Thursday, January 31, 2013

Call of Mini: Brawlers for Android lets you blast your way through zombies sideways

Crawl of Mini Brawlers
Can you imagine a world without zombie shooters? Neither can we. The zombie apocalypse is proving to be nothing more than a sci-fi nerd?s fantasy at this point, but that doesn?t mean that games based on it are not awesome. Especially the ones that fall under the category of side-scrollers, like the new game from Triniti Interactive called Call of Mini: Brawlers. In it, players seem to inhabit a zombie-infested world full of characters that appear to be made out of Lego. This applies to both the playable characters and the zombies.

Call of Mini: Brawlers features 3D graphics, 5 playable characters, and a load of kick-ass weapons that can be used to blast through hordes of zombies in an infinite number of stages. The game also lets users complete challenges and go through certain obstacles apart from simply killing tons of zombies. In short, if you?re a hard core fan of zombie shooters, you?re going to have countless hours of fun playing this one.

To give this game a whirl, just make your way to Google Play where it can currently be downloaded for free. In fact, why don?t you save yourself some time and simply click on the link to Google Play highlighted as a source down below.


David Gonzales

David is a mobile computer geek who firmly believes that in order to stay healthy, one needs to eat daily doses of gadgets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Join him as he indulges his passion for technology and recent fascination with all things Android.

Source: http://www.androidauthority.com/call-mini-brawlers-android-zombies-sideways-151977/

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VVWRA Finance Team wins Budget Award

VVWRA representatives withe the coveted award.

By Staff Reports

(Hesperia) ? In another nod to transparency, the Finance Team for the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority (VVWRA) has received the coveted Distinguished Budget Award from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA).

The award reflects the commitment of VVWRA to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting, according to the Association, which serves over 17,500 government finance professionals throughout North America. The agency had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation that assesses how well the budget serves as:

  • A policy document
  • A financial plan
  • An operation guide
  • A communications device

?The feats that our finance team has accomplished over the past several years are second to none,? remarked VVWRA General Manager Logan Olds. ?I couldn?t be more proud of our staff and their dedication to financial transparency.?

The agency?s finance team has also been recognized with a certificate of excellence from the GFOA for their Comprehensive Annual Financial Review (CAFR) for the past two years in a row.

The Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority is an independent agency that

is equally governed by leaders from its member agencies, which include Apple Valley, Hesperia, Victorville, Oro Grande and Spring Valley Lake.

Source: http://highdesertdaily.com/2013/01/vvwra-finance-team-wins-budget-award/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vvwra-finance-team-wins-budget-award

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Private firms reportedly near deal for Hostess Twinkies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co are near a deal to buy snack cake brands including Hostess Twinkies and Donettes, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

A deal for roughly $400 million, part of Hostess Brands Inc's bankruptcy process, could be announced as soon as Tuesday, said one of the sources, who declined to be identified as the discussions are not public.

The so-called stalking horse bid by the private equity firms would serve as the baseline offer for the business, which also includes Dolly Madison bread and Hostess cupcakes. It could still be topped by others at an auction.

Dean Metropoulos, No. 360 on the Forbes 400 list of America's wealthiest people, is a packaged foods veteran who was once the joint owner of brands such as Duncan Hines baking mixes, Vlasic pickles and Swanson frozen dinners. In 2010, his firm bought Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, the no-frills brew popular with young East Coast hipsters.

His son Daren, a principal at the firm, confirmed earlier this month that they were working on a bid. Neither Daren, nor a spokesman for Apollo were immediately available to comment on Tuesday. Hostess declined to comment.

Apollo, founded by banker Leon Black, has invested in consumer companies before, including in CKE Restaurants and Claire's Stores Inc.

Hostess was granted permission by a U.S. bankruptcy court judge in November to wind down its business and liquidate its assets after a strike by a baker's union crippled the 82-year-old company's operations.

The sale of assets, which range from Twinkies and Wonder bread to real estate and baking equipment, is being run by Perella Weinberg Partners. The lead banker on the sale, Joshua Scherer, has said there was great interest from many parties in the assets.

Earlier this month, Hostess chose a $390 million offer by Flowers Foods, maker of Tastykake products, as the stalking horse bid for several brands including Wonder bread.

On Monday, Hostess said it chose McKee Foods Corp, maker of Little Debbie snack cakes, as the initial bidder for its Drake's cakes, which include Ring Dings, Yodels and Devil Dogs. It also chose United States Bakery as the lead bidder for four of its smaller bread brands plus bakeries, equipment and depots.

Hostess also filed a motion on Monday to stop paying retiree benefits to its former employees, saying that its lenders only agreed to fund the benefits through February 2013 due to a delay in the appointment of a retiree committee.

(Reporting By Martinne Geller in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apollo-metropoulos-near-deal-hostess-twinkies-source-170059961--sector.html

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Confirming North Korean N-test almost impossible

In this Jan. 28, 2013 photo released by Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, delivers opening remarks at the Fourth Meeting of Secretaries of Cells of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim convened top security and foreign affairs officials and ordered them to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," state media said Sunday, fueling speculation that he plans to push forward with a threat to explode a nuclear device in defiance of the United Nations.(AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

In this Jan. 28, 2013 photo released by Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, delivers opening remarks at the Fourth Meeting of Secretaries of Cells of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim convened top security and foreign affairs officials and ordered them to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," state media said Sunday, fueling speculation that he plans to push forward with a threat to explode a nuclear device in defiance of the United Nations.(AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

In this Jan. 28, 2013 image made from video, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers opening remarks at the Fourth Meeting of Secretaries of Cells of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim convened top security and foreign affairs officials and ordered them to take "substantial and high-profile important state measures," state media said Sunday, fueling speculation that he plans to push forward with a threat to explode a nuclear device in defiance of the United Nations. (AP Photo/KRT via AP Video) NORTH KOREA OUT, TV OUT

A girl looks at a display on assessment about impact of supposed nuclear attack on Seoul at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. North Korea appears all set to detonate an atomic device, but confirming the explosion when it takes place will be virtually impossible for outsiders, specialists said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A boy attaches a message wishing unification and peace of the two Koreas to a tree at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. North Korea appears all set to detonate an atomic device, but confirming the explosion when it takes place will be virtually impossible for outsiders, specialists said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Visitors watch a giant screen showing a South Korean national flag at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. North Korea appears all set to detonate an atomic device, but confirming the explosion when it takes place will be virtually impossible for outsiders, specialists said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

(AP) ? North Korea appears all set to detonate an atomic device, but confirming the explosion when it takes place will be virtually impossible for outsiders, specialists said Tuesday.

