Monday, December 31, 2012

Merkel says euro zone crisis far from over

BERLIN (Reuters) - The euro zone sovereign debt crisis is far from over even though reform measures designed to address the roots of the problem are beginning to bear fruit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in her New Year's address.

In a taped interview to be broadcast on Monday evening, Merkel urged Germans to be more patient even though the euro zone crisis has already dragged on for three years. She drew a line linking German prosperity to a prosperous European Union.

"For our prosperity and our solidarity we need to strike the right balance," Merkel said. "The European sovereign debt crisis shows how important this balance is.

"The reforms that we've introduced are beginning to have an impact," she said. "Nevertheless we need to have further continued patience. The crisis is far from over."

Merkel indirectly contradicted Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble with those comments. In an interview on Friday in Bild newspaper Schaeuble said the worst of the crisis was over.

Germany has been the paymaster in the euro zone crisis, to the chagrin of many German voters and a growing bloc of conservative lawmakers in Merkel's coalition. Germans remain wary of euro zone bailout efforts but give Merkel high marks for what they consider to be her judicious handling of the crisis.

Merkel, who is seeking a third term in an election in September, proudly pointed out that unemployment in Germany had fallen to its lowest level since reunification in 1990 while the number of people employed had also risen to record highs.

"That means that many hundreds of thousands of families have a secure future," said Merkel. "And that means that a lot of young people have the security of training and jobs and thus will get off to a good start in their careers."

But in face of slowing economic growth, Merkel also warned that conditions could be more difficult in 2013 than in 2012.

"I know that many people are naturally concerned going into the new year," she said. "And the economic environment will not in fact be easier but rather more difficult next year. But we shouldn't let that get us down; rather it should spur us on."

Even though Merkel's conservative party holds a commanding 10-point lead in opinion polls over the Social Democrats (SPD), the center-left opposition SPD and their Greens allies have a chance of taking power because Merkel's coalition allies, the Free Democrats (FDP) have slumped badly and may not win seats.

Political analysts believe Merkel nevertheless still has the most options to form a government after the vote. She could lead a right-left grand coalition with the SPD as she did from 2005 to 2009 or a coalition with the pro-environment Greens party.

Merkel said she hoped there would be more controls next year on international financial markets - a popular issue in Germany that the SPD is planning to make a central plank of its 2013 election campaign.

"The world hasn't sufficiently learned the lessons of the devastating 2008 financial crisis," she said. "Never again can we allow irresponsibility like back then to happen. In a social market economy, the state is the guardian of order - and that is something people should be able to count on."

(Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-says-euro-zone-crisis-far-over-230211069--sector.html

jason whitlock beach boys tony bennett joe walsh the civil wars duggar miscarriage roman holiday

Sunday, December 30, 2012

iMore show tonight. 6pm PT. 9pm ET. 2013 preview. Be here!

2012 is just about over, and that means a new year, and all sorts of incredible new stuff, is almost here. Join me and Georgia tonight on the iMore show for our official 2013 preview show. We'll be talking Apple watches and Apple televisions, iOS 7, a Retina iPad mini, a skinny iPad 5, the iPhone 5S, and a whole lot more.

6pm PT. 9pm ET. Be here!



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/OGAASybmwms/story01.htm

manson bubba watson recent earthquakes fbi most wanted list stuttering james van der beek dyngus day

'New year new you' holidays | Sportsister

After a long year and a busy festive season, with all the social engagements and over-indulgences this includes, you might very well be feeling sluggish, and less than raring to go at the start of 2013! Perhaps you want to recharge your batteries, cleanse and renew your body and spirit, or start the new year with a fun?fitness bang that gets you excited about exercise again.

So why not start your new year with one of these fantastic health and fitness retreats, catering for all our post-Christmas wellbeing needs.

Ananda Detox

India

Retreat Style

Detox retreat

Secluded in the serenity and beauty of the Himalayas, Ananda is a peaceful and elegant resort, providing its guests with a 24,000ft spa, outdoor aquamarine pool, three restaurants, and tranquil grounds.

Travel: 'New year, new you' holidaysVoted the Number 1 Spa in the World by Conde Nast Traveller Reader?s Spa Awards 2012, Ananda?s philosophy is firmly based in the Ayurveda, Yoga and Vedanta regimes, whilst providing first class service and luxury.

If you are looking to improve your mental clarity for the year ahead, cleanse your skin, speed up your metabolism, and re-energise yourself and your immune system, then a week-long stay at Ananda will help you do that. All programmes are individually tailored to flush out toxins?utilising natural therapies, detoxifying body treatments, a controlled diet with delicious healthy cuisine, and relaxing yoga and meditation classes.

Special experience

The outdoor yoga class at sunrise, with the birds singing in the background. It is impossible?not to?feel refreshed after this experience!

Prices

From ?2,790pp sharing, for 7 nights on the Ananda Detox Programme, including return flights and transfers, full-board, and a full series of detox therapies.

More info: www.healthandfitnesstravel.com

Buccament Bay Flexible Fitness Retreat

St Vincent

Spa style

Fitness Retreat

This Five Star resort, surrounded by white sandy beaches and?nestled in the area known as?the jewel of the Caribbean, is the perfect destination for solos or groups looking to get fit and fall in love with exercise again.

Travel: 'New year, new you' holidaysWith a beautiful beach, two pools, diving facilities,?numerous restaurants and a spa whose signature treatment includes ?deep relaxation with volcanic stones?, you?d be hard-pressed?not to?feel reinvigorated on this fitness break!

The fitness programme, though designed and tested by Ex Royal Marine Commando Personal Trainers, is for any age and any fitness, as each programme is specifically tailored for?the individual?s?needs and goals. It includes a nutritional assessment, with all meals provided using fresh natural produce, and a fitness assessment, with 5-6 fitness activities per day. There are numerous activities to choose from: circuit training, obstacle courses, team games, boxing, and volcano hiking amongst others.

Special experience

A walk or run along the pristine beach at sunset with the turquoise water lapping gently against your feet!

Prices

?2,695pp, with no extra solo supplement, for 7 nights all-inclusive on the Flexible Fitness Retreat, including return flights and transfer. Dates: January 21 ? February 16 2013.

More info: www.healthandfitnesstravel.com

Grand Park

Austria

Spa style

Relax and re-energise

This beautiful hotel, nestled in the mountains of the southern region of Salzburger land, offers first-class luxury and service.

Its relaxation programmes cater for all needs, to gently unwind and melt away the stresses and strains of busy lifestyles,?like the snow melts in spring.

Grand Park Hotel

With a state of the art health and wellness centre, including an indoor thermal pool, and a plethora of spa treatments, you may not want to leave the grounds! However, there is also the option of hikes and cycles in the surrounding mountains or yoga and Pilate?s classes to refresh and renew bodies. Grand Park offers five different wellness programmes, at least one to suit your specific requirements, with their focus on health as the ultimate asset.

Special experience

A visit to the healing caves, with the Gastein thermal waters, which are extracted from 17 different natural springs ? truly restorative!

Prices

From ?1,165pp for 7 nights on one of the five wellness programmes, including full board, return flights and transfers.

