You May Have Been A Lab Rat In A Huge Facebook Experiment

A newly published paper reveals that scientists at Facebook conducted a massive psychological experiment on hundreds of thousands of users by tweaking their feeds and measuring how they felt afterward. In other words, Facebook decided to try to manipulate some people's emotional states -- for science. The research involved Facebook's News Feed -- the stream of status updates, photos and news articles that appears when you first fire up the site. For a week in January 2012, a group of researchers, variously affiliated with Facebook, Cornell University and the University of California, San Francisco, altered the algorithm that determines what shows up in News Feed for 689,003 people. One group was shown fewer posts containing words thought to evoke positive emotions, such as "love," "nice" and "sweet," while another group was shown fewer posts with negative words, like "hurt," "ugly" and "nasty." The findings were published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a scientific journal.
The researchers were studying a phenomenon called "emotional contagion," a fancy psychological term for something you've almost certainly experienced: If you spend more time with a happy-go-lucky friend, you end up being more of a ray of sunshine yourself. (Same goes for sadness: Hang with a Debbie Downer, and you likewise become a vector for gloom.) Researchers have found that emotions can be contagious during face-to-face interactions, when a friend's laugh or smile might lift your spirits. But what happens online? Facebook was trying to figure that out. It turns out that, yes, the Internet is just like real life in this way. People who were shown fewer positive words on Facebook tended to turn around and write posts of their own that contained fewer positive words (and more negative words). And people who were shown fewer negative words tended, in turn, to write posts with fewer negative words and more positive words.  Hypothesis: proven!  In the PNAS article, lead researcher Adam Kramer and his team note that "the effect sizes from the manipulations are small." And in a statement to The Huffington Post, Facebook offered justification for doing the research. "This research was conducted for a single week in 2012 and none of the data used was associated with a specific person's Facebook account," a company spokesperson told The Huffington Post. "We do research to improve our services and to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant and engaging as possible. A big part of this is understanding how people respond to different types of content, whether it's positive or negative in tone, news from friends, or information from pages they follow. We carefully consider what research we do and have a strong internal review process." Facebook employs a group of data scientists to study user activity and publish their findings, often pegged to events like Valentine's Day and national elections. But until now, the research has mostly fallen into the category of "observational studies" -- that is, research that involves someone poring over existing data and trying to draw conclusions from it.  The News Feed manipulation, though, is a different beast. It's an experiment, in which scientists create the data by tweaking one variable to see if it affects another. That's what's disconcerting: The "things" being manipulated in this case are people on Facebook -- i.e., basically everyone with an Internet connection. If you don't remember agreeing to being a Facebook guinea pig, well, you must not have read all of the site's mind-bogglingly complex terms of service when you set up your account. Within those TOS is language specifying that Facebook members consent to having information about them used for “internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement.” Even though this research was not illegal, Susan Fiske, the Princeton University psychology professor who edited the study for PNAS, was queasy about it. Fiske told The Atlantic: I was concerned until I queried the authors and they said their local institutional review board had approved it -- and apparently on the grounds that Facebook apparently manipulates people's News Feeds all the time. 

Neymar doubtful for Brazil's World Cup quarter-final

When Brazil takes on Colombia in the quarter-finals at the FIFA World Cup, the home team may be without star striker Neymar.
Brazil's leading goal scorer is suffering from a thigh injury. His leg is swollen and coach Luis Felipe Scolari is preparing for the reality that Neymar won't be fit in time for Friday's match.
Neymar suffered the injury early in Brazil's match against Chile. Although he played the full match and scored the deciding penalty, Neymar was hobbled for good portions.
Neymar is tied for second in World Cup scoring with four goals.

FIFA World Cup: Brazil 1, Chile 1 (3-2 pen)

The hosts are through to the quarter-finals, but it was far from convincing.
Brazil barely survived a difficult Round of 16 matchup with Chile on Saturday, winning 3-2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended 1-1 to advance to the quarter-final.
Neymar scored the winning goal in the shootout, and Júlio César made two stops for Brazil.
Though they’re through, the Brazilians still look problematic all over the pitch. They seemed to run out of ideas in attack after Chile’s Alexis Sánchez evened the match in the 32nd minute, cancelling out a David Luiz header in the 18th. And the defence looked very shaky yet again, which doesn’t bode well ahead of a matchup with either Uruguay or Colombia.
Normal time ended with the score at 1-1.
Mauricio Pinilla nearly won it for Chile a minute away from the shootout, ringing a shot off the bar as Brazil keeper César could only watch and hope.

Uruguay furious with FIFA for banning star striker Suarez over World Cup biting incident

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Soccer-crazy Uruguayans raged Thursday at FIFA's decision to kick their star player out of the World Cup for his third biting incident, fearing it could deal a death blow to their bid to win the sport's greatest tournament.
Uruguay's soccer federation said it planned to appeal the ban, which prohibits striker Luis Suarez from all soccer activities for four months. The ban also covers Uruguay's next nine international games, which rules him out of next year's Copa America. It will likely carry over to qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup.
Uruguayans of all stripes were nearly unanimous in their support of Suarez, calling the punishment excessive for what they felt was an act of immaturity.
"It feels like Uruguay has been thrown out of the World Cup," Uruguayan soccer federation president Wilmar Valdez said in Rio.
Diego Suarez, the striker's youngest brother who is also a soccer player, called the sanction an "unbelievable" decision that has saddened him.
Juan Jose Monzillo, a fruit and vegetable vendor in Uruguay's capital of Montevideo, saw conspiracy behind the decision by soccer's governing body.
"They clearly wanted to kick Suarez out of the World Cup. Uruguay is a small country that eliminated two big nations like Italy and England and it doesn't benefit FIFA to let Uruguay continue playing," said Monzillo, 48, who listened to the news about Suarez on headphones as he tended his stand.
A crowd of fans, including President Jose Mujica at one point, gathered at Montevideo's international airport Thursday night expecting Suarez to fly home. But the Uruguayan Football Federation later announced that Suarez was still in Brazil, adding that he thanked the fans but giving no explanation for why he had not left for home.
Suarez bit the shoulder of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's 1-0 win in the group stage on Tuesday, but escaped unpunished in the game itself as the referee did not see the incident.
"Such behaviour cannot be tolerated on any football pitch and in particular not at a FIFA World Cup, when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field," Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee, said in a statement.
But Uruguayans did not buy the explanation.
"The immorality and hypocrisy of FIFA has no limits. Neither does Chiellini's inclination for being a tattle-tale and a fink!" Luis Puig, a lawmaker for Uruguay's ruling Broad Front coalition said on his Twitter account.
Suarez also got support from former Argentine star Diego Maradona, who argued that the World Cup has seen worse foul play than the bite and those incidents have gone unpunished. "This is football, this is incidental contact," he said on Venezuela's Telesur network.
"They have no common sense or a fan's sensibility," said Maradona, who at the end of the broadcast pulled on a white T-shirt with the message: "Luisito, we are with you."
This is the third time Suarez has been banned for biting an opponent, following similar incidents with Ajax in the Dutch league and Liverpool. He was given a 10-match ban by the Premier League for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in April 2013.
Besides the biting incidents, Suarez has been vilified for racially abusing an opposing player and for a handball on the goal-line during an earlier World Cup quarterfinal. He also has been accused of having a penchant for diving.
But Suarez also stuns fans with moments of brilliance on the field, leaving some to compare him to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The Uruguayan striker for Liverpool was last season's player of the year in England's Premier League.
Valdez, the head of Uruguay's soccer federation, said that it was Suarez who was targeted for aggression by the Italians.
"When he falls, several substitutes insult him on the ground and some members of Italy's staff even came off the bench to try to hit him," Valdez said, suggesting FIFA should investigate Italy.
Any appeal by Uruguay must first go to the FIFA appeal committee, said FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer. If rejected, Suarez and Uruguay could take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"We should withdraw from the World Cup, because what they have done is so lamentable. But at least we can go forward with dignity," said former soccer player Robert Lima, who won several Uruguayan championship with the club Penarol.

