Google app updates continue as Currents and Drive step up for their turn

The mid-I/O Google app updates continues, this time round it's the turn of Google Currents and Google Drive. Both have updates waiting for them right now in the Google Play Store. So, what's new? 

In the case of Google Currents, the biggest change is that finally, it fits into the Android 4.x design guidelines. That pesky menu, it's up top where it ought to be. You might also notice, that it's got a new, less colorful logo too. The full changelog for Currents reads a little like this: 

• User interface - updated to Android standards
• Top navigation bar - auto hide, touch to show
• Library/trending toggle - moved to navigation bar
• Performance enhancements
• Bug fixes

Sweet, so, what about Google Drive? Well, an update was to be expected, after the cloud service was heavily featured in todays Chrome based Keynote. One of the biggest new features available in Drive on Android, is the ability to upload, and download, all file types to and from your Drive. Pretty much a standard requirement for cloud storage. The changelog for Drive reads as follows: 

• Quickly find files that have been recently opened, edited or shared with you
• Upload/Download all file types to/from your Google Drive
• Selecting contacts to share with is easier
• Faster navigation of folders when syncing in the background
• Choose text alignment in the documents editor

Add these two the lengthy list of Google apps that received updates yesterday, and we've been pretty well spoiled. Some may be more significant than others, but updates are updates nonetheless. Head on over to Google Play and snag yourselves a copy of these two. 

Download: Google Drive, Google Currents

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The BGR Show: Episode 4 ? Top 9 apps for iPhone, Android, iPad

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Ann Curry breaks down in tears in ?Today? show goodbye

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Video: Obama vs. GOP...or GDP?

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Nicholas Riccardi named AP West political reporter

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Iran attacks world powers' 'dishonesty'

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's leaders have accused the West of "enmity" and "bullying" policies after recent nuclear talks with world powers in Moscow ended without progress, according to media reports Thursday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of "Rio+20" U.N. conference on sustainable development in Brazil, and called for the world powers to "return to the legal framework" in talks with Tehran on Iran's controversial nuclear program.

"Arrogant and domination-seeking parties should avoid enmity toward the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by Iranian state TV. Ahmadinejad defended Iran, saying it had offered "legal, constructive, fair and friendly proposals," during the Moscow talks.

Two days of intensive discussion in Moscow between Tehran and six world powers ended Tuesday, with both sides agreeing only to continue low-level talks in early July. The six ? the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany ? want Iran to stop enriching uranium to a level that is just steps away from its use as the core of nuclear warheads.

Iran says it does not seek atomic weapons and that it is enriching uranium only to make reactor fuel or medical isotopes, insisting it has a right to enrich under international law.

With neither side ready to accept what the other brought to the table in the form of inducements to compromise, the talks ended with no headway. The lack of progress in Moscow is sure to be seen by critics as a sign that talks are ineffective in persuading Iran to curb enrichment.

Meanwhile, the chief of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Thursday the agency is still trying to gain access to a suspected nuclear testing site at an Iranian military base southwest of Tehran and that dialogue with the Iranians on that issue is ongoing.

The activities at the Parchin military base are a recent concern of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA last month showed member nations of its board satellite images indicating a cleanup of the site but Iran denied it was trying to remove evidence of nuclear testing. It insists Parchin is a conventional military base and has turned down IAEA requests to visit the site.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the Vienna-based IAEA, said the agency is aware that a cleanup at the base is ongoing, "and we have concerns that this will hamper our verification activities."

In Tehran, influential cleric and former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said world powers showed "bullying" policies and "dishonesty" in Moscow talks.

"The talks proved that the Western side is (not interested) in interaction and they are not honest. They have based their policy on bullying alone," Rafsanjani was quoted by several Iranian dailies. He also urged Iranian unity to thwart its enemies.

Rafsanjani heads an advisory body to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, who has final say on all state matters.

Along with recognition of the right to enrich, Iran seeks relief from growing U.N. and other sanctions, including spreading international embargoes on its oil sales. That is something the six world powers are ready to grant only if Tehran agrees to enrichment suspension and related measures.

Iranian state TV ran a commentary blaming the failure of the Moscow talks on the West's refusal to hold a round of preparatory technical discussions between experts beforehand. Iran says it repeatedly asked the West for these preparatory discussions but received no answer.

