GHANAIAN POPULAR culture was recognized in a grand way at the first National Youth Achiever?s Awards held under the auspices of the President of Ghana, H.E John Dramani Mahama, the patron of the awards.?
Rapper Sarkodie, actress Jackie Appiah, and singer Becca were the torch bearers for the sector at the awards ceremony held at the Accra International conference Centre on Thursday night.
Sarkodie and Becca won in the Achievement in Music category while Jackie Appiah won in the Performing Arts category.
Filmmaker, Shirley Frimpong-Manso also won in the Film category. Ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and the reigning Ghana Journalist of the Year, Manasseh Azure also picked up honours for Media Excellence.
President Mahama pledged his commitment to ensure the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner. ?I want to advise the youth of this country to resist attempts by any persons to use them to disrupt the December polls.
I pledge that these polls would be peaceful, they would be transparent and they would be fair, and may the best party and the best candidate win.?
The President also commended the award winners for using their lives to impact society.
"The art of narration and dramatic presentation, together with a keen sense of the oral epic style, became a characteristic quality of the Russian people." ?Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale At the end of a week filled with product launches and press conferences, it's hard not to compare those marketing events. Without even talking about the products, some were much more compelling than others. And it all comes down to the story that you tell, as a company. Failing at that task will greatly endanger your product.
With most of the attention focusing on the storm that?s bearing down on the East Coast, the legal storm fueled by the bounty case still won?t go away.? In Louisiana, Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has filed his final legal brief in support of the effort to oust former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue as the new bounty appeal hearing officer.
The brief, a copy of which PFT has obtained, doesn?t contain anything new from a legal or factual standpoint.? The players continue to believe that Tagliabue has a conflict of interest via his employment with the league?s primary outside law firm, his direct ongoing employment with the league, and his possible status as a witness.? The NFL believes that the labor deal gives Commissioner Roger Goodell the ability to hand the baton to Taliabue, and that the league has the ability to waive any potential conflicts of interest Tagliabue may have.
The larger question, as one league source posed it recently, is why the players weren?t willing to try their luck with Tagliabue?? He?s regarded as someone who would be fair, and who wouldn?t feel compelled to agree with Goodell.
But as another source put it, ?fair? is a relative term.? ?I personally think he would be as fair as he could be,? the source said, ?but the question is how fair is that and is that really impartial.? Is he capable of that given his position??
Even though the NFLPA has agreed to allow the Commissioner or his designee to handle these appeals, federal law entitles both sides to an impartial arbitrator.? It will be for Judge Helen Berrigan to decide whether Tagliabue fits that description, given his connection to the NFL and the law firm of Covington & Burling.
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It seems that Obama and Romney are tripping over each other to downsize tax incentives for donations to charities in the US.? Here is an interesting article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy entitled ?Nonprofit Leaders Urge Obama and Romney to Protect Tax Break?.? If Obama caps donation incentives at 28% or Romney effectively eliminates incentives for large gifts by capping deductions then it will be interesting to see how this impacts Canada.? Currently the incentives for giving in Canada are far superior to the US.? For example, a wealthy person in Ontario may save 48-65% on their donation (depending on whether it is cash or appreciated marketable securities) .? My specific thought or concern is that as the gap becomes greater, for example Mr. Romney?s proposals are accepted, then some people with assets and income and families in both the US and Canada may increasingly prefer to make the donation in Canada to a Canadian charity or foundation as they will obtain far greater fiscal benefits.?
Nonprofit Leaders Urge Obama and Romney to Protect Tax Break http://philanthropy.com/blogs/government-and-politics/nonprofit-leaders-urge-obama-and-romney-to-protect-tax-break/31090
An interesting letter from a number of US charities with my emphasis:
?The charitable deduction is different than other itemized deductions in that it encourages individuals to give a portion of their income to support worthwhile causes,? the letters said. ?It rewards a selfless act, and it encourages taxpayers to give more funds to charities than they would otherwise have given.?
There were 1.8 million US registered charities and over the last 2 years about 400,000 of them have been revoked for non-filing of the 990.? Perhaps the US should do a better job of ensuring that the remaining 1.4 million are really ?worthwhile causes? that are deserving of state support.? We have the same problem here in Canada - there is no obligation on the part of charities to show that they have any public benefit.? Secondly, It is interesting they use the phrase ?selfless act? - while this is true for many, unfortunately increasingly some of the biggest donations feel more like sponsorship arrangements or mergers/acquisitions than donations.? Perhaps selfless acts should receive tax incentives and less selfless donations or arrangements should receive less incentives or none at all.?
NBC's Sunday Night Football fared the strongest among individual telecasts last night -- but with a boost from NFL overage and the final game of the World Series, Fox is projected to win both adults 18-49 and total viewers when final time-zone-adjusted ratings arrive later today.
For now, fast affiliate returns give the Saints and Broncos match-up a 6.3 rating among adults 18-49. A 90-minute Football Night in America kicked off NBC's coverage with a 3.1 rating, giving it an early average of 5.1 adults rating and 13.2 million viewers during the four-hour block.
PHOTOS: World Series 2012: San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers' Biggest Celebrity Supporters
America's Funniest Home Videos started out ABC's night up 23 percent from the previous week, pulling a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49. Once Upon a Time was also up, just a tenth of a point, for a 3.4 rating in the demo. Revenge (2.7 adults rating) and 666 Park Avenue (1.6 adults rating) were both down a tenth of a point. ABC averaged a 2.3 adults rating and 7.3 million viewers.
