Thursday, January 31, 2013

Beehive: Ghanian flat thread plaits | Rowan Family Tree

DSC_0019

That is admittedly not a fancy title for a very fancy hair style. Perhaps you have a suggestion for a better title for this lovely hairstyle?

Basically, it?s super simple?- you just part the hair and then hold it down. Use some braiding thread or matching yarn (as I did and you just ?sew? the hair together. Obviously you are not piercing your kids? scalp! but rather, you just weave a yarn needle under and over and under and over the hair all along the parted hair, picking up more hair as you go.

If you click on a picture below, it will show you a much bigger detailed picture.

? This style took me only 50-60 minutes on Sugar, and it lasted about a week and a half. If I do it again (and I will!) I will just do smaller parts and it will last longer. It?s also a nice break for the scalp and hair from braiding? there is no pulling at all with this style.

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Source: http://rowanfamilytree.com/2013/01/30/beehive-ghanian-flat-thread-plaits/

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Martin's Senior Tech Site (snrtech.org): Computers for Visually ...

Ideally the visually impaired would have a large screen TV or display coupled with voice recognition hardware. We are almost there but we have been almost there for many years.

Nonetheless equipment is good enough for now for many. This is the case even though voice recognition must be helped along with keyboard at times.

The best components are out there, but not usually combined in one device. For example, the Kindle fire 7 inch tablet can drive a large screen but does not have the best speech recognition capabilities. At the same time the Nexus 7 has the latest and best speech recognition but cannot drive a large screen .?

The two capabilities need to be combined in one device. For the best results speech recognition needs to be help along by the best technology. ? That technology sends the speech pattern to a supercomputer which handles the heavy processing work, as opposed to a local computer.

The local device simply serves as a terminal. In a small device this may require wifi. The best of this speech recognition software belongs to Google . The older Dragon system relied on the limited capabilities of an older computer and required expensive so called training of the computer to recognize a specific voice.

However Dragon is indeed offering better software these days For example, the iPad offers such software applications. Of course, any tablet also needs ideally a conventional keyboard to assist.

Very soon we may have more choices in devices which will work well for extensive dictation. Even so, the present systems do offer good enough performance and can be used, for example, for browser and short items such as emails. These technologies can be augmented by mature technology to read text from screen out loud.

Source: http://www.snrtech.org/2013/01/computers-for-visually-impaired.html

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Tomorrow's life-saving medications may currently be living at the bottom of the sea

Jan. 29, 2013 ? OHSU researchers, in partnership with scientists from several other institutions, have published two new research papers that signal how the next class of powerful medications may currently reside at the bottom of the ocean. In both cases, the researchers were focused on ocean-based mollusks -- a category of animal that includes snails, clams and squid and their bacterial companions.

Sea life studies aid researchers in several ways, including the development of new medications and biofuels. Because many of these ocean animal species have existed in harmony with their bacteria for millions of years, these benign bacteria have devised molecules that can affect body function without side effects and therefore better fight disease.

To generate these discoveries, a research partnership called the Philippine Mollusk Symbiont International Cooperative Biodiversity Group was formed. As the name suggests, the group specifically focuses on mollusks, a large phylum of invertebrate animals, many of which live under the sea. Margo Haygood, Ph.D., an OHSU marine microbiologist, leads the group, with partners at the University of the Philippines, the University of Utah, The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and Ocean Genome Legacy. Both of these newly published papers are the result of the efforts of this research group.

Here are brief summaries of the two studies:

Shipworms: The source of a new antibiotic

The paper focuses on a unique animal called a shipworm, which despite its name is not a worm. Shipworms are mollusks and are clam-like creatures that use their shells as drills and feed on wood by burrowing into the wood fibers. They are best known for affixing themselves to the sides of wooden ships. Over time, their wood feeding causes serious damage to the hull of those ships.

The research team initially focused on shipworms because the animals' creative use of bacteria to convert wood -- a poor food source lacking proteins or nitrogen -- into a suitable food source where the animal can both live and feed.

This research revealed that one form of bacteria utilized by shipworms secretes a powerful antibiotic, which may hold promise for combatting human diseases.

"The reason why this line of research is so critical is because antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to human health," said Margo Haygood, Ph.D., a member of the OHSU Institute of Environmental Health and a professor of science and engineering in the OHSU School of Medicine.

"Antibiotics have helped humans battle infectious diseases for over 70 years. However, the dangerous organisms these medications were designed to protect us against have adapted due to widespread use. Without a new class of improved antibiotics, older medications are becoming less and less effective and we need to locate new antibiotics to keep these diseases at bay. Bacteria that live in harmony with animals are a promising source. "

Cone snails: Another possible yet surprising source for new medicines

A team led by researchers from the University of Utah, and including OHSU and the University of the Philippines researchers, took part in a separate study of cone snails collected in the Philippines. Cone snails are also mollusks. There have been few previous studies to determine if bacteria associated with these snails might assist in drug development. This is because the snails have thick shells and they can also defend themselves through the use of toxic venoms. Because of the existence of these significant defensive measures, it was assumed that the bacteria they carry do not have to produce additional chemical defenses that might also translate into human medications. The latest research shows that this previous assumption is incorrect.

The research demonstrated how bacteria carried by cone snails produce a chemical that is neuroactive, meaning that it impacts the function of nerve cells, called neurons, in the brain. Such chemicals have promise for treatment of pain.

"Mollusks with external shells, like the cone snail, were previously overlooked in the search for new antibiotics and other medications," said, Eric Schmidt, Ph.D., a biochemist at the university of Utah and lead author of the article.

"This discovery tells us that these animals also produce compounds worth studying. It's hoped that these studies may also provide us with valuable knowledge that will help us combat disease."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon Health & Science University.

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


Journal References:

  1. S. I. Elshahawi, A. E. Trindade-Silva, A. Hanora, A. W. Han, M. S. Flores, V. Vizzoni, C. G. Schrago, C. A. Soares, G. P. Concepcion, D. L. Distel, E. W. Schmidt, M. G. Haygood. PNAS Plus: Boronated tartrolon antibiotic produced by symbiotic cellulose-degrading bacteria in shipworm gills. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; 110 (4): E295 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1213892110
  2. Zhenjian Lin, Joshua?P. Torres, Mary?Anne Ammon, Lenny Marett, Russell?W. Teichert, Christopher?A. Reilly, Jason?C. Kwan, Ronald?W. Hughen, Malem Flores, Ma.?Diarey Tianero, Olivier Peraud, James?E. Cox, Alan?R. Light, Aaron?Joseph?L. Villaraza, Margo?G. Haygood, Gisela?P. Concepcion, Baldomero?M. Olivera, Eric?W. Schmidt. A Bacterial Source for Mollusk Pyrone Polyketides. Chemistry & Biology, 2013; 20 (1): 73 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2012.10.019

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/cxOQn7lt-c8/130129130949.htm

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Movie Review: ?Fiction Family Reunion? | Daily Bruin

Many people dread family reunions because they involve a distant relative who loves to pinch cheeks and tell the kids how much they look like their mother. But Fiction Family?s latest get-together is not a reunion to be dreaded; it is one to look forward to.

