Friday, November 30, 2012

Spaun: a Large-Scale Functional Brain Model

Spaun: a Large-Scale Functional Brain Model - Slashdot
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AI Science Technology Posted by Soulskill
from the can-it-learn-to-program-my-vcr dept.
New submitter dj_tla writes "A team of Canadian researchers has created a state-of-the-art brain model that can see, remember, think about, and write numbers. The model has just been discussed in a Science article entitled 'A Large-Scale Model of the Functioning Brain.' There have been several popular press articles, and there are videos of the model in action. Nature quotes Eugene Izhikevich, chairman of Brain Corporation, as saying, 'Until now, the race was who could get a human-sized brain simulation running, regardless of what behaviors and functions such simulation exhibits. From now on, the race is more [about] who can get the most biological functions and animal-like behaviors. So far, Spaun is the winner.' (Full disclosure: I am a member of the team that created Spaun.)"

The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. -- Oscar Wilde

Working...

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/6SJ2Rx-kaoc/story01.htm

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Finding, Restoring & Finishing Period Wooden Doors | Home ...

There are a multitude of reasons why you might choose to take on the task of not just finding vintage doors but also restoring them to their former glory. Some may say there is a sense of accomplishment in taking something broken down and putting it into use again, others enjoy the challenge or simply being crafty. No matter what your reason we highly encourage the act of being resourceful and honoring age old designs that truly do add character to any home or building.

Door 300x225 Finding, Restoring & Finishing Period Wooden Doors

Image Source: http://www.salvo.co.uk/images/userimgs/10896/36186_1.jpg

Finding the perfect door
When beginning your adventure into the world of restoring vintage furniture, it is important to understand that because items are no longer being produced; you are working with an ever depleting stock. So you may have to get your hands dirty and begin by rummaging through our personal favorites; the scrap yard and or dumpsters. More often than not, one man?s trash will become another man?s treasure, in which case you may just find that perfect cast away door.

Garage sales
If the previous approach strikes you as a bit too extreme, no problem; there are always more civilized settings such as yard sales or garage sales. Most people may not realize the value in their old doors, so keep your poker face and do your best to work a deal.

Antique shops
The most obvious place to run across a period front door would be a second hand shop or if money is not an issue head straight for your local antique shop. These establishments are usually more aware of the beauty and value attached to doors of earlier periods, a fact which is usually reflected in the prices.
It is worth remembering when searching for period furniture on a budget; that an opportunity may arise out of nothing. As with all shrewd shoppers; keep your eyes open, be prepared to ask questions and you just might get lucky.

Restoring and Finishing Your Fabulous Find

Red Door 232x300 Finding, Restoring & Finishing Period Wooden Doors

Image Source: http://limedecorators.com/images/door1.jpg

Clean
Restoration starts with the stripping process, which can also be considered the most difficult part of the project. You want to make sure that you have stripped all of the old paint, wax or residue from the door, followed by a wash using hot water and detergent. After you have cleaned the door set it aside until the wood has had time to completely dry.

Repair
Once the door has dried you will need to make any repairs that may be needed. Often the wood may need to be sanded down to create a nice even surface or holes may need to be filled in with putty. If replacing bits of wood, make sure to try and match the species, texture and grain as best you can.

Finish
Before finishing your period door; you will want to use a bit of scrap wood to test out your ideas. The last thing you want is to regret your choice of finish, especially when you worked so hard to get it to this stage.
Consider the type of wood you are working with, the natural colourations of the wood and where you will be installing the door when planning your finishing touches. Initial colours are laid down on the door whether you are using paint or a stain, followed by a seal or topcoat which is lightly sanded down between each layer.
Tint or glaze can be applied to ensure the colours are blended evenly and four to six coats of the topcoat will help to protect the wood. When all the layers are on and you are satisfied with the finished product you can rub, wax and buff your door to your desired shine.

Blue Door 200x300 Finding, Restoring & Finishing Period Wooden Doors

Image Source: http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a07/es/iv/doors-victorian-period-800?800.jpg

Finding, restoring and finishing period wooden doors is not exactly a straight forward task. It takes a lot of patience and trust in the knowledge that the right door will come along. But sometimes when the vintage stars align, you could be left with a unique and individual item that will demand admiration for the years to come.

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This article was brought to you by Yale Exterior Doors. Each Yale front door can be ordered in a number of authentic period styles. Whether you choose a Georgian or Victorian front door you can rely on the security and build quality of Yale.

Source: http://blog.homerenovationguide.com/2012/11/30/finding-restoring-finishing-period-wooden-doors/

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Top Search Engine PPC Platforms - Online Media Magic

The most popular search engine PPC program is Google AdWords which reaches over 10 billion web pages and 100 different language versions. The benefits of using Google are its inexpensive start-up cost ($5 dollars) and the amount of traffic you will get, which is far more than that of any of the other search engines. Google also provides you with its Google Analytics program, which helps you with what keywords you should be targeting in your PPC ads, a website optimizer, which allows you to test different variations of your web pages to see which convert better, and step-by-step tutorials that take you through the whole process of setting up a Google Adwords campaign. Most experts agree that it is a good idea to start out with Google Adwords, because of the low start-up fee and the heavy traffic. Although it is expensive for competitive terms, you can still get away with not bidding too much on the less competitive longer-tailed keywords. According to thesearchguru blog, on the Internet, organic search drives 75%+ of all search traffic and papy per click receives less than 25% of all search traffic; yet pay per click earns 80%+ of search engine marketing campaign budgets.

The Yahoo Search Marketing search engine PPC platform was first named as GoTo, then changed to Overture, and finally ended up as what we know it today: Yahoo Search Marketing. Yahoo charges a $30 start-up fee, but then offers you $25 of free ads. Yahoo focuses on sponsored Search and reaches over 80% of active Internet users. You can also reach your market through online publishers, newsletters and emails. Instead of your ad appearing only in search rankings, it will also show up next to content like articles and product reviews that are related to your business. You can also reach a local audience by targeting ads specifically for your geographical area. Yahoo also offers certain upgrades like the Search Optimizer, which can automatically manage your keyword bids, and the Marketing Console, which tracks how effective your online campaigns are. Each of these are available for a monthly fee. Free tools include: the Keyword Selector Tool and the View Bids Tool, as well as a PPC ROI calculator and CPM ROI Calculator.