One hundred years ago, Europe began its slow sleepwalk towards war

On the last Sunday of June in 1914, a 19-year-old student fired two pistol shots that killed the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. The echoes of those shots have never really died away.
The heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire was visiting the then-obscure Bosnian city of Sarajevo when he encountered a group of would-be assassins, including Gavrilo Princip.
One threw a bomb, which failed to injure the archduke. But a wrong turn by his driver put Franz Ferdinand right in front of Princip. The young man fired, fatally wounded the archduke and his wife and precipitated a cataclysm.
The assassins were linked to a secret society in Serbia, which was then a country in its own right. Those ties would lead to disaster.
The archduke was little mourned even in Vienna, but his June 28 death was the catalyst that started the First World War, which has been called the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century.
That war still reverberates. The bitter fighting in the Balkans in the 1990s and the tensions and bloodshed of the Middle East are rooted in the aftermath of the war.
1914 was a time of reverence for institutions and authorities. Governments and churches were seen as mainstays of order and social stability. Aristocracies were taken for granted in most countries; due respect was paid.
Patriotism was seen as a virtue. Nationalism was a given.
Internationally, politics and power were dominated by the so-called Great Powers; Britain, Germany, Austro-Hungary, Russia, France and sometimes Italy. The United States, just beginning to flex its industrial and economic muscle, was not a member of the club. Most of Africa and much of Asia consisted of colonies owned by one or another of the European heavyweights. Canada, Australia and New Zealand were self-governing colonies, but colonies all the same.
The economies and finances of the big powers were closely intertwined. Their relations with each other could be touchy, but Europe had not seen a major conflict since the end of the Napoleonic Wars a century earlier. There had been a clash between France and Germany in 1870, which cost France two of its western provinces, but that was seen as an exception in a generally peaceful era.
But there were tensions and strains beneath the surface. France, leery of a more populous and economically strong Germany, fretted about a repeat of 1870 and allied with Russia as insurance.
Berlin, seeing the Franco-Russian pact, saw itself caught between foes east and west. Germany's only ally, Austro-Hungary, was a fragile, even ramshackle assembly of often-antagonistic minorities.
Vienna worried that neighbouring Serbia might promote revolution within the Austrian empire.
Russia, which lost a war to Japan in 1906, was concerned that its status as a great power might wane as it struggled to rebuild its army and modernize its industries. Even Britain, secure behind its powerful navy, had its traditional worry about one nation dominating Europe, especially the North Sea and Channel coasts.
The problem with all these individual concerns was that in 1914, the world was faced with, in Winston Churchill's words, "the sum of their fears."
In his book "The World Crisis," Churchill wrote of the last days of peace:
"There was a strange temper in the air. Unsatisfied by material prosperity the nations turned restlessly towards strife internal or external. National passions, unduly exalted in the decline of religion, burned beneath the surface of nearly every land with fierce if shrouded fires. Almost one might think the world wished to suffer."
For a couple of weeks after the assassinations, things seemed quiet.
But the smoldering crisis began to blaze late in July. Vienna saw the killing as an excuse to squelch Serbia once and for all and bring its own minority Slavs under tighter rein. The Austrians took the precaution of asking Berlin to back them up in the event Russia tried to step in on the Serbian side. Germany agreed — the so-called blank cheque seen by many historians as a major step towards all-out war.
On July 23, Vienna sent an ultimatum to Serbia which was couched in terms no sovereign country could accept. The Serbs suggested arbitration as a way to resolve dispute, but also begin to mobilize troops.
In those days, mobilization was seen as the last step before war. It meant calling up the reserves to bring units to their wartime manning levels and moving troops to assembly areas along the borders.
In response to the ultimatum, Serbia proposed arbitration, but began to mobilize. Austria-Hungary followed suit two days later.
From today, there's a horrible inevitability about 1914. One historian writes of Europe sleepwalking towards war. Yet each major power had its interests and fears and was dealing with them and what they saw as external threats. They all thought they could win something from a brief, but hard-fought war. Few expected the protracted cataclysm that lay ahead.
On July 26, Britain proposed a political conference to resolve the Austria-Serbia dispute. Germany refused to take part. Two days later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
The next day, Britain called for international mediation. Russia urged German restraint, but began partial mobilization itself. Germany began to mobilize.
On July 30, Austrian artillery bombarded Belgrade, the Serbian capital. The next day, Russia began full mobilization. On Aug. 1, Germany declared war on Russia and France began mobilizing.
While Germany had enemies on both flanks, it also had a plan: hold off the slow-moving Russians in the east while launching an all-out attack in the west to crush France.
The German plan included a strong right wing that would swing across behind Paris and pin the French armies against the frontier. But there was not enough room to deploy the million-man right without spilling into Belgium.
That posed a problem because Britain, like Germany, was a guarantor of Belgian neutrality. Berlin, however, didn't think Britain would go to war over the treaty, which a German diplomat dismissed as "a scrap of paper."
On Aug. 3, Germany declared war on France, and invaded Belgium.
In London, the cabinet was faced with a terrible decision. Going to war to help France or Serbia was a tough sell politically. But doing so to defend neutral Belgium and Britain's word of honour was a different matter.
The foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, has a poignant passage in his memoirs about the hours before war came. He recalled a friend paying a call on the evening of Aug. 3.
"It was getting dusk, and the lamps were being lit in the space below on which we were looking," Grey wrote.
"My friend recalls that I remarked on this with the words: 'The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our life-time.'"
The following evening, a British ultimatum to Germany expired without a reply and Britain — along with Canada and the rest of the empire — went to war.
The next four years would see millions of deaths, including nearly 60,000 Canadians.

