Chris Marker: 1921-2012

PARIS ?

Chris Marker, the influential French filmmaker whose career spanned six decades, has died, France's Culture Ministry confirmed Monday. He was 91.

President Francois Hollande led tributes to the director, whose large body of work includes the 1962 classic "La Jetee" - an award-winning post-apocalyptic movie that's often ranked among the best time-travel films ever made.

In a statement, Hollande said the 28-minute black and white film comprised almost entirely of stills "will be remembered by history."

Set in a post-World War III nuclear-devastated Paris, "La Jetee" tells the story of a prisoner sent to the past and future to save the present. The film was one of the first to use sci-fi notions of circular time and has since spawned a myriad of references.

"La Jetee" will probably be best remembered as the inspiration behind Terry Gilliam's 1995 feature "Twelve Monkeys," but many critics say its influence stretches as far as James Cameron's 1984 and 1991 "Terminator" movies.

Marker - born Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve and still active into his 80s - was also known for the documentary style seen in his other famous work 1983's experimental essay-film "Sunless," which again takes up the time themes used in his earlier material.

In "Sunless," the thoughts of a world traveler are narrated and used to look at the failings of human memory; especially in creating world history.

Marker's work was often politically engaged, and in 1967 he produced "Far from Vietnam," a documentary film featuring pieces by Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Resnais that opposed U.S. involvement in southeast Asia.

Cannes Film Festival President Gilles Jacob on Monday called Marker an "indefatigable filmmaker."

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Thomas Adamson can be followed at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1925616/news/1925616/

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Grant Spotlight - Healthy Paws Pet Insurance

This handsome kitty received needed dental care before she was adopted.

Utah Animal Adoption Center (UAAC) received a cash grant through Healthy Paws? 2012 Every Quote Gives Hope program. UAAC will use the funds specifically to support dental procedures that they provide to all incoming and rescued animals.

Unlike most shelters and rescue organizations, UAAC performs extractions and cleanings on their animals to get them to 100% health before they ever leave their facility. Because of your enrollment with Healthy Paws, 10 pets will have healthy teeth when they are adopted! Contact UAAC to meet one of their great pets today!

About the Adoption Group

Utah Animal Adoption Center (UAAC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They rescue an average of 1,000 pets each year and place them in loving homes. UAAC takes pride in providing the most comfortable and homelike environment possible for the animals. Their adoption center is located on a beautiful 3.5 acre sanctuary. To donate or adopt your next pet from Utah Animal Adoption Center, please visit their website.

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Source: http://www.healthypawspetinsurance.com/blog/2012/07/31/grant-spotlight-utah-animal-adoption-center/

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Upgrading A Proprietary Laptop or computer ... - Technology Reviews

This tutorial is aimed at helping you to design and style your personalized computer technique. There are a lot of different combos of components you can have. we will bargain with the necessities to make it feasible for you to get a notebook pc up and handling.

On our spending budget, I suggest the Energy Up ATX Mid-Tower Situation, in black with entrance USB ports. There are a lot of cases to pick from, if you desire a thing much more flashy, then select 1 you like. Be prepared to pay out far more for it.

Hook up the Personal computer speaker. Most cases put this onto a four-wire plug. Just plug it in to the 4 pins on the motherboard. Other instances place the speaker connector on two 1-wire plugs.

There are numerous men and women who want to know click here due to the fact there are many advantages to it. Instead than obtaining a laptop or computer which has pre-fitted details, it is better to have a computer which can be custom-made to in shape your personal specifications. There are people who need to have it place of work functions although there are other individuals who want it for gaming reasons. All of these needs have different specs and it also gets cheaper if you construct your personal personal computer. Also, if you have created your personal laptop or computer, it becomes easier for you to adjust the elements or make repairs when there is some issue.

Mac Pro: A lot of experts say that Mac Professional is the best machine out there for video editing. However, if you like working with a mac interface or likely to use an modifying software program which is suitable with mac only, then go for a Mac Professional desktop. You can pick the RAM size and graphics card of ATI or nVidia.

Your Personal computer can be a great audio technique with some speakers. Speakers with surround result price a little greater but genuinely sound good. There are numerous desktop speakers obtainable in the industry with a huge selection of prices and features.

This is the basic commence of constructing a Personal computer. The following part of the build, you will have much more alternatives to make. These consist of the challenging generate, DVD-RW, check, keyboard, mouse, speakers and running program.

What do you ultimately want your computer to do? You might want a pc that will allow your children to do standard phrase processing functions for research and net surfing for analysis and instant messaging for communications. You may possibly just as effectively want a pc to handle extensive video clip editing tasks or possibly you are in to serious personal computer gaming. The position is, by answering this issue, you can get started to target specifically on what sort of elements finest meet the demands of your venture. It will also response the next issue you need to have to question oneself.

You will have total manage more than the quality of the parts. Pre-built pcs from the retailer usually include low-cost, generic parts that are unreliable and challenging to restore or improve later. This is even accurate for a lot of of the top rated brand names. When you construct your individual pc you can use only top rated-high quality identify brand elements to make sure your new pc is quick and trustworthy.

Choose the pc case and open the side panel. The next step is to configure the motherboard along with the CPU and the cooler.
thepcresource

Source: http://www.techreviewsworld.com/?p=51835

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More On Why Sued-For LIBOR Losses May Be Substantial And More On Figuring Why Mayor Bloomberg Is Minimizing The Public's Loss

? The modular plan versus Gehry's goal to not make it "look like a project" | Main | Connecting Mayor Bloomberg's endorsement of Scott Brown, his downplaying of the Barclays/LIBOR scandal, and "corporatist privilege" (that connects to "Bankers Gone Wild") ?

More On Why Sued-For LIBOR Losses May Be Substantial And More On Figuring Why Mayor Bloomberg Is Minimizing The Public's Loss

Noticing New York

Noticing New York has been covering how various branches of New York state and local government may be suing over losses the tax-paying public has suffered due to the manipulation of the LIBOR rate, how, ironically, those lawsuits may embarrassingly coincide with the opening of the Ratner/Prokhorov basketball arena promotionally named ?Barclays? to advertise one of the banks in the thick of the LIBOR scandal most likely to be sued, and how New York Mayor Bloomberg, though he admits he expects the city may be joining these lawsuits, has gone out on a limb to assert that the losses suffered by New Yorkers will be ?de minimis,? even though fellow government officials are NOT backing Bloomberg up to assure us that losses will be minimal.? Whew, what a long sentence!? (For starters, see: Thursday, July 26, 2012, ?Barclays? Center Opening Pending; Fellow Government Officials Don?t Back Bloomberg Re Minimizing NY Lawsuits Against Barclays Bank.)

...

Here is more about why New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may be minimizing losses to New York and New Yorkers say (among other ways) through losses to the New York City and New York State pension funds.

Noticing New York has offered three possible theories why Bloomberg might be minimizing:

1. Bloomberg doesn?t want the LIBOR scandal to cast a pall over the opening of the Ratner/Prokhorov basketball arena promotionally named ?Barclays? to advertise the centrally implicated bank whose name is becoming nearly synonymous with the scandal- Under Bloomberg New York City has directed close on to a billion dollars of NYC subsidy into the arena for a net loss in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

2. Bloomberg is a self-proclaimed friend of Robert E. Diamond, Jr., the former chief of Barclays who recently resigned over the LIBOR scandal.