Microsoft adCenter (Bing) is relatively new in the big names of search engine PPC. Yet, it is very popular since it offers a large range of features: costs only $5 to sign up,targeted towards a buying market where the competition is not as high as Google and Yahoo, and so the amount you pay per click is lower. You can take advantage of the keyword research tool, which gives you the past month?s searches for your keyword, other relevant keywords, and the present month?s traffic for those keywords. The tool also shows trends for each keyword.

It is generally recommended that, if you are new to PPC, you start with just one search engine (preferably Google Adwords), learn how that works, and then move on to others if you feel that it might be worth a try. In recent studies done by payperclickuniverse, there are over 500 PPC search engines operating at this time, (Google Adwords, Microsoft Adcenter, and Yahoo) are the most popular that produce over 85% of all the Pay Per Click searches.

Search Engine Optimization Services

Source: http://www.onlinemediamagic.com/blog/1976/top-search-engine-ppc-platforms/

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CSN: At this point, Eagles should bench entire secondary

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It?s time to send a message to this secondary, send a message to this team, send a message to the fans, send a message to everybody that what we saw Monday night, what we?ve seen the past couple months, is unacceptable.

It?s one thing to say it. It?s another to do something about it. And it?s time for Andy Reid to make a statement that gross football negligence will no longer be tolerated, that leaving receivers and tight ends criminally wide open snap after snap, game after game, will no longer be tolerated.

This Eagles team certainly has a lot of major issues, a lot of glaring weaknesses. The offensive line is banged up and sputtering along, the defensive line is underachieving, the receivers are struggling, the linebackers have regressed, the quarterbacks haven?t done anything special for weeks.

But nothing has been as embarrassing, as pitiful, as hopeless as the play of the Eagles? secondary.

They have simply stopped playing.

They have simply stopped covering people.

They have simply stopped competing.

Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are both former Pro Bowl corners. Nate Allen is a second-round pick who had an auspicious rookie year before he got hurt. Kurt Coleman is a late-round effort guy who isn?t the biggest or fastest but brings energy and attitude.

Put 'em all together and you have a living, breathing defensive backfield catastrophe.

The Eagles are in uncharted waters when it comes to pass coverage.

Five weeks in a row now, a quarterback has done this against the Eagles: Complete at least 64 percent of his passes, throw two or more touchdowns, throw zero interceptions and pass for 200 yards.

Five weeks in a row now, a quarterback has had a passer rating of 120 or higher against the Eagles.

Only one other NFL team in history ? the 1984 Vikings ? can claim those nightmarish accomplishments.

Five weeks in a row now, the Eagles? secondary has looked like an unprepared, undisciplined, overmatched, disinterested mess.

Asomugha, who arrived here with such huge expectations, looks lost. Rodgers-Cromartie, so brilliant in the preseason and the first few weeks, has dwindled down into nothingness. Allen seems to have mastered the art of running around in odd, random directions that have little to do with the play the other team has called. And Coleman ? he?s trying, but he?s just not good enough.

There?s only one thing Reid and Todd Bowles can do at this point.

Bench the entire secondary.

Make a statement. Send a message. Hold people accountable.

Will it turn the season around? No.

Will it send the Eagles to the playoffs? Of course not.

But at this point, at 3-8 with a seven-game losing streak and grotesque pass defense numbers being generated week after week after week, something has to change or the young guys on this team who are still playing hard, still fighting, the young guys who have to be part of this team?s future, will start believing that ineptitude and incompetence are acceptable around here.

Bench 'em all.

Nnamdi sits. DRC sits. Allen and Coleman sit.

Let?s get a nice long look at second-year third-round pick Curtis Marsh and rookie Brandon Boykin at corner. Brandon Hughes can play the slot. Somebody. Anybody.

Let?s get Dave Sims on the field at one of the safeties. He might not be Dawk out there, but he?s got some edge to his game, some toughness this defense desperately needs.

And Colt Anderson is best suited to be solely a special teams player ? and he?s a terrific one ? but he is a safety by trade and although he might be overmatched playing defense coming off an ACL, honestly, at least he?ll go out there and fight and battle.

So there?s your secondary starting Sunday in Dallas.

Nnamdi, DRC, Allen and Coleman sit.

Marsh, Boykin, Sims and Anderson play.

For the record, head coach Andy Reid said at his Tuesday presser that he has no plans at the moment to bench anybody, including his entire starting defensive backfield. He said he?s looked at all that and decided to stick with the status quo.

The status quo that in the last nine games has allowed 19 touchdown passes and intercepted two passes.

The status quo that has allowed five straight quarterbacks fashion a passer rating of 120 or higher.

The status quo that is embarrassing the Eagles' uniform on a daily basis.

Will a mass benching help?

Who knows. At least we?ll see four guys who are hungry, four guys who will play hard for 60 minutes, four guys who will at least try to play the right coverage.

They might make mistakes and get beat and give up touchdowns, but at least we?ll see some young kids who have some fire and energy and desire.

Things the current group just doesn?t have.

E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com

Tags: eagles, Andy Reid, Nnamdi Asomugha, Nate Allen, Kurt Coleman, Colt Anderson, Todd Bowles, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, brandon boykin, david sims

Source: http://www.csnphilly.com/football-philadelphia-eagles/eagles-talk/At-this-point-Eagles-should-bench-entire?blockID=806759&feedID=692

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Google Maps comes to Nunavut, lets you Street View your way to an Arctic Char fishing hole

Google Maps comes to Nunavut, lets you Street View your way to an Arctic Char fishing hole

Think it's cold in Chicago? You've probably never wintered in Nunavut, Canada's northernmost territory. This past August (long before the temperature in Cambridge Bay hit negative double digits), Google explorers ventured above the Arctic circle to bring the mapping giant's Street View tech to the village of 1,500, complete with a walk down Omingmak Street and a peek around the Youth Recreation Complex (which, fittingly, houses an ice hockey rink). You can even stroll past Our Lady of the Arctic Catholic Church or toss a few darts at Ikaluktutiak Elks Lodge No. 593. So, what are you still doing hanging around here? Hit up our source link below to grab your lil' slice of ice before the thermometer hits 0 this spring.

