Apple's Secret Employee Training Manual Revealed

The secret's out. Apple's confidential employee training manual has been revealed to the masses.

[More from Mashable: Will Samsung Smartphone Sales Be Banned in the U.S.? We Won?t Know Until Dec.]

The latest Genius Training Student Workbook for Apple sales staff landed in the hands of Gizmodo, which shared its spoils on Tuesday. It should be noted, however, that nowhere in the story does Gizmodo mention Apple confirming that the manual is legitimate.

Still, it is compelling reading. The book schools employees on basic human behavior, and helps them relate to customers -- all in the name of a sale. "Everyone in the Apple Store is in the business of selling," the manual states pointedly.

[More from Mashable: How You?re Using Your iPad [INFOGRAPHIC]]

Selling is summed up in the acronym, APPLE, which stands for Approach, Probe, Present, Listen and End. Staff are encouraged to show empathy -- a repeated theme throughout the tome. They even go through empathy exercises that role play possible customer situations. The workbook lays out guiding principles, such as, "We deepen and restore relationships" and "We enrich their lives."

Employees are taught about positive and negative human emotions. For the uninitiated, people show frustration by making "fist-like gestures" and boredom by giving a "blank stare." Conversely, "hand rubbing" shows expectancy and an "unbuttoned coat" demonstrates cooperation.

In Apple's eyes, negativity is a no-no, so the workbook outlines a section that prohibits staff from using words like "bomb" and "crash," and instead replacing them with "unexpectedly quits" or "stops responding." This emphasis on positivity extends to relationships between employees, who are encouraged to give "fearless feedback" rather than openly criticize each other.

Every Apple "Genius" must also attend a 14-day bootcamp that mandates programs as diverse as "Using Diagnostic Services" and "The Power of Empathy."

What do you think of the manual? Tell us in the comments below.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apples-secret-employee-training-manual-revealed-115839736.html

kevin rose sessions march madness scores doonesbury padma lakshmi daughtry lakers trade

home | Motherhood & Words

We?ve been home from the West Coast tour for a week and a half now, and I?m just catching my breath. D ended up driving home, and the girls and I flew stand-by thanks to the help of my dear friend Bonnie and her husband. We had such an amazing trip, but we were ready, after three and a half weeks, to be home.

On the trip as we made our way up the Pacific Coast highway, we stopped often to stretch our legs and let the girls run around on the beach, and it was interesting because every time we stopped, they constructed a different kind of ?home? on the beach. Once it was in a shallow sandy gully. They created shelves and sleeping areas and a door to keep out the sharks. Another time it was a house of driftwood, stacked high to protect them from monsters. (I don?t know where all the menacing creatures come from, but they often feature in the girls? play.)

D and I were struck by the fact that the longer we were on the road, the more houses the girls constructed. They missed home, so tried to create a version of home wherever we stopped.

D and I missed home, too. We loved Berkeley with all of its secret staircases leading to boulder-strewn parks. We loved Point Reyes and it?s wind-blown fields, its high cliffs, the gray whales surfacing for air just below us. We loved the Redwoods in all their magnificence, and the dry heat of Portland and Seattle. We were grateful for the luxury of time with friends and family that we don?t see often enough.?But we missed out sweet dog, the comfort of our own beds, our families here. We missed the green of the trees along the Mississippi, our backyard, which is positively gigantic in comparison to West Coast yards. I missed running in the morning with my friends.

That is one of the things that I love about traveling?how I appreciate home in a new way after I?ve been gone.

Now, the girls are back in school. I am gearing up for my September online Motherhood & Words class. (I actually have a couple of open spots if anyone is interested?) I also hit the ground running at work only to find out yesterday that I will be either laid off or reduced to half-time.

I woke early this morning fretting about childcare and bills, but now that I?m once again sitting here in my tiny office, my laptop open in front of me, I am breathing more easily. I am home writing again, and it feels right. We?ll figure out the finances as we always do, so for now I?m going to try to stay focused on the positives: more writing time, more time with my girls, mid-morning runs with the dog, more time at home. Does that sound perfect?

Categories: book tour, family, life | Tags: life, use your words, writing | Permalink

Source: http://motherhoodandwords.com/2012/08/home/

radio shack bethany hamilton bethany hamilton after christmas sales macys stratfor bears vs packers

Saludos Compay Closes Out the Bynum Front Porch Friday Night ...

Home ? Events ? Saludos Compay Closes Out the Bynum Front Porch Friday Night Music Series on August 31st

by: Tri AE

What: The Bynum Front Porch Friday Night Music Series (www.bynumfrontporch.org)

When: Friday, August 31st

Where: 950 Bynum Road, Bynum

Who: Saludos Compay features traditional, contemporary, and original music from Latin America and the Caribbean. (www.saludoscompay.com)

Why: The Friday Night Music Series runs from May through the end of August from 7 pm to 9 pm every Friday night. ?Although tickets aren?t required, we pass the hat and encourage a $5 to $7 donation to compensate the performers. Barney?s Hotdogs and Carrie?s Veggie Delights (burritos) are on site to provide cool drinks and tasty treats. ?And as a special bonus, Little Dippers Italian Ice will be on hand the first, second and fourth Fridays of the month and the Bynum?s Ruritan Club will provide ice cream on the third Friday each month. Shows go on rain or shine now that we also have a new indoor stage!

VN:F [1.9.18_1163]

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

iCal Import + Google Calendar

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/event/saludos-compay-closes-out-the-bynum-front-porch-friday-night-music-series-on-august-31st/

megyn kelly richard hamilton richard hamilton howard stern americas got talent china aircraft carrier barbara walters most fascinating person 2011 golden globe nominations

Superior Price range Web hosting Companies Are available Internet ...

Let?s be honest, seeking to discover economical online web hosting is tough sufficient, however it may be even more durable if you do not use a credit score card. Because most internet hosting service providers demand a credit score card to open up an account you might believe constrained into your alternatives. Will not fret, although. There exist basically rather two or three distinctive selections obtainable for internet hosting that do not demand a credit score card to have up and functioning. Let us just take a glance at several of your options.

Absolutely free Internet hosting

1 opportunity that you simply have if you do not just want to make use of a credit score card may be to choose a f-r-e-e net internet hosting provider. Needless to say this is often an interesting solution because you you shouldn?t should buy web hosting whatsoever, enable by yourself with credit score. But, there are a few downsides to zero cost internet hosting in addition. 1st, the majority of corporations want you to put their ads with your internet site which often can detract from your look and feel of your respective websites and sluggish down loading periods. 2nd, a large number of enterprises which provide zero cost internet hosting spot lots of web-sites on their servers that may direct to unreliable support or gradual load instances. Lastly, there?s frequently relatively tiny client assist with free of cost web hosting account which might be very hard those that operate into difficulties. On the other hand, its a possibility and when you go searching you will discover some awesome at no cost solutions around.

F-r-e-e Weblogs

In the event you are simply placing alongside one another a private online site as a substitute of the business enterprise webpage you might want to take into consideration making an attempt a free of cost running a blog system. You?ll notice fairly some to select from even though the most favored are more than likely Blogger and WordPress. The main advantage of weblogs is always that there?re really very easy to update and do not need a great deal of familiarity with HTML. It is possible to be up and operating right away and may incorporate pages to the webpage in no time. Still, frequently with free of cost running a blog products you cannot use your individual domain title. This could help it become tougher to reveal your web site deal with with many people and may go away you which has a lengthy, unmemorable URL.

E-Checks or Paper Checks

Some internet hosting services take payment by digital check out or by debiting your financial institution account. That is an awesome opportunity if you do not possess a credit score card. But nevertheless, most people stay clear of this selection given that they are leary of sharing their lender account help and advice on-line. As soon as you do make a decision to go this route remember to go with a trustworthy supplier by having a wonderful standing.

Paper checks also are a choice with a few web hosting businesses. The one disadvantage to this feature is you may have to bodily mail within an investigate monthly. If the examine is misplaced on the mail or comes as well late the web hosting enterprise may take your website down right up until the payment is obtained. Down time can hurt your site?s standing and may direct to misplaced internet business or earnings.

PayPal

So many internet hosting agencies take PayPal repayments which happens to be a secure, practical choice. PayPal is definitely an on-line payment processor which allows you to submit repayments lacking sharing your personal data aided by the business enterprise you could be having to pay. This causes it to be safer than distributing your lender account data precisely to your internet hosting organization but nonetheless makes it possible for you to pay for and not using a credit score card. In addition, it provides you with the choice of shelling out by going online relatively than being forced to be anxious about mailing within a look at monthly.

Internet Site Small Business Option ? What Would You Do and Just How to Pick Out A 100 Percent Free Website Hosting Support? allows you to attain better knowledge for the topic.

Source: http://usafreelistings.com/superior-price-range-web-hosting-companies-are-available-internet-based/

iraq war over iraq war over maurice jones drew megyn kelly richard hamilton richard hamilton howard stern americas got talent

Short Story America Festival celebrates authors

The inaugural Short Story America Festival and Conference is scheduled for September 21-23 in Beaufort. This three-day celebration of new and classic short stories will feature readings by top authors of short fiction, including Eric Witchey of Portland, Aaron Gwyn of Charlotte, Gary Lawrence of San Diego, Gary Buslik of Chicago, Marjorie Brody of San Antonio, Ray Morrison of Winston-Salem, Gregg Cusick of Durham, Greg Hrbek of Skidmore College, James Goertel of Buffalo, Guy Tirondola of New Jersey (winner of the Beaufort Tricentennial Short Story Contest in 2011), Ken Burger (author of ?Baptized in Sweet Tea?), Beaufort-based authors Katherine Tandy Brown and T.D. Johnston (editor of the Short Story America series), and will feature the stories of writers like Beaufort?s Warren Slesinger, Martin McCaw and other contemporary writers of short stories.
Visiting authors will give seminars and workshops on writing and analysis of short stories all day on Saturday, September 22, in the classrooms at USCB?s Center for the Arts in Beaufort. Readings and signings by authors will take place throughout the day in the arts center?s theater, with a chance for discussion of each story with the story?s author.
On Friday evening, the Opening Reception and Launch Party for ?Short Story America, Volume Two? will start at 6 p.m. at the Old Bay Marketplace Loft downtown. This is a great chance to spend time with visiting and local authors, and to get your copy of ?Volume Two? signed by authors, as well as your copy of ?Volume I,? which is a highly praised collection of 56 short stories. On Saturday afternoon and evening, authors and local readers will share stories with the audience in the arts center?s theater. There will also be several reading performances by area high school students, as well as screenings of three short films. The evening will culminate with the awards reception in the arts center.
Passes are available for $35 for the entire festival, by registering at www.eventbrite.com or by going to www.shortstoryamerica.com and clicking on FESTIVAL. You may also get passes from Tim Johnston at Short Story America by calling him at 843-597-3220 or 843-524-7800, or writing to tim@shortstoryamerica.com.

