is now
considered an Fhi-beta type group. A filament erupted at
approximately 16/1300Z near S43E33. The associated CME is not
expected to be geoeffective.
IB. Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be low
with a slight chance for M-class flares for the next three days
(17-19 April).
IIA. Geophysical Activity Summary 15/2100Z to 16/2100Z:
The geomagnetic field was quiet during the past 24 hours. The greater
than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels
throughout the period.
IIB. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is
expected to be quiet for the next three days (17-19 April).
Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity
SDF Number 107 Issued at 2200Z on 16 Apr 2012
IA. Analysis of Solar Active Regions and Activity from 15/2100Z
to 16/2100Z: Solar activity was moderate during the past 24 hours.
An M1 flare was observed from a region around the east limb at
16/1745Z. Region 1459 (S15E56) continued to grow and is now
considered an Fhi-beta type group. A filament erupted at
approximately 16/1300Z near S43E33. The associated CME is not
expected to be geoeffective.
IB. Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be low
with a slight chance for M-class flares for the next three days
(17-19 April).
IIA. Geophysical Activity Summary 15/2100Z to 16/2100Z:
The geomagnetic field was quiet during the past 24 hours. The greater
than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels
throughout the period.
IIB. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is
expected to be quiet for the next three days (17-19 April).
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