NBA Schedule Jan 1- 5, 2012

Sunday, January 1
MATCHUP	TIME (ET)	AWAY TV	HOME TV	NAT TV	RESOURCES
New Jersey at Cleveland	6:00 PM	YES	Fox Sports Ohio - High Def		Tickets | Venue
Charlotte at Miami	6:00 PM	Fox Sports Carolinas	Sun Sports		Tickets | Venue
Toronto at Orlando	6:00 PM		Sun Sports		Tickets | Venue
Boston at Washington	6:00 PM			NBA TV	Tickets | Venue
Dallas at Minnesota	7:00 PM	FOX SW	Fox Sports North		Tickets | Venue
Memphis at Chicago	8:00 PM	SportSouth	Comcast Sports Chicago		Tickets | Venue
LA Lakers at Denver	8:00 PM	KCAL-TV, Los Angeles	Altitude Sports		Tickets | Venue
New Orleans at Sacramento	9:00 PM	Cox Sports Television	Comcast Sports Sacramento		Tickets | Venue
Portland at LA Clippers	9:30 PM		FSN Prime Ticket		Tickets | Venue

Monday, January 2
MATCHUP	TIME (ET)	AWAY TV	HOME TV	NAT TV	RESOURCES
Golden State at Phoenix	3:30 PM	CSNBayHD			Tickets | Venue
Washington at Boston	7:30 PM				Tickets | Venue
Orlando at Detroit	7:30 PM	Sun Sports	Fox Sports Detroit		Tickets | Venue
Atlanta at Miami	7:30 PM	SportSouth	Sun Sports		Tickets | Venue
Indiana at New Jersey	7:30 PM		YES		Tickets | Venue
Toronto at New York	7:30 PM		MSG		Tickets | Venue

Upcoming UFC Events

UFC 142 Jan 14, 2012 10:00 PM EST

UFC 142 Results:
UFC 142 will take place Jan. 14, 2012 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
 
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo will defend his title against undefeated contender Chad Mendes. Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort will face Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson in the night co-main event.


UFC on FX
Jan 20, 2012 10:00 PM EST
UFC on FX Results:
UFC on FX will take place Jan. 20, 2012 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

UFC on Fox 2
Jan 29, 2012 12:00 AM EST
UFC on Fox 2 Results:
UFC on Fox 2 will take place Jan. 28, 2012 at Chicago's United Center.
The main event features a non-title light heavyweight bout between former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans and rising contender Phil Davis.

Michael Jordan gets engaged to model girlfriend Yvette Prieto

Michael Jordan is officially off the market, again.

The NBA legend is reportedly engaged to longtime girlfriend and Cuban-born model Yvette Prieto. The couple has been dating for more than three years.

A Jordan spokeswoman first confirmed the news to WCNC in Charlotte, NC, that he popped the question on Christmas. Prieto is 32 years old, while Jordan is 48.

This would be Jordan's second marriage.

He was married for 17 years to Juanita Jordan, but the couple divorced in 2006, and settled for a reported amount of $168 million. They have two sons, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James, and a daughter, Jasmine.

Jordan is the current owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, and can often be seen on the sideline of Bobcats games with Prieto.

Overeem retires Lesnar in UFC 141 main event

AS VEGAS – Alistair Overeem promised his fight with Brock Lesnar wouldn’t last too long.
He was right, but he shouldn’t have been so conservative. Overeem finished the former UFC heavyweight champion in just two minutes, 26 seconds, battering Lesnar with knees, kicks and punches to win by first-round knockout.
The win sets up Overeem, a former Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1 champion, for a shot at the UFC title held by Junior dos Santos.
 
Lesnar had no shot, as he was unable to deal with Overeem’s varied strikes. After the fight, he announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.

“I’m going to officially say tonight is the last time you’ll see me in the Octagon,” Lesnar said. Later, he added, “Brock Lesnar is officially retired.”

Lesnar went for a single-leg takedown, but Overeem easily shook it off. Overeem hurt Lesnar with a knee to the body early, but finished the fight with a great kick to the midsection. Lesnar winced in pain and backed to the cage. Overeem rushed in and rained punches on him until referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight.

The grudge match of the night was a one-sided affair, as Nate Diaz used his boxing to throttle Donald Cerrone in a lightweight battle.

2011 Insight Bowl Final Score: Oklahoma Hangs On For 31-14 Lead

On paper, the Insight Bowl was supposed to be one of the more lopsided bowls of the season. And though the Sooners did come away with a 17-point win, thanks to a 21-yard touchdown run by Blake Bell on fourth and one with under a minute to go, Iowa did make things interesting.

The Hawkeyes offense was all but dead for much of the game, until it sprung to life for two lengthy touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Through the first three quarters, Oklahoma was anything but dominant, yet still held a 21-0 lead. But back-to-back touchdown drives -- both of which were over 70 yards and double-digit plays -- brought the Hawkeyes right back into the game as Oklahoma clung to a 21-14 lead.

But just as Iowa drew close, the Sooners put it out of reach, kicking a field goal to make it a two-possession game with two and a half minutes to go. After Iowa failed to answer, Oklahoma drove in the dagger for good measure as Bell, the backup and short-yardage quarterback, scampered into the end zone for the final touchdown of the game as the Sooners downed the Hawkeyes, 31-14.

