World News Today

Lamborghini Gallardo, battered

2011-03-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

If you thought the Brilliance BS6 was China's worst crime against motoring, prepare to have your mind positively exploded. This is, or was, a Lamborghini Gallardo - yep, the very same car that, in dog-eared poster format, adorned the walls of teenagers for the best part of a decade.

Its crime? Breaking down. Its punishment? A public battering with sledgehammers. So what, we hear you ask, the hell is going on?

Clarkson in a Porsche 911 GT2 vs Lambo Gallardo (series 12, episode 1)
Welcome to Qingdao, in Eastern China, where the owner of this supercar was so enraged after it broke down after a service, that he paid a group of blokes to take the car apart using sledgehammers before a crowd of rightly horrified onlookers. It was all part of a public protest for World Consumer Rights Day, an event likely to resonate with world's biggest companies as loudly as World Donut Day or World Handwashing Day. And no, we didn't make any of these up.

iPad 2 demand still exceeds supply; Will international rollout continue as planned?

2011-03-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

The iPad 2 may only be an evolutionary upgrade, but demand for Apple's next-gen device, even 5 days after launch, continues to outstrip supply. The iPad 2 launch last week began in impressive fashion. Lines began forming at Apple stores as early as Wednesday, and once the device went on sale on Friday, lines at a number of Apple stores became enormous. The line at Apple's retail store on 5th avenue in New York City at one point was 1,200 people strong. Across the country, in San Francisco, lines were so long that they wrapped around full city blocks. Apple is still having trouble filling user demand, which makes one wonder if the planned international rollout will proceed as planned in a few weeks.

The iPad 2 launch last week began in impressive fashion. Lines began forming at Apple stores as early as Wednesday, and once the device went on sale on Friday, lines at a number of Apple stores became enormous. The line at Apple's retail store on 5th avenue in New York City at one point was 1,200 people strong. Across the country, in San Francisco, lines were so long that they wrapped around full city blocks. And this was all on a Friday evening, mind you. Apparently waiting in line for a new Apple product is how a lot of folks enjoy kicking off their weekends!

Other retail outlets selling the iPad 2 also experienced a wave of strong iPad 2 demand. A number of Best Buy outlets, for example, reported selling out of the device in just a few hours. By the time Sunday rolled around, many Apple Stores were completely sold out as well. And users looking to avoid the lines and place their iPad 2 orders online were greeted with 3-4 week delivery wait times. Update: iPad shipping times from Apple's online store has now been bumped up to 4-5 weeks.

Looking to keep up with demand, Apple earlier this week opened up its retail stores an hour earlier to better accomodate those searching for the iPad 2 and to help diffuse some of the commotion and overcrowding that tends to occur in the wake of a new Apple product launch. But just as quickly as Apple retail stores re-stocked their supply, users were buying them and skipping out the door. Indeed, word has it that a number of Apple Stores that received new shipments earlier this week are already sold out or on the verge of doing so.

In light of Apple's strong iPad 2 launch, some analysts expect sales from this past weekend to be far greater than the generous 500,000 projection many expected. Some even feel that Apple may very well have sold 1 million iPad 2s this past weekend alone. While Apple has remained mum on the matter, aside from an official statement explaining that iPad 2 demand has been "Amazing", the iPad 2 is already off to a stronger start than the original iPad which didn't hit the 1 million sales mark until 28 days after launch.

Only Apple, at this point, is aware of how many units they've sold, but if the 1 million sales mark has already been reached, or if it will be reached very soon, expect Apple to issue a press release indicating as much shortly thereafter.

Per usual, the iPad was released first in the US with plans to move to an international launch a few weeks later - March 25th to be exact. The overwhelming demand for the iPad 2 domestically, however, calls into question whether or not Apple's iPad 2 international launch will proceed as scheduled. The original plan called for the iPad 2 to go on sale in the following countries at the end of the month: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.

One country since removed from that list is Japan, who won't be seeing the iPad 2 as planned due to the tragic earthquake and resulting Tsunami that's caused a humanitarian crisis in the country. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris explained, "We are delaying the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan while the country and our teams focus on recovering from the recent disaster," .

Remember that the popularity of the original iPad prompted Apple to delay the international launch of the device for a month. Faced with a similar problem this year, Apple will once again focus on fulfilling US orders before shipping units abroad for sale.

An asteroid the size of a house swoops by Earth

2011-03-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

An asteroid the size of a house zoomed by Earth Wednesday, flying within the orbit of the moon just one day after astronomers spotted the space rock in the sky, NASA says.
The small asteroid 2011 EB74 was about 47 feet across and posed no threat of hitting Earth, since it was too small to survive the trip through the planet's atmosphere.
Instead, the asteroid passed our planet at a comfortable distance of about 203,000 miles when it made its closest approach at 5:49 p.m. EDT, NASA officials said.

For comparison, the average distance between the Earth and the moon is about 238,000 miles. The flyby of 2011 EB74 is about 0.85 Earth-moon distances, officials said.
Astronomers discovered asteroid 2011 EB74 Tuesday as part of the ongoing Catalina Sky Survey, a project based at the University of Arizona to seek out previously unknown near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.

NASA announced the asteroid's close flyby today on Twitter and via an online widget used by astronomers with the agency's Asteroid Watch program. The program aims to share news and updates about asteroids and other near-Earth objects with the public.
"At 14 meters in size, 2011 EB74 is NOT considered a potentially hazardous asteroid. Rocks this size would burn up in our atmosphere," Asteroid Watch officials wrote in a Twitter update.

The asteroid will likely be extremely hard to spot for skywatchers, unless they are seasoned amateur astronomers and have the right observing equipment, officials said.
"These objects are dark and fast, and usually require a sizable telescope to track," Asteroid Watch officials told one Twitter user.

Today's asteroid flyby is the latest space rock to fly near Earth this year. A car-size asteroid buzzed Earth on Feb. 14. A tiny space rock set a new record for the closest approach to Earth without entering the atmosphere when it zipped within 3,400 miles of the planet on Feb. 4.
Like 2011 EB74, neither of those asteroid encounters posed a threat to Earth.
More space news from MSNBC Tech & Science

One such effort, which uses a telescope called Pan-STARRS PS1 in Hawaii, set a new record this year when it discovered 19 previously unknown asteroids in a single night on Jan. 29.

The Near-Earth Object program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., tracks potentially dangerous asteroids and studies their orbits to determine if they pose a risk of hitting the Earth. The Asteroid Watch program is an outreach arm of that effort.

Central Banks Dump Treasuries As Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status Fades

2011-03-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

Demand for US assets, especially Treasuries, has been waning since the beginning of 2011, with central banks around the world increasing reserve accumulation while dumping the greenback. More signs that the dollar is dead as the world’s only reserve currency?

Nomura’s FX research and strategy team analyzed the latest numbers from the Treasury’s International Capital System. “It looks like the trend of weak central bank demand for USD assets is persisting into 2011 (after a very weak Q4),” wrote Nomura’s global head of G10 FX strategy, Jens Nordvig in an email. From November to January, central banks reduced their US dollar holdings by $9 billion; “given a fairly strong trend in global reserve accumulation over the period, this points to a declining USD reserve share,” noted Nordvig.

The US dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency has been called into question since the most recent financial crisis. A mounting deficit and a battered economy has led many to question why the US was given the privilege of owning the world’s printing press, giving it access to cheap financing, and ultimately causing extreme indebtedness. Last year, World Bank chief Bob Zoellick called for a return to the gold standard, while Chinese officials have been calling on the US to fix its finances so as to correct global imbalances. More recently, PIMCO boss Bill Gross noted that his fund would not be buying Treasuries as a D-Day would occur when the Fed’s asset purchases finish on June 30. A demand glut would ensue, as the Fed, which currently buys about 70% of Treasuries in the market, would cause a spike in interest rates and rattle markets. (Read Don’t Expect Any Big Moves After QE2, Says RBS Strategist).

Nordvig’s analysis points in this direction. Not only are central bankers accumulating reserves but dumping the dollar, even private investors seem to be shunning US assets. Private inflows into US assets, at $23 billion, came in at half the pace seen in Q4, with both Treasuries and equities showing weakness. Private investors dumped $12 billion in Treasury bills and showed weaker-than-expected demand for US equities. Meanwhile, US investors looked beyond their borders for returns.

On the other hand, private outflows into foreign securities picked up significantly in January ($23bn vs. an average outflow of $13bn over the previous six months). This is close to the outflow seen in October (a period we like to term the QE2 bonanza).

The US dollar used to carry an air of invulnerability with it, as investors flocked into the greenback in the face of market uncertainty or any sort of shocks. While 2011 has been, for now, a year plagued with shocks, the dollar has yet to stage a rebound, as its value continues to tank. While all sights are set on the day Bernanke’s Federal Reserve ends its planned asset purchases, it looks like the reign of the dollar has finally gone from monarchical to hegemonic.

Lack of information frustrates Japanese public

2011-03-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

TOKYO - The Japanese are losing faith in what the government is telling them - and they don't trust the power company very much either. On Wednesday, the governor of Fukushima said, "The anger and anxiety .. have reached a boiling point."
CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports the fallout from Japan's worst nuclear accident is growing panic and suspicion that the government and TEPCO - the Tokyo Electric Power Company - are not telling the whole truth. They established a 20-mile danger zone, but fear in Japan has spread much farther.

"I think the government is trying to hide something," Tokyo resident Chitoyo Toki said. Hidehiro Koyamachi added, "the Prime Minister and TEPCO say we are fine. But things keep happening that say we aren't fine."

Tokyo airports are crowded with the growing number of people taking flight. Jim Stevens, an American who was headed home to Iowa said, "We aren't aware of any communications from the Japanese government."

Complete Coverage: Disaster in Japan

TEPCO was established in 1951, just six years after the nuclear blasts that ended World War II. It's the 4th largest electric company in the world. It operates 17 nuclear reactors and often finds itself in hot water.

In 2002 top executives resigned in disgrace when TEPCO was found to have falsified reports and concealed accidents at nuclear plants 200 times over 25 years. Industry watchdogs say it's wise to be skeptical.

Hideyuki Ban of Citizen's Nuclear Information. said "TEPCO did not tell the truth in the past, and they're not telling the truth now."

Even Prime Minister Kan seems to doubt he's getting the whole story. Publically, on Tuesday he urged citizens to stay calm. Privately, he exploded, "What the hell is going on?" at TEPCO executives, who waited an hour to tell him of the first explosion.

Nuclear experts say this crisis is dangerous, unreliable information makes it worse. Bluce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation said the Japanese public, "is uncertain about the accuracy of the information and that is inhibiting and effective crisis response."
Events at Fukushima are unfolding so fast, TEPCO and the government may not know what's happening. Today people were alarmed when the government said radiation at the plant was so high, all workers were being evacuated. When levels dropped and workers returned, no one offered an explanation.

"Even we don't have the latest information," said nuclear engineer Kazuhiko Kudo. "It's not because TEPCO is hiding it - they don't have it."

The people of Japan want answers in this crisis. The lack of information is leaving them in the dark.

Ed Miliband could be PM within three years. Here’s how

2011-03-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

"I am not going to lie to you - it is bad," said the polling expert Paul Whiteley, of the University of Essex, at a fringe event during the Liberal Democrat spring conference in Sheffield. The party's best hope of recovery, he added, was to pick fights with the Conservatives and call for a slowing down in the pace of spending cuts.

The current analysis at Westminster is that the coalition is in no danger of breaking up, because the consequences for the Lib Dems could be catastrophic. If they left the coalition, they would open the way for a vote of no confidence in the Conservative government in the not-so-distant future. This would be followed by a general election, in which the Lib Dems, according to the polls, would lose half their seats.

But this argument for why the coalition will not break up holds good only for as long as the party and its activists believe that a worse fate awaits them if they leave the coalition than if they stay in it. And it appears that the Lib Dems are shifting on this.

Increasingly, it seems that the Lib Dems misinterpreted the message that the electorate gave them in May 2010. The message was that Labour must give up power and the Tories should take over as the main force in government - on the basis that the Lib Dems would keep them on the straight and narrow. Above all else, this meant that the Tories should not be allowed to give effect to the unchecked impulses of Thatcherism in their economic policy. Sound economic management had to be tempered by an understanding of the importance of community and by staying on the side of hard-pressed families who were in work, wanted to continue to be in work and wanted their children to grow up in a safe environment and with a reasonable chance of getting on in the world.

Clegg for mercy
Since then, the coalition has defiantly embarked on a deficit reduction programme that is even more unbridled than the cuts of the 1980s. Nick Clegg's pupil premium and the raising of the tax threshold so that some of those on low incomes pay nothing are drops in the ocean. Clegg's embarrassingly implausible speech in Sheffield underlined how exposed he is. He said that he was standing up for "alarm-clock Britain", denied that the coalition was a cuts government and attacked any council that made cuts for political reasons. When he blamed Labour councils for the cuts, his words felt like those of a drowning political leader clutching at a concrete-lined lifebelt. Advancing an argument that no one believes won't save him. The party's broken promise on tuition fees demonstrated how the Lib Dems are being pushed to the margins on the policies that matter.

The view put forward last May that they should let the Tories govern but not go into coalition with them was right. They could have set the terms of their support without being tainted, and changed those terms or withdrawn their support much more easily. Clegg's and Danny Alexander's enthusiastic espousal of the deficit reduction programme will blight the Lib Dems for a very long time.

The Alternative Vote (AV) referendum, which is scheduled to take place on 5 May, will play an important part in determining the timing of any Lib Dem divorce from the Tories. If the referendum is won by the Yes campaigners and the next election is to be fought on AV, it would be advantageous for the Lib Dems to delay the general election until after AV is introduced in 2015, under the terms of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act. But if the Lib Dems lose the referendum, there will be no reason to delay - the quicker they get out of the coalition, the sooner they will be on the road to recovery with the electorate. If people can't wait to be rid of the coalition, they should vote No to AV. In the event of an early election, following the collapse of the coalition, who would win?

It is difficult to guess the results of an election that may be two or three years away. Who could have predicted the outcome of the 2010 election in 2007, when Labour carried all before it, or in 2008, when the Conservative Party looked unbeatable?

Say no to AV
However, it is possible to identify what the electorate has been looking for recently. What it wanted in 2010 has been ignored. Instead of evolving into a centrist government, the coalition has been conducting its business in two separate compartments: Thatcherite economics, which the country rejected when it endorsed Thatcher's demise in 1992 and elected New Labour in 1997, 2001 and 2005; and the Lib Dems' constitutional reform programme, which seems irrelevant to the UK's problems.

Labour lost the 2010 election because of the behaviour of its leadership over a sustained period of time: there had been too much internal division, spin and bad-values politics. It was this that cost Labour, rather than the position it had taken on the central question of British politics - the management of the economy - a position of prudent economic management coupled with social justice. Prioritising enterprise and fairness: this is the position that the electorate urged on politicians last May. What the coalition demonstrates is that this cannot be delivered by the Tories, erust. So, Miliband could be prime minister sooner than many people tither alone or in combination with the Lib Dems.

That leaves only Labour. The polls and recent by-elections suggest that Ed Miliband's election as leader marked a watershed from the TB-GBs, the leadership that forfeited the country's think. And the way to achieve that is to reject his advice on AV.

Death of Google Gears Makes Cloud Backup Harder

2011-03-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

So long, Google Gears. It's a shame you weren't around long enough for us to know you better.

Gears has been in its death throes for some time--since 2009, in fact--even though, back in 2007, PCWorld called it our number one innovation of the year. And what about the software developers that flocked to it?

The hand of the Gears team has been pretty much forced because of the release of Firefox 4 and Internet Explorer 9, both of which will not be supported by the plug-in.

The good news is that the Gears code is integrated into Google Chrome and will stay there until version 12. (To utilize it for Gmail, click the Offline link within Gmail settings) The bad news is that, at the rate at which the Chrome team make new releases, it won't be very long until we reach Chrome 12. We came into 2011 using version 8, and versions 9 and 10 were released almost within a month of each other.

Pity poor Mac and Linux Chrome users, by the way. For various reasons, Gears never made it into their versions of Chrome, so they've been unable to automatically backup offline for some time.

Admittedly, Gears never worked very well--at least when it came to Gmail. The biggest problem I had over and over again was that Gears would be too eager, and would switch me to offline working when the connection wasn't too good. Sometimes I briefly checked Gmail to see if I had any new messages, and quit thinking I didn't, but later found-out I'd never actually gone online. However, these were teething troubles that could have been worked out.

According to Google, the solution is HTML5, which is starting to sound like the world's greatest panacea. Everything will be better when HTML5 arrives! Offline cloud storage! Web apps galore! Online video! No more Flash plug-in!

Except precious little of it is here right now.

According to Boodman, Google's been working "with our friends at Mozilla and Microsoft" to implement a couple of application programmer interfaces (APIs) that should allow the same functionality as Gears within HTML5.

Gears was only ever a temporary measure but its death feels just a little bit premature. Shouldn't the bullet have been put in the gun when Mozilla, Microsoft and others already had well-established offline systems in place?

In short, shouldn't the requirements of the end user have been put before the dreams of software developers?

Ultimately, we're drawn back to the issue of trust, which plagues cloud computing even though most vendors choose to ignore it.

The world has been turned on its head. While once it was a great idea to store local files offsite, nowadays we're expected to work 'offsite'--that is, online--but we demand local backups. We might never access the local backup but that's not the point. We want the peace of mind knowing it's there.

Cloud advocates point out that we live in an always-connected world, so offline backup just isn't needed, but that's simply not true. I can't see it ever being true. For example, I work in cafes from time to time, and roughly 50 percent have a Wi-Fi service. Otherwise I'm offline. Sometimes I can get a connection but it's flaky and prone to timing out, so working offline would simply make more sense.

Cloud providers are simply naïve if they believe anybody will have 100 percent faith in their services, at least at this stage of the cloud revolution, and killing off Google Gears is a genuine blow to cloud take-up. It's pretty clear that Google is oblivious to this.

So what's the interim solution for those who want to back up data in their cloud services? For Gmail, the best bet is to install an e-mail client and setup IMAP or POP3 access. Just make sure you run the program every week or so and have it grab all your e-mail.

For Google Docs, you can download all your documents in one fell swoop. I described how this can be done in my Google Docs Secrets feature. Alternatively, you can use an application like CyberDuck to connect to your Docs cloud space and manually download files.

Many cloud apps have some kind of backup feature if you look deep enough. The problem is they usually aren't automated, and therefore make it difficult to backup on a regular schedule

Can We Survive Energy Chaos?

2011-03-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

Just last week, Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economist who foresaw the recent worldwide financial crisis, predicted that a hike in oil prices to $140 would induce yet another recession among the developed nations. That price would be near its 2008 high. But given the slide in crude prices during recent trading days, looking for a return to that level in the near term is excessive. Or is it?

Before you answer, think about the precarious circumstances that now characterize our energy world. Let's begin with the perspective that, despite the first Arab oil embargo having occurred in 1973, the closest we've come to any sort of energy policy could be the current version, which may be distilled into a single sentence: We'll quickly replace fossil fuels with renewable sources, like wind and solar. That, of course, in anything less than multiple decades, is about as realistic as my crush on Sandra Bullock.

Beyond that, we're still feeling the effects of the BP (NYSE: BP) tragedy in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. You know all about that horrendous incident (everybody does), but what you don't know is when deepwater activity in the Gulf will return to its pre-accident pace (nobody does). What was perhaps most coincidental about the accident was its timing -- three weeks after the president approved new drilling off our nation's coasts.

Dribbling out permits
But that surprising concession didn't last long. In May, soon after the blowout of the Macondo well, the administration declared a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf. That halt was ended in October, although the first deepwater permit wasn't issued until February's final day. Although technically issued to the well's operator, Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL), BP's larger 46.5% interest in the well has been largely ignored.

The pokey pace of deepwater permitting is being contested by a federal judge's order, which has been appealed by the administration. A second permit, this one to Australia's mining behemoth BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), was actually issued on Friday. As with the Noble permit, it grants BHP permission to resume work on a well it had begun before BP's blowout. And like Noble, BHP will call upon Helix Energy Solutions' (NYSE: HLX) newly developed system and equipment in the event of a blowout.

Clinton weighs in
Coincidentally, BHP's permit was issued within hours after Bill Clinton spoke in a closed-door session at a Houston energy conference alongside George W. Bush. While the two former presidents surprised attendees by agreeing on a number of points, Clinton allegedly spoke against "ridiculous delays in permitting when our economy doesn't need it." Whether that characterization will help to pick up the permitting pace in the Gulf -- or in offshore Alaska, where Royal Dutch Shell's (NYSE: RDS-A) drilling plans are also being delayed -- is anyone's guess.