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Google Maps, Google Blog

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/29/google-maps-nunavut/

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Solar System's Moons May Have Emerged from Long-Gone Planetary Rings

Ancient, Saturn-like ring systems may have acted as assembly lines for natural satellites


Neptune's ring systemMOON SEEDS: An artist's conception depicts an ancient ring system releasing newly formed moonlets into orbit around Neptune. Image: Courtesy Frederic Durillon/Animea

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch," as Carl Sagan once said, "you must first invent the universe." And if you wish to make a moon from scratch, according to new research, you must first create planets with rings (after inventing the universe, of course).

Earth?s moon may have emerged from a long-vanished ring system, much like the rings still encircling Saturn ? and the same goes for many of the satellites orbiting the other planets. The bulk of the solar system?s regular satellites?those moons that stick close to their planets in roughly equatorial orbits?formed this way, rather than taking shape simultaneously with the planets as a direct result of planet formation, French astrophysicists have concluded. The researchers reported their findings in the November 30 issue of Science.

?It?s fundamentally the same process that gave birth to the moon and to the satellites of the giant planets, and that?s the spreading of rings,? says astrophysicist Aur?lien Crida of the University of Nice?Sophia Antipolis and the Observatory of C?te d?Azur in France, who co-authored the study with S?bastien Charnoz of the University of Paris?Diderot.

Through theoretical modeling, the researchers found that the moon-formation action begins at the edge of a planetary ring, where a satellite can take shape without being shredded by the gravitational pull of the planet. There, moonlets coagulate from the ring material before migrating outward. As the ring system spits out moonlet after moonlet, the small objects merge to form larger moons, which may merge in turn as they spiral outward from the planet.

The idea of a moonlet assembly line differs from the standard conception of satellite birth, in which moons condense along with their host planet from a swirling cloud of dust and gas, much like the planets themselves are thought to have taken shape around the nascent sun. The solar-system-in-miniature concept seems to work well for the largest moons, such as Jupiter?s four so-called Galilean satellites, but the retinue of smaller moons circling the other giant planets ?have so far been considered a by-product,? Crida says.

The new hypothesis seems to explain a key commonality among the regular satellites of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune ? namely, that moons farther from their respective planets tend to have larger masses than their closer-in neighbors. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the coalescing moons would grow larger and larger as they drift farther from the planet and its rings, undergoing progressively more mergers along the way. The end result is a neatly ordered satellite system, with small moons on the inside built from few moonlets and large moons farther out built from numerous moonlets.

?I think the best thing about this work is that they explain this link between the mass of the moon and the orbital distance, which was known before but not understood,? says planetary scientist David Nesvorny of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., who did not contribute to the new research. ?If you had asked me a few years ago, I would think of our moon?s formation and the formation of the satellites of the outer planets differently,? he adds. ?This theory puts things on common ground.?

Planetary scientists generally accept that a giant impact into the newly formed Earth ejected a huge cloud of material that became the moon. In Crida and Charnoz?s conception, that ejecta first flattened into a ring around the planet, which then spread out and coagulated into the moon. But unlike Saturn?s ring, which would have leaked out numerous moonlets to form several moons, Earth?s relatively massive ring would have poured all its material into one large satellite before dissipating. ?It spreads very fast,? Crida says of Earth?s hypothesized ring. ?And if it spreads fast, only one moon has time to form.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a879492a97be42d423b394a59febad9f

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APNewsBreak: DeCinces indicted for insider trading

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Former Baltimore Orioles all-star Doug DeCinces and three others were indicted Wednesday on insider trading charges involving the use of information prior to the takeover of a medical device company in California, authorities said.

In 2008, DeCinces was told by a close friend and official at Advanced Medical Optics Inc. that Abbott Laboratories planned to pay $21 to $23 a share for the company's stock, prosecutors said. At the time, Advanced Medical Optics was trading for about $8 a share.

DeCinces began buying Advance Medical stock based on that information and passed along the takeover details to three friends because he wanted to make up for previous investment recommendations that had gone bad, prosecutors said.

When Abbott's offer was made public, DeCinces sold his newly purchased shares and profited about $1.3 million, court documents show. Abbott acquired Advanced Medical Optics in January 2009.

DeCinces' three friends each bought and sold Advanced Medical stock and made anywhere from $140,000 to nearly $350,000, authorities said.

Also indicted on insider trading charges were David Parker, 60, of Provo, Utah; Fred Scott Jackson, 65, of Newport Beach, and Roger Wittenbach, 69, of Lutherville-Timonium in Maryland.

DeCinces, 62, was charged with 42 counts of securities fraud and one count of money laundering. Each of the fraud counts carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. DeCinces is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 17.

"To put it mildly, we do not agree with the decision to bring a criminal case against Doug DeCinces," said Gordon Greenberg, DeCinces' attorney. "But the proper place to have this resolved is in the courtroom and not on the courthouse steps."

Messages left for the other defendants' lawyers were not immediately returned.

The Securities and Exchange Commission previously filed a civil lawsuit against DeCinces that was settled last year when the former major leaguer agreed to pay $2.5 million. In the lawsuit, federal authorities named James Mazzo, Advanced Medical's former CEO, as the person who told DeCinces about the pending deal.

Mazzo is a senior vice president at Abbott and is not facing criminal charges. In August, in response to the SEC lawsuit, Mazzo's attorney said his client would be fully exonerated after a review of the evidence.

Also caught up in the insider trading case was Hall of Famer and DeCinces' former teammate Eddie Murray, who agreed in August to pay nearly $360,000 to settle federal civil charges. Federal investigators said DeCinces told Murray about the impending takeover. Murray neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.