More info: www.healthandfitnesstravel.com

Bianca Fermi, Sportsister
The Women?s Sports Magazine

Source: http://www.sportsister.com/2012/12/30/travel-new-year-new-you-holidays/

cinnamon challenge lou dobbs rock salt david letterman march of dimes james randi wargames

Back to the drawing board for property tax - Cyprus Mail

THE GOVERNMENT has backed down from its intention to update immovable property prices by applying a formula that stakeholders had said would hike up taxes many times over and would drive the economy deeper into recession.?

The House plenum is due to discuss an amended bill on January 17 that will remove a provision to update property prices, which was part of the preliminary agreement between Cyprus and its international lenders.?

Interior Minister Eleni Mavrou said that the bill would not now update property values using the consumer price index (CPI) over 1980 to 2012.

?We?re going back to the 1980 values,? Mavrou said referring to the way immovable property tax is currently calculated, which is on the property?s value on January 1, 1980.

Lawmakers recently discussed, but postponed voting on, a previous bill that was going to update the values to 2012.?

Hotels said that would increase by nine times the amount of tax a hotel would have to pay, and stakeholders and lawmakers asked the government to amend the bill.

?It now seems that the amount that we must aim for is significantly lower than the ?180 million we were discussing,? Mavrou said.

She said that the terms of the amended bill are under discussion with Cyprus? lenders and the finance ministry to clarify how much the government should aim to receive in taxes, though she added the figure might be somewhere over ?60 million.?

It was not immediately clear if the tax rate for the value bands ? also subject to changes under the bills previous guise ? was part of discussions.?

But Mavrou said that ?the average household? would not be impacted as they fall under the tax threshold.?

The CPI provision had drawn a large reaction from landowners, property developers and hoteliers who said the changes would drive the economy deeper into recession.

Under the changes as they were tabled for discussion under the bailout agreement, ?the taxable figure ?levied on the total value of all properties in a person?s or company?s name ? would be the result of multiplying the 1980 value of the property by about 3.5.

A property worth ?170,000 in 1980 values would have risen to ?595,000 after multiplying it with the CPI. The chairman of property developers Pantelis Leptos said it was an unfair bill that would act as a deterrent for investment.

The hotels association PASYXE chairman, Haris Loizides, said that the bill as it stood increased the tax a hotel had to pay by nine times, which would have translated to a hotel that paid ?27,600 in IPT last year needing to pay ?253,380 in 2013.

Source: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/back-drawing-board-property-tax/20121229

2013 nissan altima masters par 3 contest google augmented reality glasses wonderlic test texas tornado fantasy baseball jared sullinger

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Video: From the Archives: First U.S. ?test tube? baby born

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

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50312369/

project runway all stars elin nordegren tangled ever after kansas state last house on the left last house on the left rich forever mixtape

Desert Storm commander Norman Schwarzkopf dies

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 1990 file photo, U.S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, answers questions during an interview in Riyadh. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 1990 file photo, U.S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, answers questions during an interview in Riyadh. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 1991 file photo, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. troops in the Gulf, gazes from the window of his small jet on his way out to visit U.S. troops in the desert in Saudi Arabia. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 1997 file photo, retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the Persian Gulf War illness. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette, File)

FILE - In this June 8, 1991 file photo, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and President George Bush watch the National Victory Parade from the viewing stand in Washington. Schwarzkopf led his troops in the parade, and then joined Bush in the reviewing stand. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

FILE - In this April 23, 1991 file photo, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, left, looks on as President George Bush speaks to reporters in the White House Rose Garden as in Washington. Bush praised the general for leading a "fantastic" effort to fulfill U.S. obligations in the gulf, and for helping to build "unbelievable" morale on the home front. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)

(AP) ? Truth is, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf didn't care much for his popular "Stormin' Norman" nickname.

The seemingly no-nonsense Desert Storm commander's reputed temper with aides and subordinates supposedly earned him that rough-and-ready moniker. But others around the general, who died Thursday in Tampa, Fla., at age 78 of complications from pneumonia, knew him as a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who preferred the somewhat milder sobriquet given by his troops: "The Bear."

That one perhaps suited him better later in his life, when he supported various national causes and children's charities while eschewing the spotlight and resisting efforts to draft him to run for political office.

He lived out a quiet retirement in Tampa, where he'd served his last military assignment and where an elementary school bearing his name is testament to his standing in the community.

Schwarzkopf capped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 ? but he'd managed to keep a low profile in the public debate over the second Gulf War against Iraq, saying at one point that he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and the Pentagon predicted.

Schwarzkopf was named commander in chief of U.S. Central Command at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base in 1988, overseeing the headquarters for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly two dozen countries stretching across the Middle East to Afghanistan and the rest of central Asia, plus Pakistan.

When Saddam invaded Kuwait two years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, Schwarzkopf commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organized by President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.

At the peak of his postwar national celebrity, Schwarzkopf ? a self-proclaimed political independent ? rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military commentator for NBC.

While focused primarily on charitable enterprises in his later years, he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000, but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In early 2003 he told The Washington Post that the outcome was an unknown: "What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That's a huge question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign plan."

Initially Schwarzkopf had endorsed the invasion, saying he was convinced that Secretary of State Colin Powell had given the United Nations powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what U.N. weapons inspectors found.

He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004 he sharply criticized Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon for mistakes that included erroneous judgments about Iraq and inadequate training for Army reservists sent there.

"In the final analysis I think we are behind schedule. ... I don't think we counted on it turning into jihad (holy war)," he said in an NBC interview.

Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 24, 1934, in Trenton, N.J., where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnap case. That investigation ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for murdering famed aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son.

The elder Schwarzkopf was named Herbert, but when the son was asked what his "H'' stood for, he would reply, "H."

As a teenager Norman accompanied his father to Iran, where the elder Schwarzkopf trained the Iran's national police force and was an adviser to Reza Pahlavi, the young Shah of Iran.

Young Norman studied there and in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, then followed in his father's footsteps to West Point, graduating in 1956 with an engineering degree. After stints in the U.S. and abroad, he earned a master's degree in engineering at the University of Southern California and later taught missile engineering at West Point.

In 1966 he volunteered for Vietnam and served two tours, first as a U.S. adviser to South Vietnamese paratroops and later as a battalion commander in the U.S. Army's Americal Division. He earned three Silver Stars for valor ? including one for saving troops from a minefield ? plus a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and three Distinguished Service Medals.

While many career officers left military service embittered by Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was among those who opted to stay and help rebuild the tattered Army into a potent, modernized all-volunteer force.

After Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Schwarzkopf played a key diplomatic role by helping persuade Saudi Arabia's King Fahd to allow U.S. and other foreign troops to deploy on Saudi territory as a staging area for the war to come.

On Jan. 17, 1991, a five-month buildup called Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm as allied aircraft attacked Iraqi bases and Baghdad government facilities. The six-week aerial campaign climaxed with a massive ground offensive on Feb. 24-28, routing the Iraqis from Kuwait in 100 hours before U.S. officials called a halt.

Schwarzkopf said afterward he agreed with Bush's decision to stop the war rather than drive to Baghdad to capture Saddam, as his mission had been only to oust the Iraqis from Kuwait.

