Comments Off - Autoextremist.com

October 31, 2012

?

Revenge of the Telecomies and the Motor City?s PR nightmares du jour.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

(Posted 10/30, 10:45 a.m.) Detroit. It?s appropriate that our publication date falls on Halloween this week, as the PR nightmares continue in and around this business, starting with, of course, the ridiculous give and take between our ? cough, hack ? illustrious presidential candidates, who continue to wrangle over the auto bailout while removing what little shred of credibility is left from either side of the discussion. They?re both in denial and saying anything they can to capture the highest office in the land and as the days wind down to next Tuesday, the words disgraceful and disgusting come to mind to describe their respective camps? behavior. But hey, that?s how politics is defined here in the good ol? U.S. of A. It?s a revolving cesspool of bad actors, empty promises and enough stupidity to make us collectively ask every four years: Is the best we can muster? Really?

Somehow this business and life its own self (kudos to Dan Jenkins and Dr. Bud for that phrase) comes down to Public Relations. Let me clarify that, good Public Relations. You either have it, need it, want it or wish you had it. It?s that simple. Because when you?re living in a swirling maelstrom of bad PR, life can be a brutal, never-ending slog of recrimination and self-flagellation.

Let?s start with Ford. Their swirling maelstrom of crap starts and ends with a Consumer Reports magazine crew that is out to crucify the company for egregious affronts to consumers both real and imagined. Did Ford go too far with its drive to be the most forward-thinking, touchy-feely techie car company in the land? Yes, of course they did. And the result? MyFord Touch has not been well received in ConsumerVille. (Ah yes, consumers. Their tolerance level for anything the least bit challenging is zero. But then again their credibility isn?t always impeccable, as their personal enlightenment too often leaves much to be desired. After all, from this illustrious group came the brilliant posse who bought Hummer H2s, and then proceeded to complain to J.D Power about the vehicle?s fuel economy in surveys. Nicely done.)

Have the Consumer Reports editors used its jihad against Ford to call attention to them and their publication? Absolutely. That?s what the magazine does on a regular basis, sort of like the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety does with its standing offer from NBC News to run crash tests that will look appropriately horrifying on the Today Show. But has the magazine thrown an entire company under the bus ? a company that?s building some of the best mass-produced vehicles in the world ? because of an electronics interface? Yes.

And therein lies Ford?s PR problem. Ford?s PR maestro, Ray Day, and his team, have their work cut out for them. The natural tendency in the PR biz is to always overreact, but so far, I haven?t seen that from Dearborn. They?re building excellent cars and trucks and they know it, and they?re tweaking MyFord Touch by the hour to make it better, but then again that may not be enough. A major reassessment of how Ford handles its consumer interface inside their vehicles may be in order. Until then, Ford will have to bend over backwards to gain positive consumer word of mouth.

How about the denizens of the Silver Silos? GM PR?s nightmare (besides me) begins with the fact that there?s a major disconnect between the excellent cars and trucks they build (for the most part) juxtaposed against the fact that the ?Government Motors? moniker is still hanging over the company like a giant scythe.

This is the one thing that vexes CEO Dan ?Captain Queeg? Akerson more than any other. It fuels negativity amongst a large section of the populace that still bristles over it, it prevents the company from luring top-notch talent to its executive ranks, and it?s killing the company image-wise. Akerson desperately wants out from under that tag, and he can?t wait until the U.S. Government divests itself from the company?s shares (which will happen sometime after the election and before the end of first Quarter of 2013, count on it).

In the meantime, powerless to do anything about GM?s ?Government Motors? cross to bear, Akerson careens around GM like a bull in a china shop, making bad decisions in rote fashion while operating in a blissful state of tone-deafness that defies description. His PR handler, Selim Bingol, who was brought to Detroit by drive-by former CEO Ed Whitacre, has had a tough time of it to say the least. But then again, all of these telecom executives who have wandered into this business through GM have had a tough time adjusting.

Why? Well it might have something to do with the fact that their arrogant attitude is unrepentant and jaw dropping to witness, even in this town of wildly self-inflated egos. It?s not in the Italians? league out in Auburn Hills ? not even close, in fact ? but it?s staggering to observe in its own right. The Telecomies just think the business is child?s play, and they don?t understand the fuss. Captain Queeg has repeatedly gone on record as saying that anyone can ?do? product, that there?s nothing to it and the constant hand-wringing about whether you?re a ?car guy? or not is juvenile and boring. Meanwhile Akerson and his hand-selected minions are threatening to drive GM and its True Believers ? the men and women keeping GM in the fight ? right over the edge.

You can always tell when Akerson has had a particularly bad spate of personally negative PR, because he inevitably donates a car or money to local charity to emphasize to all that he?s one with the community and that he cares. The money is welcomed, but the cynicism behind it isn?t. Akerson doesn?t live here and he?s not about to. And camping in a downtown hotel doesn?t constitute being one with the community either. It will never disguise the fact that he?s a carpetbagging interloper and an ?Accidental Tourist? of a CEO who will leave GM in a little over a year to collective shouts of ?thank goodness? and ?OMG, finally!?

I don?t envy Bingol in this mess, but then again he signed up for it, and it?s his unique burden to bear. (And that I am Public Enemy No. 1 in his and Akerson?s book is just fine with me, because I couldn?t care less. The High-Octane Truth is not for the faint of heart.)

In the end there?s no amount of PR wrangling that?s going to make Captain Queeg into a lovable, respected CEO. That?s just GM?s ? and Bingol?s ?? particular PR nightmare du jour.

And then there?s Fiat-Chrysler. The quasi-American, Italian-owned enterprise fueled by the talents of the True Believers out in Auburn Hills toiling in the shadow of their Italian overlords is cookin?. It?s quite a deal Sergio & Co. has worked out, actually. The True Believers do all of the work and make all the cash for the company, while Sergio and his merry men take all of the credit. And thus it was ever so throughout Sergio?s illustrious career. (The Vice-President denies that Sergio was ?gifted? Chrysler in his latest stump speeches, but the fact of the matter is that?s exactly how it went down.)

And why fight it? After all Sergio is The Exalted One, the eternal Smartest Guy in the Room, and not a discouraging word shall penetrate his fa?ade of greatness, because, if it weren?t for him Chrysler would be a faded memory by now, right? Right.

That his persona of invincibility and aura of greatness are all calculated is beyond most people, especially a shocking number in the media, but I digress. It is what it is, and his personal PR bag man, Gualberto Ranieri, operates in a kind of netherworld where his only job is to prevent discouraging words from ever crossing Sergio?s bow, which in this town is a cakewalk, what with the slobbering media hanging on Sergio?s every word and all. (In Italy it?s a completely different story, as Sergio has worn out his welcome and the agitation directed toward him is ramping up by the day.)

You would think that Ranieri would be, for all intents and purposes, Marchionne?s personal valet, someone seen and never heard, and that?s sort of how it works. (Except for this week when Ranieri had to correct the bumbling Romney campaign for a blatant falsehood about Jeeps being built in China. Will they eventually build Jeeps in China? Of course they will. Just not soon enough to be part of the discussion in this lame-ass Presidential campaign.)