The newscaster said the West hoped Iran would concede its "nuclear rights" to avoid tightening U.S. and EU sanctions. An EU embargo on Iranian crude starts July 1.

Ali Reza Khamesian, an analyst in Tehran, believes the lack of any outcome from the Moscow talks has convinced Iranian leaders that "the West is trying to pin Iran in the corner of the ring in heavy fighting." Khamesian says that Iran sees the talks as "fruitless" but will continue them to lessen "threats."

Iran's arch-foe Israel says Iran is stretching out the talks to move closer to the ability to make weapons, and it has threatened to attack the Islamic Republic as a last resort. Israel may argue that the negotiations are turning into "talks about talks" ? something the U.S. and its allies have vowed they will not tolerate.

Earlier this month Khamenei warned any Israeli attack would be answered with a "lightning" response by the Islamic Republic and suggested Iran's nuclear program cannot be curtailed by Western sanctions.

___

Associated Press writer Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this story.

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A few notable stars attended this year's annual skill gaming online ...

A few notable politicains joined in the evening?s festivities, including long time skill gaming online industry supporter Dromgoole Sisko, who currently holds a seat in the state senate. State representative Amelio Shines, who also works closely with top skill gaming online industry execs, made an appearance during the second half of the show to present a special public service award to Christina Yendell from the Yukiko Schmahl & Luttman Gedeon Corporate skill gaming online Design team. The public service award is given to someone who ?Exemplifies selflessness, service, and optimism.? Millea Scarduzio, who reports for a number of national news agencies and local newspapers alike, opened the event with a very enthusiastic speech about the new world of skill gaming online production creation, and how it will continue to affect the community at large in a positive way. ?Donald Druckman was right,? relays Verlie Brodess, winner of the best illustration of classical skill gaming online design implementation, ?to win an award here really means something. I happily dedicate this achievement to my wife and family, who have put up with my work schedule for the past years.? ?All in all,? surmised Patrina Nist, who oversaw the organization of skill gaming online award presenters, ?I think everyone had a great time. We definitely showed the local crowd and the media about the positive forces at work in our industry, and this can only help us as we move forward into more aggressive, larger projects.? ?The fact that the selection process for recognition int he skill gaming online industry is so complicated demonstrates a lot forethough and consideration for fairness,? said Helt Lamontagne VP of Operations for the Coppenger Kercher INC Corporation, ?and this goes hand in hand with the level of quality we as a skill gaming online industry demonstrate to the general public.? As always, the skill gaming online ceremony organizers pitched the crowd numerous times about joining local firms and teaming up with the professionals to work on design and production projects of their own. Several ads for executive level openings and administrative work were found in the ceremony?s program notes, all boasting solid fringe benefits and some of the most competitive salaries in the skill gaming online sector. ?Maybe next year?? smiled Levens Ryans, who missed an award by a mere tenth of a point to stalwart competitor Macri Zehner from the Tavis Mccurry firm. ?I know the academy of skill gaming online design and production respects my work and I?m confident that I will win an award one of these days!? Bator Leaming and Silberhorn Cager, who were responsible for organizing the night?s after parties, recieved a surprise round of applause after being mentioned by name when Adelaide Ezer, Skill gaming online Academy President, officially announced an open invitation for all ceremony attendees to celebrate beginning immediately after the close of the curtain. Winning an award at this skill gaming online ceremony is a marked achievement. There are three specific groups in the skill gaming online industry that pick lucky winners. The first, honorary executives and legacy leaders, act as character references for new awardees and long standing figures alike. The second group, a randomly selected group of skill gaming online employees, votes amongst themselves to choose who best represents their interests. Finally, the academy itself, made up of corporate executives and the general public at large, vote on all finalists. The winners are name according to simple majority.

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WATCH: Shia LaBeouf Goes Full-Frontal in NSFW Music Vid

Fact: The music video for Sigur Ros' "Fjogur Piano" will be the weirdest thing you see all day. Why, you ask? Because the eight-and-a-half-minute video from the Icelandic indie-rock group features Transformers star Shia LaBeouf cross-dressing, ballet dancing with a naked woman (Denna Thompson), voraciously licking a psychedelic lollipop, punching mirrors and... showing off his penis. That's right, Shia's little LaBeouf makes its acting debut about 30 seconds in. Watch the NSFW video now -- unless, of course, you're at work (in which case, you know, we'd advise watching it later.)