Bitcoin has a future, but maybe not as a currency

In the course of its five-year run, bitcoin has been heralded as a beacon of hope by those who mistrust banks and an object of suspicion by those who mistrust a grassroots currency.
While the dramatic price fluctuations and high-profile breaches have not helped the cause, bitcoin's champions and critics seem to agree that the technology itself has a future.
Mark Kamstra, a finance professor at York University's Schulich School of Business, says that bitcoin has "fatal flaws" — like its fixed supply — that limit its growth. But he concedes that the underlying technology has the potential to change the online payment system.
Francis Pouliot, director of public affairs for the Bitcoin Foundation Canada, says that the proliferation of other cryptocurrencies inspired by bitcoin is a testament to the power of the technology.
"Cryptocurrencies can't be un-invented," says Pouliot. "The cat is out of the bag, the technology has been proven to be functional, so definitely it's going to be used in one way or the other."
Created in the wake of the worldwide financial crisis of the late-2000s, bitcoin was introduced in 2009 as an alternative payment system to paper currencies, whose value can be manipulated by central banks.
Bitcoin is based on a peer-to-peer computer network akin to those that form the basis of file-sharing system BitTorrent.
Holders store their bitcoins in digital wallets and electronically send bitcoins to each other to pay for goods and services. Every transaction is encrypted and logged in a computer network known as a block chain.
The value of bitcoin has fluctuated dramatically over its short lifespan, from $0.08 US in July 2010 to over $1,200 in November 2013. More recently, it has been trading in the $600 range.
\Bitcoin 'very secure'
The price volatility, as well as a number of high-profile breaches, have contributed to a feeling among many investors that bitcoin is not a stable currency.
Arguably the most serious incident was the revelation earlier this year that Mt. Gox, a Japan-based bitcoin exchange that at one point handled 70 per cent of all worldwide transactions, had lost about $450 million US worth of the cryptocurrency.
While critics have fixated on the high-profile breaches involving bitcoin, the cryptocurrency's block-chain structure makes it "very secure," says Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud and emerging technologies at online security firm Trend Micro.
He says any security breaches thus far have not been due to the underlying technology.
"With Mt. Gox and some of the other breaches, it hasn't been the currency itself that's been the problem, it's the people handling it," said Nunnikhoven. "And that's going to hold true for quite a long time, and that holds true for real money as well."
Even so, that doesn't settle the trust issue for many people, says Schulich's Kamstra. While bitcoin was created to avoid regulatory interference, he says governments and banks help legitimize currencies.
"You need trust for transactions between people," says Kamstra. "With traditional currencies, they work because countries back up the currencies with their power to tax citizens and, to some extent, stores of gold."
Another problem is the price fluctuation, says Jean-Paul Lam, a professor at the University of Waterloo and a former assistant chief economist at the Bank of Canada. With a traditional currency, a central bank manages price spikes by printing more money.
The bitcoin community has decided to cap the number of available bitcoins at 21 million. (To date, just under 13 million bitcoins have been mined worldwide.) Lam says this "inelastic money supply" is what creates the huge price volatility.
Some commentators have suggested that for bitcoin to grow, it would need to establish some sort of central authority. But that would be contrary to the currency's founding philosophy, says Pouliot.
"The point of Bitcoin is that the whole system is decentralized, and it cannot be centralized," says Pouliot.
Lam says that as long as that attitude prevails, bitcoin can never become a true currency "because it is too volatile."
'A protocol that can do a bunch of things'
While bitcoin's future is a hotly debated subject, the open-source software that underpins it has given rise to hundreds of other digital currencies.
While bitcoin currently occupies about 90 per cent of the cryptocurrency market, there are an estimated 275 digital currencies now in play, many of which cater to specific products or services.
Namecoin, for example, focuses on helping people buy domain names outside the central domain system. Craftcoin is an internal currency for the popular videogame Minecraft, while Potcoin facilitates transactions in legal marijuana markets such as the Netherlands and U.S. states such as Washington and Colorado.
A couple of Montrealers developed PotCoin because "the legalized marijuana industry called out for its own distinct payment system," co-founder Joel Yaffe said in an email. But he acknowledges that Potcoin is a niche currency.
"The coin has been designed to attract the cannabis community exclusively, so we aren’t expecting too much further penetration outside the industry," says Yaffe.
The sheer variety of cryptocurrencies is a testament to the potential of the block-chain concept, but bitcoin's architecture has many more uses, says Jean-Philippe Vergne, an economics professor at Western University's Ivey Business School.
Due to the elaborate verification system of the block-chain concept, some bitcoin startups have been using the open-source software for all sorts of applications, from a lending network (BTC Jam) to a text-messaging service (Gliph) to a Bitcoin-only travel agency (BTC Trip).
In a report released in February, the digital currency news site Coindesk projected that venture capital invested in bitcoin startups would hit $300 million by the end of 2014.
Vergne says the block-chain structure could someday even underpin the entire internet.
"What we call cryptocurrency is really a piece of software," says Vergne. "It's a protocol that can do a bunch of things. Only one of them is mimicking money."

Bar code turns 40: Next-generation codes move past grocery stores

George Laurer had no idea his design would reach well beyond retail outlets when he created the black line and number sets known as the modern bar code while working for IBM as an engineer.
Forty years ago today, Laurer's creation — the Universal Product Code (UPC) — was first put to use in a U.S. grocery store. Since then, a new generation of bar code cataloguing devices has infiltrated multiple industries and even human bodies.
"I did not even envision that happening," Laurer, a Raleigh, N.C., resident who is now retired save for the occasional freelance consulting gig, said to CBC News in an email. "It was designed for the grocery industry. It proved that bar codes … were the way to go."
40 years later, UPC still in common use
On June 26, 1974, an Ohio cashier scanned Laurer's bar code, which was on a 67-cent pack of Wrigley's gum being purchased by a customer, for the first time. The Universal Product Code is still used widely today, mostly in retail stores.
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History once displayed a replica of that 10-pack of gum in one of its exhibitions. It also has one of the first 10 scanners used in the Marsh supermarket where the Wrigley pack was purchased.
The first bar code did not come from Laurer.
Joe Woodland and Bernie Silver created what is affectionately dubbed the bull's-eye bar code — for its circular shape — after the food industry pleaded for someone to develop an automatic checkout system.
Before the UPC, paying for groceries could be tedious. Employees had to manually input prices for every product at the checkout and replace price tags whenever an item's cost fluctuated.
Despite successful testing of the bull's-eye bar code in an Atlanta grocery store backroom, it did not catch on.
But the grocery store industry continued to push for some type of standardization, so IBM tasked Laurer with designing a standardized bar code. He strayed from the design by Woodland and Silver, opting for a rectangular, picket-fence resembling code.
Printing presses back then could not reproduce the bull's-eye code without smudging it, Laurer explains. His linear code could be arranged so that the inevitable smear only lengthened the code's bars without compromising its reading.
On April 3, 1973, a U.S. panel chose Laurer's design over seven others and designated it the UPC as the only standard for identifying products at the time.
Microchipped IDs, health care
Bar codes, now known by various names, have evolved well past supermarket shelves and into government-issued IDs, hospital rooms and even human bodies.
"When we look to the future, the future is really limitless," says Ryan Eickmeier, the senior director of marketing, communications and government relations at GS1. The global, not-for-profit organization designs and manages supply chain standards across the world.
One type of ID system slowly phasing out the bar code, radio frequency identification or RFID, relies on radio waves to identify people or objects. A microchip with an antenna — sometimes the same size as a grain of sand — carries information about the person or product.
While RFID is not a traditional bar code, Eickmeier recognizes it as a modern system of identifying, capturing, sharing and using information — just like the four principles behind the historic bar code.
RFID chips are commonplace in Canadian passports and some provincial drivers' licences now. Ontario and B.C. offer RFID-chipped drivers' licences, allowing for a passport alternative when Canadians cross over the American border by car or foot.
The chips also exist in so-called contactless credit cards, which let users tap their card to a reader instead of inserting or swiping.
GS1 has been working to standardize their use in hospitals to help eliminate human error in patient care.
Toronto's North York General Hospital uses bar code scanning to ensure patients are receiving the right medication, says Eickmeier.
An automated prompt lets a caregiver know if the patient is allergic to a certain type of medication or if they are being administered the wrong dose.
"It's not just, 'Are they giving you the wrong medication?'" he says. "It goes to the food served in hospitals. Is this food right for the patient? Is this patient allergic to peanuts? Is there peanuts in this food?"
RFID chips fixed to hospital equipment can also help administration better track surgical tools and patient equipment, like wheelchairs and crutches.
A bar code for the body
Some companies have even experimented with technologies similar to bar codes inside the human body.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration once approved — with some limitations — a human microchip.
VeriChip, the size of a grain of rice, was often compared to a pet's microchip. Placed under the skin of a person, it could transmit a 16-digit ID number to a scanner during a medical emergency. First responders or doctors could cross-reference the ID with a patient directory and access the person's medical history, including any drug allergies.
A couple and their then teenage son were the first people to receive VeriChip implants in 2002. Several years later, more than 100 Alzheimer's patients and caregivers received the chip as part of a special project.
But people worried the chips could be used to track them and invade their privacy, and the company, renamed PositiveID Corp., stopped actively marketing the chip in 2009.
An 'internet of things' catalogue
Laurer predicts the UPC system will stay in place for about another decade before the industry opts for a newer system.
He points to the use of QR codes as one new technology revolutionizing the market.
QR codes are squares filled with black and white boxes that can be scanned using a smartphone. They direct the users' phone to a URL.
QR codes are often used by advertisers, but some creative minds have used them to direct prospective employers to their resumés, to inform tourists at museum exhibitions, or to allow shoppers to record personalized messages on gift tags.
But Eickmeier has more hope in the UPC's lasting power, saying the industry has already invested in the technology necessary to use the classic bar code
"The next 40 years are really the exciting part of what can we continue to do with it," he says.
One such project is GS1's 'internet of things,' which Eickmeier says he hopes will be available to the public within the next five years.
The massive database would allow customers to scan bar codes and receive information on a product's nutrition and allergens, among other things.
While some smartphone apps already provide this service, their information is crowdfunded and not as trustworthy, Eickmeier claims.
"I think the bar code will always have a use ... in the industry," he says. "It will just have to kind of evolve with time."