But in a desert tent meeting with vanquished Iraqi generals, he allowed a key concession on Iraq's use of helicopters, which later backfired by enabling Saddam to crack down more easily on rebellious Shiites and Kurds.

While he later avoided the public second-guessing by academics and think tank experts over the ambiguous outcome of the first Gulf War and its impact on the second Gulf War, he told The Washington Post in 2003, "You can't help but ... with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say, 'Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn't be facing what we are facing today.'"

After retiring from the Army in 1992, Schwarzkopf wrote a best-selling autobiography, "It Doesn't Take A Hero." Of his Gulf War role, he said: "I like to say I'm not a hero. I was lucky enough to lead a very successful war." He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and honored with decorations from France, Britain, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

Schwarzkopf was a national spokesman for prostate cancer awareness and for Recovery of the Grizzly Bear, served on the Nature Conservancy board of governors and was active in various charities for chronically ill children.

"I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I'm very proud of that," he once told The Associated Press. "But I've always felt that I was more than one-dimensional. I'd like to think I'm a caring human being. ... It's nice to feel that you have a purpose."

Schwarzkopf and his wife, Brenda, had three children: Cynthia, Jessica and Christian.

___

Stacy was the AP's Tampa, Fla., correspondent when he prepared this report on Schwarzkopf's life; he now reports from the AP bureau in Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press writers Richard Pyle in New York and Jay Lindsay in Boston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-28-Obit-Schwarzkopf/id-7b37ee550f044ac583f7af5549329350

wrestlemania country music awards 2012 wrestlemania 28 results earl scruggs game of thrones wrestlemania 28 game of thrones season 2

Texas Tech rallies to beat Minnesota 34-31

HOUSTON (AP) ? D.J. Johnson returned an interception 39 yards and Ryan Bustin made a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give Texas Tech a 34-31 comeback victory over Minnesota on Friday night in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Seth Doege found Eric Ward on a short pass, and he outran a defender for a 35-yard scoring play to pull the Red Raiders even at 31 with just more than a minute remaining.

Michael Carter intercepted two of Doege's passes in the fourth quarter before the tying score, but Minnesota couldn't convert either of the turnovers into points.

The Red Raiders (8-5) got their third straight bowl win to wrap up a month that began with coach Tommy Tuberville's abrupt departure for the job at Cincinnati. Texas Tech has hired Kliff Kingsbury to replace him, but interim coach Chris Thomsen led the team against Minnesota (6-7). Kingsbury was at the game, watching from a suite.

Doege threw for 271 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in front of a crowd that included 1977 Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell and former Tech coach Spike Dykes.

Philip Nelson threw for 138 yards and two scores for the Gophers, who were in a bowl game for the first time since 2009.

The Red Raiders returned to a bowl after having their 18-season bowl streak snapped last year.

A 1-yard touchdown pass from Nelson to Drew Goodger gave Minnesota a 31-24 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Texas Tech led 24-17 at halftime, but couldn't do anything offensively in the second half until the last couple of minutes. It was an ugly game for the Red Raiders, who had 13 penalties for 135 yards and lost the tight end Jace Amaro when he was ejected for throwing a punch.

Jakeem Grant ran for what was initially ruled a touchdown for Tech late in the third quarter. Amaro threw a punch at Derrick Wells in the end zone on the play and was ejected.

After the penalty, the play was reviewed and overturned. Doege threw an incomplete pass before Tech made a 32-yard field goal. But the Red Raiders had a false start penalty on the play and had to kick again and this time the Gophers blocked it.

Nelson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Devin Crawford-Tufts, who was left uncovered in the end zone, to tie it at 24 early in the third quarter.

Donnell Kirkwood scored on a 3-yard run to leave Minnesota up 17-14 early in the second quarter.

Texas Tech had a first-and-goal at the Minnesota 2 after a pass-interference call on the Gophers. But Texas Tech had to settle for a field goal after a rush for a 3-yard loss and two penalties.

Minnesota's next drive started out well before turning ugly. The Gophers had made two first downs before Gray was sacked for a loss of seven yards. Kirkwood ran for 17 yards on the next play, but Minnesota received two 15-yard penalties on the play, one for a personal foul on lineman Zac Epping, to make it second-and-42. Epping received a second personal foul penalty on the next play to bring up third-and-49.

Christian Eldred shanked the punt, giving Texas Tech the ball at the Minnesota 42.

The Red Raiders capitalized on their great field position when Doege spun away from a defender in the backfield and leaped over another Gopher near the goal line on a 4-yard touchdown run. Tech converted a fourth-and-6 play on that drive, and led 24-17 at halftime.

Minnesota's Rodrick Williams Jr. scored on a 2-yard run to give the Gophers a 10-7 lead in the first quarter.

Doege lost his helmet on a 5-yard scramble on Tech's next drive and had to go out for one play. He was replaced by Michael Brewer, who found Derreck Edwards for a 13-yard touchdown pass to give the Red Raiders a 14-10 lead.

Minnesota's Troy Stoudermire returned the opening kickoff 26 yards to break the NCAA record for career kickoff return yards. He finished the game with 111 yards to push his total to 3,615.

The Gophers ended that drive with a 41-yard field goal to make it 3-0.

Texas Tech's Grant returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to put Texas Tech up 7-3.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-tech-rallies-beat-minnesota-34-31-060522585--spt.html

NBC Olympics NBC Olympics schedule 2012 Olympics Chad Everett London Olympics Kristen Stewart Rupert Sanders Photos 2016 Olympics

Friday, December 28, 2012

Jackson to step down as Obama's environmental chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson, who spearheaded the Obama administration's crackdown on carbon emissions, said on Thursday that she will be stepping down after almost four years of battles with Republicans and big industry over her proposed regulations.

Under her leadership, the agency declared for the first time that carbon dioxide was a danger to human health and could be regulated under the Clean Air Act, leading the EPA to develop a new regulatory regime to limit carbon emissions.

But many environmental activists felt that measures to address climate change by the Obama administration were too timid, and it is unclear if that will change in the president's second term, regardless of who succeeds Jackson.

Leading the list of potential replacements are Bob Perciasepe, the current deputy EPA administrator, who will take over the agency on an interim basis; and Kathleen McGinty, a former head of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection and a prot?g? of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Also said to be in the mix are Gina McCarthy, the EPA's assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation; and Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board.

Jackson's departure was not a surprise. Analysts had not expected her to stay for President Barack Obama's second term.

She had faced withering attacks from industry groups and Republicans, who hauled her in for numerous hearings in Congress, as well as some pushback from within the Obama administration.

Obama thanked Jackson for her service, praising her work on mercury pollution limits, fighting climate change and helping set new fuel economy standards for vehicles.

"Under her leadership, the EPA has taken sensible and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink," Obama said in a statement.

Jackson, 50, is expected to leave the EPA after Obama's State of the Union address in early 2013. The post of EPA administrator is a Cabinet-level job.

The administration is expected to face a tough fight to get any potential nominee, and especially one seen as being in the mold of Jackson, confirmed by the Senate.

Jackson is the first major energy policy official to step aside since Obama's re-election last month. There has been speculation that the similarly embattled Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel prize winning physicist, may not stick around for Obama's second term. Ken Salazar, the U.S. Interior Secretary, may also depart.