60 Minutes took a steep drop from last week's boost, falling 53 percent to a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49. The Amazing Race (2.4 adults rating) was also down, though only by eight percent. The Good Wife dropped a tenth of a point for a 1.8 rating with 18-49-ers, and The Mentalist (also a 1.8) rebounded from last week's low by 20 percent. The network averaged a 1.9 rating with adults 18-49 and 9.95 million viewers.
GAZA (Reuters) - Israel killed a Hamas gunman it accused of preparing to fire a rocket from the Gaza Strip on Sunday and a separate Palestinian salvo struck a southern Israeli city, causing no damage.
The incidents followed a three-day lull since an upsurge in violence last week in which Israel killed at least four Gaza militants as dozens of rockets were fired at Israeli towns, damaging some homes and wounding several agricultural workers.
An Israeli air strike before dawn on Sunday struck two gunmen from the Palestinian enclave's governing Hamas movement as they rode a motorcycle near the central town of Khan Younis, local officials said. One man was killed and the other wounded.
An Israeli military spokesman said the air force had targeted a squad preparing to fire a rocket into Israel.
Hamas said its gunmen had fired mortar rounds at Israeli ground forces who had penetrated the coastal territory nearby. The military said those soldiers, who were unhurt, had been carrying out "routine work along the boundary fence".
Separately, two Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza struck Beersheba, a city 40 km (25 miles) away, causing no damage, the military spokesman said. Beersheba sounded air raid sirens and shuttered its schools as a precaution against further attacks.
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), one of several smaller Palestinian factions in Gaza that often operate independently of Hamas, said it had launched one of the Beersheba rockets. There was no immediate claim for the second.
Though Islamist Hamas is hostile to the Jewish state, it has recently sought to avoid cross-border confrontations as it tries to shore up its rule of Gaza in the face of more radical challengers and to build relations with potential allies abroad.
Israel's policy is to hold Hamas responsible for any attack emanating from Gaza.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Peter Cooney and Andrew Osborn)
Twitter is a conversation. ?Twitter is an RSS feed. ?Twitter is inspiration. ?Twitter is the pulse.
Twitter is different things to different people. ?One of the reasons?@TechCocktail?loves Twitter so hard is for insightful business discourse ? and naturally we want to share what we enjoy. ?As part of our weekly series, we?ll be bringing you the top seven startup-related tweets of the past seven days.
Are you or someone you follow sharing valuable (or?occasionally?whimsical)?business insight???Tip us at?@TechCocktail?or?@zrdavis. ?
#1 ? @Elizabth_K
#2 ? @semil
#3 ? @DonorsChoose
#4 ? @ralphmarston
#5 ? @nicoleisbetter
#6 ? @JasonFerruggia
#7 ? @flowchainsensei
?Follow?Tech Cocktail on Twitter?to get more?#startup?news and insights.
BURBANK, California (Reuters) - President Barack Obama suspended the levity during an interview with late-night TV talk show host Jay Leno on Wednesday to address a Republican Senate candidate's assertion that pregnancies resulting from rape are intended by God and to express confidence that Washington could soon address the looming "fiscal cliff."
"I don't know how these guys come up with these ideas. Let me make a very simple proposition: rape is rape. It is a crime," Obama said on NBC's "The Tonight Show."
"This is exactly why you don't want a bunch of politicians, mostly male, making decisions about women's healthcare."
Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's comments that pregnancies caused by rape are "something God intended to happen" echoed across the U.S. media and sent ripples through political circles ahead of the November 6 election.
The Obama campaign, which enjoys leads among women voters in many election battleground states, sought swiftly to connect Mourdock with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. This summer Romney had to distance himself from remarks by another Republican Senate candidate, Todd Akin of Missouri, about what he called "legitimate rape."
In an interview full of jokes about marriage, Halloween and other topics, the Democratic president made a few serious comments, mostly about the hottest topic of the election: the economy.
Asked about the so-called fiscal cliff - a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes set to kick in early next year - Obama said he was confident that a solution could be found before the end of the year.
"Solving this is not that hard. It requires some tough choices," Obama said, adding that some programs had to be cut and tax rates should go up for people making more than $250,000 a year.
"I hope that we can get it done by the end of this year. It just requires some compromise, which shouldn't be a dirty word."
On the economic crisis gripping the European Union, Obama said countries have been "kind of muddling along" and "they didn't respond as quickly as they could."
The United States is working with those nations to make sure they have a credible plan to maintain the unity of Europe, he added.
In a lighter moment, Obama joked about real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump, who recently posted a video challenging Obama to release documents about his education.
Trump has persistently questioned whether Obama, a native of Hawaii, was actually born in the United States, and Obama played off Trump's theories about his origins.
"This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya," Obama joked. "We had, you know, constant run-ins on the soccer field. He wasn't very good and resented it."
(Additional reporting and writing by Lisa Lambert in Washington; Editing by Christopher Wilson)
CLEVELAND, Wis. (WFRV) - The Kewaunee Nuclear Power Station owners and management met today with local community leaders about the closing of the plant.
The closed door meeting was a chance to ask questions and lay out a timeline.
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Both sides agreed to continue meeting throughout the closure process which will start in about six months.
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The decommissioning will put roughly 650 people out of work.
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The owners, Dominion, had it on the market for over a year but could not find a buyer.
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In addition to Kewaunee county leaders, Dominion also reached out to their partners at Lakeshore Technical College.
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They have the longest standing 2 year nuclear technology program in nation.