Source: http://www.yourislandnews.com/2012/08/30/short-story-america-festival-celebrates-authors/

spacex tupac hologram tupac back tax deadline death race buffet rule carlos santana

Preview: Paul Ryan and GOP leaders sit down with "CBS This Morning" (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/244413324?client_source=feed&format=rss

the bachelor finale march madness bracket south by southwest i want to know what love is courtney mercury retrograde bath salts

Simplifying Health Insurance And Making Good Purchasing ...

Health insurance is a big and confusing topic. It is common to be overwhelmed by everything you need to know in order to select the right coverage. Nonetheless, you must take the time to become as knowledgeable about it as you can because choosing a health insurance plan is a momentous decision. The health insurance tips laid out here can help you begin.

Some insurance providers offer prospective clients the opportunity to test-drive a policy. Many insurance companies allow you a certain period of time, usually between 10 and 30 days, to review and try out the insurance policy. If you decide you no longer want the plan, you may return it within that period of time and receive a refund.

Good credit is important when getting health insurance. The worse your credit score is, the more you may end up having to pay for quality insurance. Some insurers may refuse you coverage altogether. Prior to looking for health insurance coverage, try to improve your credit score.

How do your doctors fit into your health insurance options? If your doctors are not included in the approved list of providers, then you may have to pay out-of-pocket for their services.

Know all the details of your insurance planl so that you can avoid bloated payments, and this will ensure that you are getting the most out of your health insurance. You?ll need to know what providers are a part of your plan ? and what you?ll be covering out of pocket.

Reading your health care policy handbook will arm you with valuable knowledge for the future. You will receive a guidebook from your insurer detailing the provisions of your coverage, and it is necessary to digest the entire publication in order to comprehend the benefits to which you are entitled. Although much of it may seem tedious now, you really need to know every bit of information it contains.

As you are now aware, health insurance is a complicated process but one you can make simpler with some education. Put in the effort to learn what you need to know. Once you?ve educated yourself, it?ll be easier to make better decisions regarding health insurance.

We hope you found these tips useful. You might find these sites on the following issues interesting as well. For examples, How about menopause and perimenopause related issues, like Menopause Hot Flashes or what about toenail fungus and finger nail fungus related issues, like Toenail Fungus Home Remedies. We wish you health and happiness!

Source: http://www.adem06.com/uncategorized/simplifying-health-insurance-and-making-good-purchasing-decisions/

nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham williams syndrome hoya

Hurricane Isaac lashes Gulf Coast in slow churn

The center of Hurricane Isaac made a second landfall over
Port Fourchon, La., early Wednesday, overtopping a levee southeast of New
Orleans, knocking down trees and cutting power to more than 400,000 homes.

There were no reports of injuries as dawn broke over the Gulf Coast area. Property damage reports were just beginning to come in. There were scattered reports of people stranded in their homes by rising water in the New Orleans area.

Dozens of residents of Plaquemines Parish, La. are stranded, while there are multiple reports of people trapped in attics. The general sentiment within the government complex is that fewer people evacuated than during Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans seven years ago today.

As of 7:45 a.m. the storm's center is about 50 miles south-southwest of New Orleans, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"I've got a four-by-four hole in my roof, several pieces in the front yard, the back wall of my house moved a couple of feet, and with each gust of wind, it's like you're breathing in and out," William Harold "Billy" Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, said today on "Good Morning America."

Nungesser said some people are stranded in the flood.

"They're stranded at this time, one of the residents that is probably several thousand feet from them has taken a boat and is attempting to rescue them," said Nungesser.

Nungesser confirmed that a levee in Plaquemines Parish was overtopped with water, causing flooding.

"The water came up so quickly and overtopped the levees from Breakaway to White Ditch on the east back of the north end of the parish. It's an area that we called for a mandatory evacuation."

WATCH: Billy Nungesser: 'This Storm Has Been Relentless'

As daylight hits, parish officials are expected to be out examining the parish, "like fleas," according to James Madere, a parish GIS analyst who will help assess damage. Plaquemines Parish Public Information Office tells ABC News that rescue operations will not start until it is safe, possibly as late as 1pm ET.

In New Orleans, power lines are down, snaking and sparking across city streets after transformers exploded across the city Tuesday night.

The city saw handfuls of arrests early as looters took advantage of the chaos, Sheriffs and police and National Guard were all out in force.

The hurricane promised to lend even more solemnity to commemoration ceremonies Wednesday for Katrina's 1,800 dead in Louisiana and Mississippi, including the tolling of the bells at St. Louis Cathedral overlooking New Orleans' Jackson Square. This storm is far less powerful at Category 1 than Katrina, which caused at least $81 billion in damage and was rated as the most powerful Category 5 storm.

WATCH: Hurricane Isaac Hits New Orleans: A Night in the Ninth Ward

As of 6 a.m., Isaac was still packing winds of 80 mph and the eye of the storm is about 50 miles south-southwest of New Orleans. Isaac is moving at just 6 mph and has already dropped more than six inches of rain on New Orleans during the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane force winds extend 60 miles from the center of the storm.

The hurricane had moved back into the Gulf of Mexico after making its initial landfall Tuesday evening. Isaac's center remained over water where it was almost stationary before making landfall again this morning.

The 200-mile wide hurricane is expected to gradually weaken and move inland, dumping seven to 14 inches of rain across Louisiana, with some places receiving up to 20 inches, according to forecasters.

The greatest concern is an expected storm surge of between six and 12 feet off the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, four to eight feet along the Alabama coast and three to six feet on the Florida Panhandle, according to the Hurricane Center located in Miami, Fla.

A storm surge of 11 feet was reported at Shell Beach, La., late Tuesday while a surge of 6.7 feet was reported in Waveland, Miss., according to the Hurricane Center.

In Mississippi, highway U.S. 90 was closed in sections by storm surge flooding. At one spot in Biloxi, a foot of water covered the in-town highway for a couple of blocks and it looked like more was coming in. High tide around 9:30 a.m. was likely to bring up more water.

Tornado warnings swarmed the state throughout the morning as 55 mile per hour gusts hit the region.

The highest wind gust was recorded at 113 miles an hour overnight in Belle Chasse, Plaquemines Parish, La.

Thursday night into Saturday, Isaac will move into the Mississippi Valley and eventually into Illinois and Indiana with possibly six inches of rain for the drought-stricken Midwest.

Isolated tornadoes are possible along the central Gulf Coast region and part of the lower Mississippi River Valley through Wednesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Entergy New Orleans has listed more than 400,000 homes and businesses without power as of 5:30 a.m., according to their website. The Red Cross reported 18,000 people in 70 shelters across five states Wednesday morning.

When Isaac came ashore at 7:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, it dumped heavy rain with that spread 60 miles from Isaac's center. The highest wind gust reported in New Orleans was 71 mph at Lakefront Airport.

While traffic was nearly invisible Tuesday night, a few French Quarter bars remained open and filled with locals in New Orleans. At Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop -- the 150-year old dive at the end of Bourbon Street -- Chris LaRue recommended the four staples of hurricane preparedness, "Water, canned food, candles and booze."

"We're going to have some water to clean up," said LaRue. "But this kind of wind is nothing."

In advance of the storm, Louisiana set up shelters and stockpiled more than a million packaged meals, 1.4 million bottles of water and 17,000 tarps.

Since the levees failed in Katrina seven years ago, more than $14 billion has been spent on the 133 miles of floodwalls, spillways, gates and pumps surrounding New Orleans.

The hurricane promised to lend even more solemnity to commemoration ceremonies Wednesday for Katrina's 1,800 dead in Louisiana and Mississippi, including the tolling of the bells at St. Louis Cathedral overlooking New Orleans' Jackson Square.

ABC News' Max Golembo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Also Read

Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/isaac-makes-second-landfall-levee-overtopped-plaquemines-parish-052829005--abc-news-topstories.html

keratosis pilaris rock and roll hall of fame 2012 brandon rios oklahoma news nascar news doppler radar colorado rockies

Programming Classes for the Scientist ? The College of Arts and ...

Craig and I teach a?weekly seminar most weeks which provide a brief overview of using?ACISS, shell scripting, python, Matlab, and whatever else those in attendance are interested in. ? However, to provide more depth in your scientific career there are several?computer science courses offered that provide the depth that Craig and I simply don?t have the time to cover.

Required for Every Scientist

John Conery is offering a CIS 399 Course winter term (not yet listed) that will cover basics of all manner of scientific computing: scripting (Matlab, Sage/R, Python), databases, etc. ? Please keep checking the CS course list or contact him directly if you have any questions.

Computation Science is a 4/500 level course ?that covers the fundamentals of scientific programming (including parallel programming) and pairs non-computer science students with computer scientists to work on real researcher problems provided by researchers from around campus (including your own research problems). ? For biologists, a great course to be taken at the same time is?Bioinformatics. ? Im not sure if it offered every year, however.

Basic Programming

For a novice programmer, or someone who wants to understand the fundamentals of efficient code design, both from the perspective of performance and time to code, the?Algorithms and Programming. ??These courses are offered every term and based in Python, easy-to-learn language that has a massive general following and wide adoption in the scientific community. ?The CIS 210 (Computer Science I) extends these concepts in both Java and Python.

CASSPR Blog.

Source: https://casitweb.uoregon.edu/blog/?p=9281

mlb 12 the show sabu google play franchise tag lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu

Smoking Pot In Teen Years Lowers IQ Later

Teens who smoke marijuana see their IQs drop as adults, and deficits persist even after quitting, according to a new study.

"The findings are consistent with speculation that cannabis use in adolescence, when the brain is undergoing critical development, may have neurotoxic effects," study researcher Madeline Meier of Duke University said in a statement.

The study followed 1,037 New Zealand children for 25 years. Subjects took IQ tests at age 13, before any of them had smoked marijuana, and again at age 38. Throughout the study, participants also answered several surveys about their drug use.

Roughly 5 percent of the participants started using marijuana as teenagers. Those who smoked marijuana at least four times a week and used marijuana throughout their life saw their IQ drop an average of 8 points, the equivalent of going from an A to a B student. The drop was not explained by other drug use, years of education, schizophrenia or using marijuana in the day before the test.

People who eventually quit smoking pot still had lower IQs than they did at the start of the study.

Interestingly, people who picked up the habit as adults had no IQ drop, suggesting that marijuana may not be as harmful to the mature brain.

The findings are the first to associate intelligence declines with marijuana use. Past work linked low IQ and marijuana, but couldn't rule out the possibility that people who choose to smoke pot are inherently less smart than abstainers.

It's not clear why pot is bad for teen brains.

One possibility is that teenagers are more vulnerable to marijuana's effects on brain chemistry, said Susan Tapert, a neuropsychologist at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the study.

During adolescence, neural connections are pruned in the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, critical regions for learning, memory and planning, Tapert said.