3. Mayor Bloomberg is a friend of Wall Street, eager to ignore its excesses and let it continue in its unregulated abuses.

link

Posted by steve at July 29, 2012 10:36 PM

Source: http://www.nolandgrab.org/archives/2012/07/more_on_why_sue.html

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Rapid assessment of plant drought tolerance possible with new method

ScienceDaily (July 27, 2012) ? UCLA life scientists, working with colleagues in China, have discovered a new method to quickly assess plants' drought tolerance. The method works for many diverse species growing around the world. The research, published in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution, may revolutionize the ability to survey plant species for their ability to withstand drought, said senior author Lawren Sack, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

"This method can be applied rapidly and reliably for diverse species across ecosystems worldwide," he said of the federally funded research by the National Science Foundation.

Droughts, which are a major threat to plants worldwide, are expected to become both more frequent and more severe with climate change, Sack said. Assessing species' vulnerabilities to drought is essential to predict their responses to climate change and plan their conservation, he said.

Earlier this year, Sack and his research team resolved a decades-old debate about what leaf traits best predict drought tolerance for diverse plant species worldwide. However, these leaf traits are too difficult and time-consuming to measure, often taking up to two days for one species, Sack said.

The UCLA team worked with collaborators at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Gardens (XTBG) in Yunnan, China, to develop a method for measuring leaf drought tolerance that is 30 times faster. It is based on an important trait known as "turgor loss point." During drought, the leaf cells' water becomes harder to replace. The turgor loss point is reached when leaf cells become so dehydrated their walls become flaccid. This cell-level loss of turgor -- or swollenness -- causes the leaf to become limp and wilted, and the plant cannot grow, Sack said.

The new method, based on a technique called "osmometry," requires only about 10 minutes per leaf, sufficient to make a fast estimate for a given species.

Plant growth depends on the ability to withstand enormous losses of water to evaporation when they open their pores, or stomata, to take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The amount of evaporation a plant can tolerate depends on the water pressure inside of its cells, which in turn depends on its turgor potential; the pushing force of water against the inside of the cell walls; and the osmotic potential inside the cell, which is to say, the pulling force of dissolved salt molecules on the water molecules -- the same force that makes water with salt added boil at a higher temperature.

Plant cells need to maintain their turgor pressure to hold up their cell walls, but as evaporation dries out the cells, they lose turgor pressure,

said co-author Christine Scoffoni, a UCLA graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

At the turgor loss point, saltier cells have a stronger pulling force holding the water molecules inside the cell. Plants with saltier cells can keep their stomata open in drier conditions, Sack said.

The turgor loss point, which varies widely among species, is a powerful determinant of the plant's drought tolerance. The UCLA team previously showed that the turgor loss point can predict the dryness of the ecosystem from which a plant species comes.

"Drought-tolerant plants typically have low turgor loss points and saltier sap," said lead author Megan Bartlett, a UCLA graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. "Some plant species even load more salt into their cells when they experience a drought to lower their turgor loss point and improve their drought tolerance."

Researchers have been measuring turgor loss point and osmotic potential, or cell saltiness, for decades. Once the UCLA team demonstrated that these are the key traits to predict drought tolerance, they realized that a stumbling block to their use is the difficulty of their measurement. These traits are typically measured by generating a relationship called the pressure-volume (p-v) curve. To produce a p-v curve, a leaf is dried slowly. Leaf water pressure and water mass are repeatedly measured, requiring nearly constant attention from a researcher for up to two days for a single species.

"After we identified these traits for measuring drought tolerance, our next challenge was to make it possible to measure them quickly for many diverse species," Bartlett said.

To hasten the process, the UCLA team and XTBG froze small discs of leaf tissue in liquid nitrogen to break the cell walls and mix the cell sap. The saltiness of the cell sap could then be measured with an instrument called an osmometer, which is typically used to measure osmotic potential in urine or blood. (Earlier studies compared osmotic potential measured by p-v curves with those from the osmometer, but the method had not been refined enough to produce reliable results for turgor loss point.)

The UCLA-XTBG team refined the method so that it can be applied in 10 minutes. They made measurements for 30 species from very different ecosystems, including tropical forest in China and the California chaparral. From this comparison, they developed the first equations for predicting p-v curve turgor loss point and cell saltiness from osmometer measurements.

"This approach has great potential for determining drought tolerance for thousands of species that are threatened by climate change, and to answer important questions about the relationship between drought tolerance and plant evolution and ecology that were just not feasible before," Sack said.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles. The original article was written by Stuart Wolpert.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Megan Bartlett, Christine Scoffoni, Rico Ardy, Ya Zhang, Shanwen Sun, Kunfang Cao and Lawren Sack. Rapid determination of comparative drought tolerance traits: using an osmometer to predict turgor loss point. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2012.00230.x

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120730095301.htm

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Hyundai recalls Santa Fe, Sonata on air bag issues

(Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co is recalling some Santa Fe SUVs and Sonata sedans for separate air bag issues, U.S. safety regulators said.

Hyundai is recalling 228,797 Santa Fe SUVs that were made from April 2006 through July 7, 2008 because the front passenger air bag may not deploy in a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

In the United States, Hyundai is recalling 199,118 Santa Fe vehicles from the model year 2007 to 2009, and in Canada, 29,679 vehicles from the model years 2007 and 2008.

Separately, Hyundai is recalling 24,438 Sonata sedans in the United States and Canada for the model years 2012-2013, made from January to June this year, because the side air bag may inflate unexpectedly, to the surprise of the driver.

The recall affects 22,513 Sonata in the United States and 1,925 in Canada.

The Santa Fe SUVs may have difficulty detecting small people in the front passenger seat so that the front passenger air bag may not deploy in a crash, the NHTSA said.

Hyundai told regulators it needed to update its software on the Santa Fe and would do so without charge. It has not yet given the NHTSA a schedule for notifying customers.

The curtain, or side air bag, in the Sonata sedan "may inflate without deployment command and increase the risk of injury to occupants of the vehicle," NHTSA said. Also, an air bag deploying when there is no crash or other normal cause for it doing so can hinder the driver's ability to control the vehicle, the agency said.

A Hyundai spokesman said there has been a single issue that the company is aware of when an air bag deployed and there was no crash.

Hyundai will replace the side air bags on the Sonata free of charge. The recall is to begin next month, the automaker told the NHTSA.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Lisa Von Ahn and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hyundai-recalls-santa-fe-sonata-air-bag-issues-144129048--finance.html

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France's Muffat edges Schmitt for gold in 400 free

LONDON (AP) ? Camille Muffat of France edged Allison Schmitt of the United States by less than half a stroke to win the Olympic 400-meter freestyle Sunday.

Muffat clocked an Olympic-record 4 minutes, 1.45 seconds, while Schmitt was second in 4:01.77.

Defending champion and local favorite Rebecca Adlington made a late charge to take bronze in 4:03.01 for Britain's first swimming medal in the London Games.