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It was started nearly 30 years ago because of the easy access to experts at both the Kewaunee facility and Point Beach nuclear plant in Two Rivers.
Currently 45 students are enrolled in program.
The Dean of Energy for the college is disappointed to lose a strong community partner like Dominion, who funds scholarships for the program and helps with hands on training for students and staff.
While the college is sad to see the plant set for closure, they feel strong about the future of nuclear energy.
They say their degree program is so in demand, they are adding an online component for students to earn their bachelors degree.
Nuclear energy faces a large number of retirements in the coming years, with most plant managers over age 50.
The students who graduate from Lakeshore Technical College won't feel an immediate impact with the Kewaunee plant closing.
According to the dean they typically have to leave this market to find entry level jobs for nuclear contractors.
I think governor Romney may be hasn't spent enough time looking at how our military -- you you mentioned the may be for example and we have fewer ships that we did in 1960.
Well governor we also have fewer horses and -- and that's.
Because the nature of our -- changed we have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on the we have.
These chips that go underwater nuclear submarines.
DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz joins us -- time good evening -- so -- Good evening Greta great to be with you thank you nice nice steady -- in the in the debate tonight -- to single -- one.
Area that shows the biggest difference between these two candidates what is it.
Well I thought the most clear moment was when that -- Obama talked about -- Trips to Israel as a candidate for president.
And Mitt Romney's and -- Obama went to Israel.
He went to -- traveled to southern Israel met with the families who are victims of the rocket attacks coming Sunday being launched from Gaza.
Made sure he visited the -- and visited our troops when Mitt Romney went to Israel -- the candidate.
He had two fundraisers and drug donors over there I mean -- at -- the -- Romney when I was surprised about that a that during the entire section of the date on on the -- Mitt Romney didn't bring up Israel wants.
And I think it just shows that he really didn't it isn't committed to Israel on the way to is that -- is -- only use the issue as a political opportunity.
And I actually I'm not -- a very good job at back.
I -- so I was says -- surprised at that as a missed opportunity for governor Romney because had that been brought up against meet a -- governor Romney.
I would -- mentioned that -- president -- didn't meet with prime minister Netanyahu when he was here.
Last August.
And that for instance even today there was a posting on the adequacy Israel's embassy.
Website where they talked about -- little bit surprised about the story about whether -- be bilateral talks with Iran are not -- it doesn't look like you know it may be totally wrong but it looks like there's a very chilly relationship between President Obama.
And prime minister Netanyahu -- she was surprised -- that I was surprised that dead.
The governor I didn't hit it went back.
I.
With surprise that governor Romney who is that if Israel as a priority didn't mention it.
And president of -- very clear that in a word indeed he -- Israel's back it.
He has reiterated time and again that when it comes to making -- That that Israel and the and the United States -- stand strong together we have the closest military and security cooperation.
Time and again on the world stage President Obama has stood up for Israel.
And and demonstrated that they are one of our strongest allies particularly in that region and then -- have Israel's back time and again and tsunami just continues to users -- the political opportunity not mentioning it at all during an entire sex and the debate on the -- really that surprised me particularly.
One of the questions it was raised was the Red Line I don't know which candidate got it but it wasn't that ticked that that was dodge by whoever got -- got a question.
But I'm curious about whether or not you think that we should adhere to some -- red line as prime minister Netanyahu has.
At least you see -- seem to have asked the world and asked us.
Well I think President Obama made it very clear that -- that he as president will never allow Iran sent to -- obtain -- nuclear weapon.
That he's made that a priority by making sure that through international the most fighting international sanctions.
And domestic sanctions that we brought Iran until -- we've we've really decimated their economy.
The other day they advised that this they've gone from being really a situation where they had strength at the beginning of his presidency before he took office.
Now they're isolated in the entire world is united against them.
So I mean I thought very clearly President Obama demonstrated that his policy -- commander in chief.
I've made sure that there's been distance between Iran and their ability to obtain a nuclear weapon and that all options are on the table.
there's a lot discussion tonight at least especially towards the end about the economy and I'm curious whether or not you link the health of our economy to foreign policy or do you think there's too much discussion about the economy tonight.
No no I mean I think it would pres Obama again made it very clear that because he's been able to reestablish our relationships diplomatically that -- in tatters at the end of the last administration.
We've been able soon.
Exercise our leadership -- reestablish our leadership on the world stage which in the global economy really makes a difference and by bringing our troops home from Iraq.
Making sure that we wind down our involvement in Afghanistan.
Bringing Osama bin Laden to justice we can focus on nation building here at home.
I just -- time and again Mitt Romney showed that he was all over the map that it was more like he was auditioning when he agreed with President Obama so many times auditioning to be president Obama's secretary of state.
Rather than commander in chief but I thought he showed he was not ready for it.
Quick question does the ground game in Ohio for your party because I asked same of -- previous from the Republican Party.
Our ground game in Ohio is really strong and -- I think because we've been married since the beginning of the 2008 campaign and never left.
We've had as superior -- early vote operation we we've closed the gap for the Republicans usually have an absentee ballot requests we've got tens of thousands yeah.
-- walking and door to door.
Making phone calls a volunteer operation that is second to none and we've been building towards the most significant dynamic pressed his presidential campaign and that's what's gonna deliver Ohio.
And help President Obama win the presidency once again.
Let's Syrian people Ohio I think I'm pretty popular these days -- both parties aren't very efficient and to the extent that they -- hasn't thank you.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The euro zone's fiscal deficit fell sharply last year as governments slashed expenses and raised taxes to regain market confidence in their public finances, but public debt still climbed, data from the European Union's statistics office showed on Monday.