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Inside Lauryn Martinez?s Angelic Nursery

"When we thought about the idea of the sisters looking over her - it's like we have two angels looking over our little one," Martinez explains.

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Plot Ideas

A small town filled with were wolves and humans? Welcome to Campbellton. There is romance, conflict and secrets. [LOTS OF SLOTS STILL OPEN! GET IN WHILE YOU CAN! RESERVATIONS FRO 24 HOURS ONLY!]

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

I am coming up with plot ideas as we speak! So if you have some post them here! I don't want to post mine just yet, I kind of want some mystery to it ;)

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Clinton urges 'no going back' on Egypt democracy

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6 Things OS X Mountain Lion Should Steal From Windows 8 [Video]

Apple's shiny new baby is about to slide out of the womb, and if you're a Mac user, it'll take over your computer soon. New features abound, but OS X Mountain Lion is missing some awesome stuff Microsoft has cooked up in Windows 8. Apple: copy this. More »

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Gold turns flat after encouraging U.S. Beige Book data

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ABC filling 'Glass House' with 14 contestants

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Google and Local Business Advertising - Q4Launch

Now that Google places has been replaced by Google+ Local, we are all naturally wondering about the overall direction of Google?s services for small businesses. ?It is now apparent that Google is continuing its focus on the market for local business advertising and making a new push to target this segment. ?Google is expected to roll out a new product or package of products to target the $20 billion market for local business advertising by July.

This new package of products has been called ?Business Builder,? and it will combine?several?existing products and services with new ones. ?Here is an excerpt from a recent Wall Street Journal article documenting the updates by Google to better serve local businesses:

Central to the effort is Google+, the company?s social network, which it hopes consumers will use to interact with local businesses that now have special Web pages on the network. Those Google+ pages will draw traffic from the company?s Web-search engine. When shoppers visit these businesses, Google wants them to use their Internet-connected phones like a digital wallet, earning loyalty points and making payments at stores that sign up for Google?s new servicess?

Google?s Groupon Rival Clams Up, But Partners Lend Help

In turn, Google is hoping stores and other businesses will use their new Google+ pages to communicate with customers, such as by showing them special offers. And it hopes to persuade them to sign up for other Google products.?

The campaign to court local businesses, which is being led by Google executives including Senior Vice President Jeff Huber and Vice President Marissa Mayer, has required buying more than half a dozen companies since early 2011 at a cost of about half a billion dollars, according to Google securities filings and people familiar with the matter. Google hopes to weave some of these acquisitions together with its current products into a portfolio of tools that can serve the needs of local-business owners.

The company soon will begin unveiling the fruits of some of those deals, including services such as TalkBin, which lets customers send anonymous text messages to a store?s manager with complaints or compliments, and Punchd, a smartphone-based loyalty-rewards program, said the people familiar with the matter.

Google also plans to promote a year-old program called AdWords Express, which gives businesses a streamlined way to set up an ad campaign on Google?s search engine, potentially in a matter of minutes, these people said.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on any future initiatives.?

Google?s Mr. Huber said in a statement: ?Helping local business is a big part of our focus at Google, whether it is connecting shoppers with the right store nearby or helping merchants attract and retain customers. In local, our vision is not a one-size-fits-all product, but a range of flexible solutions that make the Web work for all local businesses.?

Internally, Google has assigned a group of employees to focus on developing smartphone apps related to local businesses, the people said. And the company has spent millions of dollars on a nationwide campaign called ?Get Your Business Online.? The campaign includes multiday workshops at which Google helps local businesses set up their own website and a business listing on its search engine free of charge.?

Google already has started testing some of its new services. Last year, it approached the San Francisco branch of housewares and furniture retailer Crate & Barrel to test the mobile-phone service TalkBin, according to store manager Tony Villegas. He said he has used TalkBin, which costs $25 a month per store, to direct customers to use their phones to text him about their shopping experience. When some people complained they ?weren?t being serviced properly or greeted? at the store, he said, he trained his employees to correct the problems.

Google vs. Facebook on Places

?It?s immediate feedback and much more meaningful than receiving a letter a couple of weeks later,? Mr. Villegas said. He declined to comment on whether the company is currently paying for the service.

