Video: Last call for the Tea Party?

>>> we've got to stop being the stupid party . and i'm serious. it's time for a new republican party that talks like adults. we had a number of republicans that damaged the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. i'm here to say we've had enough of that.

>> welcome back to "hardball." for more than a year now, we've seen stories asking whether the tea party was on its way out. and during all that time, it has only strengthened its hold on the american party . but dana milbank provided a great ticktock looking at notable events the past week that suggests many republicans and supporters are growing wary of the tea party 's grip on the gop . last thursday governor bobby jindal from louisiana told the rnc it's time for the gop to stop being the stupid party . on friday fox news said thanks but no thanks to sarah palin . on saturday word leaked that speaker john boehner had called some of his own members hard heads. and on monday john mccain and marco rubio signed on to an immigration proposal that's not all enforcement. it includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the states. dana milbank is with me along with joan walsh of salon. joan, are you buying the demise of the tea party argument that dana has made?

>> i would love to, but i think it's too soon. and dana says that himself. all of these data points are real. i guess the only one i would take issue with is the bobby jindal characterization. i think bobby jindal remains, i guess talks a good game but remains a conservative force and tea party force. because he's trying to do away with personal income taxes . and he wanted to eliminate hospice care for medicaid patients. so this perspective on spending that the tea party brought certainly hasn't gone away. anytime you've got 36 united states senators who voted down sandy relief a couple days ago, you know that something has fundamentally changed about the way that republicans talk about government. so i think it's too early to say that they're dead, but all the things dana points to are good signs and signs of some kind of sanity seeping in.

>> and dana , maybe it's all in a name. because i think what continues on for sure is this conservative domination particularly in republican primaries . i mean, here you've got mitch mcconnell being threatened now in kentucky and next year's election from the right.

>> right. and the tea party 's never really been an organized political force. and i'm using that as a shorthand for the far right that's been dominating the party right now. and as i point out in the column, that force really isn't going anywhere because of the redistricting, because of the way things are structured in the house. and because of this primary system. we also have zaxby chambliss bowing out rather than face a primary challenge . the element of the party is going to be dominant for some time to come. the pea party isn't over, but what i think you have is some of the more sober revelers in the tea party are heading for the exits because they realize this thing is getting rowdy and the police are showing up and it's going to get ugly. i think that's what's going on here. people who are interested in 2016 who realize the party has to change are growing a bit of bravery right now in saying we can't continue to tolerate this.

>> well, let's take a look at where the tea party stands among americans. cnn opinion research poll taken this past november shows the tea party has a 50% unfavorable rating. that's double what it was in 2010 . meanwhile the tea party 's favorable rating has pretty much stayed the same. i think dana makes a great point when he talks about partisan districts. 435 congressional districts in the country and really only 35 of them are in play. well, those that are held by republicans are still going to have this influence in them regardless of whether we refer to them as the tea party types.

>> that's exactly right. you know, i call it jerry mandering. i'm fine with that word. what you're seeing is those districts people are only afraid of a challenge from the right. they don't have to fear centrist republicans . then you have the states that are solid red states like georgia, for example. you could have a paul brunn. and iowa will be another one. does steve king somehow emerge to sadly, tragically, somehow take tom harkin 's seat? or does someone come out with the nomination because iowa is not a red state . it's certainly purple. but in the red states like kentucky and georgia and in the really red districts, you're still going to have this extremist view about government and about spending and also about immigration. i'm really curious to watch this unfold and see the education of marco rubio and whether he is doing this to appear centrist, appear reasonable but quickly backs down to the forces of reaction? or whether he perseveres with this and really tries to get something done.

>> well, let's not forget the tea party aligned folks such as christine o'donnell, ken buck, plus todd akin who i guess is a tea party candidate but was in spirit only. they all lost senate elections that should have been slam dunks for the republicans . the gop needs to be careful. because they want to keep that as part of their constituency. they just don't want them running the show, i guess is what i'm trying to say.

>> right. and if you put together all of those candidates that you just mentioned and these were all safe seats for the republicans in the senate. had they won those steeats, they would be in charge today. they need it to harness the energy from the far right but not be taken over by it. i think a lot of sensible voices in the party are saying we've got a problem here. if we want to win again, we've got to do something about it. yet they've structured the system this way so that all of their members are just terrified of losing in a primary far more than they are of defying the will of the american electorate. the problem is going to be here for a long tile. but you're seeing the chris christies, the marco roubios, and the bobby jindals beginning to say we've got to change something.

>> and joan walsh , briefly, the gop cannot afford them to form a libertarian effort of their own. that would be a death nail for the gop .

>> right. and chris christie isn't a libertarian, so the strains they represent, too, are different strains of the republican party . but the republican party needs to hold together to be a national party . i don't think that's going to happen. but if those voices of slight reform get completely muddled, something will happen.

>> thank you very much. dana milbank , congrats on what you wrote.

>>> up next, the boy scouts are considering dropping their ban on gay scouts and scout leaders. but not everybody's on board. that's ahead. this is "hardball" the place for politics.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/50644966/

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PM pumps up caucus with appeal to Canada's past

Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets his National Caucus before speaking at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Jan. 30, 2013. Andre Forget/QMI Agency

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OTTAWA ? Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed his Conservative caucus back to Ottawa Wednesday morning with a speech that outlined his government's plans to celebrate some important but potentially controversial milestones in the country's history.

With his five freshly appointed senators sitting in the front row in the Conservative caucus meeting room in Parliament's Centre Block, Harper vowed to keep a steady hand on the economy and to continue work on public safety issues. But he also said that Canada will soon "proudly remember" the centennial of the First World War beginning next year, the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Sir John A. Macdonald in 2015, and the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.

"These milestones remind us of a proud national story rooted in the great deeds of our ancestors and in a centuries-old constitutional legacy of freedom," Harper said.

Though most historians would agree the First World War was an important event in Canada's development as a country, it was also one that saw the first major English-French split after Confederation.

Few officers in the Canadian army of the period spoke French and French Canada strongly resisted conscription in 1917, believing it to be imposed on them by an English Canada that was still, at the time, very much connected to an imperial Britain.

Modern-day Quebecers seemed to have little enthusiasm for last year's commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 - a war that was, technically speaking, between Great Britain and the United States, and a commemoration of the First World War may be used an excuse by some in Quebec to remind French Canada of the linguistic divide that exists today.

Notably, while Harper spoke in both French and English to his caucus when he spoke about his government's focus on the economy and on public safety, his remarks about commemorating the First World War and Macdonald's birthday were in English only.

Source: http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/01/30/pm-pumps-up-caucus-with-appeal-to-canadas-past

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Analysts greet BlackBerry launch with downgrades

(Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd's glitzy unveiling of the long-delayed line of BlackBerry smartphones on Wednesday and a new corporate name failed to impress Wall Street analysts, with at least three downgrading the company's stock.

RIM, which renamed itself BlackBerry, showcased two devices, Z10 and Q10, running on its new BB10 operating system as the smartphone pioneer looks for a fresh start.

"Despite recent enthusiasm for RIM's new BB10 devices, we see limited scope for traction in the hypercompetitive smartphone market," Credit Suisse analysts wrote in a note.

RIM faces an uphill struggle in terms of gaining smartphone market share, the Credit Suisse analysts said, downgrading the stock to "underperform" from "neutral".

RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares were set to open 3 percent lower on Thursday. They closed 12 percent down on Wednesday at $13.78. Its Toronto-listed shares also fell by the same margin to close at C$13.86.

RIM launched its first BlackBerry in 1999 and quickly cornered the market for secure emails, but its market share plummeted after customers jumped ship to Apple Inc's iPhone and devices using Google Inc's Android technology.