But offshore drilling, which primarily targets oil, isn't the only venue where the industry's plans are being increasingly challenged. As I told you late last week, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) CEO Rex Tillerson said during his company's annual analyst presentation that excessive state regulation of hydraulic fracturing in shale rock formations would prove detrimental to both the companies and their customers.

Since his company last year bought XTO, a leader in unconventional gas production, Exxon has become the nation's biggest producer in natural gas. And while it has declared its intention to increase its attention to oil this year, it's nevertheless active in virtually all of the nation's shale plays. Unfortunately for Exxon and other producers, leaning on the unconventional gas producers is hardly limited to state regulators.

A pair of fracking halts
For instance, while New York state has indeed put the kibosh on fracking, examiners in Pennsylvania, the current hotbed of the hydraulic fracturing production process, have said after extensive testing that treated water that has been used in fracking has at least met federal standards. Nevertheless, the Environmental Protection Agency continues to push for more testing. And beyond the U.S., Quebec's government has now halted fracking, pending more environmental studies.

But that's not all that's occurring to our north. At about 1.9 million Canadian barrels of oil per day coming into the U.S. -- half of which originates in the oil sands of Alberta -- our neighbors are also our largest crude suppliers. However, oil production from the Alberta sands is environmentally and technologically demanding, and therefore has become progressively more controversial. As such, a government-appointed scientific panel has decided that earlier research into the implications of the oil sands production was inconclusive and last week called for more studies into the issue.

Gadhafi's fighting back
Meanwhile, in a country that produces up to 1.8 barrels of crude per day, Moammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya have continued to push into rebel strongholds. How events will ultimately unfold in what has become a civil war in the country remains impossible to predict. But as each day passes, Gadhafi's stronghold becomes more pronounced, a state of affairs that likely isn't in anyone's best interest except the colonel's and his supporters'.

And then, as Monday arrived in the U.S., we learned that Saudi Arabian troops have entered Bahrain in an effort to quell mostly Shiite demonstrations in the island kingdom. I don't know about you, but my sentiments are not buoyed by the notion of forces from the world's largest producer of crude oil (which on Sunday experienced its own demonstrations after earlier efforts were thwarted by heightened security forces) becoming entangled in the region's percolating problems.

I could go on, perhaps noting another obvious energy twist: The prospects of the U.S. adding nuclear plants suffered a serious setback, given events unfolding in Japan. Beyond that, it appears that the keys for Fools amid our precarious energy circumstances are the inclusion of solid energy names in their portfolios -- Exxon and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) rank among my favorites -- and aid in the push for our first meaningful U.S. energy policy.

Mount Baseball Takes Pair at Maryland-Eastern Shore

2011-03-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Princess Anne, Md. (March 15, 2011)-The Mount St. Mary's baseball team swept a doubleheader at Maryland-Eastern Shore on Tuesday afternoon. The Mount rallied for an 8-7 win in 10 innings in the opener before posting a 15-4 victory in the nightcap.
Mark Quaranta provided the heroics in the opening game, tying the game with an RBI double in the eighth and knocking in the winning run with a double in the top of the 10th inning. Quaranta finished the game 4-for-6 at the plate with two doubles and two RBI for the Mount (5-6).

Trailing 7-6 in the top of the eighth, Sam Nott and Andrew Caron had back-to-back walks to open the inning. After Shane Eyler flew out, Quaranta doubled to left to plate Nott with the tying run. Caron was thrown out at home on the play trying to score the go-ahead run.

In the top of the 10th, Eyler singled with two outs and scored when Quaranta ripped a shot to right-center field to plate Eyler with the winning run.

Dan Horner picked up the win, tossing 5.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits with four strikeouts. Andrew Schrock was the starter, allowing seven runs in 4.2 innings.

Caron was 2-for-4 with three RBI while Tommy Flynn and Eyler added two hits each in the win.

UMES (1-14) scored single runs in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 advantage. The Mount rallied for three runs in the top of the third to take the lead. Tony Quaranta singled to open the frame. After a Flynn fielder's choice, Foster walked to put two runners on for Nott, who singled up the middle to cut the deficit to 2-1. Caron followed with a double to plate Flynn and Nott to give the Mountaineers the lead.

UMES tied the game in the bottom of the third on a James Newsome sacrifice fly, but Schrock got out of a bases-loaded jam to avoid further damage.

The Mount regained the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Winter walked and scored on a Zach Helman triple for a 4-3 lead. Michael Foster chipped in an RBI single and Caron a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 6-3.

The Hawks scored four times in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead. Franklin Armstrong had a two-run single to make it a one-run game before Trevon Johnson's two-run double gave UMES the lead, 7-6.

The Mountaineers wasted little time taking control in the second game, scoring eight runs in the top of the first en route to a 15-4 win.

Foster was 5-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBI to pace the Mountaineers while Flynn was 3-for-5 with five runs scored and a pair of RBI. Helman added a 3-for-4 game with three RBI while Mark Quaranta, Caron and Tom Healy each had a pair of hits in the victory.

On the mound, Karl Lamont allowed one run in five innings of work to pick up the victory.

Helman had a two-run single and Flynn a two-run double to highlight the Mount's eight-run first inning. The Mountaineers sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning, tallying six hits.

Mark Quaranta and Caron added RBI singles in the third to push the Mount's advantage to 10-1. Quaranta added an RBI double in the fourth and Helman an RBI two-base hit in the fifth to extend the lead to 12-1. After UMES scored three in the bottom of the sixth, the Mount rounded out the game by scoring three times in the top of the seventh. Foster had a two-run single in the seventh to complete his 5-for-5 game.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Friday with a 3:00 p.m. game at Wagner. It is the first of a four-game series that opens Northeast Conference play.

Heston’s Mission Impossible was predictably compelling

2011-03-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Working through a do-gooder celebrity chef cycle roughly four years behind Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal is currently trying to ensure the nation’s institutions provide better nourishment for their staff and customers.
If all goes according to plan, he’ll move beyond his normal field of expertise and into areas he knows nothing about sometime before 2015, so expect to see programmes with titles like Heston’s Dream Nuclear Reactor and Heston’s Ideal Space Exploration Programme soon.

This week, the chef tackled the state of meals in the navy, where food spend-per-head is identical to that of British prisoners. Just what possesses anyone – chef, seaman or otherwise – to climb aboard a naval submarine named HMS turbulent is quite beyond me, but anyway, off Heston went.

Disagree with this reviewer? Think they are spot on? Let us know your thoughts on Heston’s Mission Impossible in the reader comments below.

In fact, it was the officers who were most nervous of the mission. Despite the fact that they literally sleep amongst top-of-the-range torpedoes every night, the thought of going without their full English every morning was virtually incomprehensible for these sailors.

And there were severe limitations on the capabilities of the submarine kitchen, due to strict safety regulations. As one officer put it: ‘No liquid nitrogen and no sticking oranges inside chickens then burning them’.

Luckily, the tastes of the submariners appeared not to be sophisticated enough to include burnt fruit-stuffed fowl, but Heston did indeed have a mission on his hands, as he tried to boost the men’s brainpower with such meals as hay-smoked haddock with blueberries.

Following the standard Jamie pattern, Heston managed to overcome the obstacles in his path and with the ‘groundbreaking’ suggestion of using vacuum packed foods, he even won over the MoD.

The real question is: why does it take a flamboyant chef, whose previous claim to fame was being the inventor of bacon-flavoured ice cream, to suggest vacuum packing to one of the world’s most advanced defence organisations?

Source:
http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/reviews/858181-heston-s-mission-impossible-was-predictably-compelling#ixzz1GiLmSh71

Join Octane at Pebble Beach full exprience

2011-03-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

Octane is launching The Monterey Experience, an exclusive package that allows readers to enjoy the Monterey Auto Week to the full. It’s an inclusive package that includes luxury accommodation, tickets to the best events, and a personal auction preview at The Jet Center by our market expert Dave Kinney.

You’ll be staying at the luxurious Carmel Valley Ranch (above) for the duration of your time in Monterey, and the package includes tickets to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering, and The Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca. There will also be a wine-tasting event for all guests.

Full details are to be confirmed.

Giant Black Hole Looks Like 'Eye of Sauron,' Scientists Say

2011-03-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hobbits and orcs may exist only in fiction, but a real-life supermassive black hole has spawned a structure that looks strikingly like the evil "Eye of Sauron" from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" fantasy novels and the films inspired by them.
The black hole sits at the heart of a spiral galaxy called NGC 4151, which is 43 million light-years from Earth. This composite image stitches together data from several different telescopes, revealing a gigantic structure that astronomers say resembles the all-seeing eye of Tolkien's malevolent wizard Sauron. [See the black hole "Eye of Sauron" photo]
In the eye's "pupil," X-rays (blue) from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory mix with visible-light data (yellow) from the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope in the Canary Islands, which show emissions of positively charged hydrogen. The red around the pupil shows neutral hydrogen, detected by radio observations from the Very Large Array in New Mexico, researchers said.
The yellow blobs interspersed throughout the red rim are regions where star formation has recently occurred. [Images: Black Holes of the Universe]
A black hole outburst
The X-ray emission near the galaxy's heart was likely caused by an outburst powered by the supermassive black hole, researchers said. Scientists have proposed two different scenarios to explain the X-ray emission.
One possibility is that the central black hole was growing much more rapidly about 25,000 years ago (in Earth's time frame), researchers said. The radiation produced by material falling into the black hole was so bright back then, according to this theory, that it stripped electrons away from atoms in the gas in its path. X-rays were then emitted when electrons recombined with these ionized atoms.

The second scenario posits that material spiraling into the black hole from an accretion disk spawned a vigorous outflow of gas from the surface of this disk. This outbound flow then heated the gas in its path to X-ray-emitting temperatures, researchers said.
Both of these scenarios predict that an outburst has happened in the relatively recent past. They imply that periods of high activity are common, making up at least 1 percent of the black hole's lifetime, researchers said.
Learning from the Eye of Sauron

NGC 4151 is one of the nearest galaxies that contains an actively growing black hole. Because of this proximity, it offers one of the best chances to study the interaction between an active supermassive black hole and the surrounding gas of its host galaxy, researchers said.
Such interaction, or "feedback," is known to play a key role in the growth of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. If the X-ray emission in NGC 4151 originates from hot gas heated by the outflow from the central black hole, it would be strong evidence for feedback from active black holes to the surrounding gas on galactic scales, researchers said.
With the Eye of Sauron providing so much potentially useful information, perhaps astronomers will now scan the heavens for Gandalf's Staff, or the Mirror of Galadriel.

Hilton Hotels overhauls loyalty programme

2011-03-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

Hilton Worldwide, the luxury hotel business, is rebranding its HHonours loyalty scheme to encourage consumers to view the redeemable points as "experiences".

The HHonours programme, which runs across Hilton Worldwide's 10 hotel brands, will be positioned as an opportunity for consumers to obtain "unforgettable experiences" form the brand.

The loyalty programme's rebrand involves a new global brand identity, supported by an international advertising campaign, created by Publicis New York. The campaign will run in the US, Turkey, China, Italy and the UK.

The campaign uses the strapline "Hilton HHonours, a world of experiences worth sharing" and features print, online and outdoor activity.

Jeff Diskin, senior vice president, global customer marketing, Hilton Worldwide, said: "Hilton HHonors wants to change the way our members view loyalty programs.

"Our goal is to shift the conversation from earning points to creating memories, from being just about functionality to the human, more emotional and experiential side of travel."

Hilton HHonours claims to be the only guest loyalty programme that offers points and miles with a "no blackout dates" stipulation.

Brown Shipley sale collapses after regulator blocks Hinduja takeover

2011-03-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

The Luxembourg regulator has blocked the sale of KBL European Private Bankers, which owns Brown Shipley, to the Indian-based Hinduja group.

KBC Group, which owns KBL European Private Bankers, struck a deal to off-load its portfolio of European private banking businesses to the Hinduja group for €1.35 billion in 2010.

The deal was part of a re-structuring plan required by the European Commission and was scheduled to be finished by the third quarter of 2010.

It is not clear why the Luxembourg financial markets regulator, CSSF, blocked the deal, but KBC has said it is still committed to divesting KBL European Private Bankers.

Ian Sackfield, managing director of Brown Shipley, said: 'There is no real impact on Brown Shipley. We've not been basing our business on what Hinduja can bring. It's business as usual.'

McCain upbeat on Afghan war's progress

2011-03-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

With the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan offering Congress his first formal assessment of the war in Afghanistan, a leading Republican is asserting that the U.S. and its NATO allies are turning around the conflict.

Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that he is encouraged by progress in the war, although concerned that the fighting will become more intense this spring and summer.

McCain spoke at the outset of a hearing featuring testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, who is facing an impatient and frustrated Congress and an American public that has grown weary of the conflict.

Petraeus is balancing his troops' solid progress in combat with worries about Kabul government corruption, an expected Taliban resurgence this spring and the slow development of Afghan security forces.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

The Taliban's momentum "has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in a number of important areas," Petraeus said in prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press. He said that success, while fragile, will allow officials to recommend that the U.S. and NATO begin shifting control of several provinces to the Afghan security forces this spring.

He is warning, however, that the substantial military gains there could be jeopardized unless Congress provides adequate funding to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide economic development, governance and other civilian assistance.

"I am concerned that levels of funding for our State Department and USAID partners will not sufficiently enable them to build on the hard-fought security achievements of our men and women in uniform," he said in the testimony prepared for the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the Armed Services panel, said Petraeus will probably face tough questions about corruption in President Hamid Karzai's government as well as the ongoing struggle to get Pakistan to take on insurgents along the border.

Petraeus, who met with President Barack Obama on Monday, has made it clear that the U.S., Afghan and allied forces have been able to oust the Taliban from historical strongholds, particularly in the south. And he will probably begin to sketch out how the Afghan forces can slowly begin taking control in more stable locales as U.S. troops shift to still precarious regions.

"The situation on the ground will almost certainly be the most promising part of the story that Gen. Petraeus can tell," said Karl F. Inderfurth, a former senior State Department diplomat for South Asia. He said other difficult struggles will determine success, including the reconciliation process with more moderate Taliban, establishment of a more capable government and the effort to persuade the Afghan people.

A topic of continued debate will be the militants' safe havens along the mountainous Pakistan border, and Islamabad's reluctance to move into insurgent strongholds in North Waziristan - where senior al-Qaida leaders, including Osama bin Laden, are rumored to be hiding.

Members of Congress, meanwhile, will roll out a resolution calling for Obama to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan either in 30 days or no later than Dec. 31, 2011. While the measure has failed in the past and is almost certain to fail again, the debate will underscore Congress' impatience with the war in the face of increasing budget pressure.

Petraeus carries a lot of weight with lawmakers who give him a good deal of credit for turning around the war in Iraq and beginning the withdrawal of combat forces there.

He was last in the Oval Office in June, when Obama fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal and turned to Petraeus as an emergency replacement. Petraeus left for Kabul immediately and has made a point of staying out of the political spotlight until now.

Fans of going barefoot say the modern shoe is ruining our feet

2011-03-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

A QUARTER of the bones in the human body are found in the foot, 28 in total. Add to that 33 joints, more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments and you have a biomechanical masterpiece, designed perfectly for the job in hand. Or, rather, foot.
Yet for hundreds of years we've been trussing them up in ill-fitting shoes - heels, flats, trainers; all are doing more harm than good, according to the growing number of people who claim barefoot is best. Among them is Galahad Clark, of the Clark shADVERTISEMENT

oes empire, and sculptor Antony Gormley, who eschews shoes as a way of connecting with the planet. Matthew McConaughey, Ben Fogle and Jonathan Ross are all vocal in their praise of barefoot running.

There are online communities and blogs dedicated to the trend as both a lifestyle (www.barefooters.org) and sporting (www.naturalrunning.co.uk) choice, and proponents are nothing if not evangelical. They even have their own bible. Born To Run by Christopher McDougall tells the story of the Tarahumara indians of Mexico, who tackle epic 100-mile runs in their bare soles.

Germany has embraced the trend with barfussparks, where people walk about with bare feet, and Britain has dipped a toe in the water with a similar area at Trentham Estate in Stoke-on-Trent. But it is still a niche activity in this country. Wayne Cowpland, a recruitment consultant and keen barefoot runner, admits he gets some strange looks when he takes to Dundee's streets minus his shoes. "Lots of people think I'm odd. I just make a joke of it."

It was a recurring heel injury - plantar faciitis - that eventually encouraged the 44-year-old to give up his trainers for good. "Once you get it you can be plagued for three or four months," he says. "I tried different trainers, then I had orthotic soles, which helped me to run but didn't cure the problem."

He grew convinced the modern-day shoe was to blame for his injury. "There is a lot of cushioning in the heel and it just makes you lazy; rather than running on the forefoot you run on the heel and that sends more shocks through the ankle and up through the knee."

Since taking up barefoot running he has been out in the snow, on gravel - even rock salt. "I started doing 100 yards, then 200. The easiest way is to run on a smooth Tarmac surface, like a cycle track. Once you've done 100 yards your feet will get sore and you'll know to put shoes back on."

The only injury he's had in eight months is a splinter and a small cut from some glass. "That was in Singapore," he said, "and I was just lazy. The pavements are so clean there I wasn't looking for anything. Normally you're constantly looking down and up."

The soles gradually thicken - "you can grow up to 1cm of fat on the bottom of your feet" - and become like soft leather.

Why Everyone Wants a Girl

2011-03-14T16:56:00.001-07:00

What is it about girls that everyone wants one? I am sure, on the back of the news that Victoria Beckham is having a girl after three boys, there are many women who are green with envy. It used to be we all wanted boys – they fight wars, earn money, protect us when our menfolk are away. But we’ve all moved on from that. Now, all anyone wants is a girl. I hear it all the time, pregnant women who tell me they are hoping for a girl. 'I just wouldn’t know what to do with a boy,’ they say.

I know how they feel for I have three boys and one girl. When I had my first son Raymond 14 years ago, I was convinced he was a girl. I couldn’t imagine myself having a boy. When I called my mother after giving birth to tell her I’d had a boy and not a girl she said, 'Oh dear. I hope you’re not too disappointed.’ But I adjusted. I just assumed the next one would be a girl.

But it wasn’t. It was Leonard, now eight and the one after that was Jerry, six. It was only when I’d persuaded my husband to try for a fourth that I decided to get a bit more proactive about getting a girl. I went online and got a kit. I took my temperature on a daily basis, changed my diet, and finally got a girl. The day the doctor told me I cried for joy for hours on end.

But why did I want one so? Why do women such as myself and Mrs Beckham become so desperate we will continue to have children and go to all sorts of extreme lengths, just so we can put the pink balloons out?

For me, it’s partly probably to do with the fact that I have such a close relationship with my mother. I know boys love their mothers. I know my boys adore me, and at the moment, I am their only shining light of womanhood. But one day some other person is going to come along and take my place and then...they will go. Not in their entirety but away they will sail off in to a land of love and possibly paternity and all I will be is mother-of-the-groom and granny-once-removed. When children come along I shall have to bite my tongue and be secondary in the pecking order to the Other Grandmother.

But a girl…oh girls don’t go! Girls are so nice to their mothers. They ring them and talk to them and care and share with them. I adore my mother. We have great fun together. The thought of not experiencing that relationship with a daughter of my own made me desperate for a girl.

But there are other things; I am not a particularly 'girly’ person but even I cannot help but feel entranced by little girls’ clothes. There was a long standing joke in my family about how, every Christmas, I bought my endless amount of nieces beautiful clothes. Apparently I used to hand out these presents with a great look of yearning in my eyes. Now, despite my supposed hatred of shopping, my daughter and I career round the shops picking up little pairs of sparkly shoes.

There is also something that is, for me, more intellectually satisfying about a girl. My brother, who is very intellectual, said he only ever wanted girls as girls interested him mentally more than he thought boys ever would. He has three daughters now and is very happy. It’s true that I find my daughter more complex than my sons, even though she is just four. In some ways she is easier. She understands that she can’t run screaming round the library, a concept the boys could never grasp. She can sit still on aeroplanes. She can behave in restaurants. She doesn’t want to destroy/climb/take apart everything. She even says things like, 'can I go to bed now?’ whereas I have to drag my three boys by their hair to get them upstairs, even when their eyelids have hit the floor.