But then again Ranieri is a graduate of the renowned Unctuous Prick University of PR (Bingol graduated summa cum laude from there as well) and he wears his boss?s condescending attitude and extravagantly overwrought hubris like a Day-Glo pocket square, with the only thing missing from his suit being the battle ribbons awarded to him by Sergio for his years of faithful and meritorious service.

That Ranieri marches to his boss?s beat is to be expected. That?s what professional PR people do. With Marchionne setting the tone by viewing anyone and everything that came before him in this town as being irrelevant, pedantic and well, inconsequential, Ranieri is in perfect lockstep with his boss, and the condescension plainly oozes right out of him.

Ranieri is also the only PR guy in this town devoid of the nightmares visited upon the others. His ?What, me worry?? attitude is perfectly in sync with his boss?s view of the world, and no negatives are even off to the horizon to threaten their blissful state. To that I say, ?We?ll see,? because as the European situation darkens further, the burgeoning calamity that is becoming Fiat may just derail Sergio?s grandiose plans for world domination for good.

The PR nightmares in this town change like the shifting winds, and the PR operatives engaged in dealing with them understand that implicitly. Some have it goin? on, and some will eventually leave their posts still searching for a clue. It doesn?t make it any easier by any means, but that?s how the game is played.

As I said, when it comes to good PR you either have it, need it, want it or wish you had it.

It really is that simple.

And that?s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

?

?

?

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

?

By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links:

Subscribe via iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319

Subscribe via RSS:

http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml

Source: http://www.autoextremist.com/current/2012/10/30/the-autoextremist.html

rich ross april 20 jennifer love hewitt secret service prostitution 4 20 george zimmerman sheree whitfield

Chevron to prospect for shale gas in Lithuania

OSLO (Reuters) - U.S. energy group Chevron plans to look for shale gas in Lithuania after buying a stake in a local oil company, the prime minister said on Thursday, showing the country hopes to follow neighbor Poland in seeking new supplies.

The government has set energy independence from Russia, its sole gas supplier, as a key goal. The government could be ejected from office after elections and it is not clear what energy path an expected centre-left coalition would take.

"As far as we know, Chevron is entering Lithuania by acquiring shares of one local company to prospect and explore for hydrocarbons, for oil and shale gas production," Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius told a news conference.

"That's a significant event. Our geological estimates show that Lithuania can hold 480 billion cubic meters (bcm) of shale gas reserves, with recoverable reserves at 120 bcm," he added.

Business daily Verslo Zinios reported that Chevron Global Energy had bought 50 percent of Lithuania-registered oil company LL Investicijos, which holds a license to prospect for oil and gas at the 2,400 square kilometer Rietavas field.

Chevron confirmed the report. " ... in the coming months, this company will commence exploration activities in Lithuania on behalf of its owners," the company added.

Chevron has an option to buy the remaining shares in the company, previously 50 percent owned by Danish company Jylland Olie and 50 percent by a local businessman, the newspaper said. It did specify which of the two owners has sold shares.

Poland is also keen to develop its shale gas fields.

Russian gas group Gazprom is the sole gas supplier to Lithuania and plays a major role in many eastern European countries.

The U.S. company also plans to take part in a tender to acquire licenses in two new fields, the newspaper added.

The government called a tender in June for shale gas exploration in a move to cut its energy dependence. The Baltic country consumed 3.4 bcm of gas in 2011, all of which was imported from Russia.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; editing by Keiron Henderson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chevron-prospect-shale-gas-lithuania-112549217--finance.html

black panther party frank martin pink slime eagle cam us soccer trayvon martin case affordable care act

Merck 3Q profit up 2 pct despite sales decline

Drugmaker Merck & Co. said Friday that third-quarter profit rose 2 percent as reduced spending on overhead offset lower sales due to new generic competition for its top-selling drug, Singulair.

The maker of diabetes pill Januvia beat Wall Street's profit expectations. The company also narrowed its 2012 profit forecast, to a range of $2.08 to $2.24 per share, from its July forecast of $2.04 to $2.30.

Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., said net income was $1.73 billion, or 56 cents per share. That was up from $1.69 billion, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding charges totaling $1.2 billion, net income was $2.93 billion, or 95 cents per share, 2 cents more than analysts expected. Charges included $1.34 billion in acquisition and integration costs, plus $163 million in restructuring costs.

Revenue was $11.5 billion, down 4 percent. Analysts expected $11.57 billion.

Sales of asthma and allergy pill Singulair dove 55 percent, to $602 million.

Strong global sales offset the impact of Singulair's U.S. patent expiring on Aug. 3, CEO Kenneth Frazier said in a statement. The drug brought Merck $5.5 billion in sales last year.

Like nearly all big drugmakers that have reported third-quarter results, Merck has been hit by new generic competition to a top seller, as patients and insurance plans defect almost overnight to the much-cheaper copycat drugs. But Merck has fared better than most, with only a small drop in total revenue and slightly higher profit.

That's because four Merck growth drivers posted sales increases of at least 15 percent: Januvia and combination diabetes pill Janumet, HIV drug Isentress and Gardasil, a vaccine against sexually transmitted cancers caused by human papilloma virus. Januvia and Janumet together brought in nearly $1.4 billion.

In addition, the company reduced spending on production, marketing, administration and research, and also benefited from lower taxes.

Prescription drug sales totaled $9.88 billion, down 5 percent. But consumer health products, including the Coppertone sun-care line and Dr. Scholl's foot-care products, saw sales climb 7 percent to $451 million. Sales of veterinary medicines dipped 1 percent to $815 million.

"With our robust pipeline, we remain on target to submit multiple new products for marketing approval between now and the end of 2013," Frazier said.

Those include suvorexant, a new type of insomnia drug with minimal morning grogginess, and vorapaxar, an anticlotting drug for preventing heart attacks and strokes in certain patients. Others include osteoporosis drug odanacatib, cholesterol medicine Tredaptive, ovarian and lung cancer drug vintafolide, a drug to reverse the effects of anesthesia called Bridion and an improved version of Gardasil.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/merck-3q-profit-2-pct-despite-sales-decline-112935245--finance.html

ahmad bradshaw tom brady halftime super bowl 2012 super bowl score madonna super bowl performance superbowl commercials best superbowl commercials

'Modern Family' Recap: Season 4, Episode 5: 'Open House Of - Yidio

Halloween has become a staple holiday for "Modern Family." They always bring the scares and the laughs. In this episode they all struggle with who they are.

Phil comes up with a "genius" idea to hold an open house on Halloween. Claire has decided to take it easy and tries to be less scary. Last year she took it too far and almost gave a man a heart attack. Her idea of less scary is dressing up as little Bo Peep and putting lollipops on the front lawn.

Mitch has done what every parent does at some point and that's lie to their child. After reading a book to Lily, she starts asking questions which goes into questions about her real mom. Being very sleepy, Mitch lies and tells her that her mother is a "princess in a far away place." This makes Lily obsessed with princesses and now she wants to be one for Halloween.

Of course Cam has no idea because Mitch hasn't told him what he has told Lily since they agreed to talk to Lily about her mom together.

After not being able to charm his way out of a ticket, Jay ges through his own identity crisis. He feels like he's getting old and even asks to borrow some of Gloria's neck cream.

In the same house Gloria's temper is worse than ever. Jay and Manny wonder if the pregnancy has made the always passionate Gloria a little too passionate.