DeCinces was a third baseman during 15 seasons with the Orioles, California Angels and St. Louis Cardinals. He currently is president and CEO of a real estate development firm in Orange County.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-11-28-Insider%20Trading-DeCinces/id-734964f689b843898ff19da66220d577

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Red Square bomb plotter gets 15 years in jail

MOSCOW (AP) ? A man, whose plot to cause carnage on Moscow's iconic Red Square was thwarted by a spam phone message, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in jail.

Ilyas Saidov, a member of an underground Islamist group, brought explosives-laden belts disguised as heaters for two female suicide bombers on a bus from his native Dagestan, a southern province in the Caucasus region plagued by almost daily clashes between Islamists and federal forces.

But just hours before they were to detonate the bombs on New Year's Eve, 2010, a belt attached to a cellphone exploded after the detonator was activated by a spam message, killing one of the women and prompting the arrest of the other. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail in May.

Spam is a daily nuisance for many Russians buying new SIM cards but this time the message saved thousands from being in harm's way. Red Square is a popular gathering point for Muskovites to see in the new year.

The Moscow City Court also found Saidov guilty of gunning down two police officers and three civilians in Dagestan.

Saidov pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators, giving up the leader and several members of an underground Islamist group he was part of. His testimony led to the killing of several Islamists.

Four members of the group have been convicted, and six more are currently standing trial, investigators said.

Since 2000, at least two dozen female suicide bombers, most of them from the Caucasus, have carried out terrorist attacks on security officers and civilians in Russian cities and aboard trains and planes.

The bombers are often called "black widows" in Russia because many of them are the wives, or other relatives, of militants killed by security forces.

Islamic militants are believed to convince "black widows" that a suicide bombing will reunite them with their dead relatives beyond the grave.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/red-square-bomb-plotter-gets-15-years-jail-131735752.html

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Sandia Lab Celebrates Inventor of the Modern Clean Room

Cleanrooms are pretty much dead technology. I work in one of the few large-scale 'real' cleanrooms left (100k+ square feet at class

200mm wafers were small enough for people to carry around and material handling robots were less advanced, so it made sense to make the entire fab into laminar-flow cleanroom and have people carry wafers around exposed to the air. This is obviously absurdly expensive, given the square footage of HEPA filters and sheer air-moving horsepower needed.

Now, a full lot of 300mm wafers is too heavy for a person to carry around all day, cleanliness standards are higher, and material handling robots are cheap enough to replace humans. The new fabs store all wafers in sealed plastic FOUPs which are robotically delivered to each process tool. Only the inside of the positively-pressurized process tools has to be truly clean. The big squirrel-cage VLF fans have been replaced by an array of axial fans covering the roof that can be individually tweaked and adjusted to optimize airflow and power.

Companies still pretend it's a cleanroom and force people to wear smocks out of habit, but most of them are only held to class 10,000 or so, which is cleaner than your living room but not clean enough to make wafers in, without the FOUPs.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/-Ce8sPDte6c/story01.htm

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NASA video captures massive solar eruption

NASA spacecraft captured HD video of a giant plasma eruption on the surface of the Sun Friday. This plasma eruption is not headed toward Earth, so isn't expected to cause any communication problems. The sun is currently in the middle of an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle.

By Tariq Malik,?Space.com / November 19, 2012

A giant solar eruption is captured on Nov. 16, 2012 by NASA's sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory. The solar eruption was not aimed at Earth.

NASA/SDO

Enlarge

The sun unleashed a monster eruption of super-hot plasma Friday (Nov. 16) in back-to-back solar storms captured on camera by a NASA spacecraft.

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The giant sun eruption, called a solar prominence, occurred at 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT), with another event flaring up four hours later. The prominences was so large, it expanded beyond the camera view of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which captured high-definition?video of the solar eruption.

In the video, a colossal loop of glowing red plasma erupts from the lower left of the sun, arcing up and out of frame as it blasts away from the star.

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

"The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas made of electrically charged hydrogen and helium," officials with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, which oversees the SDO mission, explained in a description. "The prominence plasma flows along a tangled and twisted structure of magnetic fields generated by the sun?s internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma."

?Friday's solar eruption does not appear to be aimed at Earth, so will likely have little effect on our planet. But that was not the case earlier this week when a powerful solar flare erupted on Monday (Nov. 12). That flare registered as an M6-class eruption, a moderate but still intense solar event.

On Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 13 and 14), space weather conditions sparked a geomagnetic storm that supercharged the Earth's auroras, creating spectacular northern lights displays for observers at high latitudes.

When aimed directly at Earth, the most powerful solar flares and eruptions can pose a threat to satellites and astronauts in orbit, and also interfere with communication, navigation and power systems on the ground.

The sun is currently in the middle of an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle. The current cycle is called Solar Cycle 24 and is expected to peak in 2013.

RECOMMENDED: Are you scientifically literate? Take the quiz

Editor's note:?If you snap an amazing photo of the northern lights created by recent sun flares, or any other sky object, and you'd like to share it for a possible story or image gallery, send images, comments and location information to managing editor Tariq Malik at?tmalik@space.com.

You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter?@tariqjmalik?and?SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/i6dplRZEh_g/NASA-video-captures-massive-solar-eruption

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Leveraging Your Company's Landmark Anniversary | Ruff Haus ...

Your company?s anniversary is the perfect time to showcase to existing and potential customers all those things that make your company special. This includes showing off the talents that made the business what it is, revealing new products or services, differentiating the business from the competition, focusing on the successes that led to the company?s longevity and more.

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While milestone anniversaries, such as 25, 50 or even 100 years, are great attention grabbers, you shouldn?t get hung up on limiting your business? anniversary celebrations to milestones alone. Instead, capitalize on the potential marketing value of any and all company anniversary celebrations, and leverage the unique opportunity to enable growth and promote brand awareness. After all, this party is as much for the business as it is for the consumer.

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Use out-of-the-box thinking to generate ideas of how to engage in meaningful dialogue and build relationships with your target market.

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A company anniversary is a great way to generate interest, draw new customers and clients, increase sales, boost company morale and improve employee performance. By attracting attention and saying to consumers, ?Look at us! We?re happy, successful and growing strong,? you establish a competitive advantage and build credibility in your niche.

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A great way to gain consumer trust in your company?s future is to showcase the successes of your company?s past.

