1:45pm

Thu May 16, 2013
All Tech Considered

Google's Privacy Shift Powers New Customized Maps

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 10:15 am

This week, Google, already a leader in mapping, created more space between itself and its competitors by more deeply mining the data users provide the company when using its various services.

At the Google developers' conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps, crowed about the company's mapping app for the iPhone — and couldn't quite stop himself from taking a dig at Apple.

"People called it sleek, simple, beautiful, and let's not forget, accurate," he said.

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12:59pm

Thu May 16, 2013
U.S.

Managing The $30 Million 'One Fund' To Aid Boston Victims

Days after the marathon bombing, officials established the One Fund for Boston to assist victims and their families. Attorney Ken Feinberg, who managed similar funds after Sept. 11 and Virginia Tech and is managing this fund, says there's no easy way to decide who gets how much of the $30 million that's been donated.

12:36pm

Thu May 16, 2013
Politics

Governor Signs Guns-in-Schools and Ignition Interlock Bills

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Governor Bill Haslam has signed two bills that received a lot of attention in the most recent legislative session.

Haslam announced today that he's signed the latest revision to Tennessee's ignition interlock law. It will now apply to more drunken drivers.

Currently, ignition-locking devices, which force drivers to pass breath tests to start vehicles and keep them running, are required for DUI offenders whose blood alcohol level topped 0.15 percent.

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12:22pm

Thu May 16, 2013
The Two-Way

Obama: 'I Certainly Did Not Know' What The IRS Was Doing

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 6:39 pm

Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images

Update at 5:38 p.m. ET. One More IRS Official To Leave

Another official is out at the embattled agency.

The Associated Press reports that Joseph Grant, commissioner of the IRS' tax exempt and government entities division, will retire June 3. The division scrutinized Tea Party groups when the applied for tax-exempt status.

Update at 4:45 p.m. ET. Obama Names New IRS Acting Chief

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12:15pm

Thu May 16, 2013
The Salt

How Trace Amounts of Arsenic End Up In Grocery Store Meat

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 10:18 am

Credit iStockphoto

A study published online recently in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives documented slightly elevated levels of arsenic in samples of chicken purchased at grocery stores in 10 cities in the U.S.

So how did trace amounts of this toxin end up in supermarket poultry?

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12:04pm

Thu May 16, 2013
Shots - Health News

Everybody In The Pool! But Please Leave The Poop Behind

Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 11:53 am

Credit iStockphoto.com

Perhaps you've noticed a toddler's sagging swim diaper and wondered if it's really keeping the poop out of your neighborhood pool.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has the answer for you: no.

Last summer, researchers at the federal public health agency collected 161 filter samples from public swimming pools in the Atlanta area. More than half of those samples, 58 percent, were contaminated with E. coli.

That, the CDC reported today, "signifies that swimmers introduced fecal matter into pool water."

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11:37am

Thu May 16, 2013
The Two-Way

After Daughter Is Taken, Mother Rams Abduction Suspect's Car

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 2:41 pm

Credit Albuquerque Police

Police in Albuquerque, N.M., are interviewing a man they say is a "person of interest" in the abduction of a five-year-old girl. After the girl was taken Wednesday evening, her mother chased down and rammed the car she had been in; a suspect fled on foot. Authorities say the girl is safe; she was pushed out of the car shortly after being taken.

Update at 3:30 p.m. ET. 'Person Of Interest' Found:

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11:26am

Thu May 16, 2013
Parallels

Women In Combat: Some Lessons From Israel's Military

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 6:24 pm

As the U.S. moves to open up combat positions to women, it's catching up with other countries that have been doing it for years.

But the experience in these countries, including Israel, suggests that access to combat jobs doesn't lead directly to equal treatment within the ranks.

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10:55am

Thu May 16, 2013
The Two-Way

Almost Nerd Wars: 'Doctor Who' & 'Star Wars' Fans Have Spat

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 3:20 pm

Credit Lewis Whyld/Andrew Matthews / PA Photos/Landov

Some stories are indeed too good to be true.

This BBC headline had us punching the Two-Way control board to go to light speed in pursuit of appropriate puns:

"Star Wars and Doctor Who fans clash at Norwich convention"

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10:52am

Thu May 16, 2013
Shots - Health News

Humans Scent Is Even Sweeter For Malaria Mosquitoes

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 12:13 pm

People smell yummy to mosquitoes.

So yummy, in fact, that our scent is a big way the pesky insects track us down.

But just how much mosquitoes like Eau de Human may not be entirely up to the bugs.

Mosquitoes are more attracted to human odors when they're infected with the malaria parasite, scientists reported Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.

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