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek began collaborating in 2005. With Fiction Family?s debut album released back in 2009, it took four years for the sequel to finally come to fruition. The resulting sophomore album ?Fiction Family Reunion? was well worth the wait.

Bouncing back and forth from a more rustic bluegrass sound to a refined rock ?n? roll vibe, the band members have certainly grown into themselves and are not afraid to take lyrical and stylistic risks.

?Fiction Family Reunion? has a carefree, open sound to it. Elements of rock, folk and bluegrass mix together seamlessly, producing a crisp, exciting blend that highlights the songwriting talents of both Foreman and Watkins, especially their strong lyrics.

The opening number ?Avalon? is a colorful and fresh start to the album. Co-written by Foreman and Watkins, the retro-inspired synthesized guitar part in particular gives this song a very John Lennon-feel.

The upbeat ?Give Me Back My Girl? has a light, summery vibe that does wonders to brighten up the album. Splashes of percussion and a colorful bass line enhance the energy produced by Foreman?s vocals, creating a sound that is infectious and catchy.

Penned by Foreman, ?God Badge? has a metaphysical element similar to his songs with Switchfoot. Definitely the standout piece on the album, the song has spiritually driven lyrics that add to an almost ethereal feeling. The lyrics may inspire listeners to take a step back from trying to be in control of everything and allow love in, insisting that one should ?Put your God badge down/ And love someone/ Let it free your soul/ The world never was and never will be in your control.?

The closing number, ?Fools Gold,? also takes on this spiritual vibe. With a more acoustic sound reminiscent of the earlier songs by the group, such as ?We Ride? and ?Throw it Away,? it is a nice finish to a higher energy set.

Possibly because it took more than four years to put together, this album seems more cohesive than the first. The addition of bassist Tyler Chester and drummer Aaron Redfield makes the sound wholesome and balanced. However, it also leaves listeners missing the surprisingly pleasing acoustic sound that the first album had.

While the vocal harmonies overall are stronger than the debut album, Foreman?s warm, clear voice still stands out over Watkins?.

Suffice it to say, this sophomore record is not perfect, but it?s definitely on the right path. Fans of Switchfoot, Nickel Creek and Fiction Family alike are likely to thoroughly enjoy this new release, as this reunion is energetic, absorbing and an awful lot of fun.

Email Jakubczyk at ajakubczyk@media.ucla.edu.

Source: http://dailybruin.com/2013/01/28/fiction-family-reunion/

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Suggs, Webb, stand out at Super Bowl media day

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs answers a question during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Pat Semansky)

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs answers a question during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Pat Semansky)

Inside Edition reporter Katherine Webb is seen during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Pat Semansky)

Baltimore Ravens players participate in media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jennifer Jones, of New Orleans, wearing Mardi Gras attire dances in the isles of the Superdome during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Baltimore Ravens fan Uland Price from Baton Rouge, La., waves during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Pat Semansky)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Scenes and observations from the NFL's annual Super Bowl media day ? interviews with players and team personnel from the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers on the field at the Superdome:

___

Terrell Suggs stood up, threw down his microphone, kicked over his chair with a back heel as he stepped down from his podium, and then kicked over a cooler.

Onlookers laughed, satisfied that the Baltimore Ravens' mischievous linebacker had properly punctuated the frenetic, free-for-all known as Super Bowl media day.

Suggs plays a central role in one of the more intimidating defenses in the NFL, and at least some of the conversation involved football, and what it would take to slow down San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick in Sunday's NFL championship game.

But media day is never just about football, not even when the players are interviewing each other.

Posing as a reporter, defensive end Arthur Jones asked Suggs which staple of Louisiana cuisine he preferred, gumbo or jambalaya.

"That's a good question, and I'm glad you asked that, Arthur," Suggs said. "Definitely gumbo."

Suggs also was asked if he is the best dancer in the locker room: "No way. 'Be Nasty,' (safety) Bernard Pollard ? he's definitely the best dancer. And I think if we get this done come Sunday, you all will get to see a good dose of it."

And maybe even get a song from Suggs. He wasn't shy about serenading everyone with a rendition of Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love," moments after he took his seat behind the microphone.

___

Katherine Webb credits a couple of camera shots of her watching the BCS national title game in Miami with landing her at the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Otherwise known as Miss Alabama USA and the girlfriend of Crimson Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron, Webb has been hired by TV's "Inside Edition" to be its game correspondent.

"It's so exciting and absolutely crazy at the same time. It's happened so fast. I feel like I'm living on a plane but it's a great journey," said Webb, who was making her first trip to New Orleans for her first Super Bowl.

The 23-year-old Webb has been working on a fledgling modeling and acting career in Los Angeles.

"It's kind of funny how everything kind of lines up to me being at this point," said Webb, explaining that it all started with meeting McCarron while at home in Alabama late last year.

She was hired to interview players and coaches during media day, but wound up being interviewed herself. A colleague had to cut it short a few times, apologetically explaining that Webb had a job to do.

She said she prepped for the job.

"A.J. is interviewed all the time, so it's kind of cool to ask him, 'What do I need to ask and what do I need to stay away from? What annoys players the most to be asked?'" she said.

Webb created a buzz at the BCS game when she was caught on camera and play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger enthusiastically remarked that quarterbacks "get all the good-looking women." ESPN later apologized for the comments.

Webb, however, never thought an apology was necessary.

"Everybody seems to think that I'm offended and I'm not at all," she said. "I appreciate it. I appreciate the fact that he notices a beautiful woman. Women need to be told their beautiful more often. I took no offense to it."

___

For the second year in a row, Super Bowl media day was open to fans for the price of a $25 ticket. They were allowed to sit in sections of seats along the sideline with good views of players on the field, and paid attendance was 5,479, according to NFL spokesman Michael Signora.

When fans walked in, they were given gift bags that included small radios so they could listen to interviews. Other items were mostly product samples from sponsors, including chips and laundry detergent.

Among the fans were John Grimsley and Lisa Wyatt of Baltimore, sitting together a few rows from the field wearing purple jerseys with the No. 52 of star Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. They said the ticket price was worth it.