Analysts at Evercore Partners said they did not expect the new BB10 devices to cause a stir among customers, and cut their rating to "equal weight" from "underweight".

"The new hardware and operating system is a dramatic improvement versus RIMM's older products but expect a muted consumer response due to RIMM's damaged brand image," they said.

Barclays Capital analysts wrote in a note that RIM had the best possible device launch it could have hoped for, but there were many challenges ahead.

The analysts said average sales prices might be too high for many emerging market users and raised questions about how quickly businesses would adopt the new devices.

Analysts were also concerned about the delay in the launch of the devices in the United States. RIM said the devices would not be available in the country until March.

National Bank Financial analysts said the delay was very disappointing since the U.S. enterprise, government and consumer is the most important market for the Z10.

The Z10 touchscreen device will be the first of the two models to hit the market, with a rollout that starts in Britain on Thursday.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysts-greet-blackberry-launch-downgrades-104929948--sector.html

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Backyard chicken bans causing a stir in Southern California cities

Urban farmer John Lyons shows a few of the daily eggs he receives from his chickens in his Winnetka permaculture garden. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

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Gallery: Urban farmer John Lyons raises chickens in his permaculture garden

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Urbanites searching for cruelty-free eggs and farm-fresh produce are hatching plans to raise chickens and grow vegetables in their own backyards, redefining "local" food even beyond the neighborhood farmers market.

"Once you've eaten an egg that has come from a chicken in your backyard, you kind of turn your nose up at even the organic eggs in the store," said John Lyons, who owns the garden and chicken coop design company The Woven Garden.

But as the "urban homestead" movement continues to take flight in the Los Angeles region, many residents are clucking about some cities' bans on the egg-laying animals, which some see only as noisy neighbors.

When done right, backyard chickens can have many benefits, said Mike Scott of Eagle Rock, who builds chicken coops and vegetable gardens with his company Eagle Rock Backyard Farms. They can provide manure for the garden, eat household food waste, produce fresh eggs every morning and can even be lovable family pets.

"It's definitely a lifestyle, it's not just having another pet. You can have a dog and a dog gives you love back, but the chickens actually give you something for treating them really well, and that's the egg," Scott said. "You can't beat fresh eggs."

Chickens are already permitted in many cities, including Los Angeles, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Monterey Park, Glendora, Chino and Rancho Cucamonga, although many restrict the number of chickens per household and most ban roosters.

But San Dimas, Ontario, Montebello, San Gabriel and Whittier are among the cities that ban chickens in residential areas, and many who live in those cities are asking their city councils to lay off.

Last week, the San Marino City Council lifted its ban on backyard chickens at the request of some residents, though the city restricts the number of chickens per household and bans roosters.

San Gabriel is also looking to change its laws. The City Council last month granted resident Vito Clarizio a conditional permit to keep the eight chickens he's housed in his backyard for eight years, and directed staff to develop a new code that would allow backyard chickens with certain regulations.

Long Beach also has been considering loosening regulations on urban agriculture. A City Council committee considered the issue in June, and city staff are continuing to study how new proposed laws could be implemented.

The seemingly eccentric rule, a relic of Long Beach's

John Lyons raises egg-laying chickens in this Winnetka garden. He owns a company that builds organic gardens and chicken coops and teaches classes on gardening and raising chickens. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)

20th century urbanization, was part of a pack of changes to the municipal code debated by the City Council's Environmental Committee recently.

The proposed law would allow up to four hens with no restriction, five to 10 chickens at least 25 feet away from a neighboring residence and 11 to 20 of the birds at least 50 feet away from homes.

Currently, up to 20 hens can be kept on a property if they are at least 50 feet away from single and two-family residences and 100 feet from homes of three families or more.

Lyons, who owns 20 chickens at his San Fernando Valley home, said city chicken bans are likely based on antiquated ordinances, and any city that has them should reconsider.

"The chicken ban makes absolutely no sense," Lyons said. "Chickens are very quiet creatures, I don't understand what the restriction is about."

And the growing voice of urban chicken owners may prompt many cities to, like San Marino and San Gabriel, take a second look at their municipal codes.

Jordanne Dervaes, of Urban Homestead in Pasadena, has made a business raising crops and chickens at her family home and helping others do the same. She said when she first started keeping chickens 10 years ago, it was hard to find any information on how to raise them in an urban environment.

"That was breaking new ground," Dervaes said. "It was very scary for me at the time."

Now, owning a chicken coop has become a way for people to eat healthy, natural food and know where it is coming from.

Dervaes said she's happy that urban farming has become more popular, but also is concerned that some chicken owners might not know what they're getting into.

It can be especially hard, she said, because many urban vets and humane societies won't provide chicken health services.

"Now it is a trend and as with every trend people don't adhere to basic things you need to do to take care of an animal," Dervaes said. "I've seen the good and the bad. It's good when people do it right, but if you don't do it right it could backlash for the rest of us who are doing it right."

Though there might not be a chicken vet in Los Angeles cities, websites like backyardchickens.com and urbanchickens.org, and groups like Los Angeles Urban Chicken Enthusiasts, can provide support for the urban farming community.

Rob Ludlow, owner of backyardchickens.com, said his site has more than 125,000 active members nationally, up from 50 when the site first started in 2007.

"There is a growing awareness of how fun and easy it is to raise backyard chickens," Ludlow said via email. "People are quickly realizing that chickens are a multi-purpose pet."

Ludlow, of Pleasant Hill-based Ludlow Concepts Inc., also co-authored "Raising Chickens for Dummies" and "Building Chicken Coops for Dummies."

Scott, who quit his corporate job two years ago to start his backyard farm business, said he has seen a similar boom in business since he started his company. He has built chicken coops, "edible gardens" and bee hives for residents throughout the region and most recently constructed one for the Los Angeles County Arboretum.

"It's basically sustainable living, and chicken coops are a big part of that," he said. "You're basically creating a mini ecosystem."

Ultimately, he said it's not just the environmental or health benefits that make owning chickens so great, it's the atmosphere and the relationship he has with his chickens that make him glad he chose the lifestyle.

"One of my favorite things to do is sit outside with a glass of wine and watch the chickens peck and look for bugs," Scott said. "It's really relaxing."

Chicken lovers

Cities that already permit chickens, with restrictions on the number:
Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Marino, South Pasadena, Monterey Park, Glendora, Chino and Rancho Cucamonga.

Chicken haters

Cities that ban chickens in residential areas:
San Dimas, Ontario, Montebello, San Gabriel and Whittier.

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lauren.gold@sgvn.com
626-657-0990
twitter.com/laurenkgold

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22477346/backyard-chicken-bans-causing-stir-southland-cities?source=rss_emailed

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'Safe Haven' Is 'Such A Different Nicholas Sparks Movie,' Julianne Hough Says

MTV News exclusively goes behind the scenes of the upcoming romantic thriller.
By Amy Wilkinson, with reporting by Brian Phares

Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough in "Safe Haven"
Photo: Relativity Media

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1700969/safe-haven-set-visit.jhtml

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Geek chat: We're talking the new Star Trek game

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/yahoo-news-chat-maker-paramount-star-trek-game-153543776.html

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 And Variants Confirmed In UAPROF Files

Samsung has a little bit of something for everyone when it comes to tablets, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 would be the next big thing that the South Korean consumer electronics giant intends to announce. So far, Samsung?s very own UAPROF (User Agent Profile) files for the Samsung GT-P3200, GT-P5200 and GT-P8200 have been announced, revealing additional details such as the screen resolution along the way. Surely it is time for a new Galaxy Tab 3 to hit the market instead of relying on a rehash of color schemes?

?