Nets Vs. Magic: Dwight Howard, Orlando Beat Ugly New Jersey 94-78

We may need to start looking for Deron Williams in Siberian villages. He may have been kidnapped by political opponents of New Jersey Nets owner/Russian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov and replaced with a lifelike but awful-at-basketball android. Williams shot 2-12 from the floor -- he's now 13-45 for the season -- as the Orlando Magic beat the Nets 94-78 on Thursday.

Williams had seven assists and six turnovers. This season he has not only looked nothing like Deron Williams, but he's been one of the worse Nets players, which is impressive given that the rotation includes DeShawn Stevenson, Johan Petro and Shelden Williams.

If there's a bright spot for New Jersey, it's that rookie MarShon Brooks is off to a hot start in his debut season. He scored 17 points in 21 minutes on Thursday, and is averaging better than 13 points per game despite playing less than 20 minutes a night through three games.

Ryan Anderson had another big night for the Magic, scoring 22 as a less mobile Rashard Lewis. He hit 3-5 from long-range. Dwight Howard had an awful night at the line (2-9), but managed to score 16 and dominate the glass to the tune of a monstrous rebound total of 24. Howard has twice exceed that total, but not since 2007. The total was twice exceeded last season: Kevin Love had 31 in a game, and Andrew Bogut hit 27.

Knicks Vs. Lakers: New York Can't Thaw, Kobe Bryant Leads L.A. To Breezy Win

Carmelo Anthony did his part to heat up the New York Knicks' offense, shooting 8-14 from the floor on his way to 27 points. But the rest of his team shot 13-53 (24 percent), and the L.A. Lakers were able to pound out a 99-82 to move to 2-2 on the season. The Knicks fell to 1-2, and have lost the first two games on the team's only trip to the West Coast this season. New York plays in Sacramento on Saturday to wrap the trip.

The Knicks hope that in that game Amar'e Stoudemire shoots better than 4-17. Toney Douglas has continued to struggled as well as the team's starting point guard; he was 2-8 on Thursday, missing all four three-pointers he took. His counterpart Derek Fisher, who this season has looked every bit the 74-year-old he is, nearly matched his futility by shooting 2-7 from the floor.

Kobe Bryant -- you expected someone else? -- led the Lakers with 28 points on 10-17 shooting; Pau Gasol followed with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Jason Kapono was useful for the first time in three seasons (at least), scoring nine points off the bench on flawless 3-3 shooting. L.A. took four more FGAs than New York, but made 17 more shots.

NBA Scores And More: Lakers Stifle Knicks, Blazers Stay Unbeaten And Thunder Triumph

Nuggets Vs. Blazers: Portland's Arsenal Too Much For Denver

The Portland Trail Blazers are 3-0 to start the season after knocking of their Northwest rival Denver Nuggets 111-102 on Thursday. The Nuggets, who fall to 2-1, had begun the season with impressive blowout wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz, but Portland presented a bigger challenge. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 25 points on sharp 9-15 shooting, and Raymond Felton had a breakout game with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Surprisingly, Denver's offense was the problem, which says a lot about Portland's defense. Ty Lawson was brilliant (25 points on 10-16 shooting, 2-3 on threes) on offense, but Arron Afflalo was the only other Nugget who hit his shots. Denver couldn't make up for all of the misses on the glass; the Nuggets had just three offensive rebounds in 46 opportunities. A few more second-chance buckets could have made all the difference.

Portland won despite muted offensive efforts from LaMarcus Aldridge and Gerald Wallace (13 points each) and a mammoth turnover disadvantage (25 to seven for Denver). That Portland can beat a good team with such an imperfect performance says something about this squad.

Bulls Vs. Clippers: Derrick Rose Deflates Lob City, 114-101

Bulls Vs. Clippers Final Score: Derrick Rose One-Ups Lob City In 114-101 Win

The Chicago Bulls had managed to stay one step ahead of the much-hyped Los Angeles Clippers through the first three quarters on Friday night, but hadn't quite built a substantial lead. Instead, Chicago kept grinding away, outscoring Los Angeles in each quarter to take a six-point lead into the final frame. The matchup seemed like it was destined for some sort of close finish.
Derrick Rose, however, had other ideas. Rose hit another gear in the fourth quarter, taking over the game as the Bulls built up their lead and put it out of reach. Rose was everywhere, creating his own shots, dishing to his teammates and getting to the line as the Bulls pushed their advantage to double-digits. And that's where it ended as Chicago pulled away in the final frame for a 114-101 win over the Lob City Clippers, dropping Chris Paul's new team to 1-2 on the season.
Rose finished with a team-high 29 points and an impressive 16 assists on the nights. In fact, all five Chicago starters were in double-figures, with Luol Deng and Joakim Noah each adding 19 points to go along with Rose's outstanding game. Blake Griffin finished with a game-high 34 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. Chris Paul also nabbed himself a double-double, scoring 15 points and dishing out 14 assists.

Rose held firm by his Chicago roots

For all the respect and riches that Derrick Rose has received since being named last NBA season’s MVP – and the $95 million contract extension he recently signed qualifies as the latter – the Chicago Bulls point guard has found one drawback to winning the award.

“The worst part is the attention,” Rose said. “I hate attention like that.”
Rose has accepted his fame, and he’s worked the past two seasons to show more of his personality to the public. But, unlike his outgoing mother and three older brothers, Rose prefers to be quiet. The only time he seems comfortable opening up is around his family and long-time friends. As he became a star at Chicago’s Simeon High School, his family kept the media at bay and limited the contact college recruiters had with him.