"This is a very rare experience," said Grimsley, who has Ravens season tickets and tickets to Sunday's big game. "I've never been to anything like this. To be able to see all the Ravens being interviewed, to see some of these guys up close, you don't really get to see that when you go to the games. They're there and then they're gone."

___

The NFL says 5,205 reporters from 24 countries have credentials for the game, and some chose to work in costume at media day.

There was a correspondent from the Nickelodeon television network dressed as a super hero called Pick Boy, wearing black tights with a cape and trim of fluorescent orange and green.

Pick Boy approached 49ers practice squad linebacker Nate Stupar, asking him if he wanted to race. Stupar declined, saying he wasn't about to risk pulling any muscles for something like that.

"I would say that's the first time I got interviewed by a guy with a cape on," Stupar said. "It's entertainment and it's going to be fun to be around the entire week."

Univision radio play-by-play announcer Rafael Hernandez Brito wore a Spanish-style wrestling mask for part of the session.

TV Azteca reporter Jose Marquez Zamora looked like a rodeo clown, with his painted face, round rubber nose and long, pointy shoes covered with light blue sequins. He said he was, in fact, dressed as a typical clown in Monterrey, Mexico, and wasn't concerned about whether his interview subjects took him seriously.

"I don't make interviews about serious stuff," he said. "I only have fun with the players, so our viewers in Mexico get interesting stuff and also get entertained."

Niners offensive lineman Alex Boone was asked about his hair style, which looks similar to a mohawk ? Boone calls it a rhino hawk ? and whether he had the best hair on the team.

"Absolutely. I think I get it from my mom's side," Boone said. "My mom's got great hair."

He added that he never in his career had been asked about his hair in a football interview, and then reflected on how the range of questions on media day truly sets it apart from a typical NFL interview session.

"Weird. Very weird. A lot of questions coming this way and some of them aren't football-related, which creeps me out a little bit," Boone said. "But it's a trip, and I'm excited to be here."

___

When players and coaches were asked to play along with a joke about the growing influence of social media in everyday communication, results were mixed and appeared to expose the generation gap between some players and coaches.

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and others were asked to answer some questions in hash tags only. The tags, which might look like (hash)SuperBowl on the website Twitter, are used to help social media users identify trendy topics.

"That would be very challenging to me," Harbaugh said. "I don't know the hash tag world that well. I don't have one. I don't have a Tweeter (sic). I'm not real good at that."

Ravens kicker Justin Tucker was more cooperative, answering several questions in a row about his Super Bowl experience as a rookie with, "Hash tag, awesome."

___

AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-29-Super%20Bowl-Media%20Day/id-fc1f664b00d2494593d517eb3afc9ecd

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Reanimating Public Education: Challenge & Futures: Alternate ...

The purpose of this first blog in a series is to propose that the present US model of a public school has hardened into a stereotype.? That model seems based on the assumptions that a K-12 school system is somehow unique, unaffected by organization theory, developments in research on human behavior irrelevant, and the only way present K-12 learning can be structured.

Paradoxically, that homogeneity of public K-12 systems contradicts the mantra of local control invoked by most public education defenders.? The specific strategic and operating environments of any organization are not usually subject to manipulation to accommodate an extant organization, though in monopolies that anti-social attempt may be made. ?Normatively, the organization is structured to deal with its environments.

This follows as well from the observation that public education in general, including its collegiate schools, has too frequently isolated itself intellectually from the basic disciplines that actually foot its practice.? Causes may be defensiveness, ignorance, fear, or just the sociology of protected, strongly associative reference group behavior augmented by the teachers? unions?? An answer would help understanding, but reality is that whatever drives present beliefs has cemented in place an over one hundred year-old model for formal organization and for envisioning critical public K-12 learning.

Subsequent posts will propose alternative K-12 models, and their implications for management of the resources powering present public primary and secondary education.

It is not absolute that the present grade, curricular structure, management arrangements, or other systems structure generally employed or present in public K-12 are wrong or automatically demand radical change.? What is assumed is that there has been far too little work executed to test the logic of present K-12 public organization.? Indeed, in the literature search for this post, fewer than 10 percent of the references viewed ? chosen from work in this century because of some reference to alternate K-12 structures ? actually explored that question.? There were five times as many references to the organization or critique of online learning.

The key suggested rule for this journey is central to creativity in any venue:? The need to temporarily suspend disbelief in options to truly scope the issues.? Detailing, critique, challenge, spotting logical holes, all come in due course to assess thinking out of the box.? But not enabling initial openness for options, simply chases any exercise back to what is already in place, creativity?s automatic disruptor.? This was illustrated this weekend by the musings of an otherwise competent, nationally recognized educator, Larry Cuban, in a post to ?The Answer Sheet,? creating a straw man to critique in the current evolution of MOOC (massive online open-source courses), versus reflecting how that innovation might in some form interact with, and nudge K-12 process.? This may be a challenge in our present US knee-jerk society, so sharpen the knives for critique, but keep them sheathed until the options are on the table.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that this journey?s topics are primarily grade span and the titles on the blocks of a school organization chart.? But conventional isn?t the melody for this song.

Organization of any human activity in both the private and public sectors in this century is either a replication of past patterns, or evolution of a past formulation, or by design, or simply occurs in an unplanned trajectory.? The latter is not as uncommon as one might believe.? Many 21st century start-ups just happen, without deliberate specification of a model for creating work, and a preconception of needed change to accommodate growth; they wind up requiring painful realignment with growth, or the lack of resilience of the start-up model drags the firm down.

Public K-12 education, not pejorative but pragmatically, has overall both ignored modern organization theory and demonstrated little awareness that, though their ?numbers? as a system have not experienced dramatic shifts, the environments for their functions and for the product they were created to nurture have dramatically changed.

For perspective, the nation?s children entering K-12 in 2013 will (at least a fraction) exit secondary education in 2025, postsecondary education and the job market by 2030.?

A data point is the sum of outputs from The World Economic Forum, meeting this past week in Davos, Switzerland.? Whether one applauds or scorns our industrial largest and most influential, their beliefs and choices will power most of our economy into the future.? Their views:? ?Climate change?will cause tremendous economic upheaval;?? ?water is the new oil;? ?one of the great concerns should be the employment effects of technology, with so many jobs being rendered obsolete by scientific or technological advances;? new technologies for analyzing the brain will change how we learn.? Pointing up the education challenge was former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown:

?