Two-time world champion Federica Pellegrini of Italy finished fifth.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/frances-muffat-edges-schmitt-gold-400-free-194107599--oly.html

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SD Property Management Companies 92129: FBS eNewsletter

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Source: http://www.trulia.com/blog/neilfjellestad/2012/07/sd_property_management_companies_92129_fbs_enewsletter

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How would you change the Droid RAZR Maxx?

A common topic of discussion at Engadget towers is our editors love-hate relationship with Motorola's Droid RAZR Maxx. The 8.9mm smartphone is beautifully slender, but it's seriously hampered by a lackluster display, weak camera and the company's gaudy skinning of Android. However, it has one saving grace that means it's the go-to phone for more than one of the team here: its battery. That 3,300mAh juice pack outlasts nearly every other smartphone in the pantheon, which makes it essential for long journeys or trade shows. But how about you out there? Can you overlook its flaws, or is there a complaint about this handset that you just have to get off your chest? Grab the candle and bang on... in the comments below, of course.

Filed under: Cellphones

How would you change the Droid RAZR Maxx? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jul 2012 22:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/9jL_h2mhil0/

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Team 2012? Keeps London Businesses Online - Typepad

PEER 1 Hosting is uniquely positioned to help organisations doing online business in London during the summer events. With a wholly owned and managed 10Gbps FastFiber Network?, Portsmouth Data Centre, High Availability and Disaster Recovery Services and Content Distribution Network (CDN) are designed and managed to deliver uptime and reliability at all times.

PEER 1 Hosting, the global online web hosting provider, has announced today the launch of its own ?Team 2012? to offer assistance to businesses needing to stay online during the events taking place in London this summer. The move is in direct response to Government warnings to London businesses about disruption they may encounter as a result of events taking place in the capital.

In its booklet, ?Preparing your business for the Games?, LOCOG warns:
?In developing your business continuity plan for the Games you will need to ensure that any increase in homeworking is supported by appropriate IT, and that internal systems and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been engaged in the planning process so that the demands on the system can be understood and managed.
It is possible that internet services may be slower during the Games or in very severe cases there may be drop outs due to an increased number of people accessing the internet.?
Dominic Monkhouse, MD of PEER 1 Hosting UK said: ?For many businesses, the events in London this Summer bring the potential of increased business whilst also presenting potential of increased complexity. We have had a number of enquiries from businesses based in and around London and the South, who are dependent on the internet, whether it?s for back office SaaS applications, ecommerce sites, customer service portals, virtual training or anything in between, who want to make sure their business benefits rather than suffers from the increased activity on the capital.

PEER 1 Hosting is uniquely positioned to help organisations doing online business in London during the summer events. Our wholly owned and managed 10Gbps FastFiber Network?, Portsmouth Data Centre, High Availability and Disaster Recovery Services and Content Distribution Network (CDN) are designed and managed to deliver uptime and reliability at all times. And because they circumvent the network quagmire that will be London during June and July, businesses that need to be online nonstop can stay online nonstop.?

PEER 1?s Team 2012, has its own phone line: +44 (0) 2380 926 309 and email address: team2012@peer1hosting.co.uk which enables business leaders concerned with uptime during this summer to discuss concerns and potential solutions with dedicated experts. The company has also created a specific web page with infographics to support businesses that want to learn more about how their business may be affected. In addition, flexible contracts are in place to support businesses specifically during this time.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2012 at 3:11 am and is filed under web hosting news. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.ehostinfo.com/news/2012/07/28/peer-1-hostings-team-2012-keeps-london-businesses-online-during-summer-events/

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Source: http://hobbsmichal245.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/peer-1-hostings-team-2012-keeps-london-businesses-online.html

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Elite Poperdido ? Spirituality in yourself

Family Church Maple Grove Do you struggle to maintain focus and meaning in your life? Do you need help to find optimism in a society full of death, violence, and negativity? Everyone feels this way sometimes. Many of us need assistance to learn the precepts to have a more meaningful, abundant life. Attending a church and participating in their services can be the answer you are seeking. With the help of an experienced pastor, you will understand from the scriptures how you can develop faith in God, better yourself, and strengthen family bonds. People from all backgrounds and ages are welcome at church, despite what your past may be. Be part of a congregation of caring people who will accept you for who you are and help you on your journey to self-improvement. Make the change today and make church attendance part of your life. Sunday Service

Source: http://www.eltiempoperdido.net/?p=9464

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$329000 :: 18892 Indian Springs CIR, Lake Oswego OR, 97035 ...

Posted by admin on Jul 30, 2012 in Blog

3 beds, 2 full baths
Home size: 1,611 sq ft
Lot Size: 10,018 sq ft
Property Type: DETACHD
MLS Number: 12169153

Gardener?s paradise! Secluded ranch on culdesac lot backs to Bryant Acres Preserve with multiple patio areas. Home features updated kitchen with garden window, vinyl windows, new roof, furnace and water heater. Hall bath updated with tile.

Listed with RE/MAX Equity Group

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Brought to you by Chris Larsson, Coldwell Banker Seal. Call me today at 503-683-2897!

The content relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the IDX program of the RMLS? of Portland, Oregon. All real estate listings are marked with the RMLS? logo, and detailed information about these properties includes the names of the listing brokers. Listing content is ? 2009 RMLS?, Portland, Oregon.

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Lake Oswego Map Seach
Tags: real, Sale, 97034, Lake Oswego OR, Agent, Homes

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Chris Larsson- Lake Oswego Real Estate Agent

Let me help you find everything you need to know about buying or selling real estate in Lake Oswego, OR! I have been a top-producing Coldwell Banker real estate professional for over 8 years in LO. I am 120% dedicated to providing world-class concierge level service to my clientele.

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SEARCH THE LAKE OSWEGO MLS AND REAL ESTATE LISTING HERE...

Source: http://www.97034realestate.com/blog/329000-18892-indian-springs-cir-lake-oswego-or-97035-lake-oswego-homes-for-sale-lake-oswego-real-estate-97034-lake-oswego-real-estate-agent/

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Video: Economy's Biggest Problem

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

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/48404438/

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Just|Mobile Highway Pro Review

Earlier this year I reviewed Just|Mobile’s 12 volt, single USB port car charger, called the Highway. A very well made, nice looking device/car accessory for charging your tech while motoring down the road. That is fine for those of us who only need to charge a single device at a time. But realizing that more [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/07/30/justmobile-highway-pro-review/

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Improving Your Business Consulting Through Superior Knowledge

Business consulting tips are usually about clients, but not all of them. Making a business and marketing plan is also something that you need to do for your own business. This will benefit your business in a variety of ways as well. There are many plans that you should have, some of these being business goals of your own. In addition to that, you should be able to figure out milestones for achieving them. It is imperative that you have good time management skills if you really want success. Learning how to implement these skills in your business is something you absolutely need to learn. If you are working with all cylinders, your consulting business will be able to take care of your clients much more efficiently. Reverse Phone Check review

The goal, at least in theory, is to excel with your business consulting using relationship marketing in a strategic way. Any of your clients will need to know if you truly care about them. They are spending money with you, so sincerity will take you a long way. In many ways, they will be able to detect the sincerity. They need to know if you are competent. This will be a positive vote in your favor. One way to impress them is to make them stand out. This always impresses a client. You can insult them if you do this in an artificial manner, so try to be sincere. They will have a great time and experience with you as long as you show a zealous nature to help them with their needs.