The best indication of a test will be seismic tremors and abnormal radiation in the air, but even that can be masked if North Korea wants to. In all likelihood the first word of the test will come from Pyongyang itself, just as it happened when the country conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

Last week, North Korea warned that it plans a third nuclear test to protest toughened international sanctions meant to punish it for firing a long-range rocket in December. The world sees the launch as a ballistic missile test banned by the U.N., while Pyongyang says it only launched a satellite into orbit as part of a peaceful space development program.

The U.S., South Korea and their allies have pressed the North to scrap its nuclear test plans, saying it will only worsen the country's decades-old international isolation.

The threats have placed scientists and experts in South Korea on high alert as any test is likely to aggravate the already high tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said Tuesday it believes North Korea has nearly completed its nuclear test preparations, confirming satellite analysis last week by the U.S.-Korea Institute, a research group at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Its satellite images of the Punggye-ri site ? where the previous two nuclear tests were conducted ? show that the North Koreans may have been sealing a tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device would be detonated.

In the event of such an underground nuclear test, earthquake monitoring stations in South Korea can detect seismic tremors accompanied by low-frequency sound waves. While earthquakes trigger seismic waves they don't produce sound waves.

But this is at best a strong indication of a test and not an absolute confirmation.

An earthquake expert at the state-run Korea Meteorological Administration said his office aims to find out the magnitude of the tremor, the time it started and the exact location on the map within 10 minutes of the explosion. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Experts also note that artificial earthquakes, such as those created by nuclear explosions, rarely trigger the same wave patterns as natural quakes.

North Korea could also try to deceive and give the impression that it exploded a nuclear device by simply exploding sophisticated conventional weapons that would trigger the same seismic waves produced by a nuclear test, said Chi Heoncheol, an earthquake specialist at the government-funded Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.

By raising tensions this way, North Korea may hope to wrest concessions or aid in return for promises to scale back its unproven nuclear capability.

"Even if they bring truckloads of high-powered conventional explosives, put them (into an underground tunnel) and explode them, they will generate the same seismic wave and sound wave," Chi said. The only difference is no radioactivity would be detected from the explosion of conventional weapons, he said.

The best course for scientists would be to collect air samples to look for increased radiation but the process could take days. Even if the wind is favorable ? and assuming North Korea conducts the test at Punggye-ri in the country's northeastern corner ? it will take more than one day for airborne radioactive isotopes like xenon to reach South Korea, according to an official at the government-run Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

The official, who requested anonymity citing the sensitive nature of the subject, acknowledged it may be impossible to confirm a test if the wind doesn't blow southward or if North Korea plugs the underground tunnel so tightly that no radioactive gas escapes.

South Korea confirmed increased radiation levels following the North's 2006 nuclear test but didn't find anything in 2009.

And if North Korea decides to conduct a so-called subcritical test, there would be no release of radioactivity at all.

A sub-critical test only works on the properties of plutonium but stop short of creating a critical mass, the point at which a self-sustaining nuclear reaction occurs. Such an experiment requires a "very difficult technology" that only a few countries like the U.S., Russia and England have acquired, said nuclear expert Whang Joo-ho of Kyung Hee University.

"I believe North Korea's technology has not reached that level," Whang said.

North Korea said its upcoming atomic explosion will be a "high-level" test and many analysts said that refers to a device made from highly enriched uranium, which gives the country a second source for manufacturing bombs in addition to plutonium.

Whether North Korea detonates a uranium- or plutonium-based device, there won't be much difference in how easily scientists can detect the tests. The only difference is that they produce different radioactive gases, Whang said.

He also said a uranium-based test explosion would mean that North Korea's nuclear stockpile can continue to be enlarged at a time when there is no evidence of continued production of plutonium at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex.

North Korea watchers in South Korea are speculating various dates for a possible nuclear test, with some predicting it could happen as early as this week and others choosing days just before the Feb. 16 birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

There is no way to determine when North Korea will conduct a nuclear test, said analyst Shim BeomChul at the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul. U.S. spy satellites "can detect objects 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) in size on the ground but they cannot detect what's happening underground," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-29-AS-NKorea-Nuclear/id-ac470d92d71e4089aee7ab4beaaa7bc0

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ZTE teases Grand Memo for Mobile World Congress

ZTE

Android Central at Mobile World CongressBecause it's never too early to start pimping hashtags, ZTE this morning sent out invites to its Mobile World Congress press event on Feb. 25, promising to show what should be an Android device in the ZTE Grand Memo, as well as a phone with the fledgling Mozilla OS. The hashtags, of course, are #ztegrandmemo and #ztemozilla.

Mobile World Congress runs Feb. 25-March 1 in Barcelona, Spain. We'll be there, of course, to bring you the whole thing.



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/kGP25Ugc_V4/story01.htm

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Teacher surrenders in hit-run death of 6-year-old

Raidy family photo

John Paul Raidy, 6, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Grand Prairie, Texas, Thursday night.

By Frank Heinz, NBCDFW.com

A Grand Prairie, Texas, middle school teacher turned herself in to police Tuesday in connection with a hit-and-run that killed 6-year-old John Paul Raidy.

Grand Prairie police identified the woman as 53-year-old Tammy Lowe,?a seventh-grade teacher at Adams Middle School in Grand Prairie.

Lowe has been charged with failure to stop and render aid. She is also expected to face a charge of injury to a child.

Read more at NBCDFW.com

Raidy,?a first-grader at Austin Elementary in Grand Prairie,?was hit by a car at about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 as he crossed the street with his mother and sister.


Police said the driver ran a red light that investigators determined had been red for 14 seconds. Police said the collision was so powerful that Raidy landed on the hood of the car and was carried 100 yards before landing on the pavement.

Investigators said the vehicle that hit him stopped briefly and then drove off southbound on Carrier Parkway.

Raidy was taken by ambulance to Arlington Memorial Hospital where he died.

On Saturday, a memorial grew near the crash scene after his mother, Lauren, made an emotional plea Friday to find the car's driver.
?
"He loved school, he loved all his friends and you took him from us," the boy's mother said. "I pray they grow a conscience and turn themselves in for doing this to a 6-year-old boy."

Raidy would have turned 7 years old next month.