??huge advances in the Internet and technology are enabling young people to connect with each other and this is opening up the world in a way that has never happened before.? ?Young people are beginning to see that the gap between the opportunities and rights they have been promised and the opportunities and rights that are delivered to them is wholly unacceptable. And the sense that they are being deprived of these opportunities and rights is, I think, going to be the big motivating force over the next few years.?

Our scientific, technology, and even business literature now regularly assert that the knowledge and economic world, as we presently know it, won?t be a smooth extrapolation of the present.? Should it be business as usual for K-12 public education, and how it has been organized and strategized?

?

In the absence of public K-12 reinvention, a new word may be needed to describe its relevance by 2025-2030.? The calls for change in K-12 education, as perverse and ignorant as the present reform movement has been in creating the challenge, should not be a mystery.? Based on the trajectories of what today?s K-12 matriculating students will inherit by the time they are job-ready, some genuine reform is way overdue. There is a rich literature on organization theory and caveats for designing organizations.? Still, few students of the genre think in those terms, rather, using the principles and models of organization to try to explain behavior within an existing organization, or internally adjust one?s parameters to improve its outputs, or assess participant satisfaction, or its learning, or explain why one is not performing as anticipated.? But the notion of actually designing a system to do work is neither new nor does it require new tools. What it does require is a very high tolerance for inputs.? Once past the fiction that an organization is effectively described by, for example, the typical organization chart, the building material explodes.? The variables effecting an organization?s specifications are complex and layered, subject to both the internal missions of the firm and its actors, and equivalently effected by all of the exogenous factors that portray an organization?s environment, present and projectable.? The following figure tries to portray at least the chapter titles of the factors influencing an organization?s survival properties in its venue:
Most of the factors are self-explanatory though subject to major contents expansion.? The figure is color coded to try to portray the different classes of factors:? The largest frame of society and national strategy; subsidiarity, a term recently employed by California?s Governor Jerry Brown to indicate the functions that can be appropriately dedicated to the Federal or states? governments; learning variables, where DOUPP refers to knowledge ? defining, organizing, updating, prescribing, and protocols for dissemination; factors potentially controllable by a system; and the local environments that face a system.

Isn?t this unnecessarily complicating the issue of K-12 mission delivery?? Unquestionably it explodes the determinants, but when digested and hardened, the factors that impact a local system could be many of the above, but are more likely selectively and variably material to the local system.? The factors sorted can be reduced for a system based on their specific materiality.

How might the actual process of organization design work?? Again, at a conceptual level, one perspective is displayed in the diagram below.? Key assumptions of the mission, and deployment and management of resources come from recognizing the school?s major environments.? More finely tuned ?goal criteria for organization design? were detailed in the last post.? ?Organizational process? considerations were also detailed in the last post.? The triangulation of the three inputs produces something not magic, but likely some alternative forms a system might take to best reflect its environment, using the practical dimensions of what the organization is and does.
At the risk of repetition, isn?t this unnecessarily complicated?? Why change what more or less works?? Why chase scarce human resources, with time constraints through this complex process??

Multiple answers.? The process stimulates recognition of variables that impact learning goals and subsequent performance.? It would necessitate that those who manage the massive resources America devotes to public education, actually question their own beliefs and assumptions, a reality check.? It kicks those managing the system out of their comfort zones.? And it is a discovery path for alternative and more creative or productive ways to achieve learning goals consistent with a rapidly changing environment, and to use the scarce resources invested.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Readers with a conscientious distaste for theory and conceptualization may not find the above very satisfying, perhaps impractical, perhaps spacey??

In fact, as a long time consultant dealing with corporate strategic planning, teaching it at a high level, and doing it in my own firms managed, the process works.? Per force, the models that one can employ at a grass roots level need to be shaped and polished to work in the real organizational environments.? This post simply introduces the sweep of issues that might impact reformulating K-12 efforts.? The next several posts will seek to bore in on how some of the historically highest impact factors might fit retooling of public K-12 schools? organization.

Further, little reinvention of educational wisdom is necessarily involved, excepting the ramping discovery of better explanations for how learning works, from the neural biological and neural net simulation work underway.? In the course of research for the series, a powerhouse of existing principles for improving K-12 learning could be found.? The unifying attribute of much of that work; it did not originate in our schools of education, or in the material most frequently cited as the bases for present K-12 pedagogy.

Lastly, an example to set up the next post and demonstrate that the kind of probing above has merit.? It is likely that the closest things to widely attempted (but difficult because of uncontrolled variables) experiments to specify K-12 organization change have been the studies of grade span.? They are everywhere, even in the last century, and proliferated in this one until NCLB took hold and dominated priorities.? In the literature review for this post, one finally quit counting those studies typically executed at a system level.?

But the research results have been anything but consistent, though generally favoring a K-8/9-12 stratification over the various middle-school options.? The lack of some definitive answer has been almost universally attributed by study authors to the lack of sophisticated statistical tools that can account for concomitant and intervening variables in creating performance differences from alternate transitions.

Another point of view, the wrong question was emphasized.? The most robust finding from this population of studies has been that student performance is primarily impacted by the transitions introduced by grade span elections. Studies show transition effects appear to dissipate within roughly a year, but seemingly never asked, what specifically are the behavioral causes and effects on students from the transition(s), and precisely how do they impact current learning?? For as long as there are grades, without some functional mechanism to mitigate the losses of learning performance traceable to any transition, the child will see not just the grade span effect, but a dozen transitions. ?

One cogent explanation resides in the socialization between student and teacher that must be rebuilt at each transition;?cumulative effects of transitions might also be expected to peak for students where learning is?challenged by socioeconomic and cultural status that impedes socialization adjustments. ?Another explanation is the effect on present capacities for teacher recognition and use of prior learning, a factor that has been repeatedly empirically demonstrated to greatly influence present learning.

Viewed from the above perspectives, there may be organizational fixes for the problem; one that incorporates a longitudinal strategy will be advanced next post.

And oft-used quote, but one that never ceases to challenge how we measure accountability for K-12 by something with greater validity than a state?s school grades based on standardized tests.? By Irish poet, William Butler Yeats:? ?Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.? ?Designing public K-12 for that destination should be the mission. ?Part two will dig deeper to suggest how real world school organization can still be adjusted to improve the learning that will be needed in our futures.

Source: http://edunationredux.blogspot.com/2013/01/alternate-organization-of-k-12-part-one.html

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Mom guilt? Ain't nobody got time for that. | Motherhood, Frugal ...

laundry

I?m not big on putting touchy-feely posts on this blog, but every once in a while it just feels good to take a break from all the makeup and crafting and rage and just be real for a sec. Maybe that?s your cue to leave and go do something infinitely more fun like online shop. Or perhaps you?ll stick it out and this post will bore the crap out of you because there are no fun pictures JUST ALL THESE WORDS, GAH. Either way, you?re pooping or shopping and both are enjoyable/productive, so at least I could help with that!