Those regions may also soak up the active ingredient in marijuana."A lot of the areas that are still developing during adolescent years happen to be the areas with high cannabis receptor density," ?Tapert told LiveScience.

But those who consistently smoke marijuana may simply make less intellectually stimulating choices at critical points in life.

"What people tend to do when they're under the influence is different than they would otherwise," Tapert said.

For instance, pot users may be less inclined to attend classes or do other activities that give the brain a workout. Getting off track early on can also limit future opportunities and thereby reduce IQ, she said. [10 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp]

"Teens need to view cannabis as not an entirely benign compound, but as something that can impair your judgment and might not be great for your brain," Tapert said.

The study is detailed today (Aug. 27) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/smoking-pot-teen-years-lowers-iq-later-190512815.html

best picture 2012 oscar winners channel 3 news j lo j lo sacha baron cohen ryan seacrest octavia spencer

Don't let Facebook's design changes trick you into sharing more info

9 hrs.

Rosa Golijan

While a smidgen of lipstick won't make a pig win any beauty pageants, some?design changes may affect how easily you hand information and control?over to Facebook apps.

As?guest writer Avi Charkham points out in a post on TechCrunch,?the launch of Facebook's new App Center brought a redesigned app permissions page.?While more visually appealing ??though this is a matter of opinion ??the new design?bring some pesky changes that could trick you into exposing more personal info or granting more control to apps than you realize.

For example: The old app permission request page offered two buttons ??"allow" and "don't allow ??while the new one simple has one button (something along the lines of "play game"). This leaves some users unaware of the fact that they're about to offer an app access to information or the ability to post on their behalf. Of course, someone on Facebook's side of things could argue that the app permission page does indeed outline exactly which permissions you're granting an app when you use it, but ??as Charkham points out ? details?are listed in a tiny grey font or only visible when you hover your mouse over a little question mark symbol.

And?then there's what Charkham describes as the "friendly talk trick":

In the new App Center Facebook chose to hide the term ?Permissions?. Instead of showing ?Request for Permissions? and a button labeled ?Allow? Facebook now sends you to a page full of colorful images with a single button labeled ?Play Game?.

So what can you do to protect your privacy and avoid letting some app post on your behalf? Practice constant vigilance, of course!

Keep an eye out for the tiny print, remember that you always have a choice (except when it comes to Timeline, of course), and regularly review your privacy settings to make sure that you haven't slipped up and had an app take a whole foot when you offered it a single inch.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/dont-let-facebooks-design-changes-trick-you-sharing-more-info-966020

huntsville al channel 2 news adrienne bailon yelp stock honda classic news channel 5 nashville weather

Chael Sonnen?s pizzeria selling the Jon Jones special ? full of chicken and cheese

Jon Jones' refusal of a bout with Chael Sonnen may have led to a cancellation of fights set for Saturday night, but it also led to a whole new pizza at Sonnen's Mean Streets Pizza. TMZ found Sonnen's pizzeria has a whole new pizza in Jones' honor.

Though it doesn't sound particularly appetizing, the pizza is full of chicken and cheese. Sonnen throws two more barbs at Jones by saying the deal is only good until "the chicken runs out," and offers delivery so to "avoid a DUI." Jones crashed his Bentley into a tree when driving drunk in May.

If you're in West Linn, Ore., check out Mean Streets and tell us if the Jon Jones pizza is any good.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chael-sonnen-pizzeria-selling-jon-jones-special-full-132644314--mma.html

juan williams victor martinez alcatraz cruise ship martin luther king jr. zappos john elway

How Jewellery Photography Works for Various Mediums?

To understand how jewelry photography works for various mediums it is essential to know which mediums make use of it. Women get attracted towards a particular jewelry either by seeing an advertisement, looking at it in a jewelry shop or mostly by seeing a photograph of jewelry. Photographs are something that immediately capture one?s attention, and when the photo is of a beautiful jewelry, women just can?t keep their eyes off it. The field of jewellry photography has been gaining a lot of significance with time. Being an extremely creative field, professionals like special photographers and graphic designers are involved in making the jewelry products appealing to consumers.

When it comes to product photography, jewelry is the most photographed product in the market today. Since the jewelers across the world keep coming up with new and innovative designs for the ladies, photography is the best way to make these designs reach the masses. A nicely clicked photograph lures a thousand customers.

Jewellry photographs are used for various mediums like company catalogues, websites, and print advertisements:

Catalogues:

A company that deals in an assortment of jewelry comes out with a catalogue to display all that they have from time to time. A catalogue helps the company in attracting customers by making them aware about the new and innovative jewelry designs they deliver. Since the catalogue speaks everything about the company?s products, it is important to capture these products in the best way possible.

There are many onshore and offshore studios in the world that undergo product photography at the most reasonable price.

Print advertisements:

An advertisement is all about slick photography. Since it is the best way of marketing a product, it is very important for the print ad to convey what the company wants to say aptly. For a jewelry company, getting the appropriate photo of their product is vital. There are a number of jewelry photography firms online that offer professional jewelry photography services. These companies have the best equipments and techniques in their studio to carry the process suitably.

Websites:

Every company in the world today has an online presence. Jewelry making firms and jewelry brands are no different. They have dedicated websites to cater to the worldwide patrons. Great photography is a necessity when you have a jewelry website. Since images speak more than words in a website, hiring a jewelry photography firm that offers stylish and professional jewelry phonographs is the way to go.

While capturing an image, everything has to be kept in mind, from the lighting, the position, the contrast, the angle, to the color adjustment and most importantly camera knowledge. Only a professional with sufficient experience and training in the field can achieve the best suitable results. This is the reason that jewelry firms hire companies that offer jewelry photography so that they do justice to the product and make the image articulate. Now it is best to approach online studios that also offer graphic services. It adds to the dimension of the product gallery. When the images will be used for e-commerce, it needs a sharp edge. An online studio has the ability to get the right pack shots to add the graphic design. The manipulation to the original is minimal and the appeal is fantastic. Thus the use of the professionals at one facility reduces the headaches of approaching different places. Few online studios offer attractive plans to clients to avail of these convenient photography and photo editing services.

Source: http://jewelry.ezinemark.com/how-jewellery-photography-works-for-various-mediums-7d379b7487d1.html

ibooks 2 ifl indoor football league newt gingrich wife callista rick perry travis barker

Sony getting out of PC optical drive business due to 'fierce competition'

It's being reported that Sony is closing Optiarc Inc., its company subsidiary that manufactures optical disc drives for PCs. Officials are quoted as saying that "fierce competition" forced prices down, causing the business to operate at a loss despite controlling roughly 15 percent of the market. Operations will be wound up by March of next year, with around 400 employees being offered early retirement and others being moved to other parts of the business. Don't worry about the future of your Blu-Ray and DVD player just yet though -- the company will continue to manufacture both as part of its Device Solutions Division.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Sony getting out of PC optical drive business due to 'fierce competition' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 05:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AV Watch (Translated)  |  Japan Times, Asahi Shimbun  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/27/sony-optiarc-closure/

merle haggard ladainian tomlinson mark wahlberg pipa keystone xl sopa bill sopa and pipa

Why?s everybody so angry about Twitter ? and should you care?

18 hrs.

Thorin Klosowski , Lifehacker

People have different reasons for being upset with Twitter right now, and those reasons really depend?on what type of Twitter user you are. Here are the people Twitter's changes are going to affect the most, and why?they're angry about the new rules.

The crux of why people are upset with Twitter is pretty simple: Twitter is?changing its Application Programming Interface (API)and closing off how third-party apps communicate with Twitter. For casual Twitter users, this means that Twitter controls what information apps can access on Twitter, how they access it, and how the apps shoots out the data on their ends. On the surface, the main goal is to keep Twitter clients consistent, and push ads equally throughout all of Twitter.

The Twitter developers who are worried about what the changes mean for their Business
Developers who build Twitter clients like?MetroTwit?or?TweetBot?are the most clearly affected by Twitter's new rules. In Twitter's new?API Terms, Twitter states that Twitter clients need to keep in line with Twitter's layout rules, which require tweets to be displayed in a single way, with all their buttons in the right places. From a visual point of view, all Twitter apps should essentially look the same. However, in a?blog post?back in June, Twitter also stated that developers should not, "build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience." Essentially, this means Twitter doesn't want people building new Twitter clients.

Twitter has also instituted a user cap of 100,000 people for any app that uses the Twitter API, but they are giving a special allowance to any apps that already has over 100,000 users. When a new app gets more users that 100,000, it needs special permission from Twitter to continue on. This includes not just the Twitter clients that show your Twitter stream, but also apps that tap into the Twitter ecosystem like the aggregation tool?Storify?or the "what you did a year ago" webapp?Timehop. Essentially, if your app taps into Twitter for any reason, you're going to see changes.

From a strictly Twitter client point of view, the changes seem like they'll cut Twitter clients completely. However, in a blog post, Tweetbot developer Tapbots explains they'll?continue work their clients?(iPhone, iPad, and Mac), and the majority of the app will be unchanged. Twitterific developer Icon Factory?says the same thing.

Not all developers are so confident, and?several have sent letters to the FTC?requesting an investigation into possible antitrust issues that arise by Twitter forcing other apps out of the game.

Until we see how Twitter enforces these rules it's difficult to know exactly what to expect.

The Twitter power users who like third-party utilities

Twitter power users are going to see big changes in their Twitter clients, but many of the analytics tools they use will remain untouched. In fact, in Twitter's?blog post?on the issue, they specifically high-five the likes of?Crimson Hexagon,?Topsy,?Hootsuite, and others. In short, if you're using apps that are targeted at businesses, for data mining or otherwise, you're probably fine.

However, power users will likely see less customized clients built specifically for certain types of users. Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani sums it up on the?In Beta podcast:

I think the big thing people are upset about is that we're going to see fewer custom power user clients. Which really sucks for the power user who want the very specialized client who lets you mute keywords, or whatever.

The reason? With a new rules, developers might not put forth the effort to build specialized clients anymore. It could also mean that currently beloved clients will just give up. It's no fun playing in a playground with chains and locks on all the equipment. Since this hinges on how developers react, it's hard to judge exactly what the effect will be until Twitter starts enforcing these rules.

Twitter users who like services like Flipboard that plug into Twitter

The loudest outrage from most people is how Twitter's been tackling the way third-party services access Twitter. In a tiny way, this is about how?Tumblr, Instagram, and LinkedIn?users can't search for friends on Twitter any more.

More worrisome about the new API rules is how it might restrict apps like the popular social news app?Flipboard, which accesses tweets, but isn't a client itself. The worry comes from Rule 5a of the?Timeline display guide:

Tweets that are grouped together into a timeline should not be rendered with non-Twitter contents. Eg comments, updates from other networks.

Instapaper developer Marco Arment?talks about why this might matter in a blog post:

In other words, apps cannot interleave chronological groups of Twitter posts with anything else.