NBC 5's Ken Kalthoff and Andres Gutierrez contributed to this report.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/29/16757967-teacher-surrenders-in-hit-run-death-of-6-year-old-texas-boy?lite

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Factbox: Timbuktu, ancient trading town caught up in Mali's war

(Reuters) - The Malian town of Timbuktu, recaptured from Islamist rebels by French and Malian troops, is an ancient center of Islamic culture that grew rich in the 14th and 15th centuries as a trading post for gold and salt crossing the Sahara.

Here are some facts about the town:

* Timbuktu has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. Founded in 1100 by Tuareg nomads, it was once the richest town in the ancient empire of Mali, whose wealth came from the trans-Saharan caravan trade.

* Three of West Africa's oldest mosques, Djinguereber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, were built in the town during the 14th and early 15th centuries; its libraries contain thousands of priceless manuscripts recording genealogies and scientific theories, as well as intellectual arguments between scholars, teachers and commentators.

* Ansar Dine, the Islamist group that seized the town in April, declared Timbuktu's shrines and mausoleums, sacred to moderate Sufi Muslims, to be un-Islamic and idolatrous, and militants destroyed several of them. The retreating Islamist rebel fighters also set fire to several buildings, including a library containing thousands of manuscripts.

* Tourism to the area was already suffering from security problems even before the rebels took control. In November 2011, Islamist gunmen seized three foreigners and killed a fourth on a street in Timbuktu in an attack claimed by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

* The Scottish explorer Gordon Laing was the first European to arrive in Timbuktu, in 1826, followed by the French explorer Ren?-Auguste Caillie two years later. The town was captured by the French in 1894, and in 1960 became part of the newly independent Republic of Mali.

(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-timbuktu-ancient-trading-town-caught-malis-war-155346371.html

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Boy given pot to manage autism | MNN - Mother Nature Network

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Source: http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/videos/boy-given-pot-to-manage-autism

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Secret Service dog's death in line of duty

A Belgian Malinois. (Getty Images via CNN)

A Secret Service dog fell to its death in New Orleans over the weekend while performing a sweep of a six-story parking garage. The garage was next to a Ritz Carlton where Vice President Joe Biden was speaking.

The bomb-sniffing dog, a Belgian Malinois, fell from the roof of the parking deck next to the hotel at approximately 6 p.m., New Orleans police told WWL-TV.

Biden was attending a fundraiser for Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's re-election campaign.

Federal agents rushed the black and brown shepherd to a Metairie Veterinary hospital via motorcade, but veterinarians were unable to revive the dog, WWL reported.

According to CNN, the agency began using canines to detect explosives in 1975:

It uses Belgian Malinois because they are small and have short hair?making it easy for them to work in the heat. They are also very sociable. Each dog and its handler has to complete 20 weeks of training before beginning work, the agency said. When it's time for a dog to retire?usually after about 10 years?it is retired to its handler.

Secret Service spokesman Max Milien told the network the dog's death was a "tragic accident."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/secret-dog-death-144327207--politics.html

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Apple TV software update brings Bluetooth keyboard support, music from iTunes in the Cloud

Apple TV software update bring Bluetooth keyboard support, music from iTunes in the Cloud

It looks like the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch aren't the only Apple devices getting a software update today. The company has also rolled out an update to the Apple TV, which adds Bluetooth keyboard support, along with the ability to play music you've purchased from iTunes through iCloud. You'll also get a new "Up Next" feature that lets you choose what to play from the cued up music (or simply keep an eye on what's coming up).

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Source: 9 to 5 Mac

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/t8BX_CjZi54/

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For Super Bowl ads, it's go viral or go home

20 hrs.

Call them super leaks, super teasers or super previews. But for a growing number of Super Bowl advertisers, they are super smart business.

For years, Super Bowl commercials were closely guarded secrets until they aired on the biggest ratings day of the year. These days, companies have discovered that teasing them online in advance of the big day is a more efficient way of getting their brand message in front of the masses.

CBS, which will broadcast Super Bowl XLVII on?Feb. 3, sold 30-second ad slots for up to $4 million, so it?s no wonder advertisers try to squeeze every drop of value out of their investment.

"We are seeing more teasers because they have been effective," said?Steve Posavac, professor of marketing at Vanderbilt University. "This year, many advertisers feel that if they don?t release a teaser, they will fail to gain consumers? mindshare, and that their ads will be lost in the clutter."

Mercedes-Benz roared out of the starting line first last week, with its spot featuring Kate Upton. Strutting in daisy dukes and a low cut tank top, the striking supermodel blows suds in slow motion at a group of guys as they wash her Benz and ogle her frame, mouths agape.

Though it shows less skin than a standard shampoo commercial -- and seems demure in comparison to?Upton's past backseat turn for Carl's Jr.?last year ? it has already drummed up plenty of buzz. As of Friday night, the teaser racked has up more than 4.6 million YouTube views.

That?s right, more than a week before the San Francisco 49ers face the Baltimore Ravens, Mercedes-Benz?s ad is already a success. And, thanks to the Parents? Television Council, we have the first Super Bowl controversy.

"This ad [reinforces] for millions of wives, daughters and sisters across the country that you use your sex appeal to get what you want," a Parents' Television Council spokesperson told the Daily Mail, complaining that the ad "isn't selling cars, it?s selling sexual objectification."

The sound bite provided global media outlets (ours included) the perfect news hook. In the following days, the ad has been discussed, analyzed, and played over and over again, at no cost to the Mercedes. Talk about return on investment!

The luxury German automaker isn?t the only player in this game. Coca-Cola, Sketchers, Wonderful Pistachios (with 'Gagngam Style' superstar Psy) and MiO (with Tracy Morgan) have released previews.

Coke is also making a huge social media play with its "Mirage" campaign. In it, three quirky character-driven groups -- show girls, badlanders, and cowboys -- race across an African desert to be the first to reach the thirst-quenching Coca-Cola oasis. A preview spot is circulating online encouraging viewers to vote online to determine which group ends up winning in the final spot. Online surfers can either vote by "old-fashioned" online button clicking, or vote-casting with the Twitter hashtags #CokeCowboys, #CokeShowgirls and #CokeBadlanders.

The beverage giant?s advertising company has also cooked up animated gifs, "sabotage videos" and other content ready-made for Tweeting, Tumbling, Instagramming, and Facebooking.?