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Planning your company anniversary well in advance is one of the best ways to get the most out of the special occasion. Schedule events all year long in numerous tradeshows, community events and the like, and issue press releases to get as much media coverage as possible. Consider revamping the company website with a special anniversary logo, and include the details of your celebrations in all social media outlets. Send out printed announcements and commemorative gifts that your customers will appreciate.

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Getting help from professionals with promotions, public relations and/or event management will help maximize your outreach and increase the overall success of the anniversary celebrations, so don?t overlook the small stuff. To generate a successful strategy, recognizing the marketing value of such an occasion is crucial.

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Employees are another integral part in the planning process, so use them to your advantage. Involving employees in all of the planning details not only boosts morale through participation, it also translates to increased company loyalty. The end result?successful teamwork experience and feelings of pride and accomplishment?renders a certain passion by the employees for the company?s well-being, which is in turn invaluable because customers can easily recognize it and become enticed by the camaraderie.

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Leveraging an anniversary to change things up a bit and rejuvenate your company?s identity in order to line up with a changing marketplace, while simultaneously introducing new and improved products and services, can mean big things, especially in terms of new leads. And in the end, aligning an anniversary event celebration?complete with food, drinks, contests, giveaways and other promotions?with new and fresh ideas, products and services generates excitement in existing and potential customers, and is a unique opportunity to communicate and connect with the public. So, don?t ignore the tremendous marketing potential here! Let the anniversary celebrations last all year long!

Tags: brand awareness, business anniversary, Company's Anniversary, competitive advantage, consumer trust, credibility, marketing

Source: http://ruffhaus.com/blog/2012/11/leveraging-your-companys-landmark-anniversary-marketing-through-past-successes-new-futures-and-everything-in-between/

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Why did Chris Brown delete his Twitter account? | WTVR.com ...

(CNN) ? Chris Brown has deleted his Twitter account after getting into a vulgar war of words with comedian and writer Jenny Johnson on Sunday.

The stomach-churning exchange of messages all began with Brown tweeting, ?I look old as f***! I?m only 23,? and Johnson responding, ?I know! Being a worthless piece of s*** can really age a person.?

The back-and-forth between Brown and Johnson, some of which can be seen on Johnson?s still-public feed, continued for at least half-an-hour. Brown bit back at Johnson?s initial reply with: ?take them teeth out when u Sucking my d*** HOE.? Johnson lobbed back: ?It?s ?HO? not ?HOE? you ignorant f***.?

From there, Brown made a lewd comment about farting, to which Johnson replied, ?Your mom must be so proud of you.? She also posted a link to a 2009 MTV News story containing details of Brown?s assault on his then-girlfriend Rihanna, along with the hashtag, ?#SuckIt.?

After another round of scatological chatter, both Johnson and Brown seemed to give in.

?Okay. I?m done. All I got from that exchange with Chris Brown is that he wants to s*** and fart on me,? Johnson wrote, later adding, ?I have zero respect for a person who seems unapologetic for the terrible crime he committed and shows no signs of changing.?

Before shutting down his Twitter account, Brown told his fans, ?To teambreezy? Know that I?m not upset. Just felt like entertaining the ignorance. These b*****s crazy.. Further proved my point of how immature society is. #CarpeDiem. Catch me in traffic??

Since the Twitter spat, Johnson has reported receiving threatening messages.

?It?s alarming how many death threats I?m receiving via replies,? she tweeted Monday. ?I encourage everyone, including Twitter to look through them. Not cool.?

Brown, meanwhile, had encouraged Johnson to ?Just ask Rihanna if she mad??????,? which wouldn?t appear to be the case. The pair, who announced their renewed friendship in October and have collaborated together on a song for Rihanna?s new album, ?Unapologetic,? were reportedly spotted in Berlin over the Thanksgiving holiday.

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta/+1-404-827-WIRE(9473)
? & ? 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Source: http://wtvr.com/2012/11/26/why-did-chris-brown-delete-his-twitter-account/

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Where Is Windows Phone 7.8? - Business Insider

Earlier this year, Microsoft and Nokia showed off a new flagship Windows Phone, the Lumia 900.

This was the phone that was finally going to make the Windows Phone OS a viable contender against Apple's iOS and Google's Android, they said. The "smartphone beta test was over," they said.

A few short months later, we learned the Lumia 900 was dead in the water. Its hardware wasn't compatible with Windows Phone 8, the new version of the operating system that was set to launch in the fall. In short, Lumia 900 owners and owners of other Windows Phones wouldn't be eligible for the latest and greatest features found in Microsoft's best mobile OS to date.?

Luckily, Microsoft promised to keep those people happy with aa software update to the older Windows Phones called Windows Phone 7.8. That version is supposed to bring some Windows Phone 8 features like a fully-customizable home screen to the Lumia 900 and other last-generation Windows Phones.?

But with all the attention on the new generation of Windows Phones running Windows Phone 8, a lot of people (including us) completely forgot about Windows Phone 7.8 until Paul Thurrott brought it up this week. The fact that Microsoft hasn't mentioned Windows Phone 7.8 in about five months and its refusal to comment on the update since then is a scary omen that it may never arrive.

Here's Thurrott:

Microsoft, silence is no way to treat early adopters, the people who are your most loyal customers. It is the most disrespectful thing you can do, in fact. Combined with the weird and continued holes in your ecosystem strategy?the inability to get Xbox Video content on Windows Phone 8?as only one obvious example?it?s unclear to me why you think anyone should support you or your mobile platform.

He's right.

Microsoft's intentions were good when it announced Windows Phone 7.8. It clearly didn't want to punish early Windows Phone adopters. But now it just feels like Microsoft was misleading Windows Phone owners to avoid a bunch of complaints. If Windows Phone 7.8 is coming, Microsoft needs to tell its customers when. If it's not coming, Microsoft needs to bite the bullet and admit it can't fulfill its promise.