This is about to get really kumbaya right now, but do you ever feel like your life is out of balance or you?re spreading yourself too thin? Um, hi, that?s me right this second. Shoot, that?s me every day. I have a really hard time with disorder. You?d be surprised by that if you could look at my house right now, but chaos and imperfections STRESS ME OUT. If there?s a sink full of dishes that need to be washed, I can?t relax and get physically jittery until they?re taken care of. Same goes with dirty floors, weeds taking over the yard, drops of spaghetti sauce on the stove. And obviously, I?m referring to this Hoarders-status pile of laundry at my feet, that is now so large that it has spilled out of this room and into the kitchen. Messes, disorder, chaos? it all gives me the pit sweats.

I?m not just talking about physical messes though, as annoying as they are. I can handle those with a little time and some Comet. The big thing I?m dealing with is trying to manage each area of my life and being okay with the imperfections. I struggle hard with this, I really do. There are so many tasks I want to accomplish in the day and when I don?t get it all done, I feel like I failed. That?s the main reason I?m not into making New Year?Resolutions? it?s just another ?thing? I will beat myself up over if it doesn?t get accomplished. EMO MUCH?!

I want to be a great wife and mom, taking care of everyone?s needs. That?s a lot of responsibility on it?s own, but it?s my number one priority and I?m SO thankful I have the opportunity. (I don?t want any of my rantings to come across as me taking my amazing family for granted, ever.) I also want to keep a tidy home, stay in contact with my family and friends,?make sure I?get the kids outside to play and socialize,?teach them something new, keep up with this blog and my Etsy shop, try to fit in a workout,?look somewhat attractive by the time my husband gets home from work,?make a healthy yet delicious dinner (always a challenge), spend some quality time with each family member before they go to bed, read my Bible and pray. Those are the basics and not even touching on the 800 dvr?d shows calling my name. Not too outrageous when you see it written down in front of you and consider the fact that I?m home all day and it?s MY JOB to do these things? but I STILL can?t manage to do it all. And like every other woman out there who struggles with this, I beat myself up over it.

So why am I sitting on the computer when all this stuff needs to be done around my home? Because I just needed to vent to my girlfriends. I can only dump so much of my drama on my husband before he goes crazy (and I think that point is rapidly approaching? sorry, honey). I know I?m not alone and that all women go through the feeling of being spread too thin or ?not enough? at some point. It?s not just a mom thing. It?s a human thing. And last time I checked, I?m definitely not a machine. I am just an imperfect woman who is doing her best. We all are.

It?s nice to shoot a little ?blhasdfkajs;dlfkjasdklfjsdkja? out of my fingertips and send it off to the internet every once in a while. Thanks for sticking around. Bonus kumbaya hugs if you pooped AND read this post at the same time.

Source: http://mrspriss.com/2013/01/28/mom-guilt-aint-nobody-got-time-for-that/

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Monday, January 28, 2013

HEALTH and FITNESS | Carpaltunnelnomore, Hand And Wrist Pain ...

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Source: http://bemaroigese.blogspot.com/2013/01/health-and-fitness-carpaltunnelnomore.html

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Education of Business Online from NCSU How Is Email Marketing ...

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Email marketing is a promotional tool used for online marketing of the business. According to research and study, researchers have found that it has become one of the most popular and easy to use marketing tool. Above all, its use is cost effective and can get easily fit into the budget of a marketer. Let?s see how it is an affordable means to reach out a customer.

Many marketers indulge in aggressive and robust marketing or advertising of their products and services. They strive hard to promote their companies through all sorts of media. Main media are print, broadcast as well as Internet. Prior to Internet, print and broadcast were broadly used by the entrepreneurs striving to compete with and outshine each other. The print form includes newspaper, pamphlets, brochures, magazines or journals. This consumes massive amount of money and a lot of time and other resources of a marketer. If you are advertising your product through radio or airing the same on a television channel, it requires manpower to create a promotional ad, time as well as money.

The net result of promotions through print and broadcast media is that it is uncertain whether you have reached your target customer. Your target audience may not have turned on the radio, watching the television channel or read the newspaper the day your advertisement was being aired or printed. When Internet marketing came into existence the marketers started turning to the World Wide Web for promotion. One of the major factors for turning to this medium was that the marketers found it inexpensive.

Email marketing is one such promotional tactics used by the advertisers to advertise their products or services. The essence is that one can create an ad or a newsletter, fetch for a potential customer and reach out to him. It has an assurance that a customer has received the mail. Avoid using promotional words as they can trap you in the snare of Spam. Create informative content that your reader would like to read. A marketer simply needs an opt-in list and an Internet connection in the marketing campaign. In this way, you can reach out your customers cost-effectively and easily.

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Source: http://www.graspncsu.com/2013/01/how-is-email-marketing-cost-effective/

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Leading Senate liberal Harkin of Iowa to retire

DES MOINES (Reuters) - Senator Tom Harkin, a veteran Iowa Democrat and one of the most liberal senators, said on Saturday he will not seek re-election in 2014, putting at risk what was considered a safe Democratic seat.

Harkin, 73, who has focused much of his nearly 40-year congressional career on farm policy, education and expanding rights for people with disabilities, is the third senator facing re-election next year who has announced his retirement, following Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

"It's somebody else's turn. It's time for me to step aside ... . I think that's not only good for our party, it's good for our state and for our nation," Harkin said in an interview with Reuters.

He said he had no health problems but had promised his wife that he would quit before it was too late to enjoy other things in life.

Iowa, site of the country's first presidential nominating contest, is considered a political swing state. Republican Charles Grassley is Iowa's other U.S. senator.

In remarks to the Iowa Democratic Party central committee after his announcement, Harkin said he would stay politically active.

"I'm not quitting today. This is not a time for legacy talks or anything like this," said Harkin, who has served in Congress since 1974.

Several committee members had tears running down their cheeks as he spoke.

President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, praised Harkin for his decades of public service.

"During his tenure, he has fought passionately to improve quality of life for Americans with disabilities and their families, to reform our education system and ensure that every American has access to affordable health care," Obama said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, in a statement described Harkin as "a passionate progressive, whose deeply held principles have provided a guiding light to Democrats for decades."

SEARCH IS ON

Party officials said Harkin's announcement, coming early in the current two-year election cycle, provides ample time to recruit a strong Democratic candidate.

Among Democrats, U.S. Representative Bruce Braley is widely seen as a front-runner. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, and his wife, Christine Vilsack, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year, are also viewed as potential candidates.