?From what we have gathered so far, the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0?/8.0? will not have that stunning a display if you are going to bring home the entry level model, as it sports a screen resolution of 1024 ? 600. Well, if you decide to opt for the larger sized Galaxy Tab 3 10.1?, that puppy will be easier on your eyes due to its size and 1280 ? 800 resolution.

For those who want nothing but the very best, then you would do well to settle for the Galaxy Tab 3 Plus that has a stunning resolution of 2560 ? 1600 pixels which would clearly place it in Retina Display category. Just in case you were wondering, 2560 x 1600 pixels would be the same resolution as that of the Nexus 10.

Chances are pretty high that Samsung will be introducing the trio of tablets at Mobile World Congress at Barcelona at the end of next month, and we fully intend to hit the showfloor and bring you hands-on images and experiences.

Source: http://www.androidpit.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-3-and-variants-confirmed-in-uaprof-files

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Target launches 6 new brands, all online

target.com

Target has launched six new online-only brands, including Too by Blu Dot, a home furnishings line.

By Dana Macario, TODAY contributor

If you?re looking to buy something from one of Target?s six new brands, you?ll need to skip the store and hit up their website instead. The online exclusive offers include everything from a collection of baby apparel designed for Target by Zutano to home d?cor lines.

?We?re excited that for the first time Target has developed new brands exclusively for Target.com," said Target spokesman Eddie Baeb. "We believe these new brands will further differentiate Target.com from other online retailers and help us create a great shopping experience for our guests.??

The new brands are primarily home d?cor lines, an area that has long been a Target strength. Each of the four home furnishings lines has its own, distinct personality. Too by Blu Dot has a funky, retro '50s vibe, while MudHut features eclectic designs that reflect a global theme, with offerings like Mexican motif and Moroccan gem. Boho Boutique is a home line that is reminiscent of a lower-priced Anthropologie. The last of the home lines, Room 365, is the most contemporary of the home brands.

That Target would focus so heavily on home furnishings for its first online exclusive brands is not a surprise to some retail experts. ?They?ve always been in home goods. They?ve been strong and leaders in that area. And, that strength has eroded in the last two to four years," said Mike Tesler, founding partner at consulting firm Retail Concepts and a marketing lecturer at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. "They?re looking to inject some excitement in that.?

In addition to the four new home-furnishings brands, Target.com is also offering up a women?s clothing line, Labworks, and Zutano Blue, a collection of clothing, and again, bedding and d?cor, for infants.

Online retail isn?t new, but Target?s mammoth push into the virtual space is new. Several retail experts agreed that the new, online venture is a low-risk way for Target to test new brands and increase profit margin. ?The only thing that?s really going on here is higher margins in categories that traditionally aren?t brand-sensitive,? said Rob Frankel, branding specialist and author of ?The Revenge of Brand X.?

Tesler also noted that offering products exclusively online is a good way for the company to experiment with new lines. ?When you test it out online, then you have confidence that it?s going to work in the stores later,? Tesler said. At present, Target has not announced that any of the lines will be introduced in stores. ?There are no current plans to have these brands in Target stores, but we?re always evaluating and considering new merchandise for our stores,? Baeb said.

Although you can only buy the products online, the Too by Blu Dot collection will be featured in five Target locations in Chicago, Seattle,?Los Angeles, San Francisco and Westwood, Calif., through the end of January. There, guests can scan QR codes to buy the items online.

Dana Macario is a Seattle-area writer who loves to shop ? both off and online.

Source: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2013/01/29/16741351-target-launches-6-new-brands-but-you-cant-buy-them-in-stores?lite

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Video: Sheriff advises citizens to use firearms in defense

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50637937/

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Alcatel-Lucent's credit facility raised to 2 billion euro

PARIS (Reuters) - Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent said on Wednesday its credit facility underwritten by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs has been raised to 2 billion euros from an initial 1.6 billion euros following strong investor demand.

"Alcatel-Lucent confirms that the proceeds will be used for the refinancing of certain existing indebtedness and for working capital and general corporate purposes," the statement said.

Bankers had said last week that growing investor demand for riskier assets had allowed Alcatel-Lucent to increase the debt it planned to raise in a refinancing, giving a boost to its turnaround efforts.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alcatel-lucents-credit-facility-raised-2-billion-euro-154847359--finance.html

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'First Time' May Influence Sexual Satisfaction for Life | Psych Central ...

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on January 29, 2013

New research suggests a person?s first sexual experience can set the tone for the rest of one?s sexual life.

Matthew Shaffer, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Tennessee, and C. Veronica Smith, Ph.D., an assistant psychology professor at the University of Mississippi, devised the research project to study the effects of losing one?s virginity.

The study is published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy and is the first to look at whether the circumstances of losing one?s virginity have lasting consequences.

?The loss of virginity is often viewed as an important milestone in human development, signifying a transition to adulthood,? said Shaffer.

?However, it has not been studied in this capacity. We wanted to see the influence it may have related to emotional and physical development.?

The researchers examined how first-time sexual satisfaction impacts long-term sexual function as well as how first-time physical and emotional responses affect long-term sexual experiences.

They found that positive first-time experiences were predictive of physical and emotional satisfaction. Specifically, those who felt loved and respected by their partner found later encounters more emotionally satisfying.

The researchers asked 331 young men and women about how they lost their virginity. The anonymous participants ranked the experience according to emotions related to anxiety, contentment and regret.

Survey responders also answered questions about their sex life using scales measuring sense of control, satisfaction and well-being. Finally, the participants filled out a diary for two weeks describing each sexual experience.

A series of analyses revealed those who were most emotionally and physically satisfied the first time found their sex lives the most fulfilling. Those who reported higher levels of anxiety and negativity with the first time reported lower overall sexual functioning.

?While this study doesn?t prove that a better first time makes for a better sex life in general, a person?s experience of losing their virginity may set the pattern for years to come,? said Shaffer.

Shaffer suggests that a first-time sexual experience may create a general pattern of thought and behavior that guides sexual experiences and understanding of information concerning sexuality.

Source: University of Tennessee

APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). ?First Time? May Influence Sexual Satisfaction for Life. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 30, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/29/first-time-may-influence-sexual-satisfaction-for-life/50954.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/29/first-time-may-influence-sexual-satisfaction-for-life/50954.html

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Check out pictures from UFC on Fox 6

Check out UFC on Fox 6 pictures from the always-amazing Tracy Lee. She caught images of Demetrious Johnson outlasting John Dodson, Quinton Jackson's final UFC fight, and more from Saturday night's fights. To see more of Lee's work, follow her on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/check-pictures-ufc-fox-6-204314877--mma.html

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Chick-fil-A: Business Booming Despite Gay Marriage Controversy!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/chick-fil-a-business-booming-despite-gay-marriage-controversy/

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Texas to 'terminate' trooper after cavity searches

By Frank Heinz and Ken Kalthoff, NBCDFW.com

The female Texas trooper who performed a roadside cavity search on two women will be terminated, according to the Department of Public Safety.

The two women from Irving are suing Trooper David Farrell, Trooper Kelley Helleson and the director of the Department of Public Safety for what they call an unconstitutional search without probable cause.

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger released the following statement on Tuesday: "The Director of DPS has made a preliminary determination to terminate Kelly Helleson. By policy, she will be given the opportunity to meet with the director before the decision is finalized."

Helleson was suspended with pay on Dec. 19. Farrell was suspended with pay effective Dec. 21 pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.

On July 13, while driving along State Highway 161,?Angel?Dobbs and her niece Ashley Dobbs?were stopped for littering by Farrell. In?the dashcam video released by the women and their attorney, Farrell can be heard telling the women they would both be cited for littering for throwing cigarette butts out of the car.

Farrell then?returned to his cruiser and, in the video, can be heard calling female Trooper Helleson to the scene to search both women whom he?said were acting weird.