This is very broad and will bite more services and apps than you may expect. It's probably the clause that caused the dispute with LinkedIn, and why Flipboard CEO Mike McCue just left Twitter's board.

Closer to home for me, it affects Instapaper's "Liked By Friends" browsing feature, which will need to be significantly rewritten if I want it to comply. (If.)

Essentially, services that tap into your Twitter feed and regurgitate links into a new visual style could be blocked. This means magazine-style browsing apps like Flipboard?could?be cut off.

The likely reasoning from Twitter's point of view is simple. When you access links from who you follow on Twitter without ever going to Twitter itself, you can get the Twitter experience without ever looking at advertisements.

The optimistic Web nerds who want Twitter to be a platform, not a media company
When Twitter first launched, it was a wide-open, easy-to-develop-for platform that felt something like the wild wild west of internet communication. Now, Twitter is closing in on itself, and changing its overall approach from open platform for communication to media company. The reason? Money. (They're a for-profit company, so while the results are frustrating, it's silly to blame them for this.)?The Verge lays it out like so:

Creating a platform like Twitter is impossibly hard, but after years of fail whales, the company pulled it off. Monetizing a platform is harder still, and it looks like Twitter has taken the easier path: monetizing its social graph without sharing the wealth with the developers who helped build it.

The reason the social graph (who you follow/who follows you) is important from an advertising point of view is pretty simple: people use Twitter like they use a TV, they follow who they're interested in and that reflects a marketing potential. This makes direct advertising easy.

Twitter's original API was wide open, and out of it sprung all types of innovative apps and uses?the very same things that turned Twitter into the successful company it is today. The openness was the exact reason many of us started using the service in the first place. Twitter was a platform you could access in a variety of ways, and use for a number of different reasons. You could track celebrities, communicate with people, and share links with complete strangers. Users wanted to think of it as a platform similar to email as opposed to a media company (like Facebook). It's easy to see that Twitter needs to make money, but many people hoped (perhaps naively) that Twitter would still function as a platform. Not as yet another Facebook.

So, should you care?

Twitter's guidelines for some of these changes are still pretty vague, and interpretations of how Twitter will implement the changes are all over the place. Developers have six months to comply with the new API, and hopefully by then we'll have a better idea of how it's going to affect everyone.

So, should you care? That depends on how you use Twitter. The issues above effect different people in different ways, but even the casual user will see restrictions with the apps and clients they use.

More from Lifehacker

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/whys-everybody-so-angry-about-twitter-should-you-care-965306

pat summitt real housewives of atlanta colton bo ryan the last waltz earth day activities mel gibson

Vin Scully To Return To Dodgers Broadcast Booth In 2013 For 64th Season With Club

LOS ANGELES -- Vin Scully is sticking around another season to broadcast Los Angeles Dodgers games.

The 84-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster will return for a record 64th season in 2013. Scully will call all Dodgers home and road games in California and Arizona.

Scully said Sunday that the team's new ownership has "revitalized the city, the team, the fans and myself." He says he's so convinced of the new owners' "great purpose and leadership" that he eagerly looks forward to joining them in pursuit of the team's first World Series title since 1988.

The Dodgers say Scully's tenure is the longest of any broadcaster with any team. He calls all nine innings of the team's TV broadcasts, while the first three innings of each of his games are simulcast on radio.

Dodgers chairman and owner Mark Walter says Scully's return for another season "means a great deal to all of us."

Scully began his professional baseball broadcasting career in 1950 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He has called three perfect games, 25 no-hitters, 25 World Series and 12 All-Star games.

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/26/vin-scully-dodgers-broadcast-2013_n_1831696.html

the alamo anencephaly tesla model x lou gehrig toby mac blue ivy carter photos purple squirrel

Don't Be Intimidated By The Stock Market. Use These Tips.

Don?t Be Intimidated By The Stock Market. Use These Tips.

Posted on August 25, 2012 by William Tan in The Smart Investor

The topic of investing has been discussed in countless books, papers, and reports and websites. Trying to make sense of it all can be confusing, frustrating and, at worse, ruin your portfolio with one simple mistake. There are fundamentals that you can learn about to add to your knowledge. Keep reading to learn a tips that help you build the fundamentals of investing in the stock market.

When investing, do not set your expectations too high. Everyone is well aware that quick results in the stock market are difficult to come by and that a large number of high risk stock purchases can lead to poor results. You can avoid many expensive investment mistakes by remembering this.

You could invest in stocks through vehicles like your retirement plan and 401K. While you won?t get your hands on the money until you retire, using a retirement account to invest can help you to save a lot of money on taxes. Furthermore, you will also be building up a nice little nest egg with you retire.

You should never try to time the markets. It has been proven that steadily investing over a large period of time has the best results. Figure out how much of your money you can afford to invest. Then, begin investing and be sure you stick to it.

People looking for a stable portfolio tend to stick with established industries and shy away from new industries. It is important, however, that you don?t ignore new companies from emerging sectors. Every portfolio requires stock in companies that are going to take advantage of new advances.

Stock Market

Many an investor has found that undue greed worsens their position in the stock market rather then improving it. Greed and unrealistic expectations are the main cause of losing money in the stock market. Rather, once you?ve achieved an adequate, but realistic, amount of profit, you should sell the stock, which will effectively lock in the profits.

Never be scared to walk away from the market for a while. If you are busy with something else or are facing financial hardship then this might not be the time to invest into stocks. Doing this can keep you from making emotional trades, and it might just save you money. When you?re emotionally ready, the market will be there.

Cash isn?t necessarily profit. The flow of cash is vital to all financial operations, from your life to your investment portfolio. Although it?s fun to spend your money or reinvest it, you should make sure you have enough money available in order to pay off your bills. It is advisable you set aside a half year?s worth of living expenses, just in case something happens.

When planning your portfolio,diversify your holdings and remember that a slew of factors lead to diversification; it isn?t simply about buying from different sectors. Not only that, you don?t have to implement all the factors into your investment plan. Choose stocks from multiple sectors and base your choices on differing criteria.

Diversify your investments. The money you invest, like the proverbial eggs, should not all go into the same basket. As an example, if you choose to invest your entire budget in one company and that company goes under, you will have sacrificed everything.

Often, following a constrain strategy is the best approach. Doing this means seeking out stocks that have slipped past the notice of other investors. Look for companies that are being traded below their value. Popular stocks are often sold at a premium. So, there is little upside to these. If you find a smaller, growing company, you can make a tidy profit.

When you decide upon a stock to invest in, only invest five to ten percent of your total capital fund into that one choice. If the stock declines rapidly later, the risk you may experience is reduced.

Basically when investing in stocks, the keep it simple approach works best. Maintain a simplistic approach to your trading style and market analysis so that you are not making unnecessary risks or leaving certain steps unaccounted for.

When you delve into the stock market, if you figure out a winning strategy, stick with it! Maybe you aim to find businesses that always have high profits, or maybe you?d prefer to deal with businesses that work with a larger amount of cash. You should use a strategy you understand and that corresponds to your investment goals.

Choose the top stocks in multiple sectors to create a well-balanced portfolio. While every year the entire market grows at an average rate, not every industry or stock is going to increase in value each year. Positioning yourself across different sectors gives you the ability to take advantage of all they have to offer. You want to make sure you are constantly re-balancing in order to help decrease your losses in bad profit sectors while still keeping a hand in them for possible future growth cycles.

Hopefully you now have it. You should now start formulating a strategy for the future now. While you may have not planned ahead as much during your youth, sometimes planning is essential. Since you have increased your knowledge, it?s time to apply it for your personal gain.

Source: http://www.compoundedknowledge.com/dont-be-intimidated-by-the-stock-market-use-these-tips/

shooting at chardon high school sasha baron cohen stacy keibler stacy keibler all star game oscar red carpet daytona 500 start time

SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans Available in Indiana Following ...

ATLANTA, Aug. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --?The U.S. Small Business Administration announced today that federal economic injury disaster loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes located in Delaware, Henry, Jay, Randolph and Wayne counties in Indiana as a result of the drought that began on June 26, 2012.?

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110909/DC65875LOGO )

"When the Secretary of Agriculture issues a disaster declaration to help farmers recover from damages and losses to crops, the Small Business Administration issues a declaration to eligible entities affected by the same disaster," said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA's Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

Under this declaration, the SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible
farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. With the exception of aquacultural enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers. Nurseries are eligible to apply for economic injury disaster loans for losses caused by drought conditions.

The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates of 3 percent for private non-profit organizations of all sizes and 4 percent for small businesses, with terms up to 30 years.? The SBA determines eligibility based on the size of the applicant, type of activity and its financial resources.? Loan amounts and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant's financial condition.? These working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred.? The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA's secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Disaster loan information and application forms may also be obtained by calling the SBA's Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by sending an email to disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.? Loan applications can be downloaded from the SBA's website at www.sba.gov. ?Completed applications should be mailed to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.?

Completed loan applications must be returned to SBA no later than April 22, 2013.

For more information about the SBA's Disaster Loan Program, visit our website at www.sba.gov.

Release Number: 12-801 IN 13245

Contact: Michael Lampton
Phone: 404-331-0333

SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

Source: http://www.businessreviewusa.com/press_releases/sba-economic-injury-disaster-loans-available-in-indiana-following-secretary-of-agriculture-disaster

wizard of oz jeff green saturday night live aortic aneurysm minnesota timberwolves jr martinez melasma

Apple earns $1 billion victory over Samsung in patent case

Lee Jae Won / Reuters

Apple's iPhone 4s, left, and Samsung's Galaxy S III.

By Gerry Shih, Reuters

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Apple scored a sweeping legal victory over Samsung Friday as a jury found the Korean company had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded the U.S. company $1.051 billion in damages.

The verdict -- which came much sooner than expected -- could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products and will likely solidify Apple's dominance of the exploding mobile computing market.

A number of companies that sell smartphones based on Google's Android operating system may now face further legal challenges from Apple, a company that is already among the largest and most profitable in business history.

Shares in Apple, which just this week became the biggest company ever by market value, climbed almost 2 percent to a record high of $675 in after-hours trade.

Brian Love, a Santa Clara law school professor, described it as a crushing victory for Apple: "This is the best-case scenario Apple could have hoped for."

The jury deliberated less than three days before delivering the verdict on seven Apple patent claims and five Samsung patent claims -- suggesting that the nine-person panel had little difficulty in concluding that Samsung had copied the iPhone and the iPad.

Billions of dollars in future sales hang in the balance.

Apple's charges that Samsung copied its designs and features are widely viewed as an attack on Google ?and its Android software, which drives Samsung's devices and has become the most-used mobile software.

Apple and Samsung, two companies that sell more than half the world's smartphones and tablets, have locked legal horns in several countries this year.

Earlier on Friday, a South Korean court found that both companies shared blame, ordering Samsung to stop selling 10 products including its Galaxy S II phone and banning Apple from selling four different products, including its iPhone 4.