Ronaldo bows out of clash of the titans

Cristiano Ronaldo came to the World Cup as part of a holy trinity of world superstars alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar but he is leaving the party early after Portugal crashed out.
In bowing out he continues the curse of the Ballon D'Or winner never picking up the World Cup the same year.
Ronaldo, who has had a quiet tournament by his own dizzying standards, finally scored his first goal on Thursday -- the winner against Ghana in Brasilia -- but it was too little too late.
Portugal -- hammered 4-0 in their opener against Germany -- needed to win handsomely and hope the result in the other Group G fixture between Germany and the United States went their way.
But in the end a 2-1 win was not enough and the two sides playing in Recife went through.
Despite at last breaking his duck in Brazil the Real Madrid star missed a succession of chances that could have given his team the sizeable win they needed to make the last 16.
Towards the end of the match he kicked the air in frustration as yet another attack foundered with his team still clinging to an unlikely dream of qualifying for the knockouts.
Ronaldo, who only last month helped his Spanish club side win a 10th Champions League trophy, cut a disconsolate figure after the game, saying his side had deserved more.
"The match today was a match we tried to win and we did win," said Ronaldo, who was named man of the match.
"We created many opportunities but we could not finish them all," said the 29-year-old, wearing strapping around his right knee and moving gingerly.
"We knew it was complicated but what's left at the end shows that it was possible considering the number of opportunities we created," he added.
"We deserved more but that's how football is. We can hold our heads up high. We tried our best but couldn't do it."
The former Manchester United player has been the focus of much attention about how fit he was with endless speculation over his left knee.
Feted by huge crowds in Brazil -- even when training -- he arrived in Brazil as the alpha male of world football after finally wresting the Ballon d'Or from the hands of his Argentine rival Messi.
But his side, ranked fourth in the world, suffered a disastrous start, demolished 4-0 by Germany in their Group G opener.
Next came a 2-2 draw against the United States, with Ronaldo providing the cross that led to the equaliser in the final seconds -- a goal that kept Portugal in the competition.
And whereas Messi and fellow Barca star Neymar have benefited from strong players around them, Ronaldo has suffered from some sub-par performances from his team-mates.
Portugal coach Paulo Bento refused to pin the blame on his star player, who helped the team reach the semi-finals of Euro 2012, for his misses.
"No, I don't think it's fair," said Bento, who prior to the finals signed an extension to his contract taking him up to 2016.
"I don't think we should now make those things individual. We made a set of mistakes in the tournament during three different matches."
Taking responsibility for the failure, Bento said the defeat to Germany had hit his side hard psychologically and left them with a mountain to climb.
He said it was not right to criticise a player who is usually so effective in front of goal for his missed chances in the Estadio Nacional.
Bento acknowledged that Ronaldo had received physical therapy in the run-up to the World Cup but said he was only called in when 100 percent fit.

Spurs beat Heat 104-87 in Game 5 to win NBA title

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the winningest trio in NBA postseason history, shared hugs.
Players wrapped themselves in flags from around world, a reminder that the San Antonio Spurs look far beyond the border to build champions, as confetti fell from above.
Painfully denied 12 months ago by the Miami Heat, this victory party was worth the wait.
''It makes last year OK,'' Duncan said.
The Spurs finished off a dominant run to their fifth NBA championship Sunday night, ending the Heat's two-year title reign with a 104-87 victory that wrapped up the series in five games.
''We had a great first quarter, but from that point on they were the better team, and that's why they're the champions in 2014,'' said LeBron James, who led the Heat with 31 points and 10 rebounds.
San Antonio erased an early 16-point deficit and routed Miami for the fourth time in the series, denying the Heat's quest for a third straight championship. A year after the Spurs suffered their only loss in six finals appearances - a heartbreaking seven-game defeat - they turned the rematch into no match at all.
''We wanted to redeem ourselves. I'm just glad we were able to do that,'' Parker said.
Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who added this title to the ones they won in 1999, 2003, '05 and '07. They nearly had another last year, but couldn't hold off the Heat.
''I've said many times, a day didn't go by where I didn't think about Game 6,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the turning point in last year's finals. ''So I think, just in general, for the group to have the fortitude that they showed to get back to this spot, I think speaks volumes about how they're constituted and what kind of fiber they have.''
Not to mention tons of talent, and perhaps the best coaching in the game.
''They played exquisite basketball this series and in particular these last three games and they are the better team. There's no other way to say it,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Spurs won four titles in nine years, but hadn't been back on top since 2007, making Foreigner's ''Feels Like the First Time'' an appropriate song choice after the final buzzer.
Duncan and Popovich have been here for all of them, and it was the fourth for Parker and Ginobili, who with Duncan are once again the reigning the Big Three in the NBA.
Chris Bosh finished with 13 points and Dwyane Wade just 11 on 4-of-12 shooting for the Heat.
The painful conclusion to last year's NBA Finals served as the fuel for this one, powering the Spurs to a league-best 62-win season and a rematch with Miami - the first in the finals since Chicago beat Utah in 1997-98.
Round 2 went to the Spurs, but both teams have challenges to navigate if there is to be a rubber match.
San Antonio will face questions - as it has for years - about the age of its core, and whether Duncan, Ginobili and Popovich want to stick around. The Heat will brace for the potential free agency of James, Wade and Bosh, and will need younger, fresher pieces around the three All-Stars if they all stay.
But this moment belongs to the Spurs.
Playing a methodical, albeit winning, style for many years made San Antonio respected, but never beloved. The Spurs were TV ratings killers, casual viewers finding them not much fun to watch.
But Popovich opened up the offense a few years ago, making the Spurs an easy-to-like, tough-to-beat group that thrives on ball movement and 3-point shooting.
''You showed the world how beautiful this game is,'' Commissioner Adam Silver told the Spurs during the postgame award ceremony.
A decade and a half after winning their first title in 1999, when Duncan was in his second season, the Spurs remain the NBA's model organization, a small-market team that simply wins big and hardly ever does it with a high draft pick. Instead, they found players overseas or in other organizations who would fit the Spurs' way of doing things and mesh with the Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, who have teamed for 117 postseason victories.
That included Leonard, acquired in a draft-night trade with Indiana after playing at San Diego State, and Patty Mills, an Australian national who scored 17 points off the bench.
In the end, the Spurs made winning their fifth title look stunningly easy - much to the delight of the home crowd. After the slow start, they had their fans standing, chanting and dancing much of the second half.