In other ways she’s more tricky. She talks non-stop and spends her life asking endless questions. She also obviously mimics me – she plays with her hair and pouts when she looks in the mirror and the boys says, 'ooh, you’re just like mummy.’
I am sure the business brains surrounding the Beckhams already have dollar signs ringing in their eyes. A fourth football-loving Beckham boy would have been nice but nothing to write home about. But a girl Beckham? The marketing possibilities are endless. But I bet that’s not why Victoria Beckham wanted a girl. She just wants someone more like her than those boys and who can possibly blame her for that?

Netflix Meets Its Kryptonite

2011-03-14T16:24:00.001-07:00

Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has been able to vanquish more jealous exes than Scott Pilgrim.

The physical and digital movie rental service has sprinted to the 20 million subscriber mark, flicking off the threats of local DVD rental chains and tech giants with streaming intentions.

It has defeated fears of obsolescence stemming from restrictive release windows on new titles, major studios reluctant to feed Netflix's digital catalog, and the smarter wave of combatants aping Netflix's unlimited streaming buffet.

Even the mighty Superman had his kryptonite, though. In Netflix's case, its downfall may come at the hands of broadband data caps.

There's a slap for that
Broadband Reports is confirming that AT&T (NYSE: T) plans will top out at 150 gigabytes of monthly usage for DSL customers and a 250 gigabytes on U-Verse.

AT&T is tiptoeing into these restrictive waters. It won't begin hitting customers with a charge of $10 for every extra 50 gigs of monthly data they consume right away. The overage charges won't kick in until the third time that a customer is over the cap.

In other words, it's not some sinister Machiavellian move. Other broadband providers testing out usage caps have experimented with dramatically reducing bandwidth speeds when accounts max out, if not booting its biggest data hogs entirely. This has been going on for three years.

I still don't like it, and neither will Netflix, along with any other company relying on home-based Wi-Fi connectivity to make a living. Consumers behave differently when the meter's ticking. When it's no longer a brainless notion to stream Pandora, Hulu, or Netflix, value propositions start to deteriorate.

Two sides to every bandwidth story
AT&T is claiming that just 2% of its users will be affected by the move, with its average DSL customer only going through 18 gigs of data a month.

Cranking out supporting statistics isn't new for AT&T. It's exactly what it did when it nixed unlimited wireless data plans last year. AT&T claimed that just 2% of its smartphone customers were sucking up more than 2 gigabytes of data a month on its network.

However, here's where hypocrisy meets an ironic Nostradamus.

"Customers can also use unlimited Wi-Fi at home, in the office or elsewhere if available," AT&T pointed out during last year's press release that axed unlimited data plans for new smartphone customers.

Well, it's pulling that rug from users in a few weeks.

Not everyone was an incensed as I was during AT&T's original cap shoot. Some readers went on to comment how they didn't consume a lot of 3G data on AT&T because they switched over to speedier Wi-Fi at home.

"This is just the beginning," I wrote at the time. "The limits will begin to work their way through broadband providers, too. Once it becomes acceptable to sell broadband by the gigabyte, what will stop them from adopting similar pricing plans for home Internet users?"

Nailed it, huh?

Bait and router switch
This isn't some rant by some spoiled brat who thinks that he has a God-given right to unlimited data. I think a smorgasbord has every right to switch to a "food by the pound" dining establishment.

We've been hoodwinked, though. We've been buying netbooks, Wi-Fi tablets, and Web-tethered home theater appliances -- as well as subscribing to streaming video and music services -- under the value proposition that one broadband data plan can keep all of gadgetry connected.

Now every purchase is going to come with the caveat that we price in its actual data consumption the same way we count calories or buy a new car based on mileage rates. Netflix and Hulu Plus will be the initial victims, but then comes tablet leader Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) as well YouTube and Google TV parent Google (Nasdaq: GOOG).

We probably should have seen this coming a few months ago, when Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Netflix streaming partner Level 3 (Nasdaq: LVLT) were locking horns over peering agreements. The media played this out to be a net neutrality issue, but in reality it was more about who would pay the tab for heavier data consumption. Comcast? Level-3? Netflix?

How about you?

You may not go through dozens of Netflix streams a month, but odds are that you are going through more now than you did a year or two ago. Chunky data files are now working their way through the pipes to feed your TV, tablet, and iPod touch with rich multimedia. The 18 gigabytes of data that the average AT&T DSL customer is eating through a month will only ramp higher in the coming months, but the pace will slow now that taxicab meters are being virtually stapled to home routers.

The revolution isn't dead, but it will pay the price of consumption awareness.

Netflix Meets Its Kryptonite

2011-03-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

May corn was down 5 cents late in the overnight session. Outside market forces look mixed today, as weakness in equity markets clashes with a firm ton

2011-03-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

May corn was down 5 cents late in the overnight session. Outside market forces look mixed today, as weakness in equity markets clashes with a firm tone to precious metals and a weaker US dollar. There were 69 deliveries against the March contract overnight. Japan is the largest importer of corn, and traders see the damage done to livestock operations in the northern part of the country as a reason to suspect lower import needs over the near term. Some traders indicated a drop of nearly 8% in monthly import demand as a rough estimate. The USDA attache in China made significant revisions in production and demand for the past few seasons, which resulted in a drop of corn stocks of about 14 million tonnes. May corn closed 18 1/2 cents lower for the session on Friday and closed down 63 3/4 cents for the week. Heavy long liquidation selling emerged on Friday due to all of the uncertainty over the Japan earthquake. Some disruption in corn flow is likely, as Japan is the world's largest importer. Ideas that corn planted acreage is on the rise in the US and fears that the events of the past week could slow global growth added to the bearish tone. Drier and warmer weather for the next week for the southern and eastern areas of the US was seen as something that could help boost fieldwork for the 2011 plantings. While there is some clearer weather in the forecast for the this week across the Midwest, the 6-10 day and 8-14 day forecast models remain wetter than normal. The Commitments of Traders reports as of March 8th showed non-commercial traders were net long 387,460 contracts, a decrease of 25,478 contracts for the week. The aggressive selling trend is seen as a short-term negative force. Commodity index traders held a net long position of 394,140 contracts, up 3,877 for the week.

Gender stereotypes about math develop as early as second grade

2011-03-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

Children express the stereotype that mathematics is for boys, not for girls, as early as second grade, according to a new study by University of Washington researchers. And the children applied the stereotype to themselves: boys identified themselves with math whereas girls did not.

The "math is for boys" stereotype has been used as part of the explanation for why so few women pursue science, mathematics and engineering careers. The cultural stereotype may nudge girls to think that "math is not for me," which can affect what activities they engage in and their career aspirations.

The new study, published in the March/April issue of Child Development, suggests that, for girls, lack of interest in mathematics may come from culturally-communicated messages about math being more appropriate for boys than for girls, the researchers said.

But the stereotype that girls don't do math was odd to lead author Dario Cvencek, who was born and raised in the former Yugoslavia. "We didn't have that stereotype where I grew up," said Cvencek, a postdoctoral fellow at the UW Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. "People there thought that math went with girls just as much as it did with boys."

Cvencek and his co-authors wanted to examine whether American children have adopted the cultural stereotype that math is for boys during elementary-school years, and if so, whether they apply that stereotype to themselves.

Math self-concept – how much youngsters identify themselves with math, as in "math is for me" – has been left out of previous studies of the math-gender stereotype. Even though other studies using self-report measures show that boys and girls alike make the "math is for boys" linkage, the studies don't distinguish between whether girls simply know about the math-gender stereotype but aren't fazed by it, or are instead applying it to themselves so that it affects their identity, interests and actions.

The researchers used a computer-based categorization test, the Implicit Association Test, to assess how school children link math with gender. In adults, the test can predict actual math performance and real-world choices.

The adult test, developed by UW psychology professor Anthony Greenwald, also a co-author of the research, probes implicit self-concepts, stereotypes and attitudes. It captures stereotypes by measuring, for example, how strongly respondents associate various academic subjects with either masculine or feminine connotations. The stronger the stereotype is, the faster the response.

The UW researchers adapted the adult Implicit Association Test for children and used it to examine three concepts: - Gender identity, or the association of "me" with male or female. - Math-gender stereotype, or the association of math with male or female. - Math self-concept, or the association of "me" with math or reading.

The kids, 247 children (126 girls and 121 boys) in grades one through five in Seattle-area schools, sat in front of a large-screen laptop computer and used an adapted keyboard to sort words into categories.

In the math-gender stereotype test, for example, children sorted four kinds of words: boy names, girl names, math words and reading words. Children expressing the math-gender stereotype should be faster to sort words when boy names are paired with math words and girl names are paired with reading words. Similarly, they should be slower to respond when math words are paired with girl names and reading words are paired with boy names.

As early as second grade, the children demonstrated the American cultural stereotype for math: boys associated math with their own gender while girls associated math with boys. In the self-concept test, boys identified themselves with math more than girls did.

The researchers also used self-report tests and on all three concepts found similar responses to the Implicit Association Test.

"Our results show that cultural stereotypes about math are absorbed strikingly early in development, prior to ages at which there are gender differences in math achievement," said co-author Andrew Meltzoff, a UW psychology professor and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. Meltzoff holds the Job and Gertrud Tamaki Endowed Chair at UW.

Parental and educational practices aimed at enhancing girls' self-concepts for math might be beneficial as early as elementary school, when the youngsters are already beginning to develop ideas about who does math, the researchers said.

"Children have their antennae up and are assimilating the stereotypes exhibited by parents, educators, peers, games and the media," Meltzoff said. "Perhaps if we can depict math as being equally for boys and girls, we can help broaden the interests and aspirations of all our children."

HTC Thunderbolt 4G will be released at March 17th

2011-03-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

The HTC Thunderbolt 4G has been a highly-anticipated handset. From being the hot first 4G LTE mobile from Verizon Wireless it has become a mobile that always seems on the brink of release but never makes it to the stores. While those at Verizon might clutch onto straws and argue that they never promised a release date, it seems unfair to take pre-orders and then keep customers waiting endlessly.

At least some sorts of confirmation would be nice, but Verizon seems very hesitant on giving out a date. Every time you check their site, you get the same old “very soon’ line and by now the whole ‘dark clouds, lightning and thunderbolt’ spot on the site is getting a bit old and dull. But HTC Regional Manager has just let out what looks like the possible release date (once again) of the HTC Thunderbolt 4G.

The tweet indicates that March 17th will be the day that the Thunderbolt will finally hit store shelves. While earlier leaked internal mails also talked about the same date, we have gone down this road before and now are a bit skeptical about things. More so when the account that tweeted the date got deleted hours later.

While we would love to see the HTC thunderbolt 4G out as soon as possible, we are not so sure that we can believe these tweets and leaks from best Buy and HTC employees anymore. Again, an official date by Verizon (even if it the launch some time away) would be welcome.

5 Signs That Your Techies Are Being Poached

2011-03-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

CIOs may not realize how vulnerable they are to losing their best workers to these new opportunities.

"Salaries have been flat for a long time. IT budgets have been cut. Positions have gone unfilled, and people had to do extra work. You have a lot of disgruntled people out there who have been looking quietly for about a year, and now you're seeing a lot of hiring activity and a lot of opportunities out there," explains Alice Hill, managing director of Dice.com. "Employers have to be very vigilant in looking for signs that they are being poached."

In a February e-mail survey of 2,700 tech hiring managers, Dice.com found that 54% anticipate tech poaching will become more aggressive in 2011. Among the locales where tech poaching is the biggest threat are Silicon Valley, New York City and Dallas.
"There has been a lot of angel funding for startups. People who are toiling away in a bigger company, are now getting offered some interesting work to create what might be the next Facebook," Hill says.

For CIOs, here are a few signs that your employees may be job hunting:
1. They're taking single days or half-days off. And they're coming to work more formally dressed than usual.
2 They're getting current on their expense accounts.
3 They've updated their LinkedIn profiles, adding connections and recommendations from former colleagues and bosses.
4. They've posted their resumes on job boards.
5. They are making negative comments about the company on their personal Twitter or Facebook pages.

Gold rises as Japanese quake fuels risk aversion

2011-03-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

Gold price rose in Europe on Monday, recovering some of last week's one percent losses, as the impact of an earthquake in Japan added to upward pressure on the metal, driving prices towards recent record highs.

Spot gold was bid at $1,427.51 (886.1 pounds) an ounce at 12:12 British time against $1,417.70 late in New York on Friday, within sight of the record $1,444.40 it hit last week. U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose $6.00 to $1,427.80.

Oil prices tumbled, stock markets fell and the yen retreated from record highs against the dollar after the Bank of Japan announced a series of policy easing measures to shore up the economy in the wake of the disaster.

Thousands in Japan have been killed or displaced by the earthquake on Friday and subsequent tsunami.

"Japan is another risk element in a plethora of events which have been important in the minds of investors in the past quarter," said Deutsche Bank analyst Daniel Brebner.

"You have the Middle East/North Africa situation, the peripheral euro zone debt issues which seem to be re-emerging, there are questions with respect to China raising interest rates near term, and there are municipal issues in the United States, particularly on debt."

"This is all creating an environment where there appears to be support for precious metals, and gold in particular."

Rescue workers combed the region north of Tokyo for survivors and struggled to care for millions of people without power and water in what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has dubbed his country's worst crisis since World War Two.

Infrastructure was crippled across much of the northeast, cost estimates of the disaster leapt to as much as $170 billion and analysts said the economy may return to recession.

Premiums for gold bars in Tokyo jumped to their highest since February at $1 an ounce versus spot London prices, from zero last week, dealers said.

CRISIS POINT

"This new crisis adds to the geopolitical/oil crisis already in the background of global markets," said Societe Generale in a note. "This event may contribute to rising fears of inflation, and may reinforce central banks dilemma, between policy tightening and a wait-and-see attitude."

"No doubt in our minds this will reinforce the Fed's path to stay with their zero rate policy for some time in spite of the ECB," it added.

Elsewhere unrest in the Middle East and North Africa continued to spread, with a Saudi source saying 1,000 Saudi soldiers have entered the island state of Bahrain after protesters there took to the streets.

As Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's troops battled rebel fighters for control of the strategic oil town of Brega, France stepped up efforts to persuade world powers to impose a no-fly zone over the country.

Violence which has spread from Egypt and Tunisia across the Middle East this year was a major factor driving gold to record highs, and precipitated a spike in oil prices.

In Europe, analysts said they saw little reaction in the gold price from this weekend's agreement among European leaders to strengthen the euro zone bailout fund, a move designed to address the bloc's year-long debt crisis.

"From gold's perspective, Saturday's agreement represents a positive surprise that should help the euro but may in initial assessment present less immediate need for additional gold long exposure," said UBS in a note.

Among other precious metals, silver was bid at $36.12 an ounce versus $35.83, platinum at $1,760.50 an ounce against $1,778.50 and palladium at $754.97 against $757.

Future regulation plans are industry's 'worst nightmare'

2011-03-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

The proposed new regulatory structure is the industry’s “worst nightmare” and will lead to “intervention regulation”, according to a respected regulation and insurance lawyer.

The FSA's product intervention paper is also "quite a worrying statement for a regulator", Malcom Tarling of Coffin Mew added.

Speaking at the Protect Conference, Tarling, partner at the legal firm, explained that the successor to the FSA (the Financial Conduct Authority - FCA) will have a statutory obligation to promote competition and that the current regulator's product intervention paper was quite worrying.

Tarling told the conference: "Ladies and gentlemen your worst nightmares lie ahead."
"What's been proposed, I think, is product control by a regulatory body that will effectively take on all the legal powers of competition invested in the Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission.

"So as you design all your products to meet the future, be very sure that you totally understand all the rules that you're going to be working under, because never has a strategic understanding of regulators and their behaviour been more important, and I talk about behaviour as much as the content of the regulatory regime," he added.
Tarling also voiced his concerns about the FSA's product intervention paper in isolation, saying that in it the regulator acknowledged its previous approach to regulate the conduct of business had failed.

"The FSA now says that approach has not been effective in preventing waves of consumer detriment," he said.

"So it says it is going to change the whole way we live and operate the regulatory body by intervening early in the product to anticipate consumer detriment where possible and stop it.

"Now that's quite a worrying statement for a regulator before you start, but it could be understandable."

Tarling noted that there is an argument to make sure the products are the right sort of products before they reach the market because it may save a lot of tears after.
"But," he added, "the real questions may be, when and why would that early intervention be made (and that intervention may be a product ban) and how would it be justified? And who initiates all this and in what way?

"The FSA starting point really is quite worrying. The discussion paper focus is where undesirable products or practices have the scope to thrive because competition does not work."

Tarling concluded to COVER that: "Once you get into competition regulation with product intervention, it becomes intervention regulation."

You Tube boss wants to deliver a 'personalised channel' and repeat what cable did to the TV networks

2011-03-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

How do you fancy a video channel of your very own, tailored to your idiosyncratic likes and dislikes, with none of the distractions of your partner's preference for golf or cooking shows?

That is the part of the vision of the new boss of You Tube, Salar Kamangar, who became CEO in October after You Tube co-founder Chad Hurley left the company now owned by Google.
In a rare interview, Kamangar sat down with the San Jose Mercury News at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California to talk about the future of the third most visited site on the internet.
"We want to move YouTube from being a site that's organised around individual videos to one that's organised around sets ofvideos," he said.
"Think about that as channels, and you can think about that as two different kinds of channels.
"We want to deliver a personalised stream of videos for you that is specific to what you are interested in. That is one kind of channel -- the personalised channel."
The other kind of channel, said Kamangar, was more traditional. He pointed out that
in the early '80s, you had three or four TV networks. Today those three or four networks are responsible for just 25 percent of viewership: the cable networks are responsible for all the rest.
"When you think about the impact cable had, we think we're in a position to have a similar impact for video delivery," said Kamangar.

Right now, the fraction of traffic that is Web video is small relative to broadcast and cable, "but it's growing at a fast rate. What's amazing is that the Web enables you to build a kind of channel that wouldn't have made sense for cable, in the same way cable enabled you to build content that wouldn't have made sense for broadcast.

"You couldn't have done CNN with the broadcast networks; you couldn't have done MTV with the broadcast networks."
Kamangar was Google's ninth employee. He led the team that created AdWords, the search keyword advertising programme that remains Google's largest single source of revenue. He wrote the company's first business plan, started its early legal and finance functions, and helped found Google's product team.
Google bought YouTube, founded in February 2005, for $1.65 billion in November 2006. It was quite a buy! One year later, as the site powered ahead, it was estimated that YouTube consumed as much bandwidth as the entire Internet in 2000.
In May last year, more than 14 billion videos were viewed, a monthly figure bound to be substantially higher now. YouTube says 35 hours of new videos are uploaded every minute - around three quarters from outside the US .
About two years ago, Kamangar moved over to YouTube, becoming the video site's CEO in October.
Samangar talked about how YouTube fits into the rest of Google.
"We'd like to think of YouTube as a part of Google, with very overlapping goals and values. We're a fundamental part of the advertising business for Google. There is search and there is display and there is video. And when you think about where the big opportunity is on the advertising side, you think YouTube and video is a very large part of that.
"We are very integral to Google's strategic goals, but we're also able to do things in a way that makes sense for the YouTube brand and culture for users. We're trying to find the right balance -- the details matter a lot -- but I think what we're heading toward and what we benefit from is both being a space where we can think and run like a startup, and at the same time being able to draw on the great resources of Google."

Hat-trick for Piers Morgan as CNN zooms up in February figures

2011-03-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

CNN, fuelled by the Piers Morgan show and other initiatives, had the most growth of any cable news network in America last month compared to a year ago, according to new figures.

During February, CNN increased an impressive +55% Monday to Friday in the key 25-54 group(243k vs. 157k) while MSNBC grew only +8% (265k vs. 246k) and Fox News Channel lost viewers, decreasing -14% (575k vs. 666k).

In total viewers, CNN also had most growth in primetime up +31% (766k vs. 583k) vs. a year ago, MSNBC grew +18% (995kvs. 842k) and Fox declined -12% (2.322m vs. 2.649m).
Piers Morgan Tonight scored a hat-trick: up +50% in the demo 25-54 compared to a year ago (237k vs. 158k); up +21% in total viewers compared to a year ago (812k vs. 672k) and top-rated among younger viewers (adults 18-34), increasing +78% from a year ago (66k vs. 37k). MSNBC was down -21% (52k vs. 66k) and Fox declined -27% (60k vs. 82k).
In addition, CNN’S Anderson Cooper 360 overtook MSNBC at 10 pm in February and CNN topped MSNBC among total viewers for the first time since June 2010.
Throughout each hour of primetime (M-F), CNN posted big gains compared to a year ago. While CNN overtook MSNBC at 10 pm, the network significantly narrowed the gap with MSNBC at 8 pm and 9 pm compared to 4th quarter averages.

Source:
http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2011/03/13/19595-hat-trick-for-piers-morgan-as-cnn-zooms-up-in-february-figures-/?