It?s tough in the beginning of a consulting business because you need clients. This is something that will actually motivate you to work with people you otherwise would ignore. The need to make wise choices, balanced with necessity, is something you must endure when you begin this type of business. If they seem to be interested, you need to discuss things with them before working with them directly. You service to them will be a temporary business relationship. You have to be on positive common ground in any business relationship that you have. It?s a two-way relationship ? if they don?t work for you, more than likely, you won?t work for them. Zygor Guides

Large companies have many departments and managers. Keep that in mind. Final decisions are not going to be made by just one person. Finding the person in charge of the whole project is what you would need to do in this case. Here is the main reason that you need to know who this person is before you start a project like this. You might come to a point where you need to keep things going, or to do something in the best interest of the project itself. Every person on the project will have an agenda, from the smaller managers, to the main decision-maker. You need to make friends with the people at the top, so when you need to make a tough decision, they will be by your side. When you do business consulting, you work with people in a very intimate matter. Your clients will tell you about their business, and you will see up close and personal about their fears and feelings. You need to be respectful and professional about the information you receive because of this close and intimate relationship. You can gain insights into their business as well which makes consulting a successful business option. IWinButtons review

Source: http://product-liability-lawsuits.net/?p=4508

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Smart cookie: Traditional Chinese dessert contained an extraordinary fortune for CSUN graduate

Daria Artem decorates a giant fortune cookie at Lady Fortunes, the Canoga Park business she founded after receiving a fortune of her own at a Chinese restaurant. (Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer)

CANOGA PARK -- Daria Artem won't forget the night 10 years ago when fortune smiled on her.

As her birthday dinner with friends at P.F. Chang's in Woodland Hills wound down, Artem cracked open her fortune cookie.

"You will be successful in business," the little slip of paper said.

"I said I wish it was bigger because I want to share my fortune with everyone," Artem recalled telling the group. "One of my friends challenged me to make a fortune cookie as big as a cake that we could share."

And so she did.

It wasn't long before Artem -- whose 33rd birthday is today - was turning out supersized fortune cookies and other confectionery treats in the kitchen of her Bell Canyon home. She called the startup business

Fortune cookies are big -- and bedazzled -- at Lady Fortunes in Canoga Park. (Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer)

href="http://www.ladyfortunes.com">Lady Fortunes Inc.

Today, Lady Fortunes operates out of a 5,000-square-foot bakery with 27 employees in Canoga Park. It turned out 5 million to 8 million cookies last year and generated $4.5 million in sales, said Artem, the company's CEO and Chief Confectionery Officer.

And the treats have gone from her modest warehouse to the White House.

In 2006 Artem was selected to bake 300 cookies featuring the presidential seal for the Presidents Day Party hosted by then-first lady Laura Bush.

The catch? Protocol deemed she had to pay her own way to Washington and bake in the White House kitchen.

Was she ready for the challenge? You bet.

"There is nothing to describe it," Artem said of the experience. "You just feel so proud. It's an honor. It doesn't matter if you are a Republican or Democrat. You are at the heart of the country. You get goosebumps."

Two years later she baked some cookies decorated with Barack Obama's picture for a couple of his presidential campaign fundraising dinners.

It was a fast ascent for a company born from a challenge made during a birthday dinner.

"I jumped on the Internet and looked up recipes for fortune cookies. Martha Stewart happens to be my idol so when I saw she had a recipe I grabbed it and adapted it," said Artem, who had formed a public relations firm, Artem PR, after graduating from California State University, Northridge, in 2001.

It took about two weeks after that P.F. Chang's dinner to come up with a big fortune cookie that was identical to the smaller ones.

But what can you do with a giant fortune cookie?

Artem dipped her oversized treats in chocolate and gave them to prospective and current clients of her PR firm.

Inside was a fortune that read, "You are one smart cookie when you work with Daria."

"One (client) said `Where did you get this. I want one.' And when a client asks for something you don't

CSUN graduate Daria Artem shows off the product at Lady Fortunes in Canoga Park. (Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer)

say no," she said. "I thought it was a fluke."

But more orders started coming in, and then while Artem was working on the Honda Insight marketing campaign, the company ordered 120 big fortune cookies.

Bingo. A business was born. The kitchen of her Bell Canyon home became its headquarters as she turned out private label novelties for a variety of online sites.

"I was sleeping three hours a night. It was very hectic and didn't leave me any time for myself or my family. Saturday and Sunday are family days and I pretty much worked them back to back," she said.

Making a giant fortune cookie is just like making a regular one, only on a bigger scale, Artem said. The trick is folding the cookie into its distinctive shape. Only about six out of 10 make it off the production line to market.

Her confectionery catalog also includes a variety of products that can be customized with sprinkles -- she has a huge collection at her factory -- and promotional themes like company logos, slogans and pictures.

The latter are edible and done with a proprietary scanner that captures details fine enough that the image looks like it's printed on paper. The culinary artwork is made from fondant, a sugar-based product, Artem said.

By 2004, orders were coming in at a rapid enough clip that Artem and her fiance, Yasser Emeira, decided to invest the $20,000 they were going to spend on their wedding to lease a facility for baking, supply storage and the management of the company. They tapped a second round of self-funding -- $25,000 that was the honeymoon stash -- to buy equipment.

She signed the lease on Feb. 13 and got her big break later that year at the Fancy Food Show in New York. She basically snowed buyers for Sam's Club and Wal-Mart into believing that Lady Fortunes was bigger than a one-woman operation. They signed contracts a month apart to feature her products on their websites.

Others eventually followed suit.

Eighteen months ago Artem made a successful pitch to the site 1-800-Bakery.com based in Winchester, Mass. Company CEO Stephen Pazyra signed up for some Lady Fortunes products -- including the big cookie -- after a vetting process.

It included a taste test by his four bakers with more than 100 years experience, collectively. But Pazyra was also looking for something else.

"The first thing we do is have them ship us product so we can do a quality check on the items and also how it ships. When you are an online business you have to make sure the product is going to arrive in top quality shape," he said.

Artem and her crew got high marks from Pazyra and his crew. Now she gets about 50 orders a week, he said.

Pazyra said Artem's cookie bouquets are very popular and keyed to seasonal themes. For example, at Halloween each cookie will have a different scary picture.

"It's the looks and the quality of the design," he said. "She also does a good job with corporate logos on the cookies."

And that is important when a big chunk of your revenue is business-to-business sales.

Turns out Artem's formula for success sprung from a tiny slip of paper and a simple recipe of sugar, eggs, flour, hard work and unwavering belief in a dream.

And one big cookie, too.

"It's definitely different, and a lot of fun. People who see this think it's the bees knees," she said. "You can't go into anything without being 100 percent invested. I went into it with a lot of confidence and giving it all of my self."

Lady Fortunes Top 10 Fortunes

1. I am so "fortune"-ate to have you in my life.

2. You are my sweetest cookie and my greatest fortune....You make my heart crumble!

3. Confucius says: a bundle of good fortune is on the way!

4. The "perfect diet" is a cookie in each hand!

5. Lady Fortune will smile on you

6. You are one sweet and smart cookie!

7. The fortune you seek is in a giant fortune cookie!

8. When good fortune does not knock -- build a door!

9. Hard work is the mother of good fortune

10. Good fortune favors those who eat cookies!

---

greg.wilcox@dailynews.com
818-713-3743
twitter.com/dngregwilcox

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/ci_21187678/smart-cookie-traditional-chinese-dessert-contained-an-extraordinary?source=rss_emailed

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Climate-change skeptic has 'turnaround' WORLD NEWS ...