BRUISING ENCOUNTERS

Jackson's years at the agency were marked by some bruising encounters with Republican lawmakers, who accused her of orchestrating massive government overreach that they said was choking U.S. economic growth.

Republican lawmakers passed numerous bills aimed at undoing Jackson's regulations. None of these measures were signed into law, but the White House did begin to pull back or delay rules in the face of the relentless onslaught.

For example, Obama's decision in 2011 to delay rules to restrict emissions of smog-forming chemicals from power plants led to speculation that Jackson would step down at that time in response to the setback.

"From an energy and consumer perspective, it has to be said that the Jackson EPA presided over some of the most expensive and controversial rules in agency history," said Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, which lobbied against many of the EPA's proposed regulations.

States and governors have also fought Jackson's rules in the courts. In a major win for opponents, a U.S. appeals court in August overturned the EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, aimed at reducing harmful emissions from coal-burning power plants.

In a statement, Jackson, the first black administrator of the 17,000-strong EPA, said she was "confident the (EPA) ship is sailing in the right direction."

While tensions ran high with industry, Jackson's tenure has been hailed by many environmentalists and public health advocates, who say she leaves a legacy of cleaner air.

"Administrator Jackson has been one of the most effective leaders in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency," Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation.

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that Jackson, a chemical engineer by training, might be under consideration for the post of president of Princeton University in New Jersey.

Media reports also indicate that the one-time chief of staff to former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine might be mulling a run for governor in that state.

Despite her contentious dealings with Congress, Jackson maintained a surprisingly cordial relationship with one of her biggest critics, Senator Jim Inhofe. She even kept a photo of the Oklahoma Republican and his grandchildren in her office.

"Lisa Jackson and I disagreed on many issues and regulations while she headed the EPA, however, I have always appreciated her receptivity to my concerns, her accessibility and her honesty," said Inhofe, who has called climate change a hoax, chided the Obama administration for a "far left green agenda" and vigorously opposed carbon regulations.

Inhofe said Jackson's departure offers the White House the chance to appoint someone "who appreciates the needs of our economy."

UNFINISHED AGENDA INCLUDES FRACKING

A self-described pragmatist, Jackson passionately fought to limit air pollution. She often described her two sons' struggles with asthma when discussing the importance of clean air.

Jackson also rejected her critics' complaints that stronger environmental rules were incompatible with a robust economy.

When broad climate change legislation sputtered in Congress in 2010, the EPA became the White House's main vehicle for addressing carbon emissions.

Since then the agency has finalized rules outlining restrictions on carbon emissions for new power plants, effectively prohibiting the construction of new coal-fired plants without carbon-capture and storage technology.

"Her successor will inherit an unfinished agenda that begins with the issuance of new health protections against carbon pollution from existing power plants - the largest remaining driver of climate change that needs to be controlled," said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The EPA will also have a major role in the federal response to the shale oil and gas boom. The agency's study of the booming but controversial drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is due out in 2014.

Most regulation of fracking has fallen to the states, but the EPA has said it plans to propose standards on wastewater from gas wells by 2014 and is considering rules that would require more disclosure about the chemicals used in fracking.

(Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Ros Krasny, Will Dunham and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jackson-step-down-obamas-epa-chief-161702143.html

act Black Ops 2 Secede ben roethlisberger Diwali elmo nascar

US new home sales jump to fastest rate in 2? years

In this Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, photo, a woman walks towards a home for sale during a viewing for brokers in Leucadia, Calif. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, that the average rate on the 30-year loan dipped to 3.32 percent. That's below last week's rate of 3.34 percent. And it's just above the 3.31 percent, the lowest rate on records dating to 1971. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

In this Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, photo, a woman walks towards a home for sale during a viewing for brokers in Leucadia, Calif. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, that the average rate on the 30-year loan dipped to 3.32 percent. That's below last week's rate of 3.34 percent. And it's just above the 3.31 percent, the lowest rate on records dating to 1971. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Americans bought new homes last month at the fastest pace in more than two and a half years, further evidence of a sustained housing recovery.

Sales of new homes rose 4.4 percent in November from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 377,000, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That's the fastest pace since April 2010, when a federal tax credit boosted sales.

New-home sales have also increased 15.3 percent over the past year, although the improvement comes from depressed levels. Sales remain below the 700,000 that economists consider healthy.

Sales in the Northeast rebounded in November from disruptions caused by Superstorm Sandy. Sales in the region increased 12.5 percent last month. That followed a decline of 27.3 percent in October.

The housing market has steadily improved this year, helped by stable job gains and record-low mortgage rates. More people are looking to buy or rent a home after living with relatives or friends during and immediately after the Great Recession.

Another big reason for the rebound: The excess supply of homes that were built during the housing boom has finally thinned out. Only 149,000 new homes were for sale at the end of last month, according to the report. That's just above a record low of 143,000 in August.

The increase in the supply of new homes for sale was the first sustained rise in five years. Economists said that reflects growing optimism among builders that the housing recovery will endure.

Builder confidence rose this month to its highest level in 6? years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo survey released last week.

The pace of home construction is nearly 22 percent higher than a year earlier, according to government data. Builders are on track this year to start work on the most homes in four years.

There have been other signs of a recovery in the housing market.

Home prices are also increasing. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller national home price index released Wednesday increased 4.3 percent in October compared with a year ago. That's the largest year-over-year increase in two and a half years. And prices rose for the 12-month period in 18 of the 20 cities tracked by the index.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose to the highest level in three years in November, the National Association of Realtors said last week.

Though new homes represent only a small portion of the housing market, they have a disproportionate impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to statistics from the National Association of Home Builders.

___

Follow Chris Rugaber on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-27-New%20Home%20Sales/id-3acc38fbad31409989e5cf4b561416f6

obama state of the union 2012 2012 state of the union address jorge posada maurice sendak state of the union sotu boehner

Canon Pixma MG6320 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer


The Canon Pixma MG6320 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer is a handsome and well designed multifunction printer (MFP) primarily for home use. It's a joy to use, and it prints very good text; otherwise its output quality is solid if unspectacular. It is relatively slow, which may not be an issue if your printing demands are light.

The MG6320 can print, copy, and scan. It can print from and scan to memory cards, scan as an attachment to an email; to a PC; or a network drive. You can preview images on its 3.5-inch LCD touch screen.

This is a handsome MFP, glossy black with beveled front and side panels and rounded corners, and a lid concealing the flatbed on top. (A white version with black trim is also available.) The front panel's centerpiece is the touch screen. The only other button, also a touch-sensitive virtual button, is the on/off switch.

The MG6320 measures 5.9 by 18.4 by 14.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 18.3 pounds. It's considerably more compact than the Canon Pixma MG5320 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-in-One , though it lacks much of that MFP's 300-sheet paper capacity. The MG6320 has a 125-sheet main paper tray plus a 25-sheet photo tray that fits 4-by-6 paper, and a built-in automatic duplexer.

This model includes the ability to print on printable optical discs, or on CD, DVD, or Blu-ray cases. The two paper trays are stacked together right underneath the fold-open output tray, a design that makes efficient use of space. The MG6320 has 6 ink tanks: pigment black; yellow; cyan; magenta; dye black; and gray; the latter two to enhance photo quality.