Among Republicans, U.S. Representatives Tom Latham, a moderate, and Steve King, a conservative, are mentioned as possible candidates, which could produce a divisive Republican primary.

Obama won Iowa in the November election. But the state has a Republican governor, and a divided legislature and congressional delegation.

Harkin's retirement "just reinforces our belief that a grassroots Republican comeback can take place in 2014. Let's have it start in Iowa," Iowa Republican Party Chairman A.J. Spiker said in an email appeal to state Republicans.

The party needs to pick up six seats in the mid-term elections next year to get a majority in the 100-member Senate.

One of the last of the Senate's old-guard liberals, Harkin angrily opposed the White House over the recent fiscal cliff compromise that Vice President Joe Biden negotiated with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Harkin said the deal that raised taxes only on the very rich helps the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

First elected to the House of Representatives in 1974 and to the Senate in 1984, Harkin said someone younger needs to take his place.

"I've been there 40 years. I'm 73. By the time I run (for re-election), I'd be 75," he said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Charles Abbott and Vicki Allen in Washington; Editing by Greg McCune and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democratic-senator-tom-harkin-not-seek-election-aide-161442576.html

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Education & Reference 2020: The Best American Science and ...

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Source: http://asokiano.blogspot.com/2013/01/education-reference-2020-best-american.html

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Australia Day message from the Samuel Griffith Society - Michael ...

"Every Australian with an ideal for democracy - and I hope that means most?Australians - should do everything they lawfully can to oppose the introduction of this outrageous law," said Mr Callinan, who retired from the nation's highest court in 2007.

"It seems as if each year the Constitution and the cohesion of the Australian community are put at some new and entirely unnecessary risk.

"The dangers of the current one, of the introduction of a new law to criminalise speech which might cause offence to anyone, should not be underestimated."

His intervention in the debate over the government's plan to consolidate five federal anti-discrimination statutes coincides with a warning from Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark that the scheme could expose state police and prison officers to litigation from suspects, offenders and prisoners.

In an article in?The Australian?today, Mr Clark writes that the government's proposal appears to apply to police pursuits, the arrest of suspects, the allocation of prison accommodation and facilities and to prosecutors' decisions about which charges to lay.

While the government proposed to exempt its own authorised activities from the proposed scheme, "it proposes no such general exemption for activities authorised under state law".

Their concerns have been triggered by an exposure draft of the government plan that has been widely criticised. ABC chairman Jim Spigelman, a former chief justice of NSW, warned that it would impose unprecedented restrictions on free speech.

If enacted, the scheme would extend the reach of provisions in the Racial Discrimination Act that already impose liability for actions that offend or insult.

Those provisions, used in 2011 against columnist Andrew Bolt, would be extended into all areas of discrimination law so legal action could be launched by anyone who claims to have an attribute protected by the scheme.

Those attributes include sexual orientation, gender identity, social origin, political opinion, disability, sex, age, race, industrial history, medical history, nationality, potential pregnancy and religion.

The onus of proof would be reversed so those accused of offending would be presumed guilty unless they proved their innocence.

Mr Callinan, who is president of the federalist Samuel Griffith Society, used his Australia Day message to members to denounce the scheme.

"Even the imaginative powers of George Orwell would not have conceived of an administration that would dare to try to forbid every member of society from passing adverse comment upon any other member of it," he said.

If "political good sense" did not prevail and the draft scheme were enacted, Mr Callinan said he was optimistic that "it will not survive the scrutiny of the courts".

Source: http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/01/australia-day-message-from-the-samuel-griffith-society.html

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Holocaust items put on display for remembrance day

Holocaust survivor Stella Knobel's teddy bear on display at the memorial's "Gathering the Fragments" exhibit at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013., Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. When Stella Knobel's family had to flee World War II Poland in 1939, the only thing the 7-year-old girl could take with her was her teddy bear. For the next six years, the stuffed animal never left her side as the family wondered through the Soviet Union, to Iran and finally the Holy Land. "He was like family. He was all I had. He knew all my secrets," the 80-year-old now says with a smile. "I saved him all these years. But I worried what would happen to him when I died." So when she heard about a project launched by Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum to collect artifacts from aging survivors - before they, and their stories, were lost forever - she reluctantly handed over her beloved bear Misiu - Polish for ?Teddy Bear?- so the fading memories of the era could be preserved for others. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Holocaust survivor Stella Knobel's teddy bear on display at the memorial's "Gathering the Fragments" exhibit at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013., Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. When Stella Knobel's family had to flee World War II Poland in 1939, the only thing the 7-year-old girl could take with her was her teddy bear. For the next six years, the stuffed animal never left her side as the family wondered through the Soviet Union, to Iran and finally the Holy Land. "He was like family. He was all I had. He knew all my secrets," the 80-year-old now says with a smile. "I saved him all these years. But I worried what would happen to him when I died." So when she heard about a project launched by Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum to collect artifacts from aging survivors - before they, and their stories, were lost forever - she reluctantly handed over her beloved bear Misiu - Polish for ?Teddy Bear?- so the fading memories of the era could be preserved for others. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Holocaust survivor Stella Knobel, poses next to her teddy bear during a new exhibition of Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. When Stella Knobel's family had to flee World War II Poland in 1939, the only thing the 7-year-old girl could take with her was her teddy bear. For the next six years, the stuffed animal never left her side as the family wondered through the Soviet Union, to Iran and finally the Holy Land. "He was like family. He was all I had. He knew all my secrets," the 80-year-old now says with a smile. "I saved him all these years. But I worried what would happen to him when I died." So when she heard about a project launched by Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum to collect artifacts from aging survivors - before they, and their stories, were lost forever - she reluctantly handed over her beloved bear Misiu - Polish for ?Teddy Bear?- so the fading memories of the era could be preserved for others. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Holocaust survivor Stella Knobel, smiles as she speaks during a new exhibition of Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. When Stella Knobel's family had to flee World War II Poland in 1939, the only thing the 7-year-old girl could take with her was her teddy bear. For the next six years, the stuffed animal never left her side as the family wondered through the Soviet Union, to Iran and finally the Holy Land. "He was like family. He was all I had. He knew all my secrets," the 80-year-old now says with a smile. "I saved him all these years. But I worried what would happen to him when I died." So when she heard about a project launched by Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum to collect artifacts from aging survivors - before they, and their stories, were lost forever - she reluctantly handed over her beloved bear Misiu - Polish for ?Teddy Bear?- so the fading memories of the era could be preserved for others. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Holocaust survivor 83-year-old Shlomo Resnik and his wife attend the memorial's "Gathering the Fragments" exhibit at Yad Vashem of more than 71,000 items collected nationwide over the past two years in Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. His item was the steel bowl that he and his father used for food at the Dachau concentration camp. His father Meir's name and number are engraved on the bowl, which serves as a reminder of how hard they had to scrap for food. "We fought to stay alive," he said. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

(AP) ? When Stella Knobel's family fled World War II Poland in 1939, the only thing the 7-year-old girl could take with her was her teddy bear. For the next six years, the stuffed animal never left her side as the family wandered through the Soviet Union, to Iran and finally the Holy Land.