The Pentagon’s Biggest Boondoggles

2011-03-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

As our government teeters on the brink of a shutdown, and Congress and the president haggle over spending cuts, the Pentagon budget should be scoured for places where significant reductions may be made. Not the handful of trims alluded to by Defense Secretary Robert Gates — $78 billion over the next five years, with these savings simply used to shore up spending on other acquisitions — but major cuts to systems that don’t work very well or that are not really going to be needed for decades to come.

Unworkable or unnecessary systems tend to have something in common: their costs are often uncontrollable. A 2009 Government Accountability Office study of 96 major defense acquisition programs found that almost two-thirds of them suffered major cost overruns — 40 percent above contract prices, over all — with average delays of nearly two years. Those overruns totaled close to $300 billion, about the amount of President Bill Clinton’s last full defense budget request a decade ago.

Listed below is just a sampling of what systems could be ended without endangering America; indeed, abandoning some of them might actually enhance national security. These cuts would generate only small savings initially — perhaps just several billion this fiscal year, as contracts would have to be wound down. But savings would swiftly rise to more than $50 billion annually thereafter.

And there’s plenty more where these came from.

New Trailer of THE SMURFS 3D

2011-03-13T05:16:00.000-07:00

As part of Hollywood’s ongoing campaign to exploit each and every story character and diversion of one’s childhood in some vacuous big-screen feature- often several times- always in 3D – the latest in these exercises in un-reconstituted capitalist greed is, belatedly, The Smurfs. That tribe of blue little people, who routinely alternate verbs, adverbs and nouns with the word “smurf,” and whom presumably, procreate exclusively via the sole female inhabitant of the tribe, Smurfette, who draws the attentions of the otherwise male population like a coquettish queen bee, will be hitting our screens in August.

A new trailer for The Smurfs Movie 3D has been released and shows us our best glimpse yet at the movie which finds our leads transferred to contemporary New York from their home in the middle ages. The characters originally created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo and subsequently immortalised by the Hannah Barbara series are now rendered in 3D and interacting with live action characters:

As ever their nemesis Gargamel (Hank Azaria) provides the sinister antagonist in a film which sees the big screen debut of pop star Katy Perry as the voice of Smurfette as well as featuring charismatic Scottish thespian Alan Cumming as Gutsy Smurf.

The film is directed by Raja Gosnell who has experience with CGI/live-action cross-overs at the helm of the Scooby Doo movies. The worldwide release is set to take place in the week of August 3rd and will be distributed through Columbia pictures.

Source:
http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/new-trailer-the-smurfs-3d.php#ixzz1GTvhaYH4

In Los Angeles: Waiting for the Tsunami

2011-03-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

As I drove my kids to school this morning on a beautiful spring-like Los Angeles day, the mood in the car turned foreboding as we listened to the BBC reports about the 8.9 earthquake that struck northern Japan. It was the most severe earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history and 1,000 times more powerful than the earthquake that struck Haiti last year. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Center issued a warning for California because of fears of a tsunami traveling east. I was happy we were leaving early and getting a quick before- school-breakfast at an (inland) bakery. It was now 7:18 a.m. We seemed ok. The first waves, if there were any, were predicted to hit California at 8:30 a.m.

But we wondered if we were exposed: We were driving south down the Pacific Coast Highway and to our immediate right was the ocean. The sea looked calm and the breaks in the ocean appeared normal, but I knew my kids' ominous thoughts about it. My seven-year-old son asked if anyone in Japan had died. Yes, I told him, people had perished. He also wondered if we were in the tsunami's path. We live near the beach and we drive by a sign every day that says "Leaving Tsunami Hazard Zone" and so my children are aware that some sort of danger can befall the Santa Monica area, a community that is familiar with all sorts of natural disasters, be it wild fires, mudslides, or earthquakes. The only natural disaster that seems to have missed Los Angeles, thus far, is a tsunami.

Living in California means living in the "ring of fire," the Pacific Ocean basin that is the home to the majority of the world's earthquakes. I have experienced my share of shakers, including the San Francisco Loma Prieta quake of 1989 and the Los Angeles Northridge quake of 1994. I remember the psychological impact of the Los Angeles quake, in which people were afraid to go back into their homes and slept in parks instead. It took several months to calm nerves, and some of my friends threatened to move away from the state. In the interviews I heard from Japan, I could hear the fear - brought about by uncertainty - in the voices. But there was also resilience, surprising given that the energy of the Japanese quake was the equivalent of 30 of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. according to Dave Applegate, Senior Science Advisor for Earthquakes and Geologic Hazards, U.S. Geological Survey. Applegate told some journalists on a conference call this morning that the quake was caused by significant rupture (180 miles long and 50 miles across) of the earth's crust. All reports said the Japanese were as prepared as anyone in the world. Applegate added, "Our lessons, from Haiti, from Chile, from Christchurch is that earthquakes don't come with a warning." This made me, momentarily at least, question where I have chosen to live.

Even after the National Weather Service issued a warning, it was tempting to go to the beach. My father is a geologist and I am not unaware of the dangers of moving tectonic plates, but Japan, after all, is 5,500 miles away. After dropping off my children at school, I went to the beach by Santa Monica. On the car radio, I listened to reports that northern California, particularly the area around Santa Cruz, had experienced damage to boats, marines and coastal roads. In San Francisco area beaches had been closed as a precaution. In Southern California, news reports out of Ventura County said water had receded - one sign of an impending tsunami - and the waves were bigger than normal. But, overall, the damage was light. The ocean could be hazardous for up to 12 hours, but there seemed to be a lack of fear here in California. The Santa Monica beach and beaches in Los Angeles County remained open. Representatives from federal agencies gave warnings, but, of course, the cautions didn't discourage beach-goes and surfers who were getting an early start on the weekend.
I looked across the Pacific, through a thin layer of smog, and imagined a surge of water coming toward me. But it felt unlikely that it would happen today.

Source: time.com

Competition: Win a family ticket to the London Pet Show

2011-03-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the London Pet Show, sponsored by Vanish, Click Liverpool have one family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) to giveaway for the event which takes place from 7 - 8 May at the National Hall, Olympia.

The show will be a pet bonanza packed full of hundreds of different breeds of animals, amazing live animal action displays and fun and informative talks and discussions.

There will be something for everyone as Olympia will come alive with hundreds of animals under one roof; from the cute and cuddly to the weird and wonderful. The show, which is the UK’s largest pet exhibition, will have five exciting zones packed with dogs, cats, small furries as well as exotics and aquatics.

In the Discover Dogs zone, visitors can meet experts on numerous popular breeds of dogs, from Dalmatians to Dobermans, and get advice from owners and breeders on choice of breed, care and training. The Cat zone will be another popular attraction, where visitors can get advice on the different breeds and also find the latest cat goodies and gadgets to buy. The London Pet Show will also be bringing ‘Cat Agility’ to the UK for the first time and an expert from the US will be flying in to host this exciting feature at the show! There will be a couple of cat ‘celebrities’ on show in the form of Blue Peter’s gorgeous Socks and Cookie, as well as grooming demonstrations and informative talks on different types of breeds.

For something a little different look no further than the Discover Exotics and Aquatics area where there will be the chance to learn about a host of pets including tarantulas, giant hissing cockroaches, corn snakes, bearded dragons and leopard geckos to name just a few!
Discover Small Furries will allow visitors to meet and stroke lots of different breeds of rabbits, plus guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters. There will also be talks and demonstrations on grooming and claw clipping, and a display of rabbit show jumping.
In the Discover Pets zone you will be able to purchase all sorts of animal products and there will be lots of fun activities for children. Head over to the theatre for informative talks by leading animal behaviourists and TV vets, including ITV’s ‘Zoo Vet’, Matt Brash. In the Animal Action Area you will be able to watch lots of fun and exciting activities, from dog agility displays, to ferret racing and fun dog training demos.

So if you are an animal lover, looking for a new pet, or simply looking for a fun filled day for all the family then our competition enter for your chance to win a family ticket to either day.

For your chance to win please answer this question: How many zones will feature at this year's London Pet Show?

Send your answer along with your name, age, address and telephone number to: competitions@clickliverpool.com

Competition will close at 9am 21st March.

The London Pet show are also currently offering a 20% discount off the standard ticket prices. The promo code for people to quote when booking is PETSHOWPR2.

Tickets can be booked on the website www.londonpetshow.co.uk, or via the hotline number 0844 873 7332.

Accidental beer set to take off as brewer plans to expand

2011-03-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

A FAMILY-BREWED beer invented "by accident" in the Capital is celebrating a huge expansion as it prepares to go on draught. Innis & Gunn, which was created unintentionally by local businessman Dougal Sharp, today announced a national roll-out at several pubs and bars following an "unprecedented" demand.

Mr Sharp, who lives on Slateford Road, discovered the beer when he was working as head brewer at Edinburgh's Caledonian Brewery. He had been flavouring a whisky with beer by leaving it in barrels for 30 days.

The beer used to flavour the malt, developed by whisky producers William Grant & Sons, was then thrown out as a by-product.

But one cheeky barrel worker decided to give it a taste and realised it produced a decent pint.

From making a few bottles in 2003, Mr Sharp is now looking to get the product on tap across Scotland before branching out to the rest of the UK.

He said: "It's gone mad since we first made it. It was meant to flavour a mature whisky, so we'd leave it in the barrels for 30 days, then throw it away. We hadn't really thought about what the barrel would do to the beer's taste, but one worker tasted it, perhaps a few times, and he said it was delicious. So we decided it was too good to throw away.

"The Caledonian Brewery weren't too interested, so I left my job and I can't say I've looked back. We've now investigated a significant five-figure sum of money into launching draught and have taken on two more staff."

He added: "We learn more and more about it as we go along, and experiment with the time we leave it in the barrel and using different barrels."

The 38-year-old independent brewer has reported an average of 60 per cent growth year on year since he began making it, going from 40,000 case sales in 2004 to 460,000 in 2009. It has a turnover of around £4.39 million.

So far Mr Sharp has secured 20 listings across the capital for the draught of Innis & Gunn.

All the beer used is brewed by Belhaven, in Dunbar, before being handed over to the warehouseman to oversee the maturation processes pioneered by the company.

Each variant in the range undergoes specific periods of maturation to impart a particular oak character on to the beer.

Producing the beer was originally a joint venture with William Grant & Sons, but he bought their half of the business in 2008 when they decided to focus on spirits.

Innis & Gunn is Scotland's largest independent beer company and the UK's largest specialty beer in the off-trade, trailing only renowned imports Leffe and Hoegaarden in volume sales.

Source:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Accidental-beer-set-to-take.6732296.jp?

Scrapping the fuel duty rise will hurt Britain economically

2011-03-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Even if like me you don't spend a lot of time behind the wheel, you can't ignore the cost of fuel. According to AA figures released this week, it's now averaging at just over 132 pence a litre. With the situation in Libya deteriorating and the pressure for reform across the Middle East meeting fierce resistance from other absolutist regimes, costs could rise further. Add in the growing threat from dwindling reserves and peak oil, and it's clear that the long-term trend in oil prices can only be to go upwards.

Some voices have argued for a fuel stabiliser to fix the price of fuel, so as to insulate motorists from fluctuations. But that would be economically irresponsible. Governments have historically found it incredibly tough to guess the right price of anything – and working out a stable price at which fuel prices should be kept is no different. What price do you stabilise petrol at, when the trend in the global oil prices for the past two decades has been upward? And even if it did work, lowering duty as crude prices rise would effectively mean that the government was subsidising the cost of oil.

Others have argued for a discount to offset fuel duty increases for remote rural communities. Attractive though this sounds in principle, it would be both hard to target and expensive to administer. Furthermore, given only about half of the 20% of people on the lowest incomes drive cars, it would not be the most progressive way of helping those who need it most.

More effective would be measures to address the cost of heating fuels. The rural poor who are off the gas grid are amongst those suffering the very worst of fuel poverty, and far more generous grants are needed to make their homes more energy efficient, and to promote a shift to micro-renewables. Abolishing standing charges and legislating to make energy companies charge more, rather than less, for each extra unit of power consumed – so that the households using the least energy pay the least per unit cost – would also make a significant difference.

Some of the loudest voices are calling on the chancellor to scrap the planned fuel duty increase, due in April. But that essentially means using tax-payers' money to fix a problem that we cannot control – the long-term upward trend in oil prices. And it would result in a significant drain on public finances. A report commissioned from the Policy Studies Institute for the Green Alliance calculates that using a fuel duty cut to bring pump prices back to December 2009 levels would cost the taxpayer almost £6bn in the first year alone.

The fuel duty rise is in part a result of the fuel duty escalator, a mechanism reintroduced by Labour in 2010, which raises the price of fuel by a small, regular and predictable amount – a proven and effective way to reduce fuel use and carbon emissions. It gives motorists and businesses a clear incentive to reduce their fuel consumption – changing their travel patterns, for example – but also allows time to make that adjustment.

First introduced by the Conservatives in the 1990s, the fuel duty escalator helped reduce UK carbon emissions significantly until it was scrapped by Labour in 2000. The Policy Studies Institute has shown that if the Labour government had stuck with its escalator policy of a 6% above inflation rise every year, the subsequent reduction in demand over the last 10 years would have lead to a 5.4% reduction in total UK carbon emissions. Not only that, but an extra £100bn of tax would have been collected by 2010.

That's why it would be wrong to scrap the fuel duty escalator. The sooner we accept that higher fuel prices are here to stay, the sooner we can adapt our behaviour. Raising fuel duty by 8% a year would send a clear signal that we can't carry on as we are.

But we must also recognise the very real hardship that many people now face as they struggle to contend with the proposed duty rise and the rise in VAT, at a time of increasing unemployment and savage public spending cuts.

So to ease the severe financial strain and put money back into the pockets of the poorest, the Greens would scrap the recent VAT increase – which is set to cost the British public £12.5bn. The reduction in general tax take from reducing VAT could be met by a combination of a Robin Hood tax, a measure this week endorsed by the European Parliament, and a serious crackdown on tax evasion and avoidance, as well as additional levies on huge bankers' bonuses.

There is no doubt that, as long as we depend on oil for fuel, we face a permanent energy crisis which makes us all vulnerable. It shouldn't take an emergency situation in Libya for the government to realise this. And when it comes to adapting our lifestyles to reflect the realities, what we need from government is urgent action that is both socially just and environmentally sound.

Emergency of Nuclear in Japan

2011-03-12T20:55:00.000-08:00

This week's earthquake in Japan has triggered an actual nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant. According to IAEA, the explosion earlier today originated in the Unit 1 reactor building and was not the result of explosive breach of the primary containment. One character interviewed on CNN called it a six sigma event.

If memory serves, water dissociates at ~2300 C. The cracking of coolant water by overheated fuel elements would result in the generation of noncondensable gases (H2 and possibly O2) that would add to the pressure excursion. Venting is the only option at that point. This was an issue at TMI. The explosive concentration range of hydrogen is very wide.

IAEA goes on to say that Units 1,2,and 4 are experiencing increased pressure, but Unit 3 is in a safe cold shutdown condition. Tokyo Electric Power Company received permission to inject boronated seawater into the Unit 1 reactor.

This is very ominous news. Plainly, if the cooling loops were dumping enough energy out of the reactor they would not inject corrosive sea water into it.

There is a lot of talk about a meltdown. As of this post, nothing has been disclosed about the actual state of the Unit 1 reactor core. There has been no word on the state of the fuel elements or the state of the coolant loops. I assume that the reactor design has a negative reactivity coefficient that will attenuate the reactivity with water coolant loss or void space formation. The link on reactivity coefficients delves into a number of interesting and perhaps not-so-intuitive effects on reactivity during an upset condition.

The Quake Shifted Japan?

2011-03-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

Alan Boyle writes: Earthquake in japan this week caused the main island of Japan to shift as much as 13 feet to the east, seismologists say. For some people, that may sound like a weird thing, but it just one of the natural changes that come along with an 8.9-magnitude temblor — like the 1.6-microsecond speed-up of Earth's daily rotation and the 4-inch shift in Earth's axis.

The eastward shift was documented by Japan's Geonet network of GPS monitoring stations, based in Tsukuba, said Ken Hudnut, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program in Pasadena, Calif. Similar shifts took place during last year's 8.8 earthquake off the Chilean coast, as well as the 9.1 earthquake near Sumatra that caused a disastrous tsunami in 2004.

"It's the same phenomenon in all three cases," Hudnut said. The movement is linked to the release of the strain that builds up when one tectonic plate grinds against another in a subduction zone.
"What's going on is that the plate going down drags along with it the upper plate as strain is stored in between earthquakes," he explained. "When the earthquake occurs, the upper plate lurches eastward over the subducting plate. The oceanic plate that's going down is relatively rigid, but the upper plate is like a wedge of material that's more elastic. So picture that upper wedge as being almost like an accordion that's being compressed between the times of earthquakes. It's like a spring. You're loading up the spring between earthquakes — in other words, you're compressing the eastern edge of the spring toward the main island of Japan. the earthquake allows that material to spring out toward the east."

Japan's network of 1,200 GPS monitoring stations, operated by the Geographical Survey Institute, shows a maximum springing-out effect of 13 feet (4 meters), with an average displacement of about 8 feet (2.5 meters) along a stretch measuring more than 300 miles (500 kilometers).

Everything that links GPS readings to maps, ranging from navigation devices to property records, will have to be changed as a result of the shift, Hudnut told me. "Their national network for property boundary definitions has been warped," he said in a follow-up e-mail. "For ships, the nautical charts will need revision due to changed water depths, too (of about 3 feet). Much of the coastline dropped by a few feet, too, we gather."

We're starting to get pictures from space that document how the coastline has changed due to the earthquake and the tsunami. The NASA photos above show the coastline around the city of Sendai, which was one of the hardest-hit areas. The left photo was taken on Feb. 26 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, or MODIS, aboard NASA's Terra satellite. The right photo was taken today by the same instrument. You can see that wide stretches of the coast are still flooded, in part because barriers erected at the coastline's edge are now keeping water in rather than keeping it out.
Other satellite pictures, distributed by Google, provide a closer-in view of the devastation caused by the tsunami. In each of the before-and-after sets below, the left picture was taken before the earthquake and the right picture was taken afterward. Check out Google's blog posting and this Picasa Web album for additional before-and-after earthquake imagery.

Deadgirl 2: Could a sequel to the controversial horror thriller ever get made?

2011-03-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Could a sequel to the controversial horror thriller Deadgirl ever get made?
The film -- about two teenagers who discover a zombified naked girl in the bowels of an abandoned mental institution and lose their moral compasses in the process -- first screened at the Toronto film festival in 2008. Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel directed the grimy black script from Trent Haaga.

I just heard at SXSW that Haaga has written a screenplay for a sequel in response to the backlash from women who found the film misogynistic. This time? It's girls who find a naked guy. Presumably, they make different choices than the guys did in the same situation, but here's one instance where a sequel could actually help further define and illuminate the issues raised in the first film. Maybe it would give Deadgirl new dimension.

The likelihood of it being made is low, of course, but then maybe that's because it wasn't disturbing enough.
Tom Six is about to unleash the sequel to The Human Centipede (First Sequence), which plays out one of modern genre cinema's most wretched plot concepts. (Somehow, I've seen this film twice.) Unfathomably, Six promises to top it with The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), which IFC Midnight will shove toward us later this year.
Perhaps Haaga should send his script to Six's agent.

Wii crossed 35 Million Sales in US

2011-03-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

According to the NPD Group, Nintendo’s Wii console has passed the 35 million sales mark in the United States. More than 454,000 Wii consoles sold in February to put Wii across the 35 million mark faster than any other console in U.S. history.

February proved to be a notable month for Nintendo software as well. Not only was Just Dance 2 from Ubisoft the No. 1 best-selling game of the month with more than 554,000 sold, but four Nintendo games reached new sales milestones. Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii console, which launched in November 2010, crossed the 2 million mark in February, while New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which launched in November 2009, just crossed the 8 million sales mark.

On the portable side, the Pokémon SoulSilver Version game for the Nintendo DS family of systems launched in March 2010 and crossed the 2 million sales mark in February, while the New Super Mario Bros. game, which launched in May 2006, just passed 9 million in sales. These milestones further demonstrate the “evergreen” nature of games that play on Nintendo systems.

For more information about Nintendo, visit www.Nintendo.com.

Body talk: Otherwise engaged, Simon?

2011-03-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

You’re engaged to one of the world’s most eligible hunks. Which of the following would you prefer:

a) His diamond ring on your finger?
b) His attention?
c) Both?