But the trial on Apple's home turf -- the world's largest and most influential technology market -- is considered the most important.

The fight began last year when Apple sued Samsung in multiple countries, accusing the South Korean company of slavishly copying the iPhone and iPad. Samsung countersued. Apple had sought more than $2.5 billion in damages from Samsung, which has disputed that figure.

The companies are rivals, but also have a $5 billion-plus supply relationship. Apple is Samsung's biggest customer for microprocessors and other parts central to Apple's devices.

Near clean sweep
The jury spent most of August in a packed federal courtroom in San Jose -- just miles from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino -- listening to testimony, examining evidence and watching lawyers from both sides joust about seven Apple patents, five Samsung patents, and damage claims.

Jurors received 100 pages of legal instructions from U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh Tuesday prior to hearing the closing arguments from attorneys.

Lawyers from both tech giants used their 25 hours each of trial time to present internal emails, draw testimony from designers and experts, and put on product demonstrations and mockups to convince the jury.

At times, their questions drew testimony that offered glimpses behind the corporate facade, such as profit margins on the iPhone and Samsung's sales figures in the United States.

From the beginning, Apple's tactic was to present what it thought was chronological evidence of Samsung copying its phone.

Juxtaposing pictures of phones from both companies and internal Samsung emails that specifically analyzed the features of the iPhone, Apple's attorneys accused Samsung of taking shortcuts after realizing it could not keep up.

Samsung's attorneys, on the other hand, maintained Apple had no sole right to geometric designs such as rectangles with rounded corners. They called Apple's damage claim "ridiculous" and urged the jury to consider that a verdict in favor of Apple could stifle competition and reduce choices for consumers.

The trial produced its share of drama and heated moments. Lawyers routinely bickered over legal matters in the jury's absence, filed rafts of paperwork to thwart each other's courtroom strategy, and sometimes even resorted to public relations tactics to make their views known.

Below, CNBC's Jon Fortt?reports?from outside the courtroom following the jury's verdict. He discusses a likely Samsung appeal and notes "This is now full-on war."

More money and business news:

Follow NBCNews.com business on Twitter and Facebook

?

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/24/13462559-apple-earns-1-billion-victory-over-samsung-in-patent-case?lite

abraham lincoln vampire hunter their eyes were watching god lara logan manu ginobili sports illustrated swimsuit 2012 aretha franklin whitney houston paul williams

Utilize These Suggestions When Marketing Real Estate - Consumer ...

Once you compute your web worthy of, you can expect to most likely realize that property is probably the larger variables that should be viewed as. Once you opt to promote the house that you simply very own, it is essential to attempt to obtain the most lucrative deal possible. Closing a purchase as a seller is a lot easier and much more satisfying when you include the sort of information and facts found in this item.

Freshen up the household prior to open the house for viewing by potential buyers. Clear your rugs, offer the walls a lick of color, of course, if required, receive a skilled cleaning up program to deeply nice and clean the entire property. Getting extra cash into fixing within the property is likely to make it be noticeable and certainly worthwhile in the long run.

Be certain your home?s roofing is good shape prior to seeking to market your home. A rooftop which can be looking for significant repairs might be a main offer-breaker for purchasers. If you haven?t restored your roofing prior to your home moves out there, it might be a motivation to give potential customers some monetary allowance to regulate for the fact.

Understand that real estate property revenue and acquisitions can be quite perplexing and time-consuming, and you will definitely decrease your required amount of effort by working with a real-estate company. There are many of sources that can help dealers manage the offer, it often brings about a lot less profit.

Straightforward purchases, for example new color, can help you in promoting your house. Conduct a stroll-through of your overall house looking for everything that is displeasing towards the vision. You must also placed away modest kitchen appliances after you make use of them. Though it?s simple, it could create your counter room seem smaller.

Suppress attractiveness is actually a major aspect in whether or not buyers will stop to look at your property. Taking care of the plants allows customers see the outside of the home better once they very first pull as much as it. It also definitely makes the home appearance handled and well-held. A lot of consumers will enable their initially impression of a property impact their final decision.

With any good fortune, you might have identified some tips here which can be useful to you. It is important, obviously, to custom made in shape the data for your particular situations. Getting some time for more information about real estate is an excellent financial commitment that will increase your income.

blog post

Source: http://blog.ilove3c.com/2012/08/24/utilize-these-suggestions-when-marketing-real-estate-3/

haley barbour olivier martinez peoples choice awards 2012 ford recalls robert kardashian chicago weather forecast narcolepsy

Hippo dies in SAfrica rescue op

MODIMOLLE, South Africa (AP) ? A hippo who wandered into a swimming pool at a South African game lodge three days ago died Friday before a rescue team could pull him out with a crane.

The high stress may just have been too much for the hippo known as Solly, said the lodge manager.

Wildlife rescue expert Simon Prinsloo had been pouring water on the animal with a bucket and then through a hose to keep the hippo hydrated. The team waited for a veterinarian to come before hoisting out the young hippo but he died as the vet arrived. The young hippo had plunged into the deep pool on Tuesday after being chased away from his herd by male members seeking dominance but the one-ton animal could not get out of the pool, which had no steps, on its own.

The plight of the stranded hippo captured the attention of many in South Africa. Live television coverage showed the hippo spouting water in the pool. But the lighthearted story became somber when the hippo appeared inert Friday morning.

One woman was crying at the scene as a crane lifted the lifeless body of the hippo into an orange animal trailer. Prinsloo, with tears in his eyes, confirmed to journalists the death of the animal.

The hippo showed signs of stress early on Friday morning, said Monate Conservation Lodge manager Ruby Ferreira, according to the South Africa Press Association.

"He was not as perky this morning, more agitated, like he was irritated. I think because he wanted to get out of the pool. That's my personal opinion," said Ferreira. She said there had been plans to get Solly out of the pool earlier, but the veterinarians had not arrived.

"We've been waiting for the vets and I think they were just a bit too late."

Ferreira said hippos are sensitive creatures and Solly was no different. His stress level had probably been rising since being forced from his group, called a pod, resulting in him taking shelter in the pool, said Ferreira. Once in the 2.4 meter (8 foot) deep pool he could not get out, likely adding to his stress.

"It all just added up and added up," Ferreira said.

While the lodge worked to care for the animal, there was no getting away from the fact that the pool was not a natural environment for Solly.

"Although we looked after him, it was an unnatural environment for him. We are really sad at this lodge today," Ferreira said. "It started out as a happy story and now it's a tragic story. It's devastating."

Dr. Alex Lewis, the veterinarian handling the case, arrived at the lodge near Modimolle, a small town north of Johannesburg, late Friday morning. Lewis was expected to help with the rescue the day before, but couldn't make it. When journalists questioned Lewis about not arriving earlier, he said he couldn't have saved the animal because of the aggravated stress it experienced ever since he had been fighting for a position in his herd.

Lewis said he had advised the owners of the lodge to feed the animal in order to make it strong enough for the rescue.

Doreen Cronje, a guest at the lodge taking part in a conference, said during the rescue operation that she had been inquiring about the animal and hoped that the hippo would make it out of the pool safely.

"Especially here in South Africa, we care a lot about our animals," Cronje said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hippo-dies-safrica-rescue-op-093227676.html

transcendentalism bells palsy channel 5 news uc berkeley harrison barnes brett ratner stevie nicks

Scientists Use Mathematical Shortcut to Create New Metals

To create new alloys, metallurgists for centuries have relied on trial and error. That could change.

A group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has come up with a mathematical model that lets them predict what kinds of alloys will be stable, without having to go through the laborious process of making them and trying them out.

Most metals consist of tiny crystals at the nanometer scale. This is what gives metals their varying properties ? their hardness or ductility, for example. In many high-tech metals, building an alloy with lots of nanocrystals can boost hardness. But these structures aren't stable; as the temperature goes up or the metal is stressed, the crystals merge and get bigger (they essentially melt), and the properties that made them special are lost.

Tongjai Chookajorn, Heather Murdoch and Christopher A. Schuh came up with a way to make a map of a given element's stability at a certain temperature, using a mathematical model. It lets metallurgistssee what other elements they can add to the base metal (known as a matrix or solvent) to get stable structures and keep them intact at high temperatures.

[Shortage of Rare Metals Could Threaten High-Tech Innovation]

The team tested tungsten, which is one of the strongest metals known and has the highest melting temperature. Schuh told InnovationNews Daily that the high melting temperature means it needs to be hot in order to be processed, so keeping the nanocrystal structures stable is a lot harder to do. The mathematical model, developed by Murdoch, suggested a few candidates that would allow the structures to stay stable, such as titanium, zinc, chromium and gold. It also showed that copper, cadmium and strontium would not work.

After deciding to use titanium (which also is strong and has a high melting point), Chookajorn tackled making the actual alloy. The alloy worked as the model said it would: At 2,012 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celsius), the nanocrysals stayed stable for a week.

Another thing the new model does is indirectly show how the alloying material mixes with the base. To maximize strength, the secondary metal ? in this case titanium ? has to gather near the boundaries of the nanocrystal structures. When that happens, the nanocrystals are more likely to remain stable. Chookajorn said they are working on another model to look into the actual structure of alloys.

The group has tried its technique with other metals, though it hasn't tried making the actual alloys yet. "We do expect that when experiments are done, it will lead to new nanostructured alloys with high stability and which were not previously made," Schuh wrote in an email.

The research is detailed in the Aug. 24 issue of the journal Science.

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-mathematical-shortcut-create-metals-193421358.html

dallas fort worth airport texas tornados seattle seahawks new uniforms wisconsin recall wisconsin recall doris day buffalo sabres

Washington Times: Taliban infiltrate social media

Washington Times: Taliban infiltrate social media

Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 02:49 PM - Twitter, News Stories, Facebook

It's no shock to hear that the Taliban are using social media.

A year ago I briefly touched on the subject with this article: Why do Facebook and Twitter allow Taliban?

Now a major paper The Washington Times is covering the topic.

Bill Gertz writes, "The increasing use of the Internet and cellular telephones with access to the Web is a relatively new feature of life in Afghanistan, and military officials say the Taliban are exploiting the new social-media platforms for their Islamist aims."

Gertz points out that U.S. Central Command contacts sites like Facebook and Twitter urging them to take down the account because it violates their terms of service.? Facebook is the most responsive according to the story, often deleting accounts that are used to recruit.

It's good to hear Facebook has been the most responsive, but Twitter has historically been slow to respond, if it?s responded at all.

One well-known Twitter account of the Taliban continues to be online, even after being named in the news over and over and getting into a war of words online with the U.S. military and other nations who send troops to Afghanistan.

While I?m not sure how Gertz came to this conclusion, he says in some cases, the Taliban?s use of social media has outpaced that of NATO and U.S. forces.