UNESCO backs Palestinians over threatened West Bank landscape

The Palestinians scored a cultural victory against Israel on Friday as UNESCO granted endangered World Heritage Site status to ancient West Bank terraces under threat from the Israeli separation barrier.
After an emergency nomination by Palestinian officials, the UN cultural agency's World Heritage Committee gathering in Doha voted to grant the protected status to the agricultural community of Battir, which straddles the Green Line just south of Jerusalem and where Israel plans to erect part of the barrier.
The granting of the status is likely to boost the efforts of local residents locked in a high-profile court battle in Israel to change the route of the barrier.
"The site is inscribed, congratulations to Palestine," committee chairwoman Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said after the resolution was narrowly approved, against the recommendations of UNESCO experts.
The Palestinian delegation rejoiced at the vote, hugging and cheering.
The Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar, said the decision would be "etched in the memory of my people".
"Today you have taken... a courageous decision against confinement, exclusion and domination," he said.
But Shuli Davidovich, the head of the Israeli delegation, denounced the vote as "a dark day in the heritage of UNESCO".
"We regret that the committee failed to fight the politicisation" of the debate, she said.
Battir is famous for its ancient terraces and Roman-era irrigation system which is still used by villagers for their crops.
But the area has come under threat from Israeli plans to erect part of the West Bank separation barrier there, which experts say will irretrievably damage the water system.
The Palestinians won membership in UNESCO in October 2011 and quickly moved to submit a number of sites for recognition, including an emergency application for Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity which was approved in June the following year, despite Israeli objections.
In their submission for the Battir listing, the Palestinians said the landscape was under threat from "geo-political transformations that may bring irreversible damage to its authenticity and integrity".
"The main potential threat to the property is a plan by Israeli authorities to construct a physical barrier. This would prohibit access by Battir farmers to their lands," it said.
About seven kilometres (4.5 miles) south of Jerusalem, the landscape encompasses a series of agricultural valleys with stone terraces irrigated for the production of vegetables, vines and olive trees. It is doted with ancient villages, fortifications and graves.
The Palestinian submission described the area as a "visually spectacular landscape" that give "clear testimonies of the continuous history of human settlement in the region over the past 4,000 years."
The area forms "a cultural landscape of considerable scientific interest and beauty," it said.
Israel began building its barrier in 2002 at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising. It argued that its construction was crucial for security, but the Palestinians see it as a land grab aimed at stealing part of their future state.
UN figures show that Israel has already built around two-thirds of the barrier -- a network of towering concrete walls, barbed-wire fences, trenches, and closed military roads that will extend 712 kilometres (442 miles) when completed.
The Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation oversees the system of granting coveted World Heritage Site status to important cultural and natural wonders.
Obtaining the status for sites is a point of pride for many nations and can boost tourism, but it comes with strict conservation rules.
UNESCO delegates are meeting for 10 days in Doha to consider the inscription of 40 sites on the World Heritage List and issue warnings over already-listed locations that may be in danger.

Inmarsat confident on MH370 'hotspot'

The UK satellite company Inmarsat has told the BBC that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet has yet to go to the area its scientists think is the plane's most likely crash site. Inmarsat's communications with the aircraft are seen as the best clues to the whereabouts of Flight MH370.  The hunt for the lost jet is currently taking a short break while ships map the Indian Ocean floor. 
When the search resumes, the Inmarsat "hotspot" will be a key focus. But so too will a number of areas being fed into the investigation by other groups.
Australian authorities are expected to announce where these are shortly. The BBC's Horizon TV programme has been given significant access to the telecommunications experts at Inmarsat. It was the brief, hourly electronic connections between the jet and one of company's spacecraft that are currently driving the search.  Inmarsat's scientists could tell from the timings and frequencies of the connection signals that the plane had to have come down in the southern Indian Ocean. An Australian naval vessel was sent to investigate the region west of Perth, and followed up leads as they emerged. But as Horizon reports, the Ocean Shield ship never got to the Inmarsat hotspot because it picked up signals some distance away that it thought were coming from the jet's flight recorders. The priority was to investigate these "pings", and two months were spent searching 850 sq km of sea bed. Ultimately, it turned out to be a dead end. "It was by no means an unrealistic location but it was further to the north east than our area of highest probability," Chris Ashton at Inmarsat tells Horizon. The company's experts used their data to plot a series of arcs across the Indian Ocean where its systems made contact with the jet. By modelling a flight with a constant speed and a constant heading consistent with the plane being flown by autopilot - the team found one flight path that lined up with all its data.  "We can identify a path that matches exactly with all those frequency measurements and with the timing measurements and lands on the final arc at a particular location, which then gives us a sort of a hotspot area on the final arc where we believe the most likely area is," said Mr Ashton. The Australian authorities leading the hunt have now recognised the need to make a high-resolution bathymetric (depth) survey of the wider search zone - some 60,000 sq km in area. This is likely to take several months, but once they know precisely the shape of the sea bed and the height of the water column, they can then better choose the most appropriate vehicles to continue the underwater sweep. MH370 was lost on 8 March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A total of 239 passengers and crew were on board. 

Italy's Super Mario sinks England

Mario Balotelli scored the winner as Italy beat England 2-1 in their World Cup duel in the Amazon on Saturday as Costa Rica provided a major shock with an upset win over Uruguay.
AC Milan striker Balotelli nodded past former Manchester City team-mate Joe Hart on 50 minutes to decide the tense Group D encounter at Manaus's sweltering Amazonia Arena.
Italy's Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio had fired the Azzurri into a deserved lead on 35 minutes, rifling home a low shot from outside the area after a well-worked corner routine wrong-footed the English defence.
England struck back with a fine goal on the counter-attack. Raheem Sterling released Wayne Rooney down the left and the Manchester United star's cross was buried by Daniel Sturridge.
The Italian victory leaves Cesare Prandelli's side in pole qualifying position from Group D.
The only blot on a satisfying day for Italy was the absence of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who was ruled out of the England match hours before kick-off with a twisted ankle.
England now face Uruguay in Sao Paulo next Thursday with the loser of that contest facing almost certain elimination.
"It's disappointing, we put so much effort into it," said England captain Steven Gerrard after.
"Italy were a very good team tonight and we fell a bit short. But we're still very much alive in this group," he added.