I hope you said ‘c’ because it’s not too much to ask, is it? Here we have the enigmatic MEZHGAN HUSSAINY (who will soon be qualifying for the world’s best poker-face award, given that she always seems to be sharing her man with a flotilla of his exes), looking drop-dead stunning as she presses her torso into Cowell’s side. But she is looking away tactfully while he donates his attention to a rather vulnerable-looking CHERYL COLE.

With her legs and arms leaning towards Cowell, Mezhgan is doing her best to turn this into a togetherness pose, but take a look at his hands. While Cowell’s ‘Cheryl’ hand is plonked on his thigh in an uber-masculine gesture, his ‘Mezhgan’ hand is like a shopping trolley, holding a drink and a phone, turning what should have been a tie-sign touch opportunity into a hands-off barrier. (Do I need to point out the Freudian aspect of that bottle? Added to the macho leg-splay, Simon could hardly ooze more alpha confidence.)

If that ‘Mezhgan’ hand were nestled into hers, his eye-gaze could probably wander wherever and we’d still go ‘ah’, but with the hand barricade in place he’s turned his attention to Cheryl, their eyes locked in a conversation crafted for two. Of course, there’s no hint that he’s paying the divine Ms Cole anything other than professional/friendly interest, but it’s attention all the same, with no bonding signals to show who he’s really attached to.

Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1365053/Body-talk-Otherwise-engaged-Simon.html#ixzz1GR5buTPd

Upgrades Android Gingerbread 2.3 App of Bambuser

2011-03-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

Last year Bambuser was still in its infancy when we tested it back in May and we still thought it rocked. The Swedish based team has just updated their Android based app with a new interface complete with new features. The update is aimed at handsets running Android Gingerbread 2.3, allowing owners to utilize both the front facing and rear facing cameras.

The updated app has improved video compression which although didn’t hinder performance before results in smoother delivery of live video on newer handsets like the Nexus S. Users can stream live video to friends or anonymously over the Bambuser Network, you can even embed the service on Facebook. It’s proving to be a popular way to share experiences, especially now the kinks have been ironed out.

Recently the service has been used in Libya by people wanting to get their messages out to loved ones oversees, sadly the government cut internet ties last month which stopped Libyans communicating over the internet, including using Bambuser. Other recent uses include live coverage of the shocking Tsunami in Japan and in a happier use at London Fashion Week. Whatever the use it’s plain to see that live video streaming is growing in popularity which is why advancements in Bambuser’s Android and iOS apps is very good news indeed.

Do you use Bambuser and if so how have you used it?

Considers of 41 Schools Turning Into Charters in Detroit

2011-03-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

The Detroit Public Schools's emergency financial manager presented a plan Saturday to turn nearly one in every three schools into charter schools as part of a bid to save the district millions of dollars and prevent massive school closings.

The 41 schools selected for independent control currently enroll about 16,000 of the district's 73,000 students and would operate as public school academies starting as soon as this fall. The district expects to release a list of the schools this week and solicit proposals for their transfer.

Recently the district led by a state-appointed manager overseeing a total of 142 schools has explored modeling Detroit on post-Katrina New Orleans, where a shrunken district was remade with mostly charter schools.

Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager, said in a news release Saturday that the charter-school plan would reduce operating costs by $75 million to $99 million, but did not say over what period of time any cost savings would be realized.

The original deficit-elimination plan approved last month called for closing 40 schools next school year, which would have saved the district $28 million, according to Steve Wasko, a district spokesman. The plan also calls for shuttering another 30 schools in 2012.

He said a similar estimate for savings associated with transferring 41 schools to charter control has not been completed.

Among the schools under consideration to become charters would be those in the district with the worst academic performance. Those schools which have not been recently restructured or received large capital investments would also be eligible.

Even as charter schools, they will continue to be neighborhood-based and required to serve students first from the surrounding areas as well as special-needs youngsters, according to Mr. Wasko.

Mr. Bobb presented his plan to the district's school board at a finance workshop Saturday morning. He attributed the savings in part to the money not spent to close and secure schools as well as funds collected from leases to charter organizations.

On the flipside, the district, which has been losing students for years, would also miss out of state revenue for students attending charter schools. The district receives about $7,660 in state aid for each of its students plus additional federal funds, Mr. Wasko said.

School board president Anthony Adams could not be reached for immediate comment.

"I don't want to speak for the board members, but I would describe the reaction as overwhelmingly positive among the board's leadership," Mr. Wasko said Saturday afternoon.

Currently the school board still controls the district's academics and would need to approve the charter-school plan. But that could change as the Michigan state legislature is considering expanding the power of emergency financial managers in the state.

If a selected school does not receive a qualified proposal, Mr. Bobb said, the school will close and its students transferred.

The plan comes in the wake of the announcement in February that Detroit would have to close about half of its public schools and increase the average size of high-school classrooms to 60 students over the next four years to eliminate a $327 million deficit.

But on Saturday, Mr. Bobb did not present a single plan to reduce the deficit, even with the newly chartered schools.

Instead he outlined several options. One would split the district into two entities to help retire its debt, along the lines of the government-engineered bankruptcy of General Motors.

Another option would hold the district harmless against revenue loss from declining enrollment for a period of time while additional financing is sought. During that time, the cuts required by the state-required, deficit-elimination plan would be put on hold.

Under a third option, a system more dependent on charter schools would replace the existing public school system. Additional options would blend aspects of all three plans, according to Mr. Bobb.

The plans have yet to be presented in detail and Mr. Wasko said they hope to be completed by June.

The deficit-elimination plan was submitted in January by Mr. Bobb and approved by the state in February as a last-ditch scenario if the district couldn't find new revenue sources, which it hasn't so far.

Mr. Bobb has said the deep cuts were necessary if the district hoped to be solvent again without additional state aid. But he said the strategy was ultimately ill-advised because it will likely drive even more students away, depriving the district of needed state funds, which Michigan apportions on the basis of enrollment.

Mr. Bobb is now moving to shrink the district as enrollment is expected to decline to 58,570 students by 2014 from about 73,000 students today.

Frustrated by the extended outside rule of the district's operations, the school board recently regained control of the district's academics through a lawsuit. It has also sought an infusion of funds from the state and an end to outside control of the district.

Mr. Bobb arrived two years ago and has agreed to stay through the end of June while Republican Gov. Rick Snyder considers a possible replacement.

No Sleep for One Night Burns 135 Calories

2011-03-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

Doing something without sleep for a night needs the same amount of energy as walk for two-miles, say scientists.

Losing a night’s rest burns 135 calories – like eating two slices of bread or drinking a glass of milk.

But sleep deprivation is not a way to lose weight. It actually means we store more energy while asleep than was thought, say US researchers.

Most studies link chronic lack of sleep to weight gain. Sufferers feel lethargic, making them more likely to eat when they aren’t hungry.

The study at Colorado’s Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory found young adults used seven per cent more energy when they were forced to go 40 hours without sleep.
In contrast, they used up less energy in the recovery period which included 16 hours of wakefulness, followed by eight hours’ sleep.

Professor Kenneth Wright said: “The amount of energy storage needed to explain the obesity epidemic is 50 calories a day, so the finding is meaningful.”

Source:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/234048/No-sleep-burns-off-135-caloriesNo-sleep-burns-off-135-calories#ixzz1GL8Iw5I5

Real Change For Better Andy Murray Motivation

2011-03-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

WHILE Novak Djokovic was out carousing after winning the Australian Open final – he had sung himself hoarse by dawn – Andy Murray spent half the night in a huddle with advisers and confidants, deconstructing the loss and assessing its implications.
As far as Murray was concerned, this was a major step forward.
The previous year he had lost the first Grand Slam final of the season to Roger Federer and the defeat sent him into a flat spin. He did not know quite what it was that ailed him, but he played “garbage” – his own term – for months afterwards and had no motivation to push himself in training and practice. This time, though, it was different.
“The night of the Australian Open final, when I lost, I was up until 4.30 in the morning and I felt good,” said Murray. “I was disappointed but I was happy that I was able now to talk properly about the match and what I need to improve, look at things differently to how maybe I would have done in the past, so I was happy.
When you get close to something it can be difficult to motivate yourself
Andy Murray
“Last year it took me a long time to start playing well again. That was obviously something I didn’t want to happen again.
“When you get close to something it can be difficult to motivate yourself but that hasn’t been a problem this time, so it’s just dealing with what happened better this year.”
Murray certainly seems happy as he prepares for his opening match at the BNP Paribas Open in California.
A slight wrist injury has limited his play to just one singles and three doubles matches since the Open, but in the past few weeks he has practised with Britain’s Davis Cup squad and spent 10 days training at his base in Miami. The time off has helped him to hone his game and make what he hopes will be important improvements. Today he will show off those changes as he takes on Donald Young, the world No143 from the United States, in his opening match in the Californian desert.

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/234058/Andy-Murray-s-motivation-is-a-real-change-for-better/Andy-Murray-s-motivation-is-a-real-change-for-better#ixzz1GL7If41m

Accidental beer set to take off as brewer plans to expand

2011-03-11T16:04:00.000-08:00

A FAMILY-BREWED beer invented "by accident" in the Capital is celebrating a huge expansion as it prepares to go on draught.
Innis & Gunn, which was created unintentionally by local businessman Dougal Sharp, today announced a national roll-out at several pubs and bars following an "unprecedented" demand.

Mr Sharp, who lives on Slateford Road, discovered the beer when heADVERTISEMENT

was working as head brewer at Edinburgh's Caledonian Brewery. He had been flavouring a whisky with beer by leaving it in barrels for 30 days.

The beer used to flavour the malt, developed by whisky producers William Grant & Sons, was then thrown out as a by-product.

But one cheeky barrel worker decided to give it a taste and realised it produced a decent pint.

From making a few bottles in 2003, Mr Sharp is now looking to get the product on tap across Scotland before branching out to the rest of the UK.

He said: "It's gone mad since we first made it. It was meant to flavour a mature whisky, so we'd leave it in the barrels for 30 days, then throw it away. We hadn't really thought about what the barrel would do to the beer's taste, but one worker tasted it, perhaps a few times, and he said it was delicious. So we decided it was too good to throw away.

"The Caledonian Brewery weren't too interested, so I left my job and I can't say I've looked back. We've now investigated a significant five-figure sum of money into launching draught and have taken on two more staff."

He added: "We learn more and more about it as we go along, and experiment with the time we leave it in the barrel and using different barrels."

The 38-year-old independent brewer has reported an average of 60 per cent growth year on year since he began making it, going from 40,000 case sales in 2004 to 460,000 in 2009. It has a turnover of around £4.39 million.

So far Mr Sharp has secured 20 listings across the capital for the draught of Innis & Gunn.

All the beer used is brewed by Belhaven, in Dunbar, before being handed over to the warehouseman to oversee the maturation processes pioneered by the company.

Each variant in the range undergoes specific periods of maturation to impart a particular oak character on to the beer.

Producing the beer was originally a joint venture with William Grant & Sons, but he bought their half of the business in 2008 when they decided to focus on spirits.

Innis & Gunn is Scotland's largest independent beer company and the UK's largest specialty beer in the off-trade, trailing only renowned imports Leffe and Hoegaarden in volume sales.

Source:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Accidental-beer-set-to-take.6732296.jp?

Japan earthquake may lead to gadget delays and higher prices

2011-03-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

The massive earthquake which hit japan on Friday may reduce the supply of flash memory chips and delay the shipment of popular technology products such as smartphones, handphone and tablet computers. This delay might also makes the higher prices of gadget product from japan shortly, because supply and demand get out of whack.

But any predictions involve a lot of educated guesswork at this stage as the reports out of Japan on the impact to manufacturing are still fragmentary. But with over 40 percent of the world's NAND flash and about 15 percent of its DRAM made in Japan, the tech industry woke up to news guaranteed to put it on edge until the news gets sorted out. In a statement, Toshiba alluded to the "piecemeal and unconfirmed" nature of the information it is receiving, adding that it "is working with other affiliates and Toshiba Corporation to sift through the information."

CNET noted that SanDisk briefly closed down but then resumed production. The trade paper, EE Times pointed out, northeast Japan, where many electronics companies operate manufacturing plants, is one of the areas worst hit by the 's earthquake and accompanying tsunami.

It's all a big laugh, innit?

2011-03-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

Well! Who'd have thought it?

A member of our esteemed and noble royal family embroiled in a scandal involving despots, merchants of death and sex offenders!

Say it isn't true!

I for one am shocked.

If you can't trust a member of the Windsor clan not to cosy up to dodgy dictators what can you do?

All right, there was that unfortunate love-in between Edward VIII and Hitler...

And of course there is that minor issue regarding the lineage of Princess Michael of Kent - what with her dad being in the SS and everything...

Come to think of it, there was also that invitation to card-carrying psychopath and alleged cannibal Idi Amin to dine with the Queen...

Oh and then I do seem to remember an embarrassing incident where Prince Charles was snapped shaking hands with Mugabe... although that was more of a Jeremy Beadle moment to be fair.

He's a one that Mugabe isn't he, eh? Always playing little pranks. Hilarious japes like starving his people and brutally repressing any form of democratic opposition.

But in Charles's defence it's a little-known fact that centuries of in-breeding can produce a neurological condition where the sufferer is unable to distinguish between members of their former colonies.

Not to be outdone the Duke of York, apparently keen to bolster his image as a boorish ignoramus, has decided to really push the boat out this time.

Yes Airmiles Andy - as he is jocularly known - when not getting us to pay for a helicopter trip to the links - has been doing his patriotic duty for Mum and country schmoozing autocrats and arms dealers the world over.

Its that kind of dedication to money - er, I mean duty - that makes the national bosom swell with pride.

And so noble is the Duke that he does all this out of the goodness of his heart with only a whacking great expense account to ease the burden.

He's loyal to his friends as well.

Some, less well-bred individuals might have distanced themselves from their old pal billionaire Jeffrey Epstein after he was done for soliciting underage sex and banged up.

But not the bold Andy.

He stayed straight and true and even offered the convicted sex offender a chance to redeem himself by loaning Fergie 15 grand!

But then compared to some of his other friends a bit of pederasty probably seems like light relief.

Showing that legendary impartiality for which the monarchy are famed Andy has also cuddled up to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, president of Turkmenistan - described as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

He has also racked up quite a few frequent flyer points on trips to Azerbaijan. Andy has been to the country three times in as many years in "a private capacity" and at least half a dozen times as a "trade envoy."

Neither of these regimes are strangers to a spot of recreational human rights abusing.

In relation to Turkmenistan Amnesty International states: "The whereabouts of dozens of victims of forced disappearances in 2002 remain unknown. Prisoners of conscience continue to be imprisoned for peacefully expressing their beliefs."

Just the kind of bloke you want to do business with then!

He has said that he sees Azerbaijan as a country of "great opportunities."

He's right: there are opportunities round every corner.

The opportunity to be tortured, the opportunity to do what you're told or else, the opportunity to get your head stoved in for standing up for your rights... It's a veritable smorgasbord of brutality, corruption and repression.

The royal globetrotter is described in the country's national media as "the dear guest" which if anything is an understatement.

He's costing us a bleeding fortune.

Tsunami Reaches California After Soaking Hawaii

2011-03-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

A tsunami wave reached the West Coast of the U.S. this morning with threats of waves as tall as nine feet that could strike from California to Alaska.

Residents along the northern California and Oregon coasts reported seeing the tell-tale sign of an impending tsunami -- the waterline quickly withdrawing from the beach prior to large incoming waves.

The tsunami, which has claimed hundreds of lives in Japan, triggered warning sirens across the Pacific and led to evacuations as far away as Hawaii and Oregon.

By the time the tsunami reached California around 7:45 a.m. PST, it had soaked Hawaii's beaches but done little lasting damage there.

Officials were cautiously optimistic that the West Coast would fare similarly, but warned of waves as high as 9 feet, and banned boaters and surfers in California from entering the water.

Warning sirens began blaring in some Oregon coastal communities in the small hours of the morning, and residents were urged to seek higher ground.

Orgeon officials said highways were congested with residents evacuating low lying ares near Florence.

Sam McAlmond, a resident of Gold Beach, Ore., chose not to evacuate, but is prepared to leave his home if it becomes necesary.

"This doesn't happen too often. We liked to see it if and when anything happens," he said of the tsunami. "We have all of our necessary equipment -- fresh water and food. Filled up the tank with gas and there is an escape route."

McAlmond said he had not seen any significant waves from his beach front home.

In California, the city of San Francisco activated it's emergency operations response team and closed its coastal highway. All coastal access to San Francisco area beaches have been closed.

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan Friday afternoon local time, triggering a tsunami that is speeding across the Pacific Ocean at speeds of 500 mph, as fast as a jet airplane.

Clement Greenberg: the art critic who refuses to flatline

2011-03-11T08:24:00.000-08:00

No Ruskin about the late American writer and thinker, but today, his extreme belief in flatness still reverberates through art. Not many critics write anything that outlives their time. The exceptions deserve to be regarded as rare geniuses – the greatest example being that eminent Victorian John Ruskin, whose criticism is unrivalled as both writing and thought.

The American art critic Clement Greenberg was no Ruskin. His clipped, effective prose did not rise to those heights, nor did his ideas about art have the generous scope and grandeur of Ruskin's cultural vision. Yet Greenberg has achieved immortality of a kind. He flourished as a critic in New York from the 1940s to 1960s, but even today, decades after his best-known work and 17 years after his death, he is a totemic and constantly invoked voice on modern art. Almost all the references are critical – for his views were both extremist and at one time hugely authoritative – but there's no doubt they keep old Clem alive in the mind.

The other day I came up against his infamy in – of all places – a pub in Bath. I was having a drink with the painter Chris Bucklow, who shows with Riflemaker gallery in London while living and working in the south-west. Bucklow showed me one of his latest works – a photo of a huge painting, widescreen like an epic American abstraction, at the centre of which is a man wrestling a woman. Bucklow explained that the man in a suit is Greenberg. He is trying to compress the woman, squeeze her into the flatness of the picture plane, while on the walls around them hang late modernist abstractions that Greenberg once heralded as the future of art.

Greenberg's belief in flatness was at the heart of an evangelical praise for American abstract painting in the middle of the 20th century. As a critic, he championed Jackson Pollock. As an intellectual, he argued that pure abstract painting was the logical and necessary conclusion of modern art. The whole tendency of serious modernism, he claimed, was to strip various art forms down and reduce them to a philosophical core of truth. In the case of painting, this meant escaping bourgeois fantasies of perspective and recognising that painting's reality is that of a flat object; a surface. According to this theory, Pollock – whose paintings are planes of colour – stands as a metaphysical revealer of what painting truly is.

Bucklow's portrait of Greenberg shares the belief of critics such as Rosalind Krauss that Greenberg's cult of the pure modern work of art excluded irrationality, physicality, sexuality and the mess of life. His Greenberg is a gothic villain attempting to push a woman out of this dimension into flatland. Being remembered as an oppressor years after your death may not be everyone's idea of immortality – but perhaps it is the only kind art critics can achieve.

Kia Sportage Review

2011-03-11T08:13:00.001-08:00

This Kia Sportage was named CarBuyer’s first Car of the Year as well as Best 4×4 in the website’s inaugural awards. Citing the Sportage as a “landmark car”, carbuyer.co.uk — launched by the company behind Auto Express, Dennis Publishing — said the Sportage wins “not just because it blends the best in on and off-road performance, and is loaded with kit.

It also shows that Kia’s engineers and designers are capable of building a world beating car.

“With its seven-year warranty, good looks and capable diesel engine range, it’s a vehicle you can choose with your head, and your heart.”

And you can’t say better than that!

It has also scooped Total Off Road magazine’s 2011 Junior SUV of the Year, beating off competition from 18 mainstream and premium models, and Kia also won overall 4×4 Manufacturer of the Year and took SUV with its Sorento.

Alan Kidd, editor, Total Off Road magazine said: “Kia’s won a string of value-for-money awards from us in the past, but the new Sportage and Sorento are about much more than just that.

“If money were no object, they’d still be really strong contenders — even the Sorento, in a category where it’s up against some absurdly expensive rivals.

“Fact is, it’s way more practical inside than many SUVs costing twice as much. And in the style-conscious junior SUV market, the Sportage’s looks blow most of its premium opposition out of the water.”

On the design front the Sportage crossover, along with the Optima saloon, won in the 2011 iF product design awards. The awards were made not just on design but also workmanship, level of innovativeness, eco-friendliness, ergonomics and safety.

And on safety Sportage, with Venga, was awarded the top five-star safety rating by leading independent European safety organisation, Euro NCAP, placing them at the top of their respective classes.