WORLD NEWS TOMORROW BERKELEY, Calif, ? Global warming is real and is caused ?almost entirely? by people, a University of California physicist and ?converted? climate change skeptic says.

?Three years ago I identified problems in previous climate studies that, in my mind, threw doubt on the very existence of global warming,? UC Berkeley astrophysics Professor Richard A. Muller wrote in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

?Last year, following an intensive research effort involving a dozen scientists, I concluded that global warming was real and that the prior estimates of the rate of warming were correct. I?m now going a step further: Humans are almost entirely the cause,? he wrote.

?The average temperature of the Earth?s land has risen by 2 1/2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 250 years, including an increase of 1 1/2 degrees over the most recent 50 years,? wrote Muller, who founded the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project to debunk unsupported global-warming claims.

?Moreover, it appears likely that essentially all of this increase results from the human emission of greenhouse gases.?

He said he and his colleagues ?were not expecting this, but as scientists, it is our duty to let the evidence change our minds.?

He called his new stance ?a total turnaround.?

His research was funded with $150,000 from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, which, along with its libertarian petrochemical billionaire founder, has historically backed groups that deny climate change.

The research also received $100,000 from the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research, created by Bill Gates.

Koch foundation spokeswoman Tonya Mullins told the Los Angeles Times in an e-mail her foundation?s support had no bearing on the research results.

?Our grants are designed to promote independent research; as such, recipients hold full control over their findings,? she wrote. ?In this support, we strive to benefit society by promoting discovery and informing public policy.?

The Gates fund had no immediate comment.

Muller?s team gathered and merged a collection of 14.4 million land temperature observations from 44,455 sites around the world dating from 1753. Previous data from NASA, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other sources went back only to the mid-1800s and used a fifth as many weather station records.

Muller said his team?s analysis suggested land temperatures would rise another 1.5 degrees in the next 50 years, but if China continues to use coal at its current rate, the warming could occur in less than 20 years.

Muller?s peer-reviewed research results were posted on the BerkeleyEarth.org Web site Sunday night. They are to be published by the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University ? who has faced hostility from climate skeptics for his ?hockey stick? graph showing a rapid rise in 20th century temperatures ? said on Facebook he found ?a certain ironic satisfaction in seeing a study funded by the Koch brothers ? the greatest funders of climate-change denial and disinformation on the planet ? demonstrate what scientists have known with some degree of confidence for nearly two decades: that the globe is indeed warming, and that this warming can only be explained by human-caused increases in greenhouse gas concentrations.

?I applaud Muller and his colleagues for acting as any good scientists would, following where their analyses led them, without regard for the possible political repercussions (they are of course almost certain to be attacked by climate change deniers for their findings),? he wrote.

Source: http://www.worldnewstomorrow.com/?p=2247

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Childhood Obesity | Children's Health and Fitness

I got a kick out of this article on childhood obesity?..enjoy.

Recently, I was reading a question on a BLOG that is written and maintained by Ms. Len Saunders, MA. Ms. Saunders is a specialist in Children?s Health, Wellness and Fitness. The question was why do you think that childhood obesity has gotten so out of hand. Since I seem to have an opinion on just about anything and everything I decided to put my two cents worth in. So I wrote what I thought was a sensible answer to the question ( That was my first mistake. Just kidding. )

Not long after I submitted my answer I got an email from Ms. Saunders telling me that she had decided to select my response for publication on her BLOG. The following is what she printed in it?s entirety and unedited:

?As many of my regular viewers to this web blog know, there are many factors contributing to childhood obesity. I post daily here about it, whether news print articles, opinions, feedback, or just personal opinion.

Recently, I wrote an article for Yahoo! about childhood obesity. I started searching for sources for this article, and received over 100 responses to the question, ?What do you think caused the rise in childhood obesity?? Responses came from professional and Olympic athletes, fitness experts, health experts, nutritionist, and parents.

To read the full story?..Click here

Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=2632

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Siri?s speech-to-text makes Apple target of yet another patent suit

Apple?s Siri voice commands for iPhone have made it the target of a patent lawsuit from a university in Taiwan. The school?s lawyers say they are also looking into whether to target similar technology from Microsoft and Google next.

Apple is the target of yet another patent suit, this time over Siri?s voice-to-text capability. On Friday, Taiwan?s National Cheng Kung University sued Apple in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, according to Reuters. The school says it owns two U.S. patents for the technology that allows Siri to translate voice commands into texts and notes.

The patents owned by National Cheng Kung University were issued in 2007 and 2010. Siri began life as a U.S. government-funded artificial intelligence project at SRI International, but was spun out as its own company, Siri, in 2007 and commercialized. Apple bought Siri in 2010.

The calculation of the damages the university is seeking ?would be based on Apple?s U.S. sales of devices that use Siri,? according to its lawyer. That basically means sales of all iPhone 4S and new iPads with iOS 6 software, which is coming this fall. So the school is looking for a very large chunk of change as compensation.

Apple is involved in dozens of lawsuits regarding its mobile technology, including the very high-profile Samsung trial that kicks off Monday in California. Is the overall climate surrounding handset makers and the mobile industry encouraging more of these kind of lawsuits from international companies? Or, as my colleague Jeff Roberts has argued, has Apple?s decision to settle with the near-bankrupt Proview over the iPad trademark in China last month for $60 million emboldened more potential plaintiffs?

Apple is the only target of the school?s suit for now, but Siri competitors are in the crosshairs as well: the school?s lawyer told Reuters it is also looking at both Microsoft and Google?s speech-to-text products for possible violations of the same two patents.

Source: http://gigaom.com/apple/siris-speech-to-text-makes-apple-target-of-yet-another-patent-suit/

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Wieber forced to refocus for women's team final

U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber cries after she failed to qualify for the women's all-around finals during the Artistic Gymnastics women's qualification at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber cries after she failed to qualify for the women's all-around finals during the Artistic Gymnastics women's qualification at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber cries after she failed to qualify for the women's all-around finals during the Artistic Gymnastics women's qualification at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Coach Jenny Zhang consoles U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber as she cries after failing to qualify for the women's all-around finals during the Artistic Gymnastics women's qualification at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber performs on the floor during the Artistic Gymnastics women's qualification at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber cries after she failed to qualify for the women's all-around finals during the Artistic Gymnastics women's qualification at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

LONDON (AP) ? The U.S. women's gymnastics team has stressed for months its depth is the key to its dominance.

Now it has to make sure that depth doesn't accidentally lead to its downfall.

Sure, the Americans rolled to victory in Olympic team qualifying on Sunday, posting a score of 181.863 that only Russia came even remotely close to threatening.

But the image of world champion Jordyn Wieber leaving the floor in tears after failing to advance to the individual all-around final will be hard to shake. Beaten out by teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas, the ever-composed Wieber crumbled when she realized her dreams of joining the likes of Olympic gold medalists Nastia Liukin, Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson evaporated in a series of uncharacteristic miscues.