Anything less would be an insult to those who rushed out and bought a Lumia 900 or other Windows Phone earlier this year.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/where-is-windows-phone-78-2012-11

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Monday, November 26, 2012

Fiscal cliff quarrels keep US stocks in check

FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012, file photo, shoppers wait on a check-out line in the Times Square Toys-R-Us store after doors were opened to the public at 8 p.m., in New York. U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday. They were attracted by retailers' efforts to make shopping easier, including opening stores on Thanksgiving evening, updating mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanding shipping and layaway options. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012, file photo, shoppers wait on a check-out line in the Times Square Toys-R-Us store after doors were opened to the public at 8 p.m., in New York. U.S. shoppers hit stores and websites at record numbers over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation on Sunday. They were attracted by retailers' efforts to make shopping easier, including opening stores on Thanksgiving evening, updating mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanding shipping and layaway options. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 29, 2008, file photo, carts full of merchandise ordered online are rolled to the main packing area for shipping at the Overstock.com warehouse, in Salt Lake City. Cyber Monday, coined in 2005 by a shopping trade group that noticed a spike in online sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving when people returned to their work computers, is the next in a line of days that stores are counting on to jumpstart the holiday shopping season. This year it is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year for the third year in a row. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

The stock market edged lower Monday morning, pulled down by old worries about the debt crisis in Europe and a political standoff over taxes and spending in the U.S.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 66 points at 12,945. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 6 to 1,403. The Nasdaq composite index slipped less than a point, to 2,966.

Monday was the first trading day after the beginning of the holiday shopping season, a crucial time for retailers that rely on Christmas shopping to make up for shortfalls during the rest of the year. But the impact of Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and the rest of the weekend was hard to read.

The National Retail Federation reported that 247 million shoppers visited stores and shopping websites during the Thanksgiving holiday, up 9 percent from a year ago. They spent an average of $423, up 6 percent.

Still, retailers worry that the momentum won't last. Retailers like Macy's, Target and Saks were down in early trading.

One major reason is the overhang of the "fiscal cliff." That's when both higher taxes and cuts to government programs, like unemployment benefits and Social Security, will kick in at the end of the year unless Congress and the White House work out a compromise before then.

A government report released Monday warned that a sudden increase in taxes would result in lower consumer spending next year, and some analysts wondered if the concerns about what could happen might crimp spending throughout the rest of the holiday season.

The report, by President Barack Obama's National Economic Council and his Council of Economic Advisers, estimated that a married couple earning between $50,000 and $85,000 with two children would see a $2,200 increase in their taxes.

The White House wants to raise some taxes, but key business groups have protested vehemently. The homebuilding industry says it won't stand for even small cuts to the mortgage interest deduction, a tax break that's meant to encourage homeownership. AARP has publicly lobbied against cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

To be sure, the fiscal cliff fighting could be mostly grandstanding for lawmakers. Lawmakers often fight over budget issues until the dramatic 11th hour, then work out a compromise at the last moment.

Overall, Monday morning was quiet, with no major economic reports due in the U.S. and no major companies scheduled to make big announcements. In Europe, leaders of European Union countries tried to hammer out a deal to lend more money to debt-crippled Greece, but many analysts have come to view that as another tired theme that has already been baked into the markets.

Count David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds, among the underwhelmed.

"The themes seem about as recycled as Thanksgiving turkey," Kelly wrote in a note to clients, referring to the fiscal cliff and the European debt crisis. He expected a better read on the economy later this week, with reports on consumer confidence on Tuesday, and unemployment claims and third-quarter economic growth on Thursday.

Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, was similarly unmoved. "Most of these uncertainties have been with us for quite some time," he wrote in a note, "and are now regarded by many as annoyances to resolve rather than obstacles to fear."

Overall, the U.S. economy has been hard to read. For every sign that it is improving, there's another that indicates it's not. The market jumped 421 points last week, one of the best weeks of the year. It was down for four straight weeks beforehand.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-11-26-Wall%20Street/id-dea33f32f14a45c4a3b0b449b223c9cc

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Maze wins 2nd straight GS race, Vonn takes 21st

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) ? Completely exhausted, Lindsey Vonn collapsed to the snow soon after crossing the finish line.

Totally elated, Tina Maze performed a cartwheel right after her first win in America.

Once Vonn gets healthy again, this could be quite a rivalry. After all, Vonn has what Maze covets most ? the overall World Cup crown. Not that Maze's even thinking that far ahead.

"The season is long. You need to keep your skiing on a high level for three months," the Slovenian standout said.

Her stamina drained, Vonn simply couldn't make up ground on Maze in a giant slalom race Saturday. Vonn finished 21st in her return after missing time with an intestinal illness.

Then again, given the way Maze has been racing of late, no one was going to catch her. Maze used a blazing final run to finish in a combined time of 1 minute, 59.39 seconds to hold off Kathrin Zettel of Austria by nearly a second. Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third.

The 29-year-old Maze also won the season-opening GS race in Soelden, Austria, last month, with Zettel taking second there, too.

"I feel like people are watching me now, more than before," Maze said. "I'd like it to continue this way."

All eyes were on Vonn, too, just to see how she performed after a bad stomach bug recently landed her in the hospital.

Vonn was 10th after the first run, but didn't have anything left in the tank for the second pass through the challenging course. The more the four-time overall champion tried to attack the hill, the more snow she sent flying in every direction and the more speed she lost.

"I didn't have the energy I needed to really be competitive," Vonn said. "It's been a real fight to even be able to race today. I didn't have it.

"This isn't exactly the kind of result I was hoping for. But I have to still keep things in perspective and realize that I was very sick just a few days ago."

Vonn did earn her first World Cup points of the season, but trails the leader, Maze, by 240.

However, the next stop is Lake Louise, Alberta, a venue Vonn has typically dominated. She won all three speed races there last season.

Although Vonn competed in Aspen, she would've rather have been going up against the men up north in Lake Louise this weekend. Vonn recently requested to participate in a men's downhill race, only to be rejected by the International Ski Federation.

"I'm definitely frustrated not to be racing with the men," Vonn said. "But I wouldn't be able to race with them at this point anyway. I was sick. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe the opportunity will come up within the next year."

Like possibly an exhibition match against the men down the road?

If that were the case, count Maze in.

"That would be fun," she said.