“I think it comes from his background with his mom, brothers, coaches who taught him growing up to never change,” said Randall Thomas, Rose’s childhood friend. “He’s never been able to snap on anybody. He’s always been a down-to-earth guy.”

Rose was raised in the tough Englewood neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago. He has always used his upbringing as motivation, and doesn’t plan to stop after getting his lucrative new contract.

“Knowing that nobody ever in my neighborhood ever saw that kind of money and knowing the background that I came from, the struggles that I went through, it’s just going to make me work harder,” Rose said.

Clergymen clash at Bethlehem birthplace of Jesus

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The annual cleaning of one of Christianity's holiest churches deteriorated into a brawl between rival clergy Wednesday, as dozens of monks feuding over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity battled each other with brooms until police intervened.

The ancient church, built over the traditional site of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, is shared by three Christian denominations — Roman Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox. Wednesday's fight erupted between Greek and Armenian clergy, with both sides accusing each other of encroaching on parts of the church to which they lay claim.

The monks were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in early January, following celebrations by Western Christians on Dec. 25. The fight erupted between monks along the border of their respective areas. Some shouted and hurled brooms.

Palestinian security forces rushed in to break up the melee, and no serious injuries were reported. A Palestinian police spokesman would not immediately comment.

A fragile status quo governs relations among the denominations at the ancient church, and to repair or clean a part of the structure is to own it, according to accepted practice. That means that letting other sects clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at another's expense. Similar fights have taken place during the same late-December cleaning effort in the past.

Surface of Pluto May Contain Organic Molecules

The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted new evidence of complex organic molecules — the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it — on the frigid surface of Pluto, a new study finds.

Hubble observations revealed that some substances on Pluto's surface are absorbing more ultraviolet light than expected. The compounds in question may well be organics, possibly complex hydrocarbons or nitrogen-containing molecules, researchers said.

The dwarf planet Pluto is known to harbor ices of methane, carbon monoxide and nitrogen on its surface. The ultraviolet-absorbing chemical species may have been produced when sunlight or super-speedy subatomic particles known as cosmic rays interacted with these ices, researchers said.

"This is an exciting finding because complex Plutonian hydrocarbons and other molecules that could be responsible for the ultraviolet spectral features we found with Hubble may, among other things, be responsible for giving Pluto its ruddy color," study leader Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., said in a statement.

Pluto circles the sun in a distant ring of icy bodies known as the Kuiper Belt. Many other Kuiper Belt objects are also quite red, and researchers have previously speculated that organics are responsible for their ruddiness as well.

Stern and his colleagues also found that Pluto's ultraviolet spectrum has changed compared to Hubble measurements taken during the 1990s. They used Hubble's powerful Cosmic Origins Spectrograph instrument to make the find.

Arroyo Faces Second Criminal Case

MANILA, Philippines—Prosecutors on Thursday filed a second criminal case against former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, this time over an overpriced deal with a Chinese telecommunications giant that allegedly involved huge kickbacks.

Ms. Arroyo, who is under arrest on separate electoral fraud charges, has previously denied wrongdoing in the latest case. But under public pressure in 2008, she canceled a flagship $330 million Philippine government deal with China's ZTE Corp. to set up a nationwide broadband network.

The cases are part of efforts of Ms. Arroyo's successor, President Benigno Aquino III, to root out high-level corruption that is endemic in the Philippines.

Mr. Aquino blames Ms. Arroyo, who stepped down last year, of presiding over a decade of corrupt practices that eroded public trust in government and held back foreign investors. She has accused him of using "black propaganda'' to damage her image.

Ms. Arroyo's husband and a former elections chief have denied accusations in a Senate hearing of receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks for Ms. Arroyo's approval of the broadband deal. But the issue was never properly investigated because Ms. Arroyo had barred top officials from disclosing details.

Anti-graft prosecutors filed a case against Ms. Arroyo, husband Jose Miguel "Mike"' Arroyo, former Elections Commissioner Benjamin Abalos and ex-Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza over the botched contract.

Court spokesman Renato Bocar said Ms. Arroyo was charged "for being interested for personal gain in the approval of the ... project despite knowledge of the irregularities and anomalies that attended its approval.''

Sky spy: Spot five planets without a telescope

A great way to prepare for 2012 is to try to see all five naked-eye planets - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Start off tonight by looking west after sunset at 5:27 to see ever-brilliant Venus in the darkening twilight.
By 6, very bright Jupiter will be high in the east about 60 degrees above the horizon.
After you have enjoyed Jupiter, be sure to watch Orion the Hunter rising above the eastern horizon. Orion will have risen fully by 6:30.
Also at that time, the bright, five-day-old crescent moon tonight will be high above the southern horizon.
By 8 p.m., Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, will be 7 degrees above the southeastern horizon, getting higher and higher as the night goes on.
Sirius in Canis Major, the Greater Dog, is one of our traditional winter evening companions, along with Orion and its bright stars.
We are by no means done yet.
Mars rises at 10:57 p.m. and will be well-placed for viewing high in the sky a couple of hours before sunrise (7:24 a.m.) on Friday. Saturn rises at 1:57 a.m., and Jupiter sets at 2:14 Friday morning.
Thus, there is a short period of time from 1:57 until 2:14 when it is possible to see Saturn very low on the eastern horizon and Jupiter very low on the western horizon - nearly 180 degrees apart.
This will be challenging as the sky has to be clear, and you must have an unobstructed view of both horizons, but it is doable as both planets are bright enough to be visible low in the sky.
To finish up with a bang, look to the southeast from 6:45 a.m. until sunrise to see ever-fleeting Mercury make an appearance.
Best wishes to you and yours for 2012.