"He was like family. He was all I had. He knew all my secrets," the 80-year-old said with a smile. "I saved him all these years. But I worried what would happen to him when I died."

So when she heard about a project launched by Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial and museum, to collect artifacts from aging survivors, she reluctantly handed over her beloved bear Misiu, Polish for "teddy bear," so the memories of the era could be preserved.

"We've been through a lot together, so it was hard to let him go," said Knobel, who was widowed 12 years ago and has no children. "But here he has found a haven."

The German Nazis and their collaborators murdered 6 million Jews during World War II. In addition to rounding up Jews and shipping them to death camps, the Nazis also confiscated their possessions and stole their valuables, leaving little behind. Those who survived often had just a small item or two they managed to keep. Many have clung to the sentimental objects ever since.

On Sunday, Knobel's tattered teddy bear was on display at Yad Vashem, one of more than 71,000 items collected nationwide over the past two years. With a missing eye, his stuffing bursting out and a red ribbon around his neck, Misiu was seated behind a glass window as part of the memorial's "Gathering the Fragments" exhibit.

The opening came as other Holocaust-related events took place around the world.

In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking 60 years to the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

Israel's main Holocaust memorial day is in the spring, marking the anniversary of the uprising of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, against the Nazis.

To coincide with the international commemorations, Israel released its annual anti-Semitism report, noting that the past year experienced an increase in the number of attacks against Jewish targets worldwide, mainly by elements identified with Islamic extremists.

At Sunday's weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the lessons of the Holocaust have yet to be learned. He accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons with the goal of destroying Israel.

"What has not changed is the desire to annihilate the Jews. What has changed is the ability of the Jews to defend themselves," he said.

Yad Vashem showcased dozens of items, each representing tales of perseverance and survival. They included sweaters, paintings, diaries, letters, dolls, cameras and religious artifacts that were stashed away for decades or discarded before they were collected and restored.

Yad Vashem researchers have been interviewing survivors, logging their stories, tagging materials and scanning documents into the museum's digitized archive.

Aside from their value as exhibits in the museum, Yad Vashem says the items are also proving helpful for research, filling in holes in history and contributing to the museum's huge database of names.

"Thousands of Israelis have decided to part from personal items close to their hearts, and through them share the memory of their dear ones who were murdered in the Holocaust," said Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev. "Through these examples, we have tried to bring to light items whose stories both explain the individual story and provide testimony to join the array of personal accounts that make up the narrative of the Holocaust."

For 83-year-old Shlomo Resnik, one such item was the steel bowl he and his father used for food at the Dachau concentration camp. His father Meir's name and number are engraved on the bowl, a reminder of how hard they had to scrap for food. "We fought to stay alive," he said.

Approaching the glass-encased display, Tsilla Shlubsky began tearing. Below she could see the handwritten diary her father kept while the family took shelter with two dozen others in a small attic in the Polish countryside. With a pencil, Jakov Glazmann meticulously recorded the family's ordeal in tiny Yiddish letters. His daughter doesn't know exactly what is written and she doesn't care to find out.

"I remember him writing. I lived through it," said Shlubsky, 74. "Abba (Dad) wasn't a writer, but with his heart's blood he wrote a diary to record the events to leave something behind so that what had taken place would be known."

She said it pained her to part with the family treasure.

"I know this is the right place for it and it will be protected forever," she said. "Now is the time and this is the place."

____

Follow Heller on Twitter at (at)aronhellerap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-27-Israel-Holocaust%20Remnants/id-1d4f76e2bb5a4210a76ad913742da009

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

SOE partners with Major League Gaming for PlanetSide 2 e-sports ...

SOE has partnered with Major League Gaming in order bring the world of competitive e-sports to PlanetSide 2. "Over the next few months, the PlanetSide 2 and MLG teams will work closely to develop ideal competitive gameplay features and settings to showcase the massively multiplayer online first-person shooter," according to a press release.

Neither company has specified what those features and settings might be, but PS2 creative director Matt Higby and SOE CEO John Smedley have long maintained that the firm was developing its sci-fi shooter sequel with an eye on the competitive gaming arena.

SOE and MLG will also collaborate to create original programming, with a broadcast schedule due "in the coming weeks."

Source: http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/25/soe-partners-with-major-league-gaming-for-planetside-2-e-sports/

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Samsung Dominated Apple And Nokia With A Record 213M Smartphones Shipped In 2012

apple-samsungThe battle’s been raging between Samsung and Apple for global smartphone domination, but according to the latest numbers out of Strategy Analytics, Samsung has extended its lead over rival manufacturers to capture a 30 percent marketshare worldwide. According to the research firm, Samsung’s 213 million smartphones shipped over the course of 2012 sets a record for most units shipped by a smartphone vendor in a single year. The previous record holder was Nokia, which shipped 100.1 million units in 2010. Samsung’s ability to deliver both on the high-end (with the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II) and on the low-end with models like the Galaxy Y made the Korean firm nearly impossible to beat. In fact, Samsung sold more smartphones this year than Apple and Nokia combined. Apple continued to see growth, despite rumors that iPhone 5 part production cutbacks were a sign of low demand, shipping 135.8 million smartphones worldwide, capturing a marketshare of 19 percent globally. That represents 46 percent annual growth in units shipped, however it doesn’t seem to have done much for Apple’s market share which was at a steady 19 percent in 2011, as well. Samsung and Apple combined shipped over half of all smartphones that went out over the course of the year. Nokia managed to hang on to its third place position, shipping 35 million smartphones in 2012. However, the Finnish phone giant’s market share dipped from 16 percent last year to a mere five percent this year. Hopefully the company’s partnership with Microsoft and the budding Lumia line can help in plugging up that leak.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Hw00vy_UPeA/

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Billionaire Smackdown: Bill Ackman, Carl Icahn Throw Down on CNBC

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/billionaire-smackdown-bill-ackman-carl-icahn-throw-down-on-cnbc/

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Hello

HI THERE. I'M SATO. NICE TO MEET YOU.