Eurostat said the aggregate budget deficit in the 17 countries using the euro fell to 4.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 from 6.2 percent in 2010 - the first year of the sovereign debt crisis.
Euro zone public debt, however, rose to 87.3 percent of GDP in 2011 from 85.4 percent, Eurostat said.
The euro zone's biggest economy, Germany, slashed its budget deficit to 0.8 percent in 2011 from 4.1 percent in 2010 and its debt fell to 80.5 percent of GDP from 82.5 percent.
Ireland reported a spectacular drop in the deficit to 13.4 percent from 30.9 percent as the one-off expense of shoring up its banking sector disappeared from its books. But its debt jumped to 106.4 percent from 92.2 percent.
Greece, where the crisis started, had the highest debt in Europe last year, reaching 170.6 percent of GDP even though it reduced its deficit to 9.4 percent from 10.7 percent in 2010 and 15.6 percent in 2009.
The 2011 Greek deficit number is 0.3 percentage points higher than estimated by Eurostat in April, mainly because of a downward revision of Greek economic growth, Eurostat said.
Spain, whose public finances are now in market focus, reduced its budget deficit only marginally to 9.4 percent in 2011 from 9.7 percent in 2010. The 2011 figure is 0.9 percentage points higher than previously reported.
"The increase in the deficit for 2011 is mainly due to the re-classification of capital injections by central government into Catalunya Caixa Bank, NCG Bank and Unnim Bank and to the previously unrecorded unpaid bills in the state and local government sub-sectors," Eurostat said.
But Spain's debt was still relatively low, at 69.3 percent of GDP against 61.5 percent in 2010.
Italy, also under market scrutiny cut its budget shortfall to 3.9 percent from 4.5 percent in 2010. Its debt inched higher to 120.7 percent from 119.2 percent.
Portugal, already on a euro zone financial lifeline after being cut off from market borrowing, more than halved its budget deficit last year to 4.4 percent of GDP from 9.8 percent as a result of reforms, but its debt jumped to 108.1 percent from 93.5 percent.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Rex Merrifield)
(This story corrects paragraph 4 to say German deficit in 2010 was 4.1 percent, not -4.1 percent)
Samsung's ARM-running Chromebook is barely out of the starting gate, and it's already being tweaked to run without as much of an online dependency. By a Google employee, no less. Not content to rely solely on Chrome OS, Olof Johansson has loaded Ubuntu on the Chromebook by partitioning an SD card, mixing OS components and booting from USB. The technique unsurprisingly requires being more than a little comfortable with a Linux command line as well as playing fast and loose with the warranty. It also won't be cheap or quick -- commenters note that you'll ideally have a partitioning-friendly SD card, and running a desktop OS from a slower kind of flash storage creates an inherent bottleneck. Anyone who likes the Chromebook's $249 price, but isn't as enraptured with the cloud as most of the team in Mountain View, might still want to try Johansson's step-by-step process for themselves.
Companies that sell advertising have begun releasing their earnings reports for the latest quarter. Here are highlights of recent quarterly earnings reports from selected Internet and media companies and what they say about the state of spending on advertising.
? Oct. 15: Gannett Co. reports higher net income and revenue, helped by strong gains in political and Olympics-related advertising.
? Oct. 16: Advertising and marketing company Omnicom Group Inc. reports nearly flat earnings and revenue compared with a year earlier, as U.S. revenue grew but international revenue declined.
? Oct. 17: Television and digital media company Media General Inc. says its third-quarter net loss widened because of higher expenses, but revenue grew sharply thanks to an increase in political advertising and the Olympics.
? Oct. 18: Google Inc. says ad revenue rose 16 percent from the same time last year, the slowest pace in three years. The company's ad revenue had climbed by at least 21 percent in each of the previous 10 quarters. As has been the case for the past year, the average prices companies pay Google for ads appearing alongside search results also fell. The decelerating growth in ad revenue is likely being driven by the growing use of smartphones and tablet computers to access the Internet. The ads are more difficult to see on smartphones, in particular, so marketers aren't willing to pay as much.
Microsoft Corp. says revenue in its online services division grew 9 percent to $697 million, while operating loss fell 29 percent to $364 million. Online advertising revenue grew 15 percent to $655 million, with growth in search advertising revenue partly offset by lower revenue from display advertising. Microsoft says search revenue grew because of increased revenue per search and increased volumes.
Coming up:
? Monday: Yahoo Inc.
? Thursday: The New York Times Co., WPP Group PLC, The McClatchy Co.
? Friday: Comcast Corp., The Interpublic Group of Cos.
My 6,128 favorite books >?http://on.wsj.com/RbSI8Z
No matter what they may tell themselves, book lovers do not read primarily to obtain information or to while away the time. They read to escape to a more exciting, more rewarding world. A world where they do not hate their jobs, their spouses, their governments, their lives. A world where women do not constantly say things like ?Have a good one!? and ?Sounds like a plan!? A world where men do not wear belted shorts. Certainly not the Knights Templar.
I read books?mostly fiction?for at least two hours a day, but I also spend two hours a day reading newspapers and magazines, gathering material for my work, which consists of ridiculing idiots or, when they are not available, morons. I read books in all the obvious places?in my house and office, on trains and buses and planes?but I?ve also read them at plays and concerts and prizefights, and not just during the intermissions. I?ve read books while waiting for friends to get sprung from the drunk tank, while waiting for people to emerge from comas, while waiting for the Iceman to cometh. (?)