As it turns out the lollipops on the lawn had little effect because no one wanted to trick-or-treak there. She goes out to tell people it isn't scary and ends up making it worse by grabbing children.

At Jay and Gloria's some "rude dummies" came up to trick-or-treak. Gloria asked if they were too old to be trick-or-treating and they asked if shes to old to have a baby. (Never make a pregnant woman mad!)

Gloria takes the candy to find out that moments later they egged the house. She passionately screams out and goes to get them.

Claire, bored at home, goes over to scare Phil and really enjoy her Halloween. Never one to do anything half asked she goes all the way. Turning off the lights, turning on the TV and making Phil think that she is at home. This freaks Phil out of course. She gets the whole family in on it. All is right with Halloween again!

At Cam and Mitch's Halloween party, Lily sees a princess. This is actually a man in drag but more on that later...

Lily asks if the princess is her mother. When Cam is confused Mitch has to come clean about what he has told Lily. They have a sweet but comical sit down chat with Lily about her mother and how they became a family.

Back to the man in a dress. He, whos looks fabulous, hits on Jay and restores his confidence again.

While this episode didn't have the same punch as season 2's Halloween episode, it still scared up plenty of laughs!

Most hilarious lines-

1. "I have an angry baby inside of me making me do bad things!" -Gloria

2. ?The world needs more dreamers, Luke. Never stop licking things.? -Phil

3. ?You know what? I?m going to go lift him and shake him until the staples pop.? -Cam

4. "YOU PUT EGG ON MY HOUSE! I KILL WHAT YOU LOVE!" -Gloria

5. ?We agreed to tell Lily about her mother wearing calming earth tones and we agreed to tell her the truth.? -Cam

Source: http://www.yidio.com/news/modern-family-recap-season-4-episode-5-open-house-horrors-7713

Phelps NBC Olympics Live Olympic medal count Medal Count 2012 London 2012 Fencing olympics chariots of fire

Why dinosaurs showed off their feathers

Dinosaurs may have wooed potential mates with flashy feathers, peacock style. Researchers have discovered lengthy wisps on a sexually mature adult, but absent in the toddler specimen of the same dinosaur species.

These findings shed light on the origin of wings and feathered flight, scientists added.

Birds are the last living lineage of dinosaurs. Their predatory dinosaur ancestors and relatives apparently were covered in feathers as well. These downy coats probably helped to keep them warm at first.

1. Science news from NBCNews.com

   1. Scientists?pay tribute to?Lady Gaga with ferns

      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Lady Gaga is already a huge name in the music world, but now she's a scientific name as well ? thanks to fans who named an entire genus of ferns after the pop star.

   2. Meet the rookies in the Robot Hall of Fame
   3. 'Space Buddha' statue may be a fake
   4. Scientists solve mystery of singing sands

It remains hotly debated how the ancestors of birds evolved key traits that allowed them to fly, such as long, strong feathers. To answer this mystery, researchers investigated fossils of a dinosaur called Ornithomimus edmontonicus. These included a turkey-size juvenile about a year old and about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, and two ostrich-size adults about 10 years old and about 12 feet (4 meters) long.

"The most recent ideas about Ornithomimus was that it was herbivorous," said researcher Darla Zelenitsky, a paleontologist at the University of Calgary. "They superficially resembled ostriches, with a toothless beak, large eyes, long legs, long tail, and now we know they had feathers, but these animals were not closely related to ostriches."

Downy dinosaurs
The 71-million-year-old bones were excavated from the badlands of Alberta, Canada.

"The climate in the area 71 million years ago was warm and wet, subtropical, very much like that seen today in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana. There would have been swamps and lots of water-loving conifers," said researcher Fran?ois Therrien, a paleontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Canada.

Famous dinosaurs in that area included predatory tyrannosaurs, the duck-billed hadrosaurs, heavily armored ankylosaurs, and horned dinosaurs known as ceratopsians. Crocodiles and turtles were also common. [Avian Ancestors: Dinosaurs That Learned to Fly]

All three Ornithomimus specimens were apparently covered in stringy down ? filamentlike feathers up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) long.

"These are the first feathered dinosaur specimens from the Western Hemisphere," Zelenitsky said. "They've never been found in North or South America before ? before this, they were previously almost exclusively found in northern China."

In addition, one adult also had markings on its winglike forelimbs that suggest it bore longer feathers, ones that apparently possessed stiff shafts down the middle much like the feathers found on the wings of flying birds today.

"We don't know how long the shafted feathers were on the adult 'wings,'" Therrien said. "But, based on the size of the markings, we think the 'wing feathers' would have been much longer than the filamentous feathers."

Flashing feathers
Many of the feathered dinosaurs found in China are older than Ornithomimus. However, Ornithomimus comes from a lineage of dinosaurs that arose earlier than some of those unearthed in China. As such, one can consider the "wings" seen in Ornithomimus "the most primitive occurrence of winglike structures in the dinosaurs leading to birds," Zelenitsky said.

Since the younger dinosaur apparently did not possess long feathers on its forelimbs, the investigators suggest these plumes were not used for flight ? otherwise, younger, lighter dinosaurs that were more capable of flight might have possessed them. Instead, the fact these feathers were seen only on sexually mature adults hints they may have used them for reproductive activities such as courtship or brooding, much as peacocks use their outrageously large feathers to woo females. Over time, the ancestors of birds may have adapted these long feathers for flight.

Intriguingly, these new fossils were discovered in ancient river deposits, as opposed to the ancient lake deposits where feathered dinosaurs are often found in China.

"River deposits are much more common than lake deposits," Zelenitsky said. "I think it's quite possible that people have not really focused on finding feathered dinosaurs in river deposits because they were expecting to be preserved in the quiet water and muddy conditions seen in lake deposits. This might open up possibilities to find feathered dinosaurs in lots of places where people were not expecting."

The scientists detailed their findings in Friday issue of the journal Science.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49555842/ns/technology_and_science-science/

republican debate tonight tinker tailor soldier spy rich forever rick ross project runway all stars elin nordegren tangled ever after kansas state

Galactic snack time: Stream of stars slowly being ingested by the Milky Way

ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) ? Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, researchers have discovered a band, or stream, of stars believed to be the remnant of an ancient star cluster slowly being ingested by the Milky Way, Earth's home galaxy.

"The Milky Way is constantly gobbling up small galaxies and star clusters," said Ana Bonaca, a Yale graduate student and lead author of a study forthcoming in Astrophysical Journal Letters. "The more powerful gravity of our Milky Way pulls these objects apart and their stars then become part of the Milky Way itself."

Researchers have previously found evidence of the Milky Way eating up dwarf galaxies. Bonaca argues that the newly found stellar stream is the remnant of a star cluster rather than of a larger galaxy, because the stream is very narrow.

"Our discovery is more of a light snack than a big meal for the Milky Way," says Marla Geha, associate professor of astronomy at Yale and a co-author of the study. "Studying this digestion process in detail is important because it gives us new insight into how all galaxies form and evolve."

The new band of stars, or stellar stream, it is the first of its kind found in the southern Galactic sky, a region that has been hard to examine due to a relative lack of deep-sky imaging there. Deeper imaging enables astronomers to detect fainter stars.

Named the Triangulum stream, the newly discovered stellar stream could also help astronomers reconstruct how the Milky Way's mass is distributed, further revealing its dynamic structure.