Indeed,?Coke?has come a long way from Mean Joe Greene?s jersey toss in Coke?s legendary commercial 34 years ago.

The reason for the big social push is simple: More shares equal more views, which equals more brand exposure.

"Without a social media component, a Super Bowl ad is worthless," said?David Johnson, CEO of public relations agency Strategic Vision.

Social has risen and advertisers are rising to meet it.

"Three quarters of the audience will be on a 'second screen' during the Super Bowl,? said Ankarino Lara, chief product officer for Thismoment, which builds branded online content distribution software. "The biggest brands recognize the audience shift and plan mobile and on live elements in their campaigns."

According to data by the Unruly Viral Video Chart, the "Billboard 100 of viral videos," 75 percent of the top 20 most-shared ads from Super Bowl 2012 went up online before game day;? 55 percent of sharing happened after March 1, 2012; and total Super Bowl ads shares increased by 129 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Audi is taking a similar "choose your own adventure" approach as Coke's. On Thursday night, it posted the beginning of its ad, showing a kid driving to his high school prom dateless but in his dad's new 2013 Audi S6 high-performance sports sedan. The German automaker also uploaded three versions of the ending, giving viewers 24 hours to vote on which one will make the final cut.

Other companies are also hopping on the social bandwagon:?

  • Doritos has reprised its annual "Crash the Super Bowl" contest, allowing a fan-made commercial to air during the game.?
  • Lincoln has teamed up with Jimmy Fallon to let fans write the script for its commercial on Twitter with the hashtag #Steerthescript.?
  • Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Toyota will include fan-submitted photos in a commercial.?
  • VW is promoting the #GetHappy hashtag.

Advertisers still have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, though, and some are deliberately taking an "anti-leak" strategy that still has an eye on Twitter impact.

"Some advertisers are holding back ads for a 'surprise' factor and for the instant chatter that will take place on social media during the game," said Katherine Wintsch, founder of The Mom Complex, an Interpublic Group of Companies unit focused on marketing to mothers.

Brands still place a premium on using the Super Bowl as the ultimate stage for product debuts; Anheuser-Busch is going to debut two new drinks at the game: Budweiser Black Crown and Beck's Sapphire.

"I don?t know what it is, but everyone finds humor in dog ads or baby ads," John Yorke, President of creative firm Rain 43, said. "Last year, we saw lots of both ? and the highest rated ads came from these categories ? so if it ain?t broke, don?t fix it ? expect to see more of this trend."?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/super-bowl-ads-its-go-viral-or-go-home-1C8119016

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Enterprise Cool Kids

The Enterprise Cool KidsNo, this isn’t a guest column by Aaron Levie. Though he and his startup Box, the poster child of the “sexy enterprise,” are definitely included in the bunch. “You should definitely kick Aaron off the list. Just to mess with him,” Zendesk founder Mikkel Svane commented when he heard what we were writing. With VCs voting with their feet and eschewing consumer startups this play period, we’re seeing a major shift of sentiment and momentum to enterprise startups. Perhaps the most major in a while, definitely as far as we can remember. Venture money that a year ago was going into consumer deals is now flowing into enterprise, as the Series A crunch and reticence about Facebook’s lackluster IPO has dampened investor enthusiasm?for photosharing apps and their ilk. In contrast to Facebook, a series of stellar enterprise IPOs like?Palo Alto Networks, Splunk and (perhaps the original enterprise cool kid) Workday have fired the collective entrepreneurial?imagination. “We see entrepreneurs come in every other day telling us how they’re going to reinvent Splunk,” Sequoia’s Aaref Hilaly tells me. “The successful enterprise IPOs serve as beacons for the companies that come after them.” Although the VC profits baseline has traditionally come from enterprise deals, they certainly weren’t media darlings. Consumer startups, despite their high beta and tendency to be outliers, were the bell of the mainstream tech blog ball. “Consumer technology tends to create fewer winners. Its easier to keep track of what a Facebook or a Twitter may be doing than myriad enterprise software vendors,” NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson notes. “[There it] may take decades to decide the actual winners.” But the hype is changing. Conversations about “the next Instagram” at Coupa, The Creamery or on Caltrain have been replaced with staid assessments about the future of Big Data, storage and the cloud. The mobile, social, local gold rush of 2011 has been put on pause, at least as far as consumer Internet is concerned. VCs are?staffing up with enterprise experts to handle the sharp shift in focus. We’ve even heard someone was working on something described only as, “a Path for enterprise.” While the phenomenon is recent enough that the exact flow of investment dollars from consumer to enterprise has yet to be captured in a study, the data points are beginning to pop up. For example 2012 was the?first year in First Round Capital’s history in which consumer companies were

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/cKwHfHFw1yc/

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Police: Brazil nightclub fire kills at least 245

Police have recovered 245 bodies after a fire swept through a Brazilian nightclub. An estimated 900 people were inside at the time and most of the victims were trampled as they attempted to escape. MSNBC's TJ Holmes reports.

By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

At least 245 people were killed after a band?s fireworks show sparked a rapidly moving fire in a packed nightclub in southern Brazil and fleeing patrons were unable to find their way out, local police told NBC News.

The toll was expected to rise, police said.


The bodies removed from the Kiss nightclub in the southern city of Santa Maria were taken to a gymnasium for identification, police said.

Major Gerson da Rosa Ferreira, who led rescue efforts at the scene for the military police, told Reuters that the victims died of asphyxiation or from being trampled.?

In addition to the number of deaths, at least?200 people were injured, police and firefighters told The Associated Press.

Television footage monitored by Reuters overnight showed people crying outside the club as shirtless firefighters used sledge hammers and axes to knock down an exterior wall to open up an exit.?

Agencia RBS via AP

People help a man injured in a nightclub fire in Santa Maria city, Brazil, on Sunday.

Rodrigo Moura, who the newspaper Diario de Santa Maria identified as a security guard at the club, said it was at its capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000 people and patrons were pushing and shoving to escape, the AP reported. Police estimated the crowd at some 900 revelers.

"It was really fast. There was a lot of smoke, really dark smoke," survivor Aline Santos Silva, 29, told Globonews TV. "We were only able to get out quickly because we were in a VIP area close to the door."?

President Dilma Rousseff cut short a visit to Chile and was returning to Brazil following the blaze, her spokesperson said.?

"It is a tragedy for all of us. I am not going to continue in the meeting (in Chile) for very clear reasons," she said.