I?ve never squandered an opportunity to read. There are only 24 hours in the day, seven of which are spent sleeping, and in my view at least four of the remaining 17 must be devoted to reading.
I do not speed-read books; it seems to defeat the whole purpose of the exercise, much like speed-eating a Porterhouse steak or applying the two-minute drill to sex. I almost never read biographies or memoirs, except if they involve quirky loners like George Armstrong Custer or Attila the Hun, neither of them avid readers.
I avoid inspirational and self-actualization books; if I wanted to read a self-improvement manual, I would try the Bible. Unless paid, I never read books by or about businessmen or politicians; these books are interchangeably cretinous and they all sound exactly the same: inspiring, sincere, flatulent, deadly. Reviewing them is like reviewing brake fluid: They get the job done, but who cares?
I do not accept reading tips from strangers, especially from indecisive men whose shirt collars are a dramatically different color from the main portion of the garment. I am particularly averse to being lent or given books by people I may like personally but whose taste in literature I have reason to suspect, and perhaps even fear. (?)
Until recently, I wasn?t aware how completely books dominate my physical existence. Only when I started cataloging my possessions did I realize that there are books in every room in my house, 1,340 in all. My obliviousness to this fact has an obvious explanation: I am of Irish descent, and to the Irish, books are as natural and inevitable a feature of the landscape as sand is to Tuaregs or sand traps are to the frat boys at Myrtle Beach. You know, the guys with the belted shorts. When the English stormed the Emerald Isle in the 17th century, they took everything that was worth taking and burned everything else. Thereafter, the Irish had no land, no money, no future. That left them with words, and words became books, and books, ingeniously coupled with music and alcohol, enabled the Irish to transcend reality.
This was my experience as a child. I grew up in a Brand X neighborhood with parents who had trouble managing money because they never had any, and lots of times my three sisters and I had no food, no heat, no television. But we always had books. And books put an end to our misfortune. Because to the poor, books are not diversions. Book are siege weapons.
I wish I still had the actual copies of the books that saved my life??Kidnapped,? ?The Three Musketeers,? ?The Iliad for Precocious Tykes??but they vanished over the years. Because so many of these treasures from my childhood have disappeared, I have made a point of hanging on to every book I have bought and loved since the age of 21.
Books as physical objects matter to me, because they evoke the past. A M?tro ticket falls out of a book I bought 40 years ago, and I am transported back to the Rue Saint-Jacques on Sept. 12, 1972, where I am waiting for someone named Annie LeCombe. A telephone message from a friend who died too young falls out of a book, and I find myself back in the Chateau Marmont on a balmy September day in 1995. A note I scribbled to myself in ?Homage to Catalonia? in 1973 when I was in Granada reminds me to learn Spanish, which I have not yet done, and to go back to Granada.
None of this will work with a Kindle. People who need to possess the physical copy of a book, not merely an electronic version, believe that the objects themselves are sacred. Some people may find this attitude baffling, arguing that books are merely objects that take up space. This is true, but so are Prague and your kids and the Sistine Chapel. Think it through, bozos.
The world is changing, but I am not changing with it. There is no e-reader or Kindle in my future. My philosophy is simple: Certain things are perfect the way they are. The sky, the Pacific Ocean, procreation and the Goldberg Variations all fit this bill, and so do books. Books are sublimely visceral, emotionally evocative objects that constitute a perfect delivery system.
Electronic books are ideal for people who value the information contained in them, or who have vision problems, or who have clutter issues, or who don?t want other people to see that they are reading books about parallel universes where nine-eyed sea serpents and blind marsupials join forces with deaf Valkyries to rescue high-strung albino virgins from the clutches of hermaphrodite centaurs, but they are useless for people engaged in an intense, lifelong love affair with books. Books that we can touch; books that we can smell; books that we can depend on. Books that make us believe, for however short a time, that we shall all live happily ever after.
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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The owner of Marlon Brando's trademark rights say that Madonna made them an offer that they refused - and now they're suing the "Hard Candy" singer for ignoring their refusal. Brando Enterprises filed suit in U.S. District Court in Central California against Madonna, along with Bhakti Touring, Inc., on Thursday, alleging that the Material Mom has been using the "Apocalypse Now" actor's image on tour without permission - in fact, according to Brando Enterprises, their representatives "expressly refused to grant such rights to the Defendants" when they were ...
Been having ?sciatica like back pain now for around 10 days...pain comes when sitting in a chair for any more than 10-15 minutes at a time and feels like a real dull ache travelling from lower left back down hip . Aggravated on bend/stretch from hips to either side.
Still trying to train through and last night managed a full back session with no problems - managed to do all sets without any pressure on back.
Any ideas as to what this could be, how to overcome it and also main point is...i would be gratful for any suggestions on how i can train around this for abs.
The release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system is a week away, and consumers are in for a shock. Windows, used in one form or another for a generation, is getting a completely different look that will force users to learn new ways to get things done.
Microsoft is making a radical break with the past to stay relevant in a world where smartphones and tablets have eroded the three-decade dominance of the personal computer. Windows 8 is supposed to tie together Microsoft's PC, tablet and phone software with one look. But judging by the reactions of some people who have tried the PC version, it's a move that risks confusing and alienating customers.
Tony Roos, an American missionary in Paris, installed a free preview version of Windows 8 on his aging laptop to see if Microsoft's new operating system would make the PC faster and more responsive. It didn't, he said, and he quickly learned that working with the new software requires tossing out a lot of what he knows about Windows.