Galaxies are believed to form hierarchically through the merger of smaller galaxies and still smaller star clusters. Stellar streams form as they are ripped apart by the gravitational force of galaxies. This process may be the primary way galaxies such as the Milky Way grow in mass, the researchers say.

Triangulum was found by searching a region recently surveyed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), an international collaboration that is mapping the sky through wide-field photometry.

Bonaca, Geha and co-author Nitya Kallivayalil, a Yale postdoctoral fellow, relied specifically on the survey's Data Release 8, which included information about vast new areas of the southern galactic sky.

Research support was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Yale University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Ana Bonaca, Marla Geha, Nitya Kallivayalil. A Cold Milky Way Stellar Stream in the Direction of Triangulum. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2012; (submitted) [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/HKWKSexCMxA/121025130920.htm

Joseph Gordon-Levitt space shuttle cam newton Torrey Smith Brother fiona apple awkward awkward

RunPee App Ensures You'll Never Miss Big Scenes at the Movies [VIDEO]

The beauty of watching a movie in your home is that you can pause it at any time -- to make a trip to the bathroom, maybe have a snack, or take a phone call. A free app will make your movie theater experience more convenient, kind of like it is at home. While you can't pause a movie in a theater, this app tells you when you can make a break for the bathroom or snack bar.

[More from Mashable: 5 Apps That Help you Shop for Healthier Foods]

The aptly named RunPee will definitely come in handy if you're a theater-goer -- although you may not want to announce the name of it too loudly. It tells you the best time to take a bathroom break during a movie without missing any major scenes. The app will also fill you in on what you missed while you were gone.

The app will list one-to-four windows of times during the movie that would make for a good break. RunPee will cause the phone to vibrate when you're approaching that window, and buzz again to let you know that window is over.

[More from Mashable: Apple?s App Store Has Passed 35 Billion Downloads]

SEE ALSO: 10 Mobile Apps for Movie Addicts

Some of RunPee's Facebook users say they prefer to use the app prior to the movie starting, that way they don't disturb the pickiest viewers with the light from the phone. Although, RunPee says most people sitting next to you in the theater won't even notice you accessing it, especially because the app has a dark background.

And besides helping you take smart bathroom breaks, RunPee will let you know if the credits are worth sticking around for -- as in, if there are any extra scenes at the end.

If you see a movie on opening night, however, RunPee's creators won't be able to help you with breaks. They don't get any pre-screenings, but they do see movies on opening weekends, map out the best break times, and update the app.

The app is available for free on Android, Windows and iPhone.

Would knowing when to take bathroom breaks when you're at the theater make your movie-going experience better? Tell us in the comments.

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, LeggNet

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/runpee-app-ensures-youll-never-miss-big-scenes-052715194.html

kentucky wildcats oakland school shooting nike nfl jerseys katie couric barista university of kentucky ncaa

How Do You Say 'Greed is Good' in Malay? As Finance Goes Global ...

Alex Fine

Imagine a world in which Jamie and Lloyd and, uh, new Citigroup chief executive Michael Corbat take one last look at their tax bills and compensation costs, wave goodbye to those pesky New York State prosecutors and slip out of town. Imagine a ghost city of Midtown office buildings, a city where food trucks don?t serve lobster rolls, people actually use the best seats at Yankee Stadium, and models pay for their own bottles. Picture newspapers bereft of financial scandal, gossip sections subsisting on the political ambitions of sitcom stars and the real estate exploits of celebrity chefs and football coaches. Peer into an abyss in which tax revenues plummet, firehouses and police precincts close, streets go uncleaned, and artists and writers move back into Manhattan. Think what would become of Brooklyn!

New York without Wall Street: Picture that. Just as manufacturing jobs moved to Shanghai and call centers shifted to Bangalore, the banking jobs that for decades have represented the beating heart of New York?s economy could soon migrate to other cities.

It?s not just labor costs, but in a city where the average securities industry worker made $363,000 last year, according to the New York State Comptroller?s office, labor costs aren?t moot. Neither are high taxes, or a string of prosecutors who?ve sued Wall Street all the way to the governor?s office. As second-tier towns and the rising financial centers of the Far East eat away at New York?s lower-paying jobs, all the cultural cachet may not stave off the end of Wall Street.

?Banks are moving jobs out of the city as fast as they can,? said Richard X. Bov?, a banking analyst at Rochdale Securities. ?If New York didn?t have such a sunk investment, all those office buildings, all the houses people live in, would this industry select New York as the place they?d like to operate from? The answer is no.?

It was already decades ago that banks started shifting back-office jobs to points as near as Jersey City and as far as Pune, India, and now, middle-office operations appear to be following suit. JPMorgan is growing in Delaware, Deutsche is building out Jacksonville, and Goldman Sachs has expanded its Salt Lake City operations to house increasingly high-skilled workers.

Citigroup, Mr. Bov? told us, is already the third largest employer in Singapore, which is emerging as a financial hub of Asia. According to a survey conducted by British recruiting firm Astbury Marsden, 31 percent of investment bankers polled said that Singapore was their preferred place to live, ahead of 20 percent for New York and 19 percent who tabbed London.

New York and London are still tops in the minds of corporate executives, according to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City, but Asian cities are gaining ground. The study ranked Beijing and Shanghai in the top five for economic clout, and found that Singapore?s livability factor boded well for attracting professionals in the decades to come.

One New York-based banker who took higher pay and a fast track to promotion to move to Singapore told us that his investment bank did everything it could to make the transition seamless. ?They had the same desks, the same carpeting, the same color schemes,? he said. ?The pantries were full of American products.?

Closer to home, Goldman Sachs is hiring in Utah. ?If you make $250,000 in New York, you can probably make $150,000 in Salt Lake City and live infinitely better,? said Mr. Kotkin. Is it really worth living high on the hog if you have to do it in the Mormon capital? ?You?d think it would be hard to get them to Salt Lake City. But if you like skiing and have kids and want a nice house, it can be pretty damn nice.?

The Observer spoke to one recent business school graduate who turned down opportunities at New York investment banks for a finance job in a Southern city. He traded in his 1?-bedroom downtown apartment for a 3,000 square-foot house. In Manhattan, he said, ?you spend $40,000 a year on a tiny apartment, another $50,000 on private schools. It doesn?t leave you much left to feed yourself, let alone save for retirement.?

A New York banker who said he?s contemplated moving to Denver or San Francisco for the great outdoors told us that he notices the superior quality of life young financiers enjoy in lesser burgs. ?The junior-level guys in Baltimore all drive BMWs,? the mid-level executive told us. ?In New York, they?re living in 600-square-foot apartments.?

New York isn?t just more expensive for workers, of course. The city carried the nation?s highest commercial asking rents in the third quarter of 2012, according to commercial real estate firm Cassidy Turley, with average prices of $58.77 per square foot, some 16 percent more than Washington, D.C., the next most expensive city, and more than three times the cost of space in Charlotte.

Not that costs are the only issue. New York State authorities have made waves in the banking industry twice in recent months, first when Department of Financial Services chief Ben Lawsky broke ranks with federal regulators and charged Standard Chartered with violating U.S. sanctions with Iran, then again when Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued JPMorgan over the mortgage-packaging practices at Bear Stearns, which the House of Dimon acquired in 2008.