This is indeed the place to start off if you're a new user. It lets the rest of the community know you're new, and some of us often wander in and get to know the fresh blood coming through. (:

I'm Sato, a longtime member around these parts.

Glad to have you here. What brought you to our humble home?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/NMyk9tXpEFE/viewtopic.php

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Under French pressure, key Mali rebel group splits

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers look with binoculars in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A Malian soldier takes position in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

SAN, Mali (AP) ? Mali's rebel movement showed new signs of discord on Thursday in the wake of punishing French air strikes, with one wing of the Ansar Dine group now pledging to negotiate an end to the country's crisis and possibly even fight against its former comrades-in-arms.

France's air and land campaign that began two weeks ago to save Mali's embattled interim government has shaken up the military landscape and put the international spotlight on the former French colony. Mali's government was on a new political defensive, urging its soldiers to respect human rights after new allegations that they had carried out summary executions in zones of battle against the radical Islamists.

Three al-Qaida-linked extremist groups have controlled Mali's vast northeast for months, capitalizing on chaos that followed a coup d'etat in Mali's capital, Bamako, in March. But in a new sign of splintering, former Ansar Dine leader Alghabass Ag Intalla told the Associated Press on Thursday that he and his men were breaking off from Ansar Dine "so that we can be in control of our own fate."

"We are neither AQIM or MUJAO," he said of the other groups, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa, known by its French-language acronym. "We are a group of people from the north of Mali who have a set of grievances that date back at least 50 years."

The comments suggested that at least some of Islamist fighters are searching for an exit in the wake of the French airstrikes. French radio RFI reported earlier Thursday that Intalla's new group will be called the Islamic Movement for the Azawad, a Tuareg term for northern Mali, and his men are willing to fight their former comrades-in-arms in Ansar Dine.

"We are not terrorists. We are ready to negotiate," Intalla told the AP.

A French diplomatic official said France was taking seriously the claims of a split within Ansar Dine ? but needed proof, not just words.

AQIM and MUJAO have been classified as terror groups by the U.N., and Ansar Dine has been "clearly associated" with them ? even if some of its members have raised doubts about how close those ties are, the official said.

"The other groups that have formed need to show which side they're on ... and prove it on the ground," said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. "Are they with the terrorists, or not?"

"They could, for example, free up territory themselves and no longer say that the Malian army is not welcome in the north ? and instead work with it," the official said.

Late last year, Ansar Dine held talks in neighboring Burkina Faso with Malian government representatives, and one of the sticking points was a disagreement over whether Malian law or Islamic Shariah law would be applied. Rebels have at times applied their interpretation of Shariah to carry out public executions, amputations, and whippings ? for infractions ranging from possessing cigarettes to women going out without headscarves.

Intalla suggested a new flexibility: "Shariah is our religion, we cannot renounce our religion. But whatever causes problems within it, we're willing to take a look at."

On Jan. 19, the group said in a statement on a jihadist forum that "the people of northern Mali are prepared to sacrifice everything in order to live under Shariah-based governance," according to SITE Intelligence Group.

An elected official from Kidal, who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the AP Thursday that the split was a long time coming and reflected how Ansar Dine, which took over the northern city of Kidal, enlisted large numbers of fighters and coopted local authorities for economic and political reasons ? not ideological ones. Intalla, an ethnic Tuareg and the heir to Kidal's traditional ruler, isn't believed to be a radical Muslim, he added.

Word of the new dissension within rebel ranks came as the government was confronting its own troubles: The most vocal allegations yet that its depleted army ? which was badly splintered and weakened during the coup d'etat ? had been responsible for human rights abuses along the battle zones separating the rebels in the north and government-controlled south.

"For several days information has come to use pointing to abuses committed on the ground that point to abuses that verge on human rights violations," the prime minister's office said in a statement. "The government reminds the army and security forces to show strict respect of human rights ... the government will see to the strict respect of these norms."

On Wednesday, a witness told the AP that Malian soldiers shot people accused of ties to the radical Islamists at a bus stop in Konna, along the dividing line, and threw their bodies into nearby wells around the time when the French campaign began. Also Wednesday, French human rights group FIDH accused Malian forces of dozens of "summary executions" in the area.

French President Francois Hollande authorized a military intervention two weeks ago and fighter jets have pounded rebel training camps, arms depots and bases. Since then, the Islamists appear to have fled from the cities, although they still remain firmly in control of much of northern Mali, likely using their desert bases and the area's natural topography, including cave systems in the Kidal region.

SITE said that in Ansar Dine's statement, the group said "it had no intention to take over the capital, Bamako, and push to the south, and that France used those allegations to justify its colonial ambitions." The group also added that the fighters' withdrawal was "a strategic choice and was not forced upon them by the enemy, except in the case of protecting civilian lives and property."

The French military said late Wednesday that 2,300 French troops are involved in code-named operation Serval, and the African contingent totals 1,500 soldiers in both Mali's capital, Bamako, and the capital of neighboring Niger, Niamey. France says it will stay as long as needed, but that it hopes African forces will eventually take the lead.

France ? Mali's former colonial ruler ? has received logistical help from Western allies including Britain, Germany, Denmark and the United States, but no Western troops have been committed to fighting alongside the French and Africans.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking Thursday about the Mali situation in Davos, Switzerland, said the military action needed to be supported by "an intelligent political response" to resolve the crisis in the longer term.

"The French are right to act in Mali and I back that action," he said, adding: "We need to address the poisonous narrative these terrorists feed on, close down the ungoverned space in which they thrive and deal with the grievances they use to garner support."

___

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Dakar, Senegal, Baba Ahmed in San, Mali, and Angela Charlton in Davos, Switzerland, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-24-AF-Mali-Fighting/id-1e07e85dcc6d4a2ba45ff42be7594c17

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Stevie Wonder to perform Super Bowl weekend

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Stevie Wonder is the latest in a parade of entertainers that will perform in New Orleans Super Bowl weekend.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer is headlining an outdoor concert near the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel on Feb. 2, the evening before the big game.

A spokeswoman for the event said Friday that Bud Light is sponsoring the concert. It will include performances by Texas blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr. and others.

Also that night, Justin Timberlake is appearing in his first concert in more than four years during "DIRECTV Super Saturday Night," an invitation-only concert being held after DIRECTV's "Celebrity Beach Bowl" that will include a performance by Miami rapper Pitbull.

"Celebrity Beach Bowl" is a star-studded flag football match that will include rapper Snoop Dogg and actor Neil Patrick Harris.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-25-Super%20Bowl-Stevie%20Wonder/id-5132da9a784c4ceabb134e4667a69703

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