?Sad Sunday!? Tarso Genro, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul state where the club is located, tweeted. ?We are taking all of the possible and appropriate actions,? the tweet read, according to a rough translation by NBC News. ?I will be in Santa Maria later this morning.?

The precise cause of the fire was still under investigation, authorities said. But Luiza Sousa, a civil police official in Santa Maria, told Reuters that the blaze started when someone with the band ignited what was described as a flare, which then set fire to the ceiling. The fire spread "in seconds," Sousa said.?

The tragedy in Brazil recalled other nightclub disaster. A fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003 killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used on stage by the rock band Great White set ablaze foam used for soundproofing on the walls. A Buenos Aires nightclub blaze in 2004 killed nearly 200 people.?

Reuters noted that Brazil's safety standards and emergency response capabilities are under particular scrutiny as the country prepares to host the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Summer Olympics.?

The Brazilian state?s Health secretary, Ciro Simoni, told the news service that emergency medical supplies from all over the state were being sent to the scene.?

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/27/16721339-police-brazil-nightclub-fire-kills-at-least-180?lite

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Heat vs Celtics: Ray Allen Returns To Boston

MIAMI -- Ray Allen has played in Boston as an opponent 15 times before. He knows what it's like to play under the fabled Celtics banners, knows exactly how the crowd treats visiting players.

His 16th appearance there as a visitor will be substantially different.

Not only will his trip there Sunday be his first as a former Celtic, but it will come with him donning the colors of perhaps the team's biggest rival these days, the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat, the club that has ousted Boston from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

And make no mistake, Allen has been getting ready for everything that will accompany this trip for quite a while.

"I've thought about it," Allen said. "I think more about who, family-wise, is going, who can go and sorting the whole protocol out. I don't know what to expect from their side. But it's an interesting concept because I've always gotten a warm welcome, even before I started playing there. I just want to win. Everything else will take care of itself."

When he played there as an opponent in the past, Allen typically got warm receptions. He starred at Connecticut and has deep roots in New England, and those two things go a long way in generating respect from the Boston fan base.

Then he joined the Celtics in the summer of 2007. A year later, he helped them win a championship. He bled green.

Now, not so much.

So on a Sunday afternoon before a national television audience, the big story won't be the return of the Heat to the site of their season-saving Game 6 win in the Eastern Conference finals last year, or the first trip back to Boston for LeBron James since his epic 45-point virtuoso performance in that game, or even the memory of how Celtics fans cheered wildly for the last few minutes of that blowout loss as a "thank you" to their team.

"It's going to be all about Ray," Heat forward Chris Bosh said. "Celtic fans, they're very fixated on the rivalry and `How could you do that?' They're very passionate."

Allen's relationship with the Celtics broke down in some respects last season, and when the Heat made him an offer last summer, he eventually accepted ? knowing it would raise the ire of those back in Boston.

When the Celtics visited the Heat on opening night this season, the proof of the frosty relationships was there. Former teammates, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce especially, seemed to want nothing to do with Allen. As Allen checked into the game, his first official appearance as a Miami player, he approached Celtics coach Doc Rivers and got a warm embrace.

It's anyone's guess what the scene will be when he checks in Sunday.

"I'll savor it, going back and seeing the people you spent so much time with," Allen said. "But if you're going into a situation thinking about negative perceptions or behavior that's unbecoming of good sportsmanship, then you just want to get it over with, win the game and get out of there. I don't want it to distract these guys from everybody doing their job and being ready to play."

The bigger concern for both sides will likely be the way each club is playing of late.

Miami has won four straight games, hanging on to the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston has dropped six straight, and its hold on the No. 8 ? and final ? playoff spot in the East race is weakening.

Dwyane Wade doesn't think the teams' opposite trajectories will matter much. The way he sees it, when Boston plays Miami, everything gets amped up several notches.

"There's a lot of stories, but you can throw records out the window when we play Boston," Wade said. "It's significant because we have Ray Allen and it's his first time back, but we're going on the road and we want to play well and it's a tough place to play."

The Heat have been through these former-star-returns-to-old-home games before ? most notably when James went back to Cleveland for the first time after he decided to sign with Miami.

After that scene, the Heat say they're prepared for anything Boston can offer.

"They're not going to cheer him, but it's not going to be like that," Wade said. "Not even close."

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/heat-celtics-ray-allen-boston_n_2559719.html

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Newtown residents to join gun control march in Washington

Susan Walsh / AP

People walk from the U.S. Capitol to the Washington Monument in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, during a march on Washington for gun control.

By Becky Bratu, NBC News

Residents of Newtown, Conn., the scene of a school massacre in which 20 children and six adults were killed last month, were expected to join thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington on Saturday for a march supporting gun control.

Similar organized demonstrations were planned in support of gun control in about a dozen other places across the United States, according to organizers.

In addition to the 100 people expected from Newtown, organizers told The Associated Press participants from New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia would join the demonstration.

Led by Mayor Vincent Gray, a crowd that stretched for about two blocks marched down Constitution Avenue toward the Washington Monument, where speakers called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan addressed the crowd, saying he and President Barack Obama would work to enact gun control policies, the AP reported.

"We must act, we must act, we must act," Duncan said.

According to the AP, demonstrators held signs that read "Ban Assault Weapons Now," "Stop NRA" and "Gun Control Now." Other signs carried the names of victims of gun violence.

The silent march is organized by Molly Smith, artistic director of Washington's Arena Stage, and her partner.

"With the drum roll, the consistency of the mass murders and the shock of it, it is always something that is moving and devastating to me. And then, it's as if I move on," Smith told the AP. "And in this moment, I can't move on. I can't move on.

"I think it's because it was children, babies," she told the AP. "I was horrified by it."

The event is co-sponsored by One Million Moms for Gun Control, an independent organization that is also responsible for similar demonstrations in cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and Austin, Texas.

The Newtown massacre has reignited the debate over firearms in the United States, and last week Obama laid out a series of measures intended to curb gun violence, most significantly proposals to limit the size of ammunition magazines, ban assault weapons and require universal background checks on firearm purchases. That plan won little praise from Republicans.

Earlier this month, New York lawmakers approved the toughest gun control law in the nation, expanding the state's existing assault weapons ban and addressing gun ownership by those with mental illnesses.