Now, Wieber has to find a way to regroup in time to help the U.S. capture its first team title since the "Magnificent Seven" in Atlanta 16 years ago.

"This is the beauty of our program," USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny said. "On any given day one of the girls on our team can do it."

True, except for the last three years, that one girl has almost always been Wieber. She's only lost twice in competition since 2009, both times to fellow Americans. And she's never finished behind two teammates in the same meet.

Not until Sunday at least. How she'll respond is anybody's guess.

"She's a strong gymnast," teammate McKayla Maroney said. "She can turn it around in two seconds."

Wieber will get two days.

She might need every minute of it.

The 17-year-old is the star the U.S. program has orbited around during the last three years, leading the Americans to a world title in Tokyo last fall.

She kept it going this spring and summer, with Douglas' emergence giving the U.S. a one-two punch few teams can match.

An all-around showdown in London between Wieber and Douglas has been looming for months. They've taken turns gracing the covers of national magazines trying to duplicate the showdown between Liukin and Shawn Johnson in Beijing four years ago.

Consider Douglas the winner by technical knockout.

The rules allow just two gymnasts per country to compete in the individual all-around finals. Raisman's rock-solid floor exercise on the heels of sloppy routines by both Douglas and Wieber allowed the U.S. captain to leapfrog her more heralded teammates and into the finals.

Even Raisman was stunned, barely blinking during interviews as she tried to balance the greatest day of her career against her best friend's bitter disappointment.

"It's really hard," Raisman said. "That was kind of like my first thought. I was really happy but then at the same time I feel bad just because I know how bad (Wieber) wanted it."

And if it's gold Wieber wants, there's still gold to be had.

Just like the U.S. men, who will go for their first Olympic gold since 1984 in the team final on Monday, the ultimate prize has never been individual medals but the one that ends up with five girls standing atop the podium singing "The Star Spangled Banner."

It's why national coach Martha Karolyi simply shrugged her shoulders when talking about Wieber's rough day.

"I'm very sad, but I'm very happy about the other girls," Karolyi said. "Hard work pays off ... we support Jordyn, but things happen."

One thing will almost certainly have to happen by Tuesday if the U.S. is to collect the gold it has been stalking since storming to victory in worlds by a whopping four points: Wieber will have to find a way to overcome the kind of adversity she's so expertly avoided during her lengthy reign atop the podium.

Scores are reset in the finals, where teams enter three competitors in each event, with all three scores counting. Wieber is a virtual lock to stand in front of the judges and raise her hand several times. If she doesn't do it in the right frame of mind, gold could turn into a more modest color.

"I think that's a test of character," Penny said. "I think Jordyn's got a lot of character ... I think you'll see the best of Jordyn Wieber (in the finals)."

Wieber, her eyes blotchy from crying, declined to speak to reporters afterward but seemed to recover a few hours later, thanking fans for their support and insisting she "can't wait for team finals."

The rest of the world can.

Even with the world champion struggling and Douglas making a major error on floor ? landing so far out of bounds during one of her tumbling passes she appeared to be jumping into the Thames ? the U.S. remained very much the class of the field.

Maroney, nursing a busted right big toe, anchored an eye-popping vault rotation that seemed to send a message to perennial powers Russia, Romania and defending Olympic champion China that the Americans have only improved from their blowout win in Tokyo.

"We were awesome," Maroney said. "We just hit, hit, hit."

The Americans ripped through four Amanars ? considered the most difficult vault currently done in competition ? and never looked back. They finished their rotation a whopping 11 points in front of previous leader Britain and were never really challenged.

The Russians came closest, with Victoria Komova posting the highest all-around score of the day (60.632) to nudge Raisman out of the top spot. Former world champion Aliya Mustafina put up a steady if not spectacular 59.966 to place fifth, but the Russians will be hard-pressed to close the 1.4-point gap with the U.S.

China came in third, more than five points back. Romania, Britain, Japan, Italy and Canada will also head to the finals. If Wieber recovers in time, the rest of the field knows they're likely fighting for second and third.

"We knew the Americans were going to be up there," said Rebecca Tunney of Britain, which was in the same qualifying session as the Americans. "They're going to be unbeatable."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-30-OLY-GYM-Women's-Qualifying/id-e233dfbe728343b293251b9f5372a309

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Retro Game Network | The New Retro Gaming Community ? Retro ...

Happy weekend to everyone out there! Xanfan here with a new Retro Game Retrospective. Last night, the 2012 Summer Olympics held it?s famous opening ceremonies. (Even though the games actually started a few days ago, and already with controversy!) The Olympic Games are a big celebration to people all over the world. While I personally was always a bigger fan of the Winter Olympics, I always have to give great credit to those fantastic athletes that are the best of the best. Video games often tried to replicate that experience at home. Over the years, there have been several different games that involve the Olympics, or at least do their best to emulate them. In celebration, over the next three weeks (and thus, over the course of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games), I will be offering a different game of this style, based on these sports each Saturday afternoon, right here on Retro Game Network. This week, to start, let?s take a look at a title that is infamous for being a classic joystick buster: The Activision Decathlon!

The Activision Decathlon was released for the various Atari systems of the era (2600, 5200 & 8-bit computer series), as well as the ColecoVision, Commodore 64 and MSX computer series. Later, the game would be released for the Playstation 2 as part of the Activision Anthology. The version that most retro players remember is the Atari 2600 version, which will be the basis for this review. Typically, the decathlon is done as a part of the United States Olympic Trials, and is a competition of ten different events played over the course of 2 days. These events are Dashes (of 100, 400 and 1500 meters in length), Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 110 Meter Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault and Javelin Throw. The Activision Decathlon has all ten of them available for play on the cartridge. Some of them are a nice amount of fun, and I know at least one that everyone cringes at when the topic comes up. (But I have a way around that to share with you all later.)

Let?s take a quick look at the events on the cartridge. But first, kudos to programmer David Crane for incorporating all of the events in a real decathlon to the game. It really gives it a true authenticity! The 110 Meter Hurdles is the event where you run for 110 meters while jumping over a hurdle on the track every 10 meters. One trip on a single hurdle will certainly be enough to make you finish dead last! The Discus Throw is where you throw a rather heavy disc in the attempt to throw it the furthest distance when compared to your competitors. The Long Jump is just what it says. Run down a track and try to jump the furthest in a single leap. The Pole Vault is where the athlete uses a long, somewhat flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar of an assigned height. The Shot Put involves the player throwing a heavy metal ball in a forward motion as far as possible. The Javelin Throw has the contestant throw a javelin (a spear) as far as possible, by running down the track to gain momentum. The High Jump is very similar to the Pole Vault, except the athlete is on their own, and has to leap over the bar without the use of any aid. Finally, the Dashes are simply runs of a certain distance, either 100, 400 or 1500 meters long. Traditionally, the 1500 meter dash is always the very last event to take place.

When you first turn on the cartridge, you see our classic character in action! He looks an awful lot like Pitfall Harry with a small color and outfit adjustment, which makes sense since they were both programmed by David Crane. He?s holding an Olympic torch while running down the track, with some famous fanfare playing in the background. Sadly, that is for the most part, all there is with music, except for those times when you score over 1000 points in a single event. But most of the time, all you will hear are sound effects as you run, jump, or throw. And it gets VERY repetitive as the events go on. Of course, this was in an era of video gaming where background music was not nearly as dominant as it is today. Very few games at the time offered background music. So that?s not really a surprise here. But the opening theme is very well done, especially on the Atari 2600 system.