All that leads to very high expectations and in some cases expectations are not always fulfilled.

Not so with Sportage.

After a week’s driving it is easy to see why.

Sportage is available with 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol engines and 1.7 and 2.0-litre diesel units.

Two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive alternatives allow customers to select the best alternative for their particular needs and prices range from £17,015 to £26,740.

All Sportages come with Kia’s comprehensive and completely transferable seven-year warranty.

The 16-model range is based on Kia’s familiar 1, 2 and 3 trim designations, with all-wheel-drive versions given the KX prefix.

There is also a special range-topping “Sat-Nav” grade of new Sportage 3 and KX-3, featuring a fully integrated 7in touch screen satellite navigation with built-in reversing camera and upgraded audio sound system.

All versions are extremely well specified, as buyers have come to expect from Kia, and are covered by Kia’s pioneering seven-year warranty that can be transferred to subsequent owners as long as the 100,000-mile limit has not been reached. Yet even with such a high level of standard equipment and warranty, prices start from £16,645.

Even the entry-level version, comes with features more usually associated with more expensive vehicles, such as cruise control, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity and automatic rain-sensing wipers.

The car is very modern looking, no wonder it got the design award, and is up there with cars that can cost much more — often twice price.

The 2WD 114bhp 1.7 CRDi 3 Sat Nav I tested will reach a top speed of nearly 110mph and economy of about 52/53mpg, which is in no small part due to the intelligent “stop-start” system. This is a great car for most users, and even though only 2WD, is very sure footed and copes with pretty bad road conditions.

The 4WD variants go that bit further and although I haven’t driven one yet, they do appear to do everything you would expect from a multi-purpose, all-traction vehicle.

With a lot of cars of this type you get a little too much noise — from road rumble to wind and especially on motorways — but this is very quiet in all driving modes.

I loved the 1.7 CRDi engine, quick to respond and loving all sorts of demands asked of it.

It rides well too, agreed by rear seat passengers on one journey, who remarked that they felt they were in a much more expensive vehicle when I told them the price. There is quick and positive steering and handling is excellent.

And speaking of passengers, there is plenty of comfort and space in front and rear for however tall or more amply proportioned they are, with useful storage compartments and supportive seating.

Up front, for the driver, visibility is good and again the seat is good and adjusts so many ways to give the perfect driving position in terms of safety and comfort.

Kia has yet another winner. And I can’t wait to drive the 4×4 and see just what it can do.

Source
http://www.shropshirestar.com/lifestyle/motors/2011/03/11/review-kia-sportage/#ixzz1GJAiu2NR

Management Tips: Have more than one mentor

2011-03-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

Aspiring executives tend to think of mentoring as a one-to-one relationship between a company veteran and an ambitious new employee. But having a broader network of people to turn to can be a better approach, according to the Harvard Business Review.

The Harvard Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (http:\\www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.

1. Rather than trying to find one ideal mentor, people should look for a diversity of people who can serve as a "personal board of directors" to guide them through their careers.

2. Develop a broad network of people to turn to through your career.

3. Think of mentoring as a long-term arrangement, so take the time to nurture relationships.

Today's management tip was adapted from "Demystifying Mentoring" by Amy Gallo.

Mercury is visible before NASA craft orbits it

2011-03-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

May be mars fascinate science fiction authors, Jupiter looms large and Saturn has a nice rings, but Mercury can be called as a weirdest planet in this system. Mercury has the wildest extremes from hot to cold. A day on Mercury somehow lasts longer than its year. And maybe strangest of all, scientists think it holds tons of ice in dark craters despite being the planet closest to the sun.

On St. Patrick's Day, for the first time, a small NASA spacecraft called Messenger will enter into Mercury's orbit, circling at times as close as 125 miles from the planet's surface. And by coincidence, a few days before that will be the best time all year for people on Earth to see Mercury with the naked eye.

Barely bigger than our moon but much more distant, Mercury is not easy to see without a telescope. An odd pairing with giant Jupiter will make it easier to spot starting Sunday — probably the best opportunity for a year, said Geoff Chester at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington.

Chester said people in the Northern Hemisphere should look to the west after sunset. Jupiter will be about 10 degrees above the western horizon. Mercury will be about finger's width to the right of Jupiter.

"Mercury has sometimes been called the forgotten planet," said Sean Solomon, the Carnegie Institution planetary geologist who is Messenger's chief scientist. "It is extreme in many respects. It is the smallest, closest to the sun. It is made of the densest materials."
NASA's Mariner probe flew by Mercury in 1974 and 1975, and Messenger has whizzed by it in 2008 and 2009. But this is the first time a spacecraft will attempt the tricky maneuver of entering Mercury's orbit, circling it for a year. To do that, Messenger, overbudget at $446 million, will have to thwart the enormous pull of the sun.

The overall heat on the sunny side of Mercury will melt parts of some of Messenger's instruments, by design, acting as a heat buffer for the more sensitive parts of the equipment. Then the melted parts will refreeze when the spacecraft hits a cooler zone, said Messenger system engineering chief Eric Finnegan.

Meanwhile, Messenger's orbit will be egg-shaped, distorted by the sun's gravity. But that's the sort of thing that's normal for this oddball planet. Mercury itself has a highly elongated orbit that makes its distance from the sun range from 29 million to 43 million miles. Mercury orbits the sun every 88 Earth days, zipping around at a faster pace than any other planet.

Yet its own rotation is downright pokey. It takes Mercury 59 Earth days to rotate around its axis. What that means is that a solar day on Mercury — from noon to noon at the same spot — lasts 176 Earth days, which is two Mercury years.

One myth about Mercury is that it's the hottest planet in the solar system. Actually, that would be Venus. But Mercury has a tenuous atmosphere with wild swings in temperature. When parts of Mercury face the sun, it can be 800 degrees. On the opposite side, it can be 300 degrees below zero, said mission scientist Ralph McNutt of Johns Hopkins University.

Near Mercury's poles there are deep craters gouged by comets and asteroids that "never see any sunlight and haven't for maybe a billion years," McNutt said. And because of that, scientists think the craters have ice — left over from comet strikes. Radar from afar has suggested ice, and it could even be several feet thick, Solomon said.

"You're staring out in the blackness of space and it's extremely cold," Solomon said.
Messenger probably won't be able to take pictures inside the craters, but it will aim devices that should be able to figure out the chemical composition of what's inside, Solomon said.

Mission scientist Jean-Luc Margot believes there will be plenty of data that will help astronomers understand more about the geologic mysteries of Mercury, such as its surprising magnetism and unusually high density: "This will be our first really close look at this enigmatic planet. It's going to be a blast."

Source:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mercury

How Much Should You Earn Working in Social Media?

2011-03-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Recruitment company Propel London has produced a salary survey looking at the digital industry and charting the salaries of over 1,500 new job vacancies in the digital market in the second half of 2010.

Here we take a look at the company’s findings on the digital salaries for social media.

The perception among digital jobseekers that social is a cutting edge and desirable career path which is well worth getting involved in means that candidates consistently apply in large numbers for social vacancies. Where candidate demand for roles is high, salaries will generally be lower than industry averages. We saw this effect in H1 2010 and it continued into H2.

What’s more, because social is a relatively new and unknown discipline, the value of prospective employees will frequently lies in their transferable skills and experience, and not in previously proven social media skills. The impact on salaries can again be detrimental – bringing in talent from outside the social industry is essential for the growth and success of businesses in the space, but paying a premium salary for someone who is yet to prove themselves can be a gamble for employers.

The result is that in 2010 salaries in social media were lower than industry averages. That being said, in H1 we saw above average growth in salaries within social media. We are likely to see this continue into 2011 as demand for talent increases still further, and professionals gain experience in social media skills.

New Britain Palm to spend £9m on new facility

2011-03-11T07:17:00.000-08:00

New Britain Palm Oil is to invest around £9m in a new food ingredients processing facility at its Liverpool palm oil refinery. The new facility will be dedicated to manufacturing bakery and foodservice products made with palm oil that only comes from certified sustainable sources – the first facility of its type in the world, according to New Britain Palm Oil (NBPO).

The Papua New Guinea-based palm oil producer said the new facility will offer a complete range of high quality, affordable, margarines and bakery fats for use in pastries and cakes, puff and short crust pastry, as well as shortenings and bread fats, all containing sustainable palm oil and palm oil fractions from a fully traceable source.

Boxed palm oil will also be produced for the foodservice sector, such as fish and chip shops and restaurants, as well as for smaller food manufacturers who currently do not buy in bulk.

Andy Worrall, director of NBPO subsidiary New Britain Oils, said the company has seen a lot of interest in sustainable palm oil sourcing from retailers, food manufacturers and the government.

“We have always believed that if we could offer traceable and sustainable palm oil products to the market at competitive prices then enough companies will do the responsible thing and start buying it. That is why we chose to invest £18m in our Liverpool refinery in 2009 and is why we are committed to roll out now an even broader range of downstream products via the new packing facility,” Worrall said.

Source:
http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=4103849

The 'Big One' hit, but not where they thought it would

2011-03-11T07:03:00.000-08:00

Many Japanese geologists have long forecast about a great japan earthquake along a major fault line southwest of Tokyo. No one know when it will happen, but now the nation's largest earthquake has hit, and it's 231 miles northeast of Tokyo - 80 miles east of the city of Sendai, off the coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island.

The earthquake is near a deep trench in the sea floor that marks the boundary between two plates of the earth's crust. The one plate dives beneath the other. The process is not smooth, and enormous amounts of strain build up before, finally, the fault "breaks" and the strain is released. These are the most powerful types of earthquakes, and the 8.9-magnitude quake in Japan ranks as one of the strongest events in the history of seismology.

The sea floor in such earthquakes will suddenly rise, creating a mound of water that turns into a tsunami as it rolls ashore. That's what has happened in Japan as a wall of water has pummeled the coast.

This event could roil the geological community in Japan. Scientists in Japan had developed a scenario in which a catastrophic earthquake would strike southwest of Tokyo on a different fault. That hypothetical earthquake had a name - the Tokai Earthquake - even though it hadn't happened yet. Geologists placed strain meters throughout that region of Japan and closely monitored any signs of what they called "pre-slip," a hypothesized precursor to an earthquake.

Maps showed very precisely where landslides would occur, and officials enumerated in advance the expected number of casualties and the amount of property damage. The seismic hazard maps for Japan, including one on the U.S. Geological Survey Web site, shows a relatively more modest earthquake hazard for the region where Friday's quake struck.

Sony NGP will be launched in November ?

2011-03-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

Sony's Next Generation Portable (NGP), also known as the PlayStation Portable 2, may be will coming to our shores earlier than mostly peoples anticipated. This Sony NGP will ship in time for Christmas with third party licensees insisting.

That's the claim of unnamed industry sources, who told gaming trade magazine MVC that Sony is setting development deadlines in order to prepare the console for a pre-Christmas release in Europe. While no firm date has been officially confirmed, rumours state that Sony will be looking to launch the device on the 11th of November, giving users plenty of time to get their orders in should they want to buy the device as a gift.

One thing that's still not known, however, is the price. With Sony going all-out to include seriously impressive technology in the NGP - including an ultra-powerful processor, front- and rear-facing touch panels, integrated 3G connectivity, and more - it's likely that the launch price will be significantly higher than that of its predecessor, the PlayStation Portable.

It's almost certain that Sony, as with previous launches, will be subsidising the cost of the device in the hopes it can make back what it loses on the hardware in software sales - but it's a delicate balancing act, and with the NGP hardware likely to represent the most expensive hand-held console in history, only time will tell if Sony's gamble pays off.

With Sony's flagship PlayStation 3 console struggling against increasing piracy - mostly, it has to be said, through Sony's own mess-up regarding the digital rights management technology within the console - the NGP could be the company's main focus for future.

Read more: http://www.thinq.co.uk/2011/3/11/sony-ngp-rumoured-be-launching-november/?#ixzz1GIqfQoug

Nintendo rolls a 3DS Demo Pod across US, gets gamers salivating for March 27th launch

2011-03-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

The perks of living in a big city, eh? Citizens of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco are being treated to some three-dimensional March madness from the guys and gals at Nintendo. For the remainder of this month, Nintendo 3DS handheld will be available to try and play in so-called Demo Pods (see above) at strategic locations in each marquee city. The Mii Maker app, nintendogs + cats, Madden NFL Football, Aslphalt 3D, and a selection of other games will be preloaded and waiting for you, letting you have a taste of what's to come on March 27th. See Nintendo's PR after the break for the full details.

Over 10,000 iPads Traded, Ready for iPad 2 Release

2011-03-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

If you didn’t already know Apple are to release the iPad 2 in a few hours time. In the meantime original iPad owners have been taking advantage of the trade in deal that offers them money for their iPads.
According to Gazelle who are offering the deal, they expect to have traded over 10,000 iPads by today which means millions of dollars will have been paid out to tablet owners and they will potentially be spending those millions towards upgrading to the iPad 2.
Since the iPad 2 was first announced last week, Gazelle has been receiving iPads, 2400 of which were traded within hours of the announcement. If you’re hoping to trade yours in they are currently offering $300 for the 16GB and $530 for the 64GB 3G. More details can be found at Gazelle.
What do you think of this trade in deal? Will you be taking advantage of it?

Source:
http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/03/11/over-10000-ipads-traded-ready-for-ipad-2-release/?

Vampire Diaries Scoop!

2009-10-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

If you thought one Damon (Ian Somerhalder) was wicked enough on The Vampire Diaries, the twisted Salvatore brother has added to his arsenal by turning Vicki Donovan (Kayla Ewell) into a vampire. On the show's Halloween episode (Thursday, 9/8c, CW), there are surprises in store — for Ewell and others. "It's going to be one of the most shocking moments of television and you don't want to miss it," Ewell says. Ewell tells TVGuide.com about the scene that made co-star Katerina Graham cry, the new vampire slayer and why Vicki's the female Damon.

TVGuide.com: Why do you think Vampire Diaries has been so successful?
Kayla Ewell: I think vampires were already really big and we just joined the wave of success. I also think our show is different than everything else. I feel like Twilight is the PG version and True Blood would be like the R-rated version. Our show is PG-13, so we get both viewers. Our vampires are so sexy; I feel like they're my favorite vampires.

Watch full episodes of The Vampire Diaries in our Online Video Guide

TVGuide.com: Are there any divas on set yet?
Ewell: [Laughs] Not yet. To be honest with you, we've been told by hair and makeup that the guys are bigger divas than the girls. Some of the guys can be high-maintenance, but they're still awesome.

TVGuide.com: Vicki is becoming a vampire. Tells us about her journey.
Ewell: It was really fun to find out that I was becoming a vampire because I was the first to make the transition. The second thought I had was, "Oh crap, I have to do this now." I talked to some of our producers, and asked what some good movies to watch are. One I watched was Interview with the Vampire, to actually study how they bite people and suck their blood. You have to grow the fangs, so your gums are aching. You have to go through all the things that you're feeling physically because you're completely changing. I've never played anything animalistic before, so this has been such a fun stretch for me.

TVGuide.com: Do you feel for Ian and Paul Wesley now that you have to do all the vampire stuff on set?
Ewell: No, not really because it's super-badass to be a vampire. The only thing that I know that they hate is the blood. It tastes horrible. It's like corn syrup and sticky. It's just the worst taste in the world.

TVGuide.com: Is Vicki a good vampire or a bad vampire?
Ewell: My take is that she's a bad vampire. Whoever you are as a person is [magnified] by 1,000 when you turn into a vampire. I'm a mini-Damon, only a female version.

TVGuide.com: Is Vicki going to be killing anyone?
Ewell: Yeah, Vicki goes on a killing spree. It's super-fun. I don't realize what's happening to me and just start acting on instinct, vampire instincts, instead of really thinking what I'm doing. It's so fun to be able to be a human, but also have the vampire tendencies.

TVGuide.com: Katerina Graham told me that the Halloween episode is very emotional.
Ewell: It is. It was emotional for everyone. We can't really say why yet. There's something that happens that's very shocking. It will be shocking to the viewers. It's going to be great; it's going to create such an uproar. It's going to make the show that much more popular and bring a lot of attention.

TVGuide.com: Would you say anyone is safe on this show?
Ewell: I would say no one is safe unless you're on the poster, which would be [Nina Dobrev], Paul and Ian. Even so, I think it's just really scary because on a vampire show, people do have to come in and out and die or come back to life. You're never really safe. We definitely all learned about that.

TVGuide.com: You have a vampire slayer coming in.
Ewell: Yes, Matt Davis. I'm such a fan. His character, Alaric, comes in as the new teacher because the teacher died. Damon killed the first teacher that everyone hated. [Davis] comes in as the super-hot teacher that all the kids are obsessed with. He starts to date Jenna [Sara Canning], who is Elena and Jeremy's aunt. No one realizes that he is a vampire slayer.

Source: TV Guide

PRIVACY POLICY

2009-07-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at vina_andrea87@yahoo.com.

At informations-spot.blogspot.com, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by informations-spot.blogspot.com and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, informations-spot.blogspot.com makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
informations-spot.blogspot.com does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on informations-spot.blogspot.com.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to informations-spot.blogspot.com and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on informations-spot.blogspot.com send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

informations-spot.blogspot.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. informations-spot.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.

HP G60-458DX Laptop

2009-07-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

HP G60-458DX Laptop. Specification:

* Intel Pentium Processor T4200 2 GHz
* 4GB DDR2 Memory
* 250GB 5400RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive
* LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
* 802.11b/g WLAN
* Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN
* High speed 56k modem
* HP Webcam with integrated microphone
* 15.6" HP BrightView Display (1366x768)
* 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
* Weight 6.57 lbs

Vernon Forrest Murdered in Atlanta

2009-07-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

Former World Champion Boxer Murdered in Atlanta: Former boxing champion and U.S. Olympian Vernon Forrest was shot and killed in an attempted carjacking in Northwest Atlanta. He was 38 years old.

Lt. Keith Meadows with the Atlanta police department told WSB Radio, Forrest was putting air in the tires of his Jaguar around 11 p.m. Saturday at a gas station on White Hall St. at McDaniel Blvd. Investigators said at least two men jumped out of a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo and tried to steal Forrest's car. The boxer had a gun and started running after the suspects.

"The victim and suspect became involved in a brief foot chase," Lt. Meadows said. "At some point, gunfire was exchanged between the two of them. The victim was shot at least once in the head."

Lt. Meadows said Forrest was shot 7 or 8 times by two semi-automatic weapons. Investigators said they are talking to several witness.

"At this point we have a general description of at least two black males driving a red Monte Carlo." Lt. Meadows said.

Police don't think the suspects knew Forrest was a professional boxer. His girlfriend's young son was in the car at the time of the shooting. Family members are flying in from Texas to pick up the child, Lt. Meadows said.

Connie Hamzy

2009-06-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Connie” Hamzy has loved rock stars like no other, counting among her conquests members of the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and the Who. Now 50, Arkansas’ second-most famous oral-sex fan talks about why she’s still with the band.(connie hamzy)

It’s 10:30 A.M. on a Friday in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Connie Hamzy is sitting at the bar of the Sticky Fingerz Rock’N'Roll Chicken Shack, telling a story to a small audience of busboys and cocktail waitresses. “So I’m out on the tour bus, smokin’ dope and blowing roadies,” she says in a lazy Southern accent. “And who comes into the back lounge? Neil fucking Diamond.” A man pulls out a stool next to her. He is wearing a hat shaped like the snout of a hog. “Neil looks me up and down and nods his approval,” Hamzy continues. “Then he gets high with us, and disappears backstage. A few minutes later, his manager says he wants to see me in his dressing room. So I knock on the door, and there’s Neil waiting for me in a blue robe. And I didn’t just suck him – there was fucking, too.”

At first glance, Hamzy could be any middle-aged woman half-drunk on a Friday morning. But a closer examination reveals she’s different somehow, maybe even important. Customers – mostly men- begin approaching her from all directions. They seem to know her name. They say hello and want to shake her hand. The man in the pig hat buys her a drink. She is, after all, a celebrity. As Grand Funk sang in “We’re an American Band,” “Out on the road for 40 days/ Last night in Little Rock put me in a haze/ Sweet, sweet Connie, doin’ her act/ She had the whole show and that’s a natural fact.”