"It was very difficult to get used to," he said. "I have an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, and they never got used to it. They were like, 'We're just going to use Mom's computer.'"
Windows 8 is the biggest revision of Microsoft's operating system since it introduced Windows 95 amid great fanfare 17 years ago. Ultimately, Windows grew into a $14 billion a year business and helped make former Chief Executive Bill Gates the richest man in the world for a time. Now, due to smartphones and tablets, the personal computer industry is slumping. Computer companies are desperate for something that will get sales growing again. PC sales are expected to shrink this year for the first time since 2001, according to IHS iSuppli, a market research firm.
The question is whether the new version, which can be run on tablets and smartphones, along with the traditional PC, can satisfy the needs of both types of users.
"I am very worried that Microsoft may be about to shoot itself in the foot spectacularly," said?Michael Mace, the CEO of Silicon Valley software startup Cera Technology and a former Apple employee. Windows 8 is so different, he said, that many Windows users who aren't technophiles will feel lost, he said.
Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 on Oct. 26, and it doesn't plan to cushion the impact. Computer companies will make Windows 8 standard on practically all PCs that are sold to consumers.
Speaking to Wall Street analysts on Thursday, Microsoft's chief financial officer Peter Klein said he isn't very concerned that user confusion could slow the adoption of Windows 8. When Microsoft introduces new features, he said, people eventually realize that "those innovations have delivered way more value, way more productivity and way better usability." That's going to be true of Windows 8 too, he said.
Instead of the familiar Start menu and icons, Windows 8 displays applications as a colorful array of tiles, which can feature updated information from the applications. For instance, the "Photos" tile shows an image from the user's collection, and the "People" tile shows images from the user's social-media contacts. (Microsoft is licensed to use AP content in the Windows 8 news applications.)
The tiles are big and easy to hit with a finger ? convenient for a touch?screen. Applications fill the whole screen by default ? convenient for a tablet screen, which is usually smaller than a PC's. The little buttons that surround Windows 7 applications, for functions like controlling the speaker volume, are hidden, giving a clean, uncluttered view. When you need those little buttons, you can bring them out, but users have to figure out on their own how to do it.
"In the quest for simplicity, they sacrificed obviousness," said Sebastiaan de With, an interface designer and the chief creative officer at app developer DoubleTwist in San Francisco.
Technology blogger Chris Pirillo posted a YouTube video of his father using a preview version of Windows 8 for the first time. As the elder Pirillo tours the operating system with no help from his son, he blunders into the old "Desktop" environment and can't figure out how to get back to the Start tiles. (Hint: Move the mouse cursor into the top right corner of the screen, then swipe down to the "Start" button that appears, and click it. On a touch screen, swipe a finger in from the right edge of the screen to reveal the Start button.) The four-minute video has been viewed more than 1.1 million times since it was posted in March.
"There are many things that are hidden," said Raluca Budiu, a user experience specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. "Once users discover them, they have to remember where they are. People will have to work hard and use this system on a regular basis."
Mace, the software CEO, has used every version of Windows since version 2.0, which came out in 1987. Each one, he said, built upon the previous one. Users didn't need to toss out their old ways of doing things when new software came along. Windows 8 ditches that tradition of continuity, he said.
"Most Windows users don't view their PCs as being broken to begin with. If you tell them 'Oh, here's a new version of Windows, and you have to relearn everything to use it,' how many normal users are going to want to do that?" he asked.
The familiar Windows Desktop is still available through one of the tiles, and most programs will open up in that environment. But since the Start button is gone, users will have to flip back and forth between the desktop and the tile screen.
There's additional potential for confusion because there's one version of Windows 8, called "Windows RT," that looks like the PC version but doesn't run regular Windows programs. It's intended for tablets and lightweight tablet-laptop hybrids.
Budiu believes the transition to Windows 8 will be most difficult for PC users, because Microsoft's design choices favor touch screens rather than mice and keyboards. Alex Wukovich, a Londoner who tried Windows 8 on a friend's laptop, agrees.
"On a desktop, it just felt really weird," he said. "It feels like it's a tablet operating system that Microsoft managed to twist and shoehorn onto a desktop."
Not everyone who has tried Windows 8 agrees with the critics.
Sheldon Skaggs, a Web developer in Charlotte, N.C., thought he was going to hate Windows 8, but he needed to do something to speed up his 5-year-old laptop. So he installed the new software.
"After a bit of a learning curve and playing around with it a bit more, you get used to it, surprisingly," he said.
The computer now boots up faster than it did with Windows Vista, he said.
Vista was Microsoft's most recent operating-system flop. It was seen as so clunky and buggy when released in 2007 that many PC users sat out the upgrade cycle and waited for Windows 7, which arrived two and a half years later. Companies and other institutions wait much longer than consumers to upgrade their software, and many will keep paying for Windows 7. Many companies are still using Windows XP, released in 2001.
Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial, is optimistic about Windows 8, pointing out that it's snappy and runs well on PCs with limited processing power, making it suited for compact, tablet-style machines. But he also notes that through Microsoft's history, roughly every other operating-system release has been a letdown.
Intel makes the processors that go into 80 percent of PCs, and has a strong interest in the success of Windows. CEO Paul Otellini said Tuesday that when the company has let consumers try Windows 8 on expensive "ultrabook" laptops with touch screens, "the feedback is universally positive." But he told analysts that he doesn't really know if people will embrace Windows 8 for mainstream PCs.
"We'll know a lot more about this 90 days from now," he said.?