While waiting for Helleson to arrive, Farrell asked Angel Dobbs to step out of the vehicle and began questioning her about marijuana use. In the video,?the trooper?is heard?telling?Dobbs he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle?while asking her several times how much pot was in the car.

After Helleson arrived, she can be seen in the dashcam video putting on blue latex gloves to conduct a search of both women. According to the lawsuit, when Angel Dobbs asked about the gloves, Helleson "told her not to worry about that."

'I was totally violated'
In the lawsuit, Dobbs said the trooper conducted the cavity search on the roadside, illuminated by the police car's headlights, in full view of any passing?motorists.

"This has been an eye-opening experience for me. I've never been pulled over, never searched like this. I was totally violated over there a few minutes ago... this is so embarrassing to me," Angel Dobbs said on the video.

"I've never been so humiliated or so violated or felt so molested in my entire life," Angel Dobbs told NBC?5.

More news from NBCDFW.com

Dobbs said she never gave consent for the trooper to "frisk, pat-down, search or otherwise touch her" and that she never gave consent for Farrell to search?her vehicle -- which he can be seen doing in the dashcam video while the cavity search was under way.

Dobbs said she was powerless to stop it. "What are you going to say? What's going to happen to you if you challenge that authority?" she said.

With the cavity search concluded, Farrell then asked Dobbs about prescription medications found in the car. Dobbs said they were for her thyroid and for?migraines. According to the lawsuit, Dobbs also suffers from a medical condition that was irritated by the search.

Meanwhile, Helleson can then be seen performing the same cavity search on Dobbs' niece, Ashley.

"It's because somebody is a daily smoker in that car. OK, you can attribute it to that," Farrell can be heard saying on the recording.

The lawsuit further alleges that Helleson performed searches on both women, touching both their anus and vaginas, without changing the latex gloves between?searches.

"I don't think anybody needs to have to feel, or go through what we went through," Ashley Dobbs said. "It crosses my mind every day. It's humiliating," she said.

After searching the entire car and finding no narcotics, Farrell then administered a DWI test that Dobbs passed, the lawsuit said. The women were then issued warnings for littering and released at the scene.

The lawsuit goes on to say that a bottle of prescribed hydrocodone was missing from Dobbs' car and purse after the search. The women returned to the scene?of the traffic stop the next day to search for the medication, but it was nowhere to be found.

Their lawyers say the search was illegal and a complaint about it was filed in August but that DPS Texas Rangers who investigated the incident took no action.

"This is outside the constitutional grounds by a mile. It's not even close," attorney Scott Palmer said. "This has to stop. These two need to be stopped. There's no telling how many other people they've done this to and we hope that others come forward."

Attorney Charles Soechting Jr. said his father was a DPS trooper and he has great respect for the agency. "But in this instance they have completely failed the citizens of Texas," Soechting said.

Soechting said a records request to DPS produced no policy that allows for cavity search of any suspect in public.

"What we're dealing with is a Class C misdemeanor. It does not justify any type of pat-down, let alone an invasive search of cavities of women," he said.

DPS?has not commented on the case.

The women are requesting a trial by jury and are asking for unspecified, compensatory and exemplary damages and interest as well as recovery of attorney's fees and court costs.

The Dallas County District Attorney's office told NBC?5 it has received the case and will refer it to a grand jury this month.

Related:

Dashcam video of incident (WARNING: Contains explicit language and some may find footage disturbing)

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/30/16769883-texas-set-to-terminate-trooper-following-roadside-cavity-searches?lite

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Google shows North Korean 'gulags'

Google Maps shows details of North Korea, including streets, parks, monuments and train stops in the capital Pyongyang.

Until now, North Korea was among the few places in Google Maps where scant information was available.

The map shows at least four places where North Korea's government is believed to operate prison camps.

Google says citizen cartographers started building the North Korea map in 2009 based on satellite images and other public information.

It also shows photographs of places in North Korea available on the web and those taken by people who visited there.

The US company says the map is not perfect and building it is a continuing process.

Source: http://feeds.dailyexpress.co.uk/c/33338/f/565860/s/280a3ec2/l/0L0Sdailyexpress0O0Cposts0Cview0C3743630CGoogle0Eshows0ENorth0EKorean0Egulags0E0C/story01.htm

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Judge OKs $4B BP oil spill criminal settlement

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? A federal judge on Tuesday approved an agreement for BP PLC to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the company's role in the 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Before she ruled, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance heard testimony from relatives of 11 workers who died when BP's blown-out Macondo well triggered an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and started the spill.

BP agreed in November to plead guilty to charges involving the workers' deaths and for lying to Congress about the size of the spill from its broken well, which spewed more than 200 million gallons of oil. Much of it ended up in the Gulf and soiled the shorelines of several states. The company could have withdrawn from the agreement if Vance had rejected it.

Neither the Justice Department nor BP presented arguments to the judge before her decision in New Orleans.

Vance said the plea deal was "just punishment" considering the risks of litigation for BP and the alternatives to the settlement. She told victims' relatives who were in court that she read their "truly gut-wrenching" written statements and factored their words into her decision.

"I've heard and I truly understand your feelings and the losses you suffered," she said.

She said she also believes BP executives should have personally apologized to family members.

"I think BP should have done that out of basic humanity," she said.

The deal doesn't resolve the federal government's civil claims against BP. The company could pay billions more in penalties for environmental damage.

BP separately agreed to a settlement with lawyers for Gulf Coast residents and businesses who claim the spill cost them money. BP estimates the deal with private attorneys will cost the company roughly $7.8 billion.

For the criminal settlement, BP agreed to pay nearly $1.3 billion in fines. The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Justice Department was a $1.2 billion fine against drug maker Pfizer in 2009.

The criminal settlement also includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences.

In a court filing before the hearing, attorneys for BP and the Justice Department argued that the plea agreement imposes "severe corporate punishment" and will deter BP and other deep-water drilling companies from allowing another disaster to occur.

The Justice Department has reached a separate settlement with rig owner Transocean Ltd. that resolves the government's civil and criminal claims over the Swiss-based company's role in the disaster.

Transocean agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating the Clean Water Act and pay $1.4 billion in civil and criminal penalties. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo has scheduled a Feb. 14 hearing to decide whether to accept that criminal settlement. A different judge will decide whether to accept Transocean's civil settlement.

Many relatives of rig workers who died in the blast submitted written statements that were critical of BP's deal. Twenty-eight-year-old Gordon Jones' family members said BP's sentence should include a personal, face-to-face apology to his widow and children by BP executives. A brother of Jones also had urged Vance to consider stiffer penalties that prohibit or limit the company's ability to operate in U.S. waters.

Vance, however, said she couldn't get involved in plea negotiations and only could impose a sentence that adheres to the agreed-upon terms if she accepted it.

Also killed were Jason Anderson, 35, of Midfield, Texas; Aaron Dale "Bubba" Burkeen, 37, of Philadelphia, Miss.; Donald Clark, 49, of Newellton, La.; Stephen Ray Curtis, 40, of Georgetown, La.; Roy Wyatt Kemp, 27, Jonesville, La.; Karl Kleppinger Jr., 38, of Natchez, Miss.; Keith Blair Manuel, 56, of Gonzales, La.; Dewey A. Revette, 48, of State Line, Miss.; Shane M. Roshto, 22, of Liberty, Miss.; and Adam Weise, 24, Yorktown, Texas.

Four current or former BP employees have been indicted on separate criminal charges. BP rig supervisors Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine are charged with manslaughter, accused of repeatedly disregarding abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been glaring indications of trouble just before the blowout.

David Rainey, BP's former vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, was charged with withholding information from Congress about the amount of oil that was gushing from the well.