A program in the software suite lets you set the text and images for printing on optical disks, and offers a choice of layout templates. My Image Garden lets you organize photos and easily use them in creative projects.

Mobile Printing
This AirPrint compatible MFP also provides access to Pixma Cloud Link, which lets you print pictures from online photo albums; and Google Cloud Print, which lets you send documents to your printer from any Web-connected computer, smart phone, or device. You can print photos directly from your camera with its PictBridge WLAN. It has memory-card slots for a variety of formats in the CF, SD, and MS Duo families.

Connectivity
It offers Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and USB connectivity; I tested it over a wired network with drivers installed on a PC running Windows Vista. Along with a host-based driver, which installs by default, one can optionally install (by checking a box) an XPS driver, which lets you print out documents created in the XML Paper Specification (XPS) document format that Microsoft developed. Most users will only need the host-based driver, which is the one I tested it with.

Canon Pixma MG6320 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer

Print Speed
The Canon Pixma MG6320 printed out the latest version of our business applications suite (as timed by QualityLogic's hardware and software) at a speed of 2.4 effective pages per minute (ppm), which is slow for an inkjet MFP in its price range. Two less expensive models, the Epson Expression Premium XP-600 Small-in-One and the Editors' Choice Kodak ESP 3.2, turned in speeds of 4.9 and 3.2 ppm, respectively. The Canon Pixma MG5320, which I reviewed two years ago, tested at 3 ppm. The Editors' Choice Epson Expression Premium XP-800, which adds fax and other office-centric features to a good mix of home features, tested at 5.2 ppm.

Output Quality
Overall output quality was typical of an inkjet, with text quality a little above average, graphics quality on the low side of average, and photo quality average for inkjets. Text quality may be good enough, depending on how picky you are, for documents such as resumes with which you want to create a good visual impression, but not for uses that require very small fonts such as demanding desktop publishing applications.

As for graphics, some of the illustrations looked a bit muted, with under-saturated colors. Very thin colored lines were barely visible. Many illustrations showed dithering in the form of fine graininess and dot patterns. Posterization (the tendency for abrupt shifts in colors in places where they should be gradual) was visible in one illustration.

Overall, photo print quality is about what you'd expect from drugstore prints. Even with the extra black and gray ink tanks, our monochrome test photo showed traces of red in some light gray areas.

Running Costs
The cost per printed page for the MG6320, based on the most cost-effective cartridges, is 4.6 cents per monochrome page and 13.5 cents per color page, a little on the high side. ?Although these ink costs are in effect identical to those of both the Epson XP-600 and XP-800, they can't compete with the ESP 3.2, for which Kodak claims 3.2 cents per monochrome and 9.5 cents per color page.

The Canon Pixma MG6320 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer is a handsome and well designed home-centered MFP. It has solid output quality, with above-par text for an inkjet. It is slow for its price; we've seen faster MFPs such as the Editors' Choice Kodak ESP 3.2 for considerably less. The ESP 3.2 also has significantly lower running costs. The Kodak has better photo quality than the MG6320, but has lower (100-sheet) paper capacity and lacks Ethernet connectivity.

In outputting our business applications suite, the Epson Expression XP-600 finished in less than half the MG6320's time. It had slightly better photo quality, though not as good text.? Its feature set is similar to the Canon's, though it adds a port for a USB thumb drive.

The MG6320 may not be the fastest, nor the most cost-effective printer, and there are others that surpass it in output quality. I do give this MFP points for user experience and design, with handsome appearance, responsive touch screen, and efficient placement of paper trays and other features. It's certainly up to the needs of most home users, and has a touch of style.

More multifunction printer reviews:

??? Canon Pixma MG6320 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer
??? Dell C1765nfw Color Multifunction Printer
??? Epson Expression Premium XP-600 Small-In-One Printer
??? Epson WorkForce WF-3520
??? Epson WorkForce WF-2530
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/qiP7kvjCiro/0,2817,2413614,00.asp

neurofibromatosis steve jobs fbi file suge knight obama birth control mortgage settlement macauly culkin joe namath

Thursday, December 27, 2012

The Kindle Fire HD

Kindle Fire HD

The Kindle Fire HD delivers a tablet experience many folks will love, but is it the right choice for me? Have a read and see what a total Android nerd thinks of Amazon's latest offering.

Amazon’s new Kindle tablets don’t get the attention that other Android tablets get. Android purists tend to scoff at them, thinking that the operating system being used -- a true custom fork of Android 4.0 -- is entirely too basic, lacking many of the features and customization settings that stock Android or the more traditional OEM builds like Sense or TouchWiz have.

But simple -- and consistent -- software has a place. Amazon’s removal of some of the more advanced parts of the Android OS are also part of the reason not much talk goes on about the Kindle Fire HD -- it tends to just work, and users have few issues they need to sort out. Amazon has perfected the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy of smart devices.

I’ve had both Kindle Fire HD devices here for a while, and have spent a good bit of time playing with the hardware and Amazon’s operating system as shipped. It’s time I put down a few words about them.

read more



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/TpTiL3tqG64/story01.htm

comedy central philadelphia eagles obamacare Todd Akin Register To Vote Fox News Live Obama 2016

New funding to research 'super material' graphene

New funding to research 'super material' graphene [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Press Office
press.office@imperial.ac.uk
44-078-038-86248
Imperial College London

Imperial scientists will receive 4.5 million public funds to investigate how 'super material' graphene can drive improvements in high-tech industry

Scientists at Imperial College London are set to receive over 4.5 million of public funding to investigate how the 'super material' graphene can drive improvements in high-tech industries, such as aerospace design and medical technologies.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, today announced 21.5 million of capital investment to commercialise graphene, one of the thinnest, lightest, strongest and most conductive materials to have been discovered, marked by the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics as one of the world's most ground breaking scientific achievements.

Three research projects at Imperial will share the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding as part of a new programme with a number of industrial partners, including aeroplane manufacturer Airbus. The scientists receiving the grant hope to develop graphene technologies that will contribute to the UK economy and can be applied by industries around the world.

Professor Neil Alford, deputy principal for research in Imperial's Faculty of Engineering, who is playing a key role in one of the new projects, said: "This is a tremendous opportunity for UK science and industry. The new funding will enable us to bring graphene a step closer to useful applications, by helping us explore the physical and mechanical properties of this remarkable material, as well as its behaviour at high frequency."

In one project worth 1.35 million, led by Professor Tony Kinloch from the Department of Mechanical Engineering with colleagues from the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, researchers will explore how combining graphene with current materials can improve the properties of aeroplane parts, such as making them resistant to lightning-strikes. They hope the same technology can also be used to develop coatings for wind-turbine blades, to make them scratch resistant and physically tougher in extreme weather conditions.

Professor Eduardo Saiz, from the Department of Materials, will develop new manufacturing processes using liquids that contain tiny suspended particles of graphene, in order to reduce the cost of currently expensive industrial techniques. This project will receive 1.91 million funding and involves scientists from Imperial's Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Queen Mary, University of London.