NKoreans salute, cry for late leader Kim Jong Il

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea's next leader escorted his father's hearse in an elaborate state funeral on a bitter, snowy day Wednesday, bowing and saluting in front of tens of thousands of citizens who wailed and stamped their feet in grief for Kim Jong Il.

Son and successor Kim Jong Un was head mourner on the gray day in Pyongyang, walking with one hand on the black hearse that carried his father's coffin on its roof, his other hand raised in salute, his head bowed against the wind.

At the end of the 2 1/2-hour procession, rifles fired 21 times as Kim Jong Un stood flanked by the top party and military officials who are expected to be his inner circle of advisers. Kim then saluted again as goose-stepping soldiers carrying flags and rifles marched by.

Although analysts say Kim Jong Un is on the path toward cementing his power and all moves in North Korea so far — from titles giving him power over the ruling party and military and his leading position in the funeral procession — point in that direction, his age and inexperience leave questions about Kim's long-term prospects. Whereas his father was groomed for power for 20 years before taking over, the younger Kim has had only about two years.

He also faces the huge challenges of running a country that struggles to feed its people even as it pursues a nuclear weapons program that has earned it international sanctions and condemnation.

Kim Jong Il — who led with absolute power after his father Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, through a famine that killed hundreds of thousands and the pursuit of nuclear and missile programs — died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69.

Time-Saving Touchscreen Secrets

Touchscreens can be quick and convenient, but frustrating if you're entering large amounts of text.

If you're one of the 22 million lucky people who got a new iPad for the holidays — or one of the 200 million people who already own an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad — here are my top tips for how to get the most out of your Apple touchscreen device in the least amount of time.

Baby Powder
If it's particularly humid, or you suffer from clammy hands, that moisture on your fingers makes for jumpy touch control. Sprinkle a little baby powder on your fingers, and you will suddenly have pinpoint accuracy and command of the cursor. Corn starch will also do the trick.

Video Scroll Control

 

Video Scroll Control
You've got this perfect video moment stored on your phone — just 10 seconds within a five-minute video — that you want to share with a friend. You scroll too far forward, then too far back. What you need is finer control. Try this: touch the timeline at the top of the video screen, then slide your finger below the timeline. You should see the timeline expand.

Without lifting your finger, slide it to the right or left to scroll forward or back through the video at half speed.

First Meteor Shower of 2012 Arrives Next Week

In 2011, most of the best meteor showers occurred when the moon was close to full. This natural "light pollution" made the fainter meteors impossible to see.

But 2012 starts out with a fine meteor shower, the Quadrantids, with absolutely no moon to interfere with the viewing. The Quadrantid meteor shower  will peak on Jan. 4 at about 2 a.m. EST (0700 GMT).

Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through fields of debris left behind by comets or asteroids in the past. The result is that, instead of the handful of meteors, or "shooting stars," which can be seen any clear night, we get a "shower" of meteors: dozens or even hundreds of meteors over the course of an evening.

The best known meteor shower of the year is the Perseids, which normally occurs in the second week of August. The other two most reliable meteor showers are the Geminids in mid-December and the Quadrantids in early January. [Amazing Perseid meteor photos]

Most meteor showers are named for the constellations in which their "radiants" are located. These are the points in the sky from which the meteors appear to streak. When we look at the radiant of a meteor shower, we are essentially looking up the track upon which the meteors arrive at Earth, just as we would watch a train coming down a railroad track.

But after what constellation is the Quadrantid meteor shower named?

Strangely enough, it is named for a constellation which no longer exists, Quadrans Muralis, the wall quadrant. This was an instrument used by early astronomers to measure positions in the sky. If you've ever seen a picture of the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, you've probably seen his wall quadrant.

'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank

LONDON (AP) — The loose-knit hacking movement "Anonymous" claimed Sunday to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals' accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards.

Anonymous boasted of stealing Stratfor's confidential client list, which includes entities ranging from Apple Inc. to the U.S. Air Force to the Miami Police Department, and mining it for more than 4,000 credit card numbers, passwords and home addresses.

Austin, Texas-based Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce risk, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos. The company's main website was down, with a banner saying the "site is currently undergoing maintenance."

Proprietary information about the companies and government agencies that subscribe to Stratfor's newsletters did not appear to be at any significant risk, however, with the main threat posed to individual employees who had subscribed.

"Not so private and secret anymore?" Anonymous taunted in a message on Twitter, promising that the attack on Stratfor was just the beginning of a Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.

Anonymous said the client list it had already posted was a small slice of the 200 gigabytes worth of plunder it stole from Stratfor and promised more leaks. It said it was able to get the credit card details in part because Stratfor didn't bother encrypting them — an easy-to-avoid blunder which, if true, would be a major embarrassment for any security-related company.