?In New York,? Mr. Bov?? told us, ?whoever attacks the industry most gets elected governor, so they do it. In other states, the population says, ?This is where the jobs are. We?re not going to attack the livelihood of our biggest industries.??
He had a point: Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo won their seats in Albany after putting notches on their revolvers as sheriffs on Wall Street. A little further back, Rudolph Giuliani became a Wall Street pariah by prosecuting securities workers as the U.S. Attorney for New York?s Southern District.

The political question may soon hit closer to home. In a year, New Yorkers will elect a new mayor, a leader who may be many things that Mike Bloomberg is not?tolerant of the press, fluent in Spanish and accepting of our minor vices or bad habits?but who will almost certainly fail to understand or stick up for Wall Street to the degree Mayor Bloomberg has.

Hizzoner, of course, didn?t merely arrive at City Hall out of the same professional and social circles as the city?s financiers, he also popularized a wave of technological innovation that transformed Wall Street. He?s something of a talismanic figure, a one-man argument that the city appreciates the benefits that Wall Street brings.

Mr. Bloomberg opposed the Dodd-Frank regulations and then delivered a pep talk at Goldman Sachs on two days after Greg Smith published his infamous New York Times Op-Ed announcing his departure from the firm; it?s also worth remembering that thousands of financial services pros in New York alone sit in front of desk monitors bearing the mayor?s last name.

?To the extent that the financial services industry feels it has leadership in city government that will speak up for them when they get demonized in Washington or elsewhere, Mayor Bloomberg has been a uniquely qualified and successful leader,? Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York, told us. ?It goes a long way to make up for the disincentives, the high-cost, high-tax, high-rent characteristics, if you have a mayor who understands and is willing to use his position to advocate for the industry.?

If Wall Street did leave New York, then what? Securities workers account for 5.3 percent of private sector employment but contribute 14 percent of state tax revenues, according to a recent report by New York State comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, and any discussion of what the city stands to lose if finance sector jobs migrate starts there.

?It hits every possible part of the economy,? Ronnie Lowenstein, executive director of the city?s Independent Budget Office, told us. ?From the high-end apartments that change hands to the corner grocery store or the guy who?s shining shoes. If they?re buying their diamonds from Tiffany?s, eating at our restaurants and going to our shows, they?re doing things that support our economy.?
No one is saying all of that will suddenly disappear. Nearly every source we contacted for this story stressed New York?s enduring appeal to top talent. Even Mr. Kotkin, a champion of the notion that industries will decentralize in the age of technology, acknowledged that deal-makers were likely to remain in New York and London. ?They have to show off in the locker room,? he told us.

Meanwhile, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, host of ?Viewpoint? on Current TV, played down the regulatory concerns. ?There?s a world out there that thinks the regulatory environment is oppressive, or too difficult. Most of that is hot air.? Could other cities use New York?s recent run of Wall Street cops to lure banks? ?What are they going to say?? Mr. Spitzer asked. ??Come here, commit fraud??? After a pause, he added, ?That would probably work.?

Even if the banks don?t shift their brain trusts to points south or east, the city will have to figure out how to keep hold of the industry?s middle-class workers, or find a way to replace them with good-paying jobs in other industries such as health care or tech. According to Ms. Wylde, the average salary in New York City?s financial services industry is about $78,000. City and state tax coffers may depend on the high wage earners, middle-class workers drive quality of life.

?These are the jobs that keep a strong middle class in the city,? Ms. Wylde said. ?They affect the quality of neighborhoods and overall city services.?
Still, we can?t help but wonder. Mr. Bov? reminded us that the energy industry left New York for Houston decades back and that manufacturing plants abandoned his home state of Massachusetts. ?All those giant shoe factories in Lowell are residences now,? he told us. What if 270 Park Avenue or 200 West Street were transformed into trendy condo buildings? (?David Viniar managed Goldman?s balance sheet from this living room!? goes the sales pitch.) On the other hand, there probably wouldn?t be anyone left who could afford them.

pclark@observer.com

Follow Patrick Clark on Twitter or via RSS. pclark@observer.com

Source: http://observer.com/2012/10/how-do-you-say-greed-is-good-in-malay-as-finance-goes-global-will-wall-street-stick-around/

Alex Morgan Misty May Treanor Lolo Jones Aly Raisman Marvin Hamlisch Megan Rossee NASA

Homeless for months: the Wellington family with 4 ... - Scoop.co.nz

News release from Green Party
The Green Party says the Government is not doing enough to stop homelessness, following revelations that a Wellington family with four children has been homeless for months, despite being categorised as being ?at risk? and in need of immediate housing.

Campbell Live last night highlighted the plight of the family who have been living out of a car for three months, despite being categorised as Priority A by Housing New Zealand, those in most urgent need.

According to Housing New Zealand, there are 66 other families in the Hutt South/Wellington region who are rated Priority A and 871 in total across the country who are waiting to be placed in a home.

?I worry that many families and hundreds of children could be living in really dire environments while waiting for a home,? said Green Party housing spokespeson Holly Walker.

?The National Government?s inaction is leading to homelessness amongst New Zealanders who would normally be safe and secure in a home.

?A warm dry home to grow up in should be a basic right for all New Zealanders. The Government needs to be doing more to ensure this basic right is met.

?The Government has enacted changes at Housing New Zealand that were supposed to move services to those most in need. This case shows that those changes have failed.

?I made enquiries on behalf of this family and was told they have been on the top of Housing New Zealand?s waiting list since September 11. They should have been housed by now.

?No one should have to live out of their car for over a month while Housing New Zealand does little to nothing to get them into a new home.

?The family tell me they first contacted Housing New Zealand at least a month before they even made it on to the Priority A list. They say they have only managed to reach their case manager once through the corporation?s help line and have no idea when they will be housed.?

?These families are bearing the brunt of the Government?s failure to provide adequate emergency housing and a guarantee that existing housing is safe and healthy to live in.

?The Government needs to build more state homes, and guarantee minimum standards for the rental homes that do exist.

?The Green Party has drafted a Bill that would require all rental homes to meet minimum standards and we will do more work on it to provide even more protections for tenants.

?New Zealand should be a great place to grow up. It is a national shame that we have hundreds of children who are homeless in this country.?

The Campbell Live report on the homeless Wellington family

Source: http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=49508

dandelion wine cough matt groening brandon phillips summerfest summerfest fidel castro

Death toll from West Nile virus tops 200: government

DALLAS (Reuters) - The U.S. outbreak of West Nile virus has killed 219 people this year, after another 36 deaths from the mosquito-borne disease were reported last week, government figures showed Wednesday.

In what is the second-worst year on record for the disease, the total number of cases of West Nile virus across the United States grew to 4,725, with 194 new cases reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the pace of new cases has slowed since the outbreak's peak in the late summer, new cases continue to be reported, particularly in states where warm temperatures persist. This year's outbreak has trailed only 2003 in total cases.

Just over half of the cases reported to the CDC this year have been of the severe neuroinvasive form of the disease, which can cause meningitis and encephalitis.

The death toll from West Nile is now the highest since 2003, when 264 deaths were reported. The highest number of deaths from West Nile was 284 in 2002.

CDC officials have said deaths often lag weeks to months from the time of infection because of lingering illness.