1.37 million of funding received by Professor Norbert Klein, also from the Department of Materials and shared with Imperial's Department of Physics, will pay for new equipment to deposit extremely thin sheets of graphene, so scientists can explore its electrical properties. They hope that new medical scanning technology may be developed as a result of how graphene responds to high frequency electromagnetic waves, from microwave to terahertz frequencies and all the way to the wavelengths of visible light.

Professor Alford said: "At Imperial we will use the funding to build on first class research that crosses several College departments to vastly improve current technologies such as catalysis, supercapacitors, membranes, multifunctional polymer and ceramic composites and a whole range of applications at microwave and optical frequencies. We will work on improving the mechanical properties of composite materials, and addressing the electrical properties of devices, to develop exceptionally sensitive sensors for a range of applications in environmental monitoring and the medical sciences."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


New funding to research 'super material' graphene [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Press Office
press.office@imperial.ac.uk
44-078-038-86248
Imperial College London

Imperial scientists will receive 4.5 million public funds to investigate how 'super material' graphene can drive improvements in high-tech industry

Scientists at Imperial College London are set to receive over 4.5 million of public funding to investigate how the 'super material' graphene can drive improvements in high-tech industries, such as aerospace design and medical technologies.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, today announced 21.5 million of capital investment to commercialise graphene, one of the thinnest, lightest, strongest and most conductive materials to have been discovered, marked by the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics as one of the world's most ground breaking scientific achievements.

Three research projects at Imperial will share the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding as part of a new programme with a number of industrial partners, including aeroplane manufacturer Airbus. The scientists receiving the grant hope to develop graphene technologies that will contribute to the UK economy and can be applied by industries around the world.

Professor Neil Alford, deputy principal for research in Imperial's Faculty of Engineering, who is playing a key role in one of the new projects, said: "This is a tremendous opportunity for UK science and industry. The new funding will enable us to bring graphene a step closer to useful applications, by helping us explore the physical and mechanical properties of this remarkable material, as well as its behaviour at high frequency."

In one project worth 1.35 million, led by Professor Tony Kinloch from the Department of Mechanical Engineering with colleagues from the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, researchers will explore how combining graphene with current materials can improve the properties of aeroplane parts, such as making them resistant to lightning-strikes. They hope the same technology can also be used to develop coatings for wind-turbine blades, to make them scratch resistant and physically tougher in extreme weather conditions.

Professor Eduardo Saiz, from the Department of Materials, will develop new manufacturing processes using liquids that contain tiny suspended particles of graphene, in order to reduce the cost of currently expensive industrial techniques. This project will receive 1.91 million funding and involves scientists from Imperial's Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Queen Mary, University of London.

1.37 million of funding received by Professor Norbert Klein, also from the Department of Materials and shared with Imperial's Department of Physics, will pay for new equipment to deposit extremely thin sheets of graphene, so scientists can explore its electrical properties. They hope that new medical scanning technology may be developed as a result of how graphene responds to high frequency electromagnetic waves, from microwave to terahertz frequencies and all the way to the wavelengths of visible light.

Professor Alford said: "At Imperial we will use the funding to build on first class research that crosses several College departments to vastly improve current technologies such as catalysis, supercapacitors, membranes, multifunctional polymer and ceramic composites and a whole range of applications at microwave and optical frequencies. We will work on improving the mechanical properties of composite materials, and addressing the electrical properties of devices, to develop exceptionally sensitive sensors for a range of applications in environmental monitoring and the medical sciences."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/icl-nft122612.php

m.i.a. adrianne curry hoekstra best superbowl commercials 2012 best super bowl ads chrysler super bowl commercial madonna half time show

7 Ways to Earn Money Online Sitting at Home - TechTricksWorld

Sitting at home and getting money, what can be better? Many people dream about this. Depending on your abilities and skills you can find plenty of ways to earn money in the Internet. Let?s consider few of them and we hope you can find something useful for you.

Freelancing

It?s easy to make money being freelancer. There are many sites that run as intermediaries between employers and employees. You can get both the long-term and short-term projects on oDesk or Elance. Of course, there are many risks associated with such collaboration, but if you are pro this is good opportunity for self-realization, getting experience and money. Wide array of tasks are available every day. Pick up yours!

Social Networks

Social networking is a great opportunity to earn money. Extend your online presence and gain from it. People are ready to pay for your clicks and followings, sharing content, etc. This is pretty easy, because you don?t need to have deep knowledge or skills in specific area. This job can be done even by child. If you want to deal seriously with this business you can create your own group in Facebook, promote it and sell it.

Advertising

The most of the websites have been created in order to gain from pay-per-click (PPC). This is one of the most popular advertising models used in the Internet. The more traffic directed to your website the more chance the advertising placed on this site will be clicked by visitor. Big and frequently visited websites (i.e. media portals) are stuffed with advertising. You don?t have to be high-pro webmaster to promote a small website, but the basic of HTML and web design skills are desirable. People create hundreds of sites and make good money with PPC or pay-per-view. (PPV) is almost the same thing but usually PPV sites are less strict then PPC.

Writing Reviews

There are many blogs in the Internet that are seeking for people who can write reviews for them. You could try yourself in this area and write few reviews for products or services. If you are good copywriter you can make good money pretty easy and quick. Sometimes employer asks you to write 50 reviews for one day. So, despite that this is not difficult job you need to be patient and have the time for it. There are some sites which are ready to pay you for reviews: Social Spark, PayU2Blog, Blogging Ads, etc.
earn money online

E-commerce

This approach is for those who want to make business online. E-commerce reduces costs, time and makes your business more efficient and flexible. You don?t have to spend too much time handling it by yourself. Hire designers, webmasters instead realtor, warehouseman and other people who are needed when you organize retail business. There are some types of ecommerce: e-tail, the business-to-business exchange of data, buying and selling, use of demographic data through social media and Web contracts.

Answering Questions

Just Answer, Fun Advice, ChaCha are among websites that are ready to pay for online answers and advices. Some of such sites require you to sign up and be approved before starting talk to people. This activity can be interesting for many people making them feel needed while doing good work. Of course, many questions require special skills, but you can find your niche. I think this job is perfect for people with big work experience and deep knowledge in specific area, but not necessary. You can be young lady and give advices related to hair, nails, etc.

Selling Products

Have lots of stuff in your apartment? Get rid of this and make some money. New Year is coming soon and now there are peak sales on eBay, Shopit, Commission Junction, etc. You can sell items you own, don?t own, designed but don?t own. This type of making money is one of the oldest and gives you opportunity to clear out your house and earn some money. Selling products you don?t own is known as affiliate marketing. You use affiliate link when recommend some products getting your commission when someone clicks this link. Unfortunately it is not so simple to execute. You can create website focusing on the one type of product and promote it with relevant posts and affiliate links.

Working at home is not rare thing for our century. I hope our tips will help you to make some money sitting at home. For example, you can work at night or have a day off whenever you want. It can be either main or side job. Anyway, try it and you?ll like it!

Author?s BIO:

This article was written by Andrew Smith. He enjoys to write about SEO, social media and IT technologies. His career was started as SEO Manager and writer in?QArea?Company where he works till present.

?