Read more: Inside the Ring: Taliban infiltrate social media - Washington Times

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

News: The Army 'likes' social media

Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 03:51 AM - News Stories Army ?likes? social media.? Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr have changed the way information is transmitted worldwide. Lightning fast posts and responses give users the opportunity to always be informed. The instantaneous gathering and distribution of information by social media sites can help spread the Army?s message.? The U.S. Army Social Media Handbook describes social media as a way of telling the Army?s story honestly and directly to America...
(DVIDS)

Satirical website The Duffel Blog dupes news sites with bogus stories. The Duffel Blog ? also on Facebook (13,600 fans) and Twitter (1,450 followers) ? is starting to gain a following among service members and veterans.? It aims not only to poke fun at military culture and foibles through humor and ridiculousness, but also to provide social commentary that can raise awareness on serious issues such as PTSD and suicide, said founder Paul Szoldra. It compares itself to The Onion, but with a military bent...
(NBCNews.com)

Veteran Japanese war correspondent killed while covering fighting in Syria.? A veteran Japanese war correspondent was shot and killed while covering Syria?s civil war, her family and the government said Tuesday.? Mika Yamamoto worked for The Japan Press, an independent TV news provider that specializes in conflict zone coverage.? She was hit by gunfire Monday while she and a colleague were traveling with the Free Syrian Army in the northwestern city of Aleppo, said Masaru Sato, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo...
(The Washington Post)

Pentagon preps new social media rules. The Pentagon is late on issuing it?s latest set of rules for service members on how to use popular social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.? Defense Department officials have been working towards a new directive on social media to replace the old rules that were set to expire July 15. The expiration date was extended when it became clear leadership couldn?t settle on new guidance until later this year. No specific date has been given for the release...
(Defense Tech)

Quora makes answers embeddable for easier use by journalists. The social question-and-answer website Quora released a new feature today that makes it easier for journalists and other publishers to quote from the expert answers posted on the network. Just highlight specific text in an answer and click the ?embed quote? button, or go to the bottom of the answer and click the ?embed? link to grab the whole thing. The popup provides an embed code to paste into your story...
(Poynter)

India Debates Misuse of Social Media. India has blocked more than 250 websites after provocative online content spread panic among people from the country's northeast, prompting some of them to flee Indian cities.? The crackdown has sparked a debate about how the country will cope with misuse of social media.? Officials say the websites that were blocked had posted edited images and videos of victims of earthquakes and claimed they were those of Muslim victims caught in recent ethnic strife in India's northeastern Assam state and Burma...
(VOANews)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Top 25 Military Mom Blogs Contest Winners

Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 04:37 AM

This month, I?ve been covering the Circle of Moms Top 25 Military Mom Blogs contest, which recognizes and promotes military moms who blog.? Well, the contest ended last week and the results are in.

Here?s a look at the Top 10:

#1 The Only Girl Among Boys
A sometimes humorous, always honest look at the life of a military family enduring the ups and downs of deployments while raising four little boys. Always trying to look for ways to encourage other wives and moms on this same ride!
http://www.theonlygirlamongboys.blogspot.com/

# 2 The Meat and Potatoes of Life
Lisa dishes up a heaping helping of hilarious and heartwarming stories about marriage, parenting and military life. Her syndicated humor column appears in newspapers, Stars & Stripes Military Moms website, Military Spouse magazine, and on her blog.
http://themeatandpotatoesoflife.com/

#3 The Deployment Diatribes, (News From the Commander In Chief @ Home)
Erin is a Navy Wife and Mom to 4 boys, including one with Autism. She writes about military family life, deployment issues, Autism, and no-nonsense parenting.
http://www.deploymentdiatribes.wordpress.com/

#4 Hooah and Hiccups
My journey from college grad, to Army wife, to new mom! I write about everyday occurrences, current events, and other topics relevant to Military life and motherhood.
http://hooahandhiccups.blogspot.com/

#5 Random Rants of an Army Wife
Updates on my life as the wife of an injured Special Operator in the US Army as we adjust to life with his brain injury, mother of an adorable toddler who loves to test my patience and an adorable 7 month old.
http://randomarmywife.blogspot.com/

#6 5 Nuts in a Nutshell
Just a crazy family trying to juggle 3 boys (4 if you include daddy-dearest), Army life, school, and everything in between!
http://nutsinanutshell.blogspot.com/

#7 Embracing This Life
A blog from a young military wife about embracing this life. We'll chat about the military, marriage, motherhood, weight loss, and all things around the house.
http://embracingthislife.com/

#8 Tips For Military Families
Daily tips posted to help military families and members not just survive military life but thrive. Tips on postings, deployments, re-integrations, etc.
http://blog.whileyouwereaway.org/

#9 This Fabulous Army Life
Living the Army life ... one fabulous day at a time! Musings include thoughts on parenting, raising boys, kids' crafts, Army life with its joys and challenges, and other fabulous events in this Army life!
http://fabulousarmylife.blogspot.com/

#10 Writings of an Air Force Wife
Air Force wife. Mom of 2. Currently undergoing our 7th deployment. I write about our everyday little moments. I live a creative life full of painting, photography, DIY projects, decorating & more. Life is either a grand adventure, or nothing. -Helen Keller
http://www.emily-roe.blogspot.com/

For a full list of winners, go here.

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

News: Vet detained for anti-govt Facebook posts

Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 02:49 AM - News Stories Outcry after military veteran detained for anti-government Facebook posts. A former Marine involuntarily detained for psychiatric evaluation for posting strident anti-government messages on Facebook has received an outpouring of support from people who say authorities are trampling on his First Amendment rights.? Brandon J. Raub, 26, has been in custody since FBI, Secret Service agents and police in Virginia's Chesterfield County questioned him Thursday evening about what they said were ominous posts talking about a coming revolution. In one message earlier this month according to authorities, Raub wrote: "Sharpen my axe; I'm here to sever heads."
(Fox News)

Military satire site manages to fool some people. If you're surfing the Internet and happen to land on The Duffel Blog ? it's at duffelblog.com ? don't do what the folks at Gizmodo and Yell! did and believe anything you read.? That's because The Duffel Blog, the 5-month-old creation of University of Tampa senior and former Marine Sgt. Paul Szoldra, is a satire site, full of fake news about the military...?
(TBO.com)

Burmese blogger speaks out against Islamophobia. Nay Phone Latt had been sentenced to twenty years in prison by the Burmese military junta for his links to the ?Saffron Revolution? Buddhist monk led protests back in 2007. He was freed, along with hundreds of others at the beginning of the year, as part of a political prisoner amnesty decreed by the government which has recently undertaken a series of reforms.? The 32 year old blogger is now one of the few people in Burma to speak out against Islamophobia...
(FRANCE 24)

American Legion finds unexpected treasure in attic with discover of World War I bond posters.? We've all heard the stories. People rummaging around in their attics or cleaning out basements and stumbling upon relics of the past or priceless artifacts or heirlooms.? TV programs would make you believe stuff like that happens every day ... it just never happens to us.? But it has happened in Greencastle, and the Putnam County Museum has become the beneficiary...
(The Republic)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

"Ridiculously Photogenic Syrian Rebel Fighter"

Monday, August 20, 2012, 03:28 PM - News Stories

I stumbled upon this image via a Reddit thread as I was reading another story about a Burmese blogger for my regular news roundup.

According to FRANCE 24, "in the space of a few days, a Syrian rebel has unwittingly become the object of all sorts of fantasies ? the opponent of the Bashar al-Assad regime was photographed in the region of the city of Idlib on June 15 by Khalil Hamra a journalist for the ?Associated Press? news agency. "

The Reddit thread (which was posted about 5 days ago) is called "I present: Ridiculously Photogenic Syrian Rebel Fighter" and it was posted to the pics subreddit, a place on Reddit to share interesting photographs and pictures.

The thread has nearly 1,000 comments as of today.

Many posted comments like this:

"Seriously, how can he be in the middle of a civil war and have hair like that?"

"To be fair though, everybody looks cool when they're holding an RPG like that."

"It's a hot night. The mind races. You think about your knife; the only friend who hasn't betrayed you, the only friend who won't be dead by sun up. Sleep tight, mates, in your quilted Chambray nightshirts."

"All the ladies want him.
All the guys want to be him.
All the Syrian Army want to kill him.
Ridiculously Photogenic Rebel
in cinemas 2013"
You can read the full Reddit thread here.

You can view the image here, which has been viewed over half a million times.

Source: FRANCE 24

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

News: Letters from Afghanistan

Sunday, August 19, 2012, 07:11 PM - News Stories Letters from Afghanistan: Captain from Pensacola prepares to leave war front. Two weeks ago, we received an email from Army Reserve Capt. Dave Drasutis, a Pensacola resident and a lifetime Gulf Coast resident. He was writing from Afghanistan, where he is currently stationed, to comment on our new Homefront section.? From that conversation, we invited him to write a weekly series of letters from Afghanistan. Dave said he was returning home soon and wondered if the letters would be worthwhile.
(Pensacola News Journal)

WW2 vet shares his story at Darien event. World War II veterans were honored at the Darien Atria for the 67th anniversary of V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day) on Sunday in an event featuring speeches by local and national politicians.? U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, along with Congressman Jim Himes (D-4), state Sens. Bob Duff (D-25) and Carlo Leone (D-27), State Rep. Terrie Wood (R-141) made speeches. Darien Selectman John Lundeen read a proclamation.
(Darien News)

Facebook post threatening B.C. mosque sparks investigation.? Police in Victoria are investigating disturbing comments made on Facebook threatening an attack on the city?s new mosque with a rocket launcher.? On a Facebook page called ?I Love Downtown Victoria? a poster identifying himself as Dan Speed wrote, ?that?s not good? in reference to the Muslim place of worship.? ?Blast it with an 84mm Carl Gustaf,? he added in a subsequent post.
(CTVNews)

NATO, Taliban in war of words over Afghan deaths. A suicide bombing at a wedding, a deadly airstrike on a village, grenades in a mosque - hundreds of Afghan civilians are dying violently this summer, while the Taliban and the NATO coalition wage verbal warfare.? A U.N. report says 1,145 civilians were killed and 1,954 others injured during the first half of the year, 80 percent of them by militants.? But like other aspects of this decade-long war, facts are often obscured by perception and propaganda.
(NBC29)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

The Duffel Blog getting more mainstream coverage

Saturday, August 18, 2012, 10:33 AM - News Stories Congrats are in order for The Duffel Blog and the site?s writers as they continue to get more mainstream news coverage and be recognized for their writing talents.

On Wednesday, I wrote about The Duffel Blog being featured in the Military Times, but if you?ve been watching the headlines, other news sites like USA Today are buzzing about the site?s satirical look at the military.

To give you an idea just how fast the site is spreading: On Wednesday, it enjoyed nearly 9,000 Facebook likes.? Today, the site is flirting with 13,000 Likes in a few short days.

The site is being compared to The Onion, another satirical website that is extremely popular.

Here?s a roundup of what the likes of USA Today have to say about The Duffel Blog:

USA Today says, "The Duffel Blog's fake military news hits the spot."