Almost 70 percent of the cases have been reported in eight states: Texas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, South Dakota, Michigan and Oklahoma.

More than a third of all cases have been reported in Texas, with Dallas-Fort Worth at the center of the outbreak.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has reported 1,683 cases and 77 deaths, including 915 cases and 36 deaths in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

(Editing by Paul Thomasch and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/death-toll-west-nile-virus-tops-200-government-174439723.html

ps i love you ray charles cheney heart transplant weather san diego unitarian new black panther party lost in space

Impoverished Niger creates fund to fight desert spread

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"97490792","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-1764093827", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-1764093827", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "97490792", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "97490792" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });

Pogo Connect (for iPad)

By Sascha Segan

The stubby little Pogo Connect is a fun, easy-to-use pressure-sensitive stylus for the latest Apple iPad?. It's the go-to stylus if you're looking for something that feels a little more like a marker or brush on your screen than the scratchily precise Adonit Jot Touch and HEX3 JaJa. It shares our Editors' Choice award for pressure-sensitive styli with the Jot Touch.

At $79.95 (direct), the Pogo Connect is the least expensive pressure-sensitive stylus we're reviewing, and it's also the simplest. It's a 5-inch aluminum cylinder with a single software-customizable button on the barrel and no special grip area. It runs "for months" (according to maker Ten One Design) on a AAA battery. The tip is squishy, deforming rubber like Ten One uses in its $24.95 Pogo Sketch Pro. Natively, it only works with the newest iPad; there's a kludge involving using an iPhone as a "bridge" to make it work with older iPads, but as I said, that's a kludge.

While the Connect uses Bluetooth, it doesn't have to be paired like a standard Bluetooth device. Compatible apps?in this case, nine of them?detect the Connect when properly configured. You can download a helper app called Pogo Connect if they aren't. (Always make sure your favorite app works with a stylus before buying one!)?I found that it worked fine with ArtStudio and Sketchbook Pro, and especially well with Procreate. This is certainly an easier setup process than the Jot Touch, which has to be paired in your iPad's Bluetooth settings.

The Connect rewarded the heaviest hand of the three styli I tested, primarily because of the squishy tip. (You can customize how all of the styli change your ink, but I left the settings the same for all three styli so I could compare them.) Because the tip deformed, it had a very different feel from the Jot Touch, much more like a brush than like a pen or pencil. Strokes felt more organic, and a bit more graceful. But also like a brush, I couldn't get to quite the level of precision that I did with the Jot Touch, simply because the tip occluded the exact pixel I was working on. Pressure sensitivity was spot on.

With the Jot Touch and Pogo Connect both well-built and working as expected, the choice between the two really comes down to compatibility and which feel you prefer. The Jot Touch supports the second-generation iPad and more apps; it's also better for precise work. The Pogo Connect has a more elegant, organic feel with a better drag against the screen and no proprietary charger to lose. Both can help take your iPad artistry to the next level, and both are worth of our Editors' Choice.

Interested in less expensive, non pressure-sensitive styli? Check out our reviews of Stylin' Styli for your iPad.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/1M2uQHGqfOI/0,2817,2411193,00.asp

staten island chuck dr jekyll and mr hyde edwin jackson punksatony phil trump 2012 groundhog day groundhog phil

Antiviral therapy may halve risk of liver cancer after chronic hepatitis C infection, analysis indicates

ScienceDaily (Oct. 22, 2012) ? Treating chronic hepatitis C infection with antiviral drugs could halve the risk of developing the most common form of liver cancer, in some cases, indicates an analysis of the published research in one of the new BMJ Open Editions.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of liver cancer worldwide, accounting for 90 per cent of all primary cases of the disease. Cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis C infection are among the most important risk factors.

The authors reviewed the published evidence on the use of antiviral therapy -- interferon or pegylated interferon, or ribavirin, or a combination -- in people with chronic hepatitis C infection, to assess its impact, and to see if the level of viral clearance, prompted by the treatment, made any difference.

In some people, antiviral treatment helps the body clear the virus; in others an initial response is followed by a relapse a few months later. If treatment succeeds in keeping the virus at bay for six months, the chances of relapse are miniscule.

The authors reviewed the data from 8 comparative treatment trials of those whose hepatitis C infection had resulted in chronic inflammation and fibrosis (gristle) or cirrhosis (scarring and limited working capacity) of the liver.

And they also included data from five prospective cohort studies, which regularly monitor similar groups of people over the long term to see what happens to them.

In all, more than 3200 people were included in the analysis. Their treatment, which was predominantly interferon, lasted between 6 months and a year, and they were monitored for periods of between five and eight years.

In the trials, a total of 1156 people were treated with antiviral therapy, 81 of whom developed liver cancer; and 1174 were not, 129 of whom developed the disease -- equivalent to a reduction in risk of 47 per cent.

Those in whom treatment cleared the virus, long term, were 85 per cent less likely to develop liver cancer compared with those in whom treatment was less effective. Nevertheless this group were still 43 per cent less likely to develop liver cancer.

The observational (cohort) study data also showed that antiviral therapy curbed the risk of liver cancer by around 70 per cent compared with those not given the treatment.

The authors caution that the length of monitoring and the lack of information on death rates could mean that treatment with interferon may simply delay, rather than prevent, liver cancer in infected patients.

But they point out that standard treatment now consists of interferon plus ribavirin, which is deemed more effective, and that the infection tends to be picked up earlier before it has had time to do wreak long term damage.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. N. Kimer, E. K. Dahl, L. L. Gluud, A. Krag. Antiviral therapy for prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open, 2012; 2 (5): e001313 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001313

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/3nmOHv5S4UU/121022192421.htm

bill conlin kendall jenner plane crash plane crash kardashian christmas card lori berenson lori berenson

Internet Hosting For Life Only A New Pattern Or The Future Of Web ...

Choosing the right Web Hosting bundle for you can be a bewildering task. With so many packages, prices, terms, circumstances, corporations and nations vying for your online business, it?s vital that you just understand what you need, so you may choose a company who can provide you what you want. Free Hosting is precisely that, and although the previous adage ?you get what you pay for? doesn?t exactly apply ? as you?re getting one thing, in spite of everything ? Free Hosting just isn?t recommended for anyone with any kind of serious aspirations for his or her site. Of course we provide Web Hosting so we might say that, proper? Nicely, the two foremost things to contemplate when taking a look at Free Hosting are 1 ? someone has to pay for it, and a couple of ? what occurs if something goes wrong.

So here?s an inventory of the key kinds of Web Hosting out there in the marketplace ? what they?re, and what they?re suitable for. And to make it a bit simpler, we?ll follow the career of Dave*, a budding internet entrepreneur making his first forays into the world of Web Hosting. With reference to the primary point, it?s typically the case that your Web Hosting is paid for by advertisements on your site, and as that?s what makes the Web Host their money, they might properly be as fascinated with promoting on your site as they?re in getting you to use their service to allow them to have extra adverts. This leads on to point ? what sort of support do you suppose you?re going to get from a company that is providing you with one thing totally free? What sort of guarantees can you?ve that your Web Hosting is reliable or safe?