World Cup: Colombia blanks Greece

BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL—Colombia started its first World Cup campaign in 16 years in dazzling fashion, beating Greece 3-0 with goals from Pablo Armero, Teofilo Gutierrez and James Rodriguez in the Group C opener on Saturday.
Left back Armero opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his deflected shot rolled past Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez poked in Colombia’s second goal from a deflected corner in the 58th that confused Karnezis and two defenders covering the near post.
Greece had a chance to pull a goal back after Gutierrez’s goal, but an unmarked Georgios Samaras rattled the crossbar from close range.
James Rodriguez scored with a low shot in stoppage time after a slick backheel flick from Juan Cuadrado

Van Persie, Robben star as Dutch hand Spain record mauling

Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben both scored twice as the Netherlands avenged their 2010 World Cup final defeat by routing holders Spain 5-1 on Friday in a record-breaking humiliation.
As well as it being the worst ever-mauling inflicted at a World Cup on the reigning champions, it was the worst defeat suffered by Spain in more than half a century, coming 51 years after a 6-2 defeat to Scotland in 1963.
Manchester United striker Van Persie produced a stunning first-half header and slotted home the Netherlands' fourth.
"We never stopped going and in my opinion it could have been six, seven or eight goals," said man-of-the-match Van Persie.
"But I've been here before, this is my fifth tournament and it's just one win and three points, now we have to focus on our next game, against Australia."
Not to be outdone, Bayern Munich star Robben scored two second-half goals with Stefan De Vrij compounding the misery for Vicente del Bosque's world and European champions.
Veteran midfielder Xabi Alonso gave the Spanish a first-half lead when he drilled home a highly contentious penalty after Brazilian-born striker Diego Costa, who was jeered constantly by local fans, went down in the box despite not appearing to have been touched.
But Van Persie's diving header 90 seconds from the break put the Dutch level before the Oranje ran wild in the second half.
The Dutch triumvirate of Robben, Van Persie and Wesley Sneijder caused the Spanish defence all manner of problems, but it was Daley Blind's superb long passes which created their two opening goals.
"I feel really bad, very upset and very disappointed, but I have enough courage to understand this defeat," said Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque.
Spain conceded two goals at the last World Cup and three in their qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014, leaving Del Bosque at a loss to explain the five-goal mauling.
"I can't find the words to explain that, we are normally solid in defence, but today we were very weak," said Del Bosque.
"You have to acknowledge the performances of Van Persie and Robben."
- 'Dutch can improve still' -
Spain went ahead when Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli judged Costa had been fouled by De Vrij and Alonso drilled the 27th-minute penalty past Netherlands goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
Soon after, David Silva squandered a great chance to put the world champions 2-0 up when Cillessen managed to get a glove to the Manchester City star's chipped shot.
Van Persie levelled on 44 minutes when Daley Blind's pin-point pass from the left wing found the Manchester United star in space to loop his header over the stranded Iker Casillas.
Holland took control soon after the break when Van Persie turned provider with a superb pass to Robben in the area.
The winger got the better of both Spain centre-backs Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos to fire the Oranje into a 2-1 lead on 53 minutes.
Van Persie then rattled the crossbar with an hour gone before De Vrij grabbed Holland's third on 64 minutes when he bundled home at the back post.
Spain looked to have pulled a goal back when Silva stabbed home a Cillessen spill with 67 minutes gone, but he was shown to be offside.
Van Persie claimed his second and the Netherlands' fourth when he beat Casillas to a loose ball and, aided by a helpful bounce, he tapped home on 72 minutes.
The Dutch delight was clear as Van Persie handed the captain's armband to Robben in the dying stages when the striker was replaced.
Robben, who could have finished with a hat-trick, netted his second on 80 minutes by again dancing around Spanish defenders to claim his team's fifth goal of a stunning night.
Dutch coach Louis van Gaal said his side can improve further still under his new 4-3-3 system clicked.
"Without a shadow of a doubt we can (improve)," said the future Manchester United manager.
"You could see in the last 20 minutes when we started to play the ball around with confidence.
"A result like that gives players confidence and I expect us to play better."

Brazil 3, Croatia 1: World Cup match report

Neymar rescued a nervy Brazil in the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, scoring two goals in a 3-1 comeback win over Croatia.
An own goal by Marcelo gave the Croatians a shocking 1-0 lead early on, but Neymar evened the score in the first half and scored the winner from the penalty spot in the 71st minute. Oscar added an insurance marker in injury time to cap an excellent performance of his own.
Key play
A frantic Brazil threw men forward after Marcelo’s unlucky own goal in the 11th minute, and finally gained the lead 20 minutes from time, when Neymar scored his second goal of the match from the penalty spot.
Croatia has a right to feel hard done by. It was a dubious call from Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura. Croatian defender Dejan Lovren was jostling with Brazil’s Fred when the latter seemed to fall of his own accord. But Nishimura pointed to the spot, gave Lovren the card, and Neymar cooly blasted the ball past Stipe Pletikosa for the match-winner.
Man of the match
Neymar. The man with the most pressure on his shoulders at the World Cup delivered when his country needed him the most, and that means good things for the hosts.
It was a good day for…
Oscar. It was a magnificent performance by the Brazil midfielder, who nearly overshadowed Neymar. He set up Neymar’s first goal, regularly barreled his way through several Croatian defenders at a time, and scored a deserved insurance marker.
It was a bad day for…
Marcelo. The Brazilian defender has the dubious distinction of scoring Brazil’s first own goal ever at the World Cup. You read that right. Ever.

NBA final: Spurs rout Heat to take 3-1 series lead

MIAMI—One of the big questions after the San Antonio Spurs dismantled the Miami Heat in Game 4 of the NBA final was if they could possibly duplicate the feat in Game 5.
They could.
And more.
In another display of near-perfect offensive basketball coupled this time with brilliant defence — not to mention a shocking capitulation by the two-time defending champions — the Spurs are now within one win of the fifth title of the Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovich era.
San Antonio’s thorough, wire-to-wire 107-86 rout of the Miami Heat here Thursday night — which included the Heat being booed off the court by their home fans at halftime — gave the Spurs a 3-1 lead and they can close out the series Sunday at home.
No team in NBA final history has ever come back from down 3-1 to win and there is no suggestion off the last two games that the Heat would be capable of being the first.
They once again played with no passion and little energy, down 19 points at halftime and never able to get closer; they were dismantled by the brilliant Spurs offence and unable to crack a San Antonio defence that played its best game of the series.
The Spurs, meanwhile, did what they do. They executed a ball-movement offence to near perfection, got outstanding production from so-called role players and did not let the Heat get anywhere close to back in the game after taking control early.
Even a 19-point third quarter from LeBron James couldn’t help Miami, which got little or no production from anyone else. Despite that outburst by James, San Antonio was able to stretch a 19-point lead at the half into a 24-point bulge going into the fourth.
The Heat never made a run in the final 12 minutes and saw a streak of 13 straight playoff wins following losses come to an end.
Tony Parker, the Spurs point guard who is beating up Miami’s Mario Chalmers in an incredibly one-sided matchup, had 19 points for San Antonio while Boris Diaw had another old-school outstanding night with eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Kawhi Leonard, once again playing good defence against James, finished with 20 for the Spurs.
The game was so lopsided that James and Wade watched the final three and a half minutes in disgust from the bench. James had 28 points but Wade was just 3-for-13 from the field and had 10 points.
The Spurs picked up in the first half of Game 5 right where they left off Game 4.
They didn’t shoot 76 per cent from the floor — as they did in a 71-point first half on Tuesday — but they didn’t have to thanks to a stifling defence that held James to nine points, Wade to four and the Heat to 36 points as a team.
The off-day message was heard loud and clear.
“That’s what we spent all of our time on was the defence, because I thought we did a pretty mediocre job,” said Popovich. “It’s always like that. Doesn’t matter whether you win or lose, coaches always find something to moan and groan about.”
The Heat, on the other hand, were strangely dispassionate in the first half, lacking any sense of urgency despite the significance of the game.
They knew what they did wrong on Tuesday and did nothing, really, to correct it, allowing 55 first-half points on 56 per cent San Antonio shooting from the field.
They had a message and apparently ignored it.
“I have a report, but it was pretty obvious the things we needed to do better,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game. “We don’t need all the analytics that I get, 25 pages worth, to see we had 28 turnovers (for) 23 points, (the Spurs) flattened us out offensively, and then defensively them shooting a record-high field-goal percentage.
“That has to change. I don’t have to look any further than that.”