This story was reported by Peter Svensson.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Ancient DNA sheds light on Arctic whale mysteriesPublic release date: 19-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Delaney jdelaney@wcs.org 718-220-3275 Wildlife Conservation Society
NEW YORK (October 18, 2012)Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, City University of New York, and other organizations have published the first range-wide genetic analysis of the bowhead whale using hundreds of samples from both modern populations and archaeological sites used by indigenous Arctic hunters thousands of years ago.
In addition to using DNA samples collected from whales over the past 20 years, the team collected genetic samples from ancient specimens extracted from old vessels, toys, and housing material made from baleenpreserved in pre-European settlements in the Canadian Arctic. The study attempts to shed light on the impacts of sea ice and commercial whaling on this threatened but now recovering species. The study appears in the most recent edition of Ecology and Evolution.
"Our study represents the first genetic analysis of bowheads across their entire range," said Elizabeth Alter, the study's lead author and now a professor at City University of New York. "The study also illustrates the value of ancient DNA in answering questions about the impact of changing climate and human exploitation on genetic diversity in bowhead whales."
Specifically, the study authors examined mitochondrial DNA from whales from all four or five putative populationsthe Canada-Greenland population (sometimes designated as two separate populations, the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait and Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin populations), Bering-Beaufort-Chuckchi Seas, the Okhotsk, and the Spitsbergen populationsfor the purpose of gauging gene flow between those groups.
The team also used DNA gathered from relics found at the now-abandoned settlements of the Thule people (the likely ancestors of the Inuit) on Somerset Island on the western side of Prince Regent Inlet. The site was inhabited between 500-800 years before the present. Existing data from older DNA samples from Spitsbergen (some 3,000 years in age) samples were also used in the analysis.
The ancient samples from Prince Regent Inlet were brought to the lab at AMNH's Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, where researchers isolated and amplified segments of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on exclusively through the maternal lines of a population.
The genetic analysis revealed differences found between ancient and modern population diversity, including the recent disappearance of unique maternal lineages over the past 500 years, the possible result of habitat loss during the Little Ice Age (a period of climatic cooling that occurred between the 16th to 19th Centuries) and/or extensive whaling in the region.
Another finding of the study: the frozenand seemingly impassableinlets and straits separating Atlantic and Pacific populations appear to be little obstacle to the ice-savvy and morphologically adapted bowheads. The team found the whale populations in both regions to be so related that individual whales must able to make the journey across the Arctic, although the finer details on the directions whales traveled in are still uncertain.
"The assumption that Arctic sea ice has separated bowhead whale populations over the past several thousand years is contradicted by the genetic analysis, which indicates that significant migration between Atlantic and Pacific populations has recently taken place," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS's Ocean Giants Program and senior author on the study. "The finding reveals much about the abilities of bowheads to find navigable routes through sea ice and helps illuminate hidden connections between populations."
The authors point out that understanding the effects of shifting sea ice conditions and commercial whaling are important for future management decisions for the bowhead whale, particularly in light of the disappearance of sea ice due to climate change, maritime tourism, and increased shipping in the Arctic environment.
Reaching up to 65 feet in length and up to 100 tons in weight, the bowhead whale is a baleen whale that lives in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. The bowhead gets its name from its enormous arched head, which it occasionally uses to break through ice up to 60 centimeters thick in order to breathe. The species widely hunted for centuries by commercial whalers, who prized the species for its long baleen (used in corsets and other items) and its thick blubber (the thickest of any species of whale). The bowhead whale may also be among the most long-lived mammal species. In 2007, aboriginal whalers on the Alaskan coast landed a whale carrying a valuable clue about the animal's probable age. The whalers discovered a harpoon point manufactured in the 1890s embedded in the whale's blubber, indicating the animal may have survived an encounter with whalers more than one hundred years ago.
The bowhead whale has been protected from commercial whaling by the International Whaling Commission since 1946. Currently, limited subsistence whaling by coastal communities on the Bering, Beaufort, and Chuckchi Seas is permitted by the IWC. Bowheads are listed on Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), a listing that completely prohibits international trade. The Okhotsk Sea and Spitsbergen populations are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as "Endangered" and "Critically Endangered" respectively, while the other populations are designated as "Least Concern."
The authors include: Elizabeth Alter of the City University of New York; Howard C. Rosenbaum of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Museum of Natural History; Lianne Postma, Melissa Lindsay, and Larry Dueck of Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Peter Whitridge of the Memorial University of Newfoundland; Cork Gaines, Diana Weber, Mary Egan, and George Amato of the American Museum of Natural History's Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics; Robert Brownell Jr. and Brittany Hancock of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (National Marine Fisheries Service/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration); Mads Peter Heide-Jrgensen and Kristin Laidre of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources; and Gisella Caccone of Yale University.
In addition to novel bowhead whale genetic research, WCS is working to advance conservation initiatives for Arctic marine mammals in general. Through its Ocean Giants Program and Arctic Beringia Programa transboundary initiative that works closely with scientists, government agencies, indigenous groups and others from North America and the Russian Federation, WCS is working to strengthen Arctic research and governance efforts, while evaluating the potential impacts of disappearing sea ice and increased anthropogenic activities, such as shipping, on whales, walrus, and other marine wildlife, as well as the indigenous communities that have lived in the region for millennia.
###
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth. Visit www.wcs.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Ancient DNA sheds light on Arctic whale mysteriesPublic release date: 19-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Delaney jdelaney@wcs.org 718-220-3275 Wildlife Conservation Society
NEW YORK (October 18, 2012)Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, City University of New York, and other organizations have published the first range-wide genetic analysis of the bowhead whale using hundreds of samples from both modern populations and archaeological sites used by indigenous Arctic hunters thousands of years ago.