Former BP engineer Kurt Mix was charged with deleting text messages about the company's spill response.

A series of government investigations have blamed the April 20, 2010, blowout on time-saving, cost-cutting decisions by BP and its partners on the drilling project.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-29-Gulf%20Oil%20Spill-Settlement/id-146b5221e8624a49973ede75fe63a821

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The need to feed programs Campylobacter's 'Sat Nav'

Jan. 29, 2013 ? A rumbling tummy is our body's way of telling us "it's time for lunch." Likewise, bacteria need to know when it's time to eat.

Researchers at the Institute of Food Research on the Norwich Research Park have uncovered how the food-borne bacterial pathogen Campylobacter jejuni can change its swimming behaviour to find a location with more food.

Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial food-borne illness in the UK, with more than 371,000 cases annually. When people get infected, the bacteria need to find their way from the source of contamination, most often undercooked poultry, to the cells lining the gut, passing through thick layers of mucus. In these different locations, Campylobacter must find enough food to sustain itself as well as a suitable environment to carry out respiration, the process of generating energy.

Using a newly developed assay, the researchers found that Campylobacter balances the directions given by two different systems to either seek out more nutritious locations, or to find places where respiration is most efficient. Genetic tools were used to show that the system controlling swimming towards food overrides the other system, suggesting that the "need to feed" is the foremost concern for Campylobacter.

Unlike other food poisoning bugs, such as E. coli or Salmonella, Campylobacter has a whole range of systems that can detect different chemicals in the environment, and alter swimming behaviour accordingly: the 'Sat Nav' of the bacterial world.

The work is published in the journal PLOS ONE. Dr Mark Reuter, the lead author says "we know that Campylobacter can swim, and that this is very important for causing disease, but aimless swimming isn't efficient. The bugs need to know where they want to go."

Discovering how these 'Sat Nav' systems help target the bugs to the site of infection may help prevent future disease, and may be relevant to other food-borne and gut-associated pathogens.

The Institute of Food Research, which is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, has a research team dedicated to studying Campylobacter. They are looking at what makes Campylobacter such a successful pathogen and to find weaknesses in its biology that could lead to new ways of controlling it.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Norwich BioScience Institutes.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Mark Reuter, Arnoud H. M. van Vliet. Signal Balancing by the CetABC and CetZ Chemoreceptors Controls Energy Taxis in Campylobacter jejuni. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e54390 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054390

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/DuGZauZSX8I/130129190235.htm

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THE RESET: Bernanke keeping foot on stimulus pedal

Ben Bernanke's term as chairman of the Federal Reserve expires one year from Thursday. Sometime between now and then he's likely to take his foot off the gas pedal of financial stimulus that is helping to fuel the still-weak U.S. recovery and begin tapping on the brakes.

First appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and given a second four-year term as chairman by President Barack Obama, Bernanke hasn't signaled whether he'd like a third term as head of the nation's central bank if Obama pressed him to stay.

But speculation abounds that the former Princeton economics professor is ready to call it quits.

The central bank under Bernanke has kept interest rates ultra-low for more than four years.

At the same time, the Fed has effectively been printing money to buy hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage-backed and U.S. Treasury securities, further holding down rates and pumping new money into the economy.

Many economists credit such policies for helping to keep the deepest U.S. downturn since the Great Recession from being far worse.

But the chief danger of such easy-money policies is inflation.

It's been tame so far, but at some point it's bound to roar back ? which is why a time will come for Bernanke and fellow Fed members to begin to unwind years of financial stimulus by halting the bond purchases and raising interest rates again.

No one knows just when ? but it probably won't be at the two-day Fed meeting that began in Washington on Tuesday.

Instead, the Fed is expected to push on with its efforts to spur growth so long as economic inflation remains in check and unemployment stays so high.

Janet Yellen, the vice chairman of the Fed, is seen as most likely to be offered the top position by Obama if Bernanke retires.

___

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reset-bernanke-keeping-foot-stimulus-pedal-170836030--politics.html

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SAG Awards Style Showdown: Vote on Whose Look Wins!

We paired up the night's biggest stars (Jen & Naomi! Julianne & Claire!) -- and now it's your turn to weigh in on whose fashion flourished more!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/sag-awards-style/1-b-518075?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Asag-awards-style-518075

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Primates too can move in unison

Jan. 25, 2013 ? Japanese researchers show for the first time that primates modify their body movements to be in tune with others, just like humans do. Humans unconsciously modify their movements to be in synchrony with their peers. For example, we adapt our pace to walk in step or clap in unison at the end of a concert. This phenomenon is thought to reflect bonding and facilitate human interaction. Researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute report that pairs of macaque monkeys also spontaneously coordinate their movements to reach synchrony.

This research opens the door to much-needed neurophysiological studies of spontaneous synchronization in monkeys, which could shed light into human behavioral dysfunctions such as those observed in patients with autism spectrum disorders, echopraxia and echolalia -- where patients uncontrollably imitate others.

In the research, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team led by Naotaka Fujii developed an experimental set-up to test whether pairs of Japanese macaque monkeys synchronize a simple push-button movement.

Before the experiment, the monkeys were trained to push a button with one hand. In a first experiment the monkeys were paired and placed facing each other and the timing of their push-button movements was recorded. The same experiment was repeated but this time each monkey was shown videos of another monkey pushing a button at varying speeds. And in a last experiment the macaques were not allowed to either see or hear their video-partner.

The results show that the monkeys modified their movements -- increased or decreased the speed of their push-button movement -- to be in synchrony with their partner, both when the partner was real and on video. The speed of the button pressing movement changed to be in harmonic or sub-harmonic synchrony with the partners' speed. However, different pairs of monkeys synchronized differently and reached different speeds, and the monkeys synchronized their movements the most when they could both see and hear their partner.

The researchers note that this behavior cannot have been learnt by the monkeys during the experiment, as previous research has shown that it is extremely difficult for monkeys to learn intentional synchronization.

They add: "The reasons why the monkeys showed behavioral synchronization are not clear. It may be a vital aspect of other socially adaptive behavior, important for survival in the wild."

The study was partly supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas 'Neural creativity for communication' (22120522 and 24120720) of MEXT, Japan.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by RIKEN.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Yasuo Nagasaka, Zenas C. Chao, Naomi Hasegawa, Tomonori Notoya, Naotaka Fujii. Spontaneous synchronization of arm motion between Japanese macaques. Scientific Reports, 2013; 3 DOI: 10.1038/srep01151

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/AMbAPs6-r80/130128081952.htm

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Woods builds a 4-shot lead at Torrey

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? The fog lifted Sunday and revealed a familiar sight: Tiger Woods in command at Torrey Pines.

Woods had great control of his tee shots and began to pull away from the field with a 3-under 69 in the third round to build a four-shot lead in the Farmers Insurance Open. Fog wiped out all of Saturday, so players were going as long as daylight allowed and returning Monday to complete the tournament.

Woods was likely to get in about six holes of the fourth round. Woods, with his first outright 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since 2009, was at 14-under 202.

Brad Fritsch, a PGA Tour rookie from Canada, had a 70 and was at 206. Erik Compton finished birdie-eagle for a 71 and was five shots behind.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/woods-builds-4-shot-lead-torrey-225005641--spt.html

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Blind Brook BOE Presents Special Education Review Results - Rye ...

Please join the Blind Brook Board of Education for a presentation on the results of Blind Brook's commissioned Special Education Review. Dr. Jackie Taylor, consultant and former Superintendent of the Byram Hills School District in Armonk and Mr. Harry Burg Director of Pupil Personnel Services, will share the information and participate in a round table discussion with the BOE. The Superintendent will provide an update on safety and security. In addition, there will be an 8th grade English class presentation on the New Writing Workshop led by Ms. Cher Treacy. Sam George, a 7th grader, will receive the National Geographic Geography Bee Champion Medal.