Will players of Indian descent start cracking rosters in North American pro sports?

When Jaskaran Dhillon was drafted in the third round by the Toronto Argonauts last month, he was deluged by ethnic media outlets in Vancouver celebrating the occasion since players of Indian descent are rare in the CFL.
On Wednesday, Sim Bhullar, a 7-foot-5 centre, worked out for his hometown Raptors, also attracting a media horde. He’s a 21-year-old who can dunk while standing on his tip-toes.
And last month, the movie Million Dollar Arm came out, based on the story of an agent who went to India in 2008 to recruit two talented cricket players with the hope of developing them into major league pitchers.
Even if their pro dreams die, these athletes are the leading edge of what some hope will one day be a wave of athletes with Indian backgrounds filling roster spots on North American pro sports teams.
The Toronto-born Bhullar, whose family is from the state of Punjab, hopes to be the first Indo-Canadian ever drafted into the NBA on June 26. He left New Mexico State following his sophomore year where he was voted Western Athletic Conference tournament MVP in leading the Aggies to the championship.
The interest in the Indian and the Punjab communities in Canada was so big for his Raptors workout, local ethnic media showed up excitedly at the Air Canada Centre to interview Bhullar. His college games were covered in Toronto’s Punjabi newspaper, Parvasi.
Bhullar said he hopes he can do for India what Yao Ming did for basketball in China, where the game became even more popular with kids and consumers in the world’s largest economy.
“Hopefully if I can make it and get to the next level, I can really go back there and impact the community,” Bhullar said. “I want to give back to the community out there. Especially growing up being a little kid, I always wanted to one of the NBA players to come to my community.
“I really want to be a role model for the kids and just open their eyes and know they can do anything they want. Anything they put their mind to.”
Bhullar said he doesn’t feel any pressure carrying the flag for India and wants to be a role model for others.
He’s used to such talk. In 2011, the New York Times wrote that Bhullar was poised to become the world’s first prominent men’s basketball player of Indian descent.
“There’s not really any pressure for me,” he said. “I had it for this long this far.”
He said there are more players in India with basketball talent, but they are lacking a place to showcase their skills.
Bhullar wants to make a difference in that area.
Bhullar said basketball courts are being built across the country and many more are picking up the game.
“It’s more pride,” he said. “I just want to be the best I can be and inspire some young guys. It really helps our community take a step forward. It brings a positive light to our community.
Dhillon, at 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds, can also trace his family roots to the Punjab area.
Dhillon felt family pressure to play soccer growing up in B.C., but he didn’t really like it. He fell in love with the gridiron game watching the NFL and the Denver Broncos became his favourite team.
Rupan Bal, of Punjab-based PTC (PTCnetwork.ca) that broadcasts out of Toronto, grew up playing basketball in India and cautions that developing more talent will take time.
He played high school basketball in Amritsar, and the only reason he played was that it was a Canadian-oriented school. He started playing basketball in Grade 5, but “it was not really that great.”
He said the national basketball program is on a par with high school basketball in Canada.
Social media is also responsible for raising the profile of emerging stars like Bhullar in the Punjab community.
“In Canada, in every Punjabi community, he (Bhullar) is really popular because of his height and the fact that he is the first one to make it to the NBA draft,” Bal said. “People want to take pictures wherever he walks.”
Bal added that he thinks there is pressure on Bhullar to do well in basketball because of his heritage.
“As Punjabi Canadians, we are looking for someone from our community to break the barrier and bring two generations together. What happens is the generation from my parent’s era didn’t really support sports. They don’t believe in sports. Studies is the only option. So someone breaking through this, they will visualize a new picture.”

The Telephone

Early Telephone Development 

In 1729 English chemist Stephen Gray transmitted electricity over a wire. He sent charges nearly 300 feet over brass wire and moistened thread. An electrostatic generator powered his experiments, one charge at a time. A few years later, Dutchman Pieter van Musschenbroek and German Ewald Georg von Kleist in 1746 independently developed the Leyden jar, a sort of battery or condenser for storing static electricity. Named for its Holland city of invention, the jar was a glass bottle lined inside and out with tin or lead. The glass sandwiched between the metal sheets stored electricity; a strong charge could be kept for a few days and transported. Over the years these jars were used in countless experiments, lectures, and demonstrations.
In 1753 an anonymous writer, possibly physician Charles Morrison, suggested in The Scot's Magazine that electricity might transmit messages. He thought up a scheme using separate wires to represent each letter. An electrostatic generator, he posited, could electrify each line in turn, attracting a bit of paper by static charge on the other end. By noting which paper letters were attracted one might spell out a message. Needing wires by the dozen, signals got transmitted a mile or two. People labored with telegraphs like this for many decades. Experiments continued slowly until 1800. Many inventors worked alone, misunderstood earlier discoveries, or spent time producing results already achieved. Poor equipment didn't help either.
Balky electrostatic generators produced static electricity by friction, often by spinning leather against glass. And while static electricity could make hair stand on end or throw sparks, it couldn't provide the energy to do truly useful things. Inventors and industry needed a reliable and continuous current.
In 1800 Alessandro Volta produced the first battery. A major development, Volta's battery provided sustained low powered electric current at high cost. Chemically based, as all batteries are, the battery improved quickly and became the electrical source for further experimenting. But while batteries got more reliable, they still couldn't produce the power needed to work machinery, light cities, or provide heat. And although batteries would work telegraph and telephone systems, and still do, transmitting speech required understanding two related elements, namely, electricity and magnetism.
In 1820 Danish physicist Christian Oersted discovered electromagnetism, the critical idea needed to develop electrical power and to communicate. In a famous experiment at his University of Copenhagen classroom, Oersted pushed a compass under a live electric wire. This caused its needle to turn from pointing north, as if acted on by a larger magnet. Oersted discovered that an electric current creates a magnetic field. But could a magnetic field create electricity? If so, a new source of power beckoned. And the principle of electromagnetism, if fully understood and applied, promised a new era of communication
In 1821 Michael Faraday reversed Oersted's experiment and in so doing discovered induction. He got a weak current to flow in a wire revolving around a permanent magnet. In other words, a magnetic field caused or induced an electric current to flow in a nearby wire. In so doing, Faraday had built the world's first electric generator. Mechanical energy could now be converted to electrical energy. Is that clear? This is a very important point.
The simple act of moving ones' hand caused current to move. Mechanical energy into electrical energy. Although many years away, a turbine powered dynamo would let the power of flowing water or burning coal produce electricity. Got a river or a dam? The water spins the turbines which turns the generators which produce electricity. The more water you have the more generators you can add and the more electricity you can produce. Mechanical energy into electrical energy.
Faraday worked through different electrical problems in the next ten years, eventually publishing his results on induction in 1831. By that year many people were producing electrical dynamos. But electromagnetism still needed understanding. Someone had to show how to use it for communicating.
In 1830 the great American scientist Professor Joseph Henry transmitted the first practical electrical signal. A short time before Henry had invented the first efficient electromagnet. He also concluded similar thoughts about induction before Faraday but he didn't publish them first. Henry's place in electrical history however, has always been secure, in particular for showing that electromagnetism could do more than create current or pick up heavy weights -- it could communicate.In a stunning demonstration in his Albany Academy classroom, Henry created the forerunner of the telegraph. In the demonstration, Henry first built an electromagnet by winding an iron bar with several feet of wire. A pivot mounted steel bar sat next to the magnet. A bell, in turn, stood next to the bar. From the electromagnet Henry strung a mile of wire around the inside of the classroom. He completed the circuit by connecting the ends of the wires at a battery. Guess what happened? The steel bar swung toward the magnet, of course, striking the bell at the same time. Breaking the connection released the bar and it was free to strike again. And while Henry did not pursue electrical signaling, he did help someone who did. And that man was Samuel Finley Breese Morse.
From the December, 1963 American Heritage magazine, "a sketch of Henry's primitive telegraph, a dozen years before Morse, reveals the essential components: an electromagnet activated by a distant battery, and a pivoted iron bar that moves to ring a bell." See the two books listed to the left for more information.
In 1837 Samuel Morse invented the first workable telegraph, applied for its patent in 1838, and was finally granted it in 1848. Joseph Henry helped Morse build a telegraph relay or repeater that allowed long distance operation. The telegraph later helped unite the country and eventually the world. Not a professional inventor, Morse was nevertheless captivated by electrical experiments. In 1832 he heard of Faraday's recently published work on inductance, and was given an electromagnet at the same time to ponder over. An idea came to him and Morse quickly worked out details for his telegraph.