Sweet Connie is more than a two-line cameo in a 30-year-old song: She’s the world’s most notorious rock’n'roll groupie, with a sexual resume that dates back to 1970. Her list of conquests reads like the selections on a biker-bar jukebox, including, she claims, members of the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Bad Company, the Allman Brothers Band, ZZ Top, and the Doobie Brothers. In 1974, when Hamzy was 19, her groupie escapades were detailed in a Cosmopolitan magazine profile, and in 1992 she wrote a tell-all article for Penthouse. She’s been interviewed by Geraldo Rivera and Joan Rivers, and appeared on Insomniac With Dave Attell. Though most her groupie contemporaries, like Pamela Des Barres and Bebe Buell, drifted out of the scene by the mid-’80s to raise families or cultivate book deals, Sweet Connie continued her exploits into the new millennium, and today she can be found lurking backstage at nearly every gig in central Arkansas. Connie Hamzy is 50 years old.

“She’s a legend in Little Rock,” says Sticky Fingerz owner Chris King as he wipes down the bar. “Whenever there’s a good concert at the amphitheater, she likes to come in before the show, have a glass of chardonnay on the rocks, and tell us these wonderful stories about her life.”

Though I’d spoken to Hamzy on the phone several times in preparation for my October visit, I didn’t know what to expect when I met her in person. As I discovered early on, she is prone to outbursts that teeter precariously between the profane and the bizarre. During one conversation, Hamzy, upon learning that I had briefly been a roadie for Dan Fogelberg, says with a hint of amusement, “Yeah, I blew him. And his manager, too.”

http://www.spinmagazine.com

Miss Hawaii 2009

2009-06-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

This Is A news about Miss Hawaii who will be crowned Saturday night. On Friday all 30 contestants, reigning queen Nicole Fox and Ray Abregano the pageant’s director will be in studio.

Thirty contestants from around the state compete for the coveted title of Miss Hawaii and the opportunity to represent Hawaii at Miss America in January 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Over $500,000 in scholarship awards and prizes will be made available. Miss Hawaii 2009 will be televised LIVE from the Hawaii Convention Center via OC16 at 8:00 p.m., June 27.

Autopsy Results Of Michael Jackson

2009-06-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Still About Jackson's News. After Michael Jackson’s death on Thursday, an autopsy has been scheduled for Friday (June 26), reports CNN. The results are expected by the afternoon, the Los Angeles coroner’s office said.

But the coroner’s office also told the Chicago Tribune that the exact cause of death may not be determined for six to eight weeks, depending on the tests that are ordered. The Tribune report added that toxicology tests can take several weeks to complete.

The exact circumstances surrounding Jackson’s death continue to remain unclear. Jackson’s brother Marlon told CNN that Michael was not feeling well Wednesday night, and a doctor was called to his home in Holmby Hills. On Thursday, he reportedly collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest. A doctor present at the time of the incident performed CPR on the singer but could not revive him. He was not breathing and had no pulse when paramedics arrived after a 911 call around 12:26 p.m. PT. They administered CPR and took Jackson via ambulance to UCLA Medical Center but were unable to revive him.

Jackson family attorney Brian Oxman speculated to CBS that the singer’s death might be related to the abuse of prescription medication.

“I have warned of the use of prescription medication and people who have enabled the use of those medications,” Oxman said. “I do not know how much he has taken, I don’t know what his current situation is in the last couple of weeks. Over the last several years I have said to family members that he is overmedicated.”

Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide division told Reuters that they searched Jackson’s home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, but they called the investigation into Jackson’s death an “everyday” event. According to the Chicago Tribune, the police were seen pulling a vehicle from a driveway, possibly for further examination at a police facility.

Among the many events being organized to remember Jackson, a vigil has been set up for Friday evening at Leimert Park in Los Angeles. Also, Jackson will be paid tribute at Dodgers Stadium on Friday. After the Dodgers-Seattle Mariner game, Jackson’s music will be played during a fireworks presentation. Dodgers stadium is the place where Jackson and his brothers performed the final six concerts of their Victory tour in 1984. On Thursday, Jackson’s star on Hollywood Walk of Fame had been covered by a red carpet where the “Brüno premiere was supposed to take place, but that space has now been cleared so that fans can place flowers on the star.

Get Paid To Advertise Online For Students

2009-06-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

From the streets of Gary, Ind., to the palaces of Europe and the Middle East, to New York City’s Times Square, millions of fans are mourning the death of Michael Jackson — fiercely loyal subjects of a man known as the King of Pop.

Word that Jackson, an international superstar for more than four decades, had died Thursday quickly spread around the world, on blogs, in e-mails and through Twitter messages.

Even before it was confirmed that the pop star had died, hundreds converged outside the UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson, 50, was rushed by firefighters. Fans carried flowers, cried, consoled each other and sang songs that defined a generation of people around the world. Dozens more gathered outside Jackson’s home to remember an artist nearly unsurpassed in global popularity.

MTV switched to a Jackson-only schedule, playing the artist’s memorable videos. Radio stations across the country also dedicated the night to Jackson, only playing hits, such as “Billie Jean,” “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,” and “We Are the World.”

‘The Most Famous Person on the Planet’
On the UCLA campus, fraternities on the street behind the hospital blasted the “Thriller” album in his honor. Other students paid tribute more quietly, copying Jackson’s signature one-glove style.

At the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, Jackson fans gathered to pay their respects. They played his greatest hits, danced in the streets, chanted his name and prayed for Jackson and his family.

“For a long time, he was unquestionably the most famous person on the planet,” said Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, who worked with Jackson for years while at Sony. “He was remarkable to work with.”

Jackson began his career in Gary as a 4-year-old in the Jackson Five, a soul group made up of his siblings, and garnered a generation of fans who grew up with him. His rare talent garnered him multiple accolades, his accolades garnered him outsized fame and his fame earned him a rabidly devoted international fan base.

Three-quarter of a million of those fans bought tickets to see Jackson’s first tour in 12 years, which was to start in London in less than a month. All 50 shows in Jackson’s “This Is It!” tour sold out.

Fans Around the World Pay Tribute to Jackson
Newspapers around the world led with the news of Jackson’s passing. Italy’s “Corriere della Sera” compared him to Elvis Presley, saying both musical icons lived with “excesses and phobias.” Another Italian newspaper, “La Stampa” called him “The Devil and Peter Pan” rolled into one.

French newspapers, “Le Parisien” and “Le Figaro” also led with the news of his death, and all the 24-hour TV and radio stations switched to “special edition” mode when the news was made public.

In Paris, Daniela Pierre, 23, said, “he will remain the king of pop forever.” 43-year-old Francois Marnez said, “He was a tormented soul, just like every artist is, but he was a great artist above all.”

Jackson fans in Moscow left flowers in memory of the star at the American embassy.

Alexander Greve of the Michael Jackson fan club in Magdeburg, Germany, told German broadcaster N-TV, “It’s devastating, I cried when I first heard it, now I just feel completely empty – a day I will never forget.”

In Mumbai, radio DJs Jaggu and Tarana paid tribute to the star’s popularity across India, saying “Jackson was the first international pop singer that many Indians heard.”‘ Superstar choreographer turned Bollywood director, Farah Khan told Indian TV channel, CNN-IBN that she considered Jackson her ‘guru’. “I officially had no training in dance and whatever I learnt was from watching Michael Jackson by watching his videos, especially Thriller over and over again. I consider him as my guru,” she said.

Across the border in Pakistan, the country’s most popular English language radio station, City FM 89, played Jackson songs all day. The station’s general manager, Munizeh Sanai, told ABC News, “There are many people in Pakistan who don’t know that the world is round but know who Michael is.”

Back when there were no private news channels and all televisions were tuned to the sole, state-run channel, almost everyone in the country watched a skit show called “Fifty-Fifty,” basically the equivalent of Saturday Night Live in its heyday. One of the all-time great scenes is being passed around today via You-Tube: a skit featuring Ismail Tara, one of Pakistan’s most famous comics in the 80s, dancing to the sounds of Billy Jean. His props include a couple of suitcases, a pan, and a pair of very tight pants.

“Michael impacted us on every level. He transcended everything countries, religion, boundaries, everything,” said Mashaal Gauhar, a self-professed “huge” Jackson fan and the editor of a business magazine in Islamabad.

In Japan, TV commentator Dave Spector said, “Many Japanese fans were not just loyal to Michael – they worshipped him. This is going to be a tremendous loss especially to them.” Jackson visited the country in March, 2007 to attend several events including one called “The Premium V.I.P. Party with Michael Jackson” where guests paid $3,500 for dinner, cocktails, and the opportunity to meet, shake hands and have a photo taken with the King of Pop.

Japan’s Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication, Tsutomu Sato told reporters, “I grew up listening and watching The Jackson Five. Therefore the news of his death leaves me with a feeling of sadness.”

In Kenya, several radio stations have been playing Jackson songs and the local broadcasts are leading with the news of his death. One Kenyan said that many Africans considered Jackson to be “bigger than Elvis.” A weekly show devoted to Michael Jackson and his brothers was shown on Kenya’s local state-run television station in the 70’s and early 80’s.

Denis Ndavi, the commercial manager for Kenya’s Homeboyz Radio told ABC News that the station was interrupting its normal hip-hop programming to devote the weekend to Jackson’s music. “Even though our audience is just in their 20’s, there’s a lot of shock, there’s grief even from them,” Ndavi said. “For a black artist, no-one had been that big ever. Everybody liked the fact that there was a black man running the pop charts. Bruce Springsteen was big too, but he didn’t resonate as much with Africans.”

Across the continent there are reports of Africans devastated by the news. In Nigeria a local radio anchor broke down when she heard the news and couldn’t continue her program. In Ghana, a woman began wailing after a BBC reporter told her about Jackson’s death.

Michael Kendege, 37, a Kenyan financial consultant said that he he feels, like many in the rest of the world, as though “A section of my childhood is lost.”

Jackson’s celebrity-studded video, “We are the World” was made to raise funds in the wake of an Ethiopian famine in 1985, but in the country itself, his death has surprisingly not made any ripples yet. A few radio stations are playing his music, but Ethiopian state television news has yet to acknowledge his death.

Abu Dhabi-based Faisal Al Qassimi, 26, told ABC News that Jackson was “the epitome of cool,” adding that “He represented a taste of something else, all of these places we hadn’t been to. He represented music, America, MTV, youth culture, sex appeal…everything a young man here would aspire to.”

Self-proclaimed Jackson superfan, Nadeem Bibby echoed Al Qassimi’s words, saying, “In Abu Dhabi in the 80s, which was very boring and gray, he was a colorful larger than life figure we could relate to. He was our hero here.”

Bibby, 26, said fans in Abu Dhabi “were very shielded from the tabloid smack. We never held him in such a low esteem,” adding, “I don’t think he’ll ever die.”

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Bahraini lawyer who brought Jackson to the Gulf after the pop star’s 2005 child molestation trial, and who eventually sued the star for breach of contract, could not be reached for comment.

In London, the tabloid The Sun had a picture of Jackson on its front page, showing him in London just 2 days before his untimely death. Jackson was on a visit to the city, preparing for a series of eagerly-awaited concerts next month. His death was a huge blow for his fans in the U.K., especially those who had managed to get tickets to watch what was tipped to be his curtain call, as he termed it.

Jackson hadn’t performed any major concerts since 2001, and previous plans were abandoned due to concerns over his ill health.

Fans on Twitter, Facebook Honor King of Pop
As reports came in about his death, those who had seen him perform live remembered how he could command a stage.

“He was famous for being on our ‘Amateur Night’ that we celebrated the 75-year [anniversary,]” said Cheryl Briggs, who works at the Apollo Theatre in New York City where a young Jackson performed. “Losing him is really sad.”

Mark Pope, a 47-year-old from New York who, with his brothers, grew up listening to and copying the Jackson Five, said, “With the death of Michael Jackson, the world loses today, I mean, I can speak for a lot of people, we are losing a musical genius.”

Ronald Thomas of New York said, “It meant a lot to me. Its hard to believe. He meant the world to music, that’s my opinion. He was so important because he did things that other entertainers wouldn’t even dream of doing.”

Those fans who couldn’t show their devotion in real life mourned their loss online.

Soon after reports started filtering in about Jackson’s hospitalization, “Cardiac Arrest” and “RIP Michael Jackson” quickly shot into the trending terms on Twitter, according to the TweetStats.com.

Less than an hour after Jackson’s death had been confirmed, more than 500 groups remembering Michael Jackson appeared on Facebook, some with more than 10,000 members.

Hundreds of Facebook Groups Form to Celebrate Artist
Immediately after hearing reports that Jackson had stopped breathing, Amish Gandhi, a 31-year-old New Yorker, started the group “Michael Jackson RIP.” He said it wasn’t long before he noticed that about 100 people were joining the group every minute. By 9 p.m. Thursday the site had more than 11,000 members.

“He’s an icon of pop music. And there are so many people at a loss today,” he said.

As he moved from Africa as a child to India as a teenager and, eventually, to the United States, he said Michael Jackson was a constant.

“I grew up listening to his music,” he said. “There’s just something about him that no pop icon matches.”

He wanted the Facebook page to celebrate his life, and give fans one central place to exchange messages, share information and mourn.

Other fans — from all over the world — expressed their shock and sadness via Twitter.

“MICHAEL JACKSON CAN NOT DIE! HE’S MICHAEL JACKSON,” wrote audreyjana from Singapore. Then, “I think im gonna cry.”

JulianE Angeles from Mayorazgo, Perú, celebrated the beloved artist by posting his favorite Michael Jackson song, The Jackson Five’s “Who’s Loving You,” to his Twitter page.

Watching Michael Jackson do the moonwalk for the first time, convinced Austin-based musician Nakia Reynoso that performing was for him.

There were more than 10,000 blog postings on one Chinese website alone. Both Sina.com and Sohu.com, the two biggest portals in China had Michael Jackson’s death as the lead story on their home pages, and by 4 pm local time, more than 33000 bloggers on the two Web sites paid tribute to the King of Pop.

One of them described him as the “most outstanding person in the world, the person who loved children the most, the person who loved Peter Pan, a big kid who liked to climb trees with other kids.” Another said, you are “The memory of a generation, [we] will remember you forever.”

Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor also tweeted about Jackson’s death. Recalling a meeting with him when he worked as the U.N. Under-Secretary General for Communications under Kofi Annan, Tharoor said Jackson had “Wanted to be U.N. goodwill ambassador but we couldn’t recommend it.”

His “songs and impact will of course outlast the recollections of his oddities,” Tharoor added.

Jackson Possessed Ability to Connect
As reports filtered in about Jackson’s death, Nakia posted to Twitter, “RIP The Man In The Mirror, Michael Jackson – I still remember the day I bought my red leather zipper coat, sequin socks and glove.”

“As a fan, I can certainly say that Michael Jackson’s music — his career — certainly contributed to my love of music. And as a performer — as an artist myself — there’s no way for me to really do the math on how much I looked at him as someone to follow,” said the 34-year-old. “His level of showmanship is legendary and it certainly rubbed off on me. I thought if he can get up there and do that, then I could do that.”

The Internet nearly buckled under the strain of all the traffic generated by interest in Jackson’s death. During late Thursday afternoon Pacific Time, major news sites, including those for the Los Angeles Times, CBS, ABC and AOL, slowed considerably, according to San Mateo, Calif.-based Keynote Systems Inc., which monitors the performance of Internet and mobile networks.

Shawn White, Keynote’s director of external operations, said, “Beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET, the average speed for downloading news sites doubled from less than four seconds to almost nine seconds. During the same period, the average availability of sites on the index dropped from almost 100 percent to 86 percent. The index returned to normal by 9:15 p.m. ET.”

Despite persistent allegations that Jackson had inappropriate relationships with children, bizarre and erratic behavior, fans remained loyal.

“I was very surprised, very saddened. I can’t imagine the world without him,” said Anita Austin of New York. “I didn’t always agree with his lifestyle but I loved his music and every time it comes on I’m happy to listen to it again, or dance to it.”

Hilly of the Americana Music Association said, “He had the ability from the time he was 6-years-old to connect with a vast incredible amount of people. [It was] sad what happened to his whole life.”

Chris Connely, an ABC News contributor was the last to interview Jackson, lives about a mile from the UCLA Medical Center and said he heard nothing but helicopters and sirens all afternoon Thursday.

“It’s a sharp contrast to when I interviewed him on the phone last year for his 50th birthday, when his voice would fade in and out like a radio station you desperately wanted to keep listening to,” he said.

He was only allowed to ask the pop star three questions, and his daughter suggested that he ask him whether the AARP had tracked him down yet.

“My favorite memory of our brief interview was his laugh after that question,” he said. “In an all-too-short life that in so many ways was filled with enigmatic emotions, or troubling ones, his laugh sounded fresh, clear and altogether genuine. If only there had been more of those.”

ABC News’ Christina Caron contributed to this report, as did Sonia Gallego in London, Dana Hughes in Nairobi, Cao Jun and Beth Loyd in Beijing, Christel Kucharz in Passau, Noriko Namiki in Tokyo, Nick Schifrin in Pakistan, Christophe Schpoliansky in Paris, Lara Setrakian in Abu Dhabi, Tanya Stukalova in Moscow, and Ann Wise in Rome.

The REsult Of NBA Draft 2009

2009-06-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

No. Team Player Pos.

1. Clippers Blake Griffin PF
2. Grizzlies Hasheem Thabeet C
3. Thunder James Harden SG
4. Kings Tyreke Evans SG
5. Timberwolves Ricky Rubio PG
6. Timberwolves Jonny Flynn PG
7. Warriors Stephen Curry PG
8. Knicks Jordan Hill PF
9. Raptors DeMar DeRozan SG
10. Bucks Brandon Jennings PG
11. Nets Terrence Williams SG
12. Bobcats Gerald Henderson SG
13. Pacers Tyler Hansbrough PF
14. Suns Earl Clark SF
15. Pistons Austin Daye SF
16. Bulls James Johnson PF
17. 76ers Jrue Holiday PG
18. Timberwolves Ty Lawson PG
19. Hawks Jeff Teague PG
20. Jazz Eric Maynor PG
21. Hornets Darren Collison PG
22. Trail Blazers Victor Claver SF
23. Kings Omri Casspi SF
24. Mavericks B.J. Mullens C
25. Thunder Rodrigue Beaubois PG
26. Bulls Taj Gibson PF
27. Grizzlies DeMarre Carroll PF
28. Timberwolves Wayne Ellington SG
29. Lakers Toney Douglas SG
30. Cavaliers Christian Eyenga SF

Round 2

No. Team Player Pos.
1. Kings Jeff Pendergraph PF
2. Wizards Jermaine Taylor SG
3. Trail Blazers Dante Cunningham PF
4. Nuggets Sergio Llull PG
5. Pistons DaJuan Summers SF
6. Grizzlies Sam Young SF
7. Spurs DeJuan Blair PF
8. Trail Blazers Jon Brockman PF
9. Pistons Jonas Jerebko SF
10. Bobcats Derrick Brown PF
11. Bucks Jodie Meeks SG
12. Lakers Patrick Beverley PG
13. Heat Marcus Thornton SG
14. Pistons Chase Budinger SG
15. Timberwolves Nick Calathes PG
16. Cavaliers Danny Green SF
17. Timberwolves Henk Norel PF
18. Suns Taylor Griffin SF
19. Hawks Sergiy Gladyr SG
20. Jazz Goran Suton C
21. Spurs Jack McClinton SG
22. Pacers A.J. Price PG
23. Spurs Nando De Colo PG
24. Bobcats Robert Vaden SG
25. Trail Blazers Patrick Mills PG
26. Mavericks Ahmad Nivins PF
27. Suns Emir Preldzic SF
28. Celtics Lester Hudson SG
29. Lakers Chinemelu Elonu PF
30. Heat Robert Dozier SF

Stable Relationships : The Srecret

2009-06-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

In case there is anyone who can give people the secret to stable relationships, he or she would be rich pretty fast given the problems that people experience. However, you should not wait for some kind of magic wand to establish your relationship. There are a number of things you can do on your own in order to have a good relationship.

These things are fairly simple and there is really no secret involved. It is just that people tend to take them for granted. Let's take a look at some of them.

Love

Although you would think that this is obvious, you will be surprised by how neglectful people usually are. Loving your spouse is very good. However, it should not stop at that. It is equally important to show your partner that you love him or her.

Respect

There is really no reason for staying in a relationship where you do not value and respect your partner. If you think your spouse is some kind of a joke then you are headed for disaster.

Kindness

As odd as it may seem, people tend to be kinder to strangers than the ones they are close to. Be kind to your spouse if you want a good relationship.

Thoughtfulness

In everything that you do, your spouse should take a prominent place in your thoughts. All it takes are little gestures to show your thoughtfulness.

Honesty

The phrase 'honesty is the best policy' has turned in a mere cliché and many people take it for granted in their relationships. Be transparent and you won't have anything to lie about.