As thousands gather in the nation's capital Saturday for a march to demand an end to gun violence, the White House kicks off its campaign to rally public support for its gun safety proposal. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

Related content:

Ambitious agenda: Debt fight, gun control and immigration top president's to-do list

New York passes major gun control law -- first since Newtown massacre

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/26/16712528-newtown-residents-to-join-gun-control-march-in-washington?lite

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Snow Shoveling Health Dangers Princeton Healthcare System

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Cycling agrees to amnesty for doping confessions

FILE - This is a Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 file photo of Pat McQuaid, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI, as he informs about the position of the UCI regarding the decision from USADA in the case of Lance Armstrong, during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The head of cycling's governing body has been replaced on a key International Olympic Committee panel as he deals with the fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid said Wednesday he was too busy to attend all the meetings of the Olympic commission evaluating bids for the 2020 Summer lympics.(AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File)

FILE - This is a Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 file photo of Pat McQuaid, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI, as he informs about the position of the UCI regarding the decision from USADA in the case of Lance Armstrong, during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The head of cycling's governing body has been replaced on a key International Olympic Committee panel as he deals with the fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid said Wednesday he was too busy to attend all the meetings of the Olympic commission evaluating bids for the 2020 Summer lympics.(AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi, File)

Foto de archivo del 20 de mayo de 2010 en la que el ciclista Lance Armstrong es ayudado tras sufrir una ca?da en el Tour de California. (AP Foto/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

LONDON (AP) ? Cyclists will be offered a chance to confess to past doping offenses without fear of retribution in an attempt to uncover the full scale of the Lance Armstrong scandal and drug use in the sport.

The UCI agreed Friday to introduce a "truth and reconciliation" commission with the World Anti-Doping Agency, cutting out the independent panel established to investigate the governing body's links to Armstrong.

UCI President Pat McQuaid said he wants to ensure cycling has "drawn a line in the sand finally ? and for the last time" on doping scandals that have tarnished the credibility of the sport.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from Olympic sports following a report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that portrayed him as a longtime user of performance-enhancing drugs.

After years of denials, Armstrong admitted to doping in an interview last week with Oprah Winfrey.

"The truth and reconciliation process is the best way that we can examine the culture of doping in cycling in the past, and can clear the air so that cycling can move forward," McQuaid said after a stormy hearing by the panel investigating his body.

The UCI's reputation has been badly damaged by accusations its leaders covered up suspicious doping tests given by Armstrong during his 1999-2005 run of Tour de France victories and improperly accepted donations from him totaling $125,000.

The independent commission formed to establish the veracity of those claims clashed at Friday's hearing with the UCI's lawyer over two key demands it has made ? broaden the investigation into Armstrong's role as the ringleader of an elaborate doping scheme on the U.S. Postal Service team and begin an amnesty program of its own to ensure witnesses come forward.

The UCI rebuffed their proposals by insisting it would be too costly to fund wide-scale investigations, and the three-person panel will meet again on Thursday to discuss whether to proceed.

And McQuaid said since the independent commission was established, "several of our stakeholders have said they won't take part in it. Not just USADA and WADA but others, national federations."

The UCI said it would update the independent panel on the talks planned this weekend with WADA President John Fahey about the amnesty commission.

McQuaid first revealed he was considering such an amnesty program to The Associated Press in September, but said Friday the plans were only finalized in recent days.

"WADA have indicated that they would share costs with the UCI," McQuaid said. "The WADA code is being reviewed and an amnesty is under discussion within that review. But we're just bringing that aspect forward."

But British judge Philip Otton, who heads the independent panel, accused the UCI of trying to use the delay in the truth and reconciliation process as "an excuse to kick the USADA allegations into the long grass."

Now the UCI is effectively asking the panel it established to suspend itself. It had been scheduled to hold full hearings in April and report by June.

UCI lawyer Ian Mill said the "entire process has been derailed" because the panel is demanding a "truth and reconciliation" process of its own and a widening of its role into the wider doping scandal.

"Getting to the bottom and determining how the USPS team operated without detection or sanction in a reasonable timescale ... causes us considerable anxiety," Mill said.

"We can do something which we understand you don't want to do ... a limited inquiry taking place in April," he added.

In a heated exchange at the Law Society in London, Mill told the panel: "We're not trying to kill this inquiry. We set you up."

"Please do not raise your voice," Otton interjected.

"We are not the bad guys here," Mill said. "We have a finite amount of money available to us ... we are not like a football body."

McQuaid later said delaying the hearing was not designed to help his own re-election prospects in September, insisting: "I have nothing to worry about."

The panel fears that the process is stalled and complained about a lack of full disclosure by the UCI.

"It just amazes me that we have had absolutely no documents whatsoever," former British Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson said to the UCI's lawyer. "When are we going to get the ... files?"

___

Rob Harris can be reached at http://twitter.com/RobHarris

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-25-CYC-UCI-Armstrong-Panel/id-21e402c5372f4637bfcb3f8eabe20e20

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Dung beetles steer by the Milky Way

Planetarium experiments show that the insects need only starlight to orient themselves

Planetarium experiments show that the insects need only starlight to orient themselves

By Susan Milius

Web edition: January 24, 2013

Enlarge

LOST IN SPACE

Researchers fitted dung beetles with tiny blinders for experiments showing that the feces-eating insects can use the Milky Way to navigate.

Credit: Marcus Byrne

Even a collector of animal waste can keep its eyes on the stars. By tracking the dung beetles skittering across a darkened planetarium, researchers have shown that like seals, birds and people, the feces-eating insects are capable of celestial navigation.

?This is the first time we have shown that insects can use stars to guide them for orientation,? says neuroethologist Marie Dacke of Lund University in Sweden, ?and it?s also the very first proof that animals can use the Milky Way for their orientation.? She and her colleagues report the results January 23 in Current Biology.

Dung-rolling insects are excellent for studying navigation because they collect their prized food source and single-mindedly roll it as directly as possible away from competitors and predators. Putting the beetles in weird get-ups during experiments doesn?t deter them. ?They are so attached to their dung balls,? Dacke says, ?that under all circumstances they just want to roll the ball in a straight line.?

Earlier work showed that beetles can orient using the sun and moon as beacons or by the patterns of polarization in sunlight and moonlight. Beetles don?t use landmarks like rocks and trees ? or, scientists thought, starlight.

That conclusion came from a 2003 publication by Dacke herself, among other researchers. In that work, she and her colleagues had reported that beetles lost their sense of direction if they could see the stars but not the moon. So she was mystified years later, when she observed beetles under starlight in a different experiment and found that they weren?t lost at all.