The Welterweights: What to Expect in 2012

Historically, the 147 lb. class has been one of boxing's glamor divisions and it currently continues in the tradition as it just happens to be the home of the sport's two biggest draws in Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Below the current top two, though, is a crew of evenly-matched fighters looking to reach the elite level.

Here's a look at what 2012 has in store for the welterweight division:

Barring some divine intervention, it look as though Pacquiao-Mayweather won't be happening any time soon. Instead, both fighters will probably be looking for a somewhat suitable replacement for the big one.

WBO champ, Manny Pacquiao has many more viable options than his arch-rival, with a fourth bout against Juan Manuel Marquez and a scrap with Timothy Bradley topping the list of potential contests. There also exists the possibility that Lamont Peterson, who upset Amir Khan on December 10th, could get the call. A long shot is Philadelphia's Mike Jones, who could get a shot, assuming he gets by veteran Randall Bailey in a battle for the vacant IBF welterweight belt.

Mayweather has a much tougher task when it comes to finding a suitable non-Pacquiao substitute. The winner of February's Andre Berto-Victor Ortiz rematch would likely be the frontrunner for a Mayweather bout, but neither is a sure thing. Berto is an Al Haymon stablemate of Mayweather's and a Mayweather-Ortiz rematch may be a tough sell after the frustrating ending of their first contest last September. Another potential opponent would be the winner of the upcoming Devon Alexander-Marcos Maidana clash.

UFC 141 Predictions: Fan’s Take

The Ultimate Fighting championship will close out 2011 with the UFC 141 fight card. Here are my predictions for the UFC 141 fight card, set for Dec. 30, at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV:

Brock Lesnar versus Alistair Overeem

This is a very intriguing matchup between two former title holders. Overeem clearly has the striking advantage, while Lesnar is the better wrestler. Lesnar hasn't been inside the Octagon for over a year, and I'm not sure he'll be sharp enough to handle Overeem. Overeem has the tools needed to keep the fight off the ground (2005 ADCC champion), and I expect him to become the number one contender in the UFC's heavyweight division. Overeem wins via TKO.

Nate Diaz versus Donald Cerrone

The best fight on the entire UFC 141 fight card, this bout has the potential for some serious fireworks. Diaz displayed his improved boxing skills against Takanori Gomi at UFC 135, and I'm sure Cerrone won't might trading blows with him. Cerrone remains undefeated in the UFC, but he'll be in for his toughest test in the promotion when he faces Diaz. Given Diaz' superior BJJ, he'll have the advantage if the fight goes to the ground. Diaz wins by submission.

Jon Fitch versus Johny Hendricks

Fitch feels he's been slighted by the UFC, and he'll try to take his frustration out on Hendricks when the two meet inside the Octagon. While his fighting style isn't the most entertaining in the world, Fitch is still one of the best welterweights in the UFC, and I just don't see Hendricks pulling off the upset. Fitch wins by decision.

Amir Khan Still Wants Floyd Mayweather: Fan Reaction

Even with his loss to Lamont Peterson on Dec. 10, former WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Amir Khan still wants a shot at WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather was recently sentenced to 90 days in jail, as a result of his ongoing legal woes (pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery and harassment in order to avoid felony charges), and Khan feels he's ripe for a loss.

"It will affect him, it would affect anyone," Khan said in a recent interview with BBC Sport. "Things happen for a reason. This fight [against Peterson] has probably put me back three months because I want to get the win against Lamont Peterson [in a rematch] and get to where I want to be. I hear Mayweather is in prison for 90 days. I think he'll need a couple of months to get back into it again and then train. I think right now is the best time to catch him. He's making a lot of mistakes now and doing a lot of things wrong on the streets as well. I think right now is the best time to catch him, when his hands are low and beat him. I know I've got the style to beat him."

Khan made his desire to fight Mayweather clear before his fight with Peterson, but it is a little shocking to find out he's still thinking of trading blows with the sports' pound-for-pound best. Khan struggled in the latter rounds of his 12 round encounter against Peterson, and he certainly didn't look like one of the sport's best in that encounter. Khan isn't quite on the same level with Mayweather or the other great boxers in the sport, and he'll probably be better off going after less accomplished fighters.

IBM Scientists Reveal 5 Life-Changing Innovations

The gap between science fiction and science fact is narrowing daily. Here’s a look at five emerging technologies and market and society trends that scientists at IBM’s research lab think have the potential to change the way people work, live and interact during the next five years.

Power from the people
Anything that moves or produces heat has the potential to create energy that can be captured, Big Blue's scientists said in their sixth annual "IBM 5 in 5" look at what's in store for mankind in the near term. Walking, jogging, bicycling. The heat from your computer or the water flowing through plumbing.

Scientists believe that advances in renewable energy technology will allow individuals to collect this kinetic energy, which now goes to waste, and use it to help power homes, offices and cities.

On a personal level, while you're riding your bicycle to work, devices on the spokes of your wheels could be recharging batteries you could later use to power some of the lights in your home. On a larger scale, IBM researchers in Ireland are looking at ways to understand and minimize the environmental impact of converting ocean wave energy into electricity.

You are your password
Each person has a unique biological identity. Your biometric data—facial definitions, retina scans and voice files—will be composited through software to build an individual's unique online password, IBM researchers said.