Such simple and common sense things are actually the secrets to stable relationships. You should not find it difficult to express them. The important thing is to study your spouse in order to determine the most effective ways through which you can show these gestures and you will be happier for it. You will realize that simple actions will show a combination of the secrets to stable relationships, as they often go hand in hand.

Source

about relationships.

Megan Fox : The FHM Sensual Women This Year

2009-06-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Megan Fox, the actress who is often compared with the Tom Raider star, Angelina Jolie, is in news again. No, it's not for the sequel of the movie Transformers, where the actress will be seen again, but, yet for one more time, Fox has topped in U.S. FHM's 100 sexiest women.

This year, too, Megan Fox has topped US FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World 2009 poll for the second successive year. The Transformers beauty, who came second to Cheryl Cole in the British version, has become the second woman to retain her crown following Jennifer Lopez's twin win in 2001 and 2002.

The top-five name in the list includes: Jessica Alba (second), Scarlett Johansson (third), Jessica Biel (fourth) and Madeline Zima (fifth). The names have been reported in The Sun.
The ever news-making pop diva jumped from 100th place in 2008 to this year's No12.

Oooops! almost forgot to mention, there is a new face that has entered the list this time – Britney Spears. The ever news-making pop diva jumped from 100th place in 2008 to this year's No12. Indeed a news, isn't it?

The top 10 are:

1 Megan Fox
2 Jessica Alba
3 Scarlett Johansson
4 Jessica Biel
5 Madeline Zima
6 Adriana Lima
7 Elisha Cuthbert
8 Heidi Montag
9 Anne Hathaway
10 Katy Perry.

Glidden free paint give away

2009-06-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Glidden paint is kicking off a great promotional offer nationwide. The Glidden free paint giveaway starts June 25, 2009 and will continue through July 2, 2009. Free paint! How great is that?

Glidden paint wants to help get your summer painting projects in gear, by offering you free quart of Glidden paint. Obviously, a quart of paint won't be enough to paint your entire room, but it will be enough to get you started. There's no better way to see how a color will look in your home, then to simply paint the wall. If you love it, you can visit your Glidden paint dealer and buy enough to finish your project. A free quart of paint is just the right size to save for touch-ups, or to use to paint accent pieces in the room.

Here's how the Glidden free paint giveaway works:

* Register for the Glidden free paint giveaway online at www.glidden.com, or call 1-800-GLIDDEN anytime between June 25, 2009 - July 2, 2009.
* Select from any of Glidden's 282 beautiful (and durable) paint colors.

That's all there is to it! The Glidden website states that your free quart of paint will be sent to you. It does not indicate if you will receive the actual paint, or a coupon for it's purchase. More details should be released when the promotion begins on June 25, 2009.

To find a Glidden paint retailer near you, and to take advantage of the Glidden free paint giveaway, visit the Glidden website at www.glidden.com

Google Reserved 1 Million Phone Numbers for Its Google Voice Service

2009-06-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

Google hasn’t launched its Google Voice yet despite being rumored earlier this week. But Google was pretty busy. It reserved one million new phone numbers with its provider for Google Voice, Level 3. Does that mean that Google is actually getting ready to launch the new Google Voice soon? Well, we’re certainly hoping that will happen and we’ll be waiting close by to tell you all about it!

Score Wags with Natural Dog Treats

2009-06-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

While we keep track of where our food comes from and how it's made, we want to make sure that all family members are included — including the furry ones. Pet owners want to know that all their loved ones are eating foods that are good for them as well as the environment.

Enter Cloud Star, a California-based pet products company that has been committed to green since its beginnings in 1999. It started with Samantha, a shelter pup rescued by Cloud Star cofounders Jennifer Melton and Brennan Johnson, who were then 24-year-old newlyweds. Samantha, like many rescued animals, suffered from severe food allergies, and back then hypoallergenic foods weren't easy to find. So Melton started researching ingredients that would be good for Samantha, and started making her own dog treats. When she started to receive an overwhelming amount of orders from pet parents after a dog treat sale, Cloud Star was born.

Today, the company creates a wide array of pet products, including dog treats, grooming products, and an apparel and accessory line with the slogan "Wag More Bark Less." All ingredients are simple, natural and domestically grown. "We wanted to create products that could be used as everyday dog treats and still have a good price point," says Melton.

Cloud Star is constantly rolling out new products, from special gift baskets for the holidays to new flavors of their popular Buddy Biscuits. Many of the formulas are developed through customer requests. "Pet owners are concerned about grains in their dog's diet because grains can trigger and irritate certain disorders like diabetes," says Melton, "so we started making grain-free snacks."

For the pooch that's watching its own belly pooch, the low-fat Yogurt, Apple and Banana Trail Hound treats will make their mouth water. It's said that dogs' digestive systems do not process carbohydrates well, so the Chicken and Potato Provenance treats are both grain and wheat-free and address carb concerns. The Sweet Potato Farmstand Slices are low fat, grain and wheat-free. Can veggies make a nice snack? All paws point to yes.

All ingredients for Cloud Star products are sourced and grown in the continental USA. "Being a true green company has always been valued and is party of our company's culture ever since we started," says Melton. All of the packaging is made from recycled materials and has an Earthy-but-attractive look. Seventy percent of the office and warehouse waste is recycled and skylights positioned throughout workspaces cut back on electricity use.

In addition to looking out for canine appetites everywhere, Cloud Star has also committed to donating 10% of their net profits to a variety of non-profit organizations that benefit animals, women, children and the environment. "It's just amazing how far the donated money will go in some countries," Melton says. "As our business grows, we're able to donate more money."

Source
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/natural-dog-treats-buddy-biscuits-460609#ixzz0JRvF2jNC&C

Maria Belen Shapur is Mark Sanford’s mistress

2009-06-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Mark Sanford is having an affair with an Argentina resident named Maria Belén Shapur, it has been revealed. Without naming the woman, Mark Sanford admitted the afair and said that he will resign as head of the Republican Governor’s Association.

According to a blog, Maria Belén Shapur is an impressive woman: she speaks several languages and works for Bunge y Born, a large agribusiness and grain trading company.

Fox news reports Sanford as saying “I met this person a little over eight years ago, again, very innocently, and struck up a conversation”. And we had this incredibly earnest conversation. And at the end of it, I said, Could I get your e-mail? We swapped e-mails, whatever. And it began just on a very casual basis. But what I would say is I’m committed to trying to get my heart right because the one thing that Cubby and all the others have told me is that the odyssey that we’re all on in life is with regard to heart — not what I want or what you want, but in other words, indeed, this larger notion of truly trying to put other people first.”

College Cost Reduction and Access Act CHANGE!

2009-06-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

People are remembering the College Cost Reduction and Access Act today. The below text shows the Department of Education Student Loans’ College Cost Reduction and Access Act passed in 2007 under the Bush Administration.

But as examined below by LALATE, a major change in the Act on repayments comes into effect in just days.

First, the bill gradually cuts interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduate students in half according to the following schedule:

* 6.8 percent for loans first disbursed July 1, 2006 to July 1, 2008
* 6 percent for loans first disbursed July 1, 2008 to July 1, 2009
* 5.6 percent for loans first disbursed July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2010
* 4.5 percent for loans first disbursed July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011
* 3.4 percent for loans first disbursed July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2012

If you are in the armed services, the Act also allows you to defer as a member of Armed Forces.

This section eliminates a three-year limitation on loan deferment for certain members of the armed forces. It allows deferments until 180 days after the borrowers are demobilized. It also allows borrowers in the military to receive the benefit regardless of when the loan was originated. Eligibility for this deferment remains limited to members serving on active duty or performing qualified National Guard duty during war and a national emergency.

But the notable change that everyone is talking about today is the Income Based Repayment, a specific provision in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, that hasn’t come into effect — until days from now on July 1, 2009.

Loan payments will be limited to 15 percent of a borrower’s discretionary income or 15 percent of the amount that a borrower’s (and spouse’s if applicable) adjusted gross income exceeds 150 percent of the poverty line, divided by 12. Unpaid interest and principal are capitalized and any outstanding loan balance is forgiven after 25 years of repayment.

PLUS Loans made on behalf of a dependent student and Direct Consolidation Loans that contain PLUS loans are not eligible for the income-based repayment program.

Holders of these loans must apply the borrower’s payments first to interest, second to fees, and then toward the principal of the loan.

Any interest due and not covered by the borrower shall be paid by the Secretary for up to three years except for periods that a borrower is in deferment due to economic hardship.

The lender shall also capitalize the interest due when the borrower stops participating in the income-based repayment program, or begins making payments larger than what is specified under income-based repayment.

Principal due and not paid under income-base repayment shall be deferred.

Borrowers may remain in income-based repayment more than 10 years.

When borrowers leave the program the maximum payment required on the loan shall not exceed the monthly amount based on a 10-year repayment period when the borrower first joined income-based repayment. The time the borrower is permitted to repay the loan may exceed 10 years.

The Department must repay or cancel any outstanding loan principal and interest for borrowers after 25 years of repayment.

Borrowers currently repaying loans according to income-contingent repayment or income-sensitive repayment plans will have the choice to continue in their current plans or may participate in the program created by this bill.

The Department must establish procedures to annually determine borrowers’ eligibility for the program, including verification of a borrower’s income and the amount of their loans.

Ed Thomas : Grooming players for the NFL

2009-06-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

Parkersburg, Ia. — This time of year there's usually one topic in Tom Teeple's busy barbershop — football.

Lots of guys want to talk about the Falcons, the Aplington-Parkersburg High School football team that enters the first round of the playoffs tonight ranked No. 1 in Class 1-A.

College football comes up a lot.

But everyone knows everything there is to know about the NFL's Lions, Jaguars and Bears, too.
Advertisement

Teeple not only cuts hair in downtown Parkersburg, he also is the community's unofficial sports historian. He has former clients in the NFL. Another starts at the state's largest college. Others play at smaller colleges throughout the state.

Massillon, Ohio, has long been synonymous with high school football. But a check of players in the NFL this season shows the score is Aplington-Parkersburg 3, Massillon's football-rich Washington High School 0.

"The football capital of the United States," said Teeple, whose shop is a snip and clip from Aplington.

Casey Wiegmann of Chicago, Jared DeVries of Detroit and Brad Meester of Jacksonville all played for Aplington-Parkersburg Coach Ed Thomas. So did Aaron Kampman, the starting defensive end at Iowa. Same for two starters at Northern Iowa.

"It's an unbelievable story," said Al Kerns, who taught sociology and psychology to the lineup of stars when they attended the school, which this year has a graduating class of 68. "So many great players from a school our size is unheard of."

****

Thomas, an emotional veteran coach who is in search of his second state championship, says the star of the program is the community.

"Our students are a product of the enormous support of their parents and their community," Thomas said. "Our young people grow up with a positive attitude and a tremendous work ethic. It's contagious. Any time we have people break through and go to Iowa and Iowa State and other universities, the younger kids in town can see that you don't have to be from the big school to have big-time opportunities."

The tradition started in 1978 when Gary Collings received a scholarship from Iowa State. Keith Schrage and Jay Jordan followed him to Ames. Wiegmann was the first to attend Iowa, and first to become a pro.

Then came DeVries, an Iowa all-American. Next was Meester, a Division I-AA all-American at Northern Iowa.

"How can you put a value on that tradition?" Thomas asks. "You can't."

Meester was an eighth-grader when Wiegmann graduated.

"Casey's definitely the guy I used to watch," he said. "I lived out in the country, but that didn't mean I didn't know about him. I definitely remember watching him. Even when he was at Iowa, I watched him all the time."

One of the places to watch and be watched is in the team's weight room. Wiegmann and Meester were among the many who pumped iron there last summer. DeVries worked out in Detroit, where his wife was attending school.

"That's what I mean about tradition," Thomas said. "Our eighth graders coming up through the program believe they're supposed to be in the weight room."

Star linebacker Alex Pollack was there. Quarterback Jay DeVries upheld his family's tradition in the absence of his big brother.

"It's just a reflection of how we do things up here," Jay said. "It's neat, lifting weights next to guys like Casey and Brad. Seeing those guys come back, seeing them in the weight room and around town and seeing them achieve is a pretty good thing for the younger kids to try to live up to."

****

Hanging out in the weight room builds more than muscle. Time spent training exposes players to the all-around education Thomas offers.

"There's something I've hung on my wall for a long time," Kampman said. "It's a page of things it takes to be a champion that Coach Thomas gives each of his players.

"He's got a notebook about an inch thick of inspirational and motivational things. He teaches you a lot about how to prepare for life."

He also teaches a lot about football. This is his 26th season coaching either Parkersburg or Aplington-Parkersburg; the schools were merged in 1993. His teams have qualified for 12 playoffs, winning with Aplington-Parkersburg in 1993, starting another playoff drive with a 9-0 team that plays a home game tonight against Mason City Newman. His teams have been state runners-up three times.

"Coach Thomas instills a lot of discipline in his teams," DeVries said. "He believes that if you're going to win at the high school level, that you have to commit yourself. He instills that in all of us and we carried that not only to college, but through college. That was a large reason for our success."

The discipline Thomas instills has been evident even in seniors about to graduate.

"I'll never forget it," said Kerns, the teacher. "It was the last day of school when the seniors got out and normally they take off and have a good time doing something or other, but not Casey.

"I saw him back at the school running on the track. While his classmates were out having fun, Casey was working out by himself."

Meester compared Thomas to one of the state's legends, former Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable.

"He gets more out of you than you think you can give. It's like Gable, sort of," Meester said. "He gets you to do more than you think you can do."

****

DeVries started his high school career at Aplington. When the schools merged in the middle of his high school years, he got his chance under Thomas.

"That's the best thing that ever happened to me," DeVries said. "If the schools had not joined, I would never have gotten opportunity to attend Iowa because Aplington was such a small school."

A small school, but a launching pad for big careers.

Someday, Aplington and Parkersburg might even be known nationwide they way Massillon is.

"We haven't had a kid in the NFL since (Chris) Spielman retired in 1995," said Massillon sports historian LaVerne Beck. "We've had 18 total, but never more than a couple at once. For a small school in Iowa to have three going at the same time, and another maybe on the way, is quite a story."

Check the barbershop for proof.

SOURCE
www.desmoinesregister.com

State moose numbers fall short of target

2009-06-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Moose numbers statewide are down from Wyoming Game and Fish population objectives, an annual report for the agency shows.

The annual 2009 Big Game Hunting Season Recommendation Summary compiled this spring shows the moose census last winter found the population at 44 percent of objective.

Game and Fish counted only six of 10 herds in its annual census, estimating 7,692 moose, far shy of the goal of 13,820.

The uncounted herds are supposed to comprise about 10 percent of the population. That means numbers are still likely low, even though not all herds were counted.

The same study shows pronghorn numbers strong across Wyoming and mule deer populations still depressed. The News&Guide two weeks ago reported the study’s tally of elk numbers.

In the Jackson Hole area, the Game and Fish Commission responded to the low moose numbers by reducing the hunting licenses to be issued in the coming season.

A total of 45 licenses are to be issued for the area, 25 fewer than last year.

Statewide, Game and Fish expect hunters to kill 616 moose this year, down from a recent high of 1,251 in 2001. The goal is to increase the number of animals statewide to 7,891 by next year.

Across Wyoming the agency counted 41 of 44 antelope herds, estimating 526,200 antelope, 14 percent more than the goal of 461,950. Game and Fish anticipates licensing 60,670 antelope hunters this year, up from 56,459 last year.

Hunters should kill 57,239 antelope in 2009, achieving a success rate of 94.3 percent, according to agency goals. In 2008 hunters killed 53,922 pronghorn for a 95.5 percent success rate.

Resident hunters have until June 1 to apply for antelope licenses, almost all of which are limited-quota licenses that must be drawn by lottery. The same date is the deadline for other resident limited-quota applications.

The closest antelope hunting to Jackson will be in the Gros Ventre River drainage where licenses for 15 antelope will be available.

Mule deer are 18 percent below the state’s objective of 564,650, according to the report. Thirty-five of 39 herds were counted for the estimate.

In the Wyoming Range Herd, which utilizes southern Jackson Hole, the agency estimates 29,752 animals, while the objective is 32,303. The Sublette Herd, another that utilizes Jackson Hole, is estimated at 28,700 animals, also below the goal of 29,989.

Biologists counted eight of 15 bighorn sheep herds and estimate 5,322 animals. The goal for the 15 herds is 7,885.

For the Targhee Herd, Game and Fish will issue two resident ram licenses. Last year, one of the two was a nonresident license.

Eight sheep are targeted in the Jackson herd, whose home is the Gros Ventre Range, the same number as last year. Only five were killed in 2009, and it took an average of 21.6 days to make a kill.

Bison regulations in Jackson Hole will be changed in 2009 so that hunters drawing a license for a female bison will receive a cow/calf tag. Last year, regulations stipulated only female bison be shot under that license, and several young males were taken inadvertently.

Most other big game licenses for the female of a species allow the hunter to take a cow or calf. A calf is defined as an animal younger than a year old.

Hunters killed 258 bison from the Jackson Herd last year. The goal this year is 256 animals.

SOURCE
www.jacksonholenews.com

Texas stays alive in College World Series

2009-06-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

You almost knew it had to play out like this. When two teams dominate the College World Series tournament the way the LSU Tigers, and Texas Longhorns did, there was no chance one team or the other was going to sweep the best of three series. There just had to be a game three.

After letting LSU rally from two down in the ninth inning yesterday, the Longhorns made sure the controlled the game from beginning to end.

Texas scratched across the game’s first run thanks to small ball execution and a bit of porous defense from the Tigers. Third-baseman Michael Torres lead off the game with a four pitch walk, and advanced to second when catcher Micah Gibbs threw the ball away attempting to pick Torres off. Torres advanced to third on a Travis Tucker ground out, and was driven home on a Brandon Belt single.

Texas hit yet another solo home run in the top of the second, their sixth in the last two games, courtesy of Preston Clark, and the Longhorns took a 2-0 lead. LSU got a run back in the bottom of the inning thanks to singles by Jared Mitchell and Leon Landry, and an error by Brandon Loy.

In the third inning, Texas added all the insurance runs they’d need, first on another solo home run by Russell Moldenhauer, who hit his third homerun in two games, after hitting just one home run during the rest of the season. Cameron Rupp followed that with a double, and two batters later Connor Rowe chased Tigers’ starting pitcher Ryan Bird with an RBI double of his own. Nolan Cain came on in relief, but could not retire Preston Clark, who drove in Rowe with a single, making the score 5-1.

Texas starting pitcher Taylor Jungmann, who played the goat in relief in game one of the series, pitched a gem in game two. The freshman phenom threw a complete game giving up just five hits, while striking out nine, and the only run scored against him was unearned.

The ninth inning for the Tigers saw none of the drama of a day ago. Jungmann did allow Gibbs to lead off the inning with a single, but Mikie Mahtook followed him by striking out swinging, and Mitchell grounded out to second, moving Gibbs to second. Jungmann balked Gibbs over to second, but with the cushion his team provided him, he was able to settle down and strike Leon Landry out swinging on a 2-2 pitch

The Longhorns’ victory means that the College Baseball season will last at least one more day, as the two teams will meet Wednesday night at 6:00 PM in the game that will decide the National Champion

SOURCE

www.examiner.com

Who Is Jason Ellis

2009-06-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Jason Ellis (born October 11, 1971) is an Australian professional skate boarder, mixed martial artist, radio host, and actor. Ellis hosts The Jason Ellis Show weekdays (3-7 Eastern time) on Faction 28, a Sirius Satellite Radio station (XM 52). Jason Ellis moved to the United States at age 17 to become a Professional Skateboarder which he accomplished in 1990. He and Tony Hawk became acquaintances due to the closeness in age and still remain friends to this day. Jason resides in Temecula, California.

SOURCE
Wikipedia

Bernadette Peters joins Regis as co-host on ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’ Show

2009-06-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Today Bernadette Peters joins Regis as co-host on ‘Live with Regis and Kelly.’ Bernadette Peters is an actress and singer from New York City and has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings. She is one of the most critically-acclaimed Broadway performers.

Bernadette will be performing in San Francisco at the Davies Symphony Hall with the San Francisco Symphony, on Saturday June 27, 2009.

In the wake of the 1906 earthquake, establishment of a permanent orchestra was high on the civic agenda, and in December 1911, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) gave its first concerts, revitalizing San Francisco’s cultural life.

The San Francisco Symphony is one of the only American orchestras to operate its own youth orchestra and chorus. Established in 1980, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra has become recognized as one of the finest ensembles of its kind and which in 1985 won the world’s highest honor for a young musicians’ ensemble, the City of Vienna Prize.

SOURCE
www.bernadettepeters.com

hello

2009-06-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

the first post