Business Insider writes, "It's about time the blog exploded with traffic. Duffel Blog has been steadily growing in popularity, making news across the web with its pitch-perfect satire of life in the employment of the Department of Defense."

Military Times: ?Szoldra and Stormtrooper said their growing audience, along with the success of the ?Terminal Lance? comic strip, shows there?s an appetite for a humorous, but clever, look at military life.?

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Gov't-wide social media registry opened to public

Saturday, August 18, 2012, 10:11 AM - News Stories GSA opens public portal to governmentwide social media registry.? The public can now verify whether a Google+ page is legit and whether the IRS really is on Pinterest.? The GSA has put together a one-stop shop for federal agencies, elected officials (but not campaign accounts) and programs that manage official LinkedIn pages, Meetup groups or Twitter feeds to register all of those accounts in a governmentwide database.? The public can access the full database of URLs via USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov. Social media sites are hosted on commercial domains and lack the telltale .gov or .mil domain tags that help the public know they are visiting a legitimate government site, the GSA said in a statement Thursday...
(Federal News Radio)

The Reality Military Shows Will Never Air. Army Wives: Alaska. Coming Home. Stars Earn Stripes. There's a lot of interest in the reality of military life. But even with all of these shows, I'm left wondering about what story they are telling because, for the past decade, most of the military families I know have been living a reality that I don't see on primetime.? Episode one of any show I've watched doesn't feature deployment number five which is a coming attraction over in my friends' living room next month. Where's the show called "Leaving Home," documenting the crying on the front end of a year apart? Note the crying kids in unmatched shirts in the background. Oh, and those beautiful homecomings. Those big, flag draped hangars filled with soldiers. I wish every real life reunion installment ended that way.? Maybe I could write an episode for a new series...
(Huffington Post)

Civil war documentary to feature Carroll County sites. When Maryland Public Television debuts "The Heart of the Civil War" on Sept. 11, it will showcase many Carroll County sites.? The hour-long documentary features areas like Westminster and Uniontown and battlefields that were critical to both sides in the war between the states.? The film includes footage of the most crucial territories where Confederate and Union forces battled for strategic advantage in Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties. The story focuses on Maryland residents enmeshed in the famous battles, whose sites still draw hundreds of tourists annually...
(Baltimore Sun)

Military-media relationship. THE world over, the media and the military have never had an easy relationship.? In Pakistan?s case the issue is more than usually complicated. The military wants favourable coverage of the several military operations undertaken in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, but reporters have difficulties dealing with their uniformed hosts.? Gen Pervez Kayani?s visit to Swat some time ago highlights the issue. Local journalists were informed about the visit on May 22, and they rushed to Bari Kot where the army chief was inaugurating a bridge on the River Swat.? What followed, however, was irritating...
(DAWN.COM)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Reddit Thread: I Am A bomb technician

Friday, August 17, 2012, 02:40 AM - News Stories Michael Kelley, a writer for Business Insider, highlighted an interesting ?IAmA? thread over at Reddit called ?IAMA bomb technician.? AMAA? that originally appeared on the social news site about 5 months ago.

The thread tallied up hundreds of comments.

?You have to want it, it's volunteer only. I love blowing s*** up! On a more serious note, I don't have a death wish and this job makes me feel alive. I like to think I'm saving lives and helping the greater good,? wrote the Reddit user who claims to work

on a military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team.

If you?re not familiar with the ?I Am A? Reddit, it?s considered one of the most popular sections of the site and to date has nearly 2 million subscribers.? Users who start the ?I Am ? thread prompt other users to AMA (?Ask Me Anything?).

Yesterday, members of the Mars Curiosity Rover Team answered questions in a thread titled ?We are engineers and scientists on the Mars Curiosity Rover Mission, Ask us Anything!?.

Later today, TIME Magazine correspondent, Michael Grunwald will be answering users' questions online.

Full Business Insider story here.

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

News: WWII Vet hesitant to talk about military

Thursday, August 16, 2012, 11:26 PM - News Stories World War II veteran from Advance hesitates to tell story. Ivan Woodfin is just one of many World War II veterans who has said he's hesitant to tell a story of their time in service.? Woodfin said it's not something they like to talk about because it makes them relive those memories.? "I just don't want to go back and relive what I had to do," said Woodfin.? Now, his life in Advance is pretty peaceful.? "Played golf all day," said Woodfin.? But the emotion still comes when he talks about his time in World War II.? When asked how often he talks about it, he said, "not very often."
(KFVS12)

Reuters hacked for third time with hoax al-Faisal death. Hackers first hit the agency's blogging platform at the beginning of August, with claims that the Syrian rebel army was on the retreat.? Two days later the agency's tech news Twitter feed was taken over and pro-Syrian government messages posted.? It is unclear who is behind the hack.? Reporting on the breach, Reuters said that cyberwar between the pro and anti-government factions in Syria had intensified with Saudi Arabia emerging as a staunch opponent of Assad...
(BBC)

Video: How to Create Your First Blog Post. Blogging on Fort Stewart Patch is an effective way to reach a ready-made audience on base, in Hinesville and beyond.? Blog posts that originate here, are often syndicated to other Patch towns in Georgia. Military-specific content is often shared to other military Patch sites.? Some bloggers show their expertise, others show the impact their organizations have had in the community. Some just write fun posts.? Whatever the reason, each had to start somewhere.? The accompanying video, from our sister site Camp Pendleton Patch, shows how to get started with your first post. It contains a lot of information, so pause as often as necessary...
(Fort Stewart, GA Patch)

?Dr? Winson Seow closes his Facebook account. WINSON Seow, who had claimed to be a military surgeon until his credentials were questioned, has closed his Facebook account a day after he apologised for misleading the public, reported Nanyang Siang Pau.? The account with the username Dr Winson Seow has 4,373 fans. However, Seow's personal account was not removed.? Seow, 26, wrote a message to inform fans of the closure on Wednesday.? ?Due to the restriction set by Facebook, I'm unable to change the display name in this page hence I have no alternative but to deactivate this account by today. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused...
(The Star Online)

Afghanistan Soldier Tells the Story of Rebuilding Life After War. St. Petersburg, FL (PRWEB) August 16, 2012.? Bryan A. Wood is a quiet and unassuming police detective who works to keep the streets of St. Petersburg, FL safe for its citizens. In 2003, however, Wood fought another battle in a distant land halfway around the world, and in many ways, that battle has never ended. Wood has beautifully documented this battle in his gripping memoir ?Unspoken Abandonment: Sometimes the hardest part of going to war is coming home."? Wood's story, which has been gaining fans and is now flirting with several best-seller lists, is based on the journal he kept while serving with the 747th Military Police Company and Third Special Forces Group in Eastern Afghanistan...
(Virtual-Strategy Magazine)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

The Duffel Blog makes news headlines for satire

Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 04:52 AM - News Stories

The military website The Duffel Blog is making headlines for not only its satirical stories, but for its ability to fool readers into believing, for example, that the DoD banned Tapout clothing for all military personnel.

Yesterday, Military Times ran a story featuring the site called Satirical military news site fools some readers.

Gina Harkins writes:

?A fake military news site is doing such a good job of lampooning the service, it?s already duped some officials into thinking their breaking news is real.

Former Marine Sgt. Paul Szoldra, from Lakeland, Fla., runs The Duffel Blog, the military?s equivalent to the satirical newspaper, The Onion. He has about 20 writers regularly contributing stories on a volunteer basis from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.?

The military blog has quickly grown in popularity, resulting in nearly 9,000 ?likes? on Facebook.

The Army Times took an insightful look at the site that is well worth the read.

Full story here.

Follow The Duffel Blog on the web here and Facebook here.

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

FCW: DoD's new policy 'likes' social media, but...

Wednesday, August 15, 2012, 04:19 AM - News Stories DOD's new policy 'likes' social media, but with caveats. For all its benefits and the enjoyment it brings to the people who use it, social media has a dark side. When it comes to military users, one slip ? such as an inadvertent mention of a deployment timing or location ? can endanger lives. But given its intrinsically open nature and constantly changing boundaries, how can the Defense Department effectively manage social media?
(Federal Computer Week)

Amateur video: Rebels claim army fighter jet shot down over Syria. Syrian rebels claim they have shot down an army fighter jet in the skies above the village of Al Muhassan...
(itnnews)

Military sexual assault is focus of YouTube series. The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military are the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.? Featuring "Flashdance" star Jennifer Beals and Troian Bellisario, "Lauren" gives a close-up look at the challenges women service members face in trying to find justice after being raped. It's a problem that military leaders have given unprecedented attention to this year...
(Boston.com)

Civil War Diary of an Adams County native helps to pen new Civil War book. The century-old letters and journals of an Adams County native are the focus of a new Civil War book.? The Quincy Herald-Whig reports the accounts of Lewis F. Roe provide a first-hand view of the day-to-day activities of Civil War soldiers and the dangers they faced in battle.? According to the newspaper, Roe was a farmer who served in the 7th U.S. Infantry and the 50th Illinois Volunteer Infantry between 1860 and 1865...
(The Republic)

Artist uses her talent to honor military pilots. When Sherry Boggs nearly died in 2004, she lost her home, most of her possessions and months of memory ? but not her talent or her faith in God.? Boggs is an accomplished artist who specializes in aviation and ordnance art. Her artwork hangs in venues across the country, including the legendary ?Top Gun? naval aviation school in Miramar, Calif...
(Sturgis Journal)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Navy Social Media Directory: Facebook, Twitter, more

Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 02:50 AM

Navy.mil has what it calls a one-stop shop social media directory that provides links to official Navy social media pages across the internet.

The directory is built manually ? each command submits their information and then the submission is reviewed.?

There are a number of guidelines and requirements that must be followed in order to get approved.

According to the checklist provided on the site, requirements for an official command social media presence include:

- Commanding Officer or qualified Public Affairs Officer approval
- The POC must include a valid .mil address when submitting
- The presence must have a URL to an official DON website
- The presence must post disclaimer text (required for Facebook & Blogs)
- The presence must have a user agreement (required for all sites that provide for public comment ? primarily Facebook & Blogs)
- The presence must be clearly identified as ?official?
- The presence must be unlocked and open to the public
- Only ?official pages? on Facebook can be registered
- Social media presences identifying an individual vice the command or billet are not recommended as an ?official? presence with the exception of a notable few (e.g. SECNAV, CNO, MCPON).
- Requests to register social media presences that are too targeted or specific will be reviewed and may be disapproved.
- Requests to register social media presences that are based on an event will be reviewed and may be disapproved.
- How you write your command name on the form is how it will appear in the directory.

While you won?t necessarily find links to Pinterest or Google+ in the Navy.mil directory, you will find links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and even blogs.

A quick glance at the list of social media sites currently listed, shows that Facebook has the strongest presence, outnumbering blogs by what appears to by at least 10 to 1.?