To figure out why, the researchers performed outdoor experiments blocking the insects? view of the heavens with caps or using high-walled arenas that allowed them to see nothing but sky. The beetles could orient themselves when they could see the sky but not when they could see terrestrial landmarks.

Testing fully whether beetles orient by starlight would require turning the stars on and off, so Dacke and her colleagues borrowed the Johannesburg planetarium. With the planetarium dome darkened, the nocturnal dung beetle Scarabaeus satyrus cq fumbled and curlicued around. But showing just the Milky Way let the beetles kick along balls of dung in fairly direct paths.

Knowing that the dung beetles actually can orient by stars, Dacke realized why her earlier experiment had gone wrong: She had tested the beetles in October in South Africa, when the Milky Way was so low in the sky that the animals couldn?t get a good view.

The beetle doesn?t steer by the Milky Way with the same understanding that a person does, says Paul Graham of the University of Sussex in England. Rather, he says, the blur of stars is a stable feature for orientation. Since the beetles only need to move quickly away from the original dung deposit, any visual cues would work. Nocturnal dung beetles, he says, are a lovely example of an animal?s adapting to its environment ? and to its universe.

M. Dacke et al. Lunar orientation in a beetle. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Vol. 271, February 22, 2004, p. 361. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2594. [Go to]

P. Graham. Navigation with a small brain. Video of talk at the workshop Navigation and Spatial Memory in Terrestrial Species. University College London. Nov. 27, 2012. [Go to]

S. Milius. News in brief. Galloping dung beetles. Science News. Vol. 182, September 22, 2012, p. 11. Available online: [Go to]

S. Milius. Moonlighting: Beetles navigate by lunar polarity. Science News. Vol. 164, July 5, 2003, p. 4. Available online: [Go to]

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/347746/title/Dung_beetles_steer_by_the_Milky_Way

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Weight Loss: The Emotional Element | Mark's Daily Apple

Welcome! If you want to lose weight, gain muscle, increase energy levels, reduce stress or just generally look and feel healthier you've come to the right place.

Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter for tips, advice and special insider-only information.

Learn more about the Primal Lifestyle by visiting the Primal Blueprint 101 page. Thanks for visiting!

emotionsIn a recent survey, psychologists named emotions as their clients? ?top obstacle? to weight loss. The 1300+ licensed psychologists, to fill in the picture, also cited emotional eating as well as food selection and exercise commitment among the common challenges their clients faced. Sure, it?s maybe little surprise that psychologists would emphasize the role emotional issues play in weight loss. It?s their profession after all, and their clients comprise a self-selected group of people who are interested in delving into the emotional dimensions of their weight management struggles. That said, I know plenty of trainers (myself included), doctors, and dietitians (Primally focused or otherwise) who would suggest psychology has figured prominently into many of their clients? situations as well.

From my own perspective, I?ve worked with many people who honestly felt they didn?t deserve to be healthy, to be beautiful, to be happy. Every effort they?d made in the past to lose weight and improve their wellbeing had been sabotaged by psychological ghosts. Negative self-talk got the better of them even after they?d experienced substantial success in losing weight and/or achieving other health and fitness goals. When a number of these folks combined emotional work with their lifestyle changes, it was like the air cleared. Not overnight, but over time.

As much as I believe giving people accurate information (about diet, fitness, and other key lifestyle areas) can empower them to live healthier lives, there?s that more complex dimension. The body, after all, is pretty simple. Our metabolic functioning, for example, is fairly straightforward once you understand the basics of hormonal responses.

For many people, however, the physical side isn?t the issue. They get it ? and they do it. It?s the psychological baggage that acts as the obstacle at some point (or points) along the way toward a healthier life. Maybe it?s a background of abuse, neglect, bullying, or depression. For some, food dulled some pretty harsh emotions in their histories, and the associations are hard to break. For others, there was something to the image of themselves itself that was protective: being overweight or sick was part of how they had defined their lives. For many, it could even be negative self-talk related to current stresses and circumstances.

By all means, if you feel emotional issues significantly affect your daily functioning or progress toward reasonable health goals, the expertise of a professional counselor is advisable. For anyone who?s interested in fostering the emotional side of their health journey or break past what might be a mental as opposed to a physical block, let me throw out a few suggestions. I hope you?ll add yours as well.

Cultivate Self-Awareness

The journey toward better health ? under any circumstances ? offers plenty of fodder for great journaling. Use a journal or other tool to explore or record realizations, stumbling blocks, self-doubt, accomplishments, and motivational ideas. Reflect on the history you bring to your current health endeavor (previous weight loss attempts, disordered eating, etc.) as well as your day-to-day journey in the here and now.

Try to identify the roots of emotional issues at play and the current triggers that send you down the road of negative self-talk. Use your developing awareness to continually ?catch? yourself earlier in the self-talk cycle and redirect your thoughts and activities before it even starts. Record what works in that redirecting.

Seek Support

Use whatever works for you: inspirational books, affirmations, close and supportive relationships, online forums, formal support groups, life coaching, and/or personal counseling. Social support is key to any life change, and it can be incredibly motivating whether or not you feel emotional issues figure into your health journey.

Differentiate Between Self-Soothing and Self-Care

Even if you indulged in your share of self-soothing at the refrigerator, you may have denied yourself any meaningful self-care. Commit to self-care and consider what activities and choices have the power to really nourish your physical and mental health. Make a list of healthy indulgences that can take the place overeating or other unhealthy habits once held in your life. What other practices or activities can offer comfort? Research, for example, suggests relaxation training helps people avoid emotional eating and reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.

Revise Your Life Script

After a major weight loss or health change, some people continue to live with a distorted view of themselves. Even if you?re loving the transformation, it can be worth the effort to envision the future. Certain routines or even social connections might not play as big a part as they once did. Certain opportunities you never considered might seem worth pursuing.

The road to health and weight loss obliges a degree of striving. (Although a Primal life of bacon and leisurely bike rides isn?t such a hard existence really?) However, the process sometimes calls us to shed other things along the way ? the self-talk as well as habits, the self-image as well as diet that just don?t work for us anymore (and in truth never did). In this sense, it?s about surrender as well as striving. We strive for a better, healthier life, but it?s important to ask ourselves what we need to let go of in the journey.

Thanks for reading today, everyone. I hope you?ll share your thoughts, perspectives, and experiences related to weight loss and health changes. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Grab a Copy of?The Primal Connection:?Follow Your Genetic Blueprint to Health and Happiness?Today!