The Board of Education will convene at 7:15 pm in the H.S. Faculty Room and is expected to immediately adjourn to Executive Session to discuss Teacher and Support Related Personnel contract negotiations, a matter regarding pending litigation and tenure recommendation.

The Board is expected to reconvene in public session at 8:00 pm in the Monroe E. Haas Instructional Media Center (H.S. Library).

Upcoming meetings include the Superintendent's proposed budget presentation on February 25th.

Source: http://rye.patch.com/articles/blind-brook-boe-presents-special-education-review-results

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Israeli official warns of Syrian chemical weapons

JERUSALEM (AP) ? A senior Israeli Cabinet minister has warned that the transfer of Syria's chemical weapons to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon could trigger an Israeli attack.

Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom confirmed to Israel's Army Radio that top security officials held a special meeting last week to discuss Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

Israel has long expressed concerns that embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, clinging to power after a 22-month civil war, could lose control over his chemical weapons. Shalom says the transfer of weapons to groups hostile to Israel, particularly Hezbollah, would cross a "red line."

"It would be crossing a line that would demand a different approach, including even action," he said. Asked whether this might mean a pre-emptive attack, he said: "We will have to make the decisions."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-official-warns-syrian-chemical-weapons-153703231.html

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Dell Precision M4700

If you feel the need for speed, expandability, and reliability, the Dell Precision M4700 mobile workstation is the system you want to bring out to the working world. It's a lot easier to tote than a tower workstation, but it has many of the features that you'd want in a desktop. With a third-generation Core i7 processor, Nvidia Quadro mobile graphics, multi-drive setup, and multi-monitor capabilities, the M4700 is our new Editors' Choice for mobile workstations.

Design and Features
The M4700 is a large laptop. It measures about 1.5 by 15 by 10 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.02 pounds (without AC adapter). It sports a 15.6-inch screen. Its dimensions, styling, and weight harken back to laptops of old?or at least laptops of 4 to 6 years ago. In many ways this isn't a bad thing, as a mobile workstation isn't meant to be the svelte corridor cruiser that an ultrabook like the HP Elitebook Folio 9470m or Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is designed to be. The M4700 is made to be a power system, making sure that an engineer can do his work away from his office, whether that's in a boardroom in Des Moines, or on the hood of a Land Rover in the Kalahari.

The M4700 can be configured with a plethora of options, depending on the tasks needed. Our review unit came with a high-end Intel Core i7-3820QM processor, 16GB of DDR3 memory, 128GB solid-state drive (SSD) as the C: drive, 750GB data hard drive, DVD burner, and a 97 Whr removable battery. The system is IT serviceable, so you can get into the chassis to swap out parts that need replacement or upgrading. Though not set up that way on our system, multiple drives can be configured in a RAID array for speed, data integrity, or a combo of both (RAID 0,1,5). For RAID 5, you may need to pop a drive into an optional removable optical bay adapter and install an SSD in the free Mini-card slot inside.

The M4700 features a tool free pop-out drive bay, so you can keep your data safe. The whole bottom panel comes off after the user removes two screws, facilitating upgrades and installs. The bottom of the unit has a docking port for Dell's line of E-Family docks, including docks that allow for up to four monitors, or another docking slice that lets you connect legacy peripherals like Parallel ports and PS/2 peripherals.

The system has plenty of modern connectors as well, including two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports (unfortunately not colored blue to differentiate from USB 2.0), an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port, serial port, VGA, Ethernet, 4-pin FireWire 400 port, HDMI-out, DisplayPort, smart card reader, SD-based card reader, and an ExpressCard slot. Between the included ports and what you can get with the legacy dock, you'd find it hard to come up with any peripheral you couldn't connect, save possibly Thunderbolt and Fibre channel. Fibre channel is really a server/switch connector, so its absence is no problem. Thunderbolt is still finding its footing in the Windows world, but it is ubiquitous on high-end Mac laptops like the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display.

The M4700's UltraSharp FHD display was bright and very clear. Text and minute detail were sharp and easy on the eyes, thanks to an anti-glare coating. You should be able to stare at this display for hours on end, as would be the case when you're working on an intricate project. The 1,920 by 1,080 resolution screen means that you can launch multiple windows side by side without having to worry about too much data being lost to toolbar space. It's certainly a lot more screen real estate than other systems you'd entertain bringing into the field like the rugged Editors' Choice Dell Latitude E6430 ATG, which only has a 1,366 by 768 resolution screen.

The M4700's speakers were loud enough for a good-sized conference room, but otherwise utilitarian. While the M4700 isn't overtly ruggedized like the Latitude E6430ATG, the M4700 is hardened to MIL-STD-810G standards fro humidity, temperature, vibration, dust, altitude, and shock.

The system comes with both a pointing stick and multitouch trackpad. The pointing stick works as you'd expect, with a row of mouse buttons under the space bar. The trackpad can be setup to use two finger controls, but it can also be used with its own gestures to control functions like scrolling with one finger. In this, the system is setup to handle both new users and users that are "used to doing things a certain way." The backlit keyboard has four brightness settings, and is comfortable to use, with traditional style concave keys. The system is wireless, with 802.11 a/b/g/n dual band Wi-Fi for the most flexibility in connecting to guest networks. The system can be equipped with an optional WWAN 3G cellular modem.

Our review unit came with Windows 7 Professional, though you can opt for Windows 8 Pro. We'd recommend Windows 7 for the time being, as it may be a while before your company rolls out a Windows 8-compliant version of the apps you need to use. This isn't a system for simply using Word and Excel, it's a system capable of running ISV certified apps like PRO/Engineer and CAD programs.

Performance
The system's performance and reliability are the reasons you buy a workstation. The system is solidly built, so it shouldn't have any problems serving your users over the course of a few years. The performance of the system is very good to exemplary, with good scores at our multimedia tests like Photoshop CS6 and Handbrake (video encoding). Handbrake took an extremely short 46 seconds to complete, far quicker than other performance-oriented Core i7-powered laptops like the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display) (1:13) and the Acer Aspire S7-391-9886 (1:17). All three of these laptops use SSD or flash memory-based drives, so the Precision M4700 wins with its speedier Core i7 processor and Nvidia Quadro graphics.

The Precision M4700 also wins on the CineBench R11.5 test, which measures how fast a system can render a 3D image in software. The Dell's score of 6.92 points is one of the highest we've seen for a laptop, and is higher than most desktops as well. Day-to-day performance was decent, and the system certainly did well at our 3D tests, which are admittedly consumer-based. Perhaps the most notable indicator is that the system lasted a very good 6 hours 28 minutes on our battery rundown test. This means that this system will last for much of a workday. The M4700 has a very good mix of power and battery life. The system can be fitted with an optional 97Whr battery slice for additional power.

The problem with comparing the Dell Precision M4700 to previous units is that there are far fewer mobile workstation laptops than consumer or business laptops out there. Our last true mobile workstation Editors' Choice was the HP Elitebook 8560w, and while it also has ISV certifications and also has a 15.6-inch full HD screen, the HP 8560w used an older Core i7 processor and AMD FirePro graphics. Granted, the 8650w also came in at under $1,600. The Dell Precision M4700 is a higher-level workstation, with many more options, expandability, higher end drive systems, higher end graphics options, and is generally more capable. If you have a need for ISV certified apps, or highest end reliability and performance, then the Dell Precision M4700 is the mobile workstation for you, and as such, earns our nod for Editors' Choice for mobile workstations.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS: Check out the test scores for the

More Laptop Reviews:
??? Dell Precision M4700
??? Toshiba Satellite U945-S4390
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/r60s2ooqQk8/0,2817,2414694,00.asp

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RPT-Market Chatter-Corporate finance press digest

Jan 28 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related

stories were reported by media on Monday:

* Internal reviews by banks in Singapore have found evidence

that traders colluded to manipulate rates in the offshore

foreign exchange market, according to a source with knowledge of

the inquiries.