Vonn's strength has been completely wiped out by the virus, which is finally responding to antibiotics. Until Saturday, she hadn't made it through a full GS run since the bug hit without pulling off to the side out of breath.

This definitely helps with her confidence.

"I just have to stay positive and keep building," said Vonn, who will skip the slalom Sunday to conserve energy.

Maze is showing just how determined she is to steal Vonn's overall title. Maze switched ski technicians before the season and they've instantly been in tune. Maze also finished fourth in a slalom race in Levi, Finland, two weeks ago.

"Everything is under control. I don't risk too much," she explained.

Although Maze finished runner-up to Vonn in the overall standings last season, she still thought of it as a "hard" year.

"It was not a perfect season for me," Maze said. "I had many troubles and many mistakes. I wasn't happy at all. It was tough. I didn't win any races last year."

She might not have ended up No. 1 on the slopes last season, but Maze said she recently occupied the top spot on the musical charts in Slovenia.

She sang on a music video entitled, "My way is my decision," a catchy pop tune. It has generated quite a bit of buzz.

"When I was driving to Soelden, I was almost falling asleep and I heard my song," Maze said. "The announcer said, "Who's this: Adele, Rihanna or Madonna? Can you guess?'

"He let the song roll and then said, 'This is Slovenian skier Tina Maze and she's pretty good at it. For sure, Adele cannot ski that well, but she can.'"

So, is she a budding singer?

"I'm a skier. I don't want to be a singer," Maze said. "But I do like to have fun besides skiing. It was fun to make the video. I'm proud of this."

Teenager Mikaela Shiffrin had the best finish for the Americans as she wound up in ninth place. The 17-year-old was actually on the final step of the podium for quite a while, before finally being bumped off.

"That's a big breakthrough," Shiffrin said.

Julia Mancuso couldn't agree more ? for not only Shiffrin, but the rest of the young U.S. skiers.

"Sometimes, it can be daunting with people like me and Lindsey doing well," said Mancuso, who finished 15th. "It's good to show the rest of the team that you just have to go for it. Don't set sights too low because me and Lindsey are both beatable by the young ones ? just like today."

The day didn't go quite as well for Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany. She caught an edge that knocked her off balance and straight toward a gate. Just before crashing into the obstacle, she stuck up her left arm, saving her face but bruising her arm.

"It hurts pretty bad," Hoefl-Riesch said.

___

Pat Graham can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pgraham34

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/maze-wins-2nd-straight-gs-race-vonn-takes-212532627--spt.html

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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Video: Community rallies around teacher devastated by Sandy

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49954971/

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Lessons from the Tax Court: Limits under - Business Management ...

To qualify for business loss deductions, you must show that you?re engaging in the activity to generate a profit. Otherwise, the amount you can write off is limited to the amount of your income from the activity, under the ?hobby loss? rules.

That doesn?t mean you can?t deduct losses. However, if you show losses year-in and year-out for an extended period of time, the IRS is likely to become suspicious.?? ?

New case: A taxpayer managed his construction activity from an office in his home. The business was listed in the local telephone directory, but it had no bank account or online site. Because he wasn?t licensed as a general contractor, the taxpayer could not undertake large construction jobs.

The taxpayer owned a tractor, four trailers, power tools and other machinery. He charged lower rates than other contractors in the area. Most of his jobs were free projects for family members and his church. He used the same tools and machinery for these jobs as he did for paid construction projects.

Significantly, the taxpayer claimed losses for 17 years in a row.

For the three tax years in question, he reported construction activity income of $3,400, $4,000 and $13,395 and expenses of $31,757, $36,152 and $30,174, respectively.

Based on the relevant factors in this case, the Tax Court limited the deductions to the income from the construction activities. It noted that a for-profit enterprise would not repeatedly and consistently generate losses without changing its practices. (Verrett, TC Memo 2012-223)

Tip: Generally, an activity is presumed not to be a hobby if you show a profit in any three of the past five years. But the IRS can rebut this presumption through proof that the activity is actually a hobby.

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We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

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At least 112 killed in fire at Bangladesh garment factory

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) -- Fire raced through a garment factory that supplies major retailers in the West, killing at least 112 people, many of whom were trapped by the flames because the eight-story building lacked emergency exits, an official said Sunday.

The blaze broke out late Saturday at a factory operated just outside Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which makes products for Wal-Mart and other companies in the U.S. and Europe.

Firefighters recovered at least 100 bodies from the factory, Maj. Mohammad Mahbub, fire department operations director, told The Associated Press. He said 12 other people who were injured after they jumped from the building to escape died at hospitals.

Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, and authorities ordered an investigation.

Army soldiers and border guards were sent to help police keep order as thousands of onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered, Mahbub said.

Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after a May 16, 2011, audit conducted by an "ethical sourcing" assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify what led to the rating.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said online documents indicating an orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared to pertain to the factory where the fire broke out. The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would conduct another inspection within one year.

Gardner said it was not clear if that inspection had been conducted or whether the factory was still making products for Wal-Mart.

If a factory is rated "orange" three times in a two-year period, Wal-Mart won't place any orders for one year. The May 2011 report was the first orange rating for the factory.

Neither Tazreen's owner nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for comment.

The Tuba Group is a major Bangladeshi garment exporter whose clients also include Carrefour and IKEA, according to its website. Its factories export garments to the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, among other countries. The Tazreen factory, which opened in 2009 and employed about 1,700 people, made polo shirts, fleece jackets and T-shirts.

Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories, many without proper safety measures. The country annually earns about $20 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to the U.S. and Europe.

In its 2012 Global Responsibility report, Wal-Mart said that "fire safety continues to be a key focus for brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh." Wal-Mart said it ceased working with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 because of fire safety issues, and was working with its supplier factories to phase out production from buildings deemed high risk.

At the factory, relatives of the workers frantically looked for their loved ones. Sabina Yasmine said she saw the body of her daughter-in-law, but had seen no trace of her son, who also worked there.

"Oh, Allah, where's my soul? Where's my son?" wailed Yasmine, who works at another factory in the area. "I want the factory owner to be hanged. For him, many have died, many have gone."