How to extend your smartphone’s battery life

No matter what type of smartphone you have, the device can serve as your MP3 player, digital camera, gaming system, and even your TV while you're out and about — as long as you have battery power. If it seems like smarter phones are getting less life out of their batteries... you're absolutely right. Smartphones can help you get a lot done while traveling, but if you're doing a lot on one in a day, you're apt to see your screen go dark long before the sun goes down.

Watching out for a few small things during your day, however, can help extend battery life on your trusty device and make sure you've got enough juice to make it all day and well into the night.

Mixed signals
It takes extra juice for your smartphone to search for a data connection. If you're somewhere where you won't get a signal, like an airplane or subway, putting your phone in airplane mode or turning it off altogether will prevent it from draining your battery. Turning your phone on does require a bit of extra power, so it's best to save shutting it off for times when you plan to leave it off for a while, rather than something like a 20-minute subway ride to work in the morning. Thinking of it as car mode or subway mode instead of airplane mode might just be the mental trick you need!

Tens of thousands of protesters pressure Putin

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of flag-waving and chanting protesters called Saturday for a disputed parliamentary election to be rerun and an end to Vladimir Putin's rule, increasing pressure on the Russian leader as he tries to win back the presidency.

The protesters shouted "Russia without Putin" and "New elections, New elections" as one speaker after another called for an end to Putin's 12-year domination of the country at the second big opposition rally in two weeks in central Moscow.

"Do you want Putin to return to the presidency?" novelist Boris Akunin asked from a large stage. Whistling and jeering, protesters chanted: "No!"

Witnesses said at least as many people turned out as at the last big Moscow rally on December 10 to protest against alleged vote-rigging in the December 4 election won by Putin's United Russia party.

Police said at least 28,000 attended the rally on Prospekt Sakharova (Sakharov Avenue), named after Soviet-era dissident Andrei Sakharov. But one of the organizers, liberal politician Vladimir Ryzhkov, put the crowd size at 120,000. Some climbed lamp-posts or trees to get a better view.

Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Tens of thousands of tourists and Christian pilgrims packed the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Saturday, bringing warm holiday cheer to the traditional birthplace of Jesus on a raw, breezy and rainy night.

With turnout at its highest in more than a decade, proud Palestinian officials said they were praying the celebrations would bring them closer to their dream of independence.

Meanwhile, Christmas celebrations began to take place around the globe, with Pope Benedict XVI celebrating Christmas Eve Mass two hours before midnight at Vatican City and urging the faithful to look beyond the commercialization of the holiday and discover its true meaning.

"Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light," Benedict told congregants in a packed St. Peter's Basilica.

Bethlehem, like the rest of the West Bank, fell onto hard times after the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation broke out in late 2000. As the fighting has subsided in recent years, the tourists have returned in large numbers.

Bombs rock Baghdad, raising fears of sectarian war

BAGHDAD (AP) — A terrifying wave of bombs tore through mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 69 people and evoking fears that Iraq could dissolve into a new round of sectarian violence now that American troops have left.

The attacks appeared to be a well-coordinated assault by Sunni militants linked to al-Qaida and targeted markets, grocery stores, cafes and government buildings in a dozen neighborhoods. They coincided with a government crisis that has already strained ties between the two sects to the breaking point.

For many Iraqis, this could be the beginning of a nightmare scenario: The fragile alliance in the governing coalition is collapsing, large-scale violence bearing the hallmarks of al-Qaida insurgents has returned and Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki may be moving to grab the already limited power of the minority Sunnis.

"The conditions that perpetuate civil wars are making a hasty comeback," said Ramzy Mardini, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.

The bombings may be linked more to the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops Sunday than the political crisis, but all together the developments raise the specter of a return to the Shiite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

Guatemala's Santa firefighter

Hector Chacon, a Guatemalan firefighter dressed as Santa Claus, rappels down the Belize bridge in Guatemala City December 18, 2011, to give toys to children living in the neighbourhoods under the bridge. Guatemalan firefighters have been giving toys in the Christmas period to children living in the very poor area of the city for 13 years, according to Chacon. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez (GUATEMALA - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Floyd Mayweather gets 90 days in jail

Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, has his tie adjusted by his manager Leonard Ellerbe while waiting for sentencing in Clark County District Court, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, in Las Vegas. Mayweather was sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to reduced battery domestic violence and harassment charges. The 34-year-old was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $2,500 fine. The plea deal avoids trial on felony allegations that he hit his ex-girlfriend and threatened two of their children during an argument at her home in September 2010. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Chinese Hack Into US Chamber of Commerce

For more than a year, hackers with ties to the Chinese military have been eavesdropping on U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials involved in Asia affairs, authorities say.

The hackers had access to everything in Chamber computers, including, potentially, the entire U.S. trade policy playbook.

"The Chinese have attacked every major U.S. company, every government agency, and NGO's. Their attacking the Chamber of Commerce is part of a pattern of their attacking everything in the US. If you're working on U.S.-China relations with an NGO, government agency, you can be sure the Chinese are reading your emails and on your computer," Richard Clarke, former White House counter-terrorism adviser, told ABC News.

At one point, the penetration into the Chamber of Commerce was so complete that a Chamber thermostat was communicating with a computer in China. Another time, chamber employees were surprised to see one of their printers printing in Chinese.

"I don't think the Chamber of Commerce has anything worth stealing, but it's part of a pattern of the Chinese stealing of everything they can, and that's worrying," Clarke said.