Unlike other later games that took advantage of these kinds of sports, when playing with others, you have to compete only one contestant at a time. There is no simultaneous playing on this game at all. While this is perfectly fine on games such as the Shot Put or Javelin Throw, for the games of race (the Hurdles and the Dashes), it would have been nice to have at least 2 players compete at the same time instead of having to wait for one player to finish before the next player starts. For the 1500 Meter Race, this is totally not a way to go about it. (Again, more on that one later.) When playing with a group of people, it would get rather boring, rather quickly, to wait your turn while the other players finish up their rounds, when it could have very easily been done in a way where at least 2 players could play at once. At least that way you could have your typical ?Come on!? shouting matches while the games were in progress.

Like most video games of this genre, it?s basically nothing more than a bunch of ?button mashing? as it has been ever so lovingly called over the years. With the Atari 2600 version, since there was only a single button that could be mashed, the player on screen was made to move by very quickly rocking the joystick left and right as fast and as hard as you could, and then pressing the action button when a game of multiple actions had to take place. (For instance, in the high jump, you would press the button when you were ready to jump.) This was physically awkward for the player, since most of the time, the joystick was typically cupped in one hand to hold the controller and press the button, and the other hand controlled the stick movements. At the time (and even after the time) of the games release, the Atari joystick was typically not made for this kind of ?abuse? as it were, and over the years, this game alone had been accused of breaking more joysticks than any other cartridge ever released. When you think about it, it sort of makes sense. The Atari 2600 joystick was quite stiff by default, nothing like an arcade joystick that you may have been used to. So all of that frequent rocking back and forth was bound to cause malfunction. At one point, it was noted by players that it would be easier to hold the joystick between your legs while playing the game, but if you could imagine what that would look like for a moment, it wasn?t exactly a flattering angle!

One of my earliest memories of this game comes to me from when I was about 6 years old. During that time, my brother was working at a local pool supply shop. (Not billiards, swimming pools.) Every now and then, my brother would take me to work with him on Saturday mornings. Some call it bonding, some call it ?getting out of your parents hair for a few hours.? Not really sure which it was. But anyway, in the back room of the place, my brother had hooked up his ColecoVision and Expansion Module #1 for us to play during the downtime, which there was a lot of. I don?t know what I did to my brother that particular day, but he played the game up to the point of the infamous 1500 Meter Dash, and then told me to take over. Now, the 1500 Meter Dash on this game is BRUTAL! It takes an average player several minutes to complete, so imagine a 6 year old trying to finish it! I think it took me almost 2 hours to finish, and when I got to the end, I was so mad that all that happened was, the game ended. Talk about a mean trick! (And if you thought playing that event with the traditional Atari joystick was hard, try doing it with a ColecoVision controller! MUCH worse!)

Of course, this is now 2012, and we all know that other controllers are compatible with other games that were not intended, and even across various systems. (Everyone knows by now that a Genesis controller works wonders on the Atari 2600.) But for those that don?t know, for this game, there are other options. For the running events, you can use the paddle controllers instead of the traditional joystick. Just alternate pressing the two paddle buttons! But, even that one could be sort of uncomfortable to do, and like I said, it?s only able to be done with the running events since there was no actual ?action? button on them. So the best way to play? Use the Track & Field controllers! They were a set of controllers that were included with the game Track & Field, as well as sold separately at one point. (Controllers were included for other systems that the game was released on, such as the Apple II, which is the one that I own personally.) These controllers are the best because they are large, simulate an arcade style motion, and have an action button, meaning it can be used for all events. For real. Give the Atari joystick a break! (No pun intended.)

In somewhat recent pop culture, on the famous internet cartoon series ?Homestar Runner?, there was fictitious game company called Videlectrix, which made playable games that resembled actual classics. One of those games was called ?50k Racewalker?, which was a spoof of the 1500 Meter Dash of The Activision Decathlon. Most people that attempted the 1500 Meter Dash usually turned it off before the event was completed. In the spoof, once you hit 1k out of 50k, you start to walk into a pixelated darkness, and a message comes up that says that the programmers didn?t think you?d actually play the game that long, and that you have to wait until the rest gets programmed! Nice homage to the classics!

All in all, The Activision Decathlon was a very good attempt at recreating a complete decathlon experience in your home. (If you are playing with the original joysticks, you will even feel like you just ran a marathon with all of that motion on the arm!) All of the events are there, the beginning fanfare is very well sounding, it?s just that the controls are limited and awkward, which hinders the actual game play. I think that a special controller should have been included, just like on Track & Field. While this game isn?t the best of the genre, it most certainly is not the worst by far. If nothing else, it is a flat out Atari classic for it?s good points as well as the bad ones. It?s also relatively very easy to pick up a copy at a local trade store, or online. But, just don?t expect a lot of replay value, and when you get to the 1500 meter dash, trust me. If you don?t have one of the optional controllers I mentioned, just pass it. Seriously. Your joystick and your arm will thank you! (And don?t forget to collect your metals! Activision was famous for offering patches for high scores, and this was no exception. Based on the points you earned, you could win a bronze, silver, or gold patch! Very nice touch, Activision.)

Source: http://www.retrogamenetwork.com/2012/07/28/retro-game-retrospective-the-activision-decathlon-atari-2600/

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Solydra files plan for Chapter 11 reorganization

By Reuters

NEW YORK -- Solyndra LLC, the solar panel maker that received $535 million in federal loan guarantees before filing for bankruptcy last September, has filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan, according to court documents.

The company on Friday filed the plan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, which will take virtually all the remaining assets of the company and put them into the Solyndra Residual Trust.

"The Plan proposes to fairly and efficiently restructure the Debtors' liabilities and distribute the Debtors' assets in a manner that will allow these Chapter 11 Cases to be promptly concluded," the filing said.

One of the plan's sponsors is Argonaut Ventures I, LLC, one of the company's largest debtors and an investment vehicle of the George Kaiser Family Foundation of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The other is Madrone Partners LP.

The case is Solyndra LLC, Case No. 11-12799, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. ?

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Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/29/13021365-solydra-files-plan-for-chapter-11-reorganization?lite

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slashgear: If this is the iPhone 5, Android has a problem http://t.co/4o64KZUc #tech #slashgear

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

Source: http://twitter.com/slashgear/statuses/229693975584444416

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Senior N.Korea leader to visit Vietnam, Laos

North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-Nam is to visit Laos and Vietnam, Pyongyang's official news agency said on Monday.

Kim "will soon pay official goodwill visits" to the two countries, the agency said in a brief report which gave no dates.

Analysts quoted by South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North may seek to strengthen diplomatic ties and expand economic cooperation with the two fellow socialist nations.

A Lao government economic delegation headed home Friday from Pyongyang, while a foreign affairs delegation from Vietnam visited the city earlier this month.