In addition to using DNA samples collected from whales over the past 20 years, the team collected genetic samples from ancient specimens extracted from old vessels, toys, and housing material made from baleenpreserved in pre-European settlements in the Canadian Arctic. The study attempts to shed light on the impacts of sea ice and commercial whaling on this threatened but now recovering species. The study appears in the most recent edition of Ecology and Evolution.
"Our study represents the first genetic analysis of bowheads across their entire range," said Elizabeth Alter, the study's lead author and now a professor at City University of New York. "The study also illustrates the value of ancient DNA in answering questions about the impact of changing climate and human exploitation on genetic diversity in bowhead whales."
Specifically, the study authors examined mitochondrial DNA from whales from all four or five putative populationsthe Canada-Greenland population (sometimes designated as two separate populations, the Baffin Bay-Davis Strait and Hudson Bay-Foxe Basin populations), Bering-Beaufort-Chuckchi Seas, the Okhotsk, and the Spitsbergen populationsfor the purpose of gauging gene flow between those groups.
The team also used DNA gathered from relics found at the now-abandoned settlements of the Thule people (the likely ancestors of the Inuit) on Somerset Island on the western side of Prince Regent Inlet. The site was inhabited between 500-800 years before the present. Existing data from older DNA samples from Spitsbergen (some 3,000 years in age) samples were also used in the analysis.
The ancient samples from Prince Regent Inlet were brought to the lab at AMNH's Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, where researchers isolated and amplified segments of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on exclusively through the maternal lines of a population.
The genetic analysis revealed differences found between ancient and modern population diversity, including the recent disappearance of unique maternal lineages over the past 500 years, the possible result of habitat loss during the Little Ice Age (a period of climatic cooling that occurred between the 16th to 19th Centuries) and/or extensive whaling in the region.
Another finding of the study: the frozenand seemingly impassableinlets and straits separating Atlantic and Pacific populations appear to be little obstacle to the ice-savvy and morphologically adapted bowheads. The team found the whale populations in both regions to be so related that individual whales must able to make the journey across the Arctic, although the finer details on the directions whales traveled in are still uncertain.
"The assumption that Arctic sea ice has separated bowhead whale populations over the past several thousand years is contradicted by the genetic analysis, which indicates that significant migration between Atlantic and Pacific populations has recently taken place," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS's Ocean Giants Program and senior author on the study. "The finding reveals much about the abilities of bowheads to find navigable routes through sea ice and helps illuminate hidden connections between populations."
The authors point out that understanding the effects of shifting sea ice conditions and commercial whaling are important for future management decisions for the bowhead whale, particularly in light of the disappearance of sea ice due to climate change, maritime tourism, and increased shipping in the Arctic environment.
Reaching up to 65 feet in length and up to 100 tons in weight, the bowhead whale is a baleen whale that lives in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. The bowhead gets its name from its enormous arched head, which it occasionally uses to break through ice up to 60 centimeters thick in order to breathe. The species widely hunted for centuries by commercial whalers, who prized the species for its long baleen (used in corsets and other items) and its thick blubber (the thickest of any species of whale). The bowhead whale may also be among the most long-lived mammal species. In 2007, aboriginal whalers on the Alaskan coast landed a whale carrying a valuable clue about the animal's probable age. The whalers discovered a harpoon point manufactured in the 1890s embedded in the whale's blubber, indicating the animal may have survived an encounter with whalers more than one hundred years ago.
The bowhead whale has been protected from commercial whaling by the International Whaling Commission since 1946. Currently, limited subsistence whaling by coastal communities on the Bering, Beaufort, and Chuckchi Seas is permitted by the IWC. Bowheads are listed on Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), a listing that completely prohibits international trade. The Okhotsk Sea and Spitsbergen populations are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as "Endangered" and "Critically Endangered" respectively, while the other populations are designated as "Least Concern."
The authors include: Elizabeth Alter of the City University of New York; Howard C. Rosenbaum of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Museum of Natural History; Lianne Postma, Melissa Lindsay, and Larry Dueck of Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Peter Whitridge of the Memorial University of Newfoundland; Cork Gaines, Diana Weber, Mary Egan, and George Amato of the American Museum of Natural History's Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics; Robert Brownell Jr. and Brittany Hancock of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (National Marine Fisheries Service/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration); Mads Peter Heide-Jrgensen and Kristin Laidre of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources; and Gisella Caccone of Yale University.
In addition to novel bowhead whale genetic research, WCS is working to advance conservation initiatives for Arctic marine mammals in general. Through its Ocean Giants Program and Arctic Beringia Programa transboundary initiative that works closely with scientists, government agencies, indigenous groups and others from North America and the Russian Federation, WCS is working to strengthen Arctic research and governance efforts, while evaluating the potential impacts of disappearing sea ice and increased anthropogenic activities, such as shipping, on whales, walrus, and other marine wildlife, as well as the indigenous communities that have lived in the region for millennia.
###
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth. Visit www.wcs.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
"The art of narration and dramatic presentation, together with a keen sense of the oral epic style, became a characteristic quality of the Russian people." ?Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale At the end of a week filled with product launches and press conferences, it's hard not to compare those marketing events. Without even talking about the products, some were much more compelling than others. And it all comes down to the story that you tell, as a company. Failing at that task will greatly endanger your product.
Hey everyone,
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Public release date: 19-Oct-2012
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