* Bank of America has begun moving $50 billion of

derivatives out of its Irish-based operations into its British

subsidiary, The Financial Times reported.

* Barclays and Credit Suisse are both

preparing collateralised loan obligations - which bundle

corporate loans primarily for leveraged buyouts into a single

vehicle - for investment groups Pramerica and Cairn Capital,

said sources close to the deals. ()

* British insurer Admiral plans to buy law firm

Lyons Davidson to limit the financial impact of a ban on lawyers

paying for accident victims' contact details, the Mail on Sunday

reported, citing an unnamed source.

* BlackRock, the world's largest asset management

company, has taken an $80 million stake in Twitter Inc, a person

with knowledge of the deal said.

* Indonesia-focused miner Bumi Plc will announce

plans for a smaller board and a new company name as it seeks to

break with two years of damaging battles between investors, a

source familiar with the matter said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rpt-market-chatter-corporate-finance-press-digest-062032214--sector.html

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Olympic Torch lights up Sligos Peace Mini Olympics : Sligo Sport ...

An Olympic torch was the highlight of Sligo?s Mini Olympics last week (4th ?Dec) when 100 primary school pupils took part in non-competitive games organized by Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership. The Sligo Mini Olympics are designed to increase awareness and understanding of cultural diversity and encourage inclusive celebration among young people.

The Sligo Mini Olympics are funded by the PEACE III Programme through the European Union?s European Regional Development Fund managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by Sligo County Council on behalf of Sligo Peace and Reconciliation Partnership Committee. They were organized by Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership, which is part of the Urban Peace Collective, a project of the PEACE III programme.

The Olympic torch was brought to Sligo by the Irish Sports Council Sports Partnership Officer Michelle Harte, who was a special guest at the event.

Five primary schools, Our Lady of Mercy P.S, St Edward?s N.S, St Brendan?s N.S, St John?s School and Sligo School Project took part in the Mini Olympics. Children at each school received coaching sessions in preparation for the event. Each school represented a country at the Mini Olympics and developed its own flags and banners for the event.

The young athletes took part in hurdles, speed bounce, javelin, hammer, long jump and rebounder relays in mixed teams with pupils from other schools, without the focus of competition.

?Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership were delighted to have Michelle Harte from the Irish Sports Council as our special guest. The Olympic Games are the world?s greatest multi-cultural sporting spectacle and are a means to inspire, stimulate and promote positive messages and good practice through sport,? said Diane Middleton of Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership.For further information on this initiative please contact Diane Middleton, Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership on 071-9161511 or email diane@sligosportandrecreation.ie.

Source: http://www.sligosportandrecreation.ie/2013/01/olympic-torch-lights-up-sligos-peace-mini-olympics/

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Source: http://gavin9505.typepad.com/blog/2013/01/olympic-torch-lights-up-sligos-peace-mini-olympics-sligo-sport.html

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Researchers break million-core supercomputer barrier

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Stanford Engineering's Center for Turbulence Research (CTR) has set a new record in computational science by successfully using a supercomputer with more than one million computing cores to solve a complex fluid dynamics problem -- the prediction of noise generated by a supersonic jet engine.

Joseph Nichols, a research associate in the center, worked on the newly installed Sequoia IBM Bluegene/Q system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) funded by the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Program of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Sequoia once topped list of the world's most powerful supercomputers, boasting 1,572,864 compute cores (processors) and 1.6 petabytes of memory connected by a high-speed five-dimensional torus interconnect.

Because of Sequoia's impressive numbers of cores, Nichols was able to show for the first time that million-core fluid dynamics simulations are possible -- and also to contribute to research aimed at designing quieter aircraft engines.

The physics of noise

The exhausts of high-performance aircraft at takeoff and landing are among the most powerful human-made sources of noise. For ground crews, even for those wearing the most advanced hearing protection available, this creates an acoustically hazardous environment. To the communities surrounding airports, such noise is a major annoyance and a drag on property values.

Understandably, engineers are keen to design new and better aircraft engines that are quieter than their predecessors. New nozzle shapes, for instance, can reduce jet noise at its source, resulting in quieter aircraft.

Predictive simulations -- advanced computer models -- aid in such designs. These complex simulations allow scientists to peer inside and measure processes occurring within the harsh exhaust environment that is otherwise inaccessible to experimental equipment. The data gleaned from these simulations are driving computation-based scientific discovery as researchers uncover the physics of noise.

More cores, more challenges

"Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, like the one Nichols solved, are incredibly complex. Only recently, with the advent of massive supercomputers boasting hundreds of thousands of computing cores, have engineers been able to model jet engines and the noise they produce with accuracy and speed," said Parviz Moin, the Franklin M. and Caroline P. Johnson Professor in the School of Engineering and Director of CTR.

CFD simulations test all aspects of a supercomputer. The waves propagating throughout the simulation require a carefully orchestrated balance between computation, memory and communication. Supercomputers like Sequoia divvy up the complex math into smaller parts so they can be computed simultaneously. The more cores you have, the faster and more complex the calculations can be.

And yet, despite the additional computing horsepower, the difficulty of the calculations only becomes more challenging with more cores. At the one-million-core level, previously innocuous parts of the computer code can suddenly become bottlenecks.

Ironing out the wrinkles

Over the past few weeks, Stanford researchers and LLNL computing staff have been working closely to iron out these last few wrinkles. This week, they were glued to their terminals during the first "full-system scaling" to see whether initial runs would achieve stable run-time performance. They watched eagerly as the first CFD simulation passed through initialization then thrilled as the code performance continued to scale up to and beyond the all-important one-million-core threshold, and as the time-to-solution declined dramatically.

"These runs represent at least an order-of-magnitude increase in computational power over the largest simulations performed at the Center for Turbulence Research previously," said Nichols "The implications for predictive science are mind-boggling."

A homecoming

The current simulations were a homecoming of sorts for Nichols. He was inspired to pursue a career in supercomputing as a high-school student when he attended a two-week summer program at Lawrence Livermore computing facility in 1994 sponsored by the Department of Energy. Back then he worked on the Cray Y-MP, one of the fastest supercomputers of its time.

"Sequoia is approximately 10 million times more powerful than that machine," Nichols noted.

The Stanford ties go deeper still. The computer code used in this study is named CharLES and was developed by former Stanford senior research associate, Frank Ham. This code utilizes unstructured meshes to simulate turbulent flow in the presence of complicated geometry.

In addition to jet noise simulations, Stanford researchers in the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP), sponsored by the Department of Energy, are using the CharLES code to investigate advanced-concept scramjet propulsion systems used in hypersonic flight (with video) -- flight at many times the speed of sound -- and to simulate the turbulent flow over an entire airplane wing.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford School of Engineering. The original article was written by Andrew Myers.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ms7cX5a1IAs/130128104628.htm

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Memoirs of a Student: Netflix Profile and Market Strategy

Authors: Lisa Bauman, Nina Deal, Peter Isak, Steven Johnson

Market Profile?
?Netflix, a company that specializes in DVD rentals and video streaming, has been in business since 1997. Being one of the first to enter the online video rental industry, Netflix dominates market share at 55 percent (Chang). Still, market share is declining from its peak market share of nearly 60%. The company made 3.54 billion in revenue in 2012 with a 32.92% three-year growth rate (Netflix Revenue).