At the heart of Google?s campaign is a desire to get more merchants to spend money on digital advertising, including on Google?s search engine, where 20% of searches are for local information. Digital-ad spending by local businesses last year reached $21.2 billion, a figure that is expected to increase by more than 12% annually, according to BIA/Kelsey, a local-media advisory firm.

The stakes are high for Google as other Web companies have made inroads into the local-business market. Daily-deals site Groupon Inc. GRPN -8.16% and business-reviews site Yelp Inc., YELP -8.86% both of which cater to local businesses, recently went public.

?The overwhelming majority of businesses are local stores, and that?s a huge pool of money that nobody except newspapers and the Yellow Pages has done a great job of tapping,? said Greg Sterling, an analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence.

Google has struggled to get a meaningful piece of the market. In 2009, it discussed an acquisition of Yelp, but the effort fell through. In 2010 Google hired hundreds of people to call stores across the country to pitch ads that would appear on Google Maps, but the ads were later discontinued.?

In late 2010, its negotiations to buy Groupon also fell apart. In mid-2011, Google launched Google Offers, a Groupon competitor, but the service hasn?t met Google?s expectations, said a person familiar with the matter.?

A Google spokeswoman said Google Offers has picked up in recent months but declined to provide specific numbers. Google Wallet, a high-profile effort launched in spring 2011 that lets people pay for things at local stores by waving their smartphone at cash registers, remains limited in its distribution because of conflicts with wireless carriers.

Google has hit roadblocks with local businesses because its main service, AdWords, is considered to be too complex for the average store owner to use. Google ?hasn?t had the right products? for local businesses, Mr. Sterling said.

Google?s latest push dates to last year, when Chief Executive Larry Page created a ?commerce and local? group headed by Mr. Huber.

The company soon went on a shopping spree for talent and mobile services, including TalkBin and Punchd, a smartphone app that works like a rewards punch card, and in the summer it rolled out Google Offers and AdWords Express.?

Google is hoping its local push will provide a boost to Google+. Last week, Google began converting all of its local-business listings, which include basic information such as a store?s street address, hours of operation and customer reviews, into Google+ pages.

Sometime this summer, Google is expected to direct business owners to a ?recommendation engine? to help them figure out what new Google services might work for them, said a person familiar with the matter.

Still, it isn?t clear how attractive these new services will be to local businesses. James Wilson, the manager at Maoz Vegetarian, an Israeli restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., tested Punchd last year and wasn?t impressed.

Punchd ?alienated? loyal customers who didn?t have smartphones, said Mr. Wilson. So he discontinued it and started an old-fashioned loyalty punch card. That has ?been working really well,? he said. ?I?m not a technical guy, but it was ridiculously easy to set up,? he said. ?

But Punchd has been a boon to SLO Donut Co., a two-year-old doughnut shop in San Luis Obispo, Calif., that has tested the service free since last year. Co-owner Jake Pickering said 30% of his customers, or several thousand people, regularly use Punchd to earn a free doughnuts and coffee, valued at around $3, after their 10th visit?(Wall Street Journal)

?

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Record NM blaze studied for forest management

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Crew members from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., Saturday, June 2, 2012, in an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. Unlike last year's megafires in New Mexico and Arizona, this blaze is burning in territory that has been frequently blackened under the watchful eye of the Gila's fire managers. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

A firefighter from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., clears brush along a ridge line outside Mogollon, New Mexico, Saturday, June 2, 2012, in an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. Unlike last year's megafires in New Mexico and Arizona, this blaze is burning in territory that has been frequently blackened under the watchful eye of the Gila's fire managers. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? From the air, the smoke from a massive wildfire stretches as far as the eye can see, spreading across the rugged country in southwestern New Mexico where the nation's wilderness movement was born nearly a century ago.

On the ground, firefighters talk about the steep canyons that keep them from directly attacking what has become the largest blaze in New Mexico's recorded history and the largest currently burning in the country.

Things might look bad. But to land managers and scientists, the record-setting blaze represents a true test of decades of work aimed at returning fire to its natural role on the landscape ? a test that comes as many Western states grapple with overgrown forests, worsening drought and a growing prospect for more megafires.

The Whitewater-Baldy fire has destroyed a dozen cabins while marching across more than 356 square miles of the Gila National Forest. A pair of lightning-sparked fires grew together to form the massive blaze.

Unlike last year's megafires in New Mexico and Arizona, this blaze is burning in territory that has been frequently blackened under the watchful eye of the Gila's fire managers.