Sources tell ABC News that at any given moment that there are hundreds of cyber attacks targeting U.S. companies and government agencies.

The Beatles Asked Stanley Kubrick to Direct Them in a Lord of the Rings Movie?

Since today is the day when the first trailer for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit arrives online, we thought it might be fitting to dig up some old trivia regarding previous big-screen Lord of the Rings adaptations that never came to be. Like the one The Beatles wanted to stage with Stanley Kubrick as its director. The story goes that when the film rights for Lord of the Rings were sold to United Artists in 1969, The Beatles approached the director of A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey and asked if he'd be willing to direct them in a Lord of the Rings movie.

As completely off-the-wall and trippy as that might sound today after Jackson's action-packed trilogy, back in the late-60s The Lord of the Rings was all sorts of hippie-fied. Everyone was throwing LOtR references into their work, most notably bands like Led Zeppelin, whose lyrics (in some cases) were inspired by the Tolkien works. Unfortunately for The Beatles, though, Kubrick passed on the proposal, telling John Lennon that he thought the story was unfilmable.

Naturally that hasn't stopped fans from imagining what such a collaboration would've looked like had Kubrick taken on the assignment. Though we don't know what the final product would've looked like, chances are strong that it would've altered the career trajectories of both parties, at the very least. Here are a few fan-made posters for Kubrick's Lord of the Rings, courtesy of a Super Punch contest from back in January.

What do you think a Stanley Kubrick-directed, Beatles-starring Lord of the Rings movie would've looked like?

Global maps show human impact on Earth

(CNN) -- On the last day of October 2011, the U.N. says the world population will hit seven billion people -- an increase of one billion since 1999.

To show some of the impacts of this vast human upheaval, Canadian anthropologist Felix Pharand has created a series of visualizations mapping the presence of technology onto a selection of satellite images showing the Earth from space.

U.N.: World can 'thrive' as population reaches 7 billion

Using data from a range of sources, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the World Meteorological Organization, the images depict a sprawl of air traffic routes, the underwater cables that carry the internet, road and rail networks, pipelines, shipping lanes and electricity transmission lines.

"These images are illustrations of how far we have come at transforming our home planet," said Pharand, who is founder-director of Globaia -- an environmental education organization based in Quebec.

Farm in the city could be supermarket of the future

(CNN) -- Big cities are rarely home to thriving farmlands, but a group of Dutch architects hope to change that with the "Park Supermarket" -- an urban farming project that will attempt to grow and sell all the food of a modern supermarket in one place.

The firm behind the proposal, Rotterdam-based Van Bergen Kolpa Architects, intends to produce everything from risotto rice, to kiwis to Tilapia fish all on one 4,000-acre plot of disused land in Randstad, Holland's largest metropolitan area.

In defiance of the country's moderate climate, the architects say they have devised a system to control the park's outdoor environment, using old and new farming technologies to simulate Mediterranean and tropical climates in an ecologically sustainable way.

The land, which had been earmarked for a large block of business developments before the global recession, cuts across the city fringes of Rotterdam and The Hague, serving a potential customer-base of over one million people, according to Van Bergen Kolpa Architects.

Facebook Study: Why people friend and unfriend each other

Still hurting over being unfriended on Facebook? If William Shatner can't make you feel better, maybe knowing the reason why you got the boot can give you peace of mind. A recent study by NM Incite reveals the most common reasons why users friend (and unfriend) people on the social network, and it could help you pinpoint where you went wrong along the way.

Receiving offensive comments and not knowing much about the other person are the top two motives for removing others on Facebook, followed by sales talk and depressing comments. And, even if people with thousands of friends make us wonder if they go on friend adding sprees sometimes, personal acquaintanceship is still the top reason why users add each other on the site. Knowing someone through mutual friends or through a business network comes next on the list.

The study also reveals that men and women generally have different activities on the site, with women using Facebook more as a creative outlet, a source of coupons and promos, and a way to give products or services positive feedback. Men, on the other hand, use the social network to connect with business contacts, to find a job, or to find a new romantic interest.

Should Journals Describe How Scientists Made a Killer Flu?

H5N1 avian flu rarely infects humans, but it is deadly when it does. Since the virus first emerged in humans in Hong Kong in 1997, nearly 600 people have been infected worldwide and almost 60% have died.

The virus isn’t very transmissible, but scientists have long worried that it might mutate, perhaps through reassortment with a human flu strain, and gain the ability to pass easily from person to person like human flus, such as the H1N1/A strain that triggered a pandemic in 2009. More than a decade since its emergence in humans, however, that fear has yet to come true, and H5N1 remains only an occasional threat for the rare person who contracts it — usually from close contact with a sick bird.

If H5N1 gained the ability to spread virulently, we might face another world-changing virus like the 1918 flu, but so far, at least, we’ve been lucky.

But just because nature hasn’t figured out a way to create an easily transmissible H5N1 doesn’t mean that scientists can’t. In experiments conducted at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, researchers engineered a strain of H5N1 that spread easily between ferrets — which means it can probably spread easily between people. (Ferrets are a commonly used animal model for studying human flu.)

Microsoft says 2012 CES tech show will be its last

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft Corp. is pulling out of the International Consumer Electronics Show, the largest trade show in the Americas. It's joining Apple in saying that it prefers to put on its own events when the time is right to show off its products.