Why we can't buy some popular European cars in Canada

Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Audi all say it’s time regulatory standards were harmonized, allowing more choice, faster access and lower prices on European models.
The global auto standards issue recently resurfaced in the wake of the tentative free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union’s 28 countries. If ratified in about two years’ time, the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) will allow for the free flow of goods for everything from Italian wine to French bread to pork bellies and Porsches.
CETA would also gradually eliminate the 6.1-per-cent tariff on European cars imported to Canada, over seven years.
In December, Tim Reuss, president of Mercedes-Benz Canada, questioned the notion that Canada’s standards are better: “Are you really going to say that a car that has been deemed safe enough and environmentally okay for Europe is not environmentally okay and safe to be driven in Canada or vice versa?”
Veteran auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers says Reuss’s comment is dead on. “He’s got it summarized in the most cogent way I’ve ever read.”
The gap is not just with Europe; standards even differ between Canada and the United States – on the height of a seatbelt or bumper and daytime running lights, says DesRosiers.
“We don’t need Canadian-specific regulations,” says Global Automakers of Canada president David Adams.
But Transport Canada insists we do. The government department that is responsible for and oversees policies and regulations for the vehicles we drive, also points to “Canadian-specific factors” such as geography, road and weather conditions and driver training as reasons we do need our own standards.
Meanwhile, DesRosiers warns eliminating these standards is no easy task. “Canada has to get the U.S. on side before it meets the EU standard. It becomes politically complex; there are egos and science and economics in the way.”
But Transport Canada defends its differences by saying it has “several significant vehicle safety requirements which are more stringent in Canada than in Europe.” The strength of the anchoring system for child seats and rear crash test speed are two examples (See sidebar).
It’s tough to pinpoint exactly how much Canada’s own auto testing adds to the MSRP, but everyone agrees it is a significant cost. “It’s much higher than the tariff imposed,” says DesRosiers. “You can easily get into a $1,000-to-$5,000 increase because of the standard differential of a cost or higher … but we don’t know for sure.”
Don Mertens, spokesperson for Volkswagen and Audi, agrees Canada-only standards are unnecessary, and hopes CETA will bring new flexibility.
“We don’t have all the fine details about the free-trade agreement, but we hope there will be more acceptance of UNEC (United Economic Commission for Europe) standards.”
There has been a worldwide move in the industry to try to forge a global standard, DesRosiers says. But the long evolution of North American standards makes them difficult to negotiate or eliminate. Standards were ramped up after consumer advocate Ralph Nader’s 1965 book, Unsafe At Any Speed, accused the auto industry of disregarding safety standards.
“The need for regulatory standards became more intense with that book,” says DesRosiers. In those days, there wasn’t a global auto industry as we know it today.
The United States created its Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards while the United Nations Economic Commission crafted another set for Europe and those are also followed by Japan and China. Canada follows many of the rules set by the United States, but layers on its unique standards.
DesRosiers fears free-trade agreements, like CETA, will slow the shift to one set of standards because they are used as “negotiating chips.” But Adams insists auto makers would prefer one set of global regulations. And, through CETA, Canada has the chance to take the lead by eliminating overlaps in regulatory testing.
“Canada’s tradition has been to follow the U.S. in its regulatory environment,” says Adams. “Now we have an opportunity. Do we want to sit back and wait for the U.S.?”
Transport Canada says it is open to developing or reviewing existing standards “as long as they fulfill national objectives.” The agency continues to “actively participate in the development of global technical regulations under the auspices of the World Forum for the harmonization of Vehicle Regulations”
Reuss points to two models that could come to Canada right away if European standards were accepted: the Mercedes A-Class subcompact with new technology, featuring brake lights that flash if a car is approaching too quickly from behind, and the all-wheel-drive version of the Sprinter commercial van.
Mertens would like to see “harmonization-plus.” He says we should be able to expand, at minimum, some European advanced technology and add some European standards to Canada’s regime, citing advanced lighting and the latest in clean diesel.
“For us, it’s technology that helps the consumer, whether it’s safety technologies, but certainly engine choices,” he says. “We need to accept European standards that benefit the consumer."
Thomas Tetzlaf, also of Volkswagen and Audi, is convinced the enhanced choice would be a win with car enthusiasts.
“Many of them call us immediately upon return from summer vacation in Europe … and ask us why we can’t the get the ‘blank’ … or this engine in North America.”
Adams and DesRosiers both argue that Canadian consumers are more open to Euro-style diesels, subcompacts and hatchbacks – people like Kenney, who pines for the sporty Scirocco.
“I’ve always been a big VW fan,” he says. “When I get in, I always know what it’s going to feel like. The fit, the finish and interior design; they take it much more seriously.”
A comparison of Canadian and U.S. Prices:

Vehicle	Canadian Price	U.S. Price
2014 Ford F-150	$17,999	$24,445
2014 Chevrolet Corvette	$52,475	$51,000
2014 Toyota Prius	$26,105	$24,200
2014 Toyota Camry	$23,750	$22,425
2014 Honda Civic	$15,690	$18,390
2014 Porsche Boxster S	$70,900	$62,100
Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet	$221,200	$193,900
Audi R8	$134,000	$114,900
2014 BMW M6 Cabriolet	$128,900	$117,500