Lastly, it?s best to think about the amount of disk area and bandwidth that your web host offers. Most internet companies provides you with more than enough house to host your internetsite so don?t be concerned about this unless you plan on storing a massive amount of large recordsdata or creating huge databases. The factor you actually need to look at is how a lot bandwidth the hosting company offers your small business every month. Bandwidth is principally a measure of how much person visitors your website can handle. If you don?t have enough bandwidth your website won?t be out there to your clients after the maximum bandwidth is exceeded.

To start off all you want is to make a listing of the content that you will put in your site, after which you possibly can obtain free themes or templates and hire someone to do it for you for a reasonable fee. Hiring somebody to create the content material primarily based in your specs shall be an enormous assist to you as it?ll save your time and loads of effort. Another side to contemplate in organising your internetsite is to find a good and reliable website hosting. That is the place you?ll upload you internetsite design and host all of your content. Purchase an inexpensive area from a well-known domain registrar and then search on-line for cheap hosting plans. You will discover that there are many sites that offer low-cost monthly charges to host your site. Managing your web server is pretty simple and you will not need a lot outside help.

A effectively-established internet hosting provider sometimes hosts as much as thousands of websites. For instance, iPowerWeb is a popular internet hosting firm that hosts greater than 300,000 internetsites. For that motive, an internet hosting firm want many web servers (basically, these are computer systems) to ?store? the netsite. And all these internet servers are linked to the Internet by means of high speed Web connection and housed in a bodily building known as ?information center?. So as to assure all the net servers are protected, safe and fully operational all time, a knowledge middle is a physically safe 24/7 environment with hearth safety, HVAC temperature control, virus detections, laptop information backup, redundant energy backup and complete disaster recovery capabilities.

Another issue it is best to think about is whether or not or not the hosting company affords you free credit score for online advertising services. Most individuals don?t take into account this earlier than they determine on an internet hosting company. Do not overlook this! Nearly all internet hosting firms offer coupons and discounts for popular on-line advertising and marketing companies, more often than not these coupons provide free service just for signing up with the hosting company! A number of the best web hosting corporations provide coupons without spending a dime search engine advertising and marketing from big media sites like Google, Bing and Facebook. I?ve seen companies supply up to $300 dollars in free promoting credit score to customers. Marketing your internetsite is the important thing to being successful. Moreover, some firms additionally provide money-back ensures for a certain period of time as a way to let you consider their services danger-free. Free things are all the time a pleasant little bonus.

For the details, Netfirms promo codes can provide you with the right price cut and marketing provide for Netfirms, and that is currently the best possible web site hosting provider using the web.

Source: http://www.defaulttricks.com/internet-hosting-for-life-only-a-new-pattern-or-the-future-of-web-hosting/

kat dennings Steve Sabol Yom Kippur 2012 detroit lions Aaron Paul mumford and sons packers

Starting an online home business | SEO Internet Marketing

Beginning an online home business is a simple and effective way to earn some further income or even replace a full-time day job. With the recent advances in online technology, an entire procedure can be successfully implemented and expanded right from a living room or home workplace. There are many directions that an online business can take, and many of these selections are very inexpensive or even free to start. Forethought and direction In order to start up a successful online business, one must make forethought and planning a Before. Considering there are a number of choices to pursue, a little up-front analysis is advantageous. Make a decision whether income will be earned from the sale of information, physical product sales, drop shipping, affiliate programs or selling advertising space. Also compare website selections, including free blogs, shopping cart services with a monthly fee or hosting services to create a website from scratch. Considering it is normally acknowledged that a niche focus brings in more sales, it is also recommended to brainstorm and research for particular keywords. Getting online Once the plan is obvious, a proper website must be created. This can be accomplished in any number of ways. One no longer needs to be a programming genius to create a website. There are many options to start a website for free, and even paid monthly services typically offer incredible free software that can be installed quickly and easily. Entire systems can be built in a subject of weeks or even days, all with little to no earlier web design knowledge. Marketing and advertising Once the website is up and running, it?s time to tell the world. Popularity of various social media websites makes sharing links and related information a breeze. One of the best ways to generate interest in a site is by creating articles, videos and other content to provide prospective customers with valuable information for free. Regular advertising methods, such as print flyers, business cards and direct sales may also be effective. Driving traffic Driving traffic to a website can be considered a science that isn?t always obvious to new online entrepreneurs. This aspect of an at-home business may be the most important piece of a marketing campaign, so hiring an expert may be useful. If this isn?t possible, one can discover effective ways to drive first-time and repeat visitors by using social media tactics, email list marketing, and regular creation of valuable content. Once visitors begin to flow to the website on a steady basis, sales are sure to increase, creating a very successful home business online.

Have you ever sat back and thought whether this was the life you wanted to live? Is this the vital adventure to which you looked forward to since your childhood? Working at a job that you?re not pleased with or maybe even despise, with the continuous stress of a nagging boss and with no hope for a happy future ahead? No! It is time to give up the points you despise, fire your boss and start learning to write your pay check by yourself by beginning an online home business. If you have a working computer and an internet connection, you can rule your world much better than you can even imagine.

And having an online home based business is a wonderful way to make that happen. However a successful online home business can be achieved in several ways. You can use any of your born talents as a tool and make a living from it that lasts long time. An online home business can be varied from a part time home business entrepreneur to full time entrepreneurs who dedicate full time to their home based business. It?s not a make a difference of time or the talent but mostly it?s about the enthusiasm to go greater and the undying dedication to reach a certain target. Many students and employees also go for an online home business for an additional income and also as a pillar to keep their economic stability.

It is hard to say which one is the best path to be used when choosing an online home business but if anyone is interested in a home based business, that should be a path in which they are interested in and also which they are acquainted with.

Here are a few ideas for you to approach a home business opportunity, if you have always been conscious about your fitness; you can make an online home business as a fitness trainer for thousands of worried individuals out there who are frustrated about on their own. Furthermore, tutoring, photography, data your path, writing, web designing, Social networking, administrative support, designing, sales and marketing are only a few from hundreds of online home business opportunities available for you.

Although you have read this article so far, I know that still you are not ready to give up your job and start an online home business. Why? Because you are afraid! Not that we would ever suggest that you should just quit your job, however it can be a short term goal that has been achieved by many successful internet entrepreneurs.

So don?t fear because this is a natural fear as it is with many other people out there in the world. Just like any other kind of business, there seems to be a specific risk in when beginning and working an online home business. Especially with all the scam problems that are connected with just about anything online.

However you are looking at the empty half of the glass aren?t you? There are hundreds of people who have started an online home business and have achieved massive success. You shouldn?t hesitate to transform your life in order to achieve the success you have always wanted and should have by looking at the people who has failed in their attempts. When there are 5 ways which rip your money by cheating you, there still are hundreds of other eligible online businesses that have helped many people just like yourself to earn money in a clean and honest fashion.