Even though Netflix doesn?t have an official published mission statement, it does have vision. Co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings described the future of Netflix at the Dublin Founders conference in October, 2011. He said that Netflix aims to become the best global entertainment distribution service; licensing entertainment content around the world. Netflix desires to create markets that are accessible to film makers and expand services to a global audience (Netflix Movie Rentals Mission Statement).

BCG Matrix and Findings Summary
The Star, Cash Cow, Question Mark, and Dog
The BCG Matrix (Fig. 1) shows for distinctive sections: the star, the cash cow, the question mark, and the dog. On the left side we see the star and cash cow; products that bring the most profit to Neflix. Netflix's streaming service is clearly the cash cow. Available on devices such as internet connected TVs, Blu-ray disc players, game consoles, computers, smartphones, and tablets, Netflix's streaming service is accessible to 30 million members globally (Company Timeline).

Netflix's star, originally developed in 2000 and massively enhanced in 2009 by the Netflix prize-winning BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos team, is its recommendation system. This crowd-sourced program uses past viewing preferences to anticipate viewers' likes and dislikes. It will soon be integrated with Facebook sharing; allowing even more personalized and accurate suggestions for patrons (Company Timeline).

On the right side we see products that are less profitable, but may serve a purpose in the market: the question mark and the dog. Netflix's question mark is the development and licensing of exclusive streaming content. New deals with Time Warner and Disney makes popular television shows and films available to patrons (Pepitone). With the upcoming premier House of Cards, Netflix appears determined to grow from a content delivery company to a full-fledged content provider. Hastings characterized Netflix as "a leading global Internet TV network" and he expects to double to triple the audience of HBO (Roettgers).

Lastly, Blu-ray and DVD mailing services are Netflix's dog. In 2011 subscriptions were separated from streaming services and have since been experiencing a decline (Nakashima). Further diminishing the value of this service, Netflix competitor Redbox will be launching Redbox Instant that offers streaming service combined with DVD or Blu-ray rentals for a lower price (Will Redbox Instant Be a Netflix Killer?).

Plan of Resource Allocation
Streaming and new content are the main services customers desire. Physical DVD's and Blu-ray rentals are becoming outdated. Netflix's recommendation system adds value for both customers and content licensers. It provides a sustainable competitive advantage over competitors like Hulu and Crackle and an avenue for marketing (Kalogeropoulos). It delivers information to customers; making content accessible. Still, without streaming and fresh new programming, this program is extraneous. Netflix should allocate the majority of its resources to streaming and secondly to programming. Netflix should continue to invest in modernizing the recommendation system to change with the market so that it communicates and delivers content to members; especially as Redbox and other competitors are putting more pressure on Netflix to offer value to its customers.
?
Growth Strategy and One-Year Press Frequency Analysis
Netflix has been focusing bringing attention to all four areas of growth strategy, but the frequency analysis shows that Netflix's market strategy is strongly focused on product development (found in Appendix A and B). Netflix shared 29 press releases between 2012 and 2013 that related to its growth strategy. Four articles relate to market development and diversification, and seven articles relate to market penetration. But, thirteen articles relate to product development. Half of these articles showed a focus on offering new content or services to current patrons (Netflix: Media Center). The overall number of product development articles that were issued by Netflix in the last year supports the conclusion that Netflix is focused on offering new, exclusive programming to their target market of streaming subscribers. The original shows and movies provided by the Time Warner and Disney partnerships and offered though newly developed streaming technology creates greater value for current customers, but Netflix has also began offering current services through new forms of media to diversify. Netflix has expanded to Europe and Latin America and reached out to the hearing impaired community to develop new markets. Meanwhile Netflix is attempting to deemphasize physical media and shift toward a media streaming. In conclusion, Netflix has a strong product development strategy but does not lose sight on other aspects of growth in the process.
?
Sources Cited
Chang, Veronica. "Netflix Could Sink $40 By 2014." Seeking Alpha: Read. Decide. Invest. Seeking Alpha, 24 May 2012. Web. 24 Jan 2013. .?

"Company Timeline." Netflix. Netflix. Web. 15 Jan 2013. .

Kalogeropoulos, Demitrios. "Facebook Are About to Get Tight." Daily Finance. AOL Money & Finance, 14 Jan 2013. Web. 15 Jan 2013. .

"Netflix Revenue." Macro Axis: Simple Personalized Investing. Macroaxis.Inc. Web. 26 Jan 2013. .?

Nakashima, Ryan. "Redbox Instant streaming plan takes on Netflix." CNN Today. CNN, 12 Dec 2012. Web. 15 Jan 2013. .

"Netflix: Media Center." Netflix. Netflix Inc. Web. 26 Jan 2013. .

"Netflix Movie Rentals Mission Statement - A Vision, A Promise and Nine Values." About.com: Retail Industry. About.com. Web. 24 Jan 2013. .

Pepitone, Julianne. "Netflix scores Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and more Time Warner content." CNNMoney: A Service of CNN Fortune, & Money. Cable News Network, 14 Jan 2013. Web. 15 Jan 2013. .

Roettgers, Janko. "Netflix aims for 90M U.S. subscribers." GIGAOM. GIGAOM, 14 Feb 2012. Web. 15 Jan 2013. .

Sandstr?m, Per. "Netflix Mission Statement." Brand Research: Research into the market strategy and techniques used by successful and failing brands. WordPress.com, 04 Oct 2012. Web. 24 Jan 2013. .?

"Top Entertainment Web Sites, 2010." Market Share Reporter. Ed. Robert S. Lazich and Virgil L. Burton, III. 2012 Ed.

"Will Redbox Instant be a Netflix killer?" MSN Money. TheWeek.com, 13 Dec 2012. Web. 15 Jan 2013. http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=05e69905-37eb-4995-8cb8-9de649023c33.?

Appendix A

Frequency Analysis for Netflix 2012-2013
			4?

Appendix B

Media Headline Examples
Market Penetration
1. Netflix "Just For Kids" Now Available on iPad
2. Instant Access to Large Variety of Streaming TV Shows and Movies Chosen Especially For Kids 12 and Under Now on iPad
3. Netflix Brings TV Shows and Movies to Windows Phone in Latin America, UK and Ireland
4. Windows Phone Users in Latin America, UK and Ireland Can Now Enjoy TV Shows and Movies on the Go With Netflix

Product Development
1. Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros. Television Group Announce Multi-Year Agreement with Netflix
2. License Agreements Include Complete Previous Seasons From Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Animation, Adult Swim and the TNT Drama Dallas from Warner Horizon Television
3. "Hemlock Grove" Eli Roth's Gothic Thriller Developed By Brian McGreevy & Lee Shipman Available Only On Netflix
4. All 13 Episodes of Original Series, Based on Brian McGreevy's Novel, Will Be Available Simultaneously in All Netflix Territories

Market Development
1. Netflix Launches in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland
2. Continuing International Expansion, Leading Global Internet Movie and TV Subscription Service Arrives in Nordic Countries
3. UK And Ireland Embrace Netflix
4. Fastest Territories to Reach One Million Netflix Members

Diversification
1. Netflix "Open Connect" Delivery Network Gains Widespread Global Acceptance
2. Cablevision Most Recent Major Provider to Join Open Connect
3. New Super HD and 3D Video Formats Available on Open Connect
4. Netflix and the Walt Disney Studios Announce Multi-Year Premium Pay TV Window Agreement in the United States
5. Netflix Members to Enjoy Watching High Quality Films from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Disneynature
6. Netflix and National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Reach Historic Agreement to Provide 100% Closed Captions in On-Demand Streaming Content Within Two Years

** For?BA311, Marketing Management, Portland State University, Winter Term, 2013

Source: http://lisabauman.blogspot.com/2013/01/netflix-profile-and-market-strategy_27.html

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