Mahbub said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors. Many workers who retreated to the roof were rescued, he said. But he said that with no emergency exits leading outside the building, many victims were trapped, and firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor alone.

"The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor," Mahbub said. "So the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building."

"Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," he said.

Many victims were burned beyond recognition. The bodies were laid out in rows at a school nearby. Many of them were handed over to families; unclaimed victims were taken to Dhaka Medical College for identification.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock at the loss of so many lives.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said it would stand by the victims' families.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/112-killed-fire-bangladesh-garment-060756696.html

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Mersch takes ECB executive board job despite gender row

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Luxembourg's Yves Mersch won a top post at the European Central Bank on Friday after months of dispute with lawmakers at the European Parliament who objected to his appointment because of a lack of women in the bank's senior ranks.

The decision by European leaders to press ahead with Mersch could strain their relations with the European Parliament, potentially hampering agreement on reforms needed to resolve the bloc's debt and banking crises and in which lawmakers have a say.

Early on Friday morning, the leaders meeting in Brussels approved the appointment of Mersch, who is currently the governor of Luxembourg's central bank. He will join the ECB's executive board on December 15 for an eight-year term.

The decision had been held up by the European Parliament, which argued that member states have not tried hard enough to find suitable women for the position, and by Spain, which wanted its own candidate.

Last month, lawmakers in the parliament rejected Mersch's candidacy to the board that forms the nucleus of the ECB's policymaking Governing Council.

Mersch said in a statement that he was pleased with the result of "a very long procedure."

He said he was aware of the critical voices in the parliament and that its rejection had mainly - but not only - been an "expression of concern that a great deal remains to be achieved on gender balance".

His appointment angered some leading lawmakers.

"Citizens across the EU have been astounded to discover the lack of gender diversity in the ECB, and indeed in other EU organisations," said Sharon Bowles, who chairs the parliament's influential economic and monetary affairs committee.

"Today's decision undermines and discredits work being undertaken to make the EU's economic governance system more democratically accountable," she said in a statement. Bowles herself is applying to replace Mervyn King as governor of the Bank of England next year.

TIME TO MOVE ON?

Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, struck a more muted tone in a speech to leaders. "When key positions are filled in the future, we expect you to observe the principle of gender parity," he said.

This tone was echoed by Hannes Swoboda, leader of the social democrat faction in the European Parliament, who said it was time to move on with reforms to end the debt crisis.

"The parliament and the countries have so many important things to do this year, such as the banking union and two-pack fiscal reforms," he said. "We will not now start to block things because of Mersch."

The moustachioed Luxembourger is an inflation-fighting hardliner whose views are close to those of the Bundesbank, the German central bank, which has lacked a close ally on the Executive Board since German Juergen Stark quit last year.

He sounded an optimistic note. "I am very confident that a constructive dialogue with the European Parliament will be pursued in the future," he said.

Spain, whose ECB Executive Board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez Paramo ended his term earlier this year, had also argued in favour of a woman taking the job. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Madrid wanted a Spanish candidate for the post.

Austria's Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell and Sirkka Hamalainen of Finland are the only two women to have occupied posts on the ECB's Executive Board since it was set up in 1998. There are currently no women at the top of the central bank.

(Additional reporting by Eva Kuehnen in Frankfurt; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mersch-takes-ecb-executive-board-job-despite-gender-130414141--business.html

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Saturday, November 24, 2012

Teen sentenced to 10 years of church for manslaughter

By NBC News staff

"I hope and pray that church will give him his lord and savior, and make a difference in his life," said Oklahoma judge Mike Norman, who sentenced a teen to 10 years of church as part of his probation for a conviction of manslaughter. NBC's Thanh Truong reports.

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/24/15411770-teen-sentenced-to-10-years-of-church-for-manslaughter?lite

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Not sure if will be deleted... - Health, Fitness, and Sports


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incipient karlis: cbc news: Eco-Innovation Observatory launches ...

The Eco-Innovation Observatory (EIO) would like to invite you to share your views on the role of eco-innovation in the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon Europe. We would like to consult representatives from academia, business, civil society and public administration by taking part in our questionnaire. Your insights will be used in the upcoming reports of the Observatory, including our final flagship annual publication. The survey has only three questions and is entirely anonymous.

Please follow this link to the questionnaire.

For more information on the Eco-Innovation Observatory, see www.eco-innovation.eu

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Source: http://seri.at/resource-use/2012/11/15/eco-innovation-observatory-launches-online-questionnaire/

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Source: http://incipient-karlis.blogspot.com/2012/11/cbc-news-eco-innovation-observatory.html

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Source: http://oynmyd.posterous.com/incipient-karlis-cbc-news-eco-innovation-obse

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Behold! Mercedes SUV of the future | OSUN DEFENDER

IN anticipation of future automobile, the Los Angeles auto show hosted an event among automotive designers to formulate ideas about the future of transportation in the world.

This year?s theme was centered on what the law enforcement rides of 2025 might look like and the sketchers at Mercedes-Benz were so enamored with their design, they built a life-size version, creating a Gelandewagon for the end of the world.

Dubbed the ?Ener-G-Force?, the truck is in Mercedes? own words ?pure science fiction,? but it provides a few hints as to where Mercedes designers see SUV styles heading in the future.

Based on the military-grade G-Class SUVs, the Ener-G-Force features built-in police lights, a bull bar integrated into the grille and 20-inch off-road wheels ?guarantee the right-of-way even where no way exists.?

Since this is 2025, power comes from a hydrogen fuel cell sending electricity to motors in each wheel hub.

As part of the design competition, Mercedes filled the Ener-G-Force with a few less realistic, imaginary tools.

The hydrogen from the fuel cell comes from a more up-to-date take on Mr. Fusion that pulls hydrogen from any given source and stores the water produced by the cells in roof tanks.

The space where a spare tire goes on the modern G-Class is filled with tools. And the roof rack includes a ?terrascan? topography sensor that adjusts the suspension for different terrain.

Given that Mercedes already sells technology that attempts to sense the road and even the wakefulness of the driver, some of these sounds like it could be on a options list well before 2025.

Culled from VANGUARD

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