Microsoft said the next show, to be held Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas, will be the last show at which it has a booth or the CEO delivers the customary kick-off speech.

Company founder Bill Gates delivered keynote speeches at the show for 11 straight years. Current CEO Steve Ballmer has delivered the speech for the past three shows and will present his last next month.

The software company has been one of the biggest U.S. supporters of the annual event, which gathered nearly 150,000 people this year. Originally focused on living-room electronics, the show has become the big annual U.S. event for all consumer technology after the demise of big computer-focused shows such as Comdex.

Microsoft says it will continue to use CES as a place to connect to customers, but it won't have a booth because its product milestones don't align with the show's January timing.

Japanese company building 13-foot working Gundam tribute robot

Hajime Sakamoto, president of the Osaka-based Hajime Research Institute is working to make Gundam fan’s dreams a reality. His latest project, already underway, is a mobile 13-foot robot with a cockpit within for a human pilot

Development on the 13-foot mobile robo suit began in 2010, though the Japanese company has been churning out humanoid robots since 2002. The robots are slowly getting larger as well; in 2007, Hajime Robot 25 was three feet tall, and in 2009 robot 33 was seven feet tall, reining as one of the largest humanoid robots in the world.

The giant robot from HRI aims to be the largest in the world and will be able to do bipedal walking, though at the moment only one leg has been finished. The company is currently looking for sponsors to jump in and help with the project. NKK Kyousei and various contractors are working to build the giant robot’s parts.

Why would someone want to unleash a giant, possibly destructive, robot suit into the world? Cnet points out that the Hajime Web site’s philosophy, developed in 2002, is “to cheer people by dream power. We provide a dream to people through robotic technology.”

Philippines sends coffins as toll nears 1,000 dead

ILIGAN, Philippines (AP) — The government shipped more than 400 coffins to two flood-stricken cities in the southern Philippines on Tuesday as the death toll neared 1,000 and President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity.

The latest count listed 957 dead and 49 missing and is expected to climb further as additional bodies are recovered from the sea and mud in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities.

A handful of morgues are overwhelmed and running out of coffins and formaldehyde for embalming. Aid workers appealed for bottled water, blankets, tents and clothes for many of 45,000 in crowded evacuation centers.

Navy sailors in Manila loaded a ship with 437 white wooden coffins to help local authorities handle the staggering number of dead. Also on the way were containers with thousands of water bottles.
Most of the dead were women and children who drowned Friday night when flash floods triggered by a tropical storm gushed into homes while people were asleep.
Dozens of grieving relatives of at least 38 victims wept openly during funeral rites at the Iligan city cemetery. Many wore masks to try to block the stench of decomposing bodies.

UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: UNICEF is preparing to respond to the needs of approximately 43,000 children affected by the devastating floods brought on by Tropical Storm Washi.  UNICEF has prepared supplies to be dispatched to the affected areas including: water kits, to ensure safe, clean water; hygiene kits containing soap, toothbrushes and personal hygiene items; tents and tarpaulins for temporary shelter, vitamin A for mothers and infants; breastfeeding education materials to reduce the risk of infant mortality and recreation kits so children can play and begin to have a sense of normalcy. Donate here.

NASA finds Earth-size planets outside solar system

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system, a milestone in the search for planets like the earth, the space agency said on Tuesday.

The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are the smallest planets outside the solar system confirmed around a star like the Sun, NASA said in a statement.

The planets are too close to their star to be in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface.

"This discovery demonstrates for the first time that Earth-size planets exist around other stars, and that we are able to detect them," Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in the statement.

The new planets are thought to be rocky. Kepler-20e is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring 0.87 times the radius of Earth.

Kepler-20f is slightly larger than Earth, measuring 1.03 times its radius. Both planets are in a five-planet system called Kepler-20, about 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Lyra.

Comet defies death, brushes up to sun and lives

WASHINGTON (AP) — A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun.
Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt Thursday night when it came close to where temperatures hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived.
But astronomers watching live with NASA telescopes first saw the sun's corona wiggle as Lovejoy went close to the sun. They were then shocked when a bright spot emerged on the sun's other side. Lovejoy lived.
"I was delighted when I saw it go into the sun and I was astounded when I saw something re-emerge," said U.S. Navy solar researcher Karl Battams.
Lovejoy didn't exactly come out of its hellish adventure unscathed. Only 10 percent of the comet — which was probably millions of tons — survived the encounter, said W. Dean Pesnell, project scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which tracked Lovejoy's death-defying plunge.
And the comet lost something pretty important: its tail.
"It looks like the tail broke off and is stuck" in the sun's magnetic field, Pesnell said.
Comets circle the sun and sometimes get too close. Lovejoy came within 75,000 miles (121,000 kilometers) of the sun's surface, Battams said. For a small object often described as a dirty snowball comprised of ice and dust, that brush with the sun should have been fatal.
Astronomers say it probably didn't melt completely because the comet was larger than they thought.
The frozen comet was evaporating as it made the trip toward the sun, "just like you're sweating on a hot day," Pesnell said.
"It's like an ice cube going by a barbecue grill," he said.
Pesnell said the comet, although only discovered at the end of November by an Australian observer, probably is related to a comet that came by Earth on the way to the sun in 1106.
As Comet Lovejoy makes its big circle through the solar system, it will be another 800 or 900 years before it nears the sun again, astronomers say.