Source: http://www.mehblog.org/starting-an-online-home-business

orcl the hartford illinois primary 2012 michael bay zsa zsa gabor illinois primary trayvon martin 911 call

Cheerleading needs sports safety rules, docs say

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2011 file photo, a cheerleader from Nampa High School is thrown into the air as the cheer squad practices their stunts before a game in Nampa, Idaho. In a new policy statement released online Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 in the journal Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics says school sports associations should designate cheerleading as a sport, and make it subject to safety rules and better supervision. (AP Photo/The Idaho Press-Tribune, Charlie Litchfield, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2011 file photo, a cheerleader from Nampa High School is thrown into the air as the cheer squad practices their stunts before a game in Nampa, Idaho. In a new policy statement released online Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 in the journal Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics says school sports associations should designate cheerleading as a sport, and make it subject to safety rules and better supervision. (AP Photo/The Idaho Press-Tribune, Charlie Litchfield, File)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Cheerleading isn't just jumping and waving pompoms ? it has become as athletic and potentially as dangerous as a sport and should be designated one to improve safety, the nation's leading group of pediatricians says.

The number of cheerleaders injured each year has climbed dramatically in the last two decades. Common stunts that pose risks include tossing and flipping cheerleaders in the air and creating human pyramids that reach 15 feet high or more.

In a new policy statement released online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics says school sports associations should designate cheerleading as a sport, and make it subject to safety rules and better supervision. That would include on-site athletic trainers, limits on practice time and better qualified coaches, the academy says.

Just like other athletes, cheerleaders should be required to do conditioning exercises and undergo physical exams before joining the squad, the new policy says.

"Not everyone is fully aware of how cheerleading has evolved over the last couple of decades. It used to be just standing on the sidelines and doing cheers and maybe a few jumps," said Dr. Cynthia LaBella, a sports medicine specialist at Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital and an author of the new policy.

But she said cheerleading often results in injuries that include severe sprains, broken arms and legs, neck injuries and concussions.

Last year, there were almost 37,000 emergency room visits for cheerleading injuries among girls aged 6 to 22, according to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. That's more than four times higher than in 1980, when cheerleading was tamer.

While there are still traditional cheerleading squads that support schools' athletic teams, some schools and private clubs have separate cheerleading teams that compete against other teams.

Kali Wald of Elburn, Ill., suffered a serious concussion last year during an acrobatic routine with her high school's competitive team; teammates tossed her in the air but she landed wrong twice, first on her upper back and neck, then on her head. She blacked out for several minutes.

Her father, Dave Wald, said her coaches didn't realize she was seriously injured and never called an ambulance. She still has short-term memory loss and can't attend school full-time because of dizziness, headaches and other concussion symptoms.

Kali, 18, said she believes that cheerleading should be considered a sport and made safer.

Her father agreed and said there needs to be better awareness about the rigors of cheerleading and the potential risks.

Injuries have increased as cheerleading has become more popular. Data suggest there are more than 3 million cheerleaders nationwide aged 6 and older, mostly girls. That includes about 400,000 in high school, according to data cited in the new policy.

While the overall injury rate in high school cheerleading is lower than in other girls sports, including gymnastics, soccer and field hockey, the rate of catastrophic injuries like skull fractures and paralyzing spine injuries is higher, the academy noted.

Kasey Bronstein, 14, and her sister Kori, 17, of Mahwah, N.J., both tore a knee tendon while cheerleading for a private competitive team run by their parents. They twisted their knees doing acrobatic moves while standing on the raised-up hands of their teammates. They had knee surgery last November, followed by extensive physical therapy, and have returned to cheerleading.

Both said it should be considered a sport but they also think it's already pretty safe.

"They're kind of making it too safe, taking out skills that are very exciting to do," Kori said. That includes a double flip stunt no longer allowed on her team.

Some schools and state high school sports associations already consider cheerleading a sport and require the kind of safety oversight that the academy is recommending. But many do not, said Jim Lord, executive director of the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches & Administrators. Some don't consider it a sport because not all cheerleading squads are involved in their own competitions, he said.

Lord said the academy's policy mirrors many of his group's safety recommendations for high schools and colleges.

That includes limiting the height of human pyramids in high school cheerleading to just two people. The academy also says routines that include pyramids, tumbling or tosses should not be performed on hard surfaces.

Lisa Kluchorosky, a sports medicine specialist who works with the academy and the National Athletic Trainers Association, said the new policy will help erase misconceptions that cheerleading is not very athletic.

"The statistics are compelling and you can't turn your head from that," she said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-10-22-Cheerleading%20Injuries/id-d77af44d172b41cd8ef1282e7f3b8347

evo 4g lte marlins new stadium arnold palmer augusta national blake griffin pau gasol marlins park

Afghanistan: Taliban level food warehouse for US

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) ? An Afghan police officer and cook poisoned their colleagues at a checkpoint in an assault coordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country's south, officials said Saturday.

It was the latest in a string of attacks from inside the Afghan army and police that are threatening to undermine both the partnership with international troops ? which have been the target of many attacks ? and the morale of Afghan forces, who have suffered equally heavy casualties from such strikes.

The police officer and the cook worked with outside insurgents in the assault, which hit police manning a checkpoint in the Gereskh district of Helmand province, the governor's office said in a statement.

They poisoned two of the officers and then the militants attacked from outside, killing the remaining four officers, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zirak said. He did not say how the officers were poisoned. The police officer was captured as he fled, but the cook escaped and remains at large, Zirak added.

The insurgent gunmen escaped by motorcycle with weapons and ammunition, the governor's statement said.

A recent upsurge in the number of insider attacks on coalition troops by Afghan soldiers or police ? or insurgents disguised in their uniforms ? has further undermined public support for the war in the West. So far this year, at least 52 foreign troops ? about half of them Americans ? have been killed in insider attacks.

The Afghan government has not provided statistics on the number of its forces killed in insider attacks. However, U.S. military statistics obtained by The Associated Press show at least 53 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed by the end of August.

Meanwhile, a Taliban attack elsewhere in Helmand killed two district community council members, while Taliban-fired rocket-propelled grenades destroyed a warehouse full of food destined for the main U.S. base in Afghanistan.

Insurgents ambushed the council members while they were driving to a tribal meeting in the volatile Sangin district, the governor's office said in its statement, adding that the attackers escaped and police are pursuing them.

The attack against the council members is a reminder of the other worrying trend in insurgent tactics this year ? a shift toward more targeted killings of those affiliated with the government. The United Nations has recorded a sharp increase in such killings in the first six months of 2012 as compared with the same period of 2011.

In the warehouse attack, insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a compound used by military contractor Supreme Group to store food and other supplies destined for Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. base in the country. A warehouse inside the compound caught fire in the assault and burned through the night.

"The local fire brigade attended the scene and brought the fire under control, but the warehouse itself and all contents were destroyed," Victoria Frost, a spokeswoman for Supreme Group in Dubai, wrote in an email. She said no one was injured and staff at the site did not have to evacuate.

The fire could still be seen burning Saturday morning, said Mohammad Asif, the deputy administrator for Bagram district, where the compound is located. He said the Supreme compound encompasses about five hectares (12 acres).

Frost said the fire was contained much earlier.

"As with any major fire, there are some areas still smoldering but there is no current danger to any of the staff or the other buildings within the compound," she said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in an email that the fire at the Supreme Group compound destroyed a "large stock of food meant for U.S. troops."

Frost did not say how much material was destroyed though she did say it was "primarily food supplies," adding that the company was working to make up the loss with inventory from other warehouses.

____

Vogt reported from Kabul. Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report in Kabul.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-taliban-level-food-warehouse-us-090532218.html

soul train nevada caucus ufc 143 what time does the super bowl start ben gazzara nfl hall of fame 2012 ufc diaz vs condit