Kim, North Korea's parliamentary chief, acts as ceremonial head of state because late leader Kim Il-Sung has been declared the "eternal president". He visited Singapore and Indonesia in May.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senior-n-korea-leader-visit-vietnam-laos-025642578.html

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IPO Watch: Is Machester United a Good Investment? | Stocks on ...

Every fan dreams of owning a piece of there favorite professional sports team? Would you overpay for the privilege to say you own a piece of the New York Yankees? Dallas Cowboys? L.A. Lakers? Most fans would hop on that opportunity right away. Well for the rest of the world, soccer team Manchester United is their New York Yankees. Winner of 19 English Premier League Titles, Manchester United is the most glorified sports franchise of all-time, boasting well over 600 million supporters worldwide. And in less than a month, just about any of those 600 million supporters will be able to make one call or a simple click of the mouse and own shares of the iconic franchise. Buying shares of Man United will be a great idea to many for the obvious personal reasons but the real question is whether or not buying shares of Manchester United is a good investment at all?

Why is Manchester United Going to Be Listed on the New York Stock Exchange?

So let?s analyze why a famous British Soccer team is going to list and trade at the New York Stock Exchange. It starts with a rich owner, Malcolm Glazer, who has huge ambitions and aspirations for the club. Malcolm Glazer bought the team in 2005 for $1.2 billion and wants to go public, raise funds, and mitigate risks while still retaining control of the team. Something every investor would love to have the opportunity to do. Listing on the NYSE will give the Glazer family a dual-class share structure; allowing them to keep voting rights.? This model is very much similar to the structure the Murdoch family setup to keep control of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA). Listing on the London Stock Exchange would not allow this kind of setup which is why they have chosen to bring the British Soccer across the pond.

What Can We Expect as an Investment?

What?s not to like, Manchester United is a franchise that turns a profit every year and has a track record of being a solid equity investment. Man United has appreciated more than ?20%?annually for the 14 years it was traded prior to the Glazer family taking control and taking it private seven years ago.

Cash is king & Manchester United has serious debt woes. The lopsided stock-ownership structure is nothing to be worried of when you compare it to the franchise?s debt woes. Yes that?s right, Man United currently has $650 million in debt, a staggering number when you factor in that the club carried no debt every year before 2005 when the Glazer family gained ownership. Since then, the Glazer has leveraged the club quite a bit using these tactics to get the team, and since the acquisition have used it as a piggy bank of sorts.?

If the IPO is successful and raises the expected $300 million or more where will that money go? Being valued at $3 billion, the assumption is that most of that money will pay down the debt but some fans or future shareholders might have other plans. Fans hope the money raised goes towards some more exciting business moves such as acquiring top notch players to keep up with the rest of the league, lowering ticket prices, or improving the stadium grounds. Acquiring top talent is even more intense now after they lost to cross-town rival Manchester City, a team that was long one of the worst in the league until it was purchased by a group from Abu Dhabi who invested billions in acquiring the top players across the world and successfully turned the team into an instant winner.

Manchester United fans have been pressuring the club more and more to acquire top players but the club?s debt worries have sucked out hundreds of millions that the team use to use to improve the talent on the pitch. A main reason Manchester United isn?t the football powerhouse that use to dominate the league year in year out.

For sale: world-famous company that?s highly leveraged with anti-takeover provisions and no dividend or stock buyback plans in sight.

A large issue surrounding the IPO is future accountability. As result of the Jobs Act, foreigncompanies can take advantage of many loopholes. For example, Manchester United will not have to report results every quarter or give forward-looking guidance. Pretty sweet deal for ownership, but a serious issue for most investors.

Who wants to own shares of a company saddled with debt where even the largest shareholders hold no control. Many will still buy for the same reason people bought shares in the Green Bay Packers, a stock that is such a novelty that shares have no dividend and cannot be sold for a profit. There will be a large group of wealthy fans who love the team and want the power to say they own part of Man United. But that doesn?t mean they?ll make any money off it. So to investors, especially institutional ones it could be a tough sell. One thing Man United does have going for them is the fact that they?re an exclusive rarity that compares to nothing. Just think you could own a piece of Manchester United, the most glorified football team. For most diehard fans that?ll be an easy sell.

What other Sports Teams are Publicly Traded? While there are technically no other professional sports teams publicly traded in the U.S., investors can buy shares of Madison Square Garden (NASDAQ: MSG), which gives you ownership of the NBA?s New York Knicks, the NHL Rangers, a WNBA team, an arena and a TV network. Sorry, no Jeremy Lin though. Another similar company is Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA) owns the Atlanta Braces baseball team, which is only one component of their huge portfolio of companies. Nintendo (NTDOY) owns most of the Seattle Mariners, Rogers Communications (RCI) a small piece of the Toronto Blue Jays. So technically all of these are indirect ways to owning a sports team. Outside the U.S., there are a handful of soccer teams that actively trade on other foreign global markets. For example, AJAX trades in the Netherlands; Juventus in Italy; Benfica in Portugal, and Fenerbache a lesser-known name listed in Turkey, but has an annualized return of almost 14 percent. Meanwhile the other mentioned teams all had negative annualized returns and have all been losing investments. The big question looming is where Manchester United will stand.

When will it be on the market? The worldwide roadshow is just beginning and Manchester United has elaborate plans to host a worldwide road show that will start in Europe and end in the U.S.? Pricing and trading is expected to begin at some point in August but due to recent reports of the IPO being a tough sale Manchester United has put the IPO on hold. While it?s technically on hold, things could change very soon as analysts expect the roadshow will start next week, speeding up the process in hopes to feed off of the U.S. markets big recent rally. That?s right around the time that Manchester United kicks off its regular season. Only time will tell on which will be the bigger winner, the team on the field or the team on the stock exchange.?

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Source: http://stocksonwallstreet.net/2012/07/ipo-watch-is-machester-united-a-good-investment/

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Cops name Iran military arm for attack on Israeli diplomat

NEW DELHI: Alleging that an Iranian state agency was involved in the February 13 bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat in the capital, the Delhi Police has concluded that the suspects were members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the nation's military.

The investigation report, exclusively accessed by TOI, states that the IRGC members had discussed the plan to attack the Israeli diplomats in India and other countries with Indian journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi in January 2011, after Iranian scientists had been attacked allegedly by the Israelis. The cops have also learnt that Kazmi was in touch with these people for almost 10 years.

Details about the suspects have been shared with Iran through a letter rogatory. Delhi Police has sought more details of the five IRGC members, including the main bomber, Houshang Afshar Irani, who mentions his profession in Iran as a builder, Sedaghatzadeh Masoud (sales employee in a commercial company on Baharestan St, Tehran), Syed Ali Mahdiansadr (a mobile shopkeeper in Tehran), Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi (clerk in the finance department of Tehran's water authority) and Ali Akbar Norouzishayan (a retired accountant in Tehran).

According to the sources, Masoud is said to be the operational head and it was he who planned the attacks in Georgia, Bangkok and Delhi.

Apart from these five, police have also come across the role of an Iranian woman, identified as Leila Rohani, in the February 13 attack in New Delhi as well as the attacks in Bangkok and Georgia, and has sought details about her as well from Iran. Rohani had allegedly helped Iranian suspects in Bangkok attack of February 14 in getting a flat, after which she fled to Tehran.

Source: http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/fy/8at2EuK0cPpCB2qT/story01.htm

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