Starting in the early 1970s, the Gila has been leading the way when it comes to implementing such an active fire management strategy. Instead of immediately dousing flames in the wilderness, forest managers have let them burn as long as conditions are favorable.

The question that the Whitewater-Baldy fire is expected to answer is whether that strategy will pay off with more natural, less intense fires.

"There's a great opportunity here to study a fire like this," said Matthew Rollins, the wildland fire science coordinator with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Center in Virginia.

"The opportunity exists to look at how this fire has behaved differently in terms of vegetation mortality, effects on wildlife and fish habitat and water quality," Rollins said. "We can study how it burned in the wilderness relative to areas with other types of fire management strategies and other types of ignition patterns."

So far, the word from the fire lines is that the majority of the 228,000-acre blaze has burned with low to moderate intensity, not the kind of near-nuclear strength that was exhibited last year with the Las Conchas blaze in northern New Mexico. In that case, entire mountainsides were vaporized, leaving nothing behind but the white ashy skeletons of what used to be trees.

And as for those unburned pockets within the fire's boundaries, Rollins said he believes many of those spots have experienced low-intensity fire numerous times over the last century to make them more resilient.

Previously burned areas have also helped slow the flames on the fire's eastern flank.

"The fact that this is wilderness and the wilderness of the Gila has seen a lot of fires, we are comfortable with allowing it to burn. What we do is monitor it and help steer it around to keep some of the impacts lower than they would otherwise be on their own," said Danny Montoya, an operations section chief with the Southwest Incident Management Team.

Montoya said the rugged terrain has forced firefighters to attack the flames indirectly by starving the fire of fuels along its perimeter.

The smoke also has prevented direct attack from the air. Several helicopters and small planes are helping ground crews with backburn operations.

While a burn severity map has yet to be released, members of the incident management team are estimating that only 20 percent of the fire has burned at high intensity.

Last week, the fire made a 60,000-acre run in one day, scorching mixed conifer at high elevations as the flames were pushed by gusts of up to 60 mph.

That kind of fire can be devastating, experts said.

With fire behavior ranging from active to extreme, it will be some time before the scientists can get on the ground to see how the Gila has fared. Until then, they are working on gathering the decades of research done on the Gila, which is home to the world's first designated wilderness. It was the father of the wilderness movement, forester and conservationist Aldo Leopold, who pushed for the formation of the Gila Wilderness in 1924.

Tree ring data that dates back to the 1500s tells of the forest's fire history and the age of its trees. The perimeters of the Gila's fires along with information about their severity and vegetation mortality for the last century have also been compiled by the U.S. Forest Service.

There's also more ecological data from the federal Joint Fire Science program that can be used for comparisons.

"I think it's going to be a success story for the use of fire for managing forests," Rollins said. "It might not look like it on TV right now, but we haven't had any fatalities or dramatic housing loss like we see in Southern California or it burning so dramatically close to communities like last year's Las Conchas fire."

Experts agree that the Gila will see changes regardless of the severity of the fire. In the worst spots, aspens and other shrubs are expected to take over.

"When we're punching multi-thousand-acre holes in areas of ponderosa pine and drier mixed conifer types with no seed sources surviving, it's very difficult for those conifers to be re-established," said Craig Allen, a USGS ecologist based at Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico.

Fire managers are also expecting flooding. As the Las Conchas fire showed, steep denuded areas resulted in walls of water washing down canyons during the rainy season.

Residents in Glenwood are already worried about the prospect of flooding, and federal wildlife managers are concerned about what sediment and ash in the waterways could mean for the native Gila trout.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also monitoring two packs of endangered Mexican gray wolves that are situated to the north and east of the fire. Last year, wolves in Arizona were able to escape the massive Wallow fire with their pups, but it's unclear how mobile the packs in New Mexico are since their pups are much younger.

The fire is about 17 percent contained, which much of that being on the fire's northern and northwestern flanks.

On Saturday, the more than 1,200 firefighters who are battling the fire continued to build lines to corral the flames before more threatening winds and dry conditions developed.

"We're going to continue fighting this fire aggressively without putting our firefighters in danger," fire information officer Lee Bentley said. "We're getting as much of a black line as we can around this fire."

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Follow Susan Montoya Bryan on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM

Associated Press

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