Source: http://www.techtricksworld.com/2012/12/7-ways-to-earn-money-online-sitting-at-home.html

Avril Lavigne Microsoft Tropical Storm Isaac amber portwood Phyllis Diller Darla Moore newsweek

Education & Reference 2016: Petal the Owl Colours - alyeuokbu's ...

Buy on the merchant's online shopping and browse reviews. If you're attempting to search out Petal the Owl Colours with special deals. This is the simplest price for you. Where you'll find these item is by online looking stores? Read the review on Petal the Owl Colours Now, it's the simplest value. Therefore do not lose it.

Petal the
Petal the Owl Colours
Joy Findlay (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars(3)

Download: $1.99 (as of 12/25/2012 14:14 PST)

Education & Reference

Petal the Owl Colours is a sweet little ebook following Petal the nature owl, as she learns about colours around her. It is a great little first reader ebook for young ones learning their basics. Colours cover Brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink and white. Ages 3-6.

  • Rank: #1521 in eBooks
  • Published on: 2012-05-04
  • Released on: 2012-05-04
  • Format: Kindle eBook
  • Number of items: 1

Source: http://educationreference234.blogspot.com/2012/12/petal-owl-colours.html

arizona governor patrick witt leprosy tampa bay buccaneers birdman whip it gabby giffords

Source: http://alyeuokbu.posterous.com/education-reference-2016-petal-the-owl-colour

pierre garcon brown recluse spider wiz khalifa taylor allderdice eddie royal iditarod nfl free agents 2012 encyclopedia brittanica

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

heroes scripture: medicate sophi: charlesmurra8: Speed reading

23 Dec

I installed some speed reading apps and tested them. I?ve so far notices a few ?categories? or groups of equals:

  • One kind exists mostly from showing a text word by word in the middle of the screen. Showing each word a very short time and so you can read at a high wpm because you never need to move your eyes.
  • Another kind is merely a speed reading article disguised as app.
  • Another kind is no speed reading app but just a reading app with a fancy name.
  • Yet another kind is training in the form of news/actually.
  • And the last kind is a training app, not for your own stuff but purely for training.

I only tested them quickly and unions talked the non-interesting. But they aren?t quite what I?m looking for. Maybe I should write one myself for training and guided reading.

This entry was posted in Other and tagged Android, Self Improvement, Speed Reading. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.tjenwellens.eu/other/speed-reading-apps-for-android/

oscars red carpet jennifer lopez wardrobe malfunction hugo hugo nfl combine 84th annual academy awards beginners

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Source: http://pygytafac.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/speed-reading-apps-for-android-tjen-wellens/

portland trailblazers will kopelman dakota fanning casey anthony video diary lamarcus aldridge justin timberlake engaged bluefin tuna

Source: http://charlesmurra8.blogspot.com/2012/12/speed-reading-apps-for-android-tjen.html

SEC Championship Game 2012 kansas city chiefs Javon Belcher express kindle fire Jenny Johnson olivier martinez

Source: http://medicate-sophi.blogspot.com/2012/12/charlesmurra8-speed-reading-apps-for.html

kenny chesney academy of country music awards brad paisley zac brown band aubrey born to run pranks

Source: http://heroes-scripture.blogspot.com/2012/12/medicate-sophi-charlesmurra8-speed.html

nfl playoff schedule tim howard scores nick cannon kidney failure consumer financial protection bureau casey anthony video recess appointment eastman kodak

Source: http://bensean98.blogspot.com/2012/12/heroes-scripture-medicate-sophi.html

snooki pregnant gbc hedy lamarr jack white kowloon walled city ronda rousey vs miesha tate lindsay lohan snl

'Les Miserables': The Reviews Are In!

Most expect recognition for 'Les Mis' come Oscar time, like it or not.
By Ryan J. Downey


Anne Hathaway in "Les Miserables"
Photo: Universal

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1699373/les-miserables-the-reviews-are-in.jhtml

USC shooting halloween chipotle lsu football lsu football Jessie Andrews sofia vergara

Green Blog: Protected Tigers, Burning Bright

Tigers have delivered a bit of holiday cheer: populations are on the upswing, it turns out, in some protected areas in India and Thailand. In a field often dominated by news of felled forests and population declines, wildlife conservationists have taken heart from this development, while noting that tigers have a long, long way to go if they are to claw their way off the endangered species list.

?If the conditions are right, tiger populations can recover, though there?s still plenty of challenges,? said Cristi?n Samper, the president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society. ?I think the encouraging news is that we now know it can work.?

At the start of the 20th century, tigers numbered around 100,000 and occupied forests from Turkey to Russia to Indonesia. Today around 3,200 wild tigers occupy just 6 percent of their historic range as a result of habitat destruction, retaliatory killings and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. ?We?ve reached a point where tigers are so much in danger of being lost that we suddenly value them and realize how important it is to hold on to them,? said John Robinson, the Wildlife Conservation Society?s chief conservation officer.

The Wildlife Conservation Society first homed in on the tiger problem in the 1960s, starting with India. Thanks in part to a strong commitment from the Indian government, tigers in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka State have quadrupled in number over the past 30 years, with more than 600 of the large cats currently living in the area.

The organization monitors the tigers with camera traps, using unique stripe patterns to identify individual animals and monitoring the abundance of tiger prey as well. (Prior to the advent of camera traps, researchers estimated tiger numbers by counting their tracks). The government provides support for keeping poachers at bay and managing conflicts with humans.

?The underlying factor in the few successes we?ve seen is when the government takes a real interest,? said Alan Rabinowitz, chief executive of the conservation organization Panthera, one of the Wildlife Conservation Society?s collaborative partners. ?An N.G.O. along can?t accomplish this alone ? the government really has to step up and put in its own law enforcement resources.?

With lessons from the Western Ghats in hand, the conservation organization began expanding its tiger program to include India?s Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks, which have since seen around 50 percent increases in tiger populations. Conservationists also set up shop in Thailand?s Huai Kha Kaeng wildlife sanctuary, where tiger poaching had reached epidemic proportions as a result of black market demand for the animals? bones, reproductive organs, pelts and meat.

The Thai government bolstered enforcement and anti-poaching patrols as the scientists outfitted the area with camera traps. Last February, those traps proved useful not just for monitoring tiger populations but also for providing evidence in court that tiger poachers took their illegal prey from the sanctuary. Today, around 50 tigers roam that forest.

But not all tigers can be saved. In Vietnam and Cambodia, for example, conservationists have largely written tigers off as a lost cause; tiger numbers in Myanmar and Laos are steadily decreasing.

Rather than trying to protect every remaining individual tiger from the varied problems that threaten to wipe out the species, the Wildlife Conservation Society decided to focus on so-called ?source sites,? or areas where at least 25 breeding females live. So far, the organization has identified 42 such sites in India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Russia and northern China, and it is working in 24 of them. ?These are areas where we have a realistic chance of protecting tigers,? Dr. Robinson said. ?This enables us to focus our attention.?

To undertake protective measures in all 42 sites would require an investment of around $95 million annually. Half of that money is in place as a result of governmental support and fund-raising by nongovernmental organizations, but funds are lacking for further expansion. ?Basically, we need to ramp up our financial support for law enforcement, tiger monitoring and addressing wildlife trade issues within countries,? Dr. Robinson said. ?If we could put those pieces in place, we could turn things around for tigers.?