Source: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/weight-loss-the-emotional-element/

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Sensu Brush Portable Artist Brush and Stylus

  • Pros

    Elegant design. Responsive brush.

  • Cons Not as precise as a pressure-sensitive stylus.
  • Bottom Line

    The Sensu Brush combines a very capable capacitive touch screen stylus with an intuitive paintbrush that works on the very same touch screen.

By Will Greenwald

The iPad and other tablets have plenty of art apps that let talented hands draw on their capacitive touch screens. Sure, you could use a finger, but a stylus is a much better choice. Better still is a capacitive-touch-screen-compatible brush like the Sensu Brush ($39.99 direct). It's similar in concept to the Nomad Compose, as a stylus with an actual brush that works on screens, but it offers a much more attractive design and a more comfortable way to draw on your tablet's display.

The Sensu is simple and elegant, with a 3.6-inch-long cap/handle that conceals whichever of the two included capacitive tips you're not using. Closed, it's a 4.5-inch touch screen stylus with the standard black, rubberized, slightly spongy tip we've seen in many styli before. It's solid and just long enough to use like a pen, and alone, it's a suitable, if slightly overpriced, as a capacitive touch-screen stylus. If you pull it out of the cap and flip it around, though, the stylus completely transforms.

With the stylus hidden securely in the long cap, the Sensu grows to 7.2 inches and gains a slender, rubberized grip and a bristle paintbrush that works on your tablet's touch screen. The grip and the long cap lets the Sensu rest comfortably in your hand like an actual paintbrush, and the tip itself feels perpetually flexible, like it was a real paintbrush freshly dipped in water.

Sensu Brush

The paintbrush tip felt soft and responsive when I tested it on an iPad. I did some doodling in ArtRage, and while there was some slight lag in the drawings as I performed fast brushstrokes, the app followed my motions perfectly. Since it's a capacitive touch screen, the iPad's display (and other mobile devices' touch screens, with which the Sensu can also work) can only detect inputs as points, not as entire areas. So I couldn't "paint" in the same way I could with an actual brush; the point the touch screen detected was consistently in the center of the brush regardless of whether I was tapping the screen or pressing down to fan out the bristles. This is a limitation of the screen technology, and not a problem specific to the Sensu.

If you want a capacitive touch screen stylus specifically for art and don't want to deal with the extra price and hassle of a pressure-sensitive stylus, the Sensu Brush is one of the best styli you can find. It feels good, looks good, and easily switches between standard stylus and paintbrush. If you just want to tap and sketch, the $25 Pogo Sketch Pro is our top choice for non-professional stylus, and if you want greater responsiveness, an electronic, pressure-sensitive stylus like the Adonit Jot Touch is a better choice (but it's twice as expensive).

Will Greenwald By Will Greenwald Analyst, Consumer Electronics

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for more than six years, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. Since graduating from Syracuse University in 2005, Will has...

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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hurricane sound waves could aid forecasting

Hurricanes generate sound waves detectable through the air thousands of miles away, which could be a good way to measure the wave conditions near these storms, a new study suggests.

Such findings could help improve models to predict and prepare for dangerous storms, the scientists behind the study said.

Hurricanes can generate winds of more than 160 mph (250 kph), whipping up the sea surface to waves up to 70 feet (20 meters) high. When one such ocean wave slams into an equally tall wave traveling in the opposite direction, the collision results in low-frequency sound waves in the atmosphere that scientific instruments can hear thousands of miles away. These infrasound signals are known as microbaroms.

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"Signals of ocean waves were first observed in seismic records in the early 1900s and were considered noise to their earthquake signals," said researcher Kwok Fai Cheung, an ocean engineer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "In the 1940s, articles were published in scientific journals tracing the signals recorded in the middle of North America to marine storms. This is reinforced by a paper published by Russian scientists in the 1990s that traced the origin of infrasound signals recorded in Siberia to the hurricanes in the Pacific."

As hurricanes move, past studies revealed, waves they generated earlier in time will interact with ones they generate later. This produces a strong microbarom signal in the storm's wake. Indeed, it is possible "to hear storms making waves halfway across the globe," said researcher Justin Stopa, an ocean engineer also at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Storms signals
In principle, listening to microbaroms can help researchers continuously monitor ocean wave activity and track marine storms. "The strongest infrasound signals come from the storm center, which is the most dangerous portion of the hurricane," Stopa told OurAmazingPlanet.

However, regular surface ocean behavior generates microbaroms as well, including ocean swell, surface waves and other kinds of storms. To see if they could tell the difference between microbaroms from different sources, researchers used an International Monitoring System infrasound sensor array in Hawaii to monitor signals generated during the passage of Hurricanes Neki and Felicia in 2009. Neki peaked as a Category 3 tropical cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds of 120 mph (194 kph), while Felicia peaked as a Category 4 tropical cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds of 129 mph (208 kph). (Tropical cyclone is the generic term for hurricanes, tropical storms and typhoons.)

Using modeled wind speed data, the investigators simulated wave conditions during the hurricanes. These estimates served as the basis of an acoustic model to calculate microbarom activity.

The research team's predictions matched the microbarom signals the Hawaii sensor array detected. In fact, the scientists note the microbaroms from the hurricanes drowned out the much weaker signals from other phenomena.

Understanding hurricane behavior
The researchers are now extending their study to storms across the globe with the aid of French colleagues and are also investigating whether they can analyze extratropical storms and large-scale weather patterns in addition to hurricanes. (Extratropical storms are powered by the temperatures differences across a frontal system, whereas tropical storms are fueled by convection and warm tropical waters.)

"This combination of observations and simulated data will enable better understanding of marine storms, including hurricane behavior and our climate," Stopa said. "This will enable better models that have the ability to predict and mitigate hazards harmful to humankind." [ In Photos: Notorious Retired Hurricane Names ]

The models need further refinement, however, the researchers noted.

"There is much more work that needs to be done before infrasound measurements can be used as a forecasting tool," Cheung told OurAmazingPlanet. The atmosphere is a difficult environment to model how sound travels due to rapidly changing conditions there, which affect the density of air and thus the speed of sound through it. These new findings "represent a first step of this long process," Cheung said.

Stopa, Cheung and their colleagues Milton Garc?s and Nickles Badger detailed their findings in the December issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50566950/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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