Twitter has the next strongest presence, followed by YouTube.

The list of official web logs may not be new on the Navy.mil directory, but the DoD Social Media hub, which lists all of DOD's official pages across various social media networks, hasn?t supported the listing of blogs since it launched years ago.

As of today on Navy.mil, you can find blogs such as the The United States Navy Band blog and blogs for Navy ships like the USS NIMITZ called Old Salt Blog.

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Ft Hood hosting Facebook, TV Townhall Aug. 14

Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 02:26 AM - News Stories, Facebook According to the Killeen Daily Herald, Fort Hood will be hosting it second Facebook and TV Townhall.? It will be broadcast via satellite using DVIDS.

Fort Hood?s Facebook page, which has nearly 20,000 likes as of today, can be found at facebook.com/forthood.

If you?re interested in participating, the Facebook townhall takes place from 5 to 7 p.m today, August 14, 2012.? The TV Townhall takes place from 6 to 7 p.m.

You can call (254) 288-4990 to ask a question or click on the town hall tab at facebook.com/forthood.

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

The Telling Project: Americans Need to Know

Tuesday, August 14, 2012, 01:20 AM

While checking updates on the blog Red Bull Rising, I came across an interesting military project called The Telling Project.

The idea of the project is to stage a theatrical performance in which military veterans and their family members ?tell? their stories for their communities.?

To date, The Telling Project has performed in 14 cities and 9 states since 2008, putting over 50 veterans and veterans family members on stage to tell their stories of military life to their communities.

According to Charlie Sherpa, performances of ?Telling: Des Moines? are planned for November 2012 on the Ankeny, Iowa campus of the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC).

To learn about The Telling Project including the upcoming schedule, clips, and more, visit http://thetellingproject.org

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

News links: Veterans share stories of war

Monday, August 13, 2012, 03:40 AM - News Stories Veterans Share Stories of Honor Flight, War. A sobering statistic flashed across the screen at Miller Park during the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight Field of Honor film debuted Saturday night.? ?One-thousand World War II veterans die every day.?? As the veterans pass, so goes the chance to honor them, to hear their stories and to learn from the Greatest Generation. But honor flights throughout the state allow for those veterans to be honored and appreciated and to share their stories with the rest of the world...
(Oak Creek, WI Patch)

Indiana veterans find peace by sharing war stories in monthly meeting at Anderson church. While the church has a pacifist background, pastor Robin Mayer said reaching out to veterans is an opportunity for the church to be "peacemakers."? "Many veterans carry stress that is not always given the attention it deserves," Mayer said. "This is an opportunity for us to help them find peace."? Mayer said it may seem contradictory for a pacifist organization to hold such an event for veterans, but it's not. She quoted Romans 14:19, which reads "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."
(Greenfield Reporter)

Israeli Blogger Detained Near Syrian Border in Turkey. A blogger with dual Israeli-US citizenship was detained in Turkey Saturday while reporting on Syria near the border in the Kurdish region.? Roee Ruttenberg, 34, is a writer for the leftist English-language blog +972Mag. He said Turkish police appeared to be concerned he was documenting Turkish military activities in the area. Ankara has long had struggles with separatist Kurdish extremists in an eastern region near the northern Syrian border...
(Israel National News)

Book chronicles Civil War life based on Adams County native's diaries.? The diaries of an Adams County man who served in the Civil War have sprung to life a century and a half later in a new book.? "From Western Deserts to Carolina Swamps: A Civil War Soldier's Journals and Letters Home" tells the story of Lewis F. Roe, an Adams County native who logged his observations from 1860 to 1865 while serving in the military before and during the Civil War...
(Quincy-Herald Whig)

Canadian reporter opens a window on the Mideast and on the futility of war. Nahlah Ayed had been a parliamentary reporter but the events of 9/11 were the instigation for her to join CBC as a freelance reporter. She is fluent in both Arabic and English. From her book, I think she was eminently suited to the complex subject she covered. She appears to be highly intelligent with a combination of simplicity and humbleness.? Since 2002, she briefly reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran but her reporting also came from Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria...
(TheSpec.com)

Captured on 8mm film: Weddings, personal war stories, and other small illuminations of Israeli history. One of the scenes in a remarkable new film ?Israel: A Home Movie,? depicts a group of brawny men on their annual camping trip to Sinai at the outbreak of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.? The film, which is composed of archived home videos, captures Israeli history from the late 1920s through the early 1980s. Via the private moments that unfolded alongside the momentous ones, the film tells ordinary but striking stories of weddings, love, war, despair and loneliness...
(The Times of Israel)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Police social media tool nears 1MM subscribers

Sunday, August 12, 2012, 11:26 PM - News Stories The Associated Press has reported that police are embracing a?relatively new social media tool called Nixle that allows them to provide public alerts to their communities.

"Almost 6,000 law enforcement agencies are now deploying the public notification service Nixle to provide residents with real-time alerts on crimes in progress, traffic messes and missing children. Previously, the service has helped police in Amarillo, Texas, capture a fugitive wanted for aggravated robbery and probation violation; and authorities in Fayetteville, N.C., nabbed a suspect wanted for armed robbery soon after a Nixle alert was sent to residents."

The story goes on to say that while many government agencies have been using Facebook and Twitter as their public notification system, Nixle has increasingly become a more popular choice.

According to the Nixle website, "There are four types of messages; Alerts (many would refer to this as an emergency type alert), Advisories (less urgent need-to-know information), Community Information (day-to-day neighborhood to community-level information), Traffic (very localized traffic information)."

Full story here.

More on Nixle here.

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Top 25 Military Mom Blogs, Voting Ends Aug 16

Saturday, August 11, 2012, 02:54 AM

Circle of Moms is promoting and recognizing military moms who blog by running an online contest.??

Circle of Moms gives their network of 6 million registered moms direct access to the Top 25 winners.? The Top 25 are also featured on The Roundup (the Circle of Mom's editorial channel).? According to the FAQ section, the feature includes a short interview, favorite posts, and a photo of each Top 25 winner.??

It?s great to see coverage of military mom blogs, especially to such a large audience.

Voting ends August 16, 2012 at 4pm PST and you can learn more about the contest here.

Here's a current look at the Top 10 standings as of August 11 (2:38 AM EST)

1. The Meat and Potatoes of Life (748 votes)
2. The Only Girl Among (562 votes)
3. Random Rants of an Army Wife (515 votes)
4. The Deployment Diatribes, (News From the Commander In Chief @ Home) (470 votes)
5. 5 Nuts in a Nutshell (401 votes)
6. Embracing This Life (373 votes)
7. This Fabulous Army Life (282 votes)
8. Writings of an Air Force Wife (279 votes)
9. Hooah and Hiccups (233 votes)
10. The Crow Family (225 votes)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

Mashable: What is the Syrian Electronic Army?

Friday, August 10, 2012, 11:27 PM - News Stories What Is the Syrian Electronic Army? As forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad clash with the rebel Free Syrian Army in the streets of Syria, Internet-savvy government supporters are fighting a parallel information war in cyberspace. Called the Syrian Electronic Army, the group has a single mission: unleash an onslaught of pro-government propaganda upon the Internet.
(Mashable)

Rare WWII naval dispatch to be auctioned in Pa. Chief Yeomen Robert W. York knew he was clutching a piece of history as he hurried to find his boss aboard the USS Holland, which was trolling the Pacific days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.? In his possession was a dispatch from President Harry S. Truman's navy secretary, dated Aug. 15, 1945, that read: "All hands of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard may take satisfaction in the conclusion of the war against Japan."? Japan had surrendered. World War II was over. York and his mates could go home.
(NBC29)

Scammers posing as soldiers selling cars online. A Craigslist car scam cruises through the Internet and has now parked in the Treasure Valley. The posting advertises a car for sale. A person claims to be a soldier and talks about selling immediately before he is deployed.? "I came across a 2004 Avalanche with 70 thousand miles on it and the guy said he was in the military so I was like okay, and he's selling it for 1900 bucks, " Michael Thomas said.
(KBOI 2)

Even The Army Can Use Digital Media. The Israel Defense Forces has been releasing some great videos on YouTube ? which do a wonderful job of humanizing the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).? Today a video was released of the IDF?s only co-ed combat unit ? and a well spoken young woman detailing the final exercise after months of hard training.? This exercise does exactly what digital media is meant to do ? tell a story without a filter. This segment humanizes the faces of Israel?s soldiers and shows the faces of people many can relate to. Great public relations work.?
(Jewocity Blog)

Hacked Reuters blog appears still unpatched. News service Reuters appears to still be running the same outdated version of WordPress that allowed its blogging platform to be compromised by attackers last week.? Attackers published fake blog posts on Friday, including a purported interview with the leader of the Free Syrian Army.? Mark Jaquith, one of the lead developers behind WordPress, told The Wall Street Journal that? Reuters had been running version 3.1.1 instead of the latest version, 3.4.1.
(SC Magazine Australia)

Syria's electronic army wages war online. On Monday, it was a hijacked Reuters Twitter feed trying to create the impression of a rebel collapse in Aleppo. On Tuesday, it was another account purporting to be a Russian diplomat announcing the death in Damascus of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.? As the situation on the ground becomes ever more bloody, both sides in Syria are also waging what seems to be an intensifying conflict in cyberspace, often attempting to use misinformation and rumour to tilt the war in reality.
(TVNZ)

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

NYPD subpoena Twitter for user making threats

Thursday, August 9, 2012, 07:48 AM - Twitter

The NYPD subpoenaed Twitter earlier this week to get the identity of a user who tweeted under the username @obamamistress.? The user caught the attention of authorities after threatening to copy the Colorado mass shooting at Mike Tyson?s one-mad Broadway show.

?This s--- ain?t no joke yo I?m serious people are gonna die just like in aurora,? read one of the tweets posted in late July.

According to the NY Daily News, police identified the Twitter user and would be interviewing them this week.

The Aurora tweets weren?t the only threat-messages.

@ObamaMistress whose description read in part, ?having an affair with barack obama,Eric Holder, lamar Odom, Reggie Bush, and many many more,? even had celebrities on their hit list like Twilight star Kristen Stewart.

One message posted on July 30 read, ?Wow I got like six hundred people on my hit list and I still ain't finished yet. Wow that's gonna be a mass mass murder for real. #excited.?

The Twitter account has now been deleted, but with the help of Google cache?[screenshot above], you can see several? of the messages.

Mashable has a timeline of the mass murder tweets that include messages like "its not a threat it's a promise" and "Planning a murder is harder than I thought but people are going to die just like they did in the theater."

Full NY Daily News story here.

[ Add comment ] ??|??[ 0 trackbacks ] ??|??permalink??|??Discussion??|??Digg this??|??Add to del.icio.us

---

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Next> >>

Source: http://milblogging.com/index.php?entry=entry120822-144909

wikipedia blackout kyla pratt justified season 3 custer scott walker restaurant week type 2 diabetes