For now, however, conservationists are celebrating the small victories.

?Things are not good in the tiger world, but they?re better than they were,? Dr. Rabinowitz said. ?Some tigers are going to blink out, but there?s still a lot of hope for saving them in some really wild areas.?

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/scattered-tiger-populations-burning-bright/?partner=rss&emc=rss

toyota recall northern lights sign of the times keystone pipeline purim acc tournament big ten tournament

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

How to set up your new HDTV

5 hrs.

It?s not possible for a TV to be set at the factory with the best settings possible for your home. Take 20 minutes or so on your end, and you can drastically improve the picture quality. If you just bought a TV, or just haven't found the time to mess around with your set,?here are tips for doing it right.?

If you really?want to nail it,?we suggest a?setup Blu-ray. They?re cheap, and the?Disney WOW?disc is especially helpful and easy to follow. (A step-up from that would be the $30?ISF HDTV?Calibration Wizard.)

Straight?out of the box
All HDTVs generally?have a start-up?screen that lets the user to choose between a home mode and a store demo mode.?This is extremely important. The store mode is designed to produce the brightest image ? at the expense of black level, contrast ratio and energy efficiency. To obtain the best picture select the home mode. You will still be able to make fine-tuning?adjustments to maximize image quality.

The screen will also ask you to choose your?language, and will ask about using over-the-air antenna or cable/satellite. If you don?t use an antenna, make sure you select cable/satellite.?You don?t want the TV to go into the tuner mode,?because?you won't see an image.

Special instructions for smart TVs
If your new HDTV has Internet connectivity for streaming movies and other content, the next step should be connecting to the Internet. All smart TVs have an Ethernet connection if you want to wire the TV directly. Many also have Wi-Fi for wireless set-up. Follow the on-screen instructions or the?owner?s manual for the proper steps.

Once completed, you should make sure you have the latest version of the TV's software, by performing a firmware update as per your TV's instructions. The update may add new features, Internet services and even apps, and will assure you have the latest and best version of your new HDTV. Don't skip this:?Nearly every TV we test has newer firmware waiting for it when we connect it to the Internet.

Picture modes
Nearly all TVs have picture modes that adjust multiple settings to create a certain look to the image. The best idea is to start with the most accurate setting, then adjust as you see fit. With nearly all TVs, this mode is called ?Movie,? ?Cinema,? or something similar. If these aren?t options, ?Standard? is likely closest.

If you?ve already?been watching your TV for more than a few minutes, switching to one of these modes is going to be a shock. It will seem red (warm) and soft. It isn?t, which I?ll explain as we go.

Contrast
This control adjusts the bright parts of the image: Clouds, white shirts, snow, etc. The idea is to set this control high enough that the image ?pops,? but not so high as to mask detail, like cloud?textures or shirt?wrinkles. All TVs have a maximum contrast setting, above which you?re not making the image any brighter,?you?re just making near-white objects totally white.

If you?re using a setup disc, the contrast pattern will have a ramp of progressively whiter bars. The idea is to be able see most of these (but not those labeled ?above white?).

If you?re not using a setup disc, find a TV show (ideally a live sporting event) that takes place outside. Skiing works great for this, though baseball does as well (fly balls, any shot of the sky). The idea is to be able to set the control so that you can still see detail in bright white objects. There should almost never be bright white blobs on the screen. If there are, turn the contrast control down until those blobs get their detail back.

There is no average number to use as a guideline for setting?contrast, but it?s almost never 100 percent,?or anything close. Start somewhere around 80 percent and go from there.

Brightness
This is the opposite of the contrast control. Despite its name, brightness control adjusts the dark parts of the image: Shadows, black hair, black leather jackets. The idea here is to set it low enough that the picture has lots of contrast (as in, the difference in the light and dark parts of the image), but not so far that there?s just huge swaths of blackness on screen during any night scene.

If you?re using a setup disc, the brightness pattern will have a ramp of progressively darker black bars. The idea is to be able see most of these (but not those labeled ?below black? or similar).

If you?re setting this by eye, any night or darkly lit scene will do. Set the control fairly low, down?past the point where you lose detail. Now gradually increase it until you see detail in the darkness. If the picture looks gray or washed out, you?ve brought your brightness too far up.

Color?and?tint
Generally speaking, you shouldn?t have to adjust these at all. These are holdovers from the old tube (CRT) TV days. With component and HDMI connections, the TV shouldn?t need adjustment to color or tint.

But so you know, color is color saturation. Set too high, people will look sunburned, and everything will seem cartoony. Tint adjusts the green/red in the image (Martian/lobster). Without specific color filters (that usually come with setup discs), you can?t adjust either of these settings these correctly. Skip.

Sharpness
This is a highly misleading control. Generally speaking, sharpness control adds enhancement to the image to make it appear sharp. Ironically, by doing so, it?s actually masking true fine detail in the image. This setting should be set as low as possible. Some TVs actually?soften?the image if you set it too low (bizarre, to be sure), so watch out for that. Look for dark lines on a bright background, like the?edges of buildings for instance. Lower this setting so there isn?t any ghost line next to the dark edge. This ghost line is called ?edge enhancement,? and goes a long way in making the image look artificial.

Once you get used to the naturalness of the image without edge enhancement, you?ll never go back.

Color temperature
This one is going to be tough. Not because it requires any labor on your part, it?s just going to do something to the image that at first is going to seem bad.

Color temperature is how bluish or reddish the image looks. Picture a typical scene of people walking down a street. Set the color temp too cool, and it will look like they?re walking down the street in winter, with that season?s normal bluish tones. Set the color temp too warm, and it will be a reddish warm day instead.

With most TVs, the ideal setting is ?warm? or ?low.? In some cases, this is too warm, and ?normal? is closer. If you?re changing the settings for the first time, and the TV was set in the ?cool? color temp mode, everything will look wrong, and even??normal? will appear to your eye as too warm. Give your eyes time to adjust. Watch on ?normal? for a few hours, and then ?cool? will seem incredibly blue.

Backlight
This is an LCD-specific control ??plasma TVs don?t have backlights.?Think of the backlight setting as a volume control for the image. Turn it up, and the entire picture (bright whites and dark blacks alike) get brighter. Turn it down, and everything gets darker.?

If you leave this turned all the way up, not only are you wasting energy, but at night your TV can be hard to watch. Modern LCDs are extremely bright, and watching such a small bright object in a dark room can create severe eye fatigue.

For critical viewing, or watching at night, the idea is to get the best black levels, while still creating a watchable image. Once you set contrast and brightness correctly, turn the backlight control all the way down. This will likely be too dark for most viewing. Turn it up to the point where it looks the best. Often, at night, this could be as low as 20 percent, depending on the TV.?During the day, you can?set this as high as you want.

Interestingly, no setup disc offers instructions on how to set this control.?Read more on this in our?buyer-beware article on TV backlights.

For more on what your HDTV?s controls do, read our?Guide to HDTV Settings.

You can catch up with?Geoff Morrison on Twitter at?@TechWriterGeoff. His novel, "Undersea," is now in paperback.

More?from HD Guru:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/how-set-your-new-hdtv-1C7657756

turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